Half Day Tickets just don't make sense for Nov. and Dec.

[eliza61nyc]

They do that all the time with Not so Scary, Christmas and After Hours.

wow, i thought for the parties it was just once. so say at 6 pm the general public has to leave. that is a bit different than every 4 hours trying to get folks to leave. especially if the assumption would be to save money or make larger profits. I would think that the extra labor needed to get folks to turnover ever 4 hours along with a host of other issues would mitigate making it worth while.

I'm not saying it can't be done, I just don't see it as being as "easy" and worthwhile as the one time thing they now do for parties.

 

[World_Showcase_Lover007]

You’re right, it does not make sense for you or me or anyone else to purchase these tickets. But Disney mgmt. definitely thought this through...they are preying on unsuspecting guests. They make it seem like a good deal, as long as you don’t work out the details in your head. Will guests be mad they paid $100 bucks for 4 hours? Sure but they already have your money so they don’t care. It’s only the next fiscal quarter they care about...that’s all.

 

[Mander]

While I appreciate the idea of the half-day (After noon) tickets they just don't make sense to me.

Half of the days, Magic Kingdom closes early (ie. 6) for the Mickey Christmas Party and Party people can arrive at 4:00 adding to crowds.
So, I come at noon to leave at 6:00 and share two hours with an extra thousand of my newest closest friends.

On the days MK is open past 6:00, it will be super-busy already and FP will be especially hard to get. So, I come on the busiest days?

Fastpasses are already hard to get at AK, HS, EP.....so, you need the flexibility to go any time (ie before noon) they are available. So, I limit the fastpasses I will get?

So, why would I get an "arrive at noon" ticket?
Sorry but, someone just didn't think this through.

Well first, people would need to check a calendar and not use that ticket on a day Magic Kingdom closes early.

This may not be a useful ticket for you but it might be for others. I have family friends that I helped plan a trip for last spring during a peak spring break week. They have two teenage boys who do not like mornings, even at Disney! We planned with that in mind. They slept in, used the pool, and had breakfast at the resort. They would head for the parks between 11:30-12:00 and have late afternoon/evening fastpasses (and they had good ones for all the parks, not just MK). The also had the good fortune of getting to use the evening EMH a couple of times. That worked much better for them as a family. The only day they were at the parks early was the day my Mom and I were there with them (it was easier for us to motivate the boys to get up than their parents). We had a ton of fun but there is no way they'd do a full week of rope drop!

So, for some this may work. For others it won't. I really don't see people having options as a bad thing.

 

[eliza61nyc]

You’re right, it does not make sense for you or me or anyone else to purchase these tickets. But Disney mgmt. definitely thought this through...they are preying on unsuspecting guests. They make it seem like a good deal, as long as you don’t work out the details in your head. Will guests be mad they paid $100 bucks for 4 hours? Sure but they already have your money so they don’t care. It’s only the next fiscal quarter they care about...that’s all.

Why are you assuming people will be mad for 4 hours entertainment?? People do it all the time . Scored tickets for the Eagles/Patriots game in Nov. Each ticket?? 266.00 and the are not lower level tickets.
Can we talk Hamilton in Broadway which is only 2.5 hour?? People are still paying 500 bucks a ticket.

 

[eliza61nyc]

To be fair it's more like 30 minutes of entertainment and 3.5 hours of standing around doing nothing.

LMAO ,. Definitely got a point

 

[RustySpork]

To be fair it's more like 30 minutes of entertainment and 3.5 hours of standing around doing nothing.

More time for them to dine and shop..

 

[thomas998]

Wow going back to ticket books! That can work! and this time it would be paperless! While I would hate it as a guest, Disney would probably make more money and the wait times for rides would go down!

