April 2024 Disneyland Crowd Calendar
Our guide to April 2024 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 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 2024. First, dynamics among Magic Key Passholders and other locals. This has already started to fizzle out, so it seems safe to assume that’ll be even more true next year. However, the resumption of lower tiers of Magic Key sales could easily spark another wave, so to speak.
Second, there’s the return of ticket deals for locals. It’s highly likely that there will be a Southern California resident ticket deal for Winter & Spring 2024. This ticket will be subject to theme park reservation availability and it’ll likely only be valid on weekdays, which also will change the crowd dynamic. However, that’s not even the biggest factor…
With the 100 Years of Wonder Celebration winding down by Spring 2024, Disneyland Resort is likely to roll out a new promotional event to spice things up. At this point, when or what that could be is completely unknown. It could start as early as the winter off-season in an attempt to entice visitors during a slow time or as late as Memorial Day weekend.
As for the ‘what’ of it, our expectation is something revolving around evening entertainment, with an enhanced version of Fantasmic and possibility Paint the Night Parade. Of course, those are just guesses at this point, as actual specifics are unknown. This would end up having zero impact on April 2024 crowds if it doesn’t start until Memorial Day.
With that backdrop set, here’s what you can expect in April 2024 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 Special Events
Another local draw will be the DCA Food & Wine Festival, a popular event that typically runs from early . 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 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 2024 Disneyland Crowd Calendar
Generally speaking, crowds will be good during April 2024! This is a change from the norm, and is due almost entirely to Easter not falling in April. During most years, that’s the case–Easter hasn’t happened in March since 2016. However, that changes next year, as Easter will be March 31, 2024. This is very bad news for visitors doing Disneyland in March 2024, and very good news for those visiting in April.
With that said, it’s not all smooth sailing. Easter and Spring Break will result in high crowd levels at the beginning of the month, and while that spike in tourists and locals who are out of school will dissipate following the first week or so, the SoCal Resident Ticket deal will remain ongoing, so that will keep crowd levels in the moderate range for most of the month.
The busiest period of the month will be April 1-8, 2024. However, it won’t be nearly as bad as last year when Easter fell within that window and many school districts with floating Spring Breaks anchored to the holiday were off. Although some districts do have set school recesses that occur annually the first week of April, it’s not nearly as many.
That’s not the only week that’ll be busy, as Southern California and other West Coast school districts Spring Breaks scattered from mid-March through early April 2024. Expect that entire stretch to be varying degrees of ‘busy,’ but most of the ‘very busy’ or peak season dates will all be in March rather than April. Our expectation is 7/10 to 8/10 crowd levels for the date rate above, and that being the worst of the entire month.
Crowds should get progressively better in the next three weeks of April 2024, with the gradual improvement occurring because fewer and fewer schools have their spring breaks as the month progresses. Your best bet for low crowds will be the last two weeks of April 2024 early in the day on weekdays.
One other thing to note is that April 6-7 is Dapper Day(s). This 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 weekend 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.
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!
Dapper Day only takes place on the 16th.
Lol – we were planning to go back in 2020! Obviously that trip got cancelled. Never made it.
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.