Some people’s schedules are dictated by kids’ school and sports, or work or other constraints and they don’t have much of a choice of when to take their Disney vacation. But for others with more flexibility, I often get asked when is the best time of year to visit.
The best time to go is largely determined by your personal priorities. What is most important? Low crowds? Low prices? Weather? Special events? Maximum park hours?
There will be quite a bit of new attractions opening at Disney World in the next
Let’s look at crowds and pricing first – because they go hand in hand. This calendar is broken down by the price of a one day ticket. Disney’s ticket pricing is dynamic – the days they predict higher demand, they charge more. Dark green
There are a lot of crowd calendars out there on the net, but I trust that Disney has done the research and can accurately predict their crowds better than anyone. We can safely infer that the dark green days will be the least crowded, the light green slightly more so, the yellow average to high crowds and the red very high crowds.
As you can see by looking at the calendar, in
One thing to note is that summer really isn’t as crowded as days of old. Word has gotten out and more families are going during the school year, which has evened out attendance some. With a good plan, summer (and all high crowd times for that matter) is doable.
And now on to weather. We all know it can get very hot in central Florida. And summer lasts half the
Our family has been visiting in the summer since my girls got old enough that we could no longer easily take them out of school. It’s hot. We occasionally go during spring break when the timing is right and often take quick visits at other times of the year. You definitely have a lot more energy when you’re not dripping with sweat.
However, even despite that, we continue to do our longest Disney visits in the summer because it works best with our schedule.
Maybe attending a special event or experiencing the parks during the holidays is your top priority. In that case, expect crowds to be a little higher than usual for that time of year, but it might be worth it for you considering the extra activities and unique experiences. Here’s the current lineup for 2019:
Events 2019
- January 9 – 13: Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend
- January 18 – February 25: Epcot International Festival of the Arts
- February 21-24: Princess Half Marathon Weekend
- March 6 – June 3: EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival
- April 4-7: Star Wars Rival Run Weekend
- August 16– November 1: Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
- August – November (To Be Announced): EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival
- November (To Be Announced): Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend
- November – December (Selected Dates To Be Announced): Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
Those dates might also help those of you trying to avoid any extra crowds
Are you waiting for some of the exciting new attractions that are set to open this year? Most of these do not have specific dates yet, so it would be hard to time it perfectly, but here’s what we’re expecting:
Magic Kingdom
- Move It! Shake It! MousekeDance It! Street Party: January 18th
Epcot
- Epcot Forever nightly spectacular: Summer 2019
- Beauty & the Beast Singalong
Hollywood Studios
- Pixar Place welcomes The Incredibles: January 18th
- Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy: Spring 2019
- Wonderful World of Animation show: May 2019
- Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway: Summer 2019
- Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: Late fall
Animal Kingdom
- Hakuna Matata Time Dance Party: January 18th
Outside the parks
- Disney Skyliner: Fall 2019
- Disney Riviera Resort: Early Fall 2019
As they do everywhere, construction projects at Disney World
Planning a Walt Disney World vacation? Start HERE for my comprehensive 10-step guide. If you’d like help planning your trip, contact me at rebecca@magicaltravel.com or fill out my CONTACT form for a free quote.
