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Magic Kingdom to be open 24 hours on leap day
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 12:09 pm
by avengador1
http://attractionsmagazine.com/blog/201 ... ays-daily/
Starting at 6 a.m. on Leap Day, Feb. 29, both the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and Disneyland park in California will stay open for 24 hours to celebrate “One More Disney Day”. Disney will also be giving away a vacation package each day until then. The available attractions, dining and entertainment is still being determined for the 24 hour Leap Day.
Read more at the link.
Re: Magic Kingdom to be open 24 hours on leap day
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 12:13 pm
by ktulu
I'd scout out a quiet bench to take some catnaps, then stay the whole 24 hours!
Re: Magic Kingdom to be open 24 hours on leap day
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 12:42 pm
by kurtisnelson
Hey internet, stop breaking my website!
Re: Magic Kingdom to be open 24 hours on leap day
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 1:15 pm
by darph nader
I'm sure the CMs are just 'thrilled' about this..... NOT. :mad:
Re: Magic Kingdom to be open 24 hours on leap day
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 7:08 pm
by KingsIslander
It's like Grad Night, but possibly worse!

Re: Magic Kingdom to be open 24 hours on leap day
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 7:49 pm
by Shorty82
KingsIslander wrote:It's like Grad Night, but possibly worse!
It'll be worse, at least on Grad Night there was a little time in between day park close and the start of Grad Night, time to straighten and clean the park and get things ready with no guests at all, and also to relax a little. Boy am I glad I'm no longer at the MK.
Re: Magic Kingdom to be open 24 hours on leap day
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 7:54 pm
by avengador1
I was speaking to a friend who still works at the monorails today. He had worked two 12 hours shifts that last couple of days when the parks were at capacity. I bet he isn't too happy to hear about this either. I didn't have the heart to mention it to him. ;)
Re: Magic Kingdom to be open 24 hours on leap day
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 7:56 pm
by Mr. D.
I don't see why anyone is complaining. This is a great idea. A chance to enjoy the park without the blasting Florida heat.
I am sure there will be some CM's that will whine about it, but some might enjoy it.
Also sure there will not be as many guest. Most families will be gone to put their little ones to bed.
I have always said there should be a theme park that is only open at night. Like from 5pm - 8 am.
I hope this goes well, maybe Disney will consider doing this more often, or better yet, make it standard.
Re: Magic Kingdom to be open 24 hours on leap day
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 8:03 pm
by avengador1
The heat doesn't get bad here until about June and stays that way until around the end of August. Other than that, it is pretty good year round.
Re: Magic Kingdom to be open 24 hours on leap day
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 8:23 pm
by Shorty82
avengador1 wrote:I was speaking to a friend who still works at the monorails today. He had worked two 12 hours shifts that last couple of days when the parks were at capacity. I bet he isn't too happy to hear about this either. I didn't have the heart to mention it to him. ;)
It won't be so bad for the monorail cast since the monorails have to shut down so early now for maintenance.
Mr. D. wrote:I don't see why anyone is complaining. This is a great idea. A chance to enjoy the park without the blasting Florida heat.
I am sure there will be some CM's that will whine about it, but some might enjoy it.
Also sure there will not be as many guest. Most families will be gone to put their little ones to bed.
I have always said there should be a theme park that is only open at night. Like from 5pm - 8 am.
I hope this goes well, maybe Disney will consider doing this more often, or better yet, make it standard.
Hopefully not to regularly as there's a LOT of work that has to be done and can only be done when the park is closed. Rides, shops, etc. have to be maintained, the rides and shops have to be cleaned, restrooms have to be thoroughly cleaned and hosed, walkways have to be hosed down and pressure washed, merchandise and food has to be delivered (some areas have no backstage area to make deliveries too so have to have pallets brought across stage). There's already not really enough time to get everything done overnight, especially in the MK which regularly has less than 8 hours between park clear the night before (most work can't start until all guests have left) and park open the next day.
I'm not sure it'll be worth the costs. Disney is going to have to pay out a hell of a lot of overtime, third shift differential and probably some double-back, a LOT more electricity will be used than normal (running rides mostly but also climate control), and there are many other overhead costs as well. I'm not sure there's going to be enough people there to cover all of these costs let alone make profit. Guest service will also suffer as there will be quite a few CMs who are very tired or otherwise don't want to be working at the gawd-awful hours of the morning.
For me personally, if I wanted to work overnight I'd sign up for a third shift role.