We’re about to enter the busy season at Disney World. Though, who are we kidding — we haven’t seen a “busy season” in the parks for a while.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
And that’s not to say Disney World isn’t busy either, in fact — it’s the opposite. Crowds can be unpredictable, and just when we thought we had it all figured out we get surprised by lower wait times than normal. We do our best to keep track of when you might expect more crowds so you can plan, and if you’re thinking about visiting Animal Kingdom soon — here are some dates you might want to avoid.
Disney World crowds are… unpredictable right now. Revenge travel has died down, but we’re still seeing high wait times when we’re not expecting it. On the flip side, though, sometimes when we’ve expected heavy crowds to flock to the parks — we’ve been proven wrong. Despite the uncertainty, we can usually predict when Disney World will be a bit on the busier side by looking at data from past years along with popular holidays.
Animal Kingdom
There are quite a few dates coming up that you may want to AVOID Animal Kingdom on — most of which happen to be holidays or holiday weekends. Fall and winter breaks are coming up, along with Labor Day, Veterans Day, and of course Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s.
In addition to holidays, the runDisney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend takes place from November 2nd through 5th — and one of the races actually goes through Animal Kingdom on November 5th. Take a look at the list below so you know when to expect some potentially longer waits and crowds!
Expedition Everest
- Sept. 2 — Labor Day Weekend
- Sept. 3 — Labor Day Weekend
- Sept. 4 — Labor Day
- Oct. 7 — Indigenous Peoples Day/Columbus Day Weekend (Fall break time for many school districts)
- Oct. 8 — Indigenous Peoples Day/Columbus Day Weekend (Fall break time for many school districts)
- Oct. 9 — Indigenous Peoples Day/Columbus Day (Fall break time for many school districts)
- Nov. 5 — Wine and Dine Half-Marathon and Post-race party
- Nov. 10 — Veterans Day is on a Saturday, which means many people will have Friday off work
- Nov. 11 — Veterans Day
- Nov. 12 — Veterans Day Weekend
- Nov. 22 – Thanksgiving Weekend
- Nov. 23 — Thanksgiving
- Dec. 23 — Jan. 1 — Christmas/New Year’s
Pandora
Keep in mind, though, that there are still ways to have a great Disney World trip even if the parks are busy. Consider buying Genie+ to skip some of the longer lines or purchasing Individual Lightning Lanes. Mobile Order and Checkout will be your friends for dining and shopping, too!
No matter when you’re visiting Animal Kingdom, you can still have a great time — even if it’s a bit crowded. Luckily, we’ll be keeping you updated with the latest crowd info and wait times you need to know about. So, as always, stay tuned to DFB for more Disney news!
DinoLand
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These Are the BEST Snacks in Animal Kingdom for 2023
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I have a question about Nov. 5th. Do you know something us racers don’t know about the half marathon? You say the course runs through Animal Kingdom and you mention the post race party. The courses weren’t released yet, and on the RunDisney site for the Wine & Dine weekend, it says the post race party is at Epcot. My wife and I are running all the races that weekend and doing the party, but I don’t want to get our hopes up about running through Animal Kingdom. Thank you in advance for clarification.