The Best (and Worst) Times to Visit Walt Disney World
By Dave Shute
BEST TIMES TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD
Most years, I recommend arriving in Walt Disney World either one of the first three Saturdays after Thanksgiving, or one of the first two Saturdays.
In 2022 I recommend the first two Saturdays after thanksgiving–November 26 or December 3. See this for specifics.
The best times to go on a first family visit to Walt Disney World are lower-crowd periods outside of the ride closure and peak hurricane seasons.
These best times to visit include
- Very late February–very early March
- Between the second week after Easter and the week before Memorial Day
- Later October
- November–other than the first full week and Thanksgiving week
- December up until a week before Christmas
- (For returning visitors, January and February, except New Years week, Presidents Day week and the Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend, are also excellent, as can be September)
WORST TIMES TO VISIT WALT DISNEY WORLD
Pretty much all other times, but especially Christmas week, New Year’s week, and the weeks before and after Easter.
More specifically,
- Walt Disney World is the most crowded when kids are out of school: over summer through later August, Thanksgiving week, Christmas and New Years weeks, Presidents Day week, the spring break month of March; and the weeks before and after Easter. Crowds matter because they can increase waiting times by a factor of 3-4, lengthening your trip and/or reducing its value as a vacation while you are there.
- The times when kids are out of school are (mostly) also the most expensive times to visit–Disney increases resort prices at times of higher demand, so that for example the same room at the Polynesian is $1800 more during Christmas week than during the week this site recommends.
- Walt Disney World pricing is complicated, and prices do vary during these busy periods–for example, prices go down quite bit in August, even though the first two weeks are busy.
- But generally you will pay more during the periods when kids are out of school.
- Rides are mostly likely to be closed (for refurbishment) between early January and mid-February. For more on winter ride closures at Walt Disney World, click here
- The hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through November 30, but strongly peaks from mid-August through early October.
- Warm weather becomes materially less likely starting in mid-November, and the chance of good pool weather does not sharply improve again until mid-February. See Weather and When to Go.
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510 comments
Hi Dave! Visiting disney 11/18-11/25, traveling with 1 and 5 year old staying at Pop. I got the 7 day park ticket without park hopper (do i really need it?) and so far my plans look like this and would like yr advice thanks!
11/18 mk, dinner at crystal palace
11/19 mk, dinner kona cafe
11/20 ak, lunch tusker
11/21 hs, lunch hollywood vine
11/22 epcot, dinner akersush
11/23 not sure yet but dinner chef mickeys
11/24 not sure yet but dinner ohana
11/25 depature day
Thanks! Appreciate any feedback
Kyla, the important thing is you will be facing massive crowds beginning the 23rd, so try to push all your priorities to befroe then. MK will be very crowded the 18th, I’d do AK or HS then, and MK the 20th or 21st depending on whihc you move.
Coming to Orlando the week of June 15-22. Going to buy a 2 day pass for me and my 11 year old daughter. We are definitly going to Magic Kingdon, but are unsure on what the second park choice should be? Also, what days of the week are best? We are flexible to go any two days from Monday – Saturday of that week. Which days would be less busy? Thank you so much! Love your site!
Josh, that’s a crowded week overall. MK is a two-day+ park, so I would spend both days there. The best MK days will be the 17th and 18th.
My daughter wants to go to Disney around her 13th birthday (July 2014). We can go anywhere from June 29 until July 18. Any suggestions? My children are 11 and going to be 13, so we can be flexible with times, no naps, etc. I know it will be hot and crowded, but she REALLY wants to go for HER birthday. Best case scenario? Special ideas or tips? Thank you for all your great information on your site!
Hi Barbara!
All of July is lousy, but the week that includes the 4th is worst–parents, needing to take a day less off of work, find trips that include it more attractive. Because the 4th is a Friday this year, i also expect long weekend visits to spill over into the next week. So aim for the later part of your window.
For some ideas on birthday stuff, see the seocnd half of this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2012/02/01/is-walt-disney-world-free-on-your-birthday/
Is it a good time to visit WDW during October 4-18 ?
Hi Pairoj! See this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2014/03/18/october-2014-at-walt-disney-world/
Hi Dave,
We are planning a trip to Disney over Newyears eve. I know you have stated it is the worst time, because of the crowds, but this is the only time for a Family Vacation. Kids are in there early 20’s. That being said. What would you suggest for a Moderate level hotel. Also What would you suggest for dining that night. We are planning on doing Epcot on the 31st.?
Hi Debbie!! For a hotel for older folk, I’d suggest Coronado Springs. It has–by far–the best amenities among the moderates. There’s so many cuisines at Epcot that it’s hard to recommend without knowing you better. Suugest you pick up a copy of The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit and check the reviews there….
