I am contemplating an early August trip and would like to compare it with a Spring Break trip. Either way, the plan (as always) is to arrive early, maximize Fastpass, do an afternoon hotel pool break and nap, return to the park for the evening. How does late March compare with first week August in terms of: 1. Crowd levels - are they comparable to Spring Break crowd levels? 2. Weather - how much hotter is it in August than mid-late March ? 3. Ride closures - I assume fewer rides closed during mid Summer Thanks!
not sure about afternoon hotel pool break in late march. we were there last spring break, and the weather did not allow us to go into the pool. we live here, so maybe i'm not the one to go in the pool when it's 60s/70s. if you're from somewhere that's cold, maybe being in 60s/70s is "hot", thus you can go swimming. there were some people in the pool. just maybe a handful. my DSs were bummed out that they couldn't go swimming! as far as crowds...wasn't too bad. it was nice to be able to go back to the hotel & relax & then go back in, etc. we are planning on going next week...hopefully it won't be too crowded. the weather is much nicer during spring break, cuz it's not as hot as in august.
1) I'd assume the crowd levels will be about the same because they're both considered "peak" times. We went in July last year & the crowds were huge, but not unbearable 2) It will be much hotter in August then in March, right now we're actually having a lot of cloudy days. If you do go in August I recommend getting one of those little mist fans, before you go to the park they are a ripoff inside..$16 @ DL...$2 @ Walmart... Check weather.com for a 10 day outlook before you go 3) You can check attraction closures on Disney's calendar, right now they only have up to July posted but I think they try to keep closures to a minimum during their peak times. Good Luck & have a great time @ Disneyland
Regarding ride closures, both are peak times so DLR will do its best to have all rides going. However, Spring Break is less important to DLR than summer and Christmas holiday periods. Which means that long refurbs that take 3-5 months are likely to be done January-May. This year the Spring Break visitors have Splash Mtn down for a 4 month refurb, and the Fantasmic show down because of work on Tom Sawyer Island (TSI). Last year Spring Break had the POTC ride down. While not scheduled yet, there is talk of more work on TSI, and more work on POTC (adding Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann). That may happen Spring Break 2008. Bottom line is that Spring Break will have all or almost rides up and going, but do not be surprised if a headliner ride is down.
I have been told by several CMs that spring break and Christmas are MUCH more crowded than August. I think if you are especially going when Free Dining is NOT taking place, the crowds would be less. We are going August 8-18 and plan to be busier than say Jan. or Feb. We have been in June when everyone says it was crowded and we didnt find it terrible. We DID find it terrible once in October when we thought we were going off season and it ended up being the Millenium year. It was so bad that they had to close the parks and not allow any new visitors. Heat in August, Im sure will be hot. We dont mind the heat as much. Just plan for it. Check out www.camelbak.com We plan on purchasing some of those. We also plan on going to parks very early, back to hotel or ADRs during the middle of day, and back to parks at evening. Have a great trip!!!
Remember too next year Easter is March 23rd - so that same time in 2008 will be busier then 2007. Also, some schools are back in session in early August (I know we go back the 7th in AZ)
I'm glad you asked this question. When we visited DLR in August a couple of years ago, it was absolutely packed and much more crowded than when we visit in early June.
