Let's see how Disney World extends their "Hours" October, November, and December 2020.

[PanchoX1]

are they doing extra magic hours for resort guests?

 

[LSUfan4444]

No announcement on that. Just an extension of the closing hours at Epcot, Magic Kingdom , Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs

 

[Flynnismine]

Crossing all appendages for the extended hours to continue through the end of the year.

 

[ChimneyJim]

Just got an alert, the days leading up to Thanksgiving Epcot closing at 10, Ak opening at 8 and closing at 8, MK closing at 9.

EDIT--Just saw a link with this had already been posted.

 

[michellej47]

Very glad that hours were extended for our Thanksgiving week trip, but baffled why HS, the busiest park, has no change in hours.

 

[vossjemi]

Yes, I see MK is now open until 9pm on Halloween!! It was 6pm. Guess I’ll be canceling Narcooose’s ADR I originally had for 6:35pm. I’m excited about MK being open later but I wish it had happened earlier. Back when I reserved ADR, there were plenty of openings. I could have made an ADR there at 8 or 8:30. Now there’s nothing. Most of MK restaurants are full for dinner. I wonder if they’ll extend their dinner hours since park is open later?

 

[RaySharpton]

Yay! Thank you, LSUfan4444.

I'll start updating the first post.

And I need to check my December dates.

I saw photos on Twitter showing Christmas decorations being readied outside a WDW warehouse.

I noticed park hours have been extended through November with closing times closer to what is "normal" for this time of year. Didnt notice an increase to Hollywood Studios but since I only have a reservation there one day for our trip, I havent been tracking it that closely



https://www.wdwmagic.com/other/oper...ees-hours-return-to-something-more-normal.htm

 

[RaySharpton]

October 9, 2020 - The WDW Park Hours updated extensions & vary by date and by park,

Magic Kingdom
October 30 – 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM
October 31 – 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM
November 1 – 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM
November 6 – 21 – 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM
November 22 – 28 – 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM
November 29 – 30 – 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM
December 1 – 19 – 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM

EPCOT
October 30 – 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM
October 31 – 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
November 1 – 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM
November 6 – 21 – 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM
November 22 – 28 – 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
November 29 – 30 – 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM
December 1-3, 7-10, 14-17, 20-26 (Weekdays) – 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM
December 4-6, 11-13, 18-19 (Weekends) – 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM

Disney’s Hollywood Studios
No park hour changes.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom
October 30 – 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM
October 31 – 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM
November 1 – 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM
November 6-8, 13-15, 20-21, 29 (Weekends) – 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM
November 22 – 28 – 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
December 4-6, 11-13, 18-19 (Weekends) – 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Disney World Extends & Adds Park Hours in October & December 2020 - DTB Tom Bricker October 9, 2020

Walt Disney World has added hours to its calendar through December 19, 2020 for Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios, which includes even more extensions on weekends in October.

In this post, we’ll share details, why it’s happening, offer predictions for Halloween, and strategy for which park to visit each day of the week.

Let’s begin with a brief recap of the recent park hours changes. This started with Walt Disney World dramatically cutting fall hours up until Halloween. That was an unpopular decision among fans, and didn’t make a ton of sense in terms of guest demographics, but was justified at the time by Walt Disney World’s low post-reopening numbers.

More recently, Walt Disney World Released Early December 2020 Park Hours, which tweaked that approach and gave two parks more nighttime hours (necessary since some Walt Disney World Christmas Entertainment requires darkness). That coupled with weekly extensions to park hours has resulted in a more sensible calendar in light of guest behavior and visitation patterns…

Turning to the latest park hours additions, we first have new hours for all parks. The calendar was previously posted through December 12, 2020–now times are posted through December 19, 2020.

The new dates reflect the same shift at EPCOT and extension at Magic Kingdom that were made for Thanksgiving and early December. With that said, the most important part of the calendar below is in the bottom left corner: “Operating Hours Subject to Change.”

