Disney World Hours Added Through April 2021
Walt Disney World has added new hours through early April 2021 for Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios, while also extending hours for late January and February 2021. In this post, we’ll share the updated calendar, plus new commentary on best & worst days of the week for each park.
Let’s begin with the new hours that Walt Disney World has for all four theme parks, Disney Springs, and Blizzard Beach to the calendar on DisneyWorld.com. The calendar was previously posted through March 20, and now extends to April 3, 2021. Added hours are the same for all dates:
- Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 6 pm
- EPCOT: 11 am to 7 pm
- Hollywood Studios: 10 am to 7 pm
- Animal Kingdom: 9 am to 5 pm
- Blizzard Beach: 11 am to 6 pm
- Disney Springs: 10 am to 10 pm (11 pm on weekends)
Park Hopping times for those dates have also been added to the calendar. At this point, the start time for changing parks is still 2 pm across the board; as Walt Disney World previously indicated, that could move earlier as demand and attendance dictate.
When looking at these new hours, it’s important to understand that Walt Disney World has returned to its normal practice of releasing boilerplate hours before extending those based on attendance and hotel occupancy projections. This initial release serves as a minimum baseline for what the ultimate hours will end up being, with hours only extended and not reduced.
These initial “lorem ipsum” Walt Disney World park hours are a placeholder to give false satisfaction to guests who like to plan. They’re ultimately somewhat meaningless, serving as a minimum baseline for what the hours will end up being, with hours only extended and not reduced.
Hours for February 2021 will likely end up being longer, especially the long holiday weekend encompassing Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, and Mardi Gras.
That’s the one “red flag” on crowd calendars in the next few months, and it could end up being one of the busiest weeks of the year at Walt Disney World. Seriously–if you have flexibility in travel dates, we’d recommend avoiding that week at all costs.
Consult our January 2021 Crowd Calendar, February 2021 Crowd Calendar, and March 2021 Crowd Calendar for specific best and worst dates to visit Walt Disney World beyond that. As predicted in Will Crowds Keep Skyrocketing at Walt Disney World in 2021?, attendance is down for winter weekdays, a trend that is likely to hold true for the next few months.
Due to falling crowd levels thus far in January 2021, don’t be surprised to see fewer extensions for February and March 2021. Aside from the aforementioned week, this could be the last round of extensions for a bit…
On each of the last several Friday calendar updates, Walt Disney World has extended park hours for a weekend or two in the immediate future while releasing one week’s worth of new boilerplate hours. This has been pretty consistent for the last month or so, but makes vacation planning a tad difficult because it’s on such short notice.
Well, those hoping for a more comprehensive calendar update with extensions for more distant dates has gotten their wish this week! Here are the newly-expanded park hours…
Magic Kingdom
- January 18 & 30, 2021: 9 am to 8 pm
- January 23 & 31; February 5-6, 2021: 9 am to 9 pm
- February 1-4, 2021: 9 am to 7 pm
EPCOT
- January 24 to February 6, 2021: 11 am to 8 pm
Hollywood Studios
- January 24 to February 6, 2021: 9 am to 7 pm
Animal Kingdom
- January 24 to February 6, 2021: 8 am to 5 pm (6 pm closing January 24 & 30, 2021)
The easiest way to survey what has been extended for your travel dates is using the interactive monthly calendar on DisneyWorld.com.
Finally, our best and worst days to visit each of the Walt Disney World theme parks. As always, there’s a ton of fluidity to things right now. If you’re planning for April or May 2021, you’ll want to keep an eye on our Walt Disney World Park Reports, as the advice below may no longer be applicable by then.
Our top recommendation is to avoid Walt Disney World on the weekends. That’s unlikely to change any time soon. While hours can be longer on Saturdays and Sundays, the cost is elevated crowds as compared to weekdays. Wait times are 30% to 40% higher on weekends, which is not enough to offset the addition of a single operating hour.
