Trying to predict holiday crowds

[mom2dzb]

My family will be at Disneyland Nov 24-29th. I've gotten conflicting information about the level of crowds for this time frame. I suspect the Wed before Thanksgiving to be crowded because APs are not blocked out. I suspect Thanksgiving, Friday and Saturday to be crowded because many people are visiting for the holidays. I'm curious, though, about Sunday and Monday. On Sunday, some of the AP blocks are lifted and on Monday all APs are welcome. So, will Sunday be even more crowded than Thurs-Fri-Sat because there's more APs in the parks. And, then what about Monday. Even though APs aren't blocked, won't most people be done with their holidays and back to work/school?

It really won't affect much about the way I'm planning on touring the parks EXCEPT I've got 4 days worth of GAD FPs to use and I want to figure out which are the best days to use them.

I'd love some expert advice.

 

[alwaysmb20]

If you read this thread, last year's crowds during Thanksgiving, the day after, and the day after were quite low. I hope the crowds are the same way this year, because we'll be there on those exact days.

HTH

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2365983

 

[dizneedoll]

Touringplans.com now has a crowd calendar for Disneyland. If you are unfamiliar with them, they write the Unofficial Guides to both DL and WDW and until recently only had a crowd calendar for WDW. The DL version is in beta testing but is being offered free of charge for now. touringplans.com/disneyland
I found the crowd level predictions for the week we were there (Oct 19-26) to be pretty darn accurate.

 

[Sherry E]

My family will be at Disneyland Nov 24-29th. I've gotten conflicting information about the level of crowds for this time frame. I suspect the Wed before Thanksgiving to be crowded because APs are not blocked out. I suspect Thanksgiving, Friday and Saturday to be crowded because many people are visiting for the holidays. I'm curious, though, about Sunday and Monday. On Sunday, some of the AP blocks are lifted and on Monday all APs are welcome. So, will Sunday be even more crowded than Thurs-Fri-Sat because there's more APs in the parks. And, then what about Monday. Even though APs aren't blocked, won't most people be done with their holidays and back to work/school?

It really won't affect much about the way I'm planning on touring the parks EXCEPT I've got 4 days worth of GAD FPs to use and I want to figure out which are the best days to use them.

I'd love some expert advice.

There's been so much talk of AP holders and their influence on things that I think there is too much emphasis on AP block out dates at times when they matter very little. Some of the busiest times at DLR are when all but the Premium AP holders are blocked out. Take the week between Christmas and New Year's, for example - it's arguably the busiest or second busiest week of the entire year...and every level of AP holder except Premium and Premier is blocked. It's just simply a holiday period when many folks are off of work and school.

So when there is a holiday period directly involved in the time frame you go, AP holders really won't be the biggest concern.

What I've read and been told on the DIS about last year's crowds is that the days leading up to Thanksgiving were very crowded. Thanskgiving weekend was very crowded (really, how could it not be when people have 4 solid days off from work and school?). BUT, the week right after Thanksgiving weekend, leading into early December, was supposedly blissfully uncrowded - not right after Thanksgiving itself, but after Thanksgiving weekend, when everyone is back at work and school.

But you'll have several days at DLR to get everything done and navigate around crowds. It won't be as bad as it is post-Christmas, but you should go in expecting large crowds so you won't be shocked when you get there. And anything less than what you expect will be a delightful surprise!! Just plan wisely and prepare!

 

[mom2dzb]

Thanks for the responses. I can always count on the friendly people at the DIS to have an answer.

So, here's why I brought up "conflicting information". If you were to rely on the link posted by always, you'd expect Thanksgiving weekend to be comfortably crowded. It claims that the Saturday after Thankgiving 2009 was one of the least busy Saturdays of the year.

Then, diznee posts a link telling me that Thanksgiving will be an 8 out of 10 busy and the rest of the weekend a 9 out of 10 busy.

I'm just trying to predict the best days to use my FPs. I think I'm going to go with Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun.

 

[Sherry E]

Thanks for the responses. I can always count on the friendly people at the DIS to have an answer.

So, here's why I brought up "conflicting information". If you were to rely on the link posted by always, you'd expect Thanksgiving weekend to be comfortably crowded. It claims that the Saturday after Thankgiving 2009 was one of the least busy Saturdays of the year.

Then, diznee posts a link telling me that Thanksgiving will be an 8 out of 10 busy and the rest of the weekend a 9 out of 10 busy.

I'm just trying to predict the best days to use my FPs. I think I'm going to go with Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun.

I can't say for sure, but that sounds like a good plan, I think! All I know is that reports of post-Thanksgiving weekend (meaning Monday and beyond) last year were that there were very light crowds. And I know that some of the busiest times of the entire year have absolutely nothing to do with AP holders.

Honestly, a lot of it boils down to individual perception, and so you can never get an absolute "correct" answer because certain people may view some crowd levels as horrific, while others may think the crowds are "not that bad." Hence, the conflicting info. I've seen those very discussions and exchanges happen on the board - I've seen people's posts indicating that it was not all that crowded on days where I was there and I thought it was terribly crowded - or vice versa! I have thought it was "not that bad" at times when others thought it was unbearably crowded.

