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

[eliseisawkward]

Had a great time. Not really sure if I would pay for it when on a longer trip, but it was definitely worth it for our 1 day trip!

We entered at 7:10 because the bus took longer than we anticipated... Got on Dinosaur no wait. Chip and Dale were out dancing at that point. Went to eat at Satu’li. Ate until a little after 8. Did Navi River, walk on. Walked over to EE, but stopped to watch some drumming on the way. Rode EE 2x, both walk on. Wandered over to Dinosaur and rode again. Could have stayed on to reride without getting off, but didn’t want to. No Chip or Dale anymore, just awkward CMs trying to get people to dance. Ate ice cream and got bottled water in Dinoland. All snack carts we saw had bottled beverages, even if popcorn was in cups. Walked back to Pandora and did FoP, essentially walk on other than sorting everyone. Husband felt queasy at that point so we did Navi River again. He opted to be done for the night so my sister and I did FoP two more times back to back. It took just about an hour total for both, including walking up and down that hill. We could have gotten back in line one last time, but decided we were done at around 11:20. Grabbed water on the way out.

We could have easily done EE or Dinosaur or Navi River more than we did. It was nice to not have to feel super rushed or hectic and still get onto everything more than once. FoP was essentially a walk on for much of the night, but those darn preshows are soooooo long!

I think if I were to alter anything about the ticket to make it more “worth it” I would probably just want to be able to get into the park earlier so I could do the safari and see all of the animal portions of the park.

Highlight: saw a rabbit in the queue for Navi River Journey the first time on it for the night. Took it as a good luck sign, and it appears to have been.

 

[Scoobie]

Had a great time. Not really sure if I would pay for it when on a longer trip, but it was definitely worth it for our 1 day trip!

We entered at 7:10 because the bus took longer than we anticipated... Got on Dinosaur no wait. Chip and Dale were out dancing at that point. Went to eat at Satu’li. Ate until a little after 8. Did Navi River, walk on. Walked over to EE, but stopped to watch some drumming on the way. Rode EE 2x, both walk on. Wandered over to Dinosaur and rode again. Could have stayed on to reride without getting off, but didn’t want to. No Chip or Dale anymore, just awkward CMs trying to get people to dance. Ate ice cream and got bottled water in Dinoland. All snack carts we saw had bottled beverages, even if popcorn was in cups. Walked back to Pandora and did FoP, essentially walk on other than sorting everyone. Husband felt queasy at that point so we did Navi River again. He opted to be done for the night so my sister and I did FoP two more times back to back. It took just about an hour total for both, including walking up and down that hill. We could have gotten back in line one last time, but decided we were done at around 11:20. Grabbed water on the way out.

We could have easily done EE or Dinosaur or Navi River more than we did. It was nice to not have to feel super rushed or hectic and still get onto everything more than once. FoP was essentially a walk on for much of the night, but those darn preshows are soooooo long!

I think if I were to alter anything about the ticket to make it more “worth it” I would probably just want to be able to get into the park earlier so I could do the safari and see all of the animal portions of the park.

Highlight: saw a rabbit in the queue for Navi River Journey the first time on it for the night. Took it as a good luck sign, and it appears to have been.

Is it possible Chip and Dale are only out right at the beginning for some reason? Not sure what time others got over there, but your time appears to be at the beginning of the event. I wonder if they even stay out past regular closing - maybe the CM's in the area would know?

 

[eliseisawkward]

Hmmmm it’s possible. They were out before park close for sure, but I did not see them after that. The paper handout no longer says dinorific dance party, it just says DJ dance party now.

Oh also there was a 9:30 RoL even though it was never posted online! We watch approximately 0.5 seconds of it while walking over a bridge when headed to FoP for the first time of the night.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hmmmm it’s possible. They were out before park close for sure, but I did not see them after that. The paper handout no longer says dinorific dance party, it just says DJ dance party now.

Oh also there was a 9:30 RoL even though it was never posted online! We watch approximately 0.5 seconds of it while walking over a bridge when headed to FoP for the first time of the night.

Thanks for this, and the 9:30 RoL report. If I can ask, is there any way you can take a pic of the handout from last night and post? It would be helpful for tracking purposes. Thank you!

 

[Haley R]

Hmmmm it’s possible. They were out before park close for sure, but I did not see them after that. The paper handout no longer says dinorific dance party, it just says DJ dance party now.

