What to Expect Right Now at Disney’s Magic Kingdom (on a Full Capacity Day!)

The days of a crowd-free Magic Kingdom might be behind us…

2020 marked the year where everything we thought we knew about Disney parks was thrown out the window. Theme parks were forced to close across the globe in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Walt Disney World reopening in July 2020 to low capacity and slow attendance. We’ve been living in a peculiar world where Disney’s Hollywood Studios rather than Disney’s Magic Kingdom has proven the most popular park with guests, and other than some spikes of activity around major holidays, Walt Disney World’s flagship park has felt surprisingly quiet heading into 2021.

We may have reached the tipping point though…

I usually make it a point to avoid Disney parks on holiday weeks to avoid crowds. I think it was a lapse of memory that convinced me to make a Disney parks pass reservation for Magic Kingdom for Friday, February 12^th—the kickoff of President’s Day weekend. I’ve been meaning to make it back to Magic Kingdom since reopening, but things just never aligned to make it happen—the lack of park hopping throughout 2020 meant every trip to Walt Disney World needed to be carefully considered. I was able to write multiple updates on Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot, as well as examinations into current trends at Disney’s Animal Kingdom but not Magic Kingdom.

Video: YouTube, Jett Farrell-Vega (My Kingdom For a Mouse)

Most of these “What to Expect” updates in the past have used the example of quieter days at Walt Disney World. This particular report is the opposite: this is a glimpse into what Walt Disney World’s flagship park looks like on a day when capacity is maxed out at 35%. It’s basically a worst-case scenario in the midst of a global pandemic. If you choose to visit during a less busy time like a non-holiday weekday, you can expect some level of reduction in crowds.

Here’s what we found…

1. What to expect at the Transportation & Ticket Center

If nothing else, at least one thing has stayed the same since the pandemic hit—The Transportation & Ticket Center is still the least magical place at the Most Magical Place on Earth.

For those unfamiliar, the Transportation & Ticket Center (TTC) is the off-site hub for parking and transportation to and from Magic Kingdom and its resorts. While guests who ride Disney resort busses get dropped off at the front of the park, guests who drive personal vehicles or use other shuttles all end up at the TTC about a mile away from the park.

The first thing we noticed was that you can expect to wait in a line for parking on busy days. Even an hour or so after opening gate, the parking booths still had lines. While the wait wasn’t significant, you will want to plan for delays like this any time you travel to Magic Kingdom via the TTC.

At most Disney parks, we advise against paying for Preferred Parking—it’s just not worth it usually, except at Disney’s Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom on particularly busy days. That situation has changed since reopening, however… Parking lots trams are currently not operating at any of Disney’s parks. You can expect some level of a walk from your car no matter what, and on a busy day, this may be a little bit of a hike. If avoiding long walks is a major priority for your visit to Magic Kingdom, you may want to spend extra for Preferred Parking. While this option won’t eliminate walking, it will shorten your walk to security / ferry / monorail gates significantly.

We’ve covered previously that Disney has made some amazing strides streamlining security since reopening—we usually zip through bag check with no issues at all or just a short search.

This visit did result in one unusual situation I’ve never encountered before. Knowing I would be writing this update, I took a few pictures of the ticket booths at the TTC, just to give an idea of crowds to expect. I was not in particularly close proximity to security (about 40-50 feet away), and I did a few wide pan videos of the TTC as a whole.

On my way through security, I was pulled aside by a security officer who asked me if I had been taking photos of security. I respect Disney security and the efforts they make to keep guests safe, so I stayed courteous and answered honestly that I’d taken photos of the TTC overall. It turns out, Disney has a strict no photography / video policy regarding any of their security stations—even if you only catch security on the edge of a photo or video. I was asked to delete the photos and footage that included anything with security.

While I complied without argument, I did ask why—in short, Disney doesn’t want their security teams, protocols, or set-ups ending up on the internet. I assume the reasons for this are twofold. On one hand, it makes sense Disney doesn’t want photos or videos floating around online that people with ill-intent can use to try to circumvent security. I also suspect there are probably PR reasons related to not wanting to invite further criticism related to pandemic policies.

The short of it? Don’t take photos near security, even if you aren’t aiming that way—you’ll avoid an uncomfortable conversation.

One last point related to the TTC… Normally, experts suggest taking either the Express or Resort Monorail to get from the TTC to Magic Kingdom as quickly as possible. Under normal circumstances, even if there is a line, the monorail is almost always faster than the ferry.

With social distancing measures in effect, this may not always be the case these days. When I arrived, the line for the Express Monorail was of significant length, and after my security snafu, I didn’t want to risk issues trying to get on the Resort Monorail. I opted for the Ferry instead for once, and I must say, it has some real advantages during the season we’re in.

