After hours - $149 for EMH?

[Disney Dad ADL]

We often meet all of your parameters and I don't like this because of the price for number of hours. If we go to MK I want the whole day and would personally rather deal with crowds than get my day shortened.

I do like the nighttime event better than the morning version though. That one is seriously awful IMO.

Sure, I can understand that. I think I'm like that too. Personally, for me anyway, Disney vacation is not about hitting all the rides as much as the ambiance of it all. If I miss a ride, it's not that big a deal to me. I suppose I should add a 5th criteria:

5. Prefers shorter/more efficient hours over longer hours with more crowds.

 

[WIcruizer]

Well, I absolutely love MK late at night, it may be my favorite thing about WDW. Getting to go on a ton of rides without long (or any) waits is great, but I also just love the atmosphere at night. So if it comes to this, yes we'll pay it. That may mean we stay one day less, have less TS meals, who know maybe even stay off-site. We'll adjust accordingly.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Wish I was calm and confident like you.
I think a lot of us on this board think actions like this are beginning up a slippery slope .
If everything stays as it is now and nothing else changes I agree with you 110%
But with all the stuff recently going on with Disney thought like I don't trust him but no sorry I don't trust them.
I believe all these things are like dipping their toe in the water to see how warm or cold it is and like other people on this board I see them not necessarily taking away stuff but augmenting but then again maybe taking away .
Similar to Universal I could see them doing a VIP fast pass that allows you to really skip the lines . Or maybe at night to see the fireworks they'll charge of $49
I guarantee it is there's a couple rooms out there were people are thinking about all the stuff what they can do what they can do when they can do it and how far they can push it and trust me they will

I definitely 100% do not think Disney will ever charge for the fireworks. Ever.

As far as a VIP fast pass type of thing, here is why I think they haven't done that, just my thoughts of course...

The amusement park that we have season passes to offers a similar pass, only for certain rides, and that pass costs more than the park admission that it is combined with. I understand that a Cedar Fair park is not on the same level as Disney or Universal, but my point is- a lot of people still purchase those passes. Which can make regular lines longer as well depending on crowd levels.

Now imagine if you had a $70 option to skip lines at MK- I would say a large amount of families would do this- so as a result those lines would still be long, and the people in regular lines would be complaining due to their wait times being longer. I think the reason why they have not done this is because of the price point and at what price it would be effective. Do they put it at $200 per ticket? Probably not. Not to mention then the regular fp would need to be taken away..and crowds would not be dispersed as evenly.

I think it is more attractive from a business and crowd control standpoint to do the extra nighttime hours. Also, this is an attractive option for a lot of guests bc the park will probably be nearly stroller free at that point. Less small children, night time rides, shorter waits..day freed up to do something else..etc etc. I don't think it's for everyone, but I do think it's a great option for a certain market of the Disney crowd.

 

[WIcruizer]

VIP pass type of thing would definitely be $200+, no way would they do it for $70.

 

[Kimberly9701]

VIP pass type of thing would definitely be $200+, no way would they do it for $70.

Exactly. And taking away the regular fp would hurt crowds as well. I love this $150 option and don't think it's a horrible deal at all. Not in Disney 'deal' terms anyway lol. Do I wish is cost less? Of course! But I also wish the Poly and CR cost less..yet I'll still pay their prices because they suck me in with the whole 'convenience' factor.

 

[Mrlogboy]

As for a VIP pass was just putting 70 as a example. But like that other park I do think they number the amount of passes that they sell.

See this is where we agree to disagree. I truly believe the early morning and extra late will be going away at one point. If not cut down significantly.

