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

[momof2halls]

We arrrived a few minutes before 6 and were let right in tonight! Move it Shake it parade was going on as we approached Main Street.

 

[Haley R]

The problem is we attended twice last year and were able to stay on BTMRR 6-7 times without getting off, 7DMT had no wait- they actually opened the gate from the exit to the line so you could get back in line without walking back out, etc. So I came into this year’s event with the same expectations and that’s not the experience we had in March. The early summer reports were more along the lines of what we experienced last year and now the reviews sound more similar to March for me.

I wish we could’ve stayed on BTMRR!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

I assume that person has no other FPs that same DAH day?

So I logged in today and after some issues with the site - I finally was able to make the FPs for before the party. I guess his ticket had to be in the system a while. They just bought the tickets yesterday. So we are all good. Thanks for the information.

This is obviously unscientific and it's not a large enough data sample to have any value, but for the FWIW file, tonight is the #2 ranked night for DISers on the Guest List on Post #2. 9/20 is currently in the top spot.

View attachment 341362

Great graph - do you happen to know how many tickets they sell for DAH?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

What's funny is that this past winter the Jan 30th was the most popular with the DISers but was one of the only two that DIDN'T sell out!!! Still love the graph!!!

Yeah, it's funny. Wish there was more data.

My assumption is that ALL of the DAH dates - both winter and summer - that didn't sell out were all probably pretty close... or in the zone.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Great graph - do you happen to know how many tickets they sell for DAH?

I'm not sure I've ever seen a reliable number. 3k is thrown out occasionally, but I don't have any sense if that is close to accurate or not.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Never mind

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I’m curious. Since a lot of people are in stand by will we go fast pass line at 10

Will likely vary based on the ride and CM, but I'd plan on no.

 

[Haley R]

I’m curious. Since a lot of people are in stand by will we go fast pass line at 10

I think people have had different experiences with that. When we went in March they let us use the fp line before dah even started. I’ve seen reports of people not being let in the fp line this summer though.

 

[AllisonSarah]

Boyfriend and I are going August 11 and we couldn't be more excited! I've been reading through the thread and looks like people have been getting in around 6pm... Anyone have luck getting in any earlier?

We have a 9:30pm FP for POTC to avoid any standby lines from earlier guests, so will head there after HEA. Then the plan is to work our way around clockwise, and book it back to SM for the last ride of the night. What do you guys think?

 

[Haley R]

Boyfriend and I are going August 11 and we couldn't be more excited! I've been reading through the thread and looks like people have been getting in around 6pm... Anyone have luck getting in any earlier?

We have a 9:30pm FP for POTC to avoid any standby lines from earlier guests, so will head there after HEA. Then the plan is to work our way around clockwise, and book it back to SM for the last ride of the night. What do you guys think?

You probably won’t get in much earlier than 6. They let us in right at 6 pm.

I think you’re plan looks pretty good. Do you only have one fp? We were able to ride quite a few rides before dah started by playing the fp game. Are you using sm for splash or space? I’m assuming splash but wasn’t sure.

 

[AllisonSarah]

You probably won’t get in much earlier than 6. They let us in right at 6 pm.

I think you’re plan looks pretty good. Do you only have one fp? We were able to ride quite a few rides before dah started by playing the fp game. Are you using sm for splash or space? I’m assuming splash but wasn’t sure.

Thanks! I meant Splash (sorry, still new here lol) since it's one of the longest rides. We also have earlier FPs for Space and Buzz, so we'll knock out Tomorrow Land at the very least before DAH starts. (And then do it again later!)

And sounds like we'll get there at 6! I just wanted to be sure. Would hate to find out later that we could have gotten in around 4 like some people we speculating. That means more shopping time at Disney Springs!

 

[Haley R]

Thanks! I meant Splash (sorry, still new here lol) since it's one of the longest rides. We also have earlier FPs for Space and Buzz, so we'll knock out Tomorrow Land at the very least before DAH starts. (And then do it again later!)

And sounds like we'll get there at 6! I just wanted to be sure. Would hate to find out later that we could have gotten in around 4 like some people we speculating. That means more shopping time at Disney Springs!

We got to mk around 5:45 and we were behind 15-20 people so not too bad. Splash would be fun to end with! It might be a lot of back tracking to go all the way back to it at the end of the night.

 

[OhhBother]

We’re on the ferry headed back to our car. This was our third DAH. We previously did one in March 2017 and January of this year.

Let me say first we had a great time tonight. We rode tons of rides with no wait. And we enjoyed the snacks. But this event is not the same event we previously attended.

That “complete empty park” experience appears to be gone. There are people most everywhere you go. And we were rarely on a ride by ourselves. We didn’t ride PP or SDMT - waits were “too long” in the sense that we didn’t want to wait in line at all.

We’ll still keep coming to DAH. We already have tickets for 9/20. But we’re happy we experienced the way it was. That was an incredible experience. Tonight was awesome - but just not what it once was.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

So as the above poster said. I also enjoyed the night. I rode everything I wanted and the longest wait was mine train but I clocked it at 9 mins and that was at 11pm. It looked like a line most of the time but it moved quickly. CM kept saying 15, 20 mins. Always was about 10 in reality.

There was zero empty park feeling though. There was deff people around the park and on the lines with you ( when there was a line, which was the main attractions but very short waits )

Then again it was sold out and the summer.

You are never really alone unless your in a section of the park with not a lot to do.

Again I had a lot of walk ones and then like 5 or 8 min waits.

Plenty of food and drink available.

