New MK Paid Disney After Hours Event Announced

[aggieland03]

How does Disney police the EMH anyway? Do non-resort guests just leave at, for example, 10pm by the honor system while those staying at a resort get to stick around til 1am? (example)

How in the world are they going to keep people who didn't buy this $149 ticket from lingering at the parks til the wee hours?

 

[Jing]

I'm curious what Disney has done recently that leads you to believe they would use proceeds from these high-dollar things to stabilize prices in other areas?

I said prefer, not believe.

 

[marchingstar]

So, MASSIVE crowds from 7-10pm (day guests plus event guests)...

You "get" to watch Wishes/MSEP (which everyone who bought a standard admission ticket also gets)...

Free Mickey bars and soda/water after 10pm...

3 hours of rides (with hopefully lower crowds depending on how the party sells)...

And the privilege of buying Starbucks and hot dogs if you need food while there...

For $150 + tax. Per person.

What am I missing? How is this any kind of appealing situation? No special meets, fireworks, parades, dance parties, concerts, shows, merchandise. It's the $10 E-ride night from years ago with ice cream and soda.

yep, this is my question too. whether we think 150$/person is reasonable or not, Disney has to be justifying it somehow. but right now it merely sounds like a pricey one-day ticket, just with different park hours. that seems like weak justification, even by Disney standards.

 

[Praying Colonel]

I haven't read through all 36 pages yet, but I have to say I find it interesting that Disney decided a while back to trim evening EMH back to 2 hours because of alleged lack of demand, but is making this pay event 3 hours. Guess there's "magically" more demand when the guest is coughing up $150/per.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

How does Disney police the EMH anyway? Do non-resort guests just leave at, for example, 10pm by the honor system while those staying at a resort get to stick around til 1am? (example)

How in the world are they going to keep people who didn't buy this $149 ticket from lingering at the parks til the wee hours?

I believe you have to scan your magic band at the rides to prove you're staying on site (for the evening EMH)

 

[Jennasis]

How does Disney police the EMH anyway? Do non-resort guests just leave at, for example, 10pm by the honor system while those staying at a resort get to stick around til 1am? (example)

How in the world are they going to keep people who didn't buy this $149 ticket from lingering at the parks til the wee hours?

They won't. Non-party guests will allegedly be allowed to stay and shop, just not ride anything (according to what a CM told a poster earlier in the thread).

 

[Cirlonde]

I got a *super* friendly cast member on the phone when I called to ask about this and she read me the email she had received with the details of the After Hours thing. Granted, I wasn't taking notes but the attractions she listed seemed very similar to the ones that are open during the parties. Specifically, the ones I can recall for sure were: 7 Dwarfs, Pan, Splash, Space, Astro-Orbiter, Stitch, Dumbo, Aladdin, Philharmagic, Mickey @ Town Square, Princesses, Pooh, Country Bears, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Big Thunder.

I know there were more, but I can't remember all of the ones she listed. I did confirm that Haunted Mansion was not on the list but she seemed surprised that it wasn't and thought maybe it was a mistake in the list she was sent. It definitely sounds like there's stuff in each land that will be operating.

 

[hauntedcity]

I would much prefer to see the addition of several high-dollar, limited experiences emerge if that would mean price stabilization of the basics (i.e. no increases over the cost of inflation) while maintaining the current perks for on-site guests.

From what I've heard, they're trying to stabilize the cost overruns in Shanghai. The parks have always been the cash cow for Disney. In fact, waaaaaay back in the distant past, they were the cash cow example used in my Econ 101 class.

On-site guest perks wax and wane. Right now, attendance is way up, and the hotels are almost always packed. It makes sense that Disney would test the waters, and see if tweaking the perks would affect occupancy rates.

We are still missing two major pieces of information: 1. A full list of what's included in the event, and 2. How many people are they going to let in the park? I can see some mix of answers actually making $150 per person worth it. If you guarantee me a 5 minute wait for anything during Spring Break... all bets are off!

 

[graceclaire925]

EDIT - it's now official...

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/magic-kingdom/disney-after-hours/

And detailed info thanks to @mustlovecats



Anyone hear about this? I just saw it on Twitter...

Disney World introducing a new, paid after hours event at Magic Kingdom: Disney After Hours

Guests buy a ticket and get access to Magic Kingdom for three hours after park close, including select attractions and meet & greets.

Tickets go on sale April 6th for select dates in April and May only.

Dates of the events are April 14th, 21st, 28th, and May 5th, 8th, 12th, & 19th. Tickets are $149 plus tax each for children or adults.

I can't read this anymore -the disneyworld link is gone....anyone else?

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

From what I've heard, they're trying to stabilize the cost overruns in Shanghai. The parks have always been the cash cow for Disney. In fact, waaaaaay back in the distant past, they were the cash cow example used in my Econ 101 class.

On-site guest perks wax and wane. Right now, attendance is way up, and the hotels are almost always packed. It makes sense that Disney would test the waters, and see if tweaking the perks would affect occupancy rates.

