Help with my dates!! Halloweentime

[chaselovesnemo]

Hello and many thanks to everyone who regularly posts and responds on this board. Have been lurking on and off for years and I so appreciate all of the help received!

We are planning a halloweentime trip this fall, including MHP. We will be bringing a 3 1/2 yr old and a 1 1/2 yr old. We want to avoid crowds as much as possible (I know it is still a busy time but have heard halloween/utah fall break/columbus day/etc are worse.) Any opinions as to when crowds will be at a minimum?

I was thinking Oct 3-7th doing the Friday party on the 7th, until I got wind of the big Microsoft conference happening that week (and early park closure on the 6th) and started worrying that week might be a bit crowded.

Now I'm thinking maybe Sept 26th-30th doing the Friday party on the 30th. (A bit hesistant because I know the first party is liable to be a bit crazy.) But will the lines/crowds be better in September?

I just don't know what to do! Kind of hilarious that I'm having a mini panic attack about this. After all we're going to Disneyland Just want to get it right!

 

[skiingfast]

It sounds like you have sme flexibility. Crowds for the part tend to be biggest on the opening party, then much less going slowly back up to max at the end of the month. To avoid crowds aim for a part on a Tuesday.

I'd pick the party on the 4th and try to come on the 1st or 2nd, because the weekend will have RDCT and F! too.

So if it were me I'd aim for 1-4 or 2-5 in October.

Not sure about your early closing on the 6th, are you looking at September?

Don't worry about conference crowds too much they can add some park crowds but mostly effect the convention center hotels.

 

[Sherry E]

Hello and many thanks to everyone who regularly posts and responds on this board. Have been lurking on and off for years and I so appreciate all of the help received!

We are planning a halloweentime trip this fall, including MHP. We will be bringing a 3 1/2 yr old and a 1 1/2 yr old. We want to avoid crowds as much as possible (I know it is still a busy time but have heard halloween/utah fall break/columbus day/etc are worse.) Any opinions as to when crowds will be at a minimum?

I was thinking Oct 3-7th doing the Friday party on the 7th, until I got wind of the big Microsoft conference happening that week (and early park closure on the 6th) and started worrying that week might be a bit crowded.

Now I'm thinking maybe Sept 26th-30th doing the Friday party on the 30th. (A bit hesistant because I know the first party is liable to be a bit crazy.) But will the lines/crowds be better in September?

I just don't know what to do! Kind of hilarious that I'm having a mini panic attack about this. After all we're going to Disneyland Just want to get it right!

Don't panic! Don't worry!

Friday night parties (September 30 and October 7) are always going to be more crowded than Mondays or Tuesdays. Is there any reason why you couldn't do the October 3rd party on Monday?

Otherwise, if you can't do the 10/3 party then I would say yes, opening night of the party on 9/30 will be pretty crowded. Whenever something has its first night of a season, people flock to it for the novelty of being there on the first night.

Early October and into mid-October is a busier time at DLR in general than September, because of various school breaks. It's the second half of October (minus Halloween night) that is less busy.

So, overall, the September days in the parks would be less crowded than your October choices. But the 9/30 party may be more crowded than the 10/7 party (but probably not by much since they are both Fridays).

And if it's a choice if doing the 9/30 party or the 10/3 party, I would pick 10/3 instead of 10/7 or 9/30 in a heartbeat!

I know that's probably no help, but that's how it all kind of breaks down! Be sure to come and join us over in the Halloween Superthread!

 

[chaselovesnemo]

Thank you thank you for the responses! We have LOTS of flexibilty. Mostly we're just trying to avoid being at DL on a weekend, and we were thinking earlier Oct for better weather.

My issue with the monday party is it would be our kids' first experience at the park (not planning to do DL the morning of the party- just relax and then head to the party early). I'm afraid they might be overwhelmed doing that first since they are so young. I'm also guessing they will want to ride all the rides first thing and I'd rather they do MHP exclusives (fireworks, calvalcade, character greets, etc.) and save rides for our other days. I also figured since it is right after Gay Days there might be a lot of people staying from that and it may end up being pretty busy even though it's a Monday. (Thoughts on that?)

Btw Sherry- I am a Halloween Superthread regular! Not to be creepy, but pretty much feel like I know you already! (Have literally been following since last year when it was the first version of the thread, and pretty sure I have read every single post!! It has been insanely helpful and has really motivated us to go during the halloween season. THANK YOU for all your work on it.)

 

[Sherry E]

Thank you thank you for the responses! We have LOTS of flexibilty. Mostly we're just trying to avoid being at DL on a weekend, and we were thinking earlier Oct for better weather.

