Lines are part of the package at any Disney park, yet guests recently found themselves waiting hours before they even reached the gates.Any Disney regular will tell you that there are good and bad times to visit the parks in terms of crowds. Holidays almost always bring some of the densest crowds to Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, particularly Thanksgiving and Christmas, with guests flocking to enjoy the likes of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, Disney’s Jollywood Nights, EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, and Disney Festival of the Holidays over on the West Coast.Credit: Nicholas Fuentes, UnsplashParks also typically experience higher attendance during the summer months and any other period when schools are on break. That’s why Disney World often experiences a lull in the weeks between Thanksgiving and the beginning of the winter vacation.Disney parks beyond the U.S. experience similar patterns, as proven by the crowds at Shanghai Disneyland over the weekend.Credit: Shanghai DisneylandGuests Forced To Wait 2+ Hours to Enter Shanghai DisneylandShanghai Disneyland, which opened in 2016, has become one of Disney’s strongest international performers. The resort reached a historic visitation milestone this year, having welcomed its 100 millionth visitor. Shanghai has long been considered a “locals’ park,” yet its growing national appeal has pushed the resort closer to peak capacity more frequently than in its early years.The park’s rising popularity also follows the success of its major expansions, including the opening of the world’s first Zootopia-themed land. The land – which is undergoing some updates to celebrate the upcoming release of Zootopia 2 (2025) – continues to draw some of the highest crowds at the resort, contributing to elevated wait times across the park as guests cluster around marquee attractions.But over the weekend, guests had to wait several hours before even being able to join these lines.According to World Journal, guests were left waiting up to two hours to enter the theme park. Even those who arrived as early as 7 a.m. found themselves waiting around the lake of Wishing Star Park at 9 a.m. as cast members continued to filter visitors through the gates.Credit: DisneyThe situation wasn’t much more pleasant inside the park. Guests reported wait times of at least 120 minutes for popular attractions, such as Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Tron Lightcycle Power Run, and Soaring Over the Horizon.This crowding came as many schools in Zhejiang and Sichuan went on a five-day autumn break. With schools in Wenzhou, Jinhua, Quzhou, and Zhoushan also set to go on break this week, heavy crowds will likely continue through the week.Shanghai Disneyland has stepped up its efforts to manage swelling visitor numbers. The park recently confirmed plans to boost capacity for Soaring Over the Horizon and revealed that a new hotel is on the way, joining a third property already under construction.Credit: DisneyThese expansion plans mark one of the most aggressive growth periods for the resort since its 2016 debut. The new hotel will sit at the front of the park, making it the closest onsite accommodation to the entrance, while the third hotel already under construction will increase on-property capacity along Wishing Star Lake.The resort is also preparing a major expansion of its shopping and dining district, designed to increase guest options outside the park and absorb spillover traffic during peak periods. Disney officials have repeatedly signalled that Shanghai continues to be a long-term growth priority, with rising attendance validating the resort’s continued development.Rumors have also resurfaced that Disney plans to add a second park to Shanghai Disneyland. With a plot already set aside for another theoretical park, Shanghai Disneyland confirmed that its upcoming shopping and dining district expansion will sit in a gap that bridges the current property to this space.Should a second gate move forward in the future, it would mirror the two-park model used at Disneyland Resort, Disneyland Paris, and Tokyo Disney Resort, transforming Shanghai into a multi-day destination.Do you plan on visiting Shanghai Disneyland any time soon?The post Guests Must Wait 2+ Hours To Enter Disney Park Amid Unprecedented Crowds appeared first on Inside the Magic.