Change to Extra Magical Hours

[Sandisw]

Just a thought. Can’t they simply add a color like they do for DVC? This way, onsite is easily recognized but offsite will not be.

It won’t take long for info to get out there that offsite is not gonna to slip through.

It will be interesting for sure.

 

[sethschroeder]

Just a thought. Can’t they simply add a color like they do for DVC? This way, onsite is easily recognized but offsite will not be.

It won’t take long for info to get out there that offsite is not gonna to slip through.

It will be interesting for sure.

I had read on here that they had in the past. It was supposed to be blue for offsite and green for onsite in the morning prior to park opening for EMH.

Also by just having signs like 100/50/25 yards from the entrance you can simply have one side be offsite the other onsite. Then as you scan in have what you are talking about that its showing on or offsite with the color and you are told to enter the other line if from offsite.

I really can't see it being that huge of a deal those entrance areas are big enough to deal with it.

They could even be scanning in the offsite group and simply have a roped off area for that side of the line to hold them. So at AK they would rope off the right side path and allow anyone offsite in the park to that location. Onsite simply goes up left in to the park.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

I think we are just wondering with just a 30-min window, how will that work.
We always avoided EMH days since it just meant huge lines, thus counterproductive. So for those that have done a morning EMH, did they still let onsite through the turnstiles before rope drop? For off-site, did they not allow early turnstiles?

That would make the most sense, let onsite tap in early, head for ropedrop, hold offsite until actual open time.

We have done early morning EMH rope drop a few times. It was almost like a two stage process. People would get there early and lineup outside of the turnstiles. Then, about 15-20 minutes or so before rope drop, they would open the turnstiles and CMs would scan everyone's magic bands and everyone would move forward and lineup at the rope. Then the rope would drop at the scheduled time.

So with the new EMH morning schedules, I am assuming it would work the same way. The line outside will probably start forming around an hour or so before the EMH opening time. Then they will start letting people through the turnstiles around 20 minutes or so before the rope drop. The rope will drop 30 minutes before the normal park opening.

 

[havoc315]

Exactly. Anytime we did rope drop you had to scan your magic band first. And I definitely don't think they are going to advertise the new EMH being only for on-site guests and then let in off-site guests. Especially knowing that many people are upset at the change and there will be a spotlight on it.

I don’t get why anyone is concerned about this.
For morning EMH, they successfully limited it to onsite guests. This is no different, just 30 minutes shorter.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

We will see I guess. I can't imagine anything anytime soon though but I might be wrong.

People talking about 2 tickets though got me thinking of:

• Base Ticket (8am-8pm daily varied by park)
• Park Hopper (jump between park)
• Plus Option (water parks, mini golf, espn, more)
• Night Owl Option (8pm-11pm daily varied by park)

I could see them retiring the special events with the bigger guest expectations for "special" and instead keep those hard ticket events specific to Halloween/Christmas at MK.

Creating a separate ticket for the evening hours, just according to this thread, would be insanely popular. Keeps attendance lower by breaking up crowds into two groups without losing ticket revenue, and could be appealing to people who want fewer strollers around. Wasn't there an Epcot after 4 ticket?

 

[sethschroeder]

Creating a separate ticket for the evening hours, just according to this thread, would be insanely popular. Keeps attendance lower by breaking up crowds into two groups without losing ticket revenue, and could be appealing to people who want fewer strollers around. Wasn't there an Epcot after 4 ticket?

My comment was more additive where you need both. Could be seperate as you say though.

The Epcot after 4 was simply geared to get people in for dinner I think to fill restaurants.

 

[irazabul]

Creating a separate ticket for the evening hours, just according to this thread, would be insanely popular. Keeps attendance lower by breaking up crowds into two groups without losing ticket revenue, and could be appealing to people who want fewer strollers around. Wasn't there an Epcot after 4 ticket?

Exactly! I actually plan WDW around the MNSSHP and the Christmas party just to get the evening hours. One trip, we did the MNSSHP three times!

