Will there come a time when EVERYDAY is a PEAK day at DL?

[pokee99]

Seems to me, that Disneyland keeps getting exponentially busier as every year goes by. Think about what the park was like 15 years ago - 20 years ago - 30 years ago. It's stands to reason that the number of park visitors increases each year, just as the world population increases every year. Disney movies create Disney fans, so the fan base will likely increase, too - even without population growth. Problem is, DL is the same size.

So - that begs the question: will there ever be a 'slow' day at DL? Seems like the early entry programs are becoming exceedingly crowded - making them less useful.

I know there's a lot of very faithful Disney fans on this forum that go to DL every year (or even more than once per year), and you gotta wonder if going to DL is going to become intolerable at some point. Unless some people enjoy walls of crowds and waiting in line for an hour or two for a three-minute ride.

This whole thing kind of reminds me of traffic. Population increases mean extra roads and highways need to be built to accommodate. If that doesn't happen, you sit in lines on the road for hours. So - couldn't the same be said of DL? I guess you could consider DCA an expansion to the highway that is DL, but seems like they should've built a 6 lane highway instead of a 2 lane highway! It's like all day is rush-hour in DL!

Does anyone know if DL plans to expand the park again at any point? (Although, park expansions just tend to draw more visitors, don't they?).

I often wonder why the Disney parks even advertise. They really don't need to - don't you think?

 

[carebee21]

Well there are a few things Disney can do to slow the crowds or limit the crowds if they need/want to. First off, get rid of the Southern CA annual pass payment options and raise the price of the Southern CA AP's or get rid of them altogether. That would cut down the crowds right then and there, as this has attributed to a lot of the crowds.

And B) raise ticket prices. At some point, people will simply not be able to afford it, and won't be able to go. This wouldn't be my first choice for limiting crowds, but if need be, the more they raise the price, the less people could afford them.

I also think that once the economy gets back on track, Disneyland may slow down a bit more. A lot of people are staying closer to home and looking for short 2-3 day trips instead of long or far trips. Once the economy gets better and people have more job security/stability, they may opt for the longer, farther vacations....

 

[darph nader]

PLEASE don't raise prices. Cut back on the locals discounts and such. It's gettin too expensive as it is to afford a trip every 2-3 years.

 

[disneychrista]

Well there are a few things Disney can do to slow the crowds or limit the crowds if they need/want to. First off, get rid of the Southern CA annual pass payment options and raise the price of the Southern CA AP's or get rid of them altogether.

PLEASE don't raise prices. Cut back on the locals discounts and such. It's gettin too expensive as it is to afford a trip every 2-3 years.

I agree. Get rid of the So-Cal passes.

 

[tholczer]

Always gotta jump in here and defend us locals. We are not the reason for the extreme crowding during the holiday seasons (such as now). Those are tourist crowds.

AP's have really only affected the parks in very specific ways. Fridays and Sundays and the days leading up to and away from blackouts or holidays. As a local who has gone on each day of the week, at all different times of the year for many years, I'm here to tell you, the AP holders have not really affected the crowds during the off season. Much as other people seem to keep reporting, it just hasn't ever been my experience. There are plenty of times to go during the year where crowding isn't bad at all.

Tourist crowds have been like this for years and years. They are expanding DCA and will be expanding Disneyland itself from what I understand. Hopefully, this will help.

Tracy

 

[pokee99]

Always gotta jump in here and defend us locals. We are not the reason for the extreme crowding during the holiday seasons (such as now). Those are tourist crowds.

AP's have really only affected the parks in very specific ways. Fridays and Sundays and the days leading up to and away from blackouts or holidays. As a local who has gone on each day of the week, at all different times of the year for many years, I'm here to tell you, the AP holders have not really affected the crowds during the off season. Much as other people seem to keep reporting, it just hasn't ever been my experience. There are plenty of times to go during the year where crowding isn't bad at all.

Tourist crowds have been like this for years and years. They are expanding DCA and will be expanding Disneyland itself from what I understand. Hopefully, this will help.

Tracy

Thanks for the insight, Tracy. Good to know they are expanding the parks.

