February 2013 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar

2/24/13 Update: Animal Kingdom hours extended on 2/27 to 9am – 6pm.

2/17/13 Update: Magic Kingdom’s close extended one hour from the 17th – 23rd.

1/17/13 Update: Operating schedule and crowd calendar updated with the changes listed here.

11/5/12 Update: Animal Kingdom operating hours updated as listed here.

9/26/12 Update: Recommendations shifted with Epcot and Hollywood Studios switching evening Extra Magic Hours.

8/6/12 Update: Added Daily Analysis for February 15- 28 and updated Crowd Calendar image with slight changes for that timeframe.

This is the Free February 2013 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.

Make sure you first read my month-by-month overview of visiting Disney World, located here. The overview will give you an idea of what to expect in terms of cost, crowds, weather, and special events on a broader scale. Once you figure out when you would like to visit, you can move on to this more detailed look.

Here’s a quick explanation of how to read the calendar and what the numbers mean. It may seem like it’s a little long, but you’ll only need to read the explanation once.

The first line in each box is the date.
The second line shows the cost to book a room at a Disney-owned resort. $ = Value Season, $$ = Regular Season, $$$ = Summer Season, $$$$ = Peak Season, and $$$$$ = Holiday Season. Occasionally there will be a + or – after the $$$ to show that the cost is slightly higher or lower than usual, but not by enough to raise it another $ notch.
The third line is the average high and low temperature and the chance of precipitation. All data is based on the last 15 years. I wouldn’t read too much into the precipitation percentages for each day because just one or two additional days of rain in the last 15 years can raise the percentage substantially. I included it so you can look at the precipitation trends throughout the month(s) and take it into consideration when deciding when to book your vacation. For a broader overview of the month, read the month-by-month overview I linked to above.
The fourth line is an estimation of the overall crowd level. A “5″ refers to average crowds. Numbers above 5 refer to a larger than average overall crowd level and numbers below 5 refer to lower than average overall crowds. A day with an overall crowd level of “1″ means that the crowds are expected to be the absolute lowest of the year and a “10″ means crowds are expected to be at their largest of the year. In other words, the overall crowd level estimation will give you an idea of how many people are in the entire Disney World complex, including the four major theme parks, water parks, Downtown Disney, golf courses, resorts, etc. Individual theme parks can have smaller or larger crowds than the overall estimation, which is where the theme park recommendations come in.
The fifth line shows the theme parks I recommend visiting in green and the theme parks I recommend avoiding in red. There is also a | sign that splits up the recommended and not recommended Parks for the color blind or those printing in black and white (the Parks to the left of the | sign are recommended). I use the usual abbreviations for the Parks; AK is the Animal Kingdom, EP is Epcot, HS is Hollywood Studios, and MK is the Magic Kingdom. In addition to the colors, the Park on the far left is the most recommended Park to visit that day. The Park second to the left is the second most recommended and so on. For example, if the line reads AK EP | HS MK then the Animal Kingdom is the most recommended and Epcot is the second most recommended. On the other side of the | sign, Hollywood Studios is not recommended and the Magic Kingdom is expressly not recommended even more. If possible, I would strongly recommend you visit the Park that is most recommended each day. Please read below the calendar for an overview of how I’ve selected the recommended Parks and also a day-by-day explanation.
The sixth line lists which Parks have Extra Magic Hours and at what time they start. Morning Extra Magic Hour lasts one hour and usually starts at 8am. Evening Extra Magic Hours last three hours from the start time. For example, if you see AK:8am EP:9pm, that means the Animal Kingdom has a morning Extra Magic Hour from 8am-9am and Epcot has evening Extra Magic Hours from 9pm-12am.
The seventh line lists the Fantasmic show times at the Hollywood Studios.
The eighth line lists the start time of Main Street Electrical Parade (MSEP:) and Wishes Fireworks at Magic Kingdom(W:). For example, if you see, MSEP: 9pm & 11pm W: 10pm, it would mean that Main Street Electrical Parade begins at 9pm and 11pm and Wishes begins at 10pm.

The Calendar is also available in an easy to view and print PDF file, Here.

Click the image to enlarge it.

Friday February 1

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom is recommended. 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 below average 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. With Extra Magic Hours only being two hours now, wait times at Soarin’ and Test Track won’t ease much until after 10:30pm. However, other attractions will see nominal waits and it’s a great time to take in Epcot’s natural ambiance and hit a few of the less popular/high capacity attractions. 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 at least 10:30pm.

Hollywood Studios is recommended for similar reasons as yesterday, though the lack of Main Street Electrical Parade 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/later close/double Fantasmic will prove popular tomorrow. 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. Popular characters may also be a morning priority. Check your Times Guide to see when the characters you wish to visit begin greeting and try to arrive about ten minutes before their first set. The Toy Story characters, located across from Toy Story Mania, should be visited immediately after Toy Story if they’re of interest because afternoon waits will be 30+ minutes. Phineas and Ferb are your second priority. If you can’t visit in the morning, visit in the last hour the characters are scheduled to appear to find the shortest possible waits. 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. 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 key Fantasyland attractions, beginning with Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Winnie the Pooh, and Peter Pan’s Flight. You may also opt to head to a character priority or the headlining Mountain rides. 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.

Saturday February 2

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Highly Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8:30pm (Not Recommended)

Cheer Championships

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom comes highly recommended. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours or special events to attract Disney vacationers of any sort. Magic Kingdom will be attracting significant crowds with its longer hours of operation and both nighttime spectaculars and Hollywood Studios will be popular with the morning Extra Magic Hour, two Fantasmic shows, and the 8:30pm close. While it’s true that the 8pm close at Animal Kingdom is later than other days this week, it isn’t as much of a concern. The vast majority of casual vacationers consider Animal Kingdom a “half day Park,” which means they arrive around 10am and stay through the afternoon Parade, ultimately leaving between 4:15pm and 5pm regardless of when Animal Kingdom closes. There isn’t nighttime entertainment to keep people around like there is at the other Parks and few people stick around to dine at the restaurants, like a lot of people do at Epcot. That leaves 9am – 10:30am and 6pm – 8pm as excellent times to tour. We also had two morning Extra Magic Hours earlier in the week and another on Monday to appeal to the sizable Disney resort contingent. To take full advantage of the relatively low crowd level, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get those two attractions out of the way early and the only real concerns are getting to Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical. You would be in the best shape if you could get to the first or last show of the day as well as over to DinoLand USA before 10:30am when lines begin to build at DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl. You may also want to prioritize the Character Greeting Trails at Camp Minnie-Mickey. Here, you’ll find Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Chip, Dale, Baloo and King Louie along with other characters like Pocahontas and potentially Rafiki or Br’er Bear. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing just about everything Animal Kingdom has to offer in just one day. With the 8pm close, a late arrival is also possible. You could instead elect to sleep in and arrive around 3pm. Collect FASTPASSes for Kilimanjaro Safaris when you arrive because it will most likely stop operating around 5pm with the cooler temperatures and early darkness. Then visit the animal habitats and other attractions before heading over to DinoLand after 6pm and back over to Asia for Expedition Everest after 7pm when crowds will be mostly nonexistent. As an added bonus, Animal Kingdom is absolutely beautiful in the dark and few people get to experience it with the early closes most of the year.

Epcot is the most recommended Park. 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 Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the touring plans. It’s more important to arrive early and take care of the headliners first thing than it is to pick the “right” day. You’ll run into lines at the headliners in Future World if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. To stay ahead of the crowds for the longest amount of time, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to see anything you missed. Keep in mind that both Innoventions buildings, the Imagination Pavilion, and Universe of Energy close at 7pm. The 5pm to 7pm timeframe is an excellent opportunity to do Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Sum of All Thrills, anything in Innoventions, Circle of Life, Living with the Land, and anything else other than the major headliners. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’ and Test Track, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times for both will most likely continue to be 45+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm, despite the recommendation. With just a few “rides,” Test Track and Soarin’ can’t keep up with demand, even when that demand is lower than most other days.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended because the morning Extra Magic Hour will attract so many Disney resort guests. 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. 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. The 8:30pm and second Fantasmic will only make it more popular with off-site visitors. Finally, the cheer competition will also add to overall crowd feel, even if the competitors and their families don’t have a huge impact on wait times. While you can have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and arrive by 7:30am, 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 7:15am and plan to hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning.

Saturdays are naturally the busiest day of the week at the Magic Kingdom. We have longer hours of operation, visiting locals, and a lot of vacationers who will be visiting the Magic Kingdom for a second time before returning home tomorrow. On top of that, Main Street Electrical Parade is only scheduled on three nights this week. Because the Parade is so popular, a lot of people will visit on a day that they can see it, like today. All of this makes me hesitant about recommending the Magic Kingdom, despite a lack of Extra Magic Hours. Yesterday and next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday will be much better days to tour, but you can have a moderate amount of success today if you arrive prior to 9am and head straight for the headlining or Fantasyland attractions. The afternoon will be busier than any other day this week and you’ll either want to take a break and return for the Electrical Parade and Wishes or visit the less popular attractions from 2pm – 6pm. While it is possible to have a decent day here if you arrive early and tour efficiently, there are much less crowded days to visit during the week.

