How To ESCAPE the MAJOR Crowds at Disney World Today

Going to Disney World over a holiday is a double-edged sword.

Magic Kingdom

On the one hand, you can take time off of work and school, plus sometimes you can find travel deals to take advantage of. On the other hand, everyone else is thinking the same thing!

If you don’t like crowds, then a holiday might not be the best time for you to visit the Disney World parks. However, not all holidays are created equal! While Christmas and New Year’s are times when we can see the parks hit full capacity, there are plenty of smaller holidays throughout the year. But does a smaller holiday mean smaller crowds? We visited the parks today on President’s Day, and here’s what we saw!

This morning, the entrance crowds at Disney’s Hollywood Studios were already hopping at 9AM. It’s a sunny day, perfect for a day in the parks.

Hollywood Studios entrance

We noticed similar crowds over at Disney’s Animal Kingdom as guests headed in this morning. Lots of people were waiting in line to visit their favorite rides in the park.

Animal Kingdom entrance

Several rides have LONG wait times today in this park, including Expedition Everest at 85 minutes, Avatar: Flight of Passage at 195 minutes, and Navi River Journey at 110 minutes.

Expedition Everest queue

We saw lots of people heading over to Kilimanjaro Safaries, which had one of the shorter wait times of the big rides but was still at a 70-minute wait the last time we checked. High wait times continued in the other three Disney World parks as well.

Line for Kilimanjaro Safaris

While the parks were busy, this left the resorts fairly empty. If you want to take some time to escape the crowds you could always resort hop and enjoy some fresh air.

Boardwalk Resort

Disney’s Boardwalk Inn Resort was pretty empty this morning. Even the pool was quiet, which is rare at any time on a nice day!

Boardwalk pool

If you’d like to visit Disney during a holiday weekend while still avoiding the crowds, it can be done! Just be strategic in what times you are visiting the parks (get there 30 minutes before the park opens to be among the first people inside and on the rides), and remember you can always escape to a resort or Disney Springs for a break. There’s a lot to do at Disney Springs, from restaurants and shopping to attractions like the Aerophile balloon. And the resorts have lots of great restaurants, fun ambiance, and shopping as well. You can also hop in the pool at the resort where you’re staying!

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