EMH To Be Cut By An Hour?

[John]

The question was - what level of management is involved in a decision like this? Does it go as high as Staggs/Iger or is this too minor of a change to go beyond Orlando. The consensus seemed to be that TDO would have made the call on there own.

My question is....is TDO really competent enough to make these descisions any more? The question in general is an excellent question....Who the He double hockey sticks is running WDW?

 

[MarkTwain]

Update: sounds like this change is permanent. From the WDW website for EMH:

Extended Disney park hours, known as Extra Magic Hours, offer a rare and unique opportunity to enjoy additional time in Walt Disney World parks—above and beyond the standard operating schedule—at no extra charge. This special perk is offered to Guests of select Walt Disney World Resort hotels, and Residents and Guests of Golden Oak.

Each day, one of the 4 Walt Disney World theme parks opens one hour early or remains open up to 2 hours after regular closing time. Additionally, Disney Water Parks offer Extra Magic Hours during select times of year.

Time to break out the pen and paper, folks...

 

[Hakunamatata]

My thoughts.....guest research has found that there is very little purchasing of merchandise during the last hour of EMH. Although a nice perk, really the only reason to be open that late is for the customer....and well, many already have an opinion that Disney does not care for their customer, so put 2 and 2 together and you get 1 less hour of EMH. Also, Disney probably realizes that the economic forecast does not look real good considering certain things happening in the last few weeks that are going to have a huge impact on labor costs.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Update: sounds like this change is permanent. From the WDW website for EMH:
Time to break out the pen and paper, folks...

I was thinking more along the lines of....

 

[GenerationX]

I used to love e-Ride nights. The MK was relatively empty, and it was well worth the extra $.

I understand the economic reasons for removing the third hour of EMH. To counter the issue of fewer people spending fewer dollars in the third hour, what if there were a cover charge for the third (and maybe fourth) hours, similar to with e-Ride nights. Resort guests would still get the perk of two extra hours, while those with EMH+ tickets would get an additional hour or more on top of that.

You can say there aren't that many people taking advantage of the third hour of EMH now and adding a cost would decrease that even more. However, I would counter that given how exclusive this would be (if I recall correctly, e-Ride nights were marketed as having a maximum number of tickets available each night), people would plan ahead for this.

 

[Jeff456]

Disappointed by this but unfortunately not surprised, EMH has never been a huge perk of staying on property for us, something to avoid, and we are early birds so evening EMH just makes morning touring more difficult. Fingers crossed as others have suggested that perhaps during peak periods of attendance they decide to up it to 3 hours again.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I LOVE this!!!! I now have virtually no reason to regret our decision to stay off property in a suite that spaciously fits my family (or even in a multi-bedroom house with its own game room and pool!) for less than $100 per night rather than pay blackmail-like rates to stay onsite in marginal quality rooms!

EMH aren't worth it, IMHO, until the end of the night when the crowds have cleared, and now that's gone.

Although I've said it all along, and I'll say it again... All of you mark my words... I believe this will be offset by either making FP+ a resort only perk, or by offering resort guests many more FP's than off site. I put my money on it... That's what's coming. I've said it for months now... The playing field won't be level.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I can see a business stand point for this. People have been complaining that maintenance is down and that things are looking bad but also want to keep long extra magic hours and early park hours. When Magic Kingdom closes at 2 am and the park opens the next day at 8 am than means people are there as early as 6am (maybe even earlier) to do safety checks and any emergency maintenance to get the park ready for open. That means any crews only have 5 hours to work so if it takes 30 minutes to get everyone out of the MK then they can start working around 3:30 am because it can take up to an hour sometimes to prep locations. So then they have to stop an hour before people come in to check the location for safety and that means they got 2 whole hours of work left. 2 hours once or twice a week isn't bad but if something happens to go wrong that one night then people will complain the next day. 2 hours is still a lot of time to be at any of the parks during EMH so I'm not angry and can figure out many logical reasons why this was done. Now if EMH had been cut down to 1 hour or nonexistent I might have been a little upset.

Also just thinking does the union of CM state that there has to be specific number of hours between each shift? I know that Equity has that rule and that is why the theaters run at the schedule they do because there has to be at minimum 8 hours between the end of show and the beginning of the next working day. They can work them all day with appropriate breaks but you can't have a night show that gets out at 11 and then a 6 am show the next day with out paying people extra.

I think you're giving them WAY too much credit. This isn't about maintenance. This is about cost cutting by cutting necessary staffing. They'll claim the offset will be extra FP's for resort gusts during the normal operating day, I'm betting. But they'll leave out the part about that making FP lines (and standby!) longer, and that if you don't map out those FP's into your schedule ahead of time, they won't benefit you anyway.

Details, details...

 

[GoofGoof]

I LOVE this!!!! I now have virtually no reason to regret our decision to stay off property in a suite that spaciously fits my family (or even in a multi-bedroom house with its own game room and pool!) for less than $100 per night rather than pay blackmail-like rates to stay onsite in marginal quality rooms!

