magic hours question

[twoweirdos]

Ok so i get how it works when the park opens earlier and only letting wdw resort guests in,, easy enough
BUT how do they handle the staying open later time?
do they chek bathrooms,,.etc to kick people out?
Our first trip...i dont remember when we left because I was floating on a cloud....lol
we did not stay OP....

 

[wm49rs]

They have their ways is probably the best theory to apply here......

 

[JML42691]

Ok so i get how it works when the park opens earlier and only letting wdw resort guests in,, easy enough
BUT how do they handle the staying open later time?
do they chek bathrooms,,.etc to kick people out?
Our first trip...i dont remember when we left because I was floating on a cloud....lol
we did not stay OP....

In the past they would have wristbands where you would line up, show a Key to the Kingdom Card for each person in the party and they would give you a non-transferrable wristband that was a specific color. On my most recent trip they had ditched this system and instead just had a cast member at all queue entrances to check for Key to the Kingdom Cards.

Disney would never kick somebody out for a soft-ticket event if they were already in, as this person could easily stop by the gift shop on the way out. It's pretty much the same thing after park closing, however late enough they do start ushering people from the back of the parks towards the front, but I'm not positive on specific procedures. I've once stayed in the World Showcase till nearly 11 without having anybody say anything, it's a great time to get some nighttime shots with the pavilions all empty.

 

[powlessfamily4]

When I was there in June they checked out k2k cards. It only took a second and was not an inconvienence at all.

 

[twoweirdos]

thanks all!!!

 

[tizzo]

I was kind of wondering about that myself. My wife and I are AP holders. I've got family coming down for a week later this year. They are staying at the GF, and we - well, we are not.

One nice thing about this trip is that they're going to have child care with them, which means that there may be an opportunity for the adults to spend some time together, particularly in the evenings, EG during EMH. However they will have room keys and we will not.

So I was just wondering a few things myself:

• Do they only check key cards at attraction entrances, or will we be carded in shops and eateries as well?
• Do they check every single person for a key or do they just do spot checks?
• If you're asked for a key and can't produce one, what will happen to you?
• Does Disney have anything at all in place in anticipation of such a situation (which can't possibly be all that unusual)? EG something offered to passholders who have guests staying on-property (I am why they are visiting WDW after all)? Or perhaps offered as a benefit to resort guests to allow them to invite us to join them for EMH?

 

[CamiLyn227]

Just got back from the world on Sat. We stayed at one park every night for extra magic hours. Before we could get on a ride (or into any open attraction) we had to show our room key (key to the world card). Some Cast Memebers made us each show one, but others just saw one and let us both go. If you didn't have it you didn't go in. We did see some people get turned away for not having a room key for every person in the group, but they did not make them leave the park they just could not ride. But if you are not riding anything or going in any attractions I don't see how they can make you leave. You could stay at the park during EMH but just not ride anything. We never had to show our room key to go into a store or restaurant.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

I was kind of wondering about that myself. My wife and I are AP holders. I've got family coming down for a week later this year. They are staying at the GF, and we - well, we are not.

One nice thing about this trip is that they're going to have child care with them, which means that there may be an opportunity for the adults to spend some time together, particularly in the evenings, EG during EMH. However they will have room keys and we will not.

So I was just wondering a few things myself:

• Do they only check key cards at attraction entrances, or will we be carded in shops and eateries as well?
• Do they check every single person for a key or do they just do spot checks?
• If you're asked for a key and can't produce one, what will happen to you?
• Does Disney have anything at all in place in anticipation of such a situation (which can't possibly be all that unusual)? EG something offered to passholders who have guests staying on-property (I am why they are visiting WDW after all)? Or perhaps offered as a benefit to resort guests to allow them to invite us to join them for EMH?

1. Cards are checked at the entrance to each attraction.

2. Cast members are supposed to check each card and make sure the dates on the card fall within that nights EMH. However, what they are supposed to do and what they might do are two different things. Most CM's will just check to make sure you have a card and let you go through.

3. Techinically if you can't produce a key you cannot ride. It has happened before where a member of our party has forgotten their key in the room. We explained this to the CM's and there wasn't a problem (considering there were 3 of us who did all have our keys).

4. EMH is only offered to resort guests. Annual passholders who are just visiting are not allowed to participate regardless of if they have friends staying on property. Again, this is the technical rule...I am sure there are people who have worked their way around this.

 

[worldfanatic]

Just got back from WDW this weekend and I was surprised and pleased about how diligent the employees were about checking the resort ID cards during evening Magic Hours.
In the past, they seemed to look the other way. It seems much tougher for non Disney resort guests to slip through nowadays.

 

[tizzo]

2. Cast members are supposed to check each card and make sure the dates on the card fall within that nights EMH. However, what they are supposed to do and what they might do are two different things. Most CM's will just check to make sure you have a card and let you go through.

Thanks for the info. One more thing - can they match the cards to the individuals? IE do the cards have names or pictures on them? Not planning anything sinister, just curious.

 

[tizzo]

4. EMH is only offered to resort guests. Annual passholders who are just visiting are not allowed to participate regardless of if they have friends staying on property. Again, this is the technical rule...I am sure there are people who have worked their way around this.

