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Magic Kingdom Turns Into Ghost Town as Crowds Vanish

cinderella castle disney world
Credit: Disney

Magic Kingdom without the crowds? Are we in the Twilight Zone?

Walt Disney World Resort is home to four theme parks– Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT– but none are more popular than Magic Kingdom Park. Home to many iconic sights and lands, such as Main Street, U.S.A., Cinderella Castle, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Liberty Square, Frontierland, and Adventureland, Magic Kingdom welcomes in millions of Disney Park Guests each and every year.

Magic Kingdom VIP Tour

Credit: Disney

Disney Adults who have visited Magic Kingdom enough know that the crowds, at least most of the time, are worse than any of the other Disney World theme parks. Guests crowd Main Street, U.S.A., looking for the perfect photo-op. There are crowds several times throughout the day, especially when Guests gather around the theme park to take in the Festival of Fantasy Parade or finish their night with a viewing of Happily Ever After, the returning nighttime spectacular that takes place every evening at Cinderella Castle.

While it should be expected that you’ll have to deal with crowds in the Disney World Park when you visit, Guests who visited Magic Kingdom recently were treated to a bit of a surprise.

guests with mickey mouse

Credit: Disney

As Disney World Guests completely crowded Disney’s Hollywood Studios in celebration of May 4th, Magic Kingdom essentially turned into a Ghost Town. As you can see in the screenshot below from the My Disney Experience app, the majority of waits stayed on the lower side for the majority of the day. Many popular attractions boasted 5-minute waits or less, with the longer waits for rides like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Space Mountain holding a 30-minute wait.

For reference, these screenshots were taken in the late afternoon. Wait times, obviously, fluctuate throughout the day and can change based on times, but this shows just how light crowds were in the Park on May 4th compared to normal. This would be one of the few times that you’d likely not need Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane services to enjoy the vast majority of attractions at Magic Kingdom, as lines were low and crowds were sparse.

My Disney Experience App showing Magic Kingdom Park wait times on May 4th

Credit: My Disney Experience

Of course, we wouldn’t expect things to stay like this.

Wait times are back up significantly for popular attractions today, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, and Peter Pan’s Flight, which all boast more than a 45-minute wait.

As we get closer to the summer, crowds will continue to rise. The summer is one of the busiest times of the year for Walt Disney World Resort, and likely, we’ll start to see a slight dip in late-August or early-September before things pick back up again.

About Brittni Ward

Brittni is a Disney and Universal fan; one of her favorite things at both parks is collecting popcorn buckets. While at Disney World Resort, Brittni meets the princesses and rides Kilimanjaro Safaris. At Universal, Brittni enjoys the Minions and watching Animal Actors on Location! When not at Disney World Resort or Universal Orlando, Brittni spends time with her family and pets.