Anyone else waiting for the CARS land craziness to calm before visiting?

[kayleigh83]

We will be going this July and I'm not too worried about the crowds. To be honest, crowds don't really bother me though. I work in a very busy mall and if anything, crowds tend to energize me! I know I'm in the minority though! I haven't gotten to go to DL since I was 11, and this will only be my third trip - DL is only a very occasional treat for me in my life. So just getting to go at all is such a great thing that I would deal with pretty well any crowd level just to get to be there - it's worth it to me!

 

[CrazyDuck]

Toy Story Midway Mania brought crowds in 2008. WOC brought crowds in 2010. Star Tours and Little Mermaid brought crowds in 2011.

What are they planning for 2013? I have heard nothing new... and usually anything substantial (LM, WOC, CL) is already in the works more than 1 year out.

 

[Goofy_Mom]

I wanted to see the opening, cause I've never been to one. However the schedule doesnt' allow for it. I may get to see a preview, but I'm not going to pay for it. We'll be back in October, December, and possibley January so we aren't going to miss out on seeing Carsland. Plus the soft opening of Mad T party and Carnation Cafe made me smile that I get to see some of the new stuff.

 

[ValpoCory]

What are they planning for 2013? I have heard nothing new... and usually anything substantial (LM, WOC, CL) is already in the works more than 1 year out.

The renovated PFF opens in DL in 2013. Then, more Fantasyland improvements.

 

[Drcell01]

How quickly people forget the crowds during the 50th Anniversary celebration...LOL

I really see the CARS opening being close to the same level of guests attending the opening.

We will be there from June 1st to the 4th. Just hoping to get a few pics of the DCA updates.

I would not want to be at rope drop on June 15, you might get trampled!

 

[2boysmom1998]

I was there for the 35th anniversary. The crowds weren't bad then at all. I'm sure they were more people at the 50th anniversray. We will be there next month, June 20 and 25th. This will be my third trip to Disneyland, I've been to WDW twice. I am a little nervous about the crowds but, we will do the best we can.

 

[friends with mickey]

Well I'm one of those head cases that will be there opening day lol. NORMALLY I would wait it out at least a few weeks, but going with a friend and he loves all the opening day stuff. And to be honest, it is fun just being around the craziness. We are both excited just to be there on the 14th. Watch the media around, catch maybe a few celebrities, watch the REAL hardcore fans as they line up and spend the night on the ground for the night (no I wont be THERE lol) and just see how it all goes down! There is an excitement of just watching the excitement frankly!

That said, honestly by the end of the summer, early fall the park will fall into low season like everything does that time of year. September wont be very busy at all. Slightly busier, maybe, but like all things it will fall into its usual cycle. Kids still have to go back to school and parents only have so much vacation time. I say if you dont want to go at opening, but dont want to wait a year either, go after Labor day weekend. It will still be lines, but nothing out of the ordinary. I suspect by the end of August the crazy rush will be over!

I really hope your take is correct. We will be there Sept 8 through Sept. 11. We like to go after the hottest summer months and when kids are in school. We are adults going to celebrate our 30th anniversary and can't wait to experience Carsland and everything else both parks provide

 

[Corpsebride]

That is why Walt Disney left one spire of the castle unfinished...because he never wanted the DLR to be finished!

Oh I love this! I never noticed. Ill have to take a look. What a wonderful thing...

 

[mybestieismickey]

We're going in July for a couple of days, but only because I have a cousin getting married in Long Beach. It just seemed natural that we should get AP's during our April trip so that we could swing over after the wedding and check out all the new happenings. I'm also looking forward to the improved Matterhorn seating! Normally, we would have waited to go in the fall or winter (maybe we still will ) just because we prefer lower crowd times. But long lines don't scare us. DH gets cranky if we ride too many rides anyway. He prefers people watching and checking out the magic the Imagineers leave behind.

So, that said, we're more excited about the new atmosphere than the new rides. And I'm super excited about the announced AP early mornings!

