magic hours question

[Tom]

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

I never understood why Disney didn't print their own logo'd wristbands. They print millions of park maps, brochures, times guides and a number of other media every single day.

How hard would it have been to make legitimate wrist bands rather than to go "Party Supply Plus" and buy a few boxes of "Red Metallic Wrist Bands"?

 

[David S.]

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).

Well said!

:sohappy::sohappy::sohappy:

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.

I would LOVE that! Even if they allowed APs in for just some of the EMH sessions and kept others "exclusive" to the resorts, it would be a really nice gesture towards Premium APs, especially those who live in the area year-round or seasonally and are not in the "market" for a hotel! I know it would inspire me to upgrade back up to "Premium" (I recently downgraded to a "regular" AP that has year-round access to all 4 parks with no blackout dates, because I found I wasn't going to the water parks or Disney Quest regularly enough to stay with the Premium).

I DO really appreciate the discounts at the gift shops they've recently begun offering to APs (Premium or regular APs). Other than that, I hate to say it, but the Busch Gardens/Sea World "Platinum Pass" has better perks IMO than the Disney Premium Pass. The Busch Platinum Pass has discounts on merchandise AND food/drink/snack products, admission to every Busch Gardens and Sea World in the country, complimentary PREFERRED parking at the two Florida parks and the others throughout the country, reserved seats at the major shows in the 2 Florida parks (like Believe, Blue Horizons, Pets Ahoy, and Katonga), so you don't have to get there so early to get a good seat, and lastly, a complimentary re-ride without having to get out of your seat and re-queue on most of the major coasters at the Florida parks.

I am not saying that Disney should do all these things, and in fact, the recent addition of a pass that includes DL is much appreciated for when I finally make it back there!

I'm just saying the merch discounts are a step in the right direction. I was told they were added due to passholder comments that there weren't enough AP perks, and I hope they at least consider some sort of EMH-type participation as well (even if it's not as many EMH sessions as resort guests get).

 

[Pioneer Hall]

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.

Each card has the name of the person it belongs to printed on the front. No photos are attached.

 

[the-reason14]

I never understood why Disney didn't print their own logo'd wristbands. They print millions of park maps, brochures, times guides and a number of other media every single day.

How hard would it have been to make legitimate wrist bands rather than to go "Party Supply Plus" and buy a few boxes of "Red Metallic Wrist Bands"?

They had "extra magic hour" scribbled on them.

I remember reading about that, and that is sad and could be part of the reason why they got rid of them. But I still prefer showing a wristband then whipping out the room key. I remember enjoying looking for people without wristbands to gauge how crowded it was gonna be on that particular emh night.

 

[Tom]

They had "extra magic hour" scribbled on them.

I remember reading about that, and that is sad and could be part of the reason why they got rid of them. But I still prefer showing a wristband then whipping out the room key. I remember enjoying looking for people without wristbands to gauge how crowded it was gonna be on that particular emh night.

The wristbands made it easier on everyone. I'm always paranoid about losing my KttW (i.e. Room Key, Park Ticket and CHARGING PRIVILEGES) so I would put it back in my wallet as soon as I entered each queue.

With the wristbands, CMs could see from a mile away whether you were supposed to be there or not. No bottlenecks at queue entrances while people dug for their keys and then the CMs inspected each one.

I'm sure they got sick of paying extra CMs to distribute them, and the cost of buying them. They probably considered them merely a method of "efficiency" since they only "sped things up" while I would consider them "courtesy" to the guest, since they made the process more magical.

 

[mp2bill]

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.

Ditto...except for having got back from WDW on Saturday.

 

[tizzo]

I'm reviving this old thread to vent on my recent experience. My initial participation (as chronicled in more detail in the threat) was because I'm a local AP holder for whom on-property accommodations don't make sense, and had family coming for vacation, and was trying to figure out the best way to spend as much time in the parks with them as possible.

After reading primarily this thread, seeing the EMH schedule for the parks the week in question (last week), and seeing the passholder rates, we decided to spring for Pop Century specifically so we could get in for evening EMH. So we booked a few months ago...

So like I said, the trip finally occurred last week, and now I feel like I got a little taken advantage of. Upon arrival, when they handed us the handy consolidated times guide that shows the hours all week at each park, we learned that the EMH which were our primary reason for booking had been canceled for two of the four nights of our stay. One of those nights was MK, the park was already open fairly late anyway and the kids were tired, so we didn't even stay. The other night was at AK, which we didn't even do at all.

So, I essentially got nothing except a $35-motor-lodge-caliber room for just $50, in which they could not even honor my one request of a king size bed despite the place being virtually empty. I figured Pop Century would be austere, but not that austere...

Anyway, like I said, just venting. It's not like I'll be turning in my AP or anything - but I don't see myself staying on-property again any time soon...

