Is there a slow season any more?

[lwanthony]

So, I have a friend that is a DVC member that is not going to use her points next year. She has rented to me before and sent me a note about next year to see if we would be interested in using her points again. Since we are going to be in the parks already Oct 20-22 this year we are thinking about planning another trip in the following 12 months. Our last couple of trips have been for Christmas, and even though I love the holiday time at the parks, it is getting WAY too crowded for my taste.

If you were going to plan a trip for the SLOWEST time of year, when would that be?

Thanks for any input everyone!!!!


-Lane

 

[nicolispicoli]

Everyone will tell you it doesn't exist anymore, but for me (who refuses to go during the summer because of crowds), there are still more than manageable time periods in the park.

Last year, I went to the parks 11/19-11/21 and it was perfect. It was after the marathon, but before it got busy for the Thanksgiving holiday. The crowds were low, the weather nice and the holiday stuff had just kicked off. I would definitely go again during that week.

I also go in February and think the same thing, but if you want to enjoy the holidaytime stuff, that November time is awesome.

 

[figment_jii]

There are always going to be periods when it's less busy than other periods, but it's getting harder and harder to find periods when you'll get that "empty park with walk-on attraction" experience anymore. My instinctive answer is that you're most likely going to find lower crowds if you plan to go when there is no "season" (so avoid HalloweenTime, the Holidays, Spring Break Season), no major breaks (avoid all of summer), and no major events (avoid Marathons, conventions, etc.). I would guess (and it's only a guess because it can vary from year-to-year) the slowest times are generally the later half of January, weekdays in February (avoiding President's Day weekend), early March (avoiding the conventions and cheer camps), late April (well after Easter) and early May (before Memorial Day weekend).

 

[AZpharmacist]

I went early December last year. It certainly wasn't really offseason but weekdays weren't bust at all. We had lots of time to do most things. There were a few attractions we missed but that was because of rain. I suppose it could have been more packed had it not been rainy. I've heard that Jan/Feb are slower times. I went at the end of summer a few years ago and it was slow too (end of august).

 

[chickapin parterre]

1. Wednesdays
2. What attractions can you not miss, that is to say, is your attraction down for refurbe, holiday lay-over, remodel, etc,
3. What are families doing during your choice of attendance?
4. Week after Thanksgiving, 2016,

 

[chickapin parterre]

week after Thanksgiving 2016, because
A. It has returned to the Disneyland and US retail calendar.
B. folks who were there the week after Thanksgiving the past years say it was crowded, which it should have been because it was the first week of December and not that week after Thanksgiving
C. It is cold and rainy, which it has been, especially if El Nino kicks in early, normal weather returns 2016 and holiday of 10 years ago return
D. Everyone has visited the last 3 years at Christmas, time to take a break.
E. Park should be at 100%, which is a rare event for a slow week in the year

 

[Nonsuch]

...I have a friend that is a DVC member that is not going to use her points next year. She has rented to me before and sent me a note about next year to see if we would be interested in using her points again..
...If you were going to plan a trip for the SLOWEST time of year, when would that be?

Renting DVC points, you might want use the VGC points chart as a guide.
The lower point "seasons" will save you money, and will also tend to be lower crowds.

 

[Winnowill]

I would guess (and it's only a guess because it can vary from year-to-year) the slowest times are generally the later half of January, weekdays in February (avoiding President's Day weekend), early March (avoiding the conventions and cheer camps), late April (well after Easter) and early May (before Memorial Day weekend).

I can vouch for late April, at least in 2013. We were there for five days, and it was comparatively dead. However, as a result, the parks closed at 8:00 pm on weeknights, we had one opportunity over our whole time for Fantasmic! and two opportunities for the evening parade and fireworks. Plus, both BTMRR and Space Mountain were down, and it was almost impossible to find a Photopass photographer. So there's definitely a tradeoff at work.

 

[Indiana Scott]

I would not say there is a "slow" season anymore (slow to us means < 15~20 minute wait for most E tickets, no crowds for food and moving about the parks easily) but if you do a lot of research you can find entire slow weeks mixed between crowded times.
For us it's well worth the effort to find these wonderful little breaks. The next one I am certain of is the first week of Nov. - when we'll be there.

The first or second weeks of May are often light but you have to check the convention center schedule to know for sure.

 

[tippity]

Slow seasons seemed to have been eliminated by marathons

 

[Bud Ice]

I've actually been on holidays like Christmas and New Years, which blackout most Annual Passes, and its great.

