**Disney After Hours-Hollywood Studios** FAQ & Discussion Thread

[SaintsManiac]

It was a no brainer for us to book it. HS is my favorite park, my kid loves TSL and my husband’s favorite ride is ToT. We only have 3.5 days on our next trip.

 

[Haley R]

It was a no brainer for us to book it. HS is my favorite park, my kid loves TSL and my husband’s favorite ride is ToT. We only have 3.5 days on our next trip.

Makes perfect sense for you! I just told Dh right now that I want to go to Disney and do the 3 dah events. I swore off Disney for awhile after our October trip but I’m getting so jealous of everyone going to these

 

[evilqueenmindy]

Apologies if this has been asked and answered, but the tickets being "non-transferable", if I have a member of my group that is up in the air (like EITHER my sister or cousin will go, but not both) can I purchase the ticket and then just not link it to an MDE until after I know who is going? Or does it need to be linked right away? I keep seeing "its like a party ticket" but I've never purchased party tickets in the MDE era.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Apologies if this has been asked and answered, but the tickets being "non-transferable", if I have a member of my group that is up in the air (like EITHER my sister or cousin will go, but not both) can I purchase the ticket and then just not link it to an MDE until after I know who is going? Or does it need to be linked right away? I keep seeing "its like a party ticket" but I've never purchased party tickets in the MDE era.

No worries with asking any question, that’s why threads like this exist.

MDE will allow transferring tickets among persons connected to your profile. Also a ticket that is not linked to anyone (like if you bought by phone, for example) can be linked to whomever you choose.

Hope that helps!

 

[evilqueenmindy]

No worries with asking any question, that’s why threads like this exist.

MDE will allow transferring tickets among persons connected to your profile. Also a ticket that is not linked to anyone (like if you bought by phone, for example) can be linked to whomever you choose.

Hope that helps!

perfect! Thank you!

 

[switch15foot]

I attended the first night (Dec 8). It was good night. Main goal was to ride TSM and SDD as many times. Started with ToT and RnRC and road them twice each. Than grabbed a snack and head to TSL where we stayed for the remainder of the night. Meet Buzz and than Jessie & Woody at one point once in TSL so that could have some Mickey Bars. Rode Alien x1, TSM x7 (able to stay in vehicle 1 time and then 2 times in a row), SDD x4. Definitely disappointed that the only ice cream cart was just before Little Mermaid. There definitely should be one within TSL. As for TSM the queue really makes it challenging, and believe they should open the gates. Overall good experience but definitely enjoyed MK DAH better when we did it a couple of days later.

 

[JustCurious23]

Do you guys think the opening of Star Wars Galaxy's edge would change anything about this event next year? More tickets, higher cost etc? Since there will likely be more demand?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Do you guys think the opening of Star Wars Galaxy's edge would change anything about this event next year? More tickets, higher cost etc? Since there will likely be more demand?

Total speculation of course but I don't think we'll see Hollywood Studios DAH as it exists now once SWGE opens. I suspect this is probably a filler event of sorts and we're in for new park hours and all sorts of new potential up-charges when it opens.

But if it does stay in its current form, I'd bet the demand would be huge as would sell-outs.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

All right, time for a better rundown of our night - this past Saturday, 12/15. This night was not sold out and hours were 8:30pm-11:30pm. The park closed at 8pm. F! was at 8pm and JBJB was at 8:30pm.

For context, it was just me and DW. We had planned a quick holiday WDW getaway with no kids for a little quiet time before Christmas. Our trip itinerary was to see Candlelight Processional Friday night and DHS DAH Saturday night. These types of events can be very helpful in maximizing park time on very short trips. We used our daytime on Saturday to resort hop to see decorations, enjoy a nice meal, etc. The plan worked reasonably well.

Anyway, we had Jingle Bell Jingle Bam Dessert Party reservations, which had a 7pm check-in time. We arrived at the park 6:30ish. We asked a CM outside the gate if we could get our DAH credentials he said we could wait until 7pm if we didn't have theme park admission or go ahead inside if we did and pick up credentials "by the fountain." We have APs so headed in. It looked like there were maybe 20ish people in a loosely formed line towards the right side of the tapstyles. I don't know when they let people in, I'm assuming closer to 7pm as advertised.

