Possible big reduction in Future Worlds hours.

[Gillian]

raidermatt, that's why I said, "to us." An MK closing of 6 vs 7 would bother me! There is a lot more to do there (for us) than in FW.

It does start to get to you after a while, but at least part of Epcot stays open late and Illuminations is shown every night. If a staggered MK land opening/closing (don't ask me how that would work) meant fireworks and at least some part of the park open every night, it might be worth it. It seems to work well for Epcot.

 

[raidermatt]

raidermatt, that's why I said, "to us."

Oops, my apologies. I thought you were using the lack of impact to your family as proof the earlier closing doesn't matter, as opposed to just making a personal comment.

An MK closing of 6 vs 7 would bother me!

Yikes! Have you checked out the hours since August? (Maybe you only go June-July, or other peak times?

There is a lot more to do there (for us) than in FW.

Agreed, and that's the real problem. Not so much that FW needs to have as much to do as all of MK, but that it no longer has the appeal to attract as many people for as long a time. That's due to a lack of investment and creativity.

Disney shortening the hours first to 7pm, and now 6pm, is just their response to that problem. But in my opinion, the response only makes things worse.

If a staggered MK land opening/closing (don't ask me how that would work) meant fireworks and at least some part of the park open every night, it might be worth it. It seems to work well for Epcot.

If the idea was to keep parts of the park open LATER than now, maybe that could be considered better than the status quo, but what would be more likely would be for Dsiney to close certain parts earlier than they do now. Just as they've done with FW.

It only seem to work well for Epcot because they let Future World stagnate.

 

[Bob O]

gcurling, your response sounds like it came from eisner himself, just close the parks early and make the guests spend their money at other parts of the property, and to achieve this goal we will close parks earlier and earlier, and will make few additions so people feel less compelled to saty at the park but are more likely to spend money at DTD/Mini Golf etc.!!!
This reduction is just another one of many that have been implemented over the years and every time they bring things back it is never to the level it once was and sadly alot of disney fanatics just keep buying whatever disney sells them no matter if it is inferior to what they bought several years ago!!

 

[All Aboard]

My attempt at humorous sarcasm has fallen flat as a couple of folks have thought my post was serious. I need to remember to use the AV patented [sarcasm] [/sarcasm] indicator.

 

[manning]

I bought DVC last year. Can't do anything about that without losing money. But I certainly don't have to spend much time or money at Disney. I'll use my DVC as a place to sleep and go somewhere else for my entertainment. When Disney does something to give me my money's worth, then I will come back to the parks.

Actually, with a kitchen, I can hang around the pool and eat in.
Like one actor would say, "a park? I don't need no park!!"

Talking about money's worth, I remember people years back saying Disney was expensive, but when you spent a buck, you got a bucks worth. Today it seems to be 25 cents worth.

 

[DG-12]

Although I love reading this board I hardly ever post here-
This thread reminds me of the chicken finger debate from a few weeks ago. Cutting the FW hours is just someone else's breaking point. In our case, a couple with no children the shorter hours may not have been a big deal but it's a question of how much I am willing to pay for continuing diminishing returns. Having only traveled to DW in the off-season the hours have always been shorter for us- but I wonder what other kind cuts there may be for a trip during January. A few years ago I would have never have thought to go to US/IOA or SeaWorld but now we are shortening a planned trip to DW and planning on spending time at the other parks. I am sure that we are not the only ones. (And that planned trip just depends on what kind of cuts happen before the trip-if it seems like it may not be "magical" I'll cancel the trip and head someplace else)
Dana

 

[faithinkarma]

We were at Disney in February of this year. During this stay we looked into purchasing a time share. My biggest concern about investing this much money is that Disney is ( unbelieveably ) becoming less attractive to me with each visit. For all the reasons mentioned in this thread.

When I voiced my concerns to the time share sales rep, she immediately said " please don't say anything negative about Disney. It hurts me to hear anything like that ". The impression I got was that it was DISNEY, and we were supposed to love it unconditionally.

