Crowd Calendar and Daily Best Park to Visit

Disney World Crowd Calendar August 2012, Best Parks to Visit, Schedule, and More

by josh on January 23, 2012

January 26 Update: Crowd Calendar completed.

This is the Free August 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.

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

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

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

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

Click the image to enlarge it.

Wednesday August 1

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 9pm

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

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

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

Epcot is recommended now that we have Fantasmic scheduled every night this week. We’re coming off a very popular evening Extra Magic Hours yesterday and most Disney resort guests will be waiting to either return or visit for their first time this Friday. Disney resort guests are more likely to head to Animal Kingdom today and the addition of Fantasmic means a decent number of off-site guests will be headed to Hollywood Studios as well. In most scenarios, I recommend heading to Magic Kingdom today to take advantage of the lower crowd level there and holding off on Epcot until tomorrow. However, Epcot works fine today too, provided you follow my broken-record advice – arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Soarin’, followed by Sum of All Thrills and Mission: Space. You may also want to take a more compartmentalized two-day approach, which gives you the benefit of enjoying the lowest possible crowds in both Future World and World Showcase each day. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day for Soarin’ and Mission Space (in that order) if you’d like to ride any of them a second time. If you’re planning just one day in Epcot, try to move up through the World Showcase right at 11am, beginning with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway. These are the only two attractions in World Showcase that will see wait times. Luckily, FASTPASSes for Maelstrom are plentiful and you’ll be able to grab FASTPASSes with a return time of just 40 minutes in the future in case the posted wait time is 20+ minutes or you’d like to ride two or three times in the late afternoon or evening. Return to Future World after 5pm to visit any attractions that you skipped in the morning. Keep in mind that most Future World attractions close at 7pm. Usually only Soarin’, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth continue operating from 7pm – 9pm. Overall, it’s a good day to visit Epcot and a fine day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations, provided you tour efficiently in the morning.

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

Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow and evening Extra Magic Hours on Friday that will be more attractive to Disney resort guests and they won’t be visiting today as well. By the time all is said and done, Disney will likely extend the operating hours at Magic Kingdom on several other days this week, including Monday and Thursday. Today, we may see a second Main Street Electrical Parade added at 11pm and the operating hours extended to 11pm or 12am to accommodate it, but that only benefits us because the 11pm Parade will be significantly less busy than the 9pm Parade. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You’ll be able to accomplish a ton of attractions in a short amount of time if you make efficient use of the morning and use FASTPASS at the major attractions throughout the day. You’ll also want to strongly consider taking an afternoon break when crowds and temperatures peak to rest up for the evening.

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Disney World Calendar of Crowds, Cost, Weather, Events

by josh on January 3, 2012

January 27 Update: Refurbishments updated. Full list here.

January 3 Update: Updated the language throughout the Calendar. Moved the Wine/Dine Half Marathon to November and noted the Tower of Tower 10-mile run will be taking its place. Added the particulars of the Expedition Everest Challenge in May, which is less expensive in 2012 because it no longer includes a one-day theme park ticket. Updated November and December to 2012. Most of the dates for specific events further than six months out are not yet known (Mickey’s Party dates, start of Osborne Lights, etc.) so they are more placeholders than anything.

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 2012

See the January 2012 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 – 4 is Value, the cheapest season.
January 5 – 7 is Marathon, which is just slightly more expensive than Value and similar to Martin Luther King.
January 8 – 12 is Value, the cheapest season.
January 13 – 15 is Martin Luther King, which is slightly more expensive than Value and very similar to Marathon.
January 16 – 31 is Value, 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: With New Year’s Day falling on a Sunday in 2012, January 1st and 2nd won’t be as crowded as they have been in past years because of the number of people that will be traveling that day. Still, these will be the two busiest days of the month. The first week in January is busier than one might expect because of extended winter vacations in some school districts all the way to January 8th and the Walt Disney World Marathon on the 5th through 7th. Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend, from the 13th to the 16th, is also busier. You can expect slightly above average crowds during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend or about a “6″ on the 1-10 scale. The crowds over those four days are lower than you’ll find during any day of Summer or Peak Season, but if you’re flexible with your dates, you will want to plan around that weekend. Crowds are much lower from January 17th, through the end of the month, and into the first two weeks in February. While not quite as low as most of September, we’re looking at a “2 or a 3″ on our 1-10 scale.

January Park Hours and Entertainment: January’s operating hours are among the shortest of the year (other than January 1st through 7th which have longer operating hours and additional evening entertainment due to heavier crowds for New Year’s Holiday, the Marathon, and extended winter break vacations). After the 7th, the Magic Kingdom often closes at 8pm on weekdays and only offers the Main Street Electrical Parade three or four times each week, usually at 7pm (again, other than the first week when Main Street Electrical Parade is scheduled every night). Wishes is scheduled each night at 8pm or 9pm, depending on date. Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom is not scheduled from January 20th through February 10th due to paving work in Frontierland. During that time, the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade will travel around the hub and return to where it begins near the Firehouse and Emporium on Main Street. Hollywood Studios’ hours are also shorter and Fantasmic is scheduled earlier in the night, usually at 6:30pm and a second show at 8pm. It appears that Fantasmic will be undergoing a refurbishment from January 9th through February 12, when no shows are currently scheduled. Luckily, non-Fantasmic days have the usual 9am to 7pm operating hours. No evening entertainment is expected to replace Fantasmic during the refurbishment. Animal Kingdom’s hours are predominately 9am to 5pm, though the first week sees 9am to 7pm hours and 9am to 7pm hours also appear throughout the month, usually on Saturdays and Sundays. Epcot has its usual 9am to 9pm hours, as it does for most of the year, and features IllumiNations each evening at 9pm.

Best Week to Visit Disney World in January 2012: 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.

Typhoon Lagoon closed December 4th 2011 and is scheduled to reopen March 18th 2012.

House of Innoventions closed December 4th and is scheduled to reopen in April 2012.

New Refurbishments:

The Beach at the Polynesian Resort will be closed or inaccessible from January 4th through January 16th for sand nourishment. Parts may be open or closed during this time.

Tutto Italia in the Italy Pavilion at Epcot will be closed for refurbishment from January 8th through April 30th. It will reopen on May 1, 2012.

Plaza Ice Cream Parlour at Magic Kingdom is expected to close January 9th and reopen March 28th.

Fantasmic is not scheduled at Hollywood Studios from January 9th through February 12th, which points to a lengthy refurbishment of some kind. At the moment, it looks like a lot of attention will go toward the stage and water features.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant will close for refurbishment from January 9th through March 11th. It is expected to reopen on March 12, 2012 in New Fantasyland.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom is expected to be closed for refurbishment from January 9th through May 27, 2012. It is expected to reopen on Monday May 28, 2012.

Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom will not be scheduled from January 20th through February 12th due to repaving work in Frontierland.

Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom will be closed for refurbishment from January 24th to February 9th. It is expected to reopen February 10th, 2012.

Liberty Square Riverboat at Magic Kingdom is scheduled to close for refurbishment from January 28th through February 3rd.

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 7th, 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. While the great majority of attractions will be operating, it is important to note that we will most likely be adding a lot of refurbishments throughout the month of January.

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Disney World Crowd Calendar July 2012, Best Parks to Visit, Schedule, and More

by josh on December 30, 2011

1/27/12 Update – Removed references to Test Track since it will be closed for refurbishment.

This is the Free July 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.

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 July 1

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 9pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours at Epcot luring a lot of Disney resort guests. The only problem is that we don’t have anything else specific drawing people toward the other theme parks. Luckily, Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow for morning Extra Magic Hour. Despite “only” having ten hours at the Animal Kingdom during the day, you should be able to do just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS them later in the day (or both). After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA for DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King and you’ll be set for the rest of the day. Camp Minnie-Mickey may also be a morning priority if you’d like to visit the characters. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and 5:45pm – 7pm will have shorter waits than the afternoon. You also have an outstanding opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner, IllumiNations, and evening Extra Magic Hours, Magic Kingdom for Wishes, Main Street Electrical Parade, and some late night rides, 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 offers evening Extra Magic Hours, which is extremely rare for a Sunday. We can assume Disney changed the Extra Magic Hours’ schedule in order to pull people away from Epcot on a Tuesday that will be plenty busy otherwise. It also allows Disney to add evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom on July 3^rd, which will hopefully curtail the crowd trying to leave after the preview of the 4^th of July Fireworks. No matter the reason, this is the second busiest day of the week at Epcot this week, second only to July 4^th itself. It should be avoided unless you’re planning to visit early in the morning from 9am – 11am. Evening Extra Magic Hours is a viable time to enjoy Epcot’s nighttime ambiance and visit some of the less popular attractions, but you can expect Soarin’ to have wait times of 40+ minutes until at least 11pm when people begin to give up and exit. Remember that 75,000+ people have access to Extra Magic Hours on any given day. While not every single one of them will be at Epcot at 9pm, a lot will be, making the Park just as busy as it was during the day and busier than recommended days later in the week. Skip it unless you have a sound plan or can’t visit any other day.

Hollywood Studios is highly recommended and would be the most recommended Park if it wasn’t for the additional difficulty in scheduling Magic Kingdom, which is most people’s priority. 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 at Epcot, which will be incredibly popular with Disney resort guests. Finally, Sunday is a popular travel day and few people arriving will head out to the Studios for Fantasmic this evening. Those that arrived yesterday are also unlikely to begin their first full day at Hollywood Studios. Thus, today is less crowded than any other day this week. If you have other plans today, this coming Tuesday and Friday are also recommended. This past Friday was also recommended. In order to find the shortest waits, you’ll need to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Mania to ride and/or collect FASTPASSes. Because of its popularity and extremely limited capacity, Toy Story Mania almost always has afternoon waits of 60 or more minutes and FASTPASSes that are routinely gone before 1pm, even when crowds are relatively low and the Studios is recommended. With crowds much heavier, we can expect 100+ minute afternoon waits, even with the recommendation. 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. For Fantasmic, you’ll want to arrive about 60 minutes early to guarantee good seats together. If that sounds like it’s about 30 minutes too long, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. It will still require you to arrive at least 20 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it saves the stress of having to decide when it’s time to line up and decreases the overall wait. The Fantasmic Dining Package makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. Plus, it includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Disney Dining Plan. It’s very likely that Disney will extend the close to 10pm and add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm. Should this happen, the 10:30pm Fantasmic will be much less crowded because it’s so late and you won’t need to worry about Dining Package users. Plan to see the second show if the Dining Package is no longer offered or you don’t want to spring for the additional cost. While it’s officially a recommended day, arriving prior to Park opening and hitting the headliners first thing is more important than which day you pick. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Magic Kingdom is the most recommended Park. Disney has moved the usual Sunday evening Extra Magic Hours to Tuesday and instead scheduled Epcot’s very popular evening Extra Magic Hours this evening. We’ll be having a substantial turnover today as a lot of people will be leaving after a standard weeklong summer vacation and a new batch of vacationers will be arriving for July 4^th. That makes the early morning and late evening an even better time to visit. By the time Disney updates the operating schedule in mid-June, we should see a 12am or 1am close and a second Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled at 11pm, both of which will only improve and elongate the better times of day to visit. The morning remains the best time to tour because crowds are guaranteed to be low and FASTPASSes will be plentiful. Plan to hit the popular Fantasyland attractions first and then move on to Tomorrowland and then over to Frontierland. Should you arrive by 8:45am, you’ll be amazed how much you can get done and also how busy it will be in the afternoon. You may also want to visit characters that will have long afternoon waits in the morning. Rapunzel, who appears in Fairytale Garden, routinely has the longest waits. Tinker Bell, who meets in Tinker Bell’s Nook in Adventureland, sees the second longest waits. Plan to visit either of them first thing on your itinerary if you’re interested in meeting them. The Princesses in Town Square can see considerable waits of 30+ minutes, but you can collect FASTPASSes for them easily throughout the day. Consider taking a sizable break from 1pm to 7pm or so to rest up for the evening and avoid peak crowds, waits, and temperatures. Return in the evening for dinner, the nighttime spectaculars, and some late night rides when temperatures are cooler. In the evening, you’ll want to plan to attend the 11pm Main Street Electrical Parade, assuming that Disney adds one (99% likely). It will be much less crowded than the 9pm Parade. Plan to stake out spots along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square because they are the least crowded, require a shorter wait, and offer a view that is just as good as Main Street. Assuming Disney extends the close to 12am or 1am (95% likely), the late night is also a viable time to tour in relatively low crowds, especially if you save Fantasyland for after 11pm. Most families will be long gone, freeing up Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, and most other attractions. It’s not uncommon for all three to have a 60+ minute wait in the afternoon and a ten minute or less wait at 11:30pm. Overall, it’s one of the best days of the week to visit Magic Kingdom, but the afternoon is still going to be crowded with the high overall crowd level.

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Disney World Crowd Calendar June 2012, Best Parks to Visit, Schedule, and More

by josh on December 1, 2011

2/4/12 Update: Disney added Fantasmic to June 14th and extended the operating hours at Hollywood Studios to 9am – 9pm to accommodate it. This has shifted the Crowd Calendar recommendations around that date a bit.

1/27/12 Update: Removed references to Test Track since it will be closed for refurbishment.

12/8 Update: Added daily analysis for June 21 – 30.

12/7 Update – Added daily analysis for June 16 – 20 and updated crowd calendar image. Rest of the month should be ready tomorrow.

12/2/11 Update – Added daily analysis for June 11 – 15.

12/1/11 Update – Added daily analysis for June 1 – 10. Slightly modified the recommendations from the initial release.

This is the Free June 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.

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 June 1

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 1am

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

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. That might seem odd considering we’re sometimes concerned about visiting it later in the week. However, things change quite a bit with the Star Wars Weekends crowds and the change in the Extra Magic Hours schedule. Disney moved the morning Extra Magic Hour at Animal Kingdom to Saturday from Wednesday in order to guide the predictable Disney resort contingent in its direction. Normally, Hollywood Studios hosts morning Extra Magic Hour on Saturdays because it’s not naturally busy otherwise. In other words, Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow for the Extra Magic Hour, making today less crowded. We also have the very popular evening Extra Magic Hours luring Disney resort guests to Magic Kingdom and a morning Extra Magic Hour attracting Disney resort guests to Epcot. Because these are Disney World’s two most popular theme parks in the first place, it will only help pull people away from Animal Kingdom, which people prefer to visit when they don’t have a reason to head elsewhere. The first day of this weekend’s Star Wars Weekends at Hollywood Studios will attract a ton of locals and a lot of casual vacationers as well. All in all, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. After getting those two attractions out of the way, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR, over to Camp Minnie-Mickey for the popular character greetings, or over to one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get crowded later in the day and the first show is always the least crowded and will require the shortest wait to get good seats. If you arrive later, you may need to rely on FASTPASS at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Expedition Everest also has a “single rider line” that is usually short if you’re willing to split the group up. Plan to stay through close if you couldn’t get to the headliners earlier in the day or if you’d like to return to any other attractions because crowds only dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and more and more people leave. Because Animal Kingdom doesn’t offer anything in the way of special evening entertainment, few people Park Hop over in the afternoon and evening. Overall, it’s a great day to visit Animal Kingdom if you need a day there. If you’re looking to extend your day, you may want to book a dinner reservation right around Park close. Disney will run buses for at least 90 minutes after Park close to get you back to your Disney resort and most restaurants accept bookings right up until close. You may also want to visit the BoardWalk or Downtown Disney, both of which are popular dining/shopping destinations. Of course, you can also Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom for the nighttime entertainment and evening Extra Magic Hours, Epcot for IllumiNations, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. Keep in mind that all three will be busy (especially the Studios and Epcot). If you do plan to head elsewhere, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable afternoon break. It’s a long day and the heat won’t help.

Epcot is not recommended. We have the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting a decent number of Disney resort guests that choose the theme park they’re going to visit based on the Extra Magic Hours schedule. Because a lot of Disney resort guests choose to visit Epcot twice over the course of the week, they tend to visit on Tuesdays and Fridays. While Magic Kingdom’s evening Extra Magic Hours will prove popular, it won’t do enough to make Epcot less crowded than recommended days during the week. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or you’re certain that you’ll arrive prior to 8am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended because of the Star Wars Weekend complication. The event will make the Studios significantly busier than any of the past few days from open to close. If you’re looking to visit the Studios one day this weekend to take advantage of the event, I would actually go with Sunday. While it might seem counterintuitive to visit on an actual weekend day, the fact is that Sunday is historically the least crowded day of the event. There are probably a few contributing factors. First, a lot of people travel on Sundays and won’t have an opportunity to visit any theme park. Second, many Star Wars fans will want to take their first opportunity to visit the event, which happens to be Friday. Expect Disney to extend the operating hours significantly and add a second Fantasmic as we get closer to May. We may see a 9am – 11pm day or even an official 8am – 11pm day by the time all is said and done. This will only increase attendance among people that have no idea the event is even scheduled. Finally, this is the “Gay Days” designated theme park. While the event will only bring a few thousand extra people to the Studios, they do make a bigger dent because the Park is already crowded anyway and the Studios has a limited number of attractions compared to Magic Kingdom or Epcot. Overall, you’ll want to avoid the Studios unless you’re headed there specifically for the Star Wars festivities and make use of an efficient plan.

Magic Kingdom is not officially recommended, but you can still have a lot of success should you visit during one or both of the two recommended timeframes. Disney will most likely extend the close to 11pm and add a second Main Street Electrical Parade at 11pm as we get closer to June. This makes 9am – 12pm an excellent time to tour because a lot of the Disney resort guests that will be visiting won’t arrive until later in the morning or afternoon. Their hope is that they’ll be able to stay up for the evening entertainment and at least part of evening Extra Magic Hours. The late night is also a viable time to tour as most families will leave after the 10pm Wishes Fireworks show, even if they have the intention of staying later. However, it’s going to be busier than recommended days from 1pm to 10pm because so many Disney resort guests will arrive throughout the morning. You can have success in the early afternoon provided you arrive early, collect FASTPASSes throughout the morning, and visit the least popular attractions after lunch, but lines are going to be long for most attractions throughout the entire afternoon. You’ll want to focus on the Carousel of Progress, Liberty Square Riverboat, Hall of Presidents, Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor, Country Bears Jamboree, and other similar attractions in the afternoon. In the early morning, focus on the headlining attractions, rides that will have long afternoon waits, and the most popular characters. Take a break in the afternoon from around 1pm to around 6pm to rest up for dinner, the nighttime entertainment, some less popular attractions or major attractions with FASTPASS, and evening Extra Magic Hours. For Main Street Electrical Parade, you’ll want to scout out a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square. These areas are much less crowded than Main Street and offer a view that is just as good. Should Disney add a second Electrical Parade at 11pm (95% likely), then you’ll want to plan to catch that Parade because it will be significantly less crowded overall and you may even be able to catch an easy viewing location on Main Street. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, I recommend beginning in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last because most families will be long gone from the Park by 12:30am and Fantasyland will be low on crowds. It’s not uncommon for Peter Pan’s Flight to have a 60 minute wait in the afternoon and a ten minute or less wait at the end of evening Extra Magic Hours. Save Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. Overall, you can have success if you’re prepared to visit in the early morning or late evening, but you’ll want to tour during a recommended day if you can’t because afternoon crowds are going to be prohibitive.

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May 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on October 24, 2011

1/27/12 Update – Removed references to Test Track and Big Thunder Mountain when they will be closed for refurbishment.

12/8/11 Update – Animal Kingdom changed to “not recommended” on May 30th.

This is the Free May 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.

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 evening entertainment at Magic Kingdom. W: is the Wishes Fireworks Show and MSEP: is the Main Street Electrical Parade. For example, MSEP: 9pm, W: 10pm means that Main Street Electrical Parade begins at 9pm and Wishes begins at 10pm. All times are PM.

Click the Calendar Thumbnail Below and The Image Will Expand to Fit the Screen. You May Also Click Here and the Calendar Will Open in a New Window. If it is blurry, click it again and it will expand to its full size or see the PDF file below.

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

Tuesday May 1

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Illuminations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 9pm

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

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

Epcot is not recommended. We have the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting the majority of Disney resort guests and a lot of off-site visitors who will naturally visit Epcot after the Magic Kingdom yesterday. While Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios helps, it shouldn’t pull enough people away to make a discernable difference in wait times. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or are certain you’ll arrive prior to 8am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.

Hollywood Studios is recommended, though this past Sunday and this coming Friday would be better. There are a few problems. First, while the morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot will be popular, we don’t have the even-more-popular evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled anywhere. Second, Fantasmic and Main Street Electrical Parade are scheduled every night this week, which means the evening entertainment won’t dictate which theme park casual vacationers visit because it’s always available. The fact that Fantasmic is scheduled every night will “help” even out crowds over the course of the week. Third, a decent number of people visit Hollywood Studios after Magic Kingdom on Monday because of the popularity of Toy Story Mania and Fantasmic. Luckily, we are coming off a popular evening Extra Magic Hours last night and it’s early in the week, which means a lot of people on a weeklong vacation will be putting off Hollywood Studios for Wednesday or Thursday. Overall, this will be a day with “average” crowds at the Studios specifically, as compared to other days this week. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Midway Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Toy Story Mania in particular has wait times that almost always hit 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes that routinely are gone by 1pm. Make it your morning and FASTPASS priority. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster also sees long afternoon waits and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. Plan to head there right after Toy Story Mania or collect FASTPASSes as soon as possible, after first collecting them for Toy Story. The other two attractions with decent lines are Tower of Terror and Star Tours. Luckily, they have higher capacities and aren’t as popular. You’ll still want to ride before 10:30am or plan to use FASTPASS later in the day. FASTPASS return times for both attractions are usually 40 to 60 minutes out, meaning you can easily FASTPASS them later in the afternoon. However, expect to see 30 minute standby wait times from 12pm – 4pm. Once you get through those four attractions, it’s really just a matter of getting over to the high capacity rides and shows that run on a set schedule. It’s unlikely you’ll run into much of a line at Backlot Tour or Great Movie Ride, but fitting in the various stage shows can be tricky because they have a tendency to start and end at the same time. Overall, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of the headlining attractions first thing. With the long day, you may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm – 5pm or so to rest up for dinner and Fantasmic. This is the busiest and hottest part of the day. For Fantasmic, I recommend the Fantasmic Dining Package, which guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Theater. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. It also includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Dining Plan. You’ll still need to arrive at least 25 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it’s better than the 60 minute wait you’re looking at to score decent seats together without the Package.

Magic Kingdom is highly recommended and an excellent choice if you don’t want to wait until tomorrow to visit. Epcot’s morning Extra Magic 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. Still, Magic Kingdom won’t be empty with the average overall crowd level, decent hours of operation, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes. It’s still more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh) or the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain). You may also want to fit other time-sensitive attractions like Tomorrowland Indy Speedway or Astro Orbiter in there as well, along with Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and other quick attractions that will have decent afternoon waits. Consider taking a break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds are heaviest and wait times are longest to rest up for the evening entertainment. For Main Street Electrical Parade, scout out a spot along the Parade route in Liberty Square or Frontierland. Both areas are significantly less crowded than Main Street and require a shorter wait. Magic Kingdom will also be the most recommended Park tomorrow, so you may want to hold off until then if you have other plans today. If you’re trying to decide between today and tomorrow, then I would go with tomorrow because it’s in the middle of the week and even more people will be ready to visit another Park. However, today will be nearly as good if you tour efficiently in the morning, take a restful break, and enjoy the Magic Kingdom’s nighttime spectaculars.

Wednesday May 2

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 – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 9pm

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

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

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

Epcot is recommended now that we have Fantasmic scheduled every night this week. We’re coming off a 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 Soarin’, followed by Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space. You may also want to take a more compartmentalized two-day approach, which gives you the benefit of enjoying the lowest possible crowds in both Future World and World Showcase each day. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day for Soarin’ and Mission Space (in that order) if you’d like to ride any of them a second time. If you’re planning just one day in Epcot, try to move up through the World Showcase right at 11am, beginning with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway. These are the only two attractions in World Showcase that will see wait times. Luckily, FASTPASSes for Maelstrom are plentiful and you’ll be able to grab FASTPASSes with a return time of just 40 minutes in the future in case the posted wait time is 20+ minutes or you’d like to ride two or three times in the late afternoon or evening. Return to Future World after 5pm to visit any attractions that you skipped in the morning. Keep in mind that most Future World attractions close at 7pm. Usually only Soarin’, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth continue operating from 7pm – 9pm. Overall, it’s a good day to visit Epcot and a fine day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations, provided you tour efficiently in the morning.

Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow that will be more attractive to Disney resort guests and they won’t be visiting today as well. By the time all is said and done, Disney will likely extend the operating hours at Magic Kingdom on several other days this week, including Monday, and Thursday. Today, we may see a second Main Street Electrical Parade added at 11pm and the operating hours extended to 11pm to accommodate it, but that only benefits us because the 11pm Parade will be significantly less busy than the 9pm Parade. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain), 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.

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April 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on September 25, 2011

January 27 Update: Removed references to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom since it will be closed for refurbishment through the entire month. The refurbishment dates for Test Track are not yet known, though it is expected to start April 15th. Since it’s unknown, I left the references

January 26 Update: Fantasmic added on April 24th and 25th. The recommendations for that week have changed slightly due to the longer hours and Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios. Previously, the Studios was only open until 6pm on those dates and did not feature Fantasmic in the evening.

September 27 Update: Analysis added for the rest of April. Crowd Calendar image updated slightly.

September 25 Update – Added analysis for first two weeks. Updated crowd calendar image.

This is the Free April 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.

