Is Disney Really Cutting Hours?

[Angel Ariel]

Maybe you should check your sources because the official Disney website, easywdw and undercover toursit all have most days 11pm or midnight with 2 10pms.

https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/crowd-calendar/

As I said, I already checked my sources and apologized. Check above your post.

 

[mom2rtk]

There's already a pretty detailed discussion going on here:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/ar...-analytics-long.3511211/page-11#post-56081032

And here:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/de...hours-at-ak-even-trade.3525940/#post-56081615

I'm interested in the topic, but don't know that we really need another thread on it.

 

[Delirium]

I compensate by getting into line for something at 1 minute before the park closes.

 

[mom2rtk]

I compensate by getting into line for something at 1 minute before the park closes.

People did that a minute before midnight when the park was open later.

 

[zaccaglin]

For CMs? Yes our hours have been cut.

 

[ParrotBill]

Cutting one hour at MK is a pretty big cost savings, and the reduction in EMH is big savings since that's a poor cost to revenue ratio for Disney. I don't have data to back it up but I think shows schedules and entertainers have been reduced as well - pure cost with no revenue so easy targets. There are definitely fewer night parades and show times and for a while there were nights with no Fantasmic! - but I think that is in the past. Of course they have added at DHS and AK which may be why they reduced at MK - to keep costs flat rather than increasing with these adds.

 

[AngiTN]

For the record, I didn't say there was "nothing" to do, I questioned whether there was 6 hours worth of attractions to do. Perhaps that has changed with the new summer offerings, but on our November 2014 trip there was not 6 hours worth of attractions open after sunset when the animal attractions and the shows closed down.

More than enough for us. Last month we got there at 4:00 and left at 11:00 and didn't see any of the show other than JB. Nor did we take time for the trails before they closed for the day. If we wanted to do all the trails, rides and shows we could have easily spent 5 or 6 more hours in the park. Just so happened that it was our arrival day and we couldn't get there earlier.

 

[Robo]

plus paying hundreds of cast members to pretty much just stand in shops that are getting no business.

In the real world, that's called "retail business as usual."

 

[nilla]

MK used to regularly close at midnight in summer- now it's 10 or 11pm. Only being able to tour in daytime heat puts a huge damper on summer visits.

The daytime heat subsides a few hours before 11:00!

We were down last month, and while I do miss the midnight closes a bit, we still got plenty done, with a mid-day resort break.

 

[nilla]

I think the question for many is whether or not AK is offering 5 or 6 hours worth of attractions during that extended time, with the amount of attractions that still close at 5 or 6pm.

We had no problem filling the evening at AK, even without seeing the JB show OR watching any of the street performers. We rode EE a few times, did some stuff in Dinoland, and watched the Tree of Life. We could have done even more, but we didn't get back to AK from dinner until close to 8:00.

 

[nilla]

I compensate by getting into line for something at 1 minute before the park closes.

That something being the Mine Train

 

[tony67]

Cutting one hour at MK is a pretty big cost savings, and the reduction in EMH is big savings since that's a poor cost to revenue ratio for Disney.

No doubt..but for me it is yet another value reduction

 

[Praying Colonel]

Paging Mr. V...Mr. JimmyV to the thread, please....

 

[jade1]

More than enough for us. Last month we got there at 4:00 and left at 11:00 and didn't see any of the show other than JB. Nor did we take time for the trails before they closed for the day. If we wanted to do all the trails, rides and shows we could have easily spent 5 or 6 more hours in the park. Just so happened that it was our arrival day and we couldn't get there earlier.

Same. Although we arrived for an early dinner and then did the attractions including FOTLK at 7:30. EE is so much better. JB was a nice addition but hoping for ROL soon. Night Safari nice change, certainly cooler but a little too dark, TTBAB/Kali/Dino and lots of folks at P Whirl area.

Big increase in value for us. Can't do MK every night anyway.

We usually opened AK one day and that was it by right after lunch in the summer-too hot there.

But now we did 2 nights and a 3rd after Illuminations just for the 4 TOL shows-they were still running when we left at 11:30. Instead we opened DHS and MK those days.

There were a lot of guests watching TOL on the way out, not sure in the entire park, but they would have been at another park (probably MK since its later) so there is a positive impact on lines to a degree.

We simply chose MK on later nights (like last night was 1AM) would probably do AK tonight type of thing.

Having a 4th night park in the summer was great, ESP with DRINKS available.

 

[Shanti]

The daytime heat subsides a few hours before 11:00!

Those last few hours typically get eaten up by MSEP, Celebrate the Magic, and Wishes, though.

 

[mister morrow]

i don't know why people are hating against disney so much for extending hours to a park.
it's not like they cut 6 hours off of MK's regular hours, it's just it is now closing at 10 p.m. which is in fact, a VERY late time to be closing at compared to almost every other amusement or theme park in the US. The shops close an hour after, so technically you can be in the park at 11.
take these hours for granted, they could've been closing AK instead.

 

[mom2rtk]

i don't know why people are hating against disney so much for extending hours to a park.
it's not like they cut 6 hours off of MK's regular hours, it's just it is now closing at 10 p.m. which is in fact, a VERY late time to be closing at compared to almost every other amusement or theme park in the US. The shops close an hour after, so technically you can be in the park at 11.
take these hours for granted, they could've been closing AK instead.

You've been throwing that hater term around a lot lately. Not liking something Disney does is not the same as hating on them.

Sure other parks close earlier. But I imagine their attendance is not comparable with that of the Magic Kingdom.

 

[mister morrow]

You've been throwing that hater term around a lot lately. Not liking something Disney does is not the same as hating on them.

Sure other parks close earlier. But I imagine their attendance is not comparable with that of the Magic Kingdom.

okay sorry about that, i guess the right word would be opposing.
there are always two different sides and i understand why; MK is the quintessence of WDW and due to it's unusual hour shortage it's throwing most people off and leaving them wondering why Disney would do that.
I guess all that we can do now is hope Disney can see the mistakes they made and hopefully fix them for the future.

 

[Angel Ariel]

More than enough for us. Last month we got there at 4:00 and left at 11:00 and didn't see any of the show other than JB. Nor did we take time for the trails before they closed for the day. If we wanted to do all the trails, rides and shows we could have easily spent 5 or 6 more hours in the park. Just so happened that it was our arrival day and we couldn't get there earlier.

When we were there in November 2014, the last show of the day for FOLK and finding nemo was 6pm, the park closed at 8p. All of the other shows ended before FOLK and Finding Nemo and the animal attractions were closed around 5ish.

As I said, perhaps they have changed show schedules and there are more offerings now, but *when we were there* there was not enough open once the vast majority of the park shut down around 5/6 to occupy 6 hours of time. Riding EE alone was worth the park hop over there (we started at DHS that day), but we were happy that we could hop over to MK to finish the night.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Big increase in value for us. Can't do MK every night anyway.

I could happily spend every night of a wdw vacation closing out MK Different strokes!