What Is The Best Time Of The Year To Visit Walt Disney World? We dream to hit that magical season when crowds are at their lowest. We scour message boards looking for insight, subscribe to crowd calendars that predict crowd levels based on years of scientific data, and buy wait time applications for our phone, all in an effort to enjoy that elusive thing, the least crowded time in the parks. And sure, that time you rode Space Mountain seven times in a row without a wait? It made all your planning worth it, but your dedication also did something else for you: It probably saved you money, because the slowest times of the year are quite often the least expensive as well.
Ideally, what every Disney fan wants is short lines and deep discounts. But how do you find that? Well first, just look at Disney’s own travel seasons. There are five, in order from the least to the most expensive: Adventure, choice, dream, magic and premiere.
Adventure: which is all of January, September, and the first half of December, is one of the least crowded times of the year and has the least expensive rack rates (that is, full price without discounts).
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Premiere season, the busiest time of the year, is also the most expensive. Premiere season is the week before and the week after Easter and Christmas week, right up until New Year’s Day. Disney doesn’t have any difficulty filling rooms during this time, so you will almost never get a discount or pin code.
Obviously, not everyone can travel during that time, but you’re not completely out of luck regarding crowds and discounts. In recent years, Disney has been offering room and package discounts designed to keep resorts full despite the lagging economy. If you’re flexible with your travel dates, you can find some pretty great deals. So what are the best times to go based on crowd levels and prospective discounts? Here’s a quick primer that can help:
January: Crowds are low and so are prices; well, relatively speaking. Watch out for “black out” dates like Martin Luther King weekend. Not only will you pay more, you’ll likely encounter large crowds as parents take their kids out of school to enjoy the nice Florida weather. Watch for discounts during this time on top of lower rack room rates. A good travel agent can help you stay up on Disney Discounts or you can check out a site like Mousesavers or the resort discount sub-forum on Disboards.
February: Low crowds and discounted rooms until mid-month, when Valentine’s weekend and the start of spring break put the kibosh on your discount mojo.
March-April: In recent years, Disney has offered discounts to keep guests on property during this lucrative time. Nonetheless, crowds are so high I can’t possibly recommend this as a merging of the low crowds/great discounts type of trip . If you’re interested in visiting during the slower months, you’ll want to keep moving along.
Early May: It’s the end of the Flower and Garden Festival and the kids aren’t out of school yet. The weather is almost perfect. The early part of the May is fantastic crowd-wise. I actually think early May is better than early December and is one of those great Disney secrets. I’ve gone two years in a row during this time and walked on almost every attraction.
June-August: I have a rule. I say “go when it’s hot or go when it’s crowded, but don’t go when it’s both hot and crowded if you can avoid it.” Those are the words I live by when it comes to Disney World. Disney offered pretty decent discounts this summer, but not enough to bring me into the parks unless that was the only time I could go.
Late August: Everything changes in August because many kids are now back in school. If you’re looking for free dining, this is when It most often starts. Room rates are still fairly high though, so you have to weigh the cost of free dining vs. paying full price for a room. If you look at the numbers, free dining works best from a saving standpoint for those who normally stay at the value resorts.
September: A great time of year to travel to Disney, but watch out for unpredictable weather. September is the worst month for hurricanes and the one month I always buy travel insurance if I’m traveling in the Southeast. If free dining is being offered, it will extend into this month.
October-November: One of my favorite times of the year to go. Keep in mind that while crowds are generally low, holidays will cause a spike in park attendance. This is particularly true Thanksgiving week. Also, Jersey Week, when kids from New Jersey get a brief break, will be crowded; this is usually the first or second week in November. You can get the exact dates from the Touring Plans crowd calendar. Fall discounts have not yet been announced for 2010, although I’ve heard reports of some pin codes (discounts personal to the individual who receives it as opposed to general public discounts) being given out. If you’re a Florida “neighbor”, that is from one of the states surrounding Florida, you might check for Florida neighbor discounts.
December: Early December used to be famous for having low crowds. Those days have changed somewhat, but it’s still a great time to visit. Disney usually offers rooms discounts, package discounts, or free dining during this time. Before you book, do the numbers to see if they’ll work for you. Free dining isn’t that great of a deal if you stay at a deluxe and you’re traveling as a family of two or three. In this case, you’re better off with a room discount, so shop around.
