Summer crowds

[drag n' fly]

When do the summer crowds begin to go down and the kids are back in school there?
I forgot to mention I checked the AP calendars but they were down. Looking for the best time in August to go.

 

[HarryMoose]

We are going July 31st to Aug5th. I asked my cousin who lives in LA if they would be in town then, since I wanted to visit with them during our trip. She said that was the weekend before their DD started back to school.

I think she goes to a "year round school" that takes 3 weeks off every so often. She said a lot of schools in LA area do that.

 

[danceanddisney2010]

I have a friend who lives about a half an hour away from disneyland && she goes back on September 5!!! Her cousin who lives about 20 min away from dis in the other direction...starts august 10!

 

[skiingfast]

When do the summer crowds begin to go down and the kids are back in school there?
I forgot to mention I checked the AP calendars but they were down. Looking for the best time in August to go.

Crowds start to tail off the second or third week of August, of course that is when the AP blockouts start to end, so it doesn't mean nobody will be there and the rides are for the most part stable. So it's good to plan during the first couple weeks or the very last week that goes in September.

 

[DizNee Luver]

We were there the end of July into the first week of August & didn't think the crowds were that bad. We were able to meander the parks & only had longer waits on the most popular rides. We took advantage of FP's , made ressies for meals & made sure we were at the parks at opening to get in a few good hours with small crowds.

 

[HarryMoose]

We were there the end of July into the first week of August & didn't think the crowds were that bad. We were able to meander the parks & only had longer waits on the most popular rides. We took advantage of FP's , made ressies for meals & made sure we were at the parks at opening to get in a few good hours with small crowds.

That makes me so happy to hear that! How was the weather???

We were at WDW New years eve 2010-11 and we managed then, so I figured with some planning (and the fact we are staying close by and have 4 full days there) we will have more then enough time to get it all done, and maybe even relax some.

We are from the East coast time zone, so I am hoping we can get up early and get a lot done in the mornings, then go back to the room in the afternoon.

What is the story with the mornings at the parks? I keep hearing about early entry, but it seems like you only get one per stay? Is making breakfast reservations in the park a good idea to get in early? I know about the bonus fast pass (1 per person, per trip.)

 

[skiingfast]

That makes me so happy to hear that! How was the weather???

We were at WDW New years eve 2010-11 and we managed then, so I figured with some planning (and the fact we are staying close by and have 4 full days there) we will have more then enough time to get it all done, and maybe even relax some.

We are from the East coast time zone, so I am hoping we can get up early and get a lot done in the mornings, then go back to the room in the afternoon.

What is the story with the mornings at the parks? I keep hearing about early entry, but it seems like you only get one per stay? Is making breakfast reservations in the park a good idea to get in early? I know about the bonus fast pass (1 per person, per trip.)

Have you happen to have read the DLR guide for WDW vets?

Weather is much nicer than WDW in general, far less humidity. It will be hot to possibly very hot and sunny in the middle of summer.

Magic Morning are on Tues, Thurs, Sat and Sun. If you get a 3 day of longer park hopper you can enter DL on one of those days an hour early. Only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland will be open. Resort guests can enter on any of those days for thier whole trip.

With breakfast, you can go to Ariel's Grotto in DCA, but if you finish early have to go back to the Rope Drop area.

In DL you can eat at Minnie and Friends breafast at the Plaza Inn. While this works in some cases, because you can enter without using or needing the Magic Morning credit, you can eat and be done and join in the Magic Morning crowd.

 

[cdatkins]

We were there the end of July into the first week of August & didn't think the crowds were that bad. We were able to meander the parks & only had longer waits on the most popular rides. We took advantage of FP's , made ressies for meals & made sure we were at the parks at opening to get in a few good hours with small crowds.

That's great to hear because we will be there at the end of July this year and I am kind of stressing about crowd levels.

 

[DizNee Luver]

That makes me so happy to hear that! How was the weather???

We were at WDW New years eve 2010-11 and we managed then, so I figured with some planning (and the fact we are staying close by and have 4 full days there) we will have more then enough time to get it all done, and maybe even relax some.

We are from the East coast time zone, so I am hoping we can get up early and get a lot done in the mornings, then go back to the room in the afternoon.

What is the story with the mornings at the parks? I keep hearing about early entry, but it seems like you only get one per stay? Is making breakfast reservations in the park a good idea to get in early? I know about the bonus fast pass (1 per person, per trip.)

We have found the first few hours (everyday) is a great time to ride some of the bigger rides, gather FP's & even get some rides done in Fantasyland as the crowds don't really start rolling in until mid-morning. As much as we'd like to sleep in on our vacation.....we just refuse to miss out on the prime morning time in the parks. We stay thru lunch time & then take a break for a few hours. We come back & use our FP's we gathered all morning during the busiest time of day. Even with big crowds, this plan has never failed us!

We lucked out weather wise last summer.....we only had one "hot" day in a 10 day trip......the weather was pleasant low 80's & cooling in the evening......perfect!

That's great to hear because we will be there at the end of July this year and I am kind of stressing about crowd levels.

