Grad Nights in April

[Rekced]

April 22, 23, 29, and 30th are all Grad nights in the Magic Kingdom. I am wondering when the park closes to normal visitors on those days typically?

Also is the park more crowded during the day on those days, or less crowded maybe? Do they still do Spectromagic and/or wishes before it switches over to grad night?

Thanks for any help, hopefully the April hours are posted soon.

[RazdOnDis]

Last May they closed the MK at 6:00 pm. I'd never been there during grad week and I was astounded at the amount of busses and kids who were there. There was a line of tour busses outside of FW that I could not see the end of. I could only imagine what the park was like once all those kids were inside. But it generally doesn't affect the parks during the day because, as far as I know, they don't stay on property and MK is the only park they utilize for it. I purposely booked in April this year to avoid that very thing and, in typical WDW style, they moved the thing to April. Luckily for us (if you can call leaving WDW luck) we leave two days before the first night.

[ January 25, 2005, 12:47 PM: Message edited by: RazdOnDis ]

[Beast_fanatic]

Do they still do Spectromagic and/or wishes before it switches over to grad night?I don't think so since they close around 6pm, it wouldn't be dark enough at that time of year for them to occur.

[ January 25, 2005, 10:38 PM: Message edited by: Beast_fanatic ]

[delarosa]

MK will close around 5:00 or 6:00. It will be the only park affected. The night time shows do not run, as mentioned above, because it will still be bright daylight outside. By April though, the parade and fireworks are usually running every night, so just plan to see it another night.

The other place to avoid is Downtown Disney. Blast Off parties are held there prior to Grad Nites. If you think navigating that parking lot is bad on a normal Saturday night, just wait! The place is swarming with tour busses.

And Grad Nites have always been held in both April and May. I know I attended Grad Nite back in 1997 in late April, and worked several back in April/May 2000. The dates are always posted pretty far in advance so it shouldn't be hard to plan around them if you must.

[AvonleaCF]

I'm graduating in May, but looks like I'll be there too late for the GradNights. :(

[2tinkerbellsmom]

WE have been there a few times during GRad Nights and it does affect the other parks and mainly Value Resorts in my opinion. The parks were more crowded because alot of schools pick a different park during the day (we seen alot of this). I have heard from several people and know for a fact that alot of the students stay at the Value resorts on property. There not really bad (I heard several cuss words and some were rude) but overall they weren't bad but it was annoying w/ MK closing early and no fireworks or parades.It's just a matter of planning Mk out and you'll be fine.

[Buddha]

We stayed at he WL during the Grad nights. The hotel placed flyers under the doors to inform us about late night fireworks. I didn't notice any increased attendance at MK that day we received the notice. I did noitce youger 18 year olds but not that many. I don't recall any at our hotel. I think their usually local high school students form Florida. I never had any problem with their celebration.

[Bear]

I will be there at that time too and I'm wondering if they will have Spectro and Wishes during the week since we will not be able to see them on the weekend. I guess we just have to wait for the hours to be posted. I'm used to going in December when the parade is only running on the weekend. Do they usually have the parade more often during this time?

[Beast_fanatic]

Bear, you can take a look at the 2004 Historical Hours (http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/calendar/historical/historicalhours2004.asp) to get an idea of what happened in April last year. However, keep in mind that Easter was in April last year, so park hours probably will differ this year (with Easter being in March).

[DVC2004]

We were there during May Grad Nights in 2003. The parks had average crowds during the day, no more or less busy than usual for that time of year. As others have said, MK closed at 6pm that night. We had no problems. We were staying in the CR tower, and I remember hearing the loud music coming over from MK and fireworks going off around midnight but it was not bothersome.