Walt Disney World Wait Times for End of May 2026
Last Monday, tourists from around the country rushed to Walt Disney World.
They wanted to spend Memorial Day at the Most Magical Place on Earth.
Hollywood Studios Crowds
The universe played a cosmic joke, raising the temperatures to comical highs.
During my few days at Disney last week, the Heat Index reached 109 at one point.
Cinderella Castle
On several consecutive days, the Heat Index topped 105, which is, well, scalding hot.
I’ve seen some things this week, my friends. People were just dripping sweat.
Tree of Life
Did the scorching temperatures counteract the holiday week crowds?
Let’s find out! Here are Walt Disney World’s wait times for the end of May 2026.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
The big news at this park this week is the arrival of Bluey’s Wild World.
This will be a recurring theme, as three parks offered something entirely new.
Bluey’s Wild World
Quantifying which one is the biggest would be argumentative.
Still, I think we all agree that Bluey is up there in terms of huge demand.
Bluey’s Wild World
The new experience shouldn’t do much to increase the crowds, though.
Disney brought back a virtual queue system to prevent overcrowding in the area.
Jumping Junction
Guests couldn’t even board the Wildlife Express Train without a boarding group pass.
So, how were the wait times at Animal Kingdom during Memorial Day Week?
Wildlife Express Train Station
Here’s what I tracked:
- Avatar Flight of Passage – 79 minutes, up 21
- Na’vi River Journey – 53 minutes, up 7
- Kali River Rapids – 50 minutes, up 16
- Expedition Everest – 40 minutes, up 11
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – 33 minutes, up 7
- Adventurers Outpost – 31 minutes, up 2
- Zootopia: Better Zoogether! – 18 minutes, up 3
Expedition Everest
Overall, park guests waited for an average of 43 minutes per attraction.
That’s nine minutes more than last time and two minutes longer than Memorial Day Week 2025.
Photo: Disney
How much of that is random noise versus Bluey excitement?
We will find out more over the next few weeks, but it’s interesting.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Here’s the park that changed the most over the past week.
On May 22nd, the second mission of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run debuted.
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
Four days later, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets joined it.
On that same day, The Walt Disney Studios officially arrived as well.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets
The park introduced a new Disney Junior show as part of the proceedings, too.
So, crowd behavior here veered wildly from previous practices.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets
We careened around the park watching people debate their priorities.
Ultimately, The Muppets won out, at least as far as we could see.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets
This part of the park was mobbed throughout our visit to the point that Cast Members did something odd.
They wouldn’t let people into the ride’s gift shop unless the park guests had ridden.
NEW Muppets Merchandise – Rock Around the Shop
There simply wasn’t enough room in the gift shop to meet all the demand.
How did the crowds impact overall wait times? Here’s the data:
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets – 75 minutes, n/a
- Slinky Dog Dash – 74 minutes, up 15
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – 59 minutes, up 9
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 50 minutes, up 7
- Toy Story Mania! – 49 minutes, no change
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 49 minutes, up 8
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 46 minutes, up 1
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 35 minutes, up 9
- Red Carpet Dreams – 33 minutes, no change
- Celebrity Spotlight – 17 minutes, up 2
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 13 minutes, up 4
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Overall, the average park attraction required a wait of 45 minutes.
This total signifies a sizable increase of eight minutes and is six minutes more than last year.
Tower of Terror
I’m not surprised by the demand for The Muppets, as we witnessed it live.
However, that Smugglers Run total may have Disney worried.
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
When we rode, the listed wait time was just 25 minutes…and that was on day two!
So, the new mission isn’t appealing to guests as much as Disney had hoped.
EPCOT
Soarin’ Across America finally debuted at EPCOT on May 26th.
The excitement was palpable throughout the crowd, which held steady all day.
Soarin’ Across America
I never got a chance to verify what happened after that, at least not in person.
And I’m also aware of the somewhat divisive reception on social media.
Soarin’ Across America
While I’m used to people being overly critical of Disney and its rides, this one surprised me.
I’ll post a full review later, but I love the new version of Soarin’!
Soarin’ Across America
Beyond that, I have no idea what to expect at EPCOT, which struck me as reasonably crowded.
Was I seeing things, or did the park increase attendance last week?
Frozen Ever After
Here are EPCOT’s average wait times during Memorial Day Week:
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – 89 minutes, up 16
- Test Track – 87 minutes, up 15
- Frozen Ever After – 62 minutes, up 5
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – 60 minutes, up 8
- Soarin’ Across America – 53 minutes, up 18
- Royal Sommerhus – 43 minutes, up 5
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 24 minutes, up 5
- Spaceship Earth – 24 minutes, up 6
- Meet Mickey & Friends – 23 minutes, up 1
- Living with the Land – 21 minutes, up 4
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 20 minutes, up 2
- Mission: SPACE – 19 minutes, no change
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 18 minutes, up 3
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 11 minutes, no change
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Overall, EPCOT guests spent an average of 40 minutes in line per attraction.
That’s seven minutes more than last time as well as Memorial Day Week 2025’s average wait.
Spaceship Earth
So, the parks were obviously more crowded last week despite the oppressive heat.
Magic Kingdom
Finally, here are Magic Kingdom’s average wait times last week:
- TRON Lightcycle / Run – 70 minutes, up 14
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 55 minutes, up 7
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure – 55 minutes, up 10
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 51 minutes, up 5
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 49 minutes, up 6
- Space Mountain – 48 minutes, up 12
- Jungle Cruise – 45 minutes, up 4
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 43 minutes, up 9
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 38 minutes, up 5
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 32 minutes, up 3
- Haunted Mansion – 30 minutes, up 4
- Ariel’s Grotto – 29 minutes, up 1
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 26 minutes, up 6
- Town Square Theater – 25 minutes, down 1
- Astro Orbiter – 22 minutes, up 5
- Walt Disney World Railroad – 22 minutes, no change
- Enchanted Tales with Belle – 21 minutes, up 3
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 21 minutes, up 6
- The Barnstormer – 20 minutes, up 6
- It’s a Small World – 20 minutes, up 4
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 19 minutes, up 6
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 18 minutes, up 5
- Tomorrowland Speedway – 18 minutes, up 3
- Mad Tea Party – 15 minutes, up 4
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 15 minutes, up 1
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 14 minutes, up 1
- Country Bear Musical Jamboree – 13 minutes, no change
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 13 minutes, up 3
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 11 minutes, up 2
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 5 minutes, no change
Final Thoughts
Overall, the attractions at Magic Kingdom averaged a wait of 29 minutes.
So, this park’s average wait increased by five minutes from last time.
TRON Lightcycle / Run
That total is also two minutes more than for Memorial Week 2025.
In other words, Disney’s plan to add tons of new attractions this past week proved successful.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Park attendance clearly increased across Disney World despite high temperatures and humidity.
