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News Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Hours coming for resort guests
- Thread starter DCBaker
- Start date
M:SpilotISTC12
Well-Known Member
I can count the amount of times I've rope dropped on one hand in the 15+ times I've gone to WDW. I'm sure it might help (slightly) to early risers but for my family it won't matter. We like to stroll in around 1030-11 and stay until close or night EMH. No real rush in the am.
daringstoic
Active Member
I did my College Program back when evening EMH was 3 hours twice a week all summer, with MK closing at midnight for regular guests most of them. Those were crazy times. I weirdly loved working it - we had a "rule" that any closing after midnight meant a massive snack party in the break room - and it was even better as a guest. We rode Space 5 times in an hour one night when my family came to visit. The EMH in recent years just never seemed that magical and the nighttime hours never lined up with my trips somehow.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Lol...this isn’t a “good” thing...
They just dumped the need to staff it. Morning shifts are staggered anyway. And 30 minutes allows most people that time to walk halfway across a park without stopping.
Please don’t fall for this.
They just dumped the need to staff it. Morning shifts are staggered anyway. And 30 minutes allows most people that time to walk halfway across a park without stopping.
Please don’t fall for this.
aliceismad
Well-Known Member
Good for rope droppers. Bad for those of us who are not morning people and/or come from other time zones with children. I'm only two hours away, but god help me if I try to wake my husband and small child two hours early.
The extra 30 minutes is worthless.. you will get to 1 ride maybe. My bigger concern is the continual loss of perks you should be getting when staying at a Disney resort on property . Loss of extra magic ,loss of free magicbands, loss of magical express and having to pay for parking your own vehicle in their lot. Then adding all of the host hotels to the extra time that you can spend in the parks.
Just what are the advantages anymore?? I just don't understand Disney anymore.
Just what are the advantages anymore?? I just don't understand Disney anymore.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I wonder how much (if any) of this comes from a belief that only people with small children would ever go to Disney. We know Iger didn't really understand the parks or why people visit them -- I doubt Chapek does either. If only people with small children are there, they will be up early anyways so of course this is a benefit.
daringstoic
Active Member
How does this relate to the fact that they're opening the parks almost an hour before the official posted time now? Or has that changed since Thanksgiving? For my October and November trips I got to the parks an hour before open and was in line or on rides well before 30 minutes prior to the open. One morning at DHS I was boarding Slinky Dog 45 minutes before the official park opening so I don't really see how this is a benefit to anyone. Not to mention the fact that the only reason I was able to get to the parks an hour before opening was because I was solo. There's no way that would ever happen with my family in tow.
doctornick
Well-Known Member
Sure, so would I... by avoiding those parks since they tended to be the busiest.
(yes, sometimes would use EMH but only if we had park hoppers so we could hope to or away from the park using pretty much only the EMH time.)
As an aside, this will make things very interesting for Touring Plans and the like to determine park busyness and crowd calendars. The EMH seemed to drive a bunch of that because of how they added to guests' behaviors. Any thoughts @lentesta ?
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Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
MrConbon
Well-Known Member
Wouldn’t this ultimately require more staffing? Instead of having CM’s of the certain park arriving an hour early, now every CM for every park has to arrive 30 minutes earlier.
M:SpilotISTC12
Well-Known Member
They have been pulling back on member perks. Even pre-covid.
doctornick
Well-Known Member
Yeah, isn't that what they do for morning EMH anyway? Designated turnstiles for resort guests? I would definitely see that being the case and then redirecting anyone who is in those lines incorrectly to one of the other lines.
Of course, would still expect them to let in non-resort guests before official opening. So, they question would be if they check resort status to let you move past the hub or check at ride entrances or not do anything. My guess is that they would check resort status at the entrances to rides, at least the major ones at each park.
Surferboy567
Well-Known Member
I always park hop, I rarely go down to Disney without a park hopper option. So when things would get busy (around 12-2 ish) we would simply hop to the next park.
EDIT: This also breaks up the day making it feel longer.
Tavernacle12
Well-Known Member
I guess this is less of an issue if the parks are actually open later anyways, but my favorite WDW memories are usually of exploring past 10 pm on EMH nights. That early opening thing is worthless. If you’re lucky maybe you can book it and get two popular rides in before major crowds hit.
halltd
Well-Known Member
Universal already does this for their resort guests. You can get into the front gates, and then they have a rope where you can't go any further unless you scan your resort card. Totally manageable.
Universal gives an hour, though.
I'm a little scared for Disney's future. Lately it's been all bad, bad, bad, with very little improvements coming.
TJJohn12
Well-Known Member
One of my best memories was walking out of Haunted Mansion at the end of EMH just after midnight and them flipping on the worklights just as I exited the crypt hallway. The CMs had been knowingly nodding at me for the past hour or two as I'd ridden 13 times straight.
Late night EMH were pure joy.