The Scoop on Grad Nights at DLR in May and June

[HydroGuy]

Thank you so much. I was told that the park would close early in May (like 6pm or 7pm) for the grads. Being from the East Coast, 11pm PST is really late for me. So, I would have left the park by that point anyway. That is excellent news.

When the May schedule comes out, will it reflect the new show times for the grad nights? Or is it annouced only at the park that day?

Again, thank you for all your help.

We probably will not know the park hours and entertainment for May until late March or maybe early April.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

When the May schedule comes out, will it reflect the new show times for the grad nights? Or is it annouced only at the park that day?
.

It will be announced ahead of time. Hours are typically 6 weeks out, entertainment often doesn't fill in until 4 week out.

 

[Mommy26]

The second best time of day for rides is an hour or two before closing.

Is grad night going to change that?

 

[HydroGuy]

The second best time of day for rides is an hour or two before closing.

Is grad night going to change that?

Probably.

My educated guess is that days with grad nights will be better to focus hard on rides in the morning. Then those would be the best evenings to see shows like WOC, F! and fireworks. Use your late night rides on nights which are not grad nights.

 

[tinkermell]

My DD is doing Grad Nite this year on May 10th-11th. I think my DH and I might be chaperones.

No really...looking forward to a wonderful time with the kids. Geesh...I'm a kid when it comes to DL!

BTW- I went to Grad Nite in 1974. Had a blast also. I sincerely hope that Disney keeps this tradition for many years to come.

 

[yoyo93]

Hey I have a really quick question regarding the grad night.
Are these kids allowed to leave the parks to go to Downtown Disney? I can not for the life of me find any answers for this. I just want to know because on the last day of my trip down there it's a grad night and we wanted to have dinner in Downtown Disney. We just want know if it's going to be busy.

 

[HydroGuy]

Hey I have a really quick question regarding the grad night.
Are these kids allowed to leave the parks to go to Downtown Disney? I can not for the life of me find any answers for this. I just want to know because on the last day of my trip down there it's a grad night and we wanted to have dinner in Downtown Disney. We just want know if it's going to be busy.

With the new format, it would seem yes.

 

[yoyo93]

With the new format, it would seem yes.

Dang it. Oh well, we made reservations so there should be no worries. Thank you so much for answering!

 

[Rhonna]

So we were going to leave DL on Thursday, May 10th since the first grad night is that night and the grads can be in the parks all day.

We called to see what it would cost to add that Thursday night to our reservation and in the process asked if the grads being in the parks affects the crowds that day. (It also is mother's day weekend but that's on Sunday.)

The CM at reservations said it was a "hard ticket" event and there wouldn't be any grads in the parks until the event began. My sister believes them since they are supposed to be "official" and I have to say, "No, 10 CM's will give you 10 different answers".

Where is the "rolling eyes" emoticon?

Now we don't know whether to add that Thursday and leave Friday - since it would give us one more day and since Thursday was traditionally a slower day.

Any thoughts? We aren't sure whether to do this or not.

 

[kelmac284]

I also have a question about DCA hours. We are ONLY going to be there for 2 days on our summer trip. One day for DCA and one day for DL. Are there reduced hours for DCA on the 19th?? It would be nice to know which park to go to on which day. I believe Tuesday is a MM so I am thinking it would be better for us to DL that day since we can go early and also if it stays open till 11 chances are we won't stay even close to that long so then on Wed we should in theory have the whole normal hours at DCA correct??

And I am really hoping they do something with carsland ie open the park earlier or carsland early for hotel guests or something. That would really help. Guess we will have to wait and see.

 

[skiingfast]

Are there reduced hours for DCA on the 19th??

The Private Parties are starting at 11pm in Disneyland Park. While it's possible DCA will get expanded hours to accomodate regular guests by that time it may not matter. When Carsland opens DCA may start a new schedule with long hours anyway.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

So we were going to leave DL on Thursday, May 10th since the first grad night is that night and the grads can be in the parks all day.

We called to see what it would cost to add that Thursday night to our reservation and in the process asked if the grads being in the parks affects the crowds that day. (It also is mother's day weekend but that's on Sunday.)

The CM at reservations said it was a "hard ticket" event and there wouldn't be any grads in the parks until the event began. My sister believes them since they are supposed to be "official" and I have to say, "No, 10 CM's will give you 10 different answers".

Where is the "rolling eyes" emoticon?

Now we don't know whether to add that Thursday and leave Friday - since it would give us one more day and since Thursday was traditionally a slower day.

Any thoughts? We aren't sure whether to do this or not.

I'd add it. There are three grad nights the 5 days we were gonna go.. There will be a greater number of teens in the park but my friend pointed out that it's a school deal so not everyone will be coming for the whole day. Depends on the school? You also have to realize that the tickets for this aren't cheap and are limited in number. I think it'd be ok to add the Thurs

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Here's my question. We have 6 days to choose from for our 5 days in the park... June 3-8.

Would the crowds be worse for grad night or for unblocked AP's?? It's the one thing I can't decide about our trip..

 

[Misskitty3]

Looks like we will have 2 out of our 3 will be Grad nights!

 

[mmmears]

I can't say I'm excited at the prospect of grad night teens in the park all day. Last time we were at DL, it closed early for the grads. So I guess we will have to wait and see how much this new format impacts the rest of us... Thanks for the update.

 

[ConnieB]

With the new format, it would seem yes.

Actually, according to the Chaperone handbook we received, the kids will have hopping priviledges during the day (the same as the general public) ....but come 11pm, they have one hour to get inside DL before it is locked down. Gaining entrance after midnight requires a chaperone. Leaving after you have entered (be that 11 or after) requires a chaperone to sign an early release form and to escort you back to your bus or to your parents if they are picking you up. There is no re-entry after you have been "early released".

So....from 11pm to midnight I guess the kids could wander DTD, but the special F! show is at 11:30 and the dance party starts at 11 so I'd venture to guess that MOST of the kids are there for the special party and will want to be inside DL from fairly close to start to finish.

If anyone has any high schoolers (ages 14 to 20) that are interested in attending Grad Nite, our group is going June 21 and June 22. We have a thread started or you can PM me for more details.

 

[megswdw]

Any idea what time the grad night fireworks will be showing? We are in a theme park view at DLH. Being wdw natives, we had no ideas that fireworks weren't shown every night. Unfortunately, we are there Monday - thursday morning. I'm hoping we can catch the grad night fireworks from our room if they aren't too late!

 

[skiingfast]

Any idea what time the grad night fireworks will be showing?

This is no longer a part of Grad Nite Parties.

 

[Misskitty3]

Just curious....are most of the schools that participate in Grad Night from So Cal?

When I graduated from HS (um....several years ago) our grad night party was held after the actual graduation ceremony. And the ceremony was held around 6pm or 7pm. After the graduation, the kids were bussed to a secret location for the actual party and then bussed back to school around 7am the next morning.

If the So Cal schools follow the same plan, there wont be many Grads in the park until later in the evening. I know there are several folks here that participated in Grad Nights (way back when) so just wondering how it works.

 

[megswdw]

This is no longer a part of Grad Nite Parties.

On the Grad Night facebook page, they are taking suggestions for music for the grad night explosion fireworks.