If your visit includes a weekend, do Disney’s Hollywood Studios one of those days. DHS comes closer to hitting capacity every single day, meaning there’s less of a difference in attendance on weekdays v. weekends. With that said, January and February 2021 are unlikely to be like last November and December.
There is a difference now, just not as big of a difference as the other parks. With that said, it’s definitely easier to score a spot in the virtual queue for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance on weekdays. Note that “easier” is a relative term–boarding passes are still gone within seconds when the virtual queue opens at 7 am, so you need to be up early for that. Our comprehensive Ride Guide & FAQ for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance covers everything you need to know–including some “fast finger” strategy to increase your odds.
EPCOT is the worst pick on weekends for the exact opposite reason. It’s undoubtedly the biggest “local’s park” at Walt Disney World, and that’s doubly true during the off-season and special events. Right now, it’s both. Expect weekends to be busy for the duration of the 2021 Taste of EPCOT Festival of the Arts.
Mondays through Wednesdays are all equally good for EPCOT. We’ve noticed a slight uptick in crowds on Thursdays, and a more significant one on Fridays. Still, not nearly as bad as Saturday or Sunday.
As for the your other weekend choice, pick either Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom.
Magic Kingdom is a good pick Monday through Thursday, with Wednesday being the best day of the week there from an objective perspective. While we do like those longer hours on weekends, it’s not really worth it during the winter off-season when you’re only getting one extra hour but significantly heavier crowds.
Accordingly, our strong preference is Animal Kingdom on weekends. This is in part due to lower demand, but also thanks to the 8 am opening time.
Most locals—the primary demographic on weekends—are not going to get up that early, so you can still accomplish an efficient itinerary solely by virtue of arriving early—or even staying late.
Ultimately, Walt Disney World crowds are entirely manageable and should remain that way through at least mid-March 2021 if you properly strategize no matter which day of the week you visit. Midday wait times have been bad and lines are lengthy, but it’s possible to beat the crowds. Visiting exclusively on weekdays will be the best low crowds experience, even if it means shorter hours. How you order the parks Mondays through Thursdays matters less, but we’d recommend doing Magic Kingdom on Wednesday or Thursday and EPCOT earlier in the week, but that’s really it.
If you’re visiting Walt Disney World for a long weekend, do Magic Kingdom on Friday, Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Saturday, Animal Kingdom on Sunday, and EPCOT on Monday. In testing a variety of approaches, that’s the one with which we’ve been the happiest. At this point, the longer hours are not worth the higher crowd levels on weekends, especially with how long weekday crowd levels have been. Keep in mind, that’s our advice right now. Things keep changing, and so too could day of week strategy.
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
What are your thoughts about the latest Walt Disney World calendar changes? Happy to see hours extended for January and February 2021? Concerned that this means crowd forecasts are continuing to increase? Will you be visiting Walt Disney World before spring break or are you holding off until at least Summer 2021? Does this modified schedule influence your decision to visit or not? Do you agree or disagree with our advice and commentary? 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!
Coming w 4 adults and 3 grand kids
Thurs May 6, 2021 7pm arrival to Pop Century going to Downtown Disney (DS) for eve
Friday May 7 (Magic Kingdom)- bright and early
Saturday May 8 (Animal Kingdom)
-Questions, Is it possible they extend the hours for MK on Friday?
-On Saturday we considered changing to Park Hopper if they extend hours for Hollywood or Epcot. Otherwise a park hopper is a waste of money!
-Is it better to drive our rental and pay than waiting on the bus in these Covid times?
-Any projections on the wait times if the park hours are shorter as they are now scheduled?
Thank you in advance for any recommendations!
We just went to Disney and did a park hopper with 3 adults and a 15 year old. This was a big mistake, at least for us. We felt rushed and unable to really enjoy everything at each park. We also did not factor in technical difficulties with rides which happened twice. This was even during spring break with extended hours so I can’t imagine with the shorter hours how it would be.
We are now taking our daughter back to Magic Kingdom on April 30 so we can relax and enjoy our time there.
