Recent After Hours Reviews - Magic Kingdom

[Cara]

My husband and I are looking at doing the paid After Hours event at Magic Kingdom on 6/1. Has anyone gone to one recently? What did you think?

 

[HollowxBastion]

I went to the one on March 2nd, really fun to be able to walk on to rides, have the park to yourself and get to experience it like you have it all to yourself.

TRON at night is everything

 

[summerlvr]

I went to the one on March 2 also. It was not a sold out event (I bought my ticket the day of), and I thought it was great. I don't do roller coasters, so can't speak to those, but the only ride where I encountered a line was Peter Pan. As a matter of fact, when I went to ride Jungle Cruise, I was the only person in line and had to wait a few minutes until some more folks showed up because they wouldn't send a boat out with just one person on it. Did not encounter any lines for the snacks and drinks either.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I’ve been to two After Hours at MK, the first on 1/13/25 and most recently on 1/19/26. We LOVE these parties. We waited longest for Peter Pan at both parties but it wasn’t long. We found the lines for the free snacks and drinks to be longer than the ride lines. Walking around the empty park and watching the fireworks with no crowds around is amazing. There were some parts of the parks where we’d walk for a bit and not see a single other person. Highly recommend. We plan on doing it every time it’s offered during our trips from now on. Just look at the lack of crowds!

 

[firefly_ris]

We did MK in January 2025 and EPCOT in January 2026.

I really enjoyed both, MK is probably more bang for your buck and I would do it again. It was a good way to get a lot of rides in on a short trip where we weren't doing much other park time during our time in Orlando. Of course, it is not exactly the same as a regular park day if you are interested in dining, shows, etc. but my kids wanted to do all the rides including Tron and I really loved walking through the park at night with no crowd congestion.

I liked doing the EPCOT one as well mostly because we walked on Cosmic Rewind 4 times back-to-back, but due to the much more spread out nature of the park and less attractions, that was probably a one-and-done for us. MK I would do again.

 

[BrianL]

I haven't been recently, but I concur that the experience is awesome!

 

[NYCANC]

Our fave add-on ever! Even my kids agree that it is amazing!

 

[aleria24]

Last time we did this was years ago and it was easily our favorite add on. We typically don't travel when it is offered but we have APs this year so we are doing multiple trips. We are going in April. Here's hoping its as good as it was in the past.

 

[Cara]

Thank you so much for the great responses. I booked it for us. I just opened the new Disney Inspire credit card, so I used my $300 gift card for this, and it was only like $120 out of pocket. I looked at the HS option too, but I thought we would get far more benefit from the MK one.

 

[mdsouth]

Are most the rides open during one of these? Or is there just a limited list open.
I am going in August and there will be a After hours paid option and the Mickey's BOO Halloween party at MK I think available the week I will be there.
I am just trying to figure out which might be a better choice for me, if I do decide to pay the extra money.
Long, long, time ago, in a galaxy --- I went to the extended extra hours that was FREE to resort guests with my kids. It was fantastic! We were there in the summer and to be in MK at night was fantastic! Perfect weather temps and less crowds.

I hate the idea I have to pay for this same benefit now that was once the BIGGEST perk to staying on site versus staying in a resort off-site. I will be staying at POP.

 

[summerlvr]

Most rides are open for MK After Hours, but I'm not seeing August dates for that. Not sure about what rides might not be open for Epcot or Hollywood Studios.
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is lots of fun, but very crowded. Also more rides are closed during the party because some of them are used for trick or treating spots.

 

[Cara]

Are most the rides open during one of these? Or is there just a limited list open.
I am going in August and there will be a After hours paid option and the Mickey's BOO Halloween party at MK I think available the week I will be there.
I am just trying to figure out which might be a better choice for me, if I do decide to pay the extra money.
Long, long, time ago, in a galaxy --- I went to the extended extra hours that was FREE to resort guests with my kids. It was fantastic! We were there in the summer and to be in MK at night was fantastic! Perfect weather temps and less crowds.

I hate the idea I have to pay for this same benefit now that was once the BIGGEST perk to staying on site versus staying in a resort off-site. I will be staying at POP.

I've watched quite a few reviews on TikTok, and it appears that most of the rides are open -- not shows or other experiences. Tiana's doesn't appear to always be open, but I don't know if that's a general rule or more likely when it's cooler outside or when the ride was newer.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Are most the rides open during one of these? Or is there just a limited list open.
I am going in August and there will be a After hours paid option and the Mickey's BOO Halloween party at MK I think available the week I will be there.
I am just trying to figure out which might be a better choice for me, if I do decide to pay the extra money.
Long, long, time ago, in a galaxy --- I went to the extended extra hours that was FREE to resort guests with my kids. It was fantastic! We were there in the summer and to be in MK at night was fantastic! Perfect weather temps and less crowds.

I hate the idea I have to pay for this same benefit now that was once the BIGGEST perk to staying on site versus staying in a resort off-site. I will be staying at POP.

Unfortunately the information it appears you're looking at may be incorrect. If you're looking for AH in the MK, those are only offered through July. After that it switches to MNSSHP and MVMCP. (At this time, dates have not been announced for either of those parties.)

This is the information available on the Disney website for AH hours in 2026:

Dates and Discounts
Find event dates and other information regarding Disney After Hours at 3 different theme parks!


MAGIC KINGDOM PARK
Disney After Hours at Magic Kingdom park takes place select nights from January 12 through July 27, 2026.

