Grad nights with young children

[Msmithmd]

I'm taking my family to Disneyland this week. Leaving today actually! I've read some fairly concerning posts on this site about the atmosphere not being friendly for young kids on grad nights. I was planning on this coming Wednesday and Thursday both being park days.

Would appreciate input as to whether to rearrange my plans. I'm traveling with an eight year old and twin four year olds.

Have the Wednesdays and Thursdays of the grad nights been bad, or is it just Fridays? We are a fairly easygoing bunch- but I'm not sure I want my preschoolers to not get a classic Disney experience due to a horde of unsupervised adolescents. I'm from the Midwest, and was actually unaware grad nights were occurring until going through the posts last night.

And along with switching park days out, what's your best guess as to the crowd levels in the evening on Sunday or Tuesday, versus either of these days? Thanks!!!

 

[sherilaine]

All I can offer is my experience with Thurs/Fri grad nights - which were the 1st of the season and I think things have been getting more intense from what I have been reading.

The Thursday was not bad - but that might have been because school was still in full force back in early May and the parks closed early at 8 and 9.

Friday was not good - it was crowded with a lot of young people in matching t-shirts, making a lot of noise and being very obnoxious and many of them were still in DL after their party was supposed to start in DCA - but that is just our experience.

I will be avoiding this time of year from now on or at least avoiding those evenings.

I am sure many others will have more recent accounts to share.

 

[coaches24]

I was there with my then 3 yo DD last May for 2 grad nights and didnt have an issue. It got crowded in the afternoon/ early evening and during those times we stayed away from the really popular big rides and did less popular stuff. We avoided the space mountain area altogether and stayed away from Indy as well. It seemed those areas in DL has the biggest concentration of teens. But there were other areas that didnt seem bad at all as far as groups of teens. Just realize that a majority of those kids are going to run from thrill ride to thrill ride most of the night. Some will head over to fantasy land and such but not nearly as many and the really crazy acting ones won't spend much time there at all usually.

I think if you do the bigger rides in the morning/ early afternoon and then mostly kiddie rides once you start noticing the teen concentrations getting bigger that you will have a great time.

 

[Melda]

We were there last week for Thursday and Friday grad nights. It was me, DH, DD8, DD2 and DS2. We didn't have any issues other than DL being super crowded on Friday night. Like others have suggested, we did most the rides for the day in the morning/early afternoon and then did mostly lower demand stuff in the evenings. Thursday evening, we watched the Pixar parade and all rode MJJ. then Dd8 and I used child swap for RSR while DH took Dd2 and Ds2 on MJJ and Luijis (MJJ was basically walk on when we were in Carsland that evening). We had one of the "any ride" FP that my husband and DD8 got when RSR broke down while they were riding it so we used that on TSMM and then we rode the carousel. We then lined up for WOC around 7:30 to the 9 show. On Friday, we watched the parade and then had dinner at Cafe Orleans. We rode POTC and then went clear around the park on the RR. My husband left with the younger two while DD8 and I used FP/child swaps on IJ, Space Mountain and ST. DL was super crowded that evening but we didn't run into any of the issues other folks had--maybe because we were in the FP lines???

 

[Butterfly123]

I think that in addition to grad nights there are lots of locals with socal AP's that want to get in a visit before they are completely blocked out for July and part of August. The local crowd seems to grow as the day progresses, so the combination of the two can make for some pretty crowded evenings.

That being said, if my kids were younger I would try to avoid grad nights if I could.

 

[aussie shaz]

We were there over the last 2 weeks. Some days were worse than others.
There were lots and lots of Grads, but also other kids, probably Junior High kids on band excursions etc, lots with matching t shirts.
We did find that they were quite loud, yelling in lines, clapping and yelling on rides. My son (9) was also a bit weary of them when they walked around in packs (especially when they would come up behind us and just bust through).
We has friends who said that they saw lots of PDA with the teens, but we didn't see any. We were never in Stanby lines I guess.
We also missed out on getting a photo on Space because of a kid in our car sticking his middle finger up. I heard him tell his friend as we got off. Therefore, Disney wouldn't let us see/purchase the photo.
I wouldn't go at this time again.

