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

[GADisneyDad14]

Very happy to have found this thread! Last year, they had a September DAH on a random Thursday. This year (assuming the same schedule) that random Thursday (Sept 19) just happens to be DDs 8th birthday. Does anyone have a record of when that September date was added last year?!

If you were to compare DAH and MNSSHP, I’m assuming DAH is more laid back? We have never been to either one, but have been to disney 3x. If they don’t have DAH on the 19th, we would do the party on the 20th, but I’m thinking trying to squeeze everything we want to do into MNSSHP night be too much? It’s just a short trip, mostly to celebrate her birthday so we want to do something fun!

So, we did the 9/20 DAH and 9/21 MNSSHP last year. 9/20 DAH was a wonderful experience, which totally ruined the very crowded MNSSHP the next day. The DAH experience right before a MNSSHP experience is not necessarily a good thing!

Hope the schedule works out for you this year.

 

[sheila14]

Thank you, holding on to hope like all others are.

 

[maryj11]

Extra magic hours and dah aren’t even close imo. I think evening emh has gotten pretty bad because of how many resorts are included in it. The last two we've gone to at mk have had really long waits for sm and 7dmt. Dah really only has a 15-20 minute wait sometimes for 7dmt and pp (maybe even shorter than that at times) but the rest are all walk ons or maybe a 5 minute wait. It’s also a good chance to meet characters with super short lines and just take in the atmosphere of mk with such little crowds. Dh and I definitely get our money’s worth from all of that and we eat TONS of snacks

Last August going to night EMH was not worth fighting the crowds. Lines were long clear up until about half an hour before it was over. It wasn't worth being in a crowded park waiting for EMH and then still having it crowded during EMH.

 

[maryj11]

Have they changed the time they let people in the park for DAH's? I know it was 7:00. I have read a few reviews where some were let in at 6:00 or a little after 6:00.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Have they changed the time they let people in the park for DAH's? I know it was 7:00. I have read a few reviews where some were let in at 6:00 or a little after 6:00.

MK has been kind of all over the place, 6-6:30ish from recent reports. We’ve seen everything from 6-7 over the last year though. The other parks have been closer to the legit 7pm time pretty consistently.

7pm is the ‘official’ time for all.

 

[mtrib]

Thanks to Disboards gurus reviews of DAH we did it on 2/28 and so glad we did. Definitely worth it but I'd not recommend spending the whole day in the park before the party. We were toast! Of course, it was day 5 of parks so we were pooped to begin with. Checked in by Stitch around 6:00 after two rides on People Mover to rest our weary bones.

After a full day of touring we had 6:45 reservations at Skipper Canteen which I thought would be perfect as we planned to ride BTMRR right at 8 so we could see the fireworks from the ride then tour clockwise. Unfortunately, we didn't get seated until 7:15. We ordered immediately and still started the party 10 minutes late. Kids left us at the table waiting to pay the bill and it took us a few minutes to find them. They were on Aladdin as the fireworks started. Have I mentioned they are 14 and 17??

Anyway, if you count their Aladdin ride:
Aladdin x 1
BTMRR x 2 (once during fireworks which was amazing) They were loading both sides so line went fast. Maybe 5 minutes.
Splash x 1 walk on (got stuck for a few minutes. They finally turned off the waterfall out of pity)
Snagged frozen bananas and waters
PP x 1 with 22 minute wait (but SB queue is great. DS 17 tall enough to "ring" the bells with his head which was hilarious)
7D x 1 with 20 minute wait
Hub for castle pic
Space x 1 walk on (DS and DH asked CM for back way for repeat ride. He took them through a door and they rode a train all alone ?on another track? Said it was spooky with no one else around but very cool)
Buzz x 1 (DD and I while boys erode Space. Got stuck for 5 minutes right after loading)
Mickey bars, waters, popcorn (at this point I was regretting our late dinner)
POC x 1 (got stuck for 10 minutes. Noticing a theme here?) Done at 11:02 and snack carts were out of drinks and popcorn. Didn't want anymore ice cream so we gave up.

Sadly, shops are not open on Main Street after the event. I thought Emporium would at least be open. I think they would've done decent business. I was able to convince a CM to let me in to buy a reusable bag while the last few stragglers got checked out.

