By the co-author of The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2020, the best-reviewed Disney World guidebook series ever.

Available on Amazon here.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)





Category — Disney World Crowds

Jersey Week at Walt Disney World

(This page is one of a series explicating Walt Disney World lingo, abbreviations, and FAQ for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World.)

JERSEY WEEK AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

“Jersey Week” is a partly mythical, partly real crowding phenomenon in early November at Walt Disney World.

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May 2, 2010   48 Comments

Disney Crowd Calendar

Disney Crowd Calendar

(Version May 2010)

You can find this site’s core Disney Crowd Calendar on this page.

Other pages on the site use the Disney World Crowd Calendar as one of many inputs for helping you decide when to go to Walt Disney World.  They are detailed below.

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November 27, 2009   No Comments

Estimating Future Crowds at Walt Disney World

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When to Go   Future Crowds   2010 Weeks    2010 Week Picker App    2011 Weeks

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WALT DISNEY WORLD CROWD CALENDAR

The thumbnail (click on it to open it) presents predictions for crowds at Walt Disney World over the year.

(Last updated July 2010.)

The thumbnail shows colored bars by Saturday arrival date.

The higher the bar, the more crowded the parks at Walt Disney World will be that week.

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April 4, 2008   No Comments

Best and Worst Times to Visit Walt Disney World

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When to Go   Future Crowds   2010 Weeks    2010 Week Picker App    2011 Weeks

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BEST TIMES FOR A FIRST FAMILY VISIT TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

  • Early March (busy and expensive, but your best Spring Break bet)
  • Between the second week after Easter and the week before Memorial Day
  • Mid-late October
  • November other than the first full week, and Thanksgiving week
  • December up until a week before Christmas
  • (For returning visitors, January and February, except the Presidents Day and Martin Luther King Day holiday weekends, are also excellent)

These periods are highlighted in this site’s 2010 Weeks to Visit and 2011 Weeks to Visit –each ranking the weeks of the year in order of best to worst.

WORST TIMES TO VISIT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Pretty much all other times, but especially Christmas week, New Years week, and the weeks before and after Easter.

More specifically,

  • Winnie the Pooh Magic Kingdom by Allie CaulfieldWalt Disney World is the most crowded when kids are out of school: over summer through mid-August, Thanksgiving week, Christmas and New Years weeks, the college spring break month of March; and the weeks before and after Easter. Crowds matter because they can increase waiting times by a factor of 3-4, lengthening your trip and/or reducing its value as a vacation while you are there.
  • The times when kids are out of school are (mostly) also the most expensive times to visit–Disney increases resort prices at times of higher demand, so that for example the same room at the Polynesian is $1800 more during Christmas week than during the week this site recommends.
    • disney prices and crowds.jpgWalt Disney World pricing is complicated, and prices do vary during these busy periods–for example, prices go down quite bit in August, even though the first two weeks are busy. Click the thumbnail for the exact relationship on prices vs. crowds at Walt Disney World (when it opens, click it again to enlarge it more).
    • But generally you will pay more during the periods when kids are out of school.
  • Disney World Rides ClosedRides are mostly likely to be closed (for refurbishment) between New Years and mid-February. For more on winter ride closures at Walt Disney World, click here
  • The hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through November 30, but strongly peaks from mid-August through early October.
  • Warm weather becomes materially less likely starting in mid-November, and the chance of good pool weather does not sharply improve again until mid-February. See Weather and When to Go.

MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

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March 19, 2008   No Comments

Next Best Dates to Visit Walt Disney World

NEXT BEST DATES

If you can’t go to Walt Disney World the week I recommend,

To see the reasons behind these recommendations, or to pick your own dates, see the following links:

To Read the Entire Article, Click Here

March 14, 2008   No Comments

When to Go to Walt Disney World

WHEN TO GO

Arrive in Walt Disney World the second Saturday after Thanksgiving. In 2009, arrive December 5th; in 2010, arrive December 4th, in 2011, arrive December 3.

See Next Best Dates if you cannot go on these dates.

WHY GO THEN?

“Here’s a tip for avoiding the crowds. The entire world over, two of the best weeks to go anywhere are the first two weeks of December. The weather is good in most places and attendance is almost always low. At Disneyland and Disneyworld in particular, the first two Wednesdays of December are often among the three or four lowest days of the year.”

Buzz Price, Walt’s Revolution: By the Numbers

 To Read the Complete Article, Click Here

March 13, 2008   No Comments