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

[Ron Rico]

I did Splash mountain in case we got soaked at 6, figuring we would be in the park by 6:30 based on reports from the previous two or three events, 7DMT at 7, and then PP at 9:30 because we wanted to see HEA (first time). It worked out great!

 

[disneydreamer781]

Not surprised about EMH. Was expecting this. I don't mind because personally I much rather do the DAH events anyway. Not sure what to think about the Villains After Hours though. We're not going until the Fall so I'm not so sure this will even be offered then. I guess if it turns out to be popular they could, but with the Halloween Parties already going on, they probably won't. It's hard to know what Disney is thinking at times though.

 

[PolyRob]

I agree, definitely 7DMT and Peter Pan if they're on your list because they have the worst waits throughout the night. I did both of them in addition to Mickey & Minnie in their new costumes. It was something we never did before and easy to get to before waiting for HEA.

I would even say make your third something that takes long to get through like Jungle Cruise if thats important to ride. Not sure about the private boat experience during DAH, but 7/8 minutes is "precious time" lol Or even BTMR. I've read plenty reports of only one side running. I was fortunate and had both working during my night.

 

[Haley R]

What does everyone recommend we make our 3 FPs for prior to the event starting? I was going to make them for 7,8,and 9 and our night it starts at 10 (In June). It seems like most things are open during the event, so I'm not sure what the best use of my FP would be? Do you just do favorite rides, or are there some that actually make sense to do as a FP prior to the actual event? FWIW I'm not saving any event time for the villains show, we're planning to ride through that.

I would say 7dmt or pp for sure if you can get them. Jungle cruise and haunted mansion as well since those take longer

 

[Raya]

Does anyone know if counter service restaurants are open during the event? I'm picky about my soda, and prefer to drink it over ice. I know the drinks given out for the event come from a cart, so I expect no ice. Will I be able to go into the Starbucks on Main Street or another place and buy a cup of ice?

Also, are there any food choices other than ice cream/popcorn available when the event starts?

 

[ninafeliz]

I did Splash mountain in case we got soaked at 6, fogureing we would be in the park by 6:30 based on reports from the previous two or three events, 7DMT at 7, and then PP at 9:30 because we wanted to see HEA (first time). It worked out great!

I agree, definitely 7DMT and Peter Pan if they're on your list because they have the worst waits throughout the night. I did both of them in addition to Mickey & Minnie in their new costumes. It was something we never did before and easy to get to before waiting for HEA.

I would even say make your third something that takes long to get through like Jungle Cruise if thats important to ride. Not sure about the private boat experience during DAH, but 7/8 minutes is "precious time" lol Or even BTMR. I've read plenty reports of only one side running. I was fortunate and had both working during my night.

I would say 7dmt or pp for sure if you can get them. Jungle cruise and haunted mansion as well since those take longer

Thanks for the advice! This morning I booked splash at 6:35, ETWB since I’ve only ever seen it once at 7:40 and 7DMT at 8:40.

However, I will probably change them. My boys and DH will be less than thrilled with ETWB and I don’t honestly know how much I care about it, I was just thinking it was something different we never use a FP on. Also, we are doing EMM also so I should probably drop 7dmt and do something else, it is just so hard to not book something that is hard to get and I can get it

I’m actually toying with doing the HEA dessert party. We will only be seeing it from the Poly and GF this trip, so this would be a way to see it up close for projections. We aren’t into dealing with crowds and holding places,
So if I don’t do the desseet party I’m not sure how watching it from the park would work out. I guess we could just do a non ideal location last minute. If we do this I’ll probably just get a Mickey FP to do on the way in and just do that and the dessert party before DAH.

So many decisions.

 

[pugbug]

Another fastpass question:

Can I make fastpasses if the DAH ticket is my only ticket for that day? I have 3 day hoppers for my trip, but wasn't planning on using one for my DAH day. Thanks!

 

[cakebaker]

Another fastpass question:

Can I make fastpasses if the DAH ticket is my only ticket for that day? I have 3 day hoppers for my trip, but wasn't planning on using one for my DAH day. Thanks!

Yes. Some people say you run the risk of them being cancelled, but I haven’t actually read of anyone that it’s really happened to. And the worst that can happen is they get cancelled so not much risk.

 

[BoatDriver]

What does everyone recommend we make our 3 FPs for prior to the event starting?

We made FP's for Haunted Mansion at 6:30, 7DMT at 7:40, and BTMR at 9:00 to ride during fireworks. If you've seen HEA from Main Street and don't feel the need to brave the crowds, seeing it from Splash, People Mover, 7DMT or BTMR is pretty cool.

 

[Vickie1016]

We made FP's for Haunted Mansion at 6:30, 7DMT at 7:40, and BTMR at 9:00 to ride during fireworks. If you've seen HEA from Main Street and don't feel the need to brave the crowds, seeing it from Splash, People Mover, 7DMT or BTMR is pretty cool.

