What is MAX capacity #'s for each park?

[andrews_dad]

Just went to Diz World 12/26-08-1/5/09. It was our 2nd time there during holiday period, 10th time overall. As expeceted, it was crazy busy. Both times I'm been at the holiday period there have been parks closed due to max capacity. My wife and I were debating what max # of folks is per park. How many thousand can fit into each of the 4 parks before they start shutting the gates?

 

[RMulieri]

I don't think Disney releases that info.

 

[andrews_dad]

Has to be estimates out there. Do they hold 20 thousand people at Hollywood Studios .. 50 thousand? 20 thousand at MK ... 100 thousand? Just tough to guess. I go to home games at Beaver Stadium at Penn State, which is 108,000 folks. It is tough to compare though since not all in a park are sitting in one spot at one time. Judging by parking and figuring most cars at a place like MK have a family of at least 3 in them, many more than that, and very few singles in a car .... it has to be in the 50K+ range for MK I'd wager...

 

[BarbieGal457]

I just came back, and was told by a bus driver that on NYE, MK shut down with about 87,000 guests and then by a maintenance peson at Epcot that on NYE as well it shut down at about 80,000, if that gives you some idea. I can't promise these numbers are correct, it's just what I've been told. I was always curious about those numbers too!

 

[BradyBz12]

Could this be the answer??

We also had a KS driver tell us recently that MK parking lot held 100,000+ cars. Not sure how accurate that is, but it would seem to fit with the sign.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Well.. Disney doesn't release that info.. and fact is, the numbers change day by day and in some cases, hour by hour.

The actual capacity is governed by :

a) the number of attractions open
b) the operating capacity of each ride/show (how many lines/loading areas are operational)
c) any pathways that are blocked for rehabs, construction, park updates
d) # of restaurants that are open/closed
e) Lord knows what other variables I'm missing.

But in short, if a show or attraction that has a large capacity to swallow crowds goes down for the day, so do the max # of guests (slightly).

So.. literally.. the max capacity at 9am may not be the same at 12 noon or even 3pm or 5pm or 7pm.

I've heard numbers kicked around.. but I haven't seen ANYTHING to back those numbers up.

I can definitively say that the MK parking lot can NOT hold 100,000 cars. It can actually hold 12,213 cars.

Rumored Numbers: (all numbers approx)

Magic Kingdom: 80,0000 guests at full operating capacity. Stage # 1 closing kicks in at 65,000 guests

Disney Hollywood Studios : 65,000 to 75,000 guests at full operating capacity

EPCOT : 90,000 guests .. maybe as high as 95,000 .. (these numbers assumed a number of attractions that are no longer there.. so they are probably less)

Animal Kingdom : No clue.. but I would guess that it's about 55,000 .. maybe less.

Basically, anybody who actually KNOWS those numbers had to sign a confidentiality agreement.. and they ain't talking.

 

[tecdavidt]

We were also there between Dec. 26 - Jan. 5. MK closed 3 times (including for resort guests) 2 days before NYE, NYE, and Jan. 1. We were in the park Jan. 1 and left because it got so crowded midafternoon. Numbers? the only number we heard was from our servers at La Ceillier (can't spell the name)at Epcot, they had to walk through the crowds NYE and they said it was horrible -- the number they told us was 85,000 and the park was not at capacity. Now, I have no idea if the number is correct. We were also told when the park is closed, for every person who leaves they let people in and for every car that leaves the parking lot they let a car in. Now how they control that is beyond me. All I can say after being there this past holiday season, what recession? It didn't appear to be one at the world. This was the most crowded we have seen in our past 4 NYE trips. Kathy

 

[disneymomof2boyz]

Those numbers are madness!!
I hope I never have to go during those days when capacity reaches that much....scary!

 

[NittanyKitten52]

It is INSANE for everyone during those times!

When I was a CM I knew the #'s though don't remember them but I do remember working through them and it was NOT a pretty sight, not the vacation I would be looking for for sure!

 

[dizzneebabe]

Could this be the answer??

We also had a KS driver tell us recently that MK parking lot held 100,000+ cars. Not sure how accurate that is, but it would seem to fit with the sign.

Well, according to the 2008 US census the population of our entire country is 305 +/- million! So, if they ever reached the capacity of 600 million, that would be a helluva line for the monorail!!!!

 

[catho72]

I was talking with a CM at the monorail station at MK in September. He said there were approx 20,000 people at MK that day which was a quarter of what it could hold. Gotta love the parks when they are at 25% capacity!

 

[CanadianGuy]

.... that would be a helluva line for the monorail!!!!

I think I was there that weekend..

 

[TaraPA]

Dangggg..........assume there are 80,000 guests in MK in one day - and they've roughly paid $50 a ticket (I understand kids under 3 are free, day tix are about $70, discount tix, etc. etc. etc. just roll with this folks)....let's just say that's about $4 million in ticket sales for one park, for one day....now add up the sales of all those 80,000 guests eating in the parks, buying souvenirs, snacks, etc......times 4 parks.....dangggggg.....

 

[CanadianGuy]

Dangggg..........assume there are 80,000 guests in MK in one day - and they've roughly paid $50 a ticket (I understand kids under 3 are free, day tix are about $70, discount tix, etc. etc. etc. just roll with this folks)....let's just say that's about $4 million in ticket sales for one park, for one day....now add up the sales of all those 80,000 guests eating in the parks, buying souvenirs, snacks, etc......times 4 parks.....dangggggg.....

Yup - And 50,000 employees who all expect to be paid this EDIT: Thursday

I forgot.. EVERY PAYCHECK COMES ON THURSDAY

 

[summermac]

*faint*

 

[andrews_dad]

Thanks for the guesses and educated estimates, all. I started this thread looking to satisfy a curiosity. My good buddy has been a CM for 15+ years and is in mid-level management, and he had no idea. Thought I'd throw out the question here to see if there was any leaks or solid rumors.

 

[andrews_dad]

BTW, on a day when 80,000 are in a park, almost all of those would be paid guests of some form. CM have a few black-out dates on their free entries, and holiday times were 80,000 would pack into the MK would likely be blacked out. That is a ton of cash rolling in with one day.

 

[bytheblood]

There is not a set number for this. There are many factors that come into play.

-Which Park
-Is there a holiday or special event
-Weather conditions
-Park Hours
-Is there an EMH

 

[andrews_dad]

There is not a set number for this. There are many factors that come into play.

-Which Park
-Is there a holiday or special event
-Weather conditions
-Park Hours
-Is there an EMH

I was not looking for an exact number ... just estimates. In other words, does MK hold about 20,000 or 50,000 or 75,000 or 100,000 or 225,000? Does DHS hold about 15,000 or 25,000 or 50,000 or 75,000? Just in the ballpark range for what really is a max. I think some of the guesses in the first page of the thread were probably pretty accurate, but I'm still interested to know if others have clues or inside info on those numbers.

 

[btuftee]

I seem to recall an old Birnbaum guide (probably 1988) stating that the MK had record attendance on July 4th of some year at 92,000. That was probably pre-Toontown, so you might be able to pack a few more bodies into the MK, but I'd take 90,000 or so as the peak capacity for the MK.

Epcot is larger, so you can certainly pack more people inside, I'd wager 110,000 or so as the peak capacity for Epcot.