Daily Park Report: January 13, 2026
Avatar Flight of Passage at 45 minutes. That number alone tells the story of Tuesday, January 13th. Disney's most popular attraction—the one that routinely commands 90+ minute waits during peak peri...
Animal Kingdom's 35% Drop Shows January's Quiet Side
Avatar Flight of Passage at 45 minutes. That number alone tells the story of Tuesday, January 13th. Disney's most popular attraction—the one that routinely commands 90+ minute waits during peak periods—was practically a walk-on by its own standards, running 40% below typical levels. Across all four parks, waits plummeted to their lowest readings of the post-holiday period.
The weather cooperated: 74 degrees, mostly cloudy skies, zero precipitation. But weather alone doesn't explain a resort-wide collapse in wait times. This was the first full week after the holiday surge, and guests responded by staying home. The FETC education conference brought some incremental visitors, but not enough to move the needle.
Animal Kingdom: A Ghost Town in the Best Way
Animal Kingdom recorded the day's most dramatic drop: a 35% decline from its 30-day average, settling at a 3/10 crowd level with a 19-minute median wait. For a park that regularly sees 35-minute medians, this was exceptional touring territory.
The headliners told the story. Flight of Passage at 45 minutes meant guests could experience Pandora's marquee attraction without sacrificing their afternoon. Expedition Everest ran at 20 minutes—43% below its typical 35. Even DINOSAUR, which can spike unpredictably, held steady at 10 minutes. Kali River Rapids posted 5-minute waits, though January's cooler mornings naturally suppress demand for water attractions.
Peak hour hit at 11:00 AM with a 35-minute median, then crowds dispersed through the afternoon. Guests who arrived mid-morning and departed by 2:00 PM captured the day's best conditions.
Hollywood Studios: Rise of the Resistance Stumbles
Hollywood Studios posted a 4/10 crowd level with a 32-minute median—21% below its 30-day average. Comfortable touring conditions persisted throughout the day, but one operational hiccup disrupted morning strategy.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance went down at 10:18 AM and didn't return until 11:00 AM. That 42-minute closure caught guests who had rope-dropped the attraction's standby line, forcing a pivot to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, which ran at just 20 minutes—half its typical wait. The Falcon absorbed the displaced demand without breaking a sweat.
Peak hour landed at 11:00 AM with a 45-minute median, coinciding with Rise's return to operation. The pent-up demand from the morning closure likely contributed to that spike.
Magic Kingdom: Downtime Dominoes in Fantasyland
Magic Kingdom recorded a 5/10 crowd level—moderate by its standards—with a 16-minute median wait, 18% below average. But the raw numbers obscure a challenging day for Fantasyland guests.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train disappeared from 11:21 AM to 12:33 PM, a 72-minute closure during peak afternoon hours. Families hunting for Fantasyland options found themselves rerouted to secondary attractions. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh went down later (4:36 PM to 5:12 PM), and Under the Sea followed (6:21 PM to 6:54 PM). The Walt Disney World Railroad also experienced dual-station closures in the late afternoon.
Tiana's Bayou Adventure saw an 18-minute evening closure, though by 6:27 PM most guests had shifted to dinner plans. The cascade of Fantasyland downtimes compressed demand onto the remaining attractions, though the overall light crowds absorbed the disruption without catastrophic wait spikes.
EPCOT: Festival Season Winds Down
EPCOT posted a 4/10 crowd level with a 17-minute median, running 17% below its 30-day average. With Festival of the Holidays concluded in early January, the park returned to standard operations—and standard January lulls.
The outlier data revealed guests treating EPCOT as a low-intensity day. Living with the Land posted 5-minute waits, 67% below typical. Spaceship Earth matched at 5 minutes. Soarin' ran at 15 minutes—a 57% drop from its usual 35. Guests weren't flocking to headliners; they were strolling World Showcase without queue pressure.
Peak hour arrived at 1:00 PM with a 25-minute median, the latest peak of any park. EPCOT's evening-heavy crowd pattern persisted even in the post-festival period.
Today's Outlook: Rain and After Hours Reshape Strategy
Wednesday brings two factors that will split the parks: drizzle with 51% precipitation chance, and Disney After Hours at Hollywood Studios tonight.
The After Hours event creates a clear strategic divide. Guests without event tickets should avoid Hollywood Studios after 4:00 PM when event preparations begin displacing day guests. Those with After Hours tickets can skip daytime Hollywood Studios entirely—the event's limited attendance guarantees short waits on every attraction.
Rain typically suppresses outdoor attraction demand while concentrating crowds in indoor queues. Expect Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, and indoor attractions across all parks to see elevated waits relative to their outdoor counterparts. Magic Kingdom's covered queue attractions—Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean—will absorb guests fleeing afternoon showers.
The play: Animal Kingdom in the morning before rain arrives (Expedition Everest and Flight of Passage), then pivot to EPCOT's indoor attractions for the afternoon. Skip Hollywood Studios unless you're holding After Hours tickets.
Track It Live
These crowd-level drops aren't always predictable—but real-time data makes them actionable the moment they appear. Lightning Brain surfaces these patterns as they develop, so you can adjust your touring plan mid-day. Now available at lightningbrain.app and on the App Store!