Grad Nite dates announced for 2014

[AddictedtoDoleWhip]

Grad night is not a right, it is a priviledge. Disney are in the business of making money and if this begins to impact that, then sure, there is a real possibility it will change, maybe not this year, but potentially next.

And honestly, a "right" to go a little crazy? No, people have a right to go there and not have other people ruin their visit. Kids should have a right to ride at DLR without grads swearing at the top of their lungs!

Sure there are great grads, and if they have a problem with this, they should express that to their obnoxious, loud and ignorant fellow students and not to the people who paid a lot of money to visit DLR only to be disrupted by their behaviour!

I agree with your solution though, I will never visit during "obnoxious nights" again.

Well, like you said. Disneyland is a privilege, not a right. And I highly doubt it will impact Disney in any which way. A lot of people are all talk, no bite so while people are saying "I will never visit during that time again!" I'm sure they will still visit around that time again.

And I am sorry but just because you paid a lot of money or more money than grads does not mean you deserve to be there more than they do. =)

 

[T0rrent]

Maybe I've been lucky but I've been at Disney land for two grad nights and never seen out of control kids cussing at the top of their lungs.

 

[butterflymouse]

I bet it was so much more fun for everyone else too! It's not been a popular change for those of us who are non-teenagers. I wish they'd change it back.

How long has it been the new format? My grad nite was in 2005.

 

[Cal-Pie]

2012? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Disneylandfan1]

If these dates are accurate, they are adding Grad Nites to Saturdays next year! Wow. We were there on Friday, June 14th and, though we did not have any bad experiences with grads, Disneyland was absolutely packed in the evening! (We knew Friday night would be crowded so we enjoyed a dinner at Goofy's Kitchen and chose that night to watch Fantasmic!, leaving the park after the show.) Saturday was the best day of our trip. We love going in June, but that week of the 10th is showing 4 Grad Nites including a Saturday? No way will we do that.

Since it looks like Grad Nites will be in DCA next year I'll give you my impressions of our 2 Grad Nite experiences on June 13th & 14th. First of all, a lot of grads were in Disneyland (we left Disneyland around 9:30pm both nights, so I'm not sure what it was like later). At one point in the early evening the lines to get through the Disneyland turnstiles were huge and my DH asked, "what's going on?" Sure enough, they were all grads trying to get into Disneyland park. We were in DCA in the evenings after dinner and there were no grads that we noticed, no grads in Carsland that we could see (though they could have been on California Screamin' or TOT?). My impression is that the majority were in Disneyland. Friday at 10pm we were near the bathrooms outside the entrance and a group of grads were there complaining to each other that Disneyland would not let them back in and told them to go to the party at DCA (which didn't start until 11pm). I couldn't help wondering after hearing that if Disneyland park was having trouble getting the grads over to DCA for the party. Overall we did not have any trouble with grads, in fact we met some very nice grads and congratulated them, but Friday night was so crowded. We learned from last year not to ride POTC on grad nites, and when we were eating dinner at the Blue Bayou on Thursday night we had a good chuckle hearing the grads hooting and hollering on the ride in the distance, again concluding we would wait to ride it the next morning. There were also a lot of grads in the single-rider lines, like Splash and Matterhorn.

I'm so disappointed they might add Grad Nites to Saturdays next year. I guess we'll see how it all turns out.

 

[perlster]

Maybe because this OP found the dates listed on Facebook, some doubt that they are genuine. I checked the post I made in that "late May" thread - with dates from the official Disney page - and there is no "maybe" - those are the 2014 Grad Nites

 

[Jerry Horne]

We will be in DL and DCA for two weeks in '14 4/27 through 5/9 and we're so glad to avoid Grad Nights!

 

[sherilaine]

Well, like you said. Disneyland is a privilege, not a right. And I highly doubt it will impact Disney in any which way. A lot of people are all talk, no bite so while people are saying "I will never visit during that time again!" I'm sure they will still visit around that time again.

And I am sorry but just because you paid a lot of money or more money than grads does not mean you deserve to be there more than they do. =)

I never said I deserve to be there more than they do, this is not about how much money anyone pays, this is about having respect for other guests, if they behave badly then they do not deserve to be there! If you disagree with that theory then I do not know what to say.

Also, I come from Canada, we are very selective in when we come and yes, we will NOT return during that time again. That is a guarantee.

 

[dtnrhi]

I've also noticed that wheelchair rentals increase dramatically on grad nights.

Having a brother wheelchair bound, this GAC abuse is very discouraging. However, they combat this by giving people who they know don't need one (although they can't say anything) a different stamp because they can't describe an ailment that would really warrant a GAC. The one we normally get allowed us to pass nearly everyone of these obvious fakers including the girl in a wheelchair with her feet crossed on the arm rest and texting, and the other group that kept switching off on "wheelchair duty".

