How Long is too Long to Wait for an Attraction?

Seven Dwarfs
Seven Dwarfs
too long to wait

Over the past few weeks, exciting Disney news has been released. Disney World has updated its mask policy and theme park capacity has begun to increase. While this is good news, we are also left with some questions. One of the major questions is whether Fastpasses will return. Many guests worry that standby line times will be way too long once capacity is increased. We have already seen lines steadily increasing and more guests definitely equal longer lines. So how long is too long to wait for your favorite attraction? Let’s take a look at some popular attractions and what lines have been like.

Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park- The attraction with the heftiest line has been Splash Mountain. It is not uncommon to see this ride with times around 90 minutes, but sometimes it is as low as 40 minutes! The same goes for Seven Dwarves Mine Train, which can also have a 90 min line. If you happen to see either of these attractions with a 45 min or less standby time, run to it! Guests are likely preparing for Splash Mountain to close for reimagining and wanting to experience it before the changes. I can say that I would wait up to 65 minutes for either attraction. Now, other popular attractions such as Peter Pan’s Flight, I would only wait 20 minutes for, but that’s just me.

test track

EPCOT- Test Track is almost always the attraction with the longest wait at EPCOT. This could be because this attraction will close down due to rain. Or it could be just because it is a very fun ride and one of the only thrill rides at EPCOT. Now, this will probably change when the long-awaited Remy’s Rattatouie Adventure opens in October. I have waited a full 60 minutes for Test Track, but generally, we skip it if the line is over 40 minutes. Sometimes, Frozen Ever After or Soarin’ around the World takes the #1 spot for wait time. I really like the Frozen Ever After attraction but I won’t wait more than 25 minutes for it. I absolutely love Soarin’ and will gladly wait up to an hour for it.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios park- Of course, the most popular attraction here is the new Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance attraction. However, as many of us already know, Rise of the Resistance has no standby line and requires joining a virtual queue. Hollywood Studios currently seems to be the busiest park with the longest attraction wait times. Slinky Dog Dash tends to have the longest line, with Tower of Terror and Mickey and Minnies Runaway Railway right behind it. Personally, I feel like Tower of Terror has had longer wait times now than pre-Covid. The last few times I’ve visited, the Tower of Terror line has been well over 60 minutes.

Slinky Dog Dash remains a popular rope-drop attraction, and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway can get down to 25 minutes at the right time. I will wait up to 70 minutes for Tower of Terror. Slinky Dog Dash I won’t wait over 30 minutes for. Mickey and Minnies Runaway Railway I’ve gotten very lucky with and have never waited longer than 40 minutes.

12 New Attractions Walt Disney World

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park- Just as things were pre-Covid, Flight of Passage is still the reigning champion at Animal Kingdom. When Disney World reopened in July, I was able to ride this attraction 4 times consecutively with zero waits! Fast forward and we have seen the standby line get to over 100 minutes again. We have also seen long lines for Na’Vi River Journey and Dinosaur. If I can experience the magic of Flight of Passage with under a 70-minute wait, I consider it a win. I tend to hop in the line closer to park closing and have found times to be a bit shorter. I won’t wait longer than 25 minutes for Na’Vi River Journey or Dinosaur, even though I do enjoy both.

Overall, standby lines have not gotten completely out of control…yet. I do see an issue arising once capacity continues to increase. Will Disney bring back the old FastPass system? Will Disney implement more virtual queues? We are all waiting to find out. So how long is just too long to wait for your favorite ride?


How Long is too Long to Wait for an Attraction? 1

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