Walt Disney World has seen many changes since reopening in July of 2020 after closing due to the global pandemic.
Indoor Mask Sign
FastPass+ is no longer available, some restaurants have still not reopened, live entertainment has been altered, and Halloween and Christmas parties have turned into After Hours events. Another thing that went away when Disney reopened was Extra Magic Hours. For over a year now, there have been no Extra Magic Hours, but Disney did recently announce different versions of the perk like Extended Evening Hours. So, what exactly is the difference? We’re here to break it down for you!
Extra Magic Hours
Extra Magic Hours were when select Disney Parks would stay open late OR open early exclusively for people staying at Disney World-owned resort hotels and several good neighbor hotels nearby.
Extra Magic Hours
The perk was usually offered at one or two parks per day (sometimes three) and it was a great opportunity for people to experience rides with significantly shorter wait times due to the parks being less crowded! It also was a nice way to enjoy the parks in lower temperatures than during the normal day, because the hours were either early in the morning or late at night.
Pandora – The World of Avatar at night
Now, the biggest difference between Extra Magic Hours and extended evening hours is that ALL Disney Resort hotel guests could take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours, even guests at good neighbor resorts like those in the Disney Springs area. Now, only select guests can use extended evening hours.
Extended Evening Hours
Disney World announced earlier this summer that they would be offering extended evening hours starting in October. Like Extra Magic Hours, the extended hours are only on select nights in select theme parks. Here’s a look at the first few dates:
©Disney
So far, we’ve only seen dates announced for EPCOT and Magic Kingdom, which is different than Extra Magic Hours where the extra hours would rotate between parks on different nights.
Tomorrowland
Also unlike Extra Magic Hours, these extended evening hours are ONLY available to guests staying at a Disney Deluxe or Deluxe Villa Resort hotel. These include:
- Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House
- Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Copper Creek Villas & Cabins Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Disney’s Beach Club Resort
- Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
- Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
- Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
- Disney’s Old Key West Resort
- Disney’s Riviera Resort
- Shades of Green Resort
- Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin
- Walt Disney World Swan Reserve (opening September 2021)
These resorts are traditionally more expensive than Moderate or Value Disney Resort hotels.
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
Guests planning on going to extended evening hours have to have a valid ticket or pass and a theme park reservation for the park that has the extended evening hours that day. You can also park hop to the park with the extended hours, as long as you have a ticket with park hopping abilities and you first enter into the park you made a reservation for that day (just like with regular park hopping right now).
EPCOT entrance at night
During these extended evening hours, only select attractions, merchandise, and food and beverage locations will be open. Keep that in mind, as it probably won’t be the full experience as it would be during regular hours!
Nice and Empty Main Street U.S.A.
Guests are also required to have some form of identification that’s linked to your stay so Disney can verify that you actually are staying at one of the resorts that qualify. This included forms of identification like your MagicBand, Disney MagicMobile pass, or Key to the World card.
©Disney
Those are the differences between Extra Magic Hours and extended evening hours! Early Theme Park Entry has been announced as well. It is more similar to Extra Magic Hours as more hotels are included. We’ll keep you updated if anything changes, so stay tuned to DFB for news!
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As a long time Disney Passholder, this really frustrates me and I hope it changes. I find this change to be highly disappointing.
It’s very disappointing that Disney is only allowing the deluxe resorts & hotels to have after hours park time. It’s is much longer as in 2-3 hours. Whereas the others only have 30min extra in the morning…Big Deal! All that hassle of trying to get everyone up early and to the park for a measly 30 minutes is Not worth it! This is not Fair Disney. Why not switch it up some giving both types of guest chances for both 30 min in the morning extra as well as hours after park closes??
May I know if transportation to and from the parks will be available during the evening extended hours? Thks.
Shimes, Disney will run transportatio during the Extended Evening Hours.
Thks for letting me know Sarah! I’m from Singapore and have been watching dfb on YouTube to plan our trip which we are hoping to do in 2023 when things have settled down around the world. Stay safe n healthy!
We stayed at disney world value/moderate resorts 13 times and felt disney treated us well. The evening magic hours for only people who are in a certain income bracket is disappointing and greedy. Never has disney made me feel so alienated. I was there in august 2021 to support the rebound of disney and feel normal again.
I leave tomorrow for disney and I find this out.