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

I just took the plunge and purchased DAH AK tickets for Mar 27. Because we are only going for one week, Mar 23-30, we decided to buy the tix because we are only allotting one day in AK. I am planning for us to arrive around 3pm to do our reg FPs and to do things that won't be open during DAH and have a quick dinner. Super excited to get multiple rides on our favorites during the day and after dark to make it even more exciting :cool1:
 
I just wanted to share my experience from Feb. 13. I felt this was worth every penny. There were 3 times when I was walking and literally saw no one else in the park. I got to AK earlier in the day, so my agenda wasn't to do everything. I managed to do:

8:30 - Picked up wrist band
8:35 - Adventures Outpost - no wait
8:40 - Expedition Everest x3; when you walked in they were directing you to pick any row, though there was a short wait for the front row. I did front row two of my three rides. My favorite part was seeing fireworks in other parks at the very top.
8:55 - Walked by and realized Rivers of Light was about to start, so I went in and had my pick of the best seats. Honestly, I almost didn't go in, because I had seen it for the very first time a few hours earlier, and it wasn't the best experience. I can't tell you how much better this show is without a woman wearing Mickey Ears holding a cell phone over her head in front of you!
9:30 - Flight of Passage - there was a tiny wait at the top of the queue - 30 minutes start to finish; this was the abbreviated pre-show - no parasite scan, only asked to move around once.
10:00 - Flight of Passage #2 - this time, they skipped the pre-show! 15 minutes total
10:30 - Flight of Passage #3 - back to 30 minutes start to finish, with only 3 people in my group.
11:00 - I could have done one more ride, but I was tired and cold. I grabbed some popcorn and water and headed out to the bus. It was waiting when I arrived, and the driver took me back to Caribbean Beach immediately. The 6 million stops before the "Aruba" section are brutal when you are tired, so bless the driver who took me straight there!

Someone asked about PhotoPass photographers - the only one I saw was in Advernturer's Outpost, though I didn't make it around to everything.
 
I really hate that Disney over the last few years has created so many hard ticket events in their parks, but I'm going to admit as much as I hate it, I'm going to be willing to drop the $$$$$ and purchase the DAH for AK if they do offer it in June. I'm only spending 4 days in the parks before my cruise. Yep, Disney's got me! :goodvibes
 
So after being to the AOE at MK (14/2) and DHS (18/2) for EMM our last extra event was last night at AK. We got to the park at around 2pm as we had a FP for Safari and then on to EE. We then watched the last LK show before heading over to the boneyard for the lads to all of sudden find some energy which had dissappeared due to the heat. We had dinner at FTB and then after a walk around went and picked up our wristbands and headed to Dinosaur. Walked straight on at 8.12pm and as the ride finished were asked if we wanted to stay on and the smiles on my boys face was brilliant. So back around and a ride which I thought the wife would struggle on with her bad back ended up being her favourite ride. We then went outside to do TS and did that once before picking up our popcorn and treats. Popcorn was ready to go which was never an option at MK. I noted that it seemed quite busy so went over to EE. All though the trains were full each time we rode it three times. My sons and I love this ride and is my personal favourite on property.

After we were all expeditioned out we made our way over to FOP where the anticipation was building. We got to Pandora at approx. 9.30 and it was pleasant and walked up to FOP with a 10 min wait showing. We got into the queue and was in the pre show within 5 mins. This is where the anticipation started to drain out of myself. My god that pre show goes on for far too long and I ended up losing the will to live.. Its part of the experience apparently! On to the ride and I really enjoyed it. Clearly the most advanced ride system out there and all four of us had a good time.. But would I wait longer than 1 hour for it. . No.... Is it life changing... No Is it my favourite simulator ride... No. As we came off we went straight over to Navi and walked on. Nice ride and very well done. It was now 10.15 and the wife asked if myself and the lads wanted to ride FOP again and we declined. Picked up some more treats and headed back to dinosaur for one more time before leaving.

I felt the event was much more chilled then MK and one I would recommend to do. I know you have more rides at MK but I find it it way too hectic to try and cram everything in and the treat lines really eat in to your time. We all had a great time and along with DHS EMM would recommend these events to anyone who wants to reduce some of that stress from a trip.
 


Sorry if this is answered somewhere in the thread but I couldn't come up with it doing a search. Will buses still run from the parks that are just closing to AK for the event? We'll be in EPCOT until 9pm and are considering going to AK after if the weather (and our stamina) cooperates. If the buses won't be running between parks at that point, we'll need to drive to EPCOT that day or Uber, I suppose. Also, will I be able to purchase a ticket at EPCOT or will I have to wait until I get to AK?
 
