Best & Worst Months to Visit Disneyland
Planning a trip to Disneyland and trying to determine the best month to visit in 2026? We analyze crowds, weather, seasonal events, park hours, and other factors to rank every month of the year for Disneyland in this post, plus our 3 favorite weeks to visit.
It’s been a wild ride since Disneyland and DCA reopened. There have been waves of pent-up demand made for a busy summer, followed by attendance fizzling out, and that process repeating itself multiple times. The debut and subsequent suspensions of Magic Key Annual Pass sales has further complicated crowd predictions, as have ticket deals for Southern California residents.
A lot of resources already exist to help planners choose the best time to visit Disneyland, but they do so from an objective, statistical perspective. While crowd calendars are a great resource, we believe in a more holistic approach to planning a Disneyland visit.
To be sure, everyone loves low crowds, but those low crowds don’t tell the whole story. When it comes to Disneyland, low crowd levels are sometimes accompanied by shorter operating hours, poor weather, additional refurbishments, and a lack of seasonal events. Few people evaluate their vacation’s success by some statistical ‘fun quotient’, so we feel it only makes sense to approach the best months to visit Disneyland from a similar qualitative approach.
That’s our belief, at least, and one that has proven popular with readers of our Disneyland Crowd Calendars. We’ve had a lot of questions for greater guidance in that post, so we thought we’d provide that here. In this, we provide the pros & cons of every month at Disneyland and rank the best and worst times to visit accordingly.
As such, the point of this post is to rank every month of the year for visiting Disneyland in light of all relevant considerations. After ranking each month with accompanying analysis (so you can determine whether you’d weigh the factors differently) we also cut to the chase and choose our 3 favorite weeks of the year for visiting Disneyland.
If you’d like to see this type of approach extended even further, check out our new list of the 10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Visit Disneyland in 2026 & 2027. As the title suggests, that identifies the ‘red flag’ dates to avoid, as well as the ideal times to visit. It’s really more than just 10 weeks, as a number of the good and bad windows are far longer than a single week. That might be more helpful than these rankings, especially as months aren’t monolithic.
In order of worst to best, here’s how every month of the year at Disneyland ranks…
12. June – Due to the summer tourist season mixed with pent-up demand (people making up for lost time and taking trips), June has become one of the busiest months of the year. It has been busier than July, which used to be the busier summer vacation month.
June being busier than July actually makes sense for one big reason: lower tier Magic Key passholders are not blocked out earlier in June, causing them to descend upon the park. That means there’s a dynamic with both tourists and locals in June, whereas July has fewer of the latter.
The only other major consideration for the summer months is weather. While June is one of the hottest months of the year in California, it’s typically not as hot and humid as Florida. Beyond that, it comes down (mostly) to luck whether June, July, or August will have the “worst” weather. Click here to view our June Disneyland Crowd Calendar.
11. July – Pretty much the same story with July. This is often the peak of California’s summer tourist season, but it has more narrowly-tailored Magic Key blockouts. Pent-up demand has made summer less busy in recent years, but the “Disney Celebrates America” United States 250th Anniversary event is another factor that will likely make July 2026 more crowded than the same months last year.
We could end up being “wrong” and misjudging the new crowd dynamic, but it doesn’t really matter. Regardless of what happens with summer crowds, we’d pick a different month if visiting Disneyland as tourists. There’s too much downside and not enough potential upside. The summer just doesn’t have enough selling points, even if you set aside crowds for some reason.
In general, July is not as bad at Disneyland as Walt Disney World. You still have the potential for hot weather, but it’s not nearly as humid. There’s also an influx of summer tourists, but far fewer than Florida. The days around Independence Day are an exception, as they are exceptionally busy despite the blockouts. The upside to July 4th at Disneyland is added entertainment and special fireworks. Click here to view our July Disneyland Crowd Calendar.
10. April – There are a ton of school districts throughout California and other western states that have spring break during April, especially when Easter happens during this month (which it does this year). That means you’ll have a mix of locals and tourists who are on vacation descending upon the parks during the first half of the month.
This makes April one of the busier times of year, and also most expensive dates of the year at hotels near Disneyland Resort. This is especially frustrating at Disneyland, a park that was simply not built to accommodate as many guests as cram into the parks during the month of April.
Normally, there would be two silver linings. First, that the last week-plus of April should be quieter as Spring Break winds down. Second, April weather in Southern California is great, with little precipitation and warmer temperatures–but not too warm. Click here to view our April Disneyland Crowd Calendar.
