Not sure $149 Disney After Hrs event is doing well... (ETA: reviews in 1st post)

[BK2014]

Do you know what the word "devalue" means? It means to reduce the value of something. If 400 people pay $150 and 600 people pay $0, the value of the ticket has gone down.

What is ridiculous is thinking you can dictate to other people how they are allowed to feel about something. (Unless you are an adolescent. They do that a lot.)

I wasn't dictating to anyone how they are allowed to feel, I was simply stating an opinion. But to your question, yes I know what the word "devalue" means. I just don't think it means that the value of what I paid for is reduced by how much someone else might have paid for the exact same thing. If I paid $149 for something that I determined to be worth it, and everyone else paid $0, I still got what I wanted. It may be unfair, but it doesn't change valuation I put on the offerings. Comparing oneself to those around them, and adjusting their feelings as a result is also something adolescents do.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Id love to find a review from a poster who has actually gone, but not interested in weeding through 68 pages of arguments.

There are a few of them. Some paid, 2 I read were DVC who got the email offer. 1 is on this thread. Of the people I read who paid- not one complained that they didn't get what they paid for, or that they were upset some DVC members got in for free

 

[momtosam]

Here you go:
4/21 After Hours - Is it really worth it?
Please note: the OP of that thread attended at no cost due to a CM perk.

Thank you -- much appreciated!

 

[Mikie]

With absolutely no comment on whose definition of "devalue" is right, the whole thing (and frankly a lot of others in this thread) reminds me of Princess Bride:
"Inconceivable!"
"I do not think that word means what you think it means"

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Id love to find a review from a poster who has actually gone, but not interested in weeding through 68 pages of arguments.

I added to the first post in this thread -- 3 accounts from attendees who have posted here. I may have missed one... if so, someone let me know...

 

[Angel Ariel]

Under 5 = 4 or less.
Maybe I should have stated it that way. Didn't mean to cause confusion. I said that because at 5 or more the difference in minimal. Choosing DAH over a 4th or 3rd day rather than adding a resort and paying for drinks. Is not a huge difference. However- yes, that is dependent on family size. 4 or less is not completely unreasonable.

Every ticket option I listed was adding on to a less than 5 day ticket. A family of 4 adding on a 4th day to a 3 day ticket would spend $140 total on that ticket addition, versus spending $600 on DAH tickets. Even adding a night at all stars to get EMH instead of DAH would only add (looking at the first week in May pricing) appx $122-$143 for one night (weekday vs weekend). So appx $262 - $283 total, versus $600. Plenty to cover paying for drinks and still spend less than adding on the DAH. Again, strictly speaking numerical cost, not talking subjective value.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

Yes, I agree. If you have a family of 10 then DAH probably isn't the best option for you.

I can make a family of 10. Anyone care to join my family in June??

 

[Kimberly9701]

Every ticket option I listed was adding on to a less than 5 day ticket. A family of 4 adding on a 4th day to a 3 day ticket would spend $140 total on that ticket addition, versus spending $600 on DAH tickets. Even adding a night at all stars to get EMH instead of DAH would only add (looking at the first week in May pricing) appx $122-$143 for one night (weekday vs weekend). So appx $262 - $283 total, versus $600. Plenty to cover paying for drinks and still spend less than adding on the DAH. Again, strictly speaking numerical cost, not talking subjective value.

And that's where the subjective perceived "value" comes in. For $300 you can do other things with your day, and be GUARANTEED a near empty park at night. I don't think $300 is unreasonable for that. It's about the same as that same family doing a character meal.

 

[Kimberly9701]

But then again.. I stay away from parks on EMH days bc I think they're crowded. We did 1. At night, for MK. It was nice, but no we didn't walk right on space mountain, 7DMT, or big thunder railroad. All were around 20-30 minutes waits.. 7DMT longer.

 

[Angel Ariel]

And that's where the subjective perceived "value" comes in. For $300 you can do other things with your day, and be GUARANTEED a near empty park at night. I don't think $300 is unreasonable for that. It's about the same as that same family doing a character meal.

I was never discussing subjective value, strictly numbers. I thought I made that clear.

 

[Kimberly9701]

I was never discussing subjective value, strictly numbers. I thought I made that clear.

Basic numbers- for my family it's @ $100 for the difference between a ticket and DAH. To me that's not a big difference for what you get. And it would not be cheaper to add a night at a value resort for EMH which still will have longer lines.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Basic numbers- for my family it's @ $100 for the difference between a ticket and DAH. To me that's not a big difference for what you get.

again..that's your subjective value, and I was never discounting that or even addressing that at all.