Sorry if this is answered somewhere in the thread but I couldn't come up with it doing a search. Will buses still run from the parks that are just closing to AK for the event? We'll be in EPCOT until 9pm and are considering going to AK after if the weather (and our stamina) cooperates. If the buses won't be running between parks at that point, we'll need to drive to EPCOT that day or Uber, I suppose. Also, will I be able to purchase a ticket at EPCOT or will I have to wait until I get to AK?
I don’t know the answer to your question, but it would seem to me that if you are staying at Epcot until 9, taking an Uber would be your only real option. Otherwise you might not get to AK until around 10... and $130 for only 1 1/2 hours at AK seems crazy to me.
 
Our family went to the 2/13 event and although wonderful, especially seeing Pandora at night, we had one minor issue. We have a 4 y/o who was just 2 inches shy of FoP, but they wouldn't allow DD and DSiL to do rider switch. That really sucked out a lot of time... He had to wait outside the ride for us to do the entire queue (which feels like forever, when there's not many people in line). Consequently, it ate up about 30 minutes of our DAH time, so no one did it twice. Everything else was a walk on, and we were really too cold to enjoy ice cream treats. We did get popcorn and some water, but the treats never really were our focus. (It was quite chilly.) .
We would definitely do this again, well worth it, hopefully Disney will continue this at AK.

Did your 4 year old enjoy the event? It looks as though the only attractions young children would enjoy are the entertainment and Triceratop Spin. I have a young child and am on the fence. The lack of rider switch is a major bummer.
 


So after being to the AOE at MK (14/2) and DHS (18/2) for EMM our last extra event was last night at AK. We got to the park at around 2pm as we had a FP for Safari and then on to EE. We then watched the last LK show before heading over to the boneyard for the lads to all of sudden find some energy which had dissappeared due to the heat. We had dinner at FTB and then after a walk around went and picked up our wristbands and headed to Dinosaur. Walked straight on at 8.12pm and as the ride finished were asked if we wanted to stay on and the smiles on my boys face was brilliant. So back around and a ride which I thought the wife would struggle on with her bad back ended up being her favourite ride. We then went outside to do TS and did that once before picking up our popcorn and treats. Popcorn was ready to go which was never an option at MK. I noted that it seemed quite busy so went over to EE. All though the trains were full each time we rode it three times. My sons and I love this ride and is my personal favourite on property.

After we were all expeditioned out we made our way over to FOP where the anticipation was building. We got to Pandora at approx. 9.30 and it was pleasant and walked up to FOP with a 10 min wait showing. We got into the queue and was in the pre show within 5 mins. This is where the anticipation started to drain out of myself. My god that pre show goes on for far too long and I ended up losing the will to live.. Its part of the experience apparently! On to the ride and I really enjoyed it. Clearly the most advanced ride system out there and all four of us had a good time.. But would I wait longer than 1 hour for it. . No.... Is it life changing... No Is it my favourite simulator ride... No. As we came off we went straight over to Navi and walked on. Nice ride and very well done. It was now 10.15 and the wife asked if myself and the lads wanted to ride FOP again and we declined. Picked up some more treats and headed back to dinosaur for one more time before leaving.

I felt the event was much more chilled then MK and one I would recommend to do. I know you have more rides at MK but I find it it way too hectic to try and cram everything in and the treat lines really eat in to your time. We all had a great time and along with DHS EMM would recommend these events to anyone who wants to reduce some of that stress from a trip.

Okay I have to know what your favorite simulator ride is then. When I went on FOP last year I was blown away-favorite ride ever. I thought it was even better than HP the Forbidden Journey.
 
Okay I have to know what your favorite simulator ride is then. When I went on FOP last year I was blown away-favorite ride ever. I thought it was even better than HP the Forbidden Journey.
Not the person you asked, but I think forbidden journey is a million times better than fop. Everyone likes different things I guess. For Dh and I, fop is too tame for our liking. We put it on par with soarin. We like our rides more intense
 
Does anyone who has been to this event remember if they sell the giant pretzels at Pongu Pongu in Pandora during the event? Because if I get hungry, a squishy pretzel bigger than my head would really hit the spot.
 
Okay I have to know what your favorite simulator ride is then. When I went on FOP last year I was blown away-favorite ride ever. I thought it was even better than HP the Forbidden Journey.
I was disappointed with FOP. I think it was because I wear glasses and it was blurry off and on for me. My granddaughter absolutely loves it. My favorite is Soarin!
 
