Disneyland visit need help

[sdeut]

We are looking to visit Disneyland the 1st week of June arriving June 1st and staying in s. cal. for 8/9 days. It will be my parents, me, my Dh and my 3 year old twin DDs ( this will be my twins 1st visit to any Disney property). We will spend some time in San Diego visiting family and sometime in Disneyland. I have not been to Disney since DCA opened - though my parents have and we usually visit S. Cal. end of march.

So I guess my questions are ...

Is the 1st week of June a good time? I am a teacher so limited to when we can visit. How long should we visit Disneyland - we were thinking of a 3 day park hopper ticket.

Looking at hotels we want a close hotel off property. We were thinking of the residence inn maingate because we can get a room for all of us. Is this a good pick...or would you suggest somewhere else?

Any other suggests....

 

[DisneytheKid]

I dont typically go during the summer but from what I have read from many of the trip reports that have come out, June can be busy with kids out of school but If you can try to plan your dates around the AP blackout dates. That would hopefully keep the lines manageable...

 

[Painted Purple]

I don't know about crowds because we don't go at that time, but we stayed at the Residence Inn Maingate last year and were very happy with it. Excellent customer service and good full breakfast, free parking and good internet connection. You will probably have to take a shuttle from the hotel because it's a little too far to walk at the end of the day in my opinion.

3 days wasn't long enough for us last time so we're going for 5 this time. I don't know if that's everyone's experience or just ours though.

 

[lana772]

I am a school employee in No Cal, and I can tell you that the schools in this area are not out until the first and second week of June. So going the first week of June should be much better than later in the month.
I do not know the schedule for So Cal schools.

 

[lana772]

3 days wasn't long enough for us last time so we're going for 5 this time. I don't know if that's everyone's experience or just ours though.

I agree. If it is crowded, 3 days is not long enough. We are going over Christmas week and have chosen to stay 7 days so that we can comfortably go from one attraction to the next. If the crowds get too bad, we just go back to the hotel (GCH) and enjoy what they have to offer for awhile. I hate being rushed from one ride to the next. DL has so much to look at. If you rush you will miss too much.

 

[sdeut]

Hmmm I can only go the Last week of March, the 1st week of June, or the 1st 2 weeks of Aug. I figured the 1st week of June would be the least crowded...

 

[lana772]

From those choices, definitely go the first week of June.
The last week of March is Spring Break and July is almost always busy.

 

[lana772]

Oops I meant to say that August is almost always busy.

 

[mystic_path]

I typically go end of May or early June. Is it really slow?.... NO... Is it super stupid peak summer crazy busy?..... NO!

Schools are just getting out, or are still in and some times you will find some end of the year school field trips coming to the resort. Early June is not peak season, but it wont be slow either. Expect there to be some waits, but it wont be terrible. If you can make use of your fast passes and early entry if you have one, that is always a good idea. Top rides like Indy or Space will see lines of about 45-60 minute wait times at the worst. But if you plan your trip right, you can walk right into some attractions first thing in the morning, at night time or around shows like the fireworks, Fantasmic etc.

 

[lana772]

Out of curiosity I just looked at the 2013 grad night dates. They include June 5,6,&7. You might want to avoid those nights and try for the first few days of June.