Extended Evening hours? Help me pick which park/which day!

[ClaraOswald]

We're about 4 weeks out from our trip and I'll be attempted to register for DAS this coming week. So before that, I want to have some idea of which part we'll be in each day. I'm trying to figure out which places to avoid when there are special events.

I also see "extended evening hours" at a couple parks. It says it's for deluxe hotel guests as well as villa guests. We'll be at BRV but we're resale. Does that makes a difference? Not sure if we get the extended hours or not.

 

[davidhr]

Yes, you’ll get it. Anyone staying there will have access. Doesn’t matter how.

 

[jtopp]

Yes, you get extended hours. The last trip allowed us extended hours, and it made such a difference as to how much more we got to see and do after hours. Enjoy!!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Thanks!

 

[ClaraOswald]

So if we think we will utilize those evening hours, we definitely will.

But if we think our son won't want to be in the parks that late...should we AVOID the park with extended hours?

And should we avoid the parks that have evening ticketed events?

 

[ClaraOswald]

More info....
Long winded so bear with me here.....
(And I know this might be better suited for the main WDW board but I love all you DVCers so much!)

So our park days are Sunday, January 21st - Thursday, January 25th. We will have park hoppers but unsure how much we'll end up hopping. This will be our first trip to WDW with our son. He's been to Disneyland several times but this is going to be quite a bit different, obviously!

We are going to "plan" to hop each day but we'll really just wait and see how it goes and if the buses bug us too much. (They didn't on previous trips but we didn't have a kid back then.)

Looking at the calendar, there are several events going on that I suspect will effect crowds....though how much, I'm not sure. And we can tolerate some crowds as we do travel to Disneyland in the summertime and manage okay.

Monday - Extended hours at Epcot (9pm-11pm)
Also Monday - Ticketed event at ML from 10pm-1am.

Wednesday - Extended hours at MK (9pm-11pm)
Also Wednesday - Ticketed event at HS from 9:30-12:30am

Thursday - Moonlight Magic at Epcot (we are resale so will obviously not be attending.)

Just to give you an idea of what type of park touring people we are - at Disneyland, we get up and have breakfast at the hotel. We rarely make it into the parks before 9:30 or 10am. We always take a break back at the hotel in the afternoon. Usually for an hour or maybe 2. And it's typically somewhere in the 2pm-4pm range though sometimes a bit later. Then we go back into the parks to have dinner and do more rides for a couple hours. Our son is usually ready to go back to the hotel by 8pm or so. But sometimes earlier and sometimes later. On our last couple trips, our first half of the day is usually our more productive as far as getting on rides goes. We have DAS so that really helps.

So because of that, I want to make sure to hit each park on one morning.

My original plan was to start at these parks on these days...

Sunday 21st - Epcot (then maybe skip our hotel break and just boat over to HS)
Monday 22nd - Magic Kingdom (hop to...? after a hotel break)
Tuesday 23rd - Hollywood Studios (hop to...? after hotel break)
Wednesday 24th - Animal Kingdom (hop to...? after hotel break)
Thursday 25th - Epcot (then hop to MK, which has the most rides my son will like, so I think it's a good ending park.)

Will the ticketed event at MK on the 22nd effect crowds the first half of the day? Or mainly just the 2nd half as they start allowing people in? Same question about HS on the 24th?

And I have the same question about the extended hours...do those effect all-day crowds or just evening crowds?

Magic Kingdom and Epcot have the most rides/attractions for our son. And Epcot is my and my husband's favorite park. So I suspect we'll want to spend a lot of our time there. AK is our 2nd favorite park but there's only a handful of things I think our son will enjoy. I can't decide if we should try to hop over there one night or if that's a bad idea since it closes at 6pm? Though I feel like we might want to see the park in the dark....right? We've never been to Avatarland (?) at all if that makes a difference.

I know I'm just way overthinking this but would love some opinions. I'll be attempting to register for DAS on Tuesday or Wednesday, probably. So I want to know which parks we might end up in each day in order to book advanced return times that we may actually use. (But if we don't use them..it's not a huge deal at all.)

 

[Pooh12863]

More info....
Long winded so bear with me here.....
(And I know this might be better suited for the main WDW board but I love all you DVCers so much!)

So our park days are Sunday, January 21st - Thursday, January 25th. We will have park hoppers but unsure how much we'll end up hopping. This will be our first trip to WDW with our son. He's been to Disneyland several times but this is going to be quite a bit different, obviously!

We are going to "plan" to hop each day but we'll really just wait and see how it goes and if the buses bug us too much. (They didn't on previous trips but we didn't have a kid back then.)

