Magic Kingdom After Hours or add an additional day?

[WWhitehead]

Hi All.

DD20 and I have been going to Disney the last 3 years either before or after my son's big volleyball tournament in Orlando. DH and DS went with us one time, but they don't love it as much as we do. She and I are go-go-go, usually because of work schedules and the tournament, we get 2 day park hoppers. This summer, we have the same situation. We are debating flying in one morning and adding the Magic Kingdom After Hours event. The other option is to add a 3rd park day and go when we arrive in Orlando. We have never done that either. We stay at a hotel where we can use the Skyliner and tend to spend a lot of time in HS and Epcot. We also go to AK for Pandora, EE, and whatever else we can fit in but usually only go for a few hours. This year, I would like to try and do a few of the shows like Indiana Jones, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, etc. Do you think an additional park day or adding the MK After Hours would be better? Thank you for the imput!

 

[Karalee402]

I love this question, and I think it's SO hard to answer. I love being in the parks for as many hours as I possibly can! Some days, we rope drop to park close and are like zombies walking to transportation. BUT, having said that, sometimes we've gotten more done during After Hours events than we have in entire regular days at the parks. And the heavy hitter rides have much shorter lines, so you can potentially save some money vs. a regular ticket because you don't have to add Genie or buy the lightning lanes to minimize time. There's something really special about being in the MK with such small crowds!

 

[scrappinginontario]

If it were me, looking that the price to add a 3rd day is not that far off from an AH ticket, I would choose the AH ticket. I believe you will get more done with an AH ticket than you will by adding an additional day to your ticket and going once you arrive.

An AH ticket also offers you the option to go to your resort, go to your room when it's ready, possibly rest a bit and refresh before the AH event.

That would be my choice if I were in your situation.

 

[Skippyboo]

Is the After Hours on your arrival day?

 

[WWhitehead]

Yes, the After Hours is on our arrival day.

 

[Skippyboo]

I would lean towards After Hours using the advantage of getting in early before the event starts than a 3rd day on your arrival. You can do the filler rides , watch HEA then focus on the headliners during the event. They are also doing the Enchantment fireworks during after hours. If the 3rd park day was a full day versus a partial day- I would lean towards 3rd day.

 

[bluezy]

This is a tough one and I'll probably be the odd man out with my suggestions. It seems like you spend the least amount of time at MK (or maybe I'm misreading things). If that's the case, I think I'd go for the 3rd day because it will provide more flexibility. We usually arrive at DW in the morning and head to EP around 2:00. With G+ & ILL, I was able to have 4 rides lined up by the time we arrived in the park and we did 4 or 5 more before leaving the park around 8:00. That allowed us to get a good night's sleep and hit the ground running in the morning. In your case, you could do rope drop at AK the next morning and then hop over to MK in the afternoon and spend the rest of the day there. On day 3 you could rope drop DHS and then decide if you need to hop somewhere else in the afternoon/evening.

 

[KellyKateri]

Seeing as you approach Disney similar to me (go, go, GO) make sure you check out Ear Scouts on youtube. Rob does some of the BEST Disney Park videos on how to get stuff done. He just recently posted a video on how to make the most of MK after hours too!

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

MK AH was one of the best things we’ve ever done! If you’re into rides, I’d pick that any day! My youngest made us do Space Mountain 5 or 6 times in a row (and that was only a fraction of the rides we did that night). Definitely worth the money!

 

[glocon]

I agree with bluezy.

I’d rather have more hours at the park even knowing the lines would be shorter at after hours.

Since you have the option for the extra day I’d stack g+ and ILL$ and go to MK on arrival day. I wouldn’t do AK on arrival day since you aren’t getting there early and it closes earlier than the MK (definitely go to FotLK show- it’s the best!).

This way you wouldn’t be as tired for the next two days.

Have fun no matter what you chose!

 

[SG131]

How long is the tournament? For 3 day tickets, you have 5 days to use them. So if the tournament is 3 or more days you won't be able to do one day before and the other two after without buying two separate tickets.

 

[bluezy]

How long is the tournament? For 3 day tickets, you have 5 days to use them. So if the tournament is 3 or more days you won't be able to do one day before and the other two after without buying two separate tickets.

Good catch! I didn't notice the OP mentioned doing one Disney day before the tournament and more days after. If the tournament is more than 2-3 days, buying tickets for the after hour event is probably the best option since it doesn't require a park ticket for that day -- assuming the dates work out with the tournament. Or buy the 3-day tickets but plan to do all 3 of those days before or after the tournament -- not splitting them up (unless the tournament is only 2 days).