Random Questions

GusGus77 · May 5, 2015

We are planning a September trip for 6 days and even after reading the first twenty pages of this board have a few questions.

1. Is it worth paying for touring plans to get the crowd predictors in order to plan the best time of the trip? (From the threads I know we have to go after Labor Day, Sept 8, and leave by September 28 for lower crowds.) Halloween overlay would be great, but not absolute. I know the weekend will be crowded for Dapper Days on the 19-21. I do not know how that will effect crowds weekdays the week before (sept 14) or the week after (Sept 21.) Do most people attending Dapper Days go to the parks prior or do they stay a few days after? We wil be with my parents and therefore want to pick the least busy days possible. I figured a 2015 daily crowd predictor could be useful but could not find a free one for Disneyland.

2. We are still planning where to stay since unfortunately the timeshare we were hoping to stay in is sold out. I have heard people on the boards refer to the Desert Inn. Am I right to assume this is NOT the same as the Desert Palms Inn (and therefore not a good neighbor hotel as I do not see it on the list?) Thanks!!!

ImDMous · May 5, 2015

The crowd predictors are notoriously inaccurate for Disneyland, I wouldn't bother personally. If you're there for 6 days that will plenty of time to see everything no matter how crowded it is. The first weekend of Halloween is usually a bit crowded. The weekdays during September should be very doable.

ehrawn · May 5, 2015

You've been on this board a long time. What experience do you have with DLR? Crowd predictors are good for one thing and one thing only: maximizing ride count. Management is pretty good at handling crowds, so on days other than the most special (24 hour parties, actual holidays, THE 60th anniversary), the other guests should have minimal impact on you experience. Crowd fluctuations are more dependent on time of day than date (i.e. go early, rest during the afternoon, and stay late). However, with 6 days at the park, pick a few priorities for each day and then adjust your plan as the week goes on.

mgd · May 5, 2015

Yeah, with 6 days, you can leisurely just go on about 5 rides a day if you wanted to. I wouldn't really be worried about crowds too much. Other than the weekends and events, those weeks are not usually too bad based on reports here and isitpacked crowd predictor http://www.isitpacked.com/disneyland-crowd-forecast-predictor-calendar/
Even with planning though, you can't really predict individual day crowd levels, and should just be flexible which shouldn't be hard with 6 days.

Desert Inn and Desert Palms are different. Stayed at desert palms once, and it was fine, but showing some age. Desert Inn is much closer to entrance, but looks like a motel to me. Desert Palms is down the street around the corner near the 7/11, which adds at least 5-10 minutes to the walk.

scrapshappen · May 5, 2015

1) Not necessary. Like PP said, Touring Plans is not that accurate for DL. However, FWIW TP shows nothing over a 5 for the entire month of September (and only one 5 on Sept 19). Even Labor Day is listed as a 3. My personal experience is that Sunday afternoons can be busy with locals, but it wouldn't keep me from going on a Sunday either. With 6 days, you will have plenty of time to do everything. September is a great time to go since just about everyone is in school. Pick which days work best for you and your family. Go. Have fun. And don't stress about crowds.

2) I believe most people are referring to the Desert Inn and Suites because of its location. I prefer to stay directly across from the park on Harbor, even if it isn't a good neighbor hotel. My personal favorite right now is the Tropicana but you will get lots of different opinions from different people. It's just so nice to be so close and have the ability to walk back and forth and not have to worry about shuttles and parking. If you want to know which hotels are the closest, do a google map search of Disneyland and look for the IHOP on Harbor. That is right where the crosswalk is that takes your through the transportation hub and into the main entrance of the resort. Don't believe the websites that tell you they are a block from Disney. That block can take you 20 minutes to walk around to the entrance if you aren't careful.

Lauren in NC · May 5, 2015

We went last year starting on Labor day and finishing out the week. Besides Labor Day, it wasn't very crowded at all, and the weather wasn't too hot. Things pick up in the late afternoon as people get out of school or get off work.

For choosing a hotel, there's a couple of questions to ask yourself. Will you have a car? If so, what's the parking fee for the hotel? Do you want to have breakfast available at the hotel, or would you rather stop by McDonald's / a restaurant / pick up a pastry in DL every day? Do you want to be as close as possible or do you not mind a short walk?

