Since Disney World’s reopening, Labor Day is the first holiday being celebrated in the parks (even though Halloween entertainment, treats, and more have started to pop up!).
Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Labor Day
Disney Park Pass availability for Labor Day Weekend kept seeing some changes with Saturday and Sunday of this weekend being listed as sold out across the board for ALL guests (note right now VERY limited Passes look like they’re available!). We HAD to take a look at what the first holiday weekend was like back in Disney World!
The parks’ capacity has varied throughout the re-opening of Disney World. But, today was the first time we’ve seen all FOUR parks hit their capacity limit. Like we mentioned, Park Passes were totally booked for all four parks for all types of guests, though it appears a bit more availability has opened up (so act fast if you were looking to visit this weekend!).
It’s a FULL WEEKEND at Disney World. This is the first time all parks have sold out capacity since reopening. Follow along with us for details of what that looks like today. pic.twitter.com/c5AH56eDBY
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
We popped into Disney’s Hollywood Studios this morning to check out the crowds, wait times, and overall atmosphere for Labor Day weekend in the park. This park has consistently FELT the most crowded and busy to us, so we wanted to see what it was like on a maxed-out day. Even though there’s a lot of people going into the temperature check area and entrance, Cast Members were there to help make sure that everyone was spaced out! Guys…it was a LOT of people!
Heading into Hollywood Studios this morning #labordayweekend pic.twitter.com/O6NIQgx0TD
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
Since there are capacity limits in place, the “high crowds” of the park today are actually significantly lower than a regular full capacity day prior to the closures. As people entered, Hollywood Boulevard was pretty packed at first…
Disney World is at sold out park pass capacity for the first time since the reopening this weekend. So this is what a full park looks like at current capacity limits. A lot better than a normal high capacity day, but definitely not a ghost town. pic.twitter.com/TuEh1E047f
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
…since many guests made their first destination Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway! This is the FIRST ride most guests see so it makes sense they rush to jump in line once they enter. The queue was at its capacity this morning with a 90-minute wait for guests. However, Cast Members told everyone that they were able to come back after 10AM to see if they were able to score a spot in the line once it started moving more.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway queue is at capacity. CMs are telling guests to come back at 10 to see if it opens back up. pic.twitter.com/0rivDcHvjg
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is usually crowded in the morning as guests try to check out the land after trying for a Boarding Group for Rise of the Resistance at 10AM. Today, it was a bit quieter than the front of the park!
Definitely quieter over by Galaxy’s Edge! pic.twitter.com/wArXJRrA84
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
And, who could pass up a sweet greeting for Chewbacca in the morning??
Chewy’s a one-Wookiee welcoming committee pic.twitter.com/p7PyDRStIr
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
When we got into line for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run just after the park opened, it was around 30 minutes…
Wait for Millennium Falcon ends here. About 30 minutes. We’ve seen it longer. pic.twitter.com/pfGdFoZtHk
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
…even though it moved a lot quicker once we were in the queue.
Waiting in the Millenium Falcon queue! pic.twitter.com/E1hxe0xFrJ
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
It only took us 15 minutes to reach the pre-show (lookin’ good, Hondo)…
Took us about 15 minutes to reach Hondo Ohnaka in the Millennium Falcon queue pic.twitter.com/dDG1PDuueS
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
…as guests were still kept distanced from one another before entering their cockpits to fly the Millennium Falcon!
Getting closer! pic.twitter.com/Jmkw7CDSoO
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
We’re pretty great pilots if we do say so ourselves! 😉
Here we gooooo! pic.twitter.com/I4PfewAFNi
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
When we exited the attraction, the Millennium Falcon’s wait time jumped up to 50 minutes!
Line for Millennium Falcon is now up to 50 minutes. When we got in line, it was 30 but we waited about 20-25! pic.twitter.com/bug5n2A96O
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
Two of the highest wait times we noticed in the parks for the day (besides that crazy wait for Runaway Railway first thingthis morning!) were in Hollywood Studios with Slinky Dog Dash and Tower of Terror topping the charts at 40 and 45 minutes around 10:15AM, respectively.
Here are the highest wait times in the parks right now. pic.twitter.com/FXfIQt2bDt
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
The Galaxy’s Edge crowds were surprisingly quieter than we’d usually see, even with it being Labor Day Weekend.
Walking through Galaxy’s Edge! pic.twitter.com/9Z8cjijnxU
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
Toy Story Land was a bit busier as guests headed to some of the most popular attractions in the park to see all their toy friends and maybe snag a new high score on Toy Story Midway Mania!
Walking through Toy Story Land! Where do you go first usually? pic.twitter.com/Ra3ERySwqr
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
Slinky Dog Dash bumped up to a 50 minute wait around 11AM…
Slinky Dog is currently at a 50 minute wait. pic.twitter.com/mBqWvvU98K
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
…and the queue wrapped around the entirety of Toy Story Land. PHEW! That was quite a walk!
