Will you pay $150 for the new "Disney After Dark" event in the MK?

[EricInPA]

I am heading out in June and am surprised the late hours have not been extended.. wondering if this is why.

Hard to say. During our short trip in May, MK park hours were extended to Midnight on the weekends. This happened right around the time the first rumors of staffing/budget cuts started to trickle out.

I think this new after hours thing is a gimmick geared to rope in the first timers or people who don't get to go very often or for those who just plain don't know any better.

First timers: Maybe, though they likely have their trips planned already

Don't go very often: Probably close to the target group. They happen to be in town those days, can grab a ticket and pay more, but guarantee they get a lot of rides in.

Don't know any better: They won't know about this event until after it sells out. It's only offered (at the moment) on 7 nights over 2 months.

 

[opus1guy]

I don't understand how they expect people to buy these tickets without telling everyone what attractions will be open for the 3 hours.

My reason for purchasing this ticket even though the Disney web site only lists...

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Disney Princess Greetings at Princess Fairytale Hall
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain
• And much, much more!

...is that knowing that short list locked in, I do believe there will be enough additional attractions open to make my plan work out.

As to others concerned about just what the attendance capacity will be, I agree with Mikie who writes:

I'm optimistic on your behalf that the early events will be the best ones. I believe based on their track record of over-filling parties that this event, if successful, will also end up getting oversold, but that shouldn't happen for these newest offerings.

Along that line, I too am fairly confident that the capacity of the first few of these will indeed be low. Next year may be a different story. But for the purposes of this trip and this trip alone...I'm willing to roll the dice.

My "blind purchase" logic is sort of based on one or more of the following occurring:

- Disney comes through as planned...a low attendance night with enough rides open to make it an extremely enjoyable and worthwhile experience. Win for me!
- The price, limited info and other objections (real or perceived) does keep folks from buying into the thing, which makes for an even lower attendance. Win for me!
- If the thing turns out to be a horrible over-attended long-line disaster, a complaint to City Hall would almost certainly net a refund or a couple of comp tickets. Draw for me.

If I fail with this thing, I would simply go back to my original schedule, plugging a Magic Kingdom day into Day 3 (I've kept my Fastpass+ bookings for that day, just in case).

I'm not looking long term here. Who knows what the future holds for this thing. I don't care. I only know that it seems to be ideal for this particular trip. In fact, the minute I read about it and saw that by sheer luck the May 8th event night just happened to be my arrival date, I almost went "Yes. YES! YES!!!" And within a matter of seconds, I could see my new schedule in my head.

And the luck of the draw held out for the following day as well. At the close of the Disney After Dark event, I'll be getting back to my hotel room and hitting the sack approx 3-3:30am, which doesn't make a Park opening the next day very attractive. But as luck would have it, I get to sleep in that next morning thanks to Epcot being and Extended Magic Hours day that next day. So after a bit of a sleep-in, I get to start my Epcot day with a 12:30 breakfast/lunch followed by some Fastpass+ (and regular line waiting) in Future World. And then spending the rest of the day and evening enjoying World Showcase with those extra 2 hours of Extended Magic Hours at the end, closing out my Epcot day at 11pm.

It really works out for me. On paper, at least.

So those of you who object, or think it's a stupid or a greedy thing Disney is doing, and it's not worth it or whatever other negatives you can put out there to discourage folks from buying into this event...Keep Up The Good Work! It might help my night be more enjoyable. So...Thanks!

 

[IheartRapunzel]

Absolutely not!

 

[wdwfan]

Never!

 

[5DisneyNuts]

Other than the people that are having this sprung on them last minute and possibly disrupting their plans, I don't see a huge impact. I see this as a way for Disney to try and even out crowds while recouping revenue for expenses incurred by the extra hours offered (that wouldn't already be a EMH) - with a bit in their pocket of course.

Rope drop masses and crowds leaving the park after Wishes during busy times are a major safety consideration now.

