Grad Nites or Special Event Nites July & August 2024

[Mama Bear Me2]

Hi Everyone.

1) Does anyone know where I can get information regarding Grad Nights and/or Special Event Nights for July and August 2024?

If I understand correctly, Grad Nights will make the park (not sure which one) close "early" and all guests must leave the parks early?

2) Are there any other Special Event nights which will require guests to also leave early?

3) When making park reservations, will the reservation calendar indicate an "early closing" night for regular guests?

It's been many years since we last visited the parks and everything has changed. Since we're required to make park reservations, we want to avoid accidentally booking a night when regular guests are required to leave early and won't get a full park day. We're from Canada and given the exchange and the cost of park tickets, we want a full day's access to the parks. Thanks for your help!

 

[Dug720]

IDK about other special events, but the last Grad Night I've found when googling "Disneyland Grad Nights 2023" is June 16. Since most colleges have at least orientation in July and/or August, I'd be very surprised if they went that far into the summer.

 

[starlite_]

Then only park that closes early for Grad Nites is DCA and it's like by 1 hr. Closing at 9pm instead of 10pm.

 

[alleighboo]

We just got back from DL (first week of June) and 2 of our days were Grad Nights. Honestly...I won't plan a trip during Grad Nights again. Luckily, Grad Nights are over mind-June so you should be good for July and August!

 

[Mama Bear Me2]

Thank you everyone for your help!!

 

[NorCalFanatic]

We were there last week during grad nights. I didn’t find it much of a hassle. Lots of teens but overall no issues. The early closure in DCA wasn’t a big deal as we usually head back to the hotel around 9 anyways.

 

[irlandaise]

We just got back from DL (first week of June) and 2 of our days were Grad Nights. Honestly...I won't plan a trip during Grad Nights again.

Can you please explain your decision more? Did DCA get really crowded before 9:00 p.m.?

 

[alleighboo]

Can you please explain your decision more? Did DCA get really crowded before 9:00 p.m.?

Sure! So there are 3 tiers of tickets that schools can choose and it seems to stay the same options, just changes prices from year to year. Grads can get tickets to just the party in DCA that runs from 9pm-2am, all day tickets to DCA that includes Grad Night, or parkhoppers that includes Grad Night. The 2 days that were Grad Nights while we were there, DCA was pretty crowded starting around lunch time. I assume it got worse as it got later, but we just hopped to ride Guardians and stuck to DL those two days. We stayed at The Anaheim Hotel and the Grad Night entrance was right across the street (Grad Night groups enter into the back of DCA on the Harbor side so you don't have to worry about longer lines at the normal entrance). It seemed like the Grad Night buses really started pouring in around lunchtime, but there were some groups getting there earlier.

The thing we saw happening though was that the grads don't have to go to the Grad Night party at 9pm if they have parkhoppers. They would make an announcement in Disneyland that the party was starting, but it seemed like there were A LOT of groups who were choosing to stay in DL until midnight and then moving over to DCA for the last 2 hours of their party. So on Grad Nights BOTH parks were pretty crowded all day. We really didn't have an issue with crowds (our last trip was Halloween season during the week of Indigenous Peoples Day soooo )

My issue was that even though the majority of the groups we ran into were fine, there was sooo much running and screaming and cussing and pushing everywhere. Just general immaturity and it got to be pretty annoying after awhile. We rode Pirates one night and had 6 guys in the front of our boat that meowed the entire time. The. Entire. Time. Just stuff like that that seemed to be happening constantly. I'm 33 and I teach so I'm used to kids' behavior but it was just hoards of teens acting like my elementary age students. CMs telling them not to run and just being ignored. The grads can't purchase Genie+ if they aren't 18 yet and they would get in standby and jump into the LL with no consequences. Idk if you saw the TikTok of the kid yelling "help me!" in the Space Mountain line...but yeah, a lot of stuff like that.

I probably made it sounds pretty awful and it wasn't *that bad*. Didn't ruin our trip or anything (the trip was amazing!) and I had the expectation of more crowds and more teen-like behavior on the Grad Nights. We're just coming from the East Coast and DL is not something we can do as often as I would like because of the distance so I would just rather avoid it in the future if possible!

