There’s a 4 month stretch encompassing Halloween, Christmas, and Lunar New 12 months that we love at Disneyland and Disney California Journey. These are our three favourite holidays, however they are often very busy. We aren’t the one ones who love these occasions of yr, and the parks will be full of vacationers and locals on peak dates. Thankfully, there’s one window of alternative that we’ve discovered has grow to be constantly uncrowded.
Let’s begin with the fundamentals. Throughout the aforementioned 4-month stretch–from October by January–far and away our favourite time to do Disneyland is Christmas. There’s one thing particular in regards to the vacation season, and we make some extent to go to as many occasions as we are able to throughout November and December. (See our Information to Christmas at Disneyland for all the pieces we love about this time of yr.)
The draw back of the Christmas season is that it’s already shorter than Halloween by almost a full month, and it has extra peak season dates which are unhealthy occasions to go to. We’re really a bit aggravated that Vacation Time is beginning every week later this yr, as a result of that eradicated one in every of our different favourite occasions. (We’ll nonetheless be there then, so right here’s hoping for gentle openings!) When you remove the excessive crowd weeks round Thanksgiving, Christmas and New 12 months’s Eve, you’re left with solely a few potential choices.
Fortunately, we’ve discovered probably the greatest home windows to go to Disneyland, and it’s nonetheless considerably of a secret. This timeframe would possibly really come as much less of a shock to Walt Disney World followers, because it being a good time to go to has been one of many worst-kept secrets and techniques there for ages.
In actual fact, long-time readers of the weblog would possibly know that our #1 favourite week of the yr at Walt Disney World is the one after Thanksgiving. We’ve advisable it numerous occasions over the past decade-plus, and it’s been our go-to for ages. Again once we lived within the Midwest, our annual WDW Christmas journey often began the Sunday after the vacation.
Now that we’re Disneyland locals once more, we go to on a weekly foundation and have “by chance” found that the identical is true at Disneyland. Effectively, form of. Not like at Walt Disney World, this nice time to go to is just not anchored to the bottom of Thanksgiving. Though that isn’t a nasty time to go to, both.
Statistically talking, crowds do drop after Thanksgiving at Disneyland. This sometimes begins to some extent on that Saturday, with a sharper drop on Sunday and the next week. You’ll be able to count on crowd ranges to fall from 8/10 to 10/10 ranges the week of Thanksgiving to 2/10 to five/10 ranges that subsequent week.
Nonetheless, this isn’t essentially the perfect week to go to in the course of the vacation season (and by extension, your entire yr). Our favourite week often happens one week later, and can begin as an alternative on Sunday, December 8, 2024. Emphasis on “not essentially” and “often” as a result of we’re basing this on previous precedent and wait occasions information from the previous few years.
Thanksgiving is happening later than regular this yr, so it’s attainable that our favourite dates in December 2024 received’t be fairly as fascinating because of that. (Simply wish to be up entrance about that asterisk–we nonetheless count on the sample to carry true, however the shifting of Thanksgiving does introduce a component of uncertainty.)
Let’s talk about why that is our favourite week to do Disneyland…
Candlelight Processional – This would possibly seem to be an odd beginning place, however this being a good time to go to flows from Candlelight Processional, which is completely completely different from the model at EPCOT. We completely like it on each coasts, nevertheless it’s unequivocally higher at Disneyland. Regardless, we’re not mentioning Candlelight Processional for the caliber of the expertise, pageantry, and many others. (For extra in regards to the expertise, see our Information to Candlelight Processional at Disneyland.)
Candlelight can be basically completely different at Disneyland. Not like at EPCOT the place it’s an providing for normal visitors and a way of accelerating attendance and promoting eating packages, it’s none of these issues at Disneyland. Virtually the other, in truth. Candlelight Processional is just not supposed for the common visitors at Disneyland.
