After Hours Events - Ask Questions and Share Experiences Here

[Dug720]

this didn’t feel like a party atmosphere.

I've never thought of After Hours as a party. Definitely not like Halloween or Christmas. It's just the parks with generally lower waits and some free food.

 

[hardcorestitch]

I was wondering how far in advance do they release the separate ticket event dates? I’m looking for the ones in March 2026.

 

[Dug720]

I was wondering how far in advance do they release the separate ticket event dates? I’m looking for the ones in March 2026 and I don’t want to get unexpectedly surprised when I get booted by the cast members after 6pm…

You don't get booted at 6pm for After Hours. They take place AFTER the normal park operating hours. Yet another way they are not like the parties.

 

[hardcorestitch]

You don't get booted at 6pm for After Hours. They take place AFTER the normal park operating hours. Yet another way they are not like the parties.

I thought they usually do that with MNSSHP or MVMCP.

 

[disneylover102]

I enjoyed my after hours at HS MUCH more than at MK in April. I didn’t do Slinky since once with LL is good enough for that one. But Rise was a walk on all night and same with TOT. RNRC was about a 10 minute wait. I spent all 3 hours just repeating those rides and it was fantastic. However at MK Tiana’s wasn’t even open and the other main ones I cared about were Tron and Space Mountain but Space was running only one side and both lines were decently long most of the time and I didn’t really care about doing a whole lot else since everything else is typically one and done. For me it’s less about how many rides there are in the park and more about how low the wait times are for everything. $165 to do walk on Rise, TOT, etc several times each is worth it to me but $165 to wait half the normal wait time that you could get any day isn’t worth it

 

[Dug720]

I thought they usually do that with MNSSHP or MVMCP.

They do for those.

But this thread is about After Hours. I was saying they don't boot you for After Hours, but they do close the parks early for the parties. After Hours aren't parties.

 

[hardcorestitch]

They do for those.

But this thread is about After Hours. I was saying they don't boot you for After Hours, but they do close the parks early for the parties. After Hours aren't parties.

Sorry about that… I had a brain fart and mixed up the two!

 

[princesslover]

I've never thought of After Hours as a party. Definitely not like Halloween or Christmas. It's just the parks with generally lower waits and some free food.

What I mean is, it didn’t feel at all different than a regular park night. Not really sure what I expected but yes, probably more of a fun, laid back “vibe” and shorter waits. This may be totally due to two headliners going down, one for the remainder of the night. Someone here posted a 45 minute wait for TSM that night. I waited 30 for RNRC. I’ve seen these waits on regular park days easily. Again I blame the closure of SDD. My gut tells me MK has more attractions so possibly less impact when one goes down. But I’m sure there’s antecdotal evidence to the contrary. Experiences vary.

 

[focusondisney]

What I mean is, it didn’t feel at all different than a regular park night. Not really sure what I expected but yes, probably more of a fun, laid back “vibe” and shorter waits. This may be totally due to two headliners going down, one for the remainder of the night. Someone here posted a 45 minute wait for TSM that night. I waited 30 for RNRC. I’ve seen these waits on regular park days easily. Again I blame the closure of SDD. My gut tells me MK has more attractions so possibly less impact when one goes down. But I’m sure there’s antecdotal evidence to the contrary. Experiences vary.

That’s why Disney doesn’t call or market them as parties. They are called After Hours “events”. They’re focused on rides with some included treats. That’s how they started at least. With the limited rides available at Studios, they did add some character meets. But the primary intent is rides.

 

[princesslover]

That’s why Disney doesn’t call or market them as parties. They are called After Hours “events”. They’re focused on rides with some included treats. That’s how they started at least. With the limited rides available at Studios, they did add some character meets. But the primary intent is rides.

I’m not arguing that point that it is about the attractions. That was my major issue on this night. I’m honestly not sure how to make myself more clear.

 

[jenljeffers1989]

I enjoyed my after hours at HS MUCH more than at MK in April. I didn’t do Slinky since once with LL is good enough for that one. But Rise was a walk on all night and same with TOT. RNRC was about a 10 minute wait. I spent all 3 hours just repeating those rides and it was fantastic. However at MK Tiana’s wasn’t even open and the other main ones I cared about were Tron and Space Mountain but Space was running only one side and both lines were decently long most of the time and I didn’t really care about doing a whole lot else since everything else is typically one and done. For me it’s less about how many rides there are in the park and more about how low the wait times are for everything. $165 to do walk on Rise, TOT, etc several times each is worth it to me but $165 to wait half the normal wait time that you could get any day isn’t worth it

I haven't been to a Hollywood Studios AH yet, just Epcot and MK, but I really want to do one at HS. I had a good time at Magic Kingdom, but was really annoyed Tiana's wasn't open.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Did anybody attend EPCOT After Hours last night? Wondering if Test Track was running.

