When to Visit

On a hot July Sunday in 1955, Team Disney opened their new park for a press and celebrity preview, expecting about 11,000 guests to show up and try out their 20 attractions. Word had already gotten out to the hoi polloi, however, and over 28,000 guests poured into the park. Chaos ensued. Women’s spike heels sank into the hot new asphalt. The drinking fountains didn’t work. Rides broke down. It was great! Ever since that Black Sunday, every Disney park has been thronged by guests.

You’ll never quite feel like you have the parks to yourself, but some times are better than others. Try these times:

  • Disneyland Magic Morning Early Admission. This is the closest you’ll ever get to imitating the Griswold’s day alone in Wally World. Get into Disneyland Park an hour before opening time and enjoy Fantasyland and Tomorrowland before the crowds get there. By opening time you can move on to other lands in the park before the crowds hit those. This great feature is available to guests of Disneyland lodging properties, Good Neighbor hotels, and people who purchase Park Hopper passes for 3 days or more. Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are the typical days for Magic Morning. You only get one Magic Morning on your visit, so make the most of it.
  • Mickey’s Toontown Morning Madness is another option available with packages from the Walt Disney Travel Company. This happens Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Once you’ve spent your early hour going on Gadget’s Go Coaster and Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin several times, you can head for the rest of the park.
  • Take advantage of opening time differences. If you hit Disneyland early and enjoyed some great rides before the crowds show up, pull out and head over to California Adventure for its opening. CA usually opens 1 hour later than Disneyland, so you can take advantage of this difference. You can use the same approach at Disneyworld’s 4 land-based parks, but since the parks are not close to each other, the commute is a little trickier. At Disney World, catch the Monorail or boat to move between parks.
  • Go early to get the most of your park visit. Getting up early to fight other commuters is not most people’s idea of a great vacation, but it’s a necessity if you’re visiting Disneyland or Disney World. The first hour after opening is the least busy time of day. Show up at least 30 minutes before park opening time to get your early start on the parks.

  • During parades, fireworks and other events, hit the attractions. For example, in Disneyland, you can almost have Pirates of the Caribbean to yourself during Fantasmic.

How about times of the year or days of the the week? Here are some things to try:

  • Visit during the off season. This helps, but you’ll still find lots of guests at the parks at any time of year. On season goes from the last weekend in May (Memorial Day) to the first weekend in September (Labor Day), and also covers the second half of December. Late September and early October are a good time to go to Disneyland. Halloween Time starts in mid-September and goes to October 31, and you can enjoy all the extra decorations, updated rides, and special events with smaller crowds if you go in the first few weeks of the period.
  • The first two weeks of December are a good time to visit. The Thanksgiving (4th Thursday in November) crowd has gone home, the holiday decorations are up, and the Christmas crowd hasn’t yet arrived.
  • To better handle the crowds, on season has more events and longer visiting hours (the parks close near midnight or later). If you go off season, events like World of Color and Fantasmic! still happen, but not as often.
  • Go when the weather is bad. If you’re the ultimate contrarian, go when it’s pouring rain and the temperature is in the 50s (10-15ยบ C). Anaheim often gets cool and rainy in January and February, and cold snaps happen in Orlando on and off from December to February.
  • Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are still busy days, but not as busy as the weekend crowds. If you can plan your trip for the middle of the week, you’ll still find lots of people at the parks, but the crowds just a bit smaller.