Last week of August or first week of September - would there be much difference?

[AussieDisneyMum]

Hi folks, I am hoping for a bit of insight. I am planning my girls' first trip to DLR for later this year, and can go pretty much any time from mid-year onwards. We are considering a 10-day trip because we can get the 10-day pass (yay!) and because our girls are young (2 and 4), we want to be able to take our days slowly and after flying 19 hours to get there, we don't want to be spending just 5 days.

I am thinking either the last 10 days of August or maybe the first 10 days of September, and was hoping that someone local or with experience of that time of year can tell me whether there would be a great difference between those weeks? From forums and fan sites, it seems that some of the schools will be back in session as early as the August dates, but if that happens at the same time as the local annual blackout dates end, that might not make much of a difference crowd-wise.

My eldest will turn 5 in August, and we are thinking that might be enough reason to sway us toward the August dates, but I was wondering if I am missing something that might be a compelling reason for or against those dates. We don't want their first visit to be during something like Halloween, because we want their first impression to be of the classic DLR, if that makes sense?

Any advice or insight would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[valiamo]

You should be OK with either set of dates, the Sept will be less busy as the schools will be back in full gear the first weekend of September (some go back in August, but all are back in full session by Sept 5th). If given a choice I would go in September, and enjoy lessor crowds (still busy, but not as busy as the end of August). labour Day is the first weekend in Sept and that will bring in the local crowds. No time in Disney is really slow anymore.

There may be some rides temp closed as they start to prepare for the Halloween Season (end of Sept), but the Train should be running, the River's of America open and Fantasmic should be playing again.

 

[SMD]

There's the DL half marathon weekend over Labor Day, plus it's a holiday weekend. The AP blocks will be over by the last 10 days of August, and even if some schools are back you'll still see people coming to the parks in the afternoon on either set of dates. Halloween decor will start going up as soon as Labor Day ends, so you'll see that for the second half of the trip if you pick September. You'll also see shorter hours, weekend only fireworks (and possibly Fantasmic if it's up) and refurbs starting right after Labor Day. On the other hand, depending on when Fantasmic, railroad and ROA reopens it could draw more crowds in August. Are you doing anything other than Disney? There may be a reason one set of dates are better for the other parts of the trip. Have you priced both flights and hotels? If those are the same, I'd just pick one and plan for crowds and be pleasantly surprised if it's not as bad as planned.

 

[AussieDisneyMum]

Thanks valiamo, it is great to know that the train will be running again - it might seem silly but I think that is going to be a hot favourite for my 2 year old and I didn't hold much hope of it being open again until Star Wars Land opens - it is great to know it is/will be up and running. It is also good to know that the AP block lifting will affect either set of dates - so that won't be a player.

SMD, good gouge about the weekend only fireworks in particular. Our 4 year old loves fireworks, so August is looking like the better option, given that her birthday is late August, so late August potentially offers greater chances of fireworks, a birthday in DLR and no Halloween decorations. I have priced the flights and hotels, but the difference is negligible. I will likely be booking everything within the next week or so.

Thanks to you both for the informative responses - it does sound like crowds are a thing anytime of year, and we will be prepared for that.

Cheers!