**Disney After Hours-Hollywood Studios** FAQ & Discussion Thread

[Haley R]

Just got back from DAH. Rough start due to weather. We arrived around 8:15 and also had Booked the Fantasmic Dessert Party. But after the initial horrible rain and lightning when we arrived, it cleared by around 9:30. We were refunded the dessert party costs. Watched the new history of animation show before the Star Wars fireworks/show. Loved the history of animation! After the Star Wars fireworks we headed to the launch bay to do the chewy and Rey meet and greet. 1 hour and 10 minutes later (11:20) we were finished. Chewy was great (my fiancé was in a Han Solo costume so it was a great interaction. Rey wasn’t as good). Darth Vader had a similar wait time so we bailed on that, headed to ride slinky dog (5 min wait), did storm trooper meet and greet (maybe 5-8 min wait) and this was the best interaction of the night. Then we did a no wait Olaf meet and greet. Checked the Ewok meet and greet wait times and it was 30 min so we skipped it. Saw the projection show on the tower of terror, which was great. Also loved seeing the droids - really impressive. Overall, we only accomplished 3 meet and greets, one SDD ride. Pretty disappointing but my fiancé is a huge Star Wars fan and we came for the characters more than the rides. Would I do this particular one again? No, I wouldn’t but glad we did it once.

I think this right here shows why they aren’t doing meet and greets at the villain event. I bet they would have even longer lines too

 

[Simba3000]

I attended the May 4th After Hours Party. Got to DHS a little after 7pm, about a 5 minute wait to get into the park. Had a 7:15 Star Tours fastpass, made it halfway through the ride when it shut down. They moved us to another simulator and gave us a Fastpass for any non Toy Story Land ride for our troubles. Leaving the ride it started to rain and lightning so we escaped to Star Wars Launch Bay. 20 Minute wait to see Kylo Ren and then headed to Fantasmic. Unfortunately, Fantasmic ended up being canceled so we used our Fastpass for Rock and Roller Coaster.

It's a little after 9pm now and the rain had stopped, so we stopped to see the projection shows. There was an announcement that they would be delayed. We headed to Toy Story Land and went to Slinky Dog, 20 min posted time, 10 minute actual time. Upon exiting we saw the fireworks to end the first projection show in the distance so we headed to see the Star Wars projection show(we had never seen it). It stared around 9:40, watched that and then headed back to Toy Story Land. 20 minute posted and actual wait at Slinky Dog, 5 minute waits at Alien Saucers and Midway Mania. Went to Launch Bay to check on Character Wait times, the Chewbacca and Rey line was 50 minutes. We passed on that wait but they had lots of Droids outside of Launch Bay so we spent some time interacting with them. Afterwards we went and rode Rock and Roller Coaster 2 more times (walk ons) and called it a night at 11:30pm (we had rope dropped Legoland earlier in the day and were pretty tired).

All in all great time other than the thunderstorm. Lots of people dressed up in their Star Wars costumes, drinks and snacks were easy to find. To Recap from 7pm-11:30pm we had 1 1/2 rides at Star Tours, 2 Slinky Dogs, 1 Alien Saucer, 1 Midway, 3 Rock and Roller Coaster, Kylo Ren Visit, Multiple Droid Visits, and the Star Wars Projection Show. Only regret was not heading back to Star Tours and seeing if we could visit the Ewoks. Can't wait to try some of the other After Hours Parties!

