2024 Disney World Crowd Calendar
These free 2024 Walt Disney World crowd calendars rate dates so you can choose best weeks to go & avoid the worst, skipping long lines and high wait times. We cover seasonal events, weather, park hours, Orlando travel trends, and factors impacting when to visit Florida’s theme parks. (Updated April 1, 2024.)
Three months are in the books on 2024, and it’s already been a weird year for Walt Disney World crowds. Wait times have increased year-over-year so far in 2024, reversing monthly declines that occurred in the last 11 months of 2023. Although January, February and March 2024 all had higher average wait times than the same months last year, it hasn’t been an across-the-board increase. Some days and weeks have been slower, with Orange County’s Spring Break–which was downright dead–being a prime example.
This honestly was not what we expected. As a whole, our 2024 Walt Disney World crowds forecast was for pent-up demand to continue exhausting itself, a process that had not yet fully played out as of the end of last year. As such, we expected crowd levels to drop slightly through at least the first half of 2024. Instead, the opposite is happening. In What’s Causing Higher Crowds at Walt Disney World in 2024?, we theorize about the why of that, with discussion of various factors that have led to ‘re-revenge travel’ this year.
Regardless of whether crowds increase or decrease for the remainder of 2024 as compared to last year, you should be prepared for high wait times by historical standards. This year likely won’t be on par with the stratospheric heights reached in 2022 (due to a unique set of circumstances that’ll hopefully never be repeated), but it’ll still higher than any year between 2014 and 2019.
Even amidst last year’s “slowdown” at Walt Disney World, average wait times still reached 2018 levels. This year is shaping up to be, at minimum, a repeat of 2019 and much busier than 2020-2021. This is key context since wait times in 2019 were almost 10 minutes higher on average than any year before 2017.
In other words, your frame of reference matters. Walt Disney World is still very crowded by historical standards. We expect this trend to continue throughout 2024 and the parks to be busier than they were 6+ years ago, even if crowd levels don’t hit the record-setting peaks from 2022.
Part of Walt Disney World has seen a rebound in crowd levels thus far in 2024 is due to discounting, especially on park tickets. Walt Disney World releasing tons of different discounts for 2024. Deals are better than the last two years and are coming out earlier, and the end result is that it’s actually less expensive to visit Walt Disney World now than it was in the last two years. Beyond that, the company is pulling more “levers” in an attempt to entice guests to return, and a lot of them appear to be working.
The next three months are a roller coaster of crowd levels that include both some of the slowest dates and also some of the busiest weeks of the entire year. Post-Easter, Walt Disney World has entered the second half of Spring Break, which (unsurprisingly) should be busy.
After that, “shoulder season” arrives. That was one of the slowest 6-week stretches of last year, but we expect late April and May 2024 to be busier. That’s in large part due to the aforementioned ticket deals, which are being offered to both Florida residents and the general public. There’s also the completed overhaul of EPCOT, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening in June 2024, and new summer offerings designed to lure people to the parks.
If you’re looking for a convenient resource for planning a weeklong or so vacation to Walt Disney World and want to know when to visit or avoid based on crowds & congestion, weather, special events, and more–check out our list of the 10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2024 & 2025.
Note that crowd levels are calculated on a rolling basis relative to the prior 365 days. They are not anchored to 1971 or 1993 or 2008 wait times. In other words, a 1/10 today is not the same as a 1/10 in September 2012 or October 2015. Today’s 1/10 might be closer to a 5/10 from five years ago.
Pretty much every single day in 2024 would be 10/10 if we used 2008 or earlier as the baseline. If you last experienced Walt Disney World several years ago, your baseline expectations and experience probably differ from someone who visited over holiday weeks in 2022 when pent-up demand was running hot.
