Best Year to Visit Disney World?
When to visit Walt Disney World is a common question, and as construction has increased, readers have been asking about the best year for a Walt Disney World vacation instead of months or weeks. At this point, it’s whether to wait or go for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary in 2021?
With a slew of Opening Dates & Details for Resorts, Rides & Restaurants at Walt Disney World Announced, the massive Epcot reimagining well underway, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance now open (click here for our spoiler-free ride review), we thought it’d be worth tackling this topic.
It’s been such a frequently asked question and point of concern that we have a separate What’s New & What’s Next at Walt Disney World in 2021 & 2022 post, and mention when to visit in terms of years in our regularly-updated Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide. Suffice to say, for those planning a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, choosing the best time with the most new things open and the least construction is important…
There are some definite upsides to waiting. Walt Disney World is in an unprecedented era of expansion, much of which follows a period of stagnation that occurred in the aughts. Frankly, this is playing catch-up, and should have happened years if not a decade ago.
This huge expansion is the obvious reason to wait, and we’re going to delve into timing these numerous projects to take advantage of the most openings and least construction. However, there are also significant downsides to waiting, as we will also cover here.
We’d hazard a guess that people reading this are going to fall squarely into two camps: those like us who visit annually or more, and those who are planning a first-time (and depending upon how that goes, only time) visit, and wanting to choose the best time.
Rather than posing a question in the post title and not answering it, we will provide two very specific times when those of you in the latter group should visit: late November or early December 2021 and mid-January 2022. Obviously, these are not the only times we’d recommend visiting (to the contrary, we ourselves will take countless trips between those times), but if we had to pick only two times to visit between now and then, those timeframes would be it.
Let’s start with right now. The biggest expansion at Walt Disney World in recent memory is Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and that’s done now that the second ride, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, has debuted. This is the flagship attraction of Star Wars Land, and the biggest budget ride that Walt Disney World has ever built.
Additionally, the Disney Skyliner gondolas are operating, all construction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios has wrapped up, and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is now open. Plus, both Grand Destino Tower and Disney’s Riviera Resort are now open.
Really, any time between now and November/December 2021 is also workable if you simply follow our normal When to Visit Walt Disney World advice to avoid higher crowds. The big thing we recommended waiting for was Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Now that it’s open, there’s less reason to delay. (It was worth the wait!)
Our basis for recommending late November or early December 2021 is because we like Christmas, not because something incredible is opening this fall. October 1, 2021 is the important date, as that’s Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. Everything new for 2021 will have debuted by then.
There’s also the downside of waiting until Christmas, and that’s the likelihood of increased construction at Epcot as that park continues the rest of its huge reimagining. Future World is currently in rough shape, and that’ll likely continue throughout this year.
In fact, this is such an issue that we have a separate Should You Skip Epcot? post that discusses the pros and cons of visiting during this state of transition. We think most people will still want to see Epcot–and World Showcase is pretty much free of construction–but it’s still worth reading that and seeing all of the photos to mentally prepare yourself for how Epcot looks right now.
Magic Kingdom is another park that will likely see more work done in the next year or so, especially as it gears up for enhancements set to debut during the nostalgia-heavy Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary celebration.
One of these placemaking projects is the Royal Makeover of Cinderella Castle, which is now finished. We anticipate more around Magic Kingdom following that in preparation for the park’s golden anniversary. Speaking of which…
Walt Disney World opened on October 1, 1971, meaning that its 50th Anniversary will occur on October 1, 2021. It might seem logical for its anniversary celebration to begin on that date, but this is not official. It’s just as likely that an 18 month celebration would begin slightly before then.
If the 50th Anniversary celebration is underway by September 2021, that would be an ideal time to visit. It’s the heart of off-season, and will have lower crowds than October (albeit less desirable weather).
We anticipate October 2021 to be incredibly crowded, with many longtime fans planning ‘homecoming’ style family trips to celebrate the momentous occasion. There is always a surge of guests for any 5 or 10 year anniversary, but the 50th should see a significantly greater influx of crowds–especially if Walt Disney World puts on a meaningful event.
Irrespective of crowds, we will be among that group. As with many other longtime fans, we’re eager to pay tribute to a magical place that has meant so much to us. If you’re a first-timer, infrequent visitor, or just averse to crowds, going in October 2021 may not be as appealing to you.
Accordingly, mid-January 2022 is a time during the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary celebration when many of the big additions will be open. It’s also during a season when the crowds should generally be lighter and when the weather is nice.
