Are you fan of Extra Magic Hours, or do you tend to avoid them like the plague? MousePlanet staff writer Steve Russo’s article, “Extra Magic Hours,” (May 21, 2010) addressed the topic and the following readers wrote in with their thoughts.
Fred writes:
You said: “If you find that Extra Magic Hours are not for you, one strategy that often works is to hit a park in the morning that had evening Extra Magic Hours the preceding day. There are certainly no guarantees but those parks tend to be a little less busy.”
Seems that was a little thin on commentary, wouldn’t you say? This is a frequent topic for debate in our little circle. Would you claim the same effect for early morning hours in peak season, as for early morning hours in value season? And there’s the other counter strategy – when there is an early morning opening, be at a different park for the rope drop that morning. We’ve gone with both strategies over the years i.e. in value season go for early magic, and in peak season go to a different park against Early Magic.
Yes, perhaps a little thin there. That’s often the dilemma when trying to convey information within a specific word count. Unfortunately, when discussing Disney, there are usually myriad angles, nooks, crannies and alternatives to consider.
You’ve hit on one — the effect that busier seasons have on the use of Extra Magic Hours. I typically visit in off-peak times so my experience is limited but… I would offer the “day after Extra Magic Hours” approach along with your suggestion of a non-Extra Magic Hours park should both work more often than not. As with all things Disney, nothing is guaranteed and “your mileage may vary.”
Thanks for keeping me honest and expanding on the suggestion.
Perry H. writes:
I am not a night person so I greatly enjoy the morning Extra Magical Hours. My family and I get into the park and (particularly at Disneyland) get a few hours of hassle free park enjoyment. By 11 a.m. we are back at the hotel pool until the early evening when we come back for fireworks.
I have enjoyed evening hours particularly when they are very late. When the 11 – 2 a.m. or 12 a.m. – 3 a.m. hours are in effect, the park is much quieter than the 8 p.m. – 11 p.m. time. Granted I have to nap most of the day to stay out until 2 a.m., once a year it is worth it. There is a strange aura in the Magic Kingdom after 1 a.m. that I really enjoy.
Although I agree about charging for evening admission special events, my two favorite experiences at the Magic Kingdom were Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. For Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party we went in early December (3 years in a row) and the weather was perfect, the parks were hardly crowded and the parade was great. We didn’t purchase a day pass for those days since we knew we would get our fill in the evening. My best memories are of those “special” park experiences.
Thanks for your consistently wonderful articles. I’ve been a MousePlanet fan for about two years now. Of all the staff writers, you and Dave Koenig have really given me a greater love and appreciation for my two favorite places, Disney World and Disneyland.
Thanks for those kind words… and for sharing your experiences. It’s appreciated.
Patrick writes:
Thanks for penning the article about Extra Magic Hours. I have never participated in the extra evening hours. But in my experience, the early opening isn’t worth the effort. Disney now has so many on-site resorts, throngs of Disney Resort guests all flock to the same park on early entry days.
Then, as you so accurately pointed out, the early entry park is mobbed for the rest of the day, and many of those early entry guests seem to be very cranky from getting up so early. My wife and I witnessed a man actually choking his young son at the table next to us during lunch at Pecos Bill’s one afternoon. Just as I was about to jump in and intervene, he let go.
When I visit Walt Disney World, I make a point to avoid the park scheduled for early entry that day. For me, it’s been a winning strategy. Although I don’t participate in early entry, I’m glad Disney offers this benefit. It pulls crowds away from the other three parks.
You’re not alone in your views. Thanks for sharing.
Julia S. writes:
Being the kind of family that sleeps in when on vacation, we have taken advantage of Evening Extra Magic Hours. My experience has only been with the Magic Kingdom — for some reason we hit Extra Magic Hours there three times our last trip but we didn’t make hours at any other park. That said, each and every time was a blast! After Wishes finishes up, the majority of folks tend to head up Main Street to exit the park for the day. Avoid that whole area and you’d be amazed at how much less congested every other area of the park soon becomes. Stay past 9:30 and it’s like another world. We literally walked on all the rides. Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Pooh, Snow White and Peter Pan — rides I had never before in my life walked straight on to were open and completely congestion-free. Now, I can see where people with very small children would pass on this opportunity. My kids were 8 and 10 and old enough to handle a late night without melting down. However, if your kids are old enough or you’re traveling sans kids, it’s definitely worth trying!
