What You Should Know About Off-Season at DLR

[sweethannah]

I'm having a bit of a hard time deciding when exactly to make our trip. I would choose to go when the crowds are the lowest regardless of park hours or the availability of shows/etc. I also have a 7-year-old kiddo with autism who really needs to go when the crowds are at their lowest. However, the same kiddo loves LOVES LOVES Fantasmic, which means we need to go when the crowds are at least at a level to support DL showing Fantasmic during the week. We are thinking the last 2 weeks in September would work well for our schedule. Any thoughts from the DL experts who really know the DL calendars/schedules?

We were originally going to just brave the crowds the week of June 1st until we learned that Space Mountain will be closed then. Of course, that's his favorite ride!

We can bring headphones and earplugs for him and also some sensory/fidget toys to keep in his pockets, but really, we need to cut down on the amount of time he's sitting in line surrounded by lots of people movement and noise.

I'm not sure if F! is shown during the week during the last 2 weeks of September. I believe that is considered off peak times and it's just shown on the week-ends. Good luck and have fun with your planning!

 

[HydroGuy]

I'm having a bit of a hard time deciding when exactly to make our trip. I would choose to go when the crowds are the lowest regardless of park hours or the availability of shows/etc. I also have a 7-year-old kiddo with autism who really needs to go when the crowds are at their lowest. However, the same kiddo loves LOVES LOVES Fantasmic, which means we need to go when the crowds are at least at a level to support DL showing Fantasmic during the week. We are thinking the last 2 weeks in September would work well for our schedule. Any thoughts from the DL experts who really know the DL calendars/schedules?

We were originally going to just brave the crowds the week of June 1st until we learned that Space Mountain will be closed then. Of course, that's his favorite ride!

We can bring headphones and earplugs for him and also some sensory/fidget toys to keep in his pockets, but really, we need to cut down on the amount of time he's sitting in line surrounded by lots of people movement and noise.

The OP has historical park hours and showings of Fantasmic! You might look at dessert reservations.

 

[sherilaine]

FWIW I did not get the impression Hydroguy was trying to discourage people from visiting in the off season.

I think what trips a lot of people up is off season and low crowds do NOT go hand in hand - in fact days where park hours are 10 AM to 8PM can be fairly crowded when you consider everyone only has 10 hours to get in all their fun, compared to 16 hours on an 8AM to Midnight day.

I have also read many people shocked that Fireworks and F! don't run every single night, and seem to only figure this out once the schedule is adding less than 6 weeks out. I agree with the advice of going to see the shows the 1st chance you get as cancellations of night shows is harder to swallow if you only have one or two shots at them during your trip.

But it is definitely a trade off - if you want to go during the off season - you are going to have shorter hours and less entertainment and a much higher chance rides will be down for refurbishment - but for us there is no other time to go - we LOVE going during the off season - having never gone in the high season I base my comparison on weekend days we have been there. Earlier last month we were there during some rainy days and it was awesome as the park really emptied out and we got a lot done. So once the rain cleared and the sun came out we did not have any pressure to get stuff done.

I think going for 3 days during the off season might mean leaving without feeling like you have gotten enough done though, but our trips tend to be longer since we have to board a plane to get there, well we don't have to but a 22 hour drive is a bit much, especially in the winter!

Great thread!

 

[JenneleB]

I am so glad that I came across this thread. It would never have occured to me as a WDW vet that DL would not run the fireworks and shows every night since WDW does. Thankfully we have the Sunday after Thanksgiving in our plans and I guess we will have to make it to Fantasmic that night as historically the next two days that we are there will not have shows at all.