Extra Magic Hours not included on provisional operating hours schedule for 2016

Jun 16, 2015 in "Early Theme Parks Entry and Extended Evening Hours"

Forum Forums Tweet Share Tweet Share

Posted: Tuesday June 16, 2015 7:49am EDT by WDWMAGIC Staff

Could Extra Magic Hours be about to be discontinued? The provisional operating hours schedule that is distributed to travel agents ahead of their publication on the official Walt Disney World website certainly hints at that.

Although provisional and therefore not confirmed, the travel agent operating hours schedule does not list any Extra Magic Hours for any parks from January 1 2016 onwards. Historically, the provisional hours do include Extra Magic Hours, although times and entertainment line-ups listed do frequently get updated.

Also adding weight to the possibility of changes coming to EMH is a note on the Downtown Disney Hilton website, which states Extra Magic Hours is 'a magical guest benefit for stays through to December 31 2015.'

Of course, it could simply be a matter of the EMH schedule being finalized, or a number of other reasons for the hours not yet being included.

Extra Magic Hours were introduced in 2004 to give Walt Disney World Resort guests time in the parks before or after offsite guests were admitted. For many years, EMH has been heavily promoted as a significant benefit to staying a Walt Disney World Resort hotel.

Extra Magic Hours offerings have been gradually scaled back in recent years. Disney's Animal Kingdom removed evening Extra Magic Hours back in February 2011, the water park Extra Magic Hours were remove in the summer of 2013, and all parks offering evening Extra Magic Hours reduced those from 3 hours to 2 hours in January 2013.

As always, until confirmed, the removal of Extra Magic Hours should be treated as speculation, and we will continue to monitor the situation for any updates.

Discuss on the Forums

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

ToTBellHopJun 30, 2015

Yep--they've also been appearing on disneyworld.com with EMH.

OliveMcFlyJun 30, 2015

Hours for January 2016 are listed on the Travel Agent site and EMH hours are listed throughout the month.

ToTBellHopJun 25, 2015

Park hours start appearing at Disneyworld.com tomorrow and presumably will include EMH. I'll surely be the first to post if they don't appear...because I'm going on 1/1 and care about such things.

PhotoDave219Jun 24, 2015

Hey @ISTCNavigator57, anything new on the EMH front?

DVCOwnerJun 24, 2015

I think you are right on this. I remember several years ago I was at Walt Disney World and had booked for a large group all under my name. several times I had to check other rooms to find packages that where sent to me. Now they have me sign that the package is picked up and there is a lot better control on the items.

RuttJun 24, 2015

Because there was nothing to discuss really... Just people jumping the gun in the latest 'bad disney' adventure.

devoy1701Jun 24, 2015

I came here for an EMH discussion but I can't find it anywhere. :confused:

IrieJun 24, 2015

I have no data or inside information to back up this theory, but WDW probably changed the procedure to cover their rear-ends. There was no signature procedure from the guests confirming that they had received the package. I am thinking a small minority would lie and say, that they never received their packages (when in fact they did receive them), hoping for a refund while keeping the merchandise.

DVCOwnerJun 24, 2015

I agree with you 100% on this. I am glad the rumor was posted, but how all the Disney haters lined up to jump on this with the facts coming out was just wrong. After is was proven wrong I did not see a lot of people saying "sorry I was wrong"; they just looked for something else to complain about.

ToTBellHopJun 21, 2015

I think you are wishing Universal would build a Star Wars land, then. Disney seems to be in no rush to build anything impressive at DHS, unfortunately.

AEfxJun 21, 2015

I agree with 80% of this, LOL - Potter is huge - but if Disney built a Star Wars experience commensurate with how quality the multiple Potter experiences are, I think it wouldn't be question - there wouldn't need to be measurement, we could just do a collage of two pictures - one of Daniel Radcliffe in his birthday suit from Equus, and the other from the key scene at the end of Boogie Nights with Dirk Diggler. :)

doctornickJun 21, 2015

I don't think there's much of a reason to bring up the whole HP vs Stars Wars debate (you're just begging for someone to post the infamous picture of people lined up on the opening day of the WWOHP at IoA). I tend to agree with you regarding the cultural cachet of Star Wars -- it's multi-generational, is enjoyed on multiple degrees of fandom and has a massive merchandise reputation. But it's safe to say that Harry Potter also has significant cultural presence as well and is also extremely valuable. No reason there is a need to quantify and compare the two in some genitalia measuring contest.

Matt_BlackJun 21, 2015

It's one of the most influential film series of all time. Even Disney cartoons have cribbed from it- both Aladdin: The Animated Series and Gargoyles have had references to the films.

AEfxJun 21, 2015

LOL, I know, even folks here in other threads have tried to compare it to Jurassic Park - saying that JP holds more nostalgia, haha. People just don't get it. I wish I wasn't a Star Wars fan because I know how it sounds coming from me, but what I am seeing/hearing on a daily basis is just astounding. There is a 50-ish mom who works in an office I frequent who knows I like Star Wars, and actually asked me how to get the original movies to share with her 10-year-old daughter before TFA. I could tell you all about her, but suffice to say - she is pretty much the opposite of a Star Wars, sci-fi, or even really movie fan. Her idea of a good film to share with her daughter is usually something like The Sound of Music. That said, she pummels me with questions about TFA ever since I mentioned it to her off-hand (never thinking she'd really care). She saw SW in theaters in 1977, is pretty certain she saw ESB but not even sure about ROTJ. But, her driving force is that she really, really wants to share with her daughter what she experienced with just the first film growing up. She thinks it's just awesome that she can take her daughter to a film that has to do with the one she saw and liked 40 years ago. I see this over and over, every day, one way or another. And what I read of other people's experiences, it's quite the same. And this is the type of person who hasn't purchased a Star Wars product (even a movie ticket or home rental) since the 1980's. When you consider that, plus all the rest of us who have always loved Star Wars, and that we now have 3 generations of folks who it will appeal to...it's very very difficult to underestimate what this film is going to do, even if it is released during the holiday season (which actually very well could help as many families go to the movies during that period, anyway).