Disney After Hours returns to the Magic Kingdom at new lower pricing

[wdisney9000]

I just came back from an 8 day trip to WDW with 2 of my buddies. We attended the Disney After Hours event this past Friday and honestly, it was probably the highlight of the trip. One of the guys is an annual pass holder and he got all of our tickets which cost us about $94 each. Sure we spent $94 for an extra 3 hours of park time, but it was fantastic to literally be able to walk on to any ride we wanted. A cast member told us there were less than 1,000 people in the park and that seemed pretty accurate. After spending the whole week being surrounded by Brazilian tour groups it was quite a nice change of pace. If you want to be able to knock out almost every ride in the park in a very short period of time After Hours is a no brainer. That being said, you definitely don't get the full park experience...it's all about the rides. We had already spent 3 full days at MK so that wasn't a big deal for us.

@sheriffwoody posted some pictures on Instagram from the After Hours event a few days ago and she seemed to share the feeling that it was definitely worth it. Perhaps she can drop a comment in here about her experience. But it really did look like they had the park to themselves.

 

[Darth Vader RPh]

Were you able to get in prior to 7pm? We are going 2/16 & have a reservation at O'Hanas at 3:35. Thought to spend a little time visiting the resorts on the monorail & heading to MK a bit after 6:00 with hopes to get in a little early.
This will be our only MK visit this trip. So excited to do this party

Not sure about that one. We were already spending the day at MK so we didn't even bother checking in and getting our lanyards until about 7:30

 

[Courtney6682]

My daughter and I will be doing this on Feb 2nd..her 17th b-day is the next day ...what an awesome extra little present...the MK PRACTICALLY TO OURSELVES!!

 

[radiorae]

Not sure about that one. We were already spending the day at MK so we didn't even bother checking in and getting our lanyards until about 7:30

Question! I'm attending the After Hours event on the 2nd (so excited!) but I'm spending the afternoon in MK already -- where do you check in? I looked on the website, but all I saw were directions for people who were entering from outside the park. Did you have to go out and back in, or can you go to guest relations or some other location?

I'm glad you had a great time!

 

[sheriffwoody]

@sheriffwoody posted some pictures on Instagram from the After Hours event a few days ago and she seemed to share the feeling that it was definitely worth it. Perhaps she can drop a comment in here about her experience. But it really did look like they had the park to themselves.

Yep, it was EMPTY. I expected it to be less crowded than normal, but not that much. At any given time there were only up to 20 people around us. We got to ride 7 Dwarves 4 times with no wait. I was there with my little sister, and I wanted her to experience as many rides as possible, so we rode everything at least once! It was pretty awesome and definitely worth the money since we only had 3 days on our trip.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Were you able to get in prior to 7pm? We are going 2/16 & have a reservation at O'Hanas at 3:35. Thought to spend a little time visiting the resorts on the monorail & heading to MK a bit after 6:00 with hopes to get in a little early.
This will be our only MK visit this trip. So excited to do this party

My husband and I were there Friday night. We're both passholders so we could get in anyway, but they were checking in for Disney After Dark and giving the lanyards (no wrist bands anymore) a little after 4pm. We were surprised!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

My husband and I had fun on 1/20, but a couple things:

- It would have been nice to have more options to buy food (I'm thinking pretzels - we got pretty bored with popcorn and we don't do dairy so the ice cream didn't hold much appeal).
- I was surprised not to see any characters - that would have been a really nice touch.
- I was disappointed that the Peoplemover wasn't open (of course, lol).
- There were limited busses offered (and resorts that don't typically share were sharing - we were at POP and shared with AoA). Not a big deal but worth noting for people.

When we went into CBJ at about 11, the CM there was cheering because there were more than 2 people in there. He read to us the tally for every show since 9pm, and most were 0, a couple 2's. It was super slow.

Still, if I had little kids, I couldn't imagine shelling out $500 for a family of 4 to spend 3 extra hours in the parks. The rest of the week was pretty sparse in the parks, but the weekend was busier with locals.

 

[sheriffwoody]

My husband and I had fun on 1/20, but a couple things:

- It would have been nice to have more options to buy food (I'm thinking pretzels - we got pretty bored with popcorn and we don't do dairy so the ice cream didn't hold much appeal).
- I was surprised not to see any characters - that would have been a really nice touch.
- I was disappointed that the Peoplemover wasn't open (of course, lol).
- There were limited busses offered (and resorts that don't typically share were sharing - we were at POP and shared with AoA). Not a big deal but worth noting for people.

When we went into CBJ at about 11, the CM there was cheering because there were more than 2 people in there. He read to us the tally for every show since 9pm, and most were 0, a couple 2's. It was super slow.

Still, if I had little kids, I couldn't imagine shelling out $500 for a family of 4 to spend 3 extra hours in the parks. The rest of the week was pretty sparse in the parks, but the weekend was busier with locals.

