A Guide To Extra Magic Hours at Walt Disney World

I live for freebies. If there’s a good deal, I’m there. I’ll fight the crowds for my slightly reduced price lotion on Black Friday, and elbow someone in the face for a scarf that’s moderately less expensive. Why? I FEEL like I’m getting the most for my money. I love feeling like I’m getting the most for my money. It’s the same reason that if a restaurant offers free chips and salsa, I’ll eat three or four basket fulls. GET THE MOST I CAN. To me, extra magic hours, are the Disney equivalent of free chips and salsa at a restaurant. It’s not what you’re really going for, but the fact that you have it, is wonderful, and makes the experience better.20161231-LJP_028820161231-LJP_0210

What:
What are Extra Magic Hours? They’re pretty much what they sound like. They’re hours that certain parks are open, either in the morning or night, just for guests that are staying at a resort on WDW property. If you’re anything like me, and hate standing in long lines, and enjoy accomplishing a lot, in a short amount of time – then extra magic hours are for you.20161230-LJP_993320161204-LJP_8289

When:
Trying to predict when Extra Magic Hours will be, is like trying to predict who will get killed next on a Shonda show, or trying to figure out when Scott and Kourtney will break up next. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. It goes back to what we always say about HAVING A PLAN. When you have a plan, you’ll know before you leave for your trip, what park you’re going to be at what day, what the hours are going to be, and when the extra magic hours are going to be. If the extra magic hours are important to you, you can plan your time around them.20160916-LJP_082920160917-LJP_143120160626-LJP_6445

Get The Most:
If you want to get the most out of Extra Magic Hours, you’ll prioritize how you spend your time. This means heading to attractions that typically have long wait times first, instead of going to attractions that won’t fill up. For example, if you’re going to Morning Extra Magic Hours at The Magic Kingdom, you would try to knock out ‘The Mountains’ (Space, Splash, Thunder, and Mine Train), instead of running towards Country Bear Jamboree.20160626-LJP_648420160626-LJP_650920161126-LJP_6955-2

At the end of the day, David and I rarely take advantage of Extra Magic Hours anymore, but, we go to Disney fairly often. We think that Extra Magic Hours are HUGE at getting the most for your vacation if you aren’t annual passholders, as they’ll help you accomplish so much more.