When is the Best Time to Visit Disneyland? | Easily Explained

by Theme Park Center October 20, 2022

Dealing with crowds, long lines and even rainy weather can make your long awaited vacation a disappointment.

You can avoid this by knowing when the right time to go is.

In this page, we will cover what the best time to visit Disneyland is, why it's the best time, and when to avoid visiting the parks.

Best Time to Visit Disneyland

The best time to visit Disneyland is when kids and teens are in school. This means during the weekdays at any time of the year, and in particular Tuesday-Thursday.

best time to visit disneyland kids

Although there are local season pass holders that routinely visit the parks during the week, the majority of visitors that come from out of town plan their visits around the weekend.

Add that on top of kids and families visiting once they're out of school on the weekends, and it's easy to see why this is a big reason why parks are at their busiest on the weekends

Specifically most visitors arrive on Fridays and end up heading to the airport on Sundays & Mondays.

disneyland balloons

Times to Avoid

Weekends (Friday-Sunday), holidays (such as Spring break, Thanksgiving & Christmas), and during the summer.

A good rule of thumb is that anytime that school is 'out', you can expect crowds to be in full effect.

Know About the Crowd Calendar

A crowd calendar is an extremely helpful tool that exists for major theme parks.

The way it works is they use historical data to predict the expected crowd levels for that time of the year. It's even narrowed down by the month, week, and day.

disneyland crowd calendar

This calendar is color coded, which makes it very easy for the untrained eye to quickly understand, and use. Essentially orange means extremely packed, and green means it's empty.

Below the calendar, you'll also find useful monthly updates such as the California Resident Ticket Promotion beginning from July 6th-September 30th.

This is very handy it allows you to plan your trip months in advance with accurate historical data.

What Time of Year is Disneyland Least Crowded?

The middle of September through the middle of November is historically one of the least crowded times of the year. If you're planning on visiting in November, you'll want to ensure that you visit before Thanksgiving break.

september fall theme parks

Another great time to visit is the middle of January through the middle of March.

Why Does it Matter When I Go?

If you've never been to a Disney park, you should know it is one of the most popular attractions in the world. Visitors from different cities, states and countries spend their hard earned money for a visit at a Disney park.

This also means that the parks can become very crowded, and with big crowds come long lines.

disneyland at night

Waiting for hours at a time for your favorite rides may be worth it, but you may also run out of time and miss out on visiting everything that you wanted to see.

Hour Change During Less Crowded Times

One of the few downsides to visiting the park during less crowded times, is that the operating hours are also normally reduced. Hours are typically a bit shorter, and staff members are reduced until the busier months.

You'll want to be sure to double check the Disneyland site to know the hours for the days that you visit, as they fluctuate throughout the year.

disneyland hours

The Disneyland app can also provide you with crucial information such as park hours, ride closures, wait times, purchasing food with a mobile order, and a park map.

disneyland app

Discounted Disneyland Tickets

When you purchase Disneyland tickets with us, you will save money as our prices are always cheaper than the gate.

You receive your tickets to your email instantly, and once you're at the park you can head to will call and they will turn your printed passes into Disneyland tickets. cheap disneyland tickets You can find out more about our process, and how we're able to do this through our Authorized Theme Park Ticket Reseller page.