August 2020: Beginning, middle or end? AKA The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

sweethannah · Nov 17, 2019

Hello! It's been a while since my last Disneyland vacation. Lots of reading to catch up on!

Our previous visits have been during so-called 'off peak' times such as April (Dapper Days x2), May and late September however it's no longer feasible to take DD out of school so it looks like our next trip will be in the summer. We have narrowed it down to the month of August but when in August is the real conundrum. We know it will be crowded but (naturally) we want to mitigate those crowds as much as possible. My preliminary research has me thinking that the week of August 9 - 16 ( Sun to Sun ) might be the best time in the month to go since some school districts are back in session and most annual passes are still blocked. I wouldn't mind waiting until later in the month but with most passes unblocked on the 17th I'm concerned this will have a huge impact on crowds. Do you think this rush will dissipate by the end of the month? It's my understanding that there is a Star Wars Celebration Convention from 27-30 August but I have no idea if that will impact crowds but if it does I'm guessing GE will feel the most impact.

tldr
What days or weeks in August do you think would be the best?
How crowded is really crowded?

Thanks

theluckyrabbit · Nov 17, 2019

sweethannah said:
... My preliminary research has me thinking that the week of August 9 - 16 ( Sun to Sun ) might be the best time in the month to go since some school districts are back in session and most annual passes are still blocked. I wouldn't mind waiting until later in the month but with most passes unblocked on the 17th I'm concerned this will have a huge impact on crowds. Do you think this rush will dissipate by the end of the month? It's my understanding that there is a Star Wars Celebration Convention from 27-30 August but I have no idea if that will impact crowds but if it does I'm guessing GE will feel the most impact...

I think your hunch about avoiding the AP blockout lift is a good one. Earlier in August is better because you will avoid the tidal wave of lower APs returning to the parks once the summer blockout lifts, any rides that go down for a Halloween overlay should still be up and running (HM tends to go down around the 20-somethingth), the parks should still be on the peak schedule (non-peak starts around the end of the third week of August). School calendars are all over the place in Southern CA because for DLR you are dealing with local districts and non-local (Northern CA, AZ, NV, UT, OR, WA -- all having an effect on DLR), home schoolers, university schedules (a handful of colleges and universities are close by DLR), etc. SW Celebration may have an impact on the parks -- if you came all the way to Anaheim for a convention, wouldn't you want to visit DLR? I'd go with your first dates.

Absinthe · Nov 18, 2019

theluckyrabbit said:
I think your hunch about avoiding the AP blockout lift is a good one. Earlier in August is better because you will avoid the tidal wave of lower APs returning to the parks once the summer blockout lifts, any rides that go down for a Halloween overlay should still be up and running (HM tends to go down around the 20-somethingth), the parks should still be on the peak schedule (non-peak starts around the end of the third week of August). School calendars are all over the place in Southern CA because for DLR you are dealing with local districts and non-local (Northern CA, AZ, NV, UT, OR, WA -- all having an effect on DLR), home schoolers, university schedules (a handful of colleges and universities are close by DLR), etc. SW Celebration may have an impact on the parks -- if you came all the way to Anaheim for a convention, wouldn't you want to visit DLR? I"d go with your first dates.

Agreed!

For comparison, SW Celebration 2019 brought 65,000 fans to Chicago just for the convention. With DLR right next door and GE in full operations, I’d imagine the parks are going to be flooded during that time.

We were planning the end of August and adjusted our trip to May after the convention dates were announced.

NannyBeBe · Nov 18, 2019

I urge you to prepare yourself for the heat of August. We always go at the end of May but decided to do late July on our last trip. The heat together with the humidity was exhausting, and I am used to temps well above 100F. We will definitely go back to May.

Butterfly123 · Nov 18, 2019

We went that week in August one year, and the crowds were pretty good. If I was going in August again I’d pick that time. We really enjoyed that trip. Avoiding the return of AP blackouts was a big part of the crowd level.

limace · Nov 18, 2019

I don’t do heat well and we typically go between late June and early August and have always had a great time-we are early morning, break in the afternoon folks and if you do that the heat is manageable unless you get a major heat wave. I’ve never found it to be humid there.

