Why are wait times so short right now at Disneyland parks?

A trip to Disneyland is an exciting thing. Kids & adults look forward to a day of escape & fun on literal joyrides. However, as with all adventure parks, the wait times can be a real killjoy. If the majority of your time is spent standing in queues, it’s bound to be a bummer. 

In the post-pandemic world, it’s hard to enjoy crowded public places. We no longer subscribe to the idea of “the more, the merrier.” Instead, we seek places with fewer people, at a decent distance. As it turns out, the waiting times at the parks at Disneyland have dropped. 

Let’s dig deeper to find out what led to these shorter queues.

Why are the wait times so short for parks at Disneyland?

Touring Plans looked at 10 rides in all the Disneyland parks in California. The data they collected confirmed that the wait times on all the rides had dropped since 2019, including on popular rides like the Radiator Springs Racers, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventure, Soarin’, Peter Pan’s Flight, among others. 

The online reservation system seems to have something to do with this. Under the new online reservation system, no one can just show up — not even those with the annual pass, nor the ticketed park goers — but they all have to go through the online system & make a reservation. This obviously makes the whole attendance more predictable by a mile. 

This predictability, in turn, allows park operators to better manage the footfall on any given day. They can manage & distribute how many people stand in queues or walk through the turnstiles, and in the process prevent overcrowding of the park. When Disneyland parks seem to be nearing their capacity, the operators can halt admission. 

Why the online reservation at Disneyland parks?

In light of how socialization has changed since the pandemic, the reopening of adventure parks brought out serious concerns. In order to keep the occupancy rate manageable, the online system was put in place to align with the state health protocols. 

The parks adopted these reservation systems in order to reopen in April in compliance with state health protocols that limited occupancy. The state occupancy restrictions have since been lifted but the reservation systems remain.

Disney officials welcomed the move as it allowed them to spread out the attendance throughout the year, ensuring a pleasant, less crowded, and healthy experience for everyone involved. 

Are fewer people visiting the parks at Disneyland?

Of course, the first thought that jumps out for all of us is the pandemic. The public is likely to be holding out on their plans to have fun until the pandemic is far behind. People might be reluctant to expose themselves to social situations as new variants of the virus come up. Moreover, no one can fully enjoy it if they continue to be anxious about catching the virus. 

While this may be true for certain age groups, it’s also likely only a contributing factor, not the whole story. Other reasons behind shorter wait times & queues could include the delayed sales of annual passes. Called the Magic Key, this program will replace the previous virtual ticketing systems. Industry experts believe that the launch of this program could lead to more footfall, albeit gradually. 

There’s also a new queuing system called Disney Genie due to be implemented soon. It will be found in the My Disney Experience app & will consist of a personalized itinerary feature. Features like the Lightning Lane entrance can also help visitors skip the queues. 

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Without queues, the Disneyland experience is set to become more fun and relaxing for visitors.