Originally Posted By barboy ///I'm glad that NGE isn't coming anywhere near the non-US parks at present./// Me too. Leave that for the naive and foolish in the states to enjoy. ....just another reason to keep my Disney habit in Tokyo. Hello OLC!
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I think Disney should lose EMH and FP. Then everyone would be on a level playing field.
Originally Posted By tashajilek "I think Disney should lose EMH and FP. Then everyone would be on a level playing field" I agree. I have suffered terribly at both U.S Uni parks because i didnt cough up the money for the front of the line crap. At Orlando the day i was there the front of the line cost $100 a person, yea that was fair to everyone. If any theme park feels they are not making enough money then im fine with ticket prices being raised and everyone getting the same treatment.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<I agree. I have suffered terribly at both U.S Uni parks because i didnt cough up the money for the front of the line crap. At Orlando the day i was there the front of the line cost $100 a person, yea that was fair to everyone.>> You're talking about Universal...right? Disney's Fastpass is free. And even then, Universal's Express Pass is largely unnecessary.
Originally Posted By tashajilek "Wow, i completely missed the word "uni" in your post." LOL, thats ok! "Disney's Fastpass is free." Yes, but in the future if only hotel guests will be able to pick fast passes in advance will that really be free? I never stay on Disney property and probably never will, so i guess i will never benefit from the "free" perks. "And even then, Universal's Express Pass is largely unnecessary Not true. Try going for Halloween or a busy time of year.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<Not true. Try going for Halloween or a busy time of year. >> I've been to HHN the past 2 years and went to Uni the month after Potter opened and never felt like I needed Express.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 I think the distinction between EMH and MyMagic+, and what's causing the "does/doesn't affect guests", is that one (EMH) doesn't take away anything from non-resort guests. Sure, it give a benefit to on-site guests, but it's not a loss to the others. With MyMagic+, there is potential to subtract experiences for non-resort guests. To me, that's the big difference, and probably why you guys are nitpicking about EMH. Yes, it's a perk, but it's not something removing something from non-resort guests.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros What's to say that MM+ couldn't be available for off-property guests? They are currently able to buy their park tickets in advance, and make dinner reservations in advance, so why couldn't they also book their FPs in advance? If part of the reason for this project is to get a better idea of how many guests will be in any given location at any given time, I'd think they would also be interested in those who are staying off-property too. Maybe they won't get the same number of advance bookings, but I suspect Disney wants them to plan their vacations just as much as the on-property guests.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "I don't think anyone is suggesting that the provision of perks and benefits to on-site guests is new." Wait...what? "However the massive distinction is that when EMH takes place it is not during regular operating hours." That's not a massive distinction. That's semantics. On EMH morning days one of the parks is open at 8AM. But to only the special onsite guests. "NGE has the ability to affect every single guest during every single second of normal operating hours." "Normal operating hours" is more semantics. "If you genuinely believe that EMH and NGE are analogous then I hope you are right. However I don't for a second believe that you are." I'm not sure they're analogous as much as they are different versions of the same thing. Better access for onsite guests. NGE does have the potential to have greater impact, but no one has argued otherwise. What is silly is the notion that this is some sort of new concept for Disney. "I think the distinction between EMH and MyMagic+, and what's causing the 'does/doesn't affect guests', is that one (EMH) doesn't take away anything from non-resort guests." But it does. It takes away the 8-9 hour that the park is open to resort guests. Suppose Disney decided to make EMH from 9-10 and "open" the park at 10? Is that taking away from non-resort guests?
