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This week, the Orlando Sentinel reported that Orlando International Airport broke a single-day record for the most passengers. On Saturday, March 16, more than 200,000 passengers passed through Orlando’s busiest airport. But now it appears that they were all leaving.
Reports show that Walt Disney World has been virtually empty all week. Rides and attractions that usually see triple-digit wait times during Spring Break are below 20 minutes, while other rides have no wait times at all.
Where is everyone??? Isn’t it spring break #disneyworld pic.twitter.com/Mkp0zggzsD
— The Disney Dude (@TheDisDude1) March 21, 2024
Related: Disney World is Empty Now, and It’s Only Going to Get Worse Next Year
Last week saw wall-to-wall Spring Break crowds, with most popular attractions having wait times of more than 90 minutes, but this week’s attendance has fallen off a cliff.
For this time of year at Walt Disney World, the crowd ratings are usually seven or eight. However, this saw crowd ratings of two or three. Despite the lower crowds, the price of Disney Disney Plus Lightning Lane passes has remained near its all-time high.
The cost for multiple parks and the Magic Kingdom was $35, Hollywood Studios was $32, EPCOT was $28, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom was $25.
Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane / Images Credit: Disney
Related: Hey Iger, It’s the Prices That Are Keeping Disney World Attendance Down
But what has accounted for this sudden drop in Spring Breakers at Disney World? A similar phenomenon happened last summer when Disney World attendance suddenly and inexplicably fell for weeks.
The school calendars in the Midwest and East probably have a lot to do with it. Easter is early this year, and most schools base their Spring Break calendars around that.
But despite the oddity in the calendar this year, this drop in attendance so quickly after such a significant rush of visitors. These are lows rarely seen at the Walt Disney World Resort. Two and three crowd levels are only seen in early January or mid-September after school starts again.
Yesterday, 3/21/2024, #DisneyWorld Crowd Levels:
⭐ Overall: 3/10
🏰 MK: 3
🌐 EP: 3
🎬 DHS: 3
🌳 AK: 3Highest wait: Avatar Flight of Passage, 120 min pic.twitter.com/LE3I4jL6oV
— WDW Passport (@WDWPassport) March 22, 2024
But you better do it now if you want to get on your favorite ride at the Magic Kingdom. Easter weekend is a week away, and Walt Disney World expects the crowds to pick back up as the Northeast enters Spring Break season. So enjoy the low crowds now. It’s not going to last that much longer.
And if it does, Disney will have more significant issues to worry about. With a proxy battle coming in early April, Bob Iger needs to ensure that the company’s flagship parks are packed at one of the busiest times of the year.
How have the crowds been the last two weeks at Disney World? Let us know in the comments.
Who is still paying top dollar to stand in line for an hour or longer to get on a 3 or 4 minute ride? Crazy!
personally I wish it would stay slow like this. It wasnt totally dead today , waits were 10 minutes to 25 minutes for the ones we rode. there were definately enough people there to make every ride, parade, store Etc busy enough to keep the place gong
Can confirm that the parks were EMPTY last week (March 17-22). Remy saw a 40 min wait in the afternoon at Epcot. And Avatar FOP was 30 min mid day. The 1p VQ for TRON was open at 6p on Friday. But the Genie and ILL prices? They were peak – $35 and $37 for MK during the week with crazy low crowds.