2024 Best & Worst Months to Visit Disney World
Choosing when to visit Walt Disney World in 2024 can be difficult, balancing crowd calendars, seasonal events, park hours, weather, and more. This guide does exactly that to rank the best & worst months, plus some of our favorite weeks.
If you’ve yet to narrow down when you want to visit to a specific month or season, our Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars will help you choose dates based on attendance and average wait times, but that’s it. Accordingly, we recommend many readers consult this resource for the “broad strokes” on when to visit Walt Disney World. Here we’ve re-ranked the best and worst months for 2024 based on a variety of mostly qualitative and some quantitative factors.
This considers a variety of variables in conjunction with our evolving expectations about Walt Disney World’s attendance for 2024. To that end, we regularly share big updates, discounts that are released by Walt Disney World, crowd levels change, etc., we send out email notifications. To receive these, subscribe to our free email newsletter. This will give you a good idea of what things are like ‘on the ground’ at Walt Disney World, as well as what to expect in the future.
Unfortunately, Walt Disney World crowd levels can vary, and can not be forecast with 100% accuracy. As such, you should choose when to visit based on other comfort and enjoyment factors in addition to Walt Disney World crowd projections. It’s more pragmatic to choose when you’ll visit based on a mix of attendance levels plus weather, seasonal entertainment, and special events!
As such, these rankings eschew the typical Walt Disney World crowd calendar in favor of a more holistic approach that takes into account more than just crowds when choosing when to visit Walt Disney World.
Low crowds during a time when temperatures are sweltering, humidity is off the charts and there are no special events should not trump moderate crowds during a temperate time of year with a special event. Few people evaluate their vacation’s success by some statistical ‘fun quotient’, so why not do likewise when planning, and perform a qualitative analysis when choosing travel dates?
To cut to the chase, the point of this post is to rank every month of the year for visiting Walt Disney World in light of all variables that (we feel) are important with adjustments made for the ongoing reopening of the parks & resorts, operations scaling back up, capacity increasing, and entertainment returning.
Even months with significant and obvious downsides might have tremendous upside. Take August, for example, which ranks #8. That’s obviously not great, but summer vacation demand usually fizzles out after the first week, making the two-thirds of the month much better than the first half. Even then, it’s hard to rank August higher due to the weather, and since September is such a superior alternative.
There are similar stories throughout the list. November and December have become busier, but these are such qualititatively pleasant and fun months that we’re hard pressed to rank them poorly even given the higher crowds. You’ll have to decide for yourself how you weigh those countervailing factors–we’re just giving you some insight into our thinking and methodology.
Anyway, here is our personal assessment of the best and worst months to visit Walt Disney World. We’d recommend reading the description of each month carefully to make an informed decision about which time frames are best and worst for you…
12. July 2024 – This month ranks dead last due to uncertainty and upside, or lack thereof. Last July was the busiest month of the year at Walt Disney World as the parks got hit by an onslaught of pent-up demand. That’s not normal–in recent years, summer had ceased to be peak season at Walt Disney World.
However, Americans made up for lost time during summer vacation in the last two years, and Florida was one of the top destinations. Last July wasn’t quite as busy, but that could be attributed to inflation and rising gas prices, etc. Obviously, a lot could change between now and July, but we’re expecting above-average crowds.
The big reason behind the low ranking is that July is not a good month to visit Florida because of heat and humidity. The near-certainty of poor weather plus the uncertainty of heavy crowds puts July in last place. With that said, once you plan for the realities of a summer trip, remember: “even a rainy, potentially crowded day at Walt Disney World is better than a perfect day at home.” Don’t get too down on trip–it’ll still be a great time so long as you go in with good strategy and realistic expectations.
10. June 2024 – In a typical year, June starts out slow and gets progressively worse as more schools get out and families begin taking their summer vacations. Crowds start in above-average territory and are high by the end of the month. The last few summers have been a bit atypical, but we’d expect that trend to return for June 2024.
Another normal downside to June is the weather. Obviously, it’s a hot month, and the average monthly rainfall in June at Walt Disney World is over 8+ inches, and the probability of rain on any given day is above 50%. The upside to June is that it’s typically the less busy of the summer months, with most summer vacations happening in July or early August.
10. March 2024 – Early March is one of our “sleeper picks” for low crowds–and will be once again come March 2024 with Mardi Gras moving forward to February. Consequently, there should be a brief respite before spring break, but not long enough for March as a whole to rank too highly.
