Magic Kingdom open until 2 AM...?

[Ginger Twist]

I realize that this is somewhat of an obscure/weird question, but I've been thinking about it since I reviewed the park hours for the week of our trip, and figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if anyone had any thoughts on it. One of the days that we will be in Disney (Sunday, March 22) the MK is open until 2AM. Has anyone been in the MK when it was open that late? I know only select rides are open during the magic hours, but do all of those rides really remain open until 2AM? I want to plan my week accordingly (crazy, I know, but I've been making schedules and spreadsheets for weeks, probably most of which I will abandon as soon as I arrive in Disney). At first I thought the 2AM closing would be great, and that we could just hit up MK that night around 10 PM to avoid the weekend crowds, but I'm beginning to have second thoughts. Any comments or suggestions on how the crowds are late at night, and whether its worth waiting up to go at night? Or would I be better off going to bed early and hitting the MK early in the morning?

Thanks!

 

[Howdy Doodat]

when i've been in the MK that late, it's been pretty empty -- generally a good time to be there, i think. (although, honestly, i don't remember what if anything was closed down, so i can't really help you there.)

 

[mickeystoontown]

We've been at the Magic Kingdom until 2:00 a.m. and absolutely loved it! We were able to ride several things over and over and over again. We arrived at the park that morning at 10:30 a.m. and didn't leave until 2:00 a.m. the next morning. That was THE best time we had ever had at the Magic Kingdom! I was able to take some awesome pictures of the castle too.

The only problem we had was trying to find a vendor to buy a couple of colas.

We were at Package Pickup at 2:25 a.m. and were on the bus back to our resort at 2:45 a.m.

We slept in the next morning and then went to Downtown Disney that afternoon.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

I have to assume that the 2am closing is due to EMH.
In my opnion you are better off going early and avoiding the evening EMH. The first hour or so can be very crowded with lines all over the place. It would be better to arrive an hour or so into the EMH and then have two hours left. At that point some people will be starting to exit the park simply because they will be tired.

Again, if it were me, I would recommend early morning. We have been to all the parks at opening time and were always able to get a lot of riding done before the crowds start arriving around 11am.

However, I must also add that this was in the busy month of June so it may be different when you are going. During the old "E-nights" were in the MK until 1am and had a great time. However now that EMH is free it can be very crowded. It all depends on the crowd level when you are there.

 

[hidmickey:myantidrug]

I've stayed at MK through the evening EMHs and I'm beyond excited to do it again. The crowds weren't as heavy as during normal hours but it was definitely not as empty as I'd expected it to be, at least earlier on. Most of the crowd stayed for Spectromagic, stuck around for a few rides, and left. The crowd consisted mostly of teens/younger adults so there was still a decent wait at some rides (namely Splash Mountain, BTMRR, and Space Mountain) but Fantasyland, as far as my one experience showed, was nearly dead. Other rides like HM had no wait at all - in fact, we never got off and just kept riding on through. Come 1:30ish, the park was more than manageable and aside from really only Space Mountain, we could walk onto whatever our hearts desired. There wasn't a single ride that we noticed scheduled to be open late that closed prior to 2. I DEFINITELY say go for it. And if you do, do not pass up Astro Orbiter. While I typically find this ride boring and not worth the wait during the day, the view at night with everything all lit up was absolutely magical - a vision I will never forget.

 

[teach22180]

I think it depends on if your family is an early morning or late night group. We love the 2 am closings at MK; it's cooler and not that crowded after midnight. I have a great memory of coming out of Splash mountain at 2 am. What a rush at that hour! However, no one was under 20 in my group, and we planned to sleep in the next day. Hope that helps!

 

[DIS-OH]

I've been there at 2:00 AM several times and it is almost surreal! Very, very fun! The MK was actually open until 3:00 AM on one of those trips. I say "Go for it!"

 

[jeepsrj]

When we were there last September, MK actually stayed open till 3 AM and we stay the whole time..it was awesome...not many people at all..the rides were going till closing and we rode them over and over and over again.....only thing was you get kinda hungry and thirsty and not much at all open that late...LOL....but you really don't notice till you go to leave...lol....

 

[nutmegg]

I'm almost done with my part of the spreadsheet that has taken me months and months (I've been addicted to reading Trip Reviews and haven't put forth my best effort) and now you tell me that all our planning will fly out of the window once we get there! No Way!

 

[suzicute20]

As long as you don't want to ride anything that is not open during EMH, you will have no problem. We had a blast when MK was open until 2AM. Barely anyone in the park - it was so nice. We rode things over and over again. Go for it!

 

[lazy daisy]

I realize that this is somewhat of an obscure/weird question, but I've been thinking about it since I reviewed the park hours for the week of our trip, and figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if anyone had any thoughts on it. One of the days that we will be in Disney (Sunday, March 22) the MK is open until 2AM. Has anyone been in the MK when it was open that late? I know only select rides are open during the magic hours, but do all of those rides really remain open until 2AM? I want to plan my week accordingly (crazy, I know, but I've been making schedules and spreadsheets for weeks, probably most of which I will abandon as soon as I arrive in Disney). At first I thought the 2AM closing would be great, and that we could just hit up MK that night around 10 PM to avoid the weekend crowds, but I'm beginning to have second thoughts. Any comments or suggestions on how the crowds are late at night, and whether its worth waiting up to go at night? Or would I be better off going to bed early and hitting the MK early in the morning?

