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

[maryj11]

Looks glorious! Were the reddish lights a "villains" effect? I haven't purchasers tickets yet but I think we're doing the 8/8 event. I'm curious about the t-shirt...I wonder if the blog has pictures of the merch!

Yes the reds lights were a part of the event. It made Main Street look so cool! We got the black shirts. I think they have pictures somewhere.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

Yes the reds lights were a part of the event. It made Main Street look so cool!

It looks it! I watched a video from the Disney Parks blog and the projections on the castle look really cool too!

 

[elle101me]

We were there last night. We had a good time. So worth it to avoid the crowds and heat. I would definitely do it again.
We arrived at 6:30 and were let in about 6:40.
We bought Villain t shirts and changed into them. I thought they would be the thicker material , but they were not. They were lightweight and comfortable.
We had a fastpass for Peter Pan, but decided to eat at Tony's ( my teens choice). Tried to modify PP for later but nothing available so we got IASW.
After eating at Tony's we had a FP for Seven Dwarfs. The fireworks were going off by the time we got to SDMT.
After we finshed watching the fireworks in Fantasyland we headed to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder. They did check our bands before we walked into Frontierland. Splash and Big Thunder were walk on.
Walked toward the castle and ran into the Maleficent dragon and his friends
After that we went to Jungle Cruise and Pirates. Jungle Cruise was walk on and Pirates was about 5 minutes.
Space Mountain was about 10 minute wait. Checked Seven Dwarfs wait time it was 30 minutes, so we skipped it. Peter Pan was 5 minute wait but we skipped it.
Haunted Mansion walk on.
So the run down.
It's a Small World FP
Seven Dwarfs FP
Splash Mountain walk on
Big Thunder walk on
Jungle Cruise walk on
Pirates of the Caribbean 5 minute wait
Haunted Mansion walk on
Space Mountain 10 minute wait
Eating at Tony's was not a good idea because we were not hungry for any of the free treats. I did get 2 bottles of water.
We rode everything we wanted and could of rode more rides but we just took it slow and only rode our favorites.
I got a few pictures and a video I will post. The video is not loading for me right now so I will post it later.

It looks like you hit everything at the right time! I was leaning against not buying tickets for August 8th, but now I may have to rethink that...

 

[Haley R]

Here’s my report from last night:

• Got to mk at 8:30 pm and walked right through the event entrance to get our wristbands. The new wristbands are super cool. I like them a lot more than the paper ones.
• Splash fp-still about a 10 minute wait
• Pirates gift shop to look at merch. I ended up buying the tank top. They were all out of smalls for the event t shirt.
• Btmr fp
• Got drinks at cart next to pirates
• Got in line for pirates at 9:55. They started a separate line and let people in right at 10. It took about 10 minutes. It was okay, pretty much the same as MNSSHP.
• Got popcorn and ice cream in the hub. I loved the music they were playing in there. It wasn’t villainy but still very fun!
• Rode people mover as a walk on. It was fun to ride through space with the lights off
• Went to star traders to get our AP hades ornaments. These are pretty cool. I’m glad they did something special like that.
• Rode space-posted 35 minutes but was only 10. We rode again right after as a walk on. When we got off at 11:30 there was a huge line of people from the castle show. I was able to hear Ursula when we got to the bottom of the track. When you’re in the majority of the ride you can’t really hear much.
• Walked to storybook treats and got a maleficent cone. I absolutely love these. It’s my favorite treat at all of wdw. There was a bit of a line but it moved quickly.
• Happened to catch the maleficent dragon in Frontierland. The dragon was cool to see at night with the glowing eyes and fire.
• Rode btmr twice and both times were a walk on.
• Sat in the rocking chairs by hall of presidents. It was nice to just sit and relax in the villain atmosphere.
• Went to the hub and decided to go right up front on the chain in front of the castle at 12:30. This was my favorite part of the night. I had so much fun dancing and there were tons of people dancing around us. We literally danced the entire 30 minutes before the stage show at 1.
• The stage show was pretty decent. It got kind of repetitive and boring after awhile. We aren’t huge show people though.
• We left right after the stage show and saw the villains up on the train station. That was a really fun addition. I liked that they did that and the characters were funny.
• The end of our night was the bus situation. We waited 40 minutes for a bus to wilderness lodge. There were a lot of people in our line so I’m not sure what the issue was. It put a sour taste in our mouth but didn’t ruin our night.

Overall thoughts:
If you go into this thinking it’s like a small version of MNSSHP, you’ll have fun. Do not go into this thinking it’s like after hours because it’s not. You definitely don’t get the empty crowd feel but wait times were never that long except for 7dmt. They did take away the bananas and Olaf bars which was disappointing. I really enjoyed the club feel to the hub and had a lot of fun dancing. I saw lots of parents dancing with kids and young adults dancing in groups. We got an AP discount but a full price ticket would’ve seemed steep for this event.

Dh said it was a one and done for him. I could maybe see myself doing it again but they would need to add some more things to the event. You definitely need to have a plan and probably won’t be able to ride all rides and watch special entertainment so might have to pick and choose

 

[Haley R]

More pictures

 

[Cinderumbrella]

@Haley R

Do you have a pic of the ornament? I don’t think I’ve seen it yet (even though they are mailing me one, lol)

 

[provoaggie]

• Went to star traders to get our AP hades ornaments. These are pretty cool. I’m glad they did something special like that.