Sunday February 3

Super Bowl Sunday

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

Cheer Championships

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Tentatively Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 12am

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom is recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom luring a lot of Disney resort guests that plan to visit a Park in the evening. The only problem is the Super Bowl. With no evening entertainment scheduled at Animal Kingdom, we’re going to see a decent amount of people that choose to visit it so they can be out of there around 3pm and on to their Super Bowl viewing location without feeling like they’re “missing something.” That’s a small problem in the grand scheme of things though, particularly because it’s a popular travel day with people moving in and out of Orlando and the overall crowd level is low. Disney resort guests are also more likely to visit tomorrow or Wednesday for morning Extra Magic Hour. With the long day, you should be able to do just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS them later in the day (or both). After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King and you’ll be set for the rest of the day. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and 5:45pm – 8pm will have shorter waits than the afternoon, especially with people leaving in the afternoon for the Super Bowl. Plus, you’ll be able to enjoy the nighttime ambiance. See Saturday’s explanation above for some ideas on how to do a late arrival if you’d prefer to sleep in and arrive in 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 again today. We have a lot going on at the other Parks and nothing specific to draw crowds to Epcot. It’s a particularly excellent day to see IllumiNations and have dinner in the World Showcase because Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd and a lot of people will leave in the afternoon for the Super Bowl. Despite the strong recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the touring plans. Crowds will ease up in Future World again after 5pm. You may want to take a break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for dinner, some late night attractions, and IllumiNations. If you don’t arrive early in the morning, FASTPASS Test Track and then Soarin’ as quickly as possible. If crowds begin to substantially increase in Future World around noon, begin to move up through the World Showcase beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Consider returning to Future World after 5pm when crowds decrease there and begin to creep up into World Showcase. See the two-day Epcot touring plans if you’re looking for a more compartmentalized approach.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. It was virtually “dead” on Super Bowl Sunday each of the last two years. The only minor inconvenience is going to be the Cheer Championships, which take place at Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. The cheerleaders are not particularly disruptive in Park because the venue itself is small, but it does mean Indiana Jones won’t be offered this weekend. If the Stunt Spectacular is a must see, you’ll want to look to a recommended day during the week. Today, we’re sandwiched in between yesterday’s moderately popular morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s extremely popular evening Extra Magic Hours. Both days have a later close and second Fantasmic to help deal with the crowds. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and heading straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Make Toy Story Mania your priority because it will have the longest afternoon waits and FASTPASSes will still likely run out by noon, even with the recommendation. 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. The Toy Story characters across from Toy Story Mania tend to have the longest waits. Because they usually begin appearing at 9:15am, you’ll have time to collect FASTPASSes for Toy Story, ride Toy Story, and then get in line for the characters around 9:10am. Phineas & Ferb usually have the second longest lines in Hollywood Studios. They typically begin appearing at 9:30am, which means you’ll have time to collect FASTPASSes, ride Toy Story Mania, and potentially meet Buzz and Woody before heading over to visit Phineas & Ferb, which are located near Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano and across from the exit to Muppet Vission 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. Overall, you can do well at the Studios if you arrive by 8:20am, but you’re looking at long lines and heavier crowds if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. Stay through close because lines will only ease up further as it gets closer to 7pm.

Hollywood Studios is undoubtedly your best choice, but Magic Kingdom is going to be far from swamped with few locals deciding to visit. Ordinarily on the weekends, “locals” are more of a concern and only add to an already busy Saturday with longer hours of operation/both nighttime spectaculars and a Sunday with evening Extra Magic Hours attached. With millions upon millions of people intent on watching the Big Game, we’re not going to see a lot of locals, particularly after 4pm. I’m expecting 10:30am – 4pm to be decently busy, but the early morning remains an excellent time to tour. With the close pushed back to 10pm you can also do well in the evening. However, with only two hours of Extra Magic Hours, wait times will continue to be somewhat decent at the major attractions. While this coming Tuesday and Wednesday would be better overall, today is a much better choice than yesterday or tomorrow. Visit if you need a day at Magic Kingdom, but be aware that the 10:30am – 4pm timeframe is going to be more crowded than days that are recommended later in the week.

Monday February 4

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 – 8pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 8pm – 10pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Not Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

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. Still, there are better days to visit the Animal Kingdom than today, including tomorrow, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. 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. 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 for a recommended day 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 on a weeklong vacation will be headed to the Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the two-day compartmentalized touring plans. You’ll also be in the best shape if you’ve moved on to World Showcase by 12pm. Should you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm when most of the crowd has moved on to World Showcase. Just keep in mind that a lot of the Future World attractions close at 7pm. Usually, just Soarin, Test Track, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Character Spot continue to operate after 7pm. If Character Spot is a priority, try to visit after 7pm instead of the morning when lines will be shorter. Overall, it’s a great day for Epcot and an excellent opportunity to spend time in both Future World and World Showcase.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests and the later close/second 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, and Friday would all be better days to visit. Evening Extra Magic Hours at the Studios aren’t usually much of a success for people because there are only a few attractions open and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, especially now that Extra Magic Hours have been reduced to two hours. 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. You can have a moderate amount of success if you arrive early, but with several recommended days coming up, there’s really no reason to press your luck.

Magic Kingdom is going to be busy today. Mondays are usually the second busiest day of the week at the Magic Kingdom, second to only Saturdays, for a variety of reasons. First, a lot of people travel over the weekend and visit Magic Kingdom on their first full day. In most instances, that day is Monday. Second, Mondays often feature longer hours, Wishes Fireworks, and Main Street Electrical Parade, when other days during the week have shorter operating hours and don’t offer the Electrical Parade. Anyone who wants to see the evening entertainment will have to visit on a day when it’s offered, like most Saturdays and Mondays. Main Street Electrical Parade is only scheduled on three nights this week and it will attract a lot of people. While the close is still 8pm due to the low overall crowd level, we can still expect it to be significantly busier than either of the next two days. You could have success in the morning from 9am to 11am or so, but you’re much better off waiting until tomorrow, Wednesday, or Friday to visit for the entire day. If you would like to see the Main Street Electrical Parade, your best bet is always an evening Park Hop over to the Magic Kingdom so that you can spend the majority of your day at a recommended Park with low crowds and still have the opportunity to enjoy Magic Kingdom’s nighttime spectaculars. For optimal Parade viewing, find a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square because those areas are much less crowded than Main Street, offer a view that is just as good, and require less of a wait to get a good spot. Without Park Hopper, you’ll want to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. Consider taking an afternoon break and then return in the evening around 5pm for dinner and the shows. If you’re spending two days at Magic Kingdom during the week, you may want to make one of those days a Parade day and then plan a second recommended day to hit the headliners and popular attractions. If you do that, use FASTPASS throughout the day today and spend as much time as possible on the less popular and high capacity attractions. The evening crowd level this Thursday will be slightly lower. Either day would be much better than this Saturday. Wait until Thursday to see the Parade if you can, especially if you’re Extra Magic Hours eligible and can take advantage of the 8am – 9am hour.

Tuesday February 5

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 – 7pm (Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Highly Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. We’re in between yesterday’s and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hours, each of which will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. It’s also early enough in the week that most people arriving for a weeklong vacation will be saving Animal Kingdom, Disney’s least popular theme park, for later in the week. There’s simply nothing drawing people to Animal Kingdom with its short hours of operation, lack of Extra Magic Hours, and no special events/nighttime entertainment. To have the most success, arrive as early in the morning as possible and head to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing. After that, head to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR or over to one of the major stage shows and you won’t have anything to worry about for the rest of the day. You may also want to schedule the popular characters at Camp Minnie-Mickey. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Chip, Dale, Baloo, and King Louie appear and there are usually other characters with short waits as well, including Pocahontas. Despite “only” being open eight hours, you should be able to do most of the Animal Kingdom’s attractions if you arrive prior to Park opening, use FASTPASS efficiently, and make good use of your time. If you don’t arrive until 10am or later, plan to collect FASTPASSes for Expedition Everest and then Kilimanjaro Safaris. Use those FASTPASSes during the day and return to the major attractions after 4pm. A lot of people leave after the 3:45pm Parade, causing lines to be much shorter in the final hour of operation, especially with the 5pm close and very few people Park Hopping in the afternoon and early evening.

Epcot isn’t recommended due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract Disney resort guests, lack of long hours and evening entertainment elsewhere, and the natural progression of weeklong Disney vacationers that will naturally head to Epcot after the Magic Kingdom yesterday. While the morning Extra Magic Hour will be an excellent time to tour, Epcot will get progressively busier as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. You could have success if you arrive at 7:45am, head straight for the headliners, and move up to the World Showcase around 11am, but afternoon crowds will be heavier than recommended days and you’ll likely want to Park Hop elsewhere or take a break around 2pm. Yesterday and Thursday are the best days to visit this week. This Friday will be the busiest day of the week.

Hollywood Studios is recommended, though this past Sunday and this coming Thursday 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 off-site contingent. With decent operating 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. 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. We also don’t have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled in the evening, which means even fewer people will be eyeing it. Still, it’s more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan’s Flight) or the headlining Mountain rides (Space 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. Characters that will have long lines in the afternoon and don’t offer FASTPASS are also a priority. 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. 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 February 6

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Most Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

It’s the busiest day of the week at Animal Kingdom. The morning Extra Magic Hour will attract the bulk of the Disney resort crowd and there’s no evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment going on at the other Parks, which will cause a lot of off-site guests to visit as well. Most people prefer to visit the other Parks when they’re either open longer or have special evening entertainment like Fantasmic (when it’s scheduled less often) or Main Street Electrical Parade. When none of that is available, they’ll default to the Animal Kingdom. With both yesterday and tomorrow recommended, there’s no reason to visit today.

It’s an above-average day at Epcot. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been moderately attended by Disney resort guests and they won’t be looking to return today. Fantasmic and Toy Story Midway Mania will also be more popular at Hollywood Studios. I’m looking toward tomorrow as having lower crowds and shorter waits, thanks to morning Extra Magic Hour attracting people to Magic Kingdom and the addition of Main Street Electrical Parade. However, today won’t be terrible by any means. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission Space, and Soarin’. You’ll be in good shape if you’ve moved to the World Showcase by 12pm, starting with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway.

With no Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom, no evening Extra Magic Hours anywhere, and a lowly morning Extra Magic Hour at Disney’s least popular theme park, Hollywood Studios is going to be busier than recommended days during the week. While the addition of Fantasmic to every night this week makes each specific show less appealing, we still need to be concerned about the lack of attractive forces elsewhere. Plus, it’s later in the week, which means most people on a weeklong vacation will already have visited Magic Kingdom and Epcot and they’ll be looking to spend a day at one of Disney World’s less popular theme parks. With nothing specific drawing people to the Studios, it’s not going to be crazy crowded, but it is going to be busier than other recommended days during the week and should be avoided if possible. With Magic Kingdom being incredibly popular tomorrow with the morning Extra Magic Hour and Electrical Parade, the Studios would be a much better choice tomorrow.

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 on-site visitors and an Electrical Parade that will attract off-site visitors tomorrow. This coming Saturday will be busy for the same reasons. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You may also want to prioritize characters that will have 30+ minute standby waits without the ability to FASTPASS them in the afternoon. You’ll be able to accomplish a ton of attractions in a short amount of time if you make efficient use of the morning and use FASTPASS at the major attractions throughout the day. Consider a break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for dinner, a few nighttime attractions, and Wishes.