Oh also there was a 9:30 RoL even though it was never posted online! We watch approximately 0.5 seconds of it while walking over a bridge when headed to FoP for the first time of the night.

When we were there we were in dinoland right at 8 through when the event started and never saw chip and dale. I bet they changed it to just a dance party which is a bummer

 

[brnrss34]

I know worth it is subjective, but would anyone think it’s worth doing if you wanted to replace an Ak day? I know I’d be missing the animals but I’m DVC so will be back lots of times.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I know worth it is subjective, but would anyone think it’s worth doing if you wanted to replace an Ak day? I know I’d be missing the animals but I’m DVC so will be back lots of times.

Hard to say as it's so personal. For me, I love DAK both in the day and at night. Between what's open / not open during the day / DAH and the overall vibe of the park during the day vs at night, it's sort of like two fundamentally different experiences.

But if you go frequently, a DAH night could likely easily replace an AK day depending on your overall schedule and/or park plans.

 

[Haley R]

Hard to say as it's so personal. For me, I love DAK both in the day and at night. Between what's open / not open during the day / DAH and the overall vibe of the park during the day vs at night, it's sort of like two fundamentally different experiences.

But if you go frequently, a DAH night could likely easily replace an AK day depending on your overall schedule and/or park plans.

I agree with this. It definitely depends on your plans and if you’ve been there before. I love the safari and think it’s really fun so it was hard to pass that up but that was really the only thing we missed by going at night. If you plan to reride things over and over I think dah is a good choice (depending on which ride you want to reride).

 

[maryj11]

If we get to go to a DAH I would like to get a FP for the safari but do they cancel another one of our days of FP's if we make some for a DAH?

 

[Mrjoshua]

When we were there we were in dinoland right at 8 through when the event started and never saw chip and dale. I bet they changed it to just a dance party which is a bummer

I'd like to see more character meet and greets during AK DAH. No matter what you're in the park for, you win! If you like characters, then they are available with shorter lines. If you like rides, hopefully some of the characters will disperse ride lines (I'm looking at you FoP). If you like both, then it's your lucky night! DAH seems like a great opportunity for dinosaur Chip & Dale to pose for pictures.

 

[detroitdad]

Had a great time. Not really sure if I would pay for it when on a longer trip, but it was definitely worth it for our 1 day trip!

We entered at 7:10 because the bus took longer than we anticipated... Got on Dinosaur no wait. Chip and Dale were out dancing at that point. Went to eat at Satu’li. Ate until a little after 8. Did Navi River, walk on. Walked over to EE, but stopped to watch some drumming on the way. Rode EE 2x, both walk on. Wandered over to Dinosaur and rode again. Could have stayed on to reride without getting off, but didn’t want to. No Chip or Dale anymore, just awkward CMs trying to get people to dance. Ate ice cream and got bottled water in Dinoland. All snack carts we saw had bottled beverages, even if popcorn was in cups. Walked back to Pandora and did FoP, essentially walk on other than sorting everyone. Husband felt queasy at that point so we did Navi River again. He opted to be done for the night so my sister and I did FoP two more times back to back. It took just about an hour total for both, including walking up and down that hill. We could have gotten back in line one last time, but decided we were done at around 11:20. Grabbed water on the way out.

We could have easily done EE or Dinosaur or Navi River more than we did. It was nice to not have to feel super rushed or hectic and still get onto everything more than once. FoP was essentially a walk on for much of the night, but those darn preshows are soooooo long!

I think if I were to alter anything about the ticket to make it more “worth it” I would probably just want to be able to get into the park earlier so I could do the safari and see all of the animal portions of the park.

Highlight: saw a rabbit in the queue for Navi River Journey the first time on it for the night. Took it as a good luck sign, and it appears to have been.

Your report rekindles some hope again that the event will be worth the expense. Glad you had a good DAH experience!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

If we get to go to a DAH I would like to get a FP for the safari but do they cancel another one of our days of FP's if we make some for a DAH?

Here's the info from Post #9 that more or less addressed the "FP with a DAH Ticket" topic:

FPs with a DAH Ticket

• FPs are not available during the DAH event, all rides are standby only.
• DAH tickets will allow for FP booking during regular park hours, so - if you have no other FPs booked that day - one could book FPs during with a DAH ticket during the regular park hours before the event.
• HOWEVER, there can be issues when doing this, as has been happening for some people with MNSSHP and MVMCP events since 2017. Booking FPs with DAH tickets in combination with certain trip details/configurations can potentially cause Disney's system to flag your account for insufficient ticket entitlements and you will receive a warning that your last day of FPs will be cancelled if you do not address the problem.
• Who and exactly why people get this warning remains elusive.
• Bottom line - if you choose to book FPs with your DAH ticket entitlement and you have FPs booked on other days with regular park admission - you have some potential risk of receiving this warning... so keep an eye out.

