Why do the parks close so early?

[Susie63]

I am just starting to plan our first trip to the World for February and just checked the park calendars. Do the parks really close at 9PM on a Friday night and 10PM on a Saturday. I am used to closings of 11PM and midnight on the weekends in DL.

 

[Robo]

I am just starting to plan our first trip to the World for February and just checked the park calendars. Do the parks really close at 9PM on a Friday night and 10PM on a Saturday. I am used to closings of 11PM and midnight on the weekends in DL.

Disney adds hours and events to the advance-posted calendar every month (every single month) all year long.

There's no way to know exactly which hours will be extended on what dates, but you'll see the revised hours posted within 45-7 days prior to the actual dates.

Just keep checking.

 

[jon18uk]

I am just starting to plan our first trip to the World for February and just checked the park calendars. Do the parks really close at 9PM on a Friday night and 10PM on a Saturday. I am used to closings of 11PM and midnight on the weekends in DL.

Feburary is a slightly quieter time of year so they don't need to open past 10pm. Also as it gets darker earlier in the winter they can run fireworks earlier than in the summer.

Also at DisneyLAND they have a lot more locals coming on the weekend, so weekends are busier than weekdays. At DisneyWORLD more people are there for a vacation so the difference between weekdays and weekends is less noticeable.

 

[disnut8]

And just to note, Epcot's normal hours during most of the year is a closing time of 9:00 PM. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas (maybe Year New's Day) it stays open until 9:30 PM. There are a few exceptions but that's the norm for Epcot.

 

[Happy_2_B]

I am used to closings of 11PM and midnight on the weekends in DL.

Lots of people in DL on the weekends, so Disney can warrant keeping them open. Depending on when you go in February, it will be pretty slow there, and Disney isn't bringing in as much revenue, so they close the parks earlier since the crowds aren't large enough to justify keeping them open.

 

[Alesia]

I am just starting to plan our first trip to the World for February and just checked the park calendars. Do the parks really close at 9PM on a Friday night and 10PM on a Saturday. I am used to closings of 11PM and midnight on the weekends in DL.

That's one of the downsides of going when crowds are low. There's no reason to stay open when there aren't enough people to make it financially advantageous.

 

[Disneyliscious]

Six Flags closed at 6pm for the waterpark and 7pm for the theme park when we went a few months ago. I think 9 or 10pm is reasonable for a theme park to close. Hopefully they'll have an EMH night when you are there or something.

 

[isestrex]

Feb is our favorite time of year to go and we never feel disappointed by the early closing time. With low crowds, you can get done just about everything you want and still get back to your room to get a decent night's sleep. We never feel like we just didn't have enough time in the park that day.

 

[RafikiTiki21]

We also like the earlier closing times of year so that our little one can enjoy fireworks. We couldn't do that with him if fireworks are at 10pm or beyond, just too late for us.

 

[Susie63]

I understand. DL closes at 8pm on the weekdays in February but I thought that the parks in WDW would close later on the weekends.I guess we will try to get to the parks earlier. We are night owls and love the late nights! Thanks everyone

 

[BarbieGal457]

Feb is our favorite time of year to go and we never feel disappointed by the early closing time. With low crowds, you can get done just about everything you want and still get back to your room to get a decent night's sleep. We never feel like we just didn't have enough time in the park that day.

I've gone early January 2008 and 2009 and I agree with this. The weather was beautiful and the crowds were so low each time we honestly walked on just about everything, even sometimes multiple times a day. The parks did close earlier than I'm used to since I typically go in the summer, but it wasn't even too noticeable because we got so much done. In fact it was nice they closed earlier because we didn't feel we were "missing out" so to speak by going to dinner at resorts or spending lots of night hours at DTD. Those were actually some of my most relaxing trips! It was also easy to get a really good night's sleep and be fresh and ready for the next day.