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

Is it true that MK DAH events have so far been on Mondays and Thursdays? My 40th birthday is in May on a Thursday. It'd be *awesome* to end the day with the DAH :)
 
We are arriving on January 5th 2019. And will be spending the day of the After Hours that week (Jan. 7th) in Animal Kingdom. (Fast passes for FOP, etc)

I had made a California Grill reservation so we could see the fireworks that evening and I am wondering if the Jan. 7th event is worth it?

We are just two - I'm 50 and he's 60. It's all about play and fun for us and no "need" to see a specific character. And we're staying at the Grand Floridian.

is the $$ worth it? Is the sacrifice of dinner at CA Grill (and needing to find another dinner reservation) worth it? And HOW do we get back to Grand Floridian?
 
TexanInTheMidwest said:
We are arriving on January 5th 2019. And will be spending the day of the After Hours that week (Jan. 7th) in Animal Kingdom. (Fast passes for FOP, etc)

I had made a California Grill reservation so we could see the fireworks that evening and I am wondering if the Jan. 7th event is worth it?

We are just two - I'm 50 and he's 60. It's all about play and fun for us and no "need" to see a specific character. And we're staying at the Grand Floridian.

is the $$ worth it? Is the sacrifice of dinner at CA Grill (and needing to find another dinner reservation) worth it? And HOW do we get back to Grand Floridian?
Click to expand...
If the sole reason for dining at CA grill is the fireworks and not food, I would 100% say yes, DAH is worth it instead. You can even eat at GF, see the fireworks from the boat dock or Gasparilla patio, and then head right to MK for the remainder of the night and use the saved Cali Grill money. The DAH is very fun because you really can walk around a practically empty park and experience it differently than when it is super crowded.

The biggest problem I had with DAH while also staying at the GF was getting back to the resort. The boat and monorail were both closed. Disney crammed ALL MK resorts onto one bus. The line was huge and chaotic. A driver from Yacht & Beach that had no one waiting took pity on us and pulled up and took a load back. It took me over 30 minutes to go from MK to GF.
 
PolyRob said:
If the sole reason for dining at CA grill is the fireworks and not food, I would 100% say yes, DAH is worth it instead. You can even eat at GF, see the fireworks from the boat dock or Gasparilla patio, and then head right to MK for the remainder of the night and use the saved Cali Grill money. The DAH is very fun because you really can walk around a practically empty park and experience it differently than when it is super crowded.

The biggest problem I had with DAH while also staying at the GF was getting back to the resort. The boat and monorail were both closed. Disney crammed ALL MK resorts onto one bus. The line was huge and chaotic. A driver from Yacht & Beach that had no one waiting took pity on us and pulled up and took a load back. It took me over 30 minutes to go from MK to GF.
Click to expand...

They were not running the boat or monorail? how were they getting people back to the TTC? we are staying at the poly - this is not an onsite thing only, right? presumably people will have their cars at the TTC so that would be an option however they are getting people there.

edited to add, I found one review that said the ferry boat is running to the TTC because the monorails are shut down. So hopefully that is an option for us rather than dealing with the bus situation with a tired kiddo.
 
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PolyRob said:
If the sole reason for dining at CA grill is the fireworks and not food, I would 100% say yes, DAH is worth it instead. You can even eat at GF, see the fireworks from the boat dock or Gasparilla patio, and then head right to MK for the remainder of the night and use the saved Cali Grill money. The DAH is very fun because you really can walk around a practically empty park and experience it differently than when it is super crowded.

The biggest problem I had with DAH while also staying at the GF was getting back to the resort. The boat and monorail were both closed. Disney crammed ALL MK resorts onto one bus. The line was huge and chaotic. A driver from Yacht & Beach that had no one waiting took pity on us and pulled up and took a load back. It took me over 30 minutes to go from MK to GF.
Click to expand...
TexanInTheMidwest said:
We are arriving on January 5th 2019. And will be spending the day of the After Hours that week (Jan. 7th) in Animal Kingdom. (Fast passes for FOP, etc)

I had made a California Grill reservation so we could see the fireworks that evening and I am wondering if the Jan. 7th event is worth it?

We are just two - I'm 50 and he's 60. It's all about play and fun for us and no "need" to see a specific character. And we're staying at the Grand Floridian.

is the $$ worth it? Is the sacrifice of dinner at CA Grill (and needing to find another dinner reservation) worth it? And HOW do we get back to Grand Floridian?
Click to expand...
I agree. I think if you are only going for the fireworks than I would switch to dah. But if you are going for the experience as well as the food then maybe don’t switch. It all depends on your personal preference. We love dah because we like riding rides multiple times and getting snacks all night.
 
