I Need Your Expert Opinions!

[JL3]

Hi everyone!! I’ve been lurking on The DIS for a few years and am finally getting around to signing-up and posting. Yes, I’m guilty of taking many of the useful tricks, tips, and advice from these boards and selfishly using them to impress my kids and to improve my Disney experience. And to that…THANK YOU.

My family (Me,Wife, DD12, DD9, DD5) visit DLR about every other year. If it was up to me, we would attend the parks more often, but Mama stayed onsite the last trip and has been ruined, spoiled…however you want to interpret it. Can’t really blame her…it was AWESOME!! Needless to say, I can only afford to visit every two years.

When the kids were younger, we would take them out of school and go during “Off Season” to miss the crowds. The last three trips have been weekdays (Mon. – Thurs.) in February. We love February because the crowds were super small and we didn’t even need to use FastPass most of the time. The ride closures and lack of shows haven’t concerned us too much. Although, I would love to see Fantasmic! again. It’s always refurbished in February.

For our upcoming trip in 2014, taking the kids out of school isn’t an option because the oldest is entering Junior High. To avoid major crowds, we are going to aim for the following dates:
1. March 16-20, 2014 (Spring Break)
or
2. June 8-12, 2014 (1st week school is out)
I’m leaning towards the March dates because it will be cooler, and I’m hoping since Easter is April 20th this year, Spring Break crowds won’t be too heavy yet. March is sooner than June too…but I digress.

What do you folks think? What dates would you choose and for what reason(s)?

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I haven't been Spring Break, so I can't talk about the crowds then, but I do that is our Spring Break as well, so there very well may be a lot of schools out that same week.


I personally would do the week in June. We have done that week before and it was a lot of fun. Quiet in the mornings and getting busier throughout the day.

 

[PHXscuba]

Things to consider:

1. How important is swimming time? (advantage to June)
2. Will there be grad nights during your June dates?
3. The June dates aren't quite the start of summer season -- helps with the crowds, but Fantasmic may still be showing on limited nights. Of course that all may be true in March too, but don't automatically give June the advantage on this one.
4. Will your youngest hit a new height requirement around that time and would going later ensure that? Will your DD9 turn 10 before or after those dates and be a "Disney adult?"

I don't think the crowds are going to be significantly different between the dates, so if it were all equal I'd go with whatever weather you prefer. You can make a one-night room deposit and have a lot of flexibility to change dates if your plans or preferences change.

PHXscuba

 

[allsaintsatx]

We went this year June 10-14th and it was packed! We joined touring plans and used their crowd estimate guides to help us decided which days to spend in which parks. Later, while reviewing TP again for our upcoming Halloween trip, I looked to see how accurate the TP predictions were, as they post the actual crowd numbers after the day has officially passed. Most of the days that were predicted to be in the 6 to 8 range were, in actuality, 9.7s to 9.8s!!

But...that being said...it only looked crowded, the lines to the rides were not that bad. It was difficult getting around because of the crowds, but we relied heavily on early entry and fast passes and it seemed like we never had to wait more than 20 minutes for a ride. Of course, some rides were completely avoided because of their monstrously long lines (Nemo & toy story midway) but it seems from your original post that you're ok with missing some stuff in Feb. going in June will kinda be the same, unless, of course, you want to spend valuable time waiting for hours in line!

We hit all the non-fastpass rides first thing in the morning (Matterhorn, IASW astro orbitor etc) and then collected fast passes for all the other stuff. Our kid loves the star Tours ride and, with fast passes and hitting it when it was slow, we were able to go on it about 6 times in 2 1/2 days!

We have never been to DL when it was slow, so to us the crowds are part of the experience, and we didn't really mind those 9.8 days at all.

 

[carlilekids]

We did Spring Break last year (about the exact time you are planning to go in 2014), and we didn't think it was too bad. Of course, we were expecting crowds, and we just planned around them. We were up early each day and took advantage of the early entry mornings. We would spend the mornings in the park riding rides until it started getting too crowded (usually around lunch time). Then, we would have lunch and watch shows or do Disney Animation studios (to get away from the crowds). After that, we would head back to the hotel for some rest and swim time. We also checked out Trader Sams (they had cool drinks for the kids). We would have a nice dinner, and then head back to the parks for the evening. This strategy worked great for us.

