Many will refer to the different times to visit Disney based on what festival is happening at EPCOT. I like to call this, the Seasons of Disney. When first starting to plan your Walt Disney World vacation, it's important to take EPCOT Festivals into consideration. For example, the fall season has become increasingly more popular and crowded due to the International Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT and also Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP for short) at Magic Kingdom. Many schools have fall breaks during October and the weather is becoming more tolerable. Keep in mind that the more popular times are also the more expensive times. Disney knows when most people will be traveling and they set their prices accordingly. Let's take a look at the different Seasons of Disney to help you decide when would be the best time for you to visit.
Before we get into each season, check out this post on the basics of EPCOT festivals to learn how to navigate the EPCOT festivals like a pro.
International Festival of the Arts (January-February)
The first EPCOT festival of the year is the International Festival of the Arts. As the name implies, this is a celebration of art and the performing arts. This newest festival introduced at EPCOT takes place mid January through late February. We all know that Florida is HOT. But going to central Florida this time of year can shock many when they get there and the temperatures are sometimes only in the 40°s-60°s F. Pack for all weather. We have been there in the winter months where we have been bundled up in ski coats, hats, and gloves one day and sweating in shorts and tank tops the next. But, we are southerns, so anything below 60° is freezing for us. While discussing weather, keep in mind that all Disney pools are heated, so feel free to swim in the winter months. They are only heated to 82°, which is no where near warm enough for this southern girl who grew up in Texas, but I do see plenty of people in the pools when it is cold.
Festival of the Arts foods are vibrant and colorful. There is a large mural wall that's painted by, well, all of us! That's right. This free paint by numbers mural is a way to leave your mark on the festival. Every EPCOT festival is packed with musical artists. During the Festival of the Arts, the artists consist of real Broadway performers. All live performances take place in the amphitheater in the American pavilion.
While this is generally a better time of the year to go based off of lower crowds, better weather, and cheaper prices, there are two RunDisney events in January and February. We accidentally went during a RunDisney event last November, and boy was it crowded. If your main goal is to avoid crowds, make sure you do a quick Google search to see when the events happen and avoid that weekend at all cost. However, if you're one of those crazy people who run for fun, even if zombies aren't chasing you, I've heard that the RunDisney marathons and half marathons are amazing events. They do sell out fast, so plan accordingly.
This time of year is also when Disney will close rides for scheduled maintenance. These announcements are usually made several months in advance, so do a quick search of Disney ride closures to make sure your must-do rides won't be closed during the time you will be there.
Now, I'm a big fan of pro/con lists. It's an easy way for me to quickly see all of the information at once. So if you're like me, here ya go.
Travel During January/February
Pro | Con |
|---|---|
Lower crowds | RunDisney event weekends are CROWDED |
More affordable | MLK Day and President's day are busy |
Cooler weather | Scheduled ride closures for maintenance |
Early January will still have Christmas decor | Not the best EPCOT festival |
International Flower and Garden Festival (March-July)
By far, without a doubt, 100% my very favorite festival. Fresh, light foods. Disney character topiaries. Butterfly garden. Spring drinks. What more could a girl ask for? Honestly, I could write a masters thesis on this festival. But I won't make you read that much, so I'll hit the highlights. For the thesis version this amazing festival, click here.
Disney has been wonderful at adding plant based food options, beyond just a veggie burger or salad, over the last few years. But the springtime Flower and Garden festival takes plant based eating to new levels. And don't worry, there are still a ton of options for meat eaters. My teen refuses to eat any veggies and still finds plenty to eat at Flower and Garden.
This festival has been extended all of the way until July, so it's hard to cover this festival as a "season" since it is both spring and summer. It's also tricky because the first half is prime spring break season. March through early May brings beautiful weather. Spring break brings heavy crowds. If you are working around the constraints of school breaks, then you may not have a choice than to go during prime spring break season. Since we are in the public school system this year, we went to Disney during our school's spring break, which was the week leading up to Easter. I was mentally prepared for long waits, shoulder to shoulder crowds, and impossible traffic. I will say, I was pleasantly surprised as it was no where near as bad as I was expecting. I mean, last November, we accidentally went during RunDisney weekend, which lead up to Jersey Week. I have never in my life seen so many people at Disney. For me, that was something I never want to experience ever again. More on that to come later. But I would definitely go back to Disney for spring break again next year.
