150 Disney World Facts and Shocking Stats (2024)

Here are 150 of the more interesting Walt Disney World Facts and Statistics I was able to dig up. There are sure to be a few fun facts about Disney World in here that you didn’t already know. As always, I will be adding more and updating these periodically as I find new stuff. Be sure to check back regularly.

With over 40 million annual guests and tens of thousands of acres dedicated to its four theme parks, two water parks, gigantic retail complex, athletic complex and dozens of hotels, there is much that can be measured about Walt Disney World Resort. Disney World’s history is rich and there are so many interesting aspects of the resort that can be studied and measured after 47 years of operation.

Walt Disney World Facts:

1. When did Disney World open?

Walt Disney World opening day was October 1, 1971. At the time, only the Magic Kingdom existed in terms of parks.

Here is a rundown of what attractions, restaurants and shops existed on opening day and what has replaced them over the years.

2. When was Walt Disney World announced?

On November 15, 1965, Walt and Roy Disney announced their intention to build what became Walt Disney World at the Cherry Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Florida along with Florida Governor Hayden Burns.

3. How old is Disney World? Disney World is 52 years old as of October 1, 2023.

4. How much have Disney World ticket prices increased over the years? Adult Disney World tickets cost $3.50 when it first opened was and now Disney World ticket prices have risen to $116.

Here is a full rundown of Disney World ticket annual price increases.

5. Amount it cost to build the original Disney World: It cost an estimated $400 million to build Walt Disney World.

6. How much has it cost to build Disney World (so far)? As of 2017, it is estimated that Disney has spent $3.5 billion to build Disney World over the years.

7. Who was the first person to visit Disney World? The very first guest of Walt Disney World was William Windsor, Jr

8. How many attractions did Disney World have on opening day? The Magic Kingdom had 26 attractions on opening day.

9. How many people visited Disney World on opening day? 10,422 people visited the Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971.

10. Number of Disney visitors total by the end of 1971: By the end of 1971, after 3 months of operation, Disney World had seen 400,000 visitors.

11. How many Disney World cast members were there when it opened? Disney World had about 5,000 cast members in 1971.

12. The Walt Disney World Preview Center, opened in 1970, is still there! The original Walt Disney World Preview Center still stands in its original location on Hotel Plaza Blvd and looks very much like it did in 1970. It is now the headquarters of the AAU.

13. What are Disney World’s hours? Park hours differ from park to park and from day to day. Here is a great tool to find out what the Disney World park hours for a particular park on a particular day.

14. When did Disney’s Hollywood Studios open? Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened on May 1, 1989

15. When did Disney’s Animal Kingdom open? Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened on April 22, 1998

16. When did Blizzard Beach open? Disney’s Blizzard Beach opened on April 1, 1995

17. When did Typhoon Lagoon open? Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon opened on June 1, 1989

18. When did Disney Springs open? Disney Springs opened on March 22, 1975. It began as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village and had a number of iterations and names over the years. It officially became Disney Springs in 2015.

19. Where is Disney World located? Walt Disney World is located in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida

20. What is the Disney World address? Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, FL 32830

21. How many times has Disney World closed?

As of October 2022, Disney World has closed 9 times:

Hurricane Floyd in 1999
September 11, 2001
Hurricane Charley in 2004
Hurricane Frances in 2004
Hurricane Jeanne in 2004
Hurricane Matthew in 2016
Hurricane Irma in 2017
COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020
Hurricane Ian in 2022

22. Disney World was originally called the “Florida Project” To keep Walt Disney’s intentions a secret.

23. How big is Disney World Resort? Walt Disney World Resort covers 25,000 acres

24. Amount of land that Walt Disney originally purchased for Disney World: Walt Disney actually purchased 43 square miles of land in 1965 for Disney World

25. When did Disney start purchasing land for Disney World? Disney began purchasing land in April 1964. When large parcels of land in central Florida were being purchased by an anonymous buyer (Disney), some speculated the entity buying the land was NASA.

