1st Trip Need advice

[SFRN97]

Hi we just returned from a 11 day stay at WDW loved every minute. Can not wait to go back but DS is starting Kindergarten next year and we do not want to pull him out of school for a trip. We are doing a quick trip in 2012 back to WDW/ cruise combo with DFIL DMIL as a retirement gift from DFIL (funny we get a gift when he retires ) I was thinking of doing Disneyland in 2011 as I do not want to go to WDW in the summer when parks are packed (have been spoiled with 2 trips with very manageable crowd levels).

Was wondering if anyone could tell me what weather and crowd levels are like at Disneyland for Feb Vac, Apr vac or end of June and July and Aug. When would be the best time to go in terms of warm enough to swim, little rain and little crowds. Thanks in advance

 

[skiingfast]

Was wondering if anyone could tell me what weather and crowd levels are like at Disneyland for Feb Vac, Apr vac or end of June and July and Aug. When would be the best time to go in terms of warm enough to swim, little rain and little crowds. Thanks in advance

Feb is the rainiest month. Though nothing like FL. It could rain or could not. By April it's drying out and warming up too. All summer it's hot.

Just like at WDW February is uncrowded. April has Spring break crowds. Summer is busy. But even during summer, weekdays are much better than weekends. End of August can be great as kids go back to school. Big caution though. A lot of AP holders who make up a great part of DLR guests are blocked all summer and then allowed back in August. This makes it suddenly busy as the pent up demand is relieved. After this sudden burst eases off August gets easy again.


Just want to mention that in 2011 late Spring Star Tours 2.0 will reopen. Also the Little Mermaid will open, both are expected to be ready for summer.

 

[Raindown]

I find that the first 4 months of the year are pretty good, if you can avoid rainy patches of weather. Just avoid spring break and other holiday weekends. This year there wasn't a spike in attendance after summer that people may have experienced in the past.

Theme parks know when their busy days/times are based on history. You can often look at the park hours as an indicator. I'm not sure about WDW but, Disneyland tends to fluctuates with attendance. You might want to look at the beginning and end of summer. It might give you the best combination of sun and more mellow attendance you are looking for.

 

[SplashMo]

WDW in mid June and also near labor day are very nice and medium crowds. Disney Land will be a blast as well. I would not worry about DS missing a few days of Kindergarten but I understand as well....

 

[jtown]

I vote for April. The weather should be nice and it's way closer than summer. Tho you won't get the late summer hours.

 

[DisMike]

Anytime you want to go that are outside of normal school days is going to be crowded. The question is how much.

See above.

 

[Danibelle]

Any month is good but I would AVOID any holiday weekends. The park is always packed wall to wall on a 3 day weekend (even Columbus Day).

 

[DLR29]

Just want to mention that in 2011 late Spring Star Tours 2.0 will reopen. Also the Little Mermaid will open, both are expected to be ready for summer.

I'm gonna strongly second this. For the next few months, DCA is going through MAJOR renovations. If you can go during the summer, I would highly recommend it because Star Tours II, Little Mermaid, Goofy's Sky School, and other Paradise Pier stuff will be open. Crowds are easily manageable if you choose the right times to go during the summer.

Because local AP holders form a large percentage of the attendance at DLR, that means crowd patterns are often associated with block out days (lower crowds when APs are blocked out). Therefore, if you look at the calendar for AP block out days, you can see that Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays during June may not be the best time to go because 3 or 4 out of the 4 types of APs are eligible to visit on those days. Instead, a better time to go would be mid-week in July where only 2/4 APs can visit. And overall, the past couple years, June has become one of DLR's most crowded times of the year...it won't make it any better with the opening of 2 HUGE new attractions.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

DD's B-day is 7/3 ~ I took her this past July to DLR for a B-day trip, our park days were 7/3-7/6 - we had a fantastic time and the crowds were minimal ~ all blockable APs were blocked. We also visited on a Wed. mid July 2009 - again the crowds were easy to deal with. We also just returned from a visit Thanksgiving weekend *our days were T Day, Fri and Sat - again all blockable APs were blocked ~ we had a great time, no complaints - so I wouldn't say to avoid all holiday weekends - just watch the AP blockouts ~ lots of locals have APs *and rightly should* I'd say a weekday visit anytime in July till mid Aug would be great and less crowded than anytime mid March - late April *Spring Break times.

 

[Funball]

December trip takers,

I still have Christmas maps for both parks DCA and DLR!! If you don’t have a trip till the end of the month you still have time to get a map or a set!!

Please pm me with an address and I will quickly get them sent out!!

IF YOUR Not taking a trip and like a set anyways, I can do that also!!!

 

[SFRN97]

Thanks everyone will defintely look at the blockout dates for AP holders. Summer is looking like a better choice. How hot does it get??

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Thanks everyone will defintely look at the blockout dates for AP holders. Summer is looking like a better choice. How hot does it get??

Early July was quite cool ~ morning and evenings especially *which I prefer but we weren't prepared for it *I figured it'd be hot - I ended up buying DD a $22 Mickey sweatshirt one evening while we were waiting for Fantasmic

 

[Raindown]

Thanks everyone will defintely look at the blockout dates for AP holders. Summer is looking like a better choice. How hot does it get??

Don't rely solely on blockout days as it works both ways. Many times APs become unblocked because Disney is expecting lower attendance and seeks to draw visitors. Some of the busiest days at the park are when all blockable APs are blocked. I'd recommend also looking at park hours. For example, if you look at December's calendar you can see the gradual ramp in hours over the month.

Don't stress to much over planning you still have plenty of time.

 

[skiingfast]

Summer is looking like a better choice. How hot does it get??

Do you know why more people live in LA than MA. The weather is better. Seriously there will not be humidity and it will be terribly unlikely to rain. So even though the temps may be between 75 and 95 it should feel nice.

 

[Hound 109]

Since you're a WDW vet, you should check out Hydroguy's primer:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599


& the rest of his tip threads are worth a read (including his weather & time of year threads):

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520483


Have a great time planning a visit to Walt's Park.

 

[kiwitravel]

We have twice done end of June thru early July and once mid August...

The crowds are bigger on the non blocked days at the end of June as many locals squeeze in a visit before the blocks take affect. In 2006 our quietest day was July 4 but this was a year when Jul 4 fell midweek, if its anywhere near a weekend it can get crazy I am told.

Mid August was hotter but low humidity so managable, In 2004 we caught the June gloom which was lots of grey days but no rain. 2006 no gloom...

We swam both in June and in August...

I would have no problem going back in June or August... The busiest times in terms of non AP visitors is early July thru early August.