You’ll still wait, but not nearly as longOne of the best ways to save on your Walt Disney World vacation is to visit during the Value Season. These aren’t specific dates every year. Instead, it’s times when attendance will be down a bit. You can easily see if something is considered Value Season by checking the Walt Disney World website. Just look under tickets and search for dates. You can do the same thing by looking for resort rates. A good rule of thumb to follow is that if the kids are in school, it could cost less. If schools are closed, the prices will be higher.
If you are flexible on dates and plan to stay on property, the Value Season is the way to go. There are often significant discounts, because empty hotel rooms do not make money for Disney. There are also sometimes incentives such as Free Dining.
Do not expect all the rides to be walk on if you visit during the Value Season. That is no longer the case, there is no such thing as a crowdless day. (If you want to avoid crowds, consider Disney After Hours.) The lines will be a lot shorter than during the busiest times of the year, but there will still be lines, especially for the more popular rides like Slinky Dog Dash and Avatar Flight of Passage. Even those e-ticket rides will have lines that are significantly shorter than during the Peak Season.
During the Value Season, the parks will often close earlier than during the Peak Season. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Since most of the lines are shorter, you’ll be able to get more done in the parks. That also means that you can stay until closing and still get a good night’s sleep.
Another benefit of visiting Walt Disney World during the Value Season is the weather. Our best weather of the year is in the late fall, winter, and early spring months. A good part of that time is considered Value Season. Again, when the schools are out the prices go up, so you won’t find deals for Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks.
Of course, everything is going to change when Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens this fall. We don’t yet know when, but it will be sometime after September because there are deals available through September 30. Galaxy’s Edge is going to change quite a bit at Walt Disney World. Whether or not there will still be a Value Season for the next couple of years remains to be seen.