Lisa F said:
They were not running the boat or monorail? how were they getting people back to the TTC? we are staying at the poly - this is not an onsite thing only, right? presumably people will have their cars at the TTC so that would be an option however they are getting people there.
Click to expand...

After DAH, it’s only buses to all resorts and the MK Ferry back to the TTC.

For Poly, you can take either a resort bus or MK Ferry to TTC and walk over.

In the more recent DAH nights, Poly and GF have shared a bus most of the time. I did 6/30 Poly and 9/20 GF, the buses both nights only went to those two resorts. Had a bit of a wait for a bus, but not awful. On my Poly night I did kind of wish I had taken the MK Ferry and walked - but at the end of the night they wait to load the FULL Ferry before taking off... so even that can be longer than you might expect.

In prior DAH events all MK resorts shared a bus... and I mean all... CR, WL, FW, Poly, GF. We did that back in Feb 2017 and it took foreeeever. I was a much happier camper this year with it just being Poly/GF.
 


areno79 said:
Is it true that MK DAH events have so far been on Mondays and Thursdays? My 40th birthday is in May on a Thursday. It'd be *awesome* to end the day with the DAH :)
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There were a few Saturdays in there early on, but generally yes. I have Monday, May 13; Thursday, May 16; and Monday, May 20 all marked as possible MK DAH events for my trip. I'm really hoping for the May 16th date though. I suppose I ought to just be hoping they actually have the event in May to begin with before I get all worried about specific days. lol
 
My friend and I are booked to go on 2/14 so excited! Really looking forward to a kid free evening as have never been to MK without the kids before. We are staying Shades of Green, does anyone know if we could hop on the resort bus to the Poly at the end of the night or do they check that you are a hotel guest before letting you on the bus? Just not sure if the Shades of Green bus will still be running that late from the TTC
 
rebekah8284 said:
My friend and I are booked to go on 2/14 so excited! Really looking forward to a kid free evening as have never been to MK without the kids before. We are staying Shades of Green, does anyone know if we could hop on the resort bus to the Poly at the end of the night or do they check that you are a hotel guest before letting you on the bus? Just not sure if the Shades of Green bus will still be running that late from the TTC
Click to expand...

They don’t check, you can take the Poly bus and walk if you want to. I’m not sure about the SoG bus at that hour.

Uber or taxi from CR would also be an option.
 
Lisa F said:
They were not running the boat or monorail? how were they getting people back to the TTC? we are staying at the poly - this is not an onsite thing only, right? presumably people will have their cars at the TTC so that would be an option however they are getting people there.

edited to add, I found one review that said the ferry boat is running to the TTC because the monorails are shut down. So hopefully that is an option for us rather than dealing with the bus situation with a tired kiddo.
Click to expand...

Sorry, when I said boat, I meant the GF/Poly boat.

GADisneyDad14 said:
After DAH, it’s only buses to all resorts and the MK Ferry back to the TTC.

In prior DAH events all MK resorts shared a bus... and I mean all... CR, WL, FW, Poly, GF. We did that back in Feb 2017 and it took foreeeever. I was a much happier camper this year with it just being Poly/GF.
Click to expand...
This is what I experienced! I couldn't understand those that took the bus to CR. I was envious I wasn't staying at CR because I would have just walked.

A ferry to TTC, then walking all through Poly to GF would not have been as easy. lol
 
GADisneyDad14 said:
After DAH, it’s only buses to all resorts and the MK Ferry back to the TTC.

For Poly, you can take either a resort bus or MK Ferry to TTC and walk over.

In the more recent DAH nights, Poly and GF have shared a bus most of the time. I did 6/30 Poly and 9/20 GF, the buses both nights only went to those two resorts. Had a bit of a wait for a bus, but not awful. On my Poly night I did kind of wish I had taken the MK Ferry and walked - but at the end of the night they wait to load the FULL Ferry before taking off... so even that can be longer than you might expect.

In prior DAH events all MK resorts shared a bus... and I mean all... CR, WL, FW, Poly, GF. We did that back in Feb 2017 and it took foreeeever. I was a much happier camper this year with it just being Poly/GF.
Click to expand...

so it's a crap shoot which is better I guess. I didn't even think that they might not be running normal transportation for DAH. I haven't been on the ferry to TTC in years given that we always stay onsite. maybe we'll give that a go instead of the bus. Hopefully at the end of the night it will fill fairly quickly though i know capacity is massive for it.
 
areno79 said:
Is it true that MK DAH events have so far been on Mondays and Thursdays? My 40th birthday is in May on a Thursday. It'd be *awesome* to end the day with the DAH :)
Click to expand...

