Any Grad Nite memories?

[bcla]

I figure this can go on the Community Board because it can be a shared experience since Disney Parks made it a bicoastal thing. I believe WDW killed their own Grad Nite, but it still goes on in California. There are some old threads on this, but I guess a new thread would be better than just adding to an old one. I grew up in California and I remember my high school's trip in May 1988. We chartered maybe 4 Greyhound buses and checked into a motel where our rooms were double doubles with 4 to a room. Our initial stop after getting into the room was Knott's Berry Farm where were got some group rate that also included a voucher for maybe up to $5 worth of food or merchandise. It wasn't terribly busy but there seemed to be a lot of people there. Our group required that boys wear a suit and tie and girls wear dresses.

I understand the current options at Disneyland include a pre-Grad Nite park hopper or a California Adventure ticket. That wasn't available at the time. I recall that we started at 9 PM and it was crazy. Star Tours had something like a 2 hour wait in line and it was a pretty new ride. I'd actually been on it before visiting with family back when it opened in 1987. Our entertainment included Expose, Michael Bolton, Roger (RIP), and Force MDs. By closing time at about 7 AM we were walking around like zombies in kind of a daze. Of course we were young and our bodies could somehow that that kind of abuse.

We only got a few hours of sleep before we had to pack up and go to Magic Mountain. A few of my buddies thought it would be warm and wore shorts. I brought a light jacket and ended up lending it to a friend. I remember waiting in a 2 hour line for Ninja and an hour to ride Colossus. When waiting in line we talked to quite a few people, and one guy either was impressed or thought we were crazy for being at Knott's, Disneyland, and Magic Mountain within a 24 hour period.

Finally we got back on the bus but were running into a problem that our Greyhound drivers were talking about time limits. They hadn't really been driving much, but I think their standby time might have run into some sort of driver rules. The bus I was assigned to was kind of crazy because some of my classmates were teasing the driver to the point where we could tell he wasn't terribly happy about the way he was treated. Some of the kids who did that eventually tried to make peace with the driver, and eventually we got under way without needing to bring in a relief driver which might have been difficult. I'm not sure how they get a relief driver without planning. Our driver would probably need a hotel room and a relief driver would need a deadhead ride home.

 

[NotUrsula]

I went to one of the relatively early ones at MK. The headliners were Kool & the Gang and KC and the Sunshine Band. It was the first Florida Senior Trip my school had ever attempted; about 2x the distance traveled by previous classes.

We arrived in 2 school buses (that we had driven close to 900 miles in; some of the teachers drove them), we stayed at the old Sheraton Lakeside Resort, which was new then. We arrived at the hotel around lunchtime having slept on the bus, spent the afternoon at the pool, then dressed and ate a catered dinner at the hotel before being bused to the TTC, and went into the MK after regular closing time. I don't remember exactly what time that was, but I think around 9 pm. The dress rules were quite strict; no shorts, no sneakers, no t-shirts, no bare shoulders; girls had to wear skirts or long pants, guys had to wear ties and a collared shirt. We all had to wear dress shoes. (BTW, the dress rules came direct from Disney, & were a DLR holdover that they didn't drop until the mid-1990's. Even at night, those rules made it miserably hot in Orlando for the boys at that season.)

I remember that as I was no stranger to Florida summer heat, I got around the rules by wearing a 3-piece matching sundress outfit that I had sewn myself: It was made of a pale-blue gauze print, and consisted of a sleeveless top, shorts, and a button-front skirt over the shorts, so that I could climb in and out of rides without flashing. With it, I wore white leather sandals that had 2-inch heels; the same shoes I would wear for my graduation a week later. I remember quite vividly having very sore feet when we left the park at daybreak!

Our school had a rule that any "field trip" activities had to have an educational component, so we went back to the hotel at about 6 am, showered, put on more casual shorts, tees and sneakers, and got bused to Sea World for the day, where we dragged ourselves around in the heat and mostly got drunk on boat drinks. (The drinking age was 18 at the time, and I remember getting into line over and over again to buy drinks for classmates because I was already 18.) We finally went back to the hotel about 5 pm, ate pizza and crashed. We got back on the school buses the next morning and headed home.

Honestly, I don't remember details of the event at MK all that well, because we all drank quite a bit before going to the park; among other things, we had bags of oranges on the bus that were shot up with vodka. I do remember that the bands played multiple sets, which kept the ride lines down. The one ride I really remember doing that trip was Space Mtn, which I bravely tried because it was pitch dark. I have a terrible fear of falling & had never managed to stay conscious on a rollercoaster up until then, but it worked because in the dark I couldnot tell how high up I was.

