New MK Paid Disney After Hours Event Announced

[UncleMike101]

Well as someone who will be at WDW during the time of this event, I'm not happy. My arrival day is a Thursday so event night. If you look at Josh's crowd calendars, Thursdays are the best days for MK. So I had planned to arrive, get settled in and spend the evening/night at MK. I have FP for that night at MK. Now I also have thousands of extra people in the parks starting soon after I planned to arrive for the evening.
Now my recommended park day turns into a really busy one starting at 7pm with all the additional guests on top of the regular guests. Oh, and it's my birthday, sigh. Now I need to re-look my plans for that day. I'm probably going to switch my FP to a different park. So, thanks Disney for making me plan out my trip months in advance, then add these events all under 60 days for on-site guests who have already made their plans. Total Fail!

We'd planned on staying late at the MK on May 19 but now the possibility of thousands of extra visitors fighting for a location to see the MSEP and Wishes I've made some changes.
I just changed our dinner ADR to an earlier time for the 19th of May.
When the extra people begin to arrive at 7:00 PM we can hop over to Epcot or DHS to finish the night.
We'd originally picked MK for thay date because of the usually lighter Thursday crowds.
So much for planning............

 

[Dan Murphy]

I'm not waiting in a 2 hour line in the heat of the day for 7DMT, but I'd sure take a shot at it during one of these events in cooler hours. I'm still in, I just can't seem to book since nobody on the phone line even knows what it is.

Good point. Let's look at that in 2016 dollars...

$13.77

Okay, well, $150 makes more sense now...

Actually, much higher than that, $14.05 http://www.in2013dollars.com/2000-dollars-in-2016?amount=10

Did e nights stop after the 9/11 slow down?

May, 2004.

Where is poster who claimed to have oh so much inside information about this whole thing and was sworn to secrecy? Is there more or is this it? Cuz if there isn't more than what's been announced then color me unimpressed with the event. All the Mickey bars and itzakadoozies in the world ain't worth 149 plus tax.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/ne...event-announced.3494480/page-10#post-55397468

 

[lugnut33]

    2013  2016
AM EMHs
MK   1     1
EP   1     1
HS   1     1
AK   2     2
PM EMHs
MK   1     1
EP   1     1
HS   2     1
AK   0     0

In 3 years there has been a loss of one PM EMH per week.

Didn't EMH used to be 3 hours long instead of 2? That seems like a 33% reduction to me, and quite significant.

 

[graciedad]

I've been concerned why June's hours at MK have only been til 10pm every night when they have always been either Midnight or 1am in the past Junes. I wonder if they are going to test it on these dates then get ready to do it the rest of the summer too.

 

[hauntedcity]

They do? Where is this announcement?

A recent Disney survey asked hotel guests if they would be willing to pay up to $15/night for several benefits which are currently free. A "Resort Fee". When you look at that along with this nighttime event, things get a little worrisome.

You have one arm of Disney asking if you'd be willing to pay for EMH (and other currently free benefits), while another arm actually does start charging for EMH (a souped-up, special version, yes, but still the same basic idea). You don't have to be Fox Mulder to start drawing connections there.

 

[Dan Murphy]

they did some after-hours "Pirate and Princess" parties. Those were fun, too. Cute theme, characters in special outfits, special activities not available during regular hours. Price wasn't anywhere near $150 each

They were $37. 2007 and 2008

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

    2013  2016
AM EMHs
MK   1     1
EP   1     1
HS   1     1
AK   2     2
PM EMHs
MK   1     1
EP   1     1
HS   2     1
AK   0     0

In 3 years there has been a loss of one PM EMH per week.

"Noticeable" doesn't mean "factual" .... EMHs really haven't changed in three years.

In the case you provided, it's factual. We vacation from 12/24-1/1. It dropped from 2 EMH nights to 1. That ONE EMH night just so happened to be on the second most crowded night of the year, making it pretty moot.

The problem with averages is that it's just that - averages. I'm sure if you take a look at the full schedule, you'd find that many of those nighttime EMH's that are averaging it out are due to 10pm-12am EMHs during off-peak times. I could be wrong and I'd happily admit that if it were the case (or if proven otherwise) but going off what I saw and the facts you just presented for 12/24-1/1, they've decreased EMHs.

 

[jknc]

I've been concerned why June's hours at MK have only been til 10pm every night when they have always been either Midnight or 1am in the past Junes. I wonder if they are going to test it on these dates then get ready to do it the rest of the summer too.

NOTE TO DISNEY: you keep the MK closings in June at 10:00, I will cancel my trip. Consider this your first and final warning.

 

[keys2kingdom]

I'm scared about 'the rest'...

