On the lookout for the most effective and worst days of the week to go to every park at Walt Disney World? This technique information covers Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom, providing information about when the wait occasions are lowest and highest, plus commentary about weekdays vs. weekends, particular occasions, and extra. (Up to date September 3, 2025.)
Like a lot of our planning sources, this can be a ‘educate an individual to fish’ somewhat than ‘giving an individual a fish’ put up. That is to say that we spend lots of time explaining the why of crowd patterns so you’ll be able to perceive what’s occurring, how dynamics may differ throughout your dates, or if it’ll truly matter to you.
This may be overwhelming for some folks, so we’ll begin with the three largest classes up entrance. First, each single park at Walt Disney World is busiest on Mondays. If in any respect attainable, you shouldn’t do any parks on Monday. If you happen to should, do Animal Kingdom on Monday because it’s the bottom stakes park. Saturday is an in depth second as a day to keep away from, particularly because it’s widespread with locals, exacerbating congestion.
Second, the most effective day of the week at Walt Disney World is Wednesday. Taking {that a} step additional, Wednesdays by Fridays are the most effective stretch of the week, albeit with Friday nights being busier. Conversely, the second half of Sundays is healthier than the primary half. This isn’t fairly the across-the-board recommendation of avoiding Mondays, however when you’ve got a 3-day park day window to focus on, Wednesdays by Fridays is the profitable alternative.
Lastly, this issues way more from August by December than the remainder of the yr. Selecting the most effective day of the week is a good suggestion if attainable from January by July, however extremely necessary for the ultimate few months of the yr. For our newest replace, we’ve refreshed the ‘Social gathering Season’ part and highlighted it on the high for these visiting through the subsequent few months. The zig after they zag recommendation there needs to be a high precedence for upcoming visits, particularly from roughly Columbus Day by Christmas!
In relation to selecting the most effective and worst occasions to go to Walt Disney World, there’s quite a bit to think about. If you happen to’re singularly targeted on avoiding lengthy strains, we suggest consulting our 2025-2026 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar to decide on journey dates. That will get up to date pretty frequently, with every particular person month receiving a refresh proper earlier than it begins for optimum accuracy.
If you happen to’re extra involved with the standard of the general expertise, we even have one thing extra holistic and, frankly, sensible: our checklist of the 10 Greatest and 10 Worst Weeks to Go to Walt Disney World in 2025, 2026 & 2027. When you slender down the week you wish to go to Walt Disney World, it’s time to begin serious about which days of the week to do every park.
That’s the place this put up come into play, beginning with Social gathering Season at the beginning…
Social gathering Season
Social gathering season in Magic Kingdom encompasses early August by late December–a reasonably large chunk of the calendar–when the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Social gathering (MNSSHP) and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Social gathering (MVMCP) particular occasions are held.
On days when the get together is held, Magic Kingdom opens at 8 am or 9 am and closes to common ticket holders at 6 pm. On non-party days, Magic Kingdom opens at 9 am and closes at 10 pm or 11 pm. That means MK is open 5 hours later to common visitors when MNSSHP and MVMCP are usually not held.
Most guests see this and make the intuitive alternative of visiting Magic Kingdom after they can spend additional hours within the park, expertise night, see Starlight night time parade and Fortunately Ever After fireworks. It’s the “apparent” choice, as extra time within the park is the robust visitor choice.
Everybody making the identical intuitive choice throws a monkey wrench into attendance and crowd dynamics through the get together season. The consequence of that visitor habits ought to likewise be apparent: Magic Kingdom is considerably much less busy through the day time hours on dates when events are held within the night, and way more busy on non-party days.
Magic Kingdom frequently has 7/10 or above crowd ranges on non-party days, with Mondays and Saturdays being the worst.
In contrast, Magic Kingdom sometimes has 1/10 to three/10 crowd ranges on get together days. That quantities to a median wait time differential of about 20 to half-hour per trip, which provides up over the course of the day to the purpose you could accomplish extra within the party-shortened days when Magic Kingdom closes at 6 pm.
