One thing everyone needs to know when going to Walt Disney World is that there will be crowds. No matter when you go, there will be busier and more crowded days at Walt Disney World than other days. To make your trip more enjoyable, knowing these days can help you plan your trip and your itinerary to avoid the most crowded days at Disney World.

Often, the locals will know the best times to avoid crowds at Disney, however, connecting with them can be difficult. In order to help, many have created Disney World crowd calendars that pull information from multiple sources to create updated and accurate Disney World crowd calendars. Many of these crowd calendars will take into account special events, school breaks, concert series, annual pass blockout days and even weather.

Our List of Disney World Crowd Calendards

Here is a list of our favorite Disney World crowd calendars. Each of these Disney crowd calendars have different features. We suggest you use all of these calendars to get a better understanding of crowd levels at Disney World.

Note: In 2016, Disney rolled out a new pricing structure giving historically lower crowd days lower ticket prices and higher prices on the busier days. This has created a huge shift in the crowds and since these prices are dynamic, this can cause these calculators to be less accurate than they have been in the past.

1st: Dad’s Guide To WDW Crowd Calendar

Disney World Crowd Calendar from Dad's Guide to WDW

This is a great Disney World crowd calendar put together by Dad’s Guide to WDW. What I enjoy about this calendar is he breaks it down by month and gives you the reasons as to why he predicted the crowd levels as high or low as he did.

This site does a great job of monitoring new events and updating their crowd calendars for these new events.

2nd: TouringPlans.com Disney Crowd Calendar

The Best Disney World Crowd Calendars 2

This is one of our favorite Disney World crowd calendars as it allows us to see crowd levels by park. Touring Plans uses data scientists to analyze patterns from previous data to determine what the crowd levels will be like. Furthermore, they also use this same data science to predict ride wait times for ride and attractions.

What we don’t like about this site is not all the data is free. In order to see the wait times and see 365 days of their crowd calendar, you have to subscribe to their service. That said, a subscription is only $16 per year and they state you will save up to 4 hours a day of standing in lines. If you’re planning a trip to Disney World, having this crowd calendar may be worth the price.

3rd: Undercover Tourist Disney Crowd Calendar

The Best Disney World Crowd Calendars 3

Undercover Tourist breaks down a crowd calendar by park in an easy to read calendar form. I am unaware of how they get their data. In addition to Disney, this site also provides Universal Orlando crowd calendars as well as SeaWorld crowd calendars. This would be a great crowd calendar to use if you plan on visiting other parks in addition to Disney World.

When is Disney World Least Crowded?

The most common question we are asked is when Disney World is least crowded. This answer changes based off festivals, events and even weather.

Typically, Walt Disney World is least crowded from the first week of January through the 3rd week in February, right before presidents day. Disney is also less crowded from the week after Labor Day through the week right before Thanksgiving week. Once Thanksgiving has passed, the first 2 weeks of December you will find less crowds at Disney World.

When is Disney World Most Crowded?

Weekends are always more crowded at Walt Disney World, however, there are times that you will find higher crowds on both weekdays and the weekends.

  • President’s Day Week (3rd week of February
  • Spring Break (mid-March through late-April)
  • Memorial Day Weekend
  • Summer (June through Labor Day)
  • 3rd of July and 4th of July (EXTREME crowds)
  • Thanksgiving Week & Weekend
  • Christmas Week through January 1st (Sometimes extends a few days into January depending when the 1st falls)
  • New Years Eve (EXTREME crowds)

When is the Best Time to Visit Disney World?

Many still want to know “When is the best time to visit Walt Disney World?” Using the Disney Crowd Calendars above, there are still some days that are less crowded at Disney, however, it is becoming harder and harder to have a slow day at Disney.

Weekdays Instead of Weekends

Some of our tips to have less crowds is to arrange your schedule to get the most out of the less crowded days. Weekdays, especially days when school is in session will be your least crowded. Rather than visiting Disney on the Weekend, visit throughout the week and make the weekend be one of your down days.

Rainy Days

Florida is notorious for our afternoon “monsoons” only to be followed up by sunshine and unfortunately humidity. While these may get you wet, planing a Disney day when a storm may roll through could help clear out some of the crowds. There are many things to do at Disney on rainy days, however, staying in the park can be one of your best bets.

Late Nights After Fireworks

Park hours vary throughout the year at the different parks. During the summer, you will often find the parks open extremely late into the night, however, Fireworks may be scheduled for earlier. Our experience is that many parents will tell their little ones (yes, we have done this when our teen was toddler) that the park is closed after the fireworks and head back to the hotel. This often results in less crowds for those final few hours.

What’s Your Favorite?

There are a lot of Disney World crowd calendars online and in apps. In the comments below tell us your favorite crowd calendar and why you like it and we will add it to our list.

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