These free 2025 Walt Disney World crowd calendars charge dates so you’ll be able to select finest weeks to go & keep away from the worst, skipping lengthy traces and excessive wait occasions. We cowl seasonal occasions, climate, park hours, Orlando journey tendencies, and elements impacting when to go to Florida’s theme parks. (Up to date March 1, 2025.)
Let’s begin with a blunt actuality: Summer season 2025 and past goes to be a wild time for crowds at Walt Disney World. The final couple years have seen normalizing attendance patterns, throughout which period it turned a lot simpler to foretell crowd ranges and wait occasions. To the extent that crowd calendars had been inaccurate, it was usually only a matter of across-the-board overestimates–the overall pattern traces had been correct, simply too excessive.
That’s not what we’re anticipating with our 2025 Walt Disney World crowd calendars beginning in late Might. We’ll be brutally sincere: Walt Disney World crowds are most likely going to grow to be much less predictable once more this summer season, to the purpose that we’d warning in opposition to over-reliance on this or every other crowd calendars. (Particularly the automated AI ones that simply take historic wait occasions and spit out future predictions with out clarification.)
The most important issue is Epic Universe, Common Orlando’s third theme park that opens in late Might 2025. Earlier than it formally opens, Epic Universe can have prolonged previews earlier than that beginning in April. Common’s third theme park is the elephant within the room in relation to virtually any dialog about 2025. It calls into query historic patterns–and never simply with crowds, but in addition reductions, seasonal occasions, launch dates, and far more.
That is each as a result of attendance will change organically on account of a brand new theme park and as a result of Walt Disney World might want to regulate to be able to lure company to go to because it makes an attempt to compete with Common Orlando. Nothing is immune from the potential affect of Epic Universe. Quite a lot of previous precedent may exit the window as Epic Universe opens.
Sadly, we’re not seeing any indicators that Walt DIsney World goes to lure company to go to within the second half of 2025. On the contrary, closures and building are already kicking into excessive gear and extra are on the horizon in mid-to-late 2025 with Muppets Courtyard, Tom Sawyer Island, the Rivers of America, and extra. It appears virtually like Walt Disney World is falling by the wayside on the following two years, and aiming for 2027 and past to be a interval of massive progress.
Formally, this isn’t Disney’s place. For its half, the corporate has been wishy-washy concerning the affect of Epic Universe on Walt Disney World. At one level, Disney’s CFO stated that Epic Universe is “Truly Optimistic” for Walt Disney World Attendance in 2025. Throughout the firm’s most up-to-date earnings name in 2025, the CFO stated that Disney had constructed “some unfavourable” into its monetary steering because of Epic Universe and expects it to have a “small affect” into its enterprise projections.
Decoding Disneyspeak, it appears like the corporate has gone from anticipating Epic Universe to be barely optimistic to barely unfavourable for Walt Disney World. And so they normally attempt to paint as rosy of an image for buyers as attainable on earnings calls, so our precise expectation is that what they’ve seen from bookings since Epic Universe began promoting tickets and trip packages is extra unfavourable than they’re letting on.
Up till not too long ago, Disney’s perspective with regard to Epic Universe has been: a rising tide lifts all ships. They now sound extra bearish. No matter what occurs, it’s virtually sure that the affect–optimistic or unfavourable–won’t happen evenly all year long or throughout the board in any respect 4 Walt Disney World theme parks.
Simply so we’re on the identical web page, the true vary of prospects is a slight lower to a slight enhance in attendance–Walt Disney World is not going to be an enormous spike or catastrophic drop. Averaged per day throughout all the parks, even this vary of outcomes for 2025 crowds would look fairly negligible as in comparison with this yr. You may wait a couple of minutes much less per attraction, once more on common throughout all 4 parks.
Nevertheless, that’s not the way it will occur in observe. The adjustments won’t happen evenly throughout all 4 parks. Vacationers have finite trip time and budgets, and including Epic Universe means sacrificing visits to different parks. However even then, there are unknowns.