9. October – As Halloween becomes increasingly popular, October has become–on average–the second-busiest month of the year. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, as October had become increasingly chaotic in “normal” years. In large part, this can be attributed to Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party at Disney California Adventure and more demand for all things Halloween at both parks.
On top of that, October has a surplus of “crazy” holidays–half of which I think Utah and Nevada are making up just to mess with Disneyland crowd levels. Nevada, you don’t get your own holiday. I’ll sooner recognize “Whacking Day” as an official holiday. Aside from this nonsense Utah and Nevada are celebrating, there’s also Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day. While not major holidays on their own, many school districts use that as a proxy for fall breaks. And the schools that don’t typically have their breaks scattered throughout other long weekends in October.
Then there’s Halloween, and everyone knows that those heathens in California celebrate by taking 13 days off work. 😉 Seriously, though, October has become a really busy month at Disneyland. The weather and seasonal entertainment are both great (just check out our Ultimate Guide to Halloween at Disneyland), but crowds are too unpredictable and heavy. Click here to view our October Disneyland Crowd Calendar.
8. August – This month has seen its stock soar in the last few years, driven largely by the new dynamic of summer vacation crowds dropping precipitously towards the start of August, rather than halfway through. The other big change is that Halloween now starts earlier, which is true once again this year–it begins on August 21, 2026.
The biggest downside is the potential for really hot weather in August. If it weren’t for this, August would be one of the top 3 months on this list. While the entirety of August has lower crowds, crowds get really good mid-month, as that’s when schools start going back into session.
While it didn’t make the cut for our best weeks of the year, there’s a fourth “sweet spot” in the exact middle of the month that has long operating hours, reduced crowds, and Magic Key passholder blockouts. Strongly consider this week if you’re thinking of doing a late summer vacation at Disneyland. Click here to view our August Disneyland Crowd Calendar.
7. March – This month is better than last year due to Easter falling in April. Due to that, Los Angeles County and most Orange County school districts both have their Spring Break in April. However, many out of state schools will still be scattered throughout the second half of March, as will some districts in California.
As a result, the first few weeks of the month should be quite good. Then there’s weather, which is starting to improve in March. It’s also the first full month of Disney California Adventure’s Food & Wine Festival, which usually runs through April. It’s an enjoyable event that does not really draw crowds, but provides a nice way to get a taste of California’s diverse cuisine.
6. May – Normally, May is a “sweet spot” for Disneyland. It’s before schools are out for summer and also before Magic Key passholders who are blocked out for the summer start making their “last visits.” As such, May normally sees a lull in demand before the arrival of summer tourist season, and everything that brings with it.
This year, there are two big reasons to believe that won’t be the case. For the approximately two weeks leading up to the expiration of the Southern California resident ticket deal, there will be elevated crowds as people rush to race their unused days before those tickets expire.
On a positive note, May is also usually a strong month weather-wise, with mild temperatures. We’d also expect May to return to its normal dynamic in 2026, and shoot back up these rankings. Click here to view our May Disneyland Crowd Calendar.
5. September – Halloween Time will run for the entirety of September, and that’ll cause a bit of a bump to crowds. However, that’s mostly a plus as the added seasonal entertainment far outweighs the increased attendance.
September is reliably off-season, as school has just gone back into session and California’s summer tourist season has come to an end. Weekends can still see higher crowds, but weekdays tend to be great. You’ll also want to avoid the last week of the summer and early fall ticket deal, which usually is the end of the month. We expect the same for September 2026.
September is typically warm but bearable in Anaheim. On top of the crowds and pleasant weather, you have the Halloween entertainment, special food, and attraction overlays, which we highly recommend seeing. Click here to view our September Disneyland Crowd Calendar.
4. February – This is usually one of the slower months of the year on average, as Disneyland continues to come down from the highs of the holiday season. However, there’s still Ski Week (Presidents’ Day), which will significantly spike crowds (avoid that entire week).
Even before that, there’s an uptick earlier in the month due to the Lunar New Year celebration…causing increased crowds the first half of the month.
All of that is the downside of February. The upside is fewer refurbishments and warmer weather than January. Click here to view our February Disneyland Crowd Calendar.
3. December – This month slips a bit for our Disneyland rankings for one reason and one only: crowds. Everything else about December at Disneyland is great: cool weather, beautiful decorations, wonderful entertainment, and great food. (See our Ultimate Guide to Christmas at Disneyland for more on why this is the greatest time of year at the parks.)
