After hours - $149 for EMH?

[Accident]

I wonder if this is a trial run to see if the price for MNSSHP or MVMCP could increase this high.

I'm actually looking for opportunities to do disney different and if this double the price of a party ticket is because it's half the attendance, I think i would enjoy this. Of course there is only 2 of us I need tickets for so it's the splurge of the trip instead of something else if I did do it. Is it worth $150? that's where it's pushing it and I"ll wait to hear about how the first one went before I decide if I want to go one of the last dates.

 

[eXo]

I disagree. We've been to WDW the past few summers and MK had always remained open until 11 or midnight, sometimes until 1, and that was on non-EMH nights. The current calendar for June (our next trip) shows MK open until only 10 every night (except for one EMH night). If this remains as is it means they've cut CM hours, and if they're keeping the closing hours at 10 with the intent to extend them for this "magical" $150 experience then they're simply adding back hours that they likely would have had anyway. Isn't that what they're doing with the announced April and May dates?

The hours can easily change between now and then. It is very common for them to extend the hours as the summer approaches.

I wonder if this is a trial run to see if the price for MNSSHP or MVMCP could increase this high.

I'm actually looking for opportunities to do disney different and if this double the price of a party ticket is because it's half the attendance, I think i would enjoy this. Of course there is only 2 of us I need tickets for so it's the splurge of the trip instead of something else if I did do it. Is it worth $150? that's where it's pushing it and I"ll wait to hear about how the first one went before I decide if I want to go one of the last dates.

Just how "limited" these tickets are goes a LONG way in how much value I perceive there to be. I wish they were a little more clear about that. If I was going to be there during this time, that would be the main thing I'd want to know before buying in.

 

[cranbiz]

You can put on 5 CM's for every ticket sold at $150 (which would factor in benefits if your staffing was FT/PT/CR CM's. When you figure out that most of the CM's on at that hour are CP's, it gets even cheaper). You don't have to sell too many tickets before that cost is completely covered and the profit starts.

 

[jade1]

You can put on 5 CM's for every ticket sold at $150 (which would factor in benefits if your staffing was FT/PT/CR CM's. When you figure out that most of the CM's on at that hour are CP's, it gets even cheaper). You don't have to sell too many tickets before that cost is completely covered and the profit starts.

Agreed, but the CM now working is still glad to have the hours IMO.

 

[jade1]

The hours can easily change between now and then. It is very common for them to extend the hours as the summer approaches

I disagree. We've been to WDW the past few summers and MK had always remained open until 11 or midnight, sometimes until 1, and that was on non-EMH nights. The current calendar for June (our next trip) shows MK open until only 10 every night (except for one EMH night)

No doubt there could be some hours lost and then recovered-but the new ticket will provide more hours than if it isn't offered IMO.

I would even guess CM's would be in favor of adding 3 hours a night at the other parks as well-especially when complete, and even a $300 ticket for 6 extra hours.

 

[HopperFan]

It's not going to stop until people stop paying. There's some serious Stockholm Syndrome round here. Doesn't matter what they do or how much they charge people jump up to explain why it's okay. But it's blatant greed, they're not even really offering anything very special in return for all that money..

It is okay because Disney is first and foremost a business. They are putting a new product out there. If demand meets or exceeds supply and they are making the projected profits then on their end it's a success. As a Disney stockholder I support that. It's not greed. If successful it is taking advantage of a market to increase profits.

Would I spend that .... probably not because I have AP and they are only offering me free ice cream so far. But to someone only coming for a day or two 7 pm - 2 pm for $149 with minimal crowds and free snacks, pretty good deal!

In the end the product is completely optional and completely unnecessary for a successful vacation.

 

[shakes]

That's like saying you have to get all the candy in the park to justify a halloween party ticket, or eat 5 trays of sugar cookies and 5 gallons of hot chocolate to justify a christmas party ticket.

I like where you are going with that, but damn, 5 gallons is a lot of cocoa. Seriously though, they are charging double what parties cost and we have no idea what is going to be open or how many people will be there.

