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

[GillianP1301]

How big of a push (i.e. advertising dollars) was put into this after hours ticket? I didn't really see anything about it, other than on these boards. Makes me wonder if that was intentional or not. They obviously aren't going to make money by only selling a thousand tickets or so and clearly based on the reports of just how empty the park was, they can easily accommodate a higher number.

It'll be interesting to see if they make a play to advertise this hard to increase the sales or whether they'll leave it as is. If they leave it, I don't give it much time before the plug is pulled.

If I were going with somebody who could stay awake until 1am (i.e. not my 8 yo son), then I would totally buy a ticket to experience the park that empty.

 

[Love Tink]

You really sound like you're just here to argue and didn't read anything else in this thread. If you have only one day to spend at all of WDW, at only $40 more than a regular one day ticket to MK, this is a great value.

I'm not arguing with your viewpoint, but I completely disagree. If I have one day, I would rather go from 9:00-12:00 and have 15 hours of rides, characters, shows, my choice of restaurants and treats, music, photographers, and the afternoon parade than pay more money for about half as long without many of those things.

Sure, it would be nice not to have lines. But if you know what you are doing, are willing to get up early, and don't have to go during a holiday week, you can manage to avoid most long lines during the day.

 

[cel_disney]

I'm reading a couple of PP's who mention that MK was relatively "empty" during the evening prior to the official park close and beginning of the event. I wonder whether that's because this is a period of lower attendance (after Easter and most Spring Break crowds), or whether people avoided MK that afternoon/evening in anticipation of hordes of people descending for the party. Probably a mix of both, to some extent. I know no one knows the answer, I'm just sharing my curiosity.
Also, I read (possibly on a different thread?) of someone who was there yesterday and saw massive crowds entering MK around 4pm, saying that the CMs were letting the after-hours people in even at that time. Anyone else there about that time who can comment? Curious whether people really were let in as early as 4pm.

We are in the world this week - There have been some menacing storms in the late afternoons / early evenings - If I were to speculate - I would say that 1) the weather cleared out folks in the early evening. 2) the 5k race was early in the morning so others didn't want a late night 3) crowds were managable (normal/as expected) to begin with...

We are DVC and got the free trial email but by the time we tried to sign up it was full. I probably would have signed up DH - but even he would have been hesitant given the Early morning 5k and his plans to watch us finish (so he had to leave the room at 5:45am).

 

[Mikie]

A fascinating question. What we know:

• Ticket sales were below expectations, so they had to give tickets away. How many sold and how many given away? We will never know.
• Reports are that the event "sold out", but I have yet to see a post, tweet or statement from anyone who was denied a ticket.
• The park wasn't all that crowded to begin with, suggesting that had the MK simply stayed open to everyone until 1:00 a.m., people might have had very close to the same experience. Perhaps no one would have been the only person in their Space Mountain rocket ship, and instead there would have been 4 other people with them. Or perhaps instead of having a literal "walk-on" experience, lines would have been 2-5 minutes long.

So what did we learn from all of this? That when crowd levels are low, the MK is very manageable after dark, and people really like this. And when crowd levels are low and you charge $149 for an event, people feel as if they have the MK all to themselves, and a number of people really, really like this. It could be that an event like this in mid-April might be analogous to the 4th FP that you can get for a ride that doesn't need one. During a low or shoulder season, people could have had an awesome time at the MK late at night if Disney had simply keep the park open late. "Free" extended hours would seem to give one a good chance of walking onto rides from midnight to 1:00 a.m.. But for $149, you are guaranteed that ability. To weigh the full value of this event, one would have to compare wait times and crowd levels from 10:00 p.m.-midnight next Tuesday, (which are normal operating hours open to everyone), to the wait times and crowd levels on Wednesday from 11:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. (which are evening EMHs open to resort guests), to the wait times and crowd levels on Thursday during the next event. There is no doubt that the latter will be the least crowded. But will it be $149 per person less crowded? I would be amazed if the experience one has on Wednesday during EMHs turns out to be vastly inferior to the experience one has on Thursday for $149. The obvious difference being that off site guests don't have the ability to choose. And the ice cream.

Very interesting! As I so often do, I had some underlying assumptions I wasn't even aware of:
- I was thinking of the "there are no more slow times" mantra, so I assumed at least a moderate 5 crowd
- my last two trips were in Party season and paid after-hours are more similar to parties than anything else, so I equated the experiences in my head

The comparison to a 4th FP on a ride that used to have such short waits as not to need one is quite relevant. Someone who paid for this event and experienced the low crowds they anticipated will be (rightfully) satisfied with their purchase. What we can't know is whether they would have had the same experience if the park had simply been open until 12 or 1 because the crowds were naturally just that low. Plus the ice cream.

