Using Disney Calendars to Plan Your Park Visits

When it comes time to plan your days in the parks, an effective tool can be the calendars found on Disney’s website.  About a month before we are set to leave, I start browsing the calendars to plan which day we’ll visit each park.

At the top menu, click “Parks”.  From the drop down menu, choose which park you’d like.  Then, on the left side of the page, you’ll see “Calendar”.  This will take you to the park’s calendar.  You have to follow this procedure for each park.  On the top right hand side of the calendar, you’ll see a drop down menu.  From here, you can choose the dates you are going to be at Disney.  By clicking on each day individually, you’ll find:

1.  Extra Magic Hours – We are a “late” EMH family.  On the day(s) that Magic Kingdom is open until midnight, we take our time getting there in the morning.  We do a little touring, and go back to the resort mid afternoon for a swim and rest.  Then, we head back to the park for dinner and hopefully the Main Street Electrical Parade and/or Wishes.  Since the Magic Kingdom typically has late EMH more than once a week, I choose a day from our stay with late hours as one of our Magic Kingdom days.

2.  Parades and Shows -Let’s say you are viewing the calendar for the Magic Kingdom, and you see that June 3 is a day you want to hit Magic Kingdom.  By clicking where it says “Park Hours”, you’ll be taken to a list of times that includes Dream along with Mickey, Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade, Wishes, and Main Street Electrical Parade.  By seeing these major happenings during the day, you can plan your park tour as well.  If you know the Dream along with Mickey is showing last at 7:40, perhaps after seeing it you grab a seat for the Main Street Electrical Parade which starts at 9:00 pm.  Grab a late snack, a seat for the parade, and you’re set.  Thanks to using the calendar before your trip, you knew to prepare for this.

On the calendar for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you’ll see times for Pixar’s Pals Countdown to Fun Parade and Fantasmic. Another great resource on these pages is what attractions are being refurbished and when.  Animal Kingdom’s calendar will show times for Festival of the Lion King, Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade, amongst other activities.

3.  EPCOT World Showcase Performances~~On the EPCOT calendar, you will find times for almost ANYTHING in World Showcase.  The EPCOT calendar is very detailed.  Not only does it show times for Illuminations and Turtle Talk with Crush, but the Mariachi band, World Showcase Players, and Spirit of America Fife and Drum Corps schedules, too.

It’s always a good idea to check the calendars a week or so before you leave.  That way, you can make any last minute adjustments to your park plans.

Quick Tip – Another Planning tool you can use is Touring Plans Crowd Calendar. Touring Plans lists all the dates along with Crowd Predictions to help you plan your Disney World Vacation.

Do you use the Disney calendars to plan your visit?  Do you plan your days around Extra Magic Hours, parades, or night shows?

Magically Yours,

Carrie

Related articles

• Why I love Walt Disney World Extra Magic Hours! (chipandco.com)
• Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner (disneyfoodreport.com)

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