February 2026 at Disney World: Crowd Calendar & Info
This guide to February 2026 at Walt Disney World includes a free crowd calendar, weeks to visit & avoid, weather, seasonal events, and new attraction openings & closures. This covers all tips & info you need for Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios is covered here.
In general, February is a good month to visit Walt Disney World aside from weekends and holidays. The weather is starting to improve, crowds remain low most of the month, hotels are offering discounts and off-season pricing, and it’s a great time to see the parks without seasonal decor. All of this makes February a pretty solid time to visit Walt Disney World.
February has a lot of parallels to January 2026 at Walt Disney World. The biggest difference between the two months is that February lacks that holiday hangover–that awkward time in mid-January when you’re “over” Christmas and there isn’t any seasonal entertainment, but the decorations are still oddly up and Christmas music is still playing. Additionally, February has slightly better weather than January.
Let’s take a look at the other upsides and downsides to visiting Walt Disney World in February…
February WEATHER AT DISNEY WORLD
As noted above, Weather is one of the biggest upsides to February. Based upon historical averages for the month of February, you’re looking at highs in the mid-70s and lows in the mid-50s. Now, this is only around 5 degrees better than January, but I think that makes a big difference. Additionally, based on our visits during both months, it seems like February is a lot less likely to have a freak cold spell with freezing weather.
That’s just anecdotal, but it has been our experience. This isn’t to say it can’t get cold in February, and you should still watch the weather forecast in advance and pack items that might be useful for your trip, but you’re probably less likely to need to bust out that parka.
Really though, if you’re escaping the blizzards of the northern states, even those low temperatures in Florida are going to feel like tropical paradise! Read our Winter Packing Tips for Disney post for more insight on what you might need to be prepared for colder weather in February.
February Special Events at Disney World
In terms of special events, normally there is not much during February. The only major thing is the continuation of the ‘festival season’ over at EPCOT, with our favorite one of the year beginning in mid-January and running through late February. Read our Guide to the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts for more info and tips about this special event.
Then there’s the Princess Half Marathon Weekend, which will occur February 26 through March 2, 2026. There are also a few major events going on at the ESPN Wide World of Sports, all of which will have an impact on the parks–but more importantly, the resorts (see below)–throughout the month.
In terms of general public events, very little happens during February outside of Festival of the Arts. It’s mostly just pin releases, art signings, and other minor merchandise happenings. Nothing around which you’d plan a trip…unless you’re a huge Precious Moments fan. (Hey, we aren’t judging!)
This lack of events can be a good or bad thing depending upon your perspective. You get to see the parks as the Imagineers originally designed them, without any decorations or overlays “blemishing” things. On the other hand, “blemish” is in the eye of the beholder (hence the air quotes) and a lot of the decorations and seasonal events are fun and a nice change of pace, especially if you’ve visited before and want something new to see or do.
February REFURBISHMENTS & NEW ATTRACTIONS
In terms of attractions that will be closed during February 2026, check the Walt Disney World Refurbishment Schedule. High profile attractions that will be closed during the winter off-season currently include Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and more. Frozen Ever After is a wild card, which might be closed for a few days to a few weeks of February.
The good news is that there are fewer than expected attraction closures during February at Walt Disney World. That doesn’t mean there won’t be brief closures or unplanned maintenance, but we would not expect any other headliner attractions to have multi-week closures.
Another reason that refurbishment calendar is deceptive is because there’s a lot of ongoing construction throughout Walt Disney World, beyond the scope of attraction closures. While the guest impact isn’t as bad as the last development cycle, there are visible construction walls, closures, and more. See Walt Disney World’s 5-Year Plan: Construction, Closing & Opening Dates for New Lands & Rides for everything you need to know.
When it comes to new additions for 2026, the bad news is that absolutely nothing major will be open by February. The newest additions at that time will be Zootopia Better Zoogether. Other recent additions that are less than a year old include Test Track 3.0, Villains Unfairly Ever After, and Little Mermaid: A Musical Adventure. There’s also Disney Starlight Night Parade, which should be performed nightly during February 2026. This is probably the biggest new-ish addition at Walt Disney World, and it’s also at Magic Kingdom.
Overall, the biggest new thing in Orlando isn’t at Walt Disney World at all, but rather, at Universal Orlando: Epic Universe. This brand-new theme park will be less than a year old in early 2026, and this should be a sweet spot of lower crowds and smoother operations. When it’s firing on all cylinders and crowds are manageable, Epic Universe is something special. See Best Dates to Visit Epic Universe in 2026 for recommendations.
For an overview of what else is on the horizon, see What’s New & Next at Walt Disney World in 2026 & Beyond.
