If January once promised quiet walkways and short waits, that assumption no longer holds. Across Disney parks worldwide, crowd patterns have shifted, making traditionally slower months far less predictable.
Theme park attendance has become a closely watched metric in the post-pandemic era. Fans, analysts, and investors now track wait times and discounts as indicators of broader trends across global destinations.
In the United States, Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort both saw attendance decline in 2025, despite the opening of Epic Universe in May . The drop fueled debate over rising travel costs, the decline in international tourism, changing vacation habits, and whether demand for Disney has finally cooled.
Disney World responded quickly. This week, the company introduced new hotel deals aimed at bringing guests back to Florida during slower periods.
The offers include two complimentary hotel nights and extra theme park ticket days on qualifying four-night, four-day room-and-ticket packages. Florida residents and annual passholders can access additional discounts.
Lower attendance figures, however, do not automatically translate into lighter crowds inside the parks. Holiday travel, ride availability, and limited capacity can still push wait times higher.
That reality played out during the recent holiday season. On New Year's Eve, guests at EPCOT encountered some of the longest waits seen all year .
Test Track, which reopened in 2025 following its latest update, reached waits of up to 195 minutes. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind peaked at an eye-watering 225 minutes .
While extreme, those waits were not unusual for a major holiday at Walt Disney World. What happened this week at Tokyo Disney Resort was far more striking.
Record-Breaking Lines at Tokyo DisneySea
On January 6, guests at Tokyo Disney Resort reported wait times of up to 380 minutes, or six hours and 20 minutes, for a single attraction.
The Japanese resort is owned and operated by The Oriental Land Company under a licensing agreement with The Walt Disney Company, similar to the structure planned for Disneyland Abu Dhabi with Miral .
The attraction responsible was Soaring: Fantastic Flight at Tokyo DisneySea. The ride follows the same format as other Soarin' experiences worldwide, carrying guests over global landmarks before ending above Tokyo DisneySea.
For comparison, guests could theoretically travel between Disneyland and Walt Disney World in roughly the same amount of time as this wait.
According to Tokyo Disney Resort regulars, the 380-minute queue marked the longest posted wait at the resort since November 2019 . At that time, Soaring: Fantastic Flight famously reached 420 minutes.
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“Soarin': Fantastic Flight” Reaches a 380-Minute Wait!!
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Updating the post-COVID wait times by 40 minutes is seriously insane
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Soaring: Fantastic Flight opened in Tokyo DisneySea's Mediterranean Harbor area in 2019. Since then, it has consistently ranked among the resort's most popular attractions.
During a visit in May, cast members closed the ride to most guests well before park closing. Access was limited to Premier Access holders as a way to manage demand.
Guests have since reported that the attraction is operating at reduced capacity, which may help explain the unusually high wait times.
Crowds Persist Despite Newer Attractions
The surge is notable given that Soaring: Fantastic Flight is no longer the park's newest draw. In 2024, Tokyo DisneySea opened Fantasy Springs , a major expansion featuring Tangled , Frozen , and Peter Pan -themed areas.
The land includes four attractions: Anna and Elsa's Frozen Journey, Rapunzel's Lantern Festival, Peter Pan's Never Land Adventure, and Fairy Tinker Bell's Busy Buggies.
Fantasy Springs initially required special access, including eligibility tied to stays at Tokyo DisneySea Fantasy Springs Hotel. Those restrictions have since been lifted.
Even so, the new land does not consistently post the longest waits, which makes the continued demand for Soaring: Fantastic Flight more surprising .
Tokyo Disney Resort is known for heavy crowds . While attendance dipped during Tokyo's extreme summer heat in 2025, images of packed entrances continue to overhaul widely on social media .
Certain attractions remain reliable crowd magnets. Pooh's Hunny Hunt at Tokyo Disneyland still draws long lines thanks to its trackless ride system and practical effects.
At Tokyo DisneySea, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Toy Story Mania also rank among the most in-demand rides. Together, they help explain why crowd pressure at the resort shows little sign of easing ā even in January.
What's the longest line you've ever encountered at Disney?
