First MNSSHP - Oversold?

[OneinThree]

Okay - who is Pete and why does everyone put so much stock into what one guy has to say?

Lol, I mean, pardon my ignorance, I guess?

 

[StacyStrong]

That's a Brian.

 

[OneinThree]

That's a Brian.

It's a different source, a reputable one, with the same take. Pete is Pete Werner -proprieter of the DIS, among other things.

 

[StacyStrong]

I just wanted to know who Pete was.

 

[Disneylover99]

The weather was exceedingly hot and humid - like, sweat-rolling-down-your back-when-standing-still humid. It was quite far from lovely. I admit that the weather - which, of course, is beyond Disney’s control - contributed to my negative experience. Ninety-some degrees in a packed area is worse than either on its own.

I do know what the weather was like. I was at the MK all afternoon the day of the first party this year. Yes. It was hot and sunny. But for me? That would have been lovely. I was at the first party last year. It was crowded and hot and humid, but rainy. I waited for the second parade in the pouring rain for a half an hour. Shows were delayed. Character meets were delayed, moved and on the verge of being cancelled.

Pick your poison I guess, but for me I'd pick the August sun for a few hours over a night full of rain.

 

[OneinThree]

I don't have plans for MNSSHP, but this is the first year we're considering MVMCP. I'll be following this issue, and you can believe that if this becomes Disney's norm, I'll have zero interest in purchasing a ticket to an exclusive event that reakky isn't that.f at all.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Okay - who is Pete and why does everyone put so much stock into what one guy has to say?

Lol, I mean, pardon my ignorance, I guess?

I just wanted to know who Pete was.

Pete Werner is the owner of this very website you are using which itself is the largest community of Disney fans. He also is a co-owner of the Dreams Unlimited Travel Agency. Many people do take Pete's information with high accuracy as he is generally well informed and has years of information under his belt-he is also local. He is also very well known to Disney.

If you'd like to watch the DIS Daily Fix being spoken about here it is (1.43mins in):

Unfortunately the live WDW DIS Unplugged episode for Tuesday was cancelled which is where he would talk about it. Our hope is that he can talk about it next Tuesday so we may gain more information at least from the DIS podcaster members.

 

[Erik the Red]

Yup ! Sounds like all the people booking those Tuesday parties to avoid the crowds just out-smarted themselves cause it looks like that's what everyone else is doing too lol

 

[StacyStrong]

Pete Werner is the owner of this very website you are using which itself is the largest community of Disney fans. He also is a co-owner of the Dreams Unlimited Travel Agency. Many people do take Pete's information with high accuracy as he is generally well informed and has years of information under his belt-he is also local. He is also very well known to Disney.

If you'd like to watch the DIS Daily Fix being spoken about here it is (1.43mins in):

Unfortunately the live WDW DIS Unplugged episode for Tuesday was cancelled which is where he would talk about it. Our hope is that he can talk about it next Tuesday so we may gain more information at least from the DIS podcaster members.

Thanks!

People kept referring to him like he was Walt himself and I'm sitting at my keyboard like "who on Earth..."

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Thanks!

People kept referring to him like he was Walt himself and I'm sitting at my keyboard like "who on Earth..."

lol no problem!

 

[Love Tink]

I do know what the weather was like. I was at the MK all afternoon the day of the first party this year. Yes. It was hot and sunny. But for me? That would have been lovely. I was at the first party last year. It was crowded and hot and humid, but rainy. I waited for the second parade in the pouring rain for a half an hour. Shows were delayed. Character meets were delayed, moved and on the verge of being cancelled.

Pick your poison I guess, but for me I'd pick the August sun for a few hours over a night full of rain.

If you think 93 degrees with over 80% humidity is "lovely" I feel confident in saying you hold a minority opinion.

 

[2kidsForMe]

I just got an email survey from Disney about the first party. They asked a lot of questions about crowds and wait times. Anyone else get it?

 

[Disneylover99]

If you think 93 degrees with over 80% humidity is "lovely" I feel confident in saying you hold a minority opinion.

It's August. That's what the temperature is now most days. Like I said. A soggy, rained out party is much worse IMO.

