Disney World Buries Its Controversial $149 After Hours Experiment

[jodifla]

No way those adjustments come to pass. The problem with starting at 7:00 is now you really are impacting normal operating schedule. The premise seems to be utilize times when the park would normally be closed to generate more revenue. I would guess they would actually lose money versus normal revenue in merchandise sales by closing the park to the public at 7:00 and keeping it open for just a few guests for under $100 per ticket. To close at 7:00 probably would increase the price tag to a ball park number of $500 - $1000 per ticket (just guess).

The MK often closes at 7 in the wintertime weekdays.

 

[Mac30188]

The MK often closes at 7 in the wintertime weekdays.

Isn't that only to accommodate MVMCP? Do they ever close at 7:00PM without a hard ticket event afterwards?

 

[Allison]

The MK often closes at 7 in the wintertime weekdays.

Only for the Christmas party.

 

[jodifla]

Isn't that only to accommodate MVMCP? Do they ever close at 7:00PM without a hard ticket event afterwards?

When I was there last in winter, a couple of years ago now, it closed at 7 several nights when we were there. Looking at next January, the MK is routinely closing at 8 on weeknights. So they could do DAH from 8 to 11 those nights easily.

http://media.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/ParkHours/WDWTravelAgent_january.pdf

 

[Josh Hendy]

When I was there last in winter, a couple of years ago now, it closed at 7 several nights when we were there. Looking at next January, the MK is routinely closing at 8 on weeknights. So they could do DAH from 8 to 11 those nights easily.

http://media.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/ParkHours/WDWTravelAgent_january.pdf

The trouble is (for Disney) that if the season is slow enough to close at 7pm, there are also fewer potential customers for the DAH upsell, and the lighter crowds during the day mean that there is even less motivation for people to shell out for rhe privilege of shorter lines. There is also the matter of colder temperatures.

I think the Disney management have overreached themselves. They looked at the most popular and profitable theme park resort in the world - in other words a very efficient and tightly run operation - and convinced themselves that their customers are ending their vacations not just with SOME money left in their pockets, but with "loadsadough". So (the Disney's spreadsheet geeks promised them) there must be some kind of creative pricing and product delivery tricks that will "maximize" the cash extraction. To grab all that extra cash and unused credit people are taking home.

But like I said, this is already a very efficient and hugely profitable enterprise. Only somebody who is quite desperate or quite ignorant of their customers would attempt to send home most of their customers early during a busy season, then try to wallop a small minority of well heeled customers with a very large and frankly dubious upcharge.

 

[jodifla]

The trouble is (for Disney) that if the season is slow enough to close at 7pm, there are also fewer potential customers for the DAH upsell, and the lighter crowds during the day mean that there is even less motivation for people to shell out for rhe privilege of shorter lines. There is also the matter of colder temperatures.

I think the Disney management have overreached themselves. They looked at the most popular and profitable theme park resort in the world - in other words a very efficient and tightly run operation - and convinced themselves that their customers are ending their vacations not just with SOME money left in their pockets, but with "loadsadough". So (the Disney's spreadsheet geeks promised them) there must be some kind of creative pricing and product delivery tricks that will "maximize" the cash extraction. To grab all that extra cash and unused credit people are taking home.

But like I said, this is already a very efficient and hugely profitable enterprise. Only somebody who is quite desperate or quite ignorant of their customers would attempt to send home most of their customers early during a busy season, then try to wallop a small minority of well heeled customers with a very large and frankly dubious upcharge.

Talking it over with my friends and family who went, we thought the $149 was too expensive, but that there could be a market for it -- especially among those who didn't already have tickets. So if you marketed it to a teen/adult/Florida residents at the right price, I think you could find the balance between cost and attendance.

I've been going to WDW for 44 years, and it was THE COOLEST MAGIC KINGDOM EXPERIENCE EVER! I put it in all caps so it really stands out. I've been there about 100 times -- I've totally lost count, and DAH was truly memorable -- up there with doing Grad Night back in 1979.

But I think the audience you are looking for are those who don't already have really expensive passes. Maybe Universal people, locals, convention people, etc.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I can afford it, though to pay for a family of 6 is pretty steep. I would not IF others were getting in free or half price, though. If everyone was paying the same amount I MIGHT consider it.

 

[TheNotSoEvilQueen]

I would do it, but I never even knew about it until I read this thread. I need to step my Disney game up! Good thing I joined the boards!

 

[Accident]

I would do it, but I never even knew about it until I read this thread. I need to step my Disney game up! Good thing I joined the boards!

I think this is the biggest reason it stopped (although still on the site so not buried, they have some future plan for it). It came out of nowhere and lasted less than people at resort had to book fastpasses for their trip. I personally think there is this 2 month mark for anything completely new and if you don't know about it before you do fastpasses, the average guest has no clue it's even around as an option.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I think this is the biggest reason it stopped (although still on the site so not buried, they have some future plan for it). It came out of nowhere and lasted less than people at resort had to book fastpasses for their trip. I personally think there is this 2 month mark for anything completely new and if you don't know about it before you do fastpasses, the average guest has no clue it's even around as an option.

This is exactly what I thought. We did the event and loved it and would do it again. But we almost didn't because we already had all our plans made for the trip. If I had girls who had their princess breakfast scheduled the next morning, or FP+ for Frozen on that same day, we wouldn't have done it. It just worked out that the following day was already a down day for us and the day of the event had already been set aside for Magic Kingdom. In other words, the stars aligned and we went for it.

