Crowd levels at DL and DCA during the day on Grad Nites

[gvel]

Hello,

We are staying at the Grand Cal from 5/11-5/15. We were planning on going to the parks on 5/12, 5/13 and 5/14. I normally go to WDW and was not aware that these days are Grad Nites. How worried should I be for the crowds? Would you try to rechedule?

Thanks!

 

[disneycat321]

We were there on a grad night in June last year, and it definitely was more crowded in the afternoon at both parks, progressively building as it got later. We stuck to DL, but I think DCA’s wait times were worse. Morning was the same as always. We were with our 2 year old, so didn’t stay past 7 or so. We didn’t see any bad teen behavior at all, but maybe we were just lucky. The crowds probably won’t be too bad when you’re going in general, so it might not be too awful. Also, the wait times at DLR are generally always lower than WDW overall, so if that’s what you’re used to, it might not bother you that much.

We’re going during grad nights again this year, so I guess it didn’t deter us that much. Our daughter’s birthday falls during grad nights, and we’d rather go when we want than worry about crowd minutiae too much.

 

[gvel]

We were there on a grad night in June last year, and it definitely was more crowded in the afternoon at both parks, progressively building as it got later. We stuck to DL, but I think DCA’s wait times were worse. Morning was the same as always. We were with our 2 year old, so didn’t stay past 7 or so. We didn’t see any bad teen behavior at all, but maybe we were just lucky. The crowds probably won’t be too bad when you’re going in general, so it might not be too awful. Also, the wait times at DLR are generally always lower than WDW overall, so if that’s what you’re used to, it might not bother you that much.

We’re going during grad nights again this year, so I guess it didn’t deter us that much. Our daughter’s birthday falls during grad nights, and we’d rather go when we want than worry about crowd minutiae too much.

Thanks! It will be just me my wife and 3 year old son. We plan on rope dropping taking a mid day break and then go back for paint the night parade before calling it a day. My biggest concern is how crowded it will be from early morning through 2pm.

 

[disneycat321]

Thanks! It will be just me my wife and 3 year old son. We plan on rope dropping taking a mid day break and then go back for paint the night parade before calling it a day. My biggest concern is how croded it will be from early morning through 2pm.

It was just my husband and I with our 2 year old last summer (and this one), so a very similar trip! 8am-11am-ish is the beautiful golden time - cool weather (often cloudy from the marine layer), low crowds. Fantasyland especially is wonderful at that time of day! We did then take a midday break around 11:30-12 after an early lunch (avoiding lunch crowds), and then headed back around 2:30-3:30ish. It was definitely more crowded then in general, and noticeably the most crowded on the grad night day. But since we got most of the rides done in the morning, we stuck to low/no wait time things (train, carousel, tea cups) in the afternoon and we were just fine. We plan to follow a similar schedule this year.

The actual grad night event takes place at DCA after hours, so it’s likely that DCA will have larger afternoon and evening crowds than DL. Schools have to pay for more expensive packages to do both parks.

My uneducated guess is that May grad nights might also be less crowded than June. CA schools start getting out in late May, but most of them get out in June. I see most schools do grad nights closer to when school gets out. But I don’t know for sure, just my hunch.

If you’re mostly worried about AM crowds, you’ll be just fine. Disneyland is a magical unicorn in that sense - we were shocked by how crowded rope drop time is at WDW!! It’s very different.

 

[gvel]

It was just my husband and I with our 2 year old last summer (and this one), so a very similar trip! 8am-11am-ish is the beautiful golden time - cool weather (often cloudy from the marine layer), low crowds. Fantasyland especially is wonderful at that time of day! We did then take a midday break around 11:30-12 after an early lunch (avoiding lunch crowds), and then headed back around 2:30-3:30ish. It was definitely more crowded then in general, and noticeably the most crowded on the grad night day. But since we got most of the rides done in the morning, we stuck to low/no wait time things (train, carousel, tea cups) in the afternoon and we were just fine. We plan to follow a similar schedule this year.

The actual grad night event takes place at DCA after hours, so it’s likely that DCA will have larger afternoon and evening crowds than DL. Schools have to pay for more expensive packages to do both parks.

My uneducated guess is that May grad nights might also be less crowded than June. CA schools start getting out in late May, but most of them get out in June. I see most schools do grad nights closer to when school gets out. But I don’t know for sure, just my hunch.

If you’re mostly worried about AM crowds, you’ll be just fine. Disneyland is a magical unicorn in that sense - we were shocked by how crowded rope drop time is at WDW!! It’s very different.

Thank you! This gives me peace of mind!

 

[disneychrista]

DCA will have light crowds from rope drop until about noon when the crowds will start to increase.

 

[Jawwdoc]

Rope drop to 2 pm crowds should be relatively unaffected by Grad Nites. The most crowded DCA I have ever personally experienced was during the evening mix-in on a Grad Nite so I would personally avoid that if I visit on a Grad Nite again.