July hours so short!?

[tiggertabi]

Does it seem likely to change this late? I can make fastpass ressies on Saturday, and MK is only open until 10 each night we are there (and NO late magic hours for MK the whole time?? A whole week!) HS closes at 8:30! What happened to July midnight/1 am hours!?

How can i plan 60 days out if Disney doesn't? Do I have any hope for late nights in the parks?

 

[Tomh]

It doesn't look good for LATE LATE hours. Indications are that bookings are soft, so Disney is expecting lower crowds, which will result in shorter hours, however it is likely that MK hours will be extended past 10 PM. However, the extended hours may not be announced until half way through June.

 

[Oswin]

It's been said on every board that pops up about the lower hours that they will likely expand closer to July, so just be patient. I know it's hard, but it's all you can really do. I'm traveling July 2-10 and am a little frustrated with MK and HS hours, and the fact they didn't extend AK hours past 5pm for FP+ times in July until 5 days ago. The June hours didn't extend until very recently, so I'm not expecting the hours to expand for July until mid to late June.

 

[CAS239]

June hours were just updated a few days ago. July hours will be changed.

 

[ArielSRL]

What @CAS239 said. June hours were updated mid-May. May hours updated mid-April. Look to mid-June for July hours, if they don't update before that.

 

[whiporee]

And if you really need to plan, plan for the hours the park is listed as open now. It's till a good 13 hours, and even if they don't extend them (which they will) you can still have a great day if you focus on what they do offer instead of what they don't.

In all likelihood they'll extend the hours and they'll probably add an EMH, but if not making plans is making your crazy, plan for what you know rather than what you hope.

 

[Klayfish]

Indications are that bookings are soft, so Disney is expecting lower crowds, which will result in shorter hours,

Not doubting you at all, just a question as to where you can find that info. From what I've always understood, Disney is very secretive about attendance numbers, booking, etc...

 

[capegirl]

It doesn't look good for LATE LATE hours. Indications are that bookings are soft, so Disney is expecting lower crowds, which will result in shorter hours, however it is likely that MK hours will be extended past 10 PM. However, the extended hours may not be announced until half way through June.

I do think they will extend July hours, but I have noticed that I have not had any trouble changing up our July ADRs, so either bookings are soft, or people are cutting back on dinning. Anyway, I love the thought of lower crowds in July; it would be a first for us.

 

[Duckiedee]

I know August is a lot farther - but I feel your pain... the parks all show at closing so early the nights we are there.

 

[nilla]

HS will almost certainly get extended to 10:00 pm to accommodate the Star Wars fireworks show. MK will probably get extended, too, but June's MK hours only get extended to 11:00.

 

[Delirium]

I seriously believe Disney thought their After Hours promotion would take off and they were holding back scheduling late hours thinking they may have 3-4 hard ticket nights a week like they do in party season. After Hour sales were very slow, however, and having one After Hours night a week is probably too much, let alone the 3-4 nights a week they were hoping. Not releasing the later hours now, even though After Hours is likely off the table, could just be Disney's unwillingness to let go of the idea just yet.

 

[tiggertabi]

I seriously believe Disney thought their After Hours promotion would take off and they were holding back scheduling late hours thinking they may have 3-4 hard ticket nights a week like they do in party season. After Hour sales were very slow, however, and having one After Hours night a week is probably too much, let alone the 3-4 nights a week they were hoping. Not releasing the later hours now, even though After Hours is likely off the table, could just be Disney's unwillingness to let go of the idea just yet.

Yes, this! I am glad that's (hopefully) done, but the idea that what in year's past, I got as a "perk" of staying in their resort, now I would either pay for or not get at all, did not sit well with me. Not that Disney cares what I think. I Just think it's ridiculous that they basically require you to book everything so far in advance, but they can't get it together enough? I have my tentative plan, but if MK were to stay open until 12 or 1 one night, I would probably NOT do EMH the next morning at AK, so I am trying to decide where to make my fast passes for the next morning after we are at MK.

Come to think of it, my friend reminded me that last time we went (2 july's ago) they changed the extra magic hours all together in June, and we had to scramble to figure out what to do. So I guess patience is key.

 

[Tomh]

Not doubting you at all, just a question as to where you can find that info. From what I've always understood, Disney is very secretive about attendance numbers, booking, etc...

The idea of booking being soft has been spoken about frequently here on the DIS, and mentioned by Josh at EasyWDW, and I am sure other places. The free dining offering, and room discounts which are available through much of the summer should be a pretty good indication of soft bookings.

 

[AquaDame]

The idea of booking being soft has been spoken about frequently here on the DIS, and mentioned by Josh at EasyWDW, and I am sure other places. The free dining offering, and room discounts which are available through much of the summer should be a pretty good indication of soft bookings.

FWIW we also received a pin code for much of the summer that even included the holiday weekend, otherwise we wouldn't be going then. We were shocked that it was included since its a 4 day weekend for many.

 

[Shanti]

Does it seem likely to change this late? I can make fastpass ressies on Saturday, and MK is only open until 10 each night we are there (and NO late magic hours for MK the whole time?? A whole week!) HS closes at 8:30! What happened to July midnight/1 am hours!?

How can i plan 60 days out if Disney doesn't? Do I have any hope for late nights in the parks?

The bright side is, if bookings are indeed "soft", that means fewer crowds than usual in July.

 

[Shanti]

I do think they will extend July hours, but I have noticed that I have not had any trouble changing up our July ADRs, so either bookings are soft, or people are cutting back on dinning. Anyway, I love the thought of lower crowds in July; it would be a first for us.

Yup, I've had an amazingly easy time with ADR's and FastPasses for our upcoming July trip.

 

[VisionDisney]

The hours for June were just posted a few weeks ago and they are much less than they were last summer for the same time frame. The week we were there last year, MK opened 6 out of the 7 days at 8am and stayed open until at least 12 midnight every night. This year 9am every day and 11pm every night pretty much.

 

[xlsm]

July hours changed in JUNE last year...It happened to us for our July trip last summer, and I went back to check my PTR and it was June 16th, just FYI, in case they wait so long again this time around.

I know it's a pain, but for summer trips we've just come to expect it. It is frustrating when you've planned so carefully. But it's also why we aren't making any MK pre-park opening breakfast reservations for our upcoming December trip!!