Before this I had no issue with Disney. The prices were ok. Well ok enough that people still come.
But price is not the point for me
I truly believe they will be taking stuff away/ changing slowly over time to charge more for stuff.
Because of my age did not know the Christmas party/ parade with part of normal festivities at Walt Disney World but after listening to their weekly podcast I found out that it actually was. At one time this is probably something they thought that would always be free in never go away and be part of the benefits.
Again I hope I'm hundred percent wrong and I want everybody to say I told you so please feel free to but I just have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that things will slowly change including yes even the fireworks people say right now no never never the fireworks but I again I bet people sometime said no never not the Christmas celebration
I have to agree though that crowd control would be a great aspect but again Disney does not want to bite the hand that feed them they don't want to reduce crowd that they don't have to because bigger crowd read bigger money so as they reduce crowds they want to keep the same out of money and how do you do that by increasing fees nickel and diming fees so that if suddenly there crowds drop by 10,000 a year they still make more money

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

VIP pass type of thing would definitely be $200+, no way would they do it for $70.

For sure. A VIP Tour currently runs $400-600 per HOUR. You can see what kind of premium they would want for a pass like that. I would guess $1000 at minimum.

 

[WIcruizer]

Yes, except the VIP tour literally takes you to the very front of any attraction. The VIP pass type thing we're talking about (well, that I'm talking about anyway) would be similar to what Universal has. That is, somewhere between FP+ and the VIP tour you mentioned. That wouldn't be $1,000 per person, probably $250 or something like that.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

As for a VIP pass was just putting 70 as a example. But like that other park I do think they number the amount of passes that they sell.

See this is where we agree to disagree. I truly believe the early morning and extra late will be going away at one point. If not cut down significantly.

Before this I had no issue with Disney. The prices were ok. Well ok enough that people still come.
But price is not the point for me
I truly believe they will be taking stuff away/ changing slowly over time to charge more for stuff.
Because of my age did not know the Christmas party/ parade with part of normal festivities at Walt Disney World but after listening to their weekly podcast I found out that it actually was. At one time this is probably something they thought that would always be free in never go away and be part of the benefits.
Again I hope I'm hundred percent wrong and I want everybody to say I told you so please feel free to but I just have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that things will slowly change including yes even the fireworks people say right now no never never the fireworks but I again I bet people sometime said no never not the Christmas celebration
I have to agree though that crowd control would be a great aspect but again Disney does not want to bite the hand that feed them they don't want to reduce crowd that they don't have to because bigger crowd read bigger money so as they reduce crowds they want to keep the same out of money and how do you do that by increasing fees nickel and diming fees so that if suddenly there crowds drop by 10,000 a year they still make more money

It's hard to say of course, but I also think that getting rid of EMH completely seems unlikely. People staying on-site are paying a significant premium compared to off-site hotels, and Disney makes significantly more money from on-site guests. Not just in hotel fees, but food and merchandise as well. They need to have something to make people want to stay at a Disney resort. EMH is a big deal to people, as you can obviously see from the concerns here.

Never say never of course, companies to strange things sometimes, but if I were a betting man (which I am ) , I would bet against getting rid of EMH completely. If I were Disney and I needed to monetize EMH, I would probably keep EMH and hide the cost by increasing hotel prices while keeping the "free" EMH.

 

[Kimberly9701]

It's hard to say of course, but I also think that getting rid of EMH completely seems unlikely. People staying on-site are paying a significant premium compared to off-site hotels, and Disney makes significantly more money from on-site guests. Not just in hotel fees, but food and merchandise as well. They need to have something to make people want to stay at a Disney resort. EMH is a big deal to people, as you can obviously see from the concerns here.

Never say never of course, companies to strange things sometimes, but if I were a betting man (which I am ) , I would bet against getting rid of EMH completely. If I were Disney and I needed to monetize EMH, I would probably keep EMH and hide the cost by increasing hotel prices while keeping the "free" EMH.

Yep, last year I had a 25% or 30% room discount..can't remember which..but it equaled $200 per night, for 8 nights. Free dining was offered at that time as well but I passed on it, took the room discount, purchased ddp at regular price, and came out ahead that way. If Disney really needs to 'make more money' the way people are assuming they do, all they would have to do is drop that discount by 5% across the board for the next year- that's way more than a fee for emh would ever bring in.

