Unprecedented Disney Gridlock Forces Guests Into 2-Hour Wait Before Reaching the Gates
For most Disney fans, long waits come with the territory. The ritual of arriving early, scanning entry queues, and plotting a strategy before sunrise is as familiar as spotting Mickey-shaped snacks or snagging parade curb space hours ahead of time.
The ebb and flow of seasonal travel usually makes this predictable. U.S. parks, especially Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, see holiday waves during Thanksgiving and Christmas, when guests pack in for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, Disney’s Jollywood Nights, EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, and the West Coast’s own Festival of the Holidays.
Many families also travel during summer and school breaks, leaving a rare and welcomed lull between Thanksgiving and winter vacations at domestic parks. International Disney resorts tend to mirror those rhythms, though this weekend offered a striking reminder that some regions are confronting crowd surges at a different scale entirely.
This time, the pressure point was in China, where Shanghai Disneyland faced hours-long lines before guests even reached the turnstiles.
Shanghai Disneyland Hits a Breaking Point
Shanghai Disneyland has been steadily climbing in global popularity since opening in 2016. The park welcomed its 100 millionth visitor in November, underscoring its evolution from a so-called “locals’ park” into one of Disney’s most powerful international destinations.
The shift coincides with major expansions, including the world’s first Zootopia-themed land. The land – which is undergoing updates ahead of the release of Zootopia 2 (2025) – has consistently pulled some of the park’s highest crowds, adding new pressure to marquee rides across the property.
Those rides already include some of the most ambitious attractions Disney has ever built: Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure, Roaring Rapids, and TRON Lightcycle Power Run. Family staples such as Peter Pan’s Flight, Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue, and the Duffy-themed character greetings draw their own loyal followings, broadening the audience beyond thrill-seekers.
Yet over the weekend, crowds spiked beyond ordinary peak-season levels. World Journal reports that guests were left waiting up to two hours just to enter the park. Even those arriving at 7 a.m. were still stuck around the lake at Wishing Star Park at 9 a.m. as cast members slowly filtered visitors through the gates.
Conditions inside offered little relief. Wait times reportedly hit at least 120 minutes for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, TRON Lightcycle Power Run, and Soaring Over the Horizon, with additional pressure rippling across Fantasyland and Treasure Cove.
These surges aligned with a five-day autumn break for schools in Zhejiang and Sichuan. With Wenzhou, Jinhua, Quzhou, and Zhoushan schools scheduled for breaks this week, officials expect heavy attendance to continue in the days ahead.
Shanghai Disneyland has been preparing for precisely this kind of strain. The resort recently confirmed plans to expand capacity for Soaring Over the Horizon and announced a new hotel, in addition to a third property already under construction along Wishing Star Lake.
The upcoming hotel will sit near the front of the park, becoming the closest onsite accommodation to the gates. The additional property under construction will add further onsite capacity while integrating with lakeside pathways, entertainment, and transportation.
Beyond lodging, a major expansion of the shopping and dining district is underway. The project will ultimately absorb spillover crowds, give guests more non-park options, and smooth congestion during peak periods.
With this news comes renewed rumors about the possibility of a new Disney park for Shanghai. A second gate would place Shanghai alongside Disneyland Resort, Disneyland Paris, and Tokyo Disney Resort, potentially transforming it into Asia’s next major multi-day Disney destination.
Are Bigger Crowds the New Normal?
Weekend attendance spikes are nothing new at the Disney park, yet Shanghai’s latest bottleneck raises questions about what the future looks like for one of Disney’s fastest-growing properties.
With new attractions, major films, and an expanding Duffy fanbase (one willing to wait 14 hours for new merch) driving demand, the resort appears headed toward a sustained period of heavy visitation.
Would you brave the wait times at Shanghai Disneyland?
