How does Disney close?

[Seaton]

It just struck me that I have never been in any of the parks at closing time. I'm curious, what is Disney's protocol for letting people know it's closing time and getting thousands of people out of the park?

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Like yourself, the vast majority of guests also leave the parks before closing time. There aren't thousand of people still in attendance, which is why the later hours are the very best for short lines and multiple rerides on the headline attractions. They do close the ride lines at closing time, but those in line are allowed to ride.

Shops stay open at least an hour after official closing time for last minute purchases. We've been the parks an hour or more after closing time on several occasions and have never been asked to head toward the exits. They probably do have a process in place though for those that just don't know when to leave.

 

[DSLRuser]

Simple. They close the ques. Dont accpet any more people in the line. Close the food stands.

Lock doors to shops. Only people can get out, not let anyone in.

Sooner or later it becomes very obvious when you dont belong some place.

 

[disnut8]

As others have sort of mentioned, there is no announcement stating "this park is closed, please head towards the exits". I can tell you that with Disney having Illuminations starting at 9:00 PM and the park closing at 9:00 PM, it's very easy. The kiosks and stores in World Showcase all close at 9:00 PM. The only thing left open are the bathrooms. So, after the show, all the guests around World Showcase move towards the exit since there's nothing left to do. Well, not all. We might sit on a bench and we definitely do a bathroom break and then move on. We will see Cast Members along the way but they are waving and wishing us a good night or a pleasant evening but they are not pushing us towards the exit. Closing the park at Disney World is the most stress free thing you can do on a vacation.

 

[Bluegrrl]

Yup. They start shutting stuff down from back to front ( frontier land, fantasyland, etc), and cms say things like, "goodnight, see you later". It's all very soft close, no kicking you out. Just soft. Main Street stays and other main entryways stay open later to suck a little final money out of you. But, yes, at sometime you figure out you really don't belong at the back end of New Fantasyland at 1 am.

 

[hakepb]

With a good night kiss

 

[labattblue]

Somewhat related note...A few years ago my DD & I were at MK during a late EMH(I think it was open until 2 or 3). She was off with some friends who happened to be vacationing at the same time. I decided to wait for her on the rocking chairs next to the HoP(to the left when facing HoP). At least 15-20 minutes went by where I didn't see a single guest or CM, and for a minute I thought I had dozed off and they had closed the park. LOL

 

[Ensusieasm]

L

Somewhat related note...A few years ago my DD & I were at MK during a late EMH(I think it was open until 2 or 3). She was off with some friends who happened to be vacationing at the same time. I decided to wait for her on the rocking chairs next to the HoP(to the left when facing HoP). At least 15-20 minutes went by where I didn't see a single guest or CM, and for a minute I thought I had dozed off and they had closed the park. LOL

Love those rocking chairs!

 

[mountdew1]

They close the parks kind of like a tree. All the rides, shops, streets etc are like the leaves. As PPs said, they will close the queues and lock some shops. Then starting at the back of the park, CMs will slowly start moving from the leaves, towards the commoner areas (the branches) before eventually ending up at the main exit area (trunk). The CMs only advance forward when the guests in front of them move forward. They won't force you to move forward towards the exit, but they won't let you go back them back into the park. Then as they move forward, they will join with the CMs from the other areas, slowly herding the guests out. But seeing as how the ride queues will close when the park does, most of the smaller stores at the same time usually with the larger stores (Mouse Gears, Emporium) closing an hour or so after the park does, there isn't much to do at that point but slowly make your way out of the park.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Like yourself, the vast majority of guests also leave the parks before closing time. There aren't thousand of people still in attendance, which is why the later hours are the very best for short lines and multiple rerides on the headline attractions. They do close the ride lines at closing time, but those in line are allowed to ride.

Shops stay open at least an hour after official closing time for last minute purchases. We've been the parks an hour or more after closing time on several occasions and have never been asked to head toward the exits. They probably do have a process in place though for those that just don't know when to leave.

Yes I've seen the "process they have in place". They use that process to escort bewildered and sometimes belligerent park guests out when the Very Merry Christmas Party starts and they don't have a party bracelet. It gets a bit heated sometimes. I feel sorry for folks because some of them really don't know that the park closes at 7 with no parade and no Wishes. Some people don't read up on Disney stuff like we all do here on the Disboards.

 

[Ensusieasm]

They close the parks kind of like a tree. All the rides, shops, streets etc are like the leaves. As PPs said, they will close the queues and lock some shops. Then starting at the back of the park, CMs will slowly start moving from the leaves, towards the commoner areas (the branches) before eventually ending up at the main exit area (trunk). The CMs only advance forward when the guests in front of them move forward. They won't force you to move forward towards the exit, but they won't let you go back them back into the park. Then as they move forward, they will join with the CMs from the other areas, slowly herding the guests out. But seeing as how the ride queues will close when the park does, most of the smaller stores at the same time usually with the larger stores (Mouse Gears, Emporium) closing an hour or so after the park does, there isn't much to do at that point but slowly make your way out of the park.

Great explanation. I would like to see that sometime. Maybe on a night when MK closes at 8. Anything after that is past my bedtime! Zzzzzz

 

[tcherjen]

I haven't ever been able to make it.

