It’s time for our first Walt Disney World crowd report of 2026, recapping the highs & lows of the couple months with a deal with the newest developments as of late January that can doubtless spill into early February. This wait occasions report shares information for the final month-plus, plus our theories as to what’s taking place with attendance & traces–and why wait occasions are getting worse at portray a whole image of crowds.
Let’s begin with a fast recap of crowds from the vacation season by means of early January. We don’t have to fixate on this an excessive amount of, because it was principally what you’d count on. Jersey Week by means of Veterans Day noticed a slight spike to reasonable territory, with crowds peaking on Monday, November tenth. Wait occasions plummeted the next week, with November 16-22 having lows rivaling the August and September low season.
Thanksgiving week was the busiest of November with crowds arriving the Sunday earlier than, peaking on Monday, and persevering with till Thursday. By Friday, the sharp downtrend had already begun. However even at its peak, Thanksgiving week was not really busy. Crowd ranges, no less than as measured by wait occasions, ended up being reasonable. As at all times, congestion is a unique story. However that is exactly why (spoiler alert) Thanksgiving ranks #1 on our listing of the Least-Dangerous Weeks to Go to Walt Disney World for Households on Faculty Schedules.
Most of December ended up having low to reasonable crowd ranges. Throughout the first 3 weeks of December, common wait occasions throughout the whole lot of Walt Disney World have been 29 minutes. That’s not averaging all three weeks; it was the identical 29 minute common in every of these weeks (some days have been higher and worse, clearly).
These are exceptionally good crowd ranges, and that is now the second consecutive yr that decrease crowds have crept into that third week, not simply the primary two. Though there have been some each day and park-by-park spikes previous to then, there weren’t constant and sustained reasonable or larger crowd ranges till Saturday, December twentieth.
What is perhaps a shock is that the times and weekend round Christmas really weren’t that unhealthy. Crowds have been excessive, however as an entire, the typical wait time was 40 minutes and the gang degree was solely 7/10, with peak dates being December twenty second and twenty third. That’s under every of the final two Christmases, and the primary time we’ve seen a crowd degree under 9/10 for that exact week throughout regular occasions.
It was the least-busy Christmas week since 2020, which was slower for pretty apparent causes. Even Christmas 2021, which noticed a slowdown beginning in late September as a result of a resurgence of COVID and reinstatement of masks guidelines, was busier than the week of Christmas 2025.
Christmas week was nonetheless the busiest since Easter and the 4th worst week of final yr. It simply wasn’t practically as unhealthy as final yr or (particularly) 2022-2023 or 2019. All of these have been excessive 10/10 weeks; 7/10 is a giant drop-off as contrasted with these.
Unsurprisingly, the week round New Yr’s Eve was a lot, a lot busier. From December twenty seventh by means of January fifth, Walt Disney World had heavy crowds. The height day of the vacation season (December twenty ninth) noticed common wait occasions of 60 minutes, and just one week later (January sixth) that common was all the way down to 32 minutes. That week ended up being the busiest of 2025 by a large margin, however was nonetheless down year-over-year.
It wasn’t simply Walt Disney World that was busy. As we’ve already coated, Epic Universe had its busiest day ever in early 2026. Not simply the very best wait occasions ever for Epic Universe, however for any park at Common Orlando or Walt Disney World since no less than 2019–and by a really broad margin. The common wait on that date was 107 minutes, with peak waits of over 300 minutes and a number of headliners hitting 200+ minutes all through the day. That entire week was likewise very busy at Common Orlando.
One factor we didn’t beforehand cowl, nevertheless, was New Yr’s Eve at EPCOT. You must have the ability to simply spot December thirty first on the under graph from thrill-data.com:
New Yr’s Eve has lengthy been the busiest day of the yr at EPCOT, and I keep in mind some really loopy wait occasions on NYE again in 2019 and earlier. We have been there to ring in a number of of these years, they usually have been wild.
Submit-COVID, EPCOT had not reached those self same heights…till this yr. The common wait time on NYE at EPCOT was 83 minutes, far surpassing the second-busiest day of the yr (December thirtieth), which hit “solely” 61 minutes. For context, a traditional day at EPCOT final yr had a mean wait time of 31 minutes.
We nonetheless love the environment of EPCOT on New Yr’s Eve and might’t wait to do it once more, however it’s not for the faint of coronary heart…or anybody wanting to truly journey rides. bucket listing entry for WDW regulars, however undoubtedly not first-timers.
For reference, the busiest stretches of the previous few months have been the 2 weeks of Fall Break round Columbus Day, two weeks round Veterans Day, Thanksgiving week, Christmas week, New Yr’s week, and first week (or so) of 2026. None of this could come as an enormous shock.
The larger shock is perhaps that the primary week of Fall Break was busier than the November vacation weeks, and that there have been two weeks of summer season that have been on par with the weeks round Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.
Despite the fact that we’ve recognized these ‘twin peaks’ of summer season as ones to keep away from as a result of crowd spikes, we by no means would’ve anticipated the November vacation weeks to solely be on par with these. Right here’s a take a look at the each day wait time averages, courtesy of thrill-data.com:
To not belabor the purpose, however these are crowd ranges as measured by wait occasions. In our intensive expertise, ‘looks like’ crowds are at all times worse through the vacation season. At all times.