I don't think this new option is completely about money, but more due to crowd control and knowing their market. As I said before, there is a market for this- it's not the 7 night+ traveler with 3-5 kids under the age of 5, but there are a lot of people outside of that traveler who can take advantage. So if you're in that category then just ignore it bc it doesn't effect you.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

just so people know. DL doesn't offer magical express, you have to pay to get to the resort. They charge a daily rate to park and their resort fee is more than $15. only WDW gets all this for free and the one disney initiative is probably looking at this as a way to standardize things between the resorts.

While you have valid points, there are many things you can compare when it comes to DLR and WDW and then there are many things you cannot compare when it comes to DLR and WDW.

You have 3 true on-site hotels at DLR and too many to count at WDW

The Disneyland resort hotels used to charge a daily resort fee which covered newspaper delivery, local calls, self-parking, high speed internet access and use of the Fitness Center. Those are all included in the nightly room charge now, with the exception of self-parking, which is $15/day

As rteez mentioned DLR is landlocked in the middle of the city while WDW is not

I do not think this after hours event is meant to be a sort of standardizing between the resorts at all. It's a way for Disney to potentially gain extra money from people (as I don't know if people would do this on top of buying normal tickets or just opt for the after hrs event) as well as potentially give them an opportunity to get in rides and experience the park with less crowds than during the day (however because the event hasn't actually taken place yet no one knows what crowds it will bring).

 

[Eoghann]

Didn't Disneyland offer a Jungle Cruise breakfast for ridiculous sums of money? They do similar things if they think they can sell them. But the audiences the two parks draw are significantly different, so this is not the sort of thing they are likely to standardize.

But resort fees should be resisted wherever possible. It's a cheap shell game of pretending your price is lower than it actually is. Why else were airlines legally forced to include these extra costs in their upfront prices?

 

[Kimberly9701]

Didn't Disneyland offer a Jungle Cruise breakfast for ridiculous sums of money? They do similar things if they think they can sell them. But the audiences the two parks draw are significantly different, so this is not the sort of thing they are likely to standardize.

But resort fees should be resisted wherever possible. It's a cheap shell game of pretending your price is lower than it actually is. Why else were airlines legally forced to include these extra costs in their upfront prices?

But there is not resort fees at Disney World. And all of the people who are stressing about it are causing unnecessary wrinkles to their skin, as well as creating panic for others.
I doubt it will happen, but who knows. If it does, and you've already booked a trip, then I'm sure we'll be grandfathered in. If you haven't booked a trip and it happens- then decide at that time what you want to do and where you want to stay.

Again, I seriously doubt resort fees will be imposed, and I highly doubt that EMH will be taken away. But then again, as I've stated several times- I'm one of the few fans (on disboards at least) of the new night time $150 option. I don't see the harm in it at all. I think it's a good alternative for short stay guests, locals, or people who go to Orlando to do multiple area attractions. I also think it will help disperse crowds during busy seasons. You can choose to do it, or not. The same way you can choose to do a character meal, pirate cruise, water sports, etc etc that are an additional cost. It's that simple.

I don't understand the people who are saying that rumors, speculation, and panic can help them be prepared to plan their trip. That makes 0 sense. Zero. You can't plan for something that hasn't happened nor has shown any indication of happening. And how do you plan for speculation? I can't comprehend the logistics of that.

 

[WIcruizer]

I don't understand the people who are saying that rumors, speculation, and panic can help them be prepared to plan their trip. That makes 0 sense. Zero. You can't plan for something that hasn't happened nor has shown any indication of happening. And how do you plan for speculation? I can't comprehend the logistics of that.

If you're a regular on these boards, you'll know people stress and obsess over how many socks to bring on their trip, what to do with a 3 minute gap in their daily schedule, and what color the carpet is in their hotel room. So not too surprising people would stress out over this.

