Park Hours?

[Disney Addicted]

The January park hours stop on Jan 24th. Shouldn't the entire month be published? Does anyone know when Disney publishes them? Or is there another site to use that is better? (Like the TA calendars for WDW).

I'll be there Jan 31st - Feb 3rd and was hoping to start planning. I thought WOC dining and other dining could be booked 60 days out.

 

[mamapenguin]

I want to say it's published 6 weeks out. I get happy when BWPPI emails me to see if I need a parking space. Then I know it's almost time for planning.- got the email yesterday. We arrive when you leave.

 

[SMD]

They start filling in the calendar about 6 weeks out and continue until about 3 weeks out with refurbs possibly changing at any time. It's not that unusual to not have park hours yet a 1 month out.

 

[figment_jii]

As the PPs have said, they start to fill in the calendar about 6-weeks out, one day at a time. I haven't found anything like the WDW travel agent calendars for DLR. The only month long calendar that I've seen is always published after the month has started (e.g., they'll post the January calendar on January 1st usually). Yes, dining reservations come open 60-days in advance (usually; sometimes things are slow to load), so you can sometimes make educated guesses about the park hours based on dining times.

 

[Geemo]

The January park hours stop on Jan 24th. Shouldn't the entire month be published? Does anyone know when Disney publishes them? Or is there another site to use that is better? (Like the TA calendars for WDW).

I'll be there Jan 31st - Feb 3rd and was hoping to start planning. I thought WOC dining and other dining could be booked 60 days out.

I have a day trip planned for the same general time. I was looking at the Historical Hours for that time range.
It looks like the park hours will be short through the week, something like 10am to 8pm not counting MM/EE.
The park hours for Jan 31st should roll out about Dec 20th or so.
It would be nice if Disney would be kind enough to post farther in advance. But they don't, so we have to live with that.

Since the hours for Jan 31st aren't posted yet, I've looked at dining reservations to see when they begin.
There are dates into February for dining reservations too. The starting times for dining reservation will give you an idea when the park will open and close.

Geemo

 

[Disney Addicted]

Thanks everyone. It does look like one day at a time for six weeks in advance. Ugh - seems so painfully slow (wry grin). I noticed the hours for January 25th shows today, but did not yesterday.

I made up a schedule in Excel so I could start plugging reservations in based on estimates. If all goes well, we have an 8:10 Plaza Inn for our DL park day (on a non-MM day) when the park should open at 10:00 am. If DL park does open at 10:00 am that day, we would be allowed to leave the restaurant when finished and explore the shops on Main Street, yes? Until the park opens at 10 am? Ohh, or would the shops even be open at 9 AM since it's not a MM day?

Do WOC dining reservations have a set number of days out before they open? Or just keep checking daily?

I want to say it's published 6 weeks out. I get happy when BWPPI emails me to see if I need a parking space. Then I know it's almost time for planning.- got the email yesterday. We arrive when you leave.

We'll actually be leaving on Saturday, Feb 4th. One last breakfast, pack-up and catch a ride back to LAX for a 2 pm flight. Have fun!

I have a day trip planned for the same general time. I was looking at the Historical Hours for that time range.
It looks like the park hours will be short through the week, something like 10am to 8pm not counting MM/EE.

Thanks Geemo. After looking at the calendar more this morning, I decided to base the park hours at 10-8 as well and just keep checking back daily to adjust if needed.

 

[figment_jii]

If all goes well, we have an 8:10 Plaza Inn for our DL park day (on a non-MM day) when the park should open at 10:00 am. If DL park does open at 10:00 am that day, we would be allowed to leave the restaurant when finished and explore the shops on Main Street, yes? Until the park opens at 10 am? Ohh, or would the shops even be open at 9 AM since it's not a MM day?

Usually (although things can vary), the Plaza Inn's first reservation is for about 20 minutes before park opening on a non-MM/EMH morning and 10 minutes after EMH/MM starts on those mornings. So if the park opens at 10:00 am and it's a non-EMH/MM morning, the first reservation will likely be at 9:40 am.

Do WOC dining reservations have a set number of days out before they open? Or just keep checking daily?

Theoretically, the WOC dining reservations also open up at the 60-day mark. However, it's not uncommon for packages that are tied to an entertainment offering (e.g., WoC, MSEP, etc.) to be delayed. If you don't see anything available on the 60-day mark, it probably means the packages haven't been loaded into the system yet (opposed to already being fully booked). If that happens, just keep checking and eventually they're usually added.

 

[Disney Addicted]

Usually (although things can vary), the Plaza Inn's first reservation is for about 20 minutes before park opening on a non-MM/EMH morning and 10 minutes after EMH/MM starts on those mornings. So if the park opens at 10:00 am and it's a non-EMH/MM morning, the first reservation will likely be at 9:40 am.


Theoretically, the WOC dining reservations also open up at the 60-day mark. However, it's not uncommon for packages that are tied to an entertainment offering (e.g., WoC, MSEP, etc.) to be delayed. If you don't see anything available on the 60-day mark, it probably means the packages haven't been loaded into the system yet (opposed to already being fully booked). If that happens, just keep checking and eventually they're usually added.

Hmm... maybe the park will be opening at 9:00 am that day then. It's Friday, Feb 3rd. The system gave me an 8:10 reservation for Plaza Inn. That works out nicely.

I'll keep trying for WOC then. Thanks!

 

[figment_jii]

That is odd...that is more consistent with an EMH/MM opening, but Fridays aren't usually DL's EMH/MM day (except during very busy times and special events). It has the same schedule for Fri, Feb 3 (and Sun, Feb 5). It'll be interesting to see what is happening on those days.

