News Round Up 2016

[EricInPA]

News

Parades and fireworks removed from fastpass line up.

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

Honestly, after using a FP for MSEP last September, we decided we would never do it again for a parade (or Wishes). We can usually find a place to sit and it removes the ability to grab a 4th FP. Wonder what they'll do with the Wishes FP areas now.

 

[Maineiak]

Honestly, after using a FP for MSEP last September, we decided we would never do it again for a parade (or Wishes). We can usually find a place to sit and it removes the ability to grab a 4th FP. Wonder what they'll do with the Wishes FP areas now.

Charge an entrance fee and offer a "free" cupcake....

 

[Reddog1134]

I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned this but it sounds like the $150 for Disney After Hours gets you into the park from 7pm to 3 hours after normal closing hours.

So that would be 6 or 7 hours total.

 

[eXo]

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.

I spent some time looking at currently scheduled EMH versus the dates this is offered on and only found 2 Wednesdays where MK's EMH evening hours overlapped with this. I don't know if they will remove EMH from those days, or allow resort participants to stay later as well (just without the free ice cream and other ticketed goodies). I can see the $150 folks being upset though if people from all over the resorts are gunking up their premium time.

Either way, calling this the death of EMH is hyperbole. There are still early emh hours for Mk during this time period, and all the other parks still have emh nighttime hours as well.

I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned this but it sounds like the $150 for Disney After Hours gets you into the park from 7pm to 3 hours after normal closing hours.

So that would be 6 or 7 hours total.

Ya, I just noticed that myself. Getting to stay until 2am is pretty cool. Depending on how "limited" the tickets are, one could feasibly do everything in the park during that time span. It also avoids the primary heat during the day. I wouldn't be surprised if these become more popular in the june-august times.

I can also see it as an attractive alternative to teenagers or adults who wish to avoid children, as it is likely there won't be very many of them around that time.

It is still a lot of money, but time and time again, Disney has problen there are people with money to spend.

 

[jade1]

I spent some time looking at currently scheduled EMH versus the dates this is offered on and only found 2 Wednesdays where MK's EMH evening hours overlapped with this. I don't know if they will remove EMH from those days, or allow resort participants to stay later as well (just without the free ice cream and other ticketed goodies). I can see the $150 folks being upset though if people from all over the resorts are gunking up their premium time.

Either way, calling this the death of EMH is hyperbole. There are still early emh hours for Mk during this time period, and all the other parks still have emh nighttime hours as well.

So currently it almost all extra hours offered to CMs, paid for by the $149 guests?

 

[Bay Max]

Charge an entrance fee and offer a "free" cupcake....

And then in a couple of years they can add a mandatory cupcake surcharge.

 

[LSLS]

They are currently offered. The reason people are asking the question is because A.) It has been rumored to be going away and B.) Why would Disney give it away for free if people shell out $150 a night for it? It certainly is not the immediate death of the EMH, but if it sells decently well and Disney thinks others will pay for it if it isn't free, then, with what we have seen recently, I would put a bet down that they go away sooner rather than later.

 

[Maineiak]

They are currently offered. The reason people are asking the question is because A.) It has been rumored to be going away and B.) Why would Disney give it away for free if people shell out $150 a night for it? It certainly is not the immediate death of the EMH, but if it sells decently well and Disney thinks others will pay for it if it isn't free, then, with what we have seen recently, I would put a bet down that they go away sooner rather than later.

Make EMH an upcharge for resorts guests if this is successful (say $100 instead of the public price of $150). That way, you can still spin that EMH is only open to resort guests and it would line right up with tiered pricing....

 

[eXo]

So currently it almost all extra hours offered to CMs, paid for by the $149 guests?

Yep.

They are currently offered. The reason people are asking the question is because A.) It has been rumored to be going away and B.) Why would Disney give it away for free if people shell out $150 a night for it? It certainly is not the immediate death of the EMH, but if it sells decently well and Disney thinks others will pay for it if it isn't free, then, with what we have seen recently, I would put a bet down that they go away sooner rather than later.

Because EMH puts butts in hotel rooms. Despite popular belief around here, Disney is not going to cannibalize their hotel business. It makes them more money than the parks do.

Why would disney give up thing A for thing B when they can sell both?

