Going in May Disneyland

lovemickeyminnie

Earning My Ears
Joined
Dec 1, 2012
Messages
46
We are use to going to Disney World in late May early June before it gets busy and the weather is not super hot. We are considering going to Disneyland in 2017. Is the weather to cool in May to go to Disneyland? In 2017 our only option is to go late May!! My sister starts college classes the second week of June. We have been to Disneyland before but it was late July and it was only 3 days. I have never seen Carsland. I Really want to see Carsland.
 
We went in early May this last year and the weather was excellent! Not too cool at all. We were very comfortable in shorts and t-shirts, warm in the sun during the day but not unbearable by any means. The kids played in the splash pad in Bugs Land. We did bring and use sweatshirts in the evenings after the sun went down. No humidity means the temperature swings are greater between day and night. But again, a light sweatshirt was all we needed. Cars Land is awesome!
 
We have been twice in late May / early June. Usually during the week of Memorial Day and I like to check into our hotel on Memorial Day and spend that Tues-Thurs or Tues-Fri in the parks. Overall, the weather is great. Last June, we were there for just the day in early June and it was super hot that day, but that was a fluke and it was very unusual. Normally, it will be overcast/cloudy in the morning. Humid, but not Florida humid. You might need a light jacket or sweater...my kids did, but DH & I did not. By early afternoon, the clouds burn off...not too hot, not too cold. It cools off a bit in the evening when the sun goes down.

Crowds are often a little lighter since a lot of the So Cal schools are not out of school yet. There were a lot of families there from Arizona and Utah during that period (it appears that their school years are usually done by Memorial Day). Evenings were busy because of local So Cal residents who would leave work early to spend the evening at Disneyland. And that time of year often has a Grad Night a couple of times a week...so the Grad Night high school students tended to show up & roam in packs at Disneyland in the late afternoon. We focused earlier in the day going on big headliner rides (rollercoasters & such) so we could avoid those when the Grad Night kids started to show up and that method worked out pretty well.

We're planning on going next summer at that same time of year.
 
We've gone the first or second week of May many times and the weather is perfect. Shorts and tee shirts and warm enough to go swimming if you like.
Historically it's a great time to go crowd-wise too though it's been busier with the 60th celebration.
 

The weather can vary that time of year. Last year I was there in late May and is was only in the high-60s. I was also there in mid-June and it was mid to high-70s, but warm enough to swim since we get so over-heated in the parks. It's definitely not too cool. A light sweatshirt is all you would need at night.
 
I agree that the weather can vary by a lot! We've been there in early/mid May in 2012, 2013 & 2014, and have had weather ranging from downpours (thankfully only for an hour at opening), beautiful days in the 70-80's, to heatwaves in the 90's.
 
We did Memorial Day week a couple years in a row and loved it. The weather can vary as previously addressed. The crowds are heavy, but the hours are longer. I like that Memorial kicks off summer season in the parks so the hours and entertainment schedule expand. You will have to work around "Grad Nites". There is no avoiding them for your schedule. Just type Grad Nite into the search box here and you'll know more tips and tricks for dealing with those days than you ever wanted to know! We have had multiple, wonderful trips that week and I highly recommend it. (And Carsland IS totally awesome!). Oh, in "Summer 2017" the train and rivers of america are supposed to open up again. Whether that means Memorial or August at this point is anyone's guess, it's just something you may want to keep an eye out for. I don't expect we'll get anymore specifics for a while, they just announced its "summer" return in the last couple weeks.
 
We've gone the week after Memorial day and the crowds are much lighter.
Be warned though, that is often the time they do maint. on attractions so there may be a lot of closures.
 
We've gone the week after Memorial day and the crowds are much lighter.
Be warned though, that is often the time they do maint. on attractions so there may be a lot of closures.
I thought Memorial was when they aimed to have everything open? That was our experience in 2014 and 2015. I know earlier in May can see a lot of pre-summer maintenance closures but our post Memorial trips were not at all plagued by maintenance closures. (Peter Pan was down one year because they were re-doing it but that's it.)
 
The weather may vary as others said, but it won't be cold. It's actually a nice time to visit as it shouldn't be too hot either, unless a heat wave hits.

You are right that most pre summer maintenance is over by Memorial Day. But there are no guarantees. When we went in 2015 Matterhorn and Peter Pan had been down for their upgrades. Both were supposed to be up by the week before Memorial Day, but plans changed. Matterhorn opened on the day of the 24 hour party and Peter Pan was closed until July. Hopefully they'll have the train and river open by the time you go and the new TOT, but just remember that there are so many months between then and now for unexpected things to cause delays. This is why they're only saying those things will be open by summer 2017, instead of specifically giving a date.
 
It's been our experience that they use the lul in crowds after MD to do some maint. and we've found multiple E ticket rides suddenly closed. We've never been before May but that has been my experience in previous years. I thin the last time we went in May was 2012or 2011 - not sure.
I've never been to the parks when they were done with maint. That must be during some peak time when we never visit.
 
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