The million-dollar question among Disney parks fans right now is “Does Disney World even have an off-season anymore?”
If there is still a slow season (and we’re not even sure that it exists), right now is NOT it. Check out the crowds and some shocking wait times from the Disney World parks on Presidents’ Day today!
On our way into EPCOT this morning, we got caught in some serious traffic. If you look really hard at this picture, you can just make out the entrance to the EPCOT parking lot.
That’s how we knew that today was going to be a very busy day in the parks.
And boy, were we right! There were long lines of guests waiting to get into EPCOT, and the crowds continued past the entrance.
Many guests headed straight for the attractions early on, which is usually a smart move if you want to get on a few rides during your day.
But the queues for most attractions got very long very fast today. We stopped by the Land pavilion and saw that the wait time for Living With the Land was at 40 minutes! This ride usually has a pretty short wait, but not today.
Other, more popular rides had even longer wait times. Test Track was up to 85 minutes last we checked.
Even the lines to get food were long, like this one that we spotted at a snack kiosk over in World Nature.
There actually weren’t many people at Club Cool, which is a store in World Celebration where you can sample sodas from around the world (for free!). We were surprised that there weren’t more people here since it’s usually a popular destination.
In World Showcase, there was a long line to get into the Mexico pavilion. On less busy days, there won’t be a queue here at all, and guests can just walk in to explore the pavilion.
And the crowds in the rest of World Showcase weren’t much lighter!
The story was the same over at Magic Kingdom. From the time we arrived at the Transportation and Ticket Center (your first stop if you’re driving to Magic Kingdom), there were long lines. We waited for a while to get on a Monorail to the park.
And the crowds in the parks were a little bit scary. There were a LOT of people in Fantasyland.
The wait time for the popular Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster climbed up past two hours by mid-afternoon.
The Haunted Mansion also had a long wait time, at 80 minutes.
We saw more crowds in Tomorrowland, including a long line for Space Mountain…
…and even an extended queue for the PeopleMover. The PeopleMover’s wait time was 45 minutes by 11:30AM.
But not every place in Disney World is full to bursting with guests. Our reporter in Disney Springs today said that it was surprisingly empty!
So if you’re looking for a place to escape the crowds, you can pop over to Disney Springs to get some shopping in and have a delicious meal at one of the Springs’ awesome restaurants.
And if you’re in the parks, we wish you luck! It may be crazy, but there are still some ways to beat the crowds. Check out some of our tips for avoiding crowds in Disney World here. On busy days like this, you may want to consider buying Genie+ to ensure you’ll get on some of the more popular attractions without waiting too long.
Keep following AllEars for more of the latest updates from Disney World!
Click here to see 12 tips for avoiding crowds in Disney World.
Join the AllEars.net Newsletter to get the free list of the 14 best times to use Genie+ at Disney World! Click here to get started!
Click here to subscribe Are you visiting Disney World this holiday weekend? Let us know in the comments.
What is going on with these crowds? Are these all of the people that had to divert their vacations in 2020 or is this an influx of people who are trying to get it in before Disney is no longer an option for them?
Since there isn’t a limit on how many Genie+ are sold per day (potentially every guest attending can buy it), with this sort of crowd were the “Lightning Lanes” even shorter than standby? Or do people who buy it end up with only 1 or 2 for the day when it’s at capacity? I’d like to see a Genie+ video when you try to use it when the parks are at 100%. Frankly, this looks like it should be past capacity.