Walt Disney World Wait Times for First Week of January 2026

A friend of mine texted from Walt Disney World the other day. Her simple question was, “Where did everybody go?” And that was on a Saturday!

With New Year’s Week over, most tourists have returned to their everyday lives.

The drudgery of winter currently overwhelms us, while a fortunate few remain in Orlando.

Here are Walt Disney World’s wait times during the first full week of January 2026. Let’s just say that a lot can change in a week.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

DINOSAUR

We’re coming to the end of an era at Animal Kingdom. On February 1^st, guests can ride DINOSAUR for the last time.

Technically, that statement applies to the rest of DinoLand USA as well, but I’m less worried about that.

I explained why a year ago, and nothing has changed.

This is Disney World’s worst themed land. The Tropical Americas will instantly improve the park.

Still, we should expect a few unusual park behaviors over the next three weeks.

Many guests disagree with me, and they’ll squeeze in a few more visits to DinoLand.

Did that happen this past week? Here are the park’s average wait times:

• Avatar Flight of Passage – 71 minutes, down 56 (!)
• Na’vi River Journey – 47 minutes, down 24
• Expedition Everest – 37 minutes, down 25
• Kilimanjaro Safaris – 35 minutes, down 32
• Adventurers Outpost – 31 minutes, down 13
• DINOSAUR – 23 minutes, down 26
• Zootopia: Better Zoogether! – 18 minutes, down 19
• Kali River Rapids – 17 minutes, down 5

Photo: Disney

Overall, Animal Kingdom guests stood in line for an average of 35 minutes.

That’s a slightly higher wait than usual at this park and yet down 25 minutes from last week.

Did I mention that the New Year’s holiday ended?

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Frankly, this park could use a breather. Hollywood Studios was mobbed for three straight weeks.

We’re talking about some of the longest wait times the park has had in two or three years.

Photo: Disney

Thankfully, that phase appears to be over, as proven by these wait times:

• Slinky Dog Dash – 74 minutes, down 47
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – 73 minutes, down 38
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 62 minutes, down 38
• Toy Story Mania! – 55 minutes, down 22
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 51 minutes, down 25
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 50 minutes, down 25
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 47 minutes, down 46
• Red Carpet Dreams – 35 minutes, down 10
• Alien Swirling Saucers – 28 minutes, down 34
• Celebrity Spotlight – 15 minutes, down 10
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 11 minutes, down 25

Photo: Disney

Overall, Hollywood Studios guests spent an average of 46 minutes in line per attraction.

Once again, that’s higher than normal and yet still 28 minutes less than last time.

runDisney

So, what we appear to be witnessing is runDisney inflating the early January crowds.

Still, the drop from the holiday to regular tendencies is readily apparent.

EPCOT

We’re in the dark days at EPCOT, as there’s no festival ongoing. That fact will change on Friday, which is why you should read MickeyBlog then.

We’ll bring you all the coverage regarding the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts.

runDisney

Until then, the biggest deal in the area was the latest runDisney event. I had friends who participated in this, and they indicated that the crowds were smaller than usual.

However, they’d literally murder me if I failed to mention how wonderful those crowds were.

runDisney

The positivity of runDisney events makes them such uplifting group activities.

Did the runs impact the crowds? Here are EPCOT’s average wait times last week:

• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – 77 minutes, down 57
• Test Track – 73 minutes, down 54
• Frozen Ever After – 51 minutes, down 31
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 50 minutes, down 46
• Royal Sommerhus – 39 minutes, down 12
• Soarin’ Around the World – 35 minutes, down 41
• Meet Mickey & Friends – 20 minutes, down 13
• Mission: SPACE – 20 minutes, down 23
• Spaceship Earth – 18 minutes, down 21
• Turtle Talk with Crush – 18 minutes, down 3
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 16 minutes, down 21
• Living with the Land – 15 minutes, down 12
• Journey into Imagination with Figment – 10 minutes, down 17
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 9 minutes, down 10

Overall, well, EPCOT was a ghost town. Attractions only required an average wait of 32 minutes.

Disney

That’s 26 (!!!) minutes less than last time or nearly half the wait.

This is why I stress that holiday vacations at Disney World are a bit divisive. You’ll have a wonderful time, but you’ll wait oh so much longer for attractions.

Magic Kingdom

Disney

Finally, here are the average wait times at Magic Kingdom over the past week:

• TRON Lightcycle / Run – 72 minutes, down 39
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 57 minutes, down 31
• Peter Pan’s Flight – 50 minutes, down 22
• Jungle Cruise – 48 minutes, down 25
• Space Mountain – 45 minutes, down 25
• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure – 45 minutes, down 10
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 42 minutes, down 14
• Haunted Mansion – 38 minutes, down 15
• Princess Fairytale Hall – 31 minutes, down 10
• Ariel’s Grotto – 29 minutes, down 11
• Town Square Theater – 28 minutes, down 10
• Pirates of the Caribbean – 27 minutes, down 16
• Astro Oribiter – 26 minutes, down 13
• Walt Disney World Railroad – 23 minutes, no change
• It’s a Small World – 22 minutes, down 18
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 22 minutes, down 18
• The Barnstormer – 21 minutes, down 20
• Enchanted Tales with Belle – 21 minutes, down 12
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 19 minutes, down 15
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 16 minutes, down 22
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 15 minutes, down 4
• Tomorrowland Speedway – 15 minutes, down 18
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 14 minutes, down 7
• Country Bear Musical Jamboree – 13 minutes, down 1
• Mad Tea Party – 13 minutes, down 14
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 13 minutes, down 5
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 11 minutes, down 8
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change

Photo: Disney

Final Thoughts

Overall, Magic Kingdom guests didn’t notice the end of the holidays as much as other parks.

People spent an average of 28 minutes in line at the attractions, which is 14 minutes less than last time.

Photo: Disney

When I often mention how the sheer volume of attractions at Magic Kingdom matters, this is what I mean.

By glancing at the movement on these charts, you’ll notice how much fluctuation the other parks have.

Photo: Disney

There’s less variance at Magic Kingdom because guests have so many more places to go.

To a larger point, the attractions across the four parks lowered their wait times by 23 minutes last week. That’s how much attendance changes once the holidays end.

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Feature Photo: Disney