 

[fctiger]

I really hope your take is correct. We will be there Sept 8 through Sept. 11. We like to go after the hottest summer months and when kids are in school. We are adults going to celebrate our 30th anniversary and can't wait to experience Carsland and everything else both parks provide

Well first off, happy 30th anniversary!!!!! That is an amazing accomplishment, especially these days!

And yes, dont worry crowds will definitely have died off by then. I'm NOT suggesting everything will be walk ons obviously, CL will still be busy but it wont be 2-4 hour lines and all the craziness people seem to think will happen for the next 6 months. If people are not sure DL will be less crowded, I always tell them is to simply look at the operating hours! That will tell you all you need to know! In the summer, it closes at midnight everyday! In September, the hours normally fall to around 8 p.m. on the weekdays but stay open until 11-12 on the weekends, which happens all year in low and high season. But it will fall to low season hours after Labor Day at both DL and DCA. I dont see that remotely changing!

But hysteria over lines and crowds always get a little over done on the internet. If you listen to people on internet boards, Finding Nemo was going to have 2 hour lines for the next 5 years! WOC was suppose to sell out ALL shows before noon everyday the first year, Star Tours 2 was going to have 3-4 hour lines the entire summer and so on and none of that happened. CL is definitely the biggest thing the resort added in a long time and RSR is suppose to be one of the top attraction at the resort now, but like everything, when everyone has done it, it will reach a peak and find a balance. It will be busy for a long time to come IF its good, but it will not be insane busy after the first few months!

And Hydroguy said it, the new stuff may be crazy in terms of crowds, but that usually mean everything else in the resort is quite managable! In fact, I was at DLR the second day Star Tours 2 opened on a Saturday and while that had 3-4 hour waits in the early afternoon, everything else was 45 mins or less basically minus maybe SM and Splash! And FPs lasted all day! I was surprised how easy it was to get FP for everything well into the night, but thats because everyone was focused on ST basically! So even if CL will be major busy, chances are everything else outside of it will be pretty managable! You may have to wait a little longer for Soarin than usual, but its not going to jump up to 2 hours either!

Anyway, have fun!

 

[Brady's Mom]

The first part of October for us. We did just recently discover that our first day in the parks will be Columbus Day. But, schools in Utah don't get that as a vacation day (we used to in California - don't know if they still do), and our kids have Fall Break on Thurs and Friday that same week.

For us the benefits are - longer hours on Columbus Day, shorter hours for Tues and Weds, longer hours on Thurs and shorter hours on Friday. Tues and Friday will probably have the Halloween parties, so having Columbus Day in there to see the Remember Dreams Come True fireworks makes me happy. And having the Halloween parties at DL makes it seem easier to go to DCA and ride the Carsland rides.

We really feel like we are getting the best of all worlds - Holiday hours (Monday) and lower season (Tues thru Thurs) and Halloween decorations and parties - sounds wonderful to us!!

 

[ZanderMan]

We are also waiting until October. Going to try Hojo this time around. Also we'll have another chance to bring home 22lbs of candy. Woot woot!*

 

[BayGirl22]

Yes, we're going in Sept just after Labor Day. We could easily have done this summer but with two little kids it will just be more enjoyable with less crowds. Hoping by Sept the newness will have died down and crowd levels will be like they were in the past.

I'm having trouble waiting that long, since we are driving I feel like we could jsut go at anytime. DS3 loves Cars though, so going after CarsLand instead of before is going to be totally worth it for us.

 

[rtfelt]

That said, honestly by the end of the summer, early fall the park will fall into low season like everything does that time of year. September wont be very busy at all. Slightly busier, maybe, but like all things it will fall into its usual cycle. Kids still have to go back to school and parents only have so much vacation time. I say if you dont want to go at opening, but dont want to wait a year either, go after Labor day weekend. It will still be lines, but nothing out of the ordinary. I suspect by the end of August the crazy rush will be over!

I agree. If you don't want the crowds wait until after Labor Day. The end of August is not actually that great. The Southern California passes that have been blocked out all summer become valid and a huge crowd of locals descend on the park. This year, I would assume many of us locals, will go then because Cars Land opens June 15, but half of June is also blocked out for S. CA AP so they'll wait until the end of August to go.