The massive draw back to attending Magic Kingdom on a celebration day is having to depart by 6 pm. This implies lacking the fireworks, Starlight, and often night within the park. For this reason we extremely suggest Park Hopper tickets throughout Social gathering Season, in any other case you’re confronted with a troublesome dilemma.
When you have Park Hoppers, the plain play is visiting through the day on 6 pm cut-off dates, after which hopping again for night on 11 pm closing nights. Simply brace your self for considerably greater crowds than what you skilled on the get together day, as many individuals can have the identical thought!
Particularly, we suggest Park Hopping to a different park earlier than 4 pm. Company of the occasions can begin coming into Magic Kingdom at 4 pm, and this ‘mix-in’ time with common day visitors is when the park goes from blissfully uncrowded to busier. (We often goal to depart by 3 pm.)
There’s one other upside to visiting Magic Kingdom through the day when a celebration is held at night time: earlier opening occasions on many dates. It is a large benefit, as lined in Photograph Report & Technique: Magic Kingdom Early Entry at 7:30 am. Suffice to say, there’s an enormous distinction in crowds for Early Entry on a day when Magic Kingdom opens to the general public at 8 am vs. 9 am.
There’s additionally a flip aspect to all of this, which is that the opposite 3 parks are barely much less crowded on non-party days and extra crowded on get together days. This could make sense, on condition that Magic Kingdom crowds don’t exist in a vacuum. If much less or extra individuals are in a single park, the alternative is true within the others.
Because of this, all three different parks develop into higher choices on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays throughout Social gathering Season. We nonetheless don’t actively suggest doing Disney’s Hollywood Studios on a Monday–since that’s its busiest day of the week, but it surely’s not as unhealthy on a Monday throughout Social gathering Season as it’s the remainder of the yr.
The converse can also be true: EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom are worse choices on days when the events are held in Magic Kingdom. None of that is as pronounced as it’s with the curler coaster crowds in Magic Kingdom, although. With 3 different parks to soak up the displaced visitors, the influence is decrease on every of them than on Magic Kingdom itself.
Complicating issues much more is that Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a part of the Social gathering Season fray in November and December as a result of Disney Jollywood Nights. Though issues may change in 2025, Jollywood Nights had a negligible influence on crowd dynamics in every of its first two years.
Because of this, we’re making the possibly complicated and ‘conflicting’ advice to keep away from Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Jollywood Nights days. This yr, Jollywood Nights is held choose nights from November 8 to December 22, 2025. Word that November dates are set for choose Saturdays and Mondays, whereas December dates fall on choose Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
Avoiding these Jollywood Nights dates needs to be easy-enough, and in line with our recommendation beneath. It principally narrows our advice to doing DHS on a Thursday in December, with each Wednesday and Thursday nonetheless being truthful sport in November. Straightforward sufficient!
Taking {that a} step additional, we’d suggest Animal Kingdom on Monday or Friday and EPCOT on Wednesday or Thursday throughout Social gathering Season. That’s the simplest recommendation for navigating the advanced crowd dynamics of Social gathering Season. This supersedes the entire park-by-park suggestions beneath.
If you happen to don’t thoughts extra congestion or a extra ‘vigorous’ ambiance, EPCOT on Sunday can also be an possibility. Sunday additionally stays decide for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Wednesday is nice (besides on DJN dates in December 2025). When you have Park Hopper tickets, essentially the most easy possibility is bouncing to Magic Kingdom within the night after tackling Animal Kingdom. Once more, simply be warned that crowds will probably be heavier, particularly for Disney Starlight: Dream the Evening Away and Fortunately Ever After.
Apologies for this prolonged rationalization, however that is the most necessary consideration in selecting your day to go to every park throughout Social gathering Season. Crowd patterns this time of yr are essentially the most constant and predictable–this similar dynamic has performed out with MNSSHP and MVMCP for years, and it makes a large distinction at Magic Kingdom. Whereas it doesn’t embody your entire calendar, it does apply to five months of the yr–in case you’re visiting throughout this stretch, we’d once more extremely suggest shopping for Park Hopper tickets and following this recommendation!