It was a great experience to try and very happy I did. Anyone who has bought tickets already is truly going to enjoy it. I won’t be doing it again though cause I wanted a more empty park feel.

 

[CJLove79]

My Disney World Trip is this coming November, does anybody think that Disney will extend the After Hours Event into November & December? I hope so cause at first, I didn't think it would interest me much when Disney first came up with it last year. But after listening to Pete and everybody else rave about it and after careful thought, I've changed my mind. LOL.

 

[tookydo]

I attended this evening also and I would agree it wasn’t an empty park feeling. There were lots of people on Main Street at 1:20am. Lots. That being said we did have a great time. I have an annual pass so the discount was nice. Not sure I’d do it again if I had to pay full price. We never experienced snack carts running out of anything. There were some lines at the carts but they moved quickly. The CMs were working very hard to keep things moving. Everything was walk-on but for Peter Pan (about 5 minute wait) and SDMT (15 minutes at 12:50 when my son got in line).

The first 30-45 minutes was a little hectic as many guests not having lanyards were still there and trying to get on rides. The CMs did a great job handling these situations. Only saw one real argument where a family insisted they should be permitted to ride since they had purchased a park ticket for the day. We had one family ask us where we got our lanyards.

Here’s what we accomplished:
Entered park at 6:10.
Laugh floor
People mover
Splash FP
Pirates FP
BTM FP
Country bears
Jungle cruise
Haunted mansion
Philharmagic
Now 10:00; got ice cream and drinks
Mermaid
Buzz 2x did not have to get off
2 fruit bars and one drink
Small world
Carousel
Peter Pan
Pooh
People mover two times without getting off
Buzz
My son went his own way after the BTM FP.
He watched HEA then did philharmagic, mermaid, space 2x (shortcut way), buzz, BTM, haunted mansion, Pooh, speedway, space again, people mover and SDMT.

Left the park around 1:20; took the ferry and was back in our room at Pop by 2:10. The only complaint from my family was for the person who made an 8:05am ADR for Garden Grille tomorrow. Yes, that would be me.

Good night!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We’re on the ferry headed back to our car. This was our third DAH. We previously did one in March 2017 and January of this year.
That was an incredible experience. Tonight was awesome - but just not what it once was.

Thank you for taking to time to give us your review of last nights DAH. We are looking forward to it.

So as the above poster said. I also enjoyed the night. I rode everything I wanted and the longest wait was mine train but I clocked it at 9 mins and that was at 11pm. It looked like a line most of the time but it moved quickly. CM kept saying 15, 20 mins. Always was about 10 in reality.

It was a great experience to try and very happy I did. Anyone who has bought tickets already is truly going to enjoy it. I won’t be doing it again though cause I wanted a more empty park feel.

Thank you for your review. A 9 min wait for 7DMT is not bad. When we go we will leave that ride towards the end of the night.

I attended this evening also and I would agree it wasn’t an empty park feeling. There were lots of people on Main Street at 1:20am. Lots. That being said we did have a great time.
The only complaint from my family was for the person who made an 8:05am ADR for Garden Grille tomorrow. Yes, that would be me.
Good night!

Thank you for your review. You definitely did a lot of rides. We can't wait to go. The funny thing is I had originally done the same thing - I had made early FPs for the day after DAH (not being sure if we were going to DAH) - and I went back and changed it. We never would have made it. As of now our earliest FP for the day after is 12:35pm. Thanks again for your review. I hope you enjoy breakfast!

 

[MommaBerd]

I think they could double the number of attendees and have it still be the best night at WDW imaginable. And I’d rather see the event continue with more people than have it go away.

I couldn’t disagree with a post more. And yet at the same time, this is probably what Disney will do. The whole idea is to have the empty park “feel”; that is what you are paying for. When I went in February, that was not the case, because I have been when it was truly a virtually empty park. From the reports I’ve read recently, it seems to be the same level of experience, and most people seem to be satisfied with the current level of attendance. It seems like the sweet spot. However, you double the number of attendees, with no other diversions, and you practically double the ride wait times thus receive 1/2 the value. No thank you. I realize crowd size is all a matter of perspective, but please don’t give Disney permission to slowly degrade the original experience.

 

[Funfire240]

We were there last night. Only once or twice did we have an empty feeling. Fantasyland seemed crazy every time we walked through. We waited 20 minutes for 7DMT at midnight and DH and DD waited 10 for Space at 1230. No problems though with drinks or snacks. I am looking forward to next saturday! We walked on everything else we did (except DS and I also waited for the cars at 1230) but from there rode Buzz 3 times in a row

So we watched the fireworks from near Peter Pan then walked on tASW and Little Mermaid, met Ariel with no wait and had our own train on barnstormer. Walked on dumbo and Pooh then grabbed ice cream and drinks with only a short wait. Walked tonBTMR and only waited for the next train. Almost had our own boat on splash (some people did) but I got soaked! Then did pirates and jungle cruise. At the Cart in liberty square they had everything on top so you grabbed as you walked by. From here is where we went to 7DMT and on.
I experienced Main Street years ago before be our guest breakfasts and would get it empty so while people were saying it felt less crowded then ever, I felt there were a lot of people and it wasn’t near empty but still nice.
I was impressed my 8 and 10 year olds made it with no complaints (until the bus since DS8 stood with me as a nice lady gave up her seat for DD) but that’s expected at closing time and he did good sleeping standing up

 

[Funfire240]

The worst part was the bus to pop after - got in line about 105 and it’s was about 130 when the bus arrived