dates to visit disney?
 

Thinking about visiting Disneyland with 4 children (ages 11 - 15). We are flexible with dates - hopefully jan or feb but which dates should we avoid? When is reading week in the U.S.?

Reading week?

It's difficult to say which month will be better b/c either month could be nice or it could be cold and rainy. The weekend of Jan 19th is Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, it's a 3 day weekend.

President's day falls on the weekend of the 16th in Feb.

We don't have reading week at that time in the US (some colleges have them in December and may before finals).

Avoid President's Day and MLK Day weekends because US schools have 3 day weekends (holidays) for those dates.

Have no clue as to what "reading week" is - but if you mean spring break - it;s typically sometime in March (but can be end Feb to sometime in April depending on schools - ours are all decided by locality 0- not even state). Jan and Feb should be OK as long as you avoid the 2 holiday weekends.

Beware Presidents Day week in February. More and more northern schools are giving kids the whole week off and it is getting very busy down there. Also Martin Luther King Day in January.

About 10 years ago we were in Anaheim for a convention the last week of January so stayed a couple of days to visit Disney. It wasn't crowded at all at the park during the day. We tried to go to dinner with friends who were staying at one of the Disneyland hotels without reservations. That was a big mistake. I was surprised at how many families with young children were dining late. Expect the nearby hotels and restaurants to be busy because of the Anaheim convention center. I've been to Anaheim in late January for conventions several times since including last year. Some visit the park while there but most don't bring their families. I've never heard any complain that the park was crowded then.

I am still not sure what "reading week" is?
We go to Disney nearly every year, for the last 13 years, the last week in January.
You can call Disney and ask about the projected attendance for the dates you are interested in, prebooking and presales usually give them a pretty accurate idea.
The only other issues are weather, some of the rides are outdoors and are shut down. Second the park hours are much shorter than Summer.
We have always had good luck mid week in the Winter after New Years. We live in San Diego and our schools are out for "ski week" during the Presidents' Day week. Good Luck.
Please tell us what "reading week" is, I am very curious.
Tina

There is a crowd calendar for Walt Disney World in Florida (via www.TouringPlans.com -- small subscription fee to see a year's worth of the crowd calendar). I'm not able to find anything similar for Disneyland. Maybe there is a related website that will give you an expected attendance breakdown. We are using that site to plan a spring trip next year.

Ahhh...good ol' Wikipedia:

Reading Week:

An alternative name for Spring break, used by some Canadian universities

Man I was stumped on the Reading Week thing...thanks for the clarification. Gotta love Wikipedia!!

Well Spring Break for the US is around the Easter holiday weekend...so March or April depending on when Easter lands. I think a Jan or Feb visit would be a good idea. I would try to go weekday if your trying to avoid crowds. Have fun


Hill
www.edufire.com

Maybe we should have a non-reading week, so my wife will put her books down for a week. LOL.

Thanks for so much imput! You all have been very helpful. Yes, reading week is similiar to spring break. This Feb the kids have no school the week of 15 - 20th. Alot of Canadians use this time for a holiday.