There are many factors to consider when you are deciding on what day of the week you should arrive for your Walt Disney World vacation.
1. What days can you take off?
If you work Monday – Friday, your vacation will likely be Monday – Friday. This will give you the weekend before your vacation and the weekend after for a total of 9 days off in a row. The obvious choice would be to arrive on Saturday (or even Friday night if you are flying and can get a flight after work) and to say through the following Saturday or Sunday. While the weekends are busier (it is when the locals come to Disney World), at least you are at Disney World!
If you usually work the weekends, you could time your vacation to start on a weekday. This would give you more weekdays in the park and only one weekend.
2. How much will it cost to travel?
The lowest priced day for flights is on Tuesday, so I would time my vacation so that I could leave on Tuesday and return the following Tuesday. If that isn’t an option for you, look at the prices of the flights for each day of the week that you can travel and pick your arrival and departure dates based on cost. Remember that the flight prices will likely lower between now and your travel dates, but this is a good way to figure out your most cost effective travel dates.
3. Staying at the Disney Resorts is cheaper on weeknights.
The price of a night at the Walt Disney World Resorts is lower on weeknights. The more weeknights you can stay, the less you will pay overall. So if your vacation runs from a weekday to a weekday, you’ll pay less than if is from a weekend to a weekend.
4. Avoid the Magic Kingdom on the weekends.
The Magic Kingdom is more crowded on the weekends than it is during the week. Especially on Saturday since that is most people’s arrival day and the first thing they want to do is visit the Magic Kingdom. When you are making your touring plan of which parks you will visit on which days, I suggest visiting Animal Kingdom on Saturdays as many people do not plan that park for their arrival day.
5. Avoid Epcot on the weekends during special events.
When Food and Wine or the Flower and Garden Show are taking place, I do not recommend visiting Epcot on the weekends. This is when the locals come out to enjoy the festivities. If you are traveling mainly because of these festivals, plan as many weekdays in Epcot as you can.
6. My recommended arrival date.
If possible, I recommend that you arrive on a Tuesday and depart on the following Tuesday. If you are flying, this is the cheapest day to fly. If you are driving, time your travel through the major cities to not occur during rush hour even if that means leaving at 3 am.
Arriving on a Tuesday also means you can visit the Magic Kingdom at the beginning of your trip when the crowds are low. You can then end your trip on Monday at the Magic Kingdom. The low crowds will make your trip much more enjoyable! You can visit Animal Kingdom on Saturday and choose between Hollywood Studios or Epcot on Sunday depending on the crowd levels and the time of the year. Sounds like the perfect Disney World vacation to me!
I polled the readers on what day of the week they arrive for their vacation and here is a summary of responses. Saturday is the most popular day with 29.8% arriving that day. Thursday is the least popular with only 6.3% starting their vacation that day.
Not sure how many days to visit Walt Disney World? Read Planning Step: What Time Of The Year You Are Eligible For Vacation
Learn more about planning your Walt Disney World vacation. Plus overwhelmed with all the planning? Destinations in Florida can help you plan your perfect trip.