Early Entry??

[Pioneer Hall]

This was taken right from the WDW web page(Under the Theme Park section)...

Be sure to take advantage of our Early Theme Park Entrance benefit exclusively for guests of selected Disney Resorts. Depending on the day, you may visit selected attractions at the Magic Kingdom® Park, Epcot®, and the Disney-MGM Studios 60 minutes before the general public.

Did they forget to take it off or is it hinting at something...

I go with idea 1

 

[tinkrbel]

yeah they prolly just forgot to take it off .. but who knows I have seen lots of post on another board ( but I dont go there any more ) that claim people called and complained about no early entry ..I was surprised to how many actually decided to stay off-site because of this. So ...who knows maybe they might bring it back .. one day a week even would be nice. I wont swear to it but it seems like it started out with only 1 day a week .. if anyone else knows for sure ?

 

[gepetto]

My vote's for #1 also:brick:

 

[Buzz Lightyear]

That's interesting. Wasn't the EE usually 90 minutes before park opening. Seems like we got in at 7:30 and parks opened at 9:00. I may be wrong.

Hey Insider, where did you see this? I looked on the web site but couldn't find it. All I found was the CC under the resort privilages.

 

[ToTBellHop]

a while back it was 90 minutes...then 60...then nothing.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Originally posted by Buzz Lightyear
That's interesting. Wasn't the EE usually 90 minutes before park opening. Seems like we got in at 7:30 and parks opened at 9:00. I may be wrong.

Hey Insider, where did you see this? I looked on the web site but couldn't find it. All I found was the CC under the resort privilages.

Go to the Theme Parks section.

 

[GoofyMike29]

question?

Is the early entry privilege only removed becuse lack of tourism at the moment?
Does anyone know when, if ever, that feature will return?
Mike

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Re: question?

Originally posted by GoofyMike29
Is the early entry privilege only removed becuse lack of tourism at the moment?
Does anyone know when, if ever, that feature will return?
Mike

Right now no one is sure...But at the current time it looks like they are gone for good.

 

[tinkrbel]

Originally posted by DisneyInsider


Go to the Theme Parks section.

only link I can find is "parks and more" and it doesnt mention it there ..I have been searching all over the disney pages and come up with only the mention of the CC

 

[Pioneer Hall]

here is the link...



http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wa...andmoregroupingindex?id=PMThemeParksPrkGrping


Then click on tips under the picture

 

[Disney4648]

Disney doesnt really update thier website that much so im sure its old and they forgot to take it off.

 

[LoriL]

I just emailed them to tell them about this-- I wonder if they will bother to answer?

 

[David]

I e-mailed Disney a couple of weeks ago asking about the return of EE. They responded with a form reply saying that they now offered Character Caravans for the convience of their guests. They made no mention of EE or if it might return (I hope, I hope)

 

[Buzz Lightyear]

You're not kidding about them not updating their web sites. They still haven't fixed their web cams. They still show the pics from May 2001.

The one thing they did update: they took Pop Century off the Value Resort Page.

 

[mickey04]

Yeah. I miss the web cams (and EE for that matter)

 

[tinkrbel]

well I miss the webcams too .. wonder if anyone besides me every waved in the direction of the cams when they were at the parks :hammer:

37 days .. getting close but still so far away

 

[niteobsrvr]

Early Entry is gone for the forseeable future.

Tourism is not down. The only really noticeable difference was in the weeks immediately after September 11.

Despite the uptick in guests, Epcots hours remain 10 to 7 for futureworld and 12 to 9 for World Showcase.

I would think that before early entry comes back, if ever, the Epcot hours would be the first thing to be restored.

The big reason Early Entry dissappeared is economics. The hotels already have food and beverage workers available in the morning. You dont need people to man attractions, etc.

All you need is a couple of Bus Drivers, some Characters and some Host/Hostesses.

Take the Characters to the lobbies on the appropriate days. The guests come to the lobbies meet the characters, get hungry, buy food, and shop to find the souvenir related to the favorite character they just met.

From a business standpoint, its ingenious. Give the guests exactly what they want right in their own lobby surrounded by food and gifts for purchase.

Guests want the characters more than an extra hour in one of the parks. Imagine how terrible a vacation would be for a first time visitor who never got to meet their favororite character like they had planned. Of course, problem solved if the character is in your lobby.

 

[David]

i disagree that guests want to meet the characters more than getting in the parks early. From the posts on this and other threads, the majority want the EE. THAT, to me, was one of the main perks of staying on site, not the opportunity to meet characters that may come to your hotel two times during your stay. Even then, there is no guarrantee that the character you want to meet most is coming to your hotel. I much preferred going to the parks early and being assured that I could go to the most popular attraction and ride it two or three times before the park opened to everyone.

 

[njchris65]

I sure don't want that time to use to see characters.

This is the first I have heard of this and a *BIG* reason for me staying on site this year is because of the early openings. I was debating what to do this year and I picked on site because of the early openings. It was a benefit to patronizing disney's hotels.

I didn't know they were gone!!!! Now I'm actually upset because it was so NICE to get there before the non-resort folks and be able to get on some rides without the long lines.

Now I don't have much of a reason to stay on-site.

UGH.. now I'm depressed.

 

[niteobsrvr]

Are you paying full price for your resort room? Most guests aren't right now.

This is another reason the Early Entry has been discontinued. We have all heard the statement "Nothing in life is free". This applies to Disney as well.

When you think about the cost of opening one park one hour early, you have to realize that somewhere you were paying for this service in your resort bill. Opening the park one hour early doesn't just mean bringing in a few employees for an hour of overtime.

It littlerally effects everyone from guest relations employees to bus drivers to Third Shift Custodial and Maintenance. More things have to be done in less time which means additional employees at night as well as during operating hours. Scheduling is different for those days for everyone during the whole day.

With Discounted resort room prices attracting a lot of visitors who have never been to Disney before ( i have heard this many times in the past few weeks), the funding just isn't there for for some of the "Perks" of the high-flying 90's.

We can't keep forgetting that Disney is a business. Walt said it himself several times. The continuation of the Company as a viable entity depends on sound financial management. This involves decisions to spend millions on new attractions, as well as maintenance, and also making decisions that may not be popular with all the guests.

As far as the availability of characters to the guests, Disney conducts much researc and gets many letters. Rest assured, they get more letters about how great the cast members are and the popularity of the characters than they do about getting into a park one hour early.