Category — a. When to Go to Walt Disney World

OVERVIEW: THE BEST TIMES IN 2024 TO VISIT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The rankings of times to visit Walt Disney World that follow are designed for first time visitors who do not know whether or not they will return.

For visitors on a return trip or first timers who will return, less concerned about ride closures or the peak of the hurricane season, the later January, early February, later August, and September weeks would be ranked much higher. All weeks good for returning visitors are marked in green at the far right of the image below.

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The rankings are in calendar order in the image above. In the discussion below, for each group, they are in rank order within that group. At the end of the post I have an image of the full year in rank order.

These week rankings are based on my 2024 Disney World Crowd Calendar, on Disney World’s 2024 resort hotel price seasons, and on Disney World’s 2024 ticket price calendar. (I handled prices a bit differently this year,* but this ended up making no material difference except where noted in the text.)

Other factors are key as well–the holiday program, ride closure season and hurricane season in particular.

For more on how I build these rankings–although it’s old, it still is mostly I do it–see this.

RECOMMENDED 2024 WEEKS AT DISNEY WORLD, RANKED IN ORDER

The twelve recommended weeks that follow are the best weeks to visit Walt Disney World in 2024 for first time visitors who may never return. They are lower crowd and moderate-minus crowd weeks that are not in the peak hurricane or ride closure seasons.

I divide them into two groups–the first group is lower crowd weeks, and the second group selected moderate-minus crowd weeks. In both groups, holiday season weeks go to the front of the line.

Among the low crowd weeks, the first two have the full holiday program, and the rest have none of it, and are scattered throughout the year. Weeks 3, 4 and 5 are very close, and I rank them based on better weather earlier in the late April/early May period they cover.

• 1: 11/30/24
• 2: 12/7/24
• 3: 4/27/24
• 4: 5/4/24
• 5: 5/11/24
• 6: 10/26/24
• 7: 2/24/24

Weeks 8 through 12 are the moderate-minus crowd part of my recommended weeks. In the past, I have not recommended any moderate crowd weeks, but the tools of Early Entry, ILL, and Genie+ make such weeks easy to manage. Listed first among these is a week with some of the 2024 holiday program. The weeks after are then ranked by price.

Those staying at deluxe resorts will want to flip weeks 6 and 7.

• 8: 11/16/24 (busy at the end of the week, fine before then)
• 9: 4/20/24
• 10: 5/18/24 (busy at the end of the week, fine before then)
• 11: 4/6/24 (busy early in the week, fine after then)
• 12: 3/2/24 (busy at the end of the week, fine before then)

Those staying at moderate resorts will want to flip weeks 11 and 12.

This completes the weeks in 2024 that are recommended for first-time visitors to Disney World who may never return.

2024 WEEKS I’M LESS KEEN ON

Weeks 13-30 all have moderate crowd levels, with different prices and weather, and those with some or all of the holiday program coming at the head of the line. I don’t particularly recommend these  weeks for first time visitors, but if you have to pick one, with good plans they are quite manageable. They are also fine for returning visitors.

As always I rank these weeks first by crowd levels, then by prices.

However, as in all these rankings, the levels I use for “resort hotel prices” is based on the simple average across all three resort types, so a week with high prices at the values, low at the moderates, and moderate at the deluxes would be evaluated the same as a week with low prices at the values, moderate at the moderates, and high at the deluxes.

So you might want to dig into the specifics (presented on the chart) to pick the best week for you based on where you are staying.

Weeks 13-15 see the lowest crowds of this moderate crowd group, but have bitterly hot weather, which is why despite similar crowd levels they are not included in the second group of my “recommended weeks.”

• 13: 7/20/24
• 14: 7/27/24
• 15: 6/1/24

Weeks 16-24 will be a bit busier than weeks 13-15, with weeks 16 and 17 seeing some of the holiday program. Weeks 18-24 are sorted by prices.

