Disney After Hours - Would you do it again

[AngiTN]

Wasn't this actually "free" for some deluxe resort guests...or am I thinking of another event?

It was given away at random in addition to a DVC night

 

[AngiTN]

I went last spring and it was pretty much my favorite time at WDW in 20 years of going. The CMs weren't so stressed so they could have more fun with their jobs, the other guests weren't as stressed and were having so much more fun, and we had so much more fun too. In my opinion, it was worth it even at full price. We paid half price for our tickets though. Now that they've dropped the price and I'm sure they're going to increase the number of tickets sold...I'm waiting to see what the reviews from the new round are like, and I hope they extend it into April & May of 2017 too!

I figure they will increase tickets but even if they double then it will still be empty

 

[HopperFan]

I went last spring and it was pretty much my favorite time at WDW in 20 years of going. The CMs weren't so stressed so they could have more fun with their jobs, the other guests weren't as stressed and were having so much more fun, and we had so much more fun too. In my opinion, it was worth it even at full price. We paid half price for our tickets though. Now that they've dropped the price and I'm sure they're going to increase the number of tickets sold...I'm waiting to see what the reviews from the new round are like, and I hope they extend it into April & May of 2017 too!

If you mean they will likely sell more tickets than sold last year, I agree. It was poorly handled last year and they seem to be doing better this year with the price point and promotion.

If you are meaning that the numbers that attended last year were the full event and with the new price they will add to their cap, then no. Last year's attendance never even came the least bit close to their cap. Even at the new price and the old cap, they will still be banking a very nice amount of money.

 

[MissPrice]

Some of my fondest memories are running around MK until 3am, back when EMH were that late. There was practically no one in the park. I just bought my tickets for 2/9. I'm not expecting it to be that empty, but hoping for some of the same feeling.

 

[jillt2ph]

Some of my fondest memories are running around MK until 3am, back when EMH were that late. There was practically no one in the park. I just bought my tickets for 2/9. I'm not expecting it to be that empty, but hoping for some of the same feeling.

Please report back! I paid the $75 last year and it was well worth it. It was the closest I have come to an adult event at Magic Kingdom. I hope it stays that way! I plan on going March 2nd, even though I will be at the DVC MK after hours event on March 3rd.

 

[Accident]

I figure they will increase tickets but even if they double then it will still be empty

i'm mixed on if this would actually be that way. I went in the second and last night of after hour the first time and the first trip in was empty, everyone was amazing. It took a moment to learn how to do this event and that you can't treat it like rope drop because that just creates a moving crowd while the other 95% of attractions are completely empty... What I saw on the last night was a sold out crowd and it was noticable that you weren't really alone anymore. It was also a lot of people that learned of the event, paid as part of their trip planning and had that entitled to more than everyone else attitude.. They were on a mission that this was going to be worth every penny. To a degree, they were stuck in rope drop mode like I was the first time until I settled down and realized what was going on and this was the wrong strategy to tour MK.

It was a very different crowd and I would not have been happy with the event with that type of crowd and double the people.

 

[mcurrence]

i'm mixed on if this would actually be that way. I went in the second and last night of after hour the first time and the first trip in was empty, everyone was amazing. It took a moment to learn how to do this event and that you can't treat it like rope drop because that just creates a moving crowd while the other 95% of attractions are completely empty... What I saw on the last night was a sold out crowd and it was noticable that you weren't really alone anymore. It was also a lot of people that learned of the event, paid as part of their trip planning and had that entitled to more than everyone else attitude.. They were on a mission that this was going to be worth every penny. To a degree, they were stuck in rope drop mode like I was the first time until I settled down and realized what was going on and this was the wrong strategy to tour MK.

It was a very different crowd and I would not have been happy with the event with that type of crowd and double the people.

Hi! Thanks for the insight. This will be our first time and I'm curious what your recommendations would be? We plan to be there for Wishes, have never done rope drop or extra hours..just hoping to enjoy the rides with less madness Should we avoid Fantasyand until later?
TIA!

 

[Accident]

Hi! Thanks for the insight. This will be our first time and I'm curious what your recommendations would be? We plan to be there for Wishes, have never done rope drop or extra hours..just hoping to enjoy the rides with less madness Should we avoid Fantasyand until later?!

