There's a possibility that nighttime at Disneyland this Summer will be total anarchy.
Excitement? Yes. Anarchy? Highly doubtful.
If your avatar pic is you, then you look like you may have been a toddler during the mid 1990's. I was most definitely not a toddler, and had begun visiting the park quite regularly during 1995-97 after moving back to California after a few decades on the East Coast. I remember Disneyland circa 1995-97 quite well, and the crowd control was crazy but it worked.
In those days, Fantasmic! was just a couple years old, the MSEP was glowing away, and Light Magic was debuting. There was also a brand new ride called Indiana Jones Adventure. During 1995-97 they routinely had three Fantasmic! shows per night, two Electrical Parades, and a fireworks show. Disneyland set attendance records during the summer and fall of 1996, and it was crazy. And they most definitely never sent people "backstage" or had any concept of a "Backstage Alley" that they now have. But they made it work.
Light Magic was a mess, to be sure. But mainly because it wasn't a parade, it was a 20 minute show that stopped on the street. Also, it was crap. (But that's another thread.)
Fast forward to 2015 and now there's two parks, with DCA offering a fabulous water show of its own a couple times per night. Disneyland now has these nifty backstage alleyways that can funnel thousands of people per hour out and around the parade or fireworks crowd on Main Street. Disneyland has also proven that they can staff and manage crowd control crews that are lightyears better and more professional than the crowd control at Magic Kingdom Park in WDW.
They know what they're doing at Disneyland.
The only park that does crowd control better is Tokyo Disneyland, but part of that is that 99% of their customers are Japanese and obey instructions and instinctively think of others not just themselves.
Will the summer of 2015 be crazy and very busy? Yes. Will the first week or two of Paint The Night and Forever be hectic and overwhelming? Yes. But from my own experience, each night they'll tweak and adjust and respond. And by the 4th of July the Disneyland crowd control team will have things locked down and working well.
Just stay to your right, please, and you'll be fine.
