If you’re looking for light crowds and short lines, the month of May is usually a great time to visit Disneyland. The long and busy Spring Break season, which starts in the middle of March and through April, is finally over with, making way for a less crowded resort in much of May.
While the annual Grad Nite event does take place after park closing on some nights and the weather starts to get warmer during the day, it’s not the summer season just yet. The bulk of the summer crowds don’t begin to arrive until June.
The Disneyland Resort anticipates Monday-Thursday to be the least busiest days of the week in May. The crowds do tend to pick up on Fridays, and weekends will generally be busier. Here’s some of the dates you may want to try to avoid if you’re going this month.
Dates To Avoid
Memorial Day Weekend – Big crowds and long lines are the norm throughout Memorial Day weekend. If you don’t like crowds, avoid going on that Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
After Memorial Day – Disneyland is expected to get crowded for the summer right after Memorial Day. With midnight park closings and a full entertainment lineup scheduled for the entire week, the summer season crowds don’t let up until the end of August.
May Crowd Calendar
For the forecast of crowd levels of any day in May, be sure to check out the Disneyland Crowd Forecast Calendar.
For real-time updates and information on current crowd levels and conditions at the park, check out the Disneyland Live Crowd Tracker.
Have you gone to Disneyland in May? How were the crowds? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
Image: uubergeek
Yes, crowds are usually light around that time since that’s after the Spring Break season, so there should be minimal lines that week. Should be a good time to go!
Would June 1st, 2nd and 3rd be a decent time to go? I don’t think most schools get out until June 4th and later.
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I’d be prepared for it to still be busy since some schools will be out for the summer by then, but it should be a better time to go than later in the month. LAUSD gets out on June 5, so you’ll be avoiding those crowds.
We have been to Disneyland about 10 times, and early May is the absolute BEST! We have literally walked on to rides like Space Mountain, where in the summer we typically wait an hour. Love May visits!
And FYI–schools in AZ get out before the end of May and then the mad rush to Disney begins. Soooooo…if you can hit it in May instead of June, I would.
Don’t forget college students and high school seniors get out in late May. There won’t be as many families with young children, but there will probably be a lot of teenagers and young adults!
I’m planning a trip for two adults for Tuesday, May 20th- Thursday, May 22nd (three days). I am starting to get concerned that we will not be able to see any fireworks shows or World of Color because we will only be there during weekdays. The 24 hr Disney day is on Friday, May 23rd, so do you think they might have fireworks during the week? I’ll be SO disappointed if we miss them!
On another note, do you have an idea of which fireworks show will be playing? I’m not sure if it will be “Magical” or “Remember…Dreams Come True”. Thanks!
When you go in May, are there usually fireworks shows during the week? I am so worried that there will not be any fireworks shows or World of Color except on the weekend, and we will only be there on a Tuesday-Thursday. Thanks!
There should be World of Color on weekdays, but I’m not sure about the fireworks though since that’s before the summer season officially begins.