Just got email about Grad Night Reunion the last week of June

[rcs914]

I specifically picked the week of June 26th to go to DL and DCA because it was after all grad night activities that were on the schedule for June, and now I'm being told that two of the nights we are there there will be no WOC and California Adventure is closing early. Am I wrong to think that Disney should be compensating me for my park hopper tickets that I purchased? If I can't even go into the park till 1PM and it closes at 5PM, that is absolute baloney. How can they change access after people have already booked?

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Dear Disneyland® Resort Park Reservation Holder,

We look forward to welcoming you to the “Happiest Place on Earth” for your upcoming visit.

We see that you have made a park reservation for Disney California Adventure® park, or have a Park Hopper® ticket and Park reservation for Disneyland® park, on a day we are hosting the separately ticketed Disneyland After Dark: Grad Nite Reunion event at Disney California Adventure® park (June 23, 28, and 30, 2022).

Please be advised that on the dates we are hosting Disneyland After Dark: Grad Nite Reunion, Disney California Adventure® park will close early to accommodate the event and will not offer the nighttime spectacular, World of Color.

Your ticket and park reservation will not be valid for the Disneyland After Dark: Grad Nite Reunion event being hosted on the date of your planned visit. Please stay up-to-date on the latest park hours and information by visiting Disneyland.com or the Disneyland app.

If you have questions regarding your park reservation, please visit Disneyland.com/ParkReservations.

Thank you,
Disney Destinations

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

This is even worse than actual Grad Nites - at least they do the first WoC showing! So sorry for this happening during your visit. They should post these things BEFORE reservations open up!

 

[deejdigsdis]

I specifically picked the week of June 26th to go to DL and DCA because it was after all grad night activities that were on the schedule for June, and now I'm being told that two of the nights we are there there will be no WOC and California Adventure is closing early. Am I wrong to think that Disney should be compensating me for my park hopper tickets that I purchased? If I can't even go into the park till 1PM and it closes at 5PM, that is absolute baloney. How can they change access after people have already booked?

=​

Dear Disneyland® Resort Park Reservation Holder,

We look forward to welcoming you to the “Happiest Place on Earth” for your upcoming visit.

We see that you have made a park reservation for Disney California Adventure® park, or have a Park Hopper® ticket and Park reservation for Disneyland® park, on a day we are hosting the separately ticketed Disneyland After Dark: Grad Nite Reunion event at Disney California Adventure® park (June 23, 28, and 30, 2022).

Please be advised that on the dates we are hosting Disneyland After Dark: Grad Nite Reunion, Disney California Adventure® park will close early to accommodate the event and will not offer the nighttime spectacular, World of Color.

Your ticket and park reservation will not be valid for the Disneyland After Dark: Grad Nite Reunion event being hosted on the date of your planned visit. Please stay up-to-date on the latest park hours and information by visiting Disneyland.com or the Disneyland app.

If you have questions regarding your park reservation, please visit Disneyland.com/ParkReservations.

Thank you,
Disney Destinations

I am mad for you. I hate that they change the schedule like this after so many plans have been made, instead of figuring out everything before park reservations open up.

 

[soniam]

We have reservations for DCA that day. It's the last day of our trip. We probably would have done DL that night anyway. Unfortunately, that means DL will be very crowded. It might be tight for us to get all of the nighttime shows in during our trip. Nothing I can do about it now. Better to be able to go than what the last couple of years has given us. Hope it doesn't ruin your trip.

 

[sjberg79]

I got the same email and am upset too. I chose that last week to go from the east coast because of lack of Grad Night dates and BOOM! They drop this now, after I everything booked and paid for. If I knew this in advance I would have chosen to go the week of my birthday which is July 17th because then at least I would be celebrating my birthday and Disneyland's birthday together. I'm going to be going to guest services and explaining all this when I'm there. I don't expect anything in return because I need to be used to Disney slipping one in like this but in the future I'm just going to plan my west coast trip for my birthday and not risk a Grad Night. Major Bummer! Sorry it happened to you too!!! Make the best of what we can.

 

[asumom]

It's ridiculous. They just keep adding more exclusive events to boost their revenue. They make the regular customer plan far in advance and then just up and decide this. It's bad enough how they wait to post hours, refurbishments and entertainment.

 

[akashellrae5]

I'm in the same spot, and disappointed about it. Not that it makes it better, but I think DCA will be closing at 8:00pm for regular guests, 5:00 is just when party guests have access.

 

[Pluto468]

We're there over the 28th, too. It's a Disneyland day but we have hoppers and were planning to spend time in DCA in the evening. It's so frustrating that DL does things like this. Aside from not being able to be in DCA, this will probably make Disneyland busier, too.

 

[ADisneyFamilyof5]

That stinks, I'm sorry. For what it's worth, we were there over Spring Break when DCA closed at 5 for a private event (Cast appreciation I believe). We had park hoppers and chose DL as our reservation that day (our last day). We hopped over at 1:00 to do a few rides and eat at Pym's. Since we had multi-day tickets, we made sure we got everything done before the last day and just took it easy that afternoon. My biggest worry was how crowded DL would be in the evening. I was pleasantly surprised by the crowds. Don't get me wrong, it was crowded. But I didn't feel like it was anymore crowded than normal. So I ended up not being as mad as I thought I was going to be.

 

[Mister Skellington]

Alienating guests is bad business and it will catch up to them eventually. The parks are so expensive these days and the quality has gone down. This is just icing on the cake honestly. Next trip to the area maybe I’ll hit Catalina island instead.
-long time guests

 

[starlite_]

I would send a very angry email tbh. I would be so mad.

