What The Heck Is Going On With Animal Kingdom Park Hours? (April UPDATE)
Recently, we’ve been hearing from readers trying to plan summer Walt Disney World vacations, who are concerned about the published hours for Animal Kingdom. Currently, the park has closing times as early as 6 p.m. on nights Rivers of Light will run. Judging by emails we’ve received, social media, and random comments on totally unrelated posts left on the Disney Parks Blog (I suspect the moderators of those comments are themselves getting frustrated), this is the single most-asked question right now when it comes to Walt Disney World trip planning for Summer 2016.
UPDATE: On April 5, 2016, the Disney Parks Blog has confirmed the rumors and supposition, and stated that Rivers of Light would not open on April 22, 2016. In so doing, they indicated that they would “share more information about timing on the Disney Parks Blog by mid- to late May.”
Note that this does not mean Rivers of Light will debut in May–it means they will provide a debut date in May. This means the likely debut will likely be in June, or even July. We’ll share more info and rumors as we hear them, but for now, the original post should give you an idea of what to expect from Animal Kingdom’s park hours once the show does debut….
If you assumed that the current hours for Animal Kingdom are incorrect…you are right. Animal Kingdom simply cannot close almost 2 hours before sunset after the Rivers of Light nighttime spectacular debuts. That wouldn’t allow for 1 showing of Rivers of Light per night, let alone the 2-3 showings that will be necessary to handle crowds. Closing hours of 6-8 p.m. for Animal Kingdom once Rivers of Light debuts fail the smell test.
Why Disney has not yet updated the park hours despite having announced an official debut date for Rivers of Light at this point is anyone’s guess. Maybe they’re trolling guests who they’ve otherwise conditioned to plan their days 6 months in advance? Maybe Joe Rohde still has to hike the Himalayas to consult a Buddhist monk as to what showtimes will create the most karma? Maybe there are internal operational concerns that need to be addressed?
While any of these is plausible, the last seems the most likely. Much of what follows is informed speculation on our part, based upon rumors, past precedent, and some information that has been released. For starters, if you’re visiting Walt Disney World once Rivers of Light debuts, you should expect Animal Kingdom to be open until at least 10 p.m.
Because it’s being shoe-horned into an existing area in as an organic of a way as possible, Rivers of Light will have the lowest per-show capacity of any nighttime spectacular at Walt Disney World. With a capacity of 5,000-6,500 guests per show and Animal Kingdom potentially receiving an upwards of 40,000 guests some days this summer, a single showing per night is simply not feasible.
Rather, expect official park closing hours to range from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. nightly, with scheduled nightly Rivers of Light showtimes of 8:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. being likely. A third showing at 10:45 or 11 p.m. is also possible, with the bigger question being whether Disney puts this show on the actual daily schedule at first, or “adds” it at the last minute each night to satiate demand and satisfy guests already in the park. This was the playbook that Disney California Adventure followed during World of Color’s original 2010 run (the 3rd showing wasn’t “official” until a month after World of Color’s debut), and in a lot of operational ways, Rivers of Light is more like World of Color than anything at Walt Disney World.
Following the World of Color game plan would allow FastPass+ scheduling for the first 2 shows, with the 3rd show available on a walk-up basis. Why not put all 3 on the schedule from the outset? There are a few reasons. First, given that Rivers of Light FastPass+ will be an incredibly hot ticket for the next couple of years, this third “bonus” (but not really) showing could increase the guest satisfaction rating of those shut-out of FastPass+ for the early showings who feel the “bonus” showing is being added in response to guest demand. Second, even if there were more nighttime options in Animal Kingdom, scheduling FastPass+ at 11 p.m. is a recipe for disaster, as many families who would get this FastPass+ will have kids who tire before then and will be forced to leave.
Finally, Disney might be uncertain whether 3 showings of Rivers of Light are actually necessary every night (again, a lot of those 30,000-40,000 guests will leave well before night, even with expanded nighttime offerings) as Disney has no way of knowing yet what the guest response will be to Animal Kingdom’s expanded operating hours. If guests are “done” with the park by 6 p.m., many aren’t sticking around another 5 hours just for a showing of Rivers of Light, no matter how badly they want to see it.
At this point, it’s quite possible that Disney hasn’t updated Animal Kingdom’s operating hours because they aren’t sure how to handle the 3rd Rivers of Light showtime, and whether to schedule an official park closing later than 10 p.m. Beyond this, there’s also the possibility that they want to space showtimes as closely as possible, and short “recycle times” between showings is proving operationally or technically challenging.