Will Common’s current gates be cannibalized to a higher diploma than Disney loses market share? Which Walt Disney World parks will take the largest hit? What’s going to Disney do to counter Epic Universe in 2025? Once more, these questions are unimaginable to reply with a excessive diploma of confidence at this level as a result of there merely isn’t precedent.
What I can supply is my instincts as to what’ll occur. First, Magic Kingdom have wait occasions on par with final yr in Summer season 2025 and larger seems like crowds. That is due partly to Magic Kingdom being Walt Disney World’s flagship park, so it’s the one vacationers flocking to Florida for Epic Universe are most probably to add-on throughout their go to if doing Disney as a diversion as a substitute of vacation spot.
The upper seems like crowds or congestion will probably be attributable to the debut of Disney Starlight Evening Parade. That may draw extra locals, Annual Passholders, and different followers to Magic Kingdom all through the summer season. It should additionally hold individuals within the park later, making wait occasions much less prone to drop on the finish of the night time.
The same dynamic may play out at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. These have grow to be the highest 2 parks at Walt Disney World by way of vacationer drawing energy, so if the inflow of holiday makers for Epic Universe are doing any Walt Disney World parks, it’s considered one of these two–or each. Disney’s Hollywood Studios received’t see as a lot of a bump as Magic Kingdom, even with two new stage reveals, as a result of these received’t be as a lot of a draw as Starlight parade.
Third, Animal Kingdom and EPCOT will take a success. EPCOT will doubtless be down barely yr over yr, particularly because it has nothing new to supply. Final yr, World Celebration and CommuniCore Corridor had been model new, with different sights being new-ish. This yr, there’s nothing brand-new, and there are indicators that Take a look at Observe 3.0 received’t debut till the tip of summer season or early fall. (It received’t be an enormous driver of attendance when it opens–but it surely may hold individuals away whereas it’s closed.)
Animal Kingdom will most likely be down considerably. Animal Kingdom is already the park individuals with restricted time in Central Florida are most probably to chop, and this will probably be exacerbated by Epic Universe and the park being within the midst of building and having a number of sights (of an already restricted experience roster) down in consequence. Animal Kingdom is already the “best” park at Walt Disney World from a method perspective, and barring a significant shock (e.g. drone present), it’s going to get even simpler in Summer season 2025.
How the remainder of 2025 performs out rely on elements that aren’t but identified. This contains what number of new guests will Epic Universe draw to Central Florida, whether or not individuals really postpone visits throughout opening season for concern of upper crowds (that don’t materialize), what Walt Disney World will supply as counterprogramming, how aggressive Disney will get with reductions, ongoing seasonal tendencies, and extra. We may see main shifts within the second half of 2025 crowd patterns–or comparatively minor ones. Suffice to say, there’s a vary of outcomes!
The excellent news is that even with this uncertainty, the contours of crowd calendars ought to stay correct, kind of. Easter will nonetheless be worse than the weeks after Spring Break; August and September will nonetheless be low season; Jersey Week will nonetheless be busier than the week that follows; Thanksgiving 2025 will probably be worse than the week after that–which is able to stay our favourite week of the yr to go to Walt Disney World.
There will probably be some factors the place this breaks down a bit, however in the event you’re on the lookout for the very best dates to go to inside April 2025 or November 2025, I nonetheless have a reasonably excessive diploma of confidence in our predictions. At the least, to the extent of which units of dates will probably be higher or worse. (Relative assessments like which can be simpler to make, particularly inside timeframes of a single month or two.)
The identical can’t be stated for the numerical crowd stage scores. I’d take these loads much less severely, if I had been you. And that goes for all crowd calendars, not simply ours. Once more, there’s a scarcity of precedent right here that makes this unimaginable for anybody to foretell with a excessive diploma of confidence–that’s doubly true for the assets that simply take historic knowledge and spit out predictions with none vital thought put into the “why” of it.
