[Question] Xpass or E-ride nights?

[Virtual Toad]

After WDWs 25th Anniversary and before the advent of Extra Magic Hours, WDW offered E-ride nights. On select evenings, WDW resort guests could purchase a wristband for around $13, giving them an extra three hours after park close to enjoy select MK attractions. Initially, only a limited amount of tickets were sold, ensuring a quality experience for guests with little or no waits on major rides like Splash, Space and Thunder. Minor attractions like CBJ were also open.

Just for the sake of discussion, is something like E-ride nights a better way than Xpass to provide "value added" opportunities to resort guests without alienating other guests during normal operating hours? Would E-ride nights be a better option than EMH, which are more crowded because all WDW resort guests can participate free of charge?

Curious to know everyone's thoughts.

[goofy donald]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

no because this just takes more and more time away from maintenance to fix attractions, imagine peoples complaints after giving maintenance less time on top of less money to fix things. it doesn't really help the value either because a majority of families cant stay out late enough to experience the event. if you moved the closing time up to like 9 o clock again then sure but I would rather have things as they are now and not have to pay any extra. just plan for extra magic hours.

[Virtual Toad]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

no because this just takes more and more time away from maintenance to fix attractions, imagine peoples complaints after giving maintenance less time on top of less money to fix things. it doesn't really help the value either because a majority of families cant stay out late enough to experience the event. if you moved the closing time up to like 9 o clock again then sure but I would rather have things as they are now and not have to pay any extra. just plan for extra magic hours.

E-ride nights happened before they introduced EMH and were only offered at the MK. So replacing EMH with E-ride nights wouldn't take any time away from maintenance. Unless you're talking about a scenario in which XPass would completely replace and eliminate EMH. E-ride nights also never ran later at night than EMH nights do now.

[goofy donald]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

E-ride nights happened before they introduced EMH and were only offered at the MK. So replacing EMH with E-ride nights wouldn't take any time away from maintenance. Unless you're talking about a scenario in which XPass would completely replace and eliminate EMH. E-ride nights also never ran later at night than EMH nights do now.

That's the exact issue I'm referring to. the real question should be do you want e-ride nights and fast pass, or whatever might come from x-pass and extra magic hours because x pass and e ride nights represent two non transferable separate entities, one relating to operating hours the other relating too daily attraction operations. regardless the question isn't even plausible to answer yet because we don't know anything about the xpass system. all we have currently are unsubstantiated rumors so how can anyone decide what would be better if we don't even know what one of the options really is in its entirety?

[BC_DisneyGeek]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

I never experienced E-ride nights, but I generally find EMH are busy enough that they're not a huge perk. I'd rather pay extra for extra hours with smaller crowds.

X-pass from what I've heard doesn't interest me. It's possibly going to be used on attractions that don't warrant it, and it's going to lead to even more of a need to plan and micro-manage ones' vacation. Something like E-ride nights is simple, valuable, and effective.

[Mouse princess]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

I don't see that happening simply since it takes away from one of the perks of staying on property, that you get EMH for free. Take that away and have E-ride night, you will be losing people who stay at the resorts for the extra perks. The only extra perk than would be a bus system which sucks.
And paying for the E-ride night would of course be expensive. The way they charge for the current hard ticket events, I would expect to pay approx $50 per person.

If it was still $13, than yeah, that would be fantastic and I would pay it. But no way. It would be priced out of reach and be the same thing as XPass. The park would close earlier to accomodate the E-ride night for the "haves"

[flynnibus]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

After WDWs 25th Anniversary and before the advent of Extra Magic Hours, WDW offered E-ride nights. On select evenings, WDW resort guests could purchase a wristband for around $13, giving them an extra three hours after park close to enjoy select MK attractions. Initially, only a limited amount of tickets were sold, ensuring a quality experience for guests with little or no waits on major rides like Splash, Space and Thunder. Minor attractions like CBJ were also open.

Just for the sake of discussion, is something like E-ride nights a better way than Xpass to provide "value added" opportunities to resort guests without alienating other guests during normal operating hours? Would E-ride nights be a better option than EMH, which are more crowded because all WDW resort guests can participate free of charge?

