"GRAD,NIGHTMARE. 2015

[sweethannah]

I miss the days when Grad nights were over night. I know we complained about shortened Park hours but that doesn't seem so bad now!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

to get rsr at night id make sure you get a fp earlier in the day. As for woc and F switch over I would switch them around and do woc on grad night

 

[Epek]

to get rsr at night id make sure you get a fp earlier in the day. As for woc and F switch over I would switch them around and do woc on grad night

Yes! This. Yesterday was a grad night 9am opening. We pulled 7-8pm RSR fast passes @ 11:15am. That's not dark yet, but you get the idea. We also did WOC, and there were no grads that I saw. I believe they get a private showing, so they would concentrate on other stuff.

 

[quinnc19]

Thanks to you both! Unfortunately, I can't switch my WOC night because no times for the BB dining package are available on my only non-Grad night. Thanks, that gives me an idea of the RSR pm fastpass situation.

 

[lorijohnhill]

I was in DCA last night as well. We also did WOC. There was some chanting and stuff at WOC, but no disturbances that I saw. I would offer the advice to be OUT of DCA by about 9:30 pm. We rode the racers at about 9:55 and boy it was getting crazy. Lots of really loud screaming as a huge pack. My 8 year old was terrified as we were trying to get back to GCH. We kept explaining to her that they were just loud, not going to hurt her. However, with her sensory issues, she was having none of it. Luckily, we were able to get out pretty quickly.

One major change to Grad Nighr (since mine in 1988) was there did not seem to be a dress code. We had to wear skirts or dresses and the boys had to wear slacks and shirts. I can't remember for sure if ties were required or not.

How the kids are dressed may have something to do with some of the behavior.

 

[Gisele]

Maybe Disney should simply stop offering Grad Nights.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

or just close the parks at 10 or midnight and let them have a private party in one park and only a couple of nights not like this a few each may and June or something

 

[Drusilla99]

I am sorry for your experience, it really does stink, but I'm not surprised. I was on this board a few months ago and someone had asked for opinions about going in May/June during possible grad night events or in late August. I stated my opinion that late August would be my choice because of the grad night crowd and the closing times (at that time they hadn't announced which park would be the night time place). I had a few posters tell me that I had no idea what I was talking about, that grad night doesn't change the crowd dynamics at all. I'm just going off my personal experience from last year and many previous years, but these things happen, so I tend to avoid those days & evenings.

 

[Geemo]

Sorry you had a bad time in the parks. I'm glad this information is brought up here on the DisBoard. It can give others a feel for certain events in the parks.

Please email your experience to let them know. Having it on record may help things change. Guest Services are for situations just like this.

 

[brianphill77]

Sorry you had a bad time in the parks. I'm glad this information is brought up here on the DisBoard. It can give others a feel for certain events in the parks.

Please email your experience to let them know. Having it on record may help things change. Guest Services are for situations just like this.

Absolutely agree with contacting Guest Services. I wrote to them after arriving back home in 2013 after a Grad Night experience we weren't thrilled with on our last night there. I ended up VERY happy with the response, Disney more than made it up to us and it resulted in another family trip to DLR the following summer. If enough people complain they may change their policies.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I want to add another encouragement to the OP and any others who have negative experiences with Grad Night to report the issues to DLR Guest Services. DLR management needs to be aware of what is going on and about how the negative behavior impacts guest experiences in the parks.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We went in early June the past two years and encountered a few grad nights. Personally, I didn't have a problem with any of the teens other than the fact that they made the parks a lot more crowded. I heard the occasional foul language, but it wasn't excessive and it was easy enough to ignore.

We did witness one incident last year that was dealt with swiftly by CMs and security. We were in line for Pirates and were watching the returning boats come around the corner. One boat was filled with teens who started waving and yelling when they saw their friends in line. No big deal. However one boy, who appeared to be drunk or high, stood up in the boat while it was still moving. When the boat got to the dock, there was a group of CMs including some who weren't in Pirates costumes (we assumed they were security) waiting by the gate. The whole group was detained and the CMs were talking to them as we were loading our boat. The two rows behind us were filled by grads. A CM came over and said to them, "See your friends over there, they were standing up in the boat during the ride. We can see everything that happens in there. Be sure you guys make good choices so you can go to California Adventure later for the party. Your friends over there will not be going." The kids nodded and whispered amongst themselves. They behaved very well during the ride. It was nice to see that bad behavior did not go unnoticed or unpunished.

