After Hours Events - Ask Questions and Share Experiences Here

[Disturbia]

I would think you would easily be able to ride three times if that’s all you did:

 

[Chili327]

We did it last year for the first one and were disappointed. We also had wanted to ride GoTG as many times as possible (only got one and waited a long time).

This year we have a longer trip and have decided to spend that money buying ILL to ride GoTG as many times as we want. That way we know that our money is giving us our intended result.

ILL is only good for one ride isn’t it?

 

[Disturbia]

ILL is only good for one ride isn’t it?

Yes.

VQ you can get one during daytime and potentially one at 6 pm during extended evening hours if staying at a deluxe resort (so you can potentially ride twice with VQ + 1 ILL)

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

ILL is only good for one ride isn’t it?

Yes, but our trip is 9 days. We won’t do it all 9 days. But even if we assume cost is $20/person, we can guarantee multiple rides without a wait vs paying the AH price to wait in line. Some nights don’t have as long of a wait. But our wait was over 45 minutes. I’d rather pay for ILL and not wait in line, as the other rides at Epcot I wasn’t as interested in during AH.

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

Yes.

VQ you can get one during daytime and potentially one at 6 pm during extended evening hours if staying at a deluxe resort (so you can potentially ride twice with VQ + 1 ILL)

Yes, this is part of our plan too!

 

[Mrjoshua]

Reporting back for 2/26 HS AH... We had a great time!
We got in a little before 7, so we went shopping, rode Swirling Saucers, and ate at Rodeo Roundup. After our meal, we accomplished the following:
- Slinky Dog Dash
- met Stitch
- met Jiminy Cricket
- met Goofy
- met Duffy
- met Thumper
- Runaway Railway
- met Rafiki
- met White Rabbit
- met Rescue Rangers
- met Pinocchio
- Tower of Terror x 2
- Rise of the Resistance x 3

We loved the rare character meets, so we did less rides than normal. It was still great. Once during Rise, we were the only people in the interrogation room, and therefore the only people in the transport vehicle. I would highly recommend this event.

 

[unbanshee]

Hi any recent reports on Epcot After Hours? We're looking at getting tickets for the very end of May. I've heard mixed reports on Epcot's. But it's the only after hours even during our stay and it seems like a good way to ride Guardians. Are most of the rides walk-on?

Here's one from Blog Mickey that outlines their experience, including 5 rides on Guardians (and multiple other rides)

https://blogmickey.com/2024-epcot-disney-after-hours-review-recap-is-it-worth-it/

 

[Mrjoshua]

Our second After Hours of 2024 was at Magic Kingdom on 2/29. We arrived around 7pm, and had an ILL for TRON. After TRON, we did Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. Then we ordered food from Casey's, and watched the fireworks from the patio.
After eating, we did the following:
- Haunted Mansion x 2
- Big Thunder Mountain x 2
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Enchanted Tiki Room
- watched second fireworks at Cinderella castle
- Peter Pan's Flight
- Winnie the Pooh
- SDMT
- Little Mermaid
- Space Mountain x 2

We also had time to eat snacks, take bathroom breaks, and do a small bit of shopping. If I had one regret, it's that we didn't ride TRON during the actual event. I'd love to know what TRON's AH wait times are like. I feel like we experienced a lot between 7pm and 1am. I would highly recommend MK AH.

 

[Tawney]

Our second After Hours of 2024 was at Magic Kingdom on 2/29. We arrived around 7pm, and had an ILL for TRON. After TRON, we did Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. Then we ordered food from Casey's, and watched the fireworks from the patio.
After eating, we did the following:
- Haunted Mansion x 2
- Big Thunder Mountain x 2
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Enchanted Tiki Room
- watched second fireworks at Cinderella castle
- Peter Pan's Flight
- Winnie the Pooh
- SDMT
- Little Mermaid
- Space Mountain x 2

We also had time to eat snacks, take bathroom breaks, and do a small bit of shopping. If I had one regret, it's that we didn't ride TRON during the actual event. I'd love to know what TRON's AH wait times are like. I feel like we experienced a lot between 7pm and 1am. I would highly recommend MK AH.

Hello! Doing AH on 3/18 at MK. I am wondering if you could tell me what stores are open on Main Street during the event? Thanks!

 

[movingthestars]

Has anyone done AH at MK lately? I see some people saying there were lots of characters out at the HS AH. I did MK awhile ago, but besides the normal meets (Princess Hall and Mickey by the front of the park, I believe) they didn't have any out roaming. Curious if they have extended character meet and greets for AH in the other parks now. (I'm doing MK again in April)

 

[Mrjoshua]

Has anyone done AH at MK lately? I see some people saying there were lots of characters out at the HS AH. I did MK awhile ago, but besides the normal meets (Princess Hall and Mickey by the front of the park, I believe) they didn't have any out roaming. Curious if they have extended character meet and greets for AH in the other parks now. (I'm doing MK again in April)

No unique characters at MK AH last week. Just a few of the usual MK characters in their regular spots.

 

[Mrjoshua]

Hello! Doing AH on 3/18 at MK. I am wondering if you could tell me what stores are open on Main Street during the event? Thanks!

