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

[Haley R]

We had a 5:10 reservation at WCC on 1/30 (our DAH night). We got to the boat dock at 6:20 right as the boat to MK was pulling away. It took another 20-25 min for another boat to pull up. We got our lanyards at 6:58 without a wait and started our night.

Would a bus be quicker than the boat? Just curious. Also did it bother you not showing up until almost 7? I want to use as much park time as we can.

 

[katherine52478]

Would a bus be quicker than the boat? Just curious. Also did it bother you not showing up until almost 7? I want to use as much park time as we can.

There were two resort boats that came and went while we were waiting for the MK boat so it probably would have been quicker to take one of them to the Contemporary and then walk to MK. The problem was that we didn’t know how long we would be waiting for the MK boat since we weren’t staying at WL and hadn’t taken a boat before. We didn’t feel like we missed park time since we had a BOG PPO reservation that morning and had done a bunch of rides already (both standby at RD and then FP). We also were able to get a Buzz FP for 7:15 and use our Space Mountain FP at 7:30 so we got a lot done during the 7-8 period.

 

[Haley R]

There were two resort boats that came and went while we were waiting for the MK boat so it probably would have been quicker to take one of them to the Contemporary and then walk to MK. The problem was that we didn’t know how long we would be waiting for the MK boat since we weren’t staying at WL and hadn’t taken a boat before. We didn’t feel like we missed park time since we had a BOG PPO reservation that morning and had done a bunch of rides already (both standby at RD and then FP). We also were able to get a Buzz FP for 7:15 and use our Space Mountain FP at 7:30 so we got a lot done during the 7-8 period.

We won’t be there during the day so it’ll just be dah for us. I have a jungle cruise FP until 6:05 so probably won’t be able to use that. Then a splash FP until 7:10 I think. Our third FP starts at 7:15 I think and it’s for haunted mansion.

 

[RDarling]

So if it is a 9-12 DAH do they let them in at 7?

 

[Haley R]

So if it is a 9-12 DAH do they let them in at 7?

Yes it’s advertised as the same entrance time.

 

[MermaidMommy]

We had a 5:10 reservation at WCC on 1/30 (our DAH night). We got to the boat dock at 6:20 right as the boat to MK was pulling away. It took another 20-25 min for another boat to pull up. We got our lanyards at 6:58 without a wait and started our night.

The boat is more scenic, but the bus is usually faster.

 

[baler31]

Someone who knows for sure will probably chime in, but I've seen reports of PhotoPass photographers on Main Street out past 11PM to serve the folks leaving. Might want to watch out for lines though, as many others might have the same idea.

But it is probably one of your best chances at a relatively empty castle/Main Street shot.

Curious to see what others have to say.

Your day is coming soon!

We got the last photo of the night at 11:41. Photopass Manager was very nice to us when he had to tell us the line was cut at the location closest to the castle. Told us if we beat him to the next photographer he would let us get a shot. YMMV and he was very nice to do this as it was obviously way beyond closing. Our photos were incredible with an absolutely empty main street. No CM's or other people.

 

[Haley R]

The boat is more scenic, but the bus is usually faster.

I think we will take the bus then. Whatever is quicker. That’s if we don’t get an earlier time at ohana or keep our breakfast.

 

[baler31]

Our DAH experience: Group of 6 female friends, 2 Disney fans and 4 that had not been in years.

Entered at 6:15 and received lanyards, there was already a CM holding a portable sign for DAH entrance. Unless otherwise noted everything was a walk on.