Disney World Extends & Adds Park Hours in October & December 2020
By Tom Bricker News & Rumors 39 Comments


5Save

Walt Disney World has added hours to its calendar through December 19, 2020 for Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios, which includes even more extensions on weekends in October. In this post, we’ll share details, why it’s happening, offer predictions for Halloween, and strategy for which park to visit each day of the week.
Let’s begin with a brief recap of the recent park hours changes. This started with Walt Disney World dramatically cutting fall hours up until Halloween. That was an unpopular decision among fans, and didn’t make a ton of sense in terms of guest demographics, but was justified at the time by Walt Disney World’s low post-reopening numbers.
More recently, Walt Disney World Released Early December 2020 Park Hours, which tweaked that approach and gave two parks more nighttime hours (necessary since some Walt Disney World Christmas Entertainment requires darkness). That coupled with weekly extensions to park hours has resulted in a more sensible calendar in light of guest behavior and visitation patterns…

Turning to the latest park hours additions, we first have new hours for all parks. The calendar was previously posted through December 12, 2020–now times are posted through December 19, 2020.
The new dates reflect the same shift at EPCOT and extension at Magic Kingdom that were made for Thanksgiving and early December. With that said, the most important part of the calendar below is in the bottom left corner: “Operating Hours Subject to Change.”

Walt Disney World has returned to its normal practice of releasing boilerplate hours “far” in advance before extending those based on attendance and hotel occupancy projections a couple of weeks before the dates.

This initial release serves as a minimum baseline for what the ultimate hours will end up being, with hours (usually) only extended and not reduced.

The inevitable extension for some of these dates is a double-edged sword. The downside is that every single time that Walt Disney World has increased hours, new Disney Park Pass inventory has also been released. As a case in point, we accurately “predicted” the latest hours extension yesterday before it happened because earlier in the morning reservations had been replenished.

Disney World Extends & Adds Park Hours in October & December 2020
By Tom Bricker News & Rumors 39 Comments


5Save

Walt Disney World has added hours to its calendar through December 19, 2020 for Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios, which includes even more extensions on weekends in October. In this post, we’ll share details, why it’s happening, offer predictions for Halloween, and strategy for which park to visit each day of the week.
Let’s begin with a brief recap of the recent park hours changes. This started with Walt Disney World dramatically cutting fall hours up until Halloween. That was an unpopular decision among fans, and didn’t make a ton of sense in terms of guest demographics, but was justified at the time by Walt Disney World’s low post-reopening numbers.
More recently, Walt Disney World Released Early December 2020 Park Hours, which tweaked that approach and gave two parks more nighttime hours (necessary since some Walt Disney World Christmas Entertainment requires darkness). That coupled with weekly extensions to park hours has resulted in a more sensible calendar in light of guest behavior and visitation patterns…

Turning to the latest park hours additions, we first have new hours for all parks. The calendar was previously posted through December 12, 2020–now times are posted through December 19, 2020.
The new dates reflect the same shift at EPCOT and extension at Magic Kingdom that were made for Thanksgiving and early December. With that said, the most important part of the calendar below is in the bottom left corner: “Operating Hours Subject to Change.”

Walt Disney World has returned to its normal practice of releasing boilerplate hours “far” in advance before extending those based on attendance and hotel occupancy projections a couple of weeks before the dates. This initial release serves as a minimum baseline for what the ultimate hours will end up being, with hours (usually) only extended and not reduced.
The inevitable extension for some of these dates is a double-edged sword. The downside is that every single time that Walt Disney World has increased hours, new Disney Park Pass inventory has also been released. As a case in point, we accurately “predicted” the latest hours extension yesterday before it happened because earlier in the morning reservations had been replenished.

Higher crowd levels for the dates that are extended are probably something a few of you planning trips want to hear. As we covered recently, the days of ‘ghost town’ post-reopening days are over: Wait Times Increased 40% at Walt Disney World Last Month.

However, the full story there is not as bad as the headline suggests. It’s also important to point out that wait time increases and higher crowd levels are relative to the record lows of July. In objective or historical terms, numbers are still low to moderate.

The upside is that with each passing week, more and more returns to Walt Disney World–restaurants, snack stands, stores, entertainment, and so on.

Last weekend, about a half-dozen counter service locations, bakeries, and snack spots reopened at EPCOT. Yesterday, two more Taste of Food & Wine Festival booths debuted. (Magic Kingdom could really use a few more snack spots.)

The next really big thing should be some stage shows. The standoff between Disney and the union representing equity performers in stage shows (and more) has ended. We’re getting to the point where crowds in Disney’s Hollywood Studios necessitate the return of some stage shows.

Already we have “For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration” returning this week to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Unfortunately, that’s not a “pure” addition as “The Disney Society Orchestra” at the Theater of the Stars will be retired over the weekend. Our hope is that Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (ideally) or Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage is next to return.

Anyway, Walt Disney World has once again extended park hours for weekends in October. This was previously done for this weekend as well as the Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day holiday weekend of October 9-12, 2020.

