First time DL goer.

[cluce]

Hi everyone,

I am planning a family trip to the west coast next summer. We are planning to go for 16ish days, spending 6 nights at DL resort and 2 days in each park. When pricing out the 2 options I have for dates July is cheaper but crowd calendar says itll be above average wait times and August is more expensive but says the crowds are lighter. I am torn on which to choose. The dates are either July 13-18 or Aug 17-22. WWYD?

TIA !!

 

[sophy1996]

July is usually a great time to go because so many passes are blocked. But your proposed time encompasses DLR’s 70th birthday on July 17, which may increase crowds.

 

[Aspencreek]

Hard to say which dates will be better as the crowd calendars seem to be much less accurate after the shutdowns and the reservations system starting. August tends to be hotter than July, but crowds do seem slightly less on average.

As for the days in the parks, our family often goes for 4 day trips and if we aren't doing parkhopper passes then we will do 3 days at DL and only 1 day at DCA. There is just so much more to do at DL compared to DCA so we prefer to only spend 1 of our days there.

 

[Howry]

Lets just say it will be busy at both times, so pick whatever best fits your plans. It is what it is. Just plan on going and having a good time. =)

 

[OlliePop27]

July is one of the best months to go - particularly Fridays-Sundays. In general, the crowd calendars are garbage for DLR. As someone mentioned earlier, the two lowest passes are blocked all month and the third highest level is blocked on Saturdays. Single day ticket prices are also high, which discourages day guests. I would go during July without hesitation.

Regardless of crowds, there's some benefits to July. The parks are open max hours every single day. DL 8:00 am - Midnight, DCA 8:00 am - 10:00 pm. Fireworks every night at DL. WOC every night at DCA. Fantasmic every night at DL. Parades every day. Less rides are typically closed for refurb, whereas much more will be closed in August in particular Haunted Mansion to convert to its holiday overlay.

I personally think July is the single best month of the year to visit the parks. Yes, July 17th next year might be a little different because of the 70th, but the rest of the month should be fine. I went July 4th this year and it was magical - the crowds were not heavy at all.

 

[JerrodDragon89]

I would try to go early July

July was slow but early July was even better, just very good wait times

 

[Original Goofy]

I would add that with two days at each park and staying at DL resort, you have a lot of flexibility and available down time to withdraw, rest and return. You can be more judicious in scheduling the rides to keep wait times for the lines to a reasonable level, regardless of the crowd size.

 

[MonocularVision]

July. Always July.

 

[SFMommy]

July is good but your dates aren’t ideal because you are there on a Monday (busy) and not there on a Saturday (lowest crowds). And you would be there on the actual 70th anniversary 7/17 which will probably be crowded.

 

[JerrodDragon89]

July is good but your dates aren’t ideal because you are there on a Monday (busy) and not there on a Saturday (lowest crowds). And you would be there on the actual 70th anniversary 7/17 which will probably be crowded.

Yeah agreed

Mondays are the busiest day and the 70th is going to be packedddddddd. This year it had lots of people and next year I bet will be even more because the whole resort will be celebrating

 

[cluce]

July is usually a great time to go because so many passes are blocked. But your proposed time encompasses DLR’s 70th birthday on July 17, which may increase crowds.

Ah! I hadn’t thought of that! Thank you!!

 

[cluce]

July is good but your dates aren’t ideal because you are there on a Monday (busy) and not there on a Saturday (lowest crowds). And you would be there on the actual 70th anniversary 7/17 which will probably be crowded.

This is good to know. I can always adjust my days a bit. The entire trip would be from 7/7-7/21 with 5 or 6 days in san diego, some time in hollywood and then 6 or 7 days at Disneyland. I frequent the WDW parks and I wouldn’t dream of doing WDW parks on weekends so this is all great info!

 

[cluce]

I would try to go early July

July was slow but early July was even better, just very good wait times

I wish I could go early July, but I work in a hospital lab and they’re senior people always take the first week of july off

 

[cluce]

Thank you so much everyone for all the info and suggestions!!! As someone who goes to WDW often I would never have planned a trip to those parks in July (used to go July 4th week for dance competitions as a kid and it was MISERABLE) So all of this information is so helpful!

 

[OlliePop27]

Thank you so much everyone for all the info and suggestions!!! As someone who goes to WDW often I would never have planned a trip to those parks in July (used to go July 4th week for dance competitions as a kid and it was MISERABLE) So all of this information is so helpful!

Yes, things are different. Even July 4th at WDW is not so bad anymore. People have switched visits from summer to fall. Part of the reason July is good crowd wise is the perception from the general public that July = crowded. Those in the know get to take advantage of lower crowds, at least until things eventually change again.

If you can visit Friday, Saturday, and Sunday - those are the best, especially Saturday. The weekday impact such as Mondays being more crowded is true for DL, but it is less pronounced in the summer than other times of the year because of passholder blockouts and higher single day ticket prices. This year they ran a weekday ticket promo that made the weekdays noticeably more crowded than weekends in July.

 

[irlandaise]

This is good to know. I can always adjust my days a bit. The entire trip would be from 7/7-7/21 with 5 or 6 days in san diego, some time in hollywood and then 6 or 7 days at Disneyland. I frequent the WDW parks and I wouldn’t dream of doing WDW parks on weekends so this is all great info!

Yeah, Disneyland is a very different beast, due to the much higher ratio of local visitors and the fact that many of them have annual passes (Magic Keys) that have quite a few blockout days.

The blockout calendar is here and has information 13 months in advance:

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/blockout-dates/

Just ignore the park reservation icons and look for the slash marks that indicate which days are unavailable to each level of MK holder.

 

[sophy1996]

We were there July 20-22 this year and Saturday and Sunday were WAY better than Monday. We ended up leaving earlier than planned on Monday because it just felt so much more crowded. And that was with Sunday hosting the CHoC Walk in the park (annual fundraising event for Children's Hospital).

 

[SFMommy]

We were there July 20-22 this year and Saturday and Sunday were WAY better than Monday. We ended up leaving earlier than planned on Monday because it just felt so much more crowded. And that was with Sunday hosting the CHoC Walk in the park (annual fundraising event for Children's Hospital).

We were there the exact same days and 100% agree. Saturday and Sunday were great (even with the CHOC walk) and Monday we left at 10:30 and never went back in because the crowds and wait times were crazy.