After Hours - which one?

[Jacq7414]

If you could only do one After Hours event - magic kingdom or Hollywood studios, which one would you do?

We are going president’s weekend which I heard was a madhouse last year. But it’s too much money to do both of them.

We have a 6 year old daughter. She’s already 47”, so she can go on pretty much all of the rides except rock n roller coaster, but she may be 48” by then. She’s fine with staying up late, so the time isn’t an issue. What do think would be more worthwhile.

I feel like Hollywood Studios maybe. But I’m not sure because I think MK has more rides.

 

[PalmettoPath]

It's a tougher call than it used to be now that DHS has more rides than it did in the past. But if you're going by rides alone, MK blows every other park away with more than twice as many as any other park (rides, not including shows/attractions).

But still for me that wouldn't be the only point. For me it can have to do with where I'm staying (e.g. if we're at the Grand or Contemporary I'll go for the convenience of MK, whereas if we're at Beach Club then Hollywood would look appealing for an easy return trip afterwards).

It's a tough call and I don't think you can go wrong either way. Those two parks really have two unique personalities and ride options, so maybe see what your daughter has to say

 

[Jacq7414]

It's a tougher call than it used to be now that DHS has more rides than it did in the past. But if you're going by rides alone, MK blows every other park away with more than twice as many as any other park (rides, not including shows/attractions).

But still for me that wouldn't be the only point. For me it can have to do with where I'm staying (e.g. if we're at the Grand or Contemporary I'll go for the convenience of MK, whereas if we're at Beach Club then Hollywood would look appealing for an easy return trip afterwards).

It's a tough call and I don't think you can go wrong either way. Those two parks really have two unique personalities and ride options, so maybe see what your daughter has to say

We are staying at French Quarter, so I’m not sure it matters.

 

[Alison S]

The nice thing about MK is how many rides there are. I've gone once before, and I think I will choose MK again over HS. It's awesome being in MK when it's empty too. Totally up to you though and what type of rides you like.

 

[PalmettoPath]

We are staying at French Quarter, so I’m not sure it matters.

Okay, so that logic is out. I would go with your gut then -- or whichever you think your daughter might prefer. I would lean to MK personally just because I like the flow and vibe of the park a bit more. But that's just me.

 

[Jacq7414]

I kind of think MK is better. Not as far to go to get to rides too. Plus I love MK. It’s my favorite park and I am the one paying

 

[Disneyhanna]

If you plan on doing Genie+ at MK during regular hours and you would like to ride everything (that you can) at HS, I would personally pick the HS After Hours. It is SO much easier to get through MK with Genie+ than it is to get through HS. MK has way more rides to distribute the crowds, and so you can usually pretty easily get Genie+ all day long with minimal wait between rides. HS doesn't have as many rides and a lot of them are headliners so after your first Genie+ you often have to wait a few hours between return times. The standby lines are often all over an hour long by mid-morning aside from maybe Star Tours. It gets to be a lot of standing around without anything to do at HS. MK is certainly better if you want a variety of rides and a lot of them, but waiting in lines at HS drives me crazy and I would definitely pay to avoid that if I wasn't a frequent visitor.

 

[Jacq7414]

If you plan on doing Genie+ at MK during regular hours and you would like to ride everything (that you can) at HS, I would personally pick the HS After Hours. It is SO much easier to get through MK with Genie+ than it is to get through HS. MK has way more rides to distribute the crowds, and so you can usually pretty easily get Genie+ all day long with minimal wait between rides. HS doesn't have as many rides and a lot of them are headliners so after your first Genie+ you often have to wait a few hours between return times. The standby lines are often all over an hour long by mid-morning aside from maybe Star Tours. It gets to be a lot of standing around without anything to do at HS. MK is certainly better if you want a variety of rides and a lot of them, but waiting in lines at HS drives me crazy and I would definitely pay to avoid that if I wasn't a frequent visitor.

My daughter and husband want to do Hollywood studios. So we will probably do that. They both like the rides there better.

 

[Disneyhanna]

My daughter and husband want to do Hollywood studios. So we will probably do that. They both like the rides there better.

I think you'll have a grand time! Waits can be so long at HS so getting to re-ride things without much of a wait will be awesome.

