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NEW Extra EXTRA Magic Hours Coming to Walt Disney World

If you’ve ever stayed at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel, you probably know about Extra Magic Hours. Extra Magic Hours (EMH) are just one of the benefits of staying on Disney property. EMH are a HUGE advantage for guests who want to minimize their time waiting in lines. With regular Extra Magic Hours, there are certain days each week when Disney resort guests can enter the EMH park one hour earlier than all other guests. Alternatively, EMH may mean staying up to three hours later than all non-resort guests at the EMH park.

This fall, Disney is taking Extra Magic Hours to a whole new level with Extra EXTRA Magic Hours!

Disney Extra Extra Magic Hours — Photo: Disney Parks

DAILY Extra Magic Hours

Beginning August 29, 2019 and running through November 2, 2019, Disney will begin offering DAILY Extra Extra Magic Hours. Extra Extra Magic Hours (EEMH) will be offered in three of the four theme parks at Walt Disney World.

Magic Kingdom: Extra Extra Magic Hours will happen every day from 7 am to 8 am at the Magic Kingdom for resort guests. Just like with regular Extra Magic Hours, not all attractions are open during Extra Extra Magic Hours. Extra Magic Hours and Extra Extra Magic Hours feature the same attractions–favorite rides in both Tomorrowland and Fantasyland.

Disney's Magic Kingdom Disney vacation planning Disney trip planning tips top reasons to visit Disney Extra Extra Magic Hours — It’s a beautiful day to be at the Magic Kingdom! Let’s pretend the crowds will be this light ALL DAY! (Photo: Brooke Hudson)

Animal Kingdom: Extra Extra Magic Hours will happen every day from 7 am to 8 am at the Animal Kingdom. Pandora – The World of Avatar attractions ARE included. Also included are other attractions throughout Animal Kingdom. (The same attractions currently open during regular Extra Magic Hours).

Disney's Animal Kingdom Extra Extra Magic Hours — Pandora – World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Photo: Disney PhotoPass)

Hollywood Studios: Extra Extra Magic Hours will happen every day from 6 am to 9 am (That’s THREE HOURS PEOPLE!!!). The EEMH WILL include Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Toy Story Land and select other attractions. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and its experiences are subject to capacity. NOTE: From August 29 – 31, Disney’s Hollywood Studios will open at 6 am to ALL guests, not just resort guests. The Extra Extra Magic Hours for Hollywood Studios for Resort Guests will begin September 1.

Disney Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run Extra Extra Magic Hours — Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Millennium Falcon – Smuggler’s Run (Photo: Disney Parks)

Wait, What About Epcot?

Epcot absorbs crowds better than any of the other three theme parks. In addition, Extra Magic Hours are not as necessary or popular at Epcot as they are at the other three parks. Also, at Epcot, Future World opens at 9 am (usually) and then World Showcase opens at 11 am. Morning Extra Magic Hours may frustrate Epcot visitors that wanted to visit World Showcase during EMH but World Showcase is not part of morning EMH.

Epcot will continue to have regular Extra Magic Hours on select days, just like it does now. Epcot will NOT be getting Extra Extra Magic Hours. Note: Of course this policy COULD change later in the summer, but I don’t expect it to.

Also, keep in mind that the popular Epcot Food and Wine Festival will be running during this time, and that’s the big attraction at Epcot in the fall. Opening at 7 am wouldn’t be very beneficial as I don’t think they want to open all those wine and food kiosks that early! 😉

Disney Epcot Extra Extra Magic Hours — Epcot! (Photo: Disney PhotoPass)

Why?

Disney has introduced these new Extra Extra Magic Hours in anticipation of record crowd levels this fall. With the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios coming August 29, interest in a Walt Disney World vacation has never been higher! Disney is anticipating very high guest demand for its most popular attractions throughout Walt Disney World, but most especially at Hollywood Studios, for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

Disney is trying to ensure the satisfaction of resort guests by guaranteeing them more opportunities to access the parks with smaller crowds, before the parks open to the public each day. Theoretically, if guests are early risers and willing to be up and at the parks early in the morning, they are more likely to be able to visit more of the attractions they’ll want to visit.

This policy also helps add more value to staying on Disney property. Disney is always looking for ways to get more guests to stay on Disney property and these new Extra Extra Magic Hours are a great step in that direction. All those extra available hours EVERY DAY add a lot of value to your theme park tickets!

The Fine Print

Extra Extra Magic Hours require a valid theme park admission and hotel ID. Note: If you are using your Magic Bands as your room keys and your theme park tickets, your Magic Band will serve as both theme park admission and hotel ID.

If you do NOT have the Park Hopper or Park Hopper Plus option on your tickets, you will be spending the day in whichever park you choose for Extra Extra Magic Hours. In other words, if you DON’T have Park Hopper, and start your day at 6 am at Hollywood Studios, you will be in Hollywood Studios for the entire day (unless you leave the park and go back to your resort, of course). You will NOT be able to visit a different park after Extra Extra Magic Hours are over.

