How WDW Co. spins ...

[Theme Parkitect]

The Magic Kingdom will not be closing a 7pm on those days. The FAQ page says that Guests can begin entering the park at 7pm, but that the free food and stuff doesn't start until the actual event does - at Park close. It's the same as the Halloween and Christmas parties.

I personally would never pay for that because I don't have the money, but who am I to object Disney from keeping the Park open when it usually wouldn't be? Like someone above said, many people spend $200-$300 (even thousands) on concert and sporting event tickets. I can see how it could look worth it to a wealthier Guest. You get 6 hours of Park time and 3 of those are with drastically lower crowd levels and free ice cream and drinks.

Pick your battles folks. This doesn't directly affect the great majority of Guests anyways.

 

[draybook]

When I think about the folks that will be shelling out money on this "stick em up" scheme.....

 

[SpaceMountain77]

More of you need to start watching Once Upon a Time, Sunday nights on ABC. Week after week, the residents of Storybrooke reiterate the fact that all Magic comes with a price. Although the price in Storybrooke usually involves some kind of deal, curse, or spell, the price on Main Street, U.S.A. is easily paid in fifties and hundreds.

 

[PhotoDave219]

More of you need to start watching Once Upon a Time, Sunday nights on ABC. Week after week, the residents of Storybrooke reiterate the fact that all Magic comes with a price. Although the price in Storybrooke usually involves some kind of deal, curse, or spell, the price on Main Street, U.S.A. is easily paid in fifties and hundreds.

nooooooooooooope.

 

[NYwdwfan]

On another note I can see this becoming a real issue for guest relations. With a high dollar amount on such a short period of time it won't be hard for guests to simply do the math with anything that during the day simply would have been a minor inconvienence. For example: "our family of 6 was stuck on that ride for 15 minutes that was $75 of our 3 hours".

Or a monsoon hits and all the outdoor rides close. "I paid $600 (plus tax) for my family of 4 and half the rides were not operational".

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

*It could be worthwhile to check out our legal options to get refunded on part of our tickets. WDW is ran to such overcrowded conditions that Disney can not deliver on what you paid for, in both enjoyment and expected amount of rides. As Disney more or less openly admits with this new scheme.

Since Disney does not guarantee a number of rides nor a level of enjoyment (which would be impossible to quantify) I highly doubt this is anywhere near being a reasonable basis for a lawsuit.

 

[NearTheEars]

Hold on.....
Am i understanding this correctly -

Pay $150 for 3 hours ( actual event, 5 hours max allowed ) in the Magic Kingdom on one of these 'After Hours' event nights.......
While the current price for a One Day 'Peak' season ticket for 11 hours ( give or take ) in the Magic Kingdom is 'only' $124...which is less if visiting during 'Non-Peak' pricing times.


Hmm....

Something seems a bit amiss here.....

Pay $150 for 3 hours ( actual event , 5 hours total max allowed ) hours in the Park.
Pay $124 ( or less, depending on season ) for 11 hours in the Park.

Wha.....

( slaps head )


How can they believe people will be willing to pay more for less time in the Park...?
This must be one heck of a 'event' night ...event.


Oh wait...this is 'Today's Disney'.
Right...

They already know people will do this, and have been doing it for some time now.




-

I believe you are paying a premium to be in the park with way, way fewer guests in it and walk on attractions.
If your dream is to ride the available E Tickets over and over and over again, this might just be worth it.

Too rich for my blood. And I'm not too interested in riding SM 10 times in a row.

 

[DDLand]

There seems to be some confusion on what the hours are for this. From Disney Parks Blog:

Guests can check in starting at 7 p.m. each night, with the event hours from 11 p.m. – 2 a.m. Pricing is $149 plus tax for both adults and children.

So you get from 7 PM to 11 PM of typical park hours and nighttime offerings, and an additional 3 hours on high demand attractions with limited waits. If I was a Florida local looking to visit the MK, and I didn't have an AP, this actually is a compelling option. You don't get as many hours, but you're not as hot, crowded, or waiting in as long lines as you would otherwise. I actually thinks this makes more sense then some on here realize.

I'd still say this all comes down to how many people they let in. If it's a 50 minute wait for Mine Train, and you only have 3 hours, that's lame. If it's a 5-10 minute wait it becomes much more attractive. Let the first few people test it out first. Then we can gauge how worthy of an event it is. It is a tough price to swallow for Multi Day/APs Guests when adding a day is much cheaper or no cost.

 

[s8film40]

I believe you are paying a premium to be in the park with way, way fewer guests in it and walk on attractions.
If your dream is to ride the available E Tickets over and over and over again, this might just be worth it.

Too rich for my blood. And I'm not too interested in riding SM 10 times in a row.

Yeah, I still remember E-Ride nights this is basically what it was you would just run from ride to ride and ride as many times as you wanted, it really was great! A lot of times they would just let you stay on if no one was waiting. Of course it was fun because it was $12. I think I would have a hard time not thinking about the fact that I would be spending $25 for every half hour. I think for me at least it would create too much stress thinking I have to get my money's worth, of course that would only be magnified if you had a large group or family.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

A lot of confusion in here. MK will still be open until 11pm on these nights. Guests with the After Hours pass can come in starting at 7. It's no different from the other hard ticket events.

I get that it's expensive, but I can see the appeal and it literally doesn't take anything away from guests with a normal ticket.

