4/18/13 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with the changes listed here. No recommendation changes.
3/27/13 Update: Disney canceled Magic Kingdom’s evening Extra Magic Hours on Fridays throughout the month, switching the recommendations for Magic Kingdom on Fridays and Saturdays. They also extended the close to 11pm and added a second Electrical Parade at 11pm nightly through the 24th. Disney should extend the close at Hollywood Studios to 10pm most or all nights and add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm when it updates the schedule further around April 15th. Animal Kingdom’s close may extend an hour on certain dates as well. These changes should not affect the recommendations.
This is the Free August 2013 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.
Make sure you first read my month-by-month overview of visiting Disney World, located here. The overview will give you an idea of what to expect in terms of cost, crowds, weather, and special events on a broader scale. Once you figure out when you would like to visit, you can move on to this more detailed look.
Here’s a quick explanation of how to read the calendar and what the numbers mean. It may seem like it’s a little long, but you’ll only need to read the explanation once.
- The first line in each box is the date.
- The second line shows the cost to book a room at a Disney-owned resort. $ = Value Season, $$ = Regular Season, $$$ = Summer Season, $$$$ = Peak Season, and $$$$$ = Holiday Season. Occasionally there will be a + or – after the $$$ to show that the cost is slightly higher or lower than usual, but not by enough to raise it another $ notch.
- The third line is the average high and low temperature and the chance of precipitation. All data is based on the last 15 years. I wouldn’t read too much into the precipitation percentages for each day because just one or two additional days of rain in the last 15 years can raise the percentage substantially. I included it so you can look at the precipitation trends throughout the month(s) and take it into consideration when deciding when to book your vacation. For a broader overview of the month, read the month-by-month overview I linked to above.
- The fourth line is an estimation of the overall crowd level. A “5″ refers to average crowds. Numbers above 5 refer to a larger than average overall crowd level and numbers below 5 refer to lower than average overall crowds. A day with an overall crowd level of “1″ means that the crowds are expected to be the absolute lowest of the year and a “10″ means crowds are expected to be at their largest of the year. In other words, the overall crowd level estimation will give you an idea of how many people are in the entire Disney World complex, including the four major theme parks, water parks, Downtown Disney, golf courses, resorts, etc. Individual theme parks can have smaller or larger crowds than the overall estimation, which is where the theme park recommendations come in.
- The fifth line shows the theme parks I recommend visiting in green and the theme parks I recommend avoiding in red. There is also a | sign that splits up the recommended and not recommended Parks for the color blind or those printing in black and white (the Parks to the left of the | sign are recommended). I use the usual abbreviations for the Parks; AK is the Animal Kingdom, EP is Epcot, HS is Hollywood Studios, and MK is the Magic Kingdom. In addition to the colors, the Park on the far left is the most recommended Park to visit that day. The Park second to the left is the second most recommended and so on. For example, if the line reads AK EP | HS MK then the Animal Kingdom is the most recommended and Epcot is the second most recommended. On the other side of the | sign, Hollywood Studios is not recommended and the Magic Kingdom is expressly not recommended even more. If possible, I would strongly recommend you visit the Park that is most recommended each day. Please read below the calendar for an overview of how I’ve selected the recommended Parks and also a day-by-day explanation.
- The sixth line lists which Parks have Extra Magic Hours and at what time they start. Morning Extra Magic Hour lasts one hour and usually starts at 8am. Evening Extra Magic Hours last three hours from the start time. For example, if you see AK:8am EP:9pm, that means the Animal Kingdom has a morning Extra Magic Hour from 8am-9am and Epcot has evening Extra Magic Hours from 9pm-12am.
- The seventh line lists the Fantasmic show times at the Hollywood Studios.
- The eighth line lists the start time of Main Street Electrical Parade (MSEP:) and Wishes Fireworks at Magic Kingdom(W:). For example, if you see, MSEP: 9pm & 11pm W: 10pm, it would mean that Main Street Electrical Parade begins at 9pm and 11pm and Wishes begins at 10pm.
The Calendar is also available in an easy to view and print PDF file, Here.
Click the image to enlarge it.
Thursday August 1
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom and Epcot are our best choices. We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw a lot of Disney resort guests. Today, we have morning Extra Magic Hour attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic continuing to keep Hollywood Studios crowded. All in all, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to the popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment, Epcot for IllumiNations, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.
Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade pulling people towards Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios continuing to draw crowds. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Test Track and then Soarin’ as soon as possible. Soarin’ and Test Track will have 50+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to popularity and relatively low capacities. Move on to the World Showcase beginning around 11am if crowds begin to build in Future World, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Return to Future World after 5pm if you have more to accomplish and to ride/re-ride the headliners with FASTPASS. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended. While the morning Extra Magic Hour will help draw Disney resort guests toward Magic Kingdom, it won’t be as big of a draw as when Magic Kingdom offers Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes less often. With Main Street Electrical Parade, Wishes, and similarly long hours every day this week, Magic Kingdom will only be marginally more crowded today. We also don’t have the more popular evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled anywhere. I’m looking towards tomorrow as being less crowded, thanks to a decently popular morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot and the fact that the morning Extra Magic Hour on Saturday will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. Like yesterday, there’s nothing specific drawing people towards Hollywood Studios, which means it won’t be far and away busier than non-recommended days during the week. However, you will find higher crowds and longer waits in the afternoon. Most people will want to take advantage of the lower crowds at Epcot and hold off on Hollywood Studios until tomorrow.
The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure a decent number of Disney resort guests, making the Park busier than either this past Tuesday or Wednesday. The fact that we have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled every night this week certainly “helps” distribute crowds more evenly, even though the Disney resort crowd will predictably visit when Extra Magic Hours are scheduled. Today won’t be far and away busier than other days this week and you can have success provided you take advantage of the morning Extra Magic Hour by arriving no later than 7:40am and heading straight to Fantasyland or other open attractions. Move on to the headlining Mountain rides or character meet and greets when they open and you’ll be in excellent shape. However, you will find that crowds are heavier than recommended days in the afternoon. You’ll probably want to take a break from 1pm to 6pm or so and return in the evening to ride some major attractions with FASTPASS, have dinner, see some high capacity attractions, and enjoy the evening spectaculars. Keep in mind that you would be much better off visiting on a recommended day if you aren’t Extra Magic Hours eligible or won’t arrive until 9:30am or later because it will be busier than recommended days from 11am onward.
Friday August 2
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended and would be the “most recommended Park” if it wasn’t more difficult to schedule Hollywood Studios. Epcot will be more popular with the predictable Disney resort guest contingent. You can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to the most popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Because Animal Kingdom doesn’t offer anything in the way of special evening entertainment, few people Park Hop over in the afternoon and evening. Save Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris for the last hour of operation if you’d like to experience them again or couldn’t make it over earlier in the day. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment, Epcot for IllumiNations or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.
Epcot is not recommended. We have the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting a decent number of Disney resort guests that choose the theme park they’re going to visit based on the Extra Magic Hours schedule and evening Extra Magic Hours aren’t scheduled anywhere. Because a lot of Disney resort guests choose to visit Epcot twice over the course of the week, they tend to visit on Tuesdays and Fridays. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or you’re certain that you’ll arrive prior to 8am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.
Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re looking at a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow that will be more popular with Disney resort guests. With Fantasmic scheduled every night and the same operating hours offered every day, the Studios won’t be far and away less crowded than other days this week like it was when Fantasmic was scheduled less often. Nonetheless, we’re looking at fewer people in the Park, crowds that grow slower, increased FASTPASS availability, less congestion in common areas, and shorter waits at rides, shows, and restaurants. To have the most success, you’ll still want to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Because Toy Story Mania has such a limited capacity, wait times are almost always 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes are long gone, even when the overall crowd level is low and Hollywood Studios is recommended. Expect waits to hit 80 to 100 minutes today. You’ll want to make it your top priority. Your second priority is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which also sees long afternoon waits and limited FASTPASS availability. Tower of Terror and Star Tours should be easier to ride, but also remain priorities. If you can get these attractions done in the early morning, you’ll be in great shape for the rest of the day. The only other problem most people run into is trying to schedule all of the stage shows that run on a set schedule. You may also want to prioritize characters that will have longer afternoon waits. Phineas & Ferb tend to have the longest lines in Hollywood Studios. They typically begin appearing at 9:30am, which means you’ll have time to collect FASTPASSes and ride Toy Story Mania before heading over to visit Phineas & Ferb, which are located near Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano and across from the exit to Muppet Vision 3D. Check the week’s Times Guide to verify appearance times. Two other popular characters appear in the Animation Building in the Animation Courtyard. Sorcerer Mickey in particular has long afternoon waits and The Incredibles characters also tend to have decent lines. Since both characters meet indoors and their lines aren’t usually over 20 minutes long, you should be able to find them with decent waits later in the day if you have other morning priorities. Finally, you’ll find some characters in the morning near Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat that won’t appear later in the afternoon. Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Chip, Dale, Friends of Winnie the Pooh, Goofy, and Pluto are all common, but no specific character is guaranteed to appear. For Fantasmic, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the theater if you’re planning to see the 9pm show. You’ll still need to arrive at least 30 minutes early, but it’s better than the 60+ minutes early you’ll need to arrive without the package. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it only costs one table service credit (except at Hollywood Brown Derby, which still costs two credits as it would otherwise) and includes the appetizer. If you’re not interested in the Package or it is no longer available, the 10:30pm show will be much less crowded and only require a wait of about 20 minutes to secure good seats. 10:30pm is simply too late for most families and you won’t be dealing with two large sections roped off for Dining Package users. As far as general seating is concerned, the best seats are about half way up in the center sections. Sit any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and it’s more difficult to see what’s happening on the water.
Magic Kingdom is recommended now that Disney has elected to cancel the evening Extra Magic Hours that were originally scheduled. It will still be crowded with the high overall crowd level, but it will be less crowded than either yesterday or tomorrow. The standardized operating schedule and abundant nighttime entertainment will somewhat standardize daily crowds at Magic Kingdom. Luckily, resort guests are more likely to visit on Thursday with morning Extra Magic Hour and locals aren’t much of an issue on weekdays. Tomorrow will be busy as out of town guests visit one last time before returning home on Sunday. As usual, it’s imperative that you arrive prior to Park opening and visit the priorities on your itinerary first thing. Most people will want to start with Enchanted Tales with Belle, a popular character, or a low capacity attraction that will have longer afternoon waits. Take a break in the afternoon when crowds and temperatures peak. By 11am, wait times for most attractions will be 20+ minutes and you’ll want to rely on FASTPASS while visiting filler attractions.
Saturday August 3
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park for a variety of reasons. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special events, evening entertainment, or anything else to attract on-site or off-site visitors. Those leaving tomorrow after a traditional weeklong vacation are unlikely to visit Animal Kingdom on their last full day and most arriving today won’t head out to Animal Kingdom as their first destination. As always, you’ll be best off if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Wait times will only get shorter after the 3:45pm Parade, so stay through close if you have more you’d like to accomplish. With a limited number of attractions and the high overall crowd level, the afternoon will still be busy. Plan to see shows, visit the least popular attractions, and rely on FASTPASS at the major attractions between 12pm and 5pm.
Epcot is highly recommended and your best choice if you have other plans for Animal Kingdom. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been decently popular with Disney resort guests and they will be nowhere near Epcot today, especially in the morning. Take full advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to ride anything you skipped earlier in the day and to re-ride Soarin’ and Test Track with FASTPASSes collected in the morning. If you arrive later, plan to use FASTPASS for Test Track, Soarin’, and Mission: Space (in that order) as soon as possible. The Test Track single rider line is also a good idea and actual waits are often shorter than standby or FASTPASS. Mission Space and Maelstrom are much easier to FASTPASS if necessary and standby waits are also much shorter. It’s also an excellent day to stay for IllumiNations and enjoy the World Showcase in the afternoon.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended. The sizable Disney resort contingent numbers 75,000+ people during a busy summer month like this one. Because Disney sells the Extra Magic Hour program so well in its marketing materials, many of these Disney resort guests follow the Extra Magic Hours schedule because they think it’s Disney telling them where they belong each day. While you can have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and arrive by 7:15am, most people will want to visit another day. Tomorrow would be significantly better. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:15am and plan to hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning.
Magic Kingdom is not recommended. In past years, we’ve had evening Extra Magic Hours on Fridays and Sundays to help pull Disney resort guests away from Saturday. Disney canceled the Friday set of evening Extra Magic Hours this year. That should in turn cause more people to be looking at Saturday in addition to locals elevating the crowd level. If you had previously planned to visit Magic Kingdom, you can still do fine if you arrive prior to Park opening and follow the usual advice. The first two to three hours will still be excellent. I would highly recommend a break from 1pm to around 5pm. That’s a very hot, very busy time of day and you won’t be missing much lounging back at the resort pool. Return in the evening for dinner, some nighttime attractions, and the entertainment. If you’re not interested in the Electrical Parade or Wishes, visit Tomorrowland from 9pm – 10pm and then Fantasyland in the final hour of operation. You’ll find much lower wait times than the afternoon and the temperature is slightly more comfortable. Head over to Liberty Square or Frontierland for the 11pm Parade if you’d like to catch it.
Sunday August 4
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 11pm – 1am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours/Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom luring a lot of Disney resort guests. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow or Wednesday for morning Extra Magic Hour. With the longer than usual operating hours, you should be able to do just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS. After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King and you’ll be set for the rest of the day. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and the last 90 minutes of operation will have much shorter waits than the afternoon. You also have an outstanding opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations, Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner and a look around the resort or take a trip out to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping.
Epcot is recommended as well. It’s a particularly excellent day to see IllumiNations and have dinner in the World Showcase because Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd. Despite the recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the touring plans. Single Rider at Test Track is also a good option and will often result in a shorter wait than the standby or FASTPASS lines. It’s more important to arrive early and take care of the headliners first thing than it is to pick the “right” day. You’ll run into lines at the headliners in Future World if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. To stay ahead of the crowds for the longest amount of time, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to see anything you missed, but make sure you check your Times Guide because some attractions close at 7pm, including Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, both Innoventions buildings, and Ellen’s Energy Adventure. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’ or Test Track, plan to use FASTPASS, single rider at Test Track, or get in line around 8:55pm.
Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will be more popular with the predictable Disney resort guests. We also have evening Extra Magic Hours, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes at Magic Kingdom, all of which will be incredibly popular with Disney resort guests. Finally, Sunday is a popular travel day and few people arriving will head out to the Studios for Fantasmic this evening. Those that arrived yesterday are also unlikely to begin their first full day at Hollywood Studios. Thus, today is less crowded than any other day this week. If you have other plans today, this coming Tuesday and Friday are also recommended. This past Friday was also recommended. In order to find the shortest waits, you’ll need to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Mania to ride and/or collect FASTPASSes. Because of its popularity and extremely limited capacity, Toy Story Mania almost always has afternoon waits of 60 or more minutes and FASTPASSes that are routinely gone before 1pm, even when crowds are relatively low and the Studios is recommended. It’s always your top priority. The second attraction with the longest peak wait is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which should be ridden immediately after Toy Story Mania in the morning or with FASTPASS. Other priorities are Tower of Terror and Star Tours, though FASTPASSes are more plentiful at both attractions and standby waits are usually lower. After you get through these four headliners, it’s just a matter of arriving in time to see the various stage shows that run on a set schedule and getting over to the Studios’ high capacity attractions. You may also have characters to visit before lines get longer. For Fantasmic, you’ll want to arrive about 60 minutes early to guarantee good seats together if you’re interested in the 9pm show. If that sounds like it’s about 30 minutes too long, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. It will still require you to arrive at least 20 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it saves the stress of having to decide when it’s time to line up and decreases the overall wait. The Fantasmic Dining Package makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. Plus, it includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Disney Dining Plan. If you’re not interested in the Package or it’s no longer available, then you’ll want to do whatever you can to see the 10:30pm show. The later show is always less crowded because so many families can’t stay up that late and you won’t have to deal with two large sections roped off for Dining Package users. While it’s officially a recommended day, arriving prior to Park opening and hitting the headliners first thing is more important than which day you pick. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
Magic Kingdom is not recommended, though the morning from 9am – 11am and the late evening from 10:30pm – 1am will both be good times to tour. However, the afternoon will be busy enough that you won’t want to risk it unless you’re absolutely certain that you’ll take advantage of one or both of the recommended touring times and can’t visit on a “more recommended” day. Most Disney resort guests who will be headed to the Magic Kingdom will sleep in and arrive around 11am, in anticipation of staying until around 10:30pm. If you arrive prior to 9am, you can have a lot of success visiting the Fantasyland attractions and headlining Mountain rides. However, the Park will be busy from 12pm to 10pm as the bulk of Disney resort guests arrive en masse and stay through the evening entertainment. You’ll either want to take a break, Park Hop elsewhere, or plan to visit some of the less popular attractions for that time slot. The relatively late night Extra Magic Hours are also recommended. For the Main Street Electrical Parade, the least crowded viewing locations are in Liberty Square and Frontierland for the 11pm Parade. These areas are much less crowded than Main Street and the second Parade is less popular, even with people arriving for the Extra Magic Hours. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, begin in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last because most families will be long gone from the Park by 12am and Fantasyland will be low on crowds. It’s not uncommon for Peter Pan’s Flight to have a 75 minute wait in the afternoon and a ten minute or less wait at the end of evening Extra Magic Hours. Save Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Journey of the Little Mermaid for the very end of the night. You’ll find lower crowds on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of this coming week, but the morning and late night will both be good times to tour if you need an additional day at Magic Kingdom.
Monday August 5
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 12:30am
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s difficult to get out to the Animal Kingdom by 7:45am to take full advantage of it. If you’re staying at a Monorail Deluxe Resort, you’re looking at a 20+ minute drive to the Animal Kingdom, plus time for the bus to arrive – not to mention getting multiple people up and ready early in the morning with just one shower and limited space. At 6:30am. Or earlier. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 7:45am, then you can have a lot of success because the crowd level won’t be that high, but it will be busier in the afternoon than other recommended days this week due to a higher number of Disney resort guests than usual. You’re much better served holding off until Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday if you’re not going to arrive until 9am or later.
Epcot is the only expressly recommended Park. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special evening entertainment, or anything else that will draw people toward Epcot specifically. Disney resort guests will be more likely to visit tomorrow or Friday for Extra Magic Hours and off-site visitors will be headed to the Magic Kingdom because they naturally prefer to visit it on their first full day of a weeklong vacation. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to visit any non-headlining attractions. If you’d like to ride Test Track or Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, rely on FASTPASS, use the Test Track single rider line, or get in line for one around 8:55pm. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm. Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings ordinarily close at 7pm. Finally, it’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.
Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests and the addition of Fantasmic. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. Tomorrow or Friday would be significantly less crowded overall. Unfortunately, I’m not too fond of evening Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. There are only a few attractions open and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, especially with the evening Extra Magic Hours only being two hours in 2013. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 9:30pm and again at 11pm, right as evening Extra Magic Hours gets underway. The Fantasmic Theater is located right on Sunset Boulevard, across from the entrances to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. While not everyone seeing Fantasmic will be a Disney resort guest, many of them will be, and a ton will be headed to Tower of Tower and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster because they truly believe it’s the best time to get in line. Unfortunately, they’ll find themselves lined up with a few thousand of their new best friends. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. While you could theoretically have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for the headliners, the same will be true later in the week and you won’t have to deal with the significantly heavier afternoon and evening crowds. Avoid it unless you’re planning to visit from 9am – 1pm or can’t visit any other day.
It’s going to be a busy day at Magic Kingdom even without Extra Magic Hours to lure Disney resort guests. First, a lot of people are arriving for a weeklong vacation. They travel over the weekend and naturally head to the Magic Kingdom on Monday for their first full day. With the mostly standardized operating schedule this week and nighttime entertainment featured every night, it won’t be overwhelmingly busier compared to tomorrow or Wednesday. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom despite the warning, you can still have a successful and fun day if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever you feel is most important on your itinerary. You may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so to rest up for the nighttime spectaculars. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded.
Tuesday August 6
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Recommended)
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Highly Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park for a number of reasons. We don’t have special events, Extra Magic Hours, or anything specific drawing people toward it. Yesterday’s and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hours will be more popular with Disney resort guests. It’s also early enough in the week that many people on weeklong vacations will be saving Animal Kingdom for later in the week. Overall, today and Saturday are the best days of the week to visit, though Thursday, Friday, and Sunday would also be fine. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Once you get through these two attractions, you have little to worry about other than trying to get to the scheduled shows and potentially arriving just before the popular characters first appear. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon, so try to see the first or last show of the day. You’ll also want to get to DinoLand USA before 10:30am to ride Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR because those two attractions are popular. Still, they aren’t necessarily your top morning priorities and you can easily FASTPASS them throughout the day if need arises. With the long day, you should have no trouble accomplishing most of what the Animal Kingdom has to offer in one day, provided you arrive early in the morning, tour efficiently, collect FASTPASSes, and keep an eye on the time in order to see the scheduled stage shows. Finally, crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Plan to return to any favorites from 5:45pm through close when waits will be shorter than the afternoon if you have more to accomplish or couldn’t arrive early.
We’ll want to avoid Epcot. Its evening Extra Magic Hours will lure the majority of Disney resort guests, which will lengthen waits times at the attractions for the entire afternoon and evening. Epcot is almost always at its busiest and lines are the longest when it has evening Extra Magic Hours. This is due to the fact that many Disney resort guests head to whichever Park has Extra Magic Hours, even if they don’t plan to take advantage of them. Without Park Hopper, Disney resort guests must stay in the Park with Extra Magic Hours for the entire day. The increased crowds lead to longer lines, heavier congestion in common areas, and an overall less pleasant touring experience. I would urge you to visit a different Park. If you want to head to Epcot today, despite my strong objections, your best chance to ride the headlining rides is from 9am-11am. Most Disney resort guests will sleep in and arrive around lunch in anticipation of staying until 10-11pm. The morning will be an excellent time to tour Epcot, but you’ll probably want to Park Hop elsewhere after lunch or you’ll be stuck in significantly larger-than-usual crowds. You might also consider an afternoon break from 2pm-6pm when crowds will be at their largest. You could then return in the early evening for dinner and Extra Magic Hours. Alternatively, you could also Park Hop over in the evening for Extra Magic Hours, provided you’re aware of how busy it will be. The last hour of Extra Magic Hours is always the least crowded, so plan to stay until 11pm and head back to Soarin’ and Test Track after 10pm. Skip Illuminations if you’ll be here on another night because it will be more crowded than usual.
Hollywood Studios is recommended, though this past Sunday and this coming Friday would be better. While it’s true that we’re coming off a busy day yesterday for evening Extra Magic Hours, a decent number of Disney resort guests will ignore it in order to visit Magic Kingdom first on a standard weeklong vacation. The Extra Magic Hours schedule also doesn’t do much to sway the similarly large off-site contingent, especially in the summer when the number of off-site guests is higher than any other time of year. With long hours of operation every day and Fantasmic scheduled every night this week, the Studios won’t be far and away less crowded on “recommended days,” compared to “not recommended days,” like it was when Fantasmic was scheduled less often. Nonetheless, you can expect peak wait times to be lower, crowds to build slower, FASTPASSes to be more plentiful, and waits to be lower than days that aren’t recommended. Overall, this will be a day with “slightly below average” crowds at the Studios specifically, as compared to other days this week. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Midway Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Toy Story Mania in particular has wait times that almost always hit 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes that routinely are gone by 1pm. Make it your morning and FASTPASS priority. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster also sees long afternoon waits. Plan to head there right after Toy Story Mania or rely on FASTPASS. The other two attractions with decent waits are Tower of Terror and Star Tours. Luckily, they have higher capacities and aren’t as popular. You’ll still want to ride before 10:30am or plan to use FASTPASS later in the day. Expect to see 30 minute standby wait times from 12pm – 4pm for Star Tours and 60+ minute waits for Tower of Terror are common, especially when it isn’t running at full capacity. Once you get through those four attractions, it’s really just a matter of getting over to the high capacity rides and shows that run on a set schedule. It’s unlikely you’ll run into much of a line at Backlot Tour or Great Movie Ride, but fitting in the various stage shows can be tricky because they have a tendency to start and end at the same time. You may also want to make a popular character a morning priority. Check your Times Guide and plan to arrive at as many characters as possible about five minutes before they’re scheduled to appear. Overall, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of the headlining attractions first thing. With the long day, you may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm – 5pm or so to rest up for dinner and Fantasmic. This is the busiest and hottest part of the day. For Fantasmic, I recommend the Fantasmic Dining Package, which guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Theater if you’re interested in the 9pm show. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. It also includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Dining Plan. You’ll still need to arrive at least 25 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it’s better than the 60 minute wait you’re looking at to score decent seats together without the Package. If the Package isn’t available or you prefer not to pay for it, try to see the 10:30pm show. It will be significantly less crowded because so many families have to leave earlier and you won’t have to deal with two large sections roped off for Dining Package users. The best seats for Fantasmic are located in the center section more than half way up from the stage. Any closer and you risk getting wet and may not have a good view of what’s happening on the water around the stage.
Magic Kingdom is highly recommended and an excellent choice if you don’t want to wait until tomorrow to visit. Epcot’s evening Extra Magic Hours and Hollywood Studios’ Fantasmic will help draw crowds away and a lot of people will have visited yesterday for their first full day at Disney World. Still, Magic Kingdom won’t be empty with the above average overall crowd level, same operating hours as other days this week, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes. It’s still more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. You may also want to fit other time-sensitive attractions like Tomorrowland Indy Speedway or Astro Orbiter in there as well, along with Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and other quick attractions that will have decent afternoon waits like Astro Orbiter. Consider taking a break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds are heaviest and wait times are longest to rest up for the evening entertainment. For Main Street Electrical Parade, scout out a spot along the Parade route in Liberty Square or Frontierland for the 11pm Parade. Both areas are significantly less crowded than Main Street and require a shorter wait. The later Parade is less crowded because so many families leave immediately after Wishes (if they even make it that far). It will also be easier to exit the Park around 11:45pm than 10:15pm. Magic Kingdom will also be the most recommended Park tomorrow, so you may want to hold off until then if you have other plans today. If you’re trying to decide between today and tomorrow, then I would go with tomorrow because it’s in the middle of the week and even more people will be ready to visit another Park. However, today will be nearly as good if you tour efficiently in the morning, take a restful break, and enjoy the Magic Kingdom’s nighttime spectaculars.
Wednesday August 7
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Most Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
It’s the busiest day of the week at Animal Kingdom. The morning Extra Magic Hour will attract the bulk of the Disney resort crowd and there’s no evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment going on at the other Parks (since Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantasmic are scheduled every night this week), which will cause a lot of off-site guests to visit as well. With both yesterday and tomorrow recommended, there’s no reason to visit today.
Epcot is recommended. We’re coming off a very popular evening Extra Magic Hours yesterday and most Disney resort guests will be waiting to either return or visit for their first time this Friday. Disney resort guests are more likely to head to Animal Kingdom today and the addition of Fantasmic means a decent number of off-site guests will be headed to Hollywood Studios as well. In most scenarios, I recommend heading to Magic Kingdom today to take advantage of the lower crowd level there and holding off on Epcot until tomorrow. However, Epcot works fine today too, provided you follow my broken-record advice – arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. You may also want to take a more compartmentalized two-day approach, which gives you the benefit of enjoying the lowest possible crowds in both Future World and World Showcase each day. Plan FASTPASSes throughout the day for Test Track, Soarin’, and Mission Space (in that order) if you’d like to ride any of them a second time. The single rider line at Test Track often has an actual wait shorter than standby or FASTPASS, so consider that as an option. You may also want to get in line for Soarin’ or Test Track right before Epcot closes to find shorter waits than the afternoon, but only if you’re willing to give up seeing IllumiNations. Mission: SPACE should have nominal waits before 11am or after 7pm. If you’re planning just one day in Epcot, try to move up through the World Showcase right at 11am, beginning with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway. These are the only two attractions in World Showcase that will see wait times. Luckily, FASTPASSes for Maelstrom are plentiful. Return to Future World after 5pm to visit any attractions that you skipped in the morning. Keep in mind that some Future World attractions close at 7pm. Expect Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings to accept their last guests of the day at 7pm. Overall, it’s a good day to visit Epcot and a fine day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations, provided you tour efficiently in the morning.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended. A lot of casual vacationers on a weeklong vacation will arrive on Sunday and naturally visit Magic Kingdom and Epcot on their first two full days. By Wednesday and Thursday, they’ll be ready to try Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios. While Animal Kingdom will draw a decent number of Disney resort guests, the morning Extra Magic Hour won’t do much to lure the sizeable off-site contingent. With no special evening entertainment elsewhere and no extended operating hours, many off-site guests will default to Hollywood Studios. Because of that, I can’t recommend it. Keep in mind that the Studios won’t be far and away busier than recommended days because we don’t have anything specific attracting people towards it. You can still have success if you tour efficiently in the morning, take an afternoon break, and return in the evening for dinner, Fantasmic, and some late night rides. However, you will find heavier crowds and longer waits than recommended days – it just won’t be the night and day difference that we saw when Fantasmic was scheduled less often.
Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit as we come off two busier days. Tomorrow will be busier with the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting resort guests. On the downside, we do have the exact same operating hours as every other day this week. Ideally, we’d see a 10pm close tonight, which would result in fewer people visiting on a day that they assume they would be able to do less over the course of a shorter day. On the plus side, the 11pm Electrical Parade will be much less crowded. And if you’re not partaking in the evening entertainment, crowds at the attractions will be lighter after 9pm. Take advantage of the lowest crowds this week by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You may also want to prioritize characters that will have 30+ minute standby waits without the ability to FASTPASS them in the afternoon. You’ll be able to accomplish a ton of attractions in a short amount of time if you make efficient use of the morning and use FASTPASS at the major attractions throughout the day. Consider a break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for dinner, a few nighttime attractions, and the nighttime entertainment. As usual, the lowest Parade crowds are found in Liberty Square and Frontierland, where the view is just as good as Main Street. Plan to arrive about ten minutes before the 11pm Parade steps off. If you’re planning to see the Parade on Main Street, you’ll need to arrive 60 or more minutes early for the 9pm Parade and 30+ for the 11pm Parade.
Thursday August 8
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom and Epcot are our best choices. We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw a lot of Disney resort guests. Today, we have morning Extra Magic Hour attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic continuing to keep Hollywood Studios crowded. All in all, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to the popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. You’ll find it to the right of the standby line. Finally, Kali River Rapids is a higher priority in the summer when temperatures are high. Because of its low capacity, it often has wait times longer than the “major attractions.” Use FASTPASS or visit before 10:30am or after 6pm to get around the 60+ minute afternoon waits. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Return to DinoLand after 6pm and Asia after 7pm to find much shorter waits than the afternoon. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment, Epcot for IllumiNations, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.
Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade pulling people towards Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios continuing to draw crowds. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Soarin’ and then Test Track as soon as possible. Soarin’ and Test Track will have 60+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to popularity and relatively low capacities. Move on to the World Showcase beginning around 11am if crowds begin to build in Future World, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Return to Future World after 5pm if you have more to accomplish and to ride/re-ride the headliners with FASTPASS. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended. While the morning Extra Magic Hour will help draw Disney resort guests toward Magic Kingdom, it won’t be as big of a draw as when Magic Kingdom offers Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes less often. With Main Street Electrical Parade, Wishes, and similarly long hours every day this week, Magic Kingdom will only be marginally more crowded today. We also don’t have the more popular evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled anywhere. I’m looking towards tomorrow as being less crowded, thanks to a decently popular morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot and the fact that the morning Extra Magic Hour on Saturday will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. Like yesterday, there’s nothing specific drawing people towards Hollywood Studios, which means it won’t be far and away busier than non-recommended days during the week. However, you will find higher crowds and longer waits in the afternoon. Most people will want to take advantage of the lower crowds at Epcot and hold off on Hollywood Studios until tomorrow.
The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure a decent number of Disney resort guests, making the Park busier than either this past Tuesday or Wednesday. The fact that we have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled every night this week certainly “helps” distribute crowds more evenly, even though the Disney resort crowd will predictably visit when Extra Magic Hours are scheduled. Today won’t be far and away busier than other days this week and you can have success provided you take advantage of the morning Extra Magic Hour by arriving no later than 7:40am and heading straight to Fantasyland or other open attractions. Move on to the headlining Mountain rides or character meet and greets when they open and you’ll be in excellent shape. However, you will find that crowds are heavier than recommended days in the afternoon. You’ll probably want to take a break from 1pm to 6pm or so and return in the evening to ride some major attractions with FASTPASS, have dinner, see some high capacity attractions, and enjoy the evening spectaculars. Keep in mind that you would be much better off visiting on a recommended day if you aren’t Extra Magic Hours eligible or won’t arrive until 9:30am or later because it will be busier than recommended days from 11am onward.
Friday August 9
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended and would be the “most recommended Park” if it wasn’t more difficult to schedule Hollywood Studios. Epcot will be more popular with the predictable Disney resort guest contingent. You can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to the most popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Because Animal Kingdom doesn’t offer anything in the way of special evening entertainment, few people Park Hop over in the afternoon and evening. Save Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris for the last hour of operation if you’d like to experience them again or couldn’t make it over earlier in the day. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment, Epcot for IllumiNations or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.
Epcot is not recommended. We have the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting a decent number of Disney resort guests that choose the theme park they’re going to visit based on the Extra Magic Hours schedule and evening Extra Magic Hours aren’t scheduled anywhere. Because a lot of Disney resort guests choose to visit Epcot twice over the course of the week, they tend to visit on Tuesdays and Fridays. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or you’re certain that you’ll arrive prior to 8am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.
Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re looking at a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow that will be more popular with Disney resort guests. With Fantasmic scheduled every night and the same operating hours offered every day, the Studios won’t be far and away less crowded than other days this week like it was when Fantasmic was scheduled less often. Nonetheless, we’re looking at fewer people in the Park, crowds that grow slower, increased FASTPASS availability, less congestion in common areas, and shorter waits at rides, shows, and restaurants. To have the most success, you’ll still want to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Because Toy Story Mania has such a limited capacity, wait times are almost always 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes are long gone, even when the overall crowd level is low and Hollywood Studios is recommended. Expect waits to hit 80 to 100 minutes today. You’ll want to make it your top priority. Your second priority is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which also sees long afternoon waits and limited FASTPASS availability. Tower of Terror and Star Tours should be easier to ride, but also remain priorities. If you can get these attractions done in the early morning, you’ll be in great shape for the rest of the day. The only other problem most people run into is trying to schedule all of the stage shows that run on a set schedule. You may also want to prioritize characters that will have longer afternoon waits. Phineas & Ferb tend to have the longest lines in Hollywood Studios. They typically begin appearing at 9:30am, which means you’ll have time to collect FASTPASSes and ride Toy Story Mania before heading over to visit Phineas & Ferb, which are located near Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano and across from the exit to Muppet Vision 3D. Check the week’s Times Guide to verify appearance times. Two other popular characters appear in the Animation Building in the Animation Courtyard. Sorcerer Mickey in particular has long afternoon waits and The Incredibles characters also tend to have decent lines. Since both characters meet indoors and their lines aren’t usually over 20 minutes long, you should be able to find them with decent waits later in the day if you have other morning priorities. Finally, you’ll find some characters in the morning near Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat that won’t appear later in the afternoon. Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Chip, Dale, Friends of Winnie the Pooh, Goofy, and Pluto are all common, but no specific character is guaranteed to appear. For Fantasmic, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the theater if you’re planning to see the 9pm show. You’ll still need to arrive at least 30 minutes early, but it’s better than the 60+ minutes early you’ll need to arrive without the package. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it only costs one table service credit (except at Hollywood Brown Derby, which still costs two credits as it would otherwise) and includes the appetizer. If you’re not interested in the Package or it is no longer available, the 10:30pm show will be much less crowded and only require a wait of about 20 minutes to secure good seats. 10:30pm is simply too late for most families and you won’t be dealing with two large sections roped off for Dining Package users. As far as general seating is concerned, the best seats are about half way up in the center sections. Sit any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and it’s more difficult to see what’s happening on the water.
Magic Kingdom is recommended now that Disney has elected to cancel the evening Extra Magic Hours that were originally scheduled. It will still be crowded with the high overall crowd level, but it will be less crowded than either yesterday or tomorrow. The standardized operating schedule and abundant nighttime entertainment will somewhat standardize daily crowds at Magic Kingdom. Luckily, resort guests are more likely to visit on Thursday with morning Extra Magic Hour and locals aren’t much of an issue on weekdays. Tomorrow will be busy as out of town guests visit one last time before returning home on Sunday. As usual, it’s imperative that you arrive prior to Park opening and visit the priorities on your itinerary first thing. Most people will want to start with Enchanted Tales with Belle, a popular character, or a low capacity attraction that will have longer afternoon waits. Take a break in the afternoon when crowds and temperatures peak. By 11am, wait times for most attractions will be 20+ minutes and you’ll want to rely on FASTPASS while visiting filler attractions.
Saturday August 10
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park for a variety of reasons. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special events, evening entertainment, or anything else to attract on-site or off-site visitors. Those leaving tomorrow after a traditional weeklong vacation are unlikely to visit Animal Kingdom on their last full day and most arriving today won’t head out to Animal Kingdom as their first destination. As always, you’ll be best off if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Wait times will only get shorter after the 3:45pm Parade, so stay through close if you have more you’d like to accomplish. With a limited number of attractions and the high overall crowd level, the afternoon will still be busy. Plan to see shows, visit the least popular attractions, and rely on FASTPASS at the major attractions between 12pm and 5pm.
Epcot is highly recommended and your best choice if you have other plans for Animal Kingdom. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been decently popular with Disney resort guests and they will be nowhere near Epcot today, especially in the morning. Take full advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to ride anything you skipped earlier in the day and to re-ride Soarin’ and Test Track with FASTPASSes collected in the morning. If you arrive later, plan to use FASTPASS for Test Track, Soarin’, and Mission: Space (in that order) as soon as possible. The Test Track single rider line is also a good idea and actual waits are often shorter than standby or FASTPASS. Mission Space and Maelstrom are much easier to FASTPASS if necessary and standby waits are also much shorter. It’s also an excellent day to stay for IllumiNations and enjoy the World Showcase in the afternoon.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended. The sizable Disney resort contingent numbers 75,000+ people during a busy summer month like this one. Because Disney sells the Extra Magic Hour program so well in its marketing materials, many of these Disney resort guests follow the Extra Magic Hours schedule because they think it’s Disney telling them where they belong each day. While you can have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and arrive by 7:15am, most people will want to visit another day. Tomorrow would be significantly better. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:15am and plan to hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning.
Magic Kingdom is not recommended. In past years, we’ve had evening Extra Magic Hours on Fridays and Sundays to help pull Disney resort guests away from Saturday. Disney canceled the Friday set of evening Extra Magic Hours this year. That should in turn cause more people to be looking at Saturday in addition to locals elevating the crowd level. If you had previously planned to visit Magic Kingdom, you can still do fine if you arrive prior to Park opening and follow the usual advice. The first two to three hours will still be excellent. I would highly recommend a break from 1pm to around 5pm. That’s a very hot, very busy time of day and you won’t be missing much lounging back at the resort pool. Return in the evening for dinner, some nighttime attractions, and the entertainment. If you’re not interested in the Electrical Parade or Wishes, visit Tomorrowland from 9pm – 10pm and then Fantasyland in the final hour of operation. You’ll find much lower wait times than the afternoon and the temperature is slightly more comfortable. Head over to Liberty Square or Frontierland for the 11pm Parade if you’d like to catch it.
Sunday August 11
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 11pm – 1am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours/Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom luring a lot of Disney resort guests. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow or Wednesday for morning Extra Magic Hour. With the longer than usual operating hours, you should be able to do just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS. After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King and you’ll be set for the rest of the day. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and the last 90 minutes of operation will have much shorter waits than the afternoon. You also have an outstanding opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations, Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner and a look around the resort or take a trip out to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping.
Epcot is recommended as well. It’s a particularly excellent day to see IllumiNations and have dinner in the World Showcase because Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd. Despite the recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the touring plans. Single Rider at Test Track is also a good option and will often result in a shorter wait than the standby or FASTPASS lines. It’s more important to arrive early and take care of the headliners first thing than it is to pick the “right” day. You’ll run into lines at the headliners in Future World if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. To stay ahead of the crowds for the longest amount of time, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to see anything you missed, but make sure you check your Times Guide because some attractions close at 7pm, including Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, both Innoventions buildings, and Ellen’s Energy Adventure. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’ or Test Track, plan to use FASTPASS, single rider at Test Track, or get in line around 8:55pm.
Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will be more popular with the predictable Disney resort guests. We also have evening Extra Magic Hours, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes at Magic Kingdom, all of which will be incredibly popular with Disney resort guests. Finally, Sunday is a popular travel day and few people arriving will head out to the Studios for Fantasmic this evening. Those that arrived yesterday are also unlikely to begin their first full day at Hollywood Studios. Thus, today is less crowded than any other day this week. If you have other plans today, this coming Tuesday and Friday are also recommended. This past Friday was also recommended. In order to find the shortest waits, you’ll need to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Mania to ride and/or collect FASTPASSes. Because of its popularity and extremely limited capacity, Toy Story Mania almost always has afternoon waits of 60 or more minutes and FASTPASSes that are routinely gone before 1pm, even when crowds are relatively low and the Studios is recommended. It’s always your top priority. The second attraction with the longest peak wait is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which should be ridden immediately after Toy Story Mania in the morning or with FASTPASS. Other priorities are Tower of Terror and Star Tours, though FASTPASSes are more plentiful at both attractions and standby waits are usually lower. After you get through these four headliners, it’s just a matter of arriving in time to see the various stage shows that run on a set schedule and getting over to the Studios’ high capacity attractions. You may also have characters to visit before lines get longer. For Fantasmic, you’ll want to arrive about 60 minutes early to guarantee good seats together if you’re interested in the 9pm show. If that sounds like it’s about 30 minutes too long, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. It will still require you to arrive at least 20 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it saves the stress of having to decide when it’s time to line up and decreases the overall wait. The Fantasmic Dining Package makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. Plus, it includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Disney Dining Plan. If you’re not interested in the Package or it’s no longer available, then you’ll want to do whatever you can to see the 10:30pm show. The later show is always less crowded because so many families can’t stay up that late and you won’t have to deal with two large sections roped off for Dining Package users. While it’s officially a recommended day, arriving prior to Park opening and hitting the headliners first thing is more important than which day you pick. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
Magic Kingdom is not recommended, though the morning from 9am – 11am and the late evening from 10:30pm – 1am will both be good times to tour. However, the afternoon will be busy enough that you won’t want to risk it unless you’re absolutely certain that you’ll take advantage of one or both of the recommended touring times and can’t visit on a “more recommended” day. Most Disney resort guests who will be headed to the Magic Kingdom will sleep in and arrive around 11am, in anticipation of staying until around 10:30pm. If you arrive prior to 9am, you can have a lot of success visiting the Fantasyland attractions and headlining Mountain rides. However, the Park will be busy from 12pm to 10pm as the bulk of Disney resort guests arrive en masse and stay through the evening entertainment. You’ll either want to take a break, Park Hop elsewhere, or plan to visit some of the less popular attractions for that time slot. The relatively late night Extra Magic Hours are also recommended. For the Main Street Electrical Parade, the least crowded viewing locations are in Liberty Square and Frontierland for the 11pm Parade. These areas are much less crowded than Main Street and the second Parade is less popular, even with people arriving for the Extra Magic Hours. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, begin in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last because most families will be long gone from the Park by 12am and Fantasyland will be low on crowds. It’s not uncommon for Peter Pan’s Flight to have a 75 minute wait in the afternoon and a ten minute or less wait at the end of evening Extra Magic Hours. Save Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Journey of the Little Mermaid for the very end of the night. You’ll find lower crowds on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of this coming week, but the morning and late night will both be good times to tour if you need an additional day at Magic Kingdom.
