Disneyland in August

[LOLA2]

We are going in August. I see that the parks are open until 12:00a.m.
If we left mi day and wanted to come back at a less busy time what would be a good time?

Also for EE days If early entry is at 7:00 should I be at the gate any earlier (I know sometimes they open parks earlier and there is a rope drop) or do they not let you into gates until 7:00a.m.?

 

[blackjackdelta]

We always leave at about 1400 and come back around 1900. Last August EE was 0700.

Jack

 

[HydroGuy]

We are similar to Jack - our departure time and re-entry time is driven somewhat by energy level, which park we are at, how early we started that day, and Fastpass pickups.

I would say typically if we start the day at DL at 7AM or 8AM then we break at about 1PM - after FP #5 is obtained. We return anytime from 5PM to 7PM.

If we start at DCA at 10AM or just get a late start in general because of late evening the night before, we may push the mid-day break later than 1PM.

When we have EE (Early Entry aka Magic Mornings) then if we want to go to Fantasyland we arrive 20-30 minutes early. If we want to go to Nemo we arrive 40+ minutes early. Nemo-mania this summer will be less than last summer, and 30 minutes early to ride Nemo during EE will probably work. By August there should be some good feedback around here on doing Nemo during EE and you should follow that.

 

[LOLA2]

We always leave at about 1400 and come back around 1900. Last August EE was 0700.

Jack

??? Is this military time? I have no idea

 

[LOLA2]

We are similar to Jack - our departure time and re-entry time is driven somewhat by energy level, which park we are at, how early we started that day, and Fastpass pickups.

I would say typically if we start the day at DL at 7AM or 8AM then we break at about 1PM - after FP #5 is obtained. We return anytime from 5PM to 7PM.

If we start at DCA at 10AM or just get a late start in general because of late evening the night before, we may push the mid-day break later than 1PM.

When we have EE (Early Entry aka Magic Mornings) then if we want to go to Fantasyland we arrive 20-30 minutes early. If we want to go to Nemo we arrive 40+ minutes early. Nemo-mania this summer will be less than last summer, and 30 minutes early to ride Nemo during EE will probably work. By August there should be some good feedback around here on doing Nemo during EE and you should follow that.

So what time do the parks usually die down?

 

[HydroGuy]

So what time do the parks usually die down?

Starting from 6-7PM lines die down. But after 10PM they really die down. What does that mean? Well, it depends on the ride.

For example, POTC and HM will start to die down (7PM) and become near walk-ons after 10PM. Matterhorn will reduce from 40 minutes mid-day to 25 minutes and then after 10PM down to 10 minutes. Most of the Fantasyland rides except for Peter Pan will go down to near walk-ons after 10PM.

Our strategy is to use our FPs early evening and only go on rides with short lines. As lines continue to go down we expand the rides selection.

DCA closes at 9PM and lines do go down after 6-7PM as well. Since it closes earlier than DL it does not always get quite the short lines one sees at midnight at DL.

 

[DLR29]

We are going in August. I see that the parks are open until 12:00a.m.
If we left mi day and wanted to come back at a less busy time what would be a good time?

Also for EE days If early entry is at 7:00 should I be at the gate any earlier (I know sometimes they open parks earlier and there is a rope drop) or do they not let you into gates until 7:00a.m.?

There is no rope drop on MM (Magic Mornings, not EE anymore) days except at 8AM at Adventureland and Frontierland. However in August it is probably a good idea to arrive at the gates 15-30 min before MM opening. When I went this past August, the crowds at the gate were larger on the MM day than they were on the other 2 days.

 

[LOLA2]

Thanks everyone