Walt Disney International has added extra hours to the calendar thru early January 2025 at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom, and prolonged hours to begin the 2024 Christmas season. This submit covers the adjustments plus zig once they zag technique for Magic Kingdom and DHS all over those vacation dates.
We’ll get started with the most recent unencumber of latest running schedules. All 4 theme parks have had hours for every other week added to DisneyWorld.com’s park hours, and the present calendar now runs thru January 3, 2025. Listed below are the hours for the newly-added dates all over the vacation season:
- Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 9 pm*
- EPCOT: 9 am to 9:30 pm*
- Hollywood Studios: 9 am to 9 pm*
- Animal Kingdom: 8 am to six pm
- Snowstorm Seaside: 10 am to five pm
- Disney Springs: 10 am to 11 pm (11:30 pm on Fridays & Saturdays)
As a reminder, Walt Disney International’s commonplace follow is to unencumber boilerplate or placeholder hours ahead of extending the ones in keeping with attendance and lodge occupancy projections. This has been commonplace follow for years, and can proceed for the rest of this yr and most definitely in 2025, 2026, and many others–till the upward thrust of the machines.
One exception to the park hours above is that Magic Kingdom closes on a number of nights a week at 6 pm to day visitors for Mickey’s No longer So Horrifying Halloween Birthday party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Birthday party over the process the following 3 months. The ones separately-ticketed occasions start at 7 pm and runs till nighttime, and happen a couple of nights a week.
Very similar to Magic Kingdom on MVMCP nights, Hollywood Studios closes at 7 pm on evenings when the Disney Jollywood Nights Christmas Birthday party is held. That tough price tag match happens with some distance much less frequency than Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Birthday party.
Along with those newly added hours, Walt Disney International has additionally prolonged park hours all the way through November 2024.
This used to be to be anticipated, as we’re coming into the house stretch of the yr when crowds can spike because of lengthy weekends, faculty breaks, vacations and different particular occasions. Consequently, you’ll be able to be expecting much more extensions–on a weekly foundation–from Walt Disney International going ahead for Thanksgiving thru New Yr’s Eve.
Anyway, on with the extensions for November 2024…
Magic Kingdom
- November 1, 2024: 9 am to ten pm (up to now 9 am to 9 pm)
- November 2, 2024: 9 am to ten pm (up to now 9 am to 9 pm)
- November 3, 2024: 9 am to ten pm (up to now 9 am to 9 pm)
- November 4, 2024: 9 am to ten pm (up to now 9 am to 9 pm)
- November 5, 2024: 9 am to ten pm (up to now 9 am to 9 pm)
- November 6, 2024: 9 am to ten pm (up to now 9 am to 9 pm)
- November 7, 2024: 9 am to 11 pm (up to now 9 am to 9 pm)
- November 8, 2024: 8 am to six pm (up to now 9 am to six pm)
- November 9, 2024: 9 am to twelve am (up to now 9 am to 9 pm)
- November 10, 2024: 9 am to 11 pm (up to now 9 am to 9 pm)
- November 11, 2024: 8 am to six pm (up to now 9 am to six pm)
- November 12, 2024: 8 am to six pm (up to now 9 am to six pm)
- November 13, 2024: 8 am to 11 pm (up to now 9 am to 9 pm)
- November 14, 2024: 8 am to six pm (up to now 9 am to six pm)
- November 15, 2024: 8 am to six pm (up to now 9 am to six pm)
- November 16, 2024: 8 am to 11 pm (up to now 9 am to 9 pm)
Walt Disney International has most effective up to date hours thru November 16, 2024. Any dates past that display boilerplate hours. There can be extensions for many, if no longer all, dates in November and December 2024 past that during long term updates.
The very first thing to which I wish to name your consideration is the ones nighttime ultimate time on November 9, 2024. We anticipated this and have been in reality hoping it could practice to November 10, as that used to be what took place ultimate yr. Sadly, that’s no longer the case.
Whilst we’re excited for the uncommon nighttime ultimate, there are some things value mentioning. In the beginning, there can be filming for the ABC Christmas specials in Magic Kingdom over this weekend. In the event you haven’t already, we’d extremely counsel studying How one can See Mickey’s As soon as Upon a Christmastime Parade for “Loose” Throughout Days at Magic Kingdom!
That covers my enjoy ultimate yr in this date, execs & cons of visiting all over parade filming, and extra. Particularly, my advice–and what I plan on doing–is to do Sunday versus Saturday at Magic Kingdom. Despite the fact that I used to be expecting a nighttime ultimate then, too, that recommendation/plan stays unchanged. Simply understand that there’s a explanation why Disney prolonged till nighttime on Saturday however no longer on Sunday.
