Early Entry officially over!

[HorizonsFan]

eliminating EE most affects those people who both stay on site and know enough about WDW to know about and plan for EE; in other words, Disney's best and most knowledgable customers

The question then arises, "Are there enough of these people to offset the cost of opening a park two hour early?" As much as we would like to believe that we represent a large portion of the folks who visit WDW, I don't think that we do. I would speculate that a great number of people who visit WDW don't even know about EE.

So if this is a "business decision" based on the fact that weekday attendance (and associatedly, hotel bookings) is down, the question becomes how good a business decision is it, when it mostly serves to discourage some of your best customers from buying right now, and to give less reason, in tight economic times, for folks to choose one of your products over a cheaper competitor's product?

At the same time they're suspending EE, they're lowering room rates. The rates at the All Stars are pretty close to off-site rates right now (reportedly $39/night). I think the lower rates are more of an incentive to stay on-site than EE ever was. There are still perqs to staying on-site, even without EE. I know some of you don't consider transportation a perq, but it's the reason I started staying on-site in the first place.

Disney has reacted to similar problems with a solution that will actually encourage delaying Disney trip plans or choosing a non-Disney alternative.

I don't know that the car analogy works. Cars are a necessity. A Disney vacation isn't. I think at this point, folks are going to react more strongly to economic incentives like lower room rates than they will to "soft" incentives like early entry. If Disney can lure more people with lower room rates and then offset the cost of that by suspending EE, it's a good business decision.

 

[JeffJewell]

...EE was great because it provided an extra "chunk" to the day.

Like a lot of people, we plan Disney days in chunks, an early park and an evening park. With EE, we'd have the option of hitting the best rides in one park (to make it worth it, you really do need to be there for _all_ of EE; our favorite EE target was Fantasyland, you can do the place top to bottom with one well organized EE assault, but the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster/Tower of Terror shuffle also has a certain je ne sais qoui about it that time of morning), then, just as the "normals" were coming into the park, we were heading off to a late breakfast, and then to our "scheduled" early park, the less crowded, non-EE park.

EE=free rides, any way you slice it

Jeff

 

[JeffJewell]

If Disney can lure more people with lower room rates and then offset the cost of that by suspending EE, it's a good business decision

...fair enough, we'll just have to agree to disagree on the direction until those results are in.

I'll bet you a drink, though, that once those results are in, the long term cost (in bookings vs off-site) of eliminating EE outvalues the short term savings in operating costs. I think we'll know this has happened with a Coke Classic like re-introduction of EE, in the not too distant future.

Jeff

PS: If you win this, and have to remind me I owe you a drink, don't feel I'm trying to weasel out of anything. I'm very likely to forget even if I win. Things like this stroll around my tiny head and then just leave, sometimes.

 

[HorizonsFan]

Jeff,
Don't get me wrong, I like EE too. One EE, we did all of Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Frontierland before 11:00 then headed to another park. It works very well if you know how to plan your attack.
I think we all just want things to get back to normal quickly with as little lasting damage as possible...

PS - Don't worry. If I win, I'll remember. I'm always up for a free drink!

 

[Another Voice]

Here’s a snippet from some internal communication about the replacement for Early Entry:

Disney's Character Caravan

Walt Disney World offers a new experience for guests staying at Disney Resorts, which replaces Surprise Mornings. The new program, Disney's Character Caravan, features morning visits to the resorts by Disney characters. The characters will greet guests and provide a send-off as guests leave for the Disney theme parks. This experience will offer guests additional opportunities to see the Disney characters - one of the most popular requests by Walt Disney World guests.

Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday
Disney's All-Star Resorts
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
Disney's Contemporary Resort
Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Disney's Polynesian Resort

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Disney's BoardWalk Resort
Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
Disney's Old Key West Resort
Disney's Port Orleans Resort
Disney's Wilderness Lodge
Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts

At this point I wouldn’t consider this “official” and people should probably contact WDW directly if you have a strong desire to see this “experience”.

Rumors are circulating that the end of Surprise Mornings and all the other cutbacks are causing a firestorm among the guests. Whether the complaints will lead to any restoration is uncertain, but Burbank has made it very clear that WDW will need to hit its profit numbers for the year (have you seen the ratings for ABC’s new season?). If EE does return, you can expect to see offsetting cuts made in other areas.

