2026 Disney World Crowd Calendar

ByTom Bricker
228 Comments

These free 2026 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.

It’s been a strong to the year, which is typical. Winter hasn’t been the off-season for several years. Crowds will only grow over the next month-plus, with spring break season being unsurprisingly busy. We just shared Weeks When Spring Break Crowds Will Be Worst at Walt Disney World in 2026.

If you’re looking for a quick rundown of dates to avoid in the coming months, we also cover the red flag dates here. If that’s all you care about, scroll down to the ‘Red Flag Dates to Avoid in Spring 2026’ section. Much of this is otherwise a guide to explaining crowd dynamics at Walt Disney World and how to choose dates as we emphasize ‘teach a person to fish’ planning advice.

The good news is that it should be relatively smooth sailing between mid-April and mid-October. The almost 6-month stretch between Spring Break and Fall Break sees below-average crowds and lower wait times (see Why Summer is the New Low Crowds Season at Disney World). Suffice to say, winter being busier while summer hollows out are two pieces to the same puzzle.

As a general matter, crowds should be slightly lower throughout 2026. On the company’s first earnings call of the year, Disney warned of this, discussing attendance “headwinds” and specifically pointing to reduced international visitation.

There are a lot of other theories for crowds trending down, from Epic Universe to Disney pricing out the middle class. Generally speaking, those are beyond the scope of this post. Last year, attendance was down 1% according to Disney’s 10-K filing.

This year will likely see another 1% decline, so we’re not exactly talking a catastrophic crowds collapse. Let’s not sensationalize what’s likely a modest downturn, and one coming in between development cycles at Walt Disney World.

Wait times, on the other hand, have been down by around 3-5% year-over-year. This means that there’s a non-attendance explanation for the decrease. Our theory is that Lightning Lane utilization, both paid and via Disability Access Service (DAS), has decreased year over year.

We’ve written a lot about the impact of the DAS changes on wait times at Walt Disney World. Most recently in Is Lightning Lane Multi Pass Still “Worth It” at Disney World?” One of our main points with this has been that standby lines are shorter and faster moving, leading to lower wait times.

Since there’s no objective or comprehensive way to measure congestion, crowd levels are exclusively a measure of wait times–meaning that crowd levels drop when wait times drop, and vice-versa. Meaning that even if attendance is exactly the same, crowds can decrease.

Almost across the board, wait times are down by a few minutes year-over-year, which means crowds are a level or two below what was forecast. The good news is that this has been consistent, meaning that overall trends and patterns are what’s been expected, just lower.

In addition to shorter lines, the other good news is that the last couple years have seen normalizing attendance patterns, during which time it became much easier to predict crowd levels and wait times.

To the extent that crowd calendars have been inaccurate, it’s generally just a matter of across-the-board overestimates–the general trend lines have remained correct, just too high.

As mentioned above, January and February have become reliably busy. March and April are spring break season, although an earlier Easter also brings about an earlier shoulder season.

Red Flag Dates to Avoid in Spring 2026

Speaking of which, here are some red flag dates to avoid in the coming months:

  • March 13, 2026
  • March 16-20, 2026
  • March 30 to April 8, 2026

Those will be the worst dates of Spring Break season, which could see 8/10 to 10/10 crowd levels. The dates in between could see elevated crowds, as the entire stretch from mid-March to mid-April will be busy, but other days are more likely to have 6/10 to 7/10 crowds than 8/10 and above.

Elevated crowd levels in the 6/10 to 7/10 range can still be pretty bad, especially on a park by park basis. There are already several signs that the heart of Spring Break season has already arrived, such as Lightning Lane Premier Pass being sold out from now through March 16, 2026 at Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney World extending park hours pretty much every single day between now and March 28, 2026.

More days will sell out of Lightning Lanes and more park hours will be extended between now and the first week of April 2026. Those two signs alone suggest heavy crowds on the horizon for the next full month. Those red flag dates are simply the worst of the worst based on our forecasts.

