There are so many answers to this question! It depends on your priorities.

If your priority is saving money and/or avoiding crowds – 

September is usually your best bet. It’s almost always the lowest crowds of the year and the lowest ticket prices. The next best is May. September and May are not easy for people with school-aged kids to travel so they are less crowded. If you have school aged kids and those months don’t work, your best bet is most weeks in June-August. Check a crowd prediction calendar or check out the date-based ticket prices to see when the cheapest ticket prices are.

If your priority is avoiding the Florida heat

If you are sensitive to heat or just not used to it – it can be opressive and miserable! November – February will be the best to avoid heat. Within that time frame if you want to avoid heavy crowds, avoid Thanksgiving week, the last 2 weeks of December, the first week of January, and President’s Day weekend.

If you need to align your trip with a traditional school schedule

Summer can be the best bet in terms of crowds compared to Thanksgiving Break, Christmas Break, and Spring Break. However, the heat can really put a damper on the fun. If you want to avoid the heat, Spring Break may be your best bet since Spring Break has a range of mid March – mid April, so not everyone is out of school at the exact same time. If you go during any typical school break time, plan extra budget for purchasing Lightning Lanes if you can.

If you want to see Disney decorated for the holidays or do a holiday event

The parks are decorated for Halloween and host Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party during September and October. September will be less crowded and cheaper.
They are decorated for Christmas and host Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party during November and December. The less crowded weeks during this time are typically the week before Thanksgiving week and the first two weeks of December. In the summer, there are special fireworks for the 4th of July at Magic Kingdom and Epcot and believe it or not, the crowds are pretty light that week.

If you don’t want to stay up late, but you want to see all the nightime shows

November – February it gets dark sooner and that usually means earlier showings for the nightime shows. These shows are truly fantastic and should be a priority, especially for first-timers and families with kids. Early sunset also could mean getting to see Pandora in Animal Kingdom lit up at night, which is truly magical! Animal Kingdom has been closing at 6pm for a few years now so seeing it at night is a rare treat.

Should I pull my kids out of school for a Disney trip?

It should come as no surprise that every traditional school break time is more crowded at Disney. We have pulled our kids out of school for Disney trips several times before and have no regrets about doing that, but I would only suggest doing this in Elementary school. Once they are in middle school and high school making up work is much more difficult. Also check your school’s attendance policy. Our schools give us a letter if they miss more than 3 days in a row without a medical reason, but as long as we only did it once all year we did not get in trouble. 

Any age! But more specifically – 

Babies and 1 year olds

This isn’t my favorite age to take kids because dealing with feedings and diapers and naps while in the parks isn’t the easiest. If you can leave baby at home with a grandparent while you take your older kids, it will make your trip easier, but if you have to take a baby along it will still be fun! Make sure you have a good stroller that reclines for nap times and has a under compartment to store baby gear. Bring a clip-on stroller fan if it’s going to be hot. Bring a stroller rain cover. And the best advice for visiting with babies and 1-year olds – don’t overdo it! This is not the time to do every park and stay from rope drop to fireworks each night. 

2 and 3 year olds

This age can be both wonderful and challenging at Disney World. The big perk is that kids under 3 are free so we did trips with all our kids right before they turned 3 to take advantage of this! The best parks for this age are Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, and keeping it to 2 or 3 park days with a resort day in between will be best so they don’t get worn out and fussy.

4-6 year olds

This is my favorite age at Disney World! They are young enough to still think they are meeting the real characters and watching everything through their eyes is just magical! But they are also old enough that you usually don’t have to work around naps, they are tall enough for more attractions, and there’s a better chance they can make it through to the nightime shows. Watching this age watch Happily Ever After or Fantasmic for the first time makes me happy cry! It’s a great age for character meals, so I recommend the Disney Meal Plan and staying on property for this age if it’s in your budget. This age can usually handle 3-5 park days, but with a resort day in the middle for rest.

7-9 year olds

My next favorite age range at Disney! It’s still just as magical and they enjoy a combination of meeting characters and starting to do more thrilling attractions. They can usually handle staying up later and you can fit more into your parks days. Our kids started to be able to handle doing full days (park opening to close) during this age which is great for maximizing fun! They may realize by this age that they aren’t meeting the real Mickey Mouse, but we like to say it’s fun to pretend it’s all real while at Disney! This is also a great age because they still get discounted tickets and a significantly cheaper meal plan (this ends when they turn 10). Because of this, I do often recommend the Disney Dining Plan if you have kids in this age range and below and to maximize character meals. This age can handle 4-6 park days, and a resort day in the middle for pool time.

