Question about After hours admission to the Parks

[CableKC]

I'm doing my planning and saw that there is something new ( that I assume was implemented since the last time I visited years ago) called:

Disney Villains After Hours at the MK
Disney Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland at MK
Disney Early Morning Magic - Toy Story Land at HS

Am I correct in assuming that even if I stay at a Disney Resort and have paid my standard "Base Ticket" for the day that it will require some additional admissions fee to stay later during any of these "After Hours" events?

My guess is that these "After Hours" events are different than the more familiar "Extra Magic Hours" ( which is included as a free "Perk" for staying at a Disney Resort ) that I am used to.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I'm doing my planning and saw that there is something new ( that I assume was implemented since the last time I visited years ago) called:

Disney Villains After Hours at the MK
Disney Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland at MK
Disney Early Morning Magic - Toy Story Land at HS

Am I correct in assuming that even if I stay at a Disney Resort and have paid my standard "Base Ticket" for the day that it will require some additional admissions fee to stay later during any of these "After Hours" events?

My guess is that these "After Hours" events are different than the more familiar "Extra Magic Hours" ( which is included as a free "Perk" for staying at a Disney Resort ) that I am used to.

After Hours are different than Extra Magic Hours. After Hours are paid ticketed events; Extra Magic Hours are a free eligible resort guest benefit.

For After Hours, one does NOT need a regular park day ticket, you only need to pay fo the After Hours ticket. After Hours tickets allow access to the park starting at 7pm.

For the Early Morning Magic events, those DO require regular park admission - in addition to the cost of the Early Morning Magic event.

 

[whatsthebuzz]

Yes. These events require a separate dated ticket for the event. In general, after hours events do not require a base ticket in addition to the event ticket, but early morning events do require a base ticket or annual pass. You do not have to be a resort guest to purchase tickets for these events.

 

[whatsthebuzz]

oops! I wasn't fast enough

 

[CableKC]

Thanks to the both of you for clarifying that. I guess it's just another way for Disney to squeeze more money out of guests.

Do many of you decide to take advantage of this and pay extra to stay later?

I'm already stretching my budget for this trip to DW. For the 4 of us, the cost would be prohibitive for just a few extra hours.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

oops! I wasn't fast enough

Yeah, but you said the same thing more clearly and with less words!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thanks to the both of you for clarifying that. I guess it's just another way for Disney to squeeze more money out of guests.

Do many of you decide to take advantage of this and pay extra to stay later?

I'm already stretching my budget for this trip to DW. For the 4 of us, the cost would be prohibitive for just a few extra hours.

Many like them, many don’t. I’m a fan, but I think one should read up on the events, logistics, and reviews to make an assessment on if it’s money well spent for your particular touring style. These threads can help:

DAH Threads

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

**Disney After Hours-Hollywood Studios** FAQ & Discussion Thread

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

 

[jaceraden]

YMMV on whether or not the events are worth it. For our last trip, we used these events instead of regular park entry. MK was worth it to us because our ticket got us 7 hours of park time and most of it was with zero crowds. We also did the DHS after hours but were not big fans of it due to the limited options - perhaps this may change once Galaxy's Edge opens...

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

Thanks to the both of you for clarifying that. I guess it's just another way for Disney to squeeze more money out of guests.

Do many of you decide to take advantage of this and pay extra to stay later?

I'm already stretching my budget for this trip to DW. For the 4 of us, the cost would be prohibitive for just a few extra hours.

We did both EMM Fantasyland and DAH AK on our trip a couple of weeks ago, and my DH says both were money well spent. I enjoyed both, and the reduced crowds during these events is amazing. If you are unable to get FP for the headliner rides, the EMM and DAH events allow you to ride those rides, often multiple times. We would do both again in the future.

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

YMMV on whether or not the events are worth it. For our last trip, we used these events instead of regular park entry. MK was worth it to us because our ticket got us 7 hours of park time and most of it was with zero crowds. We also did the DHS after hours but were not big fans of it due to the limited options - perhaps this may change once Galaxy's Edge opens...

This is exactly what we are considering doing on our next trip, using DAH tickets as our only tickets. We had such a great time at DAH AK, we want to try MK next.

