No more Splash Mountain during evening EMH

[HWY20RIDE4MYSON]

BSM for Tiki??
Chicken salad for chicken poop lol

 

[focusondisney]

IMO, this is the third (major) awful change made in the last 6 months - FP enforcement, reduction of PMEMH to 2 hours and this trade.

The allure of PMEMH, especially at MK is that you are able to get on attractions with a significantly shorter wait time than you would during the day, so this trade makes zero sense - unless they are planning to try to rehab Splash while not taking it offline, working on it after regular park hours.

Yep, just like they're working on the monorail.

 

[crostorfer]

Yet another brilliant idea there TDO. Bravo! Considering this goes into effect Sunday, and I was planning on going to evening EMH on Sunday, congratulations. As of reading this this morning, there will now two less people who will be attending evening EMH in the MK. Mission accomplished.

I honestly don't care about the cutting of an hour, but this change is where I, personally, draw the line. We are September, (well, this year August), people. It's still hot at midnight. I can understand the lack of appeal in late December-March, but those are a few measly months in comparison to the whole year.

 

[skater]

This trend of taking things away is very disappointing.

 

[jalpert]

Just guessing here, but I think the new fastpass system is going to be the insentive to staying on site. I do think they are phasing out EMHs, but just when things get to a point of being really bad, you are going to have to stay onsite to get a certain level of fastpasses when they go nextgen.

Nextgen fastpasses and onsite priority for those are going to replace onsite priority during EMH. Again, just guessing.

 

[rabbitthecat]

Isn't Splash maintenance typically done in January? I seem to recall several years during which Splash is down for a month or more for rehab/refurb. This, to me, seems more like a step toward justifying getting rid of EMH, rather than a plan to allow for more after hours maintenance...

 

[glaserjm]

I'm assuming this will not apply during MNSSHP or MVMCP? Since those are not EMH and are separate ticketed events, I'm assuming they'll leave it running during the parties.

I've ridden Splash many times during evening EMH, even in March when it was not too warm, because riding it under the night sky and in view of the illuminated castle is awesome. I'm really disappointed in this change.

 

[DoleWhipper]

Clearly an even trade.

 

[mesaboy2]

I'd almost rather they nix Splash altogether without "replacing" it with Tiki Room. That's just insulting.

 

[North of Mouse]

That stinks Tiki Room is not a good trade at all!

I'll say!! Haven't been to Tiki Room in years, and have no desire to sit through it again, so old, boring and out of date

 

[Mary T in PA]

My only issue with that is that there are so many more resort guests at WDW vs at US/IoA. I do think that they may be doing something along the idea of x number of FPs for resort guests, or something on their room key that can be swiped at attractions.
It will be interesting to see what happens. But, Disney does seem to be getting into the habit of taking stuff away. I know that when they did away with the E-Nights, they gave us character caravans at the resorts each morning..and guests didn't stick around for that. They wanted to be in the parks. So, that was done away with and EMHs brought into play.
We shall see what happens.

I think that Disney is leaning towards giving resort guests some sort of FP advantage, especially since guests are supposed to be able to book attractions from home.

I stll think the whole ticket structure will be changed, and of course the pricing will be increased significantly too.

Guess we will wait and see where all this next gen tech stuff is headed.

Trying to stay positive in spite of these cuts. It is getting harder to do.

 

[ShhhQ]

I hope they keep Tom Sawyer Island instead of Big Thunder mountain

Or Country Bear Jamboree over Space Mountain

Better idea, have all the shops open and close the rides all together. That way if you are staying on property you can shop for a couple extra hours. How about take all the extra magic hours away and have DTD open later.

Oh they are also adding Country Bear Jamboree when it reopens in Oct.!!!!!!

 

[wings91]

WDW is getting to the point of clearly stealing from us now, and not even trying to disguise it.

Hopefully the Gift Shop Expansion, I mean FLE will be open during EMH.

 

[kbr345]

What is Tiki Room? Is must not be that great since I've never done it before.

 

[LoveandMagic]

No way.

 

[networktek]

That is sad to see that splash mt wont on extra magic hours

 

[Poohbug]

Even Disney execs can not think that switching Splash Mtn with the Tiki Room is an even trade. It is obvious they are making EMH worthless so that they don't have as many complaints when they discontinue it altogether. I know the bottom line is king but less value and more money for the consumer is going to bite the company in the butt eventually. I know it has effected my family's vacation plans.

 

[daannzzz]

If they are looking to cut costs, even if it makes them look bad (IE they are desperate to save money) this make sense. I am sure the amount of CMs and labor hours, as well as power consumption, it takes to operate Splash Mountain as opposed to the Tiki Room is considerable. These are the kinds of decisions that I find to be regrettable. Like opening up a ride an hour late because it takes one more person to operate it.

 

[patty57]

Splash Mountain is the main reason my 18 & 20 year old sons still like to go to WDW...it's our favorite ride. We would always go to MK for evening EMH and ride Splash over and over. We last did this in June for younger son's graduation from high school. This makes me so sad because I doubt either of them will be interested in returning to WDW if we can't ride Splash at night.
I guess it's finally time to give Universal a try.

 

[wfjny]

IMO, this is the third (major) awful change made in the last 6 months - FP enforcement, reduction of PMEMH to 2 hours and this trade.

Splash is an attraction that actually draws people to MK, and as much as some might like the nostalgia of the Tiki room, it's not a draw.

The allure of PMEMH, especially at MK is that you are able to get on attractions with a significantly shorter wait time than you would during the day, so this trade makes zero sense - unless they are planning to try to rehab Splash while not taking it offline, working on it after regular park hours.

If you're concerned about the draw of Splash in December at midnight, then pull it seasonally, but to do it in August and September when it's still pretty hot???

My only issue with that is that there are so many more resort guests at WDW vs at US/IoA. I do think that they may be doing something along the idea of x number of FPs for resort guests, or something on their room key that can be swiped at attractions.
It will be interesting to see what happens. But, Disney does seem to be getting into the habit of taking stuff away. I know that when they did away with the E-Nights, they gave us character caravans at the resorts each morning..and guests didn't stick around for that. They wanted to be in the parks. So, that was done away with and EMHs brought into play.
We shall see what happens.

I am not here to defend Disney, but rather to make some observations.

I agree, that it does seem that Disney has been “taking things away” lately.

However, I also believe it is all part of the potentially redesigned experience. While they have taken things away, they have added others. The soft openings in most parks instead of the rope drop run reminds me of how things were years ago, when only a (relative) few people knew that the parks would open ahead of the posted opening times.

I have a funny feeling that the softer openings, and potentially a softer closing will wind up replacing the EMHs. Many other theme parks today have introduced their own version of the fast pass system, with most charging either a premium (Fast Lane at Cedar Fair, Flash Pass at Six Flags) or an on-site hotel (Universal Express) stay to get the front of the line perk.

Of course, Disney also has to consider it has 10 times the number of hotel rooms as Universal (actually I think the real number is closer to 12 times), so a model similar to Universal of giving each guest an unlimited fast pass simply would not work. However, I can see Disney making the fast pass some version of a paid for perk, be it paid in hard dollars or soft dollars (Resort guests only).

Then there is the various “Parties”, all requiring additional admission, not included in your daily admission or annual passes. Again, why give people something like free extra magic hours, when you can actually get them to pay again to get into the park with the same perks (an extra show, shorter lines, etc).

IMHO, I think in the not too distant future, you will see an end of the EMHs altogether, replaced with the soft opening in the AM, and perhaps softer closings and more separate admission parties in the PM. I think you will see an end of the fast pass system as we know it, replaced with some sort of a premium system (pay and/or stay).