Category — a. When to Go to Walt Disney World

2020 RESORT PRICE SEASONS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The material below shows Walt Disney World resort hotel price seasons at different times of the year in 2020.

Resort prices can be almost twice as high during some periods as they are at others. The information on this page helps you identify lower and higher cost periods.

Ticket prices for 2020 are also out. There’s still (in my judgment) a ticket price increase for 2020 to come, but they (roughly) follow the patterns of hotel prices.

My comparisons are to prices that are “the lowest of the year,” the value season.

Grouping of dates is based on “price seasons,” a grouping tool Disney World no longer makes public, but which can be identified analytically, and named (sorta) based on past practices. Disney charges based on the actual price of the actual nights, so if your visit straddles price seasons, you’ll pay the prices of each price season.

The charts average prices over the next seven nights, by arrival date.  This eliminates what would be otherwise be incomprehensible bumpiness from Thursday/Sunday and/or Friday/Saturday upcharges. For exact prices by night by room type by date, see MouseSavers.com here.

(For more on 2020 at Disney World, see this. For 2019 price seasons, see this. For the basics on where to stay at Disney World, see this.)

2020 DISNEY WORLD RESORT PRICE SEASONS: VALUE RESORTS

• The lowest prices of the year–the value season–begin 1/2/2020
• 20-30% higher prices–Marathon rates–begin 1/9/20
• Lowest prices of year–the value season–begin 1/12/20
• 20-30% higher for the Martin Luther King Jr. long weekend begins 1/17/20
• Lowest prices of year–the value season–begin 1/20/20
• 40-55% higher for the week of Presidents Day begins 2/13/20 (prices are a bit lower 2/17-2/19)
• 25-30% higher–the regular season–begins 2/23/20
• 35-50% higher–the peak season–begins 3/6/20
• 25-30% higher–the regular season–begins 3/22/20
• 35-50% higher–the peak season–begins 3/29
• 60-70% higher–the Easter season–begins 4/5/20 (prices are a bit lower 4/11-4/14)
• 25-30% higher–the regular 2 season–begins 4/19/20
• 45-55% higher over the Memorial Day long weekend begins 5/22
• 30-40% higher–the summer season–begins 5/25/20
• 55-65% higher over the long 4th of July weekend begins 7/2/20
• 30-40% higher–the summer season–begins 7/5/20

• 20-30% higher–the summer 2 season–begins 8/9/20
• 10-15% higher–the fall season–begins 8/23/20
• 20-30% higher–the regular 3 season–begins 9/13/20
• 40-55% higher over the long Columbus Day weekend begins 10/9/20
• 20-30% higher–the regular 3 season–begins 10/12/20
• 10-15% higher–the fall 2 season– begins 10/25/20
• 25-35% higher for the long weekend ending Jersey Week begins 11/5/20
• 10-15% higher–the fall 2 season– begins 11/8/20
• 35-40% higher over Thanksgiving begins 11/21/20
• 10-15% higher–the fall 2 season–begins 11/28/20
• 25-30% higher–the regular 4 season–begins 12/6/20
• 40-50% higher–the holiday season–begins 12/11/20
• 65-75% higher–the holiday 2 season–begins 12/18/20
• 70-80% higher–the holiday 3 season–begins 12/25/20

2020 DISNEY WORLD RESORT PRICE SEASONS: MODERATE RESORTS

• The lowest prices of the year–the value season–begin 1/2/2020
• 15% higher prices–Marathon rates–begin 1/9/20
• Lowest prices of year–the value season–begin 1/12/20
• 10-15% higher for the Martin Luther King Jr. long weekend begins 1/17/20
• Lowest prices of year–the value season–begin 1/20/20
• 30% higher for the week of Presidents Day begins 2/13/20 (prices are a bit lower 2/17-2/19)
• 15-20% higher–the regular season–begins 2/23/20
• 25-30% higher–the peak season–begins 3/6/20
• 15-20% higher–the regular season–begins 3/22/20
• 25-30% higher–the peak season–begins 3/29
• 45-50% higher–the Easter season–begins 4/5/20 (prices are a bit lower 4/11-4/14)
• 20% higher–the regular season 2–begins 4/19/20
• 30-35% higher over the Memorial Day long weekend begins 5/22
• 15-20% higher–the summer season–begins 5/25/20
• 25-35% higher over the long 4th of July weekend begins 7/2/20

