Anyone else mad about no more extended MK hours for deluxe guests?

[SL6827]

Disney doesn't care at all. When they are making money on paid events somewhat similar, they don't want to be giving close to the equivalent for free. MK and HS are the two in demand parks and those is where they will look at too fill their wallet.

 

[captain america 2003]

I don't understand why there have been such significant unexplained changes to the EEH schedule . EP on Mondays , MK on Wednesdays were more or less locked in for over a year . HS on Thursdays at certain busier periods as well . Now , for some reason the schedule seems to be very random with AK added to the mix on different days and MK disappearing for no reason . This has added frustration and unnecessary stress to planning our upcoming trip in December and for no apparent reason . I know nothing is written in stone and everything is subject to change but give us a reasonable explanation as to why these changes have been made at this time . My wife and I specifically booked OKW so we could take advantage of EEH at EP , MK , and were hoping for HS as well (like we got during the same time frame last December) . The reasoning I have seen many people speculating as the reason for these changes is "that it's party season" doesn't add up . The only place where maybe that argument works is for HS because they have introduced JN this year ( I don't buy that but...) . MK had EEH last year during party season and EP schedule was consistent throughout party season as well . Even this year MK had EEH at the beginning of the MNSSHP schedule (which began 8/11) on 8/16 , 8/23 ,8/30 , 9/6 ,9/13,and 9/20 . Does anyone have any idea other than to save $$$ why Disney has made these changes ? When JN were announced we actually added days to our trip so we could attend one of these parties and were going to stay on property doing a split stay but when all these changes to the EEH schedule started happening we rethought that idea and are now booked off property for the first 4 nights of our trip . It's like they don't want you to stay at their resorts anymore when they continue to take away or significantly change the perks to stay on site .

 

[peder]

I think it's pretty clear they're going to make all the Magic Kingdom nights special events that you pay for and that they're going to increase the number of these events. This is the first step toward separate morning and evening passes as a way of effectively doubling park revenue at the busiest parks, with Magic Kingdom first to roll this change out. Oof course, they'd be happy to sell an all-day pass as well.

Shifting the extended hours to Animal Kingdom still allows them to offer a perk to deluxe resort guests, otherwise the line between deluxe and moderate would probably not be enough to warrant the price difference for some guests.

 

[captain america 2003]

Sorry to all the AK fans out there , and don't get me wrong , I love AK too , but AK simply doesn't have enough attractions that get me excited for EEH there . It's better than nothing but if it's offered during our trip we will probably pass on it .

 

[PolyRob]

I think it's pretty clear they're going to make all the Magic Kingdom nights special events that you pay for and that they're going to increase the number of these events. This is the first step toward separate morning and evening passes as a way of effectively doubling park revenue at the busiest parks, with Magic Kingdom first to roll this change out. Oof course, they'd be happy to sell an all-day pass as well.

Shifting the extended hours to Animal Kingdom still allows them to offer a perk to deluxe resort guests, otherwise the line between deluxe and moderate would probably not be enough to warrant the price difference for some guests.

Disney started doing this pre-COVID with the Early Morning Magic and After Hours events. It was essentially selling three types of admission to MK and DHS. I am honestly surprised we have not seen the return of Early Morning Magic.

I do believe the "last minute" shift in hours is to force deluxe resort guests to purchase separate ticketed events in order to have late night access to highly desirable parks.

 

[PolyRob]

Sorry to all the AK fans out there , and don't get me wrong , I love AK too , but AK simply doesn't have enough attractions that get me excited for EEH there . It's better than nothing but if it's offered during our trip we will probably pass on it .

The hours are also comical. EEH at AK makes AK close at the same time as DHS (non-Jollywood Nights) which is the earliest closing time of all the gates. Sure it's extended for AK, but not really late.

 

[SkyGuy]

Disney started doing this pre-COVID with the Early Morning Magic and After Hours events. It was essentially selling three types of admission to MK and DHS. I am honestly surprised we have not seen the return of Early Morning Magic.

I do believe the "last minute" shift in hours is to force deluxe resort guests to purchase separate ticketed events in order to have late night access to highly desirable parks.

I may be in the minority, but my family absolutely loved the early morning magic and are desperately hoping it returns. We could ride everything in TS land multiple times, be first in line for Tower and RnR, then casually head to breakfast while the crowds stream in. With Genie+ and stacking, we could, in theory, be completely done with HS by 11am, spend a day at a pool, water park, or Disney Springs, and still have a full day of rides stacked for an evening at a different park.

 

[ChipnDale79]

I may be in the minority, but my family absolutely loved the early morning magic and are desperately hoping it returns. We could ride everything in TS land multiple times, be first in line for Tower and RnR, then casually head to breakfast while the crowds stream in. With Genie+ and stacking, we could, in theory, be completely done with HS by 11am, spend a day at a pool, water park, or Disney Springs, and still have a full day of rides stacked for an evening at a different park.

sounds like the old school Extra Magic Hours.

I remember about 15 years ago, we rode space mountain twice, and peter pan about 4 times one morning during Extra Magic Hours; and to think, it was included with our stay at our disney hotel.

how times have changed.