Exactly! I'm thinking that if they're this upset about the leak it was their 'good' news, and the blow is yet to come. We shall see. But I also agree with the poster who talked about all of us buying the premium experiences, every time someone buys that stuff like parties and BBB it sends a message that guests want those experiences so really who can blame Disney for drawing conclusions based on data and sales. I was thinking about the old E-ride nights just the other day and thinking that I might be willing to pay about $30 for something like that again. We did it in the late 90's and it was quite enjoyable and I felt a very good value. Mind blown at $150, I'm definitely out!

 

[horse11]

My biggest problem with this is that they have to cut into the people whom already paid Disney for tickets, made their ADR's 180 days in advance, made their FP 60 days in advance and now this is going to effect the quality of their day. I have no problem with Disney wanting to make money and if people will continue to pay it then by all means we should not be upset with Disney. However then make the hours from 11:00 to 6:00 am so it does not effect the People whom have already committed to Disney.

 

[graciedad]

NOTE TO DISNEY: you keep the MK closings in June at 10:00, I will cancel my trip. Consider this your first and final warning.

I've been worried about this for months. In the past, I've ALWAYS been able to see later hours by Jan or Feb. We are almost into April. The May 2016 MK hours have been posted for 11pm and Midnight on several evenings throughout the month. May's hours have been this way for months, but not June. It just hasn't made sense to me why they wouldn't have updated them until this "after hours" party crap leaked yesterday. I will have to consider cancelling too. We live for late nights.

 

[AngiTN]

A recent Disney survey asked hotel guests if they would be willing to pay up to $15/night for several benefits which are currently free. A "Resort Fee". When you look at that along with this nighttime event, things get a little worrisome.

You have one arm of Disney asking if you'd be willing to pay for EMH (and other currently free benefits), while another arm actually does start charging for EMH (a souped-up, special version, yes, but still the same basic idea). You don't have to be Fox Mulder to start drawing connections there.

A survey? Really? That's it? I can't being to tell you how many things have been asked of me in Disney survey's over the years. Very little comes to fruition. Heaven why on earth would people start to jump off a cliff because it was mentioned in a survey?

 

[WEDWDW]

Looks like this thing is going to be a HIT!

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...t-coming-to-the-magic-kingdom-this-spring.htm

 

[dr2004]

This one just hit my nerve. I am done defending them. This is a company that is in a panic over ESPN losing subscribers and now the theme parks are the revenue drivers again. They are squeezing every last dollar they can because ESPN, once wildly profitable, has overspent in the age of cord cutting.

They expect people to plan where they want to eat 6 months in advance, and what rides they want to be on 60 days in advance..but they change things at the drop of a hat.

For $150 , lots of questions remain. Does that three hours start after Wishes or is the first half hour going to be choked up by people standing watching the show and then lingering around? What about the overflow on the lines at 10? Do they now kick them out? For $150 there bette rnot be a 30 minute wait because people got in line at 10p. Those arguments should make for a magical experience for a CM at the end of a long day

For that price point, just imagine the complaints if/when rides go down. Sorry, rides open subject to change. Here is a fast pass to a Tier II Epcot ride to make up for it. OK, have two!

Shocking.

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

This event is a disaster. I think it WILL affect park hours. I would consider cancelling a summer trip if I couldn't stay in the MK til 12:00. That's what I live for.

 

[mom2rtk]

I sort of wish this hadn't been leaked. It might have been fun to see them try to spin it into something more positive on their own timeline.

 

[mom2rtk]

This event is a disaster. I think it WILL affect park hours. I would consider cancelling a summer trip if I couldn't stay in the MK til 12:00. That's what I live for.

I think it will affect park hours too.

 

[DisneyNut_34]

So, just to be sure I have this right I can pay $124 for 13-14 hours of park time or $149 for 3 hours. Ummm

 

[boomgoesthemickey]

This thread needs some palpatine.....

 

[graciedad]

I think it will affect park hours too.

I believe it will. Look at the hours for June, July, and August. Not one night shows MK past 10pm. Also, the EMH that they do show for MK don't even have the (2) listed to let you know they have 2 hours of EMH. These would have been updated by now in years past. I think they are going to try to shut it down at 10 most nights which would have to make me cancel my trip. We have a 10 day park hopper. We ALWAYS stay late. I am not giving up 20 hours over that period of time for the money we are spending(especially since we've always had til midnight in June).

https://media.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/ParkHours/WDWTravelAgent_June.pdf

http://media.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/ParkHours/WDWTravelAgent_july.pdf

https://media.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/ParkHours/WDWTravelAgent_August.pdf