We’re here to share a BIG Disney World update!

Since the parks reopened last summer, Disney World has been operating at a limited capacity. This ensures that all guests are able to uphold Disney’s health and safety procedures as best as possible, especially social distancing. Park capacity has increased since the reopening, from 25% to 35% back in November. And today, we learned that park capacity is increasing again!

During the Quarterly Earnings Call, CEO of the Walt Disney Company Bob Chapek announced that Disney has “already started to increase our capacities.” He specified that these increases are in line with guidance by both the CDC and the Florida government.

Chapek did not clarify what the new capacity percentage was — or even state outright that it was above the previous 35% threshold — but he did vaguely explain that there would be “an immediate increase in the number of folks that we’re able to admit into our parks through our reservation system.” We’ll be sure to let you know as soon as an exact number is announced.

We saw crowds increase during spring break, and Disney has continued making changes to ensure smooth-running operations in relation to the number of guests visiting the parks. For example, plexiglass barriers have been added to many attractions to allow more guests to ride at one time.

What does this increase mean for the return of services like FastPass+? As park capacity increases, naturally, so will wait times for attractions. Although wait times can be reasonably short on quiet days, they can sometimes quite long when the parks are busy. Will Disney have to make more changes to combat the effect of more guests on wait times? We’ll have to wait and see.

This idea can also be applied to Mobile Order dining. Since most counter service locations are all but requiring Mobile Order, we’ve seen really significant wait times to retrieve food orders. For a service that once made ordering your food quicker, it’s possible that guests might find themselves waiting even longer as capacity increases.

Disney has already begun its return to “normal” in other ways, from changes to its mask policy to the phased elimination of temperature checks. We’ll be sure to provide more updates as they become available, so check back with us!

Read About Disney’s Elimination of Temperature Checks

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Have you visited Disney World since it reopened? Tell us in the comments!

The post BREAKING: Disney World Is Quietly Increasing Park Capacity first appeared on the disney food blog.