Before anyone gets sensitive or angry for this post, understand I was a graduate of the class of 2013. Im used to unnecessary cursing and people being nasty to each other but this was just extreme and unwarranted.

 

[Disney Dudette]

Just because there were a few bad apples doesn't mean they should punish those who behaved well. They deserve to have a grad night and while they shouldn't go all crazy they have a right to be a little crazy at times.

The simple solution is to not go around this time if you are so disappointed.

I'm not saying to eliminate it, just change it back to the way it was so they can have the whole park to themselves to go crazy AFTER hours. That time in May is the only time I am able to take vacation, so that is not a solution for me!

 

[Camela]

We had two grad nights this year during our Disneyland vacation, it was horrible! I emailed Disneyland Resort about how bad it was and they compensated us with two day park hoppers for our trouble we had with out of control grads. We will never again drive 9 hours to be there on grad nights. Maybe planning Christmas at Disneyland, and getting a 5 day park hopper to go with our two day comp tickets. I have to say I was shocked by the behavior of the kids, but was even more shocked when they comped us tickets for the two ruined days! So Thank You to Disney for another vacation in the future, and I sure hope they do something, at least more supervision/security, for future Grad Nights.

 

[cfw213]

I am SO relieved they start later this year. We are WDW vets and our first (and likely only trip in the foreseeable future) trip to DLR is the first week of May next year from Weds-Sun. I'm really happy to be missing them!

 

[DisneylandPlanner]

If it's any consulation, I barely noticed the grads on June 19 and 20.

We were there June 20 and 21 and I would agree we did not really notice them. We had a horrible ride on POTC but that was due to a family with 6 adults and 2 kids yelling and talking on the ride. I was worried about grad nights and it worked out great.

 

[Disney Dory]

I never said I deserve to be there more than they do, this is not about how much money anyone pays, this is about having respect for other guests, if they behave badly then they do not deserve to be there! If you disagree with that theory then I do not know what to say.

Also, I come from Canada, we are very selective in when we come and yes, we will NOT return during that time again. That is a guarantee.

I agree with you 100% !!! I also agree with Disney Dudette and I hope they will change the the grad nights back to being after park hours so the grads can have the park to themselves. I realize it won't be this coming year, but we can hope for perhaps the next year! The grads DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO RUIN OTHER FAMILIES VACATIONS WITH THIER OBNOXIOUS BEHAVIOR! Addictedtodolewhip might not mind that sort of behavior, but most folks don't want their families subjected to it!

 

[Joel0917]

i was planning a trip to DLR next year..june 16-20..mon-Fri
but looks like there are the 2 grad nights..18-19..wed and thur.
i was only going to the park tue/wed/thur & fri...

thoughts..should i push to following week? how crowded will it be a week later? We are not super all night people...but have a 5 & 9 year old.

so my plan was DL on Tue/ CA On Wed and Fri..DL on Thur and park hop back to CA.
with early morning..i should be fine..but i hate the thought of grad nites.

thoughts? from those there just this past week..how were crowds over all t/w/th and fri morning/afternoon?

 

[Butterfly123]

i was planning a trip to DLR next year..june 16-20..mon-Fri
but looks like there are the 2 grad nights..18-19..wed and thur.
i was only going to the park tue/wed/thur & fri...

thoughts..should i push to following week? how crowded will it be a week later? We are not super all night people...but have a 5 & 9 year old.

so my plan was DL on Tue/ CA On Wed and Fri..DL on Thur and park hop back to CA.
with early morning..i should be fine..but i hate the thought of grad nites.

thoughts? from those there just this past week..how were crowds over all t/w/th and fri morning/afternoon?

I think crowds will also be influenced by which days are blocked. We went Wed to Sat of last week. The crowds were really light in the a.m. and built to moderate later. Really not bad at all. All of our days were blocked for Socal and Select AP's. We had three grad nites, and one movie premiere (Sat). Our longest wait for any ride was 30 minutes because we wanted one last ride on RSR as a family rather than single rider. Most of Sat rides like Indy were only 15-20 minutes. The Fantasyland rides were more like 20-25 in the afternoon. We were pleased about the crowds.

 

[dtnrhi]

We had two grad nights this year during our Disneyland vacation, it was horrible! I emailed Disneyland Resort about how bad it was and they compensated us with two day park hoppers for our trouble we had with out of control grads. We will never again drive 9 hours to be there on grad nights. Maybe planning Christmas at Disneyland, and getting a 5 day park hopper to go with our two day comp tickets. I have to say I was shocked by the behavior of the kids, but was even more shocked when they comped us tickets for the two ruined days! So Thank You to Disney for another vacation in the future, and I sure hope they do something, at least more supervision/security, for future Grad Nights.

Did they mail them to you?