Official 2021 Disney Very Merriest After Hours Thread

[JakeAZ]

. They can’t cancel without losing money

That's the verbiage, but there were quite a few reports of people being able to cancel. I believe they got credit and not refunds.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

That's the verbiage, but there were quite a few reports of people being able to cancel. I believe they got credit and not refunds.

IIRC it was right when Delta was peaking and people got skittish.

 

[JakeAZ]

IIRC it was right when Delta was peaking and people got skittish.

Correct.

But a simple "we have a positive test in the family and can't travel" or something like that will easily get you canceled.

 

[wdwrule]

I read something about special Photopass holiday pictures. Do I need to purchase Photopass first or is it included during the party?

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I am very excited - due to this Very Merriest party, today I decided to book a three night trip to Disney.
Will get my holiday fix and the last of the Food and Wine!

 

[Lsdolphin]

Just bought tickets for Nov 30th....decided this is actually worth more than spending $100 for a dessert party and a seat for fireworks for basically 1 hour...

 

[persnickity]

Just bought tickets for Nov 30th....decided this is actually worth more than spending $100 for a dessert party and a seat for fireworks for basically 1 hour...

I made the same calculation! I'd booked the dessert party and was strongly considering adding park hoppers to our tickets to make sure we had enough time in each park. But this party accomplished the same things, plus hopefully buys us a several hour respite from the Thanksgiving week crowds.

 

[Lsdolphin]

I made the same calculation! I'd booked the dessert party and was strongly considering adding park hoppers to our tickets to make sure we had enough time in each park. But this party accomplished the same things, plus hopefully buys us a several hour respite from the Thanksgiving week crowds.

Yep I cancelled my dessert party reservations and now looking forward to after hours!

 

[katyringo]

If that entertainment schedule holds true this is my plan:

mobile order Casey's for 7pm.
Enter park at 7pm
Get mobile order and find a spot for enchantment (I'm solo so I think I'll be fine to find a spot)
Enchantment at 8pm
Try not to get trampled while going against the crowd: go ride a ride
Maybe see a character or 2
Back to castle hub around 10:15-10:30 with some free snacks.
Plop down for fireworks, stage show and the second parade.
Run to a last minute ride- maybe 2.

Rides aren't my biggest priority for the party I want to see enchantment and soak in entertainment.

im doing MK on departure day later in the trip and have from park open-2pm-ish and will be using genie+ and lightening lane.

 

[leeniewdw]

I'm having a heck of a time trying to decide if we should book this. I know next week we'll get some feedback on the event, so that will help.

We're going to be at WDW on 12/3 and 4. It's a VERY short trip and we're arriving on Day 1. My original plan was to do a 1 day 1 park pass for Day 1 (afternoon/evening at EPCOT), and use a leftover hopper for day 2 (HS and MK). Now rethinking to do the MK party and skip the 1 day/1 park pass and do HS/EP on day 2. This is still $180 MORE to attend the party and limits us to starting our park-time until 7pm. If the weather is nice, no big deal, we'll enjoy poolside or whatever. But I just can't decide.

So here's my question (and maybe I won't know the answer until next week). To those that have attended this type of thing (we've only done an AK AH before). Would we more easily ride the rides during the Merriest AH, or would a stack of 3 LLs for an afternoon/evening at MK provide similar? Anyone have an opinion? We're most interested in rides over shows/fireworks.

 

[AussieFan8]

So here's my question (and maybe I won't know the answer until next week). To those that have attended this type of thing (we've only done an AK AH before). Would we more easily ride the rides during the Merriest AH, or would a stack of 3 LLs for an afternoon/evening at MK provide similar? Anyone have an opinion? We're most interested in rides over shows/fireworks.

I can't answer about the LLs since I haven't used them yet, but one thing I can tell you about the after hours event is it's a better deal if you like to re-ride favorite rides multiple times. With LL, you are limited to one LL per ride. You could of course re-ride at some point in the day, but you'd have to wait in the standby line. In our experience at the after hours event, we were able to ride Haunted Mansion and BTMRR, two of our favorite rides, several times each with little to no wait. One time we had the stretching room completely to ourselves. For me, the lower crowds during a pandemic make the after hours event more worth the price as well.

 

[leeniewdw]

I can't answer about the LLs since I haven't used them yet, but one thing I can tell you about the after hours event is it's a better deal if you like to re-ride favorite rides multiple times. With LL, you are limited to one LL per ride. You could of course re-ride at some point in the day, but you'd have to wait in the standby line. In our experience at the after hours event, we were able to ride Haunted Mansion and BTMRR, two of our favorite rides, several times each with little to no wait. One time we had the stretching room completely to ourselves. For me, the lower crowds during a pandemic make the after hours event more worth the price as well.

