Why did WDW reduce their hours in 2015?

[aprincessatlast]

So looking at the late spring and summer dates of hours caused me to look back at previous years. We last went in 2014 and remember staying in Magic Kingdom well past 1am. It was obviously magic hours but still it meant wdw had a closing of 11am.

Looking at 2015 it looks as if they always closed at 10pm regardless of when it was and only stayed open late on dates like July 4th? Does magic kingdom not stay open past 12 am for anyone in the summer? Which is a shame as nighttime is the best time and with the sun setting so late that does not give much time for the nighttime ambiance in the parks.

I used easywdw and several other sites to look at historical hours. Am I missing something or did they really reduce them?

 

[zaccaglin]

Hours are adjusted based on crowd levels, hotel reservations, and ADRs as the dates near. Nothing is ever set in stone with Disney. Park hours change on a weekly and daily basis.

 

[Robo]

Every month of the year, every single month, Disney extends park hours and adds events to their earlier-posted listings.
This is done at least once (often multiple times) within 14-60 days in advance of the dates in question.
As was said, the number and length of additions is based on crowd levels and staffing costs.

 

[DSLRuser]

it is just a place holder. Real hours get set 3-4 months out.

Setting up the year like this helps with planning and budget forecasting.

 

[sheila <3 WDW]

I'm pretty sure MK no longer has 3 am late nights. EMH went from 3 hours to 2 hours at night, too.

 

[mshanson3121]

So looking at the late spring and summer dates of hours caused me to look back at previous years. We last went in 2014 and remember staying in Magic Kingdom well past 1am. It was obviously magic hours but still it meant wdw had a closing of 11am.

Looking at 2015 it looks as if they always closed at 10pm regardless of when it was and only stayed open late on dates like July 4th? Does magic kingdom not stay open past 12 am for anyone in the summer? Which is a shame as nighttime is the best time and with the sun setting so late that does not give much time for the nighttime ambiance in the parks.

I used easywdw and several other sites to look at historical hours. Am I missing something or did they really reduce them?

No idea, but I can assure you MK was most definitely open till midnight some nights. We were there July 1st, and the park closed (for regular hours) at 12:00 am.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I'm pretty sure MK no longer has 3 am late nights. EMH went from 3 hours to 2 hours at night, too.

We've been at MK on EMH nights in June the past two years. Regular hours were until 1 am with EMH from 1-3 am. The first year, we lingered in some of the shops after the park closed and didn't make it back to Fort Wilderness until 5 am. Fortunately, we were able to change FP+ reservations for the next day on Soarin from noon to 2 pm.

 

[scrapquitler]

So looking at the late spring and summer dates of hours caused me to look back at previous years. We last went in 2014 and remember staying in Magic Kingdom well past 1am. It was obviously magic hours but still it meant wdw had a closing of 11am.

Looking at 2015 it looks as if they always closed at 10pm regardless of when it was and only stayed open late on dates like July 4th? Does magic kingdom not stay open past 12 am for anyone in the summer? Which is a shame as nighttime is the best time and with the sun setting so late that does not give much time for the nighttime ambiance in the parks.

I used easywdw and several other sites to look at historical hours. Am I missing something or did they really reduce them?

We were just there on MLK weekend, and MK was open until midnight both those nights.

We were at MK several times until midnight for regular park hours in 2015 (April and November).

 

[lubob]

The parks are closing much earlier. I was there Jan 10 -15 2016 and mk closed at 8 . Even one night of EMH the park closed at 10. And the parks were packed long wait times for rides. They say that they change them according to the crowds but that seems far and few in between that they change. Half of cosmic rays shut down at 630. They said it was to start cleaning up . 630 is dinner time for a lot of people. And the ticket prices keep going up and you get less and less hours in the parks.

 

[Robo]

The parks are closing much earlier. I was there Jan 10 -15 2016 and mk closed at 8 . Even one night of EMH the park closed at 10... And the ticket prices keep going up and you get less and less hours in the parks.

Memory can be a funny thing, so I just checked the historical WDW hours and
in mid-week during the second-third week of January
MK has closed predominantly at 8pm in:
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
(I don't have access to earlier.)

Yes, the drop of PM EMH from 3 hours to 2 hours is a significant loss to many guests.