Going during this off-season month will help blunt the (anticipated) increase in overall crowd levels between now and 2021. However, as we discussed at length in our Peak Crowds in Winter “Off-Season” at Walt Disney World post, crowds in the doldrums of winter have been surprisingly bad for the last two years.
The good news is that Walt Disney World is anticipating huge crowds and has projects in both Epcot and Magic Kingdom to help absorb those crowds, and pull guests away from Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The bad news is that the earliest of those large-scale projects will open in Summer 2021, with other projects debuting in 2022.
Another potential, significant downside to waiting is cost. As demand and attendance increase, so too will prices. While it’s impossible to prognostic exactly how high room rates will surge, it’s easy to envision a scenario with a 25% across the board increase between now and 2022. We’ve already seen more significant bumps at the Disney Skyliner resorts.
The thing is, Walt Disney World prices do not exist in a vacuum. There are also scenarios where such price increases are not sustainably in light of larger economic circumstances. In the last several years as consumer confidence and the markets have soared, so too have Disney’s prices.
It remains our belief that an economic ‘correction’ is on the horizon at some point in 2021 or 2022, and that would undermine Disney’s ability to continue such price increases unabated. Accordingly, you might actually be able to enjoy an improved guest experience and the above-mentioned amenities while actually pay less than current prices. Or perhaps that’s a pipe dream on our part. Everyone has their own perception of the economy, so don’t substitute our judgment for your own.
Of course, all of this is speculation on our part. The only thing we know for sure is that Walt Disney World has a history of price increases, would undoubtedly like to increase prices more, and will do so if the market will bear it. If the market won’t, prices will decline. Unfortunately, if a recession does occur, it could also impact your ability to travel. But we’re veering too far off-topic now.
Suffice to say, we think there’s really no time like the present to plan a trip to Walt Disney World. For the last two years, we’ve been advising a lot of vacation planners to wait, so it’s good to finally be in a position where the fruits of all this construction are (mostly) about to come to fruition. While there is some upside to waiting until Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary in 2021 or visiting in early 2022, there are also a lot of unknowns about that, and the biggest expansion in WDW history is already complete. In the immortal words of the Sherman Brothers:
“Now is the time now is the best time
Now is the best time of your life…
Yesterday’s mem’ries may sparkle and gleam
Tomorrow is still but a dream
Right here and now you’ve got it made
The world’s forward marching and you’re in the parade!”
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 recommendations for visiting Walt Disney World in the next few years? Are you looking forward to visiting once big additions, including Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, are open? Will you wait until Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary? Any thoughts or predictions of your own to add? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Hi Tom ~ I am wondering if there would be any limitations for my husband during a trip to Disney World because of his size. I found on the blog where you wrote about children’s required height for some rides, but I am wondering if a man who is 6’5″ and ~280 lbs. would encounter any problems with rides. Sitting in coach on an airplane is pretty much impossible for him nowadays because his legs won’t fit!
Thank you in advance for any information that you can provide!
Curious about your statement on when Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will open. Disney’s site says “Fall 2019,” not LATE 2019. I’ve been eyeing November 2019, and prices have skyrocketed over the past three weeks, which makes me think SW is likely to be open in November.
After contemplating several different times to go, I think we finally decided on Apr, 2020. It would be the week after Easter (19th thru 25th). It’s our school vacation week and seems to be the most realistic to us. Will that week be any better crowd wise? As I hear the week around Easter is very busy…so hoping the week after will be better. Also, contemplating waiting til April 2021 when vacation week will be 2 weeks removed from Easter. However, like you say, will there just always be a “better” time to go? I’m a little overwhelmed with all that goes into planing this and I have just begun!!
If I may offer an opinion, you might be better off in 2021 with your visit being further out from Easter. Having said that, it is also Disney’s 50th anniversary year. This may or may not be a plus for you! There are bound to be lots of really special things going on all year long, but the crowds will likely be larger too (although still relatively “quiet” given the time of year).
New to your blog, but love it! I have to agree that Disney is definitely going to increase prices (we are already seeing it) – but there is definitely inelastic demand at work. Our family of 4 (kids 7 and 6) declined to do Not So Scary Halloween this year, because the price point felt like a total ripoff. We were already paying for a full day ticket at MK that day… and being kicked out at (4? 6?) – so we were already annoyed. To add $400 – $400!!! – to our bill for a couple extra hours that evening was just not worth it to us. Our kids aren’t old enough to stay up much past 7 when we’ve been going since 6am. On top of that, it turned out that it was insanely hot that day, and we would not have enjoyed dressing up and schlepping back to the park nearly as much as we enjoyed spending the evening poolside with drinks! I think Disney is going to find that “market savvy” works both ways. The more they jack up prices (witness: new parking charges), the more people like us will just find ways around that. Anyway, on to read some more of your great articles! Thanks for the tips! We go back spring break and fall break in 2019.
