Disney Park Capacity Levels and What It Means For You

Many of my friends and family as well as my clients ask me the same question: Do the Walt Disney World theme parks ever reach capacity?

The answer is YES. I have been there not only on a day when this was true but on a day when Lord Hill and I were fortunate enough to be on the last bus, and the very last group of people to be allowed in before they declared the park closed to any new guests. This was at 11:00am on New Years Eve. There are several stages of park capacity levels.

Here is what they mean and how it can affect your trip.

Stage Zero - Due to limited available parking, Guests may be directed to alternate parking areas where they will use Resort transportation to travel to the park of their choice.

Stage 1 - At this stage each Guest in a vehicle must have a valid multi-day ticket. Also Guests with a Park Hopper or re-entering the Park, by showing a currently dated Parking Receipt, will be allowed in. Also, any Guests using Disney transportation are allowed.

Stage 2 - At this stage, Theme Park admission is limited to Disney Resort Guests*, Annual and Premium Annual Passholders, Guests with Park Hopper tickets crossing over from another Park, Guests re-entering this Park today. Guests with written confirmation of reservations for Dining or Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique or The Pirates League within one hour are also admitted. Guests using Walt Disney World Resort Transportation will be admitted. Guests not meeting the above criteria are told the Theme Park has reached capacity.

Stage 3 - At this stage, Theme Park admission is limited to Disney Resort Guests*, Annual and Premium Annual Passholders. Guests with written confirmation of reservations for Dining or Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique or The Pirates League within one hour are also admitted.

Stage 4 - Nobody is allowed in. Also, if you are staying at a Disney owned and operated Resort and have a ticket, you are guaranteed entry into A park. Not necessarily the one you want (unless you want to go into AK). And if you have entered and left a park and do not have a hopper you may not get into anything. 

*Guests of WDW Swan and Dolphin Hotels and Shades of Green at the Walt Disney World Resort are considered part of this group for Stages 2 and 3. In addition, Guests from Hotel Plaza Boulevard hotels arriving by bus are included.

For more information about visiting the Disney theme parks please email me at Kerri@MickeysdreamVacations.com

It would be my pleasure to help you make the most out of your magical vacation at no additional cost to you!