Mid Day Discount - Why no love for this?

rchristiansen

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 12, 2004
I think it's awesome.

Because we've been to Disney World so many times, we rarely plan our days ahead of time and we like to sleep in/relax on vacation. We would be arriving any given park mid-day anyway. I think it's a great discount.

It's even offered over Thanksgiving when we're going.

I priced it out: For the 3 of us, it saves us a total of $300 for the 3 days. And I usually buy single tickets from an online discount site - it's even less there :)
 
I was thinking the same thing when I watched the show today. I’m surprised how The Dis hosts can miss the boat on some topics.

First, discounted afternoon tickets are common in many amusement parks, museums or attractions.

Secondly, whatever The Dis hosts like as annual pass holders about not feeling obliged to spend the entire day in a park, is the same for these half day guests. Especially true now that out-of-state guests have to buy a Platinum Pass which went up by what.... $400 ???

Guests can take a leisurely approach to the parks and save what is an essentially pro-rated price.
 
I think it's awesome.

Because we've been to Disney World so many times, we rarely plan our days ahead of time and we like to sleep in/relax on vacation. We would be arriving any given park mid-day anyway. I think it's a great discount.

It's even offered over Thanksgiving when we're going.

I priced it out: For the 3 of us, it saves us a total of $300 for the 3 days. And I usually buy single tickets from an online discount site - it's even less there :)

No love because if you’re not local it doesn’t matter. If you’re planning a trip around it it’s not practical in most situations unless you go out of your way.
 


I didn't get why they were so opposed to it either. Even for those who are coming from out of town, on arrival days, it gives the option of going into the park for a few hours without the full cost. Also, with the amusement parks around where I live, they have had discounted rates for those going in the afternoon on and off for years and I often used it (I'd go for the evening after work).
 
The value of this ticket really depends on the length of your trip. If you plan on going to the parks for a week on your trip, purchasing days 6 and 7 with normal 1 day park tickets is cheaper than buying 5 normal tickets and 2 mid-day magic tickets.

People that choose to arrive after noon are missing the lowest crowds, wait times, and more pleasant weather---but that's a choice.
 


We could have used this in June when we visited after a wedding in Southern Florida. Our arrival day we ended up getting the park at 5p and staying until 11p. I can see if you've got a 7 day package that this might not be the type of ticket you'd use but for these shorter trips - it would come in handy.
 
I come from a really big family, I see this as being a straight up game changer for them. I priced out a 4 day ticket in September for a family of 8 with 6 kids between 3-9 and the savings was about $883!!! ($3297 vs $2414 for tickets) That’s the difference of coming or not coming for some families.
Big families can drive down in the minivan, rent a condo off property with a kitchen, spend the morning in the pool and eat a large, leisurely brunch, then dress and head to the parks.
You now have almost $900, over $100 per kid (and money for mom and dad too) to spend on splurging on the vacation, custom t-shirts, princess dresses brought from home, ordering pizza for dinner, maybe a character breakfast, souvenirs for everyone at the outlets, Mickey bars, a couple buckets of popcorn before fireworks to share, movie tickets, etc that for a big families can be a hardship.
I do agree park hopping on those tickets doesn’t any make sense (at least to me.)
 
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Some people are early birds and some are night owls. The early birds pay more, but they get more hours in the park and the high probability of lower crowds and shorter lines the first hour or two. Night owls are getting a discount, but not so many hours in the park and less possibility of lower crowds and short lines the end of the night. It should be a win-win for both groups and especially the early birds, who will now have even fewer people in the park before noon.

I have an AP, but I rarely arrive at the parks before noon (it was a real struggle to get to my morning AP preview of GE) and if I were not an AP this would be a very attractive ticket for me. Both sides get a benefit, so I don’t understand why anyone would dislike the idea.
 
Sounds like a great deal to me, too. We've been to Disney many times. We're past the point of needing to be there at rope drop. We'd rather sleep in, have breakfast, and hit the park late morning I could definitely see us taking advantage of this in the future if they continue to offer them. I haven't heard the show yet so I'm not sure what the team said or why they didn't like them.
 
