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

[mcurrence]

Hi All , Just got back from a short trip and our first time doing DAH AK. (We've been to DAH MK a bunch) We truly enjoyed the event! Recap:
7:00 PM entry and did some shopping since it was raining -no Kevin plush all sold out! We did the Safari, Everest, Triceratops 2X and Primeval Whirl before event started.
Grabbed some waters and a cup of popcorn and headed back to Everest.
Everest 2x then I noticed FOP was listed at 10 minutes so we headed that way!
This was our first time seeing Pandora and we loved it! Not sure what it looks like in the daytime but it was stunning at night. We went straight to FOP after looking around a bit. The first time we rode we were about 20 people behind on the ramp before the final ramp right before they load you onto the instruction room. The second time we walked right up to the last ramp before loading . It was probably a 10 minute wait to go into the instruction room the first tme and the next time a five minute wait. Crazy amazing! There was one vehicle that was out both times we rode but the CM would just ask for that one to be skipped. They also said they were running both sides
We then rode Navi (walk on) grabbed some waters/ice cream and headed back to Everest. The girls rode it back to back four or five more times-they were the last group on at 12:00!
Busses back to the hotels were wonderfully organized (especially compared to our experiences at MK) Back at the YC by 12:39.
Super happy we did this event and would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[22Tink]

Hi All , Just got back from a short trip and our first time doing DAH AK. (We've been to DAH MK a bunch) We truly enjoyed the event! Recap:
7:00 PM entry and did some shopping since it was raining -no Kevin plush all sold out! We did the Safari, Everest, Triceratops 2X and Primeval Whirl before event started.
Grabbed some waters and a cup of popcorn and headed back to Everest.
Everest 2x then I noticed FOP was listed at 10 minutes so we headed that way!
This was our first time seeing Pandora and we loved it! Not sure what it looks like in the daytime but it was stunning at night. We went straight to FOP after looking around a bit. The first time we rode we were about 20 people behind on the ramp before the final ramp right before they load you onto the instruction room. The second time we walked right up to the last ramp before loading . It was probably a 10 minute wait to go into the instruction room the first tme and the next time a five minute wait. Crazy amazing! There was one vehicle that was out both times we rode but the CM would just ask for that one to be skipped. They also said they were running both sides
We then rode Navi (walk on) grabbed some waters/ice cream and headed back to Everest. The girls rode it back to back four or five more times-they were the last group on at 12:00!
Busses back to the hotels were wonderfully organized (especially compared to our experiences at MK) Back at the YC by 12:39.
Super happy we did this event and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Thanks for the review. I’m glad you had a great time! I’m so excited to do this on August 12!!

 

[mcurrence]

Im super excited they released August dates and theres one during our trip. But Im wondering if FOP lines are still long during DAH that it wont be worth the cost. We also have a 2 year old and Im not sure she would make it til midnight. We could do a babysitter and just take the older 2 kids.
Any recent reviews have wait times for FOP during DAH? What else makes it worth the cost? Im a week away from making FP+ for our trip so Im planning on having FP+ for FOP because we are going to AK on 60+3 and 60+6. If we got DAH we could do a different park on our other day and just do DAH at AK.

Thoughts?

Our maximum wait was 10 minutes! We went twice and the second was about 5 minutes and that's because the CM's have to "play people tetris" to fit everyone into the instruction room. We would have done it another time but honestly walking all the way out of the exit then back through to the entrance takes quite a bit. I spoke with a lady that mentioned she had done it at least 6 times! Not sure this is how it always is but if everything is running, you should have a short wait!

 

[phinz]

What else makes it worth the cost?

We rode Everest six times and Dinosaur seven times. FOP wait was shorter than its godawful pre-show. It was very cool walking around in a deserted Pandora at night, and passing through the deserted Africa area on the way there was surreal. But the biggest thing I liked about AK after hours was stuff like this:

 

[DisneyMomma930]

We rode Everest six times and Dinosaur seven times. FOP wait was shorter than its godawful pre-show. It was very cool walking around in a deserted Pandora at night, and passing through the deserted Africa area on the way there was surreal. But the biggest thing I liked about AK after hours was stuff like this:

Wow that’s awesome!!! Now I’m really considering it.

Our maximum wait was 10 minutes! We went twice and the second was about 5 minutes and that's because the CM's have to "play people tetris" to fit everyone into the instruction room. We would have done it another time but honestly walking all the way out of the exit then back through to the entrance takes quite a bit. I spoke with a lady that mentioned she had done it at least 6 times! Not sure this is how it always is but if everything is running, you should have a short wait!

That sounds better than the EMM at HS the way things have been going with waits for SDD. Maybe I’ll cancel that one and do this instead...

 

[skuttle]

We did the AK after hours on Tuesday June 4th. We enjoyed it, but not sure we’d do it again. We are a family of 5 so it’s pricey, and we love AK so spend multiple days there. On the other hand, we did the MK after hours a few days earlier and thought it was totally worth it!

We entered the park around 6:30pm. We were starving so we skipped the FP I had made for dinosaur area and went eat at yak and yeti instead (thanks Landry’s card!). Afterwards we did an Everest FP and the standby again. The we used a FP for rivers of light the first showing. That ended around 930 so party had just started. We tried to get snacks in Dino area but they were out of water and mickey bars. This left a bad taste in our mouth. We paid WAY too much for a stand be out of water and Mickey bars 30min in! Also, triceratops spin was down. We did jump on dinosaur to knock that out.

Did a few more rides on Everest. Also walked in to meet safari mickey and minnie. Tried to get water at another snack location that was giving out popcorn but they had no water again. Ugh!

