Walt Disney World Hours of Operation
By Dave Shute
DISNEY WORLD OPERATING HOURS
For operating hours right now, see this.
For future operating hours, see the below.
The best way to find out the times Disney World will be open on a given date is to check the individual theme park calendars, which typically are available for the next 6 months or so.
Click the links below to get to these calendars:
PREDICTING FUTURE WALT DISNEY WORLD OPERATING HOURS
If your visiting time is after the period the calendars show, here’s a couple of thoughts:
Epcot hours don’t change much over the course of the year. Its Future World section typically is open from 9a to 9p, and its World Showcase section from 11a to 9p.
During the Christmas season Epcot typically closes at 9.30p rather than 9. During the slow season, Disney has experimented with closing it at 8 and 8.30p, especially on evening Extra Magic Hours days.
It may have a scheduled opening earlier, or stay open later, on a few crazy holiday days–the Fourth of July, Christmas Week, New Years Eve.
Animal Kingdom hours follow sunset times and crowd levels. During the slower part of the winter season, when sunsets are early, it often closes at 5p. Busier periods, and ones when sunset is later, will have the park open until as late as 8p.
The park commonly opens at 8a during many days of Christmas and New year’s weeks, and during other crazy times.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios usually opens at 9, and is almost always open until at least 7p, and as late as 10p or later during busier times. Even later hours are often posted on New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July. Scheduled 8a openings are rare.
The Magic Kingdom has the most varied and unpredictable operating hours. It is almost always open until at least 7p, and usually opens at 9a. Rare 6p closings are usually related to a special event in the park that night.
During the slower season, it will remain open a few hours later a few nights a week, and offer those nights fireworks, the evening parade, or both.
During the busier seasons, midnight–or later!–closings are not uncommon, and during the busiest times, like Christmas week, its scheduled opening will shift to 8am.
EXTRA MAGIC HOURS
These observations all exclude Extra Magic Hours–times when for Walt Disney World Resort guests the parks open an hour early, or stay open three hours later. See this for more on Extra Magic Hours.
PARADES, FIREWORKS, SHOW TIMES AND SUCH AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
Exact times for parades and fireworks can be accessed from the calendars above, by clicking on the date.
Afternoon parades happen almost every day, with exceptions when they are being replaced, as does Illuminations, the evening fireworks show at Epcot.
The evening fireworks show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Fantasmic, has a varied and unpredictable calendar, sometimes shown only twice a week–most commonly on Sundays and Thursdays.
The evening parade and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom vary from almost every night during the busiest periods to once or twice a week during the slower ones.
During the slower periods, they are most certain to happen on the nights when the Magic Kingdom has evening Extra Magic Hours–almost always Sunday nights, but sometimes Monday nights.
Show times–for example, at what times The Festival of the Lion King at the Animal Kingdom will be offered–are not so predictable. You can get near-term schedules from Steve Soare’s site here.
