Best days of the week to visit Disneyland

[bardays]

Heed this warning! It is so true and cannot be overstated.

Do NOT go on a Monday. ANY Monday. All year. No matter what.

Why?
I am going Mar 14-18 (Thurs-Mon) and we were going to take off the Saturday as that was advice I was given.
There are some pass blockouts Fri Sat Sun
gulp!

 

[friedela]

Heed this warning! It is so true and cannot be overstated.

Do NOT go on a Monday. ANY Monday. All year. No matter what.

Oh wow, really? It's that bad???? We were planning on doing our last Disney day on a Monday. If you had to choose between going Saturday, Sunday or Monday, which would you pick?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Oh wow, really? It's that bad???? We were planning on doing our last Disney day on a Monday. If you had to choose between going Saturday, Sunday or Monday, which would you pick?

Choose whichever day/s has/have the most AP blockouts. And if you are in the parks from RD on the Monday, with good planning, you should be able to get a good bit done in the morning before the crowds start rolling in.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Why?
I am going Mar 14-18 (Thurs-Mon) and we were going to take off the Saturday as that was advice I was given.
There are some pass blockouts Fri Sat Sun
gulp!

Check your Saturday -- how many APs are blocked that day? If the lower 3 APs are blocked, then it could be good day. Last summer, any Saturday that had more APs blocked was a good to very good day. Mondays were consistently busy.

 

[friedela]

Check your Saturday -- how many APs are blocked that day? If the lower 3 APs are blocked, then it could be good day. Last summer, any Saturday that had more APs blocked was a good to very good day. Mondays were consistently busy.

Does annual pass blackout mean people with annual passes aren't allowed in the park? Looks like Sat. May 4th is blocked out 3 times (if I am reading it right), but it isn't the "lower 3".

 

[DLgal]

Any Saturday is better than any Monday. If you can do a Saturday rather than a Monday, do it!

ETA...Saturdays are our favorite days to go as a family. We have the Signature pass and aren't ever blocked out, but so many others are that it makes a huge difference. We don't go on Sundays anymore, for the most part, unless we can be there at opening.

 

[DLgal]

Why?
I am going Mar 14-18 (Thurs-Mon) and we were going to take off the Saturday as that was advice I was given.
There are some pass blockouts Fri Sat Sun
gulp!

Go Saturday. You were given bad advice.

 

[DLgal]

Does annual pass blackout mean people with annual passes aren't allowed in the park? Looks like Sat. May 4th is blocked out 3 times (if I am reading it right), but it isn't the "lower 3".

Yes, blackout means those passholders cannot enter the parks that day. And yes, May 4 is blocked out for the lower 3 tiers of AP: So Cal Select, So Cal, and Deluxe. Only Signature and Signature Plus passholders can enter that day. The vast majority of passholders are Deluxe and So Cal.

 

[DLgal]

It does bear mentioning that the Southern California resident special ticket offer will cause increased crowds in general, and on weekends in particular. These tickets are blacked out April 14-22, but will be good for the majority of spring break time, so be aware. The deal ends in late May.

 

[friedela]

It does bear mentioning that the Southern California resident special ticket offer will cause increased crowds in general, and on weekends in particular. These tickets are blacked out April 14-22, but will be good for the majority of spring break time, so be aware. The deal ends in late May.

So with that in mind do you still think a Sat will be better than a Monday?

 

[DLgal]

So with that in mind do you still think a Sat will be better than a Monday?

Yes. Literally always yes. Mondays are consistently horrible.

I have been on several Saturdays recently, and ONE Monday (kids had a random day off school and I stupidly told them we could go to Dianesyland). Monday was a complete nightmare.

We usually go every other Saturday as a family. They have all been fine so far, and FAR better than that one Monday.

 

[Belle5]

Yes. Literally always yes. Mondays are consistently horrible.

I have been on several Saturdays recently, and ONE Monday (kids had a random day off school and I stupidly told them we could go to Dianesyland). Monday was a complete nightmare.

