Late July/August

[jothp]

I am looking for some help to decide when we should make our next trip and have a few questions about the summer holidays.

1) What are the queues like in EMH at this time of year, how many of the open rides could we expect to get done?

2) What is an average queue length for small world/teacups/pirates etc during the afternoon?

3) At that time of year is it still busier at weekends or not?

Thanks for all your help

 

[A Small World]

Ive been at that time a few times and it is very busy. Everyone seems to be on holiday then so to be honest its as busy in the week as weekends.
However the advantage is the parks are open really late - til 10/11pm and so you get everything done but differently.
The first hour of EMH tends to be quieter so get in there for 8 and you will get multiple turns on Peter Pan and Dumbo.
You can have a long leisurely lunch somewhere and spend the afternoon swimming/shopping/sleeping and then return to the park in the evening. If you have eaten your main meal at lunch time you avoid the crowds eating in the evening and can get some rides done then and perhaps grab a snack while waiting for Fantillusion.

 

[Mouseketeer1974]

we've done DLRP in August and as long as you have 3 or 4 days to vist you can still see everything without too much hassle.
EMH are a bonus but using the Fantasyland breakfast you can still get early morning rides on Dumbo, Peter Pan etc before the park gets busy without missing out.
Plan, think about what your party will most want to do and go for that first.
Don't wait in queues for character experiences but book characther meals instead - you have to eat while you're there so you might as well kill two birds with one stone and eat and meet at the same time.

 

[jothp]

Ive been at that time a few times and it is very busy. Everyone seems to be on holiday then so to be honest its as busy in the week as weekends.
However the advantage is the parks are open really late - til 10/11pm and so you get everything done but differently.
The first hour of EMH tends to be quieter so get in there for 8 and you will get multiple turns on Peter Pan and Dumbo.
You can have a long leisurely lunch somewhere and spend the afternoon swimming/shopping/sleeping and then return to the park in the evening. If you have eaten your main meal at lunch time you avoid the crowds eating in the evening and can get some rides done then and perhaps grab a snack while waiting for Fantillusion.

we've done DLRP in August and as long as you have 3 or 4 days to vist you can still see everything without too much hassle.
EMH are a bonus but using the Fantasyland breakfast you can still get early morning rides on Dumbo, Peter Pan etc before the park gets busy without missing out.
Plan, think about what your party will most want to do and go for that first.
Don't wait in queues for character experiences but book characther meals instead - you have to eat while you're there so you might as well kill two birds with one stone and eat and meet at the same time.

Thanks, we would definately have to nap most afternoons or the kids wouldn't cope and we would do character meals too. We are normally quite good at using fastpass and doing the rides in a good order to minimise queuing. The main thing I am concerned about is EMH. This Friday we were there and arrived at the bag check about 8.15 but still only managed to get 2 rides done by 9.45. It was manic and made it seem like there was no point in getting up early for EMH that day, we were queuing longer during EMH than we had queued during the main part of the day the rest of the week. I was just wondering if August was like this everyday?

 

[Ware Bears]

The main thing I am concerned about is EMH. This Friday we were there and arrived at the bag check about 8.15 but still only managed to get 2 rides done by 9.45. It was manic and made it seem like there was no point in getting up early for EMH that day, we were queuing longer during EMH than we had queued during the main part of the day the rest of the week. I was just wondering if August was like this everyday?

No, it's not as bad as this, I've been 3 times in August and we've always managed multiple rides during EMH. That's the only time we ever ride Peter Pan as it's always busier later on and I don't like using fastpass for it.

 

[jothp]

No, it's not as bad as this, I've been 3 times in August and we've always managed multiple rides during EMH. That's the only time we ever ride Peter Pan as it's always busier later on and I don't like using fastpass for it.

Thanks for that, magic hours on Friday were just manic with queues of 45 minutes + by not long after 9! I think maybe instead of having our main holiday in August we might just do a one night trip. I only really want to go at that time to see fantilusion and the fireworks.

