September 2026 Disneyland Crowd Calendar

Our guide to September 2026 at Disneyland offers a free crowd calendar, when to visit, weather to avoid, new attraction openings & closures, plus Halloween & fall events. We also cover info & tips for what’s happening in Disney California Adventure, Disneyland, and beyond.

Good news! There are a lot of lightly crowded days this month. With schools back in session throughout the country and tourist season over, there’s a low-crowd window between Labor Day and the end of the annual ticket deal (we’ll explain why this is significant in the crowd calendar section below). Historically, late August through mid-September has the lowest crowd levels of the year at Disneyland.

This is flat-out one of the best times of the year to visit Disneyland Resort, and Southern California, in general. Along with our crowd predictions for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, in this post we’ll offer other thoughts on what to expect during this month at Disneyland Resort…

September Weather at Disneyland

Let’s start with a look at weather. September is a turning point for Southern California, although we probably shouldn’t overemphasis that. Abnormal weather aside, it’s pretty much pleasant year-round in Anaheim. For September, you can expect humidity to remain low even as high temperatures break 80º most of the month. Expect lows of around 65º early in the month, dropping to around 60º by the end of September.

As you can see by the, various graphs on this page, September in Anaheim is fairly comfortable. Humidity and precipitation is low, the hours per day that are “comfortable” is high, and other variables are favorable. Not really all that different from most of the year. This is why people pay the “Sunshine Tax” to live in California. With lows in the 60s in the evening, we recommend packing a light sweater or a long sleeve shirt. Most people overlook this, assuming California equals sunshine and palm trees, but the nights can get chilly.

What’s New & NOT Open in September 2026

Fair warning: there are usually a lot of attraction closures at Disneyland and DCA in September. Worse yet, they’re typically announced relatively last-minute, so the list will likely be a lot longer by the time the month actually rolls around. For now, we have what’s possibly a partial list on the 2026 Disneyland Refurbishment Calendar.

Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary Celebration will end before September 2026 rolls around. What’s unknown is whether its marquee entertainment, such as World of Color Happiness and Paint the Night Parade, will continue into the fall once Halloween starts. Our guess is that it will not.

The good news is that spook season will be celebrated for the entire month of September 2026, as Halloween Time at Disneyland will begin earlier than ever–on August 21, 2026. See our Guide to Halloween Time at Disneyland, which covers everything you need to know about the second-best time of the year at Disneyland and DCA.

Next, let’s take a look at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure crowds during the month of September…

September 2026 Disneyland Crowd Calendar

We’ll preface this section by referring you to all of the caveats in our main 2026 Disneyland Crowd Calendars: Best Times to Visit & When to Avoid. That goes into extensive detail about why Disneyland crowd calendars are less reliable than in the past, which is why there’s no color-coded calendar or numerical scores for each day of the month here.

The other good news is that most of September 2026 won’t be bad from a crowds perspective. There are basically two times in the month when crowds spike. The first of these isn’t the least bit surprising, but the second always catches fans off-guard.

Unsurprisingly, the weekend around Labor Day can be busy. This shouldn’t be a huge shocker since it’s a holiday and Californians will have time off school or work, and visit the parks on those dates as a result. However, Labor Day is not a big time for tourists since it’s after most school districts have already gone back into session.

Moreover, the two lowest tiers of Magic Key Annual Passes are blocked out for part or all of Labor Day weekend and that’s a huge offset to crowds. That’s especially so since, again, this is a holiday weekend that draws Californians to the parks.

With a lot of locals unable to visit and tourists already gone following the summer, we’re not expecting Labor Day crowds to be awful. If anything, the real surprise here is how Labor Day is not that busy by holiday weekend standards. There’s also no runDisney race in 2026, which should reduce crowds at the tail end of the week.

The other unknown is how the moving forward of Halloween will impact Labor Day crowds. With Halloween beginning earlier, it’s unclear whether the weekend will be more or less busy as a result–or if there won’t be much impact either way. For our part, we’re expecting moderate crowds for Labor Day 2026.

The more surprising and most busy stretch of the month is the week or so leading up to whenever the late summer and fall Disneyland ticket deal ends. This usually ends around September 26-28.

Last year, it ended over a month earlier, which completely skewed August and September crowds. We view that as a one-off, driven by erroneous expectations about Disneyland 70th Anniversary plus Halloween crowds. Disneyland has already announced a Kids Ticket Deal for Summer 2026, and it runs until September 7, 2026. We fully expect the California residents deal to run even longer.

In any case, there’s always a huge spike in crowds during the last week of this ticket deal as locals scramble to use their remaining dates on these tickets that last week. As a result, that last week had crowd levels of 6/10 to 9/10 during each of the last two years. This dynamic occurs due to the ‘use it or lose it’ rush to take advantage of these tickets before they expire. The same thing always happens the week before Memorial Day, when the winter/spring offer ends.

The big difference–and why crowds in late September 2026 could be even worse–is that this ticket deal not now be limited to California residents, as has been the case in the past. If it’s open to the general public, that could push crowds even higher.

