"Official" 2018 Disney After Hours (DAH) Thread (Now Closed, see New 2019 Thread)

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I hope that this isn’t an indication that they may increase attendance for this event.

I hope not, too. But I'd rather see them increase attendance by 20 percent than discontinue it.

Out of everything we've done -- and there's not a lot we haven't -- it's hands down the best MK experience my family has had. My brother (who's a local) and I agree that there's no way to go back to the regular way of doing MK, even on a lighter crowd day. He's going to give up his Ap and just go to DAH, and I'm going to be planning my MK days around it in the future.

If the lines go from walk-on to a two-minute wait, I'd rather see that happen than lose to option of it all together.
 
7/14 was amazing - great weather - a little humid, but not bad.

Got in at 6:25 and did Tiki, shopping, Carousel of Progress, peoplemover, Pirates, jungle cruise, Philharmagic, Bears and train before 10.

Left at midnight doing thunder, dwarves, little mermaid, haunted, space mountain and dumbo while eating and drinking tons. Only line was for popcorn and 10 minutes for dwarves.

Amazing event - totally worth it!!!
 
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Hey guys.. will be attending the 11th of Aug and I was wondering if they let you use the lanyard as a FP at 10 pm at least? Have fun everyone
 


Hey guys.. will be attending the 11th of Aug and I was wondering if they let you use the lanyard as a FP at 10 pm at least? Have fun everyone
Once the event begins, there won't be ANY need for a FP, that's the beauty and value of this event! :) Before the event starts, you may or may not be able to use the lanyard as a FP.
 
Once the event begins, there won't be ANY need for a FP, that's the beauty and value of this event! :) Before the event starts, you may or may not be able to use the lanyard as a FP.
I understand that people can jump into lines 1 min before closing so what I am worried about is the first hour of the event. I still never tried it so maybe I am wrong. Super excited
 
We attended DAH last night. What an awesome event! We got to the park around 8:00 and did Adventureland and Frontierland prior to the party starting using fast passes. We were not allowed to use the lanyard as a fastpass.

Once the event started, we got our snacks and headed to haunted mansion. It was a little creepy as it was just our family and two other people. Next, small world where my two year old son and four year old daughter had a blast. We had our own boat and not another person in sight. They both sang and there wasn’t anyone around that we would bother.

Then we meet the princesses, rode peter pan and headed towards fantasyland. The only wait all night was 5-10 minutes for mine train and if you wanted popcorn. When walking out, photopass photographers were still on Main Street, so we got some great family pictures with a fairly empty main street. We only waited a couple of minutes for the bus and our evening was done. What a great night!
 
We attended DAH last night. What an awesome event! We got to the park around 8:00 and did Adventureland and Frontierland prior to the party starting using fast passes. We were not allowed to use the lanyard as a fastpass.

Once the event started, we got our snacks and headed to haunted mansion. It was a little creepy as it was just our family and two other people. Next, small world where my two year old son and four year old daughter had a blast. We had our own boat and not another person in sight. They both sang and there wasn’t anyone around that we would bother.

Then we meet the princesses, rode peter pan and headed towards fantasyland. The only wait all night was 5-10 minutes for mine train and if you wanted popcorn. When walking out, photopass photographers were still on Main Street, so we got some great family pictures with a fairly empty main street. We only waited a couple of minutes for the bus and our evening was done. What a great night!

My dream experience on HM!! I would love that!
 
I understand that people can jump into lines 1 min before closing so what I am worried about is the first hour of the event. I still never tried it so maybe I am wrong. Super excited

Yes, that is correct - but it's generally not a major concern that impacts the DAH experience. By closing time many rides are walk-ons or very short waits to begin with, so a few people jumping in line at 9:59pm are not going to fundamentally really mess things up in most circumstances.

However, this is one of the reasons why most folks will generally say to stay away from the larger headliners early in DAH time. Rides like 7DMT, Space, and sometimes BTMR, Splash can have a lingering line from day guests - so best to go do something else and hit those later on. In my mind, I'm talking about 30 mins or so.
 
Can't wait to watch Tim Tracker's video later. I'm hoping we can do this in the future when my daughter is older.
 
We attended DAH last night. What an awesome event! We got to the park around 8:00 and did Adventureland and Frontierland prior to the party starting using fast passes. We were not allowed to use the lanyard as a fastpass.

Once the event started, we got our snacks and headed to haunted mansion. It was a little creepy as it was just our family and two other people. Next, small world where my two year old son and four year old daughter had a blast. We had our own boat and not another person in sight. They both sang and there wasn’t anyone around that we would bother.