Now, the same is occurring for October 16-19, 2020. A few noteworthy things about what has (and has not) changed…

For that weekend, three of the four parks will push back their closing times. Magic Kingdom will now close at 8 pm instead of 6 pm. EPCOT will close at 9 pm, which is actually a two hour extension from the current 7 pm closing times. (Restoring a two hour cut.)

Animal Kingdom will open at 8 am from Friday through Sunday, which is an hour before its current 9 am opening. The park will also close at 6 pm, which is an hour later than weekdays right now. However, Disney’s Hollywood Studios will not have its closing extended to 8 pm, which is an interesting wrinkle here…

For this current weekend, Disney’s Hollywood Studios had its hours extended to 8 pm. However, neither the holiday weekend nor the following one have seen this same change. It’s possible this weekend is a “trial balloon” for adding an extra hour and increasing Disney Park Pass capacity, and subsequent weekends will be extended if that’s successful.

The reason it may not be successful is because it’s already rather difficult to score a Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding group at 10 am, and added hours plus higher attendance may create more problems with that. We’ll be closely monitoring this, as there’s really no explanation for DHS to have longer hours this weekend and not those thereafter, which will undoubtedly be busier at Walt Disney World as a whole.

Looking at the current Disney Park Pass inventory for Annual Passholders should give us a pretty good idea of where and for what dates the next park hours increases will occur. Unsurprisingly, weekends are the most in-demand dates.

While October 23-25, 2020 is the next logical park hours increase (probably mirroring that of the weekend before it–although Magic Kingdom could be open even later), we’re turning our sights on Halloween weekend.

Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of early demand for those dates. With some Central Florida communities rethinking trick or treating, many will want to visit Walt Disney World.

Magic Kingdom could easily justify releasing another batch of Disney Park Pass reservations and closing at 9 pm or even 10 pm that weekend. There’s still a ton of unsatisfied demand that extended hours could help meet. We’re anxiously awaiting those final hours, because that will set the tone and precedent for the Christmas season at Walt Disney World.

It’s likely that Walt Disney World will continue to extend weekend park hours beyond these dates for November and December 2020. The current crowd levels more than justify longer operating hours, and if Disney Park Pass inventory is any indication, this trend will not abate for the rest of the year.

If high crowds and longer waits are your top concern, we’ll reiterate our recommendation to avoid Walt Disney World on the weekends. These extended hours are attractive, but the cost is elevated crowds as compared to weekdays in 3 of the parks. Wait times are ~40% higher on weekends, so the increase in operating hours by 10-20% doesn’t offset that. Simply put, you can get more done in less time on weekdays.

If your visit encompasses a weekend, do Disney’s Hollywood Studios at least one of those days. Since DHS is hitting capacity or coming close to it on weekdays as well as weekends, there is almost no difference in crowds there among the days of the week. (To be clear, that means it feels busy there every day instead of just weekends like the other parks.)

EPCOT is the worst pick on weekends for the exact opposite reason. Our recent EPCOT Photo Report: Stay Away on Weekends flew under the radar, but that should be essential reading. It’s arguably the most important piece of advice for families visiting in the next few months (perhaps beyond).

As for the your other weekend choice, it’s sort of a toss-up between Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. We recently did the former on a Friday, and covered it in our Magic Kingdom Weekend Report: Beating Heavier Crowds & Higher Waits. That was a solid experience, with the best part being covered in Our Enjoyable Evening in Magic Kingdom. In fact, we had such a ‘tranquil twilight’ in Magic Kingdom last week that we returned again last night.

On the other hand, Animal Kingdom is attractive thanks to the 8 am opening time. Most locals–the primary demographic on weekends–are not going to get up that early, so you can still accomplish an efficient itinerary solely by virtue of arriving early–or even staying late.

 

[DebbieB]

Glad to see hours extended for November. Was just there last week, the early close was a pain, especially with no hopping.

 

[RaySharpton]

It seems like WDW is keeping the future park hours close to the vest within a few weeks.

If they do expand the hours for my dates, I may need to change some of my plans like fewer Disney Springs visits with late-night dining reservations that I may have to cancel and stay at the possible extended park hours for more nighttime Christmas experiences.

But really...no one knows what the future holds. But we can hope for the best.

I've finished my ADR's up to 12/14/2020

I reserved all of my park days a long time ago.

I'll have to wait to finish the rest of my dining reservations because of a split stay and the 60-day requirements.

I got most dining reservations.

I was disappointed at not having DHS availability for Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant and Hollywood & Vine for any of my days


So here my park hours.

I'll update them daily if I see any changes.