That's consistent with what my research turned up. I contacted Disney about it via their web site anyway, more as a way to suggest/request that they consider offering some kind of accommodation, not because I think I'll get a different answer. I made the point that I bring a certain number of guests into their parks, and in this case into their resorts, who might not otherwise be coming to FL at all.

Granting AP holders blanket access if they have guests staying on property might be a bit much (for starters how would you prove it?). But perhaps the other way around, maybe some kind of guest pass as a perk for resort guests, allowing them to bring some local family or friends with them to EMH, might not be too burdensome.

 

[xcrashx15]

That's interesting, does anyone that recently stayed at the Swan/Dolphin have any experience with this? I stayed there last in Oct. 2008 and I think I just had a room key, not a Keys to the Kingdom card. I usually avoid parks w/ EMH but I have a vague recollection of showing my room key to ride (although I could just be making that up, but I seem to remember last waiting for a wristband in 2006).

I am staying at the Dolphin again in Nov. and on one occasion we might be at Epcot for the evening EMH. We always have 4 people per room and we usually only get 2 keys, which was not a problem for EMH in 2008 since most of the time we only showed 1 key for the entire group (assuming my memory is correct). I guess the easy solution is to just ask for 4 keys at check-in... but if I never read this board, I certainly would have never thought to do that!

 

[JML42691]

That's interesting, does anyone that recently stayed at the Swan/Dolphin have any experience with this? I stayed there last in Oct. 2008 and I think I just had a room key, not a Keys to the Kingdom card. I usually avoid parks w/ EMH but I have a vague recollection of showing my room key to ride (although I could just be making that up, but I seem to remember last waiting for a wristband in 2006).

I am staying at the Dolphin again in Nov. and on one occasion we might be at Epcot for the evening EMH. We always have 4 people per room and we usually only get 2 keys, which was not a problem for EMH in 2008 since most of the time we only showed 1 key for the entire group (assuming my memory is correct). I guess the easy solution is to just ask for 4 keys at check-in... but if I never read this board, I certainly would have never thought to do that!

I am not 100% certain on this, so if someone else could clarify that would be great, but from what I remember the Swan & Dolphin use Key to the Kingdom cards for their rooms and are eligible for EMH. I'm pretty sure that you will receive one card for each member of your party, the only difference between S&D and Disney owned resorts when it comes to the Key to the Kingdom card is that you do not have charging privileges on your card.

 

[Tom]

That's consistent with what my research turned up. I contacted Disney about it via their web site anyway, more as a way to suggest/request that they consider offering some kind of accommodation, not because I think I'll get a different answer. I made the point that I bring a certain number of guests into their parks, and in this case into their resorts, who might not otherwise be coming to FL at all.

Granting AP holders blanket access if they have guests staying on property might be a bit much (for starters how would you prove it?). But perhaps the other way around, maybe some kind of guest pass as a perk for resort guests, allowing them to bring some local family or friends with them to EMH, might not be too burdensome.

EMH is specifically a perk that comes with staying at a Disney-owned hotel. They want people to stay in their hotels, so they offer EMH as one of a number of incentives to do so.

Offering EMH to everyone, including day guests, would not only eliminate one of what I consider to be a major perk of staying at a Disney hotel, but it would also mean that park attendance during EMH could, theoretically, be the same as it was during the day - which would completely ruin the whole purpose of EMH: smaller crowds, walk-on rides, the feeling of "owning" the parks.

 

[the-reason14]

EMH is specifically a perk that comes with staying at a Disney-owned hotel. They want people to stay in their hotels, so they offer EMH as one of a number of incentives to do so.

Offering EMH to everyone, including day guests, would not only eliminate one of what I consider to be a major perk of staying at a Disney hotel, but it would also mean that park attendance during EMH could, theoretically, be the same as it was during the day - which would completely ruin the whole purpose of EMH: smaller crowds, walk-on rides, the feeling of "owning" the parks.

Depending on the hours of the emh and the park, you rarely feel as though it's just you and the park.

I wish they kept the wrist bands though. I hate having to get out my room key at every ride. Also, depending on the cm, you can get over by showing an old room key. Only problem is one cm may let you in, and the other may look harder and wont let you in.

 

[Tom]

Depending on the hours of the emh and the park, you rarely feel as though it's just you and the park.

Yeah, I know....I think I was reminiscing about the good 'ol days of E-Ride Night!

 

[tizzo]

Offering EMH to everyone, including day guests, would not only eliminate one of what I consider to be a major perk of staying at a Disney hotel, but it would also mean that park attendance during EMH could, theoretically, be the same as it was during the day

Agreed - which is why I didn't suggest doing that...

- which would completely ruin the whole purpose of EMH: smaller crowds, walk-on rides, the feeling of "owning" the parks.

Your citation of the "owning the park" metaphor brought back a memory from a few years ago. The ownership feeling is (or was) a specific selling feature for the AP. There was a series of funny TV ads featuring a guy walking through the park, and through snippets of conversations with cast members conveying the story that he's going away on business or something and he's giving them their orders to hold down the fort, keep an eye on things, etc., as if he owned the place and they all worked for him. At the end they had a slogan or tagline to the effect that if you buy an AP you'll feel like you own the place.

