MDE App Update & Recent “Refresh” Changes Discussion (we’re not doomed!)

[mesaboy2]

Evening EMH went from 3 hours long to 2 hours a few years ago. Maybe didn’t make it “bad”, but certainly didn’t make it better.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

We were at MK yesterday and today. Lots of issues with MDE showing times and I would click on them as fast as possible and then it would tell me no longer available. Taking 10x longer to get additional fast passes.

Please contact WDW and tell them how bad it was. If you stop by guest relations and politely complain you may get something "extra".

 

[JETSDAD]

Updated...

That's awesome!! lol

 

[loutoo]

Lines and Disney After Hours

Again Disney didn't intentionally make lines bad. They offer a product that is so popular that lots of people want it. They do every imaginable thing to make the line waiting experience more pleasant and immersive. If Disney turned off the AC while you waited and pumped in Stitch smells in order for you to buy DAH that would be an example, but they didn't break lines or increase them to get you to buy the new product.

 

[elle101me]

Title changed...

Perfect!

 

[anomamatt]

Again Disney didn't intentionally make lines bad.

They do intentionally and grossly inflate standby waits. Does that count for you?

 

[hayesdvc]

Now when you attempt to make a FP and the first screen shows the available times, when you select the time you want you go to the next screen to confirm .................... now when you go to the next screen you may get it, you may get another time, or you may get nothing.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Now when you attempt to make a FP and the first screen shows the available times, when you select the time you want you go to the next screen to confirm .................... now when you go to the next screen you may get it, you may get another time, or you may get nothing.

Not Very Magical

 

[loutoo]

Actually I take it all back. Disney went way out of their way to make FOP awesome so that it would be insanely popular and have ridiculously long lines. They did that so you would have a choice of waiting three hours or buying special access.

How dare they wreck my Disney experience by building incredible attractions I want to ride and then finding a way to recoup their capital expense by charging me for it.

 

[baler31]

At the risk of going way OT, they absolutely wrecked PM EMH. It’s 2 hours instead of 3, there’s way too many good neighbor hotels included now, and it generally starts earlier than it did in it’s hey day, thus having large crowds till the end now. People repeatedly begged to bring back e ticket nights and they essentially did with DAH.

The demise of EMH began in summer 2011 with the elimination of characters during EMH. We have a photo of the last night around the carousel with a dozen characters. It was a magical evening for my family and very bittersweet as we knew we would never see that kind of evening again. It was clear even then that Disney was moving to a paid model. Cutting the hours the next year was just the next step. They have surreptitiously moved to a paid model. I don't know that adding the Disney Springs and Bonnet Creek hotels to EMH was designed to kill it but it certainly looks that way. Flood EMH with people make it useless, people complain, discontinue in favor of all paid model.

From a business perspective I see needed change; some of the late EMH we attended circa late 2000's that lasted until 3 were truly empty. Great for us not great for Disney.

 

[loutoo]

I also want to apologize for taking this thread way off topic unintentionally. Sorry mods. I'll stop

 

[normjen]

They do intentionally and grossly inflate standby waits. Does that count for you?

I thought when FP+ came out that Disney stated the reason was to spread out wait times for rides, FP+ has turned most second/third tier ride lines not worth the wait.

 

[SaharanTea]

EMH has been getting worse because of the increased number of resorts. Has nothing to do with EMM and DAH.

And who is allowing more resorts from the outside and building more resorts on the inside? If that was all, you might shrug. But... Hours and days for EMH have been reduced. Staffing during the events has been cut. It's not a passive degradation of the experience.

I don't mean to derail. I'm very curious how this update plays out.

 

[Runnsally]

Actually I take it all back. Disney went way out of their way to make FOP awesome so that it would be insanely popular and have ridiculously long lines. They did that so you would have a choice of waiting three hours or buying special access.

How dare they wreck my Disney experience by building incredible attractions I want to ride and then finding a way to recoup their capital expense by charging me for it.

I think you’re marrying two different concepts. I have no problem with Disney charging what the market will absorb (including paid FP).

However, Disney could absolutely lower lines if they wanted to - increase staffing, keep things closer to max capacity, extend hours, etc. But again, I appreciate the business model behind not wanting to do this and don’t hold it against them.

 

[anomamatt]

I thought when FP+ came out that Disney stated the reason was to spread out wait times for rides, FP+ has turned most second/third tier ride lines not worth the wait.

My point was that the posted standby waits are grossly incorrect. And done intentionally. A skeptic would argue they do it to sell you the up-charge, limited capacity events like EMM or DAH.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Updated...

EPIC!!

Not Very Magical

So unmagical that somebody might just throw $500 on the ground and leave? (Anybody who gets this reference will definitely lol I think)

 

[GADisneyDad14]

The real damage to EMHs was done end of 2012 / start of 2013 when PM EMHs went from 3 to 2 hours. With the exception of when they stopped DHS PM EMHs early 2017 (I believe), the general EMH schedule of 1 MK AM, 1 MK PM, 1 Epcot AM, 1 Epcot PM, 2 DAK AM, and 1 DHS AM EMH per week has been more or less unchanged since 2013 (I'm ignoring special runs around land openings, etc).

MK After Hours was introduced in 2016 with 7 events, followed by 7 in 2017, 21 in 2018, and so far 18 in 2019 (schedule goes through May).

DAK & DHS After Hours were introduced late 2018 so those are pretty early in their existence.

In my humble opinion, the 'downfall' of EMH due to things like EMM and DAH is energy focused in the wrong place - EMH availability has not changed substantially in awhile.

I think the true focus and attention (and cause for concern) should be on overall open park hours - something that impacts ALL of us, on site, off site, locals, etc. Year-over-year park hours are down, particularly at MK. Fewer 8AM openings, fewer midnight closings, etc (for example). Not major differences, but subtle ones...an hour here, an hour there. MK was not open at 8am this past Thanksgiving week for the first time in forever (not the literal forever, just a really long time). For Jan-Feb 2018, MK closed at 12am 12 times vs 0 times Jan-Feb 2019. Those early and late hours are very effective at spreading out crowds and they've been lacking of late.

But ANYWAY, this is and a better suited topic for another thread. Back to refreshing...

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Back to refreshing...

And refreshing... and refreshing... and refreshing... and refreshing... and refreshing... and refreshing... and refreshing... and refreshing...

AND SDMT!!!

 

[snappy]

And my husband thought i spent too much time on MDE during our last trip. . .

 

[Iowamomof4]

And refreshing... and refreshing... and refreshing... and refreshing... and refreshing... and refreshing... and refreshing... and refreshing...

AND SDMT!!!

Brilliant!