I am finishing up the June 2011 Disney World Crowd Calendar. A preview of the calendar portion can be found below. If you are unsure of how to read the crowd calendar or what to expect from it in the future, please see the December 2010 Crowd Calendar, which explains what each line means and has some examples of what the daily analysis looks like. There is also a post here explaining how to interpret the green and red theme park recommendations. It’s not very complicated, but it’s important that we’re all on the same page. I will make a formal June 2011 post with the daily analysis in the next few days. If you would like a preview, please send me an email at josh@easywdw.com with your vacation dates and I will forward the rough draft. Typos are at your own risk.
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
June is a relatively easy month to plan because crowds are average to above average for the entire month, the Extra Magic Hours schedule is mostly uniform, the operating hours are mostly the same, and the Magic Kingdom features a Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes every night. The biggest problem with June is trying to plan a day at the Hollywood Studios during the first two weeks. Star Wars Weekends complicate things quite a bit and makes a “most recommended” day at the Studios harder to pin down. Because Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be busy for the Star Wars activities and Fantasmic and evening Extra Magic Hours are such big draws, we’re left with Wednesday as the least crowded day, despite the morning Extra Magic Hour.
If you’ve been following the crowd calendars throughout the year, you would know that the Magic Kingdom is usually not recommended on Mondays or Saturdays. This is due to a number of reasons. First, Mondays are usually one of only a few days during the week with a Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled at night. Because a lot of people want to see the evening Parade and don’t have Park Hopper, they have to spend the entire day at the Magic Kingdom in order to see the Parade at night. Second, a lot of people travel over the weekend and visit the Magic Kingdom first thing on Monday. In June, we have the Main Street Electrical Parade scheduled every night, which makes it much less of a concern than it is during other months. We also have a morning Extra Magic Hour added on Tuesdays. Coupled with the evening Extra Magic Hours on Sunday nights, Disney resort guests will be much more likely to visit on Sunday or Tuesday for Extra Magic Hours, leaving Monday relatively free.
Saturdays are popular because they usually have the longest operating hours and also feature a Main Street Electrical Parade in the evening. For example, it’s not uncommon for the Magic Kingdom to be open from 9am to 8pm most days during the week and then be open from 9am to 12am on Saturday. This makes the Magic Kingdom extremely attractive to anyone who sees long hours and thinks it’s their best opportunity to get the most done. Unfortunately, larger crowds lead to longer lines, more congestion in common areas, and an overall less pleasant touring experience. We would actually be better off visiting during a day with 9am to 8pm operating hours because crowds will be lower and lines will be significantly shorter. In June, the hours of operation on Saturdays aren’t any longer than other days during the week. To help draw crowds away from Saturday, Disney also changes the Extra Magic Hour schedule in June so that the Magic Kingdom has evening Extra Magic Hours on both Friday and Sunday nights, leaving Saturday less attractive to the majority of Disney resort guests who visit whichever Park has Extra Magic Hours. Because most local kids have the summer off, families can more easily visit the Magic Kingdom during the week. They aren’t limited to just Saturdays and Sundays.
While the high temperatures in May and June are similar, June is much more uncomfortable because of the higher chance of precipitation and thus, higher humidity. You will want to consider an afternoon break most days if the heat becomes a problem. Early morning and late night touring also become preferable, both for the lower crowds and cooler temperatures. Note that a high chance of precipitation does not mean it will rain most of the day. Precipitation is common in short bursts during the afternoon.
June is a relatively crowded month because of summer break. Both June and July are busy all the way through. June gets busier later in the month as more and more schools are off for summer. July is even busier.
One other thing to note in June is the fact that the Value, Moderate, and Deluxe resorts are in different “seasons,” which is evident in the “$$ / $$$” line for each day from June 3rd on. The Value and Moderate resorts are in Regular Season for June 1st and 2nd, but move to the slightly more expensive Summer Season for the rest of the month. Value and Moderate Resort rooms cost between $10 and $20 more per night in Summer Season than they do in Regular Season. See the “Resort Room Rate Calendar” category to your right for pricing. The Deluxe Resorts don’t have a Summer Season and they will have Regular Season pricing for the entire month.
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