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Although Disney World might have decided to convert its decades-old Grad Nite celebrations into Senior Class Trips, Disneyland’s keeping the tradition. We know that Grad Nite will continue there for at least the next two years, as the official Disney Parks blog just mentioned some updates Disneyland is making to its graduate celebrations.
Next year, any students partying for their graduation will be able to enter any Disneyland or Disney California Adventure park whenever they want. They’ll also be offered two FASTPASS tickets and a special showing of Fantasmic! before the private Grad Nite parties begin.
In 2013 the aforementioned party will move over to Disney California Adventure. Instead of (or perhaps in addition to) Fantasmic! grads will get to view a special World of Color performance and obtain exclusive entrance into the forthcoming Cars Land.
The official Disney parks blog post on the matter helps to clear up a few questions I had about Grad Nite. When I first wrote on the topic I wondered what, exactly, Grad Nite entailed. Details were hard to acquire; back then, in order to find more than the scant information revealed on the official Parks post, one had to sign up as a fan of Grad Nite on its Facebook page.
Now Disneyland Grad Nite has its own website (courtesy of Disney Youth Programs) where one can go to have questions answered. Or can one? I visited the site to learn what Grad Nite used to offer, or what its basic package is upon which the enhancements listed above are piled.
All I could find, however, was a listing of what I just shared with you: the entrance to either of the parks, the FASTPASS, the special lights shows. What did Grad Nite used to entail (we’d need to know that if we’re to be impressed by the specials offered for 2012 and 2013), and what are the details for this private party that keeps being mentioned but not described?
The Disneyland Grad Nite website likes to boast of how its party is the world’s largest/most elaborate graduate celebration, and perhaps that’s true. I know I’m being naive, probably because I never got to travel to Disney as a teenager and learn the particulars of such a trip, but reading such a thing made Grad Nite seem much bigger than it is.
Not to say that it’s not up to snuff. This is how Disneyland’s Grad Nite boils down: on select dates each spring, individual high school seniors or groups of them receive two discounted FASTPASS tickets per person for both Disneyland Parks. They are also able to attend a private dance party and an exclusive Disney lights show.
Given Disneyland’s exorbitant rates, Grad Nite really offers a great deal for Disney-loving high school seniors. It should just drop the mystique with which it tries to surround its announcements of the event, which makes it sound much more elaborate than it actually is. But then, I should expect such accolades ahead of any Disney party. I’m sure any seniors celebrating their graduation at Disneyland aren’t disappointed.
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Spring Special Offers at Disney
*(This image by BoogaFrito is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
