No Extra Magic Hours Starting 1/1/16? Update: EMH to Continue

[Mouse_Trap]

Just for fun, I priced out a one bedroom suite at a nice place across from Universal (can I mention the name?) and it came in at $108 per night plus tax for summer season with an immediately offered discount. It has all the stuff I would want at a resort including a private, furnished balcony, fitness center, pool bar etc. I would just need to rent a car. No EMH, no me staying onsite. It was the one perk left that I cared about. After my October 2014 trip, Disney transportation lost its appeal in a big way.

Don't checknthe prices of their on-site hotels too. You may be surprised what even a proper deluxe hotels comes out at....and includes unlimited express pass.

Cabana Bay, equivalent to a Disney moderate will be much cheaper still......whilst not including the express pass you still get the extra hours.

No matter which hotel you stay, no transportation is necessary as they're within easy walking distance, through you can easily hop on the boats.

 

[AEfx]

Don't checknthe prices of their on-site hotels too. You may be surprised what even a proper deluxe hotels comes out at....and includes unlimited express pass.

Cabana Bay, equivalent to a Disney moderate will be much cheaper still......whilst not including the express pass you still get the extra hours.

It's true. While most people who come to me about their Disney trips aren't splitting trips (and none of them are splitting Disney/Universal), there are folks that really see the value in staying at one of the Universal hotels for a few nights while they "do" Universal because of the actual benefits and quality of service. They do cost more, but when you compare them to Disney - even with all the benefits, it's almost criminal how much you get for the price. You can stay at Hard Rock for not much more than a moderate at WDW, unlimited Express Pass, plus really nice accommodations with swanky amenities - and no dang bus needed to get to the parks, LOL.

 

[djlaosc]

Okay, some hard numbers here..... (Why I have this on a spreadsheet? IDK, go with it)

Free Dining has negligible impact on WDW. Really.

65 dates last year. Of those.... (We're looking at Resort overall, not park specific)

• 34 days of off peak crowds (52%)
• 28 days of average crowds (43%)
• 3 Peak crowds (4.6%)

Of that.... The Free Dining Period from 8/31-10/3 last year showed only a small run of average days, the week of 9/21-9/28. Beyond that, the initial September Free Dining Period didnt do squat.

The other 3 Free Dining periods did pull moderate crowds, with the peak crowds being holiday related. (Veterans Day, Beginning of Christmas). Of course those periods lasted 7-12 days each.

What DOES have a nasty impact at the MK is Hard Ticket Events. The Day after a hard ticket event gets hit hard. The day of? 65% of the time, the day of a hard ticket event pulls an off-peak crowd.


(Definitions: Peak: 8+, Average 4-7, Off Peak 1-3. Source: Touring Plans)

The issue with this is for other countries, we have different Free Dining Dates - here in the UK, we pretty much had free dining for the whole of 2014 (I think the only times they were not available was 2 weeks over Easter, and December - but if you started your holiday before those dates, you still got free dining during those dates - We went end of November last year, and got free dining for December - and so if you stay for 3 weeks, then it would only be Christmas/New Years that had no free dining available for us in the UK).

 

[ToTBellHop]

If you only have new or one time guests, you never have to change or reinvest. You can also take away guest benefits and a large percentage of the audience will never know or care.

So it's not that odd....

Well, it is odd because it is a paradigm shift for a company that largely markets its theme parks on nostalgia. And it goes against business management best practices. The enormous investment in the DVC over the last decade shows that at least some in the company see value in the wallets of returning guests. Just not those in charge of the theme parks, unfortunately. This is one reason that I personally am spending more and more time in the gorgeous Wilderness Lodge and less time in the tired, overly crowded parks.

 

[Matt_Black]

You realize, of course, that we don't even know for certain that they're getting rid of Extra Magic Hours.

 

[danv3]

I almost hope this is true. The spin from the Parks Blog explaining how this is a positive for guests (no doubt in response to guest demands) will be epic. It will probably rank up there with "only 2% negative responses to MM+" and "We had to remove the Lights of Winter due to obsolete technology."

