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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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2013 DISNEY DEALS TO BE RELEASED OCTOBER 10?

Update 10/10: This discount is now available—see this.

Crack commenters Jake and Scott have noted that the Disney Visa site says that a deal for Disney World for stays most nights January 2 through March 7 2013 will be released on October 10.

The Disney Visa offers include a package deal and a room rate deal.

Only the Disney Visa package deal refers to a general public deal. Specifically, it says

“Take advantage of this advanced booking offer from October 4-7 before it becomes available to the general public on October 10, 2012.”

So it may be that just the package deal is released on October 10…or, of course, this may just be fubar…

See below for images of each deal.

The package deal:

The room rate deal:

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: OCTOBER 6 TO OCTOBER 14, 2012

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the table, but organized by park, not by topic.

(For more on October, see October 2012 at Walt Disney World.)

[Read more →]

For those of you curious about the day job I’ve referred to now and then–here’s a link to a YouTube video about the project I’m helping out with right now!

The guy in the video is not me…but he did hire me at McKinsey a while back when he was the managing partner of McKinsey’s Cleveland office, and he and I have been working together every couple of years ever since! I’m helping him out right now with strategy for the Medical Mart.

Anyone care to guess where the idea for the “themed floors” came from? 🙂

Update 10/5:  A 2013 deal may come out October 10—see this.

DELAYS IN DISNEY WORLD 2013 DEALS?

I’ve been getting a lot of questions wondering about when–and if–early 2013 Disney World discounts might be coming out–especially since deals for the equivalent periods in 2012 and in 2011 came out in August.

My bet is that we’ll see the first set of Disney World discounts for January 2013 in early November, for a couple of reasons, but early December is also possible–as is tomorrow!

WHY DISNEY WORLD 2013 DEALS MIGHT COME OUT IN EARLY NOVEMBER [Read more →]

The Magic Kingdom will be opening at 8a rather than the usual 9a on eight of the ten days beginning Friday October 5, 2012 and ending Sunday October 14–every day in that span except for 10/9 and 10/10.

8a openings are unusual except on the most busy days of the year, and I haven’t seen such a sweep of them outside of the weeks around Christmas and New Years.  During Columbus Day week last year, there were none.

I’m not sure if this means the parks will be busier than the 5/Moderate Minus in the crowd calendar, or if something else is going on, but if they are busier, crowds will still be in the “Moderate” range.”