What's the deal with Grad Night?

[calicommando]

Is it on Saturday 4/28 for sure? I hate Grad Night!!! What is it, anyway? That's the first night of our vacation and we had booked our dinner so we could eat then go watch the fireworks.

Am I being rude? Sorry if I am!

 

[SweetPea]

I went to Grad Nite several years ago (I won't say how many). From my experience, they close MK early to the public just like the would for MVMCP and MNSSHP, at around 7:00 pm, I think. Then, high school seniors from all over descend upon MK for a night of fun and special activities. The thing ran all night long. I am not sure about the date for this year, but that is the basic jist of what goes on.

 

[SweetPea]

I just realized that the year I went to Grad Nite is posted on my "signature". Oh, well. Silly me.:ROFLOL:

 

[kreiderr]

Grad night is when they open up the Magic Kingdom to graduates for free as a "reward" to students for graduating. I also hate grad night. Last year we stayed at the Polynesian and the band that was going to play on grad night rehearsed the night before...at around midnight. It literally sounded like the band was outstide my room at the pool. We had our two little girls with us and the noise woke them up. It was not a pleasant couple of hours. We complained to the front desk and begged them to either stop the rehearsal or turn down the volume. They didn't do either. The best part was the following night, I got to listen to the band perform again. If you're staying at the Contemporary, Polynesian, or Grand Floridian grad night might impact your stay. Just my opinion.

 

[calicommando]

That really stinks about the band. It's a generous offer and all, but gosh we're the paying guests.

 

[calicommando]

MAN! I talk too much. . .

 

[darthjohnny]

Is it on Saturday 4/28 for sure? I hate Grad Night!!! What is it, anyway? That's the first night of our vacation and we had booked our dinner so we could eat then go watch the fireworks.

Am I being rude? Sorry if I am!

How do you hate Grad Nite if you don't know what it is?

Yes, Grad Nite is on April 28th. I know because that is the day my school is going.

Grad Nite is when they shut down Magic Kingdom early and have graduating high school seniors enjoy a special celebration in the park.

Other than closing the park early, I don't know how much it would really affect you.

There will be a special fireworks show, though it won't be Wishes. I'm sure you could see it from any where in the Seven Seas Lagoon/Bay Lake area.

They won't let you in the park however. But I'm sure you're dinner won't be ruined since it's probably somewhere else in WDW, right?:shrug:

 

[Peaches Magee]

I just realized that the year I went to Grad Nite is posted on my "signature". Oh, well. Silly me.:ROFLOL:

hehe well I only went a few short years after you did
My older sis was there in '94.

I had soooo much fun at Grad Night. And as for the bands... they have like pretty big bands there. This year it is Cartel, The Fray, Cassie & Mario Vasquez. (ok they don't seem as big as I said hehe)
But we had Goo Goo Dolls and I think Boyz II Men and for that time they were big deal. I know it can be annoying for families to have to deal with it and have shorter days at the park. But then I remember how much fun it went to Grad Night, and it is a big deal to them, something to remember.

Universal has a Grad Night now too. Hotels will be real fun at that time! Lots of obnoxious teens going buck wild! haa!
Good luck to all you late-April travelers.

 

[scpergj]

Grad night is when they open up the Magic Kingdom to graduates for free as a "reward" to students for graduating.

Maybe you ought to check your facts on that one. Some school districts may pay for the students to go to grad nite, but I had to pay, quite a bit if I remember correctly...Just checked...my ticket (dated May 3, 1986) clearly states $16.95, and if I remember correctly, the entire package was about $40, quite a bit of money (back then...probably closer to $75 now), and a bunch more than free!

Sorry about your problem with the band, but that wasn't the fault of Grad Nite...that was Physics. Kind of hard for a hotel manager to have a band at one of the parks turn down the music. I'd be willing to bet they have the same problem at Night of Joy.

BTW...we had a blast at Grad Nite.

 

[Maerj]

How do you hate Grad Nite if you don't know what it is?

Yes, Grad Nite is on April 28th. I know because that is the day my school is going.

Grad Nite is when they shut down Magic Kingdom early and have graduating high school seniors enjoy a special celebration in the park.

Other than closing the park early, I don't know how much it would really affect you.

There will be a special fireworks show, though it won't be Wishes. I'm sure you could see it from any where in the Seven Seas Lagoon/Bay Lake area.

They won't let you in the park however. But I'm sure you're dinner won't be ruined since it's probably somewhere else in WDW, right?:shrug:

I think that the OP says he hates it because he's gonna get kicked out early.

I know I took my mom down to WDW, she was haveing a bad year and I thought that taking her would help. It did. But on our MK night, we got kicked out at 7 o'clock and that's how we learned about Grad Nights. We weren't too happy about it either. I was able to take her a few years later so she got to see the Spectromagic parade and closing show but I can see how some people aren't happy about it. It'd be nice if they could let you know ahead of time so you can plan accordingly or perhaps do the Grad Night thing after hours.

