UPDATE: April Hours Posted: Has the bleeding stopped - are hours on the mend?

[DisneyKidds]

OK, time for some of you WDW hours aficionados to weigh in. It appears to me (but I don’t have all the historical hours from last year) that hours at the MK may be slightly longer this year (so far in Jan, and posted February and March hours) than they were during the same period last year. Can anyone confirm or deny?

In checking the hours I don’t think I saw any 6:00 closes, and I think there were more 8:00 closes than last year. There is now at least Fantasy in the Sky fireworks every night.

OK, you know this couldn’t be a simple question about hours (not from me ) so I will ask you this………………..

If the operating hours at the MK are, in fact, longer than the same period last year, and if there is more nighttime entertainment, could it be a reversal of the trend of the past few years to further cut and reduce hours and entertainment? Yes, you are right, I am not going to applaud Disney for giving us back 1 of the 5 hours they have taken from us since the late 90’s. However, I am at least willing provide acknowledgement if the trend of the past few years has been stopped, or maybe even reversed. Is that happening? Baby steps? You gotta start somewhere .

 

[grinningghost]

I'll just chime in with "I hope so".

 

[Jeff in BigD]

I took a look at the March hours (when most schools have spring break & should be considered peak time)...on a Saturday the park still closes at 8pm! Considering that Disneyland is opened a whole extra 5 hours (8am-12am)...the move is good, but not good enough.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Ok, let me save you some time . Dug out some Feb/March 2002 hours, and the 2003 hours are shorther. Looks like we'll have to wait for April hours to come out to see what is really going on. It wasn't until April of last year that Disney had cut operating hours back to 6:00 on some days. I will be curious to see if April hours this year are consistent with what we are seeing in Feb and March (no 6:00 closes), or if hours in April will be less than we are seeing in Feb and March. I would tend to think that April is the busier month, so I hope there are no 6:00 closes. If there aren't it might truely be an increase over last year, albeit small and not enough, as Jeff pointed out - but we have to hope they start somewhere.

 

[Chance's Mom]

Just returned from 8 days at the World---have never in 7 years seen it this busy in January. I think it is a very good sign. The parks seemed to be in full operational mode. Last Jan. was like a ghost town--very sad! I think things are looking up.

 

[raidermatt]

Easter fell in March last year, but is in April this year.

That's why March appears to have a bigger drop in hours this year than previous months.

April should probably show an increase this year, but it will likely be due to Easter, not a trend reversal.

Of course it would be nice if I was wrong on this one...

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

However, I am at least willing provide acknowledgement if the trend of the past few years has been stopped, or maybe even reversed.

Ah what straws these car 2ers are willing to grasp at!! Any old port in a storm, eh? Kinda crazy, ain't it?

I'll tell you what Mr. Kidds. I'll give you my answer personally, in the middle of July and/or August. At 5 to midnight, in line for the last ride of Peter Pan's flight!

Until then, you can keep your trends!!!

 

[DisneyKidds]

Kinda crazy, ain't it?

I'll tell you what is crazy you........................, Baron.

I know, I know - you won't be happy until the MK at midnight is back. To get anywhere near there things will have to start somewhere. Unfortunately, I have given up on the Baron ever being "happy" with Disney again (meaning I don't think those midnight hours will ever come back). Sure, you'll still go, have a good time, then complain like a son of a................. Nope, given what it will take for you Baron, you will never be happy again . The four words Baron is least likely to ever use in the same sentence. Disney. Management. Happy. Optimism.

But hey, thanks for the post.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Originally posted by DVC-Landbaron
I'll tell you what Mr. Kidds. I'll give you my answer personally, in the middle of July and/or August. At 5 to midnight, in line for the last ride of Peter Pan's flight!

Unfortunately I think the only way that will happen is if you're in Anaheim.

 

[KMovies]

Just my 2 cents here - but I think this is the main difference:

Florida - multi day stays - therefore, the parks don't need to stay open til Midnight as several days running around the parks til Midnight would be burn out. How many people come for a whole week as opposed to a Single Day?
Visitors - Visitors - Visitors

California - single day stays - therefore, the park warrents a midnight closing as you can drag your body around the park til Midnight and recover the next day. California Adventure may make for more two day visits but that is still a full day at Disneyland and then a relaxed day at California Adventure.
Locals - Locals - Locals

 

[Bob O]

The difference is that DL is showing more concern for their guests and keeping the parks open longer while wdw is happy to treat you in a second class manner and force you out of the parks and to spend your money at mini golf/dtd etc.
One park bends over backwards while the other doesnt anymore(but they did at one time).

