Where Will You Find the Shortest Disney Lines during the Holidays?
Throughout the year, theme park analysts reference the final two weeks of December as the most crowded period on the park calendar.
As the year finishes, fans flock to Disney theme parks to embrace holiday traditions at the Happiest and Most Magical Places on Earth.
Since everyone has holiday vacation days at work, and kids aren’t at school, there’s nothing preventing people from heading to Disney and having a great time.
Walt the Dreamer line yesterday
So, you’re gonna face some sizable crowds at Disney during the next two weeks, and the attraction line sizes will increase accordingly.
Where will you find the shortest Disney lines during the holidays? Here are a few suggestions.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Photo: Disney
Every American Disney park experiences its own unique behavior. So, we don’t have one hard and fast rule for everywhere.
Instead, we must take a granular look at every individual park to come up with a few choices.
Sadly, at Animal Kingdom, the best rides will require long waits because there just aren’t many of them.
When you want to ride something quickly at Animal Kingdom, your best bet is to head to DinoLand, U.S.A.
Photo: Disney
Even on the most crowded days, TriceraTop Spin and DINOSAUR should remain accessible.
Also, you can take the short walk to It’s Tough to Be a Bug and catch a charming show.
An unconventional approach, depending on the weather, is Kali River Rapids.
Photo: Disney
Personally, I wouldn’t want to be drenched during Christmas Week, but if you don’t mind the thought, its lines are typically quite short.
That’s true because most guests would rather not experience a wet ride in late December. Fortune favors the bold and uncaring here.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
New stage
Okay, you WILL have some options to avoid the longest lines at Hollywood Studios. They’re just not the most desirable options.
The crowds at Muppet*Vision 3D and Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy rarely swell in size independent of the park’s attendance.
Photo: Disney
Similarly, Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! is typically reliable as a wait of 30 minutes or less.
Also, here’s a pro tip. You can ignore the posted wait time on rides like this one.
Photo: Disney
In many instances, Disney employs a tactic of listing higher waits to deter people from entering lines on crowded dates.
Also, the character greetings and shows at Hollywood Studios should remain reasonably accessible throughout the day as well.
Ordinarily, I’d suggest Single Rider at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith as a thrill option.
Alas, during the busiest days, the wait at Single Rider can nearly match the ride’s regular version.
So, I usually suggest Disney Genie+ at Hollywood Studios on crowded days, although I realize that’s a divisive topic.
EPCOT
Here’s something you’ll love about EPCOT. Even on the most crowded dates, seven attractions maintain relatively low average wait times.
Here’s a list of options you should find reasonable during your visit:
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros
- Journey into Imagination with Figment
- Living with the Land
- Mission: SPACE
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
- Spaceship Earth
- Turtle Talk with Crush
Photo: Disney
Overall, that’s a strong list of attractions that should entertain your family.
Between these quick rides, you can try your luck with some of the park’s more popular attractions.
Also, remember that EPCOT has recently introduced new amenities with World Celebration Gardens, Journey of Water | Inspired by Moana, and Luminous The Symphony of Us.
Magic Kingdom
We’re now ready to discuss the two most popular theme parks on the planet.
Since Disneyland inspired Magic Kingdom, the two parks share many similarities.
Magic Kingdom
Most notably, the sheer volume of high-quality attractions ensures that you can usually find something with a short wait, even on the busiest days.
Even iconic rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and It’s a Small World can have waits of 30 minutes or less.
(Renie Bardeau / Associated Press)
In fact, in reviewing my holiday 2022 notes, that’s almost exactly what It’s a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean averaged.
Haunted Mansion took 10 minutes longer, which still isn’t bad.
The recent addition of the Hatbox Ghost may increase its December 2023 wait times, though.
Overall, here are some Magic Kingdom attractions to target during the holidays:
- Astro Orbiter
- The Barnstormer
- Country Bear Jamboree
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Mad Tea Party
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
Note that Country Bear Jamboree might not be a walk-on this year because Disney plans to update the show during the first half of 2024.
Disneyland
Photo: Disney
As with Magic Kingdom, you’ll find a shocking number of attractions that should feature tolerable waits.
I’ll add that you can expect MickeyBlog and other Disney sites to post screen caps of ridiculously long wait times via the My Disney Experience and Disneyland apps.
Photo: Disney
However, as I mentioned, those posts won’t apply to the full park visit, simply the busiest time frames.
So, please don’t freak out when you see them. Remember that you can always find plenty to do even when you’re not riding anything.
Credit: Disney
After all, Disneyland Park has reinvented Mickey’s Toontown and Adventureland Treehouse in 2023.
Those activities technically don’t count in wait time discussions, but they’re plenty of fun to do.
Photo: Disney
As for attractions, here are some that should require shorter waits:
- Alice in Wonderland
- Astro Orbitor
- Autopia
- Casey Jr. Circus Train
- Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes
- Disneyland Monorail
- Disneyland Railroad
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- King Arthur Carrousel
- Mad Tea Party
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Toad’s Wild Ride
- Pinocchio’s Daring Journey
- Snow White’s Enchanted Wish
- Splash Mountain
- Storybook Land Canal Boats
As counterintuitive as this statement may sound, you’ll have the easiest time finding attractions with short waits at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom.
Disney California Adventure
Finally, we have Disney California Adventure, another park of the haves and have-nots.
Nine of the attractions here averaged waits of 55 minutes or more during the holidays last year.
Photo: Park Savers
Conversely, these attractions held steadily at 30 minutes or less:
- Golden Zephyr
- Grizzly River Run
- Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind
- Jessie’s Critter Carousel
- Jumpin’ Jellyfish
- The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
- Silly Symphony Swings
Photo:Disney
Admittedly, that’s the B-team at Disney California Adventure, save for Grizzly River Run. And that attraction falls in the same category as Kali River Rapids.
Sure, you can take a wet ride in December, but it’s a choice that comes with potential regrets. Then again, I guess that’s a wet ride at any time of the year.
Photo: Disney
Notably, Mater’s Jingle Jamboree and Luigi’s Joy to the Whirl require longer waits due to their ride overlays.
However, I’d still expect the actual wait to be under 35 minutes on average.
Credit: Disney
As always, the time from 11 AM to 3 PM will be when the park is most crowded.
Other than this timeframe, everything I’ve said here should be reliable.
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Feature Photo: Disney
