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Best Days to Visit Each Park at Disney World

Best Days to Visit Each Park at Disney World

Want to wait in as few lines as possible?

You’ll need to be strategic about which park you visit each day of your trip.

And while it isn’t an exact science, there are some things you can do to ensure you’re visiting each park on the best days of the week (and avoiding the busiest).

Here’s what you need to know…

Best Days to Visit Disney World for the Lowest Crowds

First things first, let’s talk about overall Disney World crowd levels.

We go into all the details in that link above but just like with any travel destination, selecting less-busy times of the year to visit can help you avoid the heaviest crowds.

Main Street at Christmas Magic Kingdom masks

Alas, it isn’t always easy to avoid those busy times, especially if you need to stick to school schedules. But that doesn’t mean your trip is doomed.

Even during the busiest times of the year, if you are strategic in planning out your days you’ll still be able to maximize your time in the parks (and minimize your waits).

That’s why when we talk about how to plan a Disney World trip we recommend you start with the Crowd Calendar first to pick your travel dates and then use the information below to plug in which park you’ll visit on each day of your Disney World vacation.

Best days to visit each Disney park

In the past it was a lot easier to provide park recommendations for each day of the week because there was so much data available that made that process clear.

But, since the reopening, we’ve had to basically toss that historical information out the window and start from scratch because many of the data points that we previously used no longer apply.

How have park recommendations changed?

Extra Magic Hours are no more (and are being replaced by Early Theme Park Entry), nighttime entertainment is on hiatus, and the most significant change of all – the new Park Pass Reservation System – means that parks can (and frequently do) reach capacity limits.

That means selecting which park to visit on each day of your trip is a lot more nuanced than before and the further out from your trip you book your Park Pass Reservations, the more options you’ll have to pick park days that will work the best for your trip.

Imagination Pavilion

Disney has already announced that Park Pass Reservations will be used until at least January 2023 and we can tell just by looking at the Park Pass Availability Calendar that days are filling up faster than they used to.

We do expect to eventually see capacity limits adjusted, but there is no way to tell when that might happen.

That’s why we recommend securing those Park Pass Reservations as soon as possible.

Here’s how we recommend you select which park to visit each day:

Best Days to visit Magic Kingdom

Even with all the changes we’ve seen in recent times, Magic Kingdom remains the most popular theme park in the world.

Cinderella castle

Many people like to start or end their vacations with a day here. And, if your trip is long enough, you may be able to do both.

According to Thrill-Data.com, for the shortest waits, visit Magic Kingdom on:

  • Wednesdays and Thursdays

Worst days to visit Magic Kingdom

If you want to avoid the highest crowds, skip Magic Kingdom on these days:

Best Days to visit Epcot

Epcot may not reach capacity as often as Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom, but some days are still better than others.

Epcot and Spaceship Earth at night

For the shortest waits at Epcot, aim to visit:

  • Tuesdays and Wednesdays (top pick)
  • Mondays and Thursdays (second best, however Thursday evenings can sometimes be a little rowdy)

Worst days to visit Epcot

With Epcot operating with nearly year-round festivals, the weekends here can be quite busy as local Annual Passholders enjoy the treats the food booths offer.

To minimize your chances of running into too many guests that have over-indulged on the adult beverages, avoid Epcot on:

Best Days to Visit Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios frequently operates at capacity which means, depending on how far in advance you are booking, you may have to take whatever days you can get.

Hollywood Studios sign

Maximize your chance for Rise of the Resistance

If you are booking far in advance and you are interested in riding Rise of the Resistance, you may want to consider putting your Hollywood Studio days at the beginning of your trip.

That way if you miss out on a boarding group and there is still Park Pass availability for later in your trip you may be able to move your Park Pass reservations around to try again.

Rise of the Resistance sign

If you have plenty of options for Park Pass Reservations, the best days for Hollywood Studios are:

  • Weekdays

Worst days to visit Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios remains popular with local Passholders, too. That means that weekends have a higher liklihood for there to be zero Park Pass Availabilty at Hollywood Studios.

If the parks are at capacity, the day you pick won’t matter but if Disney does increase capacity in the future, the day you pick might make a difference.

With that in mind, we recommend you try to avoid Hollywood Studios on:

  • Saturdays and Sundays
  • Anytime something new opens (or something old closes)

Best Days to visit Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom remains one of the easiest parks to fit into a Disney World vacation.

Animal Kingdom Entrance

It remains fairly easy to secure a Park Pass Reservation for this park and while it is home to popular attractions like Avatar: Flight of Passage, Expedition Everest, and Kilimanjaro Safari, you likely won’t need an entire day here.

Try to visit Animal Kingdom:

  • Weekdays

Worst Days to visit Animal Kingdom

There really aren’t any “bad” days to visit Animal Kingdom.

But, for the lowest wait times, skip Animal Kingdom on:

  • Saturdays and Sundays
  • Earth Day
  • Anytime something new opens (or something old closes)

Monthly Crowd Calendars

Now that you know which days are the best for each park at Disney World, head over to the Monthly Crowd Calendars for detailed information for your travel dates.

Monthly Crowd Calendar screenshot

There you will find the park hours for each park, scheduled refurbishments, and any special events that are planned.

Piece that information together with the tips we shared above to map out your dream Disney World itinerary.

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Click here to cancel reply.

Mary

Wednesday 19th of May 2021

Would you happen to know when the Food & Wine Festival food booths will be released? & The Eat To The Beat lineup will be released?

Gary Woodward

Friday 14th of May 2021

Any new updated opening info on Nemo, Boneyard area in Animal Kingdom? Thank you.