Walt Disney World Park Hours cut starting September 8 2020

Miss Bella

Well-Known Member
There should be a lull between New Years and President’s Day with kids back in school and none of the usual special events like Marathon weekend and conventions to draw people in. For some reason my kids have a 5 day weekend for President’s Day this year, not sure if that’s common other places. I could see a possible bump in crowds around then.

In my “adult without kids” life we made several trips to WDW in January after New Years. The crowds were always low with kids going back to school and back in the day they kept the Christmas decoration up for a few weeks into Jan. We were there once for the marathon but back when it wasn’t such a big deal. The only down side is a couple of headliner rides were down for refurb, but the pleasant weather and low crowds more than made up for that. We also got a good deal on rooms back then.
It was the Disney Visa offer that lured me back. I really hadn't planned on returning next year, but 152.00 for a tower room at CSR was too good to pass up. It's just me and my son. Whatever happens I didn't spend a ton of money on this trip....well I should clarify that I didn't spend a ton of money before he drags me into the Lego store in Disney Springs. We will have to take a side trip to Riviera to check out that 45000 piece model.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
It was the Disney Visa offer that lured me back. I really hadn't planned on returning next year, but 152.00 for a tower room at CSR was too good to pass up. It's just me and my son. Whatever happens I didn't spend a ton of money on this trip....well I should clarify that I didn't spend a ton of money before he drags me into the Lego store in Disney Springs. We will have to take a side trip to Riviera to check out that 45000 piece model.
Things are definitely looking ready to ramp up. More hotel discounts, that 2 day park ticket deal, some additional resorts opening in the Spring or early Summer. You may get in during the calm before storm.
 

SoFloMagic

Well-Known Member
Things are definitely looking ready to ramp up. More hotel discounts, that 2 day park ticket deal, some additional resorts opening in the Spring or early Summer. You may get in during the calm before storm.
I think Disney senses that people are going to take 'the vaccine is here" as permission to travel, whether or not it's widely available yet/ as soon as they get it. Seems like they want to be ready to get that $$$$$$$
 

beachlover4444

Well-Known Member
It was the Disney Visa offer that lured me back. I really hadn't planned on returning next year, but 152.00 for a tower room at CSR was too good to pass up. It's just me and my son. Whatever happens I didn't spend a ton of money on this trip....well I should clarify that I didn't spend a ton of money before he drags me into the Lego store in Disney Springs. We will have to take a side trip to Riviera to check out that 45000 piece model.
What visa offer? Did I miss out on something
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
People are beginning to travel more, it is also showing in the parks. Still way off from previous years but increasing.
Good thing it’s not affecting the number of hospitalizations or deaths.

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GoofGoof

Premium Member
Disney has released park hours through March 6, 2021 now. After the holiday added hours roll off on Jan 9 the park hours go back to where they were through March 6:
  • Magic Kingdom (Jan 10 – Mar. 6): 9am to 6pm
  • EPCOT (Jan 10 - Mar. 6): 11am to 7pm
  • Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Jan 10 – Mar. 6): 10am to 7pm
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Jan 10 – Mar. 6): 9am to 5pm
There is always a thought that they could add hours back if crowd levels warrant it, especially for MLK or President's Day weekends. They did push the re-opening of one of the All Stars back from early Feb into March so maybe the bookings were lighter than hoped for in the early new year.

Easter is April 4 2021 so the primary Spring Break weeks start March 27. It should be interesting to see how much they can ramp up for Spring Break. I know Disney would love to have a big bump in attendance starting then and carrying through to the Summer.
 

YodaMan

Well-Known Member
Disney has released park hours through March 6, 2021 now. After the holiday added hours roll off on Jan 9 the park hours go back to where they were through March 6:
  • Magic Kingdom (Jan 10 – Mar. 6): 9am to 6pm
  • EPCOT (Jan 10 - Mar. 6): 11am to 7pm
  • Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Jan 10 – Mar. 6): 10am to 7pm
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Jan 10 – Mar. 6): 9am to 5pm
There is always a thought that they could add hours back if crowd levels warrant it, especially for MLK or President's Day weekends. They did push the re-opening of one of the All Stars back from early Feb into March so maybe the bookings were lighter than hoped for in the early new year.

Easter is April 4 2021 so the primary Spring Break weeks start March 27. It should be interesting to see how much they can ramp up for Spring Break. I know Disney would love to have a big bump in attendance starting then and carrying through to the Summer.
Studios actually already got an extension a few days ago. January 10-16 was bumped up to the 9:00-7:00 hours that theyve had for most of December.
 

legwand77

Well-Known Member
Disney has released park hours through March 6, 2021 now. After the holiday added hours roll off on Jan 9 the park hours go back to where they were through March 6:
  • Magic Kingdom (Jan 10 – Mar. 6): 9am to 6pm
  • EPCOT (Jan 10 - Mar. 6): 11am to 7pm
  • Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Jan 10 – Mar. 6): 10am to 7pm
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Jan 10 – Mar. 6): 9am to 5pm
There is always a thought that they could add hours back if crowd levels warrant it, especially for MLK or President's Day weekends. They did push the re-opening of one of the All Stars back from early Feb into March so maybe the bookings were lighter than hoped for in the early new year.