 

[Tom]

I'm reviving this old thread to vent on my recent experience. My initial participation (as chronicled in more detail in the threat) was because I'm a local AP holder for whom on-property accommodations don't make sense, and had family coming for vacation, and was trying to figure out the best way to spend as much time in the parks with them as possible.

After reading primarily this thread, seeing the EMH schedule for the parks the week in question (last week), and seeing the passholder rates, we decided to spring for Pop Century specifically so we could get in for evening EMH. So we booked a few months ago...

So like I said, the trip finally occurred last week, and now I feel like I got a little taken advantage of. Upon arrival, when they handed us the handy consolidated times guide that shows the hours all week at each park, we learned that the EMH which were our primary reason for booking had been canceled for two of the four nights of our stay. One of those nights was MK, the park was already open fairly late anyway and the kids were tired, so we didn't even stay. The other night was at AK, which we didn't even do at all.

So, I essentially got nothing except a $35-motor-lodge-caliber room for just $50, in which they could not even honor my one request of a king size bed despite the place being virtually empty. I figured Pop Century would be austere, but not that austere...

Anyway, like I said, just venting. It's not like I'll be turning in my AP or anything - but I don't see myself staying on-property again any time soon...

I feel your pain. They advertise EMH as one of the few ACTUAL perks of staying at a WDW hotel (the free bus system is arguable as a perk). When they take them away, they're definitely devaluing your stay. Of course, their response is that everything is "subject to change".

However, I would suggest sending them a tactful and polite email expressing your concerns about the cancellation of EMHs for your trip. Like someone said in another thread, the only way they know that their actions generate adverse reactions is if they hear from the guests.

If nobody complains that they dropped EMHs, they'll think it's OK - just like they think it's OK to not fix the Yeti, because people are still getting in line and not going to Guest Relations.

If you're really super nice, and not a jerk (like most people who e-mail them), maybe you'll get a free Duffy the Wonder Bear plush doll for your loss

 

[tampabrad]

I really don't understand why some AP holders think they can attend EMH without staying in a participating resort. Nowhere does it say that this is a perk of having an AP. It is a perk of staying in a WDW resort hotel for WDW resort hotel guests. Not friends or family who live near by, but for WDW resort hotel guests.

I have an AP and have had one for 14 years. As I would love to go to EMH, I don't in any way feel I am entitled to it. What I do get to do is go 365 days a year. I can go without planning a weeks vacation. I can go to ride one attraction and leave. If it rains when I want to go, I can stay home and go another day. If it is too busy, I can leave and not worrying about seeing everything. If I have friends staying at a WDW resort, I can meet them for the day and let them have family time during EMH. If I want to do EMH, I can usually book a room at a great discount.

I guess bottom line is....If you want the perks of staying at a WDW resort, book a room and you too can go to EMH and experience the attractions.

 

[ddbowdoin]

I am beyond excited for my trip in March... first time staying on site. I always thought, "hey, is on site really worth the extra money?" and I never went with on site accommodations because the surrounding hotels tempted me with 30 dollar a night rooms a mile from WDW.

Well, fortunately enough for me my girlfriend's family decided they wanted to book a Disney vacation with us. I still have to cover my portion financially, but helps going 4 ways instead of 2 and now we're staying the Beach Club which I know I couldn't afford myself. First time EMH and I am doing them all!

 

[Tom]

I really don't understand why some AP holders think they can attend EMH without staying in a participating resort. Nowhere does it say that this is a perk of having an AP. It is a perk of staying in a WDW resort hotel for WDW resort hotel guests. Not friends or family who live near by, but for WDW resort hotel guests.

I have an AP and have had one for 14 years. As I would love to go to EMH, I don't in any way feel I am entitled to it. What I do get to do is go 365 days a year. I can go without planning a weeks vacation. I can go to ride one attraction and leave. If it rains when I want to go, I can stay home and go another day. If it is too busy, I can leave and not worrying about seeing everything. If I have friends staying at a WDW resort, I can meet them for the day and let them have family time during EMH. If I want to do EMH, I can usually book a room at a great discount.

I guess bottom line is....If you want the perks of staying at a WDW resort, book a room and you too can go to EMH and experience the attractions.

I hope you were speaking generally, and not to tizzo. He indicated that he paid cash for a stay at Pop specifically for the EMH benefits, and did not imply that he thinks AP holders should be entitled to EMH access.

 

[tizzo]

I hope you were speaking generally, and not to tizzo. He indicated that he paid cash for a stay at Pop specifically for the EMH benefits, and did not imply that he thinks AP holders should be entitled to EMH access.

