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

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
When I see the complaints about long wait times it makes think Disney fans are spoiled and never go to local parks. Waiting 2 hours for a ride at Cedar Point is average. Too many are used using FP to get on a ride in 20 minutes. All the more reason for a paid system to be put in place.
I’ve never waited 2 hours at Dollywood. Usually 20 minutes tops.

I do remember waiting a crazy long time for millennium force though. Do they still have dj’s in the cue?
 

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
I’ve never waited 2 hours at Dollywood. Usually 20 minutes tops.

I do remember waiting a crazy long time for millennium force though. Do they still have dj’s in the cue?
No DJs on queues anymore. Just have tvs playing videos. As far as wait times go. The top coasters still have an hour wait or more. To me the Disney wait times are nothing.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Hey, friends, can we get this to happen...
1. Build a giant Thunderdome.​
2. Put into said Thunderdome all the people who say the parks are too crowded right now.​
3. Also put into said Thunderdome all the people who say it will take years for Disney parks to rebound.​
4. Profit.​
 

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
When I see the complaints about long wait times it makes think Disney fans are spoiled and never go to local parks. Waiting 2 hours for a ride at Cedar Point is average. Too many are used using FP to get on a ride in 20 minutes. All the more reason for a paid system to be put in place.

As a frequent theme park goer I have rules I follow to have a good day. The two of note to this discussion:


1. Always rope drop, the first 1-2 hours are crucial to getting on the big rides with waits that do not violate...
2. Think long and hard about getting in a line more then 30 minutes, you should only do that 2-3 max a day; and except for rare occasions (once a day max) avoid lines over 1 hour.

This is true at Disney and Cedar Point. I can and will (barring mechanical issues, which is a big ask) get you on every major coaster (Steel Vengeance, Maverick, MF, TTD, Valravyn, Gatekeeper, TTD) without a long wait provided you get morning ERT (Resort Guest or Platinum SP holder.) Waiting stinks, most of your day should be spent experiencing attractions, not waiting for them. If you are waiting in two hour lines you are doing it wrong.

When I’m traveling to a far away regional park and only have one day I will pay for Flash Pass/Quick Queue/Fastlane, and I always get Universal Express (because I stay onsite) but when it comes to parks I know and frequent regularly, I don’t need those tools.
 

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
As a frequent theme park goer I have rules I follow to have a good day. The two of note to this discussion:


1. Always rope drop, the first 1-2 hours are crucial to getting on the big rides with waits that do not violate...
2. Think long and hard about getting in a line more then 30 minutes, you should only do that 2-3 max a day; and except for rare occasions (once a day max) avoid lines over 1 hour.

This is true at Disney and Cedar Point. I can and will (barring mechanical issues, which is a big ask) get you on every major coaster (Steel Vengeance, Maverick, MF, TTD, Valravyn, Gatekeeper, TTD) without a long wait provided you get morning ERT (Resort Guest or Platinum SP holder.) Waiting stinks, most of your day should be spent experiencing attractions, not waiting for them. If you are waiting in two hour lines you are doing it wrong.

When I’m traveling to a far away regional park and only have one day I will pay for Flash Pass/Quick Queue/Fastlane, and I always get Universal Express (because I stay onsite) but when it comes to parks I know and frequent regularly, I don’t need those tools.
Its why I do follow what you do at all parks I go to. I still don't consider many of those wait times long for Disney attractions. Too many Disney fans are spoiled with FP and it being free
 

Figment2005

Well-Known Member
I haven't posted in a while, but from what I seeing in this thread there are a few perception vs actuality assumptions going on. As a person who has seen the parks consistently every day over the last 8 years I can say with absolute confidence the parks are still not at 25% capacity. It looks busy because the space available has been reduced along side the reduction in guests allowed in the parks. These long lines that folks are seeing sprawling throughout the paths are simply because of the 6 foot spacing and reduction in ride capacity. With the amount of people currently in the park there would be absolutely no wait for anything if capacity of the attractions or queues wasn't reduced.

Let's look at the transportation options for arriving and departing the Magic Kingdom. The ferries which at full capacity hold 600 people and the monorails that hold almost 400 could empty a normal park in about an hour and a half with the support of busses for resorts etc. However now the capacity of a fully loaded boat is around 150 guests and a monorail around 100. This means it still takes around the same amount of time to empty a park even though the guest count is much reduced. The attendance has been quite consistent over the past 2 months. So I do ask everyone to please not make any assumptions on how busy the parks are simply by seeing the lines, but look at the full picture of why the lines are the way they are.

