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It’s going to be a busy week at theme parks for this holiday break. See the incredibly high wait times at Disney World right now. Would you ever go to the parks during a holiday break?
Thanksgiving Crowds
As we celebrate a time of thanks, many are heading to Disney World to enjoy some theme park fun. With many schools off for Thursday and Friday (some even on Wednesday), this week provides a wonderful opportunity for families to have several vacation days.
If you take a look at Character Locator, you know this week is not the most ideal time to visit Disney. This is no secret. Holiday breaks are always more crowded than traditional weeks.
By the way, Kenny has color-coded best/worst days and parks for every day of the year! Not only that, but if you are forced to visit Disney during a busy time, he has great touring strategies to help you beat the crowds.
Due to this busy week, we are seeing incredibly high wait times for attractions across all four theme parks. Let’s take a look at the wait times for 1:30 pm on Sunday, November 21.
Magic Kingdom
The following attractions all have wait times of 50 minutes or more: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Jungle (Jingle) Cruise, Peter Pan’s Flight, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
As a reminder, Space Mountain and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train are Individual Lightning Lane Selections, so if you do not want to wait in standby you will have to pay extra. The rest are included in Genie+.
Something interesting to note is the Mickey meet at Town Square has a 0 minute wait?! Either he is taking a break or no one wants to meet him. Sad.
Epcot
There are not as many rides in Epcot as other Disney World theme parks, but even so, the wait times aren’t too bad today. Considering yesterday was the last day of Food and Wine maybe everyone is at other parks. Festival of the Holidays begins November 26.
Spaceship Earth has a posted wait time of 30 minutes and Test Track has a 50 minute standby wait. Guests are currently waiting 60 minutes to ride Soarin’ and 80 minutes for Frozen Ever After.
Hollywood Studios
If you are at Hollywood Studios, I’m sorry. Those wait times are looking rough!
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Toy Story Mania all share a 70 minute wait. Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway has 80, and Slinky Dog Dash has 100.
Not surprising, Guests are waiting 160 minutes for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance. Of course, wait times do tend to be inflated so hopefully they are moving through the line faster than that.
Animal Kingdom
Finally, Animal Kingdom is seeing a decent sized crowd today. Expedition Everest and DINOSAUR have 30 minute waits, while TriceraTop Spin is just ahead with 35. Would you wait 35 minutes for TriceraTop Spin?
The posted wait times dramatically increase with the last three attractions. The Safari and Na’vi River Journey both have 80 minute waits. Would you wait 170 minutes for Flight of Passage? Many visiting today are doing just that.
This is just the beginning
We will continue to see wait times climb this week as more Guests arrive for the long week. Today is only Sunday, and these wait times are looking high! Be sure to subscribe to Character Locator to help you beat the crowds!
Do you ever visit during busy holiday weeks? How do you feel about these wait times? Let us know in the comments below and on Facebook.
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Chastity
Tuesday 23rd of November 2021
We did Epcot this Saturday (last day of Food and Wine Festival) it was probably the most crowded I’ve seen Epcot (and we have been several times). We arrived later, around 10:30 am and stayed until close. We used Lightening lane pass for Soarin (it took about 25 min still!) Test Track was closed several times due to sprinkling rain which messed up our timing due to trying to schedule LL for it. We bought individual LL passes for Frozen-minimal wait for that. LL used for Spaceship Earth and the Land too that went quickly. We walked on to Figment. Sunday at Hollywood really frustrated me though. Arrived around 9:30 and rode Mickey & Minnie bought individual LL) then lunch then not enough time to standby for anything because we had The Rise at 12:55 (bought individual LL) and toy story mania LL pass started at 1:55. My fault, I didn’t understand how to stack LL, so basically we waited for Rise as long as the standby line was with nothing to do (except shop and grab a blue milk so I guess we did something ….but we definitely sat on a wall for over an hour) when 12:55 came, The Rise was shut down due to technical issues, meaning we could return at anytime, which was fine except we walked all the way over to RRcoaster only to find they had shut down the single rider lane (why?!) by thus time the Rise was open so we went back. The wait was not Lightening…maybe 20 min or so. Afterwards it was time for our Toy Story time slot. After I scanned band at 1:55, almost every other LL was unavailable (Tower for near close which we wouldn’t make it and some shows we were not interested in) so back to RRcoaster for standby. We got in standby line at 2:30 (posted 80 min wait) and walked off ride at 4:33. Making us miss our dinner reservation at a Prime Time. They worked us in but we had to wait over 30 min. So 4 rides ($15 ABD $10 individual LL) and $15 for the Toy Story regular LL. That we didn’t get to use for anything else. It’s the most disappointed I’ve ever been at Disney…. Lost its magic. We won’t be back for a long time. I hope MK will go better today!
Linda
Monday 22nd of November 2021
I see you noticed the 0 minute wait for Mickey at Town square at Magic Kingdom. We chose not to wait for him once we learned you had to wear a mask for indoor photo shoots. Maybe other people are doing the same.
Marcy
Sunday 21st of November 2021
We always used to.come yo DW Thursday the week before Thanksgiving and leave the day before Thanksgiving and it was great! Wait times were low but increased some Tuesday but we left on Wednesday. Not finding that this year. I agree it is insane! We got 2 rides in 5 hours. Never again! Feel bad for all the young children standing in these lines. If it weren’t for my grandchildren I would say no and do something else. Thanks for the article as is spot on!