Disneyland This Week—New Addition to Classic Attraction, Beware of Event Crowd Impacts, 70th Merch Presale, and More

Welcome back to Mickey Visit Disneyland This Week! Each week at Mickey Visit we unearth Disneyland news and tips you could easily miss completely. We have all of the essential dates for your visit.

These updates provide the most important information for your visit every single week whether you are a frequent visitor or visiting for the first time in years. We cut through the noise to hone in on what dates and news matter for this week. Click here to see our most recent Disneyland This Week update from last week for all the things you missed at Disneyland and our first Disneyland This Week update for all my thoughts on what we are hoping to achieve with these weekly updates.

My name is Gavin Doyle. Each week I and members of my team including Lindsay Brookshier, Emily Midgley, and Bridget Waldman from @CaliforniaDisneyBliss, will work together to bring you the most essential Disneyland information. This is your one-stop resource for everything happening at Disneyland the week of May 5, 2025.

One Big Thing – Grad Nites Begin at Disney California Adventure

Grad Nites kick off at Disney California Adventure this week, with event nights on Friday, May 9, and Monday, May 12. This after-hours event is for graduating high school seniors, with access to the park’s attractions, dance parties, and characters in graduation attire. Grad Nites will take place on select dates this month and into the next through June 13. The event closes Disney California Adventure at 9 pm, and the parties run until 2 am. If you’re staying at Disney’s Grand Californian in a park-facing room, it’s possible that you may hear some of the noise from the dance parties.

On these Grad Nite dates, you can expect to see a bigger presence of teens in the parks, but it is difficult to predict how exactly crowd levels will be impacted at each park due to the fact that attendees can choose between a 1-park or park hopper ticket. Though it’s understandable that some guests may worry about potential misbehavior from the grads, we haven’t encountered any issues in our experience. If you have a park hopper ticket, it might be wise to start your day at Disney California Adventure as your starting park utilizing our Disney California Adventure morning strategy since it closes early on event nights.

As it gets closer to the event start time, you can expect to see the Grad Nite teens start moving over to Disney California Adventure and the rest of the crowds shift over to Disneyland Park. You can still watch World of Color on Grad Nite party nights, as it starts at a slightly earlier-than-usual time at 8:45 pm, but you have to leave after the show ends.

Important Disneyland Dates This Week

• Disneyland After Dark Star Wars Nite has its last party night this week on Tuesday, May 6. Tickets are still available for this night. See our guide to Disneyland Star Wars Nite for more details. We attended one of the first parties, and you can see our Disneyland Star Wars Nite review for details on our experience and whether or not it’s worth it! Also, check out our Disneyland Star Wars Nite food guide for a full list of all the galactic dishes you can enjoy with pictures and descriptions.
• “it’s a small world” reopens from its extended closure on Friday, May 9. The ride has been closed for maintenance, and its reopening date was pushed back a couple of weeks from when it was originally supposed to be. When “it’s a small world” reopens, it will feature Miguel and Dante from Coco in the Mexico area of the attraction.
• Disneyland 70 decor is popping up this week throughout the parks and Downtown Disney ahead of the Disneyland 70th anniversary celebration start date! You can expect to see more decor appearing around the resort over the next couple of weeks. This decor should be up until the Halloween celebration begins.
• Carnation Cafe is closed for refurbishment and will be reopening this week on Monday, May 12. This is a shorter closure than the recent extended refurbishment that recently happened at Jolly Holiday, another one of our favorite Disneyland restaurants on Main Street U.S.A.
• Mother’s Day takes place at Disneyland on Sunday, May 11! On this day, there are complimentary carnation flowers handed out when you enter Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure. It’s best to arrive early as flowers typically run out mid-morning. There is also a special Mother’s Day character dining brunch at Plaza Inn that is offered from May 10 to May 11, which includes a commemorative photo package and pin. There are currently no reservations left for this experience, but you can set up dining alerts to see if you can grab a spot if someone cancels. See more of our top tips for getting Disneyland dining reservations.
• Sunday, May 11, is the last day you can experience Season of the Force at Disneyland. We have unfortunately not heard any word on whether or not the Luke Skywalker character encounter will be sticking around after the celebration, but we do know that the impressive new Star Wars projection show has been extended to run past the celebration end date. You can see our full Season of the Force guide for details on all of the special offerings.

