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

[GADisneyDad14]

Hi all!
We're back from a crazy 3 days. DAH was AMAZING!
Got to the park at 6:00 and caught the tail end of a parade? I've never seen it before then headed to Fantasyland. Tried to use the lanyard as a FP but it was a no go..I think others are correct that they might let it slide closer to 8:00 We used our FP for 7D and Haunted mansion and went in to see Philharmagic.
We lost some time going back to Caseys to eat but were very lucky to have a CM make a way for us through the waves of people exiting the park after fireworks! Yikes! It would have taken us a ton of time if it wasn't for him!! Then the party began!!
We rode all pretty much as a walk on except for 7D.
Peter Pan
Dumbo
Space 3 x (almost rode the PM after but noticed it was down-sorry for those folks)
Speedway 2x
Orbiter
Big Thunder 4x (the longest we waited was for a the group in front of us to load)
Small world
Pooh
7D 2x We were on the last train to ride. The line said 30 when we walked up shy of 11 but it was less than 5.
We had a ton of ice cream and popcorn and stopped a bunch of times for bathroom breaks and pictures. It was our neighbor/friend's first time at Disney so we took our time with stuff

This party was definitely more crowded than last years for us but it's still empty in my eyes! Absolutely worth every penny!!!

Those smiles! Pure gold.

Thanks for the report!

 

[ksinniger]

We did the double - DAH on 1/26 and the DVC Moonlight Sunday 1/28. Now DVC was much, much bigger event. No question. But the rain and forecast of rain kept smaller. Here are some quick observations

DAH was truly empty - mental picture of walking in Frontierland with no one in sight. Ice cream and popcorn was plentiful (Ice cream at Moonlight was in the back of the park only). I mentioned to my now 21 year old DD - we had gone after 9/11, in Feb. And it was this empty on a middle of the week day time.

Wait times were a push - maybe Moonlight was better on certain rides. But the rain was a huge factor. Moonlight had characters galore and unique ones. Moonlight was more like a WDW party night with free food. Saw 90 minutes on MDE for the princess meets for example. DAH was a ride a palooza for sure.

We went to MK Monday morning after Moonlight (yeah we crashed at 1am) and realized just how spoiled doing DAH and Moonlight - what do you mean we have to wait? Why are all of these people here? No free ice cream? I can't go again on Thunder??

We did this to, or at least attempted it. Our plan was to do rides for DAH, and the characters for the DVC event. DAH was AMAZING -- we rode everything we wanted to ride, ate more popcorn and ice cream than anyone ever should, and left the park smiling (until we realized we still had the walk back to Bay Lake Tower). My favorite memories are watching my youngest do cartwheels around the park, as she didn't have to worry about hitting anyone.

My husband and one kiddo bailed on the DVC event due to sheer exhaustion and foot pain. The other 2 and I made it through an hour wait for Oogie Boogie, a quick wait for Tiana & Naveen, then bailed on waiting for Moana (my oldest wasn't impressed with the "friend's" likeness). It didn't help that it was pouring, we were tired, and knew we'd need to get up early the next morning for AK. I was just excited to finally be at WDW during one of these DVC events!

 

[mcurrence]

I forgot to mention, the bus situation back was crazy. We stayed until after the kiss goodnight and were headed back to AKL/Kidani. The good news is that we didn't share with anyone else so one bus directly to the lodge. Kidani was dropped off first then Jambo. We were section one in the lineup but had to wait forever (I guess we had just missed a bus) The bus was completed packed so we had to stand. Not to be controversial but there were elderly people and even a Mom carrying a child standing up and no one offered them seats

 

[lark]

It seems as though if someone wanted to do the fireworks and the DAH in the same night, it should be possible. Even if the gates don't open until 6:15 or 6:30 (and there's a good chance they will open sooner), it seems like it should be no problem getting to the firework desert well before 7:55.

The downside is missing rides until after the fireworks, I guess, but I'm ok with that.

Edit: Dessert dagnabbit, not desert!

 

[1st*toright]

It seems as though if someone wanted to do the fireworks and the DAH in the same night, it should be possible. Even if the gates don't open until 6:15 or 6:30 (and there's a good chance they will open sooner), it seems like it should be no problem getting to the firework desert well before 7:55.

The downside is missing rides until after the fireworks, I guess, but I'm ok with that.

Edit: Dessert dagnabbit, not desert!

I'd kinda like to visit the fireworks desert. Sounds cool.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I'd kinda like to visit the fireworks desert. Sounds cool.

