Finding out how many people visit Disney World in a day is not as easy as a quick google search. Disney doesn’t release daily numbers for the Disney parks. They don’t even release yearly attendance numbers of their parks.
So how do we figure this out? One of the best ways to figure out the attendance of the Disney parks is by using the Global Attractions Attendance Report from a consulting firm called AECOM.
AECOM teams up with Themed Entertainment Association (TEM) to release their yearly report. The highly anticipated report not only includes Disney World, but also attendance from Universal Studios and all the Disney Parks from around the world.
Disney World Daily Attendance Numbers
These numbers do not include the water parks, special events, or people who are visiting a Walt Disney World Resort alone. Keep in mind, the average daily visits are just that – average. The number of people visiting the parks during Christmas or over spring break will be much higher than a random Tuesday in late September.
2019 Disney World Attendance
In 2019, Walt Disney World brought in 58.77 million guests.
Magic Kingdom: 20.963 million
Animal Kingdom: 13.89 million
EPCOT: 12.44 million
Hollywood Studios: 11.48 million
If we do some basic math we can figure out how many people visited each park on average. Each day in 2019 161,013 guests visited a Disney World Park:
Magic Kingdom: 57,424 guests
Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 38,054 guests
EPCOT: 34,082 guests
Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 31,452 guests
2020 and 2021 Disney World Attendance
Of course, 2020 brought the pandemic and with it massively skewed attendance numbers for a couple of years. Many people postponed their Disney vacation. In 2022 things started returning back to normal. It also brought the 50th Anniversary Celebration! The return to normal brought higher crowd levels, higher average wait time for rides, and more people.
2022 Disney World Daily Attendance
In 2022 there were increases in the Walt Disney World attendance from the previous year. The total number of annual guests in 2022 was 47.05 million visitors. The Magic Kingdom had a 35% increase in attendance over 2021!
Magic Kingdom: 17.13 million
Animal Kingdom: 9.02 million
EPCOT: 10 million
Hollywood Studios: 10.9 million
The daily breakdown for 2022 would look something like this:
Magic Kingdom: 46,731 guests
Animal Kingdom: 24,712 guests
EPCOT: 27,397 guests
Hollywood Studios: 29,863 guests
2023 Disney World Daily Attendance
2023 average daily attendance numbers have not been released yet. You may have seen headlines from websites claiming “Disney World is A Ghost Town” or “Disney World Attendance Plunges.”
If you are the type of person that keeps an eye on wait times and news coming out of Orlando, it did seem that days that we anticipated higher crowds simply did not happen. We are anxious to see the 2023 numbers reports to see if the Disney World Parks have actually seen a decline from 2022. We can say with a high level of confidence that the Walt Disney World them parks average attendance is not back to to pre-pandemic levels.
At publishing time, spring break 2024 is finishing up. While wait times certainly increased and Genie+ sold out many times, the high attendance season seemed to be much shorter than last year.
Disney World Maximum Capacity
It is challenging to find out what the actual max capacity of each of the Disney Parks are. After some research, most people seem to agree on the following numbers:
Disney Parks maximum capacity:
Magic Kingdom Capacity: between 85,000-100,000
Animal Kingdom Capacity: approximately 60,000
EPCOT Capacity: approximately 110,000
Hollywood Studios Capacity: approximately 60,000
Tips For The Best Time To Go To Disney World
Here are other tips to help you navigate daily attendance at Disney parks:
- Days with reduced park hours due to special events will have lower attendance
- Parks with new attractions will have higher attendance than the other parks
- Some single days will bring insane crowds – for example, Hollywood Studios Galaxy’s Edge will have one of its busiest times of the year on May 4th.
- The EPCOT Food and Wine Festival brings in locals on the weekends. Try to visit EPCOT during the week if you are visiting during this festival.
- Most people agree that the busiest day at Magic Kingdom is Monday. Magic Kingdom is also the most visited theme park-
- Summer months used to be the busiest season, but that is no longer the case.
If you find yourself at Disney World during a time with large crowds don’t despair. You can still have a magical time! And perhaps be extra kind to the Disney cast members.
Figure out how to use Genie+. Of course, high attendance days will cause a high price for Genie+ but it will be worth it – especially in the Magic Kingdom. Mentally factor it into your ticket price before you go so you are prepared. Take a break from the crowds and head back to your hotel to swim for a bit.
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