Not only that, but a ‘low’ crowd levels does not mean that in absolute terms. Even on 1/10 days, the parks will not be ghost towns allowing you to do snow angels on the ground. You will see rides with 60-90 minute posted wait times. You will encounter areas of congestion. “Uncrowded” at Walt Disney World means something different than it does at the American Dream Mall or Wyoming in The Last of Us. The most popular rides, especially during the middle of the day, will still have long lines.
For example, going from a 10/10 crowd level to a 1/10 crowd level means you might encounter a 65-75 minute average wait time for popular rides–including but not limited to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan’s Flight, Slinky Dog Dash, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Frozen Ever After, Na’vi River Journey and Avatar Flight of Passage–as opposed to 90+ minute wait times. Those numbers are averages, so it also means higher peaks and lower lows. Below-average crowd levels does not mean every ride is a walk-on!
We’re not trying to be debbie downers. Our goal is to provide realistic expectations and preparation for crowds. And if you read reports of the parks being empty, ghost towns, or dead…well, you might have be surprised to encounter “only” an hour wait time for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. (Yes, that’s a lot of waiting–but that posted wait time is also inflated and still far lower than it’d be during peak season.)
Point being, there are still definitely big differences in crowd levels, and you should plan accordingly. No matter how hard Disney might try, there are certain times that travel is slower. School schedules, weather, seasonal festivities, youth sporting events, conventions, and other factors all play a huge role in crowd levels at Walt Disney World.
If all of this sounds overwhelming or imprecise, the good news is that it’s entirely possible to beat bad crowds. In fact, we recommend savvy strategy over choosing the “best” days to visit!
By utilizing Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Early Entry, Extended Evening Hours, rope drop, etc. We cover the best & worst approach for each park in Best Time-Saving Strategies for Walt Disney World. (If you’re only going to read one planning post, make it that!)
If you want to read a few more posts–all more useful than crowd calendars–be sure to also check out our Walt Disney World Itineraries for plans of attack, with options now with and without Genie+ and Lightning Lanes.
Speaking of which, we have a ~4,500 word Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for those who want to thoroughly master the new paid FastPass system.
Honestly, following a good itinerary and utilizing smart strategy is way more important than choosing the “right” dates. There are some exceptions to this, such as going on December 29, 2024 instead of September 6, but by and large, using smart strategy will put you in a better position than picking the least-busy days and doing zero strategizing.
Ideally, you’d opt for a best of both worlds approach–choosing good dates as well as utilizing savvy strategy, but that’s not always possible. After all, there’s a reason most families visit Walt Disney World during school breaks. If you don’t have any choice but to travel during busier dates, you can still beat the crowds.
With that said, here are more detailed suggestions for when you should and shouldn’t visit Walt Disney World…
2024 Disney World Crowd Calendars
If you’ve already narrowed down a season or range of dates during which you want to visit Walt Disney World, we’d recommend forgoing the remainder of this post. Instead, refer to our individual monthly guides, which offer free crowd calendars and cover weather, seasonal events, refurbishments, and what’s new & next.
These 2024 Walt Disney World crowd calendars offer more granular details for each specific month. We’d suggest reading all months for the time of year you’re considering. For example, if you’re thinking of a summer vacation, read the May through August monthly guides; if you’re considering Christmas, consult both November and December.
- January Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar & Info
- February Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar & Info
- March Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar & Info
- April 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar & Info
- May 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar & Info
- June 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar & Info
- July 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar & Info
- August 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar & Info
- September 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar & Info
- October 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar & Info
- November 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar & Info
- December 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar & Info
These Walt Disney World crowd calendars are most reliable about 6 months in advance. It’s still too early to make reliable predictions for next summer and beyond. With that said, some of the same general patterns play out year in and out, so later months are useful for broader weekly trends–rather than specific dates to visit.
For these crowd calendars, we combine normal data like wait times and other info that serves as a proxy for crowds with our in-person observations and anecdotal experiences. From all of this, we’ve learned to spot patterns and notice things about wait times and attendance at Walt Disney World, which we share with you in our crowd calendars.
