Walt Disney World is never cheap, but some times of year are significantly less expensive than peak dates, which can cost over double the off-season. Wondering when it’s cheapest to visit Walt Disney World? This offers a list of days, weeks & seasons this year and in 2025 that have lower prices and crowds! (Updated March 3, 2024.)
As suggested above, “cheapest” is a relative term and not an absolute one. Walt Disney World is an undeniably expensive vacation destination, and the least expensive dates are still priced on par with traveling to Europe, Asia, or many tropical locales. Compounding that is the reality that total trip prices to Walt Disney World are up by thousands of dollars since 2019–and had risen by around 5% per year in the decade before that.
Park tickets, hotels, restaurants, and more at Walt Disney World have all increased dramatically in the last couple of years. The good news is that prices for 2024 have not increased–they’re the same price as they were last year. The bad news is that there will be 2025 Ticket Price Increases at Walt Disney World. We’d also expect menu and souvenir prices to increase in October 2024, with another increase possible in February 2025.
That sharp increase since 2019 doesn’t even take into account all costs, like transportation (airfare, rental cars, rideshare, etc.) or added expenses, such as souvenirs, dining, and more. It also doesn’t factor in the shift from free FastPass to the flat-rate Genie+ to date-based and per-park pricing for the line-skipping service. What was once free jumped to $16 per day and now is nearly triplethat on busier days.
On a positive note, Walt Disney World has gotten more aggressive resort discounts as “revenge travel” has fizzled out, resulting in most resort rates effectively decreasing as compared to the last two years. In addition to this decrease after discounts, 2025 vacation packages and room-only reservations are now available and rack rates have actually decreasedfor many resorts. (See our2024 vs. 2025 Walt Disney World Resort Hotels Price Comparison.) Those who drive or rent cars are the biggest winners, as there’s also no longer an overnight parking fee at on-site hotels.
This is all victory, the extent of which differs depending upon how much you zoom out and compare prices to past dates.Walt Disney World vacation prices are lower for 2024-2025 as contrasted with the peak of pent-up demand in 2022, but up significantly as compared to 2019.
Walt Disney World prices are still shockingly high and surprising to first-timers and those who haven’t visited since 2019 or earlier. We revisited this topic in How Much Does a Walt Disney World Vacation Cost? That was rather eye-opening for many people planning trips for the first time or returning from a hiatus of a few years.
The reader comments to that are equally illuminating, as many reported spending even more than our already high budget ranges on Walt Disney World vacations. Consider this post an indirect “sequel” to that–and one that aims to avoid overspending.
While this doesn’t help you cut costs or trim the fat from your vacation budget, it does aim to help you choose the most economical dates to visit! Similarly, our recent Top 14 Money Saving Tips for Walt Disney World in 2024 offers assistance with reducing your vacation budget by eliminating expenses that do not enhance your trip. In fact, some of that advice actually improves your trip–for example, doing breakfast in your room (saves money andtime–plus food court breakfasts generally underwhelm unless you like powdered eggs).
This post is similar in that choosing cheaper dates will generally also improve your trip and can save you money. That’s because the dates with the highest prices are typically busiest, and vice-versa. As a general rule, higher prices do not deter people from visiting or “redistribute” attendance. Crowds are almost always a good proxy for prices–the lower the prices, the lower you can expect attendance to be. Double win!
That’s one of the general “rules” when it comes to the cheapest times to visit Walt Disney World, and there are a few more. Another is that prices typically go up every single year. These increases take many forms, and are staggered across the calendar. Typically, the cost of snacks, sodas, and other pre-packaged items increases in late January or February and potentially again in September or October.
Consequently, it’s usually less expensive to visit sooner rather than later. If you’re waiting for prices to drop, history typically is not on your side. However, as noted above, the last few years have been anomalies. As noted above, prices for 2024-2025 arelower than 2022 when revenge travel was running hot and not all hotels had fully reopened.
Rates for 2025 are slightly lower in some cases than this year, but that will probably be partially or fully offset by higher food and ticket prices. For on-site guests, the wild card that determines whether this year or 2025 is cheaper is discounts. (For off-site guests, 2024 will almost certainly be cheaper.)
Walt Disney World has already released more–and better–discounts for 2024 than were available by this same point last year (see All Current Walt Disney World Discounts). Discounts have gotten progressively more aggressive in the last several months, with savings of up to 35% off resort rooms (on average, discounts have offered 5-10% more savings on average as compared to last year). On top of everything else, Free Dining returned for 2024–a first since 2019.
