Credit: Walruscarp TikTokTake this as your official warning to stay away from Walt Disney World during holidays, as well as special events such as runDisney race weekends.
Walt Disney World Resort is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the world, and when you visit, there is no chance that you will experience zero crowding, in fact, 58 million people visit Disney World each year on average. That being said, there are times of the year in which crowd control is out of hand, causing massive lines for attractions and significant crowding with clusters of guests around every turn.
If you have ever been to Walt Disney World Resort and visited either Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom during a holiday such as Christmas, Halloween, or even the recently passed President’s Day, you may have had a moment to regret your decision. Even though there are capacity limits for parks, with some guests like Annual Passholders still needing Park Pass Reservations (at times), the park crowds have returned to their natural pre-pandemic levels.
When kids are out of school or parents have a free day off of work, this often poses as a great time to visit Disney as it affects both kids and adults less than a time of year when kids are in school for the full week, and parents have to use all of their vacation time for their Disney trip.
Over the past week, we have seen two worlds collide as many guests came to town for President’s Day long weekend, and then, even more guests came in for the Disney Princess marathon weekend which has just come to a close this morning.
With the insane influx of guests, we have seen Disney World appear to be overly full, with even the paid-for service Disney Genie+, which is meant to have guests pay to skip the lines and use Lightning Lane, essentially falling apart.
Disney guests Kirk (@walruscarp) took a bird’s eye view look at Tomorrowland while riding the PeopleMover at Magic Kingdom, showing the number of guests that were waiting in line for attractions like Space Mountain, which had the line entrance extended to a lengthy wait. We also got to see the crowds in Adventureland, where the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse even had heavy crowding at the entrance of the attraction.
Kirk warned guests to “pack their patience pants”.
@walruscarp Insane Crowds at Disney World Today! 👀 Pack your Patient Pants 👖 and pray you have Genie+ already bc Magic Kingdom and the rest of Walt Disney World has lines and crowds everywhere. If you have Genie+ you should be good otherwise prepare for 60+ minute waits everywhere. #disneyworldcrowds #disneycrowds #disneyworldlines #disneylines #disneycrowded #disneycrowdcalendar #disneyworld #disneyap #disneycastmember #dvcmember #walruscarp
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Another Disney guest, Jacob (@hhn_jacob) went to Hollywood Studios where the Lightning Lane for Tower of Terror extended onto Sunset Boulevard, and also had to implement further winding stations to add to the length of the queue that is meant to be “fast”, and costs a hefty chunk of change.
This is the LIGHTNING LANE for Tower of Terror. Yes even the extended queue…
Holy fuck. pic.twitter.com/xlkXkglOb8
— Jacob from Carey (@hhn_jacob) February 22, 2024
In the comments of the post, Jacob noted that they spoke to a group that did wait in the Lightning Lane, and it took them 45 minutes to get into the preshow room. After the preshow, which is where Lightning Lane and regular guests merge, guests enter the boiler room, which can typically take another 15-20 minutes, depending on how full the line is once the doors open.
With Lightning Lane costing over $30 for the majority of the time, instances like this may not seem very worth it for guests.
This weekend, we even saw park passes sell out entirely at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT due to the influx of runDisney guests.
Overall, when planning your visit to Walt Disney World, looking at what events are happening during your stay, as well as holidays, can certainly help manage expectations or give you the chance to alter your dates in exchange for (hopefully) lower crowds.
Do you think that Disney World is getting too crowded?