To this finish, you may as a substitute wish to seek the advice of our lists of the 10 Finest and 10 Worst Weeks to Go to Walt Disney World in 2025 & 2026. For those who’re on the lookout for a handy useful resource for planning a weeklong or so trip to Walt Disney World and wish to know when to go to or keep away from based mostly on crowds & congestion, climate, particular occasions, and extra–look no additional, and take a look at that checklist as a substitute of studying the month-by-month calendars under.
To be fully sincere, I like these lists greater than these crowd calendars and ship family and friends that publish versus this when they need assist selecting dates. From my perspective, it’s silly to rely solely on quantitative measures (that is likely to be flawed!) when qualitative elements could be extra make or break.
These have already been up to date for 2025 as soon as following the discharge of resort and ticket reductions via September 2025. They’ll be revised once more as soon as Walt Disney World publicizes debut dates for Starlight, new stage reveals, and no matter different surprises is likely to be in retailer. All of these dates ought to be very coming quickly–subscribe to our free e mail publication for updates.
Turning again to those crowd calendars, we’ve got a pair extra notes. Crowd ranges are calculated on a rolling foundation relative to the prior 12 months. They’re not anchored to 1971 or 1993 or 2008 wait occasions. In different phrases, a 1/10 as we speak isn’t the identical as a 1/10 in September 2012 or October 2015. At present’s 1/10 is likely to be nearer to a 5/10 from 5 years in the past.
Just about each single day this yr could be 10/10 if we used 2008 or earlier because the baseline. For those who final skilled Walt Disney World a number of years in the past, your expectations and expertise most likely differ from somebody who visited over vacation weeks in 2022 when pent-up demand was operating scorching.
Not solely that, however a ‘low’ crowd ranges doesn’t imply that in absolute phrases. Even on 1/10 days, the parks won’t be ghost cities permitting you to do snow angels on the bottom. You will see rides with 60-90 minute posted wait occasions. You will encounter areas of congestion. “Uncrowded” at Walt Disney World means one thing totally different than it does on the American Dream Mall or Wyoming in The Final of Us. The preferred rides, particularly throughout the center of the day, will nonetheless have lengthy traces.
The underside line is that below-average crowd ranges doesn’t imply each experience is a walk-on. Chances are you’ll be disillusioned to see 60 minute waits on a supposedly low-crowd day, and conclude that it really isn’t sluggish. Simply understand that it will get a lot, a lot worse. Whereas I don’t relish hour-long waits, they’re higher than 2-hour ones! Furthermore, these numbers are averages, so it additionally means larger peaks and decrease lows. Avatar Flight of Passage may peak at a 300 minute wait on a ten/10 day when its common wait time is 140 minutes.
We’re not attempting to be debbie downers. Our purpose is to supply sensible expectations and preparation for crowds. And in the event you learn reviews of the parks being empty, ghost cities, or lifeless…properly, you might need be stunned to come across “solely” an hour wait time for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. (Sure, that’s a number of ready–however that posted wait time can be inflated and nonetheless far decrease than it’d be throughout peak season.)
There are nonetheless undoubtedly massive variations in crowd ranges, and you must plan accordingly. Regardless of how exhausting Disney may attempt, there are specific occasions that journey is slower. College schedules, climate, seasonal festivities, youth sporting occasions, conventions, and different elements all play an enormous function in crowd ranges at Walt Disney World.
If all of this sounds overwhelming or imprecise, the excellent news is that it’s fully attainable to beat dangerous crowds. In reality, we advocate savvy technique over selecting the “finest” days to go to!
By using Lightning Lanes, Early Entry, Prolonged Night Hours, rope drop, and so forth. We cowl the very best & worst method for every park in Finest Time-Saving Methods for Walt Disney World. (For those who’re solely going to learn one planning publish, make it that!)
