It was a quiet summer time at Walt Disney World, and the low season was so sluggish that September was the least busy month since 2021. There have been some spikes to above-average territory, and EPCOT has been surprisingly busy, however in any other case, Walt Disney World has loved an prolonged sluggish stretch for nearly the final 6 months.
That each one ends now, or very quickly. Fall break is among the busiest instances of the yr at Walt Disney World, and is actually the kick-off of the favored 3 month stretch culminating in Christmas and New 12 months’s Eve. Federal holidays and faculty recesses trigger crowd ranges to spike, which catches many guests abruptly.
The truth is, October 2025 can have home windows with a number of the yr’s highest wait instances in Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. In all chance, the approaching weeks will embrace the busiest dates since Easter, and the primary time since April 19, 2025 that Walt Disney World had actually excessive crowd ranges.
Technically, fall break “season” has already began. Some college districts do a number of ‘scholar holidays’ or ‘skilled improvement days’ for academics in late September and early October. Different faculties, universities, and Ok-12 college programs take longer breaks deeper into the month of October.
It’s not simply fall breaks that contribute to congestion, both; as coated in our 2025-2026 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars, there are a number of explanation why the subsequent few months include a number of the busiest dates of the whole yr. With that mentioned, it’s positively more difficult to make credible predictions for the subsequent month-plus.
Usually, the weekend of Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day and the next weekend are the 2 worst of the autumn break season. That may seemingly be true once more in October 2025, however there’s much less certainty about which weekend will likely be busier, the weekdays in between, or the longer tail of fall break.
The primary cause for that is that final yr’s wait instances knowledge and crowd ranges are of zero worth in any respect. That is true for October as an entire, however particularly fall break. That’s as a result of final yr’s fall break occurred within the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The storms had been so impactful that the corporate straight addressed them on earnings calls, warning that Walt Disney World working revenue could be adversely impacted by roughly $130 million on account of storms. Hurricane Milton brought on the parks to shut and had an extended tail of decrease crowds on account of cancellations within the days and weeks afterwards.
I don’t know what number of trip cancellations $130 million quantities to, nevertheless it’s positively not a negligible quantity. Simply in knowledge for October 2024 vs. 2023, the wait instances and crowd ranges are means decrease final yr. We anticipate Walt Disney World to recuperate from that in October 2025.
What’s unclear is the diploma to which that year-over-year restoration will happen. This October will certainly be busier than final. However will crowds be on par with 2023? There are causes to imagine the reply is not any, with conference enterprise showing to sluggish barely.
There are additionally a wide range of causes for journey trepidations, together with lasting scars from final yr’s hurricanes. (The cumulative impression of elevated hurricane closures within the final ~7 years is vacationers adjusting dates to keep away from storm season.) Nonetheless, Walt Disney World goes to complete the yr on a excessive notice, with advance bookings suggesting that October by way of December, together with early 2026, will likely be busy.
With that preface out of the way in which, let’s dive proper into the autumn break predictions. We’ve flagged October 10-18, 2025 as being one of many the ten worst ‘weeks’ of the yr. See our checklist of the 10 Finest and 10 Worst Weeks to Go to Walt Disney World in 2025 to 2027.
Within the commentary to that checklist, we famous that fall break was “solely” the #9 worst week of the yr in 2023 and there was an honest likelihood it will fall of the checklist solely in 2025. We famous that some potential guests is perhaps spooked away by storm season or still-hot climate.
Nonetheless, these dates usher in the long run of the low season, and begin of an over 3-month stretch of elevated crowds–minus just a few main lulls. Fall break is notable from that perspective alone. It’s a turning level for Walt Disney World crowds and one which catches folks abruptly. That’s exactly why we’re providing this heads up–as a result of this can be a main and abrupt change from the low season.
At any time when we cowl the worsening crowds in October, there are at all times some followers who deal with this as a “contradiction” to our earlier slew of summer time and low season crowd stories. (“I believed you mentioned crowds had been low? Make up your thoughts!” is an precise remark we’ve obtained, together with extra of that nature.)
Sure, crowds had been low. However they’re not static. What would even be the purpose in masking crowd ranges in the event that they had been at all times the identical?! There are lows and highs all through any yr, and now could be the time in 2025 after we begin seeing extra highs.
