Is this the future of Extra Magic Hours?

[soniam]

In some ways though, Disney's behavior actually contradicts the "less free hours/more pay time" idea. They opened a lot of the parks earlier during Spring Break and this summer, presumably to relieve congestion I guess. But I do see them wanting to get more money for what they already have with the least amount of investment possible. Parties fit that bill.

 

[Planogirl]

I don't get this notion of Disney only being interested in DVC. Sure that is a nice stream of money in the short term. But in theory eventually Disney will have sold all of their DVC and they will start hitting capacity and service issues if they build beyond a certain point. Regular hotels at least offer a constant stream of money that shows no end.

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

I don't get this notion of Disney only being interested in DVC. Sure that is a nice stream of money in the short term. But in theory eventually Disney will have sold all of their DVC and they will start hitting capacity and service issues if they build beyond a certain point. Regular hotels at least offer a constant stream of money that shows no end.

Yea but the beauty is (for WDW) that WDW takes over those resorts one day (CR is approaching 50 years), and at any given time will own a portion of each resort along the way. Therefore they are built/maintained/upgraded for free.

 

[Dean Marino]

A prediction - and boy, am I going to catch it ....

EMH limited to DVC members. (Ducks, TRYS to avoid the thrown knives......)

 

[Doug M]

One thing is certain, if EMH goes away my family will not stay onsite anymore, and likely not get hoppers. Also this just pushes us closer to being a Universal family with a day or two side trip to WDW. Sad.

 

[::danielle::]

One thing is certain, if EMH goes away my family will not stay onsite anymore, and likely not get hoppers. Also this just pushes us closer to being a Universal family with a day or two side trip to WDW. Sad.

Unless they build news rides/lands/restaurants that are innovative and amazing and the only chance you have of enjoying them is to stay onsite and get the FP advantage. I suspect this is the long term plan with the $3 billion expansion and FP+.

 

[Greg K.]

An observation from my just-completed visit: for years, I was complaining that the build-up of on-site hotels was diminishing the value of EMH. About 20 years ago, long before many of the hotels and DVC villas were built, you could go into the Magic Kingdom at 8 am and it was almost empty. For an hour or so, it was a real perk. Now? Not so much. There are so many more people staying on site, it was becoming meaningless.

However, I noticed that Disney has adjusted the EMH schedule...so that now one park will offer the extra hours in the morning and on the same day ANOTHER park will offer them in the evening. This seems to have had an impact. Crowds this July weren't as bad as I'd seen in the past; I think Disney is doing a better job of helping to disperse people all over the property to different parks.

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

An observation from my just-completed visit: for years, I was complaining that the build-up of on-site hotels was diminishing the value of EMH. About 20 years ago, long before many of the hotels and DVC villas were built, you could go into the Magic Kingdom at 8 am and it was almost empty. For an hour or so, it was a real perk. Now? Not so much. There are so many more people staying on site, it was becoming meaningless.

However, I noticed that Disney has adjusted the EMH schedule...so that now one park will offer the extra hours in the morning and on the same day ANOTHER park will offer them in the evening. This seems to have had an impact. Crowds this July weren't as bad as I'd seen in the past; I think Disney is doing a better job of helping to disperse people all over the property to different parks.

I think some percentage that select a TSM FP+ (for example) have stopped going at RD as well. Likewise a percent still do to ride more than once-but hard to say what percent may have decided to avoid that. Also some may even be doing AK in the am without FP+, and TSM etc later that day with FP+.

 

[Spacedog1975]

Disney is not getting out of the hotel/resort business in favor of DVC only. There is a saturation point that exists with "ownership" that just doesn't exist with the daily or weekly renter.

 

[rteetz]

Disney is not getting out of the hotel/resort business in favor of DVC only. There is a saturation point that exists with "ownership" that just doesn't exist with the daily or weekly renter.

They aren't yet...

I don't think disney will ever get out of the hotel business but they aren't going to build any new hotels at this time. They are going to continue to build DVC until they hit that saturation point, it obviously isn't there yet.

 

[Spacedog1975]

They aren't yet...

I don't think disney will ever get out of the hotel business but they aren't going to build any new hotels at this time. They are going to continue to build DVC until they hit that saturation point, it obviously isn't there yet.

I don't disagree with this. I failed to quote it but I was responding to an earlier post suggesting all DVC all the time. It's just not going to happen.

 

[rteetz]

I don't disagree with this. I failed to quote it but I was responding to an earlier post suggesting all DVC all the time. It's just not going to happen.

I think for now it is only going to be DVC but that is until they find that point where it just isn't selling anymore.

 

[Spacedog1975]

The only thing that's going to green light a new resort is capacity demands. Given the promos that they run to fill the existing rooms, I don't think we are near to that possibility.

 

[RangerPooh]

I think people tend to forget that EMH use to be strictly a hard ticket event to resort guests. I remember going in the early 2000s and paying the $25 /person (or whatever the cost) to add the extended hours perk on multiple visits. At the time we lived in CA so the concept of having to pay to stay in the park longer seemed odd, as DLR was open until midnight regularly throughout the summer. But we paid as finding out that the MK closed at 6 on a summer night was crazy. I can see them returning to limited hours in order to justify an additional price point for more park time.

