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

[dachsie]

I am second guessing this myself. I think I will wait for reviews before I decide.

 

[sheila14]

I want September hours!!!!

 

[jenjersnap]

Not really into the villains, but I’m thrilled to get a solid date for DAH during our trip, and that it’s happening on Thursday, which is what I planned around after the late spring dates were released last week. We’ll be there 7/25!!

1. Ditto. 2. Ditto. 3. Ditto. For once, my educated guess worked out! We have the dessert party reserved that night. I have one DS super into Villains so he is happy. My main concern now is adding more time in MK another day because I suspect we aren’t going to get as many rides in at this AH as I planned because of higher line waits and/or the kids’ interest in the stage show.

 

[disneycat321]

1. Ditto. 2. Ditto. 3. Ditto. For once, my educated guess worked out! We have the dessert party reserved that night. I have one DS super into Villains so he is happy. My main concern now is adding more time in MK another day because I suspect we aren’t going to get as many rides in at this AH as I planned because of higher line waits and/or the kids’ interest in the stage show.

We really can't get enough of MK at night. We're planning to do the evening EMH the night before as well.

 

[Minkishly]

Was SOOOO excited about the Disney Villains After Hours, went to the page and my heart broke.

Disney Villains will add a wicked twist to Disney After Hours event nights June 6-August 8

The first day of my trip is August 9. I really hope DAH at MK will be available past Aug 8, even if it isn't the Villains edition.

 

[MermaidMommy]

I did notice that, while the regular DAH's at MK, HS, and AK all mention having "little-to-no wait times" or say you can "skip the waits," the new villains one says that you'll have "low wait times." I wonder if that's just a coincidence, or if they're managing expectations from the get-go.

 

[Lsdolphin]

Not sure how they plan to “clear” the park in order to prevent guests with out wristbands staying around to watch the Villains events....which tix holders are paying extra for. The only thing I can see them controlling is who is riding.

 

[L&Lfan]

My experience is they slowly herd people without event wristbands toward the exits. They escort folks out if they find you after the event begins.

 

[cakebaker]

Not sure how they plan to “clear” the park in order to prevent guests with out wristbands staying around to watch the Villains events....which tix holders are paying extra for. The only thing I can see them controlling is who is riding.

That’s probably all you can expect. I don’t know how anyone would know whether they escort non ticket holders out. The only time I’ve ever been checked for a band is entering a ride and I’ve been on cool nights wearing long sleeves and a jacket.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Not sure how they plan to “clear” the park in order to prevent guests with out wristbands staying around to watch the Villains events....which tix holders are paying extra for. The only thing I can see them controlling is who is riding.

Legitimate concern in my opinion. Summer DAH’s are different than winter DAHs...more ‘people/kids/teens/adults’ around with no school, less parental supervision. Warm weather and nothing to do promotes sticking around. IMO when things got a little grumbly with crowds last summer, I suspect a lot of it was this (and those that opted to maninpulate the lanyard, which was later changed to just wristbands).

While park clearing hasn’t really been a part of DAH to date, I wonder if they’ll do some with this new format. Almost seems like they’d ‘have to’ as I could see plenty of people sticking around for the show.

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

I don't know, when we did it, we had to show a band before they'd allow us to enter a new land. So maybe they have something planned along those lines but in the Hub area.
I am optimistic (or naive) that they have these things in mind.

 

[SaintsManiac]

At the HS After Hours they did not herd people out. There were a lot of people hanging out and taking pictures and trying to get snacks without bands. It wasn't a horde of people by any means, but outside of TSL there were many day guests milling about.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I am so torn.

It's offered once during my pre-cruise stay. On the night I have the Illuminations Dining Package booked - and it's not available either of the other nights - for what will likely be my final time to see Illuminations.

My choices are:
A) Keep things as they are and don't do DAH

or

B) Get a DAH ticket and cancel the Illuminations package, swap my planned (no FP+ yet...that's in May) Epcot and MK days, and then on the new Epcot day do the standard "find a place on the rail and park it" thing (making sure I'm bathroomed and hydrated before parking since I'm solo and wouldn't have anyone to hold my spot). (Also this would involve giving up dinner at The Wave.)

WHY couldn't they have made it July 19th?????

Personally, I would give up the Illuminations dining package and dining at the Wave for DAH. You will have zero issues finding a good spot for Illuminations 30 minutes prior to the show. As you said, go to the bathroom and find your spot. We like Italy a lot. If HEA is around the same time as Illuminations that night, you can see both from that pavilion area.