• 16: 11/9/24 (some holiday program)
• 17: 11/2/24 (some holiday program at end of week)
• 18: 6/15/24
• 19: 7/13/24
• 20: 6/22/24
• 21: 6/8/24
• 22: 7/6/24
• 23: 4/13/24
• 24: 10/19/24

Those staying at value resorts will want to flip the order of 23 and 24.  Those staying at deluxe resorts will want to move week 18 all the way down to between 22 and 23.

Last in this group are its highest-crowd weeks, with the first two seeing all or some of the holiday program, and the rest sorted by price.

• 25: 12/14/24 (high prices, very busy at end of week
• 26: 12/30/24 (very busy at beginning of week)
• 27: 10/12/24 (busy at beginning of week)
• 28: 6/29/24 (busy at end of week)
• 29: 5/25/24 (busy at end of week)
• 30: 3/16/24 (busy both weekends, fine during week)

Those staying in deluxe resorts will want to flip weeks 27 and 28.

Weeks 31-40 have one thing in common: while low or moderate crowd weeks, they all occur during the peak of the hurricane season. Hurricanes are rare and even more rarely affect a Disney World vacation, but for first-timers who may never return, why not just avoid the risk? I’ve always thought this, and am completing this page nearing my one-year anniversary of being trapped in Orlando due to Hurricane Ian…reinforcing this recommendation even more…

For returning visitors, though, the low-crowd, lower price weeks that can be found among this group can be, with weather luck, wonderful times to visit.

These peak hurricane season weeks are ranked in order of first crowd levels, and within the same crowd level by prices.

Weeks 31-35 have some of the lowest crowds and lowest ticket prices of the year, and generally nicely reasonable hotel prices.

• 31: 8/17/24
• 32: 8/24/24
• 33: 9/7/24
• 34: 8/10/24
• 35: 9/14/24

Weeks 36-38  have slightly higher but still fine crowds.

• 36: 8/31/24
• 37: 8/3/24
• 38: 9/12/24

Weeks 39 and 40 are the moderate-crowd weeks in this hurricane group.

• 39: 9/28/24
• 40: 10/5/24

2024 WEEKS TO AVOID AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

There’s two groups of weeks to avoid in 2024: high crowd weeks and weeks when some rides are often closed.

The first group, ranked 41-47, should be avoided because of crowds that traditionally range from high to unbelievable.

This group includes many of the busy March and April spring break weeks beginning 3/9/2024, and the busiest holiday weeks—President’s Day week, the weeks before and after Easter, Thanksgiving week, and the weeks around Christmas.

See the table above for exact rankings within these lousy weeks.

The next group includes the January and early February 2024 weeks when rides are often closed for repair or refurbishment—weeks 48-53.

Some of these weeks have among the lowest crowds and lowest prices of the year. However, this is the peak time for ride closures at Walt Disney World, especially the January weeks.

If this may be your only family visit, why go when you know likely a few of the best of Disney World will probably be closed?

2024 WEEKS AT DISNEY WORLD, RANKED IN ORDER

(Larger image)

*Traditionally, I have taken the average of hotel prices, and broken ties with ticket prices. This however does not work precisely given the wide variation between hotel prices in the three hotel price classes.  For example, if you sum these prices (for longer trips and a four person family),

• At a value resort, across the year on average tickets cost 2/3 of the total, and lodging just 1/3
• At a moderate resort, tickets and lodging each cost about half
• At a deluxe resort, tickets cost about 1/3 the total, and lodging 2/3

I did thus separate rankings for each resort class, but the differences weren’t wildly material, so I don’t show them. But once you have decided on your resort class, the color codes in the resort pricing columns are worth double-checking. For example, if you are staying at a deluxe, the weeks of 7/13 and 7/6 (ranked 19 and 22) are lower-priced at these hotels than all the other weeks with a crowd ranking of 6 that start at week 16…

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2024 CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The chart lower on the page shows my current forecasts for 2024 crowds by week at Walt Disney World.

