As we assumed might happen, wait times are on the rise following 2021 lows in late August. For a period of about 3 weeks from mid-August to early September, Disney World wait times reached their lowest points for the year. Wait times bottomed out as the calendar turned from August to September, averaging just 11 minutes across all four theme parks on August 31st and September 1st. This timeframe marked the lowest point of the year, and you’d actually have to go back to July 2020 to find an average wait time as low as what was experienced at the end of August.
Now, average wait times are starting to creep back up to what they were in July and early August as the Central Florida area experiences a bump in Labor Day visitation. The Labor Day bump is so significant that Orlando International Airport is actually forcasting an increase in traffic this year of about 7% more than in the pre-pandemic 2019 timeframe for Labor Day.
Here’s a look at percentage increases for wait times from this past weekend courtesy of the wdwwait twitter account. All four Walt Disney World theme parks experienced percentage increases on pretty much every day this weekend.
Looking forward, we expect that there might be a post-Labor Day dip before a build towards October and the 50th Anniversary celebrations.
Finally, it’s worth noting that the increases that we’re seeing are definitely not the highest waits that we’ve seen this year, and September remains a good month to visit Walt Disney World if you’re looking for some low wait times.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!