February or April??

[rszdtrvl]

Hoping to go back to Disneyland next year.

We will have 2 different dates to go during :

February 19-23 (give or take a day)
April 2-6 (give or take a day)

I know April is in the middle of Spring Break. February is Intermission for DS, which gives him the entire week of school off.

I am leaning towards February, hoping it won't be so busy. We will be doing Disneyland, as well as Knotts Berry and Universal Studios.

Your thoughts??

 

[jackie101]

I would love to hear about this to, we are going in Feb

 

[LizzyS]

I have heard only good things about going in February, but going during President's Day weekend is supposed to be terrible for crowd levels.

We'll be there the 23rd, 25th, and 26th of February. (going to a concert on the 24th in Indio, hopefully, so not attending the park that day)

 

[scoker]

I would think that both those weeks would be busy since they are holiday weeks. Maybe someone local could weigh in about the weather. I know when we were there in April a few of the days were warm enough to enjoy the pool. February has more expected rainfall. We are going early in February hoping for light crowds. I'm just hoping we don't get soaked. I know some people say they love a rainy day at Disney but I've had a few and I'm not one of them.

 

[lalasmama]

February 19-23 (give or take a day)
April 2-6 (give or take a day)

I believe that Feb week may be "Ski Week" in some school districts in CA, which is when the schools let out for the whole week of President's Day because of budget issues.

For the April dates, Orange United School District is one of the larger school districts in the area as I've been told, and their Spring Break is April 1-12.

Of note, for your Feb dates, Orange United School District is in session, so I guess that would be my choice time.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

February will be busier than "off-season" since many school districts do have "ski week" or whatever they want to call it. Rule of thumb tends to be that if your kid has the time off school, so do other kids. The difference between February and April though is that almost certainly fewer kids will have the February dates off than the April dates. Lots more schools should have the April dates off since the week before and week after Easter are a heavy concentration of spring-breakers.

February weather can be pleasantly cool, but there is the potential for more rain than in April. This is not to say that you can't get anything from light showers to freakish downpours in April, just that the likelihood of rain, especially sustained rain or cold rain is greater in February than in April.

The parks will have shorter hours for the February dates. The gates may close as early as 8 or 9 PM on the weekdays. Entertainment offerings will be fewer. In April, Disneyland should be open 8 AM - 11 PM or midnight, and I'm guessing DCA will be open 8 or 9 AM - 10 or 11 PM. More entertainment will also be offered to accommodate the heavy crowds.

 

[rszdtrvl]

Or......

We could wait and go in the summer.

Would summer be better than the February or April dates?

We will have more flexibility in the summer, but have never experienced the summer DL crowds. In the past we have gone during Spring Break.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Or......

We could wait and go in the summer.

Would summer be better than the February or April dates?

We will have more flexibility in the summer, but have never experienced the summer DL crowds. In the past we have gone during Spring Break.

Really depends on what kind of experience you are looking for. February will be least crowds, shortest hours. Some of the days the week after Easter have the potential to be more crowded than any given summer day. Open hours should be similar in April and summer although summer days could be one hour longer. Entertainment offerings and fewest refurbs will be summer. Greatest number of potential refurbs will be February. Summer has least chance of rain and will likely have the warmest weather.

 

[rszdtrvl]

We have been to DL DCA several times already.

In a perfect world, our plan would be :

Tues - arrive - DL/DCA
Wed - Universal Studios
Thur - MM at DL/DCA
Fri - Knotts & DL/DCA
Sat - Home