If you are a homeschooling family, a couple without kids, or simply don't mind taking your kids out of school to go on vacation, then I highly recommend going after Easter and before Memorial Day in May. Honestly, the end of April through mid May is my absolute favorite time to visit central Florida. The weather is warm, but usually not too hot. It doesn't thunderstorm as much as it does in the summer and fall. Crowds are usually lighter because most people traveled during spring break or are waiting until school is out for the summer. And.... Flower and Garden is in full swing at EPCOT.
Unfortunately, the first week of May brings a huge national cheer competition. Basically, think of being in a girls only middle school with thousands of tween girls. That's pretty much what it's like being in the parks during that week. The largest crowds will be the day before through the last day of competition, so always Google search "Disney cheer competitions" and try to avoid those few days if possible. If not, try to plan those days at parks other than Magic Kingdom, which will see the heaviest crowds. But even with Magic Kingdom being a tween scene, I still put early May as top of my favorite time to visit list.
For purposes of the pro/con list, I'm going to group July in with the summer months. Flower and Garden ends this year July 3rd, so while that IS technically July, it's not far enough into the month for me to count it here.
Travel During March-June
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Light crowds after Easter is over | Heavy spring break crowds March and April |
Flower and Garden is my favorite festival | Very expensive during March and April |
Prices drop significantly after Easter | Mid May starts to get hot. June is hotter |
Amazing weather | |
Kids won't have to miss school if going during spring break or summer break | Heavier crowds start around 2nd week in June as school let out for summer |
International Food and Wine Festival
Probably the MOST popular EPCOT festival is Food and Wine. As you can imagine, the focus of this event is culinary masterpieces and alcoholic craftsmanship. For me personally, my preference is the food at Flower and Garden. Food and Wine is a "fall" festival with heavier and richer fall type foods. I use the term "fall" loosely because it now starts in July. If you have ever been to the south in July, you know that this is peak summer. I don't necessary want to be walking around in the 100° heat eating a bowl of hot soup. Now, I'm not saying the food is bad by any means. Everything we have ever eaten at this festival has been amazing. It's just not personal preference. This festival also places a heavy emphasis on CHEESE!!! Now, cheese upsets my tummy, but I dive in full steam to all of the yummy dishes and just suffer later.
Food and wine runs from July through November, making this the longest EPCOT festival spanning almost four full months. These months are prime hurricane season. We were there last November during a hurricane and the parks, both Disney World and Universal Orlando, closed down for almost 2 days. The parks will still operate in heavy rain, but if the wind is too strong, then they do close. Make sure you pack ponchos when traveling in summer and fall. Here's a picture of me enjoying some food just before they closed the Disney Parks due to Hurricane Nicole.
This Season of Disney is also extremely popular because of the Halloween event at Magic Kingdom. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) runs on select nights from mid August with the last event being Halloween night. During this after hours event (meaning, Magic Kingdom closes and only those who have bought tickets are allowed in), guests with tickets can Trick-or-Treat at designated spots throughout the park, enjoy a special stage show hosted by none other than the Sanderson Sisters themselves, meet favorite characters dressed in costumes, and enjoy rides with significantly shorter wait times. There is also special event food that you can purchase as well. This is an amazingly fun event. It's actually the only time that adults are allowed to wear costumes into the park. There are some costume restrictions, so make sure you check out Disney's website for the official rules before you buy a special costume to wear.
Oh man! I just realized that I haven't even mentioned the best part of Food and Wine... The music. As I mentioned earlier, each EPCOT festival has music in the amphitheater in the American Pavilion. Eat to the Beat is the music festival of Food and Wine. Many of these artist are so popular that people line up 3 to 4 hours in advance just to make sure they get a spot. Of course Disney, being Disney, capitalizes on this. They sell advance dining reservations (ADRs) where you can buy a meal at select restaurants and get confirmed premium seating. Of note, these dining packages are more expensive than a regular meal and DVC and annual pass holder discounts do not apply. We definitely did this for Boys II Men last year. Always check the Disney website for updated artist schedule.