 

[Eoghann]

But there is not resort fees at Disney World. And all of the people who are stressing about it are causing unnecessary wrinkles to their skin, as well as creating panic for others.
I doubt it will happen, but who knows. If it does, and you've already booked a trip, then I'm sure we'll be grandfathered in. If you haven't booked a trip and it happens- then decide at that time what you want to do and where you want to stay.

No they're not. This is the news and rumors board where we discuss news and rumors. If we didn't... nothing would be posted here. People who don't want to discuss rumors are free to ignore them.

 

[Kimberly9701]

If you're a regular on these boards, you'll know people stress and obsess over how many socks to bring on their trip, what to do with a 3 minute gap in their daily schedule, and what color the carpet is in their hotel room. So not too surprising people would stress out over this.

I, unfortunately, am guilty of stressing and obsessing over all things kid related... i.e. son's birthday party, vacations, christmas, etc etc.. hence why I came to this site before my last Disney trip. I probably would have a heart attack if I also stressed over things that I could not control. I just don't see the point.

I have received some great information here! Not at all a 'regular' on this site, but have been here the past few days-too much- as I'm out of the office for 2 weeks after a surgery. I don't do 'rest' well, and this is a nice distraction to keep my mind semi busy when I take a break from working.

That being said- I have read, on several threads, quite a few people who are proclaiming to cancel or not book a Disney vacay due to these 'rumors' of no emh and extra fees. I hope said people are being overly dramatic...it would be a shame for anyone to deprive their child of a disney trip bc of a rumor you read on a message board.

 

[ChipnDale79]

That being said- I have read, on several threads, quite a few people who are proclaiming to cancel or not book a Disney vacay due to these 'rumors' of no emh and extra fees. I hope said people are being overly dramatic...it would be a shame for anyone to deprive their child of a disney trip bc of a rumor you read on a message board.

Not all of the reasons are rumors, there have been continued price increases as well as additional add on fees added. The rumors i think you're talking about are resort fees and the removal of EMH.

Yes we can't control them, but for my family we budget for vacations usually a year in advance, so I like to have an idea of where we're going. A lot of rumors that have been posted on here have become true in the past. The EMH rumor has been around for a few years now, also keep in mind it used to be 3 hours long and now its only 2, so some feel that was done to try to ween guests off of it slowly.

The resort fee was asked on a survey, just like the tiered pricing was before it became official.

The people that post here most likely have been to Disney many times, so their child is most likely not going to be deprived of anything. That's the other thing, the reason why disney is able to increase prices is because WDW has become a rite of passage, and if you don't take a kid, you're depriving them.

I still have 2 kids in daycare, its expensive, but they've already been twice, its ok if they don't go this year or maybe even next year.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I, unfortunately, am guilty of stressing and obsessing over all things kid related... i.e. son's birthday party, vacations, christmas, etc etc.. hence why I came to this site before my last Disney trip. I probably would have a heart attack if I also stressed over things that I could not control. I just don't see the point.

I have received some great information here! Not at all a 'regular' on this site, but have been here the past few days-too much- as I'm out of the office for 2 weeks after a surgery. I don't do 'rest' well, and this is a nice distraction to keep my mind semi busy when I take a break from working.

That being said- I have read, on several threads, quite a few people who are proclaiming to cancel or not book a Disney vacay due to these 'rumors' of no emh and extra fees. I hope said people are being overly dramatic...it would be a shame for anyone to deprive their child of a disney trip bc of a rumor you read on a message board.

I would like to point out that I really think those who have cancelled likely haven't done it JUST because of this rumor of EMH and fees. It's a culmination of so many changes in the last few months as well as international guests struggling with their exchange rates. Each and every person going to WDW have their own breaking pts and some have just reached it. Also I would like to say I know you didn't mean anything by it but individuals who go to WDW are not just those with children so if someone decides to cancel their trip they may or may not have children going with them and everyone involved can be disappointed if the decision is to cancel the trip.

