Settling for less hours

[mjr0483]

I saw a tweet yesterday that got me thinking about the good old days of park hours. And how we will never see that again.

Comparing Presidents week just 5 short years ago to 2020

2015 8am to 1am with 2 day and 2 night parades.
7 day PH $380 plus tax

2020 9am to 9pm with 1 day and 0 night parades.
7 day PH $602 plus tax

When you think about today’s situation by it’s self you justify it.

But when you contrast and compare on where we were then and where we are now. The situation is night and day.

And on top of that, selling is special event tickets 1 day a week for a premium for what we already had in our pass ticket.

The future is bleak for those who remember.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Yes Josh's Tweet stirred up quite a few posts yesterday.

 

[normjen]

I agree 100%. I think it translates also into the thinking that there are no slow times now. Everyone is crowded into a 12 hour park (or less) instead of those 16 hour or more hours per day park. Everyone wants to make the most of the day so they get there at open and stay till the end more often than before when you might come late or leave early. We were just there before x-mas and MK had a party 4 out of the 6 nights available to us.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Was it Josh from easywdw? I saw his tweet comparing hours from years past and it made me sad.

Theres really no excuse for the cutting back to the degree they have.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Was it Josh from easywdw? I saw his tweet comparing hours from years past and it made me sad.

Theres really no excuse for the cutting back to the degree they have.

Yep. I posted it and so did others across several subforums. 9am open at the MK this weekend. Presidents Day weekend. Really no good excuse for that.

 

[mkacar24]

I don’t think this is just bleak for those that remember. It can’t be creating great (good?) first or once in a lifetime trips.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I agree 100%. I think it translates also into the thinking that there are no slow times now. Everyone is crowded into a 12 hour park (or less) instead of those 16 hour or more hours per day park. Everyone wants to make the most of the day so they get there at open and stay till the end more often than before when you might come late or leave early. We were just there before x-mas and MK had a party 4 out of the 6 nights available to us.

The EEMH they had in the fall made such an impact on crowds. It was the first trip we had been on in a while where the walkways didn’t feel shoulder to shoulder, it was great. Even Food and Wine on a weekend evening, which is notoriously crazy, really wasn’t.

I have to think the early openings were allowing more people to take breaks or be done with the park all together earlier.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Yep. I posted it and so did others across several subforums. 9am open at the MK this weekend. Presidents Day weekend. Really no good excuse for that.

Which ones? I looked yesterday to see if it inspired posts but I couldn’t find any!

 

[SaintsManiac]

The EEMH they had in the fall made such an impact on crowds. It was the first trip we had been on in a while where the walkways didn’t feel shoulder to shoulder, it was great. Even Food and Wine on a weekend evening, which is notoriously crazy, really wasn’t.

I have to think the early openings were allowing more people to take breaks or be done with the park all together earlier.

The 7am EMH at HS during Thanksgiving was golden. So worth getting up for. We left for a few hours and went back in the evening.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Which ones? I looked yesterday to see if it inspired posts but I couldn’t find any!

Theme Parks community, News thread are what I can think of. I posted it in one of the threads on here, but I think it got moved.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Theme Parks community, News thread are what I can think of. I posted it in one of the threads on here, but I think it got moved.

Thanks!

 

[mjr0483]

I agree 100%. I think it translates also into the thinking that there are no slow times now. Everyone is crowded into a 12 hour park (or less) instead of those 16 hour or more hours per day park. Everyone wants to make the most of the day so they get there at open and stay till the end more often than before when you might come late or leave early. We were just there before x-mas and MK had a party 4 out of the 6 nights available to us.

Exactly. The plan was get up early and hit the parks, then back to the resort for a dip or a nap.

Now with the parks closing at 9PM or earlier, people are going to be there all day.

 

[mjr0483]

Was it Josh from easywdw? I saw his tweet comparing hours from years past and it made me sad.

Yes. He is an acquired taste. But I like him.

 

[Spencer Wright]

This is an issue I find beyond infuriating. But I suppose the best way to handle it is to find ways to "cope" with it. Nothing we can really do about it.

I have searched the boards for tips and people have become quite savvy at finding which attractions to get in line for at the end of the day, which can extend ones time in the park quite a bit. For example, if MK closes at 9 p.m. getting in line for Splash Mountain at 8:50pm can greatly extend ones time in the park.

Perhaps with a new president at WDW this concern will be addressed.

 

[mkacar24]

Yes. He is an acquired taste. But I like him.

Josh is the best and has been for years!

 

[5kidsmommy]

I despise early closings. I am a night owl and I really enjoy WDW at night. It's the one big thing I'm sad about.

 

[mjr0483]

This is an issue I find beyond infuriating. But I suppose the best way to handle it is to find ways to "cope" with it. Nothing we can really do about it.

I have searched the boards for tips and people have become quite savvy at finding which attractions to get in line for at the end of the day, which can extend ones time in the park quite a bit. For example, if MK closes at 9 p.m. getting in line for Splash Mountain at 8:50pm can greatly extend ones time in the park.

Perhaps with a new president at WDW this concern will be addressed.

But what makes this even more infuriating is the ticket price almost double. You would think, double the price to keep the product the same. But no!
LESS HOURS, filthy parks (but that is another rant) and no night time parade.

 

[SaintsManiac]

But what makes this even more infuriating is the ticket price almost double. You would think, double the price to keep the product the same. But no!
LESS HOURS, filthy parks (but that is another rant) and no night time parade.

As mentioned on another thread, there won't be a night parade at the MK. The crowds during HEA make it impossible to have one.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Every time people post things like “if you don’t like after hours events just don’t go!” this kind of stuff should be posted in response. I don’t know how anyone thinks the willingness of the masses to pay extra for what used to be included isn’t directly tied to the loss of MK hours.

One of my favourite Disney memories is MK EMH until 3 AM. This was not unusual. To contrast this, we have an 11 night Spring break trip coming up, MK has EMH one whole evening, until midnight, and one morning EMH hour. They do have plenty of paid extra hours though, I believe there are 3 DAH/VAH during our stay as well as 3 EMM.

11 nights. Very busy time of year. They have time to throw in SIX paid events during that time totalling about 14 hours of paid event time (If my quick adding in my head was correct), but only a total of 3 hours of EMH. In the past, the time the DAH/VAH events ended was regular close time or close to it.

But if we don’t like them, don’t complain just don’t go, right?

 

[mjr0483]

Every time people post things like “if you don’t like after hours events just don’t go!” this kind of stuff should be posted in response. I don’t know how anyone thinks the willingness of the masses to pay extra for what used to be included isn’t directly tied to the loss of MK hours.

One of my favourite Disney memories is MK EMH until 3 AM. This was not unusual. To contrast this, we have an 11 night Spring break trip coming up, MK has EMH one whole evening, until midnight, and one morning EMH hour. They do have plenty of paid extra hours though, I believe there are 3 DAH/VAH during our stay as well as 3 EMM.

11 nights. Very busy time of year. They have time to throw in SIX paid events during that time totalling about 14 hours of paid event time (If my quick adding in my head was correct), but only a total of 3 hours of EMH. In the past, the time the DAH/VAH events ended was regular close time or close to it.

But if we don’t like them, don’t complain just don’t go, right?

I agree with you. My Platinum plus pass expired 8/2018 and I haven’t renewed. And that August the 11 days I was there there was like 5 Halloween parties closing the MK.
So yes, I have acted on my protest to give Disney less of my dollars.

A big question. Is WDW seeing record crowds or are there just way less hours?