 

[LSLS]

Because EMH puts butts in hotel rooms. Despite popular belief around here, Disney is not going to cannibalize their hotel business. It makes them more money than the parks do.

Why would disney give up thing A for thing B when they can sell both?

Because they aren't convinced that specific perk is bringing people to stay on site. They aren't selling A and B. They are selling A and giving B away as a perk. If they feel that is not needed (people will stay anyways), then with how they are operating, why in the world would it stay free? It would be a balancing act. How many people would no longer stay on site if they don't get EMH vs. how many would pay extra for it. Like I said, it's not something happening tomorrow, but depending on how this idea goes (combined with their data on how many people use the EMHs and their surveys about how many would stop staying on site without them), it is a very real possibility. Plus, as I stated, there have been grumblings for a while that they want to eliminate EMHs (they can't be too profitable).

To play devil's advocate on myself, could the end goal be to combine this with EMHs and use it as a way to pay for them? Personally, I doubt it (my guess is the people willing to shell out that much extra cash are probably already staying on site for the experience), but you never know.

 

[eXo]

Because they aren't convinced that specific perk is bringing people to stay on site. They aren't selling A and B. They are selling A and giving B away as a perk.

Your deluded if you think they are "giving away" EMH. People pay for it as part of their, generally, over priced rooms. All those "perks" are factored into your hotel bill. Not to mention those "free" perks encourage people to stay onsite rather than offsite. So these perks they are "giving away" according to you, do exactly what i said in my reply - put butts in rooms. Butts in rooms = money. Money is the endgame on EVERY decision, but that doesn't mean that blatantly charging for something niche automatically equals more money in the long run.

Your typical family is going to see stay onsite, and it's perks, as a justifiable expense as they derive slight benefits from it throughout their stay. Start removing things like EMH and upcharging it to the tune of $150 a night per person, and you are talking about enough money to add multiple days to the end of a vacation versus 1 evening of lower lines and ice cream.

Will some people take advantage of the $150 premium? Sure. Will it be anywhere near the number of people who choose to stay onsite due to perks like EMH? Impossible.

This is a way to make extra money in between EMH nights. For that matter, it doesn't compete with EMH at all. It goes later, it has a limit on ticket sales (versus, hey, all the thousands of resort guests are welcome), and they add in the snacks to make it feel a bit more "special"

Bar none though, EMH is *NOT* free right now. And calling it free is a huge blind spot to the way their pricing works. That's like calling the magicbands "free".

If EMH goes anywhere, I can see it being removed as a perk on the value resorts as a way to push people to moderates and deluxes. Similar to Universal's extra benefits on their higher end hotels.

 

[EricInPA]

In the world of WDW, there is a rumor out there for basically everything. Especially for current perks that "may be going away". This is why they do surveys. The problem is, some here don't like how people answer the questions in those surveys and just blame it on Disney directly.

I'll believe in the end of EMH when it actually happens.

 

[jade1]

This is a way to make extra money in between EMH nights. For that matter, it doesn't compete with EMH at all.

For CMS as well.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

Pandora's floating mountains coming around nicely. Some new vines are beginning to hide the support structures.

 

[LSLS]

Your deluded if you think they are "giving away" EMH. People pay for it as part of their, generally, over priced rooms. All those "perks" are factored into your hotel bill. Not to mention those "free" perks encourage people to stay onsite rather than offsite. So these perks they are "giving away" according to you, do exactly what i said in my reply - put butts in rooms. Butts in rooms = money. Money is the endgame on EVERY decision, but that doesn't mean that blatantly charging for something niche automatically equals more money in the long run.

Your typical family is going to see stay onsite, and it's perks, as a justifiable expense as they derive slight benefits from it throughout their stay. Start removing things like EMH and upcharging it to the tune of $150 a night per person, and you are talking about enough money to add multiple days to the end of a vacation versus 1 evening of lower lines and ice cream.

Will some people take advantage of the $150 premium? Sure. Will it be anywhere near the number of people who choose to stay onsite due to perks like EMH? Impossible.

This is a way to make extra money in between EMH nights. For that matter, it doesn't compete with EMH at all. It goes later, it has a limit on ticket sales (versus, hey, all the thousands of resort guests are welcome), and they add in the snacks to make it feel a bit more "special"

Bar none though, EMH is *NOT* free right now. And calling it free is a huge blind spot to the way their pricing works. That's like calling the magicbands "free".

