Disney World & Universal Orlando Warn of Colossal Crowds
It’s the start of spring break at Walt Disney World, with peak season crowds forecast for the next 10 days. In this post, we’ll share an update on Park Pass availability, plus warnings that both Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World have sent out.
Hopefully, this is irrelevant to most of you. In last month’s Spring Break 2021 Crowd Forecast for Walt Disney World, we warned that wait times and crowds for the next couple of weeks would be among the highest of the year–even worse than Easter, which is notorious for heavy attendance.
In case you missed that article, March 12-21, 2021 being the worst stretch of spring break is driven by Osceola and Orange Counties both having their student recesses during this timeframe. For an idea of how other weeks stack up based upon school breaks at other major districts in Florida and the United States, refer to the aforementioned spring break crowd predictions post.
If you are visiting for spring break or Easter, we’d highly recommend using our Walt Disney World Park Itineraries to outsmart the masses (those are designed around moderate crowd level days, so expect to get a bit less done).
You should also arrive to the parks early and leave late–beat and outlast the crowds. To accomplish both, you might need a midday break at one of the resorts (or your own). The Skyliner is great for that from EPCOT or Hollywood Studios, while the monorail and boats provide ways to escape Magic Kingdom. We’d further recommend avoiding Disney buses during this time.
Disney Park Pass reservation availability corroborates our predictions of high crowd levels for the next 10 days. Above is a look at March availability for Walt Disney World on-site resort guests.
As you can see, there’s nothing at all until March 21, and then pretty much only EPCOT after that through early April.
On a tangentially related note while we’re on the topic, this week Walt Disney World clarified which third party hotels are eligible for this bucket of reservations. Here’s that list:
- Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
- Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
- Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World
- B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista
- Doubletree Suites by Hilton Orlando
- Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
- Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
- Holiday Inn Orlando — Disney Springs Area
- Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
- Wyndham Lake Buena Vista
- Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
- Waldorf Astoria Orlando
- Shades of Green
We didn’t think this warranted a separate post, but it still might be worth knowing, especially since some of these hotels themselves haven’t actively advertised this perk. (Basically, it’s the same list as eligibility for Extra Magic Hours back when that was a thing.)
Here’s availability for theme park ticket holders.
As you can see, no visible difference between resort guests and regular day ticket guests. The difference is in number of simultaneous Park Pass reservations for resort guests, but that’s not typically an issue.
Here is a look at the calendar for Annual Passholders. It might come as something of a surprise that there are more options for APs.
Our guess is that this is not deliberate. More likely, it’s an unintentional byproduct of Walt Disney World changing the inventory allocation percentages last fall after Annual Passholders were regularly getting shut out and the other two buckets had totally green calendars. Now that tourists are starting to return to Walt Disney World, how Park Pass inventory is apportioned should probably be revisited again.
Regardless, the point here is that there’s absolutely nothing until March 21, 2021. That date will probably book up soon, too.
Below is a look at wait times this afternoon as of 3 pm. There are several attractions above 60 minutes, with several attractions hitting their max times under the current capacity caps:
In light of the anticipated attendance levels, Walt Disney World has sent out the following message to vacation planners:
With school Spring Break periods occurring throughout March and April, Disney Park Pass reservations are no longer available on select days for the Walt Disney World theme parks. In particular, reservation availability at Magic Kingdom Park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios is limited during this time.
For those who are looking to purchase 3-day (or longer) theme park tickets for March or April 2021, we ask that you review park reservation availability. As a reminder, capacity in our theme parks remains limited as part of our ongoing health and safety measures. Please remember to always check current Disney Park Pass availability calendar prior to securing theme park tickets.
Just to test things out, we tried to purchase 4-day tickets for a variety of dates in March and April 2021. Walt Disney World’s system blocked every single attempt that didn’t have Park Pass reservations available. That’s good, as it means people won’t be surprised and disappointed if they don’t heed the warning and check the availability calendar first.
