Originally Posted By ChiMike Says Al: The decline and fall of Grad Nites in WDW should be a valuable lesson for Disneyland that if you cheapen and dumb-down a product too much even rowdy teenagers will notice and stop coming. --- Ouch! Even rowdy teenagers... <a href="http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al062111a.htm" target="_blank">http://miceage.micechat.com/al...111a.htm</a>
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer Perfectly true. WHat has Disney done in the MK in recent years to capture that demographic? Not saying that Disney should pander to ONE demo... because that's what they are doing now, with families and young kids, but they really should open up their sights to EVERYONE.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 One of the things Al doesn't mention is that Universal entered the Grad Night field several years ago and that has eaten a lot of Disney's business. As a person who worked many GradNights all I can say is...thank goodness. They were miserable to work.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt It sounds dreadful. The DLR parties go until 6am. No thank you ma'am.
Originally Posted By MPierce They just don't like it because they cracked down on them having sex in the restroom stalls. Now if we could just get ride of the Night of Joy, Pop Warner Football, the Cheerleaders, and Brazilian Tour Groups.
Originally Posted By ChiMike ^ I agree. I also agree that while Al's point is very well taken, the grad nites come with a lot of negatives, mostly to the park's upkeep. Why can't the parks just be parks. The special events, the special annual celebrations, the constant custom decorations... It never stops. The park's intrinsic design is 'magical' enough.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Why can't the parks just be parks. The special events, the special annual celebrations, the constant custom decorations... It never stops. The park's intrinsic design is 'magical' enough. << Why the head Honchos at TWDC can't grasp that concept is totally beyond me. The special events greatly reduce the enjoyment of everyday visitors. The constant celebration of the latest Disney promotion is like when a naturally beautiful woman covers her face in makeup.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Just a quick note before I head to the pool and see what world-traveler TDLFAN, who just called me on the super secret, fanboi-tear fueled Spirit Line, has to say, I wanted to chime in here ... I really like Al and respect what he's done, but sometimes he is just off on things that he shouldn't be. I read his column and have issues with some of his comments on APs as well as how it equates with HKDL's recent changes to ticketing, but I'll leave that for now. Grad Nights. Al's ultimate points about why WDW killed them ($$$ and stupidity) and why they still prosper at DLR (smarts, history and a quality product that has been improve of late) are true, but he's a bit weak on his facts. When he talks about them being moved so early in the spring and not at vacation time, he shows his lack of knowledge about WDW, east coast (especially SE school schedules) and history. WDW has always held Grad Nights in late April and early/mid May (DL's have always been later again because of different schedules). I believe the most nights the event has ever had was six (three weekends of Friday/Saturdays in a row post Easter/Spring Break). It's been two weekends for years now. Timing hasn't been the cause of their dropping numbers, which gets lost in his misinformation. Price vs. quality, UNI offering a similar (and higher regarded) product, moving the event to TPFKaTD-MGMS, having cheaper entertainment ... all of these issues played into killing what was a tradition back when this Spirit was in high school (nope, not in 1863 Pierce). Of course, in those days you wore a tux and Disney offered top name current musical acts and almost the entire park was open attraction-wise. If Al wants to say stupidity and not giving quality for money was what killed Grad Nights in O-Town, then he's right. But he should try and get his facts and background straight before hitting 'publish'.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Apparently Al was wrong about Grad Nights at Disneyland are "not going anywhere anytime soon". Just a day or two after his pronouncement Disney revealed that the events will be moved to DCA in 2013. <a href="http://ocresort.ocregister.com/" target="_blank">http://ocresort.ocregister.com/</a>
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 The article sounded about right. TDO's management of WDW is LEGENDARILY bad!
Originally Posted By ChiMike Hans, Nice catch. Still, looking at a move from DL to DCA. I think it still is better for the grads than a move from MK to MGM. At MGM they literally only had Star Tours, ToT, TSMM and RNRC to visit for their demo. By 2013 at DCA, they will have enough to hit to make the loss of DL less of a blow. RSR + secondary attractions, Screamin', Soarin', ToT, Sky School, TSMM, and probably even GRR if Disney runs it.
Originally Posted By ReelJustice <<Apparently Al was wrong about Grad Nights at Disneyland are "not going anywhere anytime soon". Just a day or two after his pronouncement Disney revealed that the events will be moved to DCA in 2013. <a href="http://ocresort.ocregister.com/>>" target="_blank">http://ocresort.ocregister.com/>></a> DCA in 2013 will have a lot more going for it than DHS in 2010.
