How to Work WDW's Extra Magic Hours
Walt Disney World: If you are staying on-site at Disney World, 'Magic Hours' early entry is great. But if you are staying off-site, Kevin Baxter offers his tips for avoiding the Magic Hours crowds, and getting the most from your stay.
Now that WDW has FINALLY reinstated their early entry at the parks (including AK this time!) I figured we should probably come up with a plan for park guests as to which park to visit on which days. Here is the current Magic Hour schedule:
Sunday - MAGIC KINGDOM
Monday - ANIMAL KINGDOM
Tuesday - DISNEY/MGM
Wednesday - EPCOT
Thursday - MAGIC KINGDOM
Friday - ANIMAL KINGDOM
Saturday - DISNEY/MGM
So, if you are staying offsite, meaning NOT in a WDW hotel, then you need to avoid the park with the Magic Hour day LIKE THE PLAGUE! Seriously. Those parks are like Roach Motels. Guests get in, but they don't get out. So which parks are the best?
Well, there are basically four types of people who visit WDW. The first type, the Romantics, are those who visit the parks in order of how much they like them. MK's Number One attendance status should immediately tell you that it is very busy on Mondays, which is usually the first day in a tourist's week. Tuesdays also. Now Epcot's attendance might tell you that it is the second-favorite, but it isn't. The two-day visits contribute greatly to its numbers. MGM and AK are actually neck-and-neck for second-favorite status, but AK is newer so it tends to get the nod. Epcot tends to come in last, but most trips still end on yet another day in MK, so weekends aren't good ideas there.
The second group, the History Buffs, likes to visit the parks in order of their births. So they go MK-Epcot-MGM-AK. How they fill out the rest of their week is beyond me.
Then there is the third type, the Clueless. They just randomly pick, or have the Magic Hours pick for them. While the randomly Clueless are not high in number, the MH Clueless make up a huge portion of the people in this group, and they will be the biggest group in the Magic Hour park. They just head to whatever park is the MH park and stay all day. Spending the vast majority of it in lines.
The fourth group is known as the Smarties. They consider the other three groups before deciding where to visit on each day. The majority of this group stays in non-WDW hotels, so Magic Hour is nothing but a curse to them. Since I am usually an offsite Smartie, here is where I would plan on going:
Sunday - EPCOT
Monday - EPCOT, possibly DISNEY/MGM
Tuesday - ANIMAL KINGDOM
Wednesday - MAGIC KINGDOM, ANIMAL KINGDOM
Thursday - DISNEY/MGM
Friday - MAGIC KINGDOM, EPCOT, DISNEY/MGM
Saturday - EPCOT
Now if you are a Smartie staying onsite, you would head straight to the Magic Hour park before the Magic Hour begins. You would race around like mad getting as much done as possible. Then you would sit down somewhere nice and eat and then GET OUT OF THAT FREAKIN' PARK! Unless you are safe in a restaurant, you should be out of the Magic Hour park by noon, at the latest. Even if the lines seem okay, get out! Unless you are walking right onto every ride, you could be doing better in almost every other WDW park. Use the Smartie list to choose which park you should make your move to.
Has anyone spent a week at the parks since the Magic Hours have been started? Share your experience as well as some practical advice.
Will ALL the attractions be open during the Magic Hour?
A few years back, I went to the MK for its early opening.
The only E ride open was Space Mountain. Half the park was closed. We only had access to Main Street Futureland and Fantasyland. Everything else was roped off until normal opening. Very disappointing and a waste of time. I,m on vacation, who wants to get up that early for nothing.
When we went in Novemeber of last year, we made a concerted effort to avoid Magic hour days, and made a choice to see MK last. We went to MGM on Monday, Animal Kingdom and EPCOT on Tuesday, and Magic Kingdom and EPCOT on Wednesday. Again, we went in the middle of November, so the parks weren't that crowded, and completing the four park in 3 days wasn't that much of a stretch a fourth day would probably be needed in peak season. We also maximized our days by checking operating hours, and avoiding MK when Spectromagic was running.
I think it's really important to do your research before you go, and know what's going on each day in every park. The best way to avoid crowds is to go on a day when the least number of special events and parades are going on, unless you have a huge desire to see these events. Animal Kingdom is a nice park, but it's always the first to close, so I would suggest going to either Magic Kingdom or EPCOT's World Showcase after AK closes. Always be aware of park times, and if you finish a park early, you can get a head start on another park by hopping to it at the end of the day(two years ago, we hopped from EPCOT to MK after we finished the park and rode three rides(Buzz, AE, and SM) in the hour before the park closed while most guests were watching Spectromagic).
