June 2016 MK Park Hours.... 10 pm closing times; Is this pay more get less?

[MrWonderful]

Our trip is June 2016. Every previous June trip we have gone on, MK would close at midnight or later. We are super night owls and plan accordingly and love the cooler late nights at MK!. I sent a polite email voicing my concern, as the official calendars still show 10 pm. The response I received was:

"Thank you for your email to the Walt Disney World® Resort. We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us.

We are sorry for the disappointments you mentioned in your email. It is our goal to create magical memories and exceed the expectations of our Guests during each and every interaction that you have with us. Please be assured that we have shared your comments with our leadership team, along with the appropriate management, as feedback such as yours is taken very seriously.

At this time, we do not expect to see a change in our Theme Park operating Hours. In order to assure the most timely and up-to-date Theme Park schedule information, while on our website select "Parks & Tickets" from the Home Page, then "More Park Hours." Enter the date you will be visiting. You will be able to see all Theme Park hours, as well as Extra Magic Hours.

Once again, thank you for contacting us. We sincerely hope that we will have an opportunity to entertain you soon.

Sincerely,"

How disappointing
So how many of the 6 remaining non-EMH evenings are they going to sell each week? My guess is all 6. Curses and bleh to them...
I mean really really money grubbing disappointing

-vent concluded-

 

[mountdew1]

Remember that in almost all cases, all guest services can do is provide the company authorized response. They don't know (or can't say) anything beyond what is already published. Imagine the outcry if a CM said "hours will get longer" and then the day someone was there, they didn't get longer. "BUT BUT I HAVE IT IN WRITING AND DEMAND A FULL REFUND OF MY ENTIRE VACATION." So they state what is published, and nothing more. Park hours have been posted short for well over a year now. And in almost every case, they have been extended closer to the actual date, sometimes within a few days. So I would be shocked if the hours don't increase prior to your trip, but you won't get any CM to state as such on record.

 

[MrWonderful]

I hope you are right, I really do!!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

I agree with you - same for our trip. Sometimes we wouldn't show up to MK before 9pm and we have stayed as late as 2am. We love it especially in the summer. We are APs so it doesn't matter - but I could see more people not getting Hoppers. MK would be the park we hop to in the evenings.

 

[mom2rtk]

I imagine an upsell event might be more appealing from 10 to 1 than it would be from 12 to 3, don't you think?

OP, only time will tell. It will be interesting to compare the hours over time.

 

[djc9699]

I feel you pain. Our trips are always in June and we always spend nights at MK. If the hours don't change by May 1st, we are cancelling our trip. We rope drop and close down with short breaks in between. We don't want to be in the resort room by 10:30.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We were there in June 2013. At least two days that trip, MK hours were extended the day of. We arrived at the park to find a sign that the park would be open until midnight.

 

[jklmrm]

I agree with you. We're going in June as well, and we usually like to visit the water parks during the day, and visit the parks in the evening when it's cooler. Looks like we may have to rethink our plans. But it's very disappointing if this will in fact be the actual hours.

 

[DavidNYC]

They'll change. What do you expect Disney to say? "We expect the hours will be lengthened as we get closer"? Then a couple months from now if they don't change them everyone complains that they were told hours would be increased. They have to say what they said.

 

[graciedad]

They'll change. What do you expect Disney to say? "We expect the hours will be lengthened as we get closer"? Then a couple months from now if they don't change them everyone complains that they were told hours would be increased. They have to say what they said.

They never wait this long. The hours for May have been out since December. May has 11pm and midnight hours. But, there is nothing for June, July, or August. I've been waiting for these to change for months and couldn't figure out why they hadn't updated them yet. When the news came out last week that they were offering the late night $150 thing, I knew we were screwed. They aren't even offering 2 hours for MK EMH. Epcot and DHS both have 2 hour EMH, but not MK. It's gonna be disappointing for the regulars that go in the summer.

 

[minnie mum]

So how many of the 6 remaining non-EMH evenings are they going to sell each week? My guess is all 6. Curses and bleh to them...
I mean really really money grubbing disappointing

I wrote the following post last week in the thread that announced this "trial" late evening ticket thing:

.... if this thing does happen, we're going to see shorter normal park hours so Disney can maximize profits from these after hour tickets. That's what would really tick me off. They will no longer extend park hours, as has always been the norm until now. Don't assume that these are only going to be during times when the park would have been otherwise closed. We may be seeing the last of MK hours that extend past 10:00

Looks like this is just what may be happening this summer, if enough people buy into it.

 

[Jennasis]

Disney guest services CM's don't know squat. They have no way of knowing if there are plans to extend hours in June or not. The ONLY job of those answering complaints and questions is to placate guests and make them feel like their complaint was heard.

 

[snayak]

Just like the hard ticket parties have MK closing at 7pm 3-4 nights per week with no night entertainment for guests (who still pay full price for a ticket)...welcome to the club!

Oh well, what do you do?

 

[DisneyHardin]

I bet they will extend them. Last year for our trip in November, MK was scheduled to close every night at 8 PM. They didn't extend the hours until practically right before our trip.

 

[Hopefully]

Spring Break hours were extended very late as well. I think they will extend them

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

I think they are waiting to see how their nighttime event goes.

 

[DisDad4Life]

I think they are waiting to see how their nighttime event goes.

This was my thought as well. We also are going in June and I've been watching/waiting for the hours to be extended. In past years they most certainly have been updated to midnight/1am by now. I'm assuming they're waiting to see how successful the new Magic Nights (or whatever it's called) are in April and May before deciding what to do in the subsequent months. Here's hoping (from a purely selfish point of view) that the Magic Nights under-perform Disney exec's expectations.

 

[tlmadden73]

I've always seen WDW's official hours as 9am - 10 PM .. anything beyond that is "bonus" that they open up to help handle crowds. It costs money to stay open 2-3 hours later.

I think they just need to know better how crowded it will be .. and honestly, see how the new late night event goes. If that goes well, well then why stay open for free when people will pay for it?

It seems by the facts that they offered two pretty good SUMMER discounts that it won't be "as" crowded this summer. If it won't be as crowded, they may not extend hours.
I can't imagine why else they would just offer a 30% discount on rooms during the summer and why they had that other offer where you got free quick service dining during the summer.

 

[ton80]

We've gone in late June the past 4 years and not once have they closed the MK as early as 10:00 pm.. As the month draws closer the hours will be updated as in the past.

 

[DavidNYC]

They never wait this long. The hours for May have been out since December. May has 11pm and midnight hours. But, there is nothing for June, July, or August. I've been waiting for these to change for months and couldn't figure out why they hadn't updated them yet. When the news came out last week that they were offering the late night $150 thing, I knew we were screwed. They aren't even offering 2 hours for MK EMH. Epcot and DHS both have 2 hour EMH, but not MK. It's gonna be disappointing for the regulars that go in the summer.

Yes they do. My hours for my trip next month were extended in each of the last two updates.