I’m forecasting a “return to normal” for crowd patterns in 2024, with less crowding in particular in January and in the summer compared to 2022 and 2023–though 2023 was a mixed bag.

My Disney World crowd forecasts are based on a combination of historical patterns and the specific influence of school breaks. The varying year to year timing of school breaks particularly shapes crowding during the spring break season.

Ticket prices also had some influence on my forecasts, but ticket prices are not the clear crowd forecast that some think they are.  Lower-priced days will be less crowded, but not all higher priced days are more crowded, as Disney prices tickets not only for quantitative demand but also for perceived value. For more on 2024 ticket prices at Disney World, see this.

As always, I forecast by Saturday arrival date, and the forecast includes the arrival Saturday through the second Sunday following–so 9 total days. [Read more →]

COLOR-CODED HEAT MAP OF 2024THEME PARK TICKET PRICES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

I’ve color coded the start dates of the various base ticket lengths from four to ten days in Disney World’s date-based ticket pricing system to indicate less and more expensive ticket dates in 2024, compared to prices in all of 2024. (The basics of how tickets work are at the link.)

In what follows, compared to other dates for the same ticket length

• The more and the darker the green, the better
• The more and the darker the red, the worse.

Dates with a white background are everything else–you can think of them as “typical” for that ticket length.

I begin with an overview of the year see you can see the flow of 2024 heat map price colors in one spot, and then move to two-month calendars.

The general pattern is the same as always:

• Lower prices, indicated by more green, in the typical semester–beginning months of January, early February, and especially later August and September; and
• Higher prices/more red during the concentrated school break periods of spring break, Thanksgiving, and especially the Christmas/New Years holidays. Some tickets that include other typical popular student breaks (e.g. Memorial Day, 4th of July, the fall break period in October) also show red.

JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2024 DISNEY WORLD TICKET PRICES

Ticket prices are lowish until their use periods begin to include the Presidents Day holiday.

MARCH AND APRIL 2024 DISNEY WORLD TICKET PRICES

Ticket prices are high through the spring break season, then shift to average/lowish until Memorial day.

MAY AND JUNE 2024 DISNEY WORLD TICKET PRICES

Ticket prices are average to lowish, except when they include the Memorial Day or Fourth of July holiday weekends.

JULY AND AUGUST 2024 DISNEY WORLD TICKET PRICES

After the Fourth of July holiday weekend ticket prices go from lowish in July to quite low in mid- August.

SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER  2024 DISNEY WORLD TICKET PRICES

September prices are largely low, while Octobers is a mix of mostly highish-prices.

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2024 DISNEY WORLD TICKET PRICES

November begins OK, then shows mostly red, peaking for tickets that include Thanksgiving week. They then turn slightly down, but rocket up to the highest levels of the year for tickets that include the period between the weekend before Christmas and New Years.

Note that my work is based on the rounded per-day prices Disney publishes. Prices shown are pre-tax.

You can find exact prices on Disney World’s ticket-buying pages.

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2024 RESORT HOTEL PRICE SEASONS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The material below shows Walt Disney World resort hotel price seasons at different times of the year in 2024.

Resort prices can be almost twice as high during some periods as they are at others. The information on this page helps you identify lower and higher cost periods.

Disney has three price classes among its hotels: Value, Moderate, and Deluxe resorts. At all three classes, in 2024 the lowest prices go from early January into early February, and the highest prices are kin the second half of December.  You can clearly see that in the chart, which shows average prices over the next seven days by arrival date from a sample of six Disney World resort hotels:

2024 Disney World resort hotel prices are also consistently low-ish from mid-August until early September, and consistently high-ish the spring break dates leading up to Easter.  

Beyond that things vary quite a bit by price class, especially in the summer and fall.  In the two heat maps that follow (one for each half of 2024), the first three columns are a sample of three value resorts, the next three columns three moderate resorts, and the next three deluxes. (More red=higher prices, more green=lower prices.)

