Why are park hours important?

[Violetx3]

I am new to this. Everyone seems so anxious to hear about the park hours. What exactly are you looking for? Also, can the hours change?

Violet

 

[TrickyFish]

It can make a big difference if you want to make Priority Seatings (PS) for restaurants to coincide or schedule around certain events like Wishes or Illuminations.

 

[Buzz2001]

By the time the hours are posted, that only leaves guests 60 days. Most PS start 90 days out so most of the popular times will be booked anyway. I never understood it either.

 

[WDSearcher]

I will admit to not understanding the importance given to park hours. Yes, you want to know when the parks close so that you can plan fireworks and such, but as far as PS's go ... park hours shouldn't be necessary for every single PS, only the ones that are being planned to coincide with something specific. I mean ... if you're going to eat dinner at Epcot, you call WDW-DINE, say you want to make a PS for the Biergarten on June 10, and then ask you what time, and you say 8pm. You don't need to know the park hours to do that. If the park won't be open at that time, the CM won't be able to make a PS at that time and they'll tell you. If you want the Fan package at MGM, you call for that, and if you can't get it on the day you choose, you know that Fan won't be playing that day. All your breakfasts and lunches can be PS'd without knowing park hours, unless you specifically want to avoid or take part in an EMH morning -- but it's been my experience that people will take virtually ANY CRT ressie they can get, whether it works perfectly into their plan or not.

I guess maybe I'm just not an uber-planner when it comes to park days, so maybe it doesn't matter as much to me. But I don't understand why most of the PS's can't be made 90 days out whether park hours are posted or not.

As for the belief that by 60 days out all the best times will be taken already, since ressies opened up 90 days out ... I don't get that either. If NO ONE has hours until 60 days out, and if everyone is waiting for that to make PS's, then how can the "best times" be gone? And if you want a "best time," why do you have to wait for hours to book that? The people who are supposedly booking all those "best times" don't have any more information than you do, but they're apparently booking meals right and left.