Talk to me about March (vs. February?)

[ClaraOswald]

I haven't been to Disneyland in March since 2007.

Our most recent trip was early February 2015.

We were thinking we'd head back in February 2017. But I am wondering how early March compares to early February. Same types of crowds? Same types of ride closures?

I thought I remembered reading that they would be keeping Small World holiday open later in 2016...meaning it would be closed later. I suspect if they do this in 2017, it would likely be close the first week of February.

 

[Hojoanaheim]

I think early February and early March are similar crowd wise. Easter is early next year, March 27, so try to plan around that. We normally tell our guests that crowds tend to be heavier the week or two before Easter, the week of Easter, and the week after Easter. Not sure if "Spring Break" rush will be early for Disneyland too

HTH,
Kriss

 

[ADLFAN]

We went in March for our first trip, then June, and then February. We loved the crowds (or lack thereof) in both February and March and found it easy to get on rides. There are always refurbishments that time of year, and this year might be especially painful with the river and train closures. The hours will be short for both months, a little later on weekends. We didn't really mind that after commando touring all day! And when the parks don't open til 10, there is actually time to go out for some pancakes in the morning without feeling like you're wasting the least crowded part of the day. But then, since the parks open at 10, EVERYONE is able to get up and ready and get to the gates, so you lose a bit of that slow early morning time. Weather wise, it was warm enough to swim and have to search for shade both times! There is not one month out of the year that Disneyland doesn't make a fortune on Mickey Ice Cream Bars!!

 

[LizzyS]

We love going at the end of February, but we did get drenched one time, lol. The weather seems to be pretty good that time of year temperature-wise, however. You can pull off short sleeves in the day time, but may need a light coat at night time.

 

[Indiana Scott]

February, before Presidents "week" is a bit slower than March.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I think early February and early March are similar crowd wise. Easter is early next year, March 27, so try to plan around that. We normally tell our guests that crowds tend to be heavier the week or two before Easter, the week of Easter, and the week after Easter. Not sure if "Spring Break" rush will be early for Disneyland too

HTH,
Kriss

We are looking at 2017. Easter is actually quite late that year. So I am hoping that helps us avoid any Spring Break crowds.

We went in March for our first trip, then June, and then February. We loved the crowds (or lack thereof) in both February and March and found it easy to get on rides. There are always refurbishments that time of year, and this year might be especially painful with the river and train closures. The hours will be short for both months, a little later on weekends. We didn't really mind that after commando touring all day! And when the parks don't open til 10, there is actually time to go out for some pancakes in the morning without feeling like you're wasting the least crowded part of the day. But then, since the parks open at 10, EVERYONE is able to get up and ready and get to the gates, so you lose a bit of that slow early morning time. Weather wise, it was warm enough to swim and have to search for shade both times! There is not one month out of the year that Disneyland doesn't make a fortune on Mickey Ice Cream Bars!!

Since we're thinking of going in 2017...I wonder if the Rivers of America and all that will still be closed or not at that time. I haven't been keeping up on all the news/rumors.

As for weather, as long as it's not super hot, I'm fine. And our hotel has an indoor pool so that doesn't make much difference there either. I actually prefer cooler temps.

February, before Presidents "week" is a bit slower than March.

Do you think there are the same amount of closures for those times? I have found that with lots of closures, it actually makes things seem more crowded.

In February 2015....all of Critter Country was closed. And all of Condor Flats. I think just having chunks of the parks closed meant less places for people to go. So it kind of sucked.

 

[Indiana Scott]

Do you think there are the same amount of closures for those times? I have found that with lots of closures, it actually makes things seem more crowded.

In February 2015....all of Critter Country was closed. And all of Condor Flats. I think just having chunks of the parks closed meant less places for people to go. So it kind of sucked.

I think the likelihood for closures is the same but as to what will really be down, sadly, Disney just doesn't share long term details like that.

 

[SoCalTrojanSkip]

When I was a CM, guests used to come up to me and ask what day to come what days to come when it wasn't as crowded. I used to answer Tuesdays...in February, and I think that still holds true. A lot of schools start having their spring breaks starting in mid March, so the later you go the busy it tends to be.

A note about February, 2016..
El Nino is coming and it's predicted that California is going to be submerged from Jan-February, so keep that in mind. Also, there are things like President's Day and Lincoln's birthday and a lot of school's get something known as ski week. This year, that looks to be February 13-21 so crowd's might also be busier.
Other than that February is generally a great time to come, but check the refurb calendar to make sure something you really want to see isn't going to be closed.

 

[AZMermaid]

I teach in AZ. Our spring break is usually the second week of March. Each district is different... but looking at the calendar, I bet a lot of schools will be out the week of the 13th. Yep, just checked the district where we live (I teach in a different district and our calendar isn't out yet) and yes, they are out the week of the 13th. AZ breaks tend to greatly impact DL attendance. They stagger, but I bet they will start the 6th with just a few (probably not hugely impactful), really ramp up the 13th and between that and CA breaks stay steady until after Easter. I bet the week that starts Feb 27 would be great.

But.... hard to say about the closures. It can't be as bad as last year, right?! It was SO annoying how crowded it was in early Feb. I was fine with the closures if they equaled low crowds, but 45 minutes for Pirates on a Monday.... no thanks. That is why our next trip is in June. It can't be more crowded than Feb felt and at least we can ride everything (well, besides all those major closures, which is still nothing like last year).