10-12 year olds

Tweens love Disney too! They may be starting to act like they are big teenagers, but they are still kids and I love seeing this age still act like kids during a Disney vacation! My last trip with tweens we stayed at a Premium Resort so we could take advantage of extended evening hours and we had the best time staying up late in the parks with little crowds. Running around Magic Kingdom at 1am with my tweens is a memory I’ll always treasure! This age may not want to meet as many characters and the focus may be more on rides. This age is also NOT a good deal for the dining plan in my opinion. They have to pay the adult rate of $95/day and rarely does this age eat that much worth of food in a day.

Teenagers

There’s a kid in all of us and that includes teens! This age can be so busy with school, activities, and friends that I think family vacations are even more important at this age to have quality time as a family. A Disney vacation guarantees family fun! Stay up late in the parks, try interesting foods in Epcot, laugh and scream on thrill rides, and have all the fun! Stay any range of time. This age may enjoy sleeping in and staying late in the parks instead of getting up early for rope drop (when the park opens). My teens still love Disney but we often split our time between Disney World and Universal.

I’m going to be real here…

Not every Disney planner is created equal. I’ve tried out several over the years where I’ve acted like someone who doesn’t know much about Disney World to test them out, and I’ve been very surprised at times by the lack of communication and good advice, especially if you’re trying to do a trip on a tighter budget. With that said…

Benefits of using a Disney planner:

• If you know nothing about Disney World, a planner is someone who can talk you through options and book the trip for you.
• If a Disney discount comes out that could apply to your trip after you’ve booked it, they can apply the new discount for you.
• Most (not all) will include advice and may send you videos or guides to help you.
• Some (not all) will book restaurant reservations and even Lightning Lanes for you which could save you time.
• The service is free. (Some travel agents are starting to charge a bit extra if you want additional services like booking dining, Lightning Lanes, or personalized itineraries. I applaud those travel agents because those things take time and they do not make any extra commission for doing those things, which is why many don’t.)
• Some (not all) will occasionally offer a free incentive that is only offered through a specific travel agency, like buy 5 park days get a 6th for free. Some of the bigger travel agencies will sometimes run specials like this to win business because there is a lot of competition in this industry.
• Support a friend. Many people probably know someone who is a Disney planner and booking through them helps support their small business.

Realities of Using a Disney Planner:

• They deals they offer are usually the exact same ones on the Disney website. Disney does not reserve special pricing for travel agents.
• You can apply any discounts that may apply to your trip on your own by calling Disney.
• Disney travel planners earn commission based on the cost of your hotel, ticket, and dining package. Because of this, they are incentivized to sell you more and higher-priced packages. They earn nothing extra to help give you advice, spend a lot of time talking to you, booking dining reservations, Lightning Lanes, or anything else. Because there are SO many travel planners out there, some are offering more services to stand out from the crowd so you could get lucky with one of those. Others are starting to offer these extras for an extra fee, which could be worth it to save you time.
• Not all agents are equal. Examples:
  I had a friend who told their agent her budget was $5k. Her agent gave her 3 options that were all Deluxe or higher with only 2 park days for $5k. I went the same week and did 5 park days and 6 nights at The Dolphin Resort for the same price. My friend couldn’t believe I got so much more park time for the same costs and was disappointed her agent didn’t give her all the options.
  I had another friend who thought she had a great agent because she would book her dining reservations for her. The agent booked her Nine Dragons and Mama Melrose. If you’re not familiar, those aren’t usually in anyone’s top 5 restaurants in Disney World. I figured better places must have been booked up – nope! Moral of the story – ask around and pick a good one!

Disadvantages of using a Disney planner:

They aren’t going to give you all the options and it could cost you more. They won’t give you options to save money by staying at Swan & Dolphin (deluxe benefits at a cheaper price), or by renting DVC points to stay in Villas affordably, or to stay offsite and save a ton, or to buy discount tickets through Undercover Tourist. They only make commission on official Disney packages so those are the only options you will get. Most of my advice in the Ways to Save section below will not apply if you use a Disney Planner.