Jungle Cruise (pre booked FP) we were late(by a lot) but CM waived us through
Pirates (pre booked FP)
Magic Carpets
BTMRR(pre booked FP)
Haunted Mansion (lanyard as FP walk on)
Dumbo X 3 during fireworks-did not get off
Under the Sea
People Mover
Space Mountain X 2 had to walk the queue
Snack Cart no wait
Buzz X2 did not have to get off
Winnie the Pooh
Small World
Peter Pan (5 minutes)
Philharmagic
7D X2 (6 min 1st & 7min 2nd) line was backed up to just barely beyond the covered area. People were getting out of line on our 2 nd ride and I tried to explain we had just finished but they were muttering that it was going to be 20 minutes as was posted. The line moves incredible fast and they were serious about moving the line because I am assuming people were complaining. They kept asking people to move up and fill in space. So, either just SOP or trying to move people thru quickly. This was standby queue, they were not using FP line.
Tea Cups-technically after 11 but CM's offered the ride when I told one of my friends it was closed she said "Come On !"
All 4 Princesses after official closing as they were leaving
Snack Cart on Main Street at 11:17 was still serving, although they were trying to close. Going thru line handing out popcorn and asking what drinks you needed
Sat in grass and ate Popcorn and enjoyed the end of the evening
Photopass photo at 11:41
Restrooms
Left at 11:53

Some of our evening was a combo of luck and good planning. We seemed to always be moving in a way the "crowd" (which was nonexistent) was not. Our snack cart had no line and we only waited for Pan and 7D. Posted wait for Pan was 10 and 7D was 20. I can be critical of Disney but for us this event was flawless. I barely saw other people, all my photos are of a basically empty park.

 

[baler31]

 

[Thomasfouraker]

Sorry for the late review of the 1/30 trip.

We arrived at the park around 6:15 and got in without incident using our magic bands that had the ticket linked and obtained our lanyards. We had a few FP booked and wanted to get the kids fed before DAH kicked off.

I know we did the Jungle Cruise and perhaps one or two more rides before making our way to eat dinner at Cosmic Rays. Feeding a 4 and 1 year old held us up until about 8:30 but once we were out we got a lot accomplished and it was a very enjoyable night. My wife kept track of everything and we ended up doing 18 rides and character meets.

A few takeaways from that night:

The Princesses and Ariel character meets probably had the longest wait-about 8-10 minutes.

DURING after hours, Talking Mickey has NO wait. I imagine based on its location being so far away from the rides, people don't want to waste the time walking to and fro just that one opportunity. However, if you do go I read you will get the best one on one greets possible which could make it worth it to some. My boy (1) fell asleep towards the end of the night so my wife and daughter got in line around 10:55 as we were heading out of the park and they waited about 25 minutes as we weren't the only ones who thought to get it in prior to them closing the line. My son and I sat on the porch and watched everyone head out of the park. My wife and daughter finished up around 11:20.

7DMT is not the posted wait time. Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I never seen ANY CM handing out a wait time lanyard to assess wait times on any of the rides. I would be willing to bet they set the posted time at 30 minutes on 7DMT every DAH night and leave it there regardless of ACTUAL wait time. We rode it a few times and the typical wait was less than 5 minutes.

The biggest time burners is walking from attraction to attraction and waiting to get snacks.

Go with a plan.

If you want to ride an attraction more than once, ask to stay on that ride if there isn't a line formed till you have your feel of it and move on. If you have to get off, just get back in line to ride it again and only move on to another land once you have accomplished what you were wanting to and have no intentions on making your way back there. This takes less time than getting off 7DMT then going to a walk on BTMRR and then the SM then back to 7DMT.

If someone in your party is not riding rides, send them to the closest snack cart to load up. Anytime myself or my wife was on the Barnstormer or 7DMT with my 4 year old, the other would go and get drinks, each and every time. We spent Jan 30, 31 and Feb 1 at the parks and suffice it to say we didn't have to purchase a single coke or sprite the remainder of our trip.

Try to do longer attractions before the AH event via FP. Get them outta the way if you can.

All in all, our trip we did DAH on the 30th, regular park day andEMH on the 31 and had a normal park day (3/10 or 4/10 crowd calendar) on Feb. 1. I can honestly say that DAH was worth every penny we spent. It can certainly be enjoyed by everyone but I achieved a huge appreciation for it being able to compare it to EMH and a regular park day all in the same trip. If I had to quantify it, my wife and I agreed that it seemed 10 times less busy than EMH and 100 times less busy than a regular park day. It truly spoils you.

We left AH around 11:25 and caught the ferry back to the TTC with about 6 others on board.

I can almost guarantee we will make it to one of the March days as well.

