Approach To The World

[Tink76]

What advice would you give someone who is visiting for the first or second time?

What park on what days have you found to be less crowded (pre-Covid)?

Hands down the best time of year to visit the parks?
And
For planning purposes the best approach for seeing which park first, second, third, and fourth.

 

[larryz]

The snide answer would be to read all the threads on this board.

But I'd answer your first question with "pack your patience."

 

[Weather_Lady]

What advice would you give someone who is visiting for the first or second time?

What park on what days have you found to be less crowded (pre-Covid)?

Hands down the best time of year to visit the parks?
And
For planning purposes the best approach for seeing which park first, second, third, and fourth.

My first bit of advice would be to subscribe to touringplans -- but that's because I love planning, re-planning, over-planning and planning my planning. If the people you're advising are not like me (that is, if they're not the kind of people who keep lists of their lists), disregard.

I wouldn't even bother with "which parks on which days." Showing up early and tackling things in an intelligent order will trump any small rise or fall in crowd levels, and for the most part, they're all busier on weekends and holidays and they're all less busy on weekdays. They should just pick the parks they want, in the order they want. (*Do, however, check the calendar in case there are special events -- e.g., a RunDisney marathon or an early closing for a seasonal party or a private event -- that should be planned around!)

Best time of year: whenever you can go. If you can avoid all school vacations, summer break, and hurricane season, so much the better. When we could pull the kids out of school, early October and March/April (avoiding anything near Easter) were great times to visit. Now that we have to work around school schedules, late August (after the Florida schools resumed) turned out to be an incredible time to go, crowd-wise, although we had to resign ourselves to very hot and humid weather. The "yourfirstvisit" website has a calendar that gives great insights into the best weeks to travel in particular calendar years: I'd recommend taking a look at it.

For planning purposes, on a first or second visit, and assuming 1 park per day, my order of operations would be: Magic Kingdom first (stay late for the fireworks), followed by Epcot (opens late, so you can sleep in after the late MK night), followed by Animal Kingdom, followed by Hollywood Studios. Then circle back and end with Magic Kingdom, or hop there after a partial day at AK or HS. If there are only 4 days to work with and non-hopper tickets, then I'd start with HS, then Epcot, then AK, then MK. Whatever the order, I try to tuck Epcot in the middle because it's the most boring (YMMV), and to finish (and ideally also start) with MK because it's everybody's favorite and has the greatest number of things to do.

 

[JIMINYCR]

I'd advise either a new comer or a second time goer to know what they are getting into. Know what attractions are in the parks, which ones they want to do the most, know where they want to dine, how to get around and how to use their devices to help their way around. Going into WDW as a knowledgable traveler will really help make the trip successful. Read up o9n as much info you can get your hands on. Avoid mistakes others have made.
Less crowded... EP. With the expansive area, even with crowds most of the time it doesnt feel crowded like the other parks.
Best time of year.... any time outside of holiday weeks, school vacation times and celebrations. You wont find any month anymore that you can consider slow like there once were. But instead less crazy crowded. Weve had better chances going in early Feb., early May, early Nov, avoiding the busiest part of those months.
We always go MK first, then DHS or EP, then AK. We rotate around to get in multiple days in each park, ending the trip with a last MK day.

 

[Cowboy Steve]

Well like Weather_Lady stated above... I am an over-planner, and love it... lol. I have spread sheets that explain my spread sheets! My philosophy is enter the bubble with most of the itinerary completed so I can just enjoy a decision free vacation. And to be honest, for me planning is half the fun.

What park on what day - Hit and miss. Good advice already given, but will reinforce it - start early, be patient, and have a plan. MK will be the busiest and most challenging, so if you have an extra full or 1/2 day, MK is where you want to spend it. Traditionally, weekends have a slightly higher chance of high attendance, but time of year should be taken into consideration.

Time of year to visit: Christmas time, hands down. We have had really good luck the first couple weeks in December, and just LOVE the holiday theming. Just seems to add a little magic to the magic! Avoid summer, spring break, and holidays. Pretty much any time kids are not in school, families flock to Disney.

