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. Hi Tom,
    I will be booking a trip for late January or early February 2026. From past experience, do you have any idea when disney may open those dates up for booking?
    Thank you and love your content.

    Angia

    Reply

    1. Last year, it was February 27.

      In most previous years, it’s been between late May and early June.

      My guess is that it’ll happen sooner than that this year, especially since Disney probably wants to capture as many bookings as possible before Epic Universe opens and word of mouth starts to spread.

  2. First your blog is amazing. We have gone as a family probably 6 ish times so we kind of have an idea of the parks. We always go Jan or Feb. this year I have 8 extra extended family members coming with from CA. So planning for more has caused me to worry about more specifics. Roughly it looks like the first week in Feb 2026 is the most advantageous for everyone. First good choice? More so an ok choice? Also we always stay at POP and that week will still be refurbishing. I am assuming it will be more of a refresh. Not construction. Would you see any major reasons to book elsewhere? We love the skyliner and the theming at POP. My kids are not a fan of AOA. And we definitely would not like the price of the deluxe hotel. Any thoughts on our choices? Thank you for any input.

    Reply

    1. Even though winter has gotten busier in the last 5+ years than it used to be, I still think that’s an excellent choice from a quantitative and qualitative perspective.

      Pop Century is getting a soft goods refurbishment right now (so you’re correct–not full-on construction) and it should be winding down by the time you visit. The vast majority of rooms will be done by then, but you still might want to request a new room.

      The only wildcard is a potential Skyliner refurbishment. That might happen before your dates or not at all (it skipped this winter), but it’s still something to be aware of. Dates should be announced by late summer or so. You can find historical Skyliner refurbishment dates here: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/when-will-disney-worlds-skyliner-gondolas-close-for-refurbishment-in-2025/

  3. I’m hoping that Food and Wine goes back to July start like they did in the post Covid years to combat Epic’s opening. Last summer it was a loooog, stretch between Flower and Garden and Food and Wine.

    Reply

    1. Personally, I’d like to see a brand-new summer festival. For EPCOT at least, I think that’s the best “answer” to Epic Universe.

      It’s my understanding that the longer Flower & Garden (also shortened by a month) and Food & Wine were seeing diminishing returns with locals and Annual Passholders, so it didn’t make sense to run them as long. An entirely new event, on the other hand…

  4. Just returned from a split, seven day trip (12/9-12/16). Four nights at WDW and three nights at UO. We did the same trip, the same week last year and thought the parks felt more crowded this year, and crowds definitely ramped up as the week progressed. Interestingly the “feels like” larger crowds didn’t result in longer wait times. Hopped from MK to AK around 3:30 Tue and bagged a 20 min wait time on Flight of Passage. Considering it takes 15 minutes just to walk to the loading area, it was basically a walk on.
    A great week to enjoy Christmas at the parks without the insane crowd levels.

    Reply

  6. Curious about crowd insights for January 2-5, 2025. We’ll be using a complimentary 1-Day Park Hopper, which is a ticket type requires park reservations. Several weeks ago, we booked DHS for Friday, January 3. Checking the reservations again this week to think about starting our day at MK instead, we were surprised to see that modifications could be made only for DAK and Epcot, not MK.
    Do you think the limited availability is due to the last days of local school break, as you mentioned in your post? Should we worry about capacity and hopping to MK?
    Love the blog! Thanks, Tom!

    Reply

    1. “Do you think the limited availability is due to the last days of local school break, as you mentioned in your post? Should we worry about capacity and hopping to MK?”

      Yes to the first question, no to the second.

      It’ll undoubtedly be busy that day–but not to the point that Park Hopping is restricted. Hope you have fun! Consider buying LLMP or at least arriving early, staying late, and using savvy strategy!

  7. We arrived on 4 September the first week was empty in all the parks, we did rope drop but kept an eye on ride times and a couple of days Hollywood studios Star Wars rides were 5 min wait so we popped to the Parkin the evening. Then this Saturday 14 September we went to Epcot went through the gates and turned round again it was heaving! It has been like it for the last 3 days all parks rammed! So back to rope drop tomorrow at animal kingdom for our last day!

