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

[GADisneyDad14]

Is OUAT at 10 pm even on nights when DAH begins at 9pm???

OUAT can either be before (generally 30 minutes) or after (generally 45 minutes) HEA. For the 9pm DAH dates in August and Sept, HEA is at 8:55pm (8/30) and 8:00pm (9/20).

For that 8/30 date, OUAT should be before HEA.

For that 9/20 date, it could be before or after, although I'm guessing after as 7:30pm is probably still pretty light out.

OUAT times are typically added to the website a few weeks in advance.

ETA: But to simply answer your question - OUAT will either be during regular park hours or at regular park closing. It won't be after regular park closing.

 

[Ashley Marie]

7/9 - another great night. Crowds seemed slightly lighter than 7/7, but not much of a difference. Clear skies but humidity was pretty killer. We arrived around 7pm tonight. We got a bit more done before DAH this time since we were able to keep our FP: with no regular park ticket days left, there was nothing to worry about getting canceled if we made these.

Before DAH we did:

Railroad from Main Street to Fantasyland (had to get something for the kids that concierge told us was only available at a store there)
Haunted Mansion (FP)
Peter Pan (FP)
Philharmagic
Mine Train (FP)
Watched Happily Ever After
Teacups
Peoplemover

During DAH:
Buzz x4
Space Mountain x2
Mine Train
Haunted Mansion
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Thunder Mountain x6
Splash Mountain
Stopped twice for drinks/Olaf popsicles

I think we probably did close to the same amount of rides total during both DAHs, just chose to do more repeats this time around. Now that I’m a repeat DAH-er, I have some tips:

• If there is no wait at Buzz, ask and they may let you stay on to ride without going in the queue again
• Space has a re-ride shortcut you can use; it was dead in there and we would have gone on more times, but we rode 6 times at the 7/7 event and we wanted to switch things up
• Mine Train was the only ride with a slight wait, and with everything else a walk-on, we didn’t want to waste DAH time waiting to ride again
• They will let you re-ride Thunder without going through the queue again only if no one is waiting in your row number when your train pulls back in, so pick seats that are not the front row or back row if you want a better shot at that
• The walk off of Thunder and back through the queue takes about 2 minutes, so it’s not bad, just can get tiresome if you keep repeating it
• If you really want to linger past the 1am closing time, time your last ride to be Splash since that’s such a long one... we entered the queue at 12:59am and by the time we got off (and dried off in the bathroom), we were the only people still walking through Frontierland
• If you only want drinks or ice cream, NEVER stop to get in line at a popcorn stand! The lines are horrendous at those while there is likely a cart with no wait for just drinks and ice cream that’s not too far away

Any questions, feel free to ask!

 

[amalone1013]

If you have an AP, how many discounted tickets can you buy? Are you limited to just one?

 

[Bethany Nelson]

Question for a first time Disneyer.
Two adult sisters with three day park hopers. Is it worth it to also do a DAH or will we be overwhelmed having already done the Magic Kingdom?

 

[Haley R]

Question for a first time Disneyer.
Two adult sisters with three day park hopers. Is it worth it to also do a DAH or will we be overwhelmed having already done the Magic Kingdom?

Are you only doing one day at mk? We did dah to get most of the rides in and took a second day at mk to go slow and enjoy everything. I personally don’t think I could get enough of mk. I also just read that this is your first time there? Mk could EASILY take three days with all of the shows, characters, rides, and other things going on.

 

[Iowamomof4]

If anything, doing DAH will help MK be LESS overwhelming because you'll be able to move around with fewer people in your way.

 

[uccats97]

If you have an AP, how many discounted tickets can you buy? Are you limited to just one?

Not sure what the limit is, but I was able to buy 5 and I’m the only AP in the group.

 

[KbEgbs]

I'll use this post to keep track of fellow DISers who are attending DAH. If you'd like to be added to the guest list, just let me know. Thanks!

2018 Disney After Hours Guest List

Thursday, August 30, 2018
@GillianP1301
@HatboxHaint
@lvcourtneyy
@lucas

Please add me to the 8/30 guest list! I can't wait!!!

 

[Haley R]

So dh and I might not actually be coming next weekend. We just can’t get much for plane tickets. I tried looking in August but frontier literally only lands in Orlando once and it’s always close to 11 pm.

 

[dfb]

Not been to a DAH yet but been to parks numerous times. My wife and niece are at a conference in Orlando and are considering doing DAH on 7/14 - 10 -1. I've read some of the most recent post to get familiar.

To summarize:

It seems the crowds are still fairly light, mostly no to little wait on most rides except maybe a slight wait on 7 Dwarfs.
Popcorn lines can be long.
Official/unofficial let you in time 7PM but possibility of getting in around 6:30, maybe.