So, we went in while I contemplated what the CM meant by "by the fountain." I concede I know DHS the least of all the parks, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what "fountain" he was talking about.

I ultimately gave up and asked another manager-looking type CM in the park. She told me the ticket office/FP kiosk at the corner of Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard or Guest Relations at the front of the park.

This map shows the FP kiosk/ticket office at the intersection (which has a small fountain in front).





This was 6:51pm. Our tickets were linked to our MDE accounts, so a quick scan of the MagicBands and we were ready to go. Wristbands were given for identification, no lanyards.


From there we headed off to the JBJB Dessert Party... so were there from 7pm'ish through the end of JBJB, which was 8:44pm.

We had some initial hesitation as to what our plan of attack should be for DAH. Sunset Boulevard? Straight to TSL (since we were pretty close already)?

Ultimately decided to hit some characters first and make our way around to TSL later in the event.

Met Minnie at 8:48pm with no wait and Mickey at 8:50pm with no wait. Like literally no-one else around at all.

Headed to see Olaf - 8:53pm. Again, no one there but Olaf, handlers, and the PP photographers.

Could have hit Star Tours then but we passed (motion sickness). This side of the park is relatively dead during the event as there just isn't all that much going on.

This was the scene on Sunset Boulevard at 9:02pm. There were a decent amount of people still here at this point. While I of course don't know this for fact, it felt like more of a day guest crossover influence still happening. JBJB is only around 15-18 minutes before this, so there's still some slowly meandering to the exits going on. I bet if the holiday thing wasn't going on on Sunset Boulevard, this area may have cleared out more quickly.


Headed to ToT. They let us walk through the pre-show. No wait other than a minute or two for the elevator to arrive. Ride photo timestamp was 9:09pm. Our elevator cab was mostly full, FWIW. The ride seemed to be running all elevators at this point in the night, not sure if that changes later.

Headed over to RnR. This food cart was open. Time stamp is 9:17pm.



I found beverage and ice cream carts pretty abundant throughout the park, with the exception of inside TSL (although Woody's Lunchbox was open for purchase). Lines were short and we didn't experience anything running out. This was the longest cart line we experienced all night - time stamp is 9:18pm. This is just outside of ToT near the Beauty & the Beast show - this poor guy was getting snoaped on all night long - his cart and nearby trashcans were sudsy.



Things calmed down on Sunset Blvd rather quickly from here on out. I mentioned in a post above that getting to see the Sunset Seasons Greetings snippets with minimal crowds was a real treat. They are very well done. With minimal crowds and no other noise, you can really appreciate the loud holiday music and the choreography of the lights/projections. Time stamp for the pic below is 9:28pm, so just about an hour into the event.



Pic is 9:29pm. This is a good example of how this night 'felt' like a larger guest count than some of the first night posts I read. Still not that many people though.



I saw a couple of 'bars' set up around the park - like this one outside of Brown Derby. Beer and mixed drinks were available. DW and I had plans to enjoy a beverage but a few rides on ToT and RnR had us having second thoughts, so I'm not sure of the full selections at these carts. Pic is 9:31pm.


Continued on next post...

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We then hit Star Wars Launch Bay. Met Chewie at 9:38pm and BB8 at 9:41pm per time stamps. Opted to pass Kylo Ren. We're not really Star Wars folks so this wasn't a priority. Lines for Chewie and BB8 were just a few mins each, if that.

We had heard rumblings of SDD being down, so decided to go check out the carnage for ourselves at this point. This pic is 9:47pm, SDD was still down. Decent line for Buzz (there would be no line in another 30 mins).



We did TSM with no wait. At least two tracks were running that I could tell. Mr. Potato Head in the standby line was behind a curtain, but you could take a peak (kinda creepy), 9:50pm pic below. They told us if we wanted to stay on to just let a CM know - we rode twice without getting off. Being able to re-ride is great since the entry and exit lines for this ride are a decent time suck.


