Grad Nights

[Aimee_Jane83]

How are May Grad Nights now affecting Disneyland? Do both parks remain open during regular operating hours and grads get extra hours after closing?

It's been years since I have been to DL in May/June, but I have found most of May to be fairly laid back. When Grad nights started in early June the crowds picked up and the main park was closed fairly early to accommodate it. We tried to avoid DL& DCA on those days and go on a day excursion elsewhere to maximize our trip time.

I was just reading that grad nights are now throughout May as well, and on every second weekend where the grads have hopper tickets for during the day and now DCA hosts the night time entertainment?

What are crowds like on Grad Nights now? I know that next year's grad night schedule isn't posted yet, but I am trying to figure out which potential weeks to go next year that I wont be fighting mass crowds. I'm also trying to avoid Memorial Day weekend, and I feel my trip dates are very limited in choices right now.

 

[HydroGuy]

Click on the Tips link in my signature and find the link there on grad nights. It should help.

 

[VandVsmama]

We've been to DL 3 times now during Grad Nights, with our most recent trip in late May of this year. Here are some thoughts & suggestions re: Grad Nights:

• both parks do remain open during regular operating hours.
• Grads get extra hours after the DCA regular closing (which is 10:00 pm). All grads have to be over at DCA by 10:00 pm.
• Grad Night tickets for graduates are park hoppers and the tickets allow them access to both parks starting at regular park opening.
• That being said, we haven't noticed them start to show up until around lunch time. And by that, I mean, you can see school buses driving by on Harbor Blvd.
• I have not ever noticed packs of teenagers roaming through the parks until about 3:00 pm.
• Our family has found it useful when we're at the parks on Grad Night days to do the major E-ticket rides in the morning.
• We also plan on staying out of Tomorrowland mid-afternoon through 10:00 pm on Grad Nights.
• Don't do what we did on a Grad Night day this past May...we really wanted to go on GRR and had FP which expired at 9:50 pm. So we went over to DCA at 9:30 pm and made a bee line for GRR. We got on GRR and had a fun time on it. But DCA was mobbed with grads at that point. And they were really obnoxious, pushing each other and other loud boisterous stuff. I got bumped into several times on the short walk from the DCA front gate to the GRR entrance. For future trips, we plan on not being at DCA after 8:00 pm on Grad Nights.

I thought that the crowds were very manageable. It was busy, but nowhere near the wall to wall people that you'd see over Christmas & New Year's. I would have no problem going during Grad Nights again.

 

[VandVsmama]

Click on the Tips link in my signature and find the link there on grad nights. It should help.

I 2nd this suggestion. I read HydroGuy's tips about Grad Nights before our first trip to DL during Grad Night season and it really helped us plan accordingly so we had a nice time.

 

[purple figment]

HydroGuy's thread on tips for Grad Night is excellent.

We found that the grads start arriving around midday and steadily increase in the afternoon and evening. Because they'll have DCA to themselves during their event most of them will be in DL during the day. In the morning you'll be able to go on rides and attractions, but later in the day and evening Tomorrowland will become very crowded as well the rides and areas around the rides that are most popular with the teens (e.g. Indy, Splash).

Some like to spend the day in DCA since the majority of grads won't be there.

Overall, Grad Night didn't cause any problems for us and we would not hesitate to go back in the future when they are scheduled.

 

[disneychrista]

My trip in May 2016 was replaned to avoid being at the park ON Grad Days. It didn't matter. May schools are forgoing official Grad parties but still going to the parks. I ran into many school groups my entire trip (Mid-May Sunday - Tuesday). I also ran into what must have been some sorority thing, with groups of college age girls in sorority t-shirts/tanks.