One of the least magical parts about The Most Magical Place on Earth can be the CROWDS. No one wants to navigate a sea of people on their way to find a Dole Whip or ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Although it’s definitely possible to have a great trip even when there are big crowds in the parks, it’s much more relaxing if you can find a time to visit when there aren’t a lot of people there.
Main Street crowds | mid-August 2022
Recently, however, it’s been tricky to find a time when Disney World isn’t packed to the rafters. Even when it was supposed to be Disney’s “slow” season, we’ve been seeing the big crowd levels remain pretty much constant. But this week we’ve noticed a major change in the parks — we can stretch out our arms and NOT hit 18 people in the process. Seriously, the parks haven’t just been slightly less crowded — sometimes they feel like a ghost town. So what brought on this shift? Could it be that revenge travel is FINALLY ending? Let’s take a look.
What Is Revenge Travel?
Revenge travel is a newer term (coined in 2021) for the trend of people traveling more frequently due to their plans being put on hold previously for the COVID-19 pandemic. Because many people put off vacations during the pandemic, they were anxious to get out and travel once the restrictions were over. It’s kind of like people were taking “revenge” on the pandemic for delaying their plans by vacationing more than they usually would.
Southwest Flight
CNN reported that May 2021 saw the “single highest increase in average travel search traffic” on travel booking site Expedia with a 10% increase. This happened just a week after the European Union extended its contract with Pfizer and approve the vaccine for teenagers. At that time, 60% of Expedia consumers had plans to travel domestically and 27% had plans to travel internationally in 2022.
Orlando International Airport crowds
Not only did more people plan to travel than usual, but those people planned BIG trips. CNBC reported a trend to “go big” on 2022 vacations, as more people planned extravagant trips. They attributed this trend to a mindset of living in the moment and taking advantage of the time you have, which resulted from the pandemic. According to a survey of 12,000 travelers in 12 different countries, “65% of respondents [planned] to ‘go big’ on their next trip” (CNBC).
Travel picked up
The US Travel Association recently noted that travel spending in July 2022 was roughly at July 2019 levels, “which marked the fourth consecutive month that spending was at, or above, 2019 levels.”
Despite higher travel prices (resulting from staffing shortages and other global issues), people want to get out and take the vacations that they lost over the last couple of years. That trend has lasted for almost a year and a half now, but it may be slowing down now.
Learn more about why travel is more expensive now.
How Has It Affected Disney World?
A Disney World vacation definitely qualifies as “going big,” so it follows the trend mentioned above that more people have visited the parks than usual over the last couple of years. Not only are we seeing BIG crowds during the normally busy seasons, but we’ve seen those crowd levels remain consistent through the “slow” seasons as well.
Crowds in Hollywood Studios | early August 2022
For example, late January and February are usually a slow season in Disney World, as many people are going back to school and settling into a normal routine after holiday travel. We initially saw lower crowds in the parks around mid-January 2022, but those crowds picked right back up by the end of the month.
Crowds entering Magic Kingdom
Even through February, the crowds did not let up. Disney World’s park passes sold out on multiple days that month, which means all 4 parks reached capacity. This is normally a very slow time in the parks, so the change was shocking at the time.
EPCOT entrance
As the year continued, we saw some Disney fans reporting that they wouldn’t travel as much over the summer due to inflation, price increases, potential new COVID-19 variants, and other factors. However, the Disney World crowds reflected a different story as park passes continued to sell out and visitors continued to fill the parks.
Crowds in Animal Kingdom
During a recent earnings report, Disney executives shared that they were confident the parks would continue to draw lots of visitors. Disney CEO Bob Chapek said that the company sees “nothing in the future indicating anything to the contrary of what we’ve seen” in terms of guest demand for the theme parks. He claimed that the new trend of constant big crowds was “resilient and long-lasting.” In other words, Disney expects demand to remain high. And so far, they’ve been right. But now we’re seeing that start to change.
Learn more about what Disney executives said about demand here.
So What’s Different Now?
For the first time in a LONG time, we’ve seen a major dip in crowd levels in the parks. Although we normally expect this to happen around the beginning of September (as summer ends, kids go back to school, and some people wait for their holiday vacations), we’ve become used to the constant crowds no matter the time of year. So it was a bit of a shock to walk into a half-empty Magic Kingdom this week!
Where’d everybody go?
Could this be the start of back-to-normal crowd trends? It’s possible that now — a couple of years after COVID-19 restrictions began being lifted — most people have taken their revenge trips and are now returning to a normal vacation schedule. More people have also returned to in-office jobs where they previously may have worked from home (as working from home typically allows more flexibility to vacation during different times of the year).
An empty walkway in Animal Kingdom
Other factors may be contributing to the current dip in crowds. For example, many people are concerned about a potential recession in the U.S. and could be saving their money instead of spending it on a vacation. In addition, credit card debt has hit some all-time highs recently, which could also prompt some people to stay home. Inflation has impacted many travel-related costs, such as airplane tickets, gasoline, and hotel stays.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
The Washington Post reported that some Americans are starting to hold off on spending their money on things like booking flights, building pools in their backyards, replacing their roofs, and even getting haircuts. In the past few months, some households have pulled back on certain purchases, due to price increases and other factors.