We spend a lot of time at Disneyland in December, and love every minute of it. If we had no choice but to visit during this month, we absolutely would. So don’t let that ranking discourage you too much–it’s mostly that November is superior to December. Even this comes with an asterisk, as the first week of December is typically the least-busy of the holiday season. (That’s a relative term–it’s still usually around 5/10 on the crowd calendar.)
That ‘confluence of greatness’ at Disneyland in December means that a lot of Magic Key passholders prioritize visiting in December, as do locals who are not passholders but visit once or twice per year. Add to that tourists, who are drawn to the parks this time of year, and it’s a recipe for heavy attendance. About the only times that are not chaotic are the couple of days after most blockouts take effect–but before Christmas vacation crowds arrive–and any day that it rains. Click here to view our December Disneyland Crowd Calendar.
2. January – The first month of the year ranks highly and is once again the winter doldrums, filled with refurbishments and low crowds. With that said, there are some important caveats to that, as January is a month of high highs and low lows.
First, you do not want to visit in the first week of the new year. That’s because Los Angeles and Orange County schools do not go back into session following their winter breaks until the second week of the month. Up until then, it’s still the holiday season at Disneyland–especially since ALL Magic Keys were blocked out for (at least) the 12 days before that. Expect crowd levels on par with the worst of Christmas as a result.
However, just about every week after should have low crowds and it’ll feel like the true off-season at Disneyland with limited exceptions. Those exceptions are the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, kickoff of Lunar New Year (which coincide), Disneyland Half Marathon weekend, and Southern California ticket specials. It still will be one of the best months of the entire year when all is said and done. Click here to view our January Disneyland Crowd Calendar.
1. November – Christmas is the absolute best time of the year at Disneyland from a qualitative perspective. The sweet spot for enjoying the holiday season entertainment is the beginning of November and right after the popular Veterans Day holiday in mid-November until Thanksgiving.
With that said, it’s important to note that from a quantitative perspective, November is not #1. Average wait times will almost certainly be lower in January, August, and September, plus maybe a couple other months. If this were purely a crowd calendar ranking, November would be middle of the pack.
However, the elevated attendance is not that pronounced until Thanksgiving week (one of the very worst weeks of the year), and early November (minus Veterans Day weekend) can be relatively relaxed. Moreover, this is not a simply a ranking of the months based on crowds–it’s qualitative, and no month is better than November from that perspective.
Unlike the Florida parks, the holiday season all starts in Disneyland and Disney California Adventure on the same day, so there’s no disadvantage in going early. This entertainment is exceptional, and makes the higher crowd levels totally worth it. The festive atmosphere, attraction overlays, decorations, and seasonal foods–plus typically good weather make mid-November an unbeatable time to visit, even with only so-so crowds. Click here to view our November Disneyland Crowd Calendar.
Best Weeks
Want to cut past all of those rankings and simply looking for a point-blank recommendation as to when you should visit Disneyland? Here are our 3 favorite weeks of the year, followed by some explanation:
- Thanksgiving “Bookends” (Mid-November or Early December)
- Last week of August or first week of September
- Early May
Our first (and favorite) times to visit are the weeks before and after Thanksgiving week. Typically, Christmas season at Disneyland starts the weekend before this, meaning you have a week gap between the start of Disneyland’s holiday season and the start of actual holiday travel. This is a ‘sweet spot’ for low crowds, perfect weather, and seasonal entertainment.
The early fall offseason is trickier because Halloween is starting earlier and there are a couple of holiday weeks in the second half of the month. While those don’t have a major impact on crowds, we’d still skew towards late August and early September 2026 as a result. We’d definitely opt for the earlier window here, as Halloween Time at Disneyland will be fully kicked off by then.
All in all, this should be a useful guide to strategically plan your visit (or visits) to Disneyland Resort in 2026. While some of the dates will shift, the general contours of these rankings remain (mostly) consistent from year to year. Even if you only follow this guide loosely, we think you’re bound to choose a good time to head to Disneyland!
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
What do you think about the best and worst months to visit Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in 2026? Any specific ideal months/weeks of your own that you’d recommend people visit Disneyland? Do you think weather plays any factor when it comes to the SoCal parks? Do you think crowds have increased over the last couple of years, across the board? Any questions? Hearing from you is half the fun, so please share your thoughts in the comments below!