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

Sunday April 1

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm

Magic Kingdom: 8am – 11pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 7am – 8am

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 11pm – 2am

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

Animal Kingdom is highly recommended. We have morning Extra Magic Hour/evening Extra Magic Hours/Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom and morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot luring a lot of Disney resort guests. These are Disney World’s two most popular theme parks and the Extra Magic Hours will only make them more attractive to the sizable Disney resort contingent that thinks the Extra Magic Hours schedule is Disney dictating where they “belong” each day. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom on Wednesday for morning Extra Magic Hour. With the long day, there are two great times to tour. The early morning, from 9am – 10:30am, is always preferable. FASTPASSes are plentiful with return times that are just 40 to 60 minutes in the future and standby waits that are guaranteed to be low. The end of the day, from 6:30pm – 8pm, will also see lower crowds and shorter waits than the afternoon. However, FASTPASSes will likely be gone at the major attractions even if standby waits are shorter. Ideally, plan to arrive prior to Park opening and 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 for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR 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. If you don’t end up arriving prior or close to Park opening, plan to stay through until 8pm and return to the major headliners after 6:30pm when standby waits are lower than the afternoon. With the high overall crowd level for the Easter holiday, Animal Kingdom will be far from empty. Take advantage of one or both of the less crowded times of day, use FASTPASS as much as possible in the late morning and afternoon, and tour efficiently and you should have an excellent day. You also have an outstanding opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes or you finish your itinerary. 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 not recommended. The morning Extra Magic Hour will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. While many of them will fail to arrive for their extra hour, they will show up nonetheless later in the morning. While the Extra Magic Hour itself is an excellent time to tour, the additional crowds in the late morning, afternoon, and evening will increase waits time for the rest of the day and most likely erase any benefit you enjoyed from 8am – 9am. Park Hopping elsewhere in the afternoon is always an option, but then you arrive in a Park at the busiest part of the day during some of the heaviest crowds of the year. We’re actually better off waiting until tomorrow to visit, when we straddle today’s morning Extra Magic Hour and Tuesday’s even more popular evening Extra Magic Hours. Tomorrow, we’ll enjoy similarly low crowds in the morning and won’t have to worry about an influx of Disney resort guests arriving throughout the morning and early afternoon. If you do end up visiting today, it’s imperative that you actually arrive by 7:45am to take full advantage of the morning Extra Magic Hour and head straight to Soarin’, followed by Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space. Try to move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway and you’ll put yourself in the best position to minimize waits and have a pleasant day.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park now that we have Fantasmic scheduled every night this week. When Fantasmic was scheduled less often, each show was a huge crowd magnet because of its popularity and its limited availability. Now that Fantasmic is scheduled every night this week, each specific show becomes less attractive and people are more likely to visit the Studios when less is going on elsewhere. Today, we’re in between yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour, both of which will be more popular with Disney resort guests. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour/evening Extra Magic Hours/Main Street Electrical Parade/ Wishes at Magic Kingdom and morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot, all of which will be incredibly popular with Disney resort guests and those that arrived for a weeklong Easter break vacation yesterday. 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 prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Mania to ride and/or collect FASTPASSes. Because of its popularity and extremely limited capacity, Toy Story Mania almost always has afternoon waits of 60 or more minutes and FASTPASSes that are routinely gone before 1pm, even when crowds are 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 as soon after Toy Story Mania as possible. 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 much lower, in the 30-50 minute range in the afternoon. 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. For Fantasmic, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater if you’re planning to attend the 8:30pm show. 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 you’re not interested in the Dining Package or it’s no longer available, do everything you can to see the 10pm Fantasmic. It’s always significantly less crowded and you won’t have to deal with two large sections roped off for Dining Package guests. You should be able to arrive 30 minutes early and find good seats, which is much better than the 60+ minutes required for the 8:30pm Fantasmic. While it’s officially a recommended day, arriving prior to Park opening and hitting the headliners first thing is more important than which day you pick. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

While there are two excellent times to tour Magic Kingdom today, 11am – 10pm is going to be extremely busy. We have a ton of people arriving yesterday and today for a weeklong Disney vacation and they’ll want to visit Magic Kingdom right off the bat. That’s primarily why we have the 7am – 2am operating hours if you include the Extra Magic Hours for Disney resort guests. Disney is expecting a ton of people and the extended operating hours will at least help lower crowds in the early morning and late evening. While 7am – 10:30am and 11:30pm – 2am will be excellent times to tour, the afternoon is going to be uncomfortably crowded. If you tour efficiently in the early morning and/or late evening then you can have success, but you’ll want to take a sizable afternoon break and plan to visit some of the less popular attractions and high capacity shows in the afternoon and early evening. Overall, this coming Tuesday and Wednesday will be less crowded. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom today, you’ll either want to take advantage of the 7am – 10am and/or 11:30pm -2am timeframe or have reasonable expectations about wait times and crowd levels. It’s going to be busy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t have a great time.

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{ 12 comments }

March 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on August 15, 2011

January 27 Update: Removed references to Dumbo and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad while they will be under refurbishment.

January 11 Update: Updated the Crowd Calendar with the changes listed here.

January 5 Update: Updated the operating schedule and Crowd Calendar image with the changes listed here.

October 2 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with the changes to Animal Kingdom’s operating schedule here: http://www.easywdw.com/news/updates-to-the-march-2012-disney-world-operating-schedule/. This did not affect the recommendations, but it’s worth noting the later close on select dates.

August 30 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with Fantasmic added to most nights. Full list of changes here: http://www.easywdw.com/news/march-2012-disney-world-operating-hours-changes/ and a further explanation of the effects of adding Fantasmic here: http://www.easywdw.com/news/fantasmic-to-return-to-nightly-schedule-refurbishment-to-begin-january-9th/. We can expect another major round of changes to the operating schedule on or around February 17th.

August 18 Update: Crowd Calendar completed.

August 15 Update: I’ve added the first ten days of analysis and updated the crowd calendar since the initial release with a few changes.

This is the Free March 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.

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 last line lists the Fantasmic show times at the Hollywood Studios.

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

Thursday March 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 – 7pm (Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. Although it’s later in the week, Magic Kingdom will continue to draw decent crowds with the Electrical Parade, which is only scheduled three times this week. Epcot will also be popular with those in town for the One More Disney Day event and Disney resort guests that are attracted to the morning Extra Magic Hour and have plans to visit a different Park on Friday. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. If you’re not riding the thrill rides (Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl), you’ll want to attend the first showing of Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo because those shows will be popular in the afternoon. Collect FASTPASSes for attractions you either want to ride again or couldn’t make it to in the morning and you should be able to do just about everything the Animal Kingdom has to offer, despite the relatively short day. If you’re interested in the character meet and greets at the Character Trails in Camp Minnie-Mickey, you’ll also want to consider heading over there about ten minutes before the characters are scheduled to appear. That’s when you’ll find the shortest line for Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Pocahontas, and the other characters in the area. If you can’t make it over there early in the morning, plan to head over about ten minutes before a Festival of the Lion King show is scheduled to start. Because Lion King’s exit is in Camp Minnie-Mickey, the show unleashes nearly 1,000 people into the area once per hour. While not everyone exiting will head to a character, some will, which causes lines to get longer immediately after the show ends. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic, or Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Stay through close if there’s more that you want to accomplish because wait times will only decrease from 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 no longer recommended now that morning Extra Magic Hour has been added. While tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will be even more popular, we can expect today to draw more Disney resort guests than this past Sunday, Monday, or Wednesday. We’ll also have a considerable number of people in town for a short trip specifically for yesterday’s “One More Disney Day.” Many of them will be interested in visiting Epcot, Disney’s second most popular theme park, rather than Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom. That will also contribute to heavier crowds than other recommended days this week. If you already have plans to visit Epcot, you can still have a successful day, particularly if you are eligible for morning Extra Magic Hour and arrive by 7:45am to take advantage of it. If you’re ineligible, you can still do well if you arrive at 8:45am for the 9am opening, but you’re going to run into problems if you arrive at 10am or later due to heavier crowds than originally anticipated. Alternatively, you can certainly have a pleasant day if you plan to arrive a little later and head up to World Showcase when it opens at 11am. Overall, expect this to be the third busiest day of the week at Epcot. With a solid plan you can still have a fun and successful day, but you’re better off elsewhere if you have the ability to visit a different Park.

Hollywood Studios is recommended because it will be less crowded than either of the last two days. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour at the Studios will have been popular with Disney resort guests and they will not be returning today. We also didn’t have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled on Tuesday or Wednesday. When we don’t have popular evening entertainment scheduled elsewhere, many people will default to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom, depending on what’s going on at both. Today, we have the popular (and rare this week) Main Street Electrical Parade and morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom, Disney World’s most popular theme park, attracting a lot of off-site and on-site visitors alike. While Magic Kingdom will have been popular yesterday with the 24 hour day, we’ll have a decent number of people avoiding it for that very reason. Overall, it’s a recommended day at the Studios. Tomorrow is “equally recommended,” so pick whichever day works better in your overall itinerary. Because Hollywood Studios only has a few headlining rides, it’s still more important to arrive prior to Park opening and take care of the most popular attractions first thing. Ideally, you would arrive by 8:30am and head straight to Toy Story Mania to collect FASTPASSes and/or ride in the standby line. Toy Story Mania is so popular and has such a limited capacity that it almost always sees 60+ minute waits in the afternoon and FASTPASSes that run out by 1pm. Make it your top priority or you’ll run into lengthy waits and FASTPASSes with return times that run into the afternoon by 10am. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is your second morning priority, with wait times that may also hit 60 minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. Tower of Terror and Star Tours are a lower priority, but should be ridden before 10:30am or with FASTPASS. Once you get through those four attractions, it’s just a matter of moving on to the Studios’ high capacity attractions and shows that run on a set schedule. For Fantasmic, I always recommend the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. While it will still require you to arrive at least 30 minutes early, it’s better than the 60+ minutes early you’ll need to arrive to get seats in the general seating section. As far as general seating is concerned, the best seats are in the middle sections about half way up from the stage. Any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and won’t be able to see all the action on the water. Overall, it’s a recommended day at the Studios, but touring efficiently in the morning is more important than picking the “right day.”

Magic Kingdom is going to be busy, though it won’t be as crowded as it was previously when it had a morning Extra Magic Hour scheduled and yesterday’s operating hours were so short. While the One More Disney Day will be attractive, we’ll have a decent number of people avoiding it for that very reason. Most of the other “Crowd Calendar websites” are recommending people avoid it altogether and it seems like “common sense” that it will be busy to a lot of casual vacationers. With No Electrical Parade scheduled on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, or next Sunday, we can expect more people than recommended days to target today in order to see it. If you would like to see the Parade, your best bet is always an evening Park Hop after spending the majority of your day at a recommended Park. This way, you spend most of your day in a Park with low crowds and short lines and you’ll still be able to enjoy Magic Kingdom’s nighttime spectaculars. For Parade viewing, the least crowded areas are located along the Parade route in Frontierland and Liberty Square and the most crowded spots are along Main Street. Depending on crowds, you may still want scope out a spot about 30 minutes early. Thursdays are preferable to either Mondays or Saturdays for Parade viewing because nighttime crowds will be slightly lower. The morning, from 9am – noon is also a great time to tour, as it usually is. But noon through close is going to be busier than recommended days during the week. You can “beat” the afternoon crowds by saving up FASTPASSes, visiting the less popular/high capacity attractions, and/or taking an afternoon break back at your resort, but walkways will be busier and it will “feel” more crowded. Just to reiterate, this is your best chance this week to see the Electrical Parade in relatively low crowds, but it’s still going to be busier than Sunday, Tuesday, or tomorrow.

Friday March 2

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended now that Fantasmic has been added. While we would be better off if Magic Kingdom offered Main Street Electrical Parade and longer hours, Epcot’s evening Extra Magic Hours are always popular and will draw a lot of Disney resort guests. Animal Kingdom is also hosting a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow, which will appeal to Disney resort guests that are trying to decide whether they want to visit today or Saturday. The fact that Animal Kingdom is open much later tomorrow will also cause off-site and on-site visitors alike to look toward Saturday instead. The only problem is that it’s late in the week, which means most people on a weeklong vacation will have made it to the other more popular theme parks. A lot of people naturally save Animal Kingdom for later in the week because they’re more interested in Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. Still, with the low overall crowd level, today will be far from busy. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing. After that, move on to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR or visit the characters and Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo the Musical. Keep in mind that crowds disperse after the 3:45pm Parade. If you couldn’t get to some of the attraction earlier in the day, stay through until 5pm because waits will only decrease from 4:15pm through close.

We’ll want to avoid Epcot. Its evening Extra Magic Hours will lure the majority of Disney resort guests, which will lengthen waits times at the attractions for the entire afternoon and evening. Epcot is almost always at its busiest and lines are the longest when it has evening Extra Magic Hours. This is due to the fact that many Disney resort guests head to whichever Park has Extra Magic Hours, even if they don’t plan to take advantage of them. Without Park Hopper, Disney resort guests must stay in the Park with Extra Magic Hours for the entire day. The increased crowds lead to longer lines, heavier congestion in common areas, and an overall less pleasant touring experience. I would urge you to visit a different Park. If you want to head to Epcot today, despite my strong objections, your best chance to ride the headlining rides is from 9am-11am. Most Disney resort guests will sleep in and arrive around lunch in anticipation of staying until 10-11pm. The morning will be a decent time to tour Epcot, but you’ll probably want to Park Hop elsewhere after lunch or you’ll be stuck in significantly larger-than-usual crowds. You might also consider an afternoon break from 2pm-6pm when crowds will be at their largest. You could then return in the early evening for dinner and Extra Magic Hours. Alternatively, you could also Park Hop over in the evening for Extra Magic Hours, provided you’re aware of how busy it will be. The last hour of Extra Magic Hours is always the least crowded, so plan to stay until 12am and head back to Soarin’, Test Track, and Mission Space from 11pm-12am. Skip Illuminations if you’ll be here on another night because it will be more crowded than usual. Overall, there’s no reason to visit Epcot today because crowds will be higher than any other day during the week and waits at Soarin’ and Test Track will be just as long as they were during the day until 11pm or later.

Hollywood Studios is recommended for similar reasons as yesterday, though the lack of Main Street Electrical Parade and its usual morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow lowers its rating a bit. Luckily, we have the extremely popular evening Extra Magic Hours luring Disney resort guests to Epcot. Overall, yesterday, today, and tomorrow will all be similarly crowded and there isn’t necessarily a huge advantage to picking one day over another. Try to pick the day that fits into your itinerary best. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Once you get through these attractions in the morning or with FASTPASS, you have little to worry about for the rest of the day, other than trying to get to the Studios’ various high capacity attractions and stage shows that run on a set schedule. For Fantasmic, you’ll want to arrive about 60 minutes early to guarantee good seats together. If that sounds like it’s about 30 minutes too long, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. It will still require you to arrive at least 30 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it saves the stress of having to decide when it’s time to line up and decreases the overall wait. The Fantasmic Dining Package makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. Plus, it includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Disney Dining Plan. While it’s officially a recommended day, arriving prior to Park opening and hitting the headliners first thing is more important than which day you pick. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Magic Kingdom is the most recommended Park. Yesterday’s Main Street Electrical Parade will have been popular and tomorrow’s Main Street Electrical Parade and longer hours will be attractive to off-site guests and those who plan to return to the Magic Kingdom for a second time before leaving on Sunday. We also had a busy day on Wednesday for the One More Disney Day promotion. Today, we don’t have Extra Magic Hours, the Main Street Electrical Parade, long hours of operation, or special events, which means most people will choose to visit another day. To have the most success, arrive prior to 9am and head straight for the headlining Mountain rides or Fantasyland attractions, beginning with Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh. You should have no trouble getting a lot of attractions done throughout the morning and the Park won’t be particularly busy for the rest of the day. Still, plan to use FASTPASS and focus on the less popular attractions from 1pm to 5pm when crowds will be at their highest level.

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{ 14 comments }

February 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on July 21, 2011

February 4 Update: Main Street Electrical Parade added to February 11th at 9pm. This doesn’t affect the recommendations as Magic Kingdom was already recommended. However, you may want to brave at least the evening crowds if your vacation is wrapping up and this is your only opportunity to see the Electrical Parade.

January 18 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with the changes listed here.

January 10 Update: Updated the Crowd Calendar and analysis for the last week in February. The Extra Magic Hours schedule changed and Magic Kingdom is open for 24 hours from 6am on February 29th through 6am on March 1st. I’m still expecting a major update to the February operating schedule on or around January 20th. I’ll be updating the rest of the week moving into March shortly.

December 14 Update: I updated the operating hours with the changes listed here and updated the language where applicable. Main Street Electrical Parade is no longer scheduled any day from January 20th through February 10th.

September 28 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with extended operating hours at Animal Kingdom on select dates throughout the month. The recommendations were not affected. See this post: http://www.easywdw.com/news/changes-to-february-2012-disney-world-operating-schedule/ for specific changes.

September 8 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with more Fantasmic dates between February 13th and 29th.

July 25 Update: February Crowd Calendar updated and daily analysis completed.

This is the Free February 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.

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 last line lists the Fantasmic show times at the Hollywood Studios.

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

Wednesday February 1

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

It’s the busiest day of the week at Animal Kingdom. The morning Extra Magic Hour will attract the bulk of the Disney resort crowd and there’s no evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment going on at the other Parks, which will cause a lot of off-site guests to visit as well. Most people prefer to visit the other Parks when they’re either open longer or have special evening entertainment like Fantasmic or Main Street Electrical Parade. Although neither are available at all this week, we can still expect more people to be ready to visit Animal Kingdom than other recommended days. With both yesterday and tomorrow recommended, there’s no reason to visit today.

It’s an above-average day at Epcot. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been moderately attended by Disney resort guests and they won’t be looking to return today. However, we don’t have a lot going on at the other Parks, which means a pretty good amount of off-site visitors will be headed to Epcot. I’m looking toward tomorrow as having lower crowds and shorter waits, thanks to a more popular morning Extra Magic Hour attracting people to Magic Kingdom. However, today won’t be terrible by any means. Plan to arrive as early as possible and either follow a touring plan or head straight to Soarin’, followed by Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission Space. You’ll be in good shape if you’ve moved to the World Showcase by 1pm, starting with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway.

Hollywood Studios is not expressly recommended. We don’t have Fantasmic scheduled any day this week and it’s also later in the week, which means most people on a weeklong vacation will have already had an opportunity to visit Magic Kingdom and Epcot and they’ll be looking to ride Toy Story Mania, Star Tours, Tower of Terror, and Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster today. With no evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled anywhere, no particularly long hours of operation anywhere, and no Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom, a lot of people will default to Hollywood Studios because they prefer to visit the other Parks when they have something specific to attract them. With the low overall crowd level, you can have a lot of success at the Studios if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning. Get through these attractions early and you have little to worry about for the rest of the day, even when the overall crowd level is higher. Still, it’s tougher to schedule Magic Kingdom, so I would head in that direction in most scenarios and plan to visit the Studios on another recommended day.

Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. The 8pm close and lack of Main Street Electrical Parade will cause a lot of people to look elsewhere. Many Disney resort guests will wait for tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour and even more people will be looking forward to Saturday’s extended operating hours. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You may also want to prioritize the two most popular Meet and Greets – Rapunzel and Tinker Bell. Rapunzel, in particular, sees waits that often exceed 45 minutes in the afternoon. You may want to head straight there and then use FASTPASS at Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh throughout the day. With the low overall crowd level and high recommendation, 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.

Thursday February 2

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Animal Kingdom and Epcot are our best choices. We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw the majority of Disney resort crowds and the fact that not a whole lot was going on at the other Parks. Today, we’re helped by the morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom and the low overall crowd level. Unfortunately, we don’t have Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios to attract people there, which is why Animal Kingdom isn’t recommended more. Still, with the low overall crowd level we should be in good shape, despite the fact that it’s later in the week and evening Extra Magic Hours aren’t scheduled. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. If you’re not riding the thrill rides (Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl), you’ll want to attend the first showing of Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo because those shows will be popular in the afternoon. Collect FASTPASSes for attractions you either want to ride again or couldn’t make it to in the morning and you should be able to do just about everything the Animal Kingdom has to offer, despite the relatively short day. If you’re interested in the character Meet and Greets in Camp Minnie-Mickey, plan to head over about five minutes before the characters are scheduled to appear. You’ll normally find Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Chip, Dale, Goofy, Pocahontas and possibly supporting characters like Meeko, Brer Bear, Miss Bunny, Thumper, Pluto, and others. Because the exit to Festival of the Lion King is nearby in Camp Minnie-Mickey, the area gets flooded with just under 1,000 people once per hour. If you can’t visit early in the morning, head over about ten minutes before a Lion King show is scheduled to begin. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations or Magic Kingdom for Wishes and some (relatively) late night rides. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at one of its excellent restaurants. There’s also a public observatory where you can gaze out at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s private savannas and enjoy the same view many guests are paying a premium to have right outside their balconies. A trip to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping also makes a lot of sense.

Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will draw the majority of Disney resort guests and they won’t be attending today as well. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour pulling people towards Magic Kingdom. Arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you’re interested in meeting Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto at the Character Spot, you may also want to head there first thing in the morning before Soarin’ and the other attractions. Because of its limited capacity and lack of FASTPASS, standby waits are a constant 20-50+ minutes throughout much of the day. If you can’t make it before 9:30am, plan to visit after 7pm when waits are shorter. To stay well ahead of the crowds, move up to World Showcase beginning at 11am, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. These are the only two lines you’ll find in the World Showcase (other than the cash registers). Return to Future World after 5pm when most people will have moved on to World Showcase if you have more you’d like to accomplish. Check your Times Guide to see which attractions remain open after 7pm. Normally, it’s only Character Spot, Soarin’, Test Track, Mission: Space, and Spaceship Earth. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

It’s not the worst day of the week to visit Hollywood Studios, but it isn’t the best day either. The only major draw is morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom. We don’t have Fantasmic scheduled any day this week, which means Monday and Saturday will be popular with Disney resort guests for Extra Magic Hours, but it’s later in the week and many people will have already visited Epcot and Magic Kingdom and will be looking toward the Studios before returning to Epcot tomorrow and Magic Kingdom Saturday. With the low overall crowd level, you can still have plenty of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Crowds also disperse after the 3pm Parade and the 5:30pm to 7pm timeframe is also an excellent time to tour. Return to the major attractions after 6pm if you couldn’t get to them earlier in the standby line, with FASTPASS, or would like to experience them one more time. It’s also a great time to do Voyage of the Little Mermaid or Great Movie Ride. Finally, keep an eye on your Times Guide if you’re planning to eat dinner in the Studios because several of the major and minor quick service locations may stop serving around 5:30pm.

Magic Kingdom is going to be busy because of the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a lot of Disney resort guests. Although we no longer have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled any day this week, we can still expect the Extra Magic Hour to attract enough Disney resort guests to make it the second or third busiest day of the week there. The morning Extra Magic Hours is a viable time to tour, but only if you actually arrive by 7:45am to take full advantage of it by visiting the Fantasyland attractions and headliners that are open. If you don’t arrive until later, you’ll find yourself in a Park that is getting progressively busier as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. By the time 1pm rolls around, the Park will be more crowded than during a recommended day and lines will be long enough that it will likely erase any benefit from the morning Extra Magic Hour.

Friday February 3

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

Animal Kingdom isn’t expressly recommended today, though it won’t be a terrible day to visit overall. While we don’t have anything specific attracting off-site or on-site guests, we need to be somewhat concerned about the number of people who will have visited the other Parks previously and will naturally save Animal Kingdom for later in the week. We don’t have Fantasmic or Main Street Electrical Parade to take crowds away from the Animal Kingdom. Epcot will draw the majority of the Disney resort guests, but more people than recommended days will be headed toward the Animal Kingdom. Thus, it isn’t expressly recommended. Despite the recommendation (or lack thereof), you can still have a ton of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get these two attractions done early and you have little to worry about for the rest of the day. To have the most success, see the first show of Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King as they can get busy in the afternoon. The 4pm to 5pm timeframe is also excellent because so many people leave after the 3:45pm Parade. Return to DINOSAUR, Expedition Everest, or potentially Kilimanjaro Safaris after 4:15pm if you arrive late or couldn’t get to them earlier in the day.

Hollywood Studios comes recommended, but it has similar problems as Animal Kingdom. The good news is that we have the moderately popular morning Extra Magic Hour scheduled tomorrow and nothing specific drawing people to the Studios, other than the fact that it’s later in the week. With no Fantasmic shows scheduled this week, we don’t have our usual crowd magnet. This “helps” even out crowds over the course of the week. On the positive side, having no Fantasmic shows scheduled is better than having Fantasmic scheduled every night like we’ve had most nights over the past eight months, at least from a crowd perspective. Few people Park Hop over to the Studios in the afternoon or evening because the restaurants aren’t anything to write home about and there’s nothing to wait around for in terms of evening entertainment. Because a lot of people either overlook or skip the major stage shows, you’ll see a ton of people headed to the exit soon after the 3pm Parade. The 5:30pm to 7pm timeframe is an excellent time to tour, but the morning is always better. If you don’t arrive early, use FASTPASS whenever possible and stay through to 7pm, even if the afternoon crowds seem relatively heavy. Remember, Disney will allow you to ride an attraction as long as you’re in line for it by the “official” closing time. That means you can get in line for Toy Story Mania right at 6:50pm and ride, even if the Studios “officially” closes at 7pm and the posted wait time is 40 minutes. Disney has a tendency to inflate posted wait times at the end of the night to dissuade people from entering the line. Chances are the actual waits will be significantly lower than posted after 6:30pm. Random characters should also appear in the Animation Building in 30 minute sets between 4:50pm and 6:50pm. While it’s impossible to verify who will be in attendance, it’s usually a collection of common and rarer characters. Head over if you have interest because lines are usually short because it’s unadvertised. Finally, Disney runs bus transportation for at least 90 minutes after Park closure to shuttle back everyone who has late dining reservations. They’ll get you back to your Disney resort, even if you exit Toy Story Mania at 7:30pm. Overall, this is a recommended day if you’re not headed to Magic Kingdom, but this past Tuesday would have been better.

Magic Kingdom is the best Park to visit. Yesterday’s Extra Magic Hour will have been popular with Disney resort guests and tomorrow’s longer operating hours will be attractive to off-site guests and those who plan to return to the Magic Kingdom for a second time before leaving on Sunday. Today, we don’t have Extra Magic Hours, the Main Street Electrical Parade, long hours of operation, or special events, which means most people will choose to visit another day. The 9pm close is later than several other days this week, but it isn’t a concern in the grand scheme of things, particularly with tomorrow’s 15 hours day. To have the most success, arrive prior to 9am and head straight for the headlining Mountain rides or Fantasyland attractions, beginning with Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh. You should have no trouble getting a lot of attractions done throughout the morning and the Park won’t be particularly busy for the rest of the day. Still, plan to use FASTPASS and focus on the less popular attractions from 1pm to 5pm when crowds will be at their highest level.

Saturday February 4

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

Animal Kingdom comes recommended. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special events, or longer hours of operation to attract Disney vacationers of any sort. While the 6pm close is later than several other days this week, it isn’t a major concern overall, especially with the 12am close at Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will see the brunt of the crowds. 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. If you’re interested in the character meet and greets in Camp Minnie-Mickey, plan to head over about five minutes before they characters are scheduled to appear. Because each character has their own line, you can spend a lot of time waiting in the afternoon when lines are much longer. 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 is our best Park to visit. Last night’s evening Extra Magic Hour will have been widly popular with Disney resort guests and they will be nowhere near Epcot today, especially in the morning. Take full advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight to Soarin’, followed by Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space. If you’re interested in meeting Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto at the Character Spot, you’ll also want to fit that into the early morning – possibly even heading there before Soarin’ due to its limited capacity and guaranteed long lines in the late morning and afternoon. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World to ride anything you skipped earlier in the day and to re-ride Test Track and Soarin’ with FASTPASSes collected in the morning after 5pm, when most people will have moved on to World Showcase. Keep in mind that only Soain’, Test Track, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot continue operating after 7pm. Many of the other Future World attractions close. If you arrive later, plan to collect FASTPASSes for Soarin’ and then Test Track (in that order) as soon as possible. Mission Space and Maelstrom are much easier to FASTPASS in the afternoon if necessary and standby waits are also much shorter. It’s also an excellent day to stay for IllumiNations and enjoy the World Showcase in the afternoon. See the Touring Plans section if you’d like more touring tips.

Hollywood Studios will be busy today thanks to morning Extra Magic Hour attracting Disney resort guests. Saturdays at the Studios aren’t super popular because morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and a lot of people will be looking toward Magic Kingdom for the extended hours regardless of what’s going on elsewhere. However, the lack of Fantasmic all this week means crowds will be more evenly dispersed and a decent number of Disney resort guests will save the Studios for today because they think the Extra Magic Hour schedule is Disney’s way of telling them where they ought to be. If you’re eligible for morning Extra Magic Hour, this is one where you’ll want to do your best to arrive prior to 8am if you do go. You’ll be in great shape for the rest of the day if you can get Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours out of the way in the early morning. As always, focus on Toy Story Mania because it will have the longest lines in the afternoon and FASTPASSes will likely be gone before noon. However, the Park will be busier than recommended days from 11am through close. You can still have success if you arrive for the morning Extra Magic Hour, but you’ll want to visit during a recommended day if you’re not Extra Magic Hours eligible or won’t be arriving until 9am or later.

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. All of this makes me hesitant about recommending the Magic Kingdom, despite a lack of Extra Magic Hours. Tomorrow will actually be less crowded, even with evening Extra Magic Hours. Both yesterday 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 Wishes or visit the less popular attractions from 2pm – 6pm. With no Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled at any point this week, we don’t have that to attract crowds as we normally would. Nonetheless, we can expect today to be busier than other recommended days. 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 late night is also a viable time to tour, but it will make it more difficult to arrive at a recommended Park tomorrow morning when crowds will be even lower and FASTPASSes will be plentiful. Still, you can have a lot of success touring from 10pm to 12am as more and more families leave. Stay through close if you have more you’d like to accomplish and don’t have any plans to arrive at a theme park by 9am. Save Fantasyland for the end of the night because lines will only get shorter at Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan’s Flight, and others.

