BEWARE-EARLY PARK CLOSINGS AT WDW!!

[Dmlc]

Super dissapointed..my family goes to WDW first week of March every year. Just booked for 2019 and noticed that Magic Kingdom closing at 8PM that week. I just called Disney and the earlier hours are not an error on their website as I had hoped. Considering the price we pay for our tickets, my kids are going to be really disappointed to have to leave the park at 8. We are considering canceling our reservation at Disney and going somewhere else this year. I hope others that book through the winter check hours before buying tickets. Very disappointing!!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Super dissapointed..my family goes to WDW first week of March every year. Just booked for 2019 and noticed that Magic Kingdom closing at 8PM that week. I just called Disney and the earlier hours are not an error on their website as I had hoped. Considering the price we pay for our tickets, my kids are going to be really disappointed to have to leave the park at 8. We are considering canceling our reservation at Disney and going somewhere else this year. I hope others that book through the winter check hours before buying tickets. Very disappointing!!

to the DIS!

FYI, posted park hours that far out (especially at MK) should be viewed as bare minimum hours and are highly likely to change. Disney’s current trend is to update park hours early/mid month for the following month, generally speaking.

With the exception of making adjustments for Easter (which was 4/1 this past year) and with a caveat that past performance doesn’t always indicate future results, using March 2018 hours can be a reasonable proxy to use until you get better/more accurate info from Disney closer to your trip.

 

[mesaboy2]

Super dissapointed..my family goes to WDW first week of March every year. Just booked for 2019 and noticed that Magic Kingdom closing at 8PM that week. I just called Disney and the earlier hours are not an error on their website as I had hoped. Considering the price we pay for our tickets, my kids are going to be really disappointed to have to leave the park at 8. We are considering canceling our reservation at Disney and going somewhere else this year. I hope others that book through the winter check hours before buying tickets. Very disappointing!!

Yeah, the hours you’re looking at are not final. They are only a guideline this far out. WDW has done it this way for years.

 

[maxiesmom]

No need to panic. The hours will change.

 

[Farro]

8:00 closings seem weird though, right? I thought the earliest they closed is 9?

 

[Alesia]

8:00 closings seem weird though, right? I thought the earliest they closed is 9?

No. This has been pretty standard for the last 4 or 5 years. Hours will be extended.

9:00 is the standard closing time for Epcot, though.

 

[Shanti]

Super dissapointed..my family goes to WDW first week of March every year. Just booked for 2019 and noticed that Magic Kingdom closing at 8PM that week. I just called Disney and the earlier hours are not an error on their website as I had hoped. Considering the price we pay for our tickets, my kids are going to be really disappointed to have to leave the park at 8. We are considering canceling our reservation at Disney and going somewhere else this year. I hope others that book through the winter check hours before buying tickets. Very disappointing!!

Agreed. These early closing hours are ridiculous, especially for what Disney charges.

9pm used to be a bare minimum for off-season. Now it's standard. Now 8pm closings have started occurring.

What next? 5pm? Disney is all about cutting costs in any way possible, these days.

 

[Robo]

Hmmmmm.

 

[gharter]

If that is considered a slower time of year, that could be part of the reason for shorter hours.
However, as others have said, the hours most likely will change.

 

[anomamatt]

Agreed. These early closing hours are ridiculous, especially for what Disney charges.

9pm used to be a bare minimum for off-season. Now it's standard. Now 8pm closings have started occurring.

What next? 5pm? Disney is all about cutting costs in any way possible, these days.

When has MK closed at 8pm? (Aside from party nights). Maybe a few nights in Jan? It’s certainly not common.

As for 9pm being standard, previous park hours don’t support that statement. But I’m not sure what months are considered “off season” these days. See here for an accurate historical calendar: https://www.wdwmagic.com/calendar.htm

The initial hours posted are placeholders. MK will almost certainly not close at 8pm.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

When has MK closed at 8pm? (Aside from party nights). Maybe a few nights in Jan? It’s certainly not common.

As for 9pm being standard, previous park hours don’t support that statement. But I’m not sure what months are considered “off season” these days. See here for an accurate historical calendar: https://www.wdwmagic.com/calendar.htm

The initial hours posted are placeholders. MK will not close at 8pm.

When we went in February, MK closed at 8pm the day we went, HEA was at 7:15pm.

 

[hiroMYhero]

MK closes at 9:00p on Thursday, March 7th, 2019...DAH begins at 9p that night.

 

[anomamatt]

When we went in February, MK closed at 8pm the day we went, HEA was at 7:15pm.

Looks like 4 nights in Feb 2018 closed at 8pm. 16 nights MK was open until 10pm or later. 8 nights closed at 9pm.

 

[maxiesmom]

Agreed. These early closing hours are ridiculous, especially for what Disney charges.

9pm used to be a bare minimum for off-season. Now it's standard. Now 8pm closings have started occurring.

What next? 5pm? Disney is all about cutting costs in any way possible, these days.

You have been around enough to know that the hours will change. No reason to go off on a cost cutting tangent, on this subject at least.

 

[MrKnight]

Based on history, I can only hope and assume that the park hours will be adjusted as mentioned previously. Early closings at MKP are very rare unless there is a special nighttime event that night.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Hmm

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

OP... unless you are using park hoppers make sure there are no after hours or early morning magic events scheduled at the park you plan on visiting that day (as well as EMH if you stay off site). As others have mentioned, disney gradually expands park hours on a given day up to about 2 weeks before. They almost never reduce hours so they don't have to "take things away." Also keep in mind that WDW has started letting guests in and on to rides as early as 1hr (us. abt 30 min) before posted openings to prevent tapstile and security backups at DHS and AK. At MK you can get on main street up to an hour before official opening.

 

[CAS239]

If you're worrying about hours more than a month or two out, then you're worrying far too early.

It's placeholder hours that will be updated when the time gets closer. No need to call or complain.

 

[Dmlc]

When I called Disney about the hours, the representayive I spoke with was surprised about the early hours. She said there are no special events that week. I book our vacation 6 months in advance every year and there was never an 8pm closing of MK that week at booking. I am hopeful they will extend the hours, but based on my conversation with the representative I don’t think I can count ont it.

 

[Miskey]

That is the week of Mardi Gras. Definitely feel hours will be extended