Where has the park hours gone?

[ArielSRL]

Well I know when we went back in October the app had the park hours etc. I'm just wondering why the have the MK closing at 9pm and the AK closing at 11pm on some of these summer dates. I'm hope like some of you said that the times will change etc but it's strange to see AK closing after MK

They just extended AK hours two weeks ago when they announced Rivers of Light and Pandora. I suppose they went ahead and extended due to rolling out the info on the show and because they released dining packages.

 

[ArielSRL]

the 15th-17th the month before is when they've been adjusting for about the last year.

however, don't expect midnight and 1am closes. Some days might but they like to have it get dark, do the night entertainment and close the park these days. they won't close without the dark for the night show but it may not be much past that it's opened.

This exactly. It was mid May when they posted the (mostly) final hours for June.

 

[ArielSRL]

Is this a pretty recent thing Disney has started doing? Not releasing actual hours until about a month out? Does anyone know why they started doing this?

There is specualtion that it has to do with Disney not wanting to make a final decision until they have a better idea on number of guests, since attendance numbers have been down somewhat. However, if you scroll up and read @HopperFan's reply, that is also plausible.

 

[HopperFan]

There is specualtion that it has to do with Disney not wanting to make a final decision until they have a better idea on number of guests, since attendance numbers have been down somewhat. However, if you scroll up and read @HopperFan's reply, that is also plausible.

They know what their occupancy levels are, and they know how many have prepurchased hopper on their tickets. The guessing part comes from offsite guests and yes, they were off last summer. But I think they have to also know that adding three attractions at AK, a new slide at TL, a new projection show at MK, adding some wanted characters like BB-8 .............. will help their attendance numbers.

They don't notify guests of hotel construction until they absolutely have to ... to prevent guests from moving to other resorts since they know that new bookings at the resort under construction will go down.

It would be a brilliant move, especially with increase in price for hoppers, to hold back hours until the point folks can't change FP+ or ADR, therefore they will add hoppers to make sure they can go to the night hours. Holding back hours until 30 days out is drastic compared to the tradition of 6 mos out with minimal changes. Hoppers are pure profit in the bank.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I do see that adjusting the hours 30 days or so in advance is the new pattern. It doesn't bother my plans a whole lot, but I understand that it is an aggravation for those doing late ADRs and such. I do hope to see a good run of nights on which MK is open until 11pm or later in the summer. That summer sun can wear you out, and evening hours help a lot -parade or no parade.

 

[MaC410]

Luckily we already have hopper tickets but it still stinks because we like to plan our days and dinners based on which park is open the latest each day.

 

[cinnderly]

We're going 8/26-9/2, and I'm one (of the few I guess) who isn't thrilled at the prospect of Halloween in August. Back to school time puts me in a sad mood, as well as the end of a vacation. The last time we were there was at the end of August and they were already starting to put up Halloween decorations in MK by the end of our trip. It was, ugh... Such a bummer. So I highly doubt I'd splurge for the festivities, meaning we won't do MK on our last night, which we always do. I'm happy for people who are happy about this, but I selfishly hope it isn't happening.

 

[Andy Clark]

They just extended AK hours two weeks ago when they announced Rivers of Light and Pandora. I suppose they went ahead and extended due to rolling out the info on the show and because they released dining packages.

You'd think they'd post correct park hours far enough in advance so you could make dinning & FP reservations accordingly.
This is the first I've ever noticed this issue since my disney experience has rolled out.

 

[Andy Clark]

We're going 8/26-9/2, and I'm one (of the few I guess) who isn't thrilled at the prospect of Halloween in August. Back to school time puts me in a sad mood, as well as the end of a vacation. The last time we were there was at the end of August and they were already starting to put up Halloween decorations in MK by the end of our trip. It was, ugh... Such a bummer. So I highly doubt I'd splurge for the festivities, meaning we won't do MK on our last night, which we always do. I'm happy for people who are happy about this, but I selfishly hope it isn't happening.

I agree, leave the fall / Halloween decorations out of August. It's still summer!

 

[Andy Clark]

I agree, leave the fall / Halloween decorations out of August. It's still summer!

Exactly! I feel like they're trying to hard and over stepping with some of these newer decisions

 

[thestevied]

So hour for November may not be fully accurate until October? Makes it challenging to plan restaurant reservations. Always love the planning aspect though, I enjoy the challenge!

 

[DaisyJ]

Having to book ADR with no longer having good hours to go by and booking FP+ before final hours release .... kinda makes the hopper addition more valuable. By time they change the hours too late to change plans so many will pay the extra pure profit money for hoppers.

That's why we don't hop. We pick one park and stick there for the day. I don't play Disney's game. ;-)

 

[thorphin]

So bizarre that with FP+, Disney requires you to plan everything out way more in advance than you used to, but then they don't set park hours until later, making planning so much more difficult.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Luckily we already have hopper tickets but it still stinks because we like to plan our days and dinners based on which park is open the latest each day.

This is what we do, too. Oh well.

 

[jo_de_vil]

The extending of the hours is such a big thing for me at the mo! I just want them to release Octobers park hours before my 180 day for ADRs, At this rate I will be doing ADRs blind!!! And don't get me started on the lack of Evening Magic Hours, 1 night at MK 1 night at EPCOT per week!!!

 

[McFlea]

We're going 8/26-9/2, and I'm one (of the few I guess) who isn't thrilled at the prospect of Halloween in August. Back to school time puts me in a sad mood, as well as the end of a vacation. The last time we were there was at the end of August and they were already starting to put up Halloween decorations in MK by the end of our trip. It was, ugh... Such a bummer. So I highly doubt I'd splurge for the festivities, meaning we won't do MK on our last night, which we always do. I'm happy for people who are happy about this, but I selfishly hope it isn't happening.

I agree, leave the fall / Halloween decorations out of August. It's still summer!

Exactly! I feel like they're trying to hard and over stepping with some of these newer decisions

I so agree with all of this. 8/25 is our last night and I'll be bummed if it's MNSSHP. I won't pay extra to attend the party, and will be disappointed our last night in MK will end at 7:00, but, oh well. If I purchase hoppers, we'll head to EPCOT until closing. My girls LOVE Halloween, but have already said they do not want to see any reflection of it in AUGUST. Just let us enjoy our SUMMER vacation!

Wow, that sounds very whiny, but really, if they start the parties that soon

 

[cinnderly]

I so agree with all of this. 8/25 is our last night and I'll be bummed if it's MNSSHP. I won't pay extra to attend the party, and will be disappointed our last night in MK will end at 7:00, but, oh well. If I purchase hoppers, we'll head to EPCOT until closing. My girls LOVE Halloween, but have already said they do not want to see any reflection of it in AUGUST. Just let us enjoy our SUMMER vacation!

Wow, that sounds very whiny, but really, if they start the parties that soon

I totally hear you! We will go to instead Epcot too, and that will definitely still be fun. But...