February 2026 Disney World Crowd Calendar
We’ll begin this free crowd calendar section with the same preface that we offered in January. Wondering why you don’t see a color-coded crowd calendar here? It’s because we don’t really trust them anymore and don’t think you should, either. If we just had a visual crowd calendar graphic here, many of you would only look at that and not read the accompanying explanation that covers what you might actually expect.
Such an approach would do readers a disservice, and we’d strongly caution you against over-reliance on any Walt Disney World crowd calendars. While they can be useful tools, crowd calendars are but one small piece of a much larger puzzle. We no longer choose our own travel dates based upon crowd calendars and we’d encourage you to do the same.
Disney doesn’t release official attendance numbers, so crowd calendars use things like school schedules, airport traffic statistics, hotel pricing & occupancy, and other indicators as proxies for crowds. For years, this approach worked and made crowd calendars reliable. Walt Disney World attendance followed an identifiable pattern that tracked with the aforementioned proxies.
More recently, Disney has become adept and more sophisticated at manipulating both attendance and crowd flow. As a general matter, we want to warn you that winter is not the “sleepy off-season” at Walt Disney World. In Winter (Still) Is Not Off-Season at Walt Disney World, we explain how January and February crowds have grown since ~2017.
There were a couple years when this wasn’t as bad, but those were the exceptions rather than the rule. Winter 2026 will almost certainly be busy, just as has been the case the last several years. It’s one of the few high-growth times for Walt Disney World.
There are a variety of times crowds spike during the first two months of the year. Everything from runDisney events to under the radar holiday weekends to school breaks push attendance and wait times even higher. With all of that in mind, here are our crowd calendar predictions for the best and worst weeks at Walt Disney World in February 2026…
Regardless of overarching crowd trends, the busiest dates in February 2026 will end up being the week of President’s Day. For most people, President’s Day isn’t a weeklong holiday, but in terms of crowds at Walt Disney World, it absolutely is. A lot of people visit for the long weekend, with some staying the rest of the week.
Suffice to say, this will be the busiest week since early January and could be one of the 10 worst weeks of 2026. Not quite up there with Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, or the peak of spring break, but still worse than any other week in February. See High Crowds & Wait Times Warning: Worst Week of Winter is Coming or Avoid Ski Week at Disney for further insight into how and why crowds spike to the surprise of many guests.
If you’re wondering why dates in February, of all months, would be so busy, it comes down to the aforementioned President’s Day holiday. Many school districts use this as a proxy for their Mid-Winter Break, so they don’t just have the long weekend off–it’s the whole week.
Compounding the crowds is that Mardi Gras once again coincides with Mid-Winter Break, with Fat Tuesday falling on February 17, 2026. That’s the day after President’s Day and will make for quite the one-two punch! This will result in an influx of visitors from Louisiana and other areas of the South. Not only that, but it’s a break for many schools in the Northeast.
Thankfully, there’s a silver lining–Princess Half Marathon Weekend shifts one week later than last year, moving to the last weekend of the month (February 26 to March 2, 2026) as opposed to bookending Presidents’ Day. Most runners will show up early rather than staying late.
Although not yet on the 2026 calendar, there are also usually two major events–a soccer tournament and gymnastics competition–at the ESPN Wide World of Sports occurring around this time. As a result, there’s a roughly two-week stretch in the second half of the month that’ll be varying degrees of bad.
Suffice to say, February 13-22, 2026 will be the worst week of winter, with well above-average attendance and high wait times. Expect 8/10 to 10/10 crowd levels for that entire range, with most dates and parks on the higher end of that spectrum due to the double whammy of Mardi Gras and Presidents’ Day.
We’d recommend avoiding these dates if at all possible. Unlike Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s, the popularity of these holidays catch a lot of guests by surprise. (Valentine’s Day, on the other hand, should not be as busy.) The good news is that since most people don’t expect colossal crowds, they don’t prepare for them. Get up early, stay out late and strategize to avoid long lines!
For reference, this same week saw “only” 7/10 to 8/10 crowd levels last year, but the key difference is that Mardi Gras was in March. When Presidents’ Day and Mardi Gras coincide, it’s typically one of the 5 worst weeks at Walt Disney World because the crowds from both breaks are consolidated into a single week, rather than two different weeks. Back in 2023 when the holidays were back to back, crowd levels were 9/10 to 10/10. But that was also during the period of pent-up demand.
The good news is lower crowds the first week of March 2026!
