February 18 Update: Updated Crowd Calendar with the changes listed here.
January 27 Update: Removed references to Dumbo and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad while they will be under refurbishment.
January 11 Update: Updated the Crowd Calendar with the changes listed here.
January 5 Update: Updated the operating schedule and Crowd Calendar image with the changes listed here.
October 2 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with the changes to Animal Kingdom’s operating schedule here: http://www.easywdw.com/news/updates-to-the-march-2012-disney-world-operating-schedule/. This did not affect the recommendations, but it’s worth noting the later close on select dates.
August 30 Update: Crowd Calendar updated with Fantasmic added to most nights. Full list of changes here: http://www.easywdw.com/news/march-2012-disney-world-operating-hours-changes/ and a further explanation of the effects of adding Fantasmic here: http://www.easywdw.com/news/fantasmic-to-return-to-nightly-schedule-refurbishment-to-begin-january-9th/. We can expect another major round of changes to the operating schedule on or around February 17th.
August 18 Update: Crowd Calendar completed.
August 15 Update: I’ve added the first ten days of analysis and updated the crowd calendar since the initial release with a few changes.
This is the Free March 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar that shows the Recommended Parks to Visit, Overall Crowd Level Estimation, Cost, Historic High/Low Temperature, Historic Chance of Precipitation, Extra Magic Hours Schedule, Fantasmic Show Times, Holidays, and Special Events.
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 last line lists the Fantasmic show times at the Hollywood Studios.
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
Thursday March 1
Animal Kingdom: 9am – 5pm (Most Recommended)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade: 3:45pm
Epcot: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Morning Extra Magic Hour: 8am – 9am
IllumiNations: 9pm
Hollywood Studios: 9am – 7pm (Recommended)
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade: 3pm
Fantasmic: 7pm
Magic Kingdom: 9am – 9pm (Not Recommended)
Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade: 3pm, Main Street Electrical Parade: 7pm, Wishes Fireworks: 8pm
Animal Kingdom is the most recommended Park. Although it’s later in the week, Magic Kingdom will continue to draw decent crowds with the Electrical Parade, which is only scheduled three times this week. Epcot will also be popular with those in town for the One More Disney Day event and Disney resort guests that are attracted to the morning Extra Magic Hour and have plans to visit a different Park on Friday. As always, you’ll find the most success if you arrive prior to Park opening and head straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. If you’re not riding the thrill rides (Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl), you’ll want to attend the first showing of Festival of the Lion King and/or Finding Nemo because those shows will be popular in the afternoon. Collect FASTPASSes for attractions you either want to ride again or couldn’t make it to in the morning and you should be able to do just about everything the Animal Kingdom has to offer, despite the relatively short day. If you’re interested in the character meet and greets at the Character Trails in Camp Minnie-Mickey, you’ll also want to consider heading over there about ten minutes before the characters are scheduled to appear. That’s when you’ll find the shortest line for Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Pocahontas, and the other characters in the area. If you can’t make it over there early in the morning, plan to head over about ten minutes before a Festival of the Lion King show is scheduled to start. Because Lion King’s exit is in Camp Minnie-Mickey, the show unleashes nearly 1,000 people into the area once per hour. While not everyone exiting will head to a character, some will, which causes lines to get longer immediately after the show ends. After completing your itinerary, you may want to Park Hop to Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic, or Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations. Keep in mind that crowds disperse shortly after the 3:45pm Parade. Stay through close if there’s more that you want to accomplish because wait times will only decrease from 4:15pm onward. Without Park Hopper, consider transferring to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at one of its excellent restaurants. There’s also a public observatory where you can gaze out at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s private savannas and enjoy the same view many guests are paying a premium to have right outside their balconies. A trip to Downtown Disney or the BoardWalk for dinner and shopping also makes a lot of sense.