I'm sure some shops were open, but I didn't purchase any souvenirs except a few postcards. It had been a stretch for me to scrape up the cash to go (~$150 ea as I recall, plus what we had earned with some fundraising bake sales, carwashes & such. Only about 50% of the class managed to afford it.) I don't have any photos of the MK event, and only 1 from the Sea World day, which ended up in our yearbook. I didn't manage to go back to WDW for another 9 yrs., by which time it had grown to 3 parks. (And ironically, I wound up staying in the same hotel; my now-DH received a free stay with some purchase that he had made; can't remember now what he bought. I didn't realize at first that it was the same hotel, until I recognized the swimming pool.)

(Lest anyone think I still drink like that, not at all. I got tired of the party lifestyle before I even graduated from college.)

ETA Changed a few details after thinking about it a bit more. Isn't it funny how what we all remember most vividly is the oddity of getting dressed up to go to a theme park?)

 

[bcla]

I went to one of the first ones at MK. The headliners were Kool & the Gang and KC and the Sunshine Band.

We arrived in 2 school buses (that we had driven close to 900 miles in), we stayed at the old Sheraton Lakeside Resort, which was new then. We arrived at the hotel around lunchtime having slept on the bus, spent the afternoon at the pool, then dressed and ate a catered dinner at the hotel before being bused to the TTC, and went into the MK after regular closing time. I don't remember exactly what time that was, but I think around 9 pm. The dress rules were quite strict; no shorts, no sneakers, no t-shirts, no bare shoulders; girls had to wear skirts or long pants, guys had to wear ties and a collared shirt. We all had to wear dress shoes.

I remember that as I was no stranger to Florida summer heat, I got around the rules by wearing a 3-piece matching sundress outfit that I had sewn myself: It was made of a pale-blue gauze print, and consisted of a sleeveless top, shorts, and a button-front skirt over the shorts, so that I could climb in and out of rides without flashing. With it, I wore white leather sandals that had 2-inch heels; the same shoes I would wear for my graduation a week later. I remember quite vividly having very sore feet when we left the park at daybreak!

Our school had a rule that any "field trip" activities had to have an education component, so we went back to the hotel at about 6 am, showered, put on more casual shorts, tees and sneakers, and got bused to Sea World for the day, where we dragged ourselves around in the heat and mostly got drunk on boat drinks. (The drinking age was 18 at the time, and I remember getting into line over and over again to buy drinks for classmates because I was already 18.) We finally went back to the hotel about 5 pm, ate pizza and crashed. We got back on the school buses the next morning and headed home.

Honestly, I don't remember details of the event at MK all that well, because we all drank quite a bit before going to the park; among other things, we had bags of oranges on the bus that were shot up with vodka. I don't have any photos of the MK event, and only 1 from the Sea World day.

(Lest anyone think I still drink like that, not at all. I got tired of the party lifestyle before I even graduated from college.)

Yeah. We had a supposedly strict no-alcohol policy, although I remember one of my roommates had a flask and could smell that it was something pretty strong. Also there was probably a no smoking policy, although one of our classmates (a Spanish exchange student) lit one up.

I don't know what to make of our dress code. It seemed to be common with all groups, although I'm not sure if it was something mandated by Disney. This certainly isn't the dress code I remember:

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2019/06/2020-disneyland-resort-grad-nite-dates-announced/

 

[eileenjez]

Wow you guys are making me feel old. GradNite for us was right after our graduation ceremony. School buses down to Anaheim for DL. Girls wore dresses and guys had ties and jackets. If I remember right it cost around $25 for both of us. Tom Sawyer's Island was closed and so was the SkyWay. Most of the other rides were open but it's been so long I really can't say what other ones we went on. We paid for any food and drink. My boyfriend bought me a giant stuffed bear at the Character Shop out side of Space Mountain. Bus driver kidded saying he would have to charge us for another seat it was so big. I still have the photo we took there along with the program for the night. Left the park around 6am for a ride back to the San Fernando Valley and the school parking lot.

 

[bcla]

Wow you guys are making me feel old. GradNite for us was right after our graduation ceremony. School buses down to Anaheim for DL. Girls wore dresses and guys had ties and jackets. If I remember right it cost around $25 for both of us. Tom Sawyer's Island was closed and so was the SkyWay. Most of the other rides were open but it's been so long I really can't say what other ones we went on. We paid for any food and drink. My boyfriend bought me a giant stuffed bear at the Character Shop out side of Space Mountain. Bus driver kidded saying he would have to charge us for another seat it was so big. I still have the photo we took there along with the program for the night. Left the park around 6am for a ride back to the San Fernando Valley and the school parking lot.