In terms of dates that are good to visit in February, we’d recommend February 3-12, 2026 as the best dates to visit. Based on what we’ve seen in the last two years, our expectation is that the first week-plus of February 2026 sees crowd levels in the 5/10 to 7/10 range most dates, with 6/10 being the norm and crowds gradually increasing over the course of the month.
That’s not great as compared to ~5 years ago, but literally no dates this year will compare favorably to then. Walt Disney World attendance has grown by millions of guests per year since then. You should also expect heavier “feels like” crowds at EPCOT due to the growing popularity of Festival of the Arts. That won’t be reflected in wait time data, but it’ll be apparent in terms of congestion while walking around.
Our favorite week on balance would be the first week of February 2026, which also makes the cut on our list of the 10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2026. (On the good side, obviously.)
You also can’t go wrong with the dates at the very end of the month, either. Just as quickly as crowds spike leading into the worst of winter, so too will they fall fast at the end of the month. The last week should likewise be blissful, a nice mix of low crowds, pleasant weather, and the parks coming into bloom.
Even with the Princess Half Marathon falling later, it doesn’t really matter. RunDisney events don’t contribute to crowds in the parks like they used to, so you’re fairly “safe” from February 23, 2026 through the end of the month. Frankly, the Saturday and Sunday are probably fine if you want to push it. Usually, the worst of the Presidents’ Day/Mid-Winter Break/Mardi Gras crowds departs by Friday (February 20, 2026). Crowd levels will still be elevated, but not nearly as bad as earlier in the week.
It is also worth mentioning that “crowd levels” in this context actually means wait times since that’s the only thing that’s measurable. Congestion or “feels like” crowds do tend to be proportionally worse in winter since the weather is generally more pleasant, which draws out locals who like to loiter around. So the walkways will be busier than summer, but the ride wait times won’t fully reflect the increased attendance.
Finally, you should be aware of the UDA National Dance Team Championship and UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship the last weekend of January into February 2026, as well as the Disney Presidents Day Soccer Championship. These were briefly mentioned above, but deserve a bit more discussion since they have a unique dynamic. Again, dates are not yet set for the first two events, but they typically occur around the same time every year.
In the days prior to the events and during them, you can expect elevated crowd levels to varying degrees in the different parks. There are several events like this at the ESPN Wide World of Sports on long weekends throughout the winter and spring months, which makes sense–the weather is conducive to it this time of year and prohibitive from roughly April through November.
These can have a major impact on resort room availability, as there are tons of attendees and they take up huge blocks at the All Stars, Coronado Springs, and a few other hotels. That, in turn, reduces inventory there and pushes other people to different hotels.
Long story short, a lot of hotels can sell out completely, causing planners to freak out that the parks are going to be chaotic and crowded. Which can be true…sometimes. But there are two things to keep in mind. The first is that the majority of guests in the parks at any given moment always come from off-site.
The second is that the youth groups are primarily participating in sporting events at the ESPN Wide World of Sports, not going to the parks. So to some extent, they are occupying rooms and displacing guests who would otherwise visit the parks. (See Why Are Walt Disney World Resorts Sold Out? for a more thorough explanation.)
To be sure, some of these youth events can increase overall crowd levels in the parks. The bigger ones especially can have a material impact on the parks, especially if you visit the same park as their entire (or large portions of) their group attends. For the most part, though, it’s more localized.
Meaning that if you have the misfortune of getting in line for Haunted Mansion behind a huge group of cheerleaders, dancers, flag football players, etc., it can spike both the wait time for that particular attraction and feel unpleasant for various reasons (the same reason you probably wouldn’t want to be around hundreds of under-supervised pre-pubescent kids anywhere).
Another complicating factor is that winter is the ‘summer’ vacation season for South America, namely Brazil. In a normal year, you’d encounter large South American tour groups in Walt Disney World. These tour groups typically don’t have a significant impact on crowd calendars, but could impact on the “feels like” crowds if you encounter them frequently.
However, we have not noticed these groups to nearly the same degree in the last couple of years as we did in 2019 and earlier. This is not to say that you won’t encounter them at all–you absolutely will. You just probably won’t encounter them in the same numbers as before, when they meaningfully increased crowd levels. It’s a similar story as with the youth groups–sometimes they still can have an overall impact, but it’s mostly just if you get unlucky and are around them or behind them in line a lot.
It’s likely that international visitation numbers will rebound to some degree throughout the years to come. The extent to which that occurs really depends on whether the dollar weakens, and when that happens (thus far, it has not occurred). At present, international visitors are facing higher costs due to conversion rates–and that’s on top of all Walt Disney World’s price increases over the last three years.