EMH aren't worth it, IMHO, until the end of the night when the crowds have cleared, and now that's gone.

Although I've said it all along, and I'll say it again... All of you mark my words... I believe this will be offset by either making FP+ a resort only perk, or by offering resort guests many more FP's than off site. I put my money on it... That's what's coming. I've said it for months now... The playing field won't be level.

I hope you are right. That would more than offset the extra hour in my opinion.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I hope you are right. That would more than offset the extra hour in my opinion.

I think you're missing the point.

If and when they do this, it's going to make your FP lines longer all day. Let alone standby.

During the last hour of EMH, you can virtually walk on from ride to ride. They'll never give you enough FP's to make up for that.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Also I'd like to add that no EMH at AK is a travesty. That park is brilliantly lit at night... It might be the most beautiful at night even... And there is basically no time to ever experience it anymore.

 

[Disneydreamer23]

Im sad, My husband and I are late risers, usually get to the parks at 1 and then stay all night :-( but at least well get the extra 2 hours come 2016 they will probably cut it back to an hour later only

 

[Zummi Gummi]

My thoughts.....guest research has found that there is very little purchasing of merchandise during the last hour of EMH. Although a nice perk, really the only reason to be open that late is for the customer....and well, many already have an opinion that Disney does not care for their customer, so put 2 and 2 together and you get 1 less hour of EMH. Also, Disney probably realizes that the economic forecast does not look real good considering certain things happening in the last few weeks that are going to have a huge impact on labor costs.

I think you're right...it was probably never something that made them a ton of money, but it certainly led to higher guest satisfaction and made people feel like (myself included) the additional money you paid to stay onsite was "worth it".

And for what it's worth, everytime I've been at MK at 3 AM, Casey's has always had a line out the door at 3 AM.

I also believe this is another step toward the elimination of EMH entirely. I'm sure that's in the pipeline. "Guests can now spend their evenings enjoying the shopping and dining experiences at Downtown Disney!"

 

[Plowboy]

Or put something in DTD that was worth it...

Now that's funny...

 

[flynnibus]

And for what it's worth, everytime I've been at MK at 3 AM, Casey's has always had a line out the door at 3 AM.

well that is in large part because they cut so much of the food (even ODV) during EMH!

 

[GoofGoof]

I think you're missing the point.

If and when they do this, it's going to make your FP lines longer all day. Let alone standby.

During the last hour of EMH, you can virtually walk on from ride to ride. They'll never give you enough FP's to make up for that.

As I posted earlier I never take advantage of EMHs since the parks which have them are generally more crowded on the days they are offered so I am not missing out on anything. I personally would prefer 8am opening for every park for hotel guests instead of EMHs. If fast pass becomes a resort guest only benefit then I am all for it since I usually stay on property.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

I still don't believe it. That's a serious issue and another reason to consider staying NOT at a Disney resort any longer, at least from 2013 on.

 

[ParentsOf4]

As I posted earlier I never take advantage of EMHs since the parks which have them are generally more crowded on the days they are offered so I am not missing out on anything. I personally would prefer 8am opening for every park for hotel guests instead of EMHs. If fast pass becomes a resort guest only benefit then I am all for it since I usually stay on property.

I like your idea but believe there are many who like to sleep in and stay up late. (Makes a lot of sense for a vacation!) Unfortunately, it seems that eliminating the 3rd evening EMH affects these people the most.

 

[Rescue Ranger]

I am fine with this if it helps with Park up-keep. Otherwise, its nothing but yet another case of revoked features for higher prices.
Though, if Fast Passes become Resort and Annual Pass holder exclusives, then that is a lot better to me!!!!

 

[Captain Chaos]

Um ... what was/is the question?

As to this change (definitely another decline by degrees deal), I don't like it ... but I must say you can tell how most of the folks here stay at WDW resorts by the vitriol. Either that or you've all become as savvy as the Spirit and you attend night EMH's all the time whether you stay at a WDW resort or not (hey, I steal soda so why wouldn't I take some extra park time too?!)

I'm much more ed by the general decline in park hours over the years. When everyone used to get midnight and 11 p.m. summer and holiday (and some weekend) closes at EPCOT, I don't get a bulge with one or two nights a week for resort guests. When everyone used to get 11 p.m., midnight (and in the first few summers 1 and 2 a.m.) closings at Disney-MGM, I don't get excited by one night of 1 a.m. during summer.

Everyone ultimately is paying more for WDW and getting less and this will continue until new management takes over (possibly not even then, but I'm trying to be optimitsic).

Oh, and whomever mentioned DLR's superior summer (and general) hours, very good point. There was a thread Steve started here recently when they 'added' hours to August at MK and Studios ... but right now there isn't one midnight closing and plenty of 10 p.m. and 9 p.m. closings mixed in. Not a great way to visit during one of the two worst weather months of the year in O-Town.

The question was about management decisions and if TDO has to get approval from the big wigs in California before making changes such as reducing EMH...