January 26 Update: Crowd Calendar completed.
This is the Free August 2012 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.
Wednesday August 1
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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 now that we have Fantasmic scheduled every night this week. 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 Soarin’, followed by Sum of All Thrills and Mission: Space. 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. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day for Soarin’ and Mission Space (in that order) if you’d like to ride any of them a second time. 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 and you’ll be able to grab FASTPASSes with a return time of just 40 minutes in the future in case the posted wait time is 20+ minutes or you’d like to ride two or three times in the late afternoon or evening. Return to Future World after 5pm to visit any attractions that you skipped in the morning. Keep in mind that most Future World attractions close at 7pm. Usually only Soarin’, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth continue operating from 7pm – 9pm. 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 due to the addition of Fantasmic every night this week. 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 today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow and evening Extra Magic Hours on Friday that will be more attractive to Disney resort guests and they won’t be visiting today as well. By the time all is said and done, Disney will likely extend the operating hours at Magic Kingdom on several other days this week, including Monday and Thursday. Today, we may see a second Main Street Electrical Parade added at 11pm and the operating hours extended to 11pm or 12am to accommodate it, but that only benefits us because the 11pm Parade will be significantly less busy than the 9pm Parade. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, 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’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 2
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. If you’re not riding the thrill rides (Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl), you’ll want to attend the first showing of Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo because those shows will be popular in the afternoon. Also consider heading over to Camp Minnie-Mickey right before the characters appear in the morning to find the shortest lines. Collect FASTPASSes for attractions you either want to ride again or couldn’t make it to in the morning and you should be able to do just about everything the Animal Kingdom has to offer. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Magic Kingdom for Wishes and Main Street Electrical Parade, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic, or Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Stay through close if there’s more that you want to accomplish because wait times will only decrease from 5:30pm onward. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at one of its excellent restaurants. There’s also a public observatory where you can gaze out at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s private savannas and enjoy the same view many guests are paying a premium to have right outside their balconies. A trip to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping also makes a lot of sense.
Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour will draw the majority of Disney resort guests and they won’t be attending today as well. 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 Soarin’, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Soarin’ as soon as possible. It will will have 40+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to its 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 the more popular evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom, 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. It also helps that we have a popular evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled tomorrow. 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. If you aren’t Extra Magic Hours eligible, tomorrow morning would be less crowded, but afternoons and evenings on both days will be busier than recommended days.
Friday August 3
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 1am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended and would be the “most recommended Park” if it weren’t more difficult to schedule Hollywood Studios. We have the very popular evening Extra Magic Hours luring Disney resort guests to Magic Kingdom and a morning Extra Magic Hour attracting Disney resort guests to Epcot. Because these are Disney World’s two most popular theme parks in the first place, it will only help pull people away from Animal Kingdom, which people prefer to visit when they don’t have a reason to head elsewhere. 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 Camp Minnie-Mickey for 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. Because Animal Kingdom doesn’t offer anything in the way of special evening entertainment, few people Park Hop over in the afternoon and evening. 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.
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 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. It’s also more likely that Disney will extend the hours and add a second Fantasmic tomorrow because they’re expecting heavier crowds. This would only cause more off-site visitors to visit on Saturday as well. With Fantasmic scheduled every night and similar 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 often gone by 1pm, even when the overall crowd level is low and Hollywood Studios is recommended. You’ll want to make it your top priority. Your second priority is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which also sees long afternoon waits and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. 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, but be prepared to arrive an hour early for those seats. Sit any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and it’s more difficult to see what’s happening on the water. Disney may add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm as we get closer to August. Should that happen, you’ll want to attend the second show because it will be significantly less crowded than the first.
Magic Kingdom is not officially recommended, but you can still have a lot of success should you visit during one or both of the two recommended timeframes. Disney will most likely extend the close to 12am and add a second Main Street Electrical Parade at 11pm as we get closer to August. This makes 9am – 12pm an excellent time to tour because a lot of the Disney resort guests that will be visiting won’t arrive until later in the morning or afternoon. Their hope is that they’ll be able to stay up for the evening entertainment and at least part of evening Extra Magic Hours. The late night is also a viable time to tour as most families will leave after the 10pm Wishes Fireworks show, even if they have the intention of staying later. However, it’s going to be busier than recommended days from 1pm to 10pm because so many Disney resort guests will arrive throughout the morning. You can have success in the early afternoon provided you arrive early, collect FASTPASSes throughout the morning, and visit the least popular attractions after lunch, but lines are going to be long for most attractions throughout the entire afternoon. You’ll want to focus on the Carousel of Progress, Liberty Square Riverboat, Hall of Presidents, Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor, Country Bears Jamboree, and other similar attractions in the afternoon. In the early morning, focus on the headlining attractions, rides that will have long afternoon waits, and the most popular characters. Take a break in the afternoon from around 1pm to around 6pm to rest up for dinner, the nighttime entertainment, some less popular attractions or major attractions with FASTPASS, and evening Extra Magic Hours. For Main Street Electrical Parade, you’ll want to scout out a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square. These areas are much less crowded than Main Street and offer a view that is just as good. Should Disney add a second Electrical Parade at 11pm (99% likely), then you’ll want to plan to catch that Parade because it will be significantly less crowded overall and you may even be able to catch an easy viewing location on Main Street. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, I recommend beginning 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 12:00am 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 Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. Overall, you can have success if you’re prepared to visit in the early morning or late evening, but you’ll want to tour during a recommended day if you can’t because afternoon crowds are going to be prohibitive.
Saturday August 4
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is recommended. However, this is your “fourth best” or “third worst” day to visit this week, depending on how you want to look at it. Both yesterday and tomorrow would be less crowded overall. While Animal Kingdom will be slightly busier than these “more recommended” days, you can still 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 that, plan to visit DinoLand for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, Camp Minnie-Mickey for character meet and greets, or head over to the first Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo shows. Finding Nemo, in particular, is crowded and often fills to capacity for afternoon shows. If you arrive after 10am, you’ll most likely need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest until the final hour of operation. Because a lot of people leave shortly after the 3:45pm Parade, crowds and wait times only decrease as it gets closer to 7pm. Plan to stay through close if you have more you’d like to accomplish, saving Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest for last. With the high overall crowd level and relatively little going on elsewhere (since Hollywood Studios has long hours/Fantasmic every night and Magic Kingdom has long hours/both evening spectaculars every night), the afternoon will be crowded. However, you can “beat” the crowds by arriving prior to Park opening, collecting FASTPASSes throughout the day, and touring efficiently. You may want to take advantage of the lower crowds (relatively speaking) at Epcot or Magic Kingdom and save Animal Kingdom for when it’s highly recommended.
Epcot is our best Park to visit. Last night’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 Soarin’, followed by Sum of All Thrills and Mission: Space. If you’re interested in meeting Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto at the Character Spot, you’ll also want to fit that into the early morning – possibly even heading there before Soarin’ due to its limited capacity and guaranteed long lines in the late morning and afternoon. 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 to ride anything you skipped earlier in the day and to re-ride Soarin’ with FASTPASSes collected in the morning after 5pm, when most people will have moved on to World Showcase. Keep in mind that only Soain’, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot continue operating after 7pm. Many of the other Future World attractions close. If you arrive later, plan to collect FASTPASSes for Soarin’ as soon as possible. Mission Space and Maelstrom are much easier to FASTPASS in the afternoon 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. See the Touring Plans section if you’d like more touring tips.
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. It’s also more likely that Disney will extend the hours and add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm today than other days this week. This would only cause the Studios to be more crowded due to the number of people who think longer hours translate to more access to the major attractions. Of course, the exact opposite is what ends up happening because the additional people cause lines to be longer at attractions, quick services, restaurants, and stores. In addition, FASTPASSes will run out sooner, peak wait times will be higher, and shows are more likely to fill to capacity, in turn causing you to show up earlier and wait longer. While you can have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and arrive by 7:40am, most people will want to visit another day. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:40am and plan to hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning.