I did this on Wednesday, February 13th, and I have to say that it was absolutely worth every penny. I was at a work meeting in Orlando until 5 p.m., so going to this was a perfect fit. I added up how long it would have taken me to ride and do everything I did from 7:00 - 11:30 p.m., and I figured that I got at least 16 hours worth of activities in during the event. I had one hiccup--my e-mail barcode would not scan at the gate. There was an issue with how it linked by MyDisneyExperience app. I'd recommend checking in with Guest Services early, just to make sure everything is OK. This slowed me down by at least 5 minutes. Before I went to the event, I had obtained a FastPass for NRJ (6:20-7:20) and Primeval Whirl (7:30-8:00). As soon as I entered the park, I did those two. By the time I looked around a bit, it was getting close to 8:30, so I went to Dinosaur. There was a line outside the building, as they were not letting folks inside until time for the event. Once it started, there was no waiting, despite a long line outside. I still hate that ride (but love Indiana Jones at Disneyland). After that, I grabbed a Mickey Bar, Popcorn, and Diet Coke. Next, I did EE three times in a row. There was basically no one there. I did wait a few minutes the first time so I could ride in the front seat. I rode the front seat, back seat, and middle seat, just for comparison (I liked back the best). I stopped at Adventurer's Outpost for a quick photo with Mickey & Minnie. By quick, I mean there were two parties ahead of me. Then, it was time for a Mickey Ice Cream Sandwich and another Diet Coke on my way back to Pandora. I rode FoP with less than a five minute wait. Then, I did it again with no wait. Next was RoL again, which was a walk on. It was then back to FoP, which I rode three more times with no waiting. I tried out the various levels and number positions. I really liked the queue under #3, middle to lower tier, and middle seats. When I did queue #1, I found that I was too close to the edge of the screen, which produced some ghosting of the image (not good). I can't believe I got to ride FoP FIVE times within about 1 hr 45 minutes! It was insane.
 
Last edited:
We attended the 2/19 after hours, here are a few thoughts. This was reported to be sold out, so I was a bit concerned how much more crowded it would be. This is my first after hours event, I had heard/read such great things and wanted to attend one. We actually extended our (non-Disney) trip one day to turn it into a one night stay with this event.

I bought my tickets on line with DVC discount. They said we had to show up with the tickets and our DVC card in order to verify that we were members. After talking to a castmember they said as long as it was on everyone's MDE, we'd be all set to go right in... and we were.

We arrived ~6:45 and there was a line waiting to get in. It wasn't too bad but you could tell people weren't happy not seeing the line move until 6:50 or so when they started letting people in. That said, we were still in before 7.

Eat before. It was a warm day so we were hanging out by the pool and didn't have time to eat and figured that we'd just eat at a quick service at the park before the event. Both Flame Tree BBQ and Dinosaurous were to close at 7:30, we chose (incorrectly) Dinosaurous. It almost seemed like they thought it was going to be a slow close and stopped cooking at 7. Well they ran out of a number of things and had to cook it fresh which took quite a while. When we finally got our food, it wasn't good.

We did Primeval whirl before it closed with a fastpass and the 8:15 ROL show. This show had both day guests and those for the event (there was also a show at 9:30). We figured see the 8:15 while the park emptie out. We slowly went to EE afterwards and you could see people streaming from ROL to EE. We were concerned of the numbers that were going in directly from ROL but decided to try it anyways. There was about a 5 minute line, no big deal at all. By the time we got done, there was no line and we could have jumped right back on.

We walked back to do TTS and Dinosaur, both were walkons. The snack cart in Dinoland had popcorn in small movie popcorn containers. I was expecting them to be smaller given most have been saying they are in "cups". We hung out a bit and watched the dance party from afar, so we didn't head over to Pandora until ~9:45 or so as the ROL show was going on.

The real reason for doing the event is to get to see and ride the Pandora rides at night without crowds. We walked on Na'vi River Journey and FOP had no line to speak of but the preshow was too long (sorry, I didn't time it). It was also neat to just stroll some of the paths in the area without any crowds. Pongu Pongu was open without a line.

We stopped for more snacks across from Tiffins and ate while watching the show on the ToL for a bit. That snack location is set up for volume and they know some are taking it to go, the popcorn boxes were closed, ice cream was just laid out on the table to grab and multiple people handing out soda/water.

In all we did all the rides we wanted. We weren't pushing to do multiple of them but certainly could have. We all had a great time and loved the event. We missed not getting to do all the animal rides at AK but stayed at AKL (Kindani) so that made up for it. I can see getting more value at the MK event, which is next on the list!, but we really enjoyed this event.
 
