Park hours feeling like a moving target

[mistysue]

Anyone else getting a little irritated by Disney making nearly last minute changes, after we have to set plans in stone for them 2+ months out?

I want to pick my dates, line up some dining, then relax a bit. Instead during what is usually a totally boring time they have added a CM party, put in a bunch of previews messing with availability/crowd levels and keep moving the opening and closing times a couple weeks out. I try to coordinate shorter park days with earlier next mornings, and they've made it impossible to have even a basic outline anymore. At 58 days out I tried to see if I could swap my park days and I couldn't get new ADRs, locking us in. I feel like this is a cross between a vacation and some twisted torture experiment. (I know, everyone says we could do counter service but we have a history of them not being able to handle our allergies, so no ADR=no food)

To top it off, who the heck is deciding to have 8AM openings with early on site access 45 minutes before? Nobody wants to NEED to get on a bus at 6:30 AM to have a reasonably ok touring morning. If they are going to set us up like this, the least they could do is open the breakfast places so people can get food before a bunch of exhausted hungry zombies are clamoring for first place to board the bus. I'm looking at times to get an idea, and with allergies we can't even ORDER until 7:30 AM, which is after we have to be at transportation. I want them to take my food money so I don't have to deal with all this crap plus cook for my family during the whole trip. This setup is really testing my limits.

Thank you for coming to my venting session. I do feel better saying something. I know we don't have to go, but once this whole planning thing is over we've always been happy to be there.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

Not really, since most of the time they are adding hours anyway

 

[PalmettoPath]

We feel your frustration. I'm not a fan of much of this new approach either when it comes to the inability to plan the way you could in the past (longer windows for many things). The park hours don't faze me as much, moreso the changes around pre-planning. Will see how it ebbs and flows and changes going forward.

 

[mistysue]

Not really, since most of the time they are adding hours anyway

Mornings getting early really throws me off. I couldn't pinpoint why until I started trying to figure out breakfast; I feel off the whole day if I don't eat real food in the morning.

 

[Chiasgirl]

Mornings getting early really throws me off. I couldn't pinpoint why until I started trying to figure out breakfast; I feel off the whole day if I don't eat real food in the morning.

I’m not sure what allergies your family has to deal with but ours has two people with wheat allergies. My son has a really rough morning if we don’t get food into him early. That makes all of us have a rough morning!
We have had success traveling with some basics like Kind bars. You can also grab fruit at the food court the night before and keep it in your fridge until the next morning. We find this actually works better for our family as we can eat while waiting in line to get into the park or for rope drop.

 

[mistysue]

I’m not sure what allergies your family has to deal with but ours has two people with wheat allergies. My son has a really rough morning if we don’t get food into him early. That makes all of us have a rough morning!
We have had success traveling with some basics like Kind bars. You can also grab fruit at the food court the night before and keep it in your fridge until the next morning. We find this actually works better for our family as we can eat while waiting in line to get into the park or for rope drop.

My kids food issues make everything travel a pain in the butt- at this point I can't have wheat/dairy, I have a son with a long list (including OAS issues so raw fruit is out) and another with extreme sensory limitations so he has a list of about 15 items total he eats without vomiting. (brand specific, flavor specific, etc) Magically the mickey allergy waffles work for all of us. In the past we've actually stocked up at the start of a trip but I don't think there's going to be a day to do that this year.
I just want to complain about it right now. Vacation is literally the only time all year I don't have to make 2-4 different meals three times a day because we have nowhere locally that can feed more than half of us. I need that moment of recharge to not burn out. I carry a bag of backup food all the time as it is, but we have a low number of portable foods and it's happier when people aren't eating the same thing every few hours.

 

[sponica]

Park hours were always in a state of flux before Covid, it's just that the changes are happening so much closer to real time than before.

My kids may be up at the crack of dawn (630 is sleeping in) they also wake up super hangry. I have mixed feelings about my PPO Tusker House being a post park opening. We're still keeping it, as it has characters, but part of me was hoping to use the reservation to avoid getting a lightning lane.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Disney has changed their hours, sometimes as late as the day of, since Disney started. So really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has read this board. To non planners yes. But if you are here, you are planning and it's well established that park hours are written in pencil until they close on a given day. Do a search on the subject, see how far back the dates on said subject go

 

[godfather927]

The biggest difference from before is how the park hours impact Genie+ planning. The late day availability is impacted by closing time, and the 2 hour rule is predicated on the opening time.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

Mornings getting early really throws me off. I couldn't pinpoint why until I started trying to figure out breakfast; I feel off the whole day if I don't eat real food in the morning.