If you DO Have Park Hopper, you can “hop” to any other park you choose throughout the day, regardless of where you go for Extra Extra Magic Hours.

All Attractions are NOT Part of Extra Extra Magic

Not all Walt Disney World attractions are available with Extra Magic Hours or Extra Extra Magic Hours. Park hours and participating attractions for Extra Magic Hours or Extra Extra Magic Hours are subject to change without notice. All participating attractions and experiences are subject to capacity limitations and cancellation.

Fast Passes are NOT available during Extra Magic Hours or Extra Extra Magic Hours.

Will Extra Extra Magic Hours Be Extended After November 2?

I don’t know. This is the first time Disney has offered DAILY extended hours for resort guests. Obviously, this will significantly impact Disney’s daily operating costs–a lot will depend on how successful this program is during its initial offering. Guest response and feedback will also significantly impact whether Disney either extends Extra Extra Magic Hours, or ever offers it again during busy periods.

Disney's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Extra Extra Magic Hours — Disney’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Is there anything better than visiting your favorite attractions with lighter crowds and shorter lines? (Photo Credit: Disney Parks)

If it has a major impact on guest satisfaction and crowd flow AND they see profits from people staying longer in the parks and spending more money, I think its very likely that we could see something like this again in the future.

Until Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is actually open, and we see the way Disney manages crowds in and around that new “Land”, it’s difficult to anticipate WHAT will happen from a crowd flow capacity in ALL the parks, once Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is finally open.

What do YOU think?

What do you think of this new policy? As someone who almost always stays on property, I’m pretty excited! We are early risers on vacation, and always take advantage of EMH. However, we often park hop later in the day if the “chosen” park gets too crowded. It will be interesting to see what happens when three parks are the “chosen” park, won’t it?

Please like this post and comment below. Does this new Extra Extra Magic Hours policy have you planning a visit for this fall to take advantage? I can help! brooke@disneycastledreaming.com.

Happy Dreaming!

Brooke

P.S. There is still time to book reservations for YOUR fall vacation to Disney World. You can check out the amazing new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and take advantage of all these extra park hours through Extra Extra Magic Hours. Contact me today to get started: brooke@disneycastledreaming.com.

P.P.S If you don’t want to wait for fall, there are still some great promotions running for Summer Vacations. Check out these posts for more information:

FREE DINING for Disney Visa Cardmembers

FREE Quick Service Meals on YOUR Summer Vacation?

Skyliner Update: Testing Has BEGUN!

Disney Skyliner Logo

Very exciting news from Walt Disney World today, guys! Disney has officially started “initial testing” for the new Disney Skyliner transportation system this week. There are gondolas IN THE SKY above Hollywood Studios, Epcot and the four resorts that will be served by the Skyliner system. (Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, and the new Disney’s Riviera Resort–opening late this year, and now accepting reservations.)

As many of you already know, Disney began construction on the Disney Skyliner transportation system almost a year ago. We’ve seen the towers and the cable lines being put into place as the months have gone by. We’ve seen the stations under construction, and we’ve seen the prototype gondola that Disney showed us at the last D23 event. But gondolas actually in the sky, on the lines–this is very exciting stuff, and a sign that we are getting much closer to be able to ride in the darn things!!!

Disney Skyliner Testing Underway

Disney released this video today when they announced that testing had begun. I love this behind the scenes look at the station at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. We get a good look at gondolas loaded into the station, and we start to see how the system will work. Take a look:

Skyliner Gondolas Will Feature Characters from MULTIPLE Disney Movies and Properties

Along with the announcement that testing has begun, Disney also released some new fun sketches of the animation graphics they have planned for the gondolas.

We’d already seen a few sample images, very early on:

Disney Skyliner Gondola Disney World Mickey and Minnie Beauty and the Beast Disney Transportation — Disney Skyliner Gondola Graphics, featuring Mickey & Minnie and Belle & her Beast

With today’s announcement, Disney also let us know that the Disney Skyliner gondolas will feature a LOT more characters than the images we’ve seen previously.

Disney says that you will hop into a gondola and from the ground, it will look like characters from a variety of Disney movies, Disney cartoons, and movies produced by studios owned by Disney, have joined you for the ride. Instead of just 5- 10 characters in a rotation on some gondolas, as I’d originally thought, it sounds like there will be LOTS of different characters featured on LOTS of the gondolas. For example, we can expect to see characters from:

Classic Disney Cartoon Shorts
The Princess and the Pea
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Toy Story
Guardians of the Galaxy
Moana
Zootopia
Finding Dory
Ratatouille
Peter Pan
Lilo and Stitch
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Monsters Inc.
Pirates of the Caribbean
Frozen
Beauty and the Beast
The Haunted Mansion
Star Wars

Sneak Peek at Some of the New Skyliner Graphics

Disney Skyliner Gondolas Graphics Disney World Star Wars Toy Story Guardians of the Galaxy — Disney Skyliner Gondola Graphics, Updated January 2019. New characters include Woody, Buzz and Jessie from Toy Story, C3P0 and R2D2 from Star Wars, Daisy and Donald, and Starlord and Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy.

