Disney After Hours Q&A and Experiences Thread

[scrappinginontario]

Yep. It was quite a long walk from Ratatouille to Frozen when the way from France to Norway is blocked! The upside is that there were barely any waits. The longest we waited was like 40 minutes for Guardians right at 9 PM. Pic of wait times during the event attached, and they pretty much stayed this way the whole night.

The distance from Norway to France is shorter via Canada even through it doesn’t always feel that way.

 

[Juventus]

Yep. It was quite a long walk from Ratatouille to Frozen when the way from France to Norway is blocked! The upside is that there were barely any waits. The longest we waited was like 40 minutes for Guardians right at 9 PM. Pic of wait times during the event attached, and they pretty much stayed this way the whole night.

Thanks for the info. Those wait times are fantastic. I watched a live video blog on youtube and noticed both sides of gotg were running which didn't happen the first night last year (which was very poorly received).
Hopefully this is the norm now.

 

[TikiRob]

Hi Everyone - we are considering a Magic Kingdom After Hours. Our priority is Tron because we haven't ridden it yet. I wanted to confirm that it's a standby line vs. having to register for the queue. Also wanted to ask what the wait times have been looking like for this in the After Hours events so far. Also any recommendations for the best time to get in line for Tron?

Thank you!

TRON during After Hours is a standby line. I've seen reports of variations throughout the night from 20-45 minutes. If you only want to ride it once, the most time efficient thing to do is to get in line at the end of the night. The only caveat is that if there is a ride breakdown, you could risk not riding. The other option is to get in line right after park close at 9pm and ride it before After Hours officially starts at 10pm. You'll likely wait longer because of clearing day guests, but that applies to any ride between 9-10pm.

 

[Juventus]

Was at epcot ah last night: I'd give it an solid A: it was as good as it possibly could be. Everything was walk on, both sides of remy and guardians were running, music was pumping, and live musical acts in canada and Mexico performed often. People complain about the park being too big for AHs but this really leads to the feeling of near total emptiness of the park. Mind you if you don't like walking a ton I could see that being a drawback for some.
The only way this event could be better is if the path between France and Norway was open if only because I loved walking around all the little nuks and crannies of France, UK and Canada and that, for me, would really make this way more enjoyable. But I give this event an A anyways because I knew this going in.

 

[QueenofPrideRock]

Was also at epcot last night and when the worst part of the night is "my feet hurt because I've been in this park almost 12 hours" and "the drunk guys behind me in line in this basically-walk-on Cosmic Rewind line," I'd consider that an A as well.

Frozen went down for a bit between 9 and 10 pm and I think Remy may have too? We shrugged and moved on to the artist formerly known as Future World but I overheard some angry guests in Norway taking it out on the front line CMs. The maple popcorn in Canada was also empty and waiting to be re-popped when I went to try it, boo.

It is a LOT of walking and if one ride goes down for an extended period of time I could see that wreaking some havoc on the experience but if you know that going in and roll with the punches, I think it could be worth it. Personally, I'd prefer staying at a deluxe resort and using EEH in the future (which is what we did at MK on Wednesday).

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

Was also at epcot last night and when the worst part of the night is "my feet hurt because I've been in this park almost 12 hours" and "the drunk guys behind me in line in this basically-walk-on Cosmic Rewind line," I'd consider that an A as well.

Frozen went down for a bit between 9 and 10 pm and I think Remy may have too? We shrugged and moved on to the artist formerly known as Future World but I overheard some angry guests in Norway taking it out on the front line CMs. The maple popcorn in Canada was also empty and waiting to be re-popped when I went to try it, boo.

It is a LOT of walking and if one ride goes down for an extended period of time I could see that wreaking some havoc on the experience but if you know that going in and roll with the punches, I think it could be worth it. Personally, I'd prefer staying at a deluxe resort and using EEH in the future (which is what we did at MK on Wednesday).

We did the first one last year and had bad luck with multiple rides down simultaneously and only one side open for GoTG. It was a bust for us.

As such, we've decided to update to Deluxe resort this year and take advantage of EEH at Epcot and MK instead. It's actually cheaper for us to do it that way, and then I won't feel as bad if things don't turn out as well.

 

[Juventus]

Was also at epcot last night and when the worst part of the night is "my feet hurt because I've been in this park almost 12 hours" and "the drunk guys behind me in line in this basically-walk-on Cosmic Rewind line," I'd consider that an A as well.

Frozen went down for a bit between 9 and 10 pm and I think Remy may have too? We shrugged and moved on to the artist formerly known as Future World but I overheard some angry guests in Norway taking it out on the front line CMs. The maple popcorn in Canada was also empty and waiting to be re-popped when I went to try it, boo.

