I'm sure that you know this, but Thursday will be the least crowded of the three and Saturday the most.

I know of two toddler classes that are off that week, and I know one school district has that week off, but Darkbeer has declared that it will be much less crowded than the two preceding weeks. The 2-Parks-4-1 passes will expire the following week, and--if history repeats itself--on the last day of the passes (the 26th) Disneyland will be jammed. I would guess that Saturday the 21st would also have increased crowds of those using their passes on the last weekend.

also, what is darkbeer's opinion of ridemax?You might PM him to ask.

There have been many threads in the past asking about Ridemax. Just do a search on the term in this forum and you'll get many. Here's the most recent (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=67913&highlight=ridemax).

How about the weekend of May 5th? Sister has planned a last-minute weekend trip and is super-psyched. Checking the convention center, I know there's also the California Dental Association annual conference that same weekend, so I'm already expecting moderate-to-big crowds, but we didn't even remember that it included Cinco de Mayo until today. :eek: How have crowds been in the past?

What does eveyoe think the crowds will be like the weekend of may 12? Last time I was at Disneyland was the day after Christmas and I was hoping the crowds won't be that bad:)

im leaving in 13-14 days for DL - i will be there April 27th - May 1st. How crowded does everyone think it will be?

this was the ride wait time board from yesterday, it was even more crowded today at Disneyland. Expect the same crowds for the end of April on a weekend:
http://chrisaustx.smugmug.com/photos/143336290-M.jpg

I am thinking of a quick visit to DLR since I will be in the area. Any thoughts on how busy the park will be? I am hoping that it's early enough in the season that most kids are still in school. Where I live Summer vacations generally begin the 2nd week in June. I'll have 2 young toddlers in tow and would probably skip DLR all together if I knew that really large crowds were to be an issue. It would be a bummer to miss out on some family fun but the massive crowds and lines are too much on the wee ones.

Thanks for the advice.

I wonder how crowded the park will be on Sunday (April 22) from 6:30 to 7:30? I printed the sentences below from the MousePlanet weekly update, but I still can't imagine that many people getting there THAT early.
What do you predict?

"We don't often encourage people to stay away from the resort, but this is one of those times. High traffic days often have some redeeming feature about them to justify braving the crowds—extended hours, additional entertainment—but this weekend looks to offer nothing more than a lot of people trying to do as much as possible in less time."

im leaving in 13-14 days for DL - i will be there April 27th - May 1st. How crowded does everyone think it will be?
I hope its not busy! We'll be there from the 26th to the 1st.

Just confirmation on our new dates for our trip, from the hotel, and Willie at HoJo said that the hotel is sold out and the parks will be packed!! Any idea why? TIA!

We changed our trip dates, and I got a confirmation from HoJo that we got one of the last rooms. In the email I was told the hotel would be sold out and the parks packed. What is going on? We thought going Monday-Wednesday would make it even less crowded. Really thought we were missing the spring break crowds too. BUMMER!

Perhaps the travel industry convention. They are the ones responsible for the crazy schedule on 4/22.

Anyone know what the crowds look like end of Sept begining of Oct? We will be there Sept 27- Oct 4th.

TIA

I'm from San Diego and some local radio stations are broadcasting from DL this week. Does anyone know of any special events going on right now? I'm planning a Wed. trip and want to be prepared.

I guess I will get kicked off mouseplanet for a week or two for saying this. I kicked off everytime I make a blog. WHY DO PEOPLE COME ON THIS BLOG AND ASK WHAT THE CROWDS WILL BE LIKE ON ANY GIVEN WEEKEND?? ANY WEEKEND NO MATTER WHAT MONTH IS GOING TO BE SUPER CROWDED!!!!! WHAT REAL DISNEYLAND FAN GOES TO DL ON A WEEKEND????? REAL DL SUPERFREAKS LIKE MYSELF WOULD RATHER STICK NEEDLES IN THERE EYES THEN GO ON A WEEKEND. I really just wanna know who in there right mind would do this?? Oh yeah I don't care what job you have with enough planning you can get off for a day or two.

I guess I will get kicked off mouseplanet for a week or two for saying this. I kicked off everytime I make a blog. WHAT REAL DISNEYLAND FAN GOES TO DL ON A WEEKEND????? REAL DL SUPERFREAKS LIKE MYSELF WOULD RATHER STICK NEEDLES IN THERE EYES THEN GO ON A WEEKEND. I really just wanna know who in there right mind would do this??

First off, there are people who work weekdays and it's their only option. But I guess it also depends on what kind of fan you are. I love Disneyland, I hate crowds, and yet I often go on weekends. You can still have a very good time on crowded days. I also love having an AP so there's no pressure. If it's too crowded it's always fun to just people watch or do things you don't often get to when you're rushing for the big rides. Disneyland is worth it just for the environment. So, why not go on weekends? :)

First off, there are people who work weekdays and it's their only option. But I guess it also depends on what kind of fan you are. I love Disneyland, I hate crowds, and yet I often go on weekends. You can still have a very good time on crowded days. I also love having an AP so there's no pressure. If it's too crowded it's always fun to just people watch or do things you don't often get to when you're rushing for the big rides. Disneyland is worth it just for the environment. So, why not go on weekends? :)

sounds like you go a lot. If you go a lot and live close then a few hours on a weekend is cool. But these people who are planning these big trips for summer weekends and come on here ask what the crowds will be like just kill me.

First of all this isnt a blog. Its a message board. Many people use it as a way to obtain information for trip planning. Not every member of the board is someone that is a huge fan that tracks busy seasons, refurbs, park hours, etc. They come here so they can ask people who know. If you dont want to share the info you have, then you dont have post- but please dont be rude if you choose to post.

