Best Time To Go?

Tinkerbell42385

Earning My Ears
Joined
Mar 17, 2012
Messages
24
I am planning a trip for myself and my younger brother to Disney and we are totally flexible with scheduling. I want to choose a time to go that will be the least crowded because we love to ride our favorite rides multiple times. We will be staying on property and I am wondering what do you think the best time to go would be? I'm not super fond of going in the dead heat of summer :)
 
Keep in mind that lower crowds also mean shorter park hours and more rides down for refurb, so lower crowds don't necessarily equal the best time to go.

My personal favorite time is early to mid May. The crowds are very manageable and the weather is gorgeous.
 
After pop warner but before the Christmas rush. I think mid December is the best time.
 
I am really considering December because I've never been when everything is decorated! I was considering sometime in November as well but are Christmas decorations up then?
 

Usually the decorations are not all up until Thanksgiving. Holidays Around the World and CP don't begin until Black Friday. I would also suggest the first or second week of Dec.
 
I like first week of december unless you want food and wine then middle of november (but don't go week of thanksgiving, it'll get crowded fast). some holiday stuff not fully up yet but most of it is (mainly epcot missing since it's still food and wine)
 
For the lowest crowds of the year, you'll want to go during the first or second week of September.

But it's too hot and humid for us at that time of year.
 
Second week of Sept is good, most kids are back after labor day. BUT, it is hotter than the surface of the sun, humid, rainy and it's hurricane season. My favorite time is the beginning of Nov. Low crowds, fantastic weather, Christmas decorations are up etc.
 
I have stayed in the first week of December, back in 2014 and I noticed nothing from 'Pop Warner'. I actually thought that week was less crowded than week 2 in December, by far, and that is what most of the crowd calendar websites say as well - it only gets more crowded as the month goes on, not less. But anyway, unless you're staying in one of the value resorts, and maybe a couple of mods (you can look up where the Cheer competitors and Pop Warner people are staying quite easily before you plan their trip since they announce it on their website) it is highly unlikely you will see or notice any of them. And they don't stay at all the values either - like I don't think they stayed at Art of Animation or Pop Century this year.

I would research what they say on the various Disney calendar sites like **************.net and others. You can do a google search for best weeks to go to Disney World and compare and contrast.

I'm trying the last week of January and the first week of February this year and relatively speaking, those are supposed to be two of the "least crowded" weeks there are as there's nothing of note going on at all. Generally, try to avoid Disney when the kids are off from school or during any holidays or school breaks or during special events if the MOST important thing for you is low crowds. But it's Disney - no matter what you must expect crowds. You can do only so much to minimize this. Disney will never be empty. If there's a time of year that is the right price or right time for you, personally, take that into consideration as well. Weigh it all - not just the crowds because it's always some level of busy.

Like, I had the opportunity to tag along with my sister and her family on winter break several years ago in February, breaking one of the "cardinal rules" of when to go, a holiday and a week when the kids were off (this was back in '09) and I have to tell you, it was fine, crowds-wise. Or maybe it takes alot to rattle me. But sometimes sites like these (which I love) tend to...rather complain alot and scare you on issues like crowds...to the point of you expecting to be stampeded or something when you go. It wasn't that bad, really, and I got to save on room fees because my sister had a time-share. And I didn't notice much of anything extreme in terms of waits other than what was expected for the popular rides at peak times of the day.

Really, you can enjoy most of Disney most of the time...the most important thing that is always said is not what day of the calendar you go so much as what time of day you visit the parks - get there at rope drop and hit the popular stuff you wanna go on early and then enjoy a lunch/siesta by early afternoon when the crowds are at their peak and save those fast passes for when you return.
 
Week after Labor Day for lowest crowds, hands down. Week after Thanksgiving for lowest crowds with Christmas decorations and activities.
 
I go four or so times each year and find early September and early February to be the least crowded. I do see more closures/refurbs at those times though.
 
I have also heard early May is a great time to go crowd and weather wise.
 
I think early May is the only lower crowd time that we've gone to but that's always fun with shorter waits in our experience
 
You'll get all sorts of opinions .

There is no super "slow" time anymore.

Mainly just make sure you go during the middle of the week and don't go in the middle of the summer (the heat! the heat!)

Based on my OWN experience in the last year:
I would suggest late August or early September. The "summer rush" is over (as kids go back to school), but WARNING - it could still be blazing hot, but for me it was humid in the morning and rained every day, but crowds were pretty darn good (a lot chased off in the afternoons by the rain).
I would also suggest late January to early February. It could be colder (not a bad thing) and a lot of rides WILL be closed to refurb .. but lower crowds (at least in the past).

I would not suggest October .. it was more crowded in early October than it was other times I have gone.

Also .. a lot of the "slow" times (like Jan/Feb/May/August/Sept) have good resort discounts, so that always makes it a good time to go.
When I went in August, my room at Pop Century was cheaper than most 2 star name brand hotels you'd find off the freeway.
 
We went last year in Mid January and it was great, this year we are tacking a few Disney days on with a cruise end of January. But, I would plan to do as many parks mid-week rather than weekend as you can, Disney attracts many weekenders from Florida, so try to follow recommended parks per the crowd calendars such as easywdw.
 
Thank you all so much for all of the great suggestions! I am really thinking about the first week of December for our trip this year! I really want to experience Disney's Christmas decorations and I think that would be a great time to go and have milder weather.
 
Immediately after Thanksgiving. We flew down the Saturday after and by that following Monday the place was a ghost town--it seemed that way to us anyway as we had always visited in July or August. Also, there typically isn't enough time for them to refurb an attraction before the Christmas crowd shows up, so everything should be open.
 
We went in mid-October, the sweet spot between Columbus Day crowds and Halloween crowds. It was great. The weather was perfect.
 
These may help some......

http://**************.net/2014/09/25/disney-world-crowds-in-2016/

http://**************.net/2014/09/28/2016-weeks-to-visit-walt-disney-world-ranked-in-order/


I enjoy the weeks ranked 1, 2 and 3.

And yes, as said, Pop Warner has no real impact on the parks.
 
Our personal fav is last week of Jan, followed by the weeek right after Thanksgiving. Early May is also really nice, but haven't been during that week since 07, so crowd levels may have shifted since then. Early Dec is great for lower crowds and full Christmas decorations.
 


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