Hi all! Just looking at the crowd levels for Disneyland and I see levels of 10 for the 28th and 29th but then 9’s for 30, 31(!?!) and 1. We are frequent Florida visitors and would never dream of going to Disney on New Years because the crowds are 15/10 or worse.
Is it really possible that New Year’s Eve in Disneyland is less crowded than Dec 29th? 9/10 actually sounds survivable!
A few years ago Disney did make a move to block out all but the highest level of passholders for Christmas-New Year’s and that seems to have helped it come down some, but it’s still nuts IMO!
Also since CLs are measured off of wait times & not walkway density, my guess is that the lines may be a 9 but the walkways, will be a 15-20! Especially considering how narrow the walkways are in the majority of DL.
The elimination of most AP’s not being able to go certainly has helped with the 2 weeks of Christmas break, but in 2018, it was incredibly cold and the wind was awful, and New Year’s Eve and the day before were two of the worst days. We left early because of these conditions, and I know many others did too. Disney announced in the afternoon that the fireworks would be cancelled New Year’s Eve because of the wind, so I think a lot of guests left early, so that decreased the crowd level. I wouldn’t depend on that in the future. It’s usually VERY busy New Year’s Eve, well the whole week between Christmas and New Year’s, but it is better than it was before the AP block out. The lines are long, but getting around the park was much easier. The walkways were manageable. This showed me that most of the guests were tourists and not local AP’s.
We will be heading out to Cali to visit family for New Year’s (2019/2020) and roping in a 3 day Disneyland vacation. Planning to do Cali Adv. New Year’s Eve, then wake up early and hit DL while everyone is getting over their hangovers. Heading back to DL Jan 2. Are we crazy? Our kids will be (almost) 14yrs, 11yrs & 9yrs. We MAY have local grandparents (young-ish) and an Aunt as well. Love to hear anyone else’s experiences and thoughts. It’s been 15yrs since we lived in LA and nearly that long since we were at DL.
That is a very, very, very good plan to zig while others zag. That day is such a sleep in day all around that the parks don’t even offer early entry that day (bc pretty much no one would attend), but even at regular park open it’s a ghost town.
Also, since most levels of APs are blocked, even though it’s still one of the busiest tourist weeks, this busy time is totally doable!
Thanks! We sure hope so!
As it is, coming from the East Coast (Western PA), I’m not sure how late we’re going to be able to stay up anyway, so rather than fight the crowds AND our body-clocks, seems to make more sense to be up early than stay up SUPER late!