 

[OregonMinnie]

We were there over the last 2 weeks. Some days were worse than others.
There were lots and lots of Grads, but also other kids, probably Junior High kids on band excursions etc, lots with matching t shirts.
We did find that they were quite loud, yelling in lines, clapping and yelling on rides. My son (9) was also a bit weary of them when they walked around in packs (especially when they would come up behind us and just bust through).
We has friends who said that they saw lots of PDA with the teens, but we didn't see any. We were never in Stanby lines I guess.
We also missed out on getting a photo on Space because of a kid in our car sticking his middle finger up. I heard him tell his friend as we got off. Therefore, Disney wouldn't let us see/purchase the photo.
I wouldn't go at this time again.

That is horrible!!! What a little (big) brat!!! I would've had a hard time not wanting to speak with him. I think it would've been nice for the CM to give you a FP so you could get another picture. Maybe you did anyways since you were there for a few days. I don't see any June visits in our future. We like October too much Sorry that happened to you

 

[sherilaine]

We were there over the last 2 weeks. Some days were worse than others.
There were lots and lots of Grads, but also other kids, probably Junior High kids on band excursions etc, lots with matching t shirts.
We did find that they were quite loud, yelling in lines, clapping and yelling on rides. My son (9) was also a bit weary of them when they walked around in packs (especially when they would come up behind us and just bust through).
We has friends who said that they saw lots of PDA with the teens, but we didn't see any. We were never in Stanby lines I guess.
We also missed out on getting a photo on Space because of a kid in our car sticking his middle finger up. I heard him tell his friend as we got off. Therefore, Disney wouldn't let us see/purchase the photo.
I wouldn't go at this time again.

I have heard that if you have the photopass plus, which basically means you have already paid for the ride photos, and someone does something inappropriate in your photo - that you get to ride the ride again without waiting - I have read reports of this on many rides. This is also true if for some reason you come off and your picture just did not process.

I will keep this in mind next time because we will for sure get the Photopass+ again.

 

[aussie shaz]

Yes, the wonderful CM did send us back through the exit so we could ride again. It was our last ride on Space on our last day at the parks.
My husband did say that if the kid was still around after speaking with the CM about the photo, he would have had a word with him. Unfortunately he had left.
Regarding the Photopass Plus. Our photo on RSR didn't work (for the second time), so they allowed us to get straight back on the ride to get another one.
So, of 3 rides on RSR, we got one photo. The ride was also down on our last day, which was disappointing.

 

[Priory]

If I had kids I'd take them on grad night as a means to teach them how they are never allowed to act in public.

 

[OnTheRoadAgain]

I just posted this in another thread:

Lots of cursing grads all over the place, some of their friends tried to get them to stop and be courteous around families like ours... it was a weird dynamic. All the while me trying to shield my kids. It was easy in line - just maintain some distance, but they got me on rides like PotC and while eating. Also crazy amounts of running...watch out!​

Plus the topics of their discussion were truly awful and related to sex.

One of my family members thought I was being stand-offish because I wanted to stand between my family and the group of grads in front of us and maintain about 3 feet distance. I told him that based on my earlier experience with another group that day, I just really wasn't prepared for the "education" that my kids might get... and it just comes out flying from their mouths with no warning at all.

 

[Barry Browning]

It gets bad at night in the part they corral them in.Security was really busy, heard rides were closed at different times for different violations.The pic I saw today it was packed but it was last day for some pass holders..

 

[PrincessSophiesMom]

I'm taking my family to Disneyland this week. Leaving today actually! I've read some fairly concerning posts on this site about the atmosphere not being friendly for young kids on grad nights. I was planning on this coming Wednesday and Thursday both being park days.

Would appreciate input as to whether to rearrange my plans. I'm traveling with an eight year old and twin four year olds.

Have the Wednesdays and Thursdays of the grad nights been bad, or is it just Fridays? We are a fairly easygoing bunch- but I'm not sure I want my preschoolers to not get a classic Disney experience due to a horde of unsupervised adolescents. I'm from the Midwest, and was actually unaware grad nights were occurring until going through the posts last night.