Benefits of a Disney Resort:

• Early Entry to the parks – select attractions open 30 minutes early so you can do an attraction or 2 in the morning with very little wait and no Lightning Lane needed.
• Ability to book Lightning Lanes 7 days in advance instead of 3 (increasing your chance to book super-popular attractions)
• Free transportation to the parks
• Free parking if you choose to drive yourself to the parks
• Ability to add a Disney Dining Plan
• Some Disney Travel Agents will only book a trip for you if you stay at a Disney Resort (you don’t have to use an agent though)
• Disney theming and fun pools
• The feeling of staying “in the Disney bubble”. This sounds weird, but trips where we stay on property and don’t have to drive out of the park into regular civilization each day feel more magical.

Added Benefit of Deluxe Disney Resort:

Benefits of Staying Off Property

• Savings!! You can find really cheap hotel and rental deals outside the parks. Some of the deals are about the same as Disney’s lowest-level resorts, but the quality is better.
• Larger accomodations. You can find larger rooms or rent houses that fit large groups or multiple families for less than booking multiple rooms or villas on Disney property.
• Earn or use points. If you earn points with Marriott, Hilton, Booking.com, or any other hotel brand or website, there are many options available that can earn you points or you can use your points

Somewhere in Between: On Property 3rd-Party Hotels

There are several categories of Disney Resorts: Campgrounds, Value, Moderate, Deluxe, and Deluxe Villas.

Main differences: 

• Value resorts have slightly smaller rooms, exterior doors, don’t have any table-service restaurants on-site, and don’t have waterslides at the pools. They do however have more fun, kid-friendly theming and their pricing is more affordable.
• Moderate resorts have slightly larger rooms compared to Value, have exterior doors (with the exception of Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs), have table-service restaurants at the resort, and have waterslides at the pools.
• Deluxe and Villa resorts have a variety of room types and sizes that are typically larger than the other categories, have interior hallways, include multiple table-serivce dining options on-site, will have nice pool areas with slides and hot tubs, and will usually have a health club and spa. The theming at these resorts is more elegant and only subtly Disney-themed.

All official Disney Resorts get you these benefits: Free transportation to the parks, the ability to enter the parks 30 minutes before official opening time, the ability to book Lightning Lanes up to 7 days in advance for the entire length of your trip, and the ability to book a Disney Dining Plan.

Deluxe and Deluxe Villas added benefit: Stay 2 extra hours after closing in select parks on select nights. Check the schedule in the app for which nights have “Extended Evening Hours.” It’s an amazing benefit to take advantage of if you can stay up late.

Resorts with rooms that fit a family of 5:
(Typically 2 queen beds plus a day bed that pulls down from the wall)

• Caribbean Beach Resort
• Port Orleans Riverside
• Yacht Club and Beach Club Resorts
• Contemporary Resort
• Boardwalk Inn
• Polynesian Resort
• Grand Floridian

Resorts with suites that fit a family of 6:

• Art of Animation Resort suites
• All-Star Music Resort suites
• Fort Wilderness Cabins
• Coronado Springs 1 bedroom suites
• Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness lodge
• 2 bedroom villas at 

Resorts with easy access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios:

• Boardwalk Resort (Deluxe and Villas) – walk or boat
• Yacht and Beach Club Resorts (Deluxe and Villas) – walk or boat
• Swan & Dolphin Resort (Deluxe – see note below) – walk or boat
• Riviera Resort (Villas) – Skyliner
• Caribbean Beach Resort (Moderate) – Skyliner
• Pop Century (Value) – Skyliner
• Art of Animation (Value) – Skyliner

Resorts with rooms that fit a family of 5:

(Typically 2 queen beds plus a single bed that pulls down from the wall)

• Caribbean Beach Resort
• Port Orleans Riverside
• Yacht Club and Beach Club Resorts
• Contemporary Resort
• Boardwalk Inn
• Polynesian Resort
• Grand Floridian

Resorts with suites that fit a family of 6:

• Art of Animation Resort suites
• All-Star Music Resort suites
• Fort Wilderness Cabins
• Coronado Springs 1 bedroom suites
• DVC Properties (Deluxe resorts) that offer multi-bedroom villas including:
  – Animal Kingdom Lodge
  – Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary
  – Beach Club Villas
  – Boardwalk Villas
  – Grand Floridian
  – Old Key West
  – Polynesian Tower
  – Riviera Resort
  – Saratoga Springs
  – DVC sections of Wilderness Lodge

If you are interested in booking a multi-bedroom villa, it can be much more affordable then you think! You can rent DVC points and stay at Deluxe properties for the same cost as staying in a moderate resort or a standard room. Put in a request for the dates you are interested in and get started with David’s DVC rental.

