How much does day of the week matter?

T3Erin

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 19, 2018
We're planning an early summer 2020 trip. (Well, I am - kids don't know yet) We're leaving as soon as the last possible school emergency weather day is over. I have us arriving at SoG on May 29 (Friday) and we're staying til June 6 (Saturday). We'll have 5 day park hoppers (military salute) and I want a non-park day somewhere in the middle to relax. Normally I'd look at the calendar and think "no way do I want to start out on a Saturday - it'll be crazy" and I'd take that day as a relax day too (then do parks Sun, Mon, and Tues - rest day Wed - and parks Thurs and Fri). But does the day of the week really matter? For the most part people are on vacation - so is Saturday really any worse in the parks than a Tuesday or Wed? If it matters, our first park will likely be Epcot - the kids were bummed we didn't spend more time there last time. Or would being there and not heading to a park the first day be crazier? I know my kids will be excited to get into the parks, but there's enough other "Disney" to do, that we can keep them busy with the resort, the pool, Springs, and visiting other resorts.
 
Not sure if it really matters but I try to avoid he parks on the weekends thinking more locals with season passes will be in the parks and I would think especially EPCOT with all the nice places to eat. Just my way of thinking but not sure if it really makes a difference??? Also SoG is awesome. They will love the pool. There is plenty to keep them busy. We loved the ice cream out by the main lobby too. I think we had it every day
 
I think a larger factor is extra magic hours. People still flock to the EMH parks, even when it is not to their advantage. The WDW Prep School website (among others) has a great daily crowd calendar projection.

Thanks to your family for your military service. I hope you have a great trip!
 
The weekend can make a difference because that is typically when day trippers come to the parks, and Saturday specifically is the day a lot of people start their vacation with a day in MK. This can really add to the crowd. The collective wisdom on Saturdays is to avoid MK, and the park that has extra magic hours. That is where the larger crowds will be.
 
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The weekend makes a huge difference to us. If you can float your days, I'd avoid Saturday - especially at MK and EP. Sunday isn't quite as bad.
 
Agree with others. Saturday is always the busiest day of the week. If you go on Sat, go to AK or HS. MK and Epcot are nuts on Saturdays. AK/HS a bit less so. AK has so many non-ride things to do it’s quite manageable even when busy.
 
I feel less crazy for wanting to avoid Saturday then - thanks!! I think I can keep the kids from being too disappointed by doing Disney Springs that day (we skipped it completely last time!) and doing the resort monorail loop and walking around. Plus - pool time. And I have an ADR for O'Hana on Saturday - I was thinking I'd try to modify it to Friday for arrival day if we were going to be in a park on Saturday so we wouldn't have to leave the park and rush to a reservation, but staying out of the parks on Saturday makes that a perfect day for O'Hana.
 


In my opinion, that is a great plan. Use Saturday to resort hop, hit the pool, eat at one of the cool restaurants outside of the parks. Maybe do some shopping. Plus showing the kids that you can have fun without running from ride to ride. Sounds like a good day to me.
 
It seems reasonable that more locals with Annual Passes would decide to show up on weekends. Schools will be out for the summer, so I would imagine a busy time in general at Disney, but it is also HOT in the summer. None of those 3rd party websites have any special inside insight about how busy the parks will be, so I wouldn't put any extra weight on their projections.
 
Makes no difference except or parks with morning extra magic hours. They are always more busy. Go to a park without those.
 
When people ask about what are the best days of the week to go if they need only one, or two days, I always recommend Sunday and/or Monday.

Taking holidays aside, regardless of whether it's peak season, or not, Sunday and Monday are the best days, as traditionally most people are leaving on Sunday, or leaving, or already gone by Monday. During school times, it's the time in which children have to go back to school and parents going back to work. During non-school periods, it's when adults have to go back to work. Then regardless of whether school's out, or not, on Monday the locals are back at work / school.

Of course people take time off, but traditionally they start that towards the end of the week and naturally there's exceptions to the things I mentioned above, as obviously the theme parks are never empty.
 

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