After Hours Events - Ask Questions and Share Experiences Here

[Maggie The Cat]

Our plan is to not even bother with Rise during the party.

If we for some reason can't get an ILL for it prior to party starting, we will skip it and go on it one of our other DHS days.

 

[Alexander]

AH party tonight 4/2 at HS for us. I did book LL for Rise… (with only the AH ticket for today) for 7:25 pm. We shall see how it goes. I am a little worried as the party is sold out and they extended day hours from 9 to 9:30 and added a 10 Fantasmic after we bought our tickets. It is what it is I guess. I’m glad to have read reviews prior as it convinced me to cough up the $25/pp for ROTR.

 

[Little E]

We did the Disney After Hours event at HS on 3/29 and had a FANTASTIC experience! Yes, the lines were long from about 9:30-10 pm, but after 10 pm, we felt as though we had the park to ourselves. It was so much fun to have very short lines and be able to ride things multiple times. We also saw Chewy walking around the Star Wars area, and we got lots of time to hang out with and hug Daisy and Donald Duck...we had them all to ourselves! The only downside was that we felt there were not many snack carts available; they were very spread out. Pro tip: there were no snack carts in the whole Star Wars area, and there were none that we could see at the very front of the park. We had the best luck with snack carts by the Muppets area and by Tower of Terror the lines for snacks were very short. We could literally walk up and grab whatever snacks we wanted, which was awesome! We left shortly after 12:30 am, and we were pleasantly surprised as we had virtually no wait for a bus back to the GF. I would say we maybe waited for a bus no longer than 5 minutes? Five stars...highly recommend! I would definitely do an after hours event again!

 

[Betsyp]

Our plan is to not even bother with Rise during the party.

If we for some reason can't get an ILL for it prior to party starting, we will skip it and go on it one of our other DHS days.

That makes sense. I’ve got a Flying Fish reservation that, even if I make earlier, I won’t get to HS before 8, 8:30. I’m probably going to commit to either Rise or Slinky - depending on how it looks when I get there. I don’t want to pre-judge when it may be ok … If I don’t go Rise, I want at least to do Smugglers and Star Tours. I do not want to give myself a heart attack sprinting to do everything. I can always park hop to HS and do what I missed

 

[Betsyp]

We did the Disney After Hours event at HS on 3/29 and had a FANTASTIC experience! Yes, the lines were long from about 9:30-10 pm, but after 10 pm, we felt as though we had the park to ourselves. It was so much fun to have very short lines and be able to ride things multiple times. We also saw Chewy walking around the Star Wars area, and we got lots of time to hang out with and hug Daisy and Donald Duck...we had them all to ourselves! The only downside was that we felt there were not many snack carts available; they were very spread out. Pro tip: there were no snack carts in the whole Star Wars area, and there were none that we could see at the very front of the park. We had the best luck with snack carts by the Muppets area and by Tower of Terror the lines for snacks were very short. We could literally walk up and grab whatever snacks we wanted, which was awesome! We left shortly after 12:30 am, and we were pleasantly surprised as we had virtually no wait for a bus back to the GF. I would say we maybe waited for a bus no longer than 5 minutes? Five stars...highly recommend! I would definitely do an after hours event again!

So glad you had a great experience ! Hopefully my AH at HS will go as well!

 

[dez1978]

Anyone go to last nights After Hours at DHS?

We had a pretty good experience. We rode every thing except TSM and swirling saucers. Got there around 8. Saw some characters, got tons of popcorn and ice cream. It was the best $ we spent the whole week.

 

[kat_lh]

Is there a map that shows snack cart locations? Or is that just for parties?

 

[shmom]

My boys are there now (4/2) and it appears to be long lines at 11 p.m. My husband and I left at 9:30 and it was still packed everywhere. Luckily they rode rides all through the day - we did Genie plus and let them double up with our bands also so they rode everything. Mickey and Minnie down about half the day (still down now).

 

[hergosling]

I don't post ever, but this thread of reviews was helpful to me during planning. Initially AH had great reviews, which encouraged me to book for our family for HS on 4/2. Unfortunately, I'm writing this review from my hotel room at 11pm after demanding a refund. It was very clear AH was not going to be as advertised early on in the evening. I had booked an ILL for Rise of the Resistance for the very end of park hours. Our plan had been to ride that with our LL just before park close and then focus on the rest of the rides during the actual AH event. We arrived around 9pm and sure enough, Rise was down. I was told I would need to see guest relations for a refund of the ILL. Rise remained down.
30 minutes into the event, not only was Rise still down, but Mickey's Runaway Railroad was also down. With those 2 rides not running and Rock'n Rollercoaster being down for refurbishment, the lines of the other rides never slowed. As I type this at 11:20pm, MMRR continues to be down, Slinky currently sits at 60 min, Rise is now 55 min, Smugglers 40... etc, etc. Hardly what we paid for in an AH event.
The ladies in guest relations weren't real pleasant when I kindly asked for a refund (early on into the event), I listed all the reasons why this wasn't as advertised and also explained that when I purchased the tickets the park was supposed to close at 9pm, not 9:30 and there was no 10pm Fantasmic offered at the time. Rockn' Rollercoaster also hadn't been announced to be closed at the time of purchase. I did have to argue with her for about 5 minutes before she agreed to refund me the AH ticket cost- my kind request had to turn into a bit of a nasty demand. We rode nothing and exited the park immediately. I've been watching the wait times since we left and I've got a feeling Guest Relations is having a busy night with angry guests. I'm glad we cut our losses early on in the event and demanded the refund.

