Busy vs not so busy days

[soccermouse]

Are there better or worse days of the week to go to particular parks at WDW? I have heard that Mondays are particularly busy at the Magic Kingdom, but I have not heard about other parks. Obviously weekends and holidays are busy, so I am wondering about weekdays.

[spaulo]

Find out which days have the Extra Magic Hour Morning for Disney resort guests, and avoid that park on that day (each day one park has EMH morning, and one other has evening)... basically, the park is usually busier when resort guests were allowed to come in an hour early.

I also would say expect Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday to be the busiest days as you'll have to compete with locals, too.

[js3901]

according to the 2005 Birnbaum guide (I got it for free a couple of weeks ago), it says that Monday is a "notoriously busy day, ESPECIALLY at the MK". I'll quote the whole section here:

Day-to-Day Trands
In general, the weekends tend to be among the most crowded days at Walt Disney World theme parks - most notably during the summer months and other peak periods. Monday is also a notoriously busy day, especially at the Magic Kingdom. Morning through early afternoon is a bustling time for the theme parks and their respective "E-ticket' attractions. Days that are kicked off with an "Extra Magic Hour" tend to be more crowded at their respective theme parks. When the weather's steamy, the water parks tend to reach capacity soon after the gates open - so be sure to get an early start if you're headed to Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon.

When the time comes to plot an itinerary, it's helpful to know about crown patterns beyond the four theme parks as well. As a rule, Downtown Disney and Disney's water parks host their largest throngs on the weekends. Of course, in these circles, a bigger crowd could mean a better time. Golfers should note that weekend tee times are typically in the highest demand, while Monday and Tuesday tee times are the easiest to come by.

Seasonal Shifts
The chart below indicates the density of crowds in the theme parks throughout the year. Though it's tough to generalize about a property as vast and ever-changing as Walt Disney World - special events and package deals can swell park attendance during the period typically marked by smaller crowds - the chart highlights historic trends.
"Least Crowded" means that there will be lines, but most attractions can be visited without much waiting.
"Average Attendance" refers to times when there are lots of people around, but lines are manageable.
"Most Crowded" reflects times when lines at popular attractions can mean a wait of as much as two hours. As a rule, when school is out, the crowds are in at Walt Disney World.

least crowded
-Second week of January through first week of February
-Week after Labor Day until Thanksgiving
-Week after Thanksgiving

Average Attendance
-First week of January
-Seond week of February until Presidents' week
-End of February through second week of March
-Last week of April through May
-Thanksgiving week

Most Crowded
-Presidents' week
-Third week of March through third week of April
-June through Labor Day
-Christmas through New Year's Day

hope that helps plan the trip. I'll be reports about crowds trends when I go down in a couple of weeks.

[subsonic]

Darn, I'm going the first week of Janurary. I was hoping to fall into the "least crowded" category.

[Esmeralda]

Sub, at least you'll still get to see a lot of the Christmas decorations! A little late perhaps, but you'll be missing most of the crowds.

[QuickGold]

This page lists expected crowd conditions and is amazing: http://www.touringplans.com/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=14

[Jacca5660]

We've been there the first week of January and (like us) there were a lot of families. It's seems a lot of schools don't go back until the second week of January. Still the crowds weren't that bad, at least not like the weeks before and after the forth of July.

PS If you plan on being at EPCOT for new years eve, get there before noon!!