 

[disneydreamer781]

Just got back from DAH. Rough start due to weather. We arrived around 8:15 and also had Booked the Fantasmic Dessert Party. But after the initial horrible rain and lightning when we arrived, it cleared by around 9:30. We were refunded the dessert party costs. Watched the new history of animation show before the Star Wars fireworks/show. Loved the history of animation! After the Star Wars fireworks we headed to the launch bay to do the chewy and Rey meet and greet. 1 hour and 10 minutes later (11:20) we were finished. Chewy was great (my fiancé was in a Han Solo costume so it was a great interaction. Rey wasn’t as good). Darth Vader had a similar wait time so we bailed on that, headed to ride slinky dog (5 min wait), did storm trooper meet and greet (maybe 5-8 min wait) and this was the best interaction of the night. Then we did a no wait Olaf meet and greet. Checked the Ewok meet and greet wait times and it was 30 min so we skipped it. Saw the projection show on the tower of terror, which was great. Also loved seeing the droids - really impressive. Overall, we only accomplished 3 meet and greets, one SDD ride. Pretty disappointing but my fiancé is a huge Star Wars fan and we came for the characters more than the rides. Would I do this particular one again? No, I wouldn’t but glad we did it once.

Oh sorry to hear about your disappointment in the Rey M&G. I love Rey!

 

[22Tink]

All these reviews are making me so impatient for them to release more dates!! Come on August dates!

 

[PatMcDuck]

I went to the May 1 After Hours at the Studios. We got there at about 5:30. We had a FP for Star Tours, and TS Mania, did that. Went to see the Aladdin preview. 3X. We were just killing time, pretty much, waiting for the party. Met BB8. Watched the Star Wars background film. It rained so we just stayed inside, it stopped about 9:30. We did catch the SW fireworks, but not the new Animation show (yet). Grabbed some free popcorn and sodas.

As the event was just starting, I went over and did the Fancy Nancy and Vamparina meet and greets, no lines. Contrary to my instincts, my friends wanted to go to Toy Story first. I feared lines but NO it was empty. Already. We did Slinky twice, waited less than 5 minutes. Then did Aliens, walk on too. The park was EMPTY all night. I wanted to see the Jawas, but was way laid by a bored Pluto, he had NO ONE, so he came up and pushed my son Sean in his WC over to Doc McStuffins. She was nice and walked my son over to the SW Launch Bay, while I pushed him. She also had no takers on her line. We waited for 3 other people to meet Jawas. Then we saw bored stormtroopers, went to that level and interacted. CMs practically begged us to see Chewie (he had no one) and Kylo (ditto).

Went over to Tower of Terror, walked on, there were 4 in our elevator. Got an ice cream sandwich. At this point, it was 11:45, so why not stay for the insanely late 2nd showing of the new Animation projection show? Scheduled at 12:15 am. So we sat on benches and walked up 10 minutes before it was to begin. There were maybe 200 people, maybe less. Great view! LOL. JUST as it ended, about 12:25, it began to rain again, lightly. We exited right after the showing, as the rain got a little worse (but not a downpour thankfully).

It was maybe worth the discounted (DVC/AP) price. There is a great CM deal for these as well (I was unaware of it and paid the $95). I liked the meet and greets. But overall, the best one is the MK one, so many more rides!!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We attended the may the 4th DAH event as well.

We arrived around 7:30, with no fastpasses. (We used them in HS in the AM). We decided to go and meet BB8 when we got there, BB8 had about a 15 minute wait. After meeting BB8, we decided to go watch the Little Mermaid show, as it looked like it was going to poor any second. Which it did! Buckets of rain! We stayed dry and at least did something. After, the show (about 8:30), the rain had become a very light drizzle, so we headed to Star Tours. The wait was 15-20 minutes. We waited about that. It was about that long of a wait. We decided to ride one more time at the park was now closed and the wait was down to 5 minutes. It was a walk on at this point.

After getting off, 2 parties had gotten in line for meeting the Ewoks, so we got in line as well. (probably around 9:15). They ewoks came out right at 9:30 and we were meeting them at 9:35. This was a highlight for my youngest!

After meeting the Ewoks, we headed towards Toy Story Land, as the ride had opened back up and we were sure if it would go back down. We stopped to meet the Storm troopers with a 5 minute wait (at 9:45). Then headed to ride Slinky Dog. As we were walking into Toy Story Land, the Star Wars projection show was ending and people were flooding in. We walked quickly and got in line. Waited 15 mintues to ride. It was posted 20 for the rest of the night, we never tried to ride again, so not sure if it was accurate or not.