Spring Break season is expected to end around Wednesday, April 8, 2026. The following couple of weekdays should still be busy, but the weekend should not. Spring break season will largely be over at that point, with the following week marking the unofficial arrival of shoulder season.

Once Spring Break ends, crowds typically decrease each and every month between April and September. Crowd levels typically bottom out in August, before rebounding ever-so-slightly in September.

October is the next truly busy month, owing largely to Fall Break. In fact, the next ‘red flag’ dates after April 8, 2026 won’t be until October 9-12, 2026. There are some busy dates in between, but nothing that’s truly bad. We’d be surprised if there are any 3-day or longer stretches with 8/10 or above crowds during that timeframe.

Following Fall Break, crowds accelerate in November and again in the second half of December. The week of New Year’s Eve is almost always #1 worst of the year and by a very wide margin. The week leading up to Christmas is usually #3 or #4, with the first week of January being #2.

Rounding out the top 5 are Easter and Mid-Winter Break (Presidents’ Day). Other weeks that are in the mix as being among the worst are the remainder of Spring Break season, Fall Break, and Thanksgiving. That’s Walt Disney World crowds in a nutshell!

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–look no further than our lists of the 10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2026 & 2027.

Franky, we prefer those lists to these crowd calendars and send friends and family that post as opposed to this when they want help choosing dates. From my perspective, it’s foolish to rely solely on quantitative measures (that might be flawed!) when qualitative factors can be more make or break. These crowd calendars will tell you that the last week in August is a great time to visit, but that’s only true if you don’t mind triple-digit feels like temperatures.

Those lists of weeks were recently updated and will receive another refresh around the holiday season. Same goes with the crowd calendars here. If you’d like future updates, on the ground crowd reports and more, subscribe to our free email newsletter.

We’d also highly recommend avoiding Epic Universe during any of the aforementioned peak weeks. In fact, the worst dates at Epic Universe are far worse than the busiest dates at Walt Disney World or the rest of Universal Orlando. (There’s no reason to avoid Islands of Adventure or Universal Studios Florida; these Walt Disney World crowd calendars apply pretty much equally to those parks, too. )

The new park is plagued by ride reliability woes, with significant downtime and delays due to breakdowns and weather (most rides are outside, so they close when it rains). Even diehard Universal fan communities have soured somewhat on Epic Universe, and now recommend waiting out the crowds.

More good news is that there are reliably less-busy dates at Epic Universe, too! See our Secret to Conquer Crowds at Epic Universe: Best Dates to Visit in 2026. Note that traditional WDW crowd calendars do not apply to Epic Universe except in broad strokes–meaning that weeks like Christmas and New Year’s Eve will similarly be busier, but what’s make or break with EU is choosing the right days of the week and avoiding the worst.

Turning back to these 2026 Walt Disney World crowd calendars, we have a couple more notes.

First and foremost, low crowds does not equal no crowds. 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 does not mean empty. The most popular rides, especially during the middle of the day, will still have long lines.

You may be disappointed to see 60 minute waits on a supposedly low-crowd day, and conclude that it actually isn’t slow. But it gets much, much worse. Hour-long waits are better than 2-hour ones! Moreover, those numbers are averages, so it also means higher peaks and lower lows–so you can beat wait times in any crowd level with savvy strategy.

Avatar Flight of Passage might peak at a 300 minute wait on a 10/10 day when its average wait time is 140 minutes. That is objectively worse than a 60-minute wait time for the ride, which is what you’re likely to encounter on a 1/10 to 3/10 day.

If you want to understand more about Walt Disney World crowd calendars, their strengths and limitations, or addressing misconceptions about crowds, see our list of the “Top” 10 Ways Walt Disney World Fans Are Wrong About Crowds. That’s worth reading if you want a better understanding of WDW attendance patterns, feels like crowds vs. wait times, and a few fairly easy ways to “beat” the crowds.

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.

