Advice needed- disneyland before cruise April 2014

[fayfam]

Hi everyone

 

We are booked on the Sapphire Princess Pacific Coastal 5th April leaving Los Angeles. We are planning to fly in from Australia on the 29th March 2014 & spend 4-5 days at Disneland Anaheim first. Is this a good time to visit Disneyland? I could be wrong but I have read that your Spring Break falls around this time of year & it may be more crowded than usual. We know any theme park is busy & know to expect long lines & crowds but is this a bad time to go or will we miss most of the Spring Break rush?

 

Any advice would be very appreciated.

 

Kerry :)

[kenish]

Easter in 2013 will be March 31. Generally speaking, half the public schools nationwide take the week prior for Spring Break while the others take it the week after. University breaks will be hit and miss around this time, but most of the Disney crowd will be families with school-age kids.

 

Yes it will be more crowded than usual but not a reason to avoid going at all! One suggestion- check the Disney website where they show blackout dates for the various levels of annual passes. That tends to indicate the crowd level expected (and they are very good at knowing from their experience).

[ronrythm]

Spring break is set indidually by each school district or institute of higher learning, so there is no one spring break. Colleges and universities will start early in March and go through the first week of April. In 2014, Easter will be later (April 20) so the elementary, middle and high schools may be later.

You'll have a good time at Disney, spring break or not.

Enjoy

Ron

[daffodiliaz]

I'm no expert, but I can offer you this: We visited Disneyland this year in mid-March. It was quite warm already and super crowded. Definitely take advantage of Fastpass. It's free to use and will save you time standing in the sun for an hour. Grab the pass, go to another ride with a shorter line, then return with your Fastpass at the designated time. We returned at our ticketed time and waited less than 10min at Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain while other poor people stood in line--in the sun--for an hour (it was that bad). Why people would not use Fastpass is beyond me.

[kenish]

Sorry, I missed that OP's trip is in 2014 not next year!

 

Also, lurk or participate in the Anaheim board on sister website Tripadvisor. The bulk of the threads are (of course) Disney-related, many from Aussies.

[fayfam]

Thank you all for your quick advice. I thought i better ask in case there is some well know fact about the worst time of year to go that everyone knows about except us in Australia. It sounds like it will be ok. I suppose it is better to wait in queues in warm weather than hot weather.

 

Kerry :)

[fayfam]

Sorry, I missed that OP's trip is in 2014 not next year!

 

Also, lurk or participate in the Anaheim board on sister website Tripadvisor. The bulk of the threads are (of course) Disney-related, many from Aussies.

 

Thanks for the tip. I will head there now & read up.

 

Kerry :)

[Cruisin' Chick]

There's two different types of spring break here in Southern California. The Los Angeles Unified school district (which is the second largest in the US with over 600,000 students, not counting those in the adult school program) always takes the week leading up to Easter for its spring break (did when I was a kid in the 60s, still does now). Many of the other local student districts take off this week too. Some private schools, especially Catholic ones, take off the week following Easter.

 

But colleges stagger their spring break over several weeks, usually from late February through early April, at the latest.

 

Most likely what's going to affect crowds will be families going during elementary and secondary school break. So the week before April 20 will be the week to avoid if you want smaller crowds.

 

Check the Disney website to see what their hours will be in early April 2014, if they list them yet. Often the amusement parks around here will have shorter hours during the week if they feel kids are in school.

 

Personally, I can't see spending four days there when there's so many other attractions in Southern California, but that's me.

[V and S]

We go to Disneyland a few times per year. :) The California State University system and University of California campuses' spring break will be the week of March 26th in 2013--they account for the vast majority of college students in California. Elementary and secondary schools' spring break are often, as previous posters noted, the week before Easter.

 

Here is a spring break 2013 calendar for universities in the US:

http://inertiatours.com/spring_break_dates.php

 

Having been to Disneyland at very busy times (Christmas time is much, much worse than spring break!), often before or after a cruise, my advice is to stay at a Disney hotel if you can, take advantage of their early admission perk, and in 4-5 days, you'll be able to go on virtually every single ride you want to before 9:30 am, and will not feel at all crowded! When you get in, go to the left and counterclockwise (the opposite of what most visitors do). Leave the park between 11 and 5, and go back when everyone else is having dinner and off the rides. Most people leave the park after the fireworks, so there are another couple of hours of easy queueing then, too. And, yes, fastpasses make all the difference. If you're willing to ride separately from your family members, you can use the single rider lines (5-10 minute lines) on many, many of the most popular rides. It doesn't matter if you know the people ahead or behind you, you're just saying by standing in that line that you are willing not to ride with them. You can find a wealth of information on the internet regarding busiest days in each park, too.

 

Lodging at the park means you will be able to easily return to your hotel several times during the day when the crowds surge. You could also stay at motels close by like the Sheraton Anaheim, which is much less expensive, and has a 10-minute direct shuttle back and forth every half hour, but you don't get the early admission.

 

To get to the pier for your cruise, you could take the direct airport shuttle from a Disney hotel or the Sheraton, and then get transportation from the airport to the pier.

[fayfam]

Thanks for the tons of info. Cruisin' Chick & V and S.

 

We are looking at other areas around LA after our cruise & just thought we would do Disneyland first so that we could recover on the cruise ship. We are bringing our daughter & her partner who are massive NBA fans, so they are hoping to catch a couple of games in the evenings. We are also planning on visiting Venice beach, Universal studios ( maybe stay at Universal Hilton) & all the sights around LA. We have been there for a short time last year but feel we missed so much.

 

Kerry :)

[cvpends]

Disneyland is fun even when crowded. You will want to take advantage of fastpasses and early admissions, and go early, leave during the afternoon, and go back at night can also help. March should be lovely. We're at Disneyland right now, and it is crowded but still lots of fun. The biggest problem is trying to get on the two new rides at California Adventure. We're going to try again tomorrow for those.

[CanWeGoYet?]

I'd have no trouble spending 4 or 5 days at disneyland. If I go on a trip there I get a multi day pass when I haven't had an annual pass to get in. I don't see a big difference in crowds between school break & non-school break times, because the park stays open so much later in busy times. Unless it's around a holiday - park occupancy can be insane then.

 

As others say you can make good use of your time with the fast passes. And I believe you can still see a savings at "good neighbor" hotels - they are off site but at least in the past they sold early entry passes. Just don't do the old standby of finding the longest line and and choosing that one to stand in. Near adventureland entrance, as you are leaving the main street part, there is a big reader board that lists wait times of the major rides. You can use this is as a guide to where you go next - sometimes for whatever reason a great attraction has a shorter wait time.

[mjcali]

Hi,

I know that if you book a package through Disneyland site (good Neighbor hotels are available) , you get the early morning entrance, which is worth it as previous posters stated. We stayed at Marriott Residence Inn Main gate which was very nice, free breakfast, and shuttle to DLand. All suites, so it gives you a little more room. Also, if you do a google search for RideMax, I can recommend. Used it the last two trips to Disneyland, and it was spot on! It will save you a lot of time in lines if you are the planning sort.

 

Have a great time! Planning is half the fun.....

[PatriciaF]

Easter in 2014 is April 20. Most of the local school districts have the week before or the week after.

 

The resort will not be crowded with locals out for spring break--but you will have families/college students there on their break--which varies from our time here in SoCal.

 

If you stay at one of the resort hotels, expensive, but may be worth the convenience, early access and the ability to quickly go back to your room for a break/nap/meal and return.