Seems like a fire hazard to me...

 

[Amanda&Mike]

Back from attending the 1/30 DAH event. First and foremost...it was cold! I wished they would have given out hot chocolate!

We (DH and I) arrived at the park around 6:45pm. Our original plan was to arrive at 6, but we couldn't resist the two open seats at Trader Sams .

There was little to no line to get our lanyards and away we went. We had just one fastpass for pirates pre-event, since this is one of the longer attractions we wanted to do it ahead of time.

Pre-event:
Pirates (with a FP)
Tiki Room
People Mover (after hearing of the breakdown, I'm glad we did this early on)
Buzz (We entered through the standby line but the CM told us to go through the FP line)

8:00pm
Astro Orbiter (our longest wait, about 15 mins, but since we could watch the fireworks while we waited, we didn't mind)
Snack Cart in Tomorrowland , no wait
Pooh (this was around 8:35 and non event goers were trying to enter but the CM turned them away)
BTMR 3x (we never had to wait to ride but were told we had to exit the ride and re-enter. We asked if we could stay on when there was no one waiting but were told no)
Haunted Mansion (9pm ...maybe a 5 min wait)
Snack Cart outside HM, no one was in line
Walked around Main Street (went into the Emporium around 9:30 and was surprised to see a lot of non event guests still in the park shopping)
Snack Cart for Popcorn
Buzz 3x (it was nice to be warm, we stayed on for 3 continuous loops)
Space Mountain (the lights were on so we didn't feel like we needed to go on again)
7DMT (posted wait time was 30 mins, asked the CM they said it was more like 10-15 mins, but it wasn't more than 5 so Im glad we decided to wait)
Peter Pan 2x (we wanted to go earlier in the night but there was a bit of a line, good thing we waited, we were able to ride 2x w/out waiting)
Pirates (ended the night the way we started it, and it was a nice warm up)

We started to head out of the park right at 11pm, headed for the monorail , there was only a handful of people waiting and we didn't have to wait long. We were back at poly by 11:20ish.

Overall it was a great event. We had previously been to the 2016 event and expected this one to be a little different but we still were able to ride a lot of attractions w/out any wait and we would do it again. I do wish they had offered some warmer food and beverage options (can't a girl get a mickey pretzel and a hot cocoa?!)

 

[Haley R]

Back from attending the 1/30 DAH event. First and foremost...it was cold! I wished they would have given out hot chocolate!

We (DH and I) arrived at the park around 6:45pm. Our original plan was to arrive at 6, but we couldn't resist the two open seats at Trader Sams .

There was little to no line to get our lanyards and away we went. We had just one fastpass for pirates pre-event, since this is one of the longer attractions we wanted to do it ahead of time.

Pre-event:
Pirates (with a FP)
Tiki Room
People Mover (after hearing of the breakdown, I'm glad we did this early on)
Buzz (We entered through the standby line but the CM told us to go through the FP line)

8:00pm
Astro Orbiter (our longest wait, about 15 mins, but since we could watch the fireworks while we waited, we didn't mind)
Snack Cart in Tomorrowland , no wait
Pooh (this was around 8:35 and non event goers were trying to enter but the CM turned them away)
BTMR 3x (we never had to wait to ride but were told we had to exit the ride and re-enter. We asked if we could stay on when there was no one waiting but were told no)
Haunted Mansion (9pm ...maybe a 5 min wait)
Snack Cart outside HM, no one was in line
Walked around Main Street (went into the Emporium around 9:30 and was surprised to see a lot of non event guests still in the park shopping)
Snack Cart for Popcorn
Buzz 3x (it was nice to be warm, we stayed on for 3 continuous loops)
Space Mountain (the lights were on so we didn't feel like we needed to go on again)
7DMT (posted wait time was 30 mins, asked the CM they said it was more like 10-15 mins, but it wasn't more than 5 so Im glad we decided to wait)
Peter Pan 2x (we wanted to go earlier in the night but there was a bit of a line, good thing we waited, we were able to ride 2x w/out waiting)
Pirates (ended the night the way we started it, and it was a nice warm up)

We started to head out of the park right at 11pm, headed for the monorail , there was only a handful of people waiting and we didn't have to wait long. We were back at poly by 11:20ish.

Overall it was a great event. We had previously been to the 2016 event and expected this one to be a little different but we still were able to ride a lot of attractions w/out any wait and we would do it again. I do wish they had offered some warmer food and beverage options (can't a girl get a mickey pretzel and a hot cocoa?!)