We are still missing two major pieces of information: 1. A full list of what's included in the event, and 2. How many people are they going to let in the park? I can see some mix of answers actually making $150 per person worth it. If you guarantee me a 5 minute wait for anything during Spring Break... all bets are off!

I don't think either of those answers will be provided in advance. They have never provided the numbers for the Halloween or Christmas parties, as far as I'm aware.

 

[MYD714]

I'm going to put a question mark in the title, but, again, it's nothing new for news to trickle out prior to being officially announced...

From what I've read - this event is supposedly going to have only 3,000 tickets avail per night. If so, that is nowhere near the attendance of an event like MNSSHP, which is approx 25K per night. That may be where they are justifying the cost.

The $10 e-ride nights were just like this, and they were wonderful. We had zero waits; the park was practically empty. IMO there is no way to justify a price this high, especially considering the price I paid a decade ago. It's nice to have an empty park, but that price tag is disgusting.

So, MASSIVE crowds from 7-10pm (day guests plus event guests)...

You "get" to watch Wishes/MSEP (which everyone who bought a standard admission ticket also gets)...

Free Mickey bars and soda/water after 10pm...

3 hours of rides (with hopefully lower crowds depending on how the party sells)...

And the privilege of buying Starbucks and hot dogs if you need food while there...

For $150 + tax. Per person.

What am I missing? How is this any kind of appealing situation? No special meets, fireworks, parades, dance parties, concerts, shows, merchandise. It's the $10 E-ride night from years ago with ice cream and soda.

exactly!

If they brought back e-ride nights for a fair price, it would be a no-brainer for me. I have always hated EMHs and they've just gotten worse over time. I have no problem paying the former e-ride night prices. It allowed us to enjoy the water parks, etc. without missing the parks.

 

[graceclaire925]

It says denied access is this a scam?

 

[tlmadden73]

$150 isn't that much compared to what? A single day ticket? How many hardcore fans who would attend something like this typically buy one day tickets?

Correct .. compared to a one day ticket. I bet there are some families who come to MK .. spend a few hours in the morning .. go back to the resort and sit in the pool for hours and then come back after dinner for a few more hours and aren't there for more than 6-7 hours total.

People already pay an extra $75 for the holiday parties, so why not $150 for a late night version? Think about all the people who pay for the dessert parties or fireworks cruises or the (soon) premium parking. This is targeted to THEM. The "whales" as they are called in the software biz.

Disney seems to be redesigning their offerings so there is a lot of extra and premium events to catch the "whales".. dessert parties, dinner reservations that get you seating at a night show, BBB, Character Meals, etc. All things that are optional, but cost a lot of money, yet a lot of people do to the point it is hard to get reservations.

You can BET that the reason that Wishes and parades no longer have fast passes for reserved seating is so they can CHARGE for them in some form.


I'm not saying the price is right (for me) .. I'm saying that a lot of people are more than willing to pay for this experience, thus why it is being offered.

Time will tell if the price is right and enough people buy it to make it worth continuing.

I wouldn't think that Club Villain was worth the price (considering you also need admission to DHS) . .but the fact they extended seems to indicate it was at least somewhat of a success.

 

[gorkt]

Wow, so $200/hr for a family of 4. That is crazypants expensive. The only way this makes sense at all is for a once in a lifetime trip during a very crowded vacation week.

 

[Livvie]

I can't read this anymore -the disneyworld link is gone....anyone else?

I just clicked on the link from my desktop and it came right up. Are you on a mobile?

 

[mom2rtk]

It says denied access is this a scam?

Maybe? Wait and see what people see after the first party!

 

[mom2rtk]

Wow, so $200/hr for a family of 4. That is crazypants expensive. The only way this makes sense at all is for a once in a lifetime trip during a very crowded vacation week.

And the jury is still out on whether they will run this during crazy busy peak weeks. Those are the weeks they typically have just extended hours for everyone.

 

[Sammie]

Write Disney and voice your opinion on this. Especially about Extra Magic Hours. I would want conformation as to how many tickets would be sold before I would even consider it.

 

[mom2rtk]

People already pay an extra $75 for the holiday parties, so why not $150 for a late night version?

Because the $75 holiday party brings a lot of extras to the table this appears not to bring.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

this isn't being marketed to megafans but to guests who want an evening without lines in the park (I'm guessing because we still don't exactly know the capacity of the event).

Megafans who go often don't need to pay a lot for a night without lines.

Guessing they're not marketing to families with young kids either; hazarding another guess that most young families won't pay $150 per child for a late night offering.

 

[ellie05]

How does Disney police the EMH anyway? Do non-resort guests just leave at, for example, 10pm by the honor system while those staying at a resort get to stick around til 1am? (example)

How in the world are they going to keep people who didn't buy this $149 ticket from lingering at the parks til the wee hours?

Last December we use late EMH at the MK and they were not only scanning you MB, but after they checked their screen they were asking you what resort you are staying and making sure it matched. There was a couple in front of us that said pop, but I guess got confused and were staring at ASMu they were taking to the side and another CM confirm more details. They end up behind us in line so I ask her what was all that about.