Category — a. When to Go to Walt Disney World

THE 2012 SPRING BREAK SEASON AT DISNEY WORLD

The spring break season at Walt Disney World begins a few days before Presidents Day and extends through the week after Easter.

In 2012, that means from February 16th through April 14.

Crowds will be high from February 16 through February 25, and again from March 10 through April 14.  They will be good in late February, early March, and the second half of April.

For the gory details on crowds, see 2012 Spring Break crowds.

Prices will be very high during the same periods that crowds are high, peaking the weeks before and after Easter, and will be high during the lower crowd periods.

For more details on these prices, see 2012 price seasons.

WEEK BY WEEK COMMENTS ON SPRING BREAK 2012 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD [Read more →]

2013 WEEKS TO VISIT WALT DISNEY WORLD, CONTINUED

This is the second page of these rankings. For the first page of 2013 weeks to visit Walt Disney World, ranked in order, click here.

2013 WORSE WEEKS

The remaining 2013 weeks are not recommended—but still presented in order: [Read more →]

BEST WEEKS FOR FIRST-TIME VISITORS TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD IN 2013 RELEASED!

Yesterday I published my first draft of the recommended weeks of 2013.  You can find it here.

The week rankings are based on the current drafts of the 2013 Disney World Crowd Calendar and projections for 2013 Walt Disney World price seasons, as well as other factors.

When actual 2013 price seasons are released  and more 2012-2013 school year calendars are published (typically in the summer), I’ll update these week rankings.

In 2013, Easter (3/31) is early, and both Columbus Day (10/14) and Thanksgiving (11/28) are as late as they can be. This means fewer good March and October weeks, and more good April and November weeks.

The 2013 week 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, the January and early February weeks would be ranked much higher–with the Marathon and Martin Luther King Day weeks being the worst of these.

WHEN CAN YOU BOOK A 2013 VISIT TO WALT DISNEY WORLD?

Disney won’t let you book a 2013 trip unless it’s within 500 days of the date you book. See this. As I write this, rooms are bookable in all of January 2013 but no later.

Here’s a table of when arrival dates are 500 days before:

Arrival Date    500 Days Before

• 3/1/2013        10/18/2011
• 5/1/2013        12/18/2011
• 7/1/2013          2/17/2012
• 9/1/2013           4/19/2012
• 11/1/2013         6/19/2012
• 1/1/2014           8/19/2012

(See this for 2011 weeks ranked in order, and for 2012 weeks, see this.)

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 2011 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
  • For the 2011 Week Picker, 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 forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For the 2011 Crowd Calendar, click here
  • For the 2012 Crowd Calendar, click here
  • For the 2013 Crowd Calendar, click here
• For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For 2011 price seasons, see this
  • For 2012 price seasons, see this
  • For 2013 price seasons, click here
• For weather at Walt Disney World, see this

Hey…are you looking for

• 2014 weeks to visit, ranked in order
• The 2014 Week Picker, or
• Or 2015 weeks to visit, ranked in order?

If so then click the links!

OVERVIEW: 2013 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 2013 in order of best to worst (revised January 2013).

The week rankings are based on the 2013 Disney World Crowd Calendar and 2013 Walt Disney World price seasons, as well as other factors–the Christmas season, ride closure season and hurricane season in particular.

There are two pages of 2013 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 →]

2013 CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

In the image you’ll find Walt Disney World 2013 weekly crowd forecasts (revised on January 13, 2013).

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

(For 2014 crowds, click here.)

Crowd levels are ranked by week from 1-11 in the following way:

1: Lowest of the year

2: Lower

3: Low

5: Moderate-minus

6: Moderate

7: Moderate-plus

9: High

10: Higher

11: Highest

HOW TO INTERPRET THE 2013 DISNEY WORLD CROWD CALENDAR

Dates are the beginning of the week.

The “low crowd” weeks–those rated 1-3–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 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 rated 9-11–should be avoided by everyone. They aren’t, which is why they are so high.

You may have noted that there’s no level 4 or 8. There’s a reason for that.

MY DISNEY WORLD CROWD CALENDAR GOES UP TO 11

My analytics only let me distinguish 9 groups–the lowest through the highest crowd levels noted above.

Since the influence of the Unofficial Guide and TouringPlans.com has led almost all Disney World crowd calendars to top out at 10, this presented a problem of needing to skip a number. The skipped number is hard to place among 9.

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.” That let me skip two numbers, the ones that separate the moderate crowd levels from those higher and lower.

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 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 forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For the 2014 Crowd Calendar, click here
  • For the 2015 Crowd Calendar, click here
• For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For 2014 price seasons, see this
  • For projected 2015 price seasons, see this
• For weather at Walt Disney World, see this

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2013 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 2013.

(If you are looking for current deals and discounts, click here. For 2014 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. The details are below.

2013 DISNEY WORLD PRICE SEASONS

[Read more →]