After moving over to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios for much of the summer and all of Party Season, Extended Evening Hours is finally returning to Magic Kingdom in 2026. Here are the details, plus Walt Disney World crowds commentary, when & why ExEH might return to DHS and DAK earlier than normal, and more.
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. But it’s not just the most expensive resorts–you can save money by renting DVC points or staying at the Swolphin–those are both great ways to hack ExEH and enjoy the perk and a nicer resort for a lower price.
Extended Evening Theme Park Hours has two tiers of resort eligibility, occurs two nights per week, is at two parks, and runs for two hours. 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.
As always, Magic Kingdom stops hosting Extended Evening Hours when Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party kick into high gear. That’s why there are no ExEH dates at Magic Kingdom for the remainder of 2025, and haven’t been for a while.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been hosting Extended Evening Hours on Wednesdays through the end of October, with Animal Kingdom taking over starting on November 5, 2025. This is due to the Jollywood Nights Christmas Party. From then until early 2026, Animal Kingdom will host the second Extended Evening Hours of the week.
This has more or less been the cadence of previous years, with ExEH switching from MK to DHS once MNSSHP kicked into high gear, and then from DHS to DAK once Jollywood Nights started. Although Extended Evening Hours isn’t as desirable at DAK, at least it occurs entirely at night in November and December due to the earlier sunset time.
All of the above is how the Extended Evening Hours scheduling plays out in a normal year. So if you’re planning ahead for Fall 2026, you can expect Disney’s Hollywood Studios to again take over Extended Evening Hours hosting duties from Magic Kingdom again then. The date is not yet certain, but our best guess is that it’ll happen on September 16, 2026.
This year, that changeover occurred much earlier. For those who haven’t been following this saga, it began with Walt Disney World making several calendar changes to lay the groundwork for the debut of Disney Starlight Night Parade way back in July.
For the purposes of this post, the most notable of which was moving ExEH over to Animal Kingdom starting in the second half of summer. There actually might be a repeat of that in Summer 2026; it all depends on Disney Starlight Night Parade scheduling and whether Walt Disney World is comfortable with only one performance on Wednesdays. Our guess is that they will be–but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Today’s big news is that Extended Evening Hours returns to Magic Kingdom starting Wednesday, January 7, 2026 from 9 pm until 11 pm. (It’s possible park hours extensions push that back to 10 pm to midnight.) This is as far out as the calendar currently goes, so we don’t know whether this trend continues on subsequent Wednesdays this winter.
It usually does. It’s our expectation that Magic Kingdom continues to host Extended Evening Hours every Wednesday through at least early March, and most weeks through the first half of 2026. However, we do expect more scheduling changes in 2026 than this year due to Disney Starlight Night Parade, especially once Daylight Saving Time starts. That happens ahead of Spring Break season, and it’ll be challenging to run the night parade twice due to sunset times. On slower dates, that’s probably not an issue–but during the peak season, it might be.
As a result, don’t be surprised if Extended Evening Hours moves over to Animal Kingdom on Wednesdays for a variety of peak season dates throughout 2026. It probably won’t move over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios because that park hosts After Hours most Wednesdays through early September 2026.
Again, nothing after January 7, 2026 is on the official calendar. The rest is purely speculative on our part, so don’t plan around any of this until Walt Disney World officially adds it to the calendar.
It’s entirely possible that Walt Disney World won’t be too concerned about two nightly performances of Starlight every single night of the week in 2026. The parade won’t be brand-new then, and even right now when it is new, there are several days throughout the next three months when Starlight isn’t shown, period.
We’re just bringing this to your attention early so you don’t get caught off-guard if/when Walt Disney World switches things up and adds Extended Evening Hours to the Wednesday schedule. A lot of fans were very disappointed about this unexpected change over the summer and early fall this year. And understandably so–we left Animal Kingdom at the end of Extended “Evening” Hours in July…and it was still broad daylight out!
We’re huge fans of Extended Evening Hours, particularly at Magic Kingdom and especially in the winter. When there’s chillier weather, the crowds tend to clear out, making ExEH even more advantageous. This is doubly true with winter getting busier with each passing year. Extended Evening Hours has been the one reliable way (knock on wood) to knock out a ton of attractions with relatively short waits.
Extended Evening Hours is notably less busy during the winter months than it is during the summer, despite lower overall crowd levels in the summer months. As with lower demand in winter due to weather, the same is true in summer; high heat and humidity results in more guests seeking out Extended Evening Hours for more pleasant conditions. Just something to keep in mind if you’ve previously done ExEH in the summer, thought it was too crowded, and are thinking of skipping the extra hours in winter.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Will you be taking advantage of Extended Evening Theme Park Hours at Magic Kingdom in 2026? Hope that MK continues to host ExEH in March 2026 and beyond? Or do you view this from the ‘greater good’ perspective, not wanting a reduction in Starlight showtimes? 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!
