Disney World Buries Its Controversial $149 After Hours Experiment

[JimmyV]

Disney nuts are more likely to have annual passes or purchase 7 day passes. I actually think that it's more worthwhile for the "non-Disney nuts" who are purchasing 1 day passes. If you're paying $120 for a regular 1 day pass, $149 for DAH instead should be a serious consideration.

These are actually two different things. There is no doubt that people who are considering paying for a single day ticket should give strong consideration to DAH. But that is a small number of guests. Let's move back to the people who have multi-day passes. That is the vast, vast, vast majority of guests. So now let's compare the Disney nut with a 6 day Hopper with a casual guest with a 6 day Hopper. Of these two, Disney is shooting for the spontaneous upsell, just as @lockedoutlogic has explained. And the Disney nut is the one who is more likely to want to buy into the "special" "exclusive" "bucket list" experience. If for no other reason, than to brag to their other Disney nut friends. It happens right here on this Board.

 

[bnhonest]

I've told so many people how the MNSSHP and MVMCP are "must-dos" if they are going to WDW during these times. If they have a hard ticket event next May while I'm there, I will probably buy. If they tell me there will be some cool fireworks, so different M&Gs with different characters, and a different parade, Im definitely buying. I don't care the cost.

 

[ChipnDale79]

No one took a great spot from you because honestly no spot, anywhere, is anyone's but Disney's. You have a great shot at getting the best spot "available" and just because it's not the spot you want doesn't mean they took anything from you. Offering special viewing areas is nothing new for Disney, Fantasmic package has been around a long time, I think I booked it a decade ago. They save prime seating for the package holders who paid extra for that seat. Rivers of Light will be the same model. Nothing new. Nothing unexpected. Plenty of good viewing available.

If you feel you are paying too much for your Disney trip due to not getting your monies worth, then why go? It's a luxury optional vacation for everyone and if a vacation does not fulfill your expectations then it wasn't really a vacation was it? I know I won't go back to some places because I did not get MY monies worth.

The park hours are park hours, aka normal operating hours. Fall hours have basically been the same for 10+ years. Disney posts hours 6 months in advance. Those are the minimal park hours. Guests booking trips can decide if that works for them or not. If someone spent thousands of dollars to go to a THEME PARK and did not check PARK HOURS in advance, then they are foolish and I don't feel sorry for them at all. I don't even drive to a local store that isn't one of my regulars without checking hours before I waste my time. If they really don't know then they didn't book ADRs and they didn't book FP+ and they really aren't worried about "getting their monies worth." Zero sympathy.

Repeat customer ............. do you really think with all these changes that the repeat is Disney's demographic market. It's not. If it were there would be many more offerings for the repeat, for the AP etc. Their demographic right now is the family doing the big huge blow out - once in a lifetime trip - that will drop a bucket load of money. Then they want the next guest to be the same. They make way more money from them and they don't have to listen to their complaints of how it used to be.

Package: hotel, food, tickets. That is what they got. Add-ons are completely optional and not needed for a great trip. It's like going on a cruise: cabin, dining, shows, pools. But if I want to do anything good at the ports a HUGE add-on, if I want a drink a HUGE charge ......... the tourism business thrives on add-ons. This is not a surprise to someone spending that much on a vacation. And the plus is they are optional.

You know why Disney added all these add-ons, hard tickets, need for ADRs, FP+ .............. because the attendance is way up from years ago. I have been going since 1971. I've been through all the ripples. I loved the first decade of this century, the recession, because it meant that Disney World was not on most folks table. Ten years of low crowds. I kicked it off with $130 a night at the Cabins, we'll never see that price again. It meant I never had long lines. It meant I could walk up to restaurants and be seated. It meant Halloween parties with half the number of folks now. Did Disney like the recession years? No, it hurt. And we as guests can't hold on to the glory years of when it was "fun" due to the low crowds. With an improved economy, folks started flooding back, Disney is trying to catch up construction wise, they are testing/offering all kinds of events because there is a demand for it. Folks want the option to pay more for smaller crowds, guaranteed seats/view, basically FP+. Disney is offering what guests are demanding. Doesn't make it wrong, it's a business move. Again, if it has changed your value, don't go or reduce to every 5 years as you say. For me, I pick what I want and pass on others. What works for me may not work for others, and visa versa .... but that doesn't make any of it wrong at all. Just like EMH is your main draw for onsite, it isn't for most.



