As a Florida resident who has held a Disney World annual pass for about a decade, I've seen the parks "empty" exactly twice. There was a hurricane that forced the company to close its parks for a few days. When Disney World reopened, the first day back was crowd-free because airport closures had literally not allowed people to get to Florida.
Aside from that, the Walt Disney (DIS) -) theme park had artificially low crowds during the "social distancing" part of the covid pandemic. The company actually limited its attendance during that period which cut wait times down (although the actual social distancing rules did create waits to get into shops and restaurants).
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In all the other times I have gone to the parks, no matter the season, crowds have been significant. There are busier days than others and a Florida rainstorm can send people running back to their hotels, giving people willing to wait out the weather some post-rain time with smaller crowds,
But, in general, there's no slow season, and even the very hot months of July and August do not scare people away. That's why reports that Disney World had a very slow 4th of July weekend made people question whether economic concerns or Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' "woke" war on the company had taken its toll.
A visit to Disney's Hollywood Studios on July 25 made it clear that reports of "Disney World being empty" had been greatly exaggerated. That doesn't mean the 4th of July reports weren't true, but it appears that weekend was an anomaly (maybe due to high airfares and record heat).
Image source: Daniel Kline/TheStreet
Disney's Hollywood Studios Was Packed
My 19-year-old son and I went to Hollywood Studios last July, in roughly the same time period. It was one of the more crowded days I have ever seen at the park, which is generally my favorite Disney theme park.
In some ways, the crowd on July 25, was a little lighter, but wait times for rides were much higher. The average wait time for the top-tier rides (basically anything that wasn't a themed version of an old-school amusement park ride) topped 90 minutes and, in many cases, sat at around two hours.
We paid $24 each for Genie+ access, which is in the mid-range of pricing for that add-on. We used the service to get a Lightning Lane for "Star Tours," the older Star Wars ride that not in Hollywood Studios "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge" land. After that we got a Lightning Lane for "Toy Story: Midway Mania," about two hours later.
That seemed like enough time for my son and I to follow our own separate traditions. He would ride "Tower of Terror," while I would get an iced coffee at Starbucks. On our similarly-timed visit last year, it took both of us about an hour. In this case, the wait time the Twilight Zone-themed ride was listed as 120 minutes, but some problems actually made it closer to 150.
The Starbucks was slightly less crowded than it was a year ago, and I was in and out in about 45 minutes.
We stayed at Hollywood Studios from roughly 12-7 and the wait times never changed. The signature "Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance" was at 150 minutes every time we looked. The other premium ride in "Galaxy's Edge," "Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run" had wait times between 90 and 120 minutes, but we used the single ride line to ride more than once in about an hour.
Disney World Crowds Are Down a Little
During the day, I talked with castmembers (who cannot go on the record without Disney permission) and they uniformly told me that while the crowds felt slightly down some days, the parks were still very crowded. Pricing also reflected that as single-day tickets were in the middle of the range the company uses:
- Magic Kingdom: $144 (Range: $124-$189)
- Epcot: $139 (Range: $114-$179)
- Hollywood Studios: $144 (Range: $124- $179)
- Animal Kingdom: $134 (Range: $109-$159)
Overall, as someone who has been visiting Disney World roughly 15-20 days a year for a decade, nothing felt off about the crowd. Florida tourism appears to have taken a slight hit (which is probably a mix of DeSantis and the economy) as the resort where I own a property has struggled all summer, while my friend's property in a town more associated with rentals for Disney World and Comcast's (CMCSA) -) Universal Studios has been busier.
That suggests a slight slowdown because the location of our resort in Davenport, Fla. makes it a popular choice when rooms in Orlando and Kissimmee are booked up. It's a slightly slower Disney summer, but you won't be walking onto rides with no waits or (most days) even seeing the really long wait times become something more manageable.