The excellent news is that we do have kernels of knowledge to make knowledgeable predictions. For starters, Walt Disney World has prolonged park hours in October 2025 with far better frequency than the final a number of months.
These extensions sign that the inner attendance forecast is elevated for at the least a part of the month. This observe of extending hours occurs every time crowd ranges are anticipated to be above-average to heavy.
On dates which might be forecast to be busiest, Magic Kingdom is closing at 11 pm on nights when it’s not internet hosting Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together and is opening at 8 am on most days–celebration or not. Animal Kingdom is opening at 8 am and staying open till 7 pm on many nights. Sadly, each EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are retaining their 9 am to 9 pm hours for now.
Primarily based on park hours extensions, Walt Disney World is projecting October 11-19, 2025 and October 24-25, 2025 to be the height of fall break season within the parks.
Regardless of most People not having it off work, Columbus Day is a federal vacation so loads of folks do have it off. Moreover, many colleges use Columbus Day as the idea for his or her fall breaks, providing an prolonged vacation between their first and second marking durations.
That’s the case for each Osceola and Orange Counties, that are the districts in Central Florida that decision Walt Disney World dwelling. Each Orange and Osceola County checklist October 10 as the tip of the marking interval and October 13, 2025 off.
Even when no different district in the whole United States had fall breaks then, that lengthy weekend could be busy at Walt Disney World on account of these two native college programs. That is one other factor that catches some longtime Walt Disney World followers abruptly, as native college districts didn’t have such an outsized impression on park attendance a decade or so in the past.
Central Florida has seen a inhabitants explosion within the final a number of years, with these two counties particularly seeing an inflow of distant employees and higher center class households who go to Walt Disney World in sturdy numbers. That is evident all year long, particularly when these districts have their spring break or in early January when AP blockouts finish (talking of which, Annual Go blockouts are one other huge crowd issue, particularly for the 2 lowest tiers.)
It’s not simply Central Florida college districts which have fall breaks. Listed here are dates for different massive college districts in Florida:
- Broward County Public Colleges: October 13, 2025
- Palm Seashore County Public Colleges: October 17, 2025
- Duval County Public Colleges: October 13-14, 2025
Listed here are different main college districts and their fall break dates that might impression crowd ranges at Walt Disney World:
- Gwinnett County Public Colleges: October 9-13, 2025
- Chicago Public Colleges: October 13, 2025
- Fairfax County Public Colleges: October 13, 2025
- Indianapolis Public Colleges: October 13-17, 2025
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Colleges: October 13-17, 2025
One fascinating factor I did discover whereas researching dates is that an rising quantity have opted to forgo devoted fall breaks in October in favor of longer breaks for Thanksgiving (and in some circumstances, Christmas). It is a pattern that had began just a few years in the past, however looks as if it has actually accelerated within the final yr.
Primarily based on what I’m seeing, it seems to be an particularly fashionable pattern amongst districts within the South, together with Florida. The truth is, I couldn’t discover practically as many main districts in Florida and Georgia which have devoted fall breaks this yr as in 2022-2023. That appears vital, and will imply fewer 8/10 and above crowd stage days over the subsequent couple weeks.
We don’t have the time or assets for a complete checklist, so that is for illustrative functions solely and isn’t meant to be totally consultant of all fall breaks. Notably, there’s little or no from the Northeast and Midwest. This isn’t to say that New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Indiana, and so on. don’t have a big impact on crowds.
Nonetheless, it’s our view that the farther from Walt Disney World, the much less impression any college district’s fall break has on crowd ranges. That’s as a result of, in contrast to Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New 12 months’s Eve, this isn’t per week or longer break–it’s usually only a lengthy weekend. Disney diehards apart, most households aren’t flying all the way down to Walt Disney World for an extended weekend.
Moreover, our focus right here is on Ok-12 college districts, however universities have fall breaks that may trigger slight spikes to attendance. Schools normally have much less of an impression on Walt Disney World crowds on account of age demographics, however they don’t have zero impression. Notable examples embrace Florida State College, College of Florida, College of Central Florida–you get the concept.
