Not sure $149 Disney After Hrs event is doing well... (ETA: reviews in 1st post)

[ArwenMarie]

What Disney ought to do is come up with some more after-hours special-ticket events like MVMCP or MNSSHP throughout the year. I'm not really sure what they could do as far as holidays - since no one is really particularly excited about Arbor Day (or whatever) and Universal already does Mardi Gras - but Disney employs people who get paid more money than I do to come up with things like this, so surely they'll figure something out.

Why? Just curious.

 

[mom2rtk]

Have a wonderful time

Check to see if they have any other restaurants open besides caseys. I swear we were starving at that emh years ago.

It was like being back in college. After going to the bar or dancing we would roll through a drive thru at 2 am. Same thing at Disney lol. Who knew we would be starving at that hour??? Something about being up til 2 or 3 makes you extra hungry lol.

That's how I felt after that MVMCP where we starved! Then we got back to the resort and of course everything was closed there. We ended up raiding the backpack we had brought on the plane eating pretzels and oreos at 1 AM. Let's just say I haven't made that mistake again after that. There's always some preemptive food planning involved for us now with any Disney event.

 

[Spoiledraf]

FREE entry is nothing more than a marketing technique. Lots of businesses do give aways of new products. It's simply to promote a new opportunity and get people to spread the word, good or bad, to Disney friends and post on sites just like this one. No different than a cruise line giving bargain basement prices the last weeks before a cruise to fill the left over rooms. I'm guessing they expect good reviews and will tweak things in the following weeks to improve attendance. And like any number of Imagineering Disney ideas, this one could disappear with little or no fanfare and never be seen again. Disney doesn't do things to lose money. If they are making a buck, they will tolerate a certain amount of disappointment by the masses. Just like FP+.

 

[mom2rtk]

What Disney ought to do is come up with some more after-hours special-ticket events like MVMCP or MNSSHP throughout the year. I'm not really sure what they could do as far as holidays - since no one is really particularly excited about Arbor Day (or whatever) and Universal already does Mardi Gras - but Disney employs people who get paid more money than I do to come up with things like this, so surely they'll figure something out.

They tried that. And it failed. It was called the Pirate & Princess party.

I have to admit that it was probably bad timing though running in 2007-2008. Maybe different times would yield different results.

Honestly, I just think they're trying to do something that wouldn't require so much expense in the form of theming (fireworks, parade, shows, characters).

 

[JimmyV]

Disney overestimated how many people would actually pony up to this event. The last thing they want is to have folks publicly discussing what a flop it was....I think Disney wants that happy spot....you know the magical feeling of "walk on" attractions but still enough people to make it seem like you were not the only loser to pay big bucks to play.

But isn't the solution here an easy one? Just find a new price point? Start selling tickets at $69 and give $80 refunds to the people who already bought? Disney does nothing to quell the undercurrent that this is a "flop" by giving away tickets for free. To the contrary. That move reeks of failure, whereas a re-pricing strategy acknowledges an error in judgment, but not failure.

Year and Years ago we used to take the kids to Riverside Park. There was a span of time when it was like a ghost town. You could walk on all the rides. Sound like a blast? No. There is something sad about a park that should be bustling with people practically empty.

There is definitely something to this. I was at WDW one year, many years ago, (1988 or 1989, best as I can recall) and my brothers and I were in Epcot the day after Memorial Day. It was an absolute ghost town. There was no "buzz". No excitement. Dare I say, it was almost boring. Personally, I think that 3,000-5,000 people in the MK would be very much the same. As I said earlier, I think they could take this up to 7,500-10,000 easily and still provide the "walk on" (or almost "walk on") environment that everyone craves. Those numbers are between 75% and 83% lower than the MK has on a typical day.

My thought - if they still limit attendance to the number that they were willing to admit based on sales, no harm done to those who paid and a perk given to DVC members. No one is harmed in this, and everyone on this board has been asking for perks for repeat visitors. So I don't have a problem with it.

This does not change the long term viability of this party. It will have to make Disney money to continue. But Disney is clearly willing to lose a little money up front to help this party gain traction and determine its future a little further down the road.

I don't see a down side for anyone. Let's just see how it plays out.