While I realize this was not the best occaision to be voicing my concerns, I find this " bury your head in the sand " attitude to be a dangerous stance for them to be taking. It certainly was a huge factor in my decision to leave my checkbook in my purse that day.

 

[C.Ann]

When I travel to Disney World from here in the northeast, it's a considerable expense for me (and the other family members that I travel with).. Due to employment constraints, we can only go for "x" number of days and it really makes it difficult when Disney keeps cutting hours, events, and what-have-you..

I go to Disney to enjoy the PARKS and the EVENTS that take place within them.. I don't travel all the way to Florida to play golf, hang out in restaurants or bars, shop in DD, attend musicals, or any of the other things I "could" do during the shortened hours..

For several years now it's just been cut..cut..cut.. If it's not hours and events, then they're reducing food portions, hiring less people to keep the parks clean, substituting decent napkins with see-thru ones, and on and on..

I don't want to hear about travel concerns - SARS - the "war" - the economy - or any of that other nonsense.. All of this started WAY before those events occured and they're simply an easy "justification" for anything Disney wants to do in order to give the customers less..

And yes - I know - it's "Disney!" - but unless you've been blinded by pixie dust, I don't see how anyone can possibly think that they are still "getting their money's worth"...

--------------------------

Now where did I put that box of "thank you" cards.. Gotta dash another one off to Disney to thank them for once again listening to what - we - the customers - "want"......................

 

[mitros]

Disney parks: CUT , CUT, CUT ! Eisners wallet : ADD, ADD, ADD ! Somethings rotten in Anaheim !

 

[jaysue]

Now everyone repeat after me:

Hey hey ho ho Eisner's gotta go
Hey hey ho ho Eisner's gotta go.....

thanks
Jason

 

[mitros]

In the words of the little rascals Stymie, "Brother, you said a mouth full"

 

[nats]

I'm not really sure what all the fuss is about ... do you all get upset when your local store closes and you want to buy something after hours? No, you probably "plan" to do your shopping during posted store hours.

When I go into my local store I don't pay $700 for transportation and over $3000 for a hotel, food and entertainment
If Disney wants to keep our business then they must give us BIG BANG FOR OUR BUCK.
I love WDW but refuse to be taken advantage of.

 

[TRAPPED-PARENT]

Hey, it's a free country ... you can choose not to go and not to spend your money at WDW. No one is MAKING you spend your money there.

This might be a good time for you to plan your next vacation elsewhere where you will get a "good value for your money". All I can say is good luck, because if you go to another amusement/theme park you may be surprised that they are expensive too!!!

God bless America where we can choose where to vacation and spend our $$$.

 

[crusader]

If Disney wants to keep our business then they must give us BIG BANG FOR OUR BUCK.

True - they also need to make the trip more affordable in order to attract more visitors. It has always been an expensive endeavor to take a week long vacation to WDW for a travelling family. This drives the need to "get your moneys worth" during your stay.

But this is relatively subjective. You are paying for a resort and you are paying for park tickets. If FW is a ghost town after 6pm than the parks themselves are probably not remotely close to full capacity so your vacation touring in general has been relatively hassle free vs someone who attends during the peak times.

So much is made over the changes I lose sight of the main issue here. There has to be more offered a family at EPCOT in general. Most children today are not so inclined to go to WDW because they grew up with Walt and the Wonderful World of Disney. Their exposure to the company is so commercialized they mainly focus on what's down there that is going to be "cool" or "fun". FW contains venues that are designed to take extensive amounts of time to see and are often not perceived as providing enough excitement.

 

[WDWalways]

I just want to say a couple of things - not pro or con on this topic - just some thoughts - ok, here goes:

About refurbishing FW - aren't they doing Spaceship Earth over?? I heard a while ago they were putting in a whole new "Thrill" ride inside so isn't SE closed right now anyway? (Last trip was 10/02 and I won't be back till early 06/03 so this is something I'm not sure happened or not yet.)

