DL: Crowds week AFTER Thanksgiving?

[BensDaddy]

Wondering if anyone has visited Disneyland on the week AFTER the Thanksgiving weekend? I booked Mon-Thursday that week hoping that people would be back to school and work and crowds might be lighter.

We are traveling with our 6 year old and hoping that 4 days is enough time to visit Cars Land and other high demand attractions without time consuming wait times. Also concerned about World of Color. Staying at Grand Californian in the hopes that that will help.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

We did this in 2010, it was a great week.

We started off on the Sunday after T-day so we could see Fantasmic. Sunday was packed, I think we got into the park at 5 PM and HM was a 60 minute wait, POC, 50. Monday was great early, picked up a bit in the afternoon. Tuesday through Thursday everything was pretty much walk on except SM, IJA, which at most had 20-30 minute waits. I think we only got FP's for those two rides the whole week. Hours were short, but it worked out great with the low crowds.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Wondering if anyone has visited Disneyland on the week AFTER the Thanksgiving weekend? I booked Mon-Thursday that week hoping that people would be back to school and work and crowds might be lighter.

We are traveling with our 6 year old and hoping that 4 days is enough time to visit Cars Land and other high demand attractions without time consuming wait times. Also concerned about World of Color. Staying at Grand Californian in the hopes that that will help.

Thanks in advance!

one word......PERFECT...you couldnt have picked a better time

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Have fun! You picked a good week to go.

 

[BensDaddy]

That's great news! Thank you everyone! Any suggestions on which night to try for World of Color? (I read the super thread) still deciding on a dining or picnic package.

 

[MamaChelle]

That's the week my family and I go. 2010 we arrived the Tuesday after, 2011 the thursday after. Definitely lighter crowds. This year we will be arriving on Wednesday. We like to do WOC on Tuesdays, the same morning we use our MM. Get there early, ride a couple rides in DL walk over to DCA to stand in line when they open and get in line for FP for WOC. Has worked out great the past 2 years! We are excited too to see CL!!! My DS6 looks online everyday at the DL website haha you'll definitely have a good time!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

That's great news! Thank you everyone! Any suggestions on which night to try for World of Color? (I read the super thread) still deciding on a dining or picnic package.

they will probably do just one show during that week...so if it were me, i dont know if i would do a Monday per se but tues, wed, or thursday should be fine

 

[MinnieMom13]

This is when we (DS 9, DD 8) went last year! We usually go in October as I prefer the offseason, but we wanted to see the Christmas display for a change. We flew in Sunday after Thanksgiving and flew out Friday. I was concerned about dealing with horrible lines at the airport on Sunday, but SeaTac was staffed for peak travel levels so it was fine. I was also concerned about having to wait a long time to get our room at the DL Hotel since there would be many checking out that day. This also was not a problem, our room was ready in the Fantasy tower when we arrived just before noon. Even the weather cooperated with us; it was unseasonably warm.

We take an annual trip to DL, but we have yet to see WOC. One of these days we'll prioritize the show over the rides.

I think post-Thanksgiving is a great time to go to DL. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[Eeee-va]

We went that Monday and Tuesday in 2011 and crowds were great. Actually, Sunday wasn't bad either. Sunday evening was amazing.

Funnily enough, for some reason, World of Color had major glitches on the Monday after Thanksgiving and ended up stopping for good at (IMO) the very worst possible part, on the Lion King scene. I was on the "wrong" side of the bay and well before the show stopped for good, the lights in Paradise Pier were going off and on intermittently and the regular loop music started playing.

My understanding is that it was some sort of glitch with the tracks and won't happen again.

Anyway, I just thought it was funny that disneegrl4eva advised you not to see WoC on Monday. After Thanksgiving 2011, that was amazingly good advice! Also, if World of Color is an absolute priority, I would NOT wait until your last night to see it. If we'd waited until Monday (our last night in the parks) to view it, we never would have seen the whole show.

 

[BensDaddy]

I honestly don't know if it is a priority. Our little guy is 6, so waiting for an hour to see anything is a stretch, especially if he won't be in a position to really "see" the show. We could pick him up, but probably not hold him the whole time (50 lbs)

Maybe we should skip it and try for Cars Land at night instead.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I honestly don't know if it is a priority. Our little guy is 6, so waiting for an hour to see anything is a stretch, especially if he won't be in a position to really "see" the show. We could pick him up, but probably not hold him the whole time (50 lbs)

Maybe we should skip it and try for Cars Land at night instead.

