Genie+ Sell Outs & Colossal Crowds Continue in Early 2024 at Disney World
After multiple sold out days to end the year, Genie+ has continued that trend in 2024. Lightning Lane prices are bouncing around for Park Hopping, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom as Genie+ sells out. This post covers all of that along with a conversation about why crowds are still so bad.
For starters, let’s talk crowds. We’ve closed the book on last year, so we’re not going to rehash that. If you haven’t, it is worth reading Walt Disney World’s Busiest Week of the Year By Far for a discussion of Christmas to New Year’s Eve, how it contained the 4 worst days in the last 4 years and was, against all odds, much busier than expected. Some of you may think last week’s crowds were “obvious,” but they very much were not. At least, not to the degree of the insanity.
The really ironic thing is that this week’s colossal crowds actually are obvious! We’ve heard from some Walt Disney World fans who have been surprised by the high wait times and ongoing heavy attendance, and there’s been a lot of speculation on social media as to the cause. For our part, we’ve been warning about this on our crowd calendars for the last several years–this week even made our list of the 10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2024 & 2025. (Spoiler alert: it wasn’t on the best side!)
For those keeping score at home, wait times are down year-over-year for all days during the first week of January 2024. Last year up to this point, January 2-4 had an average wait time (across the entirety of Walt Disney World) of 60-64 minutes. That first week of January ended up being tied for the second busiest week with Easter, and behind only Christmas to New Year’s Eve.
January 2-4, 2024 have had average daily wait times of 55-58 minutes. (January 1 is below that in both years–it always is–but was significantly slower this year.) Those are all still 10/10 crowd levels, for what it’s worth. The current week may not be top 3, but it’ll definitely be one of the 10 worst weeks of the year when all is said and done.
So it’s not like January 2024 is anything remotely resembling “slow” in absolute terms. It’s just slower (relative) than the same dates last year, which was to be expected given general trends since then. It’s somewhat surprising, though, because last week (between Christmas and New Year’s Eve) outperformed.
Longtime fans no doubt remember crowd levels plummeting overnight from New Year’s Eve to Day, and the parks being ‘sleepy’ from then until the lead-up to Marathon Weekend (which was sometimes over a full week away). It was downright blissful, especially if your trip started before NYE and you were subjected to those crowds on the front end, and refreshingly empty parks during the second half.
Fans “no doubt” remember this phenomenon because many of them still attribute crowds in early January 2024 to the runDisney race. To be sure, that is certainly a contributing factor, but it is not the main driver of crowds. We are confident in this assessment because the observed crowd levels this week–surprising as they are to some longtime fans–actually are not a new development.
More significantly, this trend has occurred without much regard for Marathon Weekend. The real drivers for heavy crowds during the first week of January are winter break (especially for Central Florida schools) and lifting of Annual Pass blockouts. We first noticed this happening in 2019 and it got even worse in early 2020.
Granted, January 2020 was the first full month of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance–and Disney’s Hollywood Studios was an absolute nightmare as a result–but the crowds were bad everywhere. It feels like ancient history now, but I remember being shocked by the morning crowds at EPCOT and Magic Kingdom, too.
(I still believe 2020 would’ve been a blockbuster year had the closure not happened, and a lot of what we call pent-up demand now is better categorized just as higher demand, a new normal that would’ve hit as the last development cycle ended, regardless. But I digress.)
As for the first week of January crowds, our strong suspicion has been that Central Florida’s growing population and more locals with Annual Passes that are subject to blockout dates around the peak weeks of Christmas and New Year’s Eve are the big drivers. Although there’s still a big gap, Walt Disney World’s guest demographics are resembling Disneyland more with each passing year.
This has been corroborated to at least some degree by runDisney races not having as meaningful of an impact on park attendance since returning as they did in the past. We first really noticed this with Marathon Weekend last year, when crowds dropped on that Saturday and then plummeted on the Sunday of the main event. Most other runDisney events that didn’t coincide with other holidays/breaks were a similar story.
In trying to explain this trend last year, my theories were that fewer out-of-state runDisney participants were still Annual Passholders due to suspended sales (at the time) and rising costs, runners were cutting trips short due to rising travel costs, and fewer were purchasing multi-day tickets (also due to rising costs). Anecdotal reader feedback seemed to suggest some or all of this was true, but obviously, it’s still just a theory.
