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

[3DisneyFanz]

Judging from the comments here, no one will be attending.lol. So the "no one will pay this" but added with "crowds will be very high" comments, are kind of amusing.
To each their own. If you don't want to pay then don't. But if it's an advantage for someone else then let them spend their money how they see fit.

I learned a long time ago that no matter what Disney puts out people will pay for it. To me this isn't even a question of if people will pay for it or even how many will do it but rather how long will Disney allow it to feel like a value to the guest as opposed to a value to the company. I would suggest anyone who is interested in this get in on it now because once they determine 5000 will pay for it they'll try for 7500 and then 10000 and so on.

 

[3smithboys]

I think you missed my entire point. Let's say I would normally buy a 3 day park ticket- 2 of which were MK days.
With this $150 option I would now buy a 2 day park ticket- 1 MK day, and pay $150 to do MK later in PLACE of that otherwise 2nd day bc there will be fewer crowds- since again- it wouldn't make sense for the 7+ day ticket people.
THAT spreads out crowds..so is a win win for everyone.

No, I do understand what you are saying... and in theory it makes sense.... except for the poor people who happen to be in MK on the evening of the special event when the thousands of ticket holders pour in. Those are the people I feel sorry for. What about them? Disney thinks nothing about changing dates at the last minute after we make our ADR's and plans... and some people will have no idea that these party people will be showing up! If I find out, I will do everything I can to move things around so I can avoid it, but I won't be thrilled that I have to after booking all of my ADR's for June.

 

[Kimberly9701]

No, I do understand what you are saying... and in theory it makes sense.... except for the poor people who happen to be in MK on the evening of the special event when the thousands of ticket holders pour in. Those are the people I feel sorry for. What about them? Disney thinks nothing about changing dates at the last minute after we make our ADR's and plans... and some people will have no idea that these party people will be showing up! If I find out, I will do everything I can to move things around so I can avoid it, but I won't be thrilled that I have to after booking all of my ADR's for June.

Again, that's my entire point of what I'm saying. Let's use me and my son for an example- it's not a question of adding on a night at MK..it's either a full day ticket for MK, or - $150 for a night time one. Either way we would have been at the park. But, with this way- we are now arriving at the park much later than the rope drop we would have normally been at.
So it's not "thousands of people pouring in at 7pm"... It's thousands of people removed from the park during the hours of 9am-7pm.

 

[3smithboys]

Again, that's my entire point of what I'm saying. Let's use me and my son for an example- it's not a question of adding on a night at MK..it's either a full day ticket for MK, or - $150 for a night time one. Either way we would have been at the park. But, with this way- we are now arriving at the park much later than the rope drop we would have normally been at.
So it's not "thousands of people pouring in at 7pm"... It's thousands of people removed from the park during the hours of 9am-7pm.

I hear what you are saying, and I'm sure there might be some people who are like you; however, I don't think most people who are going to buy this ticket are the ones who would have gone all day and are now just going to go in the evening. I think this is going to draw a new crowd into the park. Sure it might shift some of the crowd from the day to the night but convention goers, people coming off of cruises, people who just flew in... all may want to buy a ticket and all of these people would not have been there during the day.

 

[Kimberly9701]

I hear what you are saying, and I'm sure there might be some people who are like you; however, I don't think most people who are going to buy this ticket are the ones who would have gone all day and are now just going to go in the evening. I think this is going to draw a new crowd into the park. Sure it might shift some of the crowd from the day to the night but convention goers, people coming off of cruises, people who just flew in... all may want to buy a ticket and all of these people would not have been there during the day.

