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

[3DisneyFanz]

I do think how this fairs could impact the cost of the Halloween and Christmas parties some but cannot see they going to $149. The parties have more tickets available (I have heard perhaps 20,000) per party whereas the after hours is apparently limited to 3,0000. If they raised the price to $149 for these there is no chance they sell the number of tickets they do now.

Oh ye of little faith. There is an endless stream of people willing to line up and pump money into the mouse. For every one person who decides it's gotten to rich for their blood there are two others ready to sink it all on the vacation of a lifetime and Disney's job is to give them want they want and take every penny they have while doing so.

 

[Confederate Scott]

Oh ye of little faith. There is an endless stream of people willing to line up and pump money into the mouse. For every one person who decides it's gotten to rich for their blood there are two others ready to sink it all on the vacation of a lifetime and Disney's job is to give them want they want and take every penny they have while doing so.

I agree there are a lot of people willing to spend money on all things Disney. My point is that I do not see them raising the price of the Halloween and Christmas parties to $149. Perhaps nearing $100 this year but that is about it. I have no issue with them offering whatever they want. It is their business and ultimately we the consumer decide whether these types of things succeed or fail. If someone thinks something is too expensive than don't spend your money on it. I liken those that complain about it to people always wanting the government to "fix" everything.

 

[Kimberly9701]

I do think how this fairs could impact the cost of the Halloween and Christmas parties some but cannot see they going to $149. The parties have more tickets available (I have heard perhaps 20,000) per party whereas the after hours is apparently limited to 3,000. If they raised the price to $149 for these there is no chance they sell the number of tickets they do now.

Also.. The parties are going for a different market. Those tickets are aimed at all families.

 

[BudgieMama]

I do think how this fairs could impact the cost of the Halloween and Christmas parties some but cannot see they going to $149. The parties have more tickets available (I have heard perhaps 20,000) per party whereas the after hours is apparently limited to 3,000. If they raised the price to $149 for these there is no chance they sell the number of tickets they do now.

Yes. I agree.

There's a lot more money in selling 20,000 tickets at $70 than 3000 at $149. The value in DAH, from my perspective, is all about the lack of crowds. The value in the Halloween or Christmas parties is the special entertainment and character meets, and the waits for those character meets can be crazy. They are selling two different events to two different prospective groups of guests (with some overlap, sure, but their key marketing demographic isn't the same) with two different sets of selling points.

I'm not saying that the other parties won't increase in price, because inflation means things rarely hold a price, but I don't think they'll end up at the same price point as DAH unless they scrap the entire concept and change the parties to be ride focused rather than entertainment focused.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Oh ye of little faith. There is an endless stream of people willing to line up and pump money into the mouse. For every one person who decides it's gotten to rich for their blood there are two others ready to sink it all on the vacation of a lifetime and Disney's job is to give them want they want and take every penny they have while doing so.

You missed one key component. They have to provide enough value that those people don't go home and tell thousands of Facebook friends that it was the worst, most overpriced vacation evah. Historically Disney excels at that. No one makes you happier to part with your money than Disney. But they seem to be testing the limits of that this year.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I apologize if this has been mentioned already, but it's the timing that bothers me the most. They are introducing this at a time when they are purposely slashing capacity everywhere thereby purposely creating longer lines for their guests. That makes this a giant slap in the face for those people there now or with trips coming up. If they weren't currently treating their regular guests in such a manner, I could get on board.

 

[Merx]

I agree, lots of people complain when their plans get changed, but it does make me kind of sad sometimes. Not everyone is as lucky as I've been, going to WDW so many times since I was a kid. I can understand why these people would be upset, it must be frustrating when you save up so much money, for maybe a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and you're all excited, and you plan your trip 6 months out, and you get the PERFECT times for your ADRs, and your FP+ are all set, and then all of a sudden the hours change, or they change the party dates, or they add this new After Hours event when you are going to be there, and now you're all worried because you don't know how that will affect crowds or if you should change your plans, but that might mean losing the ADRs and FPs you worked so hard to get.

It makes me sad to see the complainers and the negativity, but sometimes people just need to vent. But it also makes me more sad when I see people be mean to the people who just had their vacation get more expensive or their vacation plans flipped upside down. Everyone handles change differently, and we all know nothing is guaranteed, but I don't get any joy in criticizing someone who is upset or worried about their vacation

Great post. Couldn't put it better myself

 

[jknc]

It always had a price tag. It's just that this one is higher than you want to pay.

Really don't think you can tell me what life experiences I ve had that I deem to be priceless but thanks.

 

[Kimberly9701]

I apologize if this has been mentioned already, but it's the timing that bothers me the most. They are introducing this at a time when they are purposely slashing capacity everywhere thereby purposely creating longer lines for their guests. That makes this a giant slap in the face for those people there now or with trips coming up. If they weren't currently treating their regular guests in such a manner, I could get on board.

But why do you assume that someone who would choose the $149 is not a "regular" guest?

 

[Kimberly9701]

Hopefully, DAH is not extended. If so, from experience Disney will have managed to take priceless time from 11 - 1 am I had with my girls and put a price tag on it.

I'm glad that you had a priceless time with your girls! But in my mind this $149 could provide a just as priceless option for me and my son.. Disney world with short lines would be amazing to us!!!
And if someone doesn't want to pay the $149 then you can still do a night time EMH. There's enough time for everyone.

