Category — a. When to Go to Walt Disney World

OVERVIEW: NOVEMBER 2012 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews Walt Disney World in November 2012: crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, special events, and operating hours; and ends with week by week summaries.

Early November, with cooling but typically nice weather, low crowds (other than the week beginning 11/3 Jersey Week) and lower prices, has some of the best weeks of the year to visit.

Thanksgiving Week is more expensive, and much more crowded.

The last few days of the month begin one of the three best weeks of the year to visit Walt Disney World.

November also has two special  parties: the last shows of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and the first of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, each a special evening event–with its own ticket–that have become  family traditions for many.

The Candlelight Processional begins the Friday after Thanksgiving.

The 2012 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival continues to November 12.  See this for more.

[Read more →]

STARTING TO PLAN 2014 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The first step in thinking about 2014 at Walt Disney World is the calendar.

Early and later dates for key holidays that move make a difference, and the days of the week that stable-dated holidays like Christmas and New Years fall on matter too.

EARLY 2014 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

A few key calendar points:

• New Years Day 2014 is midweek (Wednesday), and Presidents Day is on the earlier side (2/17/2014—the earliest possible day is 2/15)
• Easter 2014 is April 20, almost as late as it can be (4/25 is the latest possible Easter)

As a result, there won’t be as many low-crowd January and early February weeks as usual, but like 2011 with its late Easter, there should be not only good late February and early March weeks, but also good early April weeks.

The week before Easter 2014 will be mobbed as usual, but the week after Easter will be a little better—especially late week—than in 2012 and 2013, as many school districts that usually take the week after Easter off shift to the week before to avoid such a late spring break.

LATE 2014 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The key calendar points:

• Thanksgiving 2014, on November 27th, is almost as late as it can be
• Christmas and New Years Days are Thursdays in 2014

The result will be one more good November week at Disney World in 2014 than in some years, but only three good post-Thanksgiving weeks.

Christmas/New Years crowds will be split over two full weeks extending from December 20 2014 to January 4, 2015. Disney World will be horribly crowded both weeks, and the weekend of the 27th and 28th will be remarkable.

OTHER THOUGHTS ABOUT 2014 AT DISNEY WORLD

The Fantasyland Expansion will be complete in 2014, and there’s a good chance that NextGen will be fully in place as well. Avatar-land won’t.

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 early thoughts on 2014, 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 seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For 2012 price seasons, see this
  • For 2013 price seasons, click here
• For weather at Walt Disney World, see this

A CHEAT SHEET FOR 2012 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

James McC. emailed last month to thank me for this site, and among other things said “It really helped, it was kind of like a cheat sheet.”

A “Cheat Sheet” is a “concise set of notes used for quick reference” and is a great description of what the site is trying to do.

Moreover, noodling around, it struck me that the charts that people
pin on Pinterest create another kind of “cheat sheet,” as a crowd-sourced indicator of what people find worth bookmarking and sharing.

So based on these thoughts and what people have put on Pinterest, I’ve put together a four-page powerpoint Walt Disney World 2012 Cheat Sheet. Click the link to open up the (2.5 mb) powerpoint file. (The image at the top of this page is an example page from it.)

OVERVIEW: OCTOBER 2012 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews Walt Disney World in October 2012: crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, special events, and operating hours; and ends with week by week summaries.

[Read more →]

OVERVIEW: SEPTEMBER 2012 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews Walt Disney World in September 2012: crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, special events, and operating hours; and ends with week by week summaries.

[Read more →]

OVERVIEW: SUMMER AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Summer at Walt Disney World—loosely defined as Memorial Day in late May through Labor Day in early September–is an often difficult season.

Summer Disney World weather is hot and humid, and in mid-August shifts to hot, humid, and also the beginning of the peak of the hurricane season.

Summer crowds at Disney World are very high most of the summer–lightest in the latter part of August, and also lighter in early June. They peak over the Fourth of July holiday.

Disney World summer prices begin fairly high, peak over the Fourth of July weekend, and drop to their lowest level of the year at the deluxe resorts in mid-July, and at the moderate resorts and value resorts in early August.

Deals and discounts are available for parts of this period.

[Read more →]