Sunday February 5

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 1am

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended again. We have evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom luring a lot of Disney resort guests. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow or Wednesday for morning Extra Magic Hour. Despite “only” having nine hours at the Animal Kingdom during the day, you should be able to do just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS them later in the day (or both). After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King and you’ll be set for the rest of the day. Camp Minnie-Mickey may also be a morning priority if you’d like to visit the characters. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and 4:45pm – 6pm will have shorter waits than the afternoon. You also have a nice opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations or Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours. 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 Soarin, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the touring plans. It’s more important to arrive early and take care of the headliners first thing than it is to pick the “right” day. You’ll run into lines at the headliners in Future World if you don’t arrive until 10:30am with everyone else. To stay ahead of the crowds for the longest amount of time, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World after 5pm to see anything you missed, but make sure you check your Times Guide because a lot of attractions close at 7pm. Most nights, only Soarin’, Test Track, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot continue operating after 7pm. The 5pm to 7pm timeframe is an excellent opportunity to do Living with the Land, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Captain EO, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Circle of Life, Sum of All Thrills, anything in Innoventions, and anything else other than the major headliners. If you’re interested in re-riding Soarin’ or Test Track, collect FASTPASSes earlier in the day because standby wait times will most likely continue to be 30+ minutes from 5pm – 8pm. See the two-day Epcot touring plans if you’re looking for a more compartmentalized approach.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re sandwiched in between yesterday’s moderately popular morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s extremely popular evening Extra Magic Hours. With no Fantasmic in sight and short hours of operation, few people will be headed to the Studios. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and heading straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Make Toy Story Mania your priority because it will have the longest afternoon waits and FASTPASSes will still likely run out by noon, even with the recommendation. If you can’t arrive early, crowds do thin out after the 3:45pm Parade. Few people Park Hop over to the Studios in the afternoon or evening when no nighttime entertainment is scheduled. The restaurants aren’t particularly outstanding and the 7pm close is unattractive when considering transit times. If you couldn’t get to the major attractions in the morning or with FASTPASS, visit them after 6pm. Wait times are often inflated after 6pm and that 20 minute posted wait at Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster may very well be just five or ten. Random characters should also appear in the Animation Building between 4:50pm and 6:50pm. While it’s impossible to know who will appear, it’s usually a mixture of common and rarer characters. If you have interest in the characters, it’s worth checking out. Character should switch off appearing at 4:50pm, 5:20pm, 5:50pm, and 6:20pm. Expect two sets of characters to appear. One set will begin meeting at 4:50pm and 5:50pm and the other set at 5:20pm and 6:20pm. Because it isn’t advertised, wait times are usually short. It’s also an excellent time to meet the characters that normally appear in the Animation Building – Sorcerer Mickey, Winnie the Pooh, and characters from The Incredibles. The biggest problem you’ll likely run into is trying to schedule the various stage shows that run on a set schedule.

Magic Kingdom is also rated “green” today, but only under certain conditions. The morning will be an excellent time to tour, especially with the low overall crowd level and evening Extra Magic Hours. 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 1pm to 9pm as the bulk of Disney resort guests arrive en masse. I usually recommend Magic Kingdom’s evening Extra Magic Hours when they start later because so many families leave around 11pm. When Extra Magic Hours start at 12am, crowds only thin out more and more as it gets later in the evening. Tonight, many families will be able to stay until at least 10:30pm, keeping crowds heavier than recommended days. However, you can still enjoy some of the less popular attractions until 11pm and then return to Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides in the final two hours. Overall, this coming Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday will all be less crowded, but today will be less crowded than yesterday or tomorrow, which is why we have the green rating. You’ll be in much better shape if you wait for a more recommended day unless you plan to take full advantage of the morning and visit the less popular attractions in the afternoon when crowds are heavier.

Monday February 6

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 – 7pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 7pm – 10pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. 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 or Thursday 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 for the first full day of their trip. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. I’m looking towards tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday as better days to visit. Because of that, there’s really no reason to head in that 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, at least until after 9:00pm when people begin to give up and exit. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. You can have a moderate amount of success if you arrive early, but with two recommended days coming up, there’s really no reason to press your luck.

Magic Kingdom is not recommended, though it won’t be as crowded as when it had a rare Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled. Now that the Electrical Parade isn’t scheduled until February 11th, Magic Kingdom will only be slightly more crowded than recommended days later in the week. It’s still a Monday, which means it’s the first full day for many vacationers on a traditional weeklong vacation. Many of these people ignore the Extra Magic Hours schedule or whatever is going on elsewhere and head to Magic Kingdom. 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 5pm or so to rest up for Wishes and some late night rides.

Tuesday February 7

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended today, though not as highly as it would be if it was hosting evening Extra Magic Hours tomorrow. We don’t have evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment scheduled at any of the Parks today, which means a moderate number of people will take the opportunity to visit the Animal Kingdom instead. Luckily, Epcot will be a bigger draw, especially for Disney resort guests and off-site visitors that naturally visit Epcot after the Magic Kingdom yesterday. Both today and Thursday are “evenly recommended,” meaning either day will have similar crowds and wait times. On Thursday, we have morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom attracting a decent number of people, but that trades off with the fact that it’s later in the week. Overall, today and Thursday are your best days this week, so pick whichever fits in your itinerary better. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day and plan to see the first or last Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical and you’re in excellent shape.

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. Plus there’s no Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom or Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios, making Epcot’s 9am – 9pm day with IllumiNations extra-attractive. 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 prior to 8am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re coming off a very popular evening Extra Magic Hours last night, we don’t have Fantasmic or longer hours of operation to attract anyone, and it’s early enough in the week that most people will be interested in visiting Epcot or Magic Kingdom. The only problem is that we don’t have Fantasmic, our usual crowd magnet, scheduled any night this week. This will somewhat standardize crowds at the Studios on days that don’t “feature” Extra Magic Hours, though we can expect fewer people today than other days this week because it is earlier in the week. Luckily, having Fantasmic scheduled on zero nights during the week is a lot better than having it scheduled every night because it does mean crowds will diminish after the 3pm Parade. Because the Studios’ restaurants aren’t anything to write home about and it closes at 7pm, very few people Park Hop in the afternoon or evening and a lot of people seem to finish up their limited itineraries in the afternoon and head home. Return to the headliners after 5:30pm if you couldn’t get to them earlier in the day either in the standby line or with FASTPASS and save Toy Story Mania for the very end of the night. Remember, Disney will allow you to ride an attraction as long as you’re in line for it by the “official” closing time. That means you can get in line for Toy Story Mania right at 6:50pm and ride, even if the Studios “officially” closes at 7pm and the posted wait time is 40 minutes. Disney has a tendency to inflate posted wait times at the end of the night to dissuade people from entering the line. Chances are the actual waits will be significantly lower than posted after 6:30pm. Seemingly random characters should also appear in the Animation Building between 4:50pm and 6:50pm. Head in that direction if you’re interested in seeing who’s available. Lines are usually short because the meet and greets are unadvertised. It’s also a great time to meet the advertised characters – Winnie the Pooh, Sorcerer Mickey, and The Incredibles. Finally, Disney runs bus transportation for at least 90 minutes after Park closure to shuttle back everyone who has late dining reservations. They’ll get you back to your Disney resort, even if you exit Toy Story Mania at 7:30pm. Overall, this is the best day of the week to visit the Studios with two excellent periods of time to tour.

Magic Kingdom is recommended, but tomorrow will be less crowded. Wednesdays are historically the least crowded day of the week at the Magic Kingdom due to the natural progression of weeklong vacationers that visit Magic Kingdom early and late on their trip. You can still have a lot of success if you visit today, especially with the low overall crowd level. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. You may have other time sensitive attractions on your itinerary like Astro Orbiter or Tomorrowland Indy Speedway as well. While these aren’t “the most popular” or “headlining” attractions, they are still morning priorities because they have guaranteed uncomfortable waits from 10am onward. Or you may be interested in heading directly to one of the two characters with the longest afternoon waits – either Rapunzel or Tinker Bell. Rapunzel in particular sees wait times that are 40+ minutes for much of the afternoon. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing most of what the Magic Kingdom has to offer in just one day.

Wednesday February 8

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

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

It’s an above-average day at Epcot. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been moderately attended by Disney resort guests and they won’t be looking to return today. However, we don’t have a lot going on at the other Parks, which means a pretty good amount of off-site visitors will be headed to Epcot. I’m looking toward tomorrow as having lower crowds and shorter waits, thanks to morning Extra Magic Hour attracting people to Magic Kingdom. However, today won’t be terrible by any means. Plan to arrive as early as possible and either follow a touring plan or head straight to Soarin’, followed by Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission Space. You’ll be in good shape if you’ve moved to the World Showcase by 1pm, starting with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway.

Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. The 9pm close and lack of Main Street Electrical Parade will cause a lot of people to look elsewhere. Many Disney resort guests will wait for tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour and even more people will be looking forward to Saturday’s extended operating hours and Electrical Parade. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You may also want to prioritize the two most popular Meet and Greets – Rapunzel and Tinker Bell. Rapunzel, in particular, sees waits that often exceed 45 minutes in the afternoon. You may want to head straight there and then use FASTPASS at Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh throughout the day. With the low overall crowd level and high recommendation, 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.

Thursday February 9

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Magic Kingdom is going to be busy because of the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a lot of Disney resort guests. Although we no longer have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled until Saturday, we can still expect the Extra Magic Hour to attract enough Disney resort guests to make it the second or third busiest day of the week there. The morning Extra Magic Hours is a viable time to tour, but only if you actually arrive by 7:45am to take full advantage of it by visiting the Fantasyland attractions and headliners that are open. If you don’t arrive until later, you’ll find yourself in a Park that is getting progressively busier as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. By the time 1pm rolls around, the Park will be more crowded than during a recommended day and lines will be long enough that it will likely erase any benefit from the morning Extra Magic Hour.

Friday February 10

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended now that we have much longer hours tomorrow. It’s still not the best day of the week to visit (Tuesday or Thursday would have been better), but you can still have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing. Collect FASTPASSes for both throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing either a second or third time throughout the day if you so choose. Other than those two attractions, Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR are the other two “biggies.” They can see appreciable wait times of 15-30 minutes, so try to ride before 10:30am when wait times begin to build. Unless it’s 80+ degrees in the afternoon, Kali River Rapids shouldn’t see waits of more than 20 minutes at any point during the day. The Character Trail Meet and Greets in Camp Minnie-Mickey should also be a priority if you’re interested in meeting Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Chip, Dale, Pocahontas, and possibly a host of other supporting characters. Each character has a separate line and waits can really add up after 11am. Because the Character Trails are near the exit to Festival of the Lion King, about 1,000 people exit from the show each hour. If you don’t arrive before 10am, plan to visit about ten minutes before a Lion King show starts. That gives you about 40 minutes without having to worry about lines getting substantially longer. Usually, Mickey sees the longest lines. Finding Nemo the Musical and Festival of the Lion King are also popular. Try to see the first or the last show of the day to minimize waits and find the best seats. Overall, you can have a lot of success, but you’ll want to take a look at a “more recommended” day if you don’t plan to arrive until 10:30am or later. With the relatively late close tomorrow, you could do well from 6pm to 8pm if you’re not a morning person, but the afternoon is going to be busier.

Hollywood Studios comes recommended, but it has similar problems as Animal Kingdom. The good news is that we have the moderately popular morning Extra Magic Hour /longer hours of operation scheduled tomorrow and nothing specific drawing people to the Studios, other than the fact that it’s later in the week. With no Fantasmic shows scheduled this week, we don’t have our usual crowd magnet. This “helps” even out crowds over the course of the week. On the positive side, having no Fantasmic shows scheduled is better than having Fantasmic scheduled every night like we’ve had most nights over the past eight months, at least from a crowd perspective. Few people Park Hop over to the Studios in the afternoon or evening because the restaurants aren’t anything to write home about and there’s nothing to wait around for in terms of evening entertainment. Because a lot of people either overlook or skip the major stage shows, you’ll see a ton of people headed to the exit soon after the 3pm Parade. The 5:30pm to 7pm timeframe is an excellent time to tour, but the morning is always better. If you don’t arrive early, use FASTPASS whenever possible and stay through to 7pm, even if the afternoon crowds seem relatively heavy. Remember, Disney will allow you to ride an attraction as long as you’re in line for it by the “official” closing time. That means you can get in line for Toy Story Mania right at 6:50pm and ride, even if the Studios “officially” closes at 7pm and the posted wait time is 40 minutes. Disney has a tendency to inflate posted wait times at the end of the night to dissuade people from entering the line. Chances are the actual waits will be significantly lower than posted after 6:30pm. Random characters should also appear in the Animation Building in 30 minute sets between 4:50pm and 6:50pm. While it’s impossible to verify who will be in attendance, it’s usually a collection of common and rarer characters. Head over if you have interest because lines are usually short because it’s unadvertised. Finally, Disney runs bus transportation for at least 90 minutes after Park closure to shuttle back everyone who has late dining reservations. They’ll get you back to your Disney resort, even if you exit Toy Story Mania at 7:30pm. Overall, this is a recommended day if you’re not headed to Magic Kingdom, but this past Tuesday would have been better.

Magic Kingdom is the best Park to visit. Yesterday’s Extra Magic Hour will have been popular with Disney resort guests and tomorrow’s longer operating hours and Electrical Parade will be attractive to off-site guests and those who plan to return to the Magic Kingdom for a second time before leaving on Sunday. Today, we don’t have Extra Magic Hours, the Main Street Electrical Parade, long hours of operation, or special events, which means most people will choose to visit another day. While the 11pm close is later than most days earlier in the week, we have a 1am close tomorrow and then 11pm closes both of the next two nights. This past Wednesday was the best day of the week to visit, but today is better than yesterday or either of the next three days. To have the most success, arrive prior to 9am and head straight for the headlining Mountain rides or Fantasyland attractions, beginning with Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh. You should have no trouble getting a lot of attractions done throughout the morning and the Park won’t be particularly busy for the rest of the day. Still, plan to use FASTPASS and focus on the less popular attractions from 1pm to 5pm when crowds will be at their highest level.

Saturday February 11

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 8pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 1am (Not Recommended)

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

Animal Kingdom comes recommended, but we do need to be wary of the longer hours. Luckily, we don’t have Extra Magic Hours or special events to attract Disney vacationers of any sort. While the 8pm close is later than other days over the past week, looking ahead we have a 6pm, 7pm, or 8pm close every day for the foreseeable future. Along with Magic Kingdom’s extended hours, the 8pm close won’t be particularly attractive, especially with two morning Extra Magic Hours over the last week and another on Monday to attract the sizable Disney resort guests contingent. Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will see the brunt of the crowds. To take full advantage of the relatively low crowd level, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get those two attractions out of the way early and the only real concerns are getting to Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical. You would be in the best shape if you could get to the first or last show of the day as well as over to DinoLand USA before 10:30am when lines begin to build at DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl. 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 6:30pm through close. Overall, the afternoon is going to be busier than yesterday, but 9am – 11am and 6pm to 8pm will be excellent times to tour. If you can tour efficiently during one or both of these times, you can have a tremendous amount of success. In the afternoon, plan to visit the high capacity attractions like It’s Tough To Be A Bug, Flights of Wonder, Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, Maharajah Jungle Trek, DINOSAUR, the Discovery Island Trails, and use FASTPASS whenever possible.

Epcot is our best Park to visit. Last night’s evening Extra Magic Hours will have been wildly popular with Disney resort guests and they will be nowhere near Epcot today, especially in the morning. Take full advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight to Soarin’, followed by Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space. If you’re interested in meeting Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto at the Character Spot, you’ll also want to fit that into the early morning – possibly even heading there before Soarin’ due to its limited capacity and guaranteed long lines in the late morning and afternoon. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Norway and Mexico. Return to Future World to ride anything you skipped earlier in the day and to re-ride Test Track and Soarin’ with FASTPASSes collected in the morning after 5pm, when most people will have moved on to World Showcase. Keep in mind that only Soain’, Test Track, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot continue operating after 7pm. Many of the other Future World attractions close. If you arrive later, plan to collect FASTPASSes for Soarin’ and then Test Track (in that order) as soon as possible. Mission Space and Maelstrom are much easier to FASTPASS in the afternoon if necessary and standby waits are also much shorter. It’s also an excellent day to stay for IllumiNations and enjoy the World Showcase in the afternoon. See the Touring Plans section if you’d like more touring tips.

Hollywood Studios will be busy today thanks to morning Extra Magic Hour attracting Disney resort guests and the slightly later close than any other day over the past week. Saturdays at the Studios aren’t super popular because morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and a lot of people will be looking toward Magic Kingdom for the extended hours and Electrical Parade regardless of what’s going on elsewhere. However, the lack of Fantasmic this past week means crowds will be more evenly dispersed and a decent number of Disney resort guests will save the Studios for today because they think the Extra Magic Hour schedule is Disney’s way of telling them where they ought to be. Luckily, we do have Fantasmic scheduled this coming week, which means some visitors who will still be in Orlando will hold off on the Studios until Monday or Tuesday. If you’re eligible for morning Extra Magic Hour, this is one where you’ll want to do your best to arrive prior to 8am if you do go. You’ll be in great shape for the rest of the day if you can get Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours out of the way in the early morning. As always, focus on Toy Story Mania because it will have the longest lines in the afternoon and FASTPASSes will likely be gone before noon. However, the Park will be busier than recommended days from 11am through close. You can still have success if you arrive for the morning Extra Magic Hour, but you’ll want to visit during a recommended day if you’re not Extra Magic Hours eligible or won’t be arriving until 9am or later.

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. All of this makes me hesitant about recommending the Magic Kingdom, despite a lack of Extra Magic Hours and Main Street Electrical Parade. Tomorrow will actually be less crowded, even with evening Extra Magic Hours. Both yesterday 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 Wishes and some late night attractions or visit the less popular attractions from 2pm – 6pm. The late night is also a viable time to tour, but it will make it more difficult to arrive at a recommended Park tomorrow morning when crowds will be even lower and FASTPASSes will be more plentiful. If you have no intention of arriving in time to make Park opening anyway, you can have a lot of success at Magic Kingdom between 10pm and 1am. Most families will be long gone from the Park and waits times will only get lower as it approaches 1am. Still, save Fantasyland for the very end of the night to find the shortest waits. Usually, wait times at Peter Pan’s Flight and Winnie the Pooh are down to 10 minutes or less after 12am, after hitting 60 or more minutes each in the afternoon. While it is possible to have a decent day here if you arrive early and tour efficiently or take advantage of the late night hours, there are much less crowded days to visit during the week.

Sunday February 12

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 11pm (Tentatively Recommended in Morning and Late Evening)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 11pm – 2am

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended again. We have evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom luring a lot of Disney resort guests. Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow or Wednesday for morning Extra Magic Hour. With the 8pm close, there are two excellent times to tour. 9am to 11am is always preferable because crowds are guaranteed to be low and FASTPASSes are more plentiful. The 6pm – 8pm timeframe is also excellent. Most of the people that arrived between 9am and noon will have completed what they wanted to do and will head elsewhere, lowering wait times at all attractions as it gets later in the evening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS them later in the day (or both). After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King and you’ll be set for the rest of the day. Camp Minnie-Mickey may also be a morning priority if you’d like to visit the characters. If you arrive later in the afternoon, focus on getting FASTPASSes for Kilimanjaro Safaris or riding in the standby line if the wait is tolerable. It will most likely close at 6pm because it doesn’t operate in the dark. Unless the temperature is 80+ degrees, Kali River Rapids most likely won’t see wait times longer than 20 minutes. Expedition Everest would be your other FASTPASS priority. It’s a lot of fun to ride in the dark. Plan to do so if you’ll be in the Animal Kingdom after 7pm. You also have a nice opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations or Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours. 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.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re sandwiched in between yesterday’s moderately popular morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s extremely popular evening Extra Magic Hours. We also have the first Fantasmic in more than a month scheduled tomorrow night. With Fantasmic scheduled every night next week, few people will have their eyes on Hollywood Studios. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and heading straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Make Toy Story Mania your priority because it will have the longest afternoon waits and FASTPASSes will still likely run out by noon, even with the recommendation. If you can’t arrive early, crowds do thin out after the 3:45pm Parade. Few people Park Hop over to the Studios in the afternoon or evening when no nighttime entertainment is scheduled. The restaurants aren’t particularly outstanding and the 8pm close is unattractive when considering transit times. If you couldn’t get to the major attractions in the morning or with FASTPASS, visit them after 6:30pm. Wait times are often inflated after 7pm and that 20 minute posted wait at Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster may very well be just five or ten. Random characters should also appear in the Animation Building between 4:50pm and 6:50pm. While it’s impossible to know who will appear, it’s usually a mixture of common and rarer characters. If you have interest in the characters, it’s worth checking out. Character should switch off appearing at 4:50pm, 5:20pm, 5:50pm, and 6:20pm. Expect two sets of characters to appear. One set will begin meeting at 4:50pm and 5:50pm and the other set at 5:20pm and 6:20pm. Because it isn’t advertised, wait times are usually short. It’s also an excellent time to meet the characters that normally appear in the Animation Building – Sorcerer Mickey, Winnie the Pooh, and characters from The Incredibles. The biggest problem you’ll likely run into is trying to schedule the various stage shows that run on a set schedule.

Magic Kingdom is also rated “green” today, but only under certain conditions. The morning will be an excellent time to tour, especially with the average overall crowd level and evening Extra Magic Hours. 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 10pm. 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 1pm to 10pm as the bulk of Disney resort guests arrive en masse. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, I recommend beginning in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last because most families will be long gone from the Park by 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 Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. Stay through 2am because crowds will only get smaller and wait times shorter Overall, this coming Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday will all be less crowded, but today will be less crowded than yesterday or tomorrow, which is why we have the green rating. You’ll be in much better shape if you wait for a more recommended day unless you plan to take full advantage of the morning and visit the less popular attractions in the afternoon when crowds are heavier.

Monday February 13

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 (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 8pm – 11pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. 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 for the Main Street Electrical Parade or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests and the first Fantasmic scheduled since the beginning of January. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. I’m looking towards Thursday and Friday in particular as better days to visit. Because of that, there’s really no reason to head in that 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, at least until after 10:00pm when people begin to give up and exit. On top of that, 9,000+ people, many of them Disney resort guests, will be exiting Fantasmic around 7:30pm and again at 9pm and the exit is located right next to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. You can have a moderate amount of success if you arrive early, but with two recommended days coming up, there’s really no reason to press your luck.

Magic Kingdom is not recommended for a variety of reasons. First, we have only the second Main Street Electrical Parade since January 20th scheduled at 7pm and the Parade isn’t scheduled again until Thursday. The Main Street Electrical Parade is only scheduled on four nights this week and it’s extremely popular. Anyone who wants to see the Parade will need to be at the Magic Kingdom tonight, Thursday night, Friday night, or Saturday night. Because most people don’t opt for the Park Hopper upgrade, they will need to spend their entire day at the Magic Kingdom in order to see the Main Street Electrical Parade at night, which is why the Magic Kingdom is so much busier when the nighttime Parade is scheduled. Second, a lot of people travel over the weekend and naturally head to the Magic Kingdom on Monday for their first full day. Finally, Friday would be a better day to see the Main Street Electrical Parade because the evening crowd level will be lower. 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. That may be Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, Rapunzel, Tinker Bell, or something else. You may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for the nighttime spectaculars. The best viewing locations for Main Street Electrical Parade are located along the Parade route in Frontierland and Liberty Square because they offer a view that is just as good as Main Street, but don’t require the excessive waits. Still, with the limited availability of the Parade this week, you’ll likely want to find spots about 20 minutes before the Parade begins. Note that crowds will be increasing dramatically at the end of the week. While Magic Kingdom is expressly not recommended today, it likely won’t be much more crowded than this Friday, just because so many people will be in Disney World this weekend and into next week.

Tuesday February 14

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park for a number of reasons. We don’t have special events, Extra Magic Hours, or anything specific drawing people toward it. Yesterday’s and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hours will be more popular with Disney resort guests. We also have Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios attracting a lot of off-site and on-site visitors alike and it’s early enough in the week that many people on weeklong vacations will be saving Animal Kingdom for later in the week. Overall, today and Saturday are the best days of the week to visit. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Once you get through these two attractions, you have little to worry about other than trying to get to the scheduled shows. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon shows, so try to see the first or last show of the day. You’ll also want to get to DinoLand USA before 10:30am to ride Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR because those two attractions are popular. Still, they aren’t necessarily your top morning priorities and you can easily FASTPASS them throughout the day if need arises. If you’re interesting the Character Trails at Camp Minnie-Mickey, also plan to head over there about five minutes before the characters are scheduled to appear. Each character has a separate line and wait times add up quickly in the afternoon. Ordinarily, you’ll find Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Chip, Dale, Pocahontas and possibly other characters like Pluto, Brer Bear, Miss Bunny, Meeko, Thumper, and others. If you can’t visit the characters early in the morning, plan to head over about ten minutes before a Festival of the Lion King show is scheduled to begin. Lion King lets about 1,000 people out once per hour and the exit is right near the lines for the characters. Despite “only” being open nine hours, you can still see most of what the Animal Kingdom has to offer in one day, provided you arrive early in the morning, tour efficiently, collect FASTPASSes, and keep an eye on the time in order to see the scheduled stage shows. Finally, crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Plan to return to any favorites from 4:45pm through close when waits will be shorter than the afternoon.

Epcot is not recommended. We have the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting the majority of Disney resort guests and a lot of off-site visitors who will naturally visit Epcot after the Magic Kingdom yesterday. While Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios helps, it shouldn’t pull enough people away to make a discernable difference in wait times. Magic Kingdom won’t be particularly popular with short hours and the lack of Main Street Electrical Parade. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or are certain you’ll arrive prior to 8am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended. Other than yesterday, this is the first Fantasmic since the first week in January. On top of that, a lot of people will be visiting Magic Kingdom on Monday for Main Street Electrical Parade and then Hollywood Studios today for Fantasmic, especially without evening Extra Magic Hours or Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled. The addition of Fantasmic to every night this week other than Sunday and the fact that we’re coming off a popular evening Extra Magic Hours/Fantasmic combo at the Studios does help. However, we can’t overlook the sizable off-site contingent and lack of nighttime activities at the other Parks. You can still have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Do this most any day and you have little to worry about for the rest of the day. The only other complication is getting to the Studios’ many shows that run on a set schedule and the lengthy high capacity attractions like Great Movie Ride. For Fantasmic, I always recommend the Fantasmic Dining Package, which guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. While it still requires you to arrive at least 30 minutes early, it’s better than the 60+ minutes you’re looking at without the Package. On the Disney Dining Plan, you can book the Fantasmic Dining Package for one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and for two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby, which is the same cost as it would be otherwise. It also includes the appetizer, which is a nice bonus. Overall, it’s not a great day to visit the Studios and see Fantasmic, but arriving early and touring efficiently is more important than picking the “right day.”

Wednesday February 15

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

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

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

It’s the busiest day of the week at Animal Kingdom. The morning Extra Magic Hour will attract the bulk of the Disney resort crowd and there’s no evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment going on at the other Parks, which will cause a lot of off-site guests to visit as well. Most people prefer to visit the other Parks when they’re either open longer or have special evening entertainment like Main Street Electrical Parade. When none of that is available, they’ll default to the Animal Kingdom. Although Fantasmic will help pull people away, it won’t be enough to make Animal Kingdom significantly less crowded. With both yesterday and tomorrow recommended, there’s no reason to visit today.

It’s an above-average day at Epcot. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been moderately attended by Disney resort guests and they won’t be looking to return today. However, we don’t have a lot going on at the other Parks, which means a pretty good amount of off-site visitors will be headed to Epcot. I’m looking toward tomorrow as having lower crowds and shorter waits, thanks to morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade attracting people to Magic Kingdom. However, today won’t be terrible by any means. Plan to arrive as early as possible and either follow a touring plan or head straight to Soarin’, followed by Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission Space. You’ll be in good shape if you’ve moved to the World Showcase by 1pm, starting with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway.

