Least crowded times to visit?

[wisheruponstars]

I have been thinking about going to DL or CA or doing a park hopper. If I look at March and onward, when is the least crowded times to visit? I know march - may you deal with spring break and grad nights and things like that. And then of course the summer crowds. Just seems like there's not a good time to go anymore.

 

[Porsche4]

Just be careful with the start of May. I was booked for the first week of May but then found out the Star Wars May the Fourth Be With You party nights were back on this year which would have resulted in park lockout after a certain time and bigger crowds. I swapped to the last week of April and I am just hoping that the Easter crowds will all have gone home by then.

 

[Geemo]

I feel with the reservation system, the crowd level will be the same 7days a week.
From reading all the threads about the parks, low park attendance is a thing of the past.

The only low attendance days seem to be weather related.
Rain and 100* temps seem to keep locals from coming to the parks.

 

[MonocularVision]

We went December 18th-23rd last year and it felt less busy than it did yesterday and today. While it is a holiday weekend, I would never have expected this in the past.

I try to encourage everyone I talk to about a DL vacation to not worry about the crowds. All you will do is stress yourself when you show up and it is busier than you’d hoped. Better to be prepared

 

[shosh1530]

I agree that that aren't really any low crowd times these days. We just went in late January in a week that is supposed to be one of the lowest times and it still felt crowded (but not crazy crowded) to us.

For you time frame, I think late April and early/mid May would be best. But taking care as the previous poster pointed out to avoid the Star Wars stuff the first week of May (unless you are a Star Wars super fan).

 

[Wilcojoe]

If you look at the Touring Plan crowd calendar the least crowded week until Summer ends is the week we are there (week of March 7th). Which of course means it will be ridiculously crowded because everyone else has probably noticed that and planned their trip that week as well. Lol

 

[PlutoIsHere]

Disneyland has changed. February used to be the least crowded time of year. Reading trip reports this month makes me think that it has changed. With covid restrictions lifting more and more people are going to be flooding back to the park. Best thing you can do is set your expectations accordingly, plan for as many days as possible, and make sure you're there early and staying late. Lines and crowds are always the shortest early and late.

We will see if crowds get back to normal in a year or two but it felt like crowd levels were trending up in the parks even before the covid shutdowns pent up demand.

 

[mdmost]

Disneyland has changed. February used to be the least crowded time of year. Reading trip reports this month makes me think that it has changed. With covid restrictions lifting more and more people are going to be flooding back to the park. Best thing you can do is set your expectations accordingly, plan for as many days as possible, and make sure you're there early and staying late. Lines and crowds are always the shortest early and late.

We will see if crowds get back to normal in a year or two but it felt like crowd levels were trending up in the parks even before the covid shutdowns pent up demand.

I think this is correct and adjusting expectations is the best thing. There's so much pent up demand for travel and going back to places like DLR. The best plan is to have a plan but be flexible. Go early, stay late. Take advantage of times that people might be watching fireworks. Go midweek whenever possible.

 

[disneyseniors]

We are planning a trip to DL this Spring, too. We will be there sometime the end of March and first week of April. I hope that is a good time, as this will be our Only time to visit DL! I hope we can get park reservations when we are able to go. We will be with a family member and have to see what works out for her, so all the plans are tentative. I wish you could just go and have fun when you want to instead of trying to plan these stupid park reservations and genie stuff. It would be nice if disney got rid of the park res system at least. We wouldn't buy genie or ILL's anyway.

 

[noisycricket]

What about September and early October, just after schools start to go back in session-- isn't that typically a less busy time of the year? Years ago (2010s) it seemed to be less crowded, but not sure about present years.

 

[By-Tor and Snow Pup]

No such thing as slow times anymore, so I wouldn't even consider that. The special events that close the park early can be a screw job for full rate paying tourists though. If it's your big Disney trip I'd try to avoid that.

 

[pokee99]

I feel with the reservation system, the crowd level will be the same 7days a week.
From reading all the threads about the parks, low park attendance is a thing of the past.

The only low attendance days seem to be weather related.
Rain and 100* temps seem to keep locals from coming to the parks.

^This. The reservation system dictates travel plans - so I think it'll be pretty consistent all the time now, except for the spontaneity the locals have to stay home if the weather isn't favorable.

In other words, choosing a time to go when the "crowds are low" is a fools game. Go when it's most convenient for you. There's nothing more disappointing than pulling your kid out of school or trying to fight for time off at work so you can go when it's less busy - only to have the crowds be just as bad as summer.

Like someone else mentioned: a trip to Disney means shoulder to shoulder crowds, long waits, and full days. I've spent my time preparing for that (mentally and physically... lol) rather than trying to figure out when it will be "less busy".

 

[MillauFr]

July is far less crowded than February through May. It slows way down from June to mid September and then picks back up from late September until early December. Christmas season is less crowded.

 

[dina444444]

What about September and early October, just after schools start to go back in session-- isn't that typically a less busy time of the year? Years ago (2010s) it seemed to be less crowded, but not sure about present years.

Halloweentime is one of the busiest times of year now.

 

[mich311e]

The mid-week first week of Feb this year was pretty light.

 

[dieumeye]

The least crowded time to visit is any day from park open until about 10:30am. Beyond that, plan on it being crowded.

 

[DLRExpert]

Last two weeks of August (local kids go back to school), first week of September (be cautious of rehab schedule).

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I live locally, have been a passholder since 2017 and go frequently. I have never felt the summer months to be overly crowded. Summer is certainly less packed in general than say Sept/Oct (Halloweentime), Nov/Dec (Christmas time), March/April (spring break) and any of the three- and four-day weekends (like President Day, Columbus Day, etc).