Curious to know everyone's thoughts.

wait - wouldn't charging for the perk be exactly like the 'haves and have nots' that everyone was crying over when it was rumor'd xpass would be a paid upgrade... or when people talk about the uni/sixflags systems?

I thought Disney was supposed to be a commune.. open to everyone equally!

[josefalero]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

wait - wouldn't charging for the perk be exactly like the 'haves and have nots' that everyone was crying over when it was rumor'd xpass would be a paid upgrade... or when people talk about the uni/sixflags systems?

I thought Disney was supposed to be a commune.. open to everyone equally!

There is a difference between a $13 E-ticket night and a multi thousand dollar package that will be required for X-pass. Though even if they only charged $13 a day for x-pass I would still be against the basic idea of micromanaging your vacation down to that level.

[goofy donald]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

There is a difference between a $13 E-ticket night and a multi thousand dollar package that will be required for X-pass. Though even if they only charged $13 a day for x-pass I would still be against the basic idea of micromanaging your vacation down to that level.

You cant say for certain what you don't know to be true.

[josefalero]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

You cant say for certain what you don't know to be true.

Which is why I wrote the next sentence.

[tloolgb]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

I'd say go back to E-Ride nights. They were fun perks, if they had them, great! If not, oh well. A bit hypocritical I am sure, but they really were not the same thing as Xpass.

You didn't have to take part in them to enjoy your vacation, they were a "perk" (and unlike EMH they didn't leave the park with just 4 hours of down time on holidays). You really can't get around at most times of year now without using Fastpass to your advantage, unlike E-Rides.

E-Rides were unlike Fastpass, and presumably Xpass, because it didn't influence everyone's day to day experience, which Fastpass/Xpass does/will. You could not know about E-Ride nights as a day guest, and have a wonderful time, spending time in the same lines as everyone else. With Fastpass/Xpass, you spend time in line, watching others pass by you, as you probably had before or would do later. So each use had an influence on someone else's day. E-Rides did not.

And Fastpass is free so everyone (in theory at least) had equal access to it. Xpass is not (and I don't care what Jim Hill says, it will not be free - just like the "free" transportation, the cost will just be rolled up into your room - they're not spending a chunk of their billion dollars on this to give it away).

E-Rides were part of the old Disney with "magical" experiences and bonuses. You could pay for the perk, but it didn't bother the day to day visitors. Xpass is part of a billion dollar project roll-out; they're going to recoup their costs somewhere, hence why your perks will increase the more you spend on a vacation package. But this isn't an after hours party 3-4 times a month, this is a day to day perk over/with your fellow guests walking around with you.

AND with 60,000+ hotel rooms, and probably a good deal of people in those rooms taking advantage of the Xpass, how special is it really going to be? That remains to be seen. This isn't the 500 room Miracosta giving out one bonus Fastpass to each guest (which could be argued is wrong in the same vein as Xpass), this is 60,000+ rooms offering multiple "bonuses" to each of their guests. The scope differences mean there is a lot that remains to be seen as far as the effect on the park.

I have no problem with after hours special events or rentals, and I think E-Ride nights was that. Similar to a company rent out, or the Gay Days parties. It was a fee for a perk after hours, not directly affecting someone else's visit. Fastpass and Xpass directly affect someone else in the park with you.

After all, there is a reason they are spending money to make so many of the queues interactive. They want the longer waits to be more enjoyable. When it is done right (Pooh), the queue is enjoyable. When they are done wrong (Mansion), not so much.

Anyhow, those are my thoughts on it. Its Apples to Oranges in my mind.

Edit: And! The couple times we did E-Ride nights, we skipped those attractions during the day and just rode them at night. So day guests those days, you are welcome.

[flynnibus]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

And Fastpass is free so everyone (in theory at least) had equal access to it. Xpass is not (and I don't care what Jim Hill says, it will not be free - just like the "free" transportation, the cost will just be rolled up into your room - they're not spending a chunk of their billion dollars on this to give it away)

By your own logic then - FP isn't free either. The cost to deploy and operate it are rolled up into other costs.. just like transportation and other services.

It's far more realistic to look at it as.. will it be available to all and will it require a specific outlay to get it. Latest rumor is.. available to all, and no specific outlay.

[yoyoflamingo]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

I miss the E-ride nights. A really hidden "perk" and well worth the nominal price to really feel like you owned the park!