Hollywood Studios is not expressly recommended. We don’t have evening Extra Magic Hours or Main Street Electrical Parade to help pull people away from the Studios. It’s also later in the week, which means a lot of casual vacationers on a weeklong trip will be looking at the Studios after spending Monday at Magic Kingdom and Tuesday at Epcot. While Animal Kingdom will draw enough Disney resort guests to make it busier than any other day this week, it won’t do a lot to lower the crowd level at the other Parks, especially when Epcot and Magic Kingdom don’t have anything drawing people toward them. With the low overall crowd level it won’t be a terrible day to visit the Studios, especially if you can’t fit it in on a “more recommended” day. As always, you’ll have the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, followed by Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Get these attractions out of the way in the morning and you’re in good shape to enjoy the Studios’ high capacity shows and secondary attractions later in the morning. You’ll want to strongly consider taking a sizable afternoon break before returning in the evening to re-ride the major attractions with FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day, have dinner, and enjoy Fantasmic.

Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. The 9pm close and lack of Main Street Electrical Parade will cause a lot of people to look elsewhere. Many Disney resort guests will wait for tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade combo and even more people will be looking forward to Friday’s and Saturday’s extended operating hours, which will continue through the coming week. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway). You may also want to prioritize one of the two most popular characters – Rapunzel or Tinker Bell. With the low overall crowd level and high recommendation 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. Keep in mind that the overall crowd level is going up this weekend, so you’ll want to take advantage of the low crowds now if you are planning to stay for a few more days.

Thursday February 16

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw the majority of Disney resort crowds and the fact that not a whole lot was going on at the other Parks. Today, we have Main Street Electrical Parade attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic continuing to draw people to Hollywood Studios. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. If you’re not riding the thrill rides (Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl), you’ll want to attend the first showing of Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo because those shows will be popular in the afternoon. Collect FASTPASSes for attractions you either want to ride again or couldn’t make it to in the morning and you should be able to do just about everything the Animal Kingdom has to offer, despite the relatively short day. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic, or Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at one of its excellent restaurants. There’s also a public observatory where you can gaze out at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s private savannas and enjoy the same view many guests are paying a premium to have right outside their balconies. A trip to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping also makes a lot of sense.

Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will draw the majority of Disney resort guests and they won’t be attending today as well. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade pulling people towards Magic Kingdom. Arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you’re interested in meeting Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto at the Character Spot, you may also want to head there first thing in the morning before Soarin’ and the other attractions. Because of its limited capacity and lack of FASTPASS, standby waits are a constant 20-50+ minutes throughout much of the day. If you can’t make it before 9:30am, plan to visit after 7pm when waits are shorter. To stay well ahead of the crowds, move up to World Showcase beginning at 11am, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. These are the only two lines you’ll find in the World Showcase (other than the cash registers). Return to Future World after 5pm when most people will have moved on to World Showcase if you have more you’d like to accomplish. Check your Times Guide to see which attractions remain open after 7pm. Normally, it’s only Character Spot, Soarin’, Test Track, Mission: Space, and Spaceship Earth. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios is highly recommended now that Fantasmic has been added to every day this week (other than this past Sunday). This makes Fantasmic’s effect on crowds similar to IllumiNations at Epcot in that it’s available every night. This makes each specific show less enticing. People are more likely to visit the Studios when it has Extra Magic Hours or will default to it when they aren’t attracted to other Parks for one reason or another. While Hollywood Studios won’t be far and away less crowded than other days this week, it’s better than either of the last two days because Magic Kingdom will be so popular and pull so many people away. However, tomorrow will be even better because we’ll have Epcot’s evening Extra Magic Hours pulling even more people away along with Magic Kingdom’s extended hours and both nighttime spectaculars. Despite the recommendation, you’ll still have the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning. After you get through those attractions, it’s just a matter of hitting the various stage shows that run on a set schedule, getting to the character meet and greets, and visiting the other high capacity attractions. For Fantasmic, I always recommend the Fantasmic Dining Package, which guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. While it still requires you to arrive at least 30 minutes early, it’s better than the 60+ minutes you’re looking at without the Package. On the Disney Dining Plan, you can book the Fantasmic Dining Package for one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and for two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby, which is the same cost as it would be otherwise. It also includes the appetizer, which is a nice bonus. Overall, it’s a great day to visit the Studios and see Fantasmic, but arriving early and touring efficiently is more important than picking the “right day.”

Magic Kingdom is going to be busy because of the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a lot of Disney resort guests, the longer operating hours than most days earlier in the week, and the Main Street Electrical Parade, which will attract a lot of off-site guests as well. The Main Street Electrical Parade is extremely popular and it hasn’t been scheduled since Monday. If you would like to see the Parade, your best bet is always an evening Park Hop after spending the majority of your day at a recommended Park. This way, you spend most of your day in a Park with low crowds and short lines and you’ll still be able to enjoy Magic Kingdom’s nighttime spectaculars. For Parade viewing, the least crowded areas are located along the Parade route in Frontierland and Liberty Square and the most crowded spots are along Main Street. Depending on crowds, you may still want scope out a spot about 30 minutes early. Today and Friday are preferable to either Monday or Saturday for Parade viewing because nighttime crowds will be slightly lower. Luckily, we do have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled every day for the next ten days or so. However, that comes with elevated crowds for President’s Day Weekend, so it’s not all good news. Overall, the last two days would have much lower crowds and tomorrow is a better day to see the Parade. The morning Extra Magic Hours is a viable time to tour, but only if you actually arrive by 7:45am to take full advantage of it by visiting the Fantasyland attractions and headliners that are open. If you don’t arrive until later, you’ll find yourself in a Park that is getting progressively busier as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. By the time 1pm rolls around, the Park will be more crowded than during a recommended day and lines will be long enough that it will likely erase any benefit from the morning Extra Magic Hour.

Friday February 17

Animal Kingdom: 9am – 6pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 9am – 1am (Tentatively Recommended)

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended again today. We have an incredibly popular evening Extra Magic Hours at Epcot and longer hours of operation and Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom. While we are usually somewhat concerned about the natural progression of weeklong visitors that will hold off on Animal Kingdom until later in the week, we have a slightly altered crowd progression due to President’s Day. Overall, this will be a great day at Animal Kingdom, though this past Tuesday would have been the best day this week to visit, primarily because of the lower overall crowd level. Now that the overall crowd level is higher, it’s even more important than usual to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Once you complete these two attractions, move on to DinoLand USA or one the major stage shows. As long as you get through DinoLand USA by 11am, you should be fine. Collect FASTPASSes for the headlining attractions you would like to revisit in the afternoon and evening because peak wait times will be long, despite the recommendation. If you’re interested in the Character Trails in Camp Minnie-Mickey, plan to head over about five minutes before the characters are scheduled to appear. Because each character has its own individual line, wait times can quickly add up in the afternoon. If you can’t arrive early, visit about ten minutes before a Lion King show is scheduled to start. Lion King lets about 1,000 people out near the Greeting Trails once per hour and lines are always much longer after the show. Finally, crowds do dissipate after the 3:45pm Parade and it’s usually a good time to return to the major attractions from 4:55pm to 6pm. 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.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park and your best opportunity to see Fantasmic this week. With Fantasmic scheduled most nights 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 popular today with the longer hours of operation and evening entertainment and Epcot’s evening Extra Magic Hour will attract a ton of Disney resort guests. To have the most success, you’ll still want to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Because Toy Story Mania has such a limited capacity, wait times are almost always 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes are 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. 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.

Magic Kingdom comes tentatively recommended. Crowds are only going to get heavier over the next few days, but tonight’s longer hours of operation and the addition of Main Street Electrical Parade will make today attractive to people that arrived earlier in the week. Luckily, yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour/Main Street Electrical Parade combo will have been popular with Disney resort guests and we have similar long hours and Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled every night for the foreseeable future. Although we’ll have even more people arriving today and this weekend, Magic Kingdom is still going to be considerably busier than this past Tuesday or Wednesday. However, it’s a better day to visit than yesterday or any of the next three days, so we do have it classified as recommended. You’ll want to take advantage of that if you’re just arriving. Like any other day, you’ll have the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain), or other attractions that are time sensitive (Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, Astro Orbiter). Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day and you can have a ton of success. You may also want to prioritize the most popular characters. Rapunzel, Tinker Bell, and Ariel (in that order) ordinarily see the longest waits. Consider heading straight for Rapunzel after rope drop if you’re interested in meeting her because wait times will hit 45+ minutes in the afternoon. Consider taking an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so when crowds are heavier to rest up for the evening entertainment. Return in the evening to ride some major headliners with FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day, enjoy some high capacity attractions, have dinner, and watch the nighttime spectaculars. 10pm to 1am will also be an excellent time to tour because more and more people will leave. Save Tomorrowland and then Fantasyland for the end of the night. Overall it’s a recommended day and the best day of the week to catch Main Street Electrical Parade. For the Parade, I recommend scouting out a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square for the 11pm Parade. These locations offer a view that is just as good as Main Street and don’t require the excessive waits. The second Parade is also substantially less crowded than the first, particularly when it’s scheduled this late at night.

Saturday February 18

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom is our best Park to visit. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special events, or anything specific to draw people towards it. We also have a lot of people arriving for a President’s Day Weekend vacation and they won’t be ready to visit Animal Kingdom until early next week, most likely Monday or Wednesday. With the 8am open, you can have a tremendour morning if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. You should have no trouble riding Expedition Everest multiple times in the morning if you so choose. Once you get through these two attractions, you have little to worry about other than trying to get to the scheduled shows. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon shows, so try to see the first or last show of the day. You’ll also want to get to DinoLand USA before 10:30am to ride Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR because those two attractions are popular. Still, they aren’t necessarily your top morning priorities and you can easily FASTPASS them throughout the day if need arises. You should have no trouble seeing 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 6:30pm through close when waits will be shorter than the afternoon. If you’re not planning to arrive early, you can also have success staying through close. Keep an eye on time for the last Safari because it will most likely be 6pm due to darkness.

Epcot is recommended now that Fantasmic is scheduled at Hollywood Studios. We’re coming off a very popular evening Extra Magic Hours last night and those Disney resort guests will not be looking to return today, especially in the morning. Tomorrow would be slightly better because of the popularity of evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom, but today also works if it fits into your itinerary better. We don’t want to visit Animal Kingdom every day, after all. If you do visit, be sure to take care of Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission Space early in the morning. FASTPASS Soarin’ and then Test Track if you’d like to experience them again in the afternoon when wait times are long. If you notice crowds becoming uncomfortably large in Future World by 11am, move on to the World Showcase beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. It’s a great day to stay for IllumiNations because Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended now that Fantasmic is scheduled. We had it tentatively recommended when Fantasmic wasn’t scheduled because Fantasmic was such a crowd magnet when it was only offered on a limited number of nights. While the addition of Fantasmic to every night this week makes each show less appealing, it also makes today’s morning Extra Magic Hour more attractive to Disney resort guests because they’ll also have the opportunity to see Fantasmic and enjoy the longer operating hours than other days during the week. Because most Disney resort guests will be arriving later in the morning, you can still have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible, arrive by 7:45am, and head straight to Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. However, you’re in trouble if you arrive at 10am with everyone else. Make full use of the morning and you don’t necessarily need to change your plans, but it’s going to be busier than recommended days in the afternoon and you’ll likely want to take a sizeable afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for Fantasmic, after arriving early in the morning. Overall, I would plan to visit yesterday or tomorrow if you can swing it.

Magic Kingdom is not recommended. While we do have additional availability of Main Street Electrical Parade over the next week and similarly long operating hours each day, we’ll also have a lot of people arriving for a short or moderate length President’s Day vacation that are interested in visiting Magic Kingdom first. Coupled with the number of people on a previous weeklong vacation that will be looking to visit Magic Kingdom before leaving tomorrow, today is going to be busier than yesterday. However, each of the next two days will be similarly crowded. If you couldn’t visit yesterday and can’t wait until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, then today would be better than tomorrow or Monday. You can have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or other time sensitive attractions first, but you’re in trouble if you don’t arrive until 10am or later with everyone else. With the above average overall crowd level, it’s going to be busy from 11am through 11pm. If you are planning to arrive later, try to stay through 1am because crowds and wait times will only get lower as it gets later into the evening.

Sunday February 19

Animal Kingdom: 8am – 8pm (Recommended)

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 12am – 3am

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended again today. You also have a decent opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations, Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours and Main Street Electrical Parade, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner and a look around the resort or take a trip out to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping. You should have no trouble doing just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening, use FASTPASS, and tour efficiently. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS them later in the day (or both). You should be able to ride Everest repeatedly with short waits before 9:30am when crowds are extremely low. After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King. To be in the best shape, make it over to DinoLand USA before 10:30am when crowds begin to build at Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR. With the 8am open, you should be able to get a lot done before the Character Trails open in Camp Minnie-Mickey. If possible, head over to the characters about five minutes before they are scheduled to appear. Each character has its own line, so waits can add up quickly in the afternoon when crowds are much heavier. Finally, keep in mind crowds disperse after the 3:45pm Parade. Waits should only decrease from 6:30pm to close. Return to Expedition Everest, DINOSAUR, Primeval Whirl, or whatever you would like to experience after 6pm, especially if you don’t arrive early. Check the last departure time for Kilimanjaro Safaris because it will most likely be earlier than the rest of the Park closes. It doesn’t operate after dark. Check the Animal Kingdom touring plans section for additional advice.

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

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

Magic Kingdom is going to be very busy today and tomorrow. Sometimes, I mark Magic Kingdom “green” for “tentatively recommended in the morning and late evening” when it’s hosting evening Extra Magic Hours on Sundays. However, the high overall crowd level and Monday holiday complicate things quite a bit. While the morning will be an excellent time to tour through 11:30am or so and the late evening will also see lower crowds, it’s still going to be significantly busier than Tuesday or Wednesday. This past Friday was also highly recommended. When we have a Monday holiday, the Sunday before is often the busiest day of the week at Magic Kingdom when it’s hosting evening Extra Magic Hours and Main Street Electrical Parade. While you can have a lot of success from 9am – 12pm and 12am – 3am, the afternoon is going to be very crowded. If you do visit, plan to hit the major attractions hard early in the morning and consider taking a break or visiting the least popular attractions in the afternoon. A sizable break to rest up for Main Street Electrical Parade, Wishes, and evening Extra Magic Hours would also make a lot of sense. For evening Extra Magic Hours, I recommend beginning in Adventureland and Frontierland before moving up to Liberty Square and over to Tomorrowland. Most people start in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland and crowds will thin out considerably in both areas by 1:30am. Save Peter Pan’s Flight and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night. Finally, for Main Street Electrical Parade, scout out spots along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square for the 11pm Parade. These areas are significantly less crowded than Main Street and require a shorter wait.

Monday February 20

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 7am – 8am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 1am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s extremely difficult to get out there by 6:45am to take full advantage of it. If you’re staying at a Monorail Deluxe Resort, you’re looking at a 20+ minute drive to the Animal Kingdom, plus time for the bus to arrive – not to mention getting multiple people up and ready early in the morning with just one shower and limited space. At 5:30am. Or earlier. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 6:45am, then you can have a lot of success because the crowd level won’t be that high, but it will be busier in the afternoon than other recommended days this week due to a higher number of Disney resort guests than usual. You’re much better served holding off until Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday if you’re not going to arrive until 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 for the Main Street Electrical Parade. Although Epcot is our best Park to visit, it will still be crowded with the high overall crowd level, the holiday, and the number of people that will be finishing up a short President’s Day Weekend vacation. o have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. You may also want to visit the Character Spot first thing if it’s of interest because waits will be long all day and it doesn’t offer FASTPASS. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to visit any non-headlining attractions. If you’d like to ride Soarin’ or Test Track again in the afternoon or evening, collect FASTPASSes for it in the morning or early afternoon. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm – it’s usually only Soarin’, Test Track, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot. Finally, it’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests and Fantasmic that will keep crowds heavy all day. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. I’m looking towards tomorrow and Friday as the best days to visit in the future. Yesterday was also highly recommended. Because of that, there’s really no reason to head in the Studios’ direction today. Plus, there are only a few attractions open during evening Extra Magic Hours and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, at least until after 11pm when people begin to give up and exit. 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. 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 10pm and you’re in trouble if you don’t arrive until 10:30am or later.

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

Tuesday February 21

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

IllumiNations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 8am – 1am (Highly Recommended)

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

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park for a number of reasons. We don’t have special events, Extra Magic Hours, or anything specific drawing people toward it. Yesterday’s and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hours will be more popular with Disney resort guests. We also have Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios attracting a lot of off-site and on-site visitors alike and it’s early enough in the week that many people on weeklong vacations will be saving Animal Kingdom for later in the week. Overall, today and Saturday are the best days of the week to visit. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. You’ll have no trouble riding both with very low waits before 9am. Once you get through these two attractions, you have little to worry about other than trying to get to the scheduled shows. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon shows, so try to see the first or last show of the day. You’ll also want to get to DinoLand USA before 10:30am to ride Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR because those two attractions are popular. Still, they aren’t necessarily your top morning priorities and you can easily FASTPASS them throughout the day if need arises. You should have no trouble experiencing most everything Animal Kingdom has to offer in one day, provided you arrive early in the morning, tour efficiently, collect FASTPASSes, and keep an eye on the time in order to see the scheduled stage shows. Finally, crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Plan to return to any favorites from 6:00pm through close when waits will be shorter than the afternoon, but be sure to check the departure time of the last Kilimanjaro Safari. It’s often around 6pm due to darkness.

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

Magic Kingdom is highly recommended, though tomorrow will be less crowded. Wednesdays are historically the least crowded day of the week at the Magic Kingdom due to the natural progression of weeklong vacationers that visit Magic Kingdom early and late on their trip. You can still have a lot of success if you visit today, especially with morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot drawing Disney resort guests away and Fantasmic’s popularity with both on- and off-site visitors. However, some of the smartest vacationers know that it’s a good idea to skip Magic Kingdom on national holidays and they’ll be visiting today instead. That won’t be as much of an issue tomorrow. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. You may have other time sensitive attractions on your itinerary like Astro Orbiter or Tomorrowland Indy Speedway as well. While these aren’t “the most popular” or “headlining” attractions, they are still morning priorities because they have guaranteed uncomfortable waits from 10am onward. Also consider prioritizing the most popular characters – Rapunzel, Tinker Bell, and Ariel. Rapunzel in particular sees 60+ minute waits in the afternoon. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should be able to accomplish a ton. Because Wishes and Main Street Electrical Parade are scheduled a little later in the evening, I recommend a lengthy afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds are heavier. This is the least stressful way to enjoy the Magic Kingdom. Return in the evening to ride some attractions with FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day, have dinner, see some high capacity attractions, and enjoy the evening entertainment. For Main Street Electrical Parade, scout out a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square for the 11pm Parade. These areas offer a view that is just as good as Main Street, but they don’t require the excessive waits. The later Electrical Parade is also much less popular than the first, particularly when it’s scheduled this late. Still, you may want to arrive about 20 minutes early to secure front row spots. If you aren’t planning to arrive early, the late night hours are also less busy. Stay through until 1am because waits will only decrease as it gets later in the evening. Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh, and the Mountain rides will see considerably shorter waits after 11pm.

Wednesday February 22

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 7am – 8am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

Magic Kingdom: 8am – 1am (Most Recommended)

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

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

It’s an above-average day at Epcot. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been well attended by Disney resort guests and they won’t be looking to return today. Disney resort guests are more likely to head to Animal Kingdom today and the addition of Fantasmic means a decent number of off-site guests will be headed to Hollywood Studios as well. In most scenarios, I recommend heading to Magic Kingdom today to take advantage of the lower crowd level there and holding off on Epcot until tomorrow. However, Epcot works fine today too, provided you follow my broken-record advice – arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Soarin’, followed by Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space. You may also want to take a more compartmentalized two-day approach, which gives you the benefit of enjoying the lowest possible crowds in both Future World and World Showcase each day. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day for Soarin’, Test Track, 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, and Spaceship Earth continue operating from 7pm – 9pm. Overall, it’s a good day to visit Epcot and a fine day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations, provided you tour efficiently in the morning.

Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit today for the exact same reasons it was recommended yesterday. With the 8am open, you have a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of low crowds from 8am – 10am. Head straight to Fantasyland and you should have no trouble experiencing all of the rides (other than Mickey’s PhilharMagic, which should be saved for later) in 40 or 50 minutes. By the time 1pm rolls around, the standby wait at Peter Pan’s Flight and Winnie the Pooh will be 50+ minutes. In other words, you’ll be able to experience Peter Pan’s Flight, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Mad Tea Party, Prince Regal Carousel, and it’s a small world in less time than it would take to wait for Peter Pan’s Flight in the afternoon. You may also want to prioritize other attractions like Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway, Astro Orbiter, or whatever else you’d like to visit first. The three most popular characters in Magic Kingdom are Rapunzel, Tinker Bell, and Ariel/Prince Eric. To experience Tinker Bell or Ariel with the shortest waits, plan to get in line 10 or 15 minutes before they are scheduled to appear. Unfortunately, Rapunzel is the most difficult to meet with a short wait. She ordinarily begins appearing at 9:15am and people will head straight over at 8am, causing the actual wait to be 90ish minutes first thing in the morning. From then on, the wait is usually 45+ minutes for the rest of the day. If you want to meet Rapunzel, I recommend heading over around 5pm. She should continue appearing through 7:15pm, even if the signage states otherwise. You can ask the attendant earlier in the day to verify her last meet. Otherwise, consider taking an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so to rest up for the evening entertainment when crowds are heaviest. Return in the evening for some rides with FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day, dinner, some high capacity attractions, and the nighttime entertainment. For Main Street Electrical Parade, the least crowded viewing locations are in Liberty Square and Frontierland. The 11pm Parade will also be significantly less crowded than the 9pm Parade because it’s too late for most families to attend. Finally, the late night is also a great time to tour. Stay through 1am if you’re not planning to arrive early today or tomorrow because wait times will only decrease as it gets later and later. Return to Fantasyland after 11:45pm to find much lower crowds than the afternoon.

Thursday February 23

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 7am – 8am

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

Animal Kingdom and Epcot are our best choices. We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw a lot of Disney resort guests and the fact that not a whole lot was going on at the other Parks. Today, we have morning Extra Magic Hour attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic attracting people toward Hollywood Studios. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. If you’re not riding the thrill rides (Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl), you’ll want to attend the first showing of Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo because those shows will be popular in the afternoon. Collect FASTPASSes for attractions you either want to ride again or couldn’t make it to in the morning and you should be able to do just about everything the Animal Kingdom has to offer, despite the relatively short day. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic, or Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Stay through close if there’s more that you want to accomplish because wait times will only decrease from 6pm onward. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at one of its excellent restaurants. There’s also a public observatory where you can gaze out at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s private savannas and enjoy the same view many guests are paying a premium to have right outside their balconies. A trip to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping also makes a lot of sense.

Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will draw the majority of Disney resort guests and they won’t be attending today as well. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade pulling people towards Magic Kingdom and Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios continuing to draw crowds. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. If you arrive later, plan to FASTPASS Soarin’ and then Test Track as soon as possible. Those rides will have 60+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am due to their popularity and relatively low capacities. Move on to the World Showcase beginning around 11am if crowds begin to build in Future World, beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Return to Future World after 5pm if you have more to accomplish and to ride/re-ride the headliners with FASTPASS. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

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

The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will lure a decent number of Disney resort guests, making the Park busier than yesterday or tomorrow from 11am onward. The fact that we have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled every night this week certainly “helps” distribute crowds more evenly, even though the Disney resort crowd will predictably visit when Extra Magic Hours are scheduled. Nonetheless, today won’t be far and away busier than other days this week and you can have success provided you take advantage of the morning Extra Magic Hour by arriving no later than 6:40am and heading straight to Fantasyland or other open attractions. Much like yesterday, you’ll have a tremendous opportunity to get a lot done between 7am and 10am. Move on to the headlining Mountain rides when they open and you’ll be in excellent shape. However, you will find that crowds are heavier than recommended days in the afternoon. You’ll probably want to take a break from 1pm to 6pm or so and return in the evening to ride 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 the afternoon will be busier.

Friday February 24

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 8am – 1am (Recommended)

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

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

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. Although Disney added Fantasmic, it’s still one of the two best days of the week to visit. We’re coming off a popular Fantasmic last night and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour, Fantasmic, and longer hours of operation will also be more popular. We also have Fantasmic and evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled Sunday. That means 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 Vission 3D. Check the week’s Times Guide to verify appearance times. Two other popular characters appear in the Animation Building in the Animation Courtyard. Sorcerer Mickey in particular has long afternoon waits and The Incredibles characters also tend to have decent lines. Since both characters meet indoors and their lines aren’t usually over 20 minutes long, you should be able to find them with decent waits later in the day if you have other morning priorities. Finally, you’ll find some characters in the morning near Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat that won’t appear later in the afternoon. Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Chip, Dale, Friends of Winnie the Pooh, Goofy, and Pluto are all common, but no specific character is guaranteed to appear. For Fantasmic, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the theater. You’ll still need to arrive at least 30 minutes early, but it’s better than the 60+ minutes early you’ll need to arrive without the package. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it only costs one table service credit (except at Hollywood Brown Derby, which still costs two credits as it would otherwise) and includes the appetizer. As far as general seating is concerned, the best seats are about half way up in the center sections, but be prepared to arrive an hour early for those seats. Sit any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and it’s more difficult to see what’s happening on the water. Overall, it’s a great day to visit the Studios, but arriving early and touring efficiently is more important than picking “the right day.”

Magic Kingdom is recommended as well, though this past Tuesday and Wednesday would have been better. This coming Sunday is also highly recommended and the best day to visit overall since February 15^th, due mostly to the lower overall crowd level. If possible, I would visit Magic Kingdom on a recommended day earlier in the week and head to Hollywood Studios today. However, today will be less busy than yesterday or tomorrow and is thus recommended. Beginning tomorrow, we’re back to the non-peak schedule, which means fewer Main Street Electrical Parades during the week and shorter hours of operation at all four major theme parks. Today, we have Epcot attracting a lot of Disney resort guests and it’s late enough in the week that many people on a weeklong vacation will have already visited Magic Kingdom and they’ll be looking elsewhere. While the Princess Half Marathon this weekend does complicate things a little bit, the event is nowhere near as big as last month’s Walt Disney World Marathon, which is by far the biggest marathon event of the year. Overall, Magic Kingdom is recommended because it’s the third best day of the week there. To have success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever other attractions you deem most important on your itinerary. Consider taking a sizable afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for the evening entertainment. For Main Street Electrical Parade, consider scouting out a viewing location along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square for the 11pm Parade. These locations offer a view that is just as good as Main Street and don’t require the excessive waits. The 11pm Parade is also much less crowded because it’s so late at night.

Saturday February 25

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm and 8:30pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom is the only expressly recommended Park. Today is the beginning of the return to the non-peak operating schedule, which means shorter hours of operation at all four major theme parks and a limited number of Main Street Electrical Parades scheduled each week. Those arriving for a short Princess Marathon Weekend vacation are more likely to visit Magic Kingdom today or Monday, in anticipation of running their race tomorrow. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris. If you’re not interested in riding the thrill rides (Expedition Everest, DINOSAUR, Primeval Whirl), head to the first Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo the Musical because they can get crowded in the afternoon. If you are headed to DinoLand USA, try to arrive by 10:30am. Crowds begin to pick up in that area around 11am. Finally, crowds do dissipate shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Plan to return to the major attractions from 6:30pm through close if you couldn’t get to them earlier in the day or with FASTPASS or you would simply like to experience them again. It’s usually a great time to return to DINOSAUR, Primeval Whirl, and Expedition Everest. If you’re planning to ride Kilimanjaro Safaris in the evening, make sure to check your Times Guide for the departure time of the last vehicles. It is ordinarily well before 8pm because the attraction does not operate in the dark.

