Trip Report COMPLETE - It's an After-Hours Event Extravaganza at Epcot!

Hello!

It's these guys again!
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We don't often go to the parks anymore because we've hit that point in our lives where waiting in lines and massive crowds aren't our jam, plus we don't have APs that give us the ability to pop in and out of parks. With that said, we've done some side quests in the past few months. Our latest was the monorail crawl in which we learned that if you drink massive amounts of water (plus Liquid IV), you can have 7 drinks between late afternoon and late evening and still function the next day. We primarily hang out at a resort and/or Disney Springs. So, if you see us in the wild, say hi!

We will be in Florida for the first week of April and decided to buy After Hours tickets for Epcot on April 4. They were $75 less (with DVC discount) than an Epcot, one-day ticket on the same day. I know what you're thinking. You get fewer hours in the parks. Yes, that's true, BUT let's be honest, we're no longer park commandos. Regular hours at Epcot on that date are 9 am - 9 pm. After Hours is 9 pm - 1 am, but you can show up at 7 pm. For us, it's a win-win. It should be a bit cooler and if there are any afternoon showers, they should have moved out.

I've purchased the tickets and they are in the app. We don't wear magic bands anymore and just use our phones. We're pretty chill and go with the flow. This sums it up perfectly as a Gen-Xer:

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Let's get down to brass tacks.

We will drive from our digs in central Florida and potentially hang out at Disney Springs for a bit to wait for our resort room to be ready. It's all a big TBD.

What is a known factor is our 1-night accommodations. For our past few stays (which have all been one night), we've been playing the lotto on DVC room availability. Sean stalks the DVC availability and we've had pretty good luck in finding a room at a resort we like within 30 days of the trip. It's usually a run-of-the-house room. Sometimes we're upgraded, but most of the time, it's an accessible room. This time, we wanted a room walkable from Epcot or on the Skyliner, even though riding it scares me. It's the same type of scary as Mickey's Wheel of Death (aka Pixar Pal-o-round) at California Adventure. That left us with Boardwalk, Beach Club, and Riviera for DVC.

Sean did the usual stalking of reservations and someone dropped a whole week in a tower studio at Riviera. We picked up the one day we needed. The only downside is that we have to Uber to Epcot because the entrance for the event is at the main entrance.

Up next, potential Flower & Garden food/drink stops.
 

imahistorygeek

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Here are the pictures I took while walking around. I have food pictures, but they'll be later because I need to refresh my memory.

Again, this used to be the greatest quick service in Epcot. I've never noticed the lights in the ceiling.

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I'll never get the hype of the orange bird, but it's cute.
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They started letting us in at Guardians around 9:30 pm. The party started at 10. We were one of the first to ride. Walked all the way to the pre-show.

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Living with the Land and Soarin were walk-ons.

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Remy was a walk-on as well. Such a cute ride!

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imahistorygeek

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After passing through the International Gateway (which Disney says you can't access After Hours event, but you can), we were in the park by 6:30. We turned right and headed to France. Our first booth stop was Fleur de Lys. Booth lines were not too long and in general, moved pretty fast. We also had pretty good luck finding tables.

Croissant au Fromage de Chèvre, Herbes et Ail Rôtie: Croissant with Goat Cheese, Herbs, and Roasted Garlic
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This tasted like your typical grocery store croissant filled with goat cheese. I didn't really taste any of the other flavors. With that said, it was pretty good.

Up next was Hanami in Japan. None of the food items looked appealing, but the cold ramen in a cup was a clear favorite. I saw a lot of these being carried around the festival.

Orange Blossom Brewing Co. Cherry Blossom Green Tea Pilsner
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This was good, but the green tea added a bit more bitterness than I would have liked, but that's what you get with green tea. It was refreshing.

I'm probably out of order at this point, but it was a quick run around to eat before everything closed up.

Jardin de Fiestas
Sope de Chilorio: Guajillo pepper-braised pork on fried corn shells with black beans, shredded cabbage, crema Mexicana, queso fresco, and chives
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This was very good and a large food item. I would definitely order this again. I liked the crunch of the cabbage and the braised pork was excellent.

Magnolia Terrace
Sean chose this item. I like gumbo, but this wasn't on my list. I'm glad he got it because it was probably the standout dish.
Spicy Chicken Gumbo with andouille sausage and long grain & wild rice
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One thing I did notice was that all the food that was supposed to be hot or was actually hot or warm. This is a nice change since we've been to plenty of festivals and the food was cold.

This is the most beautiful items of the festival.

Tangierine Cafe: Flavors of Medina
Orange Blossom-Saffron Cake
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This was light, refreshing, not too sweet and overall a great dessert. The saffron is light, but you can definitely taste it. If you don't like saffron, this isn't for you.

And now the most disappointing item is from Primavera Kitchen.
Bocconcini: Mozzarella bocconcini, grape tomatoes, and pesto sauce

The pictures are very cute, yet this is what you get.
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I guess I can't be too mad because the description is exactly what you get. I saw the real-life mac and cheese from this booth. That's a no from me. It was just sad.

I mentioned in the beginning that I'm a big fan of martinis.

The Refreshment Outpost
Lavender Martini: Boyd & Blair Potato Vodka with lavender and lemon
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Vodka, sprite, and a lavender spring - it was more Sprite than anything, but good and I would order again.