As mentioned earlier, one of the big concerns here is Disney's failure to publish what the attendance will be. I will agree with you that anyone who paid $149 for a night in the park knowing that the maximum attendance would be 5,000 people has little to complain about if their family of four was the only one to buy tickets and Disney filled out the roster with 4,996 freebies. In the end, they got into a park as four of 5,000 people, exactly as expected. But this changes when Disney refuses to clue us in on what the attendance will actually be. On some level, certain people who paid $149 for this event did so with the belief that the price was so high that they would have the park almost literally to themselves. They were paying for a private party in the MK knowing that perhaps only a few hundred other people would follow suit. (As noted above, personally I don't put much value in this. I think being alone in the park would be rather dull. But let's assume that there are people who ponied up the cash who think otherwise.) But after they pay their non-refundable fee, Disney decides to stuff the park, (and I use that term loosely), with free riders. All of a sudden, the people who thought that they were going to have the park to themselves now have to share it with more people than they would like. Let's look at an analogy. You and your family pay $600 per person for a VIP Guided Tour of the MK with FOTL access to all rides. Disney does not tell you that the tour will be just your family, but you certainly have a strong belief that it will be. But on the day of your tour, you find out that in addition to your family, Disney has given free passes to 40 other people who will be on the VIP Tour with you. Are you "harmed" by this? Is there a downside for anyone under this scenario? Sure. Your FOTL access has all of a sudden turned into..."there are now 40 people in front of me in the line" access. Your private conversations and question and answer sessions with your tour guide have turned into a cacophonous "follow the flag" group tour. You still get your tour. But you aren't getting what you thought you were getting. It's all a matter of expectations, and I think that at the $149 price point, people have a reasonable expectation that the number of attendees is going to be very, very, very small. Perhaps that expectation is unreasonable, but that doesn't make the expectation any less real.

 

[rastahomie]

Why? Just curious.

Because if the goal is to get people to pay a premium to be in the parks with a limited number of tickets, they need to go whole hog and make it worthwhile by the addition of extra parades, fireworks, and other party elements. However, as a previous poster pointed out, the Pirates & Princesses parties failed to take off, so maybe my suggestion was wrong.

 

[JimmyV]

No different than a cruise line giving bargain basement prices the last weeks before a cruise to fill the left over rooms.

Actually, it's very different. In the cruise line scenario, anyone can take advantage of the last minute fares if they are willing to gamble in hopes that the cruise will not sell out, and who is willing to accept any cabin that has not sold. The "waiting game" for lower cruise fares is a game that anyone can play. Here, Disney is not giving away free tickets to "anyone". 99% of the people in this world have no opportunity to share in this "free product" giveaway.

If you walked out of a grocery store having just purchased a package of Oreos, and on your way out there was a table where Nabisco reps were giving away for free the exact same size package of Oreos that you just bought, and you went back into the store to get a refund on your package so that you could pick up a freebie on the way out and you were told that your purchase was non-refundable, you would be ticked off. Admit it. You would be. And when you asked the customer service rep why there wasn't a sign over on the shelf where the Oreos are saying that there are free packages being offered on the way out of the store and the store worker just smirked and shrugged her shoulders, you'd be really, really ticked off. And if you had paid $149 for those Oreos instead of $5, you'd be really, really, really ticked off. Maybe none of your anger would be justified, because you paid fair market value for your Oreos, but that lack of justification would not stop you from being really, really, really ticked off.

 

[emilymad]

DVC often offers free events to members super last minute when a new event premiers. It is the same as Disney giving access to bloggers, etc. It maybe isn't widely known but it happens all the time. I am not sure DVC will offer this foe each night but for the first night of the event I am not surprised.

Our last trip we got one of these emails to go on the Ferrytale Wishes cruise. It was a few DVC members but mostly bloggers and Disney execs. We appreciated the invite and were glad to try the event to know we would never pay for it ourselves.

 

[Nancyg56]

But isn't the solution here an easy one? Just find a new price point? Start selling tickets at $69 and give $80 refunds to the people who already bought? Disney does nothing to quell the undercurrent that this is a "flop" by giving away tickets for free. To the contrary. That move reeks of failure, whereas a re-pricing strategy acknowledges an error in judgment, but not failure.

They may decide to do this, but I bet they are not ready to concede the cost just yet. People like free a lot, and even though there may be some disgruntled guests who paid more and want a refund, they may get a lot of positive chatter that will boost attendance moving forward. Personally, I doubt this will be the hit they wanted it to be, but what do I know? LOL!

 

[ITALIANNYC]

Well I just spend 120 for a one day universal express pass, yet I'd never even consider buying this.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. These parties are billed as high as they are solely because of the exclusivity. So giving it away for free directly affects those who are going. If I pay for club level, other people getting those perks for free doesn't affect what I paid for. I assume I'll still get as much free food as I want and such. Same with a room upgrade.

I guess it all comes down to how many tickets are sold/given away. As much as people like to guess and speculate on these boards, we won't know for sure until the event happens.

I'm not sure if I'm as affected by a happy bustling park as an emptier park. I've been in an almost completely empty AK at close and I didn't think it was sad, only very magical and adventurous feeling in the dark. I think it is just a difference of opinion.

