End of June or end of July?

[wallawallakids]

My husband has to attend two conferences this summer. One is the last week of June, the other is the last week of July, both are in Anaheim. He would like us to tag along on one and make a trip to DLR as a family out of it. (We can't afford to tag along twice. Though I wish we could!) He is leaning towards end of June while I am leaning more towards the end of July. Hotel costs are almost the same ($100 more in June total...so not enough to sway me either way) and airfare is currently the same for both weeks out of Maine. My question is do you think with the 60th anniversary coming up in mid July that everything will be open in June? Will there be more shows available and rides open by the end of July? I know it will be busy both times (we have been in June once before but never in July). Which would you pick and why? Or do you think both are a wash? We would be in the LA area for a week and probably spend 5 full days in the parks with a park-hopper. Thank you so much for your help.

 

[Blue32]

My husband has to attend two conferences this summer. One is the last week of June, the other is the last week of July, both are in Anaheim. He would like us to tag along on one and make a trip to DLR as a family out of it. (We can't afford to tag along twice. Though I wish we could!) He is leaning towards end of June while I am leaning more towards the end of July. Hotel costs are almost the same ($100 more in June total...so not enough to sway me either way) and airfare is currently the same for both weeks out of Maine. My question is do you think with the 60th anniversary coming up in mid July that everything will be open in June? Will there be more shows available and rides open by the end of July? I know it will be busy both times (we have been in June once before but never in July). Which would you pick and why? Or do you think both are a wash? We would be in the LA area for a week and probably spend 5 full days in the parks with a park-hopper. Thank you so much for your help.

Probably is not going to make a whole lot of difference. End of June may be slightly less crowded. Just make sure you go after grad nights and after all the AP's are blocked for the summer. Entertainment should be in full force either week you go. Hopefully all the refurbs will be finished by June as well.

 

[wallawallakids]

Probably is not going to make a whole lot of difference. End of June may be slightly less crowded. Just make sure you go after grad nights and after all the AP's are blocked for the summer. Entertainment should be in full force either week you go. Hopefully all the refurbs will be finished by June as well.

Great! Thank you. I will look and see if I can find the dates of Grad nights. I didn't think of that. Thank you!

 

[HydroGuy]

Probably is not going to make a whole lot of difference. End of June may be slightly less crowded. Just make sure you go after grad nights and after all the AP's are blocked for the summer. Entertainment should be in full force either week you go. Hopefully all the refurbs will be finished by June as well.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up!

OP, also see

"The Scoop on Grad Nights at DLR in May and June" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2298400

 

[TheDoleWhipper]

Usually June is less crowded than July, (and less hot), but with the swarm of AP holders descending on the parks before their APs are blocked out for the summer in June, the crowd level may be similar for each month, depending on when you go. The SoCal Select AP is blocked out from the end of the first week of June on, so you shouldn't have to worry about them. The SoCal AP, on the other hand, is not blocked out most weekdays in June, including the last week, so I imagine that they would increase the crowd level the last week of June ( but there are no grad nights). Both lower levels of AP holders are blocked out all throughout July, but even without the AP holders, July still is the height of the tourist season, and I would say June will still be less busy.

About grad nights, they don't really affect the crowds that much, nor the hours (DCA will just close at 10:00 pm, instead of, say, 11), although some guests are bothered by a bunch of rowdy teens running around. The last grad night is on June 19th, so if you go later than that, you shouldn't have to worry about grads.

The entertainment is maxed out throughout both June and July, and since the 60th anniversary will have certainly started by the end of June, there will likely be no refurbs at that time (disney wants everything up and running, but it is possible that there might by a minor delay).

 

[wallawallakids]

Usually June is less crowded than July, (and less hot), but with the swarm of AP holders descending on the parks before their APs are blocked out for the summer in June, the crowd level may be similar for each month, depending on when you go. The SoCal Select AP is blocked out from the end of the first week of June on, so you shouldn't have to worry about them. The SoCal AP, on the other hand, is not blocked out most weekdays in June, including the last week, so I imagine that they would increase the crowd level the last week of June ( but there are no grad nights). Both lower levels of AP holders are blocked out all throughout July, but even without the AP holders, July still is the height of the tourist season, and I would say June will still be less busy.