EPCOT “crowds”
All of these factors seem to be coming together to create lower-than-normal crowds in Disney World right now. We’ll have to wait and see some broader trends to really determine whether revenge travel is officially over, but this is the first sign that we could be returning to the usual crowd trends in the parks.
Click here to see how the low crowds have affected Disney World ride wait times.
So it seems that normal Disney World crowd patterns might be returning. Having those consistent trends allows you to prepare for the expected crowds and potentially even plan your trip around the busy and slow seasons in the parks. Of course, you can still have a great time even if there are lots of crowds. Check out these posts to see how you can deal with the crowds:
- How to Navigate Disney World During a SOLD OUT Holiday Weekend
- How to Fix 39 Things You’ll HATE About Disney World
- The Secret to Avoiding Disney Springs Crowds
- Is Genie+ Necessary in Disney World? We Spill the Tea.
- The Disney World Rides You Should Visit FIRST
- Over 15 Secret Walkways to Beat the Crowds in Disney World
And keep an eye on DFB to see the latest updates from Disney World as you plan your upcoming trip. You can check out the blog and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.
Click here to learn the biggest reasons some people DIDN’T travel this summer.
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The crowds are shrinking almost as much as Disney’s stock price!
Well maybe now I will take a trip there. I know Disney is usually crowded. But feeling like I am a sardine in a can is not how I want to spend time there. So maybe things will start to get back to normal now
I adore Mickey Mouse and used to go to WDW annually, but between the ever-increasing crowds, the ever-increasing prices, and Disney’s seeming determination to nickel-and-dime their patrons for every little “perk” (airport shuttles, parking at resorts, and Fast Passes, to name a few), I have become less and less interested in spending my money there. Then. Bob Chapek’s hubris-filled and flippant comment about additional impending price hikes simply because “If demand goes up, then we have the opportunity to do that”, which even more maddeningly followed Disney’s posting of a record $7.2 *BILLION* revenue in only ONE fiscal quarter (from theme parks alone!), put the final nail in the coffin of my trips to WDW. I, for one, am pleased to see admission numbers falling and hope they continue to do so. The only way Disney will stop gouging people, evidently, is if people stop paying their increasingly astronomical prices. Until Disney starts putting people first again and stops taking advantage of their customer base, they won’t be getting any more of my money. It makes me wonder what Walt Disney himself would have thought of what his parks and his company have become.
Revenge travel might be close to being over but most likely Payckeck’s poor decisions are coming to roost. People aren’t going to be bothered with an expense mediocre vacation.
Just for the hell of it I checked wait times today at 1:30. A few notables: Pandora – 20 mins!!!, Rise – 55 mins., Tower 30 mins., Slinky 60 mins., Railway 40 mins., Mine Train 65 mins.
AJ – thanks for all the great information, as always.
Wow,,,, this looks like the good old days of the 1990’s when the parks were very accommodating and a lot less expensive. As for me, I am done I think. after 32 years of going multiple times throughout the year, 2022 I think was my last visit. it is just too expensive.
IMHO the crowds are sinking due to what some may perceive as price gouging. It costs close to $600 for a family of 4 to go to the park for 1 day. That doesn’t count paying extra for parking, lightning lane express entry to the more popular attractions to avoid standing in lines for hours in the sweltering heat, meals, snacks, and souvenirs. Add in airfare or the cost to drive to WDW and you are looking at well over $1,000 per day. What’s disappointing is when you get to the park and they have a number of attractions that are closed for maintenance and/or refurbishment which I understand but, there is no reduction in the admission price so you may not be able to do all you may want in a day at the park.
Now let’s see some deals and free dinning !
I was slightly surprised that you that you did not mention that many loyal guests have been turned off by Disney entering into political issues when folks just want to escape to the “Magic.” Many may be reconsidering where to spend their vacation dollars which is sad.
People did not put off their vacations they were denied the right to travel.
Many people dislike how political Disney has become recently. Fewer crowds may also be a reflection of this.
A much as I would like to believe that the reduction in crowding is a direct result of price gouging, amenities disappearing, and poor decision making on the part of Disney’s management, I have a feeling that the “back to school blues” are responsible. It’s a typical response to this time of year. One can only hope it continues, then perhaps Bob C. and friends will realize all the mistakes they have made since 2020 and bring back Magical Express, Fast Passes, hotel discounts, the dining plan and get rid of the ridiculous reservation system.
Hopfully they will now get rid of the resevation system.
The exact same thing happened last year. Crowds were extremely low in very late August 2021 and the first week of September. But, by the second week of September (when I was there), the crowds had returned. I predict the same thing this year.
The best time to go to Disneyworld in my opinion is the week after Thanksgiving, not including the weekend. All the Christmas decorations are out, Epcot has all the Christmas traditions around the world, and the Candlelight Processional. It’s my favorite time.
