Busy or Quiet? The Truth About Extra Magic Hours

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Laurie Zeller

Apple Valley, MN

Walt Disney World, Florida ~ A Dreamer's Paradise

I don't specialize in Disney Destinations because I took classes or studied books. It’s because I truly have a passion for Disney. I take my own personal vacations to Disney Destinations and have been to them 50+ times.

Walt Disney World. A...

Walt Disney World. A place that automatically brings thoughts of Cinderella’s Castle with fireworks exploding above.

I’ve spent a large amount of time learning about the many resort hotels, the restaurants, the recreation, and of course the parks themselves. Especially since they are all constantly changing! Disney is known for creating memories and making dreams come true. The memories those trips have created will be with me forever.

Minnesota is my home and I’ve enjoyed helping plan Disney vacations for families here in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul since I started in this business over 30 years ago. Over the years that has expanded to include families all over the United States.

A Walt Disney World vacation is not a one-size-fits-all situation. Are you traveling with a large multi-generational group with an age range of 5 to 75? Are you traveling with friends and looking for an “Adult Disney” experience? Are you a family of four, taking your children to Walt Disney World for the first time?

For first timers, it’s my job to help you to navigate through the overwhelming amount of information that can be found on the internet. Your friends and relatives have all sorts of advice for you based on their own vacations. But this isn’t their vacation, it’s yours! I can simplify the entire process by narrowing down the Walt Disney World vacation that’s best for your family based on your budget as well as the desires of your family to create magical memories.

For the beloved “Disneyphiles” like me who return to the various Disney Destinations again and again, I can help your next trip be unique from those of years past. Backstage tours, signature dining, a new resort experience, and recreation opportunities will make each trip extraordinary. The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney Springs, Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, and Disney’s Blizzard Beach await you in sunny Florida.

I would consider it an honor to help you build the path towards making the Disney dreams come true for you and your family.

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Evening at the Magic Kingdom

What are Extra Magic Hours?

This is a benefit only for guests who are staying at one of the Walt Disney World Resort hotels and select Disney Springs hotels. On any given day, a select Walt Disney World theme park is scheduled to open an hour before the posted park opening time and/or scheduled to close up to 3 hours beyond the posted park closing time. This gives Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests (including the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin hotels) more time to enjoy the theme parks.

It has long been speculated and often assumed that guests staying at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel should actually avoid the parks offering Extra Magic Hours on that particular day. The thought process being that a park would then be overrun with Resort hotel guests. Thus causing larger crowds and longer lines than would be found at the other three Walt Disney World theme parks on that same day.

It’s simply not true.

Disney pays very close attention to park attendance. Every day of the year. And for every park. They use these numbers for various things. For example to determine the value, regular, and peak times which affect seasonal hotel and theme park ticket pricing. Obviously this also affects staffing. An example of this is the Tortuga Tavern quick-service restaurant at the Magic Kingdom which only opens during peak travel times to accommodate the extra hungry park guests and ease the crowd levels at other quick service restaurants.

This means that Disney knows exactly which days of the week are the busiest at any given theme park. And which days are typically the quietest compared to the others. So to draw people to the parks that projected to be quieter, they use Extra Magic Hours. Think of it this way: It would be foolish to try and draw more people to a park that they are already expecting to be near capacity.

For those who choose to ignore Extra Magic Hours, the trend is that guests tend to visit the Walt Disney World theme parks in the order that the parks were built. Isn’t that funny? And since many people arrive at Walt Disney World on weekends and incorrectly assume that the theme parks will be too busy, they skip the parks and go to Disney Springs instead. Wrong move!

As a general rule, try to avoid visiting these specific theme parks and entertainment areas on the following days…

Monday – Magic Kingdom

Tuesday – Epcot

Wednesday – Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Thursday – Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Friday – Magic Kingdom

Saturday & Sunday – Disney Springs

There are obviously going to be exceptions to these general rules. But your best bet is to always A: Stay at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel and B: use Extra Magic Hours for extra time in the parks AND as a guide for which park is projected by Disney to be the most quiet that day.

Theme park hours and which parks will have Extra Magic Hours can be found on Disney’s website as well as in the My Disney Experience app.