We usually go every other Saturday as a family. They have all been fine so far, and FAR better than that one Monday.

When you say "nightmare" this has me pausing. I have the option to keep my three day pass and go to the parks Sun, Tues, Wed. However, my plan was to upgrade each of our tickets to a 4 day pass (a mere $19 a piece) and also go in to a park on Monday. Is it so very bad that you wouldn't go near a park for $19? My inclination is to go ahead and go and just not expect to accomplish a lot.

 

[DLgal]

When you say "nightmare" this has me pausing. I have the option to keep my three day pass and go to the parks Sun, Tues, Wed. However, my plan was to upgrade each of our tickets to a 4 day pass (a mere $19 a piece) and also go in to a park on Monday. Is it so very bad that you wouldn't go near a park for $19? My inclination is to go ahead and go and just not expect to accomplish a lot.

In your case, I would go and just make the best of it because you have 3 other days and like you said, for $19, you will still have a good time. Maybe use that day to see some shows or something, or do a couple sit down meals/lounge experiences like Lampligh, Alfresco Terrace, or Carthay Circle lounges. Low key stuff that you normally skip because you are too busy riding stuff.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

So with that in mind do you still think a Sat will be better than a Monday?

Saturday, May 4 is Star Wars Day (“May the Fourth be with you”). It is always impossible to predict crowds and we don’t know what Disney will do that day (usually special merch, photo ops, character stuff), but it may well be amped up with all the SW hype - I’d be cautious about that particular Saturday.

My perspective on Mondays is that they’re more crowded than people expect, but not usually that out of line with the days surrounding them. We go on a lot of Mondays. Heck, I was at Disneyland last Monday and am going again at noon today. They’re usually significantly more crowded than, say, Wednesdays, but there are occasional weeks where that isn’t even true. Over the summer, I’d say most Saturdays are definitely less crowded than most Mondays due to AP blackouts and a high percentage of tourists trying to “avoid Saturday,” but it’s not that cut and dried the rest of the year, ESPECIALLY with the ticket deals.

When you say "nightmare" this has me pausing. I have the option to keep my three day pass and go to the parks Sun, Tues, Wed. However, my plan was to upgrade each of our tickets to a 4 day pass (a mere $19 a piece) and also go in to a park on Monday. Is it so very bad that you wouldn't go near a park for $19? My inclination is to go ahead and go and just not expect to accomplish a lot.

I mean, it’s not like Monday is going to have this MASSIVE spike in crowds compared to those other days. It might be the most crowded of those four days (it also might not be), but it’s not like you’re going to have this dramatic, horrible experience on Monday that wouldn’t occur on Sunday or Tuesday.

 

[DLgal]

Saturday, May 4 is Star Wars Day (“May the Fourth be with you”). It is always impossible to predict crowds and we don’t know what Disney will do that day (usually special merch, photo ops, character stuff), but it may well be amped up with all the SW hype - I’d be cautious about that particular Saturday.

My perspective on Mondays is that they’re more crowded than people expect, but not usually that out of line with the days surrounding them. We go on a lot of Mondays. Heck, I was at Disneyland last Monday and am going again at noon today. They’re usually significantly more crowded than, say, Wednesdays, but there are occasional weeks where that isn’t even true. Over the summer, I’d say most Saturdays are definitely less crowded than most Mondays due to AP blackouts and a high percentage of tourists trying to “avoid Saturday,” but it’s not that cut and dried the rest of the year, ESPECIALLY with the ticket deals.


I mean, it’s not like Monday is going to have this MASSIVE spike in crowds compared to those other days. It might be the most crowded of those four days (it also might not be), but it’s not like you’re going to have this dramatic, horrible experience on Monday that wouldn’t occur on Sunday or Tuesday.

I don't recall anything special happening the last couple years on May 4th. Maybe a photopass photo frame that you could take a picture with, but nothing else. My husband is a HUGE SW fan and if there was anything super special, we would have been there. Other than Hyperspace Mountain and having Rey show up at the character meet in Tomorrowland, it's not like the day has been a huge special event. I do recall around 2016 they made a big deal about it, but since then, not so much.

