Attraction Lists for Early Entry & Extended Evening Hours at Disney World
Starting October 1, 2021 as part of The World’s Most Magical Celebration, guests staying in Walt Disney World resorts and other select hotels will be able to enjoy Early Entry and/or Extended Evening Hours. This post covers the ride rosters for mornings and nights, along with a reminder of how these perks will work, eligibility, etc.
Let’s start with Early Theme Park Entry. That allows on-site resort guests and those staying at select third party hotels to enjoy 30-minute access to any Walt Disney World theme park, every day before normal operating hours begin. This means that Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios will soon open daily to resort guests at 8:30 am, Animal Kingdom will open at 7:30 am, and Epcot will open at 9:30 am. (It should go without saying, but times subject to change with actual operating hours.)
If this gets confusing, Early Theme Park Entry is the more common option–all 4 theme parks every single day, and every single Disney-owned resort plus most of the on-site third party hotels, too. (See our List of Early Theme Park Entry Eligible Hotels at Walt Disney World for participating resorts for the morning pre-park opening perk.) Basically, this is an expansion of morning Extra Magic Hours, while also cutting its duration in half.
By contrast, Extended Evening Theme Park Hours has a smaller pool of eligibility and occurs less frequently. It’s exclusively for guests staying at Deluxe Resorts, Deluxe Villas (Disney Vacation Club units), or other select hotels (currently Swan & Dolphin and Shades of Green).
At present, Extended Evening Theme Park Hours occur starting on October 4 only two nights per week in total. Every Monday at Epcot from 10:00 PM to midnight and every Wednesday at Magic Kingdom from 9 pm until 11 pm. Guests staying at Value or Moderate Resorts are not eligible for Extended Evening Hours. (Again, those guests are eligible for Early Theme Park Entry.)
Anyway, here are the attraction lineups for each, starting with the morning hours…
Early Theme Park Entry Attractions List
Magic Kingdom
- “it’s a small world”
- Astro Orbiter
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Mad Tea Party
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- Space Mountain
- The Barnstormer
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
Epcot
- Beauty and The Beast Sing-Along
- Frozen Ever After
- Mission: SPACE
- Soarin’ Around the World
- Spaceship Earth
- Test Track
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Star Tours — The Adventures Continue
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Toy Story Mania!
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Avatar Flight of Passage
- DINOSAUR
- Expedition Everest — Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
- It’s Tough to be a Bug!
- Na’vi River Journey
- TriceraTop Spin
Note that attractions are subject to change and may not always be operational. To learn about any unplanned closures or long-term refurbishments, please view details about the attraction on the Walt Disney World website or My Disney Experience mobile app.
Valid theme park admission and MagicBand, Key to the World Card, or Disney MagicMobile pass is required. Guests without the Park Hopper Option or Park Hopper Plus Option must spend the day at the same park where they’d like to enjoy the Early Theme Park Entry benefit.
Not all Walt Disney World attractions are available during Early Theme Park Entry. Early Theme Park Entry schedule and available attractions are subject to change without notice. Applicable theme park, days and times of operation, attraction and service availability may vary and are subject to change without notice. Subject to capacity and cancellation.
Extended Evening Theme Park Hours Attractions List
Magic Kingdom
- “it’s a small world”
- Astro Orbiter
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- Country Bear Jamboree
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Haunted Mansion
- Mad Tea Party
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- Space Mountain
- Swiss Family Treehouse
- The Barnstormer
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
- Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
Epcot
- Beauty and The Beast Sing-Along
- Frozen Ever After
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
- Mission: SPACE
- Soarin’ Around the World
- Spaceship Earth
- Test Track
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
For Extended Evening Theme Park Hours, you’ll need a valid Resort ID, valid admission and a theme park reservation for the same park on the same day. Alternatively, an Annual Pass or ticket with the Park Hopper option, provided you entered the park where you made your reservation earlier in the day.
For those who never experienced Extra Magic Hours, day guests will likely still be able to roam Magic Kingdom and Epcot during Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. During Evening EMH, Cast Members scanned MagicBands or room keys at attraction entrances to validate eligibility to ride. That’s almost certainly how this will work, too.
As for commentary, not much. Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom are not participating in Extended Evening Theme Park Hours, but that’s not a huge surprise since neither were staples of Evening EMH in recent years. Personally, I’d be fine with Animal Kingdom being skipped. Not DHS, though—those rare Evening Extra Magic Hours nights (post-Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge) there were fantastic. The crowd situation during Evening EMH was always better at DHS. I’d also like to see the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover added to the Magic Kingdom ride roster.
Other than that, the attraction lists are about what we expected, with one exception. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along on the Extended Evening Theme Park Hours list. Thinking this might be accidental/early “confirmation” that Impressions de France is quietly being retired, I raced to its attraction page. Thankfully, showtimes are still listed for Impressions de France through mid-October 2021. I’m guessing someone made a mistake in putting together that list, copy & pasting from the morning lineup. My guess (and hope) is that this was an error, and Impressions de France will actually run during the evening hours.
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!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on the attraction lists? What do you think of Early Entry or Extended Evening Theme Park Hours? Looking forward to these perks, or disappointed about the eligibility rules or attraction lineups? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Just to clarify-I have to have a park reservation and start my day at Magic Kingdom, can park hop with a park hopper ticket after 2pm, then can return to MK for evening hours (we are staying at Bay Lake)? But you can only do evening hours if you start at that park and have a reservation at the park?
