**Disney After Hours - Animal Kingdom** FAQ & Discussion Thread

[maryj11]

It’s frustrating not knowing when August AH’s are or if they will have them. I need to make dining reservations in a week and have no idea what days to make them. We plan to go to MK and AK AH’s. Looking at the historical calendar they have moved them around so much it’s hard to predict.

 

[JHatsell]

? I will be at the feb 6 AH event my ? Is about after the event is there plenty of buses to take you back to your resort thanks .

 

[GADisneyDad14]

? I will be at the feb 6 AH event my ? Is about after the event is there plenty of buses to take you back to your resort thanks .

Yes, Disney will get you home. Buses sometimes run in non-traditional sharing arrangements, but there will be buses.

 

[BLdisney]

On my way to tonight’s DAK AH! Will post any new intel.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Was there tonight. Totally worth the price!! We did not wait to ride anything. We got into the park about 7:15, and started with meeting Mickey and Minnie, then to Dinosaur and Rivers of Light show at 8. Rode Everest twice, then It’s Tough to be a Bug. Got popcorn and soda right outside ITtbaB entrance, both in cups, and went to watch Tree of Life awakenings. Headed to Pandora and got fruit popsicle bars and bottles of water. The fruits of moara bar is so delicious!! Headed onto Navi River Journey, then Flight of Passage twice. On the hunt for real ice cream so back to Island Mercantile for Mickey ice cream bars, ice cream sandwiches, popcorn and more bottled drinks. Ate those while headed back to Everest. Stopped by Everest to get another Mickey bar. Then onto Everest which I rode twice more in front row. It was about 11:15 by now so we headed back to Pandora. Watched the drummers for a few then back into Navi and one last time on FOP. The crowds were extremely low, and we all felt the price was so worth it. I liked the vibe of the crowd... mostly adults, hardly any kids. Right up our alley. We all agreed we would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[proud_canadian]

Was there tonight. Totally worth the price!! We did not wait to ride anything. We got into the park about 7:15, and started with meeting Mickey and Minnie, then to Dinosaur and Rivers of Light show at 8. Rode Everest twice, then It’s Tough to be a Bug. Got popcorn and soda right outside ITtbaB entrance, both in cups, and went to watch Tree of Life awakenings. Headed to Pandora and got fruit popsicle bars and bottles of water. The fruits of moara bar is so delicious!! Headed onto Navi River Journey, then Flight of Passage twice. On the hunt for real ice cream so back to Island Mercantile for Mickey ice cream bars, ice cream sandwiches, popcorn and more bottled drinks. Ate those while headed back to Everest. Stopped by Everest to get another Mickey bar. Then onto Everest which I rode twice more in front row. It was about 11:15 by now so we headed back to Pandora. Watched the drummers for a few then back into Navi and one last time on FOP. The crowds were extremely low, and we all felt the price was so worth it. I liked the vibe of the crowd... mostly adults, hardly any kids. Right up our alley. We all agreed we would do it again in a heartbeat.

Were you let in at 7:15 or that was when you got there?

 

[proud_canadian]

Does anyone know if primeval whirl is open during the event or not? I saw some reports of it being open even when not open during the day but not sure if that is still the case.

 

[Rick195275]

Does anyone know if primeval whirl is open during the event or not? I saw some reports of it being open even when not open during the day but not sure if that is still the case.

It was in December but I believe it was also up during the day when we were there. Not sure if when it’s not operating seasonally if it will still be running. I’ll be there 2/13 and can report back after!

 

[cakebaker]

Does anyone know if primeval whirl is open during the event or not? I saw some reports of it being open even when not open during the day but not sure if that is still the case.

It was not last October and I’m still hearing about it! My grandson and I skipped it during the day with me promising we’d ride during after hours and it was closed. Fingers crossed it will be running in March although it’s currently not open at all.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Were you let in at 7:15 or that was when you got there?

No thats just l when we got there.

Does anyone know if primeval whirl is open during the event or not? I saw some reports of it being open even when not open during the day but not sure if that is still the case.

It was working last night!

