E nights offensive?

[Deb & Bill]

Originally posted by Dopey's twin Dippy
i just wish that people staying in disney hotels, were guranteed a SEAT on the Busses;;;;;;;;;;;;i dont think that is fair.

I think I have always gotten a seat on a bus. If I am about to get on the bus and it's waaaaay, I can always stay in line and get the next bus. Then I should be able to get a seat back to the resort. Going to the parks, with people getting on and off the bus, I usually get a seat.

 

[ninafeliz]

I agree with everyone who thinks it's worth the extra price to get to be in the Magic Kingdom with few people and shorter lines. My family did e-night the first year they starteed doing it, and it was great. No lines at all, it felt like it was "your" park. Then the second year we did it again, and there were fairly long lines given the situation. We weited 25 minutes for space mt, which was what we had waited earlier in the day, and it was the same with most of the other rides. The difference was that they had only half of the rides up and running that second year- for example only one side of Space Mt was open. I wrote a letter to voice my dissappointment, and someone called me back soon and sent me $30 in disney dollars and apologized for our time. If we had kept the reciepts they were going to refund the money I haven't gone again to see how it compares now, but I would definately do it anytime they offer it. If they were to make it free and given out to the first 5000 resort guests, I think it would turn into a big unhappy mess with people trying to get the tickets. that's one stress I don't want on vacation, I'll gladly pay $12.

 

[Chim Chiminy]

There are six e-nights offered during the time we will be there and I am debating the issue.

Will we attend?
How many to attend?
What night to attend?

We went to one last August, I think it was on a Tuesday night.
As the evening wore on, closer to the start, we felt like it wouldn't be too crowded.
Terrible thunderstorms had driven many people away, and we weren't seeing very many wristbands.
In fact I think I had at one point counted 15.


Once they cleared out everyone else, whoa!
It was a crowded E-night. Thirty minute waits for Space Mountain. Same for Buzz.
We only got to ride Splash once and BTMRR once. And they times posted outside rides were not accurate, so that just added to the frustration.
They were not letting people just stay on the rides and everything shut down at 11 pm on the nose. (I think that was the time 8-11)

So now I am debating it.
Do I really want to pay extra money to wait in what was essentially long lines?

 

[twinkles0819]

since the last e-night that has already been posted "august 13th"....does that mean that there will be no more the rest of the summer. I will be there on the 13th but I planned on doing Magic Kingdom on my birthday which is the 19th. I guess I will have to see

 

[SuzieQMomof3]

I've never been to an E-ride night, because we usually go off season just to avoid crowds. I would do anything to avoid a huge crowd, so if an E-ride night were offered when we were there, I'd probably do it.

However, the original poster's point really hit home with me. For our family of 6, we would have already spent $300 just to walk in the park, now I have to pay another $70? It doesn't sound like much when you see the $12 price tag, but the bottom line is pretty big!

 

[Schmeck]

You don't HAVE to do e-night, for goodness sakes! If you don't want to pay the money, don't go.

Nothing is ever 'free' - Disney will jack up ticket prices, room rates, etc. to pay the CMs that work at those 'free' EMHs. If you want 'free' e-nights be willing to pay extra for the WDW resort you have to stay at.

 

[Simba's Girl]

No one's making you go dude, if you don't want to then don't.

Alot of people find that Enights are a special time with very small crowds and the atmosphere is fantastic.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by Schmeck
You don't HAVE to do e-night, for goodness sakes! If you don't want to pay the money, don't go.

ITA

 

[bhillier]

We went in may and stayed @ poly. The extra hours after the park closed were free. So was the extra hour in the a.m. It was only for select disney resorts. At least thats what I was told by a CM over a@ MGM. I thought the extra hours were great. We were able to cover so much in such a little bit of time.

I don't know if I would pay extra. I mean the hotel and the cost of tickets along with food and extras. WOW! I think thats asking a bit much. That's just not right.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We stayed at FW in May and they had the "test run" of free Extra magic hours. We did not go as it was a non-park visit for us that trip. Other campers went--they said for the first hour or so it was busy--but then it died down with no waits (b/c all the families with little kiddies returned to the hotel). So I disagree with the "select resort" mentality--the CM might have been mistaken. I think all resorts were permitted to take advantage.