It isn’t designed to attract crowds, and Disneyland actively tries to scale back them by not publicizing something about Candlelight Processional in any way. Should you Google “Candlelight Processional,” you’ll nearly completely see outcomes for Walt Disney World. Even including “Disneyland” to the question principally brings again Walt Disney World pages. There isn’t something about Candlelight Processional on the official Disneyland web site in any respect.
Level being, Disneyland doesn’t need common visitors to find out about Candlelight Processional because it’s not for them–it’s for VIPs and Membership 33 members. That is additionally as a result of Candlelight Processional is held on the entrance of the park, proper on the Primary Road USA Practice Station.
Which means that City Sq. is extremely congested from mid-afternoon on, and principally turns into a stressed mob by the point Candlelight Processional rolls round, packed into the general public areas like sardines. Despite the fact that Disneyland doesn’t publicize it, locals find out about Candlelight, and present up anyway, typically standing in the identical spot for hours. All of this exacerbates the congestion on the entrance of the park.
Due to all this, standard knowledge had been to keep away from Disneyland throughout Candlelight Processional weekend. Talking from expertise, this was good recommendation for at the least a decade by 2019. We had executed Disneyland on this weekend, and it was a madhouse. And never simply on the entrance of the park.
Nonetheless, as with so many issues, the closure and post-reopening insurance policies modified issues. In the previous couple of years, we’ve seen that Disneyland is just not almost as busy throughout Candlelight Processional. The entrance of the park remains to be a madhouse, positive, however when you get handed Primary Road, it’s not almost as unhealthy. In actual fact, we’ve been stunned by simply how low wait occasions have been all through the park.
There are two causes for this. The primary motive is visitor demographics. This isn’t a well-liked time for vacationers, so it’s principally locals who’re disproportionately doing issues aside from sights. They’re there to camp out for Candlelight (outdoors the viewing space), benefit from the spirit of the season, and so forth. They add to congestion, however not wait occasions for rides.
That alone doesn’t clarify it, although, because it’s all the time been the case that this weekend is busier with locals than with vacationers. The most important distinction is nearly assuredly park reservations. Disneyland now has granular management over attendance, with the power to restrict the reservation pool for normal ticket holders and, rather more importantly, Magic Key Annual Passholders. This permits Disneyland to successfully block out APs by dramatically lowering reservation availability. This capability cap is one thing that didn’t meaningfully exist in 2019 or earlier.
In fact, that is all the time topic to vary and Disneyland may select to open the floodgates on Magic Key park reservations for December 7-8, 2024. In so doing, this might go from an excellent weekend to an terrible one–as was the case previously. However we extremely doubt that may occur, as a result of Disneyland has no incentive to take action. Reservations are already gone for Sunday, and each tier of AP besides the highest one is already blocked out on Saturday. All indicators are at the moment pointing to latest historical past repeating itself and this being a great weekend to go to from the attitude of wait occasions. Simply keep off of Primary Road within the afternoon, because it’ll nearly definitely be packed!
Fortunately, the low crowds shouldn’t finish as soon as Monday, December 9, 2024 rolls round…
Crowds & Wait Occasions – As measured by common wait occasions, December 3-7 was one of many slowest stretches of final yr (the equal dates to what we’re recommending as soon as adjusted for the timing of Thanksgiving). Every day crowd ranges had been 1/10 or 2/10. Should you develop that to incorporate the prior Friday and Saturday (December 1-2), crowds had been nonetheless beneath common, however not fairly as favorable.
Crowds did spike on the next Friday, and that Saturday noticed 8/10 crowd ranges. The week after that was reasonably crowded, however nonetheless beneath common. Virtually each date from the Saturday after Thanksgiving till mid-December was reasonably crowded or beneath. (December 9 is the largest outlier–I can’t clarify why it spiked to eight/10 crowds.)
