They are taking away the incentive to stay on property with all of the new hotels that have access to EMH and 60 day FP and now with Disney charging for parking.
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News Extra Extra Magic Hours This Fall
- Thread starter jpeden
- Start date
They are taking away the incentive to stay on property with all of the new hotels that have access to EMH and 60 day FP and now with Disney charging for parking.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
It’s to cover the uncomfortable bloat of the food and wine/Halloween period. It has gotten worse for over 10 years each year.
Correct...which makes it more just traffic flow than a “privilege” as it originally was
mm121
Well-Known Member
When they are "closed" they just block them with cones. With usually a security officer nearby.
I once accidentally made a wrong turn late at night and ended up at the AK parking booth.
mm121
Well-Known Member
Late nights at SW GE if they have any will probably be short lived.
As once the SW Hotel opens some evening will probably be reserved for those guests.
mm121
Well-Known Member
They should build a second docking port same as the star wars hotel is going to have so for that $299 you get to take the "shuttle" (aka fancy bus) and "land" directly into galaxy edge, none of that going through the front gate like peasants.
Texas84
Well-Known Member
Yes, there are road closures. The half starts at 0530.
Minnie1986
Well-Known Member
I really am starting to lose the desire to stay on property for this very reason. I continue to do so however because I have no desire to rent a car when I’m in Orlando.
We live in GA so we normally drive but we got flights for $145/person from ATL for our Sept trip so we are flying this time. Next time we drive I am going to look at all the other options. We have AP’s usually so we can park for free. The only positive of on property at this point is the transportation option, but I’m not sure it’s worth it.
Calmdownnow
Well-Known Member
Can someone remind me of the estimated hourly number of riders this attraction can cope with? And then can someone estimate the number of on-site and neighbourhood resort guests who will qualify for EMH each day? Divide that by 3 hours and we may have an idea of how long the queues are going to be when non-resort guests actually get through the gates.
It's going to be crazy at 6am, but it's going to be impossible at 9am.
Edit: Done some research and the estimated capacity of the ride is 1,800 per hour. The number of rooms qualifying for EMH is around 40,000 rooms. Assuming an average of 3 people in a room capable of sleeping 4, 120,000 people each day qualify for EMH. If just 10% turn up at 6am, it will take almost 7 hours for the EMH people to get through the ride.
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Yup, I've done the math before. It ain't good. But anyone who has been to WDW since FP+ should already know it ain't good. And since that 1800 per hour is EXTREMELY less than GMR, Backlot, and Motors, and attendance will go up a LOT... well, you can do the math.
olie64
Well-Known Member
Yes I am well aware it’s going to be crazy. One can hope right haha
Calmdownnow
Well-Known Member
I hope that people realize what it will be like and do not drag their kids along because 7 hours of queuing when you've been woken up at 4am to get to EMH at 6am is going to cause all sorts of ructions with tired toddlers.
MJ6987
Active Member
Since Disney will already have a deal with those non-Disney hotels that probably specifies “Extra Magic Hours” why don’t they restrict these new “Extra Extra Magic Hours” to just the Disney owned hotels, which would give people an extra incentive to book there?
No one other than Disney know exactly what the extra hours cost them. Only Disney and the hotels know what they are actually paying for their guests to gain the extras. I am sure Disney is making a profit on this.
Now, why is this a good idea? Yes. Disney wants to make sure the not only own the Orlando Themepark Market today but in the future. The should not only offer the third party hotels on property the option to buy into these benefits, they should be expanded to other nearby hotels and timeshares. Plus they should offer Disney transportation with 30 minute service while keeping 20 minute service at Disney owned and operated sites. Right now the Hil5on and Waldorf at Bonnett Creek can offer the extra hours and I would expect the new Marriott to be added but they Wyndham Timeshare and hotel can't. But if they added the Wyndham Timeshare they could also add a bus route to all of them and the additional cost could be split and Disney could make more money and lockin more customers. The extra hours and transportation keep customers going to Disney Parks and Disney Springs and not going over to Universal and if expanding them at slightly lower level, transportation, increased profits they should.
cosmicgirl
Well-Known Member
How many of those 120k will realistically get in the SR line, though? Let's say 1 in 6 intends to visit DHS on a certain day, that's 20k people. As you said, hopefully those with small children won't bother getting into the hours-long SW line that early (or at all), others won't get up that early, and others are still blissfully unaware of the existence of EMH. Would even half of those 20k make it to EEMH at DHS? I don't think 12k will show up that early. Maybe the first couple of weeks. Also, not everyone showing up for EEMH will want to go on SR. I've seen a lot of posts on other boards of people saying they'll go at 6am to ride the non-SW rides. Plus, there will be people just wanting to explore the land without going on SR. If 6k decide to get in line at any point during EEMH then there would only be a 20-minute wait by the time the park opens if they can run the ride efficiently for the first three hours.
