Park reservations before hours released?

[MelissaS8]

So, I want to make park reservations for my trip 5/1-5/8. I was waiting for the ACTUAL hours to be released by Disney, not just the TouringPlans estimation. I got a notification that Friday they released our DAY 1 (5/1) hours only.

I do recognize that they can change it at anytime, which for uber planners is not ideal.

How do people usually handle this?

Thanks.

 

[DreamsCrusher]

Even in the before times it was pretty much SOP that the hours ahead of time would change. The TP estimations should be an OK baseline to use for now and you can keep checking those as I assume they are continually readjusted. Should WDW issue their official followup dates that are dramatically different from the TP estimates, you may choose to readjust your plans - or not.

 

[JFDIS]

I would set your HS day in stone, regardless of how hours may change. Apart from that you’ll just have to keep checking. I haven’t seen them shorten hours but on my last two trips about two weeks out they extended some park hours. They tend to do this on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays depending on their estimated demand/capacity. It is hard when making evening dining reservations. Say you make dining plans at 7:30pm at California Grill later to learn MK will close at 8:00 instead of the scheduled 7:00pm. I’m a big planner too winch is one reason I really love DisBoards. Keep checking for updates here and on MDE app (hours). I’ve made quite a few trips since reopening and the forced flexibility has allowed me to relax and enjoy my vacations more. I know longer feel like I’m running from place to place.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Disney has been releasing a standard set of hours about 8-10 weeks in advance, then about 2-3 weeks in advance, they update based on their estimation how busy each park will be that day. I can understand wanting to wait to know for sure, but if you're planning to book ADRs for each park, you're better off deciding which days you want to be in each park so at your 60 day window, you can grab the reservations.

In my opinion, you should strategize the best day for you to go to each park, such as avoid Epcot on weekends and maybe go to Hollywood Studios on the weekend since the crowd levels are typically the same all week long.

 

[jimmymc]

I just ignored it for my upcoming trip. Epcot and HS seem to be much more crowded on weekends than other parks, so I planned those for during the week and waterparks/AK for the weekend.