I personally wouldn't say deprive is a way I would of describe if you didn't go to WDW though I understand why people would use that word. I went once before 1994 when my parents were still married. I also went to DLR. I have zero recollection of either place as I was too young;I don't know what year I went to WDW before 1994 but I know I went to DLR sometime in 1990. My parents divorced in 1994 and I went again in 1999 and 2004 with my father and my stepmother and her family (her mother lived 1 1/2 away from WDW).

The next time I went was in 2011 with my then-boyfriend who is now my husband when I was 23 and in 2017 we'll be going with his parents and I'll be 29 when we go (yes I'm showing my age lol). Had I not gone in 1999 and 2004 I would not have described myself as being deprived of a disney trip and I was a Disney lover for sure growing up. I personally love Disney although I'm more of a 90s/early 2000s kind of person as that is what I grew up with as well as the animated films of the 30s,40s and 50s (while I like and enjoy today's Disney films I'm not as big of a fan of the animated films at least in comparison to the time periods I've already listed).

My mom and father each did vacations in different ways. Had my stepmom's mother not lived in FL I would have never gone to WDW (after the first time when I was too young to remember). So had I not gone those years I actually would have no memories of WDW or DLR so me going in 2011 would have been like my 1st time going....and I was an adult then. I mean no offense by my comments whatsoever so please don't take it that way.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Not all of the reasons are rumors, there have been continued price increases as well as additional add on fees added. The rumors i think you're talking about are resort fees and the removal of EMH.

Yes we can't control them, but for my family we budget for vacations usually a year in advance, so I like to have an idea of where we're going. A lot of rumors that have been posted on here have become true in the past. The EMH rumor has been around for a few years now, also keep in mind it used to be 3 hours long and now its only 2, so some feel that was done to try to ween guests off of it slowly.

The resort fee was asked on a survey, just like the tiered pricing was before it became official.

The people that post here most likely have been to Disney many times, so their child is most likely not going to be deprived of anything. That's the other thing, the reason why disney is able to increase prices is because WDW has become a rite of passage, and if you don't take a kid, you're depriving them.

I still have 2 kids in daycare, its expensive, but they've already been twice, its ok if they don't go this year or maybe even next year.

I understand and can relate to that. I am the sole provider/parent for my son, and I have a career which involves non traditional work hours. So needless to say, my childcare expense is thru the roof. What you said is exactly my point though. Example, our 8 nights at the Poly in September I booked 65 days out. However, for our 2016 'big' vacation I, for the first time ever, started looking a year in advance, and booked 10 months in advance. Why? Because I know that cruise prices rise the closer you get to departure. The price from the time I started looking until the time I decided on which itinerary/ship had already gone up a few hundred dollars. Now it has gone up even beyond that. Our Disney World portion of that vacay was just now booked a week ago- unfortunately by the time I decided on resort, the option for the room I wanted was no longer there. I was angry, frustrated, called several times, had my travel agent call as well- the result- nothing could be done about it. So if I wanted that specific room I would have to extend by 1 day, which in the end I gave in and extended. Had I booked this portion when I booked the cruise, I would have had the room I wanted for the length of time that I wanted, and I would have had park tickets before the price increase. My point- if you book a year out then anything price wise that happens afterwards won't effect your stay, most changes anyway, and if they do-you can cancel. So there is absolutely no reason to prevent reserving a vacation due to a rumor.

People are making the same proclamations on the DCL boards. I'm waiting on DCL Mediterranean prices for 2017 (bc this 100% I will book a year out to get the best price). If they are raised 20% over 2016 prices, as people are saying they will be, then I have no problem going with RCCL, but until then I won't cross it off of my list. How much can we really worry about? Something terrible could happen in a year, terrible as in to us or our families, if you only speculate on a 'what if' then nothing in life would be planned and we would all need a daily dose of Prozac to get thru the day.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Something terrible could happen in a year, terrible as in to us or our families, if you only speculate on a 'what if' then nothing in life would be planned and we would all need a daily dose of Prozac to get thru the day.

I get your point as well but as Eoghann pointed out you are on the Rumor and News board here..