Completely disagree and many on DIS have said the same thing. Folks stay on property more for:
- Bubble
- Location to parks and convenience of transportation, particularly those who fly aka ME.
- Some the ability to get DDP
- And in recent years big plus is 60 day FP+

It may be a huge perk for you and it is for me, but honestly if it were a main selling point then the parks would be at capacity with guests during EMH. The numbers of guests at EMH alone debunks this theory.

We're just going to have agree to disagree on this completely. We view value on our trips completely different.

I do believe, in every ounce of me that if Disney continues the practice of more hard tickets, more addons, and continuing the increase of price as the rate they have over the past few years, there will be a decline in attendance. Disney is working in a short term view point instead of the long term when it comes to their parks, especially WDW.

Here we go with the, "if you don't like it, don't go comment". I pulled my trip this year, simple reason I got a little tired of the money grabbing that's going on lately. We had not scheduled the trip with Disney when we decided to cancel it, but we were very far along in the planning process when we finally said, "enough is enough, lets sit this year out". I cannot tell you how many people I've seen on this forum, and other forums who have stated they have decided not to book their normal trip because of the direction things are going right now.

Take away EMH and lets see how onsite bookings drop, that'll test the theory. I personally think you'll see a decent drop.

If you can't see the hard tickets and addons are inconveniencing or taking things away from those that do not purchase them, then I got nothing for ya. There's no reason debating it any further.

 

[starstruck93]

We're just going to have agree to disagree on this completely. We view value on our trips completely different.

I do believe, in every ounce of me that if Disney continues the practice of more hard tickets, more addons, and continuing the increase of price as the rate the rate they have over the past few years, there will be a decline in attendance. Disney is working in a short term view point instead of the long term when it comes to their parks, especially WDW.

Here we go with the, "if you don't like it, don't go comment". I pulled my trip this year, simple reason I got a little tired of the money grabbing that's going on lately. We had not scheduled the trip with Disney when we decided to cancel it, but we were very far along in the planning process when we finally said, "enough is enough, lets sit this year out". I cannot tell you how many people I've seen on this forum, and other forums who have stated they have decided not to book their normal trip because of the direction things are going right now.

Take away EMH and lets see how onsite bookings drop, that'll test the theory. I personally think you'll see a decent drop.

If you can't see the hard tickets and addons are inconveniencing or taking things away from those that do not purchase them, then I got nothing for ya. There's no reason debating it any further.

Absolutely! ITA! I'm already disappointed in EMH for Sept.

 

[newlife]

i am a dvc/ap holder for many years now and on my last trip i did do the after hours experiment. i was willing to pay the reduced price for the ticket because i was bringing along my niece on this trip and was thinking of this as a reward to her for excellent school grades. before we left for MK on the 11th i stopped at the front desk at SS to inquire about the availability of the wishes dessert party. i was told there werent any tickets available for any night. i was a bit surprised at the facial expression of the CM as she looked confused. she excused herself for a second and came back and asked me if i would be interested in a different event. i did reply " yes i am " and she then handed me 2 complimentary tickets to the after hours event. being that i was seriously considering this was i guess you could call it a magical experience. my niece was so excited about the late night at MK.

well Wednesday we did everything we wanted to do with the exception of the mine coaster, my fault for waiting too long to make fp and space mountain because it broke down just as we were almost able to get on. i told her we are coming back tomorrow night so we will ride whatever we missed multiple times. we did HS the next day and we still had time for me to take her on a tour of HS and to explain all the additions that were happening there. then back to the resort for a meal and a swim and a nap for me. off to MK about 8 for the after hours. we walked around and waited on line for BTMRR because it was her favorite, the fireworks were going on as we rode so it was worth it. watched the rest of the fireworks and wandered around a bit and waited by space mountain till the after hours started. we walked right on and that was exciting and to my surprise there was a line waiting to get on. went over to mine coaster rode it 2x peter pan and all of the major attractions. free water and mickey bars made it a great night for us.

the bottom line here would the price of the ticket worth it at 79 dollars. personally to me it wasnt because i am fortunate to make multiple trips to wdw each year but to those who cant make it as often as i do i think it would be worth the money. the after hours did make our trip more magical for us.

i still long for the days of e-ride nights !!!

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Completely disagree and many on DIS have said the same thing. Folks stay on property more for:
- Bubble
- Location to parks and convenience of transportation, particularly those who fly aka ME.
- Some the ability to get DDP
- And in recent years big plus is 60 day FP+

It may be a huge perk for you and it is for me, but honestly if it were a main selling point then the parks would be at capacity with guests during EMH. The numbers of guests at EMH alone debunks this theory.

