Crowd Calendar and Daily Best Park to Visit

November 2013 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on April 23, 2013

This is the Free November 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 November 1

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)

Illuminations: 10pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7:30pm (Recommended)

Fantasmic: 7:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

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

Animal Kingdom is not recommended today, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract enough Disney resort guests to make it busier than recommended days and relatively few people headed to Magic Kingdom with the short operating hours. If you are Extra Magic Hours eligible, you can have a ton of success if you arrive by 7:30am to take advantage of it. However, crowds are going to be heavier than recommended days from 10am through at least 4pm. You can certainly “beat” these crowds if you tour intelligently in the early morning, but it’s going to be difficult to get out to Animal Kingdom in time to take advantage of it unless you’re coming from the All Star Resorts, Animal Kingdom Lodge, or Coronado Springs Resort. You’re looking at about a 20 minute drive out from the Monorail Deluxe Resorts and 15 minutes from most others, plus the time it takes for the bus to arrive. Not to mention getting multiple people bathed and clothed with one shower and limited space. Most people will want to take advantage of the lowest crowds of the week at Magic Kingdom.

Epcot isn’t recommended, though it will be less busy than either of the next two days. If you’re trying to decide between today, tomorrow, and Sunday, then today would be best. However Fridays, particularly in World Showcase in the evening, are crowded. Most people will want to take advantage of the lower crowds at Magic Kingdom because it’s going to be much, much, much busier there tomorrow. If you are headed to Epcot today, you’ll want to arrive before Park opening and take care of Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ first thing in the morning. Plan to move up through World Showcase right at 11am if you have business up there, whether it be the attractions and shopping or the Food and Wine Festival booths. Crowds in World Showcase are only going to get larger as it gets later in the day. Plan to return to Future World at or before 5pm to avoid the heavy congestion in World Showcase. Overall, there are going to be a lot of people in Epcot, but you can “beat” them by arriving early and touring efficiently. If possible, try to see IllumiNations on another night because crowds will be thick in World Showcase from 5pm through close.

Hollywood Studios is recommended, though this past Monday or Wednesday would have been better days to visit. The problems are the lowly morning Extra Magic Hour at Disney’s least popular theme park and the short hours of operation at Magic Kingdom. Nonetheless, the Studios remains your second best choice with Animal Kingdom drawing Disney resort guests and Epcot being much more popular with locals and visitors that want to get a head start on the Food & Wine Festival. Tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour and what will most likely turn out to be longer hours of operation will also be more popular with off-site visitors. Like most days, you can do well if you arrive by 8:20am and take care of Toy Story Midway Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster first thing in the morning, but you’ll be looking at long lines at the headliners if you arrive at 10:30am with everyone else. Tour efficiently and you’ll have plenty of success.

Magic Kingdom is the best Park to visit, despite the truncated operating schedule and lack of both Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes. Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is scheduled tonight. It’s a separately ticketed event that begins at 7pm and runs through 12am. Because the hours are “so short” and there’s no evening entertainment during the regular day, most Disney vacationers will plan to visit on another day. Today is an excellent opportunity to visit the Fantasyland and headlining attractions with minimal waits as well as visit the popular characters and whatever else you’d like to experience. Because waits are shorter and the crowd level is so much lower, you’ll actually be able to accomplish more during the day today than you would on another day when the hours are much longer. For maximum efficiency, arrive prior to Park opening and use FASTPASS throughout the day. Consider a second day at the Magic Kingdom to see the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes or ideally Park Hop over in the evening on a night that it’s available. Wednesday is the best day of the week to see the Main Street Electrical Parade at night, but that isn’t saying a whole lot when your other options are a busy Monday and Saturday. Finally, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party does feature the special HalloWishes fireworks spectacular at 9:30pm above Cinderella Castle. This show is viewable from a variety of locations around Disney property. My favorite is the Polynesian Resort’s beach, which is directly across from the Magic Kingdom. The 4^th floor observatory at the Contemporary Resort is another excellent location. The boat launch and marina at the Grand Floridian also offer pretty good views, though less direct angles. The boat dock at the Transportation and Ticket Center also offers an underrated view and it makes for the easiest exit if you’re driving because you’re already at the parking lot. The soundtrack is easiest to hear at the Contemporary, Transportation and Ticket Center, and Polynesian in that order. You might consider taking the monorail or boat to one of the Monorail Deluxe resorts for dinner after the Magic Kingdom closes at 7pm and then get into position to enjoy the fireworks around 9:20pm at one of the previously mentioned locations. You can then transfer back to the Magic Kingdom and take a resort bus back to your resort or hop in your car and head wherever you like. Each of the Deluxe resorts have pretty good quick service locations too, so you can also eat on the cheap if you prefer and look around the resort(s) for a while until HalloWishes begins. In a perfect world, I would hit Kona Café for dinner and enjoy HalloWishes from the Polynesian’s beach.

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Disney World Calendar of Crowds, Cost, Weather, Events

by josh on April 2, 2013

4/2/13 Update: Updated refurbishments and a few dates. 2014 information will be available once Disney releases the resort rate charts, which will hopefully be…soon.

Introduction

This is a month by month look at the cost, crowds, weather, and special events at Walt Disney World.

The cost section relates primarily to booking a room at a Disney-owned resort. The cost of theme park tickets, upgrades, and other add-ons generally does not change throughout the year, with the exception of theme park tickets, which usually see one price increase during the course of the year. Traditionally, that increase comes in August, though it came during June in 2011.

The weather section is based on the historical data available. For a look at the last 15 years of Orlando weather on any date, check http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp?MR=1 This is a handy reference tool, but make sure you look over more than just the past couple of years. The fall of 2009 was one of the hottest on record and January 2010 broke record lows when the temperature dipped below freezing several times.

The crowds section is based on data from the past several years. Generally speaking, the higher the price of a Disney resort room, the busier the Parks will be. For example, Value season usually has the smallest crowds and Peak and Holiday seasons see the highest crowds. We’ll also take a closer look at the various exceptions throughout the year.

The Park hours and entertainment section covers the hours of operation at the Disney Parks. If the hours and entertainment aren’t yet available, you’ll see (expected) after the section header. In this case, I’m basing the hours and schedule on past years.

The best week to visit section takes into account crowd level, available promotions, Park hours, ride closures, resort cost, special events, and other pertinent information. Be sure to check out the day-by-day analysis when available to check on the daily crowd levels and dates of important events.

The closures and openings section lists all known and expected ride, Park, restaurant, and other closures and openings throughout Disney World. If a ride is closed for refurbishment or reopened after refurbishment or a new ride or restaurant is expected, it will be listed here.

Finally, I’ve included a brief description of the special events and other nuances throughout the year. This will help you plan around events that may adversely affect your vacation or you might want to tweak your plans to visit during a special event of particular interest. I link straight to the Disney website throughout this calendar so you can read “the official word” about the events or purchase tickets.

January 2013

See the January 2013 Crowd Calendar with Daily Analysis Here.

January Cost:

January 1 is New Year’s, which is just slightly less expensive than Holiday, but more expensive than any other date.
January 2 – 9 is Value 1, the cheapest season.
January 10 – 12 is Marathon, which is similar to Regular and Martin Luther King.
January 13 – 17 is Value 1, the cheapest season.
January 18 – 20 is Martin Luther King, which is similar to Regular and Marathon.
January 21 – 31 is Value 1, the cheapest season.

January Weather: January weather is the coldest of the year in Orlando, with an average high of 69 degrees and an average low of 50 degrees. The weather is generally comfortable in the afternoon, but a light jacket or sweater may be necessary in the evening. Historically, there is little precipitation in January, although it does rain some on about 22% of days.

January Crowds: Because many United States school districts continue winter break though January 6th, January 1st through 5th continue to be quite crowded, though less crowded than the two weeks before it with the Christmas Holiday. Expect crowds similar to spring break in March, which is to say less heavy than summer, but still in the “7 to 9″ range.

Crowds are low to slightly above average throughout the rest of the month. Crowds spike for the Marathon from January 11th to 14th and again for Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend from January 18th – 21st. Still, you’re looking at average to slightly above average crowds compared to the rest of the year on those dates. Other than those weekends, crowds are well below average with January 23rd through the first ten days in February seeing the lowest crowds of the year outside of September.

January Park Hours and Entertainment: The final January operating schedule is available here: http://media.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/DTA-Domestic/pdf/ParkHours/WDW_Operating_Calendar_jan.pdf.

Best Week to Visit Disney World in January 2013: January 23-30 is the best week to visit, with some of the lowest crowds of the entire year and Value season pricing.

Closures and Openings:

Continuing Refurbishments:

The Spa at the Grand Floridian Resort closed September 19th 2011 for about 18 months, until at least June 2013. The Fitness Center remains open and guests will be shuttled to Saratoga Springs for spa services.
Character Spot at Epcot has moved behind its original location during a refurbishment that is expected to last through the middle of February. Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto continue greeting guests during the refurbishment.

New Refurbishments:

Splash Mountain will be closed for refurbishment from January 2nd through March 19th, reopening on March 20th.
Main Street Bakery will be closed for refurbishment from January 6th through May 17th, reopening on May 18th. The new location will serve Starbucks coffee, pastries, and other items in addition to Disney favorites.
Kali River Rapids will be closed for refurbishment from January 6th through February 15th, reopening on February 16th.
Blizzard Beach will be closed from January 6th through March 16th for its annual refurbishment.
BoardWalk Bakery will be closed for refurbishment from January 6th through April 26th, reopening on the 27th.
Mad Tea Party will be closed for refurbishment from January 7th through February 18th, reopening on the 19th.
Disney Jr. Live on Stage will be closed for refurbishment from January 14th through February 13th, reopening on the 14th.

Notes:

Historically, January has the most refurbishments and closures of any month. We’ll also have the last night of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios on January 6th, the change back to Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade (from the Christmastime Parade over the holidays) at Magic Kingdom, and the change over to Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade (from Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade) at Animal Kingdom. Lengthy pool refurbishments are also common at Disney resorts.

January Special Events That May Affect Crowds or Your Stay:

The Disney World Marathon is held January 10 – 13, 2013. While the Marathon doesn’t increase lines at the rides much, it does cause a lot of congestion in and around the Parks on the mornings of January 12th and particularly January 13th. See http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/endurance/wdw-marathon/index?page=registration for more information on the event, including pricing and exact race times.

The last night of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is January 6th. See November and December for more information about the Lights.

Beginning in late January, South American tour groups tend to visit Disney World en masse due to a long vacation in throughout the continent. Expect to see large groups throughout the theme parks. If you do see a group, it’s best to avoid them.

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{ 79 comments }

October 2013 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on March 21, 2013

This is the Free October 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.

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.

Tuesday October 1

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 – 8pm (Not Recommended)

Fantasmic: 8pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. We don’t have special events, Extra Magic Hours, or anything specific drawing people toward it. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will be more popular with Disney resort guests and we have a ton of things attracting people to the other three more popular theme parks. It’s also early enough in the week that many people on weeklong vacations will be saving Animal Kingdom for later in the week. Today and Friday are the best days this week to visit. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Once you get through these two attractions, you have little to worry about other than trying to get to the scheduled shows and potentially arriving just before the popular characters first appear. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon, so try to see the first or last show of the day. You’ll also want to get to DinoLand USA before 10:30am to ride Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR because those two attractions are popular. Still, they aren’t necessarily your top morning priorities and you can easily FASTPASS them if need arises. Even with the short day, you should have no trouble accomplishing most of what the Animal Kingdom has to offer in one day, provided you arrive early in the morning, tour efficiently, collect FASTPASSes, and keep an eye on the time in order to see the scheduled stage shows. Finally, crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Plan to return to any favorites from 4:15pm through close when waits will be shorter than the afternoon if you have more to accomplish or couldn’t arrive early.

Epcot is not recommended. We have the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting the majority of Disney resort guests and a lot of off-site visitors who will naturally visit Epcot after the Magic Kingdom yesterday. If you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and positive that you’ll arrive by 7:30am to take advantage of it, you can have a very successful day today. In addition, today would be less crowded than Saturday or Sunday if you’re trying to decide between those dates. Still, Monday and Thursday remain the best days overall. Consider today if you’re sure you can arrive for the Extra Magic Hour or plan to visit later in the afternoon for the World Showcase, but a 10am arrival is not recommended.

Hollywood Studios is not expressly recommended. Tomorrow would be a much better day to visit with the short hours of operation causing most casual vacationers to look elsewhere, freeing up the Studios for us to enjoy in lower crowds. However, the Studios does close at 6pm and does not offer Fantasmic, so that also has to be taken into consideration. With the light crowds tomorrow, you’d actually be able to accomplish more than today, with shorter waits at attractions and less congestion in common areas. This coming Saturday is recommended for the same reasons. Yesterday would have been a better day to visit and see Fantasmic in the evening. You can certainly make today work if you arrive by 8:20am and take care of the major priorities first thing in the morning or with FASTPASS, but it’s going to be busier than recommended days all day.

Magic Kingdom is recommended and it’s your best opportunity this week to see Wishes in the evening, especially as we come off a very busy day yesterday with the Main Street Electrical Parade, Wishes, and evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled. It will be busier than this Friday, but Magic Kingdom closes at 7pm and doesn’t offer any evening entertainment during regular Park hours on Friday. To make today work, plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to New Fantasyland for Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Ariel’s Grotto or to another priority of your choosing. While we’ve moved away from some of the summer heat, Florida is still very hot and humid in October. Consider a break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for dinner, some nighttime attractions, and Wishes. This is the hottest and busiest part of the day. You can do very well if you follow the usual advice, but the afternoon will be moderately crowded with the decent operating hours and average crowds. It’s best to avoid that time of day.

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{ 13 comments }

September 2013 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on February 25, 2013

5/14/13 Update: Daily analysis updated with the operating schedule changes listed in this post. No recommendation changes and minor crowd level changes to a few days.

2/27/13 Update: Daily analysis for September 21 – 30 added and crowd calendar slightly modified.

2/26/13 Update: Daily analysis added for September 11 – 20.

2/25/13 Update: Recommendations slightly altered at the beginning of the month and daily analysis added for September 1 – 10.

This is the Free September 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.

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.

Sunday September 1

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)

Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 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 highly recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours/Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom luring a lot of Disney resort guests. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow or Wednesday for morning Extra Magic Hour. With the longer than usual operating hours, you should be able to do just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS them later in the day (or both). After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King and you’ll be set for the rest of the day. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and the last 90 minutes of operation will have much shorter waits than the afternoon. You also have an outstanding opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations, Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner and a look around the resort or take a trip out to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping.