These hotels only add about 15% to the room count compared to pre-2018. S&D and SoG already had access before the rest was added.
olie64
Well-Known Member
nickys
Premium Member
If you’re there at 6am, you’re unlikely to be queueing for 7 hours, but I share the sentiment about waiting in a long line with them.
However a lot of parents will be delighted there’s something to do at that hour, since the little ones will often be wide awake before 6am. Better than kicking your heels in your resort room. Take them along to DHS, even if they don’t go to GE.
And that’s where a virtual queue to manage the crowds could be ideal. The family get there at 7am, get a return time later in the morning, and head off to ride TSMM, meet the characters and have breakfast. And then go back for hopefully a shortish wait to get into Galaxy’s Edge. Then back to the resort for a restful time / nap / swim.
winstongator
Well-Known Member
I look at it a slightly different way. DHS attendance averages around 30k/day now. If they are doing 6-10PM, that's 16 hrs. 16*1800=28,800...less than an average DHS day. That's with just the one attractions. Not every guest will do the attraction (1 or 2 of the 4 in my family will skip it). Once Rise of the Resistance comes up, that's close to 60k rides available. That's closer to accommodating everyone coming to DHS.
So there likely won't be enough ride spots for the total number of guests. How bad will that be? I am less looking forward to the ride than just walking around Black Spire Outpost. Before kids, my last trip to WDW was when I was in college to MGM. At that time I was 'too cool' for the MK, but I loved my picture on the speeder bike with my brother. For my first trip, I'd be content to just wander, looking for a niche in the land.
Pandora is a beautiful world, but one I've never imagined myself in. WWoHP is impressive, but to some degree feels like a nook in London. Since that day at the beach 38 years ago when I lost my sand-person figure, I've been waiting to play in a real Star Wars land.
winstongator
Well-Known Member
I think the numbers will be somewhere in-between. Your assessment would be for a 'normal' operating day, or for Toy Story Land. I don't know any 65 year old men who dreamed of riding a slinky coaster the way they dreamt about piloting the falcon back in the 70's. How many people would 6am EMH at AK attract for Flight of Passage today? The lines for the original WWoHP openings were likely, so opening early allows those that would have gotten into the end of the line at 7 or 8 are now getting into the park. They might see the line to get into the land, and then enjoy the rest of the park, or retreat to another park. It's going to be very crowded. Likely you've had people move their trips into the summer who wanted to avoid SWGE's opening, and those replacing them are those going for the SWGE opening.
You'll need 5400 people in line to make a 3hr wait, and I think it will very easily get to that. I also think that there will be people coming into the park and land during EEMH and the queue will build from there. Flight of Passage rockets to 180 min waits every morning, and Smuggler's Run will easily do that for a while I understand the huge difference with and without FP+, but it's still people's willingness to tolerate that time. I actually like the FoP queue, and 2hrs is 'not that bad'. I've never done that 2 hrs with my kids though. If the Smuggler's run queue is anything like Flight of Passage's, the 3 hr wait will be a lot more tolerable.
Early on, I might do a crazy early morning on my own, ride Smuggler's Run, wander BSO, and meet my family later either in another part of DHS or another park. When the crowds lessen, we'll do the whole land together and take our time.
cosmicgirl
Well-Known Member
I also think the numbers will be inbetween. I think 12k, i.e. 7 hours for off-site guests at opening after EEMH may be pushing it after the first week or two so I used 6k as an example to demonstrate how it could work without having much of an impact on those entering the park at 9am. Essentially, anything over 5400 will carry over to off-site guests.
As for the actual opening day(s) when it's a free for all at 6am, well then all bets are off. Should we do a "when will the first person line up?" bet? My money's on 2pm on the 28th of August.
Their tactic seems to be working btw: I've spotted multiple reports of off-site guests booking one-night stays in Disney resorts to get access at 6am for two days.