Please help me pick the best arrival time in early December!

[lvdis]

I am planning a 4 night trip to DLR in early December and in reviewing all the flight options, the best prices are option 1: flying into SNA on Saturday 12/5 with an arrival time of 11:35am and flying out on Wed 12/9 at 1:36 pm. My goal originally was to avoid weekends, but this seems to be our best option at this time.

So, I have a couple of questions about arriving on that weekend. I have read that this is typically when they have the Candlelight Processional. I will have 4 day park hoppers (it was a bonus 3 day ticket), would it be worth going into the parks on that Saturday afternoon/evening after we arrive or would it be way too crowded to enjoy it? I'm good with just taking in the atmosphere if ride lines are too long, but would not like wall to wall congestion. How do you think the Sunday - Tuesday would be for full touring days?

My other 2 options that are the same cost would be option 2: flying in on Tuesday 12/8 with an 11:35am arrival time, but the flight going home is on Saturday 12/12 at 6:45am. If we went with that how would Tues afternoon/night with Wed - Friday be? or option 3: fly in on Wed 12/9, arrive 6:30pm, leave at 7:45am on Sunday 12/13 with full days on Thurs, Fri, Sat

Which of these options would be the best in your opinion? Sorry, this got a lot worder than I had intended! Thanks for any insight you can provide!

 

[RKKUNK]

I'm thinking Tuesday-Friday would be good because it is usually less crowded on those days. But, I'm not sure if they have the fireworks every night like they do later in December. If that is the case, you might want to stick to your option 1.

 

[Sherry E]

I'm thinking Tuesday-Friday would be good because it is usually less crowded on those days. But, I'm not sure if they have the fireworks every night like they do later in December. If that is the case, you might want to stick to your option 1.

The holiday season -- in its typical form -- has fireworks every single night, all season long, from when it starts in mid-November to early January. The only times when fireworks don't happen on a night during the holiday season are when weather interferes (wind, especially).

However, this year I'm not sure what's happening because the holiday-specific fireworks are not running. Only the 60th anniversary fireworks will be happening all year. I would have to imagine that they will still happen nightly all holiday season long, but the schedule could change for this year only.

 

[figment_jii]

As Sherry E said, fireworks (and WoC) are typically presented nightly once the Holiday season begins in DLR. F! will continue to be weekends (Fri to Sun) only until closer to Christmas (and during Thanksgiving week). So if you want to see F!, you'll need at least one Fri, Sat, or Sun night.

My general feeling is that crowds pick-up as December progresses, especially in terms of the weekend. Dec 12-13 is the last weekend that some of the APs get until January (Deluxe APs get Sat and Sun and SoCal get Sun). I've been there that period (Wed to Sun) and there was a noticeable uptick in crowds from between Wed/Thu and Fri-Sun. So if you can go earlier in the week (e.g., you're option 2) I would consider doing that from a crowd perspective. Also, there was a noticeable decrease in available merchandise from Wed/Thu to Sunday. By the weekend, some items had sold out or only had limited sizes available (e.g. XS or XXL).

Candlelight Processional does impact crowds, but they seemed mostly concentrated on Main Street waiting for the show. I didn't feel like they necessarily impacted the rest of the park (other than a few attractions close early, e.g., Train, Jungle Cruise, etc.), so I wouldn't rule out that weekend just because of CP.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

I would go with option 2. Tuesday afternoon through Friday in the parks sounds ideal to me. This will ensure that you get the lower crowds of weekdays while also having a Friday in there if Fantasmic! will only be shown on weekends. Fridays are more crowded than other weekdays, but not as crowded as a Saturday or Sunday. If your costs will be the same for all of these options, I see no reason not to choose the plan that will avoid a Sat/Sun in the parks.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

we are going the first week dec. I know the weekend will be busy but we are ready for it. I think for your options I would do the option 2. We have 5 days and will have 3 week days two weekend so we do have a few week days to get some long line rides in.
If you do go on a weekend just be ready and try and take advantage of the slow lines and shows those days.
If we do a tour or a dinner (f or woc) we will do it on the night the candlelight is happening.
We may also stay in dca that evening.

 

[backinoz]

We were there for 5 days over CP In 2012. Like previous ppl have said it makes Main St VERY congested and the railway's not running so no way to get around it to go to the rest of the park. but.. During CP the rest of DL and especially DCA were not more crowded during the week. Also keep in mind that during that time of year weekday park hours tend to be much shorter - we had 9am-8pm at least once during our stay so park hoppers are well worth it to head to the other park which was usually open until at least 9pm. From memory weekend days were at least 4 hours longer.