I'm confused, if park hours aren't posted for September.....

clarkinstlouis

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 11, 2010
how can I plan dinners, events, ect. So frustrating. 11 days until my 180 mark and I'm not holding my breath they will be out.
 
Hours and such I understand. But need to know when parties are, EMH, to plan accordingly. Of course they will change some but a framework would be nice. Fingers crossed!
 


Maybe I’m wrong, but I thought EMH were pretty standard and didn’t change that often.
 
how can I plan dinners, events, ect. So frustrating. 11 days until my 180 mark and I'm not holding my breath they will be out.

I usually plan a late August/early September trip. This happened in 2015, 2016, 2017. It is extremely frustrating. Yes, you can make guesses based on the past, but my experience each of those years was that I ending up shifting stuff around once the hours did come out. It was an annoyance to have everything settled and then feel the need to re-scheduled it.

I don't know when your trip is planned, but keep in mind that the last 3 years at least, the hours in September were not exactly the same as August hours. For example, Fantasmic time changes from 9:00pm to 8:30pm after Labor Day. Halloween parties cause early closing in Magic Kindgom -- this caused me the most difficulty last year.
 


You will know initial hours and EMH a day or so before you need to book dining. You’ll know parties too - those days MK will have a 6pm close.
 
I think it's sad that you have to know where you want to eat and at what time 6 months out

A little dramatic. Character meals and BOG are really the only ones you will have trouble booking even the night before. On the reservation system now and I can book a reservation for a table of 4 today at most restaurants.
 
I think it's sad that you have to know where you want to eat and at what time 6 months out


That isn't quite accurate. We only book a few that far in advance and it's for must do meals. Now I do think that it causes people to hoard ADRs, but that's a whole other thread...
 
That isn't quite accurate. We only book a few that far in advance and it's for must do meals. Now I do think that it causes people to hoard ADRs, but that's a whole other thread...

I agree. We don’t have any must-do meals. I do my best at 180 days, but if I later need to move/cancel an ADR I don’t sweat it. But I don’t care about CRT, BOG, etc. Now that there is mobile ordering, I don’t even bother with BOG lunch. So that basically leaves me making world showcase or resort adr’s, which are easy enough to get.
 
Popular locations can, and do, fill up during free dining offer seasons (like September)so it is very important to book them early. When we've visited in September (5 times), we do book around EMH and MNSSHP, so I feel the frustration of the OP when Disney is releasing park hours strictly 180 days in advance, day by day.

This is what I do. Use touringplans.com to look at last year's park schedules and hours as a guide. For instance, if you are wondering what Monday September 17th will look like this year, look at Monday September 18th from 2017, and so on...

Dan
 
Its a rolling calendar. One day at a time.
Once you hit your 180 you should also be able to see park hours for 10 days past that to plan what parks what days and what times for your ADR's.
You can also look at 3rd party sites that have an unofficial calendar that likely already includes your dates.
Beware though that Disney tends to change/update park hours about 3-6 weeks prior and they can change even the day of.
Disney has kind of done away with predictability. Frustrating for some but others go with the flow.
 
Just FYI, on Disney's website, you can see a few days in advance of the 180 day window by doing this:
  • Hover over "My Disney Experience"
  • Click "My Itinerary"
  • Click "Add Plans" --> Click "Add Parks & Places"
  • Change the date at the top
Using today as an example, you can see through 8/31.
 
Just make your plans around the current posted hours. If they change (and they most likely will) it will be opening earlier or later so your plans will be fine.
 
Just make your plans around the current posted hours. If they change (and they most likely will) it will be opening earlier or later so your plans will be fine.

The people concerned are probably hoping for PPO breakfasts, which don’t work when hours change.
 
It's a combination of things, and thanks for all the great replies. We love PPO breakfasts, something about walking through an empty park we all love. It's about those traditions we have come to love over many trips. It's about sitting at Crown and Thorn for the Epcot display. I wish I didn't need to book 6 months out, but it is what it is. The trickiest is when they shut MK for a party, and you have an ADR late in the park.

Thanks for all the good input. I will just keep watching!
 

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