WDW Touring 301: Why You Need to Visit Magic Kingdom When It Closes Early 

Becky AND Brian in a video. Favorite Disney data driven ppl!!! ❤️

Great seeing Brian! I miss his in-park videos.

Very helpful, thanks!

I can attest to the facts in this video. I did a trip in January where there was an early closure of the MK on day 1 of our trip, but we wanted to go to MK first! We took our touring plan and finished the park around 2:15pm. We hit every major attraction (and plenty of smaller ones) at a leisurely pace with plenty of time for food and entertainment (Splash Mountain was closed for refurbishment) and had plenty of time to spare. No other day came close in what we got done, and the relaxation we had going at our own pace.

So helpful!!

We are going in 2 weeks and chose our Magic Kingdom day on the same day we are going to be party. And they extended the hours! So we will be there from 7:30am for early entry - midnight! ahh! And this data makes me super excited! Thanks for the info!

Best cameo ever! That is a great example of the awesome humour of this channel!

Brian!!! Pleasant surprise to see his face 😂😂😂 Thanks for the tip! I'm taking a solo trip Labor Day weekend, and thanks to this video I'm thinking about changing my park reservation to Magic Kingdom on that Monday, since there's a party that night (right now my reservation is for Animal Kingdom)

I absolutely changed one of my reservations to MK on a party day- thanks!

Doing this next Tuesday! Works for us because my little one won’t last long enough to make it to fireworks, anyway.

She’s baaaack. And I love it.

How do you think this will affect the days in January 2023 where they have added a few “after hours” parties? I would imagine these may not be as popular- since no major holiday is the theme - but I’m wondering if you think it would have a similar effect, and that it would be smart to go on those days?

Love this as we are are going next week on a party day.

Particularly apt advice since there was a more or less rainout on the first night of Halloween party. Boo to you , ye of soggy feet. ;).

I wish I had seen this episode, cause I switched my park reservations because I had a reservation on a party day and thought we wouldn’t have a good experience

My fear would always be too many people see this video or advise that Party Days are super low crowds. Then it flips to everyone thinking they are gaming the system by going to MK on those days and the crowds bounce from a 1 to 4.

This is interesting. Most of my days in Dec have christmas party nights so I was planning on doing MK on the only non party night.

I was wondering where Brian was. Why hasn’t he been doing any videos lately?

I would normally agree but magic kingdom is sold out of park passes on party and non party days, was the 12th sold out too?

Good video. However, I would say that these tips only apply to someone that is a frequent Disney World visitor, or is spending multiple days at Magic Kingdom. I can't imagine going as a first time visitor and not seeing Magic Kingdom at night. The atmosphere is incredible, the lighting is gorgeous, and the fireworks show is an iconic part of any visit. It's also important to note that wait times being 40 or 50 percent shorter doesn't equate to getting 40 or 50 percent more done in a day. A lot of your time every day is spent actually riding the rides, walking from place to place, eating, etc, and that time isn't impacted nearly as much by crowd levels. And if you're using Genie+, the wait time difference on party days vs. non-party days is lessened. It might be worth it to deal with higher crowds if it means getting 14 hours to spend in the park instead of 10. I would absolutely consider doing a party day + non-party day if I had 2 days to spend at MK though.

We arrive at WDW on 1 September! Our first park day is a party day at MK and I love this strategy. Now I have to sell my commando style wife! Thank you for this excellent information!

Thanks for the video!! We are attempting MK on a MVMCP day. I assume you can do this without buying G+, correct ?

Curious how this reflects on next week’s crowd projections.. tuesday 08/23 is a party day estimated 2/10 crowd but 08/24, the following day, is only estimated to increase to a 3/10. not much of a jump at all

We are planning a MK day and also have tickets for MVMCP in December. The plan is not to arrive to the park until after lunch since we will be out late. Would you recommend just starting with the afternoon steps? Would also love a party touring plan video. :)

@becky - thoughts on genie plus on MK day for a party day. Stacking?

No!! Don’t tell our secret!!

Does this strategy work well during peak party days? For example, would it make sense to visit MK during the waning days of MNSSHP or MVMCP? That’s where I get real squishy on making my MK reservations for 12/20 and 12/22.

Do you think this would also apply to DCA on party days? And, Brian!

Are there new touring plans available for this year’s Halloween party?

Do you think it’s still true? Wait times today were so bad and it was a party day. Trying to decide what to do for end of November.

We’ve used this strategy successfully many times, thanks to Touring Plans for the tip. I was wondering why the last week of November / first week of December shows MK closing at 6pm, yet still a crowd level of 4 on those days. Is it just more crowded for the Christmas Party compared to the Halloween party? Or do you estimate the crowds will end up closer to a 1 or 2 on those days?

Plugged in these items into touring plans (minus space mountain so 12 things) for our party day MK October 6th. It returned a wildly different plan with almost 5 hours of waiting. What's wrong? (walking average, balance walk wait, start 8:30 EMH Lunch 12 at Columbia- it returns in this order People mover, Buzz, Pirates, Splash, Thunder, Cruise, Lunch, Haunted, Small world, Peterpan, Under the sea, 7 Dwarfs, Winnie (end at 4PM). Wow I'm confused. I like your plan better but the TP program evaluation of that order say 50 more minutes waiting. What do I do now? (I can send you my plan names it is public)

Thanks for the info! Do you believe this would also apply to MVMCP for November 8, 10, and 11?

hmmm I was going to do MK on 11/9 and HS 11/10 but switched to HS 11/9 and MK 11/10 when we found out MK closes early on 11/9. Are you suggesting I should stick with MK on 11/9? I already changed my reservations but still have time to change back.

Question - sorry if I missed it in the video but would you recommend the same strategy (Peter Pan, Mine Train, Winnie, etc.) if we do not have early entry?

How do they make the day visitors leave when the party starts?

Do you think Genie+ will be worth on a very low-crowd party day? We have 2 full days to visit Magic Kingdom, but no Early Entry

You mentioned that the wait times shown for the 12th are an average. Does that include the wait times after the party started?

What program or graphics package are you using to create the chalkboard? Thanks

So I pay a fortune for my park ticket and get kicked out after half a day? Think I would rather stay in the park until 10 pm after spending all that money on a park ticket.? X