Spring break is the major downside to the second half of March, as is Easter occurring at the end of the month (March 31, 2024). In particular, avoid Orange County’s spring break as that’ll be the worst week-plus of the entire season, since that local school district has the most outsized impact on crowds.
On the plus side, weather is typically temperate by March, as evidenced by the start of Epcot’s International Flower & Garden Festival at the beginning of the month. Regardless of the year, we are fans of March dates as a great time for cool weather, moderate crowds, and Epcot coming into bloom.
9. April 2024 – James Franco could make a sequel to Spring Breakers set at Walt Disney World, and it would make the events of the original film seem perfectly tame. Okay, maybe not, but that doesn’t change the fact that Spring Break at Walt Disney World is a time to be avoided if you can.
Given that Easter will be in April every year until 2024, it’s a month that we recommend avoiding if you don’t like long lines. The entire month will be above average, but the weeks abutting Easter will be DEFCON 1. You’d better have some fast fingers (and a fast internet connection!) when trying to book a Lightning Lane for Slinky Dog Dash!
Starting on Tax Day Eve, April should improve considerably. Whether crowds drop by enough to move it higher on this list is debatable–but the point is that the last week and a half of April is much better. If that were its own month, it’d rank on the top half of this list.
8. August 2024 – Feel like Mission: Space is insufficient at simulating a visit to outer space? Then you’ll love August in Walt Disney World, when every day feels like a veritable trip to Venus or Mercury! August sees the mercury rising in Central Florida, and that hot, humid, and rainy weather alone makes August among the worst months to visit.
August is qualitatively the worst month to visit Walt Disney World. Quantitatively, it’s harder to say. August marks the end of “Peak Season” ticket prices, meaning people who postponed their visits to save money will start heading to the parks. Annual Passholder blockouts lift in August, causing a slight spike in locals, but it’s usually not bad.
The big thing is that summer vacation demand starts to burn out by the second week of August as families prepare to head back to school schedules. This results in an overall drop-off in attendance and there’s typically a large lull in crowds from mid-August through the end of September. August is a tale of two months–still slightly busy as vacation season winds down to start, but significantly better during the second half. Overall, it’s one of the lowest crowd months of the entire year. It’s the weather that drags it down considerably.
7. October 2024 – For the last several years, October had been dropping. Thanks to a variety of holidays, school breaks, conventions, and other events, October had become one of the busiest months of the year at Walt Disney World in terms of average wait times before that. Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party also throws a monkey wrench into Magic Kingdom attendance (but the upside is that it makes heavy crowds easier to predict and outsmart!).
Our expectation is that October 2024 marks a return to normal, as was more or less the case this year. That means some spikes around Columbus Day for fall break, with conventions and youth events also resulting in larger crowds. Other than that, the month is only slightly above average–albeit much worse than September.
Nevertheless, October remains attractive for its seasonal events at Epcot and Magic Kingdom and improving weather. We can’t recommend this month from the perspective of crowds alone, but it’s not a bad subjective choice when Halloween, Food & Wine, and more are added to the equation.
6. February 2024 – For the last few years, February has seen high crowds at Walt Disney World–to the point that we no longer call them “atypically” high crowds. That was once again true last year, with Mardi Gras and Presidents’ Day coinciding to make the second half of the month incredibly busy. Several days were so bad that Genie+ sold out.
It’s not likely to be much different next year. Mardi Gras moves earlier in the month, meaning two busy weeks instead of one insanely busy weeks. We expect this month to be slightly worse than January 2024 on that basis. However, if you can avoid the dates around holidays, February is still a decent time to visit.
If you’re already looking forward to February 2024, the first and last weeks of the month are definitely the ones to choose. Those should see lower crowds, pleasant weather, along with two different EPCOT festivals.
5. January 2024 – This is the “holiday hangover” at Walt Disney World. It’s sort of like Walt Disney World ate too many Christmas cookies and is too lazy to get off the couch and take down the decorations, with this mentality continuing long after the tree is dead to the point where its wife is embarrassed when it finally throws out the tree. (Not that I know from experience or anything.) On the plus side, January offers mild weather and the Epcot Festival of the Arts is fantastic.
When it comes to crowds, expect January 2024 to be a repeat of this year and the year before that. Which is to say, that January is a “Tale of Two Seasons.” This year, the month as a whole ended up being 7/10 on the crowd calendar, but that doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story. The first 7 days of the month were on par with the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Crowd levels were 10/10 every day during that stretch…and would’ve been even higher than that if the scale went higher. Attendance spiked again over the MLK Day holiday weekend, too.