If you happen to’re visiting someday exterior of Social gathering Season (so principally 2026) or need extra complete recommendation, right here’s our rationalization of the most effective & worst days of the week at Walt Disney World…
Hollywood Studios
Though weekends have gotten busier throughout the board at Walt Disney World, Fridays by Sundays stay good days to do Disney’s Hollywood Studios. That is very true in case you arrive early or keep late.
Sunday nights are the very best time to go to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If you happen to’re arriving late (after 4 pm), you’ll be able to accomplish a stunning quantity in that half-day at DHS. Frankly, it’s troublesome to clarify the ‘why’ of that at this level. One chance is that locals nonetheless do Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Sunday, however accomplish that through the center of the day and depart early.
This causes an enormous spike in noon wait occasions, leading to each these visitors and others bouncing early…and shorter wait occasions within the afternoon and night. It’s additionally attainable that locals are much less inclined to do rides, particularly ones with greater wait occasions.
DHS is a nasty possibility on Mondays and Tuesdays. It is because it’s often the #2 precedence park (after Magic Kingdom) for many visitors, so visitors find yourself doing Disney’s Hollywood Studios earlier of their journey…which often means Mondays or Tuesdays.
Objectively, Wednesday or Thursday are the very best choices–the bottom wait occasions of the week at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If neither of these days work, Friday by Sundays are virtually pretty much as good–probably higher in case you arrive early or keep late. Mainly, crowd ranges begin out robust to start the week and drop considerably on Wednesday.
EPCOT
EPCOT is the worst decide on weekends as a result of it’s the most important “native’s park” at Walt Disney World, and EPCOT is extra widespread with Floridians than vacationers. The hole has closed a little bit because of Remy’s Ratatouille Journey, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and Take a look at Monitor 3.0, but it surely’s nonetheless true.
Wait occasions don’t inform the total story–and even the principle one–with regards to EPCOT on weekends. Since locals are much less more likely to do rides, they add to ‘appears like’ crowds and congestion with out making attraction wait occasions noticeably worse. That is nonetheless a adverse, as strains for meals cubicles are longer and World Showcase is usually much less nice on the weekends.
You’re additionally extra more likely to encounter teams Ingesting Across the World on Saturday and Sunday. For these of you who wish to relive your glory days by attending an open air frat get together, this may sound interesting. We’re not teetotalers or something, however this typically is usually a tad an excessive amount of for a family-friendly theme park. Even when it doesn’t cross the road, World Showcase is considerably extra crowded and congested on Friday nights, Saturdays, and Sundays.
That is is a qualitative evaluation, and never a quantitative one. Wait occasions are usually not considerably worse at EPCOT on weekends. Since many of the aforementioned viewers is visiting to drink, they’ve a minor influence on rides. However even objectively, Saturday is the third busiest day of the week for wait occasions.
You may be capable of “beat” the weekend crowds at EPCOT just by arriving early, doing World Showcase first, after which doubling-back into Future World within the early afternoon. That’s a savvy technique, and one we suggest in our EPCOT 1-Day Itinerary. If you happen to should do a weekend, select Sunday (it’s objectively slower), arrive early and keep till park closing. Noon is the worst as locals arrive later and go away earlier.
Our precise recommendation is visiting EPCOT on a weekday. Wednesdays by Friday are all equally good. As EPCOT has added extra top-tier points of interest, it’s now additionally a high-priority park, and has the worst wait occasions Mondays and Tuesdays. Keep away from these days.
Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom is the park that requires the least technique and is the simplest place to beat the crowds in all of Walt Disney World. It doesn’t require shopping for Lightning Lanes, and is fairly simple to knock out all the pieces–after which some–in case you keep for a full day.
Objectively, the most effective days to go to Animal Kingdom are weekdays. Common every day wait occasions are decrease Tuesday by Friday than they’re Saturday or Sunday. As soon as once more, Wednesday is the most effective day of the week–however you’ll be able to’t do each park on Wednesday, so Animal Kingdom is an effective possibility on Monday or Tuesday, when each different park is considerably busier.
