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You can always tell when Disney expects to be busy because they extend their park hours. Spring Break continues into mid April and so do the crowds.
Spring Break Crowds
Spring Break at Disney World is typically considered to last from the first of March through the week after Easter. This year, Easter is on March 31 so we usually can expect crowds to start decreasing a week or so after that.
Orlando International Airport also expects to see more than 7.6 million travelers this Spring Break. It just saw its busiest day ever. You can read more about that HERE.
Even though not all of these travelers will go to Disney World, we can certainly expect the crowds to be busy. You can read HERE how Disney has already adjusted park hours for the second week in April.
It seems as if Disney expects the crowds to linger a little longer, as they have now extended its operating hours for most of their parks (EPCOT hours remain the same) for the third week of April.
Magic Kingdom Park Hours
Originally, Magic Kingdom was planned to be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily from April 14th – April 20th.
From April 14th – 18th Magic Kingdom will continue to open at 9 a.m., but will now close at 10 p.m. Magic Kingdom will now open to Guests at 8 a.m. and close at 11 p.m. on Friday, April 19th, and Saturday, April 20th.
With this shift in hours, Early Entry will now take place at 7:30 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m. on the 19th and 20th. Extended Evening Hours for deluxe Guests will take place from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. on April 17th.
Animal Kingdom Park Hours
Animal Kingdom will extend its hours as well. I (Heather) love it when we see Animal Kingdom stay open longer as I feel this park can be underappreciated.
Animal Kingdom will open an hour earlier the week of April 14th.
Previous hours for Animal Kingdom were 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. The park will now open at 8:00 a.m. every day that week, however, the park will close at 7:00 p.m. on the 14th, 15th, 19th, and 20th.
Park closing will remain at 6 p.m. April 16th- 18th. This earlier opening will shift Early Entry to start at 7:30 a.m.
Hollywood Studios Park Hours
There was only a slight change in operating hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. They were previously open 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Hollywood Studios will close at 9:30 p.m. on April 19th and 20th.
Hollywood Studios will not open earlier, however, it will stay open an extra half hour, closing at 9:30 p.m., on April 19th and 20th.
Will you be visiting Disney World during the third week of April? Are you happy to see the park hours extended? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to share this post with your friends!