Originally Posted By 8 ilovemickey 8 I hated Grad Nite. I was soo excited as i'm a Disney freak and it was such a let down. Lines are rediculous. You are so disoriented. And all I wanted to do was sleep at 4 in the morning. My boyfriend also had a bad experience with Grad Nite. He was accused of being drunk although he wasn't and was forced to spend the whole nite standing in the baby center despite his innocence. Our experiences were a couple of years ago tho so I hope it's gotten better since then!!!
Originally Posted By boyumz Wow, I sure hear alot of mixed reviews about Grad Nite. It seems people either absolutely hate it, or they absolutely love it. There's never any in-between. This is the first time our school has ever gone, and I have organized the entire trip by myself (been working on it for almost a year now). I will be devastated if the kids all hate it!
Originally Posted By 8 ilovemickey 8 I strongly suggest doing the DCA before! We went to Medevial Times and it was expensive and not worth it. Then we ended up spending 2 hours outside Disneyland waiting for the gates to open while everyone was having fun in DCA. Also, give kids some suggestions like choosing a small group to spend the night with and agree ahead of time on rides! Agree to wait in lines instead of walking around because everything seems so long. I think it is possible to have an awesome Grad Nite you just have to be smart about it. Also finding your bus amoung 1,000s at 5 in the morning can be a little interesting so make sure you mark on the bus list where yours is located. They have a list of locations but often schools dont use it.
Originally Posted By boyumz Thanks for the tips. I'm having a meeting with the kids before we go, so I'll be sure and mention what you said. Sometimes a long line for a ride moves more quickly than expected once you just bite the bullet and get in line. We are signed up to attend the DCA pre-party, and it's my understanding we get a sort of "express" entry into Disneyland because we don't have to be searched again. There are only about 40 kids attending from our school and they all have little sub-groups of friends, so everyone has people to hang out with. We're riding on a charter bus from the Bay Area, so I'm going to suggest they stay up all night the night before, and sleep on the bus. We'll wake them up about an hour before we arrive and start pumping them full of energy drinks! Their parents are just gonna love me!!
Originally Posted By 8 ilovemickey 8 Ha yes its a looonng ride! But sounds like you have good plans! So i'm sure everyone will have fun! And the DCA part will make it much better. I don't think you will get in a lot earlier then most as some people have already gone through security at that point but the fact that you dont have to just sit around and wait will make it much better! You can just walk right from DCA to Disneyland.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ LOL on the energy drinks! Sounds like some paintball experience there, boyumz I'm really surprised only 40 kids signed up! But that will make it so much more manageable for you. I'm jealous you get to go. My son has now informed me I will NOT be a chaparone next year. Perhaps you could have your sons talk to mine? lol
Originally Posted By boyumz You could chaperone with us! Seriously, we've got room on the bus and the ticket is $86 (includes DCA and DL). You only have to do an hour "on duty". I hand picked the chaperones and they are all very good friends of mine, and my husband, too. And Rockstar donated all the energy drinks---5 cases!! I wrote them a letter about how they donated at the XPSL and it's a very popular drink in our school. The girl that got the letter graduated from Liberty, so she was so happy to help us out. We also have a parent that works for Budweiser and Budweiser distributes Monster, so we've got the energy drinks covered. Let me know if you want to go, I have to order the last of the tickets on Friday. We'll leave Freedom about noon on the 13th and get back about 4 on Thursday afternoon. We're stopping at Hometown Buffet for lunch on the way home.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ ROFL! I'm getting home from DL on the 12! Ahhhh!!!! I'll drop you an email.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ I was so caught up in sending you an email, I didn't finish my thoughts here. Good ol' paintball connections! That's so funny the Rockstar rep went to Liberty! (for others, Liberty is one of 3 high schools in the same district as Boyumz's) Okay, I risked a coronary and played passive aggressive in an email to hubby, LOL
Originally Posted By boyumz LOL, I know what you mean. I just recently dropped the bomb on my husband that I'm going with my friends to WDW the week after Thanksgiving. I keep telling him, "but it's practically FREE". My friend's son got an internship in the culinary dept at WDW, so we're going to visit him for about 4 days. My friend has frequent flyer miles so the airfare is free, and her son gets an employee discount on hotels and tickets--so that makes it "practically FREE", right? He still didn't like it, but I suppose he'll get used to the idea. Now he knows why I kept telling him not to get me anything for Valentine's, Mother's Day, Anniversary, etc!
Originally Posted By SuzieQ ^ LOL! We've ignored those little "gift occassions" ever since I met the group from here on LP and got an annual pass. For the first time in about 6 years, I've only got 2 trips to DL planned. June and Dec. I went 8 times last year! *gasp*
