Disneyland crowds are expected to return this week as spring break glides to a close and the Grand Night season kicks off for the first time since 2019, following a pandemic break that saw historically low attendance capacity levels. Brings in the Anaheim theme park.
The 2022 Grand Night season begins Friday, May 13, with student attendees expected to fill Disneyland during the day for a Disney California Adventure after-hours event in the evening.
According to MousePlanet, “With so many schools now on the year-round calendar, you should treat the period between March and mid-June as one big, hazy spring-break-in-graduation season.”
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Expect Disneyland and DCA to be crawling with high school seniors, undergraduate school groups, recent grads, and even recent grads for the rest of May and all of June.
The Grand Night 2022 celebrations will take place at the DCA on 16th of May and June.
Grads has three ticket options: a Grad Night Private Party experience with access to DCA starting at 9 p.m., All-day DCA admission that includes a Grad Night Party or a Parkhopper option that includes both an in-park and after-hours party entry takes place.
Participating high schools may arrive at any time on the day of the Grad Night program.
According to MousePlanet, “some arrive at the park’s opening to maximize their time, while others arrive later because of travel time or other activities.” “Expect heavy arrival traffic at Toy Story Parking, where school buses now park. You should also expect that as the day goes on and more students arrive, the parks will get crowded.”
That means visitors hoping to drop off holidays and annual passholders by the parks in May and June should keep Grad Night dates in mind when making their plans.
Official grad nights are often busy, but they aren’t the only student groups that fill Disneyland and DCA.
According to MousePlanet, “the last weeks of school are a popular time for class trips, something that Disney actively encourages through special pricing and activities for school groups.” “Those visits won’t appear on any calendars, but are a fact of Disney’s life during this season.”
Grad Night 2022 will take place on May 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 25, 26 and 31 and on June 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 17. Dates fall from Tuesday to Saturday night.
Grad Night celebrations will take place at DCA from 9 p.m. to 2 p.m., with meet-and-greet photo ops with Disney characters in graduation gear and themed food and drink.
The DCA will be closed to daily visitors until 9 p.m. on Grand Nights.
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This year, the Grand Night season won’t end on June 17th, when the last event finally kicks off. Disneyland is offering three Grand Night reunion events at DCA on June 23, 28 and 30 that anyone can participate in – grads from 2020 and 2021, which are up for nostalgia grads from the 1960s, ’70s and the COVID-19 pandemic Missed out on having fun because of it. ’80s who want to re-live the glory days.
Grand Night season can make it more difficult for Disneyland passholders to secure advance reservations. According to MyChat, the spring break season made it “nearly impossible” for Magic’s annual passholders to get last-minute reservations for Disneyland and DCA.
According to MiceChat, “everything was booked solid and some reservations were opening up here and there as other guests canceled.” “It was due to the demand for spring break and the return of nightly entertainment.”
The “Disneyland Forever” fireworks show, “World of Colour” water show and Main Street Electrical Parade return on April 22. “Fantasmic” Night’s Spectacular returns on May 28.
“Just know that once time kicks in for nightly entertainment, that’s when the crowd really starts to pack and it can be very hard to find a good spot — especially for early shows,” According to MiceChat.
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The end of Spring Break and the return of Grand Nights coincide with a perceived increase in attendance capacity at Disneyland and DCA.
Disneyland was expected to return to full capacity on May 1, a year after reopening after a 412-day pandemic shutdown, according to WDW News Today. Disneyland and DCA have been operating at reduced attendance capacity since the phased reopening of the theme park resorts on April 30, 2021.
Disneyland Grad Night has been a Southern California traditional rite of passage for millions of graduating seniors since the early 1960s.
Grand Night 2020 was canceled, while Disneyland and Disney California Adventure were closed under state-mandated COVID-19 restrictions. Grand Night 2021 was also canceled after Disneyland and DCA reopened, but remained under California’s COVID-19 capacity restrictions.