Does anyone have an idea about how much closed rides will affect crowd levels?

[villagehau5]

Hi!

I'm going to California during the couple days of March and the first week of April. I know this is probably one of the worst times to visit the park, but I'm going with my family and it's during our Spring break, so we dont have much of a choice. We're planning on going on Monday the 30th and Tuesday the 31st of February. During this time, Peter Pan's flight, all of Critter Country, Matterhorn, and Soarin' are closed for refurbishment. I'm curious about whether this will increase wait times because of the fact that Splash, Matterhorn, and Peter Pan (some of the parks biggest wait times will be closed) which will result in increased lines for other open rides. Or if the closings will result in a decrease of overall crowds because of the fact that the popular ride closings will discourage park goers from spending their money. I'm thinking it will result in the increase of opened rides wait times, but any help would be really appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Californian Elitist]

Given a lot of the DLR's guests are annual passholders, I doubt crowds and wait times will be significantly low. Passholders will show up whether attractions are closed or not.

 

[westie]

Its true. During times when there are a lot of refurbs, its may not be so crowded but the lack of rides open makes it seem crowded.

 

[TP2000]

Both parks were very busy this holiday weekend, with waits of 90 minutes or more for popular attractions. I expect the Easter Vacation weeks will be just as busy, if not busier.

It's not just the closed attractions that are creating longer waits, it's that two entire lands (Condor Flats and Critter Country) are walled off and inaccessible, creating less acreage for people to spread out into.

 

[CaliforniaDisneyMom]

The bad news with all the closures, is that like it's been said already the park will seem crowded because walking areas are closed off completely. People can't spread out as much. However, during the last week of May and first week of April both SoCal and SoCal select Annual passes are blocked. Hopefully that will help since it won't be everyone that's available to go can go. Use the fastpass system and prioritize what rides you want to go on in order of importance. Also arrive Before park opening. I cannot stress how important the first two hours and sometimes the last two hours of park hours are. People tend to sleep in or get breakfast at their hotel and if they have young kids, that can take awhile so they arrive around 10 or 11. Plan on just taking a granola bar or buying a box of donuts for the week to eat for breakfast while walking to the park and get their by 7:30 if the park opens at 8. It will greatly help.

 

[loveglobe]

Given a lot of the DLR's guests are annual passholders, I doubt crowds and wait times will be significantly low. Passholders will show up whether attractions are closed or not.

That's exactly right. I'm a DLR AP and was thinking about popping over this weekend. Didn't even realize they were doing all this construction until I checked these boards today.

BUT the good news is that if you've made it as far as posting to a Disney board you're probably a saavier Disney visitor than the average bear so you know the tricks about getting there when they open, hitting the e-ticket rides first, and maximizing your FPs. And don't be discouraged by the crowds. There are always crowds at DLR because the park is just much smaller than the Florida parks, but a good number of them are APs like me who have likely been on every ride and just there to walk around and do a few here and there.

Have fun!

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

You'll be fine. As I always say, play your cards right, get there early, try to knock out as many E tickets as you can in the first few hours, Fastpass as much as possible and save all the shows and stand-bys for later in the day. I guess the good news is you don't have to worry about the line for Peter Pan!