After hours - $149 for EMH?

[Kimberly9701]

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.

Oh I completely agree with a lot of what you said. But some of it, again, is my entire reasoning for being for the $150 night charge! I went to DW annually as a child, and have since been to DW over 20 times, without kids, as an adult (I lived in SoFla so only @ 3 hour drive). When I turned 21 my parents gave me and each of my siblings at same age, 20 3 day hopper non expiring tickets that they had purchased and saved for us thru years to give to us to take our own future families. Well, I had no intention of starting a family while in my 20s so, I took advantage of them ...although I kind of wish I would have saved a few for my son.lol I now only have 2 days left out of all of those..it didn't make sense to use them on our 8 night trip..but I am using the last remaining 2 days on our November trip to cover a portion of my park tickets.

I know without a doubt that had these 150 extra hours been offered during any of my adult trips- we would have taken them every time! It's perfect for adults or people with older children, or short stay people etc. Not to combine with your daytime park ticket, but to replace it, and spend a day at a different park instead. I think there are a lot of people who feel the same way.

As far as getting fed up- I'll use an example-

I have been going to Atlantis Paradise Island since they opened..again, living in Boca Raton it was cheap, quick flight, so we'd go for NYE annually and maybe once in the summer when a great deal. Over the years that resort has gotten bigger, and bigger, and bigger, causing more crowded pool/slides etc. After my last trip I sent a very passive aggressive email letting them know why I won't be back-
Not because of their insanely high priced Royal Tower rooms, or food, or resort fee etc etc...but bc Aquaventure has become ridiculously crowded. When I am paying those prices I just mentioned (and no, I'm not willing to switch to the Coral or Beach tower bc I can't deal with my kid complaining when I'm too tired to carry him), but bc I have a SERIOUS issue with the amount of tickets they sell as cruise excursions and to neighboring hotels. Aquaventure is HUGE reason why I paid their fees, and when wait times and crowds become too much then it is no longer worth it, and I don't feel like it is fair to the people staying there. So from now on, regardless of their tempting commercials and how many times my son asks- we will not be returning anytime soon. Maybe me taking my business away doesn't matter to them, but if they would have figured out how to manage the crowds then they wouldn't have lost my business.

I think this is a large part of why Disney is starting the additional options for park tickets/hours. I don't think it's a sign of doom, more like shuffling crowds while gaining extra revenue. I refuse to go to disney world in the summer due to the crowds, maybe they know that there are a lot of others who do the same, and know that there is a market for additional options. From a business standpoint it was a good move, and may help relieve everyone's wait times.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Oh I completely agree with a lot of what you said. But some of it, again, is my entire reasoning for being for the $150 night charge! I went to DW annually as a child, and have since been to DW over 20 times, without kids, as an adult (I lived in SoFla so only @ 3 hour drive). When I turned 21 my parents gave me and each of my siblings at same age, 20 3 day hopper non expiring tickets that they had purchased and saved for us thru years, to give to us to take our own future families. Well, I had no intention of starting a family while in my 20s so, I took advantage of them ...although I kind of wish I would have saved a few for my son.lol I now only have 2 days left out of all of those..it didn't make sense to use them on our 8 night trip..but I am using the last remaining 2 days on our November trip to cover a portion of my park tickets.

I know without a doubt that had these 150 extra hours been offered during any of my adult trips- we would have taken them every time! It's perfect for adults or people with older children, or short stay people etc. Not to combine with your daytime park ticket, but to replace it, and spend a day at a different park instead. I think there are a lot of people who feel the same way.

As far as getting fed up- I'll use an example-

I have been going to Atlantis Paradise Island since they opened..again, living in Boca Raton it was cheap, quick flight, so we'd go for NYE annually and maybe once in the summer when a great deal. Over the years that resort has gotten bigger, and bigger, and bigger, causing more crowded pool/slides etc. After my last trip I sent a very passive aggressive email letting them know why I won't be back-
Not because of their insanely high priced Royal Tower rooms, or food, or resort fee etc etc...but bc Aquaventure has become ridiculously crowded. When I am paying those prices I just mentioned (and no, I'm not willing to switch to the Coral or Beach tower bc I can't deal with my kid complaining when I'm too tired to carry him), but bc I have a SERIOUS issue with the amount of tickets they sell as cruise excursions and to neighboring hotels. Aquaventure is HUGE reason why I paid their fees, and when wait times and crowds become too much then it is no longer worth it, and I don't feel like it is fair to the people staying there. So from now on, regardless of their tempting commercials and how many times my son asks- we will not be returning anytime soon. Maybe me taking my business away doesn't matter to them, but if they would have figured out how to manage the crowds then they wouldn't have lost my business.

