Summer will not be our favourite time to go to Walt Disney World. As a lot needs to be apparent from the truth that there’s an over 3 month hole after early May on our advisable aspect of our record of the 10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2025 & 2026.
The excellent news is that solely a few weeks in summer time make the worst record, too. As we’ve been pointing for years, and reiterated once more in final yr’s Summer (Still) Is NOT High Crowds Season at Walt Disney World, attendance has been trending down from June via August. There are a lot of explanations for this, however even at its busiest, summer time was by no means as unhealthy as Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, or every other extra consolidated faculty breaks. Having a number of months off all the time meant that crowds had been extra unfold out.
During a current panel at Walt Disney World, I heard from executives who corroborated this and indicated that the shift has been extra pronounced in the previous few years. As with a lot else, the post-COVID interval has modified journey patterns. More dad and mom are keen to drag their children out of college all through the tutorial yr, or are keen to take shorter journeys all through yr. Winter has seen a rise in demand (a pattern that predates “revenge travel”), and Walt Disney World reportedly recorded its highest resort occupancy ranges over a 10-week stretch that led to March.
Despite all of this, there may be nonetheless the misunderstanding that winter is low season and summer time is peak season. Even although the trendline has been altering for nearly a decade at this level, trip planners nonetheless base journey choices on outdated data. It takes some time for ‘conventional wisdom’ to vary.
Walt Disney World management primarily confirmed as a lot, revealing that their pre-visit surveys present that the idea amongst potential company is that crowds are highest in summer time. Among precise Walt Disney World company, surveys reveal that the notion of crowds in summer time are the lowest. In different phrases, there’s a large ‘expectations vs. reality’ chasm amongst those that go to versus those that don’t. (No such information was shared for winter, in all probability as a result of it’d be seen as unhealthy information, however I’m guessing it’s primarily the inverse.)
There are a lot of potential mitigating elements and explanations for this. One can be that “summer” contains low season dates via the technical finish of the season in late September. Another can be that, from the angle of client psychology, it’s higher to be pleasantly stunned than upset. People in January anticipate decrease crowds, so once they encounter larger ones than anticipated, it feels even worse. By distinction, summer time guests go in anticipating the worst, and are happy when wait instances are decrease than feared.
In any case, I believed that was fascinating and it corroborates what we’ve been saying right here for some time, so it appeared value sharing. The level is that summer time could be an expectations-exceeding time to go to, and this yr has its personal promoting factors. There’s additionally the fact that many households can solely go to throughout faculty breaks, and not-so-coincidentally, none of the most effective weeks of the yr on our record above happen when faculty is out of session.
With all of that in thoughts, listed below are a couple of weeks we suggest visiting Walt Disney World throughout Summer 2025:
- June 1-7, 2025
- August 3-9, 2025
- August 10-16, 2025
The final set of dates is our favourite, however all are good choices for various causes, as we’ll lay out under.
Let’s begin by speaking crowds. There actually isn’t an amazing quantity of variance in summer time crowds, and to the extent there was over the previous few years, it hasn’t been constant. Usually, there are a number of things explaining anomalies, from spikes in gasoline costs to climate to reductions, blockout dates, and so on. All of that is why we’ve described summer time crowd calendars as snake oil.
Conventional knowledge was that the weeks round Fourth of July had been the peaks, with crowds steadily constructing to that and declining after. That hasn’t been the case shortly, although, In every of the final two years, the Independence Day vacation was among the many slowest stretches of summer time. I wouldn’t essentially guess on a repeat of that this yr, however I additionally wouldn’t guess towards it. Higher airfare together with ticket and resort charges might preserve folks away.
To the extent that there was a pattern, it’s that there are usually twin peaks in summer time. One across the midway level, and one which we’ve described as a “last hurrah” as vacationers scramble to take journeys earlier than faculty going again into session. These peaks aren’t fully constant, however have kind of been the tip of June and finish of July, with Mondays and Tuesdays being particularly unhealthy.
If you possibly can journey earlier than summer time crowds begin constructing or after the final hurrah–households don’t usually go on trip the week after their children get out of college, or the week earlier than they return into session–you’ll be in the most effective form. Hence the above suggestions.
The absolute better of the bunch can be August 10-16, which is after Central Florida faculties return into session. There can be a really predictable drop that happens that week, with the one slight potential drawback being that your children may additionally return to high school that week. That’s why we’ve included each of these two weeks.
