Walt Disney World Wait Times for Presidents Day Week

We just finished another holiday at Walt Disney World.

Guests in attendance at the parks could tell by the crowds and the prices for Disney Genie+.

In fact, the digital queuing service sold out the other day, which tells the whole story here.

How were the Walt Disney World wait times during Presidents Day Week 2024?

You can expect them to be significantly longer than last week.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Image: Disney

The one thing to keep in mind about last week is the timing.

Many tourists perceive Presidents Day Weekend as a three-day weekend, maybe even four days.

So, we’re only talking about holiday-related crowd surges on half the dates.

End of Line wait time sign

Hopefully, that should keep the wait time increases from being dramatic. Is that correct?

Here are Animal Kingdom’s average wait times last week:

• Avatar Flight of Passage – 122 minutes, up 7
• Na’vi River Journey – 83 minutes, up 5
• Expedition Everest – 55 minutes, up 1
• Adventurers Outpost – 57 minutes, down 1
• Kilimanjaro Safaris – 48 minutes, down 3
• DINOSAUR – 34 minutes, down 1
• It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 15 minutes, no change
• TriceraTop Spin – 13 minutes, no change

Photo: Theme Park Tourist via Wikipedia

Overall, guests waited in line for 54 minutes per attraction, only one minute more than last time.

Okay, I didn’t expect that. Maybe the holiday bump wasn’t as dramatic in 2024. We’ll find out with…

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Photo: Touring Plans

Mayhem, thy name is…

We’ve learned to expect the longest, most consistent lines at Hollywood Studios because it’s home to all the E-ticket rides.

Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, as every Walt Disney World theme park hosts multiple E-ticket attractions.

Photo: Touring Plans

In terms of proportions, Hollywood Studios claims a larger share relative to its number of attractions, though.

How were the crowds this past week? Let’s check:

Photo: Disney Parks Blog

• Slinky Dog Dash – 121 minutes, up 6
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – 115 minutes, up 23
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 89 minutes, up 13
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 81 minutes, up 13
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 77 minutes, up 11
• Toy Story Mania! – 76 minutes, up 7
• Alien Swirling Saucers – 48 minutes, up 4
• Red Carpet Dreams – 44 minutes, down 2
• Celebrity Spotlight – 25 minutes, no change
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 25 minutes, up 6
• Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 15 minutes, no change
• Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change

Overall, Hollywood Studios guests for an average of 54 minutes, five minutes more than last time.

Photo: LA Times

At the moment, we’re witnessing a strange phenomenon where Animal Kingdom attractions generally require the same wait times.

You’ll get better bang for your buck at Hollywood Studios, albeit at the opportunity cost of more park congestion.

The other noteworthy element this week is that six different attractions required a wait of 75 minutes or longer.

That’s definitely a sign of holiday traffic. We would have had seven if Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith had been open.

So, overall, we’ve got a slight uptick in Walt Disney World wait times.

EPCOT

Photo: Disney

The EPCOT International Festival of the Arts just ended, but fans wanted to squeeze in a few more activities before then.

For this reason, the parks should have had an uptick during those final few days.

Then, we’ll have a brief lull before the next festival begins…in a week.

So, there’s barely even a calm before the next storm at the park.

Here are EPCOT’s average wait times last week:

• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 97 minutes, up 10
• Frozen Ever After – 96 minutes, up 13
• Test Track – 82 minutes, up 7
• Soarin’ Around the World – 73 minutes, up 16
• Mission: SPACE – 45 minutes, up 22
• Royal Sommerhus – 43 minutes, up 1
• Spaceship Earth – 28 minutes, up 6
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 23 minutes, up 6
• Turtle Talk with Crush – 21 minutes, up 1
• Journey into Imagination with Figment – 18 minutes, up 2
• Living with the Land – 18 minutes, up 3
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 16 minutes, up 2

(Matt Stroshane, photographer)

Overall, the average wait time for EPCOT attractions was 46 minutes, eight (!) minutes more than last time.

Magic Kingdom

I think you can identify the holiday impact by now.

So, here are Magic Kingdom’s average wait times last week:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 97 minutes, up 6
• Peter Pan’s Flight – 75 minutes, up 4
• Space Mountain – 74 minutes, up 3
• Jungle Cruise – 68 minutes, up 3
• Haunted Mansion – 58 minutes, up 5
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 55 minutes, up 1
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 47 minutes, up 4
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 45 minutes, up 3
• Princess Fairytale Hall – 45 minutes, down 1
• Ariel’s Grotto – 44 minutes, up 1
• Pirates of the Caribbean – 43 minutes, down 1
• Town Square Theater – 43 minutes, down 2
• Enchanted Tales with Belle – 39 minutes, up 3
• Astro Orbiter – 37 minutes, down 1
• Pete’s Silly Sideshow – 37 minutes, down 1
• It’s a Small World – 36 minutes, up 4
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 35 minutes, up 3
• The Barnstormer – 33 minutes, no change
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 32 minutes, down 1
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 27 minutes, down 2
• Tomorrowland Speedway – 26 minutes, up 2
• Mad Tea Party – 22 minutes, up 2
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 18 minutes, up 1
• Walt Disney Railroad – 18 minutes, down 2
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 17 minutes, down 1
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 16 minutes, up 1
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 15 minutes, no change
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change

Final Thoughts

The average wait for a Magic Kingdom attraction was 35 minutes over the holiday, which is the same as last week.

So, we have two parks that didn’t experience much holiday wait time inflation.

Then, we have EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, where the impact was clear.

Overall, the holiday did have an impact on Walt Disney World Wait Times for Presidents Day Week 2024, but it’s more dramatic at some parks than the others.

I’ll admit that I’m a bit surprised that Animal Kingdom didn’t increase its wait times as much, though.

With fewer attractions there, I’d have expected a bigger surge. Hollywood Studios experienced that behavior instead.  

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Feature Photo: Disney