 

[SmallWorld71]

But why do you assume that someone who would choose the $149 is not a "regular" guest?

I'm not. But you can't tell me that the thousands upon thousands of guests that Disney is currently screwing with are compensating by going to this event. It's not this event that bothers me, it's the reason that there is a need that bothers me. When people are waiting in longer lines in April than I did over Christmas week, we have a problem. And, that problem was created by Disney to save money. Currently, it is about money, not guest experience and that makes me sad.

 

[jknc]

I'm glad that you had a priceless time with your girls! But in my mind this $149 could provide a just as priceless option for me and my son.. Disney world with short lines would be amazing to us!!!
And if someone doesn't want to pay the $149 then you can still do a night time EMH. There's enough time for everyone.

Totally see your point of view on this. For me being I've already paid $1600 for tickets, it's potentially an additional $750+ for experiences that didn't cost me that much additional money in 2015.

 

[asbyrneva]

I do think how this fairs could impact the cost of the Halloween and Christmas parties some but cannot see they going to $149. The parties have more tickets available (I have heard perhaps 20,000) per party whereas the after hours is apparently limited to 3,000. If they raised the price to $149 for these there is no chance they sell the number of tickets they do now.

But wouldnt that be the point? fewer tickets higher price point less crowds? If they raised the price it would be to limit the number of tickets. Some folks on this board have said tickets are around 30,000 for a party night. If it was half that number say 12-15K at this price point the experience i would assume would be much different.

 

[lovethattink]

I wanted to add my 2 cents as an observer. I was at WDW the first day this started, but didn't attend. It had rained prior to the extra hours. I'm curious to see if that rain prior had any deciding factor for someone who might have bought a ticket the night of?

I heard first hand accounts of how wonderful it was to walk right up and on the attractions. I didn't hear any accounts from anyone who actually purchased a ticket though.

I did hear some DVC friends who were there for the Darkside Challenge who didn't get an email invitation to go for free. So I'm not sure how the DVC invite process was done.

As an AP, if I got an email invite, I wouldn't turn it down! But I wouldn't pay $149 to attend. Though we have spent frivolously in the past with the $250/pp Rebel Rendezvous. Guess it just depends on what the offer includes.

 

[Confederate Scott]

But wouldnt that be the point? fewer tickets higher price point less crowds? If they raised the price it would be to limit the number of tickets. Some folks on this board have said tickets are around 30,000 for a party night. If it was half that at this price the experience i would assume it would be much different.

Yes the experience with half the amount of people would be much different but I do not think Disney cares about that anymore than they care about the price. I just think that the Halloween and Christmas parties are geared towards families and raising the price to $149 would make many families think twice about doing them.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Totally see your point of view on this. For me being I've already paid $1600 for tickets, it's potentially an additional $750+ for experiences that didn't cost me that much additional money in 2015.

This post is exactly what I have been talking about.
Everything you just said is why WDW is not targeting you in this campaign. They're targeting people like me..the smaller families, or adult travelers, and everyone else I mentioned in my previous post.
For you there is no value. For me, it's not that much more than the price of a regular ticket...so I do one less day of park ticket and add this for my second MK day.

 

[bcrook]

Keeping my fingers crossed they don't keep the MK closing hours at 10 for an upcharge event.
Last year closing - NON EMH - was 1.

During the summer, it is a wonderful experience to be in the parks late in the evening to escape the heat. I guess it is so nice, they decided to charge extra.

Maybe in the winter, they will figure out a way to charge extra for the sunshine.

 

[bcrook]

I was flamed for making a similar point as this weeks ago.
I pointed out that this year MK is scheduled to be open 9 hours less on the days we visit as opposed to 2015.

This is exactly my concern. Not jealousy. Just the fact that my AP will go up $200.00 and that ticket allows me to do quite a bit less. Especially during the best time to be in MK --- at night.

Disney constantly asks questions on their survey: do you see WDW as a good value? It is harder and harder to justify that (and I'm a regular Disney Ambassador). And they ask, "do you think Disney is greedy?" It's getting easier and easier to choose that option.

I got another AP survey last week. Disney didn't get a good response from me. I'm completely stunned by the aggressive increases in cost and cuts in programming. Being the optimist that I am, I'm hoping that things will turn around and the Tom Staggs firing is a good sign that this experiment in terror is almost over, and Disney will return to their Year of a Million Dreams attitude. When everybody entering the parks could hope to experience some magic without the $149.00 upcharges. I could use a little Disney Decade thrown in there too.

 

[bcrook]

I do think how this fairs could impact the cost of the Halloween and Christmas parties some but cannot see they going to $149. The parties have more tickets available (I have heard perhaps 20,000) per party whereas the after hours is apparently limited to 3,000. If they raised the price to $149 for these there is no chance they sell the number of tickets they do now.

Double the price, cut the crowds in half. Make the same money. Better experience for this that make the sacrifice to go.

Maybe they can scale the parties back to just a few lands and a great fireworks show.

 

[bcrook]

You missed one key component. They have to provide enough value that those people don't go home and tell thousands of Facebook friends that it was the worst, most overpriced vacation evah. Historically Disney excels at that. No one makes you happier to part with your money than Disney. But they seem to be testing the limits of that this year.