When can I be confident that park opening time won't change?

[lwc]

I know park closing times sometimes change as far out as the night before, but what about opening times?

I want to be able to finalize my breakfast plans!!

 

[MomofKatie]

Depends on when you are going. Christmas week, Spring Break, Thanksgiving week or other super busy times, park openings can change to 8am or even a little earlier. Any "normal" to low crowd times, 9am openings don't change unless a morning EMH gets added.

To answer your question, though, WDW can change their opening and/or closing times whenever they want- up to the same day. But the likelihood of them changing park opening times for non-crowded times of the year is very low.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

I have an 8:05am BOG ADR on Tuesday August 18 and the MK opens at 9:00am.
I'm hoping since we're less than 3 weeks out the park opening time won't change to 8:00am!

 

[lwc]

Depends on when you are going. Christmas week, Spring Break, Thanksgiving week or other super busy times, park openings can change to 8am or even a little earlier. Any "normal" to low crowd times, 9am openings don't change unless a morning EMH gets added.

To answer your question, though, WDW can change their opening and/or closing times whenever they want- up to the same day. But the likelihood of them changing park opening times for non-crowded times of the year is very low.

Right.

My question is: How close to the date do we need to get to be confident that the opening times won't change?

 

[jtowntoflorida]

You can be confident when you're standing in the park an hour before opening and people are lining up at the gates and not being let in.

We're typically October vacationers, and we've had the MK switch to an early opening as late as 24 hours in advance.

 

[lwc]

Bleh. Not what I wanted to hear!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Depends on when you are going. Christmas week, Spring Break, Thanksgiving week or other super busy times, park openings can change to 8am or even a little earlier. Any "normal" to low crowd times, 9am openings don't change unless a morning EMH gets added.

To answer your question, though, WDW can change their opening and/or closing times whenever they want- up to the same day. But the likelihood of them changing park opening times for non-crowded times of the year is very low.

This is not correct. The MK in particular adds non-EMH early openings quite often during moderately crowded times.

 

[AlixaLock]

When I was there in June 2013, MK Hours were extended the week before we got there ... I think it was exactly 6 days out, due, presumably, to heavier then expected crowds. Not saying this is common, but it absolutely can happen.

ETA, my friend just reminded me that his actually happened to us on our most recent June 2015 trip as well ... they actually opened early in that case.

 

[Hootch]

The night before. We had a park opening change for the next day.

 

[EdgeOfGlory]

I have an 8:05am BOG ADR on Tuesday August 18 and the MK opens at 9:00am.
I'm hoping since we're less than 3 weeks out the park opening time won't change to 8:00am!

Excuse my ignorance, but why would it matter?

 

[MomofKatie]

Excuse my ignorance, but why would it matter?

I think they don't want to be eating breakfast while the park is open. They would rather be able to eat and get done by the time all the park guests are entering.

 

[MomofKatie]

This is not correct. The MK in particular adds non-EMH early openings quite often during moderately crowded times.

Oh! Sorry for the misinformation- I stand corrected. We have never personally experienced changing park opening times, but we tend to visit during the least crowded weeks of the year.

 

[Iowamomof4]

If park opening time changes the night before, how are guests supposed to find out? Just curious - our first trip is in early September. Thanks!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

If park opening time changes the night before, how are guests supposed to find out? Just curious - our first trip is in early September. Thanks!

Check MDE the night before to confirm park hours, but there were also notices posted the day before at the park as well as at our resort.

ETA: I will also say that these late-breaking notices, while annoying if you have an early ADR, are actually a boon for touring, just because of this reason. They're not well-advertised so people don't know to show up early. The crowds don't come streaming until 10:30 even with an 8:00 opening, so instead of 90 minutes of prime touring, you get 2 1/2 hours.

 

[Karin1984]

Recent example of time changes in high season: On July 20th, Some changes were announced for a week later, including opening one hour earlier for MK.

http://www.easywdw.com/news/a-few-more-july-operating-schedule-changes-for-the-last-week/

 

[22Tink]

Is it typically only the MK that has time changes or does it happen for all the parks?

 

[Disney_Alli]

I would expect MK to continue their 8am opening trend through the end of August though it's only been announced through the 7th so far...

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Is it typically only the MK that has time changes or does it happen for all the parks?

Typically only the MK goes for an early opening, but we've also been there when later closings were announced at both AK and DHS. If DHS hours are extended, they also typically add a second Fantasmic.

I think in those "moderately" crowded times they have a harder time predicting crowd levels and end up extending hours on days that are more crowded than originally anticipated. I think the early MK opening we experienced came on the heels of an unexpectedly sold-out MNSSHP the night before. There was a local school holiday that for whatever reason seemed to catch Disney off guard.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

Excuse my ignorance, but why would it matter?

I think they don't want to be eating breakfast while the park is open. They would rather be able to eat and get done by the time all the park guests are entering.

MomofKatie is correct.

 

[rajak73]

When can I be confident that park opening time won't change

The day before you go to the park!