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

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It depends on the type of vacation for me. When I'm in Europe or some other location where there are a ton of things I want to see, I don't usually sleep in because I want to do as much as possible while I'm there.

Disney isn't that kind of vacation for me. I'm not going to be seeing anything new (with rare exceptions, of course) so it's more of a leisurely journey around whichever park or parks I'm going to that day.

Agreed.

I’d take the 3 hours at Epcot late (now that my kids are finally old enough to want to be out late)...than 1/2 early 8 days a week.

This a change that won’t really benefit anyone. But Disney.

IF you understand the logistics and size of the parks...this means nothing.

 

[Touchdown]

I still think this is temporary. I expect EMH to return to 1 park per day once attendance is back to normal. Those days for those parks are picked for a reason, to try and spread out the crowds. I don’t know if evening EMH returns, which is a shame, because I loved it at both parks (Illuminations by Canada, Soarin, Nemo, SRL Test Track, Frozen 2-4 times and go home; HEA/OUAT, Pirates, Big Thunder, HM, Mermaid, Dumbo, SDMT, Goodnight Kiss, go home)

 

[esskay]

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

 

[networkpro]

I live in Atlanta.

Regardless, I'm talking about vacation. That was the point -- I don't want to have to get up that early on vacation. At least not at Disney.

I live some 30+ miles outside of Atlanta and Fort Worth. I don't sleep that late unless I'm deathly ill. Different lifestyles for different folks.

 

[M:SpilotISTC12]

Who said “for free”??

The theory is that's why the direct prices are so high. You pay for it in the purchase price. Nothing was free but since resale numbers have been growing, the perks have started dwindling. I imagine more will be lost for good in the name of covid but really it's more of an excuse.

 

[M:SpilotISTC12]

I live some 30+ miles outside of Atlanta and Fort Worth. I don't sleep that late unless I'm deathly ill. Different lifestyles for different folks.

I wake up at 430 am every day. I'd like to sleep in to 8 to feel normal haha. But that doesn't mean I want to get up and rush out the door. I want to take my time and have a nice leisurely breakfast. Normal I like to get to the parks around 10-1030am. Not late but not early. So this "perk" means absolutely nothing to me. If I wanted to get up early and rush out the door, I'd just go to work and get paid to do it. I don't want a vacation after my vacation.

 

[drizgirl]

I thought it was absurd when they would have extra magic hours starting at 7 AM. Why in the world would I want to get up at 6:15 (if not earlier) in the morning while on vacation?

Because so few people want to get up that early the parks are never as busy. That’s why people want to get up and go that early. The earlier the extra magic hour the better in terms of crowd experience.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The theory is that's why the direct prices are so high. You pay for it in the purchase price. Nothing was free but since resale numbers have been growing, the perks have started dwindling. I imagine more will be lost for good in the name of covid but really it's more of an excuse.

That was Eisner...frankly...

I say this when the trend starts and typically nobody cares...it’s my “lot in life”

DVC went from about $70 a point in the late 90’s to $180 by 2015...

250% is NOT normal inflation for that product. The numbers are off...but more importantly - the message it sent to Bob’s is that there is no price point...just watch them beat each other over the head for it.

Not just that...ticket and food have gone on that arc too. And people couldn’t borrow money to eat it up fast enough.

Responsible consumerism. Oh well.

What I can see - besides block pricing for all tickets - is the “we always do the DVC nights...it’s so much better!!!” Coming.

$150 a pop - what a discount!! - for 4 hours on a Wednesday in January.

...but I’m always wrong

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Because so few people want to get up that early the parks are never as busy. That’s why people want to get up and go that early. The earlier the extra magic hour the better in terms of crowd experience.

You mean those non-existent rope drop crowds for any ride less than 15 years old??

I’ll have what you’re having for breakfast.

This just compresses the normal morning traffic into a tighter window.

No pennies spent on minimum wage employees go to waste

 

[drizgirl]

You mean those non-existent rope drop crowds for any ride less than 15 years old??

I’ll have what you’re having for breakfast.

This just compresses the normal morning traffic into a tighter window.

No pennies spent on minimum wage employees go to waste

Per usual, I have no clue what you’re saying. When is the last time you were at a 7 AM park opening?

 

[doctornick]

Per usual, I have no clue what you’re saying. When is the last time you were at a 7 AM park opening?

I never went to AM EMH much but in my experience they were relatively light during that window. The irony is that the park in question would be quite busy but not until 9 or 10 when all the people who had planned to go to EMH (and made FP+ and dining reservations for that park) finally got there missing the window entirely.

with AM early openings being in all parks at once, each park should be pretty empty during that half hour with crowds being spread out - as long as Disney actually enforces the restriction on non resort guests

 

[DisneyCane]

That was Eisner...frankly...

I say this when the trend starts and typically nobody cares...it’s my “lot in life”

DVC went from about $70 a point in the late 90’s to $180 by 2015...

250% is NOT normal inflation for that product. The numbers are off...but more importantly - the message it sent to Bob’s is that there is no price point...just watch them beat each other over the head for it.

