Walt Disney World has added new hours for June 2021 for Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios, while also rolling out a big extension of hours for Summer 2021! This post shares the updated calendar, plus new commentary on best & worst days of the week for each park.
Let’s begin with the new hours that Walt Disney World has added for all four theme parks, Disney Springs, and Blizzard Beach to the calendar on DisneyWorld.com. The calendar was previously posted through June 19, and now extends to June 26, 2021. Added hours are the same for all dates in this newly-added week:
- Magic Kingdom: 8 am to 9 pm
- EPCOT: 11 am to 9 pm
- Hollywood Studios: 9 am to 8 pm
- Animal Kingdom: 8 am to 6 pm
- Blizzard Beach: 11 am to 6 pm
- Disney Springs: 10 am to 10 pm (11 pm on weekends)
Park Hopping times for those dates have also been added to the calendar. At this point, the start time for changing parks is still 2 pm across the board; as Walt Disney World previously indicated, that could move earlier as demand and attendance dictate.
These hours are noteworthy because they’re a deviation from Walt Disney World’s normal practice of releasing boilerplate hours before extending those based on attendance and hotel occupancy projections. This initial release could very well be the final hours.
This isn’t the only big change with the calendar. On each of the last several Friday calendar updates, Walt Disney World has extended park hours for a week or two in the immediate future while releasing one week’s worth of new boilerplate hours. This has been pretty consistent for the last several months, but makes vacation planning a tad difficult because it’s on such short notice.
Well, those hoping for a more comprehensive calendar update with extensions for more distant dates has gotten their wish this week! Here are the newly-expanded park hours through Summer 2021…
Magic Kingdom
- April 25 to June 19, 2021: 8 am to 9 pm (previously 9 am to 6 pm)
EPCOT
- April 25 to May 8, 2021: 11 am to 10 pm (previously 11 am to 7 pm)
- May 9 to June 19, 2021: 11 am to 9 pm (previously 11 am to 7 pm)
Hollywood Studios
- April 25 to May 22, 2021: 9 am to 8 pm (previously 10 am to 7 pm)
- May 23 to June 18, 2021: 9 am to 8 pm (previously 9 am to 7 pm)
Animal Kingdom
- April 25 to May 1, 2021: 8 am to 8 pm (previously 9 am to 5 pm)
- May 2 to June 19, 2021: 8 am to 7 pm (previously 9 am to 5 pm)
The easiest way to survey what has been extended for your travel dates is using the interactive monthly calendar on DisneyWorld.com.
The only date that stands out in terms of changes (or lack thereof) is Disney’s Hollywood Studios on June 19. Every day before and after that was extended, so we’re guessing it was accidentally missed–or there’s a private event in the park that night. Expect it to be quietly extended soon.
You could grouse about even these extended hours, lamenting the fact that they’re not as long as a “normal” summer at Walt Disney World. You’d be right…but also in the wrong.
The fact is, Walt Disney World is still not operating normally, or anywhere near full capacity. Setting aside everything that’s closed and the current protocol and focusing just on hours and crowds, we’d choose right now over a normal spring at Walt Disney World. Obviously, that’s a lot to arbitrarily set aside, but attendance has the biggest bearing on hours, and that ‘relationship’ is looking pretty favorable to guests right now.
News Source: Disney News.