To our surprise, we were also blocked for a number of other dates that should have been available. To our knowledge, Walt Disney World modified this policy during the holiday season to allow guests to purchase multi-day theme park tickets, even in circumstances where Disney Park Pass reservations may no longer be available for select days during the validity window. Perhaps they’re erring on the side of caution for spring break or reverted back to the old rules and we missed it.
Across town, Universal Orlando sent out the following message to Annual Passholders:
Dear Passholder,
We wanted to share some important information to help you make the most of your next visit. We expect our theme parks will be extremely busy during the next few weeks and we may reach capacity while continuing to limit attendance as part of our enhanced health and safety procedures. Once capacity is reached, additional guests will not be admitted.
We encourage you to check our social channels, park hours on UniversalOrlando.com or call the Universal Orlando Resort Capacity Hotline at 407-817-8317 for real-time updates about the park capacity before your next visit.
Thank you for being part of the UOAP Family and we look forward to seeing you on your next visit.
Ultimately, all of this is basically just a long-winded reminder that the next 10 days are going to extremely busy at Walt Disney World. Additionally, even though capacity is capped at 35% right now, that’s of normal operations. Literally nothing is operating as normal right now–every attraction, restaurant, and shop as at reduced capacity, and many aren’t open at all.
The end result is that “feels like” crowds will almost certainly be on par with a normal spring break. Pack your patience and arm yourself with savvy strategy if you’re visiting Walt Disney World this coming week or beyond. It is going to be very busy. We’ll have some more updated advice in the next few days, but no new park reports until April. Sorry, we don’t need to endure this chaos firsthand to tell you Walt Disney World is/was bonkers over spring break.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
If you’re currently visiting Walt Disney World, what has been your experience with crowds and wait times? Have you visited Walt Disney World during spring break season in the past? Thoughts on the attendance levels? Are you visiting this year for Easter or spring break? Have you had any trouble purchasing tickets or making Disney Park Pass reservations? Do you agree or disagree with anything in our Spring Break 2021 Crowd Forecast for Walt Disney World? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I was a little unclear about this from comments above. If you have a park reservation for that day, is it still possible that you will be turned away if you get there in the morning? I am most concerned about H.S. Our flight arrives at 10 and we were only able to get reservations for H.S that first day, I figure it will be at least Noon before we make it into the park. I wasn’t as worried before they expanded hours, but now, since they open at 9:00 I am a little worried that even though we have reservations we won’t be able to get into the park.
If you have a reservation and it’s your first park of the day you’re assured to get in.
Thanks Heather!
We experienced Disney last week and this past weekend. Yesterday, Sunday March 14th was the busiest at Disney but manageable if getting there early she staying late. Disney did have lots of staff to manage crowds. We’re at Universal Studios today ,Monday, March 15th, got here at opening. Tried to buy fast passes a week ago and checked in all day long. Nothing avail. Rode only 4 rides in 6 hours. Even w using the cue for rides. Rides breaking down after 45 minutes waiting. Food staff frustrated as long lines and not enough staff. They’re trying to social distance in lines but the walkways are packed w crowds. No way to social distance. 40 minute wait for butter beer. 3rd time here and longest wait times I’ve seen. So if Universal is limiting capacity you cannot see that in the park. Way over priced and Covid protocols are useless with this many people.
We love Disney and on occasion visit Universal. We have done this for multiple years. The constant nickel and diming pre-pandemic and now with limited capacities (understandable and for a good reason) is all this craziness worth it. Dont you want to relax on vacation. Not need a vacation after your Disney vacation. For the very limited experience and costs for people like us to travel in from the Northeast it has priced itself out of range. We always stayed on-site and had multiple services available for the added costs that are now gone. I believe in it and have experienced the Disney bubble but not at current costs. I can rent a multi-bedroom condo for the price of a moderate. Disney is great i agree but as long as people pay the higher prices with more and more services taken away the more Disney will become a profit focused company only available to the rich.
After being the parks on the 12th and 13th, I found that most of the listed wait times were not accurate. Not sure Disney has the social distancing lines down to a science yet. Animal Kingdom safari was listed as 60, and we waiting 28, Big Thunder was listed as 30, the wait was 10, Rock N Roller coaster was listed at 25, we waited less than 10.
