Crowds for this next week (after NYE)....as schools resume

[5lilfish]

I am looking at going to California after Christmas next year. I am willing to pull our youngest 2 for the 3 days after Christmas break. They will be in 6th grade and with our oldest 3 being in college, this is the best time of year for us to travel as a family.

I am sure Disneyland is crazy busy from Christmas to NYE. What I am wondering....if we do other things for a few days (like the beach and Hollywood), will crowds drop off significantly after NYE? I know schools back home will go back on Wed Jan 2. So if we saved Disneyland for Jan 2-3-4 (Wed/Thurs/Fri after break), would crowds be much better? Parks still decorated?

Also...what are the average temps then? How are the beaches/water then? We live in the Buffalo, NY area. It is currently 13 degrees, so it won't take too much to feel warm to us.

Thanks...
Jess

 

[dina444444]

I am looking at going to California after Christmas next year. I am willing to pull our youngest 2 for the 3 days after Christmas break. They will be in 6th grade and with our oldest 3 being in college, this is the best time of year for us to travel as a family.

I am sure Disneyland is crazy busy from Christmas to NYE. What I am wondering....if we do other things for a few days (like the beach and Hollywood), will crowds drop off significantly after NYE? I know schools back home will go back on Wed Jan 2. So if we saved Disneyland for Jan 2-3-4 (Wed/Thurs/Fri after break), would crowds be much better? Parks still decorated?

Also...what are the average temps then? How are the beaches/water then? We live in the Buffalo, NY area. It is currently 13 degrees, so it won't take too much to feel warm to us.

Thanks...
Jess

Most schools here don’t go back until the 8th. I’m expecting it to be busy later this week as AP blocks lift for people to experience the holiday stuff one last time and get rides in on the attractions closing on the pier for refurb.

 

[5lilfish]

Most schools here don’t go back until the 8th. I’m expecting it to be busy later this week as AP blocks lift for people to experience the holiday stuff one last time and get rides in on the attractions closing on the pier for refurb.

When does the block lift? Wondering if the 2-3-4 might still sandwich us nicely between the traveling holiday crowd and the local crowd. Don't get me wrong...I expect it to be crowded. I'm just wondering if it will be crowded or literally bottleneck miserable crowded.
Thanks...
Jess

 

[dina444444]

When does the block lift? Wondering if the 2-3-4 might still sandwich us nicely between the traveling holiday crowd and the local crowd.

Thanks...
Jess

Looks like for this year Deluxe lifts on the 3rd and So Cal on the 7th and Socal Select on the 8th.

But with next year since Xmas and NY are Monday/Tuesday I'm expecting most schools to start winter break at end of day Dec 21 and go back on Jan 7. Next years blockout calendar looks like All APs except the highest level are going to be blocked starting around the 22nd or slightly earlier compared to that being a week earlier this past year and the Signature is usually blocked for two whole weeks.

 

[az4boys]

Are you asking about January 2019? 2019 could be different than 2018 depending on school schedules. This year a lot of schools don't go back until the 8th, so this week will probably be busy. We have Deluxe AP's and are going the 3-5th. The 3rd is the first day we are allowed back into the parks. I think there will be a lot of Deluxe AP's joining us.My best guess is that most schools will be similar next year: school will still be out that week, Deluxe AP's will unblock sometime around the 3rd, and So-cal AP's will unblock around the 7-8th. Last year the So-Cal AP's were let back in earlier and the parks hit capacity. I'm really hoping this week will not hit capacity.

 

[5lilfish]

Are you asking about January 2019? 2019 could be different than 2018 depending on school schedules. This year a lot of schools don't go back until the 8th, so this week will probably be busy. We have Deluxe AP's and are going the 3-5th. The 3rd is the first day we are allowed back into the parks. I think there will be a lot of Deluxe AP's joining us.My best guess is that most schools will be similar next year: school will still be out that week, Deluxe AP's will unblock sometime around the 3rd, and So-cal AP's will unblock around the 7-8th. Last year the So-Cal AP's were let back in earlier and the parks hit capacity. I'm really hoping this week will not hit capacity.

Next year...but I would suspect that the schedules to be very similar. Deluxe going back on Jan 3, would probably still be better than all the holiday travelers, wouldn't you think? I mean is Jan 2-3-4 probably going to be better than Dec, 27-Jan 1 time frame? We can be flexible with how we structure our week.

 

[dina444444]

Next year...but I would suspect that the schedules to be very similar. Deluxe going back on Jan 3, would probably still be better than all the holiday travelers, wouldn't you think? I mean is Jan 2-3-4 probably going to be better than Dec, 27-Jan 1 time frame? We can be flexible with how we structure our week.

Not necessarily. Deluxe began their winter blockout for 2017 on December 16 and Signature on December 18, for 2018 they begin on December 21 and December 22 so I could see the lift being pushed back 4 days as well and them not being valid again until Jan 5/6.

 

[Julie Amber]

Crowd calendars say that crowds won't go down until Jan. 8 this year. We wanted to see some of the Christmas decor and ride overlays, but hate crowds. So we are starting our vacation on Sunday Jan. 7 and hitting the end of Christmas and finishing up next week after everyone goes back to school.

 

[az4boys]

Next year...but I would suspect that the schedules to be very similar. Deluxe going back on Jan 3, would probably still be better than all the holiday travelers, wouldn't you think? I mean is Jan 2-3-4 probably going to be better than Dec, 27-Jan 1 time frame? We can be flexible with how we structure our week.

I agree that this week and the same week next year could be similar, but don't know if anyone can predict how this week will go since the AP blockout and school schedules were different in prior years. I'll try to post back after our trip and let you know. A lot may depend on the AP blockouts for January 2019. I don't see that posted yet.

 

[Geemo]

When does the block lift? Wondering if the 2-3-4 might still sandwich us nicely between the traveling holiday crowd and the local crowd. Don't get me wrong...I expect it to be crowded. I'm just wondering if it will be crowded or literally bottleneck miserable crowded.
Thanks...
Jess

Check these threads out to see 2017 vs 2018 as far as school schedules go.
2017
https://www.disboards.com/threads/2017-calendar-of-events-school-breaks-and-dlr.3528760/
2018
https://www.disboards.com/threads/2018-calendar-of-events-school-breaks-and-dlr.3635162/

Also keep in mind, the crowds as predicted now, will change once StarWarsLand opens.

 

[Mysteryincorp]

I’m local and we don’t go back to school until 1/8 this year

 

[Sun_soakin]

It will be crazy on those days. I don’t think there are any schools in CA that go back that early (my kids go back the 8th and 9th this year). And there are a LOT of people with deluxe APs that take advantage of those days before their kids go back and still see Xmas decor. We were there those days last year and it was more crowded than NYE and New Year’s Day. We planned to go down to Anaheim today and start at the parks tomorrow when our aps are unblocked, but we had to change our plans till later this month. Point is, it will be very crowded.

 

[DLgal]

It will be crazy on those days. I don’t think there are any schools in CA that go back that early (my kids go back the 8th and 9th this year). And there are a LOT of people with deluxe APs that take advantage of those days before their kids go back and still see Xmas decor. We were there those days last year and it was more crowded than NYE and New Year’s Day. We planned to go down to Anaheim today and start at the parks tomorrow when our aps are unblocked, but we had to change our plans till later this month. Point is, it will be very crowded.

My sister teaches up in a district near LAX (not LA Unified) and they go back today. They will also start on Jan 2 in 2019. They were out by Dec 15 last year (2017).

A few local districts will be back in class today. We live south of DL and my kids don't go back until Jan 8. We are planning to go on Thursday this week.