 

[BLdisney]

Flyer from Thursday, Jan 30:

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Flyer from Thursday, Jan 30:

Awesome - THANK YOU!

Did there happen to be anything on the back?

 

[BLdisney]

Awesome - THANK YOU!

Did there happen to be anything on the back?

Ah yes sorry thought I had posted both. Just updated!

 

[Ashleybs]

Considering doing this event in April, the week before Easter and have a few questions.

The park closes at 8 and the event starts at 9. What do you do in between then?

We haven't been to Disney in 11 yrs. My oldest was 5 and my youngest hasn't been. What will NOT be open for the AH - safaris, Lion King, Nemo, anything else? The safaris is a must for us, esp for my boys. So if we got in right at 7 when they let you in (or possibly earlier), will we still be able to see good on the safari? The time change is in early March. Just wondering what all we will miss in AK if we do this.


Thanks!!

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Considering doing this event in April, the week before Easter and have a few questions.

The park closes at 8 and the event starts at 9. What do you do in between then?

We haven't been to Disney in 11 yrs. My oldest was 5 and my youngest hasn't been. What will NOT be open fo

We were able to do Its Tough to be a Bug and Everest in the one hour gap. We didn’t try anything else.

 

[Katie1174]

Considering doing this event in April, the week before Easter and have a few questions.


The park closes at 8 and the event starts at 9. What do you do in between then?


We haven't been to Disney in 11 yrs. My oldest was 5 and my youngest hasn't been. What will NOT be open for the AH - safaris, Lion King, Nemo, anything else? The safaris is a must for us, esp for my boys. So if we got in right at 7 when they let you in (or possibly earlier), will we still be able to see good on the safari? The time change is in early March. Just wondering what all we will miss in AK if we do this.


Thanks!!

To add to your list of things not open is Kali River Rapids and the Animal trails. But yes, you should go to the safari right away if you want to go. You can still see plenty, i think sunset is around 7:30. If you are not going into another park during the day and pre-scheduling your 3 fastpasses at that other park you can always set up a fastpass for the safari for 7 pm since I believe it closes at 8 pm. Also in the gap time you could go to whatever ride you may want to go on and see if they are letting AH people ride earlier than party time start. I can tell you from experience that the FOP CM’s will not let you ride before party time because they have to clear out the day guests, but we have found that Everest will sometimes let you in early and sometimes Dinosaur. I havent tried to get into Its Tough to be a bug early as we always head to Everest for multiple rides

 

[BLdisney]

Update from Thursday, Jan 30, I was there on (my first) solo trip.
Disclaimer, I am obsessed with FoP so my main goal was to ride it over and over.. For a great, detailed overview of the other offerings please see Crazed4DisneyinSC’s review above.

7:45: Arrived at AK, given After Hours wristband and flyer.

7:55ish: During walk to Asia stopped for a minute to watch Tree of Life, it is really beautiful at night.

8:00: Watched Rivers of Life. They sat me with the reserved dining group. I decided to watch this show although there was another one on at 9:30. I didn’t want to use FoP time for that later showing. On a side note, I really enjoyed it! I know there are some RoL haters out there. . I am a sucker for the Lion King tunes and thought it was lovely and peaceful.

8:20: Wandered out of show, only guests with the AH wristbands were being allowed to cross the bridge back towards Everest, they were steering the day guests away in the other direction. Decided to ride Everest, it was a straight walk-on and I could have easily ridden again with no wait.

8:35 Dinosaur walk-on. I had never ridden this so thought I would whilst waiting for day guests to clear the FoP queue. It was fine (my kids would like it!).

9:00: Noticed no queue from what I could see at Navi. Continued past to FoP.

9:02: FoP walk-on. Rode FoP over and over for the entire next 3 hours.
Ride 1: Seat 9
Ride 2: Seat 9
Ride 3: Seat 15
Ride 4: Seat 1 (worst seat but all relative as I love FoP so much)
Ride 5: Seat 14
It was now 11:14. Got back back in the queue, there was a little wait (only maybe 5 minutes) for first time all night. When I got up to the front CMs were talking and I gathered there had been an, ahem, incident (someone had gotten sick on the ride).
Ride 6: Seat 7
Ride 7: Seat 8 (my favorite seat, I asked CM if I could be in this one for my last go. She was super nice and since I was solo could accommodate).
12:11 Off of final ride. Headed to exit to crash out for early try at RotR at DHS the next day.