 

[Remy is Up]

After hours events are ticketed and from a personal perspective, as long as they dont begin overselling them, well worth it, particularly at MK. We found AK to be less of a value but seeing that park at night is pretty cool and EE at night is quite a fun experience and vastly different from daytime. But due to such limited experiences at night, I find it the least value of the 3 which currently do it. Studios is worth it and may be more of a value once SWGE opens. MK is the best value and worth it if you want to ride as much as possible in a compressed time. If they ever do it at Epcot, I think there is some value there as well.

 

[Mango7100]

We did the After Hours at MK one night instead of a full day at the park. Originally we were going to use it in substitution of buying an additional day to our multi day ticket. However, the price for a 6 day non park hopper for our family of 3 was only $50-60 more total a 5 day ticket. So we used that extra day to go to AK for a few hours and do our FP for the day. We thought the After shouts was well worth the money

 

[CableKC]

YMMV on whether or not the events are worth it. For our last trip, we used these events instead of regular park entry. MK was worth it to us because our ticket got us 7 hours of park time and most of it was with zero crowds. We also did the DHS after hours but were not big fans of it due to the limited options - perhaps this may change once Galaxy's Edge opens...

Do you mean that instead of purchasing a regular base or Park Hopper ticket for that one day, you decided to spend the money that would go towards the ticket towards the Early Morning Magic or After Hours ticket?

I'm not sure about the pricing, but it seems the reduced crowds made a difference.

Hmmm.....this maybe something that I may consider in my planning. I have a "Rest Day" where I was planning on doing a half-day at MK.

 

[tobikaye]

I had a short trip last weekend, so my cousin and I did the DHS after Hours on Friday. Since we planned our trip in less than 2 weeks, we decided to do this after hours as all the rides were ones we would want to do and many we could not get FP at such late notice. I may not do it every trip when one is available, but it could come in handy for some. I can think of some situations where this would be good to use.

Years ago, I had a Universal trip planned and we were arriving in Orlando a day early so we chose to stay at a WDW resort the first night before our USO reservation. We ended up going to MK that night. If once of these After Hours had been available, we probably would have done this in place of an all day park ticket.

 

[Chickinvic]

Thanks to the both of you for clarifying that. I guess it's just another way for Disney to squeeze more money out of guests.

Do many of you decide to take advantage of this and pay extra to stay later?

I'm already stretching my budget for this trip to DW. For the 4 of us, the cost would be prohibitive for just a few extra hours.

Absolutely. I am considering just doing parties on my next trip in November (assuming more dates are announced for that time period). I'm doing the Christmas party on November 12 at Magic Kingdom. If they have after hours events at Hollywood Studios during our stay I will definitely take advantage of that over fighting the daytime crowds.

 

[CableKC]

I am reading many of your useful comments and it sounds like it is totally worth it ( especially at MK ).....IF Cost is not a consideration.

I am pricing everything out and was initially planning on going to MK in the late afternoon on a Wednesday evening in July to the MK to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours ( the free Perk for staying at the Disney Resorts ) while paying just for an extra Base ticket for the 7 to 8 hours we spend there. Then I saw the Disney Villian's After Hours for that week fell on the next evening and thought that I can change it around to do that instead.

The problem is that the cost to buy the Tickets for the Disney Villain's After hours event at the MK is ~$600 total for 4 people....whereas if I just bought the extra Base Ticket for the Extra Magic Hours the day before ( as part of the Disney Vacation Package that we are doing ), it would simply cost a total of $60 for the 4 people ( assuming I just ignore the After Hours event and just go with the old fashioned Extra Magic Hours for Resort Guests ).

I'm pricing everything out assuming that the After Hour tickets are purchased entirely separately. I assume that if one purchases the Disney Vacation Package through Disney itself that there is some price break of any sort just to buy those tickets for one of the days that we are staying there?

 

[jaceraden]

Do you mean that instead of purchasing a regular base or Park Hopper ticket for that one day, you decided to spend the money that would go towards the ticket towards the Early Morning Magic or After Hours ticket?

Yes, on my last trip, I had zero Disney park tickets except for the 2 after hours events. It's important to note you do need regular park admission in addition to an Early Morning Magic ticket. I personally probably would not shell out the extra money for these events if I already had regular tickets and had extra days at the parks but that's just me.

There is no price break for After Hours tickets unless you are an annual pass holder or DVC owner but mine were a little cheaper if I bought them in advance rather than day of (like 5 dollars or something small). I think I read you wondering about that in your last post.