Disney World parks can hold a lot of people, but certain times of year are so busy that they have to throttle the crowds coming into the parks as they approach full capacity. Here is Disney World’s Park Capacity and Closing Phases Explained.
Here is a breakdown of Walt Disney World’s Capacity Closing Procedures.
Phase A Closing
No admission of guests with one day tickets, and no admission of guests even with FastPass+ reservations unless they have one of the following:
- WDW Resort Guests, including The Four Seasons Resort, Swan, Dolphin or Shades of Green, Hotel Plaza Boulevard hotels arriving by bus (Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort Hotel, The Buena Vista Palace, DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel, B Resort, Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort, Hilton), Golden Oak residents and guests.
- WDW Premier Passport, Annual & Premium Passholders
- Guests with Park Hopper tickets re-entering or crossing over from another WDW Theme Park
- Guests with Memory Maker
- Guests with dining reservations
- Magic Kingdom Guests with reservations for Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, Harmony Barber Shop or The Pirates League.
Phase B Closing
No admission of guests with one day tickets, and no re-entering or crossing over from another park unless they have one of the following:
- WDW Resort Guests, including The Four Seasons Resort, Swan, Dolphin or Shades of Green, Hotel Plaza Boulevard hotels arriving by bus (Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort Hotel, The Buena Vista Palace, DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel, B Resort, Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort, Hilton), Golden Oak residents and guests.
- WDW Premier Passport, Annual & Premium Passholders
- Guests with Memory Maker
- Guests with dining reservations
- Magic Kingdom Guests with reservations for Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, Harmony Barber Shop or The Pirates League.
- FastPass+ reservations and is a WDW Resort hotel guest.
Phase 1 Park Closing
Guests with ‘Magic Your Way’ base tickets, or a ‘1-Day 1-Park Ticket’, Guests without an admission ticket, and Cast Members using Main Gate & Silver Passes will be turned around at the parking lot booths.
Phase 2 Park Closing
Admission is limited to:
- Disney Resort Guests (including the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, and guests arriving by bus from the Hotel Plaza Boulevard hotels)
- Annual, Premier and Premium Annual Passholders
- Guests with Hopper tickets coming from another park
- Guests re-entering the park
- Guests with dining reservations
- Magic Kingdom Guests with reservations for Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique or The Pirates League
- Guests using Walt Disney World Resort Transportation will be admitted.
- Guests with pre-purchased 1 day Magic Kingdom tickets
Phase 3 Park Closing
Admission is limited to:
- Disney Resort Guests (including the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, and guests arriving by bus from the Hotel Plaza Boulevard hotels)
- Annual, Premier and Premium Annual Passholders
- Guests with dining reservations
- Magic Kingdom Guests with reservations for Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique or The Pirates League
Phase 4 Park Closing
Closed to all guests.
All four Disney World theme parks have reached some level of closure in the past. As the most visited theme park in the world, Magic Kingdom is the park most likely to experience capacity-based closures during busy times of year. Due to its size, Epcot is the least likely to close, and has not done so in recent memory. Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom rarely close, but their smaller capacities still make them more likely to close than Epcot.
To be specific, Magic Kingdom closes, on average, around 6 days per year. New Year’s Eve and July 4 are always two of them, often getting up to a Phase 3 closure. Two to four other days during Christmas week can be expected each year as well, although those rarely go above Phase 2. The years where Easter week falls during late-March or early-April can also see closures due to the Easter break/Spring Break overlap.