 

[TeresaWen]

Not much more than a one day ticket now that I look more closely at this. Not something I ẃoukd add on top of my tickets but if for some reason I wanted a one day ticket this would be interesting. Now include premium parking and it is almost a bargain

 

[Smbmoyers]

It takes all kinds of kinds to make the earth spin. There are those that will go into debt for vacation and then there are those (like my family and I) that do the legwork of saving before we go. I cannot comprehend going into debt for any vacation. I also can't comprehend spending the extra $450 for my family when I could save it. Our upcoming trip is possible because of an inheritance I've come upon. Even with $26k sitting in the bank I have a hard time justifying spending more than $4k on this vacation. I'm not judging those that want that "trip of a lifetime" and decide to stay deluxe all the way. It just isn't in my makeup to want to live outside our means. Even if it's financially feasable to do so for just one time.

 

[ChrisFL]

They are putting a new product out there.

What new product?

 

[HopperFan]

What new product?

Just talking in terms of a business, this event is a "product" for them.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I just read the website page rteez posted a link to...now 1) I would not in any way spend $150 on this event..it's not even about what you get with that amount it's just I don't want to spend that much money in general 2) They did put quite a spin on the description getting a person all excited..until they see the price something tells me that they may actually sell a good number of tickets and if they don't it could just mean they didn't give enough time for people to prepare-like how people plan their dates around the other existing parties.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

FWIW on the budget argument I've said it before on other threads..going to Disney is not just for 2 adults 2 kids. It irks me when people say you can go for JUST this amount making it as though any extra added cost isn't really a big deal.....Here's my budget as it currently stands for 4 adults to give you an idea how my trip can be vastly different than someone else's:

Trip date 9/16/16-9/25/16. Our trip will be in Sept 2017 but I used 2016 prices for the budget. If I shifted the trip (at least w/2016 prices) to a week ahead the resort enters into a lower priced season thus the resort rate would be lower. I do not count on promotions/discounts as it is not guaranteed I would get them.

All-Star Movies- Room Charges: 2 adults=$1,229.44. Room Charges: 2 adults=$1,229.44. Total Room charges: $2,458.88 Per Person=$614.72
Disney World 5-day Park Hopper=PURCHASED from UT at $1,468.00 total for 4 people as a 4-day park hopper with 5th day free. Per Person=$367.00
Universal Orlando 3-day Park to Park=PURCHASED from UT at $796.84 total for 4 people as a 2-day park-to-park with 3rd day free. Per Person=$199.21/per person. Universal Parking: $60.00 (3 days). Per Person=$15.00

Total Airfare~$1,600.00. Airfare~400.00/person RT from KCI to MCO. It should be noted that my husband and I will be using SWA RR points on our flight. My in-laws have a reward card through their bank and will receive cash back on their airfare-Due to that I left the airfare in the budget. The amount is usually $250-$350 for airfare but for budget aiming at an upper amount.

Rental Car~$750.00. Rental Car Per Person~$187.50. I sincerely hope we get a car for less than that. Originally with 5 adults we would be needing an SUV now we won't so it could be significantly less..who knows it is also for 10 days total (picking up on a friday and returning it on the weekend after on a sunday)
Gas~$250.00 (depends on the car we got. MIL and I drove from Olathe, KS to Katy, TX last July and back spending only $128 on gas but the car also got 35-45 MPG). Gas Per Person~$62.50.

Food~$450.00/person at $50.00/day for 9 days Or ~$675.00 /person at $75.00/day for 9 days. Total Food Guestimate~$1,800.00 ($50/day) Or ~$2,700.00 ($75/day).

Trip Totals

Total Trip Guestimate: $9,183.72 ($50 a day food budget). $9,858.72 ($75 a day food budget). Total Trip Guestimate per Person=$2,295.93. Or $2,464.68 (Increased Food Budget).

So please keep that in mind next time you tell someone how much you can go to WDW for. I am not bemoaning the amount I am paying but I also don't want to spend more money for things like resort fees or EMH or premium parking. I also apologize this post was soooo long

 

[jade1]

Are you getting 2 rooms at allstars?

