14 is a hard demographic for Disney.  Younger kids love it, older kids are secure enough in their identities to admit that Disney is a good time.  But the junior high crowd is absolutely obsessed with not being associated with "kiddie" stuff.  Curious to see how this one goes.

To quote The Incredibles:

Bob:

"It's not a graduation! He's moving from the 4th grade to the 5th grade!"

Helen:

"It's a ceremony..."

Bob:

"It's psychotic! They keep inventing new ways to celebrate mediocrity!"

Now Disney's trying a way to make money on it, too!

This all makes sense. "High School Musical" is huge with the tween crowd. The Disney Channel does very well with programming aimed at tweens. Why not a "grad nights" type event for upper end tweens? It's actually good business sense, finding a way to extend the brand and expose your theme park to new customers.

Oh goodie ... another excuse to close MK early so they can charge people for the priviledge of something they should already have ....

Personally I agree with Bald Melon, we have enough hard ticket events as it is.  On another point if you thought it was difficult dealing with High School kids during grad night and night of joy middle school kids are going to be even worse. I sincerely hope this test is a disaster because it would also be hell to the cast members who hate night of joy and grad night with Super Soap Weekend being a close third.

As long as I have beforehand knowledge of when these kind of events take place, I'm fine with it. That way, I won't have to be a first-hand witness to all of the shenanigans I've read so much about.

Now, I've heard about the apparent hell that is Night of Joy. Grad Night, I could believe would be equally as troubling for both castmembers, and guests who are not a part of that event.

However, what's the big problem with Super Soaps Weekend? I never heard anything about that before.

And, when exactly do these three events generally take place? So that I can avoid them on future visits.

No such thing as too many hard ticket events. Having been to the parks hundreds of times we kind of like seeing things in a new light from time to time. These events just seem to make things more interesting for whoever attends. Being the parent of two girls (11 and 13) and living in SC (Hilton Head).  I find myself negotiating with my girls to convince them to go to the parks these days. Disney just isn't as cool as it once was and this is the time when Disney loses them (and their parents) for quite a number of years - until they have kids of their own. So I totally understand the strategy here - keeping the tweens interested keep the parents interested and the money flowing Disney's way at least for a couple more visits. So bring it on - I'll be sending my kids if they get the chance.

Having too many Hard-Ticket events is unfair to the casual day guest.

I COMPLETELY agree with WannabWalt.

For all of you complainers about this event, if Disney makes lots of money, than they are more likely to build new attractions and update old ones. On the flip side, if Disney doesn't make lots of money, then they won't.

You can't spend $200-300 million on a new attraction or $1 billion+ on a new gate, if you don't have the money.

In addition, if WDW MAKES the money, then WDW will be more likely to be able to SPEND it.

Bottom line: BE HAPPY WHEN DISNEY MAKES LOTS OF MONEY!

Personally, I applaud Disney for trying to appeal to an audience that so often gets overlooked - just scroll up and see the different comments about the age group in question.

I always wonderd what they'd have to do to get anyone to spend more than 5 minutes at Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama. :)

I didn't see the point of a junior high school graduation ceremony and the associated events when I went through it, and I still don't. Totally agree with the quote from the Incredibles.

To jedited: Let's not kid ourselves here. Disney's out to make money solely for the purpose of making money. If they cash in on this thing, they're no more likely to fork over big bucks for new or revamped attractions than if they don't. If anything, they've got even less incentive to spend big money on new attractions, because they'll figure that they can keep the money rolling in by introducing new marketing gimmicks to boost attendance.  

I think this is a pretty good idea. The Animal Kingdom closes earlier than the other parks anyway, so it really doesn't effect the casual day guest. If parents are willing to pay to use a park that is normally unused at that time, do it!

Most tweens only want to hang around with friends and have fun, anyway...what better place than Disney.

So are Epcot and MGM not options?

All I can say is that everytime I get older, I miss out on everything. :(

Hey Jim: I like this idea. If Disney makes money and it's a sucsess then wonderful! If it doesn't work, then they'll just just know to do something else. I would make it a requirement that each group of kids has a chaperone. You see, I personally know the person who did something at Disneyland that resulted in the rule that they've had since 1980 that when you are inside the park, you are locked inside...aka they don't let you outside the gates.

I have to toss my hat into the ring on this issue. I think it is a bad idea and here are the reasons why:

1. Disney already makes money hand over fist and we see how much they put into new rides and upkeep. Granted it has seen a turn for the better as of late, but we are still 20 steps behind where we should have been by the year 2007. As recent stories point out Disney is more interested in rebranding. I doubt that the money they will pull in from an event like this will do anything more than pad some execs golden parachute clause or year-end bonus. It won't put the keel boats back in service, it wont do something with the peoplemover track, it wont ove the country bears over to grizzly rapids, or anything else.