They could probably perfectly control the crowds at lines, continue to raise the prices on a particular ride until you found the maximum price that resulted in say a 10 minute line throughout the day. But as you say as a guest it would be horrible... I could easily see opening day new rides going for more than 50 a ride just like the front row tickets for a rock concert. Of course it would also be interesting to see how much people would be willing to pay for things like People Mover or Tiki Room... In the end I suspect they won't go back to the tickets per ride system because it would highlight how worthless some of the rides would turn out to be as every ride would need a minimum price just to break even on the power and labor to keep it running... I can't see some of them every making break even on their own.

 

[GlassHalfFull]

I wish the half day admission could just be for the morning.. other than that, there are plenty of people this option works for, and through the course of the year, they are basically offering convention tickets for everyone.. if there is a market for it Disney will do it..

 

[Kingtut]

To be fair it's more like 30 minutes of entertainment and 3.5 hours of standing around doing nothing.

Well they could also do an on the spot front of the line upgrade purchase as well. If you want to stand inline fine we have your money. If you would rather not wait for 45 minutes ( out of your half day or 4 hours - whichever is more profitable) then you can use your magic band/phone to buy a front of the line pass for $XX. Pricing could be variable based on attendance and individual line lengths. Since they also know when you turn into a pumpkin they could make special offers just to you as the day progresses to extract more money from you so that you can maximize the magic.

The joys of ubiquitous tracking and extensive data mining.

 

[RustySpork]

I say we have a rotating conveyor belt with Disney toys and food next to the queue. This way we can take all the guests money as they wait for 3.5 hours for the 30 minutes of rides.

I like how you think. Sort of like the snack bar in the queue for the Hogwarts express, only bigger and better.

 

[larryz]

Many guests sleep late on their trips and don't start their days until 11 or 12, their survey answers and attendance patterns soft ticket sales and anxiety over SW:GE likely prompted this option.

FTFY

 

[Trackmaster]

I'm a big proponent of only spending 4-5 hours at the park, but not on a one day ticket. That's a better strategy if you're there all week or have an AP. Paying $100 for 4 hours just seems very wonky.

 

[Andrew M]

Why wouldn't it make sense? Obviously if you are an adult and are up at the crack of dawn and can stay in the parks all day, look elsewhere, but for alot of other people who aren't early risers or die-hards, it's not hard to see the appeal.

I can't get my family of 5 to make a 9am rope drop if my life depended on it. Might as well sleep in, perhaps spend the morning in the pool, or a late breakfast at Ohana and stroll on in at 12. I can still get the fastpasses I wanted at 60 days out, be able to choose a new one by 3, and by timing it right with EMH, stay in the Magic Kingdom or Epcot til 11-12 at night. and save a pretty decent amount of money.

Doing the math, on say a day where MK is open 8a-10p with 10p-12a EMH, 2 day regular ticket vs 2 day mid day.

Especially for families with kids who aren't early risers, getting them up at 7 means they're going to want a nap by 3. That means leaving the parks by 2, and MAYBE getting back in by 6? And if you're getting them up at 7 the next day, you won't be able to stay late, so you spend 3 hours in the evening before heading back for the night. You'd be spending 9 hours in the park. Picking a random day in September, a 2 adults and 3 kids would be $1,161.79. That's $64.54 per hour.

If you buy the mid-day, and say just get 8 hours in, 12-8, the total would be $880.32, or $55.02 per hour. And no matter how many hours you get in the parks, it's still a difference of $281. That's two character meals for a family of 5. The savings over a 4 day ticket would be $567.34. That's enough to pay for atleast one direction of flights to Orlando for a family of 5.

My strategy for my upcoming trip is a 1 day ticket for HS so we have enough time for all of Toy Story and Star Wars with a 9pm closing, and a 2-day mid-day ticket for Epcot and MK, timed with the late night EMH days. It's about $170 cheaper than a regular 3 day ticket for my family.

 

[thomas998]

wow, i thought for the parties it was just once. so say at 6 pm the general public has to leave. that is a bit different than every 4 hours trying to get folks to leave. especially if the assumption would be to save money or make larger profits. I would think that the extra labor needed to get folks to turnover ever 4 hours along with a host of other issues would mitigate making it worth while.

