24-Hour Day 2015: 1 Year Later Trip Report and Why It's Gone for 2016

[WeatherbySwann]

Hi, everyone! My name is Blake and here I'll be sharing about my experience at the Coolest Summer Ever 24-Hour event in May 2015. We'll be talking touring strategy, history of the event, why it's not back for 2016, budget advice, and what it was like to visit WDW with a first-timer.


But first, a background on us:

• What: "Coolest Summer Ever" 24-Hour Event at Magic Kingdom
• When: May 22-23, 2015
• Who: Me and my 3 friends, all college-aged. From left to right in the picture above:
  • Caleb, grew up as a DLR local. Visits WDW frequently now. Star Wars superfan.
  • Ryan, first-timer who loves all things Disney.
  • Me: Blake, WDW vet.
  • Aaron, went to WDW once when he was really little. Frozen superfan.
• Why:
  • Why then: When you're in college, you're looking to cut corner financially anywhere you can. Getting practically 2 days' worth of time in the park for the price of a 1-day ticket was a steal! It would be a fun way to kick off the summer and create lasting memories... I mean, come on. Who doesn't want to play in the Magic Kingdom at 3:00 in the morning?
  • Why now: Since the event is not returning for 2016, I thought it would be neat to take a look back on what might now be Disney history. Also, as I prepare to embark for the Disney College Program, I was looking for a way to get excited and pass the time before I leave lol.
• Accommodations: All-Star Movies

Some background on the event:

• Disney's first 24-hour day was on 2012's Leap Day (in February). The 24-hour tradition continued 2013-2015, but switched to the Friday before Memorial Day (in May).
• The park was open 6am Friday-6am Saturday.
• The events always took place simultaneously at WDW and DLR. At DLR, both of its two parks were open 24 hours. At WDW, only Magic Kingdom participated.
• There was no separate admission required for the event. A regular Magic Kingdom 1-day ticket got you 24 hours in the park. You were not required to stay inside the park the entire 24 hours. You could come and go as you pleased. Score!
• Guests were encouraged to come in costume dressed as their favorite character to "show their Disney side." There has since been a drastic change of policy. Costumes are now no longer allowed in the parks except during the Halloween party.
• Each year, the event took on a new theme. This time would be Frozen, to usher in what was marketed as WDW's Coolest Summer Ever.
  • Special activities took place to enhance the theme. This time would include rare characters, movie screenings, a Frozen pre-parade, appearances from about a dozen Disney Channel stars, and an overnight dance party with characters in pajamas.
• The event was not continued in 2016. The 2015 party was an unsafe, crowd-control nightmare for DLR and supposedly not popular enough in WDW (though I disagree with that, for reasons we'll see later).
• This would be my second 24-hour day. I attended the 2013 event (the "Monstrous All-Nighter"). This would be Caleb, Ryan, and Aaron's first 24-hour event.

A recap of my 2013 24-hour day experience for comparison:

• Minimal crowds and almost nonexistent lines until 10am.
• Moderate crowds throughout the day. Typical of a holiday weekend.
• Most crowded I have ever seen a Disney park from 10pm-1am.
• Minimal crowds 2am-6am.

You'll see how the crowd patterns changed in two years' time as we progress in the TR. Word of mouth is powerful!

I will update this initial post with an ongoing Table of Contents as our journey continues.

The purpose of this writing serves two functions: On a surface level, I wanted to document our trip, but on the other side of that, I want this trip report to benefit YOU. If you have anything about the 24-hour day you want to be covered specifically as we go along, please tell me. The 24-hour day is a unique aspect of recent Disney history that I find extremely fascinating, and after attending two of the events, I feel that I have a pretty firm handle on how they operate and what went really great and terribly bad. We'll conclude with a look into where I think Disney is coming from in canceling the event and whether or not that decision is best. Questions and comments as we continue are highly encouraged. I want this to be a conversation!

So let's get started...

 

[N8sgirl12]

I went to the Coolest Summer Ever 24-hour day with one of my best friends! It will be fun to reminisce!