Theme Park Crowd Calendar
Daily crowd forecasts for 21 US theme parks, from Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando to Disneyland and the big regional parks. Built on real park hours, ticketed events and live posted waits.
Every park, right now
Live posted waits, today's forecast and tomorrow's, for all 21 parks. Tap a park for its full calendar.
Walt Disney World
Universal Orlando
Disneyland Resort
Southern California
More Florida parks
Across the country
Tuesday
September 1, 2026
Short waits and plenty of walk ons. A great day to go.
- Park hours
- Posted about a month ahead. Check back closer to your date.
What moves this day
- −0.5Midweek
- −1.5September lull after school starts
Plan: Lines stay short most of the day, so a late start is fine.
We don't track posted waits for this park yet, so past days show the forecast only.
Best bets in September: the 1, 2, 8. Avoid if you can: the 5, 19, 26.
2026 at a glance
The average forecast for each month. Tap a month to open it.
Notable dates in September
- September 5: Labor Day weekend
How this calendar works
Each day starts from a typical level and moves up or down for the things that reliably change attendance: Saturdays run heaviest, school break weeks lift everything, holidays peak hard and event seasons add weekend crowds. On top of that we use each park's published hours and ticketed events, about a month ahead, so a party night that closes Magic Kingdom early or a Horror Nights night at Universal shows up on the right day.
For the parks we track, we also record posted wait times around the clock. Finished days get a measured level next to the forecast, and those records power the best time of day chart and the ride wait guide. Treat the forecast as a planning guide, not a promise. Weather, ride outages and ticket deals can move a day a point or two.
Crowd calendar FAQ
What do the crowd levels mean?
Every day gets a score from 1 to 10. Light (1 to 3) means short waits and plenty of walk ons. Moderate (4 to 6) is a typical day. Busy (7 to 8) means long waits at the headliners. Packed (9 to 10) is peak holiday crowding, so plan around it.
How are the predictions made?
The forecast starts from the patterns that drive attendance every year: the day of the week, school breaks, holidays, summer and event seasons like Halloween. It then uses each park's real published hours and ticketed events, so a night when Magic Kingdom closes early for a party, or a Horror Nights night at Universal, changes the score. Open any day on the calendar to see exactly which factors moved it.
What does "Actual" mean on past days?
For the parks where we collect posted wait times every few minutes, we turn each finished day into a measured crowd level based on the average posted wait at that park’s 10 busiest rides. That shows how busy the day really was, next to what was predicted. The record started in October 2026 and grows every day.
Where do the live waits come from?
Live waits are the standby times each park posts, pulled from the ThemeParks.wiki data service and refreshed every few minutes. Posted waits are often a little higher than the real wait.
What is the least crowded time of year to visit?
Historically: weekdays from mid January through February, September weekdays after Labor Day, and the first two weeks of December. Saturdays are the busiest day of almost every week, and Tuesdays and Wednesdays are usually the quietest.
What time of day has the shortest lines?
The first hour after opening and the last hour or two before closing are almost always the shortest. Late morning through mid afternoon is the peak. Parks we track show their own best time of day chart on their calendar page.