Since final yr’s knowledge is unusable, let’s check out October 2023 crowd ranges (courtesy of thrill-data.com). Common wait instances peaked on October 16, leaping to 50 minutes for a 9/10 crowd stage. Notably, that was the Monday after Columbus Day, which fell earlier. Simply two weeks prior was nonetheless the low season.
Crowd ranges step by step fell all through the week, and by October 22, there was as soon as once more one other lull. Regardless of October 16 being the busiest single day, the height full week was truly October 9-15, 2023 (crowd stage 8/10 and common of 42 minutes). Against this, October 16-22 had a crowd stage of 6/10 for a median of 38 minutes. Each of those weeks had been significantly slower than 2022, however that was the peak of pent-up demand.
In each 2022 and 2023, crowd ranges dropped by the final full week of October and remained low-to-moderate till the spike for Jersey Week and Veterans Day. Opposite to fashionable perception, there isn’t a spike for Halloween. There’s a little bit of a bump within the few days main as much as the runDisney Wine & Dine Half Marathon (races are October 23-26, 2025).
If annual patterns proceed to play out, Fall Break 2025 will likely be slower than 2022-2023. That’s a reasonably secure prediction given overarching crowd developments and the obvious shift away from devoted fall breaks since then. Nonetheless, there’s each cause to anticipate a reasonably dramatic year-over-year enhance as in comparison with October 2024; once more, that’s on account of Hurricanes Helene and Milton inflicting ~$130 million price of cancellations.
It’s extremely unlikely that this yr’s fall break peak crowd ranges surpass this Easter. April 12-19, 2025 was the final actually busy week of this yr, and there’s nothing up to now knowledge (or anything) suggesting fall break will rise to that peak week.
Nonetheless, one of many subsequent two weeks in all probability would be the busiest week since Spring Break. Most weeks since Easter have underperformed in 2025, with the months of Might by way of September all been down year-over-year. Nonetheless, Walt Disney World is beginning to flip a nook and whilst of late final month, crowd ranges had been on the rise.
For fall break to be the busiest week since spring break, all it will have to do is have a median wait time of 35 minutes or larger. That’s solely a 5/10 crowd stage. Solely a few weeks since April have averaged 34-minute crowds; most have struggled simply to hit the 30-minute mark.
Even the present week, earlier than most faculties are on fall break, stands at 32 minutes. That’s up from a number of weeks having lows of 23-26 minutes over the last two months of the low season, so crowds are already trending in the best route.
Subsequent, let’s discuss wildcards. As mentioned in Finest & Worst Days to Do All Parks at Walt Disney World in 2025, day of week developments actually matter this time of yr. Select the “right” parks on the very best days of the week, and also you’re prone to have a pleasing expertise even in average to above common crowds.
Select the “fallacious” parks on the worst days of the week, and also you is perhaps stunned by how excessive wait instances are even throughout weeks with 1/10 or 2/10 crowd ranges. Keep in mind, these are averages throughout all of Walt Disney World–there’s a ton of day-to-day inconsistency on the park stage.
One ingredient of these suggestions that doesn’t apply to fall break is weekends being slower. Whereas we’ve seen different holidays see lulls on Saturday and Sunday, these are weeklong home windows. Against this, fall break is an extended weekend for many college districts, so it does the alternative–spiking crowds on the weekends.
Additional reinforcing that is that there’s an unprecedented new Florida Resident Ticket Deal for Fall & Holidays 2025 that runs for everything of fall break and all the way in which as much as Christmas week.
This ticket deal isn’t blocked out on weekends. It’s additionally notable that it is blocked out for Magic Kingdom, which means locals who purchase that ticket can solely use it at EPCOT, DHS, and DAK. There was no such deal final yr, so this could give some extent of enhance to crowds within the ultimate few months of the yr.
That new deal simply launched, so we don’t have many knowledge factors as to its impression (or lack thereof) on crowds. Our tentative advice is to keep away from weekends all through the deal . For the previous few years, Saturday and Sundays have been the least-busy days of the week at Walt Disney World, which is a pattern partially on account of blockouts (it’s additionally on account of AP blockouts, larger resort charges on weekends, and extra).
