Christmas Day Wait Times at Walt Disney World: TRON Leads with 3-Hour Queue

12 hours ago in "Holidays at the Magic Kingdom"

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2024 Magic Kingdom Holiday Decor and Christmas Tree

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Posted: Wednesday December 25, 2024 3:00pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Christmas Day at Walt Disney World often brings large crowds, festive energy, and extended wait times, and 2025 is no different. By 3 pm, many attractions across all four parks are reporting longer standby waits. However, the majority of rides are under 100 minutes, making them quite manageable for a peak holiday.

2024 Magic Kingdom Holiday Decor and Christmas Tree

Trends Across the Parks

High Demand for Headliners: Newer attractions and timeless classics dominate the wait time charts across all parks.
Steady Interest in Meet-and-Greets: Holiday character interactions continue to draw significant crowds, with consistent wait times throughout the day.
Balanced Crowds Across Parks: Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios have the longest waits for marquee attractions, while EPCOT and Animal Kingdom maintain a more manageable balance, ideal for families looking to spread out.

Here's a closer look at the wait times park by park:

Magic Kingdom

TRON Lightcycle / Run tops the charts with a 180-minute wait.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is another guest favorite with a 105-minute wait.
Family classics like Peter Pan's Flight (90 minutes) and Space Mountain (85 minutes) also see strong demand.
Meet-and-greet locations, such as Princess Fairytale Hall and Ariel's Grotto, maintain steady waits of 45-50 minutes, highlighting the holiday appeal of character interactions.

TRON Lightcycle Run Standby Line

EPCOT

Fan-favorites like Frozen Ever After and Remy's Ratatouille Adventure each report 70-minute waits.
Soarin' Around the World stands out with a more moderate 50-minute wait, making it one of the more accessible headliners at this time.

Hollywood Studios

Star Wars attractions dominate here, with Rise of the Resistance holding at 80 minutes and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at 75 minutes.
Slinky Dog Dash continues to be a major draw, matching the 80-minute wait time.
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster keeps pace with a 70-minute standby wait, demonstrating its enduring popularity.

Animal Kingdom

Avatar Flight of Passage leads the park with a 115-minute wait, cementing its status as the park's premier attraction.
Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest hold steady at 80 and 45 minutes, offering solid options for guests seeking a balance of adventure and lower wait times.

Final Thoughts

While some headliners like TRON and Avatar Flight of Passage are drawing over 100-minute waits, many other rides remain under an hour, providing plenty of opportunities for guests to enjoy the parks without extended waits. We expect to see crowds pickup between Christmas Day and New Year's, so stay tuned for more coverage of the holiday week at Walt Disney World.

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Bullseye19671 minute ago

We did this exactly one time. Definitely a one and done!!

Fido Chuckwagon3 hours ago

Had a lovely time today starting in Epcot and hopping to AK for EMH. Using LLMP and EMH rode Frozen, Mission Space, GOTG, Seas, Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, then Expedition Everest twice in a row with a 5 minute wait at 6:45, then Expedition Everest a third time during EMH with no wait, then Avatar with a 15 minute wait, then Navi with no wait. Neither Epcot or Animal Kingdom seemed particularly crowded, walkways were easy to navigate, restaurants weren’t crowded, nor were bathrooms, etc.

JohnD5 hours ago

That whole Jesus is nice thing, including pondering what Mary and Joseph thought, is unBiblical as to be a farce. I was fine with the true story of the hymn Silent Night, though I can see how it took you out of the narrative. Instead they conjured up the Mary and Joseph pondering that night story. Sigh...

MisterPenguin5 hours ago

Yes, the secularization of the Candlelight Procession has indeed been reversed. The vocals no longer begin with "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" which is all about partying for that "Time of Year" and mentions Christmas only in the line: And tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago. It's the kind of non-Christmas Christmas-song parodied/mocked by Olaf in "That Time of Year" which mentions all the associated Christmas traditions without mentioning Christmas (except for a quick Mele Kaliki). It was totally out of place for a concert in which Sacred Song and scriptural quoting is professing the Christian faith that Jesus is God incarnate and thus, savior for all from sin and death. "Let There Be Peace on Earth" is also gone.. and good riddance. They used the second verse only of the song which doesn't mention God or anything religious. The overly saccharine introduction to Silent Night has been shortened -- Altho, why they don't continue to use biblical passages is beyond me. Who there thinks that whatever treacle they write is more appropriate? Also, they added an overly saccharine introduction to "Joy to the World" in which, after all these songs and scripture verses proclaiming Jesus to be Messiah and Savior, they go on about "what a nice guy he was." . This also includes Biblical hallucinations about Jesus sharing food off his plate and giving drink to those who were hungry and thirsty. A complete misremembering of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Last Supper. They need to upgrade to a more recent AI to write their copy. Anyhoo, "Joy to the Word" and the "Hallelujah Chorus" are now each their own complete song and seemingly much more well received by the audience than that Frankenmashup of the past which confused everyone about whether they should stand for the Hallelujah parts (and you should stand as a member of Western Civilization). Though, as a continued poke in the eye, "Jingle Bells" in the instrumental overture has been expanded from a quick wink to it's own full song. So out of place. So stupid. But, far be it from me to say anything critical about what Modern Disney does.

JohnD7 hours ago

Yikes! Precisely why I'm perfectly happy to be blocked out with my Pixie Dust pass. Some people think, "I'm going Christmas Day. It will be a magical time!" I think, "No. Not really."

JohnD7 hours ago

I agree there has been a gradual "softening" of the Christmas story / hymns over the years. I'm grateful its still there at all.

wdwmagic11 hours ago

Christmas Day Wait Times at Walt Disney World: TRON Leads with 3-Hour Queue https://www.wdwmagic.com/events/holidays-at-the-magic-kingdom/news/25dec2024-christmas-day-wait-times-at-walt-disney-world-tron-leads-with-3-hour-queue.htm

mastromjm13 hours ago

Yes, unfortunately at the cost of Let There Be Peace on Earth. There were a LOT of guest complaints about the mashup. Hallelujah Chorus is a different arrangement from the original (though the vocals are the same for the most part) - leaders wanted something a bit more modern-sounding

JohnD14 hours ago

Not sure if reported previously, I realize the Candlelight Processional is almost over, but I read that Joy to the World and Hallelujah Chorus are finally separate again instead of the up-down-up mashup they had before.

ToTBellHop1 day ago

I noticed that tonight. Great show despite some low clouds!

Squishy1 day ago

They are however using the Enchantment launch sites for some reason though.

castlecake2.01 day ago

Wouldn’t these people rather know ahead of time instead of being turned around at the auto plaza?

esskay1 day ago

whoever decided reservations were still a good idea. There’s a reason first come first serve worked well for decades. But no let’s continue to make the place more effort for guests, especially first timers.