These free 2023 Walt Disney World crowd calendars charge dates so you’ll be able to select finest instances to go & keep away from the worst, skipping lengthy traces and excessive wait instances. We cowl seasonal occasions, climate, park hours, Orlando journey tendencies, and components impacting when to go to Florida’s theme parks. (Updated November 1, 2022.)
There actually is not any “slow” season at Walt Disney World. Although there’s a park reservation system in place that Disney claims is to “protect the guest experience against overcrowding” and “guarantee a great guest experience no matter when people come,” that’s not the actual goal of reservations. Nor does it accomplish that in observe, as crowds have been heavy all through 2022.
Additionally, Walt Disney World makes use of promotions and particular occasions throughout beforehand sluggish instances of yr to lure company to the parks, hosts main conventions and youth sporting occasions, and has dynamic pricing for tickets, motels, and even Genie+ and Lightning Lanes in an try and redistribute crowds. All of this has thrown a monkey wrench into crowd calendars, as Disney’s masterful manipulation makes predicting wait instances difficult. Nevertheless, there are nonetheless positively huge variations in crowd ranges, and it’s best to plan accordingly.
As of Late 2022, the excellent news is that Walt Disney World crowd calendars are beginning to normalize and will proceed to take action in 2023, making crowd ranges simpler to foretell as soon as once more. Attendance tendencies nonetheless usually are not “normal” by any stretch of the creativeness, however acquainted patterns have returned by way of the most effective & worst dates to go to, which largely comply with historic tendencies. However, there are a few caveats to this.
First, theme park reservations are nonetheless required. In the previous few months, the one parks which might be operating out of reservations with regularity are Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. This has been occurring on many days no matter wait instances, with each parks going unavailable occasionally with 5/10 or decrease crowd ranges.
This is as a result of Walt Disney World is now utilizing park reservations to govern attendance dynamics and redistribute crowds on many days. They’re doing this by capping reservations at Magic Kingdom and pushing individuals in the direction of Animal Kingdom and EPCOT to extend the utilization of these parks and normalize numbers throughout all 4 parks.
This really doesn’t have a fabric impression on our Walt Disney World crowd calendars. If something, it makes them extra correct since we don’t break down suggestions by park (exterior of get together season at Magic Kingdom). Since Disney is utilizing Park Pass to maintain crowds constant throughout all 4 parks, the one time there’s a big same-day distinction among the many parks is when crowds are low…wherein case, they’re usually low in every single place!
Second, Walt Disney World attendance has surged by thousands and thousands of company per yr, and virtually each single day of 2022 is considerably extra crowded than 2012. Similarly, 2022 is far busier than 2020 and 2021. This yr has not eclipsed 2019 (but), which stays the busiest yr in Walt Disney World historical past–however even that fall skilled an unprecedented crowd drop across the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Crowd calendar scores are relative and calculated on a rolling foundation, that means a low day on the gang calendar now looks like a average day did a number of years in the past. In different phrases, a 1/10 right now will not be the identical as a 1/10 in September 2012 or October 2015. Today’s 1/10 is likely to be nearer to a 5/10 from 5 years in the past.
Additionally, scores are additionally relative to their respective parks–that means right now’s 1/10 doesn’t translate to the identical common wait time at Magic Kingdom because it does Hollywood Studios. In order for crowd calendars to serve a sensible goal relatively than a historic one, this strategy is important–even when it may be complicated.
Finally, these crowd calendars are a measure of wait instances relatively than congestion. Given that they’re a quantity, wait instances are quantifiable whereas congestion is subjective and always altering. It’s almost not possible to measure. While wait instances are often an excellent proxy for crowd ranges, they don’t seem to be conclusive of attendance or in-park congestion.
There are a number of different variables that may impression “feels like” crowds, from festivals at EPCOT to climate to visitor demographics to trip breakdowns to operational effectivity to time of day or day of the week. Beyond that, wait instances may be manipulated by Walt Disney World–they’re usually inflated, or in any other case inaccurate. But to the extent wait instances are inflated, they’re constantly inaccurate, so all of it evens out ultimately.