    Reply

    1. Tom will write a war and peace article but somehow fail to get to any point or context implied by the title

  9. Hi Tom
    Really enjoy your blog

    Wokeness might be the answer to diminishing crowds
    If you’re conservative at all the Disney Magic has been tarnished by the WDW administration

    Reply

  10. My husband and I have Disney in our DNA, having been present on opening weekend of MK , Oct. 71. As a Native Floridian, we were in the parks, witnessing their growth, and I was even a Castmember long ago. I have watched this company turn to crap, in my opinion. Up u til this very year, we have turned a blind eye to price-gouging greed, “inclusivity” that only applies to one segment of the population and not the disabled, and general lack of quality and value in the product. We, along with millions of other, have simply decided to spend our money elsewhere, and I believe the lower crowds are a result of this. With the recent DAS debacle, they have now alienated legally disabled people who need accommodations. I predict they will continue to scramble to roll-out specials, as they attempt to pull in revenue. Only time will tell if the ship will sink, but personally, I think it’s sad. I love old-school Disney, but despise what this company stands for now. I am happy people are making their choice known by refusing to support the nonsense.

    Reply

  11. My daughter and I have reservations December 2-7. I’ve been watching hotels that week and every value resort is booked except all star sports and a lot of moderate resorts are book. Wednesday and Thursday, December 4th and 5th were the dates that sold out first. Is there a conference that week this year or are the parks going to reflect the full capacity of the resorts? I’m really thinking of moving our reservations to the 2nd week in December. Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

    Reply

  12. I’m trying to reconcile the statement on this page, “Honestly, following a good itinerary and utilizing smart strategy is way more important than choosing the ‘right’ dates,” with a seemingly opposite statement at https://www.disneytouristblog.com/genie-plus-versus-standby-strategy-disney-world/:
    “Less than 4/10 and, frankly, you don’t need much strategy at all.”

    Can you clarify the relative importance of strategy versus date selection?

    Reply

  13. Hi
    First of all congratulations on your growing family and thank you for all your wonderful information.
    Since more extra disney after hours have been added to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, I am not sure whether it is better or not to go to these parks on those select days if I am staying off site so I don’t have early entrance in the morning and I am not planning on paying for the extra hours. I know you have been reporting changes in the 2024 crowds but using past experience, what do you usually recommend for these nights? I know I read something you had previously written but since it didn’t impact me at the time I kind of skimmed over it and now can’t find it.
    Thank you again for all you do for Disney guests.

    Reply

  15. SWORE last year was my final time after battling end of January crowds….but now after reading here i decided ..OK i will go back on my favorite time….first week of December……seems everyone else read your posting here….our old faithful FRENCH Qtr is BOOKED……..UGHHHHHHHH……

    Reply

  16. We were at Epcot, Disney Springs, and Universal last week. We were also at Disney the exact same week in ’23. The crowds we’re definitely bigger, with the most noticeable difference being significantly more foreign language speakers this year. I would guess international guest numbers are up a lot!

    Reply

  17. Thanks for the analysis, Tom. Do you have any plans to update your days-of-the-week schedule given some of the surprising data in the first three months?

    Reply

    1. Yes to this, please! (Also, I live by your Genie+ priority rankings, Tom. Thanks for continuing to keep those up to date.)

  18. Are we really talking about unexpected crowds, or just increased wait times as a result of WDW trying to drive Genie+/ILL sales by operating attractions with less capacity and less adequate staffing than in the past (thus driving up wait times on purpose)? Now that WDW is financially incentivized to make wait times longer instead of shorter, I don’t think wait times are still a reliable shorthand way to estimate or compare crowd levels.

    Reply

  19. How do we think the dance competition crowds on the weekend of 02/03 along with the pro bowl happening in downtown Orlando that same weekend will affect the crowds at the parks ?

    Reply

    1. Could be wrong because it’s unprecedented, but I don’t think the NFL Pro Bowl will have any impact whatsoever on Walt Disney World. I don’t see much demographic overlap between the two.

      If anything, I could see a scenario where demand for the Pro Bowl spikes hotel and airfare prices enough that it discourages winter weekend getaways to WDW at a time when they’re otherwise fairly popular.

      I’m prepared to be totally wrong about any/all of this since we don’t have past precedent for it…but that’s what my gut says.

  20. Tom, I went to the November 2024 link, but it still has 2023 info. I know the first half of the article is obviously generalized and still fits, but any updates for the second half?

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the heads up on that. Did you have that same issue with the other links or did you only try that one?

      I had just updated the late (October-December) month crowd calendars for 2024, so it’s possible the page cache just hadn’t cleared. I’ve now manually done that, so you *should* see the updated pages now even if you weren’t before. Please let me know if there’s still an issue. Sorry about that!

    2. Other links, like the Best and Worst Weeks, were fine! I’m very excited, we are booked for the prime week, December 1-8, 2024!

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