My past comments about all the Chapek changes can be summed up in the thought that going to WDW has become a job, not a vacation. As a DVC member it’s hard to vote with my wallet and not go to WDW, because eventually we HAVE to use our points. So we compromised and booked 3 Disney cruises in 2023 to use up all our points and avoid WDW as our private, little way of saying enough is enough. Maybe the smaller crowds are an indication that many people have decided to spend their money on more guest friendly alternatives. I hope that’s the reason – a turning point perhaps.
When I go out to eat at a favorite place, but they charge $10 for a beer that everyone else gets $7 for, I don’t order that beer, because as much as I may like that beer, if I have to pay $10 for it, I won’t be able to enjoy it.
Way too expensive. Every free thing and perk has been taken away and replaced buy a charge.
Pun intended.
Robert, you hit the nail on the head! I’m in the same boat being DVC. I don’t like what’s going on but am financially obligated.
on the positive guardians of the galaxy is amazing. i like the virtual queue also. we are season passholders. that is the way to save the most. we avoid all special ticket events, bring allot of snacks, freeze water, stay in a condo hotel. eat bfast and dinner home. no extra genie upcharges.
i think you can still do disney reasonably but in a differnt way. maybe 3 weeks in florida with a season pass in a 100 a night condo. with a season pass with meals at home and no table service and a cheap condo rental would cost you the same as 1 week in a moderate resort . MY MATH FAMILY OF 4
4 season passes with gold and water park 2000
condo hotel 3 weeks 2800 (1 or 2 br) westgate or vistana or wyndham cypress palms
food from the supermarket for 3 weeks 600
parking free at condo and free at disney
lunch/snacks only – 100 a day or leave park from 12 to 4
water – buy a case at supermarket and freeze. bring a tiny umbrella stroller for food and snacks and frozen water.
then splurge on some off site places (kennedy space center, beach, etc. everglades crystal river
The reason for the dip in the parks is probably due to: Revenge Travel ending, Airfare is expensive and unreliable, Disney has priced out many people, the reservation system and cell phone dominance are annoying, the quality of the park experience and merchandise has declined while prices soar, free perks are gone along with the magic. Some people may be boycotting because of politics, but I bet that’s a small number. I won’t even think of going back to WDW until at least 2024-2025 and I’ll be focusing on Universal’s Epic Universe mostly.
I can hope it is slowing down and will stay this way at least through mid October as my vacation in WDW will be over by then. As someone who is not a local, and has to plan on when I’m going to visit, I have no problem with the reservation system. As I get older, I find park hopping to no longer be an option. If I want to visit a park, I want to be there all day. Be interesting to see how long the low crowds last.
I’m happy to see the crowds are slowing. Americans are getting their lives back to normal. Kids are back in school. Parents are back to work. This is why we have been waiting to go back to Disney! I’m starting to finally plan our trip for next September!
I have to say it is not how political Disney has become but how political Florida has become. There are many things that need to be endured to vacation at WDW, large crowds, long waits, punishing heat and humidity and of course the expense. For our ten visits there, regardless of all that, we always had fun. Now that Florida has become a politically polarizing state, the proverbial straw has broken the camel’s back. Having traveled many other places, I want to inform Florida that there are better places to vacation and live.
When Disney says that the parks have reached capacity, what exactly does that mean. You cannot squeeze another person into the park or capacity is based on a lower number of people in the park. During the Pandemic, hotels restaurants and parks were at reduced capacity. How is full capacity determined today and how was full capacity determined during the Pandemic? Thanks
Hi Ron. Disney has not released any of that information so there’s really no way to know how what full capacity is exactly except that if a park reaches full capacity, they won’t allow anyone in until people start leaving.
Does anyone think that part of the problem is that Disney is short staffed. Rides are breaking down on a daily basis.Disney is not proactive with maintenance. The cost is MUCH HIGHER for the guests while at the same time, the INCONVENIENCE is MUCH HIGHER for the guests.This was never the old Disney. This is the new Disney. THE THRILL IS GONE. Bob Chapek, it’s not too late to bring back the old Disney that Walt created. Start with bringing back the free wrist band, the free fast pass and the elimination of the Individual Attraction. Disney, you can afford it. BUILD IT AND WE WILL COME HAPPILY.
Hey Ken. Sorry but Florida is a great place to live. Moved here five years ago from a one-party northern State and never looked back. You need to talk to Floridians about the way the state is being run. I think you will find most of us are very happy. Seems like it’s mostly non-Floridian northerners who think we are so polarized. It’s actually rather healthy to hear both sides of issues. Kind of equality really. The equality of thought.
We just got back. While it was not horribly crowded, the parks were still very busy. And I venture to say that the crowds WILL return once the very hot and stormy season is over. I agree with Ken that Florida has become a polarizing political state and that Disney’s politics will not drive many visitors away. I agree that it is aggravating that Disney continues to nickel and dime their guests, but agree with Connie that is is possible to save money on your Disney vacation. BTW, Guardians of the Galaxy was AMAZING!! All I could say while riding it was “Wow!”