Thanks for the defense, you beat me to it. Although in his defense, I did say earlier, and I continue to believe, that some accommodation ought to be made at least for specific circumstances like what I described earlier in the thread. I understand that it's impractical to just extend EMH to everyone (and extending it to AP holders is probably close enough to that to be problematic). But it can't be that unusual that guests from out-of-state staying on-property have families who live locally and for whom staying on-property (or anywhere else but home) just doesn't make sense, given that the area's population is made up mostly of transplants.

My suggestion was more along the lines that resort guests should maybe have the option of inviting their friends and family who happen to be locals to join them for EMH, perhaps at a nominal cost if Disney deems it absolutely necessary. But there could certainly be other ways to handle it, like maybe as an add-on to the AP.

The bottom line is that while this is admittedly a corner case, it is nevertheless a case that doesn't make very much sense in terms of the guest experience.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the defense, you beat me to it. Although in his defense, I did say earlier, and I continue to believe, that some accommodation ought to be made at least for specific circumstances like what I described earlier in the thread. I understand that it's impractical to just extend EMH to everyone (and extending it to AP holders is probably close enough to that to be problematic). But it can't be that unusual that guests from out-of-state staying on-property have families who live locally and for whom staying on-property (or anywhere else but home) just doesn't make sense, given that the area's population is made up mostly of transplants.

My suggestion was more along the lines that resort guests should maybe have the option of inviting their friends and family who happen to be locals to join them for EMH, perhaps at a nominal cost if Disney deems it absolutely necessary. But there could certainly be other ways to handle it, like maybe as an add-on to the AP.

The bottom line is that while this is admittedly a corner case, it is nevertheless a case that doesn't make very much sense in terms of the guest experience.

I agree that locals and others are indeed missing out on a lot of things. But at the same time, I feel that EMH is literally the only tangible perk of staying on property.

Sure, they tout "free" use of the bus system and other things that you can neither measure the value of...and we all know that staying on-site is 1000x more magical than staying off-site. But they still need to have some real incentives, and EMH is one of them.

Non-AP-holders can envy the AP-holders for getting to go to WDW anytime they want (and if done correctly, for a very small admission price-per-entry). And they can also envy Florida residents who can literally pop over to check on new construction, ride one thing, or just to "go out for dinner". Not to mention the higher room discounts, TiW, and other minor perks of being a Passholder.

I live in Indiana and really envy those folks. But I also choose to stay on property so that I can use Magical Express and take advantage of EMH. It can definitely be said that, "The rules were made known in advance. You've made your choice."

With all this said, I wish they'd go back to the original E-Ride Night! For a measly $10 or $12, you and VERY FEW other people could run rampant through the MK for 3 hours after closing. That was IDEAL! But then they ruined that by making it free for all Disney Resort Guests. It would just be worse, like you said, if they open it up to FL residents and Passholders. The parks could easily be as crowded as they are during the day on some occasions.

 

[tizzo]

However, I would suggest sending them a tactful and polite email expressing your concerns about the cancellation of EMHs for your trip. Like someone said in another thread, the only way they know that their actions generate adverse reactions is if they hear from the guests.

If nobody complains that they dropped EMHs, they'll think it's OK - just like they think it's OK to not fix the Yeti, because people are still getting in line and not going to Guest Relations.

If you're really super nice, and not a jerk (like most people who e-mail them), maybe you'll get a free Duffy the Wonder Bear plush doll for your loss

Yes, I definitely plan to email them when I get a moment. I've been waiting to see if they send me a post-stay survey or something that might be a better avenue to discuss what happened, but I think if that was going to happen it would have already. I would have said something at checkout, but I was on line for almost half an hour, my visiting family was waiting to meet us, and it was our last day together, so I didn't want to spend more time there than necessary.

 

[tizzo]

I agree that locals and others are indeed missing out on a lot of things. But at the same time, I feel that EMH is literally the only tangible perk of staying on property.

Sure, they tout "free" use of the bus system and other things that you can neither measure the value of...and we all know that staying on-site is 1000x more magical than staying off-site. But they still need to have some real incentives, and EMH is one of them.

Non-AP-holders can envy the AP-holders for getting to go to WDW anytime they want (and if done correctly, for a very small admission price-per-entry). And they can also envy Florida residents who can literally pop over to check on new construction, ride one thing, or just to "go out for dinner". Not to mention the higher room discounts, TiW, and other minor perks of being a Passholder.

I live in Indiana and really envy those folks. But I also choose to stay on property so that I can use Magical Express and take advantage of EMH. It can definitely be said that, "The rules were made known in advance. You've made your choice."

With all this said, I wish they'd go back to the original E-Ride Night! For a measly $10 or $12, you and VERY FEW other people could run rampant through the MK for 3 hours after closing. That was IDEAL! But then they ruined that by making it free for all Disney Resort Guests. It would just be worse, like you said, if they open it up to FL residents and Passholders. The parks could easily be as crowded as they are during the day on some occasions.

