Mid-Day Magic Tickets Now Available

[ashejen]

Interesting...Tokyo Disney has had afternoon and evening only tickets for a while now. That's much more of a commuter / local park though...

 

[Rach3975]

I'm not sure what to think. If the people who buy these would have been there anyway, then it's a good move to reduce crowds in the morning and make the parks more affordable. But the last thing WDW needs is additional people mid-day (if they're trying to appeal to a new market) and I'm worried about the precedent that partial day tickets sets up.

 

[Mikey15]

and I'm worried about the precedent that partial day tickets sets up.

I wouldn't worry too much about that. It's much easier to control when someone enters the turnstile than, say, kicking them out early (seems like a lot of staff effort on MK party nights... to the point where they've added an hour gap between daytime "closing" and party "start").

There's FL-resident APs for Weekdays-Only or Epcot-After-4. Halloween and Christmas parties have had 4pm entry for years. It's not reinventing the wheel that much.

If you're concerned about them requiring a separate ticket to get into a park first-thing in the morning too... well they've already been doing that as well,
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/dining/early-morning-magic/

 

[Disneylvr1971]

Thanks for posting this OP. We are AP's but taking family for Disney/Universal HHN. With doing HHN, we are going to be sleeping in and it may be a good option for the others.

 

[tlmadden73]

If this goes well .. they may sell evening tickets as well .. like $60 .. but cant enter until 5:00 PM or something.

There is a market there . .and will help them control (spread out) the crowds I would think . if there is a segment of your ticket holders that cant enter until later.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

They used to (possibly still do) sell after 2 and after 5 convention tickets so this is not that out there. Lots of people like to sleep in or are in Orlando for work and can't get there in the morning. This isn't an option my family would ever use but it could be right for many travellers.

 

[bryanb]

Seems to fit with their business model lately of running things at lower capacity in the early hours.

I wonder if it's an admission that their prices have gotten too far out of control, and are looking for a way to offer a price discount without really discounting the standard tickets. The parks are really at the most crowded between noon to 3pm anyway. Noon doesn't seem like enough of a cut-off without cannibalizing full-priced tickets, they should've made it an after-2pm or evening-only ticket.

I'm not sure what to think. If the people who buy these would have been there anyway, then it's a good move to reduce crowds in the morning and make the parks more affordable. But the last thing WDW needs is additional people mid-day (if they're trying to appeal to a new market) and I'm worried about the precedent that partial day tickets sets up.

Yeah I totally agree with you. It seems like noon is too early to really make a difference. I think this is an acknowledgement that they need a cheaper class of tickets, especially because you can buy these as multi-day passes.

 

[ChipnDale79]

How about stop confusing the ticket price points?

I mean this is getting out of hand. There are so many options now, are we headed towards a reservation system as to when you can enter the park?

 

[hopemax]

I feel like this is a hedge against AP blockout dates and possibly higher prices. Like the DL "Bring a Friend" promo. Get some of the people they initially wanted to stay away, without inviting wrath from people who bought higher level passes, by lifting blockouts on the lower ones. I don't think this is an attempt to get a "new market for people who like to sleep in."

Noon entry is not that much of a deterrent, especially for people driving over from Tampa or Jacksonville. But I don't think I would want be in the parks between noon-3. That seems like a mess waiting to happen. I wish Disney offered an "after 4" ticket for anyone, sometimes, but noon is too early.

 

[n2mm]

This works for us in 2 weeks. We are passholders, and are staying at beach club for 3 nights after our cruise. My grandson and GF thought they would get a 1 day ticket and go to Epcot, but may go for 2 days now. While we are wdw passholders, we are also Universal preferred passholders too, (couldn’t resist this years sale of 18 months for the price of 12 promotion). I could see how it could work for a short trip, esp before and after a cruise.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

I am happy to see this offer. I have an AP but am heading to WDW with several friends for a girls' trip this fall. Those tickets are so expensive when you're only going for a couple of days. I know people will want to sleep in since we are a group of moms travelling without our kids, and this will allow us to basically get 3 days for the price of 2.

Laurie

 

[shocker]

How about stop confusing the ticket price points?

I mean this is getting out of hand. There are so many options now, are we headed towards a reservation system as to when you can enter the park?