Hi Dave,
We are planning our first trip to wdw in 2015. My daughters will be 6 and 8 by then. I was thinking of going before thanksgiving (Nov. 15-25) or after (Dec. 3-13). I would like some Christmas decorations. What do you recommend? Also, I was wondering if you had any suggestions for on site hotels? I was looking for budget or moderate type hotels. As you can imagine both of them enjoy the characters and especially princesses. Thanks for your help!
Denis
Denis, it will be much more crowded during your November dates, so pick your December ones! See this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2013/12/08/2015-weeks-to-visit-walt-disney-world-ranked-in-order/
FOr my rankings of the moderates and values, in order, with links to reviews, see this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/04/26/walt-disney-world-resort-hotel-reviews/
[…] Start here –>> When should you go? yourfirstvisit.net […]
Me and my husband are making our first WDW trip from So Cal- and we can’t chose a date! Do we do January(either the week b4 the marathon or the last week of the month) or the beginning of May? We don’t care about pools or water rides, and since we don’t have kids we aren’t huge on the parades. When would you go? I know its less hours in Jan but if its less crowds it probably evens out. We can’t pick!!!! What would you do and why?
Stephanie, I’d pick May. Weather is more reliably warm (it can get to below freezing in Jan) https://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/when-to-go/next-best-dates/weather-and-when-to-go/high-temperatures-year-round/ and you avoid the ride closure season https://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/05/12/winter-ride-closures-at-walt-disney-world/
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the helpful site! We’re currently considering a week-long trip to WDW. We can go (almost) any time in the next year, but we’re leaning towards either the first week in December or the first week in February.
Stuff that might be relevant to our decision:
We’re traveling as a couple, but we’re trying to get pregnant and so the wife might be pregnant when we go.
We’ll be staying at a Disney resort (a deluxe one if we can afford it).
We’ve got week-long trips to visit family planned for both late October and over Christmas; since vacation time is limited, we’re wondering if we might be overdoing it if we try to plan two separate vacations in December, as we might not get another for the better part of a year. There’s also a small chance we wouldn’t be able to get another week in December off because it’s so close to our Christmas vacation.
We haven’t been to Disney World since we were small children, but we’ve been to Disneyland LOTS of times (although I’ve never been in December).
What would you recommend?
Michael, either choice has lots of positives.
Early Feb will have lower crowds, lower prices, and a higher risk of a few ride closures. It will also possibly be later in your wife’s pregnancy. For more on ride closures see this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/05/12/winter-ride-closures-at-walt-disney-world/
Early December will have higher (but still good!) crowds and prices, less risk of ride closures, and of course the full Xmas celebration. For more on the Xmas program see this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2014/05/25/christmas-2014-at-walt-disney-world/
Me–I’d do December…
Oh my….this so overwhelming! We just decided to go to Disney with my 8 year old daughter and I have no idea where to start. There are so many comments about places, meals, rides, things to do ,etc etc etc. I have no problem taking my daughter out of school for this trip so timing doesn’t really matter. We are from Canada and my husband is military. So, wondering what can be discounted? I figured 8 days or so as I want to do as much as I can with my daughter. She really wants to go to legal and which I know is not in Disney and I was told to do Discovery Cove as it was friends best part of the trip. Now hubby doesn’t earn to do tons of Disney stuff and wanted to go to Kennedy space centre I believe? What options are there for travel to these places? I’m assuming renting a car. Should I do that from here or there re: saving costs. Also. Do you have to make dinner reservations or can you just walk into places? Is there a separate meal plan that is offered aside with discounted hotels? This will definitely be our once in a lifetime trip for her so I want to fit in as much stuff as possible. I really want her to experience Disney but she is outgrowing the whole Disney princes thing but still likes the newer characters. I figure do legoland one day, if we do discovery cove another although I was told very expensive and don’t think hubby wants to do that. Then do a waterpark in Disney another day, magic kingdom one day, Epcot is debatable as I don’t know much about it since I went in 1987. I have seen discounts of 30% off being offered at the moment for certain times. I just am so overwhelmed by everything. Is it cheaper to buy tickets online before going or once we get there because I don’t really know what to do or when. Hubby mentioned November because of early Christmas stuff? Can you go to any hotel to eat or just the hotel you booked at?Any insight/direction would be soooo greatly appreciated.
OK Rennie, what you need to do is start on my home page and work your way through its topics. Almost all of your questions will be answered from that: http://www.yourfirstvisit.net/
Some other points not addressed there or that are there but I’m giving you a quick head sup on here: I don’t cover non-Disney stuff, but yes you will need a rental car to get to Kennedy. There are no Canadian military discounts that I know of. There are no other discounts out now for your dates–if any are released, they’ll show up here: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/03/03/summary-of-current-walt-disney-world-deals-and-discounts/ The mos tpolular (and fun) dinner options begin filling up 180 days ahead…
Legal should be Legoland.
Oh gosh I forgot to include Animal Kingdom and Hollywood studios. Can you go into anyplace to watch the fireworks at night? Do they only have them certain places each night? What are some other things to do in the evenings? I’m sure we are going to be too tired to do much!
