Disney News

Tag: capacity

  • Disney CEO Predicts Full Capacity at Disney World by End of Year and No Mask’s by this Summer

    Disney CEO Predicts Full Capacity at Disney World by End of Year and No Mask’s by this Summer

    Disney CEO Bob Chapek, participated in a virtual Q&A session at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference and predicted that Disney World could be at full capacity by the end of the year.

    Chapek said his team anticipates “low double-digit growth” as the company follows federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coronavirus operating guidelines.”

    Since reopening in Florida last July, the company has slowly expanded the daily number of people allowed to access its Florida parks. Disney hasn’t released any attendance numbers, however.

    He also hinted its parks’ mask mandates could be lifted by the summer, saying not having to wear masks would be a “bigger catalyst for growth in attendance” and “make for an even more pleasant experience,” Chapek shared durring the company’s second-quarter earnings call early this month.

    Disney World in Orlando, Florida, a state with fewer COVID-19 restrictions, has been operating at a lower-than-usual capacity since July 2020.

    Disneyland in Anaheim, California, reopened on April 30 after a 13-month closure. For now, the park and neighboring Disney California Adventure are restricted to operating at 25% capacity under state health rules, but the state of California is aiming to fully reopen June 15.

    Parks were forced shut a year ago March and devastated financially. Disney took a $6.9 billon hit in parks last fiscal year

  • Magic Kingdom Closed After Reaching Capacity with New Years Eve Crowds

    Magic Kingdom Closed After Reaching Capacity with New Years Eve Crowds

    New Years Eve is one of the busiest days of the year at Magic Kingdom. And as expected the park has temporarily closed after reaching capacity as crowds descend on the most magical place on earth to ring in 2020.

    Magic Kingdom is currently at a Phase B capacity closure as of 1pm which affects guests with one day tickets.

    “Magic Kingdom Park is not admitting new Guests at this time,”Walt Disney World Guest Service said as you can see in the tweet below:

    Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom all remained open to additional guests and those are always a great place to ring in the new year also, but they can reach capacity as well so you might want to get there quickly before they fill up too.

    For details on closures, check out our complete list and breakdown of Walt Disney World’s Capacity Closing Procedures.

  • Disney World Park Capacity and Closing Phases Explained

    Disney World Park Capacity and Closing Phases Explained

    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.

  • Magic Kingdom Closed After Reaching Capacity

    Magic Kingdom Closed After Reaching Capacity

    Christmas Day is always super busy at Magic Kingdom as crowds descend on the most magical place on earth. And as expected the park has temporarily closed after reaching capacity Monday.

    Magic Kingdom is currently at a Phase B capacity closure. Disney announced that no new guests will be admitted to the Magic Kingdom until 5:30 p.m. at the earliest.

    UPDATE: All Walt Disney World Parks are currently open to all guests as of 1:20pm.  Keep checking back as they could easily reach capacity again.

    Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom all remained open to additional guests so those are always a great place to spend some time while your waiting for some space to open back up at Magic Kingdom.

    “Barring unforeseen circumstances, we anticipate Magic Kingdom will reopen by 5:30 p.m. today,” Disney said on its Twitter feed.

    For details on closures, check out our complete list and breakdown of Walt Disney World’s Capacity Closing Procedures.