Travel Guides Family Friendly Disney
Matt Stroshane/Disney
Joshua Meyer
If you’re traveling without kids, you’ll probably want to plan your Disney World trip around times when other people’s kids are in school. Since Disney World is such a popular family vacation destination, its theme parks tend to fill up more when school is out. Yet there are seasonal events and other factors that can contribute to congestion in the parks and long wait times for rides, even during times when you might not think it would be crowded. If your vacation windows are dictated by your job, steering clear of spring, summer, or winter break may not always be doable, either.
That said, avoiding the holiday blitz at Disney, when vacationing families are out in force, does have benefits. In 2019, it made headlines in outlets like CBS News and The Washington Post when an exhausted mother’s online rant calling for the ban of childless millennials from Disney World went viral. That’s an extreme case of someone lashing out while dealing with a toddler, but it serves as a reminder of how Disney vacations can sometimes veer from fun and relaxation into stress and panic.
The Florida heat can become a pressure cooker, as everyone descends on the parks around the same time in a scramble to get their money’s worth and experience everything. To help you avoid such stress, let’s take a look at some advice on the best time of year for adults to visit Disney World. (Hint: it’s not necessarily summer.)
September, late October, and before or after Thanksgiving
David Roark/Disney
Predicting crowd levels for Disney World isn’t an exact science, though there are crowd calendars you can consult. You can also gather advice from theme park experts: seasoned pros for whom Disney World is a way of life, instead of just a once-a-year or once-in-a-lifetime trip. Starting with the second half of the year, The Park Pixie recommends the back-to-school month of September (post-Labor Day), along with late October to early November, as two of the best times to visit Disney World for an adults-only trip.
According to Disney Tourist Blog, however, part of late October to early November may actually be one of the worst times to visit, as the perfect storm of Halloween and the Veteran’s Day holiday sees crowd levels spike. Speaking of storms, August to October is hurricane season in Florida. As you’re weighing the pros and cons of each month, that’s worth keeping in mind, too, since you might be planning your trip earlier in the year, only to have the weather put a last-minute damper on your plans.
The stretch of mid-to-late October, after the week of Columbus Day (or Indigenous Peoples’ Day), but before Halloween, might be a better bet, planning-wise. That leaves September and the time between holidays in November and December. If you can squeeze in a trip before or after Thanksgiving, before it gets busy again for Christmas, you’ll be able to enjoy cooler weather and still see holiday decorations up everywhere.
Part of January, early-to-mid February, and most of May
Kent Phillips/Disney
The Park Pixie also recommends visiting Disney World in January or February, with the caveat that runDisney and school sports events can cause congestion in the parks during those times. If you look at the official runDisney website, it shows a marathon weekend in the first week of January and a half-marathon weekend in the last week of February. Disney Tourist Blog notes that schools are still on winter break in early January, and you might have New Year’s crowds to contend with, too. The week of President’s Day in mid-to-late February can also become quite crowded, so mid-to-late January and early-to-mid February are probably a better target for your adults-only Disney vacation.
Spring break, the Easter holiday, and ideal weather can make March and April a very busy time at Disney World. However, most of May — everything up to Memorial Day weekend — is considered a “shoulder season” or off-peak time, when the Easter madness has died down and the summer madness hasn’t started yet.
Even so, there are many other factors to take into account when planning your Disney World vacation, such as the periodic opening of new attractions, which might draw more visitors to the resort. As CNN reports, summer 2023 was actually not as busy as usual at Disney, so consider this a loose forecast, and plan your trip with the knowledge that Disney World always has some level of crowds. Good luck!
