Extended Evening Hours Questions and Answers

[Flossbolna]

Is tapping into Epcot necessary for EEH guests? For some reason I thought if they were eligible for EEH due to staying at a deluxe resort, that they could try for a 6PM VQ even before tapping in but possibly I’m not remembering correctly? Can anyone else share what they know?

I had been wondering about this and can report back now. We were at DHS today and were able to get Tron VQ at 6 pm without ever having tapped into MK.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I had been wondering about this and can report back now. We were at DHS today and were able to get Tron VQ at 6 pm without ever having tapped into MK.

Thanks for sharing this. Very helpful!

 

[Flossbolna]

Some more about our experiences with VQ during EEH:

MK:
We got Tron boarding group 179. no time estimate was given, just saying: not boarding now. At 10 pm (start of EEH) we checked and it said now boarding 171-174. We thought about going on Buzz to wait for our group to be called as we had just gotten off the Peoplemover. Within another couple of minutes our group was called, so we abandoned Buzz plans and moved over to Tron. But the time we got there at around 10:10 they had called groups 171-184. The ride was a walk on. No wait until just at least he load platform. We were out again by 10:22 pm. Also I noticed that once we were called our window to board was all the way to midnight (end of EEH). I have to give the caveat that it was a cold February evening and attendance to EEH might have been lower than usual.

Epcot:
I don’t remember our boarding group number here. But it gave us as an estimated boarding time of 10:22 from the moment we had booked it. So after Luminous we did Frozen with a 20 minute wait. Then debated getting on Test Track at around 9:45. Just when got there our boarding group was called and we quickly diverted over to Cosmic Rewind. There was about a 10 minute wait into the pre-show (I think we waited two cycles) and then about a 5 minute wait to get on a train. Much much quicker than our 50 minute wait earlier that day with general VQ! But again this was also a cold Florida winter evening.

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

Does anyone have experience with Rider Switch at EEH? We are hoping to do both events for our upcoming trip, but we will have our 2YO in tow (likely sleeping while we all ride)! We're willing to split up if we have to, but I figured it'd be more fun for my older kids if they got to ride once with both mom and dad. Wasn't sure if the same rules applied for EEH or not.

 

[uandmfan]

Rider switch works during EEH as well. But the person waiting with the baby can only take one other on when they go. We had 2 kids and they had to pick which one would go the second time.

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

Rider switch works during EEH as well. But the person waiting with the baby can only take one other on when they go. We had 2 kids and they had to pick which one would go the second time.

Thanks for the quick response! Is it like that with rider switch during the daytime too? I was assuming my kids would just get to go twice. If not, would just change how we approach things!

 

[uandmfan]

Thanks for the quick response! Is it like that with rider switch during the daytime too? I was assuming my kids would just get to go twice. If not, would just change how we approach things!

Yep. The last time we went (pre-COVID) you could take 2 people with you for rider switch. But now it's all done through your MB or tickets and they will only scan 2 people for each switch. So if I waited with the baby, then I could take either my son or daughter, but not both. This was with LL and without. If you have LL and ask if both the kids can go, they might say yes since sometimes they just said "come back and use your lightening lane" and scanned both the kids but not me. But that only happened a few times. Most of the time they scanned the waiting adult and one other person.

 

[WhitneyMB]

Are there stories of people not getting the VQ for Guardians at Epcots EEH if they try right at 6pm? Or in other words, how fast does the 6pm VQ “sell out”?

We’re trying to decide if it’s worth it to pay for a $ILL during the day, when we’re there March 11th.

 

[Melissa622]

Are there stories of people not getting the VQ for Guardians at Epcots EEH if they try right at 6pm? Or in other words, how fast does the 6pm VQ “sell out”?

We’re trying to decide if it’s worth it to pay for a $ILL during the day, when we’re there March 11th.

I was just at EEH on 1/29 and I was not able to get a VQ at 6. I was also unable to get them at 7 or 1, so if I hadn’t bought an ILL earlier in the day I wouldn’t have been able to ride it. However that day was probably the most crowded I have ever seen Epcot, so I’m sure that was why. I was also at an EEH in November and that time I was able to get a VQ at 6, so I think it depends on how crowded the park is that day.

 

[denecarter]

Are there stories of people not getting the VQ for Guardians at Epcots EEH if they try right at 6pm? Or in other words, how fast does the 6pm VQ “sell out”?

We’re trying to decide if it’s worth it to pay for a $ILL during the day, when we’re there March 11th.

We'll be there the same day and I was wondering the same thing.

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

We'll be there the same day and I was wondering the same thing.

On our last trip, we were only going to go for VQ. However, we found that we loved the ride SO much that we felt buying ILL was worth it (we bought it twice and went out of our way to ride it as the last ride of our last day). Definitely a purchase I don't regret!

