April 2022 Disneyland Crowd Calendar
Our guide to April 2022 at Disneyland & Disney California Adventure offers a free crowd calendar, what’s happening in the parks, tips choosing the best days to visit, and more. In terms of attendance and wait times at DCA and Disneyland, expect April to be one of the year’s busier months due to Easter and Spring Break.
While those spring holiday school breaks draw guaranteed, predictable crowds year in and out at Disneyland and DCA, there are a few more wildcards for April 2022. First, ongoing pent-up reservation demand among Magic Key Passholders who have had a difficult time booking reservations since Halloween. It’s possible this will start to fizzle out earlier in the year, but the resumption of Magic Key sales could easily spark another wave, so to speak.
Second, Disneyland has already announced a lot of entertainment will return in Spring 2022. While no dates have been set, Fantasmic, World of Color, Disneyland Forever, and Main Street Electrical Parade all we will be back by that nebulous date. For the sake of April 2022 crowds, we hope that most of this debuts by February–if it doesn’t come back until March or April 2022, that’s a recipe for another wave of pent-up demand playing out at Disneyland…
Finally, there’s the return of ticket deals for locals. Southern California residents can visit Disneyland theme parks for as low as $67 per day with the purchase of a special 3-day, 1-park per day weekday ticket that’s valid from now through May 26, 2022. This ticket is subject to theme park reservation availability and is only valid on weekdays, but has no blockout dates.
With that backdrop set, here’s what you can expect in April 2022 at Disneyland & Disney California Adventure in terms of the crowd calendar, weather, refurbishment, special events, closures and new attractions…
April Weather at Disneyland
Before we get to all of that, let’s start on an upbeat note: weather. Okay, so perhaps that’s a bit lame because the weather in Southern California is pretty much always nice, but April is especially strong. During April, temperatures in Anaheim tend to range from lows in the mid-50s to highs in the mid-70s.
During the middle of the day, temperatures are usually in the mid-60s to low 70s, with the average high increasing 3°F from March to 74°F. Daily low temperatures increase by 4°F, from 52°F to 56°F. Daily highs rarely fall below 63°F or exceed 86°F and daily lows are seldom below 47°F or above 60°F.
April is outside Southern California’s rainy season, which officially ends in March. Rain is unlikely even early in the month, with only a 10% daily chance of precipitation to start. By the final week of April, there’s only a 5% daily chance of rain.
April is generally a pretty sunny month, and over the course of the month, the length of the daytime increases. The shortest day of the month is April 1 (12 hours, 34 minutes of daylight) and the longest day is April 30 (13 hours, 31 minutes of daylight).
The marine layer is also less of a problem during April, which can’t be said for the months that follow as “May Gray” and “June Gloom” are well established phenomenon along the Southern California coast. All in all, April is a great time to visit California (and by extension, Disneyland) when it comes to weather. It’s not always warm, but it’s not hot either!
Due to the drop in temperatures once the sun goes down, we recommend packing a sweater or thin jacket for the evening hours. Many visitors overlook this, assuming California equals sunshine and palm trees. Spring evenings can chilly, and the “feels like” tends to be cooler due to the lack of humidity.
April 2022 Special Events
Another local draw will be the DCA Food & Wine Festival, a popular event that runs from , 2022. Read our Guide to the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival if you’re thinking of attending. Even though portion sizes are small and prices are high, it’s fun.
In terms of March attraction closures, we have what’s possibly a partial list on the 2022 Disneyland Refurbishment Calendar. That should be pretty close to final for March, but don’t be surprised if another ride or two is added as the month draws nearer.
Now, let’s take a look at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure crowds during the month of April…
April 2022 Disneyland Crowd Calendar
Generally speaking, crowds will not be good during April. Easter and Spring Break will create heavy crowds at the beginning of the month, and while that spike in tourists and locals who are out of school will dissipate later in the month, the SoCal Resident Ticket deal remains ongoing, so that will keep crowd levels in the moderate range for most of the month.
In large part, heavier crowds are due to the Los Angeles and Orange County School Districts (among other schools) having their Spring Breaks in April 2022. It should prove busy despite the lower tiers of Magic Key Passes being blocked out during these times.
The busiest period of the month will be April 8-17, 2022. This encompasses not only Easter (April 17, 2022), but also Spring Break for Los Angeles County Schools (April 11-15, 2022). Compounding the crowds during that week is that the 2022 Southern California Ticket Deal is not blocked out those weekdays.
That’s not the only week that’ll be busy, as Southern California school districts Spring Breaks scattered from the last week of March 2022 through mid-April 2022. Expect that entire stretch to be varying degrees of ‘very busy,’ with the aforementioned dates seeing peak attendance. It wouldn’t surprise us in the least if park reservations are fully book for the entire stretch, in which case it’ll all be ~9/10 crowds.
In addition to locals flocking to the parks, there will be a lot of tourists visiting due to the Easter holiday and other school districts in the Western U.S. having spring break this week.
Crowds should get progressively better in the second half of April 2022, but other schools having their spring breaks will likely mean that moderate crowd days (or below) are almost non-existent at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in April 2022. Your best bet for low crowds will be the last week of April early in the day on weekdays.
The one exception to that is April 24, 2022, which is Dapper Day. Thi is an unofficial event that encourages guests to “step out in style” and dress sharply while visiting Disneyland. Unless you’re into this sort of thing, it’s an incredibly unpleasant day to visit Disneyland. While it started as something neat (even for non-participants) as a throwback of sorts, it has blown up and now draws a lot of mainstream fashionistas, pin-up fans, Instagram “models,” etc.
In terms of pricing, expect to pay peak season prices for off-site hotel prices at the beginning of April. After that, things should fall into the more moderate end of the spectrum. We rank our favorite (and least favorite) hotels in the Anaheim Resort District in our Disneyland Area Hotel Rankings & Reviews post. Check out discounted hotel + ticket vacation packages on Get Away Today to save money on off-site hotels.
If you visit in early April efficient touring plans for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure will be essential. Even if you go in the second half of the month, having a smart itinerary is a good idea. Across the board, crowd levels at Disneyland Resort are higher than they were a few years ago.
Another great option is the Park Hopper ticket, which allows you to weave between the parks. Failing that, arrive at rope drop and try to get as much done as possible before 4 p.m. Read our Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets post for full ticket recommendations.
Overall, April ranks poorly on our 2022 Best and Worst Months to Visit Disneyland. With that said, that’s in large part due to Easter and Spring Break. Later in the month, things won’t be nearly as bad–especially if you arrive early in the day and beat the locals who show up in droves. Construction projects will be starting to wrap up and the weather is improving, making late April a potentially tempting time to visit. Just don’t go in expecting any truly low-crowd days. The absolute best you’re going to get is in the lemon-lime range of the color wheel.
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!
Your Thoughts
Have you visited Disneyland in April? Have you visited for Easter or Spring Break? Do you recommend attending Dapper Day? Any questions? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!
Any tips on how to make Dapper Day less unpleasant? We’ll (family of 4) be in town from the East Coast with just the 19th & 20th earmarked for Disney (the rest of the week in San Diego). My current plan is DCA on the 19th and Disneyland on the 20th. We’ll have fun regardless, but if you have some tips or tricks specific to Dapper Day I’d love to hear them!
How come I see no actual crowd calendar?
I was just wondering why the last Sunday of April of 2018 is “marked in red”? My understanding is, while most Sundays are quite busy at Disneyland (although not to the point of insanity), the last Sunday of April has always been one of the better Sundays to actually go there. Could you share some of your insights with me as to why you felt that day deserved to be “marked in red”? Also, do you think the last Sunday in April of 2019 will warrant being “marked in red”, as well (that is the day I was planning on going back to Disneyland)? If so, would I still have an OK time if I was already standing in the “Main Street hub area” BEFORE “rope-drop” (I have the option to go the following Wednesday instead, but Sunday would be better for me because I will be flying to another area on Thursday morning and I wanted to totally rest on Wednesday)? If it helps you to give me the advice, I was only thinking of spending a few hours there from “rope-drop” until maybe around 1 P.M. (I just want to catch a few rides that were not available the last time I was there which should be up and running at that time, and maybe catch a quick bite and look for a newer “Disneyland tee-shirt”). I know Easter falls on the previous Sunday in 2019, but since it is already so late in April, I figured it would be fairly calm by the end of that week (since most kids have to be back in school the very next day after the Sunday I was planning on going), so what are your thoughts?
Hi,
I think it’s due to The Summit cheer competition.
We are likely going to be visiting in April 2019 – (around husbands work trips so can’t be too picky :() Is there any dates that looks best to aim for?
It’s too early to tell definitively, but if you shift this calendar to next year, that should give you a good idea. Days of the week, rather than dates, are what matters in determining crowd levels.
It is very helpful that you wait until later to post these. I’d much rather the higher accuracy as opposed to other sites “predictions” that end up being woefully inaccurate. This way, visitors can set their expectations appropriately as opposed to being super bummed that the vacation they planned nine months ago when the crowd levels were supposed to be low doesn’t hold.
This is great! We’re visiting on the 3 days that are green, 24th-26th. Whoot, whoot! I’m glad your predictions haven’t changed much since I last referenced the calendar.