Magic Kingdom After Hours coming back (DAH); Reviews: Page 18 >>

[stephdeputy]

My husband and I attended 3/9 and had a wonderful time. I also felt that the crowds were higher than has been quoted here, but I chalked it up to being because it was the last night. I wanted to do this event last year at the initial $150 price, so I had no issues paying this year's price for what we got. We planned to try and enter at four, but didn't make it there until five. They had the signs up and entry was no problem. We spent the first few hours doing fast passes and seeing wishes for our first and last time. We stayed put in front of the castle while the crowds filtered out, then made our way over to Sleepy Hollow for a snack. By the time we were done it was 9 PM. We started out in Adventureland, and went in the following order:

• Jungle Cruise - walk on
• Ice cream and sodas
• Pirates - walk on
• Splash - walk on
• BTMRR - 2 min wait
• Haunted Mansion - walk on
• Ice Cream
• 7DMT - 3-4 min wait (Also got to spot a Disney World cat while in line)
• Space Mountain - 7 min wait (our longest wait)
• Buzz - walk on
• Ice Cream and waters
• Peter Pan - walk on
• Popcorn and sodas
• Castle photo
• Talking Mickey

At this point it was about 11:30 and we were beat. Headed out and caught a bus immediately. Driver asked where we were headed and immediately took off with no other passengers.

We had flown in that afternoon specifically to attend. Overall we thought the event was wonderful and were worried that normal touring would be disappointing in the future! Even if crowds were a bit larger on our night, we felt it was worth it. We never saw anyone staying on the rides for repeats and were never offered the option, but we also never asked to do so. My only complaint was the wait for snacks. Those lines were typically larger than attraction wait times. We skipped popcorn until the end of the night because those lines were the longest. I would recommend this for anyone that has any hesitation due to crowds. The majority of criticism I've read references a 3 hr event. We looked at it as an 8 hr event for only a little more than a one-day ticket. With the option to book your fast passes during the pre-event hours, this can easily be a great substitution for a day's entry into the parks. We would definitely do this again.

 

[stephdeputy]

Forgot to mention that I had been looking forward to seeing some of the interactive ques. Forgot all about it while we were there. Realized after the fact that we didn't get to see any of them due to using fast pass entrances all night.

 

[adamreisinger]

I went to the 3/9 event (after spending much of the early afternoon at Epcot) and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I expected it to be about the same as a late night EMH, but it was much less crowded than that. As I approached Cinderella's Castle at about 8:45, I was almost taken aback by how empty that area of the park was. It was fine by me, as I was able to get some great pictures of the castle without having to fight through crowds or worry about getting in anyone's way.

I started with a visit to Tiana and Rapunzel at Princess Fairytale Hall, then hopped right on Winnie the Pooh and Mad Tea Party - both of which I could have stayed on for multiple rides if I'd wanted. From there I went to Tomorrowland, where I was bummed to find out that the People Mover wasn't running. I skipped Space Mountain (my legs hurt for days after the last time I rode it), then took the back walking path to Storybook Circus and made my way around the park in a giant loop from there.

In the end, I think I rode every ride that was open, other than the two I intentionally skipped (SM, 7DMT), and every single one was a direct walk on.

My only real disappointments about the event were that the food and beverage carts were few and far between - and hard to find at times in the dark - and that there were no special character meets like at MVMCP. Otherwise, it definitely exceeded expectations and felt well worth the price I paid (which, as a DVC Member was $89 if I'm remembering correctly).

 

[cel_disney]

Beginning with Feb 16, we have entered the 'spring break' period. I wonder if the crowd increases people are reporting are Disney actually selling out the 3000 tickets or if they have increased the amount or if it's just the spring break demographics?

My DH went on 2/9 and it was a ghost town!!

 

[AngiTN]

Beginning with Feb 16, we have entered the 'spring break' period. I wonder if the crowd increases people are reporting are Disney actually selling out the 3000 tickets or if they have increased the amount or if it's just the spring break demographics?

My DH went on 2/9 and it was a ghost town!!

I don't think the maximum number of tickets for sale changed but there is a good chance they sold more on some nights than they did others. But in reading reviews it really appears it's more an issue of going with the flow vs. against it. Too many reports of the same nights with 1 saying it was crowded and another saying it wasn't. Since I'm sure both are correct, even though they are the same nights, it must be that one group was with the majority and the other group going against the flow.

 

[Dizjunkieee]

I attended on 3/2 & had a fantastic time! I will say that at times I was surprised by the number of other guests around, but never had more than a 5 minute wait for anything (Pan and SDMT). I found that there were pockets with next to nobody around - like in Frontierland & over near Big Top, but Fantasyland had lots of other guests. Oh, and even HM we had a little wait for and our stretching room was about as full as it would be during regular hours which really surprised me.

All in all we had a great time - got a lot of things in & enjoyed some snacks. Would I do it again? At the discounted rate as an AP, probably. At the full price, probably not.

 

[Dizjunkieee]

Has anyone heard if WDW plans to extend DAH into May like it ran last year? I have a short trip with my adult Daughter and her friend planned in early May and they are really itching to try it out!

 

[Dizjunkieee]

Waited 5 minutes for Peter Pan, 5-10 minutes for Space Mountain and 20 minutes each time we did Mine train last night. Kind of disappointing considering earlier accounts of no waits at all. Wasn't crowded per say but definitely large gatherings of people in some areas. With that said, we still got everything done that we wanted to and had a good time. We would do it again.

