Guests staying at Walt Disney World hotels in the “deluxe” category have access to more perks than those staying overnight at hotels in the “moderate” and “value” tiers. These benefits include on-site gyms and extra time in Disney's parks during a period known as Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. We have some news on that perk following a previous update.
Disney World announced a change to Extended Evening Theme Park Hours beginning later this year. We have details and dates for when this change is applicable. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including new Hallmark ornaments inspired by Disney theme parks and changes to a popular Disney World ride to prevent a safety issue.
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Fall Season Brings Change to Extended Evening Hours
Extended Evening Theme Park Hours consist of two hours of extra time in one of the Walt Disney World parks, taking place after the park closes to the general public. It's exclusive for guests staying at deluxe resorts. The perk is complimentary, differing from the separately ticketed Disney After Hours events.
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See the full list of eligible resorts for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours and our guide to how to make the most of your two extra hours in the park.
Extended Evening Theme Park Hours typically happen twice each week, on Mondays and Wednesdays. For most of 2026 so far, Monday's slot has been for EPCOT, and Wednesday's slot has gone to Magic Kingdom.
As Disney World's Halloween season approaches, with its kickoff in early August, Magic Kingdom will begin hosting Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party several nights each week. See all the party dates and what's new this year.
To accommodate the multiple weekly nights of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom, the Extended Evening Theme Park Hours' Wednesday location will gradually shift away from regularly being hosted at Magic Kingdom.
Instead, Wednesday slots for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours will shift to Disney's Animal Kingdom on some dates and Disney's Hollywood Studios on others, but will still be offered at Magic Kingdom occasionally. Monday remains with its EPCOT slot.
The first Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is August 7, 2026. Below is a look at all the Extended Evening Theme Park Hours dates after that, announced so far, as of July 8. We've bolded the abnormal and noteworthy dates where Magic Kingdom's slot passes off to a different park.
- Monday, August 10: EPCOT
- Wednesday, August 12: Magic Kingdom
- Monday, August 17: EPCOT
- Wednesday, August 19: Magic Kingdom
- Monday, August 24: EPCOT
- Wednesday, August 26: Disney's Animal Kingdom
- Monday, August 31: EPCOT
- Wednesday, September 2: Disney's Animal Kingdom
- Monday, September 7: EPCOT
- Wednesday, September 9: Magic Kingdom
- Monday, September 14: EPCOT
- Wednesday, September 16: Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney has not announced park locations for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours beyond September 16 at the time of this writing. After that, we expect Mondays to continue to belong to EPCOT. Based on September's schedule so far, Wednesdays may be more of a wild card among the other three parks, but Magic Kingdom is likely to be less consistently on the schedule than usual.
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These changes to Extended Evening Theme Park Hours do not affect anything about Early Theme Park Entry. That benefit, open to guests staying at any Disney World hotel, not just deluxe resorts, will continue to take place at every park, every day, 30 minutes before the parks open for other guests.
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