MrConbon
Well-Known Member
Uhhhh 30 minutes for 4 parks everyday is still more than 1 hour for 1 park. Do you like not know math?
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
News Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Hours coming for resort guests
- Thread starter DCBaker
- Start date
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
I’d be willing to bet there won’t be any change to CM hours.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Exactly...that’s why you see the employees lined up at rope drop...just before they let the people in.
The “pre-rope drop” rope drop...
Cause that’s how the park ops goes.
I thought perhaps you had something different to contribute on this? But I was wrong.
All employees don’t show at the same time...they are staggered for coverage all day. A 30 minute change to ops slides into a normal labor schedule almost seamlessly due to staggering of those schedules. A longer EMH would be more difficult to facilitate.
But hey...that’s just how it goes...you be the math guy
KingdomofDreams
Well-Known Member
This is why Universal does not include Express Pass at all their hotels. The 3 top tier hotels are the only ones that have it included with stay. Otherwise availability is limited and is by purchase only, based on specific date and park. But it absolutely could be done at Disney with a few tweaks. And the money it generates would be cash Disney currently does not capture. It would have to be a pay to play option with limited availability but it is feasible. It could be included in some higher level packages but otherwise require purchasing for either length of stay or specific dates/parks, but with a tiered cost based on resort level and/or number of FP per day. Disney should make it available for purchase by everyone but give a significant enough discount based on resort level to be considered a valuable perk, and thereby an incentive for onsite stays and higher level resort bookings. Limited capacity would of course have to be maintained in order to (a) have significantly shorter wait times for FP to have perceived value to guests who are now paying for the privilege and (b) mitigate negative impact to standby wait times.
For me, this would be worth the cost if I no longer have to schedule ride times. If I still had to schedule every ride, much of the value would be lost and I would still consider it an inferior product.
Uh, I can't find a point on a map that's some 30+ miles from Atlanta and Fort Worth.
networkpro
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
Not the same house. We have two that are 852 miles apart. Both are about the same distance away from the respective city limits.
DisneyDebRob
Well-Known Member
I don’t remember the last time I got into any park before 11.. always closer to noon. It does hurt me because the EMH is gone.. and that’s what I did take advantage of. Just another little jab.. with a sharp knife from Disney.. the death by a million little cuts.
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
Okay, I thought you were picturing Universal Express Unlimited which even if just limited to the deluxe resorts at Disney, would become a problem based on the number of those rooms available vs. e-ticket attractions.
What you really just mean is some different system without return windows and limits and with some sort of pay(extra)-to-play option.
I could see them raising prices and including it for "free" in some of the top rooms on property but if they were to start making it a discounted thing for on-property guests, that would encourage people to start pulling out calculators which is the last thing Disney wants.
The only way Disney can compete with their rooms if they aren't willing to play ball on competitive pricing, is on the exclusivity of their offerings which until now is what they've been doing on some level. For whatever weird reason, that's what they seem keen to cut back on, suddenly.
Likewise, while I'm sure there is something they could do for a paid fastpass option, the Devil's in the details.
You say it would be worth the price to you but what's the price?
Universal Express as a standalone is $70 a day to skip the lines once and $90 for all-day line skipping in parks where the normal "standby" lines aren't typically all that bad to begin with. (relative to WDW, anyway)
Would you pay $70-$90 a day at Disney in addition to admission price?
Based on typical crowd levels, I bet a ton of people would - way more than Universal which creates a whole new set of guest satisfaction problems for Disney so moving on:
Would you pay $140-$180 a day per person?
$280-$360 per person in addition to admission price?
At what price point would it not seem worth it to you, personally?
Remember, Disney already does offer this today in the form of their private VIP tours with pricing between $425-$600 an hour with a 7 hour minimum:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/private-vip-tours/
If that's worth it to you, they've already got you covered.
Last edited:
peter11435
Well-Known Member
30 minutes is less than 60, yes. But you now will have the option of any park instead of having to make your decision on which park based on emh schedule. The crowds will also now be spread across all 4 parks instead of being condensed into 1 and there will be more offerings available.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
You always had that option.
The reality is that 30 minutes is consumed by whatever soft opening they decide to do that day...and it’s enough to cover 1/3rd of the paths and a potty break.
It’s basically the end...and of course people will go online to figure out how to “game” it and it will lead to just a frontloaded crowd...which may be the point anyway?
Last edited:
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Quite simply, it’s better than their current offering to resort guests: nothing. Of course, I have a bias as a DVC member spending points and not cash.You always had that option.
The reality is that 30 minutes is consumed by whatever soft opening they decide to do that day...and it’s enough to cover 1/3rd of the paths and a potty break.
