Early Entry & Extended Evening Hours Coming to Disney World
Walt Disney World has announced more details about the replacement for Extra Magic Hours, which will be offered both in the morning and evening at every park–Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom–daily. In this post, we share more details. Plus, commentary about the “pay to play” nature of the extended hours, recent rope drops, and what’s still unknown. (Updated July 8, 2021.)
Just in time for the start of the 50th Anniversary celebration, on October 1, Walt Disney World will be rolling out a new early theme park entry benefit for on-site guests (meaning Disney-owned resorts plus some third party ones like Swan & Dolphin, Shades of Green, etc.) giving them the first chance to enjoy select attractions at every theme park, every day. Guests will need a valid ticket or pass and a theme park reservation for the same park on the same date for early theme park entry.
In addition, guests staying at Deluxe or Deluxe Villa Resorts at Walt Disney World will also be able to enjoy extended evening hours on select nights in select theme parks. Extended evening hours will begin in early October 2021. Further specifics, including dates and parks will be shared at a later time…
For the extended evening hours, guests will also need valid park entry and a reservation for the same park on the same day to experience extended evening hours. Alternatively, guests may Park Hop for extended evening hours so long as they entered their first park where they made their reservation earlier in the day.
During both of these extended park hours options, select attractions, merchandise, and food and beverage locations will be available. Eligible guests will need to bring a MagicBand, Disney MagicMobile pass, or Key to the World card linked to the hotel stay, or another form of Resort ID.
Back at the hotels, the “Caravanning ‘Round The World” RV will continue to roll around during Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. This is a nice touch, and we’re totally on board with the ways Walt Disney World has found to infuse characters into the experience, despite the lack of meet & greets and regular character meals.
During the World’s Most Magical Celebration, characters will be dressed in their EARidescent best and dropping by to visit with guests at Walt Disney World Resort hotels. Sounds nice!
In one final tidbit before we get to the commentary, Walt Disney World gave a non-update update on the Disney Dining Plan: “While we’re not quite ready to share an update on timing, we are planning to bring this guest-favorite option back at a later date. We will also continue to reopen more Resort offerings, including restaurants like ‘Ohana (with the noodles!).”
This is undoubtedly because it’s among the top 2 most asked questions by guests, right after when will FastPass+ return? It should come as absolutely no surprise whatsoever that the Disney Dining Plan will be coming back, and as soon as possible. As we explain in When Will the Disney Dining Plan Return?, it’s a cash cow for Disney that is only temporarily suspended out of necessity. What’s “interesting” is that no such reassurances were given about the fate of FastPass. 😉
As for commentary, my main thought is that this is all super vague. Honestly, this feels more like a “hey, we haven’t forgot about this, it’s still coming! Please keep booking resort stays.” reminder than anything else.
Based on Disney’s verbiage, I’m not even totally confident that morning early theme park entry begins on October 1, 2021. That seems to be the implication, but there’s enough ambiguity and it’s possible they’re simply reiterating that’s when the 50th Anniversary starts. Personally, I think having a little bit of a buffer between launching theme park early entry and the onslaught of the World’s Most Magical Celebration makes sense, but that’s just me.
In addition to whether theme park early entry will start on October 1, there’s the question of duration. In the first reveal of this program, it was stated to be 30 minutes at every park, every day. This “details” post glossed over that important detail. Perhaps it’s an oversight, but in an announcement that’s 75% fluff, it seems like that would’ve merited inclusion as something substantive.
My hope here is that there’s still internal debate over how long early entry should be, and the potential for it to be expanded from 30 minutes to an hour. That seems inconsistent with the direction Walt Disney World is taking things right now, so we can probably file that under naive wishful thinking on my part.
Recently, rope drop has returned to “normal” at all four Walt Disney World theme parks. In the process, it has become something of a de facto early entry, but for everyone who is able to arrive in time for it. (I’m guessing it’s mostly on-site guests given the challenges of driving, parking, and entering on time.)
If our preliminary “restored” rope drop experiences are any indication, early theme park entry will not be particularly valuable. I’m still not totally sure what the deal is, but in our (admittedly limited) visits thus far, it has felt like we would’ve been better off sleeping in, arriving late, and staying late. We plan on making some more visits before jumping to any conclusions, though.
On a random note, I think it’s odd that they’re dropping the Extra Magic Hours moniker. The names for these future offerings are more descriptive than anything, and the lack of capitalization (which was present in the original announcement) suggests these are not even proper names.
