MLK or Presidents Weekend

[brockash]

We go to WDW often, but Disneyland not often. Between the 2, when would you say the better time to go is? How are crowds and weather?

Would the first week of April be better, although I think Easter falls during that time - just not sure how crowds are since I would assume there are more locals, than at Disney World.

When would you say is the slowest time of year at Disneyland? Or would you say it's more about days of the week vs. weekends?

TIA!

 

[JanJan324]

We've done President's Day fairly often at DL and it can go either way weather-wise. I've seen it hot and cold/rainy during that time. Any holiday weekend at DL will be busy. You'll have better luck weekdays, but no fireworks/Fantasmic then. First week of April is heavy spring break time so it will be busy. Very busy.

 

[figment_jii]

I know that MLK weekend is also when they're hosting the Star Wars: Light Side half marathon (1/11-1/14), so it's likely that there will be pretty good sized crowds in the parks during the weekend (and with some spill over into the holiday Monday). There is also a good chance that Haunted Mansion will be closed to have it's Nightmare Before Christmas overlay removed.

Presidents Day weekend is historically pretty busy in the parks because a lot of school have either the day or the whole week off.

The first week in Easter will include Easter (Easter 4/1 in 2018) and a lot of Southern CA school districts have that week off. The lower level APs are blocked that week, indicating DL anticipates peak Spring Break season crowds during that period. However, as the PP mentioned, there is a good chance that the parks will be operating long hours and there will be nightly nighttime entertainment (fireworks and F! are usually only on weekends - Fri, Sat, Sun - during the non-peak periods).

 

[brockash]

Hmmm...okay thanks for the info. When would you say are lower crowd levels? I'm sure no times are uncrowded, but are there times that are less crowded?

 

[figment_jii]

Unfortunately, given that all of the time periods you mentioned are associated with a three-day weekend or Spring Break, I don't think any of them are really likely to have low crowds. I would guess that it's probably a coin toss between MLK and Presidents weekends. Spring Break is probably the busiest.

How long would you be going? I ask mainly because the marathon weekend itself will be busy, but the weekdays afterwards might not be too bad. It's too early for many school districts to have more than just Monday off, so Tue to Thu might not be bad. Presidents is tougher because a number of districts take the entire week off, so I would expect crowds to remain high all week.

 

[tarheelalum]

They are all crowded. Just pick the time that is best for you and don't worry about the crowds. It's always crowded. Especially around holidays people get off work. Go when the hotels/airfare/etc are the best deal for you.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Hmmm...okay thanks for the info. When would you say are lower crowd levels? I'm sure no times are uncrowded, but are there times that are less crowded?

There are very few times that are predictably less crowded, as traditionally low-crowd times now draw large crowds of people who've heard they're "not crowded" then. You do end up with uncrowded days from time to time - this past Friday, July 14, was randomly one of the least crowded days I can recall in recent history. But no one could have told you in advance that it would be a good day to go.

Presidents' Day and the week following were particularly bad last year.

You are generally best picking a time that will have long park hours and then making sure you're there before park opening.

 

[DLfan4]

We go to WDW often, but Disneyland not often. Between the 2, when would you say the better time to go is? How are crowds and weather?

Would the first week of April be better, although I think Easter falls during that time - just not sure how crowds are since I would assume there are more locals, than at Disney World.

When would you say is the slowest time of year at Disneyland? Or would you say it's more about days of the week vs. weekends?

TIA!

We went to DLR back in 2012 the Week of MLK. MLK was on Monday, and we went to DLR Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. it was a slow time, but that was back in 2012 before Cars land opened.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Between the 2, when would you say the better time to go is? How are crowds and weather?

I think President's week is busier, but it also has the benefit of having more daylight than January. I get extremely cold when the sun goes down and appreciate the longer days. February is the rainiest month of the year, but we hardly have any rain, so I wouldn't avoid Feb because of that.

Would the first week of April be better, although I think Easter falls during that time

It would be better for longer daylight hours, more things open in the park and more entertainment, but it would be more crowded. If you can go on Easter day, that would be ideal because last year, it was reported here that the park was pretty empty by today's standards.

When would you say is the slowest time of year at Disneyland? Or would you say it's more about days of the week vs. weekends?

Looking back over the past year and what I've read here, Saturdays and major holidays are now the slower days at the parks. Most people who have annual passes have passes that are blocked on those days. Disney got what they wanted by making the normally slower days busy. It seems going on Easter and the days leading up to Christmas were the slowest park days this past year.

 

[scrapshappen]

They have not begun registration for the Star Wars races and there is a lot of speculation that it will not happen in 2018.

Last year we were there MLK weekend and the first week of April and both were very busy but April was worse. The Tuesday after MLK was much better. We've never been President's weekend because it's traditionally a busy week.

 

[provencio]

quick question, not trying to crash the thread .. how are crowds the week before Presidents day? Thinking of going the weekdays of Valentines and spending Valentines day in the park..Thoughts

 

[Skyegirl1999]

quick question, not trying to crash the thread .. how are crowds the week before Presidents day? Thinking of going the weekdays of Valentines and spending Valentines day in the park..Thoughts

I was there on Valentine's Day last year. It was "pretty crowded but not insane," in my recollection and pictures. It was definitely getting much more crowded as we left around about 4:30; I think a lot of local couples probably come to spend the evening there. We liked meeting some of the "couples" (Aurora and Prince Phillip, Tiana and Naveen), but they had very long waits!

I didn't go other days that week, but I wouldn't let V-Day deter you (but the usual "it's always crowded and 10am openings are awful" advice still applies!).

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I was there on Valentine's Day last year. It was "pretty crowded but not insane," in my recollection and pictures. It was definitely getting much more crowded as we left around about 4:30; I think a lot of local couples probably come to spend the evening there. We liked meeting some of the "couples" (Aurora and Prince Phillip, Tiana and Naveen), but they had very long waits!

I didn't go other days that week, but I wouldn't let V-Day deter you (but the usual "it's always crowded and 10am openings are awful" advice still applies!).

Ok, I lied, I was also there in Feb 17 but it was POURING rain, like the park closed early because Main Street was flooding. So that day was not crowded, but it's deceptive because of the extreme weather.

 

[amyg1975]

We were there then too! We rode Heimlich 4 times in a row, in the POURING rain. We went back to the hotel after that, and we were going to head back for dinner reservations, but opened the hotel door, and went back inside and canceled our reservation. Ha ha!

 

[Geemo]

We go to WDW often, but Disneyland not often. Between the 2, when would you say the better time to go is? How are crowds and weather?

Would the first week of April be better, although I think Easter falls during that time - just not sure how crowds are since I would assume there are more locals, than at Disney World.

When would you say is the slowest time of year at Disneyland? Or would you say it's more about days of the week vs. weekends?

TIA!

Park Hours can make or break a trip for us.
You can see the "Historical Hours" in this thread.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/historical-dlr-park-hours-entertainment-and-refurbs.2291124/

Any more it's impossible to know the slowest time of the year, because the parks are always busy.

Now we book a trip based on the park hours. Long days are best for my group. We open the park, take a mid-day break out of the park and return to close the park. We try to leave the park for our break when it's the busiest during the day.

We'll keep an eye on the Disney app for a few weeks prior to a trip to see if there are any trends in wait times.
Not always fruitful but it can be fun....

Geemo