April 24th and early closing?

[nhdisnut]

I read on another thread that last year during the weekend of what will be April 23 & 24th that the MK closed early for a "grad weekend" type event. Is this happening this year? We are starting our trip April 24th and I noticed that the MK is scheduled to close at 7:00 that day. Is "grad weekend" the reason, or is it just one of those scheduling quirks that seem to happen every so often? Thanks!

 

[DebbieB]

Grad Nights are April 23, 24, 30, May 1.

 

[nhdisnut]

Thanks for the info! Does anyone know if the grad nights have an influence on the crowds the rest of the day? Would we be better off focusing our attention on other parks those days and visiting MK on a non-grad night day?

 

[disney2003]

We were there last year for Grad nites. Not a proven theory, but on the day of the Grad Nite I found that the other parks had the students at them. Specifically Disney MGM. I would think that because they are going to MK in the evening, they would visit other parks. IMO

happy planning!

 

[nhdisnut]

Thanks! Are we talking about large number of high school seniors or is it still reasonable to be at the parks with a family?

 

[disney2003]

You shouldn't really notice them in the parks. I didn't. The only time we noticed was either on a bus or waiting for one. They were really well behaved. A bit loud sometimes but who isn't when you are excited about being at Disney!! You shouldn't have any trouble at all!


Have a great trip!

 

[IndyDisneyFan]

You will find that most of the grads will be staying at the all star resorts, so if you will be staying there beware...We did a couple of years ago, and they were very rowdy in the evenings, even doing some damage around the pool area(we were at Music). I would go again during that time, only stay somewhere else. We had no problems in any of the parks. If you are interested in getting more info about what will be going on during grad nights, visit disneygradnite.com. Hope you have a great time.

Laura

 

[Jen in MA]

The night of April 22nd is even WORSE... the MK closes at 6:30pm!!! Someone on here said this was due to a major corporation (McDonald's, I think?) renting out the entire MK for the evening. I am really angry about this and the 7pm closings the following 2 nights due to Grad Night. This is school vacation week for us in MA and in the past the MK has been open until at least 9pm (if not 10 or 11pm)... Sorry, just venting... again!!!

 

[nhdisnut]

I share your sense of disappointment - it's hard when trips to WDW have to be scheduled during a school break and that break is timed during some other event such as grad night. I think what we will do is spend the morning/early afternoon at MK and then park hop ending our night at Epcot - I don't mind that so much because we love the Illuminations show...

 

[zippeedee]

I think there will be a lot of us running to MK on Wednesday night for the ONLY spectro and Wishes of the week, then all heading to Epcot on Thursday when MK closes at 6:30. If the schedule had been up in December when I booked, I would have considered pulling the kids out of school instead. I guess we'll just learn how to deal with BIG crowds for a change ( I usually try to visit at really quiet times, like the second week in January).

 

[katypop]

zippeedee, spectro and wishes are also showing on monday apr19 of that week, so that should help a little with crowds
katypop

 

[pouncingpluto]

I don't want to rehash my rant from another thread, but I had a really bad experience last year at the end of April (we went for my birthday, 4/25 and some days after). MGM was the worst... lots of really large, rude groups of teenagers.