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

[rachdd]

I am curious if anyone tried to get in at 4? I have seen reports of people who got in at 6, etc... when they tried but did anyone try at 4 like last week and get turned away?

 

[DisneyGuy]

Question about characters - I know Princess Fairytale Hall is open - is that just Cinderella and Elena? I know talking Mickey is available but are there any other meet and greets going on during DAH?

 

[pitpat]

Question about characters - I know Princess Fairytale Hall is open - is that just Cinderella and Elena? I know talking Mickey is available but are there any other meet and greets going on during DAH?

Cinderella and Elena is one side, Rapunzel and Tiana is the other. Also Tinkerbell at Town Square and Ariel in her grotto.

 

[fiasco32]

Question about characters - I know Princess Fairytale Hall is open - is that just Cinderella and Elena? I know talking Mickey is available but are there any other meet and greets going on during DAH?

Arielle and Tinkerbell are open.

 

[Megsmachine]

Really, 16 Olaf Bars....

Yup! There were 5 of us and we love them!

 

[Megsmachine]

Thanks to everyone for the detailed reports!!! Not only are they good intel, they make me VERY excited for our event!

@Megsmachine - I literally laughed out loud over the 16 Olaf bars! I think that probably covered the cost of AT LEAST one ticket! I feel compelled to try one now. Your family ftSw! (for the Snacking win)

We love our Olaf bars!

 

[Megsmachine]

Also, and I know I'm being greedy now... but any comments on transportation, how you left, resorts you shared buses with, etc, would be awesome too. Thanks!

We were at OKW. We walked up and there was one other family waiting. We were on a bus in less than 5 minutes and back to our room by midnight.

 

[Megsmachine]

Weird. Seems thus far you are the only one reporting being required to exit and re-enter for this recent DAH. Where did you go to get your lanyard? Did you go up to a CM by the tapstiles or did you go to Guest Services?

I got the impression that Guest Services was very organized with regard to processing In-park people and giving out lanyards for DAH this time around.

I asked a CM that was standing near the hub. He said we had to go out and come back in. I see that he was wrong now but we just did it and didn’t ask anyone else. We were in no hurry at that point so it wasn’t a big deal. Had we known we would have gone somewhere inside the park of course.

 

[alexce]

Was your bus to Coronado Springs very crowded?

The way there, people had to stand. The way back, everyone had a seat. But I definitely wasn’t on the first bus after the event ended.

 

[fitgirlFL]

So super excited. Going Feb 8th, myself and my boyfriend. We have AP's so will be in the park earlier in the day for lunch at The Plaza and some pre DAH rides. Really appreciate all the reports from everyone who has already attended. Thank you!!

 

[Arubaflower]

I asked a CM that was standing near the hub. He said we had to go out and come back in. I see that he was wrong now but we just did it and didn’t ask anyone else. We were in no hurry at that point so it wasn’t a big deal. Had we known we would have gone somewhere inside the park of course.

I see. That's a shame you were misinformed but I am glad everything worked out for you.

The only viable time we have to get the lanyards is right before the Dessert Party we are attending so I'm trying to nail down all the details I can beforehand. Thanks for your input.

 

[jennab113]

I really couldn’t have asked for a better night last night. I rode everything that was open at least once but skipped the character meets. The only time I had to wait for a ride was 7DMT for 10 minutes and a short wait while HM was stopped for a few minutes. The Pan line looked long, but I rode it at 10:45 with no line and no one several cars in front or behind me. I was completely alone on Peoplemover which was fun and disconcerting. I got 2 Mickey ice cream sandwiches, a box of popcorn, 1 bottle of Coke (needed some caffeine!), and 7 bottles of water.

I didn’t even go to the park until 3pm and still managed to go 24k steps yesterday because I just kept moving during DAH.

I’m at Riverside and all of Port Orleans shared a bus back. The line was long but two buses came back to back, so I went from being disappointed I didn’t get on the bus to excited to get a seat in about 2 minutes.

I picked up my lanyard at the front gate around 6:15. There were two people with scanners checking everyone and it took about 2 minutes.

 

[GMatisse]

Thanks to all that reported back to us during and after DAH!
I watched some of the posts as they were coming in and it was like I was there! I will be on Feb 8!
So grateful for all the tips and info and for you all taking the time to let us in on your adventure.

 

[HoneyHoneyPot]

Did anyone notice if the princess were standing outside last night at the end of the party?

We’re going Tuesday night!

 

[miloworld]

Did anyone notice if the princess were standing outside last night at the end of the party?

On an extremely irrelevant note, HKDL started to have characters saying goodbye at the train station at the end of the night.

An act to recover from no fireworks and persuade guests the direction out the gates.

 

[Eighty8Keys]

I know this is late, but I ended up coming down with a nasty cold on the day we returned home and today was the first day I felt like my brain was un-fuzzed enough to put together my thoughts. DS and I attended the 1/19 DAH and felt that it was a very similar experience to the 1/27 DAH we attended last year.

