What is was like before covid

[margot31]

My family just recently found out we will be moving back to Cali in 2022. While I am not looking for anyone to look into their crystal balls of what the future brings I wanted to know what the past looked like.

Last time I lived in CA was back in like 2008-2009 for a year. We never made it up to DL while we lived there. I am a DW from living in FL for several years but have been living in Hawaii for the last year and half so I haven't seen the mouse since DW opened.

Were weekends bad times to go? More busy? Could it be done? What about holiday time. I love holidays and want to visit when the decorations are up. Is there a better time to go? I do have elementary aged kids when we return so I have to take schools into consideration when going.

 

[BadPinkTink]

This is my last trip report from June 2019 June 2019 Trip report I am a solo traveler and I did open to close.

 

[coaches24]

Before covid weekends are usually busier, esspecially on holiday weekends. Summer and holidays were crazy busy regardless of the day for the most part. Going in winter (after the winter holidays) was slower usually except thats when certain rides close for refurbishment.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

There were surprising patterns. Weekends are always busy, but Sundays were busier than Saturdays due to the various APs and blocked days. There are no APs anymore though for now, so that will be interesting to see.

School breaks are tough. I'm a teacher and have 3 kids, so we can only go certain times of year, too. If you can take a day off, it's better to go in early December, but if you can't, crowds frequently hit capacity the week after Christmas. Christmas, Thanksgiving and Spring Break always feel the busiest to me (especially Christmas). Summer is busy, too, but doesn't feel as bad for the most part, probably because it the past, most AP tiers were blocked out in July and early August. Summer is hot though. Really hot. So, that can be a challenge, especially in late July/August. Depending on what school district you live in, some get Jewish holidays off in September/October. I've found those are great days to go for just a day-trip as they often fall in the middle of the week and most school districts don't get those days off.

 

[mom2rtk]

Knowing how it was before won't help. The new normal, even once the park is fully open again, will be different from what it was before. The APs drove much of the traffic, and they are gone for now. When they come back, it will be in another form so will likely drive the traffic in different ways.

 

[margot31]

Knowing how it was before won't help. The new normal, even once the park is fully open again, will be different from what it was before. The APs drove much of the traffic, and they are gone for now. When they come back, it will be in another form so will likely drive the traffic in different ways.

I understand this. But as someone who watched DW change over a time span of 6 years in going to Christmas themed evens the first 2 weeks of Dec to now has really changed or how Wine and Dine is a hot mess on the weekends....well sometimes it is nice to mentally prepare for the worst vs the best and oh dream of we will have a grand time cause no crowds....maybe the military lifestyle I have always been what's on the table as both versions...heck just had to do that of weather or not my husband was going to take a certain job or not...he picked the lesser of the evils.

Like people have said Sunday was busier vs a Sat. that is interesting to me.

 

[mom2rtk]

I understand this. But as someone who watched DW change over a time span of 6 years in going to Christmas themed evens the first 2 weeks of Dec to now has really changed or how Wine and Dine is a hot mess on the weekends....well sometimes it is nice to mentally prepare for the worst vs the best and oh dream of we will have a grand time cause no crowds....maybe the military lifestyle I have always been what's on the table as both versions...heck just had to do that of weather or not my husband was going to take a certain job or not...he picked the lesser of the evils.

Like people have said Sunday was busier vs a Sat. that is interesting to me.

But that was because of the APs. Now those APs are gone. New ones might come back but the system will likely be very different. There really will be a new normal established somewhere down the line.

 

[gerilyne]

I always found BC (before covid) that summer was a great time to go because so many passes were blocked out. We went once in October and I never saw anything as busy as a Saturday in October. But as other posters said with APs gone and not knowing what will come back in its place it's hard to judge what it will be like in the future state. I don't mind busy times but the wall to wall crush of people was too much for me. I just don't want to see it go back to that again.

 

[margot31]

But that was because of the APs. Now those APs are gone. New ones might come back but the system will likely be very different. There really will be a new normal established somewhere down the line.

I also have over a year before we move. Am I not allowed to know what it was like in the past and get an idea even when AP was around? Because by the time I do move back Ap could be back in a different manner. Like I said I am not looking to know what is in the crystal ball just wanted an idea of what it was like pre-covid.

 

[margot31]

I always found BC (before covid) that summer was a great time to go because so many passes were blocked out. We went once in October and I never saw anything as busy as a Saturday in October. But as other posters said with APs gone and not knowing what will come back in its place it's hard to judge what it will be like in the future state. I don't mind busy times but the wall to wall crush of people was too much for me. I just don't want to see it go back to that again.

It was that bad? Like said not looking to know what the crystal ball says.

 

[DLgal]

I can answer this. I've lived 15 minutes away from DL for almost 15 years and visited over 500 times.

In the past:
Saturdays were generally the least busy days due to AP blackouts

Sunday mornings until about 11am were the slowest time all week

July was the absolute LEAST crowded month, followed by September

October was always insane

Holiday weekends were always insane

Jan-May always saw the highest average crowd levels due to the So Cal promo tickets they would offer

Tuesday-Thursday were always "best bets"

Fireworks were only Friday-Sunday nights and only moved to nightly in the summer (between Memorial and Labior Days)

Easter Sunday and 4th of July were the least crowded holidays

Christmas and New Years Eve were the most crowded holidays

You would need to look at the AP blackout calendars to get a good idea of when crowds would be a problem. In general, once ALL the "So Cal" tiered passes were blocked out, you were good. If you could then find a Saturday where Deluxe was also blocked out, that was ideal.

