Is Saturday now the day to go to DLR?

[rtfelt]

I have been a long time AP to DLR and always avoided any days that were blocked for DAP--holidays, 4th of July, Saturdays in summer, Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas...but I'm wondering if this is still the best strategy? A decade ago when AP's were less than 300K people, this might have been the way to go, but with AP's now numbering over 1mil, this may not be the case anymore. I understand from Al Lutz that 30% of AP's are PAP, but I suspect most of these may not be locals, but those who make a trip to DLR from somewhere other than SCA a couple times a year. These may not be the locals, like me, who go several times a month--not in succession. I used to go with the kids every Veteran's Day. It was slow and no one was blocked out. Then 4 years ago, when we went on this holiday, that was in the middle of the week, DL was at capacity and was closed to new admissions and DCA was near capacity. I couldn't believe it and asked the parking attendant about it. He said he had been working there for 9 years and had never seen it so busy. I questioned him--busier than the 4th of July or Christmas? and he responded "yes". The next year all SCA AP's were blocked out for this holiday.

I started wondering about this 3 or 4 years ago when I was at DLR July 5 and talked to several tourists, who had been there the whole week, and mentioned that they thought July 4th was the slowest day of their trip. This was the only day, other than Saturday, that was blocked out for DAP's. I started to notice trends, like the last 2 weeks of August, when SCA AP's became unblocked seemed more crowded than the first 2 weeks of August,when they were blocked. I also go for my birthday every year, which falls around Thanksgiving. If my birthday fell over the weekend, I would have to find a different day to celebrate--usually the Monday to Wednesday before Thanksgiving. These days, which used to be dead, have become crazy busy. A couple of years ago, my husband surprised me on my birthday with Club 33, which got us in on the holiday weekend. It was less busy than the couple days before. This summer, because of having a CM DD, and other factors, I've had the opportunity to go on Saturday this summer, something I've never done before, instead of my regular midweek days. Each time, the Saturday was less busy than the Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday I had gone earlier that week. As I've talked to my CM DD, the attendance numbers have been the highest on Sunday, next Friday, and Saturday has been near the bottom of attendance numbers.

Every website I know recommends to avoid Saturdays at DLR. I have been a believer in this, but now I think that the increase in local AP's has totally changed the game. Maybe now, Saturdays--the days only PAP's and hopper/daily ticket holders can go to the park--are the days to go. I still don't plan on going the week between Christmas and New Years any time soon, but maybe these other days that I thought would be so horribly busy aren't what they used to be. Maybe these websites and apps need to be updated to reflect the attendance that is really happening these last couple years.

I would love to hear the opinion of other DISers out there.

 

[Argento]

The blockouts plus, as you mentioned, every DLR website in existence cautioning against weekends has made Saturdays quite pleasant. This is not a recent phenomenon either as each trip I've taken over the past two years has had mellower weekend crowds.

 

[lana772]

I've been told (not sure if it's true) that for 2011 the park filled to capacity the Veteran's day Friday and Halloween, but not on Christmas.

 

[quantumottle]

You may very well be on to something here rtfelt. I too have recently noticed several posts here on The Dis mentioning the slower than expected crowds on Saturday.

Sounds crazy, but that doesn't mean it can't be true.

 

[silence]

While we weren't in the parks last Saturday, here is our observation.

In the parks Sun-Weds. Of the 4 days, the day the parks felt the least crowded was SUNDAY. The busiest day? TUESDAY. It was crazy. Another observation, on WEDNESDAY there were many, many, many groups from youth camps there, not just one camp, but several different and each had numerous groups (they were all wearing their various colored tshirts). I don't know if that is a weekly thing, but I was surprised at just how many there were.

Our next trip we will not avoid the weekend. I may even pay for a block out pass for Saturday as we have DAP.

 

[HydroGuy]

I have been a long time AP to DLR and always avoided any days that were blocked for DAP--holidays, 4th of July, Saturdays in summer, Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas...but I'm wondering if this is still the best strategy? A decade ago when AP's were less than 300K people, this might have been the way to go, but with AP's now numbering over 1mil, this may not be the case anymore. I understand from Al Lutz that 30% of AP's are PAP, but I suspect most of these may not be locals, but those who make a trip to DLR from somewhere other than SCA a couple times a year. These may not be the locals, like me, who go several times a month--not in succession. I used to go with the kids every Veteran's Day. It was slow and no one was blocked out. Then 4 years ago, when we went on this holiday, that was in the middle of the week, DL was at capacity and was closed to new admissions and DCA was near capacity. I couldn't believe it and asked the parking attendant about it. He said he had been working there for 9 years and had never seen it so busy. I questioned him--busier than the 4th of July or Christmas? and he responded "yes". The next year all SCA AP's were blocked out for this holiday.

