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

[Cinderumbrella]

I keep forgetting to add that there were special face painting options there and I did see quite a few people who did it.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Did anyone else notice Mickey and Minnie at Town Square weren’t meeting last night? We left around 12 am and we were going to see how long their wait was on our way out, but the doors to the meet and greet were shut. They were meeting at the DAH we went to during the first week of May.

There weren’t any M&G last night

 

[PrincessDana]

Anyone notice how the "free" snacks lines were? As well as locations? Thanks. We have tickets for the next party and we've never been to an AH event!!

 

[vinotinto]

Did anyone else notice Mickey and Minnie at Town Square weren’t meeting last night? We left around 12 am and we were going to see how long their wait was on our way out, but the doors to the meet and greet were shut. They were meeting at the DAH we went to during the first week of May.

We had been speculating further up-thread about what would be the attractions cut from Villains AH since they indicate "over 20 attractions" instead of 25 attractions. We finally received confirmation just a couple of days ago that NONE of the regular character meets will take place during VAH. This is different than the regular DAH. When WDW said "no character meets" they meant it!

 

[Castlequeen5]

I keep forgetting to add that there were special face painting options there and I did see quite a few people who did it.

Was that included with admission? If not, what was the cost?

 

[Mrjoshua]

Did anybody notice if party exclusive snacks were being sold before 10pm at any of the locations?

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Anyone notice how the "free" snacks lines were? As well as locations? Thanks. We have tickets for the next party and we've never been to an AH event!!

There was basically one in each land (popcorn, Mickey Bar, Mickey ice cream sandwich, Olaf fruit bar, plus water, coke, Diet Coke and sprite). Tomorrowland was longest but they had 4 or 5 people working so it moved very quick since there’s no payment

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Was that included with admission? If not, what was the cost?

Definitely not included. I didn’t check but I’m sure one of the media links will have a picture of the sign with pricing

 

[Castlequeen5]

Definitely not included. I didn’t check but I’m sure one of the media links will have a picture of the sign with pricing

Thanks!

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Definitely not included. I didn’t check but I’m sure one of the media links will have a picture of the sign with pricing

Some one posted pics of this back a few pages. (Not sure if prices were posted, but pics of the face painting options)
There were a few that were pretty cool, and I'd love to do it, but my kids would cringe.

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

We had been speculating further up-thread about what would be the attractions cut from Villains AH since they indicate "over 20 attractions" instead of 25 attractions. We finally received confirmation just a couple of days ago that NONE of the regular character meets will take place during VAH. This is different than the regular DAH. When WDW said "no character meets" they meant it!

Ahh I see. I know on Disney’s website I saw they said no special villain meet and greets, but I didn’t think they would take the others away. Sort of disappointing for a pregnant person that can’t ride any of the big headliners

 

[vinotinto]

Ahh I see. I know on Disney’s website I saw they said no special villain meet and greets, but I didn’t think they would take the others away. Sort of disappointing for a pregnant person that can’t ride any of the big headliners

There's always the Carousel! But whatever you do DON'T GO ON THE TEACUPS!

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

There's always the Carousel! But whatever you do DON'T GO ON THE TEACUPS!

LOL! Hubby and I did Astro Orbiter last month and I had no idea it spun so fast! Those rockets have also gotten a lot smaller in the last 10 years

 

[vinotinto]

LOL! Hubby and I did Astro Orbiter last month and I had no idea it spun so fast! Those rockets have also gotten a lot smaller in the last 10 years

Shrinking rockets! Must be a cost-saving measure!

 

[AdrianneB]

Going next week and loving all these reviews!!! Thank you, and please keep them coming!!

A few questions for those of you who were at last night‘s event.....

I’ve seen a couple reports of people getting in prior to 7, do we know when the “official” entry time is?

Haven’t seen anything regarding special magic shots, did anyone see any? And if so, where were they located?