Thursday February 7

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

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. 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. We have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade attracting on-site and off-site visitors alike to Magic Kingdom. Disney resort guests are much more likely to visit tomorrow for evening Extra Magic Hours. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Test Track and then Soarin’ as soon as possible. Soarin’ and Test Track will have 45+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to popularity and relatively low capacities. Move on to the World Showcase beginning around 11am if crowds begin to build in Future World, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Return to Future World after 5pm if you have more to accomplish and to ride/re-ride the headliners with FASTPASS. Keep in mind that Innoventions, Universe of Energy, Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Living with the Land, and Circle of Life usually close at 7pm. Hit those attractions from 5pm to 7pm to find shorter waits than the 1pm to 4pm timeframe. Return to Test Track and Soarin’ after 8pm to find the shortest waits outside of 9am – 10am. 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. Tomorrow also works with the evening Extra Magic Hours at Epcot and the fact that Saturday’s morning Extra Magic Hour at the Studios will be more popular with on-site guests. Still, 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 30-50 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 30-40 minutes in the afternoon and Star Tours should see 20 – 30 minute waits. Plan to use FASTPASS if you don’t get in line before 11am.

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 5pm 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 February 8

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom is recommended. While we would be better off if Magic Kingdom offered Main Street Electrical Parade, 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 below average overall crowd level, today will be far from busy, but most people will want to take advantage of lower crowds at Magic Kingdom as we look toward a busy weekend. 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 7pm because waits will only decrease from 5:45pm through close.

Hollywood Studios is recommended for similar reasons as yesterday, though the lack of Main Street Electrical Parade 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 tomorrow. Add the 10pm close and second Fantasmic and the Studios will be attracting a lot more people tomorrow. 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. Popular characters may also be a morning priority. C heck your Times Guide to see when the characters you wish to visit begin greeting and try to arrive about ten minutes before their first set. If you can’t visit in the morning, visit in the last hour the characters are scheduled to appear to find the shortest possible waits. 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. 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, popular characters that don’t offer FASTPASS, or Fantasyland attractions, beginning with Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Winnie the Pooh, and Peter Pan’s Flight. 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. Return in the evening and stay through close because crowds will die down again after Wishes at 8pm. Visit Tomorrowland after 8pm and Fantasyland after 9pm to find much lower crowds than the afternoon. This weekend is going to be very busy with a much higher overall crowd level than this past week – if you need a day at Magic Kingdom and you’re in town now, this is your best day until Wednesday February 27^th.

Saturday February 9

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Highly Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)

Cheer Championships

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 12am (Not Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 8pm and 10pm, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm

Epcot is the most recommended Park. 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 Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the touring plans. It’s more important to arrive early and take care of the headliners first thing than it is to pick the “right” day. You’ll run into lines at the headliners in Future World if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. To stay ahead of the crowds for the longest amount of time, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to see anything you missed. Keep in mind that both Innoventions buildings, the Imagination Pavilion, and Universe of Energy close at 7pm. The 5pm to 7pm timeframe is an excellent opportunity to do Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Sum of All Thrills, anything in Innoventions, Circle of Life, Living with the Land, and anything else other than the major headliners. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’ and Test Track, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times for both will most likely continue to be 30+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm. If that isn’t possible, return to Soarin’ around 7:45pm and Test Track around 8:45pm to find shorter wait.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended because the morning Extra Magic Hours will attract so many Disney resort guests. 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. 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. The 10pm close, the latest this month, will only serve to make it more popular with off-site visitors. While you can have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and arrive by 7:15am, most people will want to visit another day. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:15am and plan to hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning before heading out in the early afternoon.

Saturdays are naturally the busiest day of the week at the Magic Kingdom. We have the longest operating hours this month, visiting locals, and a lot of vacationers who will be visiting the Magic Kingdom for a second time before returning home tomorrow. On top of that, Main Street Electrical Parade is only scheduled on three nights over this past week. Although the Parade is scheduled most nights next week, that doesn’t do much for those who are leaving tomorrow after spending the last week at Disney World. Because the Parade is so popular, a lot of people will visit on a day that they can see it, like today. All of this makes me hesitant about recommending the Magic Kingdom, despite a lack of Extra Magic Hours. This coming Wednesday is the best day over the next week to visit, but you can have a moderate amount of success today if you arrive prior to 8am and head straight for the headlining or Fantasyland attractions. Starting with Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Ariel’s Grotto would make the most sense. The afternoon will be busier than any other day this week and you’ll either want to take a break and return for the second Electrical Parade and Wishes or visit the less popular attractions from 2pm – 6pm. While it is possible to have a decent day here if you arrive early and tour efficiently, there are much less crowded days to visit during the week.

Sunday February 10

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Highly Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8:30pm (Most Recommended)

Cheer Championships

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 12am

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 8pm and 10pm, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm

Animal Kingdom is highly recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours and Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom luring a lot of Disney resort guests. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit tomorrow or Wednesday for morning Extra Magic Hour. While it’s true that the 8pm close is later than most other days this week, it isn’t a concern in the grand scheme of things. There’s no evening entertainment to keep people hanging and few people stay to dine at one of Animal Kingdom’s (underrated) restaurants. With the eleven hour day, you should be able to do just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS them later in the day (or both). After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King and you’ll be set for the rest of the day. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and 6:45pm – 8pm will have much shorter waits than the afternoon. Just check your Times Guide to see when the animal attractions, like Kilimanjaro Safaris and Maharajah Jungle Trek, close. Several attractions close early because of darkness. Check the explanation under Saturday for some ideas on how to make an afternoon arrival work. 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 again today. We have a lot going on at the other Parks and nothing specific to draw crowds to Epcot. It’s a particularly excellent day to see IllumiNations and have dinner in the World Showcase because Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd. Despite the strong recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the touring plans. If you don’t arrive early in the morning, FASTPASS Test Track and then Soarin’ as quickly as possible. If crowds begin to substantially increase in Future World around noon, begin to move up through the World Showcase beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Consider returning to Future World after 5pm when crowds decrease there and begin to creep up into World Showcase. See the two-day Epcot touring plans if you’re looking for a more compartmentalized approach.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. The only minor inconvenience is going to be the Cheer Championships, which take place at Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. The cheerleaders are not particularly disruptive in Park because the venue itself is small, but it does mean Indiana Jones won’t be offered this weekend. If the Stunt Spectacular is a must see, you’ll want to look to a recommended day during the week Luckily, we’re sandwiched in between yesterday’s popular morning Extra Magic Hour/long hours and tomorrow’s extremely popular evening Extra Magic Hours. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and heading straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Make Toy Story Mania your priority because it will have the longest afternoon waits and FASTPASSes will still likely run out by noon, even with the recommendation. 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. The Toy Story characters across from Toy Story Mania tend to have the longest waits. Because they usually begin appearing at 9:15am, you’ll have time to collect FASTPASSes for Toy Story, ride Toy Story, and then get in line for the characters around 9:10am. Phineas & Ferb usually have the second longest lines in Hollywood Studios. They typically begin appearing at 9:30am, which means you’ll have time to collect FASTPASSes, ride Toy Story Mania, and potentially meet Buzz and Woody before heading over to visit Phineas & Ferb, which are located near Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano and across from the exit to Muppet Vission 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. See the 8:30pm Fantasmic because it will see lower crowds and you won’t have to deal with two large sections reserved for Dining Plan users. Overall, you can do well at the Studios if you arrive by 8:20am, but you’re looking at long lines and heavier crowds if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else.

Magic Kingdom is not officially recommended, though you can have success in the morning from 9am – 11am and evening from 9:30pm – 12am. However, you can expect the afternoon and early evening to be busier than recommended days during the week, especially this coming Tuesday and Wednesday. However, we’re looking at an above average overall crowd level as we near Thursday. Because of that, today would be less crowded than this coming Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or any day next week due to the President’s Day holiday. If you’re just arriving at Walt Disney World, you may want to take advantage of the average overall crowd level and visit Magic Kingdom today, Tuesday, or Wednesday. While Magic Kingdom is the most recommended Park this Friday, it will still be busier due to the higher overall crowd level. If you are visiting today, plan to arrive prior to Park opening and visit Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or low capacity attractions/characters that are highest on your priority list. Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Ariel’s Grotto should be in the top of your list if you’re interested in them. While Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Speedway, and the characters aren’t “as popular” as Space Mountain and Peter Pan’s Flight, wait times are still 30+ minutes in the morning and should be taken care of early, especially those that don’t offer FASTPASS. If you’re interested in the Electrical Parade, see the 10pm Parade because it will be significantly less crowded than the 8pm Parade, even with people arriving for Extra Magic Hours. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, begin in Adventureland because most people will head to Fantasyland and Tomorrowland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and over to Liberty Square before visiting Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for after 11pm because most families will be long gone. Peter Pan’s Flight easily hits 50+ minutes in the afternoon, but wait times after 11:30pm will be 10 minutes or less. Save Journey of the Little Mermaid, Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan’s Flight for the very end of the night and stay through 12am because crowds will only thin as it gets later in the evening. This Wednesday will see the lowest crowds of the week, but you can still have success if you plan well today. Just keep in mind that you’re looking at decent waits at most attractions in the afternoon.

Monday February 11

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 – 8pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 8pm – 10pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

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 on a weeklong vacation will be headed to the Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the two-day compartmentalized touring plans. You’ll also be in the best shape if you’ve moved on to World Showcase by 12pm. Should you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm when most of the crowd has moved on to World Showcase. Just keep in mind that a lot of the Future World attractions close at 7pm. Usually, just Soarin, Test Track, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Character Spot continue to operate after 7pm. To find shorter waits at Character Spot, visit after 7pm rather the early morning. Overall, it’s a great day for Epcot and an excellent opportunity to spend time in both Future World and World Showcase.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests and the later close than the next four days. 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, and Friday would all be better days to visit. Evening Extra Magic Hours at the Studios aren’t usually much of a success for people because there are only a few attractions open and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, especially now that Extra Magic Hours have been reduced to two hours. 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. You can have a moderate amount of success if you arrive early, but with several recommended days coming up, there’s really no reason to press your luck.

Magic Kingdom is going to be busy today. Mondays are usually the second busiest day of the week at the Magic Kingdom, second to only Saturdays, for a variety of reasons. First, a lot of people travel over the weekend and visit Magic Kingdom on their first full day. In most instances, that day is Monday, especially with a lot of people incoming from Louisiana on a Mardis Gras holiday trip. Second, Mondays often feature longer hours, Wishes Fireworks, and Main Street Electrical Parade, when other days during the week have shorter operating hours and don’t offer the Electrical Parade. While every day this week features both nighttime spectaculars, that wasn’t true last week when the Parade was scheduled much less often. You could have success in the morning from 9am to 11am or so, but you’re much better off waiting until tomorrow or Wednesday to visit for the entire day. Wednesday will see the lowest crowds of the week. Keep in mind that the overall crowd level will continue to creep upwards as the week goes on. Although Magic Kingdom is the most recommended Park on Friday, you can expect to see similar crowds to today just because there are so many more people in the Walt Disney World resort area. Keep that in mind if you’re trying to decide between visiting today or the end of the week. For optimal Parade viewing, find a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square for the 9pm Parade because those areas are much less crowded than Main Street, offer a view that is just as good, and require less of a wait to get a good spot. Without Park Hopper, you’ll want to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. Consider taking an afternoon break and then return in the evening around 5pm for dinner and the shows.

