What should I expect if I do MK evening til midnight?

[Jajone]

It will me me, DD15 and her two friends. This will be our 4th park day in a row with a day off the next day (waterpark day, but can sleep in). MK is open til midnight, considered the lowest crowd day, but will be end of July. We will also have another MK day for rope drop at the end of our trip. Will we be able to hit some headliners at the end of the day? I would FP some must do's, but what will we have to skip in order to do this? If it doesn't work, we'll do rope drop, long break and then til midnight.

 

[Colleen27]

In our experience the best use of later hours is the longer-wait rides in Fantasyland because the families with younger kids clear out earlier than those with kids big enough to want to ride the mountains. I absolutely love the MK late at night, the later the better (we've been there for EMH nights as late as 3am) but the wait times at the mountains don't drop off the way the waits for things like Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise, Dumbo (back when there was only one), etc. do.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

At midnight during the summer, I think you'll be surprised at how many young kids are still in the park. If you really want to do the MK at night with lighter crowds, going during an evening EMH. It will be much later than midnight (either 2 or 3 a.m.) but the crowds will thin out a lot.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

It's always been crazy busy during late nights we've been there. I think parents have their kids run wild at EMH while they hit the lounges at Monorail resorts. That's what I'd do...I'm just joking here

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Lines can be their shortest in the evening. Here's an example of what we were able to accomplish from 8 pm to midnight early last summer. MK had EMH that morning, and it was bumper to bumper traffic leaving the park when we arrived at 8.

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train (10 min wait right a closing time)
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the parade and fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.

The most important fact to remember is that posted wait times are often greatly exaggerated at night.

 

[estherhead]

That's a video I made of us late at night in MK. Enjoy! I agree with wait times being exaggerated.

 

[Doug M]

Lines can be their shortest in the evening. Here's an example of what we were able to accomplish from 8 pm to midnight early last summer. MK had EMH that morning, and it was bumper to bumper traffic leaving the park when we arrived at 8.

Big Thunder 3x
Splash Mtn 2x
Space Mtn 2x
Mine Train (10 min wait right a closing time)
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Pooh
Peter Pan
Speedway
Barnstormer 2x

We also watched the parade and fireworks and had a couple of Dole Whips.

The most important fact to remember is that posted wait times are often greatly exaggerated at night.

We had similar numbers of rides during post fireworks to close midweek in early June. Mine train was open less than a week yet so lines we longer, but most everything else walk on. We did BTMRR twice without exiting later as nobody was in line to get on.

 

[AllieBoo]

We love late nights at MK! Yes, it will still be crowded, but we have found lines for splash, BTMRR and many other rides are usually quite a bit lower than during the day.

 

[thefriendlyfloridian]

We live near the parks and we usually always arrive around 8 or 9 and stay till midnight or later. The crowds drop and wait times drop, there is nothing like an empty Magic Kingdom!

 

[Jajone]

That's a video I made of us late at night in MK. Enjoy! I agree with wait times being exaggerated.

This is awesome. I think we might do a few at rope drop, then get out and come back after supper. I have a hard time giving up my rope drop, but love the night at MK. The girls will appreciate the extra headliner rides with minimal lines.

 

[Sparkly]

That's a video I made of us late at night in MK. Enjoy! I agree with wait times being exaggerated.

sssh, don't tell everyone how quiet the park gets after Wishes! That's my favourite time to be there. TTA and Dumbo are my very favourites to ride at night.

 

[dchronister]

We always stay as late as possible. We get so much more done late. But if you stay for EMH, stay for the entire thing or you won't make the most out of it. We have been on SM, BTM, Splash Mtn, over and over again, but it's always late, probably past midnight. Also the late parade, we have walked over to Frontierland last minute and sat down and had a front row seat. We usually go to whatever park we want during the day and then finish almost every night at MK.

 

[JanaDee]

You will be shocked at the amount of little kids still in MK at midnight or later.

 

[laura_<3]

That's a video I made of us late at night in MK. Enjoy! I agree with wait times being exaggerated.

Great video Thanks for sharing!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

You will be shocked at the amount of little kids still in MK at midnight or later.

Even when they were little, I found it much easier to let my kids stay up late vs. making them get up early.

My fondest Disney memory is chasing my then 3 year old daughter back to the entrance to Space Mountain moments before midnight with her screaming "one more time Daddy" all the way.

 

[Doug M]

Even when they were little, I found it much easier to let my kids stay up late vs. making them get up early.

My fondest Disney memory is chasing my then 3 year old daughter back to the entrance to Space Mountain moments before midnight with her screaming "one more time Daddy" all the way.

Your 3 year old daughter was tall enough for space mountain? My 6 year old son was about an inch too short last summer and was bummed he couldn't ride.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Your 3 year old daughter was tall enough for space mountain? My 6 year old son was about an inch too short last summer and was bummed he couldn't ride.

Yes. She finally stopped growing at 6' 1".

 

[Doug M]

Dang lol.

 

[Lee & Kerry]

It will me me, DD15 and her two friends. This will be our 4th park day in a row with a day off the next day (waterpark day, but can sleep in). MK is open til midnight, considered the lowest crowd day, but will be end of July. We will also have another MK day for rope drop at the end of our trip. Will we be able to hit some headliners at the end of the day? I would FP some must do's, but what will we have to skip in order to do this? If it doesn't work, we'll do rope drop, long break and then til midnight.

Later is greater, cooler, lights and magic, crowds are smaller and you can get way more done, just come later in the day and don't get up early the next day.

 

[BarbieGal457]

I would completely recommend staying until midnight, or later if you can! I've stayed until 2-3am many times using EMH, and it was amazing. We were able to do so much, so many times, and even found a lot of characters out and about. I would say I notice there are a lot of little kids still out until 11pm or so (you'd be surprised!) but then it seems to sharply drop off. Also, it's just a super cool feeling being there so late at night and having it seem like you have the entire park to yourself. It also is cooler at night so you won't end up a sweaty mess!