Although crowds might be growing in Disney World, we’ve seen some wildly different wait times all around the theme parks!

There’s no FastPass or single rider during this time, and various ride queues have seen changes with distancing efforts, new sanitation measures, and more as guests return back to attractions. With such unprecedented efforts, the wait times have been fluctuating with variations between the posted wait time and how long riders have actually had to wait before boarding!

We’ve ridden some of Disney World’s most popular attractions to try to get an idea of just how accurate the posted wait times are right now. Plus, we reached out to our readers on Instagram to take a look at the posted versus real wait times during THEIR Disney days. Here’s what we learned!

Magic Kingdom

Let’s start off with what we and our readers learned in Magic Kingdom!

“it’s a small world”

A reader who rode “it’s a small world” got in line at a posted wait of 35 minutes and was in a boat in 15 minutes (-20 minutes). On the other hand, a different reader saw a posted wait of 30 minutes and waited 57 minutes (+27 minutes).

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

We had three readers submit their experiences with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. One saw posted 45 minutes and waited 20 minutes (-25 minutes). Another reader saw a wait of 60 minutes and waited just 15 minutes (-45 minutes)! Finally, one noted that the posted wait was 50 minutes and they road in about 30 minutes (-20 minutes).

Overall, in our experiences, actual wait times here were lower than the posted wait times!

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

A reader got in line for a posted 25-minute wait at Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and waited less than 10 minutes (-15 minutes).

Jungle Cruise

At Jungle Cruise, a reader saw a 75-minute wait listed and rode in just 23 minutes (-52 minutes)!

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Varying experiences have been had on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. One reader saw a posted wait of 90 minutes and was in line for a full 120 minutes (+30 minutes). Another saw a posted wait of 65 minutes and waited just 40 minutes (-25 minutes).

Space Mountain

A reader in line at Space Mountain waited just 20 minutes from a posted 70-minute wait (-50 minutes) and another waited just 10 minutes from a posted 30-minute wait (-20 minutes).

Splash Mountain

A reader on Splash Mountain saw a posted wait of 105 minutes and waited 40 minutes (-65 minutes)!

Haunted Mansion

One reader got in line with a 45-minute wait at Haunted Mansion and ended up waiting just 13 minutes (-32 minutes). Spooky!

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

A reader at The Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh expected to wait 25 minutes and waited about 12 minutes (-13 minutes).

Tomorrowland Speedway

A reader waited a whole 4 minutes with a posted wait of 25 minutes at Tomorrowland Speedway (-21 minutes).

Under the Sea — Journey of the Little Mermaid

And for our final Magic Kingdom observation came from a reader on Under the Sea — Journey of the Little Mermaid. They waited 20 minutes with a listed wait of 40 minutes. (-20 minutes).

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Next up, let’s check in on the way waits are looking in Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

Alien Swirling Saucers

One reader reported a wait of 20 minutes as opposed to the posted 45 minutes at Alien Swirling Saucers (-25 minutes).

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway

We took a spin on Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway with a posted wait of 105 minutes. We were stopped for a little with some cleanings and mid-way through the queue we noticed the wait dropped to 90 minutes. Altogether, we waited for 81 minutes (-24 minutes).

Several readers weighed in as well. One saw a posted wait of 120 minutes and waited 65 minutes (-55 minutes), another saw a posted wait of 90 minutes and waited 40 minutes (-50 minutes), and a third saw a posted wait of 110 minutes and waited 40 minutes (-70 minutes).

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run

We noticed the waits for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run were around one hour throughout the day. A reader noted that they got in line with a posted wait of 70 minutes and waited 55 minutes (-15 minutes).

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster had waits around an hour in the morning and around 45 minutes in the afternoon when we checked. A reader waited 30 minutes when they got in a posted 60 minute wait (-30 minutes).