Tuesday February 12

Mardis Gras

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (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 – 7pm (Highly Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. We’re in between yesterday’s and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hours, each of which will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. It’s also early enough in the week that most people arriving for a weeklong vacation will be saving Animal Kingdom, Disney’s least popular theme park, for later in the week. There’s simply nothing drawing people to Animal Kingdom with its short hours of operation, lack of Extra Magic Hours, and no special events/nighttime entertainment. To have the most success, arrive as early in the morning as possible and head to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing. After that, head to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR or over to one of the major stage shows and you won’t have anything to worry about for the rest of the day. You may also want to schedule the popular characters at Camp Minnie-Mickey. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Chip, Dale, Baloo, and King Louie appear and there are usually other characters with short waits as well, including Pocahontas. With the ten hour day, you should be able to do most of the Animal Kingdom’s attractions if you arrive prior to Park opening, use FASTPASS efficiently, and make good use of your time. If you don’t arrive until 10am or later, plan to collect FASTPASSes for Expedition Everest and then Kilimanjaro Safaris. Use those FASTPASSes during the day and return to the major attractions after 6pm. A lot of people leave after the 3:45pm Parade, causing lines to be much shorter in the final hour of operation.

Epcot isn’t recommended due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract Disney resort guests and the natural progression of weeklong Disney vacationers that will naturally head to Epcot after the Magic Kingdom yesterday. While the morning Extra Magic Hour will be an excellent time to tour, Epcot will get progressively busier as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. You could have success if you arrive at 7:45am, head straight for the headliners, and move up to the World Showcase around 11am, but afternoon crowds will be heavier than recommended days and you’ll likely want to Park Hop elsewhere or take a break around 2pm. Yesterday and Thursday are the best days to visit this week. This Friday will be the busiest day of the week.

Hollywood Studios is highly recommended. Yesterday will have been more popular with the second Fantasmic, later close, and second Fantasmic. Magic Kingdom will continue to draw crowds with the nighttime entertainment and 10pm close. 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. 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 recommended, though not as highly as it would be if it were closing earlier and didn’t offer two Electrical Parade, but there isn’t much we can do about that this week. 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. I’m looking at tomorrow as being less crowded, but today works too, especially as the crowd level gets higher moving into the weekend. Despite the recommendation, it’s more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, 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. Characters that will have long lines in the afternoon and don’t offer FASTPASS are also a priority. 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. 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. It’s also the only night this week where Magic Kingdom closes at 8pm and doesn’t offer the Electrical Parade. If you’re only planning to visit Magic Kingdom one day and want to see the Electrical Parade, then this is your best choice.

Wednesday February 13

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

It’s the busiest day of the week at Animal Kingdom. The morning Extra Magic Hour will attract the bulk of the Disney resort crowd and there’s no evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment going on at the other Parks, which will cause a lot of off-site guests to visit as well. Most people prefer to visit the other Parks when they’re either open longer or have special evening entertainment like Fantasmic or Main Street Electrical Parade (when they’re scheduled less often). When none of that is available, they’ll default to the Animal Kingdom. With both yesterday and tomorrow recommended, there’s no reason to visit today.

It’s an above-average day at Epcot. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been moderately attended by Disney resort guests and they won’t be looking to return today. Fantasmic and Toy Story Midway Mania will also be more popular at Hollywood Studios. I’m looking toward tomorrow as having lower crowds and shorter waits, thanks to morning Extra Magic Hour attracting people to Magic Kingdom and the addition of Main Street Electrical Parade. However, today won’t be terrible by any means. Plan to arrive as early as possible and either following a touring plan or head straight to Test Track, followed by Sum of All Thrills, Mission Space, and Soarin’. You’ll be in good shape if you’ve moved to the World Showcase by 12pm, starting with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway.

With no evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled anywhere and a lowly morning Extra Magic Hour at Disney’s least popular theme park, Hollywood Studios is going to be busier than recommended days during the week. While the addition of Fantasmic to every night this week makes each specific show less appealing, we still need to be concerned about the lack of attractive forces elsewhere. Plus, it’s later in the week, which means most people on a weeklong vacation will already have visited Magic Kingdom and Epcot and they’ll be looking to spend a day at one of Disney World’s less popular theme parks. With nothing specific drawing people to the Studios, it’s not going to be crazy crowded, but it is going to be busier than other recommended days during the week and should be avoided if possible. With Magic Kingdom being popular tomorrow with the morning Extra Magic Hour and Electrical Parade, the Studios would be a much better choice tomorrow.

Magic Kingdom was originally the best Park to visit today because the Electrical Parade wasn’t offered. When Disney updated the schedule in the middle of January, they added two Electrical Parades, which is going to make Magic Kingdom slightly more crowded than it would have been. The good news is that the Electrical Parade is scheduled twice every night this week, in addition to being open until at least 10pm. That means people won’t be visiting Magic Kingdom specifically for the Parade and Wishes. On the other hand, the addition means that people won’t be dissuaded from visiting because those shows aren’t offered. It remains the best day of the week to visit Magic Kingdom, particularly with the heavier crowd incoming over the next few days for President’s Day Weekend. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract on-site visitors and an Electrical Parade that will attract off-site visitors tomorrow. However, it’s going to be more important to arrive prior to Park opening to take advantage of the lowest crowds of the day in the first 90 minutes of operation. Most people will want to visit Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Ariel’s Grotto first thing in the morning. Others will want to head to Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, a popular character that doesn’t offer FASTPASS, or lower capacity attractions like Astro Orbiter and 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. Consider a break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for dinner, a few nighttime attractions, and the nighttime entertainment. Stick around for the 9pm Parade because it will be much less crowded than the earlier Parade, thanks to all the families that leave after Wishes. Spots in Liberty Square and Frontierland will be the easiest to find and both locations offer a view that is just as good as Main Street.

Thursday February 14

Valentine’s Day

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

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. 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 Main Street Electrical Parade/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 5:45pm 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. We have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade attracting on-site and off-site visitors alike to Magic Kingdom. Disney resort guests are much more likely to visit tomorrow for evening Extra Magic Hours. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Test Track and then Soarin’ as soon as possible. Soarin’ and Test Track will have 45+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to low capacities and only a handful of “rides” that casual vacationers are interested in waiting for. 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. Keep in mind that Innoventions, Universe of Energy, Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Living with the Land, and Circle of Life usually close at 7pm. Hit those attractions from 5pm to 7pm to find shorter waits than the 1pm to 4pm timeframe. Return to Test Track and Soarin’ after 8pm to find the shortest waits outside of 9am – 10am. Single Rider at Test Track in the afternoon or evening is also a great choice if you’re willing to split up. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will make it busier than the last couple of days. The “good news” is that the standard 9am – 10pm operating schedule this week with two Electrical Parades nightly won’t draw additional crowds. But the morning Extra Magic Hour will still bring in more Disney resort guests than yesterday or tomorrow, ultimately making the Park busier from 8am – 8:30pm. 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 5pm 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.

Friday February 15

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom is recommended. With short hours, no Extra Magic Hours, and no evening entertainment, we don’t have anything specific attracting on-site or off-site 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, we have a lot of attractive forces elsewhere, including the very popular evening Extra Magic Hours at Epcot, decent hours of operation and both nighttime spectaculars at Magic Kingdom, and Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios. We’re also going to see a slightly different crowd pattern than usual with vacationers arriving for a short weekend trip. 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 7pm because waits will only decrease from 5:45pm through close.

Hollywood Studios is recommended for similar reasons as yesterday. Tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour will also prove to be more popular with Disney resort guests and help pull them away from visiting today. The 9pm close will also be more attractive to Disney resort guests. Epcot’s evening Extra Magic Hours and Magic Kingdom’s longer hours of operation/Electrical Parade/Wishes will also be popular. 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. However, it’s still going to be crowded with the increasing overall crowd level, long hours of operation, and both nighttime spectaculars. This past Tuesday and Wednesday would have been less crowded than today due to the lower overall crowd level. Nonetheless, Magic Kingdom remains your best choice today, especially as we look towards an even more crowded holiday weekend. You can do very well in the morning, from 9am – 11am, but expect the afternoon to be busy. You’ll want to hit your priorities first thing in the morning. That may be heading straight to Fantasyland for Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight and Winnie the Pooh. You may want to visit a popular character that doesn’t offer FASTPASS first thing. Or you may want to visit a low capacity attraction like Astro Orbiter or Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, knowing that they’re going to have uncomfortable 30+ minute waits in the afternoon. No matter which direction you decide to head, collect FASTPASSes throughout the morning and afternoon at the major attractions. After 12pm, you’ll want to focus on the high capacity attractions like Liberty Square Riverboat, Country Bear Jamboree, Enchanted Tiki Room, Swiss Family Treehouse, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Tomorrowland PeopleMover, Carousel of Progress, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, and Stitch’s Great Escape, while continuing to collect FASTPASSes. With the cool temperatures, a break may not be absolutely necessary, but you may want to return to your resort from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds peak. Return in the evening for dinner, a few late night attractions, and the nighttime spectaculars. If you couldn’t get to Tomorrowland or Fantasyland in the morning, visit after 9pm when most families are headed for the exit. You can do very well today if you tour efficiently, but Magic Kingdom is going to be relatively busy with the high overall crowd level for President’s Day Weekend. Still, you’re looking at lower crowds than any of the next three days.

Saturday February 16

Animal Kingdom: 8am – 8pm (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: 7pm and 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 8am – 1am (Not Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm

Animal Kingdom comes recommended. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours or special events to attract Disney vacationers of any sort. Magic Kingdom will be attracting significant crowds with its long hours of operation and both nighttime spectaculars and Hollywood Studios will be popular with the morning Extra Magic Hour, second Fantasmic, and later close than any day over the past week. We also had two morning Extra Magic Hours earlier in the week and another on Monday to appeal to the sizable Disney resort contingent. You can have a huge amount of success if you arrive by 7:30. Crowds will be extremely low from 8am – 9:30am. To take full advantage of the low crowd level, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get those two attractions out of the way early and the only real concerns are getting to Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical. You would be in the best shape if you could get to the first or last show of the day as well as over to DinoLand USA before 10:30am when lines begin to build at DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl. You may also want to prioritize the Character Greeting Trails at Camp Minnie-Mickey. Here, you’ll find Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Chip, Dale, Baloo, and King Louie along with Pocahontas and possibly other characters as well. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing just about everything Animal Kingdom has to offer in just one day. With the 8pm close, a late arrival is also possible. You could instead elect to sleep in and arrive around 3pm. Collect FASTPASSes for Kilimanjaro Safaris when you arrive because it will most likely stop operating around 5:30pm with the cooler temperatures and early darkness. Then visit the animal habitats and other attractions before heading over to DinoLand after 6pm and back over to Asia for Expedition Everest after 7pm when crowds will be mostly nonexistent. As an added bonus, Animal Kingdom is absolutely beautiful in the dark and few people get to experience it with the early closes most of the year.

