The one two new sights opening in 2025 at Walt Disney World each debuted right this moment (Might 27) to large crowds and excessive wait instances. This covers the lengthy strains it’s best to count on to come across for the Little Mermaid Musical Journey and Villains Unfairly Ever After, though with short-term technique for incorporating these stage reveals into your DHS itinerary.
Earlier than we dig into opening day of those two new sights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, let’s speak larger image crowds. This has been a scorching matter of late, as lined in Epic Universe is Useless. That lined how Common Orlando’s new park was seeing COVID-era attendance over the weekend, with walk-on wait instances and crowd ranges that’ll barely crack 1/10 as soon as there’s extra information within the system.
This publish has not been properly obtained on social media, presumably amongst Common stans who don’t know how one can learn past headlines (you made it to paragraph three, in order that fortunately isn’t you!). That’s as a result of bolded as the primary sentence within the second paragraph is a “large kudos” to Common Orlando for selecting low crowds. In any case, the UOR diehards have countered this commentary by stating that crowds had been additionally low at Walt Disney World over the weekend. And you understand what: they’re not unsuitable!
This additionally isn’t precisely stop-the-presses information. By vacation weekend requirements, Memorial Day weekend isn’t a ‘crimson flag’ vacation. Regardless that it’s the unofficial begin of summer season, most college districts in Florida and different states are out till a number of days to some weeks after Memorial Day.
Even for these districts which are out, Memorial Day is normally too early for large summer season holidays–these normally happen a bit later into the summer season, with Memorial Day being extra of a fast weekend getaway or grilling at residence. Memorial Day is in no man’s land, considerably just like Martin Luther King Day (between New 12 months’s and winter break) or Labor Day (between summer season trip and fall break). Crowd ranges are comparable because of this, as the first draw is locals.
Suffice to say, Memorial Day tends to be proper on par with Labor Day because the least-busy “main” vacation of the yr. Independence Day is definitely turning into a darkish horse candidate to surpass each, however that’s an issue of Disney’s personal making–and never resulting from a scarcity of natural demand primarily based on journey developments.
The essential level is that Memorial Day weekend is much less busy than lower-profile holidays like Presidents’ Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day, in addition to the massive ones which are normally week-long breaks. Memorial Day Weekend is common, at greatest, by regular requirements and sluggish by vacation requirements.
As an instance, let’s have a look at previous crowd ranges with wait time information and graphs courtesy of Thrill-Knowledge.com:
Above is a graph of crowd ranges and common each day wait instances throughout all of Walt Disney World for the whole lot of the final three hundred and sixty five days. On the far left aspect, you’ll see final summer season. These are weekly crowd ranges averaging 3/10 to five/10 for the tip of Might by means of the tip of June.
On the far proper aspect of the graph is Might 2025. It’s a really comparable story there, with principally 3/10 crowd ranges (if we appeared again at crowd ranges for mid-Might final yr, crowds can be pretty comparable). June 2025 hasn’t began but, so we clearly would not have that information.
Now let’s check out Memorial Day, particularly, on a year-over-year foundation:
In case you need extra comparisons, above is a graph of Memorial Day wait instances for the final a number of years. (The colour-coding is relative to different Memorial Days, not annually as an entire.)
The busiest Memorial Days had been 2019 and 2022, when the typical wait time was 41 minutes. To place that into perspective, that’s about on par with MLK Day (the complete week), which averaged 40 minutes and properly above final Labor Day, which averaged 33 minutes. Towards the final three hundred and sixty five days, 41 minutes can be the decrease finish of an 8/10 crowd degree.
It’s additionally truthful to level out that 2019 and 2022 are anomalies. The previous was a record-setting yr for Walt Disney World attendance that has but to be surpassed (and possibly gained’t till the 2030s when Villains Land opens), and the latter was the height of pent-up demand. Memorial Days since have been coming again to actuality, with the 2025 Memorial Day Weekend having 2/10 to five/10 crowd ranges. That’s barely beneath expectations, however nothing surprising.
From my perspective, that’s the most important distinction between this weekend’s crowds at Epic Universe and Walt Disney World–expectations vs. actuality. And we truly didn’t have that prime of expectations for Epic Universe’s opening weekend.
Based mostly on recognized capability caps, we had been anticipating one thing on par with later paid previews. As an alternative, common posted wait instances had been round one-third the ultimate week of previews. On-the-ground reviews recommended even decrease ranges–that almost all posted wait instances had been inflated, and all the things however Battle on the Ministry and Toothless was a walk-on or near it for a lot of the weekend. (Price noting that now that the weekend is over, Epic Universe wait instances have already elevated to paid preview ranges.)
No affordable particular person with any data of crowd patterns or real looking expectations would’ve forecast dramatically totally different crowd ranges at Walt Disney World. If something, the protected wager would’ve been that Common would win the weekend, with locals and vacationers alike pulled away from WDW and to UOR. This remaining conclusion truly is appropriate. Common did “win” the weekend…by advantage of upper crowd ranges at Islands of Journey and Common Studios Florida.
Anyway, on with the evaluation of the brand new sights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios…
Disney Villains Unfairly Ever After has set showtimes, that means it doesn’t at the moment publish a wait time. That would change if excessive demand proves to be enduring, however within the meantime, the present is introduced on the hour within the morning and night, and each half-hour through the center of the day and afternoon.
The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey, in contrast, operates on a steady efficiency schedule from 9:15 am to 7:15 pm every day. That is just like another attraction, that means company can queue up all through the day somewhat than arriving for scheduled showtimes. It additionally means the Little Mermaid present has a posted wait time.