Our timing was very lucky in that SDD must have just opened when we were exiting TSM - so we hustled to get in line and I think beat the rush of folks who heard the news. Wait was <10 mins but I think it spiked after that, we didn't want to ride twice so didn't stick around any longer. I'm not sure how long actual waits were at that point.

There are no free beverage/ice cream stations in TSL but Woody's Lunch Box was open.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

A few sites from around the park....



10:23pm...


10:26pm. With the exception of the PhotoPass CM outside of TSL, the only other non-charachter PhotoPass opportunity we saw was at Echo Lake with a view of the tree. This was great as the line when we entered the park earlier was HUGE. We had no wait. We were stoked as the setting is beautiful, except our PP pics came out really bad (weird flash) which was a bummer... but no big deal. I'll take my cheap iPhone shot below I guess.


DW wanted to ride RnR again so back to Sunset Boulevard we go. All but empty now, the only people here are mostly CMs. I think everyone heard SDD was open and vacated the rest of the park! I was really digging the beauty of this stretch of the park and the Sunset Seasons Greetings at this point. Could have sat here for awhile. Pic is 10:29pm.


We were pretty much done at this point... did some brief shopping and slow meandering around. Had some popcorn and a strawberry bar.

Hollywood Boulevard at 10:50pm. 40 mins of event time left. Again, this may be deceiving as a lot of folks were probably in TSL right now to make up for earlier SDD downtime.


10:51pm - and we're out! Yes, I know we left 40 mins early, but we were ready by that point. Not a reflection of the event, just that we were content and ready to head back to the resort.


Continued on next post....

 

[GADisneyDad14]

So, all-in-all, we had a fun and enjoyable evening. Other than the shows which are obviously closed during DAH, we hit every ride we wanted to do, some multiple times. We left 40 mins on the table so could have done much more.

The SDD downtime probably impacted crowds and the experience, but stuff happens. It didn't really impact us materially and our timing was lucky - but I can see how it would for someone who is using this event as their one/only shot to ride it.

I was a bit bummed to not see PhotoPass photographers out. There were none on Hollywood Boulevard at all. It was really just the one by the tree and one in front of TSL. That seemed like a miss to me. We have enjoyed the MK photographers as there are usually many of them out and it's a good time to take the time to pose for some unique pics, if so inclined.

Our plan to watch JBJB seemed to work well for us - I don't mind giving up that first approx 15 mins of the event to see nighttime entertainment. Others may want to get a start on the night and skip entertainment.

I said something similar in a post yesterday... we weren't "wowed" by the night, but we enjoyed ourselves and had a fun evening... so I'd say it was successful.

Someone above said the night had a weird vibe. I do kind of agree with that - although I can't explain entirely what I mean by that statement. Granted I think a lot of Disney is creating your own vibe and mindset, but we didn't quite have the same whimsical/CMs also having fun experience we have had at MK. That could totally just be timing and luck though, so I wouldn't read too much into that comment.

We stayed at YC so walked back to the resort, didn't experience any post-event transportation. Friendship boats were running when we left, FWIW.

Sorry for the rambling posts... thanks for reading along. Happy to answer any questions!

 

[provoaggie]

I booked this for January 12. We won't have much time in town (leaving on a cruise out of Miami the next day after flying into Orlando). We weren't going to do any Disney on this trip but this seemed like a cool way to see Toy Story Land without any waits. I also love RNR, TOT and Star Tours so that's a win.

 

[Haley R]

So, all-in-all, we had a fun and enjoyable evening. Other than the shows which are obviously closed during DAH, we hit every ride we wanted to do, some multiple times. We left 40 mins on the table so could have done much more.

The SDD downtime probably impacted crowds and the experience, but stuff happens. It didn't really impact us materially and our timing was lucky - but I can see how it would for someone who is using this event as their one/only shot to ride it.

I was a bit bummed to not see PhotoPass photographers out. There were none on Hollywood Boulevard at all. It was really just the one by the tree and one in front of TSL. That seemed like a miss to me. We have enjoyed the MK photographers as there are usually many of them out and it's a good time to take the time to pose for some unique pics, if so inclined.

