Magic Kingdom opening hours extended for selected dates in June

[bbjunkie]

This impacts one of our MK days. I had made a PPO ADR at Crystal Palace so we could get a jump on Adventureland and Frontierland. We still plan on going to CP because it's one of our favorite breakfasts. My concern is the crowds at the gate and getting to our ADR on time. My plan is to be at the bus stop around 6:30am and, weather permitting, go bag free so we can skip the bag check line. Would that time be early enough coming from AKL?

ETA - We drive to WDW. Would a better plan be to leave AKL around 6:15-6:30am, valet park at the CR then walk to MK? Our ADR is at 8:05am.

Your best bet that early might honestly be to drive and park at the TTC. Not as many people as you would think will take advantage of that first hour. (Or really, the second and third hour, too). While it will seem crowded at the gate because people will be waiting for the Welcome Show, it really isn't as many people as it feels like once you get in the park.

 

[bbjunkie]

I think I would try to book a later breakfast so you can take advantage of the low wait times in the morning. If there are any reservations available that is.

This is a good idea, too.

 

[maryj11]

How does the park opening an hour earlier "make all of your plans useless?" You are agreeing with someone that is upset because of fast pass reservations being made 30-60 days out, but how does that effect anything at all? The fast passes don't change a bit. If you want to take advantage of the extra hour of park time, you can, if you don't want to get there an hour earlier, you don't have to. It doesn't change a thing. If you had PPO ADR, it is made clear that what that guarantees for you is breakfast. If that is the case, there now may be more people in the park, but it won't be super-crowded because in that first hour it never is. And Disney changes their hours all the time. On our last trip, they were adding hours at the end of the day IN THE MORNING OF THE SAME DAY. So, you may want to consider that as a possibility as well.

Honestly, there are threads with people complaining ad nauseum about how the parks are open for less and less hours and bilking guests out of more and more money for less time. They extend the hours and people complain again.

I wasn't just talking about MK opening earlier , it has just been one change after another and having to rearrange dining and FP's in most the parks. The last minute changes are making it really hard to plan ahead.

 

[jrmasm]

I wasn't just talking about MK opening earlier , it has just been one change after another and having to rearrange dining and FP's in most the parks. The last minute changes are making it really hard to plan ahead.

Exactly, constant changes. Every week something new! ROl, no Rol, Jungle Book, Soarin' new, Soarin' old, FEA, Early Magic, New Star Wars, Old Star Wars etc, etc, etc.

I'm happy to be going and will have a great time but this trip (mid June) has been the most complicated by far for me to plan ever. I'm exhausted and I'm not even there yet.

 

[Bree]

I think I would try to book a later breakfast so you can take advantage of the low wait times in the morning. If there are any reservations available that is.

I did just that! I don't know why I didn't think of that LOL! There was a 10:30am available so I changed it. We had planned to leave by 12pm for resort time so the new ADR time works out perfectly.

 

[ashleyrm]

Well I don't see the 21st there and that's when we'll be there!

That's because they excluded the days that have the "Early Morning Magic" thing.

 

[Aravan24]

For those that were confused about how the 8am opening would 'screw up' peoples dining plans it's primarily because they were taking advantage of a loophole that allows people to book dining reservations prior to the official park opening. Then, by the time they get done with their breakfast they are positioned to hit many of the premium attractions with minimal wait since they're in ahead of most of the park guests. With the new park hours being changed to 8am they now potentially have issues getting to their breakfast reservations on time to to having to deal with the rope drop crowds (although Disney usually handles this fairly well) and also with coming out of their breakfast reservation to a park that has been open for almost a full hour...long enough for the standby lines to have built up.

That said, it should be noted that as with any loophole that is being taken advantage of, it should be expected that they will close eventually and the inability to take advantage of them any longer isn't 'poor customer service'. It's simply the way business and pretty much everything else works.

 

[capegirl]

Thank you for explanation and other point of view. Why would a guest need to cancel an ADR if the park opened early? I must be missing something here... It is true I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer... Do the restaurants change their hours?

The whole point of booking a PPO ADR is to get into the park early. So if you had an 8am ADR at BOG, you would have made your reservation on a day when MK opens at 9am. When the park hours are changed it has an impact on your ADR. Sure you can still have your breakfast at 8am, but you will be in line behind all those who walked into to park at 8am while you were eating breakfast. Disney promotes advanced planning. They know changing up park hours will change plans.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

June 5, 6, 8, 9, 15, 16, 20, 22, 23, 27, 2016. Opening at 8 am instead of 9am

Thanks for posting this!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

The whole point of booking a PPO ADR is to get into the park early. So if you had an 8am ADR at BOG, you would have made your reservation on a day when MK opens at 9am. When the park hours are changed it has an impact on your ADR. Sure you can still have your breakfast at 8am, but you will be in line behind all those who walked into to park at 8am while you were eating breakfast. Disney promotes advanced planning. They know changing up park hours will change plans.

I see I did not realise people did this. thank you for explanation. You would need to wolf down that breakfast before rope drop!