I know that EMH are NOT full at all, but it's similar to DDP mentality, it makes people FEEL better about their dollars spent. People on the dining plan are NOT usually getting more for their money, people psychologically feel like they are getting more from EMH even if they don't use those hours. The value for most is in being offered the "exclusive" hours not in the actual usage of those hours.

 

[ChipnDale79]

I know that EMH are NOT full at all, but it's similar to DDP mentality, it makes people FEEL better about their dollars spent. People on the dining plan are NOT usually getting more for their money, people psychologically feel like they are getting more from EMH even if they don't use those hours. The value for most is in being offered the "exclusive" hours not in the actual usage of those hours.

Agreed, we do not attend every single EMH offered during our trip, in fact we've only attended one early morning one the entire time we've gone. When MK has evening magic hours, we're there most of the time, however we're very hit or miss on attending the other parks magic hours.

It's an option afforded to us because we stay onsite, and we choose to stay onsite because of that option and the transportation to the park. We drive to Disney, so i could drive to the parks as well, however when on vacation i like to park my car and leave it parked.

Take the magic hours away, the offsite hotels that tend to be a little nicer start to appeal to us.

 

[AngiTN]

We're just going to have agree to disagree on this completely. We view value on our trips completely different.

I do believe, in every ounce of me that if Disney continues the practice of more hard tickets, more addons, and continuing the increase of price as the rate they have over the past few years, there will be a decline in attendance. Disney is working in a short term view point instead of the long term when it comes to their parks, especially WDW.

Here we go with the, "if you don't like it, don't go comment". I pulled my trip this year, simple reason I got a little tired of the money grabbing that's going on lately. We had not scheduled the trip with Disney when we decided to cancel it, but we were very far along in the planning process when we finally said, "enough is enough, lets sit this year out". I cannot tell you how many people I've seen on this forum, and other forums who have stated they have decided not to book their normal trip because of the direction things are going right now.

Take away EMH and lets see how onsite bookings drop, that'll test the theory. I personally think you'll see a decent drop.

If you can't see the hard tickets and addons are inconveniencing or taking things away from those that do not purchase them, then I got nothing for ya. There's no reason debating it any further.

I can only hope to see some of these changes drop attendance. That would be wonderful to see things much less crowded.
Ain't gonna happen but it would sure be nice
The numbers here who are bemoaning Disney and money grabbing are too small a percentage of guests at Disney to even make a dip of a difference.

 

[peypeysmommy]

I'm a little bummed that this is going away and that the price point was so high. Had it been around $75 we would have tried it for our next trip.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Completely disagree and many on DIS have said the same thing. Folks stay on property more for:
- Bubble
- Location to parks and convenience of transportation, particularly those who fly aka ME.
- Some the ability to get DDP
- And in recent years big plus is 60 day FP+

It may be a huge perk for you and it is for me, but honestly if it were a main selling point then the parks would be at capacity with guests during EMH. The numbers of guests at EMH alone debunks this theory.

-You certaintly do have people who want to be in the bubble that is true

-It's too broad of a statement to say those who fly want to stay on-site because they flew......really that depends on multiple factors. You have people who want to experience it from the inside and don't mind the cost or plan their budget wisely (aka adjusting things so they can stay on-site but maybe not do something else or they just plan to save more to compensate for the added cost if they weren't initally going to spend that much), you have people who spent a lot on plane tickets and thus don't want to worry about rental car costs, you have people like me who will spend around $300-$400 roundtrip on airfare per person, won't be using DME but instead spending extra money for a rental car. Not all would agree that Disney's transportation is convenient (just making a statement).

-DDP is a draw yes but it takes a person willing to pay the full price for the room rate to get it..convenience is a huge reason why people get the DDP

-The thing with FP+ at 60 days is you already have to have the person interested in staying on-site. I can't speak for absolutely everyone but my guess is that when all things considered FP+ at 60 days is a perk to many staying on-site but not necessarily the determining factor. That statement however is dependent on what the person's budget already was. When comparing 2016 prices for Sep at ASMo's I'm paying roughly double what I can pay for off-site hotels that have free shuttles to WDW and USO. So if in my personal budget I really couldn't swing spending that much then the FP+ at 60 days is a perk I just can't use. However if I'm already planning on spending that much money then the FP+ at 60 days becomes more of a determining factor. The thing with Orlando is there is just sooooo many options of where you can stay.