This all impacts crowds, or the notion thereof, and the way they diverge from wait instances. As such, wait instances are an imperfect measure of Walt Disney World’s uncooked attendance or crowds. Imperfect as they is likely to be, wait instances are nonetheless the finest measure of crowds–and the one goal one. The different is counting on particular person visitor perceptions, that are far more flawed and incomplete.
That may offer you each cause to doubt the usefulness of Walt Disney World crowd calendars, which is sort of the purpose. Probably an odd strategy by a planning useful resource that purports to foretell crowd patterns, however we really feel that it’s vital to grasp the strengths and weaknesses of crowd calendars.
The dangerous information is that these 2022-2023 Walt Disney World crowd calendars have the aforementioned limitations. Honestly, following an excellent itinerary and using good technique is far more vital than selecting the “right” dates. To that finish, it’s solely potential to beat dangerous crowds by using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Early Entry, Extended Evening Hours, rope drop, and many others. We cowl the most effective & worst strategy for every park in Best Time-Saving Strategies for Walt Disney World. (If you’re solely going to learn one planning put up, make it that as a substitute of this!)
If you need to learn a number of extra posts–all extra helpful than crowd calendars–make sure you additionally try our Walt Disney World Itineraries for plans of assault, with choices now with and with out Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. Speaking of which, we now have a ~4,500 phrase Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for individuals who need to completely grasp the brand new paid QuickPass system.
The excellent news is that Walt Disney World crowd calendars are far more correct than they had been final yr and earlier in 2022. This is essentially due to the aforementioned Disney Park Pass reservation calendar, which now not has each date absolutely booked for months on finish. While we count on ‘grey dates’ to return all through this vacation season, the final a number of months haven’t been as dangerous as February by way of April, which mirrored a mix of pent-up demand and capability constraints as a consequence of staffing shortages.
Things are getting higher on each fronts, leading to improved park reservation availability…and higher crowd forecasts! With that mentioned, we’re nonetheless not “out of the woods” with regard to long-term crowd forecasting. While we’ve executed preliminary updates to our 2023 Walt Disney World crowd calendars, we’d wish to see extra readability about all the things from the financial system to geopolitical danger to family steadiness sheets and extra.
If oil costs go up extra or fears of a recession develop in 2023, attendance will drop. But even economists can’t agree on what’ll occur, so don’t count on Walt Disney World crowd forecasters to know. (As such, the additional out the 2023 Walt Disney World crowd calendars go, the much less correct they’re.)
With that in thoughts, I’ll supply a number of fast predictions for the near-term. First is that, throughout the board, November and December 2022 shall be busier than final yr. This is likely to be surprising or unsettling for annual attendees, particularly those that often do the week of Thanksgiving. That week is the one potential exception, because it was actually dangerous final yr and I hope Thanksgiving 2022 crowds received’t surpass that.
Otherwise, final yr’s vacation season–as busy because it was–benefited from cancellations attributable to the Delta variant and reinstated masks guidelines. Had these two issues not occurred, the crowds would’ve been even worse. And I think that’s precisely how the Christmas 2022 season will play out.
Expect a pair curler coaster crowd months, however even the valleys are going to backside out at increased elevations, so to talk. (In plain English, the bottom crowd stage for the following two months might be 5/10 or 6/10, with 9/10 and 10/10 dates being way more widespread.) See the month-to-month crowd calendars for November and December (under) if you would like ranges for particular weeks or dates.
Conversely, there’s good–or at the least higher–information for individuals who are considering a go to in January or February 2023. These winter months have been their very own curler coaster over the course of the final 3 years. Attendance was astronomical for the primary three months of 2020 at the beginning fell aside and Walt Disney World closed. (See Peak Crowds in Winter “Off-Season” at Walt Disney World.)
The following yr, we predicted that these crowds wouldn’t materialize as a result of probability of a winter wave of COVID holding individuals away. That could be coupled with a scarcity of worldwide journey, conventions, youth occasions on the ESPN Wide World of Sports, and runDisney choices. That prediction ended up being correct.
