Hi folks,
Really looking forward to out trip to DLR 5/19 to 5/22, taking advantage of some decent CC levels before SW:GE gets crackin’…
I do notice that DL has a 9 for Monday 5/20, which seems quite of place given the way the CC looks for that couple of weeks… I’m wondering if anyone has any insight? I’ve had a look and can’t seem to find any events etc that would reflect the crowd level… Maybe something local that I missed?
Thanks!
The local school calendars seem to influence the crowd at DL quite a bit. Did you check the orange county school calendar? Maybe there’s something there that would explain it?
The spring deal for tickets ends 5/23 & is a good savings on multi-day tickets (I believe minimum days is 3 days but not absolutely positive on it) and so that weekend and Monday are some of the last days that people can start using them for their full days.
Last year they did a similar promotion but it only applied to SoCal residents and the Sunday before the expiration of that deal hit, the parks were extremely busy. This year the promotion applies to anyone who goes before 5/23.
If you factor in that Mondays include a lot of groups that are starting their first full day after traveling on Sunday plus anyone who made a long weekend out of their trip by adding Monday to a weekend trip plus no AP blockouts, it equals out to Monday being one of the busiest days of the week. For example, yesterday DL was predicted to be a 4 but it ended up being busy and an 8 so definitely a Manic Monday.
Thanks, this is great insight - totally makes sense!
Such a bummer. We are going for 1.5 dats at the end of a work trip and our full day happens to be that Monday. I’m trying to do a lot of disneyland on Sunday and maybe rope drop Monday morning then hop over to DCA when it feels crowded.
To provide a silver lining (and also play devil’s advocate), the TP Disneyland CC’s have been massively off as of recent. For example, Monday April 22nd was projected to be an 8 and historically was recorded as a 2. The day before (April 21st) was projected a 5 and recorded a 1. Saturday April 27th was projected a 3 and was recorded as a 7. These are just a few of many recent misfires by the CC projections.
Please don’t get me wrong, I still appreciate the CC’s but am learning with time to accept them more for what they are; predictions of the future. Regardless of the statistical data used to calculate these measurements, they are predictions and should be viewed as a possibility and not a certainty (which in all fairness, TP says this all along and those of us who have viewed it as more only have ourselves to blame, me included).
There are so many factors that influence the Disneyland crowd that are hidden, unpredictable, and very dynamic. For example, school field trips to DL are very common in this area and could never be factored into the predictions here, but would greatly increase the crowd levels. Also, state testing schedules are different from year to year and also from school to school. This also influence crowd size as many schools prohibit field trips during this window of time. Schools will also encourage parents to make sure children are at school near testing time to increase the odds of higher testing scores.
To be honest, I used the CC’s to make my travel plans hoping the dice would roll in my favor. However, after choosing a travel window I began looking at the Anaheim convention center calendar of events. Many large conventions in Anaheim will translate into large DL crowds (there was a CA state FFA convention from April 26-29 that could have attributed to the huge crowds that were unpredicted on April 29th and 30th). I also began looking at school calendars for the area to try and note any patterns of field trips/promotion receptions, etc. It just so happens we will be visiting during the state testing window as well as during many of the HS’s AP exams and finals (I’m crossing my fingers that bodes well for us with local crowds of kids).
All in all, that day your concerned about might end up being the most beautifully empty park day you’ve ever seen…faith, trust and pixie dust right?
Just Googled the OC schools - still in session until mid June.
Just because everyone here is so smart… what would be your guess at crowd levels for May 19 and 20th?
Touring plans has Sunday as a 6 for both parks, and Monday 9 for DL and 4 for DCA. We are only there for a day and a half and so I’m trying to figure out how to split up the parks. So much different than planning a five day trip! I was thinking DL the 19th and morning of 20th, then DCA afternoon of the 20th when it starts feeling crowded. Are Monday’s much worse in DL than DCA?
For DLR, EE (the DL version of EMH) drives my schedule. If you are staying in a hotel where you can use it - absolutely do. If you can’t use it, RD the other park. Park hopping there is so easy; it’s not much different than going from FW to WS in EP (but with a tapstile and bag check in between.