What would you say is the worst month to go to

[gottalovepluto]

Total month wise I'd vote July is the worst. The parks are full-on summer ALL month.

 

[flightBOS]

Total month wise I'd vote July is the worst. The parks are full-on summer ALL month.

I'm visiting July 18-24; how bad should I be expecting it to be?

 

[Disneyland1084]

I think it is rare for pirates to be that huge of a line anymore. Depends on the time of day, but it often gets to 10-20 min waits or less recently. It's all about timing. But if some of you think 20 min waits are bad for disneyland, I guess we have different ideas of what crowded is.

Depending on the ride, anything under an hour I consider "light". I WISH all the lines last week were 10-20 minutes. That would have been heavenly.

 

[HydroGuy]

I'm visiting July 18-24; how bad should I be expecting it to be?

Don't get discouraged by what others say about summer at DLR. Yes some people dislike summer. And this summer is likely to be a bit more crowded than others summers because of the 60th celebration. But IMO summer is by far the best time to go to DLR.

People talk about the 95 degree days and 100+ degree days. But those are rare. I have only ever encountered it once at DLR about 30 years ago. The average high temperatures in the summer are a lot closer to 85 degrees if you look at weather data.

Summer trips do not go as well if you make all the classic mistakes. If you are smart about your arrival times, taking breaks, using FP and hotel location it goes much, much better in my experience. See the link below for more tips on summer visits to DLR

"Getting The Most Out of a Summer Visit To DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345319

 

[flightBOS]

Don't get discouraged by what others say about summer at DLR. Yes some people dislike summer. And this summer is likely to be a bit more crowded than others summers because of the 60th celebration. But IMO summer is by far the best time to go to DLR.

People talk about the 95 degree days and 100+ degree days. But those are rare. I have only ever encountered it once at DLR about 30 years ago. The average high temperatures in the summer are a lot closer to 85 degrees if you look at weather data.

Summer trips do not go as well if you make all the classic mistakes. If you are smart about your arrival times, taking breaks, using FP and hotel location it goes much, much better in my experience. See the link below for more tips on summer visits to DLR

"Getting The Most Out of a Summer Visit To DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345319

Thanks for the reply. I think we can manage the heat just fine (we lived in FL for 8+ years...at least the humidity is less in CA). We're good about shade and getting in the air conditioning every once in a while--walking through the shops is part of the experience for us.

Its more the crowds that I think I'm concerned about. Though I've been following the wait times via various apps, and it seems like wait times (even during peak...end of June/July) are less than at WDW. Just from what I've seen.

Hopefully July isn't the worst month to visit!

 

[Blue32]

Thanks for the reply. I think we can manage the heat just fine (we lived in FL for 8+ years...at least the humidity is less in CA). We're good about shade and getting in the air conditioning every once in a while--walking through the shops is part of the experience for us.

Its more the crowds that I think I'm concerned about. Though I've been following the wait times via various apps, and it seems like wait times (even during peak...end of June/July) are less than at WDW. Just from what I've seen.

Hopefully July isn't the worst month to visit!

Lines at peak times of the day are usually shorter at DL/DCA. There are more attractions to spread people out. There are more pinch points in DL that make it feel more crowded(i.e. Adventureland) in places. Crowds do night die down as much WDW after the fireworks, but the new night time shows are pulling a lot of people to them so lines are not as bad for some of the rides during those show either. Follow Hydroguy's tips about Summer visits and you will have a great trip!

 

[flightBOS]

Lines at peak times of the day are usually shorter at DL/DCA. There are more attractions to spread people out. There are more pinch points in DL that make it feel more crowded(i.e. Adventureland) in places. Crowds do night die down as much WDW after the fireworks, but the new night time shows are pulling a lot of people to them so lines are not as bad for some of the rides during those show either. Follow Hydroguy's tips about Summer visits and you will have a great trip!

That actually does make a bit of sense...I suppose at WDW, there are less rides in the MK, so the lines would inherently be longer (especially since capacity is higher there). Definitely going to take a look at Hydroguy's tips!

 

[Micahisgood54]

I have gone in April,march, June, July, and Aug and the worst time was probably in June a lot of people are there for graduation and school is getting out. I have not done the Christmas version but I hear it can get pretty nutty.

 

[GrottoGirl]

This past Christmas was intense. Traffic got so crazy dense that I was stuck in the same spot for ten minutes, waiting for the hoard of people before me to get a move on. I still had a great time though. I was at DL about two weeks ago and I didn't find myself waiting in line for more than an hour and DCA had even shorter wait times. Thank god I have my Fast Pass system and game plan down, lol. I did notice a ton of recent HS grads roaming around though and I felt like more rides were being shut down for either refurb or just temporarily.

 

[tarheelalum]

In July, now that the SoCal passes have been blocked, it's gotten much better. Today DL was very manageable for the most part. Much better than a few weeks ago on the same day. But yes it is warm and really humid today. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better. The only crazy thing today was the line for Peter Pan. It was literally 70 minutes 1 minute after rope drop.

 

[flightBOS]

In July, now that the SoCal passes have been blocked, it's gotten much better. Today DL was very manageable for the most part. Much better than a few weeks ago on the same day. But yes it is warm and really humid today. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better. The only crazy thing today was the line for Peter Pan. It was literally 70 minutes 1 minute after rope drop.

