January/Late Animal Kingdom Hours?

[MattRyan]

Currently planning my trip for January. I know right now Animal Kingdom has very late hours that accommodate the nighttime safari, tree of life awakenings, jungle book show, etc.

Will Disney extend their hours for January? The current hours show the park closing at 5PM during that month, and sunset isn't until around 5:40PM. Right now I have an ADR that night at around7:20PM. However, I am thinking that with Rivers of Light coming out later this year, Disney might extend the hours for January?

Is this likely? Should I change my ADR to a later time if so?

 

[sharonabe]

Where is your ADR? If RoL does finally get done, then they will extend the hours, but it may not be much past 6:00 or 6:30 in the winter months. We really don't know what they will do.

 

[MattRyan]

Where is your ADR? If RoL does finally get done, then they will extend the hours, but it may not be much past 6:00 or 6:30 in the winter months. We really don't know what they will do.

ADR is at California Grill. I had planned on eating there before going to MK that night, they have EMH until midnight.

I personally would expect them to maybe close at 7PM if they extended and have RoL at 7PM? That is the time Fantasmic is showing in January.

 

[travelfearlessly]

We've got the same vacation planned but we went to AK last January (the 6th) and they were open till 6 pm. They will likely change the hours 3-4 months beforehand but I bet it will be open longer. Late hours for the night safari? Not sure. I read somewhere that the nighttime activities were a bit of a flop

 

[MattRyan]

We've got the same vacation planned but we went to AK last January (the 6th) and they were open till 6 pm. They will likely change the hours 3-4 months beforehand but I bet it will be open longer. Late hours for the night safari? Not sure. I read somewhere that the nighttime activities were a bit of a flop

True. I'm mainly just looking forward to Tree of Life Awakenings and Rivers of Light, which will only be at night.

 

[rteetz]

ADR is at California Grill. I had planned on eating there before going to MK that night, they have EMH until midnight.

I personally would expect them to maybe close at 7PM if they extended and have RoL at 7PM? That is the time Fantasmic is showing in January.

I am guessing if and when they release AK hours they will until 8-9PM at night in January. The January hours will be a while as I think they just finally updated September.

 

[MattRyan]

I am guessing if and when they release AK hours they will until 8-9PM at night in January. The January hours will be a while as I think they just finally updated September.

Thank you.

If this happens I will probably just cancel my California Grill ADR and seek out (hopefully) a dinner package ADR for Rivers of Light.

 

[CAS239]

99.99% chance hours will be extended. AK is no longer a 5pm park. I'd anticipate it being open until 8-9pm, maybe even a little later. January is just too far away for concrete hours.

Also Rivers of Light might be running by then. We hope they will be but there's no guarantee.

 

[drdrowsy]

i'd honestly be surprised if AK is closing is extended until as late as 9. It's plenty dark by 6 for a nighttime show, and i doubt that they would have more than one showing. for reference, MK commonly closes as 8pm in Jan, EP at 9pm, DHS at 7 or 8pm. Just a guess, but I'd guess that if RoL is a real think come January, I'd think that closing would be at 7pm with RoL scheduled at 7.

 

[Missyrose]

We've got the same vacation planned but we went to AK last January (the 6th) and they were open till 6 pm. They will likely change the hours 3-4 months beforehand but I bet it will be open longer. Late hours for the night safari? Not sure. I read somewhere that the nighttime activities were a bit of a flop

I would not expect big changes to the hours 3-4 months out. That hasn't been Disney's MO recently. They're been extending hours about a month out, sometimes less.

 

[travelfearlessly]

I would not expect big changes to the hours 3-4 months out. That hasn't been Disney's MO recently. They're been extending hours about a month out, sometimes less.

A month out? Then how can people plan their Fastpasses?

 

[Missyrose]

A month out? Then how can people plan their Fastpasses?

They plan for the hours they're given and then rearrange when Disney adds the new hours. It's not fair to guests, but Disney doesn't seem to care.

 

[Vijoge]

We're going the end of January. I'm hoping for longer hours. My touring plan keeps giving me a message that there isn't enough time to do everything on my list unless I don't stop to feed the kids lol

 

[hakepb]

I think AK had somewhat regular 8p closings last year to help the animals afjust into their new (late) schedule, so I would guess Disney would keep that going for the animals.

 

[luxlvr]

If I were to book Tiffin's reservations at 6:00PM would that leave us enough time to experience the park/ Rivers of Light (maybe??) after? Haven't booked yet, but have no clue how to plan AK at night experience without hours. TIA!!

 

[JimmyV]

I think you can expect slightly longer hours with one showing of whatever entertainment offering they have at that time. Much like a night when DHS has a single showing of Fantasmic. I'm guessing 8:00.

 

[hollypoast]

There are several AK restaurants with reservations available for January as late as 5:55 pm so my guess would be yes, they plan to extend the time to accommodate the River of Lights show.

 

[Delirium]

How does the JB/ROL fastpass work? For instance, if it's scheduled at 8 o'clock and I want to FP it, what is the FP window? Does the window not open until 8 o'clock to allow me to FP something like Everest from 7-8?

 

[Lesverts]

They plan for the hours they're given and then rearrange when Disney adds the new hours. It's not fair to guests, but Disney doesn't seem to care.

I've always wondered about this sentiment because most planning guides say to either use FP early and hope to get more after the 3rd one is completed or use FP mid to late afternoon during peak crowds. Neither of which are impacted by extending hours.