A 24-hour Magic Kingdom?

[NormC]

No, not really. I do not see how they could accomplish the cleaning and maintenance they do during down time if the park was open 24/7. Planting, pruning, lawn mowing, pressure washing, painting, lightbulb changing and a myriad of other tasks need to be taken care of.

When we were there in February they were cleaning Frontierland with several extremely loud annoying gas powered leaf litter vacuums before the park closed. I was shocked as it was the first time I witnessed this type of intrusion on everyone's enjoyment in all my years of attending the parks. Looks like they do not care much anymore.

 

[bethymouse]

Just another promo event IMHO.

 

[mm121]

Nope - they are trying to get rid of evening extra magic hours so 24 hours is once or twice a year.

why would they want to get rid of magic hours? this is one of the main selling points of staying on property.

The rides need time to sit, so running them constantly for 24 hours would mean MAJOR maintenance issues and the rides would show their wear and tear much quicker. We complain at the state of things now, and that's with a night off. Imagine how much complaining we'd all do if that happened!

Besides, the park needs the nights to rehearse the dancers, maintain the gardens, decorate for the holidays, clean things, and repair those hard to reach areas and light bulbs. Also, I think the CMs might go berserk at that point.

yea the staff would pull their hair out.. and theres so much that goes on behind the scenes at night to make the park show ready for the next day.

When we were there in February they were cleaning Frontierland with several extremely loud annoying gas powered leaf litter vacuums before the park closed. I was shocked as it was the first time I witnessed this type of intrusion on everyone's enjoyment in all my years of attending the parks. Looks like they do not care much anymore.

what time was that? was it after the park closed, but possibly during extra magic hours?

that sounds crazy they'd do that while the park was opened.

 

[disney4life2008]

why would they want to get rid of magic hours? this is one of the main selling points of staying on property.

It been rumured for the last few months that once FP+ is fully rolled out - that this will become the main selling point to staying on property. If you look at all of the media print and commericals - its all about FP+ and to those who never been to WDW which is the demographic that most of these commercials are intended for - to be able to reserve attractions in advance (albiet very misldeading) is a major selling point. In contrast, evening extra magic hours have been reduced from 3 to 2 hours within the last 2 years; and AK eliminated evening hours all together.

 

[mm121]

It been rumured for the last few months that once FP+ is fully rolled out - that this will become the main selling point to staying on property. If you look at all of the media print and commericals - its all about FP+ and to those who never been to WDW which is the demographic that most of these commercials are intended for - to be able to reserve attractions in advance (albiet very misldeading) is a major selling point. In contrast, evening extra magic hours have been reduced from 3 to 2 hours within the last 2 years; and AK eliminated evening hours all together.

Thats super unfortunate and I really hope they dont do that. There's more to the extra hours experience than rides, just enjoying the parks when they are less crowded. and since FP+ limits to 3 attractions thats crazy, since you can definitely cover way more in 2 hours of EMH than 3 attractions.

Also I'm really not a fan of this whole new "scheduled" vacation approach.. When I'm on vacation its fun to just be random sometimes and go with where the vibe of the day takes you.

I can kind of see reducing them to 2 hours though would be nice to have them be 3 hours on special days.

I didnt know AK ever did evening magic hours, last time I went they did have morning hours though which were great for seeing the animals in the morning on Safari.

 

[NormC]

what time was that? was it after the park closed, but possibly during extra magic hours?

that sounds crazy they'd do that while the park was opened.

Park was still open, EMH or not doesn't matter. We were on our way to BTMRR.

 

[disney4life2008]

Thats super unfortunate and I really hope they dont do that. There's more to the extra hours experience than rides, just enjoying the parks when they are less crowded. and since FP+ limits to 3 attractions thats crazy, since you can definitely cover way more in 2 hours of EMH than 3 attractions.

Also I'm really not a fan of this whole new "scheduled" vacation approach.. When I'm on vacation its fun to just be random sometimes and go with where the vibe of the day takes you.

I can kind of see reducing them to 2 hours though would be nice to have them be 3 hours on special days.

I didnt know AK ever did evening magic hours, last time I went they did have morning hours though which were great for seeing the animals in the morning on Safari.

Yes - AK had evening extra magic hours and it was fabulous. Morning hours remain but AK comes alive at night with color and light; and the animal sounds with trails is so amazing. If FP+ is a success in the coming fiscal year - I fully expect at least evening extra magic hours to be eliminated. From reports I have read - the evening is what costs the most money.

 

[muteki]

While there will eventually be a breaking point when it comes to MK and crowds, staying open 24/7 isn't going to fix it. The majority of the crowd is families and their young kids, and they are not going to drag their kids out at 3am everyday.

Some people would take advantage yes, but not enough to distribute the crowd evenly during the day.

Eventually they will just have to build more places for people to go or people will stop coming because it is too busy.

 

[flynnibus]

With the MK being so crowded so often, does anyone think it is ultimately headed to a point where it might be open 24-hours a day?

No, because there is no demand for it.

Just because something is busy at 6pm, doesn't mean that same guest is interested or willing to do their thing at 4am. 24hr things work when there is a demand at that time of day... there is no significant demand at 4am to operate the park.

The special events are because it's unique/special.. not because they want to appease this special 3rd shift audience.

 

[Californian Elitist]

That would never happen. Third shifts, anyone?