Labor Day Weekend and Capacity

It’s Labor Day Weekend, and we are experiencing something that we haven’t seen since the theme parks reopened. All four parks have reached capacity! We have not been told exactly what the capacity cutoff is at Walt Disney World. We do know that Wait Times are significantly longer than the past several weeks, especially at the parks that have fewer rides. There have been times when one park reached capacity, but this is different. The reservations for all four parks are at capacity in all three groups. If you plan to go and don’t have a reservation, you probably are not going to get in.

It’s not just Walt Disney World that has reached capacity, at least on Saturday. Universal Orlando Resort has reported that Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay are all at capacity. Unlike Walt Disney World, you do not need a reservation to get into the Universal parks. That has been advantageous in the past, especially for Passholders like me who were not able to get a Disney Park Pass reservation. Universal has been my backup park since Disney reopened. If we wanted to go to a theme park and couldn’t get a spot at Disney, we would head to Universal instead. This weekend, it doesn’t look like that’s a possibility.

As I write this, there are still reservations available all weekend at SeaWorld Orlando. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t close to the cutoff. SeaWorld has some incredible deals going on, it’s easy to spend the day there and not break the bank. My daughter is at SeaWorld today, and she said that there is a real difference in the crowd level.

Even if a theme park reaches capacity you can still have a great day at Walt Disney World. Make sure that you have the My Disney Experience app so that you can keep an eye on the Wait Times. Ride the things that are most important to you early in the day so that you won’t miss your favorites. Make sure you have water with you, because most of the queues are at least partially in the sun these days. You might want to bring an umbrella and create your own shade, it isn’t rude to use one in the line right now because of social distancing. Take some time off in the afternoon, find a shady spot along the route, and watch the Character Cavalcades. They are so much fun.

The parks might be at capacity, but remember that capacity is still limited. Disney and the other area parks are not going to let more people in than they think will be safe. Crowded right now is still nothing compared to crowded pre-COVID. If you’re there or planning on going this weekend, please follow the rules and stay safe. Happy Labor Day Weekend to all!