And it would not be cheaper to add a night at a value resort for EMH which still will have longer lines.

That will obviously vary by seasonal pricing of the hotels. my numbers were based on current seasonal pricing as there is no indication yet if this event will continue beyond the currently scheduled days.

 

[whiporee]

It's the other part of your post I couldn't answer fast enough earlier!
I think that discussion of late park hours is sort of circular: Late hours aren't attended enough to justify including them with regular tickets; We can offer late hours for a price of $149 and people will gobble them up because it's hot and crowded in the summer; Disney would take the late regular hours away regardless of DAH being offered or not.

Either the hours are a desirable commodity that people will use/are using or they're not a desirable commodity, in which case why would someone pay $149 for them? I don't think states can coexist.
Part of this is predicated on these assumptions:
- that summer months where Disney had MK open until 11, 12, 1 every single day did not have FEW attendees. They extended hours in the summer because people used them.
- I believe the really quiet late hours that people talk about were the late EMH, when regular hours were till midnight and EMH til 2 or 3. where that last hour was golden with drastically lower crowds
I don't travel in summer, so these assumptions (based on my interpretation of DIS discussions) could be wrong.

I think there are two different things at work in your argument and in my research, which admittedly, is based solely on reading people on this and other threads. People were lamenting DAH because they did not want to pay for those late-night, sparsely attended hours they had experienced in the past. When we've gone for late hours, my wife and daughter have done it while I've stayed home with the younger twins, so I've no first-hand experience. So it seemed to me that people were saying these late-night hours were a benefit to them because the crowds had dissipated in the aftermath of Wishes.

So that led me to the conclusion that there is :a) a market for late-night hours at MK and b) it's not a huge market. I think both of them can exist without difficulty, because WDW can satisfy that small market with a price, but the market isn't big enough to justify offering them for free (i.e., the late-night experience is not considered by most to be internal to the WDW experience. Disney would have a tough time getting rid of parades or fireworks, because they are considered to be a part of the experience, but late nights are not, or else they would be more highly attended). And I think they could reduce those hours -- which are not stated anywhere on any Disney information -- without significant backlash. Some, sure, but limited, and not enough to deter people from going.

However, DAH throws two other factors into the mix. The first is the limited availability. Disney can't assure small crowds with basic late-night hours -- it very well may end up that way, but Disney could have a night where everyone in the park decided to stay until midnight and there'd be nothing they could do about it. You can't market a hypothetical that has the possibility of not playing out as you describe. However, DAH can easily market reduced crowds and lines, because they control the number of tickets sold. That would be a giant benefit for people to be able to plan a night at MK and be assured the crowds and lines will be small. Just doing that aggressively would increase the desirability of the event.

And the second is that people are paying for it. It's easy to skip late nights because they are an addition to your stay -- for lack of a better term, a gift Disney throws your way. It's just as easy to not go, or to say you're only going to go if you're not too tired or whatever. DAH requires (yet another) plan and commitment on the consumer's part, so attending it would be a priority instead of an afterthought.

The other thing that I may be wrong about (though I don't think I am) is the actual cost to Disney for this is relatively low. All of the hard costs are already in place, so they are talking about marginal electricity and water increases and labor costs. But since most of the CMs would be hourly, and they wouldn't need as many of them, the labor cost would be small. I think it breaks even at about 300 attendees. But without revenue, the only thing it can do is lose money, and that's what I think they'd be trying to avoid.

 

[Kimberly9701]

again..that's your subjective value, and I was never discounting that or even addressing that at all.

The numbers are not subjective.
To add a night at a resort would cost us the same as attending DAH. Figuring an additional maybe 20-30 dollars saved in ice cream and drinks. What becomes subjective is if we feel one is better than the other.

 

[Kimberly9701]

I can make a family of 10. Anyone care to join my family in June??

Can we stay at the Poly bungalows?lol

 

[Angel Ariel]

The numbers are not subjective.
To add a night at a resort would cost us the same as attending DAH. Figuring an additional maybe 20-30 dollars saved in ice cream and drinks. What becomes subjective is if we feel one is better than the other.

to add a night at any resort, or to add a night at a value resort? Yes, obviously, adding a night at a deluxe would not save anyone anything. and again, peak seasonal pricing for values would change the numbers i gave also. the numbers i gave were based off of the current seasonal pricing, as there's no indication that the event will go beyond those dates as of yet.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

I know I'm repeating myself, but I really think those late night hours are going away, if they aren't already gone. While I think it's unfortunate, given what I've heard about those hours, it makes sense because they just aren't used very much. They don't seem to be an enticement -- they are more of a benefit -- and they are far and beyond what most other theme parks offer. So I think we're headed toward a 10 pm closing, period, and then EMH and DAH guests being the ones who stay until 1 am. DAH make no sense at all if you're keeping the park open until midnight or 1 on a regular basis. But I also don't see the benefit of staying open that late (from a WDW standpoint) if the park ends up sparsely attended during those hours -- you're incurring cost to benefit a very small number of guests without revenue attached. But if people are paying and planning to stay late, you might entice more of them out of the park during the day, and that would be a benefit because it reduced crowds during the day while maintaining the same overall traffic numbers.

