Disney World News: Extended Evening Hours, Orange Bird 50th Statue, Muppets Haunted Mansion Preview

It’s time for another Walt Disney World news & rumor roundup. This one offers another sneak peek at Muppets Haunted Mansion, more Extended Evening Hours dates & times, an earlier Epcot opening time, runDisney medals, Orange Bird statue, and more.

While there’s a lot of hot off the presses Walt Disney World news, we’ll start with the latest release of new and extended operating hours, which just missed making the cut for our last update. All four theme parks have had hours for another week added to the DisneyWorld.com park hours calendar. The current calendar now runs through October 23, 2021. Here are the hours for most dates within the month of October:

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

*Magic Kingdom closes at 8:30 pm on Disney After Hours Boo Bash nights that are after September 5. That event runs from 9:30 pm to 12:30 am up until that date, and from 9 pm until midnight after that date.

Over at Epcot, park hours have now been extended for the entirety of October 2021, with 10 am opening times and 10 pm closings daily. This was an inevitability with both Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Harmonious debuting on October 1, as part of the World’s Most Magical Celebration. (See our Guide to Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary for more details.)

This is definitely a good start, and it makes sense that Walt Disney World would wait before further extensions given the current low crowd levels at Epcot, but attendance will almost certainly spike in October. Hopefully, Epcot’s opening time moves forward to 9 am once October draws nearer.

Next, we have more dates for the Extended Evening Theme Park Hours that will allow eligible guests to experience select attractions, shops, and dining after regular park hours–in select theme parks on select nights.

Current Schedule for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours*

The Extended Evening Theme Park Hours perk is available to guests staying at Deluxe Resorts, Deluxe Villas, Disney Vacation Club units, or other select hotels (as of now, that means Swan & Dolphin or Shades of Green).

Guests staying at Value Resorts or Moderate Resorts at Walt Disney World are not eligible for the Extended Evening Theme Park Hours.

As a reminder, this is different from Early Theme Park Entry. That perk allows ALL Walt Disney World resort guests regardless of tier and those staying at select third party hotels (that are also all on-site) to enjoy 30-minute early entry to any Walt Disney World theme park, every day before normal operating hours begin.

It’s a little confusing. Essentially, every morning is for everyone on-site, whereas the occasional evenings are for Deluxe & DVC Resort guests. (See our List of Early Theme Park Entry Eligible Hotels at Walt Disney World for more details and participating resorts for the morning pre-park opening perk.)

runDisney has released the finisher medals for the the 2021 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World. As you can see, there are designs featuring Evil Queen, Ursula, Oogie Boogie & Jack Skellington, and Yzma & Kronk from the Emperor’s New Groove.

The Wine & Dine Half Marathon occurs November 5-7, 2021–towards the start of the World’s Most Magical Celebration at a time when crowds are projected to be very high. Despite this and pent-up race demand, only the 5K and 10K are sold out. I’m personally a bit surprised, but I still wouldn’t read anything into this beyond runDisney demand being a bit softer than expected. (Registration for the 2022 Walt Disney World Marathon was also much smoother than I expected.)

As Halloween starts (checks notes) today in the Disney universe, we finally have another sneak peek at “Muppets Haunted Mansion” courtesy of Walt Disney Imagineering. It’s only two images, but as Muppets and Haunted Mansion fans desperate for any morsels of info we can get about the upcoming Disney+ Halloween special, we’ll take it!

The first photo features Gonzo the Great and Pepe the King Prawn in Haunted Mansion’s Corridor of Doors, appropriately dressed for the occasion. The second shot shows Kermit and Miss Piggy costumed as each other.

As a reminder, Muppets Haunted Mansion takes place on Halloween night, when Gonzo is challenged to spend a daring night in the most grim-grinning place on earth: the Haunted Mansion.

The special promises to feature a star-studded Muppets cast, with appearances from Fozzie Bear, Swedish Chef, Sam the Eagle, Statler and Waldorf, and other beloved characters created by the legendary Jim Henson, as well as all-new music, and celebrity cameos. Here’s hoping Eddie Murphy is one of the aforementioned celebrity cameos.

I’ve tried (unsuccessfully) to put Muppets Haunted Mansion out of mind, not wanting to get overly excited for something that might take a different direction in tone or storytelling that may not be to my tastes. With that said, I’m really hoping Muppets Haunted Mansion does justice to both the attraction and unique humor of the Muppets. Given that Imagineering is responsible for the best use of the Muppets in the last decade, I’m optimistic about this.

Nevertheless, I don’t want to get ahead of myself and further build up hype. Imagineering is far from infallible, the Muppets have been misused countless times in recent years, and the majority of Disney ride adaptations have been abysmal. So I’ll just cut off the commentary and try to contain my excitement for Muppets Haunted Mansion. (Also, still waiting on the “When Love is Gone” restored cut of the original Muppet Christmas Carol on Disney+.)

Finally, an update on the “Disney Fab 50 Character Collection” that will be featured across all four theme parks for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. Beginning October 1, fifty golden character sculptures will be on display during the World’s Most Magical Celebration.

It seems like Disney has been revealing one of these per day, which we’ve neglected to report on because…that seems mildly excessive? (Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited for the statues themselves and think it’s cool that Disney is doing the slow reveal on social media–you just don’t need a daily update here.)

In any case, Orange Bird is the latest Disney Fab 50 Character Collection statue to be revealed, and I just had to share that. Expect the same once Figment (and hopefully, DREAMFINDER!) is revealed.

For those who are curious, the other characters that have been announced to date include:

• Mickey Mouse
• Goofy
• Timon & Pumbaa
• Cogsworth and Lumiere
• Daisy Duck
• Donald Duck
• Winnie the Pooh and Piglet
• Edna Mode
• Dante
• Joe Gardner
• Cheshire Cat
• Bo Peep and Woody
• R2-D2

That’s a wrap on this Walt Disney World news roundup. However, stay tuned for more updates as it’s expected to be a big week. The first Disney After Hours Boo Bash is tonight, so we’ll have a full report on that tomorrow. Then there’s the Walt Disney Company’s Q3 earnings call on Thursday, which should shed some light on expectations for October through December. Who knows, they might also drop some info nuggets about the FastPass replacement, WDW Annual Passholder program, or Disney Dining Plan. Stay tuned!

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

Are you excited, cautiously optimistic, or pessimistic about Muppets Haunted Mansion? Will you be doing any of the 2021 Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend races? Surprised they didn’t all sell out in hours? Thoughts on Epcot’s earlier opening time? What do you think of Extended Evening Theme Park Hours? 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!