Key Disneyland News You Missed

• Disneyland repurposed the former Port Royal Curious and Curiosities shop that used to house Haunted Mansion merchandise into a new jazz club-themed seating area. You can see details and photos in our separate article on the repurposed space here. This change may be phase one of a bigger change to the area that we anticipate—you can see full thoughts on the next potential major construction project at Disneyland in our separate article here.
• We recently got more details about the Walt Disney animatronic that is in development for a new show at Disneyland as part of a trip to Imagineering. You can see details, including why Disney chose to create this figure now and our larger thoughts, in our separate article here.
• Disneyland is hosting the popular Savannah Bananas exhibition baseball team for a visit, with special activities planned! You can see details in our separate article on the Savannah Bananas coming to Disneyland here.
• Disneyland just released its 70th anniversary celebration food guide! You can see the 70+ new foods and novelties in our separate guide here.
• There has been a change to Disneyland’s best Fantasmic! dining package, and bookings are now open. You can see details on this change in our separate article here.
• A new character will be greeting guests in Avengers Campus for a limited time to promote the new Thunderbolts film! You can see the reveal of this character in our separate article here.
• The walkway between Cars Land and Avengers Campus in Disney California Adventure is closed for an extended time due to construction impacts. You can see details on this closure and how long it will last here.
• A new build-your-own lightsaber offering is now available at Galaxy’s Edge. See details and new photos revealed in our separate article here!
• A new Jawa Sipper and Salvaged Clone Trooper Bucket are now available. This is the final release of all of the other new Disneyland Star Wars popcorn buckets and novelties already available during Season of the Force.
• You can now score reservations for a brand new Disneyland tour, A Story of Celebration: 70th Anniversary Guided Tour at Disneyland Resort. In this two-hour guided tour you will learn Disneyland facts and hear rarely shared stories, ride classic attractions like the Disneyland Railroad and Mark Twain Riverboat, use the Lightning Lane entrance for another attraction, get reserved seating for Paint the Night while enjoying Disneyland’s famous popcorn, and take home a special keepsake. The cost is $120 per person and tours begin May 16.
• Say cheese! New facial recognition turnstiles are now up and running at both parks and the Disneyland monorail park entrance. This new system will streamline the process to get into parks.
• Pride Nite Tickets are currently on sale to the general public! See details in our Disneyland Pride Nite guide here and our review of the party from last year.
• A change to fix a scene in Soarin’ will be coming to the attraction in the coming weeks. You can see details on when that change was implemented at the version in EPCOT here.

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Magic Key Benefits Continue in May

Special perks for Magic Key Annual Passholders are available this month. See details below.

• On May 9, Magic Key holders will be able to purchase from a limited quantity of select pre-sale merchandise from the Disneyland Resort 70th Anniversary Celebration Collection. To view pre-sale merchandise, you need to be logged in to the Disneyland app with your Magic Key Pass linked to your MyDisney account. You’ll be able to buy and pick up select items on the same day at World of Disney in Downtown Disney District when purchasing through mobile order in the Disneyland app. The link to the presale will be posted on the Magic Key Extras Unlocked section of the Disneyland website on May 9, no earlier than 8 am Pacific Time.
• At Star Wars Nite parties, Magic Key holders can get a commemorative 3-button set on event nights. This will be available on event nights at the Magic Key destination near the walkway to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge just past Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree from 9:00 PM to 1:00 AM, while supplies last.
• Magic Key holders can enjoy special food offerings, including the Box O’ Sliders at Galactic Grill and the new Neapolitan Sampler at The Golden Horseshoe, available for purchase on the Disneyland app. The Neapolitan Sampler offering features three sample-size ice cream floats, one of each of the following: Coca-Cola Cherry Float, Sprite Float, and Barq’s Root Beer Float.
• For the Pixar Putt mini golf course, Magic Key holders get a special discounted rate of $25 per Magic Key Holder.

