**Disney After Hours - Magic Kingdom** FAQ & Discussion Thread

[Little E]

We had DAH booked for our March 2020 trip that got cancelled. We were SO excited to experience this, as it would have been a first for us. We rescheduled our trip for late July, 2021. It would be so awesome to have an opportunity to do DAH for our July trip. Keeping fingers crossed!

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

I loved Disney after hours. It was worth every penny. I am hoping so hard for at least fast pass this summer. Next thread that I hope opens in the near future is the firework party terrace one =]

 

[Louis morrell]

DAH events have been some of our best times in the parks. I hope they return.

 

[mamapenguin]

DAH events have been some of our best times in the parks. I hope they return.

Yes. And eating ice cream you didn’t really need at midnight because it was free....priceless

 

[Lindsay Smith]

Sorry to revive something of a zombie thread, but Disney must at least be thinking about bringing DAH back this summer, right? These events were profitable pre-Covid, so I don't see why they wouldn't be now. This seems like an easy and obvious way to make up for lost profits. With no Fastpasses during the day, shows, parades, fireworks, and characters still on the shelf, and crowds continuing to grow, long lines this summer seem both inevitable and unavoidable. So demand for ways to enjoy the parks and rides without the long lines would seem to be sky high. Now that Disney has called back furloughed cast members, and appears to be advertising for additional hires as well, it doesn't seem like these events would be hard to staff. I don't see any reason not to bring them back.

Hoping we might hear something soon!

I keep thinking the same thing. It’s gotta be a decent money maker. But maybe Disney doesn’t want to make CM’s work late yet. I hope it comes back sometime this year. Once it does, I’ll be planning our next trip ASAP!

 

[cel_disney]

That would make me very happy. I went Easter week and really missed fastpasses. The lines were awful. I would love an after hours party.

while we LOVE after hours - We just returned from a great trip and I sent Disney a note requesting they never bring back FP! Our FP free trip was easy and magical and we never waited in a line longer than 40 minutes! And most were half that regardless of what the projection was. Best trip ever for me as the planner - truly relaxing!!
Infact - we compared our nights two times to DAH!! Could have even been a third night ? Crowds after 5pm were non-existent...

so- if they don’t bring it back, I truly hope that you get to experience nights like we did which were just like DAH!! Rides were practically walk ins!

 

[jods]

while we LOVE after hours - We just returned from a great trip and I sent Disney a note requesting they never bring back FP! Our FP free trip was easy and magical and we never waited in a line longer than 40 minutes! And most were half that regardless of what the projection was. Best trip ever for me as the planner - truly relaxing!!
Infact - we compared our nights two times to DAH!! Could have even been a third night ? Crowds after 5pm were non-existent...

so- if they don’t bring it back, I truly hope that you get to experience nights like we did which were just like DAH!! Rides were practically walk ins!

We had the complete opposite experience! I missed fastpasses terribly. We were there the week before Easter and we waited in some serious lines. We rope dropped and then went back to the room and went back out for evening. Epcot closed at 11, around 9 both Soarin and Test Track had long waits. We waited over an hour for test track. An hour before close we waited 30 minutes for jungle cruise. Pirates had a 40 minute wait posted. We waited well over an hour for the safari and FOP. We waited 40 for Navi. Posted was 20. Even spaceship earth and pooh had decent waits. Millennium falcon and mine train were ridiculous all the time.
I much prefer planning then waiting in line all day. Prior we were happy with 3 or 4 hours in the park a day. Get our 3 fastpasses done and whatever else we could. We would often be able to pick up good 4 and 5th fp. We like not having to be out the door at the crack of dawn on vacation.

I will say our first night at HS was awesome. Got a lot done in 2 hours. Was probably before Easter crowds came in.

 

[Elle23]

while we LOVE after hours - We just returned from a great trip and I sent Disney a note requesting they never bring back FP! Our FP free trip was easy and magical and we never waited in a line longer than 40 minutes! And most were half that regardless of what the projection was. Best trip ever for me as the planner - truly relaxing!!
Infact - we compared our nights two times to DAH!! Could have even been a third night ? Crowds after 5pm were non-existent...

so- if they don’t bring it back, I truly hope that you get to experience nights like we did which were just like DAH!! Rides were practically walk ins!

The lines aren’t terrible (at certain times of the day) with the parks at 35% capacity and many rides running at full capacity. I can’t imagine how bad it will be when park capacity is at 100%.

Lines were very long in the afternoons for us last week. The nice thing about fastpass is that we weren’t locked in to early mornings and late evenings to get decent wait times. After a week in the park, those 5 am wake ups are daunting!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Funny to see this thread show up in my notifications. Ahhh, the good ole days.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

Funny to see this thread show up in my notifications. Ahhh, the good ole days.

I know, right? Those were some fun events!

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

We had the complete opposite experience! I missed fastpasses terribly. We were there the week before Easter and we waited in some serious lines. We rope dropped and then went back to the room and went back out for evening. Epcot closed at 11, around 9 both Soarin and Test Track had long waits. We waited over an hour for test track. An hour before close we waited 30 minutes for jungle cruise. Pirates had a 40 minute wait posted. We waited well over an hour for the safari and FOP. We waited 40 for Navi. Posted was 20. Even spaceship earth and pooh had decent waits. Millennium falcon and mine train were ridiculous all the time.
I much prefer planning then waiting in line all day. Prior we were happy with 3 or 4 hours in the park a day. Get our 3 fastpasses done and whatever else we could. We would often be able to pick up good 4 and 5th fp. We like not having to be out the door at the crack of dawn on vacation.