 

[justducky78]

I'm sure the kids who attend love it, but I must admit we were a little annoyed about it when we visited in April/May of 2006. We, too, were looking forward to going to the park our first night but had to leave early because of grad night. Booooooo......

 

[landauh]

Grad Nite is four nights ... 20, 21, 27, and 28 of April.

 

[calicommando]

Grad Nite is four nights ... 20, 21, 27, and 28 of April.

Wow, I'm glad it only affects me one night. I imagine some people could easily have 4 nights of their vacation affected. I feel bad for them. It should be more common knowledge when you book your trip.

 

[MissM]

Grad night is when they open up the Magic Kingdom to graduates for free as a "reward" to students for graduating.

Definitely not free. I went in 1995 and we all rode a charter bus out from the Tampa Bay area to Orlando. It was expensive as I recall because you had to pay for your admission plus a travel charge. I want to say it was something like $60 back then and being 12 years ago, that was a lot of money. (I think I was making like $5.35/hr at my part-time retail job that year.)

I've seen several people who went in '94, but darnit, no one who went in '95.
-m

 

[dragonfox98]

Well, Miss M - I would have loved to be there for Grad Night in 95, but, alas, I live in Jersey. Believe it or not, I couldn't even go on my senior trip to Disney because I had to work (I've lived by myself since I was 16). It was either pay the rent and electricity to have a place to live or go to WDW. Did I choose poorly? LOL

But now I get to enjoy it with my DH and children. And we are all Disney addicts (I'm even looking at jobs and houses in the Davenport area).

So, don't feel bad if you can't find anyone that went to Grad Night that year - I was there with you in spirit!

Blessed Be

 

[scorp111]

to all of those complaining about the park closing early shut up already. for almost the first 20 years of mk's history the park closed at 6-8 in the off season, being no spring break, summer, thanksgiving, memorial day weekend, easter, christmas, etc. during that time there was NO fireworks, fantasy in the sky then, or nighttime parade, MAIN STREET ELECTRICAL PARADE or spectro. stop the complaining & grow up.:fork:

Tickets cost less then too..........



But back to the original post, I have been at WDW and DL for Grad night the last two years, and will be at WDW this year.

Since I have had to deal with it before, I just plan accordingly. In fact I will be in WDW for the 4 weekend dates in April, but I will only be at the MK one of the days.

 

[ImaYoyo]

Grad night is when they open up the Magic Kingdom to graduates for free as a "reward" to students for graduating. I also hate grad night. Last year we stayed at the Polynesian and the band that was going to play on grad night rehearsed the night before...at around midnight. It literally sounded like the band was outstide my room at the pool. We had our two little girls with us and the noise woke them up. It was not a pleasant couple of hours. We complained to the front desk and begged them to either stop the rehearsal or turn down the volume. They didn't do either. The best part was the following night, I got to listen to the band perform again. If you're staying at the Contemporary, Polynesian, or Grand Floridian grad night might impact your stay. Just my opinion.

It's not free, they pay too. They also have to pay for the "Blast off" party if they want to attend that.
Check either http://www.disneyyouthgroups.com/ or http://www.disneygradnite.com/

 

[maharet97a]

Grad Nite for us was $29 and that was ten years ago. My school was close enough they made us take a school bus down, so we didn't have to pay extra for charter bus rental. Also Grad Nite has been going on for well over 20 years. To me that's part of the research you do when planning your trip. You find out what activities/specials/promotions/etc are going on at the time you want to go and if it's a problem for you, you schedule another time. And if you can't schedule another time, you deal with the minor inconveniences or schedule around them (plan another park for that day for example). I think it's wonderful of Disney and their CM's to go above and beyond (cause when I went it was indeed ALL nite, not just til 12:30 like the hard ticket events) for these kids. Graduation from high school is the biggest event in a young adult's transition from kid to grown up and what a wonderful way to celebrate it. Plus for a lot of kids, this is their first visit to WDW.

 

[Dukeblue1016]

My high school had been doing the Disney trip for Seniors from like... well it had to be 99 because my sister graduated in 98 and she was furious she didn't get to do it... anyways; they always did it during grad night and I was excited; then in 2003 when my class went... they decided not to go during grad night and we just went some random week in May... so I was extremely disappointed I missed out...

basically... I feel its only four nights a year, it sucks to those families if it ruins their trip; but there's other parks open, other things to do... plenty more to do... and its a HUGE deal to the high school Seniors and a great thing Disney does... and it isn't free either so...

just my 2 cents

 

[mousebymarriage]

Grad nights for April are Friday, April 20th and Saturday April 21st. As well as Friday, April 28th and Saturday April 29th. The parks close to the general public at 7pm (I think). This event is ONLY for High School seniors at the Florida High School's that participate. My little sis went to grad night in the late 1990's and had a blast, for Florida H.S. seniors it is a tradition, just like in Jersey we go to Great Adventure (Six Flags for those who don't live here). At least that was the "big senior class trip" when I graduated High School in 1989 ! We will be in WDW April 22-29th so on those night ,we just find something else to do. Hey, it's Disney there is a lot to do besides the Magic Kingdom!