By Shannon Albert

Planning to visit Disney World sometime in 2018 or 2019 and worried about crowds?

If you choose your dates wisely, you can avoid peak crowd times and make your trip much easier.

To help you do that, we’ve got a Disney World crowd calendar of predicted crowds based on school calendars of many of the biggest districts, holidays, runDisney races, and years of experience being in the parks at all times of the year.

Let’s dive in…

A FEW DISNEY WORLD CROWD CALENDAR NOTES

CHEER AND DANCE COMPETITION DATES

Since many aren’t available more than a year ahead of time, most of them were guessed based on schedules in previous years.

TOY STORY LAND OPENING

As of July 2017 we now have a rough estimate as to when the opening of the new Toy Story Land will occur. According to news released at the D23 Expo, we can expect Toy Story Land to open up sometime in the early summer of 2018. Because of this opening expect higher than originally anticipated crowds for that time period.

STAR WARS LAND OPENING

Although Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is slated to open in 2019, it will likely be in late 2019 and therefore wasn’t considered when putting together this chart.

WHEN TO VISIT DISNEY WORLD IN 2018 TO JUNE 2019

Click the graphics below to view a larger version of the charts.

 

JANUARY 2018

  • January 1-4 – the last bits of the holiday crowds will remain
  • January 5-7 – Marathon Weekend where thousands of people show up to run 1 or more races
  • January 8-10 – Marathon Weekend has ended but attendees often linger for a couple of days to enjoy the parks
  • January 11-12 – light crowds between busier times
  • January 13-15 – a 3-day weekend due to Martin Luther King Day. Many people go to Disney World during this time expecting light crowds, but it’s actually 1 of the busiest times I’ve ever seen.
  • January 16-31 – light crowds return for the end of the month

FEBRUARY 2018

  • February 1-15 – light crowds kick off February
  • February 10-16 – some moderate crowds due to Mardi Gras and many Louisiana districts being out
  • February 17-19 – President’s Day Weekend is very busy, especially with it overlapping so many longer winter breaks
  • February 20-25 – the heaviest crowds of President’s Day Weekend will subside as Princess Half Marathon crowds show up
  • February 26-28 – light crowds to finish up February

MARCH 2018

  • March 1-9 – light crowds to start March before spring breakers start to show up
  • March 10-16 – spring break crowds will show up during the last part of March, but not the heaviest spring break crowds which appear the first week of April
  • March 17-29 – heavier spring break crowds will appear in the parks
  • March 30-31 – peak spring break crowd levels

APRIL 2018

  • April 1-8 – peak Spring Break crowds for Easter week
  • April 9-18 – very few schools have scheduled breaks during this time, so crowd levels should be much more manageable
  • April 19-22 – moderate crowds due to the Star Wars Half Marathon
  • April 23-30 – April should finish off with light crowds

MAY 2018

  • May 1-22 – light crowds as we enter May
  • May 23-24 – some school districts start their summers on these days and moderate crowds will appear in the parks
  • May 25-31 – Memorial Day weekend and summer crowd levels start to appear

JUNE 2018

  • June 1-30 – summer used to be super busy, but crowds have been dispersed a bit differently in recent years, so expect fairly busy crowds in June, but not as busy as in past years

JULY 2018

  • July 1-5 – the busiest time in the summer is over July 4 when people visit to enjoy the impressive fireworks
  • July 6-31 – summer used to be super busy, but crowds have been dispersed a bit differently in recent years, so expect fairly busy crowds throughout most of July, but not as busy as in past years

AUGUST 2018

  • August 1-12 – heavy crowds that are common in the summer continue for the first half of the month
  • August 13-26 – summer crowds start to decrease as some districts return to school
  • August 27-31 – the last few days of August enjoys light crowds as many school districts are back in session

SEPTEMBER 2018

  • September 1-3 – some light crowds appear through Labor Day
  • September 4-30 – very light crowds for most of September before the fall break crowds appear in October

OCTOBER 2018

While the Food and Wine Festival is going on at Epcot throughout the month of October, it doesn’t necessarily create an overall surge in crowd levels at all of Disney World as much as it creates a surge of locals going to Epcot on the weekends. That’s why Epcot on the weekends isn’t recommended during this time.

  • October 1-4 – the first few days of October should be light crowds before fall breaks
  • October 5 – some crowds arriving for long holiday weekend
  • October 6-8 – peak Columbus Day weekend crowd levels
  • October 9-21 – some schools have fall breaks scheduled in mid-October so expect moderate crowds
  • October 22-31 – after the fall break crowds leave, late October sees light crowds for most of the last part of the month

NOVEMBER 2018

While the Food and Wine Festival takes place at Epcot for the beginning of November, it doesn’t necessarily create an overall surge in crowds at all of Disney World as much as it creates a surge of locals going to Epcot on the weekends. That’s why Epcot on the weekends isn’t recommended during this time.

