In what seems to becoming a near-nightly trend, the Magic Kingdom, which was scheduled to close 9pm Thursday 3/26 and Friday 3/27, will now close at 11pm on Thursday and 10pm on Friday. Spectromagic performances have also been added, showing at both 8:15pm and 10pm each night.
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Magic Kingdom Park Hours extended yet again 3/26 and 3/27
- Thread starter goodolgm
- Start date
hokielutz
Well-Known Member
See... Disney's projections effectively sandbagged their schedule because they thought the economic outlook would adversely affect their attendances.... apparently not so.
This happens even when there isn't an "economic outlook" to speak of - especially during Spring Break.
mousefan1972
Well-Known Member
You are a CM there, correct? I have been checking park hours every few days for our upcoming April trip, arriving on the 20th. MK hours were extended from 9 pm closings to 10 or 11 pm closings. On our arrival day, MK was closing at 9 with an 8 p.m. showing of Spectromagic. Now closing time is 11, with Spectromagic at 9 and 10:30. Do you think it will change again at this point? Thanks.
disneydata
Well-Known Member
Those projections are done about a year in advance. The economy wasn't as bad back then, so it had nothing to do with it. Disney can't sandbag that far in advance.
Auroragirl
New Member
That'll be nice!
wild01ride
Well-Known Member
So, by the way, how are guests notified when the hours are extended such as this? Are there poster-signs out front (like the Epcot "X Attraction will be open until 9:00p.m. tonight" signs)??
Just curious how the average guest would find out (since not all guests are all over the details like most of us are!).
Just curious how the average guest would find out (since not all guests are all over the details like most of us are!).
krankenstein
Well-Known Member
I have never seen them extend hours as frequently as the have been the last 2 weeks. I think they simply underestimated the expected crowds. :shrug:
disneydata
Well-Known Member
Just a little info on how projections are made. Disney just doesn't pick a day and say "I think X people will visit the park that day". They take a ton of things into account such as previous YEARS (plural) attendance, resort bookings for past years, weather patterns, national holidays, special events, and much more. Of course, the projections are never 100% accurate and are adjusted if needed, however the projections for last year this time were about the same as this year. If anything, they have gone UP from what was expected.
Some more background on why park hours are extended. There is a magical number Disney uses when it comes to this kind of thing. When guests are surveyed, they're asked how many attractions they've done in the day and if they're experience was positive. Disney puts all this info together to a number that represents the number of attractions a guest wants to see in order for it to be a positive experience. This is somewhere along the lines of 8.2 for MK.
This is how park hours are figured. If there are X number of people expected today, how many hours do we need the park open to achieve the optimum number of X attractions? When the estimate is higher than expected, park hours are extended. This is why you will sometimes see hours extended in the late morning/early afternoon after an updated projection is released. Since this is spring break season and the numbers are pretty constant, hours are being extended ahead of time to allow local managers to be able to adjust their cast to run their operation.
Some more background on why park hours are extended. There is a magical number Disney uses when it comes to this kind of thing. When guests are surveyed, they're asked how many attractions they've done in the day and if they're experience was positive. Disney puts all this info together to a number that represents the number of attractions a guest wants to see in order for it to be a positive experience. This is somewhere along the lines of 8.2 for MK.
This is how park hours are figured. If there are X number of people expected today, how many hours do we need the park open to achieve the optimum number of X attractions? When the estimate is higher than expected, park hours are extended. This is why you will sometimes see hours extended in the late morning/early afternoon after an updated projection is released. Since this is spring break season and the numbers are pretty constant, hours are being extended ahead of time to allow local managers to be able to adjust their cast to run their operation.
disneydata
Well-Known Member
The signs on the toll plazas are updated. They will sometimes put up signs at the entrances, but the big update is the announcements. They will broadcast "program updates" throughout the park a few times each day to let guests know of extended hours or added parades.
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
Not true.
Well, not exactly.
Sure Disney projects a year out.
But not when it comes to park hours. Those were always done six months in advance. That stopped after 9/11 when they were cutting as much as they could because they didn't really have any idea.
But by 2004 they were back to six months and that stayed in place until last fall.
And yes, the depression had everything to do with them cutting the window to three months.
The problem is they're projections just haven't been close to accurate, mostly estimating on the low end, and they've had to scramble because of it.
While it's never a bad thing to find out the parks will be open later once you're there, for planning purposes it would be nice to know.
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
March is always moderately crowded to very busy depending on when holidays fall and when spring breaks do too.
Disney's projections just haven't been close to accurate now.
Although they were for most of February (excepting again the busy President's weekend when they underprojected and got caught again).
I'm not sure surveying has much to do with it this year as just plain common sense.
Especially since most of the research department has been axed.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
disneydata
Well-Known Member
Actually, they have been pretty close. Some days are right on, others are slightly under projection. Then there's the days that a few thousand guests more came than expected.
You'd be surprised how much of the research department is still around. The Basics pilot program only started a few months ago in certain areas and the research is needed to back up the cost of it.
tink@heart
New Member
extended hours
I for one, think extended hours are an added-bonus to a planned trip. AT least it's not the opposite- taking hours away. The CM's do a great job of updating guests throughout the day of any hour changes. An extra Spectromagic or 2 hours in MK can really add to the magic of the day!
I for one, think extended hours are an added-bonus to a planned trip. AT least it's not the opposite- taking hours away. The CM's do a great job of updating guests throughout the day of any hour changes. An extra Spectromagic or 2 hours in MK can really add to the magic of the day!