March 2026 Disneyland Crowd Calendar

Our guide to March 2026 at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure offers a free crowd calendar, days to visit & avoid, weather, seasonal events, and new attraction openings & closures. We’ll discuss the impact of ‘sold out’ Magic Key and park reservations, and make a recommendation as to whether you should visit.

March is usually the month that Disneyland emerges from its winter slumber. Usually, January and February are the slowest months of the year, with chilly weather, rain, an emphasis on refurbishments, and fewer guests because it’s Southern California’s off-season for tourism.

Spring Breaks begin in March, typically around the halfway point of the month. March usually starts slower, gradually picking up crowds as the weather gets nicer, fewer refurbishments are on the schedule, and more non-local vacationers arrive for their Spring Break. As with January and February, discounts could throw a monkey wrench into what happens in March 2026.

This is thanks in part to the annual Southern California Resident Disneyland Ticket Deal. This one is offered year in and year out, and usually offers cheaper visits that are subject to theme park reservation availability. This is consistently the best discount of the year at Disneyland, and locals flock to the parks during the winter off-season as a result of the substantial savings. Since this deal happens annually, it’s not a monkey wrench–its return is very much predictable (and predicted for 2026).

The wildcard here is the distinct possibility that the discount will be expanded from SoCal residents to the general public, which is what happened with other ticket deals–but never the winter one. However, there’s a first time for everything, and if this was extended to anyone (or even Disney+ subscribers or runDisney participants), it would have a non-negligible impact on crowds.

In the last couple of years, this SoCal ticket deal has also been paired with a kids ticket discount that is likewise fantastic. That deal is excellent for families visiting during this timeframe, offering admission to children ages 3 to 9 for only $50 per day during visit dates from early January through March. This is a shockingly good deal, amounting to a discount of around $150 to $200 on multi-day tickets! This ticket deal has been available to the general public, and is another big wildcard because it ends in mid-March, which means elevated crowds during what’s otherwise a slower time to use the deal before it ends.

With that backdrop set, here’s what you can expect in March 2026 at Disneyland & Disney California Adventure in terms of the crowd calendar, weather, refurbishment, special events, closures and new attractions…

March Weather at Disneyland

Southern California’s weather is typically excellent in March. During the middle of the day, temperatures are usually in the mid-60s to low 70s, with the average high being 71°F and the average low being 52°F. Daily highs rarely fall below 60°F or exceed 82°F and daily lows are seldom below 44°F or above 57°F

The evenings are still chilly, but that’s true pretty much year round in Southern California. The crisp air makes it feel even colder at night, and we also recommend packing jeans plus a light jacket for March trips, at the very least (more warm clothing is always better than less–it’s deceptively cold).

March marks the end of Southern California’s rainy season–to the extent that it has one. Rain is far more possible early in the month (15-18% daily chance of precipitation towards the beginning of the month) than it is later. By the final week of March, there’s only a 10% daily chance of rain.

March is generally a pretty sunny month, and over the course of the month, the length of the daytime dramatically increases (and by extension, typical hours of sunlight). The marine layer is also less of a problem during March, which can’t be said for the months that follow. All in all, March is a great time to visit California (and by extension, Disneyland) in terms of weather. It’s not always warm, but it’s not hot either!

Special Events & What’s New or Closed

The main special event during March at Disneyland Resort is the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival. Dates for the 2026 event have yet to be announced, but this typically runs from the first week of March until late April. It’s a celebration packed with entertainment, cooking demos, celeb chef sightings, and food booths to taste your way around the Golden State.

We enjoy DCA’s Food & Wine Festival. Sure, the portions are sometimes meager and the prices sky-high, but we’ve also found that the quality is generally superior to its counterpart at Epcot. There are also some really tasty and interesting dishes, and the Sip & Savor Pass is a good way to bring costs down and try higher-priced items without there being so much sticker shock.

The other celebration will be the Disneyland 70th Anniversary. This event will be roughly 10 months old by the time Spring 2026 rolls around, so it would normally be losing steam. However, the wildcard here is that some of the 70th entertainment is pausing for Halloween and Christmas, meaning it won’t run from late August through early 2026. Once it returns, there could be some pent-up demand and crowds as a result. There’s also the reality that it’ll be all-new for many of the tourists visiting during the Spring Break 2026.

In terms of March attraction closures, check out our list on the Disneyland Refurbishment Calendar. That won’t be close to final for March until around Christmas. Don’t be surprised if another ride or two is added even in February, though.

March 2026 Disneyland Crowd Calendar

Disneyland crowd calendars for specific dates are no longer highly reliable due to changes in attendance trends, the new Magic Key Passes, ticket promotions, and other factors. General trends are easier, but it’s difficult to say a particular day will have low, moderate, or heavy crowds–which is why we’ve eliminated our color-coded Disneyland crowd calendars.

As such, our crowd calendar exists of some best & worst date ranges that should be used as an approximation for patterns—not something you rely heavily upon when booking a trip to Disneyland. While other sites offer numerical crowd calendars for specific dates months or more in advance, we’d be weary of putting too much weight on those. There are simply too many inconsistent variables for Disneyland crowd calendars to be reliable so far in advance.

With that said, our methodology is based upon historic wait time information, anecdotal observations, special events, school schedules, dynamic ticket prices, and more. Second, expect Disney California Adventure crowds to almost always track Disneyland crowds—with a few exceptions—albeit with a proportionately lower number of guests.

