Why do the parks close so early?

[Capwkidd]

Seems to me, all the parks should be open until midnight or later... Disneyland, most of the year, is open until midnight, why not WDW parks? It is especially difficult when WDW is 3 hours ahead of Disneyland, meaning, that, even 12pm is only 9pm for us Californians !

 

[LSUfan4444]

Labor is expensive.

 

[LCoulter]

I really miss having the late nights in the parks. Disney Springs is open late but I'm not much of a shopper and I don't want to eat that late. Guess we could go see a late night movie but I'd rather be in the parks.

 

[angierae]

Probably my favorite memory ever was closing down MK at 3am during Easter Week in 2012. We ended up just riding Space Mountain over and over at about 2:30.

 

[BrianL]

One thing about WDW is that the parks tend to empty out before it gets really late, usually after the nighttime spectacular. It's wonderful for those of us staying after Wishes to have a less crowded park, but at what point is it not worth it to Disney to keep it operating?

I noticed at DL last month that people there tend to stay late. I had assumed the second parade would be less crowded than the first...no such luck. The Disneyland people never seem to go home, thus it is worth it to stay open until Midnight. CA tends to close earlier, probably because there are fewer stragglers.

 

[niffer5150]

i look at it like they are doing me a favor by closing everything so early. at dl, we will stay till midnight and then drive home, and we are all completely wrecked the next day from lack of sleep, too much walking, with a bad case of the bread bowl chowder sweats. that's totally not sustainable for a lengthy wdw trip.

 

[Capwkidd]

Labor? Disney makes lots of money, and most of their labor is minimum wage...

I have been to a couple of the 2am closings for MK, but that is rare!

Disney springs. it might be open late, but almost everything is closed, so, what is the point?

Which reminds me, when MK is open late, notice how they close some rides, like the people mover.... that annnoys me, and I often hear people standing at the entrance complains to the CM about it.....

Which also reminds me, recently I met a photographer (met him in Disneyland) who takes some amazing pictures, and often is in the parks late to get shots without anyone around.... he was telling me about how poorly Disney World is managed, compared to Disneyland, and how refurbishments are put off for a long time, he even told me that Space Moutain (in WDW) has to be worked on every night by welders, because it is falling apart.... crazy, huh?

 

[Robo]

Labor? -most of their labor is minimum wage...

An often-repeated myth.

 

[Capwkidd]

An often-repeated myth.

Myth? Then how much do they pay all those college program kids?

 

[wolf29]

Before complaining about WDW hours, compare them to those of Sea World or Busch Gardens.

 

[HopperFan]

Seems to me, all the parks should be open until midnight or later... Disneyland, most of the year, is open until midnight, why not WDW parks? It is especially difficult when WDW is 3 hours ahead of Disneyland, meaning, that, even 12pm is only 9pm for us Californians !

WDW hours apply to EST only.
No other time zone is relevant.
There are guests from all over the world that have to adjust.


Honestly I wouldn't be surprised to see hours shrink back to Epcot standards. Look at Universal and all the other parks. The other parks also make some good money on renting out sections of parks after closing.

Wouldn't be surprised to see more pay to play like we've seen with After Dark, Early Morning Magic, more parties .... think they can ALL be successful once all the new lands open.

Labor costs, not only the park CMs you see but consider how much will be saved by reducing manpower hours behind the scene, security, all the bus drivers and transportation ..... transportation savings alone would be huge. Nothing can be cleaned, painted, greased and oiled, repaired etc until all the guests are done.

CM morale, if you know the ones who work evenings it is no fun not only the hours but by then the grouchy guests. Remember even after the park is closed they have to clean up and close out so they are still working when guests are sound asleep. Throw EMH in there .......

Disney already pays less than other parks etc, anything they can do to create a better working environment for retention. There is a reason they expanded the DCP program a couple years ago, they needed the manpower.

Overhead to fully operate the park. Only way to reduce those costs is hours.

MSEP is gone, SW Night time is not wowing, Illuminations once a night and who knows what ROL will pan out to be. Perfect time to ease into new routine. I could see MK doing one parade followed by fireworks and park is closed just like Epcot. Given current situations I think early hours could work out ... if you are still wide awake they would be happy if you go to Disney Springs and spend money ... good reason for the new buses to go from parks to DS later afternoons on.