I'm not saying you are wrong here just offering up my own opinions to your statements.

 

[brazzledazzler]

I am glad it didn't work out, I felt like it was just another way for Disney to money-grub. I have no problem paying for the magic of resorts, dining, tickets, etc, but this just seemed unsavory to me. But, if people wanted to pay, that's up to them.

 

[manning]

We're just going to have agree to disagree on this completely. We view value on our trips completely different.

I do believe, in every ounce of me that if Disney continues the practice of more hard tickets, more addons, and continuing the increase of price as the rate they have over the past few years, there will be a decline in attendance. Disney is working in a short term view point instead of the long term when it comes to their parks, especially WDW.

Here we go with the, "if you don't like it, don't go comment". I pulled my trip this year, simple reason I got a little tired of the money grabbing that's going on lately. We had not scheduled the trip with Disney when we decided to cancel it, but we were very far along in the planning process when we finally said, "enough is enough, lets sit this year out". I cannot tell you how many people I've seen on this forum, and other forums who have stated they have decided not to book their normal trip because of the direction things are going right now.

Take away EMH and lets see how onsite bookings drop, that'll test the theory. I personally think you'll see a decent drop.

If you can't see the hard tickets and addons are inconveniencing or taking things away from those that do not purchase them, then I got nothing for ya. There's no reason debating it any further.

Of course Wall Street wants their money along with the suits. They get it then bale out.

What really gets me, or maybe not, are the CEOs who have more money than they can spend but want more. Heck if I had 3-4 million in the bank I would be willing to work at a reasonable wage and forego the stock bonus.

 

[HopperFan]

I know that EMH are NOT full at all, but it's similar to DDP mentality, it makes people FEEL better about their dollars spent. People on the dining plan are NOT usually getting more for their money, people psychologically feel like they are getting more from EMH even if they don't use those hours. The value for most is in being offered the "exclusive" hours not in the actual usage of those hours.

The point was made it was the main reason to stay on property for guests. If it is your main reason then you use them. Given the attendance levels they obviously are not the main reason people stay on site.

 

[ChipnDale79]

The point was made it was the main reason to stay on property for guests. If it is your main reason then you use them. Given the attendance levels they obviously are not the main reason people stay on site.

If you're referring to me, I said it was one of the reasons, not the reason, if it was misstated I apologize, but that's not what I meant.

Do I think it's the main reason why people stay onsite? No, but I think it's one OF the main reasons why people do.

 

[Planogirl]

Interesting all of this conjecture. As for why people stay onsite I suppose that there are many reasons. We did so during part of our last trip for convenience and because I heard that the Pop buses were good (they were). We don't care about the bubble and while it's nice to have we use EMH sparingly. We are also indifferent to most of the theming at the Disney resorts. Are we rare or typical or (likely) somewhere in between? I don't know but I doubt that anyone but Disney knows.

This true for us whether we fly or drive. Florida is an interesting state and we enjoy seeing much of it.

 

[HopperFan]

-You certaintly do have people who want to be in the bubble that is true

-It's too broad of a statement to say those who fly want to stay on-site because they flew......really that depends on multiple factors. You have people who want to experience it from the inside and don't mind the cost or plan their budget wisely (aka adjusting things so they can stay on-site but maybe not do something else or they just plan to save more to compensate for the added cost if they weren't initally going to spend that much), you have people who spent a lot on plane tickets and thus don't want to worry about rental car costs, you have people like me who will spend around $300-$400 roundtrip on airfare per person, won't be using DME but instead spending extra money for a rental car. Not all would agree that Disney's transportation is convenient (just making a statement).

-DDP is a draw yes but it takes a person willing to pay the full price for the room rate to get it..convenience is a huge reason why people get the DDP

-The thing with FP+ at 60 days is you already have to have the person interested in staying on-site. I can't speak for absolutely everyone but my guess is that when all things considered FP+ at 60 days is a perk to many staying on-site but not necessarily the determining factor. That statement however is dependent on what the person's budget already was. When comparing 2016 prices for Sep at ASMo's I'm paying roughly double what I can pay for off-site hotels that have free shuttles to WDW and USO. So if in my personal budget I really couldn't swing spending that much then the FP+ at 60 days is a perk I just can't use. However if I'm already planning on spending that much money then the FP+ at 60 days becomes more of a determining factor. The thing with Orlando is there is just sooooo many options of where you can stay.