2nd, that’s Veterans Day weekend and there are a number of MVMCP dates within the week that follows. We at all times flag Veterans Day as it continues to catch enthusiasts by way of marvel–it’s one of the vital busiest vacation weekends of all the yr. There’s a explanation why those dates are at the ‘worst’ facet of our record of the 10 Easiest and 10 Worst Weeks to Seek advice from Walt Disney International in 2024 & 2025.
Suffice to mention, the chances are prime of heavy crowds in Magic Kingdom on each Saturday and Sunday. So my ‘endorsement’ of Sunday isn’t even remotely the similar as, say, a random weekday in past due August. It’ll be a point of busy–I nonetheless like Sunday, particularly the evening, as a result of I’m positive that crowds will skinny out on the finish of the evening. Simply perceive what you’re getting your self into.
In the end, we wish to reiterate as soon as once more that nighttime closures will have to be same old running process for Magic Kingdom all over Birthday party Season on dates when the park isn’t ultimate early. Disneyland closes at the hours of darkness often, and Magic Kingdom will have to apply go well with. The crowds on non-party dates all the way through November and December are greater than enough to justify 8 am to twelve am hours each and every unmarried day. No longer doing so is a mixture of cheapness on Walt Disney International’s section, blended with in need of to push other people against Lightning Lanes.
Then there are the extensions on days of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Birthday party, with Magic Kingdom now opening at 8 am on the ones dates. Every other sure is that Magic Kingdom is opening at 8 am even on a large number of non-party days! That is the way it will have to be all over Birthday party Season.
As we’ve mentioned numerous instances, Birthday party Season running hours purpose chaos with crowds, pushing attendance a lot upper at the dates it’s no longer going on and decrease at the dates it is going on. On match nights, Magic Kingdom closes to day visitors at 6 pm. It is usually more and more opening at 8 am. As a result of this, Early Access begins at 7:30 am, which makes it extremely beneficial.
Once more, we’d strongly counsel visiting Magic Kingdom all over the day on MNSSHP or MVMCP nights. That is one thing we’ve coated at period, time and again. See Easiest & Worst Days to Do Magic Kingdom in 2024 for a rundown of when crowds can be particularly just right or dangerous, together with a handful of ‘crimson flag’ dates to steer clear of in any respect prices this month thru December.
During November and December, be expecting party-shortened days at Magic Kingdom have crowd ranges of two/10 to 4/10 as an alternative of one/10. This may occasionally occur as a result of crowd ranges as an entire are expanding–they’ll be upper around the board, on each get together and non-party days. 2nd, get together dates are turning into extra common, making them tougher to steer clear of. That suggests extra visitors will don’t have any selection however to do Magic Kingdom on get together days.
Preferably, you’ll have Park Hopper tickets and can be capable to leap to every other park at round 4 pm. Animal Kingdom will at all times be the best choice for lower-crowd evenings all over the vacation season.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- November 8, 2024: 8:30 am to 9 pm (up to now 9 am to 9 pm)
- November 9, 2024: 8:30 am to 7 pm (up to now 9 am to 7 pm)
- November 16, 2024: 8:30 am to 7 pm (up to now 9 am to 7 pm)
Just a few dates including hours for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and it’s “most effective” half-hour. This can be a larger deal than it could appear as a result of Early Access will as soon as once more formally get started at 8 am on those dates. As we’ve discussed numerous instances, the sooner that Early Access begins, the simpler. There’s much less “pageant” and you’ll be able to get far more performed.
Actually, that’s how I Did Each and every Trip at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Prior to 11am By the use of Standby Strains. Don’t depend on replicating those effects on November 8-9, however the technique is sound. We’d thus extremely counsel doing DHS on this type of dates if in any respect imaginable.
As for which date, that in reality relies on whether or not you’ll keep at DHS all day. We’ve had a large number of reader questions on whether or not it’s savvy solution to mirror the zig once they zag option to Magic Kingdom all over Birthday party Season. Our solution, as mentioned at period in Easiest & Worst 2024 Crowd Days at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, will not be.
With the park most effective ultimate two hours early on match nights (as opposed to 3-4 hours for Magic Kingdom), no longer just about as many visitors are discouraged from doing DHS on the ones dates. Even on commonplace nights, no longer just about as many of us keep past due in Hollywood Studios as accomplish that in Magic Kingdom. Attendance at DHS could be a bit decrease on match days, however no longer considerably so.
Conversely, there’s the Jollywood Nights attendees that can arrive all over their mix-in time, and this may increasingly lead to longer strains for headliner points of interest at a time once they’d differently be in reality quick. Fantasmic is most effective proven as soon as (and at an previous time) on Disney Jollywood Nights dates, too. In contrast, it has two performances–one in every of which is after park ultimate–on maximum vacation season dates.
