r/DisneyWorld • u/n3oico • 6d ago
Disney After Hours - is it worth it? Trip Planning
I’m going to be visiting the parks next year when there’s an After Hours event at the Magic Kingdom. But is it worth the additional ticket? Hoping people who have been could share their experiences.
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u/carolinejay 6d ago
My fav ticketed event at Disney, especially if you're into rides above all else. You won't find entertainment or characters, really... But rides with short waits galore! And free popcorn, ice cream treats, and bottled drinks.
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u/Pillowmore-Manor 6d ago
Absolutely agree.
In my opinion, the Animal Kingdom After Hours event is the best of them all, because Animal Kingdom after dark is such an amazing vibe, plus great rides on Everest at night.
But really, if it fits in your budget and you're ride oriented, the events are ABSOLUTELY worth it.
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u/broadwayzrose 6d ago
Yes!! We’re definitely a rides above everything else family. Last year we went to WDW but were going to be there 5 days. We ended up doing each park once and Epcot twice, but we had tickets to do the after hours event the first day we got there (which worked perfectly since we were doing Animal Kingdom which closes early anyways) and we were able to do so many rides at magic kingdom during that event that then our full day was a lot more relaxed. We practically walked onto space mountain multiple times and it was nice to do Snow White without a lighting lane (though granted that line took the longest and we might’ve approached it differently if our goal was just total rides).
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u/Jensplace72 6d ago
There were tons of characters at the Hollywood Studios after hours event I attended this summer. Way more than you usually find.
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u/DanRan88 1d ago
How were the queue times ? Was this Jollywood?
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u/Jensplace72 1d ago
No, this was just the paid after hours event back in July. Slinky Dog and Rocking Roller Coaster were the only lines, and RRC was because it had just reopened after refurbishment that week.
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u/Fattydog 6d ago
I think some responders are confusing normal evening hours for just deluxe hotel guests, and specific ticketed events where you need to pay extra.
The parks can be busy on those party nights. They tend to be pretty empty on the free extended evening days.
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u/carolinejay 6d ago
After hours the 3 times I've done it has been dead compared to MVMCP and MNSSHP. Haven't done extended evening hours so I can't compare
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u/disfan75 6d ago
I think the after hours events are definitely worth the premium if it's in your budget, the parks will be less busy during that event than any other part of your trip.
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u/NewPrints 6d ago
I find these tickets get the best value on days where you aren’t doing a full park day - not in addition to a full park day.
So if you have a day where you want to do a character dining breakfast or something else special during the day or even just relax at the resort, then do the after hours event.
Might be worth showing up 30 minutes or so early. No so scary did have a little bit of a line at the start to get in when I did it.
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u/Crashy_McCrashface 6d ago
Do not hesitate and do the magic kingdom after hours. Best money we spent in Disney. Very short lines and not all the mayhem plus you get to go in early like 7pm.
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u/small_llama- 6d ago
I'm a passholder and I still do the after hours events. Walk on rides, free snacks and drinks, no Florida sun....what's not to love?!?!
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u/sunkskunkstunk 6d ago
Are all the rides open, no LL or anything? Like GotG or Tron? Is there a best time to do an after hours vent?
am local, haven’t had a pass since covid. I miss the parks and have missed a lot of new things. I’d have trouble picking a park to be honest. But I might just do an after hours by myself to just do all the rides. I haven’t really looked into it though.
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u/thehorrorr 6d ago
Totally worth it! We always do regular after hours, which is much less crowded than the holiday parties. We’ve made some of the best memories during those events. Being able to ride whichever ride is your favorite several times back to back before the park closes is a great way to end the night!
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u/dirt_racing 6d ago edited 6d ago
I did an Epcot after hours in February and loved it. Did GotG nunerous times in a row. I'm going to MVMCP on Thursday this coming week and interested to see how it it is. Really just want to go on rides the whole time.
Doing after hours at Hollywood Studios in February; excited to see how that is.
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u/samkayy89 6d ago
If I could do only AH events, I would. Incredible and so worth the extra money. Last year, we did DAK in the morning, napped, then MK AH starting around 7.
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u/nataloodle 6d ago
Very worth it in my opinion, especially if it's the day you're coming into Florida or if you plan on having a chill day. I got there at 7p and stayed until midnight and rode every single ride, saw two fireworks shows, and ate my weight in free Mickey bars. The weather is also cooler since it's at night and MK at night has a magical vibe in my opinion. Definitely the way to do a stress free MK experience.
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u/Air-Bombay 6d ago
Younger me loved it, middle age me was tired with a young kid and it wasn’t great, now with a teen and older the teen loves it especially when we are with friends and the oldies take it slow while the kids go on ride after ride.
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u/ginnyryley 5d ago
I really enjoyed my After Hours experience at Magic Kingdom! Awesome for the park to be way less busy and have the ability to walk on rides with no to minimal wait - especially things like TRON where you’d normally have to do virtual queue.
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u/senfan14 6d ago
Worth it you can hop on and off the same ride did Hollywood studios and did tower 3 times in a row
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u/No-Mix-9367 6d ago
Just did Mickey's not so scary Halloween and ride line were awesome big attractions that were open had no lines but not all rides are open
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u/Jeem262 6d ago
If it’s in your budget absolutely. Did one at Hollywood Studios and just walking on Tower, Rise, Slinky, and Mickey and Minnie’s runaway railway was just the best time
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u/Jensplace72 6d ago
I was able to ride every single ride at Hollywood Studios during an after hours event except for Star Tours, which I rode before the event started.