With all of that out of the way, here are more detailed suggestions for when you should and shouldn’t visit Walt Disney World…

2026 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 2026 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.

For these crowd calendars, we combine normal data like wait times and other info that serves as a proxy for crowds (school schedules, airport visitor volume, DVC point charts, ticket & hotel prices, and more) 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.

Suffice to say, 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.

As for other tools, utilizing Lightning Lanes, Early Entry, Extended Evening Hours, rope drop, etc. will help immensely. 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!)

Be sure to also check out our Walt Disney World Itineraries for plans of attack. Following a good itinerary and utilizing smart strategy is often more important than choosing the “right” dates. There are some exceptions to this, such as going on December 29 (average wait time last year of 70 minutes) instead of October 1 (average wait time this year of 18 minutes), but by and large, using smart strategy will put you in a better position than picking better 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.

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, you’ll want to target the months of November through April–and maybe October and May. 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, June through September 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. Consult our guide to 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. Read our Unique Disney World Packing List for some items you might not otherwise think of taking. Seriously, you could save a ton of money on impulse purchase and have a more pleasant trip with our recommendations that’ll help you better prepare for staying comfortable in Florida weather (among other things).

Park Hours

We’ve found that park hours are the biggest variable that people fail to consider when planning their trips. This is at least a minor 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, 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 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

Summer

  • Cool Kid Summer – A quasi event with dance parties and characters.

Fall

  • 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 International Food & Wine Festival – Beginning over Labor Day weekend, 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.

Holidays

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 savvy strategy. Again, 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!

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228 Comments

  1. We just went last week in april and it was terrible. It was like school was out already. some wait times over an hour. Never did get on 7 dwarfs. Wont be back again for awile. Probabaly try jan next time. Take all of april off your good times to go.

    Reply

  2. We are trying to decide between going the first week of May 2016 or going in October/November 2016.
    We have a 2 year old, who will need a mid-day nap. However, we also don’t like crowds and prefer shorter lines. Being from the Gulf Coast (though a 13 hour drive from Orlando), we are also well-acquainted with the humidity and heat (we, especially me, HATE the heat).

    With all of this in mind, (we will be first time visitors) which of those two times would you recommend based on your experiences. Note: If we go in May it may qualify as “last minute” as I’m writing this in late February 2016

    Reply

  3. Tom, we are going to Disney World the week of March 16-22 (no choice). My question is about the Wishes fireworks show and Illuminations and the best day to see them that will allow an easier exit. Would you suggest going on an EMH day when the parks will still be open after the fireworks or going on a non-EMH day in hopes there will be less of a crowd than the EMH day.

    Thanks

    Reply

    1. It’ll always be less busy at night on a non-EMH day. I can’t really speak to exiting on one day versus the other, as we almost never leave at the start of EMH. My guess would be that it’s about the same, though. I wouldn’t overthink it.

  4. I liked this article a lot. In July of 2014, we surprised my son with a short trip to Disney on his birthday. It was AWFUL. He doesn’t handle crowds well, it was very hot and the lines were hours long. The first day we went to the hotel, checked in and ventured right out into Magic Kingdom. Our first ride, the Haunted Mansion…. we waited over two hours in line, dripping with sweat as it was around 100 degrees. My son looked up at me and said “Mom… Disney World sucks.” I was heartbroken. We did have moments of good times in the parks, but he preferred to stay at the hotel and swim in the pool. For all the planning and cost to go to the best place on earth…. it was a bummer. So I am looking to make up for it, because we saw very little of Disney. We mostly did a lot of walking around and evaluating lines. I would like to plan a trip before he outgrows that magical kid awe that we all have as kiddo’s…. as I remember Disney Family Vacations as the best times growing up. So I like the recommendations very much and find it helpful in thinking of attempting this once more in the neat year or two. We learned about the fastpass and making sure we have a plan and take advantage of the Magic Hours at the parks… which I wish we knew in advance, as our trip was only 4 days. So I am doing some research this time want to make sure we get to do more than 10 rides on the entire vacation.