In keeping with the information, the Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey posted wait time peaked at 110 minutes round 10:45 am. Earlier than and after that, it hovered round 85 minutes. All through the day, it has been one of many highest–if not the best–posted wait instances in Disney’s Hollywood Studios and all of Walt Disney World. As I sort this simply after 4 pm Japanese, the wait time remains to be holding agency at 80 minutes, at the same time as Slinky Canine Sprint and all the things else is at or below an hour!
As might be apparent, this gained’t final. The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey isn’t going to be a prime 5 wait time in all of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Its predecessor wasn’t, and though this seems to be like a stunning glow-up, the brand new model is not going to be that in style over time.
Something new at Walt Disney World has an preliminary rush. That is unsurprisingly true of headliner sights, but it surely occurs with the smaller-scale stuff, too. Moana’s Journey of Water opened with a digital queue and 5+ hour wait! Heck, in the event that they introduced Sew’s Nice Escape again right this moment, it will have the best wait time in Magic Kingdom. (Most likely not the very best instance given the field workplace efficiency of the remake.)
Level being, it’s going to take a number of days or even weeks earlier than the mud settles and the Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey falls into predictable patterns. Within the meantime, there’s the preliminary rush of locals, Annual Passholders, vloggers, bloggers, and so forth. all who want to be first to see this.
Taking a look at June 2025 and past, my expectation is that the Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey may have a wait time roughly on par with Alien Swirling Saucers. I believe it’s going to be pretty widespread to have a measurable wait time, that means you won’t be capable to see the instantly upcoming efficiency.
The explanations for this are pretty easy. The present does seem like a significant reimagining and enchancment of its predecessor, and it’s the most important ‘new’ attraction for 2025 at Walt Disney World. On prime of that, it’ll fill the void left by MuppetVision because the “simpler” high-quality counterprogramming to the headliner sights. It’s additionally indoors, air-conditioned, and with a good length.
All of this strikes me as a recipe for a somewhat-elevated wait time into 2026 as vacationers and non-local Walt Disney World regulars are drawn to the attraction. It’s not going to be routinely eclipsing an hour, however waits of round half-hour wouldn’t be in the least stunning.
The Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey can be a Lightning Lane Multi-Cross attraction considerably soon-ish. It’s not but clear when that’ll launch, however the touchpoints and Lightning Lane queue are already in place. Our assumption is that Lightning Lane Multi Cross and Premier Cross will roll out earlier than June 2025 is over.
As soon as the Lightning Lane is launched, the Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey will truly be a good same-day choice. Assuming our evaluation of ~30 minute wait instances is correct, line-skipping might be the distinction between making the present showtime or the following one. Which means that the time-savings of the Lightning Lane vs. standby line of this stage present may truly exceed that of some rides–not less than within the quick time period.
A technique or one other, it will make Lightning Lane Multi-Cross extra worthwhile at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Both to scale back your look forward to this attraction, or a special journey with a view to slot in all the things else. Disney’s Hollywood Studios has overtaken Magic Kingdom because the #1 park at Walt Disney World for LLMP, so it’s best to’ve been buying paid FastPass even earlier than this.
As for tentative touring technique, our recommendation is solely slotting within the Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey and/or Disney Villains Unfairly Ever After within the late morning, early afternoon or early night. Disregard the opening day wait instances, as even within the short-term, these are not sights which are going to have peak wait instances earlier than midday.
Throughout a super day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we at the moment suggest penciling in MuppetVision 3D for late morning, in equal half as a result of it has showtimes earlier than the massive stage reveals, and since it’s taking part in to packed homes to say farewell–and that’s a method to beat these crowds. Comparable thought right here with both of those new reveals.
Watching round 10 or 11 am will allow you to ‘journey the wave’ of crowds for Early Entry and cord drop, after which see the reveals earlier than their rushes begin. My expectation is that that is not all that tentative, and can show to be the very best technique as soon as the mud settles.
Earlier than lunch would be the candy spot, particularly as journey wait instances peak and the opposite counterprogramming of the ‘huge’ stage reveals don’t but have conflicting showtimes. Similar goes for the late afternoon or early night, after the massive reveals wrap their each day performances. Simply be performed earlier than journey wait instances begin dropping.
The most important problem goes to be becoming the park’s half-dozen reveals (5 as soon as MuppetVision closes) right into a single day. Our greatest guess is that almost all company is not going to do that, and we’ll see barely decrease crowds on the Frozen Sing-Alongside and Magnificence and the Beast: Stay on Stage because of this. Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular will in all probability see much less of an influence given how dissimilar it’s to the 2 new productions.
The opposite oblique consequence of those two new stage reveals might be company extending their days at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. One of many dynamics we’ve written about quite a bit is wait instances peaking early at DHS, company “hitting a wall” and heading for the exits early. That pacing your self to outlast the crowds–and even taking a noon break–is the savviest technique, because the final 2-3 hours of the night are superb, with the bottom wait instances of the day.
These two new reveals may assist offset the highest heavy journey roster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and bridge the noon for extra company, that means greater wait instances into the night time. We doubt that’ll occur. It’s not like we’re on fully untrodden floor right here. Up till March 2020, each of those venues had comparable reveals and MuppetVision was operating. The dynamic was no totally different then, and needs to be no totally different now.
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Your Ideas
What do you consider these wait instances and crowd ranges? Wanting ahead to the Little Mermaid – A Musical Journey or Disney Villains Unfairly Ever After? Will these be must-dos for you? Considering the Mermaid Musical can be use of a Lightning Lane as soon as the mud settles? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions we may help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