Grabbed ice cream and waters on our way to ride Aliens'. No wait for our goodies. And only waited one cycle for Alien's. (10:30) Went and rode Toy Story Mania next. Wait was maybe 5 minutes and most of that was walking through the que and people stopping to see Mr. Potato Head. took a quick bathroom break and then rode TSM a second time. (Finished the second ride at 11:15.)

We then headed towards Launch Bay. Grabbed a Light Saber Churro for my daughter on the way. And continued over to Launch Bay (11:30) We checked out the droids that were roaming around in the area. We really liked this. Later I found out that they were made by non-disney employees. Which was kind of cool. Grabbed some pictures with the droids then headed into meet Chewy and Rey. Posted a 45 minute wait. Met Rey and Chewy at 12:15.

We headed back out and got a few more pictures with the droids, along with the black C3PO. (I know there is a different name but it escapes me at the moment) not wait for any of that. We were done by now. We grabbed (3) popcorns and a fountain soda and headed out. Husband tried to get a picture of the May 4th sign. And at exactly 12:30 they turned it off.

We were staying at Yacht Club and were able to take a ferry boat back which was a pleasant suprise.

We really enjoyed the event, but we weren't trying to ride as many rides as humanly possible or eat as much food as possible. we just wanted to have a good time. And we did! We felt like we got our money-worth of the event. Crowds were low and plenty of room to move around.

 

[e_yerger]

I'm hoping for some advice on if we should for DAH or not.

We arrive for a short trip of Memorial Day weekend. Our flight is scheduled to land at 7pm on Friday May 24th, and we're staying at the Boardwalk. We're going to be taking an Uber or Lyft from the airport to the hotel. I am thinking about purchasing DAH tickets for HS for that night. We would most likely just drop our bags at bell services and go straight to HS. Do you think it's worth it? We are both AP.

Edit:
My main worries are 1. our flight being delayed and 2. I'm being too confident in our time calculating skills to figure out the time it would take between landing and get to the gates at HS.

 

[JeninTexas]

We arrive for a short trip of Memorial Day weekend. Our flight is scheduled to land at 7pm on Friday May 24th, and we're staying at the Boardwalk. We're going to be taking an Uber or Lyft from the airport to the hotel. I am thinking about purchasing DAH tickets for HS for that night. We would most likely just drop our bags at bell services and go straight to HS. Do you think it's worth it? We are both AP.

That would be cutting it much too close for me. If your flight is delayed (which seems to be my luck frequently now), that could cut into your DAH time. Also, you have to claim your bags, get to the hotel, etc., all of which could end up taking longer than you plan for. Is there a possibility you could move your flight up a couple of hours?

 

[e_yerger]

That would be cutting it much too close for me. If your flight is delayed (which seems to be my luck frequently now), that could cut into your DAH time. Also, you have to claim your bags, get to the hotel, etc., all of which could end up taking longer than you plan for. Is there a possibility you could move your flight up a couple of hours?

We're only going to have carry-on bags so we wont have to wait the carousels. We can't really move the flights up either because we both have work until 1pm that afternoon. We haven't bought tickets yet so I might wait to purchase them until the day before if things look good?

Also, the night of the DAH event it goes until 12:30am, so even if we didn't get to the park until 9 then we would still have 3.5 hrs of almost walk on rides.

 

[Haley R]

I'm hoping for some advice on if we should for DAH or not.

We arrive for a short trip of Memorial Day weekend. Our flight is scheduled to land at 7pm on Friday May 24th, and we're staying at the Boardwalk. We're going to be taking an Uber or Lyft from the airport to the hotel. I am thinking about purchasing DAH tickets for HS for that night. We would most likely just drop our bags at bell services and go straight to HS. Do you think it's worth it? We are both AP.

