WDW Vet intimidated by DL Crowds

[ktlm]

Thanks for all the advice I appreciate it. We're trying to nail down a date right now of either the last full week of May, 1st week of June ,Which I may be concerned with grad nights, or the second week in June. I think I'm going to eliminate in August out of the equation.

If you are looking at the first week of June, be sure to take a look at the SoCal pass blockout dates. We went the first full week of June (not memorial day) the first 4 summers we went to DL, and have been in July the last 2 years due to DD's June activity schedule. Every time we went that first week of June, it was the last few weekdays of before the SoCal passes were blocked the rest of the summer. We would fly in Saturday morning and immediately hit the parks-- Saturday and Sunday were great crowd wise. Monday and Tuesday were very crowded with the passholders trying to get those last days in -- those days were definitely more crowded than any day of our last 2 trips in July which surprised me. We would be in the park Wednesday for a half day and the crowd would lighten up again. It is still doable, but if you go that time period, you definitely want to take advantage of those weekend days, because that last Monday and Tuesday before the passes are blocked are pretty crowded.

 

[disneychrista]

Do you mean the numbers reported in the industry report last week or the ones only Disney knows? The industry report said DL 2015 was up 9% over 2014.

But what about current attendance like 1st Q 2016 vs 2015. This is what I am curious about was there really a huge jump in attendance or does it just feel that way because of the closures.

 

[avalon451]

I'm wondering if that jump in attendance wasn't largely due to the 60th.

 

[anna08]

We just got back and the crowds got really really thick fairly quickly. I think what saved us was doing EMH and Ridemax - even though there were people everywhere Ridemax kept us focused on where we were headed next and we were really surprised how close to accurate it was. What you don't want to be doing in those kinds of crowds is standing there after getting off a ride and saying "where should we go next?" and trying to guess what is best. Sometimes the lines would look bad and then move quickly, and sometimes a short looking line was deceiving. The park and GCH internet was horrible so don't count being able to get the apps to work. Weirdly, Mousewait and Disneyland apps both don't operate on cellular, only wifi. A couple times we'd head to Starbucks in DTD just to get on their wifi, which thankfully worked. DL was much more crowded than DCA.

 

[Laz]

The last two times we went, it was 4th of July week. We took advantage of Early Entry and used a WDW legacy fast pass strategy of an afternoon break then returning to the parks in the evening. We never felt like the parks were too crowded. We had dinner/show reservations for both Fantasmic and WOC. The only time we felt the crowds was after viewing WOC on the 4th of July and then trying to get back to the DLH . The crowd between the parks and in Downtown Disney were horrible!

 

[HydroGuy]

The park and GCH internet was horrible so don't count being able to get the apps to work. Weirdly, Mousewait and Disneyland apps both don't operate on cellular, only wifi. A couple times we'd head to Starbucks in DTD just to get on their wifi, which thankfully worked. DL was much more crowded than DCA.

Maybe there was some kind of glitch when you were there but I have never had trouble running the DL app cellular.

 

[monorailrabbit]

I'm finding this thread to be super helpful! I've posted my anxieties about the crowds here before, and every time I read these threads I feel a little better. I hope we didn't shoot ourselves in the foot by booking too close to Labor Day (we leave the day before) but we wanted to go as late as possible without missing 60th. We only have 2 days at DL and 1 at DCA. We are staying at DLH and I feel like taking a break sounds awesome, but I worry that I will feel like I am missing out on precious time. Either way, super excited and I love all this advice!!

 

[Frozen2014]

Depending on when in August you are looking at, I would not eliminate it totally. We have gone at the end of August 4 times now and it is one of my favourite times to go. We aim for the 3rd or 4th week, right after the CA kids go back to school but definitely before Labour Day! We're in Canada and our son goes back to school the day after Labour Day so this is a perfect time for us.

Great to hear. This is exactly what I'm thinking of for next August (We're Canadian too)