Parks closing early - afternoon break?

[SkylarKD]

My fiance and I will be going to WDW for our honeymoon during the last week of August. We'd like to have an afternoon break so we don't get too worn out, but my question is: is this a good idea when the parks close early? We'll be staying in Downtown Disney, and do not have a car.

Just wondering if we'll miss too much of the day travelling and napping. We have 1 day for each of the parks, and 1 day to do any extra stuff; so go shopping or re-visit some of the parks.

Although I know these are subject to change, the projected hours I've come across (for most nights) are:

MK - closing at 6pm
AK - closing at 5pm
MGM - closing at 8:30
Epcot - closing at 9pm

 

[JamesD]

With the exception of the Magic Kingdom, those are not early closing hours. If the MK does close early you can always hop over to the Studios or Epcot for the evening. We usually do this after our afternoon break.
But, the thing to realize is the MK will be staying open later in August, because it has to be dark to show Wishes, which is being shown every night this year, except for night when there is a hard-ticket event. So, I would expect the MK to be open until 8 or 9 pm, and there hopefully will be E-ride nights as well.

 

[wannabee princess]

Personally, if the parks close early, I wouldn't do any break. It would take so much time to go back and forth, you would end up more tired/stressed - in my opinion. Why not just relax after the closing? Get settled in early and be refreshed the next day.

If you are leaving MK around 6, that still gives you time to head back to your room and take a 1-2 hour break, eat a later meal and if you are wanting to do anything else. AK is even better - head back at 5, rest until 7-8 and then your night is still young.

If you are not staying onsite, you are not doing any of the EMH, so you don't have to start at the moment the park opens. If you aren't getting there at 7:30 or whatever, it isn't that long of a day. Take the time to have a nice meal at lunch if you need to sit and relax -especially at Epcot! If you are planning on watching Fantasmic, get there early and sit and enjoy the preshow activities.

 

[SeattleMark]

I think it's HIGHLY unlikely (like impossible) that MK would close at 6 that week. It will almost certainly be 9:00.

 

[Selket]

We were there the 3rd week of Aug last year and the MK did close at 7 one night and 8 another night and those were eride nights. I HIGHLY recommend taking advantage of those if you have them (there were none the last week of Aug though).

If you look at historic park hours (http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/calendar/historicalhours2003.asp) you can see that the MK closed at 7 some nights that last week. Hop to a park that is open later if you want to take an afternoon break.

 

[kramer_clan]

The parks DO start closing earlier toward the end of August. We went through the same thing during a trip a few years ago.

I would tell you to play it by ear each day. Since it is just the two of you, you could probably stay at each park most of the day, leaving earlier than closing. But if there are fireworks for that day that you would like to see, it may be beneficial to take a break. You can always take a break from the park but not go back to your resort. You can take Disney transportation to one of the resorts and have lunch and relax a little and then head back.

Vicki