Making the Most of the Off-Season at Disney Parks

It’s a catch 22: The busiest times for most theme parks are the times when everyone (including you) wants to go.

But if you’re willing to plan, cooperate, and make a few compromises, you can enjoy days of relatively line-free adventures.

When to go (and how to justify it)

The two least busy months to go to most Disney parks are January/February and September/October.

September and October offer record-low crowds, coupled with the least amount of rain at Disneyland (and Disneyworld, just in October.) It’s also the time when temperatures are moderate and travel deals abound.

If Fall is too tough a sell or you can’t get around the beginning of school, why not postpone the bulk of your Christmas celebrations for a few weeks and visit a Disney park after the first week of January (if you’re looking to go in the off season, don’t plan your trip for between Christmas and New Years – often the hands-down busiest time for most Disney parks.)

Weekdays in January are the ultimate off-season days: Temperatures are cool (room temperature or hotter for most Canadians), rain is non-existent, crowds are tiny, and the weekend rush is miles away. If possible, arrive on a Sunday so you can get settled, turn-in, then enjoy the park for as many weekdays as you like.

Ride with a plan, maximize your advantage

You can make the most of your off-season advantage by arriving early, quickly making your way to the back of the park (while everyone else browses about closer to the gates), and going on the big rides no one has gotten to yet, then going on other rides as the front of the park clears up. Don’t loiter on Main Street or rush to Space Mountain near the entrance in Disneyland or Disneyworld’s Magic Kingdom: speed-walk your way to The Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean.

You’ll also find even smaller lines (or no lines in some cases) during the off-season by shifting your eating schedule a few hours from traditional lunch and dinner times, then heading to the rides when everyone else has gone to eat.

Also, buy all your tickets in advance (preferably online), familiarize yourself with park maps, and don’t follow popular guidebooks to-the-letter (once guidebooks become popular, everyone tends to follow them, actually creating new bottlenecks.)

Don’t waste time in line for shows

Whatever you do, don’t waste time going early into lines for live shows in Disney parks during the off season. Most are amazing and well-worth seeing, but you’re just as likely to get good seats by wandering into the line at the end as it starts moving into the theatre (than if you had staked-out the cue early and waited for an hour.)

Using the Fast Pass system to squash the last of your wait

This system was originally designed to take the burden off of swelling lines in the summer, Christmas and spring break. It can be used in the off-season to virtually eliminate wait times, if you’re willing to juggle your schedule a little: Taking a Fast Pass allows you to come back to certain rides at an assigned time and enter a much shorter line near the boarding area. In the off-season, these lines often let you walk non-stop right into the ride. EXTRA TIP: If a ride that offers Fast Passes has a posted wait-time longer than you’re willing to stand for, take a Fast Pass and find an alternate ride (or two) whose posted wait-time is less then the amount of time you have to wait until your Fast Pass can be used.

Consider the in-park advantage

Though food and accommodations within the Disney “city limits” is almost always pricier than neighbouring services, the perks of staying at one of the mid-price Disney hotels often evens-things-out as those hotels offer free (and frequent) shuttles into the park (no parking fee or extra time to get to and from the gates) and extended hours (Disneyland and Disneyworld hotel-dwellers get to stay in the park after it closes to the general public. If you’re lucky, in the off-season, this means you can have certain rides practically to yourself.)

The fireworks factor

Most Disney parks have spectacular nightly fireworks displays an hour or more before closing. Though some rides near these displays close down during the show, most remain open and empty-out with many people flocking to see the fireworks. (EXRA TIP: Parades are also a good time to hit the rides.) If you are travelling with a group of adults or older children, consider watching the fireworks on your first night, then skipping them on subsequent visits to take advantage of even-smaller crowds on your favourite rides.

Resources:

Special events and closures to avoid at Disneyland
http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/cadisneyland/a/when_to_go.htm

Special events at Disneyworld
http://orlando.about.com/od/disney/a/waltdisneyworld_2.htm

Average monthly rainfall for Disneyland
http://gocalifornia.about.com/bl_dl_temp.htm

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