Grad Nites 2011

For years Walt Disney World has been running special Grad Nite events for high school seniors around the time graduation occurs. They are usually run on Friday and Saturday nights over 2 weeks. This year it was April 29-30 and May 6-7. I had the first 2 nights off with my family here, but was scheduled to work the second 2 nights, which were the final Grad Nites ever as Disney is no longer going to run these events. 

The Magic Kingdom park was open to general guests during the day but closed at 7pm, the Grad Nite event then started at 8pm and went through till 4am the following morning. I worked 2 x twelve hour shifts - 4:30pm till 4:30am.

Because the park was officially closed for an hour with no guests, the Mansion cast were treated to a special 'out of area' ride. On the first night we got to ride Peter Pan in Fantasyland with the lights on, and on the second night we rode Big Thunder Mountain in Frontierland with the lights off! Other cast from other areas were also able to ride the Mansion with the lights on as the managers and co-ordinators manned our ride positions. It was a really nice treat and we were also given bags of candy floss (a sugary bribe to help us through the long nights with masses of screaming teenagers!).

The hour also provided an opportunity to take lots of photos in costume which is not normally allowed.

Mansion crew outside



Mansion crew inside



Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in my Mansion costume,
I had to hold onto my bat hat so as not to lose it on the ride!

Although there were nothing but teenagers in the park they were fairly well behaved and we had no real problems. There was also an awful lot of security around so that was a big deterrent for any mischief. 

At one point during the first evening I was positioned out in the queue area, basically directing foot traffic, when a snake decided it was a good time to slither up the path towards the Mansion (and me). I nearly had a heart attack and flagged down a passing co-ordinator and security guard. They took a look at it and told me it was just a corn snake (apparently harmless) and not to stress. I told them it's a snake and I'm Australian, we do not think any snake is harmless! The security guard then picked it up with some trash pickers and threw it over the fence by the Rivers of America and I went inside to work somewhere else!



A Corn Snake

 Towards the end of each Grad Nite there were hardly any people around, as a lot of them had to be back at their buses between 2 & 3am. This meant we were opening the doors to 2 or 3 people at a time when normally we would run a stretch room for 60 to 90 people!

It was pretty fun though and the music they played in the park for the night made the time seem to go a lot faster too. I was pleased to have been a part of the final Grad Nite ever.

Have a Magical Day (with no snakes)!