Daily Park Report: December 24, 2025

Magic Kingdom Hit 9/10 on Christmas Eve—The Fantasyland Crush Was Real

Christmas Eve delivered exactly what the data predicted: Magic Kingdom absorbed the full force of holiday demand, hitting a 9/10 crowd level with a 25-minute median wait—67% above normal. Meanwhile, Animal Kingdom quietly dropped to 3/10, offering the kind of walk-on waits that guests fighting crowds elsewhere would have envied.

Clear skies and a 78°F high created ideal touring weather, but the story wasn't the conditions—it was the dramatic split between parks. Families prioritizing the Magic Kingdom Christmas atmosphere paid the price in queue time, while those who read the crowd patterns found breathing room across the resort.

Magic Kingdom: The Christmas Eve Crush

A 9/10 crowd level tells part of the story. The 67% surge above baseline tells more. But the Fantasyland data reveals what Christmas Eve actually felt like on the ground.

Under the Sea posted 30-minute waits—500% above its typical 5 minutes. Mad Tea Party hit 25 minutes (400% above normal). Dumbo, Barnstormer, and "it's a small world" all ran at 200% or higher above baseline. Families with young children faced a Fantasyland transformed into an extended-queue zone.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure anchored the demand at 60 minutes—triple its baseline—while Astro Orbiter climbed to 35 minutes as Tomorrowland absorbed overflow from Fantasyland's bottleneck.

The peak hit at 2:00 PM with a 35-minute median across the park. But operational issues compounded the pressure: Haunted Mansion went dark for over two hours during late morning, and TRON lost 66 minutes of capacity before 11 AM. The Barnstormer's troubles were worse—down for over four hours across morning and afternoon—eliminating a key Fantasyland option for families already fighting crowds.

Hollywood Studios: Moderate But Fragile

Hollywood Studios registered a 5/10 at 37.5 minutes median—manageable for a Christmas Eve, but the operational picture was messy. Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway went down three separate times totaling nearly four hours of lost capacity. Toy Story Mania followed a similar pattern with four distinct outages eating 189 minutes of ride time.

The 11 AM peak pushed medians to 55 minutes, but afternoon guests who timed around the downtimes found reasonable conditions. The park absorbed some Magic Kingdom spillover without reaching heavy levels—a small win on a day when everything could have gone sideways.

EPCOT: Festival Crowds Hold Steady

EPCOT's 7/10 crowd level and 22.7-minute median reflect the Festival of the Holidays dynamic: guests are there for food booths, not queue time. The 13.5% bump above baseline is modest given the event draw.

Figment had a rough day—three separate downtimes totaling four hours meant families seeking air-conditioned respite in Imagination found doors closed. Cosmic Rewind lost 39 minutes mid-afternoon. But with festival guests focused on holiday kitchens rather than headliners, the capacity losses didn't cascade into major queue spikes elsewhere.

The 11 AM peak at 35 minutes suggests morning touring remains the smart play during festival season, with crowds dispersing to food booths as the day progresses.

Animal Kingdom: The Hidden Winner

While Magic Kingdom hit 9/10, Animal Kingdom dropped to 3/10 with a 21.2-minute median—15% below its 30-day average. On Christmas Eve. During peak winter break.

The outlier here was Kali River Rapids at 25 minutes (400% above its 5-minute baseline), but that's a feature, not a bug—warm December weather made the water attraction appealing, and even at 25 minutes, it's not a major time investment.

Families who chose Animal Kingdom over the Magic Kingdom crush were rewarded with comfortable touring conditions and a noon peak that only reached 30 minutes. The data shows this park continues to underperform crowd expectations during major holidays—a pattern worth remembering.

Downtime Impact: When Capacity Disappears

Christmas Eve saw an unusual concentration of extended outages. The Barnstormer's combined 7+ hours of downtime eliminated a key family attraction during Fantasyland's worst crowds. Families looking for quick-loading options found one fewer escape valve.

At Hollywood Studios, the Runaway Railway and Toy Story Mania outages created a Toy Story Land problem: with both attractions cycling through repeated closures, guests hunting for ride options found themselves funneled toward Slinky Dog Dash and Alien Swirling Saucers, concentrating demand on already-busy queues.

EPCOT's Figment troubles mattered less given festival dynamics, but the attraction's four hours of combined downtime meant one less indoor option during a day when crowds peaked at 35 minutes.

Christmas Day Prediction

Today is Christmas Day—historically one of the highest-attendance days of the year. Expect all four parks to run heavy, with Magic Kingdom likely holding at 8-9/10 levels. The Festival of the Holidays continues at EPCOT, adding event crowds to holiday baseline.

Weather won't be a factor: 77°F high, mostly clear, zero precipitation chance. Nothing drives guests indoors or away.

The play today is Animal Kingdom. Yesterday's 3/10 performance during Christmas Eve suggests this park continues to absorb less holiday demand than its counterparts. Arrive at rope drop, prioritize Flight of Passage and Kilimanjaro Safaris before the noon peak, and you'll have touring conditions that Magic Kingdom guests can only dream about.

If Magic Kingdom is non-negotiable, commit to early entry and front-load Fantasyland before the afternoon crush. Yesterday's 2 PM peak means morning hours offer the only real relief.

The Data Advantage

Yesterday's 67% surge at Magic Kingdom versus Animal Kingdom's 15% drop isn't obvious without real data. These patterns repeat, and catching them means the difference between fighting 9/10 crowds and walking onto attractions at 3/10. Lightning Brain finds these splits in real time—so you're always touring the right park. Available now at lightningbrain.app, and coming soon to the iOS App Store.