 

[Wesley815]

My issue was that even though the majority of the groups we ran into were fine, there was sooo much running and screaming and cussing and pushing everywhere. Just general immaturity and it got to be pretty annoying after awhile. We rode Pirates one night and had 6 guys in the front of our boat that meowed the entire time. The. Entire. Time. Just stuff like that that seemed to be happening constantly.

Same issues every time I've visited the park during Grad Night mix ins. I know they were not 'technically' breaking rules but it would cause issues trying to enjoy park. Regular teens and kids act fine, but bring in schools and it's a mess- seems like they have way too few chaperones assigned.

Miss the old days of overnight Grad Nights separate from regular day ticket guests
(but I understand that costs the park/schools a lot more money to have completely private party)

 

[joseph821]

Sure! So there are 3 tiers of tickets that schools can choose and it seems to stay the same options, just changes prices from year to year. Grads can get tickets to just the party in DCA that runs from 9pm-2am, all day tickets to DCA that includes Grad Night, or parkhoppers that includes Grad Night. The 2 days that were Grad Nights while we were there, DCA was pretty crowded starting around lunch time. I assume it got worse as it got later, but we just hopped to ride Guardians and stuck to DL those two days. We stayed at The Anaheim Hotel and the Grad Night entrance was right across the street (Grad Night groups enter into the back of DCA on the Harbor side so you don't have to worry about longer lines at the normal entrance). It seemed like the Grad Night buses really started pouring in around lunchtime, but there were some groups getting there earlier.

The thing we saw happening though was that the grads don't have to go to the Grad Night party at 9pm if they have parkhoppers. They would make an announcement in Disneyland that the party was starting, but it seemed like there were A LOT of groups who were choosing to stay in DL until midnight and then moving over to DCA for the last 2 hours of their party. So on Grad Nights BOTH parks were pretty crowded all day. We really didn't have an issue with crowds (our last trip was Halloween season during the week of Indigenous Peoples Day soooo )

My issue was that even though the majority of the groups we ran into were fine, there was sooo much running and screaming and cussing and pushing everywhere. Just general immaturity and it got to be pretty annoying after awhile. We rode Pirates one night and had 6 guys in the front of our boat that meowed the entire time. The. Entire. Time. Just stuff like that that seemed to be happening constantly. I'm 33 and I teach so I'm used to kids' behavior but it was just hoards of teens acting like my elementary age students. CMs telling them not to run and just being ignored. The grads can't purchase Genie+ if they aren't 18 yet and they would get in standby and jump into the LL with no consequences. Idk if you saw the TikTok of the kid yelling "help me!" in the Space Mountain line...but yeah, a lot of stuff like that.

I probably made it sounds pretty awful and it wasn't *that bad*. Didn't ruin our trip or anything (the trip was amazing!) and I had the expectation of more crowds and more teen-like behavior on the Grad Nights. We're just coming from the East Coast and DL is not something we can do as often as I would like because of the distance so I would just rather avoid it in the future if possible!

I wish Disneyland would get rid of the Grad nights. WDW did several years ago. The grad nights really increase attendance and it is not fair to out of town travelers and vacationers that travel great distances to visit.

 

[irlandaise]

Sure! So there are 3 tiers of tickets that schools can choose and it seems to stay the same options, just changes prices from year to year. Grads can get tickets to just the party in DCA that runs from 9pm-2am, all day tickets to DCA that includes Grad Night, or parkhoppers that includes Grad Night. The 2 days that were Grad Nights while we were there, DCA was pretty crowded starting around lunch time. I assume it got worse as it got later, but we just hopped to ride Guardians and stuck to DL those two days. We stayed at The Anaheim Hotel and the Grad Night entrance was right across the street (Grad Night groups enter into the back of DCA on the Harbor side so you don't have to worry about longer lines at the normal entrance). It seemed like the Grad Night buses really started pouring in around lunchtime, but there were some groups getting there earlier.

