WDW extends operating hours for June

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Good news on the opening hours for the Magic Kingdom. Disney has just extended its hours for the end of June. MK was due to saty open until 10pm on all days except Sunday and Wednesday when it would close at 9pm (with no Specromagic parade when the park closed early). With the change in hours the park will stay open until at least 10pm every day (with Spectromagin also making an appearance every day). Park hours now seem to be extended on Monday evenings until 11pm or even midnight (on June 24th) with two Spectro shows on these days. E-nights appear regularly, on each Tuesday and Friday in JUne (I guess Disney see this as a good way of getting more money out of people!).

It's not a big change to the operating hours. For example, Animal KIngdom is scheduled to open only from 9am to 6pm, a miserable 9 hours (it was opening for 13 hours when the park opened in 1998). However, it is certainly a step in the right direction. This time last year Disney was cutting its operating hours, and that was before the travel decline after 11 September.

There are no changes (yet) to hours in July, and hours for August are not yet available. I would expect improvements in opertaing hours through until at least mid-August, presumbably as Disney responds to increasing attendance. The hours for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure are available through to the Autumn, and are much better than last year.

Regards

Rob

 

[WDWfan uk]

..... it is good news, and also indicates park attendance is on the increase.
I was really pleased that they didn't cancel e-nights for June as they did for May.
When we visited Animal Kingdom last week, the park hours were 9.00am to 5.00pm yet I was surprised to see that the numbers in the park at 9.00am were just the same as when I visited the park at 7.30am in April 2001.