Bummed for May 6-7th trip

[Nickianne]

I thought that I had the perfect time planned for my trip and then I read today that the premier for POTC might be on May 7th!! I'm bummed! This will be the first trip for my Aunt in probably 25 years and I wanted it to be great. What exactly will be different from a normal day? Will the park run as usual up until the premiere? I understand that the park will close early, does that mean that California Adventures closes as well? Does it mean that it will be extra busy that Fri and during the day Sat? Has anyone been to DL on a premiere day and can fill me in? I wonder if I should change my trip. I was skipping April to avoid spring break crowds (and my Aunt needs time to save some money for the trip) and if I wait too long into May, then I will hit grad nights! I need advice please.

 

[Casey's Mommie]

I think the park opens and closes a lot earlier for the premier.

There really isn't a reason to avoid grad nights. We were there the last two Mays and both times there were grad nights and it didn't have any effect on us.

 

[LisainCalifornia]

We were there for the last premiere (totally by accident) and it really didn't affect us much at all. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[ConnieB]

We will be there that week, thankfully leaving on May 6th.....and I too am a bit worried about my last two days. It sounds like we'll have a bit of a mess while they block areas off preparing for the premiere...setting up chairs, screen, etc. And no Fantasmic either (because that stuff is all set up). Here is a thread about it: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2663199

The actual day of the premiere (which thankfully we'll have already left!) MK will of course be swarming with guests waiting in line to see the stars walk the red carpet.

Since we're going to be there for a couple days before the mess starts I'm just going to grin and bear it.....we don't really have another time that we could go anyway due to other commitments here at home. But OP, since you will only be there during the permiere, you might want to consider moving your trip to a different weekend if at all possible. Grad night won't be impacted by crowds, however they do close the park earlier than normal, but all those Grads will be bused in for the event NOT BEFORE. So...getting there at rope drop means you'd still be able to put in a nice long day, which should be relatively uncrowded......and the crowds of teens coming in won't matter to you except in making the park close earlier.

 

[MattsPrincess]

I could be totally off base here, BUT...May 6th-8th is when they are having Bats Day...would Disney do the premiere with another event being held the same weekend?

 

[batsday]

Just a heads up,

Bats Day in the Fun Park: The Spooky Trip to Disneyland is only Sunday of the weekend of May 6-8.

The other 2 days before are events at the Official Hotel.

Please check out the website for all of the details.

If there is going to be a Movie Premier that weekend, it is going to be on Saturday and not Sunday.

Hope this info helps.

Noah K
Founder / Exectuvie Producer
Bats Day in the Fun Park, LLC
www(dot)batsday(dot)net

 

[ConnieB]

I could be totally off base here, BUT...May 6th-8th is when they are having Bats Day...would Disney do the premiere with another event being held the same weekend?

But I don't think Bats is an "official" Disney event, so to Disney it probably isn't even on their radar....but how wonderful for the Bats folks to have that little extra bonus (ok, so the premiere is a bonus, the crowds not so much, lol).

 

[tink2dw]

No regular park visitors will see the movie! Last few POTC movies not even the working CM's saw the movie they had to stay in the Corral area locked in! till after the movie when they resumed their work schedules.

 

[ConnieB]

No regular park visitors will see the movie! Last few POTC movies not even the working CM's saw the movie they had to stay in the Corral area locked in! till after the movie when they resumed their work schedules.

Well, they CAN if they want to pay ....I believe I read that it was $1500 for the last movie, lol. I think I'll just wait for the DVD at the library.

Ok...so yeah, that means 99.999% aren't going to see the movie (I'm sure there is some big fan paying)....but the red carpet that lines Main Street is apparently a HUGE deal for regular park guests as evidenced by the photos of crazy crowds lining up for it and the threads popping up about going to this premiere. Us...we leave on the 6th thank heavens! And from the photos you can see they had actual metal barriers to keep crowds off the carpet rather than just the little ropes they use for things like parades, lol.

