Where everyone go? A crowd mystery...

[pixiewings71]

I wonder if people went to DL over DCA and were afraid to park hop.....maybe they thought they wouldn't get back into DL if they went to DCA? Just a thought.....

 

[saffy]

Yep, we have Premium APs and went yesterday. We were shocked at how empty the parks were. Especially compared to how crazy-crowded weeknights were a few weeks ago, we were not prepared for the lack of people on a Sunday of a holiday weekend!
A CM in a store we stopped in said that they had 20,000 less people than projected for Sat. We were going to go, but decided we didn't want to fight the crowds then (and besides, we saw the fireworks on Thursday anyway) so we stayed home instead. Guess lots of people felt the same way!

 

[andee2000]

This is interesting, but I'm not shocked. So many people were blocked out, and I'm sure others thought it would be packed and just stayed home. I was wondering if July 4th would actually be LESS busy than days surrounding it.

Sounds like you picked a great time to go!

You mention people being blocked out and I've seen references to this before (and I'm assuming you mean Annual Pass holders), but can you point me to where this is explained? We went to DL last summer around July 18th mid-week and didn't find it too crowded (I think I was just happy to be there since the last time was as a child living in California.) I'm already planning my trip for next summer and keep hearing about large crowds due to AP block outs approaching, but don't quite "get it." Thanks!

 

[jlmarr]

You mention people being blocked out and I've seen references to this before (and I'm assuming you mean Annual Pass holders), but can you point me to where this is explained? We went to DL last summer around July 18th mid-week and didn't find it too crowded (I think I was just happy to be there since the last time was as a child living in California.) I'm already planning my trip for next summer and keep hearing about large crowds due to AP block outs approaching, but don't quite "get it." Thanks!

There are several tiers of Annual Passes, the more you spend the more days you get. Have a look at the blockout dates for each tier in the lower left section of this page.

 

[Huff]

Just got back from DLR for the July 4th weekend. Friday night we spent in Disneyland. Moderate crowds but we weren't there long, rode Indy, Splash, Haunted Mansion, saw Fantasmic (Viewing area was full).

Saturday July 4th we spent in CA fearing large crowds at DL. It was empty. Finally got to ride Toy Story as it was only a 15 minute wait all day. Scream'n was walk on much of the day as was Tower. Only lines were Grizzly and Soarn'n at about 20 mins each. Guest Services CM at CA said that DL was massively crowded late afternoon and evening but others here seem to indicate it was light even on the 4th.

Sunday July 5th we went mostly to DL. Lines very short. 15 mins for Space at 1pm. Most other rides were all under 20 mins, some were walk on.

 

[Eeee-va]

You mention people being blocked out and I've seen references to this before (and I'm assuming you mean Annual Pass holders), but can you point me to where this is explained? We went to DL last summer around July 18th mid-week and didn't find it too crowded (I think I was just happy to be there since the last time was as a child living in California.) I'm already planning my trip for next summer and keep hearing about large crowds due to AP block outs approaching, but don't quite "get it." Thanks!

Like jlmarr's link indicates, a lot of annual passes have "blockout dates," or dates when people cannot visit. The short version is, a huge number of people have annual passes that have a block of "blockout dates" in the summer and around Christmas. This year, the parks got VERY crowded right before those "blockout" dates, as people tried to get in their last visit to the park (although, Fantasmic's new effects were part of that). We don't know what will happen, but it's somewhat likely that when the "blockout dates" lift in August, the parks will get very busy for a couple weeks too. If the Fantasmic dragon is working in August when the blockout dates lift, then I would take it as a given that the parks will be crowded on days (and especially nights) when the show is running for a couple weeks. If it looks as awesome as it's supposed to, it may be more than a couple weeks.

It seems like there are even more annual passholders visiting now than in the past because of the economy. People are reportedly taking "staycations," where you spend a smaller amount of money locally, versus taking a vacation in another city. And Southern California residents can get pretty decent annual passes, financed, for less than $20/month. Since there are a ton of people within a few hours' drive of Los Angeles, you can imagine how busy Disneyland can get!

