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Update: Some of the Wishes times at the end of the month were incorrect – should be 9pm.

Here is the preliminary August 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar.  Click to enlarge:

If you’re not sure what the numbers and letters mean, read the top of this post.

It may change a bit between now and the “final release” of the initial Calendar when the daily analysis comes out in a couple of days.  I’m not anticipating any unexpected nuances, but weirder things have happened.  Overall, the first three weeks in August are busy, with the Summer Extra Magic Hours schedule, long operating hours, and plentiful nighttime entertainment.  It’s not “July Busy,” but it’s close.  As it gets later in August, crowds calm down quite a bit as we move into September.  If you’re flexible with your dates, you’ll want to look at the latest dates in August as possible.  And ideally, push the trip into September.

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Edit: LOL!!! SeaWorld is one word.  Looks like we have a lot to learn.

This website is considering picking up coverage of Sea World Orlando.  So let me ask you.

Do you care about Sea World?

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I updated the February 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar with the changes listed in this post.  The overall crowd level was bumped up one in a few places.  One day went from a “3″ to a “5.”  The only recommendation change was made to February 25th, where Hollywood Studios is no longer recommended because Fantasmic was added to both the 24th and 25th.

Otherwise, the update was relatively mundane with few surprises.  President’s Week is looking to be mighty busy, but the rest of the month sees low crowds.  Yes, they are going to be heavier than the last couple of years, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be substantially less crowded than much of the rest of the year.

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In addition to the link over to WDW News Today a few days ago, OrlandoParksNews.com has a two-part look at the holiday crowds at Magic Kingdom and Epcot (on New Year’s Eve!) today.  Check out Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

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Here is the preview of the July 2012 Disney World Crowd Calendar:

Click to expand or click here for a more easily viewable/printable PDF file.  If you’re not sure what the various numbers mean, click here and read below the updates at the top of the page, beginning with, “Here’s a quick explanation of how to read the calendar and what the numbers mean.”

The Crowd Calendar should be “finalized” along with the daily analysis in the next couple of days.  There may be some small changes to the recommendations as I look over things more closely, but the general jist will remain the same.

Overall, July is the busiest month of the year in Walt Disney World, thanks to heavy attendance from South America and a heavier dose of Americans taking advantage of summer breaks in most school districts across the United States.  Typically, there is less variance in crowd levels in July than any other month as well.  In  October, it’s not at all uncommon to go from seeing 30,000 people in the Magic Kingdom on a Mickey’s  Halloween Party Friday with short hours and no nighttime entertainment to 60,000+ on a Saturday with much longer hours, Main Street Electrical Parade, and Wishes.  In 2011, the biggest attendance swing from one day to the next was 37,982 people.  Sorry, no decimal points on that one.

In July, crowds are similarly heavy most days.  You’ll still find lower crowds and shorter waits should you visit the most recommended Park each day, but it isn’t the night and day difference that is commonly seen when there’s more variance in overall attendance, theme park hours, and nighttime entertainment.  Add the heat, and the real success lies in arriving early, taking care of the attractions/characters that will have much longer waits in the afternoon first thing, and making efficient use of FASTPASS.  Add in a lengthy afternoon break and a return to a theme park in the evening for some late night rides and the nighttime spectaculars and you’re golden.

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I updated the January 2012 Crowd Calendar with the changes detailed earlier this week in this post.  Disney had already extended operating hours at Animal Kingdom a few months ago and also extended the operating hours at Magic Kingdom on December 13th, so there weren’t a lot of additional changes.  The only recommendation change was on January 1st, where Magic Kingdom is now officially recommended.  Otherwise, there isn’t a whole lot of excitement.

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Here’s the preview of the June 2012 crowd calendar.  It’s not yet finalized as I’ll be putting together the “daily analysis” over the next few days.  The process usually reveals some nuances that change the recommended Parks slightly.  Nonetheless, this should give you a good idea about where we’re headed:
The Calendar is also available in an easy to view and print PDF file, Here

Should you have no idea what you’re looking at or what to expect from the final product, check out the December 2011 Crowd Calendar here: http://www.easywdw.com/category/calendar/12-december-2011-crowd-calendar/.  Underneath the list of update is an explanation of what each line means.  I’m still “experimenting” with the addition of the last line that lists the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes start times.

If I have one nice thing to say about June, it’s that it’s not July – both in terms of heat and crowds.  Yes, it’s crowded.  Yes, it’s hot.  But it’s not July hot and July crowded.  You’ll find the lowest crowds in the first ten days or so.  After that, it’s basically peak crowds and peak heat through the middle of August.  We’re not talking Christmas crowds here, but the summer is the longest stretch of “crowded” days you’ll find over the course of the year.  At least around Easter in April, Thanksgiving in November, and Christmas in December, you have days and weeks that are significantly less crowded around the busy periods.  Once the middle of June hits, every single day is busy for a couple of months.

