Magic Kingdom Crowd Report: Fully Booked, 35% Capacity Day
We head back to Magic Kingdom for a Thanksgiving week visit. In this Walt Disney World park report, we’ll share our experience with heavy crowds, high holiday wait times, and long lines. We’ll also discuss how Magic Kingdom feels fully booked to 35% capacity, which it’ll likely hit again during Christmas and New Year’s Eve weeks.
To our knowledge, this was the first day that Magic Kingdom had no availability across all three buckets of Disney Park Pass theme park reservations since Walt Disney World increased capacity. There were a couple of fully booked dates in September and October, but it’s unlikely Magic Kingdom was at 35% given what we observed and the wait times.
During the last quarterly earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced that Walt Disney World increased capacity from 25% to 35% while still adhering to health guidance. This was attributed to efficiency gains such as increased ride capacity, which have allowed park operators to increase attendance levels while staying within CDC guidelines. Basically, our goal with this visit to Magic Kingdom was to see how that played out in practice…
Also during Disney’s quarterly earnings call, Chapek indicated that the increased capacity could occur while maintaining physical distancing based upon Disney’s industrial engineering estimates. I’ll admit to chuckling a bit when I heard this.
No offense to Walt Disney World’s industrial engineers, but we’ve been down this road before. The basis for our skepticism in Disney’s theoretical capacity caps is laid out in last year’s Is Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Too Crowded?
The main point there is that guests do not naturally distribute themselves to uncrowded areas of the parks, which is what’s assumed in setting those attendance caps. Instead, people disproportionately flock to areas of the park that are already congested.
While this might be happening to the chagrin of industrial engineering estimates, it’s perfectly rational human behavior. There’s plenty of empty physical space in the parks that is simply less appealing or useful to guests than the congested areas.
It should come as no surprise that people are packed into the pinch-points of Adventureland or Fantasyland–tight corridors that are dense with attractions–whereas random restrooms in far-flung areas of Magic Kingdom are devoid of guests.
We’d give Walt Disney World’s industrial engineering estimates the benefit of the doubt, and assume they’ve taken human behavior and guest demand into account, had we not seen ample examples in the past to prove that is not the case. It would seem their calculations assume a lot of optimal space utilization, and fail to account for practical, in-park realities.
As noted above, Adventureland and Fantasyland are the biggest problem points that we observed. The corridors leading through the heart of these two lands are already narrow, but this is exacerbated by physically-distanced extended queues spilling out of those attractions and restaurants.
In Adventureland, the line for Pirates of the Caribbean is so long that there are multiple switchbacks encompassing nearly half the width of the walkway. On top of that, increased attendance means more strollers and guests lingering outside restaurants for Mobile Order pick-up. That further shrinks the walkable space through the land.
The result is that it’s literally impossible to physically distance from other guests while passing through this thoroughfare, which essentially extends from the edge of Frontierland near Splash Mountain to past Jingle Cruise. These areas are uncomfortably congested.
It shouldn’t take an industrial engineer to tell Walt Disney World decision-makers that there’s simply not enough available space in this and other stretches of Magic Kingdom.
This Splash Mountain end of line photo illustrates just how odd and unpredictable guest distribution can be in the parks right now.
The entirety of that bridge is queue for the attraction–you can’t even go back there without getting into a line. To the left around the corner, there’s congestion caused by guests waiting for Golden Oak Outpost and Pecos Bill (pictured a few photos above). Yet the main corridor in Frontierland is pretty relaxed.
Similar scenes are visible again and again throughout Magic Kingdom.
Above, a large crowd trying to find available tables and/or waiting to enter Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe.
Around the corner, it’s also crowded.
It’s hard to tell what’s going on here, but on the right is the “line” to enter Cosmic Ray’s for Mobile Order pick-up. On the left is the end of line for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Yet looking the opposite direction, the scene on the bridge to Main Street is pretty quiet.
