Daily Park Report: December 8, 2025

Monday, December 8, 2025: A Rainy Day Paradox

Monday brought a classic Florida winter day to Walt Disney World: cloudy skies, high humidity at 93%, and over an inch and a half of rain throughout the day. Temperatures stayed mild in the mid-60s, making for damp but not cold conditions. Despite the weather (or perhaps because of it), all four parks remained relatively quiet, with crowd levels ranging from Very Light to Moderate-Light. The EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays continued drawing guests to World Showcase, but rain kept overall numbers manageable across property.

Park-by-Park Analysis

Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom recorded a Very Light crowd level of 2/10 with a median wait of just 18.7 minutes. However, that figure represents a 24.7% increase over the 30-day average of 15 minutes, making it the largest percentage jump of any park yesterday. Peak crowds arrived at noon with a median wait of 25 minutes. The elevated waits despite low crowds can be attributed to a rough morning for operations: several major attractions experienced extended downtimes during prime hours, pushing demand onto operating rides. When Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train all go down within the same window, even light crowds create pressure elsewhere.

Hollywood Studios

Studios posted a Moderate-Light crowd level of 4/10, the busiest park of the day with a median wait of 33.3 minutes. That said, this was actually 4.9% below the 30-day average of 35 minutes, suggesting the rain kept some visitors away from a park that typically runs hotter. Peak hour hit early at 10:00 AM with a median of 45 minutes, then tapered throughout the afternoon. For a Monday during the holiday season, these were approachable numbers.

EPCOT

EPCOT saw a Light crowd level of 3/10 with a median wait of 23.8 minutes, running 19% above the 30-day average. The Festival of the Holidays continues to draw evening crowds, as evidenced by the peak hour occurring at 7:00 PM with a median wait of 35 minutes. This reversed the typical pattern of midday peaks and suggests guests are arriving later to enjoy the festival booths, holiday storytellers, and Candlelight Processional. Daytime was the window for shorter waits.

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom logged the quietest day at Very Light, 2/10, with a median wait of 20.8 minutes. This ran just 4% above the 30-day average. Peak crowds came at noon with a 35-minute median. The combination of rain and Animal Kingdom's more outdoor-focused experience likely kept some guests away, though evening hours at Pandora remain consistently popular regardless of weather.

Outliers and Surprises

The wait time outliers yesterday tell a clear story: when headliners go down, guests flock to whatever is operating. Magic Kingdom dominated the outlier list, with Under the Sea averaging 25 minutes (400% above its typical 5 minutes), Mad Tea Party at 20 minutes (300% above typical), and PeopleMover at 15 minutes (200% above typical). These are traditionally walk-on attractions that absorbed overflow demand during the mid-morning downtime cascade.

Pirates of the Caribbean averaged 30 minutes (200% above typical), but this was partly due to the attraction being unavailable for over two and a half hours combined, creating pent-up demand when it reopened. Over at EPCOT, Journey Into Imagination With Figment saw 15-minute waits (200% above typical), likely benefiting from Test Track's extended morning closure.

Downtime Report

Magic Kingdom experienced a difficult morning operationally. Pirates of the Caribbean had the longest closure at 123 minutes (10:32 AM to 12:35 PM), plus an additional 33-minute closure earlier in the morning. Test Track at EPCOT was down for 87 minutes during midday and another 21 minutes in the evening. Other notable closures included Haunted Mansion (45 min), Under the Sea (42 min), and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (30 min). The clustering of downtimes between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM at Magic Kingdom explains much of the unexpected wait time inflation on lower-capacity attractions during that window.

Today's Prediction: Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Weather conditions improve significantly today with partly cloudy skies, 0% precipitation chance, and a high of 67 degrees. The clearing weather typically brings increased attendance, and two major factors will shape the day: Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom and the ongoing Festival of the Holidays at EPCOT.

Magic Kingdom will close early for the Christmas party, which historically compresses daytime crowds into fewer hours. Expect elevated morning and early afternoon waits as day guests try to maximize their time before the 6:00 PM transition. EPCOT should see another evening-heavy pattern similar to yesterday.

Best bet today: Animal Kingdom. With attention split between the Christmas party and Festival of the Holidays, Animal Kingdom tends to fly under the radar. Expect crowd levels in the 3-4 range with manageable waits throughout the day. Hollywood Studios remains a solid alternative if you can arrive by rope drop to tackle headliners before the midday buildup.