Prolonged Night Hours returns to Animal Kingdom in Fall 2024 as a part of a Get together Season change at Walt Disney World. This submit shares date(s), particulars, and technique for profiting from the on-site perk for friends staying at a Deluxe Resorts, DVC Villas, and choose different motels.
For individuals who are new to Walt Disney World trip planning, Prolonged Night Theme Park Hours is nighttime counterpart to Early Theme Park Entry. There are a number of variations, most notably that friends staying at Worth or Average Resorts are usually not eligible for Prolonged Night Hours. (Some may name these a magical perk of additional hours…or maybe additional magical hours for the sake of brevity? I dunno, simply spitballing higher title concepts.)
Prolonged Night Theme Park Hours has two sorts of resort eligibility, happens two nights per week, is at two parks, and runs for 2 hours (just about every little thing in regards to the perk happens in twos). It’s often Monday at EPCOT and Wednesday at Magic Kingdom. See our Technique Information Information for Prolonged Night Hours at Walt Disney World for extra ins and outs of the nighttime Deluxe profit.
Walt Disney World has already up to date the calendar reflecting that Prolonged Night Hours will transfer from Magic Kingdom to Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Wednesdays, beginning with September 25, 2024. The transfer has not but been formally introduced by Walt Disney World, however you may see the change by way of the My Disney Expertise app. Prolonged Night Hours are as soon as once more at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on October 2, 2024. (We already reported on this–it’s not brand-new information.)
Curiously, the calendar skips the next Wednesday–there are not any ExEH that day in any respect–and jumps to Friday, October 11, when Prolonged Night Hours will likely be hosted at Disney’s Animal Kingdom for the primary time in 2024. Final yr, ExEH was held at DAK for a number of choose dates in November and December, and we anticipated a return of that in 2024.
This was to be anticipated due to Get together Season, which begins in early August however doesn’t actually kick into excessive gear with a full schedule till late September. Final yr, the very same factor occurred–Disney’s Hollywood Studios started internet hosting ExEH in late September. Then Animal Kingdom hosted ExEH all through the Christmas season as the choice as a result of each Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios had vacation events.
At the moment, the calendar lists Prolonged Night Hours as occurring from 6 pm to eight pm at Animal Kingdom on October 11, 2024. There’s an inexpensive risk that park closing will shift later, and ExEH will truly run from 7-9 pm and even 8-10 pm.
As for why Animal Kingdom is beginning Prolonged Night Hours so early this yr, my guess is due to Columbus Day the next Monday. That’s a vacation weekend, and one which has traditionally coincided with the peak of fall break for varsity districts that matter most to Walt Disney World attendance. That weekend will virtually definitely be the busiest at Walt Disney World in lots of months, surpassing late September on the finish of the present ticket offers and doubtless reaching heights not seen since spring break season.
On condition that and the latest crowds noticed at and previous to ExEH in Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, it’s truly an extremely savvy transfer to shift Prolonged Night Hours to Animal Kingdom. That ought to assist redistribute crowds, making the opposite three parks barely much less busy and Animal Kingdom much less of a ghost city on the tail finish of the day.
That’s actually the one rationalization I can consider for this determination. There’s nothing within the schedule to recommend Wednesday, October 9 has a battle (though a park buyout for a conference or no matter wouldn’t be listed, anyway). No matter whether or not it’s this or a non-public after hours occasion at DHS on October 9, I feel it’s protected to say that that is most likely a one-off for Animal Kingdom till Disney Jollywood Nights and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together necessitate shifting Prolonged Night Hours to DAK for the vacation season. We’ll preserve you posted on that as extra dates are added to the calendar, so keep tuned.
For now, what follows is our “pitch” on nighttime at Animal Kingdom and profiting from Prolonged Night Hours there…
We love Animal Kingdom at evening. Nicely, when it’s open after darkish–however that’s often the case in the course of the vacation season because of Daylight Saving Time and earlier sunsets. Pandora – World of Avatar appears nice at evening, and takes on a very totally different ambiance that’s surprisingly serene even when it’s busy. (It often just isn’t busy at evening.)
Whether or not Prolonged Night Hours at Animal Kingdom finally ends up being “good” or “unhealthy” actually relies upon upon crowd ranges and climate. If it’s actually scorching in the course of the day, extra individuals will take noon breaks and attend ExEH. We frequently see the worst crowds for Prolonged Night Hours at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT not in the course of the busiest instances of the yr, however in the course of the hottest. At the same time as summer time crowds have decreased as a complete, ExEH crowds have worsened.
Animal Kingdom has one other subject, which is its potential to soak up crowds (or reasonably, its incapability to take action). That is at all times true, which is why there’s a ‘tipping level’ when DAK goes from completely manageable to insanely crowded, with out a lot of a reasonably busy in-between. Such is the character of a restricted experience roster.
We’ve discovered that there’s one thing of a tipping level, when the park goes from blissful and manageable to complete chaos. Though we weren’t there for it, my understanding is that occurred over the past ExEH in the course of the week between Christmas and New Yr’s Eve final yr. Earlier in November, the ExEH we attended at Animal Kingdom was downright pleasant. Given the massive distinction between fall break and NYE crowds, we’d count on this October ExEH to be pretty nice. That’s, assuming it isn’t overly scorching in the course of the day. Whether it is, all bets are off.
So far as technique goes, Avatar Flight of Passage is the primary substantive draw of Prolonged Night Hours at Animal Kingdom. Experiencing it with a minimal wait is a big promoting level of the perk; friends will undoubtedly acknowledge this, seeing ExEH as an alternative choice to paying for Lightning Lane Single Go.
