Night of Joy 2018

[Dan Murphy]

Super sad about this!

I agree, j2. Very sad. I had only attended one NoJ years back, but it was a really nice evening. NoJ will definitely be missed by many.

 

[HopperFan]

I wonder what the 'operational difficulties' were?

https://www.wdwmagic.com/events/nig...-not-host-any-further-night-of-joy-events.htm

I don't know, but wonder as well. I have seen several anecdotal reports of unruly behavior by attendees, some stating it became dangerous for Cast Members working the event. All of these reports are popping up today, but I don't remember reading anything about NOJ guests behaving badly prior to today. :: shrug ::

Was told that (1) The large amount of setup that it took, not just for staging the music. Due to the behavior and issues with the guests they had to remove many objects that were not secured down including benches etc. Then having to put it all back before the park opens the next day. (2) The large amount of cleanup after it closed, MUCH more than normal including considerable cleaning on the rides, especially the dark rides .... (3) The behavior of the kids and the stories I was told, it was bad. (4) Large number of CMs asking for the nights off or calling in ........ they don't get paid enough to put up with what they did.

This behavior was ongoing, year after year, as reported by CMs who work in the MK. Each year Disney would try more things to try to curtail the behavior and the last try was moving it to WWoS, a venue set up for such an event. Don't forget Disney used to have Grad Nights for graduating Seniors and they finally put a stop to that as well .... am sure it was many of the same issues.

AND, that doesn't even include what they had to handle from guests not there for the event upset to lose park time etc.

 

[Satchmo128]

Was told that (1) The large amount of setup that it took, not just for staging the music. Due to the behavior and issues with the guests they had to remove many objects that were not secured down including benches etc. Then having to put it all back before the park opens the next day. (2) The large amount of cleanup after it closed, MUCH more than normal including considerable cleaning on the rides, especially the dark rides .... (3) The behavior of the kids and the stories I was told, it was bad. (4) Large number of CMs asking for the nights off or calling in ........ they don't get paid enough to put up with what they did.

This behavior was ongoing, year after year, as reported by CMs who work in the MK. Each year Disney would try more things to try to curtail the behavior and the last try was moving it to WWoS, a venue set up for such an event. Don't forget Disney used to have Grad Nights for graduating Seniors and they finally put a stop to that as well .... am sure it was many of the same issues.

AND, that doesn't even include what they had to handle from guests not there for the event.

This all makes me so very sad. We were hoping to go to Night of Joy one of these years

 

[DisneyOma]

That's what I expected. It's upsetting that Disney isn't telling the truth and they are just blowing everyone off. An explanation would be nice but I'm sure we won't get it. The least they can do is just say it's been cancelled.

Were you able to get an explanation

I wouldn't take it so personally, as Disney is a business and does not owe anyone an explanation when they cancel anything onsite. They do it for monetary or safety reasons. Sounds like this event was a bit of both?

After speaking to 2 CM via email one saying oh yes it will be back and to keep watching for updates and the other saying sorry but they have no confirmation to yes or no. Which doesn't surprise me after the backlash they got when they first moved it to ESPN Disney doesn't want anymore negativity so just easier to hide and avoid.

Me and my girls had been going for years. We went to it the first time it was at ESPN and we enjoyed it. Last year we missed the Saturday concert because of Irma of course. We live close by so we went up Friday spent the night and came home Saturday to get ready for the hurricane. I'm still unsure if we will go to RTU. We are looking at buying a house and I am saving for a Disney Christmas 2019 trip.

My guess is it will be just as unruly at Universal, if not more so, and then it will be canceled there as well. My question is, why is this crowd so unruly?

 

[ccrosswhite]

Sad, I wish it was still going so we could switch to September this year for our trip, that was what I was trying to convince my parents to do. Guess we will stick with 4th of July.

 

[TexasKiwiPrincess]

Was told that (1) The large amount of setup that it took, not just for staging the music. Due to the behavior and issues with the guests they had to remove many objects that were not secured down including benches etc. Then having to put it all back before the park opens the next day. (2) The large amount of cleanup after it closed, MUCH more than normal including considerable cleaning on the rides, especially the dark rides .... (3) The behavior of the kids and the stories I was told, it was bad. (4) Large number of CMs asking for the nights off or calling in ........ they don't get paid enough to put up with what they did.

This behavior was ongoing, year after year, as reported by CMs who work in the MK. Each year Disney would try more things to try to curtail the behavior and the last try was moving it to WWoS, a venue set up for such an event. Don't forget Disney used to have Grad Nights for graduating Seniors and they finally put a stop to that as well .... am sure it was many of the same issues.

AND, that doesn't even include what they had to handle from guests not there for the event upset to lose park time etc.

I wouldn't take it so personally, as Disney is a business and does not owe anyone an explanation when they cancel anything onsite. They do it for monetary or safety reasons. Sounds like this event was a bit of both?



My guess is it will be just as unruly at Universal, if not more so, and then it will be canceled there as well. My question is, why is this crowd so unruly?