The lines were not bad at all and they were at max capacity. The longest we waited was 40 minutes and that was for Space Mountain. Hope this helps and you have a magical time!
lucky, hours are just extended through the 10th. I’m crossing my fingers they extend the 11th and 12th when I’ll be in town!!
Open the damn parks till late at night.
Thats why we scheduled.
By tht middle of April its time to get back to normal or we WILL NEVER COME BACK.
If Disney can operate during the day, why cant they leave the park open until later like normal..
We have been many times but will be OUR LAST TIME if they close before the night.
My guess is that they need a lot more CMs working in able to increase park hours. They are limited to the number of guests they are allowing into the parks, so they aren’t making any additional money to pay those additional CMs. Once they open up fully and allow normal park hopping, they might be able to bring back more CMs and extend hours.
I’m going down Easter week bc only time my kids have off. I’m so frustrated that the parks are closing so early 6 and 7pm. I’m used to pre-Covid when we stayed at the parks until 11:00. It is unfortunate we can’t experience Everest or walking around avatar at night. Do you think they will Extend the April hours? I don’t get it February hours right now are 10/11pm.
Fingers crossed that hours are somewhat extended come second weekend of June. We had to again cancel our Disney trip and decided to give WDW a go, a little nervous about the short hours though.
We just visited from January 10-15. This was probably our 12th time visiting and we really just wanted to experience low crowds and since we have seen all the shows, we were aware of what we would be missing due to closures. As it turned out it was one of the best trips ever! Here’s what we loved:
We were concerned about no Fast passes but in actuality it was exactly as Tom predicted. Without the fast pass line to stop the standby line , the lines never stopped moving and we walked right on almost every ride. (That means if the wait time was 20 minutes, it took 20 minutes to walk through the line).
We loved how considerate the crowds were and everyone stayed apart in line and followed the “please wait here “ line stickers.
But our favorite thing and major hack is getting in to the parks early. We rented a car and paid to park every day to avoid the buses and just to be on our own schedule. If the park opened at 9, we were at the parking gates an hour before and they usually opened them an hour before park opens. (Cars would just line up and sit there until they opened). Being the first in the gates we got great parking and not only did we walk right through security (after temperature check but NO bag checks), we walked right through the ticket gates and there was no rope drop areas that they were holding the crowds. The park was open and we went straight to the first ride that was also open! That means that this was almost 30-35 minutes before announced park opening and gave us a huge jump on the day!!!
Crowds were great and we rode Pandora twice on AK day, had two HS days and got Rise boarding passes both days (thanks to the adult kids)… boarding groups 25 and 6 and no breakdowns! WHAT A RIDE! We followed Tom’s 1-day MK itinerary and it was perfect but since we had 2 days in MK we basically did everything twice plus time to do lesser things like Country Bears and Tiki Room.
Again, we thought it was a great trip and it’ll be hard to go back to big crowds in the future!
Thanks for all your tips!
Hey Tom! We are heading down to check out the festival of arts on 2/4 and were gonna do AK on 2/5. Can you even enjoy the night time Pandora atmosphere with a closing time of 5:00? Assuming it’s not quite dark by then, is it?
It doesn’t get dark in SW Florida until about 6PM. If the park closes at 5, you won’t see the lights.
Fo you think the dining reservation reflects how busy Hollywood Studios will be? I noticed more availability by a lot in a Sunday vs Tuesday? Does Superbowl sunday tend to be quietier?
Hi Tom. We are going on Feb 6 to MK. Should I be worried that the park is staying open till 9 pm? Does that mean it predicts large crowds? We can change our park day to another day as we live close. Appreciate your advice!
They’ve been doing extended hours for all Saturdays lately. I wouldn’t necessarily be concerned, as even this past holiday weekend wasn’t busy by normal standards, but you’ll definitely be better off visiting Tuesday through Thursday instead of Saturday if you can make that change. If not, I wouldn’t worry too much.
