Magic Kingdom Closing at 4:30 on 5/3

[Kirsti]

DFB newsletter sent out info today:

Interesting that they are not also pointing out that the days either side of this will almost certainly be completely packed…

 

[Funtimeswithteenagers]

5/3 was going to be our one day in MK for our once in a lifetime trip!
Now I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to go the day before if it’s going to be packed.
I did figure the entire week would be packed though, We are going for cheer Summit. We do get park hoppers so I guess we can still hop after 4:30 and go to another park. What a bummer though.

 

[Mle8308]

5/3 was going to be our one day in MK for our once in a lifetime trip!
Now I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to go the day before if it’s going to be packed.
I did figure the entire week would be packed though, We are going for cheer Summit. We do get park hoppers so I guess we can still hop after 4:30 and go to another park. What a bummer though.

If you want to see the fireworks, hop to the MK on your AK day (if you have one). AK is not usually a full day park. May 3 should be a great day at MK because like other posters have said, most people on vacation will go to other parks that day when they see it's closing early.

 

[Funtimeswithteenagers]

Ok thank you!!!
I haven’t even looked at entertainment schedules yet.

 

[romanr27]

they are rescheduling the cast member service celebration events that didn’t happen in 2020 and 2021. Originally scheduled for January and February but were again postponed because of weather. They will now be May 3 and 15.

Surprised there is one on May 15 since that's a Sunday.

 

[TheyCallMeStacey]

@Funtimeswithteenagers -

We are going for cheer Summit

When is the Summit?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Disney hasn't made hours available for the 15th yet but WDWMagic says that will be the date for the rescheduled 2021 cast service celebration. They were right about the 3rd so they might also be right about the 15th.

 

[meremac]

For people that go all the time, that's great. A lot of people forget, though, that, for many, WDW is a once in a lifetime trip. I'm sure parents of the 5 and 7 year old kids, on a 3-4 day visit to WDW, that chose that day for their MK Park reservation, and have ADRs in the other parks on the other days, probably don't have as positive of an outlook about the change.

They've been announcing it before ADR windows open for those dates and while there's still plenty of time/availability to switch park reservations around. Unless someone has a REALLY long trip, their ADR window wouldn't have opened before Disney made this announcement.

 

[Funtimeswithteenagers]

@Funtimeswithteenagers -

When is the Summit?

It’s April 30/ May 1 but most are coming in early and staying later to play.

 

[Funtimeswithteenagers]

D2 summit is the following weekend. May 7/8

 

[Funtimeswithteenagers]

It’s April 30/ May 1 but most are coming in early and staying later to play.

I actually forgot some teams have wildcard bids and they have to qualify on Friday.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

We were going to do Animal Kingdom that day but I think I'm going to switch it now. We have hoppers, and we'll see fireworks later that week.

 

[romanr27]

Disney hasn't made hours available for the 15th yet but WDWMagic says that will be the date for the rescheduled 2021 cast service celebration. They were right about the 3rd so they might also be right about the 15th.

The previous two attempts were both Tuesdays (Jan. 25 and Feb. 8), as is May 3. Not doubting WDWMagic, it's just curious Disney would close MK at 4:30 on a weekend.

 

[shb5007]

When these events happen, does anyone know when the last dining will be available in the park? Like for Be Our Guest?

 

[Betty Rohrer]

When these events happen, does anyone know when the last dining will be available in the park? Like for Be Our Guest?

I would guess it would be around 3pm for table serves like Be Our Guest. so workers could be done with clean up and could attend if on the list

 

[MickeyMouse55]

I hope that this doesn’t backfire and the early close day doesn’t end up packed. That would be miserable.

 

[EBM1228]

I hope that this doesn’t backfire and the early close day doesn’t end up packed. That would be miserable.

Agreed! I would be so upset. I changed our one day in MK to that day.

 

[Feberin]

Will the 5/15 affect other parks? We're planning Epcot that day and I wonder if a lot of people will hop over there after MK closes.

 

[mousedroid]

That seems like a really early closing time for one of the parks at that time of the year. Anyone know why that's the case?

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

There's a cast member appreciation event that night. If you have park hoppers it could be a good day to go, crowds will probably be fairly light due to the limited hours.