Capacity

[katyringo]

we are going during Christmas week..

Last year park didn't hit capacity until January 4th, but that doesn't mean anything really for this year.

Anyone know how often they close completely? As in no readmittance or in for dinning reservations?

We specifically booked the hojo to be able to take some afternoon breaks (we are doing rope drop).

Does DCA every reach capacity?

 

[az4boys]

I don't have answers for you, but I'm curious if anyone knows how many people are allowed in each park before they close them.

 

[ButterflyKisses77]

I honestly don’t think it’ll hit capacity this year because most of the APs will be blocked out. I’m curious, actually, to hear how the crowds will be. I don’t think it’ll be even close to the last few years though.

 

[katyringo]

I honestly don’t think it’ll hit capacity this year because most of the APs will be blocked out. I’m curious, actually, to hear how the crowds will be. I don’t think it’ll be even close to the last few years though.

Hopeful but preparing for it to be crazy!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

They won't hit capacity because of the AP blockouts.

They very, very rarely hit capacity. And when they do, it's in stages and announced on Twitter.

The capacity figure changes based on the number of attractions operating each day, staffing, and stuff like that. I've heard 60-80,000 depending who you ask, which includes a current family friend who works as a Disneyland fireman. Regardless of the numbers, the fire marshall can close it if he thinks there are unsafe conditions (which memorably happened when they kicked off the 60th with the last 24-hour event, what a mess THAT was).

But seriously, not gonna happen with the new AP blockout structure.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Hopeful but preparing for it to be crazy!

Crazy, sure. Maybe even "insanely crazy; it takes 10 minutes to move 10 feet" crazy in the evenings. CAPACITY crazy? Nahhh.

We went on December 30 two years ago, before the new AP structure kicked in, and that wasn't even too bad until noon.

 

[katyringo]

Crazy, sure. Maybe even "insanely crazy; it takes 10 minutes to move 10 feet" crazy in the evenings. CAPACITY crazy? Nahhh.

We went on December 30 two years ago, before the new AP structure kicked in, and that wasn't even too bad until noon.

Thanks! We are deff early morning people (7am breakfast reservations at plaza inn on our non MM days) so we plan to hit mornings in the park hard and then have a sit down lunch and maybe go swim at the hotel and then come back for dinner

 

[mom2rtk]

I honestly don’t think it’ll hit capacity this year because most of the APs will be blocked out. I’m curious, actually, to hear how the crowds will be. I don’t think it’ll be even close to the last few years though.

Correct. And they likely hit capacity on 1/4 because they were no longer blocked. Always follow the APs.

 

[Malcon10t]

we are going during Christmas week..

Last year park didn't hit capacity until January 4th, but that doesn't mean anything really for this year.

Anyone know how often they close completely? As in no readmittance or in for dinning reservations?

We specifically booked the hojo to be able to take some afternoon breaks (we are doing rope drop).

Does DCA every reach capacity?

DCA has only hit capacity twice.

Last year, Disneyland hit capacity on Dec 26, and 27th and the 31st, and then Jan 4th.

If the fire marshal closes the parks, there is no admittance even for dining reservations. That said, with the exception of New Years Eve, when the park does hit capacity, and the fire marshal does a hard close, as soon as enough people exit the park, they will allow people to start reentering. You can tell if they are expecting a possible hard close, there will be green taped lines in the middle of the esplanade. They will rope off the turnstiles and trickle guests in. Generally, even if there is a hard close, it will reopen after the afternoon parade.

Over Christmas 2 weeks, AP holders have never made up the majority of guests. When there was the premium pass, during that 2 weeks period, APs represented about 18% of the guests, and last year when they reduced the APs to only Signature Plus, they still represented 12%. What people don't realize is it is a huge travel time for people without APs. The park is a completely different vibe. I am very used to doing the park at this time. We've gone the 2 weeks of Christmas for over 20 years. This is going to be our first year we won't be there (well, we will be there Dec 22-26, then heading home so we can head to WDW from the 29th to the 9th, then back to DL the 11-15....)