Epcot is no longer recommended now that morning Extra Magic Hour has been added. While tomorrow’s evening Extra Magic Hours will be even more popular, we can expect today to draw more Disney resort guests than this past Sunday, Monday, or Wednesday. We’ll also have a considerable number of people in town for a short trip specifically for yesterday’s “One More Disney Day.” Many of them will be interested in visiting Epcot, Disney’s second most popular theme park, rather than Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom. That will also contribute to heavier crowds than other recommended days this week. If you already have plans to visit Epcot, you can still have a successful day, particularly if you are eligible for morning Extra Magic Hour and arrive by 7:45am to take advantage of it. If you’re ineligible, you can still do well if you arrive at 8:45am for the 9am opening, but you’re going to run into problems if you arrive at 10am or later due to heavier crowds than originally anticipated. Alternatively, you can certainly have a pleasant day if you plan to arrive a little later and head up to World Showcase when it opens at 11am. Overall, expect this to be the third busiest day of the week at Epcot. With a solid plan you can still have a fun and successful day, but you’re better off elsewhere if you have the ability to visit a recommended Park.
Hollywood Studios is recommended because it will be less crowded than either of the last two days. Yesterday’s morning Extra Magic Hour at the Studios will have been popular with Disney resort guests and they will not be returning today. We also didn’t have Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled on Tuesday or Wednesday. When we don’t have popular evening entertainment scheduled elsewhere, many people will default to Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom, depending on what’s going on at both. Today, we have the popular (and rare this week) Main Street Electrical Parade and morning Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom, Disney World’s most popular theme park, attracting a lot of off-site and on-site visitors alike. While Magic Kingdom will have been popular yesterday with the 24 hour day, we’ll have a decent number of people avoiding it for that very reason. Overall, it’s a recommended day at the Studios. Tomorrow is “equally recommended,” so pick whichever day works better in your overall itinerary. Because Hollywood Studios only has a few headlining rides, it’s still more important to arrive prior to Park opening and take care of the most popular attractions first thing. Ideally, you would arrive by 8:30am and head straight to Toy Story Mania to collect FASTPASSes and/or ride in the standby line. Toy Story Mania is so popular and has such a limited capacity that it almost always sees 60+ minute waits in the afternoon and FASTPASSes that run out by noon. Make it your top priority or you’ll run into lengthy waits and FASTPASSes with return times that run into the afternoon by 10am. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is your second morning priority, with wait times that may also hit 60 minutes in the afternoon and FASTPASSes that run out in the late afternoon. Tower of Terror and Star Tours are a lower priority, but should be ridden before 10:30am or with FASTPASS. Once you get through those four attractions, it’s just a matter of moving on to the Studios’ high capacity attractions and shows that run on a set schedule. For Fantasmic, I always recommend the Fantasmic Dining Package that guarantees everyone on the reservation a seat in the reserved section of the Fantasmic theater. While it will still require you to arrive at least 30 minutes early, it’s better than the 60+ minutes early you’ll need to arrive to get seats in the general seating section. As far as general seating is concerned, the best seats are in the middle sections about half way up from the stage. Any closer and you run the risk of getting wet and won’t be able to see all the action on the water. Overall, it’s a recommended day at the Studios, but touring efficiently in the morning is more important than picking the “right day.”
Magic Kingdom is going to be busy, though it won’t be as crowded as it was previously when it had a morning Extra Magic Hour scheduled and yesterday’s operating hours were so short. While the One More Disney Day will be attractive, we’ll have a decent number of people avoiding it for that very reason. Most of the other “Crowd Calendar websites” are recommending people avoid it altogether and it seems like “common sense” that it will be busy to a lot of casual vacationers. With No Electrical Parade scheduled on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, or next Sunday, we can expect more people than recommended days to target today in order to see it. If you would like to see the Parade, your best bet is always an evening Park Hop after spending the majority of your day at a recommended Park. This way, you spend most of your day in a Park with low crowds and short lines and you’ll still be able to enjoy Magic Kingdom’s nighttime spectaculars. For Parade viewing, the least crowded areas are located along the Parade route in Frontierland and Liberty Square and the most crowded spots are along Main Street. Depending on crowds, you may still want scope out a spot about 30 minutes early. Thursdays are preferable to either Mondays or Saturdays for Parade viewing because nighttime crowds will be slightly lower. The morning, from 9am – noon is also a great time to tour, as it usually is. But noon through close is going to be busier than recommended days during the week. You can “beat” the afternoon crowds by saving up FASTPASSes, visiting the less popular/high capacity attractions, and/or taking an afternoon break back at your resort, but walkways will be busier and it will “feel” more crowded. Just to reiterate, this is your best chance this week to see the Electrical Parade in relatively low crowds, but it’s still going to be busier than Sunday, Tuesday, or tomorrow.
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