..I will be one of the "just off a cruise" people. We are staying at CR, so I could easily be at park by 9am..or I could book BOG early.. Or I could relax that day..have lunch at whispering canyon...and then head to the park at 7. For my specific trip this makes a lot of sense. And there are a lot of other people..on my specific cruise..who are doing 3 night pre or post cruise stays as well. So the money isn't that much more to do this in place of a 1 day MK ticket.
I'll agree with you on also attracting a different crowd- but not so much a "new" crowd. I have been to DW Sooo many times last minute..with other adults..bc we lived in SoFla and only a 3 hour drive. Go to Orlando for Halloween Horror Nights..Islands of Adventure..F&W..or just a random trip. We would only do 1 MK day without kids..and definitely would have taken the night time option if would have been available!
All I'm saying is I don't think this is as bad as everyone is making it out to be. And for the 1-4 night travelers it's an advantage. For the 7night plus travelers- it's an advantage as well bc we won't be in the park most of the day
I did 8 nights a few months ago and that was too much for me. Don't get me wrong- I loved it! But I wore my son out..and myself. I think 5 would be my max from here on out..bc it's always combined with another destination as well.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Agree 100%. I just think that they started out too aggressively with the pricing. In order to "make a little money" as you suggest, perhaps they should have come out of the chute at half that price and if it proved to be successful, raised the price in slow increments and slowly cooked the frog in the pot.

I think what makes this so hard to swallow is that the cost is more than a 1 day ticket. I just have a hard time coming up with a scenario where I wouldn't just use the money to add an extra day to my tickets. I have a family of four. If I had 4 days tickets already, I could add and extra night at the hotel and and extra day onto our tickets and still have money left over.

If all the speculation is true that this event is not going to sell, then anybody who buys a ticket to this thing may wind up being one of a couple hundred guests in the park, which means they would for all intents and purposes have the park to themselves...would that not be worth it I wonder. If so, might be a chance to rip off the mouse instead of the other way around. Nobody else would have to worry about crowding after 7 either.

If only a couple of hundred people go, Disney won't make enough money and more dates will not be added. I wonder how many people have to attend for them to break even.

No, their point was that it is significantly more than just $40 more than the ticket price...because most people do not buy one-day tickets.

If you buy a 5-day base ticket, then you are paying about $70 a day - and this event is $80 more than the regular ticket price.

And significantly more than adding park hoppers.

You know, I went to Universal yesterday. First time -- I'd been to IO about five years ago. Brought two nieces with us. Bought Express Passes for the kids -- my wife and I didn't have any because we weren't planning to ride anything but Harry Potter.

$1576 without Park Hoppers -- 1650 with park hoopers (we didn't get them). Every single ride we saw there was at least 45 minutes standby -- the big ones were all at least 100. Gringotts was 60 minutes at 8:15 am. Even with the Express Pass, we waited usually 45 minutes for the kids (Mummy, Minions, Simpsons, Rocket, MIB).

So my point is that anyone thinking that Universal somehow has a magic ticket to crowd management and satisfaction is wrong. It's the same thing over there that it is at Disney. We averaged $225 per person for the day we were there without food and still waiting in lines. There are just too many people.

I think this is an effort to give people the chance to trade less park time for fewer crowds (I don' t think that's what is going on in the mornings. The morning changes are about mitigating/reducing Rope Drop). You get six hours of park time -- half of that with crowds that are at least half capacity. If I were betting, WDW is headed toward a split day system for crowded seasons, where a morning ticket gets you to a 7 pm parade and a night ticket gets you in from 4-midnight or 5-1-ish. WDW looks and sees that other theme parks operate for about 8 hours a day and figures that's a fair amount of time for people to spend at the park for a basic ticket (the day ticket is more time because there will naturally be more crowds). There are just too many people to assume the crowds will thin themselves out, so WDW is trying to find a way to do it for them without turning people away at the gate. Mid-range adults and 10+ kids probably gravitate more toward the night ticket; younger families and older people stick more to the day ones. The probably offer a $200 stay-all-day ticket.

I don't think it's evil and I don't think it's a money grab. It's an attempt to get a handle on too many customers and a limited capacity to handle them.

I can buy Universal annual passes for my whole family for less than it would cost for all of us to get 3 day Park Hoppers. Then I can use those annual passes to get a Deluxe hotel room on Universal property that doesn't cost much more than a Disney moderate hotel and includes Express Pass.

But those aren't the people I was talking about, I was talking about the people who would be buying this event as their one day ticket to visit WDW. The ones who are staying offsite because they aren't in Orlando just to vacation at WDW. I guess the poster that quoted me didn't get that that was who I was talking about. I'm not talking about the family who already has their WDW tickets purchased for the week, its not really worth it for them.

