After Hours Events - Ask Questions and Share Experiences Here

[SkyGuy]

Yes to both. You can use them through regular park close no matter when they allow event guests in.

Is the process the Genie + the same? ie - allowed to purchase at midnight the day of the AH, stack, modify, etc?

 

[brockash]

Is the process the Genie + the same? ie - allowed to purchase at midnight the day of the AH, stack, modify, etc?

Yes...no different.

 

[Kcnc]

Yes...no different.

Have you been able to do this? Or anyone else here? I know when I try to buy Genie+ on any other day (just to test) it says I'm not eligible. So does an After Hours ticket make you eligible?

 

[Kcnc]

Also want to hear how Epcot AH went for anyone last night. Watching last night the wait times maxed out at 55 min for GotG, but had moments where it was 15-30. Did they have both sides open this time? Frozen and Remy's stayed 10-30 min, but then Frozen was down when I went to sleep at midnight. Hoping overall better than the first event.

 

[joshua4]

Also want to hear how Epcot AH went for anyone last night. Watching last night the wait times maxed out at 55 min for GotG, but had moments where it was 15-30. Did they have both sides open this time? Frozen and Remy's stayed 10-30 min, but then Frozen was down when I went to sleep at midnight. Hoping overall better than the first event.

Glad I wasnt the only one checking the app all night! Would love to hear as well.

 

[carimar]

I would also love to know if you can grab a VQ for Guardians at 7am for use after the 7pm entry using just the party ticket on MDE.

 

[brockash]

Have you been able to do this? Or anyone else here? I know when I try to buy Genie+ on any other day (just to test) it says I'm not eligible. So does an After Hours ticket make you eligible?

I have not, as we didn't purchase G+ on our AHRs day, because I thought in paying for the "low crowd" extra event that we wouldn't need to purchase fastpasses on top of that. Having said that others on the board have reported that they were able to purchase G+ and ILL with just an event tix. Hopefully one of them will chime in.

 

[bdthebrave]

I would also love to know if you can grab a VQ for Guardians at 7am for use after the 7pm entry using just the party ticket on MDE.

You can buy G+ and an ILL, but you cannot utilize the VQ with just an After Hours ticket.

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

We hopped to Epcot after a morning at DHS. We had purchased Genie+ for DHS, and used the benefits when we went to Epcot. We did purchase ILL for GOTG, as we weren't sure how the evening as going to go (and am glad we did, as it was the only time we were able to ride without a significant wait that evening).

I was not allowed to do the 1pm VQ attempt for GOTG until after we tapped in to Epcot (and by then, it was already full)

 

[rlk]

We are going to an Epcot AH party in July and staying at the Boardwalk. Will we be able to exit via the International Gate at the end of the party? I read reports on Facebook that the Sky Liner closes at regular park closing time.

 

[Disneyfandenver]

We are going to an Epcot AH party in July and staying at the Boardwalk. Will we be able to exit via the International Gate at the end of the party? I read reports on Facebook that the Sky Liner closes at regular park closing time.

I stayed at the yacht for the first night and ig was open the whole event

 

[rlk]

I stayed at the yacht for the first night and ig was open the whole event

Thank you. Do you know if we can check in for the party at the IG?

 

[Disneyfandenver]

Thank you. Do you know if we can check in for the party at the IG?

I was able to and they had quite a few staff, very friendly and fast.

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

We are going to an Epcot AH party in July and staying at the Boardwalk. Will we be able to exit via the International Gate at the end of the party? I read reports on Facebook that the Sky Liner closes at regular park closing time.

Skyliner was closed the night we there (took 15 minutes for them to confirm this). We exited in the front and left via bus despite being at a skyliner resort.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thank you. Do you know if we can check in for the party at the IG?

The IG is a regular entrance to the park so is available to enter/exit anytime the gates at the front of the park are open.

 

[connorlevismom]

We went to both the HS and EPCOT AH this week and I will give you my honest opinion on both.

To start - we have been a Disney family for years and used to go multiple times a year with our kids. Our kids are now 19 and almost 14. To be honest, since COVID we have spent a lot more time at Universal, but we have done a few parties and AH events. Disney has just gotten to complicated to try and plan and we are just not interested in putting that much effort into going to a theme park.

First up was HS and to be honest, I was not super excited for this one as I saw it was sold out and I was afraid from the few reviews I had seen here. We had SO MUCH FUN and would absolutely do this one again. The last time we went to a HS AH, Galaxy's Edge was not even a thing. We arrived just after 7 and the kids went right on Smugglers Run. It had a 25 minute posted time, but it honestly was more like 55 minutes. The kids thought it was just OK. After that we went over to Toy Story Land and did the saucers and TSMM. But this time it was 9PM and we went to slinky dog (25 minute wait). They started checking for wristbands right at 9 and that buffer hour was like getting a whole extra hour added onto the party. Even though the party was sold out, not once did we feel it was crowded or had an issue with lines. Most of the lines were walk-on most of the night, which was awesome. We did TSMM about 10 times, TOT, SDD (2X),Saucers, Rockin Roller Coaster (3X), MMRR (2X), At around midnight we walked over to Rise and the wait time was 10 minutes. My kids and husband did it 2 times in a row and then we headed to SDD to end the evening. There were plenty of drink and treat carts located all around and the CM's seemed in great spirits all night. It was an amazing night and everyone had a fantastic time. We for sure do this again.

The next night we did EPCOT. I was SO excited about this one as I love EPCOT and was super pumped when I saw they were doing an AH event. We arrived about 8PM to this one as we started to the park at 6:45, got 1/2 there and then realized we forgot our bag, so had to go back and get it. This one was not sold old, that I know of. I have to be honest and say that everyone in my party was SO disappointed in this AH and we all agreed we would never do it again.