The good news is that the summer also sees the longest operating hours of the year, particularly because it gets dark so much later.  When Disney updates the operating schedule in the middle of May, we should see Hollywood Studios close at 10pm most every night with a second Fantasmic scheduled at 10:30pm.  Magic Kingdom will see 12am and 1am closes with a second Main Street Electrical Parade added at 11pm every night.  Animal Kingdom will see mostly 8pm closes throughout the month.  As usual, Epcot’s operating hours will remain constant at 9am to 9pm with IllumiNations every night at 9pm.  During the summer, the ideal day sees you arriving at the Parks prior to Park opening to hit the major attractions and collect FASTPASSes.  Once 1pm or 2pm hits, you’ll want to take a break back at your resort.  Hit the showers, the pool, and relax in whatever ways you deem fit.  Then, return in the evening for dinner, some additional rides, and the nighttime entertainment.  This way, you miss the hottest and most crowded part of the day.  The late night evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom are particularly excellent.  You can’t beat the crowds at 2am when Magic Kingdom doesn’t close until 3am.  I’m still not wild about evening Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios or Epcot though.  They just don’t have the number of attractions open to handle the lingering crowds.

At the moment, the June operating schedule is virtually the same every day with few items of interest.  We do have “Gay Days” over the first weekend, which is an unofficial event that attracts a lot of people.  They visit each of the Disney theme parks one time.  We’re planning to avoid them on Friday June 1st when they visit Hollywood Studios.  Coupled with Star Wars Weekends, the Studios will be extremely crowded without their help.  On Saturday at Magic Kingdom and Sunday at Epcot, we’re not as concerned.  Gay Days participants tend to arrive late and leave early and don’t affect touring much at all.  They also tend to displace people who are intent on avoiding the theme park that that Gay Days is planning to visit, which actually makes those theme parks less crowded.

Speaking of Star Wars Weekends, we can expect to see the event held at Hollywood Studios on June 1 – 3 and 8 – 10.  Disney most likely won’t announce the dates until the beginning of 2012 and appearances won’t be finalized until April or May.  I’ll have a full rundown of the event in the “daily analysis” or you can peruse my overview of last year’s event here.

Overall, June isn’t necessarily a terrible month to visit.  You certainly shouldn’t be nervous or scared to visit during the summer.  After all, if you’ve made it this far, you’re already smarter than 97% of the people that will be touring the Parks alongside you, no matter which Disney app they happen to have open on their telephones.  I would say 100%, but you never know when I’m going to show up with my army.

June 2011 Walkabouts:

For those of you considering a June 2012 vacation to Walt Disney World or for those of you just joining us, here’s a list of my June 2011 Walkabouts. It should give you a better idea about what to expect.

A Couple Days at Magic Kingdom – Casey’s Corner Chili Cheese Dog review; A walk around Tom Sawyer Island in Frontierland; Lobster Roll from Tomorrowland Terrace review; Chicken Parmesan from Pinocchio Village Haus review.

Saying Goodbye to Star Wars Weekends – A look at the last Friday and Sunday of Star Wars Weekends; Pressed Tuscan Deli from Studio Catering Company review; Chicken/Rib Combo at Fairfax Fare review; 100+ minute waits at Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours.

The Tale of Two Sandwiches – Magic Kingdom on June 18 and Animal Kingdom on June 19 – Golden Oak Outpost review (menu has since changed to hot dogs); Hot Italian Style Sandwich from Pizzafari review.

Hollywood Studios Walkabout June 26 – Star Tours is just five weeks old; New Cars Meet and greet; Toy Story Pizza Planet review; New Winnie the Pooh Meet and Greet.

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I updated the December Crowd Calendar today with the operating schedule changes that were released on Monday.  Hollywood Studios is now “recommended” on December 2nd.  That should be the only recommendation change.  I don’t think there was anything on this update that was surprising or out of the ordinary and certainly nothing we weren’t expecting since the original operating schedule came out in the middle of May.

While the recommendations didn’t change much, I did update the “daily analysis” for most days.  You’ll see new advice on the Osborne Lights and Candlelight Processional, some reminders on Park Hopping opportunities to the various resorts after the Parks close early, new tips on character meet and greets, and whatever other fluff I deemed to be appropriate at that moment in time.  You should pick up on most of the information if you read about a week’s worth of advice.  It’s sort of meant to hammer home the fundamentals, while intermittently adding a variety of tips and ideas.

