Disney started doing this pre-COVID with the Early Morning Magic and After Hours events. It was essentially selling three types of admission to MK and DHS. I am honestly surprised we have not seen the return of Early Morning Magic.I think it's pretty clear they're going to make all the Magic Kingdom nights special events that you pay for and that they're going to increase the number of these events. This is the first step toward separate morning and evening passes as a way of effectively doubling park revenue at the busiest parks, with Magic Kingdom first to roll this change out. Oof course, they'd be happy to sell an all-day pass as well.
Shifting the extended hours to Animal Kingdom still allows them to offer a perk to deluxe resort guests, otherwise the line between deluxe and moderate would probably not be enough to warrant the price difference for some guests.
The hours are also comical. EEH at AK makes AK close at the same time as DHS (non-Jollywood Nights) which is the earliest closing time of all the gates. Sure it's extended for AK, but not really late.Sorry to all the AK fans out there , and don't get me wrong , I love AK too , but AK simply doesn't have enough attractions that get me excited for EEH there . It's better than nothing but if it's offered during our trip we will probably pass on it .
I may be in the minority, but my family absolutely loved the early morning magic and are desperately hoping it returns. We could ride everything in TS land multiple times, be first in line for Tower and RnR, then casually head to breakfast while the crowds stream in. With Genie+ and stacking, we could, in theory, be completely done with HS by 11am, spend a day at a pool, water park, or Disney Springs, and still have a full day of rides stacked for an evening at a different park.Disney started doing this pre-COVID with the Early Morning Magic and After Hours events. It was essentially selling three types of admission to MK and DHS. I am honestly surprised we have not seen the return of Early Morning Magic.
I do believe the "last minute" shift in hours is to force deluxe resort guests to purchase separate ticketed events in order to have late night access to highly desirable parks.
sounds like the old school Extra Magic Hours.I may be in the minority, but my family absolutely loved the early morning magic and are desperately hoping it returns. We could ride everything in TS land multiple times, be first in line for Tower and RnR, then casually head to breakfast while the crowds stream in. With Genie+ and stacking, we could, in theory, be completely done with HS by 11am, spend a day at a pool, water park, or Disney Springs, and still have a full day of rides stacked for an evening at a different park.
We always say we’re going to use the extended evening hours and then rarely do so! Once we’re back in the room after, say 7:00, we’re back in the room .Am I mad? no because we have never used Extended Evening hours in the 14 years we've been going to Disney and we always stay in a Deluxe Resort or Villa. I'm way too tired at 9 pm to be heading to the parks! lol.
But I totally understand why you would be upset about this. I guess if the main reason you booked a Deluxe resort was for this benefit, maybe change your resort to a moderate? I don't know, I wish I had the answer!
and agree with SkyGuy above here - I do wish they would bring back Early Morning magic. That was the best!
Hours are only listed thru 12/11 so far on the app. We're there 12/9-12/16. Epcot extended hours on the Monday 12/11. We'll see if anything else pops up on Wednesday or Thursday...Still no word for mid-December? One Epcot EEH for the whole week. The whole 9 days we are there
We have family joining us. Decided to buy Jollywood Nights tickets for everyone. Now I don’t want to do that and encourage WDW to go back on their word about EEH thru 2023/24 and end up selling more upgrade tickets because of that. I’d buy JN tickets in addition to EEH - I don’t want them thinking we bought because they took EEH away
Yep, all about the $$$$.OK , but they are still doing 2 parks per week with EEH and they know MK is the most popular park for this benefit so why take that benefit away from deluxe resort guests who want this resort specific perk ? MK is open for party nights that bring in extra $$$ , they won't sacrifice 1 party date for downtime or maintenance . Besides if an attraction (or attractions) needs immediate maintenance they could close them and keep the rest of the park open for EEH . It was open for EEH at the beginning of the MNSSHP dates this year for a month and a half before disappearing , and last year was available for the whole party season . It appears Disney is continuing to eliminate or reduce guest perks and benefits while continuing to raise prices , up charge for every little thing they can , and adding more and more after hours events and parties at premium prices .
Yeah it stinks. Just one night - Epcot on Monday. Nothing else. Not even AK.OK , but they are still doing 2 parks per week with EEH…
Looks like they have added EPCOT on Thursday 12/14. We are there the 10th-17th and were really hoping for 1 MK night. Seems like that won't be the case.Yeah it stinks. Just one night - Epcot on Monday. Nothing else. Not even AK.
We have 9 days - Dec 15 to 23. Last year there were 3 EEHs over that span. 3 different nights at 3 different parks, confirmed Sept 8th. They also confirmed EEH would continue through 2023 and 2024 as well. This year crickets
It's just an educated guess, as you requested, but I'll predict two Epcot nights, Monday and either Wednesday or Thursday.Any thoughts on what EEH might be for 18th - 22nd Dec? We will be at our 60 days for dining reservations before these come up on the app for park hours but it would be useful to factor that into our planning. Just wondered what the educated guess might be?