You can find more specific schedules here and here, but since 2017 the DAH day of the week count has been....

Mondays - 6
Tuesdays - 1
Thursdays - 18
Fridays - 4
Saturdays - 7

Not sure what exactly that tells us though, the days of the week have tended to shift around based on time of year.

Hope you end up with one on your birthday!
 
TexanInTheMidwest said:
We are arriving on January 5th 2019. And will be spending the day of the After Hours that week (Jan. 7th) in Animal Kingdom. (Fast passes for FOP, etc)

I had made a California Grill reservation so we could see the fireworks that evening and I am wondering if the Jan. 7th event is worth it?

We are just two - I'm 50 and he's 60. It's all about play and fun for us and no "need" to see a specific character. And we're staying at the Grand Floridian.

is the $$ worth it? Is the sacrifice of dinner at CA Grill (and needing to find another dinner reservation) worth it? And HOW do we get back to Grand Floridian?
Click to expand...

I don't hide the fact that I personally think DAH is a "well worth it" event. The "play and fun" part of your post struck out to me... that's why we go to WDW and when you have an event like DAH that tends to really enhance those elements of the park, it's a real winner for us.

If this were us (and I'm not sure the timing of your ADR), we'd keep the dinner at Cali Grill (I really like that place) but head into the park for fireworks and to start your DAH time. A nice dinner + MK DAH, can't get much better than that (in my humble opinion).
 
Lisa F said:
yes it's not so great for the GF but we love to hop off of whatever transport at TTC rather than going to the Poly since the DVC units are on that side.
Click to expand...
That is so convenient! I loved it when I stayed in Rarotonga and the DVC buildings are much closer. GF really has the worst transportation on the monorail.
 
PolyRob said:
That is so convenient! I loved it when I stayed in Rarotonga and the DVC buildings are much closer. GF really has the worst transportation on the monorail.
Click to expand...

LOL, OT for this thread but it took me just shy of an hour (yes, an hour) to get back to GF after a Friday night MNSSHP in late Sept. And ALL forms of transportation were running that night (except for the Express monorail, which I partially blame for the flood of people using the Resort line and other modes of transportation).

Sometimes stuff like that happens - bad crowd circumstances, wrong choices - so I just sucked it up and smiled... but MAN at the time I really wished we were at CR! :goodvibes
 
GADisneyDad14 said:
I don't hide the fact that I personally think DAH is a "well worth it" event. The "play and fun" part of your post struck out to me... that's why we go to WDW and when you have an event like DAH that tends to really enhance those elements of the park, it's a real winner for us.

If this were us (and I'm not sure the timing of your ADR), we'd keep the dinner at Cali Grill (I really like that place) but head into the park for fireworks and to start your DAH time. A nice dinner + MK DAH, can't get much better than that (in my humble opinion).
Click to expand...

this is completely our plan. We have a 5pm CA Grill dinner and then DAH with an 8pm park closing. I actually prefer CA Grill right at opening. it is totally mellow and quiet, you can request and get a window table easily, you can watch the sun set. HEA is best from in the park anyway although I am still on the fence as to whether we will watch from main street or fantasyland or frontierland (I have read being on BTMRR right before fireworks start is pretty spectacular!) I'm a little worried about fighting the crowds to get out of the hub but maybe we can be kind of off near adventureland and get there quickly. Still not sure about that.

I also have AK planned for the morning, a bit of a later start just to hit a few highlights like FoP and the safari and satuli canteen lunch then back to the hotel for a rest after lunch.

I'm reeling a bit right now about the after party transportation situation as I travel solo with my 10 year old who is on the spectrum and something like that could have tanked our whole trip if I hadn't read about it here. So thanks @PolyRob for mentioning it! I do see that the info is right there in the faq but honestly I never thought it was something I'd have to even think about! Now that I am prepared we will deal, I am leaning toward the ferry over the bus even though I can't tell which is better timewise, it would at least feel better than waiting in a long line for a bus.

I have not been to DAH but I do remember the OLD e-ticket nights where they only sold a few tickets and just how free and amazing it felt to have the park nearly to yourself and just walk on stuff. It's not just about "getting rides done", it's about the feeling of complete and utter freedom. It's an awesome experience to be able to tour the MK like that and I can't wait!
 
PolyRob said:
That is so convenient! I loved it when I stayed in Rarotonga and the DVC buildings are much closer. GF really has the worst transportation on the monorail.
Click to expand...
given that it is their flagship resort that is pretty disappointing! We have spent our last couple of trips at the Poly and ended up there on our next trip due to me messing up our reservations and losing my BWV (darn it, right? first world problems haha). I love it for easy transport to both MK and Epcot, our two favorite parks!
 
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