Entering a park after fireworks are done?

[ablang]

Hi guys!

I just came back from Disneyland Park Anaheim last weekend. Yeah I know it was like Spring Break for everyone. My hotel was 0.9 miles away from the resort. I noticed the park seemed to get super-packed close to 8pm and lots of people were not moving near the center. I wanted to see the fireworks so I made sure I was done w/ rides prior to 8:30pm.

My strategy was to watch the fireworks and then book myself an exit to get to my one shuttle bus (13-seater) for my hotel. It seems that the majority of the crowds had the same idea. Watch fireworks, then leave. I noticed when I was leaving that very few people were actually going the opposite way (as in coming in to the park).

So I'm wondering, is there a lot less crowds after 9:15pm? Not just at this park but any park in general?

 

[Wdwfan2016]

There are always less crowds the later the evening goes if the park is open late.

 

[ablang]

There are always less crowds the later the evening goes if the park is open late.

OK. So from your experience, what are average ride wait times like?

 

[Wdwfan2016]

It just depends on the park. If Magic Kingdom is open late once the fireworks end wait times begin to drop. The big rides will still average 20 to 30 min. They stop updating the wait time signs the closer it gets to closing. So don’t judge by that as They are hardly ever correct. For example space had 50 mins the other night around closing and it was 10 min actual.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

OK. So from your experience, what are average ride wait times like?

Wait times are intentionally inflated later in the evening to discourage late riders and steer them towards the gift shops and exits. The technique is called Line Stacking and has been going on for years.

Posted wait times can often be 4x the actual wait.

My family gets pretty competitive on Toy Story Mania, and we like to use the last park hour to get in 4 or 5 more rides.

 

[tofubeast]

We entered MK post fireworks last month (during a crowded week), and it was awesome. We entered the queue for Seven Dwarves about 20min before closing. We got on the ride right as the park closed. We were able to do a few rides before that with little to no wait.

 

[WhitneyMB]

Enjoying Disney World post-fireworks is pretty common, although waiting to enter the parks until this time is much less so! EP and HS the fireworks have traditionally been at the same time as official park closing, but for MK this seems more likely to be worth it, especially on the nights it stays open late or has extended evening hours.