Going to DHS late night before a DAH event... Yay or Nay?

[disneyfan2kids]

Heading to WDW during Easter week - we know the crowds will be nuts, but we are ok with that. We have gone enough that not getting on rides (outside of FP) is fine with us - we'll be back.

We arrive on a Saturday and I booked our first FP's for that evening at DHS. The 3 most important rides to us. Start at 5:30pm and last FP at about park closing. Now I see that a hard ticket DAH has been added to that night? What will that mean to us? Worse crowds at closing? Or less because many regular ticket holders dont want to attend DHS right before a hard ticket extra hours? Will we be escorted out front doors as soon as we're off our last ride? Or can we leisurely still walk around the park after closing and shop as we leave? I don't want to get off ride and suddenly be "carded" and escorted to the front door. I was looking forward to late night at DHS, leaving after we got off the last ride and having a some nice "closing" pics (which won't happen now) BUT how do they handle the DAH for regular ticket holders? I know we can't go on rides, but how does the closing process go if you don't have a hard ticket and get off your last fastpass after the event has already begun? (Even starts at 8pm and our last fp is at 7:55pm) So we might not get off until well after 8:30 possibly.) This is the ONLY ride my youngest wants to go on - I don't want to ruin it for him so if I need to change my FP dates, I will.) Thanks

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I assume you mean Saturday 4/13? Just so we have the facts straight, DHS closes at 8:30pm that night. F! is at 8:30pm; the Star Wars show is at 9pm. The Disney After Hours event that night is 9:00pm-12:00am.

DAH acts more like PM Extra Magic Hours from an operational perspective. Meaning, non-DAH guests are not escorted out, you just can't ride rides without DAH credentials. Day guests are free to make their way out of the park, shop, finish up any business as you would on any other evening. If you linger exceptionally long you may encounter CMs that will steer you towards the exit, but it's not like MNSSHP and MVMCP at MK where there is serious active park clearing right at the end of regular park hours.

To date, DAH has not been an event for day guests to "plan around" at any of the parks where it is offered (MK, DHS, DAK). The numbers are just too small relative to normal day guest attendance and there really isn't any impact from an operational or crowd perspective, so it's pretty much a non-issue. I suspect if you had not noticed DAH on the calendar, you might not have even noticed it was going on on your night unless you were paying close attention.

Hope that helps.

 

[disneyfan2kids]

I assume you mean Saturday 4/13? Just so we have the facts straight, DHS closes at 8:30pm that night. F! is at 8:30pm; the Star Wars show is at 9pm. The Disney After Hours event that night is 9:00pm-12:00am.

DAH acts more like PM Extra Magic Hours from an operational perspective. Meaning, non-DAH guests are not escorted out, you just can't ride rides without DAH credentials. Day guests are free to make their way out of the park, shop, finish up any business as you would on any other evening. If you linger exceptionally long you may encounter CMs that will steer you towards the exit, but it's not like MNSSHP and MVMCP at MK where there is serious active park clearing right at the end of regular park hours.

To date, DAH has not been an event for day guests to "plan around" at any of the parks where it is offered (MK, DHS, DAK). The numbers are just too small relative to normal day guest attendance and there really isn't any impact from an operational or crowd perspective, so it's pretty much a non-issue. I suspect if you had not noticed DAH on the calendar, you might not have even noticed it was going on on your night unless you were paying close attention.

Hope that helps.

This is incredibly helpful! Thank you! And yes - it's April 13th. I really wanted to get off our last ride and relax and watch Star Wars and maybe do some shopping. I was hopeful we weren't going to be asked to leave as soon as we got off our ride at 8:30. Thanks!