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

[Haley R]

When I did DAH last year, I watched Wishes from the train station. It wasn't too crowded and we had a direct line of sight to the castle.

I might end up doing this. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Ejw5]

Does anyone know what the "special ticketed event" is from 7:45-9:00 am on February 4, 2018? I haven't heard anything announced but when I go to "edit plans" on my "my Disney itinerary" it says there is one scheduled. We have a 8:10 BOG breakfast reservation and I'm just wandering how it will be affected.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Does anyone know what the "special ticketed event" is from 7:45-9:00 am on February 4, 2018? I haven't heard anything announced but when I go to "edit plans" on my "my Disney itinerary" it says there is one scheduled. We have a 8:10 BOG breakfast reservation and I'm just wandering how it will be affected.

That's Early Morning Magic (EMM). It's a ticketed event where you have access to 7DMT, PP, and WTP from 7:45-9AM and there's a buffet breakfast at Pinnochio Village House available through 10AM. It's a small event - just a few hundred people. The big appeal is 7DMT. I love it BTW!

On an EMM morning, unfortunately with a BOG reservation you're going to be held from going on 7DMT until very close to 9AM. You're still going to be able to be in line well before the rope drop crowd, but you won't likely get any early rides.

Does that help?

 

[Ejw5]

Yes that's what I thought it could be, but I didn't know if they had that going on at the same time as the After Hours.

That's Early Morning Magic (EMM). It's a ticketed event where you have access to 7DMT, PP, and WTP from 7:45-9AM and there's a buffet breakfast at Pinnochio Village House available through 10AM. It's a small event - just a few hundred people. The big appeal is 7DMT. I love it BTW!

On an EMM morning, unfortunately with a BOG reservation you're going to be held from going on 7DMT until very close to 9AM. You're still going to be able to be in line well before the rope drop crowd, but you won't likely get any early rides.

Does tha

 

[sdomino11]

We're going on 1-30-18. I am so excited!
This will be our first time to a DAH and also our first visit in January/February. All of this talk about the night being so cold has worried me! Just how cold is cold? Light jackets? Heavy coats and scarves?

 

[figmentedfollies]

We're going on 1-30-18. I am so excited!
This will be our first time to a DAH and also our first visit in January/February. All of this talk about the night being so cold has worried me! Just how cold is cold? Light jackets? Heavy coats and scarves?

It honestly depends on the weather! Florida can vary during the winter to summer temps (for us northern folks) to gloves and hat weather. I would say at the very least you would need a light jacket, but check the weather in the week leading up to your trip. It's far easier to pack a pair of gloves and the right coat than have to pay Disney prices (and find what you're looking for).

 

[Haley R]

We're going on 1-30-18. I am so excited!
This will be our first time to a DAH and also our first visit in January/February. All of this talk about the night being so cold has worried me! Just how cold is cold? Light jackets? Heavy coats and scarves?

I can't give you advice on January, but we went this year the last week of February/first week of March. I wore shorts and a light jacket and I was freezing in the morning when we went to Magic Kingdom. Everyone around us was shivering because no one expected it to be that cold. This was also when we were standing still waiting for the park to open so that might've been why it felt so cold. I would bring a light jacket and pants for sure just in case! It says the average low is 48 in January.

I should mention that we're from Iowa, so we are used to very cold temperatures!

 

[honeymo78]

Debating on going 1/26 on our newly added Jan trip. We are spending the day at Epcot with a late lunch ADR but could easily head over to MK by 8. We will be in Epcot on 2 other evenings so we can catch Illuminations on another day if we feel like it. I'm thinking of waiting until closer to the trip, maybe Dec to decide (also see if I can pick up some OT hours before then since some random expenses have popped up). If it's sold out, then it wasn't meant to be. This trip is also just my mom and me - I'd love to surprise her with it, but a small part of me worries that she wouldn't think it's worth $100, regardless of who is paying.

 

[csmom]

You say 3/7/18 above. DAH is 3/8/18. Maybe you know that but just making sure!

