Grad Night & Disney Ruin Magic Kingdom Stay

[ChapelHillian]

It's 4 in the morning. You and your family can't sleep because the music is thumping so loud you can feel it in your chest. Are you camping at Woodstock? No. Actually, you are vacationing at one of the main hotels at Walt Disney World and it happens to be one of the four Grad Nights.

(If you are going April 29th and 30th of 2005 and can't sleep because of the noise, then the Orange County FL staff says to call local law enforcement and report this fact - not Disney Security, but the Bay Lake police or county sheriff)

Disney didn't tell us when we booked that our expensive hotel room would be unbearable because of the noise. Nor did they tell us that there would be major fireworks at midnight instead of 10pm. The bands were so loud that we couldn't sleep for two nights because they played until FOUR in the morning. Earplugs didn't even take the edge off the deep bass from the bands. Disney didn't suggest a room on the other side of the hotel to lessen the noise.

Disney requires that you provide the birth date of your kids when you register, so Disney knew we were families with kids. And we now know that Disney has been planning and marketing Grad Night for a long time. And they likely chose not to disclose Grad night to families when booking because it would have hurt their occupancy rates.

One would think that a theme park marketing to families would actually be family friendly, but Disney was just plain mean. We haven't seen any Disney TV commercials of families with their fingers in their ears who can't sleep.

Beware to those of you who choose to go to Disney World this time of year. Shame on Disney for being family unfriendly. After saving up for a long time to be able to afford staying close to Magic Kingdom, our families were miserable because we didn't get enough sleep. Visiting Disney is difficult enough with small children without adding sleep deprivation. And anyone who had to make a long drive home would be at risk of falling asleep at the wheel.

This affected hundreds of families in several of the resort properties.

Disney need to disclose at both booking and at check-in EXACTLY what Grad night means to families staying at Magic Kingdom in terms of loudness and how late it runs. Anything less is dishonest.

The Peters Family
Chapel Hill, NC

www.thepeters.org

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Wow -- PaulT from RADP lives!

 

[ChapelHillian]

???

Did you reply to the right thread?

 

[chrisp]

Did you by chance stay at the CR April 20 - 23? We were there and I swear I saw a "Peters Family" from Chapel Hill as the family of the day on the bulletin board.

If you were at the CR, where were you? - we did not hear the noise you are describing (we were in the tower facing Bay Lake)

 

[woody1967]

All I can say is that with all of the available information out there on the world wide web I would have thought you would have known it was grad night when you were planning your vacation. At the very least all you had to do was ask when you were booking if there were any special events taking place while you were going to be there. By the way, which resort did you happen to stay at?

 

[Traveliz]

I have not heard a Paul T reference in a long time but you are right.

Sorry about your experience. I guess I just don't let those events bother me but I know some have more problems with them than others.

Liz

 

[wildernesslodgelover]

Peters family-

I am so sorry that happened to you! I would be upset, too! Ridiculous! I am a native Floridian and I should know about grad night (I went to grad night myself, 19 years ago!) but it would not have crossed my mind if I was staying there in April.

It probably would have been better to stay at a "lesser" (cheaper) hotel! If only you had known! Oh well, live and learn (and as my dad says...then die and forget it all...LOL!)

I hope you had some fun on the trip. I know, my sleep is very important to me, and if I don't get enough of it, I am NO FUN! Just ask my poor family! LOL!

 

[corndog]

When we were at the Wilderness in '02 we were thrilled that grad nights were going on because we got to see bonus MK fireworks a couple of nights.

 

[Linda88]

Very sorry your trip was spoiled I think perhaps I am in the minority but I feel that Disney are very poor at volunteering any info. unless you are very lucky and get in contact with the exception. You have to ask the right question at exactly the right time.

 

[Momof6]

We were there for two grad nights. We stayed at SOG - and could easily hear the fireworks - all the fireworks at MK. We LOVED it. We were rarely in our room before 11pm anyway. Many times we were pulling onto the top floor of the parking garage and joining lots of other families watch the late night fireworks together.
I knew about grad nights. There are other hard ticketed WDW events that also can disrupt planning - so I just make sure I know about them and plan around them. I think that the info was out there a long time in advance...
Anyway, it stinks to lose sleep on a vacation. You really need it to enjoy your day. Sorry that it happened to you.

Denise

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

I'd be very ticked off. Resort rooms are expensive and I wouldn't put up with that much noise past midnight at any hotel, no matter how inexpensive or expensive. Am I crazy to think that it's not a guest's responsibility to "know about it" ahead of time, when the "it" is so much noise at a family resort that the family can't sleep? I wouldn't be thrilled.

