Walt Disney World has prolonged hours on the calendar for April 2023 at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom in the course of the peak spring break season. This submit covers the adjustments plus zig after they zag technique for seeing Fantasmic and extra.
We’ll begin with the newest launch of latest working schedules. All 4 theme parks have had hours added to DisneyWorld.com’s park hours, and the present calendar now runs by way of the tip of May 2023. Here are the hours for the newly-added dates throughout Memorial Day weekend:
- Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 10 pm
- EPCOT: 9 am to 9 pm
- Hollywood Studios: 8:30 am to 9 pm
- Animal Kingdom: 9 am to 7 pm
- Typhoon Lagoon: 10 am to five pm
- Disney Springs: 10 am to 11 pm (11:30 pm on Fridays & Saturdays)
As a reminder, Walt Disney World’s regular apply is to launch boilerplate or placeholder hours earlier than extending these based mostly on attendance and resort occupancy projections. With that mentioned, these customary hours now usually find yourself additionally being the ultimate ones throughout low to reasonably busy dates. To that time, anticipate these to be the precise hours for a lot of May 2023–maybe except Memorial Day weekend.
In addition to those newly added hours, Walt Disney World has additionally prolonged park hours all through April 2023. For essentially the most half, these are the identical extensions that’ve been occurring for the final yr or so. As mentioned in our Spring Break 2023 Crowd Calendar for Walt Disney World, lots of the extensions are occurring in the course of the busiest stretch of the yr.
As all the time, leveraging Early Entry and nighttime hours or Genie+ and Lightning Lanes will make beating the crowds comparatively simple–even throughout a busier month like April. We spent intensive time within the parks final week throughout Orange County’s spring break, and have been nonetheless in a position to accomplish lots by using savvy technique. The identical will undoubtedly maintain true for the rest of this month and April 2023.
Anyway, on with the extensions…
Going ahead, Magic Kingdom will keep open for one additional hour–till 11:00 pm–by way of at the least April 29, 2023.
This extension has been par for the course throughout spring break and different durations of heavy crowds. There are solely two exceptions to this: March 20 and March 27. Both of these are After Hours at Magic Kingdom occasion dates, and the park is open from 8 am till 10 pm on these two dates. Unlike throughout MNSSHP and MVMCP, we do not advocate focusing on these earlier closings.
It’s not sufficient to maneuver the needle on attendance ranges, and wait instances don’t drop on the finish of the evening on account of the particular occasion mix-in. We have had nice success with Magic Kingdom precise wait instances being approach decrease than what’s posted throughout and after the fireworks on 9 am to 11 pm days, and also you lose that on the After Hours dates.
Another calendar replace for Magic Kingdom is that TRON Lightcycle Run has formally tender opened as of immediately (March 20, 2023). It will proceed working in tender opening mode by way of April 2, earlier than formally opening on April 4, 2023. (It is not going to function on April 3.)
See our How to Ride TRON Lightcycle Run & Virtual Queue Strategy Guide for the whole lot it is advisable know for efficiently scoring boarding teams or shopping for Individual Lightning Lane entry. (Also be aware that the curler coaster may have restricted hours in the course of the tender opening window.)
Animal Kingdom has had some–however not all–of its hours prolonged. As famous above, the conventional hours for Animal Kingdom are 9 am to 7 pm. Extensions are as follows:
- April 1-16, 21-23, 28-29: 8 am to eight pm
- April 17-20, 24-27: 8 am to 7 pm
Basically, extensions the primary half of the month after which on Fridays by way of Sundays thereafter. Pretty according to what we’ve been seeing for Animal Kingdom the final a number of months.
Hours have additionally been prolonged at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and are actually 8:30 am till 9:30 pm by way of April 29, 2023. (For some cause, DHS is listed as opening at 9 am on April 13 and 16. It’s troublesome to inform whether or not that’s when the park will truly open, or if a mistake was made when posting the calendar. UPDATE: It’s possible as a result of runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend.)
Although it’s essentially the most irritating park in the course of the center of the day, DHS stays doable with Early Entry (see our technique for that) and/or by staying late. Focus on characters, stage reveals, and eating from round 10 am till 5 pm and you have to be in good condition.
Finally, one other important programming be aware is that Walt Disney World has added second showtimes of Fantasmic between now and April 22, 2023. Through that date, Fantasmic is scheduled for 8:30 pm and 10 pm. After that date, Fantasmic will probably be proven as soon as nightly, at 9 pm.
