Question About Change in Late August Operating Hours

[slappy magoo]

So as I've needed to revise plans for our trip later this month, I was going through the operating hours for both dates we were originally scheduled to be onsite, plus the days we're now adding. And it looks like more operating hours have been added to different parks in different days, a combination of more Extra Magic Hours, and just opening paks (mostly MK and DHS) and hour earlier and closing an hour later.


But everything I've been reading about WDW attendance this year and this summer in particular, attendance is supposedly down. And if that's true (IF!), I'd assume they'd make operating hours shorter, not longer. Most notably MK, where they went from closing almost across the board at 10, it's not usually at least 11 or midnight, with extra magic hours creeping it up to 1 or 2am.

Anyone know or have a theory as to why the hours are getting better? Are they now expecting a late summer push? Are they trying to give the impression of a better value so the people who ARE there have a more positive experience and be more apt to return? Is it a "weather thing," where they recognize guests are leaving in droves during the afternoon and coming back in droves once the sun goes down to avoid the worst of the heat? Or a systematic attempt to ruin whatever plans I originally made and/or I am trying to make?

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Or a systematic attempt to ruin whatever plans I originally made and/or I am trying to make?

This !!!

UK schools finished for the summer at the end of July. Thousands of Brits will be crossing the Atlantic DAILY to enjoy Orlando's attractions until early September and park hours usually increase this time of year. We visited last August and MK saw openings until 2am on some nights while we were there, although park hours showed these closing times a few weeks prior to us travelling

 

[slappy magoo]

I also know that the free dining promotion for US citizens (as well as whatever promotions might be occurring for visitors from UK or other countries) might be affecting crowd expectations, but I thought they had already been factored in.

I'm also starting to wonder if the chatter about attendance being down might have pushed just enough people to think "hey, this will be a great time to go, it's not busy at all!" and that's affecting expectations, too. I know not everyone in the world has the Disney bug like people on this site, but it doesn't take much in the grand scheme of things to make big differences in crowds.

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

I think they start changing hours to get ready for the Halloween Party because they have to decorate the park. That could be why they are closing early because the first Halloween Party this year is on September 2nd.

 

[slappy magoo]

I think they start changing hours to get ready for the Halloween Party because they have to decorate the park. That could be why they are closing early because the first Halloween Party this year is on September 2nd.

But the thing of it is, they didn't take away hours, they added hours. It looks like DHS is routinely open 30-60 minutes later than originally planned, and MK is open an hour earlier AND at least an hour later than originally scheduled...

Maybe they think they won't need as much time to decorate and added it back to the operating schedule?

 

[Horizons '83]

Very interesting indeed. We are heading to the world for the last weekend in August but we benefited from the changed hours. They are opening MK earlier on one of the days so they released additional morning Fastpasses so we were able to hop on the new Fastpasses before the 30 day mark. We went from a 9AM opening and a 10PM closing to 8AM to 12AM.

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

But the thing of it is, they didn't take away hours, they added hours. It looks like DHS is routinely open 30-60 minutes later than originally planned, and MK is open an hour earlier AND at least an hour later than originally scheduled...

Maybe they think they won't need as much time to decorate and added it back to the operating schedule?

Yeah it's odd for sure. I can tell you though that if you're not a person that goes a lot you may not know this but quite often they will just decide on a whim to keep the MK open for longer than it was scheduled. So you might luck up and be there on a day when they decide to do that. CM's have told me they do it quite a bit. I love that because I spend more time at the MK than any other park. We probably spend the least amount of time at Epcot.

 

[CheerT1]

Is it only 1 day they added extra hours ( Saturday) ?

 

[21stamps]

But the thing of it is, they didn't take away hours, they added hours. It looks like DHS is routinely open 30-60 minutes later than originally planned, and MK is open an hour earlier AND at least an hour later than originally scheduled...

Maybe they think they won't need as much time to decorate and added it back to the operating schedule?

That's great for you!!

I'm hoping this happens for our trip as well!

 

[ninjaprincesst]

I don't know why everyone thinks the parks are just empty or something . Attendance is slightly down but the parks are still very crowded and busy. The main drop is not as many Brazilian tour groups since the economy there went to crap and not as many people can afford to send their kids. It is still busy to the point that rides have two hour waits.

 

[DManRightHere]

So as I've needed to revise plans for our trip later this month, I was going through the operating hours for both dates we were originally scheduled to be onsite, plus the days we're now adding. And it looks like more operating hours have been added to different parks in different days, a combination of more Extra Magic Hours, and just opening paks (mostly MK and DHS) and hour earlier and closing an hour later.


But everything I've been reading about WDW attendance this year and this summer in particular, attendance is supposedly down. And if that's true (IF!), I'd assume they'd make operating hours shorter, not longer. Most notably MK, where they went from closing almost across the board at 10, it's not usually at least 11 or midnight, with extra magic hours creeping it up to 1 or 2am.

Anyone know or have a theory as to why the hours are getting better? Are they now expecting a late summer push? Are they trying to give the impression of a better value so the people who ARE there have a more positive experience and be more apt to return? Is it a "weather thing," where they recognize guests are leaving in droves during the afternoon and coming back in droves once the sun goes down to avoid the worst of the heat? Or a systematic attempt to ruin whatever plans I originally made and/or I am trying to make?

I think it is more to do with it has been a slow summer. Things could be picking up and they're adjusting hours as they see fit. It does seem like Disney always does this. Plan for what they are sure the hours will need to be, then extend hours when needed.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Labor Day is 9/5. The week before is 8/29. This may explain it.

 

[DManRightHere]

I don't know why everyone thinks the parks are just empty or something . Attendance is slightly down but the parks are still very crowded and busy. The main drop is not as many Brazilian tour groups since the economy there went to crap and not as many people can afford to send their kids. It is still busy to the point that rides have two hour waits.

Truthfully I check the wait times every now and then and it seems like wait times are lower than they should have been for most of July. The past week or 2 they've seemed more normal or still slightly below normal.

I know this is not a good way to judge actual attendance, but wait times are what I care most about lol.