August vs September at Disney World: did waits drop?

In WaitScout's posted-wait data, the average ride wait was lower in September 2026 than in August 2026 at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Magic Kingdom fell from 22.7 to 20.8 minutes, Hollywood Studios from 34.7 to 31.7 and Animal Kingdom from 34.3 to 31.0. EPCOT rose, from 23.8 to 25.2.

This compares two months of one year. It covers summer and early autumn 2026 only, from 2026-06-04 to 2026-10-19, and it says nothing about other months or other years. Posted waits are the numbers on the sign, not measured standing time.

Did Disney World waits drop from August to September?

At three of four parks, yes, by 1.9 to 3.3 minutes in the average. The median tells the same story at three parks, in 5-minute steps.

Park	August average (min)	September average (min)	August median (min)	September median (min)
Magic Kingdom	22.7	20.8	20	15
EPCOT	23.8	25.2	15	15
Hollywood Studios	34.7	31.7	35	30
Animal Kingdom	34.3	31.0	35	30

August had 31 days of data and September had 30, and each park has more than 14,000 posted waits in each month. A one-step median change is 5 minutes, which is the smallest move the posted number can make, so read the averages for size and the medians for direction.

What happened at each park month by month?

Here is the whole run, June to October, so you can see August and September in context. October covers only 19 days, 1 to 19 October, and June starts on 2026-06-04.

Park	June average (min)	July average (min)	August average (min)	September average (min)	October average (min, 19 days)
Magic Kingdom	23.6	23.9	22.7	20.8	23.3
EPCOT	24.5	23.7	23.8	25.2	27.1
Hollywood Studios	35.4	35.6	34.7	31.7	36.7
Animal Kingdom	34.2	35.6	34.3	31.0	35.0

September was the lowest month at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. In October the averages came back up at all four parks, At Hollywood Studios and EPCOT, October's average was above every earlier month. So the September dip was a dip in this data, not the start of a trend.

EPCOT's pattern is different: its average rose each month after July, and its median held at 15 minutes through September.

Which rides dropped the most in September?

To compare like with like, we kept the 42 rides with at least 1,000 posted waits in both August and September. The average fell for 24 of them, rose for 17, and was equal for 1.

Ride	Park	August average (min)	September average (min)
Space Mountain	Magic Kingdom	34.5	23.8
Kali River Rapids	Animal Kingdom	32.7	23.7
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets	Hollywood Studios	53.9	46.0
Tiana's Bayou Adventure	Magic Kingdom	34.7	27.0
Avatar Flight of Passage	Animal Kingdom	52.2	45.5
TRON Lightcycle / Run	Magic Kingdom	55.4	49.5

Space Mountain's 10.7-minute drop was the largest of the 42. Hollywood Studios had the cleanest result: 8 of its 9 rides fell. Magic Kingdom's was mixed, with 11 of its 18 rides lower, 6 higher and 1 level. See the best time to ride TRON Lightcycle / Run for how that ride moves through a day.

Which rides went up in September?

17 rides rose, and EPCOT supplied nine of them.

Ride	Park	August average (min)	September average (min)
Living with the Land	EPCOT	10.1	16.2
The Seas with Nemo & Friends	EPCOT	9.6	13.2
Frozen Ever After	EPCOT	44.4	48.8
Kilimanjaro Safaris	Animal Kingdom	24.5	27.9

Test Track was the one EPCOT ride that fell, from 62.7 to 57.4 minutes. The EPCOT result matters if you are choosing a park for September: the other three parks cooled and EPCOT did not.

Why did waits drop in September?

We do not know. The data records what was posted, not why. A fall in posted waits could come from fewer guests, from ride downtime, from a change in how the park staffs or loads a ride, or from some mix. We did not test any of these, so we do not name a cause. We also have only one August and one September, so we cannot say the same would happen in another year.

What should I do with this?

Use it as a nudge, not a plan.

• If you are picking between late summer and early autumn, September 2026 was the lighter month at three parks.
• If you are going to EPCOT, do not expect the same drop.
• Check the live number on the day: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom.
• Compare specific days on the Magic Kingdom crowd calendar, and read which park is busiest for the park-level view.

How large is each sample?

Each month at each park rests on thousands of posted ride waits.

Park	August posted waits	September posted waits
Magic Kingdom	55,395	53,446
EPCOT	26,323	26,913
Hollywood Studios	26,531	25,780
Animal Kingdom	14,556	14,123

Magic Kingdom has the largest samples because it has 21 rides in the data, against 11 at EPCOT, 9 at Hollywood Studios and 5 at Animal Kingdom. August and September have similar counts at every park, so neither month has far more readings than the other.

Frequently asked questions

Is September less crowded than August at Disney World?

In posted ride waits, yes at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom in 2026, and no at EPCOT. We do not count guests, so this is about lines.

How big was the drop?

The average fell by 1.9 minutes at Magic Kingdom, 3.0 at Hollywood Studios and 3.3 at Animal Kingdom. EPCOT rose by 1.4.

Does this apply to September of other years?

We cannot say. We have one year of data.

What about winter, spring or holidays?

We have none. This guide covers summer and early autumn 2026 only.

Do these numbers show how long guests stood in line?

No. They show the posted wait, as published at the time of each poll.

Methodology

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Every figure comes from WaitScout's wait_history table joined to attractions and parks, from 2026-06-04 to 2026-10-19 (138 local days), converted to America/New_York and grouped by local calendar month. Only rows with a posted wait are used. A ride is an attraction with entity type ATTRACTION and attraction type ride. The ride comparison keeps rides with at least 1,000 posted waits in both August and September. Medians are exact, rounded to the nearest minute, and posted minutes come in 5-minute steps. The queries are recorded in docs/content/claims-dis362-august-vs-september.md. These are posted waits, not measured standing time. There is no winter, spring or holiday data, and one August and one September are a sample of one year.

WaitScout is an independent planning tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by The Walt Disney Company. All park and ride names are used for identification purposes only.