The Magic Kingdom is recommended. Most months, Saturdays are the most popular day of the week because it almost always has a Main Street Electrical Parade and the hours are usually significantly longer than other days during the week. In August, because the crowds are well above average every day through the first three weeks, we have a Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes scheduled every night, along with 9am-10pm or later hours of operation every day. This makes Saturday’s nighttime entertainment and long hours of operation much less attractive because the same schedule is offered most every day this month. We also had evening Extra Magic Hours last night and will have evening Extra Magic Hours tomorrow evening. Both Friday and Sunday will be more popular with the important and predictable Disney resort crowd. All of this allows me to recommend the Magic Kingdom, despite the fact that Saturdays throughout most of the year are expressly not recommended. Still, this past Sunday was the best day of the week to visit and Thursday would have had similar crowds as well. Like always, you can have success in the early morning and late evening, but the afternoon will be decently crowded like most other days this week. Plan to take a sizable afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so when crowds and temperatures peak. If you hit the attractions/characters that will have long afternoon waits in the morning, visit the less popular attractions in the early afternoon, and return in the evening for dinner, some late night attractions, and the evening spectaculars, then you can have a lot of success. With the crowd level decidedly above average, Magic Kingdom will still be busy. But it’s better than several of the alternatives, including either this past Tuesday or Wednesday.
Sunday August 5
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Recommended in the Early Morning or Late Evening)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 1am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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. Despite “only” having ten hours at the Animal Kingdom during the 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. Camp Minnie-Mickey may also be a morning priority if you’d like to visit the characters. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and 5:45pm – 7pm will have 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 and Hollywood Studios 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 Soarin, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space 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 a lot of attractions close at 7pm. Most nights, only Soarin’, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot continue operating after 7pm. The 5pm to 7pm timeframe is an excellent opportunity to do Living with the Land, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Circle of Life, Sum of All Thrills, anything in Innoventions, and anything else other than the major headliners. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times will most likely continue to be 30+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm. See the two-day Epcot touring plans if you’re looking for a more compartmentalized approach.
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 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 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. 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 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. Disney will most likely add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm as we get closer to August. Should that happen, you’ll want to attend that show if you’re not interested in the Dining Package or it’s no longer available. Because it’s so late, most families will be long gone and you won’t have to worry about two large sections reserved for Dining Package users. Plan to arrive about 30 minutes early to secure good seats. 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.
There are two great times to tour the Magic Kingdom today – 9am to 12pm and 11pm to 1am. Most Disney resort guests see evening Extra Magic Hours and take their cue to sleep in and arrive late, in anticipation of staying a little later in the evening. Because many Disney resort guests also have young children, they aren’t able to stay as late into the night as they might like. This makes the early morning and late evening good times to tour efficiently. However, the afternoon will be busy and you won’t want to be in the standby line for any of the headlining Mountain or Fantasyland rides. If you can’t arrive until later in the day, you’re better off waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday to visit or plan to visit the lesser attractions during the day and use FASTPASS whenever possible. To make the most of your day, arrive by 8:40am and head straight for Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh or to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin before moving to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. You may also want to make a popular character a priority or have other attractions on your itinerary that should be ridden in the morning to avoid longer lines later in the day. Astro Orbiter and Tomorrowland Speedway are two examples. For Main Street Electrical Parade, find spots along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square because they are much less busy than Main Street and offer a view that is just as good. Disney will almost certainly add a second Electrical Parade at 11pm. If they do so, plan to see that Parade because it will be significantly less crowded overall and will only require you arrive in a recommended location a few minutes before the Parade steps off. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, I would recommend beginning 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 1am 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 Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. Stay through 1am (2am or 3am when Disney extends the regular close to 11pm or 12am as we get closer to August) because crowds will only get smaller and wait times shorter.
Monday August 6
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 – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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 Soarin’, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. You may also want to visit the Character Spot first thing if it’s of interest because waits will be long all day and it doesn’t offer FASTPASS. 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 Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, collect FASTPASSes for it in the morning or early afternoon. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm – it’s usually only Soarin’, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot. 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. Yesterday, 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, at least until 11:00pm when people begin to give up and exit. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 9:30pm, 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. Expect Disney to extend the close to 10pm tonight and add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm, making the Studios even more attractive to Disney resort guests and casual vacationers alike. 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. While Magic Kingdom is currently open until 10pm today like it is most every day this week, it’s more likely Disney will extend the hours to 12am or 1am today than tomorrow or Wednesday because they’re expecting heavier crowds. If and when that happens, Magic Kingdom will be even more attractive to casual vacations who think that longer operating hours translate to being able to accomplish more. 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. In past years, Disney had scheduled a second morning Extra Magic Hour on Tuesdays to help pull Disney resort guests away from Monday. Since they didn’t do that this year, we can expect Mondays to be busier than Tuesdays or Wednesdays. 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. The best viewing locations for Main Street Electrical Parade are located along the Parade route in Frontierland and Liberty Square because they offer a view that is just as good as Main Street, but don’t require the excessive waits. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday, Wednesday, or even Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded. Sundays are also recommended, provided you visit during one or both of the recommended times.
Tuesday August 7
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Highly Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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 Friday are the best days of the week to visit, though Thursday, Saturday, 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 the Camp Minnie-Mickey characters. 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. Despite “only” being open ten hours, you can still see 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.
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 12am and head back to Soarin’ and Mission Space from 11pm-12am. 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 and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. Plan to head there right after Toy Story Mania or collect FASTPASSes as soon as possible, after first collecting them for Toy Story. The other two attractions with decent lines 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. FASTPASS return times for both attractions are usually 40 to 60 minutes out, meaning you can easily FASTPASS them later in the afternoon. However, expect to see 30 minute standby wait times from 12pm – 4pm. 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. 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. Finally, Disney may add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm as we get closer to August. Should that happen, I recommend waiting to see that show because it will be significantly less crowded and the Dining Package won’t be necessary.
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, decent hours of operation, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes. It’s still more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh) or the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain). 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. 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. Both areas are significantly less crowded than Main Street and require a shorter wait. Disney will most likely (99% likely) extend the close and add a second Main Street Electrical Parade at 11pm as we get closer to August. Plan to see that one, should it be scheduled, because it will be much less crowded than the 9pm Parade due to so many families leaving after Wishes. 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 8
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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 now that we have Fantasmic scheduled every night this week. 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 Soarin’, followed by Sum of All Thrills and Mission: Space. 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. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day for Soarin’ and Mission Space (in that order) if you’d like to ride any of them a second time. 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 and you’ll be able to grab FASTPASSes with a return time of just 40 minutes in the future in case the posted wait time is 20+ minutes or you’d like to ride two or three times in the late afternoon or evening. Return to Future World after 5pm to visit any attractions that you skipped in the morning. Keep in mind that most Future World attractions close at 7pm. Usually only Soarin’, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth continue operating from 7pm – 9pm. 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 due to the addition of Fantasmic every night this week. 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 today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow and evening Extra Magic Hours on Friday that will be more attractive to Disney resort guests and they won’t be visiting today as well. By the time all is said and done, Disney will likely extend the operating hours at Magic Kingdom on several other days this week, including Monday and Thursday. Today, we may see a second Main Street Electrical Parade added at 11pm and the operating hours extended to 11pm or 12am to accommodate it, but that only benefits us because the 11pm Parade will be significantly less busy than the 9pm Parade. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, 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’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 9
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. If you’re not riding the thrill rides (Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl), you’ll want to attend the first showing of Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo because those shows will be popular in the afternoon. Also consider heading over to Camp Minnie-Mickey right before the characters appear in the morning to find the shortest lines. Collect FASTPASSes for attractions you either want to ride again or couldn’t make it to in the morning and you should be able to do just about everything the Animal Kingdom has to offer. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Magic Kingdom for Wishes and Main Street Electrical Parade, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic, or Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Stay through close if there’s more that you want to accomplish because wait times will only decrease from 5:30pm onward. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at one of its excellent restaurants. There’s also a public observatory where you can gaze out at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s private savannas and enjoy the same view many guests are paying a premium to have right outside their balconies. A trip to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping also makes a lot of sense.
Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour will draw the majority of Disney resort guests and they won’t be attending today as well. 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 Soarin’, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Soarin’ as soon as possible. Soarin’ will have 40+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to its popularity and relatively low capacity. 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 the more popular evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom, 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. It also helps that we have a popular evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled tomorrow. 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. If you aren’t Extra Magic Hours eligible, tomorrow morning would be less crowded, but afternoons and evenings on both days will be busier than recommended days.