 

[lorimt]

We have done the one at MK and it was awesome. We will be there for the first HS one and I’m not sure I want to spend the money. There aren’t enough rides.

 

[Jacq7414]

We have done the one at MK and it was awesome. We will be there for the first HS one and I’m not sure I want to spend the money. There aren’t enough rides.

yea that’s my only hesitation. My friend did the animal kingdom one a while back (I think in 2019) and she said that it was awesome though

 

[gorkt]

This is what annoys me - I really want to do HS for after hours, but historically, it is the same night as the MK deluxe perk hours, Wednesday, so I have to choose. Since my kids are older and like Star Wars and thrill rides more, I am probably going to choose HS. I would like to know if they are going to shift the timing at all for the deluxe after hours.

 

[chris benton]

I know which one I'd pick, but you might wanna make a list of exactly what things you'd do in each park. If you make a list, it might be pretty clear which you should choose. Make sure to figure out what things would actually be "open" so your lists doesn't have things that look great, but won't be available. Also, think about which of the things on the list might not matter if the crowds were low or high. Example: Splash Mt at MK at night, or People Mover, or something like Country Bears - would it be worth it to pay extra for those things with a lesser wait time? Of course if you love 7D, SM, Thunder Mt, then of course it's more of a value for you if you'd love to go on those several times with low waits.

I'd be Hollywood for sure. My reasoning would be mainly for the better rides for our group. Hollyweird has rides that we could go on several times and have a blast. MK, not so much. I'd rather pay for a chance at far lower crowds to go on the rides at DHS.

 

[RunDisney Matriarch]

We did the MK after hours last year and it was terrific -- we even managed to get a last minute reservation at Cinderella's table in the castle beforehand. The rides were walk-ons or very short (under 15 minute waits) and everyone enjoyed the complimentary bottles of water and treats. That said, if there had been a DHS event available during our travel dates, I would've picked that. If you or anyone in your family is a Star Wars fan, there's nothing like Batuu at night and Tower of Terror is pretty cool at night as well.

 

[Naomeri]

I’m thinking of doing both when I’m there for Princess Weekend, but if I had to choose just one, I think it would be DHS because there’s more rides I don’t want to take the time to stand in line for during regular hours, but would like to ride with lower waits. I’ve only been on Slinky Dog once, and that was in January 2020.

 

[chris benton]

We did the MK after hours last year and it was terrific -- we even managed to get a last minute reservation at Cinderella's table in the castle beforehand. The rides were walk-ons or very short (under 15 minute waits) and everyone enjoyed the complimentary bottles of water and treats. That said, if there had been a DHS event available during our travel dates, I would've picked that. If you or anyone in your family is a Star Wars fan, there's nothing like Batuu at night and Tower of Terror is pretty cool at night as well.

At night, TT, when the big door opens up to show that .4 second view of the park....

That's the stuff of a lifetime memory right there.

The castle view on Splash at night, just before the drop is another one, imo. It's like a framed view for a wall hanging.

 

[jimmymc]

With Studios, the biggest rides will probably still have some significant waits. When I went to the Magic Kingdom ones, 7 Dwarfs was 30 minutes, Space Mountain was 15, and everything else was a walk on. At Studios, I would imagine Rise has at least a 30 to 45 minute wait throughout the whole night, while Tower of Terror and Runaway Railway might be 15 to 20 minutes. This is obviously less than during the day, but at Magic Kingdom everything else besides those two rides was walk on, and Studios has fewer smaller attractions that would be walk on all night.

All that being said, I would still probably do the party at Studios just for something new, and get Genie+ on my MK day.

 

[sponica]

It's moot for me as there are no DHS AH the week I'm there, but I'd I'm reluctant to do that one because the DHS rides are prone to being temperamental.

 

[AngieInOH]

If anyone wants to chime in on actual waits they've seen at HS during extra hours that would be great! We are considering doing it in Feb.

 

[Jacq7414]

It's moot for me as there are no DHS AH the week I'm there, but I'd I'm reluctant to do that one because the DHS rides are prone to being temperamental.

Hmmm this is true. We are going again in July and I’m hoping that maybe villains after hours will be back then