Disney’s Hollywood Studios will soon have its lowest crowd date of the first 8 months of 2026, and perhaps #1 of the entire year once the dust settles. Here’s when to visit for almost guaranteed 1/10 crowd levels, pros & cons of doing this day, plus a list of other least-busy dates of 2026 and more.
Over the summer, DHS will close at 6 pm for a private event, which creates a crowd dynamic very similar to Party Season at Magic Kingdom. That’s when Magic Kingdom closes early due to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP), which pushes attendance much higher on the dates they’re not occurring and lower on days of the events. The same thing happens, albeit to a much lesser extent, with Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Jollywood Nights in November and December.
This is nothing new. It’s a completely predictable trend that happens without fail. Early park closing crowd patterns are a key point of our Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars…but usually from August through December, and primarily at Magic Kingdom. Good news! There’s a rare opportunity to take advantage of this same dynamic in the first half of 2026, with what will likely be the least-busy day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the first ~8 months of the year!
This golden opportunity is right around the corner during the heart of the summer season, when Disney’s Hollywood Studios closes at 6 pm on Thursday, June 18, 2026. If you’re not planning a visit then, there are other late summer dates when 1/10 crowd levels are likely at DHS, discussed deeper in the post.
On that date, DHS is currently scheduled to open as normal at 9 am, with Early Entry at 8:30 am. This is subject to change, as discussed below. Although it’s not on the calendar yet, Fantasmic will not be presented to day guests on this date; that’s a nighttime spectacular and sunset isn’t until ~8:25 pm in June.
The park is closing early for a private park buyout only a few weeks after Cool Kids’ Summer kicks off, and only one day before Toy Story 5 debuts in theaters. It’s unclear whether Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be doing anything special in Toy Story Land to celebrate, but regardless, the new movie is unrelated to the early closure.
Last year, this Thursday was moderately busy at DHS. It was nestled right between one of the slower weeks of summer and one of the ‘twin peaks’ in late June. Summer has become less predictable in recent years, but with several reimagined or enhanced attractions debuting at Disney’s Hollywood Studios this summer, our expectation is more or less the same as last year.
The private park buyout will make this one of the least-busy dates (maybe #1!) of the entire year at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Here’s why you should visit DHS during the daytime hours on Thursday, June 18, 2026…
The obvious answer is the above: lower crowds. The “why” of this is fairly simple and straightforward.
Most day guests avoid parks on days when regular park hours are shorter and nighttime spectaculars are not shown. This always results in significantly lighter crowds on days when the parks close early.
These same guests then flock to full days in the park. For visitors without Park Hopper tickets (which is most guests), visiting DHS on dates with regular operating hours is the obvious choice. For the same admission price, they get several more hours in the park and get to see Fantasmic. This will likely be even more pronounced than normal this summer, as the 4-Park Magic Ticket is expected to be popular, and that does not allow Park Hopping.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios will close at 9 pm or 9:30 pm on other dates during Summer 2026 once park hours are finalized. There will likely be a single showing of Fantasmic at 9:30 or 10 pm (typically 30 minutes after park closing).
Picking a different day yields an extra 3 to 4 hours in the park, seeing Fantasmic, and getting to enjoy evening hours. Very few guests who base their visits on published park hours will choose the earlier closing date. The rational choice is longer hours, at least when making a superficial assessment.
In reality, picking the shorter hours is the savvy zig when they zag strategy. We usually discuss this in the context of MNSSHP and MVMCP causing 6 pm closures on several nights per week from August through December at MK, and to a lesser extent, Jollywood Nights at DHS. It’s even more pronounced in a one-off situation like this since it’s easier to avoid a single 6 pm closure.
Past precedent is pretty conclusive as to this. Disney’s Hollywood Studios typically has one or two private park buyouts per year, usually during convention season for the Gartner IT Symposium or another event.
According to our archives, the last time DHS closed this early was August 16, 2025. That day had 1/10 crowd levels and 23 minute average wait; it ended up being tied for the fourth slowest day of last year. One thing we should note was that it was not materially less busy than other off-season dates. To the contrary, the low point came a couple of weeks later in early September.
However, it was also a Saturday. Weekends are generally busier during that timeframe due to a disproportionate number of locals visiting and Florida resident ticket deals winding down. (August 15th was the least busy weekend date of the year at DHS.)
More recently, there was the Cast Member Service Celebration at Magic Kingdom on January 27, 2026. That day had a crowd level of 1/10 with an average wait time of 15 minutes. The year before, the same event had 1/10 crowds with an average wait time of 16 minutes.
This is ridiculously low, making it one of the slowest dates of the entire year in Magic Kingdom. The lowest day of the last 365 days had an average wait time of 14 minutes. I was there for that, and it was glorious.
