Before a Disney World vacation, you can’t help but feel excitement. It’s not uncommon to be filled with thoughts about the rides and attractions you want to experience, characters you want to meet, food you want to eat, and that you’ll be able to call a Walt Disney World Resort hotel “home” for the next few days. But also you need to plan for Disney World crowds!
Unfortunately, once you arrive, you’ll quickly be reminded that you’re simply one out of many Guests coming to experience the magic of Disney. Disney World draws in large crowds regularly. With many families, sports teams, organization groups, locals, and annual passholders, the parks can fill up fast.
Luckily, even though there are specific times of the year that usually bring in larger crowds, there are also times that tend to be less crowded. As a frequent visitor, I have experienced Disney World during high crowds and low crowds. In this article, I’m going to go over everything you need to know about crowds at Disney World. Follow along to see when it tends to be busier, less busy, and ways you can handle the crowds if you’re going to be there during a busier time!
See our Disney World crowd calendar for projected crowd levels as you are planning your next visit.
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Worst Times to Visit
As a general rule, Disney World is usually the busiest during school breaks, around holidays, when special events are taking place, and on the weekends. The absolute busiest time of the year takes place right before Christmas and lasts through New Year’s. You can expect to start seeing larger crowds forming around December 20th. Mid-February through April is also a very busy time. A combination of President’s Day, Spring Breaks, and Easter makes this an incredibly busy time. Naturally, summer also draws in the crowds. Specifically June through early August. This is the time when children are out of school for the summer and is a very popular time for families to vacation.
Tips For Handling Crowds at Disney World
Now that we’ve talked about the worst times to visit Disney World (based on crowds), let’s talk about different ways to handle the crowds. Sometimes you can’t avoid them. Maybe your travel schedule isn’t flexible. Or perhaps you want to be there at a certain time, such as a holiday, and the crowds are inevitable.
If you’re going to be at Disney World during peak times, don’t worry! You can still have an absolutely magical time. I have some tips and tricks to share with you to help you maneuver through those crowded days.
My Disney Experience App
Early on in your vacation planning process, you’ll want to download the My Disney Experience app to your phone. On this app, you’ll find many useful tools that will help you maneuver through your days at Walt Disney World. Quite a few of these are going to be beneficial to help you avoid crowds!
Online Check-In
Even before you arrive at your Walt Disney World Resort hotel, you can start avoiding crowds and lines by utilizing the Direct-to-Room Online Check-In service. When you use this service, rather than heading to the front desk upon arrival to check-in, you will be able to check-in in advance.
Online Check-In will become available to you 60 days prior to your arrival date. On your arrival day, you will receive text notifications, as well as push notifications from the app, giving you status updates on your room. Once your room is ready, you will receive a notification that provides you with information such as your room number and what building or area your room is located in. Once you receive this notification, you’ll be able to head directly to your room!
If you arrive at your Walt Disney World Resort hotel before your room is ready, that’s ok! You can simply leave your luggage at Bell Services and continue your Disney Day. Feel free to explore the resort, have a bite to eat, head to Disney Springs, or even go to a theme park if you have valid admission for your arrival date! After you get back to the resort, you can pick your luggage back up from Bell Services. Sometimes your luggage will even be delivered to your room! The Cast Members at Bell Services will let you know if they still have your luggage or if it’s already waiting for you in your room.
Mobile Food & Beverage Ordering
Another feature on the app that will be beneficial is Mobile Food & Beverage Ordering. This feature will help you avoid lines at the theme parks, Disney Springs, and your Walt Disney World Resort hotel. The last thing you’ll want to do when you’re hungry or thirsty is wait in a long line to get your food or drink. With Mobile Ordering, you’ll have your items selected, paid for, and have a specific time frame when you’ll pick your order up.
My family loves this feature. It’s so nice to be able to sit down and relax while everyone picks out what they want. Then we can simply pick up our order when it’s complete and head to our table. It’s also nice because you can plan when you’re going to eat ahead of time. You can easily avoid drops in physical and emotional levels by making sure that everyone is eating in a timely manner!
Merchandise Mobile Checkout
In some shopping locations at Walt Disney World, you may see signs for Merchandise Mobile Checkout. Whenever you see these signs, you’ll have the option to check out and pay for your items directly from your phone! This is another excellent way to avoid long lines. When you open up Merchandise Mobile Checkout on your My Disney Experience app, you’ll simply scan the barcodes on your items, select your desired payment method, and complete your purchase. Afterwards, you’ll head over to the Cast Member at the Merchandise Mobile Checkout desk, which is usually located by the door, and show them the confirmation for your purchase. If you need a bag for your items, they’ll be able to provide you with one.