Would I pay, nope, but I'm sure others will. Disney must have been pretty confident in the acceptance to get to the roll out test stage.

I think the anger directed at Disney is not the selling of extras that some can afford and some can't or don't want to (at least for me and similar opinions I've heard here). IMO Disney does a pretty good job of taking all price points into consideration.

My problem is with the cuts to front level CMs. There are college level courses that focus on Disney's model of delivering exceptional customer service. Current management is moving away from that model and their message. THAT is going to be their biggest problem.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

In a word.......NOPE!


AKK

 

[RaginforDisneyRoy]

We are trying it in April. Originally I was opposed to it, but if its anything like the last two hours of Not So Scary, it will be worth it. It's our anniversary trip, so I'm all about having the experience. We probably won't do it again and perhaps Disney won't get the response they hoped for. Based upon the online survey responses among regulars, that appears to be the case. I think the event that will cause the most trouble is the early morning event in Fantasy land. Rope drop people won't be happy on those days.

 

[3smithboys]

This is going to kill RD for people who go expecting short lines for RD and find all of these people are already in the park! So, if we are "told" to avoid EMH and now Disney is creating these new "paid for EMH".... true RD will be either a thing of the past or maybe one day a week. It will be interesting to see how this pays... I mean plays out.

 

[RaginforDisneyRoy]

No, "pays" is correct. Disney has a huge capacity problem and they seem to think that the demand will continue, so they're going to maximize profits while they weed crowds out. One way to increase capacity is to build more attractions. That's happening, but won't be fully capable until 2018. So, in the interim, they're building excitement and raising prices to cash in. The nickel and dime stuff is certainly their right, and the market will bear whatever it will bear, but this sort of ruins the magic for me. Part of being a WDW resort guest are all the free extras that make it special. We have already decided that our next trip will be a split stay with part Universal. We are just not paying for all the extras; perhaps Disney wants it that way, but they should be very careful because Universal will be eager to eat into the market share and probably will if they play it smart.

 

[Best_Vacation_EVER!]

We've booked for one of the May nights. We go for 12 to 14 days per trip. If they offered North American visitors the 14 day or 21 day tickets offered overseas we likely wouldn't have bought one of those tickets. The price differential between 10 day passes and AP's are too much to make an AP worth it. We'd love it if they offered more than 10 days tickets for onsite visitors and we'd buy them -- as we're still there and want things to do those nights. For us this event gives us an extra park time with some added perks (low crowds) at what we'd pay for a regular admission to the park with a small premium. (We were planning to buy 1 day tickets for one of our days.)

If these tickets are truly "limited" enough to ensure little to no wait times ---- they WILL sell. If they overbook and lineups result they won't sell future events and the experiment won't be successful (the internet does work so they can't ignore reactions.) Really it's up to Disney to determine if they want this to continue. Provide a value for those who attend and they'll continue. Don't provide that value and they won't continue.

If they don't continue --- don't think that necessarily saves EMHs if Disney has identified them as expendable in their cost/benefit analysis. Disney is clearly trying to find new revenues/reduced costs --- be it a resort fee or offering new "pay for play" events.

 

[frannn]

I would definetly NOT pay for this. I don't feel the return is worth the investment.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

I have no intention of ever doing it - I don't have the money, I hate staying out late, and MK isn't my favorite park anyhow.

BUT - I heard an estimated capacity for the event from management today, and if the number I heard is true, it's a small fraction of the crowd at a Not-So-Scary or Very Merry party. So, at least there's that.

(No, I can't share the number I heard.)

 

[horse11]

All these people asking how many people this event is going to be capped at are missing the point I think - the very high price point will in itself act as a cap so it won't be crowded at all. This is aimed at people who have no money limitations - I.e. Only the very elite - just look at the poll results here as an indication.