Will we know 60 days out to make reservations IF these days will continue to be the evening EMH for 2022?
Is there any information on how the evening hours will work once the Christmas season starts? We have a trip scheduled for the first full week of December but will be opting out of the after-hours Christmas event at MK due to price. We are staying at the Swan and so we will be eligible for the extended evening hours, but I can see how the Christmas event could conflict with the resort after hours times and I want to make sure I have my Park Pass reservations lined up properly.
Assuming all operational issues are worked through, it’s likely that Remy will be added to the attraction lists once it is open to the public.
The Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along is the key. WDW tends to open up all attractions in an area at once (Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Pandora, Dinoland, Toy Story Land, Galaxy Edge). While Epcot is a little different, as Soarin’ is the only attraction open at The Land, it’s also the most popular one.
Finally, there’s no way Disney is going to keep a Lightning Lane attraction closed, if it can be open and monetizing. If Remy doesn’t open to sell E-tickets, there’s some serious issues to be worked through. (I’m more curious whether Impressions gets two extra hours a day or regular hours get cut, myself.)
I agree with the comments about Remy not being included for evening. That seems like a big waste.
Do you think they will ever bring back the Early Morning Magic where you paid to ride the rides in fantasyland unlimited times for an hour and a half and have breakfast before the park official opens? Maybe yes since you do have to pay for it lol
Are the Epcot F&W kiosks open for the extended hours at night?
Thanks again Tom, I have never gone to EMH or Late Hours when restricted to hotel guests… how the heck do the CMs do this? I see you responded that hotel guests “may” have their own line in the morning… ok does the poor CM have to scan everyone’s magic band or phone to ensure that person is staying in one of the “allowed” hotels? and for EMHs, how do the poor cast members handle that?
@ Stephanie
Agree about Remy. What a waste to leave it empty during that time. Just as wasteful to leave HS and AK out of the Extra Deluxe hours mix.
So the evening Deluxe hours at MK, are starting at 9pm into the November dates. That seems early to be closing MK as we roll into Fall and the 50th. The entire resort has very high occupancy (based on low inventory available online). These were marketed as “extra hours” and not taking away from everyone else. A 9pm close just seems early. Maybe because it’s a Wednesday? Maybe Thursday / Friday / Saturday / will have longer hours for everyone? It really shouldn’t matter day of the week though. This is a destination resort. Not an after school hang out. If the occupancy justifies it, all parks should be open later.
Any thought on Remy being added to extra evening hours? So once all boarding groups are fine for the day, it will just sit idle during extra evenings instead of allowing standby? Seems silly but what do I know???
My question is this, they currently open the park an hour before the official opening to everyone. So this makes it harder for the hotel guests to get in and down main street to the rides by 8:30 right? Isn’t there usually a big group of people that block the entry to the lands, waiting for 9:00 to be let in? Will they start letting hotel guests in to the parks at 7:30?
If it works like morning EMH, there will be a pathway for on-site guests to bypass those off-site guests waiting for regular rope drop.
Why in the world are Pirates and Haunted Mansion not on the early entry list?
It’s only Tomorrowland and Fantasyland attractions.
Do you think they’ll continue the extended evening hours until December? Keeping it Mondays and Wednesdays at Epcot and MK? Thanks
I never in my life ever thought I would say this but I’m so disappointed with this new guy (Bob Chapek) and the entire mess he has created that I’m not going back. I have been DVC and Passholder. Occasionally I will stay in the value resorts when I run out of points and want to have some magic. Now there is no reason to go. Why should anyone go with the new policies they are implementing. I can see why Bob Iger left. He saw the handwriting on the wall. I am very upset. I won’t “See Ya Real Soon” because I am done. This is just the beginning of how to ruin a successful company. I won’t be around to see anymore of this.
Why only make the night extension for a select few hotels? That’s not fair. We always stay in moderate but extra time at night is a huge consideration.
I also liked having the one hour in the morning extra – you could smash out tgree most popular rides now with only thirty minutes you might get one and line for a second?
How will they split the resort guests from the no resort guests for the Early Entry? Will there be dedicated lines?
That’s possible; it’s also possible everyone will be allowed onto Main Street, but guests will have to scan MagicBands/tickets/room keys for access to Tomorrowland or Fantasyland. (Similar deal in the other parks.)
What do you make of splash mountain not being on either list? Do they think people don’t want to get wet that early or late or is the princess and frog makeover happening much earlier than expected? Did my eye just somehow pass over it?
I think it’s a coincidence. Big Thunder isn’t on the morning list, so that explains that. At night, perhaps the calculation is it’ll be too cold for there to be much demand?
I dunno, but I highly doubt Splash Mountain is closing anytime soon.
I know this is slightly off topic, but leading up to October 1st, how early do you suggest we show up to each park?
Right now? It doesn’t make a huge difference whether you arrive an hour or 10 minutes before park opening. Earlier will get you to the “front of the pack” (sometimes advantageous, sometimes not) but rope drop typically is not occurring early.
Thanks Tom! I wonder how long these extended and early morning hours will be in place….
Even though it’s being marketed as a 50th Anniversary offering, this is a permanent replacement for Extra Magic Hours. They could always change in scale, scope, frequency, eligibility, etc–but there’s no end date at this time.