If social distancing is particularly important to you, the Ferry is the best way to get to Magic Kingdom… While the monorail has added cubicle-like dividers to separate parties inside cars, distancing in the queue itself is something of a mixed bag depending on guests. The Ferry on the other hand had zero line, and guests had plenty of room to distance—in the end, for once, the Ferry was actually faster! If you want to get off the Ferry more quickly, stay on the lower floor—they get to disembark first.

2. Max capacity definitely feels BUSY!

There’s no getting around it—it was a busy day at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

Disney is currently capping park capacity at 35%–you can tell if a park is at that capacity if all Disney Parks Pass reservations (for all categories) are gone the day you visit.

35% certainly doesn’t feel like Disney’s previous benchmarks for ultra-busy days. You won’t necessarily find yourself swept away and panicking in mob-like crowds without room to breathe. However, crowd levels were just on the edge of uncomfortable, where social distancing was challenging at times and we saw a lot more people bending the rules (more on that later)

If you are used to peak Magic Kingdom crowds, 35% likely won’t phase you, but for those who avoid peak days, you’ll definitely notice the difference on a capacity day. On one hand, I never ran into any issues where I couldn’t navigate through a crowd or felt like people were smotheringly close. On the flip side, there were still a lot of people to stay aware of.

Stand-by lines for rides are playing a huge factor in this as socially-distanced queues tend to spill far out into their respective lands. Pirates of the Caribbean, for example, had an unusually-winding queue that meandered far into Adventureland, adding to the sensation of busyness. Lines grow quickly for rides, shops, and dining experiences, and you may have to make some effort to find where queues end and crowds begin.

3. Expect longer waits

This day marked some of the longest waits people have seen at the Magic Kingdom in some time—not only that, but the pattern of crowds throughout the day looked more similar to what we saw previous to the pandemic than we’ve seen at any other park.

Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean held the longest waits we observed for the day at 80 minutes—Splash Mountain hit this peak at 2:00 PM with Pirates catching up by 3:15. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train came in close behind with waits hanging around 75 minutes most of the day, with the exception of the late evening. Strangely enough, the Jungle Cruise held unusually long waits too, with some guests observing a peak wait of 70 minutes around 8:00 PM.

Other high demand attractions included Space Mountain, It’s a Small World, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Most of Disney’s major attractions were busy on some level all day. Popular mainstays like Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Peter Pan’s Flight, and the Astro Orbiter had spikes of long waiting with moderate queue lengths most of the day. Surprisingly, the Haunted Mansion had some of the most reasonable queues all day, probably thanks to the fact the cars are perfect for social distancing, so capacity hasn’t been as affected.

Here’s some specific times we gathered (Friday, February 12^th):

The biggest takeaway is that arriving at opening gate is a good idea at Magic Kingdom on busy days—we heard one family at Epcot later remark how they got onto most of the rides at Magic Kingdom they wanted to visit first thing in the morning before significant crowds arrived. Wait times are peaking for E-ticket attractions by lunch time, with times staying long until the last hour or so of the day. We also noticed that wait times for some rides fluctuated in wildly unpredictable ways—if you see what looks like an unusually short wait for a popular attraction, you may want to jump on it!

4. Construction is increasing on TRON Lightcycle / Run

Video: YouTube, Jett Farrell-Vega (My Kingdom For a Mouse)

In exciting news, it looks like construction has picked up again for TRON Lightcycle / Run (based on the TRON Lightcycle Power Run coaster at Shanghai Disneyland). This Tomorrowland attraction was originally slated for opening in 2021 but a delay to 2022 (or even later) is appearing more likely considering the continuing effects of closures on Disney parks.

We dove into details surrounding the construction in a recent feature, but the basic rundown is that it appears Disney is working to complete the exterior construction of the building soon. The best place to view the construction is from the queue of The Barnstormer mini-coaster in Fantasyland, though parts of the ride can also be seen from the Tomorrowland Speedway. The day we visited, support beams holding up the roof were still in place (these have been removed since then), and the coaster’s exterior track looks like it is mostly complete, along with the showbuilding and frame of the roof canopy.

Reports have suggested that Disney is aiming to complete all exterior elements of the ride, then take a break to reassess what it will take to get the inside done before announcing a projected opening date.

5. Tom Sawyer Island is opened again (with some caveats)

In exciting news, Tom Sawyer Island is back! Disney just completed some refurbishments on the island, and rafts are now running to and from the island again. Even on a capacity day, we are happy to say that Tom Sawyer Island remains one of the most peaceful places in all of Magic Kingdom.

There are a few things to be aware of if you’ll be visiting the island during this season. First off, you will need to plan extra time to get to and from the island. The day we visited, waits ranged from 30-40 minutes to get onto the rafts, with waits almost equal to that to get back. This is largely due to social distancing requirements on the rafts. Only three parties are being loaded at a time. The waits were significant, so be careful if you head out to the island that you have plenty of time to explore and get back if there is a long wait.

