If you are planning a trip to Walt Disney World there is a very good chance you’ll be visiting Magic Kingdom while you are there.
Knowing the best day to visit is important in maximizing your time, and that all starts with understanding what to expect when it comes to Magic Kingdom Park Hours.
Ready to learn more?
In this article
Magic Kingdom Park Hours by Month
Disney releases park hours about 75 days in advance. It may be as few as 71 or as many as 78. But, in general, the park hours come out around 75 days in advance.
Note: In the past, that used to be around 180 days, but the release schedule changed when the parks reopened in 2020.
We keep track of all the park hours and update them every week on our Monthly Crowd Calendars.
If you are within that 75-day window, when you click on the month below you will see the current Magic Kingdom park hours, plus other important information like refurbishments and entertainment schedules.
Note: If you want to see historical information outside that 75-day window, you can navigate to a previous month or even a previous year to get an idea of what to expect.
Typical Hours
Out of all 4 parks, Magic Kingdom is the most popular and because of that, it almost always is open for the most hours of the day.
On most days you can expect Magic Kingdom to open up between 8 and 9 am. On the busiest days of the year (like over the holidays) that opening may even be pushed to 7 am.
When it comes to closing, in the past the park rarely closed before sundown. It had to stay open later for nightly fireworks.
The exception to this is on special event nights (either Disney After Hours Boo Bash or Disney Very Merriest After Hours). On nights with special events you can expect the parks to close as early as 6 pm.
Currently, Magic Kingdom is closing between 8 and 9 pm, but just like the other 3 parks it will be open the longest over busy times of the year (like the holidays).
Take a look at the park hours for the other parks:
Frequently Asked Questions
How often are the Magic Kingdom park hours updated?
When Disney first publishes their park hours, they tend to be kind of “generic” and there won’t be much nuance to them.
And what we mean by that is that they will usually show every day opening and closing at the same time. Additionally they will be fairly conservative with the amount of time the parks are open.
However, park hour updates are based on demand. The busier the parks are projected to be, the higher the likelihood that Disney will extend the hours.
And more and more, we are seeing that happen. In the final weeks or days they extend the operating hours by either opening up earlier or staying open later (or both).
Of course, the reverse of that is also true. Although not nearly as common as seeing the hours extended, it isn’t totally unheard of for Disney to cut back on hours, too.
Disney issues updates for park hours on a fairly regular basis, sometimes as often as once per week. However, not every park (or even every day of the week or year) will see hours updated. Having the park hours extended is never a guarantee.
Historically, Magic Kingdom tends to have its hours updated the most, which makes sense considering just how popular the park is.
Updates are more likely the closer you get to your trip
Since Disney updates park hours based upon projected attendance, the closer you get to your trip the more data they will have to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to make any changes (or not).
That’s why if the park hours are going to be updated for your trip, it is more likely to happen closer to your travel dates.
It is also why we recommend you check your park hours daily while on vacation! You don’t want to show up to a park only to discover it opened before you expected it to.
When does Magic Kingdom let people in?
Long-time Disney visitors know that there is the “official” opening time for a park and then there is the time Disney typically starts letting guests inside, which can be up to 30 minutes (or even more) before the official opening time.
Disney has put a formal stamp on this unofficial opening time by allowing onsite resort guests to always have access to the parks 30 minutes before non-Disney Resort guests. This access for on-site guests is called Early Theme Park Entry and we have more info on that below.
So, if you want to be there for Rope Drop at Magic Kingdom, we recommend arriving to the front of the park no later than 45 minutes before the official opening time.
Here’s how to do that:
- If you are taking the bus to Magic Kingdom you’ll need to be down to the bus stop 90 minutes before the official opening time. That should put you on the first or second bus of the day (and make your morning go that much more smoothly).
- If you are driving to Magic Kingdom, you’ll have some extra steps involved because you will need to make time to park and then take the ferry or monorail over to Magic Kingdom. We recommend you be at the Transportation and Ticket Center parking booths about 60 minutes before Magic Kingdom is scheduled to open.
- And, the same for the boats and monorail. Aim to get into line at your resort no later than 60 minutes before the park opens.
- If you are walking (from either the Grand Floridian or the Contemporary), aim to be to the security checkpoint about 45 minutes before park opening.
What about Early Theme Park Entry?
Disney has retired Extra Magic Hours but in their place they have implemented a new system called Early Theme Park Entry.
This benefit allows Disney Resort guests (as well as guests from other select hotels) the opportunity to enter any of the 4 theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom) 30 minutes before non-Disney Resort guests.
If qualify for this benefit, we highly recommend that you take advantage of the extra time to get ahead of the regular park crowds and head to Fantasyland and catch a ride on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train first.
For more information, check out our Guide to Early Theme Park Entry at Disney World.
What attractions will be open during Early Theme Park Entry?
During Early Theme Park Entry, not every attraction will be operating. Here is the list of the attractions that will be open (note: attractions labeled with an * are our best choices for Early Theme Park Entry):
- “it’s a small world”
- Astro Orbiter
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Mad Tea Party
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- *Peter Pan’s Flight
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
- *Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (38″ height requirement)
- *Space Mountain (44″ height requirement)
- The Barnstormer (35″ height requirement)
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Tomorrowland Speedway (32″ minimum to ride, 54″ minimum to drive)
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
- Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
Attractions that never open at park opening
There are a few things that rarely open up with the rest of Magic Kingdom.
If you are interested in any of these, make sure you check the operating schedule inside of My Disney Experience:
Shows & characters:
Attractions:
- Country Bear Jamboree
- Liberty Square Riverboat
- Tom Sawyer Island
Read more about how to tour Magic Kingdom right now.
What about Magic Kingdom After Hours?
Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios all used to have a specially ticketed event that would allow guests to pay extra to stay in the park after closing.
Called Disney After Hours, they happened on select nights of the year and with ticket sales capped very low, you could get on lots of rides with little to now wait.
As of right now we have no word on when – or if – these events will be returning.
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