Choosing which day to visit which theme park…

I received a question from a guest after booking their stay during the Holiday Season, regarding how busy the theme parks will be. It’s a common concern, and worth doing a little research on:

“Do you have any insight on how crowded it will be during that time. We are thinking magic kingdom, universal and islands of adventure. What will be our best days to visit and what days should we avoid? It do you think it will be crowded no matter the day?”

It’s helpful to know which theme park to visit on which day in order to avoid crowds and make the best use of your time. Here’s how!

I’m sorry, but it WILL be crowded no matter which day you go. The entire two-week period around the holidays is peak busy-time in Orlando, because people are in the theme parks.

In a strange way however, the crowds become part of the fun. It is a bit of a different experience enjoying the theme parks during the holidays, and with lots of people all enjoying themselves and having fun, it is easy to get swept up in the volume of sheer joy all around you.

Undercover Tourist has a Crowd Calendar on their website. They sell discounted park tickets and are a reputable seller (one of only two as far as I am concerned) so here is a link to their crowd calendar for December. Check out their Calendar for load levels in the parks, but I would still get my tickets from Kissimmee Guest Services who usually provides a better price.

https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/crowd-calendar/december-2025/

There is also information online that will show you which of the Disney parks are busiest on which days. For example, the Magic Kingdom is usually busier on Mondays, so if you can go to a different park that day it could be to your benefit. At the same time, from experience, for our family our theme park vacation didn’t start until we had been to the Magic Kingdom, so we learned we needed to do it first. Perhaps others have the same experience, and that’s why Mondays are busy at Magic Kingdom – people are starting their vacation there.

This Disney World Planning Service website has a helpful calendar that indicates expected crowds at each of the parks:

https://magicguides.com/wdw-crowd-calendar/

And the Disney Tourist Blog has a very detailed guide to tackling the theme parks to avoid crowds:

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/best-worst-days-week-visit-every-park-disney-world/

Another way to tell which parks will be busiest on which days is to look at the cost of theme park tickets for those days. Now that Disney is varying the price of tickets based on how busy the parks are, it is easy to tell when they expect light or heavy crowds. The most expensive days will be the busiest!