Grad Nite at Disneyland 2012???

[beeehive]

Hi Everyone,

I wondering about your thoughts regarding 2012 Grad Nite and how it may impact people visiting during those days? We are planning to visit but there does not seem to be much posted right now about closure times related to Grad Nite and I am concerned about visiting the park during those dates. Disneyland does not seem to have any answers yet either since I made a couple of calls. My travel agent mentioned that the park would open an hour early and probably close around 6pm but this is all guessing right now. Ant thoughts from people would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Your travel agent was probably only familiar with previous years format. Now the party is only from 11pm-3am BUT party goers get PHs to use during the day too. So I don't think the parks will close as early as they used to, but you'll have Grads in the parks during regular hours at least in the afternoon/evening.

 

[beeehive]

Your travel agent was probably only familiar with previous years format. Now the party is only from 11pm-3am BUT party goers get PHs to use during the day too. So I don't think the parks will close as early as they used to, but you'll have Grads in the parks during regular hours at least in the afternoon/evening.

That is my assumption too. I am just wondering if it is better to travel during the early part of June to possibly miss the larger crowds but deal with Grad Nite instead. Nobody seems to know any hard details about Grad Nite, including Disneyland.

Thank you for your thoughts.

 

[HydroGuy]

That is my assumption too. I am just wondering if it is better to travel during the early part of June to possibly miss the larger crowds but deal with Grad Nite instead. Nobody seems to know any hard details about Grad Nite, including Disneyland.

Thank you for your thoughts.

Actually there are quite a few details about grad night and I am not sure which details you are interested in.

This thread has most of what is known:

"The Scoop on Grad Nights at DLR in May and June" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2298400

Whether do avoid or go on grad night days is hard to say. I would say the AP blockout issue this June will be a much bigger issue than grad nights if Cars Land opens by then.

 

[minniecarousel]

I had a post about this a few days ago. I'm not happy that I booked the Grand Californian 6 months ago, only to find out that the Grad Nights won't be done when we're there from 6/18-22. If we plan carefully, we should be OK. I'm on a wait list for the following week, but I don't have high hopes, as the 2 bedroom units are scarce.

The thought of being in line for Star Tours and Toy Story Midway Mania with a ton of teenagers doesn't appeal to me. I'll bank on the fact that most of them won't be there at Park Opening!

 

[joelnkelly]

From my understanding the only way these kids can get to the parks will be by bus, meaning they have to travel together. Since school is still in session at this time most will not show up until later in the afternoon since they will be there until 3am. I am guessing they extended the park hours for the grads to accomodate the ones who cant stay for the nightly activities. We are going to be visiting DL between the 9th-16th. Grad nights falls right in the middle of our visit, tues-weds.thurs. We will be working around these days to plan other things. Remember they only sell a limited block of tickets for each day, so I am guessing they dont want the park over-run by grads, this would cause a huge headache for disney and other guests who would be complaining out the wazzooo!

 

[beeehive]

I read all of the posts & information, thank you! It seems like there is conflicting information regarding park closure times and this to me is very important. When I called guest services at DL, the person said that both parks would be closing on Grad Nites at 6pm. This sounds early to me... My travel agent said something completely different. I know that actual park hours are not posted until 6 weeks prior but if the park really will close at 6, then that would greatly impact our visit. We wanted to book a stay during 6/3 - 6/9 and unfortunately there are 3 Grad Nites (6/6 - 6/8) during that timeframe. I just want to make sure that our stay is not heavily impacted with early park closures 3 nights during our visit. Grad Nite this year also offers the grads an all day pass which is a new thing too so they can come anytime during the day. Who knows what the crowds will be like. Normally grads only come in to the park when GN starts in the evening. Your information states that the park would be closing later so I am not sure what is actually right at this time. I still have concerns about booking a trip during that time.
Thanks again everyone for all of your posts!