WDW theme park extended summer hours for 2016?

[andrewilley]

We'll be at WDW from July 24 to Aug 15 this year (I know, wonderfully long trip!) but so far the park hours still seem to be stuck on the originally announced schedules (e.g. MK closing at 10pm, DHS 8:30pm, etc). I was sure that by mid-May they've usually released the extended summer hours, dual MSEP & Fantasmic dates, etc. Or am I just getting ahead of myself?

Also, what about the later summer nights for Animal Kingdom that were promised after Memorial Day (with or without the opening of the new Rivers of Light show)? Do you think they are waiting for a final date on that before posting revised park hours? June shows AK closing at 11pm at the moment, but July/Aug are still only 5pm. I'm really hoping that AK may be open for long enough for us to ride Dinosaur after we arrive on the 24th (which won't be until around 7pm) as it will be closed from the 25th for the rest of our stay.

Can anyone remember when the extended summer hours were announced last year?

Andre

 

[ArielSRL]

They just extended June MK hours on Friday and DHS hours on Monday. So look closer to mid June for extended July hours and mid July for extended August hours. Disney seems to be following that pattern this year.

 

[soniam]

I think things were usually up-to-date by now in previous years. Past performance is obviously not an indicator of future behavior when it comes to Disney
I think you and the whole planet, including me, are waiting for summer hours I have just assumed May hours for now. I actually have to pick FP+ Sunday. I am assuming that hours won't be up-to-date and that I won't be able to get any nighttime FP+ yet.

 

[rteetz]

From what I am reading the Summer projections aren't as good as expected meaning no record crowds or anything. That may keep them from extending hours a lot.

 

[kj2mom]

I am going the same time this year as last year and the hours were already extended by now (two MSEP, two F!, 12am closings etc). Definitely can't base it on previous years but hoping for some hour changes in a few weeks based on the updates last week. Definitely a bit of a challenge since my FP date has long come and gone.

 

[Order66]

I actually emailed WDW guest services to express my disappointment in the summer calendar. Not only are the hours shorter, including weekends, but EMH hours are now weekdays only and our trip is Wed-Wed so no late MK day for us. I told them it was disappointing and frustrating that summer visits mean higher crowds and higher prices and demand for certain popular things like FP+ and ADR's have to be booked early.....and then hours are changed less than 30 days before my trip making rescheduling most things like that impossible.

Most disappointing(for us) is that the new DHS fireworks that have been hyped up as "best ever" (and I've seen the SWW ones which I agree are awesome) and advertised on their website to be shown nightly in June are actually only Wed, Fri and Sun. I'm traveling with a friend and her kids who are all first timers. Mom and daughter have an ADR at Cinderella's Castle while I take son with my boys to eat elsewhere. We can't change that ADR....I tried. I also have FP+ for one of the other evenings at MK that, again, I tried to change so we could go to DHS that day instead. Nope.....no availability on Mine Train or other high demand FP+ on other days. I know it may seem small, but the way WDW is set up you are really forced to plan things so far in advance, but then they change the rules of the game whenever they want. I was really looking forward to trying to plan the best trip for my friend (well and our family too, but we've been many times) and doing this just is a bit of a let down.

Anyway.....this was the generic non-answer I got.

Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World® Resort.

From time to time it is necessary to reevaluate our operating hours in an effort to provide the most magical experience possible.....

Not quite sure how shorter hours and limited evening entertainment makes things more magical....but OK.

regards

 

[andrewilley]

From time to time it is necessary to reevaluate our operating hours in an effort to provide the most magical experience possible.....

Not quite sure how shorter hours and limited evening entertainment makes things more magical....but OK.

It does for them. Ever higher prices and also a net reduction in what they offer. Nothing new there though of course. So if projections are slower this summer, maybe (just maybe) they've finally pushed people too far and found the resistance point?

However if they are going to force people into booking meal times 180 days out, and now ride times 60 days out, they should at least have the decency to make the same commitment themselves and provide at least relatively accurate information to allow people make those plans.

Andre

 

[Linda T.]

I, also, emailed them about their July, 2016 hours. I got basically the same response. I make my fast passes on May 21st and it is going to be challenging.

 

[soniam]

I think some updates are in order though, because DHS and AK are still closing way too early. So, I think they will change. It's possible that Epcot and MK may not. I just hope they don't reduce hours. At this point, I am trying to prepare for the worst case scenario.

 

[WillAustin]

However if they are going to force people into booking meal times 180 days out, and now ride times 60 days out, they should at least have the decency to make the same commitment themselves and provide at least relatively accurate information to allow people make those plans.

That's a good point.

 

[JimmyV]

I told them it was disappointing and frustrating that summer visits mean higher crowds and higher prices and demand for certain popular things like FP+ and ADR's have to be booked early...