My issue with the monday party is it would be our kids' first experience at the park (not planning to do DL the morning of the party- just relax and then head to the party early). I'm afraid they might be overwhelmed doing that first since they are so young. I'm also guessing they will want to ride all the rides first thing and I'd rather they do MHP exclusives (fireworks, calvalcade, character greets, etc.) and save rides for our other days. I also figured since it is right after Gay Days there might be a lot of people staying from that and it may end up being pretty busy even though it's a Monday. (Thoughts on that?)

Btw Sherry- I am a Halloween Superthread regular! Not to be creepy, but pretty much feel like I know you already! (Have literally been following since last year when it was the first version of the thread, and pretty sure I have read every single post!! It has been insanely helpful and has really motivated us to go during the halloween season. THANK YOU for all your work on it.)

Not creepy at all! If you look at the number of views of any thread on the DIS vs. the number of actual posts, it's very apparent that there are many more viewers/lurkers than there are people posting. So there are probably quite a few people out there who have been with us all along and feel like they know the regulars on the DIS, even if they've never spoken up.

Ah yes, the first Halloween thread...I'm glad to know you've been around since then and have followed our Halloween discussions! Thank you for the nice comment about my work on it (and you're welcome!) - I really appreciate it.

The first Halloween thread, as you probably recall, sort of became an accidental superthread (as did the first Christmas thread), but without any sort of structure or organization to it. I wanted to be able to keep at least one Halloween information superthread in the main Info sticky at the top of the page year-round, and to do that there had to be some organization to it! It's odd, too, because the original Halloween thread started out kind of sluggish, with not too many people posting, and the original Christmas thread had many, many, many more views and much more activity.

But somewhere along the line the tide shifted and the first Halloween thread soared way past the Christmas thread in terms of views and posts. It skyrocketed, basically. Then it was time to start the new and much improved Halloween superthread, so it took a while to gain momentum and get views/followers....and then it, too, soared way past the Christmas threads (both Christmas threads)!

This is interesting to me because the holiday season is busier and ultimately more popular, more detailed, more immersive, more all-encompassing at DLR than HalloweenTime is, but I think people expect it to be, they expect Christmas at DLR to be magical, whereas the Halloween season is more of a novelty, I think. Halloween Time is more of a question mark and people don't know exactly what to expect, and so the threads picked up in views and posts.


Anyway, back to the important matter at hand - your Halloween plans!!! I can see why 10/3 might not be the way to start the DLR trip. It could be overwhelming for the kids. I can definitely see advantages to kind of working up to the party and making it the culminating event of the trip.

Although, at the same time, I also kind of think that saving the party for the last night of the trip could be risky for the kids as well since they've never been to DLR before - they may be exhausted by the time party night rolls around. Have they been to any Disney park or any theme park before, or will this be a completely new experience? I ask because if they've been to any kind of theme park before, then you might have a good idea of what their patterns are and how quickly they tire out.

Ideally, it would be good if there were a party in the middle of your trip, rather than at the very beginning or at the end!

There could be some stragglers left over from Gay Days in the parks on Monday, October 3, but I don't think there will be enough stragglers left over to really affect the entire Resort. Many people have to get back to work. You will likely run into more crowds simply from the Fall school break people.

I don't know - it's so tricky. I kind of tend to think that the September dates would be better because they will be less crowded in general than the October dates, except for 9/30 and the party. I think there are so many people out on Fall break in the first half of October that the party on 10/7 probably will not be much less crowded than the one on 9/30, and the parks will be pretty crowded.

 

[chaselovesnemo]

Hummmmm I am going to have to think about this long and hard. I'm thinking maybe a crazy Friday party is worth it, if the rest of our days there haven't been too busy. Also trying to figure out some way to make the Monday party work. Maybe I will wait until the Sept/Oct DL calendars are released. Not super excited about the park closing at 8pm in Sept! That might make a difference for me when I compare the official hours.

I agree it is funny Halloween is a superthread as much as Christmas. For us, I think we figured we'd start with a halloweentime/MHP trip and work up to the Christmas festivities when our kids were older. Didn't want to do Christmastime first and be disappointed when we tried Halloween! (However personally I have this super strange halloween fetish. Something about the fall air I guess...)

We have taken the 3.5 year old to DL before when he was 1 1/2. He did awesome, especially considering we took him in JUNE! We have also done waterparks with him recently and he's just GO GO GO until we force him to leave. Our 1 1/2 year old now is so low key and go with the flow. I think if we do daily naps we'll be okay. Although I think shorter ride lines/crowds will be easier all around. So that's why I'm leaning towards Sept!