Geemo · May 5, 2015

GusGus77 said:
We are planning a September trip for 6 days and even after reading the first twenty pages of this board have a few questions.

1. Is it worth paying for touring plans to get the crowd predictors in order to plan the best time of the trip? (From the threads I know we have to go after Labor Day, Sept 8, and leave by September 28 for lower crowds.) Halloween overlay would be great, but not absolute. I know the weekend will be crowded for Dapper Days on the 19-21. I do not know how that will effect crowds weekdays the week before (sept 14) or the week after (Sept 21.) Do most people attending Dapper Days go to the parks prior or do they stay a few days after? We wil be with my parents and therefore want to pick the least busy days possible. I figured a 2015 daily crowd predictor could be useful but could not find a free one for Disneyland.

2. We are still planning where to stay since unfortunately the timeshare we were hoping to stay in is sold out. I have heard people on the boards refer to the Desert Inn. Am I right to assume this is NOT the same as the Desert Palms Inn (and therefore not a good neighbor hotel as I do not see it on the list?) Thanks!!!

Your trip is 6 days? Keep in mind Disneyland NO longer has 6 day tickets, the max is 5 days.

When staying on-site isn't in the budget, we stay on Harbor. There are several good places right there at the crosswalk.
Here's a map of accommodations near DLR http://www.accommodationsneardisney.com/Disneyland/default.asp
This map is a satellites view of the area. Using the mouse you can move around on the view.
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3...&m=h&gz=0;-1179189741;338091968;0;0;37549;665

As far as TP for crowd prediction.... I see it more of a guideline.
Here's another Disneyland Crowd Predictor http://www.isitpacked.com/disneyland-crowd-forecast-predictor-calendar/

While you're in the parks you can use the feature Ask Otto for park info.

Geemo

GusGus77 · May 5, 2015

We are planning five day park hoppers. We will not be going to the parks on arrival day as it will be late afternoon by the time we get there.

GusGus77 · May 5, 2015

ehrawn said:
You've been on this board a long time. What experience do you have with DLR? Crowd predictors are good for one thing and one thing only: maximizing ride count. Management is pretty good at handling crowds, so on days other than the most special (24 hour parties, actual holidays, THE 60th anniversary), the other guests should have minimal impact on you experience. Crowd fluctuations are more dependent on time of day than date (i.e. go early, rest during the afternoon, and stay late). However, with 6 days at the park, pick a few priorities for each day and then adjust your plan as the week goes on.

We are WDW vets. We have not been to DLR since 2009.

GusGus77 · May 5, 2015

Lauren in NC said:
We went last year starting on Labor day and finishing out the week. Besides Labor Day, it wasn't very crowded at all, and the weather wasn't too hot. Things pick up in the late afternoon as people get out of school or get off work.

For choosing a hotel, there's a couple of questions to ask yourself. Will you have a car? If so, what's the parking fee for the hotel? Do you want to have breakfast available at the hotel, or would you rather stop by McDonald's / a restaurant / pick up a pastry in DL every day? Do you want to be as close as possible or do you not mind a short walk?

I have been researching hotels non-stop for days it seems! My parents are going with us, so that kind of ups the anty for me on finding the "perfect hotel" (and time crowd wise) or I will continually hear about it (or NOT hear about it and just get the attitude.) We are driving to get to DLR and will have cars. We need a decent price, prefer free breakfast, must have a fridge and probably a microwave. We are typically on-site at WDW so this searching off-site hotels is blowing my mind!!!! We can't afford onsite, though.

becks59 · May 5, 2015

We liked staying at the Fairfield a few years ago. No free breakfast, but there is a fridge and I think a microwave as well. The Howard Johnson always seems to get great reviews, but I've never stayed there. Last year we stayed at the Red Lion and it was good, but a bit of a further walk and again no free breakfast. I also have heard great things about Candy Cane Inn. A good place to check about hotels is on trip advisor to read customer reviews or you can check out the podcasts on the hotel reviews. The link is on the board here, not sure if you've looked into any of those yet.