However, most of the rest of January was much less busy, with lots of 2/10 and 3/10 days. If you can go after Orange County’s winter break and the Walt Disney World Marathon, January 2024 should be a great time to visit. Basically, aim for the second week or thereafter, and skip the mid-month MLK Day holiday weekend. Outside of those red flag dates, January 2024 should see fairly low crowds, pleasant weather, and EPCOT Festival of the Arts fun.
4. December 2024 – If Disney Vacation Club is the “Best Kept Secret,” the beginning of December being the best time to visit is “Disney’s Second Best Kept Secret.” Unfortunately, there’s just a pinch of sarcasm here. It’s as if the both ‘secrets’ were entrusted to the cast of Encanto, and they wrote a whole song about how they don’t talk about December crowds.
Suffice to say, the secret has gotten out about December. That coupled with Disney’s more strategic use of blockout dates and dynamic ticket pricing has shifted attendance somewhat. Crowds are still not as bad as other peak seasons, but it’s no longer the ghost town that it once was. We still view the first two weeks of the month as desirable times to visit, even despite being about as “secret” as the In-N-Out Secret Menu.
Pleasant weather plus Christmas decorations & entertainment are the big highlights here. It also helps that Pop Warner has moved to Universal, so that won’t contribute to crowds. If you can’t do mid-November, we think early to mid-December is still well worth it from a subjective perspective. And in fact, it might be worth it from an objective perspective, too. Last year, crowds didn’t get truly bad until December 19. Almost every day before that had a crowd level of 5/10 or lower. After that…well…like Bruno, we don’t talk about the chaotic crowds of Christmas and New Year’s Eve!
3. September 2024 – Every single month that was once the off-season has seen soaring crowds at Walt Disney World in recent years, with one exception: September. Nothing has moved the needle on fall off-season crowds–not the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, not the anticipated pre-50th Anniversary lull, and not perpetual picks by crowd calendars that September would be the slowest month of the year.
When judged solely on the basis of crowds, September is always the best month of the year. Aside from Labor Day weekend, September is relatively slow, especially earlier in the month. While Walt Disney World has been able to manipulate crowd levels in other off-season months, that has not happened with September. After Labor Day, the entire month is off-season, with the lowest crowd levels of the year.
September remains resilient and “crowd-proof” because most people simply cannot visit during the month due to school going back into session, or don’t want to do so because of the weather. On that basis, September had been our #1 month of the year at Walt Disney World for ages.
But these are qualitative rankings, and I just can’t give September the nod anymore. Not after last year. Even with seasonal events and low crowds–the likelihood of brutal weather is just too much. Heat and humidity make being outdoors unpleasant during September, and it’s a high point in the storm season. (We highly recommend reading Is It Still Worth Visiting During the Fall Off-Season at Walt Disney World? before booking August or September.)
Despite that, it might be worth bearing with the weather to take advantage of those low crowds. That’s doubly true when you consider the fact that prices are cheaper in September and events are held at EPCOT (Food & Wine Festival) and Magic Kingdom (Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.) Even in the current era of unpredictable crowds, September 2024 should be relatively reliable.
2. May 2024 – The entirety of May 2024 will fall before summer tourist season and our expectation is that–after several months of consistently high crowds for one reason or another–May will be another return to normal as the calm between Spring Break and Summer 2024.
That’s doubly true with nothing opening during the month of May 2024, or being new. Last year, TRON Lightcycle Run debuted in the prior month. The year before that, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind opened at the end of May, and had previews prior to then. There’s almost no chance that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will be done by May 2024, and no one cares about CommuniCore Hall. There’s nothing else (major) that could debut during the month.
That’s huge from the perspective of crowds, and means the entirety of May 2024 should be slower. Even with the Memorial Day holiday weekend factored into the mix, crowds are typically below average in May. Most schools aren’t out of session this early, and there’s a lag between when kids get out of school and families take their big summer trips, anyway.
The main downside to May is that heat and humidity can really start intensifying in May, but still not as bad as the summer months that follow. However, May is the first month of the year during which it’s not uncommon to see the temperatures broach 90-degrees and the humidity reach high levels.
1. November 2024 – Save for Thanksgiving and Veterans Day weeks, neither of which are as bad as the Christmas and New Year’s holiday weeks in terms of crowds, November is similar to December. Early and mid-November are usually good times to visit Walt Disney World, and the week after Thanksgiving is exceptional.