 

[mom2rtk]

I also have over a year before we move. Am I not allowed to know what it was like in the past and get an idea even when AP was around? Because by the time I do move back Ap could be back in a different manner. Like I said I am not looking to know what is in the crystal ball just wanted an idea of what it was like pre-covid.

Nobody said you weren't allowed anything. Just saying anything you learn is likely useless. Just too many things have changed and it won't be like that again.

Also be careful making any assumptions based on the summer of 2019. They blacked out a lot of APs thinking Star Wars Land would bring in tons of new guests, but people stayed away. That won't be replicated.

 

[DLgal]

It was that bad? Like said not looking to know what the crystal ball says.

October was always awful, yes.

 

[margot31]

I can answer this. I've lived 15 minutes away from DL for almost 15 years and visited over 500 times.

In the past:
Saturdays were generally the least busy days due to AP blackouts

Sunday mornings until about 11am were the slowest time all week

July was the absolute LEAST crowded month, followed by September

October was always insane

Holiday weekends were always insane

Jan-May always saw the highest average crowd levels due to the So Cal promo tickets they would offer

Tuesday-Thursday were always "best bets"

Fireworks were only Friday-Sunday nights and only moved to nightly in the summer (between Memorial and Labior Days)

Easter Sunday and 4th of July were the least crowded holidays

Christmas and New Years Eve were the most crowded holidays

You would need to look at the AP blackout calendars to get a good idea of when crowds would be a problem. In general, once ALL the "So Cal" tiered passes were blocked out, you were good. If you could then find a Saturday where Deluxe was also blocked out, that was ideal.

THANK YOU!!! This is great info. While I know things will change and all...but at least it gives me an idea that disney broke AP up with location and all. That fireworks aren't during the week unlike DW....So when things do open a little more I can compare from what I read in the past to when we get closer starts to make sense.

 

[Winnowill]

Also, you would be surprised at how busy a Monday could be. It was not unusual for Mondays to be busier than weekend days.

One thing that changed traffic and attendance patterns dramatically (and hadn't yet worked itself out when COVID hit) was the launch of Rise of the Resistance. Prior to that, mornings were reliably less crowded. Once RotR hysteria started, though, that all changed. Given the change in how they're issuing boarding groups when they reopen, that may not be a factor any more, but there's no way to know at this point.

 

[chickapin parterre]

2009j that was 13 years ago....population has increased....the acreage in the park has only increased with Star Wars and I don't think significant enough area to take pressure off the rest of Disneyland..... my only observation is that early morning and late night will probably be the only viable options to find any resemblance of 2008.

 

[margot31]

2009j that was 13 years ago....population has increased....the acreage in the park has only increased with Star Wars and I don't think significant enough area to take pressure off the rest of Disneyland..... my only observation is that early morning and late night will probably be the only viable options to find any resemblance of 2008.

I never even went back in those days as we didn't have a lot of money to really spend on fun. It was bills and maybe the splurge to the bowling alley when my spouse had duty. I have never been to DL.

 

[chickapin parterre]

I never even went back in those days as we didn't have a lot of money to really spend on fun. It was bills and maybe the splurge to the bowling alley when my spouse had duty. I have never been to DL.

well....the one plus for you is that you have no expectations...so that is very good....while the rest of us here know what should happen and fear what is not going to happen...The one big plus is that lodging is walking distance and very easy to make mid-day plans to be elsehwere other than Disneyland proper. My advice is to take the philosophy that Disneyland is going to require early morning and early evening. and lots of lodging rest, nourishment and pool time in between. naturally everyone has a different concept of how to tour Disneyland and it would be best for you to read here on different touring options and choose one and then plan your visit with that concept.... for example, it is best to show up 45 mintues early for gates to open as opposed to arriving 10 mins after they open...that rope drop is better than Main street stroll to your first attraction....but their folks who say investing that 45 mintues outside of the gate is a waste of time. grasping the little details like that are what you have to define for yourself.

 

[JenniBarra]

Obviously, we don't know how it look when it opens under COVID restrictions, nor after restrictions are lifted all together, but I can say that DLR feels like it just gets busier as time goes on. Even times that used to be "off season" often have special events happening.

 

[downinit]

The last couple years was pretty awful most the time. My only saving grace was having an AP with no blackouts and free parking, so we could come and go whenever we pleased, without any pressure to get our moneys worth by staying longer. We generally arrived early and left around 1pm, when the crowds became unbearable. I did not notice much of a difference between Saturday and Sunday. We typically only went on weekends and holidays, so I can't really speak for weekdays. There was one Monday in early May that I went in the morning with out-of-town visitors and the line to get in the park was the absolute worst I had ever seen. This was not a holiday, not spring break, not summer, just a random Monday in the beginning of May.

My favorite times to go was when it was rainy (which almost never happens), or the first week of the Xmas/NYE blackout. Since there were almost no AP's to compete with, it was easy to navigate the park and see/do everything. There are also no lines at any of the holiday food stalls in CA and the restaurants/bars are all walk-in and mostly empty, because the infrequent visitors are much less likely to want to spend $15 on a cocktail or $9 on a bite-sized food festival item. The week between Xmas and NY is much busier, but still tolerable for the same reason.