What's really caused a bump in the crowd issue are the Annual Passholder options for local California folks. The monthly payment option pays off, $20-$30 a month isn't bad for anyone living locally to get access 2/3rds of the year. Hence the social clubs and so on.

 

[V.I.N.C.E.N.T.]

We are trying the week of Labor Day this year. Fully realizing that Monday (Labor Day) will be busy but manageable. Our goal is always walk on to 15 min wait for most rides. As Figment mentioned above, time to avoid the Holiday seasons. We would go in October, then Halloween decorations and events hit, making it less than optimal. We tried before and after Thanksgiving, was great for a while, now getting more popular. One observation is the advertiesment for holiday seasons has been greatly increased over the past 5-6 years, in particular here in the Bay Area.

 

[Sherry E]

I've actually been on holidays like Christmas and New Years, which blackout most Annual Passes, and its great.

What's really caused a bump in the crowd issue are the Annual Passholder options for local California folks. The monthly payment option pays off, $20-$30 a month isn't bad for anyone living locally to get access 2/3rds of the year. Hence the social clubs and so on.

The week between Christmas and New Year's is notoriously the busiest week of the year, with at least a couple of weeks during that day reaching capacity in at least one park. And yet, as you say, most levels of Annual Pass are blocked during that time. Hmm....

So that means that either the huge crowds that flock to DLR during that week are not AP holders and are mostly tourists, or it means that there are a lot more people with Premium or Premier APs than previously thought -- or maybe it means both things.

 

[MonorailCentral]

September isn't bad, and late April is ok, but I wouldn't call them slow. Relatively speaking there really aren't many slow times any more, but there are still plenty of peaks and valleys over the course of the year.

 

[DLgal]

Right now is a pretty slow time. Week before labor day kids are all back in school locally. It's a Sunday and wait times are very low. I was there last Sunday and DCA was dead. Longest line was RSR at 40 minutes most of the day. I would say generally the middle two weeks of September are pretty slow.

 

[tarheelalum]

From my experience no slow season exists anymore. We go to DL a lot and its usually crowded. Weekdays or weekends regardless of the season its usually crowded. In what was traditionally the offseason, they close down lots of rides for maintenance so even though fewer people might be a the park, the lines are just as long because you have fewer rides taking up peoples time. Sometimes are more crowded than others but the days of it being dead are long gone. On days when its super hot or raining, some of locals will stay away and that will reduce the crowds for the tourists but you will still have quite a few people there. Early in the summer just after they block out most of the annual passes is a good time to go. The weather usually isn't that hot yet and most of the rides are up and running with full park hours. But its not going to be dead. Even when its 103 degrees and the Santa Ana winds are blowing you will still have a bunch of people at DL.

 

[Lebestiole]

I always thought DL was emptier than DW but it looks like I'm wrong!!! We're going in about 2 months, Oct-20-25. Do you think the crowds will be unbearable or decent?

I really want to prepare myself in case we're forced to wait 3 hours to get on any ride! xD

 

[chickapin parterre]

monday thursday friday sunday are events during your visit and that with some nights are all ready sold out, that is how popular October has achieved . October is no longer empty. The beauty of the crowds is that the attendance is more about the event, photography, rare character meets. You should have light early afternoons as ticket holders leave the park to rest and costume up and prepare fo ra return for a long evening of Halloween fun. so the crowd of visitors has a different goal. plan to attend rope drop and schedule around the heavy crowds 4-7:00 closing

 

[grnflash]

Mid to late August is awesome. Especially mid-August since hours are still long with shows running nightly. Yes it can be hot but with such short lines it's totally worth it. And while all passes are unblocked, it's not very impactful during the week since passes seem to unblock right when LAUSD and most OC schools go back in session.

We were there Mon & Tues this week. Monday was bit busy but I'd attribute this to the AP event that night. Tuesday was heaven. Space seemed to run about 30 but FP's were always avaiable for nearish times (1 - 2 hours out.) PP still long, 40 - 45 min. Splash is the mystery to me. SB posted 45 minutes throughout the afternoon but FP returns were 40 min both times we pulled.

 

[chickapin parterre]

three hour wait is really hard to comprehend for your visit. Perhaps you read that a fastpass picked up for BTMR at 2:00 may have a 5;00 return time, hence the 3 hours of waiting. But forcing yourself to wait in line as stand-by could be due to temporary attraction closure, failure to use FP and not taking advantage of early morning hours or on the days when park does not close early riding popular attractions late in the evening.