 

[MIAMouseketeer]

I just got an email survey from Disney about the first party. They asked a lot of questions about crowds and wait times. Anyone else get it?

nope. I hope I do though

 

[MIAMouseketeer]

It's August. That's what the temperature is now most days. Like I said. A soggy, rained out party is much worse IMO.

Oh I agree with you. Hot & Humid is better than being rained out. My husband and I kept reminding ourselves of this as the sweat dripped down our backs. I think the "lovely" comment is what got me. It was far from lovely. Not sure what it was about that night, but it seemed worse than the rest of the weekend.

 

[Disneylover99]

Oh I agree with you. Hot & Humid is better than being rained out. My husband and I kept reminding ourselves of this as the sweat dripped down our backs. I think the "lovely" comment is what got me. It was far from lovely. Not sure what it was about that night, but it seemed worse than the rest of the weekend.

It would be lovely to me. It rains every time I go to MNSSHP and since we always go in August/September, it's always hot and humid anyways. A rain free evening would be amazing!!!!

 

[anonymousegirl]

I haven't done a hard ticket party for a few years now. I kept looking around and thinking it was so crowded and it sounds even worse now. I did like the hard-ticket within the party event with some great one-on-one time with the villains, but it was so expensive.

Walt's Disney dream is dead. WDW and DLR are out for whatever they can get--raise the ticket prices, cut hours, pack 'em for parties, high prices for mediocre food. i still love Disney but I have no illusions about it--they are out for every buck they can get.

 

[PetePanMan]

went last year and won't go again due to significantly greater crowds and waits than anticipated ( granted it was week before Halloween).

 

[WanderlustNZ]

So I just returned from WDW and we attended Friday night's party. I hadn't been in 3 years and never on opening night and I couldn't believe how crowded it was compared to the 2xs prior I had attended. The lines for candy were crazy that we didn't even stop. Now I just listened to yesterday's Dis Daily Fix and I hear it was oversold. Is this true? If so, that is a huge disappointment. We ended up leaving right after the first parade because it was just too crowded.

I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ for highlighting your concerns.
Disney demands a premium price for these parties and if you end the evening feeling frustrated by how long it takes to get anything done, then you have not received a premium experience. Highlighting your concerns, does help future purchasers better perceive risk when deciding whether or not to buy tickets of their own.

I attended MNSSHP about 5 years ago and I loved it due to minimal crowds. A few years later I attended an extremely overcrowded party at Disneyland and the magic simply was not there. It has scared me away from buying MVMCP tickets when I visit later this year as the risk of feeling ‘very UNmerry’ is just too high.

It is true that Disney make no promises about crowd levels and many will argue that Disney have not been at all deceitful by selling as many tickets as they have, because, let’s face it, it’s Disney, and Disney can do no wrong.

You could also argue that Disney have simply adopted the tried and true business technique of hooking people in with something wonderful then slowly minimising the experience while maximising the price. The cruise industry is rife with it. One year you got lobster at every serving. The next year it was only once per cruise. Then suddenly you could only get it by paying $20 extra for a specialty restaurant. And now those restaurants are $50 with lobster an extra $20 on top of that. You get the idea.

Either way, I do think that until customers start speaking with their wallets, ticket prices will continue to rise, and crowds will continue to grow. A saturation point will eventually be reached when enough people take to social media and complain like they have in this forum, but sadly my gut says that this is still a few years away yet. Time will tell...

 

[ohdanalee]

WDW should just triple the price. That will solve the problem of overselling.

As long as it's affordable, crowds will come. If they limit numbers to a greater extent, people will add it to the complaints about having to plan 60 or 180 days out. So they should use the controlling factor they have -- the price -- to reduce the numbers of people who want to come.

Or they could DAH it -- make it so you're not allowed in at 4, but at 6 or 6:30. That would make the current price much less attractive and would cut down on the numbers of people who want to attend, making it a special event that requires extra sacrifice rather than just exchanging it for a MK day. But the people who would be willing to spend a hundred bucks for it, it might be much more pleasant.

I don't think it's solely a price issue. Disney raised the prices across the board this past February to try and lessen crowds and it doesn't seem like it did anything. We are in a great economic climate so the only REAL way to get Disney crowds down is for another recession. Or a hurricane. Magic Kingdom was EMPTY last year the day before Irma hit. But neither of those would be good things...