So for me, the solution is plain–I’m no doubt doing and recommending Disney’s Hollywood Studios on November 8 over November 9. That’s one particular instance, but it surely will have to dangle true with different adjoining dates all the way through the development.
The one exception to this might be if I have been merely beginning out at DHS and Park Hopping elsewhere. If that’s the case, I’d start at DHS on November 9 or 16 within the hopes of ~10% smaller crowds. Simply consider, as soon as once more, that Walt Disney International extends hours for a explanation why–those 8:30 am openings are implausible from a strategic viewpoint, however Disney is forecasting upper attendance on the ones dates. Get ready accordingly.
Animal Kingdom
- November 1, 2024: 8 am to 7 pm (up to now 8 am to six pm)
- November 2, 2024: 8 am to 7 pm (up to now 8 am to six pm)
- November 3, 2024: 8 am to 7 pm (up to now 8 am to six pm)
- November 8, 2024: 8 am to 7 pm (up to now 8 am to six pm)
- November 9, 2024: 8 am to 7 pm (up to now 8 am to six pm)
- November 10, 2024: 8 am to 7 pm (up to now 8 am to six pm)
- November 11, 2024: 8 am to 7 pm (up to now 8 am to six pm)
- November 15, 2024: 8 am to 7 pm (up to now 8 am to six pm)
- November 16, 2024: 8 am to 7 pm (up to now 8 am to six pm)
As with Magic Kingdom, the 8 am opening time is take hold of at Animal Kingdom, and that’s the ‘new commonplace’ going ahead thru December 2024. That’s in reality just right information even a baseline viewpoint, because it method extensions can be ultimate at 7 pm or 8 pm–which additionally method middle of the night at DAK all over the vacation season!
Severely, the brand new baseline 8 am opening additionally method Early Access at 7:30am, which is lovely carefully attended. See Animal Kingdom Park Opening & Early Access Trip Technique (or, “How I Did Each and every Trip at DAK Prior to 10:30am.”)
On the reverse finish of the day, Animal Kingdom formally closes after sundown for all of nowadays! Between the later ultimate and Sunlight Saving Time, you’ll be able to get a pair hours in DAK after darkish for the primary time shortly!
I don’t see Tree of Lifestyles Iciness Awakenings again at the time table simply but–however Walt Disney International already showed they’d be again (see our Information to Christmas at Animal Kingdom for complete main points). We extremely counsel staying for evenings in DAK to benefit from the Tree of Lifestyles Awakenings, plus Pandora and the remainder of the park after darkish.
Our Animal Kingdom Afternoon Arrival Technique is as soon as once more the best way for this park. Even on busier dates, Lightning Lane Multi Move is not sensible with even a modicum of strategizing. Please don’t be fooled by way of the “discount” pricing on LLMP at Animal Kingdom. Bear in mind, one thing is just a deal in the event you if truth be told want it–differently, you’re only a hoarder. (Smartly, you’ll be able to’t in reality hoard Lightning Lanes in the similar sense…however you get the speculation!)
In the long run, it’ll be fascinating to look how dangerous crowds finally end up being over the Veterans Day vacation weekend, and what occurs with hours as soon as Thanksgiving rolls round. Whilst the park opening instances are tremendous, our hope is that Walt Disney International will get again to later ultimate instances for the Christmas season.
Magic Kingdom ultimate at 11 pm isn’t dangerous, however nighttime could be much better–particularly with the choice of weekly MVMCPs and attendance each expanding as Walt Disney International enters the center of the vacation season. All in all, it’s no longer too dangerous. Even with heavier crowds–and most definitely by way of so much on a few of these dates–November and December are amongst our favourite instances of the yr within the parks and on the hotels. Higher climate and a festive surroundings are tricky to overcome!
Making plans a Walt Disney International commute? Know about inns on our Walt Disney International Resorts Critiques web page. For the place to devour, learn our Walt Disney International Eating place Critiques. To economize on tickets or resolve which kind to shop for, learn our Pointers for Saving Cash on Walt Disney International Tickets submit. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys submit takes a singular have a look at suave pieces to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney International Trip Guides will lend a hand. For complete recommendation, the most productive position to begin is our Walt Disney International Go back and forth Making plans Information for the whole lot you want to understand!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you recall to mind Walt Disney International’s running hours extensions for November 2024? Suppose this time table is affordable? Do you assume Magic Kingdom will have to be open later? What has been your enjoy with crowds and wait instances? Do you settle or disagree with our review? Any questions we will mean you can solution? Listening to your comments–even while you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please percentage your ideas under within the feedback!