to be perfectly honest with you, I dont blame you...my grandson would NOT want to wait around all that time and not be able to see very well either and he turns 6 in Nov...unfortunately since you will be there during the week, chances are that they will not be showing F! which stinks because it is an amazing show...however, I must encourage you to make sure to take him and watch the christmas parade and fireworks...oh and its really hard for me to tell you which one i like better but do your BEST to get where you can see the castle without anything blocking you or get over to IASW and watch the fireworks from there because they do amazing things with the castle and IASW...i also HIGHLY recommend that you save the first time you ride IASW for the evening...every 15 minutes they do a lighting show and play a song from the Nutcracker..its SOOOOOO amazing....your little boy will LOVE LOVE LOVE it...and they also do a special castle lighting around 6 or 6:30 each night with snow so gotta get that in there too

PS...if you have some time I recommend you read Sherry's thread..tells you all the things available to you during holiday time that wont be on one of those maps

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2612827

 

[BensDaddy]

Thanks for that link! I will be sure to give it a good read!

 

[papamouse1]

one word......PERFECT...you couldnt have picked a better time

Perfect is the best description

Also, I don't know if they have announced the dates for the "Christmas Candlelight Processional" , but they have expanded this to 20 nights this year, and it is an event that is rare for people to catch since they only did it for 2 days in the past. If it is running when you are there, you should catch it! May never get a good shot at it again

 

[DSNY4ever]

See you there! This is when we are going too. It is usually a low time, but I have run into 4 friends/acquaintances recently who all happen to be going this week...I hope this doesn't mean everyone has caught on!

 

[papamouse1]

See you there! This is when we are going too. It is usually a low time, but I have run into 4 friends/acquaintances recently who all happen to be going this week...I hope this doesn't mean everyone has caught on!

I think you are still safe. Last year we did the week after for a Disney Cruise and then 4 days at WDW. WE absolutely LOVED it!! I want to do it every year... but we won't be doing it.
The reason? Before we went on the trip, we contacted both of our kids schools and let them know they would be missing some school. They grilled us pretty hard, but grudgingly gave in (please, no kids out of school flaming inserted here.. I respect your choices for your kids. Mine are straight A's, Honor Roll kids, they'rs doing just fine, thanks). Well, a few days after getting home, we received a subpoena to appear in court for our kids school absences... seriously... I'm not kidding. They are tough in New Mexico. IN the end, they admitted that they had dropped the ball and we worked it all out, but decided that maybe it just wasn't worth the hassle... they were downright abusive to our kids for a couple weeks over it. So this year, we are going to fight the crowds and go during Thanksgiving break...having Thanksgiving dinner at DH... Woohoo!!

 

[BensDaddy]

Bummer about the school. I'm of the opinion that travel is more educational than a day or two in the classroom...but my wife and I argue about that frequently. I'm glad to hear that most people think it will be a slow week. Fingers crossed. If we can get to CarsLand I'll be happy. World of Color would be cool, but not necessary. We saw Fantasmic at WDW so that's not essential either. I'm going to try really hard to do a little less "commando vacationing" this trip.

My next thought is logistics. We are flying in on Sunday night and staying at the Fairfield Main Gate. Then, Monday we check into Grand Californian. So at some point Monday morning I'll have to figure out how to move all of our luggage from the Fairfield to GC. I figure I'll send the wife and son by foot and I'll just take a taxi. (I'm not renting a car since we are staying at the resort all week)

 

[disneegrl4eva]

We saw Fantasmic at WDW so that's not essential either.
My next thought is logistics. We are flying in on Sunday night and staying at the Fairfield Main Gate. Then, Monday we check into Grand Californian. So at some point Monday morning I'll have to figure out how to move all of our luggage from the Fairfield to GC. I figure I'll send the wife and son by foot and I'll just take a taxi. (I'm not renting a car since we are staying at the resort all week)

oh no no no no no...you cant compare our F! to wdw's F!..its a lot different trust me!! plus ours is TONS better

the move from Fairfield to GC is a good idea...taxi service over there wont take but a couple minutes...just go over there and check in all at once and then come back later for the key and your baggage

 

[RedRosie]

My family will be in DL the same week this year! We saw WOC at our 2010 visit and my kids (then 6 and 9) thought it was fine, but were not interested in seeing it at our 2011 visit. It was really hard to stand there for a long time prior to the show (we had picnic tickets) and during the show. DH and I had to hold up my DD, not on shoulders because that would block others' views, but high enough so she could see. It was hard! DH and I thought WOC was great, but it is not high on the list for the kids. I bet the park was pretty empty during that time so next time we'll take advantage of that.

 

[tanyaewa]

We will be there for a quick 2 day trip before going on a cruise. Hoping it will be relatively quiet . Just Cant miss the chance to see CarsLand!
bensDaddy.... IMO the WOC show is not a must do.
My boys who are 7 and 10 made me promise not to ever make them wait to see it again after last year. They just didn't see the value in the show after an hour wait.

 

[BensDaddy]

Can't wait to hear about the cruise!