Epcot is our best Park to visit. Last night’s evening Extra Magic Hours will have been wildly popular with Disney resort guests and they will be nowhere near Epcot today, especially in the morning. Take full advantage by arriving early and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a touring plan. For the best results, visit Character Spot after 7pm if it’s of interest when wait times have died down. It’s also an excellent day to stay for IllumiNations and enjoy the World Showcase in the afternoon. To have the most success, move up through World Showcase beginning around 11am. That will put you well ahead of the crowds until at least 3pm and you’ll be among the first people to enter each of the World Showcase Pavilions.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended. While the addition of Fantasmic to every night this week makes each show less appealing, it also makes today’s morning Extra Magic Hour more attractive to Disney resort guests because they’ll also have the opportunity to see Fantasmic and enjoy longer hours than just about any other day this month. Because most Disney resort guests will be arriving later in the morning, you can still have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible, arrive by 7:15am, and head straight to Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. However, you’re in trouble if you arrive at 10am with everyone else. Make full use of the morning and you can do well, but it’s going to be busier than recommended days in the afternoon and you’ll likely want to take a sizeable afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for Fantasmic, after arriving early in the morning. Luckily, Magic Kingdom will be attracting a lot of people and Epcot will be more popular with locals, so it won’t be a terrible day. Still, tomorrow is a much better day to visit.

Magic Kingdom is not recommended. We’re smack dab in the middle of a very busy President’s Day Weekend, which means a ton of people will be visiting for a short weekend trip. We’ve also got a lot of “locals” in town with the Monday holiday. And then there’s all those people from Louisiana that arrived earlier in the week with plans to leave tomorrow or Monday who will be planning to visit Magic Kingdom one last time before heading home. Add in the long hours of operation and both nighttime spectaculars and you have a recipe for a very busy day. The 8am – 1am day is indicative of a ton of people expected in the Park today. You can still have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of your morning priorities first thing, but you’re looking at sizable crowds from 11am through 11pm. Visit if you must, but be aware that touring efficiently is going to be much more important than this past Tuesday, Wednesday, or even Thursday. Plan to take a break from 1pm to 6pm or so to rest up for dinner, some nighttime attractions, and the evening entertainment. Crowds will be especially heavy during that timeframe. The late night is also a good time to tour with low crowds in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland after 11pm.

Sunday February 17

Animal Kingdom: 8am – 8pm (Highly Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8:30pm (Most Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 8am – 12am (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 12am – 2am

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm

Animal Kingdom is recommended again today. You also have a decent opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations, Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours and Main Street Electrical Parade, 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. You should have no trouble doing just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening, use FASTPASS, and tour efficiently. The 8am opening means you have a solid 90 minutes in the morning, from 8am – 9:30am, to tour in very low crowds. 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. To be in the best shape, make it over to DinoLand USA before 10:30am when crowds begin to build at Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR. If you’re interested in the Character Greeting Trails at Camp Minnie-Mickey, head over to the characters about five minutes before they are scheduled to appear. Each character has its own line, so waits can add up quickly in the afternoon when crowds are much heavier. Mickey and Minnie see the longest lines. If you can’t get over in the morning, head over about ten minutes before a Festival of the Lion King show starts. Because the show’s exit is smack dab in the middle of the Greeting Trails, kids tend to see the characters and people inevitably line up. Arriving about ten minutes before a show means that as many as people as possible will have moved on to another part of the Park from the previous show and you’ll have about 40 minutes to meet the characters before another wave arrives from Lion King. Finally, keep in mind crowds disperse after the 3:45pm Parade. Waits should only decrease from 5:30pm to close. Return to Expedition Everest, DINOSAUR, Primeval Whirl, or whatever you would like to experience after 6:30pm, especially if you don’t arrive early. Check the last departure time for Kilimanjaro Safaris because it will most likely be earlier than the rest of the Park closes. It doesn’t operate after dark. Check the Animal Kingdom touring plans section for additional advice.

Epcot is recommended as well. It’s a particularly excellent day to see IllumiNations and have dinner in the World Showcase because Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd. Despite the recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the touring plans. It’s more important to arrive early and take care of the headliners first thing than it is to pick the “right” day. You’ll run into lines at the headliners in Future World if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. To stay ahead of the crowds for the longest amount of time, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to see anything you missed, but make sure you check your Times Guide because a lot of attractions close at 7pm. Most nights, only Soarin’, Test Track, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, Seas with Nemo & Friends, 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. Visit Character Spot after 7pm to find much shorter waits than the afternoon. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’ or Test Track, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times will most likely continue to be 45+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm. See the two-day Epcot touring plans if you’re looking for a more compartmentalized approach.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park because Magic Kingdom will be a big draw for on-site and off-site visitors alike. We also have the popular evening Extra Magic Hours/Fantasmic combo that will be popular with Disney resort guests tomorrow and a morning Extra Magic Hour yesterday that will also be more popular. However, the addition of Fantasmic to every night this week helps standardize crowds and the Studios won’t be far and away less busy than other days this week because it still features Fantasmic and has the same regular operating hours as other days this week. Ultimately, touring efficiently is more important than picking the right day, but today is your best opportunity this week to find lower crowds and shorter waits. If you do visit the Studios today (or any day), you’ll want to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Mania, followed by Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. You’ll be in good shape if you can get these attractions out of the way early in the morning or with FASTPASS in the early afternoon. Other than those four headliners, it’s really just a matter of arriving in time to see the shows that run on a set schedule and getting over to the Studios’ high capacity attractions like Backlot Tour and Great Movie Ride. You’ll be in quite a bit of trouble if you don’t show up until 10am, especially if your intention is to ride the headliners. The easiest way to see the first Fantasmic is to book the Fantasmic Dining Package, which guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Theater. While it will still require you to arrive at least 20 minutes prior to the start of the show, it will still be considerably less than the 60+ minute wait you can expect without the Package. If you’re not interested in the Package or it’s not available, plan to see the 8:30pm show. The second show is always less crowded, though it’s early enough in the evening that it will still be popular. Plan to arrive at least 30 minutes early to get decent seats together. Overall, it’s a recommended day at the Studios, but it’s still imperative that you arrive early and head straight to Toy Story Mania. Toy Story Mania will see wait times of 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASS return times will already be into the afternoon by 10am. There’s simply no way around this. Tour efficiently in the morning and you can beat the crowds.

Magic Kingdom is going to be very busy today and tomorrow. Sometimes, I mark Magic Kingdom “green” for “tentatively recommended in the morning and late evening” when it’s hosting evening Extra Magic Hours on Sundays. However, the high overall crowd level and Monday holiday complicate things quite a bit. While the morning will be an excellent time to tour through 11:30am or so and the late evening will also see lower crowds, it’s still going to be significantly busier than Tuesday or Wednesday. This past Friday was also highly recommended. When we have a Monday holiday, the Sunday before is often the busiest day of the week at Magic Kingdom when it’s hosting evening Extra Magic Hours and Main Street Electrical Parade. While you can have a lot of success from 8am – 11m and potentially 10:30pm – 2am, the afternoon is going to be very crowded. With the cutback in evening Extra Magic Hours from three to two hours, the evening won’t be as empty as it was when the close was much later. If you do visit, plan to hit the major attractions hard early in the morning and consider taking a break or visiting the least popular attractions in the afternoon. A sizable break to rest up for Main Street Electrical Parade, Wishes, and evening Extra Magic Hours would also make a lot of sense. For evening Extra Magic Hours, begin in Adventureland and Frontierland before moving up to Liberty Square and over to Tomorrowland. Most people start in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland and crowds will thin out considerably in both areas by 12am. Save Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh, and Journey of the Little Mermaid for the very end of the night. Finally, for Main Street Electrical Parade, scout out spots along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square for the 11pm Parade. These areas are significantly less crowded than Main Street and require a shorter wait.

Monday February 18

Animal Kingdom: 8am – 8pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 7am – 8am

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 8pm – 10pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 12am (Not Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm

Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s extremely difficult to get out there by 6:45am 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 5:30am. Or earlier. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 6:45am, 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 Saturday if you’re not going to arrive until 10am 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 for the Main Street Electrical Parade. Although Epcot is our best Park to visit, it will still be crowded with the high overall crowd level, the holiday, and the number of people that will be finishing up a short President’s Day Weekend vacation. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. 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’ or Test Track 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’, Test Track, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Character Spot. Visit Character Spot after 7pm to find shorter waits than the afternoon. 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 Fantasmic that will keep crowds heavy all day. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. I’m looking towards tomorrow and Friday as the best days to visit in the future. Yesterday was also highly recommended. Because of that, there’s really no reason to head in the Studios’ direction today. Plus, there are only a few attractions open during evening Extra Magic Hours and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, especially with only two hours worth of Extra Magic Hours. Remember, the Hollywood Hills Theater where Fantasmic is shown is located right on Hollywood Boulevard, across from Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. There are going to be 9,000+ people, most of them Disney resort guests, funneling out of the theater to these two attractions and Toy Story Mania at 7:30pm and again at 9pm, right as Extra Magic Hours gets underway. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save the headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. You can have a moderate amount of success if you arrive early and get out by 1pm or 2pm, but it’s going to be busy from 11am through 9pm and you’re in trouble if you don’t arrive until 10:30am or later.

Magic Kingdom will be busy again today. It’s a national holiday, we’ll have a decent number of people arriving for a weeklong vacation on Sunday and they’ll naturally visit the Most Magical Place on Earth on their first full day, and we have long operating hours, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes like other days during the week. I’m looking towards tomorrow and Wednesday as being significantly less crowded.

