how bad are the gay days crowds?

[disneyluvbug]

We are going to DL oct1-oct5... what will the Gay days crowds be like? I booked these dates 5months ago.. will it be as bad as the days after xmas? we went for xmas last year and knew it was going to be crowded..but wow.. I had never seen it like that..thankfully we had gone the 23,4, 25 so the days after we managed ok.. just trying to figure out what to expect. this is our first time going for the halloween stuff,, so the kids are supper excited..and mom and dad also..

 

[Melora]

We were there during this event 2 years ago and while there were lots of red shirts (what people wear to show their support), it didn't feel overly crowded.

 

[ukstitch]

I was there this time last year and found the crowds to be pretty manageable.

If you're particularly worried then it's worth noting that the gay days schedule tries to do 1 park per day (think it's Disneyland on Saturday and California Adventure on Sunday). So - you may find crowds slightly lighter if you pick the opposite parks on those days (i.e. do CA on Saturday and DL on Sunday).

 

[jham]

These were my original trip dates because my kids have a school break these days but half the state of Utah does as well and last year when we went over the UEA break it was very crowded so I moved my dates to avoid that.

 

[CastMember 02]

last year was a little heavy due to the early closure of Disneyland Oct 3 for Miley Cyrus 16th birthday party but other than that it was a normal October weekend about 20-25 minute wait times and that day Disneyland opened at 6:00am

 

[stitch1986]

hey I am going there that sametime as well!!!! maybe we could meet up or something hehe

 

[PatMcDuck]

I was there last year. We did the reverse park thing, did DCA Sat and DL Sunday, as others suggested here. The schedule is on the internet somewhere.

I found I really liked the Gay Day crowd, as a whole. Great folks, having fun at the Disney parks. I would even go out of my way to try and hit DL on that weekend if I had a choice. It was NOT overly crowded at all. We did the Halloween party as well that weekend.

edited to say I forgot about the Miley BD party last year, we went to DL early, I think it opened at 6 am or something to make up for the early closing.

 

[KAYELIZ]

My husband and I have visited during Gay Day for the past 3 years. We don't plan it the way but it just happens that we take our vacation in early October. Like you, I found out about Gay Days after I had already planned our vacation and also did not know what to expect. We find it to be very crowded in the afternoon and evening, so we get there when the parks open and we're able to go on all the rides and collect fastpasses to use later on that night. I think ukstitch is right about the schedule, so it helps if you do the reverse of the Gay Days schedule.

 

[spacemermaid]

It's about as crowded as a summer weekend; it won't be as crowded as it is for, say, New Year's Eve or the Candlelight Processional weekend.

Have a fun Halloween trip!!!

 

[Sherry E]

We were also there last year on the Gay Days/Miley Cyrus weekend. What I found was that Thursday, October 2, was crazy busy in Downtown Disney - it was as busy as if it were a Saturday night. Friday, 10/3, we spent all day in DCA, only popping over to DL for dinner and then headed right back to DCA for the TOTP. It was not unusually crowded. On Saturday, October 4, the first 3/4 of the day was okay inside DL and we didn't notice the crowds to be too much. But Saturday night, however, it was packed, and lines that had previously been 15 minutes jumped up to 50 minutes and things like that. Also, Pirate's Lair was closed as they built the set-up for Miley, so that was one less place people could go to get away from crowds. Sunday, 10/5, DTD started to get really crowded around noon, so I have a hunch people were already packed into DL for Miley's b-day. So overall, with the exception of Saturday night, we didn't find the crowds to be unreasonable at all.

Also, 'crowded' is kind of a perception thing too. What one person finds to be too crowded or unbearable may not be what another person finds to be unbearable. We also went to DLR for the last two years on the weekends right before Christmas, and while there was certainly a healthy attendance level both years, it didn't bother me too much. Other folks may think it's outrageous.

The only times I have been to DLR when I would say the crowds were TOO crazy for me were New Year's Eve of 2000 and Thanksgiving weekend of 2001, with NYE being the worst, of course.