Slinky Dog queue… pic.twitter.com/70xCDahlpP
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
Toy Story Midway Mania sat at a 45-minute wait for guests to test their skills (and beat their competition). This was pretty high for this attraction, considering most days around this time we see a wait more in the 15-minute range!
Toy Story Mania line is up to 45 minutes pic.twitter.com/LdTz2mNWvi
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
As we headed to the other side of Hollywood Studios, there were plenty of distancing measures put in place with roped off areas and markers on the ground to keep traffic flowing smoothly.
Headed to the other side of Hollywood Studios! pic.twitter.com/xoIveFZGb0
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
As guests made their way to rides, we stopped by to see our friends movin’ and groovin’ along over on Hollywood Boulevard in a Character Cavalcade! You’re just TOO cute, Dale!!
Hollywood Boulevard is definitely the place to go to get away from crowds – and catch a Character Cavalcade! pic.twitter.com/cyMGgNgaQe
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
If you’re looking to stop and grab a snack along the way, it’s important to note that Cast Members are turning away guests whose orders aren’t ready yet! So, keep up with your Mobile Order‘s status before you head to the counter!
The Cast Members are turning away people who don’t have ready orders. pic.twitter.com/Gs4nELn3Kr
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
When our boarding group was called, it was a quick walk through the front of the Rise of the Resistance queue…
Walking on to Rise of the Resistance! pic.twitter.com/l7KzZhpEXV
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
…which only took us 10 minutes to get to Rey’s portion of the pre-show!
Oh hey, Rey! Took us about 10 minutes to get here. pic.twitter.com/E9NJshlwYH
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
And, we couldn’t help but admire how dashing Poe looks in his X-Wing outfit (swoon)!
You’re a fine lookin’ group of recruits! pic.twitter.com/lmP2vszwBJ
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
Once we made it to the Star Destroyer, we tried to stay as quiet as possible without revealing any of our Rebel plans…
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
…buuut we’re not sure that necessarily worked since we were stuck in the interrogation room for a good amount of time before the ride started! Don’t worry — we didn’t spill any Resistance information or secrets!
We were stuck in the interrogation room for a few extra minutes and it was a little stressful 😬 pic.twitter.com/BfynOCkK8z
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
It’s worth noting that the HUGE queues and congestion we saw at the beginning of the morning thinned out considerably as the day went on.
Crazy busy at the beginning of the day but it totally clears out after a few hours… pic.twitter.com/2BnHXZftLe
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
Before we headed out for the day, we stopped by the Trolley Car Cafe to sip on a Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew and eat a Pumpkin Scone (because pumpkin is our life now until November!).
Pumpkin Scone from Trolley Car Cafe! pic.twitter.com/HmpvRPWl7Z
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
…while we caught the last half of another Character Cavalcade (but Mickey decided to walk this time, instead of catch a ride in his convertible).
Mickey, where’s your car?! pic.twitter.com/pieMrO6NTg
— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 5, 2020
Since we’ve been back in the parks, we’ve seen a trend in Disney World where the parks are way more crowded in the morning. They tend to get quieter as the day goes on with lower wait times and less people in the parks. Hollywood Studios today was no exception! The waits did drop slightly later in the day with Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway going down to 60 minutes, Tower of Terror dropping to 25 minutes, and Toy Story Mania notably dropping to 15 minutes at around 2PM.
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run on Labor Day Weekend
We were actually surprised that Labor Day Weekend just felt like a regular day in Hollywood Studios, despite the park hitting its capacity limit. While there were a LOT more guests at first (we were happy to get away from Hollywood Boulevard after entering — that area got pretty packed right at opening!), the crowds still slowed down like we’ve been seeing them do since the re-opening. As Disney encourages guests to visit later in the day, it might be the best choice for your family to come in the afternoon as things slow down so you can avoid some of the longer queues and have a more relaxed pace in the parks!
Labor Day Weekend Crowds
We’ll continue to give you updates on what the parks look like this Labor Day Weekend. But, in the meantime, let us know any questions you may have about your Disney World vacation so we can find you the answers!
Take a look at the updated Disney face masks we found during our visit to Hollywood Studios!
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Will you be heading to Disney World for Labor Day Weekend? Let us know in the comments below!
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looking forward to when we can travel from the UK again we are missing our Mickey
We were at Magic Kingdom on Saturday. It was too crowded and hardly any social distancing being practiced. We left the park early, after getting our Madame Leota cups, of course. It was the only day of the whole week that we felt unsafe.
Starting to look a bit like pre-Covid days !! YAY 😀. I love it ! Can’t wait to be back to My Happy Place !
You still have to be in the park to get ROTR boarding pass so i’m sure that’s what is pushing the morning rush!>)
Thanks AJ love the short videos !!! Can’t wait to book our 2021 vacation! We appreciate all you guy a do at DFB to keep USB’s in the know !!!
If your phone can’t scan those codes for a virtual queue, what do you do?
Jessica, if you’re scanned into Hollywood Studios and want to join the virtual queue, when you open My Disney Experience, you should find it easily on the home screen or when you click the link for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Our pleasure, Frank!