DCA Construction

[jmcalister]

Our family would like to plan a trip to DLR during summer 2012. Personally, I'd rather wait until most of DCA's major construction has finished up so that we can 1) Enjoy the new attractions and 2) See the park without the mess of construction walls and closures, etc. I was planning to book the trip in probably mid-June. Would it be better to wait until August? Any thoughts or suggestions or information about visiting after the DCA construction are very much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[HydroGuy]

Our family would like to plan a trip to DLR during summer 2012. Personally, I'd rather wait until most of DCA's major construction has finished up so that we can 1) Enjoy the new attractions and 2) See the park without the mess of construction walls and closures, etc. I was planning to book the trip in probably mid-June. Would it be better to wait until August? Any thoughts or suggestions or information about visiting after the DCA construction are very much appreciated. Thank you!

This is a good question and I am sure over the next year will get asked a hundred more times.

Most of the construction will be complete by 2011 and from that point it is a matter of when CarsLand will open. CarsLand itself is off to the side and hence its construction has very little effect on DCA except for the view.

If your question is more geared to when CarsLand will be finished, that is still hazy at this point.

If you look at DLR historically they try very hard to get new attractions open before the summer crowds come - so by early to mid-June. In recent years there has been WOC (slipped from April to early June 2010), Finding Nemo Subs (opened early June 2007 after a little slippage), Space Mtn (moved up from Nov 2005 to mid-July with a lot of extra effort).

CarsLand is expected to be ready by summer 2012 and believe me Disney cares more about that than we do because it means lots of money to them. Chances it will be ready by June 2012 are 99% IMO. Chances it will be ready by August 2012 are 99.9% IMO.

Bottom line is if CarsLand is extremely important to you then go in August 2012. If it is just normally important then June 2012 will be fine - especially later in June.

Your biggest worry about a June trip should not be the readiness of CarsLand but the serious mobs of crowds that will be there to visit it.

 

[DLR29]

Most of the construction will be complete by 2011 and from that point it is a matter of when CarsLand will open. CarsLand itself is off to the side and hence its construction has very little effect on DCA except for the view.

Don't forget the construction for Buena Vista Street. That continues into 2012 and that project's timeline is, I think, even more unknown than Carsland. And it would have a pretty big effect on the park.

Ya, August would be safer and probably slightly less crowded, although crowd predictions are also unknown at this point.