Central Florida theme parks are in their final push of the holiday season, and as expected, attendance remains heavy across both Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort. Seasonal crowd levels are nothing new during the last week of December, when schools are out, tourists flood Orlando, and locals take advantage of extended operating hours. What is new today, however, is the leaderboard. According to posted wait times, Universal guests faced some of the longest lines anywhere in Orlando, surpassing even Disney’s highest queues, despite Walt Disney World’s four-park capacity and character-driven draw.
While Disney typically dominates crowd conversation, Universal unexpectedly took the top spot for extreme attraction waits. Posted numbers show that Universal’s most in-demand rides stretched far past Disney’s peak times, with thrill-heavy attractions and Wizarding World-based experiences exceeding two and even three hours at points throughout the day. The race for longest queue did not belong to Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios this time. It belonged to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida.
Universal Takes The Lead
The leaderboard paints the picture clearly. At Walt Disney World, the highest waits recorded were Flight of Passage at 125 minutes, Slinky Dog Dash at 130 minutes, and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror hitting an enormous 180 minutes. Meanwhile, on the other side of I-4, Universal’s top waits climbed even higher. Mine-Cart Madness reached 180 minutes, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure jumped to 195 minutes, and Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry topped the charts at 210 minutes.
It is rare for Universal to outpace Disney across all top slots simultaneously, but the latest data reflects a trend that has been forming since 2019, strengthened further as Epic Universe promotion intensifies and the Wizarding World continues to anchor Universal’s brand identity. Families planning their day today needed patience no matter where they chose to visit, although anyone headed into Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley would have needed the most.
This dynamic shift is especially noteworthy for guests who view Disney as the default definition of peak crowd levels. Disney parks remained packed today, with Flight of Passage once again leading Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios seeing the familiar bottleneck effect around Toy Story Land and Sunset Boulevard. Yet Universal took today’s crown for longest stand-by lines overall. Harry Potter remains a global magnet, and when paired with new-generation attractions like Mine-Cart Madness, Universal has placed itself in a competitive tier where wait times can rival and exceed the most iconic rides at Disney.
The current longest wait times at Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando. This week is the busiest of the year. pic.twitter.com/R4rD96606M
— Attractions Magazine (@Attractions) December 28, 2025
What Crowds Reveal
Crowd patterns like this often reflect park behavior beyond attraction popularity. Guests arriving later in the morning, staggered Lightning Lane purchases, fluctuating virtual queue releases, and the ripple effect from weather or entertainment schedules can shift the pressure point at any moment. Flight of Passage typically remains one of Walt Disney World’s highest waits year-round, and Tower of Terror routinely spikes during holiday evenings. Yet today, Universal’s lineup proved the bigger draw.
It is also important to note that Hagrid’s and Battle at the Ministry are among attractions with consistently high demand even outside peak holiday windows. Some fans consider these rides bucket-list experiences for every visit, which means long waits are not necessarily surprising, only the scale. A posted 210-minute wait places a guest inside a queue for over three hours, theoretically long enough to miss multiple parades, shows, or meal reservations depending on timing. On a day like this, strategy becomes survival.
Disney guests navigating similar pressure felt it strongest at Hollywood Studios, where thrill concentration results in bottlenecks whenever the park is at capacity. Slinky Dog Dash has become the park’s most reliable long-wait generator outside Rise of the Resistance drops, and Tower of Terror reaching 180 minutes today reinforces the holiday crush. Flight of Passage, though slightly lower at 125 minutes, remains a monumental wait for anyone without Genie+ or an Individual Lightning Lane booking. Today’s numbers were not light, by any definition.
What sets Universal’s wait times apart is the scale of increase beyond Disney’s peak. When Universal’s three most in-demand attractions sit at 180 minutes, 195 minutes, and 210 minutes, it shifts perception. Crowds today were not just heavy. They were record-season heavy, the type of traffic where queue entertainment, shade availability, and stamina become major factors in guest experience.
Historically, Disney begins to decompress once early January hits and school schedules resume. Universal tends to follow similar patterns, though the Harry Potter fanbase remains evergreen, and new visitor flows continue to rise as Epic Universe marketing grows. The wait board snapshot today does not indicate a permanent ranking change between the two giants, but it does illustrate a competitive landscape where Universal can and does outrank Disney when conditions align.
What Fans Should Notice
Theme park watchers will note several implications. Higher waits at Universal suggest higher traffic distribution outside Disney’s bubble, meaning the Orlando tourism economy continues to diversify rather than rely on a single anchor brand. It also reinforces the power of attraction design. Universal’s top three today are narrative-driven, coaster-hybrid experiences built with modern pacing, in-story immersion, and cinematic scale. These rides were engineered as headliners, and today that title showed.
Meanwhile, Disney’s high-wait attractions remain longstanding fan favorites that draw year after year without disruption. Flight of Passage, Slinky Dog Dash, and Tower of Terror do not need promotional cycles to pack queues. They are evergreen pillars in their respective parks. Today simply belonged to Universal in the numbers category.
As the holiday week rolls on, both resorts will continue to see peak capacity, and tomorrow’s rankings may shift again. One park may dominate one hour, the other the next. But for today, the scoreboard reads Universal on top for longest wait times in Orlando. Mine-Cart Madness hit 180 minutes. Hagrid’s soared to 195. Battle at the Ministry reached a staggering 210. Disney’s Flight of Passage, Slinky Dog Dash, and Tower of Terror followed close behind at 125, 130, and 180.
On paper, it’s a win for Universal. In reality, it’s a win for theme park fans everywhere. Orlando is thriving, tourism is booming, and both resorts are pushing each other to innovate, expand, and entertain. The wait times may be long—but that’s the cost of popularity, demand, and unforgettable rides.
Tomorrow may tell another story. Today, Universal stood tallest in the queue.
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