Is Disney shifting RESORT EMH to the mornings to make room for more paid Evening After Hours events?

[Ninja Mom]

One of the ways that companies can offer something, without too many people being able to take advantage of that offering, is to offer it at a time or place that relatively few people can take advantage of it.


These companies get all the advantages of being able to advertise a benefit that might sway a purchasing decision with the full realization that the number of people who will be able take advantage of the offer is not many.


I suspect that Disney is planning on doing this by switching EMH (Extra Magic Hours that resort guests can access the parks) to an early morning time slot that will be very hard for families to access, especially if they have young children. Everyone knows that for most people, getting yourself and the little ones washed, dressed, fed and out of the room takes more time than anyone would like to spend doing that.


Now, before you get your feathers in a tizzy, I know that YOU the skeptic are one of the 3 people on earth who can get you and your little ones out the door before the butt crack of dawn. I also know that the upcoming EXTRA EARLY EMH are to alleviate the overcrowding that is expected at the parks once we see Galaxy's Edge open.


What I am talking about is a permanent shift of the RESORT EMH to the morning hours and the evaporation on the Resort EMH at night, substituted with the PAID AFTER-HOURS EVENTS at the parks (More evening Parties, More special Paid evening events, No more EVENING EMH)


We have seen an increase in the number of early parks closings for MNSSHP and MVMCP by virtue of more nights being added as party dates. We also have seen a historical shift away from later park closing hours. It didn't seem like that long ago that the parks, especially Magic Kingdom, had much longer hours at night and on more nights during the week. Now we can expect to see fewer evening hours and attractions run at decreased capacity. This comes with some reductions in park entertainment (MK evening parade I am Looking at YOU!)


So, I'm thinking that the bean counters at Disney have concluded that they can advertise Early Morning Extra Magic Hours with the full realization that not that many people will be able to attend during these hours, thus staffing levels can be much lower when compared with any Evening EMH offerings. The admission price for the Paid Evening After Hours Events would be used to somewhat offset the staffing needed for that.


Let's put on our thinking caps and think like a Disney Bean counter, where the name of the game is to charge more and offer less, because, it's a company, and companies must be extremely profitable at ALL costs.


What say you Dis Boards posters? Are you seeing this yet? Can you see it happening now or not at all?


~NM

 

[Robo]

They have always had both AM and PM EMH.
But, long before they offered the paid evening events, they dropped DAK PM EMH.


And, I’ve read dozens of posts from guests who say that their young kids are early-risers.

 

[Ninja Mom]

They have always had both AM and PM EMH.
But, long before they offered the paid evening events, they dropped DAK PM EMH.


And, I’ve read dozens of posts from guests who say that their young kids are early-risers.

Early risers and out the door are two different things when it comes to kids. Adults too. It takes awhile for that intravenous drip of coffee to percolate through the body. Then there is the multiple people/one bathroom dilemma. Factor in transportation to the park in the morning and that alarm clock is being set earlier and earlier.

~NM

 

[Hopefully]

No.
I agree with @Robo
I think that @NM maybe you have a bias. I have seen that most of your recent posts are pretty anti Disney.
I did not drink the Cool Aid, I just disagree with this.

 

[crazylady]

I definitely think they want to utilize the evenings for more paid events and still hype EMH like it's some really cool thing when in reality, it's not much of anything anymore. I disagree though about EEMH. Lots of people will get up for that, even ones with little kids. Little kids are way easier to get up and moving than teens.

 

[Chrisizzle]

Early risers and out the door are two different things when it comes to kids. Adults too. It takes awhile for that intravenous drip of coffee to percolate through the body. Then there is the multiple people/one bathroom dilemma. Factor in transportation to the park in the morning and that alarm clock is being set earlier and earlier.

Your argument implies that parents would prefer to keep kids up late for evening magic hours. That seems even more unlikely to me.

Having said that out loud, it would seem that neither morning or evening extra hours are great for kids. So, perhaps Disney is just adding extra time for whomever can take advantage of it and (as a grown up) that’s just fine by me.

 

[Farro]

I hope they offer more night after hours! When we go next May I would pay for MK, AK and DHS after hour experiences! (sorry Epcot )

 

[Ninja Mom]

No.
I agree with @Robo
I think that @NM maybe you have a bias. I have seen that most of your recent posts are pretty anti Disney.
I did not drink the Cool Aid, I just disagree with this.

One could posit that you are pro Disney right or wrong... but being pro or con Disney is not my question. Why don't we keep it to the question that was posed and not make it personal?

~NM

 

[Rach3975]

Personally I'd like to see them offer both. But as a family? We're much more likely to take advantage of early hours than late ones. My kids were early risers for years, and even now that they're older (10-15) they're used to being up early for school. We have several family members who can't handle late nights, so we wouldn't stay for evening EMHs.

 

[Jennasis]

Looking forward to this thread moving to the TP Community board...

 

[SaintsManiac]

This horse is dead.

 

[Alesia]

I've never found that leaving around 7:00 am to be that much of a hardship. Don't most people manage that pretty much every day?