I think this is a large part of why Disney is starting the additional options for park tickets/hours. I refuse to go to disney world in the summer due to the crowds, maybe they know that there are a lot of others who do the same, and know that there is a market for additional options. From a business standpoint it was a good move, and may help relieve everyone's wait times.

Well I'm glad you got to go a lot to Disney and your kids get to experience that too. I personally would never spend that kind of money for an after hours event but I'm by nature a penny pincher though I do spend my money on certain things (for your family that may be the family trips you take). I believe that's really where we differ..you would have no problem spending the money but I would. I completely get why Disney is doing this though and with the price point you may see less groups with children going.

Many people here also say "put your money where your mouth is" because the money talks. I've said before it would really take a large disruption in attendance for Disney to rethink the direction they've gone. If you think about it if a significant number of locals or those within close enough proximity stopped going to DLR (where it is largely regional-based attendance) Disney would have to figure out a way to gain them back and raising prices and eliminating experiences while adding in costly experiences (though I know the after hours is for WDW right now) isn't the way to do that. At WDW with all the international, national and local attendance it becomes more of a lose one but gain one (or more) and "once in a lifetime trip" situation.

 

[ChipnDale79]

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.

I 100% agree with what you're saying, I just belief its more than just rumors as to why people are canceling. For me, with everything that's already gone on over the past couple of years, I sort said "ok, maybe we should look at going somewhere else for the next year or so, maybe we should give our money to someone else for a few years".

I can afford the vacation to disney, but at some point i just have to draw the line on how much i'm willing to spend on one for now.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Well I'm glad you got to go a lot to Disney and your kids get to experience that too. I personally would never spend that kind of money for an after hours event but I'm by nature a penny pincher though I do spend my money on certain things (for your family that may be the family trips you take). I believe that's really where we differ..you would have no problem spending the money but I would. I completely get why Disney is doing this though and with the price point you may see less groups with children going.

Many people here also say "put your money where your mouth is" because the money talks. I've said before it would really take a large disruption in attendance for Disney to rethink the direction they've gone. If you think about it if a significant number of locals or those within close enough proximity stopped going to DLR (where it is largely regional-based attendance) Disney would have to figure out a way to gain them back and raising prices and eliminating experiences while adding in costly experiences (though I know the after hours is for WDW right now) isn't the way to do that. At WDW with all the international, national and local attendance it's becomes more of a lose one but gain one (or more) and "once in a lifetime trip" situation.

Agree. What I'm hoping people who read my comments realize is - this isn't aimed at the 5 night or more traveler. And I don't think it's a prequel to taking away EMH, there is a market for this new thing.. And both can be done without harming the people with extended multi day tickets.

 

[Kimberly9701]

I 100% agree with what you're saying, I just belief its more than just rumors as to why people are canceling. For me, with everything that's already gone on over the past couple of years, I sort said "ok, maybe we should look at going somewhere else for the next year or so, maybe we should give our money to someone else for a few years".

I can afford the vacation to disney, but at some point i just have to draw the line on how much i'm willing to spend on one for now.

That's fine then. You, as I am with Atlantis, are choosing to spend money elsewhere bc you have been disappointed in some way. That makes sense. Proclaiming to not go bc of "maybe this rumor could happen, possibly" scenarios is completely different.

 

[Pemeberly]

That's fine then. You, as I am with Atlantis, are choosing to spend money elsewhere bc you have been disappointed in some way. That makes sense. Proclaiming to not go bc of "maybe this rumor could happen, possibly" scenarios is completely different.

Can there ever be a wrong/nonsense reason for an individual not to take a personal vacation somewhere?

I say that admittedly not being caught up on the conversation.

 

[Eoghann]

Can there ever be a wrong/nonsense reason for an individual not to take a personal vacation somewhere?

I say that admittedly not being caught up on the conversation.

Sure. If someone refuses to go to WDW because they are worried the moon will fall on them...

 

[UKDisneyJoe]

Disappointed with everything that's going on at WDW at the moment. Me and my DW were just getting to the point of being able to go every year and now it's looking like a less attractive proposition.

 

[Pemeberly]

Sure. If someone refuses to go to WDW because they are worried the moon will fall on them...

Well, if you truly felt the anxiety of the moon falling on you outweighed the enjoyment you'd get from Disney...

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Agree. What I'm hoping people who read my comments realize is - this isn't aimed at the 5 night or more traveler. And I don't think it's a prequel to taking away EMH, there is a market for this new thing.. And both can be done without harming the people with extended multi day tickets.

Agreed but there is a market of people for just about anything Disney does but that market may be small or it may be a lot. I think if we didn't have all these changes like we've had in such a short amount of time AND the price of the other hard-tickets events were either less or more or the after hours events was priced around the same price as the other hard-ticket events you might not have the same reaction as is seen on these boards.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Agreed but there is a market of people for just about anything Disney does but that market may be small or it may be a lot. I think if we didn't have all these changes like we've had in such a short amount of time AND the price of the other hard-tickets events were either less or more or the after hours events was priced around the same price as the other hard-ticket events you might not have the same reaction as is seen on these boards.