It's so hard to say exactly what affects crowds. Sometimes, it can just be random. Other times, it's like the 'perfect storm', I suppose!

I wish we could go during the 'off season', but we're not willing to pull our kids out of school for a 'vacation', considering they get 14 weeks off from school each year. It just seems ridiculous - plus it encourages the notion that it's okay to skip school. To each his own, though - of course.

Looks like you locals can get a smokin' deal for APs, but, for the life of me, I am not sure why any locals would WANT to go during peak season, when you and the kids can just zip over for a several off-season weekends every year! Jealous!!!

 

[skiingfast]

Problem is, DL is the same size.

Does anyone know if DL plans to expand the park again at any point? (Although, park expansions just tend to draw more visitors, don't they?).

Check out the history of what was in DL. It started out smaller, physically, than it is now. Also it's capacity has risen a lot too. 1,000 more people come to the park each day, no problem. 1,000 people can fit on the ride vehicles and in the que of a new attraction.

Also the hours have expanded greatly. Again look at what the hours were in the beginning. They now expand hours when the crowds are greater day to day. In WDW on some days you can go to the Magic Kingdom to 3 in the morning. So DL has a lot more hours in a day to use if it needs to and probably will.

 

[Raindown]

What Tracy says is true. The SoCal passes are blocked on the busiest days and times of the year. What you see is simply people visiting during the holidays and popular times. Many of the days I've gone when all passes are unblocked have low attendance.

There is no discount for the higher level passes and WDW offers similar discounts to FL residents. I find that there are still plenty of non-peak times to attend Disneyland if you can be flexible on your vacation.

 

[tholczer]

Looks like you locals can get a smokin' deal for APs, but, for the life of me, I am not sure why any locals would WANT to go during peak season, when you and the kids can just zip over for a several off-season weekends every year! Jealous!!!

This is actually quite true. Most locals don't go during peak season times. Mostly because we are blocked, but also because of the reason you just stated. Why would we go when it's miserable if we can wait a couple weeks and go when it isn't? Which is why it's always frustrating that people blame locals for the crowds during the holiday season. AP's were created pretty much in the hopes of filling the parks during the off season when it's not as crowded.

As an AP holder in the parks all the time, it's frustrating to see "experts" passing along crowd information they aren't getting first hand. Such is life, I suppose.

Tracy

 

[MAH4546]

All this talk that Disneyland no longer has an off season is ridiculous. As somebody who goes to the parks once a week or more, there is certainly still an off season. Visit in January, February, May or September. Outside of holiday weekends within those months, Disneyland is a ghost town.

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

All this talk that Disneyland no longer has an off season is ridiculous. As somebody who goes to the parks once a week or more, there is certainly still an off season. Visit in January, February, May or September. Outside of holiday weekends within those months, Disneyland is a ghost town.

My last visit to DL was 11/08, after Veteran's Day but before Thanksgiving. It was amazingly empty until about noon, particularly the first hour or two the park was open. I have pictures with literally no one in them, I just had to capture how empty certain parts of the park were, pictures of empty ride vehicles in some of the dark rides. I loved it, that's definitely when I will be back! The end of January is pretty good too. I'm tentatively planning my next trip around my 40th b-day the end of next February...how crowded is it then? I know when I've gone to WDW for my b-day it's been pretty crowded, not July crowded, but still pretty busy.

 

[frijolefrito]

Disney needs to "imagineer" rides to hold bigger lines and cycle more people.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Personally, I don't like to go during busy times but sometimes we do. My DD's school district changed from year round this year to traditional. Now the only times we can really go are when all you tourtist are there too! LOL. I had to buy Premium AP (Gulp!) for DD and I in Dec. since I didn't know what would be happening with her in 7th grade.

Luckily for us, a few weeks ago, ner name was drawn in a lottery and she will once again be in year-round school! She used to be off in Jan, May, and Sept. All good months to visit DLR. January is probably my favorite! Now she'll be off in Feb., June, and Oct. Not as good as before but still better than being off in summer with everyone else. We usually go to WDW in Sept. so hopefully we'll do it in early Oct. this year.

