Daily Park Report: May 25, 2026

Memorial Day Crowds Played It Safe — Except at EPCOT

Memorial Day at Walt Disney World delivered a counterintuitive result: three of the four parks came in below their 30-day averages. Magic Kingdom, the flagship park on the biggest federal holiday of the spring, posted a 12.8-minute median wait — down nearly 15% from its typical Monday. That's not what the calendar would lead you to expect. EPCOT told a different story entirely, running 28% above its baseline and landing as the day's busiest park by relative pressure. The Flower & Garden Festival, the reopening of Soarin' Across America, and the Memorial Day Soccer Tournament families all converged there — and the queue data shows it.

Temperatures hit a muggy 91°F under mostly clear skies, which likely pushed some guests toward the slower-paced food-and-beverage experience at EPCOT rather than full park days elsewhere. But weather is a supporting character here, not the lead.

EPCOT: The Day's Pressure Point

EPCOT was the outlier on Monday, climbing to a 5/10 crowd level with a 19.2-minute median — comfortably above its norm for this time of year. The peak came at 8:00 AM with a 40-minute median, an unusually early surge that points directly to Soarin' Across America. The reimagined attraction is still drawing guests who want to be first in line, and on a holiday Monday, that meant rope-drop queues building fast before the rest of the park caught up.

The morning pressure was compounded by Spaceship Earth being offline from 8:32 AM until nearly 1:00 PM — a 257-minute stretch that pulled the park's signature entry-point attraction out of circulation right when guests were most eager to tour. With Spaceship Earth unavailable, guests funneled into Test Track, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and the newer Soarin', tightening queues across Future World. Remy's Ratatouille Adventure went down twice — 57 minutes in late morning and another 51 minutes just after noon — effectively losing it for most of the midday window. Test Track also closed at 7:32 PM and did not reopen, cutting evening options short.

Journey Into Imagination with Figment held at just 5 minutes all day, well below its typical 10-minute baseline. On a busy holiday at EPCOT, that's an easy win for guests willing to detour through the Imagination pavilion.

Magic Kingdom: Lighter Than the Holiday Suggested

Magic Kingdom came in at a 4/10 with a 12.8-minute median — a genuinely comfortable day at a park that can hit double those numbers on holiday weekends. Disney After Hours was scheduled for 10:00 PM, but that's a late-night event with no effect on daytime operations, so it doesn't explain the lighter crowds. The more likely explanation: a Memorial Day Monday that fell at the tail end of a weekend, with many families already heading home by mid-morning, and Soccer Tournament attendees gravitating toward EPCOT and Animal Kingdom rather than MK.

The operational picture at Magic Kingdom was rougher than the crowd numbers suggest. Space Mountain was offline for two separate stretches — 139 minutes from 12:14 to 2:33 PM, then another 119-minute closure from 4:17 to 6:16 PM. That's most of the afternoon without Tomorrowland's headliner. Big Thunder Mountain went down for 54 minutes during the late morning, Buzz Lightyear was offline for 53 minutes in mid-morning, and Tiana's Bayou Adventure closed for 47 minutes right at rope drop. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh had a particularly fragmented day — down four separate times for a combined total of nearly four hours.

Despite all that operational turbulence, waits across the park remained low. Pirates of the Caribbean averaged just 5 minutes all day, and Haunted Mansion — normally a 25-minute attraction — ran at 15 minutes even after its own 46-minute evening closure. The guest-to-attraction ratio was simply favorable enough that closures didn't create serious queue pressure elsewhere.

Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom: Steady and Manageable

Hollywood Studios came in at a 4/10 with a 30.8-minute median, running 12% below its 30-day baseline. Peak hour hit at 10:00 AM with 40-minute medians — early, as is typical for a park where the headliners draw rope-drop crowds. Rise of the Resistance was offline for 46 minutes in that exact window, from 9:34 to 10:19 AM, creating frustration for guests who'd prioritized it first thing. Slinky Dog Dash also had two separate closures — 32 minutes at opening and another 39 minutes in late afternoon. Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway was the most significant downtime story here: offline from 2:32 to 5:44 PM, nearly three and a half hours during the afternoon peak. With two of Toy Story Land's main draws disrupted and the park's newest headliner unavailable for most of the afternoon, guests who arrived after lunch found a thinner menu of options than the crowd level would imply.

Animal Kingdom also landed at a 4/10 with a 28.7-minute median, just slightly below its baseline. The peak came at 11:00 AM with 50-minute medians — a sharp intraday spike. Avatar Flight of Passage averaged 110 minutes across the day, well above its typical range, making it the single most significant queue anywhere in the resort on Monday. On a holiday with elevated guest volume, Pandora concentrated demand in a way the rest of the park didn't. Kali River Rapids went down for 62 minutes in the late afternoon — on a 91-degree day, that closure eliminated one of the park's primary heat-relief options during the hottest part of the day.

Downtime Summary

Monday's downtime log was extensive. Magic Kingdom bore the heaviest load: Space Mountain's two combined closures totaled nearly four and a half hours, while Winnie the Pooh's four separate incidents added up to roughly the same. At EPCOT, Spaceship Earth's 257-minute morning closure and Remy's repeated outages disrupted the midday touring window. At Hollywood Studios, Runaway Railway's three-and-a-half-hour afternoon closure was the single most guest-impactful incident of the day — that attraction drives significant repeat visit intent, and losing it from mid-afternoon through early evening on a holiday Monday was a meaningful loss.

Tuesday Prediction: Memorial Day Hangover Meets High Pressure

Tuesday, May 26 is the day after Memorial Day, and the crowd pressure data is clear: this is still a HIGH-pressure period. Families who stayed through the long weekend are spending one more day before driving or flying home, and the Soccer Tournament extends through this week. The prediction floor is 6/10 for all parks — and the data from past holiday Tuesdays suggests the floor is where you should anchor, not the ceiling.

Soarin' Across America continues to draw dedicated crowds at EPCOT, and with no party night or early closure at any park, guests have full operating windows to fill. Expect EPCOT in the 6-7/10 range, likely the busiest park again. Magic Kingdom should land in the 6-7/10 range as well — Monday's lighter-than-expected numbers were partially a product of the holiday's tail-end timing, and Tuesday often runs heavier than Monday as late-arriving guests settle in. Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom should each come in around 6/10.

Temperatures hit 93°F in the afternoon with partly cloudy skies and no rain expected. That heat will push guests toward indoor attractions and mid-afternoon breaks, but it will not suppress attendance. Plan accordingly: rope drop is essential, midday breaks are smart, and Avatar Flight of Passage will be a two-plus-hour commitment if you wait until afternoon.

The Soccer Tournament families who drove EPCOT volume on Monday will be in the parks again Tuesday. World Showcase doesn't open until 11:00 AM, so morning touring at EPCOT means Future World — where Soarin' and Guardians will be at their busiest. If EPCOT is your park of choice, be there at rope drop or plan for a slower-paced festival day.

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