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.
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.
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
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.
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 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 18th. 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 8th (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 9th. 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 9th through January 13th 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 13th 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.
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 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 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
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. While the 8pm close tomorrow is much later than any other day this week, it has more to do with the heavier overall crowd level for Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend than it does with a higher expected crowd level at Animal Kingdom in particular. Magic Kingdom will be so much more popular tomorrow with the much longer day and evening entertainment that we don’t need to worry about the 8pm close at Animal Kingdom. In fact, it will make the early morning and late evening that much better.
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 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.
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, Pluto, and Donald, you may want to head straight to the Character Spot instead of Soarin’ or Test Track. Unlike those two headliners, which offer FASTPASS and have much higher capacities, Character Spot does not offer FASTPASS and its capacity is basically one person per character at a time. Wait times for the Character Spot are often 40+ minutes from 10am through 7pm. Plan to head over after 7pm if you can’t get there in the early morning. 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 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 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. While Main Street Electrical Parade isn’t scheduled again until February 11th, we can still expect Magic Kingdom to be busier with the longer hours and addition of local visitors. 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. While it is possible to have a decent day here if you arrive early and tour efficiently, there are much less crowded days to visit during the week.
Sunday 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
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 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.
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 January 27, 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: 3:30pm, 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.
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 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 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 saw this past summer, 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 will have been popular with Disney resort guests and tomorrow’s longer hours will be attractive to off-site guests and those who plan to return to the Magic Kingdom for a second time before leaving on Sunday. Today, we don’t have Extra Magic Hours, the Main Street Electrical Parade, long hours of operation, or special events, which means most people will choose to visit on another day. While the 9pm close is slightly later than other days this week, it isn’t a major concern with such long hours tomorrow and yesterday’s more popular morning Extra Magic Hour. 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 January 28, 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: 3:30pm, 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.
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, Pluto, and Donald, you may want to head straight to the Character Spot instead of Soarin’ or Test Track. Unlike those two headliners, which offer FASTPASS and have much higher capacities, Character Spot does not offer FASTPASS and its capacity is basically one person per character at a time. Wait times for the Character Spot are often 40+ minutes from 10am through 7pm. Plan to head over after 7pm if you can’t get there in the early morning. 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 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 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. While Main Street Electrical Parade isn’t scheduled again until February 11th, we can still expect Magic Kingdom to be busier with the longer hours and addition of local visitors. 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. While it is possible to have a decent day here if you arrive early and tour efficiently, there are much less crowded days to visit during the week.
Sunday January 29, 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 – 10pm
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 10pm – 1am
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 11pm, keeping crowds heavier than recommended days. However, you can still enjoy some of the less popular attractions until 11:30pm 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 30, 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: 3:30pm, 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 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. 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 January 31, 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.
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