Disneyland Pride Nite After Dark

Disneyland celebrated Pride this year with their Disneyland After Dark special event series that is an after hours themed ticketed event. The ticket was $169 and allowed for a 6pm arrival to the park. Disneyland hours change to an 8pm closing for these events. Thus allowing Pride Nite guests to enjoy much shorter wait times, special food items, and merch giveaways for Magic Key holders, AKA annual passholders.

It was my first Pride event at Disneyland. I have been to Pride during previous WDW trips. It was a surprise to me to realize because I do a lot of Disney vacations. I am a Disney Vacation Club owner which makes me a member for about 30 more years in their timeshare program. I have been to Club 33 more than once. I even hung out with the President of Disneyland Paris for a couple of hours when I was there last. My point is, I speak the language of Disney.

I recently started getting the ick with Disney when they rolled back their Disability Access Service (DAS). This was a service for people in wheelchairs, other mobility issues, or with health issues that needed to bypass the standby line. This was a precursor to larger Trump White House DEI rollback, in my opinion. It affected many Make-A-Wish children who had DAS for over a decade. For this reason, I reduced my park visits and spending significantly.

I had heard Pride Nite was the best of Disneyland’s After Dark events. One of my Disneyland core VIP tour crew members, (I organize a crew of bougie Disney adults on VIP tours) invited me to jump in her room at the Disneyland Hotel. I decided to go specifically to see how Disneyland would treat Pride in the wake of the Executive Order to roll back DEI initiatives.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that it didn’t feel performative. I felt relieved to be honest. My love for Disney is hanging on by a thread. This event, the fact that it felt like a celebration of love, was different than other events that I had been to this year. Star Wars Nite, Sweetheart’s Nite, Oogie Boogie Bash, all have their offerings but none capture joy and belonging like this one. I will never miss a Pride Nite again. I need to see it every year to serve as a reminder of what we can achieve when we don’t submit to cruelty.

Also…this is not an ad.

Written by Kathy Tran Wilson