I’m finding conflicting information on this… If we have the Express passes for Universal, but the park is at capacity before we get in, what happens? What if you get in and then leave and the park reaches capacity?
We just returned from a visit to Disney Hollywood studios and Universal March 9-11. It was so very crowded at both parks. Much more crowded at Hollywood than Universal. We attempted to follow the plans for one day at Hollywood but – everyone seemed to be following the same plan. We felt like we spent the entire day online and not much time on the rides. Universal was better as they have more rides available to spread people out while Hollywood has all big headliner rides thus they all have long long waits. They also seat every other row on most rides. Very few shows are going to take people out of attraction lines at Hollywood. I recommend that you choose the rides you have to get on and go ride those first at park opening and then just know you will have to wait for the other rides. Your priority rides should be first. We did follow Tom’s advice for the Rise of the Resistance ride and were able to get a reservation for it.
I would recommend that you are familiar with online mobile food ordering as well for meals as you can’t just eat when you want to eat- you have to pre-order and at Disney pick a time to eat which will not be immediately but usually 45 minutes- 1 hour after you place the order or have restaurant reservations.
Can you share Tom’s advice for the Rise of the Resistance ride? I must have missed that. Thanks!
So if you have a reservation for sit-down service like at Be Our Guest or Rose and Crown, are the reservation times accurate or should we be expecting to wait additional time past our reservation time? Can you walk the parks during this wait time or are you sitting at the restaurant waiting?
Disney is only allowing 35 percent of their guest capacity at the moment and due to Sprung Break tgey ate?at capacity…..of 35 peecent only.
I think it is ridiculous for Greedy Disney to rent a room to someone and then on by the way you can not get into the pool because it is at it’s max. Disney is charging higher prices for half of the Disney experience. I have gone to Disney every year since they have opened but I will not go back. My granddaughter went down for two nights and one park day (she is in college) spent all of her babysitting money she had saved just to sit at a table outside of the pool area getting sunburned. Disney is not what it used to be. The Magic has died.
Which resort? I thought resorts are at reduced capacity, which should mean that the pool can accommodate all those staying at the resort?
We are here now and I’m shocked at the crowds. Our travel planner assured us that Disney wasn’t selling out this much, but all that has changed. Hollywood Studio lines were 40-75 minute wait times. It’s like they forgot there is a pandemic. They should open up more of the shops and entertainment if they are going to pack the parks with people, give us more to do. Finding a table at restaurants is like hunger games.
If I’d known it was going to be nothing like the past 9 months have been, we never would’ve booked.
Does anyone know if Universal Orlando reaches capacity are they completely closing the entrance or are they letting one person in for one Redon out?
* meant to say one person in for one person out. TIA.
I emailed universal about this prior and this was the response emailed to me : “All our Guests are able to enter at a first-come, first-served basis. I encourage you to arrive at the theme parks as early as possible as we have limited the number of Guests allowed inside the parks at one (1) time for the safety of our Guests and Team Members.
While Guests with date-based tickets will be given priority entrance to the theme parks throughout the day, we cannot guarantee admission to any guests if the parks hit capacity. If you are unable to enter our theme parks, I strongly suggest you contact us directly so we may assist you with your ticket purchase. ”
I read from other reviewers its a fight to get in universal and that you basically have to arrive 1-2 hours before opening to try to get into the park before capacity is reached.
I would like to also note, one reviewer on TripAdvisor noted her wait to get in was over 4 hours long and once in certain popular rides may shut down at random times due to reaching capacity limits as well.
At Universal now (Saturday March 13) and can confirm it is WAY more crowded than even yesterday! Very difficult to snag virtual line pass for Hagrid’s but I got lucky
TIPS: 1) keep trying at 11am, 2pm, 4pm if you miss the 9am.
2) Also, IF you get to the point where it prompts with time slots to pick from, choose a later one cuz everyone will be going after the closer times worked for me!
3) If staying on property, use Early Admission, especially for Harry Potter rides cuz the wait times go up astronomically shortly after park opens to general admission.
Do you need reservations for the waterparks?
