hours of operation in April?

[soin2disney]

Hi, we are going to WDW in April and I just looked at the hours of operation and was amazed. There are some nights that the Magic Kingdom closes at 7:00 PM. Why so early??? Same with Epcot and MGM. I even saw one time as early as 6:30.... We have been in April in past years, and never remember them closing soooo early...Any ideas??? :veryconfu

 

[sbkline]

Hi, we are going to WDW in April and I just looked at the hours of operation and was amazed. There are some nights that the Magic Kingdom closes at 7:00 PM. Why so early??? Same with Epcot and MGM. I even saw one time as early as 6:30.... We have been in April in past years, and never remember them closing soooo early...Any ideas??? :veryconfu

It might have something to do with Easter. I'm not sure when Easter falls next year, but if I'm not mistaken, Easter is one of the determining factors of the cuttoff between the cheaper season and the more expensive season, and the hours in which the parks are open. That's the only thing I can think of right now, because we are going in April as well and, like you, I was shocked to see how early the Magic Kingdom closes the week we are there. There is one night of our stay when it will be open until 11 PM, but it closes earlier the other nights.

 

[ryank007]

Might it be because of Grad Nite? I can't remember what time the MK opens to HS seniors, but IIRC, the MK does close early on those days.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Easter.

If Easter falls in April then the park hours are increased to accomodate the extra guests (many from the UK). As Easter falls right at the beginning of April 07, I'm assuming that you're visiting towards the end of the month

 

[swimmom]

Grad nights are the end of April/first of May. That may account for some of your early MK closings. Also Epcot-Future World typically closes at 7:00 p.m. unless the hours are extended around the holidays. You will be there just after the spring break crowds. The good part will be that it will be less crowded, but the bad part will be the parks closing earlier.

 

[3fordisney]

Hi, we are going to WDW in April and I just looked at the hours of operation and was amazed. There are some nights that the Magic Kingdom closes at 7:00 PM. Why so early??? Same with Epcot and MGM. I even saw one time as early as 6:30.... We have been in April in past years, and never remember them closing soooo early...Any ideas??? :veryconfu

We are planning on going April 15th-21st next year. I believe there are a few Grad nights during our stay, which would account for the earlier closing time. Easter will be April 8th. We have never been in April before and hope the crowds won't be too bad!

 

[sbkline]

After thinking about it, I realized it must be because of Easter. Originally, we were going to go for two weeks in Early April and the more expensive season was in place for the first week and the cheaper season started the second week, and whatever season it is when you check in is what you get billed for for the entire vacation, even if it straddles two seasons. Later, we needed to cut it down to one week, so we made it for the cheaper season. But I assume the cutoff between the expensive season and the cheaper season is determined by when Easter falls, and since the busy Easter rush is over by late April, that time of the month falls in the cheaper season, thus the earlier closing times.

 

[slappy magoo]

Originally, we were going to go for two weeks in Early April and the more expensive season was in place for the first week and the cheaper season started the second week, and whatever season it is when you check in is what you get billed for for the entire vacation, even if it straddles two seasons.

Just for the record, you can always make TWO bookings for your vacation, with the second one beginning the same day cheaper rates take effect. Let the CM helping you know you're splitting up your vacation. He/she will warn you that there's no guarantee you'll be able to keep the same room but I've never heard of anyone being asked to move (anyone ever experience this? I'd hate to feed false info).

 

[sbkline]

Just for the record, you can always make TWO bookings for your vacation, with the second one beginning the same day cheaper rates take effect.

Thanks for the info, although I already found that out, but only after I already had to chop the vacation short by two weeks anyway. :wave: My wife decided that she can't be away from the baby for two weeks, so I had to accomodate her mama hen syndrome. :lol:

For what it's worth, at least we will be experiencing about the same amount of Disney as what we originally planned on our two weeker. Originally, we had extra days figured in for the beach, Universal, and either Sea World or Bush Gardens, plus a day or two at my Aunt's house. We ended up chopping all that out and leaving the Disney part of the vacation.