 

[AEfx]

You realize, of course, that we don't even know for certain that they're getting rid of Extra Magic Hours.

Yes, folks are just talking about what an impact it would have on them.

However, given the current climate, and the long-standing expectation that they would be taken away (again) - it's not just some outlandish difficult to believe rumor either.

It's a good discussion - a lot of different points of view.

At least it's a potentially current topic about WDW - since there is so little to talk about at WDW, we take them where we can LOL.

 

[Matt_Black]

Yes, folks are just talking about what an impact it would have on them.

Except that the poster in question that I was responding to said "it is a paradigm shift for a company that largely markets its theme parks on nostalgia. And it goes against business management best practices." as if it were a done deal.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Except that the poster in question that I was responding to said "it is a paradigm shift for a company that largely markets its theme parks on nostalgia. And it goes against business management best practices." as if it were a done deal.

You are suggesting there is no reason to suggest Disney is considering removal of EMH when the first post in the thread links to a document produced by Disney that shows no EMH offerings. It's not some crazy conspiracy theory. Also, the paradigm shift I was referring to is the lack of focus on returning visitors in the parks. This would hardly be the first policy change suggesting such a shift.

Some folks in these boards (eg you) love to attack individuals posting news that they don't like. At least I posted an actual supporting document from Disney rather than the usual "I heard..." post. No, it's not a done deal, but if we cannot discuss anything here until it is done, we need to remove the "rumors" heading. And the Frozen threads. And the AVATAR board.

 

[lebeau]

Don't checknthe prices of their on-site hotels too. You may be surprised what even a proper deluxe hotels comes out at....and includes unlimited express pass.

Cabana Bay, equivalent to a Disney moderate will be much cheaper still......whilst not including the express pass you still get the extra hours.

No matter which hotel you stay, no transportation is necessary as they're within easy walking distance, through you can easily hop on the boats.

We're staying at Cabana Bay this weekend and I was really surprised to see what we are getting for our money. Next time, assuming there is a next time, we'll definitely be staying at one of the deluxe hotels. We settled on Cabana Bay because we had already paid for Express Pass out of pocket. When you factor in the benefits of early admission, Express Pass, superior transportation and amenities, the Universal resorts really come out ahead.

 

[Matt_Black]

You are suggesting there is no reason to suggest Disney is considering removal of EMH when the first post in the thread links to a document produced by Disney that shows no EMH offerings.

People also have pointed out conflicting showtimes with that document, which would suggest that document isn't the da-...rning evidence you'd like to think

 

[ToTBellHop]

People also have pointed out conflicting showtimes with that document, which would suggest that document isn't the da-...rning evidence you'd like to think

But it is evidence. And I've seen no counter evidence. Just rhetoric from the likes of you. Discussing a rumored change is not the same as saying the change is definitively coming.

I'd love for the lack of EMH listings to be an oversight.

 

[space42]

People also have pointed out conflicting showtimes with that document, which would suggest that document isn't the da-...rning evidence you'd like to think

Thing is - we have good reason to be worried. They have done this before. What was really funny (not really) at the time it was suggested people didn't actually want the perk and would rather meet characters at their resorts in the morning. Disney really tried their best to control the online message (just like now) and spin it. The people spoke up loudly and Disney had no choice but to respond.
Makes you think there is no one that makes these types of decisions that actually worked there in 2002.

re-read this post that @hopemax quoted from 2002 - it's like they'll never learn...: http://www.disboards.com/threads/up...ry-returning-oct-1.265312/page-2#post-2394461

The return of something like Early Entry has to rank as the biggest “WELL DUH!!!!!” in Disney history. Despite all the rumblings about research, the original cancellation had absolutely nothing to do with surveys, analysis, or guests’ desires. It was a cost savings move pure and simple on the part of people who can read a PowerPoint presentation but do not understand business (they ended saving a small amount of operating costs but killed the hotel occupancy rate – just as everyone said it would). All the talk about “character interaction” was just marketing to justify their actions.