 

[KMovies]

OK - but DL still didn't bring back early mornings. DCA closes early.

I guess it is a toss up and I guess that both are making the best decisions based on attendance and all.

 

[Gillian]

Looks like March is a bad time to go - peak resort rates coupled with shorter hours than April (we hope) or Summer (for sure).

 

[stevets]

"the trend of the past few years has stopped, or maybe even reversed"

Frankly I think that's BAD news, not good news. Maybe the hours were short, but that's because there were no lines. It sure was sweet to walk onto Dumbo in the middle of the day (as I did last September).

 

[DisneyKidds]

Maybe the hours were short, but that's because there were no lines. It sure was sweet to walk onto Dumbo in the middle of the day (as I did last September).

By all means, that can be a good thing for an individual guest, on an individual visit. I like having no lines as well. However, IMHO no lines means low attendance, low attendance has translated into more cuts, low attendance means lower revenue, lower revenue means less improvement and investment in the parks, etc......................which all adds up tp a negative for the company, and in the long term, a negative for the guest.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I'm baaaack....................so let's continue the discussion now that Disney has posted April 2003 hours.

April 2003 hours do represent an increase over last April. This increase is not due to longer hours only during Easter week, which does fall in April this year and was in March last year. In fact, the April hours this year are longer than the March hours last year.

Just to fill you in, other than one night when the MK closes at 7:30, the earliest MK close in April is 8:30. The majority of nights in April the MK closes at 10:00 or 11:00. This is in contrast to many 6:00 closes last April.

So, it does, in fact, appear that hours have taken a turn of some sort. I'll ask again, has the bleeding stopped? Are hours on the mend? With many 11:00 closes in April, does the Baron clan have a hope for midnight hours for the summer sojourn? Thoughts?

 

[mjstaceyuofm]

I thought last year that closing times for the MK typically ended up being different from what was posted on their website. That is to say, if the park was crowded and a posted close time was 7:00, they might have extended it to 8:00 and done so for the week and distributed fliers to on-site guests stating the change. If this is the case, then maybe you're not comparing apples to apples again... As I recall, there were some discussions here about how this kind of "winging it" as far as hours was concerned really hampered people's ability to plan their vacation time.

Any body have any other info? Am I the only one that recalls this?

 

[DisneyKidds]

I thought last year that closing times for the MK typically ended up being different from what was posted on their website. That is to say, if the park was crowded and a posted close time was 7:00, they might have extended it to 8:00 and done so for the week and distributed fliers to on-site guests stating the change.

Yes, MK hours some days last year might have been longer than the posted hours due to the kinds of adjustments you mention. Such adjustments would only serve to extend hours beyond the posted hours, not reduce them.

I'm trying to look at the bigger picture and Disney's intent, not just April hours. Hours adjustments for crowds represent a reactive step taken by Disney. Posted hours tell us more about Disney's intentions when it comes to park hours. Last year, Disney's intent was to keep the parks open for as few hours as possible, closing the MK at 6:00 on many nights. Does the fact that there are no 6:00 closes, heck - really no closes before 8:30 (except for one), indicate that Disney is committed to keeping the parks open later this year than they did last year? That is the key question. The answer to that will tell us if the trend of the last few years to reduce hours has turned in any way.

 

[raidermatt]

I use laughingplace.com for historical hours. While I can't swear that they capture every change Disney makes, I know they captured the changes that were made to our trip last May/June.

MK hours:

March '03 = 324, March '02 = 368.
Decrease = 12.0%

April '03 = 374.5, April '02 = 359.5.
Increase = 4.2%

April '02 did have some 6pm and 7pm closings last year, but that was well after Easter, which was in March. '02 also had several Midnight closings.

So, it does, in fact, appear that hours have taken a turn of some sort. I'll ask again, has the bleeding stopped? Are hours on the mend?

No, given the timing of Easter, April's hours appear to be a wash at best, and possibly even a continuation of the cuts.

With many 11:00 closes in April, does the Baron clan have a hope for midnight hours for the summer sojourn?

There's ALWAYS hope...I just don't see any evidence to encourage it...

 

[All Aboard]

Without verifying Matt's numbers...

Would it be a prudent exercise to compare Mar plus Apr 2003 to Mar plus Apr 2002?

If so, the two months combined in 2003 yield 698.5 hours v. 727.5 in 2002, a reduction of 29 hours (or -4.0%).

You could actually call it a net loss of 11 hours, since 18 are given back in the way of EE.

Looks like no matter how you slice it, 2003 still represents a reduction v. 2002.