I’m contemplating a visit in November or December 2023 with kids (3 & 6 yo). I’d prioritize low crowds as top priority. Trip would most likely be 5 days including travel days, so 2-3 park days and would be most practical if 2 of those days were Sat/Sun. Any thoughts are appreciated!
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If you want to see holiday decorations and be there for the Festival of the Holidays, go after November 11.
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The holidays usually start around the 2nd Friday in November. The time in between Halloween & the start of the holiday official season is usually a very quiet time. But also because of that they don’t run nightly entertainment.
Including a Sat/Sun in November will be a good choice and next year all but the highest level of passes are blocked out on several Saturdays in November so while those days will be fairly busy, they are eased up by the fact that all but the very highest level of passes are blocked.
Also, Fri Nov 10th is blocked out for all but the highest pass level & that day will be the date I expect the Holiday season to officially kick-off. So dates around that Fri 10/Sat 11 would be a good weekend. The following weekend Sat Nov 17 is a blockout day for all but the highest pass as well. After that is the week of Thanksgiving and usually the couple of days leading up to Thanksgiving are definitely busy & lately Thanksgiving weekend itself has been really busy as well (so that might be a good week to avoid).
The first 2 weeks in December are also very quiet with kids still in school & Saturdays again all but the highest pass are blocked out. The one exception is that the days that they do the Candlelight processional (usually the first weekend in December) but the impact to the crazy crowds only impacts the viewing area (which happens to be the front area of Main Street) so getting through there will be tricky, but everywhere else is normal crowds.
Bottom line, if you avoid the week of Thanksgiving and just make sure to be done in the first half of December, you should find the crowds to be low(er).
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Thank you, that is very helpful! I was wondering if the weekend might actually be adventurous with the AP blackout dates, so I really appreciate the insight. Seems like Candlelight processional wouldn’t be a huge deal if we avoid that park during those hours. I would like to see world of color, and weekday flights are less expensive, so I’m looking at Nov 29/30 through Dec 4/5.
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That will be a very reasonable week to go. And even with the Candlelight processional you really only have to avoid the very front of Disneyland park from late afternoon until after the 2nd processional. So you don’t need to avoid the park entirely, but I would recommend getting in & staying in or being across the way in the other park (California Adventure - DCA for short).
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Well, I booked the HoJo for Nov 30-Dec 5, a queen bed plus a bunk bed for our kiddos. Looks like I’ll be able to get direct flights with my Capital One Venture Card points, so watching those.
Still to do: decide on park tickets - I’m leaning 3 day hoppers but could be talked into 4 day since the price differential is like $200 for our family. Decide on stroller rental vs bringing our own.
Most important to do: convince my spouse that we are can make this the kids “big” Christmas gift and budget it that way. Honestly the tough part there is my 5 yo is spoiled and we may be dealing with feelings on actual Christmas. I realize he’s incredibly fortunate and I’ve created this monster but we have so much STUFF and I want to stop perpetuating that.
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Yay for getting the hotel booked! It’s always awesome to get that step finalized. And HoJo’s seems like a good solid choice.
I will always encourage adding a day past 3 day’s if you have the time to even do a 3/4 or half day. It’s allows room for repeats on favorites or extra time for soaking in the ambiance.
If you ever figure this out do come back & share the secret. We had a ‘small’ Christmas this year & we did better than we’ve ever done, but somehow even the reduced amount of new things still added to the STUFF.
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