OMG I would so take a Mickey Pretzel!!!! I absolutely love them. Soft pretzels are my favorite food.

 

[theme_park_mom]

Is there a limit to how much you can order at one time at the snack carts?

I don't think so. I took several drinks at once, it seemed to be no problem.

 

[mcurrence]

I don't think so. I took several drinks at once, it seemed to be no problem.

I grabbed a couple of popcorns at the same time (and put them in a zip lock!) and a bunch of waters while the the girls rode space mountain and it was no problem. Also, I was behind the cart another time and I guess they didn't see my lanyard and they asked to see it. This was pretty early on so there were CMs checking

 

[BK2014]

Just a thought for people who have reported seeing people at DAH without a lanyard . . . some people (like my DW) may decide that they don't want the lanyard on all the time, especially for pictures. So my DW would put the lanyard in her purse and only pull it out when getting on rides or getting snacks. No one stopped her or said anything when she wasn't wearing it. I did explain to her that it might make people think she was "trespassing" but she really didn't want to wear it all the time. So maybe she is not the only one?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

It looks like if we watch from the garden in front of Casey's it wouldn't be too difficult to scoot over into Adventureland, right?

That’s a reasonable exit strategy from there. Nothing is really easy after HEA, but that should be manageable.

BTW, cool user name!

 

[focusondisney]

I know reading on this thread about everything that everyone was able to do during DAH was what made me decide to purchase tickets, so here is what our night was like:

From 6:15pm to 8:00pm -
People Mover
Dinner at Cosmic Ray's
FP for Dumbo
Meet Donald, Goofy, Daisy and Minnie
FP for Barnstormer

From 8:00pm to 11:00pm -
Tomorrowland Speedway
Snacks
Space Mountain
Buzz Lightyear
Mad Tea Party
Pooh
Seven Dwarfs
Under the Sea
Snacks
Magic Carpets x2
Pirates
Big Thunder
Snacks
Haunted Mansion
Snacks
Peter Pan
Seven Dwarfs
Pirates
Tiki Room

So 16 attractions during the 3 hour event, 5 before, and lots of snacks totally made it worthwhile for us. Frankly, it is going to be awhile before I want another Mickey ice cream sandwich! I also loved how everyone seemed so happy, but I also wasn't anywhere near the poor folks who got stuck on People Mover.

Were you in Tiki Room at 11? My DH & I were in there then!

 

[SafariFan1984]

Were you in Tiki Room at 11? My DH & I were in there then!

LOL! Yes! We were in the last showing. It was myself and my husband. Didn't it totally feel like a private showing with just the 3 or so groups of us?

 

[focusondisney]

LOL! Yes! We were in the last showing. It was myself and my husband. Didn't it totally feel like a private showing with just the 3 or so groups of us?

Sure did! And it was great standing in front of the fire while we waited to go in too! We were on the left as we went in. Sat kind of under Jose.

 

[kmc8826]

29,122 steps for Tuesday, January 30. For those who don’t have a Fitbit or something similar, the typical “goal” for people is usually 10,000 steps. We got back to our room and my husband commented how he almost broke 30,000 for the first time...I was like “Me too, let’s keep going.” But by then it was midnight and had reset.

But to back up, we were at the party Tuesday. We just got back yesterday so I realize these thoughts are random but maybe someone will find helpful.

We did do AK in the morning until about 10:30 and then DH. (We are not the resting sort). Group was myself, husband and 3 girls (11, 9, 7). We rested for about 2 hours in the afternoon and then had an ADR at 5 at the Wave. We were done with dinner at about the time I was seeing on this thread that people were finally being let in. So we then walked over to MK. (We had a car and after last year dealing with ferry I didn’t want to deal with either ferry or bus to get back to CBR this year).

I had a 4th FP for Buzz that started at 7 but it was backed up so we did People Mover first then it, then saw Buzz, then fireworks started. They started giving out the ice cream right at 8 so we had ice cream bars and walked and watched fireworks. Tried to get on Pooh but as in line it broke and they got people off. Did Dumbo, Barnstormer, Mermaid, met Ariel, Carousel, met Rapunzel (20 minute wait). Girls wanted to see Cinderella but by then wait on her was probably about 30. Peter Pan twice, Small World, Haunted Mansion, popcorn, Jungle Cruise, BTMRR. Then it was 11 and we were on Pirates as last ride. Waited about 10 minutes for pictures and then were out.