Not just that...ticket and food have gone on that arc too. And people couldn’t borrow money to eat it up fast enough.

Responsible consumerism. Oh well.

What I can see - besides block pricing for all tickets - is the “we always do the DVC nights...it’s so much better!!!” Coming.

$150 a pop - what a discount!! - for 4 hours on a Wednesday in January.

...but I’m always wrong

There's no price point because too many people are willing to run up ridiculous amounts of credit card debt and even file bankruptcy in order to have a once in a lifetime Disney vacation. Somehow Disney convinced a large part of the population that you are a terrible parent if you don't take your kids to WDW.

I can't think of another destination that can raise prices at a pace far exceeding inflation and make the experience worse but still draw more people every year.

Pre-COVID the demand pricing model didn't seem to reduce peak crowds at all.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There's no price point because too many people are willing to run up ridiculous amounts of credit card debt and even file bankruptcy in order to have a once in a lifetime Disney vacation. Somehow Disney convinced a large part of the population that you are a terrible parent if you don't take your kids to WDW.

I can't think of another destination that can raise prices at a pace far exceeding inflation and make the experience worse but still draw more people every year.

Pre-COVID the demand pricing model didn't seem to reduce peak crowds at all.

On this...we agree.

The danger in such a place is that once you hit the unseen cliff...there is no getting back. Consumer products that are on top and get the rep of being overpriced never recover.

We’re building a bridge here...I think

 

[Tori]

I thought it was absurd when they would have extra magic hours starting at 7 AM. Why in the world would I want to get up at 6:15 (if not earlier) in the morning while on vacation?

Because some people are morning people? No one is forcing you to wake up at 6:15am on your vacation.

 

[DisneyCane]

On this...we agree.

The danger in such a place is that once you hit the unseen cliff...there is no getting back. Consumer products that are on top and get the rep of being overpriced never recover.

We’re building a bridge here...I think

I definitely agree with you on this topic. The bridge support towers have gone up.

Long ago we used to do MVMC every year. They kept taking things away, raising the price and crowds kept increasing. It stopped being a good value and we stopped going.

I will evaluate our APs when it is renewal time. We've purchased them for 16 years but depending on what they do post COVID to things like this and FP it might reach the point of not being a value anymore.

 

[drizgirl]

I never went to AM EMH much but in my experience they were relatively light during that window. The irony is that the park in question would be quite busy but not until 9 or 10 when all the people who had planned to go to EMH (and made FP+ and dining reservations for that park) finally got there missing the window entirely.

with AM early openings being in all parks at once, each park should be pretty empty during that half hour with crowds being spread out - as long as Disney actually enforces the restriction on non resort guests

All EMHs are definitely not created equal. I have been to countless EMH hours at both WDW and DLR. They vary wildly depending on a lot of things. But the greatest single indicator was how early that early hour started. Because if your first reaction is "that's too early" then lots of others are thinking the same thing. It made for some wonderful park experiences.

It seems to me that on balance this is more of a negative for non resort guests than it is a positive for resort guests.

It will be interesting to see how this new iteration pans out. Having it spread out between all the parks will be interesting. But I highly doubt Disney will do a great job of holding back the non resort guests. It won't take long for "tips" to start circulating on how to circumvent whatever limits are put in place. Where are they even going to stack people in times of social distancing?

 

[networkpro]

On this...we agree.

The danger in such a place is that once you hit the unseen cliff...there is no getting back. Consumer products that are on top and get the rep of being overpriced never recover.

We’re building a bridge here...I think

Hence the call for the nanny state by those with poor impulse control. Please stop me from doing something that is detrimental to my physical or financial well being.

 

[SpoiledBlueMilk]

This is the way Disneyland Paris has done 'Extra Magic Time' for a while now (when open...).

At Disneyland Paris it works like this:
0800 Disneyland Park (unofficially) opens for Hotel guests
0830 Disneyland Park attractions open
0930 Disneyland Park (unofficially) opens to day guests
1000 Disneyland Park officially opens

The same happens at WDSP except the first admission is much closer to 0830. This approach means that there are no rope drops required inside the parks.

At Disneyland Paris EMT is advertised as 'one hour' even thought it actually lasts 1-2 hours depending on your perspective. The same principle could be applied to the half hour of Early Theme Park Entry.

I actually really liked early extra magic time at DLP. Of course we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, so all we had to do was walk 200 ft to Main Street, so the early start wasn't bad at all....

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Hence the call for the nanny state by those with poor impulse control. Please stop me from doing something that is detrimental to my physical or financial well being.

I Do not like green eggs and ham...I do not like it sam I am.

That’s not me. Only the consumers can control Disney and it’s prices...by rejecting bad decisions.

They’ve held the on exactly ONE bad idea in the last decade: the smoker cabanas near space mountain.

Absolutely nothing else. Rejected after hours the first time and then sucked it up with a slightly less egregious price after.

Power to the people...always.

Now is the time...worldwide recession...this is how wdw retains some value. Right now.

 

[SpoiledBlueMilk]

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

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.