Summer - When is the best time to go?

[mocame]

My DD and I are planning our first trip to Disneyland in the summer of 2024 with our good friends. We are planning this so far in advance because of one of our friend's work is booked over a year in advance and my DD is a teacher. So because of those things, the trip has to be from the middle of June to the beginning of August in 2024. We live towards the east coast and the summers are hot and humid here. We normally go to WDW in May so we are used to the Florida heat and but not their oppressive heat and humidity of summer. And it's busy but not packed when we go to WDW during that time.

What are the summers like at DL? I've heard about the June Gloom but I'm not sure what that means weather-wise? I'm assuming DL will be more crowded in the summer but I don't know how to compare it to what we are used to. Weather-wise and crowd-wise, when is it the best time to go?

We are so excited for this trip! Thank you!

 

[shosh1530]

I would think the earliest in June you can go would be the best both weather and crowd-wise. We've been the past two Junes (June 1-3 most recently, June 21-24 last year).

June gloom basically results in some clouds (even sometimes fog!) in the early mornings that usually burns off by late morning/noon. This helps keeps the mornings cool and the evenings cool off too (i.e. I need a long-sleeve shirt, sweater, or jacket).

Mid-day can get hot. In early June this year it was quite pleasant (high 70s), but our friends went a few weeks later in June and it was in the high 80s/low 90s.

It is hard to predict crowds (and honestly you can count on Disneyland pretty much always being crowded), but some schools don't get out until later in June. Crowds were very manageable on our recent early June trip. The year before capacity was still restricted so it wasn't normal patterns. From what I read on these boards, this July has been pretty packed.

June does see Grad Nights over at California Adventures at least for the first three weeks. DCA will close early on these nights (usually 3 or 4 nights per week at 9 pm) so that can impact your touring plans and result in crowds. We had two grad nights on our recent trip and it didn't really impact us.

The other summer time to consider would be late August as some schools go back in session well before Labor Day. We haven't been this time of year so I don't know how the weather is.

 

[DLgal]

July. Early July.

No grad night early closures to deal with, far fewer annual passholders (summer block outs begin in mid June) , a full entertainment schedule and extended park hours in effect. Nice weather.

If you go in June, it's gonna be more crowded. If you want to go in August, go the first week, before the aforementioned passholders get to come back to the parks after a summer away.

Weather is kind of unpredictable. This has probably been the overall coolest summer I've experienced in 18 years of living in Southern CA. It's been downright pleasant, with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s. We live about 12 miles south of DL and were at a waterpark yesterday *shivering* because it was breezy, a bit cloudy, and only about 75 degrees. We had a couple days over 90 in June, and haven't had one since. Meanwhile the rest of the country is in a heatwave.

The June gloom (also known as May gray...probably needs a new name for July as well since it's hung around this whole month) is something called the "marine layer." It's a layer of fog that rolls in over the coast around 4-5pm and continues to move inland overnight. You wake up to gray skies, cool temperatures and some humidity (although NOT like FL humidity). This is literally humidity due to fog and low clouds. It slowly retreats back and "burns off" around 10-11am. It means you don't wake up to the sun blazing at 7am. It's nice. But it also means you will need a jacket or sweatshirt for like 2 hours in the morning and in the evening, but not in between.

Come in July. It's the best month at the parks. And it's surprisingly not typically that crowded. It's nothing at all like WDW gets in July.

 

[Disney0010]

Trying to decide which will be less busy. Sat, Sun and Monday morning 8/20-8/22 or Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning 8/23-8/25. It looks as though weekdays have been the busiest plus I think the Imagine key is blocked from the weekends. Leaning more to the weekend dates.

 

[DLgal]

Trying to decide which will be less busy. Sat, Sun and Monday morning 8/20-8/22 or Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning 8/23-8/25. It looks as though weekdays have been the busiest plus I think the Imagine key is blocked from the weekends. Leaning more to the weekend dates.

Weekend dates will be less busy, but that Monday will be CRAZY.

 

[Disney0010]

That Monday for us will just be until around noon and then we will head home. We enjoy a stroll around the park at opening, grab a bite for breakfast or early lunch and then leave.

 

[midnight star]

Over the years, I’ve started to prefer July. It can be hot but it seems all the rides are running, there are fireworks, fantasmic, and world of color everyday. Long park hours,etc.

June is nice BUT you do have to pay attention to grad nites and plan accordingly.

 

[Pluto468]

I'd go with early June. Just keep an eye on grad nites.

 

[lalasmama]

I'd go with late June. Specifically, assuming annual passes are back in full force, the last 2-ish weeks are blocked days for the lowest passes. Lowest passes blocked out generally means lower crowds. Not low crowds by any means, just lower without the lower passes. Before I was an AP'er, we'd generally go the last week of June.

June gloom is just the overcast sky in the mornings. Sometimes it lasts all day, but often lets up mid-day.

 

[Aurora0427]

July. Early July.