Monday August 12
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 12am
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s difficult to get out to the Animal Kingdom by 7:45am to take full advantage of it. If you’re staying at a Monorail Deluxe Resort, you’re looking at a 20+ minute drive to the Animal Kingdom, plus time for the bus to arrive – not to mention getting multiple people up and ready early in the morning with just one shower and limited space. At 6:30am. Or earlier. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 7:45am, then you can have a lot of success because the crowd level won’t be that high, but it will be busier in the afternoon than other recommended days this week due to a higher number of Disney resort guests than usual. You’re much better served holding off until Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday if you’re not going to arrive until 9am or later.
Epcot is the only expressly recommended Park. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special evening entertainment, or anything else that will draw people toward Epcot specifically. Disney resort guests will be more likely to visit tomorrow or Friday for Extra Magic Hours and off-site visitors will be headed to the Magic Kingdom because they naturally prefer to visit it on their first full day of a weeklong vacation. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to visit any non-headlining attractions. If you’d like to ride Test Track or Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, rely on FASTPASS, use the Test Track single rider line, or get in line for one around 8:55pm. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm. Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings ordinarily close at 7pm. Finally, it’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.
Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests and the addition of Fantasmic. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. Tomorrow or Friday would be significantly less crowded overall. Unfortunately, I’m not too fond of evening Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. There are only a few attractions open and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, especially with the evening Extra Magic Hours only being two hours in 2013. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 9:30pm and again at 11pm, right as evening Extra Magic Hours gets underway. The Fantasmic Theater is located right on Sunset Boulevard, across from the entrances to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. While not everyone seeing Fantasmic will be a Disney resort guest, many of them will be, and a ton will be headed to Tower of Tower and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster because they truly believe it’s the best time to get in line. Unfortunately, they’ll find themselves lined up with a few thousand of their new best friends. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. While you could theoretically have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for the headliners, the same will be true later in the week and you won’t have to deal with the significantly heavier afternoon and evening crowds. Avoid it unless you’re planning to visit from 9am – 1pm or can’t visit any other day.
It’s going to be a busy day at Magic Kingdom even without Extra Magic Hours to lure Disney resort guests. First, a lot of people are arriving for a weeklong vacation. They travel over the weekend and naturally head to the Magic Kingdom on Monday for their first full day. With the mostly standardized operating schedule this week and nighttime entertainment featured every night, it won’t be overwhelmingly busier compared to tomorrow or Wednesday. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom despite the warning, you can still have a successful and fun day if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever you feel is most important on your itinerary. You may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so to rest up for the nighttime spectaculars. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded.
Tuesday August 13
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Recommended)
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Highly Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park for a number of reasons. We don’t have special events, Extra Magic Hours, or anything specific drawing people toward it. Yesterday’s and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hours will be more popular with Disney resort guests. It’s also early enough in the week that many people on weeklong vacations will be saving Animal Kingdom for later in the week. Overall, today and Saturday are the best days of the week to visit, though Thursday, Friday, and Sunday would also be fine. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Once you get through these two attractions, you have little to worry about other than trying to get to the scheduled shows and potentially arriving just before the popular characters first appear. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon, so try to see the first or last show of the day. You’ll also want to get to DinoLand USA before 10:30am to ride Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR because those two attractions are popular. Still, they aren’t necessarily your top morning priorities and you can easily FASTPASS them throughout the day if need arises. With the long day, you should have no trouble accomplishing most of what the Animal Kingdom has to offer in one day, provided you arrive early in the morning, tour efficiently, collect FASTPASSes, and keep an eye on the time in order to see the scheduled stage shows. Finally, crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Plan to return to any favorites from 5:45pm through close when waits will be shorter than the afternoon if you have more to accomplish or couldn’t arrive early.
We’ll want to avoid Epcot. Its evening Extra Magic Hours will lure the majority of Disney resort guests, which will lengthen waits times at the attractions for the entire afternoon and evening. Epcot is almost always at its busiest and lines are the longest when it has evening Extra Magic Hours. This is due to the fact that many Disney resort guests head to whichever Park has Extra Magic Hours, even if they don’t plan to take advantage of them. Without Park Hopper, Disney resort guests must stay in the Park with Extra Magic Hours for the entire day. The increased crowds lead to longer lines, heavier congestion in common areas, and an overall less pleasant touring experience. I would urge you to visit a different Park. If you want to head to Epcot today, despite my strong objections, your best chance to ride the headlining rides is from 9am-11am. Most Disney resort guests will sleep in and arrive around lunch in anticipation of staying until 10-11pm. The morning will be an excellent time to tour Epcot, but you’ll probably want to Park Hop elsewhere after lunch or you’ll be stuck in significantly larger-than-usual crowds. You might also consider an afternoon break from 2pm-6pm when crowds will be at their largest. You could then return in the early evening for dinner and Extra Magic Hours. Alternatively, you could also Park Hop over in the evening for Extra Magic Hours, provided you’re aware of how busy it will be. The last hour of Extra Magic Hours is always the least crowded, so plan to stay until 11pm and head back to Soarin’ and Test Track after 10pm. Skip Illuminations if you’ll be here on another night because it will be more crowded than usual.
Hollywood Studios is recommended, though this past Sunday and this coming Friday would be better. While it’s true that we’re coming off a busy day yesterday for evening Extra Magic Hours, a decent number of Disney resort guests will ignore it in order to visit Magic Kingdom first on a standard weeklong vacation. The Extra Magic Hours schedule also doesn’t do much to sway the similarly large off-site contingent, especially in the summer when the number of off-site guests is higher than any other time of year. With long hours of operation every day and Fantasmic scheduled every night this week, the Studios won’t be far and away less crowded on “recommended days,” compared to “not recommended days,” like it was when Fantasmic was scheduled less often. Nonetheless, you can expect peak wait times to be lower, crowds to build slower, FASTPASSes to be more plentiful, and waits to be lower than days that aren’t recommended. Overall, this will be a day with “slightly below average” crowds at the Studios specifically, as compared to other days this week. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Midway Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Toy Story Mania in particular has wait times that almost always hit 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes that routinely are gone by 1pm. Make it your morning and FASTPASS priority. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster also sees long afternoon waits. Plan to head there right after Toy Story Mania or rely on FASTPASS. The other two attractions with decent waits are Tower of Terror and Star Tours. Luckily, they have higher capacities and aren’t as popular. You’ll still want to ride before 10:30am or plan to use FASTPASS later in the day. Expect to see 30 minute standby wait times from 12pm – 4pm for Star Tours and 60+ minute waits for Tower of Terror are common, especially when it isn’t running at full capacity. Once you get through those four attractions, it’s really just a matter of getting over to the high capacity rides and shows that run on a set schedule. It’s unlikely you’ll run into much of a line at Backlot Tour or Great Movie Ride, but fitting in the various stage shows can be tricky because they have a tendency to start and end at the same time. You may also want to make a popular character a morning priority. Check your Times Guide and plan to arrive at as many characters as possible about five minutes before they’re scheduled to appear. Overall, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of the headlining attractions first thing. With the long day, you may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm – 5pm or so to rest up for dinner and Fantasmic. This is the busiest and hottest part of the day. For Fantasmic, I recommend the Fantasmic Dining Package, which guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Theater if you’re interested in the 9pm show. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. It also includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Dining Plan. You’ll still need to arrive at least 25 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it’s better than the 60 minute wait you’re looking at to score decent seats together without the Package. If the Package isn’t available or you prefer not to pay for it, try to see the 10:30pm show. It will be significantly less crowded because so many families have to leave earlier and you won’t have to deal with two large sections roped off for Dining Package users. The best seats for Fantasmic are located in the center section more than half way up from the stage. Any closer and you risk getting wet and may not have a good view of what’s happening on the water around the stage.
Magic Kingdom is highly recommended and an excellent choice if you don’t want to wait until tomorrow to visit. Epcot’s evening Extra Magic Hours and Hollywood Studios’ Fantasmic will help draw crowds away and a lot of people will have visited yesterday for their first full day at Disney World. Still, Magic Kingdom won’t be empty with the above average overall crowd level, same operating hours as other days this week, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes. It’s still more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. You may also want to fit other time-sensitive attractions like Tomorrowland Indy Speedway or Astro Orbiter in there as well, along with Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and other quick attractions that will have decent afternoon waits like Astro Orbiter. Consider taking a break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds are heaviest and wait times are longest to rest up for the evening entertainment. For Main Street Electrical Parade, scout out a spot along the Parade route in Liberty Square or Frontierland for the 11pm Parade. Both areas are significantly less crowded than Main Street and require a shorter wait. The later Parade is less crowded because so many families leave immediately after Wishes (if they even make it that far). It will also be easier to exit the Park around 11:45pm than 10:15pm. Magic Kingdom will also be the most recommended Park tomorrow, so you may want to hold off until then if you have other plans today. If you’re trying to decide between today and tomorrow, then I would go with tomorrow because it’s in the middle of the week and even more people will be ready to visit another Park. However, today will be nearly as good if you tour efficiently in the morning, take a restful break, and enjoy the Magic Kingdom’s nighttime spectaculars.
Wednesday August 14
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Most Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
It’s the busiest day of the week at Animal Kingdom. The morning Extra Magic Hour will attract the bulk of the Disney resort crowd and there’s no evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment going on at the other Parks (since Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantasmic are scheduled every night this week), which will cause a lot of off-site guests to visit as well. With both yesterday and tomorrow recommended, there’s no reason to visit today.
Epcot is recommended. We’re coming off a very popular evening Extra Magic Hours yesterday and most Disney resort guests will be waiting to either return or visit for their first time this Friday. Disney resort guests are more likely to head to Animal Kingdom today and the addition of Fantasmic means a decent number of off-site guests will be headed to Hollywood Studios as well. In most scenarios, I recommend heading to Magic Kingdom today to take advantage of the lower crowd level there and holding off on Epcot until tomorrow. However, Epcot works fine today too, provided you follow my broken-record advice – arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. You may also want to take a more compartmentalized two-day approach, which gives you the benefit of enjoying the lowest possible crowds in both Future World and World Showcase each day. Plan FASTPASSes throughout the day for Test Track, Soarin’, and Mission Space (in that order) if you’d like to ride any of them a second time. The single rider line at Test Track often has an actual wait shorter than standby or FASTPASS, so consider that as an option. You may also want to get in line for Soarin’ or Test Track right before Epcot closes to find shorter waits than the afternoon, but only if you’re willing to give up seeing IllumiNations. Mission: SPACE should have nominal waits before 11am or after 7pm. If you’re planning just one day in Epcot, try to move up through the World Showcase right at 11am, beginning with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway. These are the only two attractions in World Showcase that will see wait times. Luckily, FASTPASSes for Maelstrom are plentiful. Return to Future World after 5pm to visit any attractions that you skipped in the morning. Keep in mind that some Future World attractions close at 7pm. Expect Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings to accept their last guests of the day at 7pm. Overall, it’s a good day to visit Epcot and a fine day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations, provided you tour efficiently in the morning.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended. A lot of casual vacationers on a weeklong vacation will arrive on Sunday and naturally visit Magic Kingdom and Epcot on their first two full days. By Wednesday and Thursday, they’ll be ready to try Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios. While Animal Kingdom will draw a decent number of Disney resort guests, the morning Extra Magic Hour won’t do much to lure the sizeable off-site contingent. With no special evening entertainment elsewhere and no extended operating hours, many off-site guests will default to Hollywood Studios. Because of that, I can’t recommend it. Keep in mind that the Studios won’t be far and away busier than recommended days because we don’t have anything specific attracting people towards it. You can still have success if you tour efficiently in the morning, take an afternoon break, and return in the evening for dinner, Fantasmic, and some late night rides. However, you will find heavier crowds and longer waits than recommended days – it just won’t be the night and day difference that we saw when Fantasmic was scheduled less often.
Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit as we come off two busier days. Tomorrow will be busier with the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting resort guests. On the downside, we do have the exact same operating hours as every other day this week. Ideally, we’d see a 10pm close tonight, which would result in fewer people visiting on a day that they assume they would be able to do less over the course of a shorter day. On the plus side, the 11pm Electrical Parade will be much less crowded. And if you’re not partaking in the evening entertainment, crowds at the attractions will be lighter after 9pm. Take advantage of the lowest crowds this week by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You may also want to prioritize characters that will have 30+ minute standby waits without the ability to FASTPASS them in the afternoon. You’ll be able to accomplish a ton of attractions in a short amount of time if you make efficient use of the morning and use FASTPASS at the major attractions throughout the day. Consider a break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for dinner, a few nighttime attractions, and the nighttime entertainment. As usual, the lowest Parade crowds are found in Liberty Square and Frontierland, where the view is just as good as Main Street. Plan to arrive about ten minutes before the 11pm Parade steps off. If you’re planning to see the Parade on Main Street, you’ll need to arrive 60 or more minutes early for the 9pm Parade and 30+ for the 11pm Parade.
Thursday August 15
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom and Epcot are our best choices. We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw a lot of Disney resort guests. Today, we have morning Extra Magic Hour attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic continuing to keep Hollywood Studios crowded. All in all, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to the popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. You’ll find it to the right of the standby line. Finally, Kali River Rapids is a higher priority in the summer when temperatures are high. Because of its low capacity, it often has wait times longer than the “major attractions.” Use FASTPASS or visit before 10:30am or after 6pm to get around the 60+ minute afternoon waits. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Return to DinoLand after 5pm and Asia after 6pm to find much shorter waits than the afternoon. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment, Epcot for IllumiNations, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.
Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade pulling people towards Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios continuing to draw crowds. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Soarin’ and then Test Track as soon as possible. Soarin’ and Test Track will have 60+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to popularity and relatively low capacities. Move on to the World Showcase beginning around 11am if crowds begin to build in Future World, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Return to Future World after 5pm if you have more to accomplish and to ride/re-ride the headliners with FASTPASS. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended. While the morning Extra Magic Hour will help draw Disney resort guests toward Magic Kingdom, it won’t be as big of a draw as when Magic Kingdom offers Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes less often. With Main Street Electrical Parade, Wishes, and similarly long hours every day this week, Magic Kingdom will only be marginally more crowded today. We also don’t have the more popular evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled anywhere. I’m looking towards tomorrow as being less crowded, thanks to a decently popular morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot and the fact that the morning Extra Magic Hour on Saturday will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. Like yesterday, there’s nothing specific drawing people towards Hollywood Studios, which means it won’t be far and away busier than non-recommended days during the week. However, you will find higher crowds and longer waits in the afternoon. Most people will want to take advantage of the lower crowds at Epcot and hold off on Hollywood Studios until tomorrow.
The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure a decent number of Disney resort guests, making the Park busier than either this past Tuesday or Wednesday. The fact that we have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled every night this week certainly “helps” distribute crowds more evenly, even though the Disney resort crowd will predictably visit when Extra Magic Hours are scheduled. Today won’t be far and away busier than other days this week and you can have success provided you take advantage of the morning Extra Magic Hour by arriving no later than 7:40am and heading straight to Fantasyland or other open attractions. Move on to the headlining Mountain rides or character meet and greets when they open and you’ll be in excellent shape. However, you will find that crowds are heavier than recommended days in the afternoon. You’ll probably want to take a break from 1pm to 6pm or so and return in the evening to ride some major attractions with FASTPASS, have dinner, see some high capacity attractions, and enjoy the evening spectaculars. Keep in mind that you would be much better off visiting on a recommended day if you aren’t Extra Magic Hours eligible or won’t arrive until 9:30am or later because it will be busier than recommended days from 11am onward.
Friday August 16
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended and would be the “most recommended Park” if it wasn’t more difficult to schedule Hollywood Studios. Epcot will be more popular with the predictable Disney resort guest contingent. You can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to the most popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Because Animal Kingdom doesn’t offer anything in the way of special evening entertainment, few people Park Hop over in the afternoon and evening. Save Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris for the last hour of operation if you’d like to experience them again or couldn’t make it over earlier in the day. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment, Epcot for IllumiNations or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.
Epcot is not recommended. We have the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting a decent number of Disney resort guests that choose the theme park they’re going to visit based on the Extra Magic Hours schedule and evening Extra Magic Hours aren’t scheduled anywhere. Because a lot of Disney resort guests choose to visit Epcot twice over the course of the week, they tend to visit on Tuesdays and Fridays. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or you’re certain that you’ll arrive prior to 8am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.
Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re looking at a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow that will be more popular with Disney resort guests. With Fantasmic scheduled every night and the same operating hours offered every day, the Studios won’t be far and away less crowded than other days this week like it was when Fantasmic was scheduled less often. Nonetheless, we’re looking at fewer people in the Park, crowds that grow slower, increased FASTPASS availability, less congestion in common areas, and shorter waits at rides, shows, and restaurants. To have the most success, you’ll still want to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Because Toy Story Mania has such a limited capacity, wait times are almost always 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes are long gone, even when the overall crowd level is low and Hollywood Studios is recommended. Expect waits to hit 80 to 100 minutes today. You’ll want to make it your top priority. Your second priority is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which also sees long afternoon waits and limited FASTPASS availability. Tower of Terror and Star Tours should be easier to ride, but also remain priorities. If you can get these attractions done in the early morning, you’ll be in great shape for the rest of the day. The only other problem most people run into is trying to schedule all of the stage shows that run on a set schedule. You may also want to prioritize characters that will have longer afternoon waits. Phineas & Ferb tend to have the longest lines in Hollywood Studios. They typically begin appearing at 9:30am, which means you’ll have time to collect FASTPASSes and ride Toy Story Mania before heading over to visit Phineas & Ferb, which are located near Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano and across from the exit to Muppet Vision 3D. Check the week’s Times Guide to verify appearance times. Two other popular characters appear in the Animation Building in the Animation Courtyard. Sorcerer Mickey in particular has long afternoon waits and The Incredibles characters also tend to have decent lines. Since both characters meet indoors and their lines aren’t usually over 20 minutes long, you should be able to find them with decent waits later in the day if you have other morning priorities. Finally, you’ll find some characters in the morning near Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat that won’t appear later in the afternoon. Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Chip, Dale, Friends of Winnie the Pooh, Goofy, and Pluto are all common, but no specific character is guaranteed to appear. For Fantasmic, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the theater if you’re planning to see the 9pm show. You’ll still need to arrive at least 30 minutes early, but it’s better than the 60+ minutes early you’ll need to arrive without the package. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it only costs one table service credit (except at Hollywood Brown Derby, which still costs two credits as it would otherwise) and includes the appetizer. If you’re not interested in the Package or it is no longer available, the 10:30pm show will be much less crowded and only require a wait of about 20 minutes to secure good seats. 10:30pm is simply too late for most families and you won’t be dealing with two large sections roped off for Dining Package users. As far as general seating is concerned, the best seats are about half way up in the center sections. Sit any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and it’s more difficult to see what’s happening on the water.
Magic Kingdom is recommended now that Disney has elected to cancel the evening Extra Magic Hours that were originally scheduled. It will still be crowded with the high overall crowd level, but it will be less crowded than either yesterday or tomorrow. The standardized operating schedule and abundant nighttime entertainment will somewhat standardize daily crowds at Magic Kingdom. Luckily, resort guests are more likely to visit on Thursday with morning Extra Magic Hour and locals aren’t much of an issue on weekdays. Tomorrow will be busy as out of town guests visit one last time before returning home on Sunday. As usual, it’s imperative that you arrive prior to Park opening and visit the priorities on your itinerary first thing. Most people will want to start with Enchanted Tales with Belle, a popular character, or a low capacity attraction that will have longer afternoon waits. Take a break in the afternoon when crowds and temperatures peak. By 11am, wait times for most attractions will be 20+ minutes and you’ll want to rely on FASTPASS while visiting filler attractions.
Saturday August 17
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park for a variety of reasons. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special events, evening entertainment, or anything else to attract on-site or off-site visitors. Those leaving tomorrow after a traditional weeklong vacation are unlikely to visit Animal Kingdom on their last full day and most arriving today won’t head out to Animal Kingdom as their first destination. As always, you’ll be best off if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Wait times will only get shorter after the 3:45pm Parade, so stay through close if you have more you’d like to accomplish. With a limited number of attractions and the high overall crowd level, the afternoon will still be busy. Plan to see shows, visit the least popular attractions, and rely on FASTPASS at the major attractions between 12pm and 5pm.
Epcot is highly recommended and your best choice if you have other plans for Animal Kingdom. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been decently popular with Disney resort guests and they will be nowhere near Epcot today, especially in the morning. Take full advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to ride anything you skipped earlier in the day and to re-ride Soarin’ and Test Track with FASTPASSes collected in the morning. If you arrive later, plan to use FASTPASS for Test Track, Soarin’, and Mission: Space (in that order) as soon as possible. The Test Track single rider line is also a good idea and actual waits are often shorter than standby or FASTPASS. Mission Space and Maelstrom are much easier to FASTPASS if necessary and standby waits are also much shorter. It’s also an excellent day to stay for IllumiNations and enjoy the World Showcase in the afternoon.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended. The sizable Disney resort contingent numbers 75,000+ people during a busy summer month like this one. Because Disney sells the Extra Magic Hour program so well in its marketing materials, many of these Disney resort guests follow the Extra Magic Hours schedule because they think it’s Disney telling them where they belong each day. While you can have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and arrive by 7:15am, most people will want to visit another day. Tomorrow would be significantly better. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:15am and plan to hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning.
Magic Kingdom is not recommended. In past years, we’ve had evening Extra Magic Hours on Fridays and Sundays to help pull Disney resort guests away from Saturday. Disney canceled the Friday set of evening Extra Magic Hours this year. That should in turn cause more people to be looking at Saturday in addition to locals elevating the crowd level. If you had previously planned to visit Magic Kingdom, you can still do fine if you arrive prior to Park opening and follow the usual advice. The first two to three hours will still be excellent. I would highly recommend a break from 1pm to around 5pm. That’s a very hot, very busy time of day and you won’t be missing much lounging back at the resort pool. Return in the evening for dinner, some nighttime attractions, and the entertainment. If you’re not interested in the Electrical Parade or Wishes, visit Tomorrowland from 9pm – 10pm and then Fantasyland in the final hour of operation. You’ll find much lower wait times than the afternoon and the temperature is slightly more comfortable. Head over to Liberty Square or Frontierland for the 11pm Parade if you’d like to catch it.
Sunday August 18
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)
Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 11pm – 1am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours/Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom luring a lot of Disney resort guests. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow or Wednesday for morning Extra Magic Hour. With the longer than usual operating hours, you should be able to do just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS. After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King and you’ll be set for the rest of the day. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and the last 90 minutes of operation will have much shorter waits than the afternoon. You also have an outstanding opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations, Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner and a look around the resort or take a trip out to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping.
Epcot is recommended as well. It’s a particularly excellent day to see IllumiNations and have dinner in the World Showcase because Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd. Despite the recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the touring plans. Single Rider at Test Track is also a good option and will often result in a shorter wait than the standby or FASTPASS lines. It’s more important to arrive early and take care of the headliners first thing than it is to pick the “right” day. You’ll run into lines at the headliners in Future World if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. To stay ahead of the crowds for the longest amount of time, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to see anything you missed, but make sure you check your Times Guide because some attractions close at 7pm, including Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, both Innoventions buildings, and Ellen’s Energy Adventure. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’ or Test Track, plan to use FASTPASS, single rider at Test Track, or get in line around 8:55pm.
Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will be more popular with the predictable Disney resort guests. We also have evening Extra Magic Hours, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes at Magic Kingdom, all of which will be incredibly popular with Disney resort guests. Finally, Sunday is a popular travel day and few people arriving will head out to the Studios for Fantasmic this evening. Those that arrived yesterday are also unlikely to begin their first full day at Hollywood Studios. Thus, today is less crowded than any other day this week. If you have other plans today, this coming Tuesday and Friday are also recommended. This past Friday was also recommended. In order to find the shortest waits, you’ll need to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Mania to ride and/or collect FASTPASSes. Because of its popularity and extremely limited capacity, Toy Story Mania almost always has afternoon waits of 60 or more minutes and FASTPASSes that are routinely gone before 1pm, even when crowds are relatively low and the Studios is recommended. It’s always your top priority. The second attraction with the longest peak wait is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which should be ridden immediately after Toy Story Mania in the morning or with FASTPASS. Other priorities are Tower of Terror and Star Tours, though FASTPASSes are more plentiful at both attractions and standby waits are usually lower. After you get through these four headliners, it’s just a matter of arriving in time to see the various stage shows that run on a set schedule and getting over to the Studios’ high capacity attractions. You may also have characters to visit before lines get longer. For Fantasmic, you’ll want to arrive about 60 minutes early to guarantee good seats together if you’re interested in the 8:30pm show. If that sounds like it’s about 30 minutes too long, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. It will still require you to arrive at least 20 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it saves the stress of having to decide when it’s time to line up and decreases the overall wait. The Fantasmic Dining Package makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. Plus, it includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Disney Dining Plan. If you’re not interested in the Package or it’s no longer available, then you’ll want to do whatever you can to see the 10pm show. The later show is always less crowded because so many families can’t stay up that late and you won’t have to deal with two large sections roped off for Dining Package users. While it’s officially a recommended day, arriving prior to Park opening and hitting the headliners first thing is more important than which day you pick. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
Magic Kingdom is not recommended, though the morning from 9am – 11am and the late evening from 10:30pm – 1am will both be good times to tour. However, the afternoon will be busy enough that you won’t want to risk it unless you’re absolutely certain that you’ll take advantage of one or both of the recommended touring times and can’t visit on a “more recommended” day. Most Disney resort guests who will be headed to the Magic Kingdom will sleep in and arrive around 11am, in anticipation of staying until around 10:30pm. If you arrive prior to 9am, you can have a lot of success visiting the Fantasyland attractions and headlining Mountain rides. However, the Park will be busy from 12pm to 10pm as the bulk of Disney resort guests arrive en masse and stay through the evening entertainment. You’ll either want to take a break, Park Hop elsewhere, or plan to visit some of the less popular attractions for that time slot. The relatively late night Extra Magic Hours are also recommended. For the Main Street Electrical Parade, the least crowded viewing locations are in Liberty Square and Frontierland for the 11pm Parade. These areas are much less crowded than Main Street and the second Parade is less popular, even with people arriving for the Extra Magic Hours. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, begin in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last because most families will be long gone from the Park by 12am and Fantasyland will be low on crowds. It’s not uncommon for Peter Pan’s Flight to have a 75 minute wait in the afternoon and a ten minute or less wait at the end of evening Extra Magic Hours. Save Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Journey of the Little Mermaid for the very end of the night. You’ll find lower crowds on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of this coming week, but the morning and late night will both be good times to tour if you need an additional day at Magic Kingdom.
Monday August 19
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 12am
Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s difficult to get out to the Animal Kingdom by 7:45am to take full advantage of it. If you’re staying at a Monorail Deluxe Resort, you’re looking at a 20+ minute drive to the Animal Kingdom, plus time for the bus to arrive – not to mention getting multiple people up and ready early in the morning with just one shower and limited space. At 6:30am. Or earlier. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 7:45am, then you can have a lot of success because the crowd level won’t be that high, but it will be busier in the afternoon than other recommended days this week due to a higher number of Disney resort guests than usual. You’re much better served holding off until Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday if you’re not going to arrive until 9am or later.
Epcot is the only expressly recommended Park. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special evening entertainment, or anything else that will draw people toward Epcot specifically. Disney resort guests will be more likely to visit tomorrow or Friday for Extra Magic Hours and off-site visitors will be headed to the Magic Kingdom because they naturally prefer to visit it on their first full day of a weeklong vacation. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to visit any non-headlining attractions. If you’d like to ride Test Track or Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, rely on FASTPASS, use the Test Track single rider line, or get in line for one around 8:55pm. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm. Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings ordinarily close at 7pm. Finally, it’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.
Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests and the addition of Fantasmic. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. Tomorrow or Friday would be significantly less crowded overall. Unfortunately, I’m not too fond of evening Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. There are only a few attractions open and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, especially with the evening Extra Magic Hours only being two hours in 2013. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 9pm and again at 10:30pm, right as evening Extra Magic Hours gets underway. The Fantasmic Theater is located right on Sunset Boulevard, across from the entrances to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. While not everyone seeing Fantasmic will be a Disney resort guest, many of them will be, and a ton will be headed to Tower of Tower and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster because they truly believe it’s the best time to get in line. Unfortunately, they’ll find themselves lined up with a few thousand of their new best friends. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. While you could theoretically have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for the headliners, the same will be true later in the week and you won’t have to deal with the significantly heavier afternoon and evening crowds. Avoid it unless you’re planning to visit from 9am – 1pm or can’t visit any other day.
It’s going to be a busy day at Magic Kingdom even without Extra Magic Hours to lure Disney resort guests. First, a lot of people are arriving for a weeklong vacation. They travel over the weekend and naturally head to the Magic Kingdom on Monday for their first full day. With the mostly standardized operating schedule this week and nighttime entertainment featured every night, it won’t be overwhelmingly busier compared to tomorrow or Wednesday. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom despite the warning, you can still have a successful and fun day if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever you feel is most important on your itinerary. You may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so to rest up for the nighttime spectaculars. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded.
Tuesday August 20
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Recommended)
Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Highly Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park for a number of reasons. We don’t have special events, Extra Magic Hours, or anything specific drawing people toward it. Yesterday’s and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hours will be more popular with Disney resort guests. The slightly later close on Monday and Wednesday will also be more attractive to off-site visitors who equate longer hours with being able to do more during the day, even if the heavier crowds usually lead to longer wait times. It’s also early enough in the week that many people on weeklong vacations will be saving Animal Kingdom for later in the week. Overall, today and Saturday are the best days of the week to visit, though Thursday, Friday, and Sunday would also be fine. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Once you get through these two attractions, you have little to worry about other than trying to get to the scheduled shows and potentially arriving just before the popular characters first appear. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon, so try to see the first or last show of the day. You’ll also want to get to DinoLand USA before 10:30am to ride Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR because those two attractions are popular. Still, they aren’t necessarily your top morning priorities and you can easily FASTPASS them throughout the day if need arises. With the long day, you should have no trouble accomplishing most of what the Animal Kingdom has to offer in one day, provided you arrive early in the morning, tour efficiently, collect FASTPASSes, and keep an eye on the time in order to see the scheduled stage shows. Finally, crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Plan to return to any favorites from 4:45pm through close when waits will be shorter than the afternoon if you have more to accomplish or couldn’t arrive early.
We’ll want to avoid Epcot. Its evening Extra Magic Hours will lure the majority of Disney resort guests, which will lengthen waits times at the attractions for the entire afternoon and evening. Epcot is almost always at its busiest and lines are the longest when it has evening Extra Magic Hours. This is due to the fact that many Disney resort guests head to whichever Park has Extra Magic Hours, even if they don’t plan to take advantage of them. Without Park Hopper, Disney resort guests must stay in the Park with Extra Magic Hours for the entire day. The increased crowds lead to longer lines, heavier congestion in common areas, and an overall less pleasant touring experience. I would urge you to visit a different Park. If you want to head to Epcot today, despite my strong objections, your best chance to ride the headlining rides is from 9am-11am. Most Disney resort guests will sleep in and arrive around lunch in anticipation of staying until 10-11pm. The morning will be an excellent time to tour Epcot, but you’ll probably want to Park Hop elsewhere after lunch or you’ll be stuck in significantly larger-than-usual crowds. You might also consider an afternoon break from 2pm-6pm when crowds will be at their largest. You could then return in the early evening for dinner and Extra Magic Hours. Alternatively, you could also Park Hop over in the evening for Extra Magic Hours, provided you’re aware of how busy it will be. The last hour of Extra Magic Hours is always the least crowded, so plan to stay until 11pm and head back to Soarin’ and Test Track after 10pm. Skip Illuminations if you’ll be here on another night because it will be more crowded than usual.
Hollywood Studios is recommended, though this past Sunday and this coming Friday would be better. While it’s true that we’re coming off a busy day yesterday for evening Extra Magic Hours, a decent number of Disney resort guests will ignore it in order to visit Magic Kingdom first on a standard weeklong vacation. The Extra Magic Hours schedule also doesn’t do much to sway the similarly large off-site contingent, especially in the summer when the number of off-site guests is higher than any other time of year. With long hours of operation every day and Fantasmic scheduled every night this week, the Studios won’t be far and away less crowded on “recommended days,” compared to “not recommended days,” like it was when Fantasmic was scheduled less often. Nonetheless, you can expect peak wait times to be lower, crowds to build slower, FASTPASSes to be more plentiful, and waits to be lower than days that aren’t recommended. Overall, this will be a day with “slightly below average” crowds at the Studios specifically, as compared to other days this week. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Midway Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Toy Story Mania in particular has wait times that almost always hit 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes that routinely are gone by 1pm. Make it your morning and FASTPASS priority. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster also sees long afternoon waits. Plan to head there right after Toy Story Mania or rely on FASTPASS. The other two attractions with decent waits are Tower of Terror and Star Tours. Luckily, they have higher capacities and aren’t as popular. You’ll still want to ride before 10:30am or plan to use FASTPASS later in the day. Expect to see 30 minute standby wait times from 12pm – 4pm for Star Tours and 60+ minute waits for Tower of Terror are common, especially when it isn’t running at full capacity. Once you get through those four attractions, it’s really just a matter of getting over to the high capacity rides and shows that run on a set schedule. It’s unlikely you’ll run into much of a line at Backlot Tour or Great Movie Ride, but fitting in the various stage shows can be tricky because they have a tendency to start and end at the same time. You may also want to make a popular character a morning priority. Check your Times Guide and plan to arrive at as many characters as possible about five minutes before they’re scheduled to appear. Overall, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of the headlining attractions first thing. With the long day, you may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm – 5pm or so to rest up for dinner and Fantasmic. This is the busiest and hottest part of the day. For Fantasmic, I recommend the Fantasmic Dining Package, which guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Theater if you’re interested in the 8:30pm show. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. It also includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Dining Plan. You’ll still need to arrive at least 25 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it’s better than the 60 minute wait you’re looking at to score decent seats together without the Package. If the Package isn’t available or you prefer not to pay for it, try to see the 10pm show. It will be significantly less crowded because so many families have to leave earlier and you won’t have to deal with two large sections roped off for Dining Package users. The best seats for Fantasmic are located in the center section more than half way up from the stage. Any closer and you risk getting wet and may not have a good view of what’s happening on the water around the stage.
Magic Kingdom is highly recommended and an excellent choice if you don’t want to wait until tomorrow to visit. Epcot’s evening Extra Magic Hours and Hollywood Studios’ Fantasmic will help draw crowds away and a lot of people will have visited yesterday for their first full day at Disney World. Still, Magic Kingdom won’t be empty with the above average overall crowd level, same operating hours as other days this week, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes. It’s still more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. You may also want to fit other time-sensitive attractions like Tomorrowland Indy Speedway or Astro Orbiter in there as well, along with Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and other quick attractions that will have decent afternoon waits like Astro Orbiter. Consider taking a break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds are heaviest and wait times are longest to rest up for the evening entertainment. For Main Street Electrical Parade, scout out a spot along the Parade route in Liberty Square or Frontierland for the 11pm Parade. Both areas are significantly less crowded than Main Street and require a shorter wait. The later Parade is less crowded because so many families leave immediately after Wishes (if they even make it that far). It will also be easier to exit the Park around 11:45pm than 10:15pm. Magic Kingdom will also be the most recommended Park tomorrow, so you may want to hold off until then if you have other plans today. If you’re trying to decide between today and tomorrow, then I would go with tomorrow because it’s in the middle of the week and even more people will be ready to visit another Park. However, today will be nearly as good if you tour efficiently in the morning, take a restful break, and enjoy the Magic Kingdom’s nighttime spectaculars.
Wednesday August 21
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8:30pm (Not Recommended)
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Most Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
It’s the busiest day of the week at Animal Kingdom. The morning Extra Magic Hour will attract the bulk of the Disney resort crowd and there’s no evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment going on at the other Parks (since Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantasmic are scheduled every night this week), which will cause a lot of off-site guests to visit as well. With both yesterday and tomorrow recommended, there’s no reason to visit today.
Epcot is recommended. We’re coming off a very popular evening Extra Magic Hours yesterday and most Disney resort guests will be waiting to either return or visit for their first time this Friday. Disney resort guests are more likely to head to Animal Kingdom today and the addition of Fantasmic means a decent number of off-site guests will be headed to Hollywood Studios as well. In most scenarios, I recommend heading to Magic Kingdom today to take advantage of the lower crowd level there and holding off on Epcot until tomorrow. However, Epcot works fine today too, provided you follow my broken-record advice – arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. You may also want to take a more compartmentalized two-day approach, which gives you the benefit of enjoying the lowest possible crowds in both Future World and World Showcase each day. Plan FASTPASSes throughout the day for Test Track, Soarin’, and Mission Space (in that order) if you’d like to ride any of them a second time. The single rider line at Test Track often has an actual wait shorter than standby or FASTPASS, so consider that as an option. You may also want to get in line for Soarin’ or Test Track right before Epcot closes to find shorter waits than the afternoon, but only if you’re willing to give up seeing IllumiNations. Mission: SPACE should have nominal waits before 11am or after 7pm. If you’re planning just one day in Epcot, try to move up through the World Showcase right at 11am, beginning with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway. These are the only two attractions in World Showcase that will see wait times. Luckily, FASTPASSes for Maelstrom are plentiful. Return to Future World after 5pm to visit any attractions that you skipped in the morning. Keep in mind that some Future World attractions close at 7pm. Expect Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings to accept their last guests of the day at 7pm. Overall, it’s a good day to visit Epcot and a fine day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations, provided you tour efficiently in the morning.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended. A lot of casual vacationers on a weeklong vacation will arrive on Sunday and naturally visit Magic Kingdom and Epcot on their first two full days. By Wednesday and Thursday, they’ll be ready to try Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios. While Animal Kingdom will draw a decent number of Disney resort guests, the morning Extra Magic Hour won’t do much to lure the sizeable off-site contingent. With no special evening entertainment elsewhere and no extended operating hours, many off-site guests will default to Hollywood Studios. While we are sometimes take advantage of shorter hours, the lack of a second Fantasmic is actually a hindrance because the first show will be so crowded. Because of that, I can’t recommend it. Keep in mind that the Studios won’t be far and away busier than recommended days because we don’t have anything specific attracting people towards it. You can still have success if you tour efficiently in the morning, take an afternoon break, and return in the evening for dinner, Fantasmic, and some late night rides. However, you will find heavier crowds and longer waits than recommended days – it just won’t be the night and day difference that we saw when Fantasmic was scheduled less often.
Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit as we come off two busier days. Tomorrow will be busier with the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting resort guests. On the downside, we do have the exact same operating hours as every other day this week. Ideally, we’d see a 10pm close tonight, which would result in fewer people visiting on a day that they assume they would be able to do less over the course of a shorter day. On the plus side, the 11pm Electrical Parade will be much less crowded. And if you’re not partaking in the evening entertainment, crowds at the attractions will be lighter after 9pm. Take advantage of the lowest crowds this week by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You may also want to prioritize characters that will have 30+ minute standby waits without the ability to FASTPASS them in the afternoon. You’ll be able to accomplish a ton of attractions in a short amount of time if you make efficient use of the morning and use FASTPASS at the major attractions throughout the day. Consider a break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for dinner, a few nighttime attractions, and the nighttime entertainment. As usual, the lowest Parade crowds are found in Liberty Square and Frontierland, where the view is just as good as Main Street. Plan to arrive about ten minutes before the 11pm Parade steps off. If you’re planning to see the Parade on Main Street, you’ll need to arrive 60 or more minutes early for the 9pm Parade and 30+ for the 11pm Parade.
Thursday August 22
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom and Epcot are our best choices. We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw a lot of Disney resort guests. Today, we have morning Extra Magic Hour attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic continuing to keep Hollywood Studios crowded. All in all, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to the popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. You’ll find it to the right of the standby line. Finally, Kali River Rapids is a higher priority in the summer when temperatures are high. Because of its low capacity, it often has wait times longer than the “major attractions.” Use FASTPASS or visit before 10:30am or after 6pm to get around the 60+ minute afternoon waits. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Return to DinoLand after 4pm and Asia after 5pm to find much shorter waits than the afternoon. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment, Epcot for IllumiNations, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.
Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade pulling people towards Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios continuing to draw crowds. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Soarin’ and then Test Track as soon as possible. Soarin’ and Test Track will have 60+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to popularity and relatively low capacities. Move on to the World Showcase beginning around 11am if crowds begin to build in Future World, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Return to Future World after 5pm if you have more to accomplish and to ride/re-ride the headliners with FASTPASS. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended. While the morning Extra Magic Hour will help draw Disney resort guests toward Magic Kingdom, it won’t be as big of a draw as when Magic Kingdom offers Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes less often. With Main Street Electrical Parade, Wishes, and similarly long hours every day this week, Magic Kingdom will only be marginally more crowded today. We also don’t have the more popular evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled anywhere. I’m looking towards tomorrow as being less crowded, thanks to a decently popular morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot and the fact that the morning Extra Magic Hour on Saturday will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. Like yesterday, there’s nothing specific drawing people towards Hollywood Studios, which means it won’t be far and away busier than non-recommended days during the week. However, you will find higher crowds and longer waits in the afternoon. Most people will want to take advantage of the lower crowds at Epcot and hold off on Hollywood Studios until tomorrow.
The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure a decent number of Disney resort guests, making the Park busier than either this past Tuesday or Wednesday. The fact that we have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled every night this week certainly “helps” distribute crowds more evenly, even though the Disney resort crowd will predictably visit when Extra Magic Hours are scheduled. Today won’t be far and away busier than other days this week and you can have success provided you take advantage of the morning Extra Magic Hour by arriving no later than 7:40am and heading straight to Fantasyland or other open attractions. Move on to the headlining Mountain rides or character meet and greets when they open and you’ll be in excellent shape. However, you will find that crowds are heavier than recommended days in the afternoon. You’ll probably want to take a break from 1pm to 6pm or so and return in the evening to ride some major attractions with FASTPASS, have dinner, see some high capacity attractions, and enjoy the evening spectaculars. Keep in mind that you would be much better off visiting on a recommended day if you aren’t Extra Magic Hours eligible or won’t arrive until 9:30am or later because it will be busier than recommended days from 11am onward.
