Grad nights?

[Disneyenthusiast]

I am trying to avoid Grad nights when I book for May 2007. Does anyone have any idea of when Grad nights usually are? Early or late May? I would be disappointed to pay for MK etc. and not get in because of Grad nights, especially when that is the time for fireworks etc. Thanks!

 

[jazstar87]

this year they are April 28 and 29, May 5 and 6 they are usually around the same time.

 

[Mainebound]

What is grad night , exactly? Do they shut down certain parks at a certain time? We will be at WDW the first week of May so I need to know!

Thanks!

 

[tiggger1]

What is grad night , exactly? Do they shut down certain parks at a certain time? We will be at WDW the first week of May so I need to know!

Thanks!

they close Magic Kingdom at 7 PM and then bus in thousands of high school seniors. The park is closed to the public.

 

[Disneyenthusiast]

Any more or updated info. on this? I contacted Disney to check on this, but never received a response...
Thanks!

 

[loopner67]

I just have to comment on this one!

I went to Grad night in '85! It was really fun that the whole park was closed to the public and ONLY graduating seniors were in the park. It was a great experience to be in the park during the "night" (I think we stayed until early morning). I have some great pictures - we got Mickey Mouse Ears with tassles on them and you could get your picture taken by stuff that said "Grad night".

I hear that my old highschool was taking seniors to Mexico for their senior trips now. I'll take Disney world over that ANY day.

 

[TravelinGal]

I'm not even going near MK on May 5 or 6! I figure the park will be packed with extra grads during the day too. We'll do something else then. (we arrive on the 5th - so that's not a big deal for us anyway.) Every time we've gone to WDW we've done MK the first day, but not this year.

What park is best to hit on a Saturday anyway?

 

[Webbie]

Another consideration is where the grads are staying. I would avoid staying in the value resorts during grad night weekends. Too many excited teenagers at one time. LOL.

 

[BankBunny]

As far as the resorts are concerned....I went to Grad Night as as senior in 1994 and my high school stayed off property. I would tend to think that more school would pick this option as it would be even cheaper then the value resorts. I don't know if anyone else who has gone could shed any more light on that subject.

 

[DebbieB]

I was there during Grad Night weekend in 2004, it wasn't bad at all. The dates depend on when Easter is. If Easter is early, they usually have it the last 2 weekends in April. If it's late, then it goes into May.

http://disneyyouthprograms.disney.g...amsOpenCenter?id=ProgramsGradNiteThisYearPage

 

[TravelinGal]

When I pulled up the park hours for May it said May 5 and 6 were Grad nights at Magic Kingdom. If they have it the last weekend in April too, I don't know...

 

[LadyJanel]

I went to Grad Night twice -- seniors and their dates were allowed to go from our school -- once in '88 and once in '89. In '88 we traveled the day before, stayed in a motel off-site, went to Epcot for the day and then transferred over to MK for the actual Grad Night. In '89, we left at 4 am to get to Orlando when the park opened. We went to MGM (it had just opened) during the day and then transferred over to MK for Grad Night again. Both times we left for home directly after staying up all night at Grad Night. Both times were in May.

You will probably be ok going to MK during the day because most of the high schoolers avoid it since they are going to be locked into it all night. We had no choice but to avoid it since we only had 1 day passes with no park hopping and our chaperones/teachers picked out the park.

OT: I still remember that our buses were parked in the same location both years -- Sleepy 69. I don't know if they choose that particular parking area because high school seniors probably wouldn't forget it or if it was just an accident but both years it got a huge laugh when it was announced. The groups performing were New Kids on the Block on their way out and Michael Bolton on his way up. Scary!

 

[Bob NC]

If you didn't know grad nite was happening, you'd never *know* it was happening. We have been there for 3 of them and you would never be aware of it.

It should be relatively easy to plan around the ONE night of your vacation that MK closes early, surely you wont be going to MK every night.


We have noticed NO overcrowding of the parks relative to grad night. They bus in the kids and they gather in the MK parking lot and the DTD parking lot before going to the MK.

The GREAT majority of the kids do NOT stay onsite.

 

[EmmaAndQuinnsMommy]

We will be at MK May 5th and I saw that it closed at 7, but it said no special events were scheduled, so I didn't know about it. That is not our only day at MK, so it isn't too big of a deal I guess.

 

[Disneyenthusiast]

My concern is that it looks like two weekends (both Fri. & Sat. nights) are blocked out for Grad nights. That many takes all the weekend opportunities for the entire trip. Usually the latest night hours are on the weekend...

 

[Adora]

Hey, I'm just wondering what parks people would suggest for the days that will be grad nights. Our last night at DW will actually be the 28th (leaving early on the 29th). We were hoping to do MK for the 2nd time during our trip our last day but I now see that not being such a great idea. Will any part but MK be good? Or does it not really make a difference until the buses start to arrive later in the day??
Thanks

 

[Mermaid4me]

The reason you don't know it is going on is that the seniors are bussed in to the back entrance of the park at 8:00pm and bussed out at 4:00am. They do not usually spend the night. I confirmed this with 3 CMS. She said it really isn't a problem. We are going to be there for grad night and we are just going to go to another park. Everything should be fine.

Mermaid4me

ASMO (2 rooms) Apr 2006
CR 2005
ASMO 1999
Offsite 1986
CR 1979

 

[LadyJanel]

It's been my experience that during the day of Grad Night, MK is the best park to attend if you want to avoid any additional students because those that do get there early to enjoy park time avoid MK since they will be locked into it all night. In the past Epcot has gotten a large hit because it is deemed educational so it acts as a good excuse for getting there early.

 

[disneyw/kids]

We were in Disney during Grad Nights last year and Epcot & MGM were more crowded during the day than MK. But still managible. The only problem we experienced was that we were staying in a Garden View room at the Grand Floridian and our friends were staying in a Lagoon view room with an awesome view of the castle, but they heard very loud music until around 3 am. There were bands playing. It was loud enough to keep their 3 year old. We did not hear the music from our room but we were not close to the lagoon. When we got back I remember people saying here on the boards they also heard very loud music those nights also. Just some info depending on where you are staying. The "grads" are bused in and from my knowledge don't usually stay on property we saw lots,lots of buses.
We were aware of the hours before hand and just adjusted our schedule didn't really affect us since I knew before i got there.

 

[karensi]

I just did a search on Grad night and was able to find out that Grad night 2007 will be April 20th and 21st and April 27th and 28th, 2007. BUT, I also saw that there is now something (new??) called 8th grade Grad Jam which will be held on the night of May 4th,2007 (one night only) at AK. Not sure of the time. though. Since AK usually closes pretty early I dont think it should matter too much.