Crowds next week?

[mamaofthree]

Trying to decide which two days to visit the park, between Mon and Fri. Does it even matter?

 

[Eeee-va]

Do you mean 1/4 - 1/8?

I think you're probably fine whenever you go, except Friday evening will likely be significantly busier (but is open until 9 to 11 instead of 10 to 8).

I would think Monday MIGHT be a little busier because some people MIGHT be extending their holiday weekend? Probably no big deal, though.

I believe Friday has the return of a popular fireworks show (Remember...Dreams Come True), so I would expect significantly larger crowds that evening. But you can get lots of Fastpasses early in the day, when Disneyland is not crowded--the Hub and Main Street very well may be starting to get gridlocked from 7 or 8 PM until the fireworks are over, though.

If you want to see the fireworks and want consecutive days, that means you'd want to go on Thursday and Friday. Friday you can (wind permitting) see fireworks, see the Pixar Play Parade in DCA, and hang out in the park until 11 PM. Despite the potential for crowds, that's probably what I would do.

If you desperately want lower crowds, if fireworks aren't a priority, and/or you do not want to/can't stay past 8 PM, then I would do Wednesday and Thursday because crowds will probably be lower but you could see Aladdin on Thursday. The Pixar Play Parade is offered Wednesday so you could see it then (but not Thursday).

Now, IF you have a child who's really into LEGO, you might look into this on Tuesday:

LEGO - Mini Model Build
5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Visit the Lego Imagination Center and learn how to build a mini model and take it home for free! A new model will be available every month and will be specially themed to that month. Quantities are limited and offer good while supplies last. See store for complete details. (Models are not for sale and cannot be purchased. One free per child. Event is open to children aged 6 to 14 only)

Have a great time, whenever you go!

 

[mamaofthree]

Thank you so much Eeee-va for taking the time to research all those points. Very helpful.

As of now, our HoJo ressies are for Tues (Jan 4th), Wed, and Thur nights. Travel on Tues, parks on Wed and Thurs, home Friday. I think I will just leave it, it makes the most sense. I really do want to see Aladdin, we missed it on our summer trip. The extended Fri hours and entertainment would be worth more crowds if the kids were older, but late nights are hard with them. I started second guessing whether we should leave on Sun or Mon instead of waiting til Tuesday. We are surprising the kids, want to make sure no one gets sick before then. When they wake up on Tues I'm gonna ask 'Who wants to go to Disneyland?!"

That LEGO build sounds awesome, but I only have one of three kids that could participate, and she is the least into legos of all the kids.

 

[Eeee-va]

If I had kids who couldn't stay until 11, I think I would make the same choice as you. And DEFINITELY if you will be able to stay in the parks from open til closing! I know people advocate mid-afternoon breaks but I think it's more magical to be able to stay in the parks from open 'til closing.

So is Tuesday definitely a dedicated travel day? Have you bought your tickets yet? If you have already bought your tickets, then have a great trip and disregard the rest of my post.



But if you haven't bought your tickets already, and IF you were arriving by, say, 2 or 3 PM, you could get in on Tuesday for about the same price as the online price for two-day tickets. (Compared to online two-day tickets, you save $2 for each "adult" ticket you buy, and it costs $18 more per "child" ticket you buy, so depending on your family members' ages, that could be just a couple dollars more than going for 2 days.) The first day those tickets can be used is Tuesday 1/5, so you'd be OK.

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/dis...icketListing?name=TicketListingPage&year=2010

Have a great trip!

 

[Eeee-va]

By the way, at least one person on the DISboards, and a columnist on another pretty popular site, are predicting pretty heavy crowds next week. The only aspect I had not been aware of is that many kids in Southern California are off school that week, so crowds may be a bit closer to summer than I had anticipated.

I still think Wednesday and Thursday are the best days to go, because they're not weekend dates and I think people will be more likely to be heading home and/or gearing up for school.

So you might want to plan for heavy crowds but cross your fingers for the best!

