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

[Brian]

This will be a game-changer for the guests who must ride things like FoP, RoTR (assuming the virtual queue ends by then), SDMT, and other shiny new things coming soon, but it still pales in comparison to the benefits once offered to resort guests back when the prices were considerably lower.

 

[wdwfan22]

This is an on paper change. In reality, if you show up to the park and you're not a resort guest, you'll be allowed entry.

We have a winner!!

 

[Brian]

This is an on paper change. In reality, if you show up to the park and you're not a resort guest, you'll be allowed entry.

Courtesy™

 

[CastAStone]

I was at Disney World in 2019 when they were running Extra Extra Magic hours at 3 parks at once and it made an enormous difference in crowd levels. This is good.

It’s basically just enough of a head start to punish local AP holders and those off site

More importantly I think it will serve to spread out the resort rope drop crowds, so instead of Pandora having a 60 minute wait at 8:10 2 days a week it will have a 30 minute wait at 8:40 7 days a week. Which is better for on site guests too.

 

[Horizons '83]

This is an on paper change. In reality, if you show up to the park and you're not a resort guest, you'll be allowed entry.

I'm not too sure you're right. If your band doesn't state you're at a Disney Resort, you don't get to go in. Simple as that, no?

 

[Surferboy567]

I am thinking this may be a negative thing. First you lose out on an extra 30 minutes which isn’t that big of a deal. I guess you could make the argument that since every park has them it negates that.

I really liked the night extra magic hours. I remember the super late MK nights those were very fun.

I don’t even know if my resort (Dolphin & Swan) qualifies for these.

This is going to massively impact how I plan.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Just watch how many paid After Hours® events there are when the COVID dust settles. The DVC benefit will be a 10% discount.

 

[HauntedPirate]

“Resort guests can enter ANY theme park 30 minutes early!” (And we can continue to charge exorbitant amounts for after-hours events)

 

[UNCgolf]

I'm not too sure you're right. If your band doesn't state you're at a Disney Resort, you don't get to go in. Simple as that, no?

Simple on paper, but that doesn't seem like the type of thing Disney has the will to enforce these days. If there's a family that's been waiting in line to get in, and they technically aren't supposed to be allowed in for another 20 minutes, chances are they are going to be waved on through rather than telling them to wait 20 minutes and then get back in line, if only to avoid the hassle of their complaining.

 

[M:SpilotISTC12]

I really liked the night extra magic hours. I remember the super late MK nights those were very fun.

We were night EMH people as well. I'm on vacation to sleep in. This is a huge blow.

 

[Gringrinngghost]

It’s basically just enough of a head start to punish local AP holders

^Disney has this weird domination fetish when it comes to the Passholders. It’s honestly a program that their actions speak that they don’t want to even do, outside of selling junk that the influencers (this one excluded) will lavish over. I also think and to some extent it works, the more they can abuse their Passholders by gate keeping more and more while taking away, the more they come back. It’s literally an abusive relationship to some extent with the mainstay being psychological manipulation. And honestly in the current fiscal issue from COVID, it’s not a really good time to them off.

and those off site

Of course, how dare someone come to the parks and not spend $300/night before resort fees on property. Plus the way the off site hotels work, if you aren’t driving, you’re there the whole day.

 

[Horizons '83]

Simple on paper, but that doesn't seem like the type of thing Disney has the will to enforce these days. If there's a family that's been waiting in line to get in, and they technically aren't supposed to be allowed in for another 20 minutes, chances are they are going to be waved on through rather than telling them to wait 20 minutes and then get back in line, if only to avoid the hassle of their complaining.

Oh I know that is a strong possibility, but if they really intend to enforce it will be the key. If they truly want to make this a perk, they should turn people away who aren't guests.

 

[Grumpy4196]

This is a poor substitute for me. My family has never really been "rope drop" people. We would much rather be in the parks late afternoon/evening into the night.

 

[GoofGoof]

I generally avoided the park with morning EMHs each day because that park was almost always more crowded than it otherwise would have been and I am too lazy to go for the EMHs and then hop to another park after an hour or 2. I think offering it at all 4 parks every day is a big upgrade for most on site guests. It does kinda put off property guests and locals at a pretty big disadvantage.

I think it would be much better if it was a full hour, but I guess that’s a compromise on costs. The biggest loss is the nighttime hours. Back in the day being at the park 3 hours after regular close was huge. I do hope that maybe this results in later hours at all 4 parks on busy days (once we get back to a version of normal).

 

[Surferboy567]

We were night EMH people as well. I'm on vacation to sleep in. This is a huge blow.

I don’t necessarily hate morning extra magic hours. In fact, I usually got up when the park opens. I just felt like I got more time in the park when it was night extra magic hours. Not sure if they were ever more then an hour though.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Simple on paper, but that doesn't seem like the type of thing Disney has the will to enforce these days. If there's a family that's been waiting in line to get in, and they technically aren't supposed to be allowed in for another 20 minutes, chances are they are going to be waved on through rather than telling them to wait 20 minutes and then get back in line, if only to avoid the hassle of their complaining.

They’d be let into the park, but not on rides. They have no problem turning people away from rides.

 

[UNCgolf]

Oh I know that is a strong possibility, but if they really intend to enforce it will be the key. If they truly want to make this a perk, they should turn people away who aren't guests.

The other problem is that 30 minutes is such a small window. If you're relying on Disney internal transportation, there's a decent chance you'll miss that window even if you're trying to get there.

 

[Surferboy567]

The other problem is that 30 minutes is such a small window. If you're relying on Disney internal transportation, there's a decent chance you'll miss that window even if you're trying to get there.

I wasn’t even thinking about this. Very good point, especially if you are using buses.

 

[UNCgolf]

They’d be let into the park, but not on rides. They have no problem turning people away from rides.

I'm not sure that will even be an issue because of how short the window is. If someone is let into the park 15 minutes early and they go to one of the major rides, they'll probably be in line long enough to avoid that problem.

 

[Horizons '83]

The other problem is that 30 minutes is such a small window. If you're relying on Disney internal transportation, there's a decent chance you'll miss that window even if you're trying to get there.

True, but I suppose its no different than before with Early Morning hours, you always have a the chance to miss part of your window. With proper planning though, I think this is a good compromise. Gives you more flexibility, less planning required but with less time.