VandVsmama · Nov 18, 2019

We live in AZ and all of the schools around here are back in session by 8/9, so I think that your dates are a good selection.

sweethannah · Nov 18, 2019

Thanks you all for your responses so far!

theluckyrabbit said:
I think your hunch about avoiding the AP blockout lift is a good one. Earlier in August is better because you will avoid the tidal wave of lower APs returning to the parks once the summer blockout lifts, any rides that go down for a Halloween overlay should still be up and running (HM tends to go down around the 20-somethingth), the parks should still be on the peak schedule (non-peak starts around the end of the third week of August). School calendars are all over the place in Southern CA because for DLR you are dealing with local districts and non-local (Northern CA, AZ, NV, UT, OR, WA -- all having an effect on DLR), home schoolers, university schedules (a handful of colleges and universities are close by DLR), etc. SW Celebration may have an impact on the parks -- if you came all the way to Anaheim for a convention, wouldn't you want to visit DLR? I"d go with your first dates.

I'm OK with slightly off peak hours but do you think the AP tidal wave will still be high by the end of September?

Absinthe said:
Agreed!

For comparison, SW Celebration 2019 brought 65,000 fans to Chicago just for the convention. With DLR right next door and GE in full operations, I’d imagine the parks are going to be flooded during that time.

We were planning the end of August and adjusted our trip to May after the convention dates were announced.

Holy smokes! If GE is in full swing it stands to reason it would draw in even higher crowds. I've looked at the largest school districts in the area and you're right, it's all over the place. Los Angeles unified has 600K+ students and the first day of school ranges from the 2nd or 3rd week of August.

NannyBeBe said:
I urge you to prepare yourself for the heat of August. We always go at the end of May but decided to do late July on our last trip. The heat together with the humidity was exhausting, and I am used to temps well above 100F. We will definitely go back to May.

Ouch. That is definitely something to consider however we pretty much have to go during the Summer so hot weather will be a factor regardless. We have been to Disneyland in late September and experienced a heatwave. Temps were over 100F. That was pretty rough. Hopefully longer park hours and using maxpass in order to take mid day breaks and return in the evening will help.

VandVsmama said:
We live in AZ and all of the schools around here are back in session by 8/9, so I think that your dates are a good selection.

Thanks!

theluckyrabbit · Nov 18, 2019

sweethannah said:
... I'm OK with slightly off peak hours but do you think the AP tidal wave will still be high by the end of September?...

End of September will put you right In the swing of Halloween Time at DLR -- one of the most fun and one of the busiest times of the year in the parks. Are you okay with that? September can bring very warm weather, Santa Ana wind season (so get ready for the fireworks to get cancelled often), Halloween parties (probably in DCA next year after the success of the OBB in DCA this year), and lots of crowds! Look at this year's Halloween Time superthread to get an idea of what was offered, how the parties went, and what the crowd levels were like: Halloween Time Superthread 2019: "Oogie Boogie Bash" Party to Be Held in DCA ONLY! and Other Halloween Time Information -- pages 58/59 is about when Halloween Time starts In that thread. There was a recent DLR trip report from someone who planned a trip based on the reports of the amazingly low crowds all summer -- but he planned his trip for Halloween Time (yep, one of the consistently busiest times of the year)! Not exactly ghost town conditions, shall we say. APs won't be your biggest worry at the end of September -- I'd be more concerned with heat, winds cancelling fireworks/WOC/shutting down rides/power outages (all this happened at certain points this past fall -- it's not super common, but it's not super rare), and the Halloween Time crowds. APs do turn out for Halloween Time, though -- the first day of Halloween Time this year? Local crowds shut the parking structure once work/school got out! As long as you are prepared for what might be a very busy time, you can have a lot of fun.

gerilyne · Nov 18, 2019

I love traveling in August. We typically go any tim before the APs are unblocked. Yes it is hot, we tend to go early and then rest during the hottest part of the day and then go back in the evening. We have also gone in October and I actually found myself missing the warmer weather. But whenever you go you will have the best time!

sweethannah · Nov 19, 2019

theluckyrabbit said:
End of September will put you right In the swing of Halloween Time at DLR -- one of the most fun and one of the busiest times of the year in the parks. Are you okay with that? September can bring very warm weather, Santa Ana wind season (so get ready for the fireworks to get cancelled often), Halloween parties (probably in DCA next year after the success of the OBB in DCA this year), and lots of crowds! Look at this year's Halloween Time superthread to get an idea of what was offered, how the parties went, and what the crowd levels were like: Halloween Time Superthread 2019: "Oogie Boogie Bash" Party to Be Held in DCA ONLY! and Other Halloween Time Information -- pages 58/59 is about when Halloween Time starts In that thread. There was a recent DLR trip report from someone who planned a trip based on the reports of the amazingly low crowds all summer -- but he planned his trip for Halloween Time (yep, one of the consistently busiest times of the year)! Not exactly ghost town conditions, shall we say. APs won't be your biggest worry at the end of September -- I'd be more concerned with heat, winds cancelling fireworks/WOC/shutting down rides/power outages (all this happened at certain points this past fall -- it's not super common, but it's not super rare), and the Halloween Time crowds. APs do turn out for Halloween Time, though -- the first day of Halloween Time this year? Local crowds shut the parking structure once work/school got out! As long as you are prepared for what might be a very busy time, you can have a lot of fun.

