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

[GADisneyDad14]

I think I can guess the answer to this, but I wanted to ask the experts just to check.

We're going this July. I'd love to do the After Hours Villain event that will be happening when there. We plan to bridge our tickets to AP, but I'm guessing there's no way for me to get the AP pricing on the event since I won't have the AP when I order tickets before we go, yeah? I'm nervous if I wait until we're there and actually have APs, the event will be sold out since it's only being offered one night per week. Thanks!

DISers in similar circumstances have reported being able to get a credit (generally in the form of a Disney gift card) by visiting guest relations. This seems to happen with relative frequency. If you don't mind the time spent dealing with it when there, it could save you a few bucks.

 

[SarahC97]

DISers in similar circumstances have reported being able to get a credit (generally in the form of a Disney gift card) by visiting guest relations. This seems to happen with relative frequency. If you don't mind the time spent dealing with it when there, it could save you a few bucks.

Well, it'd be about $120, so that's totally worth it to me. Thanks!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Well, it'd be about $120, so that's totally worth it to me. Thanks!

That’s a lot of bucks.

I haven’t seen any reports of this not being allowed, but we always appreciate real world experiences if you think about it after your trip. Good luck!

 

[SarahC97]

That’s a lot of bucks.

I haven’t seen any reports of this not being allowed, but we always appreciate real world experiences if you think about it after your trip. Good luck!

Will do!

So, I basically just need to buy the tickets at full price, then go to guest services after we upgrade and tell them I purchased DAH tickets and would like to see if I can get refunded the difference?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Will do!

So, I basically just need to buy the tickets at full price, then go to guest services after we upgrade and tell them I purchased DAH tickets and would like to see if I can get refunded the difference?

Not having done it myself, I can’t answer with authority, but I think that’s how it works. I’m an AP holder, I bought these at full price, would like the AP discount, etc.

 

[SarahC97]

Not having done it myself, I can’t answer with authority, but I think that’s how it works. I’m an AP holder, I bought these at full price, would like the AP discount, etc.

Cool. I appreciate the input. It's worth a shot!

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Will do!

So, I basically just need to buy the tickets at full price, then go to guest services after we upgrade and tell them I purchased DAH tickets and would like to see if I can get refunded the difference?

Since you upgrade at GR, do it all at once. I did this in March.

 

[chaoskids]

I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc. Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip. DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.

I'm sure this villains thing will be fine. But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night. I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!

Ok, nonsensical rant over. Sorry.

Me too! I’d rather a normal DAH. I wish they would have Villain meet and greets. It would shorten ride lines.

 

[cakebaker]

I don’t complain often either, but I’d be a little bummed too. I’d hate for these to turn into more of a party event rather than just what they are now- an opportunity to ride the rides with little or no waits. Disney if you’re listening, don’t fix what ain’t broke! I don’t want to pay to see shows and extras. I just want to ride the attractions with short waits and not be shoulder to shoulder in crowds.

 

[22Tink]

I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc. Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip. DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.

I'm sure this villains thing will be fine. But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night. I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!

Ok, nonsensical rant over. Sorry.

I thought the same thing when I saw this. We miss the Villains dates by 2 days so at this point I’d be happy with any DAH for our dates, Villains or regular!

 

[Castlequeen5]

I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc. Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip. DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.

I'm sure this villains thing will be fine. But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night. I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!

Ok, nonsensical rant over. Sorry.

I was also disappointed with the change. I just want to ride rides and eat ice cream! I don't want to look at schedules and plan rides around the show. But then it's going to cost more money, so now I feel obligated to see what the villains/shows are all about. That way I'm getting my "money's worth"...at least that's my rationale. I'm anxious to read the reviews from the first few nights to see how it goes.

 

[ninafeliz]

I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc. Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip. DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.

I'm sure this villains thing will be fine. But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night. I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!

Ok, nonsensical rant over. Sorry.

I completely agree. I had been hoping there would be a MK DAH during our June trip, and while I’m very happy they are having one I would have much preferred the regular old no frills no lines no crowds DAH! Our only other DAH experience was from the first round in May 2016, so I’m worried that will be hard to live up to already without adding the overlay. I’m really hoping they don’t mess with the numbers much, since all we want is to ride as much as possible without lines. My plan as of now is to essentially ignore the villains aspect completely (except maybe some of the event merchandise lol) and treat it as a regular DAH, and maybe the villains stuff will occupy people and keep the lines non existent. At least I hope so.

 

[Haley R]

I completely agree. I had been hoping there would be a MK DAH during our June trip, and while I’m very happy they are having one I would have much preferred the regular old no frills no lines no crowds DAH! Our only other DAH experience was from the first round in May 2016, so I’m worried that will be hard to live up to already without adding the overlay. I’m really hoping they don’t mess with the numbers much, since all we want is to ride as much as possible without lines. My plan as of now is to essentially ignore the villains aspect completely (except maybe some of the event merchandise lol) and treat it as a regular DAH, and maybe the villains stuff will occupy people and keep the lines non existent. At least I hope so.

You definitely should get a Maleficent cone. It's my absolute favorite snack at WDW now.

 

[Mrjoshua]

We attended the event on 4/4, and had a ball...

Between 7 and 10pm:
- Haunted Mansion
- Mickey's Philharmagic
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Ate candied bacon and chicken skewers
- Big Thunder Mtn Railroad (during fireworks!)
- Watched the remaining fireworks from Frontierland
- Barnstormer

After 10pm
- Space Mtn x 2
- Popcorn and Ice Cream
- 7 Dwarfs Mine Train x 3
- Haunted Mansion x 2 (had the Mansion to ourselves once)
- Ice Cream
- Big Thunder Mtn Railroad x 4

My only real complaint is an increase in bodies. After Hours Space Mtn was a time guzzler! Our second ride had almost a half hour wait. We tried to go through the quick re-ride line, and were denied. That's fine, but I didn't think the wait should be 1/6 of the event time.