Note that the above crowd calendars do not, for the most part, offer park by park crowd levels. On a calendar day basis, that’s far too granular and no longer possible to predict. However, we’d direct you to Best & Worst Days to Do All Parks at Walt Disney World for advice on choosing which day to do each park. Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT typically follow patterns and picking the right (and avoiding the wrong) days can make a big difference, no matter what time of year (uncrowded or crowded) that you visit.
Having a little knowledge about the ebb and flow of attendance throughout the day will also prepare you to avoid crowds and zig when others zag. Some parks and attractions see visitor numbers and lines spike during certain parts of the day, and it’s important to understand the why of this, so you can plan around the peak crowds.
This isn’t to say that there’s no way to avoid the crowds anymore–there absolutely is–and crowd calendars will help with that. The slower dates are still noticeably slower than the busier dates. All we’re saying is that crowd calendars are not some ‘magic bullet’ that you can use without doing any other research to have a great trip, walking onto every attraction. Over-reliance on Walt Disney World crowd calendars (including ours!) will lead to disappointment.
If you’re trying to determine when to visit, we recommend starting by choosing seasonal events and the type of weather that appeal most to you, and then narrowing your dates within those broad parameters based on what crowd calendars identify as the best and first weeks to visit. Walt Disney World crowd calendars are still a useful tool, but they’re not a planning panacea.
Choosing which days to visit Walt Disney World is just one aspect of planning a trip. To make sure you tackle everything, make sure you read our Guide to Planning a Walt Disney World Trip, which covers all of the essentials. With that said, here’s what else to consider…
Weather
If weather is an important consideration, we highly recommend heading down from in late September, October, early November, late February, March, or April. Those are ideal from a weather perspective. That is, assuming you want more temperate weather, rather than extreme heat and humidity or more cold weather. If you like your clothes drenched in sweat from high temperatures, May until late-August are the perfect times for you to visit.
Late summer and early fall are the height of hurricane and storm season, which have become increasingly relevant. We highly recommend consulting our Visiting Walt Disney World During Storm Season article before booking a trip this time of year. The best case scenario is navigating the afternoon showers without them putting too much of a damper on your trip. Worst case, an approaching hurricane forces you to cancel your trip or be at Walt Disney World while the parks close due to the storm.
If you must visit between the late spring through early fall, just remember to pack accordingly, bringing the Frogg Toggs for the humidity…and ponchos for the rain so you don’t spend $179 on them at Walt Disney World. Read our Unique Disney World Packing List for some items you might not otherwise think of taking.
While early December and January are great times to visit to avoid crowds, our experience has been that these are the worst two months in terms of weather. Not only does it get extremely cold (well, relatively speaking–it is Florida after all), but there are substantial swings in temperature. You might find yourself wanting to wear shorts in the morning but by late afternoon it is jeans and sweatshirt weather. As the night rolls on, you might even find yourself wanting to put on a parka.
If you travel during these seasons, expect to bring more luggage and make more stops at your room to change clothing (or at least plan on renting a locker to store additional layers of clothing each day). You may be lucky and find relatively consistent temperate weather during these timeframes, but it’s best to prepare for the worst so that you don’t have to purchase a bunch of $50 sweatshirts from the Emporium on Main Street. Those $50 sweatshirts can add up quickly! Check out our Winter Packing Tips for Disney post for more insight on what to take on your winter trip to Walt Disney World.
Park Hours
In talking to others, we’ve found that this is the one area that people consider the least when planning their trips, which we think is at least a small mistake. It’s important to note up front that, typically, less busy seasons have shorter park hours and busier times have longer park hours.
It thus stands to reason that you can basically get the same amount done in a shorter day during a less busy time than you could during a busier time. However, this isn’t always true. If you use an efficient touring plan (see our Itineraries for Walt Disney World), you have a good chance of getting more done during a busier time of year than during a slower stretch.