Our plan to watch JBJB seemed to work well for us - I don't mind giving up that first approx 15 mins of the event to see nighttime entertainment. Others may want to get a start on the night and skip entertainment.

I said something similar in a post yesterday... we weren't "wowed" by the night, but we enjoyed ourselves and had a fun evening... so I'd say it was successful.

Someone above said the night had a weird vibe. I do kind of agree with that - although I can't explain entirely what I mean by that statement. Granted I think a lot of Disney is creating your own vibe and mindset, but we didn't quite have the same whimsical/CMs also having fun experience we have had at MK. That could totally just be timing and luck though, so I wouldn't read too much into that comment.

We stayed at YC so walked back to the resort, didn't experience any post-event transportation. Friendship boats were running when we left, FWIW.

Sorry for the rambling posts... thanks for reading along. Happy to answer any questions!

I love all of your pictures and your review!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Thanks for such an awesome review, @GADisneyDad14! I am even more excited now!

 

[Iowamomof4]

So, all-in-all, we had a fun and enjoyable evening. Other than the shows which are obviously closed during DAH, we hit every ride we wanted to do, some multiple times. We left 40 mins on the table so could have done much more.

The SDD downtime probably impacted crowds and the experience, but stuff happens. It didn't really impact us materially and our timing was lucky - but I can see how it would for someone who is using this event as their one/only shot to ride it.

I was a bit bummed to not see PhotoPass photographers out. There were none on Hollywood Boulevard at all. It was really just the one by the tree and one in front of TSL. That seemed like a miss to me. We have enjoyed the MK photographers as there are usually many of them out and it's a good time to take the time to pose for some unique pics, if so inclined.

Our plan to watch JBJB seemed to work well for us - I don't mind giving up that first approx 15 mins of the event to see nighttime entertainment. Others may want to get a start on the night and skip entertainment.

I said something similar in a post yesterday... we weren't "wowed" by the night, but we enjoyed ourselves and had a fun evening... so I'd say it was successful.

Someone above said the night had a weird vibe. I do kind of agree with that - although I can't explain entirely what I mean by that statement. Granted I think a lot of Disney is creating your own vibe and mindset, but we didn't quite have the same whimsical/CMs also having fun experience we have had at MK. That could totally just be timing and luck though, so I wouldn't read too much into that comment.

We stayed at YC so walked back to the resort, didn't experience any post-event transportation. Friendship boats were running when we left, FWIW.

Sorry for the rambling posts... thanks for reading along. Happy to answer any questions!

Fantastic review! I do think they've overpriced the AK and DHS events. If they were about $95-99/ticket regular price and then $75 or so for AP discount I think it would sell a lot better and they could keep running it longer. At this rate, I fear the event will just not be renewed after April for lack of interest.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Fantastic review! I do think they've overpriced the AK and DHS events. If they were about $95-99/ticket regular price and then $75 or so for AP discount I think it would sell a lot better and they could keep running it longer. At this rate, I fear the event will just not be renewed after April for lack of interest.

Thanks for the note.

I agree it's over-priced for my personal view of things (subjective of course) when compared to MK DAH. But, I'm not sure I'm worrying it won't be renewed for lack of interest. There were a decent number of people there for what was only night #2 of a long series of dates. I do sometimes worry pics give the wrong impression of DAH (both here and MK). I took way more pics of empty settings and not so much of times when there were more people around. You'll note I don't have many pics of TSL. ;-) The guest count around the land when we left (SDD having reopened) was pretty high.

But I will be very curious to see how reports continue to go with more events and more experiences.

 

[HatboxHaint]

Will thread OP be posting a definitive location list of food/bev carts?

 

[mixmastertoy]

The carts on the first night were by Little Mermaid, Tower of Terror (bathroom area) and where they post wait times up the main Street before you turn right to go to ToT... biggest complaint was no ice cream cart in Toy Story Land

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Will thread OP be posting a definitive location list of food/bev carts?

I've sometimes contemplated this with the MK DAH (and now these), but with MK the locations have sometimes changed around and I've worried anything I do would become stale. I'm happy to keep a list (can do some from memory Saturday) but need ongoing assistance/accurate info from posters to make sure it's accurate/current.