When did DLR make the changes blocking out July? Is this a recent (this year) change? Or has it been around for a couple years?

 

[gottalovepluto]

I'm visiting July 18-24; how bad should I be expecting it to be?

Busy, not gonna sugar coat it, but not Christmas busy. Full operating hours help a lot. I see you have multiple days. The best way we have found to manage crowds is get there at opening, you'll have a nice couple hours to hit things up as others are still waking up. We take an afternoon break while heat collides with high crowds levels and return for dinner or just after. My best advice for you is do the late Paint The Night. Crowds for us were significantly lighter for that one when compared to the first one. Lots of people leave after fireworks with their little ones so late night is also a good time to hit a ride or two. And Single Rider if you are eligible (ie no young children). The Diamond Celebration is a lot of fun, enjoy it all and the pre-planning you're doing will help you make the most of it!

 

[flightBOS]

Busy, not gonna sugar coat it, but not Christmas busy. Full operating hours help a lot. I see you have multiple days. The best way we have found to manage crowds is get there at opening, you'll have a nice couple hours to hit things up as others are still waking up. We take an afternoon break while heat collides with high crowds levels and return for dinner or just after. My best advice for you is do the late Paint The Night. Crowds for us were significantly lighter for that one when compared to the first one. Lots of people leave after fireworks with their little ones so late night is also a good time to hit a ride or two. And Single Rider if you are eligible (ie no young children). The Diamond Celebration is a lot of fun, enjoy it all and the pre-planning you're doing will help you make the most of it!

Thanks! We're staying on property, so we have EMH as well. I'm thinking we'll do rides from 7-11ish every day, take a break for shopping/eating/FPs (if they fall into that time slot), and come back around 5 or 6ish. Hopefully avoid the bulk of the crowds. We have 5 full days in the parks, so I'm hoping we can hit everything multiple times.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thanks! We're staying on property, so we have EMH as well. I'm thinking we'll do rides from 7-11ish every day, take a break for shopping/eating/FPs (if they fall into that time slot), and come back around 5 or 6ish. Hopefully avoid the bulk of the crowds. We have 5 full days in the parks, so I'm hoping we can hit everything multiple times.

Nice! You should definitely be able to hit some things multiple times. Have a great trip!

 

[HydroGuy]

When did DLR make the changes blocking out July? Is this a recent (this year) change? Or has it been around for a couple years?

It has always been an issue for about the last 10 years or so.

The issue is that if you go back say 20 years, DLR did not have such a large number of AP holders. At some point DLR realized the gold mine they had in SoCal for AP holders and really started to push them. The numbers rose to the point where it was about a million AP holders. That would be say 5 years ago. What that means is that if each AP holder used his/her pass on 10 days each year, the average daily attendance (at either DL or DCA) of just AP holders was 27,000.

That put a huge strain on DLR. What DLR did is really raised the prices of APs to get that to decrease.

The biggest impact related to blockouts comes from SoCal AP (SCAP) holders as PAP has no blockouts and DAP has limited blockouts (Saturdays only in summer). SCAP has a summer blockout. See https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/blockout-dates/?month=7#

 

[flightBOS]

It has always been an issue for about the last 10 years or so.

The issue is that if you go back say 20 years, DLR did not have such a large number of AP holders. At some point DLR realized the gold mine they had in SoCal for AP holders and really started to push them. The numbers rose to the point where it was about a million AP holders. That would be say 5 years ago. What that means is that if each AP holder used his/her pass on 10 days each year, the average daily attendance (at either DL or DCA) of just AP holders was 27,000.

That put a huge strain on DLR. What DLR did is really raised the prices of APs to get that to decrease.

The biggest impact related to blockouts comes from SoCal AP (SCAP) holders as PAP has no blockouts and DAP has limited blockouts (Saturdays only in summer). SCAP has a summer blockout. See https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/blockout-dates/?month=7#

So since they've raised the prices (over the last 5 years), they've seen a noticeable drop in the number of SoCal visitors (specifically AP holders) over the summer, freeing up space for others?

 

[HydroGuy]

So since they've raised the prices (over the last 5 years), they've seen a noticeable drop in the number of SoCal visitors (specifically AP holders) over the summer, freeing up space for others?

About two years ago they discontinued the SoCal AP. I believe what happened is they only allowed previous holders of SCAP to renew. But no one could buy it anymore. The more restrictive SoCal Select AP is apparently still available to SoCal residents. The blockout for that pass in June no longer shows on the DLR website as of July 1, but if I recall the blockout starts in early June. So the real impact in late June comes from SCAP. And those folks tend to get in "one last visit" as the blockout comes in late June and also tend to surge back when the blockout lifts (for both SOCal AP types) on August 17.

Since presumably SCAP is only available for renewals, then its numbers must be decreasing each year. Just probably not by very much.

It can be a sensitive subject on message boards like this, so I have to say first, I am a DAP holder. And second, I have no problem with SCAP holders going to DLR as much as they can on unblocked days for them. Whenever I discuss this issue I am focusing on the impact on crowds not the ethics of AP usage.