If Disney did not sell the number they need to test how this will work out, and then give some away fro free to arrive at whatever magic number they need to reach, it does not affect what the experience you were paying for is. Now if they gave a slew of free spots away and that boosted attendance so high that your experience was reduced, then you have a point. IF that happened. (or if the experience was not what it was advertised to be) I would complain and ask for a total refund. Just as upgrade or free CL access does not affect your food, (In club level it might affect the space) free tickets may not affect your enjoyment of special events.

 

[Mikie]

Well I just spend 120 for a one day universal express pass, yet I'd never even consider buying this.

Why? I've never done UNI with or without express, but I'm curious what you feel the difference is. It's my understanding that express is faster than standby, but often still includes waits, and is it $120 on top of a ticket or including admission? Maybe it's the 6-7 hours of this admission vs all day at Uni?

 

[lugnut33]

I really think this is all an experiment to see where the ceiling is on the pricing for MNSSHP and MVMCP.

 

[mom2rtk]

I really think this is all an experiment to see where the ceiling is on the pricing for MNSSHP and MVMCP.

I've wondered about this very thing. And if they had to give away tickets for opening night, I hope that squelches their desire for massive party price increases this year.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Actually, it's very different. In the cruise line scenario, anyone can take advantage of the last minute fares if they are willing to gamble in hopes that the cruise will not sell out, and who is willing to accept any cabin that has not sold. The "waiting game" for lower cruise fares is a game that anyone can play. Here, Disney is not giving away free tickets to "anyone". 99% of the people in this world have no opportunity to share in this "free product" giveaway.

If you walked out of a grocery store having just purchased a package of Oreos, and on your way out there was a table where Nabisco reps were giving away for free the exact same size package of Oreos that you just bought, and you went back into the store to get a refund on your package so that you could pick up a freebie on the way out and you were told that your purchase was non-refundable, you would be ticked off. Admit it. You would be. And when you asked the customer service rep why there wasn't a sign over on the shelf where the Oreos are saying that there are free packages being offered on the way out of the store and the store worker just smirked and shrugged her shoulders, you'd be really, really ticked off. And if you had paid $149 for those Oreos instead of $5, you'd be really, really, really ticked off. Maybe none of your anger would be justified, because you paid fair market value for your Oreos, but that lack of justification would not stop you from being really, really, really ticked off.

No, I wouldn't be. Stuff like that happens all of the time.

Well, maybe not the sign with free cookies, but the fact that some people get stuff for free or reduced price.

You just don't know about it. Or ignore it.

A friend is flying today. She paid $xxx for her ticket. The person sitting right next to her? That person could have paid a quarter of what she paid. Or 4 times what she paid.

Disney isn't going to advertise that they gave away tickets. There isn't going to be a big sign saying, "DVC members that got in free - enter here." The tickets are going to be added to their magic bands, or they are going to be given a wrist band, whatever everyone else has.

 

[DebbieB]

Because if the goal is to get people to pay a premium to be in the parks with a limited number of tickets, they need to go whole hog and make it worthwhile by the addition of extra parades, fireworks, and other party elements. However, as a previous poster pointed out, the Pirates & Princesses parties failed to take off, so maybe my suggestion was wrong.

I think the reason Pirates & Princesses failed is there was no local draw. The Halloween & Christmas parties draw locals in, I doubt Pirates & Princesses got much local attendance since they weren't connected to a holiday. I don't see these events drawing locals either, especially at $149.

 

[Maliboo]

I understand your point, but I was misquoted. "A few rides" and a "few less rides" are vastly different things.

I have no idea how many they sold, but I think 6000 could be more than it seems. Still light but not ghost town light. Just my opinion. For those going I hope I am wrong and it is worth it for the price.

I wonder if things like Tom sawyer island, the riverboat, hall of presidents, carousel of progress will be open. Probably not. They are not hugely popular tides, but they eat up people non the less. That is my point. Just like restaurants. How many given people at one time are in the crystal palace, be our guest, Pecos bills?

I still think it will be low crowds, don't get me wrong. Just that 6000 can seem like more when there are less options to distract (or feed!) the masses.

The riverboat and TSI close at dusk on normal operating days, so I would say they probably wouldn't be open during special events.

 

[ashleyrm]

Following along because I want to hear reviews. Just checked and if anyone has an extra $158.69 laying around there are still tickets for tonight (and every other night it is offered as well). I am just really hoping this is not a success.

 

[sretav]

Never ask someone on vacation, on an airplane or at a concert what they paid! You may very well be disappointed in the answer AND it frankly isn't any of your business. Lots of people get discounted rates or even free passes to things that others have paid full price for. Just a part of life.

 

[Maliboo]

Because if the goal is to get people to pay a premium to be in the parks with a limited number of tickets, they need to go whole hog and make it worthwhile by the addition of extra parades, fireworks, and other party elements. However, as a previous poster pointed out, the Pirates & Princesses parties failed to take off, so maybe my suggestion was wrong.

All that extra stuff costs money. They want to make money, not spend it.