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom around 7:30 pm. We picked up our lanyards and headed over to BTMRR. Last year we started in Fantasyland, but it seemed like everyone started there so this year we started on the opposite side of the park. We hit BTMRR at 7:50 pm and never stopped walking until we loaded a train. We could have easily gotten back in line for a second ride with no wait but opted instead to head towards Pirates. We were just at the spot where Frontierland turns into Adventureland when the fireworks started. Last year was all about maximizing the number of attractions while eating as many Mickey ice creams as we could. This year we decided to just enjoy being in a nearly empty park and do whatever we felt like doing. So, we sat on the wall next to the Golden Oak Outpost and watched the fireworks, with absolutely no one else around.

Here’s the rundown of our night:

• 8:00 pm Fireworks
• Pirates – there were two people ahead of us in line. We asked the CM if we could wait for the next boat. We ended up by ourselves in a boat with two empty boats in front of us and an empty boat behind us. It was really an amazing experience without seeing another soul during the ride and without anyone talking or taking flash pictures.
• Mickey bars from the cart near Haunted Mansion. No one in line.
• 8:50 pm Peter Pan – walk on, we were routed through the regular line.
• Mickey ice cream sandwiches – about five people in line
• Under the Sea – Little Mermaid – walk on (that’s a long queue). The CM asked if we wanted to stay on, but we wanted to move on.
• 9:24 pm Mad Tea Party – waited for the next cycle. Only five teacups were occupied.
• Passed 7DMT with a posted 20-minute wait. Decided to skip it and check back later.
• Winnie the Pooh – walk on
• 9:39 pm Mickey ice cream sandwich – had a short line but was less than two-minute wait
• Took pictures of the castle from the side and front
• Buzz – walk on, we much prefer the DL version, so if we do this ride at all it has to be less than a 5-minute wait. Could have stayed on for another ride, but once was enough.
• Skipped Space Mountain – too rough a ride, prefer the DL version. WDW version very similar to the DL Matterhorn.
• 10:07 pm – TTA Peoplemover – walk on- one of our favorites and we ride as often as we can.
• Dumbo – walk on – another long queue.
• Peter Pan - walk on - routed through the FP line this time.
• Mickey ice cream sandwich for DS; Diet Coke for me – I knew that one more ice cream would push me over the line from being full to being sick.
• Walked along Main Street to the front of the park taking pictures. Wasn’t completely empty, but a vast difference from a regular night in the MK.

We purposely left 10 minutes before the end of the event to try to get ahead of the crowds. We did this last year and that strategy served us well this time too. We were directed to bus stop #2 which was shared by the Poly and GF. There was one family in line ahead of us when we arrived at 10:56 pm. A bus arrived about 10 minutes later and by then the entire queue was filled. We headed to seats in the back of the bus and people really crammed in. We were slightly worried that we wouldn’t be able to get off the bus at the Poly but fortunately enough people exited and we had no trouble.

Overall, it was an excellent experience. There were places that were a little more crowded than others, but only a small fraction of the number of people you’d see during regular park hours. We didn’t notice huge lines at the snack carts. If one cart looked busy, we just walked to the next one. We never did get back to 7DMT. When we passed again later in the evening it still looked busy and we didn’t want to spend time waiting in line for such a short ride. We had FP’s for two other days of our trip, so we weren’t disappointed.

ETA: I realized I left off our second Peter Pan of the night just after Dumbo.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Is there a limit on what/how much you can order at the carts? Our group of six will have some that sit out a ride or two and thinking they can hit up a cart and order for everyone, if possible.

Fantastic updates everyone, so appreciated! Super stoked for 2/8.

 

[mcurrence]

This year we decided to just enjoy being in a nearly empty park and do whatever we felt like doing. So, we sat on the wall next to the Golden Oak Outpost and watched the fireworks, with absolutely no one else around.

Thank you for sharing this...sometimes Disney planning drives me crazy (it's a love/hate /love relationship lol) At one point for this trip I considered -no discounts- a DAH ticket, HEA desert ticket AND a full one day ticket -all for that same day! That's a lot of money times four! This is our only MK day and when I found out we wouldn't be able to get in at 4:00 I lost my mind!! Luckily, I was able to put things in perspective -my husband looking at me like I'm nuts helped too lol. and I'm now looking forward to getting to whatever I get to and having a grateful heart. Sometimes it's hard to slow down but when you do, I think you appreciate everything so much more. So glad you were able to!!

 

[adamreisinger]

Thanks to everyone for their reports and info on how the events have gone so far this year. I'm going on 2/8, and weirdly the thing I'm most excited about is that the PeopleMover is open during the event. I went last year and was so bummed that I couldn't ride it.

 

[alexce]

Did anyone notice if the princess were standing outside last night at the end of the party?

We’re going Tuesday night!

Yes, they were out saying goodbye and posing for pics.