Visitors to parks in May & June 2012: Be aware of additional Grad-Nites!

[Mugglemama]

Just wanted to pass along this info because I saw a "May" thread the other day that didn't seem to mention it.

We are planning a trip in Mid May of this year. I discovered during the course of that planning, that Disney has added more dates to the Grad-Nite events going on during this grad season.

There are now some weeks where Grad-Nites are actually scheduled to take place for THREE days in a SINGLE week! And remember, Grad-Nites are now set up to actually involve the entire day of the event. So, during some weeks in May and June, there won't be only one, or only two, but THREE days where thousands upon thousands of teens are in the parks all day long with no supervision (oh, joy). And the tickets I saw could be purchased by students from ages 14 and up...so some of these kids are going to be middle school grads...much younger than the high school senior crowd.

I feel like this has the potential to impact our trip in seriously negative ways. If we go as scheduled, there will be 4 Grad-DAYS/nights during our trip. Ugh. And since Grad-Nite events are scheduled every week from May 1oth to June 22nd, I can't move our dates around enough to avoid them without pushing our trip forward or backward more than we'll personally be able to.

Here's the link to the dates:

http://www.grad-nights.com/gradnightcalifornia.htm

 

[skiingfast]

Official site.
http://www.disneyyouth.com/grad-nite-disneyland/catalog/

DIS thread about Grad Night.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2298400

 

[Mugglemama]

Thanks for posting the links, SkiingFast...the Disneyland link shows the same dates as the link I posted (and also shows the 14-18 age allowance), however unless I've missed it, that second link to the Dis thread does not reflect the fact that Grad-Nite events are actually now all-day events? I'm going to double-check to see that the info is not already included in that thread...if not, I will post the link that shows the information.

ETA: That thread does include the "all-day" info. For anyone interested, here is the link to the "Overview" page of this year's Grad Nite events:

http://www.disneyyouth.com/grad-nite-disneyland/overview/

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Thanks for the info. I updated our info here on the DIS.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/Events/grad-nights.html

 

[starshine514]

Ugh! Why, oh why are they giving them admission all day too?

 

[Disneylandfan1]

How will Grad Nights effect us if we decide to visit during these weeks?
I really dislike shorter park hours!

 

[erocrobro]

Do the parks close early to regular paying guests? How can they do that? I find this a bit frustrating because I had finally pinned down dates, checked to make sure they were AP blackout dates, reserved two rooms at HOJO with the entertainment rate (which, I believe, have a no cancellation policy), and started making final arrangements.

We want to go early in June to try and avoid the craziness of Carsland opening, but I don't want to go if we are going to be kicked out early and miss all of the nighttime attractions like fireworks and WOC, especially if we would still be expected to pay full price for tickets that don't allow for all of the benefits.

I tried to check the website, but DL doesn't have calendars up yet for that far into the year and the grad night site doesn't list times. How many extra people will this bring in to the parks, on average?

 

[jheltz27]

Just great. We're going May 21-25 so we'll have 3 straight days/nites of this. I thought I read somewhere that it wasn't going to affect things this year. I guess that meant they wouldn't be closing early but they'll be there ALL DAY.

 

[steves1bear]

Oh man! We're there from the 21st - 23rd. I was hoping to avoid Grad night or I guess as it is now, Grad Day. I hope we can get done majority of what we want to do the first two days because we can't change our dates.

As other have asked, any idea a rough estimate as to how many kids are allowed? I know it says sold out so I'm assuming this means there is some kind of cap?

 

[skiingfast]

Everyone should read this thread that I linked above.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2298400

1. Each grad will get a 1 day parkhopper ticket good for entry any time that day. Thus grads will be mixed in with regular attendees during regular hours.

2. DL will close by 11PM on these nights for regular guests.

3. Grads can stay for the special "party" from 11PM until 3AM

4. There will be a performance of Fantasmic after 11PM only for the grads

5. Only DL park will be open after 11PM

Previously DL closed at 6 or 7 pm. MM was often moved or canceled because the parties lasted to 6am. Grads watched fireworks in the early morning which woke many guests on Harbor Dr.

*The parties are not all day long*. Now because the party hours are shorter only 11pm to 3am, Seniors also get a Park Hopper to use during the day. Keep in mind kids do have school so not everyone can go to the parks all day even with that park hopper and the busses may start showing up at 4 to 6 like in the past.

Also with the private party not starting until 11pm, this may be a positive more than negative. Previously in DL the hours in May were 10-8, or 8-9 and 9-11 or 8-12 on Fridays. Now it seems since the Seniors can come any time in the day, the parks won't need to shut down until they need to clear it for the party, this may be 10pm. So We gain a few hours instead of loosing a few because they can't just book the Seniors into the Esplanade at 8pm to wait 3 hours for thier party.

In June we may loose an hour or two.

Since the seniors get thier own private showing of F!, maybe they won't want to watch the early one with the guests as some had in the pass. Though fireworks may be more crowded, take heart there is a lot more viewing area for the fireworks than F!.


It may be a win win for seniors and guests alike.

 

[steves1bear]

skiingfast - thanks for the perspective. I had it in my mind since they had an all day pass there was a chance they would either be allowed to be there all day or just skip school anyway. I imagined heavier crowds, but majority being high schoolers. Your thoughts helped clarify and see the positive of it all. Thanks so much!

 

[HydroGuy]

Everyone should read this thread that I linked above.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2298400



Previously DL closed at 6 or 7 pm. MM was often moved or canceled because the parties lasted to 6am. Grads watched fireworks in the early morning which woke many guests on Harbor Dr.

