November 16

[kmorgida]

My husband and I are planning on taking our son who is 3 1/2 to Disneyland for the first time on Nov 16 which also happens to be my birthday. I have of course been doing my research and have seen lots of stuff about the Season of the Force. We only have the one day to go and of course want to get every penny out of what we can do and want to do. We live in San Diego but I am thinking of driving up the night before and staying at a hotel so we can be there for rope drop, which I believe as of right now is 9:00, please correct me if I am wrong. He is 40 inches so we do have a decent amount of things we can ride. With all of that being said, are we crazy for making this the day we go? I want this to be enjoyable and I am super nervous of the amount of people that will show up for the first day of any special event that Disney puts on. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SMD]

If you're going to invest in a hotel I would highly recommend considering getting a 2 day, 1 park ticket. Do as many hours as you can at DL on the 15th (this is the day of the Avengers half marathon, so it will be somewhat busy), and then do DCA on the 16th.

 

[kmorgida]

Unfortunately we only have the one day, we cannot make it up on the 15th besides in the evening.

 

[SMD]

Unfortunately we only have the one day, we cannot make it up on the 15th besides in the evening.

Then I'd consider going to DCA. DL might not be too bad because much of the attention will be focused on Tomorrowland. Except it's also the day after a busy marathon weekend when a lot of people will stay the extra day and the 13th is the official start of the holidays, which will attract a lot of APs who avoided the weekend or were blocked. Also, make sure you can get a room. With the marathon the day before availability might be scarce.

 

[figment_jii]

No one really knows what the crowds are going to be like on November 16th. In general crowds have been higher this year than in past years (mostly likely because of the popularity of the 60th Anniversary Celebration). Working for you is the fact that November 16th is a Monday, so some folks will have to be at work and school. I think you're going to see large/extra crowds in Tomorrowland where the Season of the Force stuff is likely to be concentrated. I don't know if it'll have a large impact on the other parts of the park (other than it means more guests than "normal" in the park). I would do everything possible to be there right at rope drop (get there before the park opens at 9:00 am if possible). I do also expect to hear that there was a bump in the crowds in the afternoon as folks get off from work/school and head into the parks to see the new stuff.

Basically, I think as long as you're going with the understanding that the parks will be busier than on a typical Monday, I think you'll be okay. Expect long lines and big crowds in Tomorrowland and some spillover effect into the rest of the park.

 

[tlovesdis]

You should plan on Disneyland being very busy that day. Have a good plan (getting there early, and using the FP system as much as you can). The Avengers marathon is on Sunday so people will still be there as well as Season of the Force begins that day and I imagine there will be lots of people there for that! Also, the official holiday time starts on the 13th. So it looks as though that day could be a very busy one! Just be prepared for that!