Disney News, Discussion & an Element of Fun - 2024 Edition

[kylenne]

That was my thought too and yes I do think it is intentional.

check in day makes sense some will use it many won’t but it gives a nice perk for those with early arrivals that want something to do but don’t want a full park day.

Yep. It won't cost them a ton since it's a limited number of people who would really utilize it. I always come down on the first flight out, if traffic isn't terrible I'm usually arriving to property around 10:30-11am so I drop my stuff off at bell services and head to a park. But there's a ton of people who fly down after work, on later flights because they're cheaper, etc. And then...

Doesn't really help those of us coming in from the West Coast. By the time I land and get to the hotel it's pretty much hotel check in time, unpack, and head to dinner.

...these poor west coasters trying to adjust with the time difference. I feel for you guys.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Yep. It won't cost them a ton since it's a limited number of people who would really utilize it. I always come down on the first flight out, if traffic isn't terrible I'm usually arriving to property around 10:30-11am so I drop my stuff off at bell services and head to a park. But there's a ton of people who fly down after work, on later flights because they're cheaper, etc. And then...


...these poor west coasters trying to adjust with the time difference. I feel for you guys.

Also if I'm being honest for a second, if I wanted to go to a water park, I'm picking Volcano Bay every single time no questions asked.

Let's just hope with this "perk", both water parks will be open at the same time.

 

[kylenne]

Also if I'm being honest for a second, if I wanted to go to a water park, I'm picking Volcano Bay every single time no questions asked.

Let's just hope with this "perk", both water parks will be open at the same time.

I would definitely do it as a change of pace, but only because neither water park is a full day to me and I think I would have had my fill by the time the room is ready. We did Typhoon Lagoon for the first time last summer and were there from like 10-2-ish, which I think is a good value. I'm just hoping this perk means that staff levels have gotten back to the point where they can keep both open at a time. I'm apprehensive about BB but love TL because aside from the wave pool there's a lot for me to safely do as a nonswimmer. I'm not sure if the lifeguard shortage is still a problem though (anecdotally, that's the reason for it. Even locally in NYC our public pools have had shortened hours due to a shortage).

 

[bryaalre]

While I do think a lot of people won't take advantage of the perk, it may be advantageous to families that switch resorts during a trip.

From another thread "If you have back-to-back resort reservations booked, all guests on the resort reservation(s) will receive a water park ticket that is effective on both reservation start dates."

 

[Kerr84]

It's obvious they chose check-in day because so many people won't utilize it due to arrival times, but I still think it is a really cool perk! When is the last time that they added a brand new perk for onsite guests? I'm wondering if you do a split stay, do you get it for both hotel stays? So you could go have a water park day when you are switching resorts!

 

[kylenne]

While I do think a lot of people won't take advantage of the perk, it may be advantageous to families that switch resorts during a trip.

From another thread "If you have back-to-back resort reservations booked, all guests on the resort reservation(s) will receive a water park ticket that is effective on both reservation start dates."

Yeah this is GREAT for split stays. We absolutely would have moved our TL day last summer to the day we switched from YC to Poly if this had been a thing. then. Certainly would have been cheaper than the GF Spa! (Which we enjoyed, but still.)

 

[Smugpugmug]

I would definitely do it as a change of pace, but only because neither water park is a full day to me and I think I would have had my fill by the time the room is ready. We did Typhoon Lagoon for the first time last summer and were there from like 10-2-ish, which I think is a good value. I'm just hoping this perk means that staff levels have gotten back to the point where they can keep both open at a time. I'm apprehensive about BB but love TL because aside from the wave pool there's a lot for me to safely do as a nonswimmer. I'm not sure if the lifeguard shortage is still a problem though (anecdotally, that's the reason for it. Even locally in NYC our public pools have had shortened hours due to a shortage).

I also think additional parks in the area such as Volcano Bay and Discovery Cove make the competition for hiring lifeguards more difficult.

I greatly prefer Typhoon over Blizzard so if I were to do a Disney park, I would like the option to pick Typhoon. Blizzard is so meh to me.

 

[Dulcee]

While I do think a lot of people won't take advantage of the perk, it may be advantageous to families that switch resorts during a trip.

From another thread "If you have back-to-back resort reservations booked, all guests on the resort reservation(s) will receive a water park ticket that is effective on both reservation start dates."