If EMH goes anywhere, I can see it being removed as a perk on the value resorts as a way to push people to moderates and deluxes. Similar to Universal's extra benefits on their higher end hotels.

Ok maybe free was not the correct wording. Of course I know you pay more to stay on site and get those extra services, but my point is that if they did get rid of EMH for this, they would feel that they could still charge the same price for the hotel (with the other perks) and eliminate that cost while adding to the revenue by having more people pay the high amount. Honestly I'm far from able to say why people choose to stay on vs. off, or which perks are the main reasoning. I was simply offering the reasoning as to why others think EMH may be ending sooner rather than later. Of course it's a money thing. And if they did end them, it would be because the numbers they have crunched show that it would be a savings. I have no clue either way. You obviously feel EMH is a big draw, others don't. All I was doing was showing both sides.

 

[summerw]

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

We have one for April 2. I'm going to be super annoyed if they cancel. Seems likely though given the map changes. We went to WDW for the first time in 2012 and I've planned and had to cancel a trip almost each year since so I've stayed pretty in the loop. Is it just me or is Disney pulling more rude and obnoxious moves than ever??? I've already written to guest services to complain. I hope others who feel strongly have too.

 

[Grym]

Ok maybe free was not the correct wording. Of course I know you pay more to stay on site and get those extra services, but my point is that if they did get rid of EMH for this, they would feel that they could still charge the same price for the hotel (with the other perks) and eliminate that cost while adding to the revenue by having more people pay the high amount. Honestly I'm far from able to say why people choose to stay on vs. off, or which perks are the main reasoning. I was simply offering the reasoning as to why others think EMH may be ending sooner rather than later. Of course it's a money thing. And if they did end them, it would be because the numbers they have crunched show that it would be a savings. I have no clue either way. You obviously feel EMH is a big draw, others don't. All I was doing was showing both sides.

We just booked for October (2 families. First time visitors for many of the individuals involved) and we had a very long and heated discussion re: onsite vs. offsite pros/cons. The winning side (staying onsite) won almost entirely due to EMH. Obviously this is one experience vs. thousands out there but I don't think we'd be staying onsite if it weren't for EMH.

 

[skier_pete]

The winning side (staying onsite) won almost entirely due to EMH.

What's funny is we stay on site but we almost completely avoid the EMH. Mostly because we normally don't buy hoppers, and we agree with the normal assessment that the parks that have the EMH are the most crowded. Since we don't really want to get up for 8 AM park opening, and don't usually stay out long enough to take advantage of EMH, it only makes sense for us.

That said, I would hate if they got rid of them. EMH draws the crowds to those specific parks, and so we go to the OTHER parks. If they eliminated EMH, crowds would spread more evenly, and that would stink for us.

 

[Maineiak]

We stayed at the Hilton Lake Buena Vista over Thanksgiving and chose it for the EMH and proximity to Disney Springs. Never ended up using the EMH hours though...

 

[Grym]

What's funny is we stay on site but we almost completely avoid the EMH. Mostly because we normally don't buy hoppers, and we agree with the normal assessment that the parks that have the EMH are the most crowded. Since we don't really want to get up for 8 AM park opening, and don't usually stay out long enough to take advantage of EMH, it only makes sense for us.

That said, I would hate if they got rid of them. EMH draws the crowds to those specific parks, and so we go to the OTHER parks. If they eliminated EMH, crowds would spread more evenly, and that would stink for us.

I can see that. I was on the "losing" side of the "argument" btw

We however will be doing morning EMH because we are all early risers anyway (due to wake-up-at-the-crack-of-dawn young kids). We are still deciding on how to handle nighttime EMH...completely avoid? Or go anyway? (we may end up needing to take significant mid day breaks for kid naps...so extended hours though crowded may be helpful). We'll see

I would say the only other perk discussed really was onsite transportation which honestly I don't see as a huge perk. Offsite hotels have shuttles. And we are generally the type to rent a car anyway so it wouldn't be entirely out of character. But for this trip, we're not and relying on onsite transportation convenience.

What "perk" makes you choose to stay onsite?