In a normal year, March starts out slowly. The first two weeks are still part of the winter off-season, and there are low crowds during the weekdays. The month gets progressively busier towards the end, and the last two weeks start seeing spring break crowds as non-local markets and some schools in surrounding states (namely Utah and Nevada) start having their spring breaks.

Additionally, some schools in Orange County–where Disneyland is located–will have their spring breaks the last full week of the month. That means crowd levels will be elevated from March 20-27, 2026. Typically, local spring breaks cause crowds to spike, meaning this will be the worst week of the month. The worst crowds won’t begin until March 23, 2026, but we’d recommend avoiding all of these dates.

However, March 2026 won’t be nearly as bad as some years. The biggest reason is because Easter isn’t until April 5, 2026. Schools that plan their Spring Breaks around the Easter holiday will only be off for Spring Break at the tail end of the month. This includes Los Angeles Unified School District, which has the single biggest impact on attendance of anywhere in SoCal. However, this means the busiest stretch could be March 28-31, 2026. In the last week-plus of March 2026, you can expect 9/10 or 10/10 crowd levels.

In terms of specific dates we recommend for visiting, March 3-8, 2026 will be the best week of the month. This is one of our top 10 weeks of the year to do Disneyland, as reflected in our list of the Best & Worst Weeks to Visit Disneyland in 2026.

Note that this is a qualitative list, meaning we’re balancing weather, special events, and more along with wait times. This same stretch last year had 4/10 crowd levels and, in our experience, moderate ‘feels like’ crowds. It’s far from dead, and not even close to being one of the top 10 slowest weeks in terms of raw attendance. But it’s a lovely time to visit from a subjective perspective.

These are followed closely by March 10-15, 2026. Both set of weekdays should see low crowds, especially from rope drop to 5 pm. These are among our absolute favorite weeks of the year at Disneyland, owing to a great combination of low crowds and lovely weather. Our only trepidation here is the expiration of a (potential) ticket deal. Last year, the kids deal ended on March 16, resulting in a spike immediately before that. If the same is true in 2026, you’ll want to go immediately after the ticket deal ends. But normally, this is a good week to visit–it all just depends on deal end date timing.

You’ll notice that both of these recommendations dropped Monday, which is simply because that’s become the busiest day of the week at Disneyland. If you’re planning a longer trip, it’s better to visit on Saturday and/or Sunday than Monday. So have that be the day you skip.

Beginning March 16, you should expect above average crowds, but it should still be better than the following week. As noted above, the final week of the month will see the heaviest crowds of March 2026. That’s when spring break season crowds start to materialize–especially with Easter falling on the first Sunday in April 2026.

Our expectation is that Spring Break 2026 crowds will be much more consolidated. Last year, Easter occurred a couple of weeks later, spreading out crowds. In 2026, not only is it earlier, but it appears that more Southern California school districts are targeting the last week of March and first week of April for their breaks.

Basically, there’s a 3-week stretch that’ll be really bad, but not as much outside of that. Sure, there will be spring recesses before that and stragglers after, but that 3-week window is the only time to expect 8/10 to 10/10 crowds. By contrast, there were 4.5 weeks of such crowd levels last year.

Finally, we want to reiterate that this is all subject to change depending on park reservation calendars. If reservations run out for every single day—including weekdays, there won’t be much variance in crowds at all. If every day is fully booked, they’re all equally busy.

These March 2026 Disneyland crowd calendar predictions assume that pent-up demand will continue to fizzle-out in the new year. If this trend reverses for whatever reason, all bets are off. If reservations are still filling up to ~90% most days, there potentially won’t be an appreciable difference in crowd levels throughout the month. Our expectation is that demand will decrease and capacity will increase, thus providing some relief to crowds, but that’s not a sure thing.

Nevertheless, one of the greatest difficulties with forecasting Disneyland crowd calendars is that so much of the audience lives in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, meaning they are not planning their trips to Disneyland months in advance. Many people are visiting on a whim, and can make last-minute trips if enticed by marketing, deals, or special entertainment.

March Pricing & Discounts

If last year is any indication, the Southern California Resident Disneyland Ticket Deals will not have blockout dates for Easter, Spring Break, or any other days/weeks that are typically busy. The entirety of March should be included in the ticket offer. It’s also likely that there will be on-site hotel discounts, although possibly just for weeknights.

In general, the first half of March is an inexpensive time of visit in terms of off-site hotel prices. We rank our favorite (and least favorite) hotels in the area 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.

Irrespective of whether our moderate and higher crowd predictions for March turn out to be accurate, we still recommend an efficient itinerary for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. While a ton of emphasis is placed on the Disneyland crowd calendar above, rope dropping the parks and using an efficient touring plan matters far more than choosing the “right” day to visit.

Overall, the first half of March 2026 will be below average, whereas the second half will be slightly above average. Really, it’s more like the first two-thirds versus the final third. The entire month is not a bad or good time to visit, but on balance, we’re fans of March. If you aim for the beginning of March, you should find temperate weather, fewer refurbishments, and relatively low crowds–especially on weekdays.

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 many other SoCal cities!

Your Thoughts

Have you visited Disneyland in March? If you’re a local, do you agree that the beginning of the month is a better time to visit than late March? Any predictions of your own to offer in terms of crowds at Disneyland? 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!