Will Disney ever bring back late night hours at Magic Kingdom?

[monothingie]

The most frustrating part about this, is that Disney has done such a "good" job at spreading out crowd levels, that it is busy all year round now. But the operating hour calendars don't reflect this. On a Tuesday in mid February its 120 minutes for 7DMT and 140 for FOP. But the park closes at 8PM tonight. These are crowds there on par with summer season levels.

The other most frustrating thing is that during weekend festival nights there is no reason to close Epcot at 9PM (10PM F&W). The crowd levels can easily support a 12AM or later closing.

With parks struggling to meet demand, the amount of capacity that 2-3 hours of extra operating hours brings in should be a no brainer.

 

[Trackmaster]

When people stop paying an extra $100 to stay an extra 90 min Disney will once again up the hours for hotel guests.

Point of order:

Its about the same cost as a normal ticket, and regular admission is NOT required. You get 1-3 hour of access to the park as you would any other day (based on the day) and three hours with the park being empty. You get way more rides in those three hours alone than you would in 12 hours at the park on a regular day. Its really not that expensive, but when people are used to paying $35 a day for two week stays, I can see the sticker shock of actually paying full price for a visit.

 

[DisneyJill]

does anyone remember e-ride nights? my family took advantage in the mid 90’s-mid 2000’s. it was literally like $10/person, you got a wristband and all the popular rides stayed open for those with wristbands from 10p-1a (or 11-2). it was AMAZING.

 

[World_Showcase_Lover007]

I don't even know where to begin with this ridiculous comment. And you wonder why many of us who do work hard can't stand people like you.

Think what you want....don’t like me...think I’m ridiculous...cool. Doesnt change the lackadaisical attitude of the majority of college program CMs who obviously hate their jobs and hate being there, and won’t do anything to at least pretend like they aren’t miserable. If you are part of the minority cool. Hats off to you.

 

[Trackmaster]

does anyone remember e-ride nights? my family took advantage in the mid 90’s-mid 2000’s. it was literally like $10/person, you got a wristband and all the popular rides stayed open for those with wristbands from 10p-1a (or 11-2). it was AMAZING.

That's pretty much what this is, but instead of $10, its $125 a person. But it sounds like in the case of the event that you were talking about, general admission was required. What makes After Hours unique is that general admission is not required. If you're only going to be at Disney for 1-2, its a no brainer to buy a ticket for After Hours instead of general admission. As you can get more in those 4-6 hours than you could ever get in 12 hours on a day where its 2/10 or higher.

 

[pax_65]

This is probably one of my biggest disappointments with Disney these days. We LOVE doing late nights in the Magic Kingdom. We've already stopped doing our Fall trips because the Halloween and Christmas parties eat up so many MK nights. But I've noticed hours seem shorter the rest of the year too. We used to get maybe 3 late nights in MK, but on our upcoming trip (this Spring) we're only getting one.

 

[LaughingGravy]

When people stop paying an extra $100 to stay an extra 90 min Disney will once again up the hours for hotel guests.

I know this isn't today, but California on March 26th, a Tuesday.
Disneyland Park
8:00 AM to 12:00 AM
Extra Magic Hour
7:00 AM to 8:00 AM
Magic Morning
7:00 AM to 8:00 AM

Imagine 7am -12am without a premium other than a 3 day pass.

Yes, I am cherry picking, but it's still a sweet cherry. Their latest nights are typically Saturdays, but midnight is a lot more common than in FL

 

[DisneyJill]

I know what the after hours is. and yes, you’re right, about the same. MK admission was required for e-ride nights, so perhaps the price evens out in the end. $10 just seemed like a great deal.

 

[mmouse]

does anyone remember e-ride nights? my family took advantage in the mid 90’s-mid 2000’s. it was literally like $10/person, you got a wristband and all the popular rides stayed open for those with wristbands from 10p-1a (or 11-2). it was AMAZING.

E-Ride Nights were the best! What's crazy to think about is that they were a tough sell at $10 per person especially early on. In today's Disney, $10 would be a bargain! The parks were so empty for those nights that my record for riding Thunder Mountain stands at 16 times without having to get up. My wife only made it 7 times before she had to excuse herself. Now my kids are begging to go to the after Dark Event since we've told them how amazing the E-ride nights were.

 

[Trackmaster]

I know what the after hours is. and yes, you’re right, about the same. MK admission was required for e-ride nights, so perhaps the price evens out in the end. $10 just seemed like a great deal.

I think that the issue that people have is that 99% of the park in the park are either there with AP's or multi-day tickets where it only comes $15 a day for each extra day. So not being able to use your AP or multi-day ticket hurts. But for the people who are just going one day without a multi-day ticket or AP, the After Hours are a great deal and a no-brainer. Its funny, despite how good of a deal that it is, Disney just can't seem to sell them. They usually operate at less than half of the available tickets. A combination of the fact that most people are there on APs or multi-day tickets, and people are so tired from being at the parks since 9:00 AM that they don't want to stay out that late.

 

[davis_unoxx]

Wonder if Disney will incentive guests to come back to Disney world by extending hours once again and adding new nighttime entertainment? Cough cough a night parade would be nice

 

[Nubs70]

NECROMANCY!!!!!

 

[StarshipDisney]

Wonder if Disney will incentive guests to come back to Disney world by extending hours once again and adding new nighttime entertainment? Cough cough a night parade would be nice

Wow. Took me a minute to realize this is a 4-year-old thread.

What you are suggesting is that Disney once again care about the guest experience. All Disney management cares about these days is how much money they can squeeze from you. I am one who says I won't go back until things get better yet I am told time and time again that people like me don't matter and won't be missed. So apparently things are going so well for Disney that they can turn once loyal Disney fans away and it does not matter because they always manage to fill the parks. Folks just go there and spend, spend, spend no matter how much or what Disney cuts. So why would they even care about improving the current guest experience...unless it is really just another way to charge you more? Any such thing they ever do again will come with an additional cost.

Long gone are the days of coming up with something like FP+ at no additional cost included with your ticket. Because back then they really did care about the guest experience and making it better without charging you more. No longer!