Which month is better?

[TeamH]

Hi,

I am trying to plan a trip to DL for the fall and looking for some tips on which month is best. September, October or November (not during thanksgiving)? Most important at the moment is the most rides open, then next would be weather. I will be with DH and DS (8) and DD (4) at the time of travel.

Thanks!!

 

[planningjollyholiday]

My vote is either the last half of September or the last half of November depending on what holiday you want to see. Both halloween time and Christmas time will start around the middle of each of these months and that is when the least amount of rides will be down. Just prior to the start of these seasons certain rides will be down to get ready for holiday overlays in addition to the regularly scheduled refurbs. The hottest month will be September by far, and it will be hot! Both of these times crowds will be very manageable during the week and busy on the weekends (excluding of course thanksgiving week).

 

[TechGuy]

It's kinds of a transitional period and with the 60th, it may not happens as "normal". I would check to see if they have any planned closures for maintenance and then determine if you want to be there during any holiday themed periods with October possibly having halloween and later November and December likely having Holiday overlays on. There may be closure for overlay removal, also.

I would expect he weather to be pretty good that time of year with the risk of rain increasing as you get later. You are likely to have cooler evenings. The parks will have limited hours during some of the weekdays but DL will not announce them until closer to the actual dates.

If I were guessing, I would like the week after Thanksgiving, or two weeks after Halloween weekend... I guess that makes it November.

 

[Imdboss]

October has been getting increasingly popular with Halloween Time plus there seem to be a lot of events/school closures that increase crowds, if you want to avoid that as much as possible there is a thread Figment has going. I would look at past refurb schedules and see if there is something that typically closes that you absolutely can't miss. As far as weather, it is so hard to say other than once the sun goes down it does cool off. Last year we were there in Oct and had days in the upper 90s, the year before we were there during Thanksgiving week and we had temps in the 90s.

 

[Sherry E]

If late November is an option (right after Thanksgiving), I'd say go for that time frame. That would be the best. The next best choice would probably be mid-November, or just before Thanksgiving (I am thinking of the most rides being open and weather). Third choice would probably be right before Halloween.

The weather will most likely be extremely hot in September, although I will say that once we get to September, that month and the following 3 months can be unpredictable. We could have a heat wave, a cold snap, a lot of wind, a lot of rain, etc.

 

[Hercules123]

I always like to go in early November. The only drawback is shorter park hours but the crowds are usually pretty thin, so you get to do more.

 

[figment_jii]

As others have said, it really depends on which holiday you want to see. Early September and early November are going to see the "most" consistent ride closures (i.e., certain rides will be closed to have their overlays installed).

• Haunted Mansion closes in mid/late-August to have the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay installed (based on Nightmare Before Christmas) and will re-open with the start of HalloweenTime (the best guess is that will start between September 12 and 18 this year).
• Space Mountain also usually goes down for 4-days before HalloweenTime to have the Ghost Galaxy overlay installed.
• In mid/late-October, Small World usually closes to have the Small World Holiday overlay installed.
• Jungle Cruise also closes for a few days prior to the start of the Holidays to have the Jingle Cruise overlay installed.
• Big Thunder Ranch Carnival (not the roller coaster ride) usually closes prior to the start of the "seasons" (both HalloweenTime and the Holidays) to have the new carnival installed (i.e., Halloween Carnival and Holiday carnival).

If you are aiming for the least closures, but want to see Halloween, I would aim for late-September or early-October. If you want to see the holiday, I would aim for mid-to-late November (after the Avenger's Half Marathon). I think, on average, the weather is "better" in late-November, but HalloweenTime is well worth seeing.

Imdboss was referring to the 2015 Calendar of Events & School Breaks and DLR thread. It'll give you a sense of the school breaks (that have been mentioned by other posters in the thread) and events that are happening. I'm sure are things missing from the calendar, but it's a starting point.

 

[SMD]

If you want to do Halloween with the least closures I would aim to start before first day of Halloween and be there for that. Space and HM would be down when you get there and reopen before you leave and then something else should go down once they reopen. You'll have more crowds the last few days, but you'd have had the first part of the week to do more. With the usual caveat that the regular holiday and crowd predictions might be way off this year because of the 60th.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

If weather is your second most important consideration, I would be leery of late September. There is no way to predict the weather this far out and it seems like you can end up unexpectedly with temperatures in the 90s at any time of the year in Southern California, but anecdotes suggest to me that late September is one of the times most likely to end up with multiple days in a row of searing 100+ degree temperatures.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

nov is always my vote

 

[TeamH]

My vote is either the last half of September or the last half of November depending on what holiday you want to see. Both halloween time and Christmas time will start around the middle of each of these months and that is when the least amount of rides will be down. Just prior to the start of these seasons certain rides will be down to get ready for holiday overlays in addition to the regularly scheduled refurbs. The hottest month will be September by far, and it will be hot! Both of these times crowds will be very manageable during the week and busy on the weekends (excluding of course thanksgiving week).[/QUOT

It's kinds of a transitional period and with the 60th, it may not happens as "normal". I would check to see if they have any planned closures for maintenance and then determine if you want to be there during any holiday themed periods with October possibly having halloween and later November and December likely having Holiday overlays on. There may be closure for overlay removal, also.

I would expect he weather to be pretty good that time of year with the risk of rain increasing as you get later. You are likely to have cooler evenings. The parks will have limited hours during some of the weekdays but DL will not announce them until closer to the actual dates.

If I were guessing, I would like the week after Thanksgiving, or two weeks after Halloween weekend... I guess that makes it November.

Where do I find info for planned closures?

 

[jlwhitney]

If weather is your second most important consideration, I would be leery of late September. There is no way to predict the weather this far out and it seems like you can end up unexpectedly with temperatures in the 90s at any time of the year in Southern California, but anecdotes suggest to me that late September is one of the times most likely to end up with multiple days in a row of searing 100+ degree temperatures.

I would agree. Sept scares me to ever go back during. Was there in sept three years ago and and it was 108 the first day and 103 the second and humid. It was horrible.

 

[TechGuy]

Where do I find info for planned closures?

You can Google "Disneyland Planned Closures" and it will bring up the "unofficial" blogs and sites (like this one) where people discuss closures and plans for DLR. Many of these are very accurate. Some attractions have "soft opens" a day or two before the official re-opening, but don't expect it.

D will not confirm some of the dates as the move them due to changes in plans but the official list (for today) is here https://disneyland.disney.go.com/calendars/five-day/2015-06-08/

Today shows these in DL for today:
Closed for Refurbishment

• Peter Pan's Flight
  
  Closed for Refurbishment
  
  
• Starcade
  
  Closed for Refurbishment