• 15-20% higher–the summer season–begins 7/5/20
• 15-25% higher–the summer 2 season–begins 8/9/20
• 10-20% higher–the fall season–begins 8/23/20
• 20-25% higher–the regular 3 season–begins 9/13/20
• 30-40% higher over the long Columbus Day weekend begins 10/9/20
• 20-25% higher–the regular 3 season–begins 10/12/20
• 10-20% higher–the fall 2 season– begins 10/25/20
• 25-35% higher for the long weekend ending Jersey Week begins 11/5/20
• 10-20% higher–the fall 2 season– begins 11/8/20
• 25-30% higher over Thanksgiving begins 11/21/20
• 10-20% higher–the fall 2 season–begins 11/28/20
• 20-25% higher–the regular 4 season–begins 12/6/20
• 25-30% higher–the holiday season–begins 12/11/20
• 50-60% higher–the holiday 2 season–begins 12/18/20
• 55-65% higher–the holiday 3 season–begins 12/25/20

2020 DISNEY WORLD RESORT PRICE SEASONS: DELUXE RESORTS

• The lowest prices of the year–the value season–begin 1/2/2020
• 15-20% higher prices–Marathon rates–begin 1/9/20
• Lowest prices of year–the value season–begin 1/12/20
• 15-20% higher for the Martin Luther King Jr. long weekend begins 1/17/20
• Lowest prices of year–the value season–begin 1/20/20
• 30-50% higher for the week of Presidents Day begins 2/13/20 (prices are a bit lower 2/17-2/19)
• 20-25% higher–the regular season–begins 2/23/20
• 30-45% higher–the peak season–begins 3/6/20
• 20-25% higher–the regular season–begins 3/22/20
• 30-45% higher–the peak season–begins 3/29
• 50-65% higher–the Easter season–begins 4/5/20 (prices are a bit lower 4/11-4/14)
• 20-25% higher–the regular season 2–begins 4/19/20
• 25-40% higher over the Memorial Day long weekend begins 5/22
• 10-15% higher–the summer season–begins 5/25/20
• 15-25% higher over the long 4th of July weekend begins 7/2/20
• 5-10% higher–near-lowest of year–the value season 2–begins 7/5/20

• Lowest of year–the value season–begins 8/21/20
• Prices bump up on 9/4/20 to 15% to 20% higher than the lowest of the year for the long Labor Day
  weekend
• Lowest of the year–the value season–begins 9/7/20
• 15-25% higher–the regular season 3–begins 9/18/20
• Prices increase to 25-35% higher than the lowest of the year for the long Columbus Day weekend on 10/9/20
• 10-20% higher–the fall season–begins 10/12/20
• 20-25% higher–the regular season 4–begins 10/30/20
• 20-30% higher for the long weekend ending Jersey Week begins 11/5/20
• 10-20% higher–the fall season–begins 11/8/20
• 25-40% higher during Thanksgiving begins 11/24/20
• 10-20% higher–the fall season–begins 11/28/20
• 25-30% higher–the regular 5 season–begins 12/6/20
• 30-50% higher–the holiday season–begins 12/11/20
• 55-80% higher–the holiday 2 season–begins 12/18/20
• 60-85% higher–the holiday 3 season–begins 12/25/20

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 160+ stays in them

Kelly, the long-time travel agent partner of this site, can book your Disney World vacation at any Disney World hotel!  Contact her using the form below.

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WHAT IS DECEMBER LIKE AT DISNEY WORLD?