About grad nights, they don't really affect the crowds that much, nor the hours (DCA will just close at 10:00 pm, instead of, say, 11), although some guests are bothered by a bunch of rowdy teens running around. The last grad night is on June 19th, so if you go later than that, you shouldn't have to worry about grads.

The entertainment is maxed out throughout both June and July, and since the 60th anniversary will have certainly started by the end of June, there will likely be no refurbs at that time (disney wants everything up and running, but it is possible that there might by a minor delay).

Great. Thank you so much. Sounds like I should probably go with what my husband wants which is that last week in June. When do crowds normally arrive for 4th of July? Do you think that might make a difference? We would still be there the weekend prior to the holiday. I am wondering if that Saturday and Sunday would be more busy because of the holiday? Or will most not show up until later in the week because the fourth is over the weekend this year? Thanks again.

 

[Blue32]

Great. Thank you so much. Sounds like I should probably go with what my husband wants which is that last week in June. When do crowds normally arrive for 4th of July? Do you think that might make a difference? We would still be there the weekend prior to the holiday. I am wondering if that Saturday and Sunday would be more busy because of the holiday? Or will most not show up until later in the week because the fourth is over the weekend this year? Thanks again.

I can't say from personal experience because I was not there, but I saw many reports last summer that Saturday was one of the best days to visit because more AP's were blocked on Sat. Even on the holiday weekend the crowd reports I saw were lower. Maybe someone else can chime in that visited on the weekends last summer.

 

[lk2500]

My husband has to attend two conferences this summer. One is the last week of June, the other is the last week of July, both are in Anaheim. He would like us to tag along on one and make a trip to DLR as a family out of it. (We can't afford to tag along twice. Though I wish we could!) He is leaning towards end of June while I am leaning more towards the end of July. Hotel costs are almost the same ($100 more in June total...so not enough to sway me either way) and airfare is currently the same for both weeks out of Maine. My question is do you think with the 60th anniversary coming up in mid July that everything will be open in June? Will there be more shows available and rides open by the end of July? I know it will be busy both times (we have been in June once before but never in July). Which would you pick and why? Or do you think both are a wash? We would be in the LA area for a week and probably spend 5 full days in the parks with a park-hopper. Thank you so much for your help.

We've been 3 times on the last weekend in June and we're considering going again this year.

Here is my trip report from 2014:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3297057

Saturday crowds were not bad at all, but then I didn't think the crowds were all that bad the Thursday when all the AP's were not blocked out. It's all relative I guess.

 

[TheDoleWhipper]

Great. Thank you so much. Sounds like I should probably go with what my husband wants which is that last week in June. When do crowds normally arrive for 4th of July? Do you think that might make a difference? We would still be there the weekend prior to the holiday. I am wondering if that Saturday and Sunday would be more busy because of the holiday? Or will most not show up until later in the week because the fourth is over the weekend this year? Thanks again.

The further away from the 4th of July, the better! I don't think that the 4th of July crowds would overlap into your visit. They would probably build up later in the week and last all weekend, but they won't really impact your visit.

 

[wallawallakids]

Great! Thank you so much!

 

[queso2992]

I was in DL at the end of May and over July 4th this past summer. Surprisingly, the crowds were about the same over both trips. I was expecting very busy parks on/around July 4th, but they weren't bad at all. I think there is an increase in the number of people going on "off" times, so that they can avoid the "peak" times.

 

[wallawallakids]

I was in DL at the end of May and over July 4th this past summer. Surprisingly, the crowds were about the same over both trips. I was expecting very busy parks on/around July 4th, but they weren't bad at all. I think there is an increase in the number of people going on "off" times, so that they can avoid the "peak" times.

Great to know! Thank you so much.

 

[OKW Lover]

I'll add one more variable to consider: July 17th marks Disneyland's 60th birthday. Prior to that Disney is doing a lot to spruce up the park for the big celebration and some attractions may be down for rehab.

 

[Laz]

I was at DLR 2 years ago over the week of July 4th, and except for the night of the 4th, the crowds were very manageable. Downtown Disney and the area between the two parks were jammed packed the night of July 4th.