Friday August 10
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 1am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended and would be the “most recommended Park” if it weren’t more difficult to schedule Hollywood Studios. We have the very popular evening Extra Magic Hours luring Disney resort guests to Magic Kingdom and a morning Extra Magic Hour attracting Disney resort guests to Epcot. Because these are Disney World’s two most popular theme parks in the first place, it will only help pull people away from Animal Kingdom, which people prefer to visit when they don’t have a reason to head elsewhere. 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 Camp Minnie-Mickey for 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. Because Animal Kingdom doesn’t offer anything in the way of special evening entertainment, few people Park Hop over in the afternoon and evening. 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.
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 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. It’s also more likely that Disney will extend the hours and add a second Fantasmic tomorrow because they’re expecting heavier crowds. This would only cause more off-site visitors to visit on Saturday as well. With Fantasmic scheduled every night and similar 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 often gone by 1pm, even when the overall crowd level is low and Hollywood Studios is recommended. You’ll want to make it your top priority. Your second priority is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which also sees long afternoon waits and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. 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, but be prepared to arrive an hour early for those seats. Sit any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and it’s more difficult to see what’s happening on the water. Disney may add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm as we get closer to August. Should that happen, you’ll want to attend the second show because it will be significantly less crowded than the first.
Magic Kingdom is not officially recommended, but you can still have a lot of success should you visit during one or both of the two recommended timeframes. Disney will most likely extend the close to 12am and add a second Main Street Electrical Parade at 11pm as we get closer to August. This makes 9am – 12pm an excellent time to tour because a lot of the Disney resort guests that will be visiting won’t arrive until later in the morning or afternoon. Their hope is that they’ll be able to stay up for the evening entertainment and at least part of evening Extra Magic Hours. The late night is also a viable time to tour as most families will leave after the 10pm Wishes Fireworks show, even if they have the intention of staying later. However, it’s going to be busier than recommended days from 1pm to 10pm because so many Disney resort guests will arrive throughout the morning. You can have success in the early afternoon provided you arrive early, collect FASTPASSes throughout the morning, and visit the least popular attractions after lunch, but lines are going to be long for most attractions throughout the entire afternoon. You’ll want to focus on the Carousel of Progress, Liberty Square Riverboat, Hall of Presidents, Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor, Country Bears Jamboree, and other similar attractions in the afternoon. In the early morning, focus on the headlining attractions, rides that will have long afternoon waits, and the most popular characters. Take a break in the afternoon from around 1pm to around 6pm to rest up for dinner, the nighttime entertainment, some less popular attractions or major attractions with FASTPASS, and evening Extra Magic Hours. For Main Street Electrical Parade, you’ll want to scout out a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square. These areas are much less crowded than Main Street and offer a view that is just as good. Should Disney add a second Electrical Parade at 11pm (99% likely), then you’ll want to plan to catch that Parade because it will be significantly less crowded overall and you may even be able to catch an easy viewing location on Main Street. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, I recommend beginning 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 12:00am 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 Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. Overall, you can have success if you’re prepared to visit in the early morning or late evening, but you’ll want to tour during a recommended day if you can’t because afternoon crowds are going to be prohibitive.
Saturday August 11
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is recommended. However, this is your “fourth best” or “third worst” day to visit this week, depending on how you want to look at it. Both yesterday and tomorrow would be less crowded overall. While Animal Kingdom will be slightly busier than these “more recommended” days, you can still 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 that, plan to visit DinoLand for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, Camp Minnie-Mickey for character meet and greets, or head over to the first Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo shows. Finding Nemo, in particular, is crowded and often fills to capacity for afternoon shows. If you arrive after 10am, you’ll most likely need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest until the final hour of operation. Because a lot of people leave shortly after the 3:45pm Parade, crowds and wait times only decrease as it gets closer to 7pm. Plan to stay through close if you have more you’d like to accomplish, saving Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest for last. With the high overall crowd level and relatively little going on elsewhere (since Hollywood Studios has long hours/Fantasmic every night and Magic Kingdom has long hours/both evening spectaculars every night), the afternoon will be crowded. However, you can “beat” the crowds by arriving prior to Park opening, collecting FASTPASSes throughout the day, and touring efficiently. You may want to take advantage of the lower crowds (relatively speaking) at Epcot or Magic Kingdom and save Animal Kingdom for when it’s highly recommended.
Epcot is our best Park to visit. Last night’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 Soarin’, followed by Sum of All Thrills and Mission: Space. If you’re interested in meeting Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto at the Character Spot, you’ll also want to fit that into the early morning – possibly even heading there before Soarin’ due to its limited capacity and guaranteed long lines in the late morning and afternoon. 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 to ride anything you skipped earlier in the day and to re-ride Soarin’ with FASTPASSes collected in the morning after 5pm, when most people will have moved on to World Showcase. Keep in mind that only Soain’, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot continue operating after 7pm. Many of the other Future World attractions close. If you arrive later, plan to collect FASTPASSes for Soarin’ as soon as possible. Mission Space and Maelstrom are much easier to FASTPASS in the afternoon 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. See the Touring Plans section if you’d like more touring tips.
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. It’s also more likely that Disney will extend the hours and add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm today than other days this week. This would only cause the Studios to be more crowded due to the number of people who think longer hours translate to more access to the major attractions. Of course, the exact opposite is what ends up happening because the additional people cause lines to be longer at attractions, quick services, restaurants, and stores. In addition, FASTPASSes will run out sooner, peak wait times will be higher, and shows are more likely to fill to capacity, in turn causing you to show up earlier and wait longer. While you can have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and arrive by 7:40am, most people will want to visit another day. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:40am and plan to hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning.
The Magic Kingdom is recommended. Most months, Saturdays are the most popular day of the week because it almost always has a Main Street Electrical Parade and the hours are usually significantly longer than other days during the week. In August, because the crowds are well above average every day for the first three weeks, we have a Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes scheduled every night, along with 9am-10pm or later hours of operation every day. This makes Saturday’s nighttime entertainment and long hours of operation much less attractive because the same schedule is offered most every day this month. We also had evening Extra Magic Hours last night and will have evening Extra Magic Hours tomorrow evening. Both Friday and Sunday will be more popular with the important and predictable Disney resort crowd. All of this allows me to recommend the Magic Kingdom, despite the fact that Saturdays throughout most of the year are expressly not recommended. Still, this past Sunday was the best day of the week to visit and Thursday would have had similar crowds as well. Like always, you can have success in the early morning and late evening, but the afternoon will be decently crowded like most other days this week. Plan to take a sizable afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so when crowds and temperatures peak. If you hit the attractions/characters that will have long afternoon waits in the morning, visit the less popular attractions in the early afternoon, and return in the evening for dinner, some late night attractions, and the evening spectaculars, then you can have a lot of success. With the crowd level decidedly above average, Magic Kingdom will still be busy. But it’s better than several of the alternatives, including either this past Tuesday or Wednesday.
Sunday August 12
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Recommended in the Early Morning or Late Evening)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 1am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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. Despite “only” having ten hours at the Animal Kingdom during the 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. Camp Minnie-Mickey may also be a morning priority if you’d like to visit the characters. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and 5:45pm – 7pm will have 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 and Hollywood Studios 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 Soarin, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space 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 a lot of attractions close at 7pm. Most nights, only Soarin’, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot continue operating after 7pm. The 5pm to 7pm timeframe is an excellent opportunity to do Living with the Land, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Circle of Life, Sum of All Thrills, anything in Innoventions, and anything else other than the major headliners. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times will most likely continue to be 30+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm. See the two-day Epcot touring plans if you’re looking for a more compartmentalized approach.
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 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 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. 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 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. Disney will most likely add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm as we get closer to August. Should that happen, you’ll want to attend that show if you’re not interested in the Dining Package or it’s no longer available. Because it’s so late, most families will be long gone and you won’t have to worry about two large sections reserved for Dining Package users. Plan to arrive about 30 minutes early to secure good seats. 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.