Travel During July-October
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Popular events at 2 of the parks | Peak hurricane season |
Summers no longer peak travel time, so discounts often available August-September | Weekend at EPCOT crowded with locals for Food and Wine |
Can work around school summer and fall breaks so kids don't have to miss school | Ever been to the Sun? Go to Florida in August and it's basically the same thing |
Trick-or-treating at Magic Kingdom | |
International Festival of the Holidays
Finally, our last Season of Disney is the holiday season, where at EPCOT we celebrate the International Festival of the Holidays. This is by far the shortest EPCOT festival lasting just over a month. It usually starts right around Thanksgiving and runs through the end of the year. This one is hard for us to get to as our annual passes are blocked out the four days around Thanksgiving and for the two weeks around Christmas. While we were homeschooling, we loved going the week before or the week after Thanksgiving. But we don't have that luxury anymore. This EPCOT festival was not yet taking place the times we would go the week before Thanksgiving, but the rest of Disney is always in full holiday mode.
Christmas is my favorite holiday, and Christmastime at Disney is absolutely magical. All four of the parks and the resorts get totally decked out with Christmas decorations. It even snows on Main Street!!! We'll get into the other parks in a bit. First, let's talk about the Festival of the Holidays at EPCOT. Check out my guide to all things Christmas at Disney.
This festival focuses on different holiday traditions from around the world. Hear traditional story telling from each country's version of Santa Clause. See the amazing Chinese Lion Dancer at the China Pavilion. Hear the story of Christmas in France from Père Noël. This is surely a fun and educational experience for the whole family. While there may not be as many food booth options at this festival as the others, Disney didn't leave out some amazing food. Sample traditional holiday foods from around the world at the Holiday Kitchens.
The thing that people flock to this EPCOT festival for is the Candlelight Processional held in the American Pavilion. Instead of a music concert, like at Flower and Garden or Food and Wine, the Festival of the Holidays has a grand telling of the Biblical Christmas story of the birth of Christ. There is a choir with singing and of course, Candlelight. The big draw for this is that Disney has celebrity narrators reading the Christmas story!!! Much like with more well known bands at the other festivals, the more famous celebrity narrators will have longer lines and waits. I kid you not when I say that people line up for 4 hours in advance to see Neil Patrick Harris. And yes, NPH is the most popular narrator. Seeing NPH as a Candlelight Processional narrator is top of my Disney bucket-list. But as I mentioned earlier, my annual pass has block out dates, which usually correspond with the most popular narrator (NPH). Other popular narrators are Whoopie Goldberg and Angela Bassett. Josh Gad (the voice of Olaf) was new for last year and the line to see him was insane. So if you have your heart set on seeing a particular narrator, I strongly recommend buying a dining package.
EPCOT is not the only park that has a transformation during this Season of Disney. All parks have a giant Christmas tree in each one. Disney Springs has a Christmas Tree stroll where you can find a map to many differently themed trees. Each have garland and lights everywhere. I know we are all supposed to say that Magic Kingdom is the best park, but in all honesty, the Christmas decorations at Hollywood Studio are amazing.
All of the resorts have decorations. Beach Club has a giant moving carousel made entirely of gingerbread and white chocolate! Not going to lie, it's my favorite resort at Christmas. Grand Floridian has a giant gingerbread house in the lobby. Both of these resorts smell absolutely amazing this time of year. Both Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge have HUGE Christmas trees in the lobby. And there's just something special about that oversized fireplace in the Wilderness Lodge lobby at Chirstmastime... even if it is still 80° outside.
Magic Kingdom offers their Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP). This, like MNSSHP, is a special ticketed event after the park closes on select nights. This event offers free cookies and hot chocolate/apple cider at designated locations, special fireworks, special stage shows, a dance party, and a chance to meet rare characters along with regular favorited decked out in their best holiday attire.
Travel During November/December
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Wonderful weather November / December | Very busy Thanksgiving and weeks leading up to Christmas |
Parks and resorts are beautifully decorated | RunDisney in November |
Don't need to take kids out of school if going during breaks | Jersey Week in November. Extremely busy. Don't be like us and accidentally go during this week. If going in November, be sure to look up Jersey week and avoid at all cost |
Each Season of Disney offers something special and unique. There really is no "bad" time to go, except maybe August solely because it's basically like walking on the sun and Jersey Week in November when the entire state of New Jersey descends upon Florida. We accidentally went during Jersey Week last year and it was the worst crowds that I have ever seen at Disney. Way worse than spring break, and we were there the week of Easter this year. Please, if you don't take any of my advice, listen to this one thing: Don't go during Jersey Week.
I hope this helps to give you a starting point when trying to plan your Walt Disney World Vacation. For help booking a room or Disney Vacation Package, check out Jillian with Destination Dreaming Travels. She's a FREE travel agent waiting to help you book your most magical vacation ever.
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