I can't think of a scenario where I get more done between 7pm-2am than I could in a full day from 9am-10pm.

This may be asked.. but is this only offered during the slower periods? April - May (yes I know there are no slow periods now) but you know what I mean, I am heading out in June and am surprised the late hours have not been extended.. wondering if this is why. Or am I at as late as it gets.... "for free"???? Hmmmmmmmm

I think that Disney is waiting to see how many tickets they can sell to DAH before they decide to extend any hours. If DAH is successful. I think you will see more hard ticket events which in turn, will increase crowds on the few nights that do get extended. I think this is also why prices for MNSSHP and MVMCP have not been announced yet.

 

[Kimberly9701]

I think what makes this so hard to swallow is that the cost is more than a 1 day ticket. I just have a hard time coming up with a scenario where I wouldn't just use the money to add an extra day to my tickets. I have a family of four. If I had 4 days tickets already, I could add and extra night at the hotel and and extra day onto our tickets and still have money left over.

In September during my 8 night stay, the room was over $500 per night and that was including a 25 or 30% discount. Regular rate in high $700s...at Poly. This option wouldn't have made sense with my 8 day ticket.and plenty of time at the parks.
My upcoming trip the room is just a little over $600 per night..not discounted yet (but hoping it will be) at CR. A 3 night trip, so limited park time therefore it does make sense.

So no, adding a night wouldn't be the economical solution.
That aside- it's not about spending an extra day- it's about only having a limited time to stay.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

In September during my 8 night stay, the room was over $500 per night and that was including a 25 or 30% discount. Regular rate in high $700s...at Poly. This option wouldn't have made sense with my 8 day ticket.and plenty of time at the parks.
My upcoming trip the room is just a little over $600 per night..not discounted yet (but hoping it will be) at CR. A 3 night trip, so limited park time therefore it does make sense.

So no, adding a night wouldn't be the economical solution.
That aside- it's not about spending an extra day- it's about only having a limited time to stay.

Then I know we're not the demographic for this. We don't do stays shorter than 5 or 6 days. The per day ticket price is too high. And while we love the Poly, we won't pay over $500 night for a room at Disney either. So for us, adding an extra night at a moderate would be the way to go. We stopped going to MNSSHP two years ago because we felt the value wasn't there and this event is twice the price and doesn't include any special entertainment.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Then I know we're not the demographic for this. We don't do stays shorter than 5 or 6 days. The per day ticket price is too high. And while we love the Poly, we won't pay over $500 night for a room at Disney either. So for us, adding an extra night at a moderate would be the way to go. We stopped going to MNSSHP two years ago because we felt the value wasn't there and this event is twice the price and doesn't include any special entertainment.

Then I know we're not the demographic for this. We don't do stays shorter than 5 or 6 days. The per day ticket price is too high. And while we love the Poly, we won't pay over $500 night for a room at Disney either. So for us, adding an extra night at a moderate would be the way to go. We stopped going to MNSSHP two years ago because we felt the value wasn't there and this event is twice the price and doesn't include any special entertainment.

Which is exactly what I've been saying! I think everyone is freaking out about nothing. If you stay 5 or more days this wouldn't make sense for you- and Disney is not targeting you. Like I said, during my September '15 stay- there is no way I would have paid the $150 if offered bc I had an 8 day ticket- no value in the 150 additional. My next trip- 3 nights- the value is there. I'm sure there will be a lot of other people similar to me- cruise people or beach vacationers, as well as fl residents. And we WILL NOT make the parks over crowded bc we choose to pay extra for late hours...we would be causing the crowds to be lighter since would not be there until 7.
I don't know why people don't see the benefit for everyone with this. Do I wish it was less than $150? Of course!!! But it's Disney. 'nuff said.

 

[tlmadden73]

I think what makes this so hard to swallow is that the cost is more than a 1 day ticket. I just have a hard time coming up with a scenario where I wouldn't just use the money to add an extra day to my tickets. I have a family of four. If I had 4 days tickets already, I could add and extra night at the hotel and and extra day onto our tickets and still have money left over.