Note, for example July in the second heat map, which shows light red in the values, dark green in the deluxes, and light green in the moderates. This is due to the differing effects of conventions on prices. All Disney hotels compete with the hundred thousand or so rooms elsewhere, and the deluxes in particular see their prices affected by convention business.  No sensible convention is in Florida from June through September, and hence the lower prices.  The values, in contrast, compete for family business year round, and the summer continues to be a convenient time for family vacations.

In the rest of the material below, I focus on the three price classes in turn. I compare 2024 hotel prices over the year for each hotel class to that class’s lowest price of 2024, its “value season” in parts of January and February.

Grouping of dates is based on “price seasons,” a grouping tool Disney World no longer makes public, but which can be identified analytically, and named (sorta) based on past practices. Disney charges based on the actual price of the actual nights, so if your visit straddles price seasons, you’ll pay the prices of each price season.

The charts average prices for each resort’s lowest-cost rooms over the next seven nights, by arrival date.  This eliminates what would be otherwise be incomprehensible bumpiness from Thursday/Sunday and/or Friday/Saturday upcharges. Within each price class, the charts show three different resorts. For exact prices by night by room type by date, see MouseSavers.com.

2024 DISNEY WORLD RESORT PRICE SEASONS: VALUE RESORTS

The Disney World value resorts see their lowest 2024 prices for arrival dates in early January through early February, with low prices also mid-August through early September.

The highest prices are for arrival dates in March through early April, and mid-December through New Years.

There are many other low-ish and high-ish arrival dates during the year–see the heat map, where more green is better, and more red is worse:

The lowest prices of the year–the value season–are offered 1/2 through 2/7/2024

Regular season prices 2/8 through 2/15: 25-35% higher than the lowest of the year

Presidents Day holiday prices 2/16 and 2/17: 40 to 50% higher than lowest of the year

Spring season prices 2/18 through 2/25: 40-50% higher

Regular season prices 2/26 through 2/29: 35-40% higher

Spring season prices 3/1 through 3/16: 40-50% higher

Regular season prices 3/17 through 3/20: 40-50% higher

Easter holiday prices 3/21 through 4/3: 65-75% higher

Spring season prices 4/4 and 4/5: 30-35% higher

Regular 2 season prices 4/6 through 5/23: 25-30% higher

Memorial Day holiday prices 5/24 through 5/26: 35-40% higher

Summer season prices 5/27 through 8/3: 30-40% higher except

• 4th of July holiday prices 40% higher July 5 and July 6

Summer 2 season 8/4 through 8/17: 20-25% higher

Value 2 season 8/18 through 9/7: 7-12% higher except

• Labor Day holiday prices 8/30 through 9/1: 15-20% higher

Fall season 9/8 through 10/19: 25-30% higher except

• 10/4 through 10/6: 35-40% higher

Fall 2 season 10/20 through 11/20:  25% higher

Thanksgiving season 11/21 through 11/29: 50% higher

Winter season 11/30 through 12/5: 35-45% higher

Winter 2 season 12/6 through 12/12: 55-65% higher

Peak season 12/13 through 12/24: 75-90% higher

Holiday season 12/25 through 12/31: 80-95% higher

2024 DISNEY WORLD RESORT PRICE SEASONS: MODERATE RESORTS

The Disney World moderate resorts see their lowest 2014 prices for arrival dates in early January through early February, then a long sweep of low-ish prices also from mid-April through early September.

The highest prices are for arrival dates in late March through early April, and mid-December through New Years.