Thanks for checking - I wasn't clear in my post. Meant that I booked dessert party for 3/7/18, but might cancel if I decided to do After Hours on 3/8/18. I did go ahead and book the After Hours for 3/8. Now just need to decide whether I'm going to cancel the Dessert Party on 3/7, or do both.

 

[csmom]

FW were during normal operating hours. I've done DAH and TTDP and enjoyed both.

Personally, I would choose DAH but I am spoiled by years of DL fireworks. You can always find a viewing spot, although it may not be perfect. Full disclosure -- projection on the castle and a perfect line of sight are not super important to me.

I will also say DAH is 3 hours while FW are over fairly quickly.

Heck do both! I'm an enabler!

I'm afraid it's not going to take much convincing for me to do both!

 

[Limes96]

We went on Feb 2 this year and we were comfortable in light jackets. It was a nice evening weather wise.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We're going on 1-30-18. I am so excited!
This will be our first time to a DAH and also our first visit in January/February. All of this talk about the night being so cold has worried me! Just how cold is cold? Light jackets? Heavy coats and scarves?

We went 2/16/17 and it looks like the low was either 47 or 54 degrees per a little google research (I'm not sure which day the low temp is actually recorded?). I was in shorts with several layers of shirts and an outer heavy fleece.

It was one of those sneaky Florida cold nights where you leave your room when the sun is still up and you think all is good. Then the sun goes down and all of a sudden the temp drops like a rock!

Nevertheless, we were in the Poly pool the next day... so yeah... Florida weather!

 

[Aubsmama]

I would totally pay the extra money! I wish Disney did this throughout the year. We are going in June 2018 and would LOVE this!

 

[CarolynFH]

Thanks for checking - I wasn't clear in my post. Meant that I booked dessert party for 3/7/18, but might cancel if I decided to do After Hours on 3/8/18. I did go ahead and book the After Hours for 3/8. Now just need to decide whether I'm going to cancel the Dessert Party on 3/7, or do both.

If you haven't seen HEA yet, I would recommend keeping the dessert party reservation (assuming your budget allows it). The first time we saw HEA we were behind some trees and could see only the top half of the castle. Next trip we booked the dessert party with plaza garden viewing and truly enjoyed the projections much, much more than the first time! It's an amazing show.

 

[notrub98]

We're going on 1-30-18. I am so excited!
This will be our first time to a DAH and also our first visit in January/February. All of this talk about the night being so cold has worried me! Just how cold is cold? Light jackets? Heavy coats and scarves?

I was there the last weekend in January this year and it was FREEZING. We had on long sleeves, heavy hooded sweatshirts, fleece jackets and were freezing. I've also been there in shorts. Unfortunately, there is no way to know until right before!

 

[kerreyn]

Our family will be at WDW Feb. 6-10 for my hubby's 50th. As soon as my daughter and I saw that DAH was available on Feb. 8, I booked our tickets! SO excited!

One question - for those that have attended DAH in the past, can you tell me if any of the stores were open during the event?

 

[jaybee1026]

We're booked for Feb 8 too! I was able to change our HEA Dessert party to Feb 1 so now we can ride the night away! Cannot wait!!!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Our family will be at WDW Feb. 6-10 for my hubby's 50th. As soon as my daughter and I saw that DAH was available on Feb. 8, I booked our tickets! SO excited!

One question - for those that have attended DAH in the past, can you tell me if any of the stores were open during the event?

I'm probably the wrong person to answer but I seem to recall many of the stores were open, especially the Main Street ones. I'm almost certain we did some shopping at the Emporium on our way out and I think I got a Starbucks at some point?

Honestly we were so focused on rides/enjoying the time in MK I wasn't too focused on the shops. Hopefully others with better memories can confirm!

 

[BK2014]

One question - for those that have attended DAH in the past, can you tell me if any of the stores were open during the event?

There is a great review of a DAH from January 2017 by @Accident with pictures. He indicates that both the Emporium and Main Street Bakery were open, and largely empty. I believe I also read that the stores close right at or before the end of DAH, instead of staying open as guests exit the park.

 

[kerreyn]

Thanks to both of you! I read somewhere that Main Street Bakery would be open, but wasn't sure of what else would be open.