Disney World is open 365 days a year, closing so infrequently that when it does shut down, it's a news event. Only five hurricanes have ever threatened the park enough to get it to close its gates. That said, sometimes there are special circumstances that cause the park to limit access—things like overcrowding or special events can cause the park to prevent entry for newly arriving guests or even to remove people from the park. Here are some instances when park closures occur and how to plan around it.
What Exactly are Park Closures?
Sometimes a Disney Park has to close due to crowding. There are four phases of limited access, from a Phase 1 (where people with one-day, one-park passes and "Magic Your Way" tickets are turned away) to a Phase 4 (where nobody has access until a significant number of people has left the park). These closures seem to most often affect the Magic Kingdom and can cause traffic snarls as people refuse to accept the situation. What can you do?
- Use a Crowd Calendar
The easiest closure-avoidance planning is going to happen before you leave. Walt Disney World tends to plan things out well in advance—after all, it has a reputation to uphold. Visitors would be wise to follow suit. You can find crowd calendars with all sorts of information on them, from park hours to attraction closures to projected crowd intensity based on decades of collecting data. One of the most informative versions we've come across is from Kenny the Pirate. These calendars have useful information in general, but they're particularly helpful when trying to avoid closures. One of the big sources of closures, "Grad Nites," are no longer happening in Florida—though they still are at Disneyland in California—but you still want to check for similar events. Some common sense rules also apply. Disney World is busiest in early-to-mid summer and right around Christmas. While there may not be an off-season per se, there are still times that are more opportune than others during which to visit. - Sneak in Through Epcot
Typically, Epcot and its parking lot fill up after some of the other areas of the resort. Once you're in Epcot, you might be able to catch a monorail into the Magic Kingdom. Even if you can't, you're already inside of a Disney World park, and there's plenty to do there.
Of course, you can't always predict when crowding will occur, but you can be prepared. Here are some other good practices to avoid crowding:
- Check for Attraction Closings
Similar to a crowd calendar, you can also check for closings of specific attractions. An entire online culture has sprung up around optimizing your Walt Disney World experience, between megafans and travel agents counting on you to want their expertise. Whether you want to become that obsessive in your trip planning or not, you can certainly take advantage of the people who are. The wonderful people behind Mouse for Less have a great ride closure compilation list. - Go Earlier in the Day
While people are sleeping and having character breakfasts, you can be out there getting your Splash Mountain on with nobody to stop you. - Watch Out for Extra Magic Hours
Extra Magic Hours are only available to guests staying in the park's hotels and resorts. That's still quite a lot of people, and many of them are going to take advantage of extra park time. Those hours can be early in the morning or late at night, but your best chances for low crowds are in the waning hours of a park's day. Really, the more willing you are to both arrive early and stay up late, the more you'll get out of your Disney visit.
