Hi everyone.
I thought weekdays in September would be a great time to visit the park, but I’m seeing that there will barely be any entertainment at all. No fireworks, no Frozen show, maybe no Turtle Talk With Crush, no Guardians Of The Galaxy Dance Off, and basically about 10% of the regular entertainment I see for the Summer. Not to mention the multiple rides that will be closed for refurbishment.
I understand this, but we still pay full price, no matter when we go, so it just feels very unfair. Am I looking in the wrong places for schedules, or is this how it will really be? Is it possible that their showtimes aren’t posted yet, and maybe they will just have less showtimes but most of the shows will still be running?
Any info/insight on this would be really helpful! I’d like to prepare my kids to avoid disappointment on-site.
Thanks so much!
It depends what you are looking for. If Fantastmic, fireworks and in-park entertainment other than rides is your main goal, weekdays in September will be disappointing. In my past experiences, there are no weekday Fantasmic or fireworks, Mickey’s Magical Map didn’t run Tues-Thurs, iirc. Frozen shows ran like normal, but there wasn’t dance-off, there’s less characters, shorter park hours, etc. The parades typically run as usual, although the daytime parade goes to once a day rather than twice. This year turtle talk, animation academy, etc. are doing refurb. It is completely possible that the entertainment schedule hasn’t been finalized, I’ve heard that sometimes it’s as close as 2 weeks before that it gets finalized.
All that being said, we LOVE visiting that time of year because we can ride so many rides. If characters and shows are our main goal, we visit another time of year. Also keep in mind it’s sometimes really hot that time of year, you never know until right before. One year we went it said it was going to be 90 the next day and it was 105, no joke. Also after 9/7 there will be all the Halloween decorations which are pretty awesome IMO.
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Unfortunately there is a trade off. Lower crowds, little to no extras vs higher crowds with entertainment. You are correct that you are paying full price. But on their side, if there are not enough people are there it would be hard to justify the cost (those shows aren’t cheap). I used to be under the impression that it was better to go when crowds were lowest, but after going during higher CLs, l actually think the park runs better and lines move quicker (due to being fully staffed). So I don’t shy away from CL 8 anymore, I embrace it!
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I agree so much with this! I will always chcose busier times as everything runs so much smoother.
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Thank you so much for your feedback, everyone! I understand it better now. You can basically pick between navigating the park more easily and riding on rides more often and enjoying whatever else is happening (even if it’s limited), or having ALL that Disneyland has to offer, but enjoying it in maybe a slower way.
We can’t change our dates, so I really was just wanting to know as much as possible ahead of time in order to get a better idea of what to expect (a trip to Disneyland is very special/rare for us), and your comments have really put things into perspective for me.
We really don’t enjoy crowds, so I’m hoping that the trade off is worth it. I think it’ll be fine!
The last time we went (many years ago) was in February and it was pretty perfect. No crowds, but everything was pretty much running. The weather can be risky, though. The week after our visit it rained every single day for 5 days straight!
Thanks again!!
I know it was mentioned, but the schedule won’t be finalized for several more weeks. I bet Most of what you mentioned will be running, just maybe not quite as often.
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The only things that probably won’t be available are fireworks & F! Most of all the other smaller entertainment is notorious for being listed last minute on the schedule but I agree with above that it just might be done quite as often.
Also for Turtle Talk with Crush, I’m not seeing as Closed for Refurbishment on any of the Sep. that are posted so if it’s still under Schedule Unavailable it means just that & could & most likely will still be added to the schedule for the day once finalized.
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The frozen show dining package has just been released up to at least Fri 21st (which I’ve just booked). So that is definitely running
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