 

[JL3]

things to consider:

1. How important is swimming time? (advantage to june)
swimming is very important, but the kids swam during our february trips. The warmer june weather would be nice for mom and dad though.
2. Will there be grad nights during your june dates?
yes, there are two grad nights during the june dates. This is one of my major concerns and why i'm considering the march trip. Are grad nights as bad as i've heard?
3. The june dates aren't quite the start of summer season -- helps with the crowds, but fantasmic may still be showing on limited nights. Of course that all may be true in march too, but don't automatically give june the advantage on this one.
i threw on a weekend day to cover some entertainment.

4. Will your youngest hit a new height requirement around that time and would going later ensure that? Will your dd9 turn 10 before or after those dates and be a "disney adult?"
my youngest might meet the matterhorn height requirement. She's not a thrill seeker though. My 9-year old will turn 10 before the june trip. $$$

i don't think the crowds are going to be significantly different between the dates, so if it were all equal i'd go with whatever weather you prefer. You can make a one-night room deposit and have a lot of flexibility to change dates if your plans or preferences change.
i'm more worried about the park hours. Looking at the 2013 hours, the june calendar showed 8a-12p for dl and 8a-10p for ca, indicating heavy crowds. One way to help beat the crowds is to be at the park early. That means we'd have to be at the entry gates by 6:30-6:45 for emh. We could sleep-in a little more if we went during march. Also, we usually only stay at the park until about 9pm or 10pm.

phxscuba

1

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I wouldn't assume shorter hours for Spring Break time quite yet. Maybe somebody who has been can share what the hours have been. I was always under the assumption they were longer hours during Spring Break time.

 

[JL3]

I wouldn't assume shorter hours for Spring Break time quite yet. Maybe somebody who has been can share what the hours have been. I was always under the assumption they were longer hours during Spring Break time.

I'm sure you're correct about the hours being longer during Spring Break. I was hoping that 2014 park hours would be similar to 2013 for the corresponding week in March that I have tentatively scheduled. And since Easter is further away from my dates in 2014, I was assuming there would be a good chance hours might be a little shorter...like 9am-10pm at DL.

Thanks!

 

[rbrbnd]

I'm sure you're correct about the hours being longer during Spring Break. I was hoping that 2014 park hours would be similar to 2013 for the corresponding week in March that I have tentatively scheduled. And since Easter is further away from my dates in 2014, I was assuming there would be a good chance hours might be a little shorter...like 9am-10pm at DL.

Thanks!

I think you're right about the 10pm closing in March. While March will probably be less crowded I don't think it will be by much. It will be cooler which is nice.

 

[Disneywolfman]

The last week of April through the first couple of weeks in May.Refurbs are usually done,spring break crowds gone,and weather is usually just right.

 

[IDreamofPoly]

I would avoid June. I live 30 miles from Disneyland and most schools in my area are out for summer break by then. With Disneyland being a "locals" park, that is bound to affect crowd levels. In my personal circle I know more passholders than not.

 

[dnamertz]

I'm sure you're correct about the hours being longer during Spring Break. I was hoping that 2014 park hours would be similar to 2013 for the corresponding week in March that I have tentatively scheduled. And since Easter is further away from my dates in 2014, I was assuming there would be a good chance hours might be a little shorter...like 9am-10pm at DL.

Thanks!

In 2011, DL was open from 8am to 11pm and 9am to 11pm (depending on the day of the week) for the week of March 14 - March 17. In that year, Easter was April 24.

 

[wiigirl]

The last week of April through the first couple of weeks in May.Refurbs are usually done,spring break crowds gone,and weather is usually just right.

 

[JL3]

In 2011, DL was open from 8am to 11pm and 9am to 11pm (depending on the day of the week) for the week of March 14 - March 17. In that year, Easter was April 24.

You've brought up a great point! I think we're going to move forward with the March dates and anticipate larger crowds. We'll just make use of FP and early entry to experience some of the popular rides.

Thank you.