As Disney World Grows More Popular Despite Capacity Restrictions, There Are New Lines To Worry About

If you go to a theme park you expect to stand in lines. There are lines for rides, lines for food, lines to get pictures with costumed characters or in front of major landmarks. Even with theme parks currently only allowing a fraction of their normal capacity, social distancing has made many lines physically longer than ever before. Although in many places they're shorter than normal when it comes to how long you have to actually stand in them. However, it seems that social distancing is also causing people to have to wait in lines in places they never have before, like hotel swimming pools.

That's apparently what's happening at least at some Walt Disney World Resort hotels, as The Points Guy reports that during a recent trip to Disney Yacht Club, a plan to spend the afternoon relaxing by the pool was somewhat thwarted by the fact that there was a line to get in. Due to the fact that social distancing is limiting how many people can be in the pool area at any one time, the demand exceeds the supply, which leads to either virtual queues being set up, or an actual physical line that guests will need to stand in.

Not every pool at every resort hotel is equal, so there's certainly no guarantee that you'll have to wait in line to get in the pool. CinemaBlend recently made a trip to Walt Disney World and just about 60 days ago, had no issues spending some time at the pool at the Coronado Springs Resort. However, as we head into the summer season when the pool is going to become even more popular, and as the parks are likely to become more popular, this has the potential to become an even bigger issue.

Of all the places to wait in line, wanting to use the pool sounds like about the least fun idea of all. One can imagine having a bunch of kids that want to go swimming standing in the sun and getting frustrated and everybody around them suffering because of it.

These days many ride lines actually move faster than ever. But that only happens because the attraction itself moves at a constant pace. Although at a swimming pool there's no telling how quickly a group will leave so you could find yourself standing in line a long time waiting for enough people to cycle out for you to get your turn.

Luckily, with more people becoming vaccinated one expects that Walt Disney World will slowly be able to increase its capacity all over the resort, and while that will likely mean longer lines for attractions, it will just as likely remove those lines at swimming pools and other places where, honestly, we shouldn't have to stand in a line.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian. Armchair Imagineer. Epcot Stan. Future Club 33 Member.