 

[MommaKetch]

I was told I would need to see guest relations for a refund of the ILL.

We were also there tonight and I had an ILL$ for Rise, 7:30 - 8:30 PM. We arrived to ride it at 9:15 PM, and it was down. I didn't complain because we missed our window, but Disney still refunded me the cost at 10:59 PM.

Based on reviews here, my expectations were low. There were pluses and minuses to the evening. Overall, the kids and I were too tired to stay and we left at 11 PM, caught the bus back to Beach Club, and that took forever. I should have taken a Lyft, but I was tired of spending money. The Skyliner was running when we left, but shut down shortly after we walked by, as others on the bus said they were no longer boarding when they walked past.

We arrived at 7 PM. I stacked LLs all day. We rode Star Tours. Snacked at Oga’s (that took too long), rode MFSR, SDD, and tried to ride RISE, tapped in to SS at 9:25 PM. Did not use my LLs for MMRR (down) and TSM (ran out of time). Plan was to eat at Woody’s and wait for the crowds to clear. It was delish! But all that food made 2/3 of us tired, and we ran out of steam. We went to Batuu and checked on Rise. It was running but at 55 min wait!! No thanks. Son bounty hunted in Batuu while we rested. It was nice to be in the parks without the crowds. I wish we’d had more energy to stay longer!

 

[Betsyp]

I’m not trying to be unsympathetic, but when you go to any park, there is never a guarantee that rides will be up and running - these rides are so complicated, I’m surprised they don’t break down more often.

When you buy the tickets to AH, it says the below, so to be honest, Disney doesn’t need to give refunds - the fact that they do speaks well for them.


Attractions, entertainment and experiences are subject to change without notice

Admission to this event does not guarantee access to any attraction or experience

 

[hergosling]

I'm aware of that Betsyp, and I can quote Disney's website too. It's marketed as "experience more magic in less time", "like never before- with lower wait times for attractions". That's not what went on last night.
Between the AH tickets and the ILL for Rise that we couldn't use, my family of 4 paid over $620 for a 3 hour event. I completely understand that Disney can't control everything- but they also cannot expect guests to be content with the product marketed when 3 of the top attractions aren't running.
This wasn't a day pass where we had all day to get on things and could wait for attractions to come back online- it was a limited time period event. With 3 of the most popular attractions down, the wait times for everything else inherently were higher as well since the guests were all funneled to those that were operating.
Let's be realistic, 40 minutes just for Alien Swirling Saucers doesn't sound like anything most of us would be willing to pay that kind of money for.

 

[Juventus]

I'm with you, hergo. The event seemed to be better early on and due to various changes (normal park closing time, extra Fantasmic, possibly increase ticket cap, possibly decrease in staffing), the event is less than it was early on.

People need to have their say or it will only get worse.

 

[brockash]

I’m not trying to be unsympathetic, but when you go to any park, there is never a guarantee that rides will be up and running - these rides are so complicated, I’m surprised they don’t break down more often.

When you buy the tickets to AH, it says the below, so to be honest, Disney doesn’t need to give refunds - the fact that they do speaks well for them.


Attractions, entertainment and experiences are subject to change without notice

Admission to this event does not guarantee access to any attraction or experience

It doesn't seem you're trying that hard. This is Disney...this is Disney selling a 3 hr. ticket for more than the cost of a full day ticket by advertising it as low waits, low crowds, and unlimited snacks.

Disney has decided on multiple nights to extend regular park hours, and from all accounts have sold too many event tix. This is a company who is known for their customer service and for making things right when they are unable to deliver on their expectations.

As someone who attended and was very disappointed in the 2/22 party; who emailed the concerns and was
only responded to by a generic sorry you weren't satisfied email; I can 100% tell you I will be much more careful and weary of spending my money with them or trying new things with Disney. We certainly will not spend money on an AHS event again, but will carry this same impression going forward with the company as a whole.

