Evening Extra Magic Hours Cut by an Hour

[GAN]

You are going this year??? The change goes into effect January 2013... The times for this year have not been altered... and probably won't be since the calenders have been released for some time now...

Yes... the changes go into effect in 2013, which is why they are reducing general Park Hours now and saying the changes go into place in 2013. So we'll reduce the Park closing by an hour and just tell them we are keeping the 3-hour EMH.....

[missastrocat]

You are going this year??? The change goes into effect January 2013... The times for this year have not been altered... and probably won't be since the calenders have been released for some time now...

I know it doesn't affect this trip but it will our future trips as we are night owls. Maybe the new fast pass system will be so efficient it will cut down queue times.

[mgmnut]

We take total advantage of that last dead hour of EMH. Last summer we were at MK until 3am on 2 nights of our trip. I don't think cutting the on site benefits is a very good idea, it makes you feel unappreciated as a resort guest.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Yes... the changes go into effect in 2013, which is why they are reducing general Park Hours now and saying the changes go into place in 2013. So we'll reduce the Park closing by an hour and just tell them we are keeping the 3-hour EMH.....

Ah ok, I see what you are saying... I didn't realize they had cut hours this summer and for the rest of the year... I honestly don't pay much attention to their operating calendar if I am not planning on being down there...

Thanks for that bit of info because it actually ads to more evidence of what I have been saying for a while... they cut cut cut while jacking up prices... So, you continue to get less for the high prices you pay...

[DizneyFreak2002]

I know it doesn't affect this trip but it will our future trips as we are night owls. Maybe the new fast pass system will be so efficient it will cut down queue times.

My mistake... I thought you meant this year... Sorry...

[DNS]

As someone else mentioned, park hours do seem to be getting shorter all the time as well. I noticed some days the MK is closing at 8:00 when we will be there, but no party going on. We always take advantage of the evening 3 hours, so I am very disappointed. It is a nice break to be there when there are less crowds. I am always amazed at the cuts they make while increasing prices, then offering free dining to get people in. Makes no sense to me.

[Gator]

As someone else mentioned, park hours do seem to be getting shorter all the time as well.

Actually, regular park hours are bit longer than they used to be. Back in 2004, I wanted to go to WDW during Jan, but the MK closed at 6pm!! So we went the first week of Feb instead. Not January hours at MK go to 7pm and somtimes 8pm. So they've actually grown a bit since I first started going.

As far as EMH go, I've only done it twice: once at MK and once at AK. Both times, when the last hour was going on, the parks were virtually empty. I liked that fact because we could walk onto any ride we wanted with virtually no wait. However, hitting EMH twice in 6 trips and nearly 50 days in the parks says I really don't care that much about it. So.....

[Jared]

It's another example of Disney taking the cheap route. There's no way around that. Still, I guess it's hard to blame them this time. By all accounts, the last hour of the really late Extra Magic Hours, especially at the Magic Kingdom, is completely dead. I imagine it wasn't worth staffing the park if nobody was in it.

I'm not saying this this is right. I'm just saying that I get it.

[clarkee]

I am very disappointed to hear about the change to EMH in the evening. We travel with four adults and two children. The daytime in the parks is all about the kids. As they are pretty young, they crash pretty early. Once the kids are asleep, two or three adults head back to the parks to ride all the big kid rides. The EMH allow us all to get what we want out of our vacation. It is a major perk of staying on property. I agree that losing services while paying more makes it more and more difficult to justify huge expenses despite our love of Disney!

[BugeyedMuggy]

No matter if you are there at the EMH it allows other guests to enjoy those time thus making the daytime hours more enjoyable for you. Just another reason we are debating buying into Disney or just continue renting the points from the people who have droped interest due to more cuts and increased prices.

[kakn7294]

While it's disappointing to hear that they're cutting back yet again, I do agree that the last hour is pretty quiet. The only night we took advantage on this recent trip, the MK was clearing out pretty quickly at the 2 hr mark. I fully understand why they would want to cut back to save money. If not that many people are in the parks, why pay all those employees?

[dnickels]

.. Back in 2004, I wanted to go to WDW during Jan, but the MK closed at 6pm!!...