Epcot is normally recommended on Saturdays. However, there are a few mitigating factors contributing to its “not recommended” status. First, Epcot is hosting the Disney Royal Family 5K this morning. Although the race begins and ends outside Epcot and does not include theme park admission, we can still expect a sizable number of participants to stick around for Epcot’s opening. You may remember that I’m not as concerned about a similar race over Marathon Weekend in January. This is because February’s Princess races are more female-oriented, with fewer men participating than if it had a more innocuous theme and title. In recent years, Epcot is much less busy on the Saturday of the Family Run in January than it is during the Saturday Family Run in February and we can expect that trend to continue this coming year. More often than not, both partners in a relationship are runners and the men are going to want to participate in something, even if it’s a 5K Family race. With two recommended days coming up, I would recommend holding off until Sunday or Monday if you can (with Monday being best). This past Thursday was also highly recommended. If you are headed to Epcot today, keep in mind that more people than usual will be at rope drop and it may be difficult parking due to the race course. Plus, a lot of the people that are present will be in good shape, making it more difficult to inch past them on the way to Soarin’. Overall, you can still have success if you arrive early and visit Soarin’ and Test Track first thing in the morning, but it’s going to be more difficult than recommended days and crowds will be noticeably heavier, particularly until 3pm.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended now that Fantasmic has been added and it features operating hours longer than yesterday or tomorrow. The sizable Disney resort contingent numbers 75,000+ people during a popular marathon weekend like this one. Because Disney sells the Extra Magic Hour program so well in its marketing materials, many of these Disney resort guests follow the Extra Magic Hours schedule because they think it’s Disney telling them where they belong each day. The longer hours are also appealing to anyone that equates longer hours with being able to do more in the Parks. Of course, the exact opposite is what ends up happening because the additional people cause lines to be longer at attractions, quick services, restaurants, and stores. In addition, FASTPASSes will run out sooner, peak wait times will be higher, and shows are more likely to fill to capacity, in turn causing you to show up earlier and wait longer. While you can have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and arrive by 7:40am, most people will want to visit another day. Avoid it unless you can’t visit any other day or are certain you’ll arrive by 7:40am and plan to hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning.

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

Sunday February 26

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Tentatively Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 7pm – 10pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended again today. We don’t have anything drawing people towards it, tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour will be more popular with Disney resort guests, and it’s far enough away from the Marathon that crowds and traffic shouldn’t be affected much. Still, if you’re coming from the Magic Kingdom or Epcot areas, you may run into minor traffic problems before 9am. It shouldn’t be much of a concern overall, especially if you are coming from off-site, an Animal Kingdom area resort, or a Downtown Disney area resort. The short hours also guarantee few Marathon runners and their families will be arriving later in the afternoon. You also have a decent opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations, Magic Kingdom for a few late night attractions and Wishes, or Hollywood Studios for evening Extra Magic Hours and 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. Despite “only” having nine hours at the Animal Kingdom during the day, you should be able to do just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS them later in the day (or both). After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King. To be in the best shape, make it over to DinoLand USA before 10:30am when crowds begin to build at Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR. If you’re interested in the Camp Minnie-Mickey Character Trail Meet and Greets, you’ll want to try to arrive about five minutes before the characters are scheduled to appear. Because each character has a separate line, wait times accumulate fast in the afternoon. Each Lion King show also lets about 1,000 people out right near the characters. If you can’t visit early in the morning, plan to arrive about ten minutes before a Lion King show begins. That gives you about 40 minutes before a lot of people will descend on the area. Finally, keep in mind that crowds disperse after the 3:45pm Parade. Wait should only decrease from 4:45pm to close. Return to Expedition Everest, DINOSAUR, Kilimanjaro Safaris or whatever you would like to experience after 4:45pm or with FASTPASS during the day, especially if you don’t arrive until later in the morning or afternoon. Check the Animal Kingdom touring plans section for additional advice.

Epcot is tentatively recommended, though tomorrow or Wednesday would be better. We have the Princess Half Marathon this morning, which begins and ends at Epcot. Although the event begins at 5:45am, it won’t end completely until a little after 9am. Because the runners have the right of way and the race goes through World Showcase and Future World, driving to Epcot, parking, and moving around the Park in the early morning may be difficult. This will be mitigated somewhat if you ride Disney transportation or walk to Epcot from an Epcot area resort because the bus drivers will be well apprised of alternative routes and you won’t have to deal with any detours. By 10am, Epcot won’t look much different than any other day. We don’t need to be too concerned about runners sticking around to tour Epcot immediately after the race and their families won’t be much of an issue either. Still, you’ll want to visit tomorrow if you’re flexible because there won’t be any transportation or logistical problems in arriving at or touring Epcot.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests and Fantasmic that is popular with everyone else. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. I’m looking towards Monday, Thursday, or Friday as significantly better days to visit. Yesterday was also highly recommended. Because of that, there’s really no reason to head in the Studios’ direction today. Plus, there are only a few attractions open during evening Extra Magic Hours and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day, at least until after 9:00pm when people begin to give up and exit. On top of that, 9,000+ people, many of them Disney resort guests, will be exiting Fantasmic around 7:30pm and the exit is located right next to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. You can have a moderate amount of success if you arrive early, but with three recommended days coming up, there’s really no reason to press your luck. Overall, this will be one of the two busiest days of the week at the Studios and it should be avoided unless you don’t care about the heavier crowds or can’t visit any other day. Tomorrow will be significantly less crowded.

Magic Kingdom is the most recommended Park. It’s the first day in about a week and a half without Main Street Electrical Parade and longer hours of operation. Tomorrow, we have both the incredibly popular evening Extra Magic Hours and Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled. Marathon runners and their families, along with a ton of people who arrived at Disney World over the weekend, will be looking toward Monday to visit. Overall, it’s the best day to visit since February 15^th, thanks mostly to the lower overall crowd level and lack of Main Street Electrical Parade. This coming Tuesday is also recommended, even with the morning Extra Magic Hour. Wednesday is a bit of a wild card depending on what you’d like to accomplish and what times you can tour. To make the most of today, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever attractions you deem most important to your itinerary. That may include a mixture of attractions that includes Astro Orbiter or Tomorrowland Indy Speedway. You may also want to prioritize the Rapunzel or Tinker Bell Meet and Greets. These characters, in particular, will have the longest afternoon waits and don’t offer FASTPASS. Despite the recommendation, Magic Kingdom remains the most popular theme park in the world and the overall crowd level is still average. While it won’t be empty in the afternoon, crowds will still be much lower than any day over the last week and a half. Collect FASTPASSes efficiently for use in the afternoon when waits are longer, visit some of the less popular or high capacity attractions, or consider taking an afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm or so. Luckily, the cooler weather does make it easier to tour straight through for most of the day if you’re up for it.

Monday February 27

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am

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

Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. 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, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday if you’re not going to arrive until 9am or later.

Epcot is highly recommended and you’ll want to head in that direction if you have other plans for Hollywood Studios. 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 Thursday or Friday for Extra Magic Hours and off-site visitors will be headed to the Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade along with many on-site visitors for evening Extra Magic Hours. Although Disney has moved the morning Extra Magic Hour to Thursday from tomorrow, we can still expect tomorrow to be busier than today. With no Electrical Parade tomorrow and shorter hours at Magic Kingdom, more people will be defaulting to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. If you’re interested in the Character Spot to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto, you may want to head there first thing. It doesn’t offer FASTPASS and afternoon lines are long due to its limited capacity. Plan to visit before 9:30am or save it for after 7:30pm. To take it a step further, continue up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am to stay in front of the incoming crowds for as long as possible. If you’ll be visiting Epcot over just one day, start with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Although we do have a high recommendation and a lower overall crowd level than we’ve seen over the last ten days, the peak wait times at Soarin’ and Test Track will still be in the 50-60 minute range. You’ll still want to arrive prior to Park opening or plan to FASTPASS them as soon as possible.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. Previously, Hollywood Studios was scheduled to close at 6pm with no Fantasmic. Although Disney has extended the close to 7pm and scheduled Fantasmic at 7pm, it won’t have an effect great enough to make the Studios less recommended. We’re still coming off a more popular night last night with both evening Extra Magic Hours and Fantasmic featured. Fantasmic is also scheduled every night this week, making tonight’s show less attractive. People won’t visit because Fantasmic is or isn’t scheduled, but they’ll default to it when something isn’t attracting them elsewhere. With evening Extra Magic Hours and Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled at Magic Kingdom, few people will be eyeballing the Studios. Hollywood Studios is Disney World’s third or four most popular theme park and we’ll have a sizable number of people still in town for the Princess Marathon Weekend. Many of them will want to visit Magic Kingdom or Epcot rather than Hollywood Studios, which also contributes to its high ranking. Finally, it’s early in the week, which means a lot of people that arrived over the weekend for a traditional spring break/weeklong vacation won’t be interested in visiting the Studios this early on their trip. Overall, today is the best day of the week to visit the Studios and you’ll want to advantage of that depending on how you plan to fit Epcot into your itinerary. Despite the recommendation, it is still necessary to arrive prior to Park opening if you want to ride Toy Story Mania with a nominal standby wait. We’re still looking at peak waits in the 60 minute range in the afternoon, even with the recommendation and low overall crowd level. Because of its small capacity, it simply can’t handle the number of people that want to ride on any given day. Your other morning priorities are Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Once you get through those attractions you’ll have very little to worry about for the rest of the day. Keep an eye on the time because the biggest problem people generally run into at the Studios, other than riding the headliners, is timing the many scheduled shows. For Fantasmic, you’ll want to arrive about 60 minutes early to guarantee good seats together. If that sounds like it’s about 30 minutes too long, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. It will still require you to arrive at least 20 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it saves the stress of having to decide when it’s time to line up and decreases the overall wait. The Fantasmic Dining Package makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. Plus, it includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Disney Dining Plan. While it’s officially a recommended day, arriving prior to Park opening and hitting the headliners first thing is more important than which day you pick. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

It’s going to be much busier at Magic Kingdom than the overall crowd level would indicate. We have both the incredibly popular evening Extra Magic Hours and Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled today. The Parade wasn’t scheduled yesterday and won’t be scheduled again until Thursday. Obviously, anyone that wants to see it will need to be in the Magic Kingdom when it’s offered. Because most people don’t opt for the Park Hopper upgrade or don’t use it once they’ve purchased it, many people will need to be in the Magic Kingdom for most of the day in order to see it. Yesterday and tomorrow would be less crowded. While we do have the morning Extra Magic Hour on Tuesday, it won’t be the driving force that tonight’s Extra Magic Hours/Electrical Combo will turn out to be. We’ll also have a considerable number of people fixated on Wednesday’s 24 hour day. Thursday would also be a better day to see the Main Street Electrical Parade because nighttime crowd levels would be lower and morning Extra Magic Hour is no longer scheduled. If you don’t care about the Main Street Electrical Parade, you’re much better off visiting yesterday or tomorrow. If you are headed to the Magic Kingdom, your best plan of attack is to arrive by 8:30am and head straight to Fantasyland (Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain), or other time sensitive attractions (Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, Astro Orbiter). You may also want to prioritize the two most popular characters – Rapunzel and/or Tinker Bell. Collect FASTPASSes for the major attractions you’d like to experience again later in the day or for rides that already have long lines. You’ll likely want to take a sizable afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm when crowds are at their heaviest. Return in the evening to ride some major attractions with FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day, have dinner, and enjoy the evening entertainment. It’s not going to be a great evening Extra Magic Hours because it starts early enough in the evening that many families will be able to stay for most or all of the three hours. Still, save Fantasyland and Tomorrowland for the last hour because crowds will only get smaller as it gets later in the evening. Overall, this is going to be a busy day and should be avoided if possible.

Tuesday February 28

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Animal Kingdom is highly recommended. If it weren’t for the difficulty in scheduling Magic Kingdom around the Extra Magic Hours/Electrical Parade/One More Disney Day complications, it would be the most recommended Park. We’re coming off a popular morning Extra Magic Hour yesterday and Epcot and Hollywood Studios will be bigger draws. Although we lost the morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot, we can still expect it to be a bigger draw than Animal Kingdom with off-site guests and those who are on a short trip to “take advantage of” the One More Disney Day on Wednesday. Many of these Disney fans enjoy visiting Epcot and Magic Kingdom much more than the Studios or Animal Kingdom. 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. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon shows, so try to see the first or last show of the day. You’ll also want to get to DinoLand USA before 10:30am to ride Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR because those two attractions are popular. Still, they aren’t necessarily your top morning priorities and you can easily FASTPASS them throughout the day if need arises. Finally, consider visiting Camp Minnie-Mickey just before it opens if you’re interesting in character meet and greets. At the Character Greeting Trails, you’ll find Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto, along with several other characters. Pocahontas should appear for most of the day and other characters like Meeko, Thumper, Miss Bunny, Brer Bear, and others are also common. Despite “only” being open eight hours, you can still see most of what the Animal Kingdom has to offer in one day, provided you arrive early in the morning, tour efficiently, collect FASTPASSes, and keep an eye on the time in order to see the scheduled stage shows. Finally, crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Plan to return to any favorites from 4:00pm through close when waits will be shorter than the afternoon.

Epcot is not recommended, even if it’s no longer scheduled for morning Extra Magic Hour. Most people on a traditional weeklong vacation will be interested in visiting Epcot twice over the course of six or seven days. Normally, Disney resort guests visit primarily on Tuesdays and Fridays for Extra Magic Hours. With the 24 hour day at Magic Kingdom tomorrow, Disney has moved the Extra Magic Hours schedule around to help accommodate the short amount of time before Magic Kingdom closes and then reopens on Thursday. That means Epcot offers morning Extra Magic Hour on Thursday and evening Extra Magic Hours on Friday. While we can expect each of these days to be more popular with Disney resort guests, many of them will prefer to visit once earlier in the week and once later in the week. It’s not common for casual vacationers (or really, anyone) to visit the same theme park over two consecutive days. We’ll also have several thousand people arriving for a short trip to “take advantage of” tomorrow’s 24 hour day at Magic Kingdom. Because most of Disney’s “hardcore fan base” likes to visit Magic Kingdom and Epcot in particular, we can expect a decent number of those types of people to be visiting Epcot as well. Finally, Magic Kingdom will not be a substantial draw with just the morning Extra Magic Hour. A lot of people will have visited last night for the evening Extra Magic Hours/Electrical Parade combo and a lot of people will be looking towards Wednesday for the whole 24-hour-thing. When Disney World’s most popular theme park isn’t attracting people, they have to go somewhere else – expect enough to go Epcot to make it busier than we’d like. While today won’t be slammed, yesterday and tomorrow would both be better days to visit. This coming Saturday is also recommended. If you do visit today, you can have success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space early in the morning. You can also have a perfectly pleasant day if you plan to spend time in World Showcase, but it’s going to be busier overall than recommended days.

Hollywood Studios is not expressly recommended. The lack of Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom will be a big turn off for many and off-site visitors will be looking toward Fantasmic and Toy Story Mania after spending yesterday at Magic Kingdom. The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom also won’t do much to help lower crowds at the Studios, especially among off-site visitors. Yesterday would have been a much better day to visit and this coming Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are also recommended.

Magic Kingdom is the most recommended Park, despite the morning Extra Magic Hour. In the grand scheme of things, we’re sandwiched between a much more popular day yesterday and we’re running into a bit of a wild card tomorrow with Disney’s “One More Disney Day.” No matter what Disney ultimately decides to do tomorrow, today will be less crowded and you won’t have to be at the Park at 6am or 2am in order to take advantage of lower crowds. While the morning Extra Magic Hour would normally be a bit of a concern, due to the number of Disney resort guests that would follow the Extra Magic Hours schedule regardless of whether they plan to take advantage of it, it’s much less so with no Electrical Parade, short hours, and so much going on during other days around it. If you are Extra Magic Hours eligible, this is one that you’ll want to take advantage of. You’ll be able to accomplish a ton of attractions in a short period of time should you arrive by 7:45am and head straight for Fantasyland or whatever you have identified as most important on your itinerary. Once you’ve made it through Peter Pan’s Flight and Winnie the Pooh, you’ll be in a great position to head to other time sensitive attractions or characters. Overall, this past Sunday, today, and Friday are the best days of the week to visit Magic Kingdom.

Wednesday February 29

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

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

Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 7pm

Magic Kingdom: 6am – 6am (24 straight hours – 6am on February 29th through 6am on March 1st) (It Depends)

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

Animal Kingdom comes highly recommended with the low overall crowd level and the popular morning Extra Magic Hour/Fantasmic combo at Hollywood Studios. We also have a lot of people headed to Magic Kingdom for “One More Disney Day.” Overall, few people are going to have their eyes on a 9am – 5pm day at Animal Kingdom with so much going on elsewhere. It’s your best choice if you have other plans for Epcot. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Once you get through these two attractions, you have little to worry about other than trying to get to the scheduled shows and potentially the Camp Minnie-Mickey characters. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon, so try to see the first or last show of the day. You’ll also want to get to DinoLand USA before 10:30am to ride Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR because those two attractions are popular. Still, they aren’t necessarily your top morning priorities and you can easily FASTPASS them throughout the day if need arises. Despite “only” being open eight hours, you can still see most of what the Animal Kingdom has to offer in one day, provided you arrive early in the morning, tour efficiently, collect FASTPASSes, and keep an eye on the time in order to see the scheduled stage shows. Finally, crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade, especially with people being more likely to Park Hop over to Magic Kingdom. Stay through 5pm if there’s anything more you’d like to accomplish.

Epcot is the most recommended Park. We have a lot of people headed toward Magic Kingdom with the 24-hour-day. Anyone visiting specifically for the One More Disney Day promotion will be headed in that direction, whether they plan to stay for part or all of the 24 hours. Disney resort guests are also more likely to visit over one of the next two days for Extra Magic Hours. With nothing specific drawing crowds, it’s best day of the week to visit Epcot if you need a day there. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans. You may also want to visit the Character Spot first thing if it’s of interest because waits will be long all day and it doesn’t offer FASTPASS. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up to the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to visit any non-headlining attractions. If you’d like to ride Soarin’ or Test Track again in the afternoon or evening, collect FASTPASSes for it in the morning or early afternoon. Check your Times Guide to see which Future World attractions remain open past 7pm – it’s usually only Soarin’, Test Track, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot. Finally, it’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations. After visiting Epcot, you might consider Park Hopping over to Magic Kingdom to see what’s going on. It will only get less crowded over there as it gets later into the evening…and then earlier into the morning.

Hollywood Studios is not expressly recommended, though it’s not going to be overwhelmingly busy. If you are eligible for Extra Magic Hours and have the ability to arrive by 7:45am to take advantage of it, you can have an excellent morning. Hit Toy Story Mania to collect FASTPASSes and then head off to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Once you get through those attractions, you’re golden for the rest of the day. However, it isn’t recommended if you’re not eligible or unable to arrive early enough in the morning to visit the headlining attractions before most of the Disney resort guests arrive. Should you arrive at 10am with everyone else, you’ll find a Park that is busier than recommended days during the week. While we can expect Magic Kingdom to be a substantial draw for most of the late morning, afternoon, and evening, it won’t be siphoning everyone. Plan to visit the Studios this past Monday or wait until Thursday, Friday, or Saturday if you can’t take advantage of the 8am – 10am timeframe.

This is most likely going to be an odd day at Magic Kingdom, no matter what Disney ultimately decides to do with entertainment, shows, characters, etc. Regardless, we’re not going to be dealing with capacity crowds or anything that looks like July 4th, Christmas Day, or other super-busy days, but we can expect it to be busier than any other day this week from 2pm to 9pm. We’re going to have several thousand people (if not more) on hand specifically for the One More Disney Day promotion and a lot of other curious people in attendance to see what Disney has in store. The long hours will also attract a lot of people who previously had no idea what was going on. Locals are more likely to visit in the late afternoon and early evening as well. Since it’s a Wednesday and local schools are in session, locals won’t be a major concern outside of the convenient hours of 4pm – 10pm. Expect 6am – 10am on Wednesday and 11pm – 6am going into Thursday morning to be sparsely crowded with low crowds and short waits at most attractions. The problem is that you actually have to be at the Magic Kingdom during those very early or very late hours. With required maintenance and other “issues,” we can also expect attraction closures throughout the off-hours, complicating things a bit. It should be a lot of fun if it’s your thing, but it isn’t necessarily ideal for those looking for the easiest touring plan. I don’t recommend visiting in the afternoon if you’re intent on visiting the attractions with minimal waits. Yesterday would have been much better for that. On the other hand, a 24-hour day at Magic Kingdom is extremely rare and most likely won’t be seen in the near future (years). Little is currently known about what exactly will transpire on this “Additional Disney Day.” Watch the site for updates as the date draws nearer and plans are finalized.

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January 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar

by josh on June 27, 2011

January 21 Update: Magic Kingdom open until 10pm on Sunday January 29th and 9pm on Monday January 30th.

January 16 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with the changes listed here.

December 23 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with the changes listed here.

December 13 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with the changes listed here.

September 28 Update: Animal Kingdom hours extended on select dates throughout the month. Check this post for specific changes: http://www.easywdw.com/news/changes-to-the-january-2012-disney-world-operating-schedule/ and more information about future operating schedule updates.

September 7 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with Fantasmic added to January 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th. The recommendations from January 1st through 9th have changed slightly. See this post: http://www.easywdw.com/news/fantasmic-to-return-to-nightly-schedule-refurbishment-to-begin-january-9th/ for a general idea about how Fantasmic changes the recommended Parks.

July 24 Update: Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade at Animal Kingdom replaces Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade through January 3rd.

July 4 Update: January Crowd Calendar completed.

July 1: Added analysis for January 11 – 21. Tentatively removed Fantasmic from January 26 – 31.

June 28: The first ten days of analysis are currently available and I am working on the rest of the month now.

This is the Free January 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.

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

Sunday January 1, 2012

New Years Day

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

Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot (Highly Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 6:30pm and 8pm

Magic Kingdom (Recommended in the Morning or Late Evening): 8am – 12am

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 12am – 3am

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

Because New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday this year and many schools start back up over the next two days, Sunday will be a sort of transitional period, as many people who were visiting over Christmas Week will return home and a new batch of visitors will arrive for a cheaper Value week vacation. The morning at all Parks will be excellent, but Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will see heavier crowds in the afternoon as people wake up, check out of their resort, and head to a Park before their flight/ride home.

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park for a few reasons. First, it closes well before Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Tons of people will have been up late last night for New Year’s and you know where they aren’t going to be? Animal Kingdom at 7:45am. You can have a tremendous amount of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. After that, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSUR. With kids, you may also want to prioritize Camp-Minnie Mickey for the Character Greeting Trails because character lines will be significantly longer in the afternoon. With the 8am opening, you should have time to hit the major attractions before it’s time to visit Camp Minnie-Mickey or head to one of the two major stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical and/or Festival of the Lion King. With the high overall crowd level, you can expect Finding Nemo the Musical and Festival of the Lion King to be busy in the afternoon with mostly “sold out” shows. Try to visit the first or last shows of the day because they will be the least crowded. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour tomorrow and Wednesday to draw Disney resort guests, though most of the ones that were here over Christmas Week will be leaving today. Overall, it’s an excellent day for the Animal Kingdom, especially if you tour early, hit the headliners first, and collect FASTPASSes to use in the afternoon when standby waits will be much longer. This is one day where crowds will not decrease as much in the evening because of the late start by so many visitors and the cool temperatures make it easier to tour into the afternoon and evening. The early morning is the key to a successful day with short waits. Still, plan to stay through 8pm if you didn’t arrive prior to Park opening or have more you want to accomplish.

Epcot is also highly recommended. We’ll have a ton of people headed here last night for New Year’s Eve and they won’t be anywhere other than in bed this morning. Trust me, no one that spent yesterday or last night at Epcot or Magic Kingdom will be in Epcot this morning at 8:45am and probably won’t have the stomach for it later in the day after watching the standby queue at Soarin’ hit 200+ minutes in the afternoon. Arrive early and head straight for Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission Space. If crowds begin to increase in Future World by 11am, head up to World Showcase beginning with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway to stay ahead of the crowds until at least 2pm. If you have more you’d like to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm to re-ride the headliners with FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day and ride any of the other Future World attractions you skipped earlier in the day. It’s an excellent time to do Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, anything in Innoventions, etc. Keep in mind that many of the non-headlining Future World attractions close at 7pm. Usually, only Test Track, Soarin’, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot operate from 7pm – 9pm. If you’re interested in meeting Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto, plan to visit the Character Spot in Future World right at 9am or after 7pm. Because of its limited capacity, wait times are routinely 40+ minutes throughout the late morning, afternoon, and early evening. See the touring plans section for more tips, especially if you’re considering a two-day approach.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended. The 10pm close, which is later than any other day this month, will be especially attractive to those who wake up on the floor with a hangover after spending last night bouncing around the Morocco Pavilion or fending off strollers at Magic Kingdom. A lot of the people sticking around from Christmas Week will be headed to the Studios for Toy Story Mania and Fantasmic after spending yesterday at Magic Kingdom or Epcot. Like the other theme parks, you can potentially have a lot of success from 9am – 12am or so if you need a couple of hours at the Studios because so many people will be sleeping in, but it isn’t ideal from 11am through close. If you do go, be sure to get through Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours in the early morning and you’ll be in good shape for the rest of the day. Move on to the major stage shows and high capacity attractions in the afternoon to stay ahead of the crowds until at least 2pm, trying to make the first or second show of the day wherever possible. Fantasmic will keep crowds heavy into the evening, though the 8pm Fantasmic will be less crowded than the first. Still, expect both Fantasmic shows to be standing-room-only by the time the show starts.

Magic Kingdom is recommended under certain conditions. With the craziness of last night, very few people will be on hand for the early 8am opening. This makes 8am through 11am a terrific time to tour. Hit Fantasyland and the attractions that will have longer waits in the afternoon during that time period and you’ll be in excellent shape for the rest of the day, particularly if you pick up FASTPASSes to use in the early afternoon and evening. Because of the long day, the evening Extra Magic Hours will actually cause even more people to sleep in and arrive later in the morning and afternoon. This causes crowds to build slower and wait times to build more gradually. That’s on top of all the people that will be nowhere near Magic Kingdom because of they stayed out so late for New Year’s Even last night. Because so many families with young children need to leave long before the end of evening Extra Magic Hours, the long day also means that few people will be in the Magic Kingdom after 1am. Unlike Hollywood Studios and Epcot where only a few attractions are open during evening Extra Magic Hours, Magic Kingdom has many, which lowers wait times considerably because fewer people are spread out among more lines. There will be virtually no one else around by 2:30am – it’s not at all uncommon for someone to hop on Snow White’s Scary Adventures at 2:15am and be one of six people on the entire attraction. The last time I was at evening Extra Magic Hours at 2am, I was the only person on Mad Tea Party, Winnie the Pooh, and one of only eight people on Dumbo. All in all, you can have a ton of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to the attractions that will have long waits later in the day. You may also want to plan to visit characters that will have long afternoon waits – Rapunzel and Tinker Bell are your two biggest priorities. Rapunzel is tough because she ordinarily begins appearing at 9:15am and some people will head straight there, causing waits of 90+ minutes after the 8am open. You’ll run into few long lines between 9am – 12pm, but Magic Kingdom will be decently crowded from 1pm to 10pm. Plan to take a lengthy afternoon break to rest up for the evening entertainment. If you’re planning to see the Electrical Parade, the 10pm Parade will be significantly less crowded than the 8pm Parade. Plan to stake out a spot along the Parade route in Liberty Square or Frontierland because these areas are much less crowded than Main Street. For evening Extra Magic Hours, crowds will only decrease as it gets later in the evening. Try to hold off on the attractions with the longest peak waits until the last 90 to 120 minutes of the night – Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, and Peter Pan’s Flight will only see wait times that decrease as the clock approaches the end of evening Extra Magic Hours. Usually, the posted wait time is longer than the actual wait at that time of night. The “wait” is usually not much longer than it takes to get to the loading dock. While this coming Tuesday or Wednesday would be less crowded overall (especially with the lower overall crowd level) with fewer people entering the Park over the course of the day, you can still have success if you tour efficiently in the morning, collect FASTPASSes throughout the day, take a sizable afternoon break to rest up for the evening, and stay through until the end of evening Extra Magic Hours when crowds will be lowest.

