Disney World at Capacity: Weekend Crowds and Wait Times

in Walt Disney World

disney crowds

Background Image: Credit @gregpaul01760

Walt Disney World is one of the most — if not the most — popular vacation destinations around the world. And with the ongoing pandemic seeming to have a light at the end of the tunnel with more people getting vaccinated, families are eager to travel to the Most Magical Place on Earth once again.

And now, with spring break here, many families find it to be the perfect reason to travel to Orlando, Florida, and visit Mickey Mouse and the gang or see Cinderella Castle on Main Street U.S.A. But with that being said, the Walt Disney World theme parks are still operating under a limited capacity in order to keep Guests and Cast Members safe, so trying to visit a theme park is a bit different than it was pre-pandemic.

Related: Certain WDW Ticket Holders Can’t Visit Any Park Next Week

disney world
Credit: Disney

In case you aren’t familiar, when Disney World reopened to the public last summer, they implemented a new system that requires those who wish to visit a Walt Disney World theme park — including Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom — to have both a valid ticket as well as a reservation for the park they wish to visit on that day. The Disney Park Pass system currently allows Guests to book available theme parks all the way through January 2023.

When looking at the Disney Park Pass calendar, for both March 20 and March 21 — as well as for the weekdays following — all four theme parks are sold out of Park Passes for all ticket types, as you can see reflected in the screenshots below.

Related: 2022 Disney World Vacation Packages Available Now!

march park pass
Credit: Screenshot Disney World Website/ITM
march park pass
Credit: Screenshot Disney World Website/ITM

With that being said, let’s take a look at some wait times and crowd levels at all four theme parks for this weekend and see how busy it really is at the theme parks.

It is important to always check the official Walt Disney World website and the availability calendar before planning your Disney World vacation as Park Pass availability is subject to change.

disney world face mask
Credit: Disney Parks Blog

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Saturday, March 20

As seen in the screenshot below, just three minutes after park opening on Saturday, March 20, wait times at Disney’s Hollywood Studios weren’t too bad. Slinky Dog Dash sat at the highest wait time with a 60-minute wait, with Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway only having a 20-minute wait.

hollywood studios wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

And at approximately 11 a.m. on Saturday, Greg P. took to Instagram to share some photos of the crowd levels at Hollywood Studios, which as you can see below, aren’t too bad.

Later in the day, wait times steadily began to increase. At approximately 1 p.m., most attractions sat at a 40-minute wait or higher. In fact, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run was an 85-minute wait.

hollywood studios wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

Instagram user Savannah R. posted a photo in Galaxy’s Edge, where you can see people in the background who are in line for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, but otherwise, it looks to be relatively empty!

And Brandon and Kathy also took to Instagram to share a photo of them at Hollywood Studios, where you can see the main strip to be pretty busy. This tends to occur throughout the day due to it being the only way in and out of the theme park.

As park closing approached on Saturday, the wait times at Hollywood Studios were still decently high. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run was an hour wait while Slinky Dog Dash was 50-minutes.

hollywood studios wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

Sunday, March 21

About 15 minutes after park opening, Hollywood Studios saw some high wait times, including 80-minutes for Tower of Terror, 75-minutes for Slinky Dog Dash, and 40-minutes for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

hollywood studios wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

And thanks to Jonathan G. on Instagram, we can see the line for Smugglers Run at Galaxy’s Edge early on Sunday morning.

As afternoon approached, the ride times skyrocketed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Tower of Terror was a 105-minute wait and Smugglers Run was a 75-minute wait. Other rides including Slinky Dog Dash and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway were also over an hour.

hollywood studios wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

Magic Kingdom

Saturday, March 20

As seen in the screenshot below, just one hour after park opening on Saturday, March 20, Magic Kingdom wait times weren’t too bad. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train sat at the highest wait time with a 50-minute wait, which isn’t as bad as it’s been in previous weeks, with rides such as Peter Pan’s Flight and Pirates of the Caribbean only having a 20-25 minute wait.

Related: Magic Kingdom Gets More Crowded Ahead of Spring Break

magic kingdom wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

And at approximately 10 a.m. on Saturday, Instagram user Cami took to the social media platform to share this photo, in which you can see some crowds gathered in the central hub of Main Street, U.S.A.

Wait times steadily began to increase later in the day at Magic Kingdom. At approximately 1 p.m., most attractions sat at a 45-75-minute wait In fact, Pirates of the Caribbean, which was a 25-minute wait earlier, was now a 75-minute wait.

magic kingdom wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

Later in the evening, as the sun was setting, Magic Kingdom parkgoer Mareliz G. took to Instagram to share this stunning photo of Cinderella Castle, in which you can see little to no Guests walking through the central hub.