There are two great times to tour the Magic Kingdom today – 9am to 12pm and 11pm to 1am. Most Disney resort guests see evening Extra Magic Hours and take their cue to sleep in and arrive late, in anticipation of staying a little later in the evening. Because many Disney resort guests also have young children, they aren’t able to stay as late into the night as they might like. This makes the early morning and late evening good times to tour efficiently. However, the afternoon will be busy and you won’t want to be in the standby line for any of the headlining Mountain or Fantasyland rides. If you can’t arrive until later in the day, you’re better off waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday to visit or plan to visit the lesser attractions during the day and use FASTPASS whenever possible. To make the most of your day, arrive by 8:40am and head straight for Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh or to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin before moving to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. You may also want to make a popular character a priority or have other attractions on your itinerary that should be ridden in the morning to avoid longer lines later in the day. Astro Orbiter and Tomorrowland Speedway are two examples. For Main Street Electrical Parade, find spots along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square because they are much less busy than Main Street and offer a view that is just as good. Disney will almost certainly add a second Electrical Parade at 11pm. If they do so, plan to see that Parade because it will be significantly less crowded overall and will only require you arrive in a recommended location a few minutes before the Parade steps off. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, I would recommend beginning 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 1am 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 Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. Stay through 1am (2am or 3am when Disney extends the regular close to 11pm or 12am as we get closer to August) because crowds will only get smaller and wait times shorter.
Monday August 13
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 – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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 Soarin’, Sum of All Thrills and Mission: Space or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. You may also want to visit the Character Spot first thing if it’s of interest because waits will be long all day and it doesn’t offer FASTPASS. 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 Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, collect FASTPASSes for it in the morning or early afternoon. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm – it’s usually only Soarin’, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot. 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. Yesterday, 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, at least until 11:00pm when people begin to give up and exit. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 9:30pm, 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. Expect Disney to extend the close to 10pm tonight and add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm, making the Studios even more attractive to Disney resort guests and casual vacationers alike. 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. While Magic Kingdom is currently open until 10pm today like it is most every day this week, it’s more likely Disney will extend the hours to 12am or 1am today than tomorrow or Wednesday because they’re expecting heavier crowds. If and when that happens, Magic Kingdom will be even more attractive to casual vacations who think that longer operating hours translate to being able to accomplish more. 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. In past years, Disney had scheduled a second morning Extra Magic Hour on Tuesdays to help pull Disney resort guests away from Monday. Since they didn’t do that this year, we can expect Mondays to be busier than Tuesdays or Wednesdays. 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. The best viewing locations for Main Street Electrical Parade are located along the Parade route in Frontierland and Liberty Square because they offer a view that is just as good as Main Street, but don’t require the excessive waits. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday, Wednesday, or even Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded. Sundays are also recommended, provided you visit during one or both of the recommended times.
Tuesday August 14
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Highly Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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 Friday are the best days of the week to visit, though Thursday, Saturday, 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 the Camp Minnie-Mickey characters. 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. Despite “only” being open ten hours, you can still see 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.
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 12am and head back to Soarin’ and Mission Space from 11pm-12am. 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 and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. Plan to head there right after Toy Story Mania or collect FASTPASSes as soon as possible, after first collecting them for Toy Story. The other two attractions with decent lines 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. FASTPASS return times for both attractions are usually 40 to 60 minutes out, meaning you can easily FASTPASS them later in the afternoon. However, expect to see 30 minute standby wait times from 12pm – 4pm. 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. 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. Finally, Disney may add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm as we get closer to August. Should that happen, I recommend waiting to see that show because it will be significantly less crowded and the Dining Package won’t be necessary.
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, decent hours of operation, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes. It’s still more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh) or the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain). 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. 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. Both areas are significantly less crowded than Main Street and require a shorter wait. Disney will most likely (99% likely) extend the close and add a second Main Street Electrical Parade at 11pm as we get closer to August. Plan to see that one, should it be scheduled, because it will be much less crowded than the 9pm Parade due to so many families leaving after Wishes. 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 15
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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 now that we have Fantasmic scheduled every night this week. 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 Soarin’, followed by Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space. 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. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day for Soarin’ and Mission Space (in that order) if you’d like to ride any of them a second time. 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 and you’ll be able to grab FASTPASSes with a return time of just 40 minutes in the future in case the posted wait time is 20+ minutes or you’d like to ride two or three times in the late afternoon or evening. Return to Future World after 5pm to visit any attractions that you skipped in the morning. Keep in mind that most Future World attractions close at 7pm. Usually only Soarin’, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth continue operating from 7pm – 9pm. 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 due to the addition of Fantasmic every night this week. 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 today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow and evening Extra Magic Hours on Friday that will be more attractive to Disney resort guests and they won’t be visiting today as well. By the time all is said and done, Disney will likely extend the operating hours at Magic Kingdom on several other days this week, including Monday and Thursday. Today, we may see a second Main Street Electrical Parade added at 11pm and the operating hours extended to 11pm or 12am to accommodate it, but that only benefits us because the 11pm Parade will be significantly less busy than the 9pm Parade. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, 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’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 16
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. If you’re not riding the thrill rides (Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl), you’ll want to attend the first showing of Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo because those shows will be popular in the afternoon. Also consider heading over to Camp Minnie-Mickey right before the characters appear in the morning to find the shortest lines. Collect FASTPASSes for attractions you either want to ride again or couldn’t make it to in the morning and you should be able to do just about everything the Animal Kingdom has to offer. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Magic Kingdom for Wishes and Main Street Electrical Parade, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic, or Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Stay through close if there’s more that you want to accomplish because wait times will only decrease from 5:30pm onward. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at one of its excellent restaurants. There’s also a public observatory where you can gaze out at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s private savannas and enjoy the same view many guests are paying a premium to have right outside their balconies. A trip to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping also makes a lot of sense.
Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour will draw the majority of Disney resort guests and they won’t be attending today as well. 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 Soarin’, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Soarin’ as soon as possible. Soarin’ will have 40+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to its 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 the more popular evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom, 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. It also helps that we have a popular evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled tomorrow. 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. If you aren’t Extra Magic Hours eligible, tomorrow morning would be less crowded, but afternoons and evenings on both days will be busier than recommended days.
Friday August 17
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 1am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended and would be the “most recommended Park” if it weren’t more difficult to schedule Hollywood Studios. We have the very popular evening Extra Magic Hours luring Disney resort guests to Magic Kingdom and a morning Extra Magic Hour attracting Disney resort guests to Epcot. Because these are Disney World’s two most popular theme parks in the first place, it will only help pull people away from Animal Kingdom, which people prefer to visit when they don’t have a reason to head elsewhere. 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 Camp Minnie-Mickey for 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. Because Animal Kingdom doesn’t offer anything in the way of special evening entertainment, few people Park Hop over in the afternoon and evening. 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.
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 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. It’s also more likely that Disney will extend the hours and add a second Fantasmic tomorrow because they’re expecting heavier crowds. This would only cause more off-site visitors to visit on Saturday as well. With Fantasmic scheduled every night and similar 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 often gone by 1pm, even when the overall crowd level is low and Hollywood Studios is recommended. You’ll want to make it your top priority. Your second priority is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which also sees long afternoon waits and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. 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, but be prepared to arrive an hour early for those seats. Sit any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and it’s more difficult to see what’s happening on the water. Disney may add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm as we get closer to August. Should that happen, you’ll want to attend the second show because it will be significantly less crowded than the first.
