Summer trip

I want to take a trip to DLR this summer. Would love to go on or close to my Bday (7/15), but willing to be flexible to minimize crowds. I have been several times over the years, but never over summer. We have deluxe passes and a very flexible schedule. My availability is 6/11-8/5. My main concern is minimizing crowds, especially given the opening of PP on 6/23. (Also posted on chat but wanted your take as well).

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A lot of local schools aren’t out until late June, at least after 6/15 but many closer to 6/20. I would go before that for the lighest crowds of the time window you listed.

I’ve never braved a summer trip, but from everything I’ve noticed, it seems early June is the best time to go. Crowds tend to pick up through July and August.

We go all year long, but most especially it seems in summer & have done all different times in June, July & August. Now, call me crazy, but I feel like I get a better value going during summer time, even though it is busy because:

  1. Longer operating hours = earlier RD which means less people, then tons of space in the middle of the day to take a restful midday break & come back & still have plenty of valuable park time to live it up.
  2. More levels of Passholder blockouts, no discount SoCal resident tickets & more peak park days (only applicable for 1 day tickets) means that there are less people because there are less discounts available to be had for getting into the parks. Lately these kinds of factors seem to impact crowd levels just as much as school schedules/holiday breaks.
  3. Going during summer means (almost) no refurbishments & a full entertainment schedule. I like seeing Disneyland in it’s full glory with fireworks, parades, F! and WOC & all the other entertainment options in between. Most of the rides aren’t that big of a deal to me if they are down, but if you love certain rides then going in summer means you’ll hardly ever have the disappointment of missing a favorite due to being closed for refurbishment.
  4. Lastly, park operations are staffed to better meet park demands and even more so as of late. Now, Disneyland has always managed a crowd very well & is able to run efficiently for busy days, but this also means that when it’s “lower” or “off-season” they don’t staff to the same level which from my experience with these times, feels like everything is a lot less efficient & so it’s still crowded but with shorter hours and you still seem to wait near-ish the same amount of time AND with the park opening late enough for most of the world to be up & at 'em for R.

My best advice would be to schedule it for when it works for your schedule best but that being said, looking at the blockout calendar for this year, anytime in July-mid August has a lot of blockouts plus with your bday 7/15 & Disneyland’s on 7/17 that would be a really fun time to go.

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WOW @lolabear_la! That is an awesome way of looking at it. Not to mention that when looking at historical crowds, they are often lower than what is being predicted on TP. We have to stay on property due to DH, so we can spend time actually utilizing the premises. I think I am going to shoot for my Birthday :birthday: then! I rarely do anything to celebrate it. And I am eyeing those new birthday ears!

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Do it! Birthdays at Disneyland are THE BEST! (DS & DH have bdays 7/20 & 7/21 so we have been there around that same time 3 of the last 6 years). :smile:

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