Magic Kingdom Closing at 4:30 on 5/3

[mousedroid]

There's a cast member appreciation event that night. If you have park hoppers it could be a good day to go, crowds will probably be fairly light due to the limited hours.

OK, thanks. Sorry I didn't see and post in this thread originally. Do you know if they'll still be doing fireworks at 9:00?

Never mind, I see earlier in this thread they likely won't do the fireworks that night.

 

[Cloudy]

I'm really struggling with whether or not to adapt our plans because of this.

Currently, we were going to do a late-start AK day on 5/3 because of being up late for EPCOT extended hours the night before. And then was going to do an MK day on 5/4.

But now I'm worried that MK on 5/4 is going to be level 10 crowd crazy town because of the early close on 5/3. I've heard anecdotal claims that crowds at MK on early closing days can be really low. So, considering should we switch our reservation to MK for 5/3 and plan to get up early that day also. Find something different to do on 5/4 (probably hop back to MK though for extended evening hours there).

Not sure what the best move here is! Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated - thanks.

My dates for our trip this year are May 1st thru May 4th. Only doing 2 park days. I have an autistic son so mornings are out for us. Level 10 crowds are out for us. Touring Plans is listing May 2nd and May 4th at MK to be Level 10 crowds with Level 2 crowds on May 3rd itself. Makes planning for my family easier as I have limited choices:

May 3rd Epcot and May 5th Magic Kingdom. Hoping for the best.

 

[georgina]

Disney hasn't made hours available for the 15th yet but WDWMagic says that will be the date for the rescheduled 2021 cast service celebration. They were right about the 3rd so they might also be right about the 15th.

Looks like they were right. Just saw the May 15th hours. We weren't planning MK that day so it doesn't affect us really. BUT - now I am thinking of changing my park reservation to MK that day, we can hop to Epcot for the evening.

 

[FredPinsocket]

Question regarding these 4:30pm closings: do they still allow guests to get in line up until the minute the park closes? Or do they start herding guests out of the park by closing lines before that 4:30 closure?

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

Question regarding these 4:30pm closings: do they still allow guests to get in line up until the minute the park closes? Or do they start herding guests out of the park by closing lines before that 4:30 closure?

You can get in line at 4:29 and still ride.

 

[dd316]

If it's anything like when I was there last month, MK is the perfect park to visit. I guess if enough people know about it they plan to not be there and it's not so crowded, or everybody splits early. I went by myself to the park through the gates at 4:00 and walked onto Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain, and waited only 10 minutes for Peter Pan. Had I planned my ride order a little better I probably could've walked onto Pooh as well since it's so close to Pan. I missed it by 2 minutes - they cut the queue at EXACTLY 4:30. But hey, 3 rides in 30 minutes including Peter Pan was a huge win!

 

[Sirenitas]

The 2nd and 4th still have tons of ADR availability. I checked both days, table for 4 and saw everything (except CRT) for several different times.

 

[Gearbm95]

I’m going to be at Disney for the day on 5/3, it looks like MK is closing at 4:30pm on that day.

Has anyone attended the park when there’s weird hours like this? Can’t tell if I should expect the park to be dead or insanely busy?

 

[Upatnoon]

I’m going to be at Disney for the day on 5/3, it looks like MK is closing at 4:30pm on that day.

Has anyone attended the park when there’s weird hours like this? Can’t tell if I should expect the park to be dead or insanely busy?

Many reports of lower crowd levels as people shun the park because of the shorter hours.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I’m going to be at Disney for the day on 5/3, it looks like MK is closing at 4:30pm on that day.

Has anyone attended the park when there’s weird hours like this? Can’t tell if I should expect the park to be dead or insanely busy?

I would keep it if it were me. In the past we went to MK on days it closed early for a party and it was great as the shorter hours meant less people chose to go so lines were shorter.

Have fun!

 

[lucas]

We'll be at MK on 5/3. Hoping for a less crowded park.

 

[EBM1228]

We may not be getting the low crowds we hoped for as there is no more availability on this day

 

[Upatnoon]

We may not be getting the low crowds we hoped for as there is no more availability on this day

I wouldn't fret too much.

With limited hours and the evening event planned, Disney is probably limiting capacity at the park to empty it faster and reduce the staff needed early on.

 

[mistysue]

I wouldn't fret too much.

With limited hours and the evening event planned, Disney is probably limiting capacity at the park to empty it faster and reduce the staff needed early on.

I so hope you are right! It's my brother, his wife, and their 2 daughter's first day of their first trip. We're really hoping to show them a good day. Good news is we know our way around enough and they haven't seen anything- so reverting to things like country bears, tiki room, carousel of progress, Tom Sawyer's Island, etc will still be exciting even if it's a tough day! (throw in balloons and bubble wands and they might not even notice crowds...)

 

[PolyAddict]

I literally just found out about the closure and wanted to do MK that night after DHS. It looks like we can still hop at 2. Any idea on if it’s like a normal closing time where you could be in line for ride right before 430? Trying to see what to expect.

Thanks

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

Can anyone that went on this date report back as to how the crowds were?

 

[EBM1228]

I found the crowds to be low. By afternoon you could get you next genie plus for a time fight away, even the big rides. We roped dropped and we’re able to do the following: barnstormer, dumbo, Ariel, tea cups, carousel, Peter Pan, seven dwarves (ILL) thunder mountain, splash mountain, Aladdin, space mountain, Tomorrowland speedway 2 times, watched the parade, calvalcade and friendship fairs. Mostly using genie plus except for the first 45 minutes of the day or so. We may have even done more than I don’t recall.

 

[EBM1228]

I found the crowds to be low. By afternoon you could get you next genie plus for a time fight away, even the big rides. We roped dropped and we’re able to do the following: barnstormer, dumbo, Ariel, tea cups, carousel, Peter Pan, seven dwarves (ILL) thunder mountain, splash mountain, Aladdin, space mountain, Tomorrowland speedway 2 times, watched the parade, calvalcade and friendship fairs. Mostly using genie plus except for the first 45 minutes of the day or so. We may have even done more than I don’t recall.

We also did buzz light year.

 

[planplanplan]

You can get in line at 4:29 and still ride.

That wasn't true on 5/3. They closed the lines for at least Jungle Cruise and 7DMT around 4 PM. Most other rides were walk ons and still open until 4:29 PM, but the rides with waits closed early.

 

[planplanplan]

Can anyone that went on this date report back as to how the crowds were?

Crowds were low with the major exception of Jungle Cruise. It seemed to have as long a wait as ever and ran out of LL quickly.

Leaving the park at 4:30 PM took a very long time. If you want to stay for the low waits at the end of the MK days give yourself a lot of time to hop to another park (like ~3 hours).