Off Season

[princesszelda]

When is the off season?

 

[Priory]

There will be a few opinions on this but as far as I
can tell there is no off season anymore. Maybe Feb/March. However I will say I was just there for
3 days and I can't remember a time the parks felt more reasonably light (cars land excluded). I think the trick now is going when the most APs are blocked. DCA has changed everything and has spread the crowds beautifully.

 

[DanT]

I agree...just remember that once the summer is over refurbs will start.
Less of a problem during holiday seasons, but after Christmas is over, the refurbs and construction will start.

 

[Jkpark]

I agree. I have found my usual off-weekends (early Feb, late May, early Sept) have all been relatively crowded. I think a long Halloween season and a longer Holiday season have increased crowds in late September and pre-Thanksgiving. I was there on Easter this year which I was scared of - and crowds were light most of the day and the parks were empty after dinner.

 

[DisneytheKid]

Certainly shouldnt be considered off season but I have heard that the week after thanksgiving is pretty tame

 

[Patrick in Oregon]

This is somewhat unorthodox, but what if you use the DVC points tables as a guide.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/VGC-Points.htm#grandcalif2012
This is for the Grand Californian. If you aren't familiar with this system, there are 4 different seasons with dates in each season. You'll notice the points in the second column go up as you read down the list. So what this tells me is the Premier Season, which contains these dates
January 1-7
March 30-31
April 1-14
November 20-24
December 21–31
...would be the busiest parts of the year. You can see this encompasses New Years, Spring breaks, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The least "expensive" season (points-wise) is the Adventure Season and has dates
Jan 8 - 31
Feb 1 - 25
Sept 2 - 30
Oct 1-4
...which looks like it encompasses dead of winter after winter break and back to school before Halloween season.

I figure this is what Disneyland expects their busy or off seasons to be.

 

[Judy from Boise]

great methodology !

 

[lorieintucson]

Certainly shouldnt be considered off season but I have heard that the week after thanksgiving is pretty tame

Oh no...that is the worst time to go. all the rides are closed and the food is all soggy and old, and the characters make kids cry, and the fireworks are always cancelled, and...

anyone believing me?

(it's actually our absolute favorite week to go. all the holiday beauty without the holiday crowds. what could be better? oh yeah...a lightly drizzly Tuesday afternoon in the week after thanksgiving )

 

[HydroGuy]

When is the off season?

See

"Choosing When To Visit DLR: Summary of High and Low Season and When Each Happens" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=36509602

 

[theworldneedscolor]

How busy is Halloween season? I am going October 9-13. At first I thought crowds would be very light, but I am starting to doubt that

 

[skiingfast]

How busy is Halloween season? I am going October 9-13. At first I thought crowds would be very light, but I am starting to doubt that

October is not a simple month. Weekends are always busy. Tuesdays are not busy but in the evening when the party time approaches they are for a couple hours which skews the day as appearing busy. Fridays are kind of busy because after 5 locals show and vacationers arrive through the day, but the party guests arriving after school and after 5 make it much worse.

Monday, Wednesday and Thursdays are fine. So you will have a good days.

Another thing in October that people refer to as making the parks busy are Fall Breaks. They mostly come in the 3rd week and instead of it being quiet it's moderately crowded.

 

[Patrick in Oregon]

great methodology !

Thanks! I'm pretty proud of it

See

"Choosing When To Visit DLR: Summary of High and Low Season and When Each Happens" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=36509602

But I admit this was probably the obvious solution. I also admit trying to find this thread and made the major forum-foul of not checking the stickies