After Hours Events - Ask Questions and Share Experiences Here

[Betsyp]

We arrived at the park just before 9pm, for the 9:30 start. We rode ROTR 3 times, it was a total walk on. Did MMRR twice, along with TSM and MFSR. We waited about 25 mins for Smugglers, it was the only ride we waited for, outside of the first time we went on MMRR, which we went on first and there were still people from the regular park hours.

You will be able to ride whatever you want. AH is amazing and was the highlight of our trip.

That’s great to know, thanks! So far, the one bad evening appears to have been a fluke - so that’s what I’ll chalk it up to. I think it will be worth it just to save a day to...I’m looking forward to it! I can’t wait to ride Mickey and Minnie/Smuggler for the first time !

Thank you!

 

[Pete W.]

I will also say that I do 100% believe WDW just as philosophy start out really strong and try to impress for anything new the first few times and then start pushing the envelope to see how far they can push things. It's definitely disappointing. I remember specifically having these thoughts after they reopened from Covid. It's like they pulled out all the stops for the first week and then cut back little by little. You see this in other areas of Disney as well.

Agree completely. We used to attend "extra magic hours" at MK when you paid a 'nominal' price and got a wristband to use for 3 hours after park close, and that was when MK would routinely stay open until midnight in the summer meaning we were riding Space Mountain multiple times between 2am and 3am with zero lines. Then over the course of several years they clearly sold more tickets and reduced park hours to the point that we started calling them 'extra crowded hours.' As bad as that was, at least the cost wasn't prohibitive. But there's no excuse for AH to be anything short of an ultra-premium experience since you're paying a premium to attend.

 

[brockash]

guest.services@disneyworld.com

Thank you.

 

[Little E]

I have March 29 at HS booked for AH, and out of curiosity, I looked on the WDW website today and I noticed that our date is not sold out. Neither is the March 27 date at MK. I'm wondering if the really crowded feeling AH events were totally sold out? Would events not sold out yet feel less crowded and have a potential for shorter lines?

My boys chose HS over MK for our AH event before we realized that RnR was closed. I'm wondering if I can call WDW and ask to change our tickets from the HS event to the MK event? Meaning we don't want a refund on our tickets, we just want to switch events from HS to MK.

 

[Jacq7414]

I'm wondering if the really crowded feeling AH events were totally sold out? Would events not sold out yet feel less crowded and have a potential for shorter lines?

I know the February 22 HS was sold out. I’m pretty sure others were as well and no one else reported the longer wait times as the 2.22 one

 

[Betsyp]

I know the February 22 HS was sold out. I’m pretty sure others were as well and no one else reported the longer wait times as the 2.22 one

That date just sounds like too much of an outlier. Perhaps multiple rides went down ? I imagine that even a small delay on especially popular rides - rides that load slowly- cause a chain reaction that leads to long delays.

 

[Jacq7414]

That date just sounds like too much of an outlier. Perhaps multiple rides went down ? I imagine that even a small delay on especially popular rides - rides that load slowly- cause a chain reaction that leads to long delays.

We were there. I didn’t notice any rides going down on the actual event. Every time we checked the app all of the rides had wait times. I read that Rise went down, but that was at the end of the night. This was the first AH event with RnR down for refurbishment, I’m not sure if that added to if.

 

[soniam]

I have March 29 at HS booked for AH, and out of curiosity, I looked on the WDW website today and I noticed that our date is not sold out. Neither is the March 27 date at MK. I'm wondering if the really crowded feeling AH events were totally sold out? Would events not sold out yet feel less crowded and have a potential for shorter lines?

My boys chose HS over MK for our AH event before we realized that RnR was closed. I'm wondering if I can call WDW and ask to change our tickets from the HS event to the MK event? Meaning we don't want a refund on our tickets, we just want to switch events from HS to MK.

I would just give them a call and explain the situation. They are usually pretty open to working with people, but it's not a guarantee. I know it can't change unless you call though.

That date just sounds like too much of an outlier. Perhaps multiple rides went down ? I imagine that even a small delay on especially popular rides - rides that load slowly- cause a chain reaction that leads to long delays.

That whole week was supposed a cluster with crowds at the parks, even during the day. So, I think it's just that those crowds spilled over into the AH event.