Then we meet the princesses, rode peter pan and headed towards fantasyland. The only wait all night was 5-10 minutes for mine train and if you wanted popcorn. When walking out, photopass photographers were still on Main Street, so we got some great family pictures with a fairly empty main street. We only waited a couple of minutes for the bus and our evening was done. What a great night!
Did your kids make it through the night awake? Mine are 6 and 3. Once my 3-year-old hits 40” I would love to bring them (so we could ride everything but Space together and make the most of the event time).
 
All I know is that it appears yesterday was the day Disney comped a ton of tickets to bloggers/vloggers and going through Instagram/Twitter very few made note that they were pretty much being used as a paid advertisement.
 
Did your kids make it through the night awake? Mine are 6 and 3. Once my 3-year-old hits 40” I would love to bring them (so we could ride everything but Space together and make the most of the event time).

Yes, they made it and were pretty good for the most part. A couple of minor melts late in the evening, but that’s normal.

We went to Epcot from 9-1 (we wanted to do something so the kids would be tired and take a better nap) and then back to the resort. The kids napped/rested for 3-4 hours and we left for magic kingdom at 8:00. We typically don’t spend more than 4-5 hours in the park at a time so it worked out well. I know all children are different but going at night with lower temps and crowds is a much better option than the heat and crowds mid day.
 
Yes, they made it and were pretty good for the most part. A couple of minor melts late in the evening, but that’s normal.

We went to Epcot from 9-1 (we wanted to do something so the kids would be tired and take a better nap) and then back to the resort. The kids napped/rested for 3-4 hours and we left for magic kingdom at 8:00. We typically don’t spend more than 4-5 hours in the park at a time so it worked out well. I know all children are different but going at night with lower temps and crowds is a much better option than the heat and crowds mid day.
Glad you all had fun! My youngest tends to fall asleep like clockwork in the stroller but maybe when we bring them next he’ll be able to make it.
 
Now that I have a little time, I’ll post about my experience. I also attanded the first DAH this year, back in January (sold out).

I’ll start by saying this was another great night and DAH definitely remains well worth the money, especially if you have a short trip or limited MK time. You could probably accomplish what you would in a DAH night with rope dropping and strategic fastpass planning. What sets DAH apart, in my opinion, is not only being able to walk on (or almost walk on) any ride you want, but also being able to enjoy the park’s atmosphere without tons of crowds in your way. You can really hear all the lands’ music and notice all the little details. It’s so peaceful. Also, I think the people are in much better moods, which makes things much more enjoyable.

Hopefully, I can remember all that I did during the party hours (got in around 2:30pm with my AP):
Splash Mtn 2x
BTMR 2x
Autopia (I think that’s the name of the diesel cars?)
Space Mtn 2x
Astro Orbiter
Jungle Cruise
Peter Pan
7DMT
Tiki Room
Haunted Mansion
1 Mickey bar, 1 Mickey ice cream sandwich, 1 popcorn, 1 soda, and 1 water

I probably could have done more but my main goal was actually just get to all the headliners once, so I ended up doing a little backtracking.

Highlights:
Tiki Room entirely to myself!!! It’s a favorite of mine, so I was SUPER excited about that.
Splash Mtn log flume entirely to myself (jumped in line 12:55)
Space Mtn with lights on the 2nd time I rode (so cool to see the track!)

I never even waited in line for snacks. It seemed like the Adventureland and Liberty Square stations never had long lines. Frontierland definitely had a consistently long line though.

I would definitely do this again!
 
My husband and I had a great time at After Hours last night. We drove down from the Atlanta area early early Friday morning, spent Sat morning rope dropping HS and rode everything there including SDD twice, made it back to the hotel for lunch, a swim and a long nap before heading out to MK a little before 6. We actually got a lot of rides finished before AH even started because my husband is great at the FP refresh game. Before AH we rode: Tiki Room, Pirates, IASW, Pooh, the Little Mermaid ride, People Mover, Buzz, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Pirates again.

Then once AH started we rode: Big Thunder twice, Haunted Mansion, got ice creams and drinks, Peter Pan, 7DMT (only real wait of the evening, abt 15 mins), Space Mountain twice and then SM "ate" my lanyard *woosh* so after getting popcorn and drinks we had to go all the way to City Hall for a new one, while up there we met Tink, rode HM again, got more ice creams and drinks, rode 7DMT once last time one more round of ice creams and were walking out the gates right as it all ended.

We noticed quite a few vloggers but only recognized the Oh Yeah Disney couple.

My feet have now decided they want off this body and are refusing to do anything else so they'll be chilling as we drive home today. :)

TLDR: 10/10 would do again, SM is a lanyard eater.
 
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