Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[brockash]

It's assumed DME prices were wrapped into the hotel stay. And they've already raised rates for 2021. Interesting that they thought just doing away with it was a better option that making it paid or just increasing again in 2022.

Lol...oh no doubt they'll be increasing again for 2022...this is just a bonus increase for them.

 

[JoeA]

Geez, at some point I swear Disney will make you bring your own sheets and pillow, you know...to "enhance the customer experience"!

 

[DGsAtBLT]

That's probably part of the point of it.

Well yeah lol.

I’d argue that’s a bigger deal than the removal of the FP+ window advantage, especially if you knew how to work FP+ well enough. Bam, we’ve got an onsite touring advantage again . Maybe an even more important one until something else changes.

 

[sullivan.kscott]

Not to mention that really sucks for offsite guests who can’t take advantage of rope drop at all anymore (and can’t strategically use FP anymore), or am I understanding wrong and it’s not every park every day?

I mean we’re talking about taking away FP+ not making it worthwhile to stay onsite, but if you’re a rope drop family this might be a bigger motivator?

This, combined with the ME changes, might push us to “site-ish.” We could explore having a full kitchen and 2 bedrooms at homewood suites, maybe even stay on points, and still be perks “good neighbors.” As this and the recession all shake out, I’m thinking perks may need to come back more than TWDC might care to admit.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I mean we’re talking about taking away FP+ not making it worthwhile to stay onsite, but if you’re a rope drop family this might be a bigger motivator?

And what if at some point they do implement some kind of same day FP system like MaxPass, where you pay extra and can only book them while in the park? This could give resort guests in the parks early a leg up too.

 

[Eric Smith]

And what if at some point they do implement some kind of same day FP system like MaxPass, where you pay extra and can only book them while in the park? This could give resort guests in the parks early a leg up too.

I would assume whatever they end up doing with fastpass will give on site guests a pretty big advantage over off site guests. I imagine the extra 30 day fastpass window was a big selling point since that basically locked off site guests out of all the headliner rides.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Looking forward to my DVC dues going down next year with the removal of Magical Express.

Serioulsy the cost is ALREADy in your resort fee. This is just like the parking fee. That was ALREADY in the resort fee. Now you get to pay that resort fee and get no benefit. Now maybe people understand why those of us who drive were so mad when that change happened!

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Looking forward to my DVC dues going down next year with the removal of Magical Express.

Serioulsy the cost is ALREADy in your resort fee. This is just like the parking fee. That was ALREADY in the resort fee. Now you get to pay that resort fee and get no benefit. Now maybe people understand why those of us who drive were so mad when that change happened!

I think you mean the 10% dues increase to cover GuEsT sAtIsFaCtIoN

Seriously though having to pay for parking at a hotel you're spending $500 a night to stay at is outrageous. More outrageous than Gaston's stale cinnamon rolls.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Not to mention that really sucks for offsite guests who can’t take advantage of rope drop at all anymore (and can’t strategically use FP anymore), or am I understanding wrong and it’s not every park every day?

I mean we’re talking about taking away FP+ not making it worthwhile to stay onsite, but if you’re a rope drop family this might be a bigger motivator?

yeah, definitely sucks for off site guests (of which we generally are, or at least some times) - but I also get that there should be perks to staying on property. At least when I plan my park days I don't have to avoid certain parks on certain days due to having EMHs, now they are all similar each day

and honestly if they have after hours paid events most nights (or at least more often then now) and they realyl do keep the capacity pretty low, we could just pay for one or two of those and get a ton done and still save a lot of $ vs staying on property

 

[Brianstl]

And what if at some point they do implement some kind of same day FP system like MaxPass, where you pay extra and can only book them while in the park? This could give resort guests in the parks early a leg up too.

Just add on one day of The Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP Tour. The added cost of that tour is still a lot cheaper than staying on site for the whole trip in a deluxe for my family. Losing MDE really changes how I look at booking my WDW stay completely. Changes my calculations of the value of any possible DVC purchase in my family's future.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Whew all of this is overwhelming me. And it’s just not enough info to make me really change anything right now.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Geez, at some point I swear Disney will make you bring your own sheets and pillow, you know...to "enhance the customer experience"!

"Based on feedback from our guests and changing sleeping patterns, guests will not be permitted to bring their own sheets and pillows to truly feel the comforts of home even while away! Don't want to bring your own? No problem! They can be provided to you with - with all of that Disney style you expect - for a small extra charge! Either way, you are sure to have a magical night sleep - when you are sleeping in the magic!"

