Get ready to be SHOCKED. 😮
We’re writing this post on Labor Day 2022 (September 5th), and a lot is going on around Disney World these days. The resort is continuing to celebrate the Halloween season. And, a Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is taking place on select nights. So how do crowds look with all of these Halloween happenings, coupled with Labor Day weekend? Well, it might just surprise you.
We’ve seen some surprisingly lower wait times and crowds for the past few days, though wait times were increasing a bit over the holiday weekend. So what has Monday, September 5th (Labor Day itself) looked like? Well, it’s been pretty quiet.
Last year, we saw some quieter areas in the parks, but we also saw certain places get pretty crowded. Summer 2022 had us feeling like Labor Day crowds could be pretty big, but other reports about Labor Day travel gave the indication that crowds could be different this year.
Generally, September does mark a slower season for Disney World as many students return to school, but Labor Day weekend can bring in some big crowds. Today, on the Labor Day holiday itself, the crowds we encountered were pretty minimal.
EPCOT
Over at EPCOT, we noticed some more crowds near popular attractions — like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, but things weren’t too bad. How could we tell? The virtual queue still showed the “join queue” option at 2:29PM ET — well over an hour after the 1PM virtual queue drop time. Individual lightning lanes were also still available to purchase at that time. 😲
We saw low crowds by Mission: SPACE…
…and even fairly low crowds at Test Track.
As we got into World Showcase, the low crowd trend continued, with Frozen Ever After not looking too bad.
Royal Sommerhus was a bit longer, at a 40-minute wait at one point in the day, but that went down to about 15 minutes as of around 2:30PM ET.
There were plenty of pavilions…
…and other areas around World Showcase with PLENTY of walking space (at least while we were there).
Some stores were a bit busier though…
…and you could find more lines near character experiences and things of the like.
As we got further into the afternoon, things started to get a bit more crowded…
…but it wasn’t unbearable by any means.
Overall, things were MUCH quieter in EPCOT than you might expect on a normal holiday weekend, though that fits with some of the lower crowds we’ve seen lately!
Magic Kingdom
At Magic Kingdom, things were pretty similar! It’s worth pointing out that there is a Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Magic Kingdom happening at night on September 5th, which may have affected park attendance. On party nights, Magic Kingdom closes early to non-party guests (it closes today at 6PM), giving you significantly less time in the parks, so that might have driven away some guests.
But those guests who did go to the park during the day were met with some pretty low crowds!
Some guests were crowding around photo spots in Town Square, but otherwise, crowds were totally manageable here.
Heading down Main Street, U.S.A., there were some more crowds (which makes sense as it is the park’s central funnel).
But if you just gave it a few minutes, spaces would open up, giving you more walking room.
Again, this is not necessarily the picture you’d expect for a holiday weekend, but we have a feeling that the other guests in attendance were thrilled to see a bit more elbow room in this busy park.
Oftentimes, the true test of Magic Kingdom’s crowd level is found back in Fantasyland, right near Peter Pan’s Flight and “it’s a small world.” This area can get VERY crowded, but today it wasn’t bad. You could actually walk around without feeling like you were in a can of sardines. We’ll take little wins like that when we can!
There were also some other spaces (like back in New Fantasyland) that had LOTS of empty space.
All in all, the crowds were pretty manageable.
Wait Times
Let’s take a look at another crowd indicator — wait times. As of around 2:51PM on September 5th, things weren’t bad. The highest wait time at that moment was 70 minutes for both Peter Pan’s Flight and Slinky Dog Dash. That was followed by Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (EPCOT) at 65 minutes. Na’vi River Journey (Disney’s Animal Kingdom) at 60 minutes, and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run also at 60 minutes.
Plenty of rides were under 1-hour, including The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) at 45 minutes and Test Track (EPCOT) at 40 minutes.
And LOTS of rides had wait times under 30 minutes. That included The Haunted Mansion (Magic Kingdom) at 25 minutes, Jungle Cruise (Magic Kingdom) at 20 minutes, Soarin’ Around the World (EPCOT) at 15 minutes, and Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom) at just 10 minutes!
Again, Magic Kingdom’s early closure due to the Halloween Party could be affecting things, but with plenty of waits across all 4 parks at under an hour, it was a VERY quiet holiday.
We’ll keep you updated on the crowd levels in Disney World over the next few months. While September could be quieter, October could mark the arrival of more crowds as Halloween gets closer, and November and December could have some seriously packed days with the start of the Festival of the Holidays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
If you’re traveling during a holiday season, be sure to book those Park Pass reservations well in advance, so you don’t run the risk that they sell out later. You’ll also want to grab dining reservations and hotel reservations with plenty of time.
As always, stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news!
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Are you in the parks today? Let us know in the comments!
My Daughter and her boyfriend were in the parks on the 1st- they went to AK and HS and rode every ride at both (except TOT) with zero wait times. Walk on everywhere. She kept texting me that it took longer to get through the cues than to wait for the rides. to complete 2 parks in one day and have time to sit down and eat is unheard of
Maybe this will be the beginning of low crowds. I know all the changes at DISNEYWORLD and price gouge. After 30 years of annual visits. We won’t be back.
Why was Rise of the resistance closed? I am going to Hollywood studios in a couple weeks and that is the main ride I want to ride.
It breaks down regular usually back up and running quickly. I’ve just left after 2 weeks at disney and saw ROTR down most days but have been on it about 4 times and queued between 20 and 40 minutes.