I had a friend ask me how much it costs to get into the parks? I told her it was too complicated without plugging in to purchase some.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I’m another cynical one who thinks this could be testing the waters for increasing pricing at peak times of the day. I worry they’re getting us used to pulling apart the components of the tickets even more and charging for them. Air Disney!

I’m just picturing the disboards in 10 years, with discussions about paying for the “base” hours or paying a premium for full day and nobody thinking anything of it.

 

[tbssenterprises]

I think they are trying to steer people away from HS. I'm sure they are expecting crazy crowds, and this might eliminate the people who come "regularly" and aren't AP'ers, and who don't "need" to see Galaxy just yet....so they can enjoy the other three parks and keep the crowd levels a bit lower at HS

 

[Mikey15]

I’m another cynical one who thinks this could be testing the waters for increasing pricing at peak times of the day. I worry they’re getting us used to pulling apart the components of the tickets even more and charging for them. Air Disney!

I’m just picturing the disboards in 10 years, with discussions about paying for the “base” hours or paying a premium for full day and nobody thinking anything of it.

Again though, WDW already has paid Early Morning Magic at multiple parks, Extra Magic Hours for on-site guests only, paid Halloween parties, paid Christmas parties, paid Disney After Hours, paid VIP tours. All are paying extra to experience parks with mostly reduced waits.

Disney’s offering something that’s actually going to save some people money (but maybe draw more people in) and some people are reacting like this is a paradigm shift in a negative direction. I don’t understand how when hard ticket events and paid events that also require full admission have been growing for years, somehow ~discount~ reduced-hour tickets now mean the sky will be falling.

 

[HeiHei2018]

I feel like this is a hedge against AP blockout dates and possibly higher prices. Like the DL "Bring a Friend" promo. Get some of the people they initially wanted to stay away, without inviting wrath from people who bought higher level passes, by lifting blockouts on the lower ones. I don't think this is an attempt to get a "new market for people who like to sleep in."

Noon entry is not that much of a deterrent, especially for people driving over from Tampa or Jacksonville. But I don't think I would want be in the parks between noon-3. That seems like a mess waiting to happen. I wish Disney offered an "after 4" ticket for anyone, sometimes, but noon is too early.

For me, the biggest shock is the release of a 2-day ticket. To my knowledge, Disney has no other 2-day tickets and 2-day tickets have rarely been offered since the opening of MGM. The FL resident discount doesn’t kick in until three days, so this could drive weekend trips for locals.

 

[disneygirlsng]

For me, the biggest shock is the release of a 2-day ticket. To my knowledge, Disney has no other 2-day tickets and 2-day tickets have rarely been offered since the opening of MGM. The FL resident discount doesn’t kick in until three days, so this could drive weekend trips for locals.

What do you mean? They have had 2 day tickets for as long as I can remember. Hopper or non hopper.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Again though, WDW already has paid Early Morning Magic at multiple parks, Extra Magic Hours for on-site guests only, paid Halloween parties, paid Christmas parties, paid Disney After Hours, paid VIP tours. All are paying extra to experience parks with mostly reduced waits.

Disney’s offering something that’s actually going to save some people money (but maybe draw more people in) and some people are reacting like this is a paradigm shift in a negative direction. I don’t understand how when hard ticket events and paid events that also require full admission have been growing for years, somehow ~discount~ reduced-hour tickets now mean the sky will be falling.

Hey, in all fairness the sky has been falling for me because of those kinds of paid ticket events for a long time.

While it may be a savings today, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see in 5-10 years if this ticket and pricing style still exists it’s now priced similarly to a regular base ticket (accounting for increases over time of course) and the full day ticket sees even more increases in comparison. Didn’t that kind of happen with the switch to magic your way tickets? The bare bones ticket initially looked discounted? Am I making that up?

Again, I’m cynical! And if they just wanted to increase ticket sales I would really appreciate a hefty Canadian ticket discount again. Just putting that out there lol.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

I would consider this on a future trip. Leisurely breakfast at the resort, roll in at noon, stay until close. We aren’t Rope Drop people.

 

[brockash]

Admittedly a cynical viewpoint... but continue to shorten operating hours with early closings (compared to just a few years ago) and charge a partial day ticket. Good business model!

I'm telling you the company has manipulation down to an art form... it's a good business model and they'll get ppl. thinking they got a great deal.