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Disney World Posted Its First Thanksgiving Week Hours, and Magic Kingdom Closes to Day Guests at 6pm on Black Friday
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Disney World Posted Its First Thanksgiving Week Hours, and Magic Kingdom Closes to Day Guests at 6pm on Black Friday

Michael Travels
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Published

Black Friday at Magic Kingdom ends at 6pm this year, unless you have bought a party ticket.

Walt Disney World has put its Thanksgiving week calendar live for November 22 to 28, and WDWMagic reported the release at 7:44am ET on Friday. Three of those seven days close Magic Kingdom to regular admission at 6pm so Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party can start at 7pm, and one of the three is the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party 2026 key art on a red background, with Mickey Mouse in a Santa suit carrying a green sack of striped presents and a nutcracker

The Christmas party is the reason three days of Thanksgiving week end early at Magic Kingdom. Image: Disney.

Magic Kingdom, day by day

  • Sunday, November 22: 9am to 10pm
  • Monday, November 23: 9am to 10pm
  • Tuesday, November 24: 9am to 6pm, party at 7pm
  • Wednesday, November 25: 9am to 6pm, party at 7pm
  • Thursday, November 26, Thanksgiving Day: 9am to 10pm
  • Friday, November 27: 9am to 6pm, party at 7pm
  • Saturday, November 28: 9am to 10pm

Early entry for Disney resort guests is 8:30am every day of the week. WDWMagic's advice for those three dates: "If you're visiting the Magic Kingdom on the 24th, 25th, or 27th, plan to wrap up your day by 6pm unless you have a party ticket."

The 6pm cutoff itself is not new, and we covered the mechanic when the Halloween party season started in Magic Kingdom's party night hours in August. What is new is which November dates it lands on, and Black Friday is the one worth circling. Thanksgiving Day itself is a full 9am to 10pm day.

Main Street, U.S.A. packed with guests in daylight, looking toward the train station with the tall Magic Kingdom Christmas tree decorated with garlands and gingerbread ornaments in the center

Main Street looking toward Town Square during the holiday season. Photo: WDWMagic.

The other three parks

EPCOT posts 9am to 9pm on all seven days. Monday, November 23 adds a 9pm to 11pm Extended Evening for guests at eligible Disney resort hotels. Resort early entry runs 8:30am every morning.

Disney's Hollywood Studios runs 9am to 9pm on five of the seven days. Two nights, Monday the 23rd and Saturday the 28th, stop at 7pm so Disney Jollywood Nights can run 7:30pm to 12:30am. Early entry is 8:30am.

Disney's Animal Kingdom never moves: 8am to 6pm every day of the week, Thanksgiving Day included, with 7:30am early entry daily. It and EPCOT are the two parks that post identical operating hours all seven days.

One date to double check

There is a small disagreement about Animal Kingdom's Extended Evening. WDWMagic lists it on Tuesday, November 24 from 6pm to 8pm, and WDW News Today lists it on that same Tuesday. The themeparks.wiki schedule feed, which pulls from Disney's scheduling data, puts that same 6pm to 8pm Extended Evening on Wednesday, November 25 instead. The feed is internally consistent about it: every Animal Kingdom Extended Evening in November 2026 lands on a Wednesday there, the way EPCOT's all land on Mondays. Every other time in the week matches across all three sources. If that specific evening is load bearing for your plans, confirm it on Disney's calendar before you build around it.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse in holiday outfits waving from a glittered parade float built of oversized wrapped presents on Main Street at night, with a lit Christmas tree behind them and Cinderella Castle glowing blue, artificial snow falling

Mickey and Minnie on the Christmas party parade route at Magic Kingdom. Photo: Disney.

Treat these as a floor, not a ceiling

WDWMagic makes the point plainly, and it is the most useful line in any of Friday's coverage: "These are the first hours posted for the holiday week, and Disney typically extends hours closer to the date, so treat these as a starting point rather than the final word." These went up on September 18, more than two months ahead of the week itself, and Disney has a habit of lengthening posted days once a holiday date draws near.

If you are locking in dates for that week now: Put your Magic Kingdom day on the 22nd, 23rd, 26th or 28th if you want a full evening without buying a party ticket. Expect the posted closing times to move, and check again in a few weeks.

Sources

Image credits: Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party key art and the parade photo by Disney. Main Street holiday photo by WDWMagic.

Mentioned in this story

Check out our guides for more on each place in this story:

Magic Kingdom Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Disney Jollywood Nights

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