What time did the villains start entertaining on the train station platform? Right at 1? Definitely want to catch that!!!

Were many folks in costume? My entire family is planning to dress up and just want to make sure we won’t be out of place!!

Thank you for all the great reports!!!

Official entry time is 7. I looked at the recorded entry times for MK: DAH in this thread and decided to get to the gates between 6-6:15 in case they let guests in super early. (I had also made our first FP+ 6:10-7:10 with a fair amt of confidence that we would be in well before 7.) Prior to entry, I watched some senior CMs confer with each of the line attendants prior to making an official vocal announcement that the lines were open at pretty much 6:30 on the dot. If you want to maximize your time in MK and VAH is your only admission for the day, I’d say your best bet would be to queue up between 6:15-6:30.

 

[Raya]

Good morning! Here's my review....

We were let in at 6:36, with no wait. Shopped our way up main street. All of the event merchandise was out at the Main Street Mercantile, however there was a line of 7 to 10 people to get up close to the merchandise. I was surprised by the line, and didn't want to wait. CMs advised me that I should, because they might run out of merchandise. Decided not to and we headed to Haunted Mansion for our FP. Had about a five minute at HM with FP, spent way too long shopping at Momento Mori. A limited selection of event merchandise was out here, but no wait!

Headed to Sunshine Tree terrace, because Citrus Swirl requirements had to be met. Got pixie dusted with a free second citrus swirl, and ate them in Adventureland before heading to our BTMRR FP. FP line was long - outside of the ride line and down the hill. CMs estimated 20 minutes or more. Standby was 55 minutes. Decided against it and went for some not available at the event churros.

Walked to Fantasyland thinking about Peter Pan - posted long wait time (45? 55? it's a blur) while IASW had almost no wait. Sadly, IASW isn't our thing so we moved on. Got distracted by a bigger event merchandise display at Mickey's Philharmonic, wasted until about 9:10 shopping. Stopped for fire works. Headed back to BTMRR after fireworks. Between exiting the castle and getting in line for BTMRR we had our bands checked at least 3 times. Lots of CMs sweeping people from the back of the park. Ended up as the last people in the standby line at 9:56. Posted wait 30 minutes, but we were assured it was more like 10. It was 20. However, when we got off there were empty lanes behind us. We though we might be able to get a line free re-ride, but didn't ask. Had a line of 7 people to get drinks outside of BTMRR. Grabbed a couple of waters.

Went over to PotC. The walk over had that amazing DAH feel where you could spread your arms wide and twirl - dark, no one around. This was officially party time. Arrived and the feeling evaporated. Posted wait time of 15 minutes, actual wait time of 25. Bloggers got to use walk-on FP Line. Pirates 'overlay' was two pirates in line chatting with the crowd and one pirate on the ride interacting with boats. Better than the MNSSHP 'Pete' interaction but not by much.

Got off the ride and ran back to the start of the dragon area, only to get told by a CM that we completely missed the 10:40 dragon parade. Except that she turns around and returns to Frontierland! Yay! Saw her coming down the street, and had no one around. Ran along side her (yes, I am a five year old, why do you ask?) for the whole length of FL. Great crowd interaction with the crows and briers. Stopped by HM for a walk-on ride.

Used the FL cut through to have a private show at the Tiki room (family favorite). Found our first Magic Shot - Scar by the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. Line was about 5 groups deep and we're not huge Scar fans. Crossed over to Casey's for our first party specific food - the Cruella Brownie. I was bummed to miss most of the party food - basically because I never seemed to be next to it! The brownie was over-the-top sweet and just what I needed. Got a Coke to wash it down from the hub with basically no wait.

Passed a second Magic shot at the entrance to TL. There were two photographers doing an 'Oogie Boogie' photo. The line was several families deep so we headed to Space Mountain. Passed the Cool Ship which didn't seem to have noodles (? maybe they were just out) and skipped Yzma's Llama potion due to line.

