If you are planning on visiting Walt Disney World in the near future, you should be aware of the current crowd levels.
This past weekend, many celebrated Mother’s Day, which took place on Sunday, May 8. And what better way to celebrate Mom than by visiting Walt Disney World? Well, it seems everyone had a similar idea as the crowd levels at the Disney World theme parks this past weekend were, well, insane.
The Festival of Fantasy Parade recently returned to Walt Disney World, which has many Guests excited. What many refer to as the 3 o’clock parade, Festival of Fantasy is a popular parade that strolls down Main Street, U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom. Disney World describes the parade as:
Magic Marches Down the Street
The unbridled enchantment and vivid pageantry of Fantasyland—and its many inhabitants—winds its way through the park in a thrilling parade spectacular. The dazzling mix of floats, motion and original music will keep you humming along for days to come.
See Disney Characters and Much More
Be a part of this grand gala, with spectacular, state-of-the-art floats starring some of your favorite Disney Characters from Tangled, Peter Pan and The Little Mermaid. It’s a festival of fun for everyone!
TikTok user, mikemolinari, was visiting Magic Kingdom this past weekend and shared a video to the social media platform showing the number of Guests lined up along Main Street, U.S.A. waiting for the Festival of Fantasy Parade.
You can see Mike’s video below, or by clicking here.
@mikemolinari Who understands the struggle of not getting stuck by the parade?! #disney #entertainment #disneyparade #magickingdom #pivot #friends #mainstreetusa #parade #incoming #friendsfan #fyp #foryou #disneyforyou #disneyadult #disneystruggles
If you plan on visiting Walt Disney World, you will need a valid Park ticket as well as a Park Pass reservation. The new Disney Park Pass reservation system was introduced when the theme parks reopened after temporarily closing due to the ongoing pandemic. The reasoning behind this new system is to help Disney monitor and control the crowd levels and capacity on any given day.
In 2020, Chairman of Parks, Experiences and Products Josh D’Amaro indicated that the newly implemented Park Pass system is a “new normal” that isn’t going away anytime soon, if ever, so Guests should get accustomed to utilizing the Disney Park Pass system if they are planning a trip to Walt Disney World.
As we approach the remainder of spring and the upcoming summer months, we expect to see the Park Pass availability continue to sell out so if you are planning on visiting Walt Disney World and its four theme parks — Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom — be sure to secure your Park Passes as soon as possible.
Additionally, we do want to note that recently, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy stated that Park’s capacity would never return to normal as they are “managing things differently now”. This sparked quite the conversation amongst Disney fans as many can’t imagine what “full capacity” would look like considering how packed the Parks are now.
Are you visiting Disney World? Have you experienced the high crowd levels? Let us know in the comments below.
If you want to visit Walt Disney World on your next vacation, let the expert team at Academy Travel help you plan your next magical vacation. You won’t want to miss everything the Parks — Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios — and the Disney Springs shopping and dining district has to offer!