 

[Alesia]

Other: it honestly doesn't matter to me.

Disney is going to do what they're going to do and I'm going to plan the trip that works best for my family. I just don't understand stressing out about something you don't have any control over.

 

[whiporee]

I don't think it has to do with extra profit from the after hours events, as they offer EMM in both of the hot parks right now and I think EMM actually is a better money per customer add on than After Hours events ($70+park admission for an hour, versus $130+no park admission for three hours). I think it has to do with anticipated crowd diffusal during the first few months of Galaxy's Edge, and WDW doing what it can to manage two months worth of 10s. By expanding the morning EMH, they give people a chance to get resort benefits that would be scattered during night time ones. Morning crowds they can control, but once people are in the park it's hard to get them to leave unless they want to.

I think night time MK EMH has become a prime source of guest complaints, as they are heavily utilized by the 100,000 resort guests that are on property at any given time. If two-thirds of them go to the MK on an EMH night, that's a crowd of 66,000, which leads guest dissatisfaction.

PS -- I've always liked that look on Donna Troy. Nice avatar.

 

[Ninja Mom]

PS -- I've always liked that look on Donna Troy. Nice avatar.

Thanks!!
~NM

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Early risers and out the door are two different things when it comes to kids. Adults too. It takes awhile for that intravenous drip of coffee to percolate through the body. Then there is the multiple people/one bathroom dilemma. Factor in transportation to the park in the morning and that alarm clock is being set earlier and earlier.

~NM

It’s very easy for us to make rope drop and early EMH. We have a 4 year old (who we’ve brought 4 times) and a 2 year old who we’ve brought 3 times. We are always killing time before park opening.

My kids wake up around 5:00. No alarm to set for us - the kids are a very reliable alarm. We very much appreciate early hours, otherwise we are killing a lot of time before a 9am opening.

Because we’re back at the villa at a decent hour every day, we prep for the next day at night. Everyone showers. Clothes are set out for the next day. Stroller and bag are packed.

In the morning, one parent feeds the kids while the other one gets ready. Usually quick prep things - bagels & cream cheese, hard boiled eggs that we’ve already made, oatmeal, fruit, etc. We often have time to make scrambled eggs & bacon. Then the parent who is ready dresses the kids while the other gets ready. We can be ready to go in 45 minutes. That’s 5:45am.

Don’t get me wrong. I used to love late night EMH. I used to be a park night owl. Now that I’m the mom to early risers, I’ve been converted to a morning parks person and I absolutely love it.

There are also plenty of other early risers with small children at all the early morning EMH and rope drops we attend. We are not alone.

 

[fractalpotato]

It seems likely to me, there are going to be way more people willing to pay for the privilege to stay up later vs paying for the opportunity to get up and out early. Morning EMH already works well because they only add an extra hour of lower staffing and are well attended. If they started charging, it would probably not go over great. But Evening EMH, people are obviously willing to pay for that, and in Igers Disney anything that can be a charge will be a charge. If they had data to support it they'd charge for mornings too.

Matt

 

[fractalpotato]

It’s very easy for us to make rope drop and early EMH. We have a 4 year old (who we’ve brought 4 times) and a 2 year old who we’ve brought 3 times. We are always killing time before park opening.

My kids wake up around 5:00. No alarm to set for us - the kids are a very reliable alarm. We very much appreciate early hours, otherwise we are killing a lot of time before a 9am opening.

Because we’re back at the villa at a decent hour every day, we prep for the next day at night. Everyone showers. Clothes are set out for the next day. Stroller and bag are packed.

In the morning, one parent feeds the kids while the other one gets ready. Usually quick prep things - bagels & cream cheese, hard boiled eggs that we’ve already made, oatmeal, fruit, etc. We often have time to make scrambled eggs & bacon. Then the parent who is ready dresses the kids while the other gets ready. We can be ready to go in 45 minutes. That’s 5:45am.

Don’t get me wrong. I used to love late night EMH. I used to be a park night owl. Now that I’m the mom to early risers, I’ve been converted to a morning parks person and I absolutely love it.

There are also plenty of other early risers with small children at all the early morning EMH and rope drops we attend. We are not alone.

I'm curious, how often do you end up staying for the night time shows? My fiancee (I love that word) and I love going to the parks early to get that rope drop time in, then we usually take an afternoon break and return, but even with a break, I'm usually dead on my feet by fireworks-o-clock a few days in to the trip. Wondering if there is a better strategy for that.

Matt

 

[mrsap]

There was only one time we’ve been to RD and it was for my DD’s first trip when she was two. One RD in my lifetime was good enough for us. My kids are very early risers, but we prefer late nights over early mornings. We take advantage of PM EMH every trip, so I’d hate to see them go away.

 

[Jax1023]

I have a 7 and 2 year old. Mornings are great- shower at night, in the morning throw on clothes, eat a cereal bar, brush teeth and put the door.

My kids are done by 7pm. Done. I would never keep them up for evening emh hours, they would be disasters for the next week.

I understand there’s a population of the world than can stay out past 8pm. We are not that. And I feel like with little kids, my scenario is more common.