Best & Worst Weeks to Visit Disney World in 2024 & 2025
Picking the best week of this year, 2025 or 2026 for your Walt Disney World trip is challenging, especially when dates are limited due to school breaks or work schedules. This guide was designed with that in mind, sharing our favorite times to visit and worst ones to avoid in the next 2 years based on crowd levels, wait times forecasts, seasonal events, weather & more. (Updated April 11, 2024.)
Our intention here is to combine the best quantitative and qualitative aspects of our best & worst months resource with our 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars and distill that down to something approachable and actionable. The animating idea here is that the vast majority of tourists aren’t visiting for a single day or a specific full month, but rather, for 5 days to a week. Aside from “holidaymakers” from the United Kingdom, few families are doing more than 10 day trips and most non-locals are doing more than a single day or two.
As such, a practical planning resource shouldn’t just look at individual days or full months, but full week or longer date ranges that offer times to target and others to avoid. Enter this Walt Disney World crowd predicting and planning resource for now through 2025!
When combined with our regularly-updated Best & Worst Days to Do Each Park at Walt Disney World, this should offer definitive advice for picking dates. This narrows down the week, and then that provides what you need to know to choose when to visit each park. It’s still more of a “teach a person to fish” rather than the “give a person a fish” mentality of crowd calendars, but it also should prove more accurate and useful.
This considers a variety of subjective variables (explained in each recommendation) in conjunction with our evolving expectations about Walt Disney World’s attendance. It’s weighted heavily for crowd levels and is backed by historic wait times data from the the last two years, plus 2018 and 2019 (2020-2021 were anomalies, so they’re discarded accordingly).
Should this be well-received or deemed useful by readers (rather than another overwhelming crowd resource), the eventual goal is to expand this to rank every single week of the year. There are two reasons I didn’t start by doing that. First, the post would be much, much longer and would’ve taken me considerably longer to write and research.
Second, the quality of wait times data is not equal throughout the calendar. This is something discussed below, but there are inconsistencies and anomalies beyond just 2020-2021. A lot of this has been resolved, with summer remaining the biggest wild card–hopefully that falls back into familiar trends during June and July 2024.
With that said, we do periodically update these dates to reflect changing attendance patterns. For the latest update to these dates to avoid (and visit), we’ve added more 2025 and 2026 dates. These are, without question, less reliable than the 2024 dates. That’s because Walt Disney World hasn’t released any deals or all blockout calendars for 2025 or beyond, and school calendars aren’t yet available for 2026.
These variables have a significant impact on crowd dynamics, which we saw happen during the Spring Break 2024 season. Beyond that, there are evolving factors that have been resulting in heavier attendance for many dates thus far this year. (See What’s Causing Higher Crowds at Walt Disney World in 2024?)
With that in mind, when discounts are released by Walt Disney World, crowd levels increase or decrease, or other major changes occur, 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.
With all of that said, let’s dig into the data and other variables to rank the 10 best weeks and 10 worst weeks to visit Walt Disney World in the next 2 years–meaning dates in 2024, 2025 and even some in 2026…
Worst Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2024, 2025 & 2026
Winter Break (January 1-5, 2025; January 1-4, 2026) – We fondly remember visiting Walt Disney World around New Year’s Eve over a decade ago. Crowds were bonkers in the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, but so too were hours. You could do Extra Magic Hours starting at 7 am and leave by 9 am, sleep during the middle of the day, then return from 11 pm until 3 am. It was quite the sleep schedule, but it worked well. Then, once New Year’s Day arrived, the parks were dead until Marathon Weekend runners arrived almost a week later.
Times have changed, and anyone still expecting a holiday hangover or serene start to the year is in for a rude awakening. It’s still true that the parks are quiet to start the New Year. But that lasts all of ~4 hours on New Year’s Day. After that, crowds increase and can be worse than the heart of the holiday season due to schools still being on break, lifting of AP blockouts, and early-arriving runDisney fans.
All major school districts contribute, but the biggest factors are locals. Winter school breaks are nothing new–I remember my school always being out of session until after my birthday–so the equation has not changed there for the country as a whole. What is different is the local population, which has absolutely exploded in the last decade as more households with school age children move to Central Florida. Expect these New Year’s crowds to only get worse in the years to come unless Walt Disney World adjusts AP blockouts and adjusts ticket and resort rate charts upwards.
Presidents’ Day (February 14-23, 2025; February 13-22, 2026) – For the last couple of years, the week of Presidents’ Day has ranked as one of the worst weeks as measured by average wait times. This isn’t just that holiday alone, but also school districts that use it as a proxy for mid-winter break or their “ski weeks” as well as runDisney Princess Half Marathon bookending the holiday.
This particular week is even worse when it coincides with Mardi Gras, making it more likely that schools in the South will also have winter breaks. In both 2024 and 2025, Mardi Gras will not coincide with Presidents’ Day (the holidays occur one week apart instead), effectively diluting the crowds. It’s thus possible that this week won’t end up being among the worst 10–that really depends upon how spring break play out.