I’m guessing no one reading this cares, but it’s fascinating to me. Walt Disney World is usually so good with branding, and Extra Magic Hours is a beloved offering. Tweaking the details while retaining the Extra Magic Hours name would’ve made sense. Dropping the EMH branding and replacing it with a descriptive name is surprising. (I feel the same way about FastPass, which I suspect will return with a different name, too.)
This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion, but I’m fine with extended evening hours being limited to only guests staying in Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts. I’m going to assume this includes guests staying in Disney Vacation Club units, as those are technically Deluxe Villas. The positive impact it would have on DVC sales if included and the negative impact if not included makes that a no-brainer.
July 8, 2021 Update: Disney Vacation Club has confirmed exactly this in their latest Membership Magic email: “Members and Guests staying at a Disney Vacation Club Resort or Disney Deluxe Resort hotel will exclusively be able to enjoy extended evening hours on select nights in select theme parks providing more time to enjoy the Magic. Extended evening hours will begin in early October with specific dates and parks to be shared at a later time, so please be sure to check back on DisneyWorld.com for the latest.”
While bookings at most resorts are through the roof right now, numbers at the Deluxes have lagged behind Values and Moderates for years. That will likely be true once again once pent-up demand fizzles and the first few months of the World’s Most Magical Celebration play out.
I’m not convinced that someone otherwise considering Caribbean Beach will upgrade to the Poly now because of this–I think pricing is the core issue there and the return of discounts like Free Dining are more or less necessary to prop up the Deluxes–but it’s worth trying out. Walt Disney World can tweak this down the road or expand eligibility as necessary.
From a practical perspective, limiting the pool of guests eligible for nighttime extended hours is necessary to make it a worthwhile benefit for anyone. Evening Extra Magic Hours were a nightmare in their last few years due to the larger pool of eligible guests.
As a result of Walt Disney World expanding and building new resorts and adding to the list of participating on-site hotels, crowds had become pretty bad. It got to the point that not only did we recommend avoiding Evening EMH, but also the park hosting that hour during the day. As it turns out, people are more likely to be night owls than early risers on vacation!
The core problem here is the gradual reduction of park hours. This was becoming a pronounced issue pre-closure, and we actually had a post in draft form comparing park hours to a decade earlier. In the last couple years, there have been days when the Magic Kingdom was open for 4-5 fewer hours, despite millions more guests per year visiting the park.
This undoubtedly contributed to crowding in more recent years during Evening Extra Magic Hours, and it will likely lead to more frustration about the extended evening hours reserved only for Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resort guests. It was one thing for Walt Disney World to reduce park hours last year post-reopening due to low crowd levels. However, with attendance projections for October and beyond sky-high, regular fall and holiday season hours should be extended significantly.
If regular operating hours were longer and allowed guests to have a satisfying day even without extended hours, I think the perk would be less controversial. In such a scenario, since it will operate on a more sporadic schedule (like EMH), it’ll be easy to plan around.
Early entry, by contrast, will occur daily and off-site guests won’t be able to plan around it. Nevertheless, I see that as less of a source of frustration since it’s shorter, fewer people rope drop, and most of those who are serious about the morning efficiency stay on-site.
As Annual Passholders who make most of our park visits without accompanying hotel stays, neither of these perks bother me. Personally, I think better benefits for on-site guests is fair, and more for the higher resort tiers is likewise reasonable. Don’t be surprised if the eventual replacement for FastPass and the included access it entails for resort guests works the same way. Every on-site guest gets something, but perhaps Deluxes receive more than Values. (Conversely, it’s ridiculous when the Deluxe Resorts have shared bus service.)
I love several of the Value and Moderate Resorts and we stay in them regularly, but Walt Disney World’s approach here strikes me as reasonable. As someone who wants there to be actual on-site advantages, instead of the illusory ones, I’m cautiously optimistic about this news. While some people might lament this as “pay to play” or elitist, my response would be–that’s the nature of on-site perks. It has always been that way, and just like Deluxe Resorts are a luxury some can’t afford, so too is staying on-site in a Value Resort…or even visiting Walt Disney World, period. It’s all relative. Exclusive perks are something everyone wants, until they’re the one being excluded.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of this news of early theme park entry and extended evening hours at Walt Disney World? Excited for these on-site perks? Disappointed the nighttime bonus time will only be for Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resort guests? Hoping for an announcement on the Disney Dining Plan in the near future? Planning on going to Walt Disney World this summer, or holding off until the start of the 50th Anniversary celebration? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
New thought about the evening non-Extra non-Magic hour:
It comes included with your Deluxe stay but Value and Moderate guests can choose to add it on, for some $$ amount, for length of stay.
