**Disney After Hours - Magic Kingdom** FAQ & Discussion Thread

[Vinsanity]

We were also there on Monday and it was probably the highlight of our trip! We entered the park around 7 and headed straight to Tomorrowland. We rode the People Mover and Buzz before 8. Once 8 struck, we hit up the Speedway, the Teacups, Pooh, Peter Pan, and Small World in just over an hour. We slowed down a bit but still hit Thunder Mountain, Pirates, Dumbo 2x, Space Mountain, a photo op in front of the castle, and the Tangled photo op in the remaining time. Our only mistake was believing the wait time and not getting on 7DMT. They told us it would be about 15 minutes at around 10:35 so we chose to do Space instead. We made our last snack stop at 10:50 and headed out. Rather than wait for a bus, we walked to the Contemporary and got a Lyft from there back to All-Star sports.

Overall, we got 3 Diet Cokes, 2 Waters, and a Sprite, as well as 2 popcorns and a Mickey Bar.

Is 7 the earliest they would let you in? Or is that just when you happened to get there?

 

[Kricketnp]

Is 7 the earliest they would let you in? Or is that just when you happened to get there?

That's just when we happened to get there.

 

[Ashleybs]

If the park officially closes at 9pm and the event does not start until 10pm what do you do between then, just walk around?

 

[MinnieMSue]

If the park officially closes at 9pm and the event does not start until 10pm what do you do between then, just walk around?

they will most likely extend park closing to 10pm- that’s what has usually (always?) happened. We were supposed to have an hour gap on our 2/3 date but they extended park hours another hour to eliminate the gap

 

[GADisneyDad14]

If the park officially closes at 9pm and the event does not start until 10pm what do you do between then, just walk around?

PP is correct, MK Disney After Hours and Villains After Hours has historically not operated with a “gap” in park close and event time. Any date that has had as such on the calendar eventually has had its closing time extended.

DAK DAH does operate with a gap sometimes so there is precedent there, but not at MK.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Seems like a quiet DAH night at the MK, at least judging from wait times on the app.

 

[Iowamomof4]

I wonder how much of an impact ROTR is having on DAH and VAH ticket sales? I know we're sort of planning to hit DAH on April 27, but we're also waiting to purchase our tickets until the day before because we might think ROTR is just so amazing that we want to give up DAH to have more time to ride it in the morning. I mean, lots could change between now and then, but if I were on my trip right now it'd be a tough call between late nights at MK vs those early mornings at DHS to acquire a boarding group.

 

[Matt961]

We just left tonight. Those wait times seem to be set right after the event starts and never change much at all. For example Pooh was set at 15 minutes and there was no one in line. Then SDMT was set at 15 and the line was backed up outside.

This is probably too high of expectations but the park felt a lot more crowded than I expected after seeing other pics. Certain areas were dead like Storybook and Adventureland. But fantasy and tomorrow lands seemed to be “crowded”. I had seen some pics of Main Street being empty but certainly not that way tonight. Maybe I didn’t stay long enough after 11 but expected it to be just a little different. Would have stayed a little longer but we were exhausted from getting up at 4am for our flight today.

Don’t get me wrong we walked on pretty much everything. SDMT being the longest wait at around 10 minutes after we waited until later in the night.

We had an absolute blast and will definitely do it our next trip. Counting rides that we were able to ride multiple times we rode 20 times. Hit all the big rides except PoC and JC.

Here is a pic of Main Street as I walked out right at 11.

 

[Lsdolphin]

Tonite’s MK DAH was fabulous!!! A tiny bit of rain...we walked onto everything with either no wait or a few min. No lines at ice cream/drink carts and low attendance or at least it seemed low to us.

 

[MickeyMouse55]

Tonight’s MKAH was AWESOME! We got to do everything we wanted and multiple times at that. While some areas felt crowded the rides were not. Space Mountain said 10 minutes all night and it was basically walk on. I’m a huge after hours fan after tonight

 

[KandyM]

Last night was a Villain’s AH wasn’t it?

 

[Matt961]

Last night was a Villain’s AH wasn’t it?

Just a regular AH last night.

 

[frjohnk]

Half my crew did after hours last night.
After fireworks did
BTMR x4
Pirates
PP
SDMTx3
Speedway
Space Mountain
Buzz x2

we did SDMTin the last hour back to back.
10 minute wait.
3 minute wait.
walk on.
There was a considerable line at the beginning so we went to Pirates and then rode Big Thunder 4x.
Guzzled pop, ate a bunch of ice cream. 3 bathroom breaks. We kept a pretty good pace.
What a wonderful event. A great way to end our trip.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We just left tonight. Those wait times seem to be set right after the event starts and never change much at all. For example Pooh was set at 15 minutes and there was no one in line. Then SDMT was set at 15 and the line was backed up outside.

