In my first post to help answer this question, I specifically addressed Florida weather throughout the year and how that might impact your vacation. Other posts discuss how the best time to visit may be influenced by special events and budget. This post will address Disney World crowd levels.

One general guideline I always mention to clients is that “if school is traditionally out, Disney World will be crowded.” I’ve grouped different times of year below into Highest, Moderate, Light to Moderate, and Lowest categories, which might help you decide the best time for you and your family to visit. You can view a list of holiday dates for each year here. Of course, when you book your vacation through me, I provide tips to help you avoid the crowds if you must visit during these times!

HIGHEST CROWDS

• Christmas week and New Year’s Eve week
• Thanksgiving week
• Spring Break – middle three weeks of March
• Easter, weeks before and after
• Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend (January)
• Presidents Day weekend (February)
• Columbus Day weekend (October)

As you might guess, these fall in the highest category because they are common holiday breaks for the entire country. The fact that different parts of the country take different weeks for Spring Break helps spread those crowds out a bit, but except for the first few days, March is typically crowded. The weeks before and after Easter are traditionally a high crowd time. With the 3-day holiday weekends (MLK, Presidents, & Columbus), the highest crowds usually appear on Saturday & Sunday, and then reduce the farther you get from the actual holiday. Because of that, if you can arrive on Monday (if the holiday is Monday), you should experience a few lower crowd days at the end of a week-long stay. While Columbus Day isn’t always a school holiday, that week is a common time for Fall Breaks.

MODERATE TO HIGHER CROWDS

• Mardi Gras (February or March)
• Memorial Day weekend (May)
• June, July, & first half of August
• Weekend of “Jersey Week” (first or second week of November)

These are shared holidays or breaks by the country, but the crowds aren’t as big for a few reasons. Because of Louisiana’s proximity to Florida, Mardi Gras can actually affect crowds. If it falls close to Presidents Day, the combination can affect a whole week in February. Memorial Day weekend is a shared holiday, but many schools are still in session and wrapping up the year, which discourages families from pulling their kids out beyond the 3-day weekend. Summer months are definitely a common vacation time, but it’s good to know that some schools don’t end session until well into June. The fact that summer break is so long helps spread the crowds out so that they aren’t concentrated on any specific week during these months. “Jersey Week” is a Disney fan term for the time when New Jersey schools are out for a Thursday and Friday in early November. While not a huge difference-maker, it’s usually worth mentioning just in case.

LIGHT TO MODERATE CROWDS

• January (except for New Year’s week and MLK weekend, noted above)
• February (except for President Day weekend, noted above)
• April (except for Easter weeks, noted above)
• May (except for Memorial Day weekend, noted above)
• October (except for Columbus Day weekend, noted above)
• November (except for Thanksgiving week, noted above)
• December (except for Christmas and New Year’s weeks, noted above)

These are times when school is traditionally in session, which means lower crowd levels at Disney World. Therefore, while there may be the occasional higher crowd over the weekend, for the most part, these are great lower crowd times to go.

LOWEST CROWDS

• Second half of August
• September

School definitely influences the lowest crowd rating for the times above. With the school year just getting started, many families choose not to take vacations during the first few weeks of school.

Another crowd determination tip is to go to the Disney World ticket purchasing page. Since Disney now uses dated tickets, looking at the ticket calendar is a great way to get a peek at Disney’s expected crowd level (higher price = higher crowd).

I hope this helps if your highest priority is finding the least crowded time to visit. Please check out my posts looking at other factors that might influence your decision, including budget, weather, and special events.

Visit my Request a Quote page so that we can get started planning your magical trip!