In 2026, Mardi Gras is back to occurring during this same week. That will mean it’ll almost certainly be one of the 10 worst weeks–and possibly top 5. Regardless of Mardi Gras, it’s popular for winter breaks and thus choosing sunshine over ski slopes, making it an easily-identifiable week to avoid that’s predictably bad even when it’s not among the absolute worst.
Spring Break (March 23-30, 2025; March 22-29, 2026) – This is the example we mentioned at the top about AP blockouts and deals being able to turn the tables on crowds. During the last two years, the week of Orange County’s spring break was among the busiest of the season and almost on par with Easter. This year, blockouts were more aggressive and a Floridian ticket deal ended (by design) just before Orange County went on Spring Break. As a result, the week was not busy at all–it would’ve been a great time to visit.
It remains to be seen whether Walt Disney World will stick with this approach in 2025 (let alone 2026) or overcorrect and cause the pendulum to swing hard back in the other direction, making this a ‘worst week’ again. For now, we’re going to tentatively shift this a week later, after the AP blockouts end in March 2025. But that recommendation could change on the basis of additional ticket deals.
This is probably the safe move. Central Florida school districts have early breaks relative to the Midwest and Northeast, and those tourists plus lesser blockouts makes it likely that week will be very busy–without regard for anything else. Orange County’s break could still be busy, but as 2024 taught us, it’s far less of a sure thing if Disney clamps down on discounts for Floridians and blockouts.
One thing to keep in mind here is that there are hundreds of schools around the United States (and probably beyond) that are out of between mid-March and mid-April. In aggregate, they have a big impact on crowds. Unless there’s a freak anomaly (like 2024!), all of these weeks are going to be some degree of very busy–even if they don’t make this list.
Easter (April 11-20, 2025; March 30 to April 6, 2026) – This is a fairly safe prediction year in and year out, regardless of what else happens. In fact, you could probably (accurately) predict today that the week leading up to Easter will be busy in 2028 or 2054. Easter week has been the busiest of spring break season for as long as we’ve been covering Walt Disney World, although mid-March when Orange County is out has come close a couple of times (blockouts make that unlikely in the future–see above).
In the end, it doesn’t really matter which of these spring break weeks has higher crowd levels. That’s almost entirely academic, an interesting thing to watch for those of us who obsess over crowd trends and attendance patterns. The bottom line for most planners looking at this from a practical perspective is that late March through late April will be very crowded.
Summer Peak (July 4-13, 2024; July 3-12, 2025) – Summer vacation season is where the most uncertainty exists when it comes to Walt Disney World crowd calendars. This is because there has been zero consistency in attendance patterns for June and July in the last several years. That was true once again last year, when Fourth of July ended up being one of the slowest stretches of the year, to our surprise.
Barring future curveballs, our expectation is a return to normal next year. Free Dining and other promos have returned (Free Dining moves the needle on crowds slightly, but it has a much bigger impact on ADR availability), and ticket deals are already out that do not blockout Independence Day. The only problem is determining what, exactly, is normal for summer since we haven’t had a reasonable baseline in at least 5 years. Our expectation is attendance steadily increasing from mid-June, peaking around the beginning of July, and steadily decreasing thereafter through early August.
The safe money is on the worst of crowds coinciding with Independence Day, but this is not a sure thing. The two weeks before or the two weeks after could actually see heavier attendance and higher wait times. This prediction thus has the lowest degree of certainty; avoiding that entire month window is advisable. If you have no choice but to visit during summer, aim for early to mid-June or early to mid-August for the “best” crowds, but understand that there are air quotes around best for a reason.
Columbus Day (October 11-19, 2024; October 10-18, 2025) – There’s ample reason to believe that this won’t actually end up being among the worst 10 weeks of the year. It ranked #9 last year, but that happened as summer crowds plummeted prematurely.
If this does turn out to be a normal summer season, the aforementioned weeks in June and/or July could bump this out of the “top” 10. If it’s another slower summer, the week-plus around Columbus Day could easily crack the top 10. It’ll also usher in the end of the off-season, and start of a 3-month stretch of elevated crowds…minus a few major lulls that make our ‘best of’ list!
Nevertheless, it’s an identifiable red flag right now. Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day is a proxy for many fall breaks, and that results in an influx of visitors to Florida. The earlier time this year might also depress turnout, as some potential visitors might be spooked by storm season or still-hot weather. Others will be lured by the heart of Halloween season.
Holiday Hijinks (November 4-11, 2024; November 7-14, 2025) – This one always catches people by surprise. It’s what happens when two or three “holidays” collide–if you count the runDisney Wine & Dine Half Marathon and Jersey Week as holidays. During the latter, approximately 73% of the Garden State descends upon Walt Disney World.