Tuesday February 19

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (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 – 8:30pm (Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 12am (Highly Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

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. We also have Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios attracting a lot of off-site and on-site visitors alike and it’s 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. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. You’ll have no trouble riding both with very low waits before 10am. Once you get through these two attractions, you have little to worry about other than trying to get to the scheduled shows. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon shows, 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. You should have no trouble experiencing most everything 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 stay through close because waits will only get shorter as it gets later in the evening, but be sure to check the departure time of the last Kilimanjaro Safari. It may be earlier than the rest of the Park when the close is extended. Revisit Expedition Everest after 6:15pm and very few people will be around.

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. Yesterday’s evening Extra Magic Hours/Fantasmic combo will be a bigger draw and the addition of Fantasmic to every day this week spreads crowds out more evenly. Because of that, your touring plan is more important than which day you decide to visit the Studios. Arrive prior to Park opening, head directly to Toy Story Mania, and then visit Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. You may need to FASTPASS Star Tours if crowds build before you get over there. That’s okay because FASTPASSes are plentiful and return times are generally only 40 to 60 minutes away. Do this, and you’ll be in great shape for the rest of the day. Don’t arrive until 10am and you’ll end up with a 60+ minute wait at Toy Story Mania with FASTPASS return times in the early evening. The other headliners will also be busy from 10:30am through close. After getting through the headliners, focus on the Studios’ stage shows and high capacity attractions like Backlot Tour and Great Movie Ride. Popular characters may also be a morning priority. You may want to take a break in the afternoon from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds get heavier. Return for dinner, some evening rides, and Fantasmic. Finally, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Hollywood Hills Theater if you’re interested in the 7pm show. It will still require you to arrive 30 minutes early (or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section to the general population), but it’s better than the 60 minute wait that may be required to get decent seats without it. It makes the most sense if you’re also on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one-table-service credit at Hollywood and Vine or Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano and two-table-service credits that you would use otherwise. It also includes the appetizer, which is a nice bonus. If you’re not interested in the Package or it’s no longer available, plan to see the 8:30pm. While it’s still early enough to be popular with families, you won’t need to worry about two large sections reserved for Dining Package users. Plan to arrive at least 30 minutes early for the 8:30pm show to secure decent seats. Overall, it’s a recommended day because it would be better than yesterday or tomorrow, but what you do is more important than arriving on the “right” day.

Magic Kingdom is highly recommended, though tomorrow will be less crowded. Wednesdays are historically the least crowded day of the week at the Magic Kingdom due to the natural progression of weeklong vacationers that visit Magic Kingdom early and late on their trip. You can still have a lot of success if you visit today, especially with morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot drawing Disney resort guests away and Fantasmic’s popularity with both on- and off-site visitors. However, some of the smartest vacationers know that it’s a good idea to skip Magic Kingdom on national holidays and they’ll be visiting today instead. That won’t be as much of an issue tomorrow. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. Most people will want to start with Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Ariel’s Grotto in New Fantasyland along with Peter Pan’s Flight and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. You may have other time sensitive attractions on your itinerary like Astro Orbiter or Tomorrowland Indy Speedway as well. While these aren’t “the most popular” or “headlining” attractions, they are still morning priorities because they have guaranteed uncomfortable waits from 10am onward. Also consider prioritizing the most popular characters that don’t offer FASTPASS. Because Wishes and Main Street Electrical Parade are scheduled a little later in the evening, I recommend a lengthy afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds are heavier. This is the least stressful way to enjoy the Magic Kingdom. Return in the evening to have dinner, see some high capacity attractions, and enjoy the evening entertainment. For Main Street Electrical Parade, scout out a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square for the 9pm Parade. These areas offer a view that is just as good as Main Street, but they don’t require the excessive waits and the later Parade is less crowded because so many families leave after Wishes.

Wednesday February 20

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8:30pm (Not Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Most Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

It’s the busiest day of the week at Animal Kingdom. The morning Extra Magic Hour will attract the bulk of the Disney resort crowd and there’s no evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment going on at the other Parks, which will cause a lot of off-site guests to visit as well. While Hollywood Studios will continue being popular with Fantasmic and Magic Kingdom will still be crowded with the high overall crowd level, these facts won’t make Animal Kingdom much less crowded. With both yesterday and tomorrow recommended, there’s no reason to visit today.

It’s an above-average day at Epcot. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been well attended by Disney resort guests and they won’t be looking to return today. Disney resort guests are more likely to head to Animal Kingdom today and the addition of Fantasmic means a decent number of off-site guests will be headed to Hollywood Studios as well. In most scenarios, I recommend heading to Magic Kingdom today to take advantage of the lower crowd level there and holding off on Epcot until tomorrow. However, Epcot works fine today too, provided you follow my broken-record advice – arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track followed by Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. You may also want to take a more compartmentalized two-day approach, which gives you the benefit of enjoying the lowest possible crowds in both Future World and World Showcase each day. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day for Test Track, Soarin’ and Mission Space (in that order) if you’d like to ride any of them a second time. The Single Rider line for Test Track is a good choice after 10am with waits that are often shorter than the FASTPASS return line. 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’, Test Track, Mission Space, Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Spaceship Earth continue operating from 7pm – 9pm. Visit Character Spot after 7pm to find waits much shorter than the afternoon. Overall, it’s a good day to visit Epcot and a fine day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations, provided you tour efficiently in the morning.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended. A lot of casual vacationers on a weeklong vacation will arrive on Sunday and naturally visit Magic Kingdom and Epcot on their first two full days. By Wednesday and Thursday, they’ll be ready to try Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios. While Animal Kingdom will draw a decent number of Disney resort guests, the morning Extra Magic Hour won’t do much to lure the sizeable off-site contingent. With no special evening entertainment elsewhere and no extended operating hours, many off-site guests will default to Hollywood Studios. Because of that, I can’t recommend it. Keep in mind that the Studios won’t be far and away busier than recommended days because we don’t have anything specific attracting people towards it. You can still have success if you tour efficiently in the morning, take an afternoon break, and return in the evening for dinner, Fantasmic, and some late night rides. However, you will find heavier crowds and longer waits than recommended days – it just won’t be the night and day difference that we saw when Fantasmic was scheduled less often.

Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow that will be more attractive to Disney resort guests and they won’t be visiting today as well. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You may also want to prioritize popular characters that don’t offer FASTPASS. 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. See the 9pm Electrical Parade because it will be much less crowded than the earlier Parade or take the opportunity to visit Tomorrowland and Fantasyland with lower crowds.

Thursday February 21

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom and Epcot are our best choices. We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw a lot of Disney resort guests and the fact that not a whole lot was going on at the other Parks. Today, we have morning Extra Magic Hour attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic attracting people toward Hollywood Studios. 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. 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, despite the relatively short day. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Magic Kingdom for the 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 5:15pm 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 Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Test Track and then Soarin’ as soon as possible. Those rides will have 60+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to their 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. If you’re interested in Character Spot, plan to visit after 7pm when waits are much lower than the afternoon. 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 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 yesterday or tomorrow from 11am onward. 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. Nonetheless, 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 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 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 the afternoon will be busier.

Friday February 22

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Not Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom is not expressly recommended, though it will not be wildly more popular than other recommended days during the week. Nonetheless, crowds will be noticeably larger, particularly in the afternoon. Most casual vacationers on a weeklong vacation will visit the other theme parks first and save Animal Kingdom for after they have experienced Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. When nothing “special” is going on elsewhere, many casual vacationers will default to Animal Kingdom. Tuesday was the best day of the week to visit and yesterday was also recommended. While Epcot’s evening Extra Magic Hours certainly helps, it won’t do much to attract the sizable off-site contingent. All in all, you can have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest, but the afternoon will be busier than recommended days. Tour efficiently in the morning and you can “beat” the crowds, but the afternoon will be busier, which means fewer FASTPASSes will be available, stage shows will fill up faster, tables at quick service locations will be in shorter supply, and it will be more difficult to move about the Park with so many more people. Try to visit another day if possible or prepare to arrive early and hit the major attractions hard in the first two hours.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re coming off a popular Fantasmic last night and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour, Fantasmic, and later close will all combine to make tomorrow busier. Today, 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. However, with the high overall crowd level, it’s going to be far from empty. 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. The Toy Story characters across from Toy Story Mania typically have the longest waits. You should be able to collect FASTPASSes and ride Toy Story Mania before heading across the way to meet them if you so choose. Phineas & Ferb tend to have the second 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 as well as meet Buzz and Woody before heading over to visit Phineas & Ferb, which are located near Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano and across from the exit to Muppet Vission 3D. Check the week’s Times Guide to verify appearance times. Three 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. Wreck-It Ralph also sees decent waits. Plan to visit after 4:30pm to find shorter waits. 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. Overall, it’s a great day to visit the Studios, but arriving early and touring efficiently is more important than picking “the right day.”

Magic Kingdom is recommended as well, though this past Tuesday and Wednesday would have been better. If you’re just arriving, next Tuesday and particularly Wednesday will be far and away less crowded with the lower overall crowd level. If possible, I would visit Magic Kingdom on a recommended day earlier in the week and head to Hollywood Studios today. However, today will be less busy than yesterday or tomorrow and is thus recommended. Beginning tomorrow, we’re back to the non-peak schedule, which means fewer Main Street Electrical Parades during the week and shorter hours of operation at all four major theme parks. Today, we have Epcot attracting a lot of Disney resort guests and it’s late enough in the week that many people on a weeklong vacation will have already visited Magic Kingdom and they’ll be looking elsewhere. While the Princess Half Marathon this weekend does complicate things a little bit, the event is nowhere near as big as last month’s Walt Disney World Marathon, which is by far the biggest marathon event of the year. Overall, Magic Kingdom is recommended because it’s the third best day of the week there. To have success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever other attractions/characters you deem most important on your itinerary. Consider taking a sizable afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for the evening entertainment. For Main Street Electrical Parade, consider scouting out a viewing location along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square. These locations offer a view that is just as good as Main Street and don’t require the excessive waits.

