Why does Disney change their hours at the last minute? ALSO - ITINERARY ADVICE

[jonmck1234]

For example,

On Wed. August 9th their hours WERE 9am - 11pm. Spectro at 10 and Wishes at 11. I had a 7:40 dinner reservation at the Crystal Palace. That would give me enough time to get over to Spectro by 10.

Well now they have changed the hours to 9am-10PM. Spectro is at 9 and Wishes is at 10. If I have dinner at 7:40...that is NOT enough time to get ready for Spectro. I am just hoping and praying that I can change my reservation for a decent time.

I know the hours are subject to change...but when you plan your schedule around the events and hours...it makes it difficult. Any suggestions?

SEE OUR ATTACHED SCHEDULE
jonathanmckenzie com/schedule.jpg
or in PDF format: jonathanmckenzie com/schedule.pdf
***ADD THE . in between jonathanmckenzie and com***

 

[jonmck1234]

thoughts?

 

[shyjade]

One of the threads here contained a similar topic (about the parks changing hours) and one poster supposedly called Disney and was told that they were switching over to a new computer system and in some instance were just "filling in times" to get the system going and will later be corrected. Not sure if this is one of those situations, but it could be? The thread I read this on was referring to a posted time change for MNSSHP if that helps...

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

No, I am pretty sure the August hours really DID change. They moved Spectro and Wishes to 1 hour earlier on several days. And I got stuck in that same boat that our dinner ADR didn't leave us enough time to get to Spectro. We were able to change to a different restaurant and keep our same time of 6:40. I'm not THRILLED with that plan, but it helps.

I am so tired of staring at our schedule and trying to figure out ways to jiggle this and juggle that! The hour change was about the 6th thing that happened, and each time my ADRs get messed up a little bit more. It seems there was really no point at all in calling 180 days out because almost everything has changed at least once since then!

 

[disneysnowflake]

Last October we were at WDW. We were told on WDW website that EMH morning hours we for MK.
We boarded a bus early for MK with several other families. We all arrived to find out that the day before they switched the EMH morning to AK. They still let us in MK early as long as we stayed in Tomorrowland, but told us WDW has the right to change the schedule of EMH, parades, fireworks, etc. any time they want.

 

[jonmck1234]

I changed my dinner at the Crystal Palace to 4:10 from 7:40. Early, but we can just use it as a late lunch/early dinner and eat a snack later if needed. Not too happy, but at least it probably won't be as crowded at 4:10.

Does my itinerary look ok?

jonathanmckenzie com/schedule.jpg
or in PDF format:
jonathanmckenzie com/schedule.pdf

Put a . in between jonathanmckenzie and com.

 

[Dan Murphy]

.....told us WDW has the right to change the schedule of EMH, parades, fireworks, etc. any time they want.

And they do, LOL. Even when there, it is best to check schedules, make calls for last minute changes. They do seem to change frequently.

 

[bobcat]

I posted this on another thread about the change in hours this week, my hope is that they are expecting lower crowds. I haven't looked at all the time changes yet. My only disapointment with the changes is that we love to go to the 2nd spectro and fantasmic since they are less crowded. Any other big changes for that week?

 

[vsimeone]

Does anyone have a printable version of the hours? I have printed out the info from this site in the past http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/Aug06.cfm?requesttimeout=1000 but it appears as though the hours for Aug. 6-12 don't match what is on the "official" site. I don't think I need to make any changes. My biggest concern was my Illuminations Cruise but I think we're still okay with that. Thanks for any help you can give!

 

[DisneyPhD]

I think this dilemma really does pose a problem for everyone. With the new popularity of the Dinning Plan you really need to make your ADR's in advance, way in advance. How can you plan out where you want to go when you don't know the hours and times??????

As great as the dinning plan is in many ways, it is difficult in others. I think it is driving up prices for people who aren't using it too.

I feel your pain. Sorry.

 

[I'mAlittleBitGoofy]

For example,

On Wed. August 9th their hours WERE 9am - 11pm. Spectro at 10 and Wishes at 11. I had a 7:40 dinner reservation at the Crystal Palace. That would give me enough time to get over to Spectro by 10.

Well now they have changed the hours to 9am-10PM. Spectro is at 9 and Wishes is at 10. If I have dinner at 7:40...that is NOT enough time to get ready for Spectro. I am just hoping and praying that I can change my reservation for a decent time.

I know the hours are subject to change...but when you plan your schedule around the events and hours...it makes it difficult. Any suggestions?

SEE OUR ATTACHED SCHEDULE
jonathanmckenzie com/schedule.jpg
or in PDF format: jonathanmckenzie com/schedule.pdf
***ADD THE . in between jonathanmckenzie and com***

Yes, the hours are definetly changed. We will also be there the week of the 6th and when we originally planned our ADRs the parks were open later. Luckily my kids won't eat late, so we made them all around 6. If I made them later, I would be a little upset. I haved no idea why. Some are speculating that it's due to a decrease in crowds. I personally think that's wishful thinking! But hey, one can dream! lol
I'm sorry about your plans being changed, but I'm sure you'll all have a great time anyway!

 

[plutolovr]

Yes, the hours are definetly changed. We will also be there the week of the 6th and when we originally planned our ADRs the parks were open later. Luckily my kids won't eat late, so we made them all around 6. If I made them later, I would be a little upset. I haved no idea why. Some are speculating that it's due to a decrease in crowds. I personally think that's wishful thinking! But hey, one can dream! lol

I think the crowds will be lower. Free Dining begins Aug. 13. I think a bunch of people who had originally booked for early August pushed their trips back to Free Dining. We're going Aug. 5-12 and had no problem getting ADRs at popular restaurants just a few weeks ago. I also heard that Florida schools start back Aug. 7, so no locals either.

 

[I'mAlittleBitGoofy]

I think the crowds will be lower. Free Dining begins Aug. 13. I think a bunch of people who had originally booked for early August pushed their trips back to Free Dining. We're going Aug. 5-12 and had no problem getting ADRs at popular restaurants just a few weeks ago. I also heard that Florida schools start back Aug. 7, so no locals either.

God I hope your right! I'm one of the ones who are speculating the crowds will be lower! lol
I am really hoping this is the case!

 

[Praying Colonel]

Ditto. Thank goodness TGM updated us on the change in hours or we would've been stuck. We'd planned a 9:20 ADR at Kona so we could view Wishes from the Poly beach at 11. The sudden change forced us to rework that ADR--we were pleasantly surprised we could get an 8:20 Kona ADR at this late date, but others who can't keep on the changes will get caught short. Also, we lost 2 hours in MK we were counting on (Monday and Wed from 10-11), we're going to have to make changes for those days, too.

I just wish we could've had a little more advance notice.

 

[maciec]

Wouldn't be such a pleasant suprise if we all got there and the crowds were lower than we expected!!!! We are staying 8/7-11. I cannot wait! This has been the most stressful summer!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I don't think the crowds will be that much lower, I think we will all just be crammed in there for a shorter amount of time!

At 180 days my ADRs were nearly flawless. Now we have had to fiddle around with the schedule so many times it isn't the seamless presentation I had originally envisioned. I'm not very flexible.

I am also noticing that we are going to have to pick "one or the other" more often than I would like. Breakfast ADR OR early entry at AK? Break at the hotel OR afternoon parade? Nap OR activities at AKL? And invariably whatever we pick will end up being the WRONG choice! It's making my head hurt. This is one of those times where being a "go with the flow" kind of person might be tremendously helpful!