Pretty cool, eh? I don’t know about all of you, but I’m pretty excited to see the Disney Skyliner system start initial testing. Of course, there is still a long way to go before this system will be ready to transport Disney guests. Disney takes guest and cast safety VERY seriously, so I’m confident that they are going to test this system VERY thoroughly. It will be a while before any people ever get a chance to ride it, even in a testing capacity. However, I can’t wait until until we start hearing reports of testing with actual passengers!

On Schedule for Fall 2019 Opening?

I think we will see Disney meet, if not actually “beat” their target Fall 2019 opening date. That’s assuming all the testing goes well. Based on the pictures I’ve seen from around WDW, along with this announcement today from Disney, I’d say they’re on track for the Disney Skyliner gondola transportation system to open on schedule this Fall. Hopefully, it won’t be long before we get a more concrete date than “Fall 2019”.

I’m hoping for VERY early fall myself. I suspect Disney will want the Skyliner system up and running for a while before Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens, don’t you? If I were a gambling woman, I’d bet that a LOT of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge guests will be excited to use the Skyliner. I know I will be!

Disney Skyliner Gondola Featuring Star Wars Characters Disney World Hollywood Studios — Disney Skyliner Gondola Featuring Star Wars Characters

So what do you think? Are you ready to take a ride on a Disney Skyliner gondola? Are you excited to hear that Disney Skyliner testing has started?

If you’d like to take a look at any of my previous articles about the Disney Skyliner system, you can find themhere, here, and here.

Happy Dreaming!

Brooke

Transportation Update: Disney Skyliner

Have you been hearing about the Disney Skyliner?

If you’ve been on property in the last year, you have probably seen signs of this new transportation system, currently under construction.

Announced last summer, construction got started right away, and has continued pretty aggressively ever since. Disney still hasn’t announced a completion date, or a date when this new system is expected to be LIVE for us to try…but they have announced that they are starting to run the cable for the new system, and most of the stations and support structures are either already in place or pretty far along in the construction process.

Check out this cute video that Disney released a few days ago to get people excited about the Skyliner:

Doesn’t that look like fun? Well, I’m afraid of heights so it looks a little terrifying…but also fun.

For decades, may people have mourned that the Monorail system was never beyond the original two lines for the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. I think the Disney Skyliner is Disney’s 21^st century way to address this issue, as well as bring something new and exciting to resort guests.

While of course the bus system serves every park and every resort, and will continue to do so, the Skyliner will offer guests an alternative and unforgettable high-flying mode of transportation that will feel like an attraction, add value to your resort stay and make your visit feel even more magical.

The new gondola system will conveniently connect Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot to four resort hotels – Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort and Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort as well as the planned 15th Disney Vacation Club property, Disney’s Riviera Resort.

Some Disney Skyliner cabins will have iconic Disney characters incorporated into their exterior design to give the appearance that a Disney pal is riding along with guests, such as characters from the ‘Fab Five,’ figures from Disney attractions, fan favorites from movies, and more.

I think this will be a super fun addition, and I can envision special wraps to promote coming attractions—do any of you remember stalking the Avengers monorail a few years to try and get pictures of it? I followed that quest through TWO separate vacations!

According to Disney, the design of the Disney Skyliner station at International Gateway at Epcot will be inspired by the park’s nearby European Pavilions, and will be covered with metal and glass canopies, hand-painted murals and ornamental steel structures that harken back to the early Art Nouveau style. Guests traveling to Epcot via the Disney Skyliner will be welcomed to the park with a rare birds-eye view of World Showcase.

The Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort station will be the hub of activity for Disney Skyliner. This station is inspired by the open-air village marketplaces of the Caribbean and will showcase the nearby resort’s architectural detailing and color schemes. At this station, passengers will be able to transfer gondola routes to reach their destination, or are invited to sit and admire the waterfront resort setting.

The design style of the station at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will fit with that of the park’s main entrance and bus stations. Passengers traveling here from the Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort station can expect a new aerial perspective of the park’s iconic attractions, like The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

Disney’s Pop Century Resort and Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will share a Disney Skyliner station that feels whimsical and contextual with both resorts. Upon departing the gondola station, Skyliner passengers will ascend over Hourglass Lake and enjoy a panoramic view of these two colorful resorts.

Finally, cabins will slow down at the Disney Skyliner turn-station along Buena Vista Drive, where guests can see the mechanical and aerial components that make up the Disney Skyliner.

I’m really looking forward to this particular “Coming Attraction”. Are you planning to check it out once it opens?

I’ll keep you posted as I learn more.