Wait Times Show Holiday Crowds Have Already Arrived at Disney World - Inside the Magic

As the world continues to fight the ongoing pandemic, and as we begin getting back to “normal”, families are eager to once again vacation at Walt Disney World. This weekend, specifically, families are excited to spend Fourth of July at the theme parks, especially with fireworks making their grand return!

Related: How to Avoid Crowds at Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios

In case you weren’t aware, Guests poured into the theme parks for the debut of Happily Ever After and EPCOT Forever last night as the first fireworks to light up the night sky in over one year at Walt Disney World.

Now, as the holiday weekend is just beginning, it is safe to say more and more Guests will be arriving at Walt Disney World to spend Fourth of July as wait times are sitting at one hour or more for several attractions.

Friday morning, at approximately 11:30 a.m., we checked My Disney Experience to see how the wait times were looking and let’s just say, the three parks look to be pretty busy.

Related: How to Avoid Crowds at EPCOT on Your Next WDW Trip

As seen in the screenshots above, nine attractions sat at an hour or more wait time, including Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 70 minutes, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at an 80-minute wait, and Tower of Terror, Slinky Dog Dash, and Flight of Passage all over 85 minutes.

Related: PHOTOS: Summer Crowds Arrive at Disney World

It is important to note that due to the ongoing pandemic, Disney World is no longer using the red card system to predict wait times. In case you aren’t familiar, how the red card system worked was a Disney Cast Member would select a Guest at random and handed them a red card. This card clocked how long that Guest waited before boarding. But, with the current pandemic, the red card system is not in place. Therefore, Disney has to estimate the wait time based on how the queue looks meaning the wait times may not be as long as the posted wait time says. (Or, on the flip side, they could be longer than what the posted wait time says).

All of this being said, please keep in mind that if you are visiting the Walt Disney World theme parks in the near future, at this time, posted wait times for attractions can be a bit unpredictable.

Related: Disney World Increased Capacity, So We Need FastPass Back

Additionally, Disney CEO Bob Chapek confirmed that the theme parks have already started increasing capacity again, which you can read more about here. With capacity continuing to increase and with many families ready to go on summer vacation after a long year filled with uncertainty, we expect Walt Disney World to continue bringing in the crowds — Especially on Fourth of July weekend.

Are you going to spend Fourth of July weekend at Disney World? Let us know in the comments below.