Originally Posted By davewasbaloo What are they doing? Trying to drive people away? WDW is not DL, they need to draw in the tourists from around the globe. Modern Disney sucks.
Originally Posted By jkayjs The calender on WDW offical site does indeed show 8pm closing starting 01/09/09 thru 14/13/09 but only on Fridays. What's with that? The rest of the wk it's 9p. Why just Friday? What's your sources say Spirit. Is it going to be every day & they just haven't posted it that way yet? This won't affect me this trip but will later. You know dave is right about the difference between the DL & WDW guest. I remember going to DL and being disappointed that the fireworks weren't every nite during off season because we came so far. BTW HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my LP friends!
Originally Posted By CarolinaDisneyDad Wasn't this done after 9/11 also? I seem to remember the hours being shorter on our 1st visit to WDW in 2002 Because the second year I was surprised that there were parks open after 7:30. MK closed at 6pm that year I believe.
Originally Posted By MPierce Not that I'm aware of CDD. I do remember they abandon EMH one year, and substituted visits to the resorts by Characters. I slept in the morning they visitrd the WL. I looked at the calander for the other Parks, but don't remember seeing any other cutbacks. Could someone please elaborate. It would seem they chose Fridays as that is EMH, and will not seem like a 1 hour reduction to many, they hope. I guess this really should be a seperate topic.
Originally Posted By jkayjs Duh! Of course your right MPierce I didn't even think to look @ EMH. I bet that is it. Sometimes I even surprise myself @ what an airhead I can be. I like to call them my "senior" moments. Of course I've had them since I was at least 12 so there you are. I also noticed I typed 14/13/09 instead of 04/13/09. I just added 2 months to next year.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I also noticed I typed 14/13/09 instead of 04/13/09. I just added 2 months to next year. << As I get older time seems to pass much faster. I could use an extra 2 months each year!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 From 1/9 to 4/3 EPCOT will close one hour earlier on Friday nights at 8 p.m. with EMH's until 11 instead of midnight. It's all about saving on labor and energy, but it just seems like a bone-headed move on so many levels. Locals, who are apt to want to stop in on Friday nights for dinner/drinks, may be turned off by this. And, frankly, a better move for Disney would have been to simply only have two hours for EMH instead of three since every published material I have ever read says stays open "up to three hours" after regular closing.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Wasn't this done after 9/11 also? I seem to remember the hours being shorter on our 1st visit to WDW in 2002 Because the second year I was surprised that there were parks open after 7:30. MK closed at 6pm that year I believe.>> They did many things then ... including opening parks at 10 a.m. (not a big deal for a night owl such as this Spirit) ... they did away with what was then known as 'early entry' as they never had extra hours at night for resort guests (not until some very 'smart' VP suggested it). But even back in the good old days of the 1980s EPCOT often had regular closings at 8 p.m. (of course it also had regular 8-midnight hours as well) and MK regularly closed EVERY night at 6 during offseason months (Oct-earl Dec. and January all had regular 6 closings).
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Also, hours were up through July a few weeks ago and now hours are only posted through April, which tells you that Disney is very much in a reactionary 'the sky is falling' state ... funny again how Busch and Universal can spend over a billion in Orlando over the next few years, but Disney (the GIANT!) can't and needs to cut muscle and bone ... I'm sure it can't be the 30,000 hotel rooms and timeshares that need filling nightly. Anyway, December MK holiday hours as of now are listed as 8-11 (not midnight). And January Saturdays have been adjusted from 10 and 11 closes to 8 and 9. President's Week in February doesn't have the traditional 11 or midnight closes at all ... and only two days (on the weekend) are even extended to 10. DAK is at 9-5 for almost the entire first 2 1/2 months of 2009 right now. So there's been a whole lot of tinkering down with hours overall with, very likely, more to come.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< DAK is at 9-5 for almost the entire first 2 1/2 months of 2009 right now. >>> Just a tiny aside in the big scheme of things of this thread, but I can't help but wonder how this affects the operation of Yak & Yeti, which from what I understand is actually operated by Landry's. A 5pm park closing effectively rules out all dinner seatings. If Landry's had any financial investment in the build-out of Y&Y, eliminating dinner hours will make it much more difficult to recover this cost, let alone make a profit. Although non-Disney F&B locations at DtD are going to be affected by overall visitor numbers and average spend (as the economy overall will affect things nationally), a location like Y&Y can be dramatically affected by a decision to not keep the park open past 5pm.
Originally Posted By dshyates " A 5pm park closing effectively rules out all dinner seatings. " That is the exact reason Wolfgang and Mondavi pulled out of DCA. It wasn't 5pm, it was 6pm, but that still eliminates dinner seatings.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< " A 5pm park closing effectively rules out all dinner seatings. " That is the exact reason Wolfgang and Mondavi pulled out of DCA. It wasn't 5pm, it was 6pm, but that still eliminates dinner seatings. >>> Ahhh - now that situation makes a lot more sense. I had heard that Wolfgang in particular was "furious" over how DCA turned out, but I never really understood that reaction. Disappointed, obviously, but angry? By closing early, Disney saves a fraction of the daily operating labor, but cuts out the majority of revenue opportunity of the in-park F&B partners.
Originally Posted By MPierce I think this is the 13oz. pound of coffee syndrome. Offer the customer less for the same price. After all, we are to stupid to realize what's going on. Why don't I just mail them a check for $5.00? Wouldn't that be the equivocal result?
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 When AK closed at 6PM, we booked a 6PM dinner at RC. But that is on the edge of the park. Y&Y you'd still have to walk through the park. Not good.
Originally Posted By CarolinaDisneyDad Do the restaurants keep serving after closing? I can't see how they could have guests roaming the park after hours.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 No restaurants don't operate after close. I believe Y&Y serves until 4 on 5 closings, although it may go right to 5. RC usually serves until at least one hour after DAK closing. So a 5 p.m. close usually means you can walk in until 6 and get served. May even be a bit later on 5 closes ... like 7.
