August reduced hours

[Juventus]

Well I missed it and am skimming boards/websites everyday.

Not as apparent as party days. I mean there are web pages/discussion boards about the party days, not so much the one day DHS is closing early. Most guests aren't as informed as the people on these boards.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Well I missed it and am skimming boards/websites everyday.

Not as apparent as party days. I mean there are web pages/discussion boards about the party days, not so much the one day DHS is closing early. Most guests aren't as informed as the people on these boards.

Actually most guests are aware of park hours by the time it comes for their trip, especially early closings, and that is why MK is so quiet on party days. Guests may not know why MK is closing at 6pm but they know they aren’t gonna spend their ticket money on a park that closes at 6pm.

If you want to know right away when park hours change consider TP. This feature might be behind their paywall but when you plan your trip and put in your park days it alerts you if park hours change.

 

[Dave006]

Well I missed it and am skimming boards/websites everyday.

Not as apparent as party days. I mean there are web pages/discussion boards about the party days, not so much the one day DHS is closing early. Most guests aren't as informed as the people on these boards.

Well the 8/16 HS 6 PM close was only posted about 7 days ago so don't feel that you totally missed it.

Dave

 

[mistysue]

Well I missed it and am skimming boards/websites everyday.

Not as apparent as party days. I mean there are web pages/discussion boards about the party days, not so much the one day DHS is closing early. Most guests aren't as informed as the people on these boards.

I'm with you on this - they really don't "advertise" park closings at all. You just have to know to look at hours over and over to see if anything comes up. We've been totally thrown off by it before- one time they changed park hours after our ADR date so we had dinner plans for after a park was closing - and I only figured it out because someone else on these boards was complaining about it too. It's completely our own responsibility to look it up... but yes, it's sort of crazy it doesn't give you a pop up or anything so you notice something is unusual. Yet people will act like we're stupid if we don't notice it.

(ETA- we're AP's, so we schedule our days, meaning Disney even knew where we planned to be and couldn't be bothered to send a message they had changed the hours for the park we had scheduled with an ADR! But "it's our own fault if we don't check the hours again")

 

[Juventus]

Well I booked some ADRs for that day this morning (perfect timing!), so we shall see!

Anyone know if they normally let the guests in who rented out the park before the park closes at 6:00?

 

[tom1944]

OP - just make sure you realize how hot it's going to be outside. I have no idea where you are from or what your heat tolerance is, but you actually might really appreciate hopping and doing meals mid-afternoon just as you planned because transportation has A/C.
The times we've been at a park that closes early have been perfect days to spend a half day there. Just be sure not to push yourselves too hard if the heat is going to be tough for you. Those August/September trips we spend a good chunk of mid-afternoon indoors (whether it's slower shows, dining, shops, sitting on the monorail, etc and plan a slower walk, play a game of chasing shadows on the ground with the kids with water in hand if hopping)

This will be our third consecutive year going in August. We seem to have a good heat plan working. I have my fingers crossed that it continues.

 

[Princess Katelet]

This will be our third consecutive year going in August. We seem to have a good heat plan working. I have my fingers crossed that it continues.

Please share your heat plan!

 

[tom1944]

Please share your heat plan!

Water and watching the joy of a granddaughter. We bring bottles of water including several that we freeze and use to cool.

Also, in and out of all the stuff Disney has with AC

We spent morning until about 3 at the parks and then 3 to 4 at a restaurant. We might hit one more ride after 4 but headed back to the pool from there.

HS was the most difficult park.

 

[Disnsyncey]

I'm with you on this - they really don't "advertise" park closings at all. You just have to know to look at hours over and over to see if anything comes up. We've been totally thrown off by it before- one time they changed park hours after our ADR date so we had dinner plans for after a park was closing - and I only figured it out because someone else on these boards was complaining about it too. It's completely our own responsibility to look it up... but yes, it's sort of crazy it doesn't give you a pop up or anything so you notice something is unusual. Yet people will act like we're stupid if we don't notice it.

(ETA- we're AP's, so we schedule our days, meaning Disney even knew where we planned to be and couldn't be bothered to send a message they had changed the hours for the park we had scheduled with an ADR! But "it's our own fault if we don't check the hours again")

I feel like AK is the one that ALWAYS gets me.....I know I have missed at least TWO Early Entry times when it moved from 9am to 8am.....I was so mad at myself for not checking, especially the second time, because I even checked at least 2 days before to make sure.....

 

[cisco911]

Okay So we are going to HS on August 6th when they are doing a ticketted event. Park closes at 9. But Fantasmic is as 9. Does that mean we will not be able to see Fantasmic?

 

[JayMass]

Please share your heat plan!

I’ll chime in with my heat plan. This year will be the fourth year we’ve gone in August. My wife and I both work in schools so going during our school year vacation weeks means dealing with larger crowds and makes flying more expensive (we live in suburban Boston). Our school year doesn’t start until after Labor Day so it makes the second or third week of August ideal. My wife and I are late 40s/early 50s and we have twins who are 19.

Our basic daily plan:

1. Rope drop.
2. Stay until lunch or so
3. Head back to hotel and change out of our sweaty clothes and nap/swim/chillax.
4. Head back to the parks around 4 and stay until close.

During our park time we make use of:
-Personal fans—around the neck, bought on Amazon
-Cooling towels—these are specialized towels that I think we got on Amazon a few years ago when my wife coached kids soccer team. I wet them, put them in a zip lock bag, put them in the freezer, put them in my back pack in the morning.
-Water bottles. We all have our own big metal Yeti or Owala bottles that we fill and drink from all day long.
-Umbrellas. These are a major relief. Just remember to hold them out in front of you going through security or you’ll get flagged!

