I think that schools being out for a full week into January would definitely factor in to the crowd scenario - especially if families are trying to catch the final days of the "official holiday season" (not counting the random giant lights in A Bug's Land, IASWH or the New Orleans Square decor, which will still be up for a while). I still have to believe, though, that despite what the kids' school schedule may be, there will be some parents who have to get back to work post-New Year's Day, especially if NYD happens early enough in the week and there are enough workdays left before the weekend. IF anything, a lot of the local visitors would be back at work.
I've watched the specific holiday crowd dynamic change over the last couple of decades. It has always seemed very "busy" because the holidays have always been popular at DL, even before there was another park or 2 extra hotels to visit, but there are definite weeks and days when it is much worse than others.
I've been to DL on New Year's Eve too (many years ago) and it was way more crowded than I ever wanted to deal with. The crowds on Main Street were soooooo bad that I was about to freak out. You would not have been able to deal with it, Laurie. It was worse than I have ever seen in all of my DLR trips. I felt like we couldn't escape because everyone was packed in so solidly, shoulder to shoulder, and they were not moving. We literally had to push through the not-moving people to escape. Everyone was waiting for the countdown to midnight so they were not budging.
I think that some of the New Year's Eve crowd intensity probably lessened a tad when another park opened up, and when DTD became an option for something to do. It gave all of the people more places to go than just
Disneyland park. But after my one NYE experience way back when, I am a little battle-scarred and afraid to try it again (even though Jessica/Belle Ella said the crowds were not too awful when she did NYE a couple of years back).
Otherwise, yes, I agree that since the makeover of DCA has been completed, while it's still a novelty to see Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, the slower times seem to be few and far between. There are simply more people coming to the parks overall, every month. However, eventually, in time, the novelty of the new DCA will wear off and Disneyland Resort as a whole will once again settle into a general pattern where it will be easier to predict less busy times. Right now everything is kind of outside of the norm.
There will be still be 'better' times than others during the holiday season (such as after Thanksgiving break and before a lot of Christmas breaks start) because people have to be at work and school during that time frame. I've been pretty satisfied with the crowd levels on my last 3 holiday trips because they have fallen within that early/pre-mid-month December time frame. There were more people there than I expected, but it wasn't too bad. And some of my days have been downright delightful in terms of crowds (Mondays are coming out as the big winners for me, and Tuesdays have been busier!).
Yes, preparing for the worst (mentally) is always a good thing because the reality of the situation will probably be better than what was expected/planned for!
Thank You so much!!! My hubby has a Nikon7000 (his expensive toy), I use a Canon Power Shot SX120 & Ty uses a point & click. All 3 camera's take decent pictures. Mike shoots in raw form, so he's able to fix pretty much any picture. He only fixed the normal red eye on a few pics and tried to get the color right on the PPH tree....the rest are "as is".
They could be recycled trees from one of the old DCA shops or locations. 
I'm thinking we all need new ear headband this next trip!
