Which month is busier, July or August?

[kittycruize]

Hi everyone,

We are trying to plan a trip to DL this summer. Can anyone tell me, which month is busier, July or August? We would like to go at the least busiest time of course!

 

[HydroGuy]

If it was me I would avoid the week of July 4 and August 20 when SoCal AP block out lifts. Other than that it wont matter.

Oh, avoid weekends if possible as they tend to be a little more crowded.

With that, we will be venturing to DLR in mid to late July.

 

[kittycruize]

We are thinking mid to late July also. Would you say the crowds at that time are comparable to an 8 or 9 to WDW? Just trying to get an idea if we can even move in the parks with all the people, or if it is manageable? And I realize Carsland will be open, so I imagine that will affect crowds also!

 

[HydroGuy]

We are thinking mid to late July also. Would you say the crowds at that time are comparable to an 8 or 9 to WDW? Just trying to get an idea if we can even move in the parks with all the people, or if it is manageable? And I realize Carsland will be open, so I imagine that will affect crowds also!

Touringplans.com also rates DLR parks as 8 or 9 and usually that is what they are in July. It is hard to compare WDW and DLR in this way though. DLR is physically smaller and feels more crowded. But it has more rides and thus more places to put people.

Perhaps a better way to answer your question is to say summer trips are totally doable especially if you make a good hotel choice and start early each day and take afternoon breaks to swim and nap.

 

[Minuet888]

It depends on which week in August. A lot of people go in July but in August a lot of people try to get in that last minute vacation before the kids go back to school and different schools all go back at different times. Take for example my school it goes back the second week of August. My son's school doesn't go back until September so it really kind of depends, but in terms of an overall month I would say July is probably busier.

 

[kittycruize]

Can I ask you Hydro Guy, when you say it is 8 or 9 relative to WDW, yet there are more rides at DL, thus making it less crowded feeling? We usually go to WDW when it is a 6 or 7 at most, and we feel pretty crowded. Would like to avoid that feeling, yet summer is a really good time for us. Does this basically mean you cannot move in the parks there are so many people, like Easter at WDW? Just really trying to get a perspective, because if it is like Easter at WDW, we will most likely postpone our trip until next April! But we don't want to!!

 

[HydroGuy]

Can I ask you Hydro Guy, when you say it is 8 or 9 relative to WDW, yet there are more rides at DL, thus making it less crowded feeling? We usually go to WDW when it is a 6 or 7 at most, and we feel pretty crowded. Would like to avoid that feeling, yet summer is a really good time for us. Does this basically mean you cannot move in the parks there are so many people, like Easter at WDW? Just really trying to get a perspective, because if it is like Easter at WDW, we will most likely postpone our trip until next April! But we don't want to!!

Sorry, I did not mean DLR is an 8 or 9 relative to WDW. I mean that the folks who rate WDW as 8 or 9 (touringplans.com) also rate DLR.

I answered your question differently because you can't compare WDW and DLR directly in this way. When DLR is an 8 or a 9, no it is not wall-to-wall people where you can't move. Yes, there are parts of DLR that get quite crowded and wall-to-wall at certain parts of the day (Adventureland is infamous for this in the evenings in part because of Fantasmic).

There are other dynamics different from WDW and that is also why it is hard to compare. DLR is more of a locals parks so many more people are there on day trips. DLR has numerous hotels very close to the parks - in many cases your hotel room is closer to the DLR park gates than some of the boat or bus drops are at WDW parks. This means if you make a good hotel choice it is much easier at DLR to get to the gates early and to take afternoon breaks. In other words it is easier to work around crowds.

Bottom line is July trips at DLR are not horrible - unless you do everything wrong - similar to WDW. If you make some smart choices summer trips at DLR are not ultracrowded and very enjoyable.

This thread may help:

"Getting The Most Out of a Summer Visit To DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345319

 

[ter-moo]

The later you wait in August, the better. A lot of schools start in August now, so the last couple of weeks aren't as bad as the rest of the summer. Avoid Labor Day weekend, though.

As previous posters have said, summer is COMPLETELY doable if you start early in the morning and take breaks in the afternoons. The parks are nice and uncrowded until around 10ish each day and then it starts to pick up--even during busy times. Most people just don't want to get up and get going. Also, because so many locals show up in the afternoons and evenings, it can get crowded then.

 

[sonjaandsue]

Thank you to the OP for asking and thank you to everyone for answering. I really wanted to choose July over Oct. this year because I wanted more swimming weather and fewer ride closings. But I wondered if I was crazy because we like the off season crowds. Since we are early risers and stay on property, it sounds like the pros might outweigh the cons for us in July.

 

[skiingfast]

The later you wait in August, the better. A lot of schools start in August now, so the last couple of weeks aren't as bad as the rest of the summer. Avoid Labor Day weekend, though.

The last couple weeks include the 20th to 24th and that may be the worst week of the Summer Season. AP will be unblocked and if they don't get a fill of Cars Land in the Spring may flood in.

Can I ask you Hydro Guy, when you say it is 8 or 9 relative to WDW, yet there are more rides at DL, thus making it less crowded feeling?

IME WDW in Summer, any day of the week is like DLR on a weekend in Summer. Weekdays in DLR are better not by a lot, they aren't empty or anything like that but are more comfortable.

 

[HydroGuy]

This might help some of you:

"Getting The Most Out of a Summer Visit To DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1345319