Hi Janelle,
Welcome to planDisney! I’m so glad to hear that you are planning a visit in May! There’s so much going on that month:
The Season of the Force will be wrapping up, and the
70th Anniversary celebration will be kicking off.
As you mentioned, there will be new shows, parades, and decorations coming to the park to mark this wonderful event. As we get closer to May 16, we will likely see some changes take place. We don’t have an official timeline of when the decorations will go up, but, similar to the holidays, we may see small changes leading up to May 16. I would imagine that after The Season of the Force ends (May 11), even more decorations will begin to appear. We know that Cast Members work their magic to do much of the transformation at night, and that makes the change even more magical.
There are about six different shows and parades coming to the parks to celebrate the 70th anniversary:
World of Color Happiness!, the
Paint the Night parade,
Wondrous Journeys fireworks show,
Tapestry of Happiness,
The Better Together parade, and
The Celebrate Happy Cavalcade. Some are fan favorites returning, and some are brand new treats. We can usually see what
entertainment schedule is available about six weeks in advance on the app and on the Disneyland website. The schedule is always subject to change, but it will give you an idea of what could be available during your trip. It might be worth checking to see if the parks will close early leading up to May 16. Check back in the next couple of weeks, and we’ll start to see parts of May appear on the schedule.
I hope this information is helpful, Janelle. If you have any other questions or need help planning, feel free to reach out to me or one of my fellow panelists. We’d be happy to share our thoughts.
Happy planning!
-Melinda