Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
The short answer
The Short Film Festival is an eighteen-minute programme of three Pixar shorts in 3D, with no height requirement, air-conditioned and seated. It is one of the emptiest theatres at EPCOT and one of the better places to sit down with young children.
When to ride
Average wait by hour, from 2,548 of our own observations of this ride while it was open, over 17 days.
- 09am
- 010am
- 011am
- 012pm
- 01pm
- 02pm
- 03pm
- 04pm
- 05pm
- 06pm
- 07pm
- 08pm
- 09pm
Midday. Eighteen minutes of air-conditioned seating and essentially never a queue.
How the queue has changed
Its average posted wait has barely moved: 10 minutes in 2017, 10 in 2026 so far. That is the 14th-longest average queue of the 16 attractions Queue-Times tracks at EPCOT.
| Year | Average | Daily peak |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 10 min | 17 min |
| 2018 | 8 min | 8 min |
| 2023 | 10 min | 10 min |
| 2024 | 9 min | 15 min |
| 2026 to date | 10 min | 10 min |
Open for 66% of park operating hours over Queue-Times' whole record, against a median of 85% for rides at EPCOT; refurbishment closures count as closed. From Queue-Times’ published statistics, read 12 September 2026.
Is it accessible?
- You can stay in a wheelchair or ECV for this attraction.
- No transfer to the ride vehicle is required.
What boarding is like
Wheelchair accessible with no transfer. Captioning available.
What it’s actually like
The programme rotates. Worth checking which three shorts are running if you have seen it before, because the selection changes and the theatre is otherwise identical.
You sit still throughout with 3D glasses. Some in-theatre effects including air and water. Nothing frightening; the shorts are chosen to suit young children.
Common questions
- What films are in the Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival?
- Three Pixar shorts shown in 3D with some in-theatre effects, running about eighteen minutes in total. The programme has changed over the years, so it is worth checking what is playing if you have seen it before.
- Is the Short Film Festival worth doing at EPCOT?
- As a film programme it is pleasant rather than essential. As eighteen air-conditioned minutes in one of the emptiest theatres in the park, with a seat for everyone and no queue, it is among the most useful places to take young children in the middle of a hot afternoon.
- Is the Short Film Festival scary for children?
- No. The shorts are gentle and largely wordless, which also makes it one of the easier things at EPCOT for children who do not speak English. It is dark, and the 3D startles a few toddlers, but nothing in the content frightens.
- How long do you wait for the Short Film Festival?
- Usually one show cycle at most. The theatre rarely fills, so the posted figure is the time until the next programme starts rather than a queue in any real sense.
Sources
- Walt Disney World official — Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival: the height requirement, thrill and accessibility labels and service-animal policy, from Disney's own attraction listing. — Disney official · checked
- Walt Disney World official — Lightning Lane passes, listed by park: Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival is a Lightning Lane Multi Pass experience. — Disney official · checked
- WWYW wait record — posted waits for this attraction, logged every five minutes since 5 September 2026; the hourly pattern on this page is built from it. — our own measurement · checked
- Queue-Times — EPCOT wait time statistics, by year from 2017 and all time, with availability: the table under “How the queue has changed”. Posted waits, not actual waits. — reported by · checked
Wait data: Powered by Queue-Times.com and ThemeParks.wiki.