That's the same night we were there! I felt like I mostly saw groups of 2 or 3. Did you feel that way too? I totally agree about shelling out that much for a whole family. It was ok for just two of us, but much more would have been hard to do. Also YES pretzels would have been great. Though we did enjoy the mickey bars and the fruit bars

 

[Me 'Earties]

That's the same night we were there! I felt like I mostly saw groups of 2 or 3. Did you feel that way too? I totally agree about shelling out that much for a whole family. It was ok for just two of us, but much more would have been hard to do. Also YES pretzels would have been great. Though we did enjoy the mickey bars and the fruit bars

See, you pointed out the issue: for one person or two, okay, maybe it's a good deal/can be really nice to feel like You have the park to yourselves. But, for a whole family, ooof. That's a difficult proposition. I mean, Disney got us already, because we purchased APs, and we purchased knowing that we'd do two 7-10 day trips to WDW within a 12 month period. So we essentially already paid for our tickets, hoppers, water parks, etc. ahead of time. But now, if I want some "extra magic", I'll need to fork over for the entire family to enjoy it. I'd like to say I could do it, but would have to skip it and take advantage of EMH instead (hopefully, that won't go away!)

 

[21stamps]

You guys seriously have me leaning towards going in March!! Ugh. That wasn't in the plans!

If I don't make it I'll just live vicariously thru your trip reports.lol

 

[Disneymom201]

My husband and I were there Friday night. We're both passholders so we could get in anyway, but they were checking in for Disney After Dark and giving the lanyards (no wrist bands anymore) a little after 4pm. We were surprised!

Awesome! Thanks!!!! And this way we can ride PM. One of my favs . We are a family of 6. Actually 5, but treating our aunt for hosting us before our cruise on The Wonder on 2/19 (she lives in Kissimmee). We have 3 boys 17,14 & 4. They got the cruise as part of their Xmas present. We asked the older 2 if they wanted a whole day at MK or to try the night party. They both picked the party (which is what I actually wanted to do).
I am so excited for this night! I really appreciate the detail in your next post as well
Will eat @ O'Hanas at 3:35 then head directly to MK

 

[21stamps]

Awesome! Thanks!!!! And this way we can ride PM. One of my favs . We are a family of 6. Actually 5, but treating our aunt for hosting us before our cruise on The Wonder on 2/19 (she lives in Kissimmee). We have 3 boys 17,14 & 4. They got the cruise as part of their Xmas present. We asked the older 2 if they wanted a whole day at MK or to try the night party. They both picked the party (which is what I actually wanted to do).
I am so excited for this night! I really appreciate the detail in your next post as well
Will eat @ O'Hanas at 3:35 then head directly to MK

That sounds like a wonderful trip!!
Have fun!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

That's the same night we were there! I felt like I mostly saw groups of 2 or 3. Did you feel that way too? I totally agree about shelling out that much for a whole family. It was ok for just two of us, but much more would have been hard to do. Also YES pretzels would have been great. Though we did enjoy the mickey bars and the fruit bars

Yeah - it was almost spooky how few people there were, lol! Honestly, it was near a ghost town starting around 7 or so, we felt, so we actually got so much done we didn't know what to do next!

It was weird walking on Buzz and literally having no one anywhere near us in line. I genuinely believe we were alone in the attraction the entire time!

 

[Darth Vader RPh]

Question! I'm attending the After Hours event on the 2nd (so excited!) but I'm spending the afternoon in MK already -- where do you check in? I looked on the website, but all I saw were directions for people who were entering from outside the park. Did you have to go out and back in, or can you go to guest relations or some other location?

I'm glad you had a great time!

We were worried that we'd have to go out and come back in too. We stopped at city hall and the CM there took our printed off tickets and handed us lanyards. Very convenient.

 

[wdisney9000]

Yep, it was EMPTY. I expected it to be less crowded than normal, but not that much. At any given time there were only up to 20 people around us. We got to ride 7 Dwarves 4 times with no wait. I was there with my little sister, and I wanted her to experience as many rides as possible, so we rode everything at least once! It was pretty awesome and definitely worth the money since we only had 3 days on our trip.

I used your IG posts to help try and convince my wife we should go for a quick trip, lol. It may have worked. She loved the idea of a near empty MK. The conversation spiraled out of control pretty quick. Didnt take long before we were discussing buying AP's. Then we discussed getting a few trips in this year for F&G, F&W, if we got AP's. Then I jumped on the DVC site to see what was available. Next was trying to convince my sister to take her kids for spring break so I could join them. I caught the fever all because of your Instagram post, hahaha

 

[sheriffwoody]

I used your IG posts to help try and convince my wife we should go for a quick trip, lol. It may have worked. She loved the idea of a near empty MK. The conversation spiraled out of control pretty quick. Didnt take long before we were discussing buying AP's. Then we discussed getting a few trips in this year for F&G, F&W, if we got AP's. Then I jumped on the DVC site to see what was available. Next was trying to convince my sister to take her kids for spring break so I could join them. I caught the fever all because of your Instagram post, hahaha

My work here is done YOU'RE WELCOME!

 

[wdisney9000]

My work here is done YOU'RE WELCOME!

Just send me the bill for services rendered. Job well done!