Need Help Choosing September Dates

[chabelita545]

We are planning a 5 day trip to Disneyland this September so we can see the Halloween decorations and because traditionally, it's off peak and should have lower crowds. Four of the five days in the park will be weekdays but we want to be there one weekend night so we can see the fireworks and Main St Electrical Parade. Which do you think would be less crowded, Sunday to Thursday (9/11-9/15) with Sunday being the last day of D23 Expo, or Tuesday-Saturday (9/13-17) with the last two days being Gay Days? Thanks!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Just a heads up: Halloween Time is not low crowd season. It is one of the busiest times of the year at DLR.

 

[chabelita545]

Just a heads up: Halloween Time is not low crowd season. It is one of the busiest times of the year at DLR.

Our last few trips have been the middle of summer and between Christmas and NYE, which was so, so crowded. Wouldn't mid-September be better than that, especially if most of our days are during the week? (Please say yes...)

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Our last few trips have been the middle of summer and between Christmas and NYE, which was so, so crowded. Wouldn't mid-September be better than that, especially if most of our days are during the week? (Please say yes...)

It will be better than Christmas - NYE, but be prepared anyway. That way, if the crowds are better than you expected, great! If not, at least you'll be ready.

 

[katyringo]

Halloween started September 17 in 2019
And September 9th in 2021.

I would avoid Labor Day weekend.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I would pick Tuesday to Saturday. That gives two weekends to do the night shows. I also find that non-Disney fan events don't affect crowds as much as official Disney events like D23.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Our last few trips have been the middle of summer and between Christmas and NYE, which was so, so crowded. Wouldn't mid-September be better than that, especially if most of our days are during the week? (Please say yes...)

No. Not even close to compare it with summer. Maybe more like Christmas to NYE. Halloween time is one of the business times of the year. It’s totally nuts.

 

[chabelita545]

Halloween started September 17 in 2019
And September 9th in 2021.

I would avoid Labor Day weekend.

I'm pretty sure Halloween stuff will be up by the time we arrive, because the OBB will happen that week. We are absolutely avoiding Labor Day weekend! The next two weekends both have big events though, D23 Expo (I've read that a lot of the people who go to the Expo come into the parks in the evenings) and Gay Days (looks crowded based on the group photo on their web page.)I checked out several online crowd calendars and they show Monday-Thursday being fairly light, but we'll see. I don't expect it to be empty, but hoping it's the best days in September, and less crowded than the last four times we visited (Christmas-NYE and 3 times in the middle of summer.)

I think we will deal with one day of higher crowds (Sun.) rather than two days of higher crowds (Fri-Sat.) I think the most crowded day of the trip will be Sunday, so the rest of the time should feel less busy. Emphasis on "should."

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I'm pretty sure Halloween stuff will be up by the time we arrive, because the OBB will happen that week. We are absolutely avoiding Labor Day weekend! The next two weekends both have big events though, D23 Expo (I've read that a lot of the people who go to the Expo come into the parks in the evenings) and Gay Days (looks crowded based on the group photo on their web page.)I checked out several online crowd calendars and they show Monday-Thursday being fairly light, but we'll see. I don't expect it to be empty, but hoping it's the best days in September, and less crowded than the last four times we visited (Christmas-NYE and 3 times in the middle of summer.)

I think we will deal with one day of higher crowds (Sun.) rather than two days of higher crowds (Fri-Sat.) I think the most crowded day of the trip will be Sunday, so the rest of the time should feel less busy. Emphasis on "should."

DL is a strange beast and the crowd calendars are basically useless. It’s weird because sometimes Sundays are LESS busy than week days. Especially Sunday evenings when locals clear out due to work the next day. Why are Mondays and Tuesdays sometimes way busier than a Sunday? I really cannot explain it! But I have personally experienced it many times.

I feel like people try to outsmart the crowds and in turn, create the crowds. Like people thinking September and October is low crowds, so they all come and poof! Crowds. Though Disney has done an excellent job of creating FOMO with the Halloween offerings to lure people to the parks at this time of year. Honestly October of this year was WAY more crowded that any day I visited in November and December.

I feel like the best advice is to go at a time that’s good for you and just plan on it being busy. If it’s a little less busy, great. If not, you’re mentally prepared for crowds.

P.S. I did go on Gay Days this fall (not to participate, but just ended up there that day). It definitely was a little busier but also really festive and fun. And Disney had a lot of fun food and merchandise offerings. I would go on Gay Day again without hesitation if those were the dates that worked out for me.

Also, know that fireworks often get canceled in the fall due to the winds we can get. So if you only have one weekend day and you’re counting on fireworks, know that they might not happen. Two days gives you a better chance but both days could be canceled if we have a wind event that lasts a few days.

 

[chabelita545]

No. Not even close to compare it with summer. Maybe more like Christmas to NYE. Halloween time is one of the business times of the year. It’s totally nuts.

Dang! Is this a new thing? Even the Disney website claims early September is low. Is it bad all day or mostly afternoons and evenings? We thought it would be better than summer since kids are back in school.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Dang! Is this a new thing? Even the Disney website claims early September is low. Is it bad all day or mostly afternoons and evenings? We thought it would be better than summer since kids are back in school.

Honestly, it’s weird. It’s all day. Weekends maybe worst but weekdays not necessarily better. Especially the closer to Halloween you get. I mean, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked worn d at the week day crowds this year and marveled at all the school-age children. I guess their parents just pull them out? Before the pandemic when I went with my little one who was not yet in school, midweek was almost always noticeably less crowded than other times but it’s just not really the case anymore.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I would not be surprised if the Monday after D23 was busier than the Sunday.

