Animal Kingdom October 2017

[Riddick]

Hi folks!
I'm heading to Disney in October and have been keeping a keen eye on the park hours as they've started to be released and am slightly disappointed to see that AK is closing at 7 in October (so far...).
Looking at last years hours they were originally announced as 7 and then appeared to be extended to 8/8.30.
Anyone know anything about this or have any secret hints as it seems like 7 will surely just be past sunset and won't allow for much nighttime entertainment!

 

[brifraz]

Hi folks!
I'm heading to Disney in October and have been keeping a keen eye on the park hours as they've started to be released and am slightly disappointed to see that AK is closing at 7 in October (so far...).
Looking at last years hours they were originally announced as 7 and then appeared to be extended to 8/8.30.
Anyone know anything about this or have any secret hints as it seems like 7 will surely just be past sunset and won't allow for much nighttime entertainment!

Welcome to the wdwmagic boards!

This is the norm. They publish what I consider minimal hours at a little over 6 months out. Adjustments don't usually get made until just a month (or, if you are lucky, two) away. Given that they have Rivers of Light and Avatar which are both definitely post-sunset experiences, I would expect that at least a night or two each week will be until at least 8pm. Once they publish a schedule for Rivers of Light, that might be a good hint as to which nights are going to be later.

For example, the 4th of July generally has closing times between 11pm and 1am for every park except Animal Kingdom - currently published hours have every park closing at 9pm (or earlier) EXCEPT Animal Kingdom with an 11pm closing! You really can never be totally sure until just a week or two out!!

 

[No Name]

The one thing Disney doesn't want to do is shorten the hours. They don't want to extend October closings to 10pm now, and then come August, say "oh wait, we meant 9pm!" That messes up people's plans and reservations.

Once they decide what time they actually want it open till, they'll update the hours. I'll go higher than the poster before me and guess it will be open until at least 9:00 every day, 10:00 on some days.

 

[Riddick]

Thank you both so much for the speedy replies!
Despite having been to Disney a few times this is probably the first time I've really started planning so far in advance! (As our 180 day mark is this week!)
I guess we'll book on the assumption the closing times will be extended and not stress too much about it in the long run

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

I'm going in September and originally AK had a closing time of 7 for my trip but that has now been changed to 9.

 

[Riddick]

I'm going in September and originally AK had a closing time of 7 for my trip but that has now been changed to 9.

Interesting, so maybe they'll announce it sooner rather than later. Who knows?

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

We are going in October, too and eagerly awaiting the hours! It does help us plan when we know them! DH looked online at last year's hours, due to the MNNSHP and we discovered Epcot was open till 11 some nights! We would assume the same, or at least that one park is open way late since MK closes early due to the party. Also, as @brifraz said, AK is a nighttime experience now, so there's no way they will close it before 8. 8 was when it closed before Pandora and ROL; hopefully, we'll all get to enjoy AK at night.

 

[Riddick]

We are going in October, too and eagerly awaiting the hours! It does help us plan when we know them! DH looked online at last year's hours, due to the MNNSHP and we discovered Epcot was open till 11 some nights! We would assume the same, or at least that one park is open way late since MK closes early due to the party. Also, as @brifraz said, AK is a nighttime experience now, so there's no way they will close it before 8. 8 was when it closed before Pandora and ROL; hopefully, we'll all get to enjoy AK at night.

@slipperalwaysfits Fingers crossed booked the dining today, it's all very exciting!

 

[Capsin4]

Hours will depend on lessons learned this summer and how the crowds trend. They're pretty new at opening big, new lands.

 

[disneyfrk1221]

I too am very interested in this. I'm planning a trip right now for October, and had to choose between getting 2 EMH at EPCOT, or 1 at Animal Kingdom. We went with EPCOT so now our Animal Kingdom day is, right now, 9am - 7pm. Really hoping they extend the hours a bit, the sun will have barely set by 7pm so I feel the park would need to be open later to accommodate the night time shows. At least I hope!