Trying to decide if you should stay in a Disney World hotel or save the money and stay off site? Well, there are a few important Disney perks to consider!
Disney’s Riviera Resort
If you stay at a Disney World hotel, you’ll be able to book all your dining reservations at once, 60 days out from your trip. You’ll also get complimentary transportation to the parks, Early Theme Park Entry every day of your visit, and the chance to book Individual Lightning Lanes before regular ticket holders. But if you’re staying in a Deluxe Resort, there’s a special bonus perk…and it returns today!
Visitors staying at Disney World’s Deluxe Resorts get the bonus perk of Extended Evening Hours on select nights. Typically a few nights a week, Disney will keep one of the parks open late for that small group of guests to enjoy low crowds and short wait times.
Low crowds in Animal Kingdom
We’ve seen Extended Evening Hours offered at all four parks in the past, but the schedule varies depending on the week. Typically, you’ll get two hours in the park after it closes to regular day guests. During that time, you can check out some of the most popular rides with much shorter waits!
Test Track during Extended Evening Hours at EPCOT
Extended Evening Hours were paused during the holiday season, but they’ve RETURNED as of January 3rd. Magic Kingdom had Extended Evening Hours from 11PM-1AM on the 3rd. They also returned to EPCOT on Monday, January 8th. For the month of January, this perk will happen continuously on Monday and Wednesday nights. Make sure to check the calendar on the Disney World website before your trip!
Cinderella Castle at night
We’ll keep you in the loop with more news from Disney World, so stay tuned to DFB! We’ve got the latest tips for your vacation.
Everything You Need to Know About Extended Evening Hours at Animal Kingdom — Click Here!
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
WE KNOW DISNEY.
YOU CAN, TOO.
Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.
Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!
Have you ever made use of Extended Evening Hours? What did you think? Tell us in the comments!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
Great news! Now if Disney would bring back package delivery from in-park purchases to the resorts…. Thank you for the updates!
Most of us who enjoy a trip to WDW don’t stay at deluxe hotels, and the pathetic half hour in the morning doesn’t make up for the loss of the previous hour or two available to ALL resort guests. I hate that Disney no longer treats all resort guests as worthy of some extra magic. Sure, let those who can afford it pay extra for a tour guide, and a deluxe hotel. But everyone who buys a ticket and also stays on site should have access to the extended hours as we did before, especially now that we have to paid huge rates for the formerly free fast pass.
Out of curiosity, how do the Disney cast members know which guests in the park are staying at a Deluxe resort for extended hours if the guest was already in the park prior to close. Do they randomly check people’s reservations who stay past close? Just wondering how it’s managed.
Dang it… I was hoping that this was the announcement of the return of Package Delivery to the resorts.
Hi Melissa! Your MagicBand or MagicMobile will be scanned before you try to get on each ride and will tell them if you have the extended evening hours perk or not.
Do these always go away during holiday season? I’m doing research for Dec. 2024