Thank you very much for all your help and 100% my bad but I meant to say end of August lol. I do appreciate your willingness to help though.

We've been down late September before and it was super hot. I don't know if I would go down at that time of the year again - we recently came back from Hawaii and we were there for Halloween. It was really odd being in a hot climate for Halloween when I'm so used to rainy and bluster at that time of year.

gerilyne said:
I love traveling in August. We typically go any tim before the APs are unblocked. Yes it is hot, we tend to go early and then rest during the hottest part of the day and then go back in the evening. We have also gone in October and I actually found myself missing the warmer weather. But whenever you go you will have the best time!

Thanks! Glad to read another positive vote for August and I agree about the warm weather at Halloween time

If we don't do the second week of August I'm considering the last week of August or September. This year Labour Day is really late and my DD's first day of school will be September 8th so we could arrive the week of August 30/31th for 7 days but the potential crowds from the Star Wars Celebration and APs recently being unblocked has me concerned.

theluckyrabbit · Nov 20, 2019

sweethannah said:
Thank you very much for all your help and 100% my bad but I meant to say end of August lol... If we don't do the second week of August I'm considering the last week of August or September. This year Labour Day is really late and my DD's first day of school will be September 8th so we could arrive the week of August 30/31th for 7 days but the potential crowds from the Star Wars Celebration and APs recently being unblocked has me concerned.

Just be aware that the end of August means: HM should be down to install the Halloween overlay, the parks will probably be on the non-peak schedule by then (i.e. shorter hours, less staffing, rides not running at full capacity, possible refurbs, less entertainment, nighttime entertainment on weekends only (Labor Day Monday excepted), etc.). SM usually goes down for the SMGG overlay right after Labor Day -- that installation only takes a day or two. Once the lower APs are back, expect the parks to get more crowded in the afternoons and evenings. I still think your earlier August dates sound better.

Disney Lvr of Old · Nov 20, 2019

I booked 8/18- 8/28 because that is when the hotel rates went down. I didn't know about the convention so will make sure we do everything we want to do in SWGE before those dates! We went in August 2016 and it was so much hotter than I was expecting but we just lived on Splash and GRR. We hit HM just before it went down. We were able to do everything we wanted and it was before Max Pass so I anticipate no problems. I'm happy there's another August planner!

Gretchen1973 · Nov 22, 2019

You have gotten a lot of great responses. I will just chime in with my two cents. We are in the same boat and can no longer take our kids out of school. We have gone all of the last three weeks of August including the last week of Aug this year. We have had MaxPass the last few years as well. The crowds have been manageable and MP has been a lifesaver. We stay on property and try to go as close to rope drop as we can, but with teen girls that doesn't always happen. We did everything we wanted, although I will say the heat this year was uncomfortable.

MrsD.Duck · Nov 23, 2019

We always go the end of July beginning of August. The ap are still blocked and the hours are longer so we can take a break in the middle of the day and then close the park up. It is nice running around the park at night in shorts and tank tops and everything is so different at night. Walking thru the resistance area is a fun creepy with all the strange critter sounds in the bushes. Coming of space and pirates at night has a totally different feeling. We have been down at that time period where it is a heat wave and also when you needed jackets becausenit was down right cold.

August 2020: Beginning, middle or end? AKA The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

sweethannah

Rebel Spy, 3 times in a row!

theluckyrabbit

DIS Veteran

Absinthe

Earning My Ears

NannyBeBe

DIS Veteran

Butterfly123

DIS Veteran

limace

DIS Veteran

VandVsmama

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sweethannah

Rebel Spy, 3 times in a row!

theluckyrabbit

DIS Veteran

gerilyne

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sweethannah

Rebel Spy, 3 times in a row!

theluckyrabbit

DIS Veteran

Disney Lvr of Old

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Gretchen1973

Mouseketeer

MrsD.Duck

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