From Anonymous
Posted February 4, 2003 at 11:53 AM
Our last visit tp WDW, we stayed onsite (at a really great rate), and did just like you said; we got up early, ate something light(we always rent a fridge and buy food at the grocery) and took off for the MH park. Because we drove instead of taking the bus,we got to the gate way ahead of the crowd and were there in front of everyone else at opening. We already had a plan mapped out of must-see rides and ran around like crazy and rode them all. We had almost no line time and got to do everything we wanted. Then we sat down for a nice lunch and watched everyone else scurry like rats (no pun intended). Incidentally, although all the guide books say to make reservations for meals way in advance, the only meals we ever have had to reserve for were character meals. And that we got the night before we wanted it. Every other restaurant we just either walked in or called the reservation number that morning. We had a fabulous week and saw everything. We would spend the hot afternoons in the pool and take a nap, and then get up and got back for a more leisurely stroll around, staying, of course for the fireworks! It worked for us,try it and see.
From Anonymous
Posted February 4, 2003 at 1:32 PM
Even when staying onsite, we always avoid the early-entry park. It just never seems worth the hassle, because so many people stay onsite at WDW and they ALL seem to be in the park during that hour. Instead, we enjoy our extra hour of sleep and arrive at one of the other, quieter parks right when it opens.
Slightly off-topic, the best early-entry deal we've experienced was at Universal in May 2000. People with 3-day passes were allowed into the park an hour early. (I don't think they're still doing this.)
It was like having our very own, personal theme park. For that hour we could walk on to ANYTHING.
Men in Black was brand new, so one morning we rode it 5 times in a row, walking straight onto a ride car every time. After that we did Jaws and then rode Earthquake and Kong all alone, just the two of us. Then we rode the Woody Woodpecker coaster about 5 or 6 times, again just the two of us, without ever getting out of our seats. All that took just over an hour!
Same thing at Islands of Adventure - and it was so magical exploring the park when it was almost completely empty, but with every ride up and running. (This brings up one flaw with Spiderman, that the plot is almost entirely explained in the preshow. Based on our first visit, we thought the ride was good, but very bizarre and confusing, with really no story or plot. And we wondered what the heck the Statue of Liberty was doing in the ride. We had never waited in line for more than a few minutes, and didn't know there was a big video preshow explaining what was going on.)
- Joy
Now i havent stayed on site since the resumption of EE since it was brought back. But we ALWAYS used EE at MGM/MK and usually stayed at the park most of the day and had no trouble at all with lines. But we went in early Dec. when lines werent a problem so i think alot has to do with what time of the year you decide to go, which is much more important than EE oe using fastpass's.
From Anonymous
Posted February 4, 2003 at 6:35 PM
never had any problems with wdw ee or no ee running around like crazy to get on rides?!?! sounds ludicrous wait for parades and ride when there are no lines never had a problem in the 30 years they have been open
I don't know how people could have stayed at the MH parks and NOT have problems. We went in September, one of the slowest months, and the EE parks turned into nightmares right around 11am. One time we were sitting eating at Tony's Town Square and we could see the mob filing in. But then again, I consider it a nightmare if there are too many people ANYWHERE. The lines may not be too long, but that don't mean I like bumping into other tourists all day either.
As for what is open during the MH hours. The list changes, but usually the biggies are open. Except in MK, where there aren't a lot of biggies. But Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are both usually open with all rides working. Sure, they aren't all E-tickets, but nothing beats getting on Peter Pan or Winnie the Pooh or Buzz Lightyear without a line, which is almost impossible to do the rest of the day. Magic Hours are just a little extra work early in the day so you can spend the rest of the day in a leisurely fashion.
I like having the extra hour. When I head down to Orlando, I usually pay the money to stay on WDW Property. Staying on property is fun, and you don't have to worry about driving!
The park with the extra hour does get crowded, but if you get there right when it opens for the extra hour, you can hit most of the major attractions before the park opens.
The last time I did this (November 2002) we were able to ride space mountain, buzz lighyear, Splash Mountain, and some of the other smaller rides before the rest of the world was allowed in the park. It did get crowded during the day, so we headed over to MGM, where it was nice.
I like having the extra hour. You can ride what you want, then head over to MGM for real fun, that way everyone else is trying to get in to the MK.
I wish Universal would do this, it would be an added bonus for annual passholders!
Universal does have a program for on-site guests. You can use your room key for unlimited Universal Express access. That's 10 times better than the magic hour.
Plus, getting to any park when it first opens will allow you to avoid the crowds, magic hour or not. If you're staying on site, it's always a good idea to take advantage of the perks since you're paying more to stay on site. The magic hour is a good program, but it does cause the magic hour parks to crowd once the open to off-site guests. So as said many time before, if you're on-site, take advantage of the magic hour park, and leave once the park becomes crowded, and if you're off-site, avoid magic hour parks at all cost.
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