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Animal Kingdom Fall Hours
- Thread starter JGDisney
- Start date
JohnD
Well-Known Member
We don't know yet. Right now closure is advertised as 6pm from 11/1 forward. It's 8:30pm in October.
Rumor has it that Rivers of Light is near opening possibly as early as mid-October. So look for park hours to change.
ninjaprincesst
Well-Known Member
Our fastpass window is Sunday, so I am guessing if ROL does start we will have to go back and change up our fastpasses. I would think the hours would be extended anyway because every year at Thanksgiving they are extended out to 8pm and that was before any AK nighttime stuff existed.
prfctlyximprct
Well-Known Member
Keep my phone close to me at all times in case ROL gets an opening date. Doing all the magical dances that I can think of that it's opened by November 4th!!
Herdman
Well-Known Member
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
Ditto for us -- our FP+ window for our November visit opens on Friday, and I find the lack of updated nighttime hours for AK very frustrating!
My plan is to make FP+ as though the current (6pm closing) hours are accurate, and then revise as necessary if/when Rivers of Light FP+ become available. I do believe that whether or not ROL opens, the hours are likely to be extended. Disney is so heavily advertising the after-dark experiences at the AK right now, that it suggests that hours in the future will at least extend past sunset. Still, this wouldn't be the first time Disney has heavily advertised something that is not really offered (coughcoughWorkingYeticoughcough).
My plan is to make FP+ as though the current (6pm closing) hours are accurate, and then revise as necessary if/when Rivers of Light FP+ become available. I do believe that whether or not ROL opens, the hours are likely to be extended. Disney is so heavily advertising the after-dark experiences at the AK right now, that it suggests that hours in the future will at least extend past sunset. Still, this wouldn't be the first time Disney has heavily advertised something that is not really offered (coughcoughWorkingYeticoughcough).
Cowboy Steve
Well-Known Member
Been tracking this situation since Memorial Day... as that was our 180 days out lol. We will be there the week after Thanksgiving, so I hope they come up with something soon... we did get one little hour extension from a 5pm close to 6pm. Which was nice as we were able to move our Tiffins ADR out an hour... but still hoping to snag a RoL dinner package if they have one. 
ninjaprincesst
Well-Known Member
I do expect an increase of hours, I don't expect it anytime soon. Every year they extend hours for AK and MK at the last minute right before our trip.
Cowboy Steve
Well-Known Member
Checked the WDW website this morning, and AK hours in November have been extended to 7pm. So they are sloooowly extending the days...
We were originally going to have dinner at Tiffins, but I'm thinking we are going to move that reservation to around lunchtime. At our 180 days out, the park hours were 9-5 so I made our ADR for 5pm. Then they extended the close to 6pm. So I moved our reservation to 6pm. Now that they have extended the close to 7pm, I'm pretty confident they think they will have RoL up and running by then, and additional close time changes will be coming. So, since this after dark experience at AK is something we want to enjoy and think is pretty cool, I'd rather not waste an hour or more in the restaurant lol. Plus that sets us up for a dining package with RoL if one is offered.
We were originally going to have dinner at Tiffins, but I'm thinking we are going to move that reservation to around lunchtime. At our 180 days out, the park hours were 9-5 so I made our ADR for 5pm. Then they extended the close to 6pm. So I moved our reservation to 6pm. Now that they have extended the close to 7pm, I'm pretty confident they think they will have RoL up and running by then, and additional close time changes will be coming. So, since this after dark experience at AK is something we want to enjoy and think is pretty cool, I'd rather not waste an hour or more in the restaurant lol. Plus that sets us up for a dining package with RoL if one is offered.
Minnie Mum
Well-Known Member
Yep. This is my thinking as well. Hours for our AK day (Nov 5) just got extended to 8:30. We've currently got a 4:30 TH ADR, which is a little too early for my taste, but I'm hoping they'll offer a dining package as soon as ROL is announced. This will allow me to use a FP for KS right after dinner, and before the show ( hopefully.) And still leave time for TOL and the live entertainment in Africa and Discovery Island.