 

[Haley R]

I'd like to see more character meet and greets during AK DAH. No matter what you're in the park for, you win! If you like characters, then they are available with shorter lines. If you like rides, hopefully some of the characters will disperse ride lines (I'm looking at you FoP). If you like both, then it's your lucky night! DAH seems like a great opportunity for dinosaur Chip & Dale to pose for pictures.

The first couple events they were out so I’m not sure why they changed it. Maybe not enough people were there so they got rid of them and just decided to have the random person running around. I would love more character meets at all of the dah events

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Yeah, I think they got it backwards. Skip the dance party, do character meets. I'm not going to go out of my way to go dance with the DJ.

 

[eliseisawkward]

Thanks for this, and the 9:30 RoL report. If I can ask, is there any way you can take a pic of the handout from last night and post? It would be helpful for tracking purposes. Thank you!

Here’s me trying to post the picture I just took...

 

[maryj11]

Here's the info from Post #9 that more or less addressed the "FP with a DAH Ticket" topic:

FPs with a DAH Ticket

• FPs are not available during the DAH event, all rides are standby only.
• DAH tickets will allow for FP booking during regular park hours, so - if you have no other FPs booked that day - one could book FPs during with a DAH ticket during the regular park hours before the event.
• HOWEVER, there can be issues when doing this, as has been happening for some people with MNSSHP and MVMCP events since 2017. Booking FPs with DAH tickets in combination with certain trip details/configurations can potentially cause Disney's system to flag your account for insufficient ticket entitlements and you will receive a warning that your last day of FPs will be cancelled if you do not address the problem.
• Who and exactly why people get this warning remains elusive.
• Bottom line - if you choose to book FPs with your DAH ticket entitlement and you have FPs booked on other days with regular park admission - you have some potential risk of receiving this warning... so keep an eye out.

Ok thank you! So it will warn you that the last day is being cancelled before you click to book a FP for the hours before DAH?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Ok thank you! So it will warn you that the last day is being cancelled before you click to book a FP for the hours before DAH?

No - it’s a warning via email (and there is always a risk that that email gets lost, missed, spam, etc). It happens in the weeks leading up to your trip, but exactly when is hard to tell as reports are sporadic.

So for example, you have a 6 day trip and have park tickets / book FPs for 5 park days with a break day in the middle. With your DAH ticket, MDE will let you book 6 days worth of FPs. It’s later on that this combination ‘could’ cause the warning/FP deletion.

You don’t hear about this much with DAH tickets as many people just don’t need/want to book them during pre event time. But you see it a lot with MNSSHP and MVMCP as more people try it (and report the warning) for those events.

Hope all of that makes sense. I probably need to clarify some parts of the FAQ. It’s a complicated topic!

 

[maryj11]

No - it’s a warning via email (and there is always a risk that that email gets lost, missed, spam, etc). It happens in the weeks leading up to your trip, but exactly when is hard to tell as reports are sporadic.

So for example, you have a 6 day trip and have park tickets / book FPs for 5 park days with a break day in the middle. With your DAH ticket, MDE will let you book 6 days worth of FPs. It’s later on that this combination ‘could’ cause the warning/FP deletion.

You don’t hear about this much with DAH tickets as many people just don’t need/want to book them during pre event time. But you see it a lot with MNSSHP and MVMCP as more people try it (and report the warning) for those events.

Hope all of that makes sense. I probably need to clarify some parts of the FAQ. It’s a complicated topic!

Ok yes that makes sense. Maybe we will just ride safari standby if the wait time isnt to long. I dont want to risk getting other FP's deleted.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Ok yes that makes sense. Maybe we will just ride safari standby if the wait time isnt to long. I dont want to risk getting other FP's deleted.

That is the safer bet. Not sure of your date (or if darkness is a concern) but Safari ‘should’ start to be an easy/easier wait towards closing. Good luck.

 

[phinz]

Update: PhotoPass says they found 3 of the 5 Dinosaur pictures, but they've only uploaded two of them to my account. I don't understand how they can't find all of the, given that they were all taken in a span of less than an hour.