The weekend before Christmas marks the beginning of one of the busiest times of the year at Disney World. Definitely worth experiencing at least once, Christmas at Disney is not a time to look for discounts. You’ll pay full price for the privilege of celebrating the holidays with the Mouse.
Are you ready to plan your next family vacation? Let the Dream Team help you plan!
I know this was written a while ago so I am so I am wondering if May is still an ideal time to go.
Thank you
I believe that it is! :)
” Fall discounts have not yet been announced for 2010, although I’ve heard reports of some pin codes (discounts personal to the individual who receives it as opposed to general public discounts) being given out.” When was this written?
Just looking the date of the first comment I was able to THINK this article was written in April 2010.
I found a cute little book that can help first time visitors plan their fist visit to Disney World. It’s called Decoding Disney: Finding the Most Magical Time to Visit. The book is available on Amazon. It’s a quick read but does have a lot of helpful information. It helps you decide when the best time to visit for your family is by breaking it down into most and least expensive months and weeks, best and worst weather and heaviest and lightest crowds. It even has a section on the best days to visit each park.
Here’s a link: http://www.amazon.com/Decoding-Disney-World-Finding-Magical-ebook/dp/B00LFP7YE4
How , do you fine out what groups like cheerleading or other sports competitions are going to be going on? We are going for the weekend in April right after Easter for my son Birthday .
Thanks for the comments. We’ve gone to WDW September and November. Crowds low both times. September was way too hot for me – 90’s each day. November was temperate – jackets in the morning most times, maybe to 80 later in the day. Did have a few cold (low 50’s at the warmest) days.
Well, we’re going to Magic Kingdom later this month with a 6 year old and a 4 year old and I don’t mind hearing how crowded it’s going to be. It’s Disney, I expect it to be crowded. Just another time for a lesson in patience and courtesy for my kids. Other folks might not be so pleasant, but we’ll persevere and go ahead and have a nice time no matter what.
Hence why we chose May, we went May 9-13, 2011 and I was DISAPPOINTED! The crowds were almost unbearable. Wait times were up to the 50-60 minute mark by mid afternoon in the Magic Kingdom! It was hot 90-95 everyday. I did learn I will never go during the summer!
This is exactly right – march/april, june/july/august, and Christmas time are the worst. If you have to pick any of the three, I’d do Christmas because what better way to spend Christmas, right? Plus the weather is beautiful here where most everywhere else is not. We have annual passes & just avoid summer completely, it’s not even worth it to me. Like you said – hot+crowded = avoid at all costs, lol!
I really like the Fall time to visit. Last time we went the end of Sept., begining of Oct. and it was great. WE got to do the FOod and wine festival (and use up some of our snack credits from the free dining promo) and did the Mickeys Not so Scary Halloween Party too. The weather was really hot a couple of the days (I think one day it was like 98) but over all a great time to vacation.
I can say that the begining of December is crazy at the value resorts due partly to the Pop Warner Football superbowls and the national cheer competiions. My niece went there one year for it and my sister said she never saw so many kids being so loud in her life. THe girls were practicing at all hours and the place was just loud (more loud than normal) If you are going during these weeks might want to see about staying in another part of the resort!
We’re taking our girls on their first trip to Disney in mid July, 35 days!! We know its going to be super hot but that’s the only time we can go! Question: we have 4 day hopper passes and our girls are ages 5 and 6. Should we go to all the parks or spend all our time at magic kindgom and animal kingdom?? We don’t want to waste our time at a park they won’t enjoy.
I think it depends on your girls. My kids LOVE EPCOT at that age. I think it is definately worth at least stopping by the other parks just to see them, even if only for a little while. I would look at the times the parks are open. What we do (when staying on property) find out the which parks has the extra hours that they are open for WDW resort guests. We would go to the ones with the early entry, and get there early to get in. After a couple of hours we go back to the hotel and rest, swim, and then at about dinnertime we would go to the park with the extra hours at night. The rest in the middle of the day helps all of us be ready for the late night. Also gets you out of the park when it is at its busiest, and hottest. Since you are going during the busy season I believe they stay open really late. As I always say make sure you plan extra time to get to MAgic Kingdom. I always forget that it takes alittle longer to get there than any other park. Also I would suggest bringing some rain ponchos. Seems like everytime we visited during the summer there would be a short rain shower at about 3 everyday. So we just learned to always bring our ponchos!
