"Official" 2018 Disney After Hours (DAH) Thread (Now Closed, see New 2019 Thread)

[Arubaflower]

We got here at 8:45am this morning. The day and night flew by. Would do it again in a heart beat.

 

[sky13]

Out of 7dmt. That 30 minute posted wait time was more like 5 minutes

 

[Haley R]

Out of 7dmt. That 30 minute posted wait time was more like 5 minutes

That’s good to know. We will probably plan on riding it at the end of the night then.

 

[Arubaflower]

This is funny, we were behind a lady who got 20 Mickey bars, 15 ice cream sandwiches, and she asked for a bag of ice to keep them cold. They gave it all to her with no problem at all.

 

[Haley R]

This is funny, we were behind a lady who got 20 Mickey bars, 15 ice cream sandwiches, and she asked for a bag of ice to keep them cold. They gave it all to her with no problem at all.

 

[focusondisney]

This is funny, we were behind a lady who got 20 Mickey bars, 15 ice cream sandwiches, and she asked for a bag of ice to keep them cold. They gave it all to her with no problem at all.

See, I don't really find it funny. When Disney eliminates the snacks from the event next time, it will be because of things like this.

 

[Brandilla]

Anyone happen to notice any magic shots out tonight? Tangled Lantern, the one by Tea Cups, etc?

I tried to get in line for the lantern shot around 8:30 and was told it is not being offered for after hours guests and could not do it.

 

[Haley R]

See, I don't really find it funny. When Disney eliminates the snacks from the event next time, it will be because of things like this.

They do advertise it as unlimited though

 

[Disney_Princess83]

See, I don't really find it funny. When Disney eliminates the snacks from the event next time, it will be because of things like this.

We don't know how many people she had in her group. 2-3 ice creams per person doesn't seem like all that much. A man was in front of us and got 10 drinks and 10 ice creams. And he had 8 other people with him. Also Disney says it's unlimited. At the end of the night, we had CMs ask if he wanted any more drinks or ice cream on the walk out.

Also, personally, I don't feel bad if people take extra snacks. We took home a few bottles of water and had them refill our popcorn bucket. Disney is now charging for what used to be EMH minus the snacks. 3 hours of walk on rides in January/February. Disney know people are going to take extra ice cream and drinks. It's factored into the price.

 

[Arubaflower]

See, I don't really find it funny. When Disney eliminates the snacks from the event next time, it will be because of things like this.

I agree it is ridiculously greedy but at the prices Disney charges for everything, people will look for ways to feel less bent over. And $120 for three hours is ridiculously greedy as well.

Disney wouldn't eliminate snacks but maybe limit the number one person could get at a time.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

We had another really great event. We managed to get everything done that we wanted to.

Entered MK at 4pm using our AP and bought After Hours Tickets.
Played Sorcerers
Rode the Railway all the way around the Kingdom.
FP Jungle Cruise
Played Sorcerers
Caseys for Dinner
Walked to the front to get our lanyards
Stop at the Confectionery and then Starbucks for sugar hits.
Magic Carpets (CM let us use FP line)

Walked to Big Thunder, got in line 7:57pm

Rode Big Thunder four times (once during fireworks which was a dream of mine!)
Snack stop in Liberty Square - Popcorn/Ice Cream and Drinks.
Walk across to Tomorrowland (cutting across Main Street)
Buzz Lightyear x 3
Another Ice Cream stop.
Winnie the Pooh (for stuck for a few minutes)
Carousel x 2
Met Tiana and Rapunzel (sign said it was a mystery princess instead of Tiana.)
Popcorn stop
Space Mountain (longest wait of the night - 12 minutes)
Drink stop.
Peter Pan Ride
Ice Cream and final popcorn stop (picked up 2 to full my refillable bucket)
Carousel
Mine Train (said 30 minute wait. Was under 10)
Ice cream stops (CMs asked if we wanted anything more to take with us. Grabbed an ice cream each and a drink each)

Photopass was still out so we took two photos, took some extra photos of an almost (and then empty) Main Street. We watched The Kiss Good Night 3 or even 4 times (we finally got the photo of us laying down on Main Street with the castle in the background) CMs were awesome and helped us take our photos. They were lovely and we were the last ones out of the Kingdom.

It was an amazing night! I hope everyone had a great time too!

 

[DisneyGuy]

Just got back not too long ago from Magic Kingdom and DAH is definitely the BEST way to experience the park!
The time does fly by but we were in at 6:20pm and did all of this:

Haunted Mansion (3)
Pirates (2)
Peter Pan (2)
It's a small world
Winnie the Pooh (2)
Mad Tea Party
Dumbo
Splash Mountain
Under the sea
Met Ariel in the grotto
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (3) - unbelievable!!!!!!