This is especially true if you get to the park early and stay late. Sometimes during especially busy times, Magic Kingdom will open at 8 am and will close at 11 pm. While we’ve taken advantage of these hours without taking a break during the day, we realize some of you are mere mortals.
A great strategy to employ during days with operating hours such as these is to get to the park shortly before opening, stay until around 11 a.m., go back to your resort to nap or relax, and return around dinner time to stay until park close. Regardless of the time of year, the parks will always be fairly slow during the first couple operational hours, and will always be fairly deserted late at night. Ride as much as you can early in the day and do less popular attractions as the day wears on.
Similarly, park hours should be taken into account based upon your sleep habits. If you’re a late-to-rise night owl, the Fall and late Winter/early Spring months may be a bad idea, as these entail many early closing times. If you’re not going to get to the parks until noon anyway, your day might be only 7 hours or so.
Conversely, if you wake up early and generally call it a day by 5 or 7 pm or so, those midnight closings aren’t going to do you any good. Make sure you check Disney’s park hours calendar when planning your trip. It’s important to note that this calendar is often inaccurate far in advance (Disney posts hours conservatively, then extends them as bookings increase).
Special Events
This is a big one for us, as we’ve been to Walt Disney World so many times that it’s nice to visit during different times of year to keep things varied. Even if it’s your first visit to Walt Disney World, if you have particular interests, you might want to consider planning your trip around these special events. The schedules for these varies, as does the price (if any), so please consult the respective page for each event when doing your planning and budgeting.
Halloween and Christmas events in the Magic Kingdom are separately ticketed, meaning you can’t use your standard park tickets for them. Unlike regular park tickets, you also can’t purchase these tickets at a discount from authorized vendors (which can save you a lot of money on regular tickets). Despite this, both events are a ton of fun and well worth experiencing. As you can read in our Ultimate Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World, it’s our favorite time to visit the parks!
We’ve written tips & tricks for almost every seasonal event at Walt Disney World, because most aren’t simply a matter of “show up, have fun.” We encourage you to click these links (they will open in a new tab) and read the guides. Like all things Walt Disney World-related, you’ll have a much better time and see more that the event has to offer if you do some advance planning…
Winter
- Walt Disney World Marathon – The flagship runDisney race weekend is held in early January, usually the weekend after New Year’s. It typically occurs while schools are still out for winter break, effectively extending the holiday season crowds into early January.
- EPCOT International Festival of the Arts – This is one of the highlights of January and February at Walt Disney World for us. Truly captures the essence of old school EPCOT Center.
Spring
- EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival – Our Guide to the Flower & Garden Festival. We think this is one of the most underrated events at Walt Disney World. Epcot looks so beautiful in full bloom.
Summer
- EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival – Beginning in late summer, this is EPCOT’s flagship culinary event. Want to know what to do–and more importantly what NOT to do? Read our guide. It’ll give you an idea of what’s not worth the money, and what is worth doing.
Fall
- 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom – Possibly more than any other special event at Walt Disney World, you need to do advance planning for this. Character meet & greets can form hour-plus long waits, and there’s so much to do that you can’t accomplish everything in one party. We highly recommend reading this guide!
- EPCOT Food & Wine Festival – Same as above usually continues through mid to late November.
Holidays
- 2024 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom – Read this post for our Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party tips & tricks, including what to do and when to do it at the party.
- EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays – This expanded event now features food, Holiday Storytellers in the World Showcase, and other entertainment.
- Candlelight Processional at Epcot – Here we cover whether you should do the dinner package, along with a list of the narrators, and some photos from recent Candlelight Processionals we’ve attended.
School Schedules
If school schedules are something around which you must plan, chances are you’re going to go during one of the busier (or at least not one of the least busy) times of the year. School schedules are the paramount consideration for many other families planning trips, too.
It may seem convenient to visit during one of the ‘holidays’ your kids have off from school, but it’s important to consider whether other schools have these same dates off, as well. Of the traditional school holidays, only Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends are good times to visit.