Back within the day, this was considered one of our absolute favourite weeks to go to. Walt Disney World nonetheless ran summer time hours regardless of the falling crowds, so it was actually the most effective of each worlds. I keep in mind virtually empty second-showings of SpectroMagic and Magic Kingdom closing at midnight in low to average crowd ranges.
Walt Disney World has gotten higher at attendance projections and doesn’t lengthen hours almost as early as they used to, in order that hasn’t been the case for the final a number of years. Still, possibly Magic Kingdom will keep open till 11 p.m. that week? And maybe we’ll see two performances of Starlight at a time when just one is required? That does occur with Fantasmic every now and then–leisure modifications are extra reactionary for no matter cause.
Despite these August weeks being again to again, there are literally a few variations between them past simply the crowds.
Walt Disney World has not but introduced the dates of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, however the odds-on favourite begin is Friday, August 8, 2025. Thursday can be a chance; previous precedent helps both.
In all chance, that first week will solely have one MNSSHP date, whereas the subsequent week may have two. (Never rule out the potential for Walt Disney World cramming extra events into the schedule, particularly since these occasions have bought so effectively in the previous few years. It looks like solely a matter of time earlier than August will get extra occasion dates.)
The wild card this yr with the Halloween and Christmas events goes to be Disney Starlight Night Parade. You understand how crowds have gotten loopy for Happily Ever After on non-party nights from August via December? Expect that to be a lot worse with a brand-new night time parade. Everyone eager to see Starlight–which is many company–can be consolidated into fewer alternatives per week.
Honestly, I’m not 100% certain what to anticipate from this–each when it comes to the scale of the monkey wrench Starlight might throw into attendance dynamics and what, if something, Walt Disney World will do to mitigate. It’s to the purpose that I’m virtually hesitant about making Party Season suggestions till we all know extra, as Disney might make main operational changes (e.g. Boo Bash) or none in any respect (odds-on favourite). But that vary of potentialities might be one other subject for one more day.
The excellent news, although, is that mid-August is sufficiently early within the Party Season (fewer occasions per week) and at a time when crowds are decrease that, no matter does occur, it shouldn’t make a lot of a distinction. It’ll be minimally disruptive to planners. Presumably, these August weeks can even happen after the Disney Starlight Night Parade has been working for a bit, so preliminary demand may have died down. In an ideal world, this may be the ‘sweet spot’ between intervals of large parade crowds.
This is “in a perfect world” as a result of there’s nonetheless no date for Starlight’s debut. That’s another excuse we’re hesitant to suggest dates earlier in the summertime.
Even if I believed Independence Day or the week thereafter was more likely to see a dip primarily based on current precedent–and that plus the prospect of enhanced leisure and longer hours made it interesting–I’d be hesitant to suggest dates across the Fourth of July. The new parade very effectively may find yourself debuting that week, and precedent can be irrelevant. It’d be very busy. Or Starlight may additionally miss that week, by which case it will be a foul decide for parade followers.
Later in summer time will increase the chances not solely of Disney Starlight Night Parade’s debut, but in addition its preliminary demand to have died down. If we needed to make a shot at midnight guess, we’d say there’s an above 50% likelihood the brand new nighttime parade will debut within the second half of June. But that’s not 100%, and there’s nonetheless an opportunity it slips to July. (As talked about beforehand, we aren’t reserving our personal journey till a date is introduced for Starlight.)
It’s an analogous story with Test Track 3.0. Officially, that is slated to open in late Summer 2025, which ought to imply July. But Walt Disney World has been fairly unhealthy at assembly deadlines these days, so I’m taking that with a grain of salt.
Personally, if Test Track had been my must-see, I’d plan a go to in early October 2025. Test Track will not be my must-see, so I’m assuming it gained’t be open throughout our summer time journey and can be pleasantly stunned whether it is. Nevertheless, an August go to will increase the chances of attending to expertise that.
At the intersection of recent issues and crowds is Universal’s Epic Universe. Our expectation is that this new park goes to have an preliminary rush for its first couple of weeks, throughout which it’s very busy. But after that?
Early ticketing insurance policies, an absence of Annual Passes, and locals getting first visits out of their system (common Floridians and current UOAPs aren’t going to purchase a number of single day tickets–they’ll make a go to or two, after which anticipate offers or APs) may end in a slower than anticipated summer time. That might attain a crescendo in August as faculty goes again into session and vacationers anticipate Halloween Horror Nights season to begin.