I have had the discussion of how AP have ruined DLR for many. But having been there when only Premium AP can go I can tell you, from personal experience, that there are a lot of tourists then, not APH. Besides, when we go and it's super crowded we maybe ride 2-3 rides, that's it. How can that add much time to the lines.

We were there this last Wed. ToT wait was 105 minutes! And no FP. Naturally we skipped it and will ride it another time when less And while it is Spring Break for many, most of the local schools are still in session. Our district break starts on March 28th for 2 weeks. Anaheim Unified is 1 week starting April 4 ('til the 8th). So I can tell you that the most of the crowds there on Wed., the 16th, were not locals. Our kids are still in school. (It was an early day for mine-out at 1 )

 

[JH87]

All this talk that Disneyland no longer has an off season is ridiculous. As somebody who goes to the parks once a week or more, there is certainly still an off season. Visit in January, February, May or September. Outside of holiday weekends within those months, Disneyland is a ghost town.

i would have to agree. My first off-season visit was in January and wow it was not one bit crowded!! I loved it. Especially since it was on a monday & tuesday. i think that there are just quite a few on-season times. such as spring break, summer, holiday season, halloweentime, and long weekends (presidents day, MLKJ day etc), and of course the regular weekends. but if you hit the parks at the right time it's quite lovely and un-crowded

 

[carebee21]

Always gotta jump in here and defend us locals. We are not the reason for the extreme crowding during the holiday seasons (such as now). Those are tourist crowds.

AP's have really only affected the parks in very specific ways. Fridays and Sundays and the days leading up to and away from blackouts or holidays. As a local who has gone on each day of the week, at all different times of the year for many years, I'm here to tell you, the AP holders have not really affected the crowds during the off season. Much as other people seem to keep reporting, it just hasn't ever been my experience. There are plenty of times to go during the year where crowding isn't bad at all.

Tourist crowds have been like this for years and years. They are expanding DCA and will be expanding Disneyland itself from what I understand. Hopefully, this will help.

Tracy

I'm sorry but I disagree with you. Everytime I go, I witness the majority of people using AP's to get through the turnstiles and get FP. I see very small amounts of people using "tickets" which would indicate a tourist.

I also feel that thanks to the "monthly payment" option, many locals now have an AP that they otherwise wouldn't have or couldn't have afforded to pay at once. And thanks to the payment system, many people who would have purchased the cheaper SoCal passes, now have upgraded to Deluxe or Premium passes. Why? Well, for the Southern CA Annual Pass, it costs $239/person and has every saturday and all of summer blacked out. You can use it 215 days a year. For a family of 4, this would cost $956. For the deluxe pass, the cost is $329/person and is available for use 315 days a year, including in the summer and on Saturdays in the "slower" season. The cost for a family of 4 is $1316. The difference of price between the 2 types of passes is $360, which may be significant if you had to pay up front, but making payments for 12 months, turns the difference into $30/month. And for that $30/month, they can now use their passes during the time in which their kids are out of school, instead of just running to the parks after school or only being limited to Sunday.... I believe the payment option has done what they hoped it would do and boost attendance and imo it has boosted it significantally.

 

[Disney Dreams]

I'm sorry but I disagree with you. Everytime I go, I witness the majority of people using AP's to get through the turnstiles and get FP. I see very small amounts of people using "tickets" which would indicate a tourist....

Okay, so they have an AP.

Do you see f they have So Cal Select APs?
Are they Premium APs who live locally?
Are they Premium APs who did the math and figured out that 2 vacations in one year would be cheaper with an AP?
Are the Premier APs who live in FL or somewhere in the middle?
Can you see if they live in So Cal?

There are LOTS of APs. There are LOTS of people who can have an AP for LOTS of reasons.

It gets VERY old on these boards listening to Southern CA residents who have APs getting blamed every time the Park is crowded. I live in So. Cal. I have friends with Premiums. I have friends AND family with So. Cal. APs. I know very few who actually have the Deluxe. MOST of the people I know find the So. Cal. Select pass to be useless to them because they have work during the week and cannot just go to DLR anytime they want.

And almost every single one of my friends who has any type of AP wants to be NOWHERE near DL during Spring Break. Why would we when we have a choice?

