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

[LuvtheGoof]

But a perk is an advantage/benefit by definition. If those so-called "perks" disappear, there won't be as big of an advantage or benefit for joining DVC, therefore there will be less incentive to join.

That part may be true for some but when we bought in many years ago, and understood that the perks may disappear, we bought anyway because of the huge savings on rooms. Our guide was very adamant on that point. He wanted us to be sure that we are buying in for the right reasons.

We are discussing EMH, and since there are only a few thousand DVC rooms compared to regular rooms, it will affect regular customers a lot more. As a matter of fact, we AVOID EMH. We are older, so don't stay out at the parks until 3am. Yes, we do go early, but only to the park that does NOT have EMH. The park that has morning EMH gets a lot more crowded a lot quicker after the regular visitors start poring in. We have learned to avoid them, since they provide very little advantage, since it is only an hour.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Disney has posted the January 2016 park hours and noticeably absent are any EMH offerings. Are they finally doing away with the extra hours? Almost as a consolation, MSEP is scheduled every night in January 2016. It would also seem the Osborne Lights are scheduled to run 11/6/15-1/3/16.

http://media.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/ParkHours/WDWTravelAgent_january.pdf

I would wait until the official Disney web site calendar is posted. Since you can't even look at January yet, we really have no idea what is going on. And since their latest commercial is still touting staying late, I sincerely doubt that they are going away anytime soon.

 

[Mawg]

I would be much happier if they gave me 3 extra fast passes (6 total but have to be able to schedule at multiple parks) a day for staying onsite than having EMH. Would be much more flexible than trying to make the odd hours and having to hop when the crowds get too heavy. Offsite guests would be at such a disadvantage as not only would they only get 3 but they would all be taken when they went to book them.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I would be much happier if they gave me 3 extra fast passes (6 total but have to be able to schedule at multiple parks) a day for staying onsite than having EMH. Would be much more flexible than trying to make the odd hours and having to hop when the crowds get too heavy. Offsite guests would be at such a disadvantage as not only would they only get 3 but they would all be taken when they went to book them.

Yes! The heck with those pesky off-site guests.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Let's consider the reasons people pay a premium and stay on property as opposed to going off site:

1. Closer to the parks.
2. Disney Transportation.
3. Immersed in the Disney Experience.
4. Supposedly better service and amenities.
5. Don't have to pay to rent a car.
6. EMH.
7. Disney theming.
8. Magic Express.

So, if EMH is removed, is it still worth it to pay so much more to be onsite? Many people will say "NO". With the money you save offsite, you could rent a car and thus nullify numbers 2, 5 and 8. Offsite hotels can be very nice with their own theming, thus replacing, 4, 7 and even 3. This leaves #1, which is somewhat true, but only one remaining plus that, again, renting a car can replace in some ways.

EMH is a classic tipping point, just one more reason to not buy DVC or pay a premium to stay onsite. Right now, I could sell my 300 Boardwalk points with DVC for about $85 a point, or $25,500. If EMH were taken away, I am certain that that price would drop well below $80 a point, or maybe even much further.

Due to school schedules, we now go at Spring Break or Christmas, which means big crowds during the day. Would I go if I were not confident in the fact that EMH will be available to help enjoy the parks with comparatively small crowds for at least a few hours? I'm starting to doubt it.

I fully understand that keeping the parks open for a few extra hours for resort guests is expensive, but I really don't think Disney appreciates the cascade effect that this could have. EMH is the perfect way to get guests to pay that onsite premium AND to get them down to Orlando in the first place. Are these facts being taken into consideration? Perhaps not. People, and committees of people, make short-sighted decisions every day.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

That was a marketing promotion as opposed to a limited attendance event. E-Ride nights were limited to about 5000 guests, cost an extra $12.

I cant see Disney limiting that to such a small numbers nor only $12.

I understood your point Dave, was just saying the only time I heard them use limited, besides pin editions was the horrendous name of that marketing promo.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I understood your point Dave, was just saying the only time I heard them use limited, besides pin editions was the horrendous name of that marketing promo.

Ahhhhhhh. Wasnt sure where you were going with that. And yes, Limited Time Magic seemed like it came from a room full of interns that had 5 good ideas and then .... couldnt come up with anything else.

 

[doctornick]

It wouldn't surprise me. It has to be a huge expense and gives maintenance even less time. There are a lot of other theme parks besides Disney that offer early access though...usually only an hour.

One easy thing would be to shift exclusively to morning only EMH. Most theme parks do it that way (including DLR). If it's only an hour, it doesn't cut into maintenance time as much as 2 hours in the evening. And the parks are open somewhat 1 hour ahead of time anyway for pre-opening table service.

 

[asianway]

Ahhhhhhh. Wasnt sure where you were going with that. And yes, Limited Time Magic seemed like it came from a room full of interns that had 5 good ideas and then .... couldnt come up with anything else.

Yes there were a few good ones. Other than extending Easter preparade to Saturday did any others continue?

