Welcome to Disney’s Busy Season for 2024
Like many of you, I won’t be spending Halloween at Walt Disney World this year.
Sadly, I waited too long to book and missed my opportunity at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party on Halloween.
Photo: Disney
That’s an event I’ve intended on Halloween on most nights over the past decade, and that’s even accounting for the pandemic.
We were even there in 2020 when there wasn’t a party. So, we hung out at Disney Springs instead.
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
Since I visit so often at this time of year, I’m familiar with something you may not know. Disney attendance is about to peak.
Yes, Halloween Week signifies something important at the parks.
Welcome to Disney’s busy season in 2024! Here’s what you need to know about upcoming visits this year.
About Peak Season
Photo: Disney
When Disney announced the new Lightning Lane Premier Pass, park officials provided a subtle nod to peak season.
In one breath, officials announced that the prices would fluctuate based on the date.
Photo: Disney
Without missing a beat, Disneyland indicated that its version of Premier Pass would cost $300-$400.
However, $300 is off the table right now. Disney flat out stated that the price would be $400 at Disneyland in 2024.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Disneyland
That was an explicit acknowledgment of a simple truth. The remaining dates this year are the busy season.
Disney has stopped being subtle about this stuff, too. You can easily check it by looking at identifying intel.
Photo: Reddit
A few years ago, Disney introduced fluctuating admission ticket prices.
Later, the paid FastPass system, which we now call Lightning Lane, employed a similar technique.
So, you can compare upcoming pricing to previous averages from earlier this year and the old system.
All of them tell the same story. Disney anticipates that the parks will remain crowded during most remaining weeks in 2024.
There are a couple of exceptions. Historically, the week after Thanksgiving is slow.
The same statement applies during the first half of December. Then, the conversation flips seemingly overnight.
As the 12 Days of Christmas approach, Disneyland and Walt Disney World experience their largest annual crowds.
The whole thing kicks off with Halloween, as October ends just in time for Disney to put up the holiday lights on November 1st.
Crowding in Magic Kingdom on December 30th
In fact, Disney doesn’t even wait nowadays. Our fabulous park reporters captured images of the change occurring already.
In case you missed it, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa already has prepped the space in the hotel lobby.
Soon, the famous Gingerbread House will open, one of the surest signs of peak season!
How Disney Parks Work during Peak Season
Photo: Disney
Okay, I’m telling you this right now. Disney will tell you how crowded the parks will be during your visit.
Let’s use Magic Kingdom as an example. Disney charged $20 for a Lightning Lane Multi Pass here on September 30th.
As a reminder, September remains the slowest month at Disney.
It used to be September and January, but the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts changed that.
In October, the most frequent price was $29, which is $9 or 45 percent more than at the end of September.
Thus far, the average for November is $32.32, and even that price will seem low in a few weeks.
Belle in France
Disney hasn’t posted the prices for Thanksgiving Week yet. You may safely expect those to be the end-of-year prices, too.
So, the logic here is simple. When Lightning Lanes and tickets cost more, the parks will be more crowded. THAT is the busy season.
Photo: Disney
You’ll notice this behavior in many odd ways, the first being the prices.
Park planners expend plenty of time and resources to solve this particular logic problem.
Photo: Disney
Disney relies heavily on guest satisfaction surveys. Management considers them the best litmus test for how the parks are doing.
Those scores understandably go down when guests spend too much time standing in line.
Photo: Disney
Disney’s new(ish) tiered pricing system reflects this fact. The parks cost more on the more crowded days as a form of gatekeeping.
Some guests will simply wait until a cheaper day for tickets.
Photo: Disney
When Disney admission cost the same every day, the holidays sold out first.
Remarkably, that practice still occurs today, but the guests pay more for the privilege.
Main Street, U.S.A.
This allows Disney to lower theoretical attendance limits and thereby perform at least a minimal amount of crowd control.
Disney Parks Don’t Work Theoretically
Photo: Disney
That’s how the system should work in theory. In practice, it often proves very different.
Due to the nature of vacation days and national holidays, many people don’t have much choice.
Photo: Disney
They can visit Disney at times like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s due to government holidays.
Also, some businesses slow down production in December as they know they’ll have staffing shortages.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
All these factors lead to the same conclusion. People visit during the holiday season, no matter what.
I say that before we factor in the MANY reasons Disney provides people to visit during the holidays.
The Grand Floridian is the most iconic example of a holiday gingerbread house, but you’ll find them at several Disney resorts.
At the parks, the holiday decorations will go live on November 1st, creating a veritable winter wonderland for guests.
Photo: Disney
EPCOT hosts the Candlelight Processional, while Walt Disney Worlds hosts two other holiday after-hours parties as well.
At Disneyland and Disney World, popular holiday overlays are only available at this time of the year.
Main Street, U.S.A.
So, people have the free time to visit the parks, and Disney gives us plenty of reasons to do so.
All these facts lead to one simple truth. The parks are crowded from now through the end of the year.
The Quirks of the Busy Season
Magic Kingdom
I’ll use my Wait Times articles to emphasize the point. Last week, the average Magic Kingdom attraction had a wait of 25 minutes.
During Christmas Week of last year, the average wait was 49 minutes.
The one caveat here is that I’ve picked the busiest week. For early December last year, the average wait was 28 minutes.
However, for Thanksgiving Week 2023, that average had been 41 minutes.
That’s the holiday fluctuation versus the non-holiday weeks. In simplest terms, not every day or even week will be crowded.
Overall, the trend is unmistakable, though. During the busy season, you should expect longer waits.
For this reason, even though Disney charges more for them, the Lightning Lane options make more sense.
Without them, you’ll spend the holidays standing in line for attractions, which isn’t ideal.
Personally, I’d recommend that you go Resort Hopping and enjoy all the gingerbread houses at the various hotels. But that’s beside the point.
Overall, we’re in the busy season at Disney. So, you should gauge the crowds by glancing at the price of your tickets and Lightning Lanes for those dates.
Candlelight Processional
You can set your expectations for general crowd patterns based on that information.
To a larger point, please never lose sight of the obvious. You’re at Disney at the most wonderful time of the year.
Photo: Disney
What could possibly be better than that?
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!
