News Round Up 2016

[twebber55]

He said that phase 2 is a "nighttime lighting package" that needs to wait until after construction on the physical land is complete to begin working on it, so maybe Pandora Daytime opens on Earth Day and Pandora Nighttime opens within six months...?

i am confident that hes talking out of his butt on that one

 

[Fantasia79]

From Spirit on wdwmagic.

Ugh. Dislike!

 

[ej119]

Spirit says that Shanghai will likely be sold as the most visited Disney park even above MK because that's how the Chinese government wants it. Even if it's not a success and not well visited they are going to say it is. He also said earlier in the thread that Disney has told TEA to make the Disneyland resort numbers lower than they are.

Do we expect this to be achieved via another significant annual pass price increase?

 

[rteetz]

Do we expect this to be achieved via another significant annual pass price increase?

I don't think ticket price increases are related to this. Ticket price increases are always going to happen, Disney is going to keep going up in price until they can't anymore.

 

[jade1]

I don't think ticket price increases are related to this. Ticket price increases are always going to happen, Disney is going to keep going up in price until they can't anymore.

As is universal. And pretty much every for profit business.

 

[circus4u]

Today only at the Disney Store, 15% off Magic Bands and accessories.
http://www.disneystore.com/magicband/mn/1024701/?RMID=20160322_MagicBand15&RRID=16804599&CMP=EMC-eml

 

[skier_pete]

They've been reducing the frequency for a while haven't they?

They haven't reduced frequency in the last 10 years anyways. They've reduced the total time though.

The two changes I'm aware of is that DAK used to have one morning EMH and one evening EMH each week. They switched this to TWO morning EMH.
Then a few years ago they SHORTENED evening EMH to two hours instead of three.
So there's still EIGHT EMH's every week as there have always been. It's such there used to be 16 hours of EMH available each week, now there is only 11.


People are worried about them taking away EMH - but I just don't see them doing it. This is a MAJOR, MAJOR selling point for the on-site hotels. Pretty sure Disney knows that - they aren't nearly as stupid as you think.

Here's what I think is going on - they LOVE the Hard ticket events. People pay MORE money for them and get LESS for it and they line up to do it. (Think about it, the MNSSHP and MVMCP you are not paying nearly $80 for 5 hours in the park. They close a bunch of stores and restaurants during this time, so operations cost a lot less, even with the extra parade and stage show. On a multiday ticket you are paying maybe $40 for 12 hours in the park.

The problem with the hard ticket events is they only run for 4 months. About what 7-8 years ago they tried to come up with a third "party" in the Pirates and Princess party - which took place in the Spring. It didn't sell very well, and they never really gave it a chance to develop before they canceled it. This is another try at something like that - a spring hard ticket event. The thought is undoubtable if they charge MORE and run it for only 3 hours instead of 5 - and not run extras like the parade - they can sell 1/3 the tickets and make just as much profit.

And clearly it could work - I see people on here saying "If they have couple of rare characters and fireworks - I'll pay!" Anyone that does that should be banned from ever being allowed to complain about the prices Disney charges. I personally don't get it. You could practically add 2 extra DAYS to your vacation for that price. For 3 hours? But on the other hand, adding these extra events keeps Disney from charging ME more money for the regular park - I'm all for them!

 

[Flyerjab]

He said that phase 2 is a "nighttime lighting package" that needs to wait until after construction on the physical land is complete to begin working on it, so maybe Pandora Daytime opens on Earth Day and Pandora Nighttime opens within six months...?

I used to enjoy listening to him about 2 years ago or so. I still find some of the podcasts he does with Len Testa interesting when he goes over the history of Disneyland and Walt Disney World. However, what I have come to realize is that he is not a dependable source at all for rumors. When I go back and listen to his shows a lot of things he claimed to know or have seen do not pan out or are just flat out wrong. He also is great a presenting rumors that have already been out there from other sources on the internet.

 

[eXo]

The $149 for three hours thing is ridiculous, but why are so many of you assuming it is the death of EMH. Why isn't it possible that these $150 nights are on non-EMH evenings. EMH is not every evening... this could simply be a way to use the parks on non-EMH evenings. And considering the cost/time ratio is more than double that of a christmas/halloween party, it does suggest that there is a catch to this. After all, why would they charge $75 for a Christmas party ticket, with little snacks, special characters, and special shows that last for upwards of 5 hours but then charge $150 for only three hours with non of that? The most obvious assumption is that it *is* limited in how many tickets they sale. If lines were extremely short through most of the park, I can see a certain crowd segment deciding it is better to spend $150 to ride almost everything they want to ride rather than spending $115 just to spend over half the day in lines.

It just seems like everyone immediately jumped on the "death of EMH" bandwagon, rather than seeing this as a "premium" extra for people with more money than time/sense.

 

[Indybill]

I'm floored by how many people are ready to open their wallets for a $50/hr experience.

