After Hours Events - Ask Questions and Share Experiences Here

[Betsyp]

Gah! Disfriends...no! This feedback is not what I want to hear! I have DAH booked for March 29th for DH, DS21, DS18, DS's buddy, and me. We are really looking forward to it, as we have never experienced an after hours event. Is there any chance Disney will see the error of their ways and create a buffer between park close and the after hours events going forward?

So sorry to everyone that experienced a bummer event.

They have that buffer in May…not sure why they don’t before

 

[Jacq7414]

So would it be better to go to AH DS closer to 9 or 9:30? Even 8? Because I will not be there at 7pm due to whatever ADR I’ll have

I think 8 is fine. We had PH so I booked a bunch of lightning lanes from 7 pm on. We had MMRR, SDD, and TSM. And then we just got something to eat

 

[jimmymc]

So would it be better to go to AH DS closer to 9 or 9:30? Even 8? Because I will not be there at 7pm due to whatever ADR I’ll have

I still get there as early as I can, just know that lines will be long and you may want to use that time for dinner, shopping, or less popular rides/shows.

 

[kelleybean]

I wanted to share our experience with the After Hours event at Hollywood Studios last night. It sounds like our experience was similar to what others reported. For background, we are local and haven't been to HS in several years, so our priority were the rides we had never been on (Smuggler's Run, Rise, and Railway) and seeing Galaxy's Edge.

They let us in at around 6:45 and we went and poked around Galaxy's Edge (love the theming!) and went on Star Tours. SR was posted at a 30 minute wait about 8:00 so we jumped in line but the ride broke down so it wound up being about 60. (Side note – I get that Genie + is a paid service now so they get priority but wow was the ratio of that line to standby really frustrating! They were essentially only letting one party from the standby in at a time). We stuck it out because the AH hadn't started and later we were so glad b/c I think we would have had trouble fitting it in during the event.

The biggest issue with the AH was the wait for Rise. We got in line at 9:32 and got off at 11p. Other than the wait time for Rise the AH event was great. We waited just a few minutes for Railway, 16 minutes for Slinky, practically walked on Toy Story and Tower. Snacks and drinks were easy to get. But spending half the party time on one ride definitely made everything rushed; we made it in line to Tower before closing with 4 minutes to spare.

Despite the wait with Rise, we are glad we did the event. We aren't park open to close people and really hate the idea of dealing with lightning lanes and Genie. Although our experience did give us pause for booking the Epcot After Hours. Hope this helps anyone considering booking.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Gah! Disfriends...no! This feedback is not what I want to hear! I have DAH booked for March 29th for DH, DS21, DS18, DS's buddy, and me. We are really looking forward to it, as we have never experienced an after hours event. Is there any chance Disney will see the error of their ways and create a buffer between park close and the after hours events going forward?

So sorry to everyone that experienced a bummer event.

It seems those wanting to ride Rise were most affected last night. Others are reporting in the ‘Here Now’ thread they had a great time!

 

[Betsyp]

I think 8 is fine. We had PH so I booked a bunch of lightning lanes from 7 pm on. We had MMRR, SDD, and TSM. And then we just got something to eat

PH?

Oh that’s smart about the LL!

 

[Jacq7414]

PH?

Oh that’s smart about the LL!

Park hoppers. I’m not sure if you can book them otherwise but you may be able to. We went to animal kingdom that morning

 

[gatechfan99]

Our experience last night is unfortunately same as others. I was very disappointed. We had a 7:20 dining reservation and were done about 8:30. We rode Star Tours but otherwise waited around for an hour until closing because all lines were still insane. At 9:45 we finally got started and waited 30 minutes for Falcon. Alien Saucers and TSM were quick. My kids went and rode ToT twice while we did MMRR. It was 11:00 and it said 55 minute wait for Rise. I thought surely that’s not right so went there with the idea of knocking it out and still doing Falcon again and finishing with SDD. Did not finish rise until 12:15 and we were too tired after that line to go to SDD for another listed 30 minute wait so we never rode it.

In retrospect, the park closing at 9:30 and not 9 probably made a difference in crowds spilling over into it. Also not having RnR to eat some crowds probably made a difference. But I have no doubt they have increased capacity.

In retrospect, I wouldn’t discourage going, just keep expectations in check. You can probably ride everything you would during a long day in a shorter window and at least it’s cooler. But I would not expect the 3 biggest rides to have less than 30 minute wait at any point.

 

[Betsyp]

Park hoppers. I’m not sure if you can book them otherwise but you may be able to. We went to animal kingdom that morni

I’m an AP holder so no need to worry about that. May 3 happens to be my water park day ....My original DHS day was going to be Friday, so while doing AH means I can focus on Epcot and MK that Friday, I can still go to DHS to if I want some extra DS time. Therefore, it won’t be a huge deal if there are crowds at AH....


I love AK

 

[Betsyp]

I still get there as early as I can, just know that lines will be long and you may want to use that time for dinner, shopping, or less popular rides/shows.

The good thing is that day is my water park day, so I probably wouldn’t stay past 5. I was going to do Steakhouse 71 most likely - maybe 6 or so? But maybe it would be better to do something closer to DHS….I still have time on the Friday (my last day) to do things at DHS, but I was hoping to focus on Epcot-MK then

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

They have that buffer in May…not sure why they don’t before

They "currently" have that buffer in May......until they extend regular park hours.

 

[Vertical]

Do AH ticket holders get in line behind the people who hopped in line right before regular closing time? Or does AH get to use the LL once the event starts?

 

[Jacq7414]

Do AH ticket holders get in line behind the people who hopped in line right before regular closing time? Or does AH get to use the LL once the event starts?

Get behind

 

[Orsino]

They have that buffer in May…not sure why they don’t before

If I recall correctly, when we bought for January there was a buffer for MK and DHS. But by the time the actual party date rolled around, they had changed park hours. MK buffer was gone, but DHS buffer was still there. It looks like sometime after January they removed the DHS buffer too.
So my warning is, just because May shows a buffer now, doesn't mean it will still be there in May.

 

[serenitynow]

Are the cabanas available during the Typhoon Lagoon H2O after hours party?

 

[Pyxie]

Are these reports of long waits at HS all from the same night or is this now the norm?

 

[Cottager]

I see the Park hours for March have been updated here on the DIS. MK now closes at 11 pm on our AH night. Will we still be allowed in at 7pm? So the AH event now shifts to 11pm to 2am for the 3 hours? Oh boy....

 

[dez1978]

Gah! Disfriends...no! This feedback is not what I want to hear! I have DAH booked for March 29th for DH, DS21, DS18, DS's buddy, and me. We are really looking forward to it, as we have never experienced an after hours event. Is there any chance Disney will see the error of their ways and create a buffer between park close and the after hours events going forward?

So sorry to everyone that experienced a bummer event.

We will be there that night too and I was thinking the same thing

 

[musicguy856]

I see the Park hours for March have been updated here on the DIS. MK now closes at 11 pm on our AH night. Will we still be allowed in at 7pm? So the AH event now shifts to 11pm to 2am for the 3 hours? Oh boy....

MDE still shows a 10pm close on Mondays in March.

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

I see the Park hours for March have been updated here on the DIS. MK now closes at 11 pm on our AH night. Will we still be allowed in at 7pm? So the AH event now shifts to 11pm to 2am for the 3 hours? Oh boy....

I wish this were the case as we are night owls and the 11-2 would be great for us, but unfortunately the website you linked to is simply incorrect.