I think this is why it has that price point. If it was CHEAPER than a 1-day ticket, then people would either:
1) Just use this to instead of buying the full ticket (Basically a "half day" ticket).
OR
2) just go to MK all day and then just STAY for the night thing (not helping the crowds at all, but potentially making them worse (during the day) on those days.

The price point seems to be one where you are expected to go to MK only at night and NOT during the day. I think this is to help distribute crowds to get some people (the people who really like the rides) to come at night and NOT during the day. (you'd be at another park or just simply not go to ANY park during the day (your off day, your arrival day).

It does potentially make the park even more crowded then it normally would be from 7-10 pm.

But this all depends on how limited they keep these tickets.

 

[powellrj]

If we were young and childless, maybe. We are old and empty nesters and I say no way now.

 

[augusta1]

Voted for No!

 

[Hikergirl]

I can't think of a scenario where I get more done between 7pm-2am than I could in a full day from 9am-10pm.

And that works for you when you go to WDW. When I go there I do not spend 13 hours in the park, I have no desire to do that. I spend on average about 7 to 8 hours in the park so these night events are perfect and I could get just as much done then as I could if I arrived at 2PM and left at 10PM, and probably a more enjoyable time doing it because i can spend more time lounging by the pool drinking cocktails.

These night events aren't going to appeal to everyone, but they are going to appeal to some people.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

IF it ended up being a very empty park (fewer people than for the MNSSHP), I could see my family of 6 opting for the after-hours ticket INSTEAD of the day ticket. This would really only make sense if we were staying for a shorter stay. It would be nice to have hardly any wait. My kids are older now, so we'd accomplish a lot with that scenario during later hours. Unfortunately, it seems that Disney's "limited tickets" always ends up being way more than expected. I wouldn't pay more to still have to wait in lines.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

IF it ended up being a very empty park (fewer people than for the MNSSHP), I could see my family of 6 opting for the after-hours ticket INSTEAD of the day ticket. This would really only make sense if we were staying for a shorter stay. It would be nice to have hardly any wait. My kids are older now, so we'd accomplish a lot with that scenario during later hours. Unfortunately, it seems that Disney's "limited tickets" always ends up being way more than expected. I wouldn't pay more to still have to wait in lines.

Without FP+ even a large crowd would make the lines flow better so the waits wouldn't seem as bad. I'd suspect only 3 rides are really going to get big crowds so my guess is most people will forgive waiting for 7dmt when they walk onto PotC with no wait.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Having attended MVMCP and MNSSHP, I would not even consider it unless they could tell me how many tickets they were selling for this event. Sometimes the parties are as crowded as the regular hours.

 

[opus1guy]

I'd suspect only 3 rides are really going to get big crowds so my guess is most people will forgive waiting for 7dmt when they walk onto PotC with no wait.

Righto. And that's in line with what I'm planning/hoping: To use my advance Fastpass+ bookings in the approx 3 hours prior to the event start time for the really constipated attractions (like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train), and then hope for walk-ons (or close to) on most of the other older classics (like Pirates, Mansion, etc). Ba da bing, ba da boom! It's a rapid fire ride-fest! Hoping to relive some memories and experiences of those wonderful late Summer nights (or private Corporate Party nights) decades ago when Disneyland in California was practically empty from 10pm to 1am, and you could just run from attraction to attraction with practically no lines to speak of.

 

[palmtreegirl]

Not a chance.

 

[supamaki]

So I'm doing this April 14th, and here's why. I'm in Orlando 4/9-15. I don't consider the arrival day a vacation day because it's a travel day. So Universal Sunday and Monday, day off on Tuesday and Disney Wednesday and Thursday. Right not we have no park tickets..Not sure about tickets for Wednesday, but for Thursday it's $150, we can enter the park at 7PM. I got fast passes for the 7, 8 and 9:00 hours. The park closes at 11, and the extra is 11-2. I can have 7 hours in the park with limited crowds for 3 of them and fast passes for the rest. We can walk around and just "be" in Disney without worrying about rides for a few hours too.
I'll report back with my findings....

 

[sunshinemelody]

Hah! Disney tried that. Not a day in my life will I pay $150 for this.