 

[elstoleno]

We only ever go in August, I can't really say I class it as being really busy (a obvious difference from the day trip I had in January one year though). We don't really go on big thrill rides so most of our rides the queues arn't too long.
EMH was empty for the first hour usually, then in the second it got busier, but still queues were short.
On teacups we did 5 goes in a row just getting off and running straight back round to the entrance because it was so quiet!
We queued for Buzz too, which was maybe a 15min queue, but it did 'break down' a lot during our stay (which was great because if you're on ride when it happens - the gun still works and you get a really good score!)
Although Peter Pan still had 30min ish waits during EMH, its alot shorter than the queue in normal park hours!

Afternoon queue times for its a small world - its quite a wait. sorry I can't give a time though.
POTC, I've found its usually only around a 15min wait but if you time it wrong (in the rain etc) you can end up queueing a lot longer.
I don't think i've ever seen the teacups queue get longer than 15minish, but I could be wrong.

Just been reading what I wrote, and maybe I would class it as being busy, crowd wise its the same as going to a main shopping centre on a Saturday or the week before Christmas in my opinion. Shops and counter service restaurants get really busy, the longest queue we've been in wasnt for a ride!

Hope some of this helps

 

[Happy Tappy]

I've been 3 times in August, everytime avoiding weekends. It's the best time of the year to go in my opinion.

During EMH the following rides are open: Dumbo, Peter Pan, Tea Cups, Carousel, Space Mountain and Buzz. Sometimes they open Pinnochio/Snow White and Obritron.

As already said, the first hour of EMH is pretty quiet. Dumbo 10mins, Peter Pan 5/10mins and the rest you can walk on. The 2nd hour does get busier and Peter Pan and Dumbo will get to 30mins.

As for ride times out of EMH, I've never queued longer than 20mins for IASW or POTC. They both have such high capacities that it takes the park to be near full for it to go over 30mins. Tea cups will probably be around 20mins aswell.

Rides like Peter Pan, Crush and BTM will all be over 60mins.

You just have to be smart with your FPs. If you want to go on BTM, make sure you get a FP as soon as Frontierland opens.

The parks are beautiful in August. There's more entertainment, characters and you get to end the night with Fantillusion and the Fireworks.

If Disneyland Parc gets too busy, head over to the studios. As most of it is shows, you can get a lot done.

 

[jothp]

We only ever go in August, I can't really say I class it as being really busy (a obvious difference from the day trip I had in January one year though). We don't really go on big thrill rides so most of our rides the queues arn't too long.
EMH was empty for the first hour usually, then in the second it got busier, but still queues were short.
On teacups we did 5 goes in a row just getting off and running straight back round to the entrance because it was so quiet!
We queued for Buzz too, which was maybe a 15min queue, but it did 'break down' a lot during our stay (which was great because if you're on ride when it happens - the gun still works and you get a really good score!)
Although Peter Pan still had 30min ish waits during EMH, its alot shorter than the queue in normal park hours!

Afternoon queue times for its a small world - its quite a wait. sorry I can't give a time though.
POTC, I've found its usually only around a 15min wait but if you time it wrong (in the rain etc) you can end up queueing a lot longer.
I don't think i've ever seen the teacups queue get longer than 15minish, but I could be wrong.

Just been reading what I wrote, and maybe I would class it as being busy, crowd wise its the same as going to a main shopping centre on a Saturday or the week before Christmas in my opinion. Shops and counter service restaurants get really busy, the longest queue we've been in wasnt for a ride!

Hope some of this helps

I've been 3 times in August, everytime avoiding weekends. It's the best time of the year to go in my opinion.

During EMH the following rides are open: Dumbo, Peter Pan, Tea Cups, Carousel, Space Mountain and Buzz. Sometimes they open Pinnochio/Snow White and Obritron.

As already said, the first hour of EMH is pretty quiet. Dumbo 10mins, Peter Pan 5/10mins and the rest you can walk on. The 2nd hour does get busier and Peter Pan and Dumbo will get to 30mins.

As for ride times out of EMH, I've never queued longer than 20mins for IASW or POTC. They both have such high capacities that it takes the park to be near full for it to go over 30mins. Tea cups will probably be around 20mins aswell.

Rides like Peter Pan, Crush and BTM will all be over 60mins.

