Update: October, November, and December updated with the changes below. Removed references to heading to Rapunzel and Dumbo first thing in the morning since it’s no longer necessary. I must have forgotten to click “save” when I removed Test Track from the discussion in October. Obviously, that one’s closed.
Disney has made a few changes to the October and November operating schedules. Most of them are just an hour later close at Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom on various dates. The big one is the removal of evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom on October 22nd. None of these changes should affect the recommendations, but I’ll be making the updates to the crowd calendar image and analysis. Bolded dates have changes. Expect far more changes when the usual updates come out. I’m expecting those updates to be released around August 17 – 20 for September; September 14 – 17 for October; and October 19 – 22 for November. That update will include the second Electrical Parades and Fantasmics and extended hours at the theme parks not named Epcot.
As far as the Fantasyland grand opening on December 6th, I’m going to change Magic Kingdom to “not recommended” on that date. With previews beginning November 19th, there shouldn’t be a great influx of people visiting specifically for the December 6th festivities. The fact that it’s a Thursday should also decrease the number of “locals” visiting. I’m also expecting the new sections of Fantasyland that are officially opening on the 6th to be open in their entirety to the general public for at least several days prior, lessening the excitement of the “grand unveiling.”
While that section will certainly be busy, we’re really only talking about one new attraction – the Little Mermaid Dark Ride Thing. With a huge capacity and relatively low re-ridability, wait times shouldn’t be long. It’s a carbon copy of the version built in California, where waits are ordinarily 15 minutes or less, even with much heavier crowds at Disney’s California Adventure since Cars Land opened.
The opening shouldn’t affect the overall crowd level much either. The beginning of December isn’t exactly a convenient time for most families to travel, which is why overall crowds are in the below average to average range over the weeks leading up to Christmas. I’ll update those numbers as updates become available.
Monday October 1: No changes.
Tuesday October 2: No changes.
Wednesday October 3: No changes.
Thursday October 4: No changes.
Friday October 5:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
Saturday October 6:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
- Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm from 9am – 9pm.
Sunday October 7:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
- Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm from 9am – 9pm.
Monday October 8:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
Tuesday October 9: No changes.
Wednesday October 10:
- Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm from 9am – 9pm.
Thursday October 11: No changes.
Friday October 12:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
Saturday October 13:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
- Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm from 9am – 9pm.
Sunday October 14:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
Monday October 15:
- Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm from 9am – 9pm.
Tuesday October 16: No changes.
Wednesday October 17: No changes.
Thursday October 18: No changes.
Friday October 19:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
- Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm from 9am – 9pm.
Saturday October 20:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
- Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm from 9am – 9pm.
Sunday October 21:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
Monday October 22:
- Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm from 9am – 9pm. Magic Kingdom evening Extra Magic Hours no longer scheduled.
Tuesday October 23: No changes.
Wednesday October 24: No changes.
Thursday October 25: No changes.
Friday October 26:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
Saturday October 27:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
- Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm from 9am – 9pm.
Sunday October 28: No changes.
Monday October 29: No changes.
Tuesday October 30: No changes.
Wednesday October 31: No changes.
Thursday November 1: No changes.
Friday November 2: No changes.
Saturday November 3:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
- Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm from 9am – 9pm.
Sunday November 4:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
Monday November 5:
- Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 9pm from 9am – 8pm.
Tuesday November 6: No changes.
Wednesday November 7: No changes.
Thursday November 8: No changes.
Friday November 9:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
Saturday November 10:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
Sunday November 11:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 9pm from 9am – 8pm.
Monday November 12: No changes.
Tuesday November 13: No changes.
Wednesday November 14: No changes.
Thursday November 15: No changes.
Friday November 16: No changes.
Saturday November 17:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
Sunday November 18: No changes.
Monday November 19: No changes.
Tuesday November 20: No changes.
Wednesday November 21: No changes.
Thursday November 22: No changes.
Friday November 23: No changes.
Saturday November 24: No changes.
Sunday November 25: No changes.
Monday November 26: No changes.
Tuesday November 27: No changes.
Wednesday November 28: No changes.
Thursday November 29: No changes.
Friday November 30:
- Animal Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 6pm from 9am – 5pm.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Im afraid the two new meet & greet locations will be extremely busy. Yes? No? Please tell me I’m wrong about that…
Did I miss any changes to the September operating schedules? Or were there not any?
thanks
Well this just blows! Now we don’t have any late EMH’s at MK during our week there since they removed the one on the 22nd! Grrrrrrrrrrrr
Thanks for all the info, Josh! This site has been a big help in planning our Dec./Jan. vacation. I’m also wondering about the meet & greet priorities changing with Ariel and Belle moving and with the addition of Pete’s Silly Sideshow. We have 10s for half of our trip, so I want to try to plan accordingly. Thanks!
Yeah-glad to see extend hours at AK while we are there.
But I really do miss being there at dark-(Disney are you listening-please bring back EMH evenings at AK!)
Hi. Thank you so much for all the great info you have on this site. I found it almost by accident and have been hooked ever since! I do have a few questions for you. Is the preview they are saying starting the 19th for everyone or just select people they hand picked? If it is for the general public, do people just get to walk in? We are going November 24th – December 1st and thought maybe we should move our vacation to closer to Christmas. My husband didn’t want to because of how crowded it is at that time, so that is my other question. Do you think the parks will be more crowded during our stay due to the previews? We thought we were going at a very good time crowd-wise, but maybe this will change things.
Sorry to ramble, I am just so excited to be going to Disney. We are new to Disney, so any info on how you think they might handle the opening would be greatly appreciated
Magic Kingdom hours extended to 9am – 10pm from 9am – 9pm.
Shouldn’t this be “hours reduced”??
okay, I shouldn’t post before eating lunch. I take back my previous comment.
Stinks that the Oct 22nd EMHs were changed. We were going to be at Epcot most of the day but were gonna stop by MK for Wishes and the EMH. All well, at least we get that one measly hour.
Hoping that the update that comes in September doesn’t involve any more cutbacks in hours.
@ Lisa August 8, 2012 at 5:17 am
“Did I miss any changes to the September operating schedules? Or were there not any?”
Josh indicated that he is anticipating updates later in the month for September
@Jessica
In the comments section the blog author clarified the preview period is a soft opening,
for ‘regular guests’. I’ve seen notes about a passholder preview… don’t know if that’s
earlier?
“The preview period gives regular park guests a chance to experience the new area and its attractions prior to the grand opening in December. During a preview period, attractions and experiences may experience limited operating hours.”
On 10/15 hours extended to 10:00pm. Does this mean Extra Evening Hours are extended to 1:00 am or will it still be midnight?
I’ve been thinking about the deleted MK EMH on October 22nd for about 17 hours now and I am still ticked!! Damn you, “Josh”. How dare you inform me so far in advance so that I have plenty of time to get it over it (apparently 17 hours isn’t enough) and not be surprised at the last second. The only thing that would have been better was if you had put (sucks to be you) behind the announcement.
are there going to be more changes to the november month hours.thanks as always mike
According to the new TA data the evening EMH is back on for 10/22…WOOHOO!
eagerly waiting to see if there are any more changes before our trip on oct. 19th!
where is the calendar for November 2012