These are repeating crowd-flow patterns that are readily observable. I could “predict” with near-certainty that this bridge will look much different when the Cinderella Castle Christmas projections start…because I’ve seen that scenario play out repeatedly. How is this accounted for in the numbers Walt Disney World arrives at for its attendance caps?
The silver lining is that there are still some reprieves from the crowds in Magic Kingdom, but fewer and fewer.
This peaceful pathway is one of my favorite spots in the park, but only a few minutes after I took this photo, the line for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh extended to the Wishing Well.
Most lines were just flat-out long.
Above is Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin with a posted 45 minute wait. That’s actually not too much longer than what we’ve seen recent Fridays through Sundays.
However, the difference is that the extended queue went in both directions, filling up the normally-used area by attraction exit (to the left of the marquee) and the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor queue.
Also, another instance of a pocket of low crowds in the walkway of the photo above.
Speaking of “one attraction using the queue of another,” here’s a look at the line for Astro Orbiter.
Often, it was difficult to tell where the lines ended or started.
Of everything we saw, Space Mountain took the cake for the most “ingenious” line routing. The entrance started out a lot like it does most days.
Then it snaked behind the Joffrey’s Revive stand, in front of the restrooms, and around front of the Tomorrowland Stage, where Santa Buzz Lightyear was out waving to guests in line. (A nice touch!)
One game we played during our visit is “where do these please wait here markers lead?” It wasn’t a very good game, but sure beats standing in line 45 minutes for Tomorrowland Speedway.
The answer to the question when it comes to the above photo is Space Mountain.
Pretty much the entirety of Storybook Circus was a queue for Barnstormer.
The line stretched out the front entrance, all around the Walt Disney World Railroad loading area, and out into the Casey Junior Play Area. Despite this, the posted wait was only 30 minutes.
As we’ve stressed before, photos of long lines don’t tell the full story.
Last year the week before Thanksgiving, the wait time for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train peaked at over 200 minutes. This year, it’s hitting ~100 minute highs.
The length of the line is really long here (the Cast Member with the sign is right under Cinderella Castle in the photo above), and that queue wraps all the way around the mountain.
However, that’s with a posted 80 minute wait time. Last year, the exact same time sported a 185 minute posted wait.
The point is that context matters–there’s good and bad with visiting Magic Kingdom right now, it’s all a matter of perspective.
You might see only or mostly the positives or negatives. Someone else might view things entirely differently. How the scales tip is ultimately a mix of priorities, expectations, past experience, and comfort level (among other things).
Here’s the line for the next showing of Country Bear Jamboree, extending outside Grizzly Hall and around the corner leading towards Pecos Bill.
Talk about guests with impeccable taste wanting to do only the most distinguished attractions in Magic Kingdom.
Aside from applauding those with the sophistication to see Country Bear Jamboree, we’re not making a value judgment about guests visiting during the busy holiday season. We obviously went to Magic Kingdom despite having a pretty good idea about heavy crowd levels, so we’re “part of the problem” as it were.
To the extent we have an issue with this, it’s that Walt Disney World continually touts its health protocol, temporary rules, physical distancing, etc. Marketing and public statements emphasize health safety practices and the track record of theme parks.
In reality, Disney wants to have its cake and eat it, too. High crowd levels and health safety.
To Walt Disney World’s credit, that balance is being struck in various locations throughout the park. But definitely not everywhere. Again, we noticed significant lapses in Adventureland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. Main Street during entertainment and the evening is another issue.
For our part, we’ve effusively praised Walt Disney World how the parks have handled the phased reopening. That’s not accurate for Thanksgiving week, and probably won’t be for Christmas, New Year’s, or any other time Magic Kingdom is at the “full” 35% capacity.
Our aim here is to simply point all of that out and set realistic expectations for those of you visiting this upcoming holiday weekend, or during the peak weeks of Christmas and New Year’s. If you’re concerned about crowds and congestion, you might want to rethink your visit.
If you are not concerned about congestion, it is worth reiterating that overall attendance levels this Thanksgiving week pale in comparison to last year’s. The same will also be true for Christmas and New Year’s.