So why the June dates in any respect? For individuals who don’t care about any of that.
If I weren’t a fan of night time parades, it will behoove me to go to Walt Disney World this summer time earlier than Starlight begins. We don’t know when, precisely, that’ll be, but it surely’s virtually definitely not beginning inside per week of Memorial Day. And even when it does, the ship is beginning to sail on capturing visits since Walt Disney World already introduced the summer time kickoff slate and it wasn’t included.
As famous above, going earlier than summer time crowds begin to construct or after the final hurrah is perfect. The August dates cowl the latter. The June dates cowl the previous. Early June can be, on common, the least scorching time of summer time. June 1-7 has a median each day low of 72° and common excessive of 89°. By distinction, the August dates common a low of 76° and 91° on the excessive finish of the spectrum.
Obviously, these are averages they usually’re shut sufficient that you would find yourself having worse climate in early June than mid-August. But as somebody who lived in Central Florida for a number of years and has visited even longer, I’ll roll the cube on early June over mid-August. Without trying up the stats, I might’ve guessed there was a a lot larger unfold. (My notion is that June has nicer mornings and evenings, whereas August is depressing from the time you get up till you fall asleep, with solely a slight reprieve when the solar goes down. YMMV.)
Weather is value underscoring. Greater “awareness” of Florida’s oppressively scorching and humid temperatures is probably going one huge cause why summer time has been slower lately. Even if my notion is that crowds are actually decrease in the summertime than winter, I’d nonetheless take the latter with larger wait instances however a qualitatively higher expertise.
The reality is that warmth, humidity, and hurricanes are a raffle anytime from June via October. We don’t need to belabor the purpose, so when you’re on the fence about this tradeoff, see Is It Still Worth Visiting During the Early Fall Offseason at Walt Disney World? for a higher dialogue of climate vs. crowds.
One ultimate issue that’s value mentioning is that each one three of those weeks can be among the many least expensive of summer time at Walt Disney World.
Rack charges on the resorts are just about the identical from late May via early August (with a spike round Independence Day), so the June set of dates isn’t any cheaper on the resort aspect than any weeks that comply with. However, each units of August dates are cheaper. (The week after each is even inexpensive, however that’s after most faculties return into session, and we’re attempting to make suggestions for households.)
More importantly, all three units of dates are going to be the most effective from the angle of reductions. If you need to reap the benefits of both ticket offers, these dates can be cheaper than the remainder of summer time. From what we are able to see, you’ll even have extra choices on the room low cost aspect of issues. Free Dining is now not obtainable for the June dates, however we’re speaking saving cash–not spending extra of it!
Ultimately, that’s our thought course of on the most effective weeks for households to go to Walt Disney World in Summer 2025. Again, the entire level of that is suggestions for planners with children at school who need to work round these schedules. If you don’t, both go per week or two later and even earlier (when you don’t care about Starlight).
Shoulder season needs to be a good time for decrease crowds, because it’ll be the calm earlier than the storm (if there’s a storm) with Epic Universe and Walt Disney World’s summer time additions. The late August and September low season is reliably uncrowded, and this yr needs to be no totally different, with the potential exception of no matter occurs with Starlight throughout Party Season.
If you’re a household planning a summer time trip to Walt Disney World and none of those dates work, the logic ought to nonetheless apply so you possibly can slim down dates that work greatest for you. Outside of those weeks, it’s unattainable to foretell variations in crowd ranges, so that you shouldn’t even hassle (until you wait to guide till after Starlight’s debut date is introduced). Beyond that, the largest think about summer time journeys is climate, and that’s all the time going be a wildcard.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Learn about resorts on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To get monetary savings on tickets or decide which kind to purchase, learn our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets submit. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips submit takes a novel take a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the most effective place to begin is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for every thing you must know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
If you’ve achieved Walt Disney World in mid-August, what was your expertise? Was it value hitting the cheaper dates and decrease crowds, or was the climate too scorching and humid? Expectations about Starlight throughout Party Season? Thoughts about the rest lined right here? If you’re a frequent customer throughout this timeframe, what’s your tackle crowds, wait instances, seasonal choices, climate, and so on? Agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions we will help you reply? Hearing your suggestions is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!