 

[irazabul]

Negligible benefit. It is true that EMH would make that park busier and this will spread it out overall, but 30 minutes is just missing one bus difference in my opinion.

It could mean a couple hours saved, especially for some rides, like avatar.

 

[CarolMN]

The Epcot after 4 was simply geared to get people in for dinner I think to fill restaurants.

IIRC, that ticket was restricted to Florida residents and attendees of some conventions.

 

[Dean Marino]

Deleted.

 

[Castillo Mom]

As a WDW and DLR vet, we've learned that the EMH park is almost always the busiest since guests are automatically programmed to go there even if they don't actually take advantage of the "perk." Avoiding the EMH park has always worked well for us. I also agree with what you're saying, no way am I getting up at the crack of dawn and neither are my adult kids. We all have pretty intense jobs, so rope-dropping EMH is just too much effort. There are much better ways to maximize time in the parks and get on our favorite rides, so yet another "perk" that we don't care about losing.

 

[dnlbauer]

What are people's thoughts on the change in the Magical Hours for resort guests? I think I might dig the new policy IF they truly hold non-resort guests back until posted opening time!

Do not like this at all - no interest in getting to parks earlier- we love most of the parks late afternoon to late night - this would remove another benefit for us.

 

[hayesdvc]

We stayed the first week of December at VGF and got into our reserved park a minimum of one hours before the official posted park hours of the day.

If they are "now giving resort guests 30 minutes prior to park opening" that would be 30+ minutes less than I got a month ago.

What I am missing?

 

[chicagoshannon]

This sucks for offsite for the reason listed above, won't be able to ride anything with no line. Even at DisneyLAND certain tickets included early morning magic. I think we bought a 3 day ticket and got 1 early morning with that (offsite).

 

[Sandisw]

We stayed the first week of December at VGF and got into our reserved park a minimum of one hours before the official posted park hours of the day.

If they are "now giving resort guests 30 minutes prior to park opening" that would be 30+ minutes less than I got a month ago.

What I am missing?

They don’t always let you in early though. I just got back and we did not get in that early in relation to opening hours,

I think right now, with social distancing, they are letting people in when they are worried, But, once this is officially implemented, they should only allow those who are onsite in, or at least into rides, early.

 

[RebelScum]

Their stance thst no emh is safer is baffling but not surprising

Curious why this is baffling? Seems like driving added attendance to one park encourages crowds. Spreading the same number of people to 4 parks, seems much safer.

 

[RebelScum]

Putting aside the loss of night time EMH, I think I will like what they are planing for the morning. While I wish it were an hour, I think it will be much more usable for my family. We often book split stays between MK and EP/HS resorts, and often find that the morning park with EMH did not line up with the resort we were staying at (e.g., MK EMH while we were at our EP resort, etc.). I think this new construct will be more usable for the way we stay.

 

[Sandisw]

Putting aside the loss of night time EMH, I think I will like what they are planing for the morning. While I wish it were an hour, I think it will be much more usable for my family. We often book split stays between MK and EP/HS resorts, and often find that the morning park with EMH did not line up with the resort we were staying at (e.g., MK EMH while we were at our EP resort, etc.). I think this new construct will be more usable for the way we stay.

I am staying positive that it may end up going to an hour down the line. I too found that my split stays didn’t line up with these either and we started changing things up years ago by visiting parks the day after nighttime EMH...

Of course, we were not always rope drop people any longer since FPs didn’t require us to do it that way.

So, once this begins, it will be nice to see how it plays out!

 

[New Mouse]

Curious why this is baffling? Seems like driving added attendance to one park encourages crowds. Spreading the same number of people to 4 parks, seems much safer.

Because the statement that night time emh didnt justify the expense says that those hours were less crowded by far and hence more safe.

 

[TinkB278]

I’ve had a few days to calm down and think about this and I just can’t help but feel disappointed still. 30 minutes is almost an insult. Couldn’t they at least do an hour? 30 minutes doesn’t give much wiggle room for bus issues or if a kid wakes up in a difficult mood it could take 30 minutes longer to get them ready.