Overview
- Independent trackers reported three-hour peaks on February 17, with Space Mountain at about 185 minutes and Avatar Flight of Passage near 180 minutes as more than 10 rides topped 100 minutes late morning.
- Average waits rose across all four parks, including roughly 72 minutes at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, 49 at Animal Kingdom, 47 at EPCOT, and 42 at Magic Kingdom during the late-morning peak window cited.
- The surge stemmed from overlapping Presidents’ Day, Mardi Gras and Valentine’s travel patterns, reinforced by regional school breaks in states such as Louisiana, Alabama and parts of Mississippi and Florida.
- EPCOT’s International Festival of the Arts, which runs through February 23, added extra attendance pressure during the already busy stretch.
- Analysts expect elevated conditions through February 22 with relief likely after February 23, while a reported Space Mountain outage at one point may have shifted lines to other Magic Kingdom attractions.