Originally Posted By tashajilek "I've been to HHN the past 2 years and went to Uni the month after Potter opened and never felt like I needed Express." At Halloween i was at Uni Hollywood and waits for the mazes were over 2 hours and the express passes were all sold out. In Orlando the Express passes cost $100 a person and waits were up to 3 hours for popular rides including single rider waits at Hulk. I guess i havent been lucky with Universal.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance What's wrong with giving resort guests better access? There should be SOME benefit to shelling out hundreds of dollars a night to stay at one of the Disney hotels. The way it is now, the benefits you actually get out of a Disney hotel does not justify the cost, IMO.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Careful, lets not boo hoo the Disney resorts and hotels. Disney has resort rooms for most price points. On my recent trip to Orlando this past November I stayed off property at a deeply discounted hotel/motel that advertises heavily. My motel room was more like a crime scene from CSI Orlando, it was so dirty. After that experience I'm more apt to get a timeshare. Given the degrading condition of non Disney, off property hotels and the erratic traffic patterns of the highways in and around Orlando/ Kississimme, FL I can understand fully why visitors ( even Florida locals ) prefer to stay on Disney property during visits to WDW.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom I came to the conclusion that the over riding factor for most folks to stay off property was either trying to save money or they were looking for a hotel with a pool that rivals the size of Lake Erie. Hotel room size has not increased in the Orlando/ Kissimmee area in generations. But, the pool size for hotels has increased dramatically. Disney did themselves a huge favor when they built the 3rd largest pool in Florida at their Art of Animation Resort.
Originally Posted By barboy You can disregard the pool size as the main draw for staying off property......and besides one would likely go for quality of pool over the sheer gallons of water in it. Money concerns overwhelm any other explanation to nearly all when deciding on vs off property for a WDW vacation.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder There's not one single "affordable" onsite hotel in Anaheim.
Originally Posted By hopemax > I think the distinction between EMH and MyMagic+, and what's causing the "does/doesn't affect guests", is that one (EMH) doesn't take away anything from non-resort guests. Sure, it give a benefit to on-site guests, but it's not a loss to the others< Except that it means that when the park opens to day guests people are already in lines. Same thing with MM+. For early entry, there may be 142 people in line for Soarin when the first non-resort guest can get to the queue. So 142 seats end up being "unavailable", plus whatever FP slots get taken by resort guests who are standing by the FP machine when it goes live before a non-resort guest can get there. That's no different than 142 spots being taken up by people making reservations while sitting in front of their computer screen at home. Obviously, MM+ will affect every hour, not just the 1st hour, so its effects will be greater. This is mostly a "could we say EMH has a 'minimal effect' and not "no effect," please," post.
Originally Posted By CDF2 The Jeff Goldblum line from the movie "Jurassic Park" comes to mind - sure, they can build a system that will reserve rides or dinners or upscale adventures for a guest willing to pay whatever Disney or Universal wants - but is that something they really want to do? If such a system leads to frustration or discord among "regular" guests or even AP holders, then is that a system that the parks would want to impliment? Getting an extra Fastpass or two seems like something that could be done in such a way as to not impact "regular" folks, could it not? Even reserving premium spots for light shows or other performances seems like it could be tolerated to some point - but how much is enough and how much is too much? Sure, there is no getting around the fact that human nature being what it is, that "regular" guests spending a long day waiting in long standby lines will feel frustration from watching the "entitled" guests run by them all day in FP lines or gain restaurant reservations unavailable to the "regular" folks or get reserved seating at the light or water shows. I believe at this point that no one sees where all of this madness might end and perhaps that is the cause for concerns of all types regarding the new reservations/entitlement/upscale charging technology.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<That's no different than 142 spots being taken up by people making reservations while sitting in front of their computer screen at home. Obviously, MM+ will affect every hour, not just the 1st hour, so its effects will be greater. This is mostly a "could we say EMH has a 'minimal effect' and not "no effect," please," post.>> Another distinction is that at least with EMH, each day starts with a clean slate. Each day everyone gets a chance to get a Fast Pass. With MM+, people will be reserving Fast Passes months in advance. Which ultimately means there may be no Fast Passes available during your trip if you didn't reserve them in well in advance. Much the same as how now thanks to the Disney Dining Plan it can be difficult to impossible, to get a sitdown table at most, and specifically some of the restaurants in the Disney Parks if those hadn't been reserved well in advance of your trip.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I believe that WDW really doesn't care about its AP holders. The pendulum has swung back and forth from full embracing them with special events and lounges to not really caring that they are there at all. I think we are at that place right now. As for the day guests. I believe that Disney thinks that the new system will push more people to stay on property so that they will not be shut out of pre-selecting FP times months in advance.
