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Walt Disney World is one of the world’s most iconic theme parks. It plays a part in attracting huge numbers of visitors to Florida, with over 137.6 million visitors heading to the state in 2022.
For some people a trip to Walt Disney World is an annual vacation while for others it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And of course some people don’t have any interest in visiting a Disney park at all!
But if you do want to make a date with Mickey Mouse and his friends and you’ve been waiting for the right moment to book your Walt Disney World trip, then now could be the perfect time.
Here’s why now is the best time to visit Walt Disney World in almost a decade:
Shockingly Low Crowd
According to Walt Disney World park attendance analysis from Touring Plans, the theme park in Orlando is experiencing “shockingly low crowds” this summer.
Summer is usually a busy and crowded time in Walt Disney World but not this year. The best example of how quiet the park is right now is to look at a weekend that would usually be packed to near capacity.
July 4th is usually one of the busiest days in the Disney parks, but this year the crowd levels over the July 4th weekend were almost non-existent. The crowd levels were similar to the ones you would usually find in the park in the low season of early May or mid-September.
The Walt Disney World parks experienced their slowest 4th of July weekend in a decade. And the crowd levels haven’t increased since.
What Does That Mean For Visitors?
So what does this mean if you’re planning a trip to Walt Disney World? It means there’s never been a better time to book your visit!
The crowds and the queues are the two worst things about a day in a Disney park. And it is very rare to spend time in the parks without falling victim to both!
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So if you can handle the heat and the humidity, then it’s the ideal time to head down to Florida to watch the famous Disney parades without several rows of other people’s heads blocking your view. And to ride those iconic rides without having to wait hours for the privilege.
Low Wait Times
Wait times in all four of the Walt Disney World parks are lower than they have been for years.
The average ride wait for a ride in Magic Kingdom on July 4th 2023 was just 27 minutes. On July 4th 2019 that average wait time was 47 minutes. But this wasn’t the biggest drop in ride times.
Animal Kingdom saw average ride times of 25 minutes this year compared with the previous year.
If you were spending the day in Disney’s Hollywood Studios park, then the average wait time on the same day in 2023 was just 18 minutes. By contrast, in 2019 you would have waited 44 minutes to get on a ride in that park.
These low ride times for the Hollywood Studios park are both impressive and unprecedented. Since the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge area and associated rides were opened in this park, ride times and crowd levels have historically been manic.
Low Crowd Levels
The obvious reason for such low ride times is low crowd levels.
Crowd levels in Disney parks are rated on a scale of 0-10. Between June 27-July 3, these levels ranged from lows of 2 to highs of 6. These are shockingly low crowd levels for the time of year.
And these low crowd levels are predicted to continue. We aren’t expecting to see crowd levels increase throughout the summer.
When predicting crowd levels for the rest of the summer, Touring Plans stated, “Lets face it. If this weekend [July 4th] didn’t turn crowds around at Walt Disney World…crowds aren’t going to turn around.”
All signs point to these lower crowd levels continuing in the short and longer term.
A trip to Walt Disney World doesn’t come cheap, and prices for entry tickets have only increased in recent years. This may explain why visitor numbers have declined so considerably.
But if you don’t mind shelling out a few extra bucks and you want to take advantage of low crowd levels and low ride times, then now is the best time to visit Walt Disney World in almost a decade.
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
Steve
Friday 21st of July 2023
Why shill for this vile corporation??