Extended Evening Hours returns to Animal Kingdom in Fall 2024 as part of a Party Season switch at Walt Disney World. This post shares date(s), details, and strategy for taking advantage of the on-site perk for guests staying at a Deluxe Resorts, DVC Villas, and select other hotels.
For those who are new to Walt Disney World vacation planning, Extended Evening Theme Park Hours is nighttime counterpart to Early Theme Park Entry. There are several differences, most notably that guests staying at Value or Moderate Resorts are not eligible for Extended Evening Hours. (Some might call these a magical perk of extra hours…or perhaps extra magical hours for the sake of brevity? I dunno, just spitballing better name ideas.)
Extended Evening Theme Park Hours has two types of resort eligibility, occurs two nights per week, is at two parks, and runs for two hours (pretty much everything about the perk occurs in twos). It’s usually Monday at EPCOT and Wednesday at Magic Kingdom. See our Strategy Guide Guide for Extended Evening Hours at Walt Disney World for more ins and outs of the nighttime Deluxe benefit.
Walt Disney World has already updated the calendar reflecting that Extended Evening Hours will move from Magic Kingdom to Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Wednesdays, starting with September 25, 2024. The move has not yet been officially announced by Walt Disney World, but you can see the change via the My Disney Experience app. Extended Evening Hours are once again at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on October 2, 2024. (We already reported on this–it’s not brand-new news.)
Curiously, the calendar skips the following Wednesday–there are no ExEH that day at all–and jumps to Friday, October 11, when Extended Evening Hours will be hosted at Disney’s Animal Kingdom for the first time in 2024. Last year, ExEH was held at DAK for several select dates in November and December, and we expected a return of that in 2024.
This was to be expected because of Party Season, which begins in early August but doesn’t really kick into high gear with a full schedule until late September. Last year, the exact same thing happened–Disney’s Hollywood Studios began hosting ExEH in late September. Then Animal Kingdom hosted ExEH throughout the Christmas season as the alternative because both Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios had holiday parties.
Currently, the calendar lists Extended Evening Hours as occurring from 6 pm to 8 pm at Animal Kingdom on October 11, 2024. There’s a reasonable possibility that park closing will shift later, and ExEH will actually run from 7-9 pm or even 8-10 pm.
As for why Animal Kingdom is starting Extended Evening Hours so early this year, my guess is because of Columbus Day the following Monday. That’s a holiday weekend, and one that has historically coincided with the height of fall break for school districts that matter most to Walt Disney World attendance. That weekend will almost certainly be the busiest at Walt Disney World in many months, surpassing late September at the end of the current ticket deals and probably reaching heights not seen since spring break season.
Given that and the recent crowds observed at and prior to ExEH in Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, it’s actually an incredibly savvy move to shift Extended Evening Hours to Animal Kingdom. That should help redistribute crowds, making the other three parks slightly less busy and Animal Kingdom less of a ghost town at the tail end of the day.
That’s really the only explanation I can think of for this decision. There’s nothing in the schedule to suggest Wednesday, October 9 has a conflict (although a park buyout for a convention or whatever wouldn’t be listed, anyway). Regardless of whether it’s this or a private after hours event at DHS on October 9, I think it’s safe to say that this is probably a one-off for Animal Kingdom until Disney Jollywood Nights and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party necessitate shifting Extended Evening Hours to DAK for the holiday season. We’ll keep you posted on that as more dates are added to the calendar, so stay tuned.
For now, what follows is our “pitch” on nighttime at Animal Kingdom and taking advantage of Extended Evening Hours there…
We love Animal Kingdom at night. Well, when it’s open after dark–but that’s usually the case during the holiday season thanks to Daylight Saving Time and earlier sunsets. Pandora – World of Avatar looks great at night, and takes on a totally different atmosphere that’s surprisingly serene even when it’s busy. (It usually is not busy at night.)
Whether Extended Evening Hours at Animal Kingdom ends up being “good” or “bad” really depends upon crowd levels and weather. If it’s really hot during the day, more people will take midday breaks and attend ExEH. We often see the worst crowds for Extended Evening Hours at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT not during the busiest times of the year, but during the hottest. Even as summer crowds have decreased as a whole, ExEH crowds have worsened.
Animal Kingdom has another issue, which is its ability to absorb crowds (or rather, its inability to do so). This is always true, which is why there’s a ‘tipping point’ when DAK goes from totally manageable to insanely crowded, without much of a moderately busy in-between. Such is the nature of a limited ride roster.
We’ve found that there’s something of a tipping point, when the park goes from blissful and manageable to total chaos. Although we weren’t there for it, my understanding is that occurred during the last ExEH during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve last year. Earlier in November, the ExEH we attended at Animal Kingdom was downright delightful. Given the huge difference between fall break and NYE crowds, we’d expect this October ExEH to be fairly pleasant. That is, assuming it isn’t overly hot during the day. If it is, all bets are off.
As far as strategy goes, Avatar Flight of Passage is the main substantive draw of Extended Evening Hours at Animal Kingdom. Experiencing it with a minimal wait is a huge selling point of the perk; guests will undoubtedly recognize this, seeing ExEH as an alternative to paying for Lightning Lane Single Pass.