I'm not saying it can't be done, I just don't see it as being as "easy" and worthwhile as the one time thing they now do for parties.

A 4 hour ticket might get a few rubes to buy into it... but honestly if you were given a 4 hour block to go into the park how many rides could you realistically ride? Odds are you wouldn't be getting fastpasses with a short 4 hour ticket so just assume you have to run for the rides and get in the standby line. The kids want Mine Train... okay takes you 10 minutes to get from the front gate to the lines which are 2 hours longs... you get off and you've now burned 2 hours and 15 minutes of your 4 hour block, not enough time to ride it again so you need to find a quicker stand by line... I know lets hit Peter Pan... 5 minutes to get there for a 90 minute wait... and now you've burned 3 hours and 39 minutes of your time... No time for any more rides... well maybe you can make a mad dash for carousel of progress but that's about it. Do you really think many people would pony up 50 bucks for what amounts to 2 real rides?

I could see someone doing it once if they had no clue about the time they would waste in lines but they would probably be very unhappy visitors when their 4 hours was up.

 

[eliza61nyc]

A 4 hour ticket might get a few rubes to buy into it... but honestly if you were given a 4 hour block to go into the park how many rides could you realistically ride? Odds are you wouldn't be getting fastpasses with a short 4 hour ticket so just assume you have to run for the rides and get in the standby line. The kids want Mine Train... okay takes you 10 minutes to get from the front gate to the lines which are 2 hours longs... you get off and you've now burned 2 hours and 15 minutes of your 4 hour block, not enough time to ride it again so you need to find a quicker stand by line... I know lets hit Peter Pan... 5 minutes to get there for a 90 minute wait... and now you've burned 3 hours and 39 minutes of your time... No time for any more rides... well maybe you can make a mad dash for carousel of progress but that's about it. Do you really think many people would pony up 50 bucks for what amounts to 2 real rides?

I could see someone doing it once if they had no clue about the time they would waste in lines but they would probably be very unhappy visitors when their 4 hours was up.
[/QUOTE

I wasn't the one that suggested a 4 hour ticket, that was @Pooh.sHoneyHuntTDL . 1/2 day tickets would give you more like 9 hours on a day the magic kingdom is open until 10 pm
there are thousands upon thousands of people who tour without trying to get into every ride. I know quite a few people who go to the parks in the evening simply for the ambiance.
It is not an "either/or " proposition. this could be useful say 1 day out of a longer vacation where all you have is 1/2 day to spend at the Magic kingdom.

. again this is not some thing that you would use for a 6 pm closing.

So if a person entered at 1pm and the park does not close until 10-11 pm they are doing more than 2 rides plus they are seeing the night time show.

last August we were in the world and on our magic kingdom day the only ride that was 90 minutes long was the mine train. so a half day ticket would more than suffice.

 

[thomas998]

I wasn't the one that suggested a 4 hour ticket, that was @Pooh.sHoneyHuntTDL . 1/2 day tickets would give you more like 9 hours on a day the magic kingdom is open until 10 pm
there are thousands upon thousands of people who tour without trying to get into every ride. I know quite a few people who go to the parks in the evening simply for the ambiance.
It is not an "either/or " proposition. this could be useful say 1 day out of a longer vacation where all you have is 1/2 day to spend at the Magic kingdom.

. again this is not some thing that you would use for a 6 pm closing.

So if a person entered at 1pm and the park does not close until 10-11 pm they are doing more than 2 rides plus they are seeing the night time show.

last August we were in the world and on our magic kingdom day the only ride that was 90 minutes long was the mine train. so a half day ticket would more than suffice.