These are weeks that are normally close to full capacity, and now they’re at 35%. Even taking physical distancing in queues, stores, and on rides into account, the wait times and “feels like” crowds are still nowhere near what they’d normally be this week.
Those who visit Magic Kingdom during these holiday weeks and arrive for rope drop, take a midday break, and return for closing will be rewarded. (See our 1-Day Magic Kingdom Itinerary for step-by-step strategy.)
Even without FastPass, it should still be fairly easy to knock out every attraction, enjoy the entertainment, and even potentially do a table service meal. Speaking of which, we checked the Walk-Up Waitlist and could’ve done Be Our Guest Restaurant at several points throughout the day.
Ultimately, we fall into the “still concerned about congestion” category, so we didn’t stick around Magic Kingdom for the entire day. Then again, we also fall into the “we can visit next week when attendance falls by 50%” category. Although we didn’t report on our visit last week, that’s not a stretch–Magic Kingdom wait times are up 49.2% as compared to last week.
It would seem that many visitors to Magic Kingdom shared this sentiment. We overheard several families discussing crowds, and some specifically stated that they should leave to go back to swim in the hotel pool. (Which makes us curious how busy the pools are this week.) We likewise called an audible and left Magic Kingdom, but went in the exact opposite direction of exercise. More on that in tonight’s post…
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YOUR THOUGHTS
If you’ve visited Magic Kingdom during the week of Thanksgiving 2020, what has been your experience with crowds and wait times? Issues with congestion, breakdowns in physical distancing, finding spots to eat, or quiet corners away from the masses? If you’ve done Thanksgiving in prior years, how do you think this year compares? Thoughts about anything else covered here? Do you plan on visiting Walt Disney World this Christmas, or are you sitting this year out? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Animal Kingdom on 11/25 – there were definitely crowds, but enough space that we could maintain a 4-6 foot distance and wait times were never unmanageable. The longest we saw was Flight of Passage at 120 mins. Expedition Everest did stop working for a significant amount of time, but the wait was only about 40-50 minutes before that.
EPCOT on 11/26 – Thanksgiving day in EPCOT was great. Our longest wait was Frozen Ever After, and that was a solid 80 mins in line. Test Track kept going down, so even though we were sad to miss it this trip, we didn’t even attempt it. A lot of the rides geared toward younger kids were walk ons. We only waited about 30 minutes for Soarin’ (a family favorite). Again, there were crowds, but generally there was always a way to maintain distance – and most people seemed to prefer that.
Magic Kingdom on 11/27 – crowd-wise this one was pretty brutal, but we kind of expected it. The good news was that, just because of the larger number of possible rides/experiences, the wait times weren’t awful. I don’t think we saw anything much over 60 minutes all day. However, there was absolutely no way to stay distanced in the crowds of people. And the crazy thing was – it seemed like the main reason for this was the way the lines were organized. They created narrower passages in already narrow space?! We’ve been there the week between Christmas/New Years during normal times, and that’s what the crowd felt like to us, especially in Adventureland. It was shoulder to shoulder – not comfortable at all.
Hollywood Studios on 11/28 – expecting the absolute worst, we got there early and knocked out Mickey’s & Minnie’s Railway Adventure (walked on) and Smugglers Run (walked on) immediately before our 10am reservation at Oga’s Cantina. While I’m glad we experienced Oga’s Cantina, by the time we got out and made our way to Toy Story Land the wait time for Slinky Dog Dash was 100 mins. Tower of Terror and Rockin’ Rollercoaster seemed pretty reasonable all day, staying around 40-50 minutes. I’m not sure if the day before desensitized us to crowds, but Hollywood Studios didn’t seem to be nearly as “wall to wall” people as Magic Kingdom.
Just a couple of general things: cast members are still very vigilant about mask wearing (greatly appreciated!), and the attraction lines can be a total mess with people not following the distancing markers. Our advice if you’re going during a no fast pass, no early magic hours, holiday busy, pandemic time: come armed with a comfortable face mask, plenty of hand sanitizer and lots of patience!
