New Year’s Day Crowd Creates Massive Wait Times at Walt Disney World

It’s no secret that the holiday season causes wait times to increase at all Disney Parks, including Orlando’s Walt Disney World Resort. In fact, it seems due to the substitutional holiday on Monday, January 2, 2023, in lieu of the weekend of New Year’s Eve/Day, many Disney Guests have decided to make the most of their day off with a celebratory visit to the Walt Disney World theme parks.

Moreover, Guests observed much the same regarding extensive wait times for popular attractions and experiences, along with arduous closures or malfunctions and heavy crowds at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Southern California. Of course, with all the holiday offerings at Walt Disney World for both the Christmas season and to culminate the start of 2023, there’s certainly magic in store for Disney Guests… so long as they’re willing to wait!

Credit: Disney

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Plus, the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary is in full swing until its March finale, along with the 100 Years of Wonder celebration launching across Disney Parks in honor of the Walt Disney Company’s century of creation. Perhaps these are all reasons why Walt Disney World parks all have crowd capacities of the highest level as per WDW Stats for today.

On top of that, all four Disney World theme parks have reached maximum capacity for Guest reservations for each ticket type, according to the theme Park reservation availability calendar on the Walt Disney World website. Although EPCOT and Disney’s Animal Kingdom reopen slots on January 4, Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will remain unavailable for the next four days!

Credit: Walt Disney World

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In fact, according to the website, 29 of Disney World’s attractions experienced wait times over 60 minutes, with twelve reaching an over 100-minute standby wait time, such as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at 5 hours! At 7 p.m. EST, the attraction has the highest recorded wait time of 210 minutes, with others at roughly the same capacity.

For example, Avatar Flight of Passage and Slinky Dog Dash clock in at a current 170-minute wait, while Frozen Ever After, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure are between 150 and 155 minutes. In addition, the Na’vi River Journey (140 minutes), Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster Starring Aerosmith (105 minutes), and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway (100 minutes) all have wait times at the three-digit mark, or over an hour.

Credit: Disney

Of course, while some rides are even unavailable, such as Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (currently reservation only) or Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, others persist with a wait time of 15 minutes or less. So, if you’re visiting the Parks today, it might be the perfect time for your party to check out the Hall of Presidents, Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room and the Carousel of Progress, or “It’s Tough to Be a Bug!”

As always, the best way to find out current information and updates is the My Disney Experience app.