*The parties are not all day long*. Now because the party hours are shorter only 11pm to 3am, Seniors also get a Park Hopper to use during the day. Keep in mind kids do have school so not everyone can go to the parks all day even with that park hopper and the busses may start showing up at 4 to 6 like in the past.

Also with the private party not starting until 11pm, this may be a positive more than negative. Previously in DL the hours in May were 10-8, or 8-9 and 9-11 or 8-12 on Fridays. Now it seems since the Seniors can come any time in the day, the parks won't need to shut down until they need to clear it for the party, this may be 10pm. So We gain a few hours instead of loosing a few because they can't just book the Seniors into the Esplanade at 8pm to wait 3 hours for thier party.

In June we may loose an hour or two.

Since the seniors get thier own private showing of F!, maybe they won't want to watch the early one with the guests as some had in the pass. Though fireworks may be more crowded, take heart there is a lot more viewing area for the fireworks than F!.


It may be a win win for seniors and guests alike.

I agree with Ski's discussion. I think there is some overreaction in this thread. May and early June weekdays are typically not very busy anyways. If there is a concerns that "thousands" of HS seniors will be at DLR, there are always thousands of high schoolers at DLR and a few thousand more in addition to 30,000-40,000 regular guests (on a non-busy day) is just not that much.

 

[Mugglemama]

Well, hopefully it *is* overreaction. I can hope.

And while there are always thousands of high schoolers and teens in the parks, usually the majority of them are with family. My experience has been that the vast majority of teens will act differently with parents around than they will without them, but perhaps I am mistaken (I've been a mom for a long time though, so I'm not holding my breath on that one...).

The last time we were at DLR, we encountered people doing things that definitely depleted the Disney magic, like smoking pot in the parks, making out in line, stumbling through DCA drunk, cutting in lines, etc. I'm just concerned about the potential for even more of that when it's mainly unsupervised teens (some as young as 14) in the parks celebrating graduation...I think that's a reasonable concern and prediction (I did *go* to my own Grad-Nite, so I do have some firsthand observations of what the kids are doing while there...).

I would expect MANY kids to ditch school to go early (I would have at that age). I hope very much that I am incorrect in that expectation. I guess we'll see. It does not appear that they are required to bus in as they were before...any reliable sources that show otherwise?

I don't have a choice as to our timing on this trip...I will have to go when some of these Grad events are happening, due to my daughter's college schedule this year. In fact, I'll be there for the first 4, so I will try to post here to give a rundown on what the impact seems to be.

I am REALLY glad we are getting AP's this year, so that I can have a do-over for this May trip in September.

 

[GoofyDadude]

WOW, thanks for the update. Our first full day at DL is suppose to be Saturday, June 23rd..... So hopefully they will not add more days on the end of June for Grad Night

 

[joelnkelly]

We will be making our first trip to DL in June, 9th-16th. The middle days of our trip will be grad nights, i think the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We are going to be working around those days to do other things around SoCal. Figured SUnday and Monday will be good park days, then one of the grad days possible Wednesday and Friday visiting the park. WE arent flying out until late Saturday night so all day Saturday will be a park day as well. We figured we would just make the best of it. Hopefully the seniors will respect the fact that many kids will be around so the behavior will be somewhat sub-dued during the days. If not I dont mind speaking my mind to them.

 

[erocrobro]

I agree with Ski's discussion. I think there is some overreaction in this thread. May and early June weekdays are typically not very busy anyways. If there is a concerns that "thousands" of HS seniors will be at DLR, there are always thousands of high schoolers at DLR and a few thousand more in addition to 30,000-40,000 regular guests (on a non-busy day) is just not that much.

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed. I really am not as worried about the extra bodies as much as shortened hours, so if they are open until, say 11:00, that's plenty late enough for us. I'm also hoping that the addition of the extra grad nights will help spread out the numbers over several days, and is maybe an indication that Carsland won't yet be open in June. I'm not sure they would have scheduled that many grad nights when they know the crowds would already be extra heavy due to new attractions.

 

[jacobsmommy]

We were planning on being at DL/DCA from June 19-22 but could change it to the following week (June 26-June 29). With grad nights happening, which would you choose?

 

[joelnkelly]

maybe an indication that Carsland won't yet be open in June. I'm not sure they would have scheduled that many grad nights when they know the crowds would already be extra heavy due to new attractions.

You could also look at it in the other light, figuring this would be a great way for them to get some more exposure to Carsland, what better way to get the word out than a bunch of teens in your park expressing how great carsland really is. Who really knows what will happen, I guess only time will tell.

 

[skiingfast]

We were planning on being at DL/DCA from June 19-22 but could change it to the following week (June 26-June 29). With grad nights happening, which would you choose?

I think this may be a wash.

All of those Socal Aps getting their last stab at the parks, verses, Grad Nites on days when few if any kids will be in school.

You could also look at it in the other light, figuring this would be a great way for them to get some more exposure to Carsland, what better way to get the word out than a bunch of teens in your park expressing how great carsland really is. Who really knows what will happen, I guess only time will tell.

Last summer, I spoke to a couple groups of teens who had done their Grad Nites. They came back to ride Star Tours again and brought friends who couldn't attend Grad Nite.

 

[jacobsmommy]

So, would it be better to change our dates to early July when SoCal is blocked and also there are no grad nights? We haven't booked anything yet, so we are still pretty flexible.