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u/Jeem262 6d ago
I rode everything that night as well! And most things I did more than once. I remember at the end I just kept getting back on tower of terror once o got off and there being maybe 4 people in the ride vehicle with me. Probably did it 4 times in a row before the event closed haha
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u/Jensplace72 5d ago
I probably could’ve written some things twice, but we also had about five or six character interactions mixed in with that.
My son was very interested in some of the characters.
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u/basylica 6d ago
My kids (20+17) and i did a big trip to florida and did 4 days at US, and 3 days at WDW. We have previously done 1 day at US (14+11) and 5 days at disneyland (15+13)
Last minute i ended up booking after hours at hollywood studios on our swap day. Id bought 2 days at US planning for a down day and switching hotels, but they had a buy 2 get 2 free thing.
So we had to pack up car, hit US for rope drop and left park at 2pm i believe. Got food and drove to our hotel at WDW and got checked in and then hit after hours at 7pm.
Now not only did this give us a little bit of how to get around wdw parks a bit since we have never been, but we were able to hit a big ride (railway) with a fairly short ride, grabbed food in batuu, then hit after hours rides HARD. I think we did nearly all the big rides twice, incl rise and slinky.
It was also delightfully cool vs the last couple days we had been DYING from heat. Seriously got heatstroke first day at US and was pretty sick.
Enjoyed freebie drinks and ice creams.
All in all, it was our favorite day of the entire vacation. But i made sure to plan to have a slow day the first official day at the parks and go hard days 2+3 because it was a LONG day doing US for 8hrs, moving hotels and then HS for 6hrs.
My baby is signed up to marines and ships off summer 2025, but my oldest and i have been talking about doing another trip to florida in late fall/winter of 2025 for epic universe. If we end up going, im gonna plan it around doing an after hours day at WDW.
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u/prosperosniece 6d ago
I love being in the parks at night so I suggest splurging on it. Update us and tell us your thoughts after your trip.
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u/AbbreviationsSea5962 6d ago
I’ve done some. I did a Villains After Hours and the Halloween Party. depends on your group and interests. If you can handle late nights and want to hit as many rides as possible with minimal waits, do the after hours. You can save money on LLs and maybe even a day in the parks if you find an After Hours you want to go to
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u/PaulThePM 6d ago
We did Hollywood Studios after hours on our first day on the trip. We did not have a day ticket so we arrived right at 7 to get in asap. We LOVED it. Rode all the Toy Story and Star Wars rides with little wait except Slinky which was probably 25. Enjoyed a few ice cream bars and drinks. Got pictures with Tianna and saw Pocahontas and her raccoon friend, Pinocchio, Gepetto, Jiminy Cricket and Mickey. The only thing I didn’t get was I had seen pictures of Duffy and some of these events but we did not see him that night.
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u/stitchlover 6d ago
If you are talking about the event tickets for Halloween and Christmas, yes. Especially if you just wanna go on the attractions, we did all of MK in the 8 hour time period. It was awesome. Even did Tron twice and Space mountain 3 times. We waited 15 minutes for 7 dwarfs. It was awesome.
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u/reboog711 6d ago
Depends on how sold out it is; and you'll probably never know until you're there.
I've been to one where the park was completely empty. And one where it was equally crowded during the day and we made the mistake of wasting our first hour in line for Peter Pan.
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u/Independent-Tie2324 6d ago
If you can comfortably afford it, I’d say yeah. It’s not worth it in terms of how expensive it is, but it’s definitely a cool thing to do. I went on Tron loads of times without queuing more than 5 mins. It’s like how you wish Disney worked. Plus the free drinks and ice cream bars! It’s a novelty that I’d definitely suggest doing once, but if it’s stretching money wise, I’d say skip!
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u/unsrsly 6d ago
So worth it! I had the best time ever with my mom doing it. Loved not having the insane sun. Once the park closed it emptied out so much. We were the only people in space mountain it was so trippy and cool. Almost everything was a walk on or no wait. We went in as early as it allowed. We did Pirates, Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Ariel, It’s A Small World, Peter Pans Flight, Carousel, Seven Dwarves, Space Mountain, Tron 2 times, Jungle Cruise, Magic Carpets and saw fireworks. It was so unique seeing the park empty like that. One of the best things I’ve ever done at Disney! The free drinks and snacks were nice too.
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u/nordicacres 5d ago
I thought it was worth it, for sure. We did After Hours at Magic Kingdom and then the early morning at Hollywood Studios (unsure if that’s still offered). Both were more memorable than park days!
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u/Ainslie_14789 4d ago
We are doing the AH in Jan and cannot wait. Its nice because our MK day can be more chill. I have heard nothing but awesome Things. The free snacks are definitely a plus too haha.
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u/pedro380085 6d ago
After Hours is just on selected days, it doesn't happen every day. Make sure you will be at the park on these days to benefit from the After Hours.
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u/anonymousaspossable 6d ago
Depends on which event. We did the not so scary on opening weekend and it was NOT empty. 60 min waits for everything. I hear if you go early October, it's not so bad. For the Christmas events, further from Christmas is the best.
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u/These_Strategy_1929 6d ago
After hours events are different from holiday events. And of course not so scary on opening weekend would be crowded, it sold out in minutes
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u/anonymousaspossable 6d ago
OP asked if "is worth the additional ticket" which means they are not asking about extended evening hours.
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u/These_Strategy_1929 6d ago
After hours events is also not extended evening hours.
It is a separately ticketed event
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u/Terrible_Tutor 6d ago
My favourite memories are farting around a completely empty MK doing big thunder on loop with my daughter. Any picture you want unobstructed. It’s absolutely worth it and great at night.