 

[Eric Smith]

Whew all of this is overwhelming me. And it’s just not enough info to make me really change anything right now.

It’s always a good idea to let the dust settle before making any big changes. Gustin hinted that more news would be coming on this at some point.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Just add on one day of The Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP Tour. The added cost of that tour is still a lot cheaper than staying on site for the whole trip in a deluxe for my family. Losing MDE really changes how I look at booking my WDW stay completely. Changes my calculations of the value of any possible DVC purchase in my family's future.

We are already DVC members and when we joined it had nothing to do with EMH or DME or any of that. We joined simply because we love Disney resorts, including those that don’t have any theme park or transportation perks like Aulani, HHI and Vero Beach. DVC for us is much more about the Disney feeling/vibe of the resort, the villa accommodations, amenities, cast members, etc. Not this perk or that perk.

I am devastated over the loss of DME. But it wasn’t DME or any other specific extra like EMH that drew us to DVC in the first place.

 

[Avery&Todd]

So, I know we all don't know the answer to this, but we've been recently in Oct and December and they were letting folks in almost an hour before the official park opening - so with this new 30 min early entry, I guess that "everyone who is here can go in an hour early" will be eliminated?

Then will the resort/friendly resorts folks stand in a special line to go in early and everyone else (APs not staying onsite, or locals, or non-onsite guests) will stand in another line and wait 30 more minutes to go in?

Honestly, we always did the touring plan of avoiding EMHs and went to some other park so I'm not sure how that worked before when the "others" would show up early too...

THANKS!

 

[andyman8]

so we know this is the official end of EMHs - obviously the early ones were replaced by this Early Entry so theoretically the evening ones could get replaced by something else included with your stay ....

... BUT I think much more likely is what you are guessing, in that there will be after hours hard ticket paid events all year round

In some ways, this was the long-term plan for the last five or so years. I know that during the 2015/16 cuts, one of the directives from on high (reminder, Bob C had just taken the helm of Parks & Resorts) was to start creeping in operating hours at WDW specifically. There was the belief that, unlike at DL where those 12am closes generated notably more cash, WDW parks weren’t seeing that much of a benefit from staying open super late (think 12a, 1a, or 2a close for MK for example), so they slowly started scaling them back, using excuses like DAH and the expanded hours at DAK (how long did that last lol) to creep in the hours at MK and DHS in particular. With the success of the relaunched DAH, diligent Disney fans started noticing fewer PMEMH nights, so them being a causality of this economic hole they’re in isn’t terribly surprising unfortunately.

I’m a little surprised they’re abandoning the EMH (I thought they’d just revert to the Extra Magic Hour (like DL) name but they’re likely doing that for two reasons: 1) it’s associated with the “old” program so no need to remind people of what was and 2) more importantly, it gives them more flexibility. It doesn’t have to be an hour; it can be half an hour during slower times of the year. It can also only include certain attractions or parts of the park.

My guess is that this benefit will be a real boon right now, given how empty the Disney resorts are (and doing it on the half hour still allows them to stagger openings on busier days/weekends during the pandemic). As more resorts reopen and tourism patterns/occupancy rates return to normal, I could see them bumping it out to a full hour and keeping it as a half-an-hour benefit during slow times of the year. Again, this gives them more flexibility going forward. But I’d be shocked if it stayed just thirty minutes forever. At some point (not necessarily soon), I think it’ll be bumped out during busier times of the year.

Going forward, you’ll have Resort Guest Early Entry in the morning and DAH/MNSSHP/MVMCP on select evenings.

 

[SaintsManiac]

It’s always a good idea to let the dust settle before making any big changes. Gustin hinted that more news would be coming on this at some point.

Definitely. I really need to get it into my head how much is changing.

 

[Farro]

At least we have ME for any trips this year!

 

[andyman8]

Definitely. I really need to get it into my head how much is changing.

I think something that would be helpful for everyone: look at anything with the words Temporarily Unavailable and assume it won’t be around for your trip - even if that trip is a year out. Sure, a number of those things will come back but I feel pretty confident a lot of these “temporary” suspensions are not temporary or at least will last a lot longer than we think,

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Definitely. I really need to get it into my head how much is changing.

In a good way too. We last were there just over a year ago and we will have at least 3 new to us big attractions when we return, 5 depending on Tron and GotG. Hopefully Epcot will also be looking much better than it did when we were last there too! Maybe even a new nighttime show there for those of us who wait long enough?

Maybe Genie will even work better for us than our former ways (I doubt this one, but who knows). Lots of changes in not too much time even considering the not so nice ones. Will miss DME though