You know? This is a great point. Now that Disney has gone to dynamic pricing, if Disney considers a day to be an "enhanced pricing" day and increases prices, shouldn't the people paying these enhanced prices get enhanced hours? If demand is perceived to be high, and crowds are expected to be large, shouldn't that be met with maximum hours?

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

From what I am reading the Summer projections aren't as good as expected meaning no record crowds or anything. That may keep them from extending hours a lot.

Or... crowds will be as they always are over the summer months - packed. The same way they were over Easter when apparently Disney was not expecting such volume. They really aren't expecting big crowds during their historically busiest times of year, in this day and age when you can barely find a slow time of year to go? Seems a convenient way to justify shorter park hours to either cut costs or monetize EMH hours.

 

[rteetz]

Or... crowds will be as they always are over the summer months - packed. The same way they were over Easter when apparently Disney was not expecting such volume. They really aren't expecting big crowds during their historically busiest times of year, in this day and age when you can barely find a slow time of year to go? Seems a convenient way to justify shorter park hours to either cut costs or monetize EMH hours.

Well kind of. Yes the summer is always busier than normal but they aren't selling the rooms like they normally are. This is why they did an Awakens Summer promotion which gave more than they normally give in the summer off. Also FL resident passes summer blackout dates are said to be lifted because of this unexpected decrease.

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

I guess we wait and see. Secretly, I hope they feel the pinch and reconsider some of the choices they have been making of late, and how those could be impacting their bottom line in the long term. Business is business, but greed is just greedy.

 

[andrewilley]

The 11pm Animal Kingdom hours for summer have just been released at least, just the MK and DHS to wait for now.

Andre

 

[andrewilley]

And still no information about any evening extensions for MK or DHS for July/Aug - not even any Star Wars fireworks times and surely those are going to be running during the peak period?

So currently MK shuts at 10pm daily all summer (with just one MSEP) and DHS at 8:30pm daily (with a single Fantasmic, and no Star Wars fireworks). I've never known them be so late in releasing this sort of information - not even for Independence Day weekend, which is less than a month away now.

Andre

 

[Parker Clan]

I've been wondering this too, we do our FP's for our Aug trip 8/16-8/23 in a couple weeks!
From what I'm reading, it may happen mid to end July or not at all

 

[JimmyV]

And still no information about any evening extensions for MK or DHS for July/Aug

I think that it is safe to assume that the Magic Kingdom will close at 11 o'clock on the vast majority of nights throughout July and August. There may not be many midnight or 1 a.m. closings but I think that 11 o'clock is fairly safe. I am curious however, about how this materially changes peoples' plans. Does it really matter in the planning stages whether the park closes at 10 or 11? I can certainly see how opening times in the morning can impact peoples'plans especially as it relates to morning ADRs. But whether the park closes at 10 or 11 or even midnight would seem to be simply a bonus at this point rather than something that would matrially alter one's plans. It's not going to change one's restaurant choice or ADR time, would it? Seems as if the only variable is when your head will hit the pillow. As long as the only possibility is longer evening hours instead of truncated evening hours, what's the big deal?

 

[wmoon]

DHS is the big unknown for us. Will there be Star Wars Fireworks every night, will there be a dessert party, will there be a second fantasmic? Having made Adrs at 180 days its unlikely to be able to alter some of the more popular ones and the closer it gets to July the harder it will be to swap fastpass+. It is unfair of Disney to expect us to firm up plans so far in advance when they don't do the same. So I agree it is frustrating.
I'm hoping for updated hours this Friday.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

I think that it is safe to assume that the Magic Kingdom will close at 11 o'clock on the vast majority of nights throughout July and August. There may not be many midnight or 1 a.m. closings but I think that 11 o'clock is fairly safe. I am curious however, about how this materially changes peoples' plans. Does it really matter in the planning stages whether the park closes at 10 or 11? I can certainly see how opening times in the morning can impact peoples'plans especially as it relates to morning ADRs. But whether the park closes at 10 or 11 or even midnight would seem to be simply a bonus at this point rather than something that would matrially alter one's plans. It's not going to change one's restaurant choice or ADR time, would it? Seems as if the only variable is when your head will hit the pillow. As long as the only possibility is longer evening hours instead of truncated evening hours, what's the big deal?

For us, the problem with closing time of MK is Wishes time. We wanted to see Wishes with our graduation celebration dinner where fireworks soundtrack is piped in and there's a view, but don't know if it will be Wishes at 10 between 9 and 11 MSEP like the current June schedule or Wishes at 9 followed by MSEP at 10 per current (but expected to update) July schedule. If we had an ADR that worked for either Wishes time, that would be fine but we don't. Trying to see fireworks at the beginning of a meal to hedge bets against a change in fireworks time doesn't work if fireworks don't change - the folks finishing their meal 15 minutes prior to fireworks are likely to "just sit a few minutes" to top off their meal with fireworks rather than rush out for the next guests. Fireworks viewing ADRs aren't easy to get and are typically very difficult to change for a new fireworks time...