It seems so NOT crowded!!

[GenGen22]

Oh, the fair! Coming home from Costco this morning and the 55 South was at a complete standstill at noon, from well past the 22 to at least the fair I imagine (opposite our direction). We were like whaaaaaa? Then it was like oh, the fair started yesterday.

Thanks for the reminder!

Well I'm enjoying,the low crowds! I couldn't have picked a better time to come here.

 

[Jedi Mouse]

Crowds were great Sat. My wife and I enjoyed a leisurely day at the parks including a 3 hour nap back at the hotel and were still able to do much more than we anticipated. We also caught the Fantasmic soft open which was great!

 

[GatorChris]

DL has become opposite land. If it should be crowded, it's empty. If school is in and it should be empty, it's packed. I really hate unpredictability. If I choose to go next summer, it'll be packed for sure. Only because now we all think it'll be empty.

 

[DLgal]

Disneyland is pretty much only crowded when the Southern California APs are allowed to go.

As a Signature AP holder, July is my favorite month to visit. It's practically dead. Since there aren't any specific "celebrations" happening, it's very uncrowded. I expect next summer will be the last of that for awhile because once SW land opens in 2019, Disneyland will never be uncrowded again.

 

[Sun_soakin]

Disneyland is pretty much only crowded when the Southern California APs are allowed to go.

As a Signature AP holder, July is my favorite month to visit. It's practically dead. Since there aren't any specific "celebrations" happening, it's very uncrowded. I expect next summer will be the last of that for awhile because once SW land opens in 2019, Disneyland will never be uncrowded again.

Do you think August will be more crowded? We've always avoided visiting in the summer because it's so hot and presumably crowded. Because of all these low crowd reports, I'm thinking of visiting for my bday in mid august (before so cal passes open up again). August is probably the hottest tho.
We've made several trips this year and the weekdays have been more crowded than weekends and even New Years...it's been strange.

 

[tlovesdis]

I think a lot of people/families also planned later trips in the summer this year with the hopes of the Train, Fantasmic, etc...running, which we now know to be true. I know a few families that purposely planned August for that reason. I have a feeling starting today we may see it getting busier and busier. But who really knows anymore! LOL

 

[Jedi Mouse]

DL has become opposite land. If it should be crowded, it's empty. If school is in and it should be empty, it's packed. I really hate unpredictability. If I choose to go next summer, it'll be packed for sure. Only because now we all think it'll be empty.

You're right. We went from 6/30 to 7/7 and expected high crowds over the four day holiday weekend and then lower crowds on Wednesday/Thursday (5th and 6th) and got the exact opposite.

 

[savvy?71]

Just got back from a week trip to DL/DCA & D23. We arrived at DL last Monday. Crowds were high but manageable Mon-Wed. We maxed out EMH and hit pools midday. I didn't find it too hot but that's because 80-90 degrees in CA is whole different world than 80-90 on the east coast (and WDW, our 'home' park).

But by Thursday, I saw a shift in crowds; waits rarely got past 20 min. Even GotG and RSR were 30-40 min at various points throughout day-- and RSR had FP available well into the afternoon on Fri & Sat (of the D23 days). We were at D23 all day Sat (camped out actually for Sat panel) and the sheer amount of people there was staggering.

I'd definitely attribute crowd shifts to D23. We hopped back to parks Sat night @5pm and everything was walk on, Radiator had FP (30 min stand by). In fact, my family did single rider (got on immediately--my 2 kids were in same car!), then did Soarin (I had FP within 20 min return), then did RSR FP, (which I grabbed when we got in) then walked on Screamin' 3x, then grabbed TSM FP to use after supper. It was pretty great. We could have done stand by for GotG; I bet the wait was shorter than the 40 posted. But we had done it so many times at that point in trip and we were beat (and pretty full so yeah no lol)

 

[DLgal]

Do you think August will be more crowded? We've always avoided visiting in the summer because it's so hot and presumably crowded. Because of all these low crowd reports, I'm thinking of visiting for my bday in mid august (before so cal passes open up again). August is probably the hottest tho.
We've made several trips this year and the weekdays have been more crowded than weekends and even New Years...it's been strange.

As long as you go before the So Cal APs are allowed back, you will be fine.

And as a general rule, August isn't any hotter than July or June, or September. The summers here are rather mild and steady, by the standards of the east coast. We don't have a particular "hot" month. Summer is warmer on average than fall and spring, but not by extremes, unless there is a specific heat wave, which we have had twice this summer, lasting only a few days each time.

It's been in the low-mid 80's the past week here. Nothing crazy. Although, it has been unusually humid, but that's due to a couple tropical systems in the Pacific throwing some moisture in the air our way.

 

[bdiddy]

I'm anxious to see what they'll be next week on Tues & Wed. It's our first visit and I'm preparing for super crowded and hoping to be pleasantly surprised. Although I'm sure crowded at DL is still not as bad as WDW at it's worst?

 

[Skyegirl1999]

One thing to keep in mind with crowds at this time of year is that the parks are running at full capacity (minus the railroad and the Rivers vessels), so they're absorbing people so much better than they were earlier in the year.