And is this a one time trip or an annual event?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Are you getting 2 rooms at allstars?

And is this a one time trip or an annual event?

Yes 2 rooms as we have 4 adults and while my husband and I can made double beds work for the two of us the in-laws cannot and the in-laws snore lol. I go about every 5 or 6 years. The trip after this one will be longer as we will be trying to start a family.

As you can see a large portion of the cost comes from staying on-site last trip with just my husband and I in 2011 we stayed off-site. I said if we go back any time soonish I want to stay on-site.

Even with an annual trip about the only thing that would change is the decision to stay on-site or not. The amount of days and all other costs would not change. Me and short trips just don't get along lol

ETA: I didn't really want to blast people with me putting in my budget but when people start saying "I can go to WDW for 2 adults 2 kids for X amount" it's just not an accurate representation. What my trip costs is vastly different than another person. Even if I was just going with my husband and I staying off-site but keeping the other details the same (we would be more like the $50 or less per day per person food price) we would still be over $2,000 which is what another person said they could go to WDW on and maybe their amount isn't including USO and my amount is for 9 nights with 8 days worth of tickets at both places but that's the point there are so many other variables).

 

[jade1]

Makes sense, you are talking 2 paying families instead of one family of 4 though correct? Basically 2 separate 9 day trips?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Makes sense, you are talking 2 paying families instead of one family of 4 though correct? Basically 2 separate 9 day trips?

Yes and that's actually a good way of putting it.

 

[ChipnDale79]

Yes 2 rooms as we have 4 adults and while my husband and I can made double beds work for the two of us the in-laws cannot and the in-laws snore lol. I go about every 5 or 6 years. The trip after this one will be longer as we will be trying to start a family.

As you can see a large portion of the cost comes from staying on-site last trip with just my husband and I in 2011 we stayed off-site. I said if we go back any time soonish I want to stay on-site.

Even with an annual trip about the only thing that would change is the decision to stay on-site or not. The amount of days and all other costs would not change. Me and short trips just don't get along lol

ETA: I didn't really want to blast people with me putting in my budget but when people start saying "I can go to WDW for 2 adults 2 kids for X amount" it's just not an accurate representation. What my trip costs is vastly different than another person. Even if I was just going with my husband and I staying off-site but keeping the other details the same (we would be more like the $50 or less per day per person food price) we would still be over $2,000 which is what another person said they could go to WDW on and maybe their amount isn't including USO and my amount is for 9 nights with 8 days worth of tickets at both places but that's the point there are so many other variables).

The other person only included tickets and hotel, they didn't account for food (with or without the dining plan), transportation to wdw, and other things many have to budget for when they go on vacation.

We went last year as a family of 4, one of our children was 2 so therefore free. By the time everything was said and done, we spent a total of $3800 on the entire trip while staying at all star sports.

Every trip is different for every family.

 

[eXo]

It's real simple. People are getting bogged down with how it's not worth it to them. I attempted to show that a "struggling family" could make it to Disney for a base cost of about $2k. And no, I am not their travel agent so I was factoring flight or gas to drive or food or quarters for the penny press, or souvenir cash, or whatever else. My point was not to say that if someone hands me 2k right now I'll send them off on a week long Disney vacation. My point was much simpler, it can be done comparative to a week vacation in many other places.

I didn't include food or transportation on the comparative trip to tour the west national monuments either. It was apples to apples.

Now, if your the type that insists on using the dining plan (which has been proven time and time again to not be a good deal, it is simply a way to let people pay and forget) or the type who has a larger family and need multiple rooms, etc etc etc, then that is where you stop representing the lower class families and you start taking advantage of the spectrum of offers Disney has for people who have more money.

That is the entire point. Disney is not a one fit all destination. So it really doesn't matter how many people here find the $150 ticket for 7 hours in the evening to be outrageous. I presume most people here don't take the VIP tours either, but they still exist. And I don't see anyone here complaining about them pricing everyone out of their vacations or being "greedy" by simply offering them, even though in reality, all a VIP tour really does is allow a group of rich people to skip the lines.