If I had to do it again:
-We would not spend the whole day in the park leading up to the party
-We would have a smaller dinner much earlier and eat more snacks. DH and kids had an ice cream and popcorn each but I was too full. I'd also stock up on waters each time we stopped to avoid the lines when we needed more.
-I'd probably wait until later in the night for PP and hope the lines went down. That was a big chunk of valuable time. 7D line looked the same even at 10:45 so I'd probably still ride early in case it went down (has happened during past parties)

 

[Firestarlife]

Last year, they announced on May 2 for the new dates starting on June 28.
So, if that is any indication, we should have an answer this week!
I noticed that a lot of them were on Saturday instead of Thursday. If they do add dates for May, I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will be Thursday dates. Not sure I want to be at MK on Saturday!

 

[Haley R]

Thanks to Disboards gurus reviews of DAH we did it on 2/28 and so glad we did. Definitely worth it but I'd not recommend spending the whole day in the park before the party. We were toast! Of course, it was day 5 of parks so we were pooped to begin with. Checked in by Stitch around 6:00 after two rides on People Mover to rest our weary bones.

After a full day of touring we had 6:45 reservations at Skipper Canteen which I thought would be perfect as we planned to ride BTMRR right at 8 so we could see the fireworks from the ride then tour clockwise. Unfortunately, we didn't get seated until 7:15. We ordered immediately and still started the party 10 minutes late. Kids left us at the table waiting to pay the bill and it took us a few minutes to find them. They were on Aladdin as the fireworks started. Have I mentioned they are 14 and 17??

Anyway, if you count their Aladdin ride:
Aladdin x 1
BTMRR x 2 (once during fireworks which was amazing) They were loading both sides so line went fast. Maybe 5 minutes.
Splash x 1 walk on (got stuck for a few minutes. They finally turned off the waterfall out of pity)
Snagged frozen bananas and waters
PP x 1 with 22 minute wait (but SB queue is great. DS 17 tall enough to "ring" the bells with his head which was hilarious)
7D x 1 with 20 minute wait
Hub for castle pic
Space x 1 walk on (DS and DH asked CM for back way for repeat ride. He took them through a door and they rode a train all alone ?on another track? Said it was spooky with no one else around but very cool)
Buzz x 1 (DD and I while boys erode Space. Got stuck for 5 minutes right after loading)
Mickey bars, waters, popcorn (at this point I was regretting our late dinner)
POC x 1 (got stuck for 10 minutes. Noticing a theme here?) Done at 11:02 and snack carts were out of drinks and popcorn. Didn't want anymore ice cream so we gave up.

Sadly, shops are not open on Main Street after the event. I thought Emporium would at least be open. I think they would've done decent business. I was able to convince a CM to let me in to buy a reusable bag while the last few stragglers got checked out.

If I had to do it again:
-We would not spend the whole day in the park leading up to the party
-We would have a smaller dinner much earlier and eat more snacks. DH and kids had an ice cream and popcorn each but I was too full. I'd also stock up on waters each time we stopped to avoid the lines when we needed more.
-I'd probably wait until later in the night for PP and hope the lines went down. That was a big chunk of valuable time. 7D line looked the same even at 10:45 so I'd probably still ride early in case it went down (has happened during past parties)

We've been stuck in that exact same spot on Splash! It was actually during our DAH night last March. That really stinks that you were stuck on Pirates for 10 minutes. That's a pretty long time to be stuck during DAH.

 

[lynzi2004]

With the 20+min waits at 7DMT...do they allow rider swap? We will have a 1 year old and I was thinking we wouldn’t need to even use a swap, but 40 min for one ride is more than I was hoping for?!

 

[lynzi2004]

Thanks for the heads up! I think we will only do DAH if offered bc we would love the lower crowds and since that will be on her exact birthday.

Is it reasonable to assume we could get through most of the park if that’s our only night? We could also go the following Sunday morning before flying home, but we were leaning towards AK that morning....

 

[Haley R]

Thanks for the heads up! I think we will only do DAH if offered bc we would love the lower crowds and since that will be on her exact birthday.

Is it reasonable to assume we could get through most of the park if that’s our only night? We could also go the following Sunday morning before flying home, but we were leaning towards AK that morning....

That depends what you want to get done at MK. There are some rides/attractions/characters not offered during DAH. If that's your only day at MK it'll work, just know that it is mostly a ride heavy event. We like to pair DAH with another day at MK where we can take our time and enjoy the rides/attractions that aren't offered during DAH. Will that be your only chance to go to AK?

 

[lynzi2004]

That depends what you want to get done at MK. There are some rides/attractions/characters not offered during DAH. If that's your only day at MK it'll work, just know that it is mostly a ride heavy event. We like to pair DAH with another day at MK where we can take our time and enjoy the rides/attractions that aren't offered during DAH. Will that be your only chance to go to AK?