Again, treat the above as informed speculation. I’m not going off of any secret insider intel here, just surmising things based upon past precedent and info that has come out. Two things are for sure, though: there’s no way Animal Kingdom is closing at 6 p.m. once Rivers of Light starts (I’ll bet one-million dollars to anyone who thinks it is) and it’s pretty frustrating that Disney expects guests to plan their entire vacations months in advance, but doesn’t hold itself to the same scheduling standards.
There you go. That’s all the information I have. Now please, stop emailing me about this! 🙂
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help.
For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
For Walt Disney World news, tips, discount info, and free eBook downloads sign up for our free monthly newsletter.
If you enjoyed this post, we’d really appreciate it if you’d share it via social media to spread the word! We put a lot of work into making this site a helpful planning resource, and hope it’s useful to you. 🙂
Your Thoughts
Do you agree or disagree with our take on Rivers of Lights and the operational schedule? Have any insider intel to share? Do you plan on seeing Rivers of Light this summer? Need to vent your frustration about the lack of info from Disney on Animal Kingdom for the summer? Share any questions, tips, or additional thoughts you have in the comments!
So i’m wondering this for our August 31, 2017 visit. My personalized touring plan says the park will be closing early in the fall, and I was unable to book a Rivees of Light dining package. Do you think that they will have evening hours for fall 2017 just like they did in 2016?
Any update on this one? Park hours for AK haven’t been updated for October, they’re currently reflecting 7PM closing. Does anyone know anything about the night time hours as they currently stand or are expected? Thanks! P.S. Recently found your blog and LOVE it!
I am going to WDW in the fall and see that Animal Kingdoms hours are posted 9-5pm do you think that means that all of that shows and new nightly happenings was for summer or that they just have not released new fall hours yet? I would really disappointed to miss out on everything new at Animal Kingdom especially with all of the shortened nights at Magic Kingdom with MNSSHP going on.
The park hours will be updated and extended closer to fall. Animal Kingdom won’t be closing at 5 p.m.
Park hours are updated through September 2016. We are going in October so I called everyone from our DVC people to guest relations expressing my oh so believable, this is oooozing with sarcasm, disappointment on the lack of info.
They have said there is a 99.9% certainty the hours will continue through the year.
Hope that helps!
We are planning a trip to Disney World in July and I am noticing that ALL the park hours are shorter in July than they are at this time in May. Any thoughts as to why? I am hoping that they will be open later than stated!
Do you know if Tusker House will have extended dinner hours on the nights the park is open later?
Tom,
I’m looking at the hours in November 2016 for my upcoming trip and Animal Kingdom closes at 5PM. Do you think just like the hours are wrong for the summer, they may be extending those hours once they make an announcement on Rivers of Light?
Does anyone know if this is why there are such shorter hours for Magic Kingdom this summer? Kind of bummed they are closing earlier than Animal Kindgdom this summer. Or is there still hope MK will extend their summer hours?
Disney has been cutting back hours in general lately–while this may play a role in that (and Disney might provide it as justification), I think the actual reason for shorter Magic Kingdom hours go beyond this.
http://www.disneylists.com/2016/04/big-news-disney-announces-replacement-show-rivers-light/?%3Futm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=bp_junglebookshow
What do you think, Tom???
Wow! I’m anxious to see how this plays out. Animal Kingdom is one of one of our family’s favorite parks. I am hoping we will get to make a quick trip later this summer. Hopefully, the show will be up and running by then.
We are very excited about the park staying open later. As huge fans of Kilimanjaro Safari, we can’t wait to try the night version of the attraction.
Tom (or anyone who knows),
I’ve been out of the country on deployment until a few days ago, and tonight is my window for booking FastPass+ for the week of 6-11 June. When I log onto MDE tonight, for that week that we’re visiting, will I find Anna & Elsa still at Magic Kingdom or will they have moved into Epcot by that point? Trying to avoid wasting time looking in the wrong place for them. Thanks for any info!
Tom,
Thanks for sharing the info. As always you have such great info and insight. We are traveling to WDW at the end of June. This is the 1st time we have made the trip in back to back years. Last year we went in early June, before schools were out and we had issues making dining reservations and even getting the resort we wanted. This year we are traveling later in June and I was worried it would be even tougher to book, but it has not the case. I have been able to get the rooms we desire plus all the dining reservations (that also could be the result of Disney shutting down those third party booking sites). I wonder if all the uncertainty and construction are keeping families from making their plans this year. I’m not going to be totally naïve and think we will experience smaller crowds in late June but so far the ease in booking has me cautiously optimistic.
Thank you for revisiting this, Tom! Really appreciate the updates, especially considering Disney is still advertising the opening as April 22. I have been checking the MDE app many times each day hoping I can finalize my trip plans. Why do you think it is that they aren’t admitting that the show is being postponed?