What DAH Summer means

whiporee

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 16, 2012
I'll start this with a pair of caveats. The first is that I'm a pretty big defender of a company being able to do what it wants/needs to maximize its revenue, and I've stuck up for Disney plenty of times when it comes to that kind of thing. I still think the parks are a great value.

The second is that I've already bought tickets to DAH in June, and I'm grateful for the chance to do it. My wife hates the heat, an the only times we're in Florida are during school vacations, but we're there for almost every vacation because we stupidly bought a second house and have to justify it.

But I believe with his decision, WDW has fundamentally changed it's operating philosophy, and I find that kind of sad. Summer nights are WDW have been a mainstay of the place since I can remember (as a kid in the 70s and a teen in the 80s), and by monetizing late nights WDW has effectively taken those late nights away. This summer there are 15 DAH nights -- it doesn't sound like a lot, but when you factor it into an operating week, it basically comes down to a little less than two a week for June and July (excluding 4th week). No big deal.

Except they have to have at least one EMH for resort guests (but this also takes away the need to provide more than one at MK) and since they are now charging for it, the justification for staying open later than 10 on a "regular" night just isn't there. That may be fine, but its certainly different. I can understand the argument that DAH is a unique experience, and a solid value even at its cost (If you look at the reports, people get 12, 15 or even more rides during those three hours). But for a family of 4, DAH costs about $500 -- that's a week's work to someone making $30K a year. I'm lucky to not have that be a crippling number to us, but I can imagine to folks who have scrimped fo this vacation, it's a "class" division that must sting as they're being escorted out of the park while others get to stay.

I can't blame the accountants -- those two extra nights a week could easily turn into $2 million a month, so an extra $5 million in revenue for a summer is not a bad thing. And I can't really fault them in terms of value, because 13 hours (9-10) is more than most amusement parks are open most days. And like I said, I think there's a demand because a lot of people are very excited about the prospect of this (like I said, I jumped on tickets yesterday even though I already had a short stay booked for July 2-4). But I do think that it shows -- to me, at least -- that the company has made a fundamental shift towards monetizing access the parks to a degree we haven't seen before. And something that used to make MK a unique place in the summers I think is gone for good. Change happens, I know, and the dynamics of crowds and crowd flow have changed significantly over the years. But this one sort of makes me sad and, excitement aside for those who are able to attend, I wonder how others in a place that really loves Disney think.
 
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I'll start this with a pair of caveats. The first is that I'm a pretty big defender of a company being able to do what it wants/needs to maximize its revenue, and I've stuck up for Disney plenty of times when it comes to that kind of thing. I still think the parks are a great value.

The second is that I've already bought tickets to DAH in June, and I'm grateful for the chance to do it. My wife hates the heat, an the only times we're in Florida are during school vacations, but we're there for almost every vacation because we stupidly bought a second house and have to justify it.

But I believe with his decision, WDW has fundamentally changed it's operating philosophy, and I find that kind of sad. Summer nights are WDW have been a mainstay of the place since I can remember (as a kid in the 70s and a teen in the 80s), and by monetizing late nights WDW has effectively taken those late nights away. This summer there are 15 DAH nights -- it doesn't sound like a lot, but when you factor it into an operating week, it basically comes down to a little less than two a week for June and July (excluding 4th week). No big deal.

Except they have to have at least one EMH for resort guests (but this also takes away the need to provide more than one at MK) and since they are now charging for it, the justification for staying open later than 10 on a "regular" night just isn't there. That may be fine, but its certainly different. I can understand the argument that DAH is a unique experience, and a solid value even at its cost (If you look at the reports, people get 12, 15 or even more rides during those three hours). But for a family of 4, DAH costs about $500 -- that's a week's work to someone making $30K a year. I'm lucky to not have that be a crippling number to us, but I can imagine to folks who have scrimped fo this vacation, it's a "class" division that must sting as they're being escorted out of the park while others get to stay.

I can't blame the accountants -- those two extra nights a week could easily turn into $2 million a month, so an extra $5 million in revenue for a summer is not a bad thing. And I can't really fault them in terms of value, because 13 hours (9-10) is more than most amusement parks are open most days. And like I said, I think there's a demand because a lot of people are very excited about the prospect of this (like I said, I jumped on tickets yesterday even though I already had a short stay booked for July 2-4). But I do think that it shows -- to me, at least -- that the company has made a fundamental shift towards monetizing access the parks to a degree we haven't seen before. And something that used to make MK a unique place in the summers I think is gone for good. Change happens, I know, and the dynamics of crowds and crowd flow have changed significantly over the years. But this one sort of makes me sad and, excitement aside for those who are able to attend, I wonder how others in a place that really loves Disney think.
I feel the same way. It's sad how they're charging more & offering less, and thst if you want the classic summer night experience, you have to pay through the nose for it.
 

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