There was probably a quantatative difference between visitors who did it as a local trip vs those who required an overnight trip like we did. Knott's and Magic Mountain were added to make it worth our time. Disneyland has always been heavily a locals' park. My cousin lived in Los Angeles County, and she was designated with going with guests to Disneyland. She said she had probably gone over 75 times by the time she was 14.

 

[eileenjez]

I have to agree on that. We went so many times CMs knew us. Haunted Mansion wasn't open when we went. 1968. Those were great times going to DL. It was closed on Mondays. Tickets were only $5. I remember getting our first AP. Went to a party much like GN and still have the sweatshirt. How times have changed

 

[disneychrista]

My only memory is that my class didn't go.

 

[sasywtch]

1975. We took 4 greyhound busses from Sacramento to Anaheim. We left around noon. The plan was to sit in DL parking lot until mid nite (About 4 hours). Our bus broke down on the freeway before we even got out of Sacramento ( for those in Sac. Between cal expo and downtown) we got to get out and walk in the fields ( a chaperone behind us went and got pizzas) so by the time we got to D L it was time to change and go in. The people on the others busses were confined in the bus for 4 hours as DL wouldn't allow kids walking around. We had to wear dresses or nice pantsuit. 6 am we were heading home. My oldest son went to Hawaii. Same school 19 years later

 

[disneyhand]

I went to Grad Night at Disneyland, in 1974. From San Diego, so not an overnight trip. I remember having lots of fun, but not anything specific. We did go to and from on a bus. I wore a cute pant suit and my boyfriend wore a suit and tie. There were lots of rules. Wow, that was a long time ago and all I can remember. I'm still friends with that ex boyfriend

 

[C&Jx2]

I had my ”GradBash” at Islands of Adventure. It was between that and a music festival I was finally old enough to go to. I chose GradBash because my favorite band (Unwritten Law) was playing there. Turns out, they got kicked out after their first few performances and weren’t even there the day we went!

It was terrible. We were bused in from our Tampa area school around 5pm. Had to wait in a holding area in CityWalk until 7 when they closed the park and let us in. Only the big rides were open, very limited food choices available, and all of that shut down at midnight and we were there until 2am. There were dance parties from midnight to 2am, but my friends and I passed. No thanks on the foam and grinding with random teens from other schools.

My friends and I found some grass and just napped until it was time to leave.

To make matters worse there was a terrible accident on the highway. Our normal 90 minute drive turned out to be about a four hour one. Our parents didn’t pick up up until 7am the next day. It was a mess.

 

[lorimay]

I went in 1982, being from So. Florida, we left at maybe 2-3pm to arrive in time and drove back after the MK closed.
We had to wear dressy clothes and my feet were killing me, but we had a blast.
Got home went to breakfast with friends and went home to sleep, then my manager called me from the grocery store I worked at and pleaded with me to come to work because they were so short-handed.

 

[bcla]

I had my ”GradBash” at Islands of Adventure. It was between that and a music festival I was finally old enough to go to. I chose GradBash because my favorite band (Unwritten Law) was playing there. Turns out, they got kicked out after their first few performances and weren’t even there the day we went!

It was terrible. We were bused in from our Tampa area school around 5pm. Had to wait in a holding area in CityWalk until 7 when they closed the park and let us in. Only the big rides were open, very limited food choices available, and all of that shut down at midnight and we were there until 2am. There were dance parties from midnight to 2am, but my friends and I passed. No thanks on the foam and grinding with random teens from other schools.

My friends and I found some grass and just napped until it was time to leave.

To make matters worse there was a terrible accident on the highway. Our normal 90 minute drive turned out to be about a four hour one. Our parents didn’t pick up up until 7am the next day. It was a mess.

By "found some grass" I take it you meant you napped on a lawn?

There's something similar in California.

https://www.universalyouthprograms.com/graduation/

 

[C&Jx2]

By "found some grass" I take it you meant you napped on a lawn?

There's something similar in California.

https://www.universalyouthprograms.com/graduation/

Yes lol

 

[holycow]

1980 here. Grad nite at Disneyland. We lived down the road so we just boarded the buses and were there. Horrible night! KC and the Sunshine band played on Tom Sawyers Island. Everyone saw KC drop the mike but he kept singing. I think everyone booed. It took us about 1.5 hours to walk from Main Street to Pirates. About 4 in the morning I was ready to go. When I got to Main Street it looked like a Zombie Apocalypse ahaha. Everyone was just laying everywhere and no one said a thing. I'd like to say it was a fun time but it was so long ago I don't even remember if I road on any rides! haha