MK closing early for parties

[North of Mouse]

Paying for a full day at MK, then having to leave early because of a party really irks me. It's not that I want to be at the party, but having shorter hours for full paying guests, then charging outrageous for the parties extra is just so wrong to me.

I get that Disney wants/does make extra money at any/every opportunity, but I do feel cheated to have to leave early, when I've paid for that day like any other.

 

[kmb584]

Paying for a full day at MK, then having to leave early because of a party really irks me. It's not that I want to be at the party, but having shorter hours for full paying guests, then charging outrageous for the parties extra is just so wrong to me.

I get that Disney wants/does make extra money at any/every opportunity, but I do feel cheated to have to leave early, when I've paid for that day like any other.

Go to another park that day?

 

[Robo]

Paying for a full day at MK, then having to leave early because of a party really irks me. It's not that I want to be at the party, but having shorter hours for full paying guests, then charging outrageous for the parties extra is just so wrong to me.

I get that Disney wants/does make extra money at any/every opportunity, but I do feel cheated to have to leave early, when I've paid for that day like any other.

MK's schedule used to see it closing at 6:30-7:00, or so, on many nights of the "off season." And, this was before there were 4 theme parks.

 

[999DoomBuggies]

Agreed, in this situation, disney should open up free park hopping to another park that is still open for those MK guests that are getting the boot.

 

[mom2rtk]

You must have missed the hundred or so other threads where this has been discussed. Or you must love long lines.

Yes, it's unfortunate that you miss out on night entertainment on those days. But not at any other time of the year is it easier to find a low crowd day in the MK. I LOVE LOVE LOVE those days for that reason. It really makes planning a snap. You can get far more done on party days in the shorter hours than you can on a non-party day with longer hours.

 

[crazymomof4]

I hear you and I feel the same way. We are doing 2 MK days this trip (Sept) one shortened due to MNSSHP (which we will not attend) and one long day (open til 10pm)
I am trying to make myself feel better about the "having to leave early" part by telling myself that we wanted to leave early one night anyway to have dinner at Ohana (our 1st time). I got ADR for 7pm so my mindset is that we are leaving to go to dinner.... not being forced out! LOL using mind-tricks on myself!
Also, I've read and been told that lots of people don't like to go to MK on the short days-- people w/o hoppers and day guests especially. So.... due to the lower crowds you can literally accomplish in the short day what you would on a longer day.

Hope this helps make you feel better. Not saying it's fair that we pay for a full day and have to leave early but taking a different viewpoint can sometimes defray some of the bad feelings.... and who wants to go to wdw harboring bad feelings, right?

 

[fly757au]

That is our hope. We are going to MK on a party day, and we have tickets to the party as well. We are hoping for a low crowd during the day so that it make it really enjoyable.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

Agreed, in this situation, disney should open up free park hopping to another park that is still open for those MK guests that are getting the boot.

While I agree it can be irksome to see the park closing early for the parties that they sell tickets to, I disagree that they should give free park hopping on those days. The hours are posted months in advance and you have the choice to go to the park knowing there are shortened hours, go to another park that day, you have already purchased hoppers (I would never base purchasing hoppers on 1 days hours), or not have a park day at all. I was actually elated to see that MK will be open until 10/11pm on a couple days during our trip in November as usually the only park open "late" was Epcot and that was only 9/10pm. As a previous poster commented, MK in the past closed in the 7pm range prior to the parties even being held. They have just found a way to increase attendance past their previously "normal" closing times and are making money by doing so.

 

[rajak73]

I was thinking the same crazy thing. Maybe go to a different park that day? Could I feel the same because the normal hours today are 9-1 but when we are going the hours are 9-10? I'm not getting the same hours so I should be mad right? We are going for 16 days in Dec and just planned the parks AROUND the early closing of MK for the parties. I know a crazy idea but I think it will work.

 

[crazymomof4]

You must have missed the hundred or so other threads where this has been discussed. Or you must love long lines.

Yes, it's unfortunate that you miss out on night entertainment on those days. But not at any other time of the year is it easier to find a low crowd day in the MK. I LOVE LOVE LOVE those days for that reason. It really makes planning a snap. You can get far more done on party days in the shorter hours than you can on a non-party day with longer hours.

I guess I was typing my comment when your's posted! Thanks for confirming. I'm looking fwd to what you describe.... followed by a monorail ride to a great dinner!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

So, don't go to MK on a day they have the party?

Do you have park hoppers? Then you can hop to another park. On the other hand it has been pointed out that guests who don't have park hoppers are more likely to avoid MK on those days.

I also totally disagree about free park hopping. Give em free park hopping and then you can't take advantage of the day guests avoiding MK. Disney can set its hours. They can, and do, even close entire parks early for private parties for conventions or youth groups.

 

[North of Mouse]

MK's schedule used to see it closing at 6:30-7:00, or so, on many nights of the "off season." And, this was before there were 4 theme parks.