February PRICING & DISCOUNTS
Another upside to a February Walt Disney World vacation is prices. This is typically the Cheapest Time of Year to Visit Walt Disney World when looking exclusively at resort rack rates and admission costs.
On top of that, there are usually great deals available for Annual Passholders, Florida residents, and even the general public. See All Current Walt Disney World Discounts for specifics. Again, President’s Day week is an exception to the seasonal rates, as hotel prices spike for that week, too.
In case it’s not already abundantly clear, unless you’re getting time off for President’s Day or Mardi Gras, you really should avoid that week. If you’re booking a February stay at a Disney resort-hotel, you can decide for yourself which hotel might be best by reading our Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews.
Overall, we have had some really great experiences at Walt Disney World in February. Moderate crowds for part of the month, temperate weather, the parks looking good, and cheaper prices all make it a winner in our book. February (again, minus the confluence of mid-winter break, youth sporting events, and Mardi Gras) feels like the early year sweet spot between the holiday hangover of January and the Spring Break season of March.
Think of early February as this time of year’s September (another of our favorite times to visit for similar reasons), except without quite as much humidity and higher overall attendance. Also unlike September, there is a huge spike in February crowds for a little over a week, but the first half of the month–and final week–should be fantastic even with elevated attendance. While we prefer the beginning of the month, February 2026 will also be great at the very end of the month, when the weather starts to improve and crowds remain low.
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 like Walt Disney World in February, or do you think it’s a dull month to visit? Do you like seeing the parks in their “normal” state, or would you rather have a special/seasonal event? Are you a fan of EPCOT’s Festival of the Arts? Ever experienced President’s Day crowds? Hearing from you is half the fun, so please share your thoughts on these questions, or anything else, in the comments!
Hi,
I can only see the calendar for the parks through January 4. When will I be able to see February 18-20? I’m hoping there will be extended hours at the Magic Kingdom one of those nights.
Please provide me with your expertise:)
I don’t do photography as a hobby or a profession, but I appreciate the art so much, and I’ve always been a huge fan of your photography. I’ve gotta ask, if you don’t mind sharing. That one photo with the little duck behind Cinderella’s Castle, when did you take that? It’s so empty! It’s such a gorgeous shot. Your photos are always so inspired and unique!
What are the chances annual passes come back in February? I’ll be super bummed if I have to spend more money on tickets. Again.
We leave disney on 2/18 so I’m hoping most of our week is pretty good. Something interesting I noticed was that I could still book the 400 off deal for hotels the week before presidents day. I wonder what that points towards for crowds.
I have a friend coming into town for her daughter’s high school cheer competition, which I think begins Friday, February 10th. It’s at ESPN WWS and based on the schedule, looks to be a large one. She’s coming early and we’re hitting the parks Thursday-Saturday, but I’m expecting big crowds. We went in September and it was insane, and also did a weekend in early December, so I’m of the opinion that there is no slow time anymore. Disney is adjusting and wait times are awful no matter when you go.
Will 2024 have a similar story? We are considering a late January – early Feb trip next year. We are normally early March trip takers (that’s what we are doing this year) but I’ll gladly switch it up for less crowds!
Any information on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023 if the cast party at MK is likely. I believe it might be. A couple of cheer and dance events I see but nothing confirmed on the WDW website at this point. However, in the past this seemed to be the night they typically chose (second week of February on a Tuesday ). Any insight would be helpful. Thank you!
The cast party is Tuesday the 31st. MK closes at 4:30.
Thank you for another great article. just a heads up that the date of Mardi Gras says 2022 instead of 2023.
February 21, 2022
We went the week of Christmas last year (school break) and honestly it was crowded but I was expecting that & we still enjoyed WDW with ok wait times & Genie +. You just have to be ok with not doing everything. We didn’t do RR or Remy but will not do Genie + this time & will get individual LL for some things. We will be going Feb 5-12 2023 & hoping for shorter wait times & less crowds!
Good article. We, as a MA residents, we have winter break in school. Any suggestions for choosing which parks will be best with 9 year old daughter. Thank you in advance.
Was there Jan 30th through Feb 5th. Can you say overcrowded? Wait times were terrible. Got to the point when we were saying 70 minutes isn’t too bad! Rides kept closing. Not sure if breaking down or they were trying to move the crowds around. Waited 2 hours for Rise. My opinion- Smuggler’s Run is better! We also noted a lot of school aged kids. On a positive note, we did not have any rude people or line skippers! Stayed at French Quarter. Very nice. Except the bus lines. No one knew which line you were supposed to be in except when a helpful person would speak up and everyone would move to correct line. I also was wondering about something – It was my SIL’s first visit, got the button but no one acknowledged it. In the restaurants they would make a note on their pads, but nothing came of it. When we went for our anniversary 5 years ago everyone was commenting. We had a good time but have decided to not go back. Lightening lanes are, in my opinion, discrimination and a money grab by a company that obviously doesn’t really need it based on CEO’s pay.