Dear Tom,
My family would be visiting Disneyland from 2-4 of January of 2019
I would like to ask if the hours in the park would be extended? Currently, the Disney website states that operation hours are around 10am-8pm. However, considering the crowds, will it be extended to 10pm/12am?
Furthermore, do you have any tips for navigating through the crowds? Traditionally, what rides are closed in the month of January?
thanks always for your guides and helpful tips!
Me too. Will you share what you have found out with ride closures? Thanks!!!!! Gail
So, my wife surprised me with a first-time-ever trip to Disney without the kidz!! Should I choose March 6-7 or April 10-11? I’m thinking less crowds in early March right? Does anyone know how to find out when the “local” spring breaks are?
Hi there,
I have read that there is a convention going on for the week before thanks giving and also potentially a marathon from Nov 10-13 or something? Wondering if you have started to look into your November calendar as of yet? Do you know when Christmas decorations go up? We are debating coming for the week of Nov 5th or Nov 12…..
Thanks,
Kirstyn
I live in Texas and have no-blackout annual pass because sometimes I go once a year, other times I can go 3-4 and I sometimes make that decision the week before I head off. I’ve had an annual pass since 2010. I can tell you that the crowds have been getting larger for a few years now. That said, in 2016 I was at the park for the first week of April, 4 days in July for Disneyland’s birthday (which is always crowded), the second week of October, and the first week of December. The great part about April was that the Welcome to Disneyland tour was still available and I took my kid sister for the first time. While that tour didn’t teach me anything I didn’t already know, it did expose me to Mickey and the Magical Map for the first time and we got Indy and Space Mountain fast passes. Absolutely worth the $25. July is a bottleneck of crazy, but if I get up early and I am at the park when it opens, I can get done what I want to get done. I spend the afternoons at the Tiki room or watching Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Lincoln is a great place to cool off and avoid the crowds. October is nutty on Halloween nights, but when else can you dress in your Disney costumes as an adult? I adore it! You can also get photo ops with characters that aren’t out a lot-I got Pocahontas and Mulan in one stop. But, the most definite lowest crowd point for last year was the first week of December. The crowds picked up on Thursday night through the weekend, but Monday- Thursday midday was amazing.
I think the most important thing is whether or not school is in session. Obvious summer, spring and winter breaks are going to be the big ones, but even if there’s a single day off for area schools you’re going to see a huge uptick in crowds. I was there the first week of March and the crowds were not too bad, except for one day we didn’t realize was an election day and it was PACKED. Avoid at all costs!!
As a local SoCal Annual Passholder, I have some clear caveats. There are shortcomings to every month and season. Depends on what you’re willing to tolerate. With that said, Disneyland Resort is the best ever. You can easily spend 3 or 4 days doing many different things with two full compact parks unlike Disney World. I love it.
Jan thru May. (1) Worse time for ride closures. Many rides down especially for transforming Christmas to regular version. Beware that your favorite attraction might be closed. (2) Odd weather patterns. Some rain and wet days that might be quickly turn into blazing hot heat wave days. Arrive prepared for weird weather. (3) Light weekdays that might turn busy on Friday, weekends, and holidays. Most APs are unblocked. (4) Spring break is March and April.
June: Hot, crowded, and Grad Night days. Some new rides may be open like Guardians this year and new promotions like Summer of Heroes.
July and August: Most APs are blocked. Mostly hot and humid. Worse of the year although October is bad too. Locals usually avoid unless you can’t.
September: Another in between month like June and January. Less ride closures which is a plus, but some rides like Haunted Mansion might get early holiday makeover.
October thru December: Holidays galore. Luckily we don’t have the Christmas Parties so the tourists don’t have to work around it. Generally, except for Thanksgiving weekend and the last 2 weeks of December, the crowds are moderately busy. Most pleasant, but SoCal has that weird weather again. October has Indian Summer. Really hot. You’ll be uncomfortable wearing a full costume for the Halloween party so don’t.
How cold does it get during Nov – we are going from 15th November for 10 days.
Hi Sandra-
I’m a Disneyland local. Our cold isn’t as cold as everyone else’s. I would definitely bring a light-medium jacket (like a thick hoodie) but don’t worry too much about freezing. We don’t even sell winter coats here unless you go to an outdoors-man store!
During the cool months, we only notice the cold in the early mornings and after 9pm. I think you picked a great time to go!! Enjoy your trip!
I’m so confused!! Every site I visit gives me contradictory times that are either good or bad, based on crowd size, school breaks, etc. I thought I had settled on April 24th-28th, but now I see on your site that April is one of the most crowded times to go. I feel like I’m chasing my tail.
