Magic Kingdom · measured wait profile

Best time to ride Pirates of the Caribbean

Name: Pirates of the Caribbean wait times by hour
Creator: SupaPark
License: https://supapark.com/data/license

By Laura T. · Published Oct 21, 2026 · Updated Oct 21, 2026, 2:10 AM ET

The shortest average wait for Pirates of the Caribbean was 8 AM–9 AM (5 min), versus 28 min at its busiest hour, 12 PM–1 PM. Rope drop averaged 5 min and the last hour before close 13 min, so the first hour after opening (rope drop) is the better bet. Measured by SupaPark over the last 27 days (Sep 23–Oct 20, 2026).

Data as of Oct 20, 2026. Source: SupaPark measurements.

Key numbers

Rope drop (first hour open): 5 min average over 24 days
Last hour before close: 13 min average over 27 days
Daily peak: 30 min average; most often at 12 PM–1 PM
Quietest half-hour slots: 8:30 AM (5 min), 9 AM (5 min), 9:30 AM (6 min)

Pirates of the Caribbean — average posted wait by hour, Sep 23–Oct 20, 2026
Hour (ET)	All days	Weekdays	Weekends
8 AM–9 AM	5 min	—	5 min
9 AM–10 AM	5 min	5 min	6 min
10 AM–11 AM	14 min	13 min	17 min
11 AM–12 PM	25 min	24 min	29 min
12 PM–1 PM	28 min	26 min	30 min
1 PM–2 PM	24 min	23 min	28 min
2 PM–3 PM	19 min	17 min	25 min
3 PM–4 PM	25 min	23 min	28 min
4 PM–5 PM	21 min	19 min	25 min
5 PM–6 PM	23 min	21 min	27 min
6 PM–7 PM	—	—	29 min
7 PM–8 PM	—	—	24 min
8 PM–9 PM	—	—	15 min
9 PM–10 PM	—	—	9 min
10 PM–11 PM	—	—	6 min

Weekdays = Monday–Friday (19 days); weekends = Saturday–Sunday (8 days). An hour is shown only if it was measured on at least half the days.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best time to ride Pirates of the Caribbean?

In SupaPark's measurements over the last 27 days, Pirates of the Caribbean had its shortest average posted wait from 8 AM–9 AM (5 min), and the single quietest half-hour slot was 8:30 AM (5 min).

Is rope drop or the last hour better for Pirates of the Caribbean?

Rope drop (the first hour after the park opens) averaged 5 min over 24 days; the last hour before close averaged 13 min over 27 days. The daily peak averaged 30 min.

When is the wait for Pirates of the Caribbean longest?

The busiest hour on average was 12 PM–1 PM at 28 min; the most common hour for the day's peak was 12 PM–1 PM.

Are waits for Pirates of the Caribbean shorter on weekdays?

Across the operating day, Pirates of the Caribbean averaged 19 min on weekdays (19 days) and 20 min on weekends (8 days) — about the same on weekdays and weekends. Quietest weekday hour: 9 AM–10 AM; quietest weekend hour: 8 AM–9 AM.

Does Pirates of the Caribbean have Lightning Lane, and when does it sell out?

SupaPark tracks Lightning Lane availability for the rides that have it; see measured sellout times at supapark.com/lightning-lane/sellout.

How we measure this

SupaPark records the posted standby wait for every Walt Disney World attraction every few minutes and keeps a permanent half-hour archive. For each day we keep only the half-hours inside that park's published operating hours that have at least two open-status readings, average them by hour, then average each hour across days. "Rope drop" is the park's first operating hour that day and "last hour" is the hour before its published close, so the comparison follows the real schedule (including early closes for evening events). Posted waits are what the park displays; actual waits often run shorter — see SupaPark Real Wait (an estimate). Month-by-month posted waits for every ride: posted wait times report. Window: 27 days (Sep 23–Oct 20, 2026).

Sources

SupaPark half-hour wait archive (wait_halfhour_archive), Sep 23, 2026–Oct 20, 2026, 27 days.
Published park operating hours (park_hours).
Machine-readable copy: data.json. Forecast accuracy: supapark.com/accuracy.
Metric definition: posted wait (SupaPark methodology).
My Disney Experience app (official), where posted waits are displayed.