Epcot is recommended as well. It’s a particularly excellent day to see IllumiNations and have dinner in the World Showcase because Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd. Despite the recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the touring plans. It’s more important to arrive early and take care of the headliners first thing than it is to pick the “right” day. You’ll run into lines at the headliners in Future World if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. To stay ahead of the crowds for the longest amount of time, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to see anything you missed, but make sure you check your Times Guide because some attractions close at 7pm, including Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, both Innoventions buildings, and Ellen’s Energy Adventure. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’ or Test Track, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times will most likely continue to be 45+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re in between yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours, both of which will be more popular with Disney resort guests. We also have evening Extra Magic Hours, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes at Magic Kingdom, all of which will be incredibly popular with Disney resort guests. Finally, Sunday is a popular travel day and few people arriving will head out to the Studios for Fantasmic this evening. Those that arrived yesterday are also unlikely to begin their first full day at Hollywood Studios. In order to find the shortest waits, you’ll need to arrive by 8:20am and head straight to Toy Story Mania to ride and/or collect FASTPASSes. Because of its popularity and extremely limited capacity, Toy Story Mania almost always has afternoon waits of 60 or more minutes and FASTPASSes that are routinely gone before 1pm, even when crowds are relatively low and the Studios is recommended. It’s always your top priority. The second attraction with the longest peak wait is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which should be ridden immediately after Toy Story Mania in the morning or with FASTPASSes collected later in the morning. FASTPASSes often run out by late afternoon and wait times aren’t usually far behind Toy Story Mania. Other priorities are Tower of Terror and Star Tours, though FASTPASSes are more plentiful at both attractions and standby waits are usually lower. After you get through these four headliners, it’s just a matter of arriving in time to see the various stage shows that run on a set schedule and getting over to the Studios’ high capacity attractions. You may also have characters to visit before lines get longer. 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. For Fantasmic, you’ll want to arrive about 60 minutes early to guarantee good seats together if you’re interested in the 8:30pm show. If that sounds like it’s about 30 minutes too long, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. It will still require you to arrive at least 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. If the Dining Package isn’t available or you’re not interested in paying a premium, do whatever you can to stay up for the 10pm show. It will be substantially less crowded and only require you to arrive 10 to 20 minutes early for good seats.

Magic Kingdom is not recommended, though the morning from 9am – 11am and the late evening from 11:30pm – 2am will both be good times to tour. However, the afternoon will be busy enough that you won’t want to risk it unless you’re absolutely certain that you’ll take advantage of one or both of the recommended touring times and can’t visit on a “more recommended” day. Most Disney resort guests who will be headed to the Magic Kingdom will sleep in and arrive around 11am, in anticipation of staying until around 10:30pm. If you arrive prior to 9am, you can have a lot of success visiting the Fantasyland attractions and headlining Mountain rides. It will also be a great opportunity to collect FASTPASSes for later in the day. However, the Park will be busy from 12pm to 10pm as the bulk of Disney resort guests arrive en masse and stay through the evening entertainment. You’ll either want to take a break, Park Hop elsewhere, or plan to visit some of the less popular attractions for that time slot. The late night Extra Magic Hours are also recommended. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, begin in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last because most families will be long gone from the Park by 1am and Fantasyland will be low on crowds. It’s not uncommon for Peter Pan’s Flight to have a 60 minute wait in the afternoon and a ten minute or less wait at the end of evening Extra Magic Hours. Save Journey of the Little Mermaid, Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. You’ll find lower crowds on Tuesday and Wednesday of this coming week, but the morning and late night will both be good times to tour if you need an additional day at Magic Kingdom.

Monday September 2

Labor Day

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 12am

Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm

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

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

The Labor Day holiday isn’t as big of a deal as most federal holidays because most schools are just back in session and few people are looking to take their kids out of school immediately after the year begins. The overall crowd level is a bit higher due to people within driving distance visiting for a short trip, but crowds are average at most and will drop significantly beginning tomorrow.

Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s difficult to get out to the Animal Kingdom by 7:45am to take full advantage of it. If you’re staying at a Monorail Deluxe Resort, you’re looking at a 20+ minute drive to the Animal Kingdom, plus time for the bus to arrive – not to mention getting multiple people up and ready early in the morning with just one shower and limited space. At 6:30am. Or earlier. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 7:45am, then you can have a lot of success because the crowd level won’t be that high, but it will be busier in the afternoon than other recommended days this week due to a higher number of Disney resort guests than usual. You’re much better served holding off until Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday if you’re not going to arrive until 9am or later.

Epcot is the only expressly recommended Park. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special evening entertainment, or anything else that will draw people toward Epcot specifically. Disney resort guests will be more likely to visit tomorrow or Friday for Extra Magic Hours and off-site visitors will be headed to the Magic Kingdom because they naturally prefer to visit it on their first full day of a weeklong vacation. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to visit any non-headlining attractions. If you’d like to ride Test Track or Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, collect FASTPASSes for either in the morning or early afternoon. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm. Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings ordinarily close at 7pm. Finally, it’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests, the 10pm close, and the addition of a 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. This past Sunday or this coming Thursday would be better. Unfortunately, I’m not too fond of evening Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. There are only a few attractions open and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, especially with the evening Extra Magic Hours only being two hours in 2013. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 9pm and again at 10:30pm, right as evening Extra Magic Hours gets underway. The Fantasmic Theater is located right on Sunset Boulevard, across from the entrances to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. While not everyone seeing Fantasmic will be a Disney resort guest, many of them will be, and a ton will be headed to Tower of Tower and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster because they truly believe it’s the best time to get in line. Unfortunately, they’ll find themselves lined up with a few thousand of their new best friends. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. While you could theoretically have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for the headliners, the same will be true later in the week and you won’t have to deal with the significantly heavier afternoon and evening crowds. Avoid it unless you’re planning to visit from 9am – 1pm or can’t visit any other day.

It’s going to be a busy day at Magic Kingdom even without Extra Magic Hours to lure Disney resort guests. First, a lot of people are arriving for a weeklong vacation. They travel over the weekend and naturally head to the Magic Kingdom on Monday for their first full day. The later close is also attractive to casual vacationers who equate longer hours with being able to accomplish more during the day. Of course, this isn’t usually true because heavier crowds lead to longer lines, more congestion in common areas, and an overall less pleasant touring experience. With no Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled either of the next two nights, Magic Kingdom will also be popular with anyone that wants to see it. All of this adds up to a day that will be busier than the below average overall crowd level insinuates. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom despite the warning, you can still have a successful and fun day if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever you feel is most important on your itinerary. You may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so to rest up for the nighttime spectaculars. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded.

Tuesday September 3

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 – 8:30pm (Recommended)

Fantasmic: 8:30pm

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

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. We don’t have special events, Extra Magic Hours, or anything specific drawing people toward it. Yesterday’s and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hours will be more popular with Disney resort guests. It’s also early enough in the week that many people on weeklong vacations will be saving Animal Kingdom for later in the week. Today and Saturday are the best days this week to visit. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Once you get through these two attractions, you have little to worry about other than trying to get to the scheduled shows and potentially arriving just before the popular characters first appear. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon, so try to see the first or last show of the day. You’ll also want to get to DinoLand USA before 10:30am to ride Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR because those two attractions are popular. Still, they aren’t necessarily your top morning priorities and you can easily FASTPASS them throughout the day if need arises. With the long day, you should have no trouble accomplishing most of what the Animal Kingdom has to offer in one day, provided you arrive early in the morning, tour efficiently, collect FASTPASSes, and keep an eye on the time in order to see the scheduled stage shows. Finally, crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Plan to return to any favorites from 4:15pm through close when waits will be shorter than the afternoon if you have more to accomplish or couldn’t arrive early.

Epcot is not recommended. We have the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting a decent number of Disney resort guests that choose the theme park they’re going to visit based on the Extra Magic Hours schedule. Because a lot of Disney resort guests choose to visit Epcot twice over the course of the week, they tend to visit on Tuesdays and Fridays. While Magic Kingdom’s evening Extra Magic Hours will prove popular, it won’t do enough to make Epcot less crowded than recommended days during the week. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or you’re certain that you’ll arrive prior by 7:30am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.

Hollywood Studios is recommended, though it isn’t the best day of the week there. The good news is that Magic Kingdom will continue to draw decent crowds with the 10pm close and Epcot’s morning Extra Magic Hour is more attractive, particularly early in the week. You can make today work by arriving by 8:20am and taking care of Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster first thing in the morning. Most people will want to take advantage of the best day at Magic Kingdom since Friday or the lower crowds at Animal Kingdom.

Magic Kingdom is highly recommended as we come off several days in a row with the Electrical Parade. Epcot’s morning Extra Magic Hour and Hollywood Studios’ Fantasmic will help draw crowds away and a lot of people will have visited yesterday for their first full day at Disney World. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. Most people with kids will want to start with Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Ariel’s Grotto. You may also want to fit other time-sensitive attractions like Tomorrowland Indy Speedway or Astro Orbiter in there as well, along with Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and other quick attractions that will have decent afternoon waits like Astro Orbiter. Consider taking a break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds are heaviest and wait times are longest to rest up for Wishes. Tomorrow will be a bit less crowded because it’s in the middle of the week and even more people will have moved on to other Parks, but today is much better than any of the last three days and is thus, highly recommended. This coming Friday and Saturday would also be less crowded due to the 7pm close and lack of any evening entertainment.

Wednesday September 4

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 – 8:30pm (Not Recommended)

Fantasmic: 8:30pm

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

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm

It’s the busiest day of the week at Animal Kingdom. The morning Extra Magic Hour will attract the bulk of the Disney resort crowd and there’s no evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment going on at the other Parks, which will cause a lot of off-site guests to visit as well. With both yesterday and tomorrow recommended, there’s no reason to visit today.

Epcot is recommended. We’re coming off a popular morning Magic Hour yesterday and most Disney resort guests will be waiting to either return or visit for their first time this Friday. Disney resort guests are more likely to head to Animal Kingdom today and the addition of Fantasmic means a decent number of off-site guests will be headed to Hollywood Studios as well. In most scenarios, I recommend heading to Magic Kingdom today to take advantage of the lower crowd level there and holding off on Epcot until tomorrow. However, Epcot works fine today too, provided you follow my broken-record advice – arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. You may also want to take a more compartmentalized two-day approach, which gives you the benefit of enjoying the lowest possible crowds in both Future World and World Showcase each day. 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. 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 some Future World attractions close at 7pm. Expect Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings to accept their last guests of the day at 7pm. Overall, it’s a good day to visit Epcot and a fine day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations, provided you tour efficiently in the morning.

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

Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit 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 an Electrical Parade that will be attractive to off-site guests. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You’ll be able to accomplish a ton of attractions in a short amount of time if you make efficient use of the morning and use FASTPASS at the major attractions throughout the day. You’ll also want to strongly consider taking an afternoon break when crowds and temperatures peak to rest up for the evening. This Friday will see the lowest crowds of the week, but the close is also 7pm and no evening entertainment is offered during regular theme park hours. After Wishes, return to Fantasyland or Tomorrowland to find lower crowds than the afternoon through close.

Thursday September 5

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Highly Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 8:30

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Animal Kingdom and Epcot are our best choices. We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw a lot of Disney resort guests. Today, we have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic continuing to keep Hollywood Studios crowded. All in all, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to the popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment, Epcot for IllumiNations, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.

Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade pulling people towards Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios continuing to draw crowds. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Test Track and then Soarin’ as soon as possible. Soarin’ and Test Track will have 40+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to popularity and relatively low capacities. Move on to the World Showcase beginning around 11am if crowds begin to build in Future World, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Return to Future World after 5pm if you have more to accomplish and to ride/re-ride the headliners with FASTPASS. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios is recommended, thanks to Magic Kingdom being a major draw. More people will be headed to the Studios tomorrow and Saturday with the short hours at Magic Kingdom attracting far fewer people. Thus, on-site and off-site visitors will be targeting the Studios’ decent operating hours and guaranteed nighttime entertainment over the next two days. This coming Sunday would be better, but today also works if you arrive prior to Park opening and follow the usual advice.

The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure the bulk of the Disney resort crowd, making the Park busier than either this past Tuesday or Wednesday. We also have the first Electrical Parade since Monday and there isn’t another Parade scheduled again until Sunday. That will make Magic Kingdom even more attractive to anyone that wants to see it. Magic Kingdom’s 7pm closes over the next two days will also be unpopular. If you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and certain that you can arrive by 7:40am, you can do very well by hitting the Fantasyland attractions first thing and then moving on to the headlining Mountain rides and other attractions after they open at 9am. But if you’re not Extra Magic Hours eligible or don’t plan to arrive until 10am or later, you’ll want to visit on a recommended day. With that said, today is the best day of the week to see the Electrical Parade. If you’d like to see it, the easiest way is by Park Hopping over in the evening after spending the day at a recommended Park. Without Park Hopper, you’ll have the most success touring from 9am – 1pm, taking a break, and then returning in the early evening for dinner, some evening attractions, and the nighttime spectaculars. For Main Street Electrical Parade, the least crowded viewing locations are in Frontierland and Liberty Square. These spots offer a view that is just as good as Main Street and don’t require the excessive waits.

Friday September 6

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 8:30

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

Night of Joy

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended, though it isn’t the best day of the week there. Most people will want to take advantage of the lower crowds at Magic Kingdom, but Animal Kingdom is certainly a viable alternative. If you’re trying to decide whether to visit Magic Kingdom/Animal Kingdom today or tomorrow, then I would go with Magic Kingdom today and Animal Kingdom tomorrow. Locals are more of a concern at Magic Kingdom on Saturday. The main problem with Animal Kingdom is that Magic Kingdom closes at 7pm and doesn’t offer evening entertainment of any kind. Most casual vacationers will avoid it because of that and they’ll naturally head to one of the other three major theme parks. Luckily, Epcot’s evening Extra Magic Hours are always popular and will draw a lot of Disney resort guests. With the low overall crowd level, today will be far from busy. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing. After that, move on to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl/DINOSAUR, visit the characters at Camp Minnie-Mickey, or see the first 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 an excellent time to tour Epcot, but you’ll probably want to Park Hop elsewhere after lunch or you’ll be stuck in significantly larger-than-usual crowds. You might also consider an afternoon break from 2pm-6pm when crowds will be at their largest. You could then return in the early evening for dinner and Extra Magic Hours. Alternatively, you could also Park Hop over in the evening for Extra Magic Hours, provided you’re aware of how busy it will be. The last hour of Extra Magic Hours is always the least crowded, so plan to stay until 11pm and head back to Soarin’ and Test Track after 10pm. Skip Illuminations if you’ll be here on another night because it will be more crowded than usual.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended. We have short hours and no evening entertainment during regular Park hours at Magic Kingdom, Disney World’s most popular theme park. As usual, short hours and no evening entertainment are also offered at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. While Epcot will be popular with Disney resort guests, a lot of off-site visitors will be saving the Studios and Fantasmic for tonight. While there’s nothing specific drawing people towards the Studios in particular, we can still expect to be busier than any of the past three days. It should be avoided unless you can’t visit another day.