SM had a posted line of 20 minutes, but the wait was stop and go from the first downhill inside to the rocket ship. It was very frustrating to see one side of the ride sectioned off just for bloggers, and there was definitely some schadenfreude going on when the CM forced bloggers to wait while he verified their credentials. The ride was pitch black, which was interesting but not much of an overlay. There was some music/sounds but they were hard to hear. If anyone was smart enough to look up while in line, I think the planets were aligning like in the stage show overhead. I didn't recognize them though. Based on when we came out I think the wait was longer than posted.

Needed a chance to rest our feet, so we grabbed popcorn (short wait) and hit the People mover. Which is rather dull when SM has the lights off. And then we got stuck. In the dark. Sigh. They put the lights on after a little bit, and at least we were seated. Got off in time to see the fireworks from the midnight castle show.

And promptly didn't know what do do with ourselves. We had 40 minutes left, but given the crowds didn't know what we could accomplish. Finally decided on hitting Sleepy Hollow for the Tarot Card Tart (interior is a nice peanut butter flavor, ditched the tart crust) and the "not listed on the front of the brochure" drink from the other side - tart enough to make you pucker! Finished both before a 5 minute Peter Pan walk on, then hustled past HM (posted 13 minute wait, but I bet walk on) to watch the 1AM show. Got there about 5 minutes early.

So the show..... The castle Hub is lit up like a rave with very loud 80s music (She's a Maniac from Flashdance, Beastie Boys Fight for your Right to Party) played by a DJ and a ton of flashing bright lights. A seizure risk warning would've been nice but I wasn't triggered so that worked out. Stage show was fun and honestly the best use of projection overlays I've ever seen at Disney. The pyrotechnics entranced me past the super cheesy dialog.

Waited by the bride for the dragon, only to hear her main handler freaking out to other CMs that the hub was too full. Moved. Got pushed back. Got pushed back again. Had some families get upset that they had to unpark strollers. Then the dragon arrived. *swoon* She's so pretty.

Asked a suit and tie CM about a kiss goodnight - nope, but there is a 'baddie' surprise at the end of main street. Walked along side the dragon, easily getting a spot on the guest services side of the train station to sit and watch some more. Did I mention I'm a huge dragon fan? I could watch her all day.

Hung out for a little bit of villain heckling, then headed to the buses at 1:45. Back to the resort by 2:15. Here's some big picture summary stuff:
* I think we got unlucky with ride times. We passed PotC later in the night and it was walk on. Just poor timing on our part I guess, but a lot of waiting.
* Compared to the May 2 DAH I got about 1/3 of the rides in and felt a lot more pressure.
* Higher crowds means you needed to have a strategy which is tough on the first night. I'm hoping to cancel my 1st night MNSSHP to avoid that in the fall.
* CMs seemed a little clueless, not knowing the times for things or admitting that they didn't know what would happen.
* Magic shots aren't listed on the map, and not all of the promised ones showed up in my photos.
* Ursala appears on the merchandise but not in the park in anyway (that I saw).
* I would judge this isn't event for littler kids. I saw a lot of meltdowns. It's not scary per say but there isn't much geared to them.
* I'd do it again.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Did anyone else notice Mickey and Minnie at Town Square weren’t meeting last night? We left around 12 am and we were going to see how long their wait was on our way out, but the doors to the meet and greet were shut. They were meeting at the DAH we went to during the first week of May.

FYI, the characters that normally meet for regular DAH are not being offered for Villains After Hours. So Mickey/Minnie, Princess Ferrytale Hall, Aerial (maybe someone else I’m forgetting) aren’t open for Villains After Hours.

 

[Raya]

Wow, thank you for that info. It sounds like if you want to do Mine Train, Space Mountain, Pirates, Peter Pan and Big Thunder, that will take most of your evening.

