Crowd Calender

[TeamH]

Which is the most accurate website for crowd calender's?

Thanks!

 

[figment_jii]

There really isn't any single crowd calendar that Dis'ers say is consistently better than another for DLR. The general recommendation is to look through a bunch (e.g., IsItPacked, Touring Plans, etc.) and get a general sense of the predicted crowd and go from there.

 

[tarheelalum]

None of them are very accurate. Its best to just post here which days you are planning on going and get feedback. Lots of people here go to DL on a regular basis and they can better tell you than any website what the crowds are probably going to be like.

 

[TeamH]

I'm open to September and October. Arrival would likely be a Sunday and departure would be Saturday or Sunday the following week. looking for lowest crowds but also like the most rides/attractions open.

 

[scrapshappen]

Utah Fall break is October 15&16 but many families take their kids out for the entire week and head to Disneyland. I'd avoid the 10-18th. Arizona also has a fall break in early October but I don't know the dates and it will impact crowds then too.

Last year, we arrived the Sunday at the tale end of Utah's break and stayed for most of the next week. Off season Sundays are almost always crowded with locals, but the rest of the week was great as far as weather and crowds. DL does close early up to three times a week for the Halloween party during that time of year though so keep that in mind.

I've never been in September but it would seem like a good time to go. Everyone is back in school and it's too early for any major breaks. I believe there is a race weekend in there somewhere but it's earlier in the month. With the anniversary this year, there likely won't be any time where crowds are so low that you can walk on to rides, but it will be better than peak season for sure.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

I use the Is It Packed Crowd Forecast Calendar to get a general overview. I have almost always agreed with the forecast once I'm in Disneyland.

Touring style and personal space threshold differ wildly between people, so one man's "Hey, It's Alright" is another man's "Forget About It". [Those are two of the terms the Is It Packed calendar uses.]

• I enter DL at rope drop on a Sunday morning and do the entire park by 11am.
• You enter DL 30 minutes after rope drop and head toward Tomorrowland and feel like you're swimming upstream.

Same day, same crowd, different experience. Add in a glitch like a ride going down and someone who is new to Disneyland could get frustrated easily and feel like it's busier than it is.

Another easy way I use to get a good estimate of how busy it will be at Disneyland is to look at a month's worth of prices at a few of my favorite hotels. I think you can get the best idea of potential crowds by looking at the Disneyland Resort hotels prices; the Harbor Blvd motels really don't change a lot -- even within a month of the 60th anniversary kickoff, prices at Harbor Blvd motels were within $30-$40 of normal summer pricing.

 

[figment_jii]

September and October have become an increasingly popular time to visit DLR, especially once HalloweenTime has started. In general, weekends will be busy, but weekdays (Mon to Thu, not counting any holiday Mondays) should be fairly manageable. You can get a sense of some of the events and school breaks that are happening during those periods that may impact your trip in the 2015 Calendar of Events thread (it doesn't list everything, but it'll give you a good sense of what is happening).

Some general thoughts about that time period...

• Post Labor Day is considered non-peak season, so most of the nighttime entertainment drops to a weekend (Fri to Sun) only schedule. This usually means fireworks, F!, and Mad T Party are only presented on weekends, but WoC is still presented nightly. We do not yet know what the schedule will be for PtN.
• Weekend operating hours tend to long (e.g., 9:00 am to midnight at DL and 9:00 am to 10:00 pm at DCA), but weekday hours can be short (e.g., 10:00 am to 8:00 pm for both parks).
• Depending on when HalloweenTime starts (still unknown at this point, but likely somewhere between September 12 and 18), HMH and Space may be closed to have their Halloween overlays installed (HM closes for 18-days and Space closes for 4-days before the start of HalloweenTime historically). In mid-October, IaSW usually closes to have the holiday overlay installed.
• As mentioned, there are several events happening in September and October, mostly on the weekends. There is the Disneyland Half Marathon, Fall Dapper Days, Gay Days, CHOC Walk, UEA, etc. The dates are listed in the calendar thread.
• We do not yet know the schedule for Mickey's Halloween Party, but assuming it's happening in DL this year (like it has for the last several years), DL will close "early" on select nights to host the separate ticket event (6:00 pm on weekday night parties or 7:00 pm on weekend night parties). Stay tuned to the Disboard for more information when it's announced.

 

[Geemo]

I'm open to September and October. Arrival would likely be a Sunday and departure would be Saturday or Sunday the following week. looking for lowest crowds but also like the most rides/attractions open.

If you are considering October, here's a link to a few opinions from another thread.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/better-weeks-in-october.3421161/

The time between October 18th and 25th is when I'd expect the lowest crowds this year.

In September, I feel Sunday the 21st for the week would be reasonable crowd wise.

A Sunday arrival is my first choice for a Disney trip. Sunday is usually very busy with the following days being more enjoyable. Sunday we try to make all the entertainment we'll miss that's not scheduled through the week.

Geemo

 

[TeamH]

So is it better to go when its slower and shorter operating hours or busier and longer operating hours? I am bringing my 4 yr old daughter (40") and 8 yr old son and we are flying down from British Columbia and wouldnt likely arrive until mid to late afternoon on a sunday

 

[scrapshappen]

With kids that young, the shorter hours are probably fine. We've done it both ways and I thought I would be bothered by the shorter hours, but I wasn't. We got more sleep that way and had better days overall because of that.

 

[V.I.N.C.E.N.T.]

I usually use a combination of touringplans, reading forum posts for the date range the year prior, and digging up any trip reports I can get my hands on. Touringplans also posts a blog for each week, gives you a good idea of what they predicted vs. what was observed.