Also, sometimes the flow of the crowds changes throughout the day. People may be congregated in certain areas of the parks more at one time of the day than at another time - and anyone who happens to wander by during the most crowded times may say that the crowds for the whole day were horrible (or not horrible, if they wandered by an area that was not packed with people at that specific moment).

You just kind of have to jump in and take a chance, have a plan, and have those expectations that I spoke of earlier. If you tell yourself it won't be too bad because of X, Y and & Z reasons and then you get there and it's tremendously crowded, you may be in for a shock! If you prepare yourself for absolutely horrible crowds, and then it turns out to be "not that bad," then that will be a good thing!

Have a great time!!

 

[nana50]

Touringplans.com now has a crowd calendar for Disneyland. If you are unfamiliar with them, they write the Unofficial Guides to both DL and WDW and until recently only had a crowd calendar for WDW. The DL version is in beta testing but is being offered free of charge for now. touringplans.com/disneyland
I found the crowd level predictions for the week we were there (Oct 19-26) to be pretty darn accurate.

I went on the website but didn't see anything there for Disneyland. Since they are beta testing do you have to be a member to try it?

 

[MinnieMama09]

I went on the website but didn't see anything there for Disneyland. Since they are beta testing do you have to be a member to try it?

It's tricky the way it's set up right now...if you go to just touringplans.com it only gives you WDW parks. Like Dizneedoll wrote, you have to go to touringplans.com/disneyland and it'll take you right there. It'll give you the overall crowd rating (for both DL and DCA combined), but if you want to see individual park ratings you need to log in...it's free though so I went ahead because I wanted to see what DL and DCA are like on the days we're there!

 

[mariezp]

Touringplans.com now has a crowd calendar for Disneyland. If you are unfamiliar with them, they write the Unofficial Guides to both DL and WDW and until recently only had a crowd calendar for WDW. The DL version is in beta testing but is being offered free of charge for now. touringplans.com/disneyland
I found the crowd level predictions for the week we were there (Oct 19-26) to be pretty darn accurate.

Thanks for the link. Very nice to take a look at the predictions.

I agree with Sherry that while guessing at the crowd level is all good and fine in the end one person's perception of crowded may vary greatly from someone else's. I'll be there with you testing the crowds that same week. Either way, crowd or no crowd, I plan to to make the most of it! My theory is that you can still have a magical time even if the park is busy. Keep a positive outlook! If we end up waiting in a long line... we try to make it fun. People watch, throw in games, and enjoy the details of the park. Also, try to stick to tips like getting to the park early, using fastpasses, riding during shows or parades, avoiding busy eating times, etc... but especially, remember to relax and not sweat the small stuff..... you're at Disneyland! Good luck and have a great time!

 

[ardenandjacksmom]

I agree with Sherry E too--I think a big part of how you experience Disney peak level crowds is about how managing your expectations and your schedule. For instance, our very first WDW trip was over Easter week (a VERY crowded time of year--in fact, a couple of days that week MK hit capacity) and we had an AWESOME time, and spent very little time in lines. It's totally possible, even during peak times if can get your crowd into the parks early and are willing to eat a little early (and/or later) to avoid being in line with the masses.

For us, we arrived at rope drop every am (not for everyone, but worked for us)--we went straight for Fantasyland attractions without FPs, rode them to our hearts content with no waiting, and collected FPs for after lunch. We avoided mealtime crowds by eating an early lunch (of course we were famished by 11, since we'd been there since 7am!)--an instead of waiting in long lines all afternoon, we used our fastpasses, then checked out shows and parades. We got more in between 8-3pm then we could have between 11am-11pm! If you can manage to pry yourself out of bed, or if you have kids with your group who'll help you since they'll be up VERY early every am as if it's Christmas since you're at Disney LOL, then you can take advantage of this (and free up some time for a siesta or dip at the hotel pool later in the afternoon). Just don't forget a hand stamp in case the park is crowded when you want to go back for fireworks!

Hope you have an awesome trip

 

[jennilouwho]

I was there last year over Thanksgiving week. Monday and Tuesday were very busy, but we managed by getting there at opening and utilizing fast pass. Wed was a beach day for us and then Thanksgiving day and Friday were very low crowds. I heard Saturday was even more deserted from other Disser's on here.

 

[mom2dzb]

In the Christmas thread someone posted the blog referencing some of the Christmas decorations up. But I found this . . .
http://mintcrocodile.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html
Pictures of the day after Thanksgiving. Doesn't look too bad, crowdwise. That's encouraging!

 

[Aladdin + Abu]

Anyone planning ANY trips to DL, just plan for it to be excessively busy. Especially if it's around any kind of a school break, holiday including columbus day, veteran's day, thanksgiving, christmas, martin luther king, presidents day, ect. There is NOT such a time as a slow season or a slow day (unless it's rainy all day). And if it's not blocked day for socal passes, just consider that over 1,000,000 people have paid to enter the park for that day, already.

If it ends up NOT being too terribly crowded, consider yourselves very fortunate.