Less crowded Wekdays or Blocked weekends

brockash

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 16, 2008
Can ppl who are more familiar with Disneyland tell me what your opinion is?

I would naturally assume that weekdays would be less crowded, but with as many locals and passes that go, are the weekends when the lower tiered passes are blocked less crowded than the weekday?

Does it make a difference the time of year? We're looking at possibly going the last week of March for 3 days...Fri., Sat., Sun. is blocked...would those be better days to go v. that Wed., Thurs., Fri. or would the weekdays be less crowded? Tia!
 
In general I prefer an unblocked Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday whenever I can get one (during the school year).
 
I would tentatively lean towards Wed, Thu, Fri just because on weekdays, a higher number of kids are in school and folks are at work than on weekends. That being said, there are a fair number of Spring Breaks in late March, so you might see pretty high crowds regardless of which days you pick. Hopefully the parks will be on spring break season schedule, which means long hours and fuller entertainment, regardless of when you go.
 


I rarely go on weekdays due to work, so I can't attest to those crowds. I usually go on Saturdays.

Saturdays this spring were really nice. Only Signature and Signature + were valid. I just bought my AP in March, so I was so confused at the low crowds lol. I didn't go on many weekends in the summer, but from what I heard, they were also pretty light since only the top two passes were valid.Two weeks ago on Saturday it was pretty packed. But I think that could be due to Halloween, and since there was a Halloween party on Friday, people probably held out to go on the Saturday after. Also, Deluxe passes have their Saturdays back, so that may also have added to the crowds.

*Looking at blockouts can help, but Disneyland can change them, and can shift the crowd patterns. So don't 100% count on them. It happened in June, and there was a big uproar about it (which was understandable) *
 
From my experience crowds will change based on holidays/school breaks, special entertainment, and AP blockouts. If only Sig & Sig+ are valid you can expect lower crowds as less locals with APs will be in the parks.

Over summer I saw a lot of Saturdays with low crowds since APs were blocked and most vacationers follow the "weekend=more crowded" rule.
 


Saturdays are fully staffed, longer operating hours and have all shows/entertainment. Many weekdays do not.

This is the real key here. A lot of people talk about the parks being "crowded" and they mean only long wait times for rides. But when Disney is expecting low numbers of guests, they understaff and make the park feel more crowded. Sure, it's great to have only a 20 minute standby wait for Space Mountain, but that can be more than ruined if you have to wait 30 minutes to buy an ice cream cone or wait 90 minutes for a table at a restaurant.

For my money, the fewer APs in the park the better the overall experience.
 
Its all about the ap’s at Disneyland. The best days to go are when the Deluxe and lower tiers are blocked. So that’s usually on a Saturday but right now till around mid November I believe Deluxe has no blackout dates. This summer I went almost every Saturday when the Deluxe pass was blocked. Then when summer ended and the block was lifted you could see an immediate impact on crowds. Parking filled up faster, lines for rides and food were much longer and walkways were definitely more crowded.
 
Its all about the ap’s at Disneyland. The best days to go are when the Deluxe and lower tiers are blocked. So that’s usually on a Saturday but right now till around mid November I believe Deluxe has no blackout dates. This summer I went almost every Saturday when the Deluxe pass was blocked. Then when summer ended and the block was lifted you could see an immediate impact on crowds. Parking filled up faster, lines for rides and food were much longer and walkways were definitely more crowded.

Do you think this still holds up in December? We’re either looking at Tues/Wed Dec. 11-12 or Sat/Sun Dec. 15-16. Deluxe and lower tiers blocked 15-16. Any thought on which would be less crowded? I don’t know if Christmas festivities hugely increase attendance even on blockout days. Thanks!
 
Do you think this still holds up in December? We’re either looking at Tues/Wed Dec. 11-12 or Sat/Sun Dec. 15-16. Deluxe and lower tiers blocked 15-16. Any thought on which would be less crowded? I don’t know if Christmas festivities hugely increase attendance even on blockout days. Thanks!
The fact that DL can still hit capacity crowds during Christmas Week when all but the top two passes are blocked shows that DLR can still draw in the crowds during Holiday Time with or without the passholders. Holiday Time is just crowded, period, increasingly so the closer you get to the actual holiday dates. Look at the school calendar thread just in case, but I would go with your second set of dates. Although it will still be crowded, having the lowest 3 passes blocked will be some help. That is the last weekend for the Signature APs, though, so there may be some increase in those passholders getting in one last weekend before being blocked until January.
 
The fact that DL can still hit capacity crowds during Christmas Week when all but the top two passes are blocked shows that DLR can still draw in the crowds during Holiday Time with or without the passholders. Holiday Time is just crowded, period, increasingly so the closer you get to the actual holiday dates. Look at the school calendar thread just in case, but I would go with your second set of dates. Although it will still be crowded, having the lowest 3 passes blocked will be some help. That is the last weekend for the Signature APs, though, so there may be some increase in those passholders getting in one last weekend before being blocked until January.
That will definitely have an impact. We were there a similar weekend a few years back and the crowds were immense. Reading those blockout calendars really is like reading tea leaves.
Do you think this still holds up in December? We’re either looking at Tues/Wed Dec. 11-12 or Sat/Sun Dec. 15-16. Deluxe and lower tiers blocked 15-16. Any thought on which would be less crowded? I don’t know if Christmas festivities hugely increase attendance even on blockout days. Thanks!
I would pick the Tues/Wed in spite of the fact that there probably won't be a Fantasmic (likely still just showing weekends at that point).
 

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