It will be crazy busy, you will have Rose Bowl groups, you will have groups from all over the world attending, you will have families coming who will think no one else comes to Disneyland at Christmas because "everyone stays home with their family". I've had people say "It won't be busy because all the APs are blocked out." APs are blocked out because they expect it to be over the top busy. I've had people sit down on CHristmas with me (no tables and I invited them to sit to eat) and they couldn't believe how busy it was, they assumed it would be empty.

Dec 23-25 will be busy. Dec 26-Jan 1 will be crazy busy. Just based on past experience.

 

[dina444444]

DCA has only hit capacity twice.

Last year, Disneyland hit capacity on Dec 26, and 27th and the 31st, and then Jan 4th.

If the fire marshal closes the parks, there is no admittance even for dining reservations. That said, with the exception of New Years Eve, when the park does hit capacity, and the fire marshal does a hard close, as soon as enough people exit the park, they will allow people to start reentering. You can tell if they are expecting a possible hard close, there will be green taped lines in the middle of the esplanade. They will rope off the turnstiles and trickle guests in. Generally, even if there is a hard close, it will reopen after the afternoon parade.

Over Christmas 2 weeks, AP holders have never made up the majority of guests. When there was the premium pass, during that 2 weeks period, APs represented about 18% of the guests, and last year when they reduced the APs to only Signature Plus, they still represented 12%. What people don't realize is it is a huge travel time for people without APs. The park is a completely different vibe. I am very used to doing the park at this time. We've gone the 2 weeks of Christmas for over 20 years. This is going to be our first year we won't be there (well, we will be there Dec 22-26, then heading home so we can head to WDW from the 29th to the 9th, then back to DL the 11-15....)

It will be crazy busy, you will have Rose Bowl groups, you will have groups from all over the world attending, you will have families coming who will think no one else comes to Disneyland at Christmas because "everyone stays home with their family". I've had people say "It won't be busy because all the APs are blocked out." APs are blocked out because they expect it to be over the top busy. I've had people sit down on CHristmas with me (no tables and I invited them to sit to eat) and they couldn't believe how busy it was, they assumed it would be empty.

Dec 23-25 will be busy. Dec 26-Jan 1 will be crazy busy. Just based on past experience.

I was there last year on the 31st and I don't remember Disneyland ever hitting capacity. If it happened it was after 9pm. Crowds were very light last year on New Years Eve because of the rain for NYE crowds.

 

[katyringo]

DCA has only hit capacity twice.

Last year, Disneyland hit capacity on Dec 26, and 27th and the 31st, and then Jan 4th.

If the fire marshal closes the parks, there is no admittance even for dining reservations. That said, with the exception of New Years Eve, when the park does hit capacity, and the fire marshal does a hard close, as soon as enough people exit the park, they will allow people to start reentering. You can tell if they are expecting a possible hard close, there will be green taped lines in the middle of the esplanade. They will rope off the turnstiles and trickle guests in. Generally, even if there is a hard close, it will reopen after the afternoon parade.

Over Christmas 2 weeks, AP holders have never made up the majority of guests. When there was the premium pass, during that 2 weeks period, APs represented about 18% of the guests, and last year when they reduced the APs to only Signature Plus, they still represented 12%. What people don't realize is it is a huge travel time for people without APs. The park is a completely different vibe. I am very used to doing the park at this time. We've gone the 2 weeks of Christmas for over 20 years. This is going to be our first year we won't be there (well, we will be there Dec 22-26, then heading home so we can head to WDW from the 29th to the 9th, then back to DL the 11-15....)

It will be crazy busy, you will have Rose Bowl groups, you will have groups from all over the world attending, you will have families coming who will think no one else comes to Disneyland at Christmas because "everyone stays home with their family". I've had people say "It won't be busy because all the APs are blocked out." APs are blocked out because they expect it to be over the top busy. I've had people sit down on CHristmas with me (no tables and I invited them to sit to eat) and they couldn't believe how busy it was, they assumed it would be empty.

