Disney World Extended Evening Hours Guide

For the last few years guests have been able to stay late in the Walt Disney World theme parks by using Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. What does it mean and who can benefit? We’ll break it all down for you.

In this guide, we will explain everything you need to know about Extended Evening Hours including how it works, which hotels participate in extended evening hours, which attractions are open and how to take best advantage of your time there.

Before we get started, don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Weekly E-Mail Newsletter. There we bring you the latest updates on the parks as well as vacation planning tips. You can sign up here: Join our E-Mail Newsletter!

(UPDATE) Extended Evening Hours Continuing Throughout All of 2025

Disney has just announced that its Extended Evening Theme Park Hours perk is being extended to select Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests for the entire 2025 year.

Originally, Extended Evening Theme Park Hours was supposed to only stick around through the end of the 50th Anniversary celebration in 2022, but every year since, they have continued bringing it back, and we now know that guests can use it at least through the end of 2025.

Recently Disney also announced that it was extending Early Theme Park Entry for guests who want to get to the parks early, so it was only a matter of time before they also announced Extended Evening Hours were sticking around too.

We think they made the right choice as Extended Evening Hours give guests at Deluxe Resorts a huge advantage, being able to ride the attractions with low wait times.

(UPDATE) Extended Evening Hours Returning to Disney’s Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

Extended Evening Hours at the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios have been on hold since September, but that is changing starting in January 2025 as Disney is bringing it back to both parks.

Extended Evening Hours will be available at Disney’s Magic Kingdom starting on January 8, 2025 from 9:00 pm to 11:00 and it looks like guests will be able to use it for the foreseeable future after that.

The reason for this change is simple. During the fall and holiday months Disney’s Magic Kingdom was/is hosting Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. When they are running, it’s natural for Extended Evening Hours to stop for a time and move to another park instead, which is exactly what happened.

It’s also returning to to Disney’s Hollywood Studios on January 3, 2025 from 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm.

It’s already bene confirmed that Extended Evening Hours will stick around past January and at least into the spring when the crowd levels are especially high. So if you are going during that time you should have ample opportunity to take advantage.

Stay tuned for more updates to Extended Evening Hours, including whether more Hollywood Studios dates are eventually added, as well as dates to the other parks. And keep reading down below for all the details about this event.

When Did Extended Evening Hours Start?

Extended Evening Hours started on October 4, 2021, and are now available to guests. The schedules are updated on a regular basis on the Walt Disney World website and it typically runs for 2 hours after the regular theme park closing time on a given day.

Which Parks are Open and When?

Different from Early Theme Park Entry, Extended Evening Hours is not in every park, and not every night of the week. It’s similar to the old Extra Magic Hours with each park selected on certain nights.

• There are 4 participating Walt Disney World theme parks at this time: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom all have any Extended Evening Hours dates scheduled at this time.
• Disney’s Magic Kingdom has Extended Evening Hours on Wednesdays, and EPCOT on Mondays.
• Hollywood Studios is on Fridays, and the Animal Kingdom is on Wednesdays.
• At times the days do change so don’t assume those are always the days they are held. When Hollywood Studios is running the dates are more sporadic without a set weekly schedule. Check the official schedule to make sure you have the dates right.
• On those nights, those parks are open 2 hours later than the listed closing time.

So far on the schedule, the participating theme parks are:

• Disney’s Magic Kingdom – on most Wednesdays (some other weekdays at times), for 2 Hours after park closing time.
  • January 8, 15, 22 (9:00 pm to 11:00 pm)
  • February 5, 12 (9:00 pm to 11:00 pm)
• EPCOT – on most Mondays, for 2 Hours after park closing time
  • December 2, 9, 16, 23 (9:00 pm to 11:00 pm)
  • January 6, 13, 20, 27 (9:00 pm to 11:00 pm)
  • February 10 (9:00 pm to 11:00 pm)
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios – for 2 Hours after park closing time.
  • January 3 (9:00 pm to 11:00 pm)
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom – for 2 Hours after park closing time.
  • December 4, 11, 18, 25 (6:00 pm to 8:00 pm or 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm)
  • January 1, 29 (6:00 pm to 8:00 pm)
  • February 3 (6:00 pm to 8:00 pm)

Right now each of those parks is only selected once per week (at least most of the time). Each park is open for an extra 2 hours which is a nice bonus for Deluxe Resort guests and lets you get all your favorite attractions done with greatly reduced wait times.