Looking at the calendar, there are several events going on that I suspect will effect crowds....though how much, I'm not sure. And we can tolerate some crowds as we do travel to Disneyland in the summertime and manage okay.

Monday - Extended hours at Epcot (9pm-11pm)
Also Monday - Ticketed event at ML from 10pm-1am.

Wednesday - Extended hours at MK (9pm-11pm)
Also Wednesday - Ticketed event at HS from 9:30-12:30am

Thursday - Moonlight Magic at Epcot (we are resale so will obviously not be attending.)

Just to give you an idea of what type of park touring people we are - at Disneyland, we get up and have breakfast at the hotel. We rarely make it into the parks before 9:30 or 10am. We always take a break back at the hotel in the afternoon. Usually for an hour or maybe 2. And it's typically somewhere in the 2pm-4pm range though sometimes a bit later. Then we go back into the parks to have dinner and do more rides for a couple hours. Our son is usually ready to go back to the hotel by 8pm or so. But sometimes earlier and sometimes later. On our last couple trips, our first half of the day is usually our more productive as far as getting on rides goes. We have DAS so that really helps.

So because of that, I want to make sure to hit each park on one morning.

My original plan was to start at these parks on these days...

Sunday 21st - Epcot (then maybe skip our hotel break and just boat over to HS)
Monday 22nd - Magic Kingdom (hop to...? after a hotel break)
Tuesday 23rd - Hollywood Studios (hop to...? after hotel break)
Wednesday 24th - Animal Kingdom (hop to...? after hotel break)
Thursday 25th - Epcot (then hop to MK, which has the most rides my son will like, so I think it's a good ending park.)

Will the ticketed event at MK on the 22nd effect crowds the first half of the day? Or mainly just the 2nd half as they start allowing people in? Same question about HS on the 24th?

And I have the same question about the extended hours...do those effect all-day crowds or just evening crowds?

Magic Kingdom and Epcot have the most rides/attractions for our son. And Epcot is my and my husband's favorite park. So I suspect we'll want to spend a lot of our time there. AK is our 2nd favorite park but there's only a handful of things I think our son will enjoy. I can't decide if we should try to hop over there one night or if that's a bad idea since it closes at 6pm? Though I feel like we might want to see the park in the dark....right? We've never been to Avatarland (?) at all if that makes a difference.

I know I'm just way overthinking this but would love some opinions. I'll be attempting to register for DAS on Tuesday or Wednesday, probably. So I want to know which parks we might end up in each day in order to book advanced return times that we may actually use. (But if we don't use them..it's not a huge deal at all.)

Ticketed events definitely affect attendance, you'll find the lowest crowds on a party night all day before the party. Folks without PH don't want to waste a ticket on a shortened day.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

We LOVE the extended DVC hours! We can get everything done at MK on those Wednesday nights, and we rode GoTG 3x our last Monday at Epcot — 7 a.m. VQ, and I can’t remember if we got it 1 p.m. VQ in park or did VQ during the DVC late hours and got another ride walk-on right after.

There’s very little crowds. Eat a full meal before though, and bring snacks and drinks. I think only the fish and chips window was open late at Epcot at UK, and IDR anything being open to eat MK.

I think part of World Showcase gets shut down so you can’t do a full loop, so investigate your planned path. We enter at France from the Skyliner and do Ratatouille and then Guardians. We usually skip Frozen (don’t want to be cold and soggy,) and Test Track (ride is cold at night and underwhelming.). Soaring is a nice pit stop.

MK, save SDMT for last. They inflate the wait time. The most we waited was 15 minutes. We hit Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Ariel’s Grotto, Space Mountain, Barn Stormer, and then SDMT, and sometimes Mansion again on the way out. Other Wednesdays we hit Astro Orbiter, Buzz, and Splash, depending on season. Also make sure you eat beforehand! No food options at MK.

I would not do MK on Monday. Everyone starts there on Mondays. If you do go, enjoy the shopping, the vibe, and maybe a nice meal at VGF or Steakhouse 71. I like HS Tuesday nights after the stroller brigade clears out a bit. Do a LL for SDD. The line is always long. It’s really fun at night. Fantasmic was great, and free! Everything else is behind a paywall, so I like that it’s just available to walk up to.

Seriously, those DVC nights are amazing. Have fun!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Ticketed events definitely affect attendance, you'll find the lowest crowds on a party night all day before the party. Folks without PH don't want to waste a ticket on a shortened day.

I figured those events would make the crowds horrible all day long. Glad to hear it's the opposite. I'll keep that in mind.

