News Walt Disney World theme parks increase capacity but see longer waits and less physical distancing

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DCBaker

Premium Member
MisterPenguin said:
I think the case that the limit has been upped is still not settled.

Martin keeps saying that hasn't been the case. Those who say the limit has been upped do so based on how more crowded the parks feel, which could be that crowds previously weren't bumping up against the lime, but now regularly are doing so.
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See here -

marni1971 said:
Some park capacities have been raised. I’ll say by around 10% of their earlier caps more or less.

DHS is not one of them.
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MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
GimpYancIent said:
I read a lot about "Limits" and "Capacity" yet I have read nothing about numbers? What is the capacity limit? What impact would more operating hours per day have?
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That's Disney being Disney. They don't reveal such numbers. And insiders who know aren't saying to conceal their sources.
 
wdwmagic

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Original Poster
eliza61nyc said:
Could it also be that when they first opened many people were super scared to venture out and crowds came no where close to the reduced capacity limit. Now folks are experiencing covid fatigue and more are willing to risk going out.
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There are a couple of factors at play. More people are attending, using more of the available capacity. And capacity has been upped at more than one of the parks to somewhere around 50% (it started off around 30% - 40% in some parks).
 
RevRemy

RevRemy

Active Member
Last week MK and DHS were pretty busy and at times because of rain, uncomfortably busy hiding from the rain. EP and AK were not at all busy. Longest wait was 40 minutes for pandora. Everything else was a walk on. We rode rapids three times in a row (once not getting off).
 
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GimpYancIent

Well-Known Member
LUVMCO said:
How is a vaccine going to reduce crowds? If anything I think crowds would increase. Are you referring to them bringing back fast passes once there’s a vaccine. I’m not sure why they would need a vaccine to do reinstate a fast pass system.
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The vaccine (when ever it becomes available) will not be the magic bullet either way. People are already moving about more and the mask etc. protocols are becoming a matter of routine. Disney will implement fast pass soon enough right now things are running well.
 
ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
RevRemy said:
Last week MK and DHS were pretty busy and at times because of rain, uncomfortably busy hiding from the rain. EP and AK were not at all busy. Longest wait was 40 minutes for pandora. Everything else was a walk on. We rode rapids three times in a row (once not getting off).
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My experience last week (Sunday to Wednesday) was:

The Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom were as empty as I've seen them since the early 2000s.

Epcot was empty compared to the last several years.

Hollywood Studios (on Monday) was almost as crowded as it was in 2019 for the same September week. As least, until the rain came at around 3.

I included photos in my trip report so that everyone can judge on their own:

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-“is-it-safe-”-trip-report.970517/
 
RevRemy

RevRemy

Active Member
ParentsOf4 said:
My experience last week (Sunday to Wednesday) was:

The Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom were as empty as I've seen them since the early 2000s.

Epcot was empty compared to the last several years.

Hollywood Studios (on Monday) was almost as crowded as it was in 2019 for the same September week. As least, until the rain came at around 3.

I included photos in my trip report so that everyone can judge on their own:

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-“is-it-safe-”-trip-report.970517/
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Agreed. We were at MK Monday, which I wish I would have made a change for because that is why I think it was pretty busy then. HS we went on Tuesday. Wednesday was a resort day and we went to DS, which was pretty empty until after 6.
 
Miss Bella

Miss Bella

Well-Known Member
GimpYancIent said:
The vaccine (when ever it becomes available) will not be the magic bullet either way. People are already moving about more and the mask etc. protocols are becoming a matter of routine. Disney will implement fast pass soon enough right now things are running well.
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I'm just glad I had a great trip in August with other travel plans in 2021.
 
MrPromey

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
eliza61nyc said:
Could it also be that when they first opened many people were super scared to venture out and crowds came no where close to the reduced capacity limit. Now folks are experiencing covid fatigue and more are willing to risk going out.
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I recall someone saying that they were filling up reservations when the parks first opened but a lot of people who'd booked reservations then weren't showing up so this would make sense if more of those people reserving their space in the parks are now using those reservations.
 
MrPromey

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
GimpYancIent said:
Ok would more hours mean not exceeding capacity limits though more people came? Some do leave as others enter.
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The problem is going to be in overlap. Upping hours means morning people may not be there until park closing and other people could be more okay with coming a little later. That means lower numbers in the morning and evening but that still creates a problem in the middle of the day. That's always been the worst time, even when the MK was open until midnight, giving plenty of time for guests to leave and arrive at different parts of the day, if they decided to.

That time of day is going to be bad as capacity goes up now and it's going to stay bad, no matter what the hours are, I think.

Not that I'm advocating for them keeping shorter hours. It costs them more to stay open longer but that's not the guest's problem - especially when there is little incentive to pay full price for a diminished experience in the service of putting this very much for profit company in the black.*





*as the "Disney is a business" crowd is always quick to remind everyone.
 
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GimpYancIent

Well-Known Member
MrPromey said:
The problem is going to be in overlap. Upping hours means morning people may not be there until park closing and other people could be more okay with coming a little later. That means lower numbers in the morning and evening but that still creates a problem in the middle of the day. That's alwyas been the worst time, even when the MK was open until midnight, giving plenty of time for guests to leave and arrive at different parts of the day, if they decided to.
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Too True! Short hours are not helping. A few more would.
 
donsullivan

donsullivan

Premium Member
GimpYancIent said:
Too True! Short hours are not helping. A few more would.
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It's not clear that extending the hours actually has any measurable impact to lower crowds during the peak parts of the day. When I was at MK this past Sunday, by around 5:30 PM, the crowds in the park had lowered dramatically from where they were from 11AM when I arrived through mid-afternoon. And I've seen similar patterns at DHS and AK as well in recent weeks.
Without any nighttime entertainment, the actual guest flow seems to have the bulk of people leaving the parks around 5 PM, and then it's just a slow wind down to the end. While extending the hours at the end of the day might give some the opportunity to ride with shorter lines, there isn't any real data to indicate it will increase the total number of people who visit on a given day, or the amount of money they'll spend enough to offset the labor cost of the additional operating hours. If reservations are capped, it cannot increase the number of people thru the turnstiles on any given day.
 

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