There is no one-size fits all answer, but here are some suggestions from polling lots of Disney parents:

Disney World itinerary for 1-3 year olds:

• 1 day at Magic Kingdom
• 1 day to rest, swim, do a character meal at a resort
• 1 day at Animal Kingdom or a 2nd day at Magic Kingdom

Disney World itinerary for 4-5 year olds:

• 1 day at Animal Kingdom (an easy first-day park which shorter hours so you go to bed earlier)
• 1 day at Magic Kingdom (stay up to see fireworks and go to bed later)
• 1 day to rest, swim, do a character meal at a resort
• 1 day at EITHER Hollywood Studios or Epcot. Look at the list of attractions at each to decide what would most interest your kids. Frozen = Epcot. Toy Story and Star Wars = Hollywood Studios.

Disney World itinerary for 6-8 year olds:

• 1 day at Animal Kingdom (an easy first-day park which shorter hours so you go to bed earlier)
• 1 day at Magic Kingdom (stay up to see fireworks and go to bed later)
• 1 day to rest, swim, do a character meal at a resort
• 1 day at Hollywood Studios
• 1 day at Epcot
• If you have time, add in another rest/resort day in between Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Or add a resort day after Epcot and do one more Magic Kingdom day if you can stay a full week.

Disney World itinerary for 9-12 year olds:

• 1 day at Animal Kingdom (an easy first-day park which shorter hours so you go to bed earlier
• 1-2 days at Magic Kingdom. Check for Extended Evening Hours and you could stay in the park until 1am if your kids are night owls! If you can do that you’ll only need 1 day in Magic Kingdom. Or do 1 regular day at Magic Kingdom plus one special event night that gets you late access to the park.
• 1 day to rest, swim, do a character meal at a resort
• 1 day at Epcot
• 1-2 days at Hollywood Studios. Or do 1 1/2 days and hop to another park or rest the other half of the day.

Disney World itinerary for Teens who don’t want to wake up early:

• 1/2 day at Animal Kingdom. You could use your excited energy to wake up early this one day. If you can’t, buy a Lightning Lane Single Pass for Flight of Passage or hop in line right before park closing. If park hopping, you could hop to a park open later for the rest of the evening.
• 1 day at Epcot. I highly recommend staying at a Deluxe resort and doing this park on Monday with Extended Evening hours! You can sleep in and stay up late and still do everything without long lines or Lightning Lanes.
• 1-2 days at Magic Kingdom. Check for Extended Evening Hours and you could stay in the park until 1am! If you can do that you’ll only need 1 day in Magic Kingdom. Or do 1 regular day at Magic Kingdom plus one special event night that gets you late access to the park.
• 1-2 days at Hollywood Studios. It’s hard to do everything at Hollywood Studios in one day if you don’t wake up early for early entry/rope drop. A second day will help! Or buy park hoppers and do a half day at Hollywood and a half day at Epcot for your bonus day. Either way, you’ll need Lightning Lanes to make up for not getting to the park early.
• Even for teens, I recommend putting one resort day in the middle of your trip for rest and pool time. But if time is a problem, go hard and relax when you get home!

The park hopper add-on allows you to visit more than one park in a day. It is not a per-day price but a single add-on that applies to the entire length of your trip.

If you have younger children, I prefer to not park hop because it’s more of a hassle to switch parks and takes up time. You’re often not spending 12+ hours in parks when you have little kids so trying to get to multiple parks in fewer hours can be stressful. I also think every Disney park can be a full-day park, even with smaller kids. Shows, play areas, meeting characters, interactive areas, character meals – there are many things to fill a day at every Disney park besides attractions.

However, if you are short on time and would like to hit the highlights of a park without dedicating a whole day to it, park hopping can help. You could do half a day at Epcot to make sure your daughter meets Anna and Elsa, then hop to Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day. Just remember that going between parks does take up some time. 

If you have older kids or teens and they can handle longer park days, park hopping can give you added flexibility. Let’s say you get a dining reservation at Space 220 on a Wednesday, but you also want to take advantage of Extended Evening Hours at Magic Kingdom on Wednesday – park hop! Or say you purchase Lightning Lane Multipass for Epcot, but there are no Tier 1 attractions left after your first one and all the lines are getting long, you could decide to book the rest of your Lightning Lanes at a different park and make better use of the money you spend on Multipass. 

Overall, park hopping isn’t necessary and can add more stress and planning as you try to decide which parks to go to and when, but it can also give you added flexibility and help you experience more parks in fewer days if you’re short on time. It can also be helpful for people staying a long time who want more flexibility, like if you want to go to each park twice, but not necessarily two full days each.