In any case, the general rule is that traveling in the current year is cheaper than in the following year. But there can be exceptions to that even in normal times. For example, if you book your vacation early and lock-in pricing on tickets and hotels, it will likely be less expensive to travel most dates in January or February 2025 than in November or December 2024. That’s because prices usuallydecrease in the winter off-season as compared to the prior holiday season, and there are also typically better discounts for the off-season.
While it’s debatable whether February or September will be cheaper within 2024 after discounts, it’s likely that both of those months will offer lower rates than their counterparts in 2025. Even with slightly lower resort rack rates next year, that’s just one factor in pricing. It doesn’t account for the price increases between now and 2025 that will almost assuredly occur on Lightning Lanes, restaurant menus, merchandise, and more.
In other words, the advice here should be applied to dates or months in the same year (with the aforementioned carve outs). Unless you’re “banking on” another recession or economic downturn, it’s a safe bet that the general trend line for Walt Disney World prices will continue its upward climb on an annualized basis.
Getting down to brass tacks, the least expensive time to visit Walt Disney World are usually the winter off-season. This basically encompasses January and February, with the exception of the very beginning of the year when schools are still on Christmas break plus the weeks around MLK Day, Mardi Gras and Presidents’ Day.
The general rule is that January and February are the cheapest months of the year, on average. There’s a little more nuance to it than that, as the fall has had better discounts (historically) and other variables that can move the needle on a case-by-case basis. Nevertheless, we could say January and February 2025 will mostly be the cheapest months of the next 12, although portions of August and September 2024 could come close or even surpass the winter depending upon the circ*mstances.
Those aforementioned circ*mstances are mostly Free Dining, which is available in the late summer and early fall off-season, but not the winter off-season. For families that are the “right” size and can take full advantage, there’s no better deal than Free Dining. It’ll make those months cheaper than winter…but not across the board or for everyone.
If you’re looking for the best timeframes in the winter off-season when Walt Disney World is cheapest, January 5 through mid-February is best. Again, prices spike for the week of Presidents’ Day/Mardi Gras, falling again the next week–but not as low as those early-year off-season dates.
Following that, prices in March and April are hit or miss, usually driven by the timing of Spring Break and Easter. Whenever goes are on break, you can expect significant spikes to both pricing and crowds. This, Easter is early–meaning that March is more expensive (on average) and prices drop in mid-April. Next year, Easter will occur later, meaning prices don’t decrease as soon.
Fast-forward past Easter, and that week (after the holiday) through the week before Memorial Day once again see lower prices. This is technically considered “regular” season, but it’s on par with some dates in mid-February and is the cheapest Walt Disney World will be until early August.
About a week before schools go back into session, prices decrease again. This occurs earlier on the hotel side of the equation than with park tickets, presumably because locals continue visiting after tourists stop traveling–and only the latter books hotel stays.
Starting the third Sunday of August, prices return to near their lowest levels of the year and stay there until mid-September (with the notable exception of Labor Day weekend). Costs do get higher from then until early October, but it’s by a nominal amount. Technically, these rates are higher than off-season dates in January and February. As noted above, that can be further exacerbated by intervening price increases on tickets, food, etc.
However, it can also be more than offset by discounts that tend to be offered in the fall offseason (as discussed above).Prices for October through early December tend to be a veritable roller coaster depending upon whether it’s a holiday week/end or not. Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving all see spikes–some fairly massive. Same goes for runDisney race weekends.
If it’s not one of those weeks or weekends, pricing is near its lowest levels of the year through the first week of December. That gradually escalates beginning the second week in December, culminating in the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Beginning December 16 and lasting until the end of the calendar year, holiday season kicks in and prices hit their highest levels of the entire year.