I feel like we may see a move regarding fast passes similar to how Universal does their express passes. Higher tier resorts have it included, lower tier guests and off site guest can add it on as a separate fee. It works for Universal, I’m honestly surprised Disney hasn’t gone this route yet.
Hi Tom, I’m new to the blog and have never been to WDW before. I’m a single mum and will be travelling with my 4 year old daughter. We have already had to change dates twice. When I booked my stay I was told I would be getting the magic express, extended hours, free magic band etc. I’ll be honest this was my sole reason for paying the extra money to stay on site. Now these benefits aren’t there I don’t see the point of staying on site. What am I getting in return for that extra cost compared to off site? Maybe there are other things I’m unaware of as like I say I’ve never been before which is what I would like to know really. At the moment I feel like I’ve paid a lot more than I should of for my holiday now as all my perks have gone.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Leaving out value and moderate hotel guests for extended evening hours is so not right!!!
This is a genius move by Disney to increase Deluxe resort bookings and DVC sales. I miss the days of staying at Magic Kingdom until 2 am as a “regular” EMH guest on a random weekend in April. However, we have aged a bit the past decade and added a child to the mix…. and therefore our desire to stay so late at the parks has waned.
Tom, No one likes having things taken away. Prior to this, all park guests could enjoy EMH evening hours. There really is no extra perk being given to the deluxe resort guests, instead they are taking it away from value/moderate resort guests.
Perks for deluxe resorts should be hotel related. We all pay the same ticket prices for the parks.
Sure, they are trying to fill their deluxe resorts. But, in doing it this way, they may be
turning their value/moderate resort guests to off site hotels since the value on staying on site is rapidly going away.
The main question for the extra night hours would be if everyone staying at a DVC resort will be admitted or only cash guests and blue card owners?
They have just raised the minimum purchase for the benefits to 150, so it would make sense to admit on blue card owners. But the logistics of checking the card while in the park may prove difficult.
Much obliged for the advice! Thank you!
Thanks for the thorough reporting!
I cannot tell a lie: I’m kind of ticked off at this news, particularly given that we have a visit planned in August, and we’re increasingly getting the message that Disney doesn’t give a rat’s (or a mouse’s) behind about any of the guests visiting before October 1. No new attractions, no new restaurants, no Epcot monorail — in fact, no monorail at all (we’re booked at the Polynesian), no regular hotel housekeeping, and no touring-related perks of any kind for onsite guests. The recent news that the Polynesian monorail station wouldn’t be ready on time already had us looking to change to a moderate resort: this latest kick in the teeth has me wanting to shift to an offsite hotel purely for spite.
Tom, if you don’t mind my asking for some individualized advice, is rope drop arrival still enough of a touring priority, and does an onsite stay still provide a slight advantage for rope drop arrivals, such that it’s preferable to stay onsite from a touring perspective for a mid-late August visit? Or are we in just as good a position (or nearly so) to tour efficiently if we stay at Swan/Dolphin, or even at an offsite hotel with a rental car? Our cancellation deadline is approaching and I’m beginning to second-guess everything. 😉
If I were visiting in August and had to choose between Swan/Dolphin and Polynesian, I’d pick the Swan/Dolphin. There, you’re within walking distance of two parks and walking or Skyliner distance of several good dining options. If the Epcot monorail were open, it might be a different story, but you probably won’t have the answer to that before your cancellation deadline.
With that said, rope dropping Magic Kingdom is still better than rope dropping DHS/Epcot, but I’ll take two over one any day. Your mileage may vary.
Thanks Tom…..I agree with the Skyliner comment even though i didn’t get to ride it because it crashed as we were about to get on it in April (i mssg’d you that day)…..Skyliner only accesses 3 of the 11 eligible resorts as of right now and I can definitely see a premium for those 3 vs the others in its category for that “perk”
Correct, just like how it works for MMNSSHP and the Christmas party
I think it makes sense to increase benefits as resort tiers go up. It’s just this specific benefit I take issue with. They’re throwing a measly 30 minutes to onsite guests (plus the third party hotels, making that a huge group), which means next to nothing. So that takes away any perk of staying at a value or moderate resort. I get that they want to incentivize deluxe stays, but $250 a night at CBR vs $600 at GF means paying more than double per night for what, like an hour of exclusive low crowds? I don’t think that’s going to be the boost Disney seems to think it will be.
