**Disney After Hours - Animal Kingdom** FAQ & Discussion Thread

Well we went on Monday May 6th. We were staying onsite at the Poly and we drove over. Because at midnight I want to be left alone, and not wait on a bus.

We arrived at 4pm as we had FP for fop, EE and Safari and also rode Kali River. We had dinner at Flaming Tree at 7:30 pm, as it closed at 8pm.

What was nice we were able to get our wristbands across from Flaming Tree. We were going to watch Rivers of light at 8:45, cause the party started at 9. But we changed our mind. What we found out with an 8:30 park closing, they started the party at 8:30. So we went to Everest, and rode it 4 times before 9:05. The. Headed for Dinosaur, and rode that 2 times, they weren’t even making people get off. Then we walked over to watch Bug Life. After bug life, went back to Dinonland to get more snacks for th ROL show at 9:45. The amphitheater was empty, you can sit anywhere.

After the show we headed over to Pandora, rode FOP twice. During the AH they were only running the lower two levels of the ride. It does take at least 30 minuets for each ride of FOP because of walking up and down with preshow. Also rode Navi River once, this ride is so dumb. Caught the tree awakening show at about 11:40 and we called it a day.

Tips
1) only one tram in parking lot running during this. We just missed it and it was still quicker to walk to our car which was at Dinosaur 37 before the tram even got back to the front
2) the free snacks in Asia by EE were cups of soda, not bottles. Dino, and the snacks by Pandora had bottles.

I would definitely do this again and pay. Disney did give me my money back a few weeks before due to yhthe schedule Issue change.
 
Cute responses, but I truly wonder. Why would Triceratop Spin and Dinosaur be open and not Primeval? We had a FP for it at 5 and it was fairly crowded.
 


Cute responses, but I truly wonder. Why would Triceratop Spin and Dinosaur be open and not Primeval? We had a FP for it at 5 and it was fairly crowded.
Probably has to do with how many cast members are needed to run it, lack of popularity, lack of night time ride appeal... also don’t the cars not stop for load/unload? It’s probably not well enough lit to continue all night in the dark.
 
Report for AK After Hours on Tuesday, May 14:

I’m an AP holder who was only in WDW for three days, so After Hours helped me maximize my park time. Tuesday morning I had attended EMM at MK, and in the late afternoon/early evening I went to at Epcot for the 6:45 Richard Marx Garden Rocks show using the dining package. I took the bus from Epcot to AK and arrived around 8:30.

The event entrance line was well-marked and easy to find all the way to the right. I got my wristband right there and was in front of the Tree of Life for the 8:45 Awakenings show. It was a great way to start the night and get into the “Animal Kingdom” state of mind. From there I proceeded on to It’s Tough to be a Bug and then Expedition Everest. Very short wait at Everest, only a couple of minutes. One ride on Everest is enough for me, but it would have been easy to ride multiple times. Then on to Dinosaur, where I was able to walk into the pre-show about halfway through, then on to the ride.

At that point I was making great time so I headed over to Pandora. Rode Navi River Journey first (walk on) then on to FoP where there was about a 5 minute wait. This time we got the pre-show with the parasite check but only two “ummms”. I love this ride but even with no wait, walking the the queue and pre show really eats time. After exiting I grabbed a Rum Blossom drink and wandered the land. This was one of my favorite parts of After Hours, being able to experience the whole valley with minimum crowds for as long as I liked. The atmosphere is exceptional and really transports you to another world. Then I rode both Navi and FoP again. We got a different FoP pre show, still boring! It was 11:00 when I exited FoP the second time.

By now I had accomplished everything I wanted, and exited the park around 11:05. I was very happy that I was able to experience so many attractions in only 2 hours, especially Navi and FoP 2x each, and was looking forward to getting back to my room earlier than expected. Unfortunately the Disney bus service was abysmal. I had just missed my bus to the GF, and waited fifty, yes FIFTY minutes for the next one. Then they combined the routes for all the MK resorts and the GF was the last stop of the four. I walked into my room at 12:45.

Despite the bus fiasco, this was a great event and I loved it. I didn’t have any popcorn or treats (other than the Rum Blossom) and still considered it very worthwhile. :thumbsup2
 
So, here's my ridiculous situation:

My son loves EE with the white hot passion of a thousand burning suns.

We could both spend the majority of a day riding FOP and count ourselves fortunate.

My son loves ToT with the white hot passion of a thousand burning suns. (It's a theme.)

We want to experience SDD without the stupid wait times.

Ergo, we have DAH AK booked for June 4, and EMM HS booked for June 5.

We know. No, really, WE KNOW.

Since start times are changing at AK, and concerns of overbooking for EMM are prevalent, I will be TREMENDOUSLY grateful for ANY input in the next three weeks.

Thanks to all. :love:
 


Question for those who have recently attended.....

What time has the DAH-only Rivers of Light show been running?

:thanks:
 
So, the first DAK DAH with no 30 min buffer is right now.

I do not trust end of night wait times at all, but it’s posted at 120 mins right now, 2 mins before park closing.

Very curious to see any reports from the ground.
 
Here...Everest has been down for at least an hour. Walking there now.

Everest just opened. Rode dinosaur and tri top and got snacks. The small kid size cups are the most wasteful and environmentally unfriendly. Of course for food safety they cannot refill. Our party of 8 at 3 cups each already.

Everything walk on so far. Have not ventured to Pandora yet.
 
Rode Everest 3 times. Multiple empty cars but made to walk fp line each time.

Total experience time 45minutes for FOP. Told some rooms are down. Still posting 15 min wait. Asked CM he said it may not be accurate.
 
Was told they never changed the wait time from 15 all night long for FOP. Waited 2nd time 15 and 3rd time just before midnight was a walk on.

We arrived at 8. Used FP for Safari and had FP for EE but it was down so we waited for Safari in stand by. Did Dinosaur and triceratops and checked out the dance party. Had snacks. EE X 3 and then the long FOP wait. Navi and then 2 X FOP.

Event was very lightly attended. If you wanted empty park photos this was for you. Everything with the exception of FOP was a walk on. Was frustrated with the 40 minute wait on the first ride of FOP. Seemed to have a lack of communication among the CM’s about what was going on.

Did luck out and bus arrived quickly, we were back in our room by 1 am.
 

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