As with DHS, the slowest days of the year at Magic Kingdom were also in August and September. But once you exclude Party Season, nothing beats the one-off dates for private park buyouts or special celebrations.
Long story short, June 18, 2026 will be the best day to visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios between now and at least mid-August 2026. Barring a hurricane or some other freak event, it’s a near certainty that no date before the post-summer off-season will have lower wait times than June 18, 2026.
After that, the next chance for 1/10 crowds at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be August 24-28, 2026; August 13 through September 3, 2026; and September 8-11, 2026. Not all of those dates will have 1/10 crowds, but many–if not most–will.
Even so, I wouldn’t be surprised if June 18, 2026 ends up being the #1 least busy date of 2026 since summer has already become a slower season and this isn’t a weekend. Still, it’s possible that there will be a super slow date in late August or early September, especially if the weather gets dicey.
But you’re probably not deciding between a visit on June 18, 2026 or September 9, 2026.
You’re picking between that day and adjacent dates. In which case, June 18th will almost certainly be the slowest day from now through mid-August, and definitely within that particular week in June. Likely by 3-4 crowd levels. (1/10 crowds vs. 5/10 or so the rest of that week, assuming DHS sees a bump due to everything new.)
To that point, it’s also worth pointing out that–just like during Party Season–the dates around June 18, 2026 will be busier at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. People avoiding DHS on the 18th means they’ll visit disproportionately on adjacent dates.
Similarly, expect to see slightly elevated crowds at the other parks on June 18, 2026.
Same logic applies here–those displaced crowds have to end up somewhere. DHS being dead means other parks are busier. Walt Disney World is primarily driven by tourists, and the guests who avoid the the earlier closing go elsewhere.
The most logical landing spot is Magic Kingdom, with EPCOT being second. There’s often not much (if any) impact to Animal Kingdom. Even so, MK is the only park we recommend avoiding earlier in the day on June 18, 2026 if possible. Don’t worry about EPCOT or DAK too much.
The other upside of visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios on June 18, 2026 is the likelihood of park hours extensions. This might impact other days and other parks if crowd levels are expected to spike as a result of the earlier closure, but I wouldn’t bank on that.
We’re more concerned with June 18th here, and DHS is currently scheduled to open as normal at 9:00 am on that date. There’s a reasonably strong possibility that’ll be moved forward to 8:30 am once park hours extensions hit. While I’d love to see an 8:00 am opening on that date, I wouldn’t bank on it.
DHS opened at 8:30 am with last year’s 6 pm closing, and also on a number of dates during Spring Break. I can’t recall the last time DHS had an 8:00 am opening, but precedent does not support it. Regardless, this means an earlier Early Entry, which is strategically advantageous.
Of course, the tradeoff in visiting DHS on June 18th is getting “kicked out” of the park by 6 pm, and missing out on Fantasmic. If you only have base tickets, what you gain in terms of low waits may not be worth it to lose evenings and entertainment.
Honestly, this is not a trade I’d take this time of year unless I had Park Hopper tickets. For one thing, I love Fantasmic. For another, in the hot summer months, you want any bit of nighttime you can get. Forgoing that for lower crowds in June doesn’t strike me as a good move. That is, unless I was banking on being fatigued from the heat, and wanting to call it an early evening (or hitting reset before a night out at Disney Springs or something).
For guests with Park Hopper tickets, visiting DHS on June 18th is an absolute no-brainer. You can do DHS until 6 pm or so, and then walk over to EPCOT, have dinner in World Showcase (or along the way in Crescent Lake) and enjoy Luminous.
On a different day, you could start out at EPCOT. Slightly higher crowds there on June 18th means slightly lower crowds on other dates. Then you can bounce back to DHS in the evening hours to catch Fantasmic. Maybe there will even be two showings of it on Friday night. (Don’t bank on that.)
Ultimately, our focus here is on wait times, as many guests see the calendar and draw the conclusion that they can do more rides during a few extra hours in DHS. That’s not necessarily true. The difference in average, actual wait times can be so pronounced that you can actually accomplish more in the shortened day, and without Lightning Lanes.
More hours being better is the thought process of most guests, and why you can come out ahead by zigging when they zag if rides and short lines are your primary focus. This is especially great for Early Entry and rope drop, which can be significantly less busy on these shortened days. Check out How I Did 8 Attractions in 1 Morning at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Looping 2 Top Coasters! for an example of a busier day than June 18, 2026 will end up being!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your approach to earlier closings? Do you favor the shorter days and lower crowds? Or the longer day and evening entertainment in DHS? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