I think the earlier posters are overestimating crowds on weekdays in September. Halloween crowds are busy on the weekends in September but the weekdays don't really get busy until the end of September. I don't think a weekday in September will be significantly busier than one in July. September is not as busy as the time from Christmas to New Years but will likely not have lower crowds than summer either. The bad Halloween crowds are in October and OBB days. OBB days will have longer wait times, especially on the California Adventure side.

 

[chabelita545]

DL is a strange beast and the crowd calendars are basically useless. It’s weird because sometimes Sundays are LESS busy than week days. Especially Sunday evenings when locals clear out due to work the next day. Why are Mondays and Tuesdays sometimes way busier than a Sunday? I really cannot explain it! But I have personally experienced it many times.

I feel like people try to outsmart the crowds and in turn, create the crowds. Like people thinking September and October is low crowds, so they all come and poof! Crowds. Though Disney has done an excellent job of creating FOMO with the Halloween offerings to lure people to the parks at this time of year. Honestly October of this year was WAY more crowded that any day I visited in November and December.

I feel like the best advice is to go at a time that’s good for you and just plan on it being busy. If it’s a little less busy, great. If not, you’re mentally prepared for crowds.

Good advice. Thanks. I'm hoping for the best but we'll be ready. Having five days and getting there before rope drop will help. Halloween time is the one time of year we haven't gotten to go yet and we are free in September., which I read is better than October. Do you have an opinion on the last day of D23 or the first two days of Gay Days being worse as far as crowds go?

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Good advice. Thanks. I'm hoping for the best but we'll be ready. Having five days and getting there before rope drop will help. Halloween time is the one time of year we haven't gotten to go yet and we are free in September., which I read is better than October. Do you have an opinion on the last day of D23 or the first two days of Gay Days being worse as far as crowds go?

I definitely agree that September is better than October … the closer you creep to Halloween the busier it gets. I can’t comment on D23 as I’ve never been nor have I been to the parks on a D23 weekend. But I wouldn’t let Gay Days deter me based on the one experience I had this year.

 

[chabelita545]

I would not be surprised if the Monday after D23 was busier than the Sunday.

I think the earlier posters are overestimating crowds on weekdays in September. Halloween crowds are busy on the weekends in September but the weekdays don't really get busy until the end of September. I don't think a weekday in September will be significantly busier than one in July. September is not as busy as the time from Christmas to New Years but will likely not have lower crowds than summer either. The bad Halloween crowds are in October and OBB days. OBB days will have longer wait times, especially on the California Adventure side.

I was planning on avoiding DCA on OBB days altogether and sticking to Disneyland. Because of that, we are considering not getting park hoppers, which we've never not done. Do you think that's a good/bad idea?

 

[chabelita545]

I definitely agree that September is better than October … the closer you creep to Halloween the busier it gets. I can’t comment on D23 as I’ve never been nor have I been to the parks on a D23 weekend. But I wouldn’t let Gay Days deter me based on the one experience I had this year.

It wasn't that crowded on Gay Days or was that Mini-Gay Days? The photo on their website makes it look like there are thousands of people in the pic.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

It wasn't that crowded on Gay Days or was that Mini-Gay Days? The photo on their website makes it look like there are thousands of people in the pic.

It was regular Gay Days. It was a busy day and there were definitely a lot of people there for the event, but it was fine. We had a great day. This was 2021 so maybe it was fewer attendees than normal due to the pandemic? I can’t really say. Hopefully someone with more experience with Gay Days can chime in. The atmosphere was really fun and lively with all the Gay Days participants.

 

[katyringo]

Just also feel like saying historically Disneyland doesn't always offer all their entertainment on the weekdays. There usually isn't fireworks- just projections. Sometimes Fantasmic only ran on the weekends. I always keep this in mine for our trips. It's a trade off.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I was planning on avoiding DCA on OBB days altogether and sticking to Disneyland. Because of that, we are considering not getting park hoppers, which we've never not done. Do you think that's a good/bad idea?

Not getting park hoppers is fine and avoiding DCA on OBB days is a good idea. Just be aware that when DCA closes early for the event, the crowd moves over to Disneyland. On normal days, rides like Big Thunder Mountain sometimes have negligible wait in the hour before closing but don't expect that to happen on OBB nights.

 

[chabelita545]

Just also feel like saying historically Disneyland doesn't always offer all their entertainment on the weekdays. There usually isn't fireworks- just projections. Sometimes Fantasmic only ran on the weekends. I always keep this in mine for our trips. It's a trade off.

Yeah, that's why we are including one weekend evening in our plans, which I think will be enough for us. We just want to see the fireworks and Main St. Electrical Parade once, and don't care about WOC or seeing Fantasmic again. We are definitely going in September, just need to choose which week.

Week 1 - 9/6-9/10 Tues. after Labor Day to Sat. (Looks like OBB doesn't happen this week, so that might work in our favor, but D23 is Fri and Sat. and Tuesday could be extra busy from Labor Day tourists who choose to add an extra day.)
Week 2 - 9/12-9/16, Mon.-Fri. sandwiched between D23 and Gay Days, and Gay Days starts on Friday, but maybe it doesn't attract as large of crowds as we think it will. (DCA closes early two of those nights for OBB, which will make DL more crowded.)
Week 3 - 9/18-9/23 Mon-Fri. (DCA closes early 2 nights for OBB to make DL more crowded, but there are no other events I know of. However, it is closer to October, which I understand is more popular than September.)

Which of those 3 weeks do you all think would be least crowded? (I know I am probably over-thinking this, but we haven't been back to the parks for 5 years, and it's so expensive, so I want to make sure I'm picking the best possible time to go.