This is probably too high of expectations but the park felt a lot more crowded than I expected after seeing other pics. Certain areas were dead like Storybook and Adventureland. But fantasy and tomorrow lands seemed to be “crowded”. I had seen some pics of Main Street being empty but certainly not that way tonight. Maybe I didn’t stay long enough after 11 but expected it to be just a little different. Would have stayed a little longer but we were exhausted from getting up at 4am for our flight today.

Don’t get me wrong we walked on pretty much everything. SDMT being the longest wait at around 10 minutes after we waited until later in the night.

We had an absolute blast and will definitely do it our next trip. Counting rides that we were able to ride multiple times we rode 20 times. Hit all the big rides except PoC and JC.

Here is a pic of Main Street as I walked out right at 11.
View attachment 470073

Thanks for the report.

For others new to the event or just reading along, I would suggest that your end of the night crowd on Main Street experience is relatively normal for a Disney After Hours event. I've made the comment before that if you stick around until the end and watch the flow of people leaving down Main Street, you realize just in fact how many people were in the MK and how good MK is at absorbing large numbers of people in its numerous rides and further corners of the park. When the event ends and everyone leaves all at once, it's like "oh wow, there's more people here than I expected."

Glad it sounds like you had an enjoyable - but long - day.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Half my crew did after hours last night.
After fireworks did
BTMR x4
Pirates
PP
SDMTx3
Speedway
Space Mountain
Buzz x2

we did SDMTin the last hour back to back.
10 minute wait.
3 minute wait.
walk on.
There was a considerable line at the beginning so we went to Pirates and then rode Big Thunder 4x.
Guzzled pop, ate a bunch of ice cream. 3 bathroom breaks. We kept a pretty good pace.
What a wonderful event. A great way to end our trip.

Hope the ones dealing with the cold bug in your group are doing better today. Thanks for the DAH report.

 

[Ashleybs]

What attractions are NOT open during the after hours event?

 

[cakebaker]

Thanks for the report.

For others new to the event or just reading along, I would suggest that your end of the night crowd on Main Street experience is relatively normal for a Disney After Hours event. I've made the comment before that if you stick around until the end and watch the flow of people leaving down Main Street, you realize just in fact how many people were in the MK and how good MK is at absorbing large numbers of people in its numerous rides and further corners of the park. When the event ends and everyone leaves all at once, it's like "oh wow, there's more people here than I expected."

Glad it sounds like you had an enjoyable - but long - day.

That was exactly my experience last year. The park felt very empty. We waited till later in the night to ride SDMT and had virtually no waits on anything. No lines for snacks and some parts we walked through were so empty, it actually spooked my 7 yr old grandson a little. He had never been in a park so empty and quiet. lol

We stayed until almost close and when we were leaving, all these people came pouring out and I wondered then where did they come from!

 

[Matt961]

That was exactly my experience last year. The park felt very empty. We waited till later in the night to ride SDMT and had virtually no waits on anything. No lines for snacks and some parts we walked through were so empty, it actually spooked my 7 yr old grandson a little. He had never been in a park so empty and quiet. lol

We stayed until almost close and when we were leaving, all these people came pouring out and I wondered then where did they come from!

Funny you mention spooky. We went to the restrooms between Splash and BTM and it was so quiet and no one was back there. Really creepy. Could also hear the workers using grinders doing the Splash refurb.

Thanks for the report.

For others new to the event or just reading along, I would suggest that your end of the night crowd on Main Street experience is relatively normal for a Disney After Hours event. I've made the comment before that if you stick around until the end and watch the flow of people leaving down Main Street, you realize just in fact how many people were in the MK and how good MK is at absorbing large numbers of people in its numerous rides and further corners of the park. When the event ends and everyone leaves all at once, it's like "oh wow, there's more people here than I expected."

Glad it sounds like you had an enjoyable - but long - day.

Yeah it really does absorb the crowds well. After getting some sleep and going back through our list of rides we hit 13 different rides for a total of 20 times. At one point at the end of the night, the CM running Barnstormer was basically begging us to ride it a 4th time after not even getting out of the car the 3 previous loops.
This will for sure be a must do event and possibly think of scheduling a return visit with the event occurring twice in one trip and doing both nights.
I really am afraid to talk it up to much because I don’t want any one else to know about it.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I really am afraid to talk it up to much because I don’t want any one else to know about it.

It's sort of interesting - people have been saying "Disney will just ruin DAH like they do other hard ticket events by overselling them" since DAH started in 2016. In some ways, they are arguably getting better over time as there are more events, more parks, and dates more spread throughout the year. We haven't had an actual sell-out in awhile now.

I always get a little nervous when we have a long run of "too good" conditions as seasons tend to morph/change experiences (eg, we're about to hit a heavy spring break time next month), but certainly positive reviews abound lately.

 

[whodatdare]

DO these events continue through the summer? We'll be there at the end of July. I'd love to take advantage of it!