Does Disney World even have a slow season anymore?

Sure, the holiday season may be over, but can you really count on wait times to go down in the parks come January? Planning a Disney World trip certainly isn’t easy, and when you’ve got long lines and crowds to worry about, things can get overwhelming pretty quickly. But, that’s where we come in!

We’re taking a look at the average wait times for Disney World’s most popular rides in January and giving you our BEST tips on how you can experience them!

Now, keep in mind that not all Disney World rides are created equally. Some have standby lines where you just walk right into the line and wait, some have Virtual Queues, and then there are the Lightning Lanes and Individual Lightning Lanes. We’ll get into our top tips for getting on popular rides later — but just remember this.

Magic Kingdom

When it comes to popular rides in Magic Kingdom, there’s one that takes the cake right now — TRON Lightcycle / Run! It’s the newest attraction to come to the park and because of that, you can only ride it via Virtual Queue or Individual Lightning Lane. And, that means there’s no posted standby wait time for us to dig into!

But, that doesn’t mean you won’t find yourself waiting in some long lines. In January, the rides with the highest waits were Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 81 minutes, Peter Pan’s Flight at 64 minutes, and Space Mountain at 57 minutes — on average. With average waits hovering around an hour for popular rides, you may want to consider purchasing Genie+ for your trip.

EPCOT

Over in EPCOT, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is another similar case — you can only ride via Virtual Queue or Individual Lightning Lane — so we don’t have an average wait for the month of January.

What we do have, though, are wait times for two of the most popular rides in EPCOT. Frozen Ever After in the Norway Pavilion follows the story of Anna and Elsa, and because it’s so popular it had an average wait of 72 minutes in January. In the France Pavilion, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure actually beat out Frozen for the highest average wait at 80 minutes.

Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios is teeming with iconic rides, and because of that, you’ll often find yourself waiting just a bit longer than you might for attractions at other parks. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is known for having a long wait, and the average for January was a whopping 91 minutes — but that wasn’t even the highest average in this park!

Slinky Dog Dash in Toy Story Land just barely edged out Rise with an average wait of 99 minutes this month, and even though it was partially closed for refurbishment this month, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith was the ride with the highest average wait at 104 minutes! 

Animal Kingdom

The two most popular rides in Animal Kingdom also happen to be in the same land — Pandora: The World of Avatar! This expansion brought new life to the park, and with it, some seriously intense crowds.

It’s probably no surprise that Flight of Passage had the highest average wait in the park — and in all of Disney World — for January. Folks waited an average of 106 minutes for this ride! Na’vi River Journey also had average waits of over an hour at 65 minutes. 

So, How Do You Get on These Rides?

A Virtual Queue is available through the My Disney Experience app and allows guests to reserve a space in line for the most popular park attractions. This space is referred to as a Boarding Pass for use within an assigned Boarding Group.

If a ride is utilizing a Virtual Queue, that means there is NO traditional standby line available, so getting a space in a Boarding Group through a Virtual Queue is the only way you’ll be able to ride.

Right now, only two Disney World rides are using Virtual Queues — Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT and TRON Lightcycle / Runat Magic Kingdom.

Read Our Step-by-Step Instructions for Getting a Virtual Queue Boarding Group Here

Suppose you don’t feel like waiting in the regular, standby line for an attraction when available or missed out on snagging a Virtual Queue Boarding Group. In that case, you can also opt to purchase Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes. The Disney Genie Plus base-price option lets guests select the next available time to arrive at an attraction and enter that attraction’s Lightning Lane.

Individual Lightning Lane Selection is a pay-per-ride service. You’d pay a fee to utilize the Lightning Lane for an individual, in-demand attraction. Individual Lightning Lanes allow you to select return times to enter the Lightning Lane for a maximum of two specific, more popular attractions. Essentially, you’re paying extra to guarantee a spot on the ride without having to wait in the standby line or try for a Virtual Queue.

Here’s a list of all the Individual Lightning Lane attractions in Disney World:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (Magic Kingdom)
• TRON Lightcycle / Run (Magic Kingdom)
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (EPCOT)
• Avatar Flight of Passage (Animal Kingdom)
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Hollywood Studios)

If you’re staying at a Disney World hotel, you can also take advantage of Early Entry at the parks, and Deluxe Resort guests can participate in Extended Evening Hours on select nights.  We also recommend trying to rope drop popular rides (meaning get there as soon as they open) and waiting until the end of the night to walk on popular rides.

Check Out Our FULL GUIDE To Using Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes in Disney World Here

Well, there you have it! It’s clear that while wait times have gone down since the holiday season in Disney World, there are still a few popular rides that will almost always have a bit of a wait, but as long as you’ve got these tips in your back pocket you can still have a good time.

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