Are you sure there wasn't some sort of weird circumstance there? If you look at when sunset was in January 2004, it ranged from 5:40 PM to 6:04 PM. Were they really shooting off the fireworks for Wishes just 20 minutes after sunset or even before sunset? I know Disney has been steadily increasing hours over the past few years but I can't imagine they ever closed MK at 6 unless there was some sort of special event going on. Also, if you look at the internet archive on Intercot using the wayback machine I see some 7 PM closings, but not 6 PM.

I wonder if weak bookings are leading to the cutting hours or if it's purely cost-cutting? In addition, Disney has tended to add hours when things get closer so it will be interesting to see if any of those closing times get pushed back by an hour or so when the actual dates in 2013 start to roll around.

[MinnieMommie]

This cut back in hrs should help with some of the transportation issues related to the cutting back of monorail hrs...I'm just saying

[joonyer]

Pay more, Get less. It's no different at Disney than in the rest of the world, so I'm not really surprised. But we are some of those few people who stay in the evening EMH parks until they run us out, and we really loved all the "walk-ons" on Space Mountain and other attractions in those last "deserted" hours. Too bad.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Pay more, Get less. It's no different at Disney than in the rest of the world, so I'm not really surprised. But we are some of those few people who stay in the evening EMH parks until they run us out, and we really loved all the "walk-ons" on Space Mountain and other attractions in those last "deserted" hours. Too bad.

There is another resort just a few miles down I-4 that is giving a lot more... Just sayin...

[joonyer]

There is another resort just a few miles down I-4 that is giving a lot more... Just sayin...

Yeah, we love going there too. I keep thinking Disney is going to have to do something really amazing to top some of Universal's new state of the art attractions, but so far, not yet.

[BrerSchultzy]

If the parks are so dead in that third EMH that you can just walk on any ride you want to, then how many people can this really effect? I'm not too upset by this change...in fact, I feel like this could be a really good thing. More time for maintenance and maybe a little extra money for hiring extra cast members in other areas. And yes, I fully expect a full-round of "But Disney isn't doing it for that, they're doing it to increase profits." If we don't see any improvement in the park over the next 5 years, then I'll jump on that bandwagon.

[TinkerbellT421]

I'm 'eh' on this change personally. Doesn't effect us too much. DBF and I were talking about it this morning. We are usually so exhausted by that time anyway that we are out and gone within the first hour of EMH if we even go to the park that has EMH. Last year we were at Epcot one night and after Illuminations we realized there were EMH and we were like Oh okay cool lol we didn't even know until we overheard someone talking about it, and even then we stayed about an extra half hour or so and then bailed. But I can see how some people will be upset if they plan on EMH during their trips.

[HackLaSalle]

There is another resort just a few miles down I-4 that is giving a lot more... Just sayin...

In terms of hours? UO closes everyday at 9 PM during July with no extra hours in the evening, Every park at WDW with the exception of AK is open to 9 PM or later and some open later than that for EMH

My guess is that they found out that the later it got the worse guest behavior got, the less time for maintenance which we've all complained about and that the parks weren't all that crowded at the time. And obviously it's a dollars and cents move. I personally don't like it but I can see the reasoning behind it.

[Aurora]

Are you sure there wasn't some sort of weird circumstance there? If you look at when sunset was in January 2004, it ranged from 5:40 PM to 6:04 PM. Were they really shooting off the fireworks for Wishes just 20 minutes after sunset or even before sunset? I know Disney has been steadily increasing hours over the past few years but I can't imagine they ever closed MK at 6 unless there was some sort of special event going on. Also, if you look at the internet archive on Intercot using the wayback machine I see some 7 PM closings, but not 6 PM.

I wonder if weak bookings are leading to the cutting hours or if it's purely cost-cutting? In addition, Disney has tended to add hours when things get closer so it will be interesting to see if any of those closing times get pushed back by an hour or so when the actual dates in 2013 start to roll around.

We went a few months after 9/11, In January 2002. The MK was closing during the week at 6 and 7 p.m. There were no EMH hours then, and the week we were there, there was no nighttime parade. Crowds then were much, much lower than they are now.

Re: the EMH change, I'm not really worked up about it. Park hours have fluctuated for at least the last 20 years. Evening extra magic hours are not all that old -- they used to have early entry in the mornings, but evening EMH hours only started about six or seven years ago. I still think of it as a nice perk, even if it's two hours instead of three.