Disney World Crowds in 2016
By Dave Shute
2016 CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
The chart lower on the page shows my forecasts for 2016 crowds by week at Walt Disney World.
Dates in it are the beginning of the week, and the forecast covers the recommended Saturday-Sunday 9 day stays.
(For 2017 crowds, see this, and for 2018 crowds, see this.)
Crowd levels are ranked by week from 1-11 in the following way:
1: Lowest of the year
2: Lower
3: Low
4: Low-plus
5: Moderate-minus
6: Moderate
7: Moderate-plus
8: High-minus
9: High
10: Higher
11: Highest
HOW TO INTERPRET THE 2016 DISNEY WORLD CROWD CALENDAR
Dates are the beginning of the week.
The “low crowd” weeks–those colored green, and rated 1-4–represent the only crowd levels a family visiting for the first time, and unsure if it will ever return, should consider.
However, lower crowds, especially lowest crowds, do not always mean a better week. The lowest weeks are often best avoided by first timers who may never return because they are in the hurricane or the ride closure seasons.
The “moderate crowd” weeks–those in black and rated 5-7–have crowd levels I would not particularly recommend to first time visitors, though the crowds can be managed with careful planning and lots of early mornings. However, I’d go during such weeks myself with no hesitation, and think these levels are OK for returning visitors who don’t need to see everything and already know how to work Walt Disney World.
The “high crowd” weeks–those in red, rated 8-11–should be avoided by everyone. They aren’t, which is why they are so high.
MY DISNEY WORLD CROWD CALENDAR GOES UP TO “11”
The influence of the Unofficial Guide and TouringPlans.com has led almost all Disney World crowd calendars to top out at 10.
However, I’ve always thought that the really nastiest weeks of the year deserved an 11 for emphasis.
So, in homage to Spinal Tap, I assigned 11 to “highest.”
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304 comments
September 2016
Arriving Sunday 9/18 and leaving Saturday 9/24
Will likely do MNSSHP on arrival night or that Tuesday, depending on your advice.
What parks do you recommend avoiding on any one of those given days?
I posted elsewhere here but had the dates off by 1 day. Thanks for your patience with me! 🙂
Erika, see response here: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2016/02/16/halloween-2016-at-walt-disney-world/#comment-505856
Taking our 4 yr old grandson may 19-24th 2016. Any advice? Thanks
Ann, all my material on this site is for older kids, but you can find material aimed at kids that age in my book.
Dave,
Located Invictus at – http://2014.invictusgames.org
“•Crowds of 65,000 packed venues to back 413 competitors from 13 nations in past 4 days”
Thanks Dennis–based on your link I also found this:
http://2014.invictusgames.org/news/bidding-process-open-for-aspiring-hosts-of-future-invictus-games/
The first ever Invictus Games saw 413 competitors from 13 nations compete for gold in nine sports, as well as a driving challenge organised by Presenting Partner Jaguar Land Rover, over 5 days in London this year. Some 79,000 spectators attended the sporting events, Opening Ceremony and Closing Concert and more than 10m viewers watched the Games for at least 15mins on the BBC, the Host Broadcaster. BBC audience research also found that viewers were extremely positive about the Invictus Games and that it was one of the most appreciated programmes of 2014.
79,000 over 5 days is about 16,000 a day. That will have little impact on a set of parks that already average 150,000 people per day…
Dave – I’ve enjoyed your site for some time now. My wife, kids (7 yo daughter and 12 yo son), mother, and I are planning a trip this coming holiday season and I was wondering if you could give some crowd advice. We’re thinking of going either the week of Thanksgiving or from the 15th of December through the 21st. Which of these times should have lower crowds, or will they be about the same?
Hi Jonathan, your December option will be better.
Dave-Thanks for your expectation ref: Envictus Games
Hi Dave, I started writing to you with all my Disney questions nearly a year ago…we are now down to 19 days and so excited! We arrive on April 9, one of your weeks predicted to be low crowd, but Disney just threw me for a loop. On Thursday, April 14, when I was hoping for the lowest crowds of the week in the Magic Kingdom, Disney just extended park hours to 11 and added a second MSEP. Can you read your crystal ball, peer into Mickey’s head, or wave your magic wand and try to give me some idea why they might have done this? Might they be expecting larger crowds that day? Of course, we have all our ADRs and FPs for the week, so not much to do about it now, but I need to get my expectations in order just in case. Thank you!
Taylor, this is routine and happens every month! No worries…
Thanks, Dave! I didn’t realize that there is a second parade several nights that week, but I do find it odd that there isn’t a second parade on the weekends. Of course, now Disney has introduced this new after hours event. I can’t imagine anybody paying that kind of money to stay up until 2 am, but maybe I am just showing my age! 18 days to go…
Yeah Taylor, the parade schedule March-May this year is kinda nuts, and not at all similar to what’s happened in recent years.
I’ll be at WDW 4/20 through 4/24, and will do the 4/21 after hours event if I can get tix for it, so that I can review it. It will build crowds in MK starting at 7p.
Can’t wait to see what everyone thinks of this new event. I’m like you Taylor, way past my bed time. But if you’re a night owl, the short lines and free treats could be worth the ticket price.
Hi Dave, thanks for your emensly helpful website! We’re planning Orlando and we were thinking of doing magic kingdom on the 5th April just wanted to know if this was an ok date?