The upside to November are that the weather is generally more temperate. The downside is that not all Christmas entertainment starts until after Thanksgiving (specifically at Epcot), and some resort hotel decorations are not up during the first half of the month. If that is make or break for you, visit in the last week of November 2024 (which technically also includes a couple days of December).
With the first half of December seeing lower crowds in the last couple of years, the gap between the two months is closing, but November 2024 should still retain its #1 ranking as an overall superior pick. Again, so long as you about the aforementioned holiday weeks. Only the week of Thanksgiving is truly bad in November, whereas only the first two weeks or so of December 2024 are truly good.
The culmination of all of this? That our favorite week to visit Walt Disney World is the Sunday after Thanksgiving through the first Saturday of December. That means arriving on December 1, 2024. (You might actually consider arriving Saturday to make your first park day Sunday–last year that day was dead.)
That’s the sweet spot for the best prospects of good weather, moderate crowds, and experiencing all of the Christmas festivities. For the last couple of years, that week has seen truly low crowd levels–not just moderate. We wouldn’t be surprised if the numbers rebound a little and crowds are in the 4/10 range. If lower crowds are of paramount importance, you can also target mid-November after Veterans Day–just go before the week of Thanksgiving. That week should be slightly less crowded and offer most Christmas entertainment, outside of Epcot.
Beyond this recommendation for our favorite week of the year, we’d refer you to our 10 Best & Worst Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2024 and 2025. Those lists were actually inspired by this, and offering a range of recommendations beyond just the months here. That contains recommendations of dates to visit (and avoid!) in virtually every single month of 2024 and 2025. It should be helpful for picking dates, regardless of whether you have maximum flexibility or are locked into weeks when school is out of session.
Ultimately, that’s a rundown of the good & bad of crowds at Walt Disney World. As you might’ve gathered by reading the entries, the various months don’t really demarcate attendance levels. To the contrary, it’s really more about school breaks and holidays, and the stretches before and after those.
Consequently, mid-January to mid-February is more of a distinct window than either January or February, late April has more in common with May than with early April, mid-August is more like September than early August, and the last few months of the year are all about holiday breaks (or the lack thereof).
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Do you agree or disagree with our 2024 Walt Disney World month by month rankings? Are there any months you think are better or worse than we have them ranked? Any specific ideal weeks that you’d recommend people visit Walt Disney World? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Tom, does the opening of Star Wars change your opinion of late February/early March 2020? We hate crowds but December seems too cold (and rooms are already tough to find). Thanks for all your time and energy on this blog
We’ve gone Christmas week every year since 1996. It used to be crowds were way down then, but no more. If you hate crowds, don’t go at Christmas.
However, we’ve had fabulous weather almost every year, sometimes a warm front moves in and we’re in the low 80s. Don’t rule out December, just rule out Christmas week. We are thinking this year of going second week in December.
Did you go to Mickey’s very merry Christmas Party?
How early should I get to the park?
First time going in December.
Help! I’m seriously considering the first seven days of September or the second week of December.
But, December rates are running 1300 more for the same room (Old Key West)!
Begging for advice, Tom.
Hi Tom! After reading this post I’m skeptical of our 12 day trip at the end of August! We were planning to take it pretty easy as we are staying for a longer period this time. I read that the crowds would be lower near the end of August because most schools are back in by then… I teach in a school and was unable to get any other time off this year (and also wanted to avoid the crowds at Christmas with Star wars and all) We also saved about $3000 US. (We are from Canada). Do you think we will be miserable? Should I reschedule? I love reading all your tips! Thanks!
That’s actually when we’re going. With 3 kids in school, sports, etc we just couldn’t find another time that would work. I lived in the south for 8yrs and it’s definitely hot and humid in the summer. So if you go into your trip knowing that you’re good. We’re actually planning on heading back to the resort during the hottest part of the day just so we don’t melt! lol I think preparation is the key no matter what time of year you go 🙂
I’m planning a trip in late June. Queueing times shouldn’t be a problem as we will be on a charity organised trip (daughter is in remission from cancer) and should have VIP style access to everything. Is the weather the biggest obstacle we face going at this time or just general busy-ness of the park? Any good tips? Cheers
The weather will be your biggest obstacle. See our tips for visiting in the summer: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/summer-heat-humidity-disney-tips/
We are bringing our 11 year old twin boys on their first ever Disney trip…we will arrive February 24th staying till February 28th at the Wilderness Lodge. How busy should we expect it to be?