I started wondering about this 3 or 4 years ago when I was at DLR July 5 and talked to several tourists, who had been there the whole week, and mentioned that they thought July 4th was the slowest day of their trip. This was the only day, other than Saturday, that was blocked out for DAP's. I started to notice trends, like the last 2 weeks of August, when SCA AP's became unblocked seemed more crowded than the first 2 weeks of August,when they were blocked. I also go for my birthday every year, which falls around Thanksgiving. If my birthday fell over the weekend, I would have to find a different day to celebrate--usually the Monday to Wednesday before Thanksgiving. These days, which used to be dead, have become crazy busy. A couple of years ago, my husband surprised me on my birthday with Club 33, which got us in on the holiday weekend. It was less busy than the couple days before. This summer, because of having a CM DD, and other factors, I've had the opportunity to go on Saturday this summer, something I've never done before, instead of my regular midweek days. Each time, the Saturday was less busy than the Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday I had gone earlier that week. As I've talked to my CM DD, the attendance numbers have been the highest on Sunday, next Friday, and Saturday has been near the bottom of attendance numbers.

Every website I know recommends to avoid Saturdays at DLR. I have been a believer in this, but now I think that the increase in local AP's has totally changed the game. Maybe now, Saturdays--the days only PAP's and hopper/daily ticket holders can go to the park--are the days to go. I still don't plan on going the week between Christmas and New Years any time soon, but maybe these other days that I thought would be so horribly busy aren't what they used to be. Maybe these websites and apps need to be updated to reflect the attendance that is really happening these last couple years.

I would love to hear the opinion of other DISers out there.

I appreciate your observations. I wonder if things will change over the next year with the increased AP prices?

 

[rtfelt]

The Sundays I was referring to were in June (we were on vacation the first 10 days of July) and this may be the difference. Most of the locals were still in school, so Sunday was the only weekend non-blockout day. It's probably different now with summer and all the SCA AP blocked out even for Sunday. I think the weekdays can get busier because local kids can come during the week now or maybe it's more like WDW where tourists arrrive on Sunday, so the weekdays can be busier. I really wish TouringPlans would update their stats to be more accurate to what's happening now at DLR.

As far as the camps--yes there are lots of summer day camps, and Wednesdays seem to be the day they do theme parks (beaches on Thursday).

 

[rtfelt]

I appreciate your observations. I wonder if things will change over the next year with the increased AP prices?

I've wondered the same thing. I have lots of friends who don't plan on renewing with the increase. I know personally, I've downgraded from having a DAP for the last 10 years to now a SCAP because of the increase in prices. Personally I think the increase was in an effort to lower the number of people getting AP. Disney only increased the hopper passes by a small amount--especially compared to the 30% increase for AP.

 

[dnamertz]

Does Disney ever release attence data showing what percent of visitors have annual passes?

 

[rtfelt]

Does Disney ever release attence data showing what percent of visitors have annual passes?

I have looked for this myself, but Disney seems to keep it close to the chest. I've heard from CM's (not the most reliable source I know) that on average 85% of DLR guests are AP. I seem to remember Al Lutz quoting 70%. If anyone knows the real figures I would really be interested. I would also love to know the peak time percentages compared to off peak.

 

[lana772]

Just read at
http://www.mouseplanet.com/10053/100_a_Head
that the prices are going up again.

I think there will be even more attendance changes. Not many people can pay $100 a day for tickets. Maybe they will be pushing AP even more and making it worth the extra to buy the blockout days.

We are planning a week at Christmas this year (22-28th). I bought 6 day park hoppers back before they did away with them. Most everyone I spoke with tried to talk me out of going Christmas due to crowds. We are prepared for the crowd, but I have a feeling it isn't going to be as bad as Holiday seasons of the past.

 

[quantumottle]

I really wish TouringPlans would update their stats to be more accurate to what's happening now at DLR.

I've heard the Lines app is fairly accurate, but the actual touring plans have been inaccurate for years. Are you saying the Lines App is incorrect too?

 

[Kiwianna]

Our first day at Disneyland was Saturday, June 30. I was almost in a sulk because my family would not get moving in the morning and we didn't go through the turnstiles until about 9.30am.
We were in for a pleasant surprise. The kids would get off a ride and practically walk right on to it again. At one point in the morning, we decided not to wait in what seemed to be a long line at the Matterhorn, but when we walked by about 15 minutes later the queue had all but disappeared and our wait would have been 10 minutes at the most.
The downside was that we couldn't use the excuse that the Autopia queues were too long and that we should do something else instead.

 

[Rhonna]

So we were thinking of going at the beginning of Nov. but I was going to skip the weekend. Was thinking of arriving on Sunday, the 4th - tour Mon. through Thursday, the 8th - and leave on Friday.