Katrianna, yes, April 5 is a good MK day. However, you still need to get your FastPass+ ASAP. See this.
Hi Dave,
I sent an email here yesterday but don’t see it posted this morning. I’ll try again….
Was planning on a trip to Orlando in April. I see the week of the 9th is best. The 9th is a Saturday so planning on the 11th through the 14th. Best time to go?
Thanks as always.
Mike
Mike, see this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2015/09/22/april-2016-at-walt-disney-world/#comment-506317
Hi Dave,
We have a trip planned for May 28th to Jun 4th, 2016. Can you please recommend which parks to avoid on each date? Thank you so much!
Hi Karina!
May 28 avoid AK and MK
May 29 avoid MK and HS
May 30 avoid AK and Mk
May 31 avoid Epcot
6/1 avoid MK
6/2 avoid Epcot
6/3 avoid MK and HS
6/4 avid MK and AK
You’re the master! Thanks for the time you put into this to help us!
We will be in doing WDW April 24-29. Advice for days to schedule the different parks would be wonderful 🙂
Hi Sue!
4/24 avoid HS
4/25 avoid AK and MK
4/26 avoid Epcot
4/27 avoifdMK
4/28 avoid Epcot
4/29 avoid MK and HS
Hi Dave! When will calendars for March 2017 be updated? My daughter has spring break Mar 6-10, and from what I’ve gathered so far, that may actually be a decent time to visit. Thanks!
Colleen, this summer no later than July. And yes, unless I get different data during the update, I do think that will be a fine week!
3 DAYS to DISNEY!!! Now that I have that out of my system, I have been hearing from people in the World this week that it is crazy busy, like a crowd 10+. Any idea why that might be and any guarantee that these people will vacate the premises before I arrive in 3 DAYS!?!?! Also, need advice on how to spend my time after this vacation is over…
Taylor late morning and afternoon standby waits in non-recommended parks have been rough this week. The issue is not crowds, it’s capacity. Disney has oddly cut back substantially on staffing and capacity, so people without great plans are seeing long standby waits.
Hi Dave, I’m looking into booking a Disney vacation for Nov 5th-12th. We’re a family of five…my husband and I plus kids ages 4, 6 and 8. I’ve been to Disney a bunch of times prior to having kids and as a family of 5 we went a few years ago but we only did MK for one day while passing through to another destination. Now we’re ready for the whole week experience so i wanted to see if you had any advice on whether or not that was a good week to go and which parks to visit on which days? Thank you!
Jen, it’s a so-so week–OK, but not one of my recommended ones. See this. I won’t be able to recommend specific parks on specific days until the November calendar comes out, which should happen in a week or two so check back then OK??
Ok, thanks so much! Our kids have off school the whole election week so we might take a gamble and give it a try. I’ll check back in a few weeks to see which parks to stay away from. Thanks again!!
Hi Dave,
I appreciate this site so much! I have a trip planned for 4/17-4/22. Your crowd calendar predicts light – moderate crowds. Have you confirmed the crowds have been low? I just viewed another site which predicted much higher numbers which is making me a little nervous. Thanks!
Dawn, there’s of course no way to confirm until they happen. So far in April, afternoon standby waits on major rides have been running longer than projections. The only reliable other crowd calendar is here http://www.easywdw.com/easy/calendars/april-2016-walt-disney-world-crowd-calendar/
Our family of 5 adults is planning a Disney/Universal trip 12/26/16-01/02/17. We are two couples and one single. We are educators so our time is not flexible and I understand it is the busiest week of the year. Should we spend the extra money to stay on property? Which parks should we visit on what days? We plan to attend Disney three days and Universal two days.
Janna, absolutely, both at WDW and at Universal. I won’t be able to advise on park days until Disney’s calendar for then comes out, which it should for December in about 5 weeks, and January a month after.
Educators usually do best at the beginning of June or end of August, if one of those fits their academic calendar…
Hi Dave,
What a great site …! So we are doing our first Disney trip 21st may – 4th June.. We have a 3yr old and a just turned 1yr old… Are we mad? Will we be queuing forever and overwhelmed by crowds?
Thanks lisa
Hi Lisa and thanks! Crowds will be OK until 5/28. Since there’s not a lot for a 3 year old to do–a couple of days at MK, and a half day each at the other three parks–put all your park time before then and you will be fine!
Hi Dave, We will be visiting Orlando from 5/9 to 5/13 both days included. We plan to spend 1 day in Magic Kingdom. Among these days which day is best to visit Magic Kingdom or will crowd levels be more or less the same throughout the week in Magic Kingdom? thanks for your help!!!
Nithya, aim for the 12th or the 13th!
Hello, we are going in sept. I have booked our dates and it is during the food and wine festivsl, not something we will be partaking of but we love epcot. Have an 11 yr old and doing the not so scary halloween, do you think it would be better to go before food and wine I didnt want to go the first week of sept due to hot. I was worriied that the food and wine festival would be extremely crowded. Should we risk the crowds and go later duringthe festival so not so hot?
Helen, F&W clots up Epcot’s World Showcase in the evenings and on the weekends, and especially Friday and Saturday evenings. And all of September can be wicked hot. So just avoid Epcot on the weekends, especially World Showcase, and you should be OK.
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