As such, we’re erring on the side of caution and forecasting heavy crowds (7/10 to 9/10) starting September 18, 2026 and running through the end of the month. The week before that could also be elevated, but won’t be so bad. This assumes an end date of approximately September 25, 2026 for whatever ticket deal is released.

It really depends upon eligibility, when the ticket deal expires, reservation availability, and if people are “forced” to take those last-minute visits earlier due to diminished reservations. We’ll update all of this once the ticket deal is live and those details are released.

Beyond those yellow and red flags, September shouldn’t be too bad. It’ll still have some spikes in crowds, particularly Friday night (the worst evening of the week to visit) and Mondays through Wednesdays. This is actually a huge change as compared to last year, when weekends were worse than weekdays.

For September 2026, we’re anticipating that weekends (after Labor Day) won’t be as busy as weekdays, with Saturdays and Sundays seldom having crowd levels above 4/10. However, this is also contingent upon the ticket deal having weekend blockouts (or a more expensive version that includes weekends). If weekends are not blocked out as part of the base deal, Fridays through Sundays will actually be busier!

This dynamic with weekdays being busier than weekends is usually the result of blockouts for Magic Key Annual Passes and higher ticket prices for weekends. Disneyland’s expectation is that visitors buying regular tickets would offset those blockouts, but that often is not the case because people can save a lot of money by visiting on Monday through Thursday instead of Friday through Sunday.

Our expectation is that this trend continues for the start of Halloween season, but it remains to be seen when the tides start to turn on that trend. Disneyland diehards love Halloween and Christmas, and they may turn out in large enough numbers on Saturday and Sunday to cause a ‘reset’ to recent trends. But we doubt it. The AP blockouts and higher prices on weekends are a lot to overcome.

Another thing to keep in mind is that most of the Southern California locals visiting on weekdays have jobs, so the worst of these crowds will be in the afternoon and, especially, evening hours. If you arrive at rope drop and leave by 2 p.m., your perspective on crowds will be dramatically different from someone who arrives at 4 p.m. (By contrast, more locals can arrive early on weekends.)

Regardless, post-Labor Day should see a drop-off in crowds. If you’re debating between an early or late September visit, we’d suggest early September. Crowds will get gradually busier towards the end of the month. Most people aren’t ready for Halloween season in early September, which is why crowds tend to be lower earlier in the month rather than later.

Another thing to keep in mind is Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party. On dates when this event is held, Disney California Adventure closes early, which causes DCA to be less busy during the daytime hours and Disneyland to be busier on those same dates. As a result, we’d recommend having Park Hopper tickets and using that strategically to your advantage. Failing that, your best bet is doing Disneyland on days when Oogie Boogie Bash is not being held at DCA.

Still, much of September is a good time to visit. If we had to assign numerical scores, average days during the first half of September would be around 3/10 to 4/10. Again, the second half will see a sharp spike due to the ticket deal, but after that ends, crowds should fall back to below-average territory through the end of the month and in early October until fall break rolls around.

Dynamic ticket prices are at “value” or “regular” prices for most of September because school has gone back into session and out of state tourism slows. Likewise, Annual Passholder blockouts are minimal. Even these factors are not enough to cause a precipitous spike in attendance, though.

Read our Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets post for multi-day ticket recommendations to avoid having to deal with seasonal pricing. On the plus side, there are some multi-day ticket discounts currently available for all guests. Barring an aggressive (and unprecedented for this time of year) ticket promotion or the unveiling of some special, big draw, attendance in September will be fairly light.

In addition to fall being Disneyland’s off-season, it’s also very much Southern California’s off-season. This will be reflected in hotel prices. If you’re checking in after Labor Day, you can expect some of the lowest hotel rates of the year. At some hotels, you can reasonably expect prices that are about half of what they would be during peak season (or even during the Disneyland Half Marathon).

The downside of this is shorter operating hours during the weekdays in September. Outside of weekends, you can expect regular closings of 10 p.m. or earlier. While the earlier closing time might be a bummer, you will easily encounter 2 hours less in terms of lines during the course of the day.

Keep in mind that “low crowds” now are still nothing compared to what “low crowds” were at Disneyland even a few years ago (it’s all relative!), so we recommend an efficient itinerary for touring Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Failing that, arriving at rope drop is an excellent strategy this time of year. With few tourists in town, you can get more done the first 2 hours the parks are open than the last 4 hours they are open.

Overall, there’s a reason September ranks highly on our Best and Worst Months to Visit Disneyland. To be perfectly honest, it could be at the top if not for our bias towards Christmas, and preference for November’s weather. Weekday visits are a pure joy during the front half of September, and the parks are a veritable ghost town on many of these days.

Halloween Time causes a spike, and Oogie Boogie Bash throws a monkey wrench into things, but not to nearly the same degree as October, when everyone starts actually caring about Halloween. If you can’t get bring yourself to get excited about Halloween in early September, get excited by the crowds that will come with experiencing the season early.

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

If you’ve visited Disneyland during the month of September, what did you think of the experience? Did you find the crowd levels to be manageable? What about the weather? What about crowds during Halloween Time at Disneyland? Are you participating in the Disneyland Half Marathon? If you’ve visited in September, do you have any tips to add? Share any questions, tips, or additional thoughts you have in the comments!