Magic Kingdom is our best choice as far as crowds are concerned. We have the Night of Joy tonight, which is an after-hours contemporary Christian Concert Party. There will be standing-room-only stages set up throughout the Park and several of the major attractions will remain open. Because it is a separate ticketed event, the Night of Joy does not adversely affect daytime crowds until about 5:30pm. In fact, it actually helps because the 9am to 7pm operating hours will cause a lot of people to head to a different Park because many people will equate fewer operating hours to less value for the price. Plus, people attending the Night of Joy will either visit another Park during the day or simply rest up and wait for the concert to begin. While the lack of the Wishes fireworks show and Main Street Electrical Parade is unfortunate, the low crowd level makes today an excellent opportunity to visit the most popular attractions with the shortest waits possible. Today will be the least crowded day of the week and you should take advantage of that, especially if you can Park Hop over to the Magic Kingdom when Wishes and the Main Street Electrical Parade are offered on another night. Don’t be too concerned about having “only ten hours in the Park” either. It’s plenty of time to have a full day and you’ll actually be able to get more done than you would yesterday, despite the Park being open fewer hours, just because lines will be so much shorter and it will be easier and more enjoyable to move about the Park. After the Park closes, consider taking the monorail to the Contemporary, Polynesian, or Grand Floridian for dinner. There are a lot of great restaurants and you’ll be able to take the bus back to your resort from the Magic Kingdom afterward because Disney will be running buses through at least 2am to transport Night of Joy participants to their resorts. Finally, there is one caveat. Buses and buses full of local kids will begin arriving at the Transportation/Ticket Center around 4pm because those attending the Night of Joy can use their tickets to enter Magic Kingdom beginning at 4pm. This makes the monorail and ferry boats extremely crowded from the Ticket/Transportation Center to Magic Kingdom from 4pm to 7pm. You won’t run into any trouble transferring from Magic Kingdom back to the Transportation/Ticket Center because the kids won’t be traveling in that direction, but it’s worth pointing out that you won’t want to be Park Hopping over to Magic Kingdom after around 3:30pm because waits can hit an hour on the monorail. Otherwise, 9am – 5:30pm is going to be great and it won’t be too bad from 5:30pm – 7pm either.

Saturday September 7

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (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

Fantasmic: 8:30

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

Night of Joy

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

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. Although the Magic Kingdom closes early, people will be more likely to head to Hollywood Studios for the extended hours of operation and Fantasmic or Epcot for a 9am to 9pm day and IllumiNations. Local visitors often snub Animal Kingdom in favor of one of the other Parks, particularly in September when it’s still hot. It’s a great day to spend at the Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. To have success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. FASTPASS whichever you enjoy more (ideally Kilimanjaro Safaris) and head to DinoLand USA or one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King. Crowds disperse after the 3:45pm and it’s usually a great time to return to the major attractions after 4:15pm if you couldn’t get to them earlier in the day in the standby line or with FASTPASS. FASTPASSes should be plentiful and crowds relatively low, so I don’t foresee any problems completing any reasonable itinerary.

Epcot is not expressly recommended. We have short hours and no evening entertainment at Magic Kingdom, which means it will draw few Disney resort guests and few off-site visitors. With Fantasmic scheduled every night this month, it isn’t as big of a draw as when it’s offered on limited nights. The morning Extra Magic Hour at the Studios will help draw Disney resort guests away, but it doesn’t help us much with the sizable off-site contingency. You can have success at Epcot if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of the headlining attractions immediately in the morning. But the afternoon will be busier than recommended days. The low overall crowd level helps, but you’re better off taking advantage of the low crowds at Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom and visiting Epcot when it will be less crowded. Tomorrow and Monday are both highly recommended.

Hollywood Studios will be busy today thanks to morning Extra Magic Hour attracting Disney resort guests and Fantasmic keeping people in the Studios throughout the evening. The big problem with the Studios and Epcot this weekend is the Night of Joy at Magic Kingdom, which closes the Park early with no evening entertainment during regular Park hours. Most casual visitors will see the short hours and think it translates to being able to do less and will naturally visit on another day. They’ll be headed to Hollywood Studios or Epcot because of the longer hours and evening entertainment. You can have success at the Studios if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and arrive by 7:15am to take advantage of it. You’ll be able to hit Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours before the crowds arrive at 10am. However, the Studios will be busier than recommended days from 10:30am through close and you’ll want to have moved on to the stage shows and high capacity attractions by then. Consider taking a sizable afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for Fantasmic. Return to have dinner and enjoy Fantasmic. Also consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Hollywood Hills Theater. This is the least stressful way to enjoy Fantasmic, but you’ll still need to arrive at the Theater at least 30 minutes early or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population. Still, it’s better than the 60 minute wait you’re looking at without the Package. If you’re not interested in Fantasmic, you should be able to get a ton done by early afternoon and be in good shape to end things after a half or three-quarters long day. You would be better served to visit during a recommended day if you aren’t Extra Magic Hours eligible or won’t arrive until after 9am. We’ll have a ton of Disney resort guests arriving in the late morning and lines to Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster will already be long.

Magic Kingdom is highly recommended, which is odd for a Saturday in September (or just about any month for that matter). Usually we have longer operating hours and the Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled on Saturday. However, today the Magic Kingdom closes at 7pm and doesn’t offer either the Main Street Electrical Parade or Wishes due to the Night of Joy contemporary Christian “rock concert.” This is a separately ticketed event and it doesn’t adversely affect daytime crowds because the concert starts after the Magic Kingdom closes to the general public, at least until around 5:30pm when concert goers begin to arrive. In fact, crowds will actually be lower than most other days this week because so few people plan to visit the Magic Kingdom when it’s “only” open from 9am to 7pm and doesn’t offer special evening entertainment. Other than yesterday, today will be the least crowded day of the week at the Magic Kingdom and it’s an excellent opportunity to ride the headlining and Fantasyland attractions with minimal waits. Ideally, you could Park Hop over to the Magic Kingdom in the evening to see the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes on another night or at least visit on a second day when those shows are available. Today, focus on arriving early and visit the Fantasyland, the headlining attractions early in the morning or with FASTPASS throughout the day. After the Park closes, consider taking the monorail to the Contemporary, Polynesian, or Grand Floridian for dinner. There are a lot of great restaurants and you’ll be able to take the bus back to your resort from the Magic Kingdom afterward because Disney will be running buses through at least 2am to transport Night of Joy participants to their resorts. Finally, there is one caveat. Buses and buses full of local kids will begin arriving at the Transportation/Ticket Center around 4pm because those attending the Night of Joy can use their tickets to enter Magic Kingdom beginning at 4pm. This makes the monorail and ferry boats extremely crowded from the Transportation/Ticket Center to Magic Kingdom from 4pm to 7pm. You won’t run into any trouble transferring from Magic Kingdom back to the Ticket/Transportation Center because the kids won’t be traveling in that direction, but it’s worth pointing out that you won’t want to be Park Hopping over to Magic Kingdom after around 3:30pm because waits can hit an hour on the monorail.

Sunday September 8

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Highly Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 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: 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm

Animal Kingdom is highly recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours/Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom luring a lot of Disney resort guests. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow or Friday for morning Extra Magic Hour. Although the eight hour day is relatively short, you should still be able to accomplish everything you want to by arriving prior 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 4:15pm through close will see lower crowds than the afternoon. It’s the perfect time to hit DinoLand, Asia, or get one last ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris. You also have an outstanding opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations, Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner and a look around the resort or take a trip out to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping.

Epcot is recommended as well. It’s a particularly excellent day to see IllumiNations and have dinner in the World Showcase because Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd. Despite the recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. It’s more important to arrive early and take care of the headliners first thing than it is to pick the “right” day. You’ll run into lines at the headliners in Future World if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. To stay ahead of the crowds for the longest amount of time, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to see anything you missed, but make sure you check your Times Guide because some attractions close at 7pm, including Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, both Innoventions buildings, and Ellen’s Energy Adventure. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’ or Test Track, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times will most likely continue to be 45+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re in between yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours, both of which will be more popular with Disney resort guests. We also have evening Extra Magic Hours, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes at Magic Kingdom, all of which will be incredibly popular with Disney resort guests. Finally, Sunday is a popular travel day and few people arriving will head out to the Studios for Fantasmic this evening. Those that arrived yesterday are also unlikely to begin their first full day at Hollywood Studios. Thus, today is the best day of the week to visit the Studios and see Fantasmic in the evening. In order to find the shortest waits, you’ll need to arrive by 8:20am and head straight to Toy Story Mania to ride and/or collect FASTPASSes. Because of its popularity and extremely limited capacity, Toy Story Mania almost always has afternoon waits of 60 or more minutes and FASTPASSes that are routinely gone before 1pm, even when crowds are relatively low and the Studios is recommended. It’s always your top priority. The second attraction with the longest peak wait is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which should be ridden immediately after Toy Story Mania in the morning or with FASTPASSes collected later in the morning. FASTPASSes often run out by late afternoon and wait times aren’t usually far behind Toy Story Mania. Other priorities are Tower of Terror and Star Tours, though FASTPASSes are more plentiful at both attractions and standby waits are usually lower. After you get through these four headliners, it’s just a matter of arriving in time to see the various stage shows that run on a set schedule and getting over to the Studios’ high capacity attractions. You may also have characters to visit before lines get longer. 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. 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. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Magic Kingdom is not recommended, though the morning from 9am – 11am and the late evening from 10:30pm – 12am will both be good times to tour. However, the afternoon will be busy enough that you won’t want to risk it unless you’re absolutely certain that you’ll take advantage of one or both of the recommended touring times and can’t visit on a “more recommended” day. Most Disney resort guests who will be headed to the Magic Kingdom will sleep in and arrive around 11am, in anticipation of staying until around 10:30pm. If you arrive prior to 9am, you can have a lot of success visiting the Fantasyland attractions and headlining Mountain rides. It will also be a great opportunity to collect FASTPASSes for later in the day. However, the Park will be busy from 12pm to 10pm as the bulk of Disney resort guests arrive en masse and stay through the evening entertainment. You’ll either want to take a break, Park Hop elsewhere, or plan to visit some of the less popular attractions for that time slot. The relatively late night Extra Magic Hours are also recommended. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, begin in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last because most families will be long gone from the Park by 11pm and Fantasyland will be low on crowds. It’s not uncommon for Peter Pan’s Flight to have a 75 minute wait in the afternoon and a ten minute or less wait at the end of evening Extra Magic Hours. Save Journey of the Little Mermaid, Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. You’ll find lower crowds on Tuesday (especially), Wednesday, and Friday of this coming week, but the morning and late night will both be good times to tour if you need an additional day at Magic Kingdom.

Monday September 9

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 12am

Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s difficult to get out to the Animal Kingdom by 7:45am to take full advantage of it. If you’re staying at a Monorail Deluxe Resort, you’re looking at a 20+ minute drive to the Animal Kingdom, plus time for the bus to arrive – not to mention getting multiple people up and ready early in the morning with just one shower and limited space. At 6:30am. Or earlier. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 7:45am, then you can have a lot of success because the crowd level won’t be that high, but it will be busier in the afternoon than other recommended days this week due to a higher number of Disney resort guests than usual. You’re much better served holding off until Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday 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 Wednesday for Extra Magic Hours and off-site visitors will be headed to the Magic Kingdom because they naturally prefer to visit it on their first full day of a weeklong vacation. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to visit any non-headlining attractions. If you’d like to ride Test Track or Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, collect FASTPASSes for either in the morning or early afternoon. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm. Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings ordinarily close at 7pm. Finally, it’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests, the later close than any other day this week, and the addition of a 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. This past Sunday or this coming Thursday would be better. Unfortunately, I’m not too fond of evening Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. There are only a few attractions open and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, especially with the evening Extra Magic Hours only being two hours in 2013. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 9pm and again at 10:30pm, right as evening Extra Magic Hours gets underway. The Fantasmic Theater is located right on Sunset Boulevard, across from the entrances to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. While not everyone seeing Fantasmic will be a Disney resort guest, many of them will be, and a ton will be headed to Tower of Tower and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster because they truly believe it’s the best time to get in line. Unfortunately, they’ll find themselves lined up with a few thousand of their new best friends. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. While you could theoretically have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for the headliners, the same will be true later in the week and you won’t have to deal with the significantly heavier afternoon and evening crowds. Avoid it unless you’re planning to visit from 9am – 1pm or can’t visit any other day.

It’s going to be a busy day at Magic Kingdom even without Extra Magic Hours to lure Disney resort guests. First, a lot of people are arriving for a weeklong vacation. They travel over the weekend and naturally head to the Magic Kingdom on Monday for their first full day. The later close is also attractive to casual vacationers who equate longer hours with being able to accomplish more during the day. Of course, this isn’t usually true because heavier crowds lead to longer lines, more congestion in common areas, and an overall less pleasant touring experience. With no Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled either of the next two nights, Magic Kingdom will also be popular with anyone that wants to see it. All of this adds up to a day that will be busier than the below average overall crowd level insinuates. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom despite the warning, you can still have a successful and fun day if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever you feel is most important on your itinerary. You may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so to rest up for the nighttime spectaculars. This is the busiest and hottest part of the day. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded.

Tuesday September 10

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

Fantasmic: 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended today, though it isn’t the most recommended Park because it isn’t hosting Extra Magic Hour tomorrow and Magic Kingdom won’t be as big of a draw as usual with the early close. We don’t have evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment scheduled at any of the Parks today (since Fantasmic is scheduled every day this week), which means a moderate number of people will take the opportunity to visit the Animal Kingdom instead. Still, Fantasmic is a bigger draw, as is Epcot’s morning Extra Magic Hour and it’s early enough in the week that a lot of people won’t be ready to visit Animal Kingdom no matter what the operating hours look like elsewhere. Most people will want to take advantage of the lowest crowds of the week at Magic Kingdom and save Animal Kingdom for another day, but today works well if it fits better in your overall itinerary. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get these two biggies out of the way and you’re in good shape for the rest of the day. Kali River Rapids is also known to have long lines in the afternoon when the weather is hot and dry. If that’s the case today (it will be hot, but not necessarily dry), plan to collect FASTPASSes for it after Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest or ride early in the morning if you’re in the mood. Keep in mind that you’re almost guaranteed to get soaked on Kali and it may be uncomfortable to walk around in the humid Florida summer unless you cover up with ponchos and pack extra pairs of socks. The first and last Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical shows are the least popular. Plan to see those shows if possible because you won’t need to arrive as far ahead of time as the prime shows in the afternoon. DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl in DinoLand USA are relatively popular rides. Get there before 10:30am if possible. Posted waits should be 20 minutes or less throughout the day and the actual wait times are often less. Finally, crowds do dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and it’s usually a good time to return to the major attractions from 4:15pm to 5pm. Hang around through close if you didn’t arrive early or would like to have one more ride with a relatively short standby wait. Still, the morning is always the best time to tour because FASTPASSes are plentiful and waits are guaranteed to be short.

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. With not a lot going on at the other Parks, the 9am – 9pm day will also bring in a lot of people who prefer to visit Parks when they’re open longer. Today will be the second busiest day of the week at Epcot and numerous other days will be substantially less busy. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:30am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.

Hollywood Studios is not expressly recommended. The short hours at Magic Kingdom will be a big turn off for many and off-site visitors in particular will be looking toward Fantasmic and Toy Story Mania after spending yesterday at Magic Kingdom. I’m looking towards Thursday as a significantly better day to visit and I would hold off until then if possible.

