I’ve recently published the final revision of the weeks of 2015 ranked in order of how good they are for a family on their first visit to Walt Disney World who may never return.
This page explains how they are built.
HOW THE WEEK RANKINGS ARE BUILT
Basically, I chunk up the weeks of the year based on certain criteria I’ll get to in a minute, and then sort within each chunk based first on crowds, and then, within the same crowd level, prices.
“WEEKS TO AVOID” AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
The worst chunk for first time visitors who may never return is the ride closure season—early January to shortly before President’s Day.
There’s some great weeks among the affected six 2015 weeks for returning visitors, but for those who may be on their only visit ever, times when terrific rides are commonly closed are to be avoided, and show up at the bottom of my list.
The next-worst chunk is the weeks with high crowds—twenty summer, spring break, and holiday weeks. These show up next to last—sorted, as are the ride closure weeks, first on crowds, and then on prices.
These two chunks together I class as “Weeks to Avoid.”
Taking out these two chunks leaves 27 low to moderate crowd weeks that aren’t in the ride closure season
“WEEKS I’M NOT SO KEEN ON” AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
From these, the first chunk taken out is the 8 peak hurricane season weeks.
Like the ride closure weeks, there’s some great options among these for returning visitors, but the (admittedly low) risk of vacation disruption from hurricanes leads me to downgrade these for those who may never return.
This leaves 19 low to moderate crowd weeks that are in neither the ride closure season nor the peak of the hurricane season.
The worst rated of these 19 weeks are in the chunk of 5 weeks with moderate crowds.
These two chunks together I class as “Weeks I’m not so keen on.”
“RECOMMENDED WEEKS” AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
That leaves 14 weeks with low crowds which are in neither the peak hurricane nor ride closure seasons. These weeks are this site’s “Recommended Weeks.”
They are divided into two groups—those in the Christmas program season and those outside of it.
The 3 Christmas program weeks are top-ranked; the remaining weeks are then sorted as usual based first on crowds and then on prices.
MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD
- For when to go to Walt Disney World, see this
- For the next best dates, see this
- For the best and worst times to visit, see this
- For forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
- For the 2014 Crowd Calendar, click here
- For the 2015 Crowd Calendar, click here
- For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
- For 2014 price seasons, see this
- For 2015 price seasons, see this
- For weather at Walt Disney World, see this
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This chart is amazing. The time and effort Dave put’s into all of his information really helps you get the most out of your Disney vacation.
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