26. How much did Walt Disney originally pay for the Disney World land? Altogether, Disney spent approximately $5 million to purchase all the land they needed.

27. Name of the special governmental district created for Walt Disney World: The State of Florida created the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1967 to address the special needs of a project the size and scope of a Disney World.

28. Along with the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the State of Florida also created two new cities for Disney: Bay Lake and Reedy Creek (now Lake Buena Vista)

29. Year the the State of Florida took over the Reedy Creek Improvement District: 2023

30. What county is Disney World in? Disney World is actually located in two Florida counties: Orange County and Osceola County

31. Date of the first Electrical Water Pageant: October 25, 1971

32. Many people know that Walt Disney died 5 years before Walt Disney World opened, but you may not know that Roy Disney, who oversaw the construction of the park, died less than 3 months after it opened.

Walt Disney World Statistics:

33. How many employees does Disney World have? Disney employs 77,000 cast members at Disney World

34. Number of Disney World cast members furloughed during the coronavirus pandemic: 43,000 cast members

35. Estimated amount Disney lost daily during the coronavirus shutdown of 2020: between $20 and $30 million per day

36. How many people visit Disney World? 48 million guests are estimated to visit Walt Disney World each year

37. Number of Disney World hotels owned by Disney: 18 of the Walt Disney World hotels are actually owned by Disney (10/1/16)

38. Number of campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness: Disney’s Fort Wilderness currently has 800 campsites (FY 2021)

39. Number of hotel rooms throughout Disney World properties: There are 24,000 rooms throughout the various Disney World resort hotels (FY 2021)

40. Number of hotels on Disney World property that aren’t owned by Disney: There are 9 hotels on Walt Disney World property that are not owned by Disney (10/1/16)

41. Number of hotel rooms in hotels on Disney World property that aren’t owned by Disney: There are 6,000 rooms on Walt Disney World property that are not owned by Disney (10/1/16)

42. Space Mountain was the world’s first computer-controlled thrill ride.

43. The Magic Kingdom is technically the second floor of the property

(there is a system of tunnels, called Utilidoors) under the Magic Kingdom that are actually at ground level)

44. What is the busiest day at Disney World? Monday

45. Which Disney resort has the most guest rooms: Pop Century Resort

46. How many Hidden Mickeys are there in Disney World?

There is no official count reported, but this guy has been logging Hidden Mickeys and has found over 1,100 in Walt Disney World so far!

47. In Walt Disney World, you are never more than 30 steps away from a trash can.

48. Each year, more than two million turkey legs are sold among Disney’s six North American parks!

49. Estimated number of plastic straws Disney handed out annually at Disney World prior to eliminating them: 175 million

50. Cost to implement the Disney Magic Band system: $1 billion

52. Amount of time it took Disney to build Disney World: 52 months of construction

53. Size of Disney’s Hollywood Studios Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge area: 14 acres

54. Size of Disney’s Hollywood Studios Toy Story Land: 11 acres

55. Walt Disney World’s annual payroll: $2 billion (6/12/17)

56. Amount Disney paid in state and local taxes for Walt Disney World in 2016: $621.1 million

57. First movie to be filmed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Ernest Saves Christmas

58. If you placed all the ketchup packets that Disney World guests consume in one year, end-to-end, it would span from the Magic Kingdom to Minneapolis, Minnesota

59. The welcome arch at the entrance of the Magic Kingdom parking area was once the arched sign in front of Epcot’s Wonders of Life pavilion.

60. There is NO gum sold in Disney parks.

61. The Splash Mountain ride at Disney World is based on the movie “Song of the South,” which you cannot buy on DVD due to its controversial content.

62. Disney’s Animal Kingdom was originally supposed to have an additional section based on fantasy titled Beastly Kingdom. It was supposed to be located where Pandora is now and it’s dragon can still be found in the park’s logo.

