When is the best time to visit the Disneyland Resort?

[andrewan]

Hi,
I want to visit Disneyland so,
Can anybody tell me what is the best time to visit the Disneyland Resort?

 

[alanapapa]

With the exception of the week before and after Easter any time between now and Memorial day is good. Obviously, the 3-day holiday weekends will be busy. The first two weeks of June are usually pretty good too, longer hours but the crowds are not too bad.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

If you go in the off season shows and fireworks will be minimal so you really need a weekend in your stay to see those. If you go in the main summer months they will be more regular. I've been in Feb (cooler, shorter hours, lighter crowds), May (memorial weekend - ok IMO and everything open), early/mid June - also a good time, and Oct which is fun b/c they have the Halloween overlays at Space Mt. and HM.

DL's is very much a day park for S. Cal residents so weekends are usually busier but have more going on.

 

[Anal Annie]

We visited the last week of June back in 2005 (pre-cruise) for 3 nights. Plenty of time for the parks but they have something out there they call "June Gloom" and boy WAS IT EVER GLOOMY. It was COLD and GRAY just about every minute. We were soo caught off guard. We were naive enough to think CA weather would be sunny and 80 every day. It was 50's & 60's plus with the overcast...COLD. Well, we didn't pack for it anyway so WE were cold. We'd have been OK if we'd have expected it to be that cold and had packed warmer. Anyway, I would avoid June next time.

 

[Grumpygrandpa]

It depends on what you are looking for.

My favorite times are a long weekend in October to take the DGKs to treat or treating at DCA, Springbreak (good weather for our preferences) and Christmas time for the decorations. But these are all pretty crowded times. I'm not sure what you are looking for.

 

[Quilter007]

"Best" is hard to define. What are you looking for? How old are your kids?

July is going to get you all the fireworks, parades, etc. But the park will be packed and it will be hot. So you'll need to plan for that. If you have little kids you'll need to plan for naps, etc. You'll need to make sure you have a fastpass runner.

September is cooler, but you'll only get fireworks on the weekends. Park hours will be shorter during the week. You may have closures during the week for holidays overlays for Space Mountain & Haunted Mansion.

In Oct they'll also start closing stuff for Christmas decorations.

Nov/Dec you get to see all the Holiday stuff which is great, plus all the Holiday treats!

Crowds are smaller in the off seasons but park hours are shorter.

In DCA, the longer you wait to go, the more stuff is opening up. However, the bigger the crowds are going to be as well.

World of Color and Silly Symphony Swings opening up this spring.

Ariels Grotto within 12 months

Cars land within 24 months

Plus the new entrance w/ Red Car trolleys whenever they figure out how to do it.

So, we go three to four times a year! We used to go more often, but now we live 1000 miles away!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

I'm a frequent DL visitor, in fact I was there on Sunday. I'd suggest going in May, if you're looking for a close trip...World of Color will be opening late April, and you'll want that to be open a few weeks first (it will be crazy packed, the show will be like nothing Disney has ever done).

If you prefer a fall getaway, October is great, with the Halloween overlays. The weather is nice and generally dry both times. Yes, sometimes the hours are shorter on weeknights- but I actually found them to be much shorter at WDW in the off season. Southern Cal has generally very mild weather and rarely any humidity.

Good luck! Check out the Disneyland boards. Everyone there is very friendly, and there are some very helpful stickies at the top of the board for those new to planning a DLR trip.

 

[nunzia]

I would suggest you go to the Disneyland section of this borad. There is alot of discussion about crowds and such due to the massive amounts of AP holders with Disney's new payment plans. January is still pretty low, last October was a nightmare since they had new overlay at Space Mountain and the new fireworks show. I'm going this October so hope it will be better. Most of March and April are spring break times so very crowded. We are also going in May for the Food and Wine festival, but with World of Color opening am expecting huge crownds. The Rivers of America is drained until mid May so no Fantasmic, which will make even more massive crowds at DCA when WOC opens up in April. The best advice is go early, get fastpasses and stay on site so you can run away when the crowds get too bad. The Disneyland board will give you a wealth of information.

 

[TLPL]

If I were you I would wait till at least World of Color opens, now there is nothing but construction walls everywhere in DCA and Disneyland.