You just have to be smart with your FPs. If you want to go on BTM, make sure you get a FP as soon as Frontierland opens.

The parks are beautiful in August. There's more entertainment, characters and you get to end the night with Fantillusion and the Fireworks.

If Disneyland Parc gets too busy, head over to the studios. As most of it is shows, you can get a lot done.

Thank you both. You make it sound very manageable and similar to what we normally experience queue wise during may half term week. We normally get Dumbo, Peter Pan, Buzz and Orbitron (or star tours on our latest trip because orbitron was closed) done during EMH. We then used FP to ride BTM and ride teacups, carousel, small world, snow white, pinocchio, pirates, riverboat, phantom manor etc during the main part of the day usually queuing no more than 15 minutes or so. This last Friday (day after ascension day) however this plan wouldn't have worked. We rode Autopia straight away at park opening and got fastpasses for BTM which was fine. After lunch the park was manic - the posted queue times for small world and pirates were 1 hour (and the pirates queue really did take that long!) Snow white and pinocchio were both 45 minutes. I wouldn't want to go in August if it was going to be like that everyday but you both make it sound quite reasonable

 

[Ware Bears]

I was there last week (Sunday through Tuesday so before it got busy later on in the week) and couldn't believe how quiet it was compared to what we're used to - the only other time I've seen it this quiet was one Christmas Eve afternoon/evening. However, I'd still rather pick August over a quieter period anytime I like the long hours and fireworks/Fantillusion and think these far outweigh any queues/crowds. The longest we've ever queued in August has probably been 45 minutes at most and that'll be when Big Thunder Mountain's broken down and we've been stuck in the fastpass queue.

 

[jothp]

I was there last week (Sunday through Tuesday) and couldn't believe how quiet it was compared to what we're used to - the only other time I've seen it this quiet was one Christmas Eve afternoon/evening. However, I'd still rather pick August over a quieter period anytime I like the long hours and fireworks/Fantillusion and think these far outweigh any queues/crowds.

I really want to see fantilusion and the fireworks which is why I was considering August but we would have to nap every afternoon with the kids or they would get too tired and that would be a lot of walking back and forward to the hotel and would really mean we would have to stay onsite which is very expensive.

 

[Jayney73]

Hia,
We went at the very end of july, beg of August last year and enjoyed it much more than when we went in September the time before.

All the rides are open and there never seems to be a major refurb over the summer period which was a big thing for us; before in September quite a few things were being refurbed.
Also all the restaurants etc were open.
The atmosphere just seems so much better and we hardly queued at all.
EMH were fab and we walked on everything until into the second hour. We always rode a Main St vehicle up to the castle too which was a lovely way to start the day. At any other time we just wouldnt have got any where close.
We made good use of fast pass and chose the rides we really wanted to do and went straight for those whilst getting fast passes for the others. I.E, Crush first at studios and then fast pass for Towers while on the way to RnRc . Or grab a fast pass for BTM and then do Pirates or PM.
We never queued for longer than 15 mins for pirates or IASW.
We went back to Davy C's in the afternoon for a swim and a chill out before heading back to the parks later.
We are planning to go exactly the same time next year and cant wait!!!

 

[MollyandLucy'sMum]

This thread is selling me on an August trip I love being in the parks late as it get dark just worried about crowds. Might wait for a few years though until DDs' are a bit bigger so more able to cope with long days and a bit quicker getting about!

 

[jothp]

Yes this is making me think an August trip is definately manageable too. I think we might go may half term week again next year because with the kids ages the shorter hours don't really bother us. We might save August for when they want to stay up late everyday and can without being really grumpy

 

[MollyandLucy'sMum]

Yes this is making me think an August trip is definately manageable too. I think we might go may half term week again next year because with the kids ages the shorter hours don't really bother us. We might save August for when they want to stay up late everyday and can without being really grumpy

We tend to go every two years to DLP and I have an burning ambition to go back to the Disneyland hotel at least once which we could never afford in August. So my thoughts are DLH May half term 2013 (as its DH 40th and I think the girls been small still would love DLH) then an august trip somewhere much cheaper 2015.

Nothing like forward planning