extended magic hours, what a joke

[buckeyegator]

for march only on mondays at epcot and wednesdays at MK, not what i would call a reason to stay in a deluxe or DVC.you would think all 4 parks and at least 2 or 3 days for each park, my god, look at all the money not being spent.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Yes, you’d expect when something rolls out called magic and is a special extra feature it would be something well worth enticing you to take advantage of it. Maybe there’s still a staffing issue keeping it from being more extensive?
Not worth it to me to pick up the phone to book a spot.

 

[NickMaio]

for march only on mondays at epcot and wednesdays at MK, not what i would call a reason to stay in a deluxe or DVC.you would think all 4 parks and at least 2 or 3 days for each park, my god, look at all the money not being spent.

I guess even the rich get pooched at WDW also.

 

[graphite1326]

I feel bad for ya I really do.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

It's been that way for a while and the parks are basically empty during the extended hours. If you don't want to pay extra, that's fine, but it's a really nice perk for DVC members who are there a lot and for those who did decide to spend extra to stay at a deluxe.

 

[CastAStone]

Hadn’t evening EMH been mostly 2 nights a week for like a decade? Am I missing something?

Have you been to one? They’re DEAD. It’s a free after hours event. if you do a Monday-Wednesday 2 night stay at WL you basically get 2 after hours events for 4 and 2 nights in a hotel for the price of 6 after hours tickets. Then go ahead and schlepp your bags to the newly redone Drury hotel at Disney Springs, I hear it’s nice.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

for march only on mondays at epcot and wednesdays at MK, not what i would call a reason to stay in a deluxe or DVC.you would think all 4 parks and at least 2 or 3 days for each park, my god, look at all the money not being spent.

…yeah…changed that about a year ago?

The dvc is bought…the check cleared. That’s kinda it

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Hadn’t evening EMH been mostly 2 nights a week for like a decade? Am I missing something?

Have you been to one? They’re DEAD. It’s a free after hours event. if you do a Monday-Wednesday 2 night stay at WL you basically get 2 after hours events for 4 and 2 nights in a hotel for the price of 6 after hours tickets. Then go ahead and schlepp your bags to the newly redone Drury hotel at Disney Springs, I hear it’s nice.

No you missed something…

As far as the rest…it’s fine. Not bad. Definitely low crowds…but the parks miss a little bit with all the doors shuttered.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

EMH was only good before they cut regular operating hours and limited the eligible resorts to strictly Disney resorts. I don't really miss it as it was in 2019.

EEH is a solid offering. I agree I wish it were more frequent and included DHS for a 3rd night a week but it's really awesome IMO.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

EMH was only good before they cut regular operating hours and limited the eligible resorts to strictly Disney resorts. I don't really miss it as it was in 2019.

EEH is a solid offering. I agree I wish it were more frequent and included DHS for a 3rd night a week but it's really awesome IMO.

It can’t be more frequent because it interferes with Bob’s upsell calendar…


…I say what everyone else thinks (or they should at least)

 

[scoobygirl39541]

Remember the free true extended 3 hours past park close (which sometimes pushed magic kingdom to fully close at 3am)? Now those were extra magic hours. Anything less is subpar after experiencing those.

 

[Lilofan]

Remember the free true extended 3 hours past park close (which sometimes pushed magic kingdom to fully close at 3am)? Now those were extra magic hours. Anything less is subpar after experiencing those.

Try back in the day MK EMH was 1am-4am and park opens back up at 7am during 12/25-31 on select nights.

 

[Hcalvert]

I booked BWV regardless of the EEH perk, but plan to take advantage of it anyways. We only go to a park in the morning on those days and wait until the EEHs start.

 

[NickMaio]

Remember the free true extended 3 hours past park close (which sometimes pushed magic kingdom to fully close at 3am)? Now those were extra magic hours. Anything less is subpar after experiencing those.

3am was BLISS.

We still talk about it, Last week actually.
This was before we had children, we had all the energy in the world

 

[Touchdown]

I had EMH until 1am last month at MK. I did PotC, BTMRRx2, HM, PPF, Pooh, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Teacups, SDMTx2.

What exactly sucks about them?

I mean I am saddened they moved Epcot to Mon, that’s my travel home day so I miss it now, and I would love a DHS night but really otherwise have 0 complaints.

