Ask It Results: Best Extra Magic Hours

It’s Wednesday, and that means we’re answering the most controversial questions in the universe here on Ask It. (Okay, maybe not *that* controversial, like “Is the bread mixture thing served at Thanksgiving called dressing or stuffing if you cook it outside the bird?” Although if you want to weigh in on that in the comments, go for it!)

This week, out question had to do with one of the best on-property benefits–Extra Magic Hours. On select days at Walt Disney World, a park may have Extra Magic Hours for people staying at a Walt Disney World resort hotel. Morning Extra Magic Hours allow you to get in for select attractions one hour before the official park opening. Evening Extra Magic Hours allow you to stay two or more hours after park closing. Which is better? We asked you:

Which Walt Disney World Extra Magic Hours do you prefer to take advantage of?

Here’s your results.

Morning Extra Magic Hours (794 votes, 49%)

Imagine going to Magic Kingdom and walking on all the popular rides with no one around like some weird 80s WDW commercial. Okay, Morning Extra Magic Hours aren’t quite *that* exclusive, but it can be very refreshing to have a park with minimal crowds. The down side on this? You have to get up at what feels like a “Gee I’m going to work” hour rather than a “Ah, I’m on vacation” hour. You have to get your family ready to go as well. You have to get to the park. And you certainly don’t want to waste that extra park time by eating breakfast (or getting much-needed coffee)! There is one segment of the population who can benefit greatly from the morning hours. For people flying in from the UK, Morning Extra Magic Hours are wonderful ways to make jet lag work in your favor.

One other down side is that for some Morning Extra Magic Hours, not all attractions are open, but for those that are, the extra hour in the morning means you can do a lot of attractions that will be crowded later on.

Evening Extra Magic Hours (814 votes, 51%)

There’s something magical about Disney parks at night, so who wouldn’t want extra time to just soak in the ambiance. And although ride wait times do go down during Evening Extra Magic Hours, it’s the ambiance that truly draws people in. For people flying in from the west coast, Evening Extra Magic Hours are a great way to make jet lag work in your favor. Even with young kids, you can make Evening Extra Magic Hours work in your favor by taking an afternoon nap and, if your child falls asleep in a stroller, parents can swap off for rides due to the shorter lines. In any case, even if you don’t use the full time for Evening Extra Magic Hours, it does allow time for crowds to clear out so you don’t feel crammed into transportation with the exiting crowds.

So there you have it — this week’s results. In short, any extra time in a Disney park is awesome! What is the earliest you’ve ever gotten to the park before, or how late is the latest time you’ve stayed in the park before? Let us know in the comments.

Next week’s Ask It is live here on the blog and on Twitter. We’ll be back next week with more of your results.