There are other low-ish and high-ish arrival dates during the year–see the heat map, where more green is better, and more red is worse:

The lowest prices of the year–the value season–are offered 1/2 through 2/7/2024

Regular season prices 2/8 through 2/15: 20-25% higher than the lowest of the year

Presidents Day holiday prices 2/16 and 2/17: 30% higher than lowest of the year

Spring season prices 2/18 through 2/25: 30% higher

Regular season prices 2/26 through 2/29: 25-30%% higher

Spring season prices 3/1 through 3/23: 30% higher

Regular season prices 3/24 through 3/27: 35-40% higher

Easter holiday prices 3/28 through 4/10: 40-50% higher

Spring season prices 4/11 and 4/12: 20-25% higher

Regular 2 season prices 4/13 through 5/23: 20% higher

Memorial Day holiday prices 5/24 through 5/26: 20-25% higher

Summer season prices 5/27 through 8/3: 15-20% higher

Summer 2 season 8/4 through 8/17: 16-22% higher

Value 2 season 8/18 through 9/7: 10-20% higher except

• Labor Day holiday prices 8/29 through 9/1: 15-25% higher

Fall season 9/8 through 10/19: 18-25% higher, except

• 10/4-10/6: 20-30% higher

Fall 2 season 10/20 through 11/20:  25-35% higher

Thanksgiving season 11/21 through 11/29: 35-45% higher

Winter season 11/30 through 12/5: 25-40% higher

Winter 2 season 12/6 through 12/12: 35-45% higher

Holiday season 12/13 through 12/22: 55-75% higher

Holiday 2 season 12/23 through 12/31: 60-80% higher

2024 DISNEY WORLD RESORT PRICE SEASONS: DELUXE RESORTS

The Disney World deluxe resorts see their lowest 2024 prices for arrival dates in early January through early February, then again for a long stretch from late May through late September, with particularly low prices from mid-August through early September.

The highest prices are for arrival dates mid-December through New Years.

There are many other low-ish and high-ish arrival dates during the year–see the heat map, where more green is better, and more red is worse:

The lowest prices of the year–the value season–are offered 1/2 through 2/7/2024

Regular season prices 2/8 through 2/15: 20-25% higher than lowest of the year

Spring season prices 2/16 through 2/24: 30-35% higher

Regular season prices 2/25 through 2/29: 20-35% higher

Spring season prices 3/1 through 3/14: 30-35% higher

Regular season prices 3/15 through 3/20: 20-25% higher

Spring season prices 3/21 and 3/22: 35-50% higher

Easter holiday prices 3/23 through 4/3: 40-50% higher

Regular 2 season prices 4/4 through 5/26: 20-25% higher

Summer season prices 5/27 through 7/6: 12-18% higher

Summer 2 season 7/7 through 8/16: 5-7% higher

Value 2 season 8/17 through 9/12: 0-2% higher except

• Labor Day holiday prices 8/29 through 9/1: 5-10% higher

Fall season 9/13 through 10/7: 15-30% higher

Fall 2 season 10/8 through 10/25: 20-30% higher

Fall 3 season 10/25 through 11/2:  30-40% higher

Fall 2 season 11/3 through 11/26: 20-30% higher

Thanksgiving season 11/27 through 11/30: 40% higher

Winter season 12/1 through 12/4: 40-50% higher

Winter 2 season 12/5 through 12/12: 45-70% higher

Peak season 12/13 through 12/22: 75-80% higher

Holiday season 12/23 through 12/31: 80% higher

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 160+ stays in them

My friends at Destinations in Florida, the long-time travel agent partner of this site, can book your Disney World vacation at any Disney World hotel!  Contact them using the form below.

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DISNEY WORLD IN 2023

Elements of the Disney World fan community view the parks with a degree of disquiet, dismayed by prices increasing even more quickly than usual, previously bundled costs now being unbundled and charged for, and increasing complexity to managing a day in the parks. Some changes announced in January 2023 are welcome, but much remains troubling to some.

On the other hand, in late September 2022 I accompanied a couple of six year old children for their first visit to the parks, and their experience was magical. Their parents and grandparents had not been in the parks since the end of 2016, and they were astonished by the improvements at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and intrigued by and willing to be patient with what was going on at Epcot. The three best rides at Disney World—Flight of Passage, Rise of the Resistance, and Guardian of the Galaxy—have all opened since these folks last visited…

So while some repeat visitors may be dismayed, for first-time visitors and folks who have not been in a while, Disney World remains a marvelous, marvelous destination.

