Evening Extra Magic Hour! (VERY LONG POST)

[jgates]

I would love to try this in July. The sun and the heat make me very sick - I love being at the parks in the evening when the sun is lower and it has cooled off.

I think for courtesy though, they should have announced this at least 2 months ahead if not longer.

 

[paras4ri]

Originally posted by javaj
"...Guests staying at a Disney-owned and operated resort during the Extra Magic Hour test period will be notified by postcard before their arrival (and again upon check-in) of this change to assist them with planning their stay.

Just wondering if folks staying at the Dolphin & Swan will be notified? They're not Disney owned & operated but they are participating in the EMH test.

 

[dijid]

I'm really curious how they're going to notify non-resort guests. I'm planning on being there during this test and am staying offsite. I would have never known about it if I hadn't read it here. I plan my days at each park around avoiding the EE park and that has been affected. This is causing me to re-think my current strategy for my next visit.

If they're not careful, they will upset a lot of non-resort guests. Imagine being at the MK on an EMH evening, waiting in line for a ride, and then being told you can't ride it because you don't have a wristband. If they don't hand out a flyer to everyone as they enter, or they don't kick everyone out of the parks at regular closing, you'll never know the late hours are for resort guests only. Yeah, your watch will tell you it's closing time, but you'll see everyone else staying. And if they close the parks early to non-resort guests, then I think you'll be seeing a bit of mutiny. I would be one very, very unhappy AP holder myself.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

I am truly excited about this and hope that it stays through the summer, or at least until my June trip

I don't think Disney is being unfair to off-site guests. Nor do I think that they need to notify them. First off, how would they? Mail a postcard to everyone who has booked a room in the Orlando area?

It will be a challenge to police this. They will probably have extra staff standing at the entrance to each ride queue and at a certain point you can't get in line without showing a wrist band. I doubt they will stop those people from eating and shopping, though

This might sound harsh, but I cannot believe people are actually upset because they are going to have to re-plan their itineraries!! I enjoy planning as much as the next DISer, but I am not so stuck to my plan that I can't welcome a new perk like this. So what if you have to change your itinerary?

 

[chipnwendy]

This does indeed sound like a great idea. We are having breakfast at Cindy's on Thursday morining, which would have originally been an early entry day at the Magic Kingdom. Now, instead of having to battle the crowds when we exited the castle at around 9:00, we will already be in the middle of the park, and hopefully ahead of the masses.

One thing I was wondering though, is how this will affect guests who had made PS according to the old plans Disney had in effect?

 

[HeadintoWDW]

Originally posted by Dallas_Lady
This might sound harsh, but I cannot believe people are actually upset because they are going to have to re-plan their itineraries!! I enjoy planning as much as the next DISer, but I am not so stuck to my plan that I can't welcome a new perk like this. So what if you have to change your itinerary?

Not to have to revisit this whole debate again , but it does matter when you have to change your itinerary. For some people, "itinerary" means more than "PS." We only have a couple PS's for the week, but we are doing much more other than just the parks. We had to reschedule DH's golf, and at this late date he was not able to get a tee time at the course he wanted. There was only one course left with any tee times, so he went ahead and took it, but he was a little disappointed. We also had to change the date and time of our anniversary dinner, eating much later than we wanted to. Granted, it was my choice to try and take advantage of the extra park time. I hope the extra evening hours at MK are worth it.

 

[HeadintoWDW]

Originally posted by dijid
If they're not careful, they will upset a lot of non-resort guests. Imagine being at the MK on an EMH evening, waiting in line for a ride, and then being told you can't ride it because you don't have a wristband. If they don't hand out a flyer to everyone as they enter, or they don't kick everyone out of the parks at regular closing, you'll never know the late hours are for resort guests only.

It doesn't sound like that's what would happen. From everything I've read (which of course isn't official! ) they may post a CM at each ride entrance to check wristbands. Therefore, people staying off-site wouldn't be allowed into the line. That would avoid them wasting 20 minutes or a half hour waiting in line only to get up to the ride vehicle and find out they can't board.

At least I hope that's what they do...I would feel really bad for the off-site people that wasted time in line. From what it sounds like though, you would still be able to stroll Main Street and browse in the shops.

 

[vmkids]

I really hope they do allow the off siters to stay in the park even though they cannot ride. I have never taken the time to shop in Disney because I want to see everything else. I would love to stay in the park and have a look at all the shops. The kids would know they cannot ride and we could just liesure around and take in the atmosphere more than we do when I commando the parks! Does anybody know for sure that (if this trial works) the off siters will be able to stay in park or not?

Think that would be a good comprimise between on and off. Simply on site-= on rides, off site= off to the stores!

