Disney After Hours BOO BASH

[wm49rs]

It will be ironic if you start being asked when exactly you were last actually at WDW. Maybe even by me.

Prices were bound to increase with the jump in labor costs. Econ 101.

One question you should probably never ask him. Or anyone else....

 

[Disstevefan1]

My DW and I could easily afford this, but simply think it's too much for what you get.

It is a lot of money for what you get -
its three hours of admission, lets see for the three of us -
$390 for tickets (lowest priced tickets)
$25 parking.
I know there are "free" treats but lets say we have other food at counter service
$50 for the three of us if we go cheap.
$45 splurge on ONE Halloween pin each The shirts are just too expensive.
Total $510 - that's a lot of cheese we gave to Mickey for three hours of entertainment.

 

[pdude81]

I don't think it's just the rides for these events. They are expensive for the amount of time you get. But to some of us, not having people on top of you every second is worth paying for.

And in the time when a lot of people can't get annual passes and are looking for ways to maximize value, don't be surprised if they sell out quickly at 130 bucks for this relative to another 80 bucks to add another park day to their ticket. Here you don't have to get up early and still get on rides. But as much as people complain about the cost, it's after the park would already be closed and nobody needs to do it.

 

[jt04]

Serious question JT, when did you last go to WDW? I’ve seen it referenced it might have been in the 1980s right after EPCOT opened. If so, why has it been so long? Was that trip that impactful that you became a huge fan of the parks?

I had commitments. Plus I have been a time or two since Epcot opened.

I'm mostly a fan of the parks now because they help people enter the labor force and gives them opportunities for success. And the economic engine that the tourism sector is. I'd rather we still had more of a manufacturing base, but people keep getting tricked into rejecting the concept.

 

[LAKid53]

You guys NEVER send me the updated invites!

Stitch ate the list.

 

[ToTBellHop]

The comments on this give me hope otherwise

There are more than 10x as many likes as comments.

 

[marni1971]

I had commitments. Plus I have been a time or two since Epcot opened..

Can you narrow it down ? Or just purposely ambiguous?

Asking for a friend.

 

[SoFloMagic]

It is not a watered down event. It is not the Holiday Party Night. It is an After Hours event. Most nights' prices are in line with the Villains After Hours that WDW had a year and a half ago.

Which had a stage show and a $30 passholder discount

 

[BaconPancakes]

On a serious note, we rented a pontoon this last Monday for half a day and it cost us $200. I’d say a night in the Magic Kingdom with minimal lines for a little over $200 for two people is a steal.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Which had a stage show and a $30 passholder discount

And one cavalcade that ran twice. This has 3 cavalcades and trick-or-treating.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I’m willing to pay for short lines at night. My wife and I were talking about how unpleasant MNSSHP was getting due to over-crowding. That wasn’t really worth $100 a head for an old (but fun) parade and crappy fireworks. $150 for short lines and trick-or-treating during a weekend getaway? Sure.

Let's put aside the discussion as to if this after hours "Halloween party replacement" is worth the money.

As for the discussion on "willing to pay more for shorter lines" I agree! Will this event have shorter lines? This is unknown, I remember in pre pandemic days, these after hours events, did indeed have shorter lines, but I also remember it costing less, I think I remember it being $99 or something, sadly I never got to experience these after hours events pre pandemic.

We will be forever be comparing pre pandemic WDW to post pandemic WDW as Disney is using the pandemic to make changes they always wanted to do regardless of the pandemic.

Anyway, WDW knows folks are willing to pay more for shorter lines. We WILL be paying for fastpasses in the future.

 

[havoc315]

No. And you don’t need to be in the top 1% to afford tickets for $150. I live in a modest condo and don’t drink alcohol. This allows for lots of travel. Of course I also teach four extra courses in the summer, 2 each semester, 2 in winter to increase my earnings. Still doesn’t pay for caviar, I’m afraid.

It's similar in price to a WDW 1-day ticket.

So really, there are a couple ways to analyze this:

For someone considering visiting WDW just for 1 day:
For a regular 1 day ticket, you could spend about 12 hours at Magic Kingdom, mostly in sweltering heat, long lines and high crowds...
Or for about the same price, you can spend 5 hours (admission at 7pm) in the cooler evening and night, mostly with very low lines and low crowds, and with some special features.

Under that analysis, $150 doesn't sound so bad. In fact, it actually is a pretty good deal.

The analysis where it seems like a lot, is where people are adding in into the price of a multi-day ticket.

A 6-day regular ticket for WDW in August is about $500, maybe a bit more. So adding another 30%, "just for 3 hours" seems like an awful lot. (An argument could be made that Disney should offer a different price if you're adding it to a multi-day ticket, instead of purchasing it as a stand-alone ticket. For example, if you already have a multi-day ticket that includes the DAH day, then you can "upgrade" it to include the DAH for $79-$119 instead of $129-$169)

Of course, now that they have eliminated night time EMH.... I wonder how that affects DAH sales. Guests can no longer wait for their "free" EMH if they want a late night in MK. Purchasing DAH is the only way.

 

[SoFloMagic]

only concern is that we will be at the first event, which is almost always a cluster cuss, iykwim. It seems like it always takes one or two events before the cm's and management get all the kinks worked out. Sigh.

They're spending all their time catering to vloggers and doing media events at the first one

 

[BaconPancakes]

We’ll be at the 1st party as well, hoping to spot some of the “famous” vloggers.

 

[Ayla]

The thing that surprises me as I’ve said before is how many want to do this event mainly for less lines for rides. To me Disney is about way more than that. In fact a family of 4 could possible use the money they would spend to go to this 3hr event and stay 2 extra nights, go to a water park for a day or 2, or get 2 extra days (or more) of full day park tickets to enjoy Disney. So unless they just need to dress up, feel magical from a free Mickey ice cream, or just have to have short lines on rides they have done before for 3 hours that will go by fast, I just think this is a way to make money moreso than please most people. Having this essentially take the place of the Halloween party this year is what is causing a massive backlash from guests as well. It’s not a good optic and Disney can’t use covid as an excuse things this fall

People who believe they are paying for shorter lines are in for a huge disappointment.

 

[SoFloMagic]

The after-hours events offered limited availability, special offerings, and capped capacity for a short period.

This year they don't do a Halloween party - but instead offer a new offer, priced similarly, running similar dates/frequency with pandemic-related restrictions (live show, fireworks, parades all cut).

How do you not call this Party-lite? It's not like Disney just said... Hrmm... what's the next phase for our after-parties? You know darn well it probably was "Oh #$#$ how can we run our holloween and christmas profit wagons this fall with all this pandemic crap?" - and they figure out how to modify it and keep SOMETHING to sell.

Or they weren't 100% sure that party level capacity and meet and greets would be safe, so they planned on this instead.

They get $150x15k guests instead of $100x25k guests with no risk of having to cancel the event

 

[Jon81uk]

People who believe they are paying for shorter lines are in for a huge disappointment.

Why?
Most of the previous After Hours events offered short lines, it’s the entire selling point of the event. The high price is entirely to becuase the crowd levels should be low.

 

[SoFloMagic]

And one cavalcade that ran twice. This has 3 cavalcades and trick-or-treating.

Fair. I'm just salty about the $10 discount for AP. I'm local but love after hours and would do it without hesitation if they gave me the 30 off.

 

[Ayla]

Many people can. And those that can't afford it will skip it and still have a great Disney vacation.

We can afford it. Is it a good value and do we get a good return on our money? No.

 

[BaconPancakes]

We can afford it. Is it a good value and do we get a good return on our money? No.

Then don’t go. Quite simple!