Walt Disney World Wait Times for Second Week of May 2022
Okay, we’ve got both feet fully planted in the month of May. Historically, this timeframe has remained quiet at Disney theme parks.
You can guess the reasons. School remains open for another few weeks, college hasn’t finished yet, and families aren’t ready for summer vacations.
For this reason, Walt Disney World wait times should stay calm for another three or four weeks. But 2022 has proven unpredictable. So, what happened?
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
At Animal Kingdom, nothing will prove a threat to Avatar Flight of Passage’s reign of dominance for several years to come.
In fact, the new Avatar: The Way of Water should heighten interest for the Pandora: The World of Avatar attractions throughout 2022.
For this reason, the numbers we’re discussing for Avatar Flight of Passage are likely among the lowest we’ll track for the rest of the year.
For the past week, this augmented reality attraction averaged a wait of 87 minutes, a significant drop of 26 minutes from last time.
Seriously, May is a great time to visit Walt Disney World, my friends. As proof, here are the Walt Disney World wait times for the park’s other attractions:
- Na’vi River Journey – 68 minutes, down 8
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – 53 minutes, down 5
- Kali River Rapids – 41 minutes, down 6
- Expedition Everest – 36 minutes, down 8
- DINOSAUR – 25 minutes, down 6
- TriceraTop Spin – 13 minutes, no change
- It’s Tough to Be a Bug! – 11 minutes, down 1
I should mention that wet rides like Kali River Rapids will remain at this level or increase from now until September. The weather drives their popularity.
Still, the average Animal Kingdom attraction’s wait dropped from 48 minutes to 41 minutes.
If you were in the parks over the past seven days, you had a great time!
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
I treat Hollywood Studios with the same caution that campers do an angry bear. Its behaviors are utterly unpredictable, no matter what anyone says.
So, even when the other parks decrease their crowds, Hollywood Studios can remain the same or even increase. People need their Star Wars fix…but not this week.
In a rather shocking upset, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror required the longest wait over the past week. Guests stood in line for 94 minutes.
Overall, that’s a drop of 19 minutes. You can read the between the lines here to recognize Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance dropped even more.
Folks, I keep meaning to database this stuff, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Still, to the best of my knowledge, this borders on unprecedented.
Since Rise of the Resistance opened in December of 2019, it’s almost always required the longest wait at Hollywood Studios.
In fact, I mentioned in the Disneyland wait times article that the Rise of the Resistance there always features much shorter lines.
Well, the gap has narrowed. Disneyland averaged an 84-minute wait last month.
For the past week, Hollywood Studios dropped to 85 minutes, a decrease of 23 minutes. That’s…shocking. It also hints at a terrific week overall at the park.
Other Hollywood Studios Wait Times
Let’s test that theory with the data- here are the Walt Disney World wait times for Hollywood Studios:
- Slinky Dog Dash – 78 minutes, down 21
- Red Carpet Dreams – 63 minutes, up 6
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – 59 minutes, down 12
- Toy Story Mania! – 56 minutes, up 4
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – 55 minutes, down 14
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway – 51 minutes, no change
- Alien Swirling Saucers – 46 minutes, up 13
- Walt Disney Presents with Sulley – 35 minutes, up 22
- Celebrity Spotlight – 30 minutes, up 2
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! – 17 minutes, no change
- Muppet*Vision 3D – 10 minutes, no change
- Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy – 9 minutes, down 8
Overall, those numbers are better, although we did witness some outliers. Most of them were character greetings, which remain hot in the post-pandemic era.
Still, the average Hollywood Studios attraction required a wait of 44 minutes, down three minutes from last time.
We haven’t seen that small of a gap between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios in ages.
EPCOT
At EPCOT, Frozen Ever After regains superiority as the most popular attraction.
For the past week, the ride averaged a wait of 70 minutes, down six minutes from last time.
Meanwhile, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure came with one of its shortest average waits thus far. Guests only stood in line for 64 minutes, a drop of 18 minutes from last time.
Here are the rest of EPCOT’s waits:
- Test Track – 55 minutes, down 7
- Soarin’ Around the World – 27 minutes, down 11
- Royal Sommerhus – 26 minutes, down 3
- Mission: SPACE – 16 minutes, down 12
- Spaceship Earth – 14 minutes, down 2
- Living with the Land – 13 minutes, up 2
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 12 minutes, down 3
- Turtle Talk with Crush – 10 minutes, no change
- Journey into Imagination with Figment – 9 minutes, up 1
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros – 8 minutes, no change
Look, I don’t have to give you any other numbers. You can tell that all but three rides at the park came with waits of 27 minutes or less. That’s Six Flags-esque.
Overall, EPCOT attractions averaged a 26-minute wait, a drop of six minutes from last time.
Magic Kingdom
We’ve still got the Walt Disney World wait times at one more park to evaluate, but I think the data is clear. Crowds finally diminished at Walt Disney World after four record-setting months.
Let’s check Magic Kingdom just to make sure, though:
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train—65 minutes, down 7
- Jungle Cruise – 64 minutes, down 3
- Peter Pan’s Flight – 61 minutes, no change
- Splash Mountain – 50 minutes, down 8
- Town Square Theater – 46 minutes, up 6
- Princess Fairytale Hall – 43 minutes, up 3
- Space Mountain – 42 minutes, down 6
- Haunted Mansion – 40 minutes, no change
- Pirates of the Caribbean – 39 minutes, no change
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – 35 minutes, up 1
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – 34 minutes, down 7
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – 33 minutes, down 4
- Astro Orbiter – 29 minutes, down 8
- It’s a Small World – 27 minutes, down 2
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid – 21 minutes, down 2
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin – 20 minutes, down 4
- Tomorrowland Speedway – 18 minutes, down 5
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – 15 minutes, no change
- The Barnstormer – 14 minutes, down 3
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant – 13 minutes, down 3
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover – 13 minutes, down 1
- Mad Tea Party – 12 minutes, down 1
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – 11 minutes, down 3
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – 10 minutes, down 1
- Country Bear Jamboree – 5 minutes, down 1
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress – 4 minutes, down 1
Overall, the parks averaged a 31-minute wait, a decrease of three minutes from last time.
This is legitimately the first time since mid-January that the park data shows a comparable wait to past years.
If you’re visiting the parks this month, you should be a VERY happy person!
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Feature Photo: Credit: Disney