Disney Attendance Plunges to All-Time Low for 2025 as Visitors Report ‘Ghost Towns’ at Parks

Walt Disney World has logged its slowest three-week stretch of the year, with September shaping up to be the quietest month since 2021.

Crowd tracker data from mid-August through mid-September shows average waits of just 24 minutes per ride, according to aggregated times from Disney’s My Disney Experience app, compiled by Thrill-Data and analyzed by Disney Tourist Blog. That’s even shorter than waits during the July 4 holiday.

Visitors on TikTok described the parks as “ghost towns.” One user filming inside Magic Kingdom said, “I’m at Magic Kingdom right now, and this place is a tomb. There is literally nobody here. There is no wait time for anything. Space Mountain — walk on. Haunted Mansion — walk on. Pirates of the Caribbean — walk on. The longest I have even seen a wait time for … 30 minutes.”

Disney, for its part, paints a different picture. The company has reported mostly unchanged attendance figures, with recent earnings showing revenue growth. Some analysts suggest the shorter lines may be tied to Disney adjusting how many guests enter via Lightning Lane versus standby, easing congestion in regular queues.

Summer trends help explain the slump. August was the slowest full month of 2025 so far, averaging 28 minutes per ride, followed by July at 30 minutes. In September, weekends were busier than weekdays, reversing past trends and adding 10 to 12 minutes of wait time on average.

To lure visitors during the traditionally slow post-Labor Day weeks, Disney rolled out aggressive deals, including an $89-per-day three-park ticket (excluding Magic Kingdom), half-off children’s tickets, and the return of free dining for select packages.

On social media, some blamed high ticket prices or Disney’s politics for the slowdown, while others noted that Disneyland in California still appears crowded by comparison. The emptiest days in Orlando have consistently been “party days,” when Magic Kingdom closes early for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. Those dates often produce waits of just a few minutes. Hollywood Studios, by contrast, continues to post the longest waits resort-wide.

Experts also point to back-to-school schedules and peak hurricane season as key factors. Both Thrill-Data and Disney Tourist Blog note September is always among the quietest months at the parks, with analysts expecting a late-month bump as Florida residents use expiring discounted tickets, followed by a surge in October around Columbus Day.

At the same time, a growing number of millennials and Gen Xers are visiting Disney parks without kids, with experts saying the draw lies in comfort, community, and escape.

Despite viral claims of “empty” parks, Florida’s overall tourism numbers are still rising. Visit Florida estimates 34.4 million people visited the state from April through June — slightly higher than the same period in 2024.