Grad nights- my thoughts

[Pamela M]

So I was in the park yesterday and today.

Yesterday DL wasn’t too bad- I didn’t enter the gates until 1-2pm. I didn’t see too many grad nighters in DL. There were a few but not many. Since I got there so late I just cruised around doing doing non-fastpass rides. I think the longest I waited was 20 minutes. Note at 6-7pm the Peter Pan ride was only a 30 minute wait so I hopped in line.

People were already getting their spots for the fireworks in front of the castle at 7pm

I had Famtasmic HB dining package for 10:30 so I hung around New Orleans SQ as I was afraid of getting stuck on the other side of the park during the fireworks. Even with Fantasmic going on and people waiting for fireworks the lines for rides were the longest I’d seen all day.

I think all the people that were over at CA came over when they got kicked out at 9.

At 11-11:30pm (after Fantasmic) I did a quick round and fantasyland rides were all 15-25 minutes long and Peter Pan was at 45. Lines looked longer than earlier in the day.

Today I did early entry- got all of fantasyland done (except for PP) within the hour. A lot of rides were walk on or 5 minute wait.

About 11:30am I headed over to CA to see how busy it was. There were way more grad night kids there. Lines still weren’t really bad. I did soaring standby. The wait said 45 minutes but it was only 20( I timed it). Someone in line said even GOG was only like 1/2 hour wait.

By 4pm I was done so can’t say how tonight in the parks is.


So if your going during a grad night I think when you’ll feel the affects is when they close CA and everyone else goes over to DL in the evening.

 

[DharmaLou]

I went on a grad night a year ago right now and I didn't think it was too horrible overall. I'm going again in 4 weeks on 2 grad nights, hopefully it will be similar.

 

[HydroGuy]

So I was in the park yesterday and today.

Yesterday DL wasn’t too bad- I didn’t enter the gates until 1-2pm. I didn’t see too many grad nighters in DL. There were a few but not many. Since I got there so late I just cruised around doing doing non-fastpass rides. I think the longest I waited was 20 minutes. Note at 6-7pm the Peter Pan ride was only a 30 minute wait so I hopped in line.

People were already getting their spots for the fireworks in front of the castle at 7pm

I had Famtasmic HB dining package for 10:30 so I hung around New Orleans SQ as I was afraid of getting stuck on the other side of the park during the fireworks. Even with Fantasmic going on and people waiting for fireworks the lines for rides were the longest I’d seen all day.

I think all the people that were over at CA came over when they got kicked out at 9.

At 11-11:30pm (after Fantasmic) I did a quick round and fantasyland rides were all 15-25 minutes long and Peter Pan was at 45. Lines looked longer than earlier in the day.

Today I did early entry- got all of fantasyland done (except for PP) within the hour. A lot of rides were walk on or 5 minute wait.

About 11:30am I headed over to CA to see how busy it was. There were way more grad night kids there. Lines still weren’t really bad. I did soaring standby. The wait said 45 minutes but it was only 20( I timed it). Someone in line said even GOG was only like 1/2 hour wait.

By 4pm I was done so can’t say how tonight in the parks is.


So if your going during a grad night I think when you’ll feel the affects is when they close CA and everyone else goes over to DL in the evening.

It sounds like you are saying both days were grad night days? That would be helpful to know for sure.

 

[Pamela M]

It sounds like you are saying both days were grad night days? That would be helpful to know for sure.

Yes the my first 2 days were grad nights - Friday and Saturday.

 

[dina444444]

I was in the parks yesterday and Disneyland was no where near as bad as it’s been on previous grad nights. I actually thought the park was less crowded yesterday then it was on 4/14 and 4/21. It was also hot yesterday so that may have had people staying home. However I do think the changes to the grad night tickets are making a difference with daytime crowds.

 

[Aimee_Jane83]

I have been wondering how Grad Nights were going to be this year. I've gone on grad nights on past years and its been a little busier than normal to where you do see an influx in crowds. But now that they seem to have changed the system of how it is going to work this year I wonder how my trip is going to go next week. I think there are like 2 or 3 grad nights during my trip when normally I would have only had to fight with one.

 

[Sue M]

We were in DL Friday night it was our last day of our trip. Flew home yesterday. Friday we went to DL for rope drop, then late morning hopped over to DCA for a few rides. Parks were fine early on. Then left for afternoon break. We had a 4:30 BB ADR with Fantasmic pkg. we had Max Pass and had a couple of FPs. The park was extremely crowded by then IMO. Could hardly move. Splash was a 90 min standby when we walked by. After fireworks we left. Even gift shop lines were impossible.