 

[YoHo]

So we've finally done it huh?

The past couple of years of Nickel and Diming it and nobody noticed or cared, now that they actually ARE in deep trouble and do something drastic we get tons of handringing and shouts of Bad Form and how dare they!


I'm just disgusted. Where were all of you a couple of years ago when they sliced closing time from 12 pm to 10 pm and then made you pay EXTRA to stay in the parks that late?

Personally, I have never had a problem with the operating hours being cut and I don't now. Admitedly I use my Disney vacation time very differently from the average guest. EE was never a carrot for me.


I would spend more time worrying about Another Voice's little comment:

If EE does return, you can expect to see offsetting cuts made in other areas.

So I hope you are all willing to take a cut somewhere else if you fight for this.

 

[mmouse37]

I was in the parks from 10/11-10/14 and found the parks VERY crowded....much more than I thought according these boards. The only park not very crowded was EPCOT. MK and MGM were packed!!!!

MJ

 

[tasbm1]

We just got back 10/13-10/22. We took advantage of the EE on every morning except 10/22 because we were notified on 10/21 that the EE's were over. The crowds during the week were so low, that we walked on to most rides until early afternoon when the crowds picked up. The weekend was the exception. Crowds were pretty busy. There were alot of people stating that they would have stayed elsewhere if they knew that they were not going to be able to take advantage of EE. I agree! I have a 5 yo DS and by going early, we can get on most of the rides that he likes without the long waits. That lets us leave the parks when the lines gets long and go to the pool.

 

[KCritter]

I was reading the Travel section in the Sunday, Oct 21st edition of the Indianapolis Star. There was a big ad for WDW, with special rates for the All-stars. It listed the perks of staying at a WDW resort including: "Early entry to the theme parks on selected days"

I guess this ad was created before the demise of EE, but I still found it interesting that they were pushing EE as a perk after it had been officially cancelled.

 

[sgtpet]

I was there this past weekend and I am surprised they are eliminating EE. It was crowded at MK on Friday and Saturday. A CM told me that he hadn't seen WDW like this since late spring.

 

[Padre Disney]

I really don't know how much more disappointment we can take before we actually cancel our December trip. We made our reservations over 2 years ago. We paid a very large price to stay on site to enjoy EE days. Our family is older and has been there done that character greeting. We want to enjoy the parks early. It doesn't matter if the parks are busy or not. I don't care if you can walk on the rides all day long. We paid in advance for a perk that has been taken away. No one has called to offer us a lower room rate on our deluxe resort nor have they called and offered us discounted tickets for the park hours being shorter. I feel like I am getting money stolen out of my pocket. I paid for services in advance and now they have been taken away. I can't figure out why I should even give Disney any money period. I agree with C.ann and Tiggerstheman1. They have said it very well.

 

[DVCDAVE]

It's a sham. We are told to stay on site for the perks, ESPECIALLY EE, and what do they do....eliminate it. Why stay on site and pay Disney 100% more then the room is worth. Might as well stay offsight at Marriot now, and save a bundle. The WDW transportation system is a joke too.....nothing like waiting 1/2 an hour for a bus or monorail to get to your overpriced hotel room, after waiting in lines all day. Pre$$ler and Ei$ner have got to go. I can't wait to get my proxy and vote for the unemployment line for these two theives. They have managed to suck this company dry for their multi-hundreds of millions of dollar bouneses, now they are hell bent on ruining the gem of the crown jewles.

 

[King Triton]

Just got back from WDW. We had a wonderful time. We went to the MK on Monday for early entry day. Usually they would let resort guests in at 7:30. This time, due to the cut backs, they let us in at 8:00 instead. Tomorrow land was off limits this time (that was a real bummer!!) , only Fantasy land was open for early entry. I miss riding Space Mountain before the gates opened up to the public....oh well, I still had a great time anyway. I wish Disney would go back to the original early entry perks. That was a big reason for staying at a Disney Resort. With the money you pay, Disney really does need to keep it in.

Last friday and the weekend all the parks were packed. I saw no evidence of a low turn out - it was crowded. From all the negative news, it sounded like you could walk up and ride any ride without waiting - WRONG.

That's the scoop on early entry. I don't know if they still have it today, but I know Disney had it on Monday because I was there.

King Triton
(David)