1/27/12 Update – Removed references to Test Track since it will be closed for refurbishment.
This is the Free July 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.
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.
Sunday July 1
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Evening Extra Magic Hours: 9pm – 12am
Illuminations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 9pm (Highly Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 9pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 10pm (Most Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 9pm, Wishes Fireworks: 10pm
Animal Kingdom is recommended. We have evening Extra Magic Hours at Epcot luring a lot of Disney resort guests. The only problem is that we don’t have anything else specific drawing people toward the other theme parks. Luckily, Disney resort guests are more likely to visit Animal Kingdom tomorrow for morning Extra Magic Hour. Despite “only” having ten hours at the Animal Kingdom during the day, you should be able to do just about everything the Park has to offer if you arrive close to Park opening. Focus on riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest as early as possible or FASTPASS them later in the day (or both). After getting those out of the way, move on to DinoLand USA for DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl or one of the more popular shows – either Finding Nemo the Musical or Festival of the Lion King and you’ll be set for the rest of the day. Camp Minnie-Mickey may also be a morning priority if you’d like to visit the characters. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade and 5:45pm – 7pm will have shorter waits than the afternoon. You also have an outstanding opportunity to Park Hop after the Park closes. You could head to Epcot for dinner, IllumiNations, and evening Extra Magic Hours, Magic Kingdom for Wishes, Main Street Electrical Parade, and some late night rides, or Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner and a look around the resort or take a trip out to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping.
Epcot offers evening Extra Magic Hours, which is extremely rare for a Sunday. We can assume Disney changed the Extra Magic Hours’ schedule in order to pull people away from Epcot on a Tuesday that will be plenty busy otherwise. It also allows Disney to add evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom on July 3rd, which will hopefully curtail the crowd trying to leave after the preview of the 4th of July Fireworks. No matter the reason, this is the second busiest day of the week at Epcot this week, second only to July 4th itself. It should be avoided unless you’re planning to visit early in the morning from 9am – 11am. Evening Extra Magic Hours is a viable time to enjoy Epcot’s nighttime ambiance and visit some of the less popular attractions, but you can expect Soarin’ to have wait times of 40+ minutes until at least 11pm when people begin to give up and exit. Remember that 75,000+ people have access to Extra Magic Hours on any given day. While not every single one of them will be at Epcot at 9pm, a lot will be, making the Park just as busy as it was during the day and busier than recommended days later in the week. Skip it unless you have a sound plan or can’t visit any other day.
Hollywood Studios is highly recommended and would be the most recommended Park if it wasn’t for the additional difficulty in scheduling Magic Kingdom, which is most people’s priority. We’re in between yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour and tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours, both of which will be more popular with Disney resort guests. We also have evening Extra Magic Hours at Epcot, which will be incredibly popular with Disney resort guests. Finally, Sunday is a popular travel day and few people arriving will head out to the Studios for Fantasmic this evening. Those that arrived yesterday are also unlikely to begin their first full day at Hollywood Studios. Thus, today is less crowded than any other day this week. If you have other plans today, this coming Tuesday and Friday are also recommended. This past Friday was also recommended. In order to find the shortest waits, you’ll need to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Toy Story Mania to ride and/or collect FASTPASSes. Because of its popularity and extremely limited capacity, Toy Story Mania almost always has afternoon waits of 60 or more minutes and FASTPASSes that are routinely gone before 1pm, even when crowds are relatively low and the Studios is recommended. With crowds much heavier, we can expect 100+ minute afternoon waits, even with the recommendation. It’s always your top priority. The second attraction with the longest peak wait is Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which should be ridden immediately after Toy Story Mania in the morning or with FASTPASSes collected later in the morning. FASTPASSes often run out by late afternoon and wait times aren’t usually far behind Toy Story Mania. Other priorities are Tower of Terror and Star Tours, though FASTPASSes are more plentiful at both attractions and standby waits are usually lower. After you get through these four headliners, it’s just a matter of arriving in time to see the various stage shows that run on a set schedule and getting over to the Studios’ high capacity attractions. You may also have characters to visit before lines get longer. For Fantasmic, you’ll want to arrive about 60 minutes early to guarantee good seats together. If that sounds like it’s about 30 minutes too long, consider the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. It will still require you to arrive at least 20 minutes early, or you run the risk of Disney opening the reserved section up to the general population, but it saves the stress of having to decide when it’s time to line up and decreases the overall wait. The Fantasmic Dining Package makes the most sense on the Disney Dining Plan because it costs the same one table service credit at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or Hollywood & Vine and two table service credits at Hollywood Brown Derby that you would pay otherwise. Plus, it includes the appetizer, which you normally wouldn’t receive on the Disney Dining Plan. It’s very likely that Disney will extend the close to 10pm and add a second Fantasmic at 10:30pm. Should this happen, the 10:30pm Fantasmic will be much less crowded because it’s so late and you won’t need to worry about Dining Package users. Plan to see the second show if the Dining Package is no longer offered or you don’t want to spring for the additional cost. While it’s officially a recommended day, arriving prior to Park opening and hitting the headliners first thing is more important than which day you pick. Arrive at 11am, no matter the recommendation or the overall crowd level, and you’ll be looking at long lines at Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
Magic Kingdom is the most recommended Park. Disney has moved the usual Sunday evening Extra Magic Hours to Tuesday and instead scheduled Epcot’s very popular evening Extra Magic Hours this evening. We’ll be having a substantial turnover today as a lot of people will be leaving after a standard weeklong summer vacation and a new batch of vacationers will be arriving for July 4th. That makes the early morning and late evening an even better time to visit. By the time Disney updates the operating schedule in mid-June, we should see a 12am or 1am close and a second Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled at 11pm, both of which will only improve and elongate the better times of day to visit. The morning remains the best time to tour because crowds are guaranteed to be low and FASTPASSes will be plentiful. Plan to hit the popular Fantasyland attractions first and then move on to Tomorrowland and then over to Frontierland. Should you arrive by 8:45am, you’ll be amazed how much you can get done and also how busy it will be in the afternoon. You may also want to visit characters that will have long afternoon waits in the morning. Rapunzel, who appears in Fairytale Garden, routinely has the longest waits. Tinker Bell, who meets in Tinker Bell’s Nook in Adventureland, sees the second longest waits. Plan to visit either of them first thing on your itinerary if you’re interested in meeting them. The Princesses in Town Square can see considerable waits of 30+ minutes, but you can collect FASTPASSes for them easily throughout the day. Consider taking a sizable break from 1pm to 7pm or so to rest up for the evening and avoid peak crowds, waits, and temperatures. Return in the evening for dinner, the nighttime spectaculars, and some late night rides when temperatures are cooler. In the evening, you’ll want to plan to attend the 11pm Main Street Electrical Parade, assuming that Disney adds one (99% likely). It will be much less crowded than the 9pm Parade. Plan to stake out spots along the Parade route in Frontierland or Liberty Square because they are the least crowded, require a shorter wait, and offer a view that is just as good as Main Street. Assuming Disney extends the close to 12am or 1am (95% likely), the late night is also a viable time to tour in relatively low crowds, especially if you save Fantasyland for after 11pm. Most families will be long gone, freeing up Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, and most other attractions. It’s not uncommon for all three to have a 60+ minute wait in the afternoon and a ten minute or less wait at 11:30pm. Overall, it’s one of the best days of the week to visit Magic Kingdom, but the afternoon is still going to be crowded with the high overall crowd level.
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