Right before park closing on Saturday, the wait times at Magic Kingdom seemed to dwindle down. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was now a 35-minute wait and Pirates of the Caribbean was sitting at a 30-minute wait.

magic kingdom wait timesa
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

Sunday, March 21

On Sunday, March 21, Magic Kingdom opened up at 8 a.m. Approximately one hour after opening, the wait times seemed pretty average as Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had a 40-minute wait and other rides such as Space Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean sat at a 30-minute wait.

magic kingdom wait timesa
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

Erick Z. posted a photo of Cinderella Castle to Instagram where you can see there aren’t too many people gathered here on the morning of Sunday, March 21.

During the afternoon, wait times at Magic Kingdom sat at or near one hour for several different rides, including Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Pirates of the Caribbean, and even Tom Sawyer Island.

magic kingdom wait timesa
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Saturday, March 20

As seen in the screenshot below, just one hour after park opening on Saturday, March 20, Animal Kingdom wait times weren’t too bad either, aside from Avatar Flight of Passage, which sat at the highest wait time with a 75-minute wait. But other rides, including Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris, only had a 5-15 minute wait.

Related: WDW Passholders Should Take Advantage of Visiting in April

animal kingdom wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

And around the same time, Disney fan Yaimara took to Instagram to share some videos and photos of Animal Kingdom. In the first video, you can see some of the crowd levels in Pandora, which isn’t too surprising compared to the wait times in the screenshot above.

Additionally, if you swipe to the last photo in the post, you will see some crowds forming around the main entrance to Animal Kingdom as everyone wants to snap a photo of the Tree of Life.

As 1 p.m. hit, the wait times increased pretty steadily, with most attractions having over a 70-minute wait, which you can see in the screenshot below.

animal kingdom wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

Becky C., who was visiting Pandora, took to Instagram to share some photos of the beautiful floating rocks. You can see here there are a few Guests gathered, but overall, it doesn’t seem too congested.

And as we approached the end of the day, Animal Kingdom’s wait times drastically decreased. The longest wait times were for Na’vi River Journey and Flight of Passage, which posted a 35-minute wait.

animal kingdom wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

Sunday, March 21

On Sunday, March 21, Animal Kingdom opened up at 8 a.m. Approximately one hour after opening, the wait times for popular attractions, including Flight of Passage, were either over an hour or just under an hour wait.

animal kingdom wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

One Disney World Guest, Richard S., shared some photos on his visit to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where you can see some Guests walking into the theme park, though not too crowded despite it reaching its limited capacity.

Animal Kingdom’s wait times continued to increase as the day went on for all of its attractions at the theme park, with Flight of Passage sitting at an hour and a half wait.

animal kingdom wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

EPCOT

Saturday, March 20

As seen in the screenshot below, just one hour after park opening on Saturday, March 20, EPCOT‘s wait times were about average for a typical weekend. Test Track sat at the highest wait time with an 80-minute wait. Spaceship Earth had a 55-minute wait and Soarin’ Around the World at a 45-minute wait.

Other rides such as The Seas with Nemo & Friends only had a 5-minute wait.

epcot wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

As we approached the afternoon of March 20, EPCOT’s wait times pretty much remained the same, which rides sitting at a 30-60 minute wait.

epcot wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

And the same went for as we neared the evening. Test Track was a 40-minute wait with Mission: SPACE and Frozen Ever After at a 35-minute wait.

epcot wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

As for crowd levels, Shannon V. shared some photos and videos to Instagram which really showcased the crowds near the Norway pavilion. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise as it’s right next to the popular Mexico pavilion and it is home to the Frozen Ever After attraction.

Related: Disney World Fans Concerned About Spring Break Crowds

Sunday, March 21

On Sunday, the wait times shortly after park opening were already decently high. Test Track posted a 95-minute wait and Spaceship Earth sat at a 50-minute wait.

epcot wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

About one hour after park opening, wait times started to even out across all attractions, with Test Track dropping to a 70-minute wait and Frozen Ever After jumping to a 40-minute wait.

epcot wait times
Credit: Screenshot MDE/ITM

Planning a Disney World Vacation?

If you are planning to visit a public place, such as Walt Disney World Resort, please remember to practice safety and health protocols in order to keep yourself and others safe during this time. Keep your distance from other Guests, wear your appropriate face coverings at all required times, wash your hands often, try to use paperless payment methods, and cover your mouth and nose while sneezing or coughing.

Do you have plans to visit Disney World? When are you visiting? Let us know in the comments below.

If you want to plan a vacation to Disney World, but aren’t sure where to begin planning, don’t hesitate to reach out to our friends at Academy Travel. Get started with your free quote today!

in Walt Disney World

Comments Off on Disney World at Capacity: Weekend Crowds and Wait Times