Crowds - weekend vs. weekday

[mrswh]

My family (DH, me, DD(4) and DS(2)) is considering a So Cal trip in late September. I want to go to San Diego first, but that means our days at DLR would be Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Is it worth shaking up the whole trip to be there during the week, or is it going to be pretty slow at that time of the year even on the weekend? How much of a difference is there between weekdays and weekends during the low season? Is it going to be just more crowded on the weekend, or annoyingly crowded on the weekend? Thanks for any input!

 

[bumbershoot]

Late September, when? It's going to be getting busier the later you get, because of the Halloweentime decorations going up and Haunted Mansion Holiday opening. We were there from the 17th to 21st last year, and the 21st (Friday) was the day HMH opened, and it was much busier than it had been.

I'm a huge fan of weekdays, personally.

Are you doing the touristy San Diego stuff? If so I could see that you want to avoid the hordes of tourists at those places, too. But just in my opinion, I'd rather have a crowded Zoo or SeaWorld than a crowded Disneyland.

 

[DangerMouse]

I agree with Molly (surprise surprise). Weekdays are always better at DLR. If I have to do a weekend day, I pick Sunday and then have it spill over to a Monday-Wed.

The benefit to weekends is that you will have extended park hours and more evening entertainment options (fireworks, fantasmic).

I wouldn't think September weekends would be any worse than Jan or Feb weekends, which are generally lighter than March-August weekends.

 

[mrswh]

Late September, when? It's going to be getting busier the later you get, because of the Halloweentime decorations going up and Haunted Mansion Holiday opening. We were there from the 17th to 21st last year, and the 21st (Friday) was the day HMH opened, and it was much busier than it had been.

I'm a huge fan of weekdays, personally.

Are you doing the touristy San Diego stuff? If so I could see that you want to avoid the hordes of tourists at those places, too. But just in my opinion, I'd rather have a crowded Zoo or SeaWorld than a crowded Disneyland.

We're looking at the last weekend in September. That doesn't sound so good. We are visiting family in San Diego, but will probably go to Sea World one day. I'm not too worried about crowds there, I just wanted to go to San Diego first so that my family gets to see the kids before they are exhausted from DLR. But, I do prefer to fly into SNA and out of SAN because I'm not a fan of the short field takeoffs from SNA.

 

[Dobie]

I would definately do DL first, during the week. Weekends in September are crazy--the weather is perfect and there are 20 million locals!

Another advantage to doing DL first is that San Diego can be very laid back, while DL is definately full throttle exhausting. You can hit DL for three days, get tired, have a short drive down to SD, kick back and enjoy the rest of the day at a sunny, relaxing beach, and be recharged for the rest of your trip.

 

[DLR29]

Yep, another vote here for visiting DLR during the weekdays (with at least one wknd day for fireworks and/or fantasmic) and San Diego later.