The thing we saw happening though was that the grads don't have to go to the Grad Night party at 9pm if they have parkhoppers. They would make an announcement in Disneyland that the party was starting, but it seemed like there were A LOT of groups who were choosing to stay in DL until midnight and then moving over to DCA for the last 2 hours of their party. So on Grad Nights BOTH parks were pretty crowded all day. We really didn't have an issue with crowds (our last trip was Halloween season during the week of Indigenous Peoples Day soooo )

My issue was that even though the majority of the groups we ran into were fine, there was sooo much running and screaming and cussing and pushing everywhere. Just general immaturity and it got to be pretty annoying after awhile. We rode Pirates one night and had 6 guys in the front of our boat that meowed the entire time. The. Entire. Time. Just stuff like that that seemed to be happening constantly. I'm 33 and I teach so I'm used to kids' behavior but it was just hoards of teens acting like my elementary age students. CMs telling them not to run and just being ignored. The grads can't purchase Genie+ if they aren't 18 yet and they would get in standby and jump into the LL with no consequences. Idk if you saw the TikTok of the kid yelling "help me!" in the Space Mountain line...but yeah, a lot of stuff like that.

I probably made it sounds pretty awful and it wasn't *that bad*. Didn't ruin our trip or anything (the trip was amazing!) and I had the expectation of more crowds and more teen-like behavior on the Grad Nights. We're just coming from the East Coast and DL is not something we can do as often as I would like because of the distance so I would just rather avoid it in the future if possible!

Thank you for the very informative reply, alleighboo. I had seen mention a couple of weeks ago about grads having optional all-day tickets, making DCA crowded starting long before the party. I didn't realize those tickets could be hopper versions and that a lot of kids might stay at DL as long as possible, making both parks crowded. Plus, as you say, some behavior that can get out of hand when they're traveling in packs.

 

[starlite_]

I wish Disneyland would get rid of the Grad nights. WDW did several years ago. The grad nights really increase attendance and it is not fair to out of town travelers and vacationers that travel great distances to visit.

Nah.

 

[joseph821]

Nah.

Then decrease the number of nights..15 is too much! Just have the event at DCA from 9 to 2 only...no park hoppers...no mixing in early.

 

[Butterfly123]

Sure! So there are 3 tiers of tickets that schools can choose and it seems to stay the same options, just changes prices from year to year. Grads can get tickets to just the party in DCA that runs from 9pm-2am, all day tickets to DCA that includes Grad Night, or parkhoppers that includes Grad Night. The 2 days that were Grad Nights while we were there, DCA was pretty crowded starting around lunch time. I assume it got worse as it got later, but we just hopped to ride Guardians and stuck to DL those two days. We stayed at The Anaheim Hotel and the Grad Night entrance was right across the street (Grad Night groups enter into the back of DCA on the Harbor side so you don't have to worry about longer lines at the normal entrance). It seemed like the Grad Night buses really started pouring in around lunchtime, but there were some groups getting there earlier.

The thing we saw happening though was that the grads don't have to go to the Grad Night party at 9pm if they have parkhoppers. They would make an announcement in Disneyland that the party was starting, but it seemed like there were A LOT of groups who were choosing to stay in DL until midnight and then moving over to DCA for the last 2 hours of their party. So on Grad Nights BOTH parks were pretty crowded all day. We really didn't have an issue with crowds (our last trip was Halloween season during the week of Indigenous Peoples Day soooo )

My issue was that even though the majority of the groups we ran into were fine, there was sooo much running and screaming and cussing and pushing everywhere. Just general immaturity and it got to be pretty annoying after awhile. We rode Pirates one night and had 6 guys in the front of our boat that meowed the entire time. The. Entire. Time. Just stuff like that that seemed to be happening constantly. I'm 33 and I teach so I'm used to kids' behavior but it was just hoards of teens acting like my elementary age students. CMs telling them not to run and just being ignored. The grads can't purchase Genie+ if they aren't 18 yet and they would get in standby and jump into the LL with no consequences. Idk if you saw the TikTok of the kid yelling "help me!" in the Space Mountain line...but yeah, a lot of stuff like that.

I probably made it sounds pretty awful and it wasn't *that bad*. Didn't ruin our trip or anything (the trip was amazing!) and I had the expectation of more crowds and more teen-like behavior on the Grad Nights. We're just coming from the East Coast and DL is not something we can do as often as I would like because of the distance so I would just rather avoid it in the future if possible!

I find grad nights much better at DCA than DL. I think its the nature of the rides. A quiet ride with teens acting up is really annoying. There's much less of that on things like incredicoaster. We stayed ithe day n DCA last Wednesday, a grad night, and avoided DL. We were lucky and didn't have any problems with the grads. DCA tends to feel like much more of a young adult type park to me, maybe that's why they tend to just blend in. I'm sorry some of your DL rides were affected by bad behavior, but I'm glad your trip was amazing. Ours was, too!!