Edit:
My main worries are 1. our flight being delayed and 2. I'm being too confident in our time calculating skills to figure out the time it would take between landing and get to the gates at HS.

I don't think I would risk that. That's way too close for comfort.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I'm hoping for some advice on if we should for DAH or not.

We arrive for a short trip of Memorial Day weekend. Our flight is scheduled to land at 7pm on Friday May 24th, and we're staying at the Boardwalk. We're going to be taking an Uber or Lyft from the airport to the hotel. I am thinking about purchasing DAH tickets for HS for that night. We would most likely just drop our bags at bell services and go straight to HS. Do you think it's worth it? We are both AP.

Edit:
My main worries are 1. our flight being delayed and 2. I'm being too confident in our time calculating skills to figure out the time it would take between landing and get to the gates at HS.

I’ve done MK DAH on a somewhat similar schedule, stayed at CR.

It’s not ideal because you always have travel risk, afternoon storms could delay flights, etc, but if you’re OK with the risk, then I don’t see it as being too crazy an idea.

If you land at 7pm, I’d say you’ll be at BWI by 8ish+, 5-15 mins to check in, mess with your bags, 20ish mins to walk to DHS. Seems you can be there by 9 without too much concern and still have a very full evening. Obviously a delay anywhere in there puts you in a jam though.

Caveat that I travel frequently and I’m used to that kind of fast paced, no room for error travel schedule and am OK with the risks.

 

[e_yerger]

I’ve done MK DAH on a somewhat similar schedule, stayed at CR.

It’s not ideal because you always have travel risk, afternoon storms could delay flights, etc, but if you’re OK with the risk, then I don’t see it as being too crazy an idea.

If you land at 7pm, I’d say you’ll be at BWI by 8ish+, 5-15 mins to check in, mess with your bags, 20ish mins to walk to DHS. Seems you can be there by 9 without too much concern and still have a very full evening. Obviously a delay anywhere in there puts you in a jam though.

Caveat that I travel frequently and I’m used to that kind of fast paced, no room for error travel schedule and am OK with the risks.

Lol I'm the same way! This is my 5th trip in 12 months, so I have a decent idea of what the travel is like to and from our airport. I'm just not sure if this plan is too crazy.

 

[ninafeliz]

I'm hoping for some advice on if we should for DAH or not.

We arrive for a short trip of Memorial Day weekend. Our flight is scheduled to land at 7pm on Friday May 24th, and we're staying at the Boardwalk. We're going to be taking an Uber or Lyft from the airport to the hotel. I am thinking about purchasing DAH tickets for HS for that night. We would most likely just drop our bags at bell services and go straight to HS. Do you think it's worth it? We are both AP.

Edit:
My main worries are 1. our flight being delayed and 2. I'm being too confident in our time calculating skills to figure out the time it would take between landing and get to the gates at HS.

I would *want* to do it so badly, but I don’t think I would just because of the risk of your flight being delayed and you missing the whole thing. There isn’t much leeway in there at all for any delays, and even through we don’t travel nearly as much as some people we’ve had flights cancelled or delayed hours, plus plenty of the usual short delays. I would probably choose to risk the chance of a sellout and pay the additional to buy day of tickets if everything happens to go smoothly and you are there and ready to go.

 

[Haley R]

I would *want* to do it so badly, but I don’t think I would just because of the risk of your flight being delayed and you missing the whole thing. There isn’t much leeway in there at all for any delays, and even through we don’t travel nearly as much as some people we’ve had flights cancelled or delayed hours, plus plenty of the usual short delays. I would probably choose to risk the chance of a sellout and pay the additional to buy day of tickets if everything happens to go smoothly and you are there and ready to go.

We just flew to Melbourne, Florida to look for houses and both our flight there and back were delayed by at least an hour.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Lol I'm the same way! This is my 5th trip in 12 months, so I have a decent idea of what the travel is like to and from our airport. I'm just not sure if this plan is too crazy.