 

[TheLanes]

By the way, at least one person on the DISboards, and a columnist on another pretty popular site, are predicting pretty heavy crowds next week. The only aspect I had not been aware of is that many kids in Southern California are off school that week, so crowds may be a bit closer to summer than I had anticipated.

I still think Wednesday and Thursday are the best days to go, because they're not weekend dates and I think people will be more likely to be heading home and/or gearing up for school.

So you might want to plan for heavy crowds but cross your fingers for the best!

Why are the hours so limited then? Wouldn't Disneyland have an inkling of crowd size for next week and keep the hours longer?

I'm just playing devil's advocate, as I am going Monday and Tuesday, and am hoping for super light crowds.

 

[mamaofthree]

I too am thinking it may be busy next week, although I am secretly hoping it isn't of course. We get three weeks off for Christmas break, so I know others do too, and we are probably all going to DLR next week. I think it is a fairly new thing for a lot of districts to get that extra week off, so perhaps DLR hours haven't caught up with crowd predictions yet? We went at the end of July, and not only was it was it too crowded but way too hot, so I figure even if it is crowded at least we won't be sweating to death. My dh is a teacher, so we can only visit DLR during school holidays, making this our best bet for low crowds out of all our choices. If it is insanely crowded next week we prob won't be visiting again for a while. Yeah right, lol. But it will make it harder to convince dh.

 

[hookem81]

One other factor next week will be the college national championship game. That will bring a large number of Texas and Alabama fans, some of whom (including me - Hook 'em!!) to the parks next week. I was very surprised to see thr limited hours and the high maintenance schedule next week with that in mind not to mention the point made above regarding extended school breaks.

 

[Eeee-va]

The other site's columnist was saying that Disney was particularly foolish to not have extended hours during this next week. I don't know, myself.

It's possible that crowds may not be too bad, which is my hope! Or it could even be that extended hours tend to increase crowds, as a lot of people just want to visit when there is more time to play. I know sometimes posted hours don't have much to do with crowd size (Wednesday and Thursday, 12/9 and 12/10, were light to medium crowds, yet hours were 9 AM - 11 PM, possibly because the cast member parties had closed Disneyland early on Monday and Tuesday--with all their crowd experience, I don't see how Disney could have expected my days to be horribly busy!).

Disney is NOT closing It's a Small World Holiday yet (at least per everything I've read). So it appears to me that they at least know that closing that ride with everything else would be too much.

Anyway, I truly hope that the crowds are light, and I really don't think they'll be anything like they were this last week...but I know I would rather plan for heavy crowds and then be surprised, rather than plan for light crowds and be unpleasantly surprised.

 

[TinkandPooh]

I have been to Disneyland for the past 6 Januarys early in the month 1st and second week of the month. I can tell you that it tends to be crowded through the 4th to 5th and then really drops off after that irregardless as to what has been going on because you always have college football and the Rose bowl etc in the 1st part of January every year.....with that being said I don't really know what will happen this year as Disney trends seem to be really be doing different things this past year so I guess we all will not know until we get there. I do think that it won't be nearly as busy as the Christmas season though no matter what is going on.

The one thing about the hours that are up (10am to 8pm) that everyone should know and be aware of is that if by chance Disney projected wrong and they see massive crowds during next week they will extend the hours that the park is open and will let you know as you go in the park on that day as well as announce them in random places around DL. As far back as I can remember DL has always done this with their hours if the have projected the crowds wrong.
For example:
This past October we were there and it had been much more crowded than they had expected in the days prior to our arrival and on the day that we visited they extend the park hours by 2 hours in DL due to the amount of guest they were coming in.

If next week is crowded we will know on Tuesday and Wednesday because DL will extend their hours for closing from 8pm to who knows....maybe 10 pm, maybe 11pm??????

I would just be ready for bigger crowds whatever time of year you plan on visiting that way when you get there if the crowds are light you will be pleasantly surprised!!

For all those going next week HAVE FUN!!! and SEE YA THERE!!!

DLH for us 1/5/2010 - 1/8/2010

Oh and one more thing.....we live in Central Califonria and our daughters do not go back to school until 1/11/2010.