    Reply

  5. I am planning to go from august 30 to 5 september. I have been trying to find when do school go back in hours but have not been lucky. Any recomendations for this week. I may also consider 8 – 15 september…but this may not be a choice because of work

    What would you recommend

    Reply

  6. Hi Tom,
    Keep up the good work! We are heading down from May 8th to the 13th and I have 2 questions:
    1. Is this considered slow to average season or does the high season officially kick-off.
    2. I understand each ride is different based on popularity but how long is the average wait for a ride?
    Cheers!

    Reply

  7. We are planning to go June 5 – 14 and are using the Fastpass+ for the first time. Is it better to use the 3 passes early in the morning and add one after that and wait in lines later? Or is it better to save the 3 passes for the afternoon and wait in lines in the morning? We have been many times but haven’t been in 2 years and are trying to wrap our heads around the new Fastpass+.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  8. Hi,

    We’re goung to be at WDW for 2 days between 27 th and 30 th April. Mostly 28 th and 30 th…planning to alt between Universal n Disney… Going by the calender, it says least busy….. Will that be so?
    Coming from India we know hot and humid….but what’s it like typically at that time? Been researching on the rates, seems like the 2 day hopper is a good one and cheapest on the disneyworld official site. Am i right ? Are the water parks worth while add ons?

    Reply

    1. April can be pretty humid, but not nearly as bad as summer. It’ll probably be nothing to you.

      Yes, buying the 2-day ticket from Disney directly is the way to go. I think the water parks are a worthwhile add-on, but it depends on how much you enjoy that type of experience. Have fun!

  9. My husband and 5 year old daughter just came back from Disney World – we went from January 26th to the 31st. I have to say the weather was fine! Mid to high 60’s each day – our last day it hit 72 actually – and the crowds were really managable. Being from upstate NY the 60 degree days felt like spring and there was no hint of Christmas stuff and to be honest we aren’t waterpark people so having that closed didn’t affect us at all. I think end of January can be a great time to visit – it does get colder at night to be sure but if you are from somewhere up North a 48-50 degree night still feels pretty mild. But if your main concern is having fewer people in the park then January might be a good time to go. Just wanted to give some feedback about a great January outing! Thanks Tom – and fyi – love the blog!

    Reply

  10. My wife and 2 kids, age 10 and 7, went the week after Labor Day, Sept 8-12 in 2014 and we had a blast. The only wait time longer than 20 minutes for a ride was the Seven Dwarfs train ride. And it wasn’t that bad because of some of the interactive things to do on the way to the ride. Everything else was 10-15 minutes, tops. At one point, we rode space mountain back to back to back, just walking up the front of the line. We spent 3 days at Magic Kingdom, 1 in Epcot and 1 in Hollywood Studios. Every ride we enjoyed going on we rode multiple times without issue. Fast passes were readily available so if one ride we really liked took 20 minutes, we would do the ride and then turnaround and use the fast pass. School is in full swing so the crowds are at a minimum and the kids could catch up on any school work they missed.

    Reply

    1. Totally agree–Labor Day can be a great time to visit, which is actually sort of surprising when you think about it, given that it’s a holiday week. Thanks for passing along your experience! 🙂

  11. Tom,

    Does WDW usually run a 30% off resort room deal during the slower November season like they do during the slower Spring months? I am looking to travel November 12-16, 2015 and plan on staying at the Contemporary Resort. Also, if we book our room directly through Disney, and a later discounted price comes up on the same room also through Disney, can we contact Disney and have them apply that discount to my account?

    Ps – Love the blog! Incredibly informative.

    Reply

    1. Yes to the discount, and yes to applying it later (assuming it’s valid at your resort for your dates, and there’s openings on the discount). You might consider going through a Disney Authorized Vacation Planner to handle that for you and make sure the discount gets applied.

