Magic Kingdom closing early October 21

[shelbel95]

I was just looking at park hours for our upcoming trip and see that MK closes at 6pm on 10/21 and it doesn’t look like a Halloween party night. Just curious why that might be if anyone knows…. I was surprised to see it and am glad we checked the calendar as we were making dining reservations this morning.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

My best guess would be a private event related to the Gartner Symposium that coincides with that date…

 

[Dave006]

It is closing due to a private related to the annual Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo that same week. The Conference is at the Swan & Dolphin.

Each year they host a private event at one of the Disney parks. Last year it was at Hollywood Studios Epcot.

ETA; last year the private event for the Garner Group was at Epcot. Thanks to @LoveToDisney for making me check my notes. I was thinking about the HS special event for the SAP Sapphire Users Group concert at HS on October 17, 2024.

Dave

 

[mom2rtk]

That's a pretty crappy thing to do with a park already closing early so many nights for a party.

 

[wdwfan94]

That's a pretty crappy thing to do with a park already closing early so many nights for a party.

They don’t care. Why would they? They can collect admission for a full day anyway. Typical corporate mindset.

 

[shelbel95]

I figured it was probably a private event... thanks for satisfying my curiosity

 

[mom2rtk]

@LilyWDW I'm curious why you think my comment was funny. I was quite serious.

 

[Dave006]

That's a pretty crappy thing to do with a park already closing early so many nights for a party.

Well it is known before the normal 60 day window for park hours. They are not hiding anything, and this week in October there is always a park that holds a private event for the Gartner Group.

Dave

 

[muppets3d]

They don’t care. Why would they? They can collect admission for a full day anyway. Typical corporate mindset.

It's not like they're waiting until the morning of to tell you the park is closing early. They're giving folks plenty of notice to plan their trips accordingly.

 

[gottalovepluto]

@LilyWDW I'm curious why you think my comment was funny. I was quite serious.

I laughed because I always get a chuckle when people forget Disney World is a for profit business. You pay enough money, you can do some pretty crazy stuff at Disney even if it inconveniences other guests.

 

[LoveToDisney]

At least the private party is on the same night MK would have already closed early for a MNSSHP. Last year, I think they closed EP at 5pm for the private party.

 

[Dave006]

Last year, I think they closed EP at 5pm for the private party.

Yes you are absolutely correct. Last year it was at Epcot for the Gartner Group on October 22, 2024, and Epcot closed that day at 5 PM.

Dave

 

[mom2rtk]

I guess as long as everyone continues making excuses for Disney, this is what we'll keep getting.

I'd be fine with it if this was at a different time of year when Disney isn't already closing the park early several times a week. But this is on top of that, so why I think it's a bridge too far. They should have told them to choose a park not already closing early so much.

Good luck to anyone wanting to see Starlight on the couple of nights the park stays open late.

 

[AngusIsMySpiritAnimal]

It's not like they're waiting until the morning of to tell you the park is closing early. They're giving folks plenty of notice to plan their trips accordingly.

Agreed - we were booked for that week ... when I learned about all of this (tried to book Swolphin and it's SOLD OUT), I moved us up to the Thursday/Friday/Saturday prior, and then offsite for the weekend into Monday/Tuesday. I don't want to be in the mix with 8000 convention goers anyway!

"Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2025 is the world's most important gathering of CIOs and other IT executives. More than 8,000 CIOs and senior leaders will explore the technology, insights and trends shaping the future of IT and business, including generative AI, business transformation, cybersecurity, customer experience, data analytics, executive leadership and more."

 

[mom2rtk]

At least the private party is on the same night MK would have already closed early for a MNSSHP. Last year, I think they closed EP at 5pm for the private party.

Do you honestly think they gave up a whole night's revenue from MNSSHP for this private event? Without counting, I'm pretty sure they just added an extra night to a different week.

And closing Epcot is entirely different since that will be the only early closing for that park that week. Much easier to schedule around.

 

[juxtapose]

Do you honestly think they gave up a whole night's revenue from MNSSHP for this private event? Without counting, I'm pretty sure they just added an extra night to a different week.

And closing Epcot is entirely different since that will be the only early closing for that park that week. Much easier to schedule around.

MK closes early 4 nights that week. 3 party nights and 1 private event night. Every week in October MK closes 4 nights early, so yes they did remove a party from that week for this extra closure.

 

[Dave006]

Do you honestly think they gave up a whole night's revenue from MNSSHP for this private event? Without counting, I'm pretty sure they just added an extra night to a different week.

Yes and it was not hard for Disney to make this easy decision.

Disney knew about the Private Event, and planned around it. For reference the Gartner Group has been having their normal October Conference at Disney since 2015 (10 years).

Dave