Crazy packed 1/4/17

[Astylla]

It's been so busy today. Just recently DL announced they are not admitting new guests. DCA still open so I'm glad I decided to enjoy the frozen lunch package last minute but it's beyond busy. Soarin' FP were gone by the time I got here at 12:10pm.

 

[figment_jii]

Today is the first day that SoCal and SoCal Select APs are valid, so along with all of the non-AP guests that are still on holiday vacation, I'm not that surprised to hear that the parks are crowded. Hope you are still able to have a good time!

 

[mjallemand]

Getting nervous about next week, thanks.

 

[figment_jii]

Truthfully, I think next week will be much less crowded than this week. The Holiday season official ends on Sunday (1/8), so there won't be the draw of seeing the holiday decorations or entertainment or attractions (except IaSWH). A fair number of schools go back next Mon/Tue as well, so there might not be as many people still on holiday vacations. There will probably be an uptick in crowds starting on Thu due to the Star Wars Half Marathon over the weekend, but Mon to Wed might actually be pretty quiet in the parks.

 

[Astylla]

Today is the first day that SoCal and SoCal Select APs are valid, so along with all of the non-AP guests that are still on holiday vacation, I'm not that surprised to hear that the parks are crowded. Hope you are still able to have a good time!

Oh Disney is always magical to me and beats work any day. I think my DH and I are swearing off any further January trips : because one of us ALWAYS gets sick poor guy ! But yeah I expected it busy but it's pretty insane. I'm trying to be extra kind to CM's especially and have had a fantastic time just missing my hubby.

Currently at Carthay Circle enjoying the frozen lunch package and a poinsettia cocktail. I have an Indy FP for around 6pm so hoping I can return then. I'm just bringing my patience and holiday spirit

 

[figment_jii]

Oh Disney is always magical to me and beats work any day.

 

[wilkeliza]

I'm seeing a new trend of schools getting out right before Christmas and then staying out longer after the new year instead of doing some time before Christmas. With that trend it means more people are traveling during the days after 1/1. Also some parents think this specific weeks is the best to miss because they can't get into anything to deep in school yet.

 

[figment_jii]

Wow! It must be crowded. They posted on their Twitter feeds that DL did close it's gates to new guests at about 1:00 pm. They haven't said if the gates have re-opened yet. Good luck to everyone that is there now!

 

[Angrose]

I'm seeing a new trend of schools getting out right before Christmas and then staying out longer after the new year instead of doing some time before Christmas. With that trend it means more people are traveling during the days after 1/1.

This is true for us this year. Usually my son would have the week before and the week after Christmas off, but they changed it on us this year so he had last week and this week off. We did our trip in mid-Dec when the crowds were a little better. I don't think I could ever bring myself to go during this time of year!

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I'm seeing a new trend of schools getting out right before Christmas and then staying out longer after the new year instead of doing some time before Christmas. With that trend it means more people are traveling during the days after 1/1. Also some parents think this specific weeks is the best to miss because they can't get into anything to deep in school yet.

Exactly the problem I think. My district got on on December 22 this year and we don't go back until January 9. Usually, we're off from around December 19-January 3 on a year where New Years Day falls on a Sunday. Looking at next year's approved schedule, it will be the same. It looks like a lot of the crowd predictors did not take this into account. Hopefully next year predictions will be more accurate. I was there yesterday knowing it would be crowded and it didn't feel as bad as when I was there during Thanksgiving, but my son and I still ended up leaving by 1PM because of the crowd levels. Hoping my longer trip later this month with the whole family will be slightly less crowded, but I'm not betting on it since it's MSEP's opening weekend...

 

[rentayenta]

Got that Twitter notification today about the parks being at capacity; wondering what was going on.

 

[MacMama0930]

I had a feeling about today, with a lot of the AP'ers being let back today. AP holders have a huge impact on crowds. And I'm not hating - I am a So Cal APer...but I knew they'd be swarming to parks today. I am almost considered it because my kids are still out of school and my APs were opened - but the potential crowd stopped me. Did it even shut down for capacity over Christmas??

 

[Kender]

They must not have closed for long because my mom and I had no issue getting in around 3pm-ish. In fact it feels less crowded in Disneyland Park than it did in DCA.

Going into Toy Story parking lot earlier, the signs just said "theme parks busy" instead of the cost to park and park hours.


EDIT half hour later:
Well. Apparently Disneyland Park is still closed. Not sure why we had no issue going in. Or maybe it was temporarily lifted? We'd only been in DCA, hadn't actually swiped into Disneyland Park yet.

Huge difference from NYE and New Year's Day.

 

[disneychrista]

Getting nervous about next week, thanks.

I've been several times the week after the holidays and it was great.

I'm seeing a new trend of schools getting out right before Christmas and then staying out longer after the new year instead of doing some time before Christmas.

It all has to do when Christmas/New Years Falls. Schools here are always off the week of Christmas & New Years. Since Christmas/New Years is falling early in the week, it means they are out later after NY's. If Christmas/New Years was say on Thursday/Friday they would likely being going back the Monday after New Years.

