Predicted Crowd Levels Up for My Dates

[Porsche4]

We are travelling all the way from Australia so I chose to visit the last week of April after kids have gone back to school following Easter Break thinking that crowds should be okay. Now I find out that DL is bringing back nighttime entertainment the exact week I have booked and crowd level predictions have jumped up quite a bit (from 4-5 to 6-8). Would like peoples thoughts on if the increased crowds will likely just come late afternoon and into the evening to see the nighttime parades and fireworks or if they will be there all day. We are typically rope drop and early night people so I am thinking that if we rope drop and leave the parks for an early afternoon break then use G+ for some more rides late afternoon and into the evening, skipping the entertainment, we might be okay. Would love to hear peoples ideas on the matter.

 

[Foustketeer]

I've always been under the impression that rope dropping will allow you to get the most done. Crowds will more than likely pick up later in the day to see entertainment, but if you're also not there to see any, you would probably be fine as people flock to see parade/fireworks/WoC.

 

[mdmost]

Yep, go early and have a plan to use G+ effectively. There's not any Key holder blocks until the end of the week so it will be pretty crowded with people excited to see the nightly entertainment return.

If you're worried about watching the entertainment, keep an eye out for dining packages that give you preferred seating at the parades and World of Color. We're definitely doing that if offered when we go in June.

 

[Westcorkdisfan]

And I was just complaining to my kids that we miss the shows as we leave in the 18th!

 

[Quiltsndisney]

Noooo that is the week I am there and planned for the low crowd levels. Drats

 

[Quiltsndisney]

Noooo that is the week I am there and planned for the low crowd levels. Drats

 

[Epicnemesis]

Crowds are pretty much the same every day from what I’ve seen,but I only go on weekends, so my exposure is limited.

 

[rpfennig]

Similar situation, planning for the April 23-24 weekend because of Dapper Days (which I feel like is a very serendipitous collision of events... "You don't have to get dressed up for the return of the fireworks... but we wanted to.") and expecting it to be a bit of a quieter weekend (rope drop, Dapper Day Expo in the afternoon, relaxed evening)... so, maybe a little less so now. Though it sounds like the fireworks and World of Color will only be on the weekend so if you are staying into the week it should have less of an impact (we're targeting a one day hop over to Universal on the Monday and then more ride and birthday celebrations on the Tuesday through Thursday). Unless they run the Main Street Electrical Parade every day and there's a pent up demand to see that... oh bother...

 

[Porsche4]

Similar situation, planning for the April 23-24 weekend because of Dapper Days (which I feel like is a very serendipitous collision of events... "You don't have to get dressed up for the return of the fireworks... but we wanted to.") and expecting it to be a bit of a quieter weekend (rope drop, Dapper Day Expo in the afternoon, relaxed evening)... so, maybe a little less so now. Though it sounds like the fireworks and World of Color will only be on the weekend so if you are staying into the week it should have less of an impact (we're targeting a one day hop over to Universal on the Monday and then more ride and birthday celebrations on the Tuesday through Thursday). Unless they run the Main Street Electrical Parade every day and there's a pent up demand to see that... oh bother...

I know right, this is exactly how I am feeling. I am not that interested in night time entertainment so I wish that it had all launched just one week later and then we would have been good. We are travelling such a long way from Australia and we really can't change our plans at this late stage. My daughter and I don't do well with crowds at all and so now I am really panicking.

 

[Czardas]

Hi, fellow Aussie here and I’m there the same week as you. I picked that week purely for low crowds, oh well, it is what it is unfortunately.
Look on the bright side, we are finally able to visit our favorite place again

 

[Porsche4]

Noooo that is the week I am there and planned for the low crowd levels. Drats

We have only ever visited before on days of level 2-3 pre covid and I spent ages working out the best week to choose and now I feel like it is going to be too much for us to cope with. Both of us suffer from crowd anxiety thats why we have always gone in January when the crowds were really low but I guess those days are gone now so I suppose we will just have to try and keep each other calm. Hoping if we hit rope drop every day we will miss the worst of it in the morning and then perhaps spend the afternoon by the pool. I really don't know whether I should just cancel the whole thing and try for later in the year when things might be a little less hectic.

 

[Porsche4]

Hi, fellow Aussie here and I’m there the same week as you. I picked that week purely for low crowds, oh well, it is what it is unfortunately.
Look on the bright side, we are finally able to visit our favorite place again ❤

True but as we have been waiting for ten years for this trip I really wanted to try and avoid too much crowd stress as my daughter and I suffer from crowd anxiety. I am really considering cancelling and moving the trip to later in the year when pent up demand may have died down a bit and things might be easier. I am now soooo confused.

 

[Pluto468]

It really is so difficult to tell what crowds are doing these days. I hope with the reservation system it is still better than it used to be. We also chose a week with 3-5 crowds (first week of May) and it has gone up.

I really think you will be ok with rope drop and getting alot done in the morning. Anyone who is there solely for the entertainment will probably be local and coming in the evening. I can't imagine tons of people planning trips from outside CA just to see the entertainment on the week it opens. Alot of people who travel will probably wait until Fantasmic is back, too.

Also, even if you pick dates in the future a similar thing could happen again to make the crowds higher.