The real holiday here is Veterans Day, which is always a “sleeper” holiday for crowds–in that it’s under-discussed but a surprisingly high amount of government workers, students, and others do have the day off. We’ve been warning about Veterans Day crowds for years, as it has been almost on par with Thanksgiving some years. It’s a long weekend that can have an outsized impact on crowd levels.
This is one of the bigger changes with our latest update, as we’ve dropped Halloween from this list. For the last two years, Walt Disney World has had below-average crowd levels on and around Halloween–it’s not school or work break for most people, and doesn’t materially impact attendance as a result.
With all of this said, confidence in the predicted dates is low for November 2025. Aside from Veterans Day, we don’t know when the runDisney race or Veterans Day will occur. So pencil in this window as one to avoid, but expect those precise dates to change.
Thanksgiving (November 22-29, 2024; November 21-28, 2025) – Just about any Walt Disney World fan is familiar with the crowds of the final three weeks on this list. They’re hardly a secret or surprise, and are predictably busy year in and year out. These weeks still catch some casual visitors by surprise, as there are persistent urban legends that the holidays are quiet because “everyone is at home with their families.” Obviously, that’s hogwash.
Offering a bit more insight here, Thanksgiving week crowds tend to be worst the Sunday through Tuesday before Thanksgiving before a comparative lull on late Wednesday and early Thursday. (Those time frames are still bad, just not the threat level midnight crowds of the prior 3 days.)
Friday and Saturday are wildcards; usually both are very busy, but not always. (We’ve officially removed Saturday from the above dates to avoid because it was downright delightful last year. We’d recommend erring on the side of caution and avoiding it in 2024-2025, but that’s no longer essential.) The Sunday after Thanksgiving has been uncrowded for years, making that a great first day in the parks.
Christmas (December 19-25, 2024; December 18-25, 2025) – The arrival of Christmas week crowds are very dependent upon the day of the week of Christmas. Due to its timing last year and this year, the week after (between Christmas and New Year’s Eve) saw or will see the worst of the crowds.
In 2024, the week leading up to Christmas will once again surge–likely to higher levels than we’ve seen in the last several years. It’ll be the same story in 2025, which means that in both of those years, the weekend before hand won’t actually be that bad, even though it’s on our list.
Regardless, all of these second-half of December dates are very, very bad and likely to see 10/10 crowd levels. But not all 10/10 days are equally busy. Some are far worse. That’ll probably be the case with the ~7 days before December 25 in each of the next 2 years.
New Year’s Eve (December 26-31, 2024; December 26-31, 2025) – It’s the same story here. The week leading up to New Year’s Eve is almost always 10/10 on the crowd calendar, and would likely be more like 15/10 if the scale allowed for that.
If you were to place a bet on the busiest weeks of 2024 and 2025, the smart money would be on this week. Doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll have the worst wait times given the uncertainty of making predictions 1-2 years into the future, but it is the odds-on favorite of claiming the crown.
This is almost always the #1 worst week of the year. The timing of Christmas and New Year’s Days in 2024 and 2025 does cast some degree of doubt on that, but honestly, not much. The week of New Year’s Eve will likely continue its run as the busiest week of the year for the next several years.
Best Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2024, 2025 & 2026
The list of best weeks to do Walt Disney World this year and in 2025-2026 is less precise and more subjective. In part, this is a byproduct of most of the worst weeks crowd-wise being readily identifiable on the basis of school breaks and holidays. So objectivity there is easier.
By contrast, there are wider windows for some of the lower crowd dates; as a result, we narrow those to our favored time frames based on subjective considerations. With that in mind, let’s dig into our rundown of the best weeks at Walt Disney World in 2024 to 2026…
Mid-January (January 12-18, 2025; January 11-16, 2026) – This is another change for 2025-2026. In the past, we’ve recommended late January while noting that the month is largely quiet after the holiday breaks end, with the exception of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend. This leaves three different weeks that are potentially good options for lower crowds in January.
In the past, all of those were almost equally good. That wasn’t the case this year, as the week before MLK Day was the best by a slight margin over the week after, and a significant amount over the week following that. With the shifting of the WDW Marathon we’re expecting that to be the case again in 2025, but it could change for 2026 depending upon Marathon dates.
Regardless, both weeks should be superior to late January or early February as Snowbirds and South American tour groups start arriving. They’re not the only groups to lookout for, as cheer/dance competitions and conventions also contribute to crowds. All of those things are more likely later in January or February. Festival of the Arts also increases ‘feels like’ crowds at EPCOT, but it’s a great event you won’t want to miss.
Before or After Mid-Winter Break (February 2-13, 2025 & Early or Late February 2026) – It’s pretty much the same idea here. Unlike some holiday weeks, there is no gradual decline before or after mid-winter break (Presidents’ Day/Mardi Gras). It’s abrupt on both ends. The crowd levels in the first half of February 2025 could be close to on par with January. Perhaps slightly higher due to youth sporting events, conventions, and South American tour groups.