This is another item that I personally use whenever it’s available. I love the convenience and will avoid a line whenever I can!
Genie+
My most recommended tool to use on the My Disney Experience app is Genie+. When understood and used properly, Genie+ can be so helpful. For those who aren’t familiar, Genie+ is Disney’s version of a Fast Pass system. When using this paid service, you’ll be able to skip the regular stand-by line and head to a Lightning Lane. Lightning Lanes are expedited lines that are prioritized over the regular lines. By using Genie+, you’ll be able to avoid spending a lot of your time in lines and therefore be able to enjoy more activities during your time at Disney World!
There is also a Lightning Lane option for the most popular rides and attractions. For these experiences, you have the option to purchase Individual Lightning Lanes. An Individual Lightning Lane works the same way as a Lightning Lane, except you pay for them individually. When you purchase Genie+, you’re able to book a multitude of Lightning Lane selections. When you purchase an Individual Lightning Lane, you are paying to have expedited access to a single ride or attraction.
For Lightning Lane access, you have the option to purchase Genie+, Individual Lightning Lanes, or both.
When I vacation to Walt Disney World, I always purchase Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes. By using a combination of Lightning Lanes, Individual Lightning Lanes, and shorter stand-by lines, I am generally able to get almost everything done in the park. I personally feel like it’s well worth the money when you’re able to get so much accomplished. I’d rather pay for these services than spend most of my day in long lines.
Plan Ahead
Planning ahead may seem like an obvious thing to say, but it truly is a great way to maneuver large crowds!
Make Reservations
At Disney World, there is a wide variety of restaurants and experiences that are reservation based. When you plan ahead and make reservations, you’ll be guaranteed that these experiences will be a part of your day. Availability won’t be something that you’ll need to worry about!
Check out these Mickey Visit articles to learn more about making dining reservations and booking additional experiences!
Avoid Specific Parks
This may not always be an available option, but if you’re wanting to avoid large crowds and you know that something specific is happening at a certain park, avoid that theme park on that day! For example, May 4th is Star Wars Day. This is going to be a notoriously busy day for Hollywood Studios. Even though Guests will mostly be gathering in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, there is still going to be a higher attendance in the park overall.
You may find that a specific park is more busy on anniversaries, for certain celebrations, when new rides or attractions open, or even when new merchandise is dropping. (Let’s not forget the attendance level at EPCOT when the first round of Figment popcorn buckets were released!)
Embrace the Rain
If you’re wanting to enjoy the parks with very low crowds, continue with your plans even when it’s a rainy day! The natural response for many Guests when it’s raining, is to take cover. Sometimes this even means staying at their resort until the rain lets up. Because of this, my advice would be to take rain gear with you and go enjoy your day! Even though it may be a little wet, you can still have a magical time at Disney World in the rain. Plus, the parks often see very low crowds on rainy days. Don’t miss out on the opportunity for low wait times!
Visit Walt Disney World
Whether you’re at Disney World during a busy time or not, it can still be the most magical vacation ever. With these tips, you can successfully manage the large crowds that you may face and still have a great time! The magic is always at Disney, no matter how many other people are there trying to experience it at the same time as you.
Plan Your Walt Disney World Vacation
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- Best Magic Kingdom Rides
- Animal Kingdom vs. EPCOT – Which Disney World Park is Best?
- What are the Best rides at EPCOT and Which Should You Skip?
- Best Months to Visit Walt Disney World
Frequently Asked Questions
Disney World is the most crowded at the end of December through the beginning of January. You can expect large crowds from around December 20th through January 2nd.
September is by far the quietest month to go to Disney World. This is not only the month when most children return back to school, but it is also hurricane season. Both of these reasons cause the crowd level to be lower in September than any other month.
If you're trying to avoid crowds, it would be best to not visit Disney World during school breaks, on the weekends, around holidays, or when special events are taking place.
No, Disney parks are not less crowded now. The attendance level at Disney World in 2024 is actually shocking many. So far this year, crowds have been larger than expected. As we're nearing summer break for schools, we can only expect that these crowds to keep growing.
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