I will definitely try to arrange future trips around this event (will even let my husband and kids come ). AK is really magical at night. It was relaxing, not a word I’ve ever applied to a day at Disney! And whilst I am clearly biased and believe FoP is the best ride at WDW (yes, even better than RotR, which is an opinion perhaps akin to heresy on another 7000 post thread I frequented before my trip), even without obsessive FoP riding, I think this night is well worth the cost.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Update from Thursday, Jan 30, I was there on (my first) solo trip.
Disclaimer, I am obsessed with FoP so my main goal was to ride it over and over.. For a great, detailed overview of the other offerings please see Crazed4DisneyinSC’s review above.

7:45: Arrived at AK, given After Hours wristband and flyer.

7:55ish: During walk to Asia stopped for a minute to watch Tree of Life, it is really beautiful at night.

8:00: Watched Rivers of Life. They sat me with the reserved dining group. I decided to watch this show although there was another one on at 9:30. I didn’t want to use FoP time for that later showing. On a side note, I really enjoyed it! I know there are some RoL haters out there. . I am a sucker for the Lion King tunes and thought it was lovely and peaceful.

8:20: Wandered out of show, only guests with the AH wristbands were being allowed to cross the bridge back towards Everest, they were steering the day guests away in the other direction. Decided to ride Everest, it was a straight walk-on and I could have easily ridden again with no wait.

8:35 Dinosaur walk-on. I had never ridden this so thought I would whilst waiting for day guests to clear the FoP queue. It was fine (my kids would like it!).

9:00: Noticed no queue from what I could see at Navi. Continued past to FoP.

9:02: FoP walk-on. Rode FoP over and over for the entire next 3 hours.
Ride 1: Seat 9
Ride 2: Seat 9
Ride 3: Seat 15
Ride 4: Seat 1 (worst seat but all relative as I love FoP so much)
Ride 5: Seat 14
It was now 11:14. Got back back in the queue, there was a little wait (only maybe 5 minutes) for first time all night. When I got up to the front CMs were talking and I gathered there had been an, ahem, incident (someone had gotten sick on the ride).
Ride 6: Seat 7
Ride 7: Seat 8 (my favorite seat, I asked CM if I could be in this one for my last go. She was super nice and since I was solo could accommodate).
12:11 Off of final ride. Headed to exit to crash out for early try at RotR at DHS the next day.

I will definitely try to arrange future trips around this event (will even let my husband and kids come ). AK is really magical at night. It was relaxing, not a word I’ve ever applied to a day at Disney! And whilst I am clearly biased and believe FoP is the best ride at WDW (yes, even better than RotR, which is an opinion perhaps akin to heresy on another 7000 post thread I frequented before my trip), even without obsessive FoP riding, I think this night is well worth the cost.

What level were you on for final ride? My friend and I were seats 6 and 7 and were also off at 12:11, so I think we might've been on at the same time! We were on bottom, level 1. And can I just say, 7 times for FoP is IMPRESSIVE!!

We also loved RoL show... have never seen it and thought it was soooo beautiful. Would definitely not skip it in my opinion. However, Lion King is in my top 3 "old" Disney movies so I too am a sucker for the tunes.

 

[BLdisney]

What level were you on for final ride? My friend and I were seats 6 and 7 and were also off at 12:11, so I think we might've been on at the same time! We were on bottom, level 1. And can I just say, 7 times for FoP is IMPRESSIVE!!

We also loved RoL show... have never seen it and thought it was soooo beautiful. Would definitely not skip it in my opinion. However, Lion King is in my top 3 "old" Disney movies so I too am a sucker for the tunes.

Ah that’s funny! I think I was center level on the last one. I know I was near to falling asleep after long day starting at DHS for RotR.

Will definitely be back to DAK AH.

 

[One for the Mouse]

What is the EARLIEST they have been letting you in... I’m hoping to do the safari before it closes for the day.