Daily Park Report: January 24, 2026

Hollywood Studios Hit 9/10 Packed Crowds—Saturday's Festival Surge Tested Every Park

Hollywood Studios recorded its highest crowd level in weeks yesterday, reaching a 9/10 with 48-minute median waits. But the real story isn't one park—it's a resort-wide surge that pushed three of four parks into Heavy or higher territory on the same Saturday afternoon.

Yesterday, Saturday, January 24th, delivered ideal touring weather with highs near 80°F under mostly clear skies. That warmth combined with the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts drew visitors across all four parks, creating a synchronized crowd spike we rarely see outside holiday weeks.

Hollywood Studios: Packed and Pressurized

At 48.3 minutes median (+7.3% above normal), Hollywood Studios absorbed the heaviest crowds of any park. The noon peak hour pushed medians to 60 minutes—territory where even well-planned touring strategies start breaking down. Two separate Toy Story Mania closures during the afternoon (46 minutes starting at 2:01 PM, then another 39 minutes starting at 3:14 PM) forced families hunting for Toy Story Land options into already-strained queues at Alien Swirling Saucers. Tower of Terror also went down briefly mid-morning, compounding the pressure on Sunset Boulevard attractions during the climb toward peak.

Animal Kingdom: The Surge Park

Animal Kingdom jumped 29% above its 30-day average—the largest percentage increase of any park yesterday. At 38.7 minutes median (7/10 Heavy), the park is no longer flying under the radar as a crowd escape valve. The 1:00 PM peak pushed medians to 55 minutes.

Several attractions showed dramatic variance. Kilimanjaro Safaris hit 55-minute averages (57% above typical), DINOSAUR surged to 45 minutes (125% above normal), and the relatively new Zootopia: Better Zoogether attraction doubled its usual wait at 30 minutes. Even Kali River Rapids—normally a walk-on in January—climbed to 15 minutes as 80-degree temperatures made the rapids feel inviting rather than punishing.

EPCOT: Festival Crowds Spread Wide

The Festival of the Arts drew EPCOT to 24.6 minutes median (+23%), earning a 7/10 Heavy rating. The 11:00 AM peak suggests festival-goers arrived early for booth access, then spread throughout World Showcase.

Three EPCOT outliers tell a clear story about festival behavior. Living with the Land doubled to 20 minutes—guests treating the climate-controlled boat ride as a rest stop between food booths. Journey Into Imagination with Figment tripled to 15 minutes before going down for over an hour mid-afternoon. Gran Fiesta Tour doubled to 10 minutes as Mexico Pavilion drew festival traffic. The Figment closure at 2:21 PM pushed guests toward Nemo, which then went down at 3:05 PM—a cascading afternoon that left Imagination Pavilion visitors with limited options.

Magic Kingdom: Heavy Despite Steady Numbers

Magic Kingdom's 21-minute median looks modest at +5% above average, but the park-specific calibration tells the real story: that's an 8/10 Very Heavy rating for a park where 15 minutes is a typical day. The 1:00 PM peak reached 30-minute medians across the board.

Mad Tea Party became the unexpected Fantasyland bottleneck—not from demand, but from nearly 5 hours of combined downtime across two incidents (8:32 AM to 11:50 AM, then again from 12:01 PM to 1:26 PM). With the teacups out of rotation, families circled to alternatives. Dumbo climbed 67% above normal to 25 minutes, Under the Sea similarly hit 25 minutes (67% above typical), and even Dumbo-adjacent queue spillover created friction in the Fantasyland hub.

Downtime Impact Summary

Today's Forecast: Sunday Continuation

Expect more of the same. Sunday typically sees 5-10% lighter crowds than Saturday, but the Festival of the Arts continues at EPCOT, and today's forecast calls for even warmer conditions—highs near 85°F under mostly clear skies with no precipitation.

The strategic play: If you're visiting today, Hollywood Studios carries the highest risk after yesterday's 9/10 showing. Animal Kingdom's 29% surge suggests word is spreading about the park, so it may not offer the relief it did a month ago. EPCOT will be busy with festival crowds, but the waits spread across many attractions rather than concentrating on headliners. Magic Kingdom's 8/10 was partially driven by Fantasyland downtime—with normal operations, today should be more manageable.

Arrive at your target park for rope drop if possible. Yesterday's peak hours clustered between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM across all four parks. The late afternoon saw some relief as downtimes resolved and crowds began dispersing.

Track Live Conditions with Lightning Brain

Yesterday's synchronized surge and cascading downtimes are exactly the kind of patterns that separate a frustrating park day from an efficient one. Lightning Brain's real-time data feeds help you spot these resort-wide trends as they develop—not hours later. Now available at lightningbrain.app and on the App Store!