New Disneyland crowd calendar for 2022 to help you plan your vacation! Including tips for planning the perfect date. I must preface this post with, this is purely my opinion based on my experience over the years. There are many factors I consider including history, school calendars, holidays and special events. I’ve created a color coded calendar for each month in 2022.
This post contains affiliate links which means I make a little something when you purchase through the link with no extra cost to you.
When is the best time to go to Disneyland?
I am asked this question often! Sadly, gone are the days when you could walk onto rides. There are times when it’s less busy, but Disneyland is a popular vacation destination!
Keeping that in mind there are some things that you can do to plan your visit around the crowds if your dates are flexible. But if you can’t don’t worry I have lots of tips to help you navigate the parks on a busy day!
Disney has so many events and holidays they celebrate these days. It’s important to know these time periods when planning your trip. Find out more about scheduled events Disney has planned each year.
Here are some tips for planning dates for your vacation.
You will notice every weekend on the calendar below is red. Weekends tend to be crowded all the time no matter the time of year. People are off work, kids don’t have school and it’s most convenient. So if you can avoid the red dates, weekends and holidays that would be my suggestion. When kids are out of school you can expect the parks to be crowded! But not everyone can go during the week I realize this. And that’s why I created tips for navigating the crowds. And my number one tip, arrive at rope drop.
Tuesday and Wednesday are the best days to go with lower crowds. Keep in mind during the less crowded times you often run into shorter park hours, ride closures and less entertainment.
But really anytime you go if you have a good touring plan you will have a wonderful time, there is so much to see and do at the parks. Start your day early and use these touring plans to maximize your day at Disneyland or Disney California Adventure. If you would like a custom touring plans created by me see this post.
Discounted Tickets
If you anticipate going at all in 2021 or 2022 I would suggest you purchase discounted tickets from Get Away Today. Tickets through them are good until 12/31/2022, no black out date and are emailed immediately after purchase. This is why I use Get Away Today! Plus, you can get an additional $10 off your vacation package (tickets + hotel) when you use promo code TOURGUIDE. For hotel reviews check out this post.
Crowd Calendar for 2022
Below you will find each month color coded. Here is what each color means.
- Green is GO!
- Blue is expect some crowds but not terrible
- Red is very crowded
February 13th the Super Bowl is in L.A. this year. Many from out of state may visit the parks that weekend. February 21st is President’s Day and then many shcools have the week of February 21-25 off of school. 
Spring Breaks start as early as March 7 – 11 in Arizona. Then for the rest of the month and most of April schools in CA, AZ, NV, NM, TX, ID, UT, HI and more have spring break and some even have two weeks. 
If you’re planning a Disneyland trip in May or June of 2022 you should try and avoid these days. The following dates are grad nites … 2022 Disneyland Resort Grad Nite Dates. I will share more about this event in a few months, just know these days are busy in both parks!
- May 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 25, 26, 31
- June 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 17
In October now many school districts have a fall break scheduled. Most schools are off during the first or second week. But some trickle into the third week. Keep this in mind when planning an October vacation. 
Many school districts have the entire week of Thanksgiving off.
I hope you find this information useful. And happy planning your trip in 2022! I also share when new or special events are coming up in my newsletter. So make sure you’re signed up so you don’t miss out on important information for planning your trip! Sign up for the newsletter on the home page. I only send emails when I need to share news or updates about Disneyland.
Visiting Disneyland for the first time here’s a lot of help.
First time back after the parks reopened see this post.
I’m confused about May 26 and May 27. You state the 26 is Grad Night so I would think it would be red, and May 27 is not a Grad night, so should it be blue? Or are all Fridays that month red?
All Fridays that month are red. Grad night on a Thursday is not red because it’s a week day.
I’ve heard grad nights can be worse as well…We have to either go memorial weekend (Friday/Saturday), memorial day, or Tuesday (grad nite). Other crowd calendars I have seen are predicting that Tuesday will be worse than Friday Saturday or Monday because it is a grad night even if it’s not a weekend/holiday ??