Favorite park close experience?

S

Sandurz

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Earlier this month on one of the last days of our trip, my girlfriend and I were closing down Magic Kingdom on a 9 or 10 PM day and we were able to get the last Mansion stretching room entirely to ourselves. On our other rides earlier in the week, the opening narration was almost inaudible due to the general murmur of the crowd and a couple scared children, so getting to hear every word and sound effect was really nice and creepy, and really satisfied my inner nerd. A nice plus was the CM in the room with us took the moment of darkness after the thunder to "teleport" up right next to us, which really scared the gravy out of me once the lights came back on. The CMs at load also did their best to creep us out. With no one else on the ride taking flash pictures or talking or yelling, it was as pure of a ridethrough as you could get. After that we split one of those gigantic BBQ slaw dogs from Casey's as the Kiss Goodnight played, and it was a seriously great way to close out the MK for the day.

What are some of your best late night memories after all the pesky "other folk" have left the parks?
 
disneysince71

disneysince71

Well-Known Member
Over New Years week MK was having EMH from 12:00-3:00. There was a horrible storm around 12:30 which sent 90% of the guests home. It had been a horribly busy week and cold... so from 1:00 to 3:00 we felt like we had the park to ourselves. No wait on anything at all even Space was 10 Min. It was a blessing for us and we had a blast... My daughter got some great pictures of her only on Main street at 3:15 A.M! It was great. :)
 
HatboxGhost

HatboxGhost

Well-Known Member
Sandurz said:
Earlier this month on one of the last days of our trip, my girlfriend and I were closing down Magic Kingdom on a 9 or 10 PM day and we were able to get the last Mansion stretching room entirely to ourselves. On our other rides earlier in the week, the opening narration was almost inaudible due to the general murmur of the crowd and a couple scared children, so getting to hear every word and sound effect was really nice and creepy, and really satisfied my inner nerd. A nice plus was the CM in the room with us took the moment of darkness after the thunder to "teleport" up right next to us, which really scared the gravy out of me once the lights came back on. The CMs at load also did their best to creep us out. With no one else on the ride taking flash pictures or talking or yelling, it was as pure of a ridethrough as you could get.
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That is awesome!!!!!!!!! My wife and I would totally geek out for that!!!!
 
brifraz

brifraz

Marching along...
Premium Member
Last Spring we did a MK EMH until 3am. It was a blast. Did a ton of rides between 12pm and 3am : TTA Peoplemover, Tea Cups, Great Goofini - 2x, Dumbo - 2x, Winnie The Pooh, Snow White's Scary Adventure, It's a Small World, Buzz Lightyear - 3x, Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway. Also stopped in front of the castle and got a picture each hour (12:30, 1:30, 2:30am) and took a ton of pictures ourselves. It was our DDs latest night out (she was 8) and an absolutely incredible experience. Couldn't resist taking this picture on the empty bus back to Old Key West.

DSC_0856_zps5c2735db.jpg
 
Bparso87

Bparso87

Well-Known Member
disneysince71 said:
Over New Years week MK was having EMH from 12:00-3:00. There was a horrible storm around 12:30 which sent 90% of the guests home. It had been a horribly busy week and cold... so from 1:00 to 3:00 we felt like we had the park to ourselves. No wait on anything at all even Space was 10 Min. It was a blessing for us and we had a blast... My daughter got some great pictures of her only on Main street at 3:15 A.M! It was great. :)
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Had a day like that on my sons birthday and was on the jungle cruse with like 8 people on the boat. It was real cool it is kinda spooky with not a lot of people around at 1am. It is like going to Walmart and no one is in a check out line.
 
jonesenon4

jonesenon4

Active Member
:)One of our fondest memories is similar to the op but on potc instead.It was emh and we were doing the final ride of the night.We had already hit space,big thunder,and splash and hm.So pirates was our last ride of the night and we were the only one's not only on the ride but the entire building and it was really creepy to say the least.Walking to the exit was also cool and creepy because once again there was no one but us and the crickets we still talk about it on every trip.
 
