Favorite park close experience?

MarkTwain

MarkTwain

Well-Known Member
I think I've now stayed in all of the parks past their closing times, due to restaurant reservations or being in lines during park close. Or just because I felt like dragging my feet on my way out of the park and grabbing some photos. It's always a great feeling to feel like you have the park to yourself. :)

Photo of near-deserted Main Street, 30 mins after park close, early November 2012 (in line for Space Mountain at park close)... I think the Kiss Goodnight had already happened by this point:


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^ That's just a Photopass CM there in the middle:

Photo of deserted Land building, 45 mins after park close, December 2011... thank the 40-min Soarin' line at park close for this one:

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Magic Kingdom, minutes after a 1am park close, earlier this month:

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But my favorite memory, and one that is sadly undocumented, was leaving Hollywood Studios almost 2 hours after park close due to a late Sci-Fi Dine-In reservation. We had all of Hollywood Boulevard to ourselves and heard security give the all clear as we walked through the exit gate. :D
 
BryceM

BryceM

Well-Known Member
prfctlyximprct said:
My friend and I got to ride on TOT all by ourselves, we walked right on at the end of the night. The bellhop worked extra hard to freak us out! We even got to sit in different areas of the elevator even though it was just the two of us and it made it so creepy! I swear that time on TOT I saw more scenes at the end, unless I was just really focused because no one else was on the ride distracting me! It was an awesome experience!!
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I had the same experience. I saw a very creepy thing during the final drop that I've never seen before.
 
luv

luv

Well-Known Member
I like leaving parks at night. When the AK stayed open later, I loved leaving that park the most. I like the WS after illuminations, too.

Never like leaving the MK. Such a headache.
 
Killnme

Killnme

Well-Known Member
Just back in December we (myself,wife, and 8yr old) had late dinner at Sci-Fi. We came out in time to watch them turn the Osbourne lights off. When we rounded the corner at the big hat my daughter took off running. Stopped ran back and said the park is mine. She danced and spun her way down to the exit. Pure Joy through the eyes of an 8 yr old.
 
MarkTwain

MarkTwain

Well-Known Member
Figments Friend said:
-
Mark,i really like your photo of The Land.
Beautiful image !
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Thanks! :D

Here's another photo from the same night:

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Here's the only other deserted park photo I have, which has a nice story behind it. Some friends and I went to a Not So Scary Halloween Party a while back, and thought it'd be appropriate to make a ride on Haunted Mansion the last ride of the night. We managed to get inside right as the party ended and the closed, and sure enough, the three of were the only people inside. Here is a photo of the completely empty stretching room, which I actually took from the floor:

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marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Kiss Goodnight from an empty hub then a lazy stroll out.

And yes, Epcots 25th. I did shoot it. Click on the link in my signature below, and look for Epcots 25th Anniversary part two :)
 
Mikester71

Mikester71

Well-Known Member
I WISH I could make it to park closing once while down there! It's funny...I've always been a total night owl at home (as evident by my activity on the forums here - usually ALWAYS between the 2-4am hours :)), but I can't seem to make it to midnight while on vacation in WDW. I know being out in that hot, Florida sun all day and all the walking is what does me in, but just once I would like to be able to stay up long enough to close a park down (the MK would be my park of choice). Oh well, there's always next trip to try again I guess! :D
 
ndiniz

ndiniz

Active Member
I've been to WDW, but never done a park close before. Imagine what it'd be like if a CM member asked you to help him/her close down the park in a special way. But an offside question that does pertain to this: Have you ever felt strange being in the park when virtually nobody's there, except the CMs?
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Well-Known Member
ndiniz said:
I've been to WDW, but never done a park close before. Imagine what it'd be like if a CM member asked you to help him/her close down the park in a special way. But an offside question that does pertain to this: Have you ever felt strange being in the park when virtually nobody's there, except the CMs?
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Nope it's super cool!!!!!!!!!!
 
JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
I have 2 EPCOT at closing stories, 1 bad, 1 good. It was our first Disney trip, and DD was 5. We had been going nonstop for 5 days, and it was our last night there. DD was so excited about everything that she never gave any indication of wanting to slow down. Well we were at EPCOT for our first IllumiNations, and just before it began, DD finally had an attack of exhaustion. She literally laid down on the ground and started sobbing uncontrollably amidst all the crowds! It took all my strength to get her off the ground and carry her out to the buses, missing most of the show. (DH had recently had hernia surgery and could not help.)

Fast forward 4 years and two trips later, and we were eating a late dinner at R&C during IllumiNations. After the show ended, the waitress took her time in getting our check and change, etc. By the time we left, we saw almost no other people in the WS or even in FW as we made our way out to the parking lot for our rental car. That was really cool, having the park almost entirely to ourselves during the F&G Festival (and DD was wide awake!).
 

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