Will Parks Close Due to Crowds During Christmas ?

[Donald Duck]

This is the 1st time we are going to WDW for the week between Christmas and New Years.

I know it will be crowded but will it be so crowded that they will temporarily close a park due to crowds in the morning ?

We weren't planning on getting to the parks when they open.

Do we need to ?

Thanks.

[Bass T-bone]

I think it depends on which park you want to see. The only problem you might have with a closing is the Magic Kingdom, all the other parks should be fine. I have been to WDW around Christmas before and they closed the Magic Kingdom around noon.

[Donald Duck]

I think it depends on which park you want to see. The only problem you might have with a closing is the Magic Kingdom, all the other parks should be fine. I have been to WDW around Christmas before and they closed the Magic Kingdom around noon.

Thanks.

We plan on getting to the park around 9:00 am or 10:00 am the latest.

Since the parks are open late and with EMH we didn't want to get there before the parks open since we will probably staying late each night.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

If you stay on site you are guaranteed entry to one of the parks (not necessarily your choice)...however, if you want to go to the Magic Kingdom I'd suggest getting there when they open because they may very well reach capacity by 1000 am

[goofy-4-disney]

I went to WDW between christmas and new years a few years ago and every park was VERY crowded. MK reached capacity almost every day we were there, some of those days by 10 am. After a few days of fighting the crowds we decided our time was best served visiting all the resorts and looking at their christmas decorations. We followed the same logic for the parks halfway through as well, and if we saw a ride/attraction that didn't have a wait that was extremely long we'd stop and do that.

[Donald Duck]

If you stay on site you are guaranteed entry to one of the parks (not necessarily your choice)...however, if you want to go to the Magic Kingdom I'd suggest getting there when they open because they may very well reach capacity by 1000 am

Thanks.

We are staying on-site.
I'll make sure we get to the MK as early as we can.
What about DIsney Studios, the smallest of the parks, does that fill up ?

[Melanie]

If you stay on site you are guaranteed entry to one of the parks (not necessarily your choice)...however, if you want to go to the Magic Kingdom I'd suggest getting there when they open because they may very well reach capacity by 1000 am

I believe it's guaranteed to a point. If I'm remembering correctly, there are certain levels of closure, like day guests, resort guests, etc. Hopefully someone can clarify that.

If recent crowds are any indication, I have no doubt parks will be closing for capacity. There have already been instances this month of the MK reaching capacity.

[DizneyRox]

The bad news is, they will most likely reach some sort of closure, and i wouldn't bet against Phase 4, which is nobody is allowed. I' guessing both MK and Epcot will reach it, and probably MGM as well, but probably not phase 4.

The good news is, you don't want to be in a park that's at Phase 4 anyway.

My advice has always been, if you want to be in a park on a holiday, plan on getting there before opening and staying until you want to leave. Don't plan on leaving unless you are 100% done visiting parks that day. ADRs will not get you into a closed park, even pre-paid ones like CRT, etc.

[WDWfanatic742]

Magic Kingdom got close to capacity in the afternoon last year basically every day between Christmas and New Years, usually getting to the third phase. Epcot usually gets close to capacity on New Years Eve, and the other two parks get close to capacity during the week between Christmas and New Years but don't usually end up closing. The phases are:

Phase 1: Parking lot is closed to anyone with Magic Your Way base tickets or Single Day/Single Park Tickets, guests without admission, and Cast Members using certain types of CM admission.

---I'm guessing that during Phase 2-4 the parking lot is closed to everyone...

Phase 2: Disney Resort guests, Passholders, guests with park hopper tickets, and guests re-entering the same park on the same day using Disney resort transportation are only admitted.

Phase 3: Disney Resort guests and Passholders using Disney transportation only admitted.

Phase 4: Closed to everyone.

This year looks to be even more busy than last year, so expect to go to the parks early in the morning to have a good chance to be admitted.

[Donald Duck]

There's seems to be a varied opinion on what time the parks would close (10:00 am, 12:00 pm, afternoon...)

What about EMH's ? How is that going to affect the parks closing ?
I would think that a park with a morning EMH would close before a park having a evening EMH.
We plan on going to parks with evening EMH only. We are there for 7 days and for 6 of them, the park we plan to go to has an evening EMH.

[WDWfanatic742]

You could take a chance at noon, but I would get there as soon as I could. The latest I would arrive would be 10am, and even then I wouldn't be comfortable with it. The lines are going to be packed, and the sooner you can get there, the lighter the crowds will be.

Just be aware that most people will be following your plan of going to the evening EMH park and it will probably be busier than a non-EMH day that week...

[Donald Duck]

You could take a chance at noon, but I would get there as soon as I could. The latest I would arrive would be 10am, and even then I wouldn't be comfortable with it. The lines are going to be packed, and the sooner you can get there, the lighter the crowds will be.

Just be aware that most people will be following your plan of going to the evening EMH park and it will probably be busier than a non-EMH day that week...

WDWfanatic742,

The lastest we would get to a park would be 10:00 am.
Most days we will probably eat BF in the food court of the CSR.
But we have a few ADR's for BF. One is during the week between Christmas and New Years. We have a 9:00 am ADR for BF then we were planning on going to Disney Studios.
Now I'm thinking of not going to BF because DS might be closeed by the time we get there.

[WDWfanatic742]

I just looked at a site really quick and last year the Magic Kingdom closed three times with one of those on New Year's Eve which was closed from 10am to about 9pm in phase 3. Only once out of those three times during the week did MK close to all guests and then it reopened to everyone by 3pm. DS and AK only went into phase two and three once each and reopened a few hours later.

Unless the breakfast ADR is on Christmas or New Years Eve or Day, you should be okay.

[Donald Duck]

I just looked at a site really quick and last year the Magic Kingdom closed three times with one of those on New Year's Eve which was closed from 10am to about 9pm in phase 3. Only once out of those three times during the week did MK close to all guests and then it reopened to everyone by 3pm. DS and AK only went into phase two and three once each and reopened a few hours later.

Unless the breakfast ADR is on Christmas or New Years Eve or Day, you should be okay.

Thanks WDWfanatic742 !
BF ADR is not on a holiday.
Can you send me the site address that shows when the parks were closed in a private message ?