Slinky Dog Dash

We gave Slinky Dog Dash a wait in line to see how long it would take! The wait was listed at 80 minutes when we got in line and we waited 73 minutes (-7 minutes). Pretty close! A reader waited 70 minutes with a 90 minute posted wait (-20 minutes).

Star Tours — The Adventures Continue

At Star Tours, a reader saw a posted wait of 40 minutes and waited 10 minutes (-30 minutes).

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

A reader waited 40 minutes for Tower of Terror when they got in line with a posted 70-minute wait (-30 minutes). We noticed that Tower of Terror’s wait times fluctuate between around 70 and 40 minutes.

Toy Story Mania

Two readers reported in on Toy Story Mania. One waited 12 minutes with a 40 minute posted wait (-28 minutes), the other waited 20 minutes with a 60 minute posted wait (-40 minutes).

EPCOT

EPCOT has fewer big-ticket rides than Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, so we were interested to see the results.

Frozen Ever After

We got in line with a 65 minute wait listed at Frozen Ever After and boarded a boat after 52 minutes (-13 minutes). One reader saw a posted wait of 90 minutes and waited 35 minutes (-55 minutes), and another saw a posted wait of 100 minutes and waited 40 minutes (-60 minutes).

Mission: SPACE

At Mission: SPACE, a reader waited 10 minutes with a posted wait of 30 minutes (-20 minutes).

Soarin’ Around the World

Over at Soarin’, we saw a listed wait of 45 minutes and boarded in just 22 minutes (-23 minutes). Two readers reached out with one seeing 80 minutes and boarding in 55 minutes (-25 minutes) and one seeing 70 minutes and boarding in 45 minutes (-25 minutes).

Spaceship Earth

At Spaceship Earth, we saw a wait listed at 35 minutes and boarded in 16 minutes (-19 minutes).

Test Track

A reader saw a 110-minute wait at Test Track and got in their car at 49 minutes (-61 minutes)!

The Seas with Nemo and Friends

We checked out The Seas with Nemo and Friends, too! We saw the wait listed as 15 minutes and boarded in 12 minutes (-3 minutes).

Gran Fiesta Tour

At Gran Fiesta Tour, the wait was listed as 5 minutes and we waited 11 minutes (+6 minutes).

Living with the Land

One reader saw a listed wait of 35 minutes for Living with the Land and waited just 5 minutes (-30 minutes).

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

And finally, let’s look at those Animal Kingdom waits.

Avatar Flight of Passage

At Avatar Flight of Passage, one reader saw a posted wait of 75 minutes and waited 30 minutes (-45 minutes), another saw a posted wait of 80 minutes and waited 110 minutes (+30 minutes), and a third saw a wait of 50 minutes and waited 25 minutes (-25 minutes).

DINOSAUR

One reader waited 45 minutes for DINOSAUR with a posted 60-minute wait (-15 minutes).

Expedition Everest

On Expedition Everest, a reader saw a posted wait of 50 minutes and was on the ride in 25 minutes with a cleaning (-25 minutes).

Kilimanjaro Safaris

One reader saw a posted wait of 35 minutes on Kilimanjaro Safaris and waited about 5 minutes (-30 minutes).

Na’vi River Journey

And finally, a reader waited 25 minutes at Na’vi River Journey with a posted 50 minutes (-25 minutes).

What did we find?

Overall, we found that wait times tend to be about 20 minutes off one way or the other. Although, it is a lot more common for them to be SHORTER than the posted times! What really surprised us were the fluctuations of an hour or more with rides like Test Track. Crazy!

As a note, one reader on a VIP Tour mentioned that a Cast Member told them that there is a 20-minute buffer when it comes to the listed wait times. We’re not sure if this is true, but many of these rides did come in with an actual wait of around 20 minutes less than the posted wait, so it’s possible.

Stay tuned throughout the week as we continue to update this post and make observations! 

Click here to learn more about the suspension of Fastpass+!

Have you returned to Disney World recently? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Disney World’s Ride Wait Times Aren’t What They Seem! first appeared on the disney food blog.