The reason there’s a discrepancy between 2025 and 2026 is Mardi Gras. It coincides with mid-winter break in 2026, but not 2025. Mardi Gras may not seem like a big deal to you, but due to the proximity of Louisiana to Florida it very much is. As such, avoiding the dates leading up to March 4, 2025 is advisable. This means early March isn’t a great time to visit in 2025 (but it is in 2026).
Across the board, February will have higher crowds than January, but the former is more appealing for some Walt Disney World vacation planner due to the likelihood of better weather and fewer refurbishments. However, you’re also typically going to miss out on the EPCOT Festival of the Arts (#1 event of the year at EPCOT), unless you visit before Presidents’ Day.
Early Spring (March 8-13, 2025; March 1-8, 2026) – That stretch is actually what prompted this post, as early March was a sweet stretch of mild weather and low crowds leading up to the start of spring break season, with most parks having 1/10 to 3/10 crowd levels during this week in March. Then, like flipping a switch, attendance surges almost overnight with the start of spring break.
This is a top tier time to visit thanks to the mild weather, EPCOT in bloom, and low crowds. It’s the calm before (and after) the storm, and there are only a handful of weeks that we’d rank higher from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective. This will be an especially fantastic time in 2026 (and realistically, the prime dates could extend until March 13, 2026–but we’re playing it conservatively since spring break schedules aren’t out yet).
The date range is shorter in March 2025, which is due to Mardi Gras on the frontend and Orange County’s spring break on the backend. Honestly, we probably wouldn’t mess with this stretch in 2025 unless doing a 5-day trip. While the core days of that week should be pretty quiet, there’s a chance of spillover crowds at the beginning or end. (On the plus side, there should be another lull in late February 2025–after Presidents’ Day/Mid-Winter Break but before Mardi Gras.)
Post-Easter (April 14-20, 2024; April 27 to early May 2025; April 12-26, 2026) – For both of these weeks, we’re essentially looking a week or two after Easter. Usually, crowds die down in the week immediately after the holiday, but there are still some schools with breaks then. The week following that is usually when the slower season arrives.
The added benefits here are (usually) spring weather and lower prices. There’s no guarantee of either, though, as summer weather can occur 10 months of the year in Florida and it’s possible for prices to remain elevated even after Easter. Both are uncommon, though, making this a great option if you’re looking for the optimal dates between spring and summer school breaks.
Spring & Summer Shoulder Season (May 4-12, 2024; May 3-11, 2025) – In looking at the wait time data, the first full week of May is usually the slowest of the month. Not by a wide margin, and the following week is sometimes better. In fact, the entire month before the Memorial Day holiday weekend is usually pretty good, and reliably uncrowded since it’s the shoulder season between spring break and summer vacation. (Even Memorial Day isn’t that bad by holiday standards.)
Crowds alone would be the tiebreaker with all else being equal, but weather is another variable to take into account. Earlier has a better chance of being milder, with less of a chance for extreme heat and humidity. As icing on the cake, prices are better and we’ve tended to find better discount availability during this earlier May window.
Mid-September (September 21-29, 2024; September 13-21, 2025) – If you’re perplexed by the over 4-month gap between the last recommended week and this one, we’re going to assume you’ve never visited Florida during the heart of summer season. Or, perhaps you love alternating being able to fry an egg on the sidewalk and afternoon showers that last long enough to drench your already sweat-soaked clothes, but are too short to cool things down.
In actuality, this is an objectively “poor” pick. In our monitoring of the data, wait times have bottomed out between the day after Labor Day and the following Saturday most years. We’re not talking about wait times for the month, but for the entire year. So if you’re choosing dates with a data-driven mentality, September 3-20 is your best bet. The same will almost certainly hold from true for 2024, 2025, 2026, and so on.
Not even the off-season opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was enough to drive crowds. Ditto the Free Dining promotion, which is back for 2024; that will make restaurants busier and ADRs more competitive, but has less of an impact on wait times and overall attendance levels, especially in the early fall off-season (it’ll be worse in July and December). This window is predictably uncrowded because of school going back into session and the weather being a deterrent.
With that said, the entire month is off-season and delaying a week maintains low wait times while improving your odds of better temperatures and fewer storms. We think that’s worth an extra one minute in line (literally, that’s the difference), but the fact is that heat, humidity, and hurricanes are a gamble anytime from early August through late October. If you’re on the fence about this tradeoff, see Is It Still Worth Visiting During the Early Fall Offseason at Walt Disney World? for a greater discussion of weather vs. crowds.
Of course, if the parks close for a hurricane, wait times drop all the way to zero! Technically, that makes for the best crowd conditions of all…but that’s probably not what you have in mind if you’re visiting Walt Disney World in the fall. Still, it’s something we can’t help but point out, as there’s always that risk. It’s still statistically low, but tell that to everyone who has been burned by closures in the last few years.
