Disney after hours affecting crowds

chewbacca

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 14, 2001
We will be there March 1st. I see they changed the hours of magic kingdom to 9pm. Does the After hours event affect crowds during that morning? I wondered why the later close... I thought maybe it would be slightly less crowded that morning maybe a little busier in the evening since 3-4K people show up later? I’m guessing there probably won’t be much impact either way.
 
We will be there March 1st. I see they changed the hours of magic kingdom to 9pm. Does the After hours event affect crowds during that morning? I wondered why the later close... I thought maybe it would be slightly less crowded that morning maybe a little busier in the evening since 3-4K people show up later? I’m guessing there probably won’t be much impact either way.

My opinion, which probably isn’t worth very much, is that it doesn’t really impact crowds one way or the other. At least nothing you’d be able to really prove or feel.

You arguably get a bit of the ‘crossover’ traffic towards the evening once people with DAH ticket holders are let in. DAH folks were let in 6:30ish-7 this past Friday (had been 4ish in prior years, TBD whether that pattern holds).

Some DAH folks use that ticket as their only park admission that day. Some DAH folks (such as those with APs) may choose to go to the park before the official DAH hours. It’s really a mixed bag.

To sum it up, I wouldn’t worry about it too much, especially for AM crowds.
 
IMHO I really don't understand what the point of DAH is nor do I see the value as MKP is regularly open late even on non-DAH days.. Why would you pay for a special ticket just to enter MKP in the evening when you could do the same with a regular ticket on a normal day in which the park has later park hours..

With that said, to answer the OPs question, I do not see any major impact to crowd levels out of the norm..
 


IMHO I really don't understand what the point of DAH is nor do I see the value as MKP is regularly open late even on non-DAH days.. Why would you pay for a special ticket just to enter MKP in the evening when you could do the same with a regular ticket on a normal day in which the park has later park hours..

With that said, to answer the OPs question, I do not see any major impact to crowd levels out of the norm..

I challenge you to ride 7 Dwarfs seven times in a row with a maximum of two minutes' wait in between each run, literally walk right on to Peter Pan, ride It's A Small World without a single other person anywhere to be seen in any boat the entire ride, walk right into the stretching room on Haunted Mansion, ride Pirates of the Caribbean with three other people, walk right on to Space Mountain twice in a row and ride Space Ranger Spin twice in a row without having to get out of the car, all in the span of less than three hours, while touring the park on a regular ticket with normal crowds. It can't be done. That's the value. A virtually empty (as compared to normal crowds, even on a slow day) park is something rarely seen, and almost unheard of these days. Some of us want to ride all the rides (at night when it's cooler makes it even better) without waiting in line all day.

And no, the 3k or so people coming for After Hours aren't going to make a *dent* in the numbers in the park one direction or the other.
 
... ride It's A Small World without a single other person anywhere to be seen in any boat the entire ride ...

Forget DAH, they'd have to pay ME to do this.

You start off thinking "Hey, this is kinda cool", but after 30 seconds it quickly wears off. With every turn of the boat comes the realization that all those lifeless eyes are looking through you and you begin to question all your past life choices. By the end you're a broken shadow of yourself and the CM nearly has to break your fingers to loosen the grip you have on the boat to get you off.
 
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Forget DAH, they'd have to pay ME to do this.

LOL. It was *creepy*. VERY creepy.

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But how often do you get to see this?

You know, within the last 4 years or so I've been to MK late with very low crowds - closer to your 2nd picture with maybe a few more people in the distance - and similarly at EPCOT. I actually found it very creepy and uncomfortable to be walking around the parks when it's virtually empty. And standing around waiting for a bus when that area is virtually empty is just as creepy.
 
You know, within the last 4 years or so I've been to MK late with very low crowds - closer to your 2nd picture with maybe a few more people in the distance - and similarly at EPCOT. I actually found it very creepy and uncomfortable to be walking around the parks when it's virtually empty. And standing around waiting for a bus when that area is virtually empty is just as creepy.

I guess that means I like creepy.... a lot! ;)
 
I guess that means I like creepy.... a lot! ;)

Oh me too! Any chance I get. After hours dining in Epcot makes for a long lonely walk in the dark.

DAH is a value ticket.
 
I wish they had more lights... the magic seems to dwindle at night time for me.... Could be because i don't see very well in the dark... :(
 

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