We just got back from a week long trip Jan 9-15. Mon-Thurs was VERY quiet. We went to AK on Tues 1/12 and can you believe the wait time for FoP was hitting 20 minutes most of the day, and even hit 10 minutes midday? MK on Wed 1/13 was also relatively empty.
One area of caution: even with generally lower crowds the Skyliner can get quite backed up when EP closes, with the line going over the bridge and down along Beach Club. Avoid using it at park close on busier nights either by planning alternate transpo or leaving at a different time. It would help if MDE listed the Skyliner wait time so guests could adjust plans in park without walking extra miles to find out the End of the Line is an hour wait, and if you’re going all the way to Pop/AoA and still need to transfer at CBR… yikes.
Thanks, good to know!
We are scheduled to visit April 5-10. Any idea if that week will be terribly crowded? We’ve never been in spring, so we aren’t sure what to expect. Since the 5th is Easter I am afraid it will be packed. Also, when will/should Disney release hours for the parks for that week?
Thanks so much for your help!!
When will crowds be “gone” after that week in February? 2/21? We had great luck going 1/7 after New Years rush.
I am sure you are right. I assume as soon as the word is given to drop all the protocols it will be done the next day. And then I bet crowds will pick up soon after. I know they want to get people back to work and income flowing.
That was in Reply to another post. Ooops.
With Mardi Gras pretty much cancelled in Louisiana and other states, there might not be the mad rush for WDW around Feb 16 (Mardi Gras). Lots of families leave NOLA around Mardi Gras to avoid the crowds at home. But there won’t be any of those this year. The mayor has cancelled all the parades.
The flip side to that is there’s no Mardi Gras counter-programming to draw people to (or keep people in) NOLA. So the cancellation could depress or spike crowds. I’d personally bet on the latter, but I’m not super confident in that prediction.
Regardless, that’s a busy week even without Mardi Gras in the mix.
We like going during Mardi Gras time because the kids are out of school. All of our balls and parades were canceled so it’s an even better excuse to go do something fun and exciting this year!
We’re here now and it’s pretty awesome! Standing right next to DJ Rex in Oga’s. Crowds aren’t bad at all, even for MLKJ weekend.
Hi! I have read all your posts about avoiding the 2nd weekend in February at all costs but unfortunately for us that is our ONLY opportunity to go. We planned it super late (3 weeks ago) and we are going specifically for Galaxy’s Edge. We have reservations for the DHS on Friday and Saturday, reservations for lunches and dinners (not necessarily first choices but decent) in the park and for Droid & Light Saber studios. We completely understand the odds of getting a boarding pass for ROTR are extremely low but we are defiantly going to try – after all someone gets on, right? Oga’s cantina is the only thing that you can plan ahead that we wanted to do but couldn’t get into… is it worth checking back in the few days before we go? Are there any other tips/suggestions you have for us while navigating this apparent “nightmare” of a weekend?
Thanks for your help!
“Oga’s cantina is the only thing that you can plan ahead that we wanted to do but couldn’t get into… is it worth checking back in the few days before we go?”
Yes, I’d keep checking.
So long as you go in with realistic expectations and a good plan of attack (and your DHS approach is exactly that), you should still have a good time!
A whole slew of Cantina reservations JUST opened up tonight from 9am to 10am for dates through Feb 6th (ie when they have the hours extended at HWS). I’d bet they’ll do the same thing as the calendar progresses forward, so keep an eye out. Also, there’s a tool over at touringplans.com (not sure if it’s okay to plug another site but Tom has linked to them before) that allows you to track reservation openings. It’s in a sort of testing phase but it’s given me a few notifs so far (though it didn’t say anything for this drop tonight). Best of luck and keep checking!
Thank you both! Maggie – how did you find out about the newly released reservations? is there a particular day or time of day that is best to check? I have just been checking randomly.