2. This is not a graduation.... of anykind. We set kids expectations way too high and then can't figure out why they are so dissappointed when they become adults. Not only do kids (and adults now too) think they deserve stuff, they actually feel like they are OWED it. By making everything an event, we suck the specialness out of everything. And to piggyback on an idea from Bald Melon Tim:

HELEN

Everyone's special, Dash.

DASH

Which is another way of saying no one is.

I vote NO on this idea. And as much as I hate saying it... I hope it flops.

Great, now I'm gonna feel guilty all day for wishing ill on Disney.

I wasn't really commenting god or bad about Disney's 8th Grade Jam, I was making fun of calling the act of passing the 8th grade a "graduation".

Seriously, what can you do with an 8th grade degree? (aside from getting into Disneyland)

I had heard about this kind of event, my niece came to see me last night and begged me for 50 bucks to go to seaworld for the same thing! I mean this 8th grade thing has become insane, at her school they're having a prom too!  Disney consumerism at it's best...

Oh.... to clarify my first point.

I am NOT against Disney making money, quite the contrary. I heartily encourage it... but just because you CAN charge extra for something doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Does early park closing on hard ticket nights result in lower regular admission prices?

pschnebs said:

"I always wonderd what they'd have to do to get anyone to spend more than 5 minutes at Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama. :)

To jedited: Let's not kid ourselves here. Disney's out to make money solely for the purpose of making money. If they cash in on this thing, they're no more likely to fork over big bucks for new or revamped attractions than if they don't. If anything, they've got even less incentive to spend big money on new attractions, because they'll figure that they can keep the money rolling in by introducing new marketing gimmicks to boost attendance."

Exactly. People who actually believe that how much Disney makes has any relation to what they spend in the parks are very naiive about the business world. These hard ticket events are actually attempts to lure people to the parks WITHOUT having to invest money in new attractions.

Believe me ... Disney is looking for ways to maximize profits, just like every other company. While new attractions are good for boosting attendance, they're also expensive and they'll avoid it at all costs.

Tomoyo said:

"Does early park closing on hard ticket nights result in lower regular admission prices?"

Nope. Not directly anyway.

I mean you could maybe make the case that, since they generate all this extra revenue from the hard ticket events, they can charge less for general admission than they normally would, but that's probably a stretch.

Given what the P&L's normally look like for Disney World, I'm pretty certain they're milking everything they can for maximum profits. If they thought the market would bear a bigger price increase on park admission, they'd hike entrance fees up in a second while still holding all the hard ticket events.

Mwah, can't decide if I like it or not. Don't mind if they want to make more money, and it's good that they're trying to connect with a "difficult" demographic, but I just don't see the "magic" of it all..

How does this relate to "experiencing Disney magic"?

Hmm, kinda lame if you ask me, but then again, if I was in 8th grade again and graduating, I'd think it was the coolest thing ever, so to each his own.

Well, it's not like anybody's gonna GO to it. In 7th grade, I was 11, and everyone in the class had already decided that Disney was crap. I was and am the only Disney fan in the entire school district, only now I keep it to myself. So unless they have gone somewhere and dug up a crop of really really nice kids who actually care, this is SO GONNA BOMB.

I would disagree with the claim that the Animal Kingdom Blast-Off Party is "very popular." I've taken a bunch of high school seniors to two of them, and they were duds both years.

Disney started offering this last year because Pleasure Island--which *was* very popular--was no longer an option. My kids last year weren't impressed. This year, Disney shortened the event because they realized that there just wasn't that much to do. How many times can you ride Dinosaur and Everest? Two or three times is enough, and that can be done in about an hour.

This year, there were even fewer people there. News of its suckiness must've spread. I doubt we'll be taking our seniors back next year. We'll take them to Grad Nite, but unless Disney brings back Pleasure Island, we'll skip the Blast-Off Party.

Ok clearly none of you understand how this sort of thing works. (ie grad night, night of joy)

These are NOT hard ticket events like MNSSHP and MVMCP or P&P.

Schools (or religious organizations such as younglife for night of joy) purchase tickets in advance, rent a bus and go.

In the case of a school going, a flyer is sent home with the student and they sign up to go, with the school and stay overnight. Its heavily chaperoned, and very "cool".

In eighth grade, my school got to go to Wet and Wild in Orlando, from 8pm-3am. It was awesome.

When your school is planning this sort of event, and you can only qualify to go if you have decent grades and no behavior problems, the event becomes 'cool', especially to that age group.

These kids wont be going with parents, they'll be with chaperones, who will let them have free run of the park. Which in this case is the Dinorama and the upper Asia portion of Animal Kingdom. 4 rides, and AK closes at dusk anyway. No one will be affected by these kids.