I’ll also add that we make use of the gift shops. While we do like to shop we also cut through them to get from one place to another —think Main St at MK or Sunset Blvd at DHS.

The other big thing is attitude. We all know it’s going to be hot and that it’s probably also gonna rain hard. We all know and accept this as an expectation.

Also, sunscreen. Lots of sunscreen.

I think this works well for our family, because our kids have always just gone with the flow and easily adapt to changes. All of our August trips have also been when they were teens, so that’s important to know too.

 

[tom1944]

I’ll chime in with my heat plan. This year will be the fourth year we’ve gone in August. My wife and I both work in schools so going during our school year vacation weeks means dealing with larger crowds and makes flying more expensive (we live in suburban Boston). Our school year doesn’t start until after Labor Day so it makes the second or third week of August ideal. My wife and I are late 40s/early 50s and we have twins who are 19.

Our basic daily plan:

1. Rope drop.
2. Stay until lunch or so
3. Head back to hotel and change out of our sweaty clothes and nap/swim/chillax.
4. Head back to the parks around 4 and stay until close.

During our park time we make use of:
-Personal fans—around the neck, bought on Amazon
-Cooling towels—these are specialized towels that I think we got on Amazon a few years ago when my wife coached kids soccer team. I wet them, put them in a zip lock bag, put them in the freezer, put them in my back pack in the morning.
-Water bottles. We all have our own big metal Yeti or Owala bottles that we fill and drink from all day long.
-Umbrellas. These are a major relief. Just remember to hold them out in front of you going through security or you’ll get flagged!

I’ll also add that we make use of the gift shops. While we do like to shop we also cut through them to get from one place to another —think Main St at MK or Sunset Blvd at DHS.

The other big thing is attitude. We all know it’s going to be hot and that it’s probably also gonna rain hard. We all know and accept this as an expectation.

Also, sunscreen. Lots of sunscreen.

I think this works well for our family, because our kids have always just gone with the flow and easily adapt to changes. All of our August trips have also been when they were teens, so that’s important to know too.

We will ultimately do this plan of leaving early and coming back at night but right now my granddaughter is only 6 so we have not started lot of nighttime park activity. I think we will do that this trip and stay until 7 or 8 a few days.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Okay So we are going to HS on August 6th when they are doing a ticketted event. Park closes at 9. But Fantasmic is as 9. Does that mean we will not be able to see Fantasmic?

You will be fine and will be able to attend Fantasmic.

 

[JayMass]

I'm with you on this - they really don't "advertise" park closings at all. You just have to know to look at hours over and over to see if anything comes up. We've been totally thrown off by it before- one time they changed park hours after our ADR date so we had dinner plans for after a park was closing - and I only figured it out because someone else on these boards was complaining about it too. It's completely our own responsibility to look it up... but yes, it's sort of crazy it doesn't give you a pop up or anything so you notice something is unusual. Yet people will act like we're stupid if we don't notice it.

(ETA- we're AP's, so we schedule our days, meaning Disney even knew where we planned to be and couldn't be bothered to send a message they had changed the hours for the park we had scheduled with an ADR! But "it's our own fault if we don't check the hours again")

I have a subscription to Touring Plans where you can set up your trip dates and park plans. Once set, they send you an email each time park hours shift. A couple years ago MK closed early for a private event and the email update really helped me stay on top of my plans.

 

[Erinmc3]

Just noticed the 6pm closure for HS on 8/16 which was our planned day to go. I really don't want to change plans but DO have park hoppers so I guess it's not that big of a deal. Still ugh!

 

[tom1944]

Just noticed the 6pm closure for HS on 8/16 which was our planned day to go. I really don't want to change plans but DO have park hoppers so I guess it's not that big of a deal. Still ugh!

We have park hoppers also but have not decided if we will use them for this day or not. The plan was to hop between Epcot and HS on Saturday and Sunday.

I made an error because I made ADRs before I confirmed park hours. I will have to see how my LLMP selections work

 

[Dave006]

Just noticed the 6pm closure for HS on 8/16 which was our planned day to go. I really don't want to change plans but DO have park hoppers so I guess it's not that big of a deal. Still ugh!

Hmm this early close for HS on 8/16 was announced back on June 16th. Rumors started on June 7th.

The some what good news is any guests that know about the early close should chose to skip HS so you might benefit for lower crowds.

Dave

 

[pooch]

We’ll be in MK during the day of a party night. I’ve made an ADR at Diamond Horseshoe at 4pm when the party crowd starts to show up. After dinner, we’ll hop over to Epcot. Doing this twice on our trip.

 

[Erinmc3]

Hmm this early close for HS on 8/16 was announced back on June 16th. Rumors started on June 7th.

The some what good news is any guests that know about the early close should chose to skip HS so you might benefit for lower crowds.

Dave

Guess I missed the announcement but glad I caught it now. May still go as early entry is at 8am

 

[ParrotBill]

I have traveled late August many many times... it does seem this year they have loaded up with party nights. during my 2 weeks, MK closes early 7 nights! and the one early night for DHS. That's a lot.

It helps there are a few late hours. As one said above, it's HOT ... so if you get out early, and use the late hours at other parks, you can work around it. It also helps that I have a Magic Kingdom view at Bay Lake Towers...