Agreed 1000% We didn't even bother trying with Mine Train. We only managed to do: Space Moutain, Pirates, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion x2, Peter Pan, and PeopleMover

We walked up on the first stage show about half way through and it was really crowded up towards the front of the castle, but once you got back to the partners statue there wasn’t many people. Most of the people up front looked like bloggers.

We were told that the center stage in front of partners area was reserved for bloggers.

I keep forgetting to add that there were special face painting options there and I did see quite a few people who did it.

Someone asked about price, the one I was interested in was $22.

Anyone notice how the "free" snacks lines were? As well as locations?

Snack lines were at most 7 to 10 people deep. Even at the end of the night there was at least 1 person in front of me. They were in each land, and often near a regular food place, so in Liberty square in front of LTT/by the tree/across from Sleepy Hollow. In TL, in front of SM/across from Cool Ship. All around the hub (free standing) and also carts in the center of the hub.

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Good morning! Here's my review....

We were let in at 6:36, with no wait. Shopped our way up main street. All of the event merchandise was out at the Main Street Mercantile, however there was a line of 7 to 10 people to get up close to the merchandise. I was surprised by the line, and didn't want to wait. CMs advised me that I should, because they might run out of merchandise. Decided not to and we headed to Haunted Mansion for our FP. Had about a five minute at HM with FP, spent way too long shopping at Momento Mori. A limited selection of event merchandise was out here, but no wait!

Headed to Sunshine Tree terrace, because Citrus Swirl requirements had to be met. Got pixie dusted with a free second citrus swirl, and ate them in Adventureland before heading to our BTMRR FP. FP line was long - outside of the ride line and down the hill. CMs estimated 20 minutes or more. Standby was 55 minutes. Decided against it and went for some not available at the event churros.

Walked to Fantasyland thinking about Peter Pan - posted long wait time (45? 55? it's a blur) while IASW had almost no wait. Sadly, IASW isn't our thing so we moved on. Got distracted by a bigger event merchandise display at Mickey's Philharmonic, wasted until about 9:10 shopping. Stopped for fire works. Headed back to BTMRR after fireworks. Between exiting the castle and getting in line for BTMRR we had our bands checked at least 3 times. Lots of CMs sweeping people from the back of the park. Ended up as the last people in the standby line at 9:56. Posted wait 30 minutes, but we were assured it was more like 10. It was 20. However, when we got off there were empty lanes behind us. We though we might be able to get a line free re-ride, but didn't ask. Had a line of 7 people to get drinks outside of BTMRR. Grabbed a couple of waters.

Went over to PotC. The walk over had that amazing DAH feel where you could spread your arms wide and twirl - dark, no one around. This was officially party time. Arrived and the feeling evaporated. Posted wait time of 15 minutes, actual wait time of 25. Bloggers got to use walk-on FP Line. Pirates 'overlay' was two pirates in line chatting with the crowd and one pirate on the ride interacting with boats. Better than the MNSSHP 'Pete' interaction but not by much.

Got off the ride and ran back to the start of the dragon area, only to get told by a CM that we completely missed the 10:40 dragon parade. Except that she turns around and returns to Frontierland! Yay! Saw her coming down the street, and had no one around. Ran along side her (yes, I am a five year old, why do you ask?) for the whole length of FL. Great crowd interaction with the crows and briers. Stopped by HM for a walk-on ride.

Used the FL cut through to have a private show at the Tiki room (family favorite). Found our first Magic Shot - Scar by the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. Line was about 5 groups deep and we're not huge Scar fans. Crossed over to Casey's for our first party specific food - the Cruella Brownie. I was bummed to miss most of the party food - basically because I never seemed to be next to it! The brownie was over-the-top sweet and just what I needed. Got a Coke to wash it down from the hub with basically no wait.

Passed a second Magic shot at the entrance to TL. There were two photographers doing an 'Oogie Boogie' photo. The line was several families deep so we headed to Space Mountain. Passed the Cool Ship which didn't seem to have noodles (? maybe they were just out) and skipped Yzma's Llama potion due to line.

