We cover Disney parks. We cover the food, the atmosphere, the best places to grab a snack before rope drop.
We also cover what it actually looks like to try to get to a Disney park right now, which is where things get complicated. Because this week gave us two separate stories about political figures enjoying Disney parks and one very real story about the government shutdown making it genuinely difficult for regular guests to travel to those same parks. We are covering all three. In order of how much they affect your actual trip planning.
Ivanka Trump Hit Disneyland Paris While Her Father Threatened Iran
TMZ reported that Ivanka Trump was at Disneyland Paris on Tuesday with her children, riding rides and doing the full theme park experience with a security detail that included at least one guard posted outside an attraction with an earpiece while she was inside. The group rode Crush’s Coaster, the spinning Finding Nemo themed roller coaster, and came off it looking, per an eyewitness, “grinning ear-to-ear.” They also reportedly hit the Tower of Terror, the thirteen-story drop ride. So they were not messing around with the lineup.
View this post on Instagram
The timing is the part TMZ made sure to note. The footage was taken approximately thirty minutes after President Trump posted on Truth Social threatening Iran’s “whole civilization.” Jared Kushner, Ivanka’s husband, has been actively involved as a key negotiator in the Iran conflict. Trump subsequently reached a two-week ceasefire agreement with Iran just before a self-imposed deadline.
TMZ also pointed out that this is very on-brand for Ivanka’s current approach to her father’s second term. She has kept significant public distance from his administration and has largely stayed out of the day-to-day politics of the White House. Disneyland Paris with the kids while geopolitics spirals fits that posture exactly.
Also: Senator Lindsey Graham Was at Chef Mickey’s
We have covered Chef Mickey’s extensively and with great affection. The character dining experience at Disney’s Contemporary Resort is chaotic in the best way and the food is genuinely solid. So we say this with some warmth: Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina was photographed at Chef Mickey’s during congressional recess, seated in a back corner table with an unidentified younger woman and a child, with Disney characters and cast members doing their thing around him.
PHOTOS: Lindsey Graham vacationing at Disney World amid shutdown 📸https://t.co/fwzuZSiNkR
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 29, 2026
TMZ published the photos as part of a broader project documenting members of Congress living their best lives during recess while the government shutdown continues. Wyoming Senator John Barrasso and Texas Senator Ted Cruz were also captured traveling. But the Graham photos were the ones that went viral, because there is something specifically striking about a senator getting his coffee topped off by Disney cast members while TSA officers are going without pay at the airports his constituents use.
Graham responded to TMZ directly: “I voted 7 times to fully fund the government. Call a Democrat.”
He also said he had been in South Florida meeting with Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s international relations envoy, to discuss the potential normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, before making the Disney World stop to see friends. He confirmed he was already back in South Carolina.
The Part That Actually Affects Your Disney Trip
Okay. Here is the thing that matters most if you are planning a Disney vacation right now.
The government shutdown is in its sixth week. TSA officers are essential employees and cannot stop working, but they are working without pay. The staffing pressure that creates is showing up as extreme wait times at major airports across the country. And multiple airports are now telling passengers to arrive four to five hours before their flights. That is not standard advice. That is an emergency advisory.
The specifics: Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport reported average TSA wait times approaching three hours. George Bush Intercontinental in Houston reported 51-minute waits. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta and Louis Armstrong New Orleans both reported approximately one-hour average wait times. Charlotte Douglas reported 47 minutes. At Atlanta, those delays stacked on top of weather cancellations representing about four percent of the day’s schedule.
The Homeland Security X account posted: “3 HOUR WAIT TIMES. TSA officers are not the only ones paying the price for the Democrats’ DHS shutdown. Now, the American people are facing THREE hour wait times at airports. Democrats do not care about TSA officers going without pay, and they do not care about the millions of Americans missing flights and facing delays because of this reckless DHS shutdown.”
Chris Sununu, CEO of Airlines for America, added: “As TSA officers are facing a $0 paycheck this week, we are seeing firsthand the significant strains that the current DHS shutdown is causing across the aviation system. The shutdown is having very real consequences, and hardworking federal aviation workers, the airline industry and our passengers are being used as a political football once again. This is simply unacceptable.”
TSA PreCheck is still running. If you have it, use it. Global Entry is suspended though, so international arrivals are going through standard customs lanes. For guests flying into Orlando International Airport from abroad, that adds time to an arrival process that already includes baggage and resort transportation.
What You Actually Need to Do Before Your Trip
If you are flying to Walt Disney World or Disneyland in the next few weeks, the airport is where your trip can go wrong before it even starts. A morning flight intended to get you to the parks by afternoon has almost no cushion if a two-hour security delay pushes departure back. An evening flight calculated for a Disney Springs dinner becomes a late arrival with nothing left in the tank. The first day of a Disney trip is the most logistically loaded and losing it at the security checkpoint affects everything that follows.
The cleanest solution is flying in the day before your first park day. If that is not possible, get to the airport earlier than feels reasonable, check your departure airport’s social media the morning of travel for current wait time conditions, and have a plan if things run long.
The political figures at the Disney parks this week had security escorts and motorcades and private airport access. Most of us are standing in the TSA line with everyone else. Plan accordingly.
We are tracking the airport situation and will update as things change. Our full Disney travel guide is on the site with current advisory information for both coasts. Check it before you leave for the airport, and then check back in when you are at the park and ready to talk about where to eat first. That is where we shine.
Have you been navigating the airport chaos on your way to a Disney park this week? Tell us how it went in the comments.