Nevertheless, those planners who would prefer to trust the numbers should move their trip forward by a week or two. Those who like low crowds but would rather hedge their bets on the qualitative side of things should stick with this week, or even consider delaying one more week. Early October is still good so long as you’re out of town before the Columbus Day crowds discover Walt Disney World.
Post-Columbus (October 20-31, 2024; October 19-31, 2025) – This is a lower degree of confidence suggestion, and you honestly might be better off with the week encompassing Halloween and first few days of November. Based on the last few years, both of these weeks are surprisingly good. I was actually mildly and pleasantly surprised by that when combing through the data, as it wasn’t quite what I expected.
For years, conventional wisdom was that October was a great month to visit–a sweet spot of low crowds and nice weather. That ceased being true about a decade ago, and was driven in large part by an uptick in conventions business and the Free Dining promotion. With the exception of fall break and the aforementioned holiday, it seems to have resumed being true–at least to some degree–in the last 3 years. Of course, that stretch hasn’t exactly been normal, hence the low confidence in this suggestion.
The tradeoff is taking the greater gamble on crowds than late August through September is the smaller gamble on weather. (All of these dates are the “heart” of Halloween, which starts in mid-August.) Prices are also higher for these travel dates. And again, you’re gambling on weather to some degree even with this week–Hurricane Nicole caused a closure in early November!
Pre-Thanksgiving (November 16-22, 2024; November 15-21, 2025) – The final three recommendations are also the top three picks for our favorite weeks of the year to visit. Honestly, if we weren’t purposefully trying to spread out the choices to achieve greater variety, another week during the holiday season might be added here.
You might notice that the window shifts for November 2024 and 2025, which is due to the timing of Veterans Day and Thanksgiving as compared to the last two years. It’s also likely to be a better set of dates next year than it is this year from an attendance perspective. Qualitatively, both a great in terms of typical weather and seasonal events–Christmas is far and away our favorite time of year at Walt Disney World.
The only downside to these dates is that they’re early in the holiday season before all of the resorts are decked out for Christmas and prior to the start of EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays. Still, the other 3 parks will be decked out for Christmas, as well some of EPCOT–you just won’t have the food booths, storytellers (Global Santas, for lack of a better term), or Candlelight Processional.
Post-Thanksgiving (December 1-8, 2024; November 30 to December 7, 2025) – This is our #1 week of the entire year at Walt Disney World. That’s been true for ages. Back when we lived in the Midwest, our annual Christmas trip usually started the Sunday after the holiday. (Even when we were still in school, we used to skip a couple days to make it a long weekend trip!)
If I had to guess at which week of the year we have spent the most minutes in Walt Disney World since 2007, it would be this one. Probably by a pretty wide margin. We absolutely love the week after Thanksgiving.
We have our time-tested approach down to a science, flying into Orlando on Saturday and actually doing our first day in the parks on Sunday. We start with Magic Kingdom during the day, as it’s typically a Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party night–the first in over a week. That means shorter hours in Magic Kingdom, and smaller crowds as a result. For that same reason, do not attend that MVMCP. There’s pent-up demand from everyone still around from Thanksgiving who didn’t have the chance to attend earlier. Instead, do the Thursday night party.
Everything about this week is great–the weather, post-holiday lull in crowds, pricing, and the full slate of Christmas season entertainment. We joke that this used to be Walt Disney World’s “second-best kept secret” after Disney Vacation Club, which is to say it was a secret in name only since so many people knew about it. However, due to Pop Warner moving to Universal and other variables, that’s once again true. This is our top recommendation, and it’s not even a particularly close call.
Pre-Christmas (December 9-15, 2024; December 8-14, 2025) – As is probably evident, this is simply the week after that. It has all of the same qualities as our #1 week, but with a couple of significant differences. First, crowds are starting to increase by this point. Families who want to be home for the holidays are more inclined to time their trip at the midpoint between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Locals and other Annual Passholders who are subject to blockouts squeeze in visits to savor the spirit of the season before they don’t have the option.
Second, prices are getting higher. They’re still not at peak season levels, but they’re about 15-25% higher than the previous week. That’s true for park tickets and resort rack rates, and also likely to be the case for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and Lightning Lanes, as well. All of that adds up, and makes the middle of December noticeably worse than the sweet spot after Thanksgiving, but this still ranks very highly, all things considered.
Ultimately, that’s a rundown of the top 10 weeks of the year and the worst 10 weeks at Walt Disney World for all of 2024 and 2025. As you might’ve gathered by reading the entries, there are good and bad windows that stretch beyond what’s covered on this list–you should be able to deduce most of those based the rundown above.
With that said, we still hope to expand this list to a resource ranking all 52 weeks at Walt Disney World by later this year. After some tumultuous times, attendance is finally returning to familiar patterns…for the most part. It’s too difficult to do that with any degree of credibility for Summer 2024, but hopefully we’ll be able to draw more definitive conclusions about June and July 2025. So stay tuned!