Can we please please please stop blaming the local AP holders for the world's problems? Maybe.... That's my wish for the day.

- Dreams

 

[carebee21]

Ultimately, everyone has an opinion. And since Disney isn't releasing their attendance figures and whether they are local etc, that's all anyone can base their statements on.

Personally, I know several people who live in Southern CA who have deluxe passports for various reasons. Their family and friends come and visit during the summer and want to go to DL. Their teenagers hang out in the parks during the summer. Their kids are out of school in the summer and spring break and that's when is the most conveinant time to go.

And I live in Las Vegas, so I understand what it's like to live in a touristy area. But to say we avoid the strip in the summer because it's hot and crowded just doesn't happen. Yes, we can go in spring and fall when it's less crowded and the weather is way better, and we do go and take advantage of that, but we enjoy going often to eat, shop, etc so sometimes we just deal with it in summer and holidays. I'm sure the same is true of Disneyland.

Regardless, the OP was asking a questions as to whether the parks will ever get to a point where it's crowded everyday. I was simply stating that in my opinion, they have several options (ie, discontinuing payment options, discounted passports, tickets price increases) before that becomes a huge worry. And honestly, if the park is crowded everyday, they really have no need to offer any of the above. I wasn't trying to turn it into an AP are the cause for all of the crowding thread, I was answering the question. However, ultimately in my opinion, while holidays and summer are always going to be crowded because of tourists, local discount and payment plans in this economy where people may not want to, or have the money to, spend a large amount of money to travel far away, have increased traffic in the parks during those times and have made less crowded times, such as Oct, into extemely packed times.

 

[darph nader]

Well,,,according to the consensus,it's the 'tourists' who are clogging up the park.
no prob,,,after Dec 2012, I'll take my g-kids somewhere else. Never been to the Grand Canyon or Carlsbad Caverns. There's lots-o-fishin holes in this state and stuff/like/that/there with over priced t-shirts.

 

[tholczer]

I'm sorry but I disagree with you. Everytime I go, I witness the majority of people using AP's to get through the turnstiles and get FP. I see very small amounts of people using "tickets" which would indicate a tourist.

I believe the payment option has done what they hoped it would do and boost attendance and imo it has boosted it significantally.

But how often do you go and when? This has a great impact on crowding, which is my point. While I don't want to argue, I feel this is the type of information that scares people off and gives AP holders a bad reputation. Going through the turnstiles doesn't give a very good cross section of who is in the park. While I appreciate everyone is entitled to their opinion, I'm just saying that it gets frustrating listening to tourists blame AP holders for the crowding during the tourist seasons. The tourist season has ALWAYS been this busy.

I'm certainly not saying that APs haven't made the parks busier. I believe we have. But the insane crowding during the holidays? Not so much.

Tracy

 

[carebee21]

But how often do you go and when? This has a great impact on crowding, which is my point. While I don't want argue, I feel this is the type of information that scares people off and gives AP holders a bad reputation. Going through the turnstiles doesn't give a very good cross section of who is in the park. While I appreciate everyone is entitled to their opinion, I'm just saying that it gets frustrating listening to tourists blame AP holders for the crowding during the tourist seasons. The tourist season has ALWAYS been this busy.

I'm certainly not saying that AP haven't made the parks busier. I believe we have. But the insane crowding during the holidays? Not so much.

Tracy

I'm not saying that the locals are solely causing the crowding during holiday time or summer. Those times of year are always going to be busy, just based on kids being out of school. I'm saying, that IMO, payment plans for locals certainly are not helping the crowding situation, but that and cheaper local AP's are also causing off season to become much more busier, leading to the OP's question of, will there ever become a time when all year is peak season. And I just want to clarify that I don't think locals are bad people, or doing something wrong. If I lived there, I would certainly take advantage of it too!!!

But we go frequently and have been during most time frames, less holiday weeks/weekends, which we purposely avoid. We have gone during non touristy times and during summer. And truth be told, we'll gladly go in the summer vs. October. We found mid October to be absolutely insane, even weekdays. Even early May was starting to get packed and competing with summer days....