GRAD Night Disaster???

[col&johnWDWlvrs]

My wife and I booked our Disney trip some time ago and I just discovered we booked it in the middle of a Gran Night weekend. I have been to WDW several times but never during this weekend. Am I in for a disasterous vacation??

 

[becka]

Grad Nights are ticketed events after hours at the MK. The only possible issue would be that the MK closed earlier on those evenings but the rest of the parks remain open as normal. Grad Nights do not impact crowds during the day. We have been there twice during Grad Nights and I never would have known if I had not read it here on the boards.

Have a great trip....

I just noticed that this was your first post...Welcome to the DIS!!!

 

[DebbieB]

You're staying at POFQ? I don't think you will have a problem. I stayed at BWV over a Grad Night weekend in 2004 and you would never know it was going on. There were posts complaining about the band music being so loud it could be heard at the Contemporary last year.

 

[col&johnWDWlvrs]

My main concern is that we planned on going to Pleasure Island on Saturday which happens to be a Grad Night. I am thinking it may be best to avoid PI that night as I can imagine the teenagers may flock there.

 

[jcriket]

Grad night IMO is more of a local event kids from florida schools make up majority of people. Which means lots of them come for the event, and when I ever planed for similar events with groups, in orlando I would look for cheaper hotels so eveyone could afford to go.

 

[mommyrom]

We arrived apparently on the day AFTER Grad Nite this past May and we were glad we chose the dates we did for our trip...Just a warning about MCO, because the security area at the airport was an absolute zoo and we were so happy we were arriving instead of leaving...Check your dates and arrive early for departure should you be needing to leave with the grads! Just a bit of advice for you...

 

[dreamscometrue47]

We've been there a couple of times for Grad night and never would have known it was going on except for the fact that the MK closed early that night for everyone except the grads. We had no problems at the resorts either. You should be fine and have a magical vacation! 13 days and counting for us....gotta pack...gotta pack...gotta pack.....

 

[ms.ojo]

We stumbled on this last April during our trip. Would never have known in the parks...but we were staying at ASMo and believe me...when the kids arrived on Thursday we KNEW!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness. The pool was just plain scary! The life guards couldn't maintain control and ended up shutting down the spraying Fantasia Mickey and putting up signs saying "No Life Guards on Duty Swim At your Own Risk!" We left shortly after the life guards.

Surprisingly it wasn't noisy at night...or out in the walk ways. The only place we noticed the kids was the pool. We transfered to WL (planned) on that Sunday and it was nice to have a "normal" pool again.

I don't think you'll find them invading POFQ...they flock to the low budget hotels.

Enjoy your trip and worry not about Grad nights!!!! OH, one other thought ... DO NOT, go to MK on the Thursday BEFORE Grad nights. It was a ZOO. Probably everyone trying to get in before it closed early for 2 days. If I were to do it again. I WOULD GO to MK on one of the early closing days for the daytime....and plan a diff't night (maybe even that Thursday) where I'd just go at night for the parade and FW. But do NOT go to MK during the day that Thursday.

 

[Julylady]

We have hit grad night weeks twice in the past five years. The first time we were staying at the Poly. We heard music across the lake all night. I can't say it really bothered us that much, but we definitely heard it. The last time we were at the Fort Wilderness Cabins. That night we were driving and ran into a lot of traffic problems trying to get back to our cabin. Most of the grads arrive in busses who were trying to manuver and park near the campground. Neither time did we see huge crowds of grads at the parks during the day.

Based on our experience, I wouldn't change my dates due to Grad night, but then again, I never experienced the grads at my hotel.

Donna

 

[Cmbar]

Is this something relatively new? I went to Grad night about...ugh 20 years ago but I lived in south Florida and we always came up and went back in the same night on the buses. Don't remember invading the hotels, and I didn't think it was for out of state grads that it would impact the airport. I thought it was similar to Night Of Joy in September when they shut the MK early and only have this ticketed event. Has Grad night changed? Just curious. Can any Grad go or is it by school and is it only one night out of the year?

 

[GoofyGirlnPrincessV]

My main concern is that we planned on going to Pleasure Island on Saturday which happens to be a Grad Night. I am thinking it may be best to avoid PI that night as I can imagine the teenagers may flock there.

My niece went to grad night last year and they were only at MK. They arrived at MK around 6 or 7 and the park was closed to everyone else. They also didn't stay over night at any hotel.

They didn't go to PI either...

 

[DisneyGeek2000]

Is this something relatively new? I went to Grad night about...ugh 20 years ago but I lived in south Florida and we always came up and went back in the same night on the buses. Don't remember invading the hotels, and I didn't think it was for out of state grads that it would impact the airport. I thought it was similar to Night Of Joy in September when they shut the MK early and only have this ticketed event. Has Grad night changed? Just curious. Can any Grad go or is it by school and is it only one night out of the year?

I attended Grad night in 1979!!! and I am from New Jersey. I know they had multiple nights. We met other grads from around the country, not just Florida.

We stayed offsite.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

What are the Grad night dates this year?

 

[philaround]

What are the Grad night dates this year?

Grad nights for 2006 are Friday 4/28 and Saturday 4/29 and Friday 5/5 and Saturday 5/6.

