Extra Magic Hour Parks to Change 01/02

[Tbella]

Just when I'm done my planning and PS reservations it seems Disney is going to change the EMH parks. I called and CM told me the changes will be for 01/02/05 and on and he doesn't know when the changes will be announced. I asked if the changes will be drastic and he said they will be but that they will benefit me. I don't see how he thinks it will benefit me if all my planning is done!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks! This is great news-we arrive 1/2.

 

[jtdl]

Apparently the new "early entry" will be: each day one of the theme parks will open one hour early OR stay open three hours later. Yes, it sure does throw those of us planning an upcoming trip (Feb for me) for a loop with regards to which park which day and PS arrangements! I do like the idea of closing 3 hours later since I'm not an early riser and do not ever make it to early entry. I just hope the schedule is posted very soon.

 

[sters]

I read somewhere that they will be adding the extra 3-hours at night for some nights. No schedule was provided, though, so I guess we'll just have to sit tight!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I'm not good at sitting tight!

I will say I don't plan to change any of my PS's for the parks staying open later. I have an 8 AM for Donald's breakfast on 1/13 and 5:45 PM for Crystal Palace on 1/14. I can't see how extra park hours would matter for either of those. If someone else sees an issue please point it out - I am completely new at this! We also have a PS at Sci-Fi on Saturday 1/15, but I still don't think I would change it. DS and DH are more morning people, I am the nocturnal one! I'm sure whatever they have will be fun, and if we know ahead of time (meaning if we know that morning) that something will be open late then we can always go take a nap and come back!

 

[dj2]

anyone have any idea when the new schedule will be posted? or if it will look like the test last spring?

i thought i'd try staying off site this next trip and have been watching sky auction and getravelop. i do have a room only res for our stay just in case, but i didn't think the extra hour would be enough to justify the extra cost.

but...an extra 3 hours! the plot thickens! now i'm sort of glad that it's not all planned out yet...

and yet---i want to know what i'm doing!!!!!!! Argh!!!!!

 

[mickeysaver]

OMG, while the idea of 3 extra hours of AK at night thrill me, I can't even begin to think about how ticked off I would be if I had a trip planned in early January right now. I would have all my i's dotted and t's crossed and this would be maddening.

What a news day!?!? Maggie

 

[mickey0216]

While I do not believe that they are advertsiing the schedule yet, I received the following in an email from mousesavers:

Extra Magic Hour is Changing!

In 2005, Disney will be switching to a new schedule for Extra Magic Hour. Each day one of the theme parks will open one hour early OR stay open three hours later so Disney Resort hotel guests can enjoy select attractions. (A valid theme park ticket and Resort ID are required.)

This system was tested earlier this year. It appears this will begin on January 2, 2005. The specific schedule has not been announced yet.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

The www.disneyworld.com site says that parks will be open UP TO three hours at night. Which means it might not always be three hours, maybe sometimes shorter depending on the day, the park, etc. And it didn't say how the morning vs. evening hours work. For example, if MK opens early it didn't say whether or not MK would be the late park that same day. Maybe other sites have more info? It is confusing, and I don't know what we will do for tickets. I just need four day park hoppers, and they DO say on the updated info that advance purchase discounts are only for 5,6, or 7 days with Park Hopper and/or Plus features. I don't want to buy more days than we will use because if I was going to buy more days than we could use I would buy them on the old system to avoid the $55 per ticket charge for no expiration!

 

[Cmbar]

OK I'm confused. What is the Three extra hours late thing? And this may be a really stupid question but how do they know you are a resort guest who gets to stay? I've never been a early riser so we have never really taken advantage of the early morning hour, so I don't know how this works. We buy hoppers through the military but always stay on property so we are still eligible for the extra hour even though we don't go on a package Right?

Don't even get me started on the planning stuff ! We go first week in FEB and I am dying here. Could this be why they STILL DON"T have the February hours up on WDW site? Anyone know when they will?

 

[DisDarling]

OK I'm confused. What is the Three extra hours late thing? And this may be a really stupid question but how do they know you are a resort guest who gets to stay? I've never been a early riser so we have never really taken advantage of the early morning hour, so I don't know how this works. We buy hoppers through the military but always stay on property so we are still eligible for the extra hour even though we don't go on a package Right?

Don't even get me started on the planning stuff ! We go first week in FEB and I am dying here. Could this be why they STILL DON"T have the February hours up on WDW site? Anyone know when they will?

We will be there the first week too!! We didnt get a chance to make ressies this time, so we are going to "go with the flow" and if we get lucky, cool!
Im happy we didnt now with all of these fun changes, tickets are going to be cheaper, some extra hours, it will be fun!
D.D.

 

[DemoBri1]

And this may be a really stupid question but how do they know you are a resort guest who gets to stay?

I'm figuring it might work something like MVMCP nights at MK. When you come in, you may be asked if you're planning on staying the extra hours at night. If so, you will be asked to show some ID that shows you're a resort guest (room key?). You will then probably get a wristband or some other kind of wearable object that would ID you as a resort guest.

This, however, is just a theory and nothing concrete that I've heard.

Brian

 

[TXMommy]

Regarding the Evening Extra Magic Hours - in the past, haven't you had to pay extra for these (I believe they were called E-Ride Nights or E-Nights)? Will this be the case for the new plan or will it be like Early Entry w/ no extra charge?

 

[Tbella]

I will say I don't plan to change any of my PS's for the parks staying open later. I have an 8 AM for Donald's breakfast on 1/13 and 5:45 PM for Crystal Palace on 1/14. I can't see how extra park hours would matter for either of those.

EMH mattered in my planning because I wanted to avoid the early addmissions park on that day. Therefore I made PS reservations in or near the parks we were going to be at at that time (which would not be the EMH park). If they change the EMH schedule than we may get stuck eating breakfast in an EMH park and by the time we are done eating the park is going to be crowded. I hope that made sense.

 

[dcmbshafe]

We were in WDW this past May when they were testing out this program. I would guess they received enough positive feedback that they are now making it permanent.

As has been said, each day there will be EITHER an EMH morning park OR an EMH evening park. The EMH mornings will work exactly the same as they do now - you simply have to show your resort ID when presenting your passes to enter the parks one hour early.

If the EMH evenings are managed the way they were in May, then they are similar to special evening events in that resort guests must go to specified locations within the park and show your resort ID to receive a wrist-band. As I recall, there were several locations available for this, so it was not inconvenient.

The week in May that we were at WDW, I believe there were 4 EMH mornings (one for each park) and 3 EMH evenings (one for all parks other than AK). Although they say "up to 3 hours", we know that MK and MGM were open a full 3 hours later on their respective EMH evenings when we were there.

 

[jennypenny]

Was everything open during the nighttime magic hours in May? Not everything is open in the morning, and E-nights never included fantasyland or any kiddie rides.

I hope the EMH at night includes the rides for the little kids. If not, we are definitely losing out. My kids will want to go to bed by 8pm anyway most nights. This is definitely a bummer for our family.

Jenny