Do you have a picture of the ornament? I'm interested to see what it looks like and I haven't seen it pop up anywhere yet. Thanks for the report.

 

[Cluelyss]

Not sure if this has been posted here yet, but to my fellow AP brethren that attended the first 3 VAH, call the passholder line and they will mail you the Hades ornament. I’m told to give it about 2 weeks.

Which number did you call? I just called the passholder line at 407-WDW-PASS and was told the ornament is only for those attending the 6/27 party or later. I even asked her if she was sure, and mentioned that I had a “friend” who attended an earlier party and getting one mailed out, but the CM was adamant that I did not qualify for the promotion. Just wondering if there’s a better number to call before I play CM roulette with this one LOL

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Which number did you call? I just called the passholder line at 407-WDW-PASS and was told the ornament is only for those attending the 6/27 party or later. I even asked her if she was sure, and mentioned that I had a “friend” who attended an earlier party and getting one mailed out, but the CM was adamant that I did not qualify for the promotion. Just wondering if there’s a better number to call before I play CM roulette with this one LOL

I called the passholder line. Mention that you are eligible per the DPB article

 

[Dug720]

The park was so crowded when we got there it was hard to walk. I was so thankful when it cleared out! I wish I had taken a picture of the crowds when we arrived. I do have one of Main Street about 11:30.

https://flic.kr/p/2gmsD71

Since the Park was still open to anyone when you got there, I would not have expected it to be empty.

Looks like they did a good job of clearing the non-VAH people out though. Which is what should happen.

 

[maryj11]

Since the Park was still open to anyone when you got there, I would not have expected it to be empty.

Looks like they did a good job of clearing the non-VAH people out though. Which is what should happen.

The crowds before it started were more than I have ever seen. Yes they did a good job clearing out the park.

 

[Dug720]

Quick question - I’m sure it is in here somewhere, but I am on my phone, so...

Where all is the merchandise located? I only want the tank - preferably the Hades one, but the other would do - and want to make sure I get that ASAP once I have my wristband so they don’t sell out.

Hoping they have set amounts set aside for each night rather than just putting out everything every time so that as it goes on we have less of a chance. I’m there on the 18th and plan to afternoon at DAK and head over to MK after my Na’vi FP+ at 4:15...but if things are selling quickly I will change it up and just do MK all afternoon.

 

[Dug720]

The crowds before it started were more than I have ever seen. Yes they did a good job clearing out the park.

NYC public schools just got out Wednesday, so I wonder if there was a huge influx Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

 

[Haley R]

@Haley R

Do you have a pic of the ornament? I don’t think I’ve seen it yet (even though they are mailing me one, lol)

I can take a picture when I get back to the room. It has hades on one side and the other side says villain after hours 2019

 

[Haley R]

The crowds before it started were more than I have ever seen. Yes they did a good job clearing out the park.

We saw lots of people without bands even at 11:30 or so. There was a group that got all the way to space mountain before being turned away

 

[maryj11]

We saw lots of people without bands even at 11:30 or so. There was a group that got all the way to space mountain before being turned away

I noticed crowds thinned out after 10:15 or so. There were still some around but way better than before when it started. Didn't seem bad to me.

 

[Haley R]

I noticed crowds thinned out after 10:15 or so. There were still some around but way better than before when it started. Didn't seem bad to me.

I didn’t think crowds were too bad either. I just wanted to mention seeing people without bands. I only noticed it in Tomorrowland. There were quite a few families sitting by the bathroom near star traders

 

[CJN]

I'm looking ahead to February - we will basically have 1.5 days in Disney before our cruise. We have 1 day parkhoppers - flying in on Thursday and hoping the current schedule holds and will be able to do DAH in the MK on February 20th (this is the equivalent of the presidents week day they added late last year). If the hours are the same HEA was at 8, DAH was 9-12.

Has anyone ever done a dessert party in conjunction with DAH? I was thinking of doing the Plaza viewing with after party.

These were my two favorite extras of my last trip. I think the timing could work - IF they let us in a bit before 7pm we'd go straight to the plaza for a prime viewing spot, fireworks is over by 8:20 or so, and we could snack for a while and then do our DAH event. If it's more like 6 it would give us an hour to do a couple of things as well before the event.

Just want a reality check about whether this will work - I know my son probably won't eat 6 mickey bars after the dessert party but I think it is going to be very very crowded that week (as it is typically) and this would be the best way to hit all of the highlights of the MK for us without using our one day ticket (which will be used the next day before boarding cruise on Saturday).

We did both DAH and the before dessert party last November. HEA was at 9 and DAH ran from 10-1. I know you’re talking about doing the after party but your timing gap might be about the same as ours since we stayed around the castle area quite a while for OUAT and photopass pictures. In fact, we didn’t even check in for DAH until right at 10 pm when we made it over by Buzz Lightyear. We thought it worked perfectly. And we didn’t indulge much in the DAH snacks either, except for popcorn and drinks.

 

[preemiemama]

More pictures

Thanks for reporting back- looking forward to our turn on the 11th!

Can you tell me if the train station/entrance was still lit up as you were leaving? Trying to time taking a picture there!

 

[GlassSlipper13]

We had ours taken on the outer rim of the hub, but parallel to the statue (if that makes sense). Also, this is an animated magic shot ONLY which I didn’t realize until after emailing PhotoPass thinking our shots were missing. I was expecting Hades to actually be in our pictures like the other shots, and was disappointed to find out that wasn’t the case.

Thank you!