We've never done the water parks, the add on just didn't seem worth the money. But I would consider a split stay for this very reason. We usually do a down day/pool day midway through the trip. With a split stay we could do a few hours at the water park without feeling like we had to get in a certain amount to make the cost worthwhile.

 

[kylenne]

It's obvious they chose check-in day because so many people won't utilize it due to arrival times, but I still think it is a really cool perk! When is the last time that they added a brand new perk for onsite guests? I'm wondering if you do a split stay, do you get it for both hotel stays? So you could go have a water park day when you are switching resorts!

You do! Everyone on both reservations gets admission for both check in days.

We've never done the water parks, the add on just didn't seem worth the money. But I would consider a split stay for this very reason. We usually do a down day/pool day midway through the trip. With a split stay we could do a few hours at the water park without feeling like we had to get in a certain amount to make the cost worthwhile.

OOP it is a bit much I agree, for us it was worth it with the AP discount on the tickets last summer but this is a great perk for how we like to do our longer vacations.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

This is pretty cool. We've never done the water parks because we're not big on water parks or even pools, but I'd be more likely to check them out if we can get in for free!

 

[kylenne]

This is pretty cool. We've never done the water parks because we're not big on water parks or even pools, but I'd be more likely to check them out if we can get in for free!

It's funny because we never really considered ourselves water park people either (I can't even swim and stay in the shallow end on our resort pool days), but our last trip we were intentional about trying new things and we spent like 2 hours just floating around the lazy river at TL. It's a much different vibe to the parks and much more laid back and chill. We appreciated it halfway through the trip.

 

[brockash]

That was my thought too and yes I do think it is intentional.

I agree and it certainly isn't a "perk" my group would use. We're not into going to any park on arrival day.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I agree and it certainly isn't a "perk" my group would use. We're not into going to any park on arrival day.

I don't go to any parks on arrival day either. I fly in and lately flights have been getting delayed like crazy. At that point I would just want to go to my hotel room and relax.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Doesn't really help those of us coming in from the West Coast. By the time I land and get to the hotel it's pretty much hotel check in time, unpack, and head to dinner.

It would help those doing a red eye, which we did a few times.

 

[pens4821]

I said this in another thread, but I’d take advantage of the water park on check in day. We actually get in the night before then relax around the resort on check in day. Even though we don’t go to water parks I’d go and just take it all in and relax.

 

[lowlight]

I will likely never use this perk, but it’s nice to see perks being added regardless.

 

[J-Dog]

Doesn't really help those of us coming in from the West Coast. By the time I land and get to the hotel it's pretty much hotel check in time, unpack, and head to dinner.

Yes. Came here to say this same thing. Even leaving at 5:00am from Spokane, WA almost never gets us in earlier than 5:00pm EST.

I guess if we really wanted to take advantage of this, us West Coasters could stay at a Motel 6 for the first night, then move to a WDW resort first thing the next morning.

 

[princesscinderella]

While I do think a lot of people won't take advantage of the perk, it may be advantageous to families that switch resorts during a trip.

From another thread "If you have back-to-back resort reservations booked, all guests on the resort reservation(s) will receive a water park ticket that is effective on both reservation start dates."

The water park perk will make split stays more attractive and will then cause more work for housekeeping if people are switching resorts more frequently to get the water park access. I’m excited for the perk and I think it’s aimed to boost summer bookings which used to be the busiest season. In the winter months it’s usually too cold to even go to the water parks.

 

[kylenne]

The water park perk with make split stays more attractive and will then cause more work for housekeeping if people are switching resorts more frequently to get the water park access. I’m excited for the perk and I think it’s aimed to boost summer bookings which used to be the busiest season. In the winter months it’s usually too cold to even go to the water parks.

Bricker was talking about this over on his blog and I'm pretty much in his school of thought that this really won't move the needle too much on split stays. Those are kind of advanced jutsu and the average person tends to balk at packing up and moving resorts mid-trip. Heck even on the boards a lot of people go on about how they hate them. It tends to be a certain kind of die-hard and DVC guests doing them, and I don't see that changing much even with this perk.

 

[bookbabe626]

I haven’t seen this mentioned yet, and maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I don’t see any mention of “resort guest with ticket package” - it just keeps saying resort guest. Could that mean that this is a perk we APs will also get? That would be a great perk, especially for out of state APs who don’t have the water parks add-on.

We have the add-on, so it won’t help us much, but I’m thrilled to see something added that’s a tangible benefit for staying on site.