Friday August 23
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8:30pm (Most Recommended)
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended and would be the “most recommended Park” if it wasn’t more difficult to schedule Hollywood Studios. Epcot will be more popular with the predictable Disney resort guest contingent. You can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to the most popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Because Animal Kingdom doesn’t offer anything in the way of special evening entertainment, few people Park Hop over in the afternoon and evening. Save Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris for the last hour of operation if you’d like to experience them again or couldn’t make it over earlier in the day. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment, Epcot for IllumiNations or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.
Epcot is not recommended. We have the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting a decent number of Disney resort guests that choose the theme park they’re going to visit based on the Extra Magic Hours schedule and evening Extra Magic Hours aren’t scheduled anywhere. Because a lot of Disney resort guests choose to visit Epcot twice over the course of the week, they tend to visit on Tuesdays and Fridays. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or you’re certain that you’ll arrive prior to 8am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.
Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re looking at a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow that will be more popular with Disney resort guests. To have the most success, you’ll still want to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Because Toy Story Mania has such a limited capacity, wait times are almost always 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes are long gone, even when the overall crowd level is low and Hollywood Studios is recommended. Expect waits to hit 80 to 100 minutes today. You’ll want to make it your top priority. Your second priority is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which also sees long afternoon waits and limited FASTPASS availability. Tower of Terror and Star Tours should be easier to ride, but also remain priorities. If you can get these attractions done in the early morning, you’ll be in great shape for the rest of the day. The only other problem most people run into is trying to schedule all of the stage shows that run on a set schedule. You may also want to prioritize characters that will have longer afternoon waits. Phineas & Ferb tend to have the longest lines in Hollywood Studios. They typically begin appearing at 9:30am, which means you’ll have time to collect FASTPASSes and ride Toy Story Mania before heading over to visit Phineas & Ferb, which are located near Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano and across from the exit to Muppet Vision 3D. Check the week’s Times Guide to verify appearance times. Two other popular characters appear in the Animation Building in the Animation Courtyard. Sorcerer Mickey in particular has long afternoon waits and The Incredibles characters also tend to have decent lines. Since both characters meet indoors and their lines aren’t usually over 20 minutes long, you should be able to find them with decent waits later in the day if you have other morning priorities. Finally, you’ll find some characters in the morning near Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat that won’t appear later in the afternoon. Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Chip, Dale, Friends of Winnie the Pooh, Goofy, and Pluto are all common, but no specific character is guaranteed to appear. For Fantasmic, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the theater. You’ll still need to arrive at least 30 minutes early, but it’s better than the 60+ minutes early you’ll need to arrive without the package. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it only costs one table service credit (except at Hollywood Brown Derby, which still costs two credits as it would otherwise) and includes the appetizer. As far as general seating is concerned, the best seats are about half way up in the center sections. Sit any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and it’s more difficult to see what’s happening on the water. Arrive 45 to 60 minutes early without the Package to secure quality seats together.
Magic Kingdom is recommended now that Disney has elected to cancel the evening Extra Magic Hours that were originally scheduled. It will still be crowded with the high overall crowd level, but it will be less crowded than either yesterday or tomorrow. The standardized operating schedule and abundant nighttime entertainment will somewhat standardize daily crowds at Magic Kingdom. Luckily, resort guests are more likely to visit on Thursday with morning Extra Magic Hour and locals aren’t much of an issue on weekdays. Tomorrow will be busy as out of town guests visit one last time before returning home on Sunday. As usual, it’s imperative that you arrive prior to Park opening and visit the priorities on your itinerary first thing. Most people will want to start with Enchanted Tales with Belle, a popular character, or a low capacity attraction that will have longer afternoon waits. Take a break in the afternoon when crowds and temperatures peak. By 11am, wait times for most attractions will be 20+ minutes and you’ll want to rely on FASTPASS while visiting filler attractions.
Saturday August 24
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8:30pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park for a variety of reasons. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special events, evening entertainment, or anything else to attract on-site or off-site visitors. Those leaving tomorrow after a traditional weeklong vacation are unlikely to visit Animal Kingdom on their last full day and most arriving today won’t head out to Animal Kingdom as their first destination. As always, you’ll be best off if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Wait times will only get shorter after the 3:45pm Parade, so stay through close if you have more you’d like to accomplish. With a limited number of attractions and the high overall crowd level, the afternoon will still be busy. Plan to see shows, visit the least popular attractions, and rely on FASTPASS at the major attractions between 12pm and 5pm.
Epcot is highly recommended and your best choice if you have other plans for Animal Kingdom. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been decently popular with Disney resort guests and they will be nowhere near Epcot today, especially in the morning. Take full advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to ride anything you skipped earlier in the day and to re-ride Soarin’ and Test Track with FASTPASSes collected in the morning. If you arrive later, plan to use FASTPASS for Test Track, Soarin’, and Mission: Space (in that order) as soon as possible. The Test Track single rider line is also a good idea and actual waits are often shorter than standby or FASTPASS. Mission Space and Maelstrom are much easier to FASTPASS if necessary and standby waits are also much shorter. It’s also an excellent day to stay for IllumiNations and enjoy the World Showcase in the afternoon.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended. The sizable Disney resort contingent numbers 75,000+ people during a busy summer month like this one. Because Disney sells the Extra Magic Hour program so well in its marketing materials, many of these Disney resort guests follow the Extra Magic Hours schedule because they think it’s Disney telling them where they belong each day. While you can have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and arrive by 7:15am, most people will want to visit another day. Tomorrow would be significantly better. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:15am and plan to hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning.
Magic Kingdom is not recommended. In past years, we’ve had evening Extra Magic Hours on Fridays and Sundays to help pull Disney resort guests away from Saturday. Disney canceled the Friday set of evening Extra Magic Hours this year. That should in turn cause more people to be looking at Saturday in addition to locals elevating the crowd level. If you had previously planned to visit Magic Kingdom, you can still do fine if you arrive prior to Park opening and follow the usual advice. The first two to three hours will still be excellent. I would highly recommend a break from 1pm to around 5pm. That’s a very hot, very busy time of day and you won’t be missing much lounging back at the resort pool. Return in the evening for dinner, some nighttime attractions, and the entertainment. If you’re not interested in the Electrical Parade or Wishes, visit Tomorrowland from 9pm – 10pm and then Fantasyland in the final hour of operation. You’ll find much lower wait times than the afternoon and the temperature is slightly more comfortable. Head over to Liberty Square or Frontierland for the 11pm Parade if you’d like to catch it.
Sunday August 25
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)
Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 11pm – 1am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours/Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom luring a lot of Disney resort guests. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow or Wednesday for morning Extra Magic Hour. With the 9-hour day, you should be able to do just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS them later in the day (or both). After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King and you’ll be set for the rest of the day. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and the last 90 minutes of operation will have much shorter waits than the afternoon. You also have an outstanding opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations, Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner and a look around the resort or take a trip out to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping.
Epcot is recommended as well. It’s a particularly excellent day to see IllumiNations and have dinner in the World Showcase because Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd. Despite the recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the touring plans. It’s more important to arrive early and take care of the headliners first thing than it is to pick the “right” day. You’ll run into lines at the headliners in Future World if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. To stay ahead of the crowds for the longest amount of time, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to see anything you missed, but make sure you check your Times Guide because some attractions close at 7pm, including Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, both Innoventions buildings, and Ellen’s Energy Adventure. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’ or Test Track, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times will most likely continue to be 45+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm.
Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re in between yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours, both of which will be more popular with Disney resort guests. We also have evening Extra Magic Hours, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes at Magic Kingdom, all of which will be incredibly popular with Disney resort guests. Finally, Sunday is a popular travel day and few people arriving will head out to the Studios for Fantasmic this evening. Those that arrived yesterday are also unlikely to begin their first full day at Hollywood Studios. Thus, today is the best day of the week to visit the Studios and see Fantasmic in the evening. If you’re willing to forego seeing Fantasmic in order to enjoy lower crowds, this Wednesday is the least crowded day of the week. In order to find the shortest waits, you’ll need to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Mania to ride and/or collect FASTPASSes. Because of its popularity and extremely limited capacity, Toy Story Mania almost always has afternoon waits of 60 or more minutes and FASTPASSes that are routinely gone before 1pm, even when crowds are relatively low and the Studios is recommended. It’s always your top priority. The second attraction with the longest peak wait is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which should be ridden immediately after Toy Story Mania in the morning or with FASTPASS collected later in the morning. FASTPASSes often run out by late afternoon and wait times aren’t usually far behind Toy Story Mania. Other priorities are Tower of Terror and Star Tours, though FASTPASSes are more plentiful at both attractions and standby waits are usually lower. After you get through these four headliners, it’s just a matter of arriving in time to see the various stage shows that run on a set schedule and getting over to the Studios’ high capacity attractions. You may also have characters to visit before lines get longer. See the 10pm Fantasmic because it will be considerably less crowded than the earlier show. While it’s officially a recommended day, arriving prior to Park opening and hitting the headliners first thing is more important than which day you pick. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
Magic Kingdom is not recommended, though the morning from 9am – 11am and the late evening from 10:30pm – 1am will both be good times to tour. However, the afternoon will be busy enough that you won’t want to risk it unless you’re absolutely certain that you’ll take advantage of one or both of the recommended touring times and can’t visit on a “more recommended” day. Most Disney resort guests who will be headed to the Magic Kingdom will sleep in and arrive around 11am, in anticipation of staying until around 10:30pm. If you arrive prior to 9am, you can have a lot of success visiting the Fantasyland attractions and headlining Mountain rides. It will also be a great opportunity to collect FASTPASSes for later in the day. However, the Park will be busy from 12pm to 10pm as the bulk of Disney resort guests arrive en masse and stay through the evening entertainment. You’ll either want to take a break, Park Hop elsewhere, or plan to visit some of the less popular attractions for that time slot. The relatively late night Extra Magic Hours are also recommended. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, begin in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last because most families will be long gone from the Park by 12am and Fantasyland will be low on crowds. It’s not uncommon for Peter Pan’s Flight to have a 60 minute wait in the afternoon and a ten minute or less wait at the end of evening Extra Magic Hours. Save Journey of the Little Mermaid, Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. You’ll find lower crowds on Tuesday and Wednesday of this coming week, but the morning and late night will both be good times to tour if you need an additional day at Magic Kingdom.
Monday August 26
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 12am
Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s difficult to get out to the Animal Kingdom by 7:45am to take full advantage of it. If you’re staying at a Monorail Deluxe Resort, you’re looking at a 20+ minute drive to the Animal Kingdom, plus time for the bus to arrive – not to mention getting multiple people up and ready early in the morning with just one shower and limited space. At 6:30am. Or earlier. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 7:45am, then you can have a lot of success because the crowd level won’t be that high, but it will be busier in the afternoon than other recommended days this week due to a higher number of Disney resort guests than usual. You’re much better served holding off until Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday if you’re not going to arrive until 9am or later.
Epcot is the only expressly recommended Park. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special evening entertainment, or anything else that will draw people toward Epcot specifically. Disney resort guests will be more likely to visit tomorrow or Friday for Extra Magic Hours and off-site visitors will be headed to the Magic Kingdom because they naturally prefer to visit it on their first full day of a weeklong vacation. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to visit any non-headlining attractions. If you’d like to ride Test Track or Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, collect FASTPASSes for either in the morning or early afternoon. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm. Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings ordinarily close at 7pm. Finally, it’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.
Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests and the addition of Fantasmic. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. Wednesday will see the lowest crowds of the week with the 6pm close and lack of Fantasmic. This past Sunday or this coming Thursday or Friday would be less crowded days to visit and see Fantasmic. Unfortunately, I’m not too fond of evening Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. There are only a few attractions open and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, especially with the evening Extra Magic Hours only being two hours in 2013. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 9pm and again at 10:30pm, right as evening Extra Magic Hours gets underway. The Fantasmic Theater is located right on Sunset Boulevard, across from the entrances to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. While not everyone seeing Fantasmic will be a Disney resort guest, many of them will be, and a ton will be headed to Tower of Tower and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster because they truly believe it’s the best time to get in line. Unfortunately, they’ll find themselves lined up with a few thousand of their new best friends. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. While you could theoretically have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for the headliners, the same will be true later in the week and you won’t have to deal with the significantly heavier afternoon and evening crowds. Avoid it unless you’re planning to visit from 9am – 1pm or can’t visit any other day.
It’s going to be a busy day at Magic Kingdom even without Extra Magic Hours to lure Disney resort guests. First, a lot of people are arriving for a weeklong vacation. They travel over the weekend and naturally head to the Magic Kingdom on Monday for their first full day. The later close is also attractive to casual vacationers who equate longer hours with being able to accomplish more during the day. Of course, this isn’t usually true because heavier crowds lead to longer lines, more congestion in common areas, and an overall less pleasant touring experience. With no Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled either of the next two nights, Magic Kingdom will also be popular with anyone that wants to see it. All of this adds up to a day that will be busier than the below average overall crowd level insinuates. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom despite the warning, you can still have a successful and fun day if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever you feel is most important on your itinerary. You may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so to rest up for the nighttime spectaculars. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded.
Tuesday August 27
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended. We don’t have special events, Extra Magic Hours, or anything specific drawing people toward it. Yesterday’s and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hours will be more popular with Disney resort guests. It’s also early enough in the week that many people on weeklong vacations will be saving Animal Kingdom for later in the week. Today and Thursday are the best days this week to visit. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Once you get through these two attractions, you have little to worry about other than trying to get to the scheduled shows and potentially arriving just before the popular characters first appear. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon, so try to see the first or last show of the day. You’ll also want to get to DinoLand USA before 10:30am to ride Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR because those two attractions are popular. Still, they aren’t necessarily your top morning priorities and you can easily FASTPASS them throughout the day if need arises. With the long day, you should have no trouble accomplishing most of what the Animal Kingdom has to offer in one day, provided you arrive early in the morning, tour efficiently, collect FASTPASSes, and keep an eye on the time in order to see the scheduled stage shows. Finally, crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Plan to return to any favorites from 4:15pm through close when waits will be shorter than the afternoon if you have more to accomplish or couldn’t arrive early.
Epcot is not recommended. We have the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting a decent number of Disney resort guests that choose the theme park they’re going to visit based on the Extra Magic Hours schedule. Because a lot of Disney resort guests choose to visit Epcot twice over the course of the week, they tend to visit on Tuesdays and Fridays. While Magic Kingdom’s evening Extra Magic Hours will prove popular, it won’t do enough to make Epcot less crowded than recommended days during the week. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or you’re certain that you’ll arrive prior by 7:30am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.
