3:00am!? Has anyone ever stayed this late?

[Scott2tune]

The MK has late hours until 3:00am(!) and we have a Wild Africa tour the next morning @ 10:00am. What is the MK like at those late hours? Do people really stay there that late? Any pictures? I am strangely fascinated by this! I'll say it again...3:00am? Really? http://www.wdwinfo.com/images/smilies/pixiedust.gif

 

[mommystieg]

We have been at EMH at MK until 2:00 am during the summer and it was worth it. It was pretty busy for the first hour or so but after that, it was great. We did not get up early the next morning, though

 

[extramagichours]

I was there until 3AM the Sunday night before Easter in 2008. My family had already gone back to the room. It was amazing.

You could walk on any ride there with no wait by 2:10. I saw Philharmagic in a room with about 10 other people.

I walked through the entrance into Haunted Mansion at 2:55! I got off around 3:08 and walked from the exit doors of Haunted Mansion all the way to the castle area before even seeing another human that wasn't a cast member. Approximately 3:15 I walked out the door, and there were still mainstreet cast members with the big mickey gloves waving goodbye. I told them I'd see them in a few hours because I was opening the Magic Kingdom at 7 AM that very day! It was so awesome.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

We've never been in the park that late, but 2 weeks ago we were in MK until 1:00 am.

Lots of people can't hang w/ the late hours (kids need to go to bed, etc.) so its actually a great time to be in the park. For us, everything was walk on after midnight except Space Mountain. No lines at the monorail going out and great photo opps as we left.

My suggestion is to go to the park early on and then (after collecting FP's of course) take a midday break. Go back to the park for parades/fireworks/rides and enjoy!

 

[southern_belle21]

We LOVE 3 am EMH!!! It's the BEST time to be in the parks! Walk on almost everything!

 

[gabby]

I have stayed this late with my kids, last year to be exact. My son has to be the last to walk out of the park. They just about swept us out. He just loves it. He is now 16 and my daughter is 13. She loves it just as much, but he is the one that you can't reason with. He would stay by himself. I have to say that I didn't have to be up early the next day. When the MK has hours like that I make sure that we are either going home the next day or we can sleep late. Any by the way there weren't too many people left at that time. We were just about the only one left besides the the cm's that were starting to clean. Castle was very prettying with no one around and got really good pictures.

 

[OhThePain]

We also love the 3AM EMH. Usually about an hour or so into it the crowd practically disappears. It's a really awesome feeling walking around MK when it could be a few minutes (or at least seems that long) in between seeing other people depending on where in the park you are.

 

[teddygurl28]

i love 3am at the MK! we haevnt been able to do it since september 2008 (last september it closed at 1)
we were able to walk on most roads after about 1230ish. It was kind of eerie leaving frontierland at 3 though! its a very dark area of the park and my husband and I were by ourselves entirely....like others have said, we didnt come across another person until we got through liberty square.
we also were up the next day and at another park by 930 (including breakfast) but we made sure that it was a light day and took a break and nap around 330, and then went back to the parks for the night

 

[LMN]

IMO, by staying out that late, you get to see MK at its most magical! There is something about being there when it is almost empty that makes it even more incredible. Maybe it is the lack of people, maybe it is the great opportunity to take photos wherever you want, with nobody in the backgrounds, maybe it is the ability to walk on to most rides. I highly recommend trying it at least once! Pure magic!!

 

[2Tiggies]

Yep, always loved it on our Easter trips. Pretty much everything is walk on by 1.00 or 1.30 am. However we went in October for the first time last year and tried the EMH until 1 am and the next weekend until 2 am and both times it was so crowded and wait times remained relatively high on all the main attractions. I think with the party nights which limited park days for people and the opportunity for MSEP and Wishes, people were sticking it out to the bitter end.

 

[KCSherri]

I've only done it once, in all the times I've been to WDW...that was a few years ago, when we took our 3 teenage sons there and they wanted to go until the Very. Last. Second. that the park was open. Argh.

I will say that the park was extra magical that late at night. All the rides were walk-ons...the streets were empty...and we definitely slept in the next morning!

I have a picture somewhere of me standing under the clock on Main Street, pointing to the hands that show 2:45 a.m. Because if you knew me - that NEVER happens in "real life!"

If you can do it, go for it! Just be prepared to get some rest afterwards!

 

[HsvTeacher]

We closed MK down one 3:00am EMH night, and we had a blast! Like others have said, the park was completely empty, and we were able to walk on any ride we wanted. We also always make sure to stay for the other after-midnight EMHs. We just take a nap during the day and make sure we don't have anything planned for the following morning.

On the 3:00am EMH night, we made it's a small world our last ride. I was barely able to keep my eyes open, and everyone else in our boat had fallen asleep. The CMs got a good laugh out of that one.

 

[kcormier]

Staying late in the parks is great! If you can stay awake it is well worth it for ride lines and to take some awesome photos! Do it!

 

[PoohsFan1]

Staying that late is awesome. We always plan our days around the late Magic Hours, especially at MK. At first you wouldn't think anything was different, but as the time goes on, the park gets emptier and emptier and you will be walking around wondering if they closed the park on you. You can get on so many rides with no wait at all, sometimes they will let you ride again without getting off. It is the best....I have one picture that I will post once I get a Photobucket account set up. It is the 4 of us right at 3am as we are about to leave MK, we got one more Photopass picture with Mainstreet all lit up. It is my favorite picture so far

 

[mjp12831]

Almost - petered out around 2:30, with 3 kids under 10, and bounced back for amemh rope drop the next morning. We did a 17 hour park day backed up by a 16 hour park day.

 

[Colleen27]

It is AWESOME. We only made it until 2:30 but we walked on Space, Thunder, and everything in Fantasyland! Around 1am the park really empties out and it is just so much fun being there so late with so few people. I highly recommend the experience

 

[tjlamphere]

Was that on 3/15? We were at MK that day, and it closed at 1 AM. Our 10 yr old DGS wanted to stay that late, but around 10:30, he said he was beat. In fact, we gave away 3 SM FP after riding it 5 times before..couldn't do the 6th time.

We were at MK in Feb. of 2007...we rode Splash Mtn. 3 times in a row without getting off, just prior to park closing at 11 PM. It was cold that night, and we walked off SM about 11...it was eerie walking out of Frontierland, as we were the last people there...CM and us...that was it...very unique experience...but as I said, when we got back to the car, it was 37 degrees...BRRRRR...glad we didn't get wet on SM !!!!

 

[shelwoj]

This sounds great but do the resort busses still run?

 

[Colleen27]

This sounds great but do the resort busses still run?

Yes. The bus schedules depend on park hours, not the clock.

 

[shelwoj]

Yes. The bus schedules depend on park hours, not the clock.

Thank you. I figured as much but it would be the one time I don't ask that I get dh and I stuck somewhere!

So excited, we leave Friday.