Yes, I get that - but when we are going in Nov. the 'regular' hours (without parties) are until 9:00pm - 10:00pm, so yes, there are hours being taken away, also no Wishes those nights.

Yes, we will plan around them, but that was not the point of this 'rant'!!

Also, to pp, I realize fully that Disney 'can' and 'will' do anything they want - hence the thread where many guests are upset about 'major' impacting construction going on at their resorts 'after' they have completely made all their plans.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

It's unusual for them to have no Wishes at all on non-party nights. They usually run regular Wishes. Could that not change between now and November?

I just looked at a chart on wdwinfo of November park hours and I cannot see any day that MK closes after 7 (those would be party nights) where Wishes is not scheduled. So I'm not sure where you are seeing that there is no Wishes on regular days. wdwinfo could have wrong info I guess.

Isn't that their normal operating hours though? They have longer hours in peak summer - this is peak summer and November is not. And I would bet that you will see some of those November weekend hours change.

 

[DisneyWisher]

Could I feel the same because the normal hours today are 9-1 but when we are going the hours are 9-10? I'm not getting the same hours so I should be mad right? We are going for 16 days in Dec and just planned the parks AROUND the early closing of MK for the parties. I know a crazy idea but I think it will work.

The crowd calendar for today shows a 9. The first 3 Thursdays in December show crowd level as a 4...I'd rather have shorter hours and less crowds than 3 extra hours on a 9 day. Plus the weather will be at least 15 degrees cooler (if not more) in December.

 

[DisneyWisher]

I started attending the parties 10 yrs ago. Back then they'd close the parks at 6 to non party guests. They'd have the partygoers go to a Tomorrowland (only land open) and at 7 the party begins and the other lands open. As a partygoer I liked it this way..what's sad is 9 yrs ago you could attend a party for $35 now it's $65 and you actually get less. Back then you'd get a button and free 5x7 photo. They've done away with those. We're going in Sept and trying to decide party or CMs. My 21 month old granddaughter will be with us.

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes, I get that - but when we are going in Nov. the 'regular' hours (without parties) are until 9:00pm - 10:00pm, so yes, there are hours being taken away, also no Wishes those nights.

Yes, we will plan around them, but that was not the point of this 'rant'!!

Also, to pp, I realize fully that Disney 'can' and 'will' do anything they want - hence the thread where many guests are upset about 'major' impacting construction going on at their resorts 'after' they have completely made all their plans.

It is likely that Disney is staying open longer on those non-party nights to make up for the earlier closings on party days. No way to know whether that would be the case in the absence of the parties.

I totally get the "No Wishes" complaint though. We usually do 3 MK days in a week. We do 2 party days (for the low crowds) and 1 non-party day (to see the night entertainment). (We don't buy hoppers). You'll want to choose a non-party day that is not a Saturday and not a PM EMH. We are generally very happy with our MK experience with those days.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I totally get the "No Wishes" complaint though.

but according to what I'm seeing there is no day in November where Wishes is not scheduled. (Not counting party nights - those will have Holiday Wishes)

 

[mom2rtk]

I guess I was typing my comment when your's posted! Thanks for confirming. I'm looking fwd to what you describe.... followed by a monorail ride to a great dinner!

We have done party days in the MK many many times. I can think of only one day we were in the MK on a party day that it felt really busy. More often that not we just go "wow, this is awesome".

And that's because most people approach it like the OP and end up going on one of the 3 non-party days a week. Not at any other time of the year is it this easy to predict where to find low crowds.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

Yes, I get that - but when we are going in Nov. the 'regular' hours (without parties) are until 9:00pm - 10:00pm, so yes, there are hours being taken away, also no Wishes those nights.

Yes, we will plan around them, but that was not the point of this 'rant'!!

Also, to pp, I realize fully that Disney 'can' and 'will' do anything they want - hence the thread where many guests are upset about 'major' impacting construction going on at their resorts 'after' they have completely made all their plans.

We too are going in November and 4 of the 10 nights we are there MK will be closing at 7. 1 of those doesn't count for us as we are going to the party. But the other 3 nights, I've taken into consideration that Disneyworld has another park open till 9pm and we will probably either plan a full day at Epcot or hop to Epcot to finish the day. We have always added the opper feature due to the fact that we go off season and know that they have shorter park hours. I don't see it any different than Animal Kingdom closing at 5pm or Hollywood Studios closing at 8pm for the duration of the whole trip. I actually think both of those parks should be open later than they are but realize that Disney has set its hours based on attendance and safety reasons (for AK).

 

[mom2rtk]

but according to what I'm seeing there is no day in November where Wishes is not scheduled. (Not counting party nights - those will have Holiday Wishes)

It's the party days we were talking about. And Holiday Wishes is only available if you pay for the party ticket. MSEP is also an issue.