Saturday February 23

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Most Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8:30pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Not Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom is the only expressly recommended Park. Tomorrow is the beginning of the return to the non-peak operating schedule, which means shorter hours of operation at all four major theme parks and a limited number of Main Street Electrical Parades scheduled each week. Those arriving for a short Princess Marathon Weekend vacation are more likely to visit Magic Kingdom today or Monday, in anticipation of running their race tomorrow. Hollywood Studios will be popular with the morning Extra Magic Hour and later close than tomorrow or either of the last two days. And Epcot has a Marathon event that will attract additional people. While it’s true that the 8pm close at Animal Kingdom is later than other days this week, it isn’t as much of a concern. The vast majority of casual vacationers consider Animal Kingdom a “half day Park,” which means they arrive around 10am and stay through the afternoon Parade, ultimately leaving between 4:15pm and 5pm regardless of when Animal Kingdom closes. There isn’t nighttime entertainment to keep people around like there is at the other Parks and few people stick around to dine at the (underrated) restaurants, like a lot of people do at Epcot. That leaves 9am – 10:30am and 6pm – 8pm as excellent times to tour. We also had two morning Extra Magic Hours earlier in the week and another on Monday to appeal to the sizable Disney resort contingent. To take full advantage of the relatively low crowd level, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get those two attractions out of the way early and the only real concerns are getting to Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical. You would be in the best shape if you could get to the first or last show of the day as well as over to DinoLand USA before 10:30am when lines begin to build at DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl. You may also want to prioritize the Character Greeting Trails at Camp Minnie-Mickey. Here, you’ll find Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Chip, Dale, Baloo and King Louie along with other characters like Pocahontas and potentially Rafiki or Br’er Bear. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing just about everything Animal Kingdom has to offer in just one day. With the 8pm close, a late arrival is also possible. You could instead elect to sleep in and arrive around 3pm. Collect FASTPASSes for Kilimanjaro Safaris when you arrive because it will most likely stop operating around 5pm with the cooler temperatures and early darkness. Then visit the animal habitats and other attractions before heading over to DinoLand after 6pm and back over to Asia for Expedition Everest after 7pm when crowds will be mostly nonexistent. As an added bonus, Animal Kingdom is absolutely beautiful in the dark and few people get to experience it with the early closes most of the year.

Epcot is normally recommended on Saturdays. However, there are a few mitigating factors contributing to its “not recommended” status. First, Epcot is hosting the Disney Royal Family 5K this morning. Although the race begins and ends outside Epcot and does not include theme park admission, we can still expect a sizable number of participants to stick around for Epcot’s opening. You may remember that I’m not as concerned about a similar race over Marathon Weekend in January. This is because February’s Princess races are more female-oriented, with fewer men participating than if it had a more innocuous theme and title. In recent years, Epcot is much less busy on the Saturday of the Family Run in January than it is during the Saturday Family Run in February and we can expect that trend to continue this coming year. More often than not, both partners in a relationship are runners and the men are going to want to participate in something, even if it’s a 5K Family race. The fact that it’s a Saturday also allows more locals to take part, even if it does begin early. Finally, Disney is also hosting a “Princess Half Marathon Breakfast” that runs up until 9am. Expect a good portion of people enjoying this breakfast to stick around Epcot as well. Tomorrow along with next Wednesday and Thursday would all be better days to visit. This past Thursday was also highly recommended. If you are headed to Epcot today, keep in mind that more people than usual will be at rope drop and it may be difficult parking due to the race course. Overall, you can still have success if you arrive early and visit Test Track and Soarin’ first thing in the morning, but it’s going to be more difficult than recommended days and crowds will be noticeably heavier, particularly until 3pm.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended with Fantasmic and morning Extra Magic Hour. The sizable Disney resort contingent numbers 75,000+ people during a popular marathon weekend 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. The later close is also appealing to anyone that equates longer hours with being able to do more in the Parks. 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 7:15am, 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 7:15am and plan to hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning.

Magic Kingdom is not recommended. Although we have similarly long operating hours and plentiful evening entertainment as we’ve enjoyed over the last nine days, we’re headed back to the abbreviated entertainment schedule and non-peak operating hours. Beginning tomorrow, Main Street Electrical Parade will only be scheduled on a limited number of nights and the operating hours will be shortened. This makes today’s long hours and Main Street Electrical Parade more appealing to those who are just arriving for the Marathon and others arriving later this week. We have a big Marathon event tomorrow and a lot of those participants will only be in Disney World for a short time. Because of Magic Kingdom’s popularity, particularly with Disney World running aficionados, we can expect it to be significantly busier than recommended days. This coming Tuesday and (particularly) Wednesday will be significantly less crowded and yesterday also would have been a better day to visit.

Sunday February 24

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Highly Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Tentatively Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom is recommended again today. We don’t have anything drawing people towards it, tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour will be more popular with Disney resort guests, and it’s far enough away from the Marathon that crowds and traffic shouldn’t be affected much. Still, if you’re coming from the Magic Kingdom or Epcot areas, you may run into minor traffic problems before 9am. It shouldn’t be much of a concern overall, especially if you are coming from off-site, an Animal Kingdom area resort, or a Downtown Disney area resort. The short hours also guarantee few Marathon runners and their families will be arriving later in the afternoon. You also have a decent opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations, Magic Kingdom for a few late night attractions, Wishes, and 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. With the ten hour day, you should be able to do just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS them later in the day (or both). After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King. To be in the best shape, make it over to DinoLand USA before 10:30am when crowds begin to build at Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR. If you’re interested in the Camp Minnie-Mickey Character Trail Meet and Greets, you’ll want to try to arrive about five minutes before the characters are scheduled to appear. Because each character has a separate line, wait times accumulate fast in the afternoon. Each Lion King show also lets about 1,000 people out right near the characters. If you can’t visit early in the morning, plan to arrive about ten minutes before a Lion King show begins. That gives you about 40 minutes before a lot of people will descend on the area. Finally, keep in mind that crowds disperse after the 3:45pm Parade. Wait should only decrease from 5pm to close. Return to DinoLand and Expedition Everest in the last hour of operation or with FASTPASS during the day, especially if you don’t arrive until later in the morning or afternoon. Check your Times Guide to verify when Kilimanjaro Safaris and the other attractions featuring animals close – it will likely be around 5:30pm due to darkness.

Epcot is tentatively recommended, though Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday of next week would be better. We have the Princess Half Marathon this morning, which begins and ends at Epcot. Although the event begins at 5:45am, it won’t end completely until a little after 9am. Because the runners have the right of way and the race goes through World Showcase and Future World, driving to Epcot, parking, and moving around the Park in the early morning may be difficult. This will be mitigated somewhat if you ride Disney transportation or walk to Epcot from an Epcot area resort because the bus drivers will be well apprised of alternative routes and you won’t have to deal with any detours. By 10am, Epcot won’t look much different than any other day. We don’t need to be too concerned about runners sticking around to tour Epcot immediately after the race and their families won’t be much of an issue either. Tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will attract a lot of Disney resort guests. Still, you’ll want to visit later in the week if you’re flexible because there won’t be any transportation or logistical problems in arriving at or touring Epcot. As usual, you’ll have the most success if you arrive by 8:15am and take care of Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ first thing in the morning.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park because Magic Kingdom will be a big draw for on-site and off-site visitors alike. However, the addition of Fantasmic to every night this week helps standardize crowds and the Studios won’t be far and away less busy than other days this week because it still features Fantasmic and has similar operating hours as other days this week. Ultimately, touring efficiently is more important than picking the right day, but today is your best opportunity this week to find lower crowds and shorter waits. If you do visit the Studios today (or any day), you’ll want to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Mania, followed by Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. You’ll be in good shape if you can get these attractions out of the way early in the morning or with FASTPASS in the early afternoon. Other than those four headliners, it’s really just a matter of arriving in time to see the shows that run on a set schedule and getting over to the Studios’ high capacity attractions like Backlot Tour and Great Movie Ride. You’ll be in quite a bit of trouble if you don’t show up until 10am, especially if your intention is to ride the headliners. The easiest way to see Fantasmic is to book the Fantasmic Dining Package, which guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Theater. While it will still require you to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the show, it will still be considerably less than the 60+ minute wait you can expect without the Package. Overall, it’s a recommended day at the Studios, but it’s still imperative that you arrive early and head straight to Toy Story Mania. Toy Story Mania will see wait times of 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASS return times will already be into the afternoon by 10am. There’s simply no way around this. Tour efficiently in the morning and you can beat the crowds.

Magic Kingdom is occasionally recommended on Sundays with evening Extra Magic Hours because the early morning is an excellent time to tour and the late night evening Extra Magic Hours can also be good if you “tour smart.” However, the early regular close and only two hours of evening Extra Magic Hours will result in crowds that don’t thin out as much as they did when Magic Kingdom was open until 1am or later. While the morning will be an excellent time to tour, we’re looking at significantly heavier crowds than recommended days from 11am through 10pm. This coming Wednesday is the best day of the week to visit and Tuesday will also be less crowded. It’s important to note that we’re coming off an extremely busy week due to President’s Day Weekend. If you’re finishing up your trip, you may want to visit Magic Kingdom because it will be less crowded than any day over the last week because the overall crowd level is significantly lower. Those just arriving are best served waiting to visit Tuesday or Wednesday. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom anyway, you can have a lot of success in the morning from 9am – 11am or so if you arrive by 8:40am and take care of Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever attractions you deem most important on your itinerary. Most people will want to start with Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Ariel’s Grotto in Fantasyland. Continue collecting FASTPASSes for the major attractions as often as possible for use later in the day when crowds peak. Consider taking an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so when crowds are heaviest. Return in the evening to ride some high capacity attractions, have dinner, and watch Wishes. Late night evening Extra Magic Hours have historically been a great time to tour. Unfortunately, that’s less true now that evening Extra Magic Hours are reduced to just two hours, especially with the 9pm close. The problem is that a lot of families will be able to stay until at least 9:30pm and possibly for the full two hours. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, begin in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last, ending with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Peter Pan’s Flight.

Monday February 25

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom comes recommended. Normally, Animal Kingdom is not expressly recommended on Mondays due to the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting enough Disney resort guests to make it busier than other days during the week. However, with the rare Epcot evening Extra Magic Hours and two Electrical Parades at Magic Kingdom attracting a ton of people, the morning Extra Magic Hours won’t have much of an effect this early in the week. Those in town for the marathon are also unlikely to visit Disney’s least popular theme park. If you are Extra Magic Hours eligible, you’ll want to arrive by 7:40am to take advantage of it. Crowds will be extremely low from 8am – 10am. If you’re not planning to arrive until 10am or later, then you’ll most likely want to visit the Studios today and save Animal Kingdom for tomorrow when the Extra Magic Hour isn’t a concern. Today, I recommend heading straight to Expedition Everest to ride a few times before 9am with nonexistent waits. Around 8:45am, head over to Kilimanjaro Safaris to get in line before the off-site guests enter at 9am. You’ll have the two major attractions out of the way before 9:30am and the rest of the day is up to you.

