4/15/13 Update: Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm on April 30.
4/6/13 Update: Animal Kingdom morning Extra Magic Hour moved from April 22nd to 21st. Animal Kingdom’s 15 Anniversary is celebrated on April 22nd.
2/6/12 Update: crowd Calendar updated with the changes listed here.
11/11/12 Update - Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 7pm for April 7 – 29.
9/28/12 Update – There were admittedly two mistakes at the end of April, as I was in a hurry to publish this before heading out for the cast preview of the Food and Wine Festival. While the recommendations on the crowd calendar image were correct, the daily analysis was copy/pasted from the wrong location. Everything should now look right.
This is the Free April 2013 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.
Make sure you first read my month-by-month overview of visiting Disney World, located here. The overview will give you an idea of what to expect in terms of cost, crowds, weather, and special events on a broader scale. Once you figure out when you would like to visit, you can move on to this more detailed look.
Here’s a quick explanation of how to read the calendar and what the numbers mean. It may seem like it’s a little long, but you’ll only need to read the explanation once.
- The first line in each box is the date.
- The second line shows the cost to book a room at a Disney-owned resort. $ = Value Season, $$ = Regular Season, $$$ = Summer Season, $$$$ = Peak Season, and $$$$$ = Holiday Season. Occasionally there will be a + or – after the $$$ to show that the cost is slightly higher or lower than usual, but not by enough to raise it another $ notch.
- The third line is the average high and low temperature and the chance of precipitation. All data is based on the last 15 years. I wouldn’t read too much into the precipitation percentages for each day because just one or two additional days of rain in the last 15 years can raise the percentage substantially. I included it so you can look at the precipitation trends throughout the month(s) and take it into consideration when deciding when to book your vacation. For a broader overview of the month, read the month-by-month overview I linked to above.
- The fourth line is an estimation of the overall crowd level. A “5″ refers to average crowds. Numbers above 5 refer to a larger than average overall crowd level and numbers below 5 refer to lower than average overall crowds. A day with an overall crowd level of “1″ means that the crowds are expected to be the absolute lowest of the year and a “10″ means crowds are expected to be at their largest of the year. In other words, the overall crowd level estimation will give you an idea of how many people are in the entire Disney World complex, including the four major theme parks, water parks, Downtown Disney, golf courses, resorts, etc. Individual theme parks can have smaller or larger crowds than the overall estimation, which is where the theme park recommendations come in.
- The fifth line shows the theme parks I recommend visiting in green and the theme parks I recommend avoiding in red. There is also a | sign that splits up the recommended and not recommended Parks for the color blind or those printing in black and white (the Parks to the left of the | sign are recommended). I use the usual abbreviations for the Parks; AK is the Animal Kingdom, EP is Epcot, HS is Hollywood Studios, and MK is the Magic Kingdom. In addition to the colors, the Park on the far left is the most recommended Park to visit that day. The Park second to the left is the second most recommended and so on. For example, if the line reads AK EP | HS MK then the Animal Kingdom is the most recommended and Epcot is the second most recommended. On the other side of the | sign, Hollywood Studios is not recommended and the Magic Kingdom is expressly not recommended even more. If possible, I would strongly recommend you visit the Park that is most recommended each day. Please read below the calendar for an overview of how I’ve selected the recommended Parks and also a day-by-day explanation.
- The sixth line lists which Parks have Extra Magic Hours and at what time they start. Morning Extra Magic Hour lasts one hour and usually starts at 8am. Evening Extra Magic Hours last three hours from the start time. For example, if you see AK:8am EP:9pm, that means the Animal Kingdom has a morning Extra Magic Hour from 8am-9am and Epcot has evening Extra Magic Hours from 9pm-12am.
- The seventh line lists the Fantasmic show times at the Hollywood Studios.
- The eighth line lists the start time of Main Street Electrical Parade (MSEP:) and Wishes Fireworks at Magic Kingdom(W:). For example, if you see, MSEP: 9pm & 11pm W: 10pm, it would mean that Main Street Electrical Parade begins at 9pm and 11pm and Wishes begins at 10pm.
The Calendar is also available in an easy to view and print PDF file, Here.
Click the image to enlarge it.
