Is afternoon still the busiest time in the parks?

[Eeee-va]

I know traditional advice is to go back to the hotels in the afternoon and then come back for the evening, and I'm not necessarily disagreeing. But we did that every time in summer so I don't know how the afternoons really are in general.

With all the reports of locals coming to Disneyland after work/etc., though, I'm wondering if, say, a Friday afternoon might actually be a BETTER time to be in Disneyland than Friday evening, as far as the crowds are concerned. In summer, I found it a touch draining to get to the parks at open (which is obviously the most important thing to do), hanging out until early afternoon, walking back, and then going back to the park for the evening crowds. Obviously the last hour or so in the park is a lot less crowded than earlier, but I'm not so sure that it's much better before then. And I can't help but wonder what I missed those afternoons. (Besides the shows at the Golden Horseshoe AGAIN, LOL.) At the least, I'm wondering if we should maybe consider stay in the parks all one day and then go back to the room early one night (if fireworks and Fantasmic allow). And that's hard for me to consider, since I AM such a night owl.

Any thoughts?

 

[Royalpine]

We just got back and spent 7 days at DLR. The best advice that I have if you don't like crowds (we hate crowds) is to go first thing in the morning - plan on either being there at least 20 minutes before the gates open or 20 minutes after. The first 3 hours the crowds are manageable. During this time go on the rides that you really want to and get as many fast passes as possible for use in the evening. We would always take a mid-day break and come back in the late afternoon. We'd collect more fast passes, maybe go on a few rides with light lines and check out shows/fireworks and shop a bit. Then we'd use are fast passes in the evening.
In 7 days at the park we only had to wait in line for more than 15 minutes a few times and that was for Toy Story. We never went on Nemo but our friends did, they went 5 minutes before the park closed and had a really short line - this is also a strategy we used for busy rides, go a few minutes before the park closes, as long as you are in line you'll get on the ride. The line ups are usually pretty short at this time as well.
With proper strategy you should be able to basically walk on rides most of the time. If we were there mid day we would always go to DCA as most of the lineups are shorter over there.

 

[Leofoenget]

The reason to come back in the evening, would be to see Fireworks and Fantasmic which can't be seen during the day. You don't HAVE to leave in the afternoon, if you have a stash of FP's you could use them in the afternoon and leave in the evening. I think the biggest thing is to get there as early as possible to enjoy the empty park and to be able to collect FP's.

 

[Eeee-va]

Thank you! Yes, we know to get there as early as possible! In the summer we had four mornings in the parks and were at Disneyland before the gates opened for 3 of the days (including being one of the first in the park, and the first on Peter Pan's Flight, for a 7 AM Magic Morning).

We were a little later one day (though I don't think we were too much past opening)--I set my alarm but I was feeling a bit under the weather and also tired from being in the park from probably 7 AM to 11 PM, with a trip to the (overrated IMO!) Disney Warehouse and maybe an hour nap. I would have gotten up if my friend wanted to, but I left it up to her and she agreed to sleep a bit longer.

I'm such a night owl, I'll likely have a hard time leaving the park significantly before closing anyway (aside from afternoon breaks). But honestly, we had been hoping that there would be some short winter hours during our trip (I love spending a full day at Disneyland and then spending some time relaxing in the hotel afterwards!). But the earliest the park appears to be closing is 11 PM! I wish fewer people knew Disneyland was awesome!