Disney World Wait Times Drop Dramatically as Crowds Vanish

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Disney Castle

Credit: Disney (left) Inside the Magic (right)

Walt Disney World Resort’s crowd levels over the recent months have been interesting as we have seen them go from dismal to pretty packed, and then within a few weeks, those crowds have once again disappeared.

disney world crowds
Credit: Inside the Magic Kelly C.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced that capacity would be increasing from the last noted 35% quite a while ago, and when the summer months hit, we saw that increase come into action. It was nearly impossible to snag a Disney Park Pass reservation and wait times were back to their pre-pandemic long waits. By this point, attractions were no longer social distancing in queues or in the ride vehicle itself, so the wait times that we were seeing were purely based on Guest demand.

disney world crowds
Credit: Inside the Magic Kelly C.

Now that kids have returned to school, it seems that everything has changed. Wait times are no longer those massive 1+ hour queues that we once again became used to. We recently discussed how the parking lots for the Disney Parks are looking quite empty, and when we look at wait times, it seems that the trend continues.

This morning, although EPCOT is not yet open at the time of this article’s publishing, Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios barely have any wait! 13 attractions, including Expedition Everest, are at a 5-minute wait, with other majorly popular attractions such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Kilimanjaro Safaris only holding a 10-minute wait.

Graphical user interface, application
Credit: My Disney Experience
Graphical user interface
Credit: My Disney Experience

The longest wait was for Slinky Dog Dash, and even its wait time is still under one hour! Flight of Passage didn’t even make it to the top with a long wait, as the attraction only has a 45-minute wait. A few weeks ago, I passed by the attrition, which held a 165-minute wait.

Graphical user interface, application
Credit: My Disney Experience

It will be interesting to see if crowds do pick up as the 50th anniversary rolls around over the next few weeks. With new shows such as Disney Enchantment and Harmonious debuting, there is a lot of incentive to visit the parks; however, with the Delta variant still surging and travel bans still in place, tourism has not yet returned to a complete state of normalcy just yet.

What do you think of these low wait times at Walt Disney World? 

Will you be visiting Walt Disney World for the 50th? If so, and you haven’t yet booked your trip, make sure to contact our friends at Academy Travel, who will help you start planning today!

 

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