I will say our first night at HS was awesome. Got a lot done in 2 hours. Was probably before Easter crowds came in.

On a side note though, compared to what they usually were, the 40-60 mins times are pretty acceptable to me without fast pass. I agree with you though. I much rather fast pass the entire park vacation and never wait more than 20 mins lol

Those times will grow much higher as we get into the summer. By the time Memorial day weekend hits, we're going to see extremely high wait times every day. They will deff be upping capacity, which will make it worse ( but hopefully starts to open up more things and experiences )

I am going to tweet disney right now and tell them to bring back fast pass. I am sure they will listen to me. I will get back to you with their non response

 

[Sarahslay]

The lines aren’t terrible (at certain times of the day) with the parks at 35% capacity and many rides running at full capacity. I can’t imagine how bad it will be when park capacity is at 100%.

Lines were very long in the afternoons for us last week. The nice thing about fastpass is that we weren’t locked in to early mornings and late evenings to get decent wait times. After a week in the park, those 5 am wake ups are daunting!

For what it's worth, park capacity is rarely every at 100%, only ever reaching that a few days a year (like Christmas, New Years, and July 4). It is rough having to wake up to rope drop every day just to be able to not have to wait in lines all day. It's absolutely exhausting. I've been 5 times, and even on the two shorter trips (3 park days) I was exhausted by the end of it.

 

[Sarahslay]

Also to add, I want DAH to return badly, I really miss those experiences! I mean, they don't have to bring back VAH or anything with special stuff, I'll gladly pay for a regular old DAH. My DAH and I were supposed to do a VAH on our anniversary trip last July which obviously didn't happen. I'm really crossing my fingers that they see a reason to bring it back in the next year.

 

[igrsod]

Not sure why my picture is sideways... can't seem to fix it.
But this is a fun memory from DAH at AK. The cast members told us to "save the popcorn" as we were exiting the park. They stacked these on my daughter to take back to the resort room. We ate popcorn all week (good thing we brought ziplock bags with us to keep it fresh).
Hopefully these events come back again. We loved them. Did one at AK and MK. Both well worth it.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Add me to the list - love After Hours and hope they return.

 

[JakeAZ]

Crowds after 5pm were non-existent...

We had the complete opposite experience! I missed fastpasses terribly. We were there the week before Easter and we waited in some serious lines.

As always, it still largely depends on the time you go.

Mid - Late April, after Spring Break and before the summer crowds should be more enjoyable.

Spring Break, Summer, the 50th and the Holiday Season will be jam packed.

Now that the CDC confirmed touching a surface isn't a likely way to contract Covid, Disney could probably spend less time with the intense cleaning overnight. Get those hard ticket events going again!

 

[jods]

On a side note though, compared to what they usually were, the 40-60 mins times are pretty acceptable to me without fast pass. I agree with you though. I much rather fast pass the entire park vacation and never wait more than 20 mins lol

Those times will grow much higher as we get into the summer. By the time Memorial day weekend hits, we're going to see extremely high wait times every day. They will deff be upping capacity, which will make it worse ( but hopefully starts to open up more things and experiences )

I am going to tweet disney right now and tell them to bring back fast pass. I am sure they will listen to me. I will get back to you with their non response

hope they listen to you.

As always, it still largely depends on the time you go.

Mid - Late April, after Spring Break and before the summer crowds should be more enjoyable.

Spring Break, Summer, the 50th and the Holiday Season will be jam packed.

Now that the CDC confirmed touching a surface isn't a likely way to contract Covid, Disney could probably spend less time with the intense cleaning overnight. Get those hard ticket events going again!

Well unfortunately I have to stick to summers and school breaks as I work in a school. More reason to bring back fastpasses.

 

[Alison S]

Hoping AH comes back- especially HS after hours!

 

[cindyfan]

YES.... bring back DAH!!! I would be there for the first ones!! I was at WDW the week of the shut down (had to cut my trip short by 2 days) and was at the DAH event at AK when I first heard of Disneyland closing. I have done DAH at MK several times and just the once at AK.... greatest times!!!! I grabbed lots of popcorn on my way out too.... glad I had zip lock bags too!!
I am also one that is praying for Fast Pass to return!! Our trip in March of this year was way too much waiting in line!!! We used to fast pass just about everything..... never waited in line more than 15-20 minutes for anything.... but the difference was..... the number of rides that we waited in line..... minimal!!! We had great strategy so we barely ever waited in any lines!!
So when you have to wait in line for EVERY single ride..... it gets old fast! No, a 30 minute wait isn't bad.... but its horrible if it is 30 to 50 for every ride no matter what!
Bring back fast pass!!!! and DAH!!!!

 

[emily nicole]

I'm the type that will (and have) bought tickets to every After Hours, Parties, Dessert Parties, etc. When Disney brings it back, I'm buying.

DHS After Hours was one of our best park experiences ever. I don't even know how many times we walked right on Slinky Dog!