Don't most people have dinner in WS and sit around and wait for Illuminations to start etc and pretty much leave FW anyway around that 6pm - 7pm dinner hour?

I do think that it can be annoying with all these cut hours and cuts of other things (I missed this "chicken finger" debate so not sure about that one but I think I get the idea) - anyway, all 4 parks are not open "equally" for various reasons and they all cost the same for a 1-day admission so that's an argument that can go on forever with no resolution IMO. EX: AK is normally open 8am to 5pm - that's 9 hours for the same price as MK which is normally open 9am - 9pm (I'm talking the average hours I normally see when I visit) which is 12 hours so that's another argument but if EPCOT is open 9am - 9pm and some areas are closed early I don't think it's that bad. I personally think it's understandable if FW has very low attendance anyway and hopefully Disney is planning on sprucing that area up soon and then it will probably go back to 9am - 9pm for the whole park eventually.

Just my thoughts...

 

[mitros]

The spaceship earth do-over is not a done deal at this point in time. The talk was of doing something in 2005. We usually eat dinner early, then walk around future world until it closes, then move out to world showcase and tour there until illuminations. I think a lot of folks {including DW and myself} are not happy paying an ever increasing price for park tickets and constantly having the hours shortened all around.

 

[raidermatt]

Hey, it's a free country ... you can choose not to go and not to spend your money at WDW. No one is MAKING you spend your money there.

True. However, we are talking about what DISNEY should or shouldn't do, not what you or I should or shouldn't do.

Don't most people have dinner in WS and sit around and wait for Illuminations to start etc and pretty much leave FW anyway around that 6pm - 7pm dinner hour?

Yes, and a lot also don't bother with Epcot at all during the day, and just show-up in the evening.

A big part of the reason for that however, is that FW has been neglected by Disney and allowed to stagnate. The complaint is that Disney's plan of limiting investment, then cutting hours when attendance falls, is a very poor long-term strategy.

 

[Gillian]

I left the party early, but I came back to see if there was any extra beer. Is all the good stuff gone?

Even though I was stating my personal experience earlier, I think that most visitors who are used to the 7 PM FW closing will not be bothered by its changing to 6. It doesn't make me happy, but I do believe that other types of cutbacks will be more upseting to the typical visitor than this one. Like the chicken fingers.

We usually visit in the off season & are used to the short hours. When there is a 6 PM MK closing, we like knowing that at least part of Epcot is open if we want to go to a park. If closing FW at 6 vs 7 is what allows the WS to stay open until 9, I'm ok with it.

I guess I'm trying to look at it in terms of trade offs. If they have to cut an hour somewhere, then FW, in all its lameness, is the best place.

I would much rather see them make FW more interesting, of course!!

 

[raidermatt]

Even though I was stating my personal experience earlier, I think that most visitors who are used to the 7 PM FW closing will not be bothered by its changing to 6.

By doing things an hour at a time (as they have with MK and AK as well), the shock value is decreased.

So what if next year they go to 5pm in FW, 4:30pm at AK, and throw in more 6pms at MK? Not that much of a change...

Then a year or two later, FW=4:30, AK=4:00, and MK starts getting 5pm?

Yes, few customers get in an uproar at each individual change, because after all, its only an hour on some days. So only a few decrease their spending or decide not to go. But its a "few" each time, and those that only go every 5 years notice bigger changes.

Lets look at it this way... If 5 years ago, you had been told that in 5 years:
MK's Summer hours would be 2-3 hours shorter on most nights.
FW would close at 6pm on most nights, not 9pm.
WS would never close later than 9pm (except on a few rare holidays)
AK would close at 5pm most "nights", and open at 9am.
RC would close, and BB and TL would only operate 5 days a week well into May.

...would you have said that few guests would care?

 

[Another Voice]

Funny, do you think that when Hawaii or Las Vegas hits a slumb in traffic those people say "let's just shut down early and not try to get anyone to come"? And I've never heard of a cruise line say "gee folks, we're only half full this cruise so we're going to cut the trip short by two days".

More is going on here than "meeting guests needs"...