News Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Hours coming for resort guests

[Shouldigo12]

I really don't see how MDE is a massive reason to stay on site. Given the noise on the bus and the non-direct stops, I've just gone for Uber my last few stays.

How valuable it is depends on your needs and preferences. For me not having to fuss with transportation after I've been flying all day made it worth it. I've heard families, especially big families, also found not having to deal with luggage invaluable.

 

[bunnyman]

Unfortunately Disney is doing what every other company does, give you less for more. Give consumers the same size package but reduce the size of what’s inside (I.e. a can of coffee shrinking down to 13 ozs., 11.5 ozs., etc.). Ever open up a box of ice cream novelties to only see a diminished item?

 

[DisneyCane]

Unfortunately Disney is doing what every other company does, give you less for more. Give consumers the same size package but reduce the size of what’s inside (I.e. a can of coffee shrinking down to 13 ozs., 11.5 ozs., etc.). Ever open up a box of ice cream novelties to only see a diminished item?

They do that stuff to keep the profit margin without raising the price to the level that prevents purchases. What Disney does is like lowering the amount of coffee to 11.5 oz and increasing the price 10% twice every year.

 

[Andrew M]

While it's a nice idea, I really don't see the appeal personally, and definitely not an adequate replacement for EMH. My family likes to sleep in on vacation, and I'm sure I'm not alone. It's an absolute chore to drag my wife and 3 kids out of bed intime for rope drop. I have to be up at 6am on a regular day to get everyone dressed, fed and out the door, I don't want to have to do that on vacation. We loved the nighttime EMH for this reason. Something really cool about watching the Magic Kingdom slowly empty out at night and just walking on as many rides as you can just before the park closes.

Now between that and no fastpasses, we're going to be even worse off by not waking up at the crack of dawn. I can deal with the loss of Magical Express, between Uber or simply renting a car for a day or two, its not a big deal. But when you're losing that, in addition to no early Fastpass booking window (not to mention no Fastpasses at all), and no extra magic hours, there's very little reason left to pay for the grossly overpriced rooms. Yes there's that whole 'Disney bubble' feel, but outside of that I'm not sure if I can justify it anymore. We usually end up taking Ubers to the parks anyway when the busses are running slow.

 

[Incomudro]

I was at Disney World in 2019 when they were running Extra Extra Magic hours at 3 parks at once and it made an enormous difference in crowd levels. This is good.

It’s basically just enough of a head start to punish local AP holders and those off site

More importantly I think it will serve to spread out the resort rope drop crowds, so instead of Pandora having a 60 minute wait at 8:10 2 days a week it will have a 30 minute wait at 8:40 7 days a week. Which is better for on site guests too.

I wish they'd extend it to one hour.

 

[GLM]

What exactly is the hotel guests bonus? No bands (we loved them!), No DME, no luggage magically appearing in my room, and now limited magic hours.

Yes.. that's the point I was trying to make. All they have done is take away all perks of staying on property.. while charging more for rooms and charging for parking at the resorts. There is a breaking point for most people. I'm almost there. I'll be done when they start charging for fastpasses or more EMH time. When you stay on their property, buy their tickets, buy their dining plan, shop exclusively at their shops and stay on property your whole vacation .. what more do they want ???

 

[Andrew M]

I wish they'd extend it to one hour.

Exactly, 30 minutes is a joke. It's barely enough time to ride something once and possibly get in line for a 2nd one, if you hustle.

 

[Incomudro]

Of course having a car for at-will transportation still isn't that great considering the traffic involved in getting to and parking at each park. I think the Disney transportation is by far the biggest benefit to staying on-site at this point -- it's the only reason I continue to do so, considering I drive to WDW anyways. It's just so much easier and less stressful to leave my car parked at the resort and use Disney transport, with an occasional Uber/Lyft supplement (but using that all the time would get expensive quickly).

And don't forget about Disney hotels that allow walk ins to the parks like Beach/Yacht Club, Swan/Dolphin...

 

[Incomudro]

Exactly, 30 minutes is a joke. It's barely enough time to ride something once and possibly get in line for a 2nd one, if you hustle.

And it allows such a small window should people run into a snag getting from their Disney hotel to the park of their choice.
Be it a family getting itself together and on the move problem, a Disney transportation problem...
It's very easy for the smallest of snags to chip 30 minutes down to 15 or less.

 

[MisterPenguin]

And it allows such a small window should people run into a snag getting from their Disney hotel to the park of their choice.
Be it a family getting itself together and on the move problem, a Disney transportation problem...
It's very easy for the smallest of snags to chip 30 minutes down to 15 or less.

