How Bad?

[Raine88]

My husband and I are planning our 2nd trip to disneyland for December 28th-January 1st. We already booked our room, at Paradise Pier. We know crowds will be crazy on New Years itself. But what about the other days? Will the 29th and 30th be ok? Or will we not be able to do anything the whole time we're there? We picked these dates because the 30th is our anniversay, and we didn't even think about the NYE crowds until after we booked.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

The entire time you'll be there will be CROWDED ~ I love DLR but I would not visit the parks during that time. Early Dec. is lovely.

 

[mareed]

If it's like the recent year, you should expect insanely huge crowds! We were there from Dec. 27 - Jan 4 and saw crowds like we've never seen at DL or WDW, and we're typically visiting at very busy times like Spring Break, July 4th, and that week between XMAS & New Years. We saw queue lines where we'd never seen them before. Pirates queue was spread way out along the area between Rivers of America and New Orleans Square. Haunted Mansion queue was snaking through the fountain area that's next door in front of the train station. You could barely get through Adventureland near Indiana Jones.

We'll be back in mid-March and while it's during Spring Break, we're hoping it's less crowded! If not, we may just find ourselves sticking with WDW and skipping DL instead of alternating years like we've typically done.

 

[DLR29]

Waits for major attractions (Space, Indy, Splash, Soarin, etc.) during the middle of the day will be around 75-90 min. However, by being there early and using FP a lot, you will never have to wait that long. The best tip that I have is to get there an hour before the park opens. That guarantees at least a couple rides in the morning with small waits and you can grab at least 2 FP sets by 9:00AM if you plan it right (3 by 10 is ideal).

 

[Sherry E]

I hate to say it but it seems like the crowds have increased since the economy took a dive a couple of years ago and everyone started doing 'staycations' closer to home at places like DLR, getting affordable APs, etc. It was always crazy crowded between Christmas and New Year's at DLR anyway, because it stands to reason that many folks are off work for that entire week, and they come to DLR armed with their holiday gift money or Hoppers/APs as gifts. So now, the overall increase in crowds has only made that week between Christmas and New Year's even more crowded than it was, I think.

But the real kicker is that it has now gotten crazy crowded even before Christmas. As I have said here on the DIS in the past, I was at DLR on the exact same weekend right before Christmas for 3 consecutive years - 2007, 2008 and 2009, and 2009 was, by far, the worst in terms of crowds. It was very daunting and really killed my mood to go into the shops I wanted to look in or take all the photos I wanted to take - or even ride some of the rides that my group and I love to ride a second or third time - because it was just TOO crowded to get around anywhere. For some reason, I could deal with the pre-Christmas crowds of 2007 and 2008. Yes, there were lots of people but it didn't seem as oppressive to me. 2009 was a whole different ballgame, however, and unless the economy takes a sudden turn for the better this year, and everyone decides to travel elsewhere for the holidays, I have a feleing it will be that way again.

So, perhaps, as DisneyMomma81 said, the best time to go and experience the holidays at DLR is early December. I suspect that once it gets to like mid-December, it will be a madhouse for the rest of the month.

At least you will have a few days at DLR in December, and you don't have to worry about squeezing everything into just one or two days, so you should be able to get everything done that you want to do - but just be mentally prepared for the crowds!!

 

[Peace.love.mickey]

It will be packed...BUT just know that ahead of time, make a plan and don't stress!!!! We went and we were like we will NEVER go back, but then my bro said why not, we know what to expect and we did do EVERYTHING we wanted!

 

[Raine88]

We aren't too worried, because we were just there over memorial day weekend last year. We were planning on this being a less ride-oriented, more walk around and look at the pretty decorations, relax, shop a little type trip. Plus we're on site this time, so we can always take a mid-day break. I think, like has been said, as long as we know it's gonna be crowded and plan for that, get there early, get the important rides on FP, i think we'll be good. Thanks!

 

[Sherry E]

We aren't too worried, because we were just there over memorial day weekend last year. We were planning on this being a less ride-oriented, more walk around and look at the pretty decorations, relax, shop a little type trip. Plus we're on site this time, so we can always take a mid-day break. I think, like has been said, as long as we know it's gonna be crowded and plan for that, get there early, get the important rides on FP, i think we'll be good. Thanks!

Oh, it will be more crowded than Memorial Day weekend (again, the week between Christmas and New Year's was always notoriously crazy anyway, and considered to be one of the top two busiest times of year at DLR, but it is even more so now with the fact that so many more people are choosing trips to DLR over other places). But as long as you mentally prepare for it, you won't be surprised!

And as I stated in my above post, I couldn't even relax and shop a little or fully look at all the pretty decorations because the crowds were so daunting when I was there before Christmas last year. It only gets worse after Christmas, so just keep that in mind.