It’s basically the end...and of course people will go online to figure out how to “game” it and it will lead to just a frontloaded crowd...which may be the point anyway?
Deadphish
Active Member
Can’t imagine anything being better then being in the magic kingdom at 1am and not even having to get off the rides in order to reride again and again
Minnie&Nana
New Member
Maybe not. Many years ago, when EMH first started, S&D were included after a few months of negotiations. While we had always stayed at the Polynesian or CR, my TA daughter had an incredible discount for the Dolphin ($52.50 per night including tax, upper floor, balcony, view of YC/BC). Before we booked we made sure that S&D were still included in EMH... so off we went to MK our first morning...we were stopped at the turnstiles and told that S&D were no longer included. We were not allowed in. It was pretty embarrassing to be denied entrance..especially since no one behind us in line knew why. This was really the fault of the Dolphin as they should have told us at check-in that it was no longer a perk. When we visited Guest Services we found out it literally happened over night and they agreed the Resorts should have found a way to notify guests. The buses still came early and made the usual Resort pick up rounds. So I wouldn’t count on being allowed in a park if not a Disney Resort guest, unless verified with the Swan or Dolphin.
PolynesianPrincess
Well-Known Member
I've never been to EMH where they were "lax" about scanning magic bands at the entrance to attractions. They've turned guests away at EMH in the morning for years. Had them wait in a separate area and they will do the same thing here. At least they better!! with the perks of staying onsite dwindling down to basically this measly half hour in the morning, they better make sure to limit it to resort guests otherwise I think people will be pretty vocal about it.
PolynesianPrincess
Well-Known Member
Maybe not. Many years ago, when EMH first started, S&D were included after a few months of negotiations. While we had always stayed at the Polynesian or CR, my TA daughter had an incredible discount for the Dolphin ($52.50 per night including tax, upper floor, balcony, view of YC/BC). Before we booked we made sure that S&D were still included in EMH... so off we went to MK our first morning...we were stopped at the turnstiles and told that S&D were no longer included. We were not allowed in. It was pretty embarrassing to be denied entrance..especially since no one behind us in line knew why. This was really the fault of the Dolphin as they should have told us at check-in that it was no longer a perk. When we visited Guest Services we found out it literally happened over night and they agreed the Resorts should have found a way to notify guests. The buses still came early and made the usual Resort pick up rounds. So I wouldn’t count on being allowed in a park if not a Disney Resort guest, unless verified with the Swan or Dolphin.
Swan and Dolphin are 100% included in EMH. We have stayed there several times over the last 4 years and never had an issue utilizing EMH.
But yes, they will turn people away who are not resort guests.
This might truly be a meaningless benefit -- Yes, they already were letting people in early. Now, they will simply adjust it so that only the onsite guests are let in early!
Ultimately, this will either be an okay benefit to onsite guests -- a extra magic half hour. Or it will be nothing more than making rope drop for onsite guests, while offsite is second wave.
Look at it this way: 9am "regular" open for any given park.
So "early" entry is now 8:30:
They may open the turnstiles for onsite guests right at 8:30 -- With a big crowd already gathered, many people might not enter until 8:40, 8:45 -- only giving 15 minutes of "extra time." Secondly, and more critically -- they don't say rides will actually be open during this half hour! Just "entry"! So this might be nothing more than giving on-site guests a rope drop advantage.
Alternatively -- if they start opening the turnstiles to onsite guests around 8:20, and actually open the attractions at 8:30, then it's an ok benefit.
Cynically:
- They already typically opened prior to official time. This is just a way to take what they were already doing, and convert it to an on-site benefit
- They already had been increasing "paid" EMH -- After-hour events, hard ticket events, morning magic sales. Of course, many guests said "why should I pay for after hours, when I can just use free EMH!" --- As things normalize, I'd now expect more "paid" extra hours than ever before. We were starting to see this right before the shutdown with greatly increased Villain's night, making it weekly.
I'd expect even more in the future -- hard ticket night events to every park every week.
- They already typically opened prior to official time. This is just a way to take what they were already doing, and convert it to an on-site benefit
- They already had been increasing "paid" EMH -- After-hour events, hard ticket events, morning magic sales. Of course, many guests said "why should I pay for after hours, when I can just use free EMH!" --- As things normalize, I'd now expect more "paid" extra hours than ever before. We were starting to see this right before the shutdown with greatly increased Villain's night, making it weekly.
I'd expect even more in the future -- hard ticket night events to every park every week.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
That’s exactly what’s going to happen.
Don’t blame Disney...the people get what they deserve based on what they buy
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
The MK hasn’t been open that late outside of Christmas Week in years. And you weren’t walking onto anything.
But if we must be silly, “I think EPA in 2021 will be better than EMH in 2020.”