These are great reasons that I hadn't yet thought of! Thanks! I'll probably end up getting the tickets and (if I know myself), end up adding a 1 day/1 park ticket anyway, lol. Or maybe I'll add the AH party and then wait on 1 day/1 park until we are about to go. That way I can look at the weather and see if an afternoon at the pool is possible.

Since we can't get into the park until 7, maybe we'll have dinner at one of monorail resorts before hand. I presume there are outdoor dining options (haven't stayed at a monorail resort in about 20 years)

 

[Mom2Kids2003]

I'm having a heck of a time trying to decide if we should book this. I know next week we'll get some feedback on the event, so that will help.

We're going to be at WDW on 12/3 and 4. It's a VERY short trip and we're arriving on Day 1. My original plan was to do a 1 day 1 park pass for Day 1 (afternoon/evening at EPCOT), and use a leftover hopper for day 2 (HS and MK). Now rethinking to do the MK party and skip the 1 day/1 park pass and do HS/EP on day 2. This is still $180 MORE to attend the party and limits us to starting our park-time until 7pm. If the weather is nice, no big deal, we'll enjoy poolside or whatever. But I just can't decide.

So here's my question (and maybe I won't know the answer until next week). To those that have attended this type of thing (we've only done an AK AH before). Would we more easily ride the rides during the Merriest AH, or would a stack of 3 LLs for an afternoon/evening at MK provide similar? Anyone have an opinion? We're most interested in rides over shows/fireworks.

I don't know how the LLs would work since I haven't tested that theory yet. However, we've done AH at MK on two different occasions now (the regular ones not a holiday party type thing) and we were also all about the rides. I believe my teens got on 18 rides during just the AH time period. They could've done more but they stopped for some of the free snacks along the way. I'm sure the Christmas AH will be a little more crowded than the regular ones, but I'm thinking you'll get on tons. We are doing the after hours this trip instead of a regular MK ticket. Have a great trip!

 

[AussieFan8]

Since we can't get into the park until 7, maybe we'll have dinner at one of monorail resorts before hand. I presume there are outdoor dining options (haven't stayed at a monorail resort in about 20 years)

Not on the monorail, but boat to MK - if you'd like an outdoor dinner before the event, you might consider Geyser Point at Wilderness Lodge.

 

[bookgirl]

Is it safe to assume that in the evenings it would be cool enough for long sleeve tshirts? Looking to make some shirts for the party and I'd hate to make t shirts and then cover them with a hoodie lol.

I have been a couple of time in the FL winter and I think it depends on what you're used to. I'm from somewhere that's coldish. Like winter in the 30's is normal.
FL may get in that low during sundown hours but honestly 50/60 seems more common and I've been in FL where I had to buy shorts because I assumed I'd be cold but it ended up being in the high 70's and I was absolutely too warm.

Layers are your friend. I think (if you're used to colder weather) you would be okay with long sleeves in the morning/evening as long as it's not thermal or heavyweight, but you might want to consider short sleeves and plan to bring long sleeve gear to layer under or over it, that way you have options. I'd also pack gloves/hats/scarf just in case it is chilly. Sometimes the air can feel 'wet' because it's pretty much humid year around and that can make it seem colder to exposed skin but not really cold enough for winter weight gear.

I hope I explained that correctly.

 

[Uncle Coaster]

I’m booked for November 18 and am absolutely giddy about it. I did an MK after hours three years ago and called it the best money I’ve ever spent. I’m a ride-ride-ride person but I’d love to see this parade too. I feel like a little kid just thinking about it.

 

[leeniewdw]

That's a great report. We felt that way after doing an AK AH in March 2020 but it was $90 cheaper. Of course, there aren't as many rides in AK, so I think this might be perfect for us to do. Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

 

[BrotherCraig]

We made the mistake back in Dec 2016 of going the after hours Christmas Party and ONLY rode Space Mountain. We stuck around Tomorrowland the entire time and didn't know there were other things going on around the park. Poor planning on my part. This time, we are going all around and enjoying the rides. We are starting our day at MK at 8 AM that day and going all the way until 1 AM with a 4 hour resort/rest break in the afternoon.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

We'll be there the 1st night. I hope it's better than the last after hours party we went to. We did the Halloween party in August of 2017, and we could not move there were so many people. I only spent money on this one because I am hoping with Covid, the cut off number will be a fraction of what it was pre-covid.

 

[ashmac8]

We'll be there the 1st night. I hope it's better than the last after hours party we went to. We did the Halloween party in August of 2017, and we could not move there were so many people. I only spent money on this one because I am hoping with Covid, the cut off number will be a fraction of what it was pre-covid.

Similarly my only Xmas party at Disney was in 2017 and it was beyond packed. Made me question why we bought tickets

we did a regular after hours event in June 2018 and it was great. My son still talks about it. I am hoping this is more aligned with that event.
We go 11/23