Daily Park Report: March 25, 2026

Animal Kingdom Ran 31% Below Average While Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios Packed In Spring Break Crowds

Wednesday's most striking number wasn't the 140-minute average for Rise of the Resistance or the nearly six hours Tiana's Bayou Adventure spent offline. It was the gap between parks: Animal Kingdom posted a 3/10 crowd level with a 20.8-minute median wait, while Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios both hit 7/10. Spring break guests had clear favorites yesterday, and Animal Kingdom wasn't one of them.

Hollywood Studios: Heavy and Headliner-Hungry

Hollywood Studios led all four parks at 7/10 with a 41.5-minute median wait, peaking at 10:00 AM with a 50-minute median. That early peak tells a familiar spring break story — rope-drop rushes from resort guests trying to knock out headliners before lines build. But one headliner wasn't cooperating.

Rise of the Resistance was down for over three hours from park open until nearly noon. When it finally came back online, pent-up demand sent waits soaring — the attraction averaged 140 minutes across the day, roughly two and a half times its typical 55-minute average. That's a punishing wait even by spring break standards and suggests that guests who missed their morning window circled back aggressively in the afternoon. Slinky Dog Dash also took a 37-minute hit late morning, and Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway closed at 7:15 PM and didn't reopen, cutting the evening lineup short for guests who planned late-day touring.

Magic Kingdom: Heavy Crowds, Heavier Downtime

Magic Kingdom came in at 7/10 with an 18.1-minute median, which actually ran about 10% below its 30-day average despite the heavy label. The explanation is partly mechanical: Tiana's Bayou Adventure was offline for the vast majority of the operating day. The first closure stretched from 9:01 AM to 2:29 PM — over five hours. After a brief return, it went down again from 3:55 PM to 6:34 PM. That's roughly eight hours of downtime for one of the park's highest-demand attractions.

With Tiana's unavailable, pressure redistributed across Fantasyland and Adventureland. The Barnstormer averaged 25 minutes, about two-thirds above its usual 15 — a sign that families with young children had fewer options and longer waits for the ones that remained. Pirates of the Caribbean also took an early 18-minute closure, though it recovered quickly. The late afternoon brought a cluster of brief downtimes: the Railroad, it's a small world, and Carousel of Progress all closed within minutes of each other around 4:30 PM, compressing options during what's normally a busy touring window.

EPCOT: Busy but Bruised by Late-Day Closures

EPCOT posted a 6/10 at 20.4 minutes median, right in line with its 30-day average. The Flower & Garden Festival continues to draw foot traffic, and Soarin' bore the brunt — averaging 65 minutes, nearly double its typical 35. That attraction has become the clear demand magnet when festival crowds build, as it sits right in the flow between World Showcase gardens.

The afternoon and evening were rough operationally. Spaceship Earth closed from 1:57 PM to 5:12 PM — over three hours without the park's icon. Test Track had a particularly bad day with three separate closures totaling over two and a half hours, including a final shutdown at 6:50 PM from which it never recovered. Remy's Ratatouille Adventure and Journey Into Imagination both closed in the late afternoon as well. For guests arriving on an evening park reservation, the ride menu was significantly diminished.

Animal Kingdom: Spring Break's Overlooked Option

Animal Kingdom posted the day's lightest crowds at 3/10 with a 20.8-minute median — nearly a third below its 30-day average. Every major headliner ran well under typical levels: Avatar Flight of Passage averaged 45 minutes (versus 65 typical), Kilimanjaro Safaris came in at 28 minutes (versus 40), and Expedition Everest managed just 20 minutes. Even Zootopia: Better Zoogether sat at 10 minutes. A 33-minute closure on Flight of Passage around midday barely registered in the overall numbers.

The likely explanation is simply spring break crowd distribution. When families have four parks to choose from, the ones with the most headline attractions — Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios — absorb disproportionate share. Animal Kingdom's earlier closing time may also have pushed day-trippers toward parks where they could tour later into the evening.

Downtime Report

Wednesday was one of the rougher operational days in recent weeks. Tiana's Bayou Adventure's combined eight hours of downtime was the headliner, effectively removing a top-tier attraction from Magic Kingdom for the entire day. Guests who planned their day around riding it likely had to restructure entirely.

EPCOT took the hardest hit by volume. Test Track's repeated failures — three closures plus a final no-reopen shutdown — suggest a persistent issue rather than isolated incidents. Combined with Spaceship Earth's three-hour afternoon closure and evening losses of Remy's and Figment, EPCOT lost significant ride capacity during its busiest hours. For a park already running at 6/10, that's a meaningful reduction in guest experience.

Thursday Prediction: March 26

Yesterday's prediction accuracy: Wednesday's spring break pattern played out largely as expected, with the park-to-park spread being the main variable.

For Thursday, expect more of the same spring break dynamic. Clear morning skies and a high of 82°F should keep outdoor touring comfortable, and with no rain in the forecast, there won't be weather-driven closures to worry about. The Global Pet Expo continues at the convention center, which tends to push convention-goer families into the parks during evening hours.

Strategy for today: If you have flexibility, Animal Kingdom in the morning is the clear play — yesterday's data suggests you could tour every headliner with minimal waits before noon. Then hop to EPCOT for afternoon Flower & Garden touring when ride lines peak elsewhere. Avoid Hollywood Studios before noon unless you have Lightning Lane access for Rise of the Resistance.

See the Patterns Before They Happen

Yesterday's massive park-to-park crowd split — Animal Kingdom at 3/10 while two parks hit 7/10 — is exactly the kind of imbalance that changes your entire touring plan. Lightning Brain tracks these splits in real time so you can pivot to the lighter park before the crowds catch on. Now available at lightningbrain.app and on the App Store!