For those who are only buying tickets for this event and have no regular ticket, the value will certainly increase when the time is stretched to midnight if the park will still let you in at 6ish allowing more "Bang for your buck"

 

[sky13]

I just bought my ticket for the February 8 DAH yesterday. This was after seeing all the crowds over the weekend!

Really looking forward to it, it will be my last night here so will be a nice way to end off the trip!

 

[foodiddiedoo]

We booked our after hours tickets for March 1 and I chose to print ours out as paper tickets. Our tickets have numbers on them that say ticket number (and mid range double digit numbers) in the bottom right-hand corner. Do you think that’s how many they sold already for March 1?

I bought mine a few months back, mine say 1016 and 1017 on them, what do yours say?

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Don't mean to bog down the thread with personal questions about my trip, but I wanted to know if anyone had experience with dining at Jiko. I have an ADR at Jiko at 530 pm on the night of my DAH on 3/8. I did this because it is the only night Jiko fit in our plans and I have been dying to try it. I plan on getting to AKL around 5 so that I make sure I am seated promptly at 530 or earlier. I don't want to "rush" dinner, but I have no interest in making it a 2 hour experience either. Do I have enough time to go to Jiko for dinner and still make it to DAH around 7 pm for a FP to PP 615-715? Not the end of the world if I miss the PP FP, but I would be disappointed if I showed up to the park later than 730. Any information is greatly appreciated.

Also, I was considering visiting Sam's for happy hour before dinner and to get souvenir glasses. I am staying at the Contemporary, so I might have to stop there after dinner to drop off the glasses, or possibly use a locker at MK if time is tight. Anyone have any luck storing souvenir glasses from Sam's in a locker at MK? There will be 4 of us, so most likely 4 glasses. I read what GADisneydad said about the size of the box, but was curious if anyone tried to store them yet.

Thanks for all the info!

I have the exact same 5:30 Jiko dinner plans for the 3/1 event. I just want to get into the park by 7:30 and am hoping that's enough time.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Wow, great catch! I think you are absolutely right!! I also printed up the paper tickets so I went and looked at mine. I purchased them in mid-Nov for the 3/1 DAH, and my 5 tickets are numbered 156-160. Can anyone who has ordered theirs more recently update the group as to what number theirs were?!?!

I bought mine on October 10th and they are 1016 and 1017 so maybe not. If I bought mine before yours, the numbers might be randomly assigned.

 

[cruisecrasher]

I bought mine a few months back, mine say 1016 and 1017 on them, what do yours say?

0057-59.
Maybe they’re counting down to full? We bought ours last week.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Wow, great catch! I think you are absolutely right!! I also printed up the paper tickets so I went and looked at mine. I purchased them in mid-Nov for the 3/1 DAH, and my 5 tickets are numbered 156-160. Can anyone who has ordered theirs more recently update the group as to what number theirs were?!?!

I bought mine on October 10th and they are 1016 and 1017 so maybe not. If I bought mine before yours, the numbers might be randomly assigned.

0057-59.
Maybe they’re counting down to full? We bought ours last week.

I bought mine on Oct 9 and its #2583.

So, we have:
Oct 9: #2583
Oct 10: #1016-1017
Mid-nov: #156-160
Last week: #0057-59

Hard to believe they would sell 1500 in 1 day (Oct 9-10), so maybe they are random?

 

[Haley R]

I bought mine on Oct 9 and its #2583.

So, we have:
Oct 9: #2583
Oct 10: #1016-1017
Mid-nov: #156-160
Last week: #0057-59

Hard to believe they would sell 1500 in 1 day (Oct 9-10), so maybe they are random?

Hard to believe, but at the same time yours do go down so that's kind of interesting.

 

[MischaOz]

I bought mine on Oct 9 and its #2583.

So, we have:
Oct 9: #2583
Oct 10: #1016-1017
Mid-nov: #156-160
Last week: #0057-59

Hard to believe they would sell 1500 in 1 day (Oct 9-10), so maybe they are random?

Very weird! I am confused! They are all under 3000 at least, which I believe is the guesstimate unofficial number of tickets sold.

 

[MischaOz]

Btw I went back and checked for accuracy’s sake, and I bought mine on 11/21/17 to be exact. Those are #s 156-160 for 3/1.