Most of the island is open including all three caves and Fort Langhorn. The Scavenger’s Fort playground is currently closed, and the barrel bridge remains under refurbishment—to the point it actually has no barrels at the moment. The inside of Harper’s Mill is also not currently functioning (you can hear sound effects but none of the gears are moving).

I was pleasantly surprised to see the island’s caves open—Injun Joe’s cave, in particular, contains some extremely dark, narrow passageways that would make social distancing challenging, but it seems Disney is trusting guests to stay on their best behavior when inside and perhaps limiting capacity on the island overall. Even on a capacity day, I did not run into any situations where social distancing was a problem with other guests. I encountered one family on my second trip through Injun Joe’s cave, but I was pretty much alone on all my other trips through the caves, which is an encouraging sign for those who prefer a bit of solitude when exploring the rocky depths.

Oh, and yes, Injun Joe’s cave remains the most quietly terrifying place in all of Walt Disney World—now with the added thrill of a mask to muffle your whimpers and screams.  

6. Mask shenanigans are still an issue on busy days

Speaking of masks, how did Magic Kingdom do as far as guests following the rules?

We recently explored some of the pandemic policies Walt Disney World guests still seem to be struggling with—for the most part, most of these have largely involved social distancing practices like following queue markers and spacing out on thoroughfares. On most of our trips to Disney parks throughout 2020, mask usage has actually been enforced and followed pretty well.

This trip did revise my opinion on that area somewhat.

Disney is still doing a great job doing what they can to make sure guests follow mask rules—you can’t walk far without running into a sign reminding guests to keep masks on or find a cast member reminding guests to follow the rules. However, this definitely proved a shakier situation on a max capacity day.

We definitely saw more people bending mask rules on this trip than we have seen previously. In most cases, this involved people removing masks to eat and drink while moving or in queues. We also saw a good amount of people skirting mask rules in other situations, such as while taking pictures, having conversations, or while resting in areas besides the relaxation stations when not eating. While we saw Disney cast members address situations they spotted directly, there were a lot of people. 35% seems right at the level where Disney can just barely keep an eye on things, but they are undoubtedly going to miss some cases with so many people.

If avoiding people who fudge mask rules is a high priority for you, I would advise not visiting Magic Kingdom on a holiday or max capacity day—this hasn’t really been a major issue on our previous visits to Walt Disney World parks, so its possible the lapses had to do with the crowded nature of the holiday weekend. We still feel that Disney is doing an excellent job overall keeping guests safe.

7. Some attractions are still closed for now

There are a few Magic Kingdom experiences that remain closed due to construction and the continuing effects of the pandemic. The Walt Disney World Railroad remains closed for the foreseeable future due to the TRON coaster construction. The Tomorrowland PeopleMover is also closed for refurbishment (until March 1^st, in theory), as is the Hall of Presidents which is closed for its regular post-election update to add President Biden to the attraction cast. The Mad Tea Party is also getting ready for a refurbishment starting on February 22^nd that will last until March 4^th.

As has been the case since reopening, there continue to be no nightly fireworks or up-close character encounters for now. We did see several character cavalcades pass through the park in different lands, so these are still an option for character entertainment.

8. Park hopping is capped (particularly on busy days)

As of the start of 2021, park hopping is back as an option for Annual Passholders and guests who purchase a park hopper ticket. Due to Walt Disney World’s current capacity limits, the way park hopping currently works is that guests must have a valid Disney Parks Pass reservation and start their day in that park. After 2:00 PM, guests with park hopper access can then hop to any of Disney’s other parks for the rest of the day…

So long as park hopping isn’t at capacity for that park…

While Disney has specified that park hopping spots are limited, this never really occurred to me until I attempted to park hop to Epcot later in the day (once I’d had enough of Magic Kingdom’s crowds). At the parking entry booths for Epcot, the cast member who scanned my pass let me know that he wasn’t certain if park hopping had reached capacity or not—he’d heard it had via the radio, but his app said there were still spots available. He let me through, and I made my way quickly to the gate, where I was fortunately let into the park.

If park hopping is a high priority for you, you may not want to wait too late to switch parks on a high-capacity day—even going to a park as comparatively quiet as Epcot (unlike Magic Kingdom, Epcot had reasonable queues most of the day—even a 20 minute wait for Frozen Ever After!). Disney is capping capacity to keep parks from getting overfull, so be aware that there may be cases where a park cannot allow any more park hoppers in for the day. It is currently unclear if this number changes depending on people with reservations leaving the park.

Enjoy this article? Keep reading to learn which pandemic policies are still confusing Disney guests… or learn some of the insane superpowers of the birds of Disney’s Animal Kingdom!