I think if you stick with your planned dates and follow your plan of rope drop/early evenings you will have a good time

 

[tsumgirl]

This may not be much comfort, but as someone who also can't do huge crowds, one of the benefits of the nighttime entertainment is that it pulls all the crowds to Main St and IASW. I find this to be the best time to hit either the west side of the park or Tomorrowland. Usually if I plan to do Indiana Jones, HM, Splash, Jungle Cruise, everything is walk on at that time. It helps me avoid the daytime crowd bottlenecks and have a more relaxed pace. I don't remember if the train still runs at that time, but if it does, you can use it to get to the other side of the park. You just need to strategically avoid Main St and Fantasyland until the crowds die down. You can hit Fantasyland before 10:30a to avoid the crowds there.

 

[Porsche4]

It really is so difficult to tell what crowds are doing these days. I hope with the reservation system it is still better than it used to be. We also chose a week with 3-5 crowds (first week of May) and it has gone up.

I really think you will be ok with rope drop and getting alot done in the morning. Anyone who is there solely for the entertainment will probably be local and coming in the evening. I can't imagine tons of people planning trips from outside CA just to see the entertainment on the week it opens. Alot of people who travel will probably wait until Fantasmic is back, too.

Also, even if you pick dates in the future a similar thing could happen again to make the crowds higher.

I think if you stick with your planned dates and follow your plan of rope drop/early evenings you will have a good time

Thanks for the good vibes. You are right, I keep see sawing between being really excited about our upcoming trip and thinking that I should just shelve the whole thing till a later date. Then I think to myself you know what, Covid has proved that you have to seize the moment and live for the day so I should just go and have a great time no matter what. I think if we lower our expectations and not compare it to previous trips we should be okay. If we rope drop and use G+ we should be able to do what we want and get multiple rides on things which should be fun. Thanks again.

 

[Porsche4]

This may not be much comfort, but as someone who also can't do huge crowds, one of the benefits of the nighttime entertainment is that it pulls all the crowds to Main St and IASW. I find this to be the best time to hit either the west side of the park or Tomorrowland. Usually if I plan to do Indiana Jones, HM, Splash, Jungle Cruise, everything is walk on at that time. It helps me avoid the daytime crowd bottlenecks and have a more relaxed pace. I don't remember if the train still runs at that time, but if it does, you can use it to get to the other side of the park. You just need to strategically avoid Main St and Fantasyland until the crowds die down. You can hit Fantasyland before 10:30a to avoid the crowds there.

Yes thats what I was thinking if we hit rope drop, then have an afternoon break, have dinner somewhere in the parks and then ignore the entertainment and try and do some more rides with smaller lines as the crowds gather for the parades & fireworks. Thanks for your encouragement.

 

[rpfennig]

If we rope drop and use G+ we should be able to do what we want and get multiple rides on things which should be fun.

Not 100% sure of this but Dapper Days (April 23-24 weekend) is also supposed to have an affect on crowd shaping... more people targeting the river boats and getting pictures in front of the castle and less about some of the other rides that might be less parasol friendly. May also provide an interesting distraction for you and your daughter trying to figure out the various Disney bounding outfits.

 

[PirateRedhead]

For me, it's always worse when I don't know in advance that I need to brace myself. My worst trip to DL was the one when I planned for and expected low crowds. When we arrived and found major crowds instead, I was unable to pivot, mentally (this was also because of an entertainment addition). My next two trips I planned for holiday seasons, and I completely expected heavy crowds. We rope dropped, took midday breaks, and stacked LLs (then FPs) for the evening, which sounds like exactly what you're planning to do. It was a great strategy - we did everything we wanted and more, and we rarely experienced a line longer than 15-20 minutes. And because I anticipated the crowds, it didn't feel nearly as bad as I thought it would. Only when I expected a quiet offseason experience and didn't get it was I miserable. So I'll hope for you that the same is true, and that knowing in advance might let you adjust and then enjoy the trip.

 

[Porsche4]

Not 100% sure of this but Dapper Days (April 23-24 weekend) is also supposed to have an affect on crowd shaping... more people targeting the river boats and getting pictures in front of the castle and less about some of the other rides that might be less parasol friendly. May also provide an interesting distraction for you and your daughter trying to figure out the various Disney bounding outfits.

Thanks for your input I hadn't thought about that. My daughter was thinking of putting together a Disney bounding outfit to just wear a couple of times while we were visiting but I didn't know that our first weekend there would be Dapper Dan weekend. She would love this and she may decide to join in. I love the Dapper Dans they are awesome. Sounds like it could be fun.

 

[rpfennig]

Sounds like it could be fun.

It's our first time going down specifically for it (still working out our level of outfit commitment). My wife bumped into it while chaperoning a band trip for our youngest in 2017 ("Many people here seem a bit more... More today.") and it struck a chord with us. It's been something we wanted to do for awhile and I'm kind of hoping that it will have an even more joyful expression this year.

There's more general information at https://dapperday.com/pages/events-overview

My previous trip to Disneyland was a family trip in June 2012 (I drew the short straw on who got to chaperone) on the opening weekend of Cars Land... I feel like I can take whatever the return of fireworks throws at us in comparison.