If they were priced the same as a party then there would be just as many crowds which would reduce the appeal and effect of the tickets.
I've said this so many times, and I apologize for repeating but here it goes- Disney has changed soooooo many times over the years. Change is nothing new. High prices are nothing new. Extra costs- nothing new either.

Can there ever be a wrong/nonsense reason for an individual not to take a personal vacation somewhere?

I say that admittedly not being caught up on the conversation.

In my opinion, yes. I think it's horribly sad to see someone make a choice based on a rumor not a fact.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

If they were priced the same as a party then there would be just as many crowds which would reduce the appeal and effect of the tickets.
I've said this so many times, and I apologize for repeating but here it goes- Disney has changed soooooo many times over the years. Change is nothing new. High prices are nothing new. Extra costs- nothing new either.

Yes I know the crowds would be just the same as they are now if the price was the same...but you would probably wouldn't have as many people go to the current hard-ticket parties if they raised the prices to $149 plus tax and what is to stop Disney from raising the prices on the current events if there is success of the after hours event? People are also legitimately concerned that the crowds would negate the exclusivity of the event.

And of course Disney has changed over the years and prices go up up up not down down down such is the way of our world. I've said it on multiple threads that any business must adjust and evolve to stay relevant; change is good and change is bad too much change at once doesn't usually work out. What you have here with Disney is that recently all those changes they've done is put off many afolk from continuing to vacation there or even planning a vacation. As others have said they would rather spend their money elsewhere.

And as it has already been stated on this thread it's not just the "hey look here's an event priced at $149 plus tax Disney I'm sooooo done with you going elsewhere you just lost me as a customer" which I think was your point that those were taking one new thing and turning it into and feeling of end of the world..

But it's the "oh look-
1) Here's tiered tickets (which likely will make its way to multi-day tickets)
2) Premium parking charge (granted its optional but can take away a benefit of arriving early in the day)
3) Rumored resort fee survey reflecting that the fees would be for things Disney currently includes in their prices and some of which are programs Disney came up with-EMH being one of those listed as resort fees would cover and they could easily decide to go away with it if their preferred way is to gain much more money but charging for hard ticket nights
4) Budget cuts which include removing 2nd showings of fireworks, characters removed, experiences deleted and lunch menus disappearing or food items being removed or quality of certain menu items reduced among other things that have occured due to budget cuts
5) Rumored temp (or maybe not) overlay of Guardians of the Galaxy at ToT at WDW"
6) Oh and now you come out with this event for $149 plus tax

and I'm sure the list goes on. Now this hasn't deterred me from keeping my 2017 on-site trip but I certaintly can appreciate others who have met their point and I think at the end of the day that was my point I was trying to make.

ETA: tiered pricing started as a rumor, I believe premium parking started as a rumor..can't remember for sure on that one.

 

[DisneyLovingPreacher]

just another way for Disney to nickel and dime people

 

[rteetz]

just another way for Disney to nickel and dime people

You don't have to pay for this. This is an add on. Nobody is forcing this on anyone and EMH is still happening.

 

[Eoghann]

You don't have to pay for this. This is an add on. Nobody is forcing this on anyone and EMH is still happening.

No you don't have to. But if this is as people are suggesting "a solution for the parks being so crowded" why not just extend park hours? Why charge $150? It's a money grab.

 

[DisneyLovingPreacher]

No you don't have to. But if this is as people are suggesting "a solution for the parks being so crowded" why not just extend park hours? Why charge $150? It's a money grab.[/QUOTE

Exactly right it is just a money grab. As of late Disney has been adding more and more money grabs.

 

[rteetz]

No you don't have to. But if this is as people are suggesting "a solution for the parks being so crowded" why not just extend park hours? Why charge $150? It's a money grab.

Of course it is but does this surprise you? Over the last few years this is all Disney has been doing.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Because the $150 won't appeal to everyone...especially people with 5+ day tickets. Which will as a result- bring lower crowd levels during the day and evening.

 

[Eoghann]

Of course it is but does this surprise you? Over the last few years this is all Disney has been doing.

It doesn't surprise me at all. I just keep raising it as a counterpoint to the narrative that Disney are doing this for our benefit somehow.

There are numerous solutions to overcrowding if that was Disney's actual concern. This one, however, is an easy way to make extra money.

 

[Kimberly9701]

It doesn't surprise me at all. I just keep raising it as a counterpoint to the narrative that Disney are doing this for our benefit somehow.

There are numerous solutions to overcrowding if that was Disney's actual concern. This one, however, is an easy way to make extra money.

.... Exactly, this is a win/win for a business, which is what Disney is.