Walt Disney World’s Crowds Return to Ridiculous Levels

For those wanting to head to a galaxy far, far away, or shrink to the size of a toy, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the theme park you need to visit.

From the thrills of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Star Tours, and the Tower of Terror, to the incredible shows like Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, and Beauty and the Beast – Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida has so much magic.

With the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land of Batuu now open, featuring the immersive Rise of the Resistance and Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run, it seems there are a lot of attractions to entertain the whole family.

And it seems there are many people who think the same way. This last weekend at Walt Disney World, crowds were – to put it lightly – ridiculous.

We were at Walt Disney World for President’s Weekend and boy was it busy. It seems everyone is returning to the Parks, especially as on Friday, February 18, Disney changed its mask rule so that Guests do not have to wear a mask indoors if fully vaccinated,

When the Florida theme parks reopened in summer 2020 after closing temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney set a lower capacity level restriction in order to keep Guests and Cast Members safe.

As we continue to see ever-changing rules with the pandemic and restrictions getting released, it seems that Walt Disney World has raised its capacity levels, especially noticeable this weekend.

This was our view on Sunday morning (February 20) waiting to go inside the Park at 8:35 a.m. As you can see, it was majorly busy. There were thousands of Guests in the entrance area waiting to go into the Park after the Early Entry Hotel Guests.

We were all waiting to enter Disney’s Hollywood Studios at 9 a.m. to run towards fan-favorites at rope drop such as Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Millenium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and, of course, Slinky Dog Dash.

With Park Pass availability lacking lately, it is not surprising that crowd levels are so high at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme parks.

Inside the Park felt extremely busy and crowded throughout the day, with seating areas full and walkways hard to manage (especially with strollers).

When Walt Disney World reopened to Guests in July 2020, the Orlando Resort implemented a new reservation system that requires those who wish to visit a Walt Disney World theme park to have both a valid ticket and a reservation for the Park they wish to visit on that day.

In 2020, Chairman of Parks, Experiences and Products Josh D’Amaro indicated that the newly implemented Park Pass system is a “new normal” that isn’t going away anytime soon, if ever. Guests must take this reservation system into account when planning their trip to Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort in California.

The wild thing was that, during the day, we noticed attraction wait times were sky-high, with many wait times above 100 minutes.

Look at the above screenshot of wait times at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 20. 5 of the major attractions were above 100 minute wait times – Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n’  Roller Coaster with Aerosmith, Slinky Dog Dash, and Toy Story Midway Mania.

And surprisingly, The Tower of Terror’s wait time was HIGHER than Rise of the Resistance! Tower of Terror was at 130 minutes while Rise of the Resistance was at 125 minutes.

So, with President’s Weekened, Performing Arts events, Cheerleading competitions, and the return of international visitors, Disney is certainly seeing crazy crowd levels that seem to suggest capacities are back to pre-pandemic levels.