Last yr, we predicted the other for a similar causes: worldwide journey, runDisney, conventions, and youth sporting occasions would all be again. On prime of that, there have been home company who delayed visits from the primary three months of Walt Disney World’s fiftieth Anniversary as a result of Delta variant or face masks guidelines.
Again, that was correct. After a surprisingly sluggish October by way of mid-November (and even a vacation season that wasn’t as busy in regular by way of attendance, even when ‘feels like’ crowds begged to vary), January and February caught lots of people without warning with how dangerous they had been.
For January and February 2023, we’re anticipating one thing between the 2 extremes. That may seem to be a cop out, however that’s my sincere evaluation. With that mentioned, if you would like a “sexier” prediction, and I had been compelled to wager on crowds being dangerous or good at this level–with no “in between” possibility or further nuance–I’d select good.
Specifically, our expectation is that January 9, 2023 by way of February 17, 2023 shall be among the many least busy dates of the yr (minus the MLK vacation weekend). To ensure, it received’t be “dead” or low season by historic requirements, but it surely needs to be the most effective time to go to since mid-August by way of September of this yr.
Just understand that modern crowds are worse than historic ones–so when you’re one of many individuals who discovered this early fall to be “too crowded,” you’ll undoubtedly really feel the identical means about these Winter 2023 dates.
Following that, Presidents’ Day shall be dangerous–among the many worst dates of the yr. Then there’s Osceola and Orange County Spring Breaks, Easter, and a variety of different dates that’ll be good and dangerous. For extra perception into all of these and extra, see the month-by-month crowd calendars under.
If you’d desire one thing extra holistic as a substitute, we’d advocate consulting our 2022-2023 Best & Worst Months to Visit Walt Disney World. That is a broad overview of instances to journey to Walt Disney World, plus a number of of our favourite weeks to go to. That’s extra of a qualitative evaluation that additionally components in generalized crowd tendencies.
With that mentioned, we’ve began the method of updating our month by month crowd calendars, and have strategies for whenever you ought to and shouldn’t go to Walt Disney World…
2023 Disney World Crowd Calendars
If you’ve already narrowed down a season or vary of dates throughout which you need to go to Walt Disney World, we’d advocate forgoing the rest of this put up. Instead, discuss with our particular person month-to-month guides, which supply free crowd calendars and canopy climate, seasonal occasions, refurbishments, and what’s new & subsequent.
These 2023 Walt Disney World crowd calendars supply extra granular particulars for every particular month of the yr. We’d recommend studying all months for the time of yr you’re contemplating. For instance, when you’re pondering of a summer season trip, learn the May by way of August month-to-month guides; when you’re contemplating Christmas, seek the advice of each November and December.
Again, these 2023 Walt Disney World crowd calendars are solely dependable about 6 months upfront. It’s nonetheless too early to make dependable predictions for subsequent spring and past. With that mentioned, a few of the identical normal patterns play out yr out and in, so later months are helpful for broader weekly tendencies–relatively than particular dates to go to.
These Walt Disney World crowd calendars cowl the most effective and works week to go to in every month, with overarching assessments of attendance tendencies and wait instances at Walt Disney World. In so doing, we eschew numerical or color-coded crowd calendars for detailed, qualitative explanations.
We consider this strategy to Walt Disney World crowd calendars is way extra helpful to readers. While it’d be simpler to mindlessly select dates by what’s inexperienced or has a low quantity on crowd calendar, that strategy doesn’t do correct justice to attendance and wait time tendencies.
For these crowd calendars, we mix regular knowledge like wait instances and different information that serves as a proxy for crowds with our in-person observations and anecdotal experiences. From all of this, we’ve realized to identify patterns and see issues about wait instances and attendance at Walt Disney World, which we share with you in our crowd calendars.
Suffice to say, you’re much better off spending the ~10 minutes to learn every crowd calendar part, as we clarify the why and how of those patterns. Some instances of yr–September by way of December, particularly–crowd calendars don’t inform the complete story.