Yeah, I’m fortunate to be flying from somewhere with often reasonably good weather no matter the season and hourly MCO flights, so I push the limits. Calculated assessment.

And now that I’ve said that and am doing a similar plan to you (although I have a few more hours of fudge time), watch this be the one time I get bad travel juju!

Whatever you decide, good luck!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

BTW @e_yerger, to the DIS!

 

[Ariel1147]

I know nobody knows ... but what's the consensus of this group? Do you think DAH will continue at least through early August (before Star Wars opens)?

I reallllly hope so!! We are going in July and already have our DAH/Villains After Hours tickets for MK, but I am (impatiently) waiting for an update on DAH for HS.

 

[Sanwich]

Just a brief summary of our May 1 DAH experience. We arrived around 8:30, entrance was quick and easy. It was drizzling a bit from 8:30 to 9:30, and a lot of people were waiting in front of the theater for the premiere of the new projection show. After the show and fireworks, things cleared out quickly, I assume because of the rain. The show itself was cute for what it is. I expected a “clip show” with some music and no/minimal pyro, and that’s what we got. It’s not supposed to be a main event, so perhaps Disney hyped it a bit too much.

I was a little worried about SDD wait times, since I had heard the stories of 30 mins+ during other events. But for us, the wait was 5 mins around 10:00. The people in front of us in line had already ridden 4 times, so I assume the wait was never too bad, even at event start.

One small complaint was trying to find the ice cream kiosks... a lot of them were sort of tucked away in the shadows and we had to ask the popcorn stand folks for directions, lol. It would have been nice to have a little “beacon” or something indicating the open stands.

I had asked a question earlier in the thread about frozen treat availability... unfortunately the only non dairy option was strawberry bars (which I also can’t have), so the value there was a bust for me. I didn’t try to push it though, so maybe there were options elsewhere?

The crowds overall were extremely low. My husband is hooked now and has suggested doing a DAH every trip.

 

[goofyinohio]

We did both the 30th Anniversary party and the May the 4th party. I'll start by talking about the 30th Anniversary.

Our plan was a little different then most. We weren't worried about rides (as during our trip we ended up doing everything 3 times), but planned to ride a couple rides throughout the night.

We got to Studios at 7:45 (we had already spent the morning/early afternoon there) and picked up our map/times guide for the party. We had a fast pass for Alien so we went and did that. We went to watch the new Animation show at about 8:30 and stood there until the show was over (which we both enjoyed) at around 9:15. We've seen the fireworks so I picked the Ewoks as our first stop. We were second in line and due to the rain they didn't come out until about 9:45. We were done by 9:48 and headed to grab our first snack. Headed from there to Star Wars launch bay to meet the First Order Storm Troopers and then the Jawas and were done there by 10:01. I got sidetracked in the star wars merchandise and we headed out and met Pluto and Doc McStuffins with no wait at all and were done at 10:07. Up next we met Mike and Sully and were done by 10:19. We then went and rode Slinky with about a 10 minute wait done there by about 10:38 and Toy Story Mania with no wait and were done by 10:45. From there we met all of the Incredibles (besides Edna who me met earlier) and done with all that at 11:17. We then went and grabbed another snack and got in line for Clarabelle. Done with meeting her around 11:46 so we grabbed some popcorn and headed to Tower of Terror and was done by 12. We couldn't decide whether to split at that point (we got to the park at 7:45AM for the merchandise earlier in the day) but we decided to head back into Toy Story Land. We met Buzz by 12:13 and Woody and Jessie by 12:24. At that point we decided against jumping on Slinky and headed out.

Overall we did 12 character meet and greets, 3 attractions and had 3 snacks. We had a great time and could have done so many rides had we chose not to do character stuff, but man did we have a blast. Overall I thought the crowds were non-existent at the after party which I didn't expect at all.

 

[traci]

Scheduled to land at 430 and wanting to do this arrival night on May 10 (nonstop out of STL). Does this generally sell out and can you purchase tix day of?