Walt Disney World Wait Times During Hurricane Milton
Walt Disney World just suffered through its latest hurricane scare.
Hurricane Milton methodically swept across Florida last Wednesday and Thursday.
Photo: WESH
This was the rare storm that kept its hurricane status the entire time it made landfall, and its potentially devastating impact stressed everyone.
Walt Disney World closed its parks after only a few hours on Wednesday and then stayed closed on Thursday.
Disney World weather warning
However, the hurricane’s impact was already felt the previous weekend as panicked tourists altered their vacation plans.
As I mentioned during a hurricane prep article, at least one day last week registered the lowest crowds I’ve ever tracked.
Main Street, U.S.A.
Did that trend continue throughout the week? Here are Walt Disney World’s average wait times during the week of Hurricane Milton.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Whenever Disney suffers through a hurricane, I know that the people will be safe.
So, one of my greatest concerns is the animals who live at this park.
Tree of Life
The weather disrupts their daily existence and, potentially, their natural habitats.
Thankfully, Disney posted some delightful images of flamingos returning to the safety of their domiciles after the storm.
View this post on Instagram
The Disney Animal Care Team had once again done its job admirably as the protectors of the temporarily displaced creatures.
How did all these disruptions impact the crowds last week? Here are Animal Kingdom’s average wait times:
- Avatar Flight of Passage – 41 minutes, down 6
- Na’vi River Journey – 37 minutes, down 10
- Adventurers Outpost – 24 minutes, down 7
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – 21 minutes, down 8
- Expedition Everest – 17 minutes, down 10
- DINOSAUR – 10 minutes, down 8
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 10 minutes, no change
- Kali River Rapids – 9 minutes, down 13
- TriceraTop Spin – 5 minutes, down 4
Triceratop Spin
Okay, we’ve got something I don’t think we’ve ever had before.
For the week, Animal Kingdom attractions averaged a wait of 19 minutes, which is eight minutes less than last time.
Expedition Everest
That’s the first sub-20-minute weekly average I can ever recall at any Disney park. So, that tells the whole story right there.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
I don’t post daily breakdowns when I post weekly wait times, but if I did, the pattern would be clear.
The parks behaved normally on Monday, as stranded guests had their fun before the weather got bad.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
On Tuesday, the crowds fell by more than half as people prepared for the storm.
Disney opened its parks on Wednesday, which frustrated some Cast Members.
Tower of Terror
I’m sure Disney had its reasons to do so, but the non-existent crowds told the story.
That was the smallest crowd size I’ve ever tracked at the parks, and I’ve been doing this for more than five years now.
Hollywood Studios
NOBODY showed up on Wednesday. Then, on Friday, some degree of normalcy returned.
How did this impact the full week of data? Here are the park’s average wait times last week:
- Slinky Dog Dash – 62 minutes, no change
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – 49 minutes, down 5
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 43 minutes, down 8
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 39 minutes, down 8
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 36 minutes, down 11
- Toy Story Mania! – 36 minutes, down 8
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 33 minutes, down 3
- Red Carpet Dreams – 29 minutes, down 7
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 25 minutes, down 5
- Celebrity Spotlight – 10 minutes, down 5
- Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 7 minutes, down 3
Star Tours
Overall, Hollywood Studios attractions averaged a wait of 27 minutes, which is five minutes less than last time.
EPCOT
You’ve gotten the point by now. The weather definitely impacted the crowds, leading to some lower wait times than we’re used to seeing.
“Walt the Dreamer” at Dreamers Point in EPCOT
Here are the EPCOT averages last week:
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 47 minutes, down 8
- Frozen Ever After – 41 minutes, down 13
- Royal Sommerhus – 31 minutes, down 9
- Soarin’ Around the World – 25 minutes, down 9
- Meet Mickey & Friends – 16 minutes, down 7
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 12 minutes, down 7
- Mission: SPACE – 10 minutes, down 7
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 10 minutes, down 9
- Spaceship Earth – 8 minutes, down 9
- Living with the Land – 7 minutes, down 9
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 5 minutes, down 9
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 5 minutes, down 9
Imagination! Pavilion
Those numbers speak volumes about what hurricane weather did to Disney World’s “hangout” park. Nobody felt like hanging out.
EPCOT attractions averaged a wait of 18 minutes, which is eight minutes lower than last time…and somehow lower than Animal Kingdom’s average!
Magic Kingdom
Finally, here are Magic Kingdom’s average wait times for the week of Hurricane Milton:
- Tron Lightcycle / Run – 89 minutes, down 14
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 53 minutes, down 1
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 41 minutes, down 6
- Space Mountain – 32 minutes, down 4
- Haunted Mansion – 31 minutes, down 6
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 28 minutes, down 3
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 28 minutes, down 4
- Ariel’s Grotto – 25 minutes, down 4
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 25 minutes, down 6
- Town Square Theater – 24 minutes, down 4
- Pete’s Silly Sideshow – 22 minutes, down 9
- Astro Orbiter – 20 minutes, no change
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 21 minutes, down 6
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 21 minutes, down 2
- Enchanted Tales with Belle – 17 minutes, down 6
- It’s a Small World – 16 minutes, down 7
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 16 minutes, down 5
- The Barnstormer – 15 minutes, down 3
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 15 minutes, down 1
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 12 minutes, down 6
- Country Bear Musical Jamboree – 11 minutes, down 3
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 11 minutes, down 3
- Tomorrowland Speedway – 11 minutes, down 3
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 10 minutes, down 5
- Mad Tea Party – 9 minutes, down 2
- Walt Disney World Railroad – 9 minutes, down 2
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 5 minutes, down 4
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 5 minutes, down 5
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change
Haunted Mansion in Disney World
Final Thoughts
Magic Kingdom was impacted the least by the unique weather situation.
Even so, the average wait time here was 20 minutes, which is two minutes less than last time.
Magic Kingdom
That means three of the four theme parks averaged waits of 20 minutes or less, the lowest totals I’ve ever tracked here.
So, that speaks volumes about how much Hurricane Milton (understandably) scared away guests.
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!