For starters, you almost need another hour or two added to this party because things are so spread out that it takes forever to get around. We literally felt like we were running from the time we got there to the time we left, with no time to actually take in your surroundings or enjoy the park. Couple that with the fact that they blocked off from Norway to France so you could not walk that way during the party. This was so ridiculous and was a colossal waste of time. We did Spaceship Earth right away (tradition) and then my kids wanted a slice of Pizza from Via Napoli so we walked all the way over there, only to find the window was closed.

By this time it was almost 9 and we walked over to Imagination and by the time we got there they were checking wristbands already. So we did this ride and then went over to the land and did LWTL and Soarin. The screen on Soarin really needs a refurb. From there we went to Nemo and then headed to GOTG as the wait time was like 35 minutes. My kids went on that and my husband and I headed to test track.

This is where the evening started to go badly. The stated line time was 25 minutes and I had ridden this ride enough times to know the line was not 25 minutes. The person in front of me must have thought the exact same thing and said something to the worker. She said they had the line condensed and it was 25 minutes. Well, almost 40 minutes later we were getting on the ride. Now, I have loved TT for years and I am not sure what has happened to this ride, but it is not nearly as fun, or fast as it used to be. It was bumpy, jerky and just not the same. This ride needs some serious love. Just as we were pulling in and ready to get out, the ride went down. We sat there for 10 minutes while the workers all looked at each other. Then the ride REALLY went down and all the light came on. Instead of releasing our seatbelts so we could get off, they made us sit there for another 10 minutes with zero communication. Finally, our seatbelts released, but they did not say we could leave, the workers literally just stood around talking to each other. After another 5-7 minutes I finally just got out of my car and walked out and then everyone followed me. Not once did a CM say a word to any of us. I was really disappointed to have wasted so much of the party on this and was even more disappointed in the CM's.

Next we headed to Three Caballeros. Once done with that we headed to Frozen. Just as we rounded the corner to go to the ride a huge amount of people were coming out and I said "this can't be good". Yep, ride was down (and I don't think it ever came back up). Ok well, we wanted to go to Remy, but instead of being able to walk there going past Norway, we had to turn around and walk all the way back around the lagoon the other way. We went on Remy and by this time the party was almost over. My kids wanted to go on TT (because they had not ridden it yet) so we waited about 20 minutes for that and by the time we were done the party was over.

The other thing that I thought was pretty unacceptable was that there were barely any drink/snack stations around. We walked all the way from France to the TT area before we saw one and then when we got there they were out of water and Sprite. We saw one over by Nemo as well and also by the Frozen ride. Other than that, we did not see any. I did not see even one popcorn cart. I am sure there were there, but HS had them everywhere. The other noticeable difference was the CM's truly seemed unhappy. We saw a few that I would consider to be the way the used to all be, but for the most part they all seemed miserable.

Sorry this got really long, but I wanted to give our perspective on how both parties were. 100% we would do HS again, but sadly would not do the EPCOT one again unless they really improved the way things are done.

 

[scrappinginontario]

For those going to the Epcot AH party, the walk from Norway to France is shorter via Canada so other than missing walking through the countries, it’s less steps the way guests have to walk.

 

[connorlevismom]

For those going to the Epcot AH party, the walk from Norway to France is shorter via Canada so other than missing walking through the countries, it’s less steps the way guests have to walk.

It may be, however, it was really congested only having one way to walk, so it made it hard to wade through so many people all trying to do the same thing. I just do not understand closing 1/2 of the walkway and feel it really was a bad option for the party.

 

[scrappinginontario]

It may be, however, it was really congested only having one way to walk, so it made it hard to wade through so many people all trying to do the same thing. I just do not understand closing 1/2 of the walkway and feel it really was a bad option for the party.

It’s purely a guess on my part but, there are a lot of nooks and crannies in World Showcase. They would need to hire a large number of security CMs to monitor that area. Also, there is a huge amount of cleaning that happens at Disney overnight. Being closed to guests allows those activities to start while that portion of the park is closed then move to the rest of the park after the party.

I’m surprised it was that crowded that you were wading through guests when the party was not sold out. That’s concerning for sure!! The walkways for a party that is not sold out when in reality the only guests on the majority of that walk would be going to one attraction in each of Norway, Mexico and France unless guests are staying at the resorts there. The Skyliner is closed is my understanding so Skyliner guests would not be going to IG to leave.

 

[connorlevismom]

It’s purely a guess on my part but, there are a lot of nooks and crannies in World Showcase. They would need to hire a large number of security CMs to monitor that area. Also, there is a huge amount of cleaning that happens at Disney overnight. Being closed to guests allows those activities to start while that portion of the park is closed then move to the rest of the park after the party.

I’m surprised it was that crowded that you were wading through guests when the party was not sold out. That’s concerning for sure!! The walkways for a party that is not sold out when in reality the only guests on the majority of that walk would be going to one attraction in each of Norway, Mexico and France unless guests are staying at the resorts there. The Skyliner is closed is my understanding so Skyliner guests would not be going to IG to leave.

You are probably correct. The whole night, unfortunately fell short of our expectations so it was just another annoyance. But yes, I will say it was fairly difficult to get around people around the lagoon area. We did not have those issues anywhere else. It was especially busy on the Canada side and the area around Frozen was crazy. Although that could have been that the ride had just told everyone to get out of line so there was a mass exodus from that area. Felt like we were swimming upstream. LOL