Sounds like a great deal to me, too. We've been to Disney many times. We're past the point of needing to be there at rope drop. We'd rather sleep in, have breakfast, and hit the park late morning I could definitely see us taking advantage of this in the future if they continue to offer them. I haven't heard the show yet so I'm not sure what the team said or why they didn't like them.

They seemed to just not see the point - and they also seem to get lost in debating about value how you don't get the full value of the day (Kevin kept referring to it like showing up to a show at intermission ... but I really don't think that applied here)

personally I think it is a nice option - I assume one negative to these tickets is if staying on site you wouldn't be able to take advantage of morning extra magic hours - including the extra, extra magic hours at Galaxy's Edge. For some, that doesn't matter, but I think this is another way to try and make that perk seem more valuable

But for people that don't do rope drop, this can be pretty significant savings - $20/day/person can add up for a family

I also just see this as a way for Disney to cut prices and promote a "cheaper" ticket without having to actually cut regular ticket prices
 
They seemed to just not see the point - and they also seem to get lost in debating about value how you don't get the full value of the day (Kevin kept referring to it like showing up to a show at intermission ... but I really don't think that applied here)
Definitely not the same thing.

We used to be the "opening to closing" sort. Those days are long gone. Eight hours in a park is quite enough at this point so if we can go in at noon and stay until 8pm or so and get out before the fireworks/nighttime show crowd, that's plenty. I don't know how long they will offer this but especially as we move towards it getting darker earlier, this would be even better.
 
Definitely not the same thing.

We used to be the "opening to closing" sort. Those days are long gone. Eight hours in a park is quite enough at this point so if we can go in at noon and stay until 8pm or so and get out before the fireworks/nighttime show crowd, that's plenty. I don't know how long they will offer this but especially as we move towards it getting darker earlier, this would be even better.

the other thing that is nice with these, is it seems like it is the same price no matter what your "start" day is, vs the variable pricing they have for regular tickets. So it is like a $20/day savings vs the lowest regular priced ticket, but $30 or move vs the more expensive days
 
They seemed to just not see the point - and they also seem to get lost in debating about value how you don't get the full value of the day (Kevin kept referring to it like showing up to a show at intermission ... but I really don't think that applied here)

Agreed - I doubt very many people stay at the parks from rope drop to the end of the night. Then, you could say that leaving early is a waste too.

I'm not at Disney World to maximize my "value", I'm there to have a good time. I see too many people trying to optimize everything - and end up worn out and grumpy.
 
No love because if you’re not local it doesn’t matter. If you’re planning a trip around it it’s not practical in most situations unless you go out of your way.

Not sure I agree with this. I don't know of many people that think they must arrive when it opens. I can only think of a handful of times when we arrived at rope drop -- over the last 20 years - LOL!
 
Not sure I agree with this. I don't know of many people that think they must arrive when it opens. I can only think of a handful of times when we arrived at rope drop -- over the last 20 years - LOL!

That’s funny because most people I know, talk to, and read advice from seem to think going in the morning is essential. Also, noon and rope drop are very different things. I am actually one to sleep in but I would still like knowing I had the option to visit in the morning, 9am-12pm are prime hours.
 
That’s funny because most people I know, talk to, and read advice from seem to think going in the morning is essential. Also, noon and rope drop are very different things. I am actually one to sleep in but I would still like knowing I had the option to visit in the morning, 9am-12pm are prime hours.
They are for Disney park going veterans but to those general guests they don’t realize that most of the time and I could certainly see how this ticket would then appeal to them.
 
I’m purchasing these for my trip in November. They are a perfect fit for us because we are staying off-site in my timeshare for a week, not going to the parks over Veterans Day weekend, going to MVMCP on Tuesday the 12th (so a late night) followed by AK on the 13th (off site so 30 day FP’s) — my sister and I can’t do FoP so my daughter will get in line prior to close, the 14th will have us at Epcot with our main goal being Food and Wine. Like an above poster said, 8-9 hours in the park is plenty for us especially since my sister isn’t exactly a Disney person (I know, the horror! 😱)
 

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