World or Land in October 2019?

[Jadeey]

I’m hoping this board is a good place to ask since lots of people here will love both Disney World and Disneyland equally so I will get some non-biased answers.

For the last couple of years my best friend and I have been planning a Disneyland trip in 2019. The trip will be, myself, her, my husband and my 4 year old. My best friend and my daughter have never been before. My husband and I have been a couple of times to both Disney World and Disneyland.

We chose Disneyland because my friend is a total Disney nut and I wanted her to see Walt’s park first. The plan for her was to then do World in 2021 for the 50th. Also, my husband and I are taking our daughter to Disney World at the end of this year and then again for a big extended family trip in 2020 and 2021 for the 50th so we thought adding Disneyland in between would be a great idea.

The problem is, my friend is a teacher (here in New Zealand) and the only time she will be able to travel is the October school holidays. (First 2 weeks of October) With Star Wars opening at Disneyland right before that I’m realising it might be a terrible first visit for her.

What do you guys think? Do Disney World instead? Or brave the crowds and stick with the Disneyland plan? At most we can go once a year so changing it will mean 2022 before we can get out to Disneyland again.

(She hates Star Wars so seeing it won’t be important to her. My husband and I love it, but are happy to wait until our 2020 World trip to see it)

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

It’s pretty early to commit to DL because it’s hard to guess the crowds. There are two main factors, the AP blockout calendar and the school breaks, holidays and conventions. We have a super thread run by an absolutely fantastic poster every year detailing every single school break or convention that will affect the DL crowds but we wont start the 2019 one for a few months. Here is 2018 for a reference.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/2018-calendar-of-events-school-breaks-and-dlr.3635162/
So for instance this year you would be up against Gay Days, Columbus Day and school breaks in Northern CA, Arizona, Nevada and possibly Utah folks starting their break early.
The AP blockout calendar is currently out to June 2019, once we see a little more it will basically confirm the speculation that SW is opening in late June.
A big chunk of DL fans are of the mindset that AP blockouts should be the biggest consideration when picking dates.
By October 2019, I would be FAR more concerned by the AP calendar blockouts and the school breaks then SW land frankly.
I would absolutely say come to DL, but I would only do refundable/changeable reservations until those schedules are set and you can see if you can carve out a few days of relative calm between all those events.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

I am sorry, I was waaaayyyyy to Type A there.
Disneyland is a very special place, do not put it off. Those are just things to try and plan around.
I came back to add some pixie dust.

 

[rteetz]

By October 2019, I would be FAR more concerned by the AP calendar blockouts and the school breaks then SW land frankly.
I would absolutely say come to DL, but I would only do refundable/changeable reservations until those schedules are set and you can see if you can carve out a few days of relative calm between all those events.

I just want to point out it’s expected the AP blockout calendar will see significant changes when Star Wars opens.

 

[Jadeey]

I am sorry, I was waaaayyyyy to Type A there.
Disneyland is a very special place, do not put it off. Those are just things to try and plan around.
I came back to add some pixie dust.

That was really helpful, thanks! I’ll check out that thread.