I certainly hope the bigwigs at Disney are taking lower room prices and cheaper DVC points and less "other purchases" as costs of potentially doing away with EMH.
HA! This made me laugh!!
Thing is, it is becoming apparent that the suits now consider WDW as invincible – completely unaffected by any outside influences or competition. They've weathered Potter and now they believe, that WDW doesn't need any incentives or new offerings to get people to stay on property.
EMH = Gone.
Free Dining = Gone (they still offer it, but you're paying for it in room upgrades now).
It's Disney's big problem now, isn't it? They are looking at the bottom line of every offering without taking into consideration any of the effects eliminating it will have on other parts of the business (partly because they mistakenly believe it won't matter. People will still come anyway) .
What they're failing to understand is losing EMH is just what informed people need to now look outside of Disney property for cheaper options. Seriously, besides a couple minute drive, what's the big incentive to stay on-property now when you can extend your trip for 2-3 days longer and do more things by staying at a cheaper resort off-property? Heck, if I stay at Uni, I get in early AND I get to go to the front of the line as well.
Was EMH really a big enough incentive to stay on property? Yes. I absolutely believe for many it was.
They are pushing people to where TWDco shouldn't want them to go: their vacations will soon be considered "Orlando vacations", not "Disney vacations." It's almost like they're holding their hands and leading them off property.