Weekend wait occasions are solely “worse” at Animal Kingdom as a result of center of the day. If you happen to’re staying on-site and profiting from Early Entry (and even going within the first couple hours the park is open), it’s fairly simple to beat the crowds. Furthermore, there’s a fairly steep fall off in wait occasions over the past couple hours Animal Kingdom is open. This one does differ by season (through the holidays, it’s much less more likely to be true) however is correct to some extent all through your entire yr.
That makes Animal Kingdom trickier than different parks at Walt Disney World when it comes to our advice. Statistically, it’s a “unhealthy” park to do on Saturday or Sunday. Nevertheless, we don’t hesitate to go to it on both of these days as a result of it’s really easy to outsmart the crowds–simply arrive early and/or keep late, and do exhibits or animal displays noon when crowds peak.
Our greatest recommendation is to decide on your days for Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT first. No matter day is left over might be “assigned” to Animal Kingdom. Don’t fear an excessive amount of about this park. Even on crowded days, the technique for Animal Kingdom is comparatively easy, as lined in our 1-Day Animal Kingdom Itinerary.
Magic Kingdom
The worst day of the week at Magic Kingdom is Monday, and by a large margin. Keep away from Magic Kingdom on Mondays if in any respect attainable. Tuesdays and Wednesdays must also be averted, however they’re not almost as unhealthy as Mondays.
Locals have a tendency to go to on weekends, with Saturday being more likely than Fridays or Sundays. Then there are Southerners who take lengthy weekend journeys, impacting all three days (however once more, largely Saturday). Nonetheless, these demos are all smaller than vacationers, so none of them are actually horrible.
Lastly, vacationers most often begin their journeys on the weekend, and Monday is the commonest first day within the parks for them. In disproportionate numbers, out-of-state vacation-goers do the most well-liked or their favourite park first, and that’s often Magic Kingdom. They’re much less more likely to go to Magic Kingdom within the second half of the week.
This leaves Thursday and Friday because the least busy days of the week at Magic Kingdom throughout regular occasions of the yr. Sunday has additionally emerged as a surprisingly uncrowded day at Magic Kingdom. We’re hesitant to suggest visiting on Sunday as a result of historic wait time knowledge suggests it will change, but it surely has actually been possibility recently.
Magic Kingdom might be more difficult when it’s busy, but it surely’s nonetheless attainable to have a satisfying and productive day within the park. We’d suggest shopping for Lightning Lane Multi-Move in Magic Kingdom, or no less than utilizing Early Entry. Observe our 1-Day Magic Kingdom Itinerary if you wish to beat the crowds with out both.
Greatest & Worst Days at WDW Recap
We’ve lined lots of floor and it may be overwhelming, so let’s attempt to break down the most effective and worst days to go to every park at Walt Disney World in a extra concise method:
Go to on These Days:
- Wednesday and Thursday do Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Sunday can also be good at Disney’s Hollywood Studios if staying late
- Thursday or Friday do Magic Kingdom
- Wednesday by Friday do EPCOT
- Any weekday do Animal Kingdom–in case you should do a park on Monday, make it DAK
- Social gathering Days do Magic Kingdom if in a position to Park Hop elsewhere
Okay to Good Days:
- Fridays and Saturdays are wonderful at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Sunday is nice at Magic Kingdom, with nights being greatest
- Weekends are wonderful at EPCOT if arriving and leaving early
- Saturday and Sunday do Animal Kingdom if arriving early or staying late
Keep away from These Days:
- Saturday, Monday and Tuesday don’t do Magic Kingdom
- Monday and Tuesday don’t do Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Saturdays and Sundays don’t do EPCOT if staying all-day
- Saturdays and Sundays don’t do Animal Kingdom if arriving late and leaving early
With it laid out like this, it’s best to see that some days are persistently the most effective and worst for a number of parks. Which means that through the course of a median trip, you might need no alternative however to do sure parks on days that aren’t objectively pretty much as good. Don’t fear about that, as defined within the last part…
How A lot Does Day of the Week Matter?