Even 2/10 and three/10 days can have congestion, particularly at EPCOT. And there’s additionally the truth that Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios shut early to exhausting ticket occasions a number of nights per week, so there’s extra variance in day-to-day and park-to-park crowd ranges.
The flip aspect to that, although, is that summer season has worse ‘looks like’ climate. The explanation congestion isn’t as unhealthy is as a result of folks prioritize air-conditioning, so that they transfer extra shortly from line to line. Crowds are additionally worse within the (fewer) nighttime hours, particularly Prolonged Night Hours as a disproportionate variety of visitors search out these as a reprieve from the climate.
To every their very own, however I might fortunately take larger ‘looks like’ crowds/congestion over larger ‘looks like’ temperatures. That’s exactly why extra weeks in November and December make our listing of the very best time to go to; suggestions that the above actually underscore.
The lesson from the above, no less than from my perspective, is that possibly the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas really don’t belong on the worst listing anymore. However earlier than I’m going bucking typical knowledge by altering these suggestions, I wish to see one other yr of wait occasions information.
Since January sixth, wait occasions have principally been as anticipated. The weekdays that adopted dropped dramatically, and the final two weeks have had 29 minute averages earlier than rebounding round MLK Day Weekend, which was about on par with the lead-up to Christmas.
The larger shock has been over the previous few days, which is what we wish to draw your consideration to. We’ve talked to a few Florida associates at Walt Disney World this weekend, who described the parks as packed. EPCOT ran out of reservations on Saturday, and hit 9/10 crowd ranges each days. From what we heard, the congestion was even worse, with it feeling like the ten/10 days between Christmas and New Yr’s (however in need of NYE itself).
The opposite parks have been extra in reasonable territory, no less than on the subject of wait occasions. Nonetheless, we additionally acquired reader experiences that in every single place was busy, even the lodges. That the wait occasions didn’t inform the complete story. Frankly, that is usually the case within the winter months, particularly throughout EPCOT Pageant of the Arts, so we initially weren’t too stunned or desiring to cowl it.
What piqued our curiosity, although, is the variety of experiences we heard or noticed on social media of visitors from different southern states “fleeing” to Florida to flee the winter climate. With the expectation that college can be cancelled as a result of snow and ice this week, and never eager to be of their dwelling states for the winter storms, a not-insignificant variety of folks took last-minute street journeys to Walt Disney World, additional exacerbating the crowds.
One other issue resulting in larger attendance the final couple of weekends is the Uncover Walt Disney World Ticket Deal for Florida Residents, which simply launched on January twelfth. This annual particular supply is at all times massively well-liked amongst locals, and results in spikes in crowd ranges in the direction of the start and (particularly) finish of the low cost.
With all of that stated, the above is in step with our experiences at Walt Disney World from November by means of February in every of the previous few years. Assuming that the winter climate is making a flee to Florida impact, it’s solely exaggerating what we’ve already seen play out for some time.
That is very true at EPCOT, and doubly so on weekends throughout each Pageant of the Holidays and Pageant of the Arts. Maybe not coincidentally, these are the shortest festivals of the yr, so locals have much less time to expertise them–thereby consolidating crowds right into a shorter window. Anecdotally, we’ve discovered these to be the occasions which can be extra well-liked with locals. (Flower & Backyard isn’t too far behind, notably the primary couple of weekends if the climate is sweet.)
We’ve been discussing the ‘EPCOT Exception’ to crowds for some time now, as a result of it being the largest locals’ park at Walt Disney World, however that is extra pronounced than ever. It’s loopy to navigate walkways which can be full of folks in World Showcase…however then have wait occasions extra reflective of three/10 to six/10 crowds.
Finally, we felt it was price masking this and as soon as once more pointing to the sometimes-significant hole between crowd ranges and congestion. Wait occasions are used as a proxy for crowd ranges as a result of they’re the one goal measure for that. There’s no different, and on the finish of the day, wait occasions nonetheless are what’s most necessary to many individuals (who go to the parks to, you already know, journey rides), even when congestion can go away an outsized impression.
It however bears underscoring that wait occasions will not be the end-all, be-all on the subject of discussing crowds or selecting when to go to. Seems like crowds are sometimes worse from November by means of March. Conversely, looks like climate is usually worse from Could by means of September.
There is perhaps two days in mid-August and early December with an identical numerical crowd ranges, however the ‘looks like’ circumstances in each can be radically totally different because of the temperature, walkway congestion, and extra. That’s to say nothing of lowered capability on account of refurbishments, closures and building, particular occasions, vacation decorations, and many others.. The underside line is that there are quite a lot of variables that contribute to congestion or looks like crowds, and wait occasions are just one piece of the puzzle.
To that finish, we’ll as soon as once more plug our extra holistic listing of the 10 Greatest & Worst Weeks to Go to Walt Disney World in 2026 & 2027. Greater than ever, we advise selecting when to go to on the idea of extra than simply numerical crowd ranges. They don’t inform the complete story, and in conditions like proper now–when winter climate may very well be inflicting an inflow of tourists–there are some variables which can be unimaginable to foretell.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you consider wait time and crowd developments over the course of the final couple months? Have you ever been within the parks the previous few days? Discover an uptick in congestion or wait occasions? Anybody ‘fleeing to Florida’ to flee winter climate? Anticipate ‘looks like’ crowds to be heavy over the following couple of months, even when the wait occasions recommend decrease crowds? Do you agree or disagree with my evaluation? Any questions we will help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even if you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