RemainSeatedPlease · May 5, 2015

Desert Inn & Suites is usually my choice because I want a hotel that is right across the street, has a fridge and microwave, has breakfast, and is affordable. The breakfast is not a full hot meal, but the fruit, pastries, bagels, and toast served me fine. Last time we went we were placed on the first floor in the back of the hotel, which has a little courtyard area that the rooms look out onto, which you don't get in other parts of the hotel. We thought it would be noisy being on the first floor, but we found this courtyard section to be very quiet and also pretty, so I will likely request that section again.

squidlet · May 5, 2015

What's your price range for a hotel -- that would make it easier to give recommendations. Keep in mind that almost all of the hotels are way over-priced for what you get, so your parents may need to be prepared for that. I like HOJO's quite a bit, but they don't have a breakfast. Candy Cane Inn is another popular choice.

Dapper Days should only affect crowds during the actual event days. I was at the parks during this year's Spring Dapper Days and the crowds really weren't bad at all -- I have heard that the Fall event can be more crowded, however. You can also get great discounts on the Disney hotels if you will be there during that weekend via the Dapper Days website ($200/night DL Hotel, $250/night GC).

limace · May 5, 2015

We are not picky about hotels, particularly, and would not stay at DI&S again. Room was in very poor shape, pretty threadbare and worn, very poor breakfast, and pool was awful-indoors and so cloudy you couldn't see the bottom.

ehrawn · May 6, 2015

GusGus77 said:
We have not been to DLR since 2009.

ah. gotcha. from what I understand, WDW vets are used to planning everything in advance . Best advice I can give is resist the urge to do so. You have a leg up on newbies going into DLR blind because you already know what you want to do, probably: ride Mr. Toads and see how much you've been missing at our Pirates. Pick those handful of priorities before you go into the park each day, but be prepared to deviate from your plan. The key to maximizing your experience at DLR is to never do what other people are doing: show up early, do the slow loaders and popular rides first, skip rides that have a queue, leave the park when it starts to fill up.

figment_jii · May 6, 2015

GusGus77 said:
We are WDW vets. We have not been to DLR since 2009.

You might give HydroGuy's DLR Guide for WDW Vets a quick glance.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-dlr-guide-for-wdw-vets.1162599/

I agree mostly with ehrawn's advice about maximizing your experience, but not necessarily the part about not showing up early. I've found that the first few hours after rope drop tend to have the lowest crowds and you can get a fair amount done. So I would recommend getting to the parks at rope drop and doing as many rides as possible during that time.

ehrawn · May 6, 2015

figment_jii said:
You might give HydroGuy's DLR Guide for WDW Vets a quick glance.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-dlr-guide-for-wdw-vets.1162599/

I agree mostly with ehrawn's advice about maximizing your experience, but not necessarily the part about not showing up early. I've found that the first few hours after rope drop tend to have the lowest crowds and you can get a fair amount done. So I would recommend getting to the parks at rope drop and doing as many rides as possible during that time.

I was unclear. I meant do the things that no one else is willing to do. Showing up early is essential: the tourists are sleeping and the locals are still in their cars trying to make it to the park.

figment_jii · May 6, 2015

Ah okay. In that case, I think we still mostly agree. Other than I don't tend to leave the park when it starts to fill up. That's the time to either use the FP (if you collected one earlier in the morning) or to just accept the long lines and still do some rides.

wildflower329 · May 6, 2015

I personally wouldn't pay for touringplans just for the crowd predictor, but we like the app "Lines," so I paid for a subscription and get both the app and the ability to glance at the crowd predictor. If you have the unofficial guide (or borrow it from the library), you can get a discount on purchasing the subscription, so it is really pretty inexpensive.

whjensen · May 6, 2015

Here's a free alternative to TouringPlans.
http://www.isitpacked.com/live-crowd-trackers/disneyland/

I'm not nearly as down on TP as some others are. As Hygroguy (I think) has pointed out in other missives, there's little logic to the linearity of their system and DL tends to get bottlenecked on the thoroughfares long before the rides feel the pain. But it you think of it in tranches of not crowded at all, average crowds, and "Wow, this guy next to me is really stinky and it's too crowded to move away", I think it serves a purpose for rough planning and for setting rough expectations on how much you can get done each day. Just don't depend on it for the Lines feature. Not enough people report in for accuracy in the predictions.

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