With the free event--you still have to get the wristbands--and you had to get them by a certain time I believe. Simply showing up at the gate with your resort ID and ticket--I don't believe that you could get in (someone feel free to correct me, but that is how I read the brochure).

We have never paid the extra $12 as we have small children and it would have been wasted money b/c they would be zonked (or cranky since they wouldn't be in bed).

I'm not sure if the event was successful or not in terms of crowds and cost to keep it open versus additional money spent in the park--I just know that the E-nights were already on the schedule for the beginning of summer. So that is not a good indicator if the Extra Magic Hour was good business sense or not. We will just have to wait it out.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by Lisa loves Pooh
So I disagree with the "select resort" mentality--the CM might have been mistaken. I think all resorts were permitted to take advantage.

SOG didn't take part in the test run of EMH. I believe that's why they said select resort.

 

[LoveThoseLabbies]

Henduck: Think about all the other things that are offensive at Disney.......$150 for a room not much bigger than our closet, $7 for a burger, $2.5 for a bottle of water, $20 for a tee shirt. They do it because they can get it, period. All the so called resorts are the same however. They know most people come there once every couple of years.

Their objective is to separate you from as much of your money as they can in that short period of time, while banking on the fact that "next time" with the selective memory most of us have, you will remember the good, forget the bad and "do it all again."

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I don't believe that SOG is technically a Disney resort....

all disney resorts are Disney's such and such.

Swan and Dolphin are not Disney resorts either....WDW Swan and WDW Dolphin are operated by a different hotel management group (can't think of the name). I wonder if they were excluded as well.

Not sure if SOG has the same lead in (being called the WDW SOG).

In any case--that is what I have been told in the past so that one can differentiate between the resorts that Disney owns and operates and those that are simply on property.

So given that--then I think all of Disney's resorts were in the test-but perhaps then not all on-property resorts were. I mean--we paid less than $40 for our campsite--so I don't think they were skipping out on the less expensive resorts.

 

[OLT2004]

Disney seems to be moving towards "Double Admissions" for one full day and night.

Compare WDW hours to USF - 9AM to 6PM @ WDW but for an extra $12(If you are staying @ "Select Resort") you can stay till 9PM!!!!!

Can any one name another amusement park that charges "double admission'??

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

On the pro side of things...

WDW charges extra for MNSSHP, Night of Joy, and MVMCP.

USF charges extra for HHN (not sure for Mardi Gras and such)...

Busch Gardens has a halloween event as well I believe.

So if you look at it--Disney is letting you play longer for only a fraction of the cost of these special events.

On the con side of things...
I still prefer not to "pay" for an extra "benefit".

I like USF idea of having on sight guests get to jump to the head of all the lines--now that is a cool benefit.

 

[mmccoy]

We attended e-ride on Memorial Day evening, 9-12. The only ride with a line was Space Mountain - 15-20 minutes. While four of us went to SM, my DW and DS5 rode Buzz Lightyear five times. Earlier in the day, we waited 30-40 minutes stand-by.

Later, while four of us rode Thunder Mountain RR 3X in a row, my DW and DS5 rode Pooh and Peter Pan until the CMs began referring to my son by name.

At 12:15, as the park closed, we sat in front of Cinderella's Castle, along with three or four other people, and got our goodnight kiss. No crowds, no clean-up noise. Now, that was magical.

Best $12 I've ever spent.

 

[jbwolffiv]

I always went to E-rides Night for the short lines. My wife and I would skip many attractions since we knew we could ride them many times easily during the night. Of course now we have a 3 yo DD that goes to bed by 8, 9 the latest, so E-rides is not in our near future.

 

[Disney Fool]

For LisaluvsPooh: The WDW Swan and WDW Dolphin guests do indeed participate in Early Entry and E-nights, get the same privileges as other Disney resorts. SOG was sold to the military and is completely run by them. The Hilton also has access to EE and E-nights.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Thanks Disney Fool!

So then SOG was excluded b/c it is not technically a disney/wdw resort. Thanks for the info!


(Good to know about Hilton--are you sure there are not other LBV properties included--why just the Hilton?)

 

[Disney Fool]

I don't know why the Hilton is included and not others. But it's listed as a participating hotel for these events. I just came back from a stay at the Dolphin in May at the tail end of the experiment with the hours. There was a paper that was handed out at the check in desk which detailed the changes in EE and E-nights, and the Hilton was included, and not for the first time, either. Does anyone else know?