Disneyland Operational Updates

• Disneyland has shorter hours of operation this week with Disneyland Park open until 10 pm and Disney California Adventure open until 9 pm. The parks will have longer hours on the weekend.
• Star Wars Nite will close Disneyland Park early at 8 pm on May 6. On this night, Disney California Adventure will be open until 10 pm. Expect crowds to rise around 6 pm in Disney California Adventure due to Star Wars Nite and the mix-in for the event starting at that time. With the early park closure this week, arriving earlier in the day is best. Also, parking around 5-7 pm at the parking structures will be much busier, with guests coming in for the event.
• Grad Nite will close Disney California Adventure at 9pm on May 9 and 12. When Disney California Adventure closes early on these nights, you can see World of Color at 8:45 pm and stay through the show, but you have to exit right after.
• The World of Color – One show runs each night. The Mickey’s Mix Magic projection show and Shadows of Memory: A Skywalker Saga will show every day except Tuesday due to the event night. Fireworks will be shown along with the Mickey’s Mix Magic projection show on the weekend. Fantasmic! will also play on the weekend.
• Disneyland has not announced a parade that will be offered in the time between now and the 70th anniversary celebration (click here for details). There is currently a Mickey and Friends Cavalcade along the parade route at Disneyland Park twice a day. Disneyland will be bringing back Paint the Night on May 16, 2025, as well as the new Celebrate Happy Calvacade. Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration will be returning this summer.

What We’re Thinking About This Week

• Emily is really looking forward to seeing what Disneyland has in store for the upcoming Walt Disney – A Magical Life show in light of the new details and commentary recently revealed from Imagineering. She has very high hopes for the lifelike Walt Disney animatronic and the emotional impact of the show as a whole.
• Gavin is really excited to have seen the new Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic figure of Walt Disney and was honored to be invited to Imagineering to see it.
• Lindsay is glad to see Disney utilize the space in the old Haunted Mansion store as New Orleans Square desperately needed more seating!

Where In Disneyland Is This?

Hint: This is a newly repurposed space! Share your guess in the comments below.

Answer to last week’s “Where In Disneyland Is This?” Click here to see that image so you can guess first.

Grapevines behind the Golden Vine House next to Mendocino Terrace.

Disneyland Crowd Calendar This Week

This week, you can expect to see mostly average crowds in the parks, with some days of potentially below normal crowds. We are now in the lull between the busy Spring Break season and the kickoff of the 70th anniversary celebration next week. You can see our rating of all upcoming dates in our Mickey Visit Disneyland Crowd Calendar.

New Disneyland Ride Closures This Week

Here are some of the current ride closures that are continuing into this week:

• Matterhorn Bobsleds is closed for refurbishment
• Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room is closed for refurbishment
• Anna & Elsa’s Royal Welcome is closed for refurbishment
• Sorcerer’s Workshop is closed for refurbishment
• The Disney Gallery is closed for refurbishment
• “it’s a small world” is closed for refurbishment (reopening this week!)

You can see reopening dates for some of the above attractions and other upcoming closures in our Disneyland ride refurbishment guide.

Other Disney Content We’re Watching

Each week we’ll share some of our favorite information and fun content from across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube in an effort to spotlight some of the great creators who work so hard to share details from Disneyland.

First up, we have this post from @versace_vibez on Instagram showing that the Disneyland 70th anniversary decor is starting to go up around the resort!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Versace (@versace_vibez)

Next, we have this video from Bridget (@californiadisneybliss on Instagram) reviewing some of the several new foods that just debuted at Disneyland!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Bridget – Disneyland Guru, Disney Family, Disney Creator (@californiadisneybliss)

We also wanted to include this post from @foodatdisneyland on Instagram showing a look at the newly released Jawa sipper!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Foodatdisneyland (@foodatdisneyland)

Lastly, check out the former Haunted Mansion store repurposed into “Royal Street Jazz Club” in our Instagram video here:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Disneyland & Walt Disney World| Mickey Visit 🚂🏰 (@mickeyvisit)

Heads up! Reservations Open for Disneyland Dining / Park Reservations

For any trips before the below dates, you should be considering booking park reservations and dining reservations.

• Today is the 60-day window for Disneyland dining reservations for July 4, 2025. 
• Today is the 180-day window for making Disneyland theme park reservations for November 1, 2025. This applies to most non-Annual Pass tickets.
• For Magic Key Annual Pass Holders, the 90-day window from today to make theme park reservations is August 3, 2025.

See our top tips for getting Disneyland dining reservations and the best Disneyland restaurants we would recommend.

Disneyland Lightning Lane Cost This Week

• Today, the Lightning Lane Multi Pass service costs $36 if you purchase it when you arrive.
• For the two Lightning Lane Single Pass rides, the cost is $28 for Rise of the Resistance and $22 for Radiator Springs Racers.

You can see our guide to Lightning Lane Multi Pass at Disneyland for our expert tips on making the most of the service.

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