It appears that a whole lot of those locals have one of the lower tiers of annual pass, where they get much of the summer blocked out. So, days when those passes are blocked out may be considerably less busy than days when they are valid for park admission.

The reason I thought 7/4 in particular MIGHT not be busy at all is because there's another type of pass that gives Southern California residents 3 days of admission for $99, but it was also blocked for 7/4. So the only way you could get into the park on 7/4 itself would be to pay full price/a multi-day ticket, have the top tier of annual pass, or buy a blockout ticket for $40 (if you already had an AP). I thought that people might not be interested in paying so much to hang out in what were supposed to be huge crowds. I would've loved to been there, but even though I'm not a local, my own AP was blocked out too.

 

[Laz]

While we were there at the end of last month, we loved the relatively empty parks during the day. It seemed like everyone came at night, but since we had been on all the attractions to our hearts content, we took our time and got good spots for fantasmic and fireworks.

This thread had lead me to a planning thought: Assuming the economy continues the same way into next year, do all of you think it would be a good planning move to come to DLR during AP blackout dates? Most of the time I would assume that the blackout dates go along with what is normally heavy crowd days. Now it appears different.

 

[pixiewings71]

The problem with planning around black out dates is that the Deluxe AP only has holidays and Saturdays blacked out, so that may not work as well.

 

[Chasbo]

The problem with planning around black out dates is that the Deluxe AP only has holidays and Saturdays blacked out, so that may not work as well.

I think if you plan around the block-out dates for the SoCal passes, that helps tremendously. Things have been lighter since those passes were blocked out for the summer.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I think if you plan around the block-out dates for the SoCal passes, that helps tremendously. Things have been lighter since those passes were blocked out for the summer.

I agree. We were there for a week. The days before SoCal APs were blocked it was very crowded. We were blocked out on Sat so didn't go. We went on Sunday and I have to say that was very light all day and the best day of the week we were there. Mon, Tues, and Wed was less crowded than the days when SoCals were not blocked. It did make a difference. We won't be going next year until the SoCals are blocked. This year, I'm sure the new night shows affected that more than usual.

 

[Eeee-va]

The problem with planning around black out dates is that the Deluxe AP only has holidays and Saturdays blacked out, so that may not work as well.

The Deluxe AP also blocks out after Christmas through Saturday, January 2nd, and around July 4th, as well as the Sundays before what appears to be Memorial Day and Labor Day, and Valentine's Day weekend. It is valid on Saturdays in October and a few other months, though.

You never know what crowds will do, especially with Disney giving out admission so cheap to locals--3 days for $99 is probably drawing a lot of people who aren't the type who would want an annual pass, and those don't block out on any Saturdays, just July 4th. And most of the non-blocked dates before Christmas, school is still in session, while the dates after Christmas, school is not going for most students, so the tourists visiting after Christmas may make the crowds much larger--that's certainly what has happened traditionally.

But yes, even though it's all guessing, I would take all blockout dates into account (though realistically unless you want to go on a holiday--or after Christmas, which COULD still be quite crowded--you can't avoid the Deluxe blockouts).

One thing that will probably be the case for some time to come is that a new attraction, coupled with a large number of passes blocking out soon thereafter, equals, well, a nightmare Fantasmic. At least, that's what happened last time, with the new nighttime offerings. Personally, I'd expect higher crowds between 12/14 - 12/18 (lowest Southern California AP blocks out 12/17; the other's last day is 12/18) and also the week of Christmas Eve (Deluxe passes block out 12/24 through 1/2). But there could be big crowds in early December too.

If I had to guess, I would say that the August dates when the Southern California APs are usable again will be unusually busy too, with the AP holders wanting to see the Fantasmic dragon. That would start August 16th - 17th.

Sometimes you can't plan around dates you know or expect will be bad, though. The more I saw, the more horrible I thought our crowds would be (6/19 - 6/23), but I'd already asked for the time off, reserved the rooms, and I couldn't very well move the date of my birthday. But, I found the crowds quite manageable, so I was pleasantly surprised.