Common wait occasions can differ by 3 to 10 minutes on the most effective versus worst days of the week at every park. That will not look like a lot, however a ten minute distinction is definitely large. Over the course of the day, that may means spending an hour (or extra) much less time ready in line in case you select accurately.
Nevertheless, it’s not often a ten minute distinction–that’s an excessive instance. You additionally in all probability wouldn’t select the worst days if choosing at random, nor would you unintentionally go at solely the time of day when crowds are heaviest and the hole is highest. So in observe, you’ll be able to in all probability anticipate to avoid wasting only some minutes per trip by making good decisions with the day of the week you go to every park. That’s not a ton of time, but it surely does add up over the course of a visit.
Throughout Social gathering Season, selecting the most effective days and avoiding the worst issues much more than all different occasions of the yr. Particularly in case you’re visiting through the last three months of the yr, selecting the correct day might be make-or-break in your notion of crowds. Even then, there’s sometimes way more of a distinction in crowds between weeks somewhat than inside them.
Accordingly, selecting time to go to Walt Disney World is considerably extra necessary than the way you allocate your days inside the week. Much more necessary is arriving early and/or staying late, which is the best strategy to beat crowds at Walt Disney World. Late morning to mid-afternoon is the busiest time of day at each single park, and when wait occasions are the worst.
Simply as essential is having savvy technique. Selecting an awesome day or week to go to could make touring the parks considerably simpler, however so can also having itinerary that zigs when others zag. Then there’s the choice of shopping for your approach out of crowds with Lightning Lanes, which is one other good fail secure possibility. Talking of which, we’ve a complete Information to Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World for many who wish to completely grasp the most recent technology of paid FastPass.
Selecting the most effective days of the week–and avoiding the worst ones–at every Walt Disney World theme park comes in spite of everything of these issues. To make sure, it’s observe and price holding in thoughts that Magic Kingdom is greatest on Thursday or Friday, or that EPCOT needs to be averted on weekends.
It’s additionally helpful for these boxed into lower than perfect journey dates as a result of college or work schedules. Similar goes for anybody who realistically received’t have the choice to reach early or keep late. Ditto anybody who doesn’t wish to pay additional for Lightning Lanes. For anybody this describes, fastidiously selecting days of the week for every park can relieve some strain and end in shorter wait occasions.
Furthermore, day of the weeke suggestions are fairly simple to disrupt. All it actually takes is inclimate climate (comparatively commonplace in Florida) or inordinate attraction downtime. Both of these issues might be sufficient to show a “unhealthy” day right into a “good” one when it comes to wait occasions, or vice-versa.
In the end, just by advantage of researching and studying a put up about the most effective and worst days of the week to go to each park at Walt Disney World, you’re higher outfitted to keep away from crowds than 95% of visitors–however since you’re virtually actually not studying simply this technique. Whereas the recommendation right here is theoretically helpful, it’s fairly removed from make or break.
You’re a lot better off utilizing the different sources on this weblog to decide on good weeks to go to. If that’s not an possibility (and even whether it is), keep in mind to reach early or keep late. Failing that, use our itineraries to prioritize points of interest in the most effective order. Don’t wish to do this for some odd cause, spend the cash on Lightning Lane Multi-Move and purchase your approach out of strains. If you happen to’d somewhat not spend cash and float throughout a midday-only go to…I assume that is the most effective recommendation for you!
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Study accommodations on our Walt Disney World Accommodations Opinions web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Opinions. To save cash on tickets or decide which kind to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys put up takes a singular have a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Trip Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the most effective place to begin is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for all the pieces it is advisable to know!
Your Ideas
Which days are your favorites for every of the parks? Suppose it’s good recommendation to keep away from EPCOT on weekends, even when it’s not supported by wait occasions? What about weekends at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Some other greatest or worst days at every of the Walt Disney World theme parks? Do you agree or disagree with our picks? Any questions we may also help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