Regardless, our expectation is that Walt Disney World crowds peak today (January 5, 2024) and then begin trending down on Saturday and really drop off on Sunday, January 7, 2024. It wouldn’t be surprising if there’s a slight spike on Monday due to day of week trends and nothing else, before falling again on January 9, 2024.
That should more or less mark the unofficial start of the winter off-season. Well, to the extent there’s still such a thing. It’s really less an off-season and more an off-weeks in between more holidays and breaks, but that doesn’t have quite the same ring to it!
If you go on January 9, be warned that you’ll be subjected to a bunch of “People from the Internet” who are documenting all of the changes taking effect that day. (Lower crowds starting then is precisely why they’re taking effect that day, for what it’s worth!) There are only a few hundred of us, so we do not materially impact the crowds, but we’re so annoying that sometimes we feel like a small army. Sorta like the difference between crowd levels as measured by wait times versus “feels like” congestion!
As noted above, Genie+ has already sold out on several occasions this week. Here are the dates and parks:
- January 2, 2024: Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios & Multi-Park
- January 3, 2024: Magic Kingdom & Multi-Park
- January 4, 2024: Disney’s Hollywood Studios & Multi-Park
- January 5, 2024: Multi-Park
I would expect tomorrow to be the final day of (potential) Genie+ sell outs until (maybe) Mardi Gras or Presidents’ Day.
Here are the prices for Genie+ at Walt Disney World for January 5, 2024:
- Multiple Parks (valid with Park Hopper tickets): $27
- Magic Kingdom: $27
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $24
- EPCOT: $19
- Animal Kingdom: $17
Although 2024 is only 5 days old at this point, Genie+ prices have been all over the place. Not only have no two days had exactly the same price points, but I’m also pretty sure that at least 4 days have had a combination of prices never seen before.
The charitable among you will probably say that this is Walt Disney World being savvy, trying to test new pricing to find the sweet spot of supply and demand. The more cynical might point to that as proof that Walt Disney World doesn’t actually know what they’re doing, and isn’t so great at forecasting demand or attendance.
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
What do you think of Genie+ continuing to sell out in early 2024? What about the high crowd levels so far for the first several days of January 2024? Did this catch you by surprise, or have you experienced these post-NYE crowds in the past? Any other crowd considerations we failed to take into account or details we missed/got wrong? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment? 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!
Does anyone know how crowded is the water parks and will they be open in this April? I am going April 7-13. I am debating whether to buy the sports feature. If the water parks are not or barely open, then it’s a waste of buying the feature. I will arrive in morning. I thought it would be great to spend the 1st half day in water park.
We always go for a week the day after RunDisney ends. It is frequently possible to find 4/10 levels and can’t remember the last time we had anything more than an 8/10.
Using the strategies from this blog and other places, we virtually never have to wait more than 30 mins for even the most popular headliners. Most attractions can be enjoyed in the 15 min-walkon range. Now, if the weather will just stay warm….
On the RunDisney side, I wonder if it’s because runners need to rest and get off their feet before and after the super long races (half and full marathon). I know a lot of the hardcore Goofy and Dopey people like to rest and do resort days one or both days lots like to go to bed around 6 or 7 pm to prep for those famous 2 am wake ups. wonder if that plays in at all!
Hi Tom, how much is there to rumors Disney is throttling rides and doing other things to give the impression of crowds and creating demand for paid Genie+ to maximize revenue?
We were at Magic Kingdom on January 2, Epcot on 1/3 and Animal Kingdom on 1/4. We spent over $7;000 for 4 nights, tickets and food for 3 Adults and a Child. We rope dropped and bought Genie~. Magic Kingdom was the worse crowds. So miserable, you couldn’t get food or ride any rides that you wanted. We used Genie+ on the most undesirable rides just to get on a ride. We were there from opening to close and rode 5 rides. Haunted Mansion was in the standby lane and we waited nearly 2 hours. They kept letting hoards or Genie+ in and the line never moved. Epcot was slightly better with rides and being able to get food and Animal Kingdom was busy but much more tolerable and available. We did have dinner reservations at all parks made in advance. We never saw a Character walking around except the Country Bears. I think this will be my last trip to Disney. The value is not there. We can do much better things for $7000.
yes, Disney is a waste for us also
We were there those same dates. It was so disappointing how long we stood in line. They kept saying they were having issues with the rides. I think they just say that because they have lack of employees or over sell the genie/lightening lane. We spent so much money for a family of 4 that I couldn’t justify spending more for genie/lightening. We stood in line for over 2 hours for Toy Story Mania because they said it was having problems as well as many other rides!!!