 

[brandoncozart]

just wanted to add my experience here. we just got back from our first trip to DLR (many time WDW vets) and had been warned about grad nights. but even the strong warnings didn't prepare us. it was worse than we thought. we tried to make the best of it, but we won't ever go back when grad nights are a possibility.

one thing that i haven't seen mentioned is that the grad situation did not get better after 10pm, when they were supposed to move over to DCA. a ton of them stayed in Disneyland until about 11:30 or so.

i imagine this could be due to the 60th anniversary and the two new spectaculars in Disneyland, but still. many e-ticket attractions were in the 80 minute range from about 4pm on, with a couple in the 55 minute range.

 

[ButterflyKisses77]

Maybe Disney should simply stop offering Grad Nights.

ABSOLUTELY!!!

 

[Geemo]

Let Disney know how your Grad Night experience was. Having it on record is a strong way to possibly get it changed.

 

[Gisele]

Absolutely agree with contacting Guest Services. I wrote to them after arriving back home in 2013 after a Grad Night experience we weren't thrilled with on our last night there. I ended up VERY happy with the response, Disney more than made it up to us and it resulted in another family trip to DLR the following summer. If enough people complain they may change their policies.

Interesting. Many people will state their displeasure with X at DLR, with guest relations and end up with zero results. Yep, interesting.

 

[mjh2901]

As someone who has worked in a California High School District for the last 14 years I can verify the kids can be an issue and they feel invincible after graduation. Disney used to hire high school teachers for security. They should do a charity fundraiser for staff to earn money for their schools or flat out offer high school staff 150 bucks and a couple free day passes to work security for grad nights (SAT pays them $100 to proctor the test for an entire Saturday so this would be plenty of scratch to get interest). Pair these "temp" workers up with disneyland trained security and spread them out over the park for grad night. What they would be getting would be a group of people who have passed drug tests, local and fbi fingerprint background checks and have massive experience dealing with these unruly guests. By mixing them in Disney Security you have people who know the kids and people who know the park and the standards.

 

[cindyland]

I was a chaperone on the Grad Night trip Wednesday. Disneyland was extremely crowded when we arrived at 3 pm. The streets were lined with blankets for people saving spots for the evening parade. I looked at the guests wrists to see if they were wearing the grad night bracelet. Most were not. There were a lot of families and younger band groups. Rides had an average of 50-minute waits, and some rides were down (Thunder Mountain). There was no doubt the park was packed (we saw fewer people over spring break), but it seemed to be more related to the anniversary than Grad Night.

My group of chaperones headed over to DCA around 7:00. It was almost impossible to get down Main Street due to people waiting for the parade. Around 10:00 you could really feel the mood change as they closed the park for the grads. They had a lot of dance clubs set up, and loud music blaring. The lines were non-existent for some attractions (Midway Mania), and the usual 50 minutes for others (Tower of Terror and Radiator Springs). Yes, a lot of cutting and meeting up, unless a mean chaperone put a stop to it. They finished the night with a special World of Color, but then everyone left the park at the same time. That was awful with unruly crowds waiting for trams and being generally obnoxious. My least-favorite part of the evening.

I did want to point out that for some of our students from a small, rural Northern California community, this was their first visit to Disneyland, and a special trip with their friends. They had been pounded with rules, and we had a drug dog go through their stuff before we left the school grounds. We had a nine-hour bus ride to get there, followed by another search and more drug dogs. And the kids had a lot of fun, and were generally well-behaved. I went on my Grad Night 30+ years ago, and I'm happy that they still have this tradition. I do prefer the closed park approach, but I do like that the kids get to experience both parks.

 

[brianphill77]

Interesting. Many people will state their displeasure with X at DLR, with guest relations and end up with zero results. Yep, interesting.

I'm sure that some people do end up with zero results. But not everyone. Be articulate and specific with your feedback, and your issues. You may end up very happy with the outcome.

 

[Gisele]

I'm sure that some people do end up with zero results. But not everyone. Be articulate and specific with your feedback, and your issues. You may end up very happy with the outcome.

Not with my luck. Lol