 

[JohnD]

What advice would you give someone who is visiting for the first or second time?

What park on what days have you found to be less crowded (pre-Covid)?

Hands down the best time of year to visit the parks?
And
For planning purposes the best approach for seeing which park first, second, third, and fourth.

That's way open-ended. But here goes:

What advice would you give someone who is visiting for the first or second time?
1. Try to get resort discounts
2. Make park reservations as early as possible so you're not locked out.
3. Make dining reservations 60 days out from your stay.
4. Bring water with you. Very expensive in the parks.
5. Build in rest, whether returning to your resort in the middle of the day. Or, if that is not possible, find places to "veg out" in the parks.
6. Dress comfortably. If you go during cooler weather, bring layers (windbreaker, sweatshirt).

What park on what days have you found to be less crowded (pre-Covid)?
Epcot in the middle of the week instead of weekends. There is always a festival at Epcot so more people on weekends.

Hands down the best time of year to visit the parks?
It's a crap shoot. I would generally pick spring and fall because more comfortable weather.

And
For planning purposes the best approach for seeing which park first, second, third, and fourth.
You were asking about the first or second time, so my order would be MK, Epcot, HS, and AK.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

What advice would you give someone who is visiting for the first or second time?

Stay as many nights as possible so you can go slow. Plan the amount of stuff you think you can do in four days, but do it over seven days.

What park on what days have you found to be less crowded (pre-Covid)?

Stay away from Magic Kingdom on Sundays. Stay away from Epcot on weekend evenings during festivals.

Hands down the best time of year to visit the parks?

Whenever kids are in school. Early September if you can take the heat. January (avoiding MLK and Marathon) if you can't.

And
For planning purposes the best approach for seeing which park first, second, third, and fourth.

If traveling with small children, don't show them Magic Kingdom first. Everything after that will be a disappointment to them.

 

[Tink76]

My first bit of advice would be to subscribe to touringplans -- but that's because I love planning, re-planning, over-planning and planning my planning. If the people you're advising are not like me (that is, if they're not the kind of people who keep lists of their lists), disregard.

I wouldn't even bother with "which parks on which days." Showing up early and tackling things in an intelligent order will trump any small rise or fall in crowd levels, and for the most part, they're all busier on weekends and holidays and they're all less busy on weekdays. They should just pick the parks they want, in the order they want. (*Do, however, check the calendar in case there are special events -- e.g., a RunDisney marathon or an early closing for a seasonal party or a private event -- that should be planned around!)

Best time of year: whenever you can go. If you can avoid all school vacations, summer break, and hurricane season, so much the better. When we could pull the kids out of school, early October and March/April (avoiding anything near Easter) were great times to visit. Now that we have to work around school schedules, late August (after the Florida schools resumed) turned out to be an incredible time to go, crowd-wise, although we had to resign ourselves to very hot and humid weather. The "yourfirstvisit" website has a calendar that gives great insights into the best weeks to travel in particular calendar years: I'd recommend taking a look at it.

For planning purposes, on a first or second visit, and assuming 1 park per day, my order of operations would be: Magic Kingdom first (stay late for the fireworks), followed by Epcot (opens late, so you can sleep in after the late MK night), followed by Animal Kingdom, followed by Hollywood Studios. Then circle back and end with Magic Kingdom, or hop there after a partial day at AK or HS. If there are only 4 days to work with and non-hopper tickets, then I'd start with HS, then Epcot, then AK, then MK. Whatever the order, I try to tuck Epcot in the middle because it's the most boring (YMMV), and to finish (and ideally also start) with MK because it's everybody's favorite and has the greatest number of things to do.

Thank you, you gave some insightful recommendations.

 

[Tink76]

Thank you for your knowledgeable comments.

 

[Tink76]

The snide answer would be to read all the threads on this board.

But I'd answer your first question with "pack your patience."

When looking at something with a fresh set of eyes it’s helpful to have up to date information instead of reading thread that goes back years ago.