Hollywood Studios is not expressly recommended, though it won’t be a terrible day there with the below average overall crowd level. The problem is shorter hours and lack of a Main Street Electrical Parade at Hollywood Studios. In addition, while Epcot will prove to be more popular with the morning Extra Magic Hour, we don’t have the more popular evening Extra Magic Hours pulling people in another direction. You can still do well by arriving prior to Park opening and taking care of Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster first thing, but the afternoon will be busier than recommended days during the week. Tomorrow, with the short hours and lack of Fantasmic, is the best day of the week to visit if you’re looking for the lowest possible crowds. Thursday and Friday would also be better overall.
Magic Kingdom is the most recommended Park as we come off several days in a row with longer operating hours and the Electrical Parade. Epcot’s morning Extra Magic Hour and Hollywood Studios’ Fantasmic will help draw crowds away and a lot of people will have visited yesterday for their first full day at Disney World. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. Most people with kids will want to start with Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Ariel’s Grotto. You may also want to fit other time-sensitive attractions like Tomorrowland Indy Speedway or Astro Orbiter in there as well, along with Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and other quick attractions that will have decent afternoon waits like Astro Orbiter. Consider taking a break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds are heaviest and wait times are longest to rest up for Wishes. If you’re interested in the lowest crowds possible, visit Magic Kingdom today and Hollywood Studios tomorrow. If you have other plans for the Studios, then visiting Magic Kingdom tomorrow is also a good idea.
Wednesday August 28
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 6pm (Most Recommended)
Fantasmic: none
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Highly Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm
It’s the busiest day of the week at Animal Kingdom. The morning Extra Magic Hour will attract the bulk of the Disney resort crowd and there’s no evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment going on at the other Parks), which will cause a lot of off-site guests to visit as well. The hours are also longer than the days around it, which will attract off-site visitors as well. With both yesterday and tomorrow recommended, there’s no reason to visit today.
Epcot is not expressly recommended. The problems are the truncated hours and lack of Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios and the shorter hours and lack of Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom. While it’s true we’re coming off a reasonably busy day yesterday with the morning Extra Magic Hour, the Extra Magic Hours program doesn’t do much to sway off-site visitors. Few people will be considering the Studios or Magic Kingdom when they don’t offer popular evening entertainment and close earlier than other days during the week. While the morning Extra Magic Hour at Animal Kingdom will be enough to make it busier than any other day this week, we don’t have other attractive forces pulling people elsewhere. You can still do well in the World Showcase in the afternoon and at the headlining Future World attractions first thing in the morning, but it’s going to be busier than recommended days during the week from 10am onward. Most people will want to take advantage of the lower crowds at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, but you can make Epcot work with the below average overall crowd level if you tour efficiently in the morning and get up to World Showcase by noon.
Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. The short hours and lack of evening entertainment will turn most casual vacationers off, leaving lines shorter and crowds lower than any other day this week. With no evening entertainment and the early close, virtually nobody will Park Hop over in the afternoon, causing crowds to get lower and lower as it nears 6pm. You can have a tremendous amount of success from 9am – 11am and 4pm to 6pm. Despite the recommendation, Toy Story Mania will still have a 30+ minute wait by 9:30am and peak around 60 minutes in the afternoon. With its limited capacity, there’s simply no way around it. To have the most success, arrive by 8:20am and take care of Toy Story Mania, the Toy Story characters (if desired), Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror first thing in the morning. After that, visit the characters and see the high capacity shows. Once 4pm hits, waits will only decrease as it gets closer to 6pm. Return to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster after 5pm and finish with Toy Story Mania to find the shortest waits. You can get in line at any operating attraction right up until 6pm. If you’d like to see Fantasmic, you could Park Hop on a day it’s offered or elect to visit on a single, busier day in order to see the show. With the low overall crowd level, there are several recommended and perfectly doable days during the week. But today will see shorter waits overall.
Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow that will be more attractive to Disney resort guests and they won’t be visiting today as well. Today’s shorter day will make visiting less attractive to anyone that equates longer operating hours with additional access to the major attractions. Of course, the opposite is usually true as heavier crowds lead to longer lines, increased congestion in common areas, and a less pleasant overall experience. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You’ll be able to accomplish a ton of attractions in a short amount of time if you make efficient use of the morning and use FASTPASS at the major attractions throughout the day. You’ll also want to strongly consider taking an afternoon break when crowds and temperatures peak to rest up for the evening.
Thursday August 29
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom and Epcot are our best choices. We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw a lot of Disney resort guests and the 7pm close that will attract off-site visitors. Today, we have morning Extra Magic Hour attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic continuing to keep Hollywood Studios crowded. All in all, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to the popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment, Epcot for IllumiNations, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.
Epcot is highly recommended and your best choice if you’re planning to visit Animal Kingdom on another day. Tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade pulling people towards Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios continuing to draw crowds. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Test Track and then Soarin’ as soon as possible. Soarin’ and Test Track will have 50+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to popularity and relatively low capacities. Move on to the World Showcase beginning around 11am if crowds begin to build in Future World, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Return to Future World after 5pm if you have more to accomplish and to ride/re-ride the headliners with FASTPASS. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.
Hollywood Studios is not expressly recommended. The major problem is the early close and lack of nighttime entertainment yesterday, which will cause a lot of people to put off visiting until today. Couple that with the fact that it’s later in the week and a lot of people will have visited the more popular theme parks before moving on to Animal Kingdom yesterday and Hollywood Studios today. And then on top of that, the later close than tomorrow will only increase crowds with more off-site visitors looking to visit. With the below average overall crowd level, you can still do well if you arrive by 8:20am and follow the usual touring advice, but it’s going to be busier than recommended days from 10am forward. Tomorrow would be a better day to see Fantasmic and yesterday was the best day of the week to visit as far as crowds and wait times are concerned.
The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure the bulk of the Disney resort crowd, making the Park busier than either this past Tuesday or Wednesday. We also have the first Electrical Parade since Monday and there isn’t another Parade scheduled again until Saturday. That will make Magic Kingdom even more attractive to anyone that wants to see it. Finally, the later closer than most other days this week will lure more off-site visitors than Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday. If you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and certain that you can arrive by 7:40am, you can do very well by hitting the Fantasyland attractions first thing and then moving on to the headlining Mountain rides and other attractions after they open at 9am. But if you’re not Extra Magic Hours eligible or don’t plan to arrive until 10am or later, you’ll want to visit on a recommended day. With that said, today is the best day of the week to see the Electrical Parade. If you’d like to see it, the easiest way is by Park Hopping over in the evening after spending the day at a recommended Park. Without Park Hopper, you’ll have the most success touring from 9am – 1pm, taking a break, and then returning in the early evening for dinner, some evening attractions, and the nighttime spectaculars. For Main Street Electrical Parade, the least crowded viewing locations are in Frontierland and Liberty Square for the 11pm Parade. These spots offer a view that is just as good as Main Street and don’t require the excessive waits. The later Parade is less crowded because so many families leave before or right after Wishes. At 11:30pm or later, you’ll also have a much easier time exiting the Park.
Friday August 30
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8:30pm (Highly Recommended)
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm
Animal Kingdom is recommended. Epcot’s evening Extra Magic Hours will be attracting a lot of Disney resort guests and the short hours and lack of nighttime entertainment won’t be attracting too many people. You can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to the most popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Because Animal Kingdom doesn’t offer anything in the way of special evening entertainment, few people Park Hop over in the afternoon and evening. Save Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris for the last hour of operation if you’d like to experience them again or couldn’t make it over earlier in the day. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment and evening Extra Magic Hours, Epcot for IllumiNations or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.
We’ll want to avoid Epcot. Its evening Extra Magic Hours will lure the majority of Disney resort guests, which will lengthen waits times at the attractions for the entire afternoon and evening. Epcot is almost always at its busiest and lines are the longest when it has evening Extra Magic Hours. This is due to the fact that many Disney resort guests head to whichever Park has Extra Magic Hours, even if they don’t plan to take advantage of them. Without Park Hopper, Disney resort guests must stay in the Park with Extra Magic Hours for the entire day. The increased crowds lead to longer lines, heavier congestion in common areas, and an overall less pleasant touring experience. I would urge you to visit a different Park. If you want to head to Epcot today, despite my strong objections, your best chance to ride the headlining rides is from 9am-11am. Most Disney resort guests will sleep in and arrive around lunch in anticipation of staying until 10-11pm. The morning will be an excellent time to tour Epcot, but you’ll probably want to Park Hop elsewhere after lunch or you’ll be stuck in significantly larger-than-usual crowds. You might also consider an afternoon break from 2pm-6pm when crowds will be at their largest. You could then return in the early evening for dinner and Extra Magic Hours. Alternatively, you could also Park Hop over in the evening for Extra Magic Hours, provided you’re aware of how busy it will be. The last hour of Extra Magic Hours is always the least crowded, so plan to stay until 11pm and head back to Soarin’ and Test Track after 10pm. Skip Illuminations if you’ll be here on another night because it will be more crowded than usual.
Hollywood Studios is highly recommended. The shorter hours and lack of Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom is the only problem. Luckily, we have the extremely popular evening Extra Magic Hours luring Disney resort guests to Epcot today and Hollywood Studios’ morning Extra Magic Hour and longer operating hours tomorrow will prove popular. This past Wednesday was the least crowded day of the week to visit, but today works if you’d like to see Fantasmic. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Once you get through these attractions in the morning or with FASTPASS, you have little to worry about for the rest of the day, other than trying to get to the Studios’ various high capacity attractions and stage shows that run on a set schedule. For Fantasmic, you’ll want to arrive about 60 minutes early to guarantee good seats together. If that sounds like it’s about 30 minutes too long, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. It will still require you to arrive at least 30 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it saves the stress of having to decide when it’s time to line up and decreases the overall wait. The Fantasmic Dining Package makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. Plus, it includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Disney Dining Plan. While it’s officially a recommended day, arriving prior to Park opening and hitting the headliners first thing is more important than which day you pick. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
Magic Kingdom is the most recommended Park. Yesterday’s Main Street Electrical Parade and morning Extra Magic Hour will have been popular and tomorrow’s Main Street Electrical Parade and longer hours will be attractive to off-site guests and those who plan to return to the Magic Kingdom for a second time before leaving on Sunday. Today, we don’t have Extra Magic Hours, the Main Street Electrical Parade, long hours of operation, or special events, which means most people will choose to visit another day. To have the most success, arrive prior to 9am and head straight for Fantasyland, the headlining attractions, or another priority. Most people with kids will want to take care of Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Ariel’s Grotto first thing in the morning. You should have no trouble getting a lot of attractions done throughout the morning and the Park won’t be particularly busy for the rest of the day. Still, plan to use FASTPASS and focus on the less popular attractions from 1pm to 5pm when crowds will be at their highest level. Find a spot on Main Street for the Castle projection show and Wishes around 8:20pm if you’d like to see them. Otherwise, revisit Fantasyland after 8pm to find lower crowds.
Saturday August 31
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
IllumiNations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom comes recommended. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours or special events to attract Disney vacationers of any sort. Many of those arriving for a short Labor Day Weekend trip are unlikely to visit Animal Kingdom, especially with so much going on elsewhere. Magic Kingdom will be attracting significant crowds with its long hours of operation and both nighttime spectaculars and Hollywood Studios will be popular with the morning Extra Magic Hour, two Fantasmic shows, and 10pm close. We also had two morning Extra Magic Hours earlier in the week and another on Monday to appeal to the sizable Disney resort contingent. To take full advantage of the low crowd level, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get those two attractions out of the way early and the only real concerns are getting to Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical. You would be in the best shape if you could get to the first or last show of the day as well as over to DinoLand USA before 10:30am when lines begin to build at DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing just about everything Animal Kingdom has to offer in just one day. Finally, keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and it’s usually a great time to return to the major attractions from 5:30pm through close.
Epcot is our best Park to visit. Last night’s evening Extra Magic Hours will have been wildly popular with Disney resort guests and they will be nowhere near Epcot today, especially in the morning. Take full advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track followed by Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. Move up to World Showcase as close to 11am as possible, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway, to stay ahead of the incoming crowds for as long as possible. It’s also an excellent day to stay for IllumiNations and enjoy the World Showcase in the afternoon.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will entice on-site visitors and the later close than yesterday, which will attract off-site visitors as well. You can have success from 8am – 10am if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible, but the afternoon and evening are going to be busier than just about any day this week. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or plan to arrive by 7:15am to take advantage of low crowds in the morning.
Saturdays are naturally the busiest day of the week at the Magic Kingdom. We have longer hours of operation, visiting locals, and a lot of vacationers who will be visiting the Magic Kingdom for a second time before returning home tomorrow. On top of that, Main Street Electrical Parade is only scheduled on four nights this week. Because the Parade is so popular, a lot of people will visit on a day that they can see it, like today. All of this makes me hesitant about recommending the Magic Kingdom, despite a lack of Extra Magic Hours. Yesterday and next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday will be much better days to tour, but you can have a moderate amount of success today if you arrive prior to 9am and head straight for the headlining or Fantasyland attractions. The afternoon will be busier than any other day this week and you’ll either want to take a break and return for the Electrical Parade and Wishes or visit the less popular attractions from 2pm – 6pm. While it is possible to have a decent day here if you arrive early and tour efficiently, there are much less crowded days to visit during the week.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks Josh!! Quick question, you have MK as recommended for 8/24 in your notes but red on the chart. I suppose we will go either way (being our last day) but just wondering if it is red or green
It looks green in the chart to me. Was it changed? It jumped out at me because I know Josh usually doesn’t recommend MK on Saturdays, so I went to read the explanation.
I am, however, confused as to why he says (in the MK paragraph) that crowds will be decidely above average that day…when he has the day rated as a 5, which is exactly average.
Yep, looks like it’s been changed
That was the only day of mine that wasnt lining up but knew we would go anyway!
Fantastic job Josh! Thanks so much. No more racking my brain to make an educated guess as to the best park for each day of my trip. The expert has spoken – so it is said, so it is written, so it shall be done!
Can the times change towards the end of August? I know in earlier years, times have changed for our trips. (different months) or is this one usually stable?
Hi Josh! When might you be posting updated times/analysis for August…..haven’t some of the hours changed? Thanks!
This is great information! I need a suggestion. We are either going to visit Epcot on the 27th, or the 30th. Since both day have EMH, which day do you think would be the best of the two? We do also want to see Illuminations as we have some first time visitors in our party. I am thinking it might be better to visit on the 27th because it will probably be more crowded at Illuminations at night. We are planning on taking a break in the middle of the day as well after lunch. Thank you!
more crowded at night on the 30th** because of late EMH