Special Events at Magic Kingdom will close the park earlier than normal

Heads up, Disney World travelers: the Magic Kingdom will close hours earlier than normal on select dates. This will definitely affect your plans!

Early Closing

The Magic Kingdom is closing earlier than usual due to some special events that will take place. Typically, the park is one of the last to close for the evening – staying open until 9:00 or 10:00 pm.

Cast Members did not received their special milestone celebrations in 2020 or 2021. They were canceled due to the pandemic and initial reopening of the parks.

However, with things mostly back to normal, Disney is looking to properly celebrate those Cast Members. Unfortunately, those dates in January and February had to be postponed due to cold weather.

Now, those dates have been rescheduled. We hope Cast Members will finally get to celebrate their achievements!

Dates

Disney will close Magic Kingdom early on two nights in order to throw this party. First, the 2020 celebration will take place on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. Next, the 2021 celebration will be held on Sunday, May 15, 2021.

Since the calendar does not go that far out yet, we cannot say for certain when the park will close. However, past events closed the park to day Guests at 4:30 pm, so we should expect the same for these dates.

Magic Kingdom will close early on May 3 and May 15.

How will this affect your plans?

Well, for one, if you are hoping to visit Magic Kingdom on either of these days you will miss out on about 5 hours of park time. I would suggest hopping to another park if you have another Magic Kingdom day built into your itinerary.

If one of those dates is your only day at Magic Kingdom during your trip, I would cancel that park pass and make one for another park. You will miss out on fireworks as well as an entire evening of riding attractions.

Be sure to use Character Locator to help you adjust your touring strategy if you plan to be at Magic Kingdom on either of those dates!

Will you be at Magic Kingdom on either of these dates? Will you stay there or make a park pass somewhere else? Let us know in the comments below and on Facebook.