Noooo...the end of EMH?

[mellyf]

We love morning EMH...I'm with the PP who said that hour is like gold. However, I've been less and less inclined to spend the money for a Disney resort in the future, even though we've always stayed on property. My husband still says he can't imagine going to Disney and not staying on property. If EMH is discontinued, I think he would be much more agreeable to finding a nice property off-site. We usually only do a couple of ADRs, so that's not a priority, but we don't cook while we're on vacation. Having the option to throw things in the laundry would be nice though.

 

[bababear_50]

EMH morning person here, this would be very sad for me if this happened.
I love that 1 extra hour first thing in the morning.
Hugs Mel

 

[Tatertot75]

We don't go to *every* EMH, but I love to have to option to go if it works into our plan. My parents rarely stay onsite because they like having the space of a condo and rent a car no matter what because they won't rely on the buses. If they get rid of EMH, I'll be in the offsite condo club for sure, paying less for a nicer accommodation.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Let's say those ticket price increases are true. One "perk" that they could offer for onsite would be a discount when you buy an onsite package of room and tix (kind of like Stay, Play, Dine).

 

[goofy4tink]

Not to worry. If they did away with EMH it would only be because of guest demand.

Yeah, that's what they told us when they did away with E-nights!! They said guests didn't want those anymore, they wanted more characters, so they started bringing characters into the resorts. That sure didn't work for long.
I would be thrilled if they went back to E-nights. Sure, we paid extra for them, and they were used only at MK. But, if they added one night a week, at each park, I would be happy to pay an addtl $15 or so for that.
I can't imagine that Disney truly 'makes' much money on EMHs. Sure there are some guests that are buying things, but I wouldn't think it would be enough to cover the costs of keeping the park open that addtl 2 hrs.

I can see a day when EMHs go the way of the dodo bird...and probably not too far down the road. Disney continues to raise prices, for everything, while taking away things that make it 'special' to stay on-site.

 

[DisDayz]

That same calendar only goes through January 30th. Seems Disney has decided to do away with January 31st next year as well. Talk about saving money, they are just going to remove that day from the calendar. I bet they make people staying on-site across that time go ahead and pay for a room even though the day isn't on the operating calendar. I wonder if they will make me use tickets that day or if I could just use those as water park days and will I get meal credits for that night even though it doesn't show as a day on the operating calendar?

Sorry, couldn't resist. I guess the point is the calendar is for dates more than 6 months in advance and is available only as an advance copy in a couple of spots. Let's wait at least until there is a full calendar out, maybe even on the Disney site, before we begin to pass judgement. And, once the full calendar is out then we can begin to worry about whether benefits are being taken away and if anything is being added back. At that point we can ll decide if we stay on-site, stay off-site or skip the trip altogether. Until then we are all just getting upset over something that could be as simple as the dates aren't being determined until a meeting this afternoon at 2:00 pm. Hakuna Matata!!!

 

[Laz]

Another reason why I go to DLR now.

I could see it as a perk for those who pay more money in some way, like staying in a deluxe hotel or paying for a special package.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Talk about sensationalizing a single data point and creating hysteria over nothing. I hate EMH, but they will continue until Disney has a better plan for attracting guests to their resorts - and has communicated those plans to the general public.

The only value that I get our of EMH is that they make crowds predictable. I know which parks to avoid on specific days so I can enjoy lower crowds.

 

[JimmyV]

Yeah, that's what they told us when they did away with E-nights!! They said guests didn't want those anymore, they wanted more characters, so they started bringing characters into the resorts. That sure didn't work for long.

Ahhhhh yes. The gool 'ol "Character Caravan" Here's how they sold that one...

Walt Disney World offers a new experience for guests staying at Disney Resorts, which replaces Surprise Mornings. The new program, Disney's Character Caravan, features morning visits to the resorts by Disney characters. The characters will greet guests and provide a send-off as guests leave for the Disney theme parks. This experience will offer guests additional opportunities to see the Disney characters -- one of the most popular requests by Walt Disney World guests.

 

[PoohsFan1]

This would be a major morale killer for my family. My sister and I love Magic Kingdom at 2am.