We arrive on 1/7 for a couple resort only days. (split stay due to the discount that was offered last fall for stays starting 1/9) Our first day in the parks will be 1/9. We check out 1/15.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that most of the crowds die down by the end of the weekend. That being said – the resources here have given me a battle plan no matter the crowds or the weather! We will have a great time! Any rainy day at Disney beats a sunny day at home, and any crowded day at Disney beats sitting at home on the couch! 🙂
We arrived 12/30/23 and went to Epcot for NYE – extremely disappointed after staking out a spot for 3+ hours – they lasted 1 minute and 55 seconds!!!! We saw part of the NYE fireworks on 12/30 and again from our campsite at Fort Wilderness. We have Annual Passes (ouch$!$!) so don’t feel compelled to ride everything and can’t afford Genie+. We rope dropped HS this morning, did RoR, TSM, and Runaway Railway – looked at wait times and called it quits! SDD was closed from early entry until after we left. If we’d bought Genie+, I’d really have been upset. Hoping wait times will drop for 2nd week of our trip!
We booked a short trip just to visit Magic Kingdom on 1/3. We had an amazing day! We took advantage of getting in 30 mins early, took a nice long afternoon nap when it was most crowded, then did extended evening hours until 1am. My biggest regret was buying Genie+. We ended up only getting like 3-4 rides and none of them were headliners! Because we were busy with the Tron virtual queue, booking a Tron lightning lane, and getting to the Magic Kingdom to rope drop, our first genie+ selection didn’t happen right at 7am. That blew it for the whole day. I miss the days of preselecting 3 rides ahead of time! Unless you have a bunch of people with phones, it’s impossible to do everything at the same time of 7am.
What’s the story with the Jan 9 internet changes day?
I ended up going to MK last night after work and participating in the crazy crowds, because I am one of those pass holders who was blacked out, and I already miss Christmas, and I wanted to see the decorations one last time (I was able to confirm they were still up by sleuthing on instagram, so it was worth the 3 hours round trip).
By 7pm-ish it was pretty mellow. We waited 80 mins for Buzz (sign said 60, so it was underestimating which never happens in my experience) and by the time we got off at 7:20 they had taken down all the spillover lines we had waited in, and the sign said 30mins. We also walked straight onto the Speedway (had been backed up to Teacups when we got in the Buzz line), and then teacups too.
Fireworks were mayhem and we were forced by cast members around the alternate route all the way back to the park entrance, which ironically was the view I wanted for some Xmas tree / fireworks / castle photos anyway. After that we got on Jingle Cruise with maaaaaaaybe a 10 min wait.
Long story short, by 7 the lines were short, but certainly not before, and if you are still in the holiday mood, everything is up and they are still playing Christmas music on Main Street.
I think a lot has to do with how late summer of school systems are starting back from the holiday break. A number of Atlanta area schools do not go back until jan 9. We thought about going to parks thinking it would be less crowded- guess everyone else thought so too…
It’s interesting to note that Genie+ did not sell out during the Christmas to NYE period when the Multi Park Genie+ cost $39. And that period was very very busy. They may have reached a price point where it was actually causing some guests doubt.
It sold out on several consecutive days at both DHS and DAK, and one day, only the Multi-Park option sold out. I guess you could say that Magic Kingdom not selling out at $39 was noteworthy…but the Multi-Park option alone did sell out at that price.
My guess is that the longer hours for MK during that week meant more LL capacity (MK is already the highest-capacity park, but adding a few hours to the operating day certainly helps!) and that’s why Genie+ didn’t sell out.
I would love to be wrong and it’d be a matter of guests finally reaching their balking point, but I’m highly skeptical that was the reason.
There was a day last week that Genie+ sold out for the multi-park option before it sold out at any park (December 30), but it sold out for Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom later that day. I’m pretty sure there weren’t any days last week where it only sold out for the multi-park option. I see it has sold out for only the multi-park option today, with all four parks still available, but the day isn’t over yet.
