The impact of extra hours at night?

[debkorb1]

I've read Disney are experimenting with a late magic hour - keeping parks open an hour or two extra for Disney resort guests (and free of charge Vs E-ride nights, which were $12).

How do people think this will affect park attendance? For example, will evening touring be easier for non-Disney guests because Disney guests will return to the parks later?

 

[McCall]

That is an interesting thought. I know I leave in the afternoon and return around five or so when they are open late, so there might be something too that.

 

[nativetxn]

I think this is just the best idea. I don't guess we will know about crowds until it is implemented, though.

I avoid early entry so I would probably avoid this too. On the other hand, I'll have to try it out just once

 

[debkorb1]

I think it will be interesting to see as I will not be staying on site. It really is fascinating - adds another dimension to all the touring plans. How about 4 shows of Fantasmic and maybe the earliest shows won't be so crowded! Perhaps it'll be easier to get Priority Seating as Disney guests won't feel compelled to come back to the parks for dinner. Of course Disney guests may just feel that they want to go to the parks as normal and get two extra hours.

Look forward to see the Unofficial Guide team's verdict.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by debkorb1
Disney guests may just feel that they want to go to the parks as normal and get two extra hours.

That's what I plan to do if this is around during our next trip. It's a perk for onsite guest and I plan to take full advantage of it.

 

[lentesta]

I really like the idea of extra evening hours. E-Ride nights are a great deal, even at $12 each, as all of the adult-oriented headliner attractions are open for three hours. I've been able to experience Splash Mountain a half-dozen consecutive times with no wait during E-Ride nights. That's unlikely to happen even on the least crowded days.

Besides the shorter lines, there's an ambience to the Magic Kingdom at night that just isn't the same in the morning.

As to whether it'll alter touring styles, I'm not sure. As nativetxn says, we'll probably have to wait to see. But I suspect that families with small children will probably not alter their touring behavior much - the children's sleep patterns probably dictate schedules more than Disney does. And that's a fairly large percentage of all MK guests.

I'll be interested in seeing more details on this as we get closer to implementation.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

 

[eleanor]

Also on hot days , extra evening hours might be great

 

[Schmeck]

It's just planned for MK, right? So it wouldn't affect Fantasmic, which is at MGM, so I'm not sure what debkorb1 is trying to say.

Edited to add: Oops! My mistake - it will be at different parks on different days! Wow!

 

[4greatboys]

I think its great! Our family (having 2 teenagers) is not much for getting up early on vacation but we do stay up late. And I would much rather take the little ones in the evening than early am.

 

[DisneyLisa]

I just called to make a PS for July and in conversation with the CM I was told that for the trial in May, the extra evening hours will be 3 hours but only an hour for AK...I figured they couldn't do much more than that at AK.

I think I like the idea and am hoping they extend it into the summer & possibly forever. The thought of touring the parks after dark vs in the heat of the Florida sun in July is very appealing.

 

[4greatboys]

How will they do it just for resort guest?? Will we get a wristband or something like MNSSHP/MVMCP?

 

[Sarahsmom85]

Please tell me more about this. I really didn't pay too much attention to this because I had read there is no EEH in May.
Now that it is posted that there will be I'm all EARS.
How does this work? Do they clear the park out? Does eveyone get wrist bands? Anyone know the days in May they are doing this?
Are all the rides open or only certain rides?
Thanks

 

[Rene McDaniel]

We were just at WDW this week, and I think that Disney is already playing around with the extra hour at MK.

We arrived at MK on Thursday for Early Entry at 8am, and they let everyone in -- no resort i.d. checking, at all. The times guide with parade, firework times, etc. (dated April 11-17, 2004) said the MK park hours were 9am-11pm. I asked one of the cast members what was up because I was confused. If park opening was at 8am, could we have come at 7am for Early Entry. He said "No, we opened today at 8am for everyone because of the large number of guests this week." So, I asked "What about Early Entry for resort guests?" He told me that Early Entry for that day had been moved to another park.


I thought that was bizarre. How would anybody know that the Early Entry schedule had been changed. Do they post it at the Disney resorts? We were at Swan/Dolphin and arrived via the Disney bus, and never heard any mention of changes in park hours, and I didn't see any signs posting opening and closing hours at the MK entrance.

Later, while we are watching the Spectromagic parade, someone behind me asks her friend about the park being open until midnight tonight. Yes, isn't that great, they both agree. Again, I'd never heard about this -- the flyer says the park closes at 11pm. After the parade I ask a cast member. "Yes", she tells me the park will not be closing until 12 midnight.

After the parade, tons of people are exiting, and we just keep riding like crazy. There are no lines for anything, only a handful of people seem to know that the park is open late. It was the greatest -- you could ride anything you wanted with NO WAIT at all.

So, maybe this extra magic hour for "Disney Resort Guest Only" idea, is done by posting the REAL park opening and closing times only at the Disney Resorts. So that everyone else is going by the little white flyer, and leaves because they THINK the park is closing, even though it is not.

It's actually a very clever idea. Because how in the world would Disney go around asking for Disney resort ID's and kicking SOME guests out of the park -- it's just not their style.

As the saying goes "Knowledge is power".

--- Rene McDaniel

 

[mad4themouse]

So I'll just refer you to the first two posts in this thread, Sarahsmom85.

Evening Extra Magic Hour!

 

[mickeysaver]

I like the idea of more hours at the end of the day. I would love to see AK at night. I bet it looks awesome. Maggie

 

[Sarahsmom85]

I guess this is only for on-site guest.

Bummer,
I remember when the parks where open until 11. I also remember when FW and WS opened and closed all at the same time.

Next they will only allow guest staying on-site to visit the world.
Hey I payed my $311 per person like everyone else.
I'm going to spend $$ in the park for food and gifts.

Can I still stay in the park and shop, eat and watch shows during the extra hrs if i do not ride the rides?

 

[Brer boy]

This is a great idea! I really hope it continues. You can't blame them for limiting it to on-site guests, it's a way to encourgage people to stay at their hotels. WDW is a business first, and they are under a lot of pressure to make money.

 

[dmonroe]

Ok, let's just say these extra evening hours catch on and they keep them around. What are the chances that they will continue them even in non-peak seasons? We usually travel in early December. I can't really see them doing in late evenings in MK because of MVMCP. AK is probably difficult because it gets dark earlier in December. That just leaves Epcot and MGM. It would be great to be able to stay a little later at those parks some nights--especially if MGM brings back the Osborne Lights! I wonder what they'll do?

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by Sarahsmom85
I guess this is only for on-site guest.

Bummer,
I remember when the parks where open until 11. I also remember when FW and WS opened and closed all at the same time.

Next they will only allow guest staying on-site to visit the world.
Hey I payed my $311 per person like everyone else.
I'm going to spend $$ in the park for food and gifts.

Can I still stay in the park and shop, eat and watch shows during the extra hrs if i do not ride the rides?

It's just an extra perk for onsite guest. It won't be every park every night.

If I wasn't staying onsite, I'd plan not to visit a park on it's EMH night. That's what many people do now with EE.

I hope disney enforces the onsite guest only rule. During our Easter trip, we were only asked for our resort IDs a few times during EE. They only asked to see one room key per party instead of per person. They only wanted you to flash the key. They were not checking to see if they were valid.

I think they had to come up with something to compete with Universal's FOTL. With the number of rooms Disney has I don't think FOTL will work, but this plan sure will.

 

[Atotty]

If you're a subscriber to Tourguidemike.com, he has the new schedule for EMH morning and nights on the May AVP. He even has a list of the rides that will be open in each park.