The Only Wait is for the Snacks! - Monday Jan 27th 2025 (part 8)
Selfie!
For this ride picture, we decided to be pirates - i've got a hook and a sword and Trevor is looking through the spyglass.
And yes, I realize a photo pose you have to explain is maybe not the best pose but what can ya do.
Next up, the plan was Jungle Cruise! But first, a picture of Trevor with the sign to go with his hat.
We were going to ride, but there was still a decent wait (maybe the full 20 minutes that it was posting). So we decided to do something else:
Aladdin! It was like 5 minutes until the event started so we figured by the time we were off the ride, the lines would start to go down and also, snacks!
Aladdin we rode in the same carpet but different rows. And yes, we went right up to the top to get some air and nicer high up views. No spitting camel tonight - I guess it was too cold - well, "cold".
We got off the ride, and the event had officially started! So we grabbed some snacks, but there was a bit of a line:
We ended up waiting about 5 minutes cause people seemed confused about how the snack carts would work. But, popcorn!
There's something nice about free (included ) snacks.
Next up, Jungle Cruise! The line had indeed gone down - we only waited about 5 minutes. Yay! We had a fantastic night cruise, with a great skipper who had several jokes I hadn't actually heard recently, so that was nice. A good "official" start to the event.
As we got off the ride, I noticed some of the suitcases near the exit:
I love all the stickers on them - so cute!
Next up, since Tiana's was closed, and Big Thunder was closed and we'd already ridden Pirates, we figured we'd circle around and ride Haunted Mansion. On our way though, we figured we'd get more snacks.
Sadly, quite the line. This one moved a bit faster - only about 3/4 minutes.
Ice cream and popcorn!
Fireworks and Galaxy Saving! - Monday Jan 27th 2025 (part 9)
Off we went to Haunted Mansion - cause the popcorn was in boxes, we were able to take that on, and we just scarfed down the ice cream (thought they did let us take it in the line).
We just didn't have much time to eat it cause only a 13 minute wait.
There was no wait but still a semi-full stretching room. But quickly we were on the ride and enjoying our introduction to the haunts.
Tea party!
The ghost took our heads!! Oops.
We got off the ride a little after 10:45, so we headed to the hub to watch the Enchantment fireworks show. It definitely felt more crowded than the event we did last January:
The front of the castle was all full, so we went back here. Still a great view!
I like Happily Ever After better but Enchantment isn't a bad show. After all, I am the magic!
This is what it looked like after:
Nothing like the hub during the normal fireworks but still more crowded than I would have expected.
Such a pretty lighting package.
Next up? Tomorrowland! We went for Buzz Lightyear, since we saw everyone going for Space and Tron. We needed to save the galaxy!!
Ride one:
Very serious heros! I got 572,900 and Trevor got 506,400. So we had to do another ride.
Ride two:
I got 972,000, while Trevor got 369,400. So close!
We decided to split up for the next ride (ride #3):
Trevor got 266,200. I apparently don't have a photo for me but I GOT GALACTIC HERO! I got 999,999 and then on my other gun I got 350,500. Woohoo!
We decided to ride one more time so Trevor could try and get Galactic Hero - ride #4:
I didn't really play, so I got 280,700 - I was trying to help Trevor, I guess with moral support!
Trevor got:
975800!!! SO CLOSE!!! Poor guy. He decided at that point that was probably about as good as it was going to get so we called that our last ride. Not too bad - we had a lot of fun even if only one of us was a galactic hero.
Tomorrowland Coasters - Monday Jan 27th 2025 (part 10)
We finished riding Buzz Lightyear at about 11:45, so with 75 minutes left in the event, and Tron posting 30 minutes, we decided to go ride Tron.
So pretty!
We figured that by doing Tron now, even if it was the full 30 min wait, we'd get off and still have some time left int he event to get snacks and ride Space or Peter Pan. But if we saved Tron for the end of the night, we wouldn't be able to get any snacks to take with us or anything.
Only took about 10 minutes to get into and out of the locker room, and 8 minutes after that, we were getting ready to board!
We got the second row!
Trevor always likes trying to a blurry selfie as we head to the launch, and it always just makes me SO nervous, like he's gonna lose his phone. So far so good though.
