April/May 2017?

[ClaraOswald]

We are planning on visiting Disneyland in February 2017. But we also like to plan back-up dates with our hotel in case something comes up like illnesses or something.

Last time we went (2015) we picked back up dates in late April. But in 2017, Easter is in late April. So I am struggling on when do do back up dates.

I assume early April would be Spring break, right?
What's early May like? School breaks? Grad nights?

Maybe March would be better than April/May?

I don't know. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

 

[figment_jii]

You probably won't run into a lot of Spring Breaks in May, but anytime in March and April it is likely that some schools will be out for Spring Break because not all school districts tie their Spring Breaks to Easter. LAUSD has the week before Easter off, but San Diego has the last week in Mach off. It looks some Arizona school districts take off a week in mid-March. It looks like DLR expects Spring Break season to start around March 17 (that's when SoCal APs start experiencing Friday blockouts).

Grad Nites typically start in mid-May. There is also the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in early-May.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Does the Half Marathon effect crowds a lot?

 

[ClaraOswald]

I wonder what the first week of June is like.

 

[figment_jii]

I haven't been there for the Tinkerbell, but I've been there during the Avenger's Half Marathon. There is a noticeable uptick in crowds from Friday through Sunday; there are also a lot of road closures in the early morning which impacts trying to get into the parking structure/lots. DTD was really busy on Saturday night. I didn't feel like it had a huge impact on attraction wait times, but it did make the parks themselves feel a lot more crowded.

You can find the blockout calendars here (but note it only goes through March 2017 at this point, they should add April 2017 at the start of May):
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/blockout-dates/

 

[AZMermaid]

I wonder what the first week of June is like.

We went. The first week of June 5 years ago. It was pretty nice. Not dead, but not crowded. But that was 5 years ago... I'm expecting worse this year. For us, we are going Jube 5-10 and have 3 grad night nights. We had two when we booked and June 9 was added later.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Do you think you'll write a trip report after your June trip?

 

[AZMermaid]

I might... At least a mini one. I'll let you know!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Our last trip to DL was April 2015 and it was Spring Break time. It was the most crowds I ever encountered, worse than any trip to WDW. The thing with Spring Break and DL is yes, schools are out, but all the schools are not out at the same time. It's scattered over about a 2 weeks time. Varies greatly. I will never go to DL over/close to Spring Break again.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Yeah, even the "slow" season isn't slow anymore. So I am kind of afraid of all other times of the year. We hadn't been to the parks since 2010....so February 2015 was a bit eye-opening for us.

 

[ClaraOswald]

So the Tinkerbell half marathon isn't until May 11th. So maybe the week before that would be good for our backup days? We'd be gone by the 10th.

 

[figment_jii]

I don't know if they're going to hold to a similar schedule next year, but Bats Day in the Park and Spring Dapper Days are happening next weekend this year. If they follow the same pattern next year, those events may happen the weekend before Mother's Day/Tinker Bell Half Marathon.

 

[neonderlyn]

Easter is on the 16th of april next year so that still leaves the last week of April and you would miss all the spring breaks

 

[ClaraOswald]

I don't know if they're going to hold to a similar schedule next year, but Bats Day in the Park and Spring Dapper Days are happening next weekend this year. If they follow the same pattern next year, those events may happen the weekend before Mother's Day/Tinker Bell Half Marathon.

Ugh. I hadn't thought of that. Boooo.

Easter is on the 16th of april next year so that still leaves the last week of April and you would miss all the spring breaks

We usually do mid-week to mid-week. I wonder if Easter crowds would be gone by Wednesday the 19th.

 

[neonderlyn]

We usually do mid-week to mid-week. I wonder if Easter crowds would be gone by Wednesday the 19th.

There is a good chance they could be, or at least starting to thin out. Last year we went the last week of April and i thought it was the best time! Minus the fact that is was super hot that week.

 

[mom2rtk]

There is a good chance they could be, or at least starting to thin out. Last year we went the last week of April and i thought it was the best time! Minus the fact that is was super hot that week.

Easter was in March last year. Comparing 3 days after Easter 2017 to the last week of April last year (a month after Easter) is an apples to oranges comparison.

OP, the week after Easter will be very busy.

 

[northshoremama]

Ugh. I hadn't thought of that. Boooo.



We usually do mid-week to mid-week. I wonder if Easter crowds would be gone by Wednesday the 19th.

For those easter/spring breaks that are tied to easter, they might be in the parks that entire week after Easter Sunday....that's actually when we plan to be at DL next week...the week of April 17th.

 

[ClaraOswald]

The late Easter next year is really throwing me off. In 2015 we did late April for back up dates but Easter was much earlier.

Right now I think I am leaning toward first week of March or first week of June...maybe. I don't know. Ha!

 

[AZMermaid]

With June... Will grad nights bug you? Everything I've read indicates they start coming around lunch, but tend to start in DL since their party is in DCA. We have 3 in our 5 nights stay. One day is our off/resort day, one day we plan on being in DCA. One was added like 3 months ago and that's our DL day with dinner at Blue Bayou. That really can't be moved... So we are going with it. I'll let you know how it goes! We do plan on taking a mid day break that day and then plan on not being able to do much when we return. Hopefully planning for the worst will leave us pleasantly surprised!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Ugh...I thought maybe the grad night stuff only caused the evenings to be crowded.