WDW Park hours as of 10/06/2020; 10/07/2020; 10/08/2020; 10/09/2020;

Nov 29 Sun -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-11-9;-------------AK-9-6; - Updated 10/9
Nov 30 Mon -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-11-9;----------------------- Updated 10/9
Dec. 01 Tue -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-12-9;----------------------- Updated 10/9
Dec. 02 Wed -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-12-9;----------------------- Updated 10/9
Dec. 03 Thu -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-12-9;----------------------- Updated 10/9
Dec. 04 Fri -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-11-9;-------------AK-8-6; - Updated 10/9
Dec. 05 Sat -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-11-9;-------------AK-8-6; - Updated 10/9
Dec. 06 Sun -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-11-9;-------------AK-8-6; - Updated 10/9
Dec. 07 Mon -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-12-9;----------------------- Updated 10/9
Dec. 08 Tue -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-12-9;----------------------- Updated 10/9
Dec. 09 Wed -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-12-9;----------------------- Updated 10/9
Dec. 10 Thu -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-11-9;-------------AK-8-6; - Updated 10/9
Dec. 11 Fri -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-11-9;-------------AK-8-6; - Updated 10/9
Dec. 12 Sat -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-11-9;-------------AK-8-6; - Updated 10/9
Dec. 13 Sun -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-11-9;----------------------- Updated 10/9
Dec. 14 Mon -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-12-9;----------------------- Updated 10/9
Dec. 15 Tue -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-12-9;----------------------- Updated 10/9
Dec. 16 Wed -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-12-9;----------------------- Updated 10/9
Dec. 17 Thu -
MK-9-7; EP-12-8; DHS-10-7; AK-9-5;
MK-9-8; EP-12-9;----------------------- Updated 10/9


.

 

[Pats Dragon]

Just checking our plans page and hours have been extended in all parks for Thanksgiving week I think.

 

[lynch34]

An increase in park hours might not be the best news ever if they increase capacity at a higher rate than the % of available hours.

 

[michellej47]

Just checking our plans page and hours have been extended in all parks for Thanksgiving week I think.

Not HS.

 

[RaySharpton]

New Columbus Day Weekend Hours:

• Magic Kingdom: 8:00am until 8:00pm (opening 1 hour earlier)
• EPCOT: 11:00am until 9:00pm (Park hours remained the same)
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 10:00am until 7:00pm (Park hours remains the same)
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 7:00am until 6:00pm (opening 1 hour earlier)

 

[Leigh L]

Hopefully this trend continues!

Less than 3 weeks for us, keeping fingers crossed. We've already seen some evening extensions for MK (would love a morning one too!), but not for AK or DHS on our days there for morning or evening.

 

[dzd]

I think Disney isn’t extending HS because they want to draw people to the other parks not make HS seem more attractive. I have to say, if they extended AK to 8pm on one of my days on our upcoming trip I would trade a HS day for it to see Pandora at night.

 

[MomOTwins]

I think Disney isn’t extending HS because they want to draw people to the other parks not make HS seem more attractive. I have to say, if they extended AK to 8pm on one of my days on our upcoming trip I would trade a HS day for it to see Pandora at night.

Exactly.

I am taking a but if a gamble and avoiding MK on days with extended hours. My theory is others will go for the extra hours days and it will be quieter on the 6pm close days—like how it used to be on party days before 4pm. Then again I know more hours thins out crowds over the course of the day, so maybe it is a mistake. Who knows.

 

[RaySharpton]

Exactly.

I am taking a but if a gamble and avoiding MK on days with extended hours. My theory is others will go for the extra hours days and it will be quieter on the 6pm close days—like how it used to be on party days before 4pm. Then again I know more hours thins out crowds over the course of the day, so maybe it is a mistake. Who knows.

I think you are correct.

But for me, I would like the extended nights to enjoy the Christmas lights.

 

[Leigh L]

Exactly.
I am taking a but if a gamble and avoiding MK on days with extended hours. My theory is others will go for the extra hours days and it will be quieter on the 6pm close days—like how it used to be on party days before 4pm. Then again I know more hours thins out crowds over the course of the day, so maybe it is a mistake. Who knows.

I think you are correct.

But for me, I would like the extended nights to enjoy the Christmas lights.

I think that might be a good strategy @MomOTwins. (We're doing AK on a 5 p.m. closing day.)

@RaySharpton I too am drawn in by the evenings though

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Hours for our Dec week were just posted last week, and they changed last night! 1 extra hour at MK and 1 extra hour at EP. Keep going, Mousey!