Also, the whole point in staying onsite for a theme park vacation is to enjoy the parks. So limiting the time other on-site guests get in the parks to accommodate the deluxe guests doesn’t make sense to me. I think it makes more sense to offer other benefits of increasing value as the tiers go up, as they should, without cutting off park access from other on-site guests. Universals AP tiers are awesome for adding benefits the more you pay, so Disney could do the same here.
And what makes universal’s free express pass seem more reasonable is that there is still an option to pay for express pass without staying at the most expensive resorts. They limit the number of passes sold, so it actually means something.
So that would be my fix. Give deluxe guests free evening hours, and allow the other on-site guests the opportunity to add on (pay for) access daily a la the express pass. Put a limit on the number of passes less than the number of on-site guests so it actually sells out and is a benefit (although isn’t part of their thinking in doing early entry at all four parks is that it will spread out the crowd anyway?). Then deluxe actually means something because they get this perk included as part of paying more for their hotel, and they get it each night of their stay. As a usual moderate resort guest, I would personally probably buy the added hours once or twice on a weeklong trip. Maybe if they really wanted to go by tiers, moderate guests would have access to buy an evening hour pass earlier than value guests.
“I don’t think that’s going to be the boost Disney seems to think it will be.”
I agree with that. My suspicion is that once more details are announced, there will be less outrage because it’s not as great as what people are imagining. Then once initial reports of the extended time come back, no one cares as it’s not particularly advantageous.
As for what you’re describing with Express Pass…I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how the ride reservation system shakes out. The complicating factor with Walt Disney World is that there are so many more hotel rooms than Universal. There’s no way Disney will provide unlimited access to anyone, no matter what they pay or what resort tier they stay.
With evening extra hours, how to they ensure that the “correct” people are staying in the park? Do they check your magic band (or whatever you used to enter the park) before you go on a ride and direct you the exit the park if you’re not staying at a resort?
Yeah, they’ll scan MagicBands or room keys at attraction entrances. Same thing happened with Evening EMH.
Its not that they are upset at what the deluxe are getting, its what the AP holders and moderate and value resort guests are NO LONGER getting for the same (or higher) price….
1) No more Magical Express
2) no more Extra Magic Hours
3) no more free Magic Bands
4) no more free parking at resorts
5) transportation is mostly busses which are very inefficient
6) Likely no more advanced FP booking with new paid FP coming
AP holders lose rope drop and cannot stay late
All valid points, and I’m sure the totality of that will push tourists off-site or towards Universal hotels, which now offer better perks and a superior value proposition. (The only one with which I’d disagree is transportation–the Skyliner is Walt Disney World’s most efficient form of transportation, and it services two Values and a Moderate.)
I don’t think it’ll change the calculus for APs. The only thing they lose is rope drop, and how many local or off-site APs cared about that to begin with?
As you’re well aware, on-site perks are not even a remotely new thing.
Every high-end hotel in the world has amenities and perks reserved only for their guests. Most are not attached to theme parks, so they’re unrelated to that, but it’s not like this is a novel concept. Trying to equate perks to shady pricing practices is disingenuous.
As to Tom’s comment above-Sure there are perks for staying at high end hotels in any given city. However, the budget traveler isn’t told the city is closed for him at 9pm. He can
still wander around and enjoy it. If I decide to stay at the local Motel 6 in Orlando rather than the Waldorf, I can still wander the city at will.
The extended evening time isn’t going to be everywhere, every night–they’re likely going to be akin to Evening EMH, which meant 1 night per week for each park. So everyone else will still have full access every other night, and can plan around what extended evenings.
Honestly, some of “late night hours for Deluxe guests only” might still be due to COVID staffing shortage. Less guests in the park late night requires less staff than if they extend to all on-site guests. And there may be another crowd-control strategy at play here: more free times for guests to book restaurants at Deluxe resorts. If I stay at AKL, I’d want to book Sanaa or Jiko for a meal at some point. If I get extra night time hours at the park though, I’m more likely to book those for lunch or very early dinner–leaving more reasonable dinner slots for other guests. Disney tracks the flow of guests pretty closely through the app/Magicbands, so it would be interesting to see how this plays out.
This also has the potential to thin the rope drop crowd as well. As Tom mentioned, rope drop already favors on-site guests. If Deluxe guests decide evening hours are a better deal, they are more likely to forgo rope drop.