[StrikeYerColors]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

How about an affordable E-Ride night that was only available for purchase if you were staying on property? That would cut down on crowds, and be a perk to stay in resort hotels. A small extra fee, nothing outlandish, would mean that not EVERYONE would want to buy it. Seems better than EMH to me.

I don't like the idea of X Pass at all, so with out without another option, I say "no" to it.

[goofy donald]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

How about an affordable E-Ride night that was only available for purchase if you were staying on property? That would cut down on crowds, and be a perk to stay in resort hotels. A small extra fee, nothing outlandish, would mean that not EVERYONE would want to buy it. Seems better than EMH to me.

I don't like the idea of X Pass at all, so with out without another option, I say "no" to it.

So essentially your saying people should pay for EMH? that would suck because if you decreased the price which was only at thirteen dollars before i believe, say to like 7, 90% of resort guests would pay that anyways. so say you pay that during busy season, only 10-15% of the people at maximum that were there during the day are gone. this essentially changes your experience 0 and turns into a huge cash grab for disney. if your going to give your guests a perk like that at least give it to them for free in the astronomical price of a vacation.

No one can really say they don't like xpass yet because no one knows what it is, how do you not like something you don't know? lol, just saying

[tloolgb]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

How about an affordable E-Ride night that was only available for purchase if you were staying on property? That would cut down on crowds, and be a perk to stay in resort hotels. A small extra fee, nothing outlandish, would mean that not EVERYONE would want to buy it.

So...that's the old E-Ride nights.

By your own logic then - FP isn't free either. The cost to deploy and operate it are rolled up into other costs.. just like transportation and other services. It's far more realistic to look at it as.. will it be available to all and will it require a specific outlay to get it. Latest rumor is.. available to all, and no specific outlay.

True, but lets just assume (though its more complicated than this) it is rolled up into Ticket Options. Everyone (basically) has to have a ticket to get in, so that's rolled into ticket costs, so its an equal share of costs, IE "free", for everyone coming. Even if the X-Pass is "free" but rolled up into your hotel room rates, then it is not "free" in the same way. To use it, you have to "pay" for the cost of a Disney Resort. You have to have a ticket to get in the park. You don't have to have a Disney hotel room to get into the park. So if you only get it through a Disney Hotel room, you're "paying" extra and getting perks/advantages over other visitors that do influence their visit (unlike E-Rides).

But your second part is correct: this all remains to be seen. But it is fun to hypothesize.

[tink66]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

I miss the E-ride nights. A really hidden "perk" and well worth the nominal price to really feel like you owned the park!

me too! i have been going to WDW for many years and used to love the E nights, with EMH its just not the same, E Nights used to cost abt US$10 each and tickets were only available to a limited number of resort guests ... so this ensured you almost had MK to yourself, we walked onto rides and stayed on some for a number of turns... even had Mickey to ourselves! now with so many resorts and Disney adding more value resorts the EMH are now just as busy as any "normal" day... perhaps even worse, and now the queues are so long, we now just dont bother - I would be prepared to go back to pay that little "extra" to have MK to what seemed such a privileged few......

We now mainly stick to the special events such as the Hallowe'en party.. costs a bit more than the US$10 each but it is limited and you do get something extra.....

[Dapper Dan]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

I miss when the parks just stayed open later.

[Dustysage]

Re: Xpass or E-ride nights?

I miss when the parks just stayed open later.

Me too. But the E-Ride nights were really nice. I only used that perk at really busy times of the year. It allowed me to ride the smaller rides during the day and save up the E-Tickets for the nighttime event. Really a nice experience.

They've just gotten so complicated with Fastpass, XPass, Dining Plan . . .

It seems that every new thing they add makes it more and more necessary for every aspect of your trip to be planned in advance. I miss the days of just being able to show up and bumble your way through the parks, exploring what you feel like at the moment.

As much as I've been able to take advantage of Fastpass (because I know how it works), I really wish it would just go away. Free Dining, Dining Plan, and their ilk as well. The best thing that could happen for guests is for the whole Next Gen project to fall flat on its billion dollar face. If it succeeds, even more extreme pre planning and fees are on the way.

Disney World was SOOOOO much more fun before the Pressler era (an era which seems to still be going strong in Florida).