Tron was fantastic as always! I'm glad I did the bike - it wasn't as tight a fit as it has been other times though I think that's less about me and more about the individual bike that I get. Also (and this may be TMI, but we're good friends now I feel ) it's always only my right leg that really feels squished. I guess that calf must be bigger than my left leg. *shrugs*
Post ride blurry pic!
We ended up off the ride at 12:11 - only 20 minutes total! Not too bad at all.
Next up, Space!
Love that 5 minute posted wait.
I think I'm driving and Trevor is like "oh gosh we're gonna die!" No idea.
Space is so fun - I almost wish that on these events they'd run it with the lights on, just for the novelty of it!
By the time we got off, it was 12:30 - 30 minutes left! We figured we'd end the night in Fantasyland, but we got some ice cream to fortify us for the long walk over there.
In Fantasyland, we first came upon Winnie the Pooh:
posting 5 minutes but a walk on. Woohoo! I have a soft spot for this ride - it's just so cute.
We grabbed another ice cream after - I wanted to get some boxes of popcorn but the stand there was out of both water and the only popcorn was the regular open face boxes (not the boxes with the closed top) so we just got some ice cream.
At this point it was 12:40, so we went for Peter Pan!
We ended up waiting exactly 7 minutes:
We got off at 12:52, and so we ran down to the snack cart by Haunted Mansion to try and get popcorn with the lids (also notice my galactic hero sticker!). They only had the open face popcorn again
This is what I meant - just the open boxes, vs the earlier boxes with the lid. I think they were also out of water, so we got some sprite instead.
This was the first time at an After Hours event where I remember them being out of items at the snack carts. It's kind of disappointing - I get that it's hard to calibrate but for the money we pay, it's disappointing to have them be out of anything. Oh well!
After getting the popcorn, we ran back up to Fantasyland to hop on the Carousel to close out our night:
We had to leave our popcorn in the line (the CM was gracious about letting us leave them there so we didn't have to throw them out).
Hi!
We got one extra ride - some people got in line about a minute before the park closed, and the CM let us stay on while they got their last ride. Bonus ride for us!
With the event officially closed, we started heading out of the park.
Pretty castle!
And a fun view of Main Street all lit up!
Good night castle!
We were planning to get some photos on Main Street with the photopass photographers, but none of them were out! Last time we did the event there were still photographers out on Main Street after the official close of the event, so I assumed it would still be like that. It was definitely disappointing to have that change - obviously makes sense that they want to close right at 1 am, but I wish they'd communicate it so we could make plans for it. Oh well!
Selfie instead.
We did stop by City Hall on the way out to leave some feedback about the crowds, running out of snacks (there were other carts I didn't mention that we stopped by that were out of some or most things), and then the photographers not being out anymore. I assume nothing will happen but at least I said it. *shrugs* Honestly, this may be the last time we do After Hours at Magic Kingdom unless we hear reports that it goes back to how we'd experienced it before. This was still a super fun night, but if it got any more crowded, it wouldn't be worth it, and considering how it progressively gets *slightly* worse, I'm not sure I'm willing to do it again. *sigh* I get why Disney increases capacity and such, but it is disappointing.
Anyways, despite that, we definitely did have a great time! Until we hit the bus stop. Oh Disney buses, please change. We must have just missed a bus, because the bay for Beach/Yacht Club was completely empty. Trevor said he thought he saw one pulling out as we were walking over there but we were super far away - we wouldn't have made it. We waited 10 minutes and saw no bus, though Boardwalk had one next door at their bay when we got there and another pulled up in that 10 minutes.
A bus finally pulled up after 15 minutes, and then it took a bit to get everyone loaded, so we left at 1:50 am - 20 minutes after we arrived at the bus stop. Which doesn't sound like a lot right now but man it felt like a forever. We made it back to the hotel at 2:10. Looooong night - we're so old. Good thing we didn't have anything early planned for the next day - sleeping in was the only thing on the agenda!
Fun with Metrics:
Steps walked: 30753 steps (11.6 miles)
Ride count: 18 (Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Small World, Seven Dwarfs, Dumbo, Pirates, Aladdin's Carpets, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear x4, Tron, Space, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Carousel x2)
Annual Pass Savings: $50.60
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