We are planning a trip in late June and were wondering should we go Tues./Wed./Thurs. or Fri./Sat./Sun.? We will be doing all the theme parks and the water parks too. Which in your opinion would have the least amount of crowds? We thought about the 4th of July weekend but that would probably be WAY TOO CROWDED (right?). Thank You for any advice,opinions, and feedback.

Susie, anytime kids are out of school, Disney is packed.

I think there might be a tad less Tues, Wed, thrs, but since DW is so crowded, no one would notice, except the people counting the tickets at the entrance.

Hi Susie2,
I recommend you purchase the book "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World." There should be a 2003 version out now. This book will tell you which days are the "least" crowded at the various Disney parks, and it also gives you great tips on how to best see and do things in each park. Plus, there are tons of tips on hotels, restaurants, etc.

June will be crowded but you're right that the 4th of July would be worse. One thing that helped me last June was to try to be at the parks when they opened and go to the busiest rides first. Be sure to leave the parks in the afternoon and go back to your hotel for a nap and/or swim. You'll need the break!

Summer is crowded no matter what, but mid-week might be better. Then you could possible avoid the local crowd who go on the weekend. Although we usually stay away from Disney until the Fall.

Well, we got lucky last June-had planned to hit DW right away in the mid morning, but got a long lasting thunderstorm. It lasted until about noon. Immediately after it ended we drove to DW and parked in the FRONT row-it was great! Now if only you could control the weather...

The kids are already out of school here in Florida so Disney is crowded with Floridians. And when there are few crowds, the good folks at Disney close down half of the line so then there are crowds anyway!

Late September, all of October, early November, January, February, and May are the best times to visit crowd-wise.

Both Universal Parks seemed less crowded than the Magic Kingdom (last July 10th-20th)

Now that the Orlando area has so many attractions, each park isn't as busy as they used to be, even five years ago. Yes, they'll be busy, but not those horrible lines you may remember from the 80s. Remember, Disney has, what, four parks? Universal Studios has two, plus the Space Center, and Busch Gardens, and water parks and Sea World...So once you take those same couple of million visitors and split them up around those parks, it's really not so bad. I think you're right to avoid the holiday weekends, though. I lived in Miami for the last two years and we were going to Orlando every couple of months (Yes, taking the out of town visitors) and we never had any problems. Have fun!

Thank You All for the input and suggestions.

We are also headed to Disney/Universal at the end of June. We went two years ago at the same time. It will be hot and crowded - no doubt about it. We usually hit the parks early, have a nice (cool!) lunch somewhere, head back to the resort to rest or go in the pool and then head out again in the evening. It's not perfect, but it is doable. We like to split our stay between WDW and Universal. As you may know, you can go to the front of the line at the Universal parks with your room key. This is a fabulous perk, especially when it's hot, humid and crowded.

I think mid-week would be a little better at WDW.

Have fun!

Susie, unfortunately this is like asking "When is a good time to visit Hawaii when it's cold there? or "When is the best time to go swimming in the Artic Ocean?

mid-January, 1975.

Nina,
LOL! So, you were the person ahead of me in the two-person long lines!

As somebody who used to work for the "Mouse" let me offer a few words of insight. First, you want to go on "arrival" and "departure" days. This generally includes Mondays and Fridays, especially first thing in the morning. But it is still going to be quite busy. The other thing you can do to beat the crowds is to learn some of the tricks to deal with them. I recommend parking at a resort, the Polynesian is a good one for the Magic Kingdom, so is the Contemporary- you can actually walk to the Kingdom then and avoid paying the parking fee. The other thing, especially if you have very young children is to split the adults up in lines. An adult should get in line with the kids, the second adult should get in line later and after the children have gone on the ride once they can find the second adult and take the ride again. This generally works best for kiddie rides. Also, if you have very young children take advantage of the baby swap!!! It is great. I also recommend doing things off the beaten path such as bicycling on the Boardwalk. And do things backwards. For example, at Epcot go immediately to the countries and save the other exhibits for the afternoon when the rest of the guests have gone to the countries. Finally, I reiterate another poster's suggestion for getting the Insider's guide. It is a great resource.