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TomorMatt
12-14-2002, 08:58 PM
As a resident of Southern California, my family and I try to time our visits to Disneyland when the crowds are not so large. I have heard that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is generally slower and had planned to go on Friday the 13th. As luck would have it (no pun intended), I had a work conflict at the last minute. I hated to tell my daughter we had to cancel for Friday so I promised to take her the next day. I thought about going mid-week the next week, but decided the Saturday would be better. Knowing that it is a black-out day for local AP holders and hoping that most families would be shopping for the holidays, we expected relatively few crowds. What a shock. We have been to Disneyland on Thanksgiving weekend, several Summer days, and even during the Christmas to New Years week, but today was busier than any day we have been before. I noticed several School groups, but even if half of the schools in Orange County attended, it would not account for the crowds. We could barely walk through the park and waited from 45-60 minutes on most rides. As always, we utilized the FP, but even the lines to get a FP took 10-15 minutes. I finally talked my daughter into leaving the park early in return for a promise to talk her when it is less busy. My question is--is it ever not busy. I am thinking mid-January to mid-February on a mid-week day might be good. Was today an abberation or does anyone know if something special was going on? Are all Saturdays, even during less busy seasons, this busy? Any suggestions are appreciated.

cstephens
12-14-2002, 10:11 PM
We did notice how crowded the park was today, but it's also a Saturday during the holidays. A lot of colleges have already let out. I expect next Saturday to be even busier as the regular schools get let out. At about 3pm, we noticed that the Fastpass return time for Indy was 6:30pm. Trying to get through Adventureland was certainly a challenge. The stand-by line for Pirates was so long that they were actually queued up on the bridge overpass. We went to get Fastpasses for Mansion, but the return time was 4:40, and having been at the park all day already, we weren't planning on staying that long, so we ended up not using those passes.

I love Disneyland during the holidays, but I definitely don't love the crowds. Oh well.

kisroo
12-15-2002, 08:31 AM
Mr Kisroo and I noticed that the "slow" times that we used to count on (early/mid Fall, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, early Spring...)are never slow on a Saturday. I think, in general, Saturdays are busy at the park~at least is has been the past few trips we've made "off-season".

Laffite
12-15-2002, 11:32 AM
Well, let's say I've never seen a non-busy Saturday. I always go there on Fridays because I don't have school. I try to avoid Sunday because I have school Monday :-P

Preston

HeeHeeHeeHoHoHo
12-15-2002, 09:51 PM
I would avoid going on a Saturday when Disneyland has extended hours and entertainment is in full swing. This would be any summer period (Fantasmic! and Fireworks) - and Christmas (Believe/Snow - Holiday attractions).

Today was very crowed (Sunday Dec 16) with 100 min waits for Small World at 8:30PM and one of the longest Peter Pan lines I have seen in my life. I could only imagine how awful Saturday would have been.

In addition since more Annual Pass holders go on Sunday.. Saturday seems to draw a much less experienced crowd with more more tourists and and less experienced theme park goers. The result is more families stopped in the middle of walkways holding maps - more stroller bumping - confusion around Fast Pass machines - etc. etc.

HeeHeeHeeHoHoHo
12-15-2002, 09:59 PM
whoops hello! December 15th :-)

DaddyB
12-15-2002, 10:31 PM
I laff whenever I hear people ask "Isn't this supposed to be the slow period for Disneyland?" referring to the last couple weeks before Christmas. From Thanksgiving to New Years, it's busy. Either artificially because they're only open until 8pm and have only half the lines open per attraction, or because it's the weekend and something is going on.

I especially chuckle when they're wandering around trying to figure out why they can't find a place to park thier fannies an hour before the Christmas parade starts.

Come back late January if you want slow.

dannyc
12-15-2002, 11:12 PM
My family and I were there Sunday - Wednesday last week (De. 8-11) and I was amazed at how busy DL was. "The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2003" lists week-by-week attendance predictions, and we scheduled our trip becuase it lists the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas as the slowest time of the year. However, I have been several times in October and November when it was much less crowded. I think the factors mentioned in a previous post, plus the holiday decorations and ride makeovers, has made this one of the busier periods. On the other hand, DCA was very nice, with walk-ons everywhere, and the only real wait being Soarin', and that was only about 20 minutes standby.

Laffite
12-15-2002, 11:46 PM
Originally posted by dannyc
On the other hand, DCA was very nice, with walk-ons everywhere, and the only real wait being Soarin', and that was only about 20 minutes standby.

No surprises there ;)

Preston