 

[NorCalFanatic]

We were there last week and had no idea until right before the trip we were going on grad night days. We’ve got little ones, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. We didn’t encounter the problems the previous poster mentioned, maybe we just got lucky and missed the rowdiness….although there was some obnoxious behavior ahead of us on Autotopia. Some creative language here and there as well. I’m glad we didn’t have to deal with meowing on Pirates .
I didn’t find it that much more crowded than the other days. On all of our trips we have noticed that DCA usually gets more crowded around lunchtime. Probably cause people can start to park hop, and I think more people head over to DCA to eat lunch as the food options are so much better. Our strategy is to do rope drop at DCA at least one day. We can get on almost every ride by 10:30ish (we generally skip Grizzly Run, Mike and Sully, and the Ferris wheel and do them later). We then can take a more leisurely pace to squeeze in those last rides, shop and eat. Then hope over to DL after lunch or head back to hotel for a nap and hit DL in the late afternoon early evening.

We go to DLR 3-4X a year, that first week of June works out well for us travel wise, we’ll have to decide for next year. We like that time frame as it’s not too hot yet (We do not like the summer heat at DL) and the local schools are still in session, so the crowds seems smaller compared to spring break.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

I find grad nights much better at DCA than DL. I think its the nature of the rides. A quiet ride with teens acting up is really annoying. There's much less of that on things like incredicoaster. We stayed ithe day n DCA last Wednesday, a grad night, and avoided DL. We were lucky and didn't have any problems with the grads. DCA tends to feel like much more of a young adult type park to me, maybe that's why they tend to just blend in. I'm sorry some of your DL rides were affected by bad behavior, but I'm glad your trip was amazing. Ours was, too!!

Now that I think about it, that was our observation as well….more of the poor behavior was in DL rather than DCA.

 

[DLgal]

Then decrease the number of nights..15 is too much! Just have the event at DCA from 9 to 2 only...no park hoppers...no mixing in early.

I agree with this. They should do them ALL in May. And no "all day access" options. Its grad NITE.

I did Grad Nite in 1996. We were in Northern CA. We boarded the charter bus at our high school at 9am and drove down to Anaheim. We got there at 5pm and had a dinner at some German restaurant. We then re boarded our buses and literally SAT in the Disneyland parking lot for 2 hours, until 9pm. We were then let into the park from 9am to 5am. At 5am, back on the bus for the drive back up to our high school. Parents picked us up at noon.

That's how it used to be and that's what it should go back to. An all night party, but NO day access.

 

[starlite_]

Then decrease the number of nights..15 is too much! Just have the event at DCA from 9 to 2 only...no park hoppers...no mixing in early.

I can get behind that.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

I agree with this. They should do them ALL in May. And no "all day access" options. Its grad NITE.

I did Grad Nite in 1996. We were in Northern CA. We boarded the charter bus at our high school at 9am and drove down to Anaheim. We got there at 5pm and had a dinner at some German restaurant. We then re boarded our buses and literally SAT in the Disneyland parking lot for 2 hours, until 9pm. We were then let into the park from 9am to 5am. At 5am, back on the bus for the drive back up to our high school. Parents picked us up at noon.

That's how it used to be and that's what it should go back to. An all night party, but NO day access.

Wow! What HS in Nor Cal? I’m a bit older (class of 1991) I wish our HS I went to in Nor Cal did that! We had some lame grad nite party at the high school gym.

 

[Mama Bear Me2]

Thanks everyone for the "deeper dive" into grad nights. Great information shared. Thank you!

I was concerned about losing park hours but it looks like some posters experienced a few other issues which detracted from their park enjoyment. Glad that Grade Nites should be over by July & August as 1 poster pointed out.

1) How can you find out Grad Night schedule?
2) Does Disney post it on their website? Does it show up on the website's reservation schedule?

To be frank, I would be pretty "miffed" (to put it mildly) to discover that I reserved for a Grad Nite only when I arrived at the Parks. I would hope that there's some way to identify Grad Nites so that I could avoid reserving those days if I wished to avoid those days. Visiting Disneyland is a very expensive trip for our family. Wished we could do it yearly but the reality is that there's several years gap between each trip and each trip becomes successively more expensive.