Magic Kingdom is the best Park to visit, despite the truncated operating schedule and lack of both Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes. Tonight is the first night of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, which is a separately ticketed event that begins at 7pm and runs through 12am. Because the hours are “so short” and there’s no evening entertainment during the regular day, most Disney vacationers will plan to visit on another day. Yesterday will have been busy and tomorrow and Thursday will also be busier, thanks to longer hours and evening entertainment. Today is an excellent opportunity to visit the Fantasyland and headlining attractions with minimal waits as well as visit the popular characters and whatever else you’d like to experience. Because waits are shorter and the crowd level is so much lower, you’ll actually be able to accomplish more during the day today than either yesterday or tomorrow, despite the Park being open three hours less. For maximum efficiency, arrive early in the morning and use FASTPASS throughout the day. Consider a second day at the Magic Kingdom to see the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes or ideally Park Hop over in the evening on a night that it’s available. Thursday is the best day of the week to see the Main Street Electrical Parade at night, but that isn’t saying a whole lot when your other options are a busy Sunday, Monday and Saturday. Finally, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party does feature the special HalloWishes fireworks spectacular at 9:30pm above Cinderella Castle. This show is viewable from a variety of locations around Disney property. My favorite is the Polynesian Resort’s beach, which is directly across from the Magic Kingdom. The 4^th floor observatory at the Contemporary Resort is another excellent location. The boat launch and marina at the Grand Floridian also offer pretty good views, though less direct angles. The boat dock at the Transportation and Ticket Center also offers an underrated view and it makes for the easiest exit if you’re driving because you’re already at the parking lot. The soundtrack is easiest to hear at the Contemporary, Transportation and Ticket Center, and Polynesian in that order. You might consider taking the monorail or boat to one of the Monorail Deluxe resorts for dinner after the Magic Kingdom closes at 7pm and then get into position to enjoy the fireworks around 9:20pm at one of the previously mentioned locations. You can then transfer back to the Magic Kingdom and take a resort bus back to your resort or hop in your car and head wherever you like. Each of the Deluxe resorts have pretty good quick service locations too, so you can also eat on the cheap if you prefer and look around the resort(s) for a while until HalloWishes begins. In a perfect world, I would hit Kona Café for dinner and enjoy HalloWishes from the Polynesian’s beach.

Wednesday September 11

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Most Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Recommended)

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios will continue to draw crowds and Magic Kingdom will be more popular than yesterday with longer hours of operation and Wishes. Epcot’s extremely popular evening Extra Magic Hours will help pull Disney resort guests in that direction. The only problem is the fact that it’s a bit later in the week and we’ll have some off-site visitors who arrived on Sunday and visited Magic Kingdom on Monday and Epcot on Tuesday. Some of them will invariably be headed to Animal Kingdom, but there isn’t much we can do about that. It remains a better option than the others. To have the most success today, you’ll want to arrive by 8:30am and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Grab a FASTPASS for whichever you enjoy more and head to DinoLand USA for Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, and TriceraTop Spin or to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King. You may also want to prioritize characters that have long afternoon waits. After you complete your itinerary, you might consider Park Hopping over to Epcot for evening Extra Magic Hours, dinner and Illuminations, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic, or Magic Kingdom for a few evening attractions and Wishes. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at one of their three excellent restaurants – Boma, Sanaa, or Jiko. The resort is amazing and there is a fun and free public observatory where you can look at the same private savannas that many guests are paying a premium to have right outside their rooms. Nighttime trips to Downtown Disney and the BoardWalk are also popular and both have great dining and shopping “opportunities.” Of course, an extended break back at your resort is always a good idea as well.

Hollywood Studios is recommended, thanks to Epcot being a bigger draw with evening Extra Magic Hours and Magic Kingdom being more popular with the later close and Wishes. Tomorrow would work better with Magic Kingdom being an even bigger draw. You can certainly make today work by following the usual advice, which is to arrive by 8:20am and take care of Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster first thing in the morning. After that, your other two priorities are Tower of Terror and Star Tours.

Magic Kingdom is recommended today and it’s your best opportunity to visit and see Wishes in the evening. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow that will be more attractive to Disney resort guests and an Electrical Parade that will appeal to off-site visitors as well. While the 10pm close is later than yesterday or Friday, it’s also in the middle of the week and the lack of the Electrical Parade will make it less popular. If you’re looking for the absolute lowest crowds, yesterday or Friday would be better, but you won’t have the opportunity to see Wishes in the evening. If you do visit today, take advantage of the relatively low crowds by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). Popular characters that don’t offer FASTPASS may also be a priority. 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 taking a break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds and wait times peak. Return in the evening for dinner, some late night attractions, and Wishes. Overall, Magic Kingdom is an excellent choice, especially if you’d like to see Wishes and only plan to visit Magic Kingdom one day.

Thursday September 12

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 8:30pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit tomorrow for the morning Extra Magic Hour. Today, we have morning Extra Magic Hour/Main Street Electrical Parade attracting crowds and Hollywood Studios is always a draw with Fantasmic. 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 the most popular characters just before they make their first appearance. 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 as we come off two days in a row with Extra Magic Hours that will be more attractive to resort guests. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade pulling people towards Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios continuing to draw crowds. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Test Track and then Soarin’ as soon as possible. Soarin’ and Test Track will have 40+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to popularity and relatively low capacities. Move on to the World Showcase beginning around 11am if crowds begin to build in Future World, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Return to Future World after 5pm if you have more to accomplish and to ride/re-ride the headliners with FASTPASS. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re looking at a morning Extra Magic Hour on Saturday that will be more popular with Disney resort guests. Tomorrow is also a special Villains Party for Limited Time Magic. While we don’t know what all that will entail, it should be a significant draw for locals and visitors alike. With Fantasmic scheduled every night and similar hours offered every day, the Studios won’t be far and away less crowded than other days this week like it was when Fantasmic was scheduled less often. Nonetheless, we’re looking at fewer people in the Park, crowds that grow slower, increased FASTPASS availability, less congestion in common areas, and shorter waits at rides, shows, and restaurants. To have the most success, you’ll still want to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Because Toy Story Mania has such a limited capacity, wait times are almost always 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes are often gone by 1pm, even when the overall crowd level is low and Hollywood Studios is recommended. You’ll want to make it your top priority. Your second priority is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which also sees long afternoon waits and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. Tower of Terror and Star Tours should be easier to ride, but also remain priorities. If you can get these attractions done in the early morning, you’ll be in great shape for the rest of the day. The only other problem most people run into is trying to schedule all of the stage shows that run on a set schedule. You may also want to prioritize characters that will have longer afternoon waits. Phineas & Ferb tend to have the longest lines in Hollywood Studios. They typically begin appearing at 9:30am, which means you’ll have time to collect FASTPASSes and ride Toy Story Mania before heading over to visit Phineas & Ferb, which are located near Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano and across from the exit to Muppet Vision 3D. Check the week’s Times Guide to verify appearance times. Two other popular characters appear in the Animation Building in the Animation Courtyard. Sorcerer Mickey in particular has long afternoon waits and The Incredibles characters also tend to have decent lines. Since both characters meet indoors and their lines aren’t usually over 20 minutes long, you should be able to find them with decent waits later in the day if you have other morning priorities. Finally, you’ll find some characters in the morning near Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat that won’t appear later in the afternoon. Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Chip, Dale, Friends of Winnie the Pooh, Goofy, and Pluto are all common, but no specific character is guaranteed to appear. For Fantasmic, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the theater. You’ll still need to arrive at least 30 minutes early, but it’s better than the 60+ minutes early you’ll need to arrive without the package. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it only costs one table service credit (except at Hollywood Brown Derby, which still costs two credits as it would otherwise) and includes the appetizer. As far as general seating is concerned, the best seats are about half way up in the center sections, but be prepared to arrive an hour early for those seats. Sit any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and it’s more difficult to see what’s happening on the water.

The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure the bulk of the Disney resort crowd, making the Park busier than either this past Tuesday or Wednesday. We also have the first Electrical Parade since Monday and there isn’t another Parade scheduled again until Saturday. That will make Magic Kingdom even more attractive to anyone that wants to see it. Magic Kingdom’s 7pm close tomorrow will also prove to be unpopular. If you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and certain that you can arrive by 7:40am, you can do very well by hitting the Fantasyland attractions first thing and then moving on to the headlining Mountain rides and other attractions after they open at 9am. But if you’re not Extra Magic Hours eligible or don’t plan to arrive until 10am or later, you’ll want to visit on a recommended day. With that said, today is the best day of the week to see the Electrical Parade. If you’d like to see it, the easiest way is by Park Hopping over in the evening after spending the day at a recommended Park. Without Park Hopper, you’ll have the most success touring from 9am – 1pm, taking a break, and then returning in the early evening for dinner, some evening attractions, and the nighttime spectaculars. For Main Street Electrical Parade, the least crowded viewing locations are in Frontierland and Liberty Square. These spots offer a view that is just as good as Main Street and don’t require the excessive waits.

Friday September 13

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 – 1am (Not Recommended)

Villains Bash

Fantasmic: 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

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

Animal Kingdom is not recommended today, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract Disney resort guests and not a lot going on at the other Parks. It’s also late enough in the week that many Disney vacationers will already have had an opportunity to visit the other Parks and they’ll naturally save Animal Kingdom for later in the week. With no special evening entertainment scheduled (since Fantasmic is scheduled most days this week) and no evening Extra Magic Hours to speak of, a lot of people will have Animal Kingdom on their minds. With so many recommended days during the week, there’s really no reason to visit today.

Epcot is recommended, though yesterday would have been better. While we don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special events, or anything specific attracting people to Epcot specifically, we have to be wary of Magic Kingdom’s short operating schedule causing people to look elsewhere. When Walt Disney World’s most popular theme park isn’t a crowd magnet, casual visitors will inevitably head to one of the other three major theme parks, one of the water parks, or Downtown Disney. That means we’ll have a decent number of people put off by Magic Kingdom’s short hours and will instead visit Epcot with its 9am to 9pm day and IllumiNations. However, Animal Kingdom will be popular with morning Extra Magic Hour to attract Disney resort guests and Hollywood Studios will be busy with its long hours of operation and, Fantasmic, and Limited Time Magic Villains Bash. You can have a ton of success with the low overall crowd level by arriving prior to Park opening and heading straight for Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up through World Showcase beginning at 11am with Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico and Maelstrom in Norway. Return to Future World after 5pm when most people will have moved up through World Showcase if you have more you’d like to do, keeping in mind that Innoventions, University of Energy, the Imagination Pavilion, Living with the Land, and Circle of Life close at 7pm. It’s also a great night to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios is supposed to be hosting a Villains Bash event as part of this year’s Limited Time Magic promotion. Not a lot is known about what Disney will actually do for the event, but the Park is supposed to be open until 1am. Even if the event turns out to be a bust, the promised “surprises” are sure to attract a ton of visitors and interested locals. The long hours will also be popular with anyone who otherwise doesn’t know what’s going on. A lot of people equate long hours with being able to do more during the day, even though that isn’t typically the case due to the larger crowds and longer lines. The Studios is “not recommended” due to the heavier crowds and what will likely be much longer lines, but you may want to visit to take advantage of what the event offers. I will update when more information is available. That will most likely be much closer to the event date.

Magic Kingdom is our best choice as far as crowds are concerned. This may seem like an odd statement, considering that the operating hours are just 9am to 7pm, but that’s precisely why crowds will be so low. The great majority of Disney vacationers would prefer to visit the Parks when the hours are longer because it seems like more time in the Parks equates to higher value for your money. That seems logical considering the cost to enter the Parks is the same, regardless if Magic Kingdom is open from 8am to 1am or 9am to 7pm. However, crowds are so much lower on Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party days that you’ll actually be able to get more done in a shorter amount of time. Most off-site vacationers will hold off until tomorrow for the longer hours, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes and a lot of Disney resort guests will have visited yesterday for the morning Extra Magic Hour and the Electrical Parade. All of this leaves us with ample opportunity to get on the headlining and Fantasyland rides with minimal waits. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight for Space/Big Thunder/Splash Mountains or Fantasyland. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should be able to do just about every major ride and many of the secondary attractions as well. If you would also like to see the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes, consider spending a second day at the Magic Kingdom when those nighttime spectaculars are scheduled. This past Thursday or next Thursday would be ideal because both days will be less crowded than a Sunday, Monday or Saturday. Ideally, you would Park Hop over to the Magic Kingdom in the afternoon or evening on Thursday, after spending the majority of your day at a Park with lower crowds. Either way, focus on getting the most popular attractions out of the way today and return to the Magic Kingdom for the nighttime spectaculars on another date. With only one day to spend at the Magic Kingdom, you’ll need to decide whether seeing Wishes and the Main Street Electrical Parade are worth spending the day in heavier crowds. With the low overall crowd level, Thursday would be an okay day to spend the entire day at Magic Kingdom, but waits will be longer than today.

Saturday September 14

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Most Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Fantasmic: 8:30pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours or special events to attract Disney vacationers of any sort and yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been more popular with Disney resort guests. 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 and Fantasmic. We also have another morning Extra Magic Hour on Monday to appeal to the sizable Disney resort contingent. To take full advantage of the low crowd level, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get those two attractions out of the way early and the only real concerns are getting to Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical. You would be in the best shape if you could get to the first or last show of the day as well as over to DinoLand USA before 10:30am when lines begin to build at DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl. You may also want to prioritize the characters with long afternoon waits by arriving just before they first appear. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing just about everything Animal Kingdom has to offer in just one day. Finally, keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and it’s usually a great time to return to the major attractions from 4:15pm through close.

Epcot is recommended and it’s your best choice if you have other plans for Animal Kingdom. Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will be attracting the majority of off-site and on-site visitors with long hours and plentiful evening entertainment. The only problem is we haven’t had Extra Magic Hours since the middle of the week, but that’s a nominal concern overall. Take full advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, followed by Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. If Character Spot is a priority, visit after 7pm when waits will be shorter than the afternoon and you won’t have to waste precious morning time. It’s also an excellent day to stay for IllumiNations and enjoy the World Showcase in the afternoon because a lot of people will have their eyes on the Electrical Parade and Fantasmic.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract enough Disney resort guests to make the afternoon and evening busier than most other days this week. You can have success from 8am – 10am if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible, but the afternoon and evening are going to be busier than just about any day this week. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or plan to arrive by 7:30am to take advantage of low crowds in the morning.

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

Sunday September 15

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 8:30pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 11pm – 1am

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/Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom luring a lot of Disney resort guests. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow or Friday for morning Extra Magic Hour. Although it’s a relatively short day, you should still be able to accomplish everything you want to by arriving prior 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 4:45pm through close will see lower crowds than the afternoon. It’s the perfect time to hit DinoLand, Asia, or get one last ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris. You also have an outstanding opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations, Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner and a look around the resort or take a trip out to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping.

