Category — a. When to Go to Walt Disney World

2014 WEEKS TO VISIT WALT DISNEY WORLD, CONTINUED

This is the second page of these rankings. For the first page of 2014 weeks to visit Walt Disney World, ranked in order, click here.

2014 WORSE WEEKS

The remaining 2014 weeks are not recommended—but still presented in order: [Read more →]

OVERVIEW: MAY 2013 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews May 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 →]

OVERVIEW: 2014 WEEKS 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 the weeks of 2014 in order of best to worst.

The week rankings are based on the 2014 Disney World Crowd Calendar and 2014 Walt Disney World price seasons, as well as other factors–the Christmas season,  ride closure season and hurricane season in particular.

The 2014 crowd rankings and price seasons were updated in the summer of 2013–and these week rankings were updated then too.

There are two pages of 2014 Disney World week rankings. The page you are on has recommended weeks. The second page has the rest of the weeks of the year, and is here. [Read more →]

2014 CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Yesterday I published the first draft of my 2014 Disney World Crowd Calendar.

As usual, I’ll revise it as needed in the summer of 2013 when a full set of 2013-2014 school year calendars are out–but, barring any typos or knuckle-headitude, I expect this calendar to hold up pretty well, because the specifics of 2014 aren’t very ambiguous.

• 2014 has an early Presidents Day and a very late Easter, which means more good March and April weeks than a typical year.
• It has a late Thanksgiving, giving one more good November week.
• Christmas and New Years are both mid-week (Thursday) meaning the weeks that include them will be wildly crowded.

Find these forecast 2014 Disney World crowds here.

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 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 Crowds 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 CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

In the image you’ll find my projections for Walt Disney World 2014 weekly crowds.

By “crowds” I really mean wait times–not the number of people in the park, but not in line for a ride!

Dates in it are the beginning of the week, and the wait time forecast covers the following 9 days.

(For 2015 crowds, click here, and for 2016 crowds, here.)

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 2014 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 low for a reason–typically 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 recommend to first time visitors. 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.”

MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

• 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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FORECAST 2014 RESORT PRICE SEASONS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The material below shows the different resort price seasons at Walt Disney World at different times of the year in 2014.

(If you are looking for current deals and discounts, click here. For 2013 prices, click here.)

Ticket prices don’t vary over the course of the year–although they typically have an annual increase in the summer. See this for more on ticket prices.

Resort prices, however, are almost twice as high during some periods as they are at others.

Projections for 2014 resort price seasons based on recent Disney World practice follow. These will be updated when Disney releases actual 2014 prices–expected to happen on July 10, 2013.

2014 DISNEY WORLD PRICE SEASONS

[Read more →]