Walt Disney World Phase Closures Guide

Updated: 12/31/13

It's that time of year again.  The Holiday season is upon us and that means that  the WDW parks are in jeopardy of closing to guests. While it does stink when you  are down there and the parks close to capacity, being prepared is the best  course of action to deal with the potential disappointment. 

The park that is most likely to close is the Magic Kingdom.  Year after year, it seems to close during the Holidays.  It closes most frequently because the  crowds mostly want to visit here on special days.  Least likely to close is Epcot because the park is so large and can hold crowds the best.  Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom lie somewhere in the middle.  They  close sometimes, but most of the time remain open. 

A majority of the time, if the parks do close, they will reopen to all guests a few hours later.  Very rarely are they closed the entire day.  This is due to fact that guests have left the park and it allows additional guests to enter the park.

There are four different Phases for closures.  Here is what the different closures mean:

Phase 1:

Those allowed:

• Multi-day tickets
• Guests staying at Disney Resorts
• Annual Passholders
• Guests re-entering the park from the day
• Guests Park-Hopping from another park
• Guests with in park reservations
• Guests who arrive using Disney transportation

Those who are not allowed:

• People without park tickets
• One day, single park tickets
• Those using Cast Member passes

Phase 2:

Those allowed:

• Guests staying at a Disney Resort
• Annual Passholders
• Guests re-entering the park from the day
• Guests Park Hopping from another park
• Guests with in park reservations
• Guests who arrive using Disney transportation

Those who are not allowed:

• People without park tickets
• One day, single park tickets
• Those using Cast Member passes
• Multi-day tickets

Phase 3:

Those allowed:

• Guests staying at a Disney Resort
• Guests with in park reservations
• Annual Passholders

Those who are not allowed:

• People without park tickets
• One day, single park tickets
• Those using Cast Member passes
• Multi-day tickets
• Guests re-entering the park from the day
• Guests Park Hopping from another park
• Guests who arrive using Disney Transportation  

 

Phase 3.5 (only for the Magic Kingdom):

Those allowed:

• Guests staying at a Disney Resort
• Guests with in park reservations
• Annual Passholders

 

Those who are not allowed:  

• People without park tickets
• One day, single park tickets that have been pre-purchased to the Magic Kingdom only - must visit another park and exchange their tickets at guest relations found at the entrance to the other parks.
• Those using Cast Member passes
• Multi-day tickets
• Guests re-entering the park from the day
• Guests Park Hopping from another park
• Guests who arrive using Disney Transportation

Phase 4:

• Park is closed to all guests

No matter what, if you visit during the holidays, the best piece of advice I can give you is to enter the parks early.  It may be hard to do, but you will optimize your chances of seeing everything you want to see.  Lastly, just have fun, people watch, and enjoy the Disney Anarchy!