Monday April 1
Animal Kingdom: 8am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Most Recommended)
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 10pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 8:30pm and 10pm
Magic Kingdom: 8am – 1am (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 7am – 8am
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 12:30pm and 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm and 11pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is highly recommended for a number of reasons. We don’t have special events, Extra Magic Hours, or anything specific drawing people toward it. It’s also early enough in the week that most people on a weeklong Easter break vacation won’t be interested in visiting Disney’s least popular theme park until later in the week. We also have morning Extra Magic Hour/Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios attracting a lot of off-site and on-site visitors alike. Magic Kingdom will also be attracting a lot of people. Overall, today and Friday are the best days of the week to visit, though Tuesday and Thursday would also be fine. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Once you get through these two attractions, move on to DinoLand USA for Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR or one of the more popular stage shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King. These shows do get busy during the afternoon, so try to see the first or last show of the day. Collect FASTPASSes for the major attractions throughout the day and you should have no trouble getting on any of the headliners a second or third time later in the day. The single rider line at Expedition Everest is also a good way to ride with short waits. Finally, crowds begin to disperse after the 3:45pm Parade. If you don’t arrive early, plan to stay through until 9pm as wait times will only decrease from 6:30pm through close. Overall, it’s one of the best days of the week to visit Animal Kingdom, but it will still be relatively busy with the high overall crowd level. Arrive early and tour efficiently and you shouldn’t run into much trouble.
Epcot is the most recommended Park. We’re in between yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours, both of which will be more popular with Disney resort guests. Disney is also pushing Disney resort guests toward Hollywood Studios with morning Extra Magic Hour/Fantasmic and Magic Kingdom will naturally be busier because of the number of people that travel over the weekend and naturally visit the most magical place on earth first thing on their weeklong trip. You can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Test Track, Sum of All Thrills, Mission Space, and Soarin’. Use FASTPASS at Soarin’ and Test Track and you should have no problem riding both a second time in the afternoon. However, you’ll run into trouble at the headliners if you don’t arrive until 10:30am or later, despite the recommendation. With only two major attractions to attract the “where are the rides” crowd, Soarin’ and Test Track are going to have 60+ minute waits for most of the day after 10:30am. There’s no way around that. Plan to arrive prior to Park opening or collect FASTPASSes for Test Track, Soarin’ and Mission: Space (in that order) as soon as possible. If you’re interested in the Character Spot, plan to do so after 7pm when waits die down and you aren’t wasting precious morning time. To stay ahead of the crowds for as long as possible, move up through the World Showcase beginning at 11am with the water rides in Mexico and Norway. If you have more to do in Future World, try returning after 5pm when most people have moved on to World Showcase. Keep an eye on your Times Guide to see which attractions close at 7pm. It’s also a great night for dinner and IllumiNations. All in all, it’s one of the best days of the week to visit Epcot, but you’ll want to arrive early if you’re interested in the major Future World attractions.
Hollywood Studios is not recommended, thanks to the morning Extra Magic Hour that will attract enough Disney resort guests and in turn increase wait times and make common areas more congested. While most Disney resort guests won’t arrive in time to take advantage of their extra hour, they’ll continue pouring in throughout the morning. If you are Extra Magic Hours eligible and are certain that you’ll arrive by 7:15am, you can have a tremendous amount of success if you arrive for the full Extra Magic Hour and head straight to Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. However, you’re much better off waiting until tomorrow to visit if you’re not Extra Magic Hours eligible or don’t plan to arrive until 9am or later. While the Extra Magic Hour itself is an excellent time to tour, the arrival of more Disney resort guests will increase wait times enough in the late morning and afternoon to offset most any benefit. The increased crowds will also lead to longer lines at quick service locations and require you to arrive earlier for major stage shows among other inconveniences. All in all, tomorrow or Thursday would be better days to visit unless you plan to arrive ay 7:15am and be on your way out by 1pm.
Magic Kingdom is going to be busy today. We have a lot of people arriving over the weekend for an Easter week trip and they’ll be looking to visit Magic Kingdom on their first full day. The morning Extra Magic Hour, long hours of operation, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes aren’t a concern like they are for much of the year because we have a similar schedule every day. Nonetheless, the fact that it’s a Monday during a holiday week is enough for us to want to steer clear. However, with the high overall crowd level, Magic Kingdom is going to be busy every day this week. Arriving prior to Park opening (at 6:30am for Disney resort guests and 7:40am for off-site guests) and taking care of the Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain), or whatever attractions on your itinerary you deem most important is more important than simply picking the “right day.” However, tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday would all be less crowded and I highly recommend waiting to visit until one or more of those days if you can. If you do visit today, do your best to arrive prior to opening, take care of the most important attractions first, use FASTPASS efficiently, and take a sizable afternoon break and you’ll be in good shape.
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