 

[HydroGuy]

Also see

POTC 4 Movie Premiere at DL in May - Probably May 14

 

[Whidby]

Oh, hi, im new here and peeped in *** I'll be at DL on Sunday May 8. What's Bat's Day n how will it affect crowds at DL?
I hope POTC premiers on 14th instead!

 

[ConnieB]

Oh, hi, im new here and peeped in *** I'll be at DL on Sunday May 8. What's Bat's Day n how will it affect crowds at DL?
I hope POTC premiers on 14th instead!

Bats Day is an annual gathering (most people call it goth, but they describe themselves as including Goth, Deathrock, RivetHed, Rockabilly, Psychobilly, Death Metal, Steampunk, Victorian, Halloween couture) ...they advertise it as "a day to celebrate the Dark Alternative subculture." Their website is http://www.batsday.net Lots of pictures are on their site for past events.

They have two days of events at the Doubletree Suites on Harbor, and then Sunday is their in-park day.

Crowds shouldn't be impacted much. The research I did (ok, that consisted of reading all the posts on DIS I could find plus their website because I was worried about crowds when I first heard of this day back in Dec/Jan), shows that since they moved from summer to spring their numbers are lower...and that for the summer meetups most DIS people felt it didn't impact the crowd levels at all, so likely even less so for spring meetings. They've done these annual meetups for more than a decade and most DIS people have never even heard of it...so I'm figuring their crowds are even less than gay days which never seems to impact much except for the flood of color shirts, lol.

Simply because of their goth style of dress it sounds like they stood out a little more from the shorts and T crowds, lol. Apparently the only impact was when they ALL met to do group pictures at the Castle (early afternoon), Carousel (mid afternoon) and Haunted Mansion (evening). They are supposed to have exact times on their website in April. Otherwise, they're just larger groups wandering through the park.

I kinda wish we were going to be there to see it...I find much of the clothing to be pretty cool to check out. Not my thing otherwise, but I'm a people watcher anyway, and they make the job easy, lol. Sounds like the real fun for those into that sub-culture is at the hotel.

My daughter is reading over my shoulder and just commented she'd rather see their "costumes" than see Johnny Depp in eyeliner.....hmmmm.

 

[Nickianne]

Thanks for the info. I only have 2 days in the park and I like to stay till closing time so if it is on Saturday the 7th, and CA closes early as well, I might go a few weekends later. I thought that the grad nights were on Friday but happy to see that they are on Thursdays so they aren't an issue, yay! BATS day could be quite fun to see! I'll just keep my eye out for an official announcement of the premiere.
BTW, I love this website!!

 

[iheartdisney]

I could be totally off base here, BUT...May 6th-8th is when they are having Bats Day...would Disney do the premiere with another event being held the same weekend?

Just ask all the folks planning to attend Gay Days a few years back, and Disneyland shut down early for Miley's 16th birthday!
so no, an unofficial event has no bearing on Disney's operating schedule.

 

[Whidby]

ConnieB, thanks for the information about Bats Day! Good to know it wont' impact crowds much! And I agree with you that it might actually be fun for people watching!

 

[ConnieB]

Bumping this up so that OP hopefully sees....in case you're still on the fence about...Disney has posted the hours for May 7....7am to 5pm. That pretty much firms up the rumors that the POC4 premiere was Saturday May 7.

We're still planning to leave on the 6th and will be sure to do what we need in MK the first couple days we are there, just in case the setting up for the weekend gets in our way. And we'll be home safe and sound and away from the crazy crowds when they start lining up on Friday evening....from what I understand some spend the night in line!

 

[Hummingbird15]

Mother's Day, Bats Day and POTC premiere....sounds like a busy weekend!

 

[misty7260]

We are arriving on the 7th. I am a little bummed that we probably won't get into Disneyland that day, we are arriving in the early afternoon, and had planned to spend some time in the park that evening. But we decided we would just do DTD and DCA that evening, enjoy the pool and relax, get ready for our first day because it will be a full one. We are doing BBB with dd6 and dd8 and ARiels for lunch so it will be a good thing to relax a little the day before.