I'm wondering if I need to change our touring plan around as well. We are taking my friend and her DS11 on their very first trip to WDW and our arrival day is July 25. Her DS11 is really into Disney villains so I was thinking we would go, but his mom is concerned with staying out too late the first night - don't blame her. I really wanted MK to be their first park and have the HEA dessert party booked, but now I'm wondering if we should switch our MK days. I know on past DAH nights it doesn't sound like DAH guests coming in at 7 pm really elevated crowd levels, but who knows what will happen with this one. I guess I'll just keep my eye on this thread.

Edited to add: in terms of the stage show and the dragon roaming, perhaps they will wait until an hour or so into the party to introduce these elements, giving CM's a chance to clear out as many non-DAH guests as possible? With MNSSHP and MVMCP, don't the stage shows typically start about an hour, hour and a half into the party?

 

[focusondisney]

That’s probably all you can expect. I don’t know how anyone would know whether they escort non ticket holders out. The only time I’ve ever been checked for a band is entering a ride and I’ve been on cool nights wearing long sleeves and a jacket.

It will be easy enough to see if people have wrist bands in the summer. On our last DAH, we did have to show our bands as we entered a new land. They can do what they do at parties, check as you move land to land & not let your go further into the park. They can also scan the crowds like they do with people waiting for the parades at parties: “everyone show us your bands”. No band, asked to move to the exit. Close the stores & restaurants unless you have a band. The stage show can be scheduled later, so they have time to clear the park.

So there are ways to do it. What remains to be seen is IF they do it. Like I said, it will be easy for anyone to see if others at the show have wristbands or not. If paying guests notice a lot of people without bands, I hope they complain to Disney & post online & on social media. Make Disney keep all the event components exclusive for people who are paying the high cost to be there.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

They could probably put a temp rope up near the stage and check for bands. Also, my guess is the first(?) show is at 11 (an hour into event).

Back to a previous comment regarding price, I’m ok with the cost as well as long as I’m guaranteed this is still DAH level crowds and not party crowds. I really wish I didn’t have to go first night (but I promise to report back if I do!!!!)

 

[cakebaker]

So there are ways to do it. What remains to be seen is IF they do it. Like I said, it will be easy for anyone to see if others at the show have wristbands or not. If paying guests notice a lot of people without bands, I hope they complain to Disney & post online & on social media. Make Disney keep all the event components exclusive for people who are paying the high cost to be there.

I absolutely agree they could do it, I just, from my own experience, don’t have much confidence that they will. They’re fairly good at checking at the rides, not so much at clearing guests out of the park entirely.

 

[Remy is Up]

My ONLY concern, as someone who has done MK AH several times and thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere and ability to ride tons of things, is that like with the parties, eventually they will start trying to find the point of diminishing returns and increase the number of tickets available. That has ruined the Halloween parties to the point I wont go to another one. Same with the Christmas parties. As long as they keep the prices reasonable and still limit the number of attendees, Im all for it because they are a great value. Ive also done AK and the only reason I wasnt as impressed is the very limited number of attractions, same at HS. But, at MK there has always been plenty to do during AH and you can pretty much do everything in the park in 3 hours with little to no waits and most things you can reride over and over.

 

[kmb]

Was SOOOO excited about the Disney Villains After Hours, went to the page and my heart broke.



The first day of my trip is August 9. I really hope DAH at MK will be available past Aug 8, even if it isn't the Villains edition.

I am right there with you! We arrive Aug. 10 for 8 nights. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue. I am going to plan around the idea of a Thursday party but hope they add additional dates before my fast pass booking date.

 

[Funfire240]

They could probably put a temp rope up near the stage and check for bands. Also, my guess is the first(?) show is at 11 (an hour into event).

Back to a previous comment regarding price, I’m ok with the cost as well as long as I’m guaranteed this is still DAH level crowds and not party crowds. I really wish I didn’t have to go first night (but I promise to report back if I do!!!!)

But will they even have more then 1 show? The way I'm reading it, it just says stage show. So maybe it will be one later into the night to make sure non-payment people are funneled out. Unfortunately I can see people trying to take advantage and stay around for this. I really hope this has been though and planned for.

---

We attended last year on 8/4 and just after that night there were a lot of complaints about the crowd and the problems with people reusing/passing lanyards. The following week, 8/11, they added the wrist bands and we noticed a big decrease in crowds!

 

[22Tink]

I am right there with you! We arrive Aug. 10 for 8 nights. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue. I am going to plan around the idea of a Thursday party but hope they add additional dates before my fast pass booking date.

We also arrive Aug 10. I’m so hoping they’ll expand the dates for this. I have EMM booked for our trip days but I’d way rather do DAH.