What to Expect and Avoid During Disney World’s Busiest Days

Visiting Disney World during its peak seasons and busiest days requires that you travel with a lot of patience to get you through the extended wait times, overcrowded viewing areas and packed theaters that you are bound to run into. Many first time guests that visit Disney World during the parks busiest days of the year have no idea what to expect and avoid. They quickly become overwhelmed and shocked by the sheer number of people to deal with. In order to prepare yourself and the family, there are some things that you should expect and avoid to make the best of the day. With careful planning you will have a great time at Disney World, even during the busiest days!

What to expect and avoid disney world busiest days

Use these tips to help you plan as best you can for what to expect and avoid during the busiest days at Disney World:

Pick Busy Weekdays over Weekends

During the busiest seasons, both weekdays and weekends are going to be packed, but weekends are especially busy because that is when the locals head over for a little fun. Unlike guests that are traveling in especially for a vacation at the parks, a lot of locals just have one or two events or rides in mind, but the sheer number of additional guests can make line wait times hours long. Opt for weekdays and keep the weekend for travel or other attractions around Orlando.

Reserve Everything Beforehand

Anything that is possible to book with a reservation should absolutely be done beforehand, even your Fastpass+ picks. You can reserve up to 3 Fastpass+ selections up to 30 days in advance. Doing this ensures that you have a place in line, even on the busiest days. During the busy season most of the seats for reserved events and meals fill up well ahead of time; be sure to make your dining, especially Character Dining reservations as far in advance as possible. As soon as you book your trip, you can use convenient apps like the My Disney Experience app to do so; making Fastpass+ selections, dining reservations, and more!  If plans change or you want to add more to your schedule, you can always do that in the app or with the help of Disney reservations, but at least you have those initial reservations to work with if everything else books up.

Designate a Meeting Spot

With the parks as packed as they are on the busiest days, choose a meeting spot that everyone in the family can remember easily. Selecting a reunification meeting place for the family is great because it allows you the freedom to split up to make sure everyone is able to get to the ride or show that they want. When you have wait times that are really high, and six things on the to do list, with each person only really wanting to do three themselves, it is best to split parties putting a responsible adult in charge of each group. Even if splitting up isn’t an option because of little ones, designated a meeting spot is still a great idea in case you get split up or lost in the crowds. This is also a great time to teach your little ones about what to look for if they get lost; pointing out what a Disney cast member looks like or would be wearing.

Arrange for Off Park Relaxing

There are a lot of peaceful retreats right on the Disney World property, but still outside the parks. With everyone leaving their resorts and hotels first thing in the morning to get in as much time at the parks as possible, you can bet that those areas will be free of crowds even during the busiest days. Fort Wilderness and its nature trails and lodge are one of the best places to entertain yourself for a couple of hours while getting away from the crowds. Disney’s Polynesian Resort is another great place to get away from the crowds and the entire family can enjoy the private sand beaches and hammocks that you’ll find here. Take a walk down the Boardwalk, or hop onto one of the Disney Ferry’s for a ride from park to park. Best thing about options like these is that they are FREE!

Take Disney Transportation Whenever Possible

In most cases it is better to get around the parks on your own steam; especially when you are traveling with small children and strollers. But when it comes to the busiest days and you’ll be standing on your feet a lot, moving at a snail’s pace, take a load off by using Disney transportation when you can. Disney has a great transportation system; buses, ferry’s and trains are at your disposal and will take you from park to park and Disney World affiliated hotels. Use them to get around faster and to save your feet from the aches and pains of visiting Disney World on its busiest days.

Do you have any tips for visiting Disney World on its busiest days? Share with us in the comments below to let Disney World guests know what they should expect and avoid.

Mama E

Multitasking mama to 3 living in Miami. Blogging about parenting, lifestyle, cooking and traveling. Covering everything from diapers to dorm rooms. Ask me anything, I've done it all.

Comments (13)

  • Thanks for sharing, I would love to go to Disney World one day and this can definitely be helpful.

    Reply
  • Our family went in June this summer when the crowd levels were at 8 and 9. However we barely waited for any rides. I did all the planning before we went. I made our dining reservations and our fast passes as early as possible. I also got a subscription to touring plans. It’s an awesome site and app. I was able to make our plans for each day and the app would optimize the order of attractions to give us the shortest wait times. We followed our plans that I made and it all went smoothly. I also looked at crowd calendars before making our plans to choose the best park for each day. You’re right about avoiding weekends except that at Magic Kingdom Sunday is frequently a good day for that park. We loved it and can’t wait to go back.

    Reply
    • Mama E

      Thank you for sharing all this helpful info! Magic Kingdom definitely has its funny days. We once went during the winter holidays and anyone that tried to enter between 10am and 3pm were turned away due to crowd maxes. We just happened to get there as they re-opening the park for guests.

      Reply
      • I had no idea Christmas time would be so busy at Disney world until I was doing research for our trip. Then I found out that the week of Christmas and New Years is even busier than the summer! I can definitely see people being overwhelmed or even not wanting to go back if they didn’t realize how much planning a Disney trip entails. Another good tip for Disney especially in the summer is to be there before the park opens and enjoy the park when the crowds are much lower in the morning and then take an afternoon break with the heat is horrible.

        Reply
  • we have been to disneyland once with our daughter and it wasn’t terribly busy on a september weekday, but we were glad for the fastpass option and the off-site relaxing! great tips!

    Reply
  • I’ve never been to disney world. Hope to to one day

    Reply
  • Great tips one of these days we hope to plan a family vacation to Disney. For now we are still saving!

    Reply
  • thanks for the tips

    Reply
  • Thank you so much!! Coming from someone who hasn’t been to Disney I would have never known any of this!! Such great ideas!! I had no idea you could do reservations for those things!! Thanks for making my future trip a whole lot better!

    Reply
  • I have always gone on off peak times and its still bananas so I cannot imagine going on a peak time day

    Reply
  • Thanks for the great tips!

    Reply
  • This is great information, I never knew that they actually helped transport you from one area of
    the park to another, Good to know.

    Reply

Write a comment