Having a bit data concerning the ebb and circulation of attendance all through the day will much better put together you to keep away from crowds and zig when others zag. Some parks and points of interest see customer numbers and features spike throughout sure instances of the day, and it’s vital to grasp the why of this, so you’ll be able to plan across the peak crowds.
It’s additionally price noting is that we’ve seen many instances that was slower instances of the yr improve by way of crowds. January and February was sluggish season and Summer was peak season–neither of that are true anymore. There are a number of different ways in which attendance patterns have modified at Walt Disney World within the final a number of years that we deal with in these rankings.
In the final a number of years, Walt Disney World has actually been aggressive with promotions and scheduling seasonal occasions in the course of the slowest instances of the yr to entice individuals to go to and shut the hole. These makes an attempt to shut the hole have been profitable to a level in that there’s now really no “dead” time of the yr, however the distinction in crowds between, for instance, mid-September and the week earlier than Christmas stays vital.
This isn’t to say that there’s no technique to keep away from the crowds anymore–there completely is–and crowd calendars will assist with that. The slower instances of the yr are nonetheless noticeably slower than the busier instances of the yr. All we’re saying is that crowd calendars usually are not some ‘magic bullet’ that you should utilize with out doing some other analysis to have an awesome journey, strolling onto each attraction. Over-reliance on Walt Disney World crowd calendars (together with ours!) will result in disappointment.
If you’re making an attempt to find out when to go to, we advocate beginning by selecting seasonal occasions and the kind of climate that enchantment most to you, after which narrowing your dates inside these broad parameters based mostly on what crowd calendars determine as the most effective and first weeks to go to. Walt Disney World crowd calendars are nonetheless a useful gizmo, however they’re not a planning panacea.
Choosing which days to go to Walt Disney World is only one facet of planning a visit. To be sure to deal with all the things, be sure to learn our Guide to Planning a Walt Disney World Trip, which covers the entire necessities. With that mentioned, right here’s what else to think about…
Weather
If climate is a crucial consideration, we extremely advocate heading down from in late September, October, early November, late February, March, or April. Those are the preferrred instances from a climate perspective. That is, assuming you need extra temperate climate, relatively than excessive warmth and humidity or extra chilly climate. If you want your garments drenched in sweat from excessive temperatures, May till late-August are the excellent instances so that you can go to.
Late summer season and early fall are the peak of hurricane and storm season, which have been intensifying in the previous few years. We extremely advocate consulting our Visiting Walt Disney World During Storm Season article earlier than reserving a visit this time of yr. The finest case situation is navigating the afternoon showers with out them placing an excessive amount of of a damper in your journey. Worst case, an approaching hurricane forces you to cancel your journey or minimize it quick.
If you will need to go to between the late spring by way of early fall, simply keep in mind to pack accordingly, bringing the Frogg Toggs for the humidity…and ponchos for the rain so that you don’t spend $179 on them at Walt Disney World. Read our Unique Disney World Packing List for some gadgets you may not in any other case consider taking.
While early December and January are nice instances to go to to keep away from crowds, our expertise has been that these are the worst two months by way of climate. Not solely does it get extraordinarily chilly (effectively, comparatively talking–it’s Florida in any case), however there are substantial swings in temperature. You may end up desirous to put on shorts within the morning however by late afternoon it’s denims and sweatshirt climate. As the night time rolls on, you may even end up desirous to placed on a parka.
If you journey throughout these instances of yr, count on to carry extra baggage and make extra stops at your room to vary clothes (or at the least plan on renting a locker to retailer further layers of clothes every day). You could also be fortunate and discover comparatively constant temperate climate throughout these instances of yr, but it surely’s finest to arrange for the worst so that you just don’t must buy a bunch of $50 sweatshirts from the Emporium on Main Street. Those $50 sweatshirts can add up rapidly! Check out our Winter Packing Tips for Disney put up for extra perception on what to take in your winter journey to Walt Disney World.
