Walt Disney World Wait Times for Fourth Week of August 2024

We’re officially one month into the new Lightning Lane system at Walt Disney World.

Also, we’ve reached the unofficial end of the summer tourist season at theme parks across North America.

School is back in session at the overwhelming majority of North American schools and universities.

Generally speaking, this change organically reduces the crowds at Disney theme parks.

Then again, on an anecdotal basis, I know several parents who cry away the pain of their kids leaving for college by going to Disney.

So, I never really know what to expect when we discuss Walt Disney World wait times for the fourth week of August 2024.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom

At Animal Kingdom, we’re all awaiting confirmation dates on when stuff will start closing at DinoLand USA.

Park officials indicated that construction will begin in earnest this Fall.

DinoLand USA

So, the changes could theoretically come within the month, although that strikes me as ambitious.

Disney also stated that it would take a phased approach to park closures, which makes sense.

Animal Kingdom needs every attraction it has, especially the rides.

Disney shouldn’t close them until the last possible moment to keep operations running smoothly.

Photo: Disney

Therefore, I expect normalcy for the next couple of months, barring something unforeseen.

Keeping that in mind, here are the park’s average wait times last week:

• Avatar Flight of Passage – 76 minutes, down 9
• Na’vi River Journey – 58 minutes, down 5
• Kali River Rapids – 45 minutes, down 8
• Expedition Everest – 38 minutes, down 7
• Adventurers Outpost – 37 minutes, up 1
• Kilimanjaro Safaris – 35 minutes, no change
• DINOSAUR – 30 minutes, down 7
• It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 10 minutes, no change
• TriceraTop Spin – 10 minutes, up 2

Photo: Disney

Overall, Animal Kingdom guests stood in line for an average of 38 minutes per attraction, which is three minutes less than last time.

So, we’re trending toward a calmer week, although the next park is often unpredictable. Hold that thought for at least one more section!

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

We’re still tracking the Muppets Courtyard story quite closely, but the current belief is that it may yet survive.

On the morning of the D23 parks panel, that wasn’t the case.

Savor your next Muppet*Vision 3D screening, appreciating what was almost lost.

I love change as much as the next person, but I’d hate to lose Jim Henson’s final project. Wouldn’t you?

Anyway, here are the average wait times at Hollywood Studios last week, including our beloved Muppet*Vision 3D.

• Slinky Dog Dash – 71 minutes, down 1
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 61 minutes, down 3
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers – 58 minutes, no change
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – 58 minutes, down 6
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 51 minutes, down 2
• Toy Story Mania! – 49 minutes, down 1
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 48 minutes, down 5
• Red Carpet Dreams – 41 minutes, up 3
• Alien Swirling Saucers – 36 minutes, up 4
• Celebrity Spotlight – 18 minutes, up 2
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue – 17 minutes, down 1
• Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 15 minutes, no change
• Muppet*Vision 3D — 10 minutes, no change

Photo: TheCoasterKings.com

Overall, park guests waited for an average of 37 minutes, two minutes less than time.

So, yeah. The first two parks suggest that Disney’s new digital queuing system is working quite well in combination with the smaller crowds.

EPCOT

I think you get the gist by now, but I do want to highlight something important regarding EPCOT.

While most theme parks suffered attendance drops last year, EPCOT experienced an estimated increase of 20 percent.

I’ve written an article discussing this behavior and the rationale behind it.

The important thing to note is that Disney has improved EPCOT across the board, with fans taking note of the better version of the park.

Photo: Disney

We can tell this through the attendance numbers and wait times data over the past 18 months. It’s an impressive turnaround.

Here are EPCOT’s average wait times last week:

• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 59 minutes, up 1
• Frozen Ever After – 56 minutes, up 3
• Soarin’ Around the World – 40 minutes, up 3
• Royal Sommerhus – 34 minutes, no change
• Meet Mickey & Friends – 29 minutes, up 1
• Mission: SPACE – 21 minutes, no change
• Spaceship Earth – 20 minutes, up 1
• Turtle Talk with Crush – 19 minutes, up 1
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 17 minutes, no change
• Journey into Imagination with Figment – 16 minutes, up 2
• Living with the Land – 15 minutes, no change
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 12 minutes, up 1

Photo: Disney

Overall, EPCOT attractions averaged a wait of 28 minutes, which is one minute more than last time.

So, not every park experienced a wait time decrease last week.

Magic Kingdom

Disney Springs Halloween PhotoPass

What happened at Magic Kingdom? Let’s find out. Here are the park’s average wait times for the week.

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 61 minutes, no change
• Peter Pan’s Flight – 51 minutes, up 7
• Space Mountain – 45 minutes, down 2
• Jungle Cruise – 43 minutes, no change
• Princess Fairytale Hall – 38 minutes, down 2
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 37 minutes, down 1
• Haunted Mansion – 35 minutes, down 2
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 34 minutes, down 3
• Pete’s Silly Sideshow – 33 minutes, no change
• Town Square Theater – 33 minutes, up 1
• Ariel’s Grotto – 32 minutes, up 1
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 32 minutes, up 1
• Astro Orbiter – 27 minutes, down 5
• Enchanted Tales with Belle – 26 minutes, up 4
• Pirates of the Caribbean – 25 minutes, down 2
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 23 minutes, down 1
• It’s a Small World – 22 minutes, down 1
• Tomorrowland Speedway – 21 minutes, down 2
• The Barnstormer – 18 minutes, down 2
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 18 minutes, no change
• Country Bear Musical Jamboree – 17 minutes, down 1
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 15 minutes, no change
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 14 minutes, no change
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 14 minutes, down 1
• Walt Disney World Railroad – 14 minutes, down 3
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 13 minutes, no change
• Mad Tea Party – 12 minutes, no change
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 10 minutes, no change
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change

Final Thoughts

Overall, the average Magic Kingdom attraction acquired a wait of 25 minutes, which is one minute more than last time.

So, we had two parks up and two parks down last week.

Photo: Disney

Technically, the four parks were down overall. However, the gap was smaller than I would have expected.

Finally, I want to draw your attention to Country Bear Musical Jamboree, which debuted on July 17^th.

Photo: Disney

After five weeks in operation, the attraction is still tripling the former wait times of Country Bear Jamboree.

Disney deserves credit for reinvigorating this attraction and thereby increasing interest and foot traffic.

That’s the goal for all park changes, and this one appears to have worked well.

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Feature Photo: Disney