A big decision you must make when planning your Walt Disney World vacation is what Disney park you want to visit daily. Currently, guests are still required to make park pass reservations, but starting in 2024, this will disappear. Even with this requirement being lifted, it is still essential to have a general plan on which parks you visit each day of your trip.
Knowing where you want to be each day will allow you to make dining reservations, determine your plans with Genie+, and have an overall strategy. Doing this will set you up for success.
The question becomes, is there a better day to visit each Disney park during your vacation? Although it is hard to predict Disney crowds lately, we hope these general tips will help you plan your days with more strategy and confidence.
EPCOT
Festivals play a huge part in the crowds at EPCOT. We highly recommend visiting EPCOT during the week if you have the option. We tend to see lower groups Monday through Wednesday, even during festivals.
The weekends in EPCOT tend to have higher crowds as locals like to head to the park to enjoy the festivals and visit the fabulous dining locations throughout the World Showcase. We tend to see higher crowds in EPCOT, especially in the World Showcase area, starting Thursday and Friday evenings and then through the weekends.
If you want lower crowds and shorter lines at the variety of festival booths, look at spending time in EPCOT early on in the week. We recommend getting to EPCOT early in the day vs. the evening. Crowds are more significant in the evenings at EPCOT as people hop to experience the dining locations and festivals before enjoying the nighttime shows.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
A park that used to be low on the list for guests visiting Walt Disney World has now quickly taken the number two spot after Magic Kingdom. The park always seems busy, making it hard to determine if specific days are better than others.
We would recommend looking at visiting mid-week for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Although the local crowd isn’t as heavy as when Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge first opened, you will still see a significant increase in wait times and the crowd level on the weekend.
All Walt Disney World Resorts guests can also take advantage of early entry, allowing them to enter the Park thirty minutes before it opens. This is a massive advantage as Guests willing to get up early can knock out one or two main rides.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a park you must plan for when you arrive. Having one will allow you to have an overall better experience.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the Disney park we suggest visiting on the weekend. Even though we typically see consistent crowds in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, if you have to pick a Park to visit on the weekend, it should be Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
This Disney park doesn’t see a considerable increase in weekend crowd levels. Disney’s Animal Kingdom remains steady throughout the week. Visiting early is a great way to experience a lot of this park before it becomes crowded and hot as the day continues.
During busier times of the year, you will still notice that crowds at Disney’s Animal Kingdom aren’t much different than on a typical day. If you arrive early and have a plan of action, you will have a great time no matter what day you decide to visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Magic Kingdom
It shouldn’t be surprising that Magic Kingdom remains extremely busy most days of the year. As the iconic Disney park for Walt Disney World, guests visiting from one day to a week make sure to visit the Magic Kingdom.
Because of this, it is hard to narrow down exactly what days are best to visit Magic Kingdom; overall, it seems like the middle of the week is better than Friday through Monday. We tend to see slower days on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. If you can choose one of these days for your Magic Kingdom-focused day, we highly recommend doing so.
Most guests are arriving at Walt Disney World over the weekend. Since Magic Kingdom is often the first park they visit during their vacation, crowd levels increase from Friday through Monday.
Magic Kingdom will always be the busiest of the four Disney parks. If you know this ahead of time, you will still be able to have a magical time. Get to the park early, stay late, and have a touring plan. Those tips will help you navigate the crowd no matter when you visit Magic Kingdom.
Determining when to visit each Disney park during your vacation can be challenging. Hopefully, this helped give you some overall ideas of when you might want to see each of the four Disney parks.
Keep an eye on park hours during your stay. If Disney continues to extend hours for specific parks, that will indicate when they anticipate it to be busy. No matter when you plan to visit each of the Disney parks during your trip if you take steps to prepare for crowds, you will have a great time.
Get to the parks early, use Genie+ when needed, and make an overall plan. Doing these steps will help you be ready to have a wonderful time in each of the Disney parks, no matter when you are able to visit.
Related: How to Manage the Crowds