Magic Kingdom is not officially recommended, but you can still have a lot of success should you visit during one or both of the two recommended timeframes. Disney will most likely extend the close to 12am and add a second Main Street Electrical Parade at 11pm as we get closer to August. This makes 9am – 12pm an excellent time to tour because a lot of the Disney resort guests that will be visiting won’t arrive until later in the morning or afternoon. Their hope is that they’ll be able to stay up for the evening entertainment and at least part of evening Extra Magic Hours. The late night is also a viable time to tour as most families will leave after the 10pm Wishes Fireworks show, even if they have the intention of staying later. However, it’s going to be busier than recommended days from 1pm to 10pm because so many Disney resort guests will arrive throughout the morning. You can have success in the early afternoon provided you arrive early, collect FASTPASSes throughout the morning, and visit the least popular attractions after lunch, but lines are going to be long for most attractions throughout the entire afternoon. You’ll want to focus on the Carousel of Progress, Liberty Square Riverboat, Hall of Presidents, Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor, Country Bears Jamboree, and other similar attractions in the afternoon. In the early morning, focus on the headlining attractions, rides that will have long afternoon waits, and the most popular characters. Take a break in the afternoon from around 1pm to around 6pm to rest up for dinner, the nighttime entertainment, some less popular attractions or major attractions with FASTPASS, and evening Extra Magic Hours. For Main Street Electrical Parade, you’ll want to scout out a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square. These areas are much less crowded than Main Street and offer a view that is just as good. Should Disney add a second Electrical Parade at 11pm (99% likely), then you’ll want to plan to catch that Parade because it will be significantly less crowded overall and you may even be able to catch an easy viewing location on Main Street. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, I recommend beginning 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 12:00am 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 Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. Overall, you can have success if you’re prepared to visit in the early morning or late evening, but you’ll want to tour during a recommended day if you can’t because afternoon crowds are going to be prohibitive.
Saturday August 18
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is recommended. However, this is your “fourth best” or “third worst” day to visit this week, depending on how you want to look at it. Both yesterday and tomorrow would be less crowded overall. While Animal Kingdom will be slightly busier than these “more recommended” days, you can still 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 that, plan to visit DinoLand for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, Camp Minnie-Mickey for character meet and greets, or head over to the first Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo shows. Finding Nemo, in particular, is crowded and often fills to capacity for afternoon shows. If you arrive after 10am, you’ll most likely need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest until the final hour of operation. Because a lot of people leave shortly after the 3:45pm Parade, crowds and wait times only decrease as it gets closer to 7pm. Plan to stay through close if you have more you’d like to accomplish, saving Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest for last. With the high overall crowd level and relatively little going on elsewhere (since Hollywood Studios has long hours/Fantasmic every night and Magic Kingdom has long hours/both evening spectaculars every night), the afternoon will be crowded. However, you can “beat” the crowds by arriving prior to Park opening, collecting FASTPASSes throughout the day, and touring efficiently. You may want to take advantage of the lower crowds (relatively speaking) at Epcot or Magic Kingdom and save Animal Kingdom for when it’s highly recommended.
Epcot is our best Park to visit. Last night’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 Soarin’, followed by Sum of All Thrills and Mission: Space. If you’re interested in meeting Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto at the Character Spot, you’ll also want to fit that into the early morning – possibly even heading there before Soarin’ due to its limited capacity and guaranteed long lines in the late morning and afternoon. 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 to ride anything you skipped earlier in the day and to re-ride Soarin’ with FASTPASSes collected in the morning after 5pm, when most people will have moved on to World Showcase. Keep in mind that only Soain’, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot continue operating after 7pm. Many of the other Future World attractions close. If you arrive later, plan to collect FASTPASSes for Soarin’ as soon as possible. Mission Space and Maelstrom are much easier to FASTPASS in the afternoon 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. See the Touring Plans section if you’d like more touring tips.
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. It’s also more likely that Disney will extend the hours and add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm today than other days this week. This would only cause the Studios to be more crowded due to the number of people who think longer hours translate to more access to the major attractions. Of course, the exact opposite is what ends up happening because the additional people cause lines to be longer at attractions, quick services, restaurants, and stores. In addition, FASTPASSes will run out sooner, peak wait times will be higher, and shows are more likely to fill to capacity, in turn causing you to show up earlier and wait longer. While you can have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and arrive by 7:40am, most people will want to visit another day. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:40am and plan to hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning.
The Magic Kingdom is recommended. Most months, Saturdays are the most popular day of the week because it almost always has a Main Street Electrical Parade and the hours are usually significantly longer than other days during the week. In August, because the crowds are well above average every day for the first three weeks, we have a Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes scheduled every night, along with 9am-10pm or later hours of operation every day. This makes Saturday’s nighttime entertainment and long hours of operation much less attractive because the same schedule is offered most every day this month. We also had evening Extra Magic Hours last night and will have evening Extra Magic Hours tomorrow evening. Both Friday and Sunday will be more popular with the important and predictable Disney resort crowd. All of this allows me to recommend the Magic Kingdom, despite the fact that Saturdays throughout most of the year are expressly not recommended. Still, this past Sunday was the best day of the week to visit and Thursday would have had similar crowds as well. Like always, you can have success in the early morning and late evening, but the afternoon will be decently crowded like most other days this week. Plan to take a sizable afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so when crowds and temperatures peak. If you hit the attractions/characters that will have long afternoon waits in the morning, visit the less popular attractions in the early afternoon, and return in the evening for dinner, some late night attractions, and the evening spectaculars, then you can have a lot of success. With the crowd level decidedly above average, Magic Kingdom will still be busy. But it’s better than several of the alternatives, including either this past Tuesday or Wednesday.
Sunday August 19
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Recommended in the Early Morning or Late Evening)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours 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. Despite “only” having ten hours at the Animal Kingdom during the 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. Camp Minnie-Mickey may also be a morning priority if you’d like to visit the characters. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and 5:45pm – 7pm will have 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 and Hollywood Studios 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 Soarin’, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space 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 a lot of attractions close at 7pm. Most nights, only Soarin’, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot continue operating after 7pm. The 5pm to 7pm timeframe is an excellent opportunity to do Living with the Land, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Circle of Life, Sum of All Thrills, anything in Innoventions, and anything else other than the major headliners. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times will most likely continue to be 30+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm. See the two-day Epcot touring plans if you’re looking for a more compartmentalized approach.
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 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 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. 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 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. Disney will most likely add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm as we get closer to August. Should that happen, you’ll want to attend that show if you’re not interested in the Dining Package or it’s no longer available. Because it’s so late, most families will be long gone and you won’t have to worry about two large sections reserved for Dining Package users. Plan to arrive about 30 minutes early to secure good seats. 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 tentatively recommended if you can tour in the early morning, late evening, or both. The afternoon and evening, from 1pm to about 10pm, are going to be busier than this coming Tuesday or Wednesday. The good news is that Main Street Electrical Parade isn’t currently scheduled and Disney will most likely extend the operating hours on Saturday and Monday. Along with the Electrical Parade on both dates, we can expect Saturday and Monday to be much more popular with off-site guests. The bad news is that Disney may add the Electrical Parade and extend the hours as we get closer to August. Should that happen, we’ll still have a great opportunity to tour during the recommended timeframes, but the afternoon and early evening will be even busier. With the current 9pm close, Magic Kingdom won’t be open late enough that you’ll have two or three outstanding hours to tour late at night. 10:30pm through 12am will still see light crowds, but not as light as we typically see when Magic Kingdom has 11pm to 2am or 12am to 3am evening Extra Magic Hours. The earlier close also means people will be planning to arrive a little earlier, creating longer lines and more congestion earlier in the morning. Overall, 9am – 11am and 10:45pm – 12am will still be great times to tour. Once Disney updates the August operating schedule in mid-July, we should see the close pushed back to at least 10pm, creating an even better opportunity to tour in the morning and late evening. However, this coming Tuesday and Wednesday would both be better days to visit. If you can arrive prior to Park opening and/or stay through close, you can have a lot of success. Plan a restful afternoon back at your resort or plan to visit the least popular attractions because afternoon crowds will be heavy and temperatures higher than any other part of the day.