 

[chrissyb2411]

Hello. Wondering what everyone’s experience is with standby wait times during EEH? We got a ”pixie dust” upgrade offer to AKL, the cost was about what we were going to spend on Disney after hours tickets to Mk so we went for it and are hoping for a similar ride experience as we have had in the past at after hours events. We also have an Epcot EEH our week so bonus there. At this point I’m trying to decide if we should consider genie plus for MK daytime, can anyone tell me your EEH experience at MK for rides like Peter Pan, and Winnie the poo, haunted mansion, mine train, thunder mountain? Last time we went to an after hours night these rides were mostly walk on, mine train was like 10-15 minutes. Crowd calenders predict moderate crowds (2/25-3/1) if that matters. I am assuming we got the upgrade offer since delux resorts were lower occupency and they wanted to make room in value/moderates. My maybe delusional brain is hoping this means the EEH nights will be lower occupancy? Thanks!

 

[Flossbolna]

Hello. Wondering what everyone’s experience is with standby wait times during EEH? We got a ”pixie dust” upgrade offer to AKL, the cost was about what we were going to spend on Disney after hours tickets to Mk so we went for it and are hoping for a similar ride experience as we have had in the past at after hours events. We also have an Epcot EEH our week so bonus there. At this point I’m trying to decide if we should consider genie plus for MK daytime, can anyone tell me your EEH experience at MK for rides like Peter Pan, and Winnie the poo, haunted mansion, mine train, thunder mountain? Last time we went to an after hours night these rides were mostly walk on, mine train was like 10-15 minutes. Crowd calenders predict moderate crowds (2/25-3/1) if that matters. I am assuming we got the upgrade offer since delux resorts were lower occupency and they wanted to make room in value/moderates. My maybe delusional brain is hoping this means the EEH nights will be lower occupancy? Thanks!

We just did it last Wednesday. First: the EEH is only two hours, so you can fit less into it. As to wait times: PP was posted at 40, but was actually a 5 minute wait. When we got off it was posted as 15 minutes. We got in line for mine train at around 1 hour 15 minutes into the event and it was still a 30 minute wait, posted wait was 45 minutes. Mansion was a walk on and Buzz, too. Doing Tron with VQ did eat up some time even though there really wasn’t any wait at all. Just walking over there and walking through the line are up about 20 minutes in itself.

 

[foolish-mortal]

Hi - we are staying at WL in late May. It's just a quick pre-cruise stay so we will only have 2 days in the parks (Thursday and Friday). As of now it looks like Epcot is always a Monday and MK is always a Wednesday. There's nothing posted for Thursdays and Fridays from what I can see. Any reason to think there may be EEH on the last Thursday and Friday of May? Or are the days pretty set in stone?

 

[Genie+]

Hi - we are staying at WL in late May. It's just a quick pre-cruise stay so we will only have 2 days in the parks (Thursday and Friday). As of now it looks like Epcot is always a Monday and MK is always a Wednesday. There's nothing posted for Thursdays and Fridays from what I can see. Any reason to think there may be EEH on the last Thursday and Friday of May? Or are the days pretty set in stone?

If something weird is going on that week where they’d rather not have MK on Wed, then maybe Thurs could get an EEH. Keep an eye out for the posted schedule but might not happen before May.

In late 2023 some of the Wednesdays at MK were swapped out with AK on Thurs, and then finally in December they just started doing Epcot only (Mon and Thurs). So not impossible to get an EEH on a Thursday but that’s much more likely during the party seasons of MNSSHP and MVMCP.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Hi - we are staying at WL in late May. It's just a quick pre-cruise stay so we will only have 2 days in the parks (Thursday and Friday). As of now it looks like Epcot is always a Monday and MK is always a Wednesday. There's nothing posted for Thursdays and Fridays from what I can see. Any reason to think there may be EEH on the last Thursday and Friday of May? Or are the days pretty set in stone?

The dates are pretty consistent. I’m not sure there has ever been an EE offered on a Thurs or Fri.

 

[Wxcaps]

I had been wondering about this and can report back now. We were at DHS today and were able to get Tron VQ at 6 pm without ever having tapped into MK.

Great to hear, thank you. I arrive tomorrow and plan to go to Epcot for EEH tomorrow. I’ll be at AK at 6p so great to hear I can still try for the Guardians 6p VQ.

 

[Flossbolna]

For most rides only one in your group needs to scan the Magic Band and you say how large your group is. For the VQ everyone needs to tap in with the MB. But no finger scan.

 

[adizzle819]

Hello I am heading down this fall (September) and want to take advantage of EEH to avoid the heat of the afternoon and wondered if the bigger shops will still be open (Emporium and Creations)? We will eat beforehand but it would be nice to grab a few things on our way out and maybe get a couple of drinks from Club Cool when there isn't a huge line. How about any alcohol options in Epcot? are there any places to grab a cold beer during EEH?

 

[Flossbolna]

Hello I am heading down this fall (September) and want to take advantage of EEH to avoid the heat of the afternoon and wondered if the bigger shops will still be open (Emporium and Creations)? We will eat beforehand but it would be nice to grab a few things on our way out and maybe get a couple of drinks from Club Cool when there isn't a huge line. How about any alcohol options in Epcot? are there any places to grab a cold beer during EEH?

I noticed that Creations was definitely open for about the first hour of EEH. Not sure about the second hour. I know it was closed when we walked by 10 minutes after the end of EEH. The only food outlets that we noticed that were open during EEH were popcorn carts.