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 Walt Disney World week rankings for now through 2026? 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? Other dates to avoid the parks in 2024 or 2025? 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!
We have just returned from Disneyworld our stay was on property Dec 1- 8, 2023. This was the 25th visit during approximately the same time each year for the past 25 years. Every park was busy, very busy everyday. I am not a fan of LL and Genie plus, however unless you wanted to spend 80 plus minutes for rides such as Guardians, Frozen, Mickey and Minnie, Slinky Dog, Toy Story etc. you have few options. We were able to snag a couple of virtual lines, however we were still under the current park reservation system which is a factor. We still love Disneyworld but each visit the magic is less and the cost is more. Disneyworld is not 100% recovered, there are still staff shortages, Seasons closed at 4pm, not all restaurants/ food options are available, the cast members are stretched thin in some areas. We keep hanging in there hoping Disneyworld will fully recover and our voices will be heard. Paying thousands to stand in multiple lengthy lines is a questionable use of money/ vacation, the option of purchasing a LL does not make it better. As much as we love Disneyworld I would be lying if I said it was a great vacation or time to visit, Christmas has always been our favorite time, however early Dec may no longer be the ‘sweet spot’ .
I am right there with you. My family of 4 myself , husband & my 2 sons and their GF’s had visited in January for 5 of the 7 years before COVID. Having 2 boys my kids were not huge Disney fans. Our first trip came about because we had run out of ideas for our family trips and one of my sons girlfriends suggested Disney. So we went and we all loved it so much. After prior vacations the kids would say where are we going next. After our first Disney trip we were on ME headed to the airport to fly home and EVERYONE had already said we ARE coming here next year even my husband who what adamant that Disney was nothing he would enjoy. Having kids (for our first trip) ages 17,18 and girlfriends 15 & 16. The ME and busses to and from the parks was a mothers ideal option. If we split up I knew the kids had a safe way back to the resorts. Early admission and fast passes set ahead so we could plan our day way before our trip. The perks to stay onsite were amazing. I had talked to families considering their first trip not only into going but also staying on site and explaining the value of the price of Disney was actually a great deal with all the extras and sooo much available to you to do every day. This January will be our first trip back post COVID. Excited to go but I realize it will be a totally different trip. You hit on it for sure, the value is getting questionable. We did consider staying off site. the kids being 27,28 25 &25. the thought of them being more responsible to uber if we spit up was more of an option. We did end up booking on site but I could not believe the price. Disney cost more every year but this increase was substantial. We literally have to plan no vacation next year to book one for this year. All to “plan” to have longer lines and hoping “day of” to get LL for your favorites. IDK, feels like the magic might be noticeably less. We have the luxury of only having MMRR, Ratatouille, Tron and GOTG being the new rides since we have been. We have the luxury of missing other rides if we hit long lines for them. I can’t imaging families only having/affording a 2-3 day vacation and possibly not knowing/understanding VQ or Genie. Spending so much money and possibly NOT getting to ride one of the new rides. That’s crazy. Like you, we are hanging in there hoping. I am thankful that my kids and now daughter-in-laws are still so willing to vacation as a family so I hate to see Disney not being an option any more. Last year we went to Universal Studios Hollywood and purchased the VIP package. 2 days of a personal tram tour to all the sites and rides back lot walking tours. Walking on the movie sets there including buildings from some of our favorite movies. Walking right on all the rides. Included a beautiful breakfast a gourmet lunch both all you can eat buffet. Unlimited water and soda. It was an amazing way to visit the park. That trip was almost 1/2 of our upcoming Disney trip.
Thanks for this post, very informative. We are booked April 27 – May 10th – staying off property, but excited with the 20% discount offered now for Canadians! My question is – how does “Cheer Week” affect crowds? I know there are competitions, but how do you find that affects crowds, or do you have suggestions on how to transverse from your experience?
Wondering what the week of Jan 21 2024 is predicted at? Any thoughts?
Thank you
My family trip is Jan 20-27-23. I am an extensive planner and do tons research. Everything I can find to read lists this week (and the following) as great times to visit. We as a family always pick one of these two week. We visited WDW 5 times in the 7 years before COVID. It was an amazing time to visit. With FP we were able to enjoy all the rides with out any felling of a rush or being crowded. My group is myself, husband and kids 25,27 and 28. 2 sons and husband are very head strong and opinionated. So I plan extensively to have our best chance of a smooth trip. Now with genie+ and a higher attendance it appears to be so hard to predict the crowd or pre plan. On my many hours of reading and researching anything I can get my hands on I do feel it will be the best you can get dates. Less pre planning preparedness and more pre researching to take as much knowledge with you to use the best strategy for what you are given that day. We have used Tom’s tips for every trip and he is always spot on. If the park hour times hold true the 3 bigger parks close at 9pm. Our main stradegy will he hit all early morning hours with a few hours off in the middle of the day and hitting the park again 4-9 or 5-9. Planning only genie+ for MK and no purchasing ILL. It appears the flood of revenge traveling has slowed which is the best information that I have read. Have a great trip.