We got off our second mine train ride at 11:00pm and decided to see if we could get in line one last time and we made it! Also, we never waited more than 15 minutes each time despite the wait time posted.

Had a couple of Mickey bars, a couple of sodas and waters between us and popcorn but honestly it's so hard to really eat and enjoy when you are focusing on rides - I just can't eat that fast.

I wanted popcorn on the way out but carts seemed few and far between and we tried to get soda before we left but the one cart we stopped at was all out.

All in all it was a great night but I do wish it was longer!

 

[sky13]

Also, personally, I don't feel bad if people take extra snacks. We took home a few bottles of water and had them refill our popcorn bucket. Disney is now charging for what used to be EMH minus the snacks. 3 hours of walk on rides in January/February. Disney know people are going to take extra ice cream and drinks. It's factored into the price.

Towards the end of DAH today I was thinking that it was a great night of walk ons... Then thought about it again and realised that it had been even emptier during the 1-3am EMH I did in 2015! Not been to such a late EMH since and it seems all my recent trips have EMHs at times like 8-10pm, 9-11pm, 10pm-12am, and these are still pretty crowded EMHs.

Photopass was still out so we took two photos, took some extra photos of an almost (and then empty) Main Street. We watched The Kiss Good Night 3 or even 4 times (we finally got the photo of us laying down on Main Street with the castle in the background) CMs were awesome and helped us take our photos. They were lovely and we were the last ones out of the Kingdom.

It was an amazing night! I hope everyone had a great time too!

Were you the two people who were taking photos lying down on Main Street near the Emporium/flagpole? If so I definitely walked past you a few times (was walking up and down Main Street trying to get nice empty park photos)!

Had a couple of Mickey bars, a couple of sodas and waters between us and popcorn but honestly it's so hard to really eat and enjoy when you are focusing on rides - I just can't eat that fast.

I wanted popcorn on the way out but carts seemed few and far between and we tried to get soda before we left but the one cart we stopped at was all out.

All in all it was a great night but I do wish it was longer!

I wanted soda but never found a cart that had a short queue so gave up on getting soda!

But I was also in the mine train queue at 11pm - it was great how there was an ice cream stand right outside the 7DMT exit and everyone just headed straight for it as they got off 7DMT

 

[TLK 71]

We got into the park just after 6pm. Taking everything at a very leisurely pace, we managed 12 rides/attractions. I think we stopped at the snack carts 7 times, lol. We also had at least 3 bathroom breaks. We took time to stroll around the castle and spent a good portion of time locating friends who arrived separately from us. I thought it was an amazing experience. We would definitely do it again. You can easily do 5+rides an hour during event time if you have a good plan that doesn't involve geotracking another group through the park, lol.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

To everyone for their reports from last night! So helpful!

I’m behind in linking reviews to Post #1, but I’ll get to it this weekend.

Thanks again!

 

[lizabu]

We arrived at 5:55 and there was already a line for After Hours but they weren’t letting anyone in yet. At exactly 5:59 the line began to move and we were in and had our lanyards very quickly.

We took some pictures on Main Street and Move it, Shake it came by so we stopped to watch. The hub was very congested but we managed to squeeze through and make our way to Liberty Square. We had dinner at Columbia Harbour House. My husband wanted to smoke so we went to the DSA by Big Thunder.

We did Jungle Cruise which was maybe a 5 minute wait. Then Aladdin’s carpets which was walk on. Then we went over and watched the fireworks from the pathway to Liberty Square.

My husband wanted to smoke again so we went back to the same DSA and I got in line for popcorn. He finished and was able to join me before I reached the front. We each got a water and a Diet Coke a popcorn and a Mickey ice cream sandwich. We sat down and ate our ice cream sandwiches. Then we ate enough popcorn that we could bend down the edges of the box to close. Big thunder mountain was walk on and 2 popcorn boxes fit in the pocket without spilling a drop.

We walked on Aladdin again. Then walked on Pirates. We headed over to the castle and took pictures then walked through the castle to fantasyland. Rode the carousel. Then Peter Pan which was a 5 minute wait. Walked on It’s a small world where the CM was awesome and was working hard to get people excited and upbeat. Then we did the Little Mermaid ride which was deserted then Dumbo which was walk on. Then Tea cups. Then Pooh bear. Then husband wanted to smoke again so I showed him where the Tomorrowland DSA was and went to the bathroom then got a Mickey bar. We did Buzz twice. Then people mover. Then I remembered we didn’t do Haunted Mansion yet so we went over there and it was 11:01 as we were walking out. One last bathroom break before we headed out. Shops on Main Street were open so we looked around.