And along with switching park days out, what's your best guess as to the crowd levels in the evening on Sunday or Tuesday, versus either of these days? Thanks!!!

So I'm born and raised in SoCal and I'm in my mid twenties. I consider myself pretty laid back and I can put up with a decent amount of annoying behavior, but grad night was pretty irksome. I would discourage you from going on grad night with young children, especially if you're from out of town and this is a once in a lifetime experience.

I went during last week's grad night. Seriously, my 3 year old nearly got landed on by a 6+ foot tall teenager because his friend thought a line was a good place to shove him. They travel in huge lolly gagging packs! I was telling my 19 year old cousin that I do not remember her or me dawdling like that at 18. There is a decent amount of cursing floating around. It simply isn't the typical "happiest place on earth" experience. It takes longer to travel between places, you'll constantly be guarding your toddler from being walked into or shoved, there's rowdy behavior and cursing, it is more crowded.

 

[Priory]

I was watching an old grad night special on YouTube and all of the teens are dressed in formal wear politely dancing to a nice band. Sigh.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

Now I'm really worried...We'll be in the parks from 6/20 - 6/24 and we have 2 Grad Nites and the movie premier...ugh!! Hoping that most of the schools will have already gone to a Grad Nite since these are so late in the season, but with a 13 yr. old DD and a 5 yr. old DD, what do you guys think we should do as a plan of attack? We're staying onsite so we will take advantage of our EMH days. We also have Park Hoppers, so I was thinking of arriving at DL on 6/20 at 7am, doing all of the FL stuff and hopping to DCA if the teens start to take over later in the day. Same plan on 6/21, except we would start in DCA. Am I being overly paranoid?? HELP!

 

[Butterfly123]

Now I'm really worried...We'll be in the parks from 6/20 - 6/24 and we have 2 Grad Nites and the movie premier...ugh!! Hoping that most of the schools will have already gone to a Grad Nite since these are so late in the season, but with a 13 yr. old DD and a 5 yr. old DD, what do you guys think we should do as a plan of attack? We're staying onsite so we will take advantage of our EMH days. We also have Park Hoppers, so I was thinking of arriving at DL on 6/20 at 7am, doing all of the FL stuff and hopping to DCA if the teens start to take over later in the day. Same plan on 6/21, except we would start in DCA. Am I being overly paranoid?? HELP!

We are in the same boat, except we have three grad nites and a movie premiere. It covers all our park days! I noticed we have posted on the same threads regarding these grad nites. What I realized was that not all the reports are negative, and people seem to have different experiences on different nights, and even on the same nights! Only two of your days are grad nights, and I think if you plan on evening entertainment those nights you will have less line/ride contact with the grad groups. Those days are blocked for some AP's, so that should help the crowds.

I have no idea how the premiere will pan out. It might make the rest of the crowds (non premiere) be lighter...it may make them heavier. It will be a memorable experience, in any case!

I realized my concern was getting in the way of my usual Disney excitement, so I am choosing to not worry about it anymore. Worrying won't change anything. I've just come up with a flexible plan of attack, which is exactly what you are doing! I can't change my dates, so I will get all the Disney enjoyment I can out of my vacation, and let the rest go.

I think we will both have a great vacation.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

I agree. We also have several dining reservations made, and we have hired Mouse Expeditions to hold our spots for the nighttime shows on Friday and Saturday nights, so we won't have to use park touring time sitting waiting for the shows. I hope you guys have a great vacation!!

 

[krusty007]

I'll be there the same week. On the grad night days, one is a MM. We'll get there at rope drop and instead of resting in the afternoon, we'll stay until my DDs 5 and 2 drop. We have a reservation at Goofys Kitchen one night, and the other night (before the MM), it's early to bed.

 

[Jaylens Papa]

Where are you finding the Grad Night schedule?
DGS5 and I are heading down tomm for 3 days. Escaping the central valley heat. The weather looks great.

 

[krusty007]

Where are you finding the Grad Night schedule?
DGS5 and I are heading down tomm for 3 days. Escaping the central valley heat. The weather looks great.

Short answer: Wednesday through Friday nights are grad nights this week.