The crowds should be moderate at the beginning and lighter towards the end of your trip. If you search for “Disney World Crowd Calendar”, there are several sites that give an estimate based on past years. Since you are staying at a Disney hotel, you can take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours each day. Typically, the park with the EMH tends to be a little busier than the others as more people take advantage of the EMH. If you have Park Hopper passes, you can start your day at the park with EMH and as it gets crowded, hop over to another park. If you pan to do that, you might make you Fast Pass reservations at the 2nd park. Hope you have a great trip. The weather should be wonderful!
I like the 2nd week of December best. We’ve been May, September, November and December, multiple times. November was way too crowded even not at Thanksgiving, May was too crowded and too hot, and September too hot but thankfully less crowded. I wouldn’t mind trying February, but air fare always seems too expensive that time of year.
Tom, your postings helped me plan two delightful trips with our grandkids in November 2015 and November 2017. We opted for weeks around Veteran’s Day as our kids have days off and with a few extra days out of school, the trips worked great. My dear husband recently surprised me with reservations for us to take the family for a dream trip for Dec 26-Jan 3 at the Grand Floridian. I know it’s not your favorite place to stay, value is questionable I know, but for us, the location and Christmas, and spoiling grandkids, it should have been nearly perfect. We knew it would be busy, but we just want to experience Christmas and New Year’s At WDW. However, after he surprised me, I started doing my research and wow, Star Wars hit me head on. I don’t know what to do? Our family is not Star Wars crazy, and I’m really thinking this trip will be awful due to extra crowds. Should we cancel our dream trip? Thanks for all you do!
Hi! I’m not Tom, but just was thinking that the days around Christmas are way crowded, even without Star Wars. I’ve seen stories of them shutting down Magic Kingdom multiple times and waits of 3+ hours even at the not so popular rides. I wonder if Star Wars could actually make Magic Kingdom less crowded by the crowds migrating over there and to Animal Kingdom because of Pandora and leave Magic Kingdom less crowded so at least you could enjoy that or is that wishful thinking? The locals are out of school and anytime that happens, I always see crowds go up. I too am wondering what Tom will say about this. No matter when you go, the Grand Floridian is my favorite resort to eat at, hang out in and take pictures of and I hope you enjoy it, no matter what! 🙂 Spending a week at the GF is on my bucket list, lol. We’ve stayed at Port Orleans Riverside (3 times), Coronado Springs, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge and (my least favorite), All Stars Music. However we’ve eaten many times at the GF cafe, Narcoossee’s and 1900 Park Fare. We’ve eaten at many other resort restraints and Narcoossee’s is my favorite, no contest. What’s yours? 🙂
Kay-Run, thanks for your thoughts. Since our grands will be 16 and 13, we were hoping we could plan most of our park visits for late in the day and take advantage of the late holiday hours. They tend to be night owls! And since we’ve been there recently, we don’t need to cover the parks as we did on our first visit in 2015. We would also have access to the club level, so meals would be much less of a problem for us during that busy week. Tom’s report on doing New Year’s Eve and Eve Eve also gave me hope for a great time for the kids. Except for Star Wars. As far as favorite restaurants, we have done many as well, and Narcoossee is probably at the top of our list. We have also enjoyed California Grill but we know it’s not for all. Would so appreciate any other thoughts. I’m so torn up with making a decision. We do have time on finalizing WDW reservations, but if we’re not going there, I need a Plan B.
Honestly, with Star Wars being there when you are visiting, I don’t think it is going to make it any worse that the holiday time would be on a normal basis. It might actually draw more crowds away from the other 3 parks and to Hollywood Studios. I would keep the reservations for now.
We went in April 2017, at the last minute, with no FP or ADRs until literally the day before the trip – and we still got into everything we tried for. It was fabulous. Then we went again in September 2018 and we were amazed by the lack of people! We had ADRs and FPs well in advance this time, but we were able to ride everything we wanted – did some two dozen rides in one at MK, for example, plus table service breakfast and lunch. Once our daughter is in school in another year, we probably won’t be able to do September anymore, and what a loss! We are counting our pennies to try to go in September again this year because it was so great!
Did you go beginning, mid or late April? Thanks!
Do you know the dates that Pop Warner should be for 2019?
Do you think the upcoming Star Wars opening being in LATE Fall will reduce the crowds during October this year? We were planning a little 3day trip to Animal Kingdom during the last week of October, but may take advantage of September’s Fun & Sun discount if the crowds will be heavy.