Epcot is recommended as well. It’s a particularly excellent day to see IllumiNations and have dinner in the World Showcase because Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd. Despite the recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. It’s more important to arrive early and take care of the headliners first thing than it is to pick the “right” day. You’ll run into lines at the headliners in Future World if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. To stay ahead of the crowds for the longest amount of time, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to see anything you missed, but make sure you check your Times Guide because some attractions close at 7pm, including Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, both Innoventions buildings, and Ellen’s Energy Adventure. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’ or Test Track, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times will most likely continue to be 45+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re in between yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours, both of which will be more popular with Disney resort guests. We also have evening Extra Magic Hours, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes at Magic Kingdom, all of which will be incredibly popular with Disney resort guests. Finally, Sunday is a popular travel day and few people arriving will head out to the Studios for Fantasmic this evening. Those that arrived yesterday are also unlikely to begin their first full day at Hollywood Studios. Thus, today is the best day of the week to visit the Studios and see Fantasmic in the evening. In order to find the shortest waits, you’ll need to arrive by 8:20am and head straight to Toy Story Mania to ride and/or collect FASTPASSes. Because of its popularity and extremely limited capacity, Toy Story Mania almost always has afternoon waits of 60 or more minutes and FASTPASSes that are routinely gone before 1pm, even when crowds are relatively low and the Studios is recommended. It’s always your top priority. The second attraction with the longest peak wait is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which should be ridden immediately after Toy Story Mania in the morning or with FASTPASSes collected later in the morning. FASTPASSes often run out by late afternoon and wait times aren’t usually far behind Toy Story Mania. Other priorities are Tower of Terror and Star Tours, though FASTPASSes are more plentiful at both attractions and standby waits are usually lower. After you get through these four headliners, it’s just a matter of arriving in time to see the various stage shows that run on a set schedule and getting over to the Studios’ high capacity attractions. You may also have characters to visit before lines get longer. 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. 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. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Magic Kingdom is not recommended, though the morning from 9am – 11am and the late evening from 10:30pm – 1am will both be good times to tour. However, the afternoon will be busy enough that you won’t want to risk it unless you’re absolutely certain that you’ll take advantage of one or both of the recommended touring times and can’t visit on a “more recommended” day. Most Disney resort guests who will be headed to the Magic Kingdom will sleep in and arrive around 11am, in anticipation of staying until around 10:30pm. If you arrive prior to 9am, you can have a lot of success visiting the Fantasyland attractions and headlining Mountain rides. It will also be a great opportunity to collect FASTPASSes for later in the day. However, the Park will be busy from 12pm to 10pm as the bulk of Disney resort guests arrive en masse and stay through the evening entertainment. You’ll either want to take a break, Park Hop elsewhere, or plan to visit some of the less popular attractions for that time slot. The relatively late night Extra Magic Hours are also recommended. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, begin in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last because most families will be long gone from the Park by 12am and Fantasyland will be low on crowds. It’s not uncommon for Peter Pan’s Flight to have a 60 minute wait in the afternoon and a ten minute or less wait at the end of evening Extra Magic Hours. Save Journey of the Little Mermaid, Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. You’ll find lower crowds on Tuesday (especially), Wednesday, and Friday of this coming week, but the morning and late night will both be good times to tour if you need an additional day at Magic Kingdom.

Monday September 16

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

Fantasmic: 8pm and 9:30pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s difficult to get out to the Animal Kingdom by 7:45am to take full advantage of it. If you’re staying at a Monorail Deluxe Resort, you’re looking at a 20+ minute drive to the Animal Kingdom, plus time for the bus to arrive – not to mention getting multiple people up and ready early in the morning with just one shower and limited space. At 6:30am. Or earlier. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 7:45am, then you can have a lot of success because the crowd level won’t be that high, but it will be busier in the afternoon than other recommended days this week due to a higher number of Disney resort guests than usual. You’re much better served holding off until Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday 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 Wednesday for Extra Magic Hours and off-site visitors will be headed to the Magic Kingdom because they naturally prefer to visit it on their first full day of a weeklong vacation. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to visit any non-headlining attractions. If you’d like to ride Test Track or Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, collect FASTPASSes for either in the morning or early afternoon. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm. Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings ordinarily close at 7pm. Finally, it’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests, the later close than other days this week, and the addition of a 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. This past Sunday or this coming Thursday would be better. Unfortunately, I’m not too fond of evening Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. There are only a few attractions open and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, especially with the evening Extra Magic Hours only being two hours in 2013. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 8:30pm and again at 10pm, right as evening Extra Magic Hours gets underway. The Fantasmic Theater is located right on Sunset Boulevard, across from the entrances to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. While not everyone seeing Fantasmic will be a Disney resort guest, many of them will be, and a ton will be headed to Tower of Tower and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster because they truly believe it’s the best time to get in line. Unfortunately, they’ll find themselves lined up with a few thousand of their new best friends. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. While you could theoretically have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for the headliners, the same will be true later in the week and you won’t have to deal with the significantly heavier afternoon and evening crowds. Avoid it unless you’re planning to visit from 9am – 1pm or can’t visit any other day.

It’s going to be a busy day at Magic Kingdom even without Extra Magic Hours to lure Disney resort guests. First, a lot of people are arriving for a weeklong vacation. They travel over the weekend and naturally head to the Magic Kingdom on Monday for their first full day. The later close is also attractive to casual vacationers who equate longer hours with being able to accomplish more during the day. Of course, this isn’t usually true because heavier crowds lead to longer lines, more congestion in common areas, and an overall less pleasant touring experience. With no Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled either of the next two nights, Magic Kingdom will also be popular with anyone that wants to see it. All of this adds up to a day that will be busier than the below average overall crowd level insinuates. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom despite the warning, you can still have a successful and fun day if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever you feel is most important on your itinerary. You may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so to rest up for the nighttime spectaculars. This is the busiest and hottest part of the day. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded.

Tuesday September 17

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 8pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended today, though it isn’t the most recommended Park because it isn’t hosting Extra Magic Hour tomorrow and Magic Kingdom won’t be as big of a draw as usual with the early close. We don’t have evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment scheduled at any of the Parks today (since Fantasmic is scheduled every day this week), which means a moderate number of people will take the opportunity to visit the Animal Kingdom instead. Still, Fantasmic is a bigger draw, as is Epcot’s morning Extra Magic Hour and it’s early enough in the week that a lot of people won’t be ready to visit Animal Kingdom no matter what the operating hours look like elsewhere. Most people will want to take advantage of the lowest crowds of the week at Magic Kingdom and save Animal Kingdom for another day, but today works well if it fits better in your overall itinerary. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get these two biggies out of the way and you’re in good shape for the rest of the day. Kali River Rapids is also known to have long lines in the afternoon when the weather is hot and dry. If that’s the case today (it will be hot, but not necessarily dry), plan to collect FASTPASSes for it after Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest or ride early in the morning if you’re in the mood. Keep in mind that you’re almost guaranteed to get soaked on Kali and it may be uncomfortable to walk around in the humid Florida summer unless you cover up with ponchos and pack extra pairs of socks. The first and last Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical shows are the least popular. Plan to see those shows if possible because you won’t need to arrive as far ahead of time as the prime shows in the afternoon. DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl in DinoLand USA are relatively popular rides. Get there before 10:30am if possible. Posted waits should be 20 minutes or less throughout the day and the actual wait times are often less. Finally, crowds do dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and it’s usually a good time to return to the major attractions from 4:45pm to close. Hang around through close if you didn’t arrive early or would like to have one more ride with a relatively short standby wait. Still, the morning is always the best time to tour because FASTPASSes are plentiful and waits are guaranteed to be short.

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. With not a lot going on at the other Parks, the 9am – 9pm day will also bring in a lot of people who prefer to visit Parks when they’re open longer. Today will be the second busiest day of the week at Epcot and numerous other days will be substantially less busy. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:30am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.

Magic Kingdom is the best Park to visit, despite the truncated operating schedule and lack of both Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes. Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is scheduled tonight. It’s a separately ticketed event that begins at 7pm and runs through 12am. Because the hours are “so short” and there’s no evening entertainment during the regular day, most Disney vacationers will plan to visit on another day. Yesterday will have been busy and tomorrow and Thursday will also be busier, thanks to longer hours and evening entertainment. Today is an excellent opportunity to visit the Fantasyland and headlining attractions with minimal waits as well as visit the popular characters and whatever else you’d like to experience. Because waits are shorter and the crowd level is so much lower, you’ll actually be able to accomplish more during the day today than either yesterday or tomorrow, despite the Park being open three hours less. For maximum efficiency, arrive early in the morning and use FASTPASS throughout the day. Consider a second day at the Magic Kingdom to see the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes or ideally Park Hop over in the evening on a night that it’s available. Thursday is the best day of the week to see the Main Street Electrical Parade at night, but that isn’t saying a whole lot when your other options are a busy Sunday, Monday and Saturday. Finally, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party does feature the special HalloWishes fireworks spectacular at 9:30pm above Cinderella Castle. This show is viewable from a variety of locations around Disney property. My favorite is the Polynesian Resort’s beach, which is directly across from the Magic Kingdom. The 4^th floor observatory at the Contemporary Resort is another excellent location. The boat launch and marina at the Grand Floridian also offer pretty good views, though less direct angles. The boat dock at the Transportation and Ticket Center also offers an underrated view and it makes for the easiest exit if you’re driving because you’re already at the parking lot. The soundtrack is easiest to hear at the Contemporary, Transportation and Ticket Center, and Polynesian in that order. You might consider taking the monorail or boat to one of the Monorail Deluxe resorts for dinner after the Magic Kingdom closes at 7pm and then get into position to enjoy the fireworks around 9:20pm at one of the previously mentioned locations. You can then transfer back to the Magic Kingdom and take a resort bus back to your resort or hop in your car and head wherever you like. Each of the Deluxe resorts have pretty good quick service locations too, so you can also eat on the cheap if you prefer and look around the resort(s) for a while until HalloWishes begins. In a perfect world, I would hit Kona Café for dinner and enjoy HalloWishes from the Polynesian’s beach.

Wednesday September 18

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Most Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8pm (Recommended)

Fantasmic: 8pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

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

Magic Kingdom is recommended today and it’s your best opportunity to visit and see Wishes in the evening. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow that will be more attractive to Disney resort guests and an Electrical Parade that will appeal to off-site visitors as well. While the 9pm close is later than yesterday or Friday, it’s also in the middle of the week and the lack of the Electrical Parade will make it less popular. If you’re looking for the absolute lowest crowds, yesterday or Friday would be better, but you won’t have the opportunity to see Wishes in the evening. If you do visit today, take advantage of the relatively low crowds 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, Splash Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). Popular characters that don’t offer FASTPASS may also be a priority. 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 taking a break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds and wait times peak. Return in the evening for dinner, some late night attractions, and Wishes. Overall, Magic Kingdom is an excellent choice, especially if you’d like to see Wishes and only plan to visit Magic Kingdom one day.

Thursday September 19

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 8pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re looking at a morning Extra Magic Hour on Saturday that will be more popular with Disney resort guests. With Fantasmic scheduled every night and similar operating hours offered every day, the Studios won’t be far and away less crowded than other days this week like it was when Fantasmic was scheduled less often. Nonetheless, we’re looking at fewer people in the Park, crowds that grow slower, increased FASTPASS availability, less congestion in common areas, and shorter waits at rides, shows, and restaurants. To have the most success, you’ll still want to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Because Toy Story Mania has such a limited capacity, wait times are almost always 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes are often gone by 1pm, even when the overall crowd level is low and Hollywood Studios is recommended. You’ll want to make it your top priority. Your second priority is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which also sees long afternoon waits and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. Tower of Terror and Star Tours should be easier to ride, but also remain priorities. If you can get these attractions done in the early morning, you’ll be in great shape for the rest of the day. The only other problem most people run into is trying to schedule all of the stage shows that run on a set schedule. You may also want to prioritize characters that will have longer afternoon waits. Phineas & Ferb tend to have the longest lines in Hollywood Studios. They typically begin appearing at 9:30am, which means you’ll have time to collect FASTPASSes and ride Toy Story Mania before heading over to visit Phineas & Ferb, which are located near Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano and across from the exit to Muppet Vision 3D. Check the week’s Times Guide to verify appearance times. Two other popular characters appear in the Animation Building in the Animation Courtyard. Sorcerer Mickey in particular has long afternoon waits and The Incredibles characters also tend to have decent lines. Since both characters meet indoors and their lines aren’t usually over 20 minutes long, you should be able to find them with decent waits later in the day if you have other morning priorities. Finally, you’ll find some characters in the morning near Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat that won’t appear later in the afternoon. Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Chip, Dale, Friends of Winnie the Pooh, Goofy, and Pluto are all common, but no specific character is guaranteed to appear. For Fantasmic, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the theater. You’ll still need to arrive at least 30 minutes early, but it’s better than the 60+ minutes early you’ll need to arrive without the package. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it only costs one table service credit (except at Hollywood Brown Derby, which still costs two credits as it would otherwise) and includes the appetizer. As far as general seating is concerned, the best seats are about half way up in the center sections, but be prepared to arrive an hour early for those seats. Sit any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and it’s more difficult to see what’s happening on the water.

The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure the bulk of the Disney resort crowd, making the Park busier than either this past Tuesday or Wednesday. We also have the first Electrical Parade since Monday and there isn’t another Parade scheduled again until Saturday. That will make Magic Kingdom even more attractive to anyone that wants to see it. Magic Kingdom’s 7pm close tomorrow will also prove to be unpopular. If you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and certain that you can arrive by 7:40am, you can do very well by hitting the Fantasyland attractions first thing and then moving on to the headlining Mountain rides and other attractions after they open at 9am. But if you’re not Extra Magic Hours eligible or don’t plan to arrive until 10am or later, you’ll want to visit on a recommended day. With that said, today is the best day of the week to see the Electrical Parade. If you’d like to see it, the easiest way is by Park Hopping over in the evening after spending the day at a recommended Park. Without Park Hopper, you’ll have the most success touring from 9am – 1pm, taking a break, and then returning in the early evening for dinner, some evening attractions, and the nighttime spectaculars. For Main Street Electrical Parade, the least crowded viewing locations are in Frontierland and Liberty Square. These spots offer a view that is just as good as Main Street and don’t require the excessive waits.

Friday September 20

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 – 8pm (Not Recommended)

Fantasmic: 8pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

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

Epcot is recommended, though yesterday would have been better. While we don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special events, or anything specific attracting people to Epcot specifically, we have to be wary of Magic Kingdom’s short operating schedule causing people to look elsewhere. When Walt Disney World’s most popular theme park isn’t a crowd magnet, casual visitors will inevitably head to one of the other three major theme parks, one of the water parks, or Downtown Disney. That means we’ll have a decent number of people put off by Magic Kingdom’s short hours and will instead visit Epcot with its 9am to 9pm day and IllumiNations. However, Animal Kingdom will be popular with morning Extra Magic Hour to attract Disney resort guests and Hollywood Studios will be busy with decent hours of operation and Fantasmic. You can have a ton of success with the low overall crowd level by arriving prior to Park opening and heading straight for Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up through World Showcase beginning at 11am with Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico and Maelstrom in Norway. Return to Future World after 5pm when most people will have moved up through World Showcase if you have more you’d like to do, keeping in mind that Innoventions, University of Energy, the Imagination Pavilion, Living with the Land, and Circle of Life close at 7pm. It’s also a great night to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended. We have short hours and no evening entertainment during regular Park hours at Magic Kingdom, Disney World’s most popular theme park. As usual, short hours and no evening entertainment are also offered at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. While Animal Kingdom will be popular with Disney resort guests, a lot of off-site visitors will be saving the Studios and Fantasmic for tonight. While there’s nothing specific drawing people towards the Studios in particular, we can still expect to be busier than any of the past three days. It should be avoided unless you can’t visit another day.

