Planning My Days in the Parks

[andypooh]

We will be at DL June 21-25 (Tuesday to Saturday). Is one park less crowded than the other on certain days? Thanks

[tinkwest]

It used to be that you could count on Disneyland being more crowded than Disney California Adventure on just about any given day. Now i would say that crowds are fairly even between the two parks. Will you have Park Hoppers? That allows you more opportunity to throw your game plan out the window and play it by ear if your park of choice feels too crowded.

The crowds may be a bit heavier at the beginning of the day at whichever park is hosting the Early Admission. Evenings seem to be more crowded at Disneyland as people gather to view the evening parade and fireworks.

ETA: Grad Nites will be over by then so you can be thankful for that.

[andypooh]

We will have park hoppers and will definitely be jumping between the parks

[BrerGnat]

I'd agree with Linda. DCA will always "feel" less crowded because it handles crowd flow much better due to wider paths and a more stretched out footprint. I would actually avoid the EMH parks and go to the park not hosting EMH once the EMH hour itself is over. The park that has EMH tends to stay crowded all day in my experience.

[VWL Mom]

I just checked the SoCal blackout dates and you will be there during the blackout time which will help you out. The SoCal AP is blacked out June 22-25 and the SoCal Select is blacked out for your full stay. We ran into that during our trip and it definitely help with the crowds. We had a friend with us (a CA resident) who had never been during the blackout times and was pleasantly surprised at the difference.

[andypooh]

I just checked the SoCal blackout dates and you will be there during the blackout time which will help you out. The SoCal AP is blacked out June 22-25 and the SoCal Select is blacked out for your full stay. We ran into that during our trip and it definitely help with the crowds. We had a friend with us (a CA resident) who had never been during the blackout times and was pleasantly surprised at the difference.


The blackout sounds like it will be helpful

[andypooh]

I'd agree with Linda. DCA will always "feel" less crowded because it handles crowd flow much better due to wider paths and a more stretched out footprint. I would actually avoid the EMH parks and go to the park not hosting EMH once the EMH hour itself is over. The park that has EMH tends to stay crowded all day in my experience.

I believe the AM EMH will be starting at 7am. Early, but we will be coming from the east coast so possibly doable. Is it worth doing the AM EMH park if we can get there close to 7am? We might then move to the other park as the AM EMH park fills up.

[BrerGnat]

I believe the AM EMH will be starting at 7am. Early, but we will be coming from the east coast so possibly doable. Is it worth doing the AM EMH park if we can get there close to 7am? We might then move to the other park as the AM EMH park fills up.

Yeah, but you will have to be at the gates closer to 6:15-6:30am in order to not waste the ENTIRE EMH waiting to enter the park gates. Seriously. Last time we stayed onsite and did EMH, we arrived right at 7am and it took us 40 MINUTES to just get through the turnstiles. The lines were INSANE. I was really aggravated by that. We would have slept in if we knew it would be like that. This was in May, by the way, during a week when school was in session.