That’s precisely why Flight of Passage will likely be busy at the beginning of Prolonged Night Hours. Based mostly on our previous expertise throughout particular occasions and evenings at Animal Kingdom, our recommendation can be to avoid wasting Flight of Passage till the top of the evening.
We’ve accomplished occasions throughout which Flight of Passage posts a 60-90 minute wait at the beginning, is a walk-on after the primary hour, and has total theaters going almost empty in the direction of the top. There have been events when nobody else was in all the theater (not simply our load space–all of them). It was surreal wanting left and proper whereas driving the banshee and seeing a sea of empty seats on an attraction that’s among the many hottest at Walt Disney World.
As odd as this may sound, there’s a very good motive for the fall-off: Flight of Passage’s pre-show. Should you’ve solely skilled the attraction a handful of instances, the awkward and rambling pre-show may strike you as mildly annoying. Strive experiencing that very same pre-show 4 consecutive instances and also you’ll discover it interminably lengthy and bordering on torture (speak in regards to the final first-world hyperbole, however nonetheless).
In principle, you could possibly most likely experience Avatar Flight of Passage a couple of instances throughout Prolonged Night Hours at Animal Kingdom. The total expertise from getting into the queue to exiting and strolling again to the entrance of the road as a walk-on ranges from 19 to 22 minutes (relying upon strolling velocity, load time, and whether or not you will have Pandoran parasites).
Nevertheless, most friends don’t have the persistence to topic themselves to that pre-show that many instances in a single night. It simply isn’t doable. As majestical, detailed, and euphoric because the experience expertise itself is, you’ll be spending the majority of your time within the pre-show every time, and that’s simply an excessive amount of. Sadly, there isn’t any method to skip the pre-show because it comprises the protection spiel.
That is exactly why the road will drop off sharply for Avatar Flight of Passage in the course of the course of Prolonged Night Hours. Individuals will get their fill in the beginning of the occasion, and never do it once more both as a result of lengthy line they encountered the primary time, the lengthy pre-show, or each.
Accordingly, the very best method to Prolonged Night Hours at Animal Kingdom is beginning in Asia and doing Expedition Everest, probably repeatedly. The entire experience expertise there may be considerably shorter and it ought to be the same story with the road. You can most likely do Expedition Everest a couple of instances briefly order in case your physique is as much as it.
From there, doing Dinosaur is smart (if it isn’t extinct by then) earlier than ending the evening in Pandora – World of Avatar the place it is best to be capable of knock out each Na’vi River Journey and Avatar Flight of Passage with minimal waits.
Our rationale for this technique is that everybody goes to go to Pandora first. It’s the primary draw, and why 95% of individuals are going to attend Prolonged Night Hours at Animal Kingdom. Not solely will ExEH friends flock to Pandora, however day friends will nonetheless be there at the beginning.
After about an hour, day friends will likely be lengthy gone, and Prolonged Night Hours friends will even begin to transfer on to different areas of Animal Kingdom. The final half-hour or so, it is best to have Pandora just about to your self. Not solely will you be capable of benefit from the points of interest with minimal wait, however you may benefit from the ambiance of Pandora at evening devoid of crowds.
I like the bodily surroundings of Pandora, however it’s usually so chaotic that it’s troublesome to get pleasure from. At evening, it’s often so devoid of people who the “natural” ambiance there may be way more convincing–really like an alien planet being reclaimed by nature. Strolling round different areas of the park is equally satisfying.
Truthfully, that is the upside of Prolonged Night Hours at Animal Kingdom from our perspective. Whereas I think about Animal Kingdom to be the weakest of the 4 parks at evening, that may be very a lot a relative time period–even the “weakest” on this case remains to be improbable, and extremely underrated.
It’s not simply the moody ambiance, it’s the serene sounds and simply normal peacefulness of the park. Should you’ve solely accomplished DAK throughout scorching days, you should have a very contemporary perspective on it–noticing particulars you’ve by no means seen earlier than and leaving with a newfound appreciation for the park. I promise!
The most important draw back to Prolonged Night Hours at Animal Kingdom is every little thing that isn’t open. Kilimanjaro Safaris, Competition of the Lion King, Discovering Nemo: Large Blue & Past, or Feathered Mates in Flight, all of which at present finish operations nicely earlier than 6 pm.
Accordingly, we’d suggest arriving a couple of hours early, and allocating that point to different points of interest, stage reveals, and in addition the superb vacation season leisure that gained’t be open or carried out throughout Prolonged Night Hours. Throughout the occasion, you’re essentially going to be repeating points of interest, as so few are open.
In the end, Prolonged Night Hours at Animal Kingdom is an occasion that leaves me conflicted. On the one hand, I favor nighttime within the different 3 parks, and I additionally favor ExEH in each Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom from a sensible perspective given the experience rosters in every of these parks.
Animal Kingdom is unbelievable at evening–criminally underrated when you think about the park’s regular closing time exterior of some months of the yr. It’s an actual disgrace that so few Walt Disney World friends expertise Animal Kingdom within the night, as all the park takes on a unique vibe–particularly Pandora – World of Avatar. Greater than anything, this actually simply makes me want Animal Kingdom had a (good) nighttime spectacular and bigger experience roster so individuals stayed late right here on common days.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Will you be profiting from Prolonged Night Theme Park Hours at Disney’s Animal Kingdom? Disenchanted in regards to the lack of ExEH at Magic Kingdom for the ultimate few months of the yr? Hoping extra Prolonged Night Hours dates are provided at DAK for the vacation season? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions we might help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