 

[Barb]

On E-Ticket nights, you have to show your wristband to even get in the line for the ride. So I would think they'll follow the same rule for this. As to whether or not they'll allow non-Disney resort guests stay and shop or dine, I don't know. I've never paid attention to what they do for E-Ticket nights. Do they let non-attendees stay in the park for a while? It would be nice if the official rules were posted somewhere soon. It's only two weeks away.

 

[Kerlynne]

Another comment about SOG. If it was the fact that budgeting in more hours of transportation,was the reason for them not getting in this deal, I say offer the special hours, but just don't allow transportation. What we did one time, was take WDW transportation to Poly, And then we just walked across, up to SOG. I mean it would piss people off, not to have the vans, but at least it's giving you the ability to decide if you want it, but find your own way back. Ya know?! But like others have replied, maybe once this catches on, and sees that it making more business, hopefully, SOG can get in.

 

[FatCow]

I feel the need of being a devil's advocate.

If SOG participate without transportation, I guarantee you that there will be at least one person on this board who will complain about that.

 

[bethbuchall]

Still no post card for me. Did anyone else get post cards?

Beth

 

[CRAVENDISNEY]

Can't wait to take advantage of it. We will be there May 7-12. Anxious to see how this new set up plans out.

 

[bethbuchall]

I just checked, and that website www.disneyworld.com/extramagic is now available.

It says "an extra 3 hours" for the evening hours, not "up to 3 hours." It doesn't have quite as much information as I would like, though, especially how they are handling Epcot's hours. Now I really wish we were staying onsite our whole trip, but you can't beat free lodging for a week!

Also, it definitely appears that this schedule replaces the normal EMH, not adds to it. Sorry for those who were hoping for both.

I am getting so excited about our trip!!!

 

[oogieboogie]

Thanks bethbuchall. I just got done printing this out.

In reading the website, I have a couple questions:

In MK, where exactly is the East and West Castle Hubs?

In MGM, is Gower St the street leading to RnRC?

I'm trying to mark out my map and I'm just stumped.

 

[oogieboogie]

I'm confused as to which attraction is open or not. It seems like Fantasyland won't be open for PM EMH?

Neither are TT, MS, RnRC, TOT, KS.

Am I reading this wrong? That would a big bummer if it is true.

 

[laughinplace199]

oogieboogie,

If I am reading this correctly, the attractions with an asterisk are only open for the PM EMH and the ones without the asterisk are open for both the AM and PM EMH. So, things like Pooh, Peter Pan, carousel, Dumbo, TT, MS, ToT, RnRC, KS should be open during both AM and PM EMH. I hope I am reading this correctly!


Open Attractions for Extra Magic Hours Benefit
* Noted attractions are only open for the evening benefit
Magic Kingdom® Park - *Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin©Disney/Pixar, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, *Mickey's PhilharMagic, Space Mountain®, *Splash Mountain®, Peter Pan's Flight, *The Haunted Mansion, Cinderella's Golden Carrousel, *The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, *Pirates of the Caribbean, Astro Orbiter, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, *Country Bear Jamboree, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, "it's a small world", Tomorrowland® Indy Speedway, *Jungle Cruise, *Swiss Family Treehouse, Mad Tea Party


Epcot® - Test Track, Mission: SPACE®, Spaceship Earth, *Journey Into Imagination with Figment, *Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, Universe of Energy, *The Living Seas, *Living with the Land, *Norway-Maelstrom, *Mexico-El Río del Tiempo


Disney-MGM Studios - The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster® Starring Aerosmith, *Walt Disney: One Man's Dream, Star Tours, Jim Henson's Muppet Vision 3-D, The Magic of Disney Animation, *Sounds Dangerous-Starring Drew Carey, *The Great Movie Ride, *Voyage of The Little Mermaid


Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park - *TriceraTop Spin, *Primeval Whirl®, *The Boneyard®, It's Tough to be a Bug!®, *Festival of the Lion King, *Kali River Rapids®, *Tarzan™ Rocks!, Kilimanjaro Safaris®, The Tree of Life, Discovery Island™ Trails
The Twilight Zone® is a registered trademark of CBS, Inc. and is used

 

[patster734]

laughinplace199,

That's how I'm reading it too.

 

[EEyorelover22]

I hope that people who go to the night time EMH post how the crowds are. I would think it would be packed at that park??

 

[laughinplace199]

When do you suppose Epcot will close on EMH night? Normally, FW closes at 7:00 and WS closes at 9:00. It appears that some attractions in both FW and WS are included in the EMH evening program. Do you think it will close at 10:00 or 12:00?