December 28th/29th vs. December 31st...?

[AquaDame]

Hi all! My husband and I are coming down to San Diego the week between Christmas and New Year's and were wondering what the best plan would be... I know the 31st will be nuts, but so will pretty much everything between Christmas and New Years right? Are the crowds that much different to make us decide against what would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the NYE fireworks and anything else special Disney does for the holiday? Or is it just not worth it? We bought one day park hoppers and want to see Carsland as well that day. TIA!

 

[DLR29]

That is literally THE most crowded time of the year. Many days in that week between Christmas and New Years, DL has been known to have some kind of closings due to capacity. With Carsland opening this year, we may see both parks filled to the max.

So if you're asking if the 28th or the 29th will be better crowd-wise than the 31st...you're probably looking at Space Mountain waits of about 120 min on the first two dates and maybe 140 on New Years, so the difference will be minimal. All of those dates will be crazy crowded.

Go as early as possible (I'd recommend being AT the gates no later than 7AM), use FP, make sure to get a hand stamp, and just try to enjoy yourself. You won't get a ton of stuff done, most likely, but you can still have fun.

 

[AquaDame]

Luckily, we've been many times so as long as we can see carsland and the fireworks, the rest is just icing on the cake! Well, and matterhorn since its been closed the last two times we've gone!