I'm not saying you are wrong here just offering up my own opinions to your statements.

Those are not my opinions, just a reflection of what I see posters state over and over why THEY stay on property. None of them really affect why I stay on property, but I feel I am the minority.

To your opinions:

- There are many who feel being driven all over property and not driving is very convenient. Me, I drive or bus, don't care. Many folks do not wish to drive in Orlando. ME is a huge perk for many guests since taxis and shuttles to off site hotels are very expensive, then the off site hotel shuttles are poor.

- You do NOT need to pay full price for your room to get DDP. You may book a discounted room, buy tickets and buy DDP. You may book a discounted room and have NO tickets and still buy DDP. The only time you must pay rack rate is to get "Free Dining". Never said it was a value (unless you book mostly character meals etc), I don't think it is, it's about convenience. But you can't book it unless you stay on site, and many want to book it.

- Disagree on the FP+, that 60 days is now very important to many people who want the hard to get AND once Frozenland, Avatarland, Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land opens - it will be critical.

 

[circus4u]

Interesting all of this conjecture. As for why people stay onsite I suppose that there are many reasons. We did so during part of our last trip for convenience and because I heard that the Pop buses were good (they were). We don't care about the bubble and while it's nice to have we use EMH sparingly. We are also indifferent to most of the theming at the Disney resorts. Are we rare or typical or (likely) somewhere in between? I don't know but I doubt that anyone but Disney knows.

This true for us whether we fly or drive. Florida is an interesting state and we enjoy seeing much of it.

We pretty much feel the same way; stay on property at Values always (all we need is a place to sleep and shower); we always fly and prefer to use Disney transportation so no rental cars; EMH makes no difference to us as we don't use it; and we usually only use about two fast passes per day. We took a three year break from our trips, too many construction walls on the last couple trips. Going back in September though.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Those are not my opinions, just a reflection of what I see posters state over and over why THEY stay on property. None of them really affect why I stay on property, but I feel I am the minority.

To your opinions:

- There are many who feel being driven all over property and not driving is very convenient. Me, I drive or bus, don't care. Many folks do not wish to drive in Orlando. ME is a huge perk for many guests since taxis and shuttles to off site hotels are very expensive, then the off site hotel shuttles are poor.

- You do NOT need to pay full price for your room to get DDP. You may book a discounted room, buy tickets and buy DDP. You may book a discounted room and have NO tickets and still buy DDP. The only time you must pay rack rate is to get "Free Dining". Never said it was a value (unless you book mostly character meals etc), I don't think it is, it's about convenience. But you can't book it unless you stay on site, and many want to book it.

- Disagree on the FP+, that 60 days is now very important to many people who want the hard to get AND once Frozenland, Avatarland, Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land opens - it will be critical.

I never said what you were saying was your opinions I said my comments were my opinions to your statements.

-I never said DME wasn't a big perk..I just said I personally wasn't going to use it as we will be getting a rental car and it will be for our whole stay. The only time I haven't got a rental car whenever I was on vacation was when I was on my honeymoon in St. Lucia...it's not exactly a place you want to explore on your own..best to explore when you are in company of a guided tour if you are not at your actual resort. Do we even have statistics for how many people use DME? I'm honestly just wondering.

-I was referring to free dining my bad for not specifying (you would find that free dining is something that brings a lot of people to use the DDP at least initially they may not have wanted to pay for the plan to begin with and now they don't since it was included).

-I never spoke to what you are now saying about FP+ at 60..

 

[mellyf]

We've always stayed stayed on Disney property for two reasons....the bubble and EMH. We have always taken advantage (daily) of whichever park has EMH. After our vacation in Orlando where we stayed on property at Universal, I can safely say that our next vacation will be on-site at Universal with maybe a day trip or two to Disney. We loved the parks, Express Pass (stayed at RPR where you get Express Pass included & Early Entry), and not needing to schedule rides.

 

[jade1]

Did they bury the $149 after hours experiment? Or the after hours experiment?

We stay onsite to control our movements in a timely matter and greatly reduce bus rides. Split stays at BC or BW with BLT. Just minutes to our resort after night shows, or for FP+ and ADRs. I guess its a bubble then. EMH often but whatev.

And would (have) stay onsite at US as well. Just FP+ and WDW night shows and night hours keep US/IOA as a day trip. Not sitting at a US Resort at night knowing whats taking place 20 minutes down the road. Zero chance of that.