If you’re planning one all-out Orlando vacation and want to visit all 4 Walt Disney World parks in a single vacation, you’ll need to plan carefully. Check the park calendar for the dates of your visit and pinpoint the best park for every day of the week. Knowing when to go and what time to show up will help you include all 4 Disney parks with maximum magic and minimum fuss.
Magic Kingdom
Best Days of the Week:
Tuesday and Thursday are widely considered to be the best days for a visit to Magic Kingdom. These mid-week times keep you away from the bustle of the weekend. They also help you avoid the current extra magic hours (EMH) schedule, which has morning EMH on Fridays and evening EMH on Wednesday.
Best Times of the Day:
Morning is the best time to visit Magic Kingdom. Most of this park’s most anticipated activities, such as fireworks and parades, take place in the evening. Crowds swell to catch these spectacles, so you’ll find steady crowds here at night. Come when the park first opens for the shortest lines at your favorite attractions.
What to Do When:
Guests typically make a beeline for Fantasyland or Tomorrowland in the morning. Head to Adventureland or Frontierland for smaller crowds. If you’re in the park in the evening and don’t mind missing the fireworks or parades, you’ll find the shortest lines at big-name attractions like Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Space Mountain when these events are distracting guests and slowing the flow of traffic around the park.
Seasonal Considerations:
Watch out for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. If you’re not planning to attend these events, don’t schedule an afternoon or evening visit on party days. Guests with event tickets can get into the park in the afternoon, so crowds begin building before dinner and continue to swell through the evening.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Best Days of the Week:
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the best days to visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The park currently has morning extra magic hours on Monday and Saturday, which will give crowds a boost during these times.
Best Times of the Day:
Animal Kingdom often experiences a traffic lull in the afternoon. Morning visitors can spin through their top attractions in a few hours, leaving them with little to do from lunchtime till the evening with Rivers of Light will cause crowds to swell again.
Animal Kingdom’s lush foliage also makes it feel hotter and more humid than other parks. If you can take the heat, you’ll have fewer crowds to fight.
What to Do When:
In the morning, crowds rush to Pandora – The World of Avatar, and Expedition Everest. They’re onto something, as these will all amass long lines early. However, if you can secure a FastPass to one or more of these big attractions, you can use your morning to enjoy the walk-on experience you’ll usually have at attractions like Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, and Kilimanjaro Safaris.
Epcot
Best Days of the Week:
Wednesdays are typically the slowest at Epcot, followed by Thursday evenings. These keep you away from EMH crowds. The park currently has evening EMH on Tuesday and morning EMH on Thursdays.
Best Times of the Day:
Mornings at Epcot are predictably slow. World Showcase opens later than Future World, so many guests elect to wait until the entire park is open before they stop in. However, starting early will give you a jump on the good stuff.
What to Do When:
Test Track, Soarin’, and Frozen Ever After are the park’s biggest attractions, so they build lines quickly once they open. Target these for your FastPass+ reservations and start at any other attraction for a shorter line. When World Showcase opens, start at the middle and work your way out from American Adventure, since most guests will take the opposite approach and work their way in.
Seasonal Considerations:
Crowds are much bigger at Epcot during the Flower and Garden Festival and Food and Wine Festival. There’s lots to love about these events, so do attend if you’re interested. However, if these don’t tickle your fancy, you’ll want to steer clear, particularly during the first and last days of the festivals.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Best Days of the Week:
The slowest days here are usually Wednesday and Friday. Disney’s Hollywood Studios currently has morning EMH on Sundays, so you should shoot for the early end of the weekend rather than the tail end here.
Best Times of the Day:
Disney’s Hollywood Studios has many special activities that take place in the evening. Fantasmic, Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular, and Disney Movie Magic are all nighttime highlights This makes mornings slightly slower for the park.
What to Do When:
Nearly all the big attractions at Disney’s Hollywood Studios have a predictable increase in their lines throughout the day. Get your FastPass+ reservations before you visit and hurry off to any top attractions that you couldn’t get a FastPass+ for, such as Toy Story Mania, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith.
Plan well in advance of your visit so you can pinpoint the best days every park. This way, you can include all 4 Disney World parks in your visit for a chance to see and do it all.