We went to MK 2 weeks ago on a Monday and you could definitely tell a difference between a 25% capacity to the 35% capacity. It was more congested and crowded. Wait times were closer to an hour for most rides. And the cast members were definitely not telling people to wear their masks or to stand in the marked green spots during the parades. We were disappointed in the lack of ensuring some sort of social distancing. If you wanted that, you had to ask that of the guest around you. I understand these are harder times due to employee cuts and holiday times, but it was mainly a free for all as far as spacing went.
We are attempting HS this Thursday and expect the same issues especially with it being a smaller park. Bottom line, if you choose to come to the parks during these times, you choose to “be ok” with the lack of covid safety and distancing.
We just got back from a trip to Disney. We started in Epcot, and even with the drunk crowds there for the last day of the International Food & Wine Festival, social distancing and wearing masks properly were still enforced. There were numerous times a cast member asked someone near us to fix their mask. Hollywood Studios the next day was not near as fun because it was more crowded. However, we still felt that cast members worked hard to enforce the health policies. Then came Magic Kingdom, and social distancing and correct mask wearing went out the door! We were able to ride every single ride we wanted to ride, but the crowding was an issue. Our family came to the same realization – the park felt even more crowded because lines extended into the streets (and doubled back in some areas like Pirates). Had this not happened, the streets would have had more room. When you combined the lines plus strollers plus families, social distancing in those areas was not possible. The other thing we noticed (and this is everywhere) is that when people are waiting for their food to be prepared, they wait in front of the restaurant (like the app suggests) which means all of these families were trying to pack into small spaces (such as in front of Pecos Bill). This wasn’t so bad in the other parks, but it was the worst in Magic Kingdom, even at non-traditional eating times. My recommendation if mobile ordering in Magic Kingdom is go ahead and mark that you are there but be around the corner and wait in a less crowded area. Even if your food is ready, you don’t immediately get it – you have to wait in line, so you might as well wait in a less crowded location that is somewhat close to the front of the restaurant but not right there. I think A LOT of people don’t understand how the mobile ordering works either – if I had a nickel for every person who stopped in front of the restaurant and THEN put it in their mobile order, I’d have enough money for…well, I’d have a nice collection of nickels, that’s for sure! We didn’t see or hear cast members enforcing health policies, but I think it was just too crowded and overwhelming for it. The last day of our trip was at Animal Kingdom. The only time we experienced major crowding was in Pandora, but we still heard/saw cast members correct faulty mask wearing. Our final thing we noticed – people really didn’t understand the “stand here” stickers on the ground. Yes, it was definitely difficult to figure out where the line ended (cast members holding signs was super helpful). But, people would create “stand here” stickers where they didn’t exist – people made an assumption that the stickers should be spaced out evenly. However, that’s not always the case. When you are in a line that butts up to another portion of the line, there might be a big empty spot with no sticker of where to stand because Disney didn’t want you standing there at all (you would be six feet apart from the group in front and behind of you, but not BESIDE you). People didn’t get it and thought that Disney just “forgot” a sticker. This happened in every single park.
Just got back from Disney yesterday…was there from Friday to Tuesday in the parks…at HS Friday and Sunday…on Friday we got there at 1pm and even with the park closing at 7 ,rode all the rides (except for Rise,still don’t know how to get into a queue!)…Sunday was more crowded but still rode everything except for the 2 Star Wars rides…Slinky Dog was a 90 minute wait though opposed to Friday which was like 40. Magic Kingdom on Saturday rode most rides …all the ” big ” rides with the longest line being Snow White 55 minutes. However, on Monday we went to AK ,with Flight of Passage waiting for over 2 hours!! All lines for rides were at least 60 minutes or more…no shows ,less to do…we left there & went to Disney Springs & when I say it was ridiculously crowded, it was overwhelmingly crowded on a Monday night! Definitely 0 Social distancing there! On Tuesday at Epcot ,ridiculous wait times ! Fun Fact : we waited about 30 minutes for Frozen ever after…while on the ride ,Elsa’s face turned completely Black! My daughter started saying it was evil Elsa! 5 minutes after we got off the ride, it shut down! Making the other ride lines even longer!!!