Of course, it was hard to square with some of the things passholders are denied, like EMH, admission during MVMCP and MNSSHP, as well as more recent additions like free dining, which is probably why the ads only ran for one or two years.

But anyway, if contributing to the "owning the park" feeling was the purpose of EMH, then it almost certainly would be extended to APs, and possibly even exclusive to AP and DVC.

Not that I don't get your point. They want people to stay on property, it brings them extra money, and they're willing to offer this perk to make doing so more attractive.

My counterpoint is that it's not like I'm nickel-and-diming and spending their resort money elsewhere. I live here. If I had all the money in the world it would still be stupid to buy a room on property. On top of that, even though I'm not personally staying at GF, there are six people who are and who would not be if I didn't live here. (Four of whom, I might add, will not be partaking of EMH anyway).

I also understand your protectiveness of your perk. But like I said, I'm not suggesting opening it up to everyone. I'm not even suggesting opening it up to all AP holders (even though in FL the impact would be negligible). I'm just suggesting that making some kind of accommodation for people in this situation would involve no cost to Disney, would have no impact on other guests, and would overall be an improvement to the current system. And like I said, it could (and probably should) take the form of a guest EMH pass offered as yet another perk for resort guests. Although they'd still have to impose some kind of limits, since letting every resort guest bring an extra person to EMH would be far more disruptive than simply making it available to all AP holders, or even everyone who lives in FL.

 

[Tom]

Agreed - which is why I didn't suggest doing that...



Your citation of the "owning the park" metaphor brought back a memory from a few years ago. The ownership feeling is (or was) a specific selling feature for the AP. There was a series of funny TV ads featuring a guy walking through the park, and through snippets of conversations with cast members conveying the story that he's going away on business or something and he's giving them their orders to hold down the fort, keep an eye on things, etc., as if he owned the place and they all worked for him. At the end they had a slogan or tagline to the effect that if you buy an AP you'll feel like you own the place.

Of course, it was hard to square with some of the things passholders are denied, like EMH, admission during MVMCP and MNSSHP, as well as more recent additions like free dining, which is probably why the ads only ran for one or two years.

But anyway, if contributing to the "owning the park" feeling was the purpose of EMH, then it almost certainly would be extended to APs, and possibly even exclusive to AP and DVC.

Not that I don't get your point. They want people to stay on property, it brings them extra money, and they're willing to offer this perk to make doing so more attractive.

My counterpoint is that it's not like I'm nickel-and-diming and spending their resort money elsewhere. I live here. If I had all the money in the world it would still be stupid to buy a room on property. On top of that, even though I'm not personally staying at GF, there are six people who are and who would not be if I didn't live here. (Four of whom, I might add, will not be partaking of EMH anyway).

I also understand your protectiveness of your perk. But like I said, I'm not suggesting opening it up to everyone. I'm not even suggesting opening it up to all AP holders (even though in FL the impact would be negligible). I'm just suggesting that making some kind of accommodation for people in this situation would involve no cost to Disney, would have no impact on other guests, and would overall be an improvement to the current system. And like I said, it could (and probably should) take the form of a guest EMH pass offered as yet another perk for resort guests. Although they'd still have to impose some kind of limits, since letting every resort guest bring an extra person to EMH would be far more disruptive than simply making it available to all AP holders, or even everyone who lives in FL.

Points well taken. I too an an AP holder and DVC member. It's a shame that "our kind" can't take advantage of Free Dining and other awesome perks.

Maybe they should throw in EMH as a bonus feature in the Premium Annual Pass.

On the parties, I don't believe that any form of AP should entitle someone to party attendance. They're separate, private events the everyone should have to pay for - in my opinion.

 

[tizzo]

On the parties, I don't believe that any form of AP should entitle someone to party attendance. They're separate, private events the everyone should have to pay for - in my opinion.

I've come around to that way of thinking myself, knowing how many people they draw and what all goes into them. But for my first several years as a passholder it kind of irked me that they were closing the park early and I couldn't get in even though I'd theoretically paid my admission.

It was even worse, though, when they added the Pirate and Princess parties, because while I tend not to be looking to go to MK at times when MVMCP and MNSSHP are going on anyway, my wife and I do like to go to MK on our birthdays. And both years that they ran P&P it scuttled our plans for my wife's birthday.

So I think now I'm just content not to be able to go to the other two because I'm glad P&P is gone...IE it could be even worse.

 

[Phonedave]

Depending on the hours of the emh and the park, you rarely feel as though it's just you and the park.

I wish they kept the wrist bands though. I hate having to get out my room key at every ride. Also, depending on the cm, you can get over by showing an old room key. Only problem is one cm may let you in, and the other may look harder and wont let you in.

Wrist bands were a broken method.

There were many tip boards stating that you could go to any party supply store and buy colored wrist bands, and then just put on one that matched.

I in fact saw people doing this a number of times. I onces watched a woman take a zip lock bag with a variety of colored wrist bands in it out, select the ones that matched for that night, and then give them to her family members.

-dave