Pick your poison-which of these busy days will be less so

[BeccaG]

I am a teacher and in need of a Disney fix. I am blessed with premium APs (thank you mom and dad). So I have next Thursday and Friday off, along with the rest of the world and then the entire week of Thanksgiving off. I know things will be busy, but which days or days do you think will be the best to go? Vote on the poll and feel free to comment with an explanation. TIA for your help.

 

[mom2dzb]

Have you seen this site?

http://touringplans.com/disneyland

It shows Vetrans Day through the weekend as having lower crowds than the week of Thanksgiving.

 

[skiingfast]

I went with the weekdays before Thanksgiving. Though ultimately it probably makes little difference.

You can predict crowds easily with the Disneyland calendar by looking at two things.

How many APs are blocked and the park schedule. Longer hour days indicate larger crowds. More shows indicate more crowds.

The hours are the same the show shedule the same.

But on Thanksgiving weekend they block through Delux APs. Could be a blessing or a curse.

 

[Jodi_Luvs_Disney]

Have you seen this site?

http://touringplans.com/disneyland

It shows Vetrans Day through the weekend as having lower crowds than the week of Thanksgiving.

Well that scares me...I was there on a Veteran's Day and it was unbelievably packed. I'll be there before Thanksgiving. I'm crossing my fingers those days are at least bearable.

 

[ConnieB]

Have you seen this site?

http://touringplans.com/disneyland

It shows Vetrans Day through the weekend as having lower crowds than the week of Thanksgiving.

Any clue why DCA is almost consistently more crowded than DL? I always thought DCA was lower crowds.....is it perhaps because with all the construction there is less park to handle the capacity?

 

[SplashMo]

It is confusing to me as well....

However they go by wait time at the top attractions (at least for WDW) and Toy Story Mania is likely skewing the results a bit...

 

[Goofy_Mom]

It is confusing to me as well....

However they go by wait time at the top attractions (at least for WDW) and Toy Story Mania is likely skewing the results a bit...

I'll bet WOC is a likely culprit as well

 

[BeccaG]

a news post i read today said WOC has increased DCA attendance by 20%.

 

[skiingfast]

a news post i read today said WOC has increased DCA attendance by 20%.

I don't know that it is WoC alone. However DCA attendance has been rising. The park is expanding offerings.

 

[Flitterific]

I picked the Friday after Veteran's Day but it was only a guess. I figured a lot of people don't actually get Veteran's Day off so it's less likely they'll go to Disneyland the Friday after, especially since the kids have school that day

 

[SplashMo]

You will get to see christmas then.

 

[camouseketeer]

I picked the Friday after Veteran's Day but it was only a guess. I figured a lot of people don't actually get Veteran's Day off so it's less likely they'll go to Disneyland the Friday after, especially since the kids have school that day

Yes, but Veteran's Day is a holiday for most if not all CA schools, and, with furlough, conference, and teacher work days often paired with school holidays, I'm guessing that MANY CA schools have that Friday off too.

Here in the Sacramento area, we have Wed-Fri off, and we'll be there all three days. To find lodging, I checked ten different on and off site hotels, and most were completely booked for Thurs and Fri.

I expect Thurs and Fri to be very crowded.

 

[Eeee-va]

Last year, I recall people were shocked by the horrible crowds prior to Thanksgiving, and then pleasantly surprised by smaller crowds AFTER Thanksgiving, due to AP blockouts. Even Deluxe APs are blocked out Thanksgiving and the two days after.

With the economy doing (marginally) better and perhaps fewer people renewing their APs, blockout dates may not be the massive deciding factor they were in 2009. But I thought I'd throw that out there, as they still have an effect. The idea is that many tourists will be with family for Thanksgiving, and many locals may be blocked out (or just plain spending time with family away from Disneyland). I'm not sure if this applies in 2010 like it did in 2009, but that's what I'd be betting on if it were my trip.

I DO know that in most cases, non-blocked days + kids out of school = massive crowds. So, I would personally avoid the days before Thanksgiving like the plague.