Walt Disney World Wait Times for Early March 2026
One of Disney’s most popular roller coasters just permanently closed. Sorta.
How did the ending of a ride with an hour-long wait on most days impact crowd behavior?
Photo:visitorlando.com
This is a fascinating week of Walt Disney World wait times for early March 2026.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
All the changes at Animal Kingdom are happening behind the scenes.
For this reason, the park is currently the quietest one at Disney World.
Tree of Life
I suspect that statement will apply until 2027. Oh, wait. Disney thought of everything.
Okay, so that statement will apply until Bluey arrives this summer.
Photo: Disney Parks Blog
At that point, kids will demand that their parents take them to Animal Kingdom.
Therefore, we’re still in the calm before the storm coming this summer.
Photo: TouringPlans.com
Until then, here are the park’s average wait times last week:
- Avatar Flight of Passage – 65 minutes, down 2
- Na’vi River Journey – 50 minutes, down 4
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – 33 minutes, down 3
- Adventurers Outpost – 32 minutes, down 6
- Expedition Everest – 29 minutes, down 3
- Kali River Rapids – 28 minutes, up 5
- Zootopia: Better Zoogether! – 22 minutes, down 2
Photo: D23
Overall, Animal Kingdom guests waited for an average of 37 minutes per attraction.
That’s two minutes less than last time and would be even lower if not for the weather.
Kali River Rapids
You’ll notice that Kali River Rapids is the only ride whose average wait increased.
You should expect that trend to continue as long as the weather continues to be nice.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Photo: Deadline.com
Anybody under 30 who knows Aerosmith is a bit of an oddity. That’s just math.
The bands of yesteryear tend to fade into oblivion, no matter how popular they once were.
For this reason, I fully understand why Disney made a change at this park.
After literally a decade of rumors, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith finally closed.
Image: Disney
As expected, Disney is re-theming the ride rather than shutting it down forever.
Still, the Aerosmith aspects are already gone, which must make the band feel VERY old.
wallup.net
Speaking as someone who still has Aerosmith CDs – kids, ask your parents! – I, too, feel VERY old.
So, how did the closure of this particular attraction impact the crowds?
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Here are the average wait times at Hollywood Studios last week:
- Slinky Dog Dash – 74 minutes, down 1
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 55 minutes, down 23
- Toy Story Mania! – 52 minutes, up 1
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – 51 minutes, down 19
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 47 minutes, down 6
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 39 minutes, down 20
- Red Carpet Dreams – 34 minutes, down 2
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 30 minutes, down 3
- Celebrity Spotlight – 17 minutes, down 3
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 9 minutes, down 2
Slinky Dog Dash
Overall, the average Hollywood Studios attraction required a wait of 41 minutes.
That’s ten minutes less than last time, albeit with a huge asterisk.
We just lost a ride with an average wait of 60+ minutes. And that’s not all.
This week’s data suggests that people aren’t riding Tower of Terror as much now.
Photo: Disney
I have no idea whether that trend will continue, but it’s a fascinating twist.
So many of us have been doing the RnR/Tower of Terror combo for 30 years.
Disney
The sudden absence of one ride may reduce the appeal of the other.
Alternatively, this could have been a one-off blip. Still, you should learn from it.
Disney
Keep an eye on Tower of Terror’s wait time. If it continues to be this low, take full advantage!
Seriously, ride it over and over again while the lines are much shorter than usual!
EPCOT
Ordinarily, EPCOT would be the main topic of conversation this week.
As longtime readers of this article know, festivals absolutely do impact crowd trends.
Fans prioritize their favorite food booths and adjust their behavior accordingly.
So, attraction wait times increase in the area of those food booths.
The Citrus Blossom – 2026 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival
Fans in food comas slowly trudge over to the line queues to pass the time for a while.
Since the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival is the granddaddy of them all, it has a fan rush.
Did the opening day mobs impact the crowds? Absolutely. That’s not the real question, though.
How were the average wait times at EPCOT last week? That’s what we want to know.
Photo: Disney
So, here they are:
- Test Track – 76 minutes, up 2
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – 74 minutes, up 1
- Frozen Ever After – 59 minutes, down 7
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 55 minutes, down 2
- Royal Sommerhus – 47 minutes, down 2
- Living with the Land – 26 minutes, up 2
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 23 minutes, up 3
- Meet Mickey & Friends – 21 minutes, down 3
- Spaceship Earth – 21 minutes, no change
- Mission: SPACE – 19 minutes, down 1
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 18 minutes, down 1
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 15 minutes, no change
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 12 minutes, no change
Overall, EPCOT guests waited for an average of 36 minutes per attraction.
Soarin’ Around the World
That’s exactly the same as last week, which is actually a win for Flower & Garden.
The rest of Walt Disney World is clearly trending down by a fair amount.
Jardin de Fiestas – 2026 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival
Meanwhile, ECPOT held steady, once again proving that these festivals are a huge draw.
Magic Kingdom
Photo: Tron Lightcycle/Run
Finally, here are the average wait times at the world’s most popular theme park last week:
- TRON Lightcycle / Run – 62 minutes, no change
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 58 minutes, down 2
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 50 minutes, no change
- Jungle Cruise – 47 minutes, down 4
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure – 47 minutes, up 18
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 41 minutes, down 2
- Space Mountain – 41 minutes, down 1
- Haunted Mansion – 34 minutes, down 4
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 33 minutes, down 1
- Ariel’s Grotto – 31 minutes, down 1
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 31 minutes, down 1
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 27 minutes, up 2
- Astro Orbiter – 26 minutes, down 2
- Town Square Theater – 26 minutes, down 1
- It’s a Small World – 25 minutes, up 1
- Walt Disney World Railroad – 23 minutes, up 2
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 22 minutes, down 2
- Enchanted Tales with Belle – 22 minutes, down 2
- The Barnstormer – 21 minutes, down 2
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 18 minutes, down 7
- Tomorrowland Speedway – 16 minutes, no change
- Mad Tea Party – 15 minutes, down 1
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 14 minutes, down 1
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 14 minutes, no change
- Country Bear Musical Jamboree – 13 minutes, no change
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 13 minutes, down 1
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 13 minutes, no change
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change
Final Thoughts
Overall, Magic Kingdom guests spent an average of 29 minutes standing in line for each attraction.
That’s the same as last week, albeit primarily because of the weather.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is one of just three rides that increased its wait last week.
However, it went up by so much that it canceled out many of the negligible drops.
Also, there’s some rounding involved, but yeah. Warmer weather means more wet rides.
To a larger point, this was a relatively calm week at Disney World as we await a change.
Spring Break crowds will dominate the conversation over the next month of data, though.