Because most schools have the week before Christmas until the shortly after New Year’s off, this is an especially crowded window to visit. Likewise, the same goes for President’s Day weekend, Easter week, Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day week, Veterans Day week, the entirety of the Summer, and Thanksgiving week.
Although schools do vary their Spring Break schedules, don’t expect the parks to be any less busy because of staggered Spring Breaks. Mid-March until mid-April are also incredibly busy dates for the parks because of Spring Breaks, with the two weeks abutting Easter being the absolute worst (since most schools still use Easter as a proxy for Spring Break).
Some people don’t have many other options, so it’s going during a school break or nothing. If so, it’s not the end of the world. As we’ve stressed above, crowd calendars are not as important as they used to be. Simply pack your patience and have a good touring plan (which is far more important than choosing dates based upon a crowd calendar, anyway). For help with this, refer to our Free Walt Disney World Park Itineraries & Touring Plans. We have the perfect strategy for fun, efficient, and memorable days in the parks!
If you don’t have kids or aren’t otherwise forced to travel around holidays or traditional vacation periods, we’d highly recommend avoiding them. Not because we have anything against kids, but because crowds and prices will be higher during these breaks. Plan around them and save both time and money! As we often say, pack your patience and arm yourself with savvy strategy if you’re visiting Walt Disney World and you’ll do just fine, regardless of crowds.
If you are unsure of when visiting Walt Disney World might be best for you–or need personalized help with any aspect of your trip from hotels to the Disney Dining Plan and more–we recommend contacting a no fee “Authorized Disney Vacation Planner” (basically, Disney’s term for a travel agent) to get a quote and to help you plan. They get their commission from Disney, so none of the authorized (key word) planners will charge you for booking their trip and helping. Here’s one such Authorized Disney Vacation Planner that we recommend!
Hopefully this is a valuable primer to help you choose when you want to visit Walt Disney World. Figuring out when to visit is an important first step, but there’s much more to know. You’ll also want to read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post to buy the cheapest tickets from legitimate sources. To figure out where to stay, our Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews page is a great resource. Want to know where to eat or if the Disney Dining Plan is right for you? Our Walt Disney World Dining Resources will help! For lots of other Walt Disney World trip planning tips and comprehensive advice, make sure to read our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide.
Your Thoughts
Visiting Walt Disney World during the best dates to avoid crowds is probably one of the most important aspects of trip planning. What season, month, or week do you generally visit WDW? Do you visit at times when you know crowds will be light, or do you visit when school is out of session? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? 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!
Hi,
i’m from italy and i’m planning to visit Disney World for two days: 2-3 September. I just found out that the first day of our stay will be the first monday of september and from what i read on the internet it’s labor day in america. Do you think it will be too crowded?
It will be pretty busy then. If you can visit another time, I’d recommend it, but it’s not a terrible time to visit if you have no other choice.
I am planning our first trip to WDW which was scheduled for Columbus Day week and I heard the weather and crowds would be great – well I received a call from my agent offering me a deal in sept 14-21 which saved us over $1200 how could I pass that up but being our first time I am concerned with weather at that time! Any advice would be greatly appreciated – hope I didn’t make a mistake thanks Danielle
Hi, I know this might be a little crazy question ,we r planing on going the 2nd week of july 2013 we r from tx n we never expirence thr tropical weather of Florida we r really looking about going but am holding back cause of the weather i believe i sern that might have thunder storm n i really would hate to be on a rainy vacation i read that its short times of rain can someone tell me how its really like rsiny weather wise, I really don’t know mind crowd s .
Hi Tom, We are planning to visit Disney World the last week of August, can you tell me how is the weather by this time of the year?? Thank You….
Hi,
We went last August. Yes, it was hot and humid, but we’ve gone in May and experienced the same thing.
It rained each day, but usually for about 20-30 minutes. Get some ponchos.
We had just as much fun in August as in other months. We are going again this August.
So much great info !
