Crowd Calendar

[LKing]

Looks like the best time to hit the popular ride lines is during an events group photo op!

That is a sea of people in each of those pics

It is rare to have so many of these events on the same weekend. Still, if your favorite attraction is the Tiki Room and you are going on TikiLand Day, you might be disappointed.

I tried to put together a calendar of different events happening at DLR. It is by no means comprehensive.

 

[KPeterso]

I was there on Saturday evening. I arrived around 3-3:30 and there was a bit of a line to pay to park, but I actually found a great spot in the M&F garage. I thought the parks were very busy and really did not do too much (watched flag retreat, Smugglers Run single rider, had dinner, Star Tours, Buzz, Webslingers single rider, and Monsters with a buddy pass). I also wandered around a bit. I left around 8:30 I guess. I am guessing a lot of people did not get there until the PM as it was raining in the morning, but the sun did come out a bit in the afternoon.

 

[OlliePop27]

I was there on Saturday evening. I arrived around 3-3:30 and there was a bit of a line to pay to park, but I actually found a great spot in the M&F garage. I thought the parks were very busy and really did not do too much (watched flag retreat, Smugglers Run single rider, had dinner, Star Tours, Buzz, Webslingers single rider, and Monsters with a buddy pass). I also wandered around a bit. I left around 8:30 I guess. I am guessing a lot of people did not get there until the PM as it was raining in the morning, but the sun did come out a bit in the afternoon.

I watched wait times and LL return times over the weekend. They didn't seem too bad. I'm assuming the parks were packed with people doing non-ride activities.

This is one of the main reasons the crowd calendar services aren't that helpful for DL. They are mostly based on wait times. Events like last weekend show that it can be very crowded, but wait times may not be terrible.

 

[tarheelalum]

What is the best crowd calendar for Disneyland? I have seen lately that Touring Plans predictions have been off. Yesterday it was raining here but I see it predicted a 5 and it was an 8! It just surprised me.

A really good crowd calendar is Disneyland’s price calendar. The cheapest days are almost always jammed packed. Usually the more affordable the day tickets are, the more crowded the place will be with people who live nearby who just want to go for one day. But exceptions always exist but the price calendar is usually a pretty good indicator. And on the other end of the spectrum, expensive days may or may not be particularly crowded unless it’s around Halloween or Christmas because it’s always very crowded then. Also any kind of holiday that banks are closed on is usually pretty crowded especially if the holiday means most people are getting a three day weekend. Those days tend to be very crowded.

 

[C&Jx2]

A really good crowd calendar is Disneyland’s price calendar. The cheapest days are almost always jammed packed. Usually the more affordable the day tickets are, the more crowded the place will be with people who live nearby who just want to go for one day. But exceptions always exist but the price calendar is usually a pretty good indicator. And on the other end of the spectrum, expensive days may or may not be particularly crowded unless it’s around Halloween or Christmas because it’s always very crowded then. Also any kind of holiday that banks are closed on is usually pretty crowded especially if the holiday means most people are getting a three day weekend. Those days tend to be very crowded.

How do you find this?

 

[LKing]

How do you find this?

Officially: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/admission/tickets/dates/

Several websites have summaries. I generally look here: https://www.disneyticketcalendar.com/dlr.pdf

 

[mom2rtk]

Looks like the best time to hit the popular ride lines is during an events group photo op!

That is a sea of people in each of those pics

Good luck getting to those rides though.

 

[mom2rtk]

“Is it packed” I’ll give a general idea of what to expect. But I feel like a general idea is about all anyone can do these days.

 

[mom2rtk]

I have almost given up on crowd anticipation. Disney has enough data right now that they can effectively downsize even a low crowd day to have long weights on the ride. Certainly longer than any of us are a reasonable. I just avoid the peak days and go with it.

Even if you think you have a good system for predicting crowds, it’s very hard to be on top of what days are having special events, what days of the last days of promotions, when new promotions will pop up, that sort of thing.

The one thing I really do try to be aware of is when favorable ticket promotions are ending. People will buy those specially price tickets and not get around to using them then when they see it’s going to expire they all go at once.