News Disney After Hours Events expands to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom

[Dad 2 M & M]

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and really, $100 for Animal Kingdom...where the only real ride issue would be Pandora...everything else is pretty accessible, and also are they capping the amount of tockets? Otherwise it could be just as bad as any normal day there.
I remember the Extra Magic Hours Evening in the Magic Kingdom when the wait for Haunted Mansion was still 45 minutes and 7 Dwarfs was 120 minutes...which was about 2/3 of the Extra Magic Hours time...

Extra Magic Hous have really became crowded....we attend only the evening extras, and the Parks usually don’t begin to “empty” until the last hour...bummer as it used to be such a nice time

One thing of note pertaining to our “value” in the After Hours events....we are willing to pay to avoid the crowds.....this could easily be interpreted as “Disney’s grand scheme” has worked on us

 

[MuteSuperstar]

I gotta admit...this use of the word “experiences” is starting to get to me.

These are not “experiences”...they are limited timeframe, high cost entry into old parks.
.

Just more newspeak to try to put lipstick on a pig, which I must say seems to be working quite well with a certain segment of the modern park audience.

 

[Kman101]

I gotta admit...this use of the word “experiences” is starting to get to me.

These are not “experiences”...they are limited timeframe, high cost entry into old parks.

Like a wristband to a water park on the jersey shore.

I'm with you. The use of experiences has become some cult-like way of making it seem you're getting something that kind of used to be part of how it was. IDK. I know people get upset when we're judgey on these things but oh well. We discuss everything on here, lol.

 

[Kman101]

So I'm probably going to get blasted for saying this but I don't care. I'm getting irritated to no end about it.

Annual Passholders aren't any more special or "Disney VIPs" than a person that goes to the parks and pays regular price. I'm so sick of the entitlement that AP holders think they get. Sure you pay $900 a year and your dedication to Disney is well regarded. But what the hell is the difference between you paying $900 a year for an Annual Pass, over me going to Disney World 2-3 times a year and shelling out the cash for each of my trips.

There is no difference. I know a lot of you on this forum are AP holders and many of you aren't like this, but there are some that are. Some people take it to the next level and get their panties in a bunch when Disney doesn't cater to them specifically, and that's bs.

When I was at MK last trip, I had bought the EMM ticket, and we got there super early and we were probably 2nd in line. A lady comes up to the front and says "Do AP holders have to wait in the line with all the others?" When she was told yes, she got all huffy and puffy about it. People looked at her in disgust including me.

You aren't more entitled than anyone else is.

Sorry if this makes people mad and if you want to brand me the WDWMagic AP hater then that's okay too, I can take it...but it's how I feel about it.

No entitlement here even if you may think that (sounds like you may have AP envy, honestly). But good business sense tells you to offer incentives. Why buy an Annual Pass without incentives? Parking included is enough to keep me a customer right now, but I think it's a slap in the face when they offer something for Passholders and disinclude almost all of them but then they want you at their merchandise events to purchase things. That's actually called "bad business" because you risk driving away lower-tier holders (not likely but it's always a possibility). They just don't get it. They want to offer incentives and "extras" but they don't really go the extra mile. That's fine, I'm one who says they actually don't have to offer anything, but they toss out peanuts. Why traverse to Epcot for a magnet when they could easily mail one to all passholders when they make a new one? Why not just give each passholder a cutting board instead of telling them to attend the festival four times? It's poorly done. I don't think that's entitlement when I list the ways they could have done better. I guess if that's entitlement ...

I very much appreciate they offer a discount on merchandise and food and I don't even often ask for it (yeah, I should but I'm solo mostly and it doesn't often save much with what I buy -- I've noticed an increase in asking you if you have "any discounts with them" which is nice). You sound a little angry at the APers. Why is that? Yes there are many who feel very entitled of course. But most of us aren't No blasting. You just seemed triggered.

Many of you pay thousands for tickets and trips. Some of us are lucky enough to be able to do an annual pass and we do pay a lot for it in some cases. I do think there's a lack of value now, personally, but in some ways there isn't. Why is it wrong to demand better, or more? We ALL pay a LOT. I'm not saying that makes us entitled (some do of course), but we all want to be made to feel valued and I think Disney does a poor job now.

Don't want Passholders, don't offer those tickets. But they do want them, they're just terrible and maintaining them, because they know they have us. We should speak up more than we do.

Well done! We’re AP holders and are not all high and mighty about! We frequently ENJOY watching fellow APpeeps going to the dedicated entry at the Parks! That line is usually WAY WAY longer than the standard line....I’ve even heard APs refer to the Standard line as the “2nd Class” line.

