2023 - May or August?

[Boardwalk_bride]

After 2 years of putting off our big Disneyland trip, we are finally read to plan it for 2023. We are two adults and our daughter who will be 6 in January. I've done a lot of research into the best time to go, and have narrowed it down to late April/early-mid May or last part of August. Looking for feedback on best time to go. We plan to visit O.C area beaches and San Diego as well.

This may be the only time we ever go to DL so I'd like to go when crowds are lower. Fireworks are not a huge deal as our DL might not stay up that late + we do (used to) frequent WDW. We are coming from Toronto area.

I like May because of the weather, crowds seem lower, and quite frankly, it means going sooner. August is appealing mostly because the temperature will be similar to home (so no need to pull out different season clothes) but, mostly, school doesn't start until early September, so it means 2 less weeks of paying for summer camp (vs. pulling her out of school in May). Because she will be in kindergarten, there are no rules about # of missing days, it's more a financial/use of vacation day planning decision.

Thanks!

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

I'd lean toward August, in part to avoid May 4th Star Wars crowds, and because you have a better guarantee of full nighttime entertainment options - but if nighttime isn't a big deal, and if you are big Star Wars fans the early May dates might make more sense.

 

[gelatoni fan]

+1 vote for August. May is more likely to have random days with short hours or elevated crowds from hard ticket events.

 

[CrazyDuck808]

Spring Breakers or Crazy Hot Weather.... Tough decision!

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Thanks all. DH was leaning toward August. It's so hot here in August too, at least So Cal won't have the humidity (I assume?).

Any recommendations on which 'add on' is best in August - OC/LA vs. San Diego? We are thinking we will go somewhere between 10-14 nights, depends on the US/Cdn exchange rate. Likely planning 4 (full) days for Disney. I imagine we may have one rough day (with DD) with the time change, but it shouldn't be too bad.

Edit to add: I just looked through a post I made last year and see the general recommendation is SD for my daughters age.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

After 2 years of putting off our big Disneyland trip, we are finally read to plan it for 2023. We are two adults and our daughter who will be 6 in January. I've done a lot of research into the best time to go, and have narrowed it down to late April/early-mid May or last part of August. Looking for feedback on best time to go. We plan to visit O.C area beaches and San Diego as well.

This may be the only time we ever go to DL so I'd like to go when crowds are lower. Fireworks are not a huge deal as our DL might not stay up that late + we do (used to) frequent WDW. We are coming from Toronto area.

I like May because of the weather, crowds seem lower, and quite frankly, it means going sooner. August is appealing mostly because the temperature will be similar to home (so no need to pull out different season clothes) but, mostly, school doesn't start until early September, so it means 2 less weeks of paying for summer camp (vs. pulling her out of school in May). Because she will be in kindergarten, there are no rules about # of missing days, it's more a financial/use of vacation day planning decision.

Thanks!

So we has this dilemma with choosing this year. We love May in WDW and lately have been doing fall. We wanted to see DLR and California at a time where we can prep for the warmer weather, not deal with CA schools as they will be back (traffic is a given in CA at any time of year so that’s another thing we are prepared for) and before any of Awards season begins (don’t forget the Tony’s and daytime Emmy’s end award season and prime time Emmy’s starts it-yes awards season is technically 10 months out of the year lol) AND we didn’t want to be inundated with Halloween decor. I love Halloween it’s my fave holiday, but I wanted to see DLR and Knotts and USH without or minimally having the Halloween decor.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

So we has this dilemma with choosing this year. We love May in WDW and lately have been doing fall. We wanted to see DLR and California at a time where we can prep for the warmer weather, not deal with CA schools as they will be back (traffic is a given in CA at any time of year so that’s another thing we are prepared for) and before any of Awards season begins (don’t forget the Tony’s and daytime Emmy’s end award season and prime time Emmy’s starts it-yes awards season is technically 10 months out of the year lol) AND we didn’t want to be inundated with Halloween decor. I love Halloween it’s my fave holiday, but I wanted to see DLR and Knotts and USH without or minimally having the Halloween decor.

I really want to go for Halloween, as I haven't done a Disney Halloween yet, but we can much more easily get to WDW, so I think we will do it there, eventually.

 

[China Expat]

Both months will be busy, but AUgust heat can be gross. I would go in May.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Both months will be busy, but AUgust heat can be gross. I would go in May.

I get it but the heat can be bad here in August, too, so at least we will be used to it. For us, she is already out of school last 2 weeks of August, and I understand most Americans are back, so it might make most sense. I would prefer May, though, overall.

 

[mel2014]

Since the Magic Key sales didn't start until the end of last summer and the blockouts are very different than the old passes, it's hard to predict what effect the passholder blockouts are going to have on late summer crowds. What we discovered in past years with late August visits is that the first week after the SoCal annual passes were unblocked could be crazy -- people would pull their kids out of school to be there on the first days that those passholders regain access after the summer block outs.

The Imagine Key is more restricted than the old SoCal passes so I don't know what the uptake rate was on that pass, especially among people with kids, since it is basically a weekday-only pass. The Enchant Key may have more local purchasers. The Key calendar for 2023 isn't up yet, but I'm speculating that the Enchant Key access will restart on August 14 and the Imagine Key access will restart on August 21, so both of those weeks could be very crowded with pent-up demand from key holders that were blocked out all summer.