I honestly don't see how this ticket negatively affects anyone. You can easily choose to not take advantage of it, and go about your merry way. All this talk of being priced out of your vacation would assume that Disney is bending you over the turnstile and forcing you to buy in. It's real simple. Don't buy a ticket. One of two things will happen though. Either enough other people won't buy a ticket, and they'll quietly phase this out OR it will do well enough that they decide to keep it going during peak times. If it does, it's really a win win for everyone. Consider this. A majority of the people who buy that ticket would have been there during the day, with you, instead of there at night. So by having them purchase that ticket and go later, park crowding during *your* visit is lower.

 

[ChipnDale79]

It's real simple. People are getting bogged down with how it's not worth it to them. I attempted to show that a "struggling family" could make it to Disney for a base cost of about $2k. And no, I am not their travel agent so I was factoring flight or gas to drive or food or quarters for the penny press, or souvenir cash, or whatever else. My point was not to say that if someone hands me 2k right now I'll send them off on a week long Disney vacation. My point was much simpler, it can be done comparative to a week vacation in many other places.

I didn't include food or transportation on the comparative trip to tour the west national monuments either. It was apples to apples.

Now, if your the type that insists on using the dining plan (which has been proven time and time again to not be a good deal, it is simply a way to let people pay and forget) or the type who has a larger family and need multiple rooms, etc etc etc, then that is where you stop representing the lower class families and you start taking advantage of the spectrum of offers Disney has for people who have more money.

That is the entire point. Disney is not a one fit all destination. So it really doesn't matter how many people here find the $150 ticket for 7 hours in the evening to be outrageous. I presume most people here don't take the VIP tours either, but they still exist. And I don't see anyone here complaining about them pricing everyone out of their vacations or being "greedy" by simply offering them, even though in reality, all a VIP tour really does is allow a group of rich people to skip the lines.

I honestly don't see how this ticket negatively affects anyone. You can easily choose to not take advantage of it, and go about your merry way. All this talk of being priced out of your vacation would assume that Disney is bending you over the turnstile and forcing you to buy in. It's real simple. Don't buy a ticket. One of two things will happen though. Either enough other people won't buy a ticket, and they'll quietly phase this out OR it will do well enough that they decide to keep it going during peak times. If it does, it's really a win win for everyone. Consider this. A majority of the people who buy that ticket would have been there during the day, with you, instead of there at night. So by having them purchase that ticket and go later, park crowding during *your* visit is lower.

I get the point you're trying to make, and I understand it completely. Look I really don't want to get into a condescending argument with you like yesterday turned out, surely we're better than that and can discuss it like adults.

IMO when you budget a vacation, whether its disney or a trip out west, you have to factor in all of those things like food and travel. You're 100% right a family of four can do a trip for 7 days for around $2,000, but at the end of the day, that $2,000 is not a real number because of all the other factors that you have to account for.

Just like the cost of a trip can vary per family, the argument regarding the dining plan being a good deal or a bad deal varies by families as well. It's how you compare it to other things.

My wife and I broke our trip down pretty well last time, we went as far as looking at menus at places we thought we'd eat at and compared the quick service to what we budgeted for food. The dining plan came out to be about $10 more expensive for us. We decided we would pay the extra $10 because as it offered more freedom for us.

It's all about how you choose to vacation.

I personally don't feel that most middle Americans would choose to eat McDonalds or pack their lunch at disney in order to afford that vacation, I feel they would decide to vacation somewhere else. I also feel that most middle Americans can "afford" a disney vacation, but may look at the price and consider going somewhere else because they simply just don't want to pay that much.

I want to clarify that yesterday when I was making the argument that disney may be pricing people out, I might not have been clear about what I meant. Its not that I don't think people can afford the vacation, I think they might get tired of paying an increased price year after year, or paying for new experiences when so many things were included before. It's all about how that person's views a vacation and how they value it.

Me personally, I'm soured on the latest increases, and additional addons, and you know what, that's ok, there's nothing wrong with that. For my family, we decided we didn't want to pay for a disney vacation this year and have decided to go somewhere else.