Epcot is no longer recommended now that it hosts evening Extra Magic Hours in place of Hollywood Studios. We can assume Disney moved the schedule around so Disney resort guests that were unaware of the marathon event over the weekend are more likely to visit today instead, thus reducing confusion and crowds over the weekend. If you were originally intending to visit Epcot and don’t want to change your schedule, you can still do very well here from 9am – 12pm by following the usual advice – arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission Space, and Soarin’ first thing. To avoid the crowds for as long as possible, visit World Showcase beginning with the water attractions in Mexico and Norway as close to 11am as possible. Take a break from 2pm – 6pm or so when crowds peak. If you have another opportunity to see IllumiNations, you’ll probably want to take it as World Showcase will be busier around 9pm than any other day this week. If you’re interested in evening Extra Magic Hours, expect waits at Soarin’ and Test Track to be similarly long as the afternoon and most likely 40+ minutes all night. Evening Extra Magic Hours is a good time to do the other open attractions and take in World Showcase’s nighttime ambiance. I like riding Living with the Land in the dark because the greenhouse is a completely different experience and waits are typically less than ten minutes.

Hollywood Studios is now the most recommended Park, thanks to Disney moving the evening Extra Magic Hours to Friday. We won’t have to worry about a heavier resort guest presence and those arriving over the weekend are less likely to visit this early in their trip. Lingering Marathon runners also tend to visit primarily Magic Kingdom and Epcot if they lengthen their trip. As usual, arriving prior to Park opening and taking care of Toy Story Mania and then Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster first is key. More advice is located under Sunday February 24th.

Magic Kingdom is going to be busy today. Mondays are usually the second busiest day of the week at the Magic Kingdom, second to only Saturdays, for a variety of reasons. First, a lot of people travel over the weekend and visit Magic Kingdom on their first full day. In most instances, that day is Monday. Second, Mondays often feature longer hours, Wishes Fireworks, and Main Street Electrical Parade, when other days during the week have shorter operating hours and don’t offer the Electrical Parade. We also have a sizable number of people in town for the Marathon that will inevitably add a day today. Since Magic Kingdom is far and away Walt Disney World’s most popular theme park, we can expect a lot of people to choose visiting it over the other Parks, especially with the later close and both nighttime spectaculars. You could have success in the morning from 9am to 11am or so, but you’re much better off waiting until tomorrow or Wednesday to visit for the entire day. Wednesday will see the lowest crowds of the week. For optimal Parade viewing, find a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square for the 9pm Parade because those areas are much less crowded than Main Street, offer a view that is just as good, and require less of a wait to get a good spot. Most families leave after Wishes, freeing up the second Parade and Fantasyland for those able to stay later. Without Park Hopper, you’ll want to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. Consider taking an afternoon break and then return in the evening around 5pm for dinner and the shows. If you’re spending two days at Magic Kingdom during the week, you may want to make one of those days a Parade day and then plan to visit on Wednesday to hit the major attractions. If you do that, use FASTPASS throughout the day today and spend as much time as possible on the less popular and high capacity attractions.

Tuesday February 26

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 – 7pm (Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Epcot isn’t recommended due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract Disney resort guests, lack of long hours elsewhere, and the natural progression of weeklong Disney vacationers that will naturally head to Epcot after the Magic Kingdom yesterday. While the morning Extra Magic Hour will be an excellent time to tour, Epcot will get progressively busier as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. You could have success if you arrive at 7:45am, head straight for the headliners, and move up to the World Showcase around 11am, but afternoon crowds will be heavier than recommended days and you’ll likely want to Park Hop elsewhere or take a break around 2pm. Keep in mind that today will be less crowded overall than yesterday, now that Disney has moved the more popular evening Extra Magic Hours to Monday.

Hollywood Studios is recommended, though this past Sunday and this coming Thursday would be better, especially now that we’re not coming off of evening Extra Magic Hours yesterday. With decent operating 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. 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 recommended. 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. The only problem is that we currently have the same operating hours as yesterday and the addition of the popular Electrical Parade. Tomorrow will be much less crowded with no Electrical Parade and the fact that it’s smack dab in the middle of the week. However, today is the best day of the week to see Main Street Electrical Parade if it’s important that you see it. Remember that it’s more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh) or the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain) than it is to simply pick a “less crowded day.” You can have a tremendous amount of success from 9am – 11am, even if the afternoon and evening are busier than tomorrow. 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. Characters that will have long lines in the afternoon and don’t offer FASTPASS are also a priority. 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. See the 9pm Parade because it will be less crowded than the 7pm Parade, especially if you scout out a viewing location in Liberty Square or Frontierland. If you don’t mind missing the Electrical Parade, tomorrow will be less busy all day and you’ll still be able to enjoy Wishes.

Wednesday February 27

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 – 7pm (Not Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

It’s an above-average day at Epcot. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been moderately attended by Disney resort guests and they won’t be looking to return today. Fantasmic and Toy Story Midway Mania will also be more popular at Hollywood Studios. I’m looking toward tomorrow as having lower crowds and shorter waits, thanks to morning Extra Magic Hour attracting people to Magic Kingdom and the addition of Main Street Electrical Parade. However, today won’t be terrible by any means, especially now that we’re coming off two days in a row with Extra Magic Hours attached. Plan to arrive as early as possible and either following a touring plan or head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission Space, and Soarin’. You’ll be in good shape if you’ve moved to the World Showcase by 12pm, starting with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway.

Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit. We’re coming off two busier days in a row with Main Street Electrical Parade. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract on-site visitors and two Electrical Parades that will attract off-site visitors tomorrow. This coming Saturday will be busy for the same reasons. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You may also want to prioritize characters that will have 30+ minute standby waits without the ability to FASTPASS them in the afternoon. You’ll be able to accomplish a ton of attractions in a short amount of time if you make efficient use of the morning and use FASTPASS at the major attractions throughout the day. Consider a break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for dinner, a few nighttime attractions, and Wishes. After Wishes, head to Tomorrowland or Fantasyland to find lower crowds than the afternoon. If you’re planning to see Wishes another night or would prefer to visit attractions with shorter waits, then 7:30pm – 9pm will see short waits at most attractions.

Thursday February 28

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Recommended)

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Highly Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm and 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Epcot is the most recommended Park. We have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade attracting on-site and off-site visitors alike to Magic Kingdom. The only problem is we no longer have evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled tomorrow, which pulls a ton of Disney resort guests. That’s a nominal concern in the grand scheme of things though and it’s still your best day of the week at Epcot. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Test Track and then Soarin’ as soon as possible. Soarin’ and Test Track will have 45+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due their popularities, low capacities, and an overall lack of “rides” at Epcot. 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. Keep in mind that Innoventions, Universe of Energy, Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Living with the Land, and Circle of Life usually close at 7pm. Hit those attractions from 5pm to 7pm to find shorter waits than the 1pm to 4pm timeframe. Return to Test Track and Soarin’ after 8pm to find the shortest waits outside of 9am – 10am. 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. We’re also looking at two days in a row with Extra Magic Hours, both of which will be popular with the sizable on-site crowd. Still, 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 30-50 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 30-40 minutes in the afternoon and Star Tours should see 20 – 30 minute waits. Plan to use FASTPASS if you don’t get in line before 11am.

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 Tuesday. 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 5pm 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. Tuesday was your best opportunity this week to see Main Street Electrical Parade, but today is still better than Monday or Saturday.

{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }

Ann August 2, 2012 at 7:15 am: Thank you, I was anxiously awaiting for this one. Now it’s time to plan my itinerary!
Mister Brandon August 2, 2012 at 8:40 am: Awesome. Thank you very much, sir.
tanya August 2, 2012 at 12:08 pm: That should be a capital “S” on Sir.
Mister Brandon August 2, 2012 at 3:13 pm: THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR POINTING THAT OUT TO ME, mA’AM.
Andy from Disney Parks Planning August 2, 2012 at 8:46 pm: Thought you may want to see this poll and thread, Josh! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2965605
Steph August 9, 2012 at 3:55 pm: Thank you Josh! Why do we see the spike on Valentine’s Day? Is it because President’s week is coming up?
ricky September 10, 2012 at 12:42 pm: I used this for february vacation last year and it was a great help to beat the crowds.
Chris October 2, 2012 at 6:48 am: I see you did an update for Feb. “Recommendations shifted with Epcot and Hollywood Studios switching evening Extra Magic Hours.” Will this effect my HS day on Feb 3rd or my Ep days on Jan 31st and Feb 4th? Thanks
Chelsea F October 3, 2012 at 10:31 am: On 2/23, Animal Kingdom closes at 5pm, but you mention riding the popular attractions after 6:30pm. Is this an error or is there something I’m missing? Also, if we are arriving at our hotel (AoA) at around 11am, would you recommend going to Animal Kingdom once we get settled or skipping the parks that day? Thanks so much, this is such an awesome site!
Misty October 18, 2012 at 10:20 am: Do you think the new Limited Magic promotion thingy will have an effect on your crowd predictions for the week of Valentine’s Day?

Thanks for all of your awesomeness!
MichelleC. October 19, 2012 at 10:44 am: I was wondering if the new “Limited Magic” promotion will be affected these predictions as well. I’m planning my first trip to WDW Feb. 23-Mar. 2nd, any idea Josh?
Ange October 23, 2012 at 11:34 am: Thank you for all the hard work you put into these! With two birthday adults and three out of four of us not having been to WDW in fifteen years this calendar will greatly help with our planning, both on the days we’re chancing the heavy parks and the ones where we want the least crowds possible. I’ll definitely be back to see your estimates once the “Limited Magic” weeks are announced.
Lucy October 29, 2012 at 12:24 pm: What are the chances of Disney extending the hours for Magic Kingdom during February?
Juanita January 8, 2013 at 8:09 am: After trying to book a vacation for Feb 8-11 and finding no availability on value or moderate hotels, I came here to check out the crowd calendar and see if I was missing something. Any idea why that weekend is so freaking busy?
Brian January 22, 2013 at 9:22 am: I am assuming its because of the cheer competition going on at the studios. I am coming back from a 4 night cruise and spending 2 days hopping parks. Has the February calendar been updated for most recommended parks???
Leanne February 3, 2013 at 6:06 pm: Thank you for the Super Bowl tip. We managed to do enchanted tales in and out in 30 minutes and little mermaid with in 15 minutes.
Tinag February 12, 2013 at 2:21 pm: We are headed to Disney on Tuesday, Feb 19th. We’ll be at the Polynesian around 10:30 am. Should we head straight to the Animal Kingdom or will it already be too crowded then? We are touring Magic Kingdom on Wednesday because the rest of the family arrives Tuesday night.
mike February 20, 2013 at 2:34 am: good call on the 16th

February 2013 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar

Click the image to enlarge it.

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