Crowds August 10-14

[S2kDriver]

I'm looking at "Is it Packed" and the website shows Disneyland is "Hey It's alright" for the week of August 10-14. I was planning to go that week but it seems odd to me that the week after is "Yup It's Packed". Any idea why?

 

[figment_jii]

The SoCal and SoCal Select AP Summer blockout ends on August 16. So the next week is the first time when the SoCal/SoCal Select AP are able to get into the parks since June. So the crowd levels tend to increase as they return to see what's "new" since the blockout started. August 14 to 16 is also when the D23 Expo is happening at the Anaheim Convention Center.

 

[S2kDriver]

That makes sense. If it's somewhat lighter crowds that'll be good. Thanks

 

[jhoannam]

But other calendars have level 8 and 9 days that week.
http://www.rmhtravel.com/disneyland-365-crowd-calendar.html
We'll be there that week too.

 

[figment_jii]

I think you have to take any crowd calendar with a grain of salt. It's all crystal ball gazing and without more information about how they determine their crowd indices (be it qualitative like "yup, it's all right" or quantitative like 8 out of 10), it's hard to really say which is "better". In that way, IsItPacked and RHMTravel (not heard of them before) are flipped. IsItPacked thinks 8/10-16 will be okay and 8/17-23 will be busy, whereas the other calendar has mostly 8s/9s for 8/10-16 and then 4s for 8/17-23.

 

[DLSean22]

We'll be there that week as well. We've been down during the same time period a few years back and it really wasn't too bad...much better than I expected for August. We typically go in November right when the holiday decorations go up (week before Thanksgiving) and really enjoy ourselves. We'll be back in November for the holidays this year as well. We're going to get AP's this year and make at least two, if not three trips (gotta get our money's worth).

 

[jlyanks85]

I go there the same week too Aug 10-15th. So hopefully crowds aren't too bad. I've been going to Disneyworld my whole life in the summer though, so I'm used to it.

Just don't want it to be too crazy.

 

[czmom]

I'll be there that week as well! Mentally preparing for crowds, so I will be pleasantly surprised if it's lighter. We went the first week of December a couple years ago and it was PACKED. Hopefully that's about what we are in for.

 

[ter-moo]

That tends to be a lighter time than the rest of the summer, but it's still fairly crowded. My advice ALWAYS is to go when the parks open. You will have a very UNcrowded park to enjoy until people start waking up and getting there between 10 - 11 in the morning. Then you can relax a bit and do the stuff that crowds don't really affect.

 

[Sweetpea2011]

We will be in the parks the week before you. Not sure what the crowd predictions say but I'm anticipating "busy as heck!"

We're with a group of 12 and are thinking we'll hit the parks on Mon, Tues, Thur and possibly close out our time there by going on Friday afternoon and staying until close. It will be busy but also open late so we're hoping the late parade will be more manageable to see if all the families with really small kids have gone home. Plus what fun to experience the park late at night with our now teenagers? They were the "little kids" falling asleep the last time we were there (7 years ago) so this will be a whole new adventure!

 

[SMD]

As an example of how off the crowd calendars can be. Last summer DLR ran a promotion where they'd give away free stuff on Mondays. Those crowd projects are set a year ahead, and never reflected the crowds that that promotion drew. You can hope for the best while planning, but in reality you can already expect that nighttime crowds will be heavy all summer due to the new and improved nighttime shows. With the night parade being an entire additional offering. There could also be a new promotion that starts over the summer that could impact in a way that you can't know when picking dates. I tend to think it's best to pick your best travel dates as far as airfare, hotel rate, schedule and deal with the resort crowds as they are.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We will be there and we are expecting it to be packed. Lots of Expo guests are coming early to check out the new offerings.

 

[mgd]

I wonder why rmhtravel shows june 15 as a 10 in DCA? The only 10 of the entire month, but I can't think of a reason for it.

 

[figment_jii]

I don't know either...the only thing that came up was that June 15th is the third anniversary of Buena Vista Street and Carsland (which official opened to the public on June 15, 2012). I don't know/think that would necessarily warrant a crowd calendar level of '10'. However, it's worth noting that the entire week of June 14th is a little wonky. There are unexplained SoCal AP blockouts on Wed and Thu (June 17 & 18) that aren't typical. I think it might have to do with the E3 Expo at the LA Convention Center on those days, but I haven't been to find anything that is specifically happening at DLR on those days to explain the blockout.