 

[petrola]

Am I mad? no because we have never used Extended Evening hours in the 14 years we've been going to Disney and we always stay in a Deluxe Resort or Villa. I'm way too tired at 9 pm to be heading to the parks! lol.

But I totally understand why you would be upset about this. I guess if the main reason you booked a Deluxe resort was for this benefit, maybe change your resort to a moderate? I don't know, I wish I had the answer!

and agree with SkyGuy above here - I do wish they would bring back Early Morning magic. That was the best!

 

[Genie+]

Still no word for mid-December? One Epcot EEH for the whole week. The whole 9 days we are there

We have family joining us. Decided to buy Jollywood Nights tickets for everyone. Now I don’t want to do that and encourage WDW to go back on their word about EEH thru 2023/24 and end up selling more upgrade tickets because of that. I’d buy JN tickets in addition to EEH - I don’t want them thinking we bought because they took EEH away

 

[SkyGuy]

Am I mad? no because we have never used Extended Evening hours in the 14 years we've been going to Disney and we always stay in a Deluxe Resort or Villa. I'm way too tired at 9 pm to be heading to the parks! lol.

But I totally understand why you would be upset about this. I guess if the main reason you booked a Deluxe resort was for this benefit, maybe change your resort to a moderate? I don't know, I wish I had the answer!

and agree with SkyGuy above here - I do wish they would bring back Early Morning magic. That was the best!

We always say we’re going to use the extended evening hours and then rarely do so! Once we’re back in the room after, say 7:00, we’re back in the room .

 

[Geomom]

Still no word for mid-December? One Epcot EEH for the whole week. The whole 9 days we are there

We have family joining us. Decided to buy Jollywood Nights tickets for everyone. Now I don’t want to do that and encourage WDW to go back on their word about EEH thru 2023/24 and end up selling more upgrade tickets because of that. I’d buy JN tickets in addition to EEH - I don’t want them thinking we bought because they took EEH away

Hours are only listed thru 12/11 so far on the app. We're there 12/9-12/16. Epcot extended hours on the Monday 12/11. We'll see if anything else pops up on Wednesday or Thursday...

 

[SL6827]

It is all about the future of needing two tickets per day for certain parks all year long. Reason our next trip will most likely be our last.

 

[captain america 2003]

OK , but they are still doing 2 parks per week with EEH and they know MK is the most popular park for this benefit so why take that benefit away from deluxe resort guests who want this resort specific perk ? MK is open for party nights that bring in extra $$$ , they won't sacrifice 1 party date for downtime or maintenance . Besides if an attraction (or attractions) needs immediate maintenance they could close them and keep the rest of the park open for EEH . It was open for EEH at the beginning of the MNSSHP dates this year for a month and a half before disappearing , and last year was available for the whole party season . It appears Disney is continuing to eliminate or reduce guest perks and benefits while continuing to raise prices , up charge for every little thing they can , and adding more and more after hours events and parties at premium prices .

 

[SL6827]

OK , but they are still doing 2 parks per week with EEH and they know MK is the most popular park for this benefit so why take that benefit away from deluxe resort guests who want this resort specific perk ? MK is open for party nights that bring in extra $$$ , they won't sacrifice 1 party date for downtime or maintenance . Besides if an attraction (or attractions) needs immediate maintenance they could close them and keep the rest of the park open for EEH . It was open for EEH at the beginning of the MNSSHP dates this year for a month and a half before disappearing , and last year was available for the whole party season . It appears Disney is continuing to eliminate or reduce guest perks and benefits while continuing to raise prices , up charge for every little thing they can , and adding more and more after hours events and parties at premium prices .

Yep, all about the $$$$.

 

[Genie+]

OK , but they are still doing 2 parks per week with EEH…

Yeah it stinks. Just one night - Epcot on Monday. Nothing else. Not even AK.

We have 9 days - Dec 15 to 23. Last year there were 3 EEHs over that span. 3 different nights at 3 different parks, confirmed Sept 8th. They also confirmed EEH would continue through 2023 and 2024 as well. This year crickets

 

[jhugge]

Yeah it stinks. Just one night - Epcot on Monday. Nothing else. Not even AK.

We have 9 days - Dec 15 to 23. Last year there were 3 EEHs over that span. 3 different nights at 3 different parks, confirmed Sept 8th. They also confirmed EEH would continue through 2023 and 2024 as well. This year crickets

Looks like they have added EPCOT on Thursday 12/14. We are there the 10th-17th and were really hoping for 1 MK night. Seems like that won't be the case.

 

[MagicalAdventures]

Any thoughts on what EEH might be for 18th - 22nd Dec? We will be at our 60 days for dining reservations before these come up on the app for park hours but it would be useful to factor that into our planning. Just wondered what the educated guess might be?

 

[Genie+]

This continues to be quite frustrating. Mid-December is some of WDW’s most dedicated visitors.

Still nothing but ONE Epcot EEH for our entire 9 day trip. Ridiculous.

 

[Tom_E_D]

Any thoughts on what EEH might be for 18th - 22nd Dec? We will be at our 60 days for dining reservations before these come up on the app for park hours but it would be useful to factor that into our planning. Just wondered what the educated guess might be?

It's just an educated guess, as you requested, but I'll predict two Epcot nights, Monday and either Wednesday or Thursday.