Category — a. When to Go to Walt Disney World

OVERVIEW: SEPTEMBER 2017 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews September 2017 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

September combines low crowds with low prices, and typically also has OK room rates and free dining deals as well.

This makes it a great month for returning visitors.

But it has lousy weather, combining continuing summer heat and humidity with the peak of the hurricane season, making me not so keen on the month for first time visitors who may never return.

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OVERVIEW: AUGUST 2017 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews August 2017 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

There are no great times for first-timers who may never return to visit in August. Kids start going back to school in August, so crowds go down later in the month–but that’s also when the peak of the hurricane season kicks off.

Prices begin the month low at the deluxes and stay low all month long. Prices begin the month OK at the moderates, and high at the values. Values prices drop to moderate levels on 8/13, and on 8/25 prices drop to among the lowest of the year at both the values and the moderates.

For first-timers who can’t return, the best week is that beginning 8/5–higher crowds and prices than later in the month, but lower hurricane risk. For those who can return, then later in the month is best.

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OVERVIEW: JULY 2017 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews July 2017 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

Because pretty much every US school kid is on break in July, July overall is the most crowded month at Walt Disney World.

Prices begin the month low at the deluxes, OK at the moderates, and high at the values. Moderate and value prices stay at this level all month, but at the deluxes prices drop to even lower levels on July 7.

Weather is miserably hot and humid all month long.

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WALT DISNEY WORLD IN 2018

I’ve published several key planning tools for selecting when to go to Walt Disney World in 2018:

• 2018 Disney World Price Seasons
• 2018 Disney World Crowd Calendar
• 2018 Disney World Week Rankings

Prices can vary by 50% over the year, crowds by even more, and the best weeks to visit–for first timers, or for others–are also affected by weather, special events, and ride closures.So these are key tools for you to use in planning your 2018 Disney World vacation.

For more on when to go to Disney World, see this.

2018 DISNEY WORLD PRICE SEASONS

My calendar of Disney World price seasons in 2018 shows changes in Disney World resort hotel prices over the dates of 2018.

2018 DISNEY WORLD CROWD CALENDAR

My  2018 Disney World crowd calendar indicates lower, moderate, and higher crowd weeks to visit.

It’s based on recent trends–especially lower summer crowds and higher crowds in the first half of October–and the impacts of moving holidays, particularly Easter, and the actual day of Christmas in 2018 (which effects the start of an enormous number of school breaks).

2018 DISNEY WORLD WEEK RANKINGS

My  week rankings for 2018 are based on the above price seasons and crowd forecast, and also are influenced by weather, seasonal events, and ride closures.

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OVERVIEW: THE BEST TIMES IN 2018 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This site recommends arriving at Walt Disney World one of the first three Saturdays after Thanksgiving.

If you can’t go then, presented below are my rankings of the weeks of 2018 in order of best to worst times to visit Disney World.

These rankings 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, and September weeks would be ranked much higher.

These week rankings are based on my updated  2018 Disney World Crowd Calendar and on the final Walt Disney World 2018 price seasons.

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

(For 2019 rankings, see this. For more how I build these rankings, see this.)

RECOMMENDED 2018 WEEKS AT DISNEY WORLD, RANKED IN ORDER

The fourteen recommended weeks that follow are wonderful weeks to visit Walt Disney World in 2018

Week number one has it all–lower crowds, lower prices and wonderful Christmas programs and decorations. The first Saturday of this week overlaps with Thanksgiving crowds, but the rest of it will be marvelous:

• 1: 11/24/18

Weeks 2 and 3 have many, but not all, of the strengths of week 1:

• 2: 12/8/18. A week as good as week 1 on crowds and holiday programs. More expensive, however, than weeks 1 or 3
• 3: 12/1/18. Largely a terrific week with low crowds, low prices and wonderful holiday programs. However, this is a week that, because of Pop Warner football demand for resort rooms, is rarely discounted beyond its already low prices. Those intending to stay at a value resort, Caribbean Beach or Coronado Springs should consider avoiding this week and target week 1 or 2 instead, as Pop Warner guests may make these resorts boisterous this week

Week 4 is a very strong week. It has low crowds and prices, and Disney World’s holiday program at the Magic Kingdom will be in place

• 4: 11/10/18

Week 5 has lower prices and crowds, and offers in its first few days Disney World’s Halloween program

• 5: 10/27/18

Week 6 is your best 2018 Spring Break bet, with low crowds and moderate prices

• 6: 3/3/18

Week 7 is similar to week 5 but projected at slightly higher crowds.