We already went in May so we don't need the weekend for shows. Of course we want to see Carsland.

We have a PAP and a DAP and plan on staying at DLH.

Low crowds are important to us, that's why I picked that time frame.

So should I reconsider including the weekend if it's slower? Or are the AP's unblocked then and so it will be busy on the weekends, like usual?

 

[rsleleux]

I'm interested in knowing this as well! We have a trip planned in Oct and I am not sure if I should attend KBF or DL on Sat?

I have 3 days and 3 parks and a Halloween Party to attend! I know we will visit DCA on Thurs and the HP on Fri night but should we do KBF on fri since they close early anyway for their Halloween Party and have the whole day Sat at DLR?

This is a very good question and I am interested in knowing this so I can plan accordingly!

 

[rtfelt]

I've heard the Lines app is fairly accurate, but the actual touring plans have been inaccurate for years. Are you saying the Lines App is incorrect too?

No I find the wait times quite accurate, but the crowd calendar is way off in my opinion. It's the crowd calendar and TP I was refering to as being out of date.

 

[rtfelt]

So we were thinking of going at the beginning of Nov. but I was going to skip the weekend. Was thinking of arriving on Sunday, the 4th - tour Mon. through Thursday, the 8th - and leave on Friday.

We already went in May so we don't need the weekend for shows. Of course we want to see Carsland.

We have a PAP and a DAP and plan on staying at DLH.

Low crowds are important to us, that's why I picked that time frame.

So should I reconsider including the weekend if it's slower? Or are the AP's unblocked then and so it will be busy on the weekends, like usual?

It's hard to predict how CarsLand will impact everything, but in my humble opinion I'm thinking a Saturday should be great if it's not associated with a holiday Monday. I think Nov 3 would be fine but not the 10th because of Veterans day on the 12th. Fridays can be terrible, but I've often noticed lower than usual crowds on the Friday before a holiday Monday. I've hypothosized it's because the locals are traveling to LV or somewhere for the long weekend, but the tourists haven't arrived yet. Therefore the Fridays are less crowded because of travel, but the Saturdays are busier because everyone has arrived. I don't know if this is the real reason, but it sounds logical to me.

 

[rtfelt]

I'm interested in knowing this as well! We have a trip planned in May and I am not sure if I should attend KBF or DL on Sat?

I have 3 days and 3 parks and a Halloween Party to attend! I know we will visit DCA on Thurs and the HP on Fri night but should we do KBF on fri since they close early anyway for their Halloween Party and have the whole day Sat at DLR?

This is a very good question and I am interested in knowing this so I can plan accordingly!

So you have 2 trips planned, and you're trying to decide on a Sat for both? In general my experience with KBF is that their weekend crowds are literally 10 times or more larger than their weekday crowds. They have a much larger difference in crowd levels than DLR. I would want to avoid Saturday at KBF more than at DLR. However their Knotts Scary Farm is very popular and can affect crowds. I think this would make Saturdays even worse. I noticed when we would go in October during the week, the crowds were low because the scary farm didn't start until night on a separate ticket, and the guests did not come early.

 

[Rhonna]

So we were thinking of going at the beginning of Nov. but I was going to skip the weekend. Was thinking of arriving on Sunday, the 4th - tour Mon. through Thursday, the 8th - and leave on Friday.

We already went in May so we don't need the weekend for shows. Of course we want to see Carsland.

We have a PAP and a DAP and plan on staying at DLH.

Low crowds are important to us, that's why I picked that time frame.

So should I reconsider including the weekend if it's slower? Or are the AP's unblocked then and so it will be busy on the weekends, like usual?

I just looked and both SoCal Ap's are blocked for Sat. Nov. 3rd but also Sat, Sun and Mon. Nov. 10-12 which is Veteran's Day. We never travel around holidays in order to avoid crowds and higher costs. Would either of these time frames be good to included in our trip rather than avoiding the weekends?

 

[Rhonna]

It's hard to predict how CarsLand will impact everything, but in my humble opinion I'm thinking a Saturday should be great if it's not associated with a holiday Monday. I think Nov 3 would be fine but not the 10th because of Veterans day on the 12th. Fridays can be terrible, but I've often noticed lower than usual crowds on the Friday before a holiday Monday. I've hypothosized it's because the locals are traveling to LV or somewhere for the long weekend, but the tourists haven't arrived yet. Therefore the Fridays are less crowded because of travel, but the Saturdays are busier because everyone has arrived. I don't know if this is the real reason, but it sounds logical to me.

Sorry, I posted above before I saw your response.

Maybe we should consider including Sat. Nov. 3rd. I am very cautious about holiday crowds.