Starting this weekend, guests will be able to watch the Disney Starlight nighttime parade at earlier showtimes. Beginning Sunday, August 31st, both Disney Starlight showtimes will be moved earlier in the night by 30 minutes. In addition, Disney has scaled back the schedule for Disney Starlight, removing previously published showtimes beyond September 13th. Previously, the schedule was available through the first week of October. Here’s a closer look at what’s changing, and what’s staying the same.
Earlier Showtimes for Disney Starlight Parade
Starting this Sunday, showtimes will be moved forward by 30 minutes. Here’s a look at the change:
- August 25 | 9pm and 11pm
- August 26 | No showtimes (Not-So-Scary Halloween Party)
- August 27 | 9pm and 11pm
- August 28 | 9pm and 11pm
- August 29 | No showtimes (Not-So-Scary Halloween Party)
- August 30 | 9pm and 11pm
- August 31 | 8:30pm and 10:30pm
- September 1 | 8:30pm and 10:30pm
- September 2 | No showtimes (Not-So-Scary Halloween Party)
- September 3 | 8:30pm and 10:30pm
- September 4 | 8:30pm and 10:30pm
- September 5 | No showtimes (Not-So-Scary Halloween Party)
- September 6 | 8:30pm and 10:30pm
- September 7 | No showtimes (Not-So-Scary Halloween Party)
- September 8 | 8:30pm and 10:30pm
- September 9 | No showtimes (Not-So-Scary Halloween Party)
- September 10 | 8:30pm and 10:30pm
- September 11 | 8:30pm and 10:30pm
- September 12 | No showtimes (Not-So-Scary Halloween Party)
- September 13 | 8:30pm and 10:30pm
- September 14 | No schedule beyond this date
Schedule Scaled Back
In addition to the change in showtimes, Walt Disney World removed previously released Disney Starlight parade showtimes beyond September 14th. Essentially, they have scaled back the schedule, now with less advance notice of the showtimes. This is something to keep an eye on if you’re visiting in the second half of September or during October and beyond.
Currently, Walt Disney World has the Magic Kingdom scheduled to close at 10pm for non-party nights beginning September 15th. Right now, there is no reason to not believe that Disney will not extend park hours to an 11pm close on non-party nights throughout the remainder of the Halloween season (and probably the remainder of the year).
Disney typically extends park hours on Friday during the late morning hours. Walt Disney World has been very consistent with moving non-party nights to an 11pm closing time and party nights to an 8am opening time. This will likely continue.
What makes this interesting to me is that Walt Disney World removed previously published Disney Starlight parade showtimes through early October. Those showtimes, which listed the parade at 9pm and 11pm, basically confirmed what we already expect Disney has plans to do – extend park hours. That said, the removal of the parade showtimes throws the tiniest wrench into an otherwise solid bet.
If I had to guess, I would say that Disney removed the parade showtimes because they were incorrect. The parade will not be shown at 9pm and 11pm. Instead, it will be shown at 8:30pm and 10:30pm (if not earlier, as sunset allows). Instead of publishing parade times ahead of the planned park hours extension, we imagine that Disney will publish Disney Starlight parade showtimes with the same cadence as Magic Kingdom operating hours extensions. You can expect that both will be updated roughly 2.5 weeks before the dates that they affect.
To prove that theory, we’ll have to wait until this Friday around lunchtime, but we’d expect that Disney will not only extend Magic Kingdom park hours for the week of Sept. 14-21, but that they will also post 8:30pm and 10:30pm showtimes for the Disney Starlight parade.
Of course, that then begs the question: if Disney reliably extends Magic Kingdom park hours throughout the Halloween and Holiday Seasons, why don’t they just post the correct hours in the first place? That’s above my pay grade.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