 

[peg110]

Ironically, I think I might be more inclined to pay an extra price to get EMH as opposed to having them simply as a result of where I stayed. Why? Because EMH now seems to make the parks more crowded and I think it wouldn't be nearly as bad if you had to pay extra for it. Of course I could be wrong, but right now I use EMH to schedule where NOT to go. (if it's an EMH park, I avoid it that day and go there the following day as it's less busy)

 

[DisTXMom]

Agree with some of the PP's- with so many people having access to EMH, it has diminished value. We always stay onsite and we avoid the morning EMH park. Our DD's are too young for the evening EMH.

 

[OldsDr]

I enjoyed E-ride nights and at the time I thought it was a good deal. But back then I was only buying for 1 now I now buy for more than that so my perspective has changed. Plus a lot more rides are open for EMH than were for E-ride nights

I submit we already pay for EMH in the form of higher Hotel costs versus staying off site for the same quality room. Yes there are other perks, but this is one that is engrained in people’s heads. Imagine those who are not on these types of boards showing up and finding out they had done away with them at the start of their vacation, I bet that would be a lot of upset people. I think this would hit more people harder than the closing of PI.

 

[TisBit]

I don't htink they are related at all. The problem with EMH is that most people only use the evening EMH and it causes crowd issues at the park that has it. Morning hours are used, but far less and then they have operational expenses that are not supported by guest attendance. They started addressing this by only opening a portion of MK in the morning. But, WDW is trying to control crowds and EMH's don't help since it draws most people to one park in the evening. They have already cut back a lot on EMH and I could see it being phased out as not really being an incentive for people to stay on site.

As for the DVC party, it is paid for by DVC and can be a promotional event. DVC members staying onsite are permitted to bring guests (who are staying with them or not). This allows a couple thousand people to have an exclusive party and think that DVC is awesome and they way to go. Even after the event they can advertise all these exclusive events and parties (that only a small fraction of members have actually been able to attend) as a great benefit of being a member. While it can't be an incentive or guaranteed it creates an atmosphere of exclusiveness.

Yes, my family will be at Typhoon Lagoon next week

 

[Quellman]

Agreed. But then why keep TL open 5 1/2 hours for free?

It could be testing the waters (pun) for attendance etc, and ultimately lead to something larger as the OP implies.

DVC revenue is important, and they could charge for other participation.

Many other revenue "parties" could arise, MNSSHP, MVMCP, the old Princess/Pirates etc. as well.

I'm reminded of something that someone pointed out re: free dining promotion. Namely that (IIRC) the individual hotel managers basically pay for the dining packages and decide how many rooms to offer and on what dates, within the overall terms of the program.

If DVC is offering a special Typhoon Lagoon evening, I gather that the DVC management is "renting" the water park and offering it to points holders presumably in order to enhance sales of new units, discourage re-sale of existing units, or whatever.

I'm pretty ignorant of DVC but I suppose that technically the bonus entertainment is available to people who signed on the dotted line for DVC, even if they sell or rent out most of their points, most of the time (or whatever you call it) ... and not available to people who merely stay at DVC because they are essentially renting a room? And what about people who bought DVC at some non-WDW location but can use points or trade them or whatever to stay at WDW?

DVC seems to me to be a fairly confusing muddling of the concepts of "membership" and "property" with aspects of a shell game (to be frank). Is the goal to fill the rooms with guests, in which case the premium should apply to anyone staying at a DVC, or is it to "move" units, i.e. sign up every possible "buyer" or "member" or "owner" and to heck with the rest?

It is likely that DVD (Disney Vacation Development) is paying a rate to Typhoon Lagoon for the private event. Just like any other group could. I suspect it is much more 'at cost' than if it were a convention group. DVD then advertises this as a 'limited time magic' perk for members. In order to take advantage of any DVC member event or perk, you must be an owner, that is to say you have a membership card. Those staying on rented points, or staying at a DVC resort who paid Disney directly are not eligible.

The only promise that DVC membership gives is that you will have a room. Discounts for dining, member events, DVC cruises, discounted annual passes, are all perks that can be revoked or not renewed. Would some of it make a lot of guests upset? You bet it would! Would some people sell their membership? Probably. I'm not familiar with the shell game, but Disney is attempting to lock in guests as repeat visitors to offset room occupancy and park attendance during slower times of the year. Parts of November and the beginning of December are some of the "cheapest" times for DVC owners to visit with regards to how many points per night. This helps push members to visit Disney when other people can't or won't. It is also more costly in terms of points to visit over 4th of July, summer months, and Christmas and New Years weeks. This is because Disney would rather fill the resort with other people who are paying a premium to visit during that time of year.


I wouldn't jump to any correlation between the event and EMH for DVC only. DVC customers are repeat visitors. They already likely own 2 WDW tshirts, a hoodie, coffee mugs, mickey ears for the family, and have eaten at most of the restaurants. They aren't overly concerned if the line for Small World is long, because they know they'll be back next month, or next year. Non-studio rooms have full kitchens in which to prepare meals which is further taking money from Disney's pocket. So if DVC members are hypothetically not going to spend as much on "things and food" why would they have the parks open later? DVC members would show up, ride the attractions and leave. EMH entice guests to stay on property (or at a resort that agrees with Disney to offer it) and provides an opportunity to day guests to purchase more, and experience more.

What you will see are more hard ticket and special events. Remember the Festival of the Lion King parties last year? How about the Frozen Packages? Star Wars weekend VIP experiences? All of these are ways for Disney to offer something new and make money from it. One target group for these events are DVC members who, as I mentioned before, have already been to the parks 100 times and taken all of the tours.

 

[grayhouser]

I sure hope not! I would be happy to pay an added fee.