I’m taking my five year old out to California to see my relatives the week before Easter. Since we’ll be in the area I thought a couple of days at Disneyland would be fun.
I know that going to Disney World can be really crowded, but how bad is Disneyland at that time? Is there anything else in the area that a five year old would like to do? How much would she like California Adventure as I’ve only been there once and I don’t remember much about it.
Hold her on your shoulders and tell her to get a good look 'cause that’s as close as you’re going to get. 
It’s not that bad, since the timing of spring break varies widely. I took the kids last year in early March and it was a great time! Few lines, great weather, and cheap hotels. And my son, who had just turned 6 at the time, has a marvelous time on the rides.
I once went to Disneyworld in September, when all the kids were just going back to school.
I got in early, & for the first hour…it was damn near deserted.
I’ve been speaking to Disneyland people about a conference, and they say that September is a very slow month for Disneyland also.
We went a couple years ago in March, but not over Easter. Not bad at all mid-week. I’d imagine Easter would be more crowded.
It will be packed during Easter week. Go early, before opening. And if you’re staying close, take a mid-day break and then go back and stay late. This avoids the worst of the crowds. If you stay on property (expensive), you can probably do Early Entry, get in an hour before everyone else. Use Fastpass. It will be crowded, but with some good planning, you can have lots of fun.
There’s plenty for a 5 year old in DCA:
Toy Story Midway Mania (do this first)
Fllk’s Fun Fair
Muppets 3D
Monsters Inc.
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail
Animation building:
Turtle Talk With Crush
Sorcerer’s Workshop
Toy Story Zoetrope
It’s a Bug’s Life (if she can handle scary stuff)
The Aladdin show
World of Color
Silly Symphony Swings
The new Little Mermaid ride might be open by then
Do this. Also, be aware that if the park gets too full, they will close it and only reopen after enough people have left.
I doubt it would be fun to get all the way there and find the park closed:smack:.
Are you insane :eek:
Every other family with kids on vacation will be there as well …
Just say hell no. Go to a beach or anywhere else.
CA Adventure has been the rented goalie of the Disney family for years- classic park is better.
Does your kid like Pirates of the Caribbean? Make reservations for lunch or dinner at the Blue Bayou- it’s inside the ride! My kids love it- call the Disney Dining # on the website at least a week in advance.
Midweek is better than weekends. You would think that the economy would cut down on the number of people willing to shell out $200+ for a family of 4 just to get in, but apparently not.
It probably won’t get that crowded (that’s more likely during Christmas/New Year’s), but no reason to take the chance, especially when going early will avoid the worst of the crowds.
Both parks will let you inside the gate before the official opening time, but not all the way in the park. But in DCA, I think you will be able to ride Soarin’ (one of the signature attractions) before the rope drop.
If there’s only one day, go to Disneyland. If there’s two, do DCA too. Be prepared for lots of construction om DCA, it’s getting a major upgrade.
Annual Passports, especially the So Cal versions, are a good value if you go a lot. Disneyland has sold A LOT of APs. Probably half the visitors on any given day aren’t paying full price thanks to the APs.
Tuesday is the slowest day of the week, followed by Wednesday. Don’t go on Saturday or Friday
Disney peak seasons lasts about half the year, and from probably the beginning of April to the end, there will be crowds (schools have wildly different Easter schedules. also remember that schools on a semester system will have different break periods than schools with quarterly systems)
Call ahead to make sure the rides the kid likes aren’t closed for refurbishment
Bring food. Technically its not allowed, but I’ve never seen anyone have to leave food out. If they make a big deal about it, just claim some kind of allergy. They expect people will bring snacks, cereal, water, etc. They will only say something to you if you try to bring in a steak dinner or something
You can also rent a locker in the picnic area if you want to bring a lunch.
We were there during spring break of 2002. Oddly, the Sunday wasn’t too bad, but Monday was much worse. I guess people were travelling on Sunday.
Disney World is fantastic in October; I’d bet Disney Land is similar. Too early for the Thanksgiving crowd, too late for any school system; the weather in Florida was damn near perfect (a bit cool at night perhaps)… We were there in October 1987 and I think the longest we waited in any line was 10 minutes. We keep telling each other that the year Moon Unit goes away to college, we’re going to Disneyworld that month!
This was really true in 1987. We went around then in October and it was a dream trip.
October has been our regularly scheduled WDW time for the many years since, and its gotten about three times as busy since the late 1980s. It isn’t Christmas, but its busy. Disney added Food and Wine to Epcot, added Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party to the Magic Kingdom - and people started to figure out that the weather was wonderful and the crowds non existent. So now the weather is wonderful and the crowds are - there, but not horrific.
Now that we have middle schoolers - we’ve moved to late August - and find FEWER crowds in late August than we did in October. And we hit a good week, its been hotter in October than it was last August.
You might be ok this year since Easter is very late in 2011 falling on April 24th. I’d think most schools, which try to schedule their ‘spring’ break to fall around Easter, might have their break be earlier in April due to the very late Easter this year.
Interesting that the US parks don’t celebrate Easter (commercialized version) much. However, Tokyo Disneyland now has a 3-month long Easter season running from April to late June. It’s tied to the “Alice in Wonderland” theme.
I was kind of hoping that, but I don’t think they are. At least around me they have it the week before Easter. I’m still planning on going, probably Friday Saturday and Sunday. And yes I am crazy. But we’ll be staying 1/2 mile away so we can come and go if we want. I’m just glad I’m not taking both girls.
Let us know how it goes.