 

[SplashJacket]

Obviously, extra magic hours circa 2010 were godly, but in recency, they lacked value. Too many hotels had access, and as a result, the perk's value was greatly diminished.

Currently, the EEH for deluxe hotels is actually great for the available nights, especially since it allows an extra Guardians ride. The parks are actually dead (great for reminiscing about EMH at its highest glory).

We stayed at Yacht from Sunday night through Tuesday night, checking out Wednesday morning and taking a red-eye flight home after staying in Magic Kingdom until 2 am.

In other words, if you want to use both extra evening hours, with a minimal deluxe stay, check in Monday night, then check-out Wednesday morning, so in total, stay for two nights, which gets you in for both.

Personally, my favorite resorts are all the Epcot resorts, so if you transfer hotels (or arrive) on Monday morning, you can check your luggage at the front desk (if your room isn't ready, which it likely won't be if you're entering the parks super early), then simply walk over enjoy EPCOT and Extra Evening Hours until you come back to the hotel and get your luggage (if applicable) then go to your room. That Tuesday, you can do whatever you want, but if you're staying at the Yacht or Beach, get some pool time in there. Perhaps spend the whole day at the pool, or go to Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios (via skyliner or walking) and then enjoy the pool afterward since it stays open late (but probably not late enough for Fantasmic, so AK probably preferable if you choose to enter the parks. Or simply wake up late, enjoy a nice breakfast, enjoy the amazing pool with some sunlight, then enjoy the ambiance, steetmosphere, and perhaps shopping or dining at the Boardwalk. Take a joy ride on the Skyliner at sunset, enjoy a Restaurant like Topolino's or just explore CBR, Riviera, etc. Call it an early night, then check out the next morning and transfer hotels (or check baggage at front desk if red-eyeing) and check baggage at front desk of new hotel. Alternatively, you could enjoy the pool if you're staying at Yacht or Beach on Monday or Wednesday mornings, then go into the parks afterward (we enjoyed the pool Wednesday morning, did MK EEHs, and then red-eyed).

Point is, you really only need two nights at a deluxe to enjoy the EEHs perks, and the deluxe hotel itself. I just wish they would add more days and potentially expand the offerings. It would be awesome if they had deluxe EEHs 3-days a week, and general WDW hotel EEHs the other 3 days a week, or potentially overlap the days so crowding is limited and the deluxe EEHs would just be more exclusive and more valuable (while making the non-deluxe EEHs more valuable than the old EMHs.

The scheme also works for resorts like the fabulous Animal Kingdom Lodge, but the convenience of walking over to Epcot on a Monday check-in shouldn't be disregarded.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Try back in the day MK EMH was 1am-4am and park opens back up at 7am during 12/25-31 on select nights.

I think it was to 3am, but it WAS awesome DD&I lasted until 2am, did EVERY ride at MK…

 

[SplashJacket]

I think it was to 3am, but it WAS awesome DD&I lasted until 2am, did EVERY ride at MK…

That's my one complaint about pre-shows.

When the parks are dead, like with EMH, you can speedrun the parks and do so much so quickly. Space Mountain is a walk-on? You walk on! It's lovely! But with newer attractions, like Guardians, the pre-shows will delay your ride by several times the actual duration of the attraction, so it's much harder to marathon.

That said, during normal operation, I would much rather sit in a pre-show than an empty line.

AFAIK, Magic Kingdom's only preshow is Haunted Mansion (I don't really count the literal pre-shows at Tiki Birds or Monster's Inc since they are not continuously dispatching attractions) and technically now Tron (but it's so short it honestly doesn't really count in my mind).

Compare this to Hollywood Studios, with Rise, Falcon, MMRR, Tower of Terror, and Rockin' Roller Coaster all having preshows that delay the experience (I'd argue many of these pre-shows are top-notch and amazing, but regardless, they still delay marathoning the park when it is uncrowded).

Some of my best memories at Disney parks are marathoning rides during EMH when there's no line, and it's just an utterly lovely experience, albeit more rare.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Yup, the only things we couldn’t go on was the RR and TSI…

 

[scoobygirl39541]

Try back in the day MK EMH was 1am-4am and park opens back up at 7am during 12/25-31 on select nights.

Yes that's what I was referring to. I remember being in the parks at 3am and thinking how they're about to open again in like 4 hours. Crazy for them I'm sure but totally amazing for guest experience.