Disney World News: 2022 Marathon, Dining, Single Rider & Rope Drop Return

We’re back with another weekend Walt Disney World news roundup. This one covers progress in the return to normalcy on several fronts–Single Rider lines, more restaurants reopening, normal rope drop, and the 2022 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend (maybe).

As always, we’ll start with an update on new hours. All four theme parks have had hours for another week added to the DisneyWorld.com park hours calendar. These hours encompass the week of August 29 through September 4, 2021. As with the previous couple weeks, this set of dates is typically off-season. However, the new hours are identical to the previous weeks of summer season:

• Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 9 pm
• EPCOT: 11 am to 9 pm
• Hollywood Studios: 9 am to 7 pm
• Animal Kingdom: 8 am to 6 pm
• Blizzard Beach: 11 am to 6 pm
• Disney Springs: 10 am to 11 pm (11:30 pm on Fridays & Saturdays)

Keep in mind that Walt Disney World’s normal practice is to release boilerplate hours before extending those based on attendance and hotel occupancy projections. These are placeholder or “lorem ipsum” Walt Disney World hours—the minimum operating hours for those dates. With that said, it’s entirely possible that late August and early September will be the “calm before the storm,” and these hours will be close to final…

As a reminder, Walt Disney World announced the return of fireworks this week (that post has been updated with an FAQ, in case you missed it). Accordingly, Magic Kingdom park hours have shifted to 9 am until 11 pm for July 1-10, 2021 (park hours are currently 8 am until 9 pm, so this is a net gain of one hour). For the remainder of July, the park will close at 10 pm.

On the schedule that’s been released thus far, Happily Ever After will start at 9:15 pm and Epcot Forever will start at 10 pm. Expect that schedule to change in August to accommodate Disney After Hours Boo Bash and the slightly earlier sunset time. As a reminder, all guests will be able to see Magic Kingdom’s fireworks on Disney After Hours Boo Bash nights. This includes both normal day guests and those who only purchased the special event tickets.

Those hoping to see Happily Ever After or Epcot Forever when those fireworks return next month should keep an eye on Disney Park Pass reservations. There have been a few small refills in availability over the course of the last week, and right now, Magic Kingdom is the only park that’s consistently unavailable.

We are expecting another significant Disney Park Pass refill in the coming week. Wait times have actually been trending down in the last several days as rides have been operating at improved efficiency, and this is despite Walt Disney World entering the peak of its summer season. There are other reasons Disney might hold back on increasing the attendance cap, but at least some of those will be resolved by the beginning of July.

Next, Single Rider lines are starting to return to Walt Disney World! Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith at Disney’s Hollywood Studios plus Test Track at Epcot are now utilizing their Single Rider lines at various times throughout the day. As always, Single Rider lines are not always available–it can depend upon standby wait times and other factors.

We are huge advocates of the Single Rider line, as it can cut wait times dramatically for those who are willing to separate from their parties. (It can also create headaches as some Walt Disney World guests abuse the lines, play dumb, and demand to be seated together.)

Single Rider is also beneficial for those who do not use it. For example, after the initial novelty of having a cockpit to yourself on Smugglers Run wears off, you’ll likely discover that the ride experience is much better with a full crew, thanks to the collective energy of the experience. Single Rider also increases attraction efficiency, which means shorter wait times for everyone. (Single Rider is still not back at Disneyland, and we’ve seen a lot of cars dispatched with 4 riders instead of 6 at Radiator Springs Racers.)

As with everything in the return to normalcy, this is a gradual process at Walt Disney World. More attractions will almost certainly follow suit in restoring their Single Rider lines, as the DisneyWorld.com website no longer lists Single Rider as a temporarily unavailable experience on its Attractions & Entertainment update page. Squeaking of which, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure will have a Single Rider line!

In more restaurant reopening news, Maya Grill will be reopening next week. The table service restaurant at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort is located in El Centro, next to El Mercado de Coronado, the resort’s quick service dining location. Maya Grill will reopen on June 24 at 5 pm.

Over at Epcot, the Mexico pavilion’s La Cava del Tequila has reopened its dining room today, so you can actually sit down and enjoy a margarita or tequila flight. Even though La Cava has been serving to-go drinks for months, this is still a positive development and good news for this fan-favorite venue. Now, here’s hoping we get Casey’s Corner back soon. (Seriously, Magic Kingdom cannot have fireworks without frankfurters. There ought to be a law against it!)

One bit of normalcy we could’ve done without returning is the normal pre-closure rope drop experience at Walt Disney World. As a reminder, normal rope drop means guests are allowed to enter the parks early, but held near the entrances until being allowed to proceed to their first attraction of the day. There is no set time for any of this, but rope drop usually happens around 30 minutes before published park opening time.

For the year or so after reopening, guests have pretty much been able to proceed to their destination upon entering the park. (We recently wrote about our experience in Rocky Rope Drop at Magic Kingdom.) This began changing a couple of weeks ago, with Epcot bringing back its normal rope drop procedure. Now, Disney’s Hollywood Studios has followed suit, holding guests at the end of Hollywood Boulevard before allowing them to proceed. We’d expect Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom to revert to their normal practices any day now.

In yet another sign of more normalcy returning, the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic will occur on October 29 and 30, 2021. This outdoor festival features unlimited food tastings from the resort’s culinary team, plus wine, beer, and other drinks from around the world.

An annual tradition since 2010, the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic makes its return to the fall after a one-year hiatus. Set outside between the two Crescent Lake resorts, which are only a short walk from Epcot’s World Showcase, the event features live music, 20+ food stations, 100 beverage selections, and themed areas, such as the beer garden and the bubble lounge.

Finally, something to file under rumor, leak, or error as another large scale event is preparing to return (maybe?). RunDisney posted–and quickly deleted–a teaser page for the 2022 Walt Disney World Marathon, but not before the runDisney community captured screenshots. If true, the event will be held from “Thursday, January 6, 2022 at 10 am to Wednesday, January 12, 2022.” Registration would begin on Tuesday, July 20, 2022 at 10 am EST.

The problem is that the event start time and dates don’t exactly make sense, unless Walt Disney World is adding an extra event or two. There’s been ample speculation that’s the case, as it would help spread out runners at the notoriously crowded races. I’m skeptical this is the plan.

To me, it seems more likely this was just an early placeholder not meant for public consumption, with inaccurate dates transposed from somewhere else while the page was being created. Personally, I don’t see Disney running duplicate events unless projections show that they can fill double the number of normal slots. (In other words, if they do this, it would not be to add spacing or reduce the number of runners per event. That makes each less profitable.)

With that said, I fully expect the 2022 Walt Disney World Marathon to happen, live and in person. My only slight concerns that it won’t revolve around ongoing staffing woes and the necessary lead-time for such a colossal event. Another minor worry is that the company may simply view it as “unnecessary” and more of a hassle than it’s worth with Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary kicking off only a few months earlier. If the virtual events sold well and the in-person races are less profitable–and not needed to boost hotel occupancy in early 2022–Walt Disney World might just hold off a bit longer. That’s not what I expect to happen, but it’s certainly a possibility.

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 do you think of this latest roundup of Walt Disney World news & rumors? Excited for Single Rider to be back? Predictions about the 2022 Walt Disney World Marathon’s return? Looking forward to dining at Maya Grill or La Cava del Tequila? Optimistic Casey’s Corner and other closed restaurants will return next month? Feedback or opinions on anything else covered here? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? 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!