Monday January 2, 2012

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 7am – 8am

Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot (Not Recommended): 9am – 9pm

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 6:30pm and 8pm

Magic Kingdom (Recommended): 9am – 12am

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 8pm and 10pm, 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. Still, there are better days to visit the Animal Kingdom than today, including tomorrow, Thursday, and Saturday. While the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, it’s virtually impossible to get out there by 6:45am to take full advantage of it. If you’re staying at a Monorail Deluxe Resort, you’re looking at a 20+ minute drive to the Animal Kingdom, plus time for the bus to arrive – not to mention getting multiple people up and ready early in the morning with just one shower and limited space. At 5:30am. If you’re absolutely certain that you’ll arrive by 6:45am, then you can have a lot of success because the crowd level won’t be that high, but it will be busier in the afternoon than other recommended days this week due to a higher number of Disney resort guests than usual. You’re much better served holding off for a recommended day if you’re not going to arrive until 9am or later. Just to reiterate, you can have a great day if you truly wake up early enough to arrive by 7am, but most people will want to sleep a little longer and visit Animal Kingdom later in the week for a 9am open that will be less crowded overall.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. Although the close is slightly later than several other days this week due to the higher overall crowd level, it still remains your best choice overall. It’s early in the week, we don’t have Extra Magic Hours to lure Disney resort guests, and Fantasmic is scheduled every night this week, which makes each show less attractive because there are so many opportunities to see it. Epcot will attract most Disney resort guests with its extremely popular evening Extra Magic Hours and Animal Kingdom will be more popular with its long hours and morning Extra Magic Hour. Still, with Fantasmic and decent operating hours, it will still be necessary to arrive prior to Park opening. Toy Story Mania is always the number one priority because FASTPASSes routinely run out before 11am and afternoon waits are almost always 60+ minutes, regardless of overall crowd level or a high recommendation. With the heavier overall crowd level, you’ll want to arrive by 8:40am and head straight to Toy Story Mania, followed by Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Get through these attractions in the early morning and you’re in good 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 and getting over to the popular characters. If you’re interested in Phineas & Ferb or Sorcerer Mickey, consider going to see them right before they are scheduled to appear. Phineas & Ferb in particular are popular because the exit to Muppet Vision is right next door and the attraction spits out a few hundred people several times every hour. You’ll also find characters at the Sorcerer’s Hat in the early morning that you won’t find later in the day. Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Chip & Dale, and Friends of Winnie the Pooh are all common, but no specific characters are guaranteed to appear. Most of the other characters see relatively short waits, including the Cars characters, Animation Courtyard characters, Monsters Inc. characters, and others. Consider taking a break in the afternoon from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds will be heaviest and lines longest. If you are planning to see Fantasmic, I highly recommend the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the theater if you’re interested in the 6:30pm show. It will still require you to arrive at least 30 minutes early, but it’s better than the 60+ minutes early you’re looking at without the Package. If you don’t want to spring for the Dining Package or it’s sold out, do whatever you can to see the 8pm show. It will be less crowded overall, you won’t need to worry about two large sections reserved for Dining Package guests, and the required wait will be shorter. Still, 8pm isn’t that late and the show will still be crowded. We see significantly lower crowds for Fantasmic shows after 9:30pm because so many families leave, but 8pm isn’t late enough to deter that many people. Still, it’s the better choice without the Dining Package. Overall, you can have a successful day at the Studios if you arrive early and follow the usual advice. Arrive at 10:30am with everyone else and you’ll be looking at long lines at the headliners, particularly Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Magic Kingdom is recommended, despite the fact that it’s a Monday. We have similarly long hours each day this week and both Wishes and Main Street Electrical Parade are scheduled every night. We’re also coming off a popular evening Extra Magic Hours last night and crowd patterns change a bit with the Christmas Week and New Year’s holidays. While both tomorrow and Wednesday will be less crowded, fewer people will enter Magic Kingdom today than any day since December 18^th. If you couldn’t visit during one or both of the recommended times yesterday, then today is your day if you also can’t visit tomorrow or Wednesday. To have success, you’ll need to arrive prior to 9am and head straight to the most popular attractions, collect FASTPASSes for use later in the day, and consider an afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds peak. You can then return in the evening well rested to return to the major attractions with FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day, have dinner, and enjoy the nighttime spectaculars. For the Main Street Electrical Parade, the best viewing locations are along the Parade route in Frontierland and Liberty Square. These locations offer a view that is just as good as Main Street without the excessive waits. See the 10pm Parade if you can swing it because it will be significantly less crowded than the 8pm Parade.

Tuesday January 3, 2012

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

Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade: 3:45pm

Epcot (Not Recommended): 9am – 9pm

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

IllumiNations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios (Recommended): 9am – 8pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 6:30pm and 8pm

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

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’re lodged in between two days with morning Extra Magic Hours that will be more popular with Disney resort guests. It’s also early in the week and those just arriving for a weeklong vacation will be looking at Magic Kingdom and Epcot. All of this makes today the best day of the week to visit the Animal Kingdom, though this Saturday is also recommended. Keep in mind that fewer people will actually enter the Animal Kingdom over the course of the day later in the week, but that’s only because there are far fewer people visiting the Disney Parks overall. Despite the recommendation, we’re still looking at a slightly above average overall crowd level, which means you’ll still want to arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing. After completing those two attractions, head over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR. After those four rides, you’re in good shape for the rest of the day. Keep an eye on the Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical schedule and try to catch the first show, the last show, or the show that runs up to or during the 3:45pm Parade if you don’t want to see it. If you have kids or otherwise have interest in meeting the characters, also try to get over to Camp Minnie-Mickey for the Character Greeting Trails Meet and Greets. Because each character has its own line, waits can be long in the late morning and afternoon. If you can’t get over to the Greeting Trails early, head over about ten minutes before a Festival of the Lion King show begins. Because the Greeting Trails are near the exit to Festival of the Lion King, the show dumps about 1,000 people into the area once an hour for most of the day. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no problem riding any of the major attractions a second or third time. Finally, if you can’t arrive early, plan to stay right through close. Many people leave after the 3:45pm Parade and waits diminish significantly from 6:30pm to close. Return to Expedition Everest, DINOSAUR, Primeval Whirl, or possibly Kilimanjaro Safaris after 7pm if you couldn’t get to them earlier or would like to experience them again.

Epcot isn’t recommended due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract Disney resort guests and the natural progression of weeklong Disney vacationers that will naturally head to Epcot after the Magic Kingdom yesterday. While the morning Extra Magic Hour will be an excellent time to tour, Epcot will get progressively busier as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. You could have success if you arrive at 7:45am, head straight for the headliners, and move up to the World Showcase around 11am, but afternoon crowds will be heavier than recommended days and you’ll likely want to Park Hop elsewhere or take a break around 2pm. A lot of Disney resort guests think that Disney dictates where they should go each day with the Extra Magic Hours schedule. Even though this isn’t true, it doesn’t stop thousands upon thousands of Disney resort guests from visiting the Extra Magic Hours Park, even though they have no intention of arriving in time to take advantage of their extra hour. While we are coming off an even more popular evening Extra Magic Hours yesterday, I’m still looking at Wednesday and Friday as being significantly less crowded.

Hollywood Studios is not expressly recommended. Although we have morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot to help attract Disney resort guests, there’s no special evening entertainment or evening Extra Magic Hours to draw the sizable off-site contingent. On top of that, Extra Magic Hours won’t be scheduled at the Studios until this weekend. I’m looking toward Thursday as the best day this week to visit. However, with nothing specific drawing on-site or off-site visitors to the Studios, it won’t be far and away busier than other days this week. If you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours, you’ll be in good shape for the rest of the day. At the very least, you’ll want to collect FASTPASSes for Toy Story Mania by 10:30am and even then, return times are often into the late afternoon due to its popularity and severely limited capacity. Other than these four headliners, it’s really just a matter of arriving in time to see the Studios’ shows that run on a set schedule and having enough time to see and ride the high capacity attractions like Great Movie Ride and Backlot Tour. For Fantasmic, I always recommend the Fantasmic Dining Package if you’re interested in the first show of the night. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that it would cost otherwise. Plus, you receive an appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t get on the Dining Plan. Even with the Package, you’ll want to arrive at least 30 minutes before the show begins or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section to the general public. Without the Package, plan to arrive 60+ minutes early to secure good seats together. If the Dining Package isn’t available or you prefer not to purchase it, plan to wait for the 8pm show because it will be less crowded and require a shorter wait. Still, plan to arrive 30+ minutes early to secure quality seats together. I prefer to sit about half way up from the bottom of the theater because it offers the best vantage point of the stage and water around it and you don’t risk getting wet. All in all, arriving prior to Park opening and taking care of the headliners is more important than picking the “right day.” Try to schedule the Studios when you know you’ll be up and ready to go early.

Magic Kingdom comes recommended, though tomorrow and Friday would be better. This is really the last day of the Christmas/New Year’s Season. After today, crowds will drop going into the Marathon this weekend and then drop further as we move through next week. Even with the recommendation, the afternoon is going to be busy with the high overall crowd level. You’ll have the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland or Tomorrowland to take care of the attractions that will have much longer afternoon waits – Dumbo, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Space Mountain, Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Speedway, and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin would all be excellent choices if they’re on your itinerary. If you’re interested in meeting Rapunzel in Fairytale Garden or Tinker Bell at Tinker Bell’s Nook, you’ll want to arrive in line at least 15 minutes before they’re scheduled to appear. Wait times for both will hover around 60 minutes for most of the afternoon due to limited capacities. Most of the other characters won’t see wait times that exceed 20 minutes. The exception is the Princesses in Town Square, but they are easy to FASTPASS later in the afternoon and wait times are usually lower in the evening. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the morning and early afternoon and you’ll be in good shape when the crowds get heavier after 12pm. If you’ll be attending this evening’s nighttime spectaculars, you’ll most likely want to take a sizable break from 1pm to 6pm or so when crowds peak. Wait times will be long at most attractions during this time period and it’s a great opportunity to return to your resort to relax. Return in the evening for Wishes and the 10pm Main Street Electrical Parade. You may want to arrive a little earlier to grab dinner and ride some attractions with FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day as well. The 10pm Main Street Electrical Parade will be much less crowded than the 8pm Parade. Scope out a spot along the Parade route in Liberty Square or Frontierland because those areas offer just as good of a view as Main Street and require a much shorter wait. Still, plan to find your spots about 15 minutes before the Parade steps off. The late night hours are also a viable time to tour. Magic Kingdom will empty out significantly after the Wishes Fireworks show at 10pm. If you couldn’t get to Fantasyland or the major attractions earlier in the morning, head over after 11pm. Most families will be long gone, leaving you with much shorter lines. Save Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan’s Flight, and Dumbo for the very end of the night. Overall, you can have a lot of success today even with the high overall crowd level. Arriving early, touring efficiently, collecting FASTPASSes, and taking a sizable afternoon break is the key.

Wednesday January 4, 2012

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 7am – 8am

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

Epcot (Most Recommended): 9am-9pm

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 6:30pm and 8pm

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

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

Most Disney resort guests will be headed to the Animal Kingdom today because of the morning Extra Magic Hour. The current hours are showing that today will be the second Extra Magic Hour morning at Animal Kingdom this week, with no evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled at the Animal Kingdom any time this month. We’ll want to avoid the Animal Kingdom because of this, even though it will be less crowded than it would with evening Extra Magic Hours. While morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour the Animal Kingdom, it is incredibly difficult to get out there by 7am in the morning. Once morning Extra Magic Hour is over, you’re left with a busier Park for the rest of the day due to all the Disney resort guests who visit the Park with Extra Magic Hours, regardless of whether they have any intention of arriving in time to take advantage of their extra hour. You’re better off visiting on a day without Extra Magic Hours, like yesterday or tomorrow. You won’t have to deal with the larger crowds from Extra Magic Hour and you won’t need to Park Hop away from the Animal Kingdom in the early afternoon because crowds have gotten too large.

Epcot is the most recommended. We’re coming off two days in a row with Extra Magic Hours, both of which will have been much more popular with Disney resort guests. Morning Extra Magic Hour at Animal Kingdom will help a bit and we still have Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios attracting a decent number of off-site and on-site visitors alike. Take full advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and heading straight for Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission Space or follow a touring plan. If you have kids or would like to meet Mickey Mouse & Friends at the Character Spot, you may want to head there before Soarin’ because it doesn’t offer FASTPASS and afternoon waits are routinely 40+ minutes due to a low capacity. If you have someone that’s willing, you may want to send the kids and an adult to Character Spot while another adult/teen heads to Soarin’ to collect FASTPASSes. After Character Spot, you should arrive at Soarin’ early enough to ride with a reasonable standby wait of 15 minutes or less. You can have a tremendous amount of success, but you’ll still find long lines and gobs of people if you show up at 10:30am with everyone else, especially with the above average overall crowd level. Move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am if Future World crowds seem to be building to intolerable levels. You’ll find the most success if you begin with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more you’d like to accomplish in Future World, plan to return after 5pm because most people will have moved on to World Showcase. Check your Times Guide to see which attractions will continue to operate after 7pm – usually it’s only Soarin’, Test Track, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot. Epcot is going to be moderately difficult to schedule with the Marathon events over the weekend. This Friday is highly recommended, but it may be a hassle to get to Epcot and tour effectively on Saturday and Sunday, particularly in the morning. Keep that in mind when you’re planning your week.

Hollywood Studios is not expressly recommended. While Animal Kingdom’s morning Extra Magic Hour will attract enough Disney resort guests to make it busier than any other day this week, it won’t do a lot to lower crowd levels at the other Parks. It takes just 5,000 extra people to make Animal Kingdom noticeably more crowded, but taking away 5,000 people from the other major theme parks is barely a blip on the radar. It’s also later in the week and most people on a weeklong winter break vacation will have already had an opportunity to visit Magic Kingdom and Epcot and they’ll be looking to ride Toy Story Mania, ride Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, and see Fantasmic. This past Monday was a much better day to visit and tomorrow is also highly recommended. Today, crowds will be thick from 11am through close and they won’t let up in the evening because of Fantasmic.

Magic Kingdom is highly recommended and your best choice if Epcot isn’t in the cards today. It’s later in the week and most people will have already had an opportunity to visit before moving on to Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios. While the longer hours of operation and Main Street Electrical Parade don’t help thin out crowds, it will be nice to enjoy both nighttime spectaculars along with shorter waits than other days this week. Tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hours will be popular with Disney resort guests as well. With the slightly above average overall crowd level, you’ll still want to arrive prior to Park opening and head to Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever attractions you deem to be important to your itinerary. That may very well include Astro Orbiter and Tomorrowland Indy Speedway if those two attractions are important to your group. You may want to head directly to Rapunzel in Fairytale Gardens or Tinker Bell in Tinker Bell’s Nook as well because they will have significantly longer lines from 10am through 8pm. Consider taking an afternoon break because it will be a long day otherwise, even with the potentially cooler weather. Return in the evening to ride/re-ride favorites with FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day, have dinner, and enjoy the evening spectaculars. For the Main Street Electrical Parade, I recommend scouting a spot along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square. Both locations offer a view that is just as good as Main Street and don’t require the excessive waits. Magic Kingdom will also be recommended on Friday.

Thursday January 5, 2012

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

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

Epcot (Recommended): 9am-9pm

Pasta in the Park Marathon Event

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 6:30pm and 8pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended because it doesn’t suffer from Extra Magic Hours or any special events that will increase the crowd level. I will also be recommending Animal Kingdom tomorrow so I would recommend going to Hollywood Studios today and Animal Kingdom tomorrow or another day this week. However, if Animal Kingdom fits into your itinerary better today, feel free to head in that direction. The morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom will be a decent draw for Disney resort guests and Hollywood Studios will continue to attract crowds, even if it’s fewer than other days this week. This past Tuesday was the best day to visit, but today won’t be bad by any means. You also have the advantage of sleeping in an extra hour with the 9am opening. That does also mean that you’ll only have about an hour of very low crowds instead of the two hours of very low crowds you would find on a day when Animal Kingdom opens at 8am. You will want to arrive by 8:45am 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 the characters in Camp Minnie-Mickey because lines will be long in the afternoon. Stay through 8pm if you didn’t arrive earlier in the day because crowds will only decrease from 6pm through close. After you complete your itinerary, you might consider Park Hopping over to Epcot for dinner and Illuminations, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic, or Magic Kingdom for a few evening attractions. 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.

Epcot is hosting a “Pasta in the Park” event this year at Epcot. It runs from 6:30pm to 8:30pm and includes dinner in the World ShowPlace (a building in between the United Kingdom and Canada World Showcase Pavilions that is not usually open to guests), a live DJ, character meet and greets, and reserved viewing space for IllumiNations. Marathon runners take their food very seriously prior to a major event and we can expect a sizable turnout for it, along with friends and other runners who will be visiting Epcot for the entire day. Most weeks, we have evening Extra Magic Hours on Wednesday or Friday nights, which means Epcot will be much more popular on one of those days with Disney resort guests. This week, we had evening Extra Magic Hours on Monday and morning Extra Magic Hour on Tuesday, meaning we’re not coming off or going into a day that will be more popular with Disney resort guests. That means more Disney resort guests than usual will be headed to Epcot today as well. However, now that Fantasmic is offered tonight, Epcot won’t be busy enough to push it to “not recommended” status. However, yesterday would have been better and tomorrow would be better too, even with the Family Fun Run early in the morning. That event will clear out before Park opening and the event has not impacted attendance much at all in past years, even in the early morning. The Studios’ evening Extra Magic Hours/Fantasmic combo tomorrow will also help pull people away in the evening, making it a better night to view IllumiNations. Today will work if you can’t visit any other day, but either yesterday or tomorrow would be better.

Hollywood Studios is our most recommended Park, even though Fantasmic is scheduled every day of the week now. Because Fantasmic is offered every night, it becomes much less of a crowd magnet than when it was scheduled less often. When Fantasmic was only scheduled on two or three nights each week, it attracted a ton of people, especially because it usually came with extended operating hours. The fact that Fantasmic isn’t scheduled after January 8^th (for refurbishment) isn’t much of a concern at this point because we’ll largely have a new set of vacationers arriving this Sunday. Most of those in Disney World now will have plenty of opportunities to enjoy the show. However, the addition of Fantasmic presents its own set of complications. It means that today will no longer be “far and away” less crowded than the last four days because it offers similar operating hours and evening entertainment as other days this week. Fantasmic also tends to keep crowds heavy throughout the evening because so many people want to see it. Luckily, we’re going into two days in a row that will be much more popular with Disney resort guests. We have the incredibly popular evening Extra Magic Hours/Double Fantasmic combo tomorrow and a popular morning Extra Magic Hour/Doubble Fantasmic/Longer Hours trifecta on Saturday. Like any day at the Studios, what you do is more important than the day you pick. Arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Toy Story Mania is always your #1 priority if you want to ride it because FASTPASSes often run out by 11am and standby waits almost always peak at 60+ minutes, even when crowds are at their absolute lowest and the Studios is recommended. Its capacity is simply too low to meet demand. After getting through the headliners, you’re in excellent shape to enjoy the rest of the Studios high capacity attractions and stage shows. The only major problem people run into after completing the main attractions is arriving in time to see the various stage shows that run on a set schedule and having enough time to ride the high capacity attractions like Great Movie Ride and Backlot Tour. If you’re interested in Phineas & Ferb or Sorcerer Mickey, consider going to see them right before they are scheduled to appear. Phineas & Ferb in particular are popular because the exit to Muppet Vision is right next door and spits out a few hundred people several times every hour. You’ll also find characters at the Sorcerer’s Hat in the early morning that you won’t find later in the day. Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Chip & Dale, and Friends of Winnie the Pooh are all common, but no specific characters are guaranteed to appear. Most of the other characters see relatively short waits, including the Cars characters, Animation Courtyard characters, Monsters Inc. characters, and others. Finally, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Theater if you’re planning to see the 6:30pm show. It still requires you to arrive at least 30 minutes early to take your seats (or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to everyone), but it’s better than the 60+ minutes you may be looking at to get decent seats in the general seating section. If you’d prefer not to opt for the Package or it isn’t available, the 8pm Fantasmic will be less crowded and require a shorter wait. Still, plan to arrive 30 minutes early to secure good seats together. I recommend sitting at least half way up from the bottom of the stands in order to have a nice view of the stage and the water surrounding it. You also don’t risk getting wet like people closer to the stage. Overall you can have a lot of success if you “tour smart,” but you’re going to be in trouble if you don’t arrive until 10am or later.

The Magic Kingdom’s morning Extra Magic Hour will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests, raising the crowd level and lengthening wait times at the popular rides and attractions throughout the day. Most Disney resort guests won’t arrive in time to take advantage of their extra hour, but they will head to the Magic Kingdom anyway because they feel like they don’t belong anywhere else. Thursdays at the Magic Kingdom are relatively crowded because people who visited early in the week will be looking to head back to the Magic Kingdom for a second day after spending the last couple of days at other Parks. Yesterday would have been a much better day to visit the Magic Kingdom and tomorrow will also be recommended. Keep in mind that the morning Extra Magic Hour is an excellent time to tour, but by the time the Disney resort crowd arrives in full force around 11am, lines to the attractions will be longer throughout the rest of the day. This phenomenon usually erases any benefit from the morning Extra Magic Hour because you will end up waiting in longer lines for the rest of the day. While Park Hopping to another Park is viable, you need to consider transit time to the other Park and the fact that you’ll be arriving when crowds are at their highest of the day. We’re actually better off visiting a Park when it doesn’t have Extra Magic Hours because crowds will be lower and we won’t have to spend time switching Parks. It is perfectly viable to spend the morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom, stay through until the early afternoon, take a break, and then return to Magic Kingdom or visit another Park later, but only if you’ll arrive by 7:45am to take advantage of the morning’s low crowds.

Friday January 6, 2012

Animal Kingdom (Recommended): 9am – 7pm

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

Epcot (Highly Recommended): 9am – 9pm

Family Fun Run 5K

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 8pm – 11pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 6:30pm and 8pm

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

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

Animal Kingdom comes recommended. The only problem is that it’s later in the week and many people naturally visit Animal Kingdom after Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. With so many people on a weeklong vacation for winter break, some will be headed to Animal Kingdom with no special evening entertainment or anything particularly special going on elsewhere. While this is always a concern, Animal Kingdom won’t be so busy that it’s not recommended, especially with evening Extra Magic Hours/Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios to lure the majority of Disney resort guests and two morning Extra Magic Hours earlier in the week that will also be more attractive to the large Disney resort guest contingent. Still, this past Tuesday was the best day to visit this week. To have success today, 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 5:30pm 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 highly recommended. While we do have the Family Fun Run 5K this morning, it shouldn’t adversely affect crowds because it’s over well before the Park opens, a lot of the serious marathon runners will have already visited with their families last night for the Pasta event, the race starts and ends outside the entrance/exit, and Park admission isn’t included in the event cost. Last year, the Family Fun Run did not affect rope drop crowds adversely. While crowds did begin to increase throughout the day more than other days during the week, that can be directly attributed to the evening Extra Magic Hours we had scheduled in 2011. This year (2012), we have evening Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios pulling Disney resort guests away. Like any other day at Epcot, it is always imperative to arrive prior to Park opening to get through Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission Space first thing in the morning. Collect FASTPASSes for Soarin’ and Test Track as early as possible if you’d like to ride a second time later in the day when standby lines are longer and move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the Mexico and Norway Pavilions if you’d really like to stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible. Return to Future World after 5pm if you have more to accomplish because most people will have begun to move up through World Showcase. Once you get through the four major attractions, there’s really nothing to worry about for the rest of the day. It’s also a great night to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests and Fantasmic that will keep crowds heavy all day. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. Yesterday and this past Monday would have been much better days to visit. 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, at least until after 10pm when people begin to give up and exit. 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 7pm and again at 8:30pm, 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 10pm and you’re in trouble if you don’t arrive until 10:30am or later, even with the average overall crowd level

Magic Kingdom is the most recommended Park. While we would be better off from a crowd perspective if we had shorter hours of operation and no Main Street Electrical Parade, we’re still okay because we have similarly long hours and Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled every night this week. We’re also coming off of a popular morning Extra Magic Hour yesterday and we’re headed into a busy weekend with complicated morning travel due to the Disney World Half and Full Marathons on Saturday and Sunday. With people arriving today for the full Marathon on Sunday, we’ll also see a lot of people naturally headed to Magic Kingdom on Saturday or Monday. While Wednesday was the best day to visit this week, today is the second best day. Keep that in mind if you’re planning a second day at the Magic Kingdom or had other plans Wednesday. The next highly recommended day will be next Tuesday. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever attractions on your itinerary you deem most important. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day for the major attractions and you should be able to experience most of what Magic Kingdom has to offer in just one day. Finally, consider taking an afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm when crowds will be heavier and lines will be longer to rest up for the evening. Return for dinner, some major attractions with FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day, some high capacity attractions, and the evening entertainment.

Saturday January 7, 2012

Half Marathon

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

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

Epcot (Not Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 6:30pm and 8pm

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

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

The Half Marathon is a minor concern in most situations, though it will adversely affect travel around Epcot and Magic Kingdom before 9am. The course does not run through or near Hollywood Studios, but it will still be a hassle for those driving from the Magic Kingdom or Epcot areas to get out to the Studios or Animal Kingdom because the Half Marathon route includes roads connecting the two areas. This is especially true if you’re traveling from the Magic Kingdom area to Hollywood Studios for morning Extra Magic Hour because you’ll run into the Marathon throughout that drive. Today and tomorrow are two days you may want to take Disney transportation, even if you have your own car, because the bus drivers will be well apprised of detours and alternate routes to move around the runners who will have the right of way on the streets. The Half Marathon should clear out by 9:30am or so and travel should not be affected whatsoever after 10am. To a point, you may want to visit whichever Park is most easily accessible to your resort. If you’re staying at a Magic Kingdom area resort (Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Ft. Wilderness), consider at least beginning your day at Magic Kingdom. If you’re staying at an Epcot area resort (BoardWalk Inn, Yacht Club, Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin), consider heading to Hollywood Studios or Epcot, and if you’re staying at an Animal Kingdom area resort (Animal Kingdom Lodge, All Stars, Coronado Springs), consider heading to Animal Kingdom. Despite the recommendation, it may still be a hassle for some people to get to the Animal Kingdom and you’ll want to take that into consideration when you decide where to spend your morning.

Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. We have nothing specific to draw people towards it and anyone coming from the Magic Kingdom or Epcot areas will have more trouble than usual getting out there by 8:45am because of the transportation delays. It’s perfect if you’re coming from offsite or staying nearby. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. You should be able to collect FASTPASSes for both for use later in the day when crowds will inevitably pick up in the afternoon. After that, consider moving on to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR or see one of the two most popular stage shows – Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King. Scheduling those shows is really the only concern after getting through the major headliners. If you’d like to meet the characters in Camp Minnie-Mickey, you’ll also want to head over there about ten minutes before the characters are scheduled to begin appearing. If you can’t make it then, try to arrive about ten minutes before the start of a Festival of the Lion King show. Because Lion King’s exit is located in the area, the show drops off about 1,000 people once per hour, which inevitable lengthens lines and wait times for the characters. Normally we would see crowds disperse after the 3:45pm Parade, but that may be less true than usual with the late start many will be having here. You’ll still find shorter lines at 4:15pm than you would at 1:15pm, but the morning will be the key. Stay through 7pm because crowds will only get lower after 6pm. It will still be a great time to return to Primeval Whirl, DINOSAUR, and others. Save Expedition Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris for the very end of the night. Check your Times Guide to make sure you arrive in time for the last Kilimanjaro Safaris ride. The attraction may shut down prior to close due darkness or temperature.

