So... just how bad should Memorial Day be in the parks?

[Novatrix]

So how crowded should the parks be if I wanted to wander around Downtown Disney Sunday night before Memorial Day and had Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday to visit the parks (with a possibility of a partial day Thursday morning)? Would that be enough time to experience all the rides + visit the Disney hotels/lounges + take in 2 or 3 of the top sit down restaurants?


A bit about me: This will be my 1st and likely only trip to Disneyland. I consider myself an expert on WDW, but my only knowledge of Disneyland is it is significantly more compact and that I want to see the Disneyland version of Trader Sam's. It's unfortunate that it doesn't look like they'll be resuming the Walking in Walt's footsteps tour before my trip. I'll be traveling solo and am planning on getting Genie+. Flying in and out of LAX.

 

[Magic2000]

Can't answer your questions, but I'll be following to find the answers too! We'll be there same time - flying into LAX and staying in Hollywood for a few days, then staying at HoJo May 31-June 4.
Have a great trip!!

 

[mdmost]

We typically do 3 days and 1 morning at DLR. That feels like enough time if you have a good plan. We typically do DL, CA, DL, and DL as our park choices. I would grab the park hopper just to give you the flexibility to run over to the other park if you feel you haven't gotten to everything. We'll be at the parks around the same time as you though we're starting on Wednesday, June 1st and going through Saturday.

A good plan I did, and this is with a wife and 2 kids, is to break Disneyland into two halves. I think this is especially true with Star Wars Land. Save Star Wars Land for its own day/half day. We did Tomorrowland in the morning and worked our way counter-clockwise over to New Orleans Square. We focus on our favorite rides which typically are Genie+ (old Maxpass rides) rides. We then fill in rides that aren't favorites that are close by. We do California Adventure on day 2 and usually only spend one full day there. We may go back for a late night Guardians ride on a different evening. Day 3 of our trip (day 2 at DLR) is where we do more out of the norm things like riding the train, Mark Twain Riverboat, and the other rides we didn't get to on Day 1. This time, we're going to start at Star Wars Land. Our Day 4 of our trip is going to be just taking it slow. We even discussed letting our 12 and 14 year old go have fun together and the wife and I just spend the day as a day date at Disneyland.

I really like Disneyland Daily on Facebook to help with plannings. She has great plans for first timers. Her plans with also help you with figuring out how to use Genie+ to maximize your trip. She also has plans for California Adventure.

https://disneylanddaily.com/how-to-start-your-day-at-the-disneyland-resort/

I think you'll be fine as long as you start early. On Memorial Day, the two lower tier Magic Keys are blocked. The rest of the time you're there there are no restrictions and it is the time before the summer block happens on those lower tiers. So you might actually get busier days after Memorial Day. Again, the key to Disneyland is just to go early. We've been at Christmas time, Halloween, and early summer. None of those were really ever bad until late morning/early afternoon. So we always try to maximize our mornings.

If it makes you feel any better, and I know it does for me, a good indicator of crowd levels is how much a single day ticket costs. The totals per day when you are there are $149 on Memorial Day and $119 on the other 3 days. That's lower than Memorial Day weekend which is $164 and $159.

 

[gelatoni fan]

3 days is my recommendation with DL, CA, DL starts. Most people wouldn't have the energy to fully take advantage of 4 days anyway but if there's reservations available you could upgrade your ticket on your 3rd day if you feel there's more you want to do.

Crowds will be a bit elevated but you can still do quite well by rope dropping.

 

[buckeev]

So how crowded should the parks be if I wanted to wander around Downtown Disney Sunday night before Memorial Day and had Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday to visit the parks (with a possibility of a partial day Thursday morning)? Would that be enough time to experience all the rides + visit the Disney hotels/lounges + take in 2 or 3 of the top sit down restaurants?


A bit about me: This will be my 1st and likely only trip to Disneyland. I consider myself an expert on WDW, but my only knowledge of Disneyland is it is significantly more compact and that I want to see the Disneyland version of Trader Sam's. It's unfortunate that it doesn't look like they'll be resuming the Walking in Walt's footsteps tour before my trip. I'll be traveling solo and am planning on getting Genie+. Flying in and out of LAX.

Following! Pretty similar situation for me and my daughter…just not sure how many days she’s gonna make it! My likely days are Friday May 27th through at least Monday 30th. WDW veterans but need a DL for DUMBIES book!

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

Following! Pretty similar situation for me and my daughter…just not sure how many days she’s gonna make it! My likely days are Friday May 27th through at least Monday 30th. WDW veterans but need a DL for DUMBIES book!

Do you already have your park reservations? May 27-30th still have both parks as starting options for hoppers, but DCA is gone for Sat/Sun for single park tickets.

 

[China Expat]

CROWDED

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Fantasmic is returning on 5/28 and I know people are fired up to see it! I think the weekend might be busier than it normally is due to this but you really never know these days. What I do know is it has been very busy every day I’ve gone this year.

 

[soniam]

Memorial Day weekend is also Star Wars Celebration. It may not bring crowds during the day, but it definitely will at night, especially in Batuu. It could also bring more crowds the days before and after the convention. I think DL is closing early for a special event. Maybe it’s only after-hours, but I bet people will show up in the park before the party. Prepare for it to be very crowded.

 

[1Disneylandfan]

Expect it to be pretty busy Sunday/Monday. The locals will be there for sure. As others have said, the Star Wars event is on Saturday the 28th. With the reservations system, Disney wants to be able to have an even keel of attendance on a daily basis, and not an up and down (low one day, and high another). I don't know if they've achieved that, but it appears to be their goal. Being that kids are still in school, I would think the attendance is going to lower Tuesday - Thursday, and go back up by the weekend.

 

[sophy1996]

Star Wars Celebration is at the Convention Center Thursday-Sunday. Star Wars Nite takes place at DL park starting at 9 pm on Friday, so that will close the park early that night. Fantasmic returns Saturday. It will be a busy weekend.

 

[shosh1530]

We are going Tues-Thurs that week (plus Universal on Memorial Day) and I'm guessing those days are going to be crazy crowded too. Park reservations booked up for Tuesday/Wednesday weeks ago, but were still open for the weekend last I checked.

I think it is best to prepare yourself for crazy crowds and then be pleasantly surprised if it is less. Our plan is to maximize our time in the mornings and evenings and enjoy some hotel time in the hottest part of the day. We also booked packages for the various nighttime spectaculars since that is a big focus for our trip and I know those will driving a lot of the crowds.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Expect it to be pretty busy Sunday/Monday. The locals will be there for sure. As others have said, the Star Wars event is on Saturday the 28th. With the reservations system, Disney wants to be able to have an even keel of attendance on a daily basis, and not an up and down (low one day, and high another). I don't know if they've achieved that, but it appears to be their goal. Being that kids are still in school, I would think the attendance is going to lower Tuesday - Thursday, and go back up by the weekend.

The Star Wars after dark party is Friday May 27.

 

[1Disneylandfan]

The Star Wars after dark party is Friday May 27.

Sorry I missed quoted the event day. Either way, expect a pretty busy weekend, for a few reasons. Historically holiday weekends are always busy at the Disneyland Resort. With the reservation system, Disney has created a way to create attendance demand and at the same time have better control operationally speaking. It shows in their recent profits/revenue postings. Disney has basically closed the gap for what used to slow/off seasons, especially with more events throughout the year.

 

[1Disneylandfan]

Even with all that said, my suggestion is to do rope-drop each morning. Or if your not a morning person, stay until closing since usually in the last hour the lines are minimal, so it basically mirrors what you would get in the morning.