 

[Michaeluk92]

Also wondering if test track was open for after hours

 

[Princess Steph]

I'm also wondering about Test Track. We are going end of September and hope its included that night

 

[marciemouse]

Was anyone at HS after hours last night? I saw Rise was posted at 60 around 11 which is concerning. RNRC was also 30 and Slinky was 45. That seems a lot more busy than when I’ve gone in the past. I’m thinking of going again next month but if it’s gonna be that much busier I don’t think it’s worth it

We were there. I'll write up a little report in another post, but to answer your question, immediately after Fantasmic, we went to Rise. The app said a 30-minute wait. It was a walk-on. Maybe they left the time inflated all night? Or possibly more people went there as it is indoors, and the skies opened up around 10:30. 45 was probably close to correct for Slinky, until it went down due to the torrential rain and storm, never to reopen for the night. RNRC said 30. We waited about 15. Hope that info helps!

 

[marciemouse]

Here's my mini-report on the Hollywood Studios After Hours on July 30th, 2025. It was me, my husband, and our 18-year-old daughter who attended the event, which, to be clear, definitely felt more like an extra-hours event and less like a party. Not a lot of vibes, you know? But we'd decided to give an AH event a try since none of us were excited about spending a whole HOT day in the park, and the price was the same as a daytime ticket. The AH event was our only park experience this trip.

We arrived around 6:15, got our wristbands, lined up, and waited (thankfully in the shade as it was still very hot and sunny at that point) until they let us in around 6:50.

Runaway Railway had just reopened from a long closure so we headed there first. It went down again briefly while we were in line, so we ended up waiting about 25-30 minutes, I think. After that, we headed to Star Tours (5-10 minute wait) and then into Galaxy's Edge. Caught an appearance by Rey (a nice surprise), took a few photos, and then meandered through Toy Story Land to see it at dusk. In hindsight, I wish we'd have taken some photos there then because when we were back there later, it was raining hard.

We went to get seats for Fantasmic around 8:30, as the show was at 9pm, and it was a priority for our daughter since she'd never seen it. The show was great.

Immediately afterward, we grabbed snacks and drinks to eat on our way to Rise of the Resistance, spotting characters (White Rabbit, Bert and Mr. Penguin, Gepetto, Jiminy Cricket) on our way but not stopping to visit, thinking we'd do that later. Again, in hindsight, maybe we should have done it then, but we didn't see anyone we really wanted photos with.

The app said 30 minutes for Rise, but it was a walk-on. Always a family favorite. We hit Smuggler's Run next. I think the app said 15 minutes, but again, a walk-on. We got our own ship for our party of three, which was great.

When we emerged, it started POURING rain, with lots of thunder and lightning. We donned our rain jackets (which proved relatively futile) and headed for Toy Story Land. We took shelter by riding Alien Swirlings Saucers, which was a walk-on. Slinky was still running at that point, but it closed as we got off the saucers. Slinky didn't reopen the rest of the night due to the weather, which was understandable but a real bummer. We were really looking forward to riding it at night and with a lower than normal wait time.

We went to Toy Story Mania next. The wait jumped from 25 (which was what we waited) to 40 while we were in line, probably because Slinky was down and people were trying to seek shelter indoors. I didn't see a single person who wasn't completely soaked, though!

We then grabbed another snack to munch as we walked in the downpour on our way to Rockin' Rollercoaster. The app said 30 minutes. We waited between 15 and 20, and riding soaking wet was a memorable way to say our goodbyes before the ride is re-themed.

At that point, Tower of Terror said 13 minutes, but my husband is the only one who likes the ride and he didn't want to ride alone. (Says it's not as fun!) Instead, we grabbed some popcorn on our way back to Runaway Railway, which we rode twice back to back with no wait.

It was after 12:30 by then, and the rain had finally slowed to a sprinkle. We took some photos in front of the theater before heading out. There was one cart on Hollywood Boulevard still passing out bottled drinks, so we grabbed a few to go.

In summary, I definitely enjoyed not hassling with Multi-Pass and Lightning Lanes and the cooler temps after dark were great, but I didn't enjoy feeling rushed with the limited time. I think the event would be better and more worth the price tag if it was an hour longer. Overall, I'm glad we tried an After Hours event, but I don't feel the need to do one again, at least not as HS.

One last note: the preshows for all the rides were running, contrary to other reports I'd read beforehand, so don't count on that as a time-saver!