If you aren’t able to get to Florida very often, you may want to check out some of the other theme parks in the area that aren’t Disney. These include:

• Universal Studios – Best for older kids and teens. Highlight: Harry Potter – Diagon Alley
• Islands of Adventure (the other Universal park) – Best for older kids and teens. Highlights: Harry Potter – Hogwarts and Hogsmead and Jurassic Park.
• Volcano Bay (Universal’s waterpark) – A great waterpark! Better than Disney waterparks for older kids and teens.
• Epic Universe (Universal’s newest park) – Also best for older kids. This park is gorgeous! But very crowded since it is new in 2025.
• Sea World – Best for animal lovers and thrill seekers. Highlights: Great roller coasters, animal shows and exhibits.
• Aquatica (Sea World’s waterpark) – This is a great water park with a lot of variety, and during some promotions can be visited for very cheap if visiting Sea World also.
• Discovery Cove – swim with dolphins, have amazing animal interactions, and enjoy serene pools and beaches in an all-inclusive setting.
• Legoland – this one is not in Orlando but is less than an hour drive from Disney World. This one is best for kids under age 10 who love Legos.

Some people think Disney is wonderful and magical. Other think is crowded and terrible. What’s the difference? MINDSET AND ATTITUDE!

Tips for setting the right mindset for a trip to Disney World:

1. 1. Think positively. Don’t go in stressed and worried. Talk to your family about how you’re all going to go with the flow, stay positive, be patient, and enjoy the moments!
   2. Prepare for crowds. It is always crowded. Mentally prepare yourself and your family for that reality. I think being around lots of people can actually be a good thing – a good reminder that you are one of many and a good way to practice being patient and taking turns.
   3. Prepare to wait in lines. Even if you purchase every Lightning Lane pass there is, there are lines to enter the parks, there are lines to meet characters, there are lines for bathrooms sometimes – there are always lines. I think this is a good thing. In a world of constant instant gratification, waiting and teaching your kids to wait is a great thing. Prepare your kids for what it will be like. Have some small games/toys/candy in your park bag to help entertain. Play ‘guess the Disney character’, or Heads Up, or hand-clapping games in line. Also, the line queues for most attractions are beautiful and interesting. Whenever we have to wait for something in real life, I often tell my kids it will be “as long as the wait for Frozen” to help them understand and know that they can do it.
   4. Enjoy the ambiance. If you are constantly rushing around and worrying about getting everything done, you will miss out on some of the magic. Take moments to stop and look around.
   5. Meet the characters if you have kids. Our first trip I was so focused on rides, that we didn’t stop to meet a character until the very end of the day. And it was the best! I thought it wasn’t worth the wait, but seeing our kids’ faces light up and watching their interactions was awesome.
   6. It’s ok to not do everything. There have been times when a favorite ride has been down all day, there have been times we’ve had to leave early with a cranky kid, there have been times our bus is late and we miss rope dropping and so we don’t get as much done as we hoped. There are no perfect trips. You will never do everything in one trip. And that’s ok. Tell your brain that so you aren’t disappointed.
   7. Watch the nightime shows. I know some families tire out by 5pm and I get it. But if you can plan a break in the middle of the day and come back, or let your kids take a stroller nap, and try to make it to the end of the night at least one or two nights during your trip, it will be worth it! The nightime shows are SO much more than “fireworks shows” as some refer to them. They are magical and the perfect way to end the day. As you watch them, enjoy the looks on your kids faces, embrace the memories and emotions they evoke, and let yourself enjoy them in child-like wonder. I cry happy tears all the time at the shows and I’ve seen so many around me do the same. It’s magic. Don’t miss it. Nightime shows are:
      • Magic Kingdom – Happily Ever After. It absolutely is best from somewhere in front of the castle. The main aspects of the show are the projections on the castle and the music and storytelling that goes along with it – and Tinkerbell flying! If you think you’ve “seen it” because you watched the fireworks from your resort, you haven’t seen it. Check the app for showtimes.
      • Hollywood Studios – Fantasmic. This is a sit-down show in an outdoor theater and it is fantastic! You will see so many Disney characters, water effects, lasers, and more. The theater will fill up though so you may need to get seats an hour before show time. Check the app for showtimes.
      • Epcot – Luminous The Symphony of Us. This is the newest show and I think it is beautiful and emotional and just great! It happens around the World Showcase lagoon so there are many places to watch. It usually starts at 9pm when the park closes but check the app to be sure.