Crowds are something you usually have to deal with when visiting Disney World.
Crowds in Magic Kingdom
We usually see the biggest around Spring Break, the summer, and the holidays. They contribute to long wait times for rides and food, and sometimes even merchandise! But, there are some times of the year that are less crowded than others. We usually think of right now (late January) as one of the least crowded times of the year in the parks, but that is definitely NOT the case today in Disney World!
It is BUSY in Disney World today!
Whoa!
This is kind of odd for this time of year. It’s late January and it’s not a holiday weekend or anything, so what is going on?
People coming into the park
We really noticed the crowds in Magic Kingdom this morning. When we first walked on to Main Street, U.S.A. it was very busy.
Welp, we better prepare for some long lines today!
And, the crowds just got worse as we continued down the street…
A lotttt of people!
…and got closer to Cinderella Castle.
A small gap!
Over in Adventureland, it didn’t seem as crowded, but there were still a lot of people around. At 1PM, Jungle Cruise had a wait time of 90 minutes, Pirates of the Caribbean had a wait time of 60 minutes…
You know it’s busy if Tortuga is open!
…and The Magic Carpets of Aladdin had a wait time of 55 minutes — yikes!
Would you wait almost an hour for this ride?
We made our way around to Frontierland, where crowds weren’t any better.
Oh boy!
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad had a wait time of 80 minutes around 1PM.
More crowds
Then, we moved down to Liberty Square, where there were still a LOT of people around! Haunted Mansion was at a 65 minute wait.
Seriously… it’s January?!
It was even crowded in the stores!
Eeeek!
But, the crowds were REALLY big once we got into Fantasyland. The area between Peter Pan’s Flight and “it’s a small world” was packed!
It’s a tight squeeze after all!
The wait times around 1PM for the rides in Fantasyland included Peter Pan’s Flight at 120 minutes, “it’s a small world” at 65 minutes, PhilharMagic at 65 minutes, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at a whopping 145 minutes!
Wowza
Over by Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, it was a sea of strollers!
Look at all those strollers 👀 Magic Kingdom is PACKED today 😅 pic.twitter.com/mGZMABsNal
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) January 24, 2022
So, we walked down to Tomorrowland to see if crowds were any better. But, we were met with more people!
Oh would ya look at that, it’s crowded
There was a very long line for Space Mountain, which was at an 80 minute wait around 1PM…
Uh…
…and for the PeopleMover, which had a wait of 35 minutes (one of the lowest in the park!).
For the PeopleMover?!
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin was also very busy, with a wait time of 75 minutes.
Send help, it’s too busy
So, if you’re planning on going to Magic Kingdom today, just be ready for these crowds!
WHOA
Over in Hollywood Studios, we found it was less crowded than Magic Kingdom, but still busy.
A bit better.
This was especially true in Galaxy’s Edge.
Oh wait, here’s the crowd!
The line for Rise of the Resistance was far back into the extended queue section in the morning.
Long lines
But, unfortunately the ride was down in the early afternoon.
Hopefully they got to ride!
Over in Toy Story Land, we saw even MORE people!
Andy’s coming!!
It’s crowded in Andy’s backyard — the wait time for Alien Swirling Saucers was 60 minutes and Toy Story Mania was at 70 minutes around 1PM.
Wow
Slinky Dog Dash was at a 90 minute wait this morning, then went down in the early afternoon.
Slinky Dog Dash line
And finally, in EPCOT we noticed some long lines, too! The Seas with Nemo and Friends had a line extended all the way out of the building! But, the wait time around 1PM was only 10 minutes, so the crowds did die down.
Nemo — What’s going on?!
We’re not sure why exactly it’s so busy in the parks on this Monday in late January, but we’ll be on the lookout for a specific reason. Stay tuned to DFB for news and updates.
Click here to see which NEW ride took the spot for the highest wait time in EPCOT!
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I agree!! My wife and I kept saying while at Magic Kingdom on Monday (1/24) “Where did all these people come from?” and “Why aren’t all these kids in school??”
What time of the morning did you arrive to Magic Kingdom that it was already that busy? Was that rope drop?
We arrived just after the rope drop. We noticed how large the crowds were around noon. Just a theory but Monday looks to be the nicest weather-wise for the week and maybe a lot of people decided like us that Monday was the best day. I did hear that Disney offered a special ticket offer for Florida residents?
Yes! We were in magic kingdom yesterday and were SO surprised by the crowds! It was even busier than when we were here in December and when we were here (pre-pandemic) in June! Epcot today was more what we expected though likely due to the rain!
I literally booked a week down here in late January to avoid crowds! I was kinda freaked when I saw the crowds. If this was slow season, how insane is the busy season. Fortunately a nice cast member said this was really high. We did HS on Tuesday and ROTR passes were sold out by 7:03 AM. Fortunately we still got to ride it.
I was here that day and the whole week. We planned this week as it was listed as lowest crowds forecasted. What a mistake. We’ve been to Disney 2 dozen times and I never remember having such a crowd and wait times. Genie + didn’t help unless you got in 1st thing. I didn’t even get to half my favorite stops. If this is my future with WDW I’m not sure how often I’ll be back 🙁