News 'Disney After Hours' ticketed event

[JediMasterMatt]

I wonder what explains this massive uptick for this time of year? More South American tour groups? Events/Conventions? Anyone have any insight?

Honestly, it looked like a smattering of each along with just more people taking vacations Stateside.

I saw the usual South American tour groups (and a few from Europe and one from the Middle East even), the convention centers at some of the resorts seemed a bit busier than normal, and of course - you just had more random people.

It was surprising how much the increase over the previous year things seemed.

Now some the perception of the uptick over the last several years can be related to FP+ pulling people out of queues; but, I usually try to keep a close eye on non-FP related lines, people in the streets, and the best barometer - the parking lots.

 

[disney4life2008]

The "perk" is being able to ride 7dmt, pp, Pooh, him, pirates, JC, Space, Buzz etc with virtually no lines. Trouble is I can do all that in a "proper" evening EMH in the summer, of midnight to 3 am.

But whilst that isn't an option, then people WILL pay for the privilege. If one of these was on for our next trip, and there was no old school EMH scheduled, or a DVC event, I'd consider it. If I was only there for a week I'd definitely do it.

I don't begrudge people wanting to go to events like this. At least it's not as often as the party nights, that really would be annoying - to have MK close early 3 or 4 nights a week.

Interesting that the perk of staying on property is emh. However, I remember there was talk that eventually they would take this perk away. I think morning hours will remain but evening may disappear in favor of premium events. And once Hollywood Studios is refreshed I fully expect premium night events to take place there.

 

[disney4life2008]

Glad I'm going back for tonight's February 8th event it was worth it on the 30th and I can't wait to go again tonight

But close to $300 to ride ride you can do in your regular ticket? I don't understand.

 

[The_Jobu]

But close to $300 to ride ride you can do in your regular ticket? I don't understand.

Maybe they really really like Mickeybars?

 

[Gelatoni]

I'm going tonight...

I'll be here too!

 

[HauntedPirate]

There is no stopping this train. Parks simply can't find the line that guests aren't willing to cross. They continue to play chicken with us and nobody is even flinching.

I think you just hit the proverbial nail on the head.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

But close to $300 to ride ride you can do in your regular ticket? I don't understand.

I'm a pass holder it was cheaper for me plus I've never got to experience a park that empty in my life and being a Disney park made it even much more exciting for me. I could care less about the sodas the popcorn and the ice cream all I cared about was getting on the rides that I can never get on when I go there on a normal day. But I only go every every one or two years so this is my only time to ever enjoy it.

 

[MisterPenguin]

It was a really nice night. Rode the E-Tickets over and over again.

Snuck in Speedway as a guilty pleasure since I never ever rode it before and wanted to since I was 10. And after having done so, am convinced never to do so again. It was awful. The smell was awful. The vehicle was awful. The steering was awful. The guests behind us told us of their problems with their steering suddenly stopping to work and another time their vehicle stopped working altogether. This ride can't be fully overhauled soon enough.

DAH was just as nice as the EMH for Epcot the day before. For 'free' (i.e, with the hidden surcharge for staying at a Disney Resort), we popped into Epcot at 8:40 PM. Grabbed food from the Arts booths (the salmon pastry at France is to die for), watched RoE, then did: Mission:Space, Spaceship Earth, Soarin', and FEA twice and out at 11 PM.

 

[DisneyDaver]

[QUOTE="MisterPenguin, post: 8069723, member: 109956"The smell was awful.[/QUOTE]

That is why I haven't been on the Speedway in over 20 years. Reading that portion of your post put the smell in my head and now I have a headache (like I would get on the Speedway)!

 

[disney4life2008]

I'm a pass holder it was cheaper for me plus I've never got to experience a park that empty in my life and being a Disney park made it even much more exciting for me. I could care less about the sodas the popcorn and the ice cream all I cared about was getting on the rides that I can never get on when I go there on a normal day. But I only go every every one or two years so this is my only time to ever enjoy it.

I can absolutely respect that

 

[larandtra]

Again value is subjective to the person choosing to pay the money. If they are not taking anything away from regular guests, which obviously they arent since the parks close at 8 anyway, then let those who choose to take advantage of it do so. You may feel they are paying twice, but, if they plan for it, who are you to tell them they shouldnt? And obviously a LOT of people disagree with some on this board because every night is selling out. You can call those people whatever you want, but,t he reality is, if there is a value to them, who cares what you think.

 

[Driver]

Well, they keep doing it and more people keep coming, so people must see value.



I'm curious if any insiders know how in general customer satisfaction is? Many here complain, but does the average guest (who isn't necessarily a Disney Parks enthusiast) feel satisfied about their experience at WDW? Many here say value is decreasing, etc., but yet crowds go up and more and more people are visiting... So something isn't quite adding up.