  • November 1-5 – the Wine and Dine Half Marathon sells out faster than just about any race and many hotels will be fully booked during these dates
  • November 6-12 – many schools in New Jersey have a couple of days off of school this week and families often take advantage and spend part or all of this week at Disney World in what’s commonly called “Jersey Week.” This time period also sees an influx of crowds for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon.
  • November 13-16 – light crowds just before the Thanksgiving visitors arrive
  • November 17-21 – Thanksgiving week is busy, but these days leading up to Thanksgiving aren’t quite as busy as the last half of the week
  • November 22-25 – heavy Thanksgiving crowd levels
  • November 26-30 – crowds drop off significantly once the weekend after Thanksgiving has passed

DECEMBER 2018

  • December 1-20 – moderate crowds appear in the first part of December for Pop Warner events, plus crowds in early December have increased over the last few years as people travel to see Disney World for the holidays
  • December 21-31 – very busy time at Disney World as people spend their days off of work/school to vacation at Disney World for the holidays

JANUARY 2019

  • January 1 – busy holiday crowds linger
  • January 2-13 – heavy crowds remain as many school districts are still on break, plus Marathon Weekend where thousands of people show up to run 1 or more races and the UCA & UDA College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship will be taking place
  • January 14 – some Marathon Weekend crowds remain after the weekend
  • January 15-18 – a little break between the busy times
  • January 19-21 – a 3-day weekend due to Martin Luther King Day. Many people go to Disney World during this time expecting light crowds, but it’s actually a very busy time to be there.
  • January 22-25 – light crowds return for the end of the month except for a little break for the Pro Bowl
  • January 26-27 – moderate crowd levels as Pro Bowl fans arrive for the weekend
  • January 28-31 – light crowds to end the month

FEBRUARY 2019

  • February 1-3 – moderate surge in crowds as the National Dance Team Championship takes place
  • February 4-8 – light crowds between cheer/dance events
  • February 9-10 – moderate crowd levels during the National High School Cheerleading Championship
  • February 11-14 – break in the crowds before the long holiday weekend
  • February 15 – some crowds start to appear for the long weekend
  • February 16-19 – the heaviest crowds of President’s Day Weekend
  • February 20-25 – some President’s Day Weekend crowds remain and Princess Half Marathon crowds appear to make it a moderately busy time
  • February 26-28 – finishing out the month with light crowds

MARCH 2019

  • March 1-24 – the first few weeks of March should be moderately busy due to a combination of Mardi Gras crowds, Contest of Champions National Dance Competition, UCA International All Star Championship, AmeriCheer & AmeriDance International Championship, and some districts having spring break
  • March 25-31 – lighter crowds as almost no districts have this time off in 2019

APRIL 2019

  • April 1-3 – light crowds before things start to get busy
  • April 4-8 – moderate crowds due to the Star Wars Half Marathon
  • April 9-12 – light crowds before spring breakers arrive
  • April 13-21 – busy spring break time the week before Easter
  • April 22 – some post-Easter crowds will remain
  • April 23-29 – moderate crowds as ICU Cheerleading and Dance Worlds Championship takes place, followed by USASF Cheerleading and Dance Worlds Championship
  • April 30 – ending April on a less crowded note as we head into May

MAY 2019

  • May 1-2 – light crowds as we enter May
  • May 3-5 – moderate crowd levels during The Summit – All Star Championship cheerleading competition
  • May 6-9 – light crowds between competitions
  • May 10-12 – moderate crowds during the D2 Summit Championship cheer competition
  • May 13-22 – light crowds until Memorial Day weekend crowds show up
  • May 23-24 – some districts are already out and will start to show up around this time
  • May 25-31 – Memorial Day weekend and summer crowds start to appear

JUNE 2019

  • June 1-30 – summer used to be super busy, but crowds have been dispersed a bit differently in recent years, so expect fairly busy crowd levels in June, but not as busy as in past years

JULY 2019

  • July 1-2 – busy but not peak busy crowds to start off the month before July 4 crowds arrive
  • July 3-7 – the busiest time in the summer is over July 4 when people visit to enjoy the impressive fireworks
  • July 6-31 – summer used to be super busy, but crowds have been dispersed a bit differently in recent years, so expect fairly busy crowds throughout most of July, but not as busy as in past years