Cool image (c) Disney. Weak graphics by me.

Moreover, the increasing “day-of” complexity replaces what used to be “60 days before complexity.” As a result, first timers are on a more even playing field with returning visitors than I have seen since the days before FastPass+.

Of more long-term interest, Disney World is shifting from a strategy designed to extract a higher proportion of the total vacation spend of an ever-increasing guest count to a strategy that uses higher prices to yield a better overall experience for a smaller number of guests. This builds on and extends a strategy that began in 2014 to run the parks on a more commercial basis. As former Disney World exec Jim MacPhee notes, “this may seem like an obvious expectation of all senior business leaders. However, there was a much different philosophy that preceded these expectations.”

I’ll have more to say about much of this, I imagine, later.

WHAT’S NEW AT DISNEY WORLD IN 2023

• Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebration will come to an end, replaced with celebration of the Walt Disney Company’s 100th anniversary.
• All major attractions, and most minor, have re-opened. However, at Magic Kingdom Splash Mountain has closed for a multi-year re-theming into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure January expected to re-open in “late” 2024.
• The transformation of Epcot will continue with changes to its entrance and what used to be known as Future World. The new-in-2021 evening show Harmonious will be replaced in 2023, first with a temporary  return of the show Epcot Forever on April 3, then with a new permanent show “Luminous” on December 5, 2023.
• At Magic Kingdom, an updated version of the former evening show Happily Ever After replaced the new-in-2021 evening show Disney Enchantment on April 3, 2023, and the next day, April 4, the new ride Tron Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom opened.

DISNEY WORLD TICKET PRICING IN 2023

Disney World moved to date-based ticket pricing in 2018, and in 2020 added to its requirements the need to book in addition to tickets also park reservations. For current 2023 Disney World ticket prices, see this.

DISNEY WORLD RESORT PRICING AND DEALS IN 2023

Disney World uses a combination of complicated and changing room pricing, and, on top of that, deals, to keep its resort hotel occupancy very high. Typically, rooms are more expensive—sometimes much more—during the more attractive times to go to Disney World.

Mousesavers.com has specific material on nightly prices in 2023 by hotel and within them room types here, and I have easier to use but much less detailed information on 2023 Disney World resort hotel seasonal prices here.

Several hotel deals have come out for 2023, and cover most dates. Find more on current Disney World deals here.

The simplest way to handle getting any deals that might be available is to make your initial booking through a travel agent, who will then–if a deal comes out for your dates–move heaven and earth to try to get you in to it.

I recommend Destinations in Florida, who has been the travel agent partner of this site for years. To book your vacation through them, contact them using the form at the end of this page.

DISNEY WORLD CROWDS IN 2023

Barring external economic shocks, I expect the Disney World parks to continue to see substantial demand in 2023. Moreover, a higher degree of resistance to taking kids out of school than before the pandemic will continue to particularly focus much of this demand into the traditional US school holidays:

Early January 2023 will be busy through the first full weekend, as lots of kids continue on holiday on break through January 3, 2023 and a full 20% through January 8. The rest of the month should be much better, with the Martin Luther King holiday weekend being the next worst dates in the month.

Presidents Day, February 20 in 2023, is late in its possible range. With Mardi Gras 2023 the very next day, the week that includes Presidents Day will be even worse than usual. (Tons of kids in the northeast have the whole week off and a much lesser number in a few southern states have breaks around Mardi Gras.)

Easter in 2023 will be about in the middle of it possible range, on April 9. The patterns of spring breaks in 2023 are not as monolithic as in some years-I’m not seeing week followed by week followed by week of really bad crowds. Rather, the worst crowds are particularly concentrated into the weeks beginning 3/11, 4/1, and 4/8.

The week beginning 3/11 sees most of Florida and most of Texas on spring break, as well as districts from Alaska to Virginia. While the sorts of annual passes Florida residents typically buy are blocked out this week, I’m still seeing it as a very bad week thanks to everyone else.