I'd be curious to see actual attendance numbers for a day like yesterday (not empty, but not terribly crowded at all - the first Jedi Training didn't even fill up) vs some of those February days that felt horrendous. I wouldn't be surprised if the attendance figures were about the same, just so much more efficiently dispersed with full staffing/full capacity rides, etc.

 

[DLgal]

One thing to keep in mind with crowds at this time of year is that the parks are running at full capacity (minus the railroad and the Rivers vessels), so they're absorbing people so much better than they were earlier in the year.

I'd be curious to see actual attendance numbers for a day like yesterday (not empty, but not terribly crowded at all - the first Jedi Training didn't even fill up) vs some of those February days that felt horrendous. I wouldn't be surprised if the attendance figures were about the same, just so much more efficiently dispersed with full staffing/full capacity rides, etc.

I don't think this has that much of an impact. You can just tell when there are more people in the parks overall. Lines to get IN are long, bathroom lines are long, food likes are long, etc. And they aren't necessarily running rides at full capacity right now. Last week they were only using one side of Autopia, two trains on Big Thunder, three trains on Screamin', etc. Still, wait times were low, counter service restaurants had lots of available seating, etc.

The annual pass blackouts and lack of any amazing promotional tickets being offered are the reasons for the low crowd levels.

Crowds at WDW are down as well. It's by design, and Disney is okay with it, because individual guest spending is up overall, and that is what they want to see.

 

[GatorChris]

One thing to keep in mind with crowds at this time of year is that the parks are running at full capacity (minus the railroad and the Rivers vessels), so they're absorbing people so much better than they were earlier in the year.

Not sure if that's the case. You can usually feel the massive crowds moving through TL or AL. I'm sure having all rides going is a big help.

Funny, I just checked the app, and wouldn't you know it, Big Thunder is down. Is there ever a day it DOESN'T go down? Anyway, rides seem to be right where the offseason settles at. Space Mt=70 min; Peter Pan=40; Matterhorn=60. Pretty standard for the afternoon in November or February. Splash was at 120, so that was high, but if it was down earlier, that may be why. Overall, that's a pretty nice day at DL in the middle of July. Even DCA looks like normal numbers for the offseason.

It appears Summer is the new offseason. Until someone reads this and then they'll all start going during Summer again!!!!

 

[Sun_soakin]

As long as you go before the So Cal APs are allowed back, you will be fine.

And as a general rule, August isn't any hotter than July or June, or September. The summers here are rather mild and steady, by the standards of the east coast. We don't have a particular "hot" month. Summer is warmer on average than fall and spring, but not by extremes, unless there is a specific heat wave, which we have had twice this summer, lasting only a few days each time.

It's been in the low-mid 80's the past week here. Nothing crazy. Although, it has been unusually humid, but that's due to a couple tropical systems in the Pacific throwing some moisture in the air our way.

We live on the coast in Santa Cruz and July-august-September are our warmest. I was thinking it ran hotter in Anaheim...we've hit heat waves in May a couple times that were killers (we're weather pansies). I used to visit my grandparents in LA as a kid and just remember how hot it was in the summer.
Either way, I think we'all give it a try. I'm exited to go back and see everything opened back up and it will be fun to be there for my bday!

 

[DLgal]

We live on the coast in Santa Cruz and July-august-September are our warmest. I was thinking it ran hotter in Anaheim...we've hit heat waves in May a couple times that were killers (we're weather pansies). I used to visit my grandparents in LA as a kid and just remember how hot it was in the summer.
Either way, I think we'all give it a try. I'm exited to go back and see everything opened back up and it will be fun to be there for my bday!

Northern CA has been much warmer than Anaheim most of the summer. Most of June our highs were only in the upper 70s. Today's high was only 83.

 

[Sun_soakin]

Northern CA has been much warmer than Anaheim most of the summer. Most of June our highs were only in the upper 70s. Today's high was only 83.

Not along the coast. For example it's 70 in Santa Cruz right now and my weather app says 80 in Anaheim. Our summers are usually low to mid 70s. Santa Cruz is also one of the warmer Nor Cal coastal areas.

 

[DLgal]

Not along the coast. For example it's 70 in Santa Cruz right now and my weather app says 80 in Anaheim. Our summers are usually low to mid 70s. Santa Cruz is also one of the warmer Nor Cal coastal areas.

I know. I used to live in Northern CA. My sister lives in SF now and we visited them at the end of June and it was warmer in the city than it was back home near Anaheim! It was sunny and in the upper 80s! I have never been hot in San Francisco! LOL! But we also drove up to Sacramento one day and it was 108 there! It was during that heat wave in late June...

 

[ktlm]

Enjoyed it while it lasted. Peter Pan line was 15 minutes in the afternoon Saturday and all the lines were low all day. Sunday was a little more, but still low. Yesterday was significantly more crowded and today is crazy compared to yesterday. Paths are very crowded to walk down today at DL. We have been in July the last few years and today is the most crowded it has ever been when we have been here. If we did not have the Fantasmic dining package we would leave and spend the rest of the day at the pool. It is 20 minutes just to get on the Carousel.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

I was lucky enough to go on two multi-day mid-week trips in June and one solo trip on Saturday, July 8th. Both June trips had moderate crowds but the parks were deserted on my day trip in July.