My random thoughts: this was third DAH. Way busier than other 2. We did wait at least a minute for most rides and we never really had option to just ask to stay on ride. Crowd definitely there, a lot more little kids/strollers. More like rope drop hour.

How cold it was dampened enjoyment. No line for ice cream because it was too cold!

If I had to do it over I would have got out of Fantasyland as soon as DAH started and headed right into Liberty Square and on. Haunted Mansion was still busy when we did it and kind of dampened our momentum. Same with Jungle Cruise as they won’t leave with the boat until it is mostly full anyway.

No wait for Ariel but waiting to see Rapunzel/Tiana was a huge mistake. I didn’t get a FP for them because we walked right on to see them in 2017 when we went. No line at the start of DAH. This year though it was a little ridiculous.

Overall? We might do it again but I don’t know that I would plan a special trip for it like I did this time. If I did do it might pick a different date that started later and went later. 8 to 11 seemed like there was a lot of regular guests at first and then wading through crowds with HEA. They need to let people in earlier to make it more valuable, that wasn’t an issue for us as we have AP’s, but I hesitate to recommend it as much if you aren’t getting the extra time previously allowed.

But at least we didn’t get stuck on the People Mover!

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Back from attending the 1/30 DAH event. First and foremost...it was cold! I wished they would have given out hot chocolate!

We (DH and I) arrived at the park around 6:45pm. Our original plan was to arrive at 6, but we couldn't resist the two open seats at Trader Sams .

There was little to no line to get our lanyards and away we went. We had just one fastpass for pirates pre-event, since this is one of the longer attractions we wanted to do it ahead of time.

Pre-event:
Pirates (with a FP)
Tiki Room
People Mover (after hearing of the breakdown, I'm glad we did this early on)
Buzz (We entered through the standby line but the CM told us to go through the FP line)

8:00pm
Astro Orbiter (our longest wait, about 15 mins, but since we could watch the fireworks while we waited, we didn't mind)
Snack Cart in Tomorrowland , no wait
Pooh (this was around 8:35 and non event goers were trying to enter but the CM turned them away)
BTMR 3x (we never had to wait to ride but were told we had to exit the ride and re-enter. We asked if we could stay on when there was no one waiting but were told no)
Haunted Mansion (9pm ...maybe a 5 min wait)
Snack Cart outside HM, no one was in line
Walked around Main Street (went into the Emporium around 9:30 and was surprised to see a lot of non event guests still in the park shopping)
Snack Cart for Popcorn
Buzz 3x (it was nice to be warm, we stayed on for 3 continuous loops)
Space Mountain (the lights were on so we didn't feel like we needed to go on again)
7DMT (posted wait time was 30 mins, asked the CM they said it was more like 10-15 mins, but it wasn't more than 5 so Im glad we decided to wait)
Peter Pan 2x (we wanted to go earlier in the night but there was a bit of a line, good thing we waited, we were able to ride 2x w/out waiting)
Pirates (ended the night the way we started it, and it was a nice warm up)

We started to head out of the park right at 11pm, headed for the monorail , there was only a handful of people waiting and we didn't have to wait long. We were back at poly by 11:20ish.

Overall it was a great event. We had previously been to the 2016 event and expected this one to be a little different but we still were able to ride a lot of attractions w/out any wait and we would do it again. I do wish they had offered some warmer food and beverage options (can't a girl get a mickey pretzel and a hot cocoa?!)

So the monorail was running? Was this just due to later park hours elsewhere or did they decide to run it for the event?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

So the monorail was running? Was this just due to later park hours elsewhere or did they decide to run it for the event?

1/30 was the only Tuesday on the DAH schedule, and Tuesday was an Epcot PM EMH night, hence the longer monorail hours (lucky coincidence for the MK resort folks!). It has not been running later solely on account of DAH on other nights.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[SafariFan1984]

Sure did! And it was great standing in front of the fire while we waited to go in too! We were on the left as we went in. Sat kind of under Jose.

It was the first time I actually caught the entirety of the pre-show in line. We were the couple on the other side between Pierre and Michael singing and dancing in our seats. Okay, it was me singing and dancing and my husband trying hard not to laugh at me.

 

[OhhBother]

It was the first time I actually caught the entirety of the pre-show in line. We were the couple on the other side between Pierre and Michael singing and dancing in our seats. Okay, it was me singing and dancing and my husband trying hard not to laugh at me.

I think the best thing about these events is what an awesome mood everyone is in! Lots of singing, dancing, skipping through the park. Love it!