We are planning on visiting WDW on August 7-10 or August 14-17 for the first time. We are worried of the weather, is there a lot of rain going on? How about August 28 or 29- September 1 Labor day weekend?
Cristina, it rains pretty much every afternoon at WDW during the summer. Moreover the peak of the hurricane season is from late August through early October. On the other hand, crowds are higher in early August. See this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2014/01/15/august-2014-at-walt-disney-world/
Hi! I’ve been there for the first time to WDW back in 1997 of June or July and it was fun. I enjoyed it very much. It was very crowded but we were able to get through the crowd and still enjoy our wonderful time there. Now I’ve met a wonderful person and he has 2 boys 5 and 11. They’ve never been there and he would love to bring his boys to WDW. Please tell me when is the best time we can come when it’s really not too crowded. Also would you please tell me the cost of tickets for an adult and children. I will really appreciate it. Thank you and we can’t wait to be there.
Taye, start with my home page and work your way down its topics here: https://yourfirstvisit.net/ All your questions–including some you may not have though of!–are answered there…
Hi, I’m planning a trip for Nov. 30 – Dec. 7 but just got notification that Dec. 12 – Dec. 23 will offer a free dining plan for the hotel I’m choosing. With it being so close to Christmas will that make the crowds much worse than my original dates?
Tim, crowds will start building on 12/20, and room prices go up a lot on 12/12–see this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2013/07/11/walt-disney-world-2014-price-seasons/ Depending on where you mean to stay, the ages of your family, and how many you are bringing, the rom rate pop may blow out the dining plan savings.
Hey Dave!! I am very excited to be going back to disney world in early October the 4th-11 and I was just curious what to expect with the crowds and weather! I went in october when I was a little girl but not since then! I am also nervous about how the new fast pass works, I can’t make any selections until Aug 5th. Soo…I didn’t know if u had any tips? Mk is where we will spend a lot of time! I also was curious what the fast pass for wishes is about? I would appreciate any tips, thanks so much 🙂 !
Hi Becky! For October, see this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2014/03/18/october-2014-at-walt-disney-world/ And honestly for FP+ you should get and read our book–it’s the first guidebook to be written after FP+ was instituted and has both recommended uses and step-by-step guidance! The Easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit
Hello – We are planning a trip to Disney for February 21 to February 27, 2015. We are planning to go to the four main parks (MK, Epcot, AK, HS) but would also like to go to Typhoon Lagoon and visit Downtown Disney. This might be premature but I was wondering if you could give some guidance as to the best days to visit each of these places during our stay. Thank you in advance!
Melissa, I don;t have thoughts for for Typhoon Lagoon. Downtown Disney is worst on weekends and evenings.
The 21st, avoid HS and MK
The 22nd, avoid AK
The 23rd, avoid MK and HS
The 24th, avoid Epcot
The 25th, avoid AK
The 26th, avoid MK
The 27th, avoid Epcot
Hi Dave,
I jumped over here after you suggested a fp for pretty much everything for our trip. 🙂
We will most likely travel to Disney Sat-Sat either the week of May 2nd or 9th, to avoid crowds.
Again, we will have 2 two year olds with use, and would like an ample amount of down time, for swimming and exploring our hotel (animal kingdom).
Can you please give me an idea on an itinerary we could follow? We will have hopper passes and the dining plan.
This will NOT be our only trip. We will go when the kids are older (7-9).
Thanks Dave!!!
Melissa–I may have already suggested this, so forgive me if I did–check out the daily plans at the end of Chapter 6 of our book: The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit All the stuff on this site is for kids 8 and older, but there’s plans there better adapted for younger kids. You can then edit them for afternoons/days off!
We are looking at taking our family of four to Disney in the coming months. We are weighing our options between the week of 26 December-1 January and 11-17 April. In addition to not knowing the best time to go between those two options, I’m curious as to how to make the most of our trip without being exhausted by the time we’re headed home. We have an 8 and 5 year old. What would you do?
Melissa, your April choice is far, far better. My itineraries help with the exhaustion point. I haven’t yet published April, but see this for an example https://yourfirstvisit.net/2014/01/14/fastpass-itinerary-for-lower-crowd-weeks/
We are looking at going to Disney World from May 12th thru May 21st 2015. What do you think about weather and crowd during this time. We want to make the most of our trip with more comfortable weather than July as we have our kids 12 & 6. We are thinking about getting park hopper tickets for 5 or so days as I need to look at pricing as we want to enjoy a park or parks and then go back & forth to our timeshare in Winter Garden. Do you have any insight for us?
Well, Jeff, it will be much better than July! I’ll have more on weather crowds and such for May 2015 out in about two weeks, but you can see the basic patterns from May 2014 here: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2013/10/15/may-2014-at-walt-disney-world/
Regarding how much time, tickets and such–take a look at this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/how-long-to-stay/
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