What’s up with park hours?

[lowlight]

For those who have a better memory than me, or know of a site that tracks historical hours, were park hours always this terrible for spring? I had a trip a week ago, and I remember thinking the 9-6 at AK and 9-9 hours at the other 3 parks (I think MK was open to 11 one day) would change a few weeks before we left as it has done for past trips, but it never did. Why are park hours so terrible for spring break/easter crowds? I can understand them being 9-9 in low season (when is that again hah), but for April? I’m pretty sure the hours were the same as my January trip a few months ago.

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

I don't know how popular my reply will be, but I think it's because Disney can. If we're willing to pay 40% more than pre-Covid and get less park time, there's no reason for Disney to change. I can remember long ago when the Magic Kingdom routinely stayed open until 1 AM during the summer, and opened at 7 AM or so. I used to wonder how they could get all the overnight maintenance done in so short a time. Epcot has pretty much always been 9-9, and I know AK and Studios used to stay open later, if not also open earlier.

And as the subsequent poster points out, they've figured out that we will pay for late hours (AH events) when we used to get them included in our regular tickets.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Here's historical park hours https://www.wdwmagic.com/calendar.htm

But post covid, hours have been a little different, plus you add in the EEH for deluxe guests and then AH paid ticketed events, there's less dates on the calendar that the parks stay open late to all.

 

[lowlight]

Here's historical park hours https://www.wdwmagic.com/calendar.htm

But post covid, hours have been a little different, plus you add in the EEH for deluxe guests and then AH paid ticketed events, there's less dates on the calendar that the parks stay open late to all.

Thank you, that’s exactly what I was looking for. I wonder if those hours are the actual hours they were open, or the official hours Disney posts when the schedule first comes out a few months ahead of time.

I can remember long ago when the Magic Kingdom routinely stayed open until 1 AM during the summer, and opened at 7 AM or so. I used to wonder how they could get all the overnight maintenance done in so short a time. Epcot has pretty much always been 9-9, and I know AK and Studios used to stay open later, if not also open earlier.

Going by the calendar from PP, it does appear Epcot had mostly always been 9-9, so maybe I’m remembering EEH being more often than they are now, and also EE only being 30 minutes now is a drag. I do remember being in AK past sunset on prior trips (8ish), so I was kind of shocked it was 6 every day.

 

[auralia]

We were there last week. They increased MK hours to 11 many days and from ) to 7 at AK. Some of the changes were made just says before.

 

[blabbermouth]

We are going this weekend and next week. There are a few early mornings and late nights at MK and AK on the weekend, but the other two parks are pretty consistent. And all earlier during the weekdays.

 

[ParrotBill]

We were there last week. They increased MK hours to 11 many days and from ) to 7 at AK. Some of the changes were made just says before.

I've been afraid they would do this once I saw posted park hours are limited. it wreaks havoc with required advance dining reservations! Suddenly the park is open later and you have to cancel a reservation if you want to stay in the park and find an alternate dinner - which is unlikely so you have to do walk-ins or counter service.

 

[OlliePop27]

If you want consistently long park hours, consider visiting Disneyland. DL Park is open 8:00 - Midnight most days of the year, sometimes closing at 11:00 (or occasionally earlier if there's a special event). DCA is often open 8:00 - 10:00.

The combo of the early mornings and late nights makes for great park experiences. For people coming from the Central or Eastern time zones, you can get a ton done with very light crowds from 8:00 - 10:00 every morning.

 

[elvispursley]

I've been afraid they would do this once I saw posted park hours are limited. it wreaks havoc with required advance dining reservations! Suddenly the park is open later and you have to cancel a reservation if you want to stay in the park and find an alternate dinner - which is unlikely so you have to do walk-ins or counter service.

You generally can find last minute ADRs a ton easier last minute than in years past.

 

[dreynolds1982]

Just saw they did some tweaks to the park hours for our upcoming trip (May 3-10). Nothing massive, at least for the days we're going to the parks. Do get some extra MK time (we're doing deluxe EMH and it went from 9-11pm to 10-12am). Did find it interesting that they pushed AK opening earlier, from 9 to 8 am. I'm used to seeing the closing times change but not the opening, but guess they do that for AK since it doesn't stay open late at night.