Is there a photopass option just for the event. Our annual pass with photopass option expired in April.
We are DVC so we get a good price break on the tickets.

What else might be a consideration for first timer DAHers, please?

Thanks

 

[Cloe Colton]

For those who have arrived to the party at 9:50 has it been a bear to get through Main Street or have the HEA crowds dissapated by then? DH and I will be walking over from the Contemporary after dinner at California Grill (staying to watch HEA from there and then heading over). Just hoping we dont feel like salmon swimming upstream once we get to the park.

But I am SO excited for this! I can't even believe I debated not getting these tickets. Will be a perfect end to our first anniversary!

 

[Haley R]

Not been to a DAH yet but been to parks numerous times. My wife and niece are at a conference in Orlando and are considering doing DAH on 7/14 - 10 -1. I've read some of the most recent post to get familiar.

To summarize:

It seems the crowds are still fairly light, mostly no to little wait on most rides except maybe a slight wait on 7 Dwarfs.
Popcorn lines can be long.
Official/unofficial let you in time 7PM but possibility of getting in around 6:30, maybe.

Is there a photopass option just for the event. Our annual pass with photopass option expired in April.
We are DVC so we get a good price break on the tickets.

What else might be a consideration for first timer DAHers, please?

Thanks

If you plan on getting popcorn I would bring a gallon ziploc bag to put it in so you can take it on rides. There is a “secret” hallway that takes you to get on space if you want to do that more than once without walking all the way around. Have some kind of plan of attack because you don’t want to waste time going back and forth between lands. Try to do longer rides before dah starts.

 

[dfb]

If you plan on getting popcorn I would bring a gallon ziploc bag to put it in so you can take it on rides. There is a “secret” hallway that takes you to get on space if you want to do that more than once without walking all the way around. Have some kind of plan of attack because you don’t want to waste time going back and forth between lands. Try to do longer rides before dah starts.

Thanks
Secret hallway. Cool!! That's almost as mysterious as the dark side of the moon!

 

[Haley R]

Thanks
Secret hallway. Cool!! That's almost as mysterious as the dark side of the moon!

lol Pink Floyd rocks. It depends which side of the ride you are on but you will either see a green or an orange line on the wall that goes around the corner. It’s a hallway/ramp that leads you back up to where the two lines split left or right to get on the ride.

 

[mickeysmith]

I think I read this somewhere, but I could be wrong (no surprise there)! haha
Do we get to go through the fastpass line starting at 10:00 if rides still have folks in the queue?

 

[poodledogs55]

For those who have arrived to the party at 9:50 has it been a bear to get through Main Street or have the HEA crowds dissapated by then? DH and I will be walking over from the Contemporary after dinner at California Grill (staying to watch HEA from there and then heading over). Just hoping we dont feel like salmon swimming upstream once we get to the park.

But I am SO excited for this! I can't even believe I debated not getting these tickets. Will be a perfect end to our first anniversary!

If you can only get to MK at that time, I would suggest cutting through the stores on Main Street. It might help bypass some of the crowds.

 

[KbEgbs]

If you plan on getting popcorn I would bring a gallon ziploc bag to put it in so you can take it on rides. There is a “secret” hallway that takes you to get on space if you want to do that more than once without walking all the way around. Have some kind of plan of attack because you don’t want to waste time going back and forth between lands. Try to do longer rides before dah starts.

Great tip about the popcorn! I never would have thought of that!! Thanks

 

[Haley R]

I think I read this somewhere, but I could be wrong (no surprise there)! haha
Do we get to go through the fastpass line starting at 10:00 if rides still have folks in the queue?

I wouldn’t plan on it. I think the only reason we got let through the fp line was because some of the cms had no idea what was going on. They just kind of shrugged and said sure.

 

[Haley R]

Great tip about the popcorn! I never would have thought of that!! Thanks

I can’t take full credit because I did see it on this thread before I went to dah. It is essential though if you want popcorn and would like to keep walking/going on rides. We stopped for ice cream but got the fruity ones that tend to not melt as fast and we weren’t allowed to take them in line for rides. We just scarfed them down without enjoying them.

 

[Minniemouse07]

I can’t take full credit because I did see it on this thread before I went to dah. It is essential though if you want popcorn and would like to keep walking/going on rides. We stopped for ice cream but got the fruity ones that tend to not melt as fast and we weren’t allowed to take them in line for rides. We just scarfed them down without enjoying them.

I had read that before but it is a good reminder since we leave Saturday morning. We are doing DAH on our last full day and the next afternoon we are boarding the AutoTrain for a 17 hour ride home...a few bags of popcorn will be a welcome treat on the train ride!