If you go in January, don’t during marathon week.
As one lucky enough to live 45 minutes from Disney – I say that April is the worst possible time to go. It’s so packed with Spring Breakers it’s insane.
man I just found out that we will have to change our plan for an unconventional thanksgiving… because apparently it is one of the busiest times and I was really hoping to get some discounts…
I already have a vacay planned for late august/early sept so guess i have to wait even longer…. GRRRRRR
hehe thanks for the post though!
Laura, if you go just invest in a touring plan. There are lots of websites that offer them like touringplans.com and tourguidemike.com. They’ll decrease your wait times. But yes, it’s unlikely you’ll get a discount then. Even less likely this year, as Disney seems to be pushing the “we’re weaning the public off discounts” pretty heavily.
BTW, one way to save money is to rent DVC points, which I’ve found is pretty close to the 40% discount Disney offers for deluxes when they’re running those promotions. Obviously, if you normally don’t stay at a deluxe this doesn’t help, but if you do, consider this option.
We’ve gone a couple times during Thanksgiving and it wasn’t too bad. Definately more crowded than other times, but it was bareable (unlike when we went over New Years when it was so crowded and we were COLD, and we’re from Chicago so cold isn’t a new thing) Just take advantage of the fast passes, and do the go early, rest, stay late plan. We live by that plan!! We never did that when I was growing up now with my kids we do that everywhere we travel. My parents always say “I don’t know why we didn’t do this with you kids!”
Are these similar to Disneyland? My family is planning on going in 2011 but I don’t have an exact date picked out yet. We will be driving 18-20 hrs to get there so I don’t think we will want to go Dec-Feb since there could be snow along the way.
We had MAJOR rain when we were there in January. Thank heavens we thought to bring ponchoes! The park was dead, we practically had it all to ourselves. That was the one awesome part :) My boys have been spoiled now and will be shocked at the lines that are normally there next time we go.
But you know, even for all the rain we had, it wasn’t extremely cold. aside from the poncho, I just wore jeans, a t-shirt, and a very light jacket that I took on and off throughout the day. Jan-Feb can be a very nice time to visit Disneyland :)
We went in August and were plesently surprised that it really wasn’t very crowded. And the temps were mild. We even had to but the boys jackets becuase it got so chilly one day. I think the longest we waited was about an hour for soarin’, and maybe 45 min for space mtn. Parks are smaller so they don’t take as long to go through. We did San Diego while we were there too, and did the City Pass (I think that is what it is called) that had 3 day tickets to Disneyland, a day at sea world, a day at Universal Studios, a Day at San Diego Zoo, and there may have been something else but I cannot think of it right now. We did Legoland which was not on the card but so worth the money if you got little ones! YOu may want to check those out if you are planning on going to other places while you are out there. I think there is also a southern California GoCard that has similar discounts. Have fun! We LOVED California!!
I agree with the blog. I have been to Disney almost 70 times. (used to be a FL resident). BUT BUT BUT PLEASE NOTE!!!
YOU MUST WAY SOME PROS AND CONS OF A “LIGHT CROWD/HEAVY DISCOUNT” time to go… you have seen the pros above. I was disappointed that the one thing they didnt mention was that during these times, this is when the parks do their routine maintenance. And for weeks, they will close down some of their most popular attractions for painting, maintaining. IE: we went in January. Awesome deals, awesome weather, no crowds. The longest line was under 30 min for what is usually more than an hour, if not closer to two. ANd that wait was only on one or two things. IT was great. EXCEPT that it occurred when Splash Mountain and Aerosmith’s Rockin Roller Coaster were both closed the entire week we were there for maintenance. It didnt bother me too much. I enjoyed the trade off of no crowds and I dont go for the thrill rides. BUT my husband was super disappointed. I am not sure if you can find out ahead of time what rides will be closed? But know, that if you go for the discount/crowds, there is a trade off. IF you can only go once every 5-10 years, this discount might not be worth it to you. Good luck!
