Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Theme Park Hours at Disney World
Thinking points to help You decide when These are Right for you
Everything you need to know about Disney World Extra Magic Hours
Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Theme Park Hours (Deluxe Only) are an exclusive benefit for the guests of the official Walt Disney World Resort hotels and select Disney World 'Good Neighbor' hotels, granting them access to a Disney theme park that is closed to the general public. Early theme park entry allows guests in to each of the four theme parks 30 minutes ahead of scheduled park opening each day. If the park opens at 9:00am, you get in at 8:30am or earlier. Extended Evening Theme Park Hours lets guests of select resorts into select park(s) on select nights. That’s a lot of “selects” :-) For the most part, this means Deluxe resort guests can remain in the scheduled theme park (Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios) for two extra hours after the park closes to the general public. Disney World park hours and Extended Evening Theme Park Hours released in advance – though they are subject to revision. Your Build A Better Mouse Trip Travel Advisor will help you with the schedule.
Extremely Important: If you are not staying at a Disney resort, you really need to know the schedule so that you can avoid the crowds that go with them. You sure don’t want to be in the park where all the Deluxe guests are headed later in the day.
Thinking Point #1 – Crowds
Disney has thousands of Deluxe hotel rooms and no one goes to Disney World alone. There are select good neighbor hotels that also qualify. This means that the Evening Extended Theme Park Hours park will often be the most crowded park of the day. That may not be a big deal at non-peak times but it is a very big deal during holidays and other high crowd times like Spring Break or the height of summer travel. If you’re going during the busy season, you can probably enjoy more attractions in less time by going to a less crowded park. If you are a Deluxe resort guest and have Disney Park Hopper Tickets, you can enjoy a less crowded park during regular hours and then hop over to the late night park to enjoy the additional hours.
Thinking Point #2 – Getting Up Early on Vacation
If the Early Theme Park Entry starts somewhere between 7:30am and 8:30am, depending on the park (earlier at Christmas and Spring Break), you’ll need to leave your resort no later than an hour prior to take advantage of it. Will your family want to get up that early on vacation, especially if they were in a theme park late the night before? Sleeping through the Early Theme Park Entry and then arriving in time to get in lines that have been forming for a half hour or more is not to your advantage at all. You may want to consider Genie+ to help avoid the building lines. If you’re a family of early risers, this won’t be an issue and the morning time may be perfect for you, giving you a chance to enjoy the parks when you’re at your peak and allowing you to take a mid-day break to swim or relax.
Thinking Point #3 – How late is too late?
Epcot closes at 9:00PM almost without exception. The closing time at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios varies a lot – from 7:00PM to Midnight, depending on the season. Disney's Animal Kingdom's hours can be quite late with Pandora - World of Avatar. Normal closing time could be as late as 9:00pm. The theme parks are at their least crowded the first two hours that they’re open so I really want you to make park opening a priority. If you’re headed to the parks an hour before opening, will you or your kids really be able to enjoy being up until 10:00PM or later? If you do stay out that late, will it mean getting to the park late tomorrow and missing out on the short lines then? My kids treat Disney World like Marine Boot Camp – they go hard from first thing in the morning until the Disney cast members are pushing us out of the park at the end of the day but not everyone takes this “you can sleep when you’re dead” approach to vacation. When will the fun stop being fun for your family?
Thinking Point #4 – When two hours is really just one hour
Disney says that the Evening Extra Magic Hours are two hours but you really need to look at the park hours on either side of the Extra Magic hour day and sometimes you’ll find that the Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios will close an hour earlier to the general public so you’re really only getting one hour more than you would get a day earlier or later. If you’re only gaining one hour, are you better off going on a less crowded day? One extra hour with less people might be great when it isn’t too late.
Thinking Point #5 –When you have to choose between Extra Magic Hours and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom
Check the Disney calendar because, during the lower seasons, Disney will sometimes eliminate the night time fireworks in the Magic Kingdom on days with late hours, or after hours events. The fireworks are pretty special and you may not want to miss them, especially if this is a “once in a lifetime” trip. You may want to hit the Magic Kingdom on a different day, especially if your trip falls at a time when the extended hours or after hours events mean fewer regular park hours. This may not be an issue if you have two days allocated for the Magic Kingdom or have park hopper tickets and can catch the parade and Fireworks after visiting Disney's Animal Kingdom, which usually closes earlier.
Thinking Point #6 – Extended Evening Theme Park Hours when low crowds mean shorter park hours
I know that a lot of the above points may lead you to decide against Extended Evening Theme Park Hours in certain situations but they can be a great thing when crowd levels are really low and Disney reduces park hours. I love them in this situation.
Thinking Point #8 – Extended Evening Theme Park Hours when it is crazy-hot outside
Florida can be uncomfortably hot from June into October. If the middle of the day is going to be miserable, you may want to head back to your resort for a rest or go to a water park. In this situation, extended hours can give you the time you need to experience the parks at times where the heat is not so terribly hot but please use a good plan to help you manage crowds.
Click here for our Top 10 Tips for Summer Trip to Disney World
Thinking Point #9 – When You Have Park Hopper Ticket
The Disney World Basic Ticket allows guests to visit one theme park per day but Disney also offers an upgrade called the Park Hopper Option. This option costs extra, is good for the length of your ticket and allows you to move between the Disney Theme Parks. Guests with Basic Tickets really need to be careful when planning around Extended Evening Theme Park Hours because, once you’ve entered a park, you’re committed to that park for the day. You can leave and re-enter the same park but you can’t switch to a different park. The Park Hopper option costs more but it does give you some flexibility – for example, you can go to Disney's Animal Kingdom park for a morning and enjoy that park while crowds are low, then head over to the Magic Kingdom to enjoy some attractions and the evening entertainment.
Thinking Point #10 – Night Owls & Vampires
I’ve already mentioned that the crowds are lowest the first few hours the park is open so it really makes sense to get there at least 20 minutes before they open the gates. On the other hand, some people like to stay out late and sleep in on vacation. If this sounds like you and you are staying in one of the select hotels, go for it! You will probably want to buy Genie+ to “stack” attractions for later in the day. Your Build A Better mouse Trip Travel Advisor will help you understand how to do that.
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