Reaching capacity on Christmas Day, Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom temporarily closed its doors to some guests. Disney’s closure had guests burning mad, but it’s the Christmas Crowd sizes that set the internet on fire.
Disney made the announcement on their twitter feed at 12:30pm stating that the park would reopen by 5:30pm. It was actually only closed for fifty minutes as they posted at 1:20pm that all “Walt Disney World Parks were open again to all guests”, but the crowds remained packed all day.
It was only a phase B closure so basically only guests not staying on property who had a one-day tickets were not allowed to enter. “Imagine traveling to Disney for the holidays only to be told you can’t enter magic kingdom because it’s packed to capacity.” one twitter user posted. It definitely conjures to mind some images of the Griswold’s family road trip to “Walley World“.
Some guests inside the most magical place on earth guest took to social media to air their frustrations over the crowds. Take a look below at what they had to say with some guests going so far as to say it was “unsafe.”
Grit lock at magic kingdom park so packed no one can move. Hopefully no emergencies. Unsafe. pic.twitter.com/i5RY8vCRQm
— Juanluca (@Juanluca14) December 25, 2017
Imagine traveling to Disney for the holidays only to be told you can’t enter magic kingdom because it’s packed to capacity
— Mr. Griiii-INCH!!! ❄️🌬 (@WhipAppeal_6) December 26, 2017
magic kingdom reached maximum capacity @ 12 and everyone is walking shoulder to shoulder, im glad i crossed wdw at christmas off my bucket list but
i will never do this again pic.twitter.com/uCH6h8hVll
— bri (@lunadivinr) December 25, 2017
Goofy just performed on Christmas Eve in front of a maximum capacity crowd at Magic Kingdom! 100,000 guest! pic.twitter.com/7vARJeeltO
— Prince Charming Dev (@P_charming_dev) December 24, 2017
It’s only 12:30 and magic kingdom has already reached max capacity I do not want to work today rip to me and all the other cast members
— an accident car (@aquaaaunn) December 25, 2017
It’s packed at magic kingdom pic.twitter.com/mS6ZUF0AZS
— ㅤ (@Uknomee) December 25, 2017
Wondering if it’s crowded at the Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day? It’s only noon and look at the crowds. Park closed to new gusts at 12:30 PM pic.twitter.com/p5swEaOUvl
— Iggy Torres (@IggyTorres) December 25, 2017
Monorail view of Magic Kingdom parking flow 8:45am Christmas morning. pic.twitter.com/TrkjbDO8Tg
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) December 25, 2017
Imagine traveling to Disney for the holidays only to be told you can’t enter magic kingdom because it’s packed to capacity
— Mr. Griiii-INCH!!! ❄️🌬 (@WhipAppeal_6) December 26, 2017
Magic Kingdom just a bit crowded today, just closed to new guests until 5:30 pic.twitter.com/NqI4LTI43I
— Dan Mitchell (@DanMitchelll) December 25, 2017
Really it’s very typical for Magic Kingdom to fill to capacity on Christmas and should be expected. And a 50 minute closure isn’t that long in retrospect. But the initial disappointment for some folks is understandable.
It’s definitely something that’s worth experiencing at least one to cross off the bucket list and with a few good tips you can alleviate some of that crowd frustration. A few of the easiest ways to avoid some of the crowds is to get there right when the park opens and do as much as you can, make an advance dining reservation at a nice sit restaurant for lunch or early dinner and consider ending the night viewing the fireworks from one of the nearby resorts.