I am not excited about this price point either, but think about it: Broadway tickets are pushing that for less than a 3 hour show, NFL tickets are there for a 3 hour game, etc. There is a market for this and Disney is just doing what they think they can get away with to cash in. Parking at major sporting sites has been much higher than what Disney charges for years now and there you are going for a few hours versus all day at Disney. None of us like it, but its just a fact that Disney is now marketing their business more to the $100K+ earning families and will continue to do that until actual sales dollars fall.

 

[merry_nbright]

It just seems like everyone immediately jumped on the "death of EMH" bandwagon, rather than seeing this as a "premium" extra for people with more money than time/sense.

Exactly what I was thinking!

 

[rteetz]

News

Parades and fireworks removed from fastpass line up.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...d-from-the-magic-kingdom-fastpass-line-up.htm

 

[rteetz]

News

Entertainment at Disney Springs

http://savepleasureisland.blogspot.com/2016/03/ds-update-entertainment-at-springs.html?m=1

 

[TXStormtrooper]

The $149 for three hours thing is ridiculous, but why are so many of you assuming it is the death of EMH. Why isn't it possible that these $150 nights are on non-EMH evenings. EMH is not every evening... this could simply be a way to use the parks on non-EMH evenings. And considering the cost/time ratio is more than double that of a christmas/halloween party, it does suggest that there is a catch to this. After all, why would they charge $75 for a Christmas party ticket, with little snacks, special characters, and special shows that last for upwards of 5 hours but then charge $150 for only three hours with non of that? The most obvious assumption is that it *is* limited in how many tickets they sale. If lines were extremely short through most of the park, I can see a certain crowd segment deciding it is better to spend $150 to ride almost everything they want to ride rather than spending $115 just to spend over half the day in lines.

It just seems like everyone immediately jumped on the "death of EMH" bandwagon, rather than seeing this as a "premium" extra for people with more money than time/sense.

Exactly! The dates listed in the article are all NON EMH evenings. That doesn't mean it won't change, but I see this as you do - a high cost extra separate from EMH.

 

[ELSA711]

News

Parades and fireworks removed from fastpass line up.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...d-from-the-magic-kingdom-fastpass-line-up.htm

When does this go into effect? We have one for MSEP early May

 

[Spacedog1975]

And clearly it could work - I see people on here saying "If they have couple of rare characters and fireworks - I'll pay!" Anyone that does that should be banned from ever being allowed to complain about the prices Disney charges.

I would support this.

I personally don't get it. You could practically add 2 extra DAYS to your vacation for that price. For 3 hours? But on the other hand, adding these extra events keeps Disney from charging ME more money for the regular park - I'm all for them!

It won't. This will always go into the column of added revenue and will not factor into the math of what they'll charge for anything else. If it factors at all, it will be like this: People are willing to pay $150 for 3 hours... we are no where near maximum ticket prices.

 

[rteetz]

When does this go into effect? We have one for MSEP early May

I would assume very soon. It's possible you might get a message from Disney saying to change your selection or something.

 

[rteetz]

News

D-Luxe Burger opening in May at Disney Springs

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2016/03/d-luxe-burger-opening-this-may-at-disney-springs/

I'm excited about this one. I love me a good burger.

 

[SureAsLiz]

Can't remember where the removal of FP+ points was discussed. We only saw 2 FP+ points on Space Mountain and TOT. We also used FP+ on Star Tours, RNRC, FOTLK, BMTRR, 7DMT, Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Turtle Talk, Pooh, Tea Cups, Speedway, EE, Safari, and TSMM. These only had one point being used. Lots of delays and confusion at a lot of the FP+ points. More than I remember seeing previously.

I had a different experience - I noticed less confusion overall. There is always confusion at the first point with people who don't understand the system, but there is no longer the issues of people not realizing they need to tap a second time, and struggling to find their tickets (that they just had out 30 seconds ago).

 

[916chipndale]

EMHs have definitely gone down in frequency. Lets say you went to Disney July 13th-19th 2008, you got to experience

MK EMH- Morning - July 15th, 17th
Evening - 13th, 18th

Epcot Morning - 13th
Evening- 15th, 17th

DHS morning - 14th, 18th
Evening- 16th

Animal Kingdom Morning - 16th, 19th
Evening- 14th

So 7 morning EMHs and 6 evening EMHs.

For 2015 we will go with July 12-18th since it is also a Sunday-Saturday and only 1 day off.

MK EMH Morning- 16th
Evening- 18th

Epcot Morning - 14th
Evening - 17th


DHS Morning - 18th
Evening - 13th

AK Morning - 12th, 15th
Evening - None

So 5 morning EMHs and 3 evening EMHs. A total of 13 EMHs in 2008 versus 8 in 2015. And in 2008 the evening EMHs were 3 hours long where as nowadays they are 2 hours long.

2008 park hours http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/calendar/historical/historicalhours2008.asp#July_Park_Hours
and 2015 http://www.easywdw.com/july15-v3.jpg