We attended the 2/19 after hours, here are a few thoughts. This was reported to be sold out, so I was a bit concerned how much more crowded it would be. This is my first after hours event, I had heard/read such great things and wanted to attend one. We actually extended our (non-Disney) trip one day to turn it into a one night stay with this event.

I bought my tickets on line with DVC discount. They said we had to show up with the tickets and our DVC card in order to verify that we were members. After talking to a castmember they said as long as it was on everyone's MDE, we'd be all set to go right in... and we were.

We arrived ~6:45 and there was a line waiting to get in. It wasn't too bad but you could tell people weren't happy not seeing the line move until 6:50 or so when they started letting people in. That said, we were still in before 7.

Eat before. It was a warm day so we were hanging out by the pool and didn't have time to eat and figured that we'd just eat at a quick service at the park before the event. Both Flame Tree BBQ and Dinosaurous were to close at 7:30, we chose (incorrectly) Dinosaurous. It almost seemed like they thought it was going to be a slow close and stopped cooking at 7. Well they ran out of a number of things and had to cook it fresh which took quite a while. When we finally got our food, it wasn't good.

We did Primeval whirl before it closed with a fastpass and the 8:15 ROL show. This show had both day guests and those for the event (there was also a show at 9:30). We figured see the 8:15 while the park emptie out. We slowly went to EE afterwards and you could see people streaming from ROL to EE. We were concerned of the numbers that were going in directly from ROL but decided to try it anyways. There was about a 5 minute line, no big deal at all. By the time we got done, there was no line and we could have jumped right back on.

We walked back to do TTS and Dinosaur, both were walkons. The snack cart in Dinoland had popcorn in small movie popcorn containers. I was expecting them to be smaller given most have been saying they are in "cups". We hung out a bit and watched the dance party from afar, so we didn't head over to Pandora until ~9:45 or so as the ROL show was going on.

The real reason for doing the event is to get to see and ride the Pandora rides at night without crowds. We walked on Na'vi River Journey and FOP had no line to speak of but the preshow was too long (sorry, I didn't time it). It was also neat to just stroll some of the paths in the area without any crowds. Pongu Pongu was open without a line.

We stopped for more snacks across from Tiffins and ate while watching the show on the ToL for a bit. That snack location is set up for volume and they know some are taking it to go, the popcorn boxes were closed, ice cream was just laid out on the table to grab and multiple people handing out soda/water.

In all we did all the rides we wanted. We weren't pushing to do multiple of them but certainly could have. We all had a great time and loved the event. We missed not getting to do all the animal rides at AK but stayed at AKL (Kindani) so that made up for it. I can see getting more value at the MK event, which is next on the list!, but we really enjoyed this event.
The snack cart people have been reporting small cups at is by EE. They had tiny cups of popcorn and pop to hand out. All of the other snack carts we went to had the boxed popcorn and bottles of pop
 
Okay I have to know what your favorite simulator ride is then. When I went on FOP last year I was blown away-favorite ride ever. I thought it was even better than HP the Forbidden Journey.
Back to the future and always will be. The one ride during my childhood that made three brothers come together and actually agree on something. I liked FOP but as Haley mentions everyone has different tastes and for myself give me Mako, Montu and the Hulk over simulators any day of the week.
 
Back to the future and always will be. The one ride during my childhood that made three brothers come together and actually agree on something. I liked FOP but as Haley mentions everyone has different tastes and for myself give me Mako, Montu and the Hulk over simulators any day of the week.
Omg yes the mako is fantastic!! Dh and I got to ride it 10 times in a row last time we went. I’m with you and would happily take a roller coaster over a simulator
 
Does anyone know if there are plans to add more dates for 2019? We have a trip early October and I was hoping perhaps one of the dates we are there AK, MK or DHS would have an After Hours event to help making sleeping in more practical!
 
Did your 4 year old enjoy the event? It looks as though the only attractions young children would enjoy are the entertainment and Triceratop Spin. I have a young child and am on the fence. The lack of rider switch is a major bummer.
He did, and he stayed awake!
Agree about the rider switch! That was a pain!
We did Triceratops Spin 5 times in a row, while waiting for his mom and Dad to finish Swirl.
He is very tall, so was able to do most everything he wanted except FoP. We did the entire park, one end to the other. He really loved Dinosaur, and used part of his gift card to get 2 Dino's... Surprisingly he really liked Navi River as well.
When we go again, it will be as a couple instead of family, but he did well at both DAH events we attended. (MK and AK)
We made sure he napped until dinner time.
Our other option was in room child care as the centers aren't open late enough for the event, and the price was actually LESS for him than child care. Since we were 3 generations, DH and I happily spent time with him. They do not live anywhere nearby, so being with him is a treat. (Most moments, lol)
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top