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| Walt Disney World Avoiding the Crowds |
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 | If you're an early riser, take advantage of the morning extra magic hours but arrive at the opening | |
| time. |
| The Extra Magic Hour Park will get increasingly crowded throughout the morning and will eventually | |
| become the park to avoid. By noon, expect 60-90 minute waits for attractions during the summer and holidays. |
| If you cannot make it to the extra magic hour then avoid that park. Usually, any other park will be a | |
| better choice. |
| Be sure to ride all of the headliner attractions while the park is still uncrowded. |
| Pulling a Fastpass should give you a return time within 30 minutes. It's worth pulling one so that you | |
| can ride it a second time. |
| By noon time, you should have plans to head over to another park, see shows or parades, or go | |
| back to the hotel and rest until mid-afternoon but do not return to that Extra Magic park. |
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| These parks tend to be quite crowded during the first hour or two and you might not see a difference | |
| in crowds until later in the evening. This is especially true for the Magic Kingdom. |
| Disney will not ask non-resort guests (identifiable by a wristband) to step out of line once Extra Magic | |
| Hours have begun. During peak seasons, it could take at least an hour into Extra Magic Hours before you see a decline in wait times. |
| Even with Extra Magic Hours, the lines can still be quite long. However, wait times will begin to | |
| decrease as the night gets later. |
| Not all restaurants and attractions are opened so be sure to pick up an Extra Magic Hours schedule | |
| either at your hotel or inside the park. |
| During crowded times, you'll want to be an early riser if you want to avoid long waits. Even during peak | |
| times, (school vacations and summer) arriving before 9 A.M. attractions will have little to no wait. By 11 A.M. wait times for attractions begin going to 40 or even 60 minutes. |
| Be sure to make use of the free Fastpass system. If you're unfamiliar with how it works, don't worry, its surprisingly | |
| simple! In addition, there are directions in the Guide Maps or you can ask a Cast Member. |
| During peak times, Fastpass tickets will "sell out" by late afternoon/early evening. This means that "return times" | |
| have reached park closing time. Get to the attractions you must see soon as possible. |
| If you're not an early riser, avoid parks with Extra Magic Hours, they will be the most crowded. |
| Disney has installed tip boards inside the parks that give current wait times for attractions. Look inside the guide | |
| maps for their locations. |
| For specific information on crowd levels, be sure to visit touringplans.com | |
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| Secrets Tips History |
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| Magic Kingdom: The Magic Kingdom is the most crowded of the four parks and largely preferred by those with small children. It's | |
| unlikely that you'll be able to experience "no waiting" even on days when the Magic Kingdom sees less people. That being said, it might be helpful to know that the Magic Kingdom generally sees larger crowds beginning on Thursday and lasting through Sunday. Saturdays and Sundays are the busiest. While Sunday is the check-in/ check-out day for most guests, a large number of Florida Resident Passholders will "day trip" to the Magic Kingdom on the weekends that make up for the guests who are leaving or just getting in. |
| Animal Kingdom: Monday is typically the busiest day. Guests who arrive on Sunday will avoid Animal Kingdom wanting to see Animal | |
| Kingdom first thing in the morning, when the animals are most active. |
| Epcot: Avoid on Tuesdays. Epcot handles large crowds the best of all the parks. There are several attractions that absorb large | |
| numbers of guests at once. Hint: Soarin' is one of the most popular attractions in Walt Disney World. Be sure to head there as early as possible during your visit to Epcot. |
| Disney's Hollywood Studios: Avoid Wednesdays and Fridays. This park is does not handle crowds well. While there are many great | |
| attractions here, there are only two headliner attractions, Hollywood Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster. This means that there aren't enough headliner attractions to absorb the crowds. Be sure to check the Guide Map for show schedules. Shows in the Studios tend to absorb large numbers of crowds, especially Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. |
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| Disney World will be busiest any time schools are closed. This includes holidays, weekends, | |
| school vacations and summer. During these times, expect FastPasses to "sell out" by mid- afternoon. In addition, headliner attractions might have wait times ranging from 60 - 90 minutes. |
| The busiest times to visit Walt Disney World are the week between Christmas and New Years Day, | |
| Presidents Day weekend, the third week in March, and the week of the Fourth of July. Note that Disney resorts will likely charge a premium for rooms during these times. |
| The least busiest times are the last two weeks of August, all of September and October, and the | |
| second week in December. |
| best and worst times for crowds, most crowded days of the week, morning extra magic hours, evening extra magic hours, |
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