PHOTOS: Yes, Disney World is STILL Crowded Around the Holidays

It’s a very busy week for Disney World!

It’s a busy time for Disney World!

We’ve had some heavy crowds and high wait times in the parks the past few days as thousands of guests flock to the parks for Thanksgiving break. On top of that, today is the kick-off of the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, which draws in quite a few guests on its own. So what do the crowds look like today? Let’s check it out!

Magic Kingdom

Let’s start things out at Magic Kingdom, where the line for the monorail was pretty busy before park opening time!

It was busy at the monorail this morning!

Once we got onto Main Street, U.S.A., we were surprised to see things a little less busy than we expected. There was actually room to move around!

It’s surprisingly open!

Even once we got further down the street, it wasn’t as bad as some of the other days we’d seen this week. Maybe everyone came to Magic Kingdom yesterday?

Main Street isn’t nearly as bad as we expected!

The same was true for the other lands of the park. We found wide-open spaces in Tomorrowland…

Not bad at all.

…in Fantasyland…

Completely empty by Storybook Circus.

…and Frontierland. It definitely doesn’t look like a holiday week here!

We could just spin and circles and not touch a soul.

It was a little busier in-between Peter Pan’s Flight and “it’s a small world” — this area of the park tends to be a bottleneck. Just make sure to look out for that and avoid it if you can.

This can be a bottleneck.

EPCOT

Over at EPCOT, it was a different situation. We’re celebrating the first day of the Festival of the Holidays…along with thousands of our closest friends. 😜

It’s going to be a busy day!

Some, but not all, of the food booths had long lines in World Showcase. You’ll just need to set your priorities and decide which ones you’re willing to wait for.

Welcome to L’Chaim!

And if you’re looking for a table for eating or a bench for sitting, you may have to search for a bit. Many of them were claimed around the World Showcase.

Many tables were full around the World Showcase.

Hollywood Studios

And over at Hollywood Studios this morning, it was nothing but PURE CHAOS. The crowds were already lining up before park open, and it took us 30 minutes just to get inside!

Just look at those crowds!

The streets around the park weren’t any better. It was difficult to navigate!

GEEZ that’s busy!

Toy Story Land is known for being one of the park’s bottlenecks, and today was no exception. You’ll want to plan a few extra minutes of walking time no matter where you go!

Toy Story Land was complete mania.

And don’t even get us started on the quick service restaurants! PizzeRizzo was hoppin’ — we hope you made your Mobile Orders early.

PizzeRizzo crowds were bad, too!

Animal Kingdom

And finally, let’s journey to Animal Kingdom. Here, crowds weren’t as bad as EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, but they’re still not as low as they are on a typical day. Wait times are fairly substantial.