For decades, summer was considered the busiest time to visit Walt Disney World. After all, kids being out of school was generally the time of year when most families would head out on vacation annually.
However, as crowds — and heat— have sweltered over the years, many guests have begun visiting at other times of the year. This means that, while summer has (and likely always will) remained immensely busy, other times of the year have gotten equally busy.
Now that we’re through summer and well into the fall season, our reporters and on camera team have started to notice a very interesting pattern in Disney World. Quincy, in particular, let us know that in late October, she was seeing more first-time guests in the fall than she’d seen at all in the summer.
There’s still a downtime when kids go back to school in the late summer, she noticed, but she was only seeing slightly fewer international guests than she saw during the peak of summer. Breedlove also mentioned that a Cast Member in Bonjour Village Gifts said that a Wednesday in late October had been their biggest day since COVID, although it wasn’t clear if that was through earnings or attendance.
Over in Disneyland, one of our reporters shared that he had also been seeing more first-time visitors from out of state and out of the country in the fall as well. So why switch to the fall? Well, the summer heat makes many families’ vacations absolutely miserable, especially if they’ve never been to Florida and are having trouble adjusting to the humidity. The moment you let yourself get dehydrated in the summer, it’s all over.
In the fall, parents may be choosing to let their kids start the school year, and then take them out for a vacation a month or so later. Many schools also have a fall break, which more are choosing to use for vacation then as opposed to the longer summer vacation. It’s cooler in the park, making your whole vacation more enjoyable, and that’s worth a lot to many families.
However, this means that we could start to see crowds in summer diminish, making FALL one of the busiest times to visit Disney World, so if you’re planning a trip coming up, you’ll want to keep this in mind!
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We’re always here to bring you the latest Disney World news to help you plan your vacations, so stay tuned to AllEars!
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Do you prefer to visit in the summer or fall? Tell us in the comments!
Many schools are now going year-round (45 on 15 off). That enables families more cooler months for vacations! This is a new option for many parents who are used to summer only!!
I was at Magic Kingdom on that Wednesday a few weeks ago. It was attendence, not earnings. Although, potentially also earnings. The park was shut down due to hitting full capacity a little after 7pm that evening.
Here now and definitely busy. But have been able to secure lightning lanes for everything we wanna do. Plus the rain today kept morning business down for a couple of hours.