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!
Can someone please clarify this question for me? When I went to see if all these perks leaving and shifting were true, I read that only certain rides will be available during the morning and evening EMH …. So if I am understanding this correctly even if you do pay the crazy prices for a deluxe hotel you still won’t be able to ride some of your fav rides during those magic hours. For instance Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted mansion, splash Mountain and thunder mountain will NOT be open during those hours. I have 4 older children (middle school, high school, and college) that loved the EMH just so they could ride those rides because the lines for them were so long during the day. I am a DVC member and we usually stay at the moderate hotels so we can stay 8-10 days. If we choose to stay at the deluxe we would stay for 1/2 the time and my children still wouldn’t get to ride the rides they like the most. I truly don’t see any perks in any of the new decisions. All of these decisions seem like they are centered around $$ and greed. Where is the magic?
“Early entry” as it is closer to what Universal calls their Early Park Admission for hotel guests. Probably they also figured they needed to change the name as it is different than the old program.
I wondered that same thing as above. At rope drop you usually get in a 1/2 hour early so how is this a benefit?
Exactly, add something to the Deluxe resort guest perks. Don’t take something away from Value/Moderate resort guests that they have been accustomed to ON TOP of removing Magical Express, Magic Bands, etc.
As a person who stays on site at deluxe resorts, I feel the benefit should be extended to all resorts. I feel it rubs people the wrong way as snobby or elitist.. I wish they would go back to free parking at the resorts!
I think like others have said, I don’t necessarily have a problem with a deluxe resort receiving perks that values/moderates do not. What would have been better is if something was added to the perks for deluxe stays, not removed from lower tiers. I think that’s why people are upset – not that there is a difference in what you receive, because it makes sense that you should get more for spending more, but that perks values and moderates have become accustomed to were removed to make this happen. Meanwhile the price of values and moderates is still going up and other perks are being removed for all onsite guests as well.
You can stay in the park I guess, but no rides or attractions. Cast Members check magic bands/tickets etc at each attraction.
We are here at the Disney Parks and just wanted to share this info about rope drop. While I can see how it may not be a benefit at all parks, we did find it a benefit at Animal Kingdom. We got there 30 minutes before the drop to go on Flight if the Avatar. There was already a lot of people there but they got the ride going before the park opened and we were on and off it within 30 minutes, super short amount of time compared to the line we saw the rest of the day.
Let’s assume that they go with the EMH for Deluxe and you are in the park. When you scan your magic band or even your My Experience app, you would like it also tells them what hotel you are staying at. I know on the My Experience you have the hotel on their. And Disney tracks us all with those bands. They are certainly tracking us with the app as well. Do I think it is wise to give the late hours to the Deluxe, it’s nice but I do see where this is going to be a hard sell. People are going to feel cheated staying at lower tiers. I think they need to do more research and by next year come up with a better plan. Either EMH for deluxe on certain days and rotate each tier to make it fair or bring back fast pass and do what Universal does. If you stay at a deluxe resort you get unlimited passes to rides.
I was so excited to see evening EMH until I saw the part about deluxe only… 🙁 I don’t have an issue with perks being given to someone who pays more to stay at a deluxe and not extending that perk to lower tiers (ie concierge or club level offerings), however, I don’t agree with evening EMH now only going to deluxe resorts because that was a perk already built into the cost of my lower tier room. I am paying more to stay on property even in my lowly little value resort than something bigger and better offsite that also doesn’t have the recently removed perks and I’d pay far less. So when you take all the perks away, don’t reduce the cost and in fact increase it, and then only give the lower tiers that sad little half hour in the morning (west coasters here, not going to get up early on vacation especially for a half hour) and give what was previously given to all tiers and would be preferable to my family (evening EMH) only to deluxe I’m definitely not happy. I know Tom and others weren’t fans of evening EMH but we must have been lucky. We LOVED them!! And we always felt we got a lot done! I know Disney needs to fill those Deluxe rooms, but they are about to have another value room to fill as I’m actively looking to move my trip offsite. If Disney had announced that Deluxe rooms now came with special character meals that you can only book if you stay at a deluxe, that wouldn’t bother me at all. If you want big, new perks, you have to pay more. But to take away pretty much every perk for staying onsite and then give some back but only for the deluxe resorts while not reducing prices for any of the lost perks, it just rubs me wrong. I’m emailing Disney all of this and I encourage everyone else who isn’t happy to do the same. We’ll all get the same cut and paste reply, but complaining here won’t change anything. Our only hope is to go directly to Disney.