Saturday September 21

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Fantasmic: 8pm

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

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

Hollywood Studios is not recommended, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract enough resort guests to make the afternoon and evening busier than just about any other day this week. You can have success from 8am – 10am if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible, but the afternoon and evening are going to be busier than just about any day this week. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or plan to arrive by 7:30am to take advantage of low crowds in the morning.

Sunday September 22

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 8pm

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/Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom luring a lot of Disney resort guests. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow or Friday for morning Extra Magic Hour. Although it’s a relatively short day, you should still be able to accomplish everything you want to by arriving prior 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 4:45pm through close will see lower crowds than the afternoon. It’s the perfect time to hit DinoLand, Asia, or get one last ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris. You also have an outstanding opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations, Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner and a look around the resort or take a trip out to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping.

Epcot is recommended as well. It’s a particularly excellent day to see IllumiNations and have dinner in the World Showcase because Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd. Despite the recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. It’s more important to arrive early and take care of the headliners first thing than it is to pick the “right” day. You’ll run into lines at the headliners in Future World if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. To stay ahead of the crowds for the longest amount of time, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to see anything you missed, but make sure you check your Times Guide because some attractions close at 7pm, including Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, both Innoventions buildings, and Ellen’s Energy Adventure. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’ or Test Track, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times will most likely continue to be 45+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re in between yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours, both of which will be more popular with Disney resort guests. We also have evening Extra Magic Hours, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes at Magic Kingdom, all of which will be incredibly popular with Disney resort guests. Finally, Sunday is a popular travel day and few people arriving will head out to the Studios for Fantasmic this evening. Those that arrived yesterday are also unlikely to begin their first full day at Hollywood Studios. Thus, today is the best day of the week to visit the Studios and see Fantasmic in the evening. In order to find the shortest waits, you’ll need to arrive by 8:20am and head straight to Toy Story Mania to ride and/or collect FASTPASSes. Because of its popularity and extremely limited capacity, Toy Story Mania almost always has afternoon waits of 60 or more minutes and FASTPASSes that are routinely gone before 1pm, even when crowds are relatively low and the Studios is recommended. It’s always your top priority. The second attraction with the longest peak wait is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which should be ridden immediately after Toy Story Mania in the morning or with FASTPASSes collected later in the morning. FASTPASSes often run out by late afternoon and wait times aren’t usually far behind Toy Story Mania. Other priorities are Tower of Terror and Star Tours, though FASTPASSes are more plentiful at both attractions and standby waits are usually lower. After you get through these four headliners, it’s just a matter of arriving in time to see the various stage shows that run on a set schedule and getting over to the Studios’ high capacity attractions. You may also have characters to visit before lines get longer. 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. 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. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Magic Kingdom is not recommended, though the morning from 9am – 11am and the late evening from 10:30pm – 12am will both be good times to tour. However, the afternoon will be busy enough that you won’t want to risk it unless you’re absolutely certain that you’ll take advantage of one or both of the recommended touring times and can’t visit on a “more recommended” day. Most Disney resort guests who will be headed to the Magic Kingdom will sleep in and arrive around 11am, in anticipation of staying until around 10:30pm. If you arrive prior to 9am, you can have a lot of success visiting the Fantasyland attractions and headlining Mountain rides. It will also be a great opportunity to collect FASTPASSes for later in the day. However, the Park will be busy from 12pm to 10pm as the bulk of Disney resort guests arrive en masse and stay through the evening entertainment. You’ll either want to take a break, Park Hop elsewhere, or plan to visit some of the less popular attractions for that time slot. The relatively late night Extra Magic Hours are also recommended. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, begin in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last because most families will be long gone from the Park by 11pm and Fantasyland will be low on crowds. It’s not uncommon for Peter Pan’s Flight to have a 60 minute wait in the afternoon and a ten minute or less wait at the end of evening Extra Magic Hours. Save Journey of the Little Mermaid, Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. You’ll find lower crowds on Tuesday (especially), Wednesday, and Friday of this coming week, but the morning and late night will both be good times to tour if you need an additional day at Magic Kingdom.

Monday September 23

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

Fantasmic: 8pm and 9:30pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s difficult to get out to the Animal Kingdom by 7:45am to take full advantage of it. If you’re staying at a Monorail Deluxe Resort, you’re looking at a 20+ minute drive to the Animal Kingdom, plus time for the bus to arrive – not to mention getting multiple people up and ready early in the morning with just one shower and limited space. At 6:30am. Or earlier. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 7:45am, then you can have a lot of success because the crowd level won’t be that high, but it will be busier in the afternoon than other recommended days this week due to a higher number of Disney resort guests than usual. You’re much better served holding off until Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday 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 Wednesday for Extra Magic Hours and off-site visitors will be headed to the Magic Kingdom because they naturally prefer to visit it on their first full day of a weeklong vacation. With the Food and Wine Festival being tremendously popular over the weekend, it becomes more difficult to visit Epcot with low crowds. Today and Thursday are the best options. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to visit any non-headlining attractions. If you’d like to ride Test Track or Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, collect FASTPASSes for either in the morning or early afternoon. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm. Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings ordinarily close at 7pm. Finally, it’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests, the later close than other days this week, and the addition of a 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. This past Sunday or this coming Thursday would be better. Unfortunately, I’m not too fond of evening Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. There are only a few attractions open and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, especially with the evening Extra Magic Hours only being two hours in 2013. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 8:30pm, and again at 10pm, right as evening Extra Magic Hours gets underway. The Fantasmic Theater is located right on Sunset Boulevard, across from the entrances to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. While not everyone seeing Fantasmic will be a Disney resort guest, many of them will be, and a ton will be headed to Tower of Tower and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster because they truly believe it’s the best time to get in line. Unfortunately, they’ll find themselves lined up with a few thousand of their new best friends. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. While you could theoretically have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for the headliners, the same will be true later in the week and you won’t have to deal with the significantly heavier afternoon and evening crowds. Avoid it unless you’re planning to visit from 9am – 1pm or can’t visit any other day.

It’s going to be a busy day at Magic Kingdom even without Extra Magic Hours to lure Disney resort guests. First, a lot of people are arriving for a weeklong vacation. They travel over the weekend and naturally head to the Magic Kingdom on Monday for their first full day. The later close is also attractive to casual vacationers who equate longer hours with being able to accomplish more during the day. Of course, this isn’t usually true because heavier crowds lead to longer lines, more congestion in common areas, and an overall less pleasant touring experience. With no Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled either of the next two nights, Magic Kingdom will also be popular with anyone that wants to see it. All of this adds up to a day that will be busier than the below average overall crowd level insinuates. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom despite the warning, you can still have a successful and fun day if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever you feel is most important on your itinerary. You may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so to rest up for the nighttime spectaculars. This is the busiest and hottest part of the day. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded.

Tuesday September 24

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 8pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended today, though it isn’t the most recommended Park because it isn’t hosting Extra Magic Hour tomorrow and Magic Kingdom won’t be as big of a draw as usual with the early close. We don’t have evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment scheduled at any of the Parks today (since Fantasmic is scheduled every day this week), which means a moderate number of people will take the opportunity to visit the Animal Kingdom instead. Still, Fantasmic is a bigger draw, as is Epcot’s morning Extra Magic Hour and it’s early enough in the week that a lot of people won’t be ready to visit Animal Kingdom no matter what the operating hours look like elsewhere. Most people will want to take advantage of the lowest crowds of the week at Magic Kingdom and save Animal Kingdom for another day, but today works well if it fits better in your overall itinerary. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get these two biggies out of the way and you’re in good shape for the rest of the day. Kali River Rapids is also known to have long lines in the afternoon when the weather is hot and dry. If that’s the case today (it will be hot, but not necessarily dry), plan to collect FASTPASSes for it after Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest or ride early in the morning if you’re in the mood. Keep in mind that you’re almost guaranteed to get soaked on Kali and it may be uncomfortable to walk around in the humid Florida summer unless you cover up with ponchos and pack extra pairs of socks. The first and last Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical shows are the least popular. Plan to see those shows if possible because you won’t need to arrive as far ahead of time as the prime shows in the afternoon. DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl in DinoLand USA are relatively popular rides. Get there before 10:30am if possible. Posted waits should be 20 minutes or less throughout the day and the actual wait times are often less. Finally, crowds do dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and it’s usually a good time to return to the major attractions from 4:45pm to close. Hang around through close if you didn’t arrive early or would like to have one more ride with a relatively short standby wait. Still, the morning is always the best time to tour because FASTPASSes are plentiful and waits are guaranteed to be short.

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. With not a lot going on at the other Parks, the 9am – 9pm day will also bring in a lot of people who prefer to visit Parks when they’re open longer. Today will be the second busiest day of the week at Epcot and numerous other days will be substantially less busy. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:30am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.

Magic Kingdom is the best Park to visit, despite the truncated operating schedule and lack of both Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes. Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is scheduled tonight. It’s a separately ticketed event that begins at 7pm and runs through 12am. Because the hours are “so short” and there’s no evening entertainment during the regular day, most Disney vacationers will plan to visit on another day. Yesterday will have been busy and tomorrow and Thursday will also be busier, thanks to longer hours and evening entertainment. Today is an excellent opportunity to visit the Fantasyland and headlining attractions with minimal waits as well as visit the popular characters and whatever else you’d like to experience. Because waits are shorter and the crowd level is so much lower, you’ll actually be able to accomplish more during the day today than either yesterday or tomorrow, despite the Park being open three hours less. For maximum efficiency, arrive early in the morning and use FASTPASS throughout the day. Consider a second day at the Magic Kingdom to see the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes or ideally Park Hop over in the evening on a night that it’s available. Thursday is the best day of the week to see the Main Street Electrical Parade at night, but that isn’t saying a whole lot when your other options are a busy Sunday, Monday and Saturday. Finally, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party does feature the special HalloWishes fireworks spectacular at 9:30pm above Cinderella Castle. This show is viewable from a variety of locations around Disney property. My favorite is the Polynesian Resort’s beach, which is directly across from the Magic Kingdom. The 4^th floor observatory at the Contemporary Resort is another excellent location. The boat launch and marina at the Grand Floridian also offer pretty good views, though less direct angles. The boat dock at the Transportation and Ticket Center also offers an underrated view and it makes for the easiest exit if you’re driving because you’re already at the parking lot. The soundtrack is easiest to hear at the Contemporary, Transportation and Ticket Center, and Polynesian in that order. You might consider taking the monorail or boat to one of the Monorail Deluxe resorts for dinner after the Magic Kingdom closes at 7pm and then get into position to enjoy the fireworks around 9:20pm at one of the previously mentioned locations. You can then transfer back to the Magic Kingdom and take a resort bus back to your resort or hop in your car and head wherever you like. Each of the Deluxe resorts have pretty good quick service locations too, so you can also eat on the cheap if you prefer and look around the resort(s) for a while until HalloWishes begins. In a perfect world, I would hit Kona Café for dinner and enjoy HalloWishes from the Polynesian’s beach.

Wednesday September 25

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Most Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8pm (Recommended)

Fantasmic: 8pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Recommended)

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

Magic Kingdom is recommended today and it’s your best opportunity to visit and see Wishes in the evening. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow that will be more attractive to Disney resort guests and an Electrical Parade that will appeal to off-site visitors as well. While the 10pm close is later than yesterday or Friday, it’s also in the middle of the week and the lack of the Electrical Parade will make it less popular. If you’re looking for the absolute lowest crowds, yesterday or Friday would be better, but you won’t have the opportunity to see Wishes in the evening. If you do visit today, take advantage of the relatively low crowds 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, Splash Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). Popular characters that don’t offer FASTPASS may also be a priority. 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 taking a break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds and wait times peak. Return in the evening for dinner, some late night attractions, and Wishes. Overall, Magic Kingdom is an excellent choice, especially if you’d like to see Wishes and only plan to visit Magic Kingdom one day.

Thursday September 26

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Unofficial Start to the Food and Wine Festival

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 8pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot is recommended, though today should be the unofficial start of the Food and Wine Festival. This is not advertised publicly, but it’s billed as a “cast member preview.” The Food and Wine booths should begin opening around 11am and most, if not all, will be serving food and drink from 12pm through close. It’s a great opportunity to visit the kiosks in low crowds through about 5pm. Once 5pm hits, you’ll notice more and more cast members and their friends arriving and World Showcase will become more and more congested with intoxicated 20-somethings as the night progresses. To have the most success, 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 40+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to popularity and relatively low capacities. Move on to the World Showcase beginning at 11am. You’ll find low crowds and short lines at the various kiosks until the evening. Return to Future World after 5pm if you have more to accomplish and to ride/re-ride the headliners with FASTPASS. This way, you’ll be able to experience Future World and World Showcase with the lowest crowds possible. Few of the cast members visiting for Food and Wine will have any interest in Epcot’s major attractions.

The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure the bulk of the Disney resort crowd, making the Park busier than either this past Tuesday or Wednesday. We also have the first Electrical Parade since Monday and there isn’t another Parade scheduled again until Saturday. That will make Magic Kingdom even more attractive to anyone that wants to see it. Magic Kingdom’s 7pm close tomorrow will also prove to be unpopular. If you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and certain that you can arrive by 7:40am, you can do very well by hitting the Fantasyland attractions first thing and then moving on to the headlining Mountain rides and other attractions after they open at 9am. But if you’re not Extra Magic Hours eligible or don’t plan to arrive until 10am or later, you’ll want to visit on a recommended day. With that said, today is the best day of the week to see the Electrical Parade. If you’d like to see it, the easiest way is by Park Hopping over in the evening after spending the day at a recommended Park. Without Park Hopper, you’ll have the most success touring from 8am – 1pm, taking a break, and then returning in the early evening for dinner, some evening attractions, and the nighttime spectaculars. For Main Street Electrical Parade, the least crowded viewing locations are in Frontierland and Liberty Square for the 10pm Parade. These spots offer a view that is just as good as Main Street and don’t require the excessive waits. The later Parade is also much less crowded and it will be easier exiting the Park after.

Friday September 27

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)

First day of Food and Wine Festival

Illuminations: 10pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 8pm (Recommended)

Fantasmic: 8pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

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

Animal Kingdom is not recommended today, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract Disney resort guests. It’s also late enough in the week that many Disney vacationers will already have had an opportunity to visit the other Parks and they’ll naturally save Animal Kingdom for later in the week. With no special evening entertainment scheduled (since Fantasmic is scheduled most days this week) and no evening Extra Magic Hours to speak of, a lot of people will have Animal Kingdom on their minds. With so many recommended days during the week, there’s really no reason to visit today. You can still make today work if you’re Extra Magic Hours and arrive by 8:40am to take advantage of it. But you’ll probably want to be on your way by 1pm when crowds are heavier.