 

[StacyStrong]

Honestly I’m still booking. Looking at todays wait times, they’re a million times better today (during princess on a Saturday!!!) than they were all of presidents week. Like astronomically better. Frankly, I feel like the waits spilled over into AH which is REALLY ****ty for people who went, but considering the waits during the day, still phenomenally better. I would be irritated spending that much for AH even still. BUT I don’t think it’s an indicator of future events.

 

[Pyxie]

That’s great to know, thanks! So far, the one bad evening appears to have been a fluke - so that’s what I’ll chalk it up to. I think it will be worth it just to save a day to...I’m looking forward to it! I can’t wait to ride Mickey and Minnie/Smuggler for the first time !

Thank you!

I think we need more reports until we can determine if this was a fluke or not. This was the first AH event since RNRC closed for refurbishment which meant that ride was unavailable to eat up more of the crowd. I'm still probably going to buy a ticket, but I'm watching closely to see how the next few events go.

 

[dez1978]

We arrived at the park just before 9pm, for the 9:30 start. We rode ROTR 3 times, it was a total walk on. Did MMRR twice, along with TSM and MFSR. We waited about 25 mins for Smugglers, it was the only ride we waited for, outside of the first time we went on MMRR, which we went on first and there were still people from the regular park hours.

You will be able to ride whatever you want. AH is amazing and was the highlight of our trip.

Was that this last week or earlier?

 

[Betsyp]

I would just give them a call and explain the situation. They are usually pretty open to working with people, but it's not a guarantee. I know it can't change unless you call though.



That whole week was supposed a cluster with crowds at the parks, even during the day. So, I think it's just that those crowds spilled over into the AH event.

Oh, that makes sense since it was over a holiday where apparently it’s always busy at WDW....This should reassure me and anyone else planning an AH event. Thank you!

 

[Betsyp]

We were there. I didn’t notice any rides going down on the actual event. Every time we checked the app all of the rides had wait times. I read that Rise went down, but that was at the end of the night. This was the first AH event with RnR down for refurbishment, I’m not sure if that added to if.

I think as mentioned below that this date must have been affective by holiday crowds..

 

[Betsyp]

I think we need more reports until we can determine if this was a fluke or not. This was the first AH event since RNRC closed for refurbishment which meant that ride was unavailable to eat up more of the crowd. I'm still probably going to buy a ticket, but I'm watching closely to see how the next few events go.

Oh, that’s also a good point. I’ll have to buy my ticket before the next AH at DHS, so I’m going to assume the best ...

 

[Mrjoshua]

Man, I'm bummed hearing that people had such a bad time at that particular HS AH. I don't know what happened, but it sounds disappointing. I hope all of you express your concerns with guest services. These things are too expensive to have a poor experience.

I've been to over a dozen varied AH events and never had a bad one. I suppose I'm lucky to some degree, but it also makes me think that bad nights aren't typical. In my opinion, AH are the most valuable ticket at Disney Parks.

 

[Jacq7414]

I think as mentioned below that this date must have been affective by holiday crowds..

It’s kind of BS though if they upped the capacity because of holiday crowds. The price for the event was the most expensive price point. At the end of the night, after the regular park guests left, it definitely should have been less crowded.

 

[maryblanchard49]

Not having to wait in a long line for space mountain and haunted mansion was worth the Extra Magic Hours for me.

 

[Maggie The Cat]

It’s kind of BS though if they upped the capacity because of holiday crowds. The price for the event was the most expensive price point. At the end of the night, after the regular park guests left, it definitely should have been less crowded.

I don't think they upped capacity, but rather so many people were there already, took a lot longer to clear the rise queue of the day guests during the After Hours?

 

[Jacq7414]

I don't think they upped capacity, but rather so many people were there already, took a lot longer to clear the rise queue of the day guests during the After Hours?

From what I saw, rise was the lowest at the beginning of the night. It didn’t get less than 45/50 minutes the entire night. I don’t think it was all from the day crowd. Also Slinky stayed around 25/30 the whole night too

 

[soniam]

It’s kind of BS though if they upped the capacity because of holiday crowds. The price for the event was the most expensive price point. At the end of the night, after the regular park guests left, it definitely should have been less crowded.

It could also be that they didn't necessarily up the capacity. It could be that the capacity was already kind of high, but previous AH hadn't gotten close to capacity. Combine that with crowds from the day still there and RNRC closed, and you have a perfectly crappy storm.