We visited 3 parks during our stay during week of Feb 6and each was jammed packed! So if Disney is requiring reservations what are the limits?!
We’ve been here several previous times, even in summer, but have never experienced crowds and wait times like this visit.
Mardi Gras holidays are also a little trickier to gauge this year. The New Orleans Metro area schools typically get 9 days off (Sat before Mardi Gras through the entire Mardi Gras week, closing on the Sunday after Mardi Gras). Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast schools only get Mon-Wed off for Mardi Gras.
Many schools in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes reduced their Mardi Gras break from Mon-Fri of Mardi Gras week to only Mon-Wed. The cause? Hurricane Ida closing many schools for several weeks. Jefferson Parish I assume would have the largest number of school age kids that normally would get that week off.
St. Tammany Parish on the Northshore of New Orleans, sustained less damage and has all five days off (buffered also by two weekends), so this will not apply to them. It would not surprise me if St. Tammany sends more Louisiana residents to Disney during Mardi Gras week than any other, as it is generally more affluent and younger than Jefferson and Orleans Parishes. When you see the big SUV filled with kids with Louisiana plates headed to Orlando, there is a fairly good chance they are coming from St. Tammany.
My estimate is that there will be a 25% reduction in tourists from Louisiana during Mardi Gras week due to the schedule changes in schools.
We have to chose between either February 28th or March 1st for just one day trip to Magic Kingdom. I know not a good choice either way, but will one be any better than the other?
Sorry I wrote the wrong dates – either Friday February 25th or Monday March 1st which I know is Mardi Gras but maybe less busy than the Friday or marathon weekend?
We just left Disney on Thursday. We were there Jan 30- Feb 3. We usually always go during this time (exception was 2021). I have to say, worse crowds ever. So many people, hard to navigate all parks, even Epcot & horrendous wait times. Even with G+ we didn’t get to ride much!
My trip is literally Feb 19-28 . We are prepared for crowds and will do a lot of half day trips at the park. We have park hopper tickets to pop back to another park for a dinner or just to see fireworks. I was planning to run the Princess half marathon but now I have a stress fracture and it’s not looking good for me to do any running that weekend. Guess I’ll just have to come back on another runD weekend!
We will be there Feb 20-27 for my family members birthday on the 22nd. We are bracing for the crowds, and will be doing genie +, and lightening lanes if possible. Hoping it will still be fun for the family.
Hey there! Thanks for the article! We’re going February 6-9th and plan to go to Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Any advice on day of the week for particular parks? Our current plan was to go starting Feb 6th- Sunday( Hollywood), Monday (Epcot), and Wednesday( Animal Kingdom)? Thanks!
Hollywood is the busiest park in terms of tide queues for thrill rides. I suggest moving it to Tuesday to avoid weekend crowds.
One main reason that visitors stay the entire President’s Day week is that in the New England states, that is the week of Winter Vacation. The New England states like MA and RI have a winter break and a spring break in February and April respectively, instead of one spring break in March. We are headed to the parks for winter break that week in February ourselves.
Same for us. School vacation schedules do not leave us with many options. Any recommendations on which parks to go to each day during Presidents’ Day week?
Hi Tom
We appreciate your reviews and are excited about our upcoming trip early February. Do you have any tips regarding renting bikes to ride around the property? Also we have a milestone birthday in our party. Any places that offer special recognition of birthdays?
Thanks
We celebrated our daughter’s 18 birthday in June. I mentioned it to the cast member when I called to let them know about our grocery delivery. It somehow was flagged in their system and every time we checked in at a restaurant she was wished a happy birthday and usually got a free dessert complete with candle and serenade from the staff. Hope they have a memorable birthday trip!
Thank you for this. We want to come on 2/11 to see Marayuma at the Art Fest but hotel prices are through the roof. Is there something special going on that day/weekend that would cause prices to be so bad?
I know there is a cheerleading event and perhaps another convention, international I believe. The convention hotels are booked but sometimes open up last minute. However, last minute WDW does not happen easily any longer. Wish you good luck as you never know. I did see Coronado opening up a bit not cheap but some openings. The others that are open are not going at a decent rate for the average traveler.
Is there anything special on Valentine’s Day? We will be there for the first time on Valentine’s Day this year. I love the festival of the arts but we are usually a little earlier when we’ve been to it before and not actually on Valentine’s Day.