When I asked at Disney Guest Services last week, they said it’s on a “first come” basis. And no bus from Pop Century, where I was staying. If I wanted to go (I have no rental car cuz utilized Magical Express Bus) they suggested taking bus to Animal Kingdom and transfer to a bus to Blizzard Beach from there ! Sheesh !!
In comparison, Universal has buses to Volcano Bay running all day from the Central Hub area. Im staying at Cabana Bay so it’s a short walk to a separate walkway for guests! Sweet!
(Tip: I was told if you’re not staying at Cabana Bay,, you CAN pay to park at the Cabana Bay garage right next to Volcano Bay and avoid the buses it’s probably best to call ahead to verify space availability.)
Enjoyed Volcano Bay tremendously while I waited for my room to be ready. (Annual Passholder so no problem getting in). But, checkin desk also gave me room keys to use the lazy river and pools if I didn’t have Volcano Bay ticket and Cabana Bay has a fantastic pool area!
TIP: if you arrive early to the hotel, put your swim gear in a separate bag before leacing your suitcases with the Bellman desk. They’ll text you when your room is ready.
I’ve also heard a couple of reports that people with existing tickets for spring break have not been allowed to add park hoppers to their one-park-per-day tickets. I think Disney is very concerned about people trying to get into MK and HS and overcrowding those parks in the afternoons after they are sold out by booking AK or EP and then hopping right at 2pm.
I think we very well may see Disney declaring parks are “at capacity for hopping” for the first time in the next few days.
In a way, I think all the grey on the calendar is a good thing, because it suggests to me that Disney has not stealthily raised the cap about 35%. I know it will be crowded at 35% but manageable if we do early arrivals and midday breaks at the resort. Now, if I start to see those days turn green, that will be when I start to get very very afraid.
Agree completely! I just checked, and ALL GREEN for April totally for Annual Passholders.
We were there in October 2020 and planning another trip soon for April 5-11 2021. My observation in October was a pretty crowded at parts park, and what was perplexing was the amount of people buying tickets at the ticket window! So, with those people, are they just high risk? Are they getting in, or being turned away if park is at capacity? Just seemed interesting to me that some are that clueless as to the current system and risking to wait until you get to the front of the park and buying a ticket! You think there is a high probability of those “in your face” guests getting in, even if park is at capacity?
Has capacity been raised? I saw a lot of people complaining that it seemed like there were way more people than usual. Can they raise capacity and if so do they have to announce it or do they keep it on the down low?
They don’t have to announce it because Desantis removed caps months ago.
But also the parks rarely hit “capacity” at 35% before so there could just be more people to hit that 35% limit.
Hi! We are planning a trip for April 8-11 The first 3 days are booked full for all three parks (we have reservations) but are also super short days. MK is only open 9-6. We are rope droppers and stay until the park closes, but do you think the short days plus the crowds will seriously limit what we will accomplish? We usually go to Disneyland and we’re really looking forward to doing all the new (to us) stuff. I guess rescheduling the trip is still an option.
We are in the same boat as you, but will be there the week before. It seems Disney is extending hours week by week, and they will certainly be extended for the period when you are there as well. MK seems to be opening ~9am – ~8pm with the other parks having similarly extended hours. Look for the new hours around 2 weeks before you arrive (usually updated Friday night/Saturday morning).
We are coming 3/21-3/27. I’m hopeful that week will be a relative low period during this busy season. We usually come the week prior to Easter, so we’re used to crowds, but I was really hoping this trip would be different. Time to employ some touring strategies. 🙂
We just got home from a stay at Cabana Bay (which we picked based on your review and my daughter is now in love with that style) and 4 days at Universal. I will say it definitely felt just as crowded as it did when we were there 2 years ago. Just yesterday the line to get into IOA was backed up over the bridge into CitiWalk – and this was before 8:30 am. I don’t know what the capacity cap is at Universal but it didn’t seem like much.
Wow, this is too complicated for me to understand. I just have a basic question: why should the parks be crowded? I thought they have a cap of 35% capacity or something. So, what’s the big deal? How crowded can 35% possibly be? Even if it’s bigger, like 50%, that’s still nothing. Or maybe people have forgotten what it’s like in the good old days and too used to this limited capacity thing.
