Fun fact Walt Disney World opened on October 1, 1971.

Free planning tool

Disney World crowd calendar

How busy Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom are likely to be, every day for the next year. Updated automatically with the real waits we record every hour.

What are the best days to visit Disney World?

Weekdays outside school breaks and holidays. In most months Tuesday through Thursday are lightest. Pick a light day for Magic Kingdom first, since it fills up the most, and save Animal Kingdom for a busier day.

  • 1–3 Light
  • 4–6 Moderate
  • 7–8 Busy
  • 9–10 Very busy
  • Measured by us

Tap a day to see each park’s level, hours and why.

Get the printable crowd calendar

  • Every day for the next 12 months, color-coded for all four parks
  • The best and busiest days of each month at a glance
  • Holidays, school breaks, festivals, runDisney weekends and party nights marked
  • Stick it on the fridge while you pick your dates

Free printable crowd calendar

The next 12 months for all four Disney World parks on one printable PDF. Download it as soon as you enter your email. You'll also get The Magic Minute, our short weekly planning email. Unsubscribe anytime.

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How our crowd levels work

We measure real lines

Disney doesn’t publish attendance, so we measure it the way families feel it: in standby lines. Every hour while the parks are open, we record the posted waits at each park’s headline rides, such as Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Frozen Ever After, Slinky Dog Dash and Avatar Flight of Passage. A day’s level comes from the average between 10 AM and 5 PM.

We predict the days ahead

Future days weigh school breaks and holidays, the season, the day of the week, EPCOT festivals, runDisney weekends, party nights and the hours Disney posts, which usually stretch when Disney expects a crowd. Park hours and events update on their own as Disney announces them.

Where the data comes from

Live waits and park hours come from ThemeParks.wiki, which republishes Disney’s posted information. Our history grows every day, and we compare predictions with what we measure so they keep getting sharper.

Lifetime of Magic is an independent travel agency, not part of The Walt Disney Company.

Crowd calendar questions

Still deciding on dates? Ask us and we’ll check the latest numbers for you.

When is the least crowded time to visit Disney World?
Mid-January to early February (outside Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend and Presidents’ Day week), late April to mid-May, and late August through September are usually the lightest. The busiest stretches are Christmas to New Year’s, Thanksgiving weekend, Easter and spring break.
How do you decide each day’s crowd level?
Every hour our system records the posted standby waits at the headline rides in all four parks. Days we have measured show those real numbers. Future days are predicted from what moves Disney crowds: school breaks and holidays, the season, the day of the week, EPCOT festivals, runDisney weekends, party nights and the park hours Disney posts.
Do runDisney race weekends make the parks busier?
Barely. Race mornings bring more people to EPCOT and the resort areas, and EPCOT sometimes opens later on race days, but ride waits are usually close to a normal day. We note every race weekend and late opening on the calendar.
Why is Magic Kingdom lighter on party nights?
On Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party nights, Magic Kingdom closes early to day guests, so many families pick another park. The days without a party usually get busier.
How accurate is it?
No one can promise crowd levels; weather, new rides and Disney offers all move them. Our history grows every day, and we compare our predictions with what we measure so they keep getting sharper. When you plan with us, we check the latest numbers for your exact dates.

Your adventure starts here

Want us to pick the best park days for you?

Tell us your dates. We build a day-by-day plan around the lightest days for each park, and book your dining and Lightning Lane for you.

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