This is all so disappointing, on so many levels. If guests behave that way at any event, then it should not be a surprise that the event is canceled.

 

[j2thomason]

Was told that (1) The large amount of setup that it took, not just for staging the music. Due to the behavior and issues with the guests they had to remove many objects that were not secured down including benches etc. Then having to put it all back before the park opens the next day. (2) The large amount of cleanup after it closed, MUCH more than normal including considerable cleaning on the rides, especially the dark rides .... (3) The behavior of the kids and the stories I was told, it was bad. (4) Large number of CMs asking for the nights off or calling in ........ they don't get paid enough to put up with what they did.

This behavior was ongoing, year after year, as reported by CMs who work in the MK. Each year Disney would try more things to try to curtail the behavior and the last try was moving it to WWoS, a venue set up for such an event. Don't forget Disney used to have Grad Nights for graduating Seniors and they finally put a stop to that as well .... am sure it was many of the same issues.

AND, that doesn't even include what they had to handle from guests not there for the event upset to lose park time etc.

I think a lot of unchaperoned teenagers contributed to the problems. From the comments I have read by cast members the kids were out of control and not monitored well. I would guess there were probably not enough chaperones or they were off somewhere while the kids were on their own. My daughter and I went to grad night at Disneyland a few years ago and this was our experience. Huge groups of students yelling, screaming and disrespecting the park. I hate that this is the way Christians are being represented at Disney. I do realize that NOJ was open to anyone and probably a great way to try to get students to go to a Christian event, but so sad that this is the impression that was left.

 

[HopperFan]

I think a lot of unchaperoned teenagers contributed to the problems. From the comments I have read by cast members the kids were out of control and not monitored well. I would guess there were probably not enough chaperones or they were off somewhere while the kids were on their own. My daughter and I went to grad night at Disneyland a few years ago and this was our experience. Huge groups of students yelling, screaming and disrespecting the park. I hate that this is the way Christians are being represented at Disney. I do realize that NOJ was open to anyone and probably a great way to try to get students to go to a Christian event, but so sad that this is the impression that was left.

Yes, I know what the behaviors were right down to some bad visual details from CMs that worked it. There are other places that went into great detail of some of the things but I didn't want to go down that road here.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

We've attended over the years and never saw bad behavior . I've read about it here and looked for it but could not find.
Maybe they're having thousands of orderly guests and focusing on one problem?

 

[CindeBella]

I've never witnessed bad behavior like the above mentioned and find it hard to believe this event would be cancelled, after 35 years, for this reason.

 

[Disnsyncey]

My guess is it will be just as unruly at Universal, if not more so, and then it will be canceled there as well. My question is, why is this crowd so unruly?

I think as it was echoed in the grad night reference, anytime you have middle schoolers/high schoolers unchaperoned, they go a little nuts.....on any random given day (I am making a random estimate) in MK, there might be 1,000 unchaperoned kids? (due to school field trips, youth programs and such)Those might go nuts.....but its a little easier for security and CMs to get a hold on them (and probably find their chaperones). At Grad Night (I don't remember EVERYTHING about mine, but I can picture it) EVERYBODY was unchaperoned (though I remember Disney having VERY strict rules for attendees, probably to curb the unruliness)and it was a disaster waiting to happen. Night of Joy is for everybody, so POSSIBLY more adults, but also a mixture of ages and kids, I started going in middle school and went through college. And once one kid goes nuts, pack mentality kicks in, more kids are influenced to go nuts.....

 

[KyleAfterAWhile]

Was told that (1) The large amount of setup that it took, not just for staging the music. Due to the behavior and issues with the guests they had to remove many objects that were not secured down including benches etc. Then having to put it all back before the park opens the next day. (2) The large amount of cleanup after it closed, MUCH more than normal including considerable cleaning on the rides, especially the dark rides .... (3) The behavior of the kids and the stories I was told, it was bad. (4) Large number of CMs asking for the nights off or calling in ........ they don't get paid enough to put up with what they did.

This behavior was ongoing, year after year, as reported by CMs who work in the MK. Each year Disney would try more things to try to curtail the behavior and the last try was moving it to WWoS, a venue set up for such an event. Don't forget Disney used to have Grad Nights for graduating Seniors and they finally put a stop to that as well .... am sure it was many of the same issues.

AND, that doesn't even include what they had to handle from guests not there for the event upset to lose park time etc.

I could not imagine it is any worse than the teens during Pop Warner. I have seen some horrible behavior there.
Won't even talk about what happened on Haunted Mansion with a teen boy and teen girl just 2 seats away from us.

 

[HopperFan]

I could not imagine it is any worse than the teens during Pop Warner. I have seen some horrible behavior there.
Won't even talk about what happened on Haunted Mansion with a teen boy and teen girl just 2 seats away from us.

You don't have to, it was part of the problem = extra cleaning of dark rides ...... and other dark places.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

With the event no longer being offered at WDW this year and seemingly for the foreseeable future, I think it’s about time to bring our Night of Joy discussion to a close. Thanks all.