 

[ToTBellHop]

One easy thing would be to shift exclusively to morning only EMH. Most theme parks do it that way (including DLR). If it's only an hour, it doesn't cut into maintenance time as much as 2 hours in the evening. And the parks are open somewhat 1 hour ahead of time anyway for pre-opening table service.

Also, the evening hours aren't just 2 hours. If you are in line at closing, you get to ride. Then it takes time to clear the park before any equipment can come out. So it's more like 3 hours. The morning hour is really just 1 hour as the park just needs to be ready to open an hour earlier than usual.

 

[Disvillain63]

Just returned from DLR and they don't do EMH the same way that WDW does...they have one hour before park opening for onsite guests. However, offsite guess can pick one early entry with a 3 day ticket.

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with possible changes, but I have received two WDW surveys today. One about why I priced a WDW resort vacation and then didn't decide to purchase. Another concerned our upcoming trip and use of MDE and FP+.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Yes there were a few good ones. Other than extending Easter preparade to Saturday did any others continue?

The week of Fireworks were fun. Long Lost Friends were OK... I mean most of them werent Long Lost, rather victims to budgets.....

 

[AEfx]

This also could mean slightly longer regular hours on some days.

Don't kid yourself - they will not take this away as a benefit of staying on property and then just give it to everyone. That's not even remotely possible.

 

[invader]

People don't book Disney World vacation packages based on EMH. Some of y'alls logic is laughable. If it is gone, it's a good thing, hopefully meaning more maintenance for some of the rides. If it isn't, meh, you can still ride the rides you want to during the actual operating hours.

 

[asianway]

The week of Fireworks were fun. Long Lost Friends were OK... I mean most of them werent Long Lost, rather victims to budgets.....

Yeah but none of that made it to 2014. I was hoping for more Haunted Horseshoe myself

 

[PhotoDave219]

People don't book Disney World vacation packages based on EMH. Some of y'alls logic is laughable. If it is gone, it's a good thing, hopefully meaning more maintenance for some of the rides. If it isn't, meh, you can still ride the rides you want to during the actual operating hours.

No, but for some its the reason they stay on property vs somewhere like the Marriott World Center or the Holiday Inn Suites.

 

[AEfx]

Let's consider the reasons people pay a premium and stay on property as opposed to going off site:

1. Closer to the parks.
2. Disney Transportation.
3. Immersed in the Disney Experience.
4. Supposedly better service and amenities.
5. Don't have to pay to rent a car.
6. EMH.
7. Disney theming.
8. Magic Express.

So, if EMH is removed, is it still worth it to pay so much more to be onsite? Many people will say "NO". With the money you save offsite, you could rent a car and thus nullify numbers 2, 5 and 8. Offsite hotels can be very nice with their own theming, thus replacing, 4, 7 and even 3. This leaves #1, which is somewhat true, but only one remaining plus that, again, renting a car can replace in some ways.

Exactly. EMH is the only true benefit of staying on-site except for folks that take the herd buses.

It's funny because you find three levels of thought about EMH:

1) Oh we must go extra hours at that park that day! (That don't actually show up in time for the benefit, or stay long enough to)

2) People who avoid it "like the plague" because they see how it drives peak crowds

3) Folks who know if you get there before EMH opens or stay until the very end, they can be invaluable extra hours in the parks where they are the most pleasant they can be

I'm in the 3) category. Of course, if Disney just didn't roll up the sidewalks so dang early so much of the year, I wouldn't care as much - but they aren't going to remove EMH and then extend overall hours. Never gonna happen. It's such a shame because the parks are the best at night, IMO, and yet some parks are closed up before dark so much of the time.

 

[invader]

No, but for some its the reason they stay on property vs somewhere like the Marriott World Center or the Holiday Inn Suites.

Don't kid yourself, Dave. A good 90% of the people that book rooms at Disney have no idea that there is EMH or what it even is. It's a perk they come to find out about once they get to the resorts and do take advantage of. The only people that will be hurt by a move like this would be those who travel to WDW often or read these boards....

 

[DisneyJoe]

Fyi, the pdf park hours file is still on the agent site, but the link that we'd usually click to get it has been removed... It was there earlier today.

 

[AEfx]

People don't book Disney World vacation packages based on EMH. Some of y'alls logic is laughable. If it is gone, it's a good thing, hopefully meaning more maintenance for some of the rides. If it isn't, meh, you can still ride the rides you want to during the actual operating hours.

Well maybe y'alls experience isn't the same as everyone else.

I book based on EMH. I have been choosing to stay off property more and more, and if they took away EMH - I would never have a reason to book on-site again. There isn't a single other reason for me to want to spend the outrageous cost it takes to stay on site when I can get a much nicer hotel for much less money that has real amenities that isn't really any further from the parks than most WDW resorts.

Thinking the rides are going to get more maint (or that they get less maint because of a couple of hours once or twice a week) is the laughable part. They have plenty of time all night long to do maint - it's that they don't pay nearly as many folks to perform it anymore, it has nothing to do with guests being around an extra couple of hours, LOL. It's as naive as thinking they are going to instead increase overall hours.