After Hours- why?

[Captain UP]

Saw a lot of social media posts last night on the first HS after hours. The crowds were berserk. Right up until the end of the night, in fact, when the line for Tower looked extreme.

Not to ask the super obvious question, but why would anyone pay extra for this experience?

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

I have loved after hours. Mostly everything has been walk on when I went, with maybe a 10 min wait on the top rides.

I'd like to experience it in each park. I have done MK.

It has much less crowds then special events parties. I've ridden rides alone with nobody in the line during after hours. The later it gets the better. Its a unique experience to walk around a park mostly empty

ROTR was walk on last night after 10pm. The wait times on the app are always wrong. What said 30 mins was actually 15 mins based off reviews I have read,

I would recommend doing it once to try it out.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Historically crowds were capped at a much smaller amount than other events and as @offtoneverneverland said,it’s a rare experience to visit parks with less people and ease of entering attractions, photos without a lot of guests in them and other perks.

 

[Maggie The Cat]

Saw a lot of social media posts last night on the first HS after hours. The crowds were berserk. Right up until the end of the night, in fact, when the line for Tower looked extreme.

Not to ask the super obvious question, but why would anyone pay extra for this experience?

I read quite the opposite. Crowds were very low, Rise was only 15 minutes, someone said 5.

 

[Suger Mag]

Interested to hear how it went from someone who actually went to the event. Since this was one of the sold out dates, curious how the crowds were. We have the last one... April 19th, have never been and am excited to try it.

 

[ruthies12]

Can anybody post links to the reviews? I'm very curious to read them cause I have tickets to the 1/18 party at HS and am trying to plan our night out.

 

[dez1978]

I watched wait times on the app last night. Even Rise was at 5 min for much of the night. TOT was the only one with consistent waits of over 30 min and I think thats bc only one side is running.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Can anybody post links to the reviews? I'm very curious to read them cause I have tickets to the 1/18 party at HS and am trying to plan our night out.

I don't even think you need to plan out the night.. That is what I loved about after hours

 

[coasternut22]

I read the reviews from Allears and they said the crowd quickly thinned out after official park closing. To answer the question as to why go? I’ve gone to two MK after hours events. It’s rare to to get the park almost all to yourself. It’s very peaceful and surreal. You never get the opportunity to literally walk on each attraction during the day. Many people like that, including myself.

 

[Mabel67]

We prefer it and only go during the event. We prefer the lights at night, cool evenings, no sun, fewer small children (don't come at me on this one!!), and way smaller crowds. Plus it's a different atmosphere - hard to define but just feels more 'special'. Everyone has their preferences, and we love having this as an option.

 

[diser_fam]

Post #32 from this thread differs from what OP was seeing on social media:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/hollywood-studios-after-hours.3899551/page-2

 

[Captain UP]

Thank you all for the feedback. I am so glad to hear that what I was reading on Twitter wasn’t accurate as compared to the real experience.

 

[soniam]

That was the first one since the pandemic, so it was full with people and vloggers. Also, the DHS ones didn't happen very often before covid, so that made it even more popular. The first hour of these can be a little crowded, but they usually thin out pretty fast.

 

[baj0505]

Was at After Hours at HS—got there at 7:30 and stayed until 12:30 and here is what we did (no judging on our selections!)

Pre-closing:

Muppets
Star Tours
Fantasmic (last show I think 9?)

After Hours — after 9pm Fantasmic show ended

RocknRoller Coaster (no wait and only 4 cars had riders)
Tower of Tower (walked straight in to pre show and no stop getting on elevator)
Mickey and Minnie Runaway Railway (10 -15 min wait)
Alien Saucers (10 min wait)
Slinky Dog (15 min wait)
Toy Story (2x) (no wait except when assigned a row to stand in where you get in the ride vehicle)
Rise of the Resistance (brief wait-maybe 5min)
Could have ridden Smugglers Run (little to no wait but chose to skip)

Each of us ate 4 ice cream bars (1.25 an hour) and one of us also had 1 box of popcorn
Also had 2 waters (hydrating for the races) and a Coke and Diet Coke


Left promptly at 12:30 and road bus back to All Stars.

We would do it again! Just maybe not before a race Slept 2 hours and got on bus for 5k.

 

[lugnut33]

Do it for the shareholders

 

[baj0505]

Also tried to get MK tickets for next Monday but they sold out.

 

[Captain UP]

Was at After Hours at HS—got there at 7:30 and stayed until 12:30 and here is what we did (no judging on our selections!)

Pre-closing:

Muppets
Star Tours
Fantasmic (last show I think 9?)

After Hours — after 9pm Fantasmic show ended

RocknRoller Coaster (no wait and only 4 cars had riders)
Tower of Tower (walked straight in to pre show and no stop getting on elevator)
Mickey and Minnie Runaway Railway (10 -15 min wait)
Alien Saucers (10 min wait)
Slinky Dog (15 min wait)
Toy Story (2x) (no wait except when assigned a row to stand in where you get in the ride vehicle)
Rise of the Resistance (brief wait-maybe 5min)
Could have ridden Smugglers Run (little to no wait but chose to skip)

Each of us ate 4 ice cream bars (1.25 an hour) and one of us also had 1 box of popcorn
Also had 2 waters (hydrating for the races) and a Coke and Diet Coke


Left promptly at 12:30 and road bus back to All Stars.

We would do it again! Just maybe not before a race Slept 2 hours and got on bus for 5k.

WOW.

 

[cgattis]

Each of us ate 4 ice cream bars (1.25 an hour) and one of us also had 1 box of popcorn
Also had 2 waters (hydrating for the races)

I’ve heard of carb loading but never ice cream loading How’d that work out?? Good luck in your races—Disney races are the best.

 

[nightwing12]

I was at the HS after hours this past week and honestly it’s the best way to experience the parks if you are mainly interested in rides, the park was empty and nearly everything was a walk on. I mentioned to my wife that I’d rather do these events (and/or moonlight magic) than having regular tickets or even an AP. You actually get to do the attractions instead of standing in line all day. I don’t understand paying the absurd amount to stand in a line all day to be honest. After hours is the way to go, plus you get free snacks and drinks for not too much more than a day ticket.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

yea in November I did MK and Epcot after hours
90 minutes in MK no lines for any ride I wanted to do did everything I wanted to do
same at Epcot a few nights later

The only line was for wheel chairs getting on the skyline.