The only EMH that my family will ever go to is evening EMH at MK. There is nothing like the feeling of riding the MK rides at 1 or 2am (especially Splash and Haunted Mansion). All the other EMH's, we really don't care too much for and actually will avoid.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

quit panicking. They probably just haven't scheduled them yet.

 

[Mikie]

This possibility has my reactions swinging back and forth like Jimmy Fallon's Pro/Con lists:
+ I stay onsite but due to my kids ages and not being early birds, we never used EMH, so no big deal
- my kids are getting older and I was maybe going to get to try out EMH
+ might remove a layer of planning which park/which day
- possibly EMH helped me indirectly because we *avoided* EMH parks - and this would no longer be a crowd-avoidance strategy
+ we've always stayed in the Disney Bubble but changes like these might be the shake-up that helps me look elsewhere. Again with growing kids those small 1bath hotel rooms are getting less and less appealing for the price
- I do travel with my sister who *loves* the Disney Bubble and may not agree to leave it. . . With fewer perks I might be harder pressed to admire the, lets face it, bare bones of Mods and Values.

There's no single perk that makes me choose on-site. If we stayed deluxe, location and transportation would be the big draw. Otherwise it's the total package - MDE, Magic Bands for everything, packages sent to room, no driving, Disney theming everywhere. We decided onsite a long time ago and have automatically selected it since. Every little change, coupled with my family growing/changing, gives me reason to reevaluate and possibly discover the perks of truly luxury condo life.

 

[Dan Murphy]

UGH!! I sure hope not to see the demise of the emh hours. I enjoy them as they help create the lower crowd park experiences in the parks that are not emh, where we like to go. I like the low crowd non-emh parks.

Ahhhhh yes. The gool 'ol "Character Caravan" Here's how they sold that one...

Remember, the Character Caravan was introduced post 9/11, with the huge reduction in attendance. Opening a park early, with the accompanying expenses, made no economic sense. It was a whole lot less costly to run a few characters out to a different resort each day in the morning for a few hours. Once attendance started to percolate again, the early park openings came back.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Some additional thoughts from WDWMagic.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/other/extra...d-on-provisional-operating-hours-for-2016.htm

 

[Opicana]

UGH!! I sure hope not to see the demise of the emh hours. I enjoy them as they help create the lower crowd park experiences in the parks that are not emh, where we like to go. I like the low crowd non-emh parks.

Yep, we do the same thing. I don't attend the EMH, but I like their usefulness.

 

[EmilyS90]

Location, location, location. Plus, people love the convenience of not having to rent a car (DME) and being able to pre-pay for meals (DDP).

Agree. We didn't even use EMH on our last trip but once. We stayed on site purely for the "all inclusive" feeling. And we'll probably continue to do so for a while.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Some additional thoughts from WDWMagic.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/other/extra...d-on-provisional-operating-hours-for-2016.htm

That's really interesting that the Hilton has posted that EMH is a benefit of staying there only until December 31 2015.

 

[jimim]

Could mean DIFFERENT perks for onsite guests:
1) A 4th Fast Pass? (I would think that would potentially be more popular to people who don't like to get up early or stay late)
2) Free Memory Maker? (since it works well with their Magic Bands)

Let's face it .. they don't need special deals like Free Dining and EMH to get people to stay on-site ...

That being said .. I am sure a lot of people will take the MUCH cheaper option of staying off-site if EMH is done away with .. which means Disney will of course respond by raising parking prices .. thus making staying on-site look that much better.

I wouldn't takecthier pictures if hey we're free even. Bad quality now for paid. Imagine if they were free!

A fourth fast pass is useless. Emh is when we get stuff done and line up our fast passes in that park for that day c

 

[Eandbmom]

I think they will be listed later. I just received my booklet for our Aug 2016 trip and EMH are listed as a resort guest benefit

 

[DizneyLizzy]

Part of me is hoping that they do eliminate them. For no other reason than it would save me lots of $ in the long run bc I would finally start to stay offsite! At this point, the EMH perk is the only thing holding me on site. I love EMH, but staying offsite is so much cheaper.