Thanks!

We love being at the MK late at night like that, in the beginning of the magig hour it will probably be crowded but as the night wears on the park start to empty out, the little ones can only go for so long. When we were there we were able to go on everything with little wait! We will be there also and planning on being at MK at 2am!!!! Just take a nap!

 

[PoohsFan1]

I realize that this is somewhat of an obscure/weird question, but I've been thinking about it since I reviewed the park hours for the week of our trip, and figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if anyone had any thoughts on it. One of the days that we will be in Disney (Sunday, March 22) the MK is open until 2AM. Has anyone been in the MK when it was open that late? I know only select rides are open during the magic hours, but do all of those rides really remain open until 2AM? I want to plan my week accordingly (crazy, I know, but I've been making schedules and spreadsheets for weeks, probably most of which I will abandon as soon as I arrive in Disney). At first I thought the 2AM closing would be great, and that we could just hit up MK that night around 10 PM to avoid the weekend crowds, but I'm beginning to have second thoughts. Any comments or suggestions on how the crowds are late at night, and whether its worth waiting up to go at night? Or would I be better off going to bed early and hitting the MK early in the morning?

Thanks!

HEY we are going to MK the same day as you ....hope to see you there. The last time we did evening Magic Hours was a couple of years ago and the park was only open til midnight (went second week of Sept.) and we loved it. My DH is soooo excited that the MK will be opened til 2AM. We plan on taking it easy in the morning and heading to the park at about 10 or 11am (eating Breakfast at our resort) and then staying there until after lunch (about 3:30 or 4:00ish) then head back for a few hours...making sure we get a good hours nap or so, and then head back for dinner somewhere and close out the park. The only down side about the whole thing is that I just noticed that the next day we have ADRs for Donald's Breakfast Safari for 8:05am....I hope we will be able to make it

 

[Tomh]

I love the late EMH hours at MK. We were there for evening EMH in August, and found that generally, after about the first hour, the crowds thin out pretty nicely, and you are able to get quite a lot done, very similar to the first couple of hours in the morning. I fully intend to schedule this summers trip around the evening EMH as much as possible!

 

[Ginger Twist]

Wow - I didn't expect to get so many replies so quickly! Thank you everyone! I guess just going out there asking the questions has proven to be the most valuable resource I've found so far I will definitely be there for the Sunday night magic hours. PoohsFan - I will see you there!

 

[gonzalesphd]

We were at MK during PEAK time...After Christmas, before New Years. One day, there was 9:00 wishes and 2 Spectros 8 and 10. We arrived at the park at 8:00 and stayed until 1:00 in the morning (with three kids 7, 4, and 1) and we had the most memorable time.

1) the second spectro was EMPTY. There was not even anyone around us.
2) every one headed out after the fireworks or second parade.

We did so much with no waiting. It was amazing. I highly recommend it. We will be doing that again sometime!

 

[DaveStroem]

I too am going to be there on the 22nd. I don't know that I want to stay for the entire EMH but OTOH what else would we be doing. I did notice that the new calendar is quite different for this date.

First off, Spectro is now being done twice with the first being at 8:15 and the second at 10:00. Wishes is now at 9:00 instead of 10:00 that it was in other calendars. Now I have to rethink my entire evening.

I wonder since the EMH starts pretty late (11:00) is the park still full for the first hour?

I could see this being the case when the EMH starts earlier but I can't imagine many people with little ones keeping them up this late.

 

[jeast]

Hey, I'll see you guys at the MK EMH on March 22nd! We'll be there as late as our kids can handle and sleep in the next morning for an afternoon/evening at AK. We don't do much at AK besides the playground (they love the boneyard as much as anything in the parks).

 

[teach22180]

I wonder since the EMH starts pretty late (11:00) is the park still full for the first hour?

I could see this being the case when the EMH starts earlier but I can't imagine many people with little ones keeping them up this late.

You'd be surprised to see how many preschoolers are still going strong at midnight or sleeping peacefully in strollers. And, I'm totally NOT judging any family because they are on vacation. If they are okay with being up that late, I trust those parent's judgement. They probably slept late or took huge naps or will sleep in the next day. Some people are just late night people!

 

[noladave]

yes, pretty full for the 1st hour - usually until 12:30, or so. By 1, you will start having the park all to yourselves. NOt really, but pretty close to it. Rides are definitely walk on, and if you are REALLY lucky, by 1:30, you can just stay on some of the rides, without getting off, and having run around to get back on.

It's a pretty neat experience, but makes for a tough early EMH the next day. So for those, that can't hang until 2am, make sure you hit early EMH at the park the next day, as it will be pretty empty.

 

[AustinTink]

We're going to get there at 9am and stay until 2am!! Why not, you only live once. DHS is our next day so we won't be heading out early. We did TSM already at California Adventure so there's no need for us to get up early the next day. Late EMH are awesome. We stayed until the bitter end last year and had a total blast. We rode BTMRR over, and over, and over...........