If you wish to learn a number of extra posts–all extra helpful than crowd calendars–you’ll want to additionally take a look at our Walt Disney World Itineraries for plans of assault, with choices now with and with out Lightning Lanes.
Truthfully, following an excellent itinerary and using sensible technique is far more essential than selecting the “proper” dates. There are some exceptions to this, similar to occurring December 29 (common wait time final yr of 70 minutes) as a substitute of October 1 (common wait time this yr of 18 minutes), however by and huge, utilizing sensible technique will put you in a greater place than choosing the least-busy days and doing zero strategizing.
Ideally, you’d go for a better of each worlds method–selecting good dates in addition to using savvy technique, however that’s not all the time attainable. In any case, there’s a cause most households go to Walt Disney World throughout faculty breaks. For those who don’t have any selection however to journey throughout busier dates, you’ll be able to nonetheless beat the crowds.
With that stated, listed here are extra detailed strategies for while you ought to and shouldn’t go to Walt Disney World…
2025 Disney World Crowd Calendars
For those who’ve already narrowed down a season or vary of dates throughout which you wish to go to Walt Disney World, we’d advocate forgoing the rest of this publish. As an alternative, check 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 2025 Walt Disney World crowd calendars supply extra granular particulars for every particular month. We’d recommend studying all months for the time of yr you’re contemplating. For instance, in the event you’re pondering of a summer season trip, learn the Might via August month-to-month guides; in the event you’re contemplating Christmas, seek the advice of each November and December.
These Walt Disney World crowd calendars are most dependable about 6 months upfront. It’s nonetheless too early to make dependable predictions for summer season and past. As a result of, once more, Disney nonetheless hasn’t introduced opening dates and the affect of Epic Universe is hazy. With that stated, a number of the similar common patterns play out yr out and in, so later months are helpful for broader weekly tendencies–reasonably than particular dates to go to.
For these crowd calendars, we mix regular knowledge like wait occasions and different data 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 spot issues about wait occasions and attendance at Walt Disney World, which we share with you in our crowd calendars.
Notice that the above crowd calendars don’t, for essentially the most half, supply park by park crowd ranges. On a calendar day foundation, that’s far too granular and now not attainable to foretell. Nevertheless, we’d direct you to Finest & Worst Days to Do All Parks at Walt Disney World for recommendation on selecting which day to do every park. Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT usually comply with patterns and choosing the right (and avoiding the unsuitable) days could make an enormous distinction, it doesn’t matter what time of yr (uncrowded or crowded) that you simply go to.
Having a bit data concerning the ebb and circulation of attendance all through the day may also put together you to keep away from crowds and zig when others zag. Some parks and sights see customer numbers and features spike throughout sure elements of the day, and it’s essential to know the why of this, so you’ll be able to plan across the peak crowds.
This isn’t to say that there’s no strategy to keep away from the crowds anymore–there completely is–and crowd calendars will assist with that. The slower dates are nonetheless noticeably slower than the busier dates. All we’re saying is that crowd calendars aren’t some ‘magic bullet’ that you should use with out doing every other analysis to have an amazing journey, strolling onto each attraction. Over-reliance on Walt Disney World crowd calendars (together with ours!) will result in disappointment.
For those who’re attempting to find out when to go to, we advocate beginning by selecting seasonal occasions and the kind of climate that attraction most to you, after which narrowing your dates inside these broad parameters based mostly on what crowd calendars determine as the very best and first weeks to go to. Walt Disney World crowd calendars are nonetheless a great tool, however they’re not a planning panacea.
Selecting which days to go to Walt Disney World is only one facet of planning a visit. To be sure you sort out every thing, be sure you learn our Information to Planning a Walt Disney World Journey, which covers all the necessities. With that stated, right here’s what else to contemplate…
Climate
If climate is a crucial consideration, we extremely advocate heading down from in late September, October, early November, late February, March, or April. These are perfect from a climate perspective. That’s, assuming you need extra temperate climate, reasonably than excessive warmth and humidity or extra chilly climate. For those who like your garments drenched in sweat from excessive temperatures, Might till late-August are the good occasions so that you can go to.