We’ve found the first week of September (starting the Tuesday after Labor Day) is the best time to go, both crowd-wise and cost-wise. The ticket and room prices are the lowest from the last week of August to about the 15th of September, which tells me that Disney considers this the slowest time. And even though the MNSSHP was sold out every night we were there, the parks during the day weren’t that bad. Lowest crowds we’ve seen over all the different times of the year we’ve visited. And I know August was brutal this year, but when we went the first week of September, it was nice. We didn’t once use our cooling towels, though we still needed sunscreen, of course.
We had gone to WDW Sept. 15-21, 2022 because it was a “slow” time historically. While it was not too bad, there was still some of the revenge travel crowds. I was planning on returning in mid-April 2024, a couple of weeks after Easter, another slower time according to Tom and others. But the Shades of Green resort (I’m retired military) was offering a 15% discount on rooms in September and October. That told me that the resort was expecting fewer room requests then. So, I changed my plans to Sept.22-28. This is the same week in September that Tom recommended in this blog.
The room discount (not offered in 2022) tells me that crowd levels might be closer to historical levels in late 2024 than in recent years.
Very interesting about the SoG discount–I was not aware of that! I know bookings there have been competitive for the last couple of years, so that they’re actually offering a deal says something.
Tom, as you’ve noted in your Shades of Green resort review, it is a great place to stay – if you qualify. The list of benefits are too long to list here, but basically, you get deluxe resort accommodations (or very close to them) for budget resort prices. And getting a room discount (that covers most of my hotel and park parking fees) along with a “slow” week can’t be beat.
I was surprised to see a “Black Friday sale” on resort rooms and on the breakfast buffet. But they usually have a discount on rooms in September. They just don’t usually announce it this early. Right now, they have it for May and two weeks in April. More months will appear as the new year advances. It’s the same with Disney and their discounted resort rooms (other than the military resort and ticket discounts). For us, though, SOG lost its sparkle when Disney closed the walking path between SOG and the Polynesian. The transportation at SOG leaves a lot to be desired compared to Disney’s transportation system.
This will be out first family Disney trip since before COVID. We have always picked weeks mid Jan- first week in February. We pretty much let flight prices choose between those dates. Prior to COVID we were an all in Disney family. Myself, husband and kids 25,27,28. All of the post COVID price hikes, perk removals and loss of ME really left me with a feeling of receiving so much less for so much more. Being a huge planner, I of course researched all the new Disney norms. Genie, VQ ect. We have booked Jan 20-27 on site. With all of the changes I was glad to see the little bit of revenge traveling subside. Of course I booked before all of the new 2024 discounts and was curious on the prices if I had waited to book. Looking at the website for our travel week there are sooooo many resorts full. This makes me nervous how busy that week will be. I know the days of Crowd calendars giving me a easy for me to understand reference like Monday is a “4” ect. Everything I have read this appears to still be an ok week but the sold out resorts I have really started to worry. Is this a “normal” occurrence? of our 6 trips this is my first time every checking on room availability after I have booked. They may have always been sold out or close to selling out. Our prior trips have been heaven. Very tolerable crowds. I had fast passes worked out to a fine tuned science. So we had very short wait times. Are there ever days that you would consider a “2” or “3” any more? I feel like I am visiting a whole new or different park. Thank for any insight on crowds levels or anything else you may think would be helpful. Love your blog by the way. It quickly became my “go-to” source of everything Disney.
“Are there ever days that you would consider a “2” or “3” any more?”
I guess that depends upon your frame of reference. If you view crowd levels as static, and don’t adjust them over the course of time, then no. Millions more guests will visit Walt Disney World in 2024 than did in 2014, for example. Crowd levels are up across the board as a result.
With that said, I would expect that week to be slow by contemporary standards–and judged relative to other dates in 2024.
Also – on-site room availability is not conclusive of crowds. The majority of guests come from off-site, and there are youth events and conventions held at on-site hotels that impact occupancy but not crowds in the parks. It’s not uncommon to see a difference between resort numbers and attendance. I can understand your concern (and I would be, too), but it doesn’t necessarily mean anything.
This is the MOST helpful post ever!!! I took notes and made a chart good for the next 2 years worth of trips. SO much easier than researching for each trip as it comes along. Thank you Thank you!
My family is currently booked to be at Disney from November 11th – 18th this year; we’re arriving on Veterans Day, but our first actual park day is not till the following day (the 12th). Any thoughts on this? Because I see that one of your “worst” weeks ends with Veterans Day while one of your “best” weeks starts on the 12th, but I also noticed where you said people typically underestimate how bad the crowds are Veterans Day weekend… and the 12th is still technically the weekend. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So is your prediction for the 12th that it will be really heavy crowds, or that it won’t be as bad as Veterans Day itself?