Maybe this year will be different, as you say. My husband and kids are planning to go while I am in WDW with my friends, so we shall see if they do anything special.

I also think my recent Monday nightmare was also due to "ski week," which I didn't know was a thing until the week beforehand. We arrived around 9:15 and, I am not kidding, the lines to get into Disneyland went ALL the way back to the DCA gates. It took us an hour to park the car and take the tram as well. We got to the structure just at 8:20. I thought we were doing good to be so early. Not so much. We bailed on our DL plan and headed into DCA first, which was pleasant, but much busier than normal. Frustratingly, THREE major rides broke down all one after the other, and we left very frustrated. My son was on the verge of tears. We had a fastpass for Toy Story...broke down just as we were heading there. We had a DAS for Radiator Springs...broke down after we passed through the FP line and were almost on. Got out and went to Mater's. Waited 25 min. Broke down just as we approached the loading area. Went to Soarin to use the "magical FP" from the Toy Story breakdown...miraculously got to ride it, but it broke down just as we were exiting! I was like "let's go to Disneyland, this is getting ridiculous." Disneyland was so crowded we only stayed for a couple rides and lunch and then went back home.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Does annual pass blackout mean people with annual passes aren't allowed in the park? Looks like Sat. May 4th is blocked out 3 times (if I am reading it right), but it isn't the "lower 3".

See the answer given below: the 3 APs listed = "the lower 3."

Yes, blackout means those passholders cannot enter the parks that day. And yes, May 4 is blocked out for the lower 3 tiers of AP: So Cal Select, So Cal, and Deluxe. Only Signature and Signature Plus passholders can enter that day. The vast majority of passholders are Deluxe and So Cal.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... We will be visiting the Southern California area in early October 2019 for about 10 nights. We plan on spending 4 to 5 nights at the Grand Californian... What I am curious about is which days of the week will have the lowest crowds?.. Are we better off staying at Grand Californian from a Sunday night through a Thursday night or from a Wednesday night through a Sunday night? We will buy 5 day park hoppers...

OP, when in Oct.? The annual Gay Days convention will be held Oct. 4-6, making that weekend very crowded. And the MHP for the 4th should sell out.

 

[DougK]

OP, when in Oct.? The annual Gay Days convention will be held Oct. 4-6, making that weekend very crowded. And the MHP for the 4th should sell out.

We will be there the weekend of October 4th-6th. I was not even aware of "gay days". It sounds like we picked a bad weekend, but we saw that Columbus Day is Monday October 14th so we figured the weekend of October 11th-13th would be crowded because of the Monday holiday. I guess it will always be crowded no matter when we choose.

 

[bethwc101]

The last few times we have gone we have done a Sat-Tues or Sat-Wed. I would honestly say Sundays were our most busy day. We utilize maxpass and stack fastpasses. I am constantly booking our next FP within 1-2 min of it becoming available. There has not been a day we have not been able to accomplish all we wanted to within the day. It is just a matter of prioritizing and knowing what times are best for what fastpasses.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

We will be there the weekend of October 4th-6th. I was not even aware of "gay days". It sounds like we picked a bad weekend, but we saw that Columbus Day is Monday October 14th so we figured the weekend of October 11th-13th would be crowded because of the Monday holiday. I guess it will always be crowded no matter when we choose.

October is a very busy month at DLR -- increasingly so every year, it would seem. (A perfect example where non-peak/low season does not mean low/no crowds.) The bright side to your situation is that you wisely started your planning and research way in advance, so you have plenty of time to get a jump on this. Get MP and get your FP/MP skills ready to go for your trip. Ask all your questions here -- you'll get lots of great advice. Make your TS and dining package reservations well in advance (they should be open at or near the 60 day mark). When MHP tickets go on sale, make sure of your date (if you want to go), then buy your tickets early. Remember that there are no refunds, resales, or transfers on MHP tickets -- so be sure before you buy! By the time your trip dates come around, you'll be ready to have a great time!