You can see the same concept at work when you’re in any attraction Standby line.... when the line is long, the FP+ peeps walk be grinning ear to ear!!

Interesting take on things. I don't see it *quite* like that at all. I've rarely waited in the AP only entrance. There's always going to be times it happens. I'm sure many AP holders feel an entitlement. Most of us with a logical head on our shoulders don't feel entitled. We just want to be treated a little better. I don't think that's entitlement.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

No entitlement here even if you may think that (sounds like you may have AP envy, honestly). But good business sense tells you to offer incentives. Why buy an Annual Pass without incentives? Parking included is enough to keep me a customer right now, but I think it's a slap in the face when they offer something for Passholders and disinclude almost all of them but then they want you at their merchandise events to purchase things. That's actually called "bad business" because you risk driving away lower-tier holders (not likely but it's always a possibility). They just don't get it. They want to offer incentives and "extras" but they don't really go the extra mile. That's fine, I'm one who says they actually don't have to offer anything, but they toss out peanuts. Why traverse to Epcot for a magnet when they could easily mail one to all passholders when they make a new one? Why not just give each passholder a cutting board instead of telling them to attend the festival four times? It's poorly done. I don't think that's entitlement when I list the ways they could have done better. I guess if that's entitlement ...

I very much appreciate they offer a discount on merchandise and food and I don't even often ask for it (yeah, I should but I'm solo mostly and it doesn't often save much with what I buy -- I've noticed an increase in asking you if you have "any discounts with them" which is nice). You sound a little angry at the APers. Why is that? Yes there are many who feel very entitled of course. But most of us aren't No blasting. You just seemed triggered.

Many of you pay thousands for tickets and trips. Some of us are lucky enough to be able to do an annual pass and we do pay a lot for it in some cases. I do think there's a lack of value now, personally, but in some ways there isn't. Why is it wrong to demand better, or more? We ALL pay a LOT. I'm not saying that makes us entitled (some do of course), but we all want to be made to feel valued and I think Disney does a poor job now.

Don't want Passholders, don't offer those tickets. But they do want them, they're just terrible and maintaining them, because they know they have us. We should speak up more than we do.



Interesting take on things. I don't see it *quite* like that at all. I've rarely waited in the AP only entrance. There's always going to be times it happens. I'm sure many AP holders feel an entitlement. Most of us with a logical head on our shoulders don't feel entitled. We just want to be treated a little better. I don't think that's entitlement.

A couple of notes on your post
1) Why buy an Annual Pass without incentives? Parking included is enough to keep me a customer - agree totally
2) Some of us are lucky enough to be able to do an annual pass - the word "lucky" drives me crazy.....it's funny the harder one works, the luckier they get

We've NEVER waited in the AP entrance, because we don't use it anymore. The 1st couple of times (the ONLY times) we used it, we met those peeps who informed us "it's about time they gave us our own line", and "finally we don't have to wait in a long line with people who can't figure out how to use their Magic Band". The last time we used it someone asked why there was only one AP line......that was also when we heard the "2nd class line" comment
I agree most AP peeps (for that matter most peeps in the population) are logical, but the the concentration of peeps we see in the Magic, you see ones that are anything but logical. The greatest entitlement we see with the AP is the ability to LEAVE when the Parks are too busy!! The flexibility in our work schedule allows us to come to the Magic often, and thus the AP pass gives us the benefit to hang around or just leave if the pixie dust just aint happnin that day in question..........

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

Well they have devalued the extra magic hours for the Disney resort guests by adding all the Disney Springs resort area non Disney hotels.

That used to be a perk back in the Downtown Disney Days and it ended in 2014 (or 2015). DVC and it's going population are another major part....

 

[xdan0920]

2) Some of us are lucky enough to be able to do an annual pass - the word "lucky" drives me crazy.....it's funny the harder one works, the luckier they get

Completely disregarded your entire post after reading this drivel.

 

[potzie]

Still no photo? And technically, you are not supposed to enter before 7. If you were allowed in before 7, great. But that doesn't mean it will happen for everybody.

Here's my wife and kids with our lanyards. We stood around for a bit outside the gates with the Disney After Hours signs already up and then a CM asked me if we were there for the event. We said yes and they told us we could go in now. I never said I pulled a fast one, I was just replying to the original comment that you can't enter before 7pm and I was saying I had.

I'm not sure why you are so butt hurt by my response. Maybe build a bridge and get over it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Completely disregarded your entire post after reading this drivel.

I love success after hard work (real hard work, with decisions and something to risk...not gambling on the stock market and bragging about it)...

But the contention that the occurrence of overprivileged, not self made adult sized brats at WDW isn’t absolutely off the charts statistically...is just not reasonable.