Yes our only chance for both MK and AK. We have been to Disney the last 3 years, so it’s a shorter trip to celebrate DDs birthday. We know we will be going back so if we miss something it’s not a big deal. We’ve met most the characters, and are at the stage where rides are a big deal. We will have DAH at MK, a full day at HS to see the new TSL and the kids are finally tall enough for RnRC and then a half day for either AK or MK again!

 

[Haley R]

Yes our only chance for both MK and AK. We have been to Disney the last 3 years, so it’s a shorter trip to celebrate DDs birthday. We know we will be going back so if we miss something it’s not a big deal. We’ve met most the characters, and are at the stage where rides are a big deal. We will have DAH at MK, a full day at HS to see the new TSL and the kids are finally tall enough for RnRC and then a half day for either AK or MK again!

In that case I would do AK

 

[maryj11]

We've been stuck in that exact same spot on Splash! It was actually during our DAH night last March. That really stinks that you were stuck on Pirates for 10 minutes. That's a pretty long time to be stuck during DAH.

This would be the reason I would be afraid to ride Splash during DAH. It breaks down or stops a lot. It seems to be the number one ride for getting stuck in at MK. I would not be happy if we were stuck in there a long time. Or any ride for that matter. It seems rides are doing this a lot lately.

 

[Superchikk]

Thanks for the heads up! I think we will only do DAH if offered bc we would love the lower crowds and since that will be on her exact birthday.

Is it reasonable to assume we could get through most of the park if that’s our only night? We could also go the following Sunday morning before flying home, but we were leaning towards AK that morning....

I'm taking DD8 to DAH next month, and it's the only time we'll be in a park on our trip. My strategy is to go in as soon as they'll let us in - 7pm-ish. The park is officially open until 10pm that night. I have FP+ to a couple of things I know she will want to do that are not included in DAH - Enchanted Tales, Ariel, Tink. (The trip is a surprise, so I can't ask her, but I'm guessing she wants to see these along with the characters offered during DAH. I can change the FP+ that day if I need to.) I know she will want to do a lot of rides, but I feel like if we maximize our "open park" time, we will be able to do plenty of things from 7pm-1am.

 

[TheNameless]

So, we did the 9/20 DAH and 9/21 MNSSHP last year. 9/20 DAH was a wonderful experience, which totally ruined the very crowded MNSSHP the next day. The DAH experience right before a MNSSHP experience is not necessarily a good thing!

Hope the schedule works out for you this year.

My wife and I, were at the 09/20 DAH event and 09/21 MNSSHP also. I will agree that the MNSSHP was way more crowded. However, I don't regret going to both. DAH was great, cause we got to ride everything we wanted, and then for MNSSHP we focused more on the special event themed entertainment (Parade, Fireworks, etc).

 

[DVC Jen]

I’d really like to see some May dates announced...

I am waiting and hoping for early June

 

[Rick195275]

I'm taking DD8 to DAH next month, and it's the only time we'll be in a park on our trip. My strategy is to go in as soon as they'll let us in - 7pm-ish. The park is officially open until 10pm that night. I have FP+ to a couple of things I know she will want to do that are not included in DAH - Enchanted Tales, Ariel, Tink. (The trip is a surprise, so I can't ask her, but I'm guessing she wants to see these along with the characters offered during DAH. I can change the FP+ that day if I need to.) I know she will want to do a lot of rides, but I feel like if we maximize our "open park" time, we will be able to do plenty of things from 7pm-1am.

Taking my DD8 also next month, 4/11... didn’t think about the other characters not being included in DAH. Have enchanted tales, but did 7dmt to try to avoid that wait during, at least until the end and Pirates due to it length.... might need to reconsider.

 

[Superchikk]

Taking my DD8 also next month, 4/11... didn’t think about the other characters not being included in DAH. Have enchanted tales, but did 7dmt to try to avoid that wait during, at least until the end and Pirates due to it length.... might need to reconsider.

That's what someone else suggested doing, and I agree it's not a bad strategy. I just know that if we skip those characters and then can't do them during DAH, I'll be in trouble. We may need a good 15-20 minute wait by the time we get to 10pm... we're flying in that morning, so it will be a LONG day for us!

 

[tri-sara-tops]

Does anyone else find it strange that Disney spent the last week hosting youtubers, showing off after hours at MK and AK and yet we can’t actually book any beyond the last few weeks? Seems very odd

I get them showing off the super expensive hotel rooms and deluxe resorts, but why promote an event you haven’t even confirmed is still available beyond April 11th?