Category — a. When to Go to Walt Disney World

NEXT BEST DATES FOR YOUR WALT DISNEY WORLD VISIT

This site recommends that you arrive in Walt Disney World one of the first three Saturdays after Thanksgiving.

If you can’t go then, there’s a number of tools to help you figure out the best dates that work for you.

EASY TOOLS FOR PICKING THE NEXT BEST DISNEY WORLD DATES

Easiest for first time family visitors who may never return is to work down this site’s lists of weeks to visit Disney World, ranked in order, so you can pick the highest-ranked option that works for your family.

• For 2014 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
• And for the 2015 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this

For families that can return or are returning, the Week Pickers are a better choice–as it opens up ride closure season and hurricane season weeks that are fine for most returning visitors.

• For the 2014 Week Picker, see this
• The 2015  week picker will come out in the summer of 2014

DO-IT-YOURSELF TOOLS FOR FIGURING OUT THE BEST DATES FOR YOUR DISNEY WORLD VISIT

You can do the work of the Week Pickers on your own, circling in on your preferred weeks based on any combination of crowds, prices, weather, and such.  Links for doing so are all below, or deeper within the pages below!

• For when to go to Walt Disney World, see this
• For the best and worst times to visit, see this
  • For 2014 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
  • For the 2014 Week Picker, see this
  • For 2015 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
  • For 2016 weeks to visit, ranked in order, 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 the 2016 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 projected 2016 price seasons, see this
• For weather at Walt Disney World, see this

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PEAK 2012 CROWDS WILL BEGIN DECEMBER 22, UNLESS THE WORLD COMES TO AN END

In later December–beginning around December 20, but really rolling in on December 22–the 2012 holiday crowds will begin to slam Walt Disney World.

Unless of course the world comes to an end on December 21.

Multi-hour waits will be common on the best-loved rides (waits crossed 3 hours at times last year), senior managers will be bussing tables, and park closures are possible.

Yes, there will also be a wonderful Christmas program and fun stuff on New Years Eve, but all in, because of the crowds and waits, this is a lousy time for a Disney World vacation.

But for the hundreds of thousands of you who will be there then, here’s some thoughts on how to make the best of it!

DEALING WITH THE HOLIDAY CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD [Read more →]

OVERVIEW: JUNE 2013 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews June 2013 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, operating hours, adds a few other notes, and ends with week by week summaries.

[Read more →]

POP WARNER WEEK AT DISNEY WORLD IN 2013

Pop Warner week is a real but largely trivial occurrence that traditionally happens at Walt Disney World in the first full week of December. (For more on both the real and the trivial issues associated with it, see this.)

In 2013, Pop Warner week will begin on December 7!  Ignore the below, which is now out of date.

For 2013 I’ve forecast (based on the last 11 years of actual Pop Warner dates) that it will happen again the first full week of December—that is, the week starting Sunday, December 1, 2013.
I’ve received lots of questions about this forecast.

The issue is that with the very late Thanksgiving in 2013 (it’s November 28, as late as it can be) my forecast implies that families going to Pop Warner would have to travel the weekend right after Thanksgiving, which strikes some as implausible.  They believe that Pop Warner starting the week of December 8th 2013 seems more likely.

In response, I’ve had contacts reach out to both Disney and Pop Warner, and here’s the scoop.

IT’S JUST A FORECAST, FOLKS…AND THAT MEANS BY DEFINITION IT COULD BE WRONG

Both Disney and Pop Warner have told my sources that there is as yet no contract for Pop Warner to be at Disney World in 2013, and that therefore there simply are no official dates for 2013.

Pop Warner went on to tell my source that “it is always that first week in December and it will probably be the same next year.”

So there you have it!  No official dates, but “probably” the first week of December.

This is not a ton of help, I know.  Based on the info so far, I’m going to leave my forecast dates for Pop Warner as is for now, but that doesn’t mean they will turn out to be right…only that they are consistent with the best available information that I have!

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 2012 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
  • For the 2012 Week Picker, see this
  • For 2013 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
  • For the 2013 Week Picker, click here
  • For 2014 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
• For forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For the 2012 Crowd Calendar, click here
  • For the 2013 Crowd Calendar, click here
  • For the 2014 Crowd Calendar, click here
• For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For 2012 price seasons, see this
  • For 2013 price seasons, click here
  • For projected 2014 price seasons, see this
• For weather at Walt Disney World, see this

2014 WALT DISNEY WORLD PLANNING TOOLS

The first draft of this site’s suite of planning tools for picking a date to visit Walt Disney World in 2014 is out.

The tools include 2014 weeks to visit, ranked in order, which is based on both the 2014 Disney World Crowd Calendar and the projected 2014 Price Seasons at Walt Disney World. Finally, there’s a basic overview of 2014 at Disney World as well.

The first three are drafts which will be updated as needed in the summer of 2013, and the fourth is a work in progress, which I’ll update as information emerges over over the next 14 months.

• The 2014 Crowd Calendar will be revised if needed as event dates firm up and more public schools release their 2013-2104 academic calendars. This update is typically in the summer, as not enough of the 180 or so school calendars that are tracked for this are out until then. 2014 is similar enough to recent years that I’m comfortable that the crowd calendar won’t change much.
• The 2014 Price Seasons are projections based on recent Disney World practice. The final 2014 price season will likely come out this summer, and this page will be updated then. Disney in recent years has both created and moved around price seasons, so if you are deciding between a couple of weeks based on price differences use the comment form below to contact me and I’ll weigh in on how solid I think a difference will turn out to be.
• Based on any summer 2013 updates to these two items, the 2014 Week Rankings will be revised if needed.
• The final recently published tool is Walt Disney World in 2014, giving an overview of the year and addressing all the most common questions. There’s not a lot to this yet, but as key 2014 info comes out, I’ll keep updating the page!

Some of you have been asking about the 2014 week picker—that won’t come out until the summer of 2013, when all the other revisions are set!

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 2012 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
  • For the 2012 Week Picker, see this
  • For 2013 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
  • For the 2013 Week Picker, click here
  • For 2014 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
• For forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For the 2012 Crowd Calendar, click here
  • For the 2013 Crowd Calendar, click here
  • For the 2014 Crowd Calendar, click here
• For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For 2012 price seasons, see this
  • For 2013 price seasons, click here
  • For projected 2014 price seasons, see this
• For weather at Walt Disney World, see this

I’ve recently published the first draft of  the weeks of 2014 ranked in order of how good they are for a family on their first visit to Walt Disney World, and who may never return.

This page explains how they are built.

HOW THE 2014 DISNEY WORLD WEEK RANKINGS ARE BUILT–AND WHY THEY ARE A DRAFT

Basically, I chunk up the weeks of the year based on certain criteria, and then sort within each chunk based first on crowds, and then, within the same crowd level, prices.

Both the 2014 Disney World crowd calendar and the 2014 projected price seasons will be revised in the summer of 2013–when better information will be available for both.  Since the week rankings are built on them. this may result in week ranking changes as well.

“WEEKS TO AVOID” IN 2014 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD [Read more →]