Advice for September dates

[toodles2009]

First, I want to thank everyone who regularly posts on this board as I have found the information incredibly valuable. We are planning a first trip to DL with our 2 yr old son, who is a Mickey fanatic. My husband and I have been to DL tons of times since we were kids but have not been in a couple years. We want to go sometime mid-week in September and our primary goal is to minimize crowds/lines given the 2 yr old's limited attention span. We thought the week of September 12 looked great but I am completely perplexed because the GCH is sold out of non-concierge rooms for those dates and DLH has only view rooms. Although it is not such a big deal for us to pay the higher rates, I am concerned that the parks may be more crowded than anticipated if the hotels are this booked. I spoke to the hotel and they didn't know why except that maybe it was gearing up for Halloweentime (although this doesn't make much sense to me since it wouldn't have started and all the rides will be closed). The previous week has no such issue but worries me because it is labor day/marathon week. We would greatly appreciate any advice about the following:

1. Which of these 2 weeks (Sept. 5-8 or 12-15) should we go, or are both bad choices? As I mentioned, the 2nd week concerns me due to hotel availability. On the first week, the 5th is Labor Day (as well as the end of the marathon weekend). We would plan to arrive mid-afternoon that day and our goal would be to mainly take it easy, check in, and see the fireworks which will not be going later in the week, although it would be nice to do a couple kid-friendly rides/walk around the park see some characters. Then the majority of time in the parks would be Tues./Wed. I would normally avoid a holiday like the plague so I am concerned about this being our son's first day to experience Disney, but am thinking maybe it is ok because we will arrive late in the day and hopefully holiday/marathon visitors will be leaving. Is this crazy to even think about going Labor Day? How bad will it be?

2. DLH or GCH? We love the GCH and had always assumed we'd stay there, but now are reconsidering, especially if we go the week with only concierge available. The renovated pool area at the DLH looks like it might be pretty fun for a toddler and it is classic Disney which I like. But the continuing construction and long walk to the parks concerns me (we have the toddler plus a 6 month old).

Again, thank you so much for any advice. This forum is amazing!

 

[specialks]

I can't help with too many of your questions, but tell you a couple of things.
- Sept 14th is a big homeschoolers "not back to school" meetup. I remember it coming up when we planned our Sept trips. I have no idea how many people actually go.
- when we went on our second Sept DLR trip the halloweentime started on our last day. The parks got substantially more crowded as our trip continued into the week.
- MANY schools start on the 6th, 7th, and 8th so that makes me think very few people will be in the parks for vacation when they would have to miss the beginning of school. However, some people might have started in Aug and think that that week would be a good time to take a break and visit.
- to conclude, and try to help some, I think that after our previous halloweentime kickoff experience I would book the week of labor day. That is a pure guess since we have not gone then. You might have to deal with chaos on the 5th, but I would speculate that the crowds will be light the other days.
Also, I think I have heard before that the hotels open blocks of rooms sometimes to make sure they have rooms always coming open. Perhaps they are booked but a new set of promo rooms will be taken back to offer to other guests. Not sure if it works that way.

Have fun planning!

 

[landheim]

I have done some research on hotels too for the week 9/12-16. I have found many of the big ones (Marriott, Hilton, etc) are completely booked for those dates due to the BUILD WINDOWS convention. Interestingly enough it is not listed on the Anaheim Convention website (even it is being held there), but it is a huge convention. I'm not too sure how many people it will bring into Disneyland, but it makes me nervous as that is the week I'm going and I really can't change my dates to to scheduled vacation time at work. Anyway, the previous week might be better for you if you have the option.

 

[skiingfast]

This is a bit odd. I checked the AP calendar and standard GCH rooms are at a low for that time except for 12 is unavailable, 13 is a medium rate and 14 is unavailable. But except for Friday and Saturdays and the 13 it's $231 a night.

DLH shows the same pattern. PPH is all open low rates.

In each hotel it shows view and Concierge as available.

I'm sure the conventions is using the available rooms near it, but I doubt has much to do with the Disney hotels because of the odd availability pattern. There must be somthing else affecting it.

 

[tlovesdis]

I just checked sept 12-16 and GCH has premium view and standard view available, DLH has deluxe and premium view and PPH has standard and theme park. All three have concierge available as well.

 

[johde]

It wouldn't hurt to look at the refurbishment schedule to decide if there is some ride could sway your decision. September 5-8, Haunted mansion closed, California Screamin closes the 6th, And Pirates of the Caribbean Closes the 7th. 12-15 all of the above are still in refurbishment plus Space Mountain. (Space Mountain, and Haunted Mansion are scheduled to reopen Sept. 16th. Labor Day could be busy. but everything I've seen shows the crowds dieing down greatly starting Tuesday. I'm going that time for the half Marathon. I'm planning on going to the parks Sun, Tue, Thurs, Fri. Monday I think I'm going to Knotts, and Wed. will be a rest day.

 

[toodles2009]

Thanks for the advice so far. It sounds like the convention may be the issue with the hotels. Based on all the comments we are leaning towards the labor day week and will be prepared for crowds the first day but hoping for the best. Thanks also for the info on the ride closures that affect the earlier week less; this is not much of a concern for us as our focus will be on the toddler for rides but good to know and maybe a bonus if we use the single rider line a couple times. Another thing I noticed is if we check in the 5th we will still get the extra fast passes so that is a plus in favor of the earlier week.

Any thoughts on the DLH v. GCH with a baby and toddler?

 

[skiingfast]

Any thoughts on the DLH v. GCH with a baby and toddler?

With strollers I think the distance difference will not matter. With little ones I think the one negative that GCH recieves(somtimes the rooms are considered small) won't be a problem.

If price works I'd take the nicer GCH for you, leave the more fun DLH for them when they are a bit bigger.