Monday August 20
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 – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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 and can enjoy the Electrical Parade at night. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Soarin’, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. You may also want to visit the Character Spot first thing if it’s of interest because waits will be long all day and it doesn’t offer FASTPASS. 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 Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, collect FASTPASSes for it in the morning or early afternoon. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm – it’s usually only Soarin’, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot. 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. Yesterday, 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, at least until 11:00pm when people begin to give up and exit. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 9:00pm, 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. Expect Disney to extend the close to 10pm tonight and add a second Fantasmic at 10:00pm, making the Studios even more attractive to Disney resort guests and casual vacationers alike. 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. Currently, we didn’t have the Electrical Parade last night and won’t again until Thursday. That will only make the Magic Kingdom more popular. It’s also more likely Disney will extend the closer later tonight than either of the next two nights. If and when that happens, Magic Kingdom will be even more attractive to casual vacations who think that longer operating hours translate to being able to accomplish more. 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. In past years, Disney had scheduled a second morning Extra Magic Hour on Tuesdays to help pull Disney resort guests away from Monday. Since they didn’t do that this year, we can expect Mondays to be busier than Tuesdays or Wednesdays. The shorter hours and lack of the Electrical Parade will also help sway people towards Monday. 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. The best viewing locations for Main Street Electrical Parade are located along the Parade route in Frontierland and Liberty Square because they offer a view that is just as good as Main Street, but don’t require the excessive waits. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday, Wednesday, or even Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded. Sundays are also recommended, provided you visit during one or both of the recommended times.
Tuesday August 21
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm
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 Friday are the best days of the week to visit, though Thursday, Saturday, 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 the Camp Minnie-Mickey characters. 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. Despite “only” being open ten hours, you can still see 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.
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 12am and head back to Soarin’ and Mission Space from 11pm-12am. 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 and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. Plan to head there right after Toy Story Mania or collect FASTPASSes as soon as possible, after first collecting them for Toy Story. The other two attractions with decent lines 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. FASTPASS return times for both attractions are usually 40 to 60 minutes out, meaning you can easily FASTPASS them later in the afternoon. However, expect to see 30 minute standby wait times from 12pm – 4pm. 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. 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. Finally, Disney may add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm as we get closer to August. Should that happen, I recommend waiting to see that show because it will be significantly less crowded and the Dining Package won’t be necessary.
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. Currently, we don’t have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled in the evening, which means even fewer people will be eyeing it than earlier this month. Still, it’s more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh) or the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain). 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. 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. Even if Disney adds the Electrical Parade as we get closer to August, Magic Kingdom will still be recommended. However, crowds will be heavier because people will have the opportunity to see both nighttime spectaculars and enjoy longer hours of operation. 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 return in the evening for Wishes and some late night attractions.
Wednesday August 22
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Most 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 (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 now that we have Fantasmic scheduled every night this week. 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 Soarin’, followed by Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space. 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. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day for Soarin’ and Mission Space (in that order) if you’d like to ride any of them a second time. 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 and you’ll be able to grab FASTPASSes with a return time of just 40 minutes in the future in case the posted wait time is 20+ minutes or you’d like to ride two or three times in the late afternoon or evening. Return to Future World after 5pm to visit any attractions that you skipped in the morning. Keep in mind that most Future World attractions close at 7pm. Usually only Soarin’, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth continue operating from 7pm – 9pm. 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 due to the addition of Fantasmic every night this week. 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, especially with no Electrical Parade and shorter hours at Magic Kingdom. 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 today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow and evening Extra Magic Hours on Friday that will be more attractive to Disney resort guests and they won’t be visiting today as well. By the time all is said and done, Disney will likely extend the operating hours at Magic Kingdom on several other days this week, including Monday and Thursday. Today, we may see Main Street Electrical Parade added in the future, but that wouldn’t raise crowds so much that Magic Kingdom would be any less recommended. Regardless of what Disney does with the operating/entertainment schedule, Magic Kingdom will stay the most recommended Park. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, 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’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 23
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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 decently crowded. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. If you’re not riding the thrill rides (Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl), you’ll want to attend the first showing of Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo because those shows will be popular in the afternoon. Also consider heading over to Camp Minnie-Mickey right before the characters appear in the morning to find the shortest lines. Collect FASTPASSes for attractions you either want to ride again or couldn’t make it to in the morning and you should be able to do just about everything the Animal Kingdom has to offer. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Magic Kingdom for Wishes and Main Street Electrical Parade, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic, or Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Stay through close if there’s more that you want to accomplish because wait times will only decrease from 5:30pm onward. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at one of its excellent restaurants. There’s also a public observatory where you can gaze out at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s private savannas and enjoy the same view many guests are paying a premium to have right outside their balconies. A trip to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping also makes a lot of sense.
Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour will draw the majority of Disney resort guests and they won’t be attending today as well. 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 Soarin’, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Soarin’ as soon as possible. Soarin’ will have 40+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to its 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 recommended, though it’s really the third or fourth best day there this week. Tomorrow and this past Sunday would have been better, but you can certainly have a successful day today if you approach it properly. That means arriving prior to Park opening and taking care of Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning or with FASTPASS throughout the day. FASTPASSes for Toy Story will likely be gone by noon, so make sure it’s your top priority. Standby waits ordinarily hit the triple digits due to its popularity and limited capacity. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster also sees decent afternoon waits, likely in the 50-70 minute range, with FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. Plan to head there second or collect FASTPASSes for it as soon after Toy Story Midway Mania as possible. You may also want to prioritize the Toy Story, Phineas and Ferb, or Sorcerer Mickey characters. In addition, characters appear at Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat in the early morning that won’t appear during any other part of the day. Usually, Minnie, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Donald, Daisy, Piglet, and Tigger appear, but no specific characters are guaranteed. Overall, you can do well at the Studios if you arrive early and tour efficiently, but afternoon crowds will be decent. Arrive at 10:30am with everyone else and you’re looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. You can still enjoy the various shows, but it’s going to be more difficult to experience those two attractions. Thankfully, Tower of Terror and Star Tours see shorter waits and more FASTPASS availability. Still, Tower of Terror will hit 30-50 minutes in the afternoon and Star Tours should see 30 minute waits. Plan to use FASTPASS if you don’t get in line before 10:30am.
The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure a lot of Disney resort guests and we also have the first Main Street Electrical Parade since Monday. Combined, this will make Magic Kingdom significantly busier than either of the last two days. Luckily we do have evening Extra Magic Hours and both nighttime spectaculars tomorrow, which will help pull Disney resort guests away from today. 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. If you aren’t Extra Magic Hours eligible, tomorrow morning would be less crowded, but afternoons and evenings on both days will be busier than recommended days.
Friday August 24
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 – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 1am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended and would be the “most recommended Park” if it weren’t more difficult to schedule Hollywood Studios. We have the very popular evening Extra Magic Hours luring Disney resort guests to Magic Kingdom and a morning Extra Magic Hour attracting Disney resort guests to Epcot. Because these are Disney World’s two most popular theme parks in the first place, it will only help pull people away from Animal Kingdom, which people prefer to visit when they don’t have a reason to head elsewhere. 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 Camp Minnie-Mickey for 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. Because Animal Kingdom doesn’t offer anything in the way of special evening entertainment, few people Park Hop over in the afternoon and evening. 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.
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 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. It’s also more likely that Disney will extend the hours and add a second Fantasmic tomorrow because they’re expecting heavier crowds. This would only cause more off-site visitors to visit on Saturday as well. With Fantasmic scheduled every night and similar 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 often gone by 1pm, even when the overall crowd level is low and Hollywood Studios is recommended. You’ll want to make it your top priority. Your second priority is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which also sees long afternoon waits and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. 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, but be prepared to arrive an hour early for those seats. Sit any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and it’s more difficult to see what’s happening on the water. Disney may add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm as we get closer to August. Should that happen, you’ll want to attend the second show because it will be significantly less crowded than the first.
Magic Kingdom is not officially recommended, but you can still have a lot of success should you visit during one or both of the two recommended timeframes. Disney will most likely extend the close to 11pm and add a second Main Street Electrical Parade at 11pm as we get closer to August. This makes 9am – 12pm an excellent time to tour because a lot of the Disney resort guests that will be visiting won’t arrive until later in the morning or afternoon. Their hope is that they’ll be able to stay up for the evening entertainment and at least part of evening Extra Magic Hours. The late night is also a viable time to tour as most families will leave after the 10pm Wishes Fireworks show, even if they have the intention of staying later. However, it’s going to be busier than recommended days from 1pm to 10pm because so many Disney resort guests will arrive throughout the morning. You can have success in the early afternoon provided you arrive early, collect FASTPASSes throughout the morning, and visit the least popular attractions after lunch, but lines are going to be long for most attractions throughout the entire afternoon. You’ll want to focus on the Carousel of Progress, Liberty Square Riverboat, Hall of Presidents, Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor, Country Bears Jamboree, and other similar attractions in the afternoon. In the early morning, focus on the headlining attractions, rides that will have long afternoon waits, and the most popular characters. Take a break in the afternoon from around 1pm to around 6pm to rest up for dinner, the nighttime entertainment, some less popular attractions or major attractions with FASTPASS, and evening Extra Magic Hours. For Main Street Electrical Parade, you’ll want to scout out a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square. These areas are much less crowded than Main Street and offer a view that is just as good. Should Disney add a second Electrical Parade at 11pm, you’ll want to plan to catch that Parade because it will be significantly less crowded overall and you may even be able to catch an easy viewing location on Main Street. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, I recommend beginning 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 12:00am 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 Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. Overall, you can have success if you’re prepared to visit in the early morning or late evening, but you’ll want to tour during a recommended day if you can’t because afternoon crowds are going to be prohibitive.