Park Hours
In speaking to others, we’ve discovered that that is the one space that individuals think about the least when planning their journeys, which we expect is at the least a small mistake. It’s vital to notice up entrance that, usually, much less busy instances of yr have shorter park hours and busier instances of yr have longer park hours.
It thus stands to cause you can principally get the identical quantity executed in a shorter day throughout a much less busy time of yr than you might throughout a busier time of yr. However, this isn’t at all times true. If you utilize an environment friendly touring plan (see our Itineraries for Walt Disney World), you might have an excellent likelihood of getting extra executed throughout a busier time of yr than throughout a sluggish time of yr.
This is particularly true when you get to the park early and keep late. Sometimes throughout particularly busy instances of yr, the Magic Kingdom will open at 8 am and can shut at 11 pm. While we’ve taken benefit of those hours with out taking a break in the course of the day, we notice a few of you might be mere mortals.
An ideal technique to make use of throughout days with working hours similar to these is to get to the park shortly earlier than opening, keep till round 11 a.m., return to your resort to nap or chill out, and return round supper time to remain till park shut. Regardless of the time of yr, the parks will at all times be pretty sluggish in the course of the first couple operational hours, and can at all times be pretty abandoned late at night time. Ride as a lot as you’ll be able to early within the day and do much less well-liked points of interest because the day wears on.
Similarly, park hours needs to be taken into consideration based mostly upon your sleep habits. If you’re a late-to-rise night time owl, the Fall and late Winter/early Spring months could also be a nasty thought, as these entail many early closing instances. If you’re not going to get to the parks till midday anyway, your day is likely to be solely 7 hours or so.
Conversely, when you get up early and usually name it a day by 5 or 7 pm or so, these midnight closings aren’t going to do you any good. Make certain you verify Disney’s park hours calendar when planning your journey. It’s vital to notice that this calendar is commonly inaccurate far upfront (Disney posts hours conservatively, then extends them as bookings improve).
Special Events
This is a giant one for us, as we’ve been to Walt Disney World so many instances that it’s good to go to throughout totally different instances of yr to maintain issues diverse. Even if it’s your first go to to Walt Disney World, if in case you have explicit pursuits, you may need to think about planning your journey round these particular occasions. The schedules for these varies from yr to yr, as does the value (if any), so please seek the advice of the respective web page for every occasion when doing all your planning and budgeting.
Halloween and Christmas occasions within the Magic Kingdom are individually ticketed (and more likely to return in 2022), that means you’ll be able to’t use your normal park tickets for them. Unlike common park tickets, you can also’t buy these tickets at a reduction from approved distributors (which might prevent some huge cash on common tickets). Despite this, each occasions are a ton of enjoyable and effectively price experiencing. As you’ll be able to learn in our Ultimate Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World, it’s our favourite time to go to the parks!
We’ve written ideas & tips for nearly each seasonal occasion at Walt Disney World, as a result of most aren’t merely a matter of “show up, have fun.” We encourage you to click on these hyperlinks (they may open in a brand new tab) and skim the guides. Like all issues Walt Disney World-related, you’ll have a significantly better time and see extra that the occasion has to supply when you do some advance planning…
Winter
Spring
Summer
- There usually are not often huge summer season particular occasions at Walt Disney World. Typically, that is the time when Walt Disney World unveils new points of interest, and gives summer season advertising and marketing revolving round these. The huge attraction openings for this summer season is Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. It’s unclear whether or not particular occasions shall be added this summer season to complement.
- EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival – Beginning on July 14, 2022, that is EPCOT’s flagship culinary occasion. Want to know what to do–and extra importantly what NOT to do? Read our information. It’ll offer you an thought of what’s not well worth the cash, and what’s price doing.
Fall
- 2022 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom – Possibly greater than some other particular occasion at Walt Disney World, it’s essential to do advance planning for this. Character meet & greets can kind hour-plus lengthy waits, and there’s a lot to do you can’t accomplish all the things in a single get together. We extremely advocate studying this information!