Many of use have to work not only around park schedules and when it will be crowded, but also around air and hotel rates we can afford, time off work (two adults in many cases) and time off school. I'm willing to take me kids out for a day or two, but not for 5. I'm willing to use some vacation time, but not all of my limited time off. We simply must include weekend days in our trip.

Its natural to want the most for your money- not huge crowds, limited ride closures, full entertainment schedules, etc. Best way to do that is ask questions and know what to plan for!

I guess I will get kicked off mouseplanet for a week or two for saying this. I kicked off everytime I make a blog. WHY DO PEOPLE COME ON THIS BLOG AND ASK WHAT THE CROWDS WILL BE LIKE ON ANY GIVEN WEEKEND?? ANY WEEKEND NO MATTER WHAT MONTH IS GOING TO BE SUPER CROWDED!!!!! WHAT REAL DISNEYLAND FAN GOES TO DL ON A WEEKEND????? REAL DL SUPERFREAKS LIKE MYSELF WOULD RATHER STICK NEEDLES IN THERE EYES THEN GO ON A WEEKEND. I really just wanna know who in there right mind would do this?? Oh yeah I don't care what job you have with enough planning you can get off for a day or two.

There's a really easy solution. Stop reading this thread or any thread where it's obvious from the thread title that someone is asking about crowds.

Nice that you're only considering real fans to be those who go on weekdays. Some of us real Disney fans have jobs during the week.

I am thinking of a quick visit to DLR since I will be in the area. Any thoughts on how busy the park will be? I am hoping that it's early enough in the season that most kids are still in school. Where I live Summer vacations generally begin the 2nd week in June. I'll have 2 young toddlers in tow and would probably skip DLR all together if I knew that really large crowds were to be an issue. It would be a bummer to miss out on some family fun but the massive crowds and lines are too much on the wee ones.

Thanks for the advice.

It's difficult to say. We plan on being there May 19-23 for my DD's 21st and DS's graduation from college celebration. We're hoping all the hoopla from the premier will have died down by Monday. There is, however, a big convention of urologists, 30,000 expected, during that week. I don't know how that will impact crowds.

When making hotel reservations, I could not find any for the 19th-23, but there were rooms available for the 21-23.

Like always, it can be a crapshoot.

My wife and I went the first week in October last year thinking it would be slow -- WRONG! The LA and many OC schools were out for Yom Kippur, then AZ schools had their fall break.

I am a real Disneyland fan and whenever possible, I try to only include 1 weekend day in my trips, because I don't want to be there when the crowds are usually heavier than they are say on a tuesday in the middle of October. HOWEVER, if the weekends, summers, spring break or any other extremely busy times were the ONLY times I could go, I would go then. IMHO it is better to go then, than not at all!
For us, I am very lucky. We fly for free on my Dh's airline, or cheap on other carriers, we have pretty much decided that we will never have a trip staying anywhere besides HoJos, and honestly I am ok with that, we aren't in the room much and HoJos is nice, clean, quiet etc. We have APs so that keeps the costs for admissions tickets down, we have spread the renewal dates over the year so that it isn't a hard hit when we renew them. My kids are young enough that taking them out of school is not an issue. And when they are older, if it ever becomes an issue, then we will arrange our trips around their time off from school. I am a domestic engineer (aka SAHM) so I don't have to worry about scheduling days off with my boss (bosses) as I take my bosses (my kids) with me on my trips. AND my DH gets between 12-16 days off a month, so we can usually have at least the beginning or the end of our trips meet up with his days off.
I know this doesn't work for everyone, and I truly feel blessed that it does. But to sit there and say that REAL DL fans do not go to the park on crowded days is ridiculous! Heck I was there on 5/5/05, it was jam packed with REAL fans, but it was a day I will never forget, to say I was there was an honor!

I was also at the park on May 5, 2005. Now that was packed, lol!!! We have a wonderful picture of everybody behind us when we were watching the morning happenings on Main Street (we were right at the rope cutting us off from the media). And then we have a picture of everyone behind us right after the fireworks show (we were up by the Castle). LOL, I can't believe that my husband and I braved it (that was a 10 day DL only vacation. It was FANTASTIC). We are AP Holders and won tickets to be at DL on May 4, 2005 when the park was closed to the public. Now that was great.....lighter crowds. I live 6 hours away from DL. It is not always easy to get down there. We prefer no crowds. However, this is DL we are talking about :) I am a HUGE DL fan. I will pretty much go whenever the opportunity will let me.

I was also at the park on May 5, 2005. Now that was packed, lol!!! We have a wonderful picture of everybody behind us when we were watching the morning happenings on Main Street (we were right at the rope cutting us off from the media). And then we have a picture of everyone behind us right after the fireworks show (we were up by the Castle). LOL, I can't believe that my husband and I braved it (that was a 10 day DL only vacation. It was FANTASTIC). We are AP Holders and won tickets to be at DL on May 4, 2005 when the park was closed to the public. Now that was great.....lighter crowds. I live 6 hours away from DL. It is not always easy to get down there. We prefer no crowds. However, this is DL we are talking about :) I am a HUGE DL fan. I will pretty much go whenever the opportunity will let me.

I bet Wendi and I were right behind you for the fireworks that day. We were right up front and center at the castle. Unfortunately we didn't get that close on Main St., but I was just glad to be there. VERY COOL about being there on the 4th.

Well dang....I could have said HELLO to the two of you :) Wasn't that just great during the fireworks show that night how everybody recited the HM part?! We loved it!!! Too much fun!

I thought of another reason that many of us go on weekends- fireworks and F! If you go mid week they more then likely wont be offered.