Rank the crowds

[mrswh]

For those who frequent DLR . . . I'm curious which of these times are the least and most crowded.

Spring break; summer; week in August when AP blockouts are lifted; Labor Day weekend; weekend after Thanksgiving (Fri-Sun immediately following); Christmas.

 

[PigletSeeker]

Of those you've mentioned, we've been at Spring Break, and mid-late August. Spring Break lines were longer. We had a great experience in August. I think the busiest I've seen the parks was on President's Day. (I've never been at Christmas or Thanksgiving- and personally wouldn't attempt it).

 

[junmatno]

We usually always go Thanksgiving...we do Thurs, Friday, Saturday. I guess since we expect crowds, for us they aren't a big deal. We did DL in Thanksgiving and DCA Friday...Disneyland was a lot busier on Friday than Thursday. Just remember you have 3 days to enjoy, split the park up and take advantage of that magic hour, it helps a lot for Space Mountain and FL at DL. DON'T STRESS, HAVE FUN!!

 

[junmatno]

I guess I should mention we've been Christmas also. We did 23,24, 25. The 23 wasn't bad at all, and Xmas Eve wasn't bad either, Xmas day was busier, but we has already seen a lot so we took our time and didn't let the crowds bug us. At no point did they shut down the parks for capacity. On the contrary, when we went for Thanksgiving in 2010, they closed them on the Tuesday BEFORE, because they were way over capacity at about 4....but never on Thanksgiving when we were there.

 

[mrswh]

Thanks for the replies! From my experience, spring break, summer and Labor Day are crowded but we can manage, but that week I'm August when APs are unblocked was pretty brutal. I know Christmas is horrible and was curious where Thanksgiving weekend fits in. We are on property go early people so I am hoping it won't be too horrible but want to be prepared!

 

[madigraham]

For those who frequent DLR . . . I'm curious which of these times are the least and most crowded.

Spring break; summer; week in August when AP blockouts are lifted; Labor Day weekend; weekend after Thanksgiving (Fri-Sun immediately following); Christmas.

spring break is always busy especially weekends, however march is not nearly as bad as april which is when the locals have break.
Summer is busy as well but manageable. The best days to go during summer is Tuesday or Wednesday.

I would wait until the end of August to go because most kids are back in school. Also, the first week the AP's can go its usually really crowded because everyone wants to go after a long 2 months!

Thanksgiving weekend is one of the busiest, if not the busiest time to visit. I would avoid going that weekend.

To sum it up, out of the times you mentioned i would say the best time is March if thats when your spring break is. If not, early summer is manageable.