September 5th visit a good idea?

[Briquewest]

I accidentally posted this in the WDW forum, and someone was nice enough to point me to this one here.

We're planning a trip to Disneyland for a 3 night and 2 day stay arriving the night of Sept. 4th. We're 2 adults and a 13yo girl. After clearing the whole week off that week (driving from Oregon), and making room arrangements - it just dawned on me that some attractions and park hours may be less than we expected. I found a site that lists some details - http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/park-hours.cfm?month=9&year=2017 but they state their hours are not confirmed yet. We planned to get 2 day park hopper tickets and visit Tues and Weds 9/5 and 9/6.

I am hoping someone can offer some feedback on hours and attractions. I know there are a lot of Pros here!

The link above shows the fireworks being available on Tues Sept. 5th. Is that likely accurate....or could we risk not seeing them?

I also noticed that it shows Pirates of the Caribbean and California Screamin down for planned rehab starting 9/6. Is that likely to be accurate as well when it comes to these items - or could it be pushed up to the 5th? I can't imagine not doing Pirates of the Caribbean.

Is it very likely that park hours will still be 8-12 on the 5th, but then jump to 10-8 on the 6th?

We wanted to avoid the Labor Day weekend crowds and planned our trip to fall immediate after - but now i'm worried we made the wrong choice of dates and should rebook with things moved up a little! Help?

 

[figment_jii]

The hours, entertainment schedule, refurbishment information, etc. has not yet been posted for September 2017. The wdwinfo calendar uses past years as a template, so that folks can get a sense of what the hours are likely to be, but the refurbishment info is just a copy from some random reference year.

Labor Day (September 4, 2017) is likely to be the official end of the summer season. After that, fireworks (and other nighttime entertainment) are typically only presented on weekends. We don't yet know what kind of schedule F! will have during the non-peak season (given that it's new and likely to be very popular), but there is a strong chance that fireworks will not be shown on Tue or Wed when you're there. My guess is that fireworks will only be presented on Fri-Sun, but I don't know what they'll do about F!. WoC is usually presented nightly.

Depending on when HalloweenTime starts, Haunted Mansion and Space may be down getting their Halloween overlays installed. Haunted Mansion usually goes down in late-August and Space goes down a few days before HalloweenTime starts. The most likely dates are sometime between September 8th and 15th for the start of HalloweenTime (last year, it started on September 9, 2016). I'm leaning towards a 9/9/17 start, which means Space would go down on 9/5 (Tuesday after Labor Day). None of the other attractions have "regularly" scheduled closures during that time frame, so there is no way to really know what will be closed yet. The operating calendar is published about 45-days in advance and entertainment, refurbishments, etc. are added after that. We're hoping they'll make the HalloweenTime announcement sometime soon (for the last few years, it's been in early-to-mid-July).

Using last year as a guide, the hours are likely to be 10:00 am to 8:00 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I think they're showing 8-12 for 9/5/17 on the calendar you linked because last year 9/5 was Labor Day (Monday).

Just to note, Labor Day weekend is also when the Disneyland Half Marathon occurs (8/31-9/3/17).

 

[Briquewest]

Thank you figment_jii, that was very helpful and informative!

I think what we have decided to do is move everything up one day so we are at the park on the 4th and the 5th. I know the park will be busy on Monday, but our plan is to hit the attractions (and firework show!) that are a must do for us - and then do mop up on other attractions on Tuesday.

The fireworks, Pirates and Space Mountain are a must see for us, so we're going to deal with park crowds for the 4th to do them. Our assumption is with reduced crowds on Tuesday - but also shorter hours - we should be able to take in most other attractions. We're also leaning towards maybe even hitting a third day and getting 3 day passes to take advantage of the early morning on Monday.

If vacation times for us fell differently we would push it to doing the park on Fri-Sat that week (8th and 9th), but since we're driving 1000 miles for the trip it's just impossible to do. 2 days down and 2 days back gives us a 3 day window there to work in.

Thanks again for your help and info!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

If fireworks really are a must see for you, be aware that it is not uncommon for the fireworks to get cancelled at DL due to wind (speed, direction, debris fallout, etc.). You may not feel a breeze on the ground, but at higher elevations there may be enough wind to cause a problem for the show. If you can give yourself more than one chance to see the show, that would be an advantage for you. That way, if the show gets cancelled on night, you would have one more chance. And if the show goes off as planned, you could see it twice!

 

[Briquewest]

If fireworks really are a must see for you, be aware that it is not uncommon for the fireworks to get cancelled at DL due to wind (speed, direction, debris fallout, etc.). You may not feel a breeze on the ground, but at higher elevations there may be enough wind to cause a problem for the show. If you can give yourself more than one chance to see the show, that would be an advantage for you. That way, if the show gets cancelled on night, you would have one more chance. And if the show goes off as planned, you could see it twice!

That would be the ideal, but the timeframe with the two day drive and vacation time doesn't allow for two weekend days. One way or another we're driving on a Saturday and Sunday, and prefer to do it at the beginning versus the end of the trip.

Here is to hoping for no windy days!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

If you arrive early enough (before 9:30 pm) on the Sunday, you might be able to see the fireworks from the esplanade or from your hotel. That would be a nice bonus!