Even considering the inflated crowd (as opposed to my last MK After Hours in December), I would definitely recommend this event.

 

[Lsdolphin]

I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc. Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip. DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.

I'm sure this villains thing will be fine. But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night. I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!

Ok, nonsensical rant over. Sorry.

I feel the same way....but I am afraid this Villains show will only encourage more guests without DAH tickets to remain in park. at least if they were doing meet and greets CMs could prevent people without wrist bands from getting in those lines. Also I'm thinking Disney might just wait in until later in evening to have the Villains part of the events in the hopes that those without wrist bands will leave which will still result in longer ride lines. Anyway I just wish they would leave the Villains for Halloween parties and leave DAH the way it is right now!
As long as I'm complaining I might as well add one more...not sure if this is still the case but when I attended the DAH on 3/7 I noticed there were still a huge number of non-DAH guests in the stand-by line at PP for over an hour into DAH time. I can see this as an even larger issue for more rides if there are even more guests who will stay in park hoping to see villains.
Ok done complaining and waiting to get tix for 6/27!

 

[msmith1026]

Today is our arrival day and we are attending tonight’s event—I will report back our experience and if anyone has any questions let me know — I will try to get answers for you!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Today is our arrival day and we are attending tonight’s event—I will report back our experience and if anyone has any questions let me know — I will try to get answers for you!

We just purchased tickets for May 9. This will be our only Disney park visit of the trip (we are Universal passholders) so we definitely want to maximize our time. I will be interested to know what time they allow you entrance to the park....specifically if it is before 7 PM.

Have fun tonight!

 

[jaceraden]

We just purchased tickets for May 9. This will be our only Disney park visit of the trip (we are Universal passholders) so we definitely want to maximize our time. I will be interested to know what time they allow you entrance to the park....specifically if it is before 7 PM.

Have fun tonight!

We went to DAH at MK on March 28. We had no other ticket media and were let right in at 6pm.

 

[cakebaker]

maybe the villains stuff will occupy people and keep the lines non existent.

That is a bright side- if you’re not interested in the shows, they will at least draw a lot of guests away from the rides. IF Disney keeps the numbers where they are, that should make for very short lines I would think.

My daughter is going in July and is thrilled to see the villains overlay. We don’t do the parties anymore so it’s a good way to see them. There’s definitely a demand for them, just not my cup of tea.

 

[Ron Rico]

Trying to catch up on all my threads after getting back from WDW. I attended DAH on 4/4 with my family and it was still a great event! I am sad to see the changes coming and price increase, but I guess time will tell.

4/4/19 was definitely more crowded than my July 2018 DAH event. There were larger groups of people throughout MK, but the only thing that was really affected was 7DMT. It had longer waits throughout the whole night. The posted time never seemed to drop below 25 minutes. We only rode it 1x during the actual event (10pm - 1am) unlike July 2018 when I rode it multiple times in a row.

We arrived at MK a little after 7pm. It was a rest day with no parks and we had 3 FP+ for MK:

• 7:00-8:00pm: Meet Mickey and Minnie
• 8:30-9:30pm: 7DMT
• 9:30-10:00pm: Peter Pan

We met Mickey and Minnie and then scoped out a prime spot for HEA which was at 9:15pm. We dodged the crowds and made it on 7DMT even though it was about 5 minutes past the FP+ window. We walked over to Peter Pan which had a huge standby line. After Peter Pan, it was 10:01pm and DAH officially started! I wanted to head to Big Thunder since we skipped it the day prior since it had a HUGE FP+ line, but it had a 25 minute wait posted so I figured we would go on Small World since we were right there and it had a 10 minute wait posted and virtually no line.

The rest of the night went like this after Small World:

• Big Thunder x2 (both sides were running)
• Splash Mountain (private log to ourselves)
• Popcorn/ice cream break
• Pirates
• Main Street PhotoPass pictures
• Space Mountain x2 (used the re-ride path)
• Popcorn/ice cream break
• People Mover (with some snacks… shhhh don’t tell)
• Tea Cups
• Little Mermaid

By now it was around 12:30am. The last thing on our list was to get on 7DMT again. The posted wait time was 35 minutes. We attempted to get in line for 7DMT and as we were walking up there was an announcement that all trains through the mine had stopped because of an issue. About half of the people left including my family and I and we decided to take our own photos in the Hub and around Cinderella Castle and enjoyed some sodas. We walked back to 7DMT about 15/20 minutes later and got in line again at 12:51am. The wait time was still posted at 35 minutes. In reality, it only took 13 minutes and we were on 7DMT by 1:04am.

We saw the Kiss Goodnight and headed towards the exit.

Busses for MK resorts seemed to be much better this time. One was waiting for us and we all got on with seats. The bus waited about 5 minutes for other guests and was going to stop at Poly, GF, and then CR (1 family decided they were too tired to walk).

Overall, we had a great time! I booked it knowing the spring break crowds and temps could be insane. We accomplished everything we wanted to and had a great night.

We didn't stop at every snack cart. Some had larger lines than others, but there were so many different locations and the CMs were so fast that the waits were minimal. I inquired about the Minute Maid cups and was told only Olaf bars at two locations. YMMV.

Thanks for the report! We’re going tonight!

This will be our first time in MK. Where do you suggest we try to go for HEA? And what time should we stake out our spot?