Bparso87

Bparso87

Well-Known Member
jonesenon4 said:
:)One of our fondest memories is similar to the op but on potc instead.It was emh and we were doing the final ride of the night.We had already hit space,big thunder,and splash and hm.So pirates was our last ride of the night and we were the only one's not only on the ride but the entire building and it was really creepy to say the least.Walking to the exit was also cool and creepy because once again there was no one but us and the crickets we still talk about it on every trip.
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Yea I heard crickets and that was it it was a little foggy to but it was awesome. It was just me and my son. Wife and daughter went home early. We also rode POTC that night to. The exit and the gift shop was just weird with no one in it.
 
Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
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I would say the most incredible *park close* experience was the night of the 25th Anniversary celebration for EPCOT. Having been a part of the Celebration 25 event, i attended the special Illuminations Desert Party for the group.
We were isolated in the Italy Pavillion area but the core group of 100+ was there until the wee hours. The Park had been cleared and 3rd Shift had already started their work for the night in Future World.

Around 1am or so we were all led as a group back to the main gate.
As we all walked around the lagoon in World Showcase on our way to SSE to exit we started a rather memorable sing along.The songs were all old classic EPCOT Pavillion themes of yore...and it was quite a experience.
Imagine walking through your fave Park, with a large group of equally enthused and appreciative fans of said Park, singing Pavillion songs and you are the only people in there. Yeah...major major geekfest for serious EPCOT fans it was. Loved it.

Once we arrived in Future World, 3rd shift CMs were busy doing there cleaning and pruning...and other work. It was priceless to see the confused faces as this crowd of 100 or so people march by singing *Universe of Energy* as they looked on. It was hilarious. I believe our dear Martin may have filmed some of this hilarity...not sure if this was ever shared ( or should be...). I mean, not everyone in the group was in tune with the singing....ha ha!

Yep...i doubt i will ever get a Park Close experience like that. Very difficult to top that one. One of the best experiences of a day packed full of amazing happenings. To this day, everytime i walk around that lagoon late at night, i think of October 1st 2007.
 
S

Sandurz

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
HatboxGhost said:
That is awesome!!!!!!!!! My wife and I would totally geek out for that!!!!
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Yeah I definitely was geeking out! Got to hear some wooshing spirit effects in the stretch room I had never heard before when listening to the audio rips at home. And we got to hear the gargoyles whisper with nothing but silence around. It totally satisfied any need to ride the HM for the rest of the trip, just because we knew there was no possible way to top that.

jonesenon4 said:
:)One of our fondest memories is similar to the op but on potc instead.It was emh and we were doing the final ride of the night.We had already hit space,big thunder,and splash and hm.So pirates was our last ride of the night and we were the only one's not only on the ride but the entire building and it was really creepy to say the least.
Click to expand...

Having the queue of Pirates to yourself is the perfect mix of awesome and creepy. Being able to slowly traipse through everything and take in every detail with nothing but smells and silence really sets the tone a little more than having the unwashed masses all around.
 
prfctlyximprct

prfctlyximprct

Well-Known Member
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!!
 
Bama14

Bama14

Well-Known Member
Mine was at Mk. The park was open till 2:00. We had no intention of staying that late, but all of the rides were walk on. We got to ride all of our favorite over and over. There were very few people in the park, and we had so much fun. Best night!
 
Walt Disney1955

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
In 2009 we stayed right until the end, seeing the fireworks. We wandered down Main Street and checked out some shops as there were still a ton of people in the park. We went to where you can get your Mickey hat embroidered and got some for our niece and nephew. For some reason it took forever, I mean a good hour. There was a bit of a back log of people so I waited outside while my wife waited inside. I was sitting on the bench on Main Street and the place was literally turning into a ghost town. It was so neat, seeing the Castle all lit up and Main Street was so..............quiet. I saw a few people walking out and Cast members would walk past me and say hello and that was it. Not "Get Out" or anything. It was really an amazing experience.
 
DisneyDelirious

DisneyDelirious

Super structures are my specialty!
Premium Member
Gotta be closing down MK. Walking hand in hand with my beautiful wife. Kids skipping along still high on pixie dust at 3am. Seeing the riverboat, hearing all the sounds you can't hear with the crowds. Standing in front of the castle and being able to see all the way down Main St. USA with little to no people around. And last but not least, the kiss goodnight. Wake everyone up when we get to CBR, carry my daughter to bed, and recharge for the next day.
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Well-Known Member
One night after Illuminations grabbed a slushie and snack waiting for the crowds to thin. By the time we left we were walking almost alone the park was so qiuet got some good nighttime shots of SSE from World Showcase!!
 

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