Walt Disney World Wait Times for Last Week of January 2022
“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”
We all know this quote, even though many people don’t know the source material, misidentifying it as a Swingers quote.
In reality, galaxy brain catcher Yogi Berra once described a popular restaurant in these terms.
I’ve been thinking about this quote a lot due to the recent crowds at Disney theme parks.
While a horde of online critics swear that Disney has grown too expensive to visit, the parks keep claiming record attendance…during a pandemic.
In fact, I laughed when a writer from a publication I won’t identify baselessly claimed that Universal Studios and Disney faced a theme park attendance crisis.
About four days later, Universal Studios reported its best quarter ever…by a lot.
The same is true at Disney, where the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays triggered a traffic spike during its opening week.
Did that trend continue during the final week of January? Yes…but I’m happy to report that the crowds weren’t as large as last time.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
We always lead off these discussions by evaluating Avatar Flight of Passage.
I don’t do this because I love the ride – I’m a Soarin’ loyalist! – but because it’s always the most popular attraction at Animal Kingdom.
For the past week, the Pandora attraction averaged an 83-minute wait, down four minutes from last time.
Meanwhile, the other Pandora attraction, Na’vi River Journey, dropped to 55 minutes after being an hour previously.
So, we’re already showing signs of at least a modest decline in crowd sizes. Here’s the data for the rest of the park:
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – 40 minutes, up 7
- DINOSAUR – 25 minutes, down 5
- TriceraTop Spin – 18 minutes, up 3
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 10 minutes, down 1
- Kali River Rapids – 5 minutes, down 1
The average Animal Kingdom attraction came with a wait of 33 minutes, down a minute from last week. So, that’s…very, very slightly better.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
The song remains the same at Hollywood Studios. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is likely to top this chart for the foreseeable future.
For the past week, the Star Wars ride averaged a two-hour wait, down 15 minutes from our last conversation. It may not sound like much, but it’s a 12.5 percent improvement!
The other alpha at this park remains Slinky Dog Dash, which had an 87-minute wait, down 5 minutes from last time.
So, we appear to have modest improvements overall at Hollywood Studios. Let’s check the rest of the attractions to verify:
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 70 minutes, no change
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 60 minutes, down 12
- Toy Story Mania! – 59 minutes, down 6
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 55 minutes, down 5
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – 47 minutes, down 8
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 38 minutes, down 4
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue – 25 minutes, down 5
- Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 17 minutes, up 2
- Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change
The average Hollywood Studios attraction required a 43-minute wait, down two minutes from last time.
As an FYI, I’m including two attractions here that weren’t open the whole time. We’ll start tracking these character greetings next week.
Both Olaf the snowman and Minnie Mouse have returned to Hollywood Studios. Right now, you should expect to wait about 20-25 minutes for either one.
EPCOT
The most intriguing storyline at EPCOT remains Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.
Disney’s latest E-ticket attraction has undeniably driven demand at the France pavilion.
However, I’m pleased to report that its wait times have proven reasonable thus far in 2022.
We never really know how the crowds will behave when attractions open and/or switch to standby queues.
In the case of Ratatouille, the transition has proven seamless. For the past week, the ride averaged a wait of 76 minutes.
That’s less line-time than Rise of the Resistance or Slinky Dog Dash and on a par with Runaway Railway.
Given that this attraction is a year and a half newer than Runaway Railway, I’m thrilled with its wait times thus far.
In fact, Ratatouille’s average wait dropped 10 minutes from last time! At this pace, it could average less than an hour by the end of 2022!
Here’s everything else at EPCOT:
- Frozen Ever After – 72 minutes, down 13
- Test Track – 57 minutes, down 7
- Soarin’ Around the World – 33 minutes, down 7
- Living with the Land – 16 minutes, down 2
- Mission: SPACE – 14 minutes, up 2
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 14 minutes, down 1
- Spaceship Earth – 12 minutes, down 2
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 10 minutes, down 1
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 9 minutes, down 1
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 8 minutes, down 12
The average EPCOT attraction involved a 29-minute wait, down six minutes from last time.
Magic Kingdom
So, we’re three for three on parks with lower wait time averages. But, unfortunately, I said the same thing last week before we got to Magic Kingdom.
That park proved an extreme aberration last time. Does it go against the grain this time? Let’s check.
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – 101 minutes, down 24 minutes
- Jungle Cruise – 86 minutes, down 9
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 75 minutes, down 25
- Space Mountain – 55 minutes, down 25
- Haunted Mansion – 51 minutes, down 14
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 50 minutes, down 14
- Astro Orbiter – 49 minutes, down 1
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 47 minutes, down 13
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 46 minutes, down 16
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 45 minutes, down 8
- It’s a Small World – 40 minutes, down 12
- The Barnstormer – 38 minutes, down 13
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 36 minutes, down 19
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 33 minutes, down 15
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 32 minutes, down 13
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 28 minutes, down 3
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 27 minutes, down 1
- Mad Tea Party – 23 minutes, down 5
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 22 minutes, down 8
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 19 minutes, down 2
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 17 minutes, down 10
- Town Square Theater – 12 minutes, down 9
- Country Bear Jamboree – 9 minutes, down 6
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 6 minutes, down 2
The average Magic Kingdom attraction required a wait of 39 minutes, down 11 minutes from last time.
Based on what I’m seeing, the days of January being the slow season at Disney have come to an end. It’s either that or the parks will experience their greatest year ever in 2022.
We should all hope for the latter, as that’s what’s best for all Disney fans.