SM had a posted line of 20 minutes, but the wait was stop and go from the first downhill inside to the rocket ship. It was very frustrating to see one side of the ride sectioned off just for bloggers, and there was definitely some schadenfreude going on when the CM forced bloggers to wait while he verified their credentials. The ride was pitch black, which was interesting but not much of an overlay. There was some music/sounds but they were hard to hear. If anyone was smart enough to look up while in line, I think the planets were aligning like in the stage show overhead. I didn't recognize them though. Based on when we came out I think the wait was longer than posted.

Needed a chance to rest our feet, so we grabbed popcorn (short wait) and hit the People mover. Which is rather dull when SM has the lights off. And then we got stuck. In the dark. Sigh. They put the lights on after a little bit, and at least we were seated. Got off in time to see the fireworks from the midnight castle show.

And promptly didn't know what do do with ourselves. We had 40 minutes left, but given the crowds didn't know what we could accomplish. Finally decided on hitting Sleepy Hollow for the Tarot Card Tart (interior is a nice peanut butter flavor, ditched the tart crust) and the "not listed on the front of the brochure" drink from the other side - tart enough to make you pucker! Finished both before a 5 minute Peter Pan walk on, then hustled past HM (posted 13 minute wait, but I bet walk on) to watch the 1AM show. Got there about 5 minutes early.

So the show..... The castle Hub is lit up like a rave with very loud 80s music (She's a Maniac from Flashdance, Beastie Boys Fight for your Right to Party) played by a DJ and a ton of flashing bright lights. A seizure risk warning would've been nice but I wasn't triggered so that worked out. Stage show was fun and honestly the best use of projection overlays I've ever seen at Disney. The pyrotechnics entranced me past the super cheesy dialog.

Waited by the bride for the dragon, only to hear her main handler freaking out to other CMs that the hub was too full. Moved. Got pushed back. Got pushed back again. Had some families get upset that they had to unpark strollers. Then the dragon arrived. *swoon* She's so pretty.

Asked a suit and tie CM about a kiss goodnight - nope, but there is a 'baddie' surprise at the end of main street. Walked along side the dragon, easily getting a spot on the guest services side of the train station to sit and watch some more. Did I mention I'm a huge dragon fan? I could watch her all day.

Hung out for a little bit of villain heckling, then headed to the buses at 1:45. Back to the resort by 2:15. Here's some big picture summary stuff:
* I think we got unlucky with ride times. We passed PotC later in the night and it was walk on. Just poor timing on our part I guess, but a lot of waiting.
* Compared to the May 2 DAH I got about 1/3 of the rides in and felt a lot more pressure.
* Higher crowds means you needed to have a strategy which is tough on the first night. I'm hoping to cancel my 1st night MNSSHP to avoid that in the fall.
* CMs seemed a little clueless, not knowing the times for things or admitting that they didn't know what would happen.
* Magic shots aren't listed on the map, and not all of the promised ones showed up in my photos.
* Ursala appears on the merchandise but not in the park in anyway (that I saw).
* I would judge this isn't event for littler kids. I saw a lot of meltdowns. It's not scary per say but there isn't much geared to them.
* I'd do it again.

Thanks for the details!!!
We did the first MNSSHP last year, never again.
It really is too bad the Bloggers got such VIP treatment over guests.

 

[focusondisney]

Bloggers got to use walk-on FP Line.

SM had a posted line of 20 minutes, but the wait was stop and go from the first downhill inside to the rocket ship. It was very frustrating to see one side of the ride sectioned off just for bloggers,

Ok, this is ridiculous! It’s one thing if Disney wants to comp bloggers, but entirely another when they get special ride access & increase wait times for guests who paid a pretty good price to have low wait times. Sounds like some emails to guest services are in order.

Edit: Oh, and the center stage area too? Disney should have run an event just for bloggers & not take away from paying guests!!