That’s exactly why Flight of Passage will be busy at the start of Extended Evening Hours. Based on our past experience during special events and evenings at Animal Kingdom, our advice would be to save Flight of Passage until the end of the night.
We’ve done events during which Flight of Passage posts a 60-90 minute wait at the start, is a walk-on after the first hour, and has entire theaters going nearly empty towards the end. There have been occasions when no one else was in the entire theater (not just our load area–all of them). It was surreal looking left and right while riding the banshee and seeing a sea of empty seats on an attraction that is among the hottest at Walt Disney World.
As odd as this might sound, there’s a good reason for the fall-off: Flight of Passage’s pre-show. If you’ve only experienced the attraction a handful of times, the awkward and rambling pre-show might strike you as mildly annoying. Try experiencing that same pre-show 4 consecutive times and you’ll find it interminably long and bordering on torture (talk about the ultimate first-world hyperbole, but still).
In theory, you could probably ride Avatar Flight of Passage a few times during Extended Evening Hours at Animal Kingdom. The full experience from entering the queue to exiting and walking back to the front of the line as a walk-on ranges from 19 to 22 minutes (depending upon walking speed, load time, and whether you have Pandoran parasites).
However, most guests do not have the patience to subject themselves to that pre-show that many times in a single evening. It just isn’t possible. As majestical, detailed, and euphoric as the ride experience itself is, you’ll be spending the bulk of your time in the pre-show each time, and that’s just too much. Unfortunately, there is no way to skip the pre-show since it contains the safety spiel.
This is precisely why the line will drop off sharply for Avatar Flight of Passage during the course of Extended Evening Hours. People will get their fill at the beginning of the event, and not do it again either due to the long line they encountered the first time, the long pre-show, or both.
Accordingly, the best approach to Extended Evening Hours at Animal Kingdom is starting in Asia and doing Expedition Everest, potentially repeatedly. The total ride experience there is significantly shorter and it should be a similar story with the line. You could probably do Expedition Everest a few times in short order if your body is up to it.
From there, doing Dinosaur makes sense (if it isn’t extinct by then) before ending the night in Pandora – World of Avatar where you should be able to knock out both Na’vi River Journey and Avatar Flight of Passage with minimal waits.
Our rationale for this strategy is that everyone is going to head to Pandora first. It’s the main draw, and why 95% of people are going to attend Extended Evening Hours at Animal Kingdom. Not only will ExEH guests flock to Pandora, but day guests will still be there at the start.
After about an hour, day guests will be long gone, and Extended Evening Hours guests will also start to move on to other areas of Animal Kingdom. The last 30 minutes or so, you should have Pandora pretty much to yourself. Not only will you be able to enjoy the attractions with minimal wait, but you can enjoy the ambiance of Pandora at night devoid of crowds.
I love the physical environment of Pandora, but it is normally so chaotic that it’s difficult to enjoy. At night, it’s usually so devoid of people that the “organic” ambiance there is much more convincing–truly like an alien planet being reclaimed by nature. Walking around other areas of the park is similarly satisfying.
Honestly, that is the upside of Extended Evening Hours at Animal Kingdom from our perspective. While I consider Animal Kingdom to be the weakest of the 4 parks at night, that is very much a relative term–even the “weakest” in this case is still fantastic, and incredibly underrated.
It’s not just the moody atmosphere, it’s the serene sounds and just general peacefulness of the park. If you’ve only done DAK during hot days, you will have a totally fresh perspective on it–noticing details you’ve never seen before and leaving with a newfound appreciation for the park. I promise!
The biggest downside to Extended Evening Hours at Animal Kingdom is everything that isn’t open. Kilimanjaro Safaris, Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo: Big Blue & Beyond, or Feathered Friends in Flight, all of which currently end operations well before 6 pm.
Accordingly, we’d recommend arriving a few hours early, and allocating that time to other attractions, stage shows, and also the excellent holiday season entertainment that won’t be open or performed during Extended Evening Hours. During the event, you’re necessarily going to be repeating attractions, as so few are open.
Ultimately, Extended Evening Hours at Animal Kingdom is an event that leaves me conflicted. On the one hand, I prefer nighttime in the other 3 parks, and I also favor ExEH in both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom from a practical perspective given the ride rosters in each of those parks.
Animal Kingdom is incredible at night–criminally underrated once you consider the park’s normal closing time outside of a few months of the year. It’s a real shame that so few Walt Disney World guests experience Animal Kingdom in the evening, as the entire park takes on a different vibe–especially Pandora – World of Avatar. More than anything else, this really just makes me wish Animal Kingdom had a (good) nighttime spectacular and larger ride roster so people stayed late here on regular days.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Will you be taking advantage of Extended Evening Theme Park Hours at Disney’s Animal Kingdom? Disappointed about the lack of ExEH at Magic Kingdom for the final few months of the year? Hoping more Extended Evening Hours dates are offered at DAK for the holiday season? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!