I wonder what explains this massive uptick for this time of year? More South American tour groups? Events/Conventions? Anyone have any insight?

There are many cheer leader events going on.

 

[Disorbust]

Can you imagine being a CM at the speedway? Inasked aCM once and he said he puked for the first three days of his program before he got use to the fumes.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

There are many cheer leader events going on.

Way more than you ever know.. Pop Century is nothing but a sea of cheerleaders and Brazilian tour groups. I'm pretty sure their percentage is far more greater than regular guests staying in this hotel. The food court was a huge nightmare it was like high school all over again *shudders*

 

[note2001]

Interesting that the perk of staying on property is emh. However, I remember there was talk that eventually they would take this perk away. I think morning hours will remain but evening may disappear in favor of premium events. And once Hollywood Studios is refreshed I fully expect premium night events to take place there.

I believe the evening EMHs are already whittled down to 2 hours, and are far less frequent than they've ever been in the past. There is no such thing as a "proper EMH night" anymore. The first hour of it is a mad house of folk hitting up rides which no longer display the current wait times, so while it may say 30 minutes, it could very well be double that. The second hour is when it starts to drop down, but by then everyone is exhausted from standing in line bored.

Someone answer me this: when walking around the MK, lately I've taken interest in watching folk's faces and mannerisms. What I see is reflected in most photos: people really are not happy. When I'm there I'm embarrased to say that I usually have a stupid smile on my face. Exhaustion, heat and rain do make my smile droop, but I'm talking about early in the day - perfect weather. These folk really seem to border on miserable. Why? Why do they insist on tossing money on a place that makes them so? Is Disney marketing THAT good?

After experiencing Moonlight Magic, and reliving how EMH used to feel, I do understand the draw to the After Hours bit. I don't think it's a waste, but we shouldn't need it to be happy.

 

[Sketch105]

I got to experience the Disney After Hours last year, when it was still billed at $150. It was a comp, since they were inviting a lot of Expedia people to enjoy the experience and sell it. In fact, the only people I saw all night were Expedia people and a handful of guests. And it was incredible being able to go on everything with no lines. Hit all the major rides in 3 hours.

I see this as a plus for a lot of folks. There is a niche crowd that can afford this and they don't care how long they are in the parks. I've brought some affluent members of my family to Universal and Disney who only wanted to stay a few hours, hit the big rides, then get out..they don't care about the small experiences or hitting every single attraction, and this kind of suits that audience. They see the value in their TIME being used wisely and getting the main experience without the hassle.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

After going to MK during normal operating hours for the first time in 3.5 years I say add more of these nights and whatever other kind of after hours, extra pay experience they can think of. Anything to avoid dealing with the trashy tourists who have taken over my favourite WDW park.

 

[MuteSuperstar]

Someone answer me this: when walking around the MK, lately I've taken interest in watching folk's faces and mannerisms. What I see is reflected in most photos: people really are not happy.
.

I agree...my guess is they didn't expect it to be so crowded. It really is so, so much worse than it was even 5-6 years ago. Plus I think a lot of people are unhappy in general....an already-unhappy couple spending probably $4-8k for the week to be in absurd crowds with cranky kids? I think that explains a decent number of the frowns. I think a lot of the middle class especially feels pretty beaten down in general and the Magic Kingdom rarely feels like an escape from the rat race anymore, but just another manifestation of it.

 

[disney4life2008]

I believe the evening EMHs are already whittled down to 2 hours, and are far less frequent than they've ever been in the past. There is no such thing as a "proper EMH night" anymore. The first hour of it is a mad house of folk hitting up rides which no longer display the current wait times, so while it may say 30 minutes, it could very well be double that. The second hour is when it starts to drop down, but by then everyone is exhausted from standing in line bored.

Someone answer me this: when walking around the MK, lately I've taken interest in watching folk's faces and mannerisms. What I see is reflected in most photos: people really are not happy. When I'm there I'm embarrased to say that I usually have a stupid smile on my face. Exhaustion, heat and rain do make my smile droop, but I'm talking about early in the day - perfect weather. These folk really seem to border on miserable. Why? Why do they insist on tossing money on a place that makes them so? Is Disney marketing THAT good?

After experiencing Moonlight Magic, and reliving how EMH used to feel, I do understand the draw to the After Hours bit. I don't think it's a waste, but we shouldn't need it to be happy.

I agree about peoples faces. The Disney commercials are definitely fake lol. Honestly all I see is people on their cell phones.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I agree about peoples faces. The Disney commercials are definitely fake lol. Honestly all I see is people on their cell phones.

They're all probably just trying to get another FastPass.