Please do not bite my head off for what I am about to say. First let me explain that I am middle class and by no means rich but to me there will always be something that people will pay an arm and a leg for if it appeals to them so not just the rich will purchase this. Does it appeal to me? No but it may to others. This is the great thing of America. We all have the opportunity to to get lucrative careers if we choose to. It may take a lot of effort on our part but that is a choice we are given. If everything was on equal footing but others work hard and others choose not too how would this change things? If people choose to spend their money on this, a desert party, and special theme party then how is this different. Disney is a business and if people will pay then Disney will continue to add things like this. What is more of a concern to me is the fact that this may infringe on the hours that people have been encouraged to plan so far in advance. If they want to add an exclusive package it would be nice to have the hours after the normal park closes so it Does not affect the regular guests. Time will tell this may not even affect anything . We just have to wait and see.

 

[aggiedog]

No way. That's $900 for my family, for 3 hours?? Crazy talk! The thought of a minimally crowded park is highly appealing, but unless that was guaranteed (which it obviously won't be) I wouldn't even consider it. Well, and at $900 they'd also have to let us walk to the front of every line, install a caffeine IV drip so I could stay up that late, and then babysit my kids the next day while I, and they, recuperate.

 

[RaginforDisneyRoy]

My reason for purchasing this ticket even though the Disney web site only lists...


...is that knowing that short list locked in, I do believe there will be enough additional attractions open to make my plan work out.

As to others concerned about just what the attendance capacity will be, I agree with Mikie who writes:



Along that line, I too am fairly confident that the capacity of the first few of these will indeed be low. Next year may be a different story. But for the purposes of this trip and this trip alone...I'm willing to roll the dice.

My "blind purchase" logic is sort of based on one or more of the following occurring:

- Disney comes through as planned...a low attendance night with enough rides open to make it an extremely enjoyable and worthwhile experience. Win for me!
- The price, limited info and other objections (real or perceived) does keep folks from buying into the thing, which makes for an even lower attendance. Win for me!
- If the thing turns out to be a horrible over-attended long-line disaster, a complaint to City Hall would almost certainly net a refund or a couple of comp tickets. Draw for me.

If I fail with this thing, I would simply go back to my original schedule, plugging a Magic Kingdom day into Day 3 (I've kept my Fastpass+ bookings for that day, just in case).

I'm not looking long term here. Who knows what the future holds for this thing. I don't care. I only know that it seems to be ideal for this particular trip. In fact, the minute I read about it and saw that by sheer luck the May 8th event night just happened to be my arrival date, I almost went "Yes. YES! YES!!!" And within a matter of seconds, I could see my new schedule in my head.

And the luck of the draw held out for the following day as well. At the close of the Disney After Dark event, I'll be getting back to my hotel room and hitting the sack approx 3-3:30am, which doesn't make a Park opening the next day very attractive. But as luck would have it, I get to sleep in that next morning thanks to Epcot being and Extended Magic Hours day that next day. So after a bit of a sleep-in, I get to start my Epcot day with a 12:30 breakfast/lunch followed by some Fastpass+ (and regular line waiting) in Future World. And then spending the rest of the day and evening enjoying World Showcase with those extra 2 hours of Extended Magic Hours at the end, closing out my Epcot day at 11pm.

It really works out for me. On paper, at least.

So those of you who object, or think it's a stupid or a greedy thing Disney is doing, and it's not worth it or whatever other negatives you can put out there to discourage folks from buying into this event...Keep Up The Good Work! It might help my night be more enjoyable. So...Thanks!

Agreed with your logic 100% which is why we paid for the tickets. I do think Disney knows full well what attendance numbers do on the special event nights, and I'm using some faith thinking they won't oversell. But if they do, I will raise holy hell (in a nice way) with guest services and make it clear they failed miserably for the price.

 

[boomgoesthemickey]

All these people asking how many people this event is going to be capped at are missing the point I think - the very high price point will in itself act as a cap so it won't be crowded at all. This is aimed at people who have no money limitations - I.e. Only the very elite - just look at the poll results here as an indication.

yeah me and my gf do not fall anywhere close to being very elite lol, but we'd consider it if the initial reviews are positive. It would cost $300 for the two of us, all it would take is us sacrificing going out to dinner 3 times from now til the time of our trip, its called budgeting.

