I hadn’t thought about that, but this is true. Everyone will want to rope drop everything in a sense. It then comes down to how well Universal manages demand for Epic as a whole, which clearly they are thinking about given how they are initially planning tickets.
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I think the Harry Potter ride will have particularly long lines and maybe a couple of others. And if Hagrid and ROTR are any guide, there will be a lot of ride downtime. But not every attraction will be posting 3hr plus waits.
Indeed, the entire park is new. People will want to explore it. And all the shops.
Yes. I think their strategy is brilliant.
Even better if there is no Express Pass. Early Park Admission would be a good perk for on-site guests and would actually help with crowds.
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When planning for my June trip, people were trying to decide between delux and MK EEH (way more worth it than EPCOT) and after hours at HS with a moderate or value hotel. So it does factor some?
However, as you experienced, they don’t announce these hours/parks early enough to make a major impact, because it is not early enough to influence initial booking.
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I used to be interested in doing After Hours. Back in 2020, before our trip was canceled due to COVID, we had After Hours booked at AK. It was $79 per person. Totally seemed worth it. Now, it is double (or more) that. Sorry…but no.
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Star(dust/fall/sparkle) Racers! 
I think this coaster was made for me.
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This seems like a lifetime ago!
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I think there will be a bit of a hierarchy:
Tier 1:
- Ministry of Magic
Tier 2:
- Mario Kart
- Donkey Kong
- Stardust Racers
- How to Train Your Dragon coaster
- Monsters ride
Tier 3:
- Werewolf coaster
Tier 4:
- Yoshi
- HTTYD flyers
- Carousel
What am I forgetting?
Anyway I kind of think the Ministry ride will draw the largest crowds and could get Hagrid’s level lines. That’s because it’s 1) top tier IP and 2) most interesting ride system 3) most compelling ride story. Maybe Tier 2 will spread things out enough that it won’t be insane?
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Oh and this was the other reason I think MoM will have long lines.
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I’m in agreement with Jeff. I don’t think the lines will be equal give or take 20 minutes. I generally agree with his analysis of the Tiers (though I’d probably move Mario Cart down to Tier 3 and put the Monsters Ride In its own Tier 1.5).
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Even more detrimental is Disney’s willingness to drop/modify those hours after a guest has made firm commitments in their trip plans.
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I would put Stardust Racers at 1 or 1.5 because of the Spaceship Earth effect. Definitely if it is as great a coaster as it looks.
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100%!!!
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Personally, I am more excited about Stardust Racers than MoM!
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I would for sure do this pass over the VIP tours we usually do because its essentially the same thing except id be spending a ton less money for my family of 5. It would save us thousands lol. Now if they revamp the VIP tours to be more like Universals that maybe changes the equation a bit.
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UOR includes Express unlimited with all premier hotel stays, and that really drives those bookings. Are families really going to keep paying $700+ per night for Contemporary or $400 per night for POR when they feel like they have to pay another $600-800/day for Express passes? Express passes eliminate the need for early entry or open-close days for most people, so there would be no real onsite benefits for many families.
If they don’t incorporate some associated Deluxe/onsite perk with the pass then think the main effects would be to both shorten people’s trips (you don’t need as much time in the parks when you don’t wait in lines) and drive them to choose less expensive accommodations, whether that’s onsite or off.
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I agree, to a degree. Priority access should be a very, very special perk reserved for special situations. This trend of allowing people to pay to not wait has just made many people feel like they deserve no waits, and whether people want to admit it or not, that feeling of entitlement bleeds over into other areas. The number of times you see/hear people making the claim that “I paid $XXXX for this vacation, and I should be able to ______!” about things that really have nothing to do with what they actually paid for is incredible.
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I think this is an intentional goal for WDW and many of the changes over the past few years have been an attempt to push guests toward this. If a guest has a $5,000 WDW budget, WDW would rather collect that over 4 days than 7 days and then bring a different guest in to WDW for the remaining three days.
I don’t think WDW will incorporate any deluxe benefit with the pass. WDW has been reducing on-site benefits over the past few years and the deluxe still often are sold out. Many guests stay deluxe for location.
But for the contractual obligation with Lowes, I suspect UOR would have removed this benefit by now.
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As we see with the fact that the Helios will not have it!
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If Disney does implement something like this, I would expect it to be aimed at the smaller VIP guided groups, where effectively the cost per person is $700+, and not at the groups of 8-10 doing a VIP tour. (And obviously not aimed at people who are willing to pay whatever price.)
I would expect cost to be around $300/day/person in slower times and $500+ in peak season. Well worth it for anyone who was previously paying for a VIP for 3-5 people, but wants to do all the rides.
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I disagree Nintendo land especially Dk carts is gonna IMO be huge draw in the 20-30 something age groups. They all grew up with this as a major part of their lives. I think especially the first year you will see more people in that age group than any other generation.
Prior to the Covid shutdown I was completely in the only stay at a Disney owned and operated property. I hadn’t stayed off property since 1999! They have downgraded the onsite benefits so much that staying on site is honestly not so worth it anymore…Again extra magic hours were just that HOURS they were available morning and evenings to all guests regardless of what accommodation level- priorty was given to onsite for everything from access to the parks ( capacity levels) to dining reservations. Now those perks are gone completely and or useless.
For me at least onsite is no-longer a priority- thanks to park reservations…while the situation has improved for passholders I am still holding a grudge that even though I was on-site staying in my DVC I could not get into the parks I wanted during a past trip.
Out of 3 trips this year so far only 1 was onsite. Currently typing from Marriott Grand Vista- this trip our experience has been no different than onsite. All of the dining we wanted was available same day and or walk up, we used BG1 and accomplished everything we wanted to do.
For us I can’t think of anything that justifies the need for an onsite deluxe stay at regular discounted rates. The only thing that might sway me back is the return of the deluxe dining plan 3 TS 2 snacks per day. As is we are already as a family discussing the pro/cons to renting out next years DVC points. Something I never thought I would consider- but again even with DVC I am finding better value off-site.
As of right now our next trip to Orlando is January for Stella Nova’s grand opening. If we choose to go to Disney before or after you will probably find us at a Bonnet Creek Resort.
Here is the thing- I have been arranging WDW trips for my family nearly 30 years… before Fastpass before FP+ and all the pay to play versions. It was standby or VIP and it 100% worked better IMO.
For us we just stayed longer- our trips were generally 10-14 days so that we could do everything. Standby lines were long but they moved.
Personally I hope that Disney moves to just the new rumored premier Universal Express type daily pass and standby only.
***not only does universal give this free to deluxe guests but also after 4pm to premier pass-holders.
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