Possibly planning a January or February trip.

[TeamH]

Possibly planning a January or February trip. I have never planned a Disneyland trip before so I need your help. I will be traveling with hubby and an 8 (boy) and 4 (girl) yr old from BC.

What do I need to be aware of before possibly booking either of these months. What rides are closed? What is the weather like?

Thanks!!

 

[figment_jii]

The official Holiday season in DLR ends on January 6 (Wed). If you go before that, there will probably be very large crowds in the parks.

The Rivers of America (Mark Twain/Columbia, Canoes, Tom Sawyers Island, Fantasmic!), the Train, and the Big Thunder Ranch and Petting Zoo are slated to close permanently at the end of the day on January 10, 2016 to make way for Star Wars Land. The Aladdin musical in DCA is also closing on Jan 10 to make way for a new Frozen show that will debut in the summer. IaSW, Jungle Cruise, and Haunted Mansion are likely to close at some point in January to have their holiday overlays removed. Typically (last year was the first year), Jungle Cruise closed right after the Holiday season ended. HMH remained opened through the weekend and then closed to have the overlay removed. IaSWH closed a bit after HMH re-opened to have it's overlay removed. Generally the water attractions (Splash and GRR) close at some point in the winter for a refurbishment. Other than the water rides and the rides with holiday overlays, it's hard to know what will or will not be closed. DLR does not follow a set/predictable pattern of closures for the most part.

At this point, no one knows what the non-peak season entertainment calendar will look like after the Holidays end. Normally, fireworks would go to a weekends (Fri to Sun) only schedule, but they presented fireworks nightly during the current non-peak season (Labor Day to the start of the Holiday Season). That being said, I would plan for fireworks to only be offered on weekends. WoC should still be presented nightly. It's been a long time since DL had a nighttime parade, so it's hard to say whether PtN will be nightly in the non-peak season or not.

I recommend checking out HydroGuy's Detailed Weather Data for DLR thread.

I don't have a lot of events listed for 2016 yet, but the 2016 Calendar of Events & School Breaks and DLR thread has some information.

 

[Aladora]

Possibly planning a January or February trip. I have never planned a Disneyland trip before so I need your help. I will be traveling with hubby and an 8 (boy) and 4 (girl) yr old from BC.

What do I need to be aware of before possibly booking either of these months. What rides are closed? What is the weather like?

Thanks!!

Hello, fellow BC'er!

We went this past February and it was HOT! Not, Kelowna in August hot but definitely Victoria in July hot. We were all in shorts and tees, we even went swimming one day.

Ride refurbs are higher in Jan/Feb and as far as I can tell, Splash and GRR are usually closed in Feb, they were this year.

We've gone in Feb, Mar, April, Aug and Sept and I can say that the crowds were definitely lower in February which was nice.

 

[KalamityJane]

We went feb 6-11 this past year and swam every day! Lots was closed but it wasn't bad

 

[TeamH]

Hello, fellow BC'er!

We went this past February and it was HOT! Not, Kelowna in August hot but definitely Victoria in July hot. We were all in shorts and tees, we even went swimming one day.

Ride refurbs are higher in Jan/Feb and as far as I can tell, Splash and GRR are usually closed in Feb, they were this year.

We've gone in Feb, Mar, April, Aug and Sept and I can say that the crowds were definitely lower in February which was nice.

Thanks. Not looking for Kelowna hot, we live in Kelowna and I would say we would all be miserable by the end for the trip.

 

[Aladora]

Thanks. Not looking for Kelowna hot, we live in Kelowna and I would say we would all be miserable by the end for the trip.

I saw that you were in Kelowna, that's why I used it as an example!

If I remember correctly, it was in the mid 20's when we were there the second week of February 2015.

 

[Luckymommatoo]

Fair warning -- all the experts are predicting an El Nino winter for us, which means LOTS of rain.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...n-California-Into-2016-Scripps-331168402.html
Of course there's no way to know for sure, but if it really happens, it could be pretty miserable at that time.

 

[TeamH]

Would going the first week of March be better for weather and possibly more stuff open before the crazy spring break crowds?

 

[TeamH]

The official Holiday season in DLR ends on January 6 (Wed). If you go before that, there will probably be very large crowds in the parks.

