Important WDW Park News For Travel in Sept/Oct

[lrodk]

WDWMagic is reporting the following: Due to soft attendance and budget cutbacks the following changes will take place at WDW. Please keep in mind most of these are temporary.

The MK Tipboard will only be open on Saturdays.

Tony's Town Square will stop serving breakfast.

Almost all quick service and full service food locations property wide will either open later or close earlier.

The remaining Eride nights for September are cancelled and there will be none in October.

This Friday and next Friday the hours at MK are being reduced from a 9pm close to a 7pm close with no parade or fireworks.

This Saturday and next Saturday the hours at MK are being reduced from a 10pm close to 9pm close with 1 parade.

More cutbacks will be decided within the next week.

 

[johare]

This is sad. I took the family to Islands of Adventure yesterday just to get away from the TV for a few hours and the place was like a ghost town. The longest posted wait for ANY attraction was 5 minutes and this included rides which normally have 30+ minute waits like Spiderman, Pterandodon Flyers and One Fish Two Fish.

I think that when we are finished bombing the hell out of those responsible (and that includes the countries who protect these scumbags) we need to take their money and assets and distribute it to the theme parks, airlines and victims families.

 

[April76]

Thanks for the information -- we will be in WDW in October -- I am so sad that the "outside world" has been able to affect the Happiest Place on Earth!!!

Amazing and makes me so angry to know that a relatively small group of idiots can have so much power to affect not just nations, but the whole world with their actions. A little evil sure goes a long way ---- but so do 2 million dollar missles. (Sorry, I'm not really a mean person.... just frustrated and angry)

 

[renknt]

Originally posted by April76
we will be in WDW in October -- I am so sad that the "outside world" has been able to affect the Happiest Place on Earth!!!

(Fingers/tounge firmly planted in cheek) WDW is the 2nd happiest place on earth, DL is the Happiest Place On Earth after all it was First. and it closer to my home


Michael W Young

 

[YoHo]

You know, I wish there was something I could say to explain away this as some managers fault, but I just can't. The tragedy and the subsiquent slide in stocks has taken its toll. Of course, even beforehand, people were cutting back. I myself cancelled the WDW portion of my Honeymoon opting to ONLY go on the Disney cruise to save money and to save time since I just started a new job in a new city and can't take the time.

 

[gary]

Given the already flagging tourism levels, combined with recent events, plus the way air travel plans seem to be getting cut back, the cuts are understandable. If attendance is way down, we can't expect Disney to keep the park open for "normal" hours. For those that still decide to visit, the experience may be great even though the hours are cut back - they'll be able to do more in less time and not fight the crowds.

I'm sure it's a transient phonemenon. As security procedures are revised, faith in air travel will bounce back, as will the economy.

I hope it doesn't change Disney's expansion plans. Building now would be ideal, so the new attractions would be ready when the next positive economic cycle takes hold.

Gary

 

[gary]

Honeymoon, YoHo? Congratulations.

Gary

 

[YoHo]

Thanks, It was a hard decision to make to cut the honeymoon, but when I heard how much less it cost, I was thrilled.
It just occured to me, Disney could always talk to Amtrak. You know, set up the Disney Rail service.
These kinds of excursion trains traditionally only work on a small scale, but with the current lack of faith in the airlines, it might be Ideal.

 

[johare]

Disney could always talk to Amtrak. You know, set up the Disney Rail service.

This could be a good idea. If Disney were to setup a train (or cars on a train) with Disney characters, activities for the kids and other things to help pass the time I think they could probably make something like this work. Maybe even get Universal and SeaWorld to get in on it and sponsor cars on the train!

 

[IASW Rider]

Congratulations, YoHo!

And great idea, YoHo and Johare - my DF and I were actually thinking about taking Amtrak to Orlando if we don't feel more confident about flying by the time of our honeymoon next year!

 

[Pixie glitter]

FYI--WDWMagic is not an official site. I just checked the official WDW website, and it showed minimal changes in park hours (with park hours actually being INCREASED the first week of October!), and NO cancellation of evening parades and fireworks in MK. I don't know who's right on this, but my money is on the official Disney site.

 

[lrodk]

I don't know who's right on this, but my money is on the official Disney site.

Hi PixieGlitter, and welcome to our News/Rumors Forum Board. Disney's official website has historically been very slow to update changes of this nature at the parks. I've been following Steve's commentaries at WDWMagic for several years now and have found that he has a very good track record. On the flip side, things can change, but I'm quite certain that the modifications at the parks are a done deal until further notice. With that said, I would watch our board in the coming days for confirmation from actual guests at the parks, some of which I know are down there right now.

 

[Captain Hook]

We will be ariving on 9-20 staying till 9-24 I will get back to the boards with any changes I notice due to the recent cut backs. I'm sure these changes will only be temorary till the nation has time to heal, and consumer confidence will start to push the markets back up.

 

[cheri goode]

I called Disney as soon as I got to work this morning since i keep reading about
cutting hours at the parks. The girl I talked to said the hours are still the same
and normal like always?? Maybe others should call and see what they're told.
1-407-wdisney

 

[Pixie glitter]

Dear Irodk,

Thanks for the welcome and for the info. Guess I'm just an idealist at heart--I was really hoping that the official Disney site was right! I guess time will tell. Our only opportunity to see the MK Spectromagic parade and fireworks is on Friday, Oct. 5, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the reduced hours on Fridays is a thing of the past by that date.

 

[lrodk]

The first confirmation of reduced hours at the parks comes from an article in the Orlando Sentinal today. Here's a link to the article:

http://orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/orl-bizjobs20092001sep20.story

 

[cindyfan]

By the WDW info line:
Yes the hours for Sept have been decreased because of the decrease in attendence.
But as of right now, the hours of operation for Oct are to remain unchanged.
It is a wait and see thing. Columbus Day weekend is traditionally a busy weekend and they still anticipate that it will be this year.
We are going Oct 10 - 15 and he gave me the hours that are still scheduled along with the parades, fireworks, etc. and nothing has changed yet. Friday, MK is still scheduled 9 - 9 with the parade at 7:30 and fireworks at 8:30. Sat, MK still 9 - 10 with parade at 8 and 10, fireworks at 9. There have been no E-ticket nights announced yet, Early entry is still planned.
And of course........this is always subject to change!!
Hopefully, there won't be a need to make any changes.

 

[slam_mjg]

It's a shame WDW is reducing hours for October. This story suggests that the parks were very busy this weekend:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010922/aponline185014_000.htm

Workers and guests estimated that the Magic Kingdom was about three-fourths full Saturday, a vast improvement over the quarter-full attendance the park experienced earlier last week.

I'm sure Michael Eisner could use a little good news this week.

 

[cindyfan]

slam_mjg.......if you read my previous post........
the last I heard from WDW is that they have NOT yet reduced hours for Oct. It is wait and see.
So if the trend continues (they are getting busier as each day passes) they may decide to keep the schedule they originnally had.
Especially with the 100 yrs starting.