You’re absolutely right. Especially if it’s a first trip, you don’t want to miss anything. Still, I’d probably rather take my chances and miss out on a couple of things thandeal with huge crowds. They make me grumpy.
you are exactly right. It is a trade off. I had the same experience in Disneyland this January. But, you are able to check all their scheduled maintenance in the itinerary section of Disney.com. If you type in the days you will be going you can print out an entire itinerary that tells all the rides that will be under construction/cleaning as well as all the parades, varied show time and general park hours. So we knew exactly what we would be missing ahead of time. It was Tom Sayer Island and all the canoes and boat rides, so we didn’t mind so much.
ALSO BE SURE TO NOTE!!!
The parks will have shorter hours during that time of the year. At DisneyLAND they closed around 8pm while we were there!
I love going in late November, early December. It is my favorite time. The weather is great, sometimes on the cool side. The park is BEAUTIFUL decorated for Christmas.
But I also enjoy March/April. My husband and I honeymooned at Disney and it was great.
We have gone every year for about the last 6 years(minus one because I had a baby born dec 5th)The week before christmas and its always great,its such a wonderful time of the year.
We have been to Disney in March, May, August, October and this year going in July! By far, we loved May the best. But with kids in high school and one college, we have to go in July this year. We’re excited!
Good to hear. I think May is truly a big secret. Maybe I shouldn’t have written about it here?
Boy here in Utah a local travel agency was offering 7 day package deals with hopper passes in May (INCLUDING FLIGHT!) for $699 per person!
I really, really wish we could have been able to do it this year, but I guess we will have to hope and pray that they have a similar deal next year around that time :)
I have been in early December, February, April and September. September was by far my favorite. We were able to do Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween Party, and the weather was great. It was warm, but I’m fine with hot weather. The crowds were non-existent and we had a free dining which was awesome!!
We are planning to go next spring. I love reading all your tips and strategies.
Great information!
We went twice in the middle of October and the weather was perfect (not too hot) and the crowds were thin. We just about never had to wait for a ride.
I leaving April 28-may 3rd :)
I can’t wait to go…thanks for all your tips!
I guess our hopes to take our girls next year for their bdays (1st week March) is out!
Valerie, your best bet is to find out when Easter is and take it from there. The week before and the week after are some of the busiest times of the year and often, the Magic Kingdom will reach capacity by late morning. If you find that it’s still going to be busy, get a touring plan. I like the ones from touringplans.com but there are others out there that are also good. They’ll save you a lot of time. Also, check to see when any cheerleading or other sports competitions for kids are; I wouldn’t stay at a value during that time just because it can get rowdy. Good luck.
I know March & April are spring break months, but we went the first week of March, before all of the college spring breaks started and we had a GREAT time. We walked on a lot of rides. By Friday, the crowd was picking up, but it was still nothing like we anticipated.
Kaolinmommy, I think that can be true. Early March and late April are usually slower. A lot of it depends on when Easter is that year.
Yay! According to this I picked a great time to go….May1st. One more week and I’ll be on my way :)
Ashley, I love early May. The weather is so nice and the crowds are great. I’m really disappointed not to be going this month.
Have a wonderful time.
I have a 2 year old and a 1 year old and I can not wait till I can take them to Disney World! I have been printing out some of these post and saving them for when they get old enough for us to go. Thanks for all this helpful info!!
Who says they aren’t old enough ;)?!! I took my 2 oldest when they were that age (they are 14 months apart) and it was one of the best vacatoins. And was relatively cheap since they were both free, and they didn’t eat much so food cost was low too. Actually all of my boys have visited WDW at least once by the time they were 2. But I must say that I am really lucky that I have wonderful parents that vaction with us to help with the kids, which works out great since there are four kids and four adults! So if you don’t have the help I can see how it could be overwhelming!! WHenever you do visit with them I am sure it will be a time you will not forget!!!
Great Information here! Very useful to me
Thank you