Hollywood Studios is not recommended now that Fantasmic is scheduled. It was “almost recommended” when Fantasmic wasn’t scheduled because Fantasmic was such a crowd magnet when it was only offered on a limited number of nights. While the addition of Fantasmic to every night this week makes each show less appealing, it also makes today’s morning Extra Magic Hour more attractive to Disney resort guests because they’ll also have the opportunity to see Fantasmic and enjoy longer hours than days around it. On top of that, we’re looking at a five week refurbishment of Fantasmic beginning January 9^th. A lot of people in Disney World now will be looking to see the show before it’s no longer available. Because most Disney resort guests will be arriving later in the morning, you can still have success if you are Extra Magic Hours eligible, arrive by 7:45am, and head straight to Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. However, you’re in trouble if you arrive at 10am with everyone else. Make full use of the morning and you don’t necessarily need to change your plans, but it’s going to be busier than recommended days in the afternoon and you’ll likely want to take a sizeable afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm or so to rest up for Fantasmic, after arriving early in the morning. Overall, any day from January 9^th through January 13^th would be less crowded with the lower overall crowd level and lack of Fantasmic. This past Monday and Thursday would have been better and tomorrow is also recommended if you’d like to see Fantasmic.

Epcot is going to have some problems, particularly in the morning, which is usually the best time to tour. The main problem is that the Half Marathon goes through Epcot Future World for miles 12 and 13 of the race and ultimately ends in the Epcot parking lot. The last racers will cross the finish line around 9am if everything goes to plan and possibly a bit later if there are delays. This causes a hassle for those of us who are trying to park early and get in position to head to Test Track and Soarin’ first thing in the morning. It also causes delays in and around Epcot throughout the morning. If possible, I would hold off until Monday to visit or plan to visit yesterday. While yesterday’s 5K Family Run is a little bit of a concern, it won’t cause nearly as many problems as the Half Marathon today. If you’re trying to decide between today and tomorrow, today would be significantly better because the Full Marathon will run even later into the morning and afternoon. The Full Marathon also weaves throughout Future World and all the way around World Showcase, causing even more traffic congestion.

Magic Kingdom is not recommended overall, though the morning will be a great time to tour if you’re staying nearby and arrive by 8:45am. Tomorrow’s Full Marathon is the big event and we’ll have a sizable number of runners in town for it. They’ll want to take today to visit one of the theme parks. Many of them choose the Magic Kingdom either today or Monday. We’re also switching back to the “off-peak” operating schedule beginning next week, which means much shorter operating hours during the week and fewer Main Street Electrical Parades. While we do have the popular evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom tomorrow, we won’t have an Electrical Parade and the 8pm close is much earlier than today’s 11pm close. Overall, I can recommend Magic Kingdom if you arrive at 8:40am, tour efficiently in the morning, take a break from 1pm to 5pm or so, and return in the evening for the nighttime spectaculars. You’re in trouble if you don’t arrive until 11am with everyone else and the afternoon and early evening will be busier than recommended days, which is why Magic Kingdom is “not recommended” overall. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of next week will all be recommended higher than today and I would avoid it unless you can’t visit on a recommended day. However, you can beat the crowds if you tour effectively.

Sunday January 8, 2012

Full Marathon

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

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

Epcot (Not Recommended): 9am – 9pm

Illuminations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: 6:30pm and 8pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 8pm – 11pm

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

This is a tricky morning to plan because there will be lots of road closures throughout the morning and early afternoon as well as roped off areas in all four major theme parks for the Disney World Marathon. While the Marathon officially begins at 5:30am, it’s a 26 mile race with a minimum 16-minute-per-mile pace, meaning it lasts about seven hours. That means people will still be crossing the finish line in the Epcot parking lot at 12:30pm as well as running along major roadways and throughout the theme parks all morning. If you are staying on Disney property, I recommend visiting whichever theme park is closest to your resort. Travel by boat or monorail if possible. If you’re planning a lazy morning during your vacation, you may want to make this it. A late start and a sit down breakfast at your resort may be just the ticket to get everyone well rested and excited to continue their Disney World “vacation.” You’ll be in great shape if you do arrive at any of the theme parks by 8:45am and tour efficiently in the morning. You may want to consider Disney buses even if you normally drive because there will be road closures and your usual route may be convoluted with detours. The bus driver will know their route and get you where you’re headed as efficiently as possible. Of all the theme parks, Magic Kingdom is the most unaffected because most runners will have moved through it by 9am when the Park opens. Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot will all see roped off pathways and runners throughout the day. Luckily for Animal Kingdom, the course only goes through the right side of the Park, through Asia, DinoLand, and Discovery Island. Africa and Camp Minnie-Mickey are not affected. Epcot is probably the worst because the race ends there and goes through Future World and the World Showcase. Expect to see runners from 9am through 1pm, which is ultimately why Epcot is expressly not recommended.

Animal Kingdom is highly recommended, especially if you are coming from off-site or staying at a nearby resort like the Animal Kingdom Lodge, All-Stars, or Coronado Springs. It would be a hassle to get out there from a Magic Kingdom area resort in particular though. There’s nothing specific drawing crowds and most people in town for a short marathon weekend vacation won’t have Animal Kingdom on their radars. There will be some problems getting over to Asia and DinoLand until about noon because of the Marathon, but there are usually plenty of gaps in the runners that makes it easy enough to cross over into those areas. Take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing and you’ll be in good shape for the rest of the day, especially if you get to the first Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo the Musical show. Use FASTPASS efficiently throughout the day and you should have no trouble riding any of the major attractions a second or third time.

Epcot will be a hassle because of the Marathon. The Marathon ends in the parking lot and miles 25 and 26 are right around the World Showcase and Test Track side of Future World. With the variable speed of runners, we’ll have runners moving through Epcot all morning and into the early afternoon. Tomorrow will be a much better day to visit and I would strongly urge you to plan another day if at all possible. If you are headed to Epcot, please be mindful of the runners.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park, especially if you can travel by boat or foot from an Epcot area resort. While we do have miles 22, 23, and 24 going right through it, there’s really no way around being in the thick of the Marathon this morning and it wouldn’t be helpful to simply recommend Animal Kingdom every day. We’re sandwiched in between yesterday’s popular morning Extra Magic Hour/Double Fantasmic/Longer Hours combo and tomorrow’s popular evening Extra Magic Hours. The only complication is that Fantasmic has been added tonight and won’t be scheduled again until the middle of February. This is a nominal concern with everything else going on, especially with Magic Kingdom’s evening Extra Magic Hours attracting Disney resort guests. We’ve also had Fantasmic scheduled every night behind us for a month. While we can expect Hollywood Studios to be relatively busy in the afternoon and evening due to Fantasmic, this is your best opportunity to see the show since last Thursday and your only opportunity to see it until February 13^th should you just be arriving at Walt Disney World. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and heading straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Make Toy Story Mania your top priority because it will have the longest afternoon waits and FASTPASSes will still likely run out by noon, even with low crowds and the recommendation. For Fantasmic, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the theater if you’re interested in seeing the 6:30pm show. You’ll still need to arrive at least 30 minutes early, but it’s better than the 60+ minutes early you’ll need to arrive without the package. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it only costs one table service credit (except at Hollywood Brown Derby, which still costs two credits as it would otherwise) and includes the appetizer. If you would prefer not to spring for the Package or it isn’t available, try to see the 8pm show because it will be less crowded overall. Since this is the last show for quite a while, I recommend arriving at least 60 minutes early for the 6:30pm show or 30 minutes early for the second show. Earlier is always better and will only result in better seats. As far as general seating is concerned, the best seats are about half way up in the center sections, but be prepared to arrive more than hour early for those seats. Sit any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and it’s more difficult to see what’s happening on the water. Overall, it’s a great day to visit the Studios and see Fantasmic, but this coming Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday would all be less crowded.

Magic Kingdom is tentatively recommended if you can arrive prior to Park opening. The evening Extra Magic Hours coupled with all the transportation woes will make this Park low on crowds until at least 11am, but things will pick up considerably going into the afternoon and they’ll stay heavy with the relatively early evening Extra Magic Hours. The lack of Main Street Electrical Parade is in our favor, but the operating hours aren’t any longer than tomorrow, which means we’ll have a decent number of Disney resort guests en route and a lot of people that ran the Half Marathon yesterday morning interested in visiting as well. I’m not too keen on the Magic Kingdom’s evening Extra Magic Hours when they begin at 8pm either because more families can stay for at least the first hour or two. We see crowds disperse more when Extra Magic Hours don’t start until 11pm or 12am because most families with young kids need to leave soon after Wishes and Main Street Electrical Parade earlier in the night. Overall, you can have a lot of success if you tour from 9am – 1pm, take a break, and return around 6pm, but the afternoon will be busy, though not as busy as tomorrow. This coming Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday would all be less crowded days to visit and more recommended overall. Today is better than yesterday or tomorrow though, which makes it tentatively recommended.

Monday January 9, 2012

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot (Most Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 7pm – 10pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

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

Epcot is the only expressly recommended Park. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special evening entertainment, or anything else that will draw people toward Epcot specifically. It has also been difficult to schedule Epcot over the last few days with the various Marathon events. Disney resort guests will be more likely to visit tomorrow or Friday for Extra Magic Hours and off-site visitors on a weeklong vacation will be headed to the Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade, along with many people in town for the Marathons. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the two-day compartmentalized touring plans. If you have kids or want to visit Mickey Mouse/Minnie Mouse/Goofy/Donald/Pluto, then you’ll want to take care of the Character Spot in the early morning as well. Because you can at least collect FASTPASSes for Soarin’ and Test Track later in the morning, you may even want to put Character Spot first on your itinerary because you’re guaranteed to see 30+ minute waits most of the day due to the limited capacity. You’ll also be in the best shape if you’ve moved on to World Showcase by 12pm. Should you have more to accomplish in Future World, return after 5pm when most of the crowd has moved on to World Showcase. Just keep in mind that a lot of the Future World attractions close at 7pm. Usually, just Soarin, Test Track, Mission: Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot continue to operate after 7pm. Overall, it’s a great day for Epcot and an excellent opportunity to spend time in both Future World and World Showcase.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. Yesterday, tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday would all be better days to visit. Evening Extra Magic Hours at the Studios aren’t usually much of a success for people because there are only a few attractions open and the waits for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours will likely be just as long as they were during the day until after 9pm when people begin to give up and exit. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. You can have a moderate amount of success if you arrive early, but with several recommended days coming up, there’s really no reason to press your luck.

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

Tuesday January 10, 2012

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

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

Epcot (Not Recommended): 9am – 9pm

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

Magic Kingdom (Recommended): 9am – 8pm

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

Animal Kingdom is highly recommended today. It would be recommended higher if we had more going on at the other Parks (like Fantasmic or Main Street Electrical Parade), but it’s early enough in the week that most people will be headed to Epcot or Magic Kingdom. To have the most success, arrive as early in the morning as possible and head to Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris first thing. After that, head to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR or over to one of the major stage shows and you won’t have anything to worry about for the rest of the day. You may also want to schedule the popular characters at Camp Minnie-Mickey. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Chip, and Dale appear and there are usually find other characters with short waits as well, including Pocahontas and Thumper/Miss Bunny. Despite “only” being open eight hours, you should be able to do most of the Animal Kingdom’s attractions if you arrive prior to Park opening, use FASTPASS efficiently, and make good use of your time. If you don’t arrive until 10am or later, plan to collect FASTPASSes for Expedition Everest and then Kilimanjaro Safaris. Use those FASTPASSes during the day and return to the major attractions after 4pm. A lot of people leave after the 3:45pm Parade, causing lines to be much shorter in the final hour of operation, especially with the 5pm close and very few people Park Hopping in the afternoon and early evening.

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

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re coming off a very popular evening Extra Magic Hours last night, we don’t have Fantasmic or longer hours of operation to attract anyone, and it’s early enough in the week that most people will be interested in visiting Epcot or Magic Kingdom. The only problem is that we don’t have Fantasmic, our usual crowd magnet, scheduled until mid-February. This will somewhat standardize crowds at the Studios on days that don’t “feature” Extra Magic Hours, though we can expect fewer people today than other days this week because it is earlier in the week. Luckily, having Fantasmic scheduled on zero nights during the week is a lot better than having it scheduled every night because it does mean crowds will diminish after the 3pm Parade. Because the Studios’ restaurants aren’t anything to write home about and it closes at 7pm, very few people Park Hop in the afternoon or evening and a lot of people seem to finish up their limited itineraries in the afternoon and head home. Return to the headliners after 5:30pm if you couldn’t get to them earlier in the day either in the standby line or with FASTPASS and save Toy Story Mania for the very end of the night. Remember, Disney will allow you to ride an attraction as long as you’re in line for it by the “official” closing time. That means you can get in line for Toy Story Mania right at 6:50pm and ride, even if the Studios “officially” closes at 7pm and the posted wait time is 40 minutes. Disney has a tendency to inflate posted wait times at the end of the night to dissuade people from entering the line. Chances are the actual waits will be significantly lower than posted after 6:30pm. Finally, Disney runs bus transportation for at least 90 minutes after Park closure to shuttle back everyone who has late dining reservations. They’ll get you back to your Disney resort, even if you exit Toy Story Mania at 7:30pm. Overall, this is the best day of the week to visit the Studios with two excellent periods of time to tour.

Magic Kingdom is recommended, but tomorrow will be less crowded. Wednesdays are historically the least crowded day of the week at the Magic Kingdom due to the natural progression of weeklong vacationers that visit Magic Kingdom early and late on their trip. You can still have a lot of success if you visit today, especially with the lower crowd level than we’ve seen recently and the lack of Marathon complications like we had this past weekend. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. You may have other time sensitive attractions on your itinerary like Astro Orbiter or Tomorrowland Indy Speedway as well or you may opt to visit popular characters like Rapunzel or Tinker Bell. While these aren’t “the most popular” or “headlining attractions,” they are still morning priorities because they have guaranteed uncomfortable waits from 10am onward. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing most of what the Magic Kingdom has to offer in just one day. Consider returning on another evening for Main Street Electrical Parade. Thursday would be best, but that isn’t saying much when your only other options are the incredibly popular Monday or Saturday. As far as crowds and waits are concerned, tomorrow and Friday will also be highly recommended.

Wednesday January 11, 2012

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot (Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

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

It’s an above-average day at Epcot. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been moderately attended by Disney resort guests and they won’t be looking to return today. However, we don’t have a lot going on at the other Parks, which means a pretty good amount of off-site visitors will be headed to Epcot. I’m looking toward tomorrow as having lower crowds and shorter waits, thanks to morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade attracting people to Magic Kingdom. However, today won’t be terrible by any means. Plan to arrive as early as possible and either following a touring plan or head straight to Soarin’, followed by Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission Space. You’ll be in good shape if you’ve moved to the World Showcase by 1pm, starting with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway. Consider taking an afternoon break from 1pm to 5pm or so and return in the evening for some additional Future World rides, dinner, the World Showcase, and IlluniNations.

Hollywood Studios is not expressly recommended. We don’t have Fantasmic scheduled any day this week other than this past Sunday and it’s also later in the week, which means most people on a weeklong vacation will have already had an opportunity to visit Magic Kingdom and Epcot and they’ll be looking to ride Toy Story Mania, Star Tours, and Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster today. With no evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled anywhere, no particularly long hours of operation anywhere, and no Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom, a lot of people will default to Hollywood Studios because they prefer to visit the other Parks when they have something specific to attract them. With the low overall crowd level, you can have a lot of success at the Studios if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning. Get through these attractions early and you have nothing to worry about for the rest of the day, even when the overall crowd level is higher. Still, it’s tougher to schedule Magic Kingdom, so I would head in that direction in most scenarios and plan to visit the Studios on another recommended day.

Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit again today for the exact same reasons it was so highly recommended yesterday. The 8pm close and lack of the Main Street Electrical Parade will cause a lot of people to look elsewhere. Many Disney resort guests will wait for tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade combo and even more people will be looking forward to Saturday’s extended operating hours. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain), other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway), or a mixture. You may also want to head straight for Rapunzel in Fairytale Gardens or Tinker Bell at Tinker Bell’s Nook in the morning because you’ll find long afternoon waits with no option to FASTPASS. With the low overall crowd level and high recommendation 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.

Thursday January 12, 2012

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

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

Epcot (Most Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios (Recommended): 9am – 7pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Animal Kingdom and Epcot are our best choices. We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw the majority of Disney resort crowds and the fact that not a whole lot was going on at the other Parks. Today, we have Main Street Electrical Parade attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately, we don’t have Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios to attract people there, which is why Animal Kingdom isn’t recommended more. Still, with the low overall crowd level we should be in good shape, despite the fact that it’s later in the week and evening Extra Magic Hours aren’t scheduled. 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 either Festival of the Lion King or Finding Nemo because those shows will be popular in the afternoon. Also consider heading to Camp Minnie-Mickey for the Character Greeting Trails about five minutes before the characters are scheduled to appear to find the shortest lines. Collect FASTPASSes for attractions you either want to ride again or couldn’t make it to in the morning and you should be able to do just about everything the Animal Kingdom has to offer, despite the relatively short day. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade or Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations. 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.

It’s not the worst day of the week to visit Hollywood Studios, but it isn’t the best day either. The only major draw is morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom. We don’t have Fantasmic scheduled any day this week other than Sunday, which means Monday and Saturday will be popular with Disney resort guests, but it’s later in the week and many people will have already visited Epcot and Magic Kingdom and will be looking toward the Studios before returning to Epcot tomorrow and Magic Kingdom Saturday. With the low overall crowd level you can still have plenty of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Crowds also disperse after the 3pm Parade and the 5:30pm to 7pm timeframe is also an excellent time to tour. Return to the major attractions after 6pm if you couldn’t get to them earlier in the standby line, with FASTPASS, or would like to experience them one more time. It’s also a great time to do Voyage of the Little Mermaid or Great Movie Ride. Finally, keep an eye on your Times Guide if you’re planning to eat dinner in the Studios because several of the major and minor quick service locations may stop serving around 5:30pm.

Magic Kingdom is going to be busy because of the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a lot of Disney resort guests and the Main Street Electrical Parade which will attract a lot of off-site guests as well. The Main Street Electrical Parade is extremely popular and it’s only offered on a few nights this week. If you would like to see the Parade, your best bet is always an evening Park Hop after spending the majority of your day at a recommended Park. This way, you spend most of your day in a Park with low crowds and short lines and you’ll still be able to enjoy Magic Kingdom’s nighttime spectaculars. For Parade viewing, the least crowded areas are located along the Parade route in Frontierland and Liberty Square and the most crowded spots are along Main Street. Depending on crowds, you may still want scope out a spot about 30 minutes early. Thursdays are preferable to either Mondays or Saturdays for Parade viewing because nighttime crowds will be slightly lower. The morning Extra Magic Hours is a viable time to tour, but only if you actually arrive by 7:45am to take full advantage of it by visiting the Fantasyland attractions and headliners that are open. If you don’t arrive until later, you’ll find yourself in a Park that is getting progressively busier as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. By the time 1pm rolls around, the Park will be more crowded than during a recommended day and lines will be long enough that it will likely erase any benefit from the morning Extra Magic Hour.

Friday January 13, 2012

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

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

Epcot (Not Recommended): 9am – 9pm

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am

IllumiNations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios (Recommended): 9am – 7pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

Hollywood Studios comes recommended, but it has similar problems as Animal Kingdom. The good news is that we have the moderately popular morning Extra Magic Hour scheduled tomorrow and nothing specific drawing people to the Studios, other than the fact that it’s later in the week. With no Fantasmic shows scheduled this week (other than this past Sunday), we don’t have our usual crowd magnet to help pull people toward two or three specific days. This “helps” even out crowds over the course of the week. On the positive side, having no Fantasmic shows scheduled is better than having Fantasmic scheduled every night like we’ve seen recently, at least from a crowd perspective. Few people Park Hop over to the Studios in the afternoon or evening because the restaurants aren’t anything to write home about and there’s nothing to wait around for in terms of evening entertainment. Because a lot of people either overlook or skip the major stage shows, you’ll see a ton of people headed to the exit soon after the 3pm Parade. The 5:30pm to 7pm timeframe is an excellent time to tour, but the morning is always better. If you don’t arrive early, use FASTPASS whenever possible and stay through to 7pm, even if the afternoon crowds seem relatively heavy. Remember, Disney will allow you to ride an attraction as long as you’re in line for it by the “official” closing time. That means you can get in line for Toy Story Mania right at 6:50pm and ride, even if the Studios “officially” closes at 7pm and the posted wait time is 40 minutes. Disney has a tendency to inflate posted wait times at the end of the night to dissuade people from entering the line. Chances are the actual waits will be significantly lower than posted after 6:30pm. Finally, Disney runs bus transportation for at least 90 minutes after Park closure to shuttle back everyone who has late dining reservations. They’ll get you back to your Disney resort, even if you exit Toy Story Mania at 7:30pm. Overall, this is a recommended day if you’re not headed to Magic Kingdom, but this past Tuesday would have been better.

Magic Kingdom is by far the best Park to visit. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade will have been extremely popular with Disney resort guests and tomorrow’s Main Street Electrical Parade and longer hours will be attractive to off-site guests and those who plan to return to the Magic Kingdom for a second time before leaving on Sunday. We’re also heading into a couple busier days due to Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend. Today, we don’t have Extra Magic Hours, the Main Street Electrical Parade, long hours of operation, or special events, which means most people will choose to visit on another day. While the 9pm close is slightly later than other weekdays, it isn’t as much of a concern with the lack of the Parade and the longer hours going into the weekend. To have the most success, arrive prior to 9am and head straight for the headlining Mountain rides or Fantasyland attractions, beginning with Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh. You should have no trouble getting a lot of attractions done throughout the morning and the Park won’t be particularly busy for the rest of the day. Still, plan to use FASTPASS and focus on the less popular attractions from 1pm to 5pm when crowds will be at their highest level. If possible, plan to visit or Park Hop another day to see the Main Street Electrical Parade if it’s of interest.

Saturday January 14, 2012

Animal Kingdom (Recommended): 9am – 8pm

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

Epcot (Most Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

Magic Kingdom (Not Recommended): 9am – 1am

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

Animal Kingdom comes recommended. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours or special events to attract Disney vacationers of any sort. While the 8pm close is later than other days this week, Magic Kingdom’s longer operating hours will be even more attractive and few Disney resort guests will visit with two morning Extra Magic Hours earlier in the week and another coming up on Monday. Magic Kingdom will see the brunt of the crowds and Hollywood Studios will be more popular with Disney resort guests. To take full advantage of the relatively low crowd level, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get those two attractions out of the way early and the only real concerns are getting to Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical. You would be in the best shape if you could get to the first or last show of the day as well as over to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR before 10:30am when lines begin to build. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing just about everything Animal Kingdom has to offer in just one day. Finally, keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and it’s usually a great time to return to the major attractions from 5:30pm through close.

Epcot is our best Park to visit. Last night’s evening Extra Magic Hours will have been wildly popular with Disney resort guests and they will be nowhere near Epcot today, especially in the morning. Take full advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight to Soarin’, followed by Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space. Move up through World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway to stay in front of crowds for the longest amount of time possible. Return to Future World after 5pm to re-ride the headliners with FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day and ride any of the other Future World attractions you skipped earlier in the day. It’s an excellent time to do Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Captain EO, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, anything in Innoventions, etc. Keep in mind that many of the non-headlining Future World attractions close at 7pm. Usually, only Test Track, Soarin’, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot operate from 7pm – 9pm. If you’re interested in meeting Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto, plan to visit the Character Spot in Future World right at 9am or after 7pm. Because of its limited capacity, wait times are routinely 20-40+ minutes throughout the day. It’s also an excellent day to stay for dinner, the Candlelight Processional, and IllumiNations.

Hollywood Studios will be busier today thanks to morning Extra Magic Hour attracting Disney resort guests. Saturdays at the Studios aren’t super popular because morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and a lot of people will be looking toward Magic Kingdom for the extended hours and Main Street Electrical Parade regardless of what’s going on elsewhere. However, the lack of Fantasmic this week means crowds will be more evenly dispersed and a decent number of Disney resort guests will save the Studios for today because they think it’s Disney’s way of telling them where they ought to be. If you’re eligible for morning Extra Magic Hour, this is one where you’ll want to do your best to arrive prior to 8am if you do go. You’ll be in great shape for the rest of the day if you can get Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours out of the way in the early morning. As always, focus on Toy Story Mania because it will have the longest lines in the afternoon and FASTPASSes will likely be gone before noon. However, the Park will be busier than recommended days from 11am through close. You can still have success if you arrive for the morning Extra Magic Hour, but you’ll want to visit during a recommended day if you’re not Extra Magic Hours eligible or won’t be arriving until 9am or later.

Saturdays are naturally the busiest day of the week at the Magic Kingdom. We have a relatively rare Main Street Electrical Parade, much 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. All of this makes me hesitant about recommending the Magic Kingdom, despite a lack of Extra Magic Hours. Tomorrow morning will actually be less crowded, though the evening will be similarly. Both yesterday 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 Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes or visit the less popular attractions from 2pm – 6pm. For the Main Street Electrical Parade, scout out a spot along the Parade route in either Frontierland or Liberty Square for the 9pm Parade. Those areas are substantially less crowded than Main Street and will require less of a wait and the second Parade is also less crowded than the first. The late night is also a viable time to tour should you be able to stay out late. Magic Kingdom will be much less crowded from 10pm – 1am. It’s a great time to visit Tomorrowland and the other headlining attractions around the Park. Save Fantasyland for the very end of the night because almost all families will be long gone and waits at Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh, and others will be much shorter than the afternoon and early evening. 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. Outside of the first week of January, this is going to be the busiest day of the month at the Magic Kingdom and it will catch a lot of people who thought January was supposed to be low on crowds by surprise.

Sunday January 15, 2012

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

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

Epcot (Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 12am – 3am

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

Animal Kingdom comes highly recommended. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours or special events to attract people and most of those on a short Martin Luther King Weekend trip won’t have Animal Kingdom on their itinerary. While the 8pm close is later than other days this week, it won’t be a deciding factor considering the longer hours/evening entertainment/evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom. While we would be better off with Fantasmic scheduled, there isn’t much we can do about that this week because it isn’t scheduled. With the long day, there are two great times to tour. The early morning, from 9am – 10:30am, is always preferable. FASTPASSes are plentiful with return times that are just 40 to 60 minutes in the future and standby waits that are guaranteed to be low. The end of the day, from 6pm – 8pm, will also see lower crowds and shorter waits than the afternoon. However, FASTPASSes will likely be gone at the major attractions even if standby waits are shorter. Depending on weather and daylight, Kilimanjaro Safaris will most likely stop operating at 5pm or 6pm. Ideally, plan to arrive prior to Park opening and 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 for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR 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. If you have young children or otherwise have interest, you may also want to visit Camp Minnie-Mickey early in the morning to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Chip, and Dale. You may also see characters like Thumper, Miss Bunny, and Brer Bear and Pocahontas is usually out as well. Check your Times Guide and plan to arrive in Camp Minnie-Mickey about ten minutes before the characters appear. Mickey will have the longest lines later in the day. If you can’t get to Camp Minnie-Mickey early in the morning, plan to arrive about ten minutes before the start of a Festival of the Lion King show. Because the exit to Festival of the Lion King is near the Character Trails in Camp Minnie-Mickey, the area is flooded once an hour with about a thousand guests, many of which would not visit Camp Minnie-Mickey otherwise. If you don’t end up arriving prior or close to Park opening, plan to stay through until 8pm and return to the major headliners after 7pm when standby waits are lower than the afternoon. Take advantage of one or both of the less crowded times of day, use FASTPASS as much as possible in the late morning and afternoon, and tour efficiently and you should have an excellent day.

