5/14/12 Update – The last week in May was updated with the changes listed here.
4/19/12 Update - Crowd Calendar and daily analysis updated with the changes listed here.
1/27/12 Update – Removed references to Test Track and Big Thunder Mountain when they will be closed for refurbishment.
12/8/11 Update – Animal Kingdom changed to “not recommended” on May 30th.
This is the Free May 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.
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 evening entertainment at Magic Kingdom. W: is the Wishes Fireworks Show and MSEP: is the Main Street Electrical Parade. For example, MSEP: 9pm, W: 10pm means that Main Street Electrical Parade begins at 9pm and Wishes begins at 10pm. All times are PM.
Click the Calendar Thumbnail Below and The Image Will Expand to Fit the Screen. You May Also Click Here and the Calendar Will Open in a New Window. If it is blurry, click it again and it will expand to its full size or see the PDF file below.
The Calendar is also available in an easy to view and print PDF file, Here
Tuesday May 1
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Highly Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park for a number of reasons. We don’t have special events, Extra Magic Hours, or anything specific drawing people toward it. Yesterday’s and tomorrow’s morning Extra Magic Hours will be more popular with Disney resort guests. It’s also early enough in the week that many people on weeklong vacations will be saving Animal Kingdom for later in the week. Overall, today and Saturday are the best days of the week to visit, though Thursday and Sunday 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, you have little to worry about other than trying to get to the scheduled shows. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King do get busy during the afternoon, so try to see the first or last show of the day. You’ll also want to get to DinoLand USA before 10:30am to ride Primeval Whirl and DINOSAUR because those two attractions are popular. Still, they aren’t necessarily your top morning priorities and you can easily FASTPASS them throughout the day if need arises. Despite “only” being open ten hours, you can still see most of what the Animal Kingdom has to offer in one day, provided you arrive early in the morning, tour efficiently, collect FASTPASSes, and keep an eye on the time in order to see the scheduled stage shows. Finally, crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Plan to return to any favorites from 5:45pm through close when waits will be shorter than the afternoon.
Epcot is not recommended. We have the morning Extra Magic Hour attracting the majority of Disney resort guests and a lot of off-site visitors who will naturally visit Epcot after the Magic Kingdom yesterday. While Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios helps, it shouldn’t pull enough people away to make a discernible difference in wait times. Skip it unless you can’t get there any other day or are certain you’ll arrive prior to 8am for the morning Extra Magic Hour and plan to either Park Hop elsewhere or take a break in the afternoon.
Hollywood Studios is recommended, though this past Sunday and this coming Friday would be better. There are a few problems. First, while the morning Extra Magic Hour at Epcot will be popular, we don’t have the even-more-popular evening Extra Magic Hours scheduled anywhere. Second, Fantasmic and Main Street Electrical Parade are scheduled every night this week, which means the evening entertainment won’t dictate which theme park casual vacationers visit because it’s always available. The fact that Fantasmic is scheduled every night will “help” even out crowds over the course of the week. Third, a decent number of people visit Hollywood Studios after Magic Kingdom on Monday because of the popularity of Toy Story Mania and Fantasmic. Luckily, we are coming off a popular evening Extra Magic Hours last night and it’s early in the week, which means a lot of people on a weeklong vacation will be putting off Hollywood Studios for Wednesday or Thursday. Overall, this will be a day with “average” crowds at the Studios specifically, as compared to other days this week. To have the most success, arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Midway Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Toy Story Mania in particular has wait times that almost always hit 60+ minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes that routinely are gone by 1pm. Make it your morning and FASTPASS priority. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster also sees long afternoon waits and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. Plan to head there right after Toy Story Mania or collect FASTPASSes as soon as possible, after first collecting them for Toy Story. The other two attractions with decent lines are Tower of Terror and Star Tours. Luckily, they have higher capacities and aren’t as popular. You’ll still want to ride before 10:30am or plan to use FASTPASS later in the day. FASTPASS return times for both attractions are usually 40 to 60 minutes out, meaning you can easily FASTPASS them later in the afternoon. However, expect to see 30 minute standby wait times from 12pm – 4pm. Once you get through those four attractions, it’s really just a matter of getting over to the high capacity rides and shows that run on a set schedule. It’s unlikely you’ll run into much of a line at Backlot Tour or Great Movie Ride, but fitting in the various stage shows can be tricky because they have a tendency to start and end at the same time. You may also want to prioritize the very popular Toy Story Mania characters across from Toy Story Mania or Phineas and Ferb near Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano. Overall, you can have a lot of success if you arrive prior to Park opening and take care of the headlining attractions first thing. With the long day, you may want to take an afternoon break from 1pm – 5pm or so to rest up for dinner and Fantasmic. This is the busiest and hottest part of the day. For Fantasmic, I recommend the Fantasmic Dining Package, which guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Theater. It makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. It also includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Dining Plan. You’ll still need to arrive at least 25 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it’s better than the 60 minute wait you’re looking at to score decent seats together without the Package.
Magic Kingdom is highly recommended and an excellent choice if you don’t want to wait until tomorrow to visit. Epcot’s morning Extra Magic Hour and Hollywood Studios’ Fantasmic will help draw crowds away and a lot of people will have visited yesterday for their first full day at Disney World. Still, Magic Kingdom won’t be empty with the average overall crowd level, decent hours of operation, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes. It’s still more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh) or the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain). You may also want to fit other time-sensitive attractions like Tomorrowland Indy Speedway or Astro Orbiter in there as well, along with Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and other quick attractions that will have decent afternoon waits. Consider taking a break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds are heaviest and wait times are longest to rest up for the evening entertainment. For Main Street Electrical Parade, scout out a spot along the Parade route in Liberty Square or Frontierland. Both areas are significantly less crowded than Main Street and require a shorter wait. Magic Kingdom will also be the most recommended Park tomorrow, so you may want to hold off until then if you have other plans today. If you’re trying to decide between today and tomorrow, then I would go with tomorrow because it’s in the middle of the week and even more people will be ready to visit another Park. However, today will be nearly as good if you tour efficiently in the morning, take a restful break, and enjoy the Magic Kingdom’s nighttime spectaculars.
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