That's understandable. It can certainly throw you off. But you don't have to show up that early for any additional hours. Just maintain whatever plans you had originally and get a little more rest. Nothing changes for you

 

[ICEMAN3205]

I am annoyed as well. While changing times may not be new, its even more of a challenge now. I am going in two weeks and planned my park dates to line up with EEH. Now for Wed. at MK that went from 9-11, to 11-1am. I have 4 kids under 11 and that 2 hour change is big, especially when we planned to do HS the next morning which now opens an hour earlier too (if they are adjusting hours they should all be in the morning or all at night). And now its too late to change ADRs and most of the days dont have theme park availability so I can't change my park days around.

 

[georgina]

I realize it can throw off plans when hours change, especially with younger kids, but as an adult I am happy when hours are added on either end of the day. The hours for the last week of April are much better than the week of May 15 when I will be there and I hope they change. (AK 7:30-8:30 in April, 9:00-7:00 in May!; Epcot 8:30 opening in April, 10:00 in May)

I remember when they added extra early hours when SDD opened, I have a photo of sunrise from the main street in HS in August 2018 time stamped 6:35 AM. Loved it.

 

[gharter]

It only feels like a moving target because it is.
They have done this for years, making last minute changes.

 

[gharter]

Now for Wed. at MK that went from 9-11, to 11-1am.

We had that happen to us last week. As AK was the next morning (EE at 7:30), that meant the EEH hours at MK were out for us.

 

[soniam]

I think the moving times, especially opening earlier, works better with G+/ILL than it did with FP+. If you had already booked your FP+, and then the parked opened earlier, it limited what you could get for your 4th FP+. However, if they were opening the park earlier, it was probably crowded, and a 4th or more FP+ was unlikely anyway. People don't always know about a park opening earlier or don't want to get up earlier, so sometimes it's not as busy at rope drop as it would have been. You think WDW is bad, you should look at Disneyland or Universal Orlando. They release times very late. Just have to go with the flow I guess. Since there are no pre-park opening meals now, that's not an issue with earlier times either. Heck, there's hardly any breakfast period in the parks.

 

[Kingoglow]

It sounds like you are not a morning person. That's fine if you are not. You don't have to participate in Early Morning Hours. You don't have to start your day side by side with the rest of us. You can eat your 'real food' (not sure what that means) and enter the parks on your schedule and still enjoy your day. If you choose to purchase Genie+, you can use the stacking strategy to your advantage and try to book your times a bit later in the day. Make your own magic.

I do not begrudge Cast Members getting their time at the parks. I will also be at WDW during that time and it did impact my plans, but I just moved my park reservations and made a new plan. CM deserve anything they can get.

I hope you can turn your emotions around and still enjoy your trip.

 

[Jmljasmine]

It only feels like a moving target because it is.
They have done this for years, making last minute changes.

But without park reservations, it was easier to change last minute with them.

 

[IndyToThere]

I'm not a morning person and have not/ will never Rope Drop. For myself, getting a full night's sleep and a bite to eat & coffee is way more important than getting an extra ride in during the morning. Do what makes you and your family comfortable first, THEN hit the parks. For some, they jump out of bed early and skip right over to the parks. Others like to eat breakfast. Some like to get some pool time in first, then head over. Just because the Parks open at an early time doesn't mean you have to be in line as well. The attractions and lines will be there whenever you arrive. Take time to take care of yourself.

We were fortunate enough to enjoy a savannah view room at AKL on a trip this past Oct. Instead of waking up early, I took the time to make coffee and sit on the balcony watching the animals before heading out. I didn't make it into the parks until 10am or so each day during our week. Honestly, it was one of my favorite moments of that trip and had way more 'magic' then standing in another 60+min line in the Florida heat.

 

[MainMom]

I guess I read these boards enough and have been here long enough to know to plan for worst case scenario. I expect AK to open at 7am even though that’s not what my hours say yet. I expect deluxe EEH to be 11-1. If none of this happens then we will just get more sleep.

 

[bobcat]

Disney has always changed park hours so I use them as a guide until the week of. Yes park reservations make it more rigid, and even though I'm an uber planner this just rubs me the wrong way, at least now you have early entry at all parks for resort guests instead of different days for different parks.

If having a later arrival and real food for breakfast is that important you will make yourself and your family miserable trying to do early entry. Missing a little park time is ok if it makes you have a good trip. Besides Disney hangry is on a whole other level!