The Scoop on Grad Nights at DLR in May and June

[Casey's Mommie]

Just curious....are most of the schools that participate in Grad Night from So Cal?

I did Disneyland Grad Night and I'm from Northern California (Bay Area). We left in the morning, drove all day and got there around 6 maybe? We checked into a hotel to change into our "formal clothes" and then went into the park from approx 10 pm to 5 am and left on the bus for home the next morning.

Granted, this was back in '95 and Grad nights were not as popular. My friends and I had Fantasyland all to ourselves!!!

 

[skiingfast]

Just curious....are most of the schools that participate in Grad Night from So Cal?

I've read dozens of posts about school's agendas. Most are from SoCal, coincidently that is where most people live. Regardless when the schools arrive is very mixed. Some will leave thier schools the day before, some in the morning and some in the afternoon or evening. It's pretty well distributed until the end of May.

Late in May and into June there is a small trend to increasing earlier arrivals. Some because of school being out for Summer or because of early finals.

On the Grad Night facebook page, they are taking suggestions for music for the grad night explosion fireworks.

I saw that they decided to bring this feature back, thank you. If I come across a time I will post it.

 

[Boiseboone]

Forgive me, I'm sure this should be obvious to me but I'm easily confused.

We're at the park June 3-8. Do the grad nights on June 6,7,8 mean that we'll have to leave DL by 11 p.m. those nights? We have a babysitter scheduled for Thursday June 7 so my DH and I can go on the big kid rides. I'm wondering if we'll have time to ride everything we want to ride if we have to leave by 11 p.m.? If we're lucky we'll get to CA by 8:30, and I was counting on staying there until 10 p and then DL until midnight.

Thanks!

 

[skiingfast]

We're at the park June 3-8. Do the grad nights on June 6,7,8 mean that we'll have to leave DL by 11 p.m. those nights?

That is correct. At 11pm only the Grads will be allowed to stay in DL.

 

[ConnieB]

This is no longer a part of Grad Nite Parties.

Actually there will be a special fireworks show....this is what the paperwork we have says:

A private showing of Fantasmic! just for you Grads, Grad Nite Explosion! fireworks show, hottest dance clubs, world-class attractions, meet & greet Disney Characters, exclusive Grad Nite merchandise, Disney’s PhotoPass® Service, and much more!​

None of the paperwork says what time the fireworks start....it does say the special Fantasmic! is at 11:30pm....so it would make sense that the fireworks would be shortly after that, but that's just my guess on the timing.

 

[skiingfast]

Actually there will be a special fireworks show....this is what the paperwork we have says:

I know, and you failed to read my previous post.

 

[ConnieB]

I know, and you failed to read my previous post.

Your correction was AFTER the post with the incorrect information...like most people I read the posts in order and respond. Sorry if that irked you.

 

[Lazyturbo]

Thanks for the updated 2013 info HydroGuy.

I'm planning to go to California Adventure in early June. In terms of avoiding the crowds, could someone tell me whether its better to go on a 'grad night' day or a weekend?

 

[Avery's mom]

It seems that the Grad Nite page differs on dates. The official page says May 15, 16, 17 and 18. Of course, during my stay

I imagine that days may be busier since the changes took place this year. Once hours come out for May, I will have a better idea on how to plan. Thanks for the update, Hydroguy!

 

[HydroGuy]

It seems that the Grad Nite page differs on dates. The official page says May 15, 16, 17 and 18. Of course, during my stay

I imagine that days may be busier since the changes took place this year. Once hours come out for May, I will have a better idea on how to plan. Thanks for the update, Hydroguy!

The dates in the are for dates still available. And it looks like they added some dates since I updated the thread last - like May 17. Sorry!

 

[DoughR]

I imagine that days may be busier since the changes took place this year. Once hours come out for May, I will have a better idea on how to plan. Thanks for the update, Hydroguy!

I was there last year from June 4th to the 7th (Mon-Thurs) and you definitely want to do as much as you can before 5pm on Grad nights. Not only will the crowds be bigger but the kids tend to get rowdier too. Certain attractions will draw grads more than others. Certain instances I encountered at the Hollywood Tower and Space Mountain had the Fastpass line up to 30 minutes and stand-by lines around 3 hours with a lot of line cutting happening. I don't know if it was just a really bad week or what but it forced our party to retire a few hours before park closure on those nights.

 

[yoyo93]

It seems that the Grad Nite page differs on dates. The official page says May 15, 16, 17 and 18. Of course, during my stay

I imagine that days may be busier since the changes took place this year. Once hours come out for May, I will have a better idea on how to plan. Thanks for the update, Hydroguy!

We were there for two of the grad nights in May last year, and I have to say that I really didn't notice too much of a difference until after 7 pm! The only reason the parks were even busy was because there was a HUGE high school/middle school music competition going on and they were all over the parks. I'm really hoping they wont be there this year!

