October 2021 Calendar Update & Extended Evening Hours Schedule for Disney World
Walt Disney World has released more of the calendar for October 2021, added hours during the start of the 50th Anniversary at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom, and released the schedule of “Extended Evening Theme Park Hours.” In this post, we’ll share the refreshed calendar, new hours, and the Extended Evening Hours for the start of the World’s Most Magical Celebration.
Let’s get the most inconsequential part of this out of the way first. Like clockwork every Friday, all four theme parks have had hours for another week added to the DisneyWorld.com park hours calendar. These hours now run through October 16, 2021. Here are the hours for most dates within that week:
- Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 9 pm*
- EPCOT: 11 am to 9 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.
We also have extended hours for a scattering of dates in each of the parks. On August 15, Magic Kingdom bumps its closing time to 10:00 pm. It was previously scheduled to close at 9:00 pm.
Over at Epcot, the park will now be closing at 10 pm from October 1 through 9. This was an inevitability, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see all but one of these dates (see below) have their extended until 11 pm and opening moved forward to 10 am or (hopefully) 9 am.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open until 9:00 pm, rather than the previously-scheduled 8:00 pm on September 15, 2021. This puts it in line with all other September dates (minus the 29th), so not exactly bombshell news–it was probably accidentally omitted when other hours were extended.
Animal Kingdom also sees its closing time extended to 8 pm on August 15 and 21. Again, nothing earth-shattering there. Unless there are a ton of cancellations due to dual blows of the rising case numbers and reinstated indoor face mask rule, we should get another round of more significant hours extensions for fall fairly soon.
In related news, Walt Disney World has released showtimes for the new fireworks spectaculars coming to Magic Kingdom and Epcot beginning October 1, 2021 for the 50th Anniversary. The schedule is currently posted through October 16.
Disney Enchantment at Magic Kingdom:
- October 1 – October 4: 9:00 pm
- October 5 – October 16: 8:00 pm
As a reminder, Disney Enchantment is replacing Happily Ever After, which is “permanently” ending in September 2021.
Harmonious at Epcot:
- October 1 – 16, 2021: 9:45 pm
Harmonious is permanently (no air quotes this time) replacing Epcot Forever, which also ends its limited run in September 2021.
Both of these new nighttime spectaculars are debuting as part of the World’s Most Magical Celebration. See our Guide to Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary for more details.
Finally, the news that likely has most of you reading this. Beginning in October 2021, guests staying at Deluxe Resorts, Deluxe Villas (Disney Vacation Club units), or other select hotels can enjoy extended evening hours. Guests staying at Value or Moderate Resorts are not eligible.
The Extended Evening Theme Park Hours perk will allow eligible guests to experience select attractions, shops, and dining after regular park hours–in select theme parks on select nights.
As a reminder, this is different from Early Theme Park Entry. That perk allows on-site resort guests 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.
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.
For Extended Evening Theme Park Hours, you’ll need a valid Resort ID, valid admission and a theme park reservation for the same park on the same day. (Or Annual Pass or ticket with the Park Hopper option, provided you entered the park where you made your reservation earlier in the day.)
Current Schedule for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours*
Date | Theme Park | Extended Hours |
Monday, October 4, 2021 | Epcot | 10:00 PM – Midnight |
Wednesday, October 6, 2021 | Magic Kingdom | 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM |
Monday, October 11, 2021 | Epcot | 10:00 PM — Midnight |
Wednesday, October 13, 2021 | Magic Kingdom | 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM |
*Check back as more dates are added. Schedule subject to change.
In terms of commentary, this is exactly what I expected based on the announcement made earlier this month that offered details of Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Hours Coming to Walt Disney World. The nighttime offering is essentially a 1:1 replacement for Evening Extra Magic Hours, but with more limited eligibility and different branding presumably so repeat visitors don’t assume Value and Moderate Resorts are eligible.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom are not participating, but that’s not a huge surprise since neither were staples of Evening EMH in recent years. Personally, I’d be fine with Animal Kingdom being skipped.
Not DHS, though–those rare Evening Extra Magic Hours nights (post-Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge) there were fantastic. I can’t explain why, but the crowd situation during Evening EMH was always better at DHS.
In any case, having the Extended Evening Theme Park Hours will be most valuable at Epcot and Magic Kingdom at the outset of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. If the program goes well, I hope it’s expanded to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and maybe Animal Kingdom.
Based on comments here and from social media, I’m guessing this is not what a lot of Walt Disney World fans expected. Much of the outrage seemed like it conflated Early Entry and Extended Hours, which is understable. Even though Disney indicated the Extended Evening Theme Park Hours would only be for “select parks on select dates,” a lot of fans seemed to be operating under the assumption this perk would also be a daily thing at all of the parks.
