Originally Posted By FerretAfros Something that wasn't very clear from Al's article was when exactly the parties would be. He made it sound like they would be several nights a week (like the Halloween ones), and run the entire length of the Christmas season. However, in WDW, they stop running for about the last two weeks in December so that the day guests can see the park in all it's glory. From the impression I got from the article (which could be based on untrue rumors, unclearly worded, or just plain wrong), it sounded like there would not be any time that regular guests could see the holiday entertainment. It also wasn't clear if there would be any additional entertainment. Right now, it seems like they only have the fireworks and parade to market. I guess they could also have things like the Dapper Dans, Billy Hill, and Dickens Carolers who all do smaller holiday shows, but it seems like those CMs may be working in the day too, making scheduling difficult. All in all, there seemed to be a lot of things that didn't make sense in this article (like saying that A Christmas Fantasy was the longest and most elaborate parade at DL in the last 25 years, when MSEP was much longer, more technically elaborate, and longer running than the Christmas parade; he also said that the floats in it were from the 1994 opening, but most of them are simply recycled from older parades, including all the books and the princess from World According to Goofy and Mrs Claus' float that was originally the dwarves' cottage). There were many small comments that didn't make sense, which makes me question the bigger ones.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance I hope he wasn't talking about this Christmas season? I'm going at the beginning of December, and money is tight, so I won't be able to afford the extra tickets! lol
Originally Posted By FerretAfros No worries, he said that the changes wouldn't take place until at least next year (though I'd be pretty surprised if they went that route any time in the forseeable future).
Originally Posted By Disneydanny if this plan does go through I wonder if thjey'll pull a Magic Kingdom and show the parade & fireworks to regular guests the last two weeks of the holiday season
Originally Posted By danyoung >I'm an out of towner whose last several DL visits have been in December. I have no interest in the parade. I like the fireworks, but I'm primarily there to experience DL itself.< Sounds like the new schedule would work out for you. Remember, they're not talking about doing these parties EVERY night. As long as you do your homework and come during a time when you can enjoy an open evening, it sounds like you wouldn't be negatively impacted at all.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Sure I would. Currently I can go every evening during my stay for no additional cost.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 "Remember, they're not talking about doing these parties EVERY night. As long as you do your homework and come during a time when you can enjoy an open evening, it sounds like you wouldn't be negatively impacted at all." Except of course if they have even modest Christmas stuff on nights without the parties, the park will be even MORE packed with APers who could not or did not want to pay for the premium nights! They will be trying to get ANY Christmas atmosphere from the park for free, WHENEVER they can get it!
Originally Posted By danyoung >Sure I would. Currently I can go every evening during my stay for no additional cost.< Ohhh-kaaayyyy. So what you're saying is that even if with a little advanced planning you could do almost all of what you do now, you're still against this change that a pretty large majority on this thread have indicated would be a welcome change? All because you can go on a Tuesday and a Thursday evening but not a Wednesday?
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Yes. Of course, it all depends on when they do the parties. But I've typically gone in the second week of Dec., give or take, and the crowds in the evenings on weekdays then were not insane at all. So the "it's too crowded to enjoy it" argument doesn't even work here. So I'd go from being able to enjoy every evening with reasonable crowds for the price of my hopper, to enjoying only one or two evenings and paying $50 each for the others. So that's a net minus for me, for sure. (And this is a pretty small sample size to be claiming "most people here think it's a good idea.")
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "I had to stomp my foot and tell him, 'You are NOT going to change my mind on this!!' twice, to get him to stop." You really stomped your foot? Twice? Disney's been trying to milk its customers for every penny for decades. This capitalism is nothing new for them. What's the "S word"?
