Disney cutting back summer hours?

[disney4life2008]

So people state that Disney needs to do more to spread crowds around to other parks at night, and when they do, people still complain. Is there nothing that Disney can do right?

Lol i don't think 2 rides is enough to not keep magic kingdom open late. Even with night safari there is still no comparison. Sorry

 

[ford91exploder]

They're really good at cutting costs and maximizing profits at the expense of the customer experience. Oh wait, that's only right if you're a shareholder that doesn't go to the parks.

Remember Wall St is the customer we just provide the funding.

 

[ford91exploder]

You're not crazy. I've seen park hours being consistently shorter than normal for several months now. The only park to really get longer hours than in previous years is DAK and that's for very understandable reasons of the new night time entertainment.

Keeps the OPEX down

 

[ToTBellHop]

OK, while I agree that 10pm is unusual, I do not see "draconian" as a proper adjective. Oh, and you know darn well that there are very few restaurants that require 180 day ADRs, and even fewer FP+ that have to be made at 60. Myth, myth, myth. The fireworks have always been scheduled at 9pm, even when the park is open until 1am - so what the heck are you even talking about? Oh, and I also thought you were local???

I'm going partially when they oddly don't show MK fireworks in August. Most expect they will add them whenever they get around to checking the schedule.

Wishes was at 10 pm last summer.

I live in Connecticut.

Any other alternative facts?

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Maybe I'm just missing something but I thought the hours would be considerably longer. Thanks for any new info.

When we went last summer, MK was down to close at 10. But it wasn't until we got there that they changed to 11 and 12 with EMH til 1am. Wouldn't be surprised if they were to change again.

 

[CosmicPrincess]

I've been super worried about this. My girlfriend and I are going the last week of June and we're both night owls. Usually this isn't a problem as the MK has pretty much always been open until midnight or later but the current hours say that it will close at 10pm! Sure, AK has hours until 1 AM almost every night but we're not gonna want to be in AK every single night of the trip!

 

[HairyChest]

I'm also going in june and we are late risers. we love to parkhop to mk in the evenings and be up late. I really do hope MK is extended to 12am nightly (or at least 11).

 

[marni1971]

The fireworks have always been scheduled at 9pm..

Not exactly.

 

[disney4life2008]

Not exactly.

I think the summer schedule was 9pm parade, 10pm fireworks, 11pm parade.

 

[CosmicPrincess]

So are the hours so wonky because of the lack of a nighttime parade in the MK?

 

[disney4life2008]

So are the hours so wonky because of the lack of a nighttime parade in the MK?

Likely.

 

[ToTBellHop]

So are the hours so wonky because of the lack of a nighttime parade in the MK?

That didn't keep them from showing Wishes at 10 pm last October.

Granted, I don't have an inherent issue with fireworks being at 9 pm. It's a more family-friendly time. MK having shorter hours than DAK is absurd, though. People can certainly manage to find things to do in the park after the fireworks when the kiddies leave.

 

[CosmicPrincess]

Granted, I don't have an inherent issue with fireworks being at 9 pm. It's a more family-friendly time. MK having shorter hours than DAK is absurd, though. People can certainly manage to find things to do in the park after the fireworks when the kiddies leave.

That's exactly why I'm a little bummed out. Obviously I know that Disney is aimed very heavily towards children and I love seeing wide-eyed kids soaking in the magic of the Kingdom during the day but there's something extra magical about late night strolls through the MK after the little ones have gone to bed. Short lines, cooler temperatures, less crowds. Some of my best memories of my trips are from night time hours. I'm super upset that we're going to be missing out on that little bit of extra magic. Especially since we splurged a bit and stayed on property almost specifically for those late night EMH at the MK.

 

[No Name]

Lol i don't think 2 rides is enough to not keep magic kingdom open late. Even with night safari there is still no comparison. Sorry

To refer to Pandora as "2 rides" is a very shallow way of seeing it, but says a lot about you.

If you measure DAK only in RIDES, and are done once you do all of the RIDES, then of course you have trouble spending lots of time there. You'll be in and out of Pandora in 30 minutes. That's fine, do as you please, but know that there are many who look for the smaller things to do.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I've been super worried about this. My girlfriend and I are going the last week of June and we're both night owls. Usually this isn't a problem as the MK has pretty much always been open until midnight or later but the current hours say that it will close at 10pm! Sure, AK has hours until 1 AM almost every night but we're not gonna want to be in AK every single night of the trip!

Relax. Hours are ALWAYS extended. People are comparing to last year's hours completely ignoring the fact that those hours were originally shorter too.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I'm going partially when they oddly don't show MK fireworks in August. Most expect they will add them whenever they get around to checking the schedule.

Wishes was at 10 pm last summer.

I live in Connecticut.

Any other alternative facts?

Wishes was at 9 on many nights during the summer. You are correct that most nights it was at 10. I should have been more accurate in stating that it was only some nights. My bad.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Not exactly.

Yeah, that was my bad. I looked at the last few weeks of July, and several nights had Wishes at 9.

 

[radiohost]

Then why not just post the hours now? Why wait till late June?

 

[seascape]

I don't understand the complaints on WDW park hours. If you don't like them go to Universal their 2 parks close at 10:00 PM in July.

 

[rushtest4echo]

Universal's parks are not comparable, as both of them combined don't come close to challenging Magic Kingdom alone attendance and/or "daily in park" wise. Neither of them have compelling night time entertainment either. (one reason I find the "Universal is nipping at Disney's heals" comments so entirely silly).

The most visited park on earth shouldn't have lower hours than a park that does half those numbers right down the street (as in Animal Kingdom). I know AK will certainly see a surge of visitors, but does anyone honestly believe there's going to be some pullback in daily attendance at MK? I know they've been trying to rid the park of the evening crush (AK being open late and the Star Wars fireworks seem to be helping), but it seems like now that they've achieved the goal of lowering in-park numbers for MK evenings, they're content to close the place earlier. Blah...

I hope I'm overreacting and that the hours get extended back like last year. Sucks to be a Cast Member who has a schedule outside of work to keep, now you're going to be forcibly extended a few times a week. But it's not like WDW has ever cared about that.

This stinks of some cubicle dweller making an overall "hours budget" for all 4 parks, and simply dragging Magic Kingdom's extra hour or two over to Animal Kingdom and everyone patting him on the back for not having to extend the amount of labor hours needed across the parks while keeping AK open late.