I don't disagree that if it were to happen, Disney would be taking away something that had been a previous staple of park attendance, and the general consensus is that anytime that happens, it sucks. But at least you'd know in advance the hours for your ticket and could plan accordingly instead of waiting for the decision to be made.

I just looked at the historical crowd calendar for last July. The parks were still reasonably busy after 10 pm. Space Mountain, Splash, BTMRR, and PP all reported waits over 30 minutes until the last 15 minutes of the night. They didn't record wait times for 7DMT, but I think it's safe to assume they were at least 30 minutes as well. They really can't afford to close MK at 10pm during the summer without alienating too many guests.

 

[Kimberly9701]

I think there are two different things at work in your argument and in my research, which admittedly, is based solely on reading people on this and other threads. People were lamenting DAH because they did not want to pay for those late-night, sparsely attended hours they had experienced in the past. When we've gone for late hours, my wife and daughter have done it while I've stayed home with the younger twins, so I've no first-hand experience. So it seemed to me that people were saying these late-night hours were a benefit to them because the crowds had dissipated in the aftermath of Wishes.

So that led me to the conclusion that there is :a) a market for late-night hours at MK and b) it's not a huge market. I think both of them can exist without difficulty, because WDW can satisfy that small market with a price, but the market isn't big enough to justify offering them for free (i.e., the late-night experience is not considered by most to be internal to the WDW experience. Disney would have a tough time getting rid of parades or fireworks, because they are considered to be a part of the experience, but late nights are not, or else they would be more highly attended). And I think they could reduce those hours -- which are not stated anywhere on any Disney information -- without significant backlash. Some, sure, but limited, and not enough to deter people from going.

However, DAH throws two other factors into the mix. The first is the limited availability. Disney can't assure small crowds with basic late-night hours -- it very well may end up that way, but Disney could have a night where everyone in the park decided to stay until midnight and there'd be nothing they could do about it. You can't market a hypothetical that has the possibility of not playing out as you describe. However, DAH can easily market reduced crowds and lines, because they control the number of tickets sold. That would be a giant benefit for people to be able to plan a night at MK and be assured the crowds and lines will be small. Just doing that aggressively would increase the desirability of the event.

And the second is that people are paying for it. It's easy to skip late nights because they are an addition to your stay -- for lack of a better term, a gift Disney throws your way. It's just as easy to not go, or to say you're only going to go if you're not too tired or whatever. DAH requires (yet another) plan and commitment on the consumer's part, so attending it would be a priority instead of an afterthought.

The other thing that I may be wrong about (though I don't think I am) is the actual cost to Disney for this is relatively low. All of the hard costs are already in place, so they are talking about marginal electricity and water increases and labor costs. But since most of the CMs would be hourly, and they wouldn't need as many of them, the labor cost would be small. I think it breaks even at about 300 attendees. But without revenue, the only thing it can do is lose money, and that's what I think they'd be trying to avoid.

Agree with all of this.
That's what I think people are not grasping- that this isn't aimed at ALL WDW travelers. It's to cater to a very SMALL segment.
All of these travelers can coexist and all can enjoy their vacations.

We have season tickets to an amusement park here. With our "gold" passes we get in the water park early, and certain times the theme park opens certain attractions early for gold pass holders. I don't think it costs the park too much money to do this.
They also charge for a "fast pass" which is more than the price of one day admission- this pass does very well even though the majority of park attendees claim "it's too much money".
There's always a market for people who will pay more for low crowds/low waits etc.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

Can we stay at the Poly bungalows?lol

Sorry, I'm sure that will cost a bit more than the $75 camp site.

 

[Kimberly9701]

to add a night at any resort, or to add a night at a value resort? Yes, obviously, adding a night at a deluxe would not save anyone anything. and again, peak seasonal pricing for values would change the numbers i gave also. the numbers i gave were based off of the current seasonal pricing, as there's no indication that the event will go beyond those dates as of yet.

A value resort at $122 would not be any less of a cost to us than doing a DAH night compared to adding a 4th day.