Saturday August 25
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended. We’re moving from the summer entertainment schedule/Extra Magic Hours schedule to the “off-season” schedule beginning tomorrow. That means shorter hours at the theme parks, evening entertainment at Magic Kingdom scheduled less often, and fewer evening Extra Magic Hours. This helps days at the Animal Kingdom because it will be even less crowded when we have a lot going on elsewhere. While we can still easily find less crowded days at Animal Kingdom during the summer, we don’t see the great drop off that we do during the off-season. That’s because entertainment at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios is so plentiful. Because people can enjoy long hours and nighttime spectaculars every day, fewer people will gravitate toward Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios when they offer them. When nighttime entertainment is scheduled less often, more people will be headed to the Parks that offer that limited entertainment. By the time Disney updates the August operating schedule in July, they will most likely extend Magic Kingdom’s close and add a second Main Street Electrical Parade. Moving into next week, the Electrical Parade will only be scheduled three evenings. Thus, even more people will be looking toward Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios today than other days over the next week. This also helps Magic Kingdom because we’ll see even lower crowds when the Electrical Parade isn’t scheduled. You can have a ton of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After that, plan to visit DinoLand for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, Camp Minnie-Mickey for character meet and greets, or head over to the first Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo shows. Finding Nemo, in particular, is crowded and often fills to capacity for afternoon shows. If you arrive after 10am, you’ll most likely need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest until the final hour of operation. Because a lot of people leave shortly after the 3:45pm Parade, crowds and wait times only decrease as it gets closer to 6pm. Plan to stay through close if you have more you’d like to accomplish, saving Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest for last.
Epcot is our best Park to visit. Last night’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 Soarin’, followed by Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space. If you’re interested in meeting Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto at the Character Spot, you’ll also want to fit that into the early morning – possibly even heading there before Soarin’ due to its limited capacity and guaranteed long lines in the late morning and afternoon. 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 to ride anything you skipped earlier in the day and to re-ride Soarin’ with FASTPASSes collected in the morning after 5pm, when most people will have moved on to World Showcase. Keep in mind that only Soain’, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot continue operating after 7pm. Many of the other Future World attractions close. If you arrive later, plan to collect FASTPASSes for Soarin’ as soon as possible. Mission Space and Maelstrom are much easier to FASTPASS in the afternoon 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. See the Touring Plans section if you’d like more touring tips.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended. The sizable Disney resort contingent numbers 75,000+ people. 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. It’s also more likely that Disney will extend the hours and add a second Fantasmic at 10pm today than other days this week. This would only cause the Studios to be more crowded due to the number of people who think longer hours translate to more access to the major attractions. Of course, the exact opposite is what ends up happening because the additional people cause lines to be longer at attractions, quick services, restaurants, and stores. In addition, FASTPASSes will run out sooner, peak wait times will be higher, and shows are more likely to fill to capacity, in turn causing you to show up earlier and wait longer. While you can have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and arrive by 7:40am, most people will want to visit another day. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:40am and plan to hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning.
The Magic Kingdom is not recommended. Although we’ve enjoyed long hours and plentiful evening entertainment over the summer, that all changes beginning tomorrow. Magic Kingdom’s hours are shorter and the Electrical Parade is only scheduled three evenings next week. In addition, Florida schools are back in session, which means locals will have fewer opportunities to visit the Parks and more of them will be looking to visit on the weekends. Because Magic Kingdom is Disney World’s most popular theme park, we can expect more locals to head there than the other Parks. While this Saturday will be less busy than Saturdays over the next couple of months, it’s still going to be busier than tomorrow or next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. You can still have a great day if you arrive prior to Park opening, take a long afternoon break when crowds and temperatures peak, and return in the evening for dinner, some late night attractions, and the nighttime spectaculars, but it’s going to be busier overall than recommended days both this week and next. Avoid it unless you can tour efficiently in the morning or won’t have another opportunity to see Main Street Electrical Parade.
Sunday August 26
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm
Animal Kingdom is recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom luring a decent number of Disney resort guests. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow or Wednesday for morning Extra Magic Hour. Despite “only” having nine hours at the Animal Kingdom during the 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. Camp Minnie-Mickey may also be a morning priority if you’d like to visit the characters. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and 4:45pm – 6pm will have shorter waits than the afternoon. You also have a great 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 and Hollywood Studios 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 Soarin, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space 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 a lot of attractions close at 7pm. Most nights, only Soarin’, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot continue operating after 7pm. The 5pm to 7pm timeframe is an excellent opportunity to do Living with the Land, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Circle of Life, Sum of All Thrills, anything in Innoventions, and anything else other than the major headliners. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times will most likely continue to be 30+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm. See the two-day Epcot touring plans if you’re looking for a more compartmentalized approach.
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 and Wishes at Magic Kingdom to draw people in that direction. 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, Thursday, 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 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. 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 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. Disney will most likely add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm as we get closer to July. Should that happen, you’ll want to attend that show if you’re not interested in the Dining Package or it’s no longer available. Because it’s so late, most families will be long gone and you won’t have to worry about two large sections reserved for Dining Package users. Plan to arrive about 30 minutes early to secure good seats. 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.
There are two great times to tour the Magic Kingdom today – 9am to 12pm and 10:30pm to 12am. Most Disney resort guests see evening Extra Magic Hours and take their cue to sleep in and arrive late, in anticipation of staying a little later in the evening. Because many Disney resort guests also have young children, they aren’t able to stay as late into the night as they might like. This makes the early morning and late evening good times to tour efficiently. However, the afternoon will be busy and you won’t want to be in the standby line for any of the headlining Mountain or Fantasyland rides. If you can’t arrive until later in the day, you’re better off waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday to visit or plan to visit the lesser attractions during the day and use FASTPASS whenever possible. To make the most of your day, arrive by 8:40am and head straight for Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh or to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin before moving to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. You may also want to make a popular character a priority or have other attractions on your itinerary that should be ridden in the morning to avoid longer lines later in the day. Astro Orbiter and Tomorrowland Speedway are two examples. The fact that Main Street Electrical Parade isn’t scheduled this evening also helps lower nighttime crowds. We have the Electrical Parade scheduled both yesterday and tomorrow. These days will be significantly more popular than today with off-site visitors. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, I would recommend beginning 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 Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. Stay through 12am because crowds will only get lower as it gets later in the evening.
Monday August 27
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 – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, 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. On-site and off-site visitors alike will also be attracted to Magic Kingdom’s longer hours and Main Street Electrical Parade. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Soarin’, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. You may also want to visit the Character Spot first thing if it’s of interest because waits will be long all day and it doesn’t offer FASTPASS. 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 Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, collect FASTPASSes for it in the morning or early afternoon. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm – it’s usually only Soarin’, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot. 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. Yesterday, tomorrow, Thursday, 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, at least until 11:00pm when people begin to give up and exit. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 9:00pm, 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. Expect Disney to extend the close to 10pm tonight and add a second Fantasmic at 10:00pm, making the Studios even more attractive to Disney resort guests and casual vacationers alike. 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. In addition, Main Street Electrical Parade is scheduled and the operating hours are longer than most other days this week. The Electrical Parade isn’t scheduled yesterday and won’t be again until Thursday. Because the Parade is so popular, many people will choose to visit on a day that it’s offered. 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. The best viewing locations for Main Street Electrical Parade are located along the Parade route in Frontierland and Liberty Square because they offer a view that is just as good as Main Street, but don’t require the excessive waits. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded. Sundays are also recommended, provided you visit during one or both of the recommended times. The best way to see the Electrical Parade is to Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom after spending the majority of the day at a recommended Park. This coming Thursday would be the best day to do that because nighttime crowds will be lower than either today or Saturday. Avoid today unless you’d like to see the Electrical Parade and won’t have another opportunity to easily see it.