 

[Darkbeer1]

It all has to do when Christmas/New Years Falls. Schools here are always off the week of Christmas & New Years. Since Christmas/New Years is falling early in the week, it means they are out later after NY's. If Christmas/New Years was say on Thursday/Friday they would likely being going back the Monday after New Years.

t really is the parents controlling the school districts.

Since schools don't get paid for unexcused absences, the parents have voted for the dates they want with their feet.

For the Christmas Break, many new immigrants celebrate Three Kings Day, aka the 12th day of Christmas on January 6th. Many families return home and spend the 12 days with family and won't return until after that date, no matter what. So the schools in the South West of the USA have responded by shifting/expanding Christmas Vacation to end shortly after the Religious Holiday.

Also, many school districts time their "Teacher Instructional Days" (days where the Teachers work, but students get the day off) to cover other religious holidays, to avoid the fact that they are promoting the holiday, but still understand a lot of a specific religion will not attend that day, no matter what.

So if the schools are off, then the parks respond. All the major Theme Parks in Southern California have extended hours and remained open days they are normally closed through January 8th in response to the expected larger crowds.

 

[Astylla]

They must not have closed for long because my mom and I had no issue getting in around 3pm-ish. In fact it feels less crowded in Disneyland Park than it did in DCA.

Going into Toy Story parking lot earlier, the signs just said "theme parks busy" instead of the cost to park and park hours.


EDIT half hour later:
Well. Apparently Disneyland Park is still closed. Not sure why we had no issue going in. Or maybe it was temporarily lifted? We'd only been in DCA, hadn't actually swiped into Disneyland Park yet.

Huge difference from NYE and New Year's Day.

Yeah it's been crazy the busiest I've ever personally toured. We chose this week due to last chance to see holidays as our normal holiday time ( first to second week of December) wasn't feasible. I'm just glad we spread our days out , still here until Saturday night. Also grateful I did WOC dessert party because the new show was AMAZING then lucked into fireworks on Main Street though compared to the 60th just felt meh so glad I only waited 20 mins versus hours. I got a final PTN show in too last night so by pure luck got all my entertainment in so can focus on other stuff.

DH is still recovering but we agreed no more January trips to see holidays for us in the future.

 

[Kender]

Yeah it's been crazy the busiest I've ever personally toured. We chose this week due to last chance to see holidays as our normal holiday time ( first to second week of December) wasn't feasible. I'm just glad we spread our days out , still here until Saturday night. Also grateful I did WOC dessert party because the new show was AMAZING then lucked into fireworks on Main Street though compared to the 60th just felt meh so glad I only waited 20 mins versus hours. I got a final PTN show in too last night so by pure luck got all my entertainment in so can focus on other stuff.

DH is still recovering but we agreed no more January trips to see holidays for us in the future.

This is really just perfect storm weather in my opinion. I've been here during this time previously (including NYE and Day) and these days were never too terrible. Busy, but not capacity. Especially compared to NYE and Day. It's like NYE and Day got reversed with today. Between the Signature tier, the SoCal and SoCal Select tiers, the extra holiday week for several schools, the closure of a big ride, and the approaching end to the holiday festivities... I was actually expecting the entire time to be busy. I didn't expect capacity today, though, nor how crowded DCA is.

I'm only here during this time because it's when my mom's break is (high school teacher) and we had old Premium vouchers I needed us to exchange by December 31, 2016 to get Sig+ passes. The latter locked us in to coming down.

Oh well. I've just taken it easy and enjoyed myself. Glad to hear you were able to do so much in one evening!

 

[dshimel]

From my experience, don't go to Disneyland when the local schools are out, but the SoCal APs are not blocked out. Just never do it. Every time I do it, I say I'll never do it again. The SoCal passes make the parks unbearable when local schools are out and they are not blocked.

First two weeks of June are insane for this exact reason. I have been on a Friday in early June where wait times were twice as long as the Satruday the day after, just because of those SoCal APs being allowed in. W-F this week, same problem. Spring Breaks are tough as schools are off different times...

Just don't do it. Ever!

I'll be in DCA tomorrow. Even though it is early entry for hotel guests, I'd still rather do the smaller park on the day SoCal passes can get in, holding off Disneyland until Saturday when the SoCal passes are blocked.)

Planning a Disney trip last week of March, so breaking my own recommendations. Corona and San Diego schools will be on break, but not blocked.

 

[mjallemand]

Truthfully, I think next week will be much less crowded than this week. The Holiday season official ends on Sunday (1/8), so there won't be the draw of seeing the holiday decorations or entertainment or attractions (except IaSWH). A fair number of schools go back next Mon/Tue as well, so there might not be as many people still on holiday vacations. There will probably be an uptick in crowds starting on Thu due to the Star Wars Half Marathon over the weekend, but Mon to Wed might actually be pretty quiet in the parks.

I certainly hope so. We'll be there for four days, Monday through Thursday, and while I know crowds are supposed to pick up Thursday, I'm hoping it'll be later in the day and not too bad.

I figure Disneyland, like WDW, doesn't really have a "slow period" anymore, but we'll be on our honeymoon so I'm just hoping for the best.

 

[Whistlebee]

I would expect next week to have lower crowds. Many schools in Northern California don't go back until January 9th too. With so many schools out in CA this week I expected high crowds. We thought about going but this week but backed out because I can't handle near capacity crowds