Disney World waits ease Oct. 19–25

Disney World's lines got noticeably shorter Oct. 19–25. Standby's wait-time tracking averaged 22 minutes across the resort's four parks, down 27% from the 30-minute average the week before. Every park moved the same direction, which makes this a resort-wide easing rather than one park's good week.

Park by park

Animal Kingdom saw the biggest drop, falling 35% from 26 minutes to 17. Hollywood Studios came down 24%, from 41 minutes to 31, and EPCOT eased 23%, from 31 to 24. Magic Kingdom slipped 20%, from 20 minutes to 16, and was the shortest-wait park of the four.

Hollywood Studios remained the longest-wait park even after its drop. Standby's tracking shows its waits averaged 16 minutes at 8 a.m., climbed to 39 minutes around noon, and sat at 23 by 9 p.m. A week earlier, the same noon hour averaged 50 minutes, and 8 a.m. averaged 23.

Best and busiest days

Standby's calendar marks Tuesday, Oct. 20 as the best day of the week. Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom were rated low on most days, while EPCOT and Hollywood Studios sat in the moderate range all week. Saturday, Oct. 24 was the high point for three parks: Hollywood Studios averaged 37 minutes, Animal Kingdom 26 and Magic Kingdom 21, all rated moderate. EPCOT's highest day was Friday, Oct. 23, at 28 minutes.

The biggest movers

Five attractions each got about 20 minutes shorter on average:

• Avatar Flight of Passage, Animal Kingdom: 58 minutes down to 38
• Slinky Dog Dash, Hollywood Studios: 76 down to 56
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, EPCOT: 86 down to 67
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Hollywood Studios: 63 down to 44
• Soarin' Across America, EPCOT: 42 down to 24

Guardians still averaged the longest wait of the group, at 67 minutes, even after one of the week's larger drops.

Hours to know for the week ahead

The parks' published schedule for Oct. 26 to Nov. 1 has one notable wrinkle at Magic Kingdom. On Tuesday, Oct. 27, Thursday, Oct. 29 and Saturday, Oct. 31, the park closes at 6 p.m. for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, which runs from 7 p.m. to midnight. On the other days, the park closes at 10 p.m. Early entry runs 8:30 to 9 a.m. before a 9 a.m. opening on most days. On Saturday, Oct. 31, the park opens at 8 a.m., with early entry from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

What it means for a visit

The past week shows lines at the headliners that usually define a day were meaningfully shorter than the week before. These figures describe what already happened, not what next week will bring, so they are a reference point rather than a forecast. The concrete planning item is the schedule: anyone with a regular day ticket for Magic Kingdom on Oct. 27, 29 or 31 has four fewer hours in the park than on the other days. Hollywood Studios' morning-to-noon climb is the pattern to note if it is on your list, since its waits last week were lowest at the start of the day.