Gradnight Info

[Goofy_Mom]

We are planning our super summer trip for June 4-8 and I was curious what the dates for Gradnight were to see if they would colide with our dates and shut down the parks early. So I called the Disney Youth Program number to ask if the Gradnight dates intersected with our vacation dates. The CM on the phone (I spoke with Katie) said they aren't closing the parks super early like they have in years past. This year, seniors are coming duing the day with a parkhopper (and a couple of fastpasses). There will be an after hours event for the seniors in the Disneyland park from about 10pm-3am with a special F! showing just for them.

Because of the change up, there are more Gradnight days then there have been in the past.

So, long story short, they good news is Disneyland park will not be closing super early for the parties. The bad news is there will be a lot of 17/18 year olds running loose in the parks. They are supposed to be adheared to a higher dress code so hopefully that will have an impact on thier behavior, but there are bad eggs in every bunch. These dates go from mid May-late June.

 

[skiingfast]

Get the Scoop on DLR Grad nites.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2298400

 

[joelnkelly]

More I hear about grad nights the less I am concerned with it. we will be at DL in mid june and 3 of those days will be grad nights. If you were a HS student would you want to be at DL from 9am-3am? I am guessing most HS'ers will be showing up in the late afternoon to stay until 3am. You might be dealing with them if you are planning to go to the parks in the evening or night but the daytime should be pretty clear. I am more worried about the Carsland crowds than grad nights.

Also, since they are spreading out the grad nights over so many days I think they are letting fewer in during those hours, I read at another forum that they only are selling 5000-8000 tickets per night for each night. This would drastically reduce the amount of kids there at night.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

More I hear about grad nights the less I am concerned with it. we will be at DL in mid june and 3 of those days will be grad nights. If you were a HS student would you want to be at DL from 9am-3am? I am guessing most HS'ers will be showing up in the late afternoon to stay until 3am. You might be dealing with them if you are planning to go to the parks in the evening or night but the daytime should be pretty clear. I am more worried about the Carsland crowds than grad nights.

Also, since they are spreading out the grad nights over so many days I think they are letting fewer in during those hours, I read at another forum that they only are selling 5000-8000 tickets per night for each night. This would drastically reduce the amount of kids there at night.

Since they are selling these to groups/schools, I'd think they have to arrive with their school. The schools are responsible for them while they're there, right?

 

[joelnkelly]

Since they are selling these to groups/schools, I'd think they have to arrive with their school. The schools are responsible for them while they're there, right?

I believe you are correct, when do the schools end in California?

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I believe you are correct, when do the schools end in California?

Anywhere from late May to mid-June....depending on the district.

 

[erocrobro]

I am feeling a lot better the more I read about these gradnights. We will be there the same dates as OP, and I am glad to hear that they are not closing early. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that if they have special WoC and Fantasmic for the grads, the regular showings may not be as crowded.

 

[-KT-]

When I went to gradnight when it was an only at night thing you arrived with your school, get a quick pat down and then were set free in the park. There is a dresscode but it was not too strict though some school made all their students wear only kahkis and white shirts. They werent too happy to see the majority in jeans and sweatshirts.

There are a lot of bad apples that go on the trip but the security is probably triple what normally is in Disneyland. We were on POTC and the guy behind me lit a cigarette in the tunnel before the ship fight scene. Next thing I know a castmember jumps out of the darkness with a flashlight yelling "give that here, whats wrong with you" and she grabbed it out of his hand. At the end of the ride security was waiting for him.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

I feel a bit better reading some of this..You guys are probably right. Some of those kids will be coming in groups and probably not for the whole day. Honestly, teenagers bug me a lot less than kids whose parents aren't controlling them LOL

We'll be having three grad nights when we're there, but one of those days we won't go to the park (and we're getting 5 day park hoppers so no biggie). The kids are getting park hoppers correct?

 

[Disneylandfan1]

The grads attending on grad night are also going to get 2 fastpasses to use on any ride. I was hoping to get a head start on fastpasses in the morning, so this puts a little crimp in my strategy. I'm assuming the biggest impact of the teens will be in the evening, so I think it's safe to assume that the popular thrill rides will have longer lines on those grad nights. If we end up going on a grad night, I'll just make a point to ride space mountain, star tours, Indy, California screamin, Splash and Big Thunder earlier in the day, then if the wait time in the evening is tolerable, it will be a plus.

 

[Goofy_Mom]

Also, since they are spreading out the grad nights over so many days I think they are letting fewer in during those hours, I read at another forum that they only are selling 5000-8000 tickets per night for each night. This would drastically reduce the amount of kids there at night.

This was my assumtion as well

Since they are selling these to groups/schools, I'd think they have to arrive with their school. The schools are responsible for them while they're there, right?

Also correct, for every 10 seniors there is one chaperone over 21. The arrive and leave as a school.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Also correct, for every 10 seniors there is one chaperone over 21. The arrive and leave as a school.

Yesssssssssssssssss

 

[Princess Row]

Being a hs senior this year.....
I also read that with part of the changes this year will be in DL park and next year will be in CA adv. So this year seniors will see F! next year will be WOC and each year it will switch. I know my school plans to be there all day from 9am-3am and then sleeping on an off schedule to continue with the rest of the grad trip.

On a separate note my schools cost for the DL trip is $600, having a dl annnual pass...I wasnt willing to pay this much after all and I didnt know anyone else going so they took my whole 100 dollar deposit. But I did see the DL ticket for that night is only $61 so does anyone know if I went for the whole week if I could possibly just buy that one ticket and use my Annual pass for the rest of the day and rest of that week? Makes me curious....

 

[-KT-]

Yesssssssssssssssss

But most of them wont be anywhere near the chaperone...

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

But most of them wont be anywhere near the chaperone...

HAHA probably very true