AND had I not be on these boards, I would not have known about it at all anyway.

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

I would actually love to do the evening event. I wish they were having it in September. We will do MNSSHP, but it's so crowded.

 

[Sue M]

There's no way I'd be paying $600 for a family of 4 for 3 hrs in a park on top of my regular admission. Just on general principle alone. I don't know what hat they pulled that price point out of. It has nothing to do with what I can afford.
Just my opinion. How we choose to spend our vacation money is a personal thing. To me staying at GH is worth it, Extra Magic is not.

I just think Wdw pricing for "extras" is getting out of control. I'm looking at you Dessert Parties Not drinking the koolaide.

 

[Best_Vacation_EVER!]

.

AND had I not be on these boards, I would not have known about it at all anyway.

Definitely this... we attended one night but only because we learned about this on the DIS. We talked to a number of people the day of and they knew nothing about it. I think they spent too much time with advertising to bloggers and not enough advertising more broadly. I'm thinking too if they had added a couple of character meets they would have had reasonably good numbers.

 

[whiporee]

There's no way I'd be paying $600 for a family of 4 for 3 hrs in a park on top of my regular admission. Just on general principle alone. I don't know what hat they pulled that price point out of. It has nothing to do with what I can afford.
Just my opinion. How we choose to spend our vacation money is a personal thing. To me staying at GH is worth it, Extra Magic is not.

I just think Wdw pricing for "extras" is getting out of control. I'm looking at you Dessert Parties Not drinking the koolaide.

Not that it matters, but you have a couple of misconceptions. First the event was not in addition to regular admission, it was in place of it. So if you chose to spend the whole day at MK, then yes, it would be on top of regular admission. But unlike the morning event, entry was included in the $149 for Disney After Hours.

The second is/was that it was only three hours -- the event allowed you into the park at 7 (sometimes earlier) for nights that DAH kept the park open until 1. So you were getting six hours -- three of them with almost no one else there. Whether that's a value or not is a personal choice, but I thought I'd throw the facts out there before people got the wrong impression of the event.

 

[Sue M]

Not that it matters, but you have a couple of misconceptions. First the event was not in addition to regular admission, it was in place of it. So if you chose to spend the whole day at MK, then yes, it would be on top of regular admission. But unlike the morning event, entry was included in the $149 for Disney After Hours.

The second is/was that it was only three hours -- the event allowed you into the park at 7 (sometimes earlier) for nights that DAH kept the park open until 1. So you were getting six hours -- three of them with almost no one else there. Whether that's a value or not is a personal choice, but I thought I'd throw the facts out there before people got the wrong impression of the event.

Perhaps I was being too vague, I was thinking all day MK so yes, it would be on top of park admission. Most people going to Wdw have length of stay tickets or APs. So one would already have regular park admission for that day.
Which would include the time you are allowed in before event starts, so in my mind it is only 3 hrs. You are correct that if you're in Wdw and have no park tickets, it would give you 7 hrs.

It was just my personal opinion that for me, I don't see the value at that price point. But some don't see the value of a GF stay. It is very much personal. It's all about how you choose to spend your vacay dollars.

 

[tjkraz]

Most people going to Wdw have length of stay tickets or APs. So one would already have regular park admission for that day.

"Most people?" Probably accurate. But we really don't know the percentages. Even if 80% of all theme park guests have multi-day admission media, that still leaves tens-of-thousands on the average day who are buying single day tickets.

Additionally, an option like this has the potential to alter guest planning going forward. Many people were already forced to change their habits due to the elimination of non-expiring passes.

I was at WDW for a short stay in early May and would have done this if offered during one of our nights. No question. But I have no idea how many others would also see the value. Disney's nonexistent promoting of the event certainly hurt attendance, along with the short lead time, limited selection of dates and numerous other factors.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

The MK often closes at 7 in the wintertime weekdays.

...because it cools off and the crowds are light...

Which would diffuse the "exclusive time" angle

 

[mom2rtk]

Isn't that only to accommodate MVMCP? Do they ever close at 7:00PM without a hard ticket event afterwards?

We have been there in early December many times and it never closed at 7 unless it was for MVMCP.

 

[mom2rtk]

When I was there last in winter, a couple of years ago now, it closed at 7 several nights when we were there. Looking at next January, the MK is routinely closing at 8 on weeknights. So they could do DAH from 8 to 11 those nights easily.

http://media.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/ParkHours/WDWTravelAgent_january.pdf

But I've been told (many times) that Disney adds hours closer to that month.

 

[mom2rtk]

Not that it matters, but you have a couple of misconceptions. First the event was not in addition to regular admission, it was in place of it. So if you chose to spend the whole day at MK, then yes, it would be on top of regular admission. But unlike the morning event, entry was included in the $149 for Disney After Hours.

The second is/was that it was only three hours -- the event allowed you into the park at 7 (sometimes earlier) for nights that DAH kept the park open until 1. So you were getting six hours -- three of them with almost no one else there. Whether that's a value or not is a personal choice, but I thought I'd throw the facts out there before people got the wrong impression of the event.

And if you have a multi day ticket, that day's admission would cost $15. So you're trading $15 for $149.

When Disney moved to surge pricing on one day tickets, everyone here on the DIS exclaimed that it didn't matter because nobody buys one day tickets anyway.