We love Disney. We are a family of 6 and Disney offers all that we need and more for a vacation. With that said, we used to go yearly and get free dining. This is the first time we haven’t going in 2 years because of price increases, changes in the dining plan and increased crowds. We plan to make one last trip to Disney to see the Star Wars area. As sad as it is for me to say that my kids are starting to get older and branching out I can get better vacation deals. We’ve always struggled to accommodate our family’s size of which we expect but Disney is inviting us to stretch our budget too far especially since we’ve been there many times and braces for 3 kids are upon us! We do love Disney though and have loved every minute of our vacations there.
My husband and I took our kids and 2 grand kids last Nov 3, 2018. It was packed. It was very, very hot. Alot of peeps from NJ. Schools were out there for a week. I t was very expensive. My husband said he could have taken us all to Hawaii for cheaper. And we have been to Hawaii a few times. I don’t plan on going back to Disney. The prices are outrageous. As long as people go and pay those prices they will keep raising them 25.00 bucks to park a car????? There merchandise is made in very poor countries They don’t pay for the pop products that they charge riddiculous prices they charge us. From what I understand they don’t pay employee very well. Everyone just needs to stop going. I am not going back. It’s ok if I never see starwars land. There is so many other places to go and see with my family and alt cheaper too.
For how long did you stay
Hi Tom,
My wife and I plan to visit the Magic Kingdom for its 50th BDay as we will both be turning 50 that year. Our birthdays are in early September, but MK didn’t open until Oct 1. In your experience, would you expect the celebration to have started by Labor Day?
Going on first Disney cruise Feb 2019! If we enjoy, I think cruising may be our Disney fix for the next few years. Also might be able to get premium $$ for our DVC points! No complaints here.
Really concerned as we are going in April 19. Our grandson has started a new school so we have no alternative but to go then. Albirthday. A special birthday so it’s the best time for us. We are a family of 8 which includes one 11 yr and one 7 yr old. Staying port Orleans French quarter. Can you some advice please on fast passes and Di . We do not have dining option.we do not want to be rushing from one ride to another and miss out on the general atmosphere and magic. Many thanks a confused grannie
Hi Ms. Gray,
If I may make a recommendation despite your comment having been nearly three months ago (although I see your trip is still a few months away), I would strongly advise you to use the website for the Unofficial Guide series (touringplans.com). Not only are their books fantastic (I imagine you would be interested in the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids 2019), their website has excellent and customizable touring plans that not only allow you to incorporate time to rest and “see the magic” but are field-tested to get you around the parks in optimal time so that you can avoid lines. Not to mention that full advantage of the special birthday should be taken! Ask for a badge, tell the staff at restaurants and the resort, etc. Hope you have a wonderful trip. https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/touring-plans
For us it was far more about maximizing the experience for our childrens’ ages. Luckily, they are both girls and only 1 year apart, so it was easy to pick a year that worked well for them both. We went to Disneyland when they were preschoolers, and it was clear that more than 1 or 2 days would be difficult for them (and us) at that time. We all needed to enjoy it, so going to WDW when they were 8 and 9 was the best plan for us, regardless of what attractions were available.
So, I agree with the blog post: make a plan that works for your family and their ages and needs and just stick with it. Your kids will likely never know what they missed by not waiting for that next attraction to open, but they will remember that they never went or couldn’t enjoy it because you waited too long and they’ve “aged out” of the experience. At the time we went, we were planning on that being our one and only trip to WDW.
Everything I read about WDW suggests that the crowds are staggering and the costs are outrageously exorbitant. Why would I want to spend that kind of money on a place that is shoulder to shoulder with gazillions of people.. Sounds horrible.
Lol. And yet, here you are, reading about it and making negative comments. If this isn’t your thing, I’d suggest spending time on websites that aren’t related to Disney travel, rather than “wasting your time” here, and putting down something that you don’t enjoy.
We find our trips to be quite nice and worth the cost. We also enjoy meeting other people from all over the world and don’t mind the crowds. Plenty of other places to travel if it’s not for you 🙂
Hi Sarah and Tom —
Would greatly appreciate your advice… we’re planning a Bar Mitzvah / 10th birthday trip to WDW and USO. Thing is we’re coming from Israel so it’s a big thing and Im having difficulties on the best time frame: either early Oct 19 or mid April 20.