We will be arriving Saturday 4/29 and leaving Sunday 5/7. On arrival day we only plan on doing HDDR but most likely will be taking the boat from MK to Fort Wilderness, hope we don't run into a transprtation problem.

 

[NotUrsula]

Grad Nights have always been open to groups from any school; we came in from out of state 25 yrs. ago. Flying in is very expensive and probably unusual; most schools do it as a marathon bus trip (believe me, I remember it well; in our case we rode 14 hours on school buses. Ouch.) As with most of these school-based events, offsite accomodations are more common if they need to stay overnight, but the Values are probably popular with more affluent schools. We stayed at what is now the Best Western Lakeside, which I understand is still a popular choice for school groups.

It is a group-only event; individuals cannot show up and get in, and you cannot arrive in a private vehicle or on a regular park bus. They bring in the chartered busses via a backstage entrance, and GN participants must leave the same way. They actually have a really strict dress code for GN, more strict now than it was in my day.

Groups can now arrange for what are called "blastoff parties" at PI or at certain locations in the MK; I know they sometimes use Tomorrowland Terrace for these. The blastoff parties normally start at about 8 pm, but they all end by about 10, when the first acts get ready to take the stages at MK.

 

[tjmw2727]

My main concern is that we planned on going to Pleasure Island on Saturday which happens to be a Grad Night. I am thinking it may be best to avoid PI that night as I can imagine the teenagers may flock there.

Don't worry as the teens won't be at PI with you after the MK party starts about 7ish but PI may close or parts of it earlier in the evening before the official MK grad night.

My sil teaches at a HS about an hour away from Disney and often chaperones Grad night. Since they are close they can do a one day trip but other schools can stay if they like. The teens are very closely supervised and generally are not allowed to anything other than a "sanctioned funcition". For a local school that arrives in the early evening lik hers there is a pre party at PI, with soft drinks food and dancing at a few of the clubs. The area will be closed to all but the party attendies. They have to pay for and arrange for this party in advance. Grad night starts about an hour af the MK closes and goes on until the wee hours so the MK resorts may hear the bands.

Its a privilidge for the kids and a dress code and code of conduct is strictly enforced.

The only inconvenience should be an early closing at MK, an early eveneing but breif closing of parts of PI and maybe some noise from MK.

HTH
TJ

 

[zachnlucy]

We'll be there for the first night of Grad Night this year on 4/28, which is our last night. We will definitely be at MK that day since it should not be crowded at all because of the early closing.

 

[cruiseonmagic]

. They bring in the chartered busses via a backstage entrance, and GN participants must leave the same way. They actually have a really strict dress code for GN, more strict now than it was in my day.

Groups can now arrange for what are called "blastoff parties" at PI or at certain locations in the MK; I know they sometimes use Tomorrowland Terrace for these. The blastoff parties normally start at about 8 pm, but they all end by about 10, when the first acts get ready to take the stages at MK.

There are also a couple thousand who attend the pre-party at FW. We have the 600 guest ferryboats pick them up at the campground dock... and they DEFINITELY don't leave via a backstage entrance. The busses are parked in the MK parking lot, and between 3am and 5am, 17000+ tired teenagers ride the ferryboats and monorails to the lot. I've worked 5 out of 8 grad nites over the past 2 years and let me tell ya--it's been an experience. Some of us try to get a couple hours sleep, a gallon of coffee, and we're good to go when the sun comes up.

I'm going to try to remember my camera this year. Looking down Main street at 630am with absolutely nobody around is an amazing site.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

We've been there a couple of times for Grad night and never would have known it was going on except for the fact that the MK closed early that night for everyone except the grads. We had no problems at the resorts either. You should be fine and have a magical vacation! 13 days and counting for us....gotta pack...gotta pack...gotta pack.....

We were there for Grad Nights once last year--I was very apprehensive after reading some posts on the DISboards--but never noticed a thing! Everything was just fine--in fact, I've been during Super Soap Weekend, Jersey Week, Cheerleaders, and probably numerous other occasions, and haven't noticed any problems.

 

[NotUrsula]

... and they DEFINITELY don't leave via a backstage entrance.

Now that I think back more carefully, even 25 yrs ago we did leave via the ferries, and our busses were at the MK lot in designated spaces, where the offsite resort shuttle busses normally pull in. We were not allowed to leave before sunup, though, and we had to meet at a designated spot in the park and walk out in a group with everyone accounted for, so I guess the exit procedure has changed a bit over the years.

I know we did go in through an alternate entrance, because they did a thorough bag check (the drinking age then was 18, so the point was to keep alcohol out of the MK.) It wasn't really what I would think of as backstage proper, I think it was a gate that was normally used as a fire evacuation route, on the Tomorrowland side somewhere. I don't think that the MK's bus loading area had been built yet.

Our trip was 2 nights. We left after school the day before, and got to the hotel with just enough time to change and head back out before the MK opened. We spent the day following the party at SeaWorld! Our school required that the trip have an "educational" component, so we went to SW, and we pretty much spent the entire day drinking, having had no sleep for 24 hours. I have pictures, but I don't think I was really conscious at the time. We spent the second evening at our hotel pool, ate a lot of pizza and drank yet more, and crawled back onto the busses in the morning, hungover, for the long drive home. Please forgive me if I got some of the procedural details wrong, it's a wonder I can now remember any details at all