 

[s8film40]

There seems to be some confusion on what the hours are for this. From Disney Parks Blog:

Guests can check in starting at 7 p.m. each night, with the event hours from 11 p.m. – 2 a.m. Pricing is $149 plus tax for both adults and children.

So you get from 7 PM to 11 PM of typical park hours and nighttime offerings, and an additional 3 hours on high demand attractions with limited waits. If I was a Florida local looking to visit the MK, and I didn't have an AP, this actually is a compelling option. You don't get as many hours, but you're not as hot, crowded, or waiting in as long lines as you would otherwise. I actually thinks this makes more sense then some on here realize.

I'd still say this all comes down to how many people they let in. If it's a 50 minute wait for Mine Train, and you only have 3 hours, that's lame. If it's a 5-10 minute wait it becomes much more attractive. Let the first few people test it out first. Then we can gauge how worthy of an event it is. It is a tough price to swallow for Multi Day/APs Guests when adding a day is much cheaper or no cost.

Yeah I agree there are some situations that makes this a good deal. However what I find surprising is most of those situations are the type Disney has spent years trying to deter people away from.

Basically if your trying to pack a Disney/MK trip into one day this is ideal. If for example your bringing your family for a 4 night stay at Universal but the kids insist on going to Disney at least a little this creates the perfect compromise. Relax enjoy your time at Universal and then go over to Disney and get a full days worth of MK crammed into the end of one day.

 

[invader]

2x Disney After Hours tickets = 1x Uni Florida Res. Annual Pass (no blockout dates)

All of the moves Disney is making really makes they think they bought into that whole Blue Ocean strategy posted on here a few years ago.

 

[PhotoDave219]

More reasons why I'd rather spend my money elsewhere....

 

[habuma]

So, there are 2 offerings?

1. Extra Magic Hours
2. Extra $ Hours

Sorry...couldn't resist.

 

[Mike S]

You don't have kids do you? WDW busy times revolve around kids being out of school. No you can't just pull your kids out of public school and go to WDW. Private schools are different.

"If people were smart they would home school their kids so they can go during the less busy times. It's all about smart planning" - Phil12

 

[WDW1974]

My comment about this made the Disney parks blog. Im shocked! Its the last comment on the bottom.
View attachment 135020

Congrats! ... They sometimes either don't catch something or simply let a few 'moderate' comments pass to make it appear as though they are fair and balanced.

 

[WDW1974]

If this is successful, who is stupid: the guests who all buy into it or WDW for offering it?

Sure. And if you have too much money and limited vacation time I can absolutely see how you can justify paying for this (all the Disney Bloggers/Lifestylers/Podcasters will ... even though maybe two will actually pay for it when they find out a 'rare' foamhead will be there). And if Disney is capping this at 3,000 a night (a number I've heard bandied about), I have no doubt that they will be able to sell 85% of all capacity for the entire test period of it this spring.

 

[WDW1974]

@WDW1974 how else is Bob Iger going to continue to drive up the share price? And at the end of the day, isn't that really his legacy - the 400% increase in share price that has occurred to date since he took the reins? (or thereabouts)

I like the special ticket events for Christmas and Halloween. It can't be a surprise that someone came up with the idea to offer the equivalent except at a higher cost to the customers and without the extra cost to the company of special parades and firework shows. (It is silly to continue to refer to customers as guests anymore. The company treats us like customers to be fleeced and analyzed and tallied, not guests)

Is there any reason to think the Very Merry Christmas Party and Not So Scary Halloween admission prices won't spike to match or exceed this new promotion? If so, that will change the way my family plans for those trips. What else can a family do except roll with the changes? Where to roll is always the family's choice.

I don't know. That is his problem. And his Legacy is as follows: Shanghai Disneyland, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm ... not really anything else.

And those ticket prices on the parties will spike. They already have. Look at what they charged in say ... 2004 and today. Disney also reads forums like this. They know that a Christmas or Halloween party ticket is actually a great deal for people now that they allow 4 p.m. entry. You are getting all sorts of extra entertainment and goodies for less than the cost of a one-day ticket. They are looking to end EVERY value at WDW ... whether it is getting comped by your cast family or friends ... bringing back your resort soda mug ... parking close in in a main lot or visiting a resort (even to spend money) ... using various discounts that always get smaller and more restrictive ... killing EMH (and they are doing that!) ... etc etc.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone is being paid to cull the best deals and loopholes that you would read about here and on the DIS and report on how to 'fix' those ...

 

[WDW1974]

just a slight correction. Minimum wage at WDW is currently $9.50 and will be bumping to $10 on July 31st of this year.

Here's the union contract: http://www.uniteherelocal362.org/wp-content/uploads/FINAL-2014-FT-STCU-CBA-2.pdf

Here's an article on WDW pay and how it compares to lots of different things:
http://themeparkuniversity.com/disney/depth-look-walt-disney-world-employee-wages/

I do however agree that it is fairly low.

That's what you pulled from my post?!?!
You do realize if Disney could pay CMs $5 an hour right now, they would, right?

 

[WDW1974]

Seems to be confusion here. Event will run 10-1 or 11-2 depending on nights. People who pay can enter MK at 7 p.m. regardless and get either three or four hours of regular park time before their exclusive three-hour window opens. They then will be able to get bottled beverages (likely a 3-4 soda choices, one juice and water) and snacks (what seems to be ice cream novelties) ... not sure whether it is one per customer or as many as you want during the three hours.