The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming, and the crowds are surging. Yes, it’s SPRING at Disney World!

Spring is when we typically see an influx of crowds in the parks, as folks across the country are on spring break and the weather is pleasant most days. Crowds have been surprisingly low lately, but that seems to be turning itself around. ?  Come along with us as we check out the CROWDS at Disney World!

We knew that today would be particularly busy when we checked the Park Pass Reservation calendar and saw that Magic Kingdom was sold out for the day. However, we decided to stick to the plan and head to Magic Kingdom ourselves. Was this a mistake? We’ll see!

Well, we ran into crowds before we even entered the parking lot. Yep, check out the entrance to the parking area! Now, we didn’t get too frazzled too soon. Sometimes, especially when it’s pretty early in the morning, the parking lot entrance can get backed up like this. It isn’t necessarily indicative of high crowds. However, since we knew that Magic Kingdom was sold out for the day, we didn’t necessarily have high hopes.

The Magic Kingdom parking area has trams that take you to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC), or you can opt to walk there. From the TTC, you’ll either hop on the Magic Kingdom monorail or take the ferry to get to the actual park. Before that, though, you’ll go through security.

Hi ? from the security line at the TTC! We get the feeling we may be here a while… pic.twitter.com/y6RDaUwqM5

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) March 25, 2024

Security was fairly busy this morning, with long lines. Usually, there’s a separate line for folks with strollers, but they opened the stroller line to help accommodate these larger crowds.

Once we took the monorail to Magic Kingdom, we were greeted with more crowds as folks were scanning into the parks! We will say, though, that we expected this area to be way busier. We’ve seen the lines here way worse on days that aren’t sold out in Magic Kingdom. So, at this point, we didn’t exactly know what we were in for…

…until we checked the Disney World app and realized that Genie+ was sold out for the Multi-Park option, Magic Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. ?  Genie+ is Disney’s skip-the-line service, which you can purchase each day if you’re hoping for shorter lines. You can buy the Multi-Park option which is good all day long if you’re visiting multiple parks with a Park Hopper ticket, or you can purchase a single park option. By noon, those Genie+ options we mentioned were SOLD OUT. This happens occasionally, but it usually only happens on SUPER busy days.

When we headed into the park, things didn’t seem too dire. However, we definitely ran into those crowds when we took a left off the Hub and headed to Adventureland.

What really told us all we needed to know about these crowds, though, was the fact that the line for Jungle Cruise was at the entrance to the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. You see, Jungle Cruise is off the main walking path throughout Adventureland and has its own little area of sorts before you enter the queue.

Describe this line for Jungle Cruise in one word WITHOUT using the word long. Aaaand GO! pic.twitter.com/We2W3R2sQl

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) March 25, 2024

This area is fairly large, and yet the line was STILL backed up to the Magic Carpets.

We had a brief respite as we headed into Liberty Square, but we found all those folks huddled by the Haunted Mansion, which was boasting a 70-minute wait. The Mansion typically has a 35 to 45-minute wait at mid-morning, so this was a long line to say the least.

Fantasyland, though, was INCREDIBLY busy. Fantasyland is where you’ll typically find younger kiddos and larger groups, as this area is where there are several family-friendly attractions grouped into one area.

What had our jaws on the floor was the line for Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid. Y’all. This ride is usually a walk-on, and we typically advise against using a Genie+ reservation for this one. THE LIGHTNING LANE LINE WAS INTO THE WALKING PATH OF FANTASYLAND! This is wild!

By the time we were finished walking through the park, Individual Lightning Lane options had sold out throughout Disney World as well. Individual Lightning Lanes (ILLs) are available at popular rides. You can purchase a single Lightning Lane for these without having Genie+. TRON Lightcycle Run, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance all sold out around noon.

Our best advice to you is that if you’re going to Disney World during this time of year and you know you want to purchase Genie+, purchase it as soon as it becomes available in the morning, which is at 12AM. You can buy Genie+ THAT early, but you’ll need to wait until 7AM to purchase any Lightning Lanes. A lot of folks don’t realize they can buy Genie+ that soon, and typically wait until 7 to buy it along with any ILLs they want for the day. DON’T WAIT!

Here are some of our other best tips for navigating big crowds at Disney World.

Take Advantage of Early Theme Park Entry

If you’re staying at a Disney World hotel (or any of the qualifying Good Neighbor hotels), you can get into every Disney World theme park a half hour before other guests. During that half hour, lines tend to be much shorter than you’ll see later in the day!

A half hour isn’t a super long time, but you can usually get on one or two popular rides before the crowds show up in full force.

We recommend being at the park entrance a full hour before the normal park opening time (so a half hour before Early Entry) to make sure that you can get through that entrance queue and into the park right when it opens.

Learn more about Early Entry here!

Use Genie+

The price of Genie+ (Disney’s skip-the-line service) varies depending on the day and season, and unfortunately, it will likely be its most expensive on the busiest days. Still, it might be worth making sacrifices elsewhere in the budget to make room for Genie+.

With this service, you can reserve your spot in Lightning Lanes throughout the day, which means you get to skip the standby line at those rides. That could save you HOURS of time waiting in line.

Genie+ can be a little bit tricky to navigate — make sure to check out our full guide before your vacation!

Click here to see our FULL GUIDE to Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes.

Use Mobile Order and Mobile Checkout

These two skip-the-line perks are completely FREE to use! You just need to have the My Disney Experience app downloaded on your phone.

Click the little “+” button at the bottom of the home screen to pull up a menu. You should see options to “Order Food” or “Merchandise Mobile Checkout.”

Mobile food order is how you can pre-order your food so that you don’t have to wait in line to order at the restaurant. You make your selections, set the pick-up time, and pay on the app. Then, when it’s close to your pick-up time, you hit a button letting Cast Members know you’re there, and voila! Lunch without the wait.

Mobile Order is available at most quick service restaurants in Disney World.

Click here to learn more about Mobile Order.

Mobile Checkout is for shopping. When you’ve picked out the souvenirs you want at a gift shop, you can skip the long lines at the cash registers and just check out on the app!

You’ll scan your items, pay, and then get a QR code, which you show to Cast Members at the door. They’ll give you a bag for your items, and then you’re good to go.

Note that not all gift shops have Mobile Checkout in Disney World, but most of the big ones do.

Click here to learn more about Mobile Checkout.

Go to the Parks Early and Stay Late

The best times for low ride wait times are early in the morning and later in the evening. We recommend being at the parks early (as soon as they open) in the morning, then finding somewhere to relax and wait out the crowds in the afternoon (maybe at a lounge or a table service restaurant), then returning to the park in the evening.

We typically see especially low wait times right before the parks close, about an hour prior to closing time.

We’re at Disney World every single day, so we’re always around to bring you all the best Disney news and updates. Be sure to follow along with us here at DFB so that you never miss a thing!

Looking for more ways to beat the crowds at Disney World? Consider rope dropping! View the pros and cons here.

Are you headed to Disney World soon? Let us know in the comments!