Hi Hilary,
Thank you for coming to the Disney Parks Moms Panel with your inquiry. I am sure you are looking forward to your magical vacation this fall. It is good to hear that you are planning ahead and coming up with a schedule for your trip. The Magic Kingdom does appear to be closing earlier than normal on that Thursday, but I am unable to find a special event that seems to be taking place that day. There could be a number of reasons why that park has an early closing time, but we have not been given any further information.
I would recommend checking back as your trip gets a little closer, as
park hours have been known to change without notice. However, I cannot guarantee that this will happen. If you have the park hopper option on your Magic Your Way tickets, you could head over to Epcot or Disney's Hollywood Studios in the evening for dinner and some attractions. It might also be fun to spend the latter part of the day with a little shopping or dining in the newly re-imagined
Disney Springs. I recently dined at both Morimoto Asia and The Daily Poutine and both offered unique menu options that were rather amazing. There is also a food truck called
Fantasy Fare that offers selections that you would find exclusively at other Disney theme parks, such as Disneyland Paris.
Your trip will be here before you can say "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" May it be filled with memories to last a lifetime. Feel free to stop back by if you have other planning questions.
~Allison L