In a more crowded time is when buying exclusivity gets you the most bang for your buck, but is it possible it wouldn't BE this great in a crowded time? Would the park and ride lines take a lot longer to clear of day guests at the beginning? It will be very informative to be able to compare next week's evenings as you describe, assuming anyone is there to give they kind of detail (unlikely Twitter will be as active with posts about #normalspringnightatWDW and #ordinaryWDWEMH)

 

[Hikergirl]

It's far too a expensive an offering for us to EVER be interested in. I totally get the folks who think a completely empty park would feel creepy...it has to me, the few times I've had areas of the park pretty much to myself (right after rope drop we went to Frontierland and we were the only humans there and it felt really strange, and we also stayed at Epcot until the all the crowds left after Illuminations and strolled out of the park through WS and were the only people there...felt a little zombie apocalypse). But walk-ons are certainly a plus.

I'll freely admit I am rubbing my hands together atop Mount Crumpet hoping this event fails in the long run.

If you don't ever plan on doing it, why do you hope it fails?

 

[famy27]

For what it's worth, when we were there in Feb, the MK was dead after the last parade and my son and I did 7DMT 4 times in a row (I'm a neglectful father having my 8 year old up past midnight ).

Joseph

We've always had good luck with evening EMH as well. Over Thanksgiving, older DD and I were in MK until 2:00 and walked on a whole bunch of rides, including PP twice in a row. Even at 10:00 and 11:00 regular close in March, we walked on rides at the end of the night. If you are willing to close the park down, you'll almost always encounter low-to-no waits.

I absolutely love riding with no wait (who doesn't?), and so for that reason alone, the reports of an empty park are tempting. At $600 for my family, I will be highly unlikely to yield to the temptation. I'll just keep telling myself that a couple of late EMHs over the year will bring me the end result of 3-4 hours in MK with walk-on rides. Since we have APs, it would be really hard to justify this. But if I got free DVC tickets, I'd be all over it

 

[MommaBerd]

How big of a push (i.e. advertising dollars) was put into this after hours ticket? I didn't really see anything about it, other than on these boards. Makes me wonder if that was intentional or not. They obviously aren't going to make money by only selling a thousand tickets or so and clearly based on the reports of just how empty the park was, they can easily accommodate a higher number.

Advertising $ = whatever number of free tickets to DVC, bloggers, etc. In this age of social media, that's pretty much all the advertising dollars you might need - maybe some targeted e-mails to guests with upcoming stays, FL residents, etc.

(The following comments aren't directed specifically at you @GillianP1301 ) It is WAY too early (one data point!) to make any assumptions about success/failure, impact, revenue, etc. Let's give it a few more times before we start all that.

 

[MSTeacher]

WAIT!!! Does that say, in essence, FREE ICE CREAM at the bottom???!!?? I'm in! They'll LOSE money, for sure! There's a rumbly in my tumbly!!

Me too!! Especially if they include Dole Whips!! I'm sure I could eat at least $150 worth of those in one night.

 

[georgina]

I'd certainly do this rather than many of the other extras offered (tours, character meals, BBB, desert party, fireworks cruise). If you think about it...a tour like TKTTK costs like $100, plus you need a park ticket and it sucks 5 hours of your day...depending on what you like, this could seem like a better value for some. And I guess I'm in that category.

For the sake of accuracy, KTTK is $79 (several ways to get 15% discount) plus tax. And you get lunch!

 

[whiporee]

If you're looking for a negative, I think this does start the end of free extended hours. Not EMH, but those nights during busy season where MK stays open until 12 for regular visitors. I don't know how often that has happened in recent years, but I think this program spells the end of that.

And to me, it makes sense. What this is displaying more than anything is the tendency of the park to empty after the last Wishes. I think that's something WDW has seen, and now is going to create a reason to stay open late. Staying open doesn't really hurt them much, and if they can create revenue while incentivizing some people to start their park day later, then they see it as a win win.

 

[richkaryn]

I am being perfectly serious when I ask...
WHAT "lower crowd times" are left at WDW?
And, just how "lower" are they, anymore?

(I know when they USED to be. I've been around for quite awhile.)

^^This!! I went to WDW for the first time in 2006 with DH, prior to having kids. We went during spring break time (went for our anniversary)- we didn't think the crowds were all that bad....no more so than any other large amusement park in our opinion.I don't think we waited more than 30-45 mins, if even, for any given attraction all week. Went again in 2011 for DS's first trip. Also during spring break......still not bad crowds. Then we went first week of June in 2013 (which was supposed to be less crowded than spring break). Over an hour wait for rides like IASW and Winnie the Pooh. That trip DH and I both agreed neither spring break trip had been near that crowded, so 2014 we went back over spring break thinking we were on to something......Ouch!! Worse than first week of June had been.

 

[GillianP1301]

Advertising $ = whatever number of free tickets to DVC, bloggers, etc. In this age of social media, that's pretty much all the advertising dollars you might need - maybe some targeted e-mails to guests with upcoming stays, FL residents, etc.

(The following comments aren't directed specifically at you @GillianP1301 ) It is WAY too early (one data point!) to make any assumptions about success/failure, impact, revenue, etc. Let's give it a few more times before we start all that.

Agreed. I'm thinking more from a "what is the right number of people" question. It obviously was not the number there last night, because that would be a loss. The last minute invite for free to select people was almost definitely a quick decision to at least get some feet on the ground. Maybe some concession sales (although limited at best), would help offset some of the costs. With next to no real push on their part to sell the tickets, they now know what will essentially sell itself, so now they can regroup and figure out future rollout strategy. Although, likely nothing will change until this initial run of scheduled nights is in the books.

Having a really light turn out on night 1 is not all bad though because now there could be people looking at this and saying, holy crap, I can ride 7DMT 5 million times in 10 minutes, I'm totally buying a ticket for this! Will be very interesting to see how crowd levels are for the next few scheduled nights.

 

[jkstewart1800]

Quick question: (sorry if it has been asked and answered already, I read MOST of the thread look for the answer) Do you have to be a DVC emember or just staying IN one of the DVC rooms to receive the special offer?

 

[whiporee]

Quick question: (sorry if it has been asked and answered already, I read MOST of the thread look for the answer) Do you have to be a DVC emember or just staying IN one of the DVC rooms to receive the special offer?

I don't think it was a real offer per se -- i think they knew they were opening and hadn't sold a lot, so they figured they'd offer some freebies to people in hopes of spreading word-of-mouth. I don't think it's something that will be a regular thing, nor is it something that will be repeated very often.

 

[Anal Annie]

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.

I didn't realize those Pirate & Princess parties were considered failures. We went to one our first year with DVC and loved it and it seemed well attended. We may have even done 2 of them, I can't remember now. Of course the price was REASONABLE or we wouldn't have gone.

I'm betting they drop these parties after they've done all the ones already scheduled if they're not selling well. I certainly HOPE they're not considering anywhere near this high of a price for MNSSHP and MVMCP. We passed on MVMCP last November because we already felt the $75 DVC member price was too high. It was our first opportunity to go too so I was bummed. But that really adds up and we have a limited budget. Sincerely hoping we can afford to try MNSSHP in September as we heard it's better. But again, we have our limits on what we'll pay.

 

[Dizjunkieee]

Let's say the crowds are really small, they have 5 attractions to offer. You could be finished in an hour or so? Then what? Oh sure, you can ride again and again...and you eat ice cream...then what? Oh, I know: Spend money in the shops!

I read that there were 25 attractions. I think they just highlighted a handful of the bigger attractions. That said, I am with you on thinking it is NOT worth the $150 up charge.

 

[whiporee]

I read that there were 25 attractions. I think they just highlighted a handful of the bigger attractions. That said, I am with you on thinking it is NOT worth the $150 up charge.

Its not an uncharge; it's an entry ticket. It just an entry ticket for seven hours instead of 13, where three of those hours are (apparently) very sparsely attended.

The morning event is an uncharge because you still need a park ticket to enter.

 

[cornflkgrl]

If you're looking for a negative, I think this does start the end of free extended hours. Not EMH, but those nights during busy season where MK stays open until 12 for regular visitors. I don't know how often that has happened in recent years, but I think this program spells the end of that.

Been watching and reading to see what is going on with this and this is what I am afraid of.

I will be upset if they change the summer hours -- excuse me, if they don't extend the hours as they have in the past -- from going until 11 and 12 at night because I have a family member that can't handle the sun and that was our touring plan for the summer based on how last summer went for him: start later (like 6 or 7 p.m. and stay until 11 or 12 (whichever was close). I keep looking at the park hours to see if they've changed and they still say 10 p.m. When we were there last year the whole week we were there in August, MK was open until 12 or 11. And I understand those are extended hours. But I am talking about how it has been in the summer the times I have gone before.

I might even agree to just go along with the whole thing and suck it up and do the Disney After Hours if they made this every other night or whatever and extend it to summer. Then I would just not buy regular tickets for some days and buy the DAH tickets for those days and we would swim and arcade, etc, during the day and do the night-time MK thing. Then I could stomach the cost.

I really just want more advance notice of what in the heck they are doing. Thats what I want. Give me more than 2-3 weeks notice of what I am going to have to do. I hate surprises.

 

[Robo]

I will be upset if they change the summer hours -- excuse me, if they don't extend the hours as they have in the past -- from going until 11 and 12 at night

Logically, it looks to be impractical to offer these DAF "events" every night at MK.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

If you don't ever plan on doing it, why do you hope it fails?

There are plenty of people who hope that endeavors which do not benefit them personally fail. We see examples throughout this thread.