Candice – For me it was just luck, checking at the exact right time. It was just after midnight Eastern time when they came out, and all the times that opened at the Cantina were from 9-10am. I did finally get a notif from the tool at touringplans.com at 4:30am that day and there were still some available, so that is an option…or just refresh dining any time you get a spare moment. Looking at 9am or for ‘Lunch’ will be your best bet.
What will late July, early August worst days be? Best days?
Too early to reliably predict, 2021 is not a good year for advance planning.
Randy and Jared both have good info, but if there’s a crystal ball, I bet it’d show a lot of the parades, fireworks and shows still won’t be happening in the fall/winter 2021. Mask wearing may still be required even. The chances of contracting covid on vacation will be lower, if you haven’t gotten the vaccine by then, but I’m not sure WDW is going to be able to bring everything everyone loves back quickly.
That being said,if you think you’d rather be able to enjoy the 50th anniversary celebration, then definitely wait for the fall. Otherwise, go this spring and plan for another trip in 2022 spring or fall as well, then you’ll get the best of both worlds. The low covid crowds as well as the beginning of post covid WDW 🙂
Good idea. Maybe a short trip this fall and a big one next year. Looking on the bright side, at least a person can say ….years down the road…..”we went to DW when all that was going on during its 50th anniversary “. Kind of historical study so to speak.
We will be there 1/23-1/31. I heard a rumor that Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure may be opening any day. If that happens, would it effect your recommendations at all? We’re staying at the Boardwalk, and I’m hoping that will make getting on the ride ahead of the crowd at park opening easier, if it is indeed open.
The any day would be pure speculation. Yes, they’ve removed some barriers to the land, but there’s no announcements from Disney, so the chances it happens soon are low.
However,if it does open, going on a weekday will still be your best bet. Staying at the boardwalk to eliminate travel will certainly put you at the front of the line, along with the rest of the guests at those resorts, since you’ll have the shortest distance to France.
Question…We are from central (ish) Indiana and are really having Disney withdrawal. In your opinion, would it be better to visit this early Spring or wait until later this year? Crowds don’t bother us much , but are a bit bothered by the fact things are still closed. Financial and travel logistics only allow for 1 trip annually. Also, will be staying offsite and wondering if Portillos is open yet because my husband could happily live off that menu.
Based on what you’ve said, I would recommend waiting. If crowds don’t bother you but the closures do, there is at least a chance more things will be open later in the year. If you go in the spring I would be prepared to deal with the same closures that are going on right now.
Portillo’s, which will be located at The Village at O-Town West, announced Monday it will have a grand opening on March 2 at 10:30 a.m. My opinion: The only foreseeable difference between spring and fall will be crowds. Unless there is another new “wave” in the fall it will be more crowded. Restrictions such as hours, masks, closed restaurants and no parades or fireworks will be very similar.
Thanks for all the replies. I am afraid Randy is correct about everything being similar, but hope springs eternal. If nothing much changes I may even save and have a longer trip in 22. We are really hoping they drop all the mask/distancing stuff by late fall /early winter. But probably a pipe dream.
Obviously things could change, but Disney intends upon debuting Harmonious this year. I haven’t heard any credible rumors beyond “2021” but I’d personally be surprised if more entertainment and some nighttime spectaculars aren’t back by fall.
I think people underestimate how much Disney–not just guests–wants to restore normalcy and higher attendance levels as soon as possible.
Same here, suffering serious withdrawal, and only go once a year. But, you gotta grit your teeth and power through, because unless Disney gets all the stuff back, you are just going to suffer the lack. It’s not a vacation, it’s a character-building boot camp. Save the money for future trips, even if doing 2 trips in a year after things return to normal. It beats the current “pay more for less” situation. You have to ask if some restaurant might open? Who knows? It might open and then close when you get there. Things are so unstable right now. If you live next to WDW like Tom, it doesn’t hurt to swing by there, but from far away, it really isn’t worth it. Even money isn’t an issue, imagine being in Disney World without fireworks, without parades, without this, without that. Is some restaurant open? Is some hotel open? Is some service still there? Can it be anymore depressing?