Starting to panic about possible horrible crowds during our trip..Reassure me please!

[jacobsmommy]

We will be on our trip from June 22 to June 25 staying at Fairfield Anaheim. I know the 22nd will definately be crazy b/c it's not blacked out, but that's arrival day so we plan to do just a few things and then have dinner at Goofy's. After reading some posts about crowds in June, I am really scared about crowds when we're there. We've been to WDW during the summer and have always accomplished alot. We plan to get there early and take advantage of our EE on the 24th. Someone please reassure me that we won't be in crowds of wall to wall people! Also, the jury is still out as to whether or not we'll even attempt to try WOC.

Side note: the only other time we were at DLR was the summer the Nemo subs opened. How will the crowds this summer compare to that?

 

[emacat]

I sympathize. We are going June 11-17, booked back before there was any solid date for WOC, only to find out it now seems we booked the worst possible week. Reading about being a GuineaPig is even more nerve wracking.

We went June 22-28 in 2008, and it was the perfect time. Not too busy, beautiful weather, etc. So, optimistically, since I believe that's AP blockout time (?), it really shouldn't be too bad. Either way, just remember to think positive.

Good luck!

 

[kailuagirl]

With WOC starting this summer, who knows what the crowds will be like. We were there about the same dates last summer and had a wonderful time!! It was crowded but we still had a great time. Just make sure to be there at opening, take a break in the afternoon when it gets crowded and follow all of the wonderful tips here!!! Have fun!! and have a plan

 

[Dobie]

The way to handle Disneyland during a busy time is to just PLAN that you will (1) get there early early early and (2) not be there in the afternoon. Spend that time doing something else--swimming,napping, shopping in DTD, whatever. Go back at night and have a blast.

 

[HydroGuy]

We went June 22-28 in 2008, and it was the perfect time. Not too busy, beautiful weather, etc. So, optimistically, since I believe that's AP blockout time (?), it really shouldn't be too bad. Either way, just remember to think positive.

In previous years there were far less AP holders and the blockouts started earlier (like June 21-25). And the blockouts were more abrupt and not staggered like this year. It is not that comparable to this year. FWIW.

 

[HydroGuy]

We will be on our trip from June 22 to June 25 staying at Fairfield Anaheim. I know the 22nd will definately be crazy b/c it's not blacked out, but that's arrival day so we plan to do just a few things and then have dinner at Goofy's. After reading some posts about crowds in June, I am really scared about crowds when we're there. We've been to WDW during the summer and have always accomplished alot. We plan to get there early and take advantage of our EE on the 24th. Someone please reassure me that we won't be in crowds of wall to wall people! Also, the jury is still out as to whether or not we'll even attempt to try WOC.

Side note: the only other time we were at DLR was the summer the Nemo subs opened. How will the crowds this summer compare to that?

It will be worse than Nemo. We were there in June 2007 too. But the blockout days will be tolerable. The non-blockout days will be challenging and people should be prepared to have extra patience and be extra willing to respond to the 5:30AM alarm clock getting you up for Magic Morning.

 

[Monkey Monkey]

It will be worse than Nemo. We were there in June 2007 too. But the blockout days will be tolerable. The non-blockout days will be challenging and people should be prepared to have extra patience and be extra willing to respond to the 5:30AM alarm clock getting you up for Magic Morning.

Why do you say it will be worse than Nemo? Nemo crowds were there all day, every day, whereas WOC is only at night.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

... After reading some posts about crowds in June, I am really scared about crowds when we're there. ... Someone please reassure me that we won't be in crowds of wall to wall people!

We visited DLR last summer (June 28 - July 5). It was our first 4th of July trip. Before the trip I was very concerned about crowds of wall-to-wall people, and I thought that we'd be packed in Main Street like sardines. But it turned out that the crowds were manageable, and all my worrying was for nothing. (Last year the summer blackout for both SoCal APs started on June 27.)

Except for Tuesday, you picked good dates to visit. IMO many of the people who complain about crowds don't arrive early, and they know very little about FastPass.

I don't see any reason to panic.

Also, the jury is still out as to whether or not we'll even attempt to try WOC.

Re: WOC, the jury will probably be out for a few months.

Side note: the only other time we were at DLR was the summer the Nemo subs opened. How will the crowds this summer compare to that?

We visited DLR in the first week of August 2007. From my experience, I think early-August 2007 was more crowded than June 28 to July 5, 2009.

HTH

 

[HydroGuy]

Why do you say it will be worse than Nemo? Nemo crowds were there all day, every day, whereas WOC is only at night.

IMO it will be worse than Nemo for these reasons:

1. In June 2007 there were fewer AP holders - now there are 1 million. Not sure about 2007 but I believe it was less than 500,000.

