Will Disney World park hours cause any shifts in touring and attraction wait times?
Disney World has recently decided to change its park hours. Will these changes impact your park experiences? Let us find out!
Everything you should know
After a brief hiatus triggered by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Walt Disney World reopened in July. Initially, all theme parks in the Walt Disney World Resort (consisting of Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom) saw reduced attendance. As a result, the Disney World park hours were shortened for September and October. However, Disney World hours are again being scaled back. The new hours will be valid through January 2, 2021.
First off, let us know what the new Disney World hours are:
- Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 7 pm
- EPCOT: 12 pm to 8 pm
- Hollywood Studios: 10 am to 7 pm
- Animal Kingdom: 9 am to 5 pm
When should I visit?
For now, Disney World park hours have been extended only on weekdays and holidays. Keeping this in mind, we would not recommend you to go there these days, as more extended hours naturally translate to higher attendance. 2021 is all the more likely to see one of the biggest influxes of visitors as Disney would celebrate its 50th anniversary.
In case you find yourself at Disney World on the weekend, make sure to be as quick as possible to book your spot in the virtual queues. If Rise of the Resistance is a must for you, we prefer booking Disney Hollywood Studios for both Saturday and Sunday. If you get a chance to ride on the first day, then you can easily swap your second Disney Park Pass reservation to any other park of your choice (doing vice-versa is much harder.)
EPCOT, especially, is witnessing an unusual spike. Mondays to Wednesdays are better in terms of attendance, which is a stark contrast to Saturdays and Sundays when EPCOT is jam-packed.
You can still manage to beat the crowds in Animal Kingdom on weekends. Magic Kingdom, on the other hand, is decently crowded from Monday to Thursday.
Exciting upcoming changes
- Many new movies and shows will debut at EPCOT, including “Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along,” “Awesome Planet,” and the new Circle-Vision 360 film.
- The new Space 220 restaurant, with its simulated views of the earth by day and night, will let you eat in space. It will literally be an out-of-the-world
- Wonders of Life would replace the Play Pavilion. It will be “phase one” of the EPCOT reimagining.
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, a hybrid roller coaster, will be the most awaited addition to EPCOT.
- Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure will also be added to the French Pavilion. It will be a Ratatouille trackless dark ride.
- In Magic Kingdom, the TRON roller coaster will be added to Tomorrowland.
Our advice
Regardless of the park hours, you will always see a good amount of people at Disney World. However, the crowd is relatively less in January and February, after the preceding marathon weekends. To get a satisfactory experience, all you can do is plan. We would recommend arriving there early, taking a break at lunchtime, and preparing for an eventful evening.
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