October vs April?

[IBLarsen]

We took our first family Disneyland trip the first week of Oct (Last Month). We loved that timing, and my husband wants to plan another trip for next October, same time. I am wanting to possibly wait until the following April and go for our childrens birthdays, April 13 and 15th, also spreading out our trips a little. My DH would like to make this an annual tradition with our children. I am trying to be a little more practical and say every other year would be more feasible. (I know, I know....you all think i'm crazy!) So April would be splitting the difference, it would be 1.5 years and for the kids birthdays, would make it extra special. We love the fall overlay in the parks though....and the kids are young enough for now (3 and 5) that we can get away with pulling them out of school to avoid summer crowds and heat...for now. So these are my two choices for our next trip and I'm looking for some insight to help make that choice. Any pros/cons for the first of October vs mid April? I've never been in April, so I have nothing to compare our Oct trip too. Any thoughts? Please?

 

[Diskneenut]

It all depends which days you will be going in April. If you go like tues.-thrus. it shouldn't be to bad. My personal prefrence would be October because of the decoration and the crowds do seem to be less begining around the end of Sept. I am not sure when spring break is, but you need to be careful planning your trip in the spring months because alot of kids are out of school and alot of families head to DL during that time.

 

[camouseketeer]

All of April is very busy. The week before and after Easter, which is usually in April, are extremely busy.

That being said, October is becoming a very popular time to visit DRL too.

If you go in April and you want to avoid huge crowds, do not go the week before and after Easter. Other April weeks will be busy, but those will be extremely popular.

 

[IBLarsen]

All of April is very busy. The week before and after Easter, which is usually in April, are extremely busy.

That being said, October is becoming a very popular time to visit DRL too.

If you go in April and you want to avoid huge crowds, do not go the week before and after Easter. Other April weeks will be busy, but those will be extremely popular.

Thanks for that tip! It looks like Easter would be April 4th that year and we would go the week of the 12th. So it would be a full week AFTER Easter. Is that week getting late enough to miss some of the spring break crowds? Approx April 12-April 16 (exact dates to be determined).

Please correct me if my thinking is off...my thinking would be that Mid April would be less crowded than June when everybody is out of school? Would that be safe to assume? My first inclination is to avoid summer if at all possible I appreciate everybody's feedback/input!

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

My first inclination is to avoid summer if at all possible I appreciate everybody's feedback/input!

That's a very good idea!
Reading people's disappointment with DL lately, a lot has to do with crowds and lines. We had the best time on our recent trip on Wed. and Thurs., but knew Friday would be a zoo - and we planned accordingly. I still am on cloud about how wonderful our trip was, but I have gone enough times to know that it is because of the low crowd level. It makes a big difference for us. If you go in April, just be sure to go in the middle of the week - but so many have spring breaks in April. I loved October