I have so many questions as I have not been to Disney for 14 years. We will be going with our kids who will be 9 & 5 by November when we are planning on going. We hope to go and be back well before Thanksgiving. Will anything be decorated for Christmas and any holiday events be going on? What are the best tips to use to have a great trip with little ones? How exactly does fast pass work and do you recommend the meal plans ? Thanks in advance! Any info is greatly appreciated:)
Hey Tom,
We will be going on our honeymoon the week before Marathon weekend, are he crows already big then or is it just the weekend itself?
Thanks for your help!
Hi,
I am really enjoying your blog, as well as your pictures! We are planning our first trip to Disney as a surprise for our five kids. My question concerns when we are going. We plan to arrive Thanksgiving Day and stay til the following Tuesday. I’ve read the Unofficial Guide and I have subscribed to touringplans.com. we are also using a travel agent to book everything….I just can’t get a real good idea of how busy the first few days of our trip will be. Are we crazy to go at that time for our first trip?
Thanks,
Lisa
P.S. we are staying at POR..I was thrilled to read your opinion & review on the moderate resorts! Thanks so much for all the tips you give!
The first couple of days will be pretty busy, but the busiest part of Thanksgiving week will have already passed. We’ve done that weekend before and it hasn’t been too bad. If you’re used to light September crowds, it will be a bit of a change, but otherwise nothing to worry about.
Thank you…wish our first trip was amidst “light Sepember crowds!”
We were in Tampa for Thanksgiving and the Friday after thanksgiving we went to WDW to stay the night and go to MK on Saturday.
We got more done on that day that almost any day we have ever been to WDW.
I don’t know what Thanksgiving day was like, but the Saturday after it was a breeze.
HI there,
We are first timers and are planning on going October 6-11. Anyone know what the crowds are like? And when would be a good time to actually book to get the lowest rates? Thanks=)
Crowds will be light then. Discount offers for the fall usually become available in the summer.
Thanks so much!!!
We’re planning for the last week of April the first bit of May. Our school district here does not observe a Spring Break recess so I’m simply taking my daughter out of class for a few days. (Horrible, I know! But she’s fine academically and can get away with it)
I’m hoping the Flower and Garden festival doesn’t drive up the crowds too much that week but I’ve heard it doesn’t)
I imagine there will be a lot of crowds, but hopefully it’s a bit quieter than say the week of July 4th.
Flower & Garden Festival doesn’t have much of an impact on crowds.
We just came back we were there from April 29-may3rd and despite the unusual amount of rain we had it was a GREAT time to go no lines at the MK (again I don’t know if it was because of the weather)we accomplished everything we planned and more,and the rain didn’t really matter much.the temp was about 80 average just a wonderful time to go.have fun!
My two cents. We are long time wow guests and I recommend the following. Go when you want, make all the plans you want but remain flexible. We have always had our most enjoyable time when we relax and stroll through the park at whatever pace we are in the mood for that day. Even when the kids were young. I always recommend staying on disney property regardless of offsite deals. Take a break during the day back at room, this is a must with little kids. We never get anything other than the park hopper. If you are going for a week or more spend a day just touring the grounds on the many modes of free transportation. The hotels are themed and pleasant to tour and sample different foods. Did I mention its all free to tour the grounds and see the events going on around the parks and still feel the disney magic. I have always been under the mindset the family vacations are supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable not stressful. Yes we tried to hit it all the first time we went to wdw, nowadays we stop and smell the roses and everyone enjoys the trip with or without hitting every ride. WDW does not appear to be going away, pick up where you left off on the next trip. In short look at the graphs, read the comments and the many books, download the apps and make mental notes, but go when your ready, go, relax and make lemonade with whatever Walt throughs your way.
I like the idea of relaxing and taking it easy if that’s how you want to approach the trip, but it doesn’t make sense to me to put so much effort into planning, but then to only do it half-heartedly. Doing the level of planning you’re suggesting without picking the best/least crowded days to visit doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.
