DL and Grad Night

JLitfin

love Disney
DVC Gold
Joined
Oct 1, 2003
My son just moved to Hawaii and we will be visiting him in a couple of months. On the return route we decided to stop in Orange County and visit DL for a couple of days. We will be staying in Newport Coast from Monday to Friday and at the moment plan on heading to DL twice (probably Tuesday and Wednesday) while we are there. I noticed during this week it'll be grad night most of those evenings.

Will grad night impact daily visitors in anyway? Will part of the park be closed down during the evening hours for this grad night event? What will the crowds be like?

One more question, this is our first visit to DL, should I purchase a "2 day-1 park per day tickets" or a "1 day hopper pass". Can I see most of the main attractions in both parks in 1 full day or do I need both days?

Thanks.
 
I'd prefer more days. I always get a hopper, but if my only 2 options were one day with a hopper or 2 days without, that's an easy choice. Definitely the 2 days. You won't even see it all in 2 days.
 
Since you can pick your days stay away from Grad Nites. When we went Grad Nites caused WOC to only have one showing instead of 2. Also the behavior of the Grads is all across the board. Sometimes they’re fine just excited kids, other times they are complete jerks (personal experience- being shoved multiple times, screaming in HM for the whole ride, screaming out cuss words & other words in the lines. Others have reported having ride photos ruined when someone threw the bird or flashed a ride cam.) Seriosuly- Grad Nite can be “huh, there’s a lot of high schoolers in the parks” to the night from theme park hell. I’ve had both.

2 day 1 park per day tickets.

You are aware of Star Wars Land opening right? Not sure what dates you’re looking at here but starting mid-June that comes into play.
 
This may help "The Scoop on Grad Nights at DLR in May and June" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2298400

Even if I was doing 2 days in your case, I would likely choose 2 days without parkhoppers - and do one day at each park. I tend to think hoppers are more valuable over 3-5 days at DLR. Note that parkhopping is incredibly easy at DLR. WDW vets never seem to be able to truly grasp this until they see it with their own eyes and experience it. The gates are 100 yards away from each other.

:wizard:
 
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Mornings at DLR are your best time when you can get the most done. On Grad Nite days, this is especially true. Most schools don't arrive at opening, so if you can be at the parks for RD, you will have a better time with the lowest crowds until the early afternoon when the crowds start to show up. It will get increasingly crowded as the day goes on. Agree that you won't see it all in 2 days, but you will get a good enough taste to decide whether you'll want to plan a longer, more detailed trip in the future. This classic thread has lots of good information: A DLR Guide for WDW Vets.
 

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