If you’re simply looking for the very best dates in each season, they are as follows:
Spring 2024
- March 17 to 20, 2024
- April 7 to 11, 2024
- April 14 to 18, 2024
- April 21 to 25, 2024
- April 28 to May 2, 2024
- May 5 to 9, 2024
- May 12 to 16, 2024
- May 19 to 23, 2024
Summer 2024
- All Sundays through Thursdays approximately equal in June and July 2024
- August 4 to 8, 2024
- August 11 to 15, 2024
- August 18 to 29, 2024
Fall 2024
- September 2 to 12, 2024
- September 15 to 19, 2024
- September 22 to 26, 2024
- September 29 to October 3, 2024
- October 7 to 10, 2024
- October 13 to 17, 2024
- October 20 to 24, 2024
- October 27 to 31, 2024
Holidays 2024
- November 3 to 7, 2024
- November 10 to 14, 2024
- November 17 to 20, 2024
- December 1 to 5, 2024
- December 8 to 12, 2024
Winter 2025
- January 5 to 9, 2025
- January 13 to 16, 2025
- January 19 to 23, 2025
- January 26 to 30, 2025
- February 2 to 5, 2025
A couple of things to note about the above. First, these season by season prices are relative to other dates within each season. For example, that last set of December dates costs exactly $100 per night more than the cheapest dates in January. If the entire calendar is open to you and you’re primarily concerned with price, you really want to be looking at winter or the late fall and early fall off-season.
However, not everyone can or wants to visit during those timeframes, so we’ve also included dates throughout the entire year that are cheaper than comparable alternatives. In the case of the above example, those dates are nearly $100 cheaper than the two weeks that follow. So significantly higher than the true off-season, but far lower than the true peak season. It’s all relative.
Second, there aremajorprice changes in Spring 2024. That’s almost certainly because of Easter shifting into March 2024, which makes that–and not April–the busy month for spring break season. April 2024 rates are still elevated as compared to January and February, but there are actually many dates that are less expensive than this year.
By contrast, every single day in March 2024 is more expensive than this year. Based on our research and comparisons, that’s theonlymonth of the year when that’s true. (Although the jury is still out on October through December 2024–more price increases could come for those dates.)
Next, it’s mostly Sunday through Thursday nights that have the lowest prices, with Mondays through Wednesdays having the absolute cheapest rates. If you’re looking for the least expensive options, you’ll find them at the All Stars. Those Value Resorts start at $117 per night in the off-season, which will likely be right around $100 per night after discounts.
In general, Friday and Saturday will be the most expensive days of the week to visit Walt Disney World, with Thursday and Sunday costing less–but still more than Monday through Wednesday nights.
As for the most expensive dates to visit, we can say with almost complete confidence that the most expensive dates to visit Walt Disney World are December 13-31, 2024. (January 1, 2025 is also extremely elevated–prices drop like a rock the following night.)
If you want more specificity in the least & most expensive dates to visitandthe best & worst dates to visit, it can be useful to consult our Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar. Look for the least busy dates, you’ll also generally find the cheapest dates.
Ultimately, that should answer some questions about when it’s cheapest to visit Walt Disney World in 2024…and perhaps raise even more. Basically, the least expensive dates on paper as of right now are January through early February and mid-August through September, followed by late April to late May, then October through early December–all minus long holiday weekends and the full weeks leading up to major holidays.
Against that backdrop and with that bias, if forced to choose dates to visit Walt Disney World in the next two years–for a range of reasons both qualitative and quantitative–I would not pick the winter months. Though great from a weather perspective and for EPCOT Festival of the Arts, winter is no longer the sleepy off-season it once was.
Instead, I would look to September. Even though the weather is far less desirable in the early fall off-season, September is reliably the best month for crowds and deals at Walt Disney World. It’s also a great time of year with Halloween, EPCOT’s Food & Wine Festival, and more. The big caveat here is that you need to be able to bear the heat and humidity if you choose these dates.
Personally, I’d actually go beyond September for my travel target and book the week after Thanksgiving. This is nothing new and actually has nothing to do with pricing–we’ve been recommending that week for ages, and it’s our personal favorite for a mix of reasons related to pricing, weather, crowds, and Christmas.
Late November and early December are “objectively inferior” to September, but the reality is that humans don’t take vacations in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. That’s the better week on balance. It typically offers superior weather (far lower likelihood of high heat & humidity…or hurricanes!), seasonal events, and more. It’ll be slightly more crowded and expensive, but that’s a worthwhile tradeoff in our view.
Everything has a cost, whether in dollars or otherwise, and you could argue that the non-monetary costs of visiting in September are higher than in the lull between holidays. For other dates we love to visit (and ones we dislike), see our .
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about this look at the cheapest times to visit Walt Disney World? Which would you pick in the January/February vs. August/September dilemma? Think discounts will continue to improve throughout 2024 and put a reality-check on runaway prices? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
