Crowds in February at DLR & CA

[Sun Lover]

We will be on vacation in California for a week in February and plan on visiting both parks on Friday & Saturday, Feb. 20 & 21. We are purposely trying to avoid the previous weekend, as it's President's day & I figured it would be really crowded then. Will it make a huge difference with the crowds if we're there on a Friday & Saturday as opposed to going mid-week? We have a hotel booked in Hollywood for the first 5 days & a hotel booked in Anaheim for the last two days. I realize the parks will probably be more crowded on the weekend but hate to have to drive back and forth from Hollywood to Anaheim mid-week. We'll be up very early and at the park before it opens and will stay until closing so do you think we'll be all right with the crowds this time of year?

 

[figment_jii]

In my experience there is a noticeable difference between weekends and weekdays, even in February. Saturdays and Sundays are generally busier than weekdays (Mon-Thu). So, if low crowds are very important, then I would try to go on a weekday. That being said, at that time of the year, it's highly likely that fireworks and Fantasmic will only be presented on weekends. The parks will also be running fairly short hours on weekdays during that time frame, so that's something to keep in mind. Personally, I would rain the higher crowds and go on the weekend days when the parks are open longer and there is more entertainment offerings.

 

[Sun Lover]

Thanks for the reply. I think we'll leave it as is judging by what you said. We always get to any park really early and stay all day so if we use FP, hopefully it won't be too bad, and we are interested in some of the entertainment so that might be the better choice. Thanks again.

 

[camouseketeer]

You will not have low crowds at any of the days you are looking at. The week following President's Day weekend is a week off for many California schools, and the parks will be busy the whole week.

With that said, I always see a bump in crowds on Friday afternoons as locals visit the parks after work.

Go whichever days suit your schedule and have the entertainment offerings you want, and be prepared for crowds.

 

[figment_jii]

You can get a sense of the operating hours and entertainment offerings by looking at last year's calendar (2015 isn't going to be exactly like 2014, but it gives you a baseline).
2013: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/park-hours.cfm?month=2&year=2013
2014: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/park-hours.cfm?month=2&year=2014