Fourth of July weekend just came to an end, but it is clear many Guests were spending the holiday at the Most Magical Place on Earth — Walt Disney World.
Inside the Magic was visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom on July 2, and the crowd levels were certainly higher than normal. You can read more about those crowds here.
We visited Disney’s Animal Kingdom again on July 4, and the crowds definitely did not go unnoticed.

The place we noticed a majority of the crowds was near Expedition Everest in Asia. You can see in the photo above that outside of the Expedition Everest queue, crowds were packed in wall to wall on the walkways.
Related: Guests Forced to Stand In Long Line Due to Intense Crowd Levels at Magic Kingdom

The crowds broke up slightly the further we walked down, but the crowds were still higher than normal — and considering it was a holiday, we weren’t surprised.
As far as wait times go, we noticed that most rides had a longer than average wait time. At one point DINOSAUR had a 40 minute wait and the line extended outside of the queue area. Again, considering this was a holiday, it is not too surprising.

Keep in mind, 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 summer, 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.
Did you visit Disney World this past holiday weekend? Did you experience the high crowd levels? Let us know in the comments below.