I feel the same way. We’re planning that exact week to go due to what I’ve read on other sites.
Think of the many people who are reading these “best-time”/”worst-time” suggestions….. A “best-time” can easily become the most crowded month/week solely because a website said it was. If it was me, I would plan to go during a time when all the websites say not to go
I see that April and May are typically pretty crowded. I saw some sites that mention end of April and first week of May as a possible sweet spot between spring break and the May grad nights. What are your thoughts on that?
Thanks for the review. I noticed you did not include attraction closures as some downsides. I know many refurbs (not counting the overlay removal) happen in february till sometimes may and August/september (matterhorn is notorious for this one). Some years in the past they have had several down at one time. Right now its not as prevalent since SWLand construction I think is keeping other things open. However it is a significant hit in traditional off-season months. I also think, based on my experience, that the first week of December is a great week since some of the food offerings change from Fall/Thanksgiving to Holiday, and that the crowds have not necessarily hit large numbers.
The post mentions that January and February are notoriously refurb-heavy. 🙂
“The beginning of the year is “Refurbishment Season” at Disneyland, and you will find a high number of attraction closures (notably, Haunted Mansion and ‘it’s a small world’ every year, both of which are typically completed by this point) during this timeframe.”
So excited to see September in a good spot for DLR! I am planning on going in Sept. 2018 for my child’s birthday. I would have gone to WDW, but the weather then? NOPE, can’t.
I live in Colorado, and a lot of schools here have “fall break,” which is a week off between first and second quarter in October. I’m not sure how many neighboring states do fall break as well. I know a lot of families use this time to take a trip to either Disneyland or Disney World, so that could be a contributor to the high volume in October as well. Great tips, thank you!
I was going to comment about this as well. We live in Hawaii and when public schools switched to starting in August and having a Fall Break in October that first week in October was our perfect time to visit the parks. The first few times we went during this time the parks were noticeably less crowded then they seem to be now and I know more and more Hawaii families are choosing to visit during this time. I still like October as a time to visit, my son and I are both October babies, now we just have to plan a little better or hope for rain (it has happened).
We are an East Coast family just starting to plan a trip to Disneyland. We are limited to June-August and I see August is your top of those three. My only concern is the weather. We visited WDW in August last year and nearly melted! Is the weather there just as hot? Is it at least breezy? And when do local schools start the new school year?
Thanks in advance!
Hi JG-
I’m a Disneyland local, but we’ve visited WDW in September and I gotta say, we were melting as well. The old joke about “it’s a dry heat” is totally true. While it does get hot in summer, it’s very manageable at Disneyland due to the lack of humidity.
Drink water and wear sunscreen, but you’ll feel significantly cooler compared to Orlando. When we visited WDW last year, it was 85 degrees and humid and we were thrilled to return home to 98 degrees and DRY!
Have a great visit!
I’m not sure I would recommend the last week of January anymore. We have visited on that week several times and have seen crowd levels steadily increase. In 2016 our observations were confirmed when we got home and read this on MousePlanet.com:
“..For future reference and trip planning purposes, the last weekend of January shall henceforth be known as “Use It or Lose It” weekend.
…
After talking with several friendly cast members, we learned that the last weekend of January represented the last opportunity for many groups to use their free admission and/or special perks for the 2015 year. A number of local youth organizations receive community outreach tickets for their clients each year, and the 2015 tickets expired on Sunday. Free tickets that cast members received for the 2015 holiday celebration expire in mid-February, but are blocked out next weekend, so this was the last weekend to use them. This was also the final weekend for Club 33 members to use their remaining complimentary tickets, and to use up any remaining VIP guided tours.”
I can’t speak to the tickets issued to all of those groups, but I know at least two of the ones you mentioned expired on December 31 (instead of February 2017). My assumption would be that all such tickets did, but I have no way of knowing for sure.
I guess we shall see when the end of January rolls around, but I would not expect history to repeat itself there.
We are headed there on February 26th-March 3rd. This is the first time for us going at these times. Any idea how the crowds are?
My last trip to Disneyland was during that time of year, and it was perfect crowd-wise, but we did have to miss splash mountain and all of critter country, and soarin and all of the grizzly area for referbs, and it rained one morning which also closed a few rides. Having said that, we had a wonderful time! Having the parks so empty in the mornings meant we were able to ride many attractions as walk ons, and really enjoy ourselves around the park not being so crowded and pushed about. The weather was perfect as well.
