Summer hours discouraging

[guynhawaii]

Aloha,
As previously posted in another thread, DLR operating hours during Deluxe FP blockouts have been reduced this summer. Most especially on Fridays and Saturdays. For example, DL use to open at 8 am on Saturdays with EMH at 7 am like Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now DCA and DL are opening at 9 am on Fridays and Saturdays with EMH at 8 am vice 7 am. They have eliminated the benefit of a staying on property and enjoying a 7 am EMH during an a AP blockout. Extremely frustrating for families like mine who live a great distance away and Treat DLR as a destination. Why remove the benefit of enjoying DLR during AP blockouts? This smacks of being unfair to the type of visitors Disney is trying to attract.

 

[soniam]

They are probably just trying to cut costs. Also, their predictions probably say that the park isn't going to be as busy as they would like or maybe as busy as the same time last year. Maybe people are waiting for Black Spire to open. I always get frustrated when park hours get reduced from previous years.

 

[limace]

It’s weird to do this on weekends and not during the week if it’s a cost cutting measure.

 

[SteveH]

They are probably just trying to cut costs.

Unless they just jack up rates a lot, they need to balance rate increases with cutting costs. Do to the minimum rate increases. Welcome to the new paradigm.

1. On January 1, 2017, the minimum wage will increase to $10.50 per hour.
2. On January 1, 2018, the minimum wage will increase to $11 per hour.
3. On January 1, 2019, the minimum wage will increase to $12 per hour.
4. On January 1, 2020, the minimum wage will increase to $13 per hour.
5. On January 1, 2021, the minimum wage will increase to $14 per hour.
6. On January 1, 2022, the minimum wage will increase to $15 per hour.

 

[soniam]

It’s weird to do this on weekends and not during the week if it’s a cost cutting measure.

Maybe most of the guests on weekends are locals. Since locals don't do rope drop or early entry, they didn't think it was needed I don't understand the thinking on most of their decisions.

 

[gottalovepluto]

They’re opening later in the morning because the expected crowds are not large enough to justify opening earlier when most APs are blocked out. There were multiple reports on this board last summer of how much lighter crowds were after APs were blocked last summer. That Disneyland noticed that is of no surprise. Their operating hours are directly tied to expected crowds and have been for some time. Disney will even adjust park hours on the day if crowds are not rolling in as expected. For instance my trip last year on the week before Xmas we saw a park hours adjustment mid day on Tues of a Mon-Fri trip as Disney was hit with larger than expected crowds and they extended park closing hours for the rest of the week, yes that’s unusual but it was an extraordinary situation (it was VERY crowded- Little Mermaid had a 30 min wait one night!) and that shows that Disney absolutely ties guest attendance levels to operating hours- to me at least. (I wouldn’t expect this to be the case during AP blackout periods this summer given last year’s attendance patterns, but if something changes and the parks are jam packed Disney can change the hours on you.)

Also, Disney has in no way “eliminated a benefit of staying on property”. EMH is offered every day allowing you access to a park one hour before the general public and that is the benefit Disney promises with onsite booking, they do not promise the hour of your EMH.

ETA: they do also change operating hours for extraordinary events, such as private events or Previews

 

[pharmama]

I wonder, too, if they had some complaints that a 7am EMH was just too early for people so they weren't really able to use this benefit. 7am is awfully early to get everyone up and at 'em (well, really more like 6-6:30am to get to the gates for 7am EMH) for a lot of families including mine. I know 8am is only an hour later but that hour makes a HUGE difference for us, at least.

 

[DizneyMommy]

Deciding to extend hours mid-day isn’t that rare. We’ve been in the parks a few times when an announcement came on that they were adding an hour.

We’ve also been in the parks when they announced closing earlier (that was during an extremely rainy day and crowds were non-existent!)

 

[HydroGuy]

They’re opening later in the morning because the expected crowds are not large enough to justify opening earlier when most APs are blocked out.

Then why would they be charging "Peak" day ticket prices? That smacks of someone making decisions at Disney who is clueless.

To me, since about 2005 Disney as a whole and DLR in particular seem to have had folks making decisions who were either clued in, or listening to their underlings who are clued in. Things happened in a dependable and reasonable way.

What has happened in recent weeks makes me think someone who is clueless but thinks they know everything is now making decisions about the parks. That has not happened since the Eisner years.

They may listen to our complaints and realize they made a bunch of mistakes, or they may charge ahead smug in their belief that they know everything. If the first thing happens, we will all get over this and things will settle down. If the latter happens, then more bad decisions will be coming until Disney decides to get rid of that person or guests decide to vote with their wallets.

I own two businesses which I started. The thought of alienating our most dedicated customers is something that terrifies me. Hopefully someone at Disney feels similarly.

 

[HydroGuy]

Aloha,
As previously posted in another thread, DLR operating hours during Deluxe FP blockouts have been reduced this summer. Most especially on Fridays and Saturdays. For example, DL use to open at 8 am on Saturdays with EMH at 7 am like Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now DCA and DL are opening at 9 am on Fridays and Saturdays with EMH at 8 am vice 7 am. They have eliminated the benefit of a staying on property and enjoying a 7 am EMH during an a AP blockout. Extremely frustrating for families like mine who live a great distance away and Treat DLR as a destination. Why remove the benefit of enjoying DLR during AP blockouts? This smacks of being unfair to the type of visitors Disney is trying to attract.

I agree.

 

[Pamela M]

I think those of us on this forum are in the minority. I think there are alot of people that look at the Day that fits their schedule. They probably don't even know the park hours until a week or so below cause all they've decided is when they are going and where they are staying.

I on the other hand struggle with trying to pick the perfect time to go by looking at all the past data.
What I will tell you is that I will avoid value days - they just feel busier.