On the subject of Disneyland crowds, one adage rings true: historical past doesn’t repeat itself, nevertheless it typically rhymes. On this context, which means that basic tendencies and patterns play out from yearly, however the specifics often differ. That is due largely, as soon as once more, to park reservations. Natural demand from vacationers is low throughout these weeks, however not amongst locals. All it could take is Disneyland final yr’s numbers and opting to ‘open the valve’ on Magic Key AP reservations. With that transfer alone, final yr’s 2/10 crowd ranges grow to be 5/10 or larger. That’s actually all it takes.
Since locals are the first drivers of December attendance outdoors of vacation weeks, different variables that influence their need to go to are at play. If it rains or is unseasonably chilly, it’s recreation over–Californians received’t go to the parks. They may, nevertheless, disproportionately achieve this within the days that observe. Level being, crowd tendencies at Disneyland are extra fickle than at Walt Disney World. Vacationer tendencies are predictable, however that’s solely half (or so) of the equation.
Our expectation is definitely barely larger crowd ranges for the second week of December 2024, and about the identical numbers for the week instantly after Thanksgiving. The premise for that is, fairly merely, that 1/10 and a couple of/10 crowd ranges are very low–and it’s tough to repeat numbers that good. Alternatively, wait occasions have been trending downward year-over-year as pent-up demand exhausts itself. So who is aware of.
Frankly, we’re glad at any time when crowd ranges are 5/10 or beneath in November and December. The qualitative upsides greater than make up for even common crowd ranges, and average crowds are nonetheless low by vacation time requirements. Should you assume the primary or second weeks of December 2024 are busy, return between Christmas and New 12 months’s Eve. You’ll be disabused of that notion actual quick, and will probably be begging for a return of these first half of December crowds. It’s all relative.
Talking of all of it being relative, it’s additionally value a reminder that late November by mid-December is busier now than it was a decade in the past. However that’s true of just about all dates of the yr. Disneyland annual attendance has elevated by a number of tens of millions of individuals, and park enlargement has not saved tempo. So crowds are worse, throughout the board, than they had been in 2014! However until you might have a time machine, that doesn’t do you any good.
Crowds and Candlelight Processional are the 2 greatest causes to go to Disneyland throughout this week. Right here’s what else we love about this timeframe in the course of the vacation season at Disneyland, and why you must go to throughout one in every of these weeks in the event you’re already planning a 2024 or 2025 trip throughout Christmas-time…
“Full” Christmas – Not like Walt Disney World, the vacation season isn’t actually phased at Disneyland. It’s attainable you would possibly see fewer decorations within the motels in the event you go to in mid-November, however the entire leisure, attraction overlays, and many others., will probably be in full swing proper from the outset.
Accordingly, this comes right down to the festive environment outdoors Disneyland. If you wish to expertise Christmas in Tremendous Nintendo World at Common Studios Hollywood, you must go to after Thanksgiving. Identical goes for different Southern California theme parks and vacationer sights.
Most of our favourite spots all through Orange County don’t get decked out till the very finish of November or December. We love the Seaside Cities this time of yr, and as all the time, our favorites are Dana Level and Laguna Seaside. (The previous really does begin its vacation lights show in mid-November, in order that’s not the perfect instance.)
Decrease Costs & Higher Offers – With decrease occupancy than the height weeks of the vacation season, it ought to come as no shock that there are higher offers available between the height weeks of the vacations reasonably than throughout them. There are at the moment nice reductions on the Accommodations of Disneyland Resort on Sunday by Thursday nights from now by December 19, 2024.
Not solely that, however the resort rack charges and different costs are decrease to start with than throughout Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New 12 months’s weeks. Should you take a look at the Least expensive Occasions to Go to Disneyland, you’ll see that these two weeks are the perfect of the vacation season. Nonetheless not as little as the true low season, however fairly shut!
It’s additionally simpler to e book discounted off-site motels through Get Away As we speak to economize for early to mid-December than round vacation weeks. What we’re seeing proper now’s significantly better availability and considerably decrease costs for these first half of December dates. Win-win!