63. Height of Disney Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life: 145 ft tall

64. Number of animals hand-carved into the Tree of Life: 300 animals

65. Number of animal species at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: more than 300 (10/1/16)

66. Number of varieties of vegetation at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 3,000 (10/1/16)

67. Size of Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 580 acres

68. Disney’s Animal Kingdom alone is almost 100 acres larger than the entire Disneyland resort.

69. Which Disney World Park is the biggest? Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the largest theme park in the world.

70. Number of venues (shops and restaurants) at Disney Springs: 150 venues.

71. Typhoon Lagoon is the second most visited water park in world.

72. Typhoon Lagoon is the only major Disney World park that actually lies in Lake Buena Vista.

(all the rest are in Bay Lake)

73. Blizzard Beach is the third most visited water park in world.

74. Amount of land that ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex takes up: 220 acres

75. You could fit all of Disneyland in the Magic Kingdom parking lot and still have room for 500 cars.

76. Number of mobile orders placed on the My Disney Experience app: 1 million orders (11/30/18)

77. Average number of daily monorail passengers: 150,000

78. Average number of miles of lawn mowed at Disney World: 450,000 miles

79. Number of trees, plants, shrubs, ground-covers, vines, epiphytes and grasses planted at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: over 4 million

80. Number of towers on the Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle: 27 (although they are actually numbered to 29 and 2 weren’t built)

81. Star Tours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios actually has 54 different ride experiences which would take a visitor 4 hours to ride them all.

82. Number of Christmas Trees scattered throughout Disney World during Christmastime: 29 Christmas Trees

83. The tallest Christmas tree at Disney World is at the Contemporary. It is 70 feet tall.

84. Number of Christmas trees in the Magic Kingdom: 40 trees

85. Number of Christmas wreaths in the Magic Kingdom: 147 wreaths

86. Amount of time it takes to construct the Grand Floridian gingerbread house: 560 hours (400 to bake, 160 to construct)

87. Number of lights strung around Walt Disney World Resort at Christmastime: 8.5 million lights

88. Year when alcohol first started being offered at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom: 2012 (at Be Our Guest)

89. Number of people that have ridden on Magic Kingdom’s It’s a Small World ride: 256 million

90. Number of passengers the Magic Kingdom’s Walt Disney World Railroad serves annually: 1.5 million

91. If you ever walked down Main Street USA, you probably noticed the amazing bakery scent and wondered where it comes from. That is because they actually pump vanilla scent into the air! (and peppermint in the winter)

92. Least busy day of the week at Disney World: Sunday

93. Busiest days of the week at Disney World: Tuesday and Wednesday

94. Busiest park at Disney World: Disney Springs

95. Least busy park in Disney World: Blizzard Beach

96. Number of mini golf courses at Disney World: 2 (Fantasia Gardens and Winter Summerland)

97. Number of golf courses at Disney World: 4 (Disney’s Palm, Disney’s Magnolia, Disney’s Lake Buena Vista and Oak Trail)

98. Number of holes of golf available at Disney World Resort: 63 holes

99. Height of Cinderella Castle: 189 feet

100. Number of outfits Mickey Mouse has at Disney World: 136

101. Number of outfits Minnie Mouse has at Disney World: 100

102. Amount of laundry that is cleaned daily at Walt Disney World: 285,000 pounds

103. Average amount of PhotoPass pictures taken daily at Walt Disney World: 100,000-200,000

104. Average number of Cokes consumed at Disney World annually: 75 million

105. Average number of bottles of water consumed at Disney World annually: 13 million

106. How many buses does Disney World have? Nearly 400 buses

107. Average amount of turkey legs consumed annually at Disney World: 1.8 million pounds

108. Stormalong Bay at Disney’s Beach Club is the largest sand-bottom pool in the world.

109. How big is Disney Springs? 127 acres

110. World of Disney, at Disney Springs, is the world’s largest Disney merchandise store.

111. Number of cast members at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 4,500 (2/4/17)

112. Number of animals at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 2,000 (2/4/17)

113. Number of species of trees, plants, shrubs, vines, grasses, ferns, etc at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 3,000 species

114. Number of books in the library at Enchanted Tales with Belle: 12,000

115. Number of characters in the Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid attraction: 183 characters

116. Amount of time it took to build Cinderella’s Castle at Disney World: 18 months

117. Amount of ballroom, meeting and function space available at Walt Disney World: 700,000 sq ft (6/12/17)

118. Walt Disney World is the #2 most Instagrammed tourist attraction in the world.

119. Disney is the 4th largest distributor of wearables (MagicBands).

120.What is the average income of a family going to Disney World? Average household income of $95,000+ (2023).

