Planning for Late Sept/Oct - Question about California Screaming

[sweethannah]

Hi all, I'm trying to narrow down my dates so I can finally FINALLY book!

We want to head to Disney either the last week of September or the 10-17 October with the hopes of avoiding major crowds/events and still getting to see the Halloween decorations.

This will be our 2nd trip to Disneyland with our first being last May.
I was reading over trip/park reports and noticed that last year California Screamin' was closed for refurb for quite some time during the last part of September into early October. This is probably a 'must do' ride for us as last year my daughter was too small and she has talked about nothing else but going on that ride since.

My question is - is this a normal refurb, ei, do they refurb the California Screamin' annually? Or was that just an exceptionally long refurb for major work?

Would I be better off going a little later ( 10-17 October ) to ensure that ride and the majority of the 'big' rides will be open?

Thank you for all your input

 

[Homemom]

Sorry, I can't answer, I just wanted to say there was a thread the other day about how busy the last week of September is looking. You might want to read it in case it could help you choose which week to go.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2900073

 

[sweethannah]

Oh wow, there really doesn't seem to be that magical 'slow' period in the Fall.

No matter you try to avoid something else pops up.

We were there the 3rd to last week of May and we found the park fairly quiet which was really nice. I was hoping to recreate that as much as possible in September. Most of our days will be mid week I think, staying over the weekend and then having Mon-Wednesday at the Park should cut down on the crowds. I'm prepared for the Park to be busy on the weekends anyway.

Busy I can deal with - it's just a fact of life and you go with the flow. Missing out on a couple of major rides is harder to deal with.

 

[bakerudall]

I am going Oct. 11-14 and I'm am not very concerned about the crowds. It will be moderately busy due to fall breaks in AZ and UT, but we went the same time in 2010 and the weekdays were great. I plan on going crazy with the rides all day Thurs. and Fri. morning, then relaxing and taking in all the shows, parades, and other entertainment on the weekend while using FP to redo all the major rides.

I know Screamin' does not have an annually scheduled refurb, so I wouldn't worry about it if it just had one last fall. The annual makeovers of SM and HM happen in mid-Sept., I believe, so you miss them as well.

There have been rumors of rides like IJA, BTMRR, and AIW needing updates, and fall and spring are key times for refurbs, but no one really knows anything until Disney releases the schedule.