Walt Disney World Wait Times for Thanksgiving Week 2024
Walt Disney World just experienced another exciting week.
First, the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival closed. Then, less than a week later, its replacement arrived.
MickeyBlog brought you all the details about the 2024 version of the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays.
Now, we’ll tell you how the crowds were. Here are Walt Disney World’s average wait times for Thanksgiving Week 2024.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom


Photo: Disney
Theoretically, the busiest weeks of the year at Disney theme parks are Easter, July 4th, Thanksgiving, and late December.
I say theoretically because we’ve noticed the occasional hiccup at times like July 4th, especially on days with record heat.
However, Thanksgiving Week has remained steady for many years now.
So, it’ll be a surprise if wait times are down any this week. Having said that, I know that Disneyland didn’t spike as much as usual.


Photo: Disney
Thus, nothing is assured here. There’s at least a bit of mystery as we examine the average wait times at Animal Kingdom this week:
- Avatar Flight of Passage – 91 minutes, up 32
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – 60 minutes, up 21
- Na’vi River Journey – 58 minutes, up 8
- Expedition Everest – 41 minutes, up 21
- Adventurers Outpost – 34 minutes, up 2
- DINOSAUR – 32 minutes, up 17
- Kali River Rapids – 24 minutes, up 15
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 10 minutes, no change
- TriceraTop Spin – 10 minutes, up 2


Photo: Disney
I think you can already tell, but here are the facts. Animal Kingdom attractions averaged a wait of 40 minutes.
That’s 13 minutes or 48 percent (!) more than last time. Happy holidays, everyone!
Disney’s Hollywood Studios


Photo credit: DisneyWorldVacationGuide.com
As we’ve often discussed, Hollywood Studios doesn’t follow the same trajectory as Walt Disney World’s other parks as a rule.
Due to the huge imbalance at this park, the wait times demonstrate unique behavior.
Even so, it’d be a huge shock if the wait times weren’t up a lot during Thanksgiving Week.
Prepare not be shocked at all as we discuss the average wait times at Hollywood Studios last week:
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – 151 minutes, up 86
- Slinky Dog Dash – 93 minutes, up 24
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 70 minutes, up 29
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 60 minutes, up 16
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 53 minutes, up 19
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 53 minutes, up 18
- Toy Story Mania! – 52 minutes, up 12
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 41 minutes, up 13
- Red Carpet Dreams – 39 minutes, up 2
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 20 minutes, up 11
- Celebrity Spotlight – 19 minutes, up 4
- Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change


Star Tours
Overall, the attractions at this park averaged a 47-minute wait, which is 14 minutes or 42 percent more than last time.
While that sounds massive, I’ll add a bit of context. For several years, I described Hollywood Studios as crowded when it reached a certain criteria.


Photo: Disney
The park sometimes had seven different attractions with hourlong waits. This past week, there were only four.
Three others were in the 50s, but I swear we have seen this park much more crowded than it was during Thanksgiving.
EPCOT
I think you’ve already gotten the point. Still, EPCOT is interesting for the reason I mentioned at the top.
One festival ended while another began. Usually, new festivals cause an early rush as the locals want to sample the goodies.
However, that behavior only applies to three days this week, and they were already crowded anyway due to Thanksgiving.
So, it’ll be challenging to quantify any festival impact this time.


Pere Noel
Here are EPCOT’s average wait times last week:
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 70 minutes, up 17
- Frozen Ever After – 66 minutes, up 15
- Soarin’ Around the World – 46 minutes, up 12
- Royal Sommerhus – 38 minutes, up 2
- Meet Mickey & Friends – 26 minutes, no change
- Mission: SPACE – 25 minutes, up 5
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 24 minutes, up 9
- Living with the Land – 22 minutes, up 3
- Spaceship Earth – 22 minutes, up 6
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 19 minutes, up 1
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 18 minutes, up 4
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 13 minutes, up 2


Photo: Disney
Overall, the park’s attractions averaged a wait of 32 minutes, which is six minutes or 23 percent more than last time.
Magic Kingdom


Photo: Disney Parks
Finally, we have the average wait times at Magic Kingdom, and I’ll go ahead and tell you that these will NOT be pretty:
- Tron Lightcycle / Run – 115 minutes, up 24
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 70 minutes, up 19
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 55 minutes, up 9
- Space Mountain – 53 minutes, up 22
- Jingle Cruise – 51 minutes, up 9
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 44 minutes, up 10
- Haunted Mansion – 41 minutes, up 9
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 39 minutes, up 10
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 39 minutes, up 8
- Ariel’s Grotto – 34 minutes, up 4
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 34 minutes, up 8
- Pete’s Silly Sideshow – 34 minutes, up 3
- Astro Orbiter – 31 minutes, up 8
- Town Square Theater – 31 minutes, up 1
- The Barnstormer – 27 minutes, up 10
- It’s a Small World – 27 minutes, up 8
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 27 minutes, up 7
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 27 minutes, up 10
- Enchanted Tales with Belle – 26 minutes, up 2
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 25 minutes, up 9
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 24 minutes, up 7
- Tomorrowland Speedway – 23 minutes, up 8
- Mad Tea Party – 20 minutes, up 7
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 18 minutes, up 1
- Walt Disney World Railroad – 17 minutes, up 2
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 16 minutes, up 4
- Country Bear Musical Jamboree – 15 minutes, down 2
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 15 minutes, up 1
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 13 minutes, up 2
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change
Final Thoughts


Photo: orlandoattractions.com
Overall, guests stood in line for an average of 29 minutes per attraction, which is six minutes or 26 percent more than last time.
So, there was quantifiably a massive surge in traffic due to the holiday crowds.
Historically, the crowds immediately diminish during the week after Thanksgiving and remain modest until mid-December.
That’s why I think of the start of December as the calm before the storm.


Magic Kingdom During the Holiday Season
Enjoy the next two weeks, my friends! Walt Disney World will get WILD after that!
FEATURE IMAGE: Disney
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