Park closing vs shops?

[vault19dweller]

Hi guys,

This is going to sound really silly - but I heard somewhere that park shops will remain open for 1 hour after the listed "park closing" time?

Is this true?

And if so, is it just for MK?
Or do all 4 parks keep their shops open an hour after closing time?

I would hate trying to be part of the mass exodus after the various parks night-time spectaculars as we're using WDW transport.
Would prefer to spend that time in the park shopping, rather than waiting in line for a bus *laughs* - well at least until some of the lines clear up some

 

[CoP I Love You]

yes all of the main shops at least stay open for about an hour after park closing.
this is when we have always enjoyed doing our shopping cuz it does not interfere with park time and since many people don't realize it or don't utilize it the shops are not very crowded.

I especially enjoy going to mouse grears in epcot after park closing to avoid the huge rush to the buses.

 

[POOHsie]

yes all of the main shops at least stay open for about an hour after park closing.
this is when we have always enjoyed doing our shopping cuz it does not interfere with park time and since many people don't realize it or don't utilize it the shops are not very crowded.

I especially enjoy going to mouse grears in epcot after park closing to avoid the huge rush to the buses.

Yeah, Mouse Gear at Epcot. Right after IllumiNations, it's a gold mine for WDW. Usually the Emporium at MK is open after park close. But on the night of our MNSSHP visit, they were closing the doors and not letting people in right at park closing. So maybe it's not open an extra amount of time if the park has extended hours.

 

[siskaren]

this is when we have always enjoyed doing our shopping cuz it does not interfere with park time and since many people don't realize it or don't utilize it the shops are not very crowded.

Anytime I've gone into a shop at park closing (well, at least the major ones like the Emporium and MouseGears), it's been packed.

But on the night of our MNSSHP visit, they were closing the doors and not letting people in right at park closing. So maybe it's not open an extra amount of time if the park has extended hours.

Are you talking about when the park closed at 7 for guests who weren't staying for the party? Because then the reason they weren't letting guests in was because they weren't entitled to buy the party exclusive merchandise that was being put out. However, they should've been allowing people in who had wrist bands for the party. If you're talking about when the party ended at midnight though, that's normal for party nights. I don't know about EMH nights though, because I've never stayed for those.

 

[POOHsie]

Are you talking about when the park closed at 7 for guests who weren't staying for the party? Because then the reason they weren't letting guests in was because they weren't entitled to buy the party exclusive merchandise that was being put out. However, they should've been allowing people in who had wrist bands for the party. If you're talking about when the party ended at midnight though, that's normal for party nights. I don't know about EMH nights though, because I've never stayed for those.

No, I was talking about at Midnight on MNSSHP party night. I was inside the Emporium waiting to check-out, and they closed all the doors promptly. It surprised me.

 

[IsThatYouTigger]

No, I was talking about at Midnight on MNSSHP party night. I was inside the Emporium waiting to check-out, and they closed all the doors promptly. It surprised me.

I was surprised too! I was planning on walking through the shops on the way out of MNSSHP to see if there was anything that caught my eye on the way out and all the doors were closed when we got over there at 12:05.

 

[kathy884]

At Mickey's very merry Christmas party this last Tuesday we did attractions till midnight and did our shopping between 12 and 1. Lots of people in the shops then.

 

[SarahDisney]

We're almost always in the parks after closing shopping, often shopping.

I was told by a CM once that they don't kick people out of the park - not sure that's 100% true, but that's what I was told when it took almost an hour to print PhotoPass pictures, which I didn't start trying to print until at least 30 minutes after park closing.

From what I've seen, you can't go on rides, and they may stop letting people into the shops after a certain time (but that's at least an hour after closing), but they'll never kick you out of a shop once you're there.

Just know that the later you stay, the more likely it is that your bus will be combined with another resort bus - so it may take a little longer to get back to your hotel.

 

[WEDWDW]

All stores do close promptly at the end of PM EMH.

Of course,if a Guest is inside the store before PM EMH ends they can finish shopping.