The biggest twist in yesterday’s wait times was not just a giant headline queue; it was what happened after closing. SeaWorld Orlando and Universal Studios Florida kept the queues alive long after their scheduled goodnight, while Universal Studios Hollywood still managed to be the park that made my wait-time brain sit up straight.
This was a proper Saturday theme-park day across the British and American parks in the report, with Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, LEGOLAND Windsor, Paultons Park, Flamingo Land and the big U.S. resorts all in weekend mode. There were no public-holiday boosts in the background, but several U.S. parks did have early-access moments: Extra Hours at Universal parks gave eligible visitors extra morning park time, while Early Entry at Disney parks such as Disney’s Hollywood Studios and EPCOT meant selected guests could start before the regular crowd. Those little head starts can make the first hour feel very different from the rest of the day.
Universal Studios Hollywood had the loudest wait-time personality
Universal Studios Hollywood was the park that kept shouting from the graph. The park-wide average hovered around 51 minutes, and the biggest wait touched 185 minutes, which is the kind of number that makes you check the chart twice just for fun. Universal Studios Hollywood wait times had that classic Saturday arc: calm early, then suddenly everyone seemed to remember the Lower Lot exists.
Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge was the big queue magnet here, averaging about 113 minutes and reaching that 185-minute monster peak. TRANSFORMERS: The Ride-3D and Jurassic World were not exactly quiet side quests either, with Jurassic World hitting 120 minutes. What I loved most, in a nerdy wait-time way, was the contrast: around 09:00 the park average was only about 5 minutes, but by 17:00 the busy-hour average had ballooned to 170. If you ever needed proof that “I’ll just go later” can be a dangerous sentence in Hollywood, there it is.
Universal Studios Hollywood also had Extra Hours on 25 July 2026 from 08:00 to 09:00 local time. That event gives eligible guests extra time before the regular day really gets going, and with how sharply the queues grew later, that early hour looked especially precious.
Epic Universe stayed intense, but hid one delicious dip
Universal Epic Universe kept doing Epic Universe things: big names, big curiosity, and big waits. The park average sat near 45 minutes, with Mine-Cart Madness still behaving like the ride everyone wants to decode first. Its average was roughly 116 minutes, and with a maximum of 120 minutes it was almost comically steady — not a wild spike, just a long, stubborn queue doing long, stubborn queue things.
The rest of Universal Epic Universe wait times had plenty of heat too. Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry averaged just over 92 minutes, while Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge reached 165. But the funny little twist was the hour-by-hour pattern: noon was the bruiser, with the busy-hour average around 140, while 17:00 dropped to about 5. I would not call that a guaranteed strategy — theme parks love humbling planners — but it is exactly the kind of weird dip that makes following wait times addictive.
Epic Universe also had Extra Hours on both 25 July and 26 July 2026. In plain English: eligible visitors got an extra early window before the full daily crowd poured in, which is very useful when Mine-Cart Madness is already acting like a two-hour commitment.
SeaWorld Orlando turned closing time into bonus ride time
SeaWorld Orlando deserves a little applause for the evening. The park was already busy during the day, with an average near 41 minutes and Infinity Falls climbing as high as 145, but the best part came after the scheduled 22:00 close. The wait boards kept moving until 23:47, so visitors effectively got about 1 hour and 47 minutes of extra park time. For a Saturday with queues like that, that is a lovely gift.
The after-close action was not just one lonely ride blinking in the corner either. Penguin Trek, Pipeline: The Surf Coaster and Sunny Day Carousel were still showing meaningful waits after closing, with Penguin Trek reaching 70 minutes in that late window. Earlier in the day, Journey to Atlantis hit 120 and Pipeline reached 95, so this was not a sleepy park stretching five minutes for appearances. SeaWorld Orlando wait times had real momentum.
And yes, there was a calm pocket hiding in there too. Around 21:00, the park average dropped to about 2.5 minutes, while 14:00 had been the rougher hour at 120. That is the sort of late-day swing I absolutely love: the people who survived the afternoon heat and stayed patient got rewarded.
Knott’s Berry Farm and Flamingo Land rewarded the closers
Knott’s Berry Farm had one of those GhostRider days where you either commit or you come back later with snacks and emotional support. The ride averaged about 98 minutes and peaked at 150, while HangTime also pushed to 120. The whole park averaged just over 40 minutes, so Knott’s Berry Farm wait times were not messing around.
The sweet bit came at the end. Knott’s had waits still moving until 23:47 after a planned 23:00 close, with GhostRider still showing 120 minutes after closing. That is about 47 minutes of extra park time, and honestly, fair play to Knott’s for giving the night owls a proper final shot at the big wooden beast.
Flamingo Land brought the British after-close surprise of the day. The park had several rides reach 60 to 70 minutes during the day — Zooom, Hero, Flamingo 1, Kumali and Mumbo Jumbo all got busy enough to shape a touring plan — and then Mumbo Jumbo was still alive on the boards after the planned 17:00 close. The latest strong wait appeared at 17:46, so Flamingo Land effectively gave visitors about 46 extra minutes. For a UK park day, that is a cracking little bonus.
LEGOLAND Windsor had the wildest British queue spike
LEGOLAND Windsor gave us the British “wait, how high did that go?” moment. LEGO Festival: LEGO Pokémon Trainer Centre averaged around 78 minutes and reached 225, which was the biggest single attraction peak in the British set. That is not just “a bit popular”; that is “build your day around it if your family cares about it” territory.
The key thing with LEGOLAND Windsor wait times is that one special attraction can distort the whole feeling of the day. If you were mostly doing classic family rides, your day may have felt manageable, but Pokémon fans were playing a very different game. I always find those split-personality park days fascinating: one queue becomes the gravitational centre and everything else orbits around it.
A few parks had sneaky calm moments too
Busch Gardens Tampa looked busy overall, with a park average just under 40 minutes and a top wait of 125, but the morning had a surprisingly gentle window. Around 11:00, the average was only about 3 minutes, before 14:00 surged past 108. If you were watching Busch Gardens Tampa wait times, that was the kind of early lull that makes you want to yell “go now!” at your screen.
Six Flags Magic Mountain offered a useful closing-time lesson rather than a full late-opening story. Around 22:03, just after the scheduled close, plenty of major queues still appeared open: Twisted Colossus was at 75, while Tatsu, Goliath and Full Throttle were each still around 60. I would not treat that as extra operating time, but for fans already inside the park, it was a very strong hint to make the final walk count.
The planning tip I’d use today
If I were choosing a strategy from these wait times, I’d rope-drop Universal Studios Hollywood hard, especially Mario Kart, and I would not casually leave it for late afternoon. At SeaWorld Orlando and Universal Studios Florida, I’d be much more willing to play the evening game, because yesterday rewarded guests who stayed late. For Flamingo Land, I’d keep Mumbo Jumbo or Kumali in mind near the end rather than assuming the day is done at the posted close, and at LEGOLAND Windsor I’d treat LEGO Festival: LEGO Pokémon Trainer Centre as a first-priority stop if it is on your must-do list. That is the fun of these charts: the best plan is rarely just “go early” — sometimes the real magic is hiding right at the end.
The day in charts