Early December, with lower crowds, lower prices, and wonderful Christmas decorations and events, has the best weeks of the year to visit. The December 5, 2019 opening of the second ride at Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios may bump crowds up a bit more than I’ve forecast–especially from locals.

Later December has the highest crowds and prices of the year.

Park closings to additional guests are possible in this later December period, as are 8a openings and more morning Extra Magic Hours than other weeks.

December also has a special party, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, a special evening event–with its own ticket–that has become a family tradition for many, and major New Years Eve celebrations.

[Read more →]

WHAT IS NOVEMBER LIKE AT DISNEY WORLD?

Mid-November has some of the best times of the year to visit Disney World, with cooler weather, low crowds, low prices, and fun special events.

Other parts of the month are not so good. Jersey Week, beginning 11/2 in 2019, sees moderate crowds and higher prices at the deluxes. Thanksgiving week, beginning 11/23 in 2019, with high crowds and higher prices than the rest of the month, should be avoided.

Note also that picking the right park to visit each day is critical at this time of the year. See this, and use the comment form below to ask me about your specific dates!

[Read more →]

On March 7, Disney announced that the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land would partially open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on August 29.

Crowds in the new land will be a mess, and likely will spill over into the other thrill-style rides at that park. While I don’t see much impact on the other parks, no one knows for sure, and the dates folk have fall breaks will probably be worse than I had originally forecast.

I don’t see a huge impact outside the land itself, as the partial opening will make visiting specifically to see Star Wars less attractive, and many people will move their October trips to avoid the mess entirely.

While I don’t see much impact on the other parks, no one knows for sure, and the dates folk have fall breaks will probably be worse than I had originally forecast.  I have bumped up my crowd forecasts for October by a point for each week.  See this for more.

WHAT IS OCTOBER LIKE AT DISNEY WORLD?

Late October has some of the best times of the year to visit Disney World, with nice weather, low-ish crowds, low-ish prices, and fun special events.

The earlier part of the month is not so good, as

• The first week is still in the peak of the hurricane season
• The first three weeks see extra crowds from fall breaks, and
• The second week sees both higher crowds and some higher prices from Columbus Day.

Note also that picking the right park to visit each day is critical at this time of the year. See this, and use the comment form below to ask me about your specific dates!

[Read more →]

I’ve just revised my 2019 Disney World Crowd Calendar,  and–because crowds are a big part of it–also my 2019 Disney World week rankings.

These revisions were based on two things—the partial opening of Star Wars on August 29, and my new information on actual 2019 fall breaks.

Weeks affected by forecast crowd level changes were those starting 8/24/19 (the week of the partial opening) through 10/26/19. The opening date for the rest of Galaxy’s Edge, once announced, may require me to revise the later among these, and the later weeks of 2019, yet another time.

The basic approach I take to crowd forecasting is Bayesian:

• I use my knowledge of how crowds have varied over the course of the year to set my priors—I’ve been doing this for a decade now, so have a pretty good set of priors.
• I then gather new, relevant, future-oriented information, apply judgment and parallel examples to it, and then as needed revise my priors.

[Read more →]

DISNEY WORLD CROWDS FROM LATER DECEMBER 2019 TO EARLY JANUARY 2020

Disney World sees its highest crowds and prices of the year in the later third of December and the beginning of January, in the weeks around Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

This is for a pretty basic reason: kids are out of school then. However, not every school district has the same break schedule.

In 2019, as always, there’s more kids out the week between Christmas and New Year’s than before or after.

However, because of the Wednesday Christmas, there’s not a lot of kids out the week before Christmas week–fewer than we’ve seen some recent years.

Crowds will be massive by December 21, 2019, and will be at their worst between 12/24/2019 and 1/1/2020.

More schools are taking two week breaks over the holidays in the 2019-2020 school year, so the week after New Years in 2020 has many kids still on break. Thus I expect Disney World to be heavily crowded through January 5, 2020. [Read more →]