It is a LOT of walking and if one ride goes down for an extended period of time I could see that wreaking some havoc on the experience but if you know that going in and roll with the punches, I think it could be worth it. Personally, I'd prefer staying at a deluxe resort and using EEH in the future (which is what we did at MK on Wednesday).

Yes I noticed frozen was down but that was one ride I didn't want to do. Another note: I rode Test Track 3 straight times without getting out.

 

[mickeysmith]

Another EPCOT AH Q for those who attended ... is it like 2023 where World Showcase is blocked off in "the middle countries"?

I think I missed this somewhere and was curious as to why this path is blocked?

 

[Juventus]

I think I missed this somewhere and was curious as to why this path is blocked?

I would think because they would have to have some type of security there to prevent people from doing stupid things and/or for cleaning?

 

[scrappinginontario]

I think I missed this somewhere and was curious as to why this path is blocked?

I would guess it’s a security/staffing thing. This part of the park is closed so there is no need for guests to have access to this area. (It is further to walk from Norway to France through this area so guests would not be saving steps.)

Closing this area during AH means less security, faster closing park after AH as this area has already been cleared of guests and, overnight cleaning can begin.

This is purely a guess but what seems to make sense. Similar to portions of the parks not being available to guests during Early Theme Park Entry.

 

[mickeysmith]

I would think because they would have to have some type of security there to prevent people from doing stupid things and/or for cleaning?

I would guess it’s a security/staffing thing. This part of the park is closed so there is no need for guests to have access to this area. (It is further to walk from Norway to France through this area so guests would not be saving steps.)

Closing this area during AH means less security, faster closing park after AH as this area has already been cleared of guests and, overnight cleaning can begin.

This is purely a guess but what seems to make sense. Similar to portions of the parks not being available to guests during Early Theme Park Entry.

Definitely makes sense! Thank you.

 

[Disney102015]

The MK closing time on our After Hours night just got switched from 9pm to 10pm. Any idea how that affects crowds - does it take a lot longer for crowds to thin out?

 

[Brandon_B]

The MK closing time on our After Hours night just got switched from 9pm to 10pm. Any idea how that affects crowds - does it take a lot longer for crowds to thin out?

When I did the After Hours in mid-January the closing time was 10, but crowds were already thinning out by about 9:30. There was a pretty big exodus after the fireworks, and by 10 the paths (at least in Adventureland and Frontierland) were pretty empty.

 

[scrappinginontario]

The MK closing time on our After Hours night just got switched from 9pm to 10pm. Any idea how that affects crowds - does it take a lot longer for crowds to thin out?

I would anticipate a later park closing would work in your favour as more will have left the park before the party begins.

 

[Disney102015]

When I did the After Hours in mid-January the closing time was 10, but crowds were already thinning out by about 9:30. There was a pretty big exodus after the fireworks, and by 10 the paths (at least in Adventureland and Frontierland) were pretty empty.

I would anticipate a later park closing would work in your favour as more will have left the park before the party begins.

Thank you both! This makes me feel better.

 

[Shughart]

Tangled lantern magic shot, does anyone know (you've seen it/done it) or would be willing to walk past (if you're near it) if this particular photo opportunity is open during DAH? Curious because if it is, it would be worth it to me to head over there will little/no wait.

 

[Disneyfandenver]

Was on a Disney trip Feb 1-5, our group did both mk and Epcot after hours. We had a great experience at both and rode everything we wanted and most of our top rides more than once. Guardians was a 15 minute wait for back to back rides, tron around 25 minutes, seven dwarves like 5-10 minutes at most. Had done Epcot after hours on the first go around last year which was a disaster but this trip it was very fun (love the characters being more prominent, chip and dale were out dancing in front of the dj area with guests). It was also great to watch the 11pm mk enchatments fireworks in a less crowded environment. Really made us able to be more leisurely for rest of trip and tried some yummy new places I’d never eaten at like Sanaa for lunch and topolinos for dinner which were both great!

 

[gcoolie]

Can anyone report on last night's HS event? (Sun the 11th). I watched times from about 10 on and T of T was 115 minutes? Slinky Dog was at least 90. Are those accurate? That seems awful.

 

[melissa70]

Can anyone report on last night's HS event? (Sun the 11th). I watched times from about 10 on and T of T was 115 minutes? Slinky Dog was at least 90. Are those accurate? That seems awful.

Yes, that sounds awful is right. Not worth the extra money. They are probably letting too many people buy these tickets

 

[dmancuso]

Are there ever After Hours Events in the first half of December?