Extra Magic Hours

[itutorfortravel]

Hi, does anyone know if Disney is cutting back on extra magic hours? I remember going during spring break a couple years ago and really enjoying a night at the Magic Kingdom until 3 am! I can see the calendar out until early april, and there are NO nighttime magic hours at MK. They are listing only being open till 9!? Really? Do you think this is really how early the parks will shut down at that time of year or have they just not listed all the magic hours yet?

 

[Shanti]

Hi, does anyone know if Disney is cutting back on extra magic hours? I remember going during spring break a couple years ago and really enjoying a night at the Magic Kingdom until 3 am! I can see the calendar out until early april, and there are NO nighttime magic hours at MK. They are listing only being open till 9!? Really? Do you think this is really how early the parks will shut down at that time of year or have they just not listed all the magic hours yet?

Yes, WDW has cut back on both regular operating hours and Extra Magic Hours over the past several years.

 

[rteetz]

Hi, does anyone know if Disney is cutting back on extra magic hours? I remember going during spring break a couple years ago and really enjoying a night at the Magic Kingdom until 3 am! I can see the calendar out until early april, and there are NO nighttime magic hours at MK. They are listing only being open till 9!? Really? Do you think this is really how early the parks will shut down at that time of year or have they just not listed all the magic hours yet?

Not all of EMH or regular hours are final but yes Disney has cut back. Hours are always subject to change and will even day of.

 

[DisMommyTX]

Late hours have been cut significantly. This past summer, all parks closed by 10 pm every night of our trip. Fortunately, hours were longer when we went in September, so I am hopeful that they will add some back to the regular schedule. The standard now is 2 late emh per week, Tues at EP and Wed at MK. Man I miss those late nights at AK and HS, and after midnight at MK was the best!

 

[itutorfortravel]

Ugh! DD was so excited about a possible 2 AM night at MK! We did it the last time we went to WDW at spring break. It was really fun!

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Hours are "cut" because they're angling to do Two tickets per day...many have already fallen for it...

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Ugh! DD was so excited about a possible 2 AM night at MK! We did it the last time we went to WDW at spring break. It was really fun!

That's now called "after hours magic"

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

Disney has really started to gauge their hours based on the "expected crowds" during your stay.

For example, I am at Walt Disney World now. The other night, WDW closed at 11 p.m. and stayed open until 1 a.m. for EMH. Tomorrow, the MK is open until 12 a.m. without EMH. Right now, EPCOT is open until 10 p.m. on weekends.

I have had hours changed for a trip as I was arriving and being surprised when I got to the resort. You just never know when Disney will make a change on the hours.

I have personally found 9 p.m. closings being a good thing (for me). It allows me to not be up to late late. It also makes it easier for me to get to bed early and get up for rope drop the next morning.

 

[nursejackie]

Hi, does anyone know if Disney is cutting back on extra magic hours? I remember going during spring break a couple years ago and really enjoying a night at the Magic Kingdom until 3 am! I can see the calendar out until early april, and there are NO nighttime magic hours at MK. They are listing only being open till 9!? Really? Do you think this is really how early the parks will shut down at that time of year or have they just not listed all the magic hours yet?

No, in our experience the final park hours are published the middle of the month before. So, for us visiting every December, we know what are advertised now will not be the actual hours. By the middle to third week of November the hours are usually updated and are a lot longer, with many more EMH's added, to MK especially. Although this may be because it's the busiest time of the year (staying 9th-26th), but it may be true at other busy periods e.g. easter and spring break.

 

[ReginaRJ]

Hi!! Anyone can tell me if the Marathon Weekend end Martin Luther King day affect the hours? I’m staying next January 4th-17th! Thanks

 

[Jim Shuler]

Hi, does anyone know if Disney is cutting back on extra magic hours? I remember going during spring break a couple years ago and really enjoying a night at the Magic Kingdom until 3 am! I can see the calendar out until early april, and there are NO nighttime magic hours at MK. They are listing only being open till 9!? Really? Do you think this is really how early the parks will shut down at that time of year or have they just not listed all the magic hours yet?

Disney is continuing to cut hours while raising ticket prices. Iger wants to lower Disney's carbon footprint-gag-at our expense. Meanwhile he has his corporate jets, lavish homes that uses more electricity in one month that the rest of use in a year, and has put his political aspirations ahead of Disney customers.

