Disney's Reducing the Value of staying on property

[hookedonears]

Saturdays and Mondays no longer have EMH scheduled for the month of December, one of the busiest months of the year.

We totally prefer AM EMH.
2015 AM EMH - 5 days 5 parks. 2016 3 days 3 parks.
2015 PM EMH - 3 days 3 parks. 2016 3 days 3 parks.

This stinks.

 

[Duffywannabe]

They have eliminated a lot of value from things these days. Doesn't seem to be hurting them financially, so why wouldn't they eliminate these things?

 

[Oswin]

Keep in mind they will likely add to / change things on the December schedule multiple times, as it was just released. People traveling in July are still waiting for their final hours, so you may not see a final schedule until mid November for December travel dates.

 

[monorailrabbit]

Edited, nevermind - found them

 

[mgpan]

So good luck planning which park(s) which days and your ADRs! I do feel for the July folks, 180 days for ADRs, 60 for FP+ and they don't even have final park hours 30 or so days out. I'm hoping it's just because they are adding some capacity to a few rides, new shows, etc. and are unsure of crowd impacts as of yet. If that's the reason great as it's because of plusses instead of minuses. Still feel bad for those going in July.

 

[Hopefully]

So good luck planning which park(s) which days and your ADRs! I do feel for the July folks, 180 days for ADRs, 60 for FP+ and they don't even have final park hours 30 or so days out. I'm hoping it's just because they are adding some capacity to a few rides, new shows, etc. and are unsure of crowd impacts as of yet. If that's the reason great as it's because of plusses instead of minuses. Still feel bad for those going in July.

It has always been that park hours are changed at the last minute - sometimes same day.
It does seem though, that this year they are much slower to release them to begin with. And AK hours are still a 5 PM close after early September. However, Josh at easywdw is wondering/speculating that the Jungle Book nighttime show will end in early September and Rivers of Light will not be available until late November. So that might mean there really is no extended Fall AK hours.
We don't know and yes it is frustrating to plan

 

[SaintsManiac]

It's June. Park hours changed a week before December last year.

 

[Klayfish]

I know I'm in the huge minority, but I like staying off property. Fits our life much better. I certainly understand why Disney would give incentives to stay on property, but sometimes I feel like they treat us like red-headed step children. I still pay a lot of money for my park tickets and any souvenirs or snacks we buy inside.

 

[huey578]

I hear EMH are being changed to Sundays / Tuesdays starting next month

 

[Hikergirl]

OP, its June, you have no idea if these are the final hours for December.

 

[Flipper]

I hear EMH are being changed to Sundays / Tuesdays starting next month

For what park? We are going in July and I have a feeling we will be scrambling last minute when the hours/emh change.

 

[tlmadden73]

I feel that Disney will slowly roll away the EMH.
1) It's costly for them.
2) I would argue that a high percentage of on-site guests don't even take advantage of them (they have to get up too early or stay up too late with young kids to take advantage).
3) Even those who DO take advantage of it .. don't do it for every day of their trip.
4) Because of #2 I doubt that resort attendance would dip if they simply disappeared.

My decision (and probably a lot of people's) to stay on or off is not made due to Extra Magic Hours .. it is just a nice "extra" I can take advantage of if my schedule aligns. My decisions is made due to the convenience of getting to the parks without having to drive my own car .. or the cool theming .. or the 60 days fast pass reservations.

The thing is .. if demand for resort attendance is high, they don't really need to offer an extra perks to intice people to stay there . .they will stay there regardless.

I have said (and feel) that a 4th Fast Pass per day would be a much bigger perk to a MAJORITY of the guests and may be a bigger draw to get someone to make that on-site versus off-site decision.
That would be a lot more appealing to a lot of families who don't want to get up early and give you a lot more flexibility in planning a day. And cheaper for Disney to implement.

Heck .. if the system could handle it, imagine a 4th "free" Fast Pass .. unscheduled .. just arrive at whatever ride you want .. whenever you want once a day. Now THAT would be a perk.


Also, if the Early Morning Magic is a success, they will just have more of those events and less EMH.

 

[AngiTN]

Only if you think EMH is a benefit to staying on site. Those who don't aren't loosing any value to their on site stay.

 

[Dis703]

It's so far out I'm sure hours are very likely to change. That said I'd be bummed if EMH is taken away. We have yet to be able to take advantage of them, but as our kids are getting older it's more likely we will be able to manage the late nights in the next few years. I'd be pretty bummed if it was no longer available when that time comes for us.

 

[AngiTN]

2) I would argue that a high percentage of on-site guests don't even take advantage of them (they have to get up too early or stay up too late with young kids to take advantage).

I've always said that this is probably the sole reason for a reduction in EMH that so many complain about.
The reason folks like EMH is it's sparsely attended.
Something sparsely attended tells Disney "this is not all that popular".
Why would they want to offer something that appears not all that popular?

And what guests to attend them only makes that park more crowded for that day, which is why I don't attend them.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

We stay onsite and that decision has never been made due to EMH, we normally avoid those EMH if we can. The times of year we have gone, the parks weren't open late enough to make the evening hours worth it, there were still lots of crowds. Mornings of just 1 hour are not worth getting up for, we just do RD at another park.

Would taking away EMH altogether make a difference to the "avoid EMH" strategy? Maybe...big enough to matter? Who knows...

@tlmadden73 has a great suggestion, heck yes I would love to have an extra FP over EMH, scheduled or not.

 

[mco65]

EMH is a huge selling point for me. If they where to eliminate it all together.. I would still stay onsite for others perks but would begin to look at the costs of staying off site with more scrutiny.

We do a little of both,,, going to park with EMH and avoiding park with EMH..

 

[Dan Murphy]

Where are you guys seeing the hours? Disneyworld.com only goes to 12/9.

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

 

[Keyser]

I hear EMH are being changed to Sundays / Tuesdays starting next month

That is the "Early Morning Magic" (the paid early entry to Magic Kingdom) that is Sunday/Tuesday starting in July (though it appears it is not offered the first week of July). It has been Saturday/Tuesday through June.

 

[Love Tink]

Would taking away EMH altogether make a difference to the "avoid EMH" strategy? Maybe...big enough to matter? Who knows....

I am going to go out on a limb and say yes: If there are no longer EMH...any strategies about using/avoiding EMH will change.