food IS a theme park
Is it too early to start saying goodbye to summer crowds?
Magic Kingdom crowds in June 2023
Disney World has experienced some really heavy crowds all through July and with the start of EPCOT’s International Food & Wine Festival. We would expect those crowds to start winding down as we enter August and back-to-school season starts, but we saw wait times holding pretty steady this week in Disney World.
Disney World can be a fun and magical place, but there are some things that make us cringe.
Tower of Terror
Whether that’s something that looks gross (like some of the new Halloween snacks that were announced) or because one ride posts a multi-hour wait time, cringe-worthy things are all around. This week, that cringe-y thing is one of the most popular rides in Disney World — Tower of Terror.
Welcome to EPCOT — the land of construction walls, exciting new rides and restaurants, and…did we mention construction walls?
EPCOT
It’s no secret that EPCOT has been undergoing a huge transformation and there has been a lot of exciting news out of the park lately. The 100th anniversary celebrations are coming to the park in September, a new fireworks show is on the way, the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival is about to begin, and a new restaurant is coming to the Japan pavilion! With all of this good news, we also have some bad news to share about EPCOT.
If you’ve been keeping up with the latest Disney news, then you’ll know that there’s a lot going on right now.
EPCOT
Just this week, we got more news about menus at the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, CEO Bob Iger remaining with Disney until 2026, and the rooms at BoardWalk Inn have changed. It can be a LOT to keep track of! But that’s why we’re here — we’ll let you know about anything that could impact your next Disney World vacation. And speaking of, it’s time to talk wait times!
Ahhh Disney’s Hollywood Studios — the chaotic and action-filled park.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Hollywood Studios is full of some of Disney World’s best attractions including Rise of the Resistance, Toy Story Land as a whole, Tower of Terror, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, just to name a few. Since there are SO many popular things packed into one park, the wait times can be…well…painfully long.
It’s still toward the beginning of summer, but the crowds are rolling into Disney World.
Crowds
We’ve seen wait times continue to climb and climb and 4th of July is right around the corner. However, we actually have some GOOD news to bring you about the long wait times — some major Hollywood Studios lines are getting shorter!
If you’re wanting to plan a Disney World trip, you may be wondering “When is the best time to visit Disney World?”
Cinderella Castle
Well, that answer totally depends on YOU. Do you want to avoid crowds at all costs? Don’t visit during summer or spring break. Do you want to be in the crowds on the opening day of a major attraction like Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana? Prepare for busy parks. If you are someone who is seeking lower crowds and wait times on a Disney World trip, you may want to wait.
It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for — wait times are starting to go DOWN in Disney World.
Cinderella Castle
Crowds have been a little all over the place this year in the parks and Disney has announced that they expect demand to go down. Since then, we’ve seen several new discounts urging people to book a Disney World vacation. BUT if you are in the parks or going soon, we’ve got some good news from this week — the most popular rides are seeing a decrease in wait times!
Disney World is constantly changing, but many of these changes become controversial according to fans.
Genie+
Remember when the barges for Harmonious first appeared on the World Showcase Lagoon in EPCOT? A controversy. When Disney World discontinued Magical Express? Don’t even talk about it. And then there was Genie+ — Disney’s paid replacement for the free FastPass service. Now that Genie+ has been around for a while, we’ve mastered the skip-the-line service and we’re here to tell you when it’s worth it and when you should save your money.Â
You probably read this title and wondered: “Why in the world would I want to avoid Magic Kingdom?!”
Magic Kingdom
There is so much to do in the original Disney World theme park — meet tons of characters, see the Festival of Fantasy parade, ride the brand new TRON Lightcycle / Run, and eat inside Cinderella Castle. So why are we saying that you should avoid Magic Kingdom right now? The answer is simple — a major jump in wait times.
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