 

[disgal1]

So sorry to hear about your experience. Nothing ruins a vacation more than lack of sleep. I know exactly what you are talking about regarding the bass. There is nothing that tunes that out.

Hope you had a good time at the parks, and thanks for the heads up...I had planned a trip next spring, and will definately check out the grad nite times.
I think grad night is terrific, I went in 1978, but I sure wouldn't want to be there now!

 

[skiwee1]

We have stayed at the Poly the last 3 years when Grad nights have occured. We've heard nothing! We have always enjoyed the extra fireworks though. What resort were you staying at? I know it couldn't have been the Poly because there was no noise during those nights.

 

[kirbsam]

Don't even think it was your responsibility to know this or you should have asked if there were any special events that may interupt your vacation. Disney is lousy at volunteering things, and we all know it. Hence, you have to ask for codes, etc. I know some think you have some responsibility for your predicament, but you dont. It sucks and I hope you followed upwith them and let them know how much it sucked.

 

[DawnCt1]

We generally go in April and have experienced several grad nights. Besides the park closing early, that has been the only way that we have been inconvenienced. This has been a long term tradition and I think its wonderful that Disney does it. As far as vacationing with kids? Isn't that at least half of the guests' situation anyway? How many guests could they have realistically relocated based on the fact that they were traveling with children? When booking it is always good to ask if there are any special events that would impact your vacation.

 

[dislover123]

We were staying at the GF this past weekned when grad night was going on we were there Fri and Sat we were in Sago Cay building and heard nothing but the fireworks which were very short (much shorter than wishes).
My friends were staying in Bocca Chicca with the much desired direct view of Magic Kingdom and they said they heard the music all night long until 3 am. We were on there balcony around 10 pm and I have to admit you could hear the music clearly, we were singing along with the songs. But when we got back to our building we heard nothing.
They complained and were told they could move buildings, but who would want to do that after all your stuff was spread out so they just stayed where they were.

 

[dislover123]

"""It's 4 in the morning. You and your family can't sleep because the music is thumping so loud you can feel it in your chest. Are you camping at Woodstock? No. Actually, you are vacationing at one of the main hotels at Walt Disney World and it happens to be one of the four Grad Nights."""""



Are you sure about the 4 in the morning Grad night ended at 3 am for sure. You should of complained and moved rooms or resorts if it was that bad.

 

[Kaitysmom]

Boy, not much sympathy here, huh? I don't agree that you should have to research events at WDW while planning your trip - it is hard enough to organize when you are taking your trip, where you are staying, etc. WDW should have an advisory notation that pops up for the CMs who are taking reservations in the areas that may be impacted by special events so that they can advise guests of the possibility of noise past a certain hour. Then you could decide on which resort you want to book. Poor customer service IMO.

 

[Momof6]

I guess I always thought it was my responsibility to ask when I plan...
restaurants have never volunteered when I've made reservations that there will be a child's birthday party at the next table over, and we couldn't hear ourselves think let alone talk...or other non-Dis hotels that there is a convention in town, so never mind trying to eat anywhere in walking distance...or...that I would be stuck next to a family of very young children who were all freaking out on our flight because they had never flown before and couldn't get up to go to the bathroom and wanted to color but the crayons were packed in the bag that got checked...ugh!!!!
I am in NO WAY saying that it doesn't totally suck to be kept awake! Ugh! I'm just thinking that it is unreasonable for them to give you a run down of all of that for each day of your stay. Your complaint may help them to know which rooms could be a problem and plan better around the bookings/room assignments. I made sure that SOG knew what I was hoping for in a room. When we stood at the desk and she circled a room...I immediately said, 'no way.' Here is what we need...She moved us over to a different room before we even left the desk.
This is helpful to put out there - it helps others know what kinds of questions to ask!
Thanks for sharing!

Denise

 

[WDWBetsy]

Sorry you had a noisy stay.

I remember being irritated at POR when a child staying in the room next door kept trying to open our connecting door.

And we also had really "loud" neighbors who kept trying to get our attention by sending morse code thumps through the wall. .

On our last cruise, our aft jr. suite was right over a lounge. There was a whole lotta bass thumping going on from 10PM until 2AM most nights. But it really didn't bother me and the DH slept right through it. In that case, I knew in advance where my cabin was located and knew that noise was a possibility.

While this doesn't compare to your situation, I can sympathize. But it would take an awful lot for me to say something "ruined" my resort stay. Say the building getting blown away by a hurricane. Just my opinion.

I wouldn't probably expect a notification when booking, but it's always good to research potential special events on your own just in case.

It's really too bad WDW couldn't at least give guests a flyer at check-in explaining the special event and possible noise issues.