It’s probalvy the “luckiest” clientele of its size on earth.

I have been there all the time over the years in the aggregate. Im incredibly lucky...and I didn’t come from money or Work for my dad.

But still lucky as hell.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

I love success after hard work (real hard work, with decisions and something to risk...not gambling on the stock market and bragging about it)...

But the contention that the occurrence of overprivileged, not self made adult sized brats at WDW isn’t absolutely off the charts statistically...is just not reasonable.

It’s probalvy the “luckiest” clientele of its size on earth.

I have been there all the time over the years in the aggregate. Im incredibly lucky...and I didn’t come from money or Work for my dad.

But still lucky as hell.

Well said! And thank you for your elaboration.

I reread my post and see where my "lucky" comment can be antagonistic. Moving forward I'll be more careful with my wording.

My point (not well made) was to the OP and the word is tossed around too easily nowadays. I agree with your elaboration and would consider myself lucky in the same regard....might go as far as extra-lucky

Disney creates passion in many and it bleeds through in your post. I see the "adult sized brats" often when in crowds, especially Disney crowds, Sporting events, concerts, etc but wouldn't have had the passion to describe them that way; it was a good description for sure and I chuckled when I applied it to some I've seen in the Magic

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Well said! And thank you for your elaboration.

I reread my post and see where my "lucky" comment can be antagonistic. Moving forward I'll be more careful with my wording.

My point (not well made) was to the OP and the word is tossed around too easily nowadays. I agree with your elaboration and would consider myself lucky in the same regard....might go as far as extra-lucky

Disney creates passion in many and it bleeds through in your post. I see the "adult sized brats" often when in crowds, especially Disney crowds, Sporting events, concerts, etc but wouldn't have had the passion to describe them that way; it was a good description for sure and I chuckled when I applied it to some I've seen in the Magic

No foul...I didn’t think you were advocating the brat perspective that we often see around here. You don’t fit the part

 

[DisneyGigi]

I don’t know about everybody else but the reason I buy an AP- is that it would be so insane to pay for additional tickets after paying for 7-10 day tickets with park hopper. If I know we can go back I buy AP. It would be stupid not to. We avoid EMH like the plague. Always means the park having it is the most crowded. We stay onsite and never use buses, it is not a perk for us, the tickets in hand for just a few hundred more a person and AP hotel discount is the perk.

With that said- What really is the difference with regulars going to the parties? We all, most likely have attended one if not many. There are parades and shows etc, but fact is it is crowded as can be now. I chose to take the chance of a low crowd MK, instead of MVMCP and bought tickets for the November date at MK. Is AK worth it? No, not DHS right now, but if someone thinks it is, and pays for it, Yay for them- hope they have an amazing time.
Nobody is making you buy any of the extra tickets, and the park is open until 10:00, the night we are going- unlike when MVMCP is held.
Flame away, I know how these threads go by now- but seriously the savings on tickets by getting an AP when you go multiple times is the reason to purchase. I do not get the anger at extra events either, they have had them forever.

 

[wdisney9000]

View attachment 325646
Here's my wife and kids with our lanyards. We stood around for a bit outside the gates with the Disney After Hours signs already up and then a CM asked me if we were there for the event. We said yes and they told us we could go in now. I never said I pulled a fast one, I was just replying to the original comment that you can't enter before 7pm and I was saying I had.

I'm not sure why you are so butt hurt by my response. Maybe build a bridge and get over it.

I never said you were lying. Calm down. Great picture though. Looks like the kids and wife are excited. I hope you guys/gals had a great time.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

I don’t know about everybody else but the reason I buy an AP- is that it would be so insane to pay for additional tickets after paying for 7-10 day tickets with park hopper. If I know we can go back I buy AP. It would be stupid not to. We avoid EMH like the plague. Always means the park having it is the most crowded. We stay onsite and never use buses, it is not a perk for us, the tickets in hand for just a few hundred more a person and AP hotel discount is the perk.

With that said- What really is the difference with regulars going to the parties? We all, most likely have attended one if not many. There are parades and shows etc, but fact is it is crowded as can be now. I chose to take the chance of a low crowd MK, instead of MVMCP and bought tickets for the November date at MK. Is AK worth it? No, not DHS right now, but if someone thinks it is, and pays for it, Yay for them- hope they have an amazing time.
Nobody is making you buy any of the extra tickets, and the park is open until 10:00, the night we are going- unlike when MVMCP is held.
Flame away, I know how these threads go by now- but seriously the savings on tickets by getting an AP when you go multiple times is the reason to purchase. I do not get the anger at extra events either, they have had them forever.