According to Touring Plans, there are 36,780 resort area rooms (including Swan & Dolphin and Disney Springs hotels). About 27% (9830) of those are Deluxe/DVC resort rooms (not including Shades of Green; not sure what Disney is going to do with that one). So there’s the potential for a quarter less people going for rope drop. Keep in mind though, that generally speaking Deluxe resort rooms include 1, 2 and three bedroom villas–meaning a deluxe room, in some cases, can fit nearly twice the number of guests if needed. Also, with the previously announced early entry for on-site guests only, we’ll see another (though likely less impactful) reduction in the rope drop crowd–as an off site guest, is rope drop going to be worth it if thousands of people are are already inside the park before you arrive?
So on the surface, I can see why this all seems a little unfair. But I’m interested to see if, by potentially reducing the rope drop crowd by 20-30% and giving Deluxe resort guests exclusive evening access, crowd control/wait times may be better for all resort guests. The only people at a real disadvantage are off site guests.
Some of these outcomes are possible, but I don’t think the motivations is anything beyond increasing occupancy at Deluxe Resorts.
I also think the easiest fix for most crowd problems is increasing normal operating hours. That’s arguably a problem right now due to staffing, but there was no such staffing issue in early March 2020 when the same issue existed. Hopefully regular hours are longer by October 2021, otherwise these crowding woes will be exacerbated.
In the beginning, way back in the 70s, all were equal in the eyes of of WDW. That was one reason my parents liked it. We could barely afford to stay at a motel near the Orlando naval station, and we were still treated just as well and had all the perks that someone who stayed on property. We weren’t second-class citizens.
Disney has over time, added perks to staying on property. They have every right to do so, but at least it was the same park privileges regardless of what level of Disney resort at which you stayed.
Now deluxe resorts get special privileges that other resorts don’t. This makes perfect sense from a business standpoint, but it is another way Walt Disney World has become less attractive to me. So much so, that I doubt I will ever stay on property again. I can get much nicer accommodations for less money offsite, and the perks of being staying on-property no longer seem worth it to me.
I still look at WDW through the lens of a four-eyed skinny six-year old who came home every day from school crying because of bullying. I still remember Donald Duck taking my hand and skipping with me. It made me feel so special. My mother even says it brought tears to her eyes to see me so happy.
Fifty-year old me understands this decision to treat Deluxe guests more special. Six-year old me, however, feels like Disney is putting me down because I’m not wearing the nicest shoes.
Very well said, and respect your balanced rational v. emotional perspective.
Even if I don’t disagree with this decision in isolation, there is little denying that Walt Disney World has done more and more over the last few years to remove the veneer of magic, so to speak, and make clear the cold hard truth that it’s a business. Obviously, it has always been a business, but recent decisions make that patently obvious.
@MaxBuffMelvin
Thank you for replying. I do have the gold pass myself. I was referring to specials offered to Florida residents like current offer for 40% off 4-day ticket. When I take nephews and niece, it would be nice to have that option for guests staying in my villa.
If this encourages people to stay at the Lodges (cheapest Deluxes) without simplifying the room theme, I can accept this; “E-Ride Nights” was clearly more of a cash grab than this. (Maybe it’s time to update the post about a split trip with multiple resorts, though.)
“If our preliminary “restored” rope drop experiences are any indication, early theme park entry will not be particularly valuable. I’m still not totally sure what the deal is, but in our (admittedly limited) visits thus far, it has felt like we would’ve been better off sleeping in, arriving late, and staying late.”
While other posts make it sound like rope drop still has some value, the reason it has less value is that the parks are filling up earlier. More people plan to rope drop when most of the parks have an official time of 9AM or later, so there are more people earlier AND less operational hours before the pre-lunch crunch.
Increased regular operating hours would reduce both of these issues, but it sounds like WDW decided it needs whatever hires it can get elsewhere.
I really hope that the “Extra Magic Hours” are longer than a half an hour or even longer than one hour! The regular day park guests have gotten used to the whole, jumping in line at the end of the night to ride one last thing before leaving the park. We do this as well, I am not slighting this strategy, but I feel like the shortened time frame will not be so much of a perk since you can feasibly be in the park for an extra half hour or an extra hour regularly. If you get in line for an attraction at park close, even if they scan before entry, you could be waiting the entirety of the extra time. This has plagued EMH for the last few years along with the expanded availability. Thanks for all your info Tom!