Wednesday, August 17th? OR Wednesday, August 31st?

[Mugglemama]

We've decided to sneak in a 1 day surprise trip to Disneyland for the kids! We weren't planning on getting to go this year at all, but as it turns out, we're headed down that way at the end of the Summer (dates are a little bit flexible - but we will only have 1 day available for Disney no matter which week we go), and since we'd all rather have 1 day than NO days, we're gonna go for it. We're going to stick to Disneyland park, only. We've never surprised the kids with a Disneyland visit, so we are excited to be able to do it.

Since we ARE only going for the 1 day (which is something we haven't done since we had AP's - 8/9 years ago), we really want to have the most pleasant experience possible, taking into consideration that we are going during the Summer season (which we don't mind - we have visited only in Summer for the past several years).

Question # 1: I wondered if anyone here felt that there would be much difference in crowds when comparing the Wednesday before D23, and the Wednesday before Labor Day?

Question # 2: And while I'm on the subject of Wednesdays....is there any reason to think that there is a better day of the week to choose (I do NOT want to be there on a Magic Morning day). Are weekends less busy than weekdays in the summer? (although I guess that would defeat the purpose of trying to go on a non MM day). I know that would have been a dumb question a few years ago, but the crowd dynamic seems to be changing so much over the last few years, I just wanted to ask (I haven't been to Disneyland on a Saturday or Sunday in.....10 years, at least).

TIA for any help and suggestions!

 

[sonnyjane]

17th. SoCal AP's are still blocked on that date.

 

[skiingfast]

Well on one hand the 17th will have APs blocked and HM will be running.

On the other hand 31st happens to be when my local school district starts school, so probably some other schools will be back in session too.

I'd stick with Wednesday, but probably lean to the earlier one for HM. One day visit will be a "highlight" trip if you will. Probably don't want to miss that classic.

 

[Mugglemama]

Hmmm, in checking DLR's calendar I failed to notice that HM was going to be down 8/31. Thanks for bringing that to my attention, SkiingFast! This leads me to 2 more questions...

1) Okay...what if I cared more about lower crowds than HM? To be honest, I really don't love that ride...it's iconic, but not much of a family fave. In honesty, I don't think anyone in our group would really care very much about missing it. In that case, do you think we might catch lower crowds on the later Wednesday?

2) In regards to SonnyJane's response...is everyone pretty much in agreement that full blown summer weekdays are STILL less crowded than the first couple of weeks after SoCal AP blocks are lifted?

 

[skiingfast]

2) In regards to SonnyJane's response...is everyone pretty much in agreement that full blown summer weekdays are STILL less crowded than the first couple of weeks after SoCal AP blocks are lifted?

I think this could go either way. While a week after those APs are unblocked I'm sure it will be busier. The end of the month may be calmed down as the AP rush is relieved and like in my locality school is resarting.

 

[Mugglemama]

I think this could go either way. While a week after those APs are unblocked I'm sure it will be busier. The end of the month may be calmed down as the AP rush is relieved and like in my locality school is resarting.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking (and hoping for). I know it's kind of a crapshoot most of the time, but I just wanted some extra-educated guesses.

Thanks!