Very impressive!

It's a bummer things are sooo crowded now. No matter when we go we seem to hit more crowds than expected. The crowds are what drives our decision to attend the After Hours, and quite frankly, we're nervously waiting for the After Hours to be crowded, as many of the MVMCP and EMH have become.

The AP works for us because we are down enough, and are willing to leave if the Parks happen to be too crowded.

Nice post!

 

[wdisney9000]

Looks like attendance was up 4% in the just ended qtr....was expecting the forecasted “soft” crowds but the parks were busy!

The original thread was about soft crowds "heading into the fall", not "soft crowds the entire quarter". No need to defend a topic that was never mentioned. The discussion was about the cutbacks that took place (and that are still in effect) when there was a BRIEF dip in attendance and trusted sources claiming that "alarms bells were sounding" behind the scenes.

The subject was much more about the unnecessary cost saving measures Disney took, because as many of us already knew, a brief dip was nothing to be concerned about. I believe it was @lazyboy97o who said it best when he mentioned that most of the executives are not familiar enough with how a theme park operates and have no clue how to explain to the BOD that a slight dip in attendance is nothing major, so they present cutbacks to save money.

If I may ask a question. Attendance is back to normal, so why are the resort wide cutbacks still in affect? And let me be clear, I am stating that attendance is indeed back to normal. I am not stating that the cutbacks are any evidence of low attendance. I am simply asking why are the cutbacks that were intended to be a cost saving measure as a hedge against possible lower crowd levels still in affect even though crowd levels are perfectly normal?

 

[monothingie]

The original thread was about soft crowds "heading into the fall", not "soft crowds the entire quarter". No need to defend a topic that was never mentioned. The discussion was about the cutbacks that took place (and that are still in effect) when there was a BRIEF dip in attendance and trusted sources claiming that "alarms bells were sounding" behind the scenes.

The subject was much more about the unnecessary cost saving measures Disney took, because as many of us already knew, a brief dip was nothing to be concerned about. I believe it was @lazyboy97o who said it best when he mentioned that most of the executives are not familiar enough with how a theme park operates and have no clue how to explain to the BOD that a slight dip in attendance is nothing major, so they present cutbacks to save money.

If I may ask a question. Attendance is back to normal, so why are the resort wide cutbacks still in affect? And let me be clear, I am stating that attendance is indeed back to normal. I am not stating that the cutbacks are any evidence of low attendance. I am simply asking why are the cutbacks that were intended to be a cost saving measure as a hedge against possible lower crowd levels still in affect even though crowd levels are perfectly normal?

Ask the people looking to make next quarters results that much better.

Disney has to make money, they are not a charity. But this is the problem with operating your business quarter to quarter and only focusing on exceeding the last quarter.

 

[wdisney9000]

Ask the people looking to make next quarters results that much better.

I would like to ask them how long they expect to kick that can down the road? How long can cutbacks and raised prices be accounted for as "profit".

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

A quick point first and then I’ll speculate on the question you’ve asked.

I pointed out the parks were much busier than the forecasted “softness”. Many peeps responded it might be the understaffing the caused the Parks to feel busy, vs high crowd/actual gate attendance. The post above was in response to those peeps suggesting it was understaffing. I’m terrible at not being clear or having ambiguity in my posts....

To your question of why are the cutbacks still in place:

I think a couple of things are going on and one of them is obvious.

1) Disney execs think the crowds are still going to come and they don’t have to correct staffing. You know I love Disney, but I’m not going to defend the staffing/understaffing.

2) Laggard Effect - the economic concept of data being comprised/collected/tabulated and the time it takes to adjust to the data. This concept suggests by the time corporations use the data, too much time has already passed in the collection of the data, and thus by the time the adjustment is made, it “lags” behind and thus damage has already been done. Before anyone jumps on this fastball I just grooved down the middle of the plate, I can tell you I don’t believe this is what’s happening here, and if it is, Disney execs REALLY have to be out of touch with what’s happening. Anyone can tell current attendance is anything but “soft” and not adjusting staffing to ease is anything but Magical

The Laggard Effect is used by many firms to explain away Customer Service/Experience failures....and again, I don’t think that is what is happnin here

Thanks for the specific question as I tend to be all over the place in my posts....

Sent from my iPhone

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

I would like to ask them how long they expect to kick that can down the road? How long can cutbacks and raised prices be accounted for as "profit".

Definitely not sustainable.....

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

Ask the people looking to make next quarters results that much better.

Disney has to make money, they are not a charity. But this is the problem with operating your business quarter to quarter and only focusing on exceeding the last quarter.

And using the previous qtrs results for current staffing....And as the excuse