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View Full Version : Visit over Halloween or wait until Mid-November?



Geneva
06-20-2006, 10:36 AM
My husband and I are planning a Disneyland trip for later this year, and I need help deciding whether to go over Halloween or to wait until the week between Veterans Day and Thanksgiving (which is when we went to WDW last year, and LOVED it). A second part of this question is what types of festivities happen in the park on Halloween? We would be going Sun-Thurs either way, and I think Halloween is on a Tuesday. I've heard something about a Halloween parade or something that you have to buy tickets for. How does that work? Does the park close down early for this, and if so, is it just on Halloween itself, or for the days preceding it?

What do you all recommend?

Thanks!

Geneva
06-20-2006, 10:47 AM
I just saw the postings about the Matterhorn being down until Thanksgiving, so now it looks like we've got to consider maybe waiting until mid-January (no way I'm going over the holidays). Of course, if we do that, we miss HMH, which we've been dying to see. These decisions sure are tough!

Monte Cristo
06-20-2006, 10:52 AM
Matterhorn or not, I can't imagine not preferring to go during the holidays. Especially mid-November when it's about as quiet as it's gonna get during that time of year.

I'll miss Matterhorn but something is usually down whenever we visit, so it's not a big deal to me. Besides, our last trip there I think I went on Matterhorn 5000 times each day. :D

Disney Vault
06-20-2006, 11:22 AM
My favorite time to go is early december. All the attractions are usually open at that time and it is still not crowded. But if you do go at this time you just need to avoid the cast member party days in early december.

Geneva
06-20-2006, 12:18 PM
Thanks for the tips. How do you find out when the cast member parties are during early December? Perhaps we will wait until then, since most rides will likely be up, but the crowds will still be minimal.

rentayenta
06-20-2006, 12:32 PM
I think the CM parties are during the week after the Candlelight weekend. This year, if I am correct, it would be the week of the 4-8 if the Candlelight is the 1st weekend. Where is Darkbeer when you need him?

Koala Gurl
06-20-2006, 01:14 PM
I would definitely try to go over the holidays. Something extra special for me!!

I love that week between Vets & TG, but early December is pretty much the same.

tinker3
06-20-2006, 01:43 PM
We usually go 1st week of Nov. (1st -5th) and it's wonderful. You might get some Christmas deco's up, but maybe not all of them. Mid Nov. is a great time too, I just wouldn't go during the week of Veteran's day or Thanksgiving weekend they tend to be busy. Last year Veteran's day was crazy busy!
Have Fun!

Leslie21
06-20-2006, 06:18 PM
We usually go 1st week of Nov. (1st -5th) and it's wonderful. You might get some Christmas deco's up, but maybe not all of them. Mid Nov. is a great time too, I just wouldn't go during the week of Veteran's day or Thanksgiving weekend they tend to be busy. Last year Veteran's day was crazy busy!
Have Fun!

I go every year on Veteran's Day because it's my birthday but I agree that it was very busy last year :D
I'd recommend mid-november if you love Christmas, everything but the Christmas parade is running (that starts somewhere around Thanksgiving?), but if you love Halloween, then go for that! Good luck deciding:)

DianeM
06-20-2006, 08:46 PM
We're going through that right now. We were going to go in the spring, but we wanted to do both HM and POTC and my husband wanted to see the 50th fireworks (which he passed on the last visit because of the crowds), so we decided to wait til september. Then we found out that HM is down throughout September, and he decided that he'd rather ride HM than see the fireworks, so it's mid October. We're not putting if off again, though. There will never be a time when EVERY ride is running AND the crowds are small. Disney takes advantage of low crowd times to do refurbs. So, no Matterhorn this visit. But we won't miss HM - we've missed it the last two visits, and really want to ride it.

If I were you, I'd consider travelling in early December. According to the site i linked to below, the Christmas crowds don't start until Christmas break. We are going to be out of town in late December for a week, so we can't travel then, but we may next year. Matterhorn should be back up, the Christmas decorations are supposed to be lovely, and HMH will be in place.

http://www.scottware.com.au/theme/feature/crowds.htm


I just saw the postings about the Matterhorn being down until Thanksgiving, so now it looks like we've got to consider maybe waiting until mid-January (no way I'm going over the holidays). Of course, if we do that, we miss HMH, which we've been dying to see. These decisions sure are tough!

Geneva
07-23-2006, 09:48 AM
Thanks everyone. Diane, that website was very helpful! We're considering now going the first or second week of December, since it looks like all of the rides will be up, plus the holiday decorations, but it is the slowest time of year, crowd-wise.

Benihodge
07-23-2006, 01:17 PM
That is a really cool site, thanks for sharing. :cool: