April Disneyland Crowd Calendar
Our April 2020 Disneyland & Disney California Adventure preview offers a free crowd calendar, info about what’s happening the parks, tips choosing the best days to visit, and more. In terms of low 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.
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.
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.
Now, let’s take a look at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure crowds during the month of April…
Important Note: April 2020 Disneyland Crowd Calendar
As you may know, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opens in early 2020. This new attraction has the potential to totally upend Disneyland crowd calendars, have no impact at all, or fall somewhere in between. Read our Why Are Star Wars Land Crowds So Low? post from last year to understand just how unpredictable this opening could be.
Additionally, Disneyland has not yet released park hours for April 2020. They typically only release park hours less than three in advance, which means the reliability of crowd calendars is lower further out from any given month. Because of these two factors, we are not releasing our 2020 crowd calendars for later in the year until after the dust settles post-Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance opening and trends in hours emerge.
Anyone planning a trip later in the year can consult our When to Visit Disneyland in 2020 or our 2020 Best & Worst Months to Visit Disneyland posts. However, we’d caution you against over-reliance on crowd calendar predictions for specific dates. While other sites do have 2020 Disneyland crowd calendars posted for later in the year already, the credibility of those predictions is dubious.
Suffice to say, stay tuned for our April 2020 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. It should prove busy despite the lowest tier of Annual Passes being blocked out during these times.
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. Expect the last week of March and first week of April to be two of the busiest weeks of the year at Disneyland Resort.
Crowds should get progressively better in the second half of April, but other schools having their spring breaks will likely mean that true “low crowd” days are almost non-existent at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in April. Your best bet for low crowds will be the last week of April early in the day on weekdays, or on Saturdays when Deluxe Annual Passes are blocked out.
Another local draw will be the DCA Food & Wine Festival, a popular event that runs from , 2020. 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.
Finally, April 19, 2020 is Dapper Day, which is an unofficial event. 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 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.
If you’re preparing for a Disneyland trip, check out our other planning posts, including how to save money on Disneyland tickets, our Disney packing tips, tips for booking a hotel (off-site or on-site), where to dine, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide!
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.