The Rivers of America (Mark Twain/Columbia, Canoes, Tom Sawyers Island, Fantasmic!), the Train, and the Big Thunder Ranch and Petting Zoo are slated to close permanently at the end of the day on January 10, 2016 to make way for Star Wars Land. The Aladdin musical in DCA is also closing on Jan 10 to make way for a new Frozen show that will debut in the summer. IaSW, Jungle Cruise, and Haunted Mansion are likely to close at some point in January to have their holiday overlays removed. Typically (last year was the first year), Jungle Cruise closed right after the Holiday season ended. HMH remained opened through the weekend and then closed to have the overlay removed. IaSWH closed a bit after HMH re-opened to have it's overlay removed. Generally the water attractions (Splash and GRR) close at some point in the winter for a refurbishment. Other than the water rides and the rides with holiday overlays, it's hard to know what will or will not be closed. DLR does not follow a set/predictable pattern of closures for the most part.

At this point, no one knows what the non-peak season entertainment calendar will look like after the Holidays end. Normally, fireworks would go to a weekends (Fri to Sun) only schedule, but they presented fireworks nightly during the current non-peak season (Labor Day to the start of the Holiday Season). That being said, I would plan for fireworks to only be offered on weekends. WoC should still be presented nightly. It's been a long time since DL had a nighttime parade, so it's hard to say whether PtN will be nightly in the non-peak season or not.

I recommend checking out HydroGuy's Detailed Weather Data for DLR thread.

I don't have a lot of events listed for 2016 yet, but the 2016 Calendar of Events & School Breaks and DLR thread has some information.

What would the first or second week of December be like for crowd levels do you think?

 

[Bud Ice]

December is a nice time to go with the Holiday theming and events.

 

[egritz]

December is a nice time to go with the Holiday theming and events.

When we went the 2nd week of December in 2013 it was very busy. Comparable to Late June crowds we experienced in June 2012.

 

[woodynjessiesmomma]

We went the first week of December 2013. It was our first trip so I can't compare but we were able to do everything we wanted to as far as crowds go. DL itself felt more crowded than DCA but not too bad.

 

[Canuck16]

Possibly planning a January or February trip. I have never planned a Disneyland trip before so I need your help. I will be traveling with hubby and an 8 (boy) and 4 (girl) yr old from BC.

What do I need to be aware of before possibly booking either of these months. What rides are closed? What is the weather like?

Thanks!!

Welcome fellow K-town Diser

What dates are are you looking at in Jan/Feb? The reason I ask is that some of the night time entertainment during that time will likely only run on weekends.

Plus Fantasmic will not be showing after January 10 I believe with the areas closing for Star Wars Land and Fantasmic is an amazing show. If you can go while it is still running you won't be disappointed.

 

[agamble]

The Rivers of America (Mark Twain/Columbia, Canoes, Tom Sawyers Island, Fantasmic!), the Train, and the Big Thunder Ranch and Petting Zoo are slated to close permanently at the end of the day on January 10, 2016 to make way for Star Wars Land.

Figment is very knowledgeable, so I know this was a mistake/typo. Just wanted to say that the Rivers and Train will reopen, it's the Ranch and Petting Zoo that are closing permanently.

February is supposed to be the least busy time of the year. It is likely you'll have closures. I'd say late January or early February is a pretty good time. The first week of March the water rides will likely down. They generally re-open just before Spring Break season.

 

[TeamH]

Welcome fellow K-town Diser

What dates are are you looking at in Jan/Feb? The reason I ask is that some of the night time entertainment during that time will likely only run on weekends.

Plus Fantasmic will not be showing after January 10 I believe with the areas closing for Star Wars Land and Fantasmic is an amazing show. If you can go while it is still running you won't be disappointed.

No set date, more going to try and find the best deal. I am now looking at going first or second week of December.

Any tips for travelling from Kelowna?

 

[Canuck16]

Who are you flying with?

 

[Canuck16]

No set date, more going to try and find the best deal. I am now looking at going first or second week of December.

Any tips for travelling from Kelowna?

How are you traveling down?

 

[TeamH]

How are you traveling down?

Nothing booked yet trying to find the best deal. But so far probably a package deal with westjet. So flights would be WJ YLW Via YVR to SNA. We have not points or anything to use for flights or tickets everything is out of pocket.

 

[Canuck16]

Nothing booked yet trying to find the best deal. But so far probably a package deal with westjet. So flights would be WJ YLW Via YVR to SNA. We have not points or anything to use for flights or tickets everything is out of pocket.

We always fly Alaska out of Seattle and into SNA. We have the Alaska Airlines MasterCard so we get a return flight for $100 which helps keep the cost of the flights down a bit.

SNA is an awesome airport......nice and close to DLR.

 

[TeamH]

We always fly Alaska out of Seattle and into SNA. We have the Alaska Airlines MasterCard so we get a return flight for $100 which helps keep the cost of the flights down a bit.

SNA is an awesome airport......nice and close to DLR.

Yes trying to Fly into SNA.

Any tips on best place to get park hopper tickets?