Avoiding crowds without a rigid schedule

Q: Without using a scheduled touring plan, what's the best way to avoid crowds in the Magic Kingdom?


A: Great question! Many of us aren’t type A personalities or don’t want to schedule our vacations down to the last bathroom break, so touring plans aren’t appealing or helpful. Vacation is meant for sleeping in after all!

I’m a touring plan follower myself – I love beating the crowds and planning out my days right down to the restaurants we'll eat at. But I have a husband who is quite the opposite of me, so I’ve toured Disney World without a plan and had great luck. Specifically thinking of the Magic Kingdom, here are a couple tips I would pass onto you:

1. Try to visit the Magic Kingdom sometime during the week. Avoid weekends. I typically tour MK on Tuesday and have had no problems with crazy crowds.

2. Tour in the morning, as early as you can get up comfortably, and then take an afternoon break at your hotel, returning in the evening. We’ve also had great success with that strategy. The heaviest time for Magic Kingdom seems to be about noon to 4pm. We like being in the MK at night time, too.

3. When you arrive at the MK, start your touring from left to right. People naturally want to veer right first (most are right-handed) and Walt planned for this in that Tomorrowland's pathway is much larger than the pathway to Adventureland. If you go against the flow and veer left, you miss some of the crowds.

4. Utilize the fastpass system! Fastpasses are the best thing since sliced bread. Grab your ticket, tour some other less-crowded attractions, and then go back to the fastpass attraction with fastpass in hand to tour it without much wait time.

5. Go to the parks at non-peak times of the year, if possible. Fall, Jan-Feb, and spring (avoiding spring break/Easter) are all good times to go.