By then we made our way to pandora. Finally found a snack cart with everything available. We walked on the boat ride, and did FOP twice with about a 15 min wait each time...worst part was having to sit through the pre show!

While we enjoyed it, I think since we already spend a lot of time at AK because it’s one of favorites, I don’t think it’s as worth it for us.

 

[Haley R]

We did the AK after hours on Tuesday June 4th. We enjoyed it, but not sure we’d do it again. We are a family of 5 so it’s pricey, and we love AK so spend multiple days there. On the other hand, we did the MK after hours a few days earlier and thought it was totally worth it!

We entered the park around 6:30pm. We were starving so we skipped the FP I had made for dinosaur area and went eat at yak and yeti instead (thanks Landry’s card!). Afterwards we did an Everest FP and the standby again. The we used a FP for rivers of light the first showing. That ended around 930 so party had just started. We tried to get snacks in Dino area but they were out of water and mickey bars. This left a bad taste in our mouth. We paid WAY too much for a stand be out of water and Mickey bars 30min in! Also, triceratops spin was down. We did jump on dinosaur to knock that out.

Did a few more rides on Everest. Also walked in to meet safari mickey and minnie. Tried to get water at another snack location that was giving out popcorn but they had no water again. Ugh!

By then we made our way to pandora. Finally found a snack cart with everything available. We walked on the boat ride, and did FOP twice with about a 15 min wait each time...worst part was having to sit through the pre show!

While we enjoyed it, I think since we already spend a lot of time at AK because it’s one of favorites, I don’t think it’s as worth it for us.

I would definitely email about the lack of water.

 

[skuttle]

I would definitely email about the lack of water.

I do need to do that. We did the MK after hours a few days before AK, and I received a survey afterwards. I assumed I'd also get one for the AK after hours and would mention the lack of items 30 minutes in, but you just reminded me that I haven't gotten a survey for AK. I'll send an email.

 

[Haley R]

L

I do need to do that. We did the MK after hours a few days before AK, and I received a survey afterwards. I assumed I'd also get one for the AK after hours and would mention the lack of items 30 minutes in, but you just reminded me that I haven't gotten a survey for AK. I'll send an email.

We’ve always had good responses when emailing after an event

 

[skuttle]

We’ve always had good responses when emailing after an event

Is there a particular email address I should use?

 

[Haley R]

Is there a particular email address I should use?

I think this one works: guest.services@disneyworld.com

I’ve actually had better responses just filling out their form online though.

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

We entered the park around 6:30pm.

Did you enter at 6:30 with just your AH ticket, or did you have a reg ticket or AP?

 

[skuttle]

Did you enter at 6:30 with just your AH ticket, or did you have a reg ticket or AP?

At both AK and MK after hours, we only had the AH ticket and we walked in at 630pm. No lines so I’m not sure how early they started letting people in. There was a separate line just for AH entry.

I had made 3 FP with the first one ending right after 7pm so it worked out well!

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

At both AK and MK after hours, we only had the AH ticket and we walked in at 630pm. No lines so I’m not sure how early they started letting people in. There was a separate line just for AH entry.

I had made 3 FP with the first one ending right after 7pm so it worked out well!

Awesome, we will hope for the same.
DS7 and I have APs, but that doesn't help the rest of the family.

 

[Star Wars mom]

I have a question about logistics. I'm going to DAH next week, but I'm staying off-site. I also don't have a regular park ticket -- just my DAH ticket. Since I don't have magic bands or any sort of 'ticket media' what will I use to enter the park and use my fastpass at the safari before the event starts? I want to be prepared so I'm trying to figure out if I can use MDE on my phone or bring a print out of my purchase confirmation, or what. Anyone else done this and have some advice?

 

[olafLover]

.

 

[Shannon G]

We got a plastic ticket. We went to guest services outside of the park because we were a bit early, but while we were waiting for the park to open for people with event tickets a CM walked by and transferred other peoples tickets to the plastic tickets while in line with a handheld device

Was this just for people who didn't have the tickets linked to MagicBands? I'm wondering how I ensure that, if we enter by scanning our Magicbands, the system will use our event tickets for our admission and not a day off of our hopper tickets.

 

[olafLover]

.

 

[skuttle]

Was this just for people who didn't have the tickets linked to MagicBands? I'm wondering how I ensure that, if we enter by scanning our Magicbands, the system will use our event tickets for our admission and not a day off of our hopper tickets.

We received plastic tickets in the mail for both AK and MK after hours. However, I didn’t need them. They were already linked to our magic bands. I guess that happened when I ordered them and logged in to MDE. The system knew to use the AH tickets and not our other park tickets. I was worried about that too so I did ask before we scanned since it was only 630pm!

 

[Castlequeen5]

I have a question about logistics. I'm going to DAH next week, but I'm staying off-site. I also don't have a regular park ticket -- just my DAH ticket. Since I don't have magic bands or any sort of 'ticket media' what will I use to enter the park and use my fastpass at the safari before the event starts? I want to be prepared so I'm trying to figure out if I can use MDE on my phone or bring a print out of my purchase confirmation, or what. Anyone else done this and have some advice?

Not the same event, but we were given plastic cards that the CM scanned at MVMCP last December. I didn't really understand what the problem was, because we did have Magic Bands. Our tickets were linked and we had fastpasses booked during the short window before the party started. But for some reason, we were unable to use our magic bands to scan for entry. I didn't have our tickets printed, but other people did. I was able to use my phone for them to scan.

So no doubt if you don't have magic bands, they should be able to give you a plastic ticket.