Easter is April 4 2021 so the primary Spring Break weeks start March 27. It should be interesting to see how much they can ramp up for Spring Break. I know Disney would love to have a big bump in attendance starting then and carrying through to the Summer.

They are extending hours again for mid to late January
  • Magic Kingdom (Jan. 10-23): 9am – 7pm
  • EPCOT (Jan. 10-23): 11am – 8pm
  • Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Jan. 10-23): 9am – 7pm
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Jan. 10-23): 8am – 5pm
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
They are extending hours again for mid to late January
  • Magic Kingdom (Jan. 10-23): 9am – 7pm
  • EPCOT (Jan. 10-23): 11am – 8pm
  • Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Jan. 10-23): 9am – 7pm
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Jan. 10-23): 8am – 5pm
So the base 9hr (MK and DHS) or 8hr (AK and EPCOT) days now show through March 20 but they continue to add an hour to each park day a few weeks out. I think it’s clear that the hours posted several months out are really just placeholders and will be adjusted based on demand. I doubt that a week before the official start of Spring Break the hours will still be limited to 8/9 hours. Just for reference, in pre-Covid times the parks would regularly be open 12 or 13 hours a day in March before Spring Break so there’s a lot of room to expand hours. It would take a 50% expansion in hours just to get back to normal, which I’m not saying I expect by March just pointing out how far we have to go.
 

Miss Bella

Well-Known Member
They are extending hours again for mid to late January
  • Magic Kingdom (Jan. 10-23): 9am – 7pm
  • EPCOT (Jan. 10-23): 11am – 8pm
  • Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Jan. 10-23): 9am – 7pm
  • Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Jan. 10-23): 8am – 5pm
I changed my reservation from CSR tower to a preferred room at SSR. I never thought I 'd stay at this resort, but with the Boardwalk area being so dead and with Epcot closing early Disney Spring seems like the place to be in the evening. The rooms have also had a nice upgrade they look the Riviera.

We ate at DS three times on the last trip and I thought the food was better than anything in the parks. I plan on eating in Disney Springs every night of our seven night trip so If you have any recommendations let me know.

I didn't upgrade to park hoppers. I plan on spending a lot of the time at the resort relaxing. I'm hoping it's similar to our August trip without the heat.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
I changed my reservation from CSR tower to a preferred room at SSR. I never thought I 'd stay at this resort, but with the Boardwalk area being so dead and with Epcot closing early Disney Spring seems like the place to be in the evening. The rooms have also had a nice upgrade they look the Riviera.

We ate at DS three times on the last trip and I thought the food was better than anything in the parks. I plan on eating in Disney Springs every night of our seven night trip so If you have any recommendations let me know.

I didn't upgrade to park hoppers. I plan on spending a lot of the time at the resort relaxing. I'm hoping it's similar to our August trip without the heat.
That’s probably a good idea with those park hours. Even if you just want counter service food DS has way better options than many Disney resorts.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
I changed my reservation from CSR tower to a preferred room at SSR. I never thought I 'd stay at this resort, but with the Boardwalk area being so dead and with Epcot closing early Disney Spring seems like the place to be in the evening. The rooms have also had a nice upgrade they look the Riviera.

We ate at DS three times on the last trip and I thought the food was better than anything in the parks. I plan on eating in Disney Springs every night of our seven night trip so If you have any recommendations let me know.

I didn't upgrade to park hoppers. I plan on spending a lot of the time at the resort relaxing. I'm hoping it's similar to our August trip without the heat.
I was wondering if they would consider keeping EPCOT open until 9PM starting in January due to the return of park hopping. I would think one of the more popular plans would be to hop to EPCOT for dinner. There’s still time to eat, but if they don’t allow hopping until 2pm and the park closes at 7 or even 8 there’s not a whole lot of time to do anything other than eat. When the park closes at 7PM do they allow people to be seated to eat at 7 or is the last seating at 6 anticipating a park close an hour later?
 

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
That’s why I don’t have reservations yet, because if they keep to this schedule, I plan on just driving to DS for dinner every night, which is very similar to what I do with CityWalk when I’m at Universal and it’s not HHN.
 

techgeek

Well-Known Member
I was wondering if they would consider keeping EPCOT open until 9PM starting in January due to the return of park hopping. I would think one of the more popular plans would be to hop to EPCOT for dinner. There’s still time to eat, but if they don’t allow hopping until 2pm and the park closes at 7 or even 8 there’s not a whole lot of time to do anything other than eat. When the park closes at 7PM do they allow people to be seated to eat at 7 or is the last seating at 6 anticipating a park close an hour later?

I just tried to pull a table service res on a random weekday (2/11/21) with a 7pm close - can get a seating at 6:55 at Biergarten or 6:45 at Coral Reef, but nothing else available after 6:30, and pretty limited dinner options overall (a handful of 5pm openings, nothing available at all for dinner at the more popular options). I suspect actual sit-down dining capacity is still a major issue at Epcot.
 
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