Originally Posted By Christi22222 I have been thinking about the earlier comments that Disney is actually courting AP folks as opposed to deterring them. So then why would they be concerned about crowds, if they are causing them with selling all these AP's. But it occurred to me, maybe the payment plan is not really to get more AP's sold by making it easier for folks. Maybe it is actually a way to start raising prices much higher without as much complaining. If you say an AP is going up, say, $25 this year, that is a lot of money and riles folks up. However, if you say the AP payments are going up only $2, it doesn't look nearly so bad and folks just cough up the cost of basically a Starbucks cup of coffee. They may know full well that less AP's will eventually be sold, but they won't be out revenue and the outcry will be limited and they will have less crowds on their hands. Problems solved. What do you think?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "So then why would they be concerned about crowds, if they are causing them with selling all these AP's" Crowds may be good for Disney's bottom line, but the massive numbers of people in the park during holiday seasons have raised more than a few eyebrows. The shoulder to shoulder mobs at the fireworks show in the Hub are probably the most obvious example. Such crowding really brings down guest enjoyment and safety. Surely overall guest enjoyment is taken into account when decisions are being made about how to market popular seasonal events. Another thing that Disney has to consider is the traffic going in and out of the property on busy days, which has been reported as being horrendous during Christmas and Halloween. There are only so many cars and buses that the roads, freeways and parking lots around Anaheim can handle.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 I just want to know who are the nutjobs calling 911 from the Hub? Do they expect an ambulance and/or a police car to come driving through the tunnel, down Main Street until they find them and clear a space around the caller so they can have some privacy? What kind of idiot does this and expects a result? Forget the APer sense of entitlement, this is just plain WEIRD to me!!!
Originally Posted By tashajilek "The shoulder to shoulder mobs at the fireworks show in the Hub are probably the most obvious example. Such crowding really brings down guest enjoyment and safety. " I agree, there are a few times i have been to DL when it was really crowded and i have asked myself "why am i here?"
Originally Posted By danyoung >I just want to know who are the nutjobs calling 911 from the Hub?< I have to say that I've been in one of those mass exodus crushes, albeit at WDW's MK, and I can understand someone calling 911 and alerting them of a potentially dangerous situation. It can be pretty scary when tens of thousands of people are crammed into a very small area and literally can't move a step in any direction. It was pretty spooky for just me - I can't imaging going through that with a family!
Originally Posted By pecos bill I cant imagine putting your children through those massive crowds. Packing such large numbers of people into such a relatively small area is wrong on so many levels. The whole vibe for me is one of corporate greed run amok. Which is why I dont go anymore, anytime. The experience has been compromised to the point of being a total waste of money for an out of town guest who has to pony up thousands for that annual trip. I still love Disneyland, but I loathe the constant overcrowding. I would gladly pay a premium, despite the blatant corporate greed, for anything that would winnow out the locals and allow me to enjoy the park with some semblance of reasonable attendance. Not so much a matter of privacy as one of dignity.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros "Packing such large numbers of people into such a relatively small area is wrong on so many levels...Which is why I dont go anymore, anytime." You do know that those crowds are really easy to avoid, right? As long as you don't leave the park immediately after the fireworks, it is not bad at all. Even if you see the fireworks from the hub, if you head in any other direction (except into Adventureland on a F! night) it's really not bad. Yes, it's pretty awful if you head down Main Street at the wrong time, but it's so easy to avoid that it always amazes me how upset people get about it.
Originally Posted By Christi22222 I understand how crowds can compromise the experience! I was just speculating as to whether Disney cared, since they were appearing to bait even more AP folks with the payment schedule. That's when I began to wonder if the plan was actually to sneakily (is that a word?) raise AP rates to begin to thin the crowds. I would think they would rather have less guests who pay more and have a better time. But I fully understand the crowd issues all around. I'm just trying to sort out the apparent conflicting messages Disney is sending.
Originally Posted By gadzuux >> ... raise AP rates to begin to thin the crowds. << Or maybe "culling the herd".
Originally Posted By danyoung >Yes, it's pretty awful if you head down Main Street at the wrong time, but it's so easy to avoid that it always amazes me how upset people get about it.< So how many times did it take you seeing the congestion before you knew to avoid it? There are a whole bunch of first-timers, even in DL. And you'd think when the show is over you'd head for the exit. This is exactly the wrong thing to do, but for a lot of people they're in the thick of it before they realize that there's a problem.