 

[Jason2015]

The park hours aren't up yet, nor is the entertainment schedule, for the Grad Reunion event days. However, with past after dark events they don't make you leave the park at 5pm when the people with even tickets start showing up. They usually close the park to day guest at the start time of the event. In this case it looks like 8:00. If you're park hoping you'll have from 1pm until at least 8:00 to be in DCA. Also, in the past with these events (and even though they said they won't) my bet is they'll have the regular 9:00 World of Color show and then escort non party members from the park.

Also, DLR doesn't release their schedule very far ahead of time like WDW does, so it is more likely that a Party might drop into the schedule if you're trying to plan 3-6 months out.

 

[twodogs]

The park hours aren't up yet, nor is the entertainment schedule, for the Grad Reunion event days. However, with past after dark events they don't make you leave the park at 5pm when the people with even tickets start showing up. They usually close the park to day guest at the start time of the event. In this case it looks like 8:00. If you're park hoping you'll have from 1pm until at least 8:00 to be in DCA. Also, in the past with these events (and even though they said they won't) my bet is they'll have the regular 9:00 World of Color show and then escort non party members from the park.

Also, DLR doesn't release their schedule very far ahead of time like WDW does, so it is more likely that a Party might drop into the schedule if you're trying to plan 3-6 months out.

The problem is that Disney has CREATED a situation where you really need to plan far in advance, to get dining and park reservations. And then they drop in an early closure after people have planned to be there. OP got an email only about 60 days before their trip, if they posted here when they got the notice. Disney forces you to book dining at 60 days just to get into the desirable restaurants. If you fly in like we do, you need to book those in advance (especially now as flight prices seem to be rising almost daily). As well, I have to take off work to travel there, and I have to do that months in advance so I don't have days of patients that have to be cancelled. So I put this firmly on Disney for being greedy and taking the day guest's full ticket price as well as the ticketed event guest's ticket price, all on the same night, on what I consider unacceptably short notice. For locals, maybe they will just come another day. For those that travel, this is a real bummer on their plans.

I am really sorry OP!

 

[Jason2015]

The problem is that Disney has CREATED a situation where you really need to plan far in advance, to get dining and park reservations. And then they drop in an early closure after people have planned to be there. OP got an email only about 60 days before their trip, if they posted here when they got the notice. Disney forces you to book dining at 60 days just to get into the desirable restaurants. If you fly in like we do, you need to book those in advance (especially now as flight prices seem to be rising almost daily). As well, I have to take off work to travel there, and I have to do that months in advance so I don't have days of patients that have to be cancelled. So I put this firmly on Disney for being greedy and taking the day guest's full ticket price as well as the ticketed event guest's ticket price, all on the same night, on what I consider unacceptably short notice. For locals, maybe they will just come another day. For those that travel, this is a real bummer on their plans.

I am really sorry OP!

You can place it on whomever you please, but for the last decade or more DLR has been much more of a locals park then WDW. Very rarely will you see DLR have their park hours and entertainment post more than 60 days in advance, where as WDW already has this information out through Thanksgiving. I can understand how this upsets those that are used to planning 60, 90, 180 days out. However, this is why many of us love DLR and hate WDW. I enjoy the laid back atmosphere of DLR, I enjoy the fact that I can make a reservation for diner the week of (even the day of) when I want to dine. I know that I may have to adjust my day a little if something drops in like the Graduation Nights Reunion, but the flexibility DLR offers allows these adjustments. (Also, really how much is a person losing, most AfterHours events are happening at DCA. This means that DCA is closing an hour and at most two before their usually closing time of 10pm).

 

[twodogs]

You can place it on whomever you please, but for the last decade or more DLR has been much more of a locals park then WDW. Very rarely will you see DLR have their park hours and entertainment post more than 60 days in advance, where as WDW already has this information out through Thanksgiving. I can understand how this upsets those that are used to planning 60, 90, 180 days out. However, this is why many of us love DLR and hate WDW. I enjoy the laid back atmosphere of DLR, I enjoy the fact that I can make a reservation for diner the week of (even the day of) when I want to dine. I know that I may have to adjust my day a little if something drops in like the Graduation Nights Reunion, but the flexibility DLR offers allows these adjustments. (Also, really how much is a person losing, most AfterHours events are happening at DCA. This means that DCA is closing an hour and at most two before their usually closing time of 10pm).

The "locals" park may have been the vibe in the past, but have you tried getting top/mid tier sit down dining or Oga's in less than 60 days in advance, since the parks reopened? DLR has made it a "plan in advance or risk missing out" park. I will plan as early or as late as I have to, but the circumstances at DLR are very different since the reopening. We live in Texas and have been equally going to DLR and WDW for over a decade. I appreciated that DLR required SO much less preplanning in the past. But now I feel like you had better have a plan at 60 days or risk being disappointed. And if you fly there and pay to stay in an expensive hotel, you may not be comfortable waiting until the "day of" to see if you will be able to dine at your favorite restaurant.

When you ask "how much is a person losing", the answer might be that this was the only night they could see WOC for their trip, this may be their only day at the parks at all, etc. Many people on these boards are willing to make a trip just to be there for the first night of a fireworks show etc. These things are important to some people. What if a person is taking a once in a lifetime trip to DLR and this was their night? Yes it is just a few hours and a WOC show. But it is more meaningful to some guests than others.

My main problem is not that they are taking away some enormous amount of park time from the day guests, as they do these events with regularity. My problem it the lack of advanced notice that they gave the guests, in an environment where DLR themselves penalize guests for failing to plan far in advance.