Epcot is recommended again today. We have a lot going on at the other Parks and nothing specific to draw crowds to Epcot. It’s a particularly excellent day to see IllumiNations and have dinner in the World Showcase because Magic Kingdom will be attracting most of the nighttime crowd. Despite the strong recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Soarin, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the touring plans. The overall crowd level is above average this weekend because of the holiday and you’ll still run into 60ish minute waits at Test Track and Soarin’ in the afternoon. There’s just no way around that when crowds are heavier because both attractions are popular and have limited capacities. Thankfully, you’ll be well on your way to the other Future World attractions and World Showcase before those waits increase. If you don’t arrive early in the morning, FASTPASS Soarin’ and then Test Track as quickly as possible. If crowds begin to substantially increase in Future World around noon, begin to move up through the World Showcase beginning with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. Consider returning to Future World after 5pm when crowds decrease there and begin to creep up into World Showcase. See the two-day Epcot touring plans if you’re looking for a more compartmentalized approach.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re sandwiched in between yesterday’s moderately popular morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s extremely popular evening Extra Magic Hours. With no Fantasmic in sight and short hours of operation, few people will be headed to the Studios. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and heading straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Make Toy Story Mania your priority because it will have the longest afternoon waits and FASTPASSes will still likely run out by noon, even with the recommendation. The only other problem most people run into is trying to schedule all of the stage shows that run on a set schedule. You may also want to prioritize characters that will have longer afternoon waits. 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 Vission 3D. Check the week’s Times Guide to verify appearance times. Two other popular characters appear in the Animation Building in the Animation Courtyard. Sorcerer Mickey in particular has long afternoon waits and The Incredibles characters also tend to have decent lines. Since both characters meet indoors and their lines aren’t usually over 20 minutes long, you should be able to find them with decent waits later in the day if you have other morning priorities. Finally, you’ll find some characters in the morning near Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat that won’t appear later in the afternoon. Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Chip, Dale, Friends of Winnie the Pooh, Goofy, and Pluto are all common, but no specific character is guaranteed to appear. If you can’t arrive early, crowds do thin out after the 3:45pm Parade. Few people Park Hop over to the Studios in the afternoon or evening when no nighttime entertainment is scheduled. The restaurants aren’t particularly outstanding and the 7pm close is unattractive when considering transit times. If you couldn’t get to the major attractions in the morning or with FASTPASS, visit them after 6pm. Wait times are often inflated after 6pm and that 20 minute posted wait at Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster may very well be just five or ten. The biggest problem you’ll likely run into is trying to schedule the various stage shows.

Magic Kingdom is occasionally recommended on Sundays with evening Extra Magic Hours because the early morning is an excellent time to tour and the late night evening Extra Magic Hours can also be good if you “tour smart.” However, I’m concerned about a slightly different crowd pattern than usual due to Martin Luther King holiday and the number of people that will be in town for a shorter vacation. While the morning will be an excellent time to tour, we’re looking at significantly heavier crowds than recommended days from 11am through 10pm. This past Friday would have been considerably less busy and this coming Tuesday and Wednesday will also be excellent. If you are headed to Magic Kingdom anyway, you can have a lot of success in the morning from 9am – 11am or so if you arrive by 8:40am and take care of Fantasyland, the headlining Mountain rides, or whatever attractions you deem most important on your itinerary. Continue collecting FASTPASSes for the major attractions as often as possible for use later in the day when crowds peak. Because of the long operating hours, you will likely want to take an afternoon break from 1pm to 6pm or so when crowds are heaviest. Return in the evening to ride attractions with FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day, have dinner, enjoy some high capacity attractions, and watch the nighttime spectaculars. With the long hours, the 11pm – 3am timeframe will also be an excellent time to tour. By the time 1:30am rolls around, you will more or less have the Magic Kingdom to yourself as almost all families will be long gone. If you are staying for Extra Magic Hours, I recommend beginning in Adventureland because most people will head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first. Next, move up through Frontierland and Liberty Square on your way to Tomorrowland. Save Fantasyland for last. It’s not uncommon for Peter Pan’s Flight to have a 60 minute wait in the afternoon and a five minute or less wait at the end of evening Extra Magic Hours. Save Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh for the very end of the night.

Monday January 16, 2012

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot (Most Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 7pm – 10pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

Animal Kingdom will be moderately more popular than recommended days due to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract a decent number of Disney resort guests. Mondays at the Animal Kingdom aren’t wildly popular because of the fact that morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and because it’s early in the week and many people who travel over the weekend will be heading to the Magic Kingdom regardless of the Extra Magic Hours schedule. With the holiday weekend this week, crowd patterns will be a little different than usual and we’ll have a decent number of people that are actually toward the end of their vacation today, making Animal Kingdom more attractive to them as well. 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 or Thursday 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. While Epcot will be busier today than other days this week because the overall crowd level is higher, it’s still our best choice. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the touring plans. It’s a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations as well. If you’re planning to take one day off for resort hopping, pool activities, Downtown Disney etc. then you might want to make today it. It’s going to busier than other days later in the week because of the holiday.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. I’m looking towards tomorrow and Thursday as better days to visit. Because of that, there’s really no reason to head in that 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, at least until after 9:00pm when people begin to give up and exit. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. You can have a moderate amount of success if you arrive early, but with two recommended days coming up, there’s really no reason to press your luck.

Magic Kingdom is, by far, the worst Park to visit today. First, it’s a national holiday, which will attract a fair amount of locals that have the day off. Although Martin Luther King Day doesn’t bring in a ton of people because it’s just one day and we’re coming off of the very busy holiday season, visiting locals are always a concern on holidays. Second, we have a rare main Street Electrical Parade scheduled. The Main Street Electrical Parade is only scheduled on three nights this week and it’s extremely popular. Anyone who wants to see the Parade will need to be at the Magic Kingdom last night, tonight, or Thursday night. After this Thursday, we won’t have another Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled until the second week in February. Because most people don’t opt for the Park Hopper upgrade or don’t use it after they’ve purchased it, they will need to spend their entire day at the Magic Kingdom in order to see the Main Street Electrical Parade at night. Finally, a lot of people travel over the weekend and naturally head to the Magic Kingdom on Monday for their first full day. All of this will make the Magic Kingdom incredibly busy today and any other day this week would be less crowded, other than potentially this Saturday, which will have very similar crowds and waits. For Main Street Electrical Parade viewing, this coming Thursday would actually be better because the overall crowd level is lower and nighttime crowds will be slightly smaller. As always, the best Parade viewing spots are located along the Parade route in Frontierland and Liberty Square. These locations offer a view that is just as good as Main Street, but don’t require the excessive waits.

Tuesday January 17, 2012

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

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

Epcot (Not Recommended): 9am – 9pm

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

Animal Kingdom is recommended today, though not as highly as it would be if it was hosting evening Extra Magic Hours tomorrow. We don’t have evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment scheduled at any of the Parks today, which means a moderate number of people will take the opportunity to visit the Animal Kingdom instead. Luckily, Epcot will be a bigger draw, especially for Disney resort guests and off-site visitors that naturally visit Epcot after the Magic Kingdom yesterday. Both today and Thursday are “evenly recommended,” meaning either day will have similar crowds and wait times. On Thursday, we have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom attracting a lot of people, but that trades off with the fact that it’s later in the week. Overall, today and Thursday are your best days this week, so pick whichever fits in your itinerary better. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day and plan to see the first or last Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical and you’re in excellent shape.

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. Plus there’s no Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom or Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios, making Epcot’s 9am – 9pm day with IllumiNations extra-attractive. 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 prior to 8am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re coming off a very popular evening Extra Magic Hours last night, we don’t have Fantasmic or longer hours of operation to attract anyone, and it’s early enough in the week that most people will be interested in visiting Epcot or Magic Kingdom. The only problem is that we don’t have Fantasmic, our usual crowd magnet, scheduled any time this week. This will somewhat standardize crowds at the Studios on days that don’t “feature” Extra Magic Hours, though we can expect fewer people today than other days this week because it is earlier in the week. Luckily, having Fantasmic scheduled on zero nights during the week is a lot better than having it scheduled every night because it does mean crowds will diminish after the 3pm Parade. Because the Studios’ restaurants aren’t anything to write home about and it closes at 7pm, very few people Park Hop in the afternoon or evening and a lot of people seem to finish up their limited itineraries in the afternoon and head home. Return to the headliners after 5:30pm if you couldn’t get to them earlier in the day either in the standby line or with FASTPASS and save Toy Story Mania for the very end of the night. Remember, Disney will allow you to ride an attraction as long as you’re in line for it by the “official” closing time. That means you can get in line for Toy Story Mania right at 6:50pm and ride, even if the Studios “officially” closes at 7pm and the posted wait time is 40 minutes. Disney has a tendency to inflate posted wait times at the end of the night to dissuade people from entering the line. Chances are the actual waits will be significantly lower than posted after 6:30pm. Finally, Disney runs bus transportation for at least 90 minutes after Park closure to shuttle back everyone who has late dining reservations. They’ll get you back to your Disney resort, even if you exit Toy Story Mania at 7:30pm. Overall, this is the best day of the week to visit the Studios with two excellent periods of time to tour.

Magic Kingdom is recommended, but tomorrow will be less crowded. Wednesdays are historically the least crowded day of the week at the Magic Kingdom due to the natural progression of weeklong vacationers that visit Magic Kingdom early and late on their trip. You can still have a lot of success if you visit today, especially with the lower crowd level than we’ve seen recently and the lack of Martin Luther King Day complications like we had this past weekend. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. You may have other time sensitive attractions on your itinerary like Astro Orbiter or Tomorrowland Indy Speedway as well. While these aren’t “the most popular” or “headlining” attractions, they are still morning priorities because they have guaranteed uncomfortable waits from 10am onward. A popular character like Rapunzel or Tinker Bell may also top your itinerary because these characters will also have 30+ minute waits for most of the day. In Rapunzel’s case, her wait time can easily hit 60 or more minutes. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing most of what the Magic Kingdom has to offer in just one day. Consider returning on another evening for Main Street Electrical Parade. Thursday would be best, but that isn’t saying much when your only other options are the incredibly popular Sunday and Monday. As far as crowds and waits are concerned, tomorrow and Friday will also be highly recommended.

Wednesday January 18, 2012

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

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

Epcot (Most Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

Magic Kingdom (Recommended): 9am – 8pm

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Thursday January 19, 2012

Animal Kingdom (Recommended): 9am – 5pm

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot (Most Recommended): 9am – 9pm

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 7pm – 10pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Rock the Night Fireworks: 7pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

Friday January 20, 2012

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

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

Epcot (Not Recommended): 9am – 9pm

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am

IllumiNations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios (Recommended): 9am – 7pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

Saturday January 21, 2012

Animal Kingdom (Recommended): 9am – 7pm

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

Epcot (Most Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

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

Animal Kingdom comes recommended. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours or special events to attract Disney vacationers of any sort. While the 7pm close is later than other days this week, it won’t be as big of a draw as Magic Kingdom’s much later close. We also had two morning Extra Magic Hours earlier in the week and another on Monday to appeal to the sizable Disney resort contingent. Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will see the brunt of the crowds. To take full advantage of the low crowd level, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Get those two attractions out of the way early and the only real concerns are getting to Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical. You would be in the best shape if you could get to the first or last show of the day as well as over to DinoLand USA before 10:30am when lines begin to build at DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing just about everything Animal Kingdom has to offer in just one day. Finally, keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and it’s usually a great time to return to the major attractions from 5:30pm through close.

Hollywood Studios will be busy today thanks to morning Extra Magic Hour attracting Disney resort guests. Saturdays at the Studios aren’t super popular because morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t as popular as evening Extra Magic Hours and a lot of people will be looking toward Magic Kingdom for the extended hours regardless of what’s going on elsewhere. However, the lack of Fantasmic all this week means crowds will be more evenly dispersed and a decent number of Disney resort guests will save the Studios for today because they think it’s Disney’s way of telling them where they ought to be. If you’re eligible for morning Extra Magic Hour, this is one where you’ll want to do your best to arrive prior to 8am if you do go. You’ll be in great shape for the rest of the day if you can get Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours out of the way in the early morning. As always, focus on Toy Story Mania because it will have the longest lines in the afternoon and FASTPASSes will likely be gone before noon. However, the Park will be busier than recommended days from 11am through close. You can still have success if you arrive for the morning Extra Magic Hour, but you’ll want to visit during a recommended day if you’re not Extra Magic Hours eligible or won’t be arriving until 9am or later.

Sunday January 22, 2012

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

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

Epcot (Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3:30pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom comes highly recommended. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours or special events to attract people. While the 7pm close is later than most other days this week, it won’t be a deciding factor considering the longer hours/evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom. While we would be better off with Fantasmic scheduled, there isn’t much we can do about that this week because it isn’t scheduled. With the long day, there are two great times to tour. The early morning, from 9am – 10:30am, is always preferable. FASTPASSes are plentiful with return times that are just 40 to 60 minutes in the future and standby waits that are guaranteed to be low. The end of the day, from 5:45pm – 7pm, will also see lower crowds and shorter waits than the afternoon. However, FASTPASSes will likely be gone at the major attractions even if standby waits are shorter. Depending on weather and daylight, Kilimanjaro Safaris will most likely stop operating at 5pm or 6pm. Ideally, plan to arrive prior to Park opening and 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 for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR 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. If you have young children or otherwise have interest, you may also want to visit Camp Minnie-Mickey early in the morning to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Chip, and Dale. You may also see characters like Thumper, Miss Bunny, Brer Bear, and Pocahontas. Check your Times Guide and plan to arrive in Camp Minnie-Mickey about ten minutes before the characters appear. Mickey will have the longest lines later in the day. If you can’t get to Camp Minnie-Mickey early in the morning, plan to arrive about ten minutes before the start of a Festival of the Lion King show. Because the exit to Festival of the Lion King is near the Character Trails in Camp Minnie-Mickey, the area is flooded once an hour with about a thousand guests, many of which would not visit Camp Minnie-Mickey otherwise. If you don’t end up arriving prior or close to Park opening, plan to stay through until 7pm and return to the major headliners after 6pm when standby waits are lower than the afternoon. Take advantage of one or both of the less crowded times of day, use FASTPASS as much as possible in the late morning and afternoon, and tour efficiently and you should have an excellent day.

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 strong recommendation, you will still have the most success if you arrive prior to opening and head straight to Soarin, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the touring plans. With the low overall crowd level and recommendation, you shouldn’t be looking at long lines or crowds at any attractions other than Soarin’ and Test Track, which routinely see afternoon waits of 60 minutes, even when crowds are low. 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. Consider returning to Future World after 5pm to visit attractions you skipped previously and/or use FASTPASSes collected earlier in the day. Most people will have moved on to World Showcase, easing crowds and waits at many of the attractions. Check your Times Guide to see which attractions will remain open after 7pm. Most days, it’s only Soarin’, Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Mission Space, and Character Spot. See the two-day Epcot touring plans if you’re looking for a more compartmentalized approach.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re sandwiched in between yesterday’s moderately popular morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s extremely popular evening Extra Magic Hours. With no Fantasmic in sight and short hours of operation, few people will be headed to the Studios. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and heading straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Make Toy Story Mania your priority because it will have the longest afternoon waits and FASTPASSes will still likely run out by noon, even with the recommendation. The only other problem most people run into is trying to schedule all of the stage shows that run on a set schedule. You may also want to prioritize characters that will have longer afternoon waits. 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 Vission 3D. Check the week’s Times Guide to verify appearance times. Two other popular characters appear in the Animation Building in the Animation Courtyard. Sorcerer Mickey in particular has long afternoon waits and The Incredibles characters also tend to have decent lines. Since both characters meet indoors and their lines aren’t usually over 20 minutes long, you should be able to find them with decent waits later in the day if you have other morning priorities. Finally, you’ll find some characters in the morning near Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat that won’t appear later in the afternoon. Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Chip, Dale, Friends of Winnie the Pooh, Goofy, and Pluto are all common, but no specific character is guaranteed to appear. If you can’t arrive early, crowds do thin out after the 3:45pm Parade. Few people Park Hop over to the Studios in the afternoon or evening when no nighttime entertainment is scheduled. The restaurants aren’t particularly outstanding and the 7pm close is unattractive when considering transit times. If you couldn’t get to the major attractions in the morning or with FASTPASS, visit them after 6pm. Wait times are often inflated after 6pm and that 20 minute posted wait at Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster may very well be just five or ten. The biggest problem you’ll likely run into is trying to schedule the various stage shows.

Magic Kingdom is also rated “green” today, but only under certain conditions. The morning will be an excellent time to tour, especially with the low overall crowd level and evening Extra Magic Hours. 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 10pm. 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 1pm to 9pm as the bulk of Disney resort guests arrive en masse. I usually recommend Magic Kingdom’s evening Extra Magic Hours when they start later because so many families leave around 10pm. When Extra Magic Hours start at 11pm or 12am, crowds only thin out more and more as it gets later in the evening. Tonight, many families will be able to stay until at least 10pm, keeping crowds heavier than recommended days. However, you can still enjoy some of the less popular attractions until 10pm and then return to Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides in the final hour. Lines won’t be super-short, but they’ll be shorter than the afternoon. Overall, this coming Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday will all be less crowded, but today will be less crowded than yesterday or tomorrow, which is why we have the green rating. You’ll be in much better shape if you wait for a more recommended day unless you plan to take full advantage of the morning and visit the less popular attractions in the afternoon when crowds are heavier.

Monday January 23, 2012

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot (Most Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Evening Extra Magic Hours: 7pm – 10pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3:30pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Epcot is the only expressly recommended Park. We don’t have Extra Magic Hours, special evening entertainment, or anything else that will draw people toward Epcot specifically. Disney resort guests will be more likely to visit tomorrow or Friday for Extra Magic Hours and many people will be headed to Magic Kingdom for their first full day at Walt Disney World. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow one of the compartmentalized two-day touring plans.

Hollywood Studios will be busy due to the evening Extra Magic Hours that are popular with Disney resort guests. The morning will be an okay time to tour, but crowds will increase around 11am as more and more Disney resort guests arrive. I’m looking towards tomorrow and Thursday as better days to visit. Because of that, there’s really no reason to head in that 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, at least until after 9:00pm when people begin to give up and exit. If you’re staying for evening Extra Magic Hours, your best bet is always to save these headlining attractions for the very end of the night and visit Toy Story Mania last. You can have a moderate amount of success if you arrive early, but with two recommended days coming up, there’s really no reason to press your luck.

Magic Kingdom is not recommended, though it won’t be as crowded as when it had a rare Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled. Now that the Electrical Parade isn’t scheduled until February 11th, Magic Kingdom will only be slightly more crowded than recommended days later in the week. We still have the extended operating hours that will be attractive to anyone who thinks longer hours of operation translate to being able to accomplish more during the day. While this is logical, the heavier crowds make wait times longer and you’ll actually be able to accomplish more tomorrow, Wednesday, or Friday, despite the Park being open fewer hours. It’s also a Monday, which means it’s the first full day for many vacationers on a traditional weeklong vacation. Many of these people ignore the Extra Magic Hours schedule or whatever is going on elsewhere and head to Magic Kingdom. 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 5pm or so to rest up for Wishes and some late night rides.

Tuesday January 24, 2012

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

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

Epcot (Not Recommended): 9am – 9pm

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3:30pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom is recommended today, though not as highly as it would be if it was hosting evening Extra Magic Hours tomorrow. We don’t have evening Extra Magic Hours or special evening entertainment scheduled at any of the Parks today, which means a moderate number of people will take the opportunity to visit the Animal Kingdom instead. Luckily, Epcot will be a bigger draw, especially for Disney resort guests and off-site visitors that naturally visit Epcot after the Magic Kingdom yesterday. Both today and Thursday are “evenly recommended,” meaning either day will have similar crowds and wait times. On Thursday, we have morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom attracting a lot of people, but that trades off with the fact that it’s later in the week. Overall, today and Thursday are your best days this week, so pick whichever fits in your itinerary better. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest first thing in the morning. Collect FASTPASSes throughout the day and plan to see the first or last Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical and you’re in excellent shape.

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. Plus there’s no Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom or Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios, making Epcot’s 9am – 9pm day with IllumiNations extra-attractive. 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 prior to 8am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.

Hollywood Studios is the most recommended Park. We’re coming off a very popular evening Extra Magic Hours last night, we don’t have Fantasmic or longer hours of operation to attract anyone, and it’s early enough in the week that most people will be interested in visiting Epcot or Magic Kingdom. The only problem is that we don’t have Fantasmic, our usual crowd magnet, scheduled any time this week. This will somewhat standardize crowds at the Studios on days that don’t “feature” Extra Magic Hours, though we can expect fewer people today than other days this week because it is earlier in the week. Luckily, having Fantasmic scheduled on zero nights during the week is a lot better than having it scheduled every night because it does mean crowds will diminish after the 3pm Parade. Because the Studios’ restaurants aren’t anything to write home about and it closes at 7pm, very few people Park Hop in the afternoon or evening and a lot of people seem to finish up their limited itineraries in the afternoon and head home. Return to the headliners after 5:30pm if you couldn’t get to them earlier in the day either in the standby line or with FASTPASS and save Toy Story Mania for the very end of the night. Remember, Disney will allow you to ride an attraction as long as you’re in line for it by the “official” closing time. That means you can get in line for Toy Story Mania right at 6:50pm and ride, even if the Studios “officially” closes at 7pm and the posted wait time is 40 minutes. Disney has a tendency to inflate posted wait times at the end of the night to dissuade people from entering the line. Chances are the actual waits will be significantly lower than posted after 6:30pm. Finally, Disney runs bus transportation for at least 90 minutes after Park closure to shuttle back everyone who has late dining reservations. They’ll get you back to your Disney resort, even if you exit Toy Story Mania at 7:30pm. Overall, this is the best day of the week to visit the Studios with two excellent periods of time to tour.

Magic Kingdom is highly recommended, but tomorrow will be even less crowded. Wednesdays are historically the least crowded day of the week at the Magic Kingdom due to the natural progression of weeklong vacationers that visit Magic Kingdom early and late on their trip. You can still have a lot of success if you visit today, especially with the low overall crowd level. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head to Fantasyland or the headlining Mountain rides. You may have other time sensitive attractions on your itinerary like Astro Orbiter or Tomorrowland Indy Speedway as well. While these aren’t “the most popular” or “headlining” attractions, they are still morning priorities because they have guaranteed uncomfortable waits from 10am onward. A popular character like Rapunzel or Tinker Bell may also top your itinerary because these characters will also have 30+ minute waits for most of the day. In Rapunzel’s case, her wait time can easily hit 60 or more minutes. Use FASTPASS throughout the day and you should have no trouble experiencing most of what the Magic Kingdom has to offer in just one day. Consider returning on another evening for Main Street Electrical Parade. Thursday would be best, but that isn’t saying much when your only other options are the incredibly popular Sunday and Monday. As far as crowds and waits are concerned, tomorrow and Friday will also be highly recommended.

Wednesday January 25, 2012

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

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

Epcot (Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

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

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3:30pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

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

It’s an above-average day at Epcot. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour will have been moderately attended by Disney resort guests and they won’t be looking to return today. However, we don’t have a lot going on at the other Parks, which means a pretty good amount of off-site visitors will be headed to Epcot. I’m looking toward tomorrow as having lower crowds and shorter waits, thanks to morning Extra Magic Hour attracting people to Magic Kingdom. However, today won’t be terrible by any means. Plan to arrive as early as possible and either following a touring plan or head straight to Soarin’, followed by Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission Space. You’ll be in good shape if you’ve moved to the World Showcase by 1pm, starting with the boat rides in Mexico and Norway.

Hollywood Studios is not expressly recommended. We don’t have Fantasmic scheduled any day this week and it’s also later in the week, which means most people on a weeklong vacation will have already had an opportunity to visit Magic Kingdom and Epcot and they’ll be looking to ride Toy Story Mania, Star Tours, and Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster today. With no evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled anywhere, no particularly long hours of operation anywhere, and no Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom, a lot of people will default to Hollywood Studios because they prefer to visit the other Parks when they have something specific to attract them. With the low overall crowd level, you can have a lot of success at the Studios if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours first thing in the morning. Get through these attractions early and you have nothing to worry about for the rest of the day, even when the overall crowd level is higher. Still, it’s tougher to schedule Magic Kingdom, so I would head in that direction in most scenarios and plan to visit the Studios on another recommended day.

Magic Kingdom is our best Park to visit today for the exact same reasons it was so highly recommended yesterday. The 8pm close and lack of evening entertainment will cause a lot of people to look elsewhere. Many Disney resort guests will wait for tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hour and even more people will be looking forward to Saturday’s extended operating hours. Take advantage by arriving prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, or other time sensitive attractions (Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway), or a mixture. You may also want to visit Rapunzel or Tinker Bell first if they are on your itinerary. With the low overall crowd level and high recommendation 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.

Thursday January 26, 2012

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

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

Epcot (Most Recommended): 9am – 9pm

IllumiNations: 9pm

Hollywood Studios (Recommended): 9am – 7pm

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm

Fantasmic: none

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

Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3:30pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: none, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm

Animal Kingdom and Epcot are our best choices. We’re coming off a popular day at Animal Kingdom yesterday, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will draw the majority of Disney resort crowds and the fact that not a whole lot was going on at the other Parks. Today, we have Main Street Electrical Parade attracting crowds toward the Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately, we don’t have Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios to attract people there, which is why Animal Kingdom isn’t recommended more. Still, with the low overall crowd level we should be in good shape, despite the fact that it’s later in the week and evening Extra Magic Hours aren’t scheduled. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. If you’re not riding the thrill rides (Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl), you’ll want to attend the first showing of Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo because those shows will be popular in the afternoon. Also consider visiting Camp Minnie-Mickey just before the characters arrive at the Greeting Trails to find the shortest lines for Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Chip, Dale, and others. Collect FASTPASSes for attractions you either want to ride again or couldn’t make it to in the morning and you should be able to do just about everything the Animal Kingdom has to offer, despite the relatively short day. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Magic Kingdom for dinner and Wishes or Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at one of its excellent restaurants. There’s also a public observatory where you can gaze out at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s private savannas and enjoy the same view many guests are paying a premium to have right outside their balconies. A trip to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping also makes a lot of sense.

Epcot is the most recommended Park. Tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will draw the majority of Disney resort guests and they won’t be attending today as well. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour a pulling people towards Magic Kingdom. Arrive early and head straight to Soarin’, Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, and Mission: Space or follow a more compartmentalized two-day touring plan if you prefer. It’s also a great day to stay for dinner and IllumiNations.

It’s not the worst day of the week to visit Hollywood Studios, but it isn’t the best day either. The only major draw is morning Extra Magic Hour and Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom. We don’t have Fantasmic scheduled any day this week, which means Monday and Saturday will be popular with Disney resort guests, but it’s later in the week and many people will have already visited Epcot and Magic Kingdom and will be looking toward the Studios before returning to Epcot tomorrow and Magic Kingdom Saturday. With the low overall crowd level you can still have plenty of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Crowds also disperse after the 3pm Parade and the 5:30pm to 7pm timeframe is also an excellent time to tour. Return to the major attractions after 6pm if you couldn’t get to them earlier in the standby line, with FASTPASS, or would like to experience them one more time. It’s also a great time to do Voyage of the Little Mermaid or Great Movie Ride. Finally, keep an eye on your Times Guide if you’re planning to eat dinner in the Studios because several of the major and minor quick service locations may stop serving around 5:30pm.