The swan was sharing buses with dolphin, beach club, boardwalk and yacht club. There was a long line. One bus came and got filled and left. Then another bus came. There were two scooters and a wheelchair and one lady didn’t know how to drive her scooter well. She ran a lady over and that lady was being a rather good sport about it even though she had been pinned between the scooter and a wheelchair for a couple minutes before someone could help the lady reverse the scooter. The loading process was long enough I noticed another bus had come in behind us before we were on our way. My heart went out to the lady standing and holding a sleeping baby. Swan was the first stop. A few from other resorts opted to get off and walk just to be off that bus. I checked the time and it was midnight. We grabbed a pizza at Picabu and headed back to the room. If you’re in the area it’s good and under $20. We only ate half so you could feed 4 if you wish. Overall very good night but transportation was not great.

 

[Belle0101]

I feel like that’s a lot considering you still have an hour left which is awesome! Were some of those before dah started?

I only counted/listed what we did starting at 8pm ... It's just adults this trip so we're able to move a little more quickly between rides and we didn't stop for photos.

Leaving was easy ... There was a ferryboat loading as we walked up and then we had maybe a one minute wait for a tram to the parking lot. We were easily back to AKL by midnight.

We had a really great time and I attribute that in large part to everyone who posted their tips from previous nights. It really helped with planning.

 

[sky13]

So this was my night last night (doing DAH solo)

I only got to MK around 7pm. The hub was insanely crowded and it was a bit hard to get around. Wanted to grab a bite somewhere and thought Columbia Harbour House might be a nice place - guess what, they closed at 7pm! Apparently the only other places open were Cosmic Ray’s and Casey’s. So went to Casey’s, which was a complete madhouse. But I got my food and finished it as the fireworks started.

Wandered off to Frontierland and watched the rest of the fireworks from the bridge near BTM, which was nice as you kind of concentrate more on the fireworks themselves from this angle than the castle projections. Not seen HEA from this angle before so that was cool (but if it was my first time watching HEA I would not take this angle).

After that I mainly did rides. Didn’t stop for a snack until 11pm!
BTM - this was a literal walk on
BTM again - CM said we could stay seated if we wanted one more ride, if no one was waiting for your row
Splash. But this was weird, as there was almost no music throughout the whole ride and half the lights and animation was off. As I mentioned earlier, this was one Splash ride where the drop was the least scary bit of the whole ride!
BTM
Pirates
Jungle cruise
Flying carpets - I think they were letting people stay on for repeat rides
Met Tink - only one family ahead of me
Met Mickey. No one in the queue in front of or behind me. It was funny as the CM at the entrance gave me a red lanyard, which I handed back to the other CM after about 10 seconds walking through the queue...
Teacups
Dumbo - they were letting people stay on for repeat rides
Met Ariel
Under the sea
Haunted Mansion
Peter Pan - they were sending people through the regular queue but the wait was pretty minimal
Met Elena and Cinderally
7DMT - got in line a couple minutes before 11pm with a posted wait time of 30 minutes. Got out of the ride around 11.08pm so clearly that 30 minute wait time was severely overstated!
There was a ice cream stand just outside the 7DMT exit so headed there and got a Mickey bar
Very, very slowly wandered out of the park. It must have taken me 30 minutes to wander out as I saw the Kiss Goodnight 3 times (11.15, 11.30, 11.45)! By that time the park was pretty empty.

Staying at All Star Movies - there were CMs directing people to various bus stands. They asked me where I was going and directed me to a random stand (Stand 4). Waited a couple of minutes and a bus pulled up with the driver asking me where I was going. She said she just got told to go to a bus stand but wasn’t told which resort she was going to! She waited a few minutes to check if they wanted her to pick up anyone else, and then drove off with just me in the bus.

 

[ShelleyLovesOrlando]

We were at this event Feb 9th last year and IMHO, it was definitely busier last night. However, we still loved it and had a great time last night as well. If I can remember them all, we rode:
Jungle cruise
Magic carpets
7dmt (twice)
Little mermaid
Peter pan
Carousel
Dumbo
Space mountain
Buzz lightyear
Haunted mansion
Big thunder mountain (twice)
Splash mountain

And I feel like i'm forgetting maybe 1 or 2 more. We stopped for snacks a few times, watched the kiss goodnight and headed out. My only issue with this year is that there seemed to be a longer wait for photos so we didn't have any taken at all. Time is a premium when you're trying to ride as much as you can. LOL
Lastly, what we learned last year is to pick a land and do all the rides you want there then move on to the next land. Last year we wasted a lot of time crisscrossing the park and last night was so much smoother for us. To all that are attending other DAH's, have a great time!!!

 

[Pdollar88]

I love all of these reports!! I’m getting super excited about our DAH night in March. Especially since I focused on everything but rides during my last party night.

I’m bummed Pirates will be closed though! Even my delusional Disney mind won’t let me think it’d open early for the 8th.