disneyland in late august
 

I know that Disneyland in Anaheim will be busy in August, but has anyone any experience of how busy the last week in August will be (the week before Labor Day weekend)?

Busy, and hot.

I always thought that there was no way the CA hot could rival the FL hot, but when we were in Anaheim in July one year, I was begging to get out of the park by 4:00pm. In FL there are a lot of shaded places for the lines, but that was not the case when we were in CA.

I don't mind the heat but if we went to disney mid-week rather than the weekend do you think this will be better. We have been 3 times before but this has always been in October which was reasonably quiet, but can't make Oct this time.

I suggest consulting the website and guiebooks. Logic would suggest that weekdays are better, but as that is vacation season and many locals may also try to avoid the weekend crunch, it is hard to say. We were there on a weekday and it was pretty mobbed, but the weekends are probably worse.... :)

Weekends are always worse. But any week falls before a holiday weekend and the the start of school for some places, will still be very busy. And hot.

I was there on July 5th last year and it was crowded but not unbearable. Just take a break in a quiet spot in the afternoon when the crowds peak. The only bad part was trying to walk thru the park during the evening fireworks show...forget moving and just enjoy!!

In the week before LaborDay, I would suggest going to the park Mon - Wed., as Thurs thru the weekend will be really busy. It will still be crowded though and likely hot also. We went there in mid September once, on weekdays. It was great: low crowds and warm not hot. :-)

We have been a few Fridays this July to Disneyland. We were surprised that it was not as crowded as anticipated. I think it's a combination of the extreme HEAT and the fact that locals either have their passes blacked out or are staying near water or A/C. I have noticed many more international tourists than when we go outside of summer season.

A lot of schools are back in session the last week of August so it will probably be a great time to go (crowd wise).

Very few of the schools in the area will be back in session before Labor Day. In addition, the last two weeks of August, the season pass people will be finally allowed back into the park. It'll be a toss up between the out of towners finally leaving and how many locals want to see the new Pirates changes.

You can manage crowds a bit by hitting Disney when it first opens for rides like Dumbo, Peter Pan and Matterhorn, and getting Fastpasses for some of the others. Head for California Adventure later when the crowds get too much because it doesn't seem to get as busy. I've seen it both ways that week. Unbearably hot and crowded, and surprisingly easy. You can always take a break at Downtown Disney.