Noooo...the end of EMH?

[ArwenMarie]

Could mean DIFFERENT perks for onsite guests:
1) A 4th Fast Pass? (I would think that would potentially be more popular to people who don't like to get up early or stay late)
2) Free Memory Maker? (since it works well with their Magic Bands)

Let's face it .. they don't need special deals like Free Dining and EMH to get people to stay on-site ...

That being said .. I am sure a lot of people will take the MUCH cheaper option of staying off-site if EMH is done away with .. which means Disney will of course respond by raising parking prices .. thus making staying on-site look that much better.

Good point. Extra FPs for onsite has been rumored since this all began.

 

[Jfsag123]

We don't use DME (we drive) or the DDP (ends up costing more than OOP). We would really miss EMH. That morning magic hour is like gold.

 

[Princess Michele]

It appears that the posted chart has some errors. On 1/1/16 and 1/2/16 MSEP is listed at 10:18pm. A very odd time for MSEP. Illuminations is not listed on 1/1/16 or 1/2/16. HS is closing at 8:00pm on 1/1/16 but there is a Fantasmic! scheduled at 10:30pm.

 

[LATJLP]

That's kind of unfair, don't you think? There are plenty of lovely accommodations off site ( and markedly less expensive than a comparable WDW resort). You can't seriously be trying to equate them all with an econolodge.

I completely agree.....we have reservations for Nov/Dec at a two story condo, 3 bedrooms (1K, 1Q and 1 double twin), a full size kitchen, washer and dryer, a private patio, a whirlpool in the master bathroom, a hottub on the back patio, two reserved parking spaces....and shared use of the recreation center with a pool, another hot tub, game room, exercise room, and a movie theatre. And all this will cost me $56 per night, including tax and cleaning fees (I am staying over 30 days, but if I were staying 7 to 27 days the price is $81 per night. This particular condo does have a 7 day minimum). This is less than a 15 minute drive to the MK parking lot....so seriously not much different time wise for those walking across the resort, waiting for a bus and riding it through the resort and then to MK parking lot.....and at night, I get home before my friends who stay onsite, because we don't have to wait in a line for our car.) So if I can get a full 1,300sq ft condo for less than a really great room discount on a 350sq ft value resort....well, why would I stay onsite. For many it was the EMH and the chance to book FP at 60 days instead of 30 for offsite......now it may only be about the FP. So, to me, that's a pretty hefty price to pay to get an A&E or 7DMT FP. And....I have always been able to get both of those....not at my 30 days always (though a few times I have), but by being persistent and checking we have yet to fail to get them....we've even been able to get 7DMT FP as our 4th in park FP quite a few times....haven't ever tried the A&E but I do remember seeing it a couple times.

I wonder what they'll be giving (if anything) in exchange for those staying onsite....if this rumor is true, there are going to be a lot of unhappy people. And isn't 2016 booking opening this week? They may have a lot of 'plaining to do.

 

[DizDaD7]

I'm not to sure this will actually happen.....

 

[tinka-belle]

Most likely they don't know if the EMH days are changing next year so haven't posted them yet.

FWIW the latest update on the TA page completely cuts off 8/30 and 8/31 (Sunday 8/30 would start a new "page") and I KNOW as good as Disney is they don't have the "authority" to change the number of days in the month of August! Every time they post an update seems there are a few kinks to work out. Remember the 7pm MK closing on Labor Day weekend that was on the calendar for a while?

 

[Stitch808]

There's a lot more to Disney resorts than magic hours...enjoy the econo-lodge.

I don't know where you would assume that we would have to stay at an econo-lodge instead. Just because we stay at the value resorts at Disney since we have a commando touring style, doesn't mean we would have to stay at motel style accommodations otherwise. Before we have stayed at a Marriott timeshare on I-drive which was actually a gorgeous resort. While we drive to Florida we don't necessarily need the transportation and pay OOP for our food, but the EMH was an enticing factor to get us to stay onsite. As I said, I hope this rumor is false or they change it up for the better.

 

[han22735]

I'm pretty sure when the November and December TA calendar was released EMH were all there then at first.

 

[mom2rtk]

Not to worry. If they did away with EMH it would only be because of guest demand.

 

[dawgsgirl]

When the FP+ started, I remember some posters saying that EMH would go away. After all, you can save SO much time with your 3 FP+ that extra hours in the park are no longer needed.