Event Dates

• January 12 and 19
• February 2, 9 and 23
• March 2 and 9
• April 13 and 20
• May 4, 11, 18 and 25
• June 1, 22, and 29
• July 13 and 27

Also, clarifying that you are discussing WDW in FL, correct? The party there is called, 'Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.' Only asking at the Boo to You party is the one offered at DL in California.

Hope this helps with your planning.

 

[iHEARTflorida]

What characters are out and about for the after hours?

 

[summerlvr]

What characters are out and about for the after hours?

I didn't see any characters out and about at the MK after hours on March 2. I think maybe I've read that there are some out and about at Hollywood Studios, but I don't know which ones.

 

[mdsouth]

Unfortunately the information it appears you're looking at may be incorrect. If you're looking for AH in the MK, those are only offered through July. After that it switches to MNSSHP and MVMCP. (At this time, dates have not been announced for either of those parties.)

This is the information available on the Disney website for AH hours in 2026:

Dates and Discounts
Find event dates and other information regarding Disney After Hours at 3 different theme parks!


MAGIC KINGDOM PARK
Disney After Hours at Magic Kingdom park takes place select nights from January 12 through July 27, 2026.

Event Dates

• January 12 and 19
• February 2, 9 and 23
• March 2 and 9
• April 13 and 20
• May 4, 11, 18 and 25
• June 1, 22, and 29
• July 13 and 27

Also, clarifying that you are discussing WDW in FL, correct? The party there is called, 'Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.' Only asking at the Boo to You party is the one offered at DL in California.

Hope this helps with your planning.

Thanks to all who shared info about rides open during extended hours.
And yes, I meant the Not so Scary Halloween party at WDW, not the one in DL. Oops!

 

[Khokhonutt]

We did the MK after hours party on Monday 3/9 and the EPCOT after hours on Thursday 3/12 a couple of weeks ago. As others have said, it was a cool experience. The two things I'd offer, from our experience would be:

1. We bought our tickets after we had our other plans in place. That meant we rope dropped Hollywood Studios, the morning of the MK after hours and started early in MK, the morning of the EPCOT after hours. We ended up doing 24,000+ steps on Monday and 31,000+ steps on Thursday. To say the least, we were worn slap out the by the end of the EPCOT event. If we opt to do the after hours events again, we'll do them as separate days, where we aren't using regular tickets the same day.

2. For us, it really was a method to ride as many rides as possible. We did watch the extra fireworks show (I think it was a little better than Happily Ever After, but neither is as good as Wishes) at MK, but the rest of the time we were running ride to ride. It worked for us this trip, because we hadn't been to WDW in quite some time and we had a lot of rides we wanted to catch up on. I'm sure you could do it different, but for us, I prefer days at the park where you can take things a little more easy going and enjoy the overall park experience. I wouldn't rule out doing the after hours again, but it'll take some consideration of our goals for that trip.

 

[mcd2745]

Is there anyone who has done the MK AH who did the old "E-Ride Nights" back in the late 90s/early 2000s that could compare them?

I always say that those E-Ride nights were the best money we ever spent at WDW by a mile.....a million miles, actually.

Seems like they are now charging upwards of $200 pp for a very similar thing that they charged $5-10 pp back in the day. I guess the main difference then, snacks & drinks weren't included and there were "only" 9 attractions (how/why they came up that number...who knows?) open.

 

[summerlvr]

Yes! My kids and I did E-Ride Nights back in the early 2000's and absolutely loved them. At that time, you had to be staying at a Disney Resort and have a multi-day ticket in order to purchase. Would go back to that in a heartbeat for $10/person! I can remember being in MK until 2 or 3 AM because the regular closing time was so late during the summer. I don't remember the park being crowded or having long lines for the rides that were open. My kids would ride Space Mountain over and over! I believe there were also characters out and about, which I have never seen at the MK AH.

As far as the current After Hours, I'd say crowds/ride lines are hit or miss, some are more crowded than others. I just did the MK AH on March 2 and it was one of the least crowded ones I've been to. I bought my ticket at like 7pm on the day of, so it wasn't sold out. I think I waited maybe 10 minutes for PP, but everything else I rode was a walk on. I don't do roller coasters though.

I'm also doing the MK AH on April 20 and already have my ticket for that one. Will be interesting to see how it compares crowd wise to the one I just did.

 

[mcd2745]

Yes! My kids and I did E-Ride Nights back in the early 2000's and absolutely loved them. At that time, you had to be staying at a Disney Resort and have a multi-day ticket in order to purchase. Would go back to that in a heartbeat for $10/person! I can remember being in MK until 2 or 3 AM because the regular closing time was so late during the summer. I don't remember the park being crowded or having long lines for the rides that were open. My kids would ride Space Mountain over and over! I believe there were also characters out and about, which I have never seen at the MK AH.

As far as the current After Hours, I'd say crowds/ride lines are hit or miss, some are more crowded than others. I just did the MK AH on March 2 and it was one of the least crowded ones I've been to. I bought my ticket at like 7pm on the day of, so it wasn't sold out. I think I waited maybe 10 minutes for PP, but everything else I rode was a walk on. I don't do roller coasters though.

I'm also doing the MK AH on April 20 and already have my ticket for that one. Will be interesting to see how it compares crowd wise to the one I just did.

So would say the overall experience (certainly not the price) of the AH event is very similar to the old E-Ride nights?