I was aware that you weren't the one originally touting a 4 hour ticket, but since you did mention it in the post I just thought people should understand how ridiculous a 4 hour ticket would actually be. A half day ticket is really what we've done on days where they have a event like Halloween party since we arrive at 4 and stay to the end... frankly that isn't a bad deal given the discounted price versus a full day and the fact that on some full days we probably only spend about 8 hours in the parks because we go back to the room for a bit or spend time outside the park getting better and cheaper lunch or dinner. So don't worry I'm not trying to hang the goofy 4 hours of Disney idea on you.

 

[xdan0920]

Why wouldn't it make sense? Obviously if you are an adult and are up at the crack of dawn and can stay in the parks all day, look elsewhere, but for alot of other people who aren't early risers or die-hards, it's not hard to see the appeal.

I can't get my family of 5 to make a 9am rope drop if my life depended on it. Might as well sleep in, perhaps spend the morning in the pool, or a late breakfast at Ohana and stroll on in at 12. I can still get the fastpasses I wanted at 60 days out, be able to choose a new one by 3, and by timing it right with EMH, stay in the Magic Kingdom or Epcot til 11-12 at night. and save a pretty decent amount of money.

Doing the math, on say a day where MK is open 8a-10p with 10p-12a EMH, 2 day regular ticket vs 2 day mid day.

Especially for families with kids who aren't early risers, getting them up at 7 means they're going to want a nap by 3. That means leaving the parks by 2, and MAYBE getting back in by 6? And if you're getting them up at 7 the next day, you won't be able to stay late, so you spend 3 hours in the evening before heading back for the night. You'd be spending 9 hours in the park. Picking a random day in September, a 2 adults and 3 kids would be $1,161.79. That's $64.54 per hour.

If you buy the mid-day, and say just get 8 hours in, 12-8, the total would be $880.32, or $55.02 per hour. And no matter how many hours you get in the parks, it's still a difference of $281. That's two character meals for a family of 5. The savings over a 4 day ticket would be $567.34. That's enough to pay for atleast one direction of flights to Orlando for a family of 5.

My strategy for my upcoming trip is a 1 day ticket for HS so we have enough time for all of Toy Story and Star Wars with a 9pm closing, and a 2-day mid-day ticket for Epcot and MK, timed with the late night EMH days. It's about $170 cheaper than a regular 3 day ticket for my family.

This really doesn't have a lot to do with the OP. The thread is based on the fall and winter seasons when MK closes at 6pm over half the time. That's all.

 

[Andrew M]

This really doesn't have a lot to do with the OP. The thread is based on the fall and winter seasons when MK closes at 6pm over half the time. That's all.

Right, I guess I didn’t think of anyone trying to use it on those days, but Every Tuesday and Wednesday, Epcot and MK are open til atleast 11 and 12 respectively. I’d really hope anyone would atleast check the park hours before deciding to buy a ticket.

 

[thomas998]

Right, I guess I didn’t think of anyone trying to use it on those days, but Every Tuesday and Wednesday, Epcot and MK are open til atleast 11 and 12 respectively. I’d really hope anyone would atleast check the park hours before deciding to buy a ticket.

You would be surprised how many people don't do that. Or the first time visitor that might start planning in June for a trip in December and looks at the hours they are open in June and then assumes those are the hours year round. I think part of the problem is that when you are planning a trip and using Disney's website to do it they don't flash up the hours the park will be open on the days you are booking your reservations. If they did it would probably help some people avoid an unexpected surprise.

 

[larryz]

You would be surprised how many people don't do that. Or the first time visitor that might start planning in June for a trip in December and looks at the hours they are open in June and then assumes those are the hours year round. I think part of the problem is that when you are planning a trip and using Disney's website to do it they don't flash up the hours the park will be open on the days you are booking your reservations. If they did it would probably help some people avoid an unexpected surprise.

Well, what we clearly need is some more federal regulations requiring theme park operators to post daily dollar-per-hour costs on ticket purchase pages. Truth in labeling should apply.

And this is sarcasm.