Ugh - a 20 minute wait for any attraction during this event, is unacceptable to me. I mean, you are paying a fairly hefty price for the ticket - actually, if you are paying the full price you are paying more than you would for a Halloween or MVMCP event & there are no special fireworks, parade or character meets. Don't get me wrong, I had a perfectly wonderful time on 3/2 (but no waits were near 20 min.) but I feel like this event should feel like you are one of a very small number of guests in the park. If you received a survey, I hope you were able to express your disappointment in the 20 min wait for SDMT. Glad you still had a great time in spite of that.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Has anyone heard if WDW plans to extend DAH into May like it ran last year? I have a short trip with my adult Daughter and her friend planned in early May and they are really itching to try it out!

I am waiting on that information as well. We are doing a Universal trip from April 29th to May 6th to celebrate our anniversary, and hoped to add in a little Disney if the DAH event is offered again. In the meantime, I am also holding a Rivers of Light dining reservation for Tusker House, and would add in a day at AK instead of DAH if they decide not to extend the dates into spring. DAH is our preference, though, so here we sit....waiting .

 

[macraven]

We went on 2/2 and paid full price

Well worth the money for us and would positively do it again and at full price

 

[Dentam]

I attended on 3/2 & had a fantastic time! I will say that at times I was surprised by the number of other guests around, but never had more than a 5 minute wait for anything (Pan and SDMT). I found that there were pockets with next to nobody around - like in Frontierland & over near Big Top, but Fantasyland had lots of other guests. Oh, and even HM we had a little wait for and our stretching room was about as full as it would be during regular hours which really surprised me.

All in all we had a great time - got a lot of things in & enjoyed some snacks. Would I do it again? At the discounted rate as an AP, probably. At the full price, probably not.

We must have had the same touring plan that night because this was our exact experience.

 

[Dizjunkieee]

We must have had the same touring plan that night because this was our exact experience.

Interesting! We likely saw each other, but didn't know it! HA!

 

[suziespice]

the lines on March 9th were highly variable, we waited a few minutes for peter pan, but by the time we got off, there was no one in sight..and I mentioned the queue while we were waiting and the cast member offered to let us in to see it.. but I was too lazy and didn't want to waste time doing it... I think we made it onto 14 rides in 3 hours, which I think was good.. and that was with my kids being annoying and going to the bathroom about 7 times.. jungle cruise, bathroom, tiki room, bathroom, pirates, bathroom... big thunder 3 times, bathroom, haunted mansion, peter pan and omg they finally stopped going to the bathroom after every single ride. I would absolutely do it again.. although the cost was pricey, since there were 6 of us and I'm canadian, so it was $170 canadian each...

I got so excited about seeing the disney cat running by pirates.. lol

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

We went on the 9th. I doubt it was only 3k people, just by the amount we saw and the amount of people we were counting passing us on Main Street after 12, and then after 12:15 kiss goodnight. There were spots with hardly anyone, mostly frontierland and adventureland but the other areas were lots of folks around.

We enjoyed it but I will say we were there last yr first week of March on a EMM and it was barely any more people on the rides and that was included in reg cost and emh for resort guests. We are ap and dvc so cost was $89, times 4 for us. I think it was fun. No real waits but still a line for 7DMT and PP.

We did :
2 BTMRR
2 7DMT
2 BUZZ
2 SM
pirates
Jungle cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
PP


I did not like that there were only 3 spots for popcorn. 1 at BTMRR, 1 in Liberty Square and 1 by Space Mtn. The line moved fairly quickly but there was about 15 or more in each line. There were several other carts for ice cream and drinks around.

Far, far less crowded than a party night but I think we enjoy those more. You get more hours , more options for food and drink, more possible characters and ride times are similar for the most part. Plus there are parades and fireworks!

 

[snowdrift7]

I am waiting on that information as well. We are doing a Universal trip from April 29th to May 6th to celebrate our anniversary, and hoped to add in a little Disney if the DAH event is offered again. In the meantime, I am also holding a Rivers of Light dining reservation for Tusker House, and would add in a day at AK instead of DAH if they decide not to extend the dates into spring. DAH is our preference, though, so here we sit....waiting .

I wrote to Disney asking if DAH will be scheduled in May. They replied that it's tricky to predict if DAH will return. It was recommended that I take the Ultimate VIP Tour - something we WON'T be doing at $199 per person !!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I wrote to Disney asking if DAH will be scheduled in May. They replied that it's tricky to predict if DAH will return. It was recommended that I take the Ultimate VIP Tour - something we WON'T be doing at $199 per person !!

Ha! Not us, either. I actually even cancelled my ROL Tusker House ADR and scrapped our Plan B to do a day at AK instead. It will be DAH or bust for us. If for any reason they don't decide to offer it that first week of May, we'll just spend all of our time at Universal instead.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Where can I find dates that this will be in effect and tickets offered for purchase??

 

[AngiTN]

Where can I find dates that this will be in effect and tickets offered for purchase??

There are none at this time

 

[ErinsMommy]

There are none at this time

Boo! Guess this is another thread I'll be watching. My watched threads are starting to add up. lol

 

[CJN]

Boo! Guess this is another thread I'll be watching. My watched threads are starting to add up. lol

Oh, ErinsMommy, you got me so excited for a minute there. I'm watching this thread, too, and when the alert popped up about a new post I thought maybe someone was posting about new dates being listed. Now I must retreat back to my no-DAH-on-this-trip sadness.......