You'll do fine......have you ever gone during spring break?? If you have.....you'll be thrilled with the difference in crowd levels!!! I'll never go spring break again.....yikes!!

 

[cdatkins]

You'll do fine......have you ever gone during spring break?? If you have.....you'll be thrilled with the difference in crowd levels!!! I'll never go spring break again.....yikes!!

I've only been to DL once, and it was the day or two after Thanksgiving in 1991 (can't remember which day).

Funny thing is, I can't remember it being that crowded, even though I know it had to be.

 

[JH87]

You'll do fine......have you ever gone during spring break?? If you have.....you'll be thrilled with the difference in crowd levels!!! I'll never go spring break again.....yikes!!

I am with you on this....did my first Spring Break visit and that is one thing I will never do again, if it can be avoided! Not only was it crazy busy, there were lots of teens/pre-teens running around unsupervised and you can only imagine how that was!

Last summer we went in the beginning of Aug...Aug 8 & 9 I believe. Crowds were okay! Weather was unseasonably cool, never hit above 75. I personally like warmer weather in summer, it makes the rides on GRR and Splash that much more appreciated!

 

[cyclenut]

When do the summer crowds begin to go down and the kids are back in school there?
I forgot to mention I checked the AP calendars but they were down. Looking for the best time in August to go.

Most schools in the socal area will start back in September. There are some on a year-round calendar that only have a month off during the summer. August tends to get very busy though so it seems that later into August is the better choice (3rd week, but even the second week shouldn't be too bad).

Weather should be very good and most of the time it stays under 90, however we have had some pretty hot days on occasion. The nice thing is that the weather stays warm into the evenings and the humidity is much better than WDW (although not nearly as dry as AZ or even the desert areas of California).

One caution on the weather. This year we have experienced a number days of unseasonable weather. We had some very hot days (high 90s) back in November and we've even seen some colder than expected days. Usually the weather in socal is more predictable so I recommend you watch the weather forecast closely (I probably would not have said this a year ago).

 

[RedRosie]

What do you think of crowds and weather later in September? I would think it would be pretty good, but I would love to hear that it is fabulous!

 

[HarryMoose]

Have you happen to have read the DLR guide for WDW vets?

Weather is much nicer than WDW in general, far less humidity. It will be hot to possibly very hot and sunny in the middle of summer.

Magic Morning are on Tues, Thurs, Sat and Sun. If you get a 3 day of longer park hopper you can enter DL on one of those days an hour early. Only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland will be open. Resort guests can enter on any of those days for thier whole trip.

With breakfast, you can go to Ariel's Grotto in DCA, but if you finish early have to go back to the Rope Drop area.

In DL you can eat at Minnie and Friends breafast at the Plaza Inn. While this works in some cases, because you can enter without using or needing the Magic Morning credit, you can eat and be done and join in the Magic Morning crowd.

I have not seen that, thanks for the link I will check it out. **** Turns out I had seen that before, last year I think. When I was thinking about maybe planning a trip in the next few years. It is a different thing to read it know you are going. I am really enjoying it. Great info and well written. ***** edited after posting.

We will be staying on property, so we should plan for early entry on Tuesday Thursday, (the only EE days we will be there.) Good to know about the Ariels grotto verse Minnies. If we made reservations for Wednesday morning, would we have to leave the park after if you finished eating before opening time?

DizNee, that is exactly our plan. At WDW we find it hard to get there early, but hopefully the time zone difference will work to our advantage and help us be morning people. Plus walking is much more easy to control how long it takes you (apposed to the WDW bus system where you can leave a hour before opening and still get there after.) Those hours are so valuable!

 

[skiingfast]

We will be staying on property, so we should plan for early entry on Tuesday Thursday, (the only EE days we will be there.) Good to know about the Ariels grotto verse Minnies. If we made reservations for Wednesday morning, would we have to leave the park after if you finished eating before opening time?

In DCA you go back to the rope drop area which is a couple hundred feet back from Ariels, DCA always opens at 9:30 though it's official time is 10am on most days. So if you finish quickly(sometime characters take time to make rounds and the breakfastes take a lot of time) you either go back to the rope drope. BTW Ariels is a princess breakfast.

In DL the rope drop, on non Magic morning day, is the hub end of main street. The Plaza Inn is just past there on the right so likewise when you are done if the park is open you go to the rope drop area. Minnie and Friends has a great collection of classic Disney Characters. But Because DL opens so early you probably won't get much benefit of being in the park early. Except cool pictures without crowds on Main Street.

 

[cyclenut]

What do you think of crowds and weather later in September? I would think it would be pretty good, but I would love to hear that it is fabulous!

Crowds are way down in September but check the hours. This is about the time that DL switches from summer hours and starts its planned maintenance schedule on rides and attractions. Maybe someone has more specifics on this, I'm just speaking from memory but I know it is either in late September or early October. The goal is to have everything back open and operational in time for the holiday season through New Years (some of THE busiest days). That doesn't give them a very large window so there are usually more than a couple off-line.