Epcot isn’t recommended, though it will be less busy than either of the next two days. If you’re trying to decide between today, tomorrow, and Sunday, then today would be best. However, the first day of the Food and Wine Festival is going to be busy with visiting locals and those concluding a weeklong vacation. Most people will want to take advantage of the lower crowds at Magic Kingdom because it’s going to be much, much, much busier there tomorrow. If you are headed to Epcot today, you’ll want to arrive before Park opening and take care of Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ first thing in the morning. Plan to move up through World Showcase right at 11am if you have business up there, whether it be the attractions and shopping or the Food and Wine Festival booths. Crowds in World Showcase are only going to get larger as it gets later in the day. Plan to return to Future World at or before 5pm to avoid the heavy congestion in World Showcase. Overall, there are going to be a lot of people in Epcot, but you can “beat” them by arriving early and touring efficiently. If possible, try to see IllumiNations on another night because crowds will be thick in World Showcase from 5pm through close.

Hollywood Studios is recommended, though yesterday would have been better. The short hours at Magic Kingdom will be unpopular and we’ll have about 25,000 people more than yesterday looking for another Park to visit. Epcot will be a bigger draw with the Food and Wine Festival and Animal Kingdom will be attracting Disney resort guests. Plus, the Studios hosts Extra Magic Hours each of the next two days, both of which will be more attractive to on-site guests. As usual, you’ll have the most success if you arrive by 8:25am and take care of Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing. After that, you have little to worry about for the rest of the day other than arriving in time to see the various stage shows that run on a set schedule.

Saturday September 28

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)

Illuminations: 10pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Fantasmic: 8pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours or special events to attract Disney vacationers of any sort and yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been more popular with Disney resort guests. Magic Kingdom will be attracting significant crowds with its long hours of operation and both nighttime spectaculars, Hollywood Studios will be popular with the morning Extra Magic Hour and Fantasmic, and Epcot will be extremely crowded for the first Saturday of the Food and Wine Festival. We also have another morning Extra Magic Hour on Monday to appeal to the sizable Disney resort contingent. To take full advantage of the low crowd level, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get those two attractions out of the way early and the only real concerns are getting to Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical. You would be in the best shape if you could get to the first or last show of the day as well as over to DinoLand USA before 10:30am when lines begin to build at DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl. You may also want to prioritize the characters with long afternoon waits by arriving just before they first appear. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing just about everything Animal Kingdom has to offer in just one day. Finally, keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and it’s usually a great time to return to the major attractions from 4:30pm through close.

Epcot will be considerably busier than usual due to the incredibly popular International Food and Wine Festival. This is the first Saturday of the event and it attracts tons of locals, especially in the afternoon and evening in the World Showcase where the majority of the Food and Wine events take place. Although the effect on Future World and the headlining attractions isn’t as great, we’re still much better off waiting until Monday to visit. Expect incredibly heavy crowds from 1pm through IllumiNations. If you can’t visit Epcot any other day, make sure you arrive prior to Park opening and visit Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission Space, and Soarin’ immediately in the morning or follow a touring plan. Move up through the Mexico and Norway Pavilions in the World Showcase at 11am if you can’t get to the World Showcase on another day. The World Showcase will be buzzing from 1pm through close and it will be very difficult to move around with the heavier crowds, even if the attractions won’t necessarily be that much busier than usual. Try to move through World Showcase as quickly as possible and then return to Future World. If you’re trying to decide between visiting Epcot on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, I would recommend Friday and then Sunday over Saturday.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract enough Disney resort guests to make it busier in the afternoon and evening than most other days this week. You can have success from 8am – 10am if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible, but the afternoon and evening are going to be busier than just about any day this week. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or plan to arrive by 7:30am to take advantage of low crowds in the morning.

Saturdays are naturally the busiest day of the week at the Magic Kingdom. We have longer hours of operation, visiting locals, and a lot of vacationers who will be visiting the Magic Kingdom for a second time before returning home tomorrow. On top of that, Main Street Electrical Parade is only scheduled on 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, tomorrow, and next Tuesday, 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. This should be the busiest day of the month of September at Magic Kingdom.

Sunday September 29

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 8pm – 10pm

Fantasmic: 8pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)

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

Animal Kingdom is highly recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours and Fantasmic drawing people towards Hollywood Studios and anyone remotely local is much more likely to visit Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival. 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. You may also want to prioritize the most popular characters that don’t offer FASTPASS. 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, 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 will be busy again for the International Food and Wine Festival. Many locals know how busy Saturdays are and they wait until Sunday to visit. Others will wait until Sunday to visit because they’re more interested in the special events scheduled that day. Because the Food and Wine Festival runs every day during the week, there’s really no benefit to visiting over the weekend if you have flexibility in your choices, unless you’re planning to attend a special event or workshop that is only offered on the weekend. For most locals, visiting on the weekend is much more convenient than trying to swing a weekday visit. You can find success if you arrive by 8:30am and head straight for Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission Space, and Soarin’, but you would be much better off waiting until tomorrow to visit when you won’t need to worry as much about Food and Wine crowds. The World Showcase will be busier than usual in the afternoon and evening.

Hollywood Studios will be more crowded than other days this week because of the popularity of evening Extra Magic Hours with Disney resort guests and Fantasmic/longer hours of operation with the general population. I’m not too fond of evening Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios because only a few rides are open and everyone is clamoring to ride Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. In addition, Fantasmic will let about 9,000 people onto Sunset Boulevard at 8:30pm, which is right next to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. While not everyone will be a Disney resort guest, many will be and a ton of them will be headed to those two headliners. Lines will likely be just as long, if not longer, than a recommended day for at least the first 90 minutes of evening Extra Magic Hours. The only positive is that the morning at the Studios won’t be bad because so many people will be sleeping in so that they can stay later into the evening for Fantasmic and the first hour or two of Extra Magic Hours. However, I wouldn’t visit the Studios unless you’re planning to Park Hop elsewhere around 1pm or have other evening plans as it will be very busy throughout the afternoon and evening, even with the average overall crowd level.

Magic Kingdom is our best choice as far as crowds are concerned. This may seem like an odd statement, considering that the operating hours are just 9am to 7pm, but that’s precisely why crowds will be so low. The great majority of Disney vacationers would prefer to visit the Parks when the hours are longer because it seems like more time in the Parks equates to higher value for your money. That seems logical considering the cost to enter the Parks is the same, regardless if Magic Kingdom is open from 8am to 1am or 9am to 7pm. However, crowds are so much lower on Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party days that you’ll actually be able to get more done in a shorter amount of time. Most off-site vacationers will hold off until tomorrow for the longer hours, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes. Yesterday will have been busier for the same reasons. In addition, Disney resort guests will be looking toward tomorrow for evening Extra Magic Hours. All of this leaves us with ample opportunity to get on the headlining and Fantasyland rides with minimal waits. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight for Space/Big Thunder/Splash Mountains or Fantasyland. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should be able to do just about every major ride and many of the secondary attractions as well. If you would also like to see the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes, consider spending a second day at the Magic Kingdom when those nighttime spectaculars are scheduled. Ideally, you would Park Hop over to the Magic Kingdom in the afternoon on a day when one or both nighttime spectaculars are scheduled after spending the majority of the day at a recommended Park. This coming Wednesday is the best day of the week to see Wishes and the Electrical Parade because nighttime crowds will be lower than Monday or Saturday. Either way, focus on getting the most popular attractions out of the way today and return to the Magic Kingdom for the nighttime spectaculars on another date. With only one day to spend at the Magic Kingdom, you’ll need to decide whether seeing Wishes and the Main Street Electrical Parade is worth spending the day in heavier crowds.

Monday September 30

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

Fantasmic: 8pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 11pm

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

Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s difficult to get out to the Animal Kingdom by 7:45am to take full advantage of it. If you’re staying at a Monorail Deluxe Resort, you’re looking at a 20+ minute drive to the Animal Kingdom, plus time for the bus to arrive – not to mention getting multiple people up and ready early in the morning with just one shower and limited space. At 6:30am. Or earlier. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 7:45am, then you can have a lot of success because the crowd level won’t be that high, but it will be busier in the afternoon than other recommended days this week due to a higher number of Disney resort guests than usual. You’re much better served holding off until Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday if you’re not going to arrive until 9am or later.

Epcot is the most recommended Park as we come off a much busier weekend due to the Food and Wine Festival. 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 Wednesday for Extra Magic Hours and off-site visitors will be headed to the Magic Kingdom because they naturally prefer to visit it on their first full day of a weeklong vacation. With the Food and Wine Festival being tremendously popular over the weekend, it becomes more difficult to visit Epcot with low crowds. Today and Thursday are the best options. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to visit any non-headlining attractions. If you’d like to ride Test Track or Soarin’ again in the afternoon or evening, collect FASTPASSes for either in the morning or early afternoon. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm. Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings ordinarily close at 7pm. Finally, it’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios is highly recommended and your best option if you have other plans for Epcot. With Fantasmic scheduled every night this week, there will be less demand for any specific show. People won’t flock to the Studios simply because Fantasmic is offered, but will be more likely to default to it when less is going on elsewhere. Magic Kingdom will be incredibly popular today with the longer hours of operation, nighttime spectaculars, and evening Extra Magic Hours. We’re also coming off a popular day at the Studios yesterday due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are always popular with Disney resort guests. To have 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. 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, Stitch, Piglet, and Tigger appear, but no specific characters are guaranteed. The only other problem most people run into is trying to schedule all of the stage shows that run on a set schedule. 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 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 middle sections, but be prepared to arrive an hour early for those seats. 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 one of the two best days of the week to visit the Studios, but you’ll still want to arrive early and tour efficiently to have the most success.

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. Finally, we have evening Extra Magic Hours, which will attract the majority of Disney resort guests (not that they really needed another reason to head here anyway). While this Saturday should prove to be busier, today is going to be a close second. You could have success in the morning from 9am to 11am or so, but you’re much better off waiting until tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday to visit. Wednesday will be the best day this week to see Wishes and Main Street Electrical Parade and Tuesday and Friday will be substantially less crowded overall. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom, despite these warnings, you’ll want to arrive prior to 9am and head straight for Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. You’ll be able to accomplish quite a bit in the first two hours, but crowds will be heavy from 11am until around 10pm. You’ll either want to take an afternoon break when crowds are at their heaviest or move on to the less popular attractions. After your break, return to Magic Kingdom in the evening for dinner, the nighttime shows, and Extra Magic Hours. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, begin in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last because most families will have left by 10pm and Fantasyland will be low on crowds. It’s not uncommon for Peter Pan’s Flight to have a 60 minute wait in the afternoon and a ten minute or less wait at the end of evening Extra Magic Hours. Save Journey of the Little Mermaid, Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. For the Main Street Electrical Parade, stake out a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square. Both locations offer a great view and will be substantially less crowded than Main Street.

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August 2013 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on January 21, 2013

4/18/13 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with the changes listed here. No recommendation changes.

3/27/13 Update: Disney canceled Magic Kingdom’s evening Extra Magic Hours on Fridays throughout the month, switching the recommendations for Magic Kingdom on Fridays and Saturdays. They also extended the close to 11pm and added a second Electrical Parade at 11pm nightly through the 24th. Disney should extend the close at Hollywood Studios to 10pm most or all nights and add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm when it updates the schedule further around April 15th. Animal Kingdom’s close may extend an hour on certain dates as well. These changes should not affect the recommendations.

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

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

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

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

Click the image to enlarge it.

Thursday August 1

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Animal Kingdom and Epcot are our best choices. We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw a lot of Disney resort guests. Today, we have morning Extra Magic Hour attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic continuing to keep Hollywood Studios crowded. All in all, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to the popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment, Epcot for IllumiNations, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.

Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade pulling people towards Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios continuing to draw crowds. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Test Track and then Soarin’ as soon as possible. Soarin’ and Test Track will have 50+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to popularity and relatively low capacities. Move on to the World Showcase beginning around 11am if crowds begin to build in Future World, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Return to Future World after 5pm if you have more to accomplish and to ride/re-ride the headliners with FASTPASS. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended. While the morning Extra Magic Hour will help draw Disney resort guests toward Magic Kingdom, it won’t be as big of a draw as when Magic Kingdom offers Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes less often. With Main Street Electrical Parade, Wishes, and similarly long hours every day this week, Magic Kingdom will only be marginally more crowded today. We also don’t have the more popular evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled anywhere. I’m looking towards tomorrow as being less crowded, thanks to a decently popular morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot and the fact that the morning Extra Magic Hour on Saturday will be more attractive to Disney resort guests. Like yesterday, there’s nothing specific drawing people towards Hollywood Studios, which means it won’t be far and away busier than non-recommended days during the week. However, you will find higher crowds and longer waits in the afternoon. Most people will want to take advantage of the lower crowds at Epcot and hold off on Hollywood Studios until tomorrow.

The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure a decent number of Disney resort guests, making the Park busier than either this past Tuesday or Wednesday. The fact that we have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled every night this week certainly “helps” distribute crowds more evenly, even though the Disney resort crowd will predictably visit when Extra Magic Hours are scheduled. Today won’t be far and away busier than other days this week and you can have success provided you take advantage of the morning Extra Magic Hour by arriving no later than 7:40am and heading straight to Fantasyland or other open attractions. Move on to the headlining Mountain rides or character meet and greets when they open and you’ll be in excellent shape. However, you will find that crowds are heavier than recommended days in the afternoon. You’ll probably want to take a break from 1pm to 6pm or so and return in the evening to ride some major attractions with FASTPASS, have dinner, see some high capacity attractions, and enjoy the evening spectaculars. Keep in mind that you would be much better off visiting on a recommended day if you aren’t Extra Magic Hours eligible or won’t arrive until 9:30am or later because it will be busier than recommended days from 11am onward.

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{ 8 comments }

July 2013 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on December 26, 2012

3/27/13 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with the changes listed in this post. Disney canceled evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom on Fridays throughout the month, which swapped some of the recommendations on Fridays and Saturdays.

This is the Free July 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.

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.

Monday July 1

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 12am

Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s difficult to get out to the Animal Kingdom by 7:45am to take full advantage of it. If you’re staying at a Monorail Deluxe Resort, you’re looking at a 20+ minute drive to the Animal Kingdom, plus time for the bus to arrive – not to mention getting multiple people up and ready early in the morning with just one shower and limited space. At 6:30am. Or earlier. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 7:45am, then you can have a lot of success because the crowd level won’t be that high, but it will be busier in the afternoon than other recommended days this week due to a higher number of Disney resort guests than usual. You’re much better served holding off until Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday if you’re not going to arrive until 9am or later.

Epcot is the only expressly recommended Park. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special evening entertainment, or anything else that will draw people toward Epcot specifically. Disney resort guests will be more likely to visit tomorrow or Friday for Extra Magic Hours and off-site visitors will be headed to the Magic Kingdom because they naturally prefer to visit it on their first full day of a weeklong vacation. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to visit any non-headlining attractions. If you’d like to ride Soarin’ or Test Track again in the afternoon or evening, plan to rely on FASTPASS. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm. Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, and both Innoventions buildings ordinarily close at 7pm. Finally, it’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests and the addition of Fantasmic. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. Tomorrow, Wednesday, or Friday would be significantly less crowded overall. Unfortunately, I’m not too fond of evening Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. There are only a few attractions open and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, especially with the evening Extra Magic Hours only being two hours in 2013. In addition, 9,000+ people will exit Fantasmic at 9:30pm and again at 11pm, right as evening Extra Magic Hours gets underway. The Fantasmic Theater is located right on Sunset Boulevard, across from the entrances to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. While not everyone seeing Fantasmic will be a Disney resort guest, many of them will be, and a ton will be headed to Tower of Tower and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster because they truly believe it’s the best time to get in line. Unfortunately, they’ll find themselves lined up with a few thousand of their new best friends. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. While you could theoretically have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for the headliners, the same will be true later in the week and you won’t have to deal with the significantly heavier afternoon and evening crowds. Avoid it unless you’re planning to visit from 9am – 1pm or can’t visit any other day.

