Which week in August? (You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem...)

[sweethannah]

Hello friends! We are FINALLY ready to reschedule our August 2020 trip BUT we are waffling on dates. We have never been in summer season, we have always gone in late Spring (May-ish) or Fall ( end Sept, October). We decided on August in 2020 because it worked well with our DD17 and her bestie's schedule and my research led me to believe that most schools in the Cali district and Arizona districts were starting back to school around mid-August. I've done some research (California School Calendar 2022 - PublicHolidays.com, Arizona School Calendar 2022 - PublicHolidays.com ) but it's imperfect and well, I'm looking for experienced opinions. Here are the dates we're considering, we have some flexibility and could go into mid-September but I'm mindful of D23 and increasing closures. One of the reasons behind making the jump to a summer visit was increased hours, we've never had really long park days other than on the weekends and we are definitely a night-owl family. Pricing is very similar for any of the following dates.

August 12 -19
August 19-26
August 26-03 Sep

or would August 5-12 also be a viable option

Any opinions one way or the other? Thanks!

 

[danceintherain]

I'm not an expert having only been to DLR once, but that early July trip was fine crowd and weather-wise. Genie+ might be a little less effective than MaxPass, but still should function ok.
I expect the later in August you can manage the better. But, I would probably avoid the weekend before Labor Day, so 19-26 would be my pick, unless there's some major event that week to avoid.

My cousin's kids (in southern Utah) went back on August 24th this year, so they wouldn't likely be planning a trip to DLR that week either.

 

[stagemomto3]

With varied school schedules, I would say the later you can make your trip, the better in terms of crowds.

 

[AZMermaid]

We went once the weekend before the old deluxe annual pass was unblocked for summer Saturdays and the next level all together. It was amazing. We walked onto pirates at 5pm on a Friday. I feel like it was around 8/15 as I’m a teacher and I took the second Friday of the year off. So check the AP calendars. There used to be a sweet spot where many schools were back but most APs were still blocked. For what it’s worth, we start 8/3 next year in my AZ district. Most AZ schools will likely start by 8/8-8/10.

 

[cruisehopeful]

If it's just crowds that you want to avoid, the last week in August is good. That's also when some things will be closed for refurbishment, though.

Mid September is better. Halloweentime should be open and all of those things should be available. That's when I would go. My second choice would be early in August. Even if it's crowded, everything is open and operating usually during that time.