Climate – We love the climate in Southern California at Christmas. Disneyland nearly all the time beats Walt Disney World on this regard, nevertheless it’s very true all through the vacation season. It’s probably not that the primary half of December is healthier than later within the month or November, all dates are (kind of) equally good.
Fairly, it’s that November and December are higher than the 2 months earlier than them (too scorching) or the 2 months after (too chilly). With that mentioned, this time of yr isn’t for everybody. It does get chilly in California, particularly within the evenings. To every their very own, however I’ll take having to put on a coat over sweating by my shirt any day of the week. You’ll be able to all the time add layers, however there are solely so many you possibly can subtract earlier than safety says, “sir, you possibly can’t take off your shirt right here.” (Buzzkills.)
Whereas it’s not all the time good, we’ve discovered that 90% of the time, the climate in early to mid-December is our candy spot. As a lot as I really like late August and September for low crowds, I’ll fortunately cope with barely elevated attendance for considerably higher climate. It’s a simple commerce off for us.
The one asterisk right here is that that is California’s wet season. However that doesn’t actually imply the identical factor in Anaheim because it does Orlando–there’s an 11-14% likelihood of rain on common throughout these dates, for a grand complete of 1.8 inches of rain over the course of your entire month. That’s principally a extremely wet day or two in Florida. And the upside at Disneyland is {that a} wet day clears out the park, which doesn’t occur at Walt Disney World.
Finally, it must be straightforward to see why December 8-12, 2024 is the perfect window of your entire yr to go to Disneyland. In case your schedule isn’t that versatile, just about any date beginning the Sunday after Thanksgiving (December 1) by December 15, 2024 must be good. Any later than that and also you’re visiting throughout a combination of vacationer occasions and when locals scramble to get of their final visits of the yr earlier than heavy-handed blockouts take impact. That introduces too many wildcards for assured suggestions about when crowds will probably be favorable.
Should you’re at the moment planning a visit, our suggestion can be to make December 8, 2024 your first day within the parks and December 12, 2024 your final day. We often advocate avoiding Mondays, however there’s no wait occasions information from the previous 3 years to counsel that day of the week is busy throughout this timeframe. (I’d nonetheless in all probability err on the aspect of warning and do a non-parks day if I had flexibility–you in all probability aren’t doing 5 days within the parks.)
That’ll nearly definitely be the candy spot for the perfect of crowds, wait occasions, climate, seasonal spirit, and so forth. With that mentioned, if we had to decide on a next-best set of dates from a qualitative perspective, it’d be tough to resolve between December 1-6, 2024 and November 17-22, 2024. Regardless, potential journey dates to think about in your future journeys to Disneyland!
Planning a Southern California trip? For park admission offers, learn Ideas for Saving Cash on Disneyland Tickets. Find out about on-site and off-site motels in our Anaheim Resort Opinions & Rankings. For the place to eat, try our Disneyland Restaurant Opinions. For distinctive concepts of issues that’ll enhance your journey, try What to Pack for Disney. For complete recommendation, seek the advice of our Disneyland Trip Planning Information. Lastly, for guides past Disney, try our Southern California Itineraries for day journeys to Los Angeles, Laguna Seaside, and lots of different SoCal cities!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Should you’ve executed Disneyland post-Thanksgiving, what was your expertise? Have you ever visited throughout Candlelight Processional weekend in any of the final 3 years? In that case, have you ever seen the same dynamic of heavy congestion on Primary Road however decrease wait occasions all through the park? Should you’ve visited this similar week in prior years, how do you assume this yr compares? Ideas about the rest lined right here? Should you’re a frequent customer throughout this timeframe, what’s your tackle crowds, wait occasions, seasonal spirit, climate, and many others? Agree or disagree with our evaluation of those two weeks as the perfect time in the course of the vacation season? Any questions we might help you reply? Listening to your suggestions is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