IF they branch this out to MK or MGM or Epcot (epcot not likely) Then it will impact like grad night and I think it will be popular. The schools will latch on, and any yuppie will just HAVE to have their kid go to an event like this.

it sucks for the average tourist, but all you have to do is tell a 14 year old "hey, wanna go ride roller coasters and fair rides, eat junk , hang out with your friends and stay over night with NO parents!?" And they will be there.

Greenyskp - Please do not assume that because people don't use the same words that you might like them to, that they don't know what they are talking about. I attended (as a student 2 Grad nights: my own and my girlfriends) and I have been a chaperone on 2 occasions as well. I would say that it most definately IS a hard ticket. Why? Because without a special ticket... you ain't getting in. Your generalization that everyone thinks it's cool is misleading. Sure, what teenager wouldn't want to go hang out, til the wee hours of the morning, with their friends at a theme park? But the reasons they enjoy it, and the things they do while in the park, vary greatly. Some groups of kids hang out in one spot and talk/make out/drink/smoke ( I have been witness to all of these personally). Some groups actually enjoy the park for what it is and ride the rides. Others just wander around. Etc, etc,... I think, for at least half the kids involved, that you could lock them in the gym for a night and they would enjoy themselves almost as much.

I could ramble on and on, but I digress. Some of 'us' have a very informed, and factually based knowledge of how "these things work". Please give us a little more credit in the future.

Personally I think Grad Night is a great thing (although they could run it and chaperone it much better) but this 8th grad NON-graduation thing is a bad idea.

"I wasn't really commenting god or bad about Disney's 8th Grade Jam, I was making fun of calling the act of passing the 8th grade a "graduation".

Seriously, what can you do with an 8th grade degree? (aside from getting into Disneyland)"

I gotta tell ya - there's probably not a lot you can do with a high school degree that you couldn't do without one, either. Get into college, I suppose, but then they won't let you into highschool until you pass the 8th grade, either.

You are right, though - they shouldn't call it a graduation. No good can come from giving kids a sense of accomplishment and maybe a little pride in something they've done.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I am off to my daughter's daycare graduation...

Currently I'm a senior and I'll be graduating on May 24th (I live in Texas, though, so I don't get Grad Night at WDW). To be almost about to leave high school and graduate, after tolerating four years of nonsense, I feel terribly irritated that eighth graders receive their own "graduation," that my making my way through my entire public school education should be put on the same level as an eighth grader's finishing their ninth year of public school, six of which (K through 5th) were probably a walk through the park. Finishing the eighth grade may be a milestone, but only as a bridge into a new, deeper, fouler hell.

It's unfortunate that Disney loses the preteen group, but really by hoisting words like "graduation" on them only ages them faster, and accelerates their desire to be treated like older teenagers. If Disney really wanted their attention they'd have to turn their whole ship around and turn the entire company into the Disney Channel - GOD FORBID (I get enough of that exposure from my sixth grader sister). Preteens are generally too immature and insecure to accept Disney's appeal, and really I think the only way they'll truely reel the preteens back in is by attracting the older teenagers first. I've been seeing signs of that in department stores and Hot Topic among the Junior girls sections. Even then, though, attracting the older teens to set an example is quite a stretch.

I doubt this 8th grade Grad Night is going to work out, or at least, that's what I'm hoping for. To me it seems like a waste of the theme park's energy. What they should really be concentrating on, besides new attractions, is new shows and events that issue more than just one ongoing parade and a few new pieces of merchandise. Tokyo Disneyland has several new themes all year round with new shows, parades, extensive park decorations, and merchandise that keep people flooding back in. It just sucks that our original American Disney parks have only enough energy and enthusiasm to cook up lame-brained schemes like this new grad night spin-off and the occassional anniversary.

How many folks worked at WDW during these events?  They are a nightmare!!!  Night of Joy (a christian event) has more arrests, alcohol and fights than any other event.  Grad night has more fights and renegade chaperones than any other event.

Don't get me wrong, from a financial standpoint Disney does make money.  History has shown that they do NOT pass that on to building of more rides.  They just don't since they can have these events with the infrastructure in place.

But for castmembers these are not fun events.  Security and deputies are on full alert and are very busy.  Arguments with adults are just downright embarassing.

And yes it does take away from the regular guest because the parks are always closing early.  Most folks get there around noon during the day so that gives them a little over 6 hours to enjoy the park.  Not what I would consider your money's worth.

i went to the grad night and it was pretty boring for me....the chaperones let us run around in groups as long as we werent alone...soo most of the time we were tryin to find every 1 from our group.....the lines for the rides were sooo long...and one kid got jumped by some other kids...and when some of the kids got back on the bus they were like: i hope he dont die....we were walkin outta dino land and our chaperones were there makin sure it wuzant us...but it just kinda sukked....it was rele rele crowded...