The weeks beginning 4/1 and 4/8 are the usual busy weeks before and after Easter. Many schools frame their breaks around one or the other of these two weeks, and those that don’t not uncommonly have a long weekend that includes Good Friday, Easter Monday, or both. If anything, this last trend is increasing, as many schools whose principal breaks are in March are adding two long weekends in April, one for Easter and one for Eid al-Fitr.

While still substantial, crowds are not as bad the two weeks beginning March 18 and March 25. Finally, the week beginning 4/15 sees minor crowding from some northeast schools with that week off, supplemented at the end of that week with increasing numbers of schools having a long weekend associated with Eid al-Fitr.

Summer 2023 crowds I expect to be substantially higher than the crowds in the years before COVID, as people continue to make up for missed holidays in 2020 and 2021, and overseas visitors come more fully back to Disney World. I also expect to see a spillover effect to the traditional holidays from parents being more resistant to taking their kids out of school…we newly cherish face-to-face time with teachers.

Kids start getting out of school in substantial numbers on May 27, 2023, are more than half out by June 10, more than 80% out by the next weekend, and fully out of school by June 28. Thus, as in most years, early June will be better than July—as will be later August, with more than half of kids back in school by August 17, and two-thirds back in school by August 21.

I expect the new Tron ride at Magic Kingdom opening April 4 to be a major spring and summer draw as well.

Thanksgiving, November 23, 2023, is early its possible range, yielding good weeks the three weeks after—the weeks beginning 11/25, 12/2, and 12/9.

Christmas is on a Monday in 2023.  The period from 12/23/23 through 1/1/24 will see the worst crowds of the year. Breaks the weeks before and after are a bit more scattered in the 2023-2024 holiday season than in some other years. The week beginning 12/16 will start OK but end very rough. This week has some 20% of kids out at its beginning, building to 30% out by Wednesday 12/20, 40% out by Thursday, and 60% by Friday. After New Years, school breaks continue, with almost half of kids on break through the weekend of January 6, 2024, and a fair number still out on Monday January 8, 2024.

See the links for more on 2023 at Walt Disney World:

• 2023 Disney World crowd forecasts
• 2023 Disney World resort hotel price seasons
• 2023 Disney World ticket prices
• 2023 Disney World week rankings
• Deals and Discounts

My friends at Destinations in Florida, the long-time travel agent partner of this site, can book your vacation for you.  Contact them using the form below.

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OVERVIEW: THE BEST TIMES IN 2023 TO VISIT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The rankings that follow are designed for first time visitors who do not know whether or not they will return.

For visitors on a return trip, less concerned about ride closures or the peak of the hurricane season, the later January, early February, later August, and September weeks would be ranked much higher. All weeks good for returning visitors are marked in green at the far right of the image below.

(Larger image.)

The rankings are in calendar order in the image above. In the discussion below, for each category, they are in rank order within that category.

These week rankings are based on my 2023 Disney World Crowd Calendar, on Disney World’s 2023 resort hotel price seasons, and on Disney World’s 2023 ticket price calendar.

Other factors are key as well–the holiday program, ride closure season and hurricane season in particular.

(For more on how I build these rankings–although it’s old, it still is how I do it–see this.)

RECOMMENDED 2023 WEEKS AT DISNEY WORLD, RANKED IN ORDER

The eleven recommended weeks that follow are the best weeks to visit Walt Disney World in 2023 for first time visitors who may never return. They are lower-crowd weeks that are not in the peak hurricane or ride closure seasons.

I divide them into two groups–the first group is weeks during the holiday season, and the second group weeks the rest of the year.

Among the four holiday season weeks, the first three have the full holiday program, and the last some of the holiday program.

• 1: 11/25/23
• 2: 12/2/23
• 3: 12/9/23
• 4: 11/11/23

Weeks 5 through 8 are mostly in the same 2023 later April–early May post-Easter stretch, and share lower crowds, moderate prices, and (especially in weeks 7 and 8) nice spring weather. There are only slight differences among these four weeks based on slightly varying prices.

