Let's Get Kronk
WRONG LEVERRRRR!
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2022
I actually like novellas in cases like this, so thank you! I want to get all of the information before I decide to pull the trigger. I was curious about RotR and this is good insight. My only other experience with something like this was doing an Orlando Informer meet-up one weekend before the pandemic. I bought the ticket to the event because it touted that you could ride Hagrid over and over, which ended up being a lie. By the time the regular park visitors cleared the queue hours after the park closed (because they let people join the queue right up until the park closed), it left time for the event goers to ride Hagrid *maybe* once if you immediately got in line, and even then it was almost an hour wait. The rides are the draw for me with DAH, so any insight is much appreciated.I have done MNSSHP and the lines have never been very long. We did every ride in the park a couple weeks ago between 6 and 10 PM (before getting spots for fireworks, the second parade and the final Sanderson Sister show). Our longest wait was a posted 35 minutes for 7DMT that ended up being about 15. One of the biggest perks of the parties/after hours is that there is no Genie+ so the lines actually move.
After Hours parties have, historically, been lower attendance cap than Parties. Most After Hours reviews I’ve seen have said the parks felt virtually empty and most rides were walk-ons. I don’t think that would extend to offerings like RotR and SDD but they should still be much more manageable than normal. My primary concern is whether Disney continues to keep the same low attendance caps or whether they expand. Everything I’ve seen from the past indicates After Hours are very light crowds but they don’t advertise numbers so it’s a little bit of a roll of the dice.
My other concern with the HS After Hours is whether RotR and a couple other rides will be open for all of the parties. They leave it intentionally vague on the listings. If RotR has a bad day and they decide they need the extra time during the party to make sure it is ready to go the next day I imagine it will be closed. Pirates of the Caribbean was closed the whole night unexpectedly when I was at MNSSHP. I’d assume there’s an even higher chance of that with the notoriously unreliable RotR.
I’m hoping to get tickets for the MK After Hours on the 9th because entry at 7 should allow me to see the Fireworks and MK has enough attractions that even if a couple are shut down there should be more than enough open to disperse the crowd and allow for an enjoyable experience. Every time I’ve been to MNSSHP, and the reason we keep going back, I’ve been able to do more, at a much more enjoyable pace than I can do on a full day ticket. The experience may vary for others but I have found I prefer it to a regular day at the parks.
The price has a lot of variables. For me, I don’t have an AP so a ticket to an After Hours party is basically the same as a day ticket with Genie+. While I can’t say for certain on the after hours event, I have definitely found MNSSHP well worth the price. For someone who has an AP or is already planning on doing the After Hours park on the same trip, I think your mileage may vary on the cost/benefit analysis.
Sorry for the novella.
If I did buy a ticket to DAH, I would do it instead of a park ticket that day, especially because it's the day that I arrive and check in to BC. I could hit the expo that afternoon and chill for a bit before entering DHS at 7:00 PM without wasting a park ticket that would only be good for half a day or so of park time anyway.