Dec 23-25 will be busy. Dec 26-Jan 1 will be crazy busy. Just based on past experience.

It didn't hit capacity last year until January 4th when AP were blocked

http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201701/5401/

 

[Malcon10t]

We crossed the esplanade at 640p on NYE and the turnstiles were closed and they had the ropes around up. On the 26th, friends who are VIP trained but had moved up to other departments got called back to handle tours that exceeded the 90 they had planned for and was informed Gates had closed about 2pm when the large groups were being moved from DCA to DL and used the bypass entrances.

 

[mpadilla89]

When they do hit capacity and you have a reservation do you still get charged for not showing up?

 

[Malcon10t]

No just call dining and tell them.

 

[Kender]

I hopped back and forth quite a bit this past NYE throughout the day. I didn't see anything to indicate a capacity closure.

Not doubting you saw it, but more surprised I didn't encounter it since I normally do notice such things (severe crowd anxiety so I tend to keep an eye out for such things). I don't even recall a notice going out via the Twitter account.

 

[Sith]

We went Dec 27-30 2015. They definitely reached capacity on the 27th, and were not even letting Disney hotel guests enter, which I understand are normally allowed to enter when closed for capacity. But, that only lasted for 1.5-2 hours.

I believe it closed for capacity one other time during that trip, but can't remember which day.

 

[agamble]

Buy park hoppers. That way if Disneyland does close you can at least get into DCA. Enjoy your holiday.

 

[az4boys]

If anyone were to guess... what are the changes of capacity on January 3-6? Deluxe (that is us) are allowed back in on the 3rd. I think that is the same as last year. However, last year the So-cal passes were allowed back in on January 4th and it reached capacity. This year they aren't allowed back until the 7th or 8th. I'm hoping that makes enough of a difference.

 

[Kender]

I'm ending my mom's and my trip on January 3 precisely because of the unblocking of passes that's starting to occur. But avoiding the 7th (SoCal APs) and especially the 8th (SoCal Select APs) is probably wise. 7th is also the end of the holiday season. I'm fully expecting those days to be quite crowded.

So I'm crazy and track myself through Google. I looked back at last NYE to see when I actually got to DLR and it was 3pm. We also had to stand in line to use our remaining Premium vouchers to turn into Sig+ passes, but it took less than 15 minutes from getting in line, to getting our Sig+ passes (thankfully there was no issue and the CM knew how to handle it), and going into DL first.

Rest of the tracking shows we hopped back and forth (I was probably doing FP runs since the parks were still disconnected from each other at that point) between that time and 8pm before spending almost two hours in DTD (I'm really confused by this, haha! Not sure why we spent that much time there) and then heading into DCA until 11 before going back to DL. We had zero issue entering and re-entering during any of those times. Really hoping it'll be similar this year (minus the turning a voucher into a pass), but still going in expecting it to be crazy.

Was so nice last year compared to previous years. If there were any capacity closures on NYE 2016, then I managed to avoid them quite well.

 

[Lesley Wake]

So, I'm hoping crowds at Christmas this year may not be as bad, and here is my logic: many locals will have already done their annual trips.

First, you have spring 2017-there was the crazy good deal for 3 days for $150, which led to the serious overcrowding, especially near the end of that promotion. There was also the "end" of the Electric Light Parade, which had a great advertising campaign and really played to the nostalgia of people who grew up in SoCal.

Then, you had Halloween, with all the new DCA and Carsland decorations. Locals could get away with a Halloween party ticket and see both parks.

So, now you have Christmas. There is nothing new this year. And no new/returning parades like Paint the Night. Nothing new at DCA either. Anyone who is really into "new" things may be waiting for later in 2018 and the Pixar stuff.

And of course, as people mentioned, only Signature Plus and Premier will be valid during the Christmas weeks, with no leftover Premium passes. I actually have a Premier this year, so I'm thinking about going the week before Christmas (after work) to see what crowds are like!