I my family and I are off to Disney on 5.7.13 – 14.7.13, what will the crowds be like then??? oh please tell me not too bad!!!!!!! My daughter is turning 21 on 6.7.13 and this is where she want to be and oh boy I dont like huge crowds.
We recommend checking out TouringPlans.com for those specific dates. Enjoy the trip!
We’re looking at Feb 17 – 24 for some last minute travel but REALLY don’t do well with huge crowds. How will this time be do you suspect?
I have been going to Disney now for we’ll over 30 years. I have noticed lately that there really are no slow times. So I asked and the answer I got from a cast member has me less than thrilled with the state of Disney. We are here now and just found out a week ago that a national dance competition was being held here. No where on Disney’s website is this mentioned. It is already somewhat crowded with the people here from South America. But now add in kids from 100+ high schools and you can see where I am going with this. I asked a cast member today and she told me that Disney has decided to spread out events in order to fill their typically low periods. So what once was considered low crowds by the web sites that track this data, is now moderate to heavy. Perfect example was today. Touring plans had magic kingdom at 3.2. It was more like a 7 to 8 with some rides showing 1 to 1.5 hours. The only day this week that was bearable was Wednesday. Today and yesterday all I saw were mobs of matching jackets everywhere. Point of my story….do some digging to find out who is here at Disney. Subscribe to as many of the sites that give information on Disney and read the newsletters. Disney apparently won’t post any of these events so you need to do it yourself if you really want to find that perfect week.
I just booked a week in Walt Disney World with my family to stay from May 11-18, you know how are the crowds in that time???. Thanks in advance
I have gone the past 3 years right about that time (we would leave the day after my last college class ended) and stay about 15 days. Towards the end, it would get very crowded but the first week has been fine, “normal” lines not super long or short. Touring Plans lists the crowd level that week last year as 5/6 out of 10. And the week after becomes 9/10. For your week, I’d say peak wait times for the Etickets would be 30-45mins (excluding the outliers like TSM, TT 2.0, Soarin, etc.)
Go to touringplans.com they will tell you exactly what the crowds will be like and what parks to go to (green) what parks to avoid (red) and the middle ground (yellow). Also included is Universal Studios and Island of Adventure. It is GREAT.
Yep, as stated in the post, we highly recommend TouringPlans.com. For any specific dates you may be considering, we defer to them.
Tom, do you know – or could you point me to any resources – that would estimate the “best” race time to attend – and by best, I mean least crowded?? We’d like to do a RunDisney race, and aren’t particular about which one, and as we have a family and would also be vacationing at that time, we’d like to plan on going during the slowest crowd time. Appreciate your help and LOVE your blog!
TouringPlans.com’s daily crowd calendar.
From what I understand, race weekends always spike crowds.
My family and I have been to Disney many times but only ever in the summer. For the first time ever we are considering a trip around the second week of December…aiming to arrive the 8th or 9th and stay for a week. It is our hope that this will mean MUCH smaller crowds than our traditional August visits. However, I am really concerned about the weather. Call me crazy but I don’t know is Disney will seem like our beloved Disney, if it is cold. For some reason sweating our socks off seems to have become part of the tradition…while I don’t need or want it to be blistering, how cold do you think it will be? Will water rides be out of the question? Will it really be jacket-apropriate temperatures as the sun starts to set? I know the temperature drops drastically but in recent years how cold is a Floridian December? All I can find onnline are averages and record highs…but the whole USA seems hotter the past few years. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!
Hi Casey!! My family of four always visits WDW in the colder months although that is not always an accurate description. In 2010 and 2011, we went two weeks before Christmas. In 2010, it was COLD the entire week, I mean heavy coat cold. In 2011, I forgot to pack short-sleeved shirts and only took heavy sweatshirts. Boy was that a mistake!! It was in the mid 80’s the whole trip. This has happened in January as well. In 2009, they had a record cold snap the week we were there. I recall feeling so sorry for the little kids who were walking around in their princess dresses and flip flops. 🙁 So, since we drive anyway, I’ve learned to pack everything but the kitchen sink!! It’s a lot, but it seems to be the best thing to do so we are not caught off-guard by those crazy temperature swings. 😉 For the most part, a hoodie is sufficient, but you can’t count on that. The crowds are so much better this time of year. As far as water rides, Splash Mountain is always down in January for it’s yearly maintenance. Usually one water park is still open in the winter. Hope this was of some help to you.