Disney’s fiscal year starts on October 1st. You can expect to see some other changes and/or tradeoffs around that date too when new budgets start. Of course, any restorations at WDW are really subject to the ratings at ABC and the which side is currently leading in the Orlando-Burbank tug-of-war.

 

[OvertheHorizon]

Is it possible that Disney left the Extra Magic Hours off the January schedule just to gauge how quickly people notice and to generate buzz in the blogosphere?

They've been moving steadily toward maximizing the Magic Bands, and as others have noted it wouldn't surprise me if guests staying at Disney resorts would be granted an additional FastPass+ (which they can also reserve up to 60 days in advance).

 

[lebeau]

This is what I don't get. Disney and Universal have a meeting to discuss expanding Marvel Super Hero Island at Islands of Adventure and there's a huge thread that sprouts up that suggests that Universal is giving Disney back the rights to Marvel. Every three months, Bob Iger says "Star Wars" and "parks" in the same sentence and every thread in the News and Rumors forum turns into Armchair Engineering for Star Wars fans.

But Disney puts out a document that if true confirms longstanding rumors that EMH is on the way out and everyone should avoid jumping to conclusions?!?

Why is the threshold for proof so much lower for Pixie Dusters than for everyone else? There's nothing else to talk about at WDW. Compared to most of the rumors that get discussed here - which are 99% fan speculation - this one has some actual substance.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

And one time guests spend more on their vacation than returning guests.

That's not true. The biggest spenders per person per trip are the occasional visitors. Think once every four or five years type people. They have an affinity for the Disney product but aren't there so frequently that it becomes commonplace. One time guests spend the next most, but they have a significantly higher cost-to-acquire and Disney's focus regarding those folks is to turn them into repeat visitors. The local/passholder/DVC/every-year-or-more guest spends the least.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Why is the threshold for proof so much lower for Pixie Dusters than for everyone else? There's nothing else to talk about at WDW. Compared to most of the rumors that get discussed here - which are 99% fan speculation - this one has some actual substance.

There's a fine line. Saying "IF Disney does this, I'm not happy about it" is perfectly reasonable. Saying "Disney DEFINITELY IS DOING THIS AND THEY'RE STUPID AND I HATE THEM" is a tad overboard.

 

[DisneyJoe]

You are suggesting there is no reason to suggest Disney is considering removal of EMH when the first post in the thread links to a document produced by Disney that shows no EMH offerings.

This document that you reference is never accurate when first posted. It routinely causes people to freak that there will be no showings of Wishes or a parade because it isn't on the agent calendar on the first day that it is posted.

It reminds me of when the Dining Plan brochure is posted initially and many of the locations aren't on it yet as they are still negotiating their contracts with the DDP.

When the February calendar is posted next month, and if the January calendar still has no EMH on it at that point, then, and only then, will I consider the possibility that EMH is going away.

Until then, this is all complete speculation.

 

[lebeau]

There's a fine line. Saying "IF Disney does this, I'm not happy about it" is perfectly reasonable. Saying "Disney DEFINITELY IS DOING THIS AND THEY'RE STUPID AND I HATE THEM" is a tad overboard.

I didn't see anything that rose to that level. But I haven't read every post either. If someone posted something like that, they are overreacting.

Conversely, I have seen people swear up in down all in caps that Marvel was coming to Disney or any number of made up Star Wars wishes.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Conversely, I have seen people swear up in down all in caps that Marvel was coming to Disney or any number of made up Star Wars wishes.

Oh absolutely, I'm consistent. Those people are just as nuts. I think the OP and many of the posts in this thread are 100% legitimate. The problem is that this forum is like one giant game of "telephone." Speculation becomes rumor, which becomes fact. Then people who are new to this board and come for information rely on those "facts."