Every Date You Want to Avoid at Walt Disney World in 2024

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Every year, we would create a Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar to help manage your vacation expectations. These were always compiled based on past data, holidays, and planned park events. Sadly, it has become harder and harder to predict what the crowds will look like in the parks. This past fall, we were sitting down to create the 2024 calendar and realized there would be absolutely no way we could put our name behind one and feel confident about anyone using it as a tool to plan.

Summer used to be a ghost town at Walt Disney World! Disney offered many discounts to gain interest in coming to the parks. Now, the extreme Florida heat isn’t a deterrent for many visitors. The “slower” times have become more moderate than before. Using past data to create anything we could confidently put our name on is simply too hard.

With all of that being said, we did research all of the possible scenarios that would cause some overcrowding, high wait times, or difficulty finding resort reservations. Take a look at our list starting with February 1st, 2024!

2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival

(c) Disney

February 2024

This time of year is the beginning of the cheer and dance competitions at the ESPN Zone at Walt Disney World. Between that and northern school breaks, take note at the potential times to avoid.

February 2 – February 4, 2024: 2024 UDA National Dance Team Championship

  • This competition brings in a lot of young ladies and gentlemen to the parks. It also means the All Star Resorts will be full of children unsupervised.

February 9 – February 12, 2024: Varsity High School Cheer Championships

  • This is a very popular high school cheer event and Varisty books all their athletes at the All Star Resorts. The cheerleaders are also in the parks unsupervised quite a bit.

February 16- February 25, 2024: Presidents Week Break for Northern Schools/ Mardi Gras

  • Presidents’ Day has been awful for average wait times in the past few years. This year, this holiday coincided with Mardi Gras. Northern schools also use this as their winter break week as well.

February 22- February 26, 2024: runDisney Princess Half Marathon

  • If you were hoping to come down after Presidents week to avoid the crowds, you are going to have to also deal with the runDisney Princess Half Marathon immediately following Presidents week.
2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival

(c) Disney

March 2024

March 8 – March 9, 2024: The Quest Recreational Championship

  • This is another youth event that brings families and groups to the All Star Resorts. It doesn’t necessarily bring huge crowds to the parks, but it is something to take into consideration when booking your resort.

March 9 – March 10, 2024: 2024 UCA All Star National Championship

  • UCA Cheer is BIG! They bring in a ton of college cheerleaders to perform. They will be staying at the All Star Resorts. Luckily, they are much better behaved than then the youth cheer teams in the parks.

March 15-23, 2024: Orange County Spring Break

  • Orange County, Florida, as well as hundreds of schools around the United States, are out of session this week. This has a pretty big impact on crowds. The increasing population of Orange County creates some huge crowds week over the top and makes it the worst of spring break season. Resorts are not as busy, but the parks sure are.

March 22- March 31, 2024: Easter

  • This is a big time of year for anyone who wants to enjoy the warm Florida sun but doesn’t want to take the kids out of school. It is also a big time of year for teachers to take a trip to the parks. Crowds will be at a “red level” high for this whole week. We did it in 2023 and had to use Genie+ to get most rides. We were able to have a great time. I just wouldn’t suggest it if you’re planning on doing “the most” on your Disney vacation.
Easter bunny Disney World

(c) LaughingPlace

April 2024

April 18- April 21, 2024: runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend

  • This race will bring in a lot of guests to the parks an keep the resorts busy

April 24 – April 26, 2024: 2024 ICU Junior World & World Cheerleading Championships

  • This competition brings in a lot of young ladies and gentlemen to the parks. It also means the All Star Resorts will be full of children unsupervised.

April 26 – April 29, 2024: The Cheerleading Worlds

  • This competition brings in a lot of young ladies and gentlemen to the parks. It also means the All Star Resorts will be full of children unsupervised.

April 26 – April 29, 2024: The Dance Worlds

  • This competition brings in a lot of young ladies and gentlemen to the parks. It also means the All Star Resorts will be full of children unsupervised.
Cheerleading at Disney World

(c) Disney

May 2024

May 2 – May 5, 2024: The Summit 2024 Championship

  • This competition brings in a lot of young ladies and gentlemen to the parks. It also means the All Star Resorts will be full of children unsupervised.

May 3 – May 5, 2024: The Dance Summit

  • This competition brings in a lot of young ladies and gentlemen to the parks. It also means the All Star Resorts will be full of children unsupervised.

May 10 – May 12, 2024: The D2 Summit

  • This competition brings in a lot of young ladies and gentlemen to the parks. It also means the All Star Resorts will be full of children unsupervised.

June 2024

N/A

July 2024

July 4-13, 2024: July 4th Holiday Crowds

  • There is no way to predict what 2024 will bring for this. In the past, it was a very busy week to visit. Now, it seems the 4th is busy and the days around it are moderate. It is just a date to consider when making your resort reservations.
2023 Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party Guide

(c) Disney

August 2024

N/A

September 2024

September 2, 2024: Labor Day

  • From August 31 to September 2nd, 2024, the park crowds are slightly elevated due to a lot of long weekend plans in the parks.

October 2024

October 14, 2024: Indigenous Peoples Day

  • From October 11th through October 14th the park crowds are slightly elevated due to a lot of long weekend plans in the parks.

October 31, 2024: Halloween to Christmas Changeover Crowd

  • From October 29th to November 5th park crowds are slightly elevated because guests come with hopes of being in Walt Disney World for the magical Halloween to Christmas changeover. It isn’t terrible. Crowds are mostly in Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
Mickey and Minnie Christmas parade

(c) Disney

November 2024

Early November: runDisney Wine & Dine Half Marathon

  • The dates have not been announced just yet but the runDisney Wine & Dine Half Marathon usually runs ahead of the Veterans Day crowds and sometimes overlap.

November 7- November 11, 2024: Veterans Day/Jersey Week/Holiday Start in EPCOT

  • Jersey Week is what we call the week where New Jersey families flock in DROVES to the Walt Disney World Resort. There are conferences in schools that week and they use the holiday to piggyback the closure to make it a full week for most districts. While this isn’t “Christmas week” level crowds, it is quite busy! You also see a slight influx of crowds at EPCOT as that is when they begin the holiday celebration in the park.

November 22- November 29, 2024: Thanksgiving

  • This is a VERY busy week fo crowds at the parks as well as very little available at the Walt Disney World Resort hotels. If you plan to go during this time make sure you work with a travel advisor to get the most help planning this trip as you can. It is possible to have a wonderful time. Just be prepared to wait in line for everything.

December 2024

December 20- January 11, 2024: Christmas and New Years

  • This should be one of the most obvious timeframes to avoid while visiting the parks. It is possible to have a wonderful time. Just know the crowd’s levels are going to be the highest you have ever seen. If you plan to go during this time make sure you work with a travel advisor to get the most help planning this trip as you can. It is possible to have a wonderful time. Just be prepared to wait in line for everything.

Recap

We really hope this helps you plan your next vacation to Walt Disney World. Remember, the best planning tool is a travel advisor. We would NEVER plan a visit without using our partner agency, Winds in the East Travel. If you’d like a compliment quote fill out the form below.

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