Check the Walt Disney World website for the latest schedules and times.

How Does it Work?

In order to access the Extended Evening Hours, guests will need a valid ticket or pass and a theme park reservation for the same park on the same day. You will also need to use your MagicBand, Disney MagicMobile pass, or Key to the World to prove which resort you are staying at.

Guests can enter with an Annual Pass (granted they are staying at a Deluxe Resort) or with the Park Hopper option as long as they already entered the park where they had a reservation earlier in the day.

It’s important to note that Disney says that “select attractions” are running during Extended Evening Hours. While not every single attraction is open, most of the popular E-Ticket rides are available.

Merchandise, as well as food and beverage locations, are also running during Extended Evening Hours, though it’s a limited number of dining locations and not all of them are open.

Park Hopping is also possible with Extended Evening Hours, so you can be at another park earlier in the day or evening and then head over to either EPCOT or the Magic Kingdom to enjoy the extra time. Just keep in mind that you need to have entered the park where you made your original park pass reservation before park hopping to a second park.

Which Hotels Qualify for Extended Evening Hours?

Guests who want to take advantage of the Extended Evening Hours perk must be staying at one of the following hotels:

• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House
• Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Beach Club Resort
• Disney’s Beach Club Villas
• Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
• Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
• Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Copper Creek Villas & Cabins Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Old Key West Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
• Disney’s Riviera Resort
• Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
• Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
• Shades of Green Resort

Extended Evening Hours are NOT available to guests staying at any of the Walt Disney World Moderate or Value Resorts.

Attractions Open for Extended Evening Hours

One of the best advantages of being in the Disney theme parks for Extended Evening Hours is getting to ride your favorite attractions with shorter-than-usual wait times.

Here is the full list of attractions that are running in each Disney World park during Extended Evening Hours:

Magic Kingdom:

• “it’s a small world”
• Astro Orbiter
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Country Bear Jamboree
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Haunted Mansion
• Mad Tea Party
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain
• Swiss Family Treehouse
• The Barnstormer
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• TRON Lightcycle Run
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
• Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room

In total there are 23 attractions open at the Magic Kingdom during Extended Evening Hours with most of the best attractions available such as Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

EPCOT:

• Frozen Ever After
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
• Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana
• Mission: SPACE
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Soarin’ Around the World
• Spaceship Earth
• Test Track
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends

There are 9 attractions open at EPCOT during Extended Evening Hours including favorites such as Test Track, Soarin’ Around the World, and Frozen Ever After.

Hollywood Studios:

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (not currently included)
• Toy Story Mania!
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

There are 9 attractions open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios during Extended Evening Hours including Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash, and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway.

Animal Kingdom:

• Avatar Flight of Passage
• DINOSAUR
• Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
• It’s Tough to be a Bug!
• Na’vi River Journey
• TriceraTop Spin

FAQs

Even though it’s a watered-down version of Extra Magic Hours, at least Disney is doing something to make Disney World Resort guests feel special (even if it only is the Deluxe Resort guests in this case).

We’ll keep you updated as soon as Disney makes any changes to this new program. Stay tuned…

If you are going to Disney World soon, make sure to read our Disney World Planning Guide for all the tips and info you will need to cover everything! Also, check out our Disney World Crowd Calendar so you know when the best time to visit is!

Your Thoughts

I want to know what you think about the Extended Evening Hours at Walt Disney World…

• Do you think this is a good addition?
• What benefits would you like to see with it?

Let us know in the comments section below!

If you enjoyed this article, as always I appreciate it if you’d share it with others via social media.  I work hard at making this website into a useful resource for you and your family to plan your visit to the Disney Parks and I hope it can help you! Thanks 🙂