Best Fall Weekend for Smaller Crowds

[Julia M]

I am planning along weekend at Disneyland for 2 couples (no kids). We have a couple of options for weekends and would like the smallest crowds. Any suggestions??
Sept 11-14
Sept 25-28
Nov. 6-9 (weekend before Veterans Day, whic is the following Wednesday
Nov 13-16(Weekend after Veterans Day, which was on Wednesday)
Nov 20-23 (weekend before Thanksgiving)
Dec 4-7

While we'd enjoy holiday decorations, that is a low priority.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Geemo]

I am planning along weekend at Disneyland for 2 couples (no kids). We have a couple of options for weekends and would like the smallest crowds. Any suggestions??
Sept 11-14
Sept 25-28
Nov. 6-9 (weekend before Veterans Day, whic is the following Wednesday
Nov 13-16(Weekend after Veterans Day, which was on Wednesday)
Nov 20-23 (weekend before Thanksgiving)
Dec 4-7

While we'd enjoy holiday decorations, that is a low priority.

Any help is appreciated.

You might want to check this link out. It has info that may give you an idea about crowd levels.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/2015-calendar-of-events-school-breaks-and-dlr.3358090/
The first part has info about events and activities in and around DLR
The second portion has a variety of school recess and breaks.

I feel the smallest crowd will be Sept 11-14.
All schools will be back in session and College kids will be getting settled in for the new school year.


Sept 25-28 may be the beginning of the Halloween Parties
Nov 6-9 the Christmas Day Parade Special is generally taped the first weekend of November.
Not sure how the crowds will be but it will snarrel up main street and the castle area.
The first weekend in December is the Candlelight Processional

Good luck finding a slow day. As everyone mentions the Slow Days of Disneyland are becoming a thing of the past.

Enjoy your time in the parks.

Geemo

 

[ParkHopper1]

Sept 11-14. Post school and summer vacations, pre holiday season. Early September is one of the few remaining "off seasons" any more.

 

[agamble]

We went the second weekend of September one year and the crowds were pretty good even with the opening of Halloween time. I think we went the third weekend this last year, though I'm not 100% sure, and crowds were also good. We also went the Monday and Tuesday after Thanksgiving and it was okay; Monday a bit heavy, Tuesday no crowds due to rain. I think November 13-16 would be okay, assuming the parade is taped the weekend before. Having Veteran's day in the middle of the week will likely split crowds between the two weekends, which could be nice.

 

[SMD]

I am planning along weekend at Disneyland for 2 couples (no kids). We have a couple of options for weekends and would like the smallest crowds. Any suggestions??
Sept 11-14
Sept 25-28
Nov. 6-9 (weekend before Veterans Day, whic is the following Wednesday
Nov 13-16(Weekend after Veterans Day, which was on Wednesday)
Nov 20-23 (weekend before Thanksgiving)
Dec 4-7

While we'd enjoy holiday decorations, that is a low priority.

Any help is appreciated.

9/11-9/14 - likely to be the first weekend of Halloween, possibly lower crowds the first 2 days if it doesn't start until the 13th
9/25-9/28 - likely to be the first Friday night Halloween party, DL crowds will be up, so will DCA at night once the party starts, other days may be ok, but there could be 2 parties on those dates
11/6-11/9 - likely to be the weekend of the Christmas parade taping, Christmas decorations will be up, parade and fireworks will run, draws crowds in the afternoon on weekdays and some crowds and Main St and castle blocked at points for filming
11/13-11/16 - Avengers half marathon weekend, race weekends are crowded

 

[Sherry E]

I just wanted to add that there is no Christmas parade happening this year, so that won't be taped. (Someone whose family participates in the taping posted in our Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Supethread and told us, although it was already believed that the parade wouldn't happen this year.) But the usual recording/taping weekend (mentioned above in Geemo's post and in SMD's post) will still be happening, I think. Something will likely be taped -- it sounds like some sort of stage show, maybe? -- but not the Christmas parade. They'll probably get some nighttime footage at some point and capture a bit of Paint the Night, I would imagine.

 

[Julia M]

Thank you for all of the comments. I think we will try for the September weekend and maybe tru for the 10th-13th, which may help for Halloween decorations.

When are the holiday decorations announced?

Thanks
Julia

 

[Sherry E]

Thank you for all of the comments. I think we will try for the September weekend and maybe tru for the 10th-13th, which may help for Halloween decorations.

When are the holiday decorations announced?

Thanks
Julia

No one is really sure what's happening with Halloween Time or the Holidays this year because the 60th anniversary seems to really be dominating everything, even going so far as to take a big bite out of the usual Holiday season/Christmas time entertainment. It's hard to say if the usual, expected start and end dates for Halloween Time and the Holidays might change this year.

The decorations themselves are not really announced. For Halloween Time, there are really only decorations on Main Street and in a few different areas around Frontierland. There are some light Nightmare Before Christmas-themed decorations in New Orleans Square in terms of ribbons and bows and things like that. Haunted Mansion Holiday is in New Orleans Square and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy is in Tomorrowland, but there are no decorations in Tomorrowland. California Adventure has almost nothing in the way of Halloween décor at all. Whatever decorations there are this year, they should begin to go up in the week leading up to the official start of Halloween Time.

As for the Halloween Time season, that will likely officially begin by/before 9/18, at the latest, with a heavy probability of the start date being somewhere between Sat., 9/12 and Tues., 9/15. It could even start as early as 9/10, though that would really be pushing it as it's only 3 days after Labor Day.

The Disney Parks Blog is in no hurry to announce any season start dates for Disneyland Resort -- neither for Halloween Time nor for the Holidays. They take their sweet time, that's for sure! They won't make an announcement to tell us if a season is starting later than usual unless they have something else to announce along with it. For example, if there is some sort of major change in a usual event -- let's say that Mickey's Halloween Party gets extended by a lot of nights or moves over to California Adventure and out of Disneyland -- the Parks Blog might do a blog about that major change, and then throw the Halloween Time season start date into the blog as well.

All of that said, assuming that Mickey's Halloween Party is business as usual this year and the tickets go on sale when they would normally go on sale, then I think we will find out about that and about the Halloween Time season start and end dates by late June or early July. If there is anything major and new to announce, the Parks Blog could do a surprise announcement this month or in early June, but that's probably not likely.

And as for the Holiday season, again, if there is something major or huge and new that is coming this year, the Parks Blog could do a blog about it as early as July or August. Otherwise, if there is nothing major happening with the holiday season this year, we might not get confirmation of the start date until September!