Crowds Friday, 11/20 and Saturday 11/21

[CAmommy]

Do you think the crowds will be intense on those days? I am worried that the new Star Wars stuff will pull locals in and the place will be a madhouse. Any advice is appreciated! We went last summer when crowds were a "7" and I found it to be the max crowds I'd ever be able to handle. We would visit DL on Friday and DCA on Saturday. Thanks!

 

[figment_jii]

The three most commonly mentioned crowd calendars are Touring Plans, IsItPacked.com, and RMH Travel.

My inclination is to say that "yes" it will be busy in the parks on Friday and Saturday as locals and tourists alike visit the parks to see the holiday decor and the new Star Wars offerings. I do think some locals will have skipped the kick-off weekend because of the Marathon, so they'll come the next weekend. You also have guests arriving for an early Thanksgiving break. I went around that time last year (left on Saturday) and the weekdays (Mon to Thu) was okay, but there was a noticeable increase in crowds on Fri. I don't think you'll have to deal with capacity level crowds or anything like that, but I'd guess it'll be on the more crowded side (so a "7" make sense to me).

 

[CAmommy]

RMH travel says 7 and 8 out of 10, but Isitpacked says "Yup, it's Packed" and Touring Plans says 4 for both days? I don't know who to trust!

 

[NovemberMom]

I am curious as well since we will be there Thurs 11/19 - Saturday 11/21. I looked at the crowd predictors and it's predicting it will be packed Friday and Saturday. I am hoping it won't be so bad since schools will still be in session. My kids are so excited for the Star Wars meet and greet. My plan was go during Christmas but avoid the crowds. My friends have gone during the Christmas school holiday and you can't even walk around the park!

 

[figment_jii]

Truthfully...none of them are going to be "right". I look at all three to get a sense of the range and/or the consensus. In this case, I'd be more inclined to go with RHM Travel and IsItPacked rather than Touring Plans.

 

[CAmommy]

Would you say that it's reliable to base my opinion on chances of crowds by hotel rates? They don't seem too bad for these dates. I know, I'm grasping at straws here. LOL

 

[figment_jii]

I would say that is one indicator, but it might not really help with gauging how many "locals" will be there because they don't need a hotel room.

 

[Angrose]

Friday morning and early afternoon probably won't be too bad, but it will be crowded Friday night with locals. Saturday will be very busy. Touring Plans predictors are not very good, BUT they have started to report their "what they saw" numbers as well. So, if you look at their historical crowds for last year, they predicted Friday to be a 4 and "what they saw" was also a 4. Saturday was also predicted as a 4, but "what they saw" was an 8 for both parks combined. (9 for DL and 6 for DCA). All I can say is get there at rope drop for Saturday because as mentioned above, people will be flocking the parks to see the new Star Wars stuff, the 60th entertainment AND Christmas décor. You can still have a good time, just get there early, make reservations ahead of time, and use FPs. Some great things to do in the crowded afternoon times would be anything on Rivers of America, the train and seeing Aladdin. All those things will be down for at least a year or gone completely (Aladdin) after Jan 10th.

 

[NovemberMom]

Friday morning and early afternoon probably won't be too bad, but it will be crowded Friday night with locals. Saturday will be very busy. Touring Plans predictors are not very good, BUT they have started to report their "what they saw" numbers as well. So, if you look at their historical crowds for last year, they predicted Friday to be a 4 and "what they saw" was also a 4. Saturday was also predicted as a 4, but "what they saw" was an 8 for both parks combined. (9 for DL and 6 for DCA). All I can say is get there at rope drop for Saturday because as mentioned above, people will be flocking the parks to see the new Star Wars stuff, the 60th entertainment AND Christmas décor. You can still have a good time, just get there early, make reservations ahead of time, and use FPs. Some great things to do in the crowded afternoon times would be anything on Rivers of America, the train and seeing Aladdin. All those things will be down for at least a year or gone completely (Aladdin) after Jan 10th.

I was going to use my MM passes for Thursday morning. Do you think it would be a better bet to use my MM passes Saturday morning? We would just call it an early evening Friday night to wake up early Saturday.

 

[Angrose]

I was going to use my MM passes for Thursday morning. Do you think it would be a better bet to use my MM passes Saturday morning? We would just call it an early evening Friday night to wake up early Saturday.

I'm not sure since I've never used MM. I have seen people suggest using it early in your trip because it will be easier to get up early when you are fresher at the beginning of your trip rather than at the end when park fatigue has set in. I actually think doing DCA on Sat mornings works out really well. We did that last year the Sat after Thanksgiving, which was also a 9 out of 10 day. We got there at rope drop and walked on a lot of rides. That was our epic day riding RSR 3 times in one day, once with a 30min wait first thing in the morning and then with two sets of FPs! On the flip side, this past summer we did DL on a Sat in mid-June. We entered just after 8am and felt a little behind the mark with a lot of people having entered an hour before us. Still, it wasn't too bad and didn't start to get really crowded until 10am or so. I'm sure you could make it work either way. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[NovemberMom]

I'm not sure since I've never used MM. I have seen people suggest using it early in your trip because it will be easier to get up early when you are fresher at the beginning of your trip rather than at the end when park fatigue has set in. I actually think doing DCA on Sat mornings works out really well. We did that last year the Sat after Thanksgiving, which was also a 9 out of 10 day. We got there at rope drop and walked on a lot of rides. That was our epic day riding RSR 3 times in one day, once with a 30min wait first thing in the morning and then with two sets of FPs! On the flip side, this past summer we did DL on a Sat in mid-June. We entered just after 8am and felt a little behind the mark with a lot of people having entered an hour before us. Still, it wasn't too bad and didn't start to get really crowded until 10am or so. I'm sure you could make it work either way. Hope you have a great trip!

Good idea of starting out at DCA Saturday morning. I have a feeling Saturday will be packed. That is when we will plan watching the Aladdin show, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and all of the less popular attractions.

 

[Rescue Pooh]

I'll be going either the 16th to the 19th or 17th to the 20th.

 

[Sherry E]

Do you think the crowds will be intense on those days? I am worried that the new Star Wars stuff will pull locals in and the place will be a madhouse. Any advice is appreciated! We went last summer when crowds were a "7" and I found it to be the max crowds I'd ever be able to handle. We would visit DL on Friday and DCA on Saturday. Thanks!

I just wanted to point out that there are plenty of non-locals who want to see Star Wars stuff and holiday season stuff too. Crowds at DLR are not always due to locals alone. That weekend is the weekend immediately before Thanksgiving, when a lot of out-of-town people might show up early (some of whom stay the whole week on their holiday break). Season of the Force just adds another component to the mix.

I'd say yes, it's going to be really crowded unless it rains. Between the holiday season, a pre-holiday weekend, Season of the Force, the 60th anniversary and whatever else may pop up, there is every reason to think it will be very, very crowded. There was a capacity closure in Disneyland on one day last month -- and that never, ever happens in September. The closure didn't last too long, but the fact that it happened at all in September was bizarre. So, since the holiday season is already super popular, I can envision lots of people everywhere in November.

Unless you have the ability to change your trip to a time that is not popular, without a lot of things going on, the best thing you can do is go into it expecting crowds. Don't worry -- just mentally prepare for it, and then anything less than what you envisioned will be a relief and a blessing. It's when people go in not expecting big crowds that they may be in for a rude awakening. It's better to plan for crowds and find that the crowds are not bad, than to not plan for them and find out that the crowds are too daunting.