Originally Posted By djsmiles Hi everyone! My family of 3 is so excited to once again go to Disneyland, but we have a new dilemma...our daughter just started school, so our planning has to change a little (we normally go during the week the first part of Nov, but that isn't an option, now. So, my question is, considering crowds, is it better to go Mon-Wed Thanksgiving week, or the second week of January (mid-week)? We get 3 weeks off for Christmas, but I understand that there are some schools in SoCal that do as well. I'm just not sure...any thoughts would be so appreciated, thanks!
Originally Posted By officerminnie While I have never been to DL in January, I have gone Thanksgiving week and the crowds were not bad until actual Thanksgiving day and the following 3 days. I don't know how the weather is in January or if you even care, but November was wonderful because it was warm and the decor was in full holiday mode. Have fun!!!
Originally Posted By pecos bill I would suggest getting on one or two of the travel sites and punching in those dates for room rates. Then you can compare which rates are higher or lower. Those rate fluctuations are a pretty good barometer of how the hotels are anticipating crowd patterns. If the rates are the same, then there is always the coin toss!
Originally Posted By MickeyMommy I have been during both times - except we leave the tuesday before Thanksgiving. I have heard that the day before Thanksgiving is extremely busy. But all the Holiday decorations are up, so it is a wonderful time to go. I also like mid January very much because the crowds are very low. But no holiday decorations. So if it were me, I would brave the crowds and kick off the holidays in Disneyland!
Originally Posted By djsmiles Thank you so much for the input. I do love the holiday decorations, too!
Originally Posted By MickeyMommy And getting some cute pictures of the kids with the Charaters in their holiday costumes is an added bonus! Have a great trip!
Originally Posted By oc_dean The "general" weather pattern here in SoCal: Week of Thanksgiving: Can be warm if there's a Santa Ana wind condition. (From late Sept to mid December we get a wind condition that picks up heat from the interior of California and dumps into the LA Basin.) Temps can get to near 90. But if there are no winds ... temps will likely be around 75. But the evenings .. it will drop down to around 45 to 55. Shorts and T-Shirts by day ..... jeans and light jackets by night. Week in mid January: January and February are the months when we get the bulk of our rains. I've seen many Januaries that have been warm with very little precipitation. But 7 out of 10 Januaries are our coldest and wettest time periods of the year. Temps with the sun out in Jan can be as cold as 60-65. Which by my book ain't cold! The cool thing by going week of Thanksgiving is the Christmas decorations. Crowds will be moderate. But day of ThanksGiving and day after could be really busy.
Originally Posted By djsmiles Thanks for the weather tip. I think we will head down early Thanksgiving week so we can enjoy the decorations. I can't wait!
Originally Posted By djsmiles I forgot...pecos bill, what a great idea to look at the room rates for the different dates. Thanks!
Originally Posted By sarasmom97 In 2005, DD and I went Sunday-Thursday of Thanksgiving week. Sunday and Monday were great,crowds not bad.Started getting busier on Tuesday. I figured Wednesday would be the busiest day, so we went to DCA that day. About 5 pm, we left DCA and went to DTD for a few hours. We were planning to head into DL for the evening...when we got to the front gate, the lines to get into DL were HUGE! DL was packed, I had trouble pushing the stroller around. DD(who was 6 at the time)was getting freaked out by the crowds. So we ended up heading back to the hotel early. We flew home Thanksgiving morning, so I don't know how busy it was on Thanksgiving Day. The weather was actually cooler than we had expected. I'm glad I brought a hat and mittens for DD; it was cold at night. We are from Arizona, so we mind the cold more than someone else might. Also to consider, some of the attractions (like Haunted Mansion) may be closed in January. If DD still went to a school that had Thanksgiving week off, I would definately go back during that time. We are actually going Dec 18-22 this year. I'm hoping to beat the Christmas crowds a little bit. Now that she's older, crowds are not such an issue. Have fun!