I don't disagree. I am keenly aware of the perks I get as a passholder, particularly early access to new rides, and the ability to enter the parks for as much or as little time as I want without feeling like I wasn't there long enough to get my money's worth. To be clear, I am absolutely not feeling angry that someone else is getting something that I'm not.

The one and only thing that bothered me here is that EMH (had they not been canceled) would have effectively separated me from my family, who had come primarily to see me and only secondarily to got to WDW. (Not that they'd never visit WDW if I didn't live here, but they certainly wouldn't come every single year). And it is for that specific case that I really feel strongly that some kind of accommodation could and maybe should be made.

 

[JohnnyDollaz89]

when i was there last December, they would check our room card to see where we were staying if it was on the property

 

[Phonedave]

Thanks for the defense, you beat me to it. Although in his defense, I did say earlier, and I continue to believe, that some accommodation ought to be made at least for specific circumstances like what I described earlier in the thread. I understand that it's impractical to just extend EMH to everyone (and extending it to AP holders is probably close enough to that to be problematic). But it can't be that unusual that guests from out-of-state staying on-property have families who live locally and for whom staying on-property (or anywhere else but home) just doesn't make sense, given that the area's population is made up mostly of transplants.

My suggestion was more along the lines that resort guests should maybe have the option of inviting their friends and family who happen to be locals to join them for EMH, perhaps at a nominal cost if Disney deems it absolutely necessary. But there could certainly be other ways to handle it, like maybe as an add-on to the AP.

The bottom line is that while this is admittedly a corner case, it is nevertheless a case that doesn't make very much sense in terms of the guest experience.

While it is not a 'real' solution (ie, sanctioned by Disney) and it will not work in all cases (when a room is at capacity) there is a soultion in some of these cases.

If the room is not booked to the max, just have them add you to the names of the people staying in the room. Then you get your very own spiffy EMH enabled KTTW card.


It is a difficult situation. You want to accomidate someone like you, who clearly has family staying at WDW, and wants to spend time with them. On the other hand you don't want so many people taking advantage of the 'perk' that they negate the whole reason for EMH.

It is sort of like when I get free checked baggage on Continental because I have their Presidents card. They give all the people in my party free baggage as well. It would be silly to have mine free, but my kids pay. However where do you draw the line? Could I announce "these 25 people around are all my friends - free bags for all". What Continental does is requires you to be on my travel intinerary in order to get that perk.

Just like DVC gives you discounted AP's for your family. But they check - they have to be living under the same roof as you.

I'm not sure how WDW could do it. Maybe each room gets one free 'guest pass' for locals? I could see the same situation with Beach Club. Lets say your family stays there, and you want to spend a day with them at the pool - you can't do that either. Maybe that would be the key. Somthing like for each room booked, you can get 1 or 2 'guest passes' that are available only for FL residents (they check ID when issueing them) at a nominal cost - $5 a day maybe. The passes give you access to EMH and let you use the resort facilites. Thats how my swim club works.

-dave

 

[DisneyJoe]

After reading primarily this thread, seeing the EMH schedule for the parks the week in question (last week), and seeing the passholder rates, we decided to spring for Pop Century specifically so we could get in for evening EMH. So we booked a few months ago...

So like I said, the trip finally occurred last week, and now I feel like I got a little taken advantage of. Upon arrival, when they handed us the handy consolidated times guide that shows the hours all week at each park, we learned that the EMH which were our primary reason for booking had been canceled for two of the four nights of our stay. One of those nights was MK, the park was already open fairly late anyway and the kids were tired, so we didn't even stay. The other night was at AK, which we didn't even do at all.

Between the time you originally booked your trip and the time you arrived, did they extend the park hours?

In cases where they find that bookings are up and they are expecting larger crowds, they sometimes extend the park hours to the public and remove the EMH....

 

[tizzo]

Between the time you originally booked your trip and the time you arrived, did they extend the park hours?

In cases where they find that bookings are up and they are expecting larger crowds, they sometimes extend the park hours to the public and remove the EMH....

I'm not entirely positive, but it seems unlikely. The two parks that lost EMH were Epcot, which closed at 7/9 like always, and DHS, which closed at 7 on the night in question.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I'm not entirely positive, but it seems unlikely. The two parks that lost EMH were Epcot, which closed at 7/9 like always, and DHS, which closed at 7 on the night in question.

That's inconsistent with your original post...

Upon arrival, when they handed us the handy consolidated times guide that shows the hours all week at each park, we learned that the EMH which were our primary reason for booking had been canceled for two of the four nights of our stay. One of those nights was MK, the park was already open fairly late anyway and the kids were tired, so we didn't even stay. The other night was at AK, which we didn't even do at all.

unless the nights you specified were the ones that were remaining that had EMH.....