What are the Best Dates to Visit Disney World in 2018?

September 17, 2017

With packages already available to book throughout 2018 and school back in session, many readers will want to get a jumpstart on your vacation plans for next year. With that in mind, we here at Disney Addicts thought we’d briefly outline the best/worst dates for visiting Disney World in 2018.

When are the best dates to visit Disney World in 2018? This will remain pretty similar to what we’ve seen so far in 2017 with the following date ranges offering the best time to pay Mickey a visit:

January – the second half of the month typically has lower crowd levels.
February – the first half of the month
April – the second week of the month onward.
May- this is a pretty good month for lower crowd levels with the exception of the last week.
August- last two weeks of the month
September – anytime after Labor Day
October – the first half of the month
November – the first two weeks
December – the first two weeks

Pick any of these times and crowd levels should be quite manageable with a few exceptions that I’ll outline below. May, late August, and September are the nicest times to visit in my opinion as families are either focused on the end of the school year or the beginning of the school year and not traveling to Disney. Early in the year (late January and Early February) can also be nice options with mild temperatures. Disney World also goes through a post-Spring Break lull making April a nice time to visit. Early October can also be a great time to enjoy the Halloween festivities as can early November and early December for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

When should I avoid visiting Walt Disney World in 2018? – I firmly subscribe to the notion that there is no “bad” time to do Disney. If you’re bound to school calendars or only have the vacation time to travel during public holidays than you can make it work and have a marvelous time. But if you are flexible and want to stay away from the crowds, here are some times you may want to avoid.

January 3 – 7, 2018- Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. There are several running events held over this weekend and Walt Disney World gets a massive influx of guests. If you’re not a runner or a family or friend of a participant, then it’s probably a time to avoid. Not only are crowds larger but there can be traffic disruptions and closures.
January 12 – 15, 2018 – Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend – There is normally a hefty spike in attendance during this public holiday so avoid if you can.
February 11 – 19, 2018- Mardi Gras Week and President’s Day Weekend – Both of these events fall close together in 2018. Let’s start with Mardi Gras. In 2018, it falls on February 13th. That means a lot of Southerners are off from school that entire week so this becomes a popular time to visit Disney. Combine that with the long President’s Day Weekend (17th – 19th) and you can expect crowds to be larger than usual during this full week. As a matter of fact, during the second week of February availability is already pretty tight with most of the Value Resorts already sold out on select nights.
February 20 – 25, 2018 – Princess Half Marathon – This is another extremely popular runDisney event that brings in the crowds and can cause disruptions.
March 10 – 31, 2018- Spring Break- Though early March can actually have nice crowd levels, starting the second weekend of the month your Spring Break crowds start to descend making the rest of the month much more crowded.
April 1 – 7, 2018- Easter – Easter falls on April 1st in 2018 This means many families may opt to visit Walt Disney World for Easter beginning the end of March through until the 7th of April.
April 20 – 23, 2018 – Star Wars Half Marathon – This is another extremely popular runDisney event with higher than usual crowd levels.
May 25 – 31, 2018 – Memorial Day Weekend – This is a massively popular time to visit Walt Disney World. Memorial Day (officially May 28, 2018) is the official gateway to Summer and the parks can get pretty packed.
July 1- 7, 2018- Fourth of July Week- The 4th of July falls on a Wednesday in 2018 meaning the whole week will be heaving with park guests.
August 30- September 3, 2018- Labor Day Weekend – Though the end of August and pretty much the whole month of September can be fantastic times to visit Disney, this popular weekend (usually the last weekend before school starts) can have larger than usual crowds.
October 5 – 8, 2018- Columbus Day Weekend- Though not as popular as Labor Day or Memorial Day this weekend marks the start of Fall Breaks at school and can mean larger crowds.
November 1 -4, 2018- Wine and Dine Half Marathon – I’m speculating a bit here as I don’t think dates for 2018 have been officially released but this event usually takes place during the 1st weekend in November and like the other races can mean larger crowds.
November 18 – 24, 2018. Thanksgiving- With Thanksgiving falling on November 22nd this entire week will see much larger holiday crowds.
December 22 – 29, 2018. This is Christmas week with some of the largest crowds Walt Disney World will see all year which means parks can near capacity. Visiting Disney World during Christmas can be magical but expect very busy theme parks to go with it.

What about the Summer Months? – Summer, in general, continues to be a very busy time to visit the theme parks. June, July, and August can be an awesome time to visit Disney but it’s good to have an action plan and a strategy for beating the crowds as well as the Florida Summer heat.

Hopefully, our list will help you start to make your 2018 plans. To get even more of a jumpstart on the process, fill out our form below to receive your FREE quote!

Find articles like this helpful? Then why not consider booking with an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner? As an agent with MickeyTravels, I’ll be on hand to help you with everything from finding your perfect package to nabbing those hard-to-get dining and Fastpass reservations. Best of all my services are absolutely FREE. Get in touch at 1.800.801.4025, via email at mroden@mickeytravels.com or follow along on Facebook.

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