 

[mamapenguin]

I found my print out for times from last year's February trip: Tuesday 2/2 DL 10-8, DCA 10-6. Wednesday 2/3 DL 10-8, DCA 10-8. Thursday 2/4 DL 10-8, DCA 10-8. Friday 2/5 DL 8-12, DCA 8-10. Saturday 2/6 DL 8-12, DCA 8-10. HTH

 

[SMD]

There will likely be reduced hours compared to last year because of the end of the 60th.

 

[Disney Addicted]

Usually (although things can vary), the Plaza Inn's first reservation is for about 20 minutes before park opening on a non-MM/EMH morning and 10 minutes after EMH/MM starts on those mornings. So if the park opens at 10:00 am and it's a non-EMH/MM morning, the first reservation will likely be at 9:40 am.

That is odd...that is more consistent with an EMH/MM opening, but Fridays aren't usually DL's EMH/MM day (except during very busy times and special events). It has the same schedule for Fri, Feb 3 (and Sun, Feb 5). It'll be interesting to see what is happening on those days.

Just thought you'd like to know that I received a phone call from Disney Dining Reservations a few minutes ago.

My 8:10 am Plaza Inn reservation was moved to 9:00 am. Turns out DL was suppose to open at 8:00 am but will now be opening at 9:00 am instead that day.

(sigh) Oh well. I wish their restaurants opened a full hour before the park instead of only 20 minutes. I loved making early morning breakfast reservations at WDW.

 

[GatorChris]

Yeah, compared to WDW or even Legoland or Universal, Disneyland has the IQ of a pinto bean when it comes to calendars. I can check Legoland and Universal right now for a November 2017 calendar. But I can't check Disneyland for February. Ridiculous. When will DL ever come up to date?

And what makes matters worse is that when you're finally in that ridiculously small 6 week window, you can't even get parade, fireworks and show times until 3-4 weeks. I absolutely HATE this about DL. They get a lot of things right, but this is where they get it all wrong.

 

[dshimel]

Yeah, compared to WDW or even Legoland or Universal, Disneyland has the IQ of a pinto bean when it comes to calendars. I can check Legoland and Universal right now for a November 2017 calendar. But I can't check Disneyland for February. Ridiculous. When will DL ever come up to date?

And what makes matters worse is that when you're finally in that ridiculously small 6 week window, you can't even get parade, fireworks and show times until 3-4 weeks. I absolutely HATE this about DL. They get a lot of things right, but this is where they get it all wrong.

it is my understanding that they wait to get booking info from area hotels to judge crowd size to make adjustments to hours.

Other parks don't make this kinds of fine adjustments, so don't need to wait 6 weeks out to set park hours.

 

[Darkbeer1]

it is my understanding that they wait to get booking info from area hotels to judge crowd size to make adjustments to hours.

Other parks don't make this kinds of fine adjustments, so don't need to wait 6 weeks out to set park hours.

Why doesn't do the Industry standard, including at WDW....

Basically post the minimum hours they plan to operate that day (and say at least 6 months in advance, if not a year) and then if there trends show higher than normal expected, add hours, most parks usually do it at the end of the day, and even make announcements,such as "due to large crowds, we have decided to remain open until 9 PM tonight, Please enjoy the additional time in the park).

But at least show us what your minimum day is looking at..... So we can do our appropriate planning.

 

[ClaraOswald]

The lack of park hours being released doesn't bother me so much since historical info can be pretty helpful. But the lack of refurbishment info is really frustrating to me.

 

[dshimel]

Why doesn't do the Industry standard, including at WDW....

Basically post the minimum hours they plan to operate that day (and say at least 6 months in advance, if not a year) and then if there trends show higher than normal expected, add hours, most parks usually do it at the end of the day, and even make announcements,such as "due to large crowds, we have decided to remain open until 9 PM tonight, Please enjoy the additional time in the park).

But at least show us what your minimum day is looking at..... So we can do our appropriate planning.

So just post 10am to 6pm weekday and 9am to 10pm weekend year around.... then, instead of adjusting at 6 weeks out, wait until day of to adjust?

 

[Darkbeer1]

So just post 10am to 6pm weekday and 9am to 10pm weekend year around.... then, instead of adjusting at 6 weeks out, wait until day of to adjust?

No, but maybe post it as peak hours (expected to be peak), above normal weekdays and weekends, off-season weekdays and weekends, and then holiday periods, similar to what other parks like Universal does. They also know the private party night, such as Halloween and know which days they need to close early for the events.

Get close, and they have the basic calendar I just mentioned now, just like they have a scheduled refurb calendar, and when they expect to get them done. Now, a mechanical issue might force a change in the schedule, but not too often.

 

[dshimel]

I wonder which would anger people more?

1) They don't post hours specific hours until 6 weeks out, so people have to wait to do detailed trip planning.....
Or
2) They post the hours for the full year, people do detailed planning for their trip 6 months out, then have to scrap the plans and start over when Disney adjusts the hours 6 weeks out due to specific hotel booking information.

 

[Darkbeer1]

What Disney needs to do is suck it up and keep its promises, which might mean they open a hour early or stay open a hour late, then what the "precise" data says is "most efficient".

Heck, I went out to do some errands and Christmas shop last night, and due to the weather, a lot of the shops were over staffed and fairly quiet. Lucky for us, but it would drive the Disney execs mad.... But if you post, open until 10 PM, they just do it.

And do the same with the Hotels, if someone requests a King Bed, make sure it happens, and guarantee it, instead of just a request.... Every other Hotel in the area does it....

For some weird reason, the policy of guest comes first has become what the Disney Execs want comes first..... And that is just a sad commentary of the current Disney philosophy.....