The Best Times of Year to Visit Walt Disney World

With an estimated 40 million visitors a year Disney World is one of the world's most popular tourist attractions. Unfortunately sometimes it seems as if all 40 million are there during your vacation!

The parks are open year round to take advantage of the favorable Florida weather so if you are flexible you can go when the parks are the least full. While Disney World is never empty this will help you avoid some of the long lines which lead to kid meltdowns.

The first thing to realize is that great minds think alike and the summer months are prime vacation times for families. The kids are out of school and bored and the weather is great. Everybody and their little Princess or Pirate will be standing in line for Splash Mountain.

If you want to attend during what Disney World calls the Summer Season between the months May 24^th to August 4^th expect crowds. The weather offers highs in the 90s and lows in the 70s. Perfect for the beach or one of Disney's appropriately themed water parks. Everyone else will be there too. If this is the only time you can plan a vacation then by all means do so. You will still have a great time, Disney always takes care of that. Just be prepared for long lines everywhere, make reservations and make plans to stay cool. July 4^th is traditionally one of the most crowded days at the parks.

There are some benefits in visiting during the Summer season. Most of the rides and attractions are open. During the winter one of the water parks and more of the rides are down for refurbishment. There is also less rainfall in Orlando than in the autumn months.

A beautiful and also insanely popular time to visit Disney World is during the Christmas Holidays. Many families are escaping the cold in their hometown and of course the kids are out of school again. Due to the school holidays and the spectacular Christmas decorations, Disney World is at it's most crowed during the week of Christmas and all the way through New Year's Day. The weather is more temperate averaging a high of 73 and low of 51. The pools are heated at all of the on property hotels so people swim even when the lifeguards are shivering on their chairs.

Actually any time the kids are on break tends to be busier at Disney World. Expect higher hotel prices and larger crowds. The more popular restaurants or dinner shows can require a reservation placed months in advance.

Most crowded times to visit Disney World:

Christmas through New Years

Spring break ( usually first week of March until the middle of April.)

Memorial Day weekend

Summer break (of course)

Presidents Day until the end of February

While Disney is fun even at it's most crowded, it really is magic when you seem to have the park to yourself. There are people around but in the slower months some of the rides are walk ons and you rarely have to use your Fastpasses. You have much better luck getting a great table as a walk in to a restaurant. All of amenities are less crowded. You can squeeze in more character visits as the lines are shorter.

The absolutely best times I have found to visit Disney World are during January, February (before Presidents Day!) or September. The weather is warmer in September but you have three times the amount of rainfall than in January or February.

Some people recommend going during the first week of December. The Christmas decorations are up and the crowds supposedly are low. But usually being held this week is the Pop Warner Super Bowl. There have been reports of unsupervised children making life difficult for vacationers. It will also be harder to find a room at the on property value hotels, especially the All Stars Sports during this event.

Best times to visit Disney World:

January, September, February (before Presidents Day)

The last week of April

First two weeks of December

Beginning of October until before Thanksgiving (except for the time around Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party)

If you can take your child out of school for a few days then it is worth it to visit during that time.

Some schools will not approve and some children will find it hard to catch up with their schoolwork so I recommend this sparingly. Besides, that is when I usually go so I don't want everyone else there too!