I'm honestly pretty sure that the parks, specifically the Magic Kingdom, are still not hitting that 25% maximum capacity.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
I haven't posted in a while, but from what I seeing in this thread there are a few perception vs actuality assumptions going on. As a person who has seen the parks consistently every day over the last 8 years I can say with absolute confidence the parks are still not at 25% capacity. It looks busy because the space available has been reduced along side the reduction in guests allowed in the parks. These long lines that folks are seeing sprawling throughout the paths are simply because of the 6 foot spacing and reduction in ride capacity. With the amount of people currently in the park there would be absolutely no wait for anything if capacity of the attractions or queues wasn't reduced.

Let's look at the transportation options for arriving and departing the Magic Kingdom. The ferries which at full capacity hold 600 people and the monorails that hold almost 400 could empty a normal park in about an hour and a half with the support of busses for resorts etc. However now the capacity of a fully loaded boat is around 150 guests and a monorail around 100. This means it still takes around the same amount of time to empty a park even though the guest count is much reduced. The attendance has been quite consistent over the past 2 months. So I do ask everyone to please not make any assumptions on how busy the parks are simply by seeing the lines, but look at the full picture of why the lines are the way they are.

I'm honestly pretty sure that the parks, specifically the Magic Kingdom, are still not hitting that 25% maximum capacity.
I haven’t been to the parks post covid but I’ve been to MK every year for New Year’s Eve for the past 10+ years. 25% of that is still a decent number of people.

Added to that the shorter park hours and no parades, fireworks, and castle shows and the crowding is going to be very different.

A 1 hour wait for splash would be 20 minutes or so if it was running at capacity.
 

MrHappy

Well-Known Member

FeelsSoGoodToBeBad

Well-Known Member
I thought about reposting this article as I think it got lost in the shuffle a bit a while back. I think its an excellent explanation for why things feel more crowded, but in reality the attendance is very low.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member

DisneyCane

Well-Known Member
Normal operating days pre-Covid were about 50% capacity. 25% right now is probably very accurate. When the parks opened earlier in the summer they were probably only at 10-15% capacity.
When I went to AK a few days after reopening it couldn't have been even 5% of capacity. There was no wait at all for FoP. With the shortcut to reride we rode 4 times in a row, went and did the rest of the park (with multiple rides on Kali and Dinosaur) and went back and rode FoP 3 more times. We weren't in the park more than 3 hours total. There was practically nobody there. Several times we didn't see another person on the walkways where we were.
 

Chi84

Premium Member
Its why I do follow what you do at all parks I go to. I still don't consider many of those wait times long for Disney attractions. Too many Disney fans are spoiled with FP and it being free
I don't think it's necessarily being spoiled as much as choosing to vacation in a different way. Getting to the park at rope drop or (even worse) for early morning magic hours sounds like a nightmare to me. To a great extent, we choose Disney because we can easily ride the headliners without doing those things.

People are different and choose to vacation in different ways, and understanding that is a great part of Disney's appeal across the generations. When we were young, we stood in lines or got up early to ride without a wait or get legacy Fastpasses to our favorite rides, but that's no longer our idea of a good vacation. For some reason, Disney still wants us as guests, possibly because older guests are a bit more willing and able to go for the upcharge events, pricey restaurants and other things that add to Disney's profits.

For the record, I would not be opposed to paying for a ride reservation system (I think FP+ is history) if it can be somewhat reasonable. I don't mind paying, but I would have to see value in it.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Hmm...

So is it now confirmed that: "Legal capacity of the park [MK] according to trip planning specialist Touring Plans is 90,000"?

And that: "Epcot has room for 110,000 guests"?

Well, let's get at all of them. The maximum capacity of the four park according to TouringPlans are below. I added in some other stats...

Maximum Capacity​
25%​
Daily Average
(TEA '19 Yearly/365)​
Daily Average
as % of Max Capacity​
Magic Kingdom​
90,000​
22,500​
57,500​
64%​
EPCOT​
110,000​
27,500​
34,000​
31%​
Hollywood Studios​
60,000​
15,000​
31,500​
53%​
Animal Kingdom​
60,000​
15,000​
38,000​
63%​


Article here for current implications...


Seems right, @lentesta?
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
Well, let's get at all of them. The maximum capacity of the four park according to TouringPlans are below. I added in some other stats...

Maximum Capacity​
25%​
Daily Average
(TEA '19 Yearly/365)​
Daily Average
as % of Max Capacity​
Magic Kingdom​
90,000​
22,500​
57,500​
64%​
EPCOT​
110,000​
27,500​
34,000​
31%​
Hollywood Studios​
60,000​
15,000​
31,500​
53%​
Animal Kingdom​
60,000​
15,000​
38,000​
63%​


Article here for current implications...


Seems right, @lentesta?
That’s really interesting. Also explains why MK feels so crowded on at capacity days.... 60k is probably what it should be.
 

Tay

Well-Known Member
Both Universal and Disney were doing a great job in the beginning but now it seems like they don’t give a crap about social distancing anymore now that the crowds are coming back. Oh well Disney will always be here.
 

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