It’s going to be a busy day at Magic Kingdom even without Extra Magic Hours to lure Disney resort guests. First, a lot of people are arriving for a weeklong vacation. They travel over the weekend and naturally head to the Magic Kingdom on Monday for their first full day. In past years, Disney had scheduled a second morning Extra Magic Hour on Tuesdays to help pull Disney resort guests away from Monday. Since they didn’t do that this year, we can expect today to be busier than tomorrow or Friday. Note that with the July 4^th holiday, that today would be less crowded than the 3^rd of 4^th. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom despite the warning, you can still have a successful and fun day if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever you feel is most important on your itinerary. You may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so to rest up for the nighttime spectaculars. Still, you’re much better off waiting until Tuesday or Friday to visit because Magic Kingdom will be less crowded.

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{ 4 comments }

June 2013 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on November 25, 2012

5/14/13 Update: Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 12am on Tuesday June 4th.

3/26/13 Update: Disney canceled evening Extra Magic Hours on Fridays over the summer. That has caused some of the recommendations on Fridays/Saturdays to change.

3/1/13 Update: Crowd calendar and daily analysis updated with the changes listed here.

This is the Free June 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.

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.

Saturday June 1

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: 8am – 10pm (Not Recommended)

Star Wars Weekends

Fantasmic: 9pm and 10:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Recommended)

Gay Days at Magic Kingdom

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

Animal Kingdom is going to be busier than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will be popular with Disney resort guests. A lot of Disney resort guests see the Extra Magic Hours schedule as Disney’s means of telling them where they “belong” each day. While very few Disney resort guests will actually arrive by 7:30am to take advantage of their perk, they will undoubtedly stream in throughout the morning, ultimately making the Park much busier from 11am through close. You’ll want to avoid it unless you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 7:40am and plan to leave around 1pm. The 8am – 9:30am timeframe will be incredibly quiet with short waits everywhere. Alternatively, you could arrive later and stay through 7pm. Crows will significantly dissipate after 6pm as more and more people finish their itineraries and head elsewhere. Stay through 7pm and visit Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest at the end of the day to find the shortest waits. Check your Times Guide to see if the last Safari will leave before 7pm. It’s possible with the late close.

Epcot is our best Park to visit. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hours will have been popular with Disney resort guests and they will be nowhere near Epcot today, especially in the morning. Take full advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to ride anything you skipped earlier in the day and to re-ride Soarin’ and Test Track with FASTPASSes collected in the morning. If you arrive later, plan to collect FASTPASSes for Soarin’ and then Test Track as soon as possible. Mission Space and Maelstrom are much easier to FASTPASS in the afternoon if necessary. It’s also an excellent day to stay for IllumiNations and enjoy the World Showcase in the afternoon.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended. It’s going to be extremely crowded for the third Saturday of Star Wars Weekends. Both yesterday and tomorrow would be less crowded and any weekday would be significantly less crowded, including Monday with evening Extra Magic Hours attached. I don’t recommend visiting the Studios today unless you’re intent on “taking advantage” of the Star Wars Weekend festivities. If you do go, plan to arrive by 7am at the latest and immediately head for one of the more popular character meet and greets or Toy Story Mania. You could have success by arriving no later than 7am, but it’s going to be a zoo from 10am through close.

The Magic Kingdom is also recommended, despite the fact that it’s scheduled for Gay Days and it’s a Saturday. Most months, Saturdays are the most popular day of the week because it almost always has a Main Street Electrical Parade and the hours are usually significantly longer than other days during the week. In June, because the crowds are above average most every day, we have two Main Street Electrical Parades and Wishes scheduled every night, along with 9am-11pm hours of operation every day. With Disney canceling Friday’s evening Extra Magic Hours, we can expect more resort guests to be headed in its direction today, but we still have evening Extra Magic Hours tomorrow. The Gay Days crowds also aren’t as big of a deal on Saturday and Sunday for a number of reasons. First, Gay Days participants arrive later in the day and many will leave before the evening Parade and Fireworks. By arriving early, we can easily stay in front of them. Second, a lot of families who didn’t know about Gay Days previously will have picked up on it by today and they will have found out that Gay Days is at the Magic Kingdom today. Some of these people will decide not to visit the Magic Kingdom. A decent amount of people will also be aware of the Gay Days crowds before leaving for Disney World and will also avoid the Magic Kingdom. I’m more concerned about the Gay Days crowds at the Animal Kingdom because of its shorter hours/limited number of attractions and at Hollywood Studios yesterday because we’ll already have larger crowds for Star Wars Weekends. At Magic Kingdom today and Epcot tomorrow, they won’t make much of a dent, especially if you arrive early and visit the headlining attractions immediately after the Magic Kingdom opens.

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{ 8 comments }

May 2013 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on October 24, 2012

4/26/Update: Magic Kingdom will be open from 6am – 6am on May 24th/25th to kick off the Monstrous Summer promotion. The recommendations have changed slightly on these dates.

4/16/13 Update: Minor changes to four dates as listed in this post.

3/25/13 Update: Magic Kingdom’s evening Extra Magic Hours on Friday May 31st were canceled, changing the recommendations on Friday and Saturday June 1st.

2/24/13 Update: Hollywood Studios hours extended to 9am – 12am from 9am – 10pm on Saturday May 4th.

2/8/13 Update – Crowd Calendar updated with the changes listed here.

11/1/12 Update: Crowd Calendar image updated and daily analysis for May 12 – 31 added underneath calendar.

10/24/12 Update: Updated crowd calendar image and added daily analysis for May 1 – 11 underneath calendar.

This is the Free May 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.

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

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

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

Click the image to enlarge it.

Wednesday May 1

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Fantasmic: 9pm

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

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 9pm

It’s the busiest day of the week at Animal Kingdom. The morning Extra Magic Hour will attract the bulk of the Disney resort crowd and there’s no evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment going on at the other Parks (since Main Street Electrical Parade isn’t scheduled and Fantasmic are scheduled every night this week), which will cause a lot of off-site guests to visit as well. With both yesterday and tomorrow recommended, there’s no reason to visit today.

Epcot is recommended. We’re coming off a decently popular morning Extra Magic Hour yesterday and most Disney resort guests will be waiting to either return or visit for their first time this Friday for evening Extra Magic Hours. Disney resort guests are more likely to head to Animal Kingdom today and the addition of Fantasmic means a decent number of off-site guests will be headed to Hollywood Studios as well. In most scenarios, I recommend heading to Magic Kingdom today to take advantage of the lower crowd level there and holding off on Epcot until tomorrow. However, Epcot works fine today too, provided you follow my broken-record advice – arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’. If Character Spot is a priority, try to visit after 7:30pm when waits will be lower than the afternoon. 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. 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, Spaceship Earth, Character Spot, and the Seas continue operating from 7pm – 9pm. Overall, it’s a good day to visit Epcot and a fine day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations, provided you tour efficiently in the morning.

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, longer hours of operation, and additional evening entertainment tomorrow that will be more attractive to Disney resort guests and off-site visitors alike. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You may also want to prioritize the most 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. If you’re skipping Wishes, visit Fantasyland in the final hour of operation if you couldn’t get over early in the morning.

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{ 13 comments }

April 2013 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on September 27, 2012

4/15/13 Update: Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm on April 30.

4/6/13 Update: Animal Kingdom morning Extra Magic Hour moved from April 22nd to 21st. Animal Kingdom’s 15 Anniversary is celebrated on April 22nd.

2/6/12 Update: crowd Calendar updated with the changes listed here.

11/11/12 Update - Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 7pm for April 7 – 29.

9/28/12 Update – There were admittedly two mistakes at the end of April, as I was in a hurry to publish this before heading out for the cast preview of the Food and Wine Festival. While the recommendations on the crowd calendar image were correct, the daily analysis was copy/pasted from the wrong location. Everything should now look right.

This is the Free April 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.

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.

Monday April 1

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 7am – 8am

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 12:30pm and 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm

Animal Kingdom is highly recommended for a number of reasons. We don’t have special events, Extra Magic Hours, or anything specific drawing people toward it. It’s also early enough in the week that most people on a weeklong Easter break vacation won’t be interested in visiting Disney’s least popular theme park until later in the week. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour/Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios attracting a lot of off-site and on-site visitors alike. Magic Kingdom will also be attracting a lot of people. Overall, today and Friday are the best days of the week to visit, though Tuesday and Thursday would also be fine. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Once you get through these two attractions, move on to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR or one of the more popular stage shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King. These shows do get busy during the afternoon, so try to see the first or last show of the day. Collect FASTPASSes for the major attractions throughout the day and you should have no trouble getting on any of the headliners a second or third time later in the day. The single rider line at Expedition Everest is also a good way to ride with short waits. Finally, crowds begin to disperse after the 3:45pm Parade. If you don’t arrive early, plan to stay through until 9pm as wait times will only decrease from 6:30pm through close. Overall, it’s one of the best days of the week to visit Animal Kingdom, but it will still be relatively busy with the high overall crowd level. Arrive early and tour efficiently and you shouldn’t run into much trouble.

Epcot is the most recommended Park. We’re in between yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours, both of which will be more popular with Disney resort guests. Disney is also pushing Disney resort guests toward Hollywood Studios with morning Extra Magic Hour/Fantasmic and Magic Kingdom will naturally be busier because of the number of people that travel over the weekend and naturally visit the most magical place on earth first thing on their weeklong trip. You can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission Space, and Soarin’. Use FASTPASS at Soarin’ and Test Track and you should have no problem riding both a second time in the afternoon. However, you’ll run into trouble at the headliners if you don’t arrive until 10:30am or later, despite the recommendation. With only two major attractions to attract the “where are the rides” crowd, Soarin’ and Test Track are going to have 60+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am. There’s no way around that. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening or collect FASTPASSes for Test Track, Soarin’ and Mission: Space (in that order) as soon as possible. If you’re interested in the Character Spot, plan to do so after 7pm when waits die down and you aren’t wasting precious morning time. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to do in Future World, try returning after 5pm when most people have moved on to World Showcase. Keep an eye on your Times Guide to see which attractions close at 7pm. It’s also a great night for dinner and IllumiNations. All in all, it’s one of the best days of the week to visit Epcot, but you’ll want to arrive early if you’re interested in the major Future World attractions.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract enough Disney resort guests and in turn increase wait times and make common areas more congested. While most Disney resort guests won’t arrive in time to take advantage of their extra hour, they’ll continue pouring in throughout the morning. If you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and are certain that you’ll arrive by 7:15am, you can have a tremendous amount of success if you arrive for the full Extra Magic Hour and head straight to Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. However, you’re much better off waiting until tomorrow to visit if you’re not Extra Magic Hours eligible or don’t plan to arrive until 9am or later. While the Extra Magic Hour itself is an excellent time to tour, the arrival of more Disney resort guests will increase wait times enough in the late morning and afternoon to offset most any benefit. The increased crowds will also lead to longer lines at quick service locations and require you to arrive earlier for major stage shows among other inconveniences. All in all, tomorrow or Thursday would be better days to visit unless you plan to arrive ay 7:15am and be on your way out by 1pm.

Magic Kingdom is going to be busy today. We have a lot of people arriving over the weekend for an Easter week trip and they’ll be looking to visit Magic Kingdom on their first full day. The morning Extra Magic Hour, long hours of operation, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes aren’t a concern like they are for much of the year because we have a similar schedule every day. Nonetheless, the fact that it’s a Monday during a holiday week is enough for us to want to steer clear. However, with the high overall crowd level, Magic Kingdom is going to be busy every day this week. Arriving prior to Park opening (at 6:30am for Disney resort guests and 7:40am for off-site guests) and taking care of the Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain), or whatever attractions on your itinerary you deem most important is more important than simply picking the “right day.” However, tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday would all be less crowded and I highly recommend waiting to visit until one or more of those days if you can. If you do visit today, do your best to arrive prior to opening, take care of the most important attractions first, use FASTPASS efficiently, and take a sizable afternoon break and you’ll be in good shape.

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{ 16 comments }

March 2013 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on August 29, 2012

2/24/13 Update: Hollywood Studios hours extended to 9am – 8:30pm on Saturday March 2nd. Second Fantasmic added at 8:30pm.

1/26/13 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with the changes listed here.

11/11/12 Update: Animal Kingdom hours extended to 7pm every day from March 2 – 23.

9/26 Update: Recommendations for March 1st changed with Hollywood Studios switching its evening Extra Magic Hours with Epcot.

9/6/12 Update: Added daily analysis for March 17 – 31.

8/29/12 Update: Added daily analysis for March 1 – 16 and updated crowd calendar image.

This is the Free March 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.

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 March 1

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Not Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (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 – 9pm (Most 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. The problem is that we have Fantasmic scheduled every night this week at Hollywood Studios and Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom scheduled most nights. When that happens, each show becomes less attractive, and ultimately pulls away fewer people than they would if they were scheduled less often. In other words, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios won’t be pulling more people than other days during the week because they feature similar operating hours and evening entertainment. It’s also later in the week. 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. 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. 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. Remember that crowds disperse after the 3:45pm Parade because there’s no nighttime entertainment to keep people around. Revisit the major attractions after 4:45pm to find shorter waits than the afternoon.

Epcot comes recommended now that evening Extra Magic Hours have moved to Monday. With the usual of operating schedule of 9am – 9pm, nothing specific is drawing crowds toward Epcot and the nighttime crowd will be next door at Hollywood Studios. However, with no Extra Magic Hours in sight and people enjoying visiting Epcot twice over the course of their weeklong vacation, Epcot won’t be void of crowds. It’s still more important to arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission: Space, and Soarin’ first thing in the morning.

Hollywood Studios is no longer recommended now that it hosts evening Extra Magic Hours. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. 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 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 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 is the most recommended Park. Today is the best day of the week to visit and also see the Electrical Parade, which isn’t scheduled on Wednesday. We have Hollywood Studios 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. Tomorrow will also attract off-site and on-site guests alike with the longer hours of operation. To have success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever other attractions you deem most important on your itinerary. Most families with kids will want to start with Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Ariel’s Grotto. You may want to prioritize the ultra-low-capacity attractions like Astro Orbiter and Tomorrowland Indy Speedway or popular characters that don’t offer FASTPASS. Consider taking a sizable afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so to rest up for dinner, some late nighttime attractions, and the evening entertainment. For Main Street Electrical Parade, consider scouting out a viewing location along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square for the 9pm Parade. These locations offer a view that is just as good as Main Street and don’t require the excessive waits. The later Parade is also substantially less crowded than the first due to all the families that leave right after Wishes.

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Crowd Calendar and Daily Best Park to Visit

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Introduction

January 2013

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