 

[mrzrich]

Below is the telling of an evening when a few of my crazy friends shut down the MK. Originally posted in 2008 by Lovetoscrap.

Phors finally headed outside as we were finishing up our purchases. She found someone to talk to

and apparently told him all about what Queen Shuggie had been up to so far.

After her stern talking too we figured we had better head out. And the Security Officer decided to follow us. Not only him, but we noticed several manager looking types also following us. CRAP, they finally remembered who we are! They found the pictures mugshots from last year.

Then we heard him say "clear to the gates", and it dawned on us that we were the only guests there! We shopped so long that the park closed and cleared and they were all waiting for us to get the heck out! I tried to slow down for a second but Mr. Security Escort Guy was right there to make sure we kept moving.

Rut Roh. We are the last 4 people in the parks. Do they still have transportation? Yep! A transportation guy met us outside the gates and told us to go to bus stop #8. At the bus stops we were met by a whole crew of transportation people. And we were told to just get on the first bus in the line. We tried to protest that we had been told to go to #8 and we didn't want to get in trouble with the first guy. But this group had a guy with a glowing orange stick, and apparently that trumps whatever plan the first guy had. Glowing stick guy made sure we safely found our way to the bus that was right in front of us. And he took a definite shine to Phors. We were actually a bit afraid he was going to try to go back to the resort with us! He made himself comfy on the seat next to her and was showing us all of his Jedi Glowing Stick moves. I know Phors was having a very hard time resisting the force.

Our bus driver was Dave, who we are pretty sure had either pissed off his boss, or drawn the short straw since he had to drive us home! He left the lights on the bus the entire trip. We suspect that he was really afraid we were going to try to sneak up on him. Kimmi did think about going up and licking his ear. . .

Safely back at the hotel and thank goodness Glowing Stick Guy had been left at the MK.

 

[mrzrich]

I had a similar experience to the one I just posted at Epcot a few years ago. Remember when Le Cellier was the be all end all ADR to get? Well I could only get it at 8:55PM. The park closed just as we were seated. We had a nice leisurely meal and were never made to feel rushed. It was after 10:30 when we left the restaurant.

There were cast members with those red glow wands waving at us politely. One asked if we needed the main exit or the gateway. We told them we were going toward the main exit and they just waved and told us to enjoy our evening. As we walked into Future world, the cast members lurched forward. We stopped and took a few photos in the empty park. (Without being jerks about it, we realized that these people wanted to go home.)


Once we were out of the gates there were a few transportation people who asked us if we needed to get to the parking lot or if we needed a bus. We needed a bus to Fort Wilderness, they radioed somebody and directed us to a bus stop (it was different from the regular FW stop) The driver pulled up almost immediately as we approached. (He was likely waiting in the lot for lurkers) "I understand you folks are heading to Fort Wilderness!" he said. We got on our own private bus and we were on our way.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Yes I've seen the "process they have in place". They use that process to escort bewildered and sometimes belligerent park guests out when the Very Merry Christmas Party starts and they don't have a party bracelet. It gets a bit heated sometimes. I feel sorry for folks because some of them really don't know that the park closes at 7 with no parade and no Wishes. Some people don't read up on Disney stuff like we all do here on the Disboards.

There are big signs at the entrance of the park on party days to tell you when the park closes. I guess people really don't pay attention, or just play dumb.

 

[Disney_Alli]

They do sweep people to the front but closing stuff in the back and not allowing you to go back further in to the park. I've read about and seen it before but really experienced it this summer. I tried to head to the first aid station in Epcot this summer to get a bandaid for a horrible blister but it was in a part of the park that had already been swept and I wasn't allowed to go there. While other CMs were very nice the first CM who denied me access was really abrupt - I understood why I couldn't go over there but we'd been in Garden Grill and hadn't realised what time it actually was and that the park was closed so it seemed a little over the top. Unfortunately I couldn't get a bandaid anywhere that was still open in Epcot at the time.

 

[momimouse27]

Yeah, they just stop letting you get on rides pretty much. Then once the park empties out people begin to funnel through to main street and they're playing the "When you wish upon a star" music, which is Disney's "bye-bye" music. There have been a couple of times when I stayed in Main Street til pretty much everyone else was gone. I bet the CM's hated me....

 

[TGM]

There was a time we were in MK very late. Like 1:30 AM late. We got on HM at about 1, and it got stuck. As we got out, you could hear Mickey on the speakers saying things, like "See you real soon!", "We hope you had a great day at the Magic Kingdom!", "Please leave! Now."

He didn't say the last one,but you know what I mean.

We call it the "Get Out Of The Magic Kingdom. Now." music.

 

[larryz]

Yes I've seen the "process they have in place". They use that process to escort bewildered and sometimes belligerent park guests out when the Very Merry Christmas Party starts and they don't have a party bracelet. It gets a bit heated sometimes. I feel sorry for folks because some of them really don't know that the park closes at 7 with no parade and no Wishes. Some people don't read up on Disney stuff like we all do here on the Disboards.

Yeah, and it's amazing that they miss the great big sign up at the gate that says the park is closing at 7 pm. And somehow they also missed the announcements on the tram to the TTC, monorails, buses and ferry boats...

 

[buteraa]

With a good night kiss

Awesome thank you for posting that, I've never seen it.....Have to close the park next time!