Maybe it’ll make more sense with an example…
Let’s say you have a 10,000 gallon pool with two equally-sized halves, which has a capacity of 100 people but only 50 people in it on a normal day. For safety, you decide to limit capacity to 35%, but at the same time, you only fill one side (or 5,000 gallons) of the pool with water.
If 35 people show up, it’s going to feel more crowded in your pool, despite your cap on attendance and the lower raw number of guests. Does that make sense?
As Tom has pointed out, the oarks are operating very differently than before-you can’t compare the crowds now to a fully functioning park of yesteryear. With rides, shops, and restaurants closed that used to absorb large groups of people, crowds are spending more time moving from what is available, instead of being dispersed throughout the park. It doesn’t take much for Adventureland and fantasyland to feel crowded. Is it wall to wall right now? No thank goodness (was at MK Wednesday and Epcot today). Shops are very manageable, for example. But does it feel full of people on the walkways and thoroughfares? Absolutely.
The other thing to realize is that all of the rides, restaurants, transportation and stores are allowing less people in or on. Today the Pirates of the Caribbean and even Small World were an hour wait all day long until the last hour of the day. That’s because each boat was only allowed to have 2 of the 6 rows filled. Our pirate boat had 5 people in it but could have fit 20+. The continuous load rides are faring much better, the Haunted mansion was 10-15 minutes long all day and Peter Pan was about 30 minutes all day long which is unheard of. The Epcot skyliner line at closing was stretched all the way to the Beach Club, but again they allowed only on party in a gondola so my wife and I were always alone in a gondola that seats 10 people. Spacing things out like that creates long lines.
35 percent of an insane amount of people (think shoulder to shoulder crowded) is still a lot of people (think regular crowded). Go see for yourself and you will understand.
If you do not get a reservation for your desired park, say DHS, what are the chances you’ll get in after 2pm (if I understand the “Park Hopping” option, you can try to go to another park after 2pm)? Also, does Disney ever release some of the reservation capacity they had reserved for Annual Pass Holders to resort guests? (I am assuming the answer is “no” to this last question)
Note: We are going in April (Easter week).
Thus far, there have been no restrictions on Park Hopping after 2 pm. This weekend could be the first test of that.
We still have a pandemic going on! And I do not like hearing people criticizing during a very difficult time for all. They are doing their job. We still have people dying and have those who have survived having health issues as a result of having the virus! And just because people are getting vaccinated that is not a guarantee either still need to be cautious.
Odd thing is that checking wait times today, they don’t look much different than what we experienced when we visited the last week of Feb when there was plenty of park pass availability. The parks also ‘felt’ crowed that week too. In comparison, we visited in August, mid November, and early December, each time progressively more crowded, but not to the level we saw in Feb.
Maybe what I am noticing is park capacity vs ride capacity ?
Certain attractions have maximum wait times based upon the physical length of the queue and it cannot go over those or Disney temporarily cuts the queue (which does happen from time to time). Inflated wait times have been used to “discourage” guests from getting into line and more evenly distribute attendance across attractions.
My guess–and this is just a guess–is that on a “sold out” day like today, the actual wait times would be closer to their posted times than on a less busy day. There would still undoubtedly be inflation, but in some cases post-reopening, we’ve found posted wait times to be double or triple actual waits. We weren’t there today, but that’s my best-guess explanation. That, or WDW has deliberately capped attendance at a lower level over spring break because they don’t want to be on the inevitable news round-ups of (supposed) spring break super-spreader events.
Tom, do you think Hollywood Studios will be any more crowded than it has been? It seems like that park has been booked up more often than not, and unless Disney changes park capacity, the Easter days there should have about as many people as normal, fully booked days. Am I interpreting this incorrectly?
You’re more or less correct.
DHS hasn’t been coming as close to capacity on a daily basis during the winter off-season, but it’s still much closer than the other parks. It’s equally bad (or good, I guess, if that’s your perspective) most days.