121. Number of Disney World trips donated by Disney in 2016 to wish-granting organizations: 8,000

122. The Contemporary Hotel was originally supposed to be called the Tempo Bay Hotel.

123. The Polynesian Resort was originally supposed to be called the South Seas Resort.

124. The mural in Disney’s Contemporary Resort took 18 months to construct.

125. Number of tiles in the mosaic mural at Disney’s Contemporary Resort: 1,800 tiles

126. Average number of pairs of sunglasses turned in to Disney World lost and found daily:

210 pairs

127. Total number of pairs of sunglasses turned in to Disney World lost and found to date:

1.65 million pairs

128. The Fantasmic moat is only 1.5 feet deep in some spots and 6 feet deep in the middle

129. Disney World’s Haunted Mansion features a small pet cemetery with a tribute to Mr Toad

Which was placed there when Mr Toad’s Wild Ride shut down in 1998

130. Size of the Disney World wetlands mitigation area: 12,000 acres

131. Number of speakers in Hollywood Studios’ Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster: More than 900

132. Both Expedition Everest and Tower of Terror are 199 feet tall.

This was done on purpose because any structure 200 feet or taller require flashing red lights on them.

133. Disney-MGM Studios officially became Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2008.

134. Disney World’s Discovery Island was open from 1974-1999

135. Disney’s River Country was open from 1976-2001

136. Walt Disney World Speedway was open from 1995-2015

137. DisneyQuest at Disney Springs was open from 1998-2017

138. The dinosaur in Hollywood Studios’ Echo Lake is named Gertie

Paying homage to the animated character in Winsor McCay’s early-1900’s comics

139. Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage at Hollywood Studios is the longest-running stage show at a Disney World theme park.

140. The first tree planted at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was an African acacia xanthophloea

141. The first animal to arrive at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was Miles the giraffe.

142. The first animal to be born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was a baby kudu

143. Amount of time it took to build Disney’s Animal Kingdom: just under 3 years

144. Discovery Island at Animal Kingdom was originally called Safari village

145. Percentage of Disney World guest who are local residents: 50%

146. Number of lights in the Electrical Water Pageant: 50,000 lights

147. Number of guests that have visited the Disney Springs Christmas Tree Trail: 1 million (12/23/19)

148. Number of guests that have taken a ride in a Minnie Van: 1 million (6/18/19)

149. Number of Disney World guests that have used MagicBands: 29 million (6/12/17)

150. Number of Drones Disney used in their 2016 Disney Springs Christmas light show: 300 drones

151. How many rides are at Disney World?

Magic Kingdom: 34 rides
Epcot: 21 rides
Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 20 rides
Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 8 rides

(as of 2023)

152. How many restaurants are there at Disney World parks?

Magic Kingdom: 16 restaurants
Epcot: 22 restaurants
Hollywood Studios: 2 restaurants
Animal Kingdom: 8 restaurants

(as of 2023)

153. How much does it cost to go to Disney World for 1 week?

Average cost for a family of 4 for 7 days is $4,900-$10,600 (2023)

154. How long is the average stay at Disney World? 6 days (2023)

Please note that some of these Walt Disney World facts are easier to find than others, so some of these are based on news reports and not official company tallies. All stats are linked to their source unless it was sent to me directly from the company. No stat listed here should be considered in making any type of investment decision. In other words: This is the best I can find, but I don’t guarantee anything.

For more Disney Parks Statistics, please visit the following articles: