Weekly Park Report: January 25 - January 31, 2026

EPCOT Dropped to 3/10 While Magic Kingdom Hit Heavy: The Widest Park Split of 2026

The four Walt Disney World parks have never diverged this sharply in 2026. This week, January 25-31, EPCOT posted a 3/10 crowd level — 25% below its 6-week average — while Magic Kingdom registered 7/10 Heavy. That four-level gap between two parks sitting miles apart on the same property created wildly different guest experiences depending on a single routing decision.

Week at a Glance

The resort-wide median held at 25 minutes, unchanged from last week and consistent with the post-holiday plateau that began in early January. After the holiday peak (35 minutes the week of December 28), crowds have settled into a stable late-January rhythm. But the resort average obscures dramatic park-level divergence: EPCOT's Festival of the Arts drew foot traffic without inflating queues, Magic Kingdom absorbed the heaviest demand, and Hollywood Studios ran Busy despite two After Hours events mid-week. The headline: park selection mattered more than day selection this week.

Park-by-Park Analysis

Magic Kingdom — 7/10 Heavy

Magic Kingdom carried the resort's heaviest burden at a 20-minute median, matching its 6-week average but landing squarely in Heavy territory. Tuesday delivered the week's lone reprieve at 10 minutes (Very Light), while every other day held at 15-20 minutes. The reliability picture complicated matters further: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan's Flight, and Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh each logged 9 incidents of downtime. Prince Charming Regal Carrousel hit 11 incidents and Mad Tea Party recorded 10. Fantasyland was a minefield for families this week — guests building plans around those headliners faced repeated disruptions. The 120-minute peak wait confirms that when marquee rides were running, pent-up demand flooded in.

EPCOT — 3/10 Light

EPCOT was the week's clear winner for guests who knew where to look. A 15-minute median — down 25% from the 6-week average of 20 — made this the lightest EPCOT week since early January. The Festival of the Arts ran all seven days but drove gallery-browsing and food booth traffic rather than ride demand. Mission: SPACE averaged just 14.5 minutes, 35% below its baseline. Thursday's After Hours event at EPCOT did nothing to inflate daytime waits earlier in the week. The contradiction is striking: Spaceship Earth logged a resort-high 25 downtime incidents, yet the park still delivered the best overall touring conditions. Remy's Ratatouille Adventure added 12 incidents of its own, meaning two of EPCOT's signature rides were unreliable — but with crowd levels this low, guests simply absorbed the disruptions without major queue spillover.

Hollywood Studios — 6/10 Busy

Hollywood Studios matched its 6-week average at a 40-minute median, but the day-to-day swings told a more interesting story. Tuesday and Saturday both hit 45 minutes, while Wednesday's After Hours event correlated with a dip to 35 minutes during regular hours. Rise of the Resistance recorded 10 downtime incidents — a frustrating number for a ride that anchors most guests' touring strategies. Toy Story Mania added 12 incidents. Star Tours, meanwhile, averaged just 6.2 minutes, half its 30-day baseline, suggesting guests are deprioritizing it in favor of the Galaxy's Edge headliners. The 165-minute peak wait — the highest at any park this week — belonged to this park.

Animal Kingdom — 4/10 Comfortable

Animal Kingdom ran 20% above its 6-week average at a 30-minute median, pushing from typical Light territory into Comfortable. The culprit: DINOSAUR, which averaged 46 minutes — a staggering 71% above its baseline. Whether operational changes or shifting guest patterns drove this spike, DINOSAUR was Animal Kingdom's bottleneck all week. Tuesday and Wednesday offered the best conditions at 20 minutes each. Saturday climbed to 37.5 minutes as weekend visitors arrived. Kali River Rapids averaged just 8.1 minutes, 47% below baseline — expected for late January when cooler temperatures keep guests dry by choice.

Daily Pattern

Tuesday produced the week's widest single-day split: Magic Kingdom at 10 minutes versus Hollywood Studios at 45. The midweek After Hours events on Wednesday (Hollywood Studios) and Thursday (EPCOT) softened daytime crowds at those parks, but the effect was modest — a 5-minute drop at best. The National School Spirit Championships arriving Friday pushed Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios upward into the weekend, while EPCOT and Magic Kingdom stayed flat or declined Saturday.

Reliability Report

Spaceship Earth's 25 downtime incidents dominated the week. For a ride that serves as EPCOT's icon and a default first stop, repeated closures forced guests to reroute toward Test Track or Guardians of the Galaxy right out of the gate. At Magic Kingdom, the Fantasyland cluster — Seven Dwarfs (9 incidents), Peter Pan (9), Winnie the Pooh (9), Mad Tea Party (10), and the Carrousel (11) — created a zone of unpredictability. Families with young children, whose plans revolve around exactly these rides, faced the worst of it. At Hollywood Studios, Rise of the Resistance's 10 incidents and Toy Story Mania's 12 made both anchor attractions unreliable for rope-drop strategies.

Next Week Outlook

February begins with the Festival of the Arts continuing at EPCOT, which should maintain light ride queues there despite foot traffic. Late January's stable pattern — resort median holding at 20-25 minutes — shows no signs of shifting until Presidents' Day weekend approaches later in February. EPCOT remains the best value for crowd-averse guests. Hollywood Studios will stay the busiest park; target Wednesday or Thursday if After Hours events repeat. Watch Animal Kingdom's DINOSAUR situation — if that 71% spike persists, it signals a lasting operational change rather than a one-week anomaly.

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