Just back from 6/20-6/27! What's up with MK shops closing soooo early?

[jennymouse]

We had an awsome trip even with a couple minor glitches. (Look for my trip report soon with advise on where NOT to put moleskin and how it could land you in an ECV for the remainder of the trip.)We spent a little less time in MK & MGM and more in Epcot & AK this trip....we did lots of attractions we usually skip or have never done at all.

We did MK our first park morning which was a Saturday and had an awsome time with little to no lines & using FastPass. This is the second time we've done MK on a Saturday morning/afternoon with no crowds so I've come to believe the "avoid Saturday" advice is unfounded....for the mornings/early afternoon anyway.

We felt that Enight on 6/24 was a bit too crowded...not as crowded as earlier that evening, but there were 30 min. waits for Space & Splash. This was our first Enight so I don't have anything to compare, but I wasn't expecting this.

I don't know if it was just our bad timing or what but there didn't seem to be as many characters out & about at MK or MGM as there was last October. We saw none of the streetmosphere people at MGM....it was raining off and on all day though so maybe it was the weather? Did WWTBAM for the first time and it was lots of fun. Tried to do the Backlot tour this time but one of the trams broke down and we were trapped in the Prop Room for a while until we escaped.LOL We never made it back to MGM to see B&B, Indy or Star Tours, but enjoyed our rainy day at MGM.

We saw/did just about everything at Epcot during our stay. We didn't get to ride Mission: Space though...next time! My DGD8 got two pearls in her oyster from Japan so of course we had to get them made into earrings.

We managed to do Illuminations & a late showing of Fantasmic on the same night with no problems. We watched Illuminations from the bridge next to International Gateway then hopped on the boat to MGM. The late showing of Fantasmic wasn't a full house.

Oh, and we saw Cirque for the first time this trip. We loved the show and would recommend it. The only part of the show I didn't really like was the trapese artists as I felt the act was just your run of the mill Circus act, nothing special. This is when my DGD8 fell asleep too and I couldn't wake her for the next act which was awsome.

All in all we had an awsome time in all the parks. Any questions, feel free to ask!

 

[nativetxn]

Welcome back! I'm looking forward to reading your trip reports!

 

[laceemouse]

There was a thread a few days ago on the rumor board about the MK shops closing early to save money. Many of us feel that this is a bad idea!!! Which shops did you see closed early? What time? Was it a major inconvenience?? Glad you had a good trip. We will not try E nights for a few years, until our kids are old enough to stay up late and not grump!!!

 

[jennymouse]

Originally posted by laceemouse
There was a thread a few days ago on the rumor board about the MK shops closing early to save money. Many of us feel that this is a bad idea!!! Which shops did you see closed early? What time? Was it a major inconvenience?? Glad you had a good trip. We will not try E nights for a few years, until our kids are old enough to stay up late and not grump!!!

We arrived at MK at 6pm on 6/24 hoping to ride some of the fast loading rides & get our MK shopping in before Enight started at 10pm. Let me tell ya, the place was packed and lines even for rides like IASW was long so we figured we'd get our shopping done. We tried to get in one of the shops in Liberty Square around 7pm and the CM wouldn't let us although there were still guests in there. The doors to the Christmas store were locked as were the stores in Fronteerland. We gave up and grabbed some burgers at Pecos Bill's, watched Spectro then got started on Enight. For the life of me, I can't understand this at all. I mean the park was elbow to elbow with lines so long all you could do was shop & the stores were closed for the night. Lots of other folks were talking about it. I can't imagine how much money Disney lost that night alone. A friend/coworker went with me this trip and she's a marketing/sales person and she simply couldn't stop talking about it. This was her first time at WDW and I think she was more amazed at the stores being closed at that hour and with a packed park than she was at any of the attractions....and she loved the attractions.