I wish there were more discussion on season passes and the share of season pass attendance day to day. WDW ain’t kings dominion and I don’t see why the precious new attenders are paying super high costs for their visit and then need to compete with season pass attenders when they get there.
Tom, would be interested to hear what you’d do if you had to pick between this week and spring break. Or in general, it would be interesting to hear your suggestions for picking weeks for families who are limited to school breaks. It sounds like they are all bad, but would love to know reasons to pick one of the other. Maybe a future article idea. Thanks!
That’s a really tricky topic because, yes, they are pretty much all busy to varying degrees. But beyond that, what everyone wants and prioritizes is different.
For example, if it were me, I would visit (roughly) December 29 to January 3. That would give me a few days of Christmas entertainment + 2 nights of NYE fireworks (MK and EPCOT), plus the somewhat slower days in the new year to accomplish more. Prices would also be lower for at least some of those dates, balancing out the peak season rates beforehand. I also far prefer colder weather.
But for anyone who cares primarily about crowds, summer vacation is clearly the better option, as it’s a longer break so everyone isn’t consolidated into the same week. But the weather sucks, and there’s nothing special/seasonal happening.
You’re right, though, that it’s probably worth exploring more in a dedicated post!
Melissa,
I’m a teacher and our kids are in elementary through high school. We have been to Disney in (no particular order) August (low crowds, high heat), June (not as hot but hot), mid Nov. (blissful weather and crowd levels when I was still on maternity leave), spring break without a solid plan and before genie+ existed, the days right up to the parks closing in 2020, and last week. For our last trip, I was preparing myself and my family for horribly long lines, getting to ride very few rides, and barely being able to walk through the crowds. It wasn’t like that at all! We had an awesome trip! The keys for us were getting to the parks an hour before opening, leaving about 12 hours later, having dining reservations or mobile ordering, and having a solid Genie+ strategy. I’d rate my Genie+ knowledge as a B+/A-. All 5 of us would absolutely do the week after Christmas again! I’d love to hear Tom’s thoughts on spring break vs. Christmas break.
Thanks Tom! We are SoCal Disneylanders so I’m confident we can’t handle the Florida summer. Trying to decide when to do a one-time WDW trip, so if you ever tackle the topic in a post I’ll be all ears. Congratulations on your new family member! Enjoy these upcoming years of unencumbered travel before school schedules start playing in… it’s a real drag!
Thanks Meghan! That’s super helpful to hear!
lol…and people think Genie+ is overpriced. It will earn that label when people don’t buy it.
We’re here now and it has been nuts. Thankfully, a solid genie+ strategy has helped immensely, along with deluxe evening house. We closed down Magic kingdom last night, leaving at 1 am and got on most every headliner (skipped space and sadly County Bears was having technical issues). We missed the evening virtual queue for Tron by mere seconds and it was booked up, sadly. Trying for an ILL tomorrow instead.
At the studios right now… just came for a meal and Fantasmic (package). Forget about getting on any rides … crowds are bonkers!
Great reports and recent advice on the promotions. Would love to hear more universal coverage but maybe that’s because you slam dunk wdw and DL coverage. Also know you have your hands full. Kudos for the adventurous spirit even with a little one.
The three biggest problems with Universal coverage for us have been:
1) There’s a lot less reader interest
2) Things change far less often, so there’s not as much need to revisit topics
3) We’ve always lived too far away
That last one is the big one, and has been true everywhere we’ve lived in both Florida and California. As a tourist, you might think that these parks are near their Disney counterparts, but they really aren’t. That’s especially true with traffic, and if you live on the “opposite” side of the Disney Parks, which we always have.
Between that and Sarah having motion sickness on a lot of attractions, we’ve always defaulted to Walt Disney World or Disneyland when it comes to our “for fun” visits, and really only go to Universal when it’s for the sake of research.
We were there the first week of January 2023. It was absolutely bonkers and I didn’t get great results with Genie + and I am usually a master. We just got back from Disney a few weeks ago December 14-21 and it was peaceful up until the 20th and then crowds really started to increase. I will never go the first week of January again! We have never been during the Halloween season so that is our next goal on when to visit!
Love to read the articles