I think all the ROA closures will still be going on. I think the projected reopen date is like April 2017, but don't quote me on it!

 

[Carathryn]

We went last year and were in the parks March 10-12. We got everything we wanted to done with minimal waits. I think the longest we waited for anything was 30 minutes to meet Thor. DCA felt a lot less crowded than DL. The only thing that was closed that disappointed us was the Matterhorn. The weather was perfect and crowds felt similar to when we went mid February several years ago.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I teach in AZ. Our spring break is usually the second week of March. Each district is different... but looking at the calendar, I bet a lot of schools will be out the week of the 13th. Yep, just checked the district where we live (I teach in a different district and our calendar isn't out yet) and yes, they are out the week of the 13th. AZ breaks tend to greatly impact DL attendance. They stagger, but I bet they will start the 6th with just a few (probably not hugely impactful), really ramp up the 13th and between that and CA breaks stay steady until after Easter. I bet the week that starts Feb 27 would be great.

But.... hard to say about the closures. It can't be as bad as last year, right?! It was SO annoying how crowded it was in early Feb. I was fine with the closures if they equaled low crowds, but 45 minutes for Pirates on a Monday.... no thanks. That is why our next trip is in June. It can't be more crowded than Feb felt and at least we can ride everything (well, besides all those major closures, which is still nothing like last year).

I think all the ROA closures will still be going on. I think the projected reopen date is like April 2017, but don't quote me on it!

Your first paragraph....are you talking 2016 or 2017?

If we decide to go March on 2017, we'd probably leave here on February 28th. It's a Tuesday. Then our park days would be Wednesday 1st, Thursday 2nd, Friday 3rd. Saturday 4th would be a break day. Then Sunday 5th, Monday 6th. Head home on the 7th.

Of course....it's so far away and really too early to truly plan. But I enjoy dreaming anyway. I will probably be able to book the hotel in a few months though.

And yeah...February this year felt more crowded than we expected. This may be our last Winter trip to Disneyland. Not sure we'll want to pull our son out of school when he's older. So future trips would likely be June. You'll have to let me know how it goes.

 

[AZMermaid]

2017

We have gone in late May/early June before. It has been a few years so this will be a true test, but in 2011 the crowds weren't bad and it wasn't too hot yet. We are going slightly later this year (June 4-9) so we'll see!

 

[ClaraOswald]

And here I thought Spring breaks would be later that year since Easter is so late.

We'd be gone by March 7th, so hopefully that would help.

 

[AZMermaid]

I think you'd be good. Our spring break doesn't relate to Easter at all. We get a week off every 9 weeks, 2 at Christmas. Much of the greater Phoenix area follows this schedule. The catholic schools and such tie theirs in with Easter, but because we are out before Memorial day, it's always mid March- usually the second full week, sometimes the third. Some districts follow a modified year round schedule and get two weeks off, but not many. Those would be the ones who might be off the first week (Monday the 6th) but that's not a huge group.

I have no clue how CA schools do it though!

FWIW, we do get Good Friday off, and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in the fall.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Bumping my old thread.

We like to stay at the Desert Inn. They put out their prices for February/March 2017. We are still trying to decide between the first week of February or the first week of March. We were leaning toward March. But....the prices are quite a bit different. We could save about $400 by going first week of February instead...

What do you guys think??

 

[smartlabelprint]

That means they're expecting more crowds in March.

Did you check prices at Camelot? They have suites & a $20 off per day special.

We went 2/28-3/3 this year. We had nice weather. There were moderate crowds.

 

[Cal-Pie]

We just spent March 5-10 in the parks. I wouldn't describe it as packed, but it certainly was quite busy. If I could save $400 on hotel by going in February, I'd go for it.

 

[AZMermaid]

I think I would look at it as insurance for Small World being open. If that is super important, stick with March. If you could be happy without it (and at worst case scenario.... all the closures we had last Feb), I'd go with Feb. For $400 you could do a lot of nice meals! Of course, they could do a year long refurb anyway on IASW, you just never know. Is there a deposit? If not, I would book both and watch to see if the rates come down at all/ any refurbs shake out.

 

[sherilaine]

We have gone during this time of year (either Feb or March) for three years and yup - it's much busier than it used to be. I honestly think anyone who says early March is not busy has never been there when it really was a ghost town - but that ship has sailed and no playing with the calendar is going to get it back.

The other thing to consider is hotels release their rates and those are their highest rates. Often times rates do go down as you get closer, I have seen this happen several times, so if I were you, since you can book hotel and not have to spend any money and cancel it a few days ahead of time - I'd book both - and then check the rates as the months fly by and then make your decision closer to that time.

 

[ClaraOswald]

You can cancel free of charge up to 48 hours in advance, I think. Their prices typically go up over time so the earlier you book the better.

We would be sad about IASW being closed but it wouldn't make or break our trip, by any means.

I have let go of the "old days" where the parks were a ghost town. I had been hanging on to it for a while but after February 2015 I realized it just won't be like that again. So now it's just a matter of going during the new "slow season" which is basically nothing like the old slow season but that can't be helped.

I have never looked into the Camelot. What are their suites like? What are their prices like? I have a hard time thinking it would be less than $105 a night though.