Late summer season and early fall are the peak of hurricane and storm season, which have grow to be more and more related. We extremely advocate consulting our Visiting Walt Disney World Throughout Storm Season article earlier than reserving a visit this time of yr. One of the best 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 be at Walt Disney World whereas the parks shut as a result of storm.
For those who should go to between the late spring via 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. Learn our Distinctive Disney World Packing Record for some objects you won’t in any other case consider taking.
Whereas early December and January are nice occasions 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 (properly, 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. Because the night time rolls on, you may even end up desirous to placed on a parka.
For those who journey throughout these seasons, anticipate to convey extra baggage and make extra stops at your room to vary clothes (or at the very least plan on renting a locker to retailer further layers of clothes every day). Chances are you’ll be fortunate and discover comparatively constant temperate climate throughout these timeframes, but it surely’s finest to arrange for the worst so that you simply don’t must buy a bunch of $50 sweatshirts from the Emporium on Predominant Avenue. These $50 sweatshirts can add up shortly! Try our Winter Packing Suggestions for Disney publish 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 very least a small mistake. It’s essential to notice up entrance that, usually, much less busy seasons have shorter park hours and busier occasions have longer park hours.
It thus stands to cause that you would be able to mainly get the identical quantity performed in a shorter day throughout a much less busy time than you can throughout a busier time. Nevertheless, this isn’t all the time true. For those who use an environment friendly touring plan (see our Itineraries for Walt Disney World), you’ve an excellent probability of getting extra performed throughout a busier time of yr than throughout a slower stretch.
That is very true in the event you get to the park early and keep late. Generally throughout particularly busy occasions, Magic Kingdom will open at 8 am and can shut at 11 pm. Whereas we’ve taken benefit of those hours with out taking a break throughout the day, we understand a few of you might be mere mortals.
A terrific 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 meal time to remain till park shut. Whatever the time of yr, the parks will all the time be pretty sluggish throughout the first couple operational hours, and can all the time be pretty abandoned late at night time. Experience as a lot as you’ll be able to early within the day and do much less standard sights because the day wears on.
Equally, park hours ought to be taken under consideration based mostly upon your sleep habits. For those who’re a late-to-rise night time owl, the Fall and late Winter/early Spring months could also be a foul thought, as these entail many early closing occasions. For those who’re not going to get to the parks till midday anyway, your day is likely to be solely 7 hours or so.
Conversely, in the event you get up early and customarily name it a day by 5 or 7 pm or so, these midnight closings aren’t going to do you any good. Ensure you examine Disney’s park hours calendar when planning your journey. It’s essential to notice that this calendar is usually inaccurate far upfront (Disney posts hours conservatively, then extends them as bookings enhance).
Particular Occasions
It is a massive one for us, as we’ve been to Walt Disney World so many occasions that it’s good to go to throughout totally different occasions of yr to maintain issues assorted. Even when it’s your first go to to Walt Disney World, when you have explicit pursuits, you may wish to think about planning your journey round these particular occasions. The schedules for these varies, 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, that means you’ll be able to’t use your normal park tickets for them. In contrast to common park tickets, you can also’t buy these tickets at a reduction from licensed distributors (which might prevent some huge cash on common tickets). Regardless of this, each occasions are a ton of enjoyable and properly value experiencing. As you’ll be able to learn in our Final Information to Christmas at Walt Disney World, it’s our favourite time to go to the parks!
We’ve written suggestions & tips for nearly each seasonal occasion at Walt Disney World, as a result of most aren’t merely a matter of “present up, have enjoyable.” We encourage you to click on these hyperlinks (they are going to 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 in the event you do some advance planning…
Winter
- Walt Disney World Marathon – The flagship runDisney race weekend is held in early January, normally the weekend after New 12 months’s. It usually happens whereas faculties are nonetheless out for winter break, successfully extending the vacation season crowds into early January.
