The Walt Disney World Resort has officially shared that Extra Magic Hours are a thing of the past. As a tie in to the 50th anniversary celebration, the resort will instead be offering Disney Resort Hotel Guests (and Guests of other select hotels) a different option. Early Theme Park Entry will soon be introduced. This perk will give Guests 30-minute early entry to ANY theme park, EVERY day.

This is very different than Extra Magic Hours, which would grant resort hotel Guests early entry to one specific theme park for an extra hour in the morning. Or it would grant resort hotel Guests two extra hours in one specific theme park in the evening.

Extra Magic Hours was technically suspended when the Walt Disney World Resort reopened last summer following the COVID closure. Disney states that the reasoning behind Extra Magic Hours not returning is because they are continuing to manage theme park attendance with health and safety top of mind. With this new early theme park entry benefit option, it helps the resort better spread Guests out across all four theme parks, while providing added flexibility. It still gives Guests staying onsite the perk of extra early park time on each day of their vacation. Now they get the bonus of being able to choose which park they visit, instead of being stuck to Disney’s Extra Magic Hours schedule.

For those wishing to take advantage of Early Theme Park Entry, Guests will need valid admission and a park reservation made via the Disney Park Pass system to enter a theme park.

Disney did not say when Early Theme Park Entry would officially start, just that it was coming soon. We’ll be sure to share with you more details as we learn them about this new perk.

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