Park capacity as a percentage

[bigcrit]

Does Disney post, or does anyone know what percentage of park capacity Disney is currently allowing? I am curious if crowd levels are as high as I am hearing.

Thanks in advance.

 

[gharter]

The only numbers I've ever seen Disney release was yearly attendance.
They had announced that they were increasing the park capacity, but I don't think said what that was or how many people.
I don't expect to see them say much more about it for WDW, maybe Disneyland as they ramp up.

 

[bigcrit]

I keep hearing the general feeling is the parks are packed. Just curious if this relative to capacity, or just an overall feel.

So many new questions for me. In the past, I feel like we really knew what to expect. This trip is starting to feel like we are first-timers again.

 

[finedice]

Because there are very few shows, no meet & greets, and less dining options available - not much to do but wait in line....

 

[VegasChic]

Would love to see more feedback on this one as well- pics would be awesome if anyone currently in the parks!

 

[DisLiss]

Because there are very few shows, no meet & greets, and less dining options available - not much to do but wait in line....

Yeah, that leaves a whole lot of people out in the open areas of the park---especially when the lines were still at full social distancing.

 

[Meglen]

Because there are very few shows, no meet & greets, and less dining options available - not much to do but wait in line....

when they made the horrible choice to open everything after Oct 1st.. like just open them asap once you get the staff.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Maybe Disney doesn’t even know cause they’re not keeping count …

It is hard to believe all the parks are this crowded because of the pricing and the value. I wonder if families with school calendars to follow have such a limited booking window this year so they’re all here now!

 

[bigcrit]

We will be there 7/23 - 7/30. I will do my best to fill in the blanks. I have so many questions about parking, rope drop, touring advice, etc.... I will definitely take some photos too.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Disney does not normally post capacity numbers.

Would love to see more feedback on this one as well- pics would be awesome if anyone currently in the parks!

Pictures do not tend to be helpful as they are very subjective. Many have asked about this over the past year but reality is there are certain places that will almost always look crowded (near Speedway in MK and Mexico in Epcot) so seeing a picture is not a good guage of how crowded the parks feel.

If you follow the 'Here Now and Just Back' thread it is common for 2 people in the same park on the same day to have very different experiences. One will feel it's crowded while another not at all. Crowds are subjective and also depend on each person's path that they travel in a day.

E.G. - Last time we were at WDW (2019), Fantasyland felt very crowded around the VoLM ride and the wait time was 45 mins! We decided to keep going and went into the Big Top to cool off and get a cold drink. I would anticipate we were in there 10-15 mins. We decided to head back through the same area and it had a fraction of the guests and wait for the same ride was down to 10 mins. 15 mins made ALL the difference.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Does Disney post, or does anyone know what percentage of park capacity Disney is currently allowing? I am curious if crowd levels are as high as I am hearing.

Thanks in advance.

The last public announcement was 35%...just got back from a week there over July 4 and can say I "felt" no different than last November over Thanksgiving. The biggest problem all week was ride closures not necessarily crowd sizes (which has an effect on crowds)

 

[bigcrit]

The last public announcement was 35%...just got back from a week there over July 4 and can say I "felt" no different than last November over Thanksgiving. The biggest problem all week was ride closures not necessarily crowd sizes (which has an effect on crowds)

Hope you had a great trip LSUFan. I remember chatting with you in the July 2021 thread.

 

[maltdizzy]

The last public announcement was 35%...just got back from a week there over July 4 and can say I "felt" no different than last November over Thanksgiving. The biggest problem all week was ride closures not necessarily crowd sizes (which has an effect on crowds)

35% was the last number they gave, but in May, Disney annouced that they had already increased it beyond 35% and would continue to do so.

For the OP, a typical busy Summer day before Covid was estimated around 65% capacity. I believe it’s safe to assume it’s now higher than that, but there aren’t shows, M&G, and full-capacity dining to absorb the crowd.

 

[finedice]

a typical busy Summer day before Covid was estimated around 65% capacity.

Actually, there is a lot of evidence pointing to the fact that summer attendance had been dropping for several years pre-covid. 2015-2016 maybe... Not sure if it was price, even hotter weather or what...

 

[bigcrit]

35% was the last number they gave, but in May, Disney announced that they had already increased it beyond 35% and would continue to do so.

For the OP, a typical busy Summer day before Covid was estimated around 65% capacity. I believe it’s safe to assume it’s now higher than that, but there aren’t shows, M&G, and full-capacity dining to absorb the crowd.

Yeah, we have many times in the summer. Crowds were tough but, with a good strategy, it was definitely doable. This year has way too many curveballs.

 

[maltdizzy]

Actually, there is a lot of evidence pointing to the fact that summer attendance had been dropping for several years pre-covid. 2015-2016 maybe... Not sure if it was price, even hotter weather or what...

"Typical busy Summer day" was just meant to be a yardstick, to demonstrate that park capacity is probably already set as high or higher than what most people previously considered a "crowded day", maybe a "8" on a crowd calendar.

 

[Marcus A. Jordan]

The only numbers I've ever seen Disney release was yearly attendance.
They had announced that they were increasing the park capacity, but I don't think said what that was or how many people.
I don't expect to see them say much more about it for WDW, maybe Disneyland as they ramp up.

I don’t believe Disney releases those numbers. I always thought that the annual figures were just a highly educated guess.

 

[maltdizzy]

I don’t believe Disney releases those numbers. I always thought that the annual figures were just a highly educated guess.

They are. IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) publishes an attendance "estimate" every year.