We are going February 28th – March 2nd and then March 7th and March 8th. Glad to hear this time (the first days anyway) is relatively uncrowded. The last time we went to Disneyland in mid-October and it was really busy.
How do the RunDisney events usually affect crowds? I’ll be running in the Tinkerbell Half this year and want to spend a few days in the parks as well. I’m mostly concerned with the fact that Mother’s Day is that same weekend. Thanks so much.
One year ago, for us anyway, it was awful! It was almost standing room only. Luckily, it only impacted our 5th of 5 days. Lineups were terrible and most of our energy was used to make sure we didn’t get separated. Avoiding RunDisney events is now one of our most important criteria. If you can, staying at the Grand Californian can make it a little more bearable. It’s a lot easier to retreat to your room for a meal or a nap, or both, during the more hectic periods. When you stay offsite and leave to get a break, it makes it doubly hard to face walking back to those crowds. And that goes counter to why we went to Disneyland in the first place. We’ve been going to Disneyland, once to Disney World, for over 40some years and have been sideswiped by a Disney marathon once. But never again…
Best time to visit DLR: Any day that it rains! Get out your poncho and enjoy literally no crowds.
We happened to go to DLR for our first ever visit the second week of September this past year. I wouldn’t say that it was uncrowded, but we shuddered to think about what it would have been like in a busier month. We loved being there when it was Halloween Time (the Nightmare overlay at HM was fantastic), but we also were glad we missed the hard ticket events that would have eaten up some of our evenings (and there would have been no way our daughter could have stayed up remotely long enough to make the hard ticket event worth it). The weather was quite nice the entire visit (low 80s as a high), and we even got a little bit of rain!
The one thing that I didn’t catch on to until just a few weeks before we left was that during the off-season the entertainment during the week was substantially different from the weekend. We had planned to go Monday through Thursday, but in addition to not having the (lame) fireworks or the (lame) evening parade, we learned that Mickey and the Magical Map didn’t run during the week. I know for many people the Magical Map wouldn’t be a dealbreaker, but my daughter really wanted to see it. So we ended up shuffling our whole visit to get to the park on Sunday afternoon to catch the show. And it was by far her favorite show, so I am so relieved that we made it. There were some other entertainment changes (I think some character meet and greets were different, and there weren’t as many of some of the other shows), so I while I would agree with the second week of Sept. being a great time time go, I would suggest including at least one weekend day.
That’s a really good point–thanks for mentioning it. I actually had no idea that the schedule for Mickey and the Magical Map was variable (and I’ll have to do some more digging to confirm to what extent it is), but that’s common with the fireworks during off-season. (To a lesser extent, it can be true with the parades, but that isn’t as common.)
The problem with scheduling a weekend visit around the fireworks is that they are so often cancelled due to winds that you could bear higher crowds on a weekend in order to see the fireworks, only to have the show cancelled while you stand there waiting for it. Same reason we don’t recommend people camp out for it (much) in advance.
As someone that regularly attends Mickey and the Magical Map (and even plans around it), I can corroborate that in the non-peak times, the show only plays on the weekends (Fri-Sun).
Also, as a resident of Utah, I heartily laughed at your comment to our “holiday”.
It’s funny, we’ve been to Disneyland three times and all three have been in November which hey look at that is number 1 on here. We’ve discussed coming in a different month but we also had a hunch November could possibly be the best one and it looks like it was a good hunch. I do have interest in going in September at least once because it’s my birthday month but more because I’d like to see the parks decorated for Halloween at least once since I’ve seen the Florida parks numerous times during that season. Thank you for the Disneyland coverage, still heavily anticipating your review for the agrabah cafe in Paris! We are going in June and I’m open to going to it but might need your review to sway the rest of our party lol.
If you’re willing to mix it up and do September once, I don’t think you’d be disappointed. There’s a chance for slightly hotter weather, but crowds should be about what you’re used to in November, and the Halloween entertainment is solid (but not as good as Christmas).
…I’ll definitely have the Agrabah Cafe review done by June. Well, hopefully. 😉
How do the crowds compare between the recommended week before Thanksgiving week, and September crowds? Thanks
I can’t offer a ‘scientific’ comparison (for that, check out Touringplans.com), but I would say the crowds between those two times are very comparable. I’d peg both as ‘moderate’ crowd levels.
Thanks for the response. I was under the impression that the September crowds were as close to “low crowds” as Disneyland gets, but you would say they are “moderate?”