Image by Matt Stroshane, Courtesy of Disney
Travel Agents received the provisional 2016 hours of operations for the Walt Disney World Resort this week. Immediately, they noticed that something was missing- the Extra Magic Hours!
On-site Resort and select Downtown Disney area hotel guests have enjoyed the extra hours of park fun for the last several years and it’s been a great perk. Getting inside the parks one hour earlier or a few hours later helps families increase their park time as well as lower crowds since guests staying off site are not allowed to be in the park.
WDWMagic.com also pointed out this wording on the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista:
Screenshot of the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista website.
Could this mean that Extra Magic Hours (EMH) will be ending? Seeing that many guests have come to rely on the timing of EMH to decide their plans for touring, this could make things very interesting. For my family- we always pick the morning EMH’s, since my daughters are up with the sun! I know others avoid parks with evening EMH’s due to crowds. Whatever your touring style, this could make a big difference.
Again- this is still in the rumor stage! The release of the provisional hours of operation could just be missing the Extra Magic Hours and perhaps they could be added later when Disney releases the official schedule. Until then, we are left to wonder- will we be looking at new perks for staying on site? What do you think? Will this change your planning for your 2016 Walt Disney World vacation?
Its really the last perk for my family to staying on site. We drive down there from Chicago when we vacation so staying at a house for way less than even a value resort will benefit, as well as the long long long bus lines for Value guests, overpriced average food courts. Well have our own pool minus the disneyesque around until were in the parks.
Well, there is still free parking ($17/day adds up) and being able to make ADR’s and FP selections early. But yes, EMH are a HUGE perk of staying on site!
I think there could be a possibility that they might be considering making EMH something people would pay extra for.
Oh I hope they don’t expect us to pay more for EMH!