Is Disney Losing It????

[dioxide45]

I know of no other business that posts its operating hours months in advance. Disney has always done this for the convenience of its guests, but they have no obligation to do so.

What do you mean? My local Target store has their hours posted and they haven't changed in years. Most stores post their hours and you can count on those hours not changing for years. They don't post that their hours are only good for the next three months and then release some new hours.

Disney has been in this business long enough to know how their business operates. They can probably predict fairly close many years in advance what their park hours will be. Their hours change seasonally and are probably on a pretty consistent schedule.

 

[DebbieB]

On my first WDW trip in October 1994, MK closed everynight at 7:00, there were no fireworks or Spectromagic from Labor Day to Thanksgiving. At MGM, they had Sorcery in the Sky on Saturday night only (this was pre-Fantasmic). Epcot still had Illuminations nightly. I was so thrilled on our return trip in November 2006 that MK had fireworks and spectromagic nighty (but then they also had the pink castle......).

 

[Robo]

Epcot hours really never change, other than some Fridays this spring which changed til 8. So..Epcot should be open til at least 9 when you are planning your CP.

Any Epcot night that has the CP should see the park close at 9:30pm.

That is because there are THREE CP's every night that they are performed.

The first CP show is timed to start when the skies begin to darken for the evening (5:00pm) and, due to the length of each CP show (plus the time it takes to load and unload the theater,) the last CP show will end very near (or a bit after) 9pm.

In order for the patrons of the 3rd show to leave the theater and find a spot to view IllumiNations, they postpone IllumiNations (and Epcot's closing time) to 9:30pm.

There is usually a "logic" to these things if you know how to decipher it.

 

[disnut8]

Here's what I think about Disney and "cutbacks". I think we should all stop and think about what Disney does not charge for and ask ourselves if we really want them to begin that instead of cutting back on posting park hours.

They could charge to park at the resorts, to use the internal transportation, or for FastPasses. Think about how much money they could generate just by charging $1 per day per person for each one of those now free things. How about the now free Magical Express? A simple $10 per person charge could generate lots of dollars for Disney that way.

Everyone complains about cutbacks but if we don't have cutbacks, we will get up front charges instead.

 

[ShannonMB]

I don't think the magic is being lost. In 2007 (first trip since early 80s), I was blown away by what they are doing there, and I did not think about work, money (already knew what I could spend), or even driving a car for a whole week. I was in another world, full of pixie dust!! There would have to be some pretty serious cutbacks for me not to feel this way when I go in 2 weeks (from today!).

Maybe there was a bunch of even greater stuff going on all the years I missed? Is that why I don't feel any loss of magic? Maybe after my 10th trip I'll notice the little irritating things I'm now easily able to overlook?

All I know is that with the 4/3 deal, I get to go back to my favorite place of all, pretty inexpensively! If the restaurants I booked are all still standing, my room is clean, and the parks are open, I am all set!

Hope everyone has a magical time on their trips!!

 

[Maine-iac]

I think the hardest thing about the hours only being released 3 months out and the now 90 day ADR's is that we LOVE to start planning our trips the minute we make our room reservations. We now have to sit and wait an extra 3 months before we can really start planning.
So we all are experiencing "Planning Withdrawals" early in our planning stages.
It will take some getting used to and maybe some therapy but we will survive.

 

[Whisky In A VAse]

I have just been on the planning DVD's and they say that the finale of every night was the fireworks spectacular. I have not been in January so I do not look that closely at the hours, but I do tend to keep a look out at it seems that wishes has been on every night for quite some time.

I think I was just surprised that it wasn't on every night as this was not expected at all. Or if it was, nobody mentioned it on these boards that I can see.
Anyway, I have got used to the idea now.

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

We have been to WDW several times and for several of them, the ADR time was 90 days, not 180. I recently started thinking of planning for a possible Nov. trip. I was RELIEVED to see ADRS had gone back to 90 days ... makes planning easier for us as we will have a better idea of our own schedule at that point.