We traveled during the same general times of year as you and we had similar experiences. In 2010, I packed no coat nor any sweatshirts (it was warm in 2008 at Christmas!) and had to buy warmer clothes. In 2011, I over-compensated and packed clothes that were too warm. This year I packed perfectly, though!!! 🙂
We are visiting orlando August 15 to 23. what is the weather and crowd levels like???
hot humid rainy
I just discovered this blog and wanted to add something that has proved beneficial to us and that I haven’t seen mentioned elsewhere. If you are going with kids who are old enough for fireworks but not old enough to stay up too late, early park closing in the off-season can be a blessing. My kids can never make an 11 pm firework show, but they can handle the 8 pm show, or the – can you believe it – 6:30 or 7:00 showing of Fantasmic. They can see that one and still get to bed by 8:30. Otherwise, staying late for a firework show pretty much kills the entire next day for the little ones (very cranky from lack of sleep), which often isn’t worth it. When you can catch a 7:00 showing of the Main Street Electrical Parade in MK followed by Wishes fireworks at 8:00, it is great! Since early closing often goes hand-in-hand with early parade/fireworks, it is something to consider.
Thanks for the tip, Sarah! We’re planning to take our son for the first time and were a little bummed he wouldn’t get to see the Electrical Parade. Sounds like that might be a possibility now.
Hopefully not too silly of a question, the wife and I just booked a week stay from April 13-20, is that considered “late” April? We’re hoping the rush month will begin to taper off at that time. Thanks, and awesome blog!
Paul
Things should begin to taper off after April 14th this year. Based upon how things are going this year, I’d expect it to be moderately busy when you’re there.
But don’t forget that there will be thousands of cheerleaders there between 20 April to 1 May, so may be more crowded then
Tom, as usual, you are totally right. I usually go during the low season, as my schedule is flexible and I have a AP (plus, hotels are cheaper!). I’m on the list of people that will sacrifice park hours for fewer crowds. As you alluded to, you can get more done in less time, so longer hours are unnecessary. Also, TouringPlans crowd calendar is a life saver.
Amazingly, one of my most relaxing WDW vacations was this past April. I went during “spring break” because my AP was about to expire and they were offering 35% of Mods, so I made a quick 3 night trip. Since it was so packed I basically gave up trying to tour commando style and just enjoyed the atmosphere. Despite the throngs of unwashed humanity, it was relaxing because I wasn’t trying to cross everything off my list. I was just happy to be there!
Hi Tom,
Myself and my fiance are currently planning our Disneymoon (very excited!) for next August. We use the Fastpass system a lot when we visit DisneyWorld, but we’ve never heard of the fact that you can return after the later time. Just to check, if the Fastpass was for 4.00-5.00, we could return anytime after 5pm? Sorry if this is a silly question!
Thanks,
Joy
Hi Joy,
As of the date of this post, that is the correct. It’s an unofficial policy, but we have *never* had an issue returning well beyond the window. We usually save FastPasses for the afternoon when crowds are the worst, and try to ride as many attractions via the standby line earlier in the day. The only things that are enforced are the day (can’t use it the next day–although this wasn’t always the case!), and the early return time.
Hope that helps.
-Tom
Thank you that’s brilliant. We’ll definately be making use of this information next August!
Joy
I think this has now changed and you will find they stick to the time stated with perhaps a 5/10 minute leaway unless you have a really good excuse as to why you were late. Too many people were ignoring the time block.
sueJ is correct. The policy changed as of 2012.