Thank you for all the great information you give us! I recently moved to Florida and have never been to WDW, but had Disneyland passes for many many years when we lived in California. Went to MK for the first time yesterday (Wed.) Park was very crowded. Waited 45-60 minutes for every popular ride. Never made it to the Seven Dwarfs ride, as it consistently had a 100 min. wait time. Physical distancing was impossible while walking around or watching the parade, but as we are outdoors, it still felt safe. WDW worked really hard to make sure people were wearing their masks properly and distances while in line. Can’t wait to go back next week when the parks will be less crowded!
Let’s put it this way–this is the ultimate test for: How well do masks work? The physical distancing when not in a line is a mess. Epcot and MK so far have been a complete organizational mess. The cast members often don’t know what to do with the lines. I’ve had 3 times where the lines started running into each other and guests had to point out a better way to weave the line. Also at Epcot on Sunday (I know you say don’t go on a weekend) the park did not open early and when it did both test track and frozen ever after we’re not working (probably why it didn’t open early). This was a disaster. HS by the way was way more organized on Tuesday. The cast members were happy and knew what to do with the lines. Curious what percentage got RoR though. We did a pool day on Wednesday (beach club), almost all chairs were full at stormalong bay. We could distance in the pool though.
Thanks for your awesome information love reading. Do you think they will increase park hours more for December or do you think today was the last increase in hours. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I was at Epcot Monday evening – on arrival even the “never a wait” rides had lines. After 8 it was almost back to “normal”. – except I joined soarin line as it was 20 minutes – but in fact it took 40
The Land had the best Christmas lights display though!
My husband and I came this week to celebrate my bday and our anniversary. We were at magic kingdom Tuesday November 24. It was definitely crowded. We were however able to do a lot. So Bethany was a plus!! It is frustrating how the food selections are limited, and having to do mobile order, only to have to find somewhere to eat outside with all the crowds. Also, it’s all about social distancing, but when we went to the emporium to shop, they were allowing so many people in at a time but once we were inside there were so many people it was hard to walk around in there. Was crazy!
Tom,
We just returned from a week at Disney Pop Century and went to MK last Thursday as well as this past Tuesday. Tuesday was much more crowded with wait times almost doubling in some instances such as the Seven Dwarf Mine Train. Physically Distancing seemed to be a priority of DW however as you mentioned it wasn’t always realistic. The “calvacades” packed for a crowd just as a parade does and this put people right on top of each other. Honestly if they would have done distanced meet and greets like Stitch was doing in Tomorrowland they could have avoided the parade crowd. I had a lady next to me tell her kids they were leaving because distancing was not possible. While I agree with her that it wasn’t always possible I also tend to think that if you are that afraid why are you going to DW to start with? The pools at our resort was pretty dead….15 to 20 people in them until Sunday then attendance went up! Not fully but then you were averaging 50 or so a evening. The resort restaurant was doing a great job at mobile ordering and distancing however my only complaint there is since they were boxing the food a lot of it was cold. I assume because it was pre boxed and sat under a warming light. Pastries were cold and often hard and no microwave left you no chance to warm them up. So for the price you pay at the resort…it wasn’t worth it. We were disappointed with the restaurants as well and the limited menus. We weren’t notified they were doing limited menus so we felt a little taken back. However, Chef Arts Homecoming was the best food we have ever had and I would recommend one hundred times to go there!! Overall it was a great trip but without the characters I will say some of the magic just wasn’t the same.
