Https://wdwnt.com/2021/06/disney-confirms-details-on-early-park-entry-and-extended-evening-hours-for-deluxe-resorts/

Is this just a guess, or did you hear something?

“In addition, guests staying at Disney Deluxe or Deluxe Villa Resort hotels will also be able to enjoy extended evening hours on select nights in select theme parks.”

You’re good in the villa :+1:

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It seems that this may push those with older kids or adult travelers into the Deluxe category.

Those of us with little kids are far less likely to see late hours as a significant benefit. I’ll stick with AoA for our next trip. My kids turn into pumpkins by 7 PM as it is.

I’d much rather have late hours as a solo or adults-only trip. But I ain’t paying $700 a night to stay somewhere by myself when I spend literally about 7.5 hours in my room per day, with about 7 of them spent asleep.

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My kids used to hang until park close, even when they were toddlers. I would never assume that only families w/ older kids are in the parks later in the evening.

They have both been night owls since they were born. Neither even started to go to sleep at home until at least 9pm, so hanging late at WDW wasn’t an issue at all!

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Yes.

I agree with @ninjasherrie that most of the CEOs had some combination of traits. So far, all of them have contributed something important despite any shortcomings.

For example, Michael Eisner had some rough spots with the financial disaster of Disneyland Paris and the resulting decision to cut costs at California Adventure, and he burned a few other bridges. But without Eisner, we arguably wouldn’t have had the Disney Renaissance (Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin, etc.), wouldn’t have had the Disney Vacation Club, Disneyland Paris, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, etc. etc. etc. He was very ambitious, particularly in the early days of his tenure, and saved Disney from being relegated to a historical curiosity (like MGM, for example) and instead made it a living, thriving company.

Iger is my favorite CEO so far - he had a really great balance of vision and sensibility.

Chapek needs to earn my trust. He hasn’t done a lot to gain it other than slashing costs and rolling out paid experiences. I agree with those who said Josh D’Amaro would be a great successor.

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Yep. I do wanna be careful and not blame just the frontman of a huge and complex corporation for any gripes I have. I’ll watch and see what he does. Part of the problem, and I’m being extremely judgmental here, he just has the appearance and demeanor of a total a$$hole to me. :man_shrugging:

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I do not have any inside knowledge.

He has also had the dubious honor of having to be in charge during a pandemic that had the potential to bankrupt many companies. So he is clearly doing some things right.

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As I mentioned in another thread, I think this is one of Disney’s overall goals which they are attempting to accomplish on multiple fronts.

I also suspect that we will see deluxe rates increase even more dramatically than in the past (which was already substantially more than inflation).

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True. No easy task, but they had huge cash reserves and Disney+ already launched racking up new subscriptions. He gets some credit though, for sure.

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I am 100% not interested in a shorter stay. I would far rather move to an off site stay and stretch my time longer than waste $$$$$ on a room that I won’t be in more than to sleep and shower (especially if it is a short stay).

If I am looking for a more relaxing, non-park vacation that is when I would look at a deluxe…so we can take advantage of all the expensive extras that a deluxe resort offers. Those vacations are few and far between (2x in 20+ years of visits). Our primary reason for visiting central Florida is to spend time in the parks (not shop or lounge at the pool). A longer off site stay will allow for that since WDW has removed of all the reasons for staying in the bubble at value and moderate resorts.

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This exactly! This is not a case of something being added to the Deluxe/Villa Resorts. This is an on-site perk that was on hold because of COVID being brought back but taken away from 2 classes of Resorts with nothing in return.

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When they were little we stayed at POR, now it is PoP or AoA.

We figured out pretty early that they both napped better (and far longer) in the stroller or carrier while still in the parks. When we tried to leave they would fall asleep on the way back to the resort, and wake up once we arrived. :upside_down_face:

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I’m not sure of any actual numbers…but aren’t there just too many people going to WDW? If the parks are full prices go up and perks can reflect that? We’ve just started going to WDW in 2019 so I don’t have much to compare, but I’d probably pay more or stay deluxe to more easily battle the crowds. Correct me if I’m wrong - perks disappear and prices increase and somehow crowds increase too. Unless that part changes how can disney maintain the same offerings or same prices? Won’t the parks just be too busy? And I think they’re too busy now- so how does Disney address that? Raise prices? If you raise prices and decrease “perks” and people keep lining up what does that tell you? Sorry for the rambling, but I’ve heard people talk about the Disney of old where crowds were lower and perks better and that sounds great!

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Pre covid there were more perks and very crowded. The lower crowds w/ less perks have been since reopening to recent present.

Yes, and that’s ok. Losing something you like/care about is upsetting. One of the many good things about online forums is to find people in a similar situation to commiserate with.

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This is about lines v cash, not much else.

Pay to stay on site and avoid early lines by RDing. Pay more to stay deluxe and you also get shorter lines in the evening. Maybe pay even more and you get FP+ equivalent so skip lines during the day.

It’s a straight cash vs wait time trade-off…

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Great points throughout this thread.

I think Disney works best when you have a couple of people in leadership that can combine creativity/customer focus with financial acumen. They also seem to have lost a lot of the old timey institutional knowledge that’s so valuable to a company like Disney.

Indeed.

And one could easily make the point that the Disney brothers Walt & Roy were a perfect combination. One a schemer-dreamer creative entertainment type, and the other a financial wizard type. Each tempered and/or pushed the other. A good business needs both.

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Selfish thought …
I sure hope they announce dates for this stuff ASAP, or eliminate the park reservation system altogether. I didn’t get the hopper, but sounds like I’m going to need it in order to take advantage.

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