Daily Park Report: January 28, 2026

Magic Kingdom Hit 8/10 Crowds on a January Wednesday — While EPCOT Sat 36% Below Normal

Yesterday, Wednesday, January 28, the four Walt Disney World parks told two very different stories. Magic Kingdom surged to Very Heavy 8/10 crowd levels on what should have been a quiet midweek winter day, while EPCOT recorded its lightest traffic in a month. The gap between these two parks — a 20.4-minute median at Magic Kingdom versus 12.7 minutes at EPCOT — created a clear winners-and-losers dynamic for guests who chose wisely.

Skies were clear with a high of 60°F and a low near 36°F. The cool, dry conditions shaped ride demand in predictable ways — water attractions saw reduced interest — but the real driver of yesterday's split was something else entirely: Magic Kingdom simply absorbed the lion's share of midweek resort guests while EPCOT's Festival of the Arts failed to generate meaningful queue pressure.

Magic Kingdom: A Surprising Winter Surge

At 20.4 minutes median and an 8/10 crowd level, Magic Kingdom ran well above its typical January baseline. The park peaked at noon with a 30-minute median, but the real pressure showed up at individual attractions. Tiana's Bayou Adventure posted a 40-minute average — 60% above its 25-minute norm — despite going down for nearly three hours from 10:31 AM to 1:23 PM. That extended closure compressed demand into the afternoon and evening, inflating waits further once the ride returned.

Fantasyland bore the brunt. Under the Sea, Barnstormer, and Magic Carpets of Aladdin all ran 67% above their typical averages at 25 minutes each. These are normally walk-on or near-walk-on attractions; yesterday they became legitimate waits. Families with small children felt this most acutely — the rides skewing high are exactly the ones preschool-age guests depend on.

The afternoon brought more trouble. Space Mountain went down for 96 minutes starting at 4:07 PM, and Barnstormer dropped offline for an hour around the same time. Swiss Family Treehouse closed for over two and a half hours. With three attractions down simultaneously during the late afternoon, remaining queues absorbed displaced guests. Magic Kingdom's operational challenges compounded what was already an unexpectedly heavy day.

EPCOT: Festival Crowds, Empty Queues

EPCOT posted a 12.7-minute median — 36.5% below its 30-day average — earning a Light 3/10 rating. The International Festival of the Arts is in full swing, but yesterday's data confirms a pattern we see consistently with EPCOT festivals: guests come for the food and art booths, not the rides. Spaceship Earth dropped to a 5-minute average, two-thirds below its norm. The Seas with Nemo and Friends hit 5 minutes. Mission: SPACE sat at 10. Even Living with the Land, which sometimes draws festival-curious riders, posted just 10 minutes.

This was an outstanding touring day at EPCOT for anyone willing to brave the 44°F average temperature. Festival guests filled the walkways between booths while queues stayed short across the board.

Hollywood Studios: Comfortable Despite After Hours

Hollywood Studios hosted a Disney After Hours event from 9:30 PM to 12:30 AM, but because After Hours is a late-night add-on — not a replacement for regular park hours — daytime guests saw no reduction in access. The park posted a 33.8-minute median, 15.5% below its 30-day average, for a Comfortable 4/10 rating. Tower of Terror ran at 30 minutes, a third below its 45-minute norm. Slinky Dog Dash had a brief 36-minute morning closure but otherwise operated normally. Peak hour hit at 2:00 PM with a 45-minute median, but that remained well within manageable territory.

Animal Kingdom: A Quiet Day in the Cold

Animal Kingdom came in Light at 3/10 with a 21.5-minute median, 14% below average. Kilimanjaro Safaris posted a 20-minute average — 43% below its typical 35 minutes. Cool morning temperatures work in Safari guests' favor: animals tend to be more active, and fewer visitors means shorter waits. The park peaked at 11:00 AM with a 35-minute median, then tapered through the afternoon as the early-close crowd pattern took hold.

Downtime Report

Magic Kingdom had a rough operational day. Tiana's Bayou Adventure's nearly three-hour midday closure forced Adventureland and Frontierland guests to redistribute across the park — contributing to the inflated Fantasyland waits noted above. The late-afternoon triple closure of Space Mountain, Barnstormer, and Swiss Family Treehouse created a bottleneck at a time when families were already competing for rides before dinner. EPCOT saw Remy's Ratatouille Adventure go down twice (39 minutes in the morning, 58 minutes after lunch) and Figment drop for 39 minutes — though with crowds this light, the cascading impact was minimal.

Today's Prediction: Thursday, January 29

Today's forecast calls for clear skies with a high near 64°F and a low of 33°F — slightly warmer than yesterday, which should pull a few more guests toward water-adjacent experiences but won't dramatically shift patterns. The key event is Disney After Hours at EPCOT tonight, combined with the ongoing Festival of the Arts.

The play today: EPCOT is the move for daytime touring. Yesterday proved that Festival of the Arts keeps walkways busy but queues empty, and today's After Hours event doesn't affect regular park hours. Magic Kingdom's 8/10 rating yesterday on a Wednesday suggests midweek demand remains elevated — expect similar pressure today. Hollywood Studios should stay in the Comfortable range without a daytime event pulling crowds. Animal Kingdom remains a reliable low-crowd option, especially before noon when safari conditions are best.

If you have After Hours tickets for EPCOT tonight, skip daytime EPCOT entirely and spend your regular hours at Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios instead. You'll get both parks effectively covered in one day.

Track the Patterns That Matter

Yesterday's 8/10 Magic Kingdom on a January Wednesday caught many guests off guard — but not the data. These park-to-park splits are exactly what Lightning Brain detects in real time, so you can pivot before wasting touring hours in the wrong park. Lightning Brain is now available at lightningbrain.app and on the App Store.