 

[katejc]

I’ve been on grad nights in the past and have noticed the grads, but never had any bad experience. Yes, it was crowded, but didn’t notice a significant difference between that and just generally crowded summer days. Curious if/how they have changed grad nights this year?

 

[Darkhaund]

Thanks for hte input

 

[Lesley Wake]

I’ve been on grad nights in the past and have noticed the grads, but never had any bad experience. Yes, it was crowded, but didn’t notice a significant difference between that and just generally crowded summer days. Curious if/how they have changed grad nights this year?

The big thing was the ticket changes. Rather than getting park hoppers good for the whole day as well as the after-hours party at DCA, schools have to pick between 3 options: party only, DCA and party, or park hopper and party. Most of the schools seem to be either getting DCA and party or party only. Previously, the kids would often show up and spend most of the day at DL trying to go on all those rides before hopping over to DCA for their party, which meant crowds could be really bad during the day!

I don't think I've had any specifically bad experiences with the kids themselves. I mean, they are groups of 17/18 year olds, who can get a bit loud, but usually more excited loud, not intentionally rude loud. And of course large groups in general make it difficult to navigate on narrow walkways (more of a problem with DL).

So, yeah, this year the ticket change has made a great, positive, difference!

 

[katejc]

The big thing was the ticket changes. Rather than getting park hoppers good for the whole day as well as the after-hours party at DCA, schools have to pick between 3 options: party only, DCA and party, or park hopper and party. Most of the schools seem to be either getting DCA and party or party only. Previously, the kids would often show up and spend most of the day at DL trying to go on all those rides before hopping over to DCA for their party, which meant crowds could be really bad during the day!

I don't think I've had any specifically bad experiences with the kids themselves. I mean, they are groups of 17/18 year olds, who can get a bit loud, but usually more excited loud, not intentionally rude loud. And of course large groups in general make it difficult to navigate on narrow walkways (more of a problem with DL).

So, yeah, this year the ticket change has made a great, positive, difference!

Thanks for the info! that DOES seem like a big improvement past years!

 

[midnight star]

Wanted to add since I know some people are still nervous about grad nights.....I went on Saturday (5/12) which was a grad night. I thought the crowds were great honestly! I was a little worried since the park hours were 9 am-12, and the parking and security line at M&F was a little long. But once I got into the park, it was fine. I did notice a lot of teens, but they weren't doing anything bad or annoying. They just seemed excited and happy to be there. I started in DL, and the crowds there were a little lower than I thought. I'm not sure if it was due to the gloomy weather. Same with DCA. I got in line for Cove Bar around 11:45 and only waited 5 minutes. I was in DCA for a couple of hours and then hopped back over to DL around 2:30 pm. The gates at DL had NO LINE! I was so shocked! They even closed some of the turnstiles because they didn't need them.

 

[Darkhaund]

Thanks for the info.
We get there this upcomming saturday... I HOPE the crowds and everything goes well

 

[BlueFairy]

How does PtN work? I see that it is at 8:50 for 2 nights (Tues/Wed) next week with a 9pm closing and Grad Nite. I assume this isn't the best time to try to see this parade? Are day guests encouraged to leave before PTN reaches the end of the parade route?

 

[DnA2010]

How does PtN work? I see that it is at 8:50 for 2 nights (Tues/Wed) next week with a 9pm closing and Grad Nite. I assume this isn't the best time to try to see this parade? Are day guests encouraged to leave before PTN reaches the end of the parade route?

following- we have grad nights next Tuesday and Wednesday

 

[blakefamily]

Thanks for sharing this as I am trying to decide on dates for a trip.may 27-30 is my top option and there is a grad night that Tues that had me concerned.

 

[agamble]

How does PtN work? I see that it is at 8:50 for 2 nights (Tues/Wed) next week with a 9pm closing and Grad Nite. I assume this isn't the best time to try to see this parade? Are day guests encouraged to leave before PTN reaches the end of the parade route?

They start the show just before closing. They used to do this with WOC too, and not just for grad nights. You can watch the show and then leave the park. We did this on a Thursday in April. The parade is great.

 

[undertheseas]

We were there for grad night Friday and Saturday nights and it was so much better than when we attended 3 years ago! Less crowded (still a lot of people but at least you could move around) and there were probably less grads. We did see several school groups but a couple had shirts that said middle school/junior high. The kids were well behaved (more so than some of the 30 year olds we saw). I was so worried about grad night given our previous experience but it was actually much better than I expected.