Historically, it’s not unusual for one of many nighttime spectaculars at Disney’s Hollywood Studios to happen at park closing or half-hour after. This permits Disney to successfully lengthen the closing time by an hour or extra (given the period of Fantasmic and longer time it takes to clear the park after it ends) however with out working rides throughout that point.
It’s a savvy technique and one which additionally permits Walt Disney World to supply extra ADRs, which is revenue-generating upside that’s additionally good for friends for need to eat late and couldn’t discover reservations earlier.
We’ve carried out Fantasmic a number of instances throughout Spring Break 2023, and managed to see the second present from spectacular seats with out ever arriving greater than 5 minutes prematurely of showtime. Note that this was the case even on evenings when the primary efficiency was fairly busy and seats stuffed up half-hour earlier than showtime (bulletins performed that solely restricted views have been out there).
Conversely, the ten pm performances of Fantasmic on these very same evenings had a number of total sections that went unfilled. I used to be in a position to snag the third row of an ideal part at (actually) 9:58 pm on evening on a ten/10 crowd stage day. Expect comparable success with these second showtimes, even in the course of the peak week of Easter.
If you’re attempting to perform as a lot as potential, we’d advocate doing sights till absolutely the final minute, after which racing to the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater proper earlier than the clock strikes 10 pm. We’ve been in a position to do Slinky Dog Dash and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance through standby with precise wait instances of below 25 minutes with this strategy.
This is definitely what we’ve been doing for the reason that second showtime of Fantasmic moved to half-hour after park closing. The solely draw back is that it’s dangerous, particularly for those who’re lining up for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at 9 pm or later–or doing something proper earlier than park closing. We’ve missed the beginning of Fantasmic by reducing it too shut. No huge deal to us, as we’ve seen the brand new model of the present a number of instances already. Obviously, your circumstances in all probability differ.
Another choice is the Fantasmic Dining Package. This is just about the alternative of the above suggestion, as you’re paying a premium for the security web or safety of a assured (good) seat. Although we’re risk-takers, that’s not going to be the perfect technique for first-timers or rare guests. For what it’s value, we extremely advocate reserving the most cost-effective Fantasmic Dining Package and guaranteeing your self an ideal seat that approach!
Finally, you possibly can seek the advice of our Viewing Guide for Fantasmic at Walt Disney World for all of our tricks to get the very best seats with out paying additional for the bundle. That additionally covers which sections are the very best for individuals who are very specific about having the optimum view.
Ultimately, Walt Disney World extending park hours and including second showtimes of Fantasmic for Spring Break 2023 is predicted however nonetheless nice information, with no actual draw back. This makes strategizing for Disney’s Hollywood Studios simpler, and needs to be a aid for these of you who don’t need to buy Fantasmic Dining Packages.
While that’s a pleasant security web or insurance coverage coverage, it’s principally pointless on regular nights when there are two performances of Fantasmic. Beyond that, this makes it simpler to perform headliners within the night hours, making it much less ‘essential’ to buy the Genie+ service at DHS.
As all the time, the sooner opening instances at Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom make it simpler to beat crowds at these parks. There’s an enormous benefit to early risers, and savvy technique or data of how you can leverage Genie+ and Lightning Lanes generally is a recreation changer.
To that finish, take a look at our Genie+ v. Savvy Strategy at Walt Disney World, which is the results of intensive ‘testing’ to find out the very best and worst methods to beat the crowds. Magic Kingdom stays the one park the place we’d actually advocate buying the Genie+ service, because it’s troublesome to beat the strains at each attraction with out it (and it provides much more worth/utility at Magic Kingdom than another park).
Ultimately, it’ll be fascinating to see how dangerous crowds find yourself being in April 2023, and what occurs after the spring break season ends within the ultimate third of the month. While the park opening instances are superb (save for Magic Kingdom on 9 am days), our hope is that Walt Disney World will get again to later closing instances for the summer season.
As for subsequent month, we’re happy to lastly have the extensions. Even although these are primarily a continuation of the established order, they’re good to see. All in all, we’re optimistic about visiting Walt Disney World over the course of the following few months. Even although attendance continues to be elevated, there are nonetheless loads of choices for beating the crowds in any respect 4 parks. It simply requires savvy technique (or shopping for Genie+, within the case of Magic Kingdom).
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Learn about lodges on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To lower your expenses on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets submit. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips submit takes a novel have a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the very best place to start out is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for the whole lot it is advisable know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you consider Walt Disney World’s working hours for the remainder of this month by way of late April 2023? Think this schedule is cheap? Do you suppose Magic Kingdom needs to be open earlier and/or later? What has been your expertise with crowds and wait instances? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions we can assist you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!