Unfortunately no. I know the Emporium was open, but am unsure if anything else on Main Street was open past 10pm. We visited Momento Mori prior to 10pm. We also checked out the PotC gift shop sometime after 10pm. Around 1am, we saw multiple people carrying bags out of the Emporium, but didn't notice the other shops.

My advice would be to check out any Main Street shops before 10pm.

 

[Nole95]

Hi any recent reports on Epcot After Hours? We're looking at getting tickets for the very end of May. I've heard mixed reports on Epcot's. But it's the only after hours even during our stay and it seems like a good way to ride Guardians. Are most of the rides walk-on?

My son and I did the Epcot AH Thursday, February 15.

We arrived shortly after 6 and went to the holding area where all the AH people enter. They ended up letting us enter Epcot just after 6:30, so that was a nice little bonus.

Over the course of the night, we were able to do the following.

Spaceship Earth
Soarin
Mission Space
Mexico
Remy
Test Tack (x2)
Guardians (x3)

We literally finished our third ride on Guardians right at 1am.

I will say that the only thing with Epcot is that the rides with pre-shows do take up a lot of time. I timed Gurdians, and from the time the first pre-show started to the time we exited the coaster was 20 minutes. I believe all three times we rode we were in the queue for about 15 minutes before the pre-show. My watch said 12:23 when we entered the building for the third time, and we got off at 1am. We probably could have squeezed in another ride on TT and/or Soarin and got in the Guardians line just before 1am. However, we decided to not worry about it.

Guardians and TT eat up the most time. Everything else was manageable and walk on most of the night.

Food carts were easy to spot, and the DJ music was piped in all around the park.

 

[melissa70]

I noticed Magic Kingdom after hours event is only 11 to one only two hours tonight why is that happening? I hope that doesn’t happen on the 18th. I feel that if you pay for three hours without the crowd you should get three hours without the crowd.

 

[SaintsManiac-vol.2]

My son and I did the Epcot AH Thursday, February 15.

We arrived shortly after 6 and went to the holding area where all the AH people enter. They ended up letting us enter Epcot just after 6:30, so that was a nice little bonus.

Over the course of the night, we were able to do the following.

Spaceship Earth
Soarin
Mission Space
Mexico
Remy
Test Tack (x2)
Guardians (x3)

We literally finished our third ride on Guardians right at 1am.

I will say that the only thing with Epcot is that the rides with pre-shows do take up a lot of time. I timed Gurdians, and from the time the first pre-show started to the time we exited the coaster was 20 minutes. I believe all three times we rode we were in the queue for about 15 minutes before the pre-show. My watch said 12:23 when we entered the building for the third time, and we got off at 1am. We probably could have squeezed in another ride on TT and/or Soarin and got in the Guardians line just before 1am. However, we decided to not worry about it.

Guardians and TT eat up the most time. Everything else was manageable and walk on most of the night.

Food carts were easy to spot, and the DJ music was piped in all around the park.

Awesome report, thank you! We are not TT riders and just want to do Guardians 3 or 4 times. Sounds like we can get it done!

 

[TikiRob]

I noticed Magic Kingdom after hours event is only 11 to one only two hours tonight why is that happening? I hope that doesn’t happen on the 18th. I feel that if you pay for three hours without the crowd you should get three hours without the crowd.

There wasn’t an AH. Maybe a private event.

 

[DanBTheMan]

Has the Skyliner been running after HS AH events recently?

 

[SkyGuy]

Has the Skyliner been running after HS AH events recently?

No. It will be closed by the time AH is over. They will provide buses.

 

[McSmooth]

My wife and I did the Epcot after hours on March 7. We have also done the Epcot after hours back in August. Both times were wonderful experiences except for 1 thing.

The guests on Guardians are animals. Better crowd control measures are desperately needed in the two pre-show rooms.

This last time during the second pre-show, the guests actually pushed the doors open in order to run into the ride queue sooner. The single cast member was unable to stop everybody.

I know this isn’t a problem unique to after hours. I’m sure it happens all day, every day. I’m sure Disney is aware and hopefully is working on a solution. They can’t exactly shut the ride down for several days to make any modifications due to its popularity. Perhaps during the next scheduled “maintenance” shutdown. One can hope.

 

[Disturbia]

My wife and I did the Epcot after hours on March 7. We have also done the Epcot after hours back in August. Both times were wonderful experiences except for 1 thing.

The guests on Guardians are animals. Better crowd control measures are desperately needed in the two pre-show rooms.

This last time during the second pre-show, the guests actually pushed the doors open in order to run into the ride queue sooner. The single cast member was unable to stop everybody.

I know this isn’t a problem unique to after hours. I’m sure it happens all day, every day. I’m sure Disney is aware and hopefully is working on a solution. They can’t exactly shut the ride down for several days to make any modifications due to its popularity. Perhaps during the next scheduled “maintenance” shutdown. One can hope.

There are cameras everywhere. In one of the preride rooms someone touched a guest inappropriately and they were recorded and held aside while the issue was resolved. The cameras (10-15 of them) capture every angle so it’s not wise to do something like this and risk a permanent ban.

We did experience issues with pushing during extended evening hours probably because people had been waiting 45 mins in the queue (with BGs) and were impatient by then. People do the same thing on HM and it’s pretty dark (almost lost hold of our then 5 year old’s hand).