New Year’s Eve at Walt Disney World might have just been saved thanks to a little benefit Guests experience at closing time!
We at Inside the Magic found confirmation that the Walt Disney World Resort has extended Disney Springs‘ operating hours from 10 pm to 11 pm for the entire month of December and into January 2021. This includes New Year’s Eve.
Check it out:
Related: You Can Still Celebrate NYE At Disney World This Year, Here’s How!
No such New Year’s Eve plans have been announced by Disney World due to current circumstances and guidelines surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. Magic Kingdom park is still set to close at 7 pm on December 31, EPCOT at 8 pm, Disney’s Hollywood Studios at 7 pm, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be closing the earliest at 5 pm.
But, Disney Springs’ new hours mean there is still a chance that you could be out at one of your favorite spots on Disney property when the clock strikes midnight.
It is very often the case that Guests stay at a particular Disney World location past the posted closing time. Whether it be due to dinner reservations or attempting to sneak one last ride in the day. And, Walt Disney World Cast Members are generally very tolerant of this. Shops, restaurants, and attractions will close around you, but Cast Members won’t be actively asking you to leave right away.
For example, on November 6, I left the Magic Kingdom well over an hour after the scheduled 9 pm closing time and between Guests still in line to get into the Emporium or simply admiring the holiday overlays on Cinderella Castle, I was by no means the last person to leave for the night.
Related: Where is the Best Thanksgiving Dinner at Disney Springs?
With late-night dining, drinking, and shopping, there are plenty of ways you can find yourself staying in Disney’s shopping and dining center past midnight to do your own countdown to 2021!
But, Disney Springs will be open until 11 pm all December, and that prompts hope that they will gain the confidence to extend the locations hours and allow Guests to participate in a more legitimate countdown.
Many of us here at Inside the Magic love the experience of New Year’s Eve at Walt Disney World and we will update our readers as more information about the day’s events come to light.