Credit: Frank Phillips, FlickrThe prevailing narrative around the Walt Disney World Resort this summer was that the parks were virtual ghost towns. With few new attractions coming to the parks, and major construction projects were shutting down large portions of the parks.
It started with Father’s Day weekend, with the parks seeing one of their slowest weekend in recent memory. That continued through Fourth of July weekend, and despite Disney’s fireworks celebrations, the crowds remained low.
Some statistics show just how low the crowd levels were at the start of the summer. Father’s Day weekend saw an average wait time of 26 minutes, with a crowd level of one out of 10. Fourth of July wasn’t much better, with the average wait time of 27 minutes, and again, a one out of 10 on the crowd calendar.
Disney World is facing a number of issues this summer. Bloomberg theorized that the extreme heat was keeping guests away from the parks, but the ever-rising cost of a Disney World vacation could be forcing families to find somewhere else to spend their money.
However, despite a slow start to the summer, Disney World is having a bit of a renaissance over the past week. Crowds have rebounded to their highest levels since April’s Spring Break.
The wait times have jumped nearly 10 minutes across the parks, and the crowd level has jumped to a four out of 10. Much like Disney World’s slow start to the summer, many theories could help explain this rebirth.
It’s the final weeks before the South heads back to school, and families are getting in one final vacation before the school year starts back up. Disney has also drummed up some excitement with its new parade and the return of Test Track.
With August just around the corner and the return of EPCOT’s International Food and Wine Festival and Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom, crowds are expected to stay high for the foreseeable future.
If you haven’t already hit Disney World this summer, you may have missed the chance to get to the parks with lower crowds. Better luck next year.
What have your experiences been with the crowds at Disney World this summer? Let us know in the comments.