No grad night early closures to deal with, far fewer annual passholders (summer block outs begin in mid June) , a full entertainment schedule and extended park hours in effect. Nice weather.

If you go in June, it's gonna be more crowded. If you want to go in August, go the first week, before the aforementioned passholders get to come back to the parks after a summer away.

Weather is kind of unpredictable. This has probably been the overall coolest summer I've experienced in 18 years of living in Southern CA. It's been downright pleasant, with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s. We live about 12 miles south of DL and were at a waterpark yesterday *shivering* because it was breezy, a bit cloudy, and only about 75 degrees. We had a couple days over 90 in June, and haven't had one since. Meanwhile the rest of the country is in a heatwave.

The June gloom (also known as May gray...probably needs a new name for July as well since it's hung around this whole month) is something called the "marine layer." It's a layer of fog that rolls in over the coast around 4-5pm and continues to move inland overnight. You wake up to gray skies, cool temperatures and some humidity (although NOT like FL humidity). This is literally humidity due to fog and low clouds. It slowly retreats back and "burns off" around 10-11am. It means you don't wake up to the sun blazing at 7am. It's nice. But it also means you will need a jacket or sweatshirt for like 2 hours in the morning and in the evening, but not in between.

Come in July. It's the best month at the parks. And it's surprisingly not typically that crowded. It's nothing at all like WDW gets in July.

We were at Knotts on Saturday and I was shocked at how nice the weather was….. it was downright cool with a breeze. We live less than 4 miles from the coast and it’s been cloudy and chilly until literally this week. So crazy!

OP, I concur with everything @DLgal posted based on our experiences this summer!

 

[mocame]

Great information! I was thinking that July would be super hot and packed but I will definitely consider going then. I'm assuming it gets full for July 4th, though.

Also, how much does it rain during June through beginning of August? Should that be a consideration too?

 

[midnight star]

Great information! I was thinking that July would be super hot and packed but I will definitely consider going then. I'm assuming it gets full for July 4th, though.

Also, how much does it rain during June through beginning of August? Should that be a consideration too?

I went on 4th of July in 2018 &2019, and it actually wasn’t bad at all. It really only gets packed for fireworks. During the day it was very manageable. Not sure about this year or last year.

It doesn’t rain much. Rainy season is usually winter here. August is usually dry(sometimes humid), hot and windy, so prone to fires.

 

[DLgal]

Also, how much does it rain during June through beginning of August? Should that be a consideration too?

Basically zero rain.

We do sometimes get monsoon thunderstorms, and that did happen in mid June-ish. It was one thunderstorm. Not even sure Anaheim got any rain out of that. It tends to be little tiny cells of pop up storms that only span a couple of miles.

Also, 4th of July is the best week to go. Disneyland is surprisingly not a popular destination for locals on that day. People generally head to the beach, the desert, or camping. We do our annual staycation on the 2nd-5th of July every year. This year we only got to the 3rd because of covid, but the 2nd and 3rd were great with only moderate crowds and glorious weather.

 

[Sarahelizabeth]

We typically don’t do summer months because of other travel plans but we went the weekend of the 4th of July this year and it was great. Got busy mid day but not any different then most days at Disney anymore.

About the rain, like those above said, you don’t have to worry about rain in the summer here. I’m born and raised southern CA and the only times i can remember rain impacting our trips have been December through February. But that’s just my experience, I’m sure there are others.

June gloom and May grey is great weather for the parks in my opinion. I like a good cloud cover, unless I’m at the beach.

Hope you have the best trip ever!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Also, how much does it rain during June through beginning of August? Should that be a consideration too?

Almost never.

 

[mocame]

Basically zero rain.

We do sometimes get monsoon thunderstorms, and that did happen in mid June-ish. It was one thunderstorm. Not even sure Anaheim got any rain out of that. It tends to be little tiny cells of pop up storms that only span a couple of miles.

Also, 4th of July is the best week to go. Disneyland is surprisingly not a popular destination for locals on that day. People generally head to the beach, the desert, or camping. We do our annual staycation on the 2nd-5th of July every year. This year we only got to the 3rd because of covid, but the 2nd and 3rd were great with only moderate crowds and glorious wea

We typically don’t do summer months because of other travel plans but we went the weekend of the 4th of July this year and it was great. Got busy mid day but not any different then most days at Disney anymore.

About the rain, like those above said, you don’t have to worry about rain in the summer here. I’m born and raised southern CA and the only times i can remember rain impacting our trips have been December through February. But that’s just my experience, I’m sure there are others.

June gloom and May grey is great weather for the parks in my opinion. I like a good cloud cover, unless I’m at the beach.

Hope you have the best trip ever!

Almost never.

Great to know! Being from the east coast side of the country, I'm not used to no rain in summer but I'm looking forward to California's weather!

 

[DLgal]

Great to know! Being from the east coast side of the country, I'm not used to no rain in summer but I'm looking forward to California's weather!

(Coastal) Southern California weather is perpetual spring. It's amazing.