WhistleWhile You Work

Planning

Which park on which day

Pick your first park day and how many days you have. The plan uses what Disney has published, which runs to Tuesday 1 December: each park’s hours, the night shows, and the party nights when Magic Kingdom closes at 6pm, plus Early Entry and Lightning Lane prices for the nearer dates. It does not guess at crowds, and it will not plan a day Disney has not published yet.

The short answer

For 4 days from Thursday 24 September, Disney’s own schedule points to EPCOT on Thu 24 Sept, Animal Kingdom on Fri 25 Sept, Magic Kingdom on Sat 26 Sept and Hollywood Studios on Sun 27 Sept. Magic Kingdom is kept off Thu 24 Sept, Fri 25 Sept and Sun 27 Sept, party nights when it closes at 6pm for day guests and has no fireworks for them.

Your 4 days

DayParkHoursEarly EntryNight showMulti PassWhy this day
Thu 24 SeptEPCOT9am–9pm—Luminous$21open 12 hours; Luminous that night
Fri 25 SeptAnimal Kingdom8am–7pm7:30am—$16open 11 hours
Sat 26 SeptMagic Kingdom8am–11pm7:30amHappily Ever After$29open 15 hours; Happily Ever After that night
Sun 27 SeptHollywood Studios9am–9pm8:30amFantasmic!$22open 12 hours; Fantasmic! that night

Each park name links to our plan for doing it in one day. Early Entry is the 30 minutes before opening for guests at Disney hotels and select others, every day of their stay. Multi Pass is Disney’s price for that park and day, per person; see Lightning Lane prices.

How the plan is chosen

Which parks. Four days is one park each. On three, Disney Tourist Blog’s advice is to skip Animal Kingdom, which it calls the obvious choice for about 80% of visitors, and never Magic Kingdom. A fifth day goes back to Magic Kingdom, or to rest.

Which day. Every order of those parks across your dates is tried, and each park-day scores its opening hours, plus 2 for Magic Kingdom with Happily Ever After, 1 for EPCOT with Luminous and 1 for Hollywood Studios with Fantasmic!, minus 8 for a Magic Kingdom party night, when it closes at 6pm and day guests get no fireworks. The Disney Journey’s advice is the same: do not spend your only Magic Kingdom day on a party day. The highest total wins, and a tie puts Magic Kingdom earliest.

The trade it does not score. A party day is quieter before 6pm. Across one September week of our wait record, posted waits from 9am to 4pm ran 33% lower on party days than on ordinary ones, and TouringPlans makes the same point from the other side: the days without a party absorb the crowds. If your group is done by early evening anyway, a party day can be the better Magic Kingdom morning. The numbers are on our Halloween party page.

What it leaves out. Crowds. We hold days of our own wait record, not years, so a crowd forecast would be a guess. For timing across the year, see the best time to visit.

Every day Disney has published

Hours for each park, with the night show or party night, Wednesday 23 September to Tuesday 1 December.

DateMagic KingdomEPCOTHollywood StudiosAnimal Kingdom
Wed 23 Sept9am–11pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–7pm
Thu 24 Sept9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–7pm
Fri 25 Sept8am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–7pm
Sat 26 Sept8am–11pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous8:30am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–8pm
Sun 27 Sept9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Mon 28 Sept9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Tue 29 Sept9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Wed 30 Sept9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Thu 1 Oct9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Fri 2 Oct8am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sat 3 Oct8am–11pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sun 4 Oct8am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Mon 5 Oct9am–11pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Tue 6 Oct9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Wed 7 Oct8am–11pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Thu 8 Oct8am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Fri 9 Oct8am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous8:30am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–7pm
Sat 10 Oct8am–11pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–7pm
Sun 11 Oct9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Mon 12 Oct9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Tue 13 Oct9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Wed 14 Oct9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Thu 15 Oct9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Fri 16 Oct9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sat 17 Oct9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sun 18 Oct9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Mon 19 Oct9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Tue 20 Oct9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–5pm8am–6pm
Wed 21 Oct9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Thu 22 Oct9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Fri 23 Oct9am–6pm · party night10am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sat 24 Oct9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sun 25 Oct9am–6pm · party night10am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Mon 26 Oct9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Tue 27 Oct9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Wed 28 Oct9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Thu 29 Oct9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Fri 30 Oct9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sat 31 Oct9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sun 1 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Mon 2 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Tue 3 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Wed 4 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Thu 5 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Fri 6 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sat 7 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–7pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sun 8 Nov9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Mon 9 Nov9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Tue 10 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Wed 11 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Thu 12 Nov9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Fri 13 Nov9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sat 14 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–7pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sun 15 Nov9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!9am–6pm
Mon 16 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–7pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Tue 17 Nov9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Wed 18 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Thu 19 Nov9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Fri 20 Nov9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sat 21 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–7pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sun 22 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Mon 23 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–7pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Tue 24 Nov9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Wed 25 Nov9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Thu 26 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Fri 27 Nov9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sat 28 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–7pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Sun 29 Nov9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Mon 30 Nov9am–10pm · Happily Ever After9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm
Tue 1 Dec9am–6pm · party night9am–9pm · Luminous9am–9pm · Fantasmic!8am–6pm

More for planning the days

Sources

  1. Walt Disney World official park calendar — opening and closing times, Early Entry, Extended Evening Hours and special ticketed events for Wednesday 23 September to Tuesday 1 December, as relayed by the ThemeParks.wiki schedule feed and read 2026-09-22. — our own measurement · checked
  2. Walt Disney World official — Early Theme Park Entry: guests at Disney Resort hotels and select other hotels enter the parks 30 minutes early every day of their stay, including check-in and check-out days. — Disney official · checked
  3. Walt Disney World official — the entertainment schedule in Disney’s finder: Happily Ever After, Luminous and Fantasmic! night by night (see our fireworks page). — Disney official · checked
  4. Disney Tourist Blog — 3-day Disney World itinerary (updated 21 June 2025): with three days and no Park Hopper, skip Animal Kingdom, the obvious option for about 80% of visitors; almost no one should skip Magic Kingdom; Early Entry is almost essential. — reported by · checked
  5. Our own wait record — posted waits on Magic Kingdom party days against ordinary days, 9am to 4pm, 8–13 September 2026 (the comparison is on our Halloween party page). — our own measurement · checked
  6. TouringPlans — touring strategy for the 2026 Halloween party: everyone avoids party dates, which makes those days nice at Magic Kingdom and crowds the rest. — reported by · checked
  7. The Disney Journey — the best days to visit each Disney park: a Halloween or Christmas party day means a 6pm Magic Kingdom closing, and if you have only one Magic Kingdom day on a first trip, do not spend it on a party day. — reported by · checked
  8. Walt Disney World official — each park's published opening and closing times, from the calendar behind Disney's annual-pass blockout pages, used past the end of the schedule feed; they matched the feed on all 124 park-days where both existed (22 September 2026). — Disney official · checked
  9. Theme Park Shark — Disney World 7-day itinerary (16 March 2026): Magic Kingdom early in the trip, when energy is highest, and a final day back at a favourite park. — reported by · checked