I agree about the food at Pop Century. I’m sure if I could have eaten it right away, it would have been great. But, it was always cold by the time we got to our room to eat it. We ended up doing a mobile order for another resort (Wilderness Lodge – Roaring Forks) on our last night. We rode the bus from AK to WL, ate there, then hopped on a bus to MK to get back on a bus to our resort. The food was amazing, and even better it was warm and ZERO crowds.
Thanks for all your observations Tom! We will be there Dec 5-13, and enjoy all your info! Celebrating our 10th anniversary and my husband’s 40th bday, so just looking forward to whatever magic we can soak up!
I can’t think of ANYTHING that wouldn’t beat standing in line 45 minutes for Tomorrowland Speedway.
We took the kids for a quick trip this week. We went to Animal Kingdom on Monday and Magic Kingdom on Tuesday. At AK we found lines to be somewhat shorter than advertised. Lines were VERY long because of distancing, but tended to move along. MK had long wait times for most rides and was very crowded. Wait times seemed more accurate there. Most people were good about keeping their distance. Lines got much shorter at MK towards the end of the night as more people went home for the evening. One thing I wish they had were trams running. It is such a long walk back to the car after a long day.
I am very skeptical of that magical 35% number. I think the current capacity is much higher, with management saying its only 35% as a way to get people to put their COVID concerns aside and get people, and more importantly their $$$, back into the parks.
I get what you are saying about people congregating in the more popular areas, making them look more crowded. And the less popular areas are ghost towns. But even in pre-COVID times, during spring break for example, those unpopular places still weren’t crowded.
Disney is business. They need people in the parks to pay the bills. Everyone is concerned with the health crisis, but I’m sure there comes a point where business needs supersede health concerns. I’m not saying Disney isn’t taking the pandemic seriously. I think ANY cap is good, the way in which they manage lines / sanitizing / park hours… is great. Just not a believer in that 35%.
When you consider physical distancing everywhere, reduced ride throughput, and that a lot still isn’t open, I think 35% more or less is accurate. It’s just deceiving because this isn’t 35% of 100%, it’s more like 35% of 75% (when you factor in all of those efficiency reductions).
The numbers nerd in me wants to further discuss your math, but since I won’t be visiting WDW for quite some time, the point is moot. Happy Thanksgiving! Miss your photography forum!
Some great wide angle work today Tom.
The ‘industrial engineering’ numbers are basically calculated by interpreting the International Fire Code for number of people in any particular space plus egress paths and choke points during an emergency. And that is all negotiated with the Fire Marshall. Since there’s literally no possible situation where all park guests would need to exit the park immediately at the same time with any kind of shelter or safety right out front, it comes down to individual buildings/areas and tight flow paths such as through Fantasyland, etc. Yeah I know it feels and certainly looks crowded, but it’s still lower than normal!
Sure it is. Especially with so many restaurants shut down or reducing seating. Plus most of the shows either shut down or down to about 25% of the total seating. That takes away lots of places where guests might congregate during normal times.
Deb, that’s exactly it. Even 35% of maximum legal capacity feels bad because many areas are closed completely or restricted in numbers. But it is far worse to be stuck at work instead!
I would assume they used the same sf per person as normal since the occupancy type hasn’t changed and then just reduced count from there rather than upping the sf a person takes up for social distancing. Hoping these crowd levels hold for Christmas/New Years. Nothing like having the parks hit 100% capacity at 11am and just seeing a sea of people everywhere.
We have tickets for magic kingdom this Sunday, do you think that there will be less crowds by then?
In a normal year, there’s a big drop-off on Sunday. However, this is not a normal year–and visitors right now are disproportionately Floridians, who will still be able to visit on Sunday. With that said, Magic Kingdom has availability in all 3 tiers of Park Pass reservations on Sunday.
All a long winded way of saying we really don’t know. My bet is it’ll be less busy than this week, but still busier than a normal Sunday. Monday should see a sharp drop-off.
Thanks Tom! Question since you smartly approach these visits with safety and science in mind: are there any attractions that you’ve been avoiding due to lack of ventilation/distancing, the same way you’re still not eating indoors? Or are most attractions brief enough that it doesn’t concern you?