So I believe this is the 3rd party in 6 weeks or so with some pretty disappointed ppl./negative reviews? So it seems as opposed to the 2/22 event being a "one off" this more of a take your chances/roll the dice type of event now...at least at DHS.

 

[Lsdolphin]

We have tix for AH on 4/19 which is sold out and park now closes at 9:30 which is when AH begins....Ive seen quite a few posts from guests who have made plans to do rides prior to their AH already expecting limited ride opportunities which really seems crazy since the point of the AH is to avoid just that. The later park closing paired with the 10 pm showing of Fantasmic is really disappointing. At least the park should feel less crowded with everyone waiting in long lines but I’m not sure if that’s enough compensation...

 

[hdrolfe]

All the not so great reviews lately have me deciding not to do it on my trip in May, I'll pay for ILL$ and Genie+ instead, and hope for lower crowds the week I am there. I am sure I'll save enough to buy myself some popcorn and Mickey Bars Those tickets are expensive and it doesn't seem like it's worth it I was so excited to finally get a chance to do an after hours party. Maybe next trip. I think if it was Magic Kingdom I'd pay, more rides to spread people out on.

 

[FrannyFrogs]

I'm holding tickets to the 4/19 HS AH. It was supposed to be our only HS visit and the last night of our trip. Due to the reports of long lines & frustration, I've decided to reconfigure the trip and visit HS during the day earlier in the week (using ILL and Genie plus), and spend our last evening 4/19 at MK Extended evening hours for deluxe guests.

I spoke to a delightful CM in ticketing who assured me that I can put the $$ of those AH tickets towards any other future tickets (Christmas party!)

So that's 4 guests with AH tickets for that night who won't be attending. I guess the lines will be just a teeny bit shorter for everyone else!

 

[MrsTski]

After reading so many negative reviews, I was very anxious going into the HS After Hours event last night (4/2). I’m happy to report that with my lowered expectations, we had a really fun time! 6 kids (ages 9-14) and 6 adults (including one 70 yr old Grandma!). Hopefully this review can offer some encouragement to future party attendees.

We started the night at Oga’s (had never been) and then the 8:30 Fantasmic show. We were in the front row so it took a long time to get out of the theater. It was easily 9:10/9:15, so 3 members of the group headed to ToT, while the other 9 went to TSM. Both lines were long as the park was still open, but it was kind of like “what else are we going to do”. Got in line for TSM at 9:25 and got off at 9:53 (this was about the same time the group got off of ToT. The TSM group got in line for Slinky and we got off at 10:23 (posted wait was 50 min). Rise came back online while we were online for Slinky after being down since around 8pm. While we were on Slinky, the ToT group rode TSM 2x. All 12 of us grabbed ice cream/popcorn and then headed to Smuggler’s run. Posted wait was 35 min, but we walked directly on (it takes awhile to walk the queue though!). We were off at 10:48. We then headed Rise since we were right there. Posted wait was 55 min which seemed like a questionable choice, but I didn’t think we’d make it back over there. We were off the ride at 11:40. While we were on Rise, MMRR came back online, after being down for most of the party. We used the bathroom and grabbed another round of treats/drinks and headed to MMRR. We were off at 12:08. We then met Donald and Daisy and split up for the final ride. 2 headed to ToT and 10 to Slinky. Grabbed an ice cream to eat and got in line at 12:17 and got off Slinky at 12:40. Took our time walking out and taking pictures.

It is not the carefree events of January and early February. But I really enjoyed the time and it went fast! We had a large group and still managed to ride Rise, Slinky 2x, Smuggler’s, MMRR and TSM. We benefited from Rise and MMRR coming back online when they did! Hope this summary is helpful!

 

[persnickity]

All the not so great reviews lately have me deciding not to do it on my trip in May, I'll pay for ILL$ and Genie+ instead, and hope for lower crowds the week I am there. I am sure I'll save enough to buy myself some popcorn and Mickey Bars Those tickets are expensive and it doesn't seem like it's worth it I was so excited to finally get a chance to do an after hours party. Maybe next trip. I think if it was Magic Kingdom I'd pay, more rides to spread people out on.

Yep, I'm sad to miss the After Hours at HS for our trip, but have to choose between a day there and the party, and at the moment the full day just makes more sense. Especially given MK has extended evening hours the same day - we booked a throwaway room at the Dolphin for $275 to get access, which seems the safer (and quite a bit cheaper) bet.

 

[hdrolfe]

Yep, I'm sad to miss the After Hours at HS for our trip, but have to choose between a day there and the party, and at the moment the full day just makes more sense. Especially given MK has extended evening hours the same day - we booked a throwaway room at the Dolphin for $275 to get access, which seems the safer (and quite a bit cheaper) bet.

I was debating that, a room for one night to get the late access to MK instead. Makes more sense (especially if Tron is one of the rides available).