You could wait until the following week, but then you bleed into Labor Day crowds. It's also almost guaranteed Haunted Mansion will be down to install the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay in that final week in August, if that affects your decision.

But at the end of the day, it's likely to be crowded during both periods, so really it may be about what works best with your personal schedule and preferences.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Since the Magic Key sales didn't start until the end of last summer and the blockouts are very different than the old passes, it's hard to predict what effect the passholder blockouts are going to have on late summer crowds. What we discovered in past years with late August visits is that the first week after the SoCal annual passes were unblocked could be crazy -- people would pull their kids out of school to be there on the first days that those passholders regain access after the summer block outs.

The Imagine Key is more restricted than the old SoCal passes so I don't know what the uptake rate was on that pass, especially among people with kids, since it is basically a weekday-only pass. The Enchant Key may have more local purchasers. The Key calendar for 2023 isn't up yet, but I'm speculating that the Enchant Key access will restart on August 14 and the Imagine Key access will restart on August 21, so both of those weeks could be very crowded with pent-up demand from key holders that were blocked out all summer.

You could wait until the following week, but then you bleed into Labor Day crowds. It's also almost guaranteed Haunted Mansion will be down to install the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay in that final week in August, if that affects your decision.

But at the end of the day, it's likely to be crowded during both periods, so really it may be about what works best with your personal schedule and preferences.

I forgot about this - I'm so used to WDW planning that I have to remember this is different. Shoot. I think we will think hard about when we really want to go and how long - and see if we can tack it onto a school PD day, or long weekend (although I think all long weekends in Canada are also in the US). I'd love to do early September, but my DL will be starting grade 1, and I don't want her to miss the first few days.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Sorry wrong post

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Now we are also considering March - to take advantage of March break here (starting week of March 13th). How busy is it during that time? We would be going for more than a week (9 or 10 nights) - so I’m thinking we would head out sometime the week before. I think we are going to add Palm Springs as our second destination with just day trips from Anaheim to OC and maybe Hollywood.

 

[Davey Jones II]

What about later in May? Are there any periods of time when the crowds are reasonable at DLR?

 

[Absinthe]

Now we are also considering March - to take advantage of March break here (starting week of March 13th). How busy is it during that time? We would be going for more than a week (9 or 10 nights) - so I’m thinking we would head out sometime the week before. I think we are going to add Palm Springs as our second destination with just day trips from Anaheim to OC and maybe Hollywood.

We have gone (Sep 2021 and Mar 2022). Both times for 5 days and there are a few differences in those experiences.

1. March was much colder. We are from WA and are used to the cold, but it is still something to consider. This also meant we would have somewhat warm days with colder nights which required possibly bringing a sweatshirt in the backpack or going back to the hotel to get one.

2. Our September trip was the very first week before Labor Day and it was before Genie+ so that may be important. That being said, September was less busy by far and was warmer all around. Sometimes a little too warm (GRR helped us cool down mid day) but my SO really enjoyed the weather in comparison to March.

3. March this year was the beginning of the Food & Wine festival at DCA so that may also impact your decision (positively for the fun foods/drinks to try, negatively as it will draw more people to the parks).

Because you are going for such a long time (assuming you’re doing 5 days at DLR) you can really slow down and enjoy the experience so either will be amazing.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Thanks all. DH was leaning toward August. It's so hot here in August too, at least So Cal won't have the humidity (I assume?).

Any recommendations on which 'add on' is best in August - OC/LA vs. San Diego? We are thinking we will go somewhere between 10-14 nights, depends on the US/Cdn exchange rate. Likely planning 4 (full) days for Disney. I imagine we may have one rough day (with DD) with the time change, but it shouldn't be too bad.

Edit to add: I just looked through a post I made last year and see the general recommendation is SD for my daughters age.

I would highly recommend five days at Disneyland Resort. Four days is not enough, especially for first timers. Disneyland in particular is packed with attractions, and the whole resort has a lot of attractions not available at WDW.. We always did five days, plus a halloween party, and still ended up missing a couple things.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

I would highly recommend five days at Disneyland Resort. Four days is not enough, especially for first timers. Disneyland in particular is packed with attractions, and the whole resort has a lot of attractions not available at WDW.. We always did five days, plus a halloween party, and still ended up missing a couple things.

Thank you. I started a thread looking for places to stay - and after looking to book last night, we decided to wait till October. With the cost of hotels I’d rather go for a season - we’ve done Xmas at WDW twice, never Halloween. So we will definitely 5 days!

 

[hsmamainva]

We faced the same decision & went with late April-early May. Our dates are April 25-May 3. We didn’t want to deal with the hot weather in August or with Haunted Mansion being down for its annual holiday makeover. Hoping we can slide in between Spring Break & Star Wars events!

 

[Britrawr]

What about later in May? Are there any periods of time when the crowds are reasonable at DLR?

I don’t know now but I went around may24th( my birthday) for years and the crowds were never bad. I did weekdays though

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

I don’t know now but I went around may24th( my birthday) for years and the crowds were never bad. I did weekdays though

We looked into that because it’s a holiday weekend for us (in Canada) and I think the American one is the following weekend (for 2023). The hotels looks really $$$ for that time frame.