We do have a number of 8am openings at Magic Kingdom throughout the month, even before Christmas Week.  This isn’t much of a concern and doesn’t necessarily point to “crazy crowds.”  The problem in September, October, November, and December is that the Mickey’s Party schedule severely limits the number of Main Street Electrical Parades and Wishes Fireworks that Disney can schedule during the week.  It also forces Disney to close the Magic Kingdom at 7pm on any Mickey’s Party date.  Between December 1st and December 18th, Magic Kingdom closes at 7pm ten times.  For all of you joining us from TouringPlans.com, that’s 55.5555555556% of the time over that time period!  Adding and then dividing.  Amazing, right?  Actually, they probably would have bothered to find the recurring decimal symbol and stuck it on top of the second five.  Anyway, the problem here is that Disney can’t extend Magic Kingdom’s close past 7pm on any of these ten days because the Parties run from 7pm – 12am.

Because we see slightly below average to slightly above average crowds during this time frame, Disney opens the Magic Kingdom one hour earlier on certain Party dates and extends the operating hours significantly on Saturdays.   This helps alleviate the crowds in the morning.  It allows “us” to arrive at 7:45am, hit the major attractions, collect FASTPASSes, get in line for a major character, and then be on our way to the less popular attractions by the time “everyone else” arrives after 10am and heads to the same popular attractions.  Saturdays are also a crowd magnet.  The operating hours are probably longer than necessary, but it does keep the people that like to see long operating hours happy.  They’ll just be less happy once they arrive.   If it weren’t for the Mickey’s Party schedule, Disney would most likely open Magic Kingdom from 9am – 8pm on Mickey’s Party dates and schedule Wishes at 8pm.  That’s the same eleven hours as you get in an 8am – 7pm day.   It’s a very similar schedule to October and November when Mickey’s Parties dominate the schedule.  It’s less of an “issue” in September when crowds are much lower and the 8am openings aren’t at all necessary.  For a direct comparison of how Magic Kingdom looks on a recommended Friday/Mickey’s Party Date compared to a non-recommended Saturday last month, see A Tale of Two Magic Kingdoms.  If this website was a bad horror movie, the results would be shocking.

Disney is again expecting Christmas Day through New Year’s to be extremely crowded.  Last year, it wasn’t.  This had a bit to do with the weather in the east, but pricing and “hype” probably also play a bit into it.  When you could take a similar vacation one week before Christmas for thousands of dollars less “in this economy,” it just doesn’t make sense to vacation over Christmas unless you absolutely can’t swing a trip at any other time.  This Thanksgiving has been busy as expected, but not nearly as many people are in the Parks as 2006 or 2007.  Since Disney is again expecting more people over Christmas Week than any other week this year, I have the crowd level at a solid “10.”  We may or may not see Magic Kingdom closures as we have in past years.  In 2010, Magic Kingdom did see Phase One shutdowns over Christmas Week on two days, but those closures were short lived and may or may not have really been necessary.

Overall, December remains one of the best months to visit, provided we don’t see the freezing temperatures that we battled in 2010.  While it’s no longer “dead” like it was in 2003, crowds are more than manageable if you visit the recommended Parks, arrive early, and tour efficiently.  No doubt, we’ll see our fair share of people returning from an early December trip swearing off the month for good due to “crazy crowds” and “huge lines.”  As usual, you can be sure they visited Epcot on Friday for Evening Extra Magic Hours, Magic Kingdom on Saturday for the long hours and evening entertainment, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic and evening Extra Magic Hours, Magic Kingdom on Monday for evening Extra Magic Hours, etc.  It’s sort of like watching a train wreck, only much, much, much sadder.

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Those pinko commies in the federal government are mandating the shutdown of this website through the end of November in an apparent cost cutting move that will most certainly not solve any of our country’s dire problems.  Wait.  Wrong blog.  Let me start over.

Your humble narrator is returning to the sunny state of Washington from November 21 – 30 for Thanksgiving and will officially be “out of the Florida office.”  “The boss” will take over the day to day operations during this time.  I assure you that “the boss” has no sense of humor and does not take “no” for an answer – SO DON’T EVEN TRY IT.  From time to time, someone will ask about the identity of “the boss.”  I am happy to reveal that the boss is, as many of you have guessed, Duffy the Disney Bear.

So if any of you are wondering why I’m conspicuously “Pro-Duffy,” the answer is that I really, really, really don’t have any choice.

The December update and June Crowd Calendar should come out as usual.  Hopefully we’ll see the updates on Disney’s side early tomorrow morning.  Other than the fact that I won’t have the Epcot Christmas/Candlelight Processional pictures for this year as early as I would like, I think the only thing we’ll go without is this next week’s Times Guides on the Sunday that they come out.  Fortunately, very similar information is available at Steve Soares’ site – http://wdwent.com/.  Most of you should be familiar, but if you’re not, he posts the show times for the upcoming week every Saturday night like clockwork.  Otherwise, I’ll be working on the crowd calendar stuff and hopefully have some time to post the Christmas decorations at BoardWalk Inn, Contemporary Resort, Polynesian Resort, and Wilderness Lodge along with the Caribbean Beach Resort review and pictures from my stay a couple of weeks ago.

Happy Thanksgiving – travel safely – and I’ll see ya real soon.

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