"Getting into a snag" always put one at a disadvantage allowing a large number of people to get into the park before you, or to wait outside in a throng before you.

Don't know who's planning their rope drops by anticipating they get at the tapstile one minute before letting people in. That's always been a recipe for disappointment.

 

[peter11435]

This is better than the previous set up and will actually be increasing the cost of operation for the service.

 

[Andrew M]

And it allows such a small window should people run into a snag getting from their Disney hotel to the park of their choice.
Be it a family getting itself together and on the move problem, a Disney transportation problem...
It's very easy for the smallest of snags to chip 30 minutes down to 15 or less.

Yep! I've learned over years of trial and error to refine my trip planning to not make dinning/FP reservations before 10am unless we can walk to the restaurant or the park. Between dragging everyone out of bed and something not running or delayed, I've realized it's impossible for us to realistically get anywhere before then when Disney Transportation is involved. And I absolutely hate the feeling of running around the parks trying to play catchup to our fastpasses and dining reservations all morning.

Sure it would be nice to be the family that's all waiting outside the Magic Kingdom at 7:30am in matching shirts, but it is what it is.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Gotta wonder if this was done as a counter to the DME announcement.

- No DME = a massive reason not to stay on site
- 30 minutes head start on everyone else = a massive reason to stay on site

...tis not

 

[GimpYancIent]

Of course having a car for at-will transportation still isn't that great considering the traffic involved in getting to and parking at each park. I think the Disney transportation is by far the biggest benefit to staying on-site at this point -- it's the only reason I continue to do so, considering I drive to WDW anyways. It's just so much easier and less stressful to leave my car parked at the resort and use Disney transport, with an occasional Uber/Lyft supplement (but using that all the time would get expensive quickly).

I drive to WDW park at the my resort and use on property Disney transport to and from the venues I want to experience. I have had no issues, easy, nonstress and actually enjoyable. I do check on my vehicle periodically during my stay for additional peace of mind but it stays parked where I parked it when I arrived for the duration of my stay. Simple uncomplicated and relaxed.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

So, call me crazy but this half hour extra start seems to me to say that FP as we knew it might never come back. With FPs that half hour advantage is not nearly the big deal it is without, as that advantage could be some folks only way to ride something like FOP without a 3 hour wait.

 

[UNCgolf]

This is better than the previous set up and will actually be increasing the cost of operation for the service.

It's better for some guests, but certainly not all, and probably not even the majority -- mainly due to the combination of the extremely short window and that it's only in the mornings.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This is better than the previous set up and will actually be increasing the cost of operation for the service.

30 Minutes Is NOTHING...but Nice try

Be sure to let Mickey and goofy carry you off the battlefield on your shield.

 

[MrPromey]

... While that operates as crowd control too, it will eventually reach a point where it's unsustainable.

And they don't seem to be seriously considering or worrying about the people they off on the way to that point.

Disney corporate seems be be losing sight of why more people go there than Universal. It's not because they offer more value or have been doing better at adding to their parks over the last decade.

They're eroding the loyalty built on nostalgia that has allowed them to get away with all of this and it only takes one generation who doesn't get that family trip as a kid because parents couldn't afford it or just said to heck with the work and the ever decreasing value proposition to break the return cycle when those kids grow up and have their own kids*...

Of course, that's a result which could take a decade to surface, will happen slowly across time and by the point it is recognizable, will be some future executive's problem, eh?

Sounds about right.

... Then again, how long has it been since things began moving in this direction?



*It's too late for me. As someone who had an AP most of their life, I've already taken my son enough times that it's a thing for him. He wants to know when we're going back. I'm in no hurry. If he'd been born about 5 years later than he was, he might never have gone in the first place, though and it wouldn't be something he'd have memories of and miss.

 

[GimpYancIent]

"Getting into a snag" always put one at a disadvantage allowing a large number of people to get into the park before you, or to wait outside in a throng before you.

Don't know who's planning their rope drops by anticipating they get at the tapstile one minute before letting people in. That's always been a recipe for disappointment.

This 30 minute head start for people that stay on property announcement is worthless. Looking at a full day at WDW 30 minutes is a miniscule amount of time not worth making any plans around. I hope management rethinks the amount of time in future announcements so they have some real value.

 

[drew81]

I wonder how they’ll manage/enforce this? Separating resort guests could be a mess. Will be interesting to see.