You can find many WDW info sites & forums that have info on "historical" hours. I have found this to be helpful AND to be close enough to what happens. I am planning to use those for our Nov. trip and to figure my ADRs.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Actually, Dollywood, here in Pigeon Forge puts their hours out for the whole upcoming year usually in December.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting Disney put their hours up that far in advance, their "business" is far bigger with more variables than Dollywood's, but I do think that the hours should be up at least 3 months in advance. Really 3 1/2 months that way the people who are travling at the beginning of the month will have time to get their plans in order before their 90 day mark. I do think the 90 day thing is just fine. I liked the 180, but honestly, in a 6 month period you can really think of different ways you want to do things or may chance your mind about your dining plans and then its too hard to change them because everything is getting booked up.

That's just my 2 cents.

I think the park hours posting of 90 days before is fine, too. But I do agree with you about the need for park hours to be posted before ADR's be taken. A reasonable solution would be to post park hours 120 days in advance and begin taking ADR's 90 days in advance. That way you have a month to plan which parks you want to go to before making your ADR's 90 days in advance. This would be especially helpful for those who don't get park hoppers.

 

[Suellen]

WDW will never lose the Magic for me... JMHO.

I will never forget seeing my daughter see the Castle for the first time and it ALWAYS brings tears to my eyes.... always will.

So unless they tear down the Castle... the magic will always be there for me. Honestly ~ I really could care less about the hours. again JMHO!

 

[bjakmom]

Frustrating? Yes Lost the Magic? Not Yet!!
I have a pretty broad perspective - my first trip to WDW was in 1972 and I took my kids every 5 years while they were growing up - now I am retired and able to take my kids, grands, nephew and friends a few times a year. Each time Disney makes a change we all hate it - then you make the next trip and still find the magic - and, honestly, I have to say overall there are always new things to look forward to - so I certainly don't feel like they aren't putting any effort into their 'product' at all. Just this morning I was telling DD that I am booking breakfast at the Poly for DGrD and I - I haven't been to that breakfast (now Lilo and Stitch) since it was Minnie's Minnehuena (sp?!) back when they were little girls!! And since Nov. there are new shows and parades at MK and a new attraction at DHS and Kim Possible at Epcot.

Once I get over my frustration, I am glad to see that Disney is securing a future for the parks - everywhere I go I am surrounded by people loosing their jobs, having their wages and hours cut back so their bosses can try and survive this economy - so in the big picture I am just feeling blessed that I have the money left to vacation with and help keep WDW going (at least DH thinks that's what I'm doing ) so my grandkids will take their kids there. In my experience, when the money is rolling in, disney fills the schedule back in again. Here's to better days!

 

[celestialtones]

Please forgive my ignorance, but....what does CP stand for?

 

[jdcthree]

CP = Candlelight Processional.

 

[bwmetts]

My DH and I have gone to Disney the same time every May for the past 4 years. During my planning, I was able to know even before time to make our ADRs, what the park hours were going to be and the fireworks/parade schedule.

We have both been so excited for our trip May 09 b/c we are taking our 4yo granddaughter for her first trip to Disney!!

I am amazed that during our trip May 15-18 (days in the parks) that as of now, there is not one scheduled time for Wishes. Hoping it was just an oversite, I called CR and was advised per their calendar, NO performances of WISHES have been scheduled, and we are talking about the weekend also.

I sure hope Disney does an update later on and ammends their schedule. I sure would like our DGD to experience Wishes while we are in the park, not just on our videos from previous trips!

The CR I spoke with suggested that I keep checking on the Disney website to see if they do add Wishes to the calendar. I advised her that Disney did not even have the park hours posted for the last 2 weeks of April on their website yet and that I found out about the May 09 hours on the disboards!

Still planning our trip, just have to really plan harder to utilize our days to their fullest!