 

[UpstateMick]

I'm kind of intrigued to see how this looks and the response that this gets. We arrive on Thursday, April 21st, one of the first nights this is offered. Now, I would NEVER pay $450, let me repeat, $450 dollars! (three of us). This may sound strange, but I like when the parks have crowds. Not shut down the park, elbow to elbow, can't breathe here crowds, but I like to see people experience the Magic for the first time! I like seeing young kids get excited and meeting and talking with people and just the excitement of it all. $450 to ride rides? How many times can you really ride them over and over before one says, enough? Disney is by no means a thrill park, it is an experience. My fear is that this is becoming the norm: charge for this, pay for that, add on the other, and so on and so forth. More power to Disney, if they can find a way, they will. I have been a loyalist since 2000.I came into the game late, but I have been a Disneyholic for 16 years. Honeymooned there, went with family, now take my family on a yearly 10-day visit. My plan after retiring from education was to move to Florida and become part of the team! I do not feel that way anymore. I still enjoy our vacations, but we are on our last legs with Disney. I do not begrudge, hold in contempt, or blame Disney for doing what they are trying to do; however, personally, it just isn't what it once was for my family and I. For us, and I repeat, for us, it is too much planning, too much money, too little positive change, and too little, too late to recapture what was once a pure, unadulterated love and appreciation for a truly Magical place. I will pop in to see Avatar in Animal Kingdom when it opens, I look forward to what they are going to do with Star Wars and Toy Story in the Studios, and hopefully EPCOT gets some love in the near future, but, for us, it just doesn't embrace the heart and soul like it once did. Mind you, this is a response coming from someone who leaves in 23 days for his next trip. I'll fill you all in when we get back.

 

[MJ6987]

Please do not bite my head off for what I am about to say. First let me explain that I am middle class and by no means rich but to me there will always be something that people will pay an arm and a leg for if it appeals to them so not just the rich will purchase this. Does it appeal to me? No but it may to others. This is the great thing of America. We all have the opportunity to to get lucrative careers if we choose to. It may take a lot of effort on our part but that is a choice we are given. If everything was on equal footing but others work hard and others choose not too how would this change things? If people choose to spend their money on this, a desert party, and special theme party then how is this different. Disney is a business and if people will pay then Disney will continue to add things like this. What is more of a concern to me is the fact that this may infringe on the hours that people have been encouraged to plan so far in advance. If they want to add an exclusive package it would be nice to have the hours after the normal park closes so it Does not affect the regular guests. Time will tell this may not even affect anything . We just have to wait and see.

Ha ha, I won't bite your head off! I have no problem with things being offered to those that can afford it - no one is forcing anyone to buy it. Hopefully the extra money they make will allow them to do things for everyone or at the very least stop further cuts. As long as it doesn't take away from regular guests that are already paying a lot of money for tickets, hotels, etc - e.g, shorter regular park hours.

 

[DeluxePrincess]

I'm just curious to know how many tickets per night will be sold. I would never do it with my kiddos, but MIGHT consider it for an adult's only trip. I remember back in the early 2000's they used to charge for after hours (e night?) and it was fun. However, I don't remember the price being anywhere near this $150 price tag.

 

[RhodyChief]

All these people asking how many people this event is going to be capped at are missing the point I think - the very high price point will in itself act as a cap so it won't be crowded at all. This is aimed at people who have no money limitations - I.e. Only the very elite - just look at the poll results here as an indication.

I also think you underestimate the amount of people willing to just throw a purchase like this on a credit card and say "we'll worry about it later!" I'm seeing more and more people willing to just put purchases on credit cards and never have plans to pay them off. I've been told by more than one person before that they'll just make minimum payments on their cards until they die then it's not their problem anymore, even if it affects how much money is left behind to their families. It's pretty sad to see.