We LOVE the extended DVC hours! We can get everything done at MK on those Wednesday nights, and we rode GoTG 3x our last Monday at Epcot — 7 a.m. VQ, and I can’t remember if we got it 1 p.m. VQ in park or did VQ during the DVC late hours and got another ride walk-on right after.

There’s very little crowds. Eat a full meal before though, and bring snacks and drinks. I think only the fish and chips window was open late at Epcot at UK, and IDR anything being open to eat MK.

I think part of World Showcase gets shut down so you can’t do a full loop, so investigate your planned path. We enter at France from the Skyliner and do Ratatouille and then Guardians. We usually skip Frozen (don’t want to be cold and soggy,) and Test Track (ride is cold at night and underwhelming.). Soaring is a nice pit stop.

MK, save SDMT for last. They inflate the wait time. The most we waited was 15 minutes. We hit Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Ariel’s Grotto, Space Mountain, Barn Stormer, and then SDMT, and sometimes Mansion again on the way out. Other Wednesdays we hit Astro Orbiter, Buzz, and Splash, depending on season. Also make sure you eat beforehand! No food options at MK.

I would not do MK on Monday. Everyone starts there on Mondays. If you do go, enjoy the shopping, the vibe, and maybe a nice meal at VGF or Steakhouse 71. I like HS Tuesday nights after the stroller brigade clears out a bit. Do a LL for SDD. The line is always long. It’s really fun at night. Fantasmic was great, and free! Everything else is behind a paywall, so I like that it’s just available to walk up to.

Seriously, those DVC nights are amazing. Have fun!

People like to go to MK on Monday? I figured most people would start vacations on a weekend, not a Monday. Hmm.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I figured those events would make the crowds horrible all day long. Glad to hear it's the opposite. I'll keep that in mind.



People like to go to MK on Monday? I figured most people would start vacations on a weekend, not a Monday. Hmm.

I think the person who said parks were uncrowded was thinking about the Christmas or Halloween parties. The DVC extended hours don’t seem to have much of an effect on crowds and with the paid after hours events, people who attend can enter the park a few hours before the event and at that time crowds can increase a bit but shouldn’t be too bad.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I'm honestly not exactly sure what the ticketed events are on our dates. Last year, at Disneyland, we were there for their Sweetheart Nights and since they let people in early, we did notice an uptick in guests in the evenings (before event started) but since February is fairly slow, it really didn't impact us. I'm hoping we'll have the same luck at WDW.

 

[Sandisw]

Just for others, the extended hours for deluxe resorts has nothing to do with DVC.

All deluxe resorts, including DVC villas, get this perk for staying onsite.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Didn't WDW used to have extended hours for all hotel guests? I vaguely remember that but it's been so long.

I'm glad it isn't just a direct points DVC perk!

 

[tjkraz]

Didn't WDW used to have extended hours for all hotel guests? I vaguely remember that but it's been so long.

I'm glad it isn't just a direct points DVC perk!

Disney has used a variety of different Extra Magic Hours setups over the years. Pre-covid, all Disney hotel guests would have access to one park which opened 1 hour early and 1 park which stayed open at least 2-3 hours late, each day.

The current setup is ALL parks open 30 minutes early for WDW hotel guests. And Extended Evening Hours happens about 2x per week, but just for deluxe / DVC resort guests.

Most people seem to argue that the old way was better. Certainly for guests staying at non-deluxe resorts. But I personally found the parks often overwhelmed on those EMH days, which lead to avoiding them. A park like MK would draw so many more people on an EMH morning or night that it kinda defeated the purpose of the "exclusive" hours.

With the current EMH mornings, the fact that all parks participate means crowds are more evenly distributed. 30 minutes doesn't sound like much time, but you can usually ride at least one attraction with zero wait and get in a short-ish line for another. During our summer 2023 visit, we rode Rock N Rollercoaster twice and got in line for TOT before the 30 minutes were up. Remy at Epcot is another convenient ride to hit via EMH, especially if staying at BWV, BCV or Rivera, since it's so close to the International Gateway.

 

[ClaraOswald]

We aren't morning people so we completely ignore the morning hours.

Not sure if we'll do evening or not so we shall see!

 

[grahf1234]

Crowds really disappear during those hours, our most recent was a few days ago at Epcot which was really busy during the day but Remy was basically no line an hour into extended.

However though we never can squeeze more than a couple of rides during those times due to exhaustion + what we want being far apart so walks eat a lot of the time. Parks look kind of sadder with most stores closed during extended as well.