  12. Hi Tom,

    Love your blog. My husband and I want to do a 2 week trip either in mid to late September or beginning to mid May. I have been in May before and had great weather and medium crowds. Could you reccomend which month is better all around.weather and crowds ect ?

    Reply

  13. Mid-May is our favorite time to go. We love the weather, the Flower and Garden Festival and our little Jedi’s love Star Wars Weekends. But considering that our children are in school, it’s the most practical time as well. Testing is finished and their just coasting at that point, they never even have make up work 🙂

    Reply

  14. Is it possible to visit WDW and see both Halloween and Christmas decorations? We would love to catch the Halloween party and Christmas parade in our visit.

    Reply

    1. Yes, to a degree. If you start your trip on October 31, 2015 and stay for about 10 days, you’ll see Christmas decorations, and might even be able to attend the first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Depends on when the first Christmas party is in 2015.

  15. Hi,

    We are planning to visit family for Thanksgiving in Orlando this year and wanted to go to Disney World with our kids. We were thinking Thanksgiving Day or day after. Are we crazy? Will it be insanely crowded?

    Thanks,
    Laura

    Reply

    1. Laura,

      We are going the week of Thanksgiving to WDW. I have seen some sites that say it will not be very busy. The Disney travel people also say that they do not think it will be busy. I hope they are correct on this because my child & I like to quickly go from park to park when we feel like riding certain rides. We do not like to wait in long lines so I hope that we can ride our favorite attractions repeatedly. We can’t wait to see all of the XMAS decorations. Another bonus is that I do not have to make any special deals with my ex-wife to trade time just so I can go on vacation when I want to with my family! I look forward to relaxing and having fun at WDW. WDW is the only place where I can go on vacation and be able to leave all of my troubles or problems at the door to have fun! I believe that I can relax like this because I trust that Disney staff will take care of me and will do whatever it takes to make my vacation magical. Maybe I will see you there.

      I do not work for Disney in any capacity, this is my personal opinion.

      Mark

  16. Hi, my name is Husna and I am from England.

    My husband and I are planning to take our 3 kids (age between 5-8yrs)to Orlando for 12 days in mid-August. We are thinking to buy 5-6 days hopper ticket for Disney World and 2 days base ticket for Universal Studio.It’s our first time to Orlando, so We don’t want to use all our days to the parks as we want to visit other place as well.

    I would be grateful if you can advice me if we are making the right choice.

    Kind regards
    Husna

    Reply

  17. I am planning our first family vacation to WDW we were scheduled to go Columbus Day week which I heard was a great time to visit regarding crowds and weather but my travel agent offered us a deal for sept 14-21 which saved us $1500 so of course we couldn’t pass this up but I am concerned with weather regarding hurricane season and chances if it raining all day everyday at this time of year. Any information would be appreciated as it being the first visit and unknown – hope I didn’t make a mistake by changing my date.

    Thanks
    Danielle

    Reply

  18. Hi Tom

    Thanks so much for your site and insight!

    I am from South Africa and am planning a disney world holiday for my 10 yr old niece. We want to come in early Dec 2015 – need to save for a while as the rand / dollar exchange is crazy!

    There are quite a few questions I have but will prioritise 🙂
    – Are all the rides are operational at that time?
    – besides sea world and universal studios, are there any other sights that we should consider outside of disney world?
    – can we get the multiday park hopper even if we don’t stay in the “bubble”?

    Waiting in anticipation,

    Lauren

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  19. I am planning on visiting in March of 2016 for my 50th birthday. I am looking at the first week of March and I was wondering if that’s a good time to go or is it too close to spring break? I want to go the first full week of March and hope it won’t be too busy then. Does anyone know?

    Reply

  20. My wife, mother, father and my 4-year old son will be going this weekend for his first trip and mine in at least 25 years. We want to enjoy ourselves and let him see the magic I remember. I have been known to get overly stressed at times and I don’t want to make that the case for this special trip. We are going for 2 days, 4/4 and 4/5. Any tips for me?

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