I have been asking if the park really does close that late....we are going in Dec and I know I will have a hard time getting my group up early so I'm glad to hear that they do stay open that late...when did you go that it was open that late? Are any attractions open...TIA for all of your answers
When the MK is scheduled to close at 11PM and there is a PM EMH that night, the MK will close to WDW resort guests at 1AM.
When the MK is scheduled to close at 12 Mid and there is a PM EMH that night, the MK will close to WDW resort guests at 2AM.
When the MK is scheduled to close at 1AM and there is a PM EMH that night, the MK will close to WDW resort guests at 3AM.
Except for a few minor exceptions, most MK attractions are open for PM EMH.
DHS and Epcot also offer PM EMH on an average of at least once per week.
The same "2 hours past posted closing time" and many/most attractions being in operation apply at those parks, as well.
What
@Robo said
@neto0312. We've been there for EMH nights that ended at 3 a.m. before and stayed until after 4 a.m. during one of the 24-hour parties!
and again why would you think its ok to stay in the park for 2hrs after closing!! I just don't understand it and that strikes me as the attitude that you are the only one who matters. The CM's have a right to go home. The maintenance has a right to do their jobs without you being there. Just a little common courtesy would be nice.
Because it is okay and we've been talked to many, many cast members and CM managers over the years. We typically will ride a final ride at park closing and then my husband likes to take night time photos as we leave the park. Sometimes I'll go grab a snack at Casey's (which, by the way, stays open at least a half-hour after official closing every night -- same with the Emporium) and watch the Kiss Goodnight.
That Kiss Goodnight happens 45 minutes to an hour after official park closing. And then they run it again about a half-hour later -- so I'm fairly certain they're not running them for a park that is supposed to be completely devoid of guests at that point.
The CMs do their jobs, including clean-up, maintenance and everything else they typically do as the park closes. They're not waiting to do anything because there are still guests there.
highly suspect that staying 90mins - 2hrs after park closing would soon be stopped if too many people started to do this. Ultimately this would add to costs if more staff needed to stay longer.
No extra staff needed for us, we know the CMs' closing pattern. They start at the back of the lands and sweep forward toward the hub, then up Main Street. We follow the same path. We don't necessarily stay that late every night we're in the park, just when Franklin has specific photos he wanted to take. Especially for Halloween/Holiday decor.
Heck, in May, I grabbed a Grey Goose slushie in the World Showcase before Illuminations and just wandered around sipping for about an hour afterward while Franklin took nighttime photos of the Flower and Garden topiaries.
To be clear, we're
NOT HIDING in the parks, hoping to get to stay longer than Disney allows for. Just simply adhering to the way Disney closes its parks.
Disney isn't adding to a CMs day by sweeping guests out of the park, those sweeps take that long anyway and are built into the CMs' schedules.
Missy and her husband are friends of mine. Neither one of them would ever break the rules or cause a problem at a Disney park. I can assure you that they were operating within the acceptable behaviors AND areas allowed on the nights that they stayed. Keep in mind that Disney has certain protocols in place to sweep the park of guests. When the park needs to be empty of guests these protocols are put into place. It's important to note that there are nights when the parks are open late for extra magic hours as well as the occasional 24 hour event. Managers, security personnel and transportation employees are all SCHEDULED to work these hours and none of them are being inconvenienced by having to ever wait for guests.
~NM
Thank you! We'd never do anything that would break Disney's rules and risk getting banned from the parks! We go way too often to let something like that happen.
