Your Disney Vacation is booked and now its time to plan out the daily schedule, order those fast passes and, make the meal reservations. But deciding what day of the week to go to which Disney Park can seem so overwhelming. You want to try to optimize your time at the parks and hit as many rides and attractions as you can with the minimum wait times. It can make a big difference in how the day in the park goes. You want to be prepared. It is always a good idea to have an itinerary in place to ensure you get to everything you were hoping to. There are a few ins and outs and tips you should know when planning your trip.
You always are going to first want to look and see are there any special events going on in the parks during your stay. This will greatly affect the crowds at the parks on those days. Are some parks staying open later or have extra magic hours opening early? Are there any holidays to take into consideration? These are all things to keep in mind. Here is a park by park break down to help you choose what days would be best.
Magic Kingdom
This is “THE” Park. When you think Disney this is what everyone thinks; the castle. It’s probably one of the first things that pop into your head. So usually it’s the first park everyone wants to go to. Understandable for a first-timer. But if you have been before maybe try to pick a day that won’t be as crowded. It’s usually the first park everyone wants to hit on their trip. It is also the park with the heaviest daily attendance. So even if you are a first-time visiter maybe starting at a less crowded park might help you adjust to the crowd level, as sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming to folks. For Magic Kingdom, the crowded days would be mostly Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Saturday is also a busy day here. This park especially gets packed on holidays, or holiday weekends. The best days to go would be on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Sundays.
Epcot
The thing to pay attention to with Epcot is all the festival events. What nights are they on and are there any big acts performing as this will draw larger crowds. Also, check what the extra magic hours are because those days will tend to draw more guests. During the festivals, the nights always seem to get busy, and especially Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Take that into consideration. Mondays and Wednesdays seem to be the optimum days to visit Epcot. Whereas Tuesdays and Thursdays are the busiest. Also, the opening and closing weekends for the events always draw an influx in the crowd.
Hollywood Studios
With the all-new Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge Land and Toy Story Land Hollywood Studios is drawing in new kinds of numbers and crowds at times they usually were not in the past so this changes things a bit. With the New queue system for Rise of the Resistance, guests are lining up early in the morning before the park even opens to get into the boarding group for a chance to ride it. So mornings have been a bit busy as of right now. With it being a smaller park the wait times can tend to feel a bit longer here. But with new attractions that have spread the crowd around a bit more. The weekends always get very busy here with families. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays seem to be your best bet for a lower crowd. I would try to avoid the weekends but if it has to be a weekend day go on Saturday. The families tend to come more on Sunday. Be prepared for the new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway opening on March 4th. This will add an increased crowd level. That along with winter and spring break for schools.
Animal Kingdom
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays would be the days I would pick to go. Be aware of extra magic hours because a lot of people will utilize this to try to head to Pandora and get on Flight of Passage. Do you blame them the ride is amazing! I’ve also had some great luck going on a Sunday where it was not very crowded at all. Again all depends on the time of year etc.
There is a lot that plays into this though with what events are going on at the parks, what holidays, when are the kids on vacation. During those, there is always going to be a higher crowd volume. Knowing what days you might hit a bit of a lower crowd can help. Make sure you utilize fast passes. You can book those 60 days in advance when you are staying on property. Pay attention to those extra magic hours! Sometimes you cant avoid going when there is a crowd and you just have to make the best of it. You are still going to be in Disney after all and, that’s a happy place to be. So plan and try to do as much as you can and enjoy yourself! Try not to let it bother you if you don’t get to every ride. It will give you a great reason to return!
Another tidbit I like to share unless you have to hop from park to park for reservations or whatnot, if you are doing at least 4-5 days in the parks I would do a solid day in each park and maybe hop back to Magic Kingdom because it is massive. But the hopping from one park to the next in a day one, adds a lot more walking transporting, etc. and this takes time out of your day that could have been for a ride or lunch. Just something to consider. You can save some money by getting base one park one-day tickets this way instead of the hopper passes. While it gives you less flexibility if you set a good schedule it can save you time in the parks.
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Source & Photos Courtesy: Chip & Co Friends and Disney
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