This Floridian ticket doesn’t have weekend blockouts, so the reverse is definitely true right here. Most locals work weekdays, making weekends essentially the most logical time for them to go to. Should you can swing a weekday go to, you’ll come out forward most non-holiday weeks just by advantage of that. It wouldn’t shock us if the ticket deal finally ends up being unpopular because of the Magic Kingdom exclusion, through which case the weekend recommendation gained’t apply.
Nonetheless, the 1-2 punch of the ticket deal plus fall break being an extended weekend vacation (for essentially the most half) does make for a simple advice to keep away from Fridays by way of Sundays for the subsequent few weeks in October 2025.
Though not the subject of this submit, we’d additionally lengthen this to Epic Universe. This is kind of what performed on the market over Labor Day weekend (however not Labor Day itself), and we’d anticipate a repeat of that over Columbus Day weekend (however not the Monday) in addition to the 2 weekends that comply with.
Now let’s discuss beating the crowds. First, bear in mind how we mentioned prolonged park hours on the prime of the submit? Properly, these added hours are extremely advantageous–particularly the sooner opening instances since most vacationers don’t wish to do the early wake-up name on trip.
Selecting the optimum days to do every par, particularly DHS and Magic Kingdom–after which benefiting from Early Entry at each parks–is big. Don’t underestimate Early Entry, or visiting these parks on days which might be prone to be much less crowded. It’s an identical story with Disney’s Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom within the evenings.
By merely arriving early or staying late at each park, you may beat the worst of the noon crowds. In fact, that’s “easy” in concept however harder in observe, particularly in case you have young children. That’s an enormous cause why wait instances are decrease very first thing within the morning and later within the evenings.
Fall break will likely be busier than the final ~6 months, nevertheless it gained’t be insanely busy like some peak vacation dates. It’s nonetheless potential to beat unhealthy crowds by using Lightning Lane Multi-Go, Early Entry, Prolonged Night Hours, rope drop, and so on. We cowl the very best & worst method for every park in Finest Time-Saving Methods for Walt Disney World.
There are nice methods to beat the crowds–even on busy days–with out shopping for Lightning Lane Multi-Go (LLMP) or Single Go (LLSP). We don’t purchase line-skipping providers more often than not, and discover we’re in a position to just do advantageous as long as we’re up early or out late.
Talking of which, we’ve a complete Information to Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World for individuals who wish to totally grasp the most recent era of paid FastPass. Weeks like this, it’s positively choice for Disney’s Hollywood Studios (#1), Magic Kingdom (#2), and EPCOT (#3). We seldom advocate LLMP at Animal Kingdom, and that is still true throughout fall break, too.
General, that’s about what you may anticipate to expertise throughout Fall Break 2025 at Walt Disney World. Anticipate elevated ‘seems like’ crowds beginning just about proper now, and persevering with by way of late October. Primarily based on historic precedent, this week gained’t be horrible and neither will nearer to Halloween–the worst crowds will likely be October 10-18, 2025.
Crowds gained’t plummet on October nineteenth, however they’ll step by step fall by way of the tail finish of the month and early November, till Jersey Week and Veterans Day trigger the subsequent huge spike. Past that, day by day particular predictions are difficult.
It seems that a rising variety of college districts are ditching fall breaks, and the acknowledged cause many are giving (together with a number of huge ones within the South) are for prolonged Thanksgiving breaks. It’ll be fascinating to see if meaning worse crowds throughout that week as in comparison with final yr. About the one factor we’re sure of is that October 2025 needs to be busier than final yr, except there’s one other hurricane that causes over $100 million in cancellations!
Ultimately, we wouldn’t essentially keep away from fall break ‘season’ in case you have a school-aged baby and don’t have any higher choices outdoors of the massive vacation breaks within the ultimate quarter of the yr. There’s an excellent likelihood all of these (Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New 12 months’s) will likely be simply as unhealthy or worse than fall break. Simply bear in mind that October 2025 crowd ranges will likely be larger than they had been from April nineteenth by way of September.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you ever visited Walt Disney World throughout fall break up to now? What did you consider the crowds? Are you visiting this yr? Did you cancel your fall break journey final yr on account of Hurricane Milton? Should you’re in a southern college district, have you ever misplaced fall break for added days round Thanksgiving? Do you agree or disagree with our predictions? Any questions we can assist you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!