Busy Times Ahead - Prepare for Park Closures due to Capacity



Not a Disney Crowd,
but you get the idea!

If you are traveling to Walt Disney World during peak times, particularly over Christmas and Spring Breaks be prepared for the parks to close due to capacity.
Disney World closes in stages based on crowd conditions.  On busy days, you can expect the parks, particularly Magic Kingdom to close in stages as follows:

• Stage 1 - Parking lot closures.  You can only access the parks if you use Disney Transportation.
• Stage 2 - Ticket booths closures.  No new tickets will be sold, but previously issued tickets can be used.
• Stage 3 -  Things start getting serious!  Only Disney resort guests can enter the park or those guests with an Annual Pass.
• Stage 4 - Really serious!  The park is closed to new guests.

Turnstile counters are used to monitor traffic in the park, so Disney knows exactly how many people have entered each day. You can expect the staged closures to increase through the late morning and early afternoon.  The park will also re-open in stages as crowd levels drop.  It should be noted that each stage kicks in based on a specific head count, so once the park closes, the total head count has to fall below a certain number before it will re-open.  Do not expect to be allowed in the moment you see a family the same size as yours exit.

So what does this mean to you?

• BEWARE OF DINING RESERVATIONS! If a park is closed and you have a dining reservation you will not get in!  No matter how much you beg...even if you have proof of your reservation.  Having to come up with alternate meal plans is no fun - being charged a no show fee because you failed to show up for you lunch reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table is really not fun.  If you have a dining reservations in a park that may close due to capacity, get there early and do not leave.
• CONSIDER PARK HOPPING!  If you leave a park for a mid day break and it closes in your absence, you will not be able to re-enter.  If you only have a base ticket, then you are out of luck!  If you have a park hopper you can atleast cruise over to another park. 
• GET THERE EARLY!  You won't get kicked out if you are already inside, so get there early and stay put!
• BE SMART! - The Magic Kingdom will likely close first, so if you are park hopping make that your first stop.  Animal Kingdom is the least likely to close, so let that be your stand by or afternoon park.