August 2018 park hours

AshRNMommy

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 5, 2018
When is it safe to make solid plans based off of park hours? I think they have hours for August up, but I'm worried if I set dining reservations and such now, that hours and extra magic hours may change.
 
Hours can change up to and including the day of... so I'd say just do whatever you're gonna do and be open to "wing it" if needed.
 
You may need to be flexible with this. Any ADRs in the middle of the day can probably stay the same no matter how park hours change. Reserve any PPO ADRs or evening ADRs close to possible park closing and once they update hours, you can cancel if needed. I’m pretty sure that you can generally cancel with no charge up until 24 hours before the reservation.
 


At this point, the most I see happening is them extending evening or morning hours . I think EMH is more solid at this point.

I would not wait to make plans. I’ve had my ADRs set for quite some time now for August this year.

Dan
 
EMH days seldom change unless Disney feels it is busy enough to add extras, but the park hours likely won't be final until a couple weeks before you travel so all you can do is try to make some educated guesses and adjust later if needed.
 
I’m hoping they don’t open earlier as I have PPO Breakfasts scheduled for my August trip. But, if they do for MGM or AK, I can cancel or reschedule my ADRs as I’m not relying on them to get a jump on rides.

For Epcot, if they do extend, I just hope it is before June 13 so I know what I’m getting into when I choose my Tier 1 FastPass.
 


When is it safe to make solid plans based off of park hours? I think they have hours for August up, but I'm worried if I set dining reservations and such now, that hours and extra magic hours may change.

Dining reservations for August opened back in February. I wouldn't wait any longer. You can always cancel, change and modify.

The park hours were posted also in February. Those are the hour, however, they could be extended, based on crowds. This won't happen until July or even August the night itself.

I'm going to take a guess that they will probably extend the DHS Friday evening extra magic hours they added for July, into August. They won't do this until closer to August.
 
Ok guys, thanks! I am mostly concerned about the EMH because that will determine what park we're going to on what day (we want to avoid EMH parks because we want to try to lessen crowds any way we can). We don't have park hopper, so we have to plan strategically. The only thing I know for sure is that we are going to avoid MK on Saturday. Our other days are Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Will be there at the beginning of August. Any suggestions for which parks which day?
 
Ok guys, thanks! I am mostly concerned about the EMH because that will determine what park we're going to on what day (we want to avoid EMH parks because we want to try to lessen crowds any way we can). We don't have park hopper, so we have to plan strategically. The only thing I know for sure is that we are going to avoid MK on Saturday. Our other days are Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Will be there at the beginning of August. Any suggestions for which parks which day?

I always avoid MK on Sundays and Mondays.

I've read many years ago, people begin their vacations on Sundays and Mondays and their first park to hit is always Magic Kingdom. We've found the later in the week is always less crowded. Although, that doesn't always work out with our plans. Nowadays, Mk is always crowded regardless. As long as you have a plan and FP+, you should be fine.
 
Check your August dates again, Disney just extended hours for Hollywood Studios.

For my dates, the entire week will have AM-EMH at 7am. Friday will have both AM & PM-EMH until 12:30 am.

My H&V PPO is no longer PPO. Fortunately, I had planned to take my time, so not that big of a deal. You couldn't drag me out of bed for a 7 AM EMH RD, so I will probably leave it where it is. On the plus side, it looks like they'll be open until 10:30 PM and be doing 2 showing of Fantasmic a night. A little while back I moved some of my ADRs around (to make half the park days start later in the day), so I only had 2 PPOs left - now down to 1 (Akershus).
 
Unfortunately we go the last week of august and they haven't added the AM or PM EMH that week. Holding out hope they still may, but probably not since its a lower crowd week.
 
Check your August dates again, Disney just extended hours for Hollywood Studios.

For my dates, the entire week will have AM-EMH at 7am. Friday will have both AM & PM-EMH until 12:30 am.

My dates have EMH at 7am everyday and park is open until 1030. Thanks for the heads up!
 
My H&V PPO is no longer PPO. Fortunately, I had planned to take my time, so not that big of a deal. You couldn't drag me out of bed for a 7 AM EMH RD, so I will probably leave it where it is. On the plus side, it looks like they'll be open until 10:30 PM and be doing 2 showing of Fantasmic a night. A little while back I moved some of my ADRs around (to make half the park days start later in the day), so I only had 2 PPOs left - now down to 1 (Akershus).

I might go ahead move it a little later (9:30 or so) since its no longer PPO.
 
My H&V PPO is no longer PPO. Fortunately, I had planned to take my time, so not that big of a deal. You couldn't drag me out of bed for a 7 AM EMH RD, so I will probably leave it where it is. On the plus side, it looks like they'll be open until 10:30 PM and be doing 2 showing of Fantasmic a night. A little while back I moved some of my ADRs around (to make half the park days start later in the day), so I only had 2 PPOs left - now down to 1 (Akershus).

Me either! I have no interest in a 7am EMH.

I'd rather adjust our schedule to make the midnight closing on Friday. Just have to wait and see how crowded Toy Story Land will be in the evenings. I'm hoping we can jump on one ride without a FP at that hour.
 
I might go ahead move it a little later (9:30 or so) since its no longer PPO.

What about moving it to 10:30 am so you can make it brunch? That way you can get a few attractions in before dining. You might also catch the buffet changeover into lunch. We always do this at Tusker House.
 
Question. I had planned 2 MGM days (one for AS2 and one for SDD). For the other MGM day, with the extended hours, I'm thinking I could start a little later and move some stuff from before dinner to after dinner (50s PT). TouringPlans shows all the shows (Indiana Jones, Frozen Sing Along, Disney Junior, etc...) with last showings between 5:40 and 6:30 PM. Disney doesn't have show times for August listed online yet, so I don't know if this is still correct. Is it likely Disney will add additional shows and will they run until close to closing?
 

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