Our final stop (and it was a struggle because I was full) was The Citrus Blossom.
Orange Sesame Tempura Shrimp with orange-chile sauce
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This was another substantial item. The tempura was a bit soggy, but the flavors were excellent. It's hard to get a good photo in here because of the lighting. Also, and for those of you who care about these things, this was the first time I've seen the restroom. Nothing special, but I thought I had seen everything at Disney.

This wraps up our After Hours event. Even before it began, World Showcase crowds were manageable. The usual bottlenecks were not there and we could move freely.

What I liked about the experience: We were able to get into the park early and experience the festival. There were light crowds when After Hours began. I mean really light. There were just areas of the park where you didn't see anyone. The longest line was probably Frozen and that was just a few minutes. We rode everything we wanted. Snacks and drinks were easy to get. Overall, I would 100% do this again.

What I didn't like: Skyliner was not running during or after the event. We were staying at Riviera and walked to Beach Club and grabbed a Lyft. I was a little nervous before it was after midnight, but there was no problem with someone picking us up.
 
Last edited:

Bullseye1967

Is that who I am?
Premium Member
After passing through the International Gateway (which Disney says you can't access After Hours event, but you can), we were in the park by 6:30. We turned right and headed to France. Our first booth stop was Fleur de Lys. Booth lines were not too long and in general, moved pretty fast. We also had pretty good luck finding tables.

Croissant au Fromage de Chèvre, Herbes et Ail Rôtie: Croissant with Goat Cheese, Herbs, and Roasted Garlic
View attachment 780833
View attachment 780834

This tasted like your typical grocery store croissant filled with goat cheese. I didn't really taste any of the other flavors. With that said, it was pretty good.

Up next was Hanami in Japan. None of the food items looked appealing, but the cold ramen in a cup was a clear favorite. I saw a lot of these being carried around the festival.

Orange Blossom Brewing Co. Cherry Blossom Green Tea Pilsner
View attachment 780835

This was good, but the green tea added a bit more bitterness than I would have liked, but that's what you get with green tea. It was refreshing.

I'm probably out of order at this point, but it was a quick run around to eat before everything closed up.

Jardin de Fiestas
Sope de Chilorio: Guajillo pepper-braised pork on fried corn shells with black beans, shredded cabbage, crema Mexicana, queso fresco, and chives
View attachment 780836

This was very good and a large food item. I would definitely order this again. I liked the crunch of the cabbage and the braised pork was excellent.

Magnolia Terrace
Sean chose this item. I like gumbo, but this wasn't on my list. I'm glad he got it because it was probably the standout dish.
Spicy Chicken Gumbo with andouille sausage and long grain & wild rice View attachment 780837

One thing I did notice was that all the food that was supposed to be hot or was actually hot or warm. This is a nice change since we've been to plenty of festivals and the food was cold.

This is the most beautiful items of the festival.

Tangierine Cafe: Flavors of Medina
Orange Blossom-Saffron Cake
View attachment 780838

This was light, refreshing, not too sweet and overall a great dessert. The saffron is light, but you can definitely taste it. If you don't like saffron, this isn't for you.

And now the most disappointing item is from Primavera Kitchen.
Bocconcini: Mozzarella bocconcini, grape tomatoes, and pesto sauce

The pictures are very cute, yet this is what you get.
View attachment 780839
I guess I can't be too mad because the description is exactly what you get. I saw the real-life mac and cheese from this booth. That's a no from me. It was just sad.

I mentioned in the beginning that I'm a big fan of martinis.

The Refreshment Outpost
Lavender Martini: Boyd & Blair Potato Vodka with lavender and lemon
View attachment 780840

Vodka, sprite, and a lavender spring - it was more Sprite than anything, but good and I would order again.

Our final stop (and it was a struggle because I was full) was The Citrus Blossom.
Orange Sesame Tempura Shrimp with orange-chile sauce
View attachment 780841This was another substantial item. The tempura was a bit soggy, but the flavors were excellent. It's hard to get a good photo in here because of the lighting. Also, and for those of you who care about these things, this was the first time I've seen the restroom. Nothing special, but I thought I had seen everything at Disney.

This wraps up our After Hours event. Even before it began, World Showcase crowds were manageable. The usual bottlenecks were not there and we could move freely.

What I liked about the experience: We were able to get into the park early and experience the festival. There were light crowds when After Hours began. I mean really light. There were just areas of the park where you didn't see anyone. The longest line was probably Frozen and that was just a few minutes. We rode everything we wanted. Snacks and drinks were easy to get. Overall, I would 100% do this again.

What I didn't like: Skyliner was not running during or after the event. We were staying at Riviera and walked to Beach Club and grabbed a Lyft. I was a little nervous before it was after midnight, but there was no problem with someone picking us up.
Thanks for posting it!
 

cgersic

Well-Known Member
The gumbo is the only dish I tried in March since it was such a big and filling portion! Thanks for writing this up and I think you are making me think about doing this as well next time since my AP expires soon.
 

imahistorygeek

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The gumbo from magnolia terrace was a pleasant surprise for us, too. I recommend it to everyone who enjoys gumbo. I am thrilled you enjoyed the after hours events. Our next trip, as a family, may just be chilling and 2 after hours events.

The gumbo is the only dish I tried in March since it was such a big and filling portion! Thanks for writing this up and I think you are making me think about doing this as well next time since my AP expires soon.

I definitely recommend the event. I read quite a few negative reports but was pleasantly surprised by the experience.
 

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