Best times of the year for low crowds?

[mat5]

I kinda know the less busy times at WDW,
would it be about the same for DL?

 

[DLR29]

No, they're not the same, especially with the weird crowd patterns that have popped up in 2009. Because there are almost a million (yes, you read that right) AP holders at DLR, the blockout days significantly affect crowd levels to the point that when APs are blocked out, the crowd levels are actually lower.

Here's a basic rundown of the calendar:
-January: First week has high crowds, but then the rest of the month is pretty slow
-Febrary: President's Week(end) has a small spike in crowds. Other than that, same as January
-March: Early March does not have high crowds, but later March can get very very crowded because of Spring Break.
-April: It's the opposite of March because some Spring Breaks are in early April. Low crowds in late April though
-May: Low crowds throughout the month, although the crowd levels begin to increase the further into the month you go
-June: Low crowds in the beginning, but then a HUGE HUGE spike of crowds when summer starts and AP holders aren't blocked out yet. Then there should be a HUGE HUGE drop in crowds for the last week in June because of the AP holders being blocked out
-July: Medium sized crowds all month. Not that crowded, but it's still summer. Last year, 4th of July was like a ghost town.
-August: Medium sized crowds in the beginning, then another HUGE HUGE increase in crowds in mid-late August right before school starts and when the AP blockout days are lifted.
-September: Low crowds in the beginning, then decent sized crowds toward the end as Halloweentime begins at the resort
-October: Weekdays have pretty low crowds, but weekends are insane! Also a lot of schools have a "Fall break" the second week of October which increases crowds. The Halloweentime promotion has been bringing in the crowds exponentially with each year.
-November: Slow almost throughout the whole month. Thanksgiving is interesting and a solid case of how AP blockout days affect crowds. The Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (?) were all packed/crowded this past year, but on Thanksgiving and over its weekend the crowds died because the AP holders were blocked out
-December: Crowds increase the closer you get to Christmas. The week between Christmas and New Years is THE single most crowded of the year, although we'll see how that is affected by the AP situation this year.

Hope that helps. One more thing to consider is that these were the crowd patterns for 2009, which were totally unexpected. 2010, with the addition of the new World of Color show at DCA might have completely different crowd patterns. I can already predict that April and May in 2010 might be more crowded than normal because of the debut of this new nighttime spectacular.

However, when considering when to visit, I would not just take into consideration crowds. A lot of times when there are low crowds, it also means very short park hours, limited entertainment (fireworks are not shown daily during offseason), and some rides down for refurb. I personally would go during the middle of the summer when park hours are long, all of the entertainment is running in full swing, and almost everything should be running ALONG WITH low-medium crowds.

 

[Mugglemama]

However, when considering when to visit, I would not just take into consideration crowds. A lot of times when there are low crowds, it also means very short park hours, limited entertainment (fireworks are not shown daily during offseason), and some rides down for refurb. I personally would go during the middle of the summer when park hours are long, all of the entertainment is running in full swing, and almost everything should be running ALONG WITH low-medium crowds.

do you really feel like there are "low-medium" crowds during summer? i'm just asking because i, like the OP, am also trying to figure out when to go. the only time we ever went in the summertime was towards the end of august, and crowds seemed very high. but, i suppose that could have been due, at least in part, to the fact that SoCal AP'rs were already unblocked at that point?

we're thinking about the last 2 weeks of May, or the last or sometime during July. we're taking my MIL who is in detiorating health. she hasn't been there in at least 25 years, and is very excited to go. it will probably be her last trip to disneyland, so i'd like to make it as pleasurable as possible. in your opinion, would july actually be better than may?

OP, are there certain times that you are trying to decide between?

 

[DLR29]

do you really feel like there are "low-medium" crowds during summer? i'm just asking because i, like the OP, am also trying to figure out when to go. the only time we ever went in the summertime was towards the end of august, and crowds seemed very high. but, i suppose that could have been due, at least in part, to the fact that SoCal AP'rs were already unblocked at that point?

we're thinking about the last 2 weeks of May, or the last or sometime during July. we're taking my MIL who is in detiorating health. she hasn't been there in at least 25 years, and is very excited to go. it will probably be her last trip to disneyland, so i'd like to make it as pleasurable as possible. in your opinion, would july actually be better than may?

OP, are there certain times that you are trying to decide between?

Based on this past year, May was still a better time crowd-wise. However, the entertainment isn't running, DL is only open until 9 or so (DCA 6), etc. I think if you are ok with shorter hours and not as much entertainment, May might be the way to go.

Next year, however the crowd levels for May might be quite high because of World of Color and APs aren't blocked out.

However, my guess is that whether you pick late May OR sometime in July, your crowds will most certainly lower than when you visited in late August.

 

[Mugglemama]

Based on this past year, May was still a better time crowd-wise. However, the entertainment isn't running, DL is only open until 9 or so (DCA 6), etc. I think if you are ok with shorter hours and not as much entertainment, May might be the way to go.

Next year, however the crowd levels for May might be quite high because of World of Color and APs aren't blocked out.

However, my guess is that whether you pick late May OR sometime in July, your crowds will most certainly lower than when you visited in late August.

thanks! we're totally okay with less entertainment, because we don't watch the shows or parades at all. we're strictly the how-many-rides-can-we-possibly-get-on-today type of family, lol. once in a while we watch the fireworks, but usually, we take advantage of the shorter ride lines during that time.

i just found out my husband is probably unable to take time away from work in july, so it looks like we'll be focusing on may. luckily, memorial day falls on the 31st, so it won't even be a problem.

OP, if you're willing and able to travel anytime during the year, and your main concern is strictly lower crowds...we had AP's in '01, '02, and '03, and we found late january, and all of february except for president's day holidays were really, really decent as far as crowds go. of course, it's been several years since then and we did get our first AP's right after 9/11 and i think that contributed to the parks being so empty that first year that we were going so often (we only went on non-holiday weekdays during the off-season).

 

[Eeee-va]

I just got back from a trip, 12/9 - 12/13. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning, the park FELT a little crowded, but wait times were quite low for almost the whole day--in many cases, Fastpasses were unnecessary. Hours for Disneyland for Wednesday and Thursday were 9 AM - 11 PM, though that may have been because of the Cast Member parties shutting Disneyland down at 6 PM on Monday and Tuesday. The threat of rain may have affected crowds slightly, but Friday afternoon and Saturday were pretty busy, despite the rain! (Wednesday and Thursday were less busy and it did NOT rain.)

So depending on how you can swing it, a weekday trip during a period when there are no major school breaks might be nice. This year the week before Thanksgiving sounded great, and this previous week was pretty nice too (though I heard Monday was crazy-busy even WITH the Cast Member parties?).

 

[Disney Dreams]

I just got back from a trip, 12/9 - 12/13. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning, the park FELT a little crowded, but wait times were quite low for almost the whole day...

This is SUCH an important point. Many have reported being at the Park on the exact same day while 1 has said, "It was soooo crowded" and another has said, "Wait times were very low." A busy Park can sometimes mean people waiting ofr attractions, other times it can mean just busy everywhere.

The other thing to note is the theory that you can get more done on a 10a-6p day with low attendance than you can on a 8a-mid day with high crowds.

The bottom line is you are attempting to predict crowd pattern / human behavior. I still hold true to the theory, "Figure out when you want to go and then plan accordingly."

- Dreams

 

[HydroGuy]

I kinda know the less busy times at WDW,
would it be about the same for DL?

DLR29 gave you a very good list. I do want to reinforce the point that low crowds at DLR means off-season, and off-season at DLR works differently than WDW. See "What You Should Know About Off-Season at DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=18462889