March 31-April 2 or Summer Weekend Trip??

[amyah]

Hi!

We're considering a quick weekend trip to DL for DD's birthday, but it would be during the weekend right in the middle of school spring breaks. Would the crowds be worse during the Saturday-Monday stay (March 31-April 2) or during the summer?

Thanks!
Amy

 

[abby]

I am quessing it is a toss up between the two......

 

[TeacherDad]

Summer will be more crowded and very hot. Splash will be closed in March-April.
Any summer weekend will be busier than the March 31 weekend, even though March 31 is a week before Easter. Only go in summer if you like excessive heat, aren't put off by capacity croweds, and really don't want to miss Splash Mtn. I'd recommend the March 31 weekend option.

 

[HydroGuy]

Summer will be more crowded and very hot. Splash will be closed in March-April.
Any summer weekend will be busier than the March 31 weekend, even though March 31 is a week before Easter. Only go in summer if you like excessive heat, aren't put off by capacity croweds, and really don't want to miss Splash Mtn. I'd recommend the March 31 weekend option.

I think the question was not March/Arpil weekend vs. summer weekend, but vs. summer in general. In that case, I would say a summer trip during weekdays would be better than a March/April trip during the weekend.

Also, I have not found the summer in DLR to be "very hot". Average high temperatures in the summer are in the mid-80's. Check this link: www.scottware.com.au/theme/guide.htm and click on the “When to Go/Attendance graphs” on the left menu for more information. From there click on the ”Disneyland Weather” link.

Now, it can get hotter than this, and last summer during early July it was hitting high 90's and 100 degrees regularly during a multi-week heat wave. When we went in early August last summer it was a nice 82-84 degrees.

 

[TeacherDad]

Orginal Thread Title: March 31- April 2 or Summer Weekend Trip

HydroGuy - Orginal poster is only looking at weekends in the summer, as indicated in the Thread Title. Just wanted to clarify. My advice to avoid the summer heat comes from a trip to DL one July a few years ago. It was mid July and very hot. The lines were long and most kids (7 and under) looked tired and cranky from the heat and waiting. IMO, summer at DL tends to have more days that are hot enough and busy enough to make young kids miserable and cranky from the heat and waiting in lines. That is why I never go in summer. To each his own.

 

[amyah]

Thanks for all the feedback! We're hoping to make just a quick trip this time with minimizing DH's vacation days at work, so a weekday trip during the summer would be more difficult, thus why we were considering a weekend trip during the summer over a weekend trip in March/April. We're from the valley in the north state where our summer temps are usually in the 90-100's so we'd be used to the heat, but touring the parks in that kind of heat is a different story with little ones, and we would be looking at going down later in the summer, in July or August.

Soooo, I think at this point we're leaning towards the March 31-April 2 weekend, but we'll just be prepared for large crowds. We've visited before and could just make sure we do our favorites this time and not get discouraged by the crowds and long lines. However, what's the liklihood they would close the parks due to capacity crowds over this weekend? We're looking at flying down early Saturday morning but the earliest we could probably get to DL would be by 11:00 am.

Thanks!
Amy

 

[HydroGuy]

Orginal Thread Title: March 31- April 2 or Summer Weekend Trip

I missed the title. It appears you are quite correct. My bad.

My advice to avoid the summer heat comes from a trip to DL one July a few years ago. It was mid July and very hot. The lines were long and most kids (7 and under) looked tired and cranky from the heat and waiting. IMO, summer at DL tends to have more days that are hot enough and busy enough to make young kids miserable and cranky from the heat and waiting in lines. That is why I never go in summer. To each his own.

Your comments about heat, lines and cranky kids are also quite correct. The "very hot" is relative of course. Even when DLR is in the mid-80's, we still always take a break in the afternoon for a swim and nap. So I personally would not want to stay out all day in the summer, but have done it and survived. In general when someone says it is very hot at DLR in the summer, the underlying message is that it is a bad time to go. I disagree with this underlying message.

Thanks for clarifying.