It's so empty that it's really fast to get anywhere once afterhours is in swing so I wouldn't look at it like avoid a specific land. I found avoiding the longer line rides the first 30-60 minutes to work the best for us. It's a normal day for everyone not doing after hours so they still jump in line the last second and there is a 30-60 minute line on the popular rides. I also noticed that a lot of after hours people rushed to 7dmt and got in line as well. We just did other rides until 7dmt and other populars were empty and then we went into a do the land strategy. We also don't mind walking around the place several times so for us it was no big deal to do an hour loop around the park jumping into less popular but we wanted to do rides and then start a circle of the popular rides where we did them 4-5 times in a row before moving to the next ride.

Before the event started, we didn't want to waste to much of the 3 hours on longer rides so we concentrated on those and night entertainment including getting a last minute snack that wasn't ice cream before certain food places closed for the night. This was rides like jungle book, small world, peter pan... I would recommend planning on haunted mansion during after hours and probably later in the night. Those cast members were in rare form with the whole atmosphere and an empty stretch room means they can safely move around you to lightly scare and it's only your family in the stretch room. Also it's one of the few times you can see the hitchhiking ghosts at the end and what it looks like when nobody is in the doom buggies next to you.

Now there is some interesting things you can do that you can never do. You could go into any ride with an interactive queue and do nothing but their interactive queue things because your in nobodies way. It's a great time to see the peter pan queue, or play the space mountain game, etc etc etc. You need to think out of the box on this event and what would you enjoy if there was nobody else around and you could do anything you wanted. That's basically what this event is.

It's a great time for photography of an empty park so come prepared for taking your own pictures and learn how your camera's auto-picture taking features work because there might not be anyone nearby to help you take that photo. Especially on rides, you could do a ride just taking photos and then ride it again to not see the ride through the camera right away.. It's interesting having photos of small world or pirates when the other boats in the photo are empty.

Also consider how you get into the ride. I go with my daughter and lap bar rides don't go tight against her because I'm in a seat.. it's no big deal for you each to get your own car, boat, row on this night and that's some memorable times to have to wave across the ride to each other and be the only ones there.

 

[mcurrence]

It's so empty that it's really fast to get anywhere once afterhours is in swing so I wouldn't look at it like avoid a specific land. I found avoiding the longer line rides the first 30-60 minutes to work the best for us. It's a normal day for everyone not doing after hours so they still jump in line the last second and there is a 30-60 minute line on the popular rides. I also noticed that a lot of after hours people rushed to 7dmt and got in line as well. We just did other rides until 7dmt and other populars were empty and then we went into a do the land strategy. We also don't mind walking around the place several times so for us it was no big deal to do an hour loop around the park jumping into less popular but we wanted to do rides and then start a circle of the popular rides where we did them 4-5 times in a row before moving to the next ride.

Before the event started, we didn't want to waste to much of the 3 hours on longer rides so we concentrated on those and night entertainment including getting a last minute snack that wasn't ice cream before certain food places closed for the night. This was rides like jungle book, small world, peter pan... I would recommend planning on haunted mansion during after hours and probably later in the night. Those cast members were in rare form with the whole atmosphere and an empty stretch room means they can safely move around you to lightly scare and it's only your family in the stretch room. Also it's one of the few times you can see the hitchhiking ghosts at the end and what it looks like when nobody is in the doom buggies next to you.

Now there is some interesting things you can do that you can never do. You could go into any ride with an interactive queue and do nothing but their interactive queue things because your in nobodies way. It's a great time to see the peter pan queue, or play the space mountain game, etc etc etc. You need to think out of the box on this event and what would you enjoy if there was nobody else around and you could do anything you wanted. That's basically what this event is.

It's a great time for photography of an empty park so come prepared for taking your own pictures and learn how your camera's auto-picture taking features work because there might not be anyone nearby to help you take that photo. Especially on rides, you could do a ride just taking photos and then ride it again to not see the ride through the camera right away.. It's interesting having photos of small world or pirates when the other boats in the photo are empty.

Also consider how you get into the ride. I go with my daughter and lap bar rides don't go tight against her because I'm in a seat.. it's no big deal for you each to get your own car, boat, row on this night and that's some memorable times to have to wave across the ride to each other and be the only ones there.

Thank you so much for all the details, truly appreciated!!!!

 

[kariandy6698]

and what exactly was free?

I would definitely do it again. My daughter and I had, perhaps, our best Disney day ever. Being able to ride whatever you want without the stress of lines was awesome.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Closing and redirecting to this more current thread:
Magic Kingdom After Hours coming back (DAH); Reviews: Page 18 >>