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2024 Guide to Magic Kingdom Park Hours (What time does Magic Kingdom open?)

2024 Guide to Magic Kingdom Park Hours (What time does Magic Kingdom open?)

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?

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.

monthly crowd calendar

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.

Normal Hours for Magic Kingdom

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.

What time does Magic Kingdom open?

On most days, you can expect Magic Kingdom to officially 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.

Early Theme Park Entry for onsite guests typically will begin 30 minutes before the official park opening time.

There have been a few occasions (primarily over the busy holiday season) where Early Theme Park Entry has been extended to 1 hour before park opening. If you have any questions as to when that is, Disney notes it in the My Disney Experience app:

my disney experience park hours screen shot

What time does Magic Kingdom close?

When it comes to closing, the park usually remains open until at least 8 or 9 pm, with some days closing as late as 10 or 11 pm. Over some holidays, it may not close until midnight.

The exception to this is on party nights (either Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party). On nights with a party, you can expect the parks to close for guests with regular park tickets as early as 6 pm.

There are also a few nights each year when Magic Kingdom has been rented out for a corporate party or even a Cast Member appreciation event. On those nights, Magic Kingdom will close early as well.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Parade

Currently, Magic Kingdom is closing between 9 and 11 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:

How early can you enter Magic Kingdom?

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.

Magic Kingdom park hours train station

So, if you are staying onsite and want to be there for Rope Drop at Early Theme Park Entry 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:

Bus

While we used to recommend arriving at the bus stop 60 to 75 minutes before Early Entry begins, after testing the timing out many times, we now recommend 90 minutes. That 90-minute window is especially important if you:

  • want to be on the first bus (which we recommend), or
  • if you are staying at a large resort like Art of Animation, Pop Century, or the All-Stars, or
  • if you are staying at a resort with multiple internal stops, like Caribbean Beach or Coronado Springs.

Expect the first bus of the day to arrive between 1 hour to 75 minutes before Early Theme Park Entry starts. The goal is to be on the first bus of the day, and the lines for the buses will get very long, very fast. Arriving 90 minutes before Early Theme Park Entry will get you to the front of the pack, and likely on that first bus.

Monorail

Plan to get to your monorail stop about 60-75 minutes before Early Theme Park Entry. For reference, the Resort Monorail Loop goes:

  • Transportation and Ticket Center
  • Polynesian Resort
  • Grand Floridian Resort
  • Magic Kingdom
  • Contemporary Resort

Boat

If traveling by boat, 60-75 minutes before Early Theme Park Entry is probably good.

Walking

Walking? You’ll have it the easiest!

Guests that walk are typically allowed to line up at the tapstiles around 60 minutes before the park opens for Early Theme Park Entry. If you want to be at the front of the pack of the walkers, plan to arrive ahead of that. (If you arrive before they begin allowing people to line up at the tapstiles, you’ll be held back by security.)

Car

When traveling by car, plan to arrive at the parking lot entrance about 70 minutes before Early Theme Park Entry. If the parking lot booths are not open at that time, you should be able to just wait for them to officially open up. But, don’t show up too early because they may not let you wait for the booths to open and instead will force you to turn around and come back closer to opening.

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, during busy times of the year, 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. This is a fairly rare occurrence, though, and one we haven’t seen recently.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

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.

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 you 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 or Peter Pan’s Flight first.

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):

Fantasyland

Tomorrowland

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train sign

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:

Pooh and friends cavalcade
  • Most characters
  • Country Bear Jamboree
  • Liberty Square Riverboat
  • Tom Sawyer Island

What about Magic Kingdom After Hours?

Magic Kingdom (along with Hollywood Studios and Epcot) has a special event where you can pay extra to stay in the park for several hours after it officially closes.

Called Disney After Hours, they happen on select nights of the year and with ticket sales capped very low, you can get on lots of rides with little to no wait.

Magic Kingdom After Hours

The Disney After Hours event at Magic Kingdom will run from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on event nights, so the park will mostly likely close at 10 p.m. on these dates.

What about Extended Evening Theme Park Hours?

Disney World now also has Extended Evening Theme Park Hours for Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resort hotel guests (and other select hotel guests). These extended hours allow those guests to spend 2 extra hours past closing in select parks (usually Magic Kingdom and Epcot).

At Magic Kingdom, Extended Theme Park Hours are typically on Wednesdays (and some Tuesdays).

Dates and hours are released sporadically, which you can keep tabs on here.

If you qualify for this benefit, we highly recommend that you take advantage of the extra time to ride attractions at the park — and enjoy fewer crowds.

its a small world at night

What attractions will be open during Extended Evening Theme Park Hours?

During Extended Evening Theme Park Hours, not every attraction will be operating. Select merchandise and food and beverage locations are also available. Here is the list of the attractions that will be open:

  • “it’s a small world”
  • Astro Orbiter
  • Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
  • Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
  • Country Bear Jamboree
  • Dumbo the Flying Elephant
  • Haunted Mansion
  • Mad Tea Party
  • Mickey’s PhilharMagic
  • Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
  • Peter Pan’s Flight
  • Pirates of the Caribbean
  • Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
  • Space Mountain
  • Swiss Family Treehouse
  • The Barnstormer
  • The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
  • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
  • Tomorrowland Speedway
  • Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
  • Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room

(Notably missing: Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain, & The Hall of Presidents)

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