 

[IsThatYouTigger]

I am in the boat of being glad they're extending park hours, but I COMPLETELY sympathize with everyone who booked those coveted pre-park opening ADR's. With Disney going to the peak, regular, and value pricing for 1 day tickets one would assume (and really hope) that the parks would be open the longest of the year during that peak pricing season! Part of me wonders if changing the hours so close to the day helps more people or hurts more people? There are so many factors that come into play when planning a Disney vacation. Add to that...doing it the way Disney wants you to do it planning so far out to take the most advantage. In a perfect world hours would be set at 180 days when ADR's open, but I think we all know that's never going to happen...

 

[ArielSRL]

Living in a family of sleepers, I'd prefer they extended the closing times, but oh well. Can't have everything.

I totally agree!

 

[ArielSRL]

What does the park opening an hour earlier have to do with booking your fast passes? It doesn't impact your fast passes at all. It's giving you more park time.

Some people plan their day based on current hours and yes that includes FP. Maybe you are a non-planner or a go with the flow person but not everyone is. It's ok for people to be annoyed at a last minute change for something they planned months in advance. It honestly confuses me that some people can't understand that not everyone is exactly the same and thinks the same way.

 

[dlavender]

Gosh, I hate it when those Disney penny pinching misers are out there reducing costs, cutting hours and giving people less for their park entry. Makes me so mad at WDW every time I read about all the ways Disney is cheapening the park experience reducing the value of a ticket by ...

Never mind.

June 1-30th 2011 - 439 Included hours + 36 EMH = 475 (Wow, EMH)
June 1-30th 2012 - 426 Included hours + 35 EMH= 461 (Wow, EMH)
June 1-30th 2013 - 431 Included hours + 13 EMH = 444
June 1-30th 2014 - 461 Included hours + 11 EMH = 472
June 1-30th 2015 - 469 Included hours + 12 EMH = 481
June 1-30th 2016 - 425 Included hours + 14 EMH = 439 - Just added 10 hours, new total 449......

That's where you get the reducing costs, cutting hours comments, because 449<481.......

ETA I am happy for those going in June that they added those 10 hours. Great move by Disney. Just need to add about 32 more....

 

[Chevy]

June 5, 6, 8, 9, 15, 16, 20, 22, 23, 27, 2016. Opening at 8 am instead of 9am

Interesting, they are doing every W/Th except the 29-30. We have a PPO ADR on the 30th. It's a "best" day to go since the 29th has PM EMH at MK, and the 30th has EM EMH at Epcot. I have a child who doesn't do well with the crowds at RD, so I'm willing to pay for breakfast to guarantee a calm walk in and a good spot to hit the popular attractions before the lines build.

This happened to us the last time we went in July. It was much too late to switch our CRT to a different day. We were sitting by a window and could see the crowds growing throughout our meal. But luckily it was our second day in the park, so we were headed to Frontierland. Still, we were only able to do one ride with a < 20 min wait.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

People may want to go to MK on a different day based on these changes. They may want to be able to take advantage of the extra hour, but initially planned on going to Epcot. Or they may like sleeping in and now want to avoid MK knowing that more people will now be ahead of them. FP+ makes it much harder to do that since some FP are so hard to get.

 

[whiporee]

I migh

June 1-30th 2011 - 439 Included hours + 36 EMH = 475 (Wow, EMH)
June 1-30th 2012 - 426 Included hours + 35 EMH= 461 (Wow, EMH)
June 1-30th 2013 - 431 Included hours + 13 EMH = 444
June 1-30th 2014 - 461 Included hours + 11 EMH = 472
June 1-30th 2015 - 469 Included hours + 12 EMH = 481
June 1-30th 2016 - 425 Included hours + 14 EMH = 439 - Just added 10 hours, new total 449......

That's where you get the reducing costs, cutting hours comments, because 449<481.......

ETA I am happy for those going in June that they added those 10 hours. Great move by Disney. Just need to add about 32 more....

I might be wrong, but I think you have a math error the 2015 hours. That would have had the park open an average of 15.5 hours a day, or that it would be open 8- midnight (or 9-1) almost every day. I haven't checked the hours, but that seems like it would be excessive.

if you've checked and are correct, my apologies, But that number really sticks out.

 

[bjscheel]

Thanks for posting! We are there the 16th, and can get up early. Oh, except we're at AK the night before and hope to stay late. We'll see!

It's kind of too bad this didn't happen on the 14th (that's an EMM, so it wouldn't), because I have a PPO BOG and I'm on the fence about whether a $100 breakfast is worth the one ride on SDMT. An early open would have made up my mind to cancel!

 

[dlavender]

I migh


I might be wrong, but I think you have a math error the 2015 hours. That would have had the park open an average of 15.5 hours a day, or that it would be open 8- midnight (or 9-1) almost every day. I haven't checked the hours, but that seems like it would be excessive.

if you've checked and are correct, my apologies, But that number really sticks out.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/hours/june15.cfm

There's the website where I pulled my data....

Yes, there were many 8 am til 1 am days, as well as the park was open until at least midnight everyday of the month. Hard to believe compared to this year, huh?

 

[whiporee]

Yep. My bad and my apologies.