- EPCOT Worldwide Competition of the Arts – This is without doubt one of the highlights of January and February at Walt Disney World for us. Really captures the essence of old fashioned EPCOT Heart.
Spring
Summer season
- 2025 EPCOT Worldwide Meals & Wine Competition – Starting in late summer season, that is EPCOT’s flagship culinary occasion. Wish to know what to do–and extra importantly what NOT to do? Learn our information. It’ll offer you an thought of what’s not well worth the cash, and what’s value doing.
Fall
- 2025 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Celebration at Magic Kingdom – Presumably greater than every other particular occasion at Walt Disney World, you have to do advance planning for this. Character meet & greets can type hour-plus lengthy waits, and there’s a lot to do that you would be able to’t accomplish every thing in a single celebration. We extremely advocate studying this information!
- EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition – Similar as above normally continues via mid to late November.
Holidays
College Schedules
If faculty schedules are one thing round which you should plan, chances are high you’re going to go throughout one of many busier (or at the very least not one of many least busy) occasions of the yr. College schedules are the paramount consideration for a lot of different households planning journeys, too.
It could appear handy to go to throughout one of many ‘holidays’ your children have off from faculty, but it surely’s essential to contemplate whether or not different faculties have these similar dates off, as properly. Of the standard faculty holidays, solely Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends are good occasions to go to.
As a result of most faculties have the week earlier than Christmas till the shortly after New 12 months’s off, that is an particularly crowded window to go to. Likewise, the identical goes for President’s Day weekend, Easter week, Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day week, Veterans Day week, everything of the Summer season, and Thanksgiving week.
Though faculties do range their Spring Break schedules, don’t anticipate the parks to be any much less busy due to staggered Spring Breaks. Mid-March till mid-April are additionally extremely busy dates 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 that’s the case, it’s not the tip of the world. As we’ve harassed above, crowd calendars aren’t as essential as they was once. Merely pack your persistence and have an excellent touring plan (which is much extra essential than selecting dates based mostly upon a crowd calendar, anyway). For assist with this, check with our Free Walt Disney World Park Itineraries & Touring Plans. We have now the right technique for enjoyable, environment friendly, and memorable days within the parks!
For those who don’t have children or aren’t in any other case pressured to journey round holidays or conventional trip intervals, we’d extremely advocate avoiding them. Not as a result of we’ve got something in opposition to children, however as a result of crowds and costs will probably be larger throughout these breaks. Plan round them and save each money and time! As we frequently say, pack your persistence and arm your self with savvy technique in the event you’re visiting Walt Disney World and also you’ll just do high-quality, no matter crowds.
If you’re uncertain of when visiting Walt Disney World is likely to be finest for you–or want personalised assist with any facet of your journey from resorts to the Disney Eating Plan and extra–we advocate contacting a no price “Licensed Disney Trip Planner” (mainly, 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 licensed (key phrase) planners will cost you for reserving their journey and serving to. Right here’s one such Licensed Disney Trip Planner that we advocate!
Hopefully this can be a worthwhile primer that will help you select while you wish to go to Walt Disney World. Determining when to go to is a crucial first step, however there’s far more to know. You’ll additionally wish to learn our Suggestions for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets publish to purchase the most affordable tickets from official sources. To determine the place to remain, our Walt Disney World Resort Opinions web page is a superb useful resource. Wish to know the place to eat or if the Disney Eating Plan is best for you? Our Walt Disney World Eating Sources will assist! For many different Walt Disney World journey planning suggestions and complete recommendation, be certain that to learn our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information.
Your Ideas
Visiting Walt Disney World throughout the very best dates to keep away from crowds might be probably the most essential points of journey planning. What season, month, or week do you usually go to WDW? Do you go to at occasions when crowds will probably be mild, or do you go to when faculty is out of session? Do you agree or disagree with our recommendation? Any questions we may also help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