I am in the same position, arriving november 10th. I am planning MK november 10th in the PM and Animal Kingdom saturday… Hopefully it’s going to went well ! Everything is booked so I can’t change my dates. I guess we’ll have to live it to see how it goes.
We once did the Mickey’s Christmas party the Tuesday AFTER Thanksgiving and were told by a cast member it was the best one to attend all year since Thanksgiving is over and Christmas really hasn’t started. We literally walked onto every ride with little to no wait times in some cases it took longer to traverse all the empty queue spots at places like Pirates of the Caribbean and Space Mountain.
If you can pull your kids out of school that is the week to go! The weather is usually warm enough to swim but not melt your face off if standing in a line. Plus the hotel rooms are discounted. We stayed at the Beach Club (via Dave’s site) for dirt cheap for five nights.
Hey Tom! My wife and I are going to be celebrating our first anniversary at Disney World from December 5-11th. It will be her first ever time to the parks and my first in years! Hoping it won’t be insanely packed! Thanks for all your resources.
Hello Tom,
I really love all of the info you out in these. I would suggest changing the name from crowd calendar to something else since you don’t actually provide a calendar. I am looking for the color coded PDF that I can print and mark up as we are planning. I use it add your info. I have found it extremely useful and thankfully somewhere else.
Does Epcot still have that “secret” rest spot in marikish. Sponsor by on of Floridas insurance company’s?
Absolutely agree with the week after Thanksgiving being the best. We’ve been going for the holidays for about 10 years now and typically go in early December. Last year we had to adjust our week and went the week after Thanksgiving. It was perfection. Early December wasn’t bad but after Thanksgiving was so much better. Our first park day was that Saturday, so we opted for Animal Kingdom to avoid crowds with a stroll around Epcot that night fully prepared to feel squished. There were crowds but nowhere near what we expected. The mass exodus on Sunday was very obvious and through Thursday was great. On Friday we could definitely tell that they weekend crowd had arrived but we already did everything we wanted to so we just grabbed a few beverages in Epcot and people watched. Excited to give that week another go this year.
Yep, I was told by cast members that is the best week to visit the parks because the TG crowds are gone, school is still in session, and Christmas crowds haven’t started. We went to a Mickey’s Christmas party the Tuesday after TG and walked onto every ride.
I would say spot on for all the low crowd days/weeks to go and why, for locals. We’ve always done our 2 DVC annual stays 3rd week of January and early September. But now little one is in school, not daycare anymore, so last year in kindergarten we got a lot of tersed reactions from teachers and admins not bringing him to school those weeks. I think we’re still going to stick to it. But local FAST and STAR testing in April/May can’t be avoided anymore.
Meant to say do not coincide with your April 2024 best weeks. My apologies. Should I avoid April 22-27, 2024? Thank you.
Hello. Thanks for the info. We were planning April 22-27 2024 but I see those dates coincide with you bests. What might be happening that week I would want avoid. I can still change our itinerary. Thanks as always for the most helpful information out there.
Have been in early May and late September. Both were indeed very pleasant from a crowd perspective. Weather? That’s another story! Though neither were terrible, just not comfortable.
Have also been during Christmas, can confirm that is on the opposite end of the spectrum. But that is not really breaking news there…
We did go early/mid October a few years back and I don’t remember it being that terrible, but this was pre Covid so maybe it was slightly different.
For military families or veterans who might be thinking about going to Walt Disney World in 2023 or 2024, I thought this piece, which came out today and quotes Tom, might be of interest:
https://thefederalist.com/2023/06/06/disney-proves-desantis-point-by-going-after-military-guests/
Retired AF here who stays at both SOG and on site hotels. I loved the access to the polly but never thought as it was part of the hotel or a right for staying at SOG. I can understand why Disney would want to take away the traffic that doesn’t pay for it. The buses are a little slower than Disney but is just fine for what you are paying. The military is way undervalued and paid in my opinion but Disney owes us nothing more than a thank you.
As always, politely voicing feedback on your disappointment might help get a pedestrian bridge added. In this case, I’d recommend aiming that at Shades of Green and CFTOD. Walt Disney World is not going to foot the bill on a bridge, for reasons that should be fairly obvious.
Hey Tom I notice you mention the first week in March of 2024 but don’t have it down for 2025….which is the week we are planning for in 2025…would it stand the same as 2024 recommendation?
(Note: This and the next recommendation are for only 2024; due to Mardi Gras falling on March 4, 2025, those considering winter or spring visits will want to target mid-February 2025–meaning before Mardi Gras; the week between Mardi Gras and Orange County’s spring break should be another good option.)
Because Mardi Gras falls that week, there’s likely to be an influx of tourists from Louisiana and other neighboring areas so that week in 2025 will be more crowded than 2024
Hi Tom,
Would you please consider doing one of these for Disneyland?
Thanks.