First trip to DL and Grad Nights

[msdaisy]

We are planning to spend June 3-7 at DLR. We will see the sights in Hollywood and Universal Studios the weekend before and the beach the weekend after. So, we will be in parks Monday through Friday.

I have looked at predicted parks levels, and all days hover around a 5 which sounds good, but I know there are Grad Nights that week.

I understand what Grad Nights are, but I do not know how they affect the parks. Do they close early for everyone else? Does it make the parks super busy?

I am assuming since it is early June that Monday thru Friday will be less crowded than the weekends since it is before summer block out usually begins.

We plan to stay at the Hilton, and we will have a rental to get to and from Disney. Which parking lot should we park at? I have read that the toy story parking lot does not open early. Any info or tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[msdaisy]

Bump - Bueller? Bueller?

 

[NStramler]

Bump - Bueller? Bueller?

\

Not sure of the Grad Night dates but the dates you are going is when our schools are getting out.. yes, they travel from here to Disneyland for Grad Night.

I also read that Grad Nights for 2013 will be moved to California Adventure...

 

[zavandor]

Nobody knows what will happen next year for grad nights because the night private show will be moved to DCA for the first time ever.
This year I went there during grad nights and with the right plan it was doable. I experienced high crowds in the evening, since many schools arrived only in the late afternoon. One evening I saw 3 hours wait for the Tower of Terror!

However I went in the parks in the morning, used single line riders as much as I could, used fastpasses and in the evenings during grad nights I saw the shows. It worked and was a wonderful trip (my first time in DLR).

 

[lvdis]

This was posted last Friday about Grad Night dates for 2013.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2966101&highlight=grad+nights

 

[msdaisy]

Thanks guys! I will try to figure out if mon thru fri should still be the plan or move back and go sat thru wed so we will only deal with one grad night. It still looks like early June will have lower crowds than July so I think we will be pleased. We usually go to WDW the first week of June and have 6-8 crowd levels so 4-6 crowd levels may feel the same with less space? I am so excited to tackle Disneyland. We know WDW so well, and this is a nice new challenge!

 

[erocrobro]

We were there this year in early June and 3 of our days were grad nights. I stressed over that fact for a couple of months leading up to our vacation, and then when we went it turned out to be a non-issue, really. We got to the parks at open and stayed until after fireworks, and I didn't feel like it was really crowded until later in the evening, which was when we were slowing down anyway.