Bob writes:
My thoughts are that Extra Magic Hours are also age dependent. We’ve been to Disneyland and Walt Disney World numerous times and in my fuzzy memory I only remember taking advantage of Extra Magic Hours a few times. In the last decade we have been to the parks even more than we had in the past but age is also catching up to us. Now we (wife and I) discuss our plans, notice there are Extra Magic Hours the next morning, and think that would be fun, but when morning comes we roll over and get another hour or two of sleep.
It seems like we’re just the opposite. As we get older, we seem to be rising earlier. Such is life.
Mike W. writes:
We used to like the E-Ride nights, despite the extra cost. It let us skip the really crowded days in the Magic Kingdom and ride all our favourites as many times as we wanted. Evening Magic Hours now are just plain crowded with no FastPass available. No thanks. I could make the Early Magic Hours but no one else seems to be able to get up that early so we haven’t managed to try those out yet. We’ve not tried the other hard ticket events so no opinion on those… yet.
Mitch K. writes:
Great input on the extra hours. I had never heard of the Character Caravan but, I’ve only been to Walt Disney World five times over a twelve year period with a four year drought in the middle of that.
Personally, I think the same thing about the crowds in the morning. I’ve always looked to see what park is open early and I go elsewhere. The evening hours I’ve never had too much trouble with. But then again, I don’t have any kids and have the ability to only go when kids are in school and crowds are somewhat smaller.
As for the after hours ticketed events, I have done Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party twice over the years. Kind of crowded but thins out after the early parade. I did the Pirates and Princess Party and found the park to be somewhat empty. It must have had something to do with the time of year I went. Those two events were kind of pricey but I would do them again.
And as for E-Nights, I loved them! It was only 12 or 15 dollars with tax. Not a bad price for an extra three hours of the limited (5000?) attendance. Characters were out looking for people. I came off of Big Thunder and Pluto came out of the photo area and dragged me in for photos. Unfortunately, this was before the photo passes and I didn’t have a camera. And once on Big Thunder we pulled into the station and no one was waiting. The Cast Member asked if anyone wanted off. No one said anything and off we went for another round. There was a bonding among all the riders as if it was our own special party.
I really wish they would bring back the E-Nights.
You’re not alone in missing E-Ride Nights. Thanks for sharing.
Michelle B. writes:
Being neither a morning person, or a night owl (I’m an afternoon girl!), in the approximately 40 days I’ve gone since they implemented Extra Magic Hours, I’ve only done it one evening, and even then I think we only stayed an extra 20 minutes.
As you mentioned, it’s best to avoid parks that have Extra Magic Hours that day, so that’s what we do. And I TOTALLY agree with you about the hard ticket events shortchanging the value of a park ticket. We ran into that twice last October for the Magic Kingdom. I didn’t think about it until one month prior to the trip after all the dining reservations and Wishes dessert reception was booked. We had to reschedule the dessert reception (the cast member never told me the park would close early that day), and it involved having guest services call ME on a weekend as I was unable to rebook the dessert reception on any other night of our trip because they were full. Somehow guest services “magically” got me a different night. Still messed up all of my touring plans that had been so carefully laid out!
Laurie W. writes:
My family and I had never been to a park opening or attended an extra magic hour until last April. When my husband is on vacation, the last thing he wants to do is wake up early. However, when I am at Walt Disney World I just can’t sleep in. I lie there thinking about all that magic and I just want to jump up! However, last April we were only there for two days and I talked my husband into getting up early enough to catch the bus to Magic Kingdom for an extra magic hour.
We got there in time to see the opening ceremony. It was great! We had our three children with us. Our youngest was two at the time. It was great not to have to wait in lines for all the Fantasyland rides! Within that hour, we rode Dumbo, Peter Pan (twice), Winnie-the-Pooh (twice), Tea Cups (twice), and rode the Indy Cars. We always ignore that ride because the line seems like it takes so long. We then made our way to Belle’s Storytime (the first one of the day). While we sat and waited for Belle, my husband said I am so glad you talked us into getting here early. This has been a great start to the day!
We have not experienced Extra Magic Hours in the evening yet, but come July we will! My son is now 13 and wants to stay in Epcot until midnight! He also wants to stay in Magic Kingdom until 2 a.m.! We will have to see how that goes! I just can’t see myself feeling the “magic” at 1 a.m. on Splash Mountain, but you never know… the pixie dust might still be in the air! I will let you know how it goes!
Thanks, Steve! As always, you have presented a great article!