• 7: 10/20/18

Weeks 8 to 12 are all in the same 2018 post-Easter stretch, and share low crowds, moderate prices, and nice spring weather. They are in calendar order, as the weather is better earlier in this period

• 8: 4/14/18
• 9: 4/21/18
• 10: 4/28/18
• 11: 5/5/18
• 12: 5/12/18

Week 13 is the second-best 2018 Spring Break week, with low crowds and moderate prices

• 13: 2/24/18

Week 14 is similar to weeks 8-11, but has higher prices in the deluxes

• 14: 4/7/18

This completes the weeks in 2018 that are recommended for first-time visitors who may never return.

2018 WEEKS I’M NOT SO KEEN ON

Weeks 15-19 all have moderate crowd levels, with different prices and weather. I don’t particularly recommend moderate-crowd weeks for first time visitors, but they are quite manageable, and I would go myself such weeks with no hesitation.

They are in order of least to most crowded, and within crowd groups are sorted by price.

• 15: 11/3/18. “Jersey Week”—teacher meetings in New Jersey, leading to a massive temporary immigration of New Jersey families to Orlando. Crowds moderate-minus, prices low to moderate, almost never with major discounts.
• 16: 10/13/18. A week with moderate crowds, moderate prices, and great weather that has become more crowded in recent years
• 17: 5/19/18. Similar to week 12, slightly more heat and humidity and crowds.
• 18: 12/15/18. The same Christmas program as weeks 1-3, but higher crowds–especially later in the week–and much higher prices
• 19: 6/2/18.  Beginning of summer, with traditionally the lowest crowds until late August

Weeks 20-27 have one thing in common: they 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? For returning visitors, though, the low-crowd weeks among this group can be wonderful times to visit.

They are ranked in order of first crowd levels, and within the same crowd level prices.

Weeks 20 and 21 have some of the lowest crowds of the year

• 20: 9/1/18
• 21: 9/15/18

Weeks 22, 23 and 24 have slightly higher crowds, and Week 24, higher prices

• 22: 9/8/18
• 23: 8/25/18
• 24: 9/22/18

Weeks 25 to 27 are the moderate-crowd weeks in this hurricane group

• 25: 9/29/18
• 26: 8/18/18
• 27: 8/11/18

2018 WEEKS TO AVOID AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

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

The first group, ranked 28-47, should be avoided because of crowds that traditionally range from high to unbelievable.

This group includes all of later June, July and early August (traditionally massive crowds, although I do need t0 note that the summers of 2016 and 2017 were much more manageable than I’d thought).

It also includes the busy March spring break weeks beginning 3/10/2018, and the holiday weeks—President’s Day week, the weeks before and after Easter, Columbus Day week, Thanksgiving week, and the weeks around Christmas.

Click the table for exact rankings within these lousy weeks.

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

Some of these weeks have the lowest crowds and lowest prices of the year.

(But not all--click the table above.)

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 some of the best of Disney World will be closed?

If you must go during this period, avoid the first days of January (massive crowds), and the Martin Luther King Day (1/13/18 arrival date) holiday weekend,.

The Marathon Weekend (affecting the weekend of a 1/6/18 arrival date) complicates Disney World as well, although it has little impact on park crowds beyond the effects of leftover holiday visitors.

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2018 CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The chart lower on the page shows my forecasts for 2018 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 2019 crowds at Disney World, see this. )

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