• 5: 5/6/23
• 6: 5/13/23
• 7: 4/29/23
• 8: 4/22/23

Weeks 9 and 10 are in later October, after the peak of the hurricane season and between the Columbus Day and Jersey Week higher-crowd periods.

• 9: 10/21/23
• 10: 10/28/23

Week 11 is the last really good week before spring break, is much more expensive than weeks 5-10, and will likely be substantially cooler than them.

• 11: 2/25/23

This completes the weeks in 2023 that are recommended for first-time visitors to Disney World who may never return.

2023 WEEKS I’M NOT SO KEEN ON

Weeks 12-21 all have moderate crowd levels, with different prices and weather. I don’t particularly recommend moderate-crowd weeks for first time visitors, but if you have to pick one, with good plans they are quite manageable. They are also fine for returning visitors.

As always I rank these weeks first by crowd levels, then by resort hotel prices, then by ticket prices.

However, as in all these rankings, the levels I use for “resort hotel prices” is based on the simple average across all three resort types, so a week with high prices at the values, low at the moderates, and moderate at the deluxes would be evaluated the same as a week with low prices at the values, moderate at the moderates, and high at the deluxes.

So you might want to dig into the specifics (presented on the chart) to pick the best week for you based on where you are staying.

Weeks 12-15 see the lowest crowds of this moderate crowd group, with varying prices—week 15 in particular has very high prices

• 12: 6/3/23
• 13: 5/20/23
• 14: 10/14/23
• 15: 3/4/23

Weeks 16-18 will be a bit busier than weeks 12-15

• 16: 6/10/23
• 17: 4/15/23
• 18: 3/25/23

Last in this group are its highest-crowd weeks

• 19: 5/28/23
• 20: 3/26/23
• 21: 5/27/23

Weeks 22-29 have one thing in common: while low or moderate crowd weeks, they all occur during the peak of the hurricane season. Hurricanes are rare and even more rarely affect a Disney World vacation, but for first-timers who may never return, why not just avoid the risk? I’ve always thought this, and am completing this page while trapped in Orlando due to Hurricane Ian…reinforcing this recommendation even more…

For returning visitors, though, the low-crowd weeks that can be found among this group can be, with weather luck, wonderful times to visit.

These peak hurricane season weeks are ranked in order of first crowd levels, and within the same crowd level by resort hotel prices, then ticket prices.

Weeks 22-25 have some of the lowest crowds and lowest ticket prices of the year, and generally nicely low hotel prices, except at the moderates.

• 22: 9/9/23
• 23: 9/2/23
• 24: 8/19/23
• 25: 8/26/23

Week 26 has low crowds and ticket prices that are comparable to weeks 24 and 25, but slightly higher hotel prices.

• 26: 9/16/23

…and Week 27 is similar but with slightly higher crowds and slightly higher ticket prices.

• 27: 9/23/23

Weeks 28 and 29 are the moderate-crowd weeks in this hurricane group.

• 28: 9/30/23
• 29: 8/12/23

2023 WEEKS TO AVOID AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

There’s two groups of weeks to avoid in 2023: high crowd weeks and weeks when some rides are often closed.

The first group, ranked 30-45, should be avoided because of crowds that traditionally range from high to unbelievable.

This group includes much of the summer–later June into early August. It also includes many of the busy March and April spring break weeks beginning 3/11/2023, and the holiday weeks—President’s Day week, the weeks before and after Easter, Columbus Day week, Thanksgiving week, and the weeks around Christmas.

See the table above for exact rankings within these lousy weeks.

The next group includes the January and early February 2023 weeks when rides are often closed for repair or refurbishment—weeks 46-52.

Some of these weeks have among the lowest crowds and lowest prices of the year. However, this is the peak time for ride closures at Walt Disney World, especially the January weeks.

If this may be your only family visit, why go when you know likely a few of the best of Disney World will probably be closed?

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