We don’t do any indoor shows. Ironically, as much as we hype up Country Bear Jamboree, we haven’t done it since the parks have reopened.
The thing is, those might be perfectly safe–it all depends upon air filtration in the theaters. Unfortunately, Disney has not discussed filtration/ventilation/circulation/etc. in any of its voluminous health safety protocol guidance. I get that hyping up hand sanitizer is easier for the average guest to digest, but it would be great to know what, if anything, Disney has done in terms of things that actually matter.
We did a few indoor shows: Country Bear, Tiki Room, Philharmagic, Carousel of Progress and felt it was safe. For each of these, in addition to distancing in the queue, only every other row is used, then within the row, to keep distance, there are either seats marked or lengths of the bench marked for no sitting. It allows for groups up to 4 to sit together. As for exiting, all bets are off – we either dashed out ahead if near the exit, or took our time lingering a bit to try to keep distance.
I agree with Rick. I did Country Bears, Tiki Room, and Carousel of Progress multiple times plus Hall of Presidents once on a recent week long vacation. I felt safe since there was enough social distancing indoors
They may be partially social distancing while in line waiting for the attraction, but after everyone gets off, it’s usually a mob scene. Now you aren’t in that crowd for long, but it does feel a bit ironic with all the other “precautions” Disney wants to take.
I looked at the line markers, too, last week and thought some of them were facing the wrong way. Until I found out what attractions they were set up for.
Yeah. Exiting attractions and any time it rains are two more instances of congestion and pinch-points. The former is so fleeting that it doesn’t really bother me, but it is still briefly a bit uncomfortable.
We are scheduled to arrive for a week next Wednesday for our first trip to the East coast parks. (We’re Disneyland pros though). Three people in our party utilize DAS. Do you know if the current situation for disability services is that you just go to the front of the line? I had heard that because they were using fastpass lanes for overflow and because the number of accommodated riders was so low right now, they had stopped giving return times. Obviously next week won’t be nearly as crowded, but these pictures still make me nervous. Thanks for any insight you can give.
To my knowledge, DAS and VIP/tour groups are using the FastPass lines. That process should still work like normal, more or less.
I was there a couple weeks ago and they were using fastpass line from what I could tell. Somewhere around the front of each queue there was a cast member with an ipad that was handling any disability access. It’s a little hard to tell what path you would follow after talking to them for every ride but it seemed like the fastpass line was still mostly being used only for that.
Thanks for the very useful update. Definitely been following crowd levels as my family wonders why Grandma is going to Disney World right now. Our trip is week after next and weekdays, with Animal Kingdom on Friday to see Pandora at night. My only other DW trip just missed the delayed Pandora opening. I read Flight of Passage had wait times Monday over 100 min with one at 165 min. We can always cancel last minute but so far it’s been hard to let go …
Wait times of over 100 minutes for Flight of Passage are not uncommon–that has happened on numerous occasions over the last several months.
I’d advise checking wait times towards the end of the day next week. That should more closely reflect what you’re likely to experience.
Was there in August. We did Flight of Passage near end of day and my daughter rode it 3x within an hour.
We visited WDW last week and noticed a lot of what you brought up in the article. Although not as crowded as you experienced this week. We also noticed that markers on the ground may not be for the nearest ride and we also made the game of trying to find the “line starts here” sign. Like the End of Jungle Cruise line being on the other side of Swiss Family treehouse and end of Space Mountain line creeping into our quiet space that we found past the restrooms in tomorrow land. We saw the same in the other parks – the worst being the Rockin Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios where the lines need to cross main pathways and cast members directing traffic.
Overall it’s not bad as most of the lines are moving. We noticed that lines for rides that are in constant motion like Haunted Mansion seem to move relatively quickly and your time waiting is actually the time it takes just to walk through the stretched out queue.
Hollywood Studios is definitely the most “interesting” park in the way normal guest traffic is managed when the queues get really long. Same goes for Pandora.