Early Entry Gone? Been there recently?

[tss2]

I just read some recently posted info on WDWIG.COM that said early entry days are being discontinued and a caravan of characters will visit resorts on various mornings instead. It is some sort of a cut back, I guess.

Has anyone been to WDW and witnessed this change first hand?

Is anyone going in the next couple weeks? Could you post note when you return and tell us how this works? (Did you like the caravan of characters, when did they come to the DVC resorts?)

We have always taken full advantage of the early entry days and the lesser crowds. We are going in three weeks and had several PS related to the early entry days. I guess we have to just go with the flow.....

Any comments or information on this would be great!

 

[PamOKW]

This just started yesterday. I'll look forward to first hand reports as well.

 

[TinkerbellRules]

We just came back yesterday. We always do EE days, but elected not to this year. We didn't notice any difference with the things we usually do at the parks. The crowds are low (or they were last week). We didn't do any FP's either although we should have for The Little Mermaid. We didn't get to see it because we waited too wait. But, we did doo WWTBAM 3x in a row! I didn't know they were discontinuing EE days, but I don't really think there is a need for it right now.

Also, I heard on the local Orlando news, 4 shows are going to be cut back to 5 days instead of 7. They mentioned Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, and Lion King. Didn't mention the other one though.

 

[Zimbubba]

EE days are essential for success in the busy summer months. We hope this is a temporary event.

 

[janiejo]

We have NEVER taken advantage of EE in the parks. We have three kids (now high school and college age) who love to stay up at night and don't like to be rushed in the mornings. We have always managed to get to every ride or attraction we want to and ride as many times as we want to during our week's stay. I don't see the loss of EE as a big deal for our family. For us, that was part of the advantage to DVC - we know we will return again in the near future! We enjoy a relaxed breakfast before our start in the parks. If one knows there is no EE as they make their trip plans, hopefully the plans can be adjusted so it won't be a disappointment.

 

[TrudyZ]

Just got back (October 10-20th) and used EE days for MK. Seemed the same to me as when we were there in late April.

I thought MK was just as crowded as it was when were where there in late April/early May. And, on the weekends, it was more crowded.

I thought MGM and Epcot were slightly lighter crowds than our earlier trip--but by no means would I say the parks were dead.

I stopped by Epcot on 10/20 before we left for the Food and Wine Festival. It was about noon and there was a signifigant line 25-30 people deep for every booth.

Trudy

 

[CaptainMidnight]

Early Entry makes a big difference for us. I hope this is temporary as well. Actually, it was a selling point for DVC for us.

It's understood that these difficult times will mean sacrifices. Hope this one doesn't last too long.

 

[mburg1821]

Just returned (October 14-20) and found the only thing that changed was the searchin og bags prior to entering the parks and a somewhat lighter crowd at the MK and early morning Epcot.

We stayed at the Grand Floridian and Sunday and Monday it was dead. I asked and the bell hop mentioned that on Sunday 600+ checked out and only 150 checked in. By the end of the week it was picking up.

Some shows at MGM were only running 3x a week. Beauty and the Beast and Hunchback. Not sure of others.

In all it was par for the course. Without DVC I would have never been able to stay at the Grand Floridian. I did like it when at night the piano player played an Elvis tune. I wonder if anyone else noticed?

 

[dianeschlicht]

I contacted Disney and was told EE would definately continue.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Originally posted by CaptainMidnight
Early Entry makes a big difference for us. I hope this is temporary as well. Actually, it was a selling point for DVC for us.

It's understood that these difficult times will mean sacrifices. Hope this one doesn't last too long.

Same sentiments here.

diane, really?? Did they give any details?

 

[tss2]

Diane,

I'm curious too about details, too. Was going to call Disney myself but wondered if anyone had personal experience with EE ending. I guess we will see what happens day by day. We will be at DW in 3 weeks and I don't plan on changing and PS. (We usually do lunch PS at the EE parks.) Guess its just a matter of if we get up early or stay up late. We are normally early risers and EE worked great for us!

 

[TinkerbellRules]

Like I said before, crowds are much lighter than the last two Octs we've been. Our maid said she was going to have to find another PT job because of cut in hours. She said the attendance was really low. It was very obvious in our resort. In mid-week, I think we were just about the only ones on our side of the resort building (POFQ). We had no problem with crowds except MK for MNSSHP and it wasn't bad at all. We did MGM on Mon and Epcot on Wed. We didn't go to MK during the day, though. Friday, MK was really busy due to local schools being out, according to the monorail conductor. The mornings were much lighter and it seemed to pick up in the afternoon, but it wasn't unbearable. I never heard the shows were only running certain days while we were there. Only that they were cutting them back to five days instead of seven, according to local news. I didn't ask the CM's though.

The Food and Wine FEstival seems to attract lots of locals as well. I'm sure that was a busier time. We wanted to go, but were driving back to Indy by then

WDW is obviously looking at resort bookings and revising their schedule, so obviously the crowds are lower. The local news said all theme parks were hurting, not just WDW.

We had a great time and are very glad we went ahead with our trip!

 

[dianeschlicht]

I e-mailed them and told them I was concerned about the rumor that EE was being discontinued. They responded saying the rumor was just that, a rumor, and that NO discussion had ever taken place about discontinuing EE. Sometimes I think the rumors on this board are as harmful as the fear the terrorists are instilling in everyone.

 

[Werner Weiss]

dianeschlicht dosen't write when her e-mail correspondance took place. As of Friday, October 19, "Early Entrance" was still listed at Disney.com as a benefit of staying on site. Later that day, the resort benefits page was edited to remove "Early Entrance." As of Saturday, October 20, Early Entry is discontinued.

 

[tss2]

Just got off the phone with member services. He checked on EE while I was on hold. EE has been discontinued as of 10/21/01. It is replaced with a caravan of characters that will greet resort guests (at the resorts) 1 hour before parks open. Different resorts on different days, with BWV being on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He said OKW on the same days.

Hope this clears up the rumors and the truth!

I'm still interested in anyone who is going in the next few weeks and how they like this new thing. We will be there in 3 weeks and I can post my experiences with the caravan of characters when I get back.

 

[Granny]

tss2....thanks for taking the time to contact MS and post your findings.

One of the reasons we joined DVC was to get rid our our commando style park touring. The more frequent visits will make the need to "see and do everything" less critical on any given trip, and make EE less important to us.

Having said that, I do hope they will bring EE back. I'm sure if attendance picks up they will reinstate that. Not so much for us in DVC as for the WDW resorts. A lot of people find EE to be a selling point for staying on-site instead of off-site. If Disney sees their resort bookings go down and off-site going up, they will have to bring EE back.