ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — Next year's Grad Nite at Disneyland Resort, an annual tradition for graduating high school seniors in the state, has been canceled.
The Disneyland Youth Program, which oversees the event, placed a notice on its website that the uncertainty surrounding California’s new reopening guidelines for large theme parks forced Disney to cancel the annual event.
“The recently released state guidelines related to theme parks put us in limbo regarding a reopening timeline in the foreseeable future, and therefore we are unable to move forward with Grad Nite 2021,” the website said.
“We know how disappointing this will be to the many graduates who were looking forward to celebrating at the Disneyland Resort, and we thank you for your understanding during these challenging and unprecedented times. We look forward to celebrating your students in years to come.”
The cancellation comes as Disneyland Resort and many theme parks across the state, for the most part, remain closed.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and state health officials last month issued new guidelines that prohibited the reopening of Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood, and other large theme parks in California unless the theme park’s home county is in the yellow tier. The yellow tier is the least restrictive level of the state’s four color-coded tier system that monitors the risk of coronavirus spread in a county. Even when large theme park operators can reopen, they can only do so with 25% capacity and must meet other strict requirements.
Currently, Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm’s home county, Orange County, is in the purple tier, the state’s most restrictive level. Dr. Clayton Chau, the director of the Orange County Health Care Agency, said he doesn’t expect Orange County to be in the state’s yellow tier until mid-next year.
This is the second year in a row Disneyland has canceled its Grad Nite plans due to the coronavirus pandemic.
When the pandemic hit in March, Disneyland shuttered and canceled the 2020 Grad Nite event earlier this year. Disneyland and Disney California Adventure have remained closed since March.
Grad Nite has been an annual gathering — and some consider it a rite of a passage — for graduating high school seniors in California since the 1960s. High schools usually charge students hundreds of dollars and bus them in, along with teacher and parent chaperones, to Disneyland Resort on certain nights in May or June. The event is held for several hours at night until early morning.
The celebration was held at Disneyland up until 2013 before moving to Disney California Adventure. The popularity of Disney's Grad Nite has spurred other theme parks in the state to adopt a similar promotion.