2. Nemo crowds seemed to draw people only to Nemo. If you were not in the Nemo line everything else was normal. I suspect WOC crowds will swamp all of DLR.

3. Frankly, World of Color is a bigger deal than Nemo.

FWIW, I was at DLR in 2007 the last week of June. The first two days were not blockout days and the the last two days were blocked out. I did see crowds drop but it was not super noticeable.

AP blockouts emerged as a big issue for crowds in 2008 and really in 2009.

See

ONLINE 6/16
Dumbo & Dumber
Fantasmic + Fireworks + WWW + APs = Nightmares; Electrical Parade returns to Main Street, More...

 

[dbanzai]

One thing about the time you're going: That's the same weekend as both the Yankee-Dodger series at Chavez Ravine, as well as the NHL Draft at STAPLES Center. I can't say for a fact that will have any baring, but as a Yankee fan, that's why I'll be in town, and we do tend to be a traveling bunch.

Whether others will make the trip between LA and Anaheim besides us, who knows. But it's something worth noting.

 

[NewbieMouse]

Forget about it. You're already planning to implement the best tips re: crowd avoidance, and that's all you can do. I'm sure by now there's no way you're going to cancel your trip for another time, so stop torturing yourself. Plan as best you can, go and have a good time. Soak up the energy! I'm in the same boat having booked the week WOC opens, but it's the only weeks that's possible for us, so... oh well.

 

[rentayenta]

The way to handle Disneyland during a busy time is to just PLAN that you will (1) get there early early early and (2) not be there in the afternoon. Spend that time doing something else--swimming,napping, shopping in DTD, whatever. Go back at night and have a blast.

Once again, the Dobie and I are simpatico. The above is our exact plan!

 

[Shakthi]

The first time we went to DL was on a Xmas day, more specifically 2005. There were so many people we could hardly move around. I kid you not! We couldn't even take a picture in front of the castle, go past the Zocalo restaurant, go to New Orleans Square, or do many of the rides (As newbies, we didn't know about FP at that time). Everywhere we went there were huge crowds, but since we have the philosophy of not trying to soak up everything at once, we took it easy and still found lots of stuff to do, saw Aladin, went to places that had less demand, saw the fireworks, the parades, enjoyed the magic in spite of the crowds. I admit it is not as good, but if you can't do anything about it, I agree with NewbieMouse "stop torturing yourself", go and make the most out of it.

 

[SeattleTink]

It is great that you know what you may be up against....but really, it is never a "perfect" time to go to Disneyland.

We have been there during high crowds too...and you just deal with it.

Hit the gates at rope drop (or before), collect fast passes (follow Hydroguy's tips!), and enjoy being in the Happiest Place on Earth!

I have found that most mornings are pretty quiet and have low crowds (even during busy times) but the evening is when the locals start coming in to watch the fireworks or Fantasmic! That is why you need your fast passes!

Attitude is EVERYTHING! Plan, relax, enjoy!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I agree with SeattleTink ~ you are so far ahead of other DLR visitors who will be there with you - you have a the Dis on your side, you know what you have coming and can go with a plan. Would I choose to go then ~ no ~ but you can have a good time - heck I'm going over the 4th of July weekend - but I'm really hoping crowds will be tolerable!

 

[Mugglemama]

FWIW, I ran a sample itinerary on RideMax for the 22nd (the day you thought would be the worst). I scheduled 14 rides (all of them the most popular ones...Indy, POTC, HM, Splash, Space, IASW, Matterhorn, etc...). RideMax spit out a very reasonable itinerary...the longest wait was estimated to be 27 minutes, and that was for Matterhorn. The itinerary scheduled nothing from about Noon to about 6:30pm, though. Late FP's were used in the itinerary.

Hope that helps. Then again, RideMax has never dealt with WOC, so although I swear by using the program (I used it for one 5-day trip in the parks in August of '07, and it seemed like a miracle worker to me!), I am nervous about how WOC will affect my RideMax itinerary for this Summer.

But if you're already planning to follow all the avoid-crowds-and-long lines "rules" by getting to the gates early, etc., then I would imagine you'll get to do most (if not all) of what you wanted to over the 4 days you will be in the parks.

Personally, I am unwilling to go into the parks without a RideMax itinerary during Summer months. But plenty of people around the boards seem to manage it just fine solely by using HydroGuy's Tips and other info they get around here.

 

[jacobsmommy]

How crazy would it be for us to try to do PFF on that first afternoon/evening? I know it's not blacked out, but do AP holders get in line for stuff like that? I figure, that might free up our first morning for more rides. How bad are the PFF lines in the late afternoon/evenings?