I totally wish they had Wed parties. It would be much easier for us than Mon/Tues parties, but I get that they want to spread the days out so almost everyone will overlap with a MHP date during Oct.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Sherry E]

Hummmmm I am going to have to think about this long and hard. I'm thinking maybe a crazy Friday party is worth it, if the rest of our days there haven't been too busy. Also trying to figure out some way to make the Monday party work. Maybe I will wait until the Sept/Oct DL calendars are released. Not super excited about the park closing at 8pm in Sept! That might make a difference for me when I compare the official hours.

I agree it is funny Halloween is a superthread as much as Christmas. For us, I think we figured we'd start with a halloweentime/MHP trip and work up to the Christmas festivities when our kids were older. Didn't want to do Christmastime first and be disappointed when we tried Halloween! (However personally I have this super strange halloween fetish. Something about the fall air I guess...)

We have taken the 3.5 year old to DL before when he was 1 1/2. He did awesome, especially considering we took him in JUNE! We have also done waterparks with him recently and he's just GO GO GO until we force him to leave. Our 1 1/2 year old now is so low key and go with the flow. I think if we do daily naps we'll be okay. Although I think shorter ride lines/crowds will be easier all around. So that's why I'm leaning towards Sept!

I totally wish they had Wed parties. It would be much easier for us than Mon/Tues parties, but I get that they want to spread the days out so almost everyone will overlap with a MHP date during Oct.

Thanks so much for your help!

You know, back when the Halloween party was still being held in DCA (that's back when Halloween Time was still being acknowledged in DCA, which now is not the case), they threw in an occasional Thursday party - there may have even been a Wednesday somewhere in there. Fridays were always in the mix, but the other days were different. When the party moved to Disneyland last year, they opted for Tuesdays as the 'other' day besides Friday, and now this year they threw in a Monday (not counting the Monday of Halloween).

I love Halloween too, so I can't blame you for the fetish! When it gets to be close to Halloween and Travel Channel starts airing all of its Halloween specials, I am all over them! I love any kinds of Halloween countdown shows (Scariest Halloween Attractions, Scariest Movies, Halloween to the Extreme, etc.). I absolutely adore that time of year from October on through December. Love the crisp, breezy days, love the leaves changing colors, love pumpkins everywhere, etc. I only wish my neighborhood was more exciting in terms of going all out with Halloween decorations. I love looking at spooky decor just as I love looking at Christmas lights and trees!

I think it's good to start the kids out with Halloween before Christmas time at DLR, for a few reasons. There is definitely some logic to that. One reason is, as others have said (DizNee Luver was one of them), that it might be a good way to get an idea of how the kids handle the extra stimulation and sensory overload from Halloween 'stuff' before taking on a full-throttle holiday experience.

Another reason for doing Halloween Time first, before Christmas time, is, as you said, just in case of any disappointment. I mean, don't get me wrong - you will love Halloween Time, I'm sure. But if you have been to DLR for Christmas time first, then you'd notice all the areas of the parks, hotels, Downtown Disney, etc. that are not decorated for Halloween. It would seem like they skimped in many spots. Some people may not notice too much if they spend most of their time in DL. DL is where the bulk of the Halloween decorations are situated.

But even in DCA - in the middle of all kinds of construction - they will still bring out some holiday decorations. Not for Halloween, though (at least not last year). DCA had no traces of Halloween last year. That kind of thing might stick out more if you do Christmas first and then Halloween. This way, the kids will only notice what's there and not what's missing!

I am hoping that after all the work in DCA is finished next year, Halloween Time will reappear in DCA as well as being in DL, because I really want DLR to do more for Halloween season.

Plus, while Halloween Time is fun and clever and lively, the Christmas season has a special, intangible spark to it. There's a certain magic to it that transcends the usual Disneyland magic. It's kind of an overall feeling in the air, and it's a much more immersive experience. It's better to save that for later and work up to it, as you said. Maybe, by the time you do experience the holidays at DLR, there will be a Christmas party too - I think that DLR will start one eventually, because the Halloween parties are so successful!

Good luck and be sure to let us know what you end up deciding for your trip - September or October!

 

[iKristin]

Yeah avoid the weekends (Friday - Sunday) and usually the first week/weekend is gay days so it can be a lot busier than usual in the month of October.

 

[iKristin]

Oh, Gay Days are September 30th until October 2nd this year