Have the lines at magic kingdom been shorter before 6pm before the christmas party begins?

[Disneyworldpirate]

During the halloween party days I noticed that the lines at magic kingdom were shorter because the park closed at 6pm for the halloween party guests. Are the lines shorter for the Christmas party days as well before 6pm?

 

[rdevans_2000]

During the halloween party days I noticed that the lines at magic kingdom were shorter because the park closed at 6pm for the halloween party guests. Are the lines shorter for the Christmas party days as well before 6pm?

Like you, we found that to be true on the Halloween party days. We are not doing the Christmas party this year, but my guess is, there will always be a group of people who don't want to pay full price for a day a MK, only to be kicked out early. We love skipping the parks during the day of a Halloween or Christmas party, then going as early for the party as allowed, and staying until close. We also typically don't plan to rope drop the next day. That's tough. We plan a resort morning, and head to the parks just before, or at, lunchtime.

 

[Tonberry]

On weekday party days (Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday) there is a LOT less people in the parks. Lines are shorter, dining reservations are easier, and you can get so much more done. That's the case for both Halloween and Christmas parties. Sundays are a little busier as more locals tend to visit on the weekend, but nowhere near like traditional Sunday's.

Just be aware that at 4:00 when the party guests are allowed to enter, MK gets mobbed with both day guests and party guests all there at the same time. If you're not staying for the party, 3:30 is a great time to leave, or right after the Festival of Fantasy parade.

 

[CoasterGT24]

The difference is not as dramatic as the Halloween Party days. The parks are just a bit busier in general right now than the September/early October time frame.

 

[snowwite]

On weekday party days (Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday) there is a LOT less people in the parks. Lines are shorter, dining reservations are easier, and you can get so much more done. That's the case for both Halloween and Christmas parties. Sundays are a little busier as more locals tend to visit on the weekend, but nowhere near like traditional Sunday's.

Just be aware that at 4:00 when the party guests are allowed to enter, MK gets mobbed with both day guests and party guests all there at the same time. If you're not staying for the party, 3:30 is a great time to leave, or right after the Festival of Fantasy parade.

I’m hoping this is true. We made park reservations for Tuesday hoping it will not get busy until folks start to trickle in for the party. Our plan is to depart after the Frozen show by the castle if we can last that long.

 

[Shellyred8]

I've been watching the wait times in the app for the past couple of weeks and you can definitely see a difference in wait times on party days vs. non-party days. We scheduled our MK days on party days so we can take advantage of some of the lower wait times. We've been there many times before, so it's not necessary for us to be there the entire day. We also have park hoppers this trip, so we will hop to another park in the evening.

 

[kiford]

We scheduled our MK days on party days so we can take advantage of some of the lower wait times. We've been there many times before, so it's not necessary for us to be there the entire day

That's our philosophy as well. Touring Plans have the MK party days as a 3/10 for crowd levels and wait times. Our friends who are currently in WDW (2 adults, 2 kids under ten years old) went during the day on a party night as well (also scored as a 3/10 that day) and were able to do everything they wanted without too much time spent waiting including seven dwarfs mine train, could have booked virtual queue for Tron (but one kid was a definite No to that one), lots of meet and greets and brunch at Crystal Palace and left the parks around 5 pm. It was their first time at MK, so given that they were able do so much of what they wanted to - and they wanted to do a lot - says to me that the park isn't very crowded.

We declined to get park hoppers this time and plan to leave around 5 pm then find somewhere to eat and then just chill back at the resort. Maybe get in some early evening pool time and then maybe a drink at one of the lounges. As much fun as it is to do Tomorrowland Speedway after dark in a right-hand drive vehicle while the passenger insults the driver's skills, I'll take an earlier close with lower attendance any day.

 

[MickeyMice]

our MK party day last week seemed empty early on, got relatively busy around noon, maybe a little lull when folks started hopping away, and then got really busy when the party crowd was able to come in

 

[kathy884]

In years past we found that to be true and if you don' t mind the shorter day I think this is a fantastic time to go. Do note though lines are just shorter till 4 p.m. In the past Christmas party guests could get in at 4 p.m. making the time between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. with both groups of people very busy.