Many people were upset that they “would never be able to stay late” or would be “kicked out early” so the “rich people could have the parks to themselves at night.” Now that we know that’s not the case, and these hours will be incredibly easily to plan around, I wonder if this changes anything in terms of fan response. (That’s not rhetorical, I’m not sure and would love some feedback.)
Beyond that, my assessment of Extended Evening Theme Park Hours is pretty much unchanged. 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 while also adding to the list of participating on-site hotels, crowds had become pretty bad. (As much as I love them for the exceptional value they offer, it was a mistake to include the Disney Springs resorts.) It got to the point that not only did we recommend avoiding Evening EMH, but also the park hosting that hour during the day. People are much more likely to be night owls than early risers on vacation.
What remains an open question is whether restricting eligibility for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours sufficiently limits the pool to lessen the crowds. We already know that the “other select hotels” means the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin, Swan Reserve, and Shades of Green.
When the hotel lineup is finalized, I’m betting the Four Seasons Orlando will also end up being eligible, but not any of the Disney Springs area hotels or Bonnet Creek resorts. That’s just a guess, but it’s probably an accurate one–or at least close to it.
If my rough math is correct, this means that approximately 46% of all on-site resort rooms will be eligible for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. Even if I’m off on which “other select hotels” will end up being eligible, that doesn’t change the percentage in a meaningful way–none of those hotels have a large number of rooms. It’ll still be under 50%.
That’s a calculation based on rooms, not guests. The larger size of some Disney Vacation Club villas is conducive to higher per room guest counts, but I’m guessing the difference is negligible. There are also a lot of older DVC couples and those guests often underutilize the parks. I’d bet that all nets out, and the pool of on-site guests eligible for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours is just under 50%.
Based upon our anecdotal observations of Evening Extra Magic Hours during the busiest times of year when occupancy rates are highest (which is what October through December 2021 will be), the Extended Evening Theme Park Hours needed to cut the guest cut approximately in half in order to be a high-quality perk. This does that. Unless the attraction roster dramatically decreases, Extended Evening Theme Park Hours should be a nice experience for eligible guests.
As suggested above, Extended Evening Theme Park Hours will also be easy for Value, Moderate, and off-site guests to plan around. Obviously, no one likes losing access to a perk, but a “benefit” that had lost all actual utility is one in name only. It’s also not exactly “elitist” (or whatever) given that the Swan & Dolphin are often less expensive–and superior–options to even the Value Resorts. (For those who must have a Disney-owned hotel, renting DVC points is another cheaper alternative, and way to gain access.) Maybe I’m just being overly optimistic this, but I’m feeling pretty good about Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. I’m sure you all will give me a “reality check” in short order if I’m being unreasonable. 😉
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of Extended Evening Theme Park Hours? Think this is fair and reasonable? Did you attend Evening Extra Magic Hours during busy seasons in the last couple of years? What was your experience with crowds and wait times? Looking forward to Extended Evening 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!
Denise, You do get “more” when staying at a deluxe resort. Things like, a posher resort, bigger rooms, more amenities, on site baby sitting in some cases, dinner shows, valet parking, better/more on site restaurants, on site events, tennis courts etc. Seriously I could go on and on with why a deluxe reort is more money. I stay at the yacht club quite often and don’t think I have ever waited in some line to check in for more than 2 minutes and certainly not in a mob of sweaty people like I have at All Star Music. (which my son loved when he was little) The yacht club practically carriers you to your room… You are paying more to stay at a higher end complex for just that, the higher end complex. The ability to have perks such as extra magic hours or making a fast pass in advance was ALWAYS for all on site resort properties. To start giving it back to only one type of property is just flat out wrong. It should be all, none or they should split it up on different days for different resorts.
The right thing to do would have deluxe night, moderate night and a value night, that way its fair to all and numbers would be lower.
First, to the Disney Shareholder, you need to go to this link and review what Walt did, in the beginning at Disneyland, and see how they calculate, with inflation, what it would cost us today. (We pay FAR more) https://insidethemagic.net/2020/02/disneyland-disney-world-ticket-prices-perspective-tm1/. Walt would turn over in his grave if he saw how WDW was being run today. He ALWAYS wanted his parks to be something everyone could enjoy. Shame on you.
Second, the majority of the reasons people would opt to stay on property were for the perks such as late night extended hours and the ability to make your fast pass reservations 60 days in advance. (Oh yeah no one even has those back yet but parks are basically back to full capacity. Disney keeps it a secret and won’t actually announce what capacity they are at so people can make sound judgements if they want to go or not. That’s so nice of them in this time of Covid) Yes, it’s fun to be emersed in Disney but from someone who is coming up on my 500th trip to Disney, a season passholder year after year, a Florida resident (up until 2019) I can tell you, this elitist choice of giving the deluxe resorts this perk back and not the moderate or value is not going to go over well with Florida resident/pass holders and many more.