 

[Aerinha]

I don't use the DME as there is nothing magical or express about it, but I do use morning emh. There is nothing perk-y about riding the bus from my hotel to the parks or 3 FP with a bunch of rules attached to them. If you could make them for any ride at any park, no tiers, no one park for the first three, no limit on how many advance FP onsite guests could make, maybe it would still be worth it, maybe not

 

[crostorfer]

Not to worry. If they did away with EMH it would only be because of guest demand.

I see what you did there, LOL.

 

[IsThatYouTigger]

Hoping it is just an oversight. Everybody tours Disney in the way that works best for themselves and their families. My husband and I would definitely miss EMH's. Heck, Disney even got a night out of us + my cousins at AoA (Little Mermaid room) the day after Christmas so we could use the 1am-3am EMH's at MK...we did learn that a 7am-3am day is probably too much for us now .

 

[Rhombus]

Not to worry. If they did away with EMH it would only be because of guest demand.

You mean like when they cut EMH after 9/11 because guests weren't interested in early or late hours? They wanted more characters instead.

 

[crostorfer]

I've often thought about the impact on the CM's, when it comes to EMH. Especially the retail CM's, as in the Emporium in particular, they seem rather unhappy to still be working with a jam-packed full store at 2am. If I was them, I'd want to go home too. It can't be cheap for WDW to run those hours, I don't think discontinuing EMH, at least during off-peak periods, would really be that far out of the question. If the suits have been running cost vs profit ratios and discovered that not enough people are buying Dole Whips and Mickey Hands at 12am in January to cover the overhead, its bye-bye EMH.

 

[larryz]

This is completely in line with what was predicted late last year when they reduced the frequency of EMH.

 

[CinderElsa]

I completely agree.....we have reservations for Nov/Dec at a two story condo, 3 bedrooms (1K, 1Q and 1 double twin), a full size kitchen, washer and dryer, a private patio, a whirlpool in the master bathroom, a hottub on the back patio, two reserved parking spaces....and shared use of the recreation center with a pool, another hot tub, game room, exercise room, and a movie theatre. And all this will cost me $56 per night, including tax and cleaning fees (I am staying over 30 days, but if I were staying 7 to 27 days the price is $81 per night. This particular condo does have a 7 day minimum). This is less than a 15 minute drive to the MK parking lot....so seriously not much different time wise for those walking across the resort, waiting for a bus and riding it through the resort and then to MK parking lot.....and at night, I get home before my friends who stay onsite, because we don't have to wait in a line for our car.) So if I can get a full 1,300sq ft condo for less than a really great room discount on a 350sq ft value resort....well, why would I stay onsite. For many it was the EMH and the chance to book FP at 60 days instead of 30 for offsite......now it may only be about the FP. So, to me, that's a pretty hefty price to pay to get an A&E or 7DMT FP. And....I have always been able to get both of those....not at my 30 days always (though a few times I have), but by being persistent and checking we have yet to fail to get them....we've even been able to get 7DMT FP as our 4th in park FP quite a few times....haven't ever tried the A&E but I do remember seeing it a couple times.

I wonder what they'll be giving (if anything) in exchange for those staying onsite....if this rumor is true, there are going to be a lot of unhappy people. And isn't 2016 booking opening this week? They may have a lot of 'plaining to do.

This doesn't appeal to me at all. I don't want to drive, cook, or do laundry.

I don't make use of EMH and would rather have another FP+ (for any tier, in parks that tier) but I realize that I am in the minority on this. What I do find unpleasant is that IF this is true, EMH has been an advertised perk for many years & I'm sure Disney will make minimal efforts to inform guests of its demise, reminiscent of the "surprise! no monorail" incident.

 

[WillAustin]

This doesn't appeal to me at all. I don't want to drive, cook, or do laundry.

That's how I feel on vacation most of the time too.

 

[mom2rtk]

This doesn't appeal to me at all. I don't want to drive, cook, or do laundry.

I feel the same way. We get a condo when we do our beach trips, and I love our time there. But I do not enjoy the cooking and laundry that are a necessary piece of that. But when we do Disney it has to include meals out and mousekeeping.

 

[Lesverts]

I was just in WDW last week and it was my first experience. At first thought Extra Magic Hours seemed like a great thing. But in reality I only used them once at Epcot. I cannot imagine WDW doing away with EMH without giving resort guests something else as a perk.

Full disclosure, I would stay on property regardless of if there was EMH or not.