 

[Missin'Disney]

Here's what I think about Disney and "cutbacks". I think we should all stop and think about what Disney does not charge for and ask ourselves if we really want them to begin that instead of cutting back on posting park hours.

They could charge to park at the resorts, to use the internal transportation, or for FastPasses. Think about how much money they could generate just by charging $1 per day per person for each one of those now free things. How about the now free Magical Express? A simple $10 per person charge could generate lots of dollars for Disney that way.

Everyone complains about cutbacks but if we don't have cutbacks, we will get up front charges instead.

I definitely agree with this reasoning....
felt the pain of the up-front increase of the double stroller cost to $31 a day in '07. Ouch did that one hurt. Not looking forward to any other painful increases like that one.
Thank goodness for stroller swaps!

 

[mickaholic4077]

Any Epcot night that has the CP should see the park close at 9:30pm.

That is because there are THREE CP's every night that they are performed.

The first CP show is timed to start when the skies begin to darken for the evening (5:30pm) and, due to the length of each CP show (plus the time it takes to load and unload the theater,) the last CP show will end very near (or a bit after) 9pm.

In order for the patrons of the 3rd show to leave the theater and find a spot to view IllumiNations, they postpone IllumiNations (and Epcot's closing time) to 9:30pm.

There is usually a "logic" to these things if you know how to decipher it.

The first candlelight processional starts at 5:00,not 5:30.

 

[cheerful chickadee]

I don't think it's losing it's magic (for me anyways) but it is getting more difficult to justify the costs of things especially when we're paying more now but it's seems like we're "getting" less.

In my case we always go at the same time of year, (end of april into early May) and there's been Wishes at MK at closing on every night (except for grad nights) so it's unfortunate and sad that now there might not be a Wishes every night. We're going for 10 nights so I will just have to move things around and schedule things so we get to see it atleast once but what about the people who are going for only 5 or 6 days and will not get to see wishes or fantasmic or even spectro? that stinks!

also just wanted to add that because of the reduced scheduling of evening entertainment, the nights there IS a Wishes; the MK is going to be unbearably crowded because everyone will have to catch it when they can. It was terribly crowded when it was showing nightly now it will be worse IMO.

 

[selina4disney]

I can understand posting hours 90 days out rather than 180. I can understand the need for changing them occasionally because of crowds or a hurricane.

But what I do not understand and really has me annoyed is that I had to go to the Canadian site and WDWInfo to get hours for NEXT WEEK. Is Disney losing it? As far as their awful website, yes, they certainly are. I do not understand why they cannot get a decent navigable site with current information. Their web site has been awful through three renovations now. One of the biggest companies in the world and three days before I leave they still haven't posted the correct hours for NEXT WEEKEND and we have to depend on other sites for current info? That's shameful!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Sorry op, I disagree. If you aren't happy, and you think not posting hours when you are used to seeing them is causing teh magic to slip away, maybe it's time to consider another destination. not dissing you - just saying maybe a new destination would be more fun.

Hoenstly, I kind of wonder at the level of detail to which some people (not op) plan their trips ahead of time on the DIS. Many of the best times we've had at WDW have been the moments that were totally spontaneous. Many of the biggest disappointments in my life were when I tried to plan something, and it didn't work out.

Weddings are a great example. How many brides have been brought to tears on their wedding days because some trivial detail didn't turn out quite as they planned, and their day wasn't 'perfect'? I know a bride who thought her whole wedding was ruined because the flowers on her cake weren't arranged correctly.

As for the past, I've been to WDW a number of times when hours were changed at the last minute. I've also seen night with no fireworks. I also think if posting hours in advance is helping to keep WDw from having to make other cutbacks in these scary economic times, then that's a change I welcome. Much better than having to lay folks off or something more drastic.

 

[Robo]

The first candlelight processional starts at 5:00,not 5:30.

Noted and corrected.

Thanks.