I have made a week reservation at Pop Century for the last week in October and am considering canceling. No fast pass, basically at full capacity, no extended hours so what am I doing on property? As a previous Fl. resident pass holder, I would go on average 6-7 times per year, staying at both moderate and deluxe depending on the occasion. I would never do that in these circumstances with these limited “perks”.
Bottom line, Disney needs to pull it together, or they will end up seeing it reflected in their profits. It may take a while to flush out, while the Disney Shareholders and executives sit around scratching their heads wondering why the attendance and money spent in the parks is not what they hoped for. I have hundreds of family and friends who are Florida resident season pass holders and if they underestimate them, by next year this time, they will see a difference. I enjoy staying at moderate resorts as it gives me a lot more money to shop and eat high end at the parks, desert parties etc. I enjoy deluxe for those special occasions each year. I won’t be going to either if they don’t stop these money grubbing shareholder antics. I was carried in the gates of the Magic Kingdom on Oct 2nd 1971 and you would be hard pressed to find a bigger fan, but this is just getting sad.
As a DVC owner that saved to purchase that privilege and saves points to vacation every 3 years – there seem to be very few perks offered. Like another person posted. You can upgrade your internet, pay for better airline seats. This seems completely reasonable to me. It’s like saying that folks that pay the very very extra change to get VIP service should Not be able to pay for that perk – everyone should get the perk regardless of what folks pay. This seems ludicrous to me. I’m not rich with endless disposable income., but when I pay more for my vacation, I expect to get more. The grumbling here makes as much sense to me as folks complaining that they don’t get first class eating and service when they are paying coach.
As Monk would say. “Here’s the thing.”
In the beginning the EMH’s were for everybody who stayed at a Disney resort. No matter what level you stayed at, Disney resorts were priced significantly higher than offsite resorts of equal value.
There were many perks back then. All available to those who stayed in the bubble. Slowly perks began to disappear. And they disappeared for all equally.
So when they say evening EMH’s are only for deluxe resorts they have taken something away from the other groups which they once enjoyed. And they have not added anything to deluxe resorts. They are merely letting them keep something they had always had.
They are NOT adding something new that never existed. This is NOT some ground breaking unheard of incredibly bold inventive idea.
I don’t see this as a rich vs poor. This is really more of a do the right thing vs do a loathsome money grabbing creepy thing.
Not all guests who stay at the deluxe resorts are rich. I agree with Tom in that the rich take their kids as a rite of passage and then travel the world. Conversely not all poor people stay at the moderates or values.
In fact the poor do not go to WDW or DL.
I work with the poor, trying to get them into jobs that will help turn their lives around. Getting them food so they live long enough to see another day. Many are too busy trying to overcome dramatic childhoods that led to all kinds of serious addictions and mental problems to be concerned about rope dropping to snag Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
So the poor are not staying at any resort.
There are well to do staying at the moderates and values because they realize they’re only there to shower and sleep. In fact many well to do people are well to do for the very fact that they think like this.
Many guests, regardless of what resort they’ve chosen, struggled over the course of years to save up enough to make their visit.
The truth is if EMH’s had always been solely for deluxe stays from the start there wouldn’t be this problem now. The fact that they’re leaving morning EM1/2H’s to all resorts is an admission of sorts that there is no basis to do what they are doing with the evening hours.
If this is to help fill deluxe resorts perhaps a better way to do that would be to lower the prices?
In retrospect, this is the “correct” opinion, a nuanced and thoughtful perspective–and what my position should’ve been on this from the outset.
It’s totally understandable that people are upset about more perks–and operating hours, in general–are being removed, and it stings doubly that a perk that was for all previously is now only for a subset of on-site guests.
I don’t think anything will change between now and December, as Walt Disney World has plenty of “guaranteed” guests for the start of the 50th, but I really hope occupancy numbers fall next year. A reality check is needed on pricing, perks, and the substance of the experience now versus ~2 years ago.
No matter how much “spin” you try to put on excluding value and moderate resort guests from extended evening hours, it still feels like exclusion, especially since the extra evening hours were one of the main reasons we have always stayed at Disney resorts. I’m sure I’m not the only person to feel relegated to second-class citizenship in Disney’s World, and I refuse to be content with crumbs that fall from the table Disney has now set exclusively for the well-to-do. I have canceled the October trip for my extended family of six, and we will be spending our dollars somewhere that will appreciate our business.
This does incentivize me to book at a DVC villa for my party next year instead of an offsite AirBnB like I was considering. So, I can’t say I’m bothered–I’m paying a lot more, but I do not mind paying for some exclusivity.
That said, I do think there should be some perk for all guests of Disney Hotels. It doesn’t have to be this, but it would be nice to see an extra reason to stay at a Value or Moderate hotel too.
