See What Magic Kingdom Looks Like When Park Passes Are SOLD OUT

It’s springtime at Disney World, which means we’re welcoming warmer weather, new snacks and treats, and the CROWDS!

It probably comes as no surprise that spring is when we see the crowds start to flock to Disney World. Schools across the nation are released for spring break, and a lot of folks are trying to get their magical vacation out of the way before those summer temperature hits. For a while, the parks were surprisingly empty for the spring break season. However, we think those cross might be officially arriving.

We knew that today was likely going to be a very busy day from the moment we woke up and checked the park pass availability calendar. Magic Kingdom was sold out for the day, and that’s exactly where we were headed. Nevertheless, we persisted!

When we were heading into Magic Kingdom, we were instantly greeted with quite a long line of cars as we were headed to the parking area.

It’s gonna be a BUSY day in Disney World today…now’s the time to put all of your Disney knowledge to work! Book those Genie+ rides, place those mobile orders, and hit up those lesser-known hidden gems! We’ve GOT this, people! pic.twitter.com/mx7MVJs35I

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) March 25, 2024

Of course, this is somewhat typical for the morning time. We weren’t getting nervous about crowds just yet for this exact reason.

Once we made it to Magic Kingdom parking, we took the tram to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC). You can also walk, but we were trying to save our steps for the time in the park! At the TTC, you’ll go through security check point before either taking the Monorail OR the ferry to Magic Kingdom.

The security lines were pretty long, but the guards made hit bearable by allowing ALL guests to go through a line that’s typically reserved for those with strollers.

After taking the Monorail to Magic Kingdom, we were greeted with surprisingly short waits to scan into the park! So far, so good!

Things continued to go well until we reached Adventureland. Yes, it was then that we were greeted by dense crowds and an abnormally long line for Jungle Cruise. It went all the way to the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, which is pretty wild, considering the fact that Jungle Cruise has a pretty expansive queue area.

This just begs the question…how long is TOO long to wait for Jungle Cruise in Magic Kingdom?? pic.twitter.com/9A0sX4RmqH

— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) March 25, 2024

Things didn’t get much better when we entered Liberty Square, either. The line for Haunted Mansion was at 70 minutes, when it’s usually 35 to 40 minutes at this time of day.

Fantasyland was especially dense, which isn’t unusual. The area is home to a lot of family-friendly attractions — all in one condensed area.

What was unusual, though, was the line for Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid. This ride is usually a walk-on, and the Lightning Lane (fast line) was out into the middle of the Fantasyland walkway.

All of this started to make even more sense when we checked the Disney World app and realized that Genie+ had sold out for the Multi-Park, Magic Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios option. Genie+ is Disney’s skip-the-line service, which allows you to hop in the Lightning Lane line at each attraction for a much shorter wait.

If you don’t want to purchase Genie+, you can opt for an Individual Lightning Lane (ILL), which allows you to pay to skip the line at just one of the available attractions. By this point, the ILL had sold out for ALL of the available rides, which are TRON Lightcyle / Run, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Avatar: Flight of Passage, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

So…if you’re headed to Disney World during the busier months and want to combat the crowds, buy Genie+ as early as possible if you know you want to utilize the skip-the-line service. It becomes available each day at 12AM. On the other hand, ILLs aren’t available until 7AM, and those tend to go fast. Most folks don’t realize that Genie+ is early before 7, though, so it’s a good idea to snag it as soon as it becomes available!

We’re at Disney World every day, so make sure to follow along so that you’re always in the loop!

Looking for more insight as to what Disney World looks like in the spring? Click here to see wait times! 

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

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