- EPCOT Food & Wine Festival – Same as above often continues by way of mid to late November.
School Schedules
If faculty schedules are one thing round which you will need to plan, likelihood is you’re going to go throughout one of many busier (or at the least not one of many least busy) instances of the yr. School schedules are the paramount consideration for a lot of different households planning journeys, too.
It might seem to be a handy time to go to throughout one of many ‘holidays’ your youngsters have off from faculty, but it surely’s vital to think about whether or not different faculties have these identical instances off, as effectively. Of the normal faculty holidays, solely Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends are good instances to go to.
Because most faculties have the week earlier than Christmas till the shortly after New Year’s off, that is an particularly crowded time to go to. Likewise, the identical goes for President’s Day weekend, Easter week, Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day week, Veterans Day week, the whole thing of the Summer, and Thanksgiving week.
Although faculties do range their Spring Break schedules, don’t count on the parks to be any much less busy due to staggered Spring Breaks. Mid-March till mid-April are additionally extremely busy instances for the parks due to Spring Breaks, with the 2 weeks abutting Easter being absolutely the worst (since most faculties nonetheless use Easter as a proxy for Spring Break).
Some individuals don’t have many different choices, so it’s going throughout a faculty break or nothing. If so, it’s not the top of the world. As we’ve confused above, crowd calendars usually are not as vital as they was. Simply pack your persistence and have an excellent touring plan (which is way extra vital than selecting dates based mostly upon a crowd calendar, anyway). For assist with this, discuss with our Free Walt Disney World Park Itineraries & Touring Plans. We have the proper technique for enjoyable, environment friendly, and memorable days within the parks!
If you don’t have youngsters or aren’t in any other case compelled to journey round holidays or conventional trip durations, we’d extremely advocate avoiding them. Not as a result of we now have something towards youngsters, however as a result of crowds and costs shall be increased throughout these breaks. Plan round them and save each money and time!
If you might be not sure of when visiting Walt Disney World is likely to be finest for you–or want customized assist with any facet of your journey from motels to the Disney Dining Plan and extra–we advocate contacting a no charge “Authorized Disney Vacation Planner” (principally, Disney’s time period for a journey agent) to get a quote and that will help you plan. They get their fee from Disney, so not one of the approved (key phrase) planners will cost you for reserving their journey and serving to. Here’s one such really helpful Authorized Disney Vacation Planner.
Ultimately, all of this can be a long-winded means of claiming that consulting crowd calendars for Walt Disney World in 2022-2023 is beneficial, however technique issues extra. That has been the case since ~2018, but it surely’s extra pronounced than ever proper now. With Disney Park Pass reservations reserving up each day, crowds are largely being leveled and never reflective of precise, natural demand. That presumably does range far more day-to-day or week-to-week, however that’s not taking part in out with the capability caps in place.
As we regularly say, pack your persistence and arm your self with savvy technique when you’re visiting Walt Disney World within the coming weeks or months. The dangerous information is that it’s going to be very busy with “feels like” crowds and wait instances among the many highest we’ve seen within the final two years. The excellent news is that these crowds are extra “beatable” than these of this winter or final vacation season.
Hopefully this can be a helpful primer that will help you select whenever you need to go to Walt Disney World. Figuring out when to go to is a crucial first step, however there’s far more to know. You’ll additionally need to learn our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets put up to purchase the most cost effective tickets from legit sources. To work out the place to remain, our Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews web page is a superb useful resource. Want to know the place to eat or if the Disney Dining Plan is best for you? Our Walt Disney World Dining Resources will assist! For numerous different Walt Disney World journey planning ideas and complete recommendation, be sure to learn our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide.
Your Thoughts
Visiting Walt Disney World on the proper time to keep away from crowds might be one of the crucial vital points of journey planning. What time of yr do you typically go to? Do you go to at instances when you already know crowds shall be gentle, or do you go to when faculty is out of session? Do you agree or disagree with our recommendation? Any questions we may help you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even whenever you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!