Why don’t we all start wearing a particular color in the parks so we know what level of the Disney chain we are?! This is ridiculous that now Disney is basically saying hey you have more money than that guy so we treat you like a VIP. Anyone who stays at a Disney Hotel should get the same perks in the parks. It’s at the different tiered hotels that you will see a difference as it should be as you pay to stay at that particular resort. But honestly the deluxe hotels have gotten out of control with $700 or more a night rates.I have stayed at many deluxe Disney Hotels (not at $700),but really I find it just irresponsible to pay that much for a hotel. I’m not at the Waldorf !!!! I think when it comes to Disney World it’s horrible to say hey you shelled out the big bucks so you deserve to be treated better than those value or moderate families. How about this stop building more hotels when the parks can’t carry the load of that many guests!!!! Sucks Disney World used to be so fun and somewhat affordable now it’s being ruined by greed!
Take a look at this WDW resorts commercial from some years back where they sing about all the “perks” of staying at a WDW resort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Nhwt8GQAI
Nostalgic, sure. But these perks are all pretty much gone. How exactly will they market
their resorts now?
You know, this has been bothering me all day, and judging from my following of this, it has seemed to garner a lot of comments. I have already commented earlier, how ever I am wondering, Was the goal of the EMH in the first place to pretty much fill up hotel space? I mean really the crowds you complain about etc only prove that the perk worked exactly how it was intended to. Exactly how it was intended to. Now WDW is telling us the because of down numbers in the Deluxe section, they are going to drop the evening hrs….for some, in order to lighten the crowds for others, the crowds that they wanted in the first place. For what over at least 16yrs everyone who stayed on property enjoyed this little bit of magic, and now WDW is saying, not for you, you pay now, except these deluxers. So what happens when the Value resorts numbers start to dwindle? when not enough people shell out the extra 150-200 dollars over the VR’s a night to stay at the moderates? Sure the Deluxers are giddy as hell, they are not being impacted by this, now they have something over the rest of us plebeians, however like one of your commenter’s said, they really have not gained anything, the rest of us are losing. I mean talk of illusionary perks, I would file the extra 1/2 hr as one of those type of “perk”, your gonna spend at least 15 minutes of that just getting in the parks themselves, so Oh Boy. I know that WDW can come up with better perks for the Deluxe crowd, and they should, I mean I do see the need and their point, however again what are they gonna do when the rest start to, you know, not see any reason to stay or even go. Our 20yr anniversary is going to be next year, we already have been in touch with an agent, possibly even looking into a moderate for the first time as a splurge, now I don’t know, not sure I even wanna go. And I am pretty sure WDW will not even care.
Hi Mary Anne Paoletti. From my experiences on various Oct/Dec/Apr trips, assuming WDW returns to pre-COVID park hours, you should be able to see Pandora post-sunset during regular park hours without any special upcharge events or EMH perks outside of summertime.
I don’t mind this approach. Offering an option, at a premium, has always been a thing. People will adjust their plans accordingly. There are times when I price out the cheapest way to do a quick trip, and there are times that I will want to splurge for a special trip. Neither is bad necessarily, just different. The perk of staying at a value resort will still be that you are still in Disney World and not spending near as much. Like the French say “comme ci, comme ca.”
With exception of EMH PM at MK when MK was open 2-3 hours after closing, I found the legacy EMH PM on select days of the week useless because the crowds were terrible and attraction wait times were still long. In the period between when Star Wars land opened and COVID-19 closures, I loved the daily EMH AM at the WDW parks. The peacefulness of the parks and lack of wait times were worth the early wakeups and staying on site. I was hoping the daily EMH AM would return. Since we’ve converted to rope drop people rather than night owls on Disney trips, I could care less about EMH PM because we are tired anyways to utilize it.
I think your FP predictions are spot on as they already have this in place at Hong Kong Disneyland. If you stay at their cheapest hotel you get a certain number of FP’s a day and if you stay at their most expensive hotel you get more. It works okay at Hong Kong as you are usually only staying a couple of nights so lashing out on an expensive hotel isn’t too bad but at WDW where you have to have at least five nights to enjoy it, it is going to get expensive. I am torn here because part of me believes that if you spend more you should get more but it goes against what Walt’s dream was for everyone no matter what age or income bracket to come and enjoy the parks equally. I guess I am okay with extra FP’s for hotel guests as long as everyone else gets the chance to get at least a couple a day too. Oh how I miss the days of paper FP’s (heavy sigh).
Hi Ian!
I hadn’t even thought of that! Good point.
Hi Silvia
I’ll guess they’ll know from your magic band, phone etc, as you’ll probably have to buzz into each ride
Thanks!!
My question is this. If you are already in the park and the extended hours begins how will they know if you are staying in a deluxe resort or not? They won’t. So is the key getting to the park before the extended hours begin and just staying there till it ends?