Maybe a little, but I think now through September are going to be see more of a reduction in crowds due to people postponing visits.
Thank you.
What are your thoughts on the possibility of an October room only discount? (Traditionally I believe there has been maybe a 15% off.) Unlikely given the uptick in tourists the last couple of Octobers?
Starting to think I should rebook for the end of September. . .
in 2018 we went the week after Thanksgiving into the first week of December and it was AMAZING and felt practically empty the first few days. For 2019 we booked the last week of September into October – those are your number 1 and 2 weeks by coincidence! I’m feeling great about my choices!
It’s easy to say just pick a time and go, but a supposedly fun vacation turns into a frustrating, difficult trip when little ones have accidents waiting in line for transportation or the bathroom, or simply getting lunch takes a couple hours because of crowds, or you miss things all the time because it’s so hard to get from one thing to another. It’s just not worth going if that’s the case. You pay the big money and end up with a disappointing trip.
We went October 15-21 this year hoping for cooler weather then September. Our luck tho it was a heat wave according to our Floridian best friend and it was 93+ everyday. The crowds were awful. Even rides that don’t usually have long waits were at an hour plus. Our first night we also stayed til park close and then waited from 11-12:30 in line for a shuttle back to our hotel. This was our first trip but it seemed like there wasn’t enough transportation for the number of guests. We had a 4 year old have an accident after waiting that long plus construction on the roads at night. Not fun!
I think everyone needs to stop blogging about crowds and just pick a time to go that suits them and their families. It will normalize the crowds, and it will be much simpler times for everyone that just wants to go and enjoy WDW.
We just got back staying exactly as you suggested, Tom, Sunday after Thanksgiving, with a 4-day ticket. Magic Kingdom was terribly crowded for both days we were there (Mon & Wed) and hard to enjoy. Hollywood as well. Epcot on Tuesday was much better, but it was really cold that day. I was going through your post with a fine toothed comb trying to see what is really a better time to go. The low crowds and cooler weather are most important considerations to us. We have been lots of times, although not last year, and quality of service was a little disappointing, too.
I agree. We were there from Saturday the 24th to yesterday the 1st of December and it was super crowded. While walking through AK I heard people commenting on how Touring Plans was way off on their crowd predictions. I think the blogosphere has finally impacted crowds at Disney. The secret is out and crowds are going up. I was disappointed.
For the past few years my sister and I have been going at different times of the year to figure out the low crowds and best weather. We used to go in early December consistently but that cat was definitely let out of the bag! It’s still a great time to go for the holiday decorations, but not worth it to us anymore because of the crowds. Dec 2017 it was so busy we ended up leaving MK early to tour the holiday festivities at the resorts instead (completely worth it!) so I’m curious to see how crowds are this year. Our upcoming trip we are trying the first week of March for the first time so keeping fingers crossed for great weather, low(ish) crowds, and beautiful flowers at Epcot!
How true. I would always go to Disney world the first two weeks of December. The last time I went was December 2018 and it was a mad house. I was so disappointed. People everywhere – long lines for rides/food/etc. For 2018 I went in September. It was hot but I had a great time – and the crowds were far lower. I think it rained twice for about 10 minutes each day. Loved it. No waiting for any rides. And now that cat is out of the bag.
We went 9/22 thru 9/29/18 and it seemed busier than usual. We have gone every year in September for the last 6 years. We are now booked for June 1st thru the 8th for 2019. Can anyone give me some idea of what the crowds and weather might be like?
We went June 2017 and crowds were moderate. However it was very hot! 90+ degrees every day.
It has been a few years since we’ve been to Disney. As I taught & we had a school age son, we had to go in the summers–hot & humid for sure.
The last time we went I was retired & it was just my husband & me. We went around the second week of November. It was perfect!! Small crowds & wonderful weather! We loved it!
I guarantee after this article, you will notice a huge spike in November attendance this year, especially the week after Thanksgiving. Next year, you’ll probably be listing it on the “Weeks to Avoid” list! 🙂 You, my Disney pal, have great influence over Disney crowds. People listen to you when you say the crowds are low, which then makes the crowds HUGE! Enjoy your power over the people. Use it wisely! 🙂
The weather should be nicer in November. Also note that July 4th is a VERY BUSY day and that whole week would normally be very crowded. July is hotter and much more humid than November. In November, you will also be able to see a lot of Christmas decorations up at the parks and hotels. I think that is the best time of the year to come.