 

[lovethesun12]

I'm really curious about this too. Last year we booked in November (for Easter) and Disney had EMH every day of Easter week.

I'm not sure whether they posted it that early or not, but the difference is touring plans had the EMH listed. This year, my plans showed EMH at 7am as well. As soon as dining was booked, the touring plans website switched to a 9am opening (Easter Sunday). I'm not sure if this is a common occurance since I was later booking last year.

I'm wondering what the train of thought was behind the touring plans switch. Do they no longer think EMH will be available?

 

[HarvardAce]

Hi, does anyone know if Disney is cutting back on extra magic hours? I remember going during spring break a couple years ago and really enjoying a night at the Magic Kingdom until 3 am! I can see the calendar out until early april, and there are NO nighttime magic hours at MK. They are listing only being open till 9!? Really? Do you think this is really how early the parks will shut down at that time of year or have they just not listed all the magic hours yet?

We were just there a few weekends ago. When we were doing our initial planning ~60 days out, the crowd calendars showed EMH at the MK from 12AM to 2AM, but when we got there, there were no evening EMH that day.

It ended up not mattering because it was raining and we were exhausted well before even the normal close.

 

[David Daniels]

The writing is on the wall that Disney is weaning us off of EMH. They will still be around, it's just not going to be "included." Mark my words, it will be a paid option moving forward. (***coughs and clears throat, After Hours Events***)

 

[lovethesun12]

The writing is on the wall that Disney is weaning us off of EMH. They will still be around, it's just not going to be "included." Mark my words, it will be a paid option moving forward. (***coughs and clears throat, After Hours Events***)

I think that would be really hard to do, because it would definitely impact the number of people that decide to stay at their resorts.

 

[David Daniels]

I think that would be really hard to do, because it would definitely impact the number of people that decide to stay at their resorts.

Would it though? If you look at the EMH now, they're horrible compared to what they used to be. Almost every day of the week had them somewhere and there were considerably more evening EMH (which I think are the better value.) The parks don't get heavy until after 10am, so Early EMH don't seem to add that much of a benefit. If you get there right at Rope drop, you can hit most major rides by 11am. I was always a stay on property guy but now the benefits are lacking as of late.

 

[lovethesun12]

Would it though? If you look at the EMH now, they're horrible compared to what they used to be. Almost every day of the week had them somewhere and there were considerably more evening EMH (which I think are the better value.) The parks don't get heavy until after 10am, so Early EMH don't seem to add that much of a benefit. If you get there right at Rope drop, you can hit most major rides by 11am. I was always a stay on property guy but now the benefits are lacking as of late.

It wouldn't impact everyone, but I can't see it not having some impact.We stay on-site over Easter which is one of the busiest (and most expensive) times of year. The reason we started to stay on-site was definitely mostly due to our first visit which was an off-site stay fighting crowds at the park all day. While there are many benefits to staying on-site, EMH is the biggest perk for us. The entire week we have EMH for MK. Typically only spend a few hours in the parks to try all the rides.

I love Disney but if there's no benefit to staying on-site (especially during the most expensive time of year), I'm probably not going to stay there. I could get a better resort with better food for much cheaper.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I think that would be really hard to do, because it would definitely impact the number of people that decide to stay at their resorts.

...no...it wouldn't

 

[jade1]

Disney is continuing to cut hours while raising ticket prices. Iger wants to lower Disney's carbon footprint-gag-at our expense. Meanwhile he has his corporate jets, lavish homes that uses more electricity in one month that the rest of use in a year, and has put his political aspirations ahead of Disney customers.

Hilarious. The whole place should be closed if that's the case. According to some, the waters are warmer because of it making these hurricanes worse, so they should be on board.

By the way Betty was lit last night and no strobe, not sure if that's SOP now but kinda liked it.

 

[WDWFan0813]

I looked at their most recent posted annual report, and it appears occupancy rates have increased 2014 vs 2015 and 2015 vs 2016, at least domestically. Although I would like to think it would affect the bottom line and they would reverse course, it doesn't appear too. Personally, having young kids, we don't take too much advantage of EMH but do stay on property because the kids love being immersed in Disney. As they get older, should we continue to go, the lower "value" of staying on-site without EMH could change our mind.

Also, the thing that frustrates me most about the hours, is it makes it just a little harder to plan. You have to book some dining 180+ days in advance, as well as certain FP's, and even though you may want to do that based on what park is open until what time, you can't always count on it.