Kids are huge Harry Potter fans and not into Star Wars (for now) so we’re actually anticipating they’ll like USO better.
What would you suggest?
Many many thanks
I vote April 20 but mainly because Universal Orlando has Halloween horror nights in October which may disrupt/cut short your universal park days. Also Oct is still technically hurricane season, though the bulk of the storms (statistically) will have passed by then. April is lovely weather all around. Regardless, have a great time!
Want me my friends and family to come down to Disney world
Yes! Finally something about Judi Online Android.
I’ve already promised the boys May 2019 because I wanted CBR completed before we go. Whatever it is like at that point, we’re outta here.
You said that you are hearing that Star Wars is delayed….do you think it will get pushed out until 2020? I had scheduled a trip for this year to take my 3 year old to Toy Story Land but I got pregnant and its not possible to go. I want to take him next winter, but the Star Wars Land scares me. I know some people can enjoy WDW with insane crowds, we are not those people. We rent DVC points so we have to schedule so far in advance, I just don’t know what to do…
I believe there is a article in my marriage license that my wife added which states we need to go once every calendar year. We normally go every September and will be there this September. 2019 is a different story as we, like others, will try to schedule for Star Wars opening. The problem is that might go through 2020.
Our solution: take a mini trip in May 2019 (3-4 days) and then again in “late Fall 2019.
I’ve already been to WDW in 2018, and am now contemplating whether to go next in 2020 or 21. I’ve visited every other year for a long while now, and have just enough DVC points for that, but I’m thinking of delaying by one year in order to visit during what should by rights be a year with 50th anniversary events going on, which would be fun to be there for.
That would leave me a half set of points in 2019 I could use for a trip to Disneyland, which is on my bucket list, though since I’m not eager to encounter the crowds when Star Wars opens there I might use them for a Disney Cruise instead (for that, I’d rent out the points and pay cash: I’ve seen your cost analysis on that!).
Or… maybe the 50th anniversary year would be a specially bad one for crowds, for just that reason, and I should just stick to my even-year habit after all… it’s a dilemma I’m pondering and will have to decide before it’s time to book with those 2019 points if that’s what I do.
Hello Tom (and Sarah). Your blog is extremely helpful and insightful, thank you!!! I need a little advice please. I’m starting to pre-plan another WDW trip in 2021 or 2022. Looking at sometime Jan-March, as we’ve only visited Aug-Oct. I question which year would be better though, with the fact the 50th anniversary is 2021 and we want to experience all the new WDW offerings.
I understand you don’t have all of the answers, but you usually have an educated guess or good idea on most WDW info. Do you feel all of the park changes and new rides (Guardians of the Galaxy, Ratatouille, Tron, etc) will be open by Feb 2021? Will the 50th anniversary celebration begin before 10/1/2021? Do you have any guess as to the type of special 50th anniversary events or things to expect? Is it worth it to go during the 50th anniversary?
I know this is 3-4 years away but I really like to plan ahead (just got back from CA and already planning on Disneyland over Christmas 2019. We usually do a Disney trip every 1-2 years and for the next WDW I want to go big, so that means I need to know when we’re going so I can save money accordingly). If the rides wont be open and all of the changes complete by Jan-Mar 2021, I would much rather wait till 2022 … but then I fear I’ll go through Disney withdrawals and need an extra Disneyland trip thrown in 😉
Thank you for any advice you can share! Hope you are enjoying Japan (also planning to go there in 2024 for daughter’s graduation celebration!!! and will likely ask you for advice then too) 🙂
Tried to book AoA Little Mermaid room for 4/26/19-5/4/19 was told by booking that Little Mermaid was already sold-out for 5/3 and 5/4 of that trip. I was told by the cast member that 5/4/19 might be a soft opening for Galaxy’s Edge and this is the reason rooms were already sold out for Friday and Saturday. Do you know anything about that? Thought that week was going to be “the best week” to go in March, April, May of 2019 crowd and weather wise but if there is a chance of a Star Wars opening I’d like to avoid it like the plague
There is 0.0000000000% chance they know with any degree of accuracy when soft openings are for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge this far in advance.
We’ve heard the project is behind schedule, and will struggle to make a Fall 2019 opening. Regardless, it’s way too early for predictions–the Cast Member with whom you spoke is misinformed.