 

[PoohsFan1]

We will be there in early June (of course during Grad Nights) and I am a little nervous about it. We are WDW Vets who avoid going during events like these. I was wondering when it comes to EMH days, (we are staying at VGC) does Disney change the EMH days for the different parks during this time to accommodate the crowds, or is it pretty much the same like during the rest of the year. I am trying to figure out our park days and with the June calendar not up yet, it is just a guessing game right now.

 

[californiamomof4grls]

Okay so when we say crowds do we mean it's like Spring break from 5pm to midnight on these days or is it more like there's a lot of teenagers around. Which annoy some people because well there *gasp* teens? I've read a few threads and I'm not sure what they hype is about? I hear some people say you hardly even know they are there. Some people say there was annoying interactions with some the teens... But I want to know about crowds. The teen thing doesn't bother me. I would think it would be centered around areas and then aren't they going to go to DCA at some point for there party and wont DL still be open?

 

[HydroGuy]

We will be there in early June (of course during Grad Nights) and I am a little nervous about it. We are WDW Vets who avoid going during events like these. I was wondering when it comes to EMH days, (we are staying at VGC) does Disney change the EMH days for the different parks during this time to accommodate the crowds, or is it pretty much the same like during the rest of the year. I am trying to figure out our park days and with the June calendar not up yet, it is just a guessing game right now.

Based on last year there was no impact on EMH or MM because of grad nights. The grad nights finish by 3AM and Disney is able to turn things around and get EMH or MM going by 7AM.

 

[starshine514]

Okay so when we say crowds do we mean it's like Spring break from 5pm to midnight on these days or is it more like there's a lot of teenagers around. Which annoy some people because well there *gasp* teens? I've read a few threads and I'm not sure what they hype is about? I hear some people say you hardly even know they are there. Some people say there was annoying interactions with some the teens... But I want to know about crowds. The teen thing doesn't bother me. I would think it would be centered around areas and then aren't they going to go to DCA at some point for there party and wont DL still be open?

We found it to become mid-day weekend crowded with line-jumping, foul-mouthed teens from about 5:00 to close (we noticed increased crowds and more teenagers starting at about 2:00). Crowds just got worse as the night wore on; they didn't follow their typical dwindling pattern. Last year, we were there in May, Carsland hadn't opened yet, the after-hours party was at DL, and it was a weekday. So, DCA closed at 10:00, and DL was open until 11:00. Depending on the day, I could see DL being open after the teens go to DCA.

 

[Mabel67]

We found it to become mid-day weekend crowded with line-jumping, foul-mouthed teens from about 5:00 to close (we noticed increased crowds and more teenagers starting at about 2:00). Crowds just got worse as the night wore on; they didn't follow their typical dwindling pattern. Last year, we were there in May, Carsland hadn't opened yet, the after-hours party was at DL, and it was a weekday. So, DCA closed at 10:00, and DL was open until 11:00. Depending on the day, I could see DL being open after the teens go to DCA.

Taking someone for her first ever visit - I sure hope this doesn't ruin it for her. But I believe that Grad night is confined to one park correct? So does this impact the other park at all, beyond some run-off guest numbers avoiding the Gradnight park?

So, if it's confined to DCA, if we complete our day there prior to mid-afternoon and then escape over to DL we should be ok?

 

[starshine514]

Taking someone for her first ever visit - I sure hope this doesn't ruin it for her. But I believe that Grad night is confined to one park correct? So does this impact the other park at all, beyond some run-off guest numbers avoiding the Gradnight park?

So, if it's confined to DCA, if we complete our day there prior to mid-afternoon and then escape over to DL we should be ok?

The grads have park-hopper tickets included with their grad night admission. I would say that a lot of them will spend the time until close to 10:00 in DL, simply because they won't have access to that during their grad night celebration. We're going earlier this year (late April) and avoiding grad nights, but if I were there on one of those days, I would simply plan on lots of crowds in the evening. Plan on having a sit-down dinner, possibly in DTD (we would plan on RFC or having dinner offsite with some local friends), doing some shopping, taking photos and doing some of the attractions that rarely have long lines - Animation Building and Bug's Land in DCA, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, and Pinnochio in DL. Or, showing up early and catching Fantasmic! or WOC - the sort of things that having large crowds would not hinder your enjoyment of.

How many evenings will you have and how many of them are grad nights?

 

[Mabel67]

Grad nights are 4 of the 5 nights we are there. A Wednesday to Sunday, May 15-20

Anybody those nights "less" busy than the others? We already have alternative plans for the Saturday so really it's only Wednesday, Thursday and Friday that would be the concern.

 

[starshine514]

Grad nights are 4 of the 5 nights we are there. A Wednesday to Sunday, May 15-20

Anybody those nights "less" busy than the others? We already have alternative plans for the Saturday so really it's only Wednesday, Thursday and Friday that would be the concern.

Wednesday and Thursday evenings should have lower overall crowds, because there will be fewer regular guests in the parks on those days. You could plan on catching F! on Friday and WOC on Thursday if you find the crowds problematic on Wednesday night.