And lets not forget that attendance is way down and therefore income ... no need for long hours because with lower crowds guests can get more done.

DISCLAIMER: All opinion and observation based comments.

Myth? Then how much do they pay all those college program kids?

A little more than minimum wage and varies by assignment BUT there are also perks that would be considered wage in a different way. Their rent is deducted from their check but after comparing housing vs DD getting an apartment with roommates it was a way better financial deal to live in housing. They also provided transportation for all those without cars. They also get free entry to parks, free tickets, huge discounts for their family at hotels, holiday discounts that are awesome to shop and eat. DCP can live, pay their bills and still have money to enjoy their time there. DD had a blast and it was no financial strain.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

WDW has never had parks open until midnight in the off-season. The parks other than MK have never had hours that late at all, except possibly some major holidays like New Years Eve.

Universal generally closes their parks by 9, and they rent them out to private parties at night (there's lots of parties in the Harry Potter areas)

 

[hakepb]

I'm glad DL is now open until midnight. In my July 2014 trip it seemed to close at a too early 10p most nights. (Except winning a late EMH of Tomorrowland from @DisneylandToday Twitter promo that was open until midnight)
I will say, we avoided the weekend at DL, so was that the difference?

 

[Accident]

It's all based on crowds and all the orlando theme parks do it. There is some fancy unknown way to calculate when they will close (after the times they must close like it has to be dark for fireworks). You can also tell crowds based on closing time and generally you get the same amount of stuff done when it closes at 8 or midnight because when it closes at midnight, your just standing in longer lines waiting more..

but I agree, it does seem to be closing a lot earlier than it should and has all year.. I personally also enjoy the really late closings but that's because the parks are fairly empty unless it's the weekend and the reason they are closing down because it's just not profitable to keep it opened during those hours.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Labor? Disney makes lots of money, and most of their labor is minimum wage...

Labor is a HUGE expense when considering what it costs to run parks at those late hours with such small crowds and the revenue those hours actually produce. Now, you can go to Disney Springs when the parks close and you guessed it.....spend more $.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-disney-cuts-20160304-story.html

"It appears that there's "a significant initiative underway to see where they can reduce costs in the parks," said Bob Boyd, a leisure analyst with Pacific Asset Management. "It's an effort we see periodically, every few years certainly, in almost any company of Disney's size, but certainly at any leisure company of this size, where times have been relatively good. That (causes) you to expand hours, expand services, and periodically you need to go back — it's often tied in with a management change — to see where you can pare."

 

[MakiraMarlena]

might be also worth mentioning that most of the shops/restaurants at Disney Springs are not operated by Disney, so Disney is not paying to staff them.

 

[Robo]

Myth? Then how much do they pay all those college program kids?

Information about wages at WDW can be found on-line.

 

[smiths02]

I'm sure the difference has a lot to do with the multi-day stay of many WDW visitors versus much less time for DL/CA visitors. As a native of CA who now goes to WDW...I go to WDW for a week on a week long ticket...I can't do open to close everyday and don't need to. If I visit CA, I buy a day pass and spend ALL day there because I am most likely doing many other things in CA.
It makes sense that guest demand to keep the park open is bigger in DL. If I was visiting Cali, I'm not going to spend the price of a one day DL ticket for a park open 9-9...I just won't. I guess DL still needs day trippers and pass holders...WDW has been trying to reduce these people in favor of people who spend a whole week on disney property with multi-day tickets, dining plans, etc.

 

[NeuroCindy]

Myth? Then how much do they pay all those college program kids?

Florida's minimum wage is $8.05. Everything I found said that CP CMs make between 10.10 and 14.10 depending on position.

 

[McFly913]

Don't forget about maintenance of attractions. If the park is open until 2-3 in the morning and opens at 9 that is not enough time to properly maintain an E ticket attraction. If this happened 7 days a week a lot more of the rides would break-down during the day. The attractions are gigantic machines, like your car would you leave it running for 16-18 hours a day for 30 years?
They need some down time and to clean the park at night.