Tuesday August 28
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm
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 the Camp Minnie-Mickey characters. 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. Despite “only” being open eight hours, you can still see 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.
Epcot is not recommended. We have the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting the majority of Disney resort guests and a lot of off-site visitors who will naturally visit Epcot after the Magic Kingdom yesterday. While Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios helps, it shouldn’t pull enough people away to make a discernible difference in wait times. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or are certain 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 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. 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 and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. Plan to head there right after Toy Story Mania or collect FASTPASSes as soon as possible, after first collecting them for Toy Story. The other two attractions with decent lines 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. FASTPASS return times for both attractions are usually 40 to 60 minutes out, meaning you can easily FASTPASS them later in the afternoon. However, expect to see 30 minute standby wait times from 12pm – 4pm. 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. 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.
Magic Kingdom is highly recommended and an excellent choice if you don’t want to wait until tomorrow to visit. Epcot’s morning 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. Currently, we don’t have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled in the evening, which means even fewer people will be eyeing it than earlier this month. Still, it’s more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh) or the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain). 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. 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. Even if Disney adds the Electrical Parade as we get closer to August, Magic Kingdom will still be recommended. However, crowds will be heavier because people will have the opportunity to see both nighttime spectaculars and enjoy longer hours of operation. I’m not expecting Disney to add the Electrical Parade because it’s late enough in August that crowds will be significantly lower than earlier in the month. 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 return in the evening for Wishes and some late night attractions.
Wednesday August 29
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Most 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 (since Main Street Electrical Parade isn’t scheduled and Fantasmic is 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 now that we have Fantasmic scheduled every night this week. We’re coming off a popular morning Extra Magic Hour 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 Soarin’, followed by Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space. 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. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day for Soarin’ and Mission Space (in that order) if you’d like to ride any of them a second time. 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 and you’ll be able to grab FASTPASSes with a return time of just 40 minutes in the future in case the posted wait time is 20+ minutes or you’d like to ride two or three times in the late afternoon or evening. Return to Future World after 5pm to visit any attractions that you skipped in the morning. Keep in mind that most Future World attractions close at 7pm. Usually only Soarin’, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth continue operating from 7pm – 9pm. 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 due to the addition of Fantasmic every night this week. 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, especially with no Electrical Parade and shorter hours at Magic Kingdom. 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 today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract off-site visitors and an Electrical Parade that will attract off-site visitors tomorrow. By the time all is said and done, Disney will likely extend the operating hours at Magic Kingdom on several other days this week, including Monday and Thursday. It’s also unlikely that Disney will add the Electrical Parade this late in August when overall crowds are lower. Regardless of what Disney does with the operating/entertainment schedule, Magic Kingdom will stay the most recommended Park. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, 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’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 30
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is recommended. 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/Main Street Electrical Parade attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic continuing to keep Hollywood Studios decently crowded. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. If you’re not riding the thrill rides (Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl), you’ll want to attend the first showing of Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo because those shows will be popular in the afternoon. Also consider heading over to Camp Minnie-Mickey right before the characters appear in the morning to find the shortest lines. Collect FASTPASSes for attractions you either want to ride again or couldn’t make it to in the morning and you should be able to do just about everything the Animal Kingdom has to offer. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Magic Kingdom for Wishes and Main Street Electrical Parade, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic, or Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Stay through close if there’s more that you want to accomplish because wait times will only decrease from 4:15pm onward. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at one of its excellent restaurants. There’s also a public observatory where you can gaze out at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s private savannas and enjoy the same view many guests are paying a premium to have right outside their balconies. A trip to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping also makes a lot of sense.
Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will draw the majority of Disney resort guests and they won’t be attending today as well. 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 Soarin’, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Soarin’ as soon as possible. Soarin’ will have 60+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to its 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 highly recommended. While it’s later in the week, Magic Kingdom will be a much bigger draw with morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade drawing off-site and on-site visitors alike. However, the Studios’ decent hours of operation and the addition of Fantasmic means it won’t be far and away less crowded than other recommended days during the week. Touring efficiently is more important than “picking the right day,” especially at Hollywood Studios. That means arriving prior to Park opening and taking care of Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning or with FASTPASS throughout the day. FASTPASSes for Toy Story will likely be gone by noon, so make sure it’s your top priority. Standby waits ordinarily hit the triple digits due to its popularity and limited capacity. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster also sees decent afternoon waits, likely in the 50-70 minute range, with FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. Plan to head there second or collect FASTPASSes for it as soon after Toy Story Midway Mania as possible. You may also want to prioritize the Toy Story, Phineas and Ferb, or Sorcerer Mickey characters. In addition, characters appear at Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat in the early morning that won’t appear during any other part of the day. Usually, Minnie, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Donald, Daisy, Piglet, and Tigger appear, but no specific characters are guaranteed. Overall, you can do well at the Studios if you arrive early and tour efficiently, but afternoon crowds will be decent. Arrive at 10:30am with everyone else and you’re looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. You can still enjoy the various shows, but it’s going to be more difficult to experience those two attractions. Thankfully, Tower of Terror and Star Tours see shorter waits and more FASTPASS availability. Still, Tower of Terror will hit 30-50 minutes in the afternoon and Star Tours should see 30 minute waits. Plan to use FASTPASS if you don’t get in line before 10:30am.
The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure a lot of Disney resort guests and we also have the first Main Street Electrical Parade since Monday. Combined, this will make Magic Kingdom significantly busier than either of the last two days or tomorrow. 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 10am or later because it will be busier than recommended days from 11am onward. Tonight is your best opportunity this week to see Main Street Electrical Parade, but the Magic Kingdom will still be busy. If you are planning to see the Parade, I recommend scouting out a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square. Both locations are significantly less crowded than Main Street and offer a view that is just as good. To enjoy the Electrical Parade with the least possible hassle, plan to visit a recommended Park in the morning, take an afternoon break, and then visit Magic Kingdom in the evening for dinner and the nighttime spectaculars.
Friday August 31
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
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 now that Fantasmic has been added. While we would be better off if Magic Kingdom offered Main Street Electrical Parade and longer hours, Epcot’s evening Extra Magic Hours are always popular and will draw a lot of Disney resort guests. The only problem is that it’s late in the week, which means most people on a weeklong vacation will have made it to the other more popular theme parks. A lot of people naturally save Animal Kingdom for later in the week because they’re more interested in Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. Still, with the low overall crowd level, today will be far from busy. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing. After that, move on to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR or visit the characters and Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo the Musical. Keep in mind that crowds disperse after the 3:45pm Parade. If you couldn’t get to some of the attraction earlier in the day, stay through until 5pm because waits will only decrease from 4:15pm through close.
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 a decent 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 12am and head back to Soarin’, Test Track, and Mission Space from 11pm-12am. Skip Illuminations if you’ll be here on another night because it will be more crowded than usual. Overall, there’s no reason to visit Epcot today because crowds will be higher than any other day during the week and waits at Soarin’ and Test Track will be just as long as they were during the day until 11pm or later.
Hollywood Studios is recommended for similar reasons as yesterday, though the lack of Main Street Electrical at Magic Kingdom doesn’t help. Luckily, we have the extremely popular evening Extra Magic Hours luring Disney resort guests to Epcot today and Hollywood Studios’ morning Extra Magic Hour will prove popular. It’s also much more likely that Disney will extend the close and add a second Fantasmic tomorrow. Overall, this past Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and today will all be similarly crowded and there isn’t necessarily a huge advantage to picking one day over another. Try to pick the day that fits into your itinerary best. 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 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 the headlining Mountain rides or Fantasyland attractions, beginning with Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh. 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.