Ditto - on HEA, such a different experience when on a ride or just standing in Fantasyland (its like you are inside the fireworks!)
Last summer we FP'd 6:15 BTMRR, 7:15 Jungle Cruise, 8:30 Speedway, then started DAH w/Barnstomer, Dumbo.

 

[BK2014]

Does anyone know if counter service restaurants are open during the event? I'm picky about my soda, and prefer to drink it over ice. I know the drinks given out for the event come from a cart, so I expect no ice. Will I be able to go into the Starbucks on Main Street or another place and buy a cup of ice?

Also, are there any food choices other than ice cream/popcorn available when the event starts?

I am the same way about my soda, I hate not having it over ice. I will say that the two times that we did DAH the bottles of coke were very well chilled. However, assuming you arrive before the park closes and DAH begins, you should be able to get ice from a quick service restaurant to put into a water bottle or other container that you bring. When we did DAH, Cosmic Ray's was open before DAH started, we got food there and could have gotten ice. I didn't do this, because for DAH I prefer to travel as light as possible without the normal backpack and tervis tumbler that I carry at the parks.

 

[Iowamomof4]

Yes. Some people say you run the risk of them being cancelled, but I haven’t actually read of anyone that it’s really happened to. And the worst that can happen is they get cancelled so not much risk.

Actually, the worst that can happen is that your last day of fastpasses gets cancelled. But otherwise I agree with you, it's been quite awhile since I've seen a report of anyone having issues with fastpasses booked on a DAH ticket.

 

[cakebaker]

Actually, the worst that can happen is that your last day of fastpasses gets cancelled. But otherwise I agree with you, it's been quite awhile since I've seen a report of anyone having issues with fastpasses booked on a DAH ticket.

But they would get a warning before that happened.

 

[123SA]

Yes. Some people say you run the risk of them being cancelled, but I haven’t actually read of anyone that it’s really happened to. And the worst that can happen is they get cancelled so not much risk.

Actually, the worst that can happen is that your last day of fastpasses gets cancelled. But otherwise I agree with you, it's been quite awhile since I've seen a report of anyone having issues with fastpasses booked on a DAH ticket.

But they would get a warning before that happened.

The main point to consider is that it isn't your DAH day that gets threatened with cancellation, it's your last day of FP (which may or may not be your DAH day).

I got the threatening emails last summer when I booked 12 days of FP with a 10 day ticket, and 2 DAH tickets. I wasn't willing to lose my last day of FP+ - which was Flights of passage. I called several times, spoke with 3 or 4 IT customer service reps and did not get a consistent answer, so I deleted them. I ressigned the tickets and booked FP at 30 days ...but I did something wrong and ended up at customer service for 30 minutes on both DAH nights.

This year, I intend to use my husband's disney account, not connected to my account with our 10 day ticket, to purchase the DAH tickets and book FP at 30 days out.

I keep reading that booking FP SHOULD work, but it was not our experience.

 

[Ron Rico]

Another fastpass question:

Can I make fastpasses if the DAH ticket is my only ticket for that day? I have 3 day hoppers for my trip, but wasn't planning on using one for my DAH day. Thanks!

DAH was our only ticket that day, and also our last valid ticket overall, and we had no issues with FPS.

 

[Ron Rico]

Does anyone know if counter service restaurants are open during the event? I'm picky about my soda, and prefer to drink it over ice. I know the drinks given out for the event come from a cart, so I expect no ice. Will I be able to go into the Starbucks on Main Street or another place and buy a cup of ice?

Also, are there any food choices other than ice cream/popcorn available when the event starts?

None of the QS places were open. As far as I know, the Emporium was the only place open besides the attractions and carts.

 

[whiporee]

Casey's MIGHT be open. I'm not sure, though. Not a real informative answer, i know, but I do think that one is open into DAH.

 

[Ron Rico]

I’m actually toying with doing the HEA dessert party. We will only be seeing it from the Poly and GF this trip, so this would be a way to see it up close for projections. We aren’t into dealing with crowds and holding places,
So if I don’t do the desseet party I’m not sure how watching it from the park would work out. I guess we could just do a non ideal location last minute. If we do this I’ll probably just get a Mickey FP to do on the way in and just do that and the dessert party before DAH.

So many decisions.

We aren’t big dessert people so the dessert party wasn’t a good option for us, so we got to the hub area at about 7:45 (after 7DMT) and found a spot that was at on the right hand side when facing the castle, right at the corner of the pathway heading back towards the Plaza restaurant and Tomorrowand Terrace. We had a fence and pillar to lean on and no one behind us. It turned out that the reserved space for the Plaza viewing dessert party was across the path from us! It worked out perfectly!



More pictures at the link attached to this picture.

 

[MKTokyo]

None of the QS places were open. As far as I know, the Emporium was the only place open besides the attractions and carts.

Oh geez. I thought Casey's was open. We were also worried about warm soda after hearing CMs sometimes leave them to "grab & go" on top of the carts!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Unless recently changed, I’m ‘pretty certain’ Casey’s has been open for DAH.

I have it listed as open on page 1 so it must have been at some point. Caveat in case it’s now stale.