Tom, i agree with you 100%! In my approximate 20 stays at WDW, i have stayed at a deluxe on only 2 occasions. Considering that many deluxe are under utilized, it makes sense for WDW to try to increase occupancy with a perk. WDW already does this when they offer ‘free’ dining. If you stay at a value resort you have to pay to upgrade the ‘free’ dining that moderate resort guests get. Guests don’t seem to complain about that? Nevertheless, you point out some common sense work arounds (renting DVC points, etc.) if it means that much to you. Non issue in my opinion.
Even though I don’t like EEH for deluxe only as I’m still wondering what they’re going to do to keep people at value/moderates, considering the lack of perks associated with those hotels now (I would even be fine with give it to deluxe for free, allow other on-site guests to buys access to extended evening hours), I do think it’s weird they’re only doing two nights a week. I’m doing the deluxe splurge to stay at wilderness lodge for Christmas, but we’re doing a split stay because we can’t afford it for the whole trip, and of course it’s not occurring any of the nights we’ll be at wilderness lodge if they stick to this Monday Wednesday schedule. A lot of people do long weekends at Disney, so even those deluxe guests will be left out. I think this is crappy all around.
Even value resorts are getting pretty pricey these days, and it definitely feels…not quite like a slap in the face, because I get Deluxe resorts having more/better perks but I do think there was a way to do this that didn’t leave out other disney hotel guests. The fact that it’s only certain parks certain nights makes me feel that way even more. They could have done one park for each resort tier on a rotating basis so no one was entirely left out, which would still help with crowd levels. Or, as much as I hate the park reservation system, they could have used something similar to let guests choose their extra evening park hours. It feels like they took the laziest way possible to the detriment of all value and moderate resorts. Even more frustrating that fancier non-Disney hotels will benefit (except Shades of Green- they should be included).
Honestly considering it’s only a couple of nights a week, this seems perfectly reasonable. Even though I’ve not yet stayed at a Deluxe resort, I would have liked to see a night for the other two parks to make it 4 out of 7 days. That doesn’t seem too much either considering it’s only one park per night that loses hours for everyone else.
I think adding benefits and reasons to stay at higher end Disney resorts is necessary as lately they’ve been eroding the on-site advantage. They need to do even more, honestly. Both for value/moderate, and deluxe resort guests. More differentiation is good, because it makes a splurge seem less like being screwed over by a corporation. (A more and more common feeling at WDW.)
With Swan & Dolphin, and points rentals, it’s much more do-able to stay at one of these resorts for a lot of people if you’re willing to save up. You could just stay there 3 nights to get both evening days, and then switch to value. Or just one night even.
As one who stays at a value resort because of the convenience, and having been an AP holder since 2010, I find this disappointing. We used to visit three times a year, traveling from Texas, routinely spending about $6000 on junk and other Disney stuff each visit. EMH was a perk as I have a severely disabled child who was more able to participate in the late night activities. I’m guessing it’s now too late to change my Pop Century 2 week reservation for a “better” hotel the first two weeks of December. We have wonderful memories and photos of our Disney trips, and will look elsewhere for a place to vacation.
To be honest, Disney’s changes to their value proposition is making it easier for us to choose staying elsewhere for our next and subsequent visits. We always stayed on property as the added value justifies the expense but this is no longer the case. Visits from the U.K. are expensive enough so instead of staying on a Disney property and spending one or two nights at a UO deluxe resort it is now better value to do the reverse.
For the people saying value guests can stay late staying till the park closes is NOT staying late as all guests including those staying at cheap ofsite hotels can stay till the park closes. Why doesn’t Disney care about people staying in their hotels
Glad you are rich enough to be able to afford it
It’s nice to see Disney getting back to Walt’s original vision of paying for extras. While Walt was alive Disneyland had ticket books for a predetermined number of attractions. You had to pay extra for additional attractions. Hopefully this trend will continue to help alleviate the overly crowed parks.
If you think that only “rich” people stay at the eligible resorts, you’re wrong. Many people save for years to afford it and when they stay, they are getting a benefit that is commensurate with the value of the service they purchased. Want a better health plan? It costs more. Better internet speeds, costs more. More tv channels? Costs more. It doesn’t mean everyone else who is staying at another hotel gets their hours at the park cut.
This boils my blood! I feel like Cinderella living under Her evil step mothers rule! Why don’t we just go ahead ad name the value resorts “the red haired step children’s resort!
Come on Disney, you know this isn’t right to only let the rich people into the parks. I know that Walt wouldn’t approve.
I am VERY upset over this!
You might want to warn people that Magic Kingdom ADRs are all gone for 10/1. Of course some restaurants will add more late hours once park hours get extended and some people will cancel, but at this point it’s a pure refresh/luck game to get table service food that day. Unsurprising but sigh…
Tom,
Any thoughts on how late the parks may be open surrounding the 1st? No Boo Bash or extended hours on those nights– hoping we will see some early opens and late closes.