After Hours strategies...are any even needed?

acarsme123

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 5, 2015
Just curious if there are any strategies/tips to make the most of MK and AK After Hours? 3 hours with hardly any wait seems like a long time, but I’m sure it can go by quick. Is there any merit to starting at one side of the park vs the other? Seems like from all the vlogs I’ve watched, the longest lines seem to be for popcorn and drinks. I’ve also seen that there can still be residual lines from people that were already in line when the After Hours event starts.
just looking for any tips to maximize the 3 hours. Thanks.
 
I don't know, but every vlog I've watched of the AK after hours the park was completely empty! People had entire cars in Dinosaur to themselves, rode FOP with only two other people...looks amazing!!!

You know, I should probably keep my mouth shut about it... ;)
 
We did Ak after hours last night. It was wonderful. I ate loads of ice cream sandwiches, and the rides were pretty much all walk on. Loved it so much. Finally rode FoP (lineup during daytime is too long for me). Most beautiful ride I've ever experienced. Rode that twice. It was just walk on, but the time was spent in the pre-show areas. Kind of wish they just skipped those.
 


Not so much as worried about AK since there aren’t that many rides, but MK with how large and how many rides it contains has me thinking about possible strategies I may want to consider
 
Yeah for AK I was thinking it might be best to start in the Asia/Dinoland area and let Pandora clear out then spend the last part of AH in Pandora
 


We went to an After Hours party in mid January of this year and it was great. I like to get into the park to as early as possible to maximize my time, we were able to get in about 6:50ish so we even were able to do a couple of attractions which were closed for the party and use 1 FP. I don't recall all rides but I remember doing Splash a couple of times and didn't have to get out of the log because no one was there waiting to get on. Unfortunately 7DMT broke down for most of the night, it was reopened towards the end but that meant it had about a 45 min wait.
This February coming we will be in the area again and will do another After Hours party with the family; seems the older I get the more I value short wait times. As far as strategy, I would do any ride/attractions which would be closed for the party before the party starts. The fireworks show is spectacular and some people like to watch them from their favorite locations which might be a consideration. I have enjoyed that show from many locations and each time it creates a new and unique experience.
Have a great day all :)
 
Given the abundance of After Hours related posts here on the DIS of late, I’m wondering if planning is now in fact needed. 8-)

But in seriousness, generally speaking, do FoP and 7DMT later in the events, everything else can pretty much be done at your discretion.

3 hours of the event time does go fast, so it’s best to at least think about your movements around the park to minimize any backtracking.

I would suggest if you see a snack/drink cart line with a longer line, skip it and hit the next one.

Have fun.
 
Given the abundance of After Hours related posts here on the DIS of late, I’m wondering if planning is now in fact needed. 8-)

But in seriousness, generally speaking, do FoP and 7DMT later in the events, everything else can pretty much be done at your discretion.

3 hours of the event time does go fast, so it’s best to at least think about your movements around the park to minimize any backtracking.

I would suggest if you see a snack/drink cart line with a longer line, skip it and hit the next one.

Have fun.

I know! :rotfl:

I need to stop talking about it to everyone. At least anyone going in May... :)
 
Just curious if there are any strategies/tips to make the most of MK and AK After Hours? 3 hours with hardly any wait seems like a long time, but I’m sure it can go by quick. Is there any merit to starting at one side of the park vs the other? Seems like from all the vlogs I’ve watched, the longest lines seem to be for popcorn and drinks. I’ve also seen that there can still be residual lines from people that were already in line when the After Hours event starts.
just looking for any tips to maximize the 3 hours. Thanks.

The rule of going left for MK still applies as SDMT will still be crowded. You can hit Jungle Cruise & Pirates with 0 wait. I did stop for a couple of characters, but I could have easily gotten in all the rides, with some of the thrill rides twice or more if I hadn't.

For AK, my strategy was essentially as mentioned wait until an hour in for Avatar. You can easily ride Everest and Dinosaur a couple of times, stop for snacks, and ride FoP. By the time my dad and I got there it was a 15 minute wait. Could still get up to half an hour wait though.
 
I haven't been yet, but my strategy for AK this coming January echoes what's been said: I won't go to Pandora until at least an hour into the event, and I'll minimize backtracking where I can. Unfortunately my inclination is to start with Dinoland or Asia, do Pandora in the middle, then go back, so I'll be crossing the park twice unless I change my mind. Ah well. The cleaner cut way to do it would be to prepare yourself to be done with whatever land you're leaving; just assume you're not coming back through.

The other thing to consider is Rivers of Light. I've heard it's a neat experience with so few people in the theater and free choice of seats, but I think I'm going to be way too fidgety if I try to sit down for a show during such a short event. So I'm planning to see RoL on a regular park night earlier in the week so I can focus on the rides during AH.
 
Like others have said, at MK we head away from most of the left over crowds from the day guests. So we start at Adventureland at MK and worked our way around clockwise. Some areas were completely empty (I have done this after hours at MK a couple of times). Back by Little Mermaid there was nobody, lol. Literally. So by the time we got to Mine Train, or Space, there were just party people riding. Some rides we asked and were allowed to ride 2X in a row, this was nice on short rides like Barnstormer, which I normally NEVER bother to ride, haha.
 
A question occurs to me. Say you stay at a DAH at MK until closing at 1AM. Does the Disney bus still run back to the resorts at that time? Do they run to Disney Springs?
 
Finally rode FoP (lineup during daytime is too long for me). Most beautiful ride I've ever experienced. Rode that twice. It was just walk on, but the time was spent in the pre-show areas. Kind of wish they just skipped those.

If you're not waiting in the preshow areas, you'd just be waiting in the queue for the previous ride cycle to end.
 
We’ll be doing MK AH on 12/9. We’re going to get there about 7:30. Hoping to ride BTMRR during fireworks at 9 and then will work our way to adventure land, back to frontier land, then fantasy then future. The kids are not into many of the FL attractions but we’ll at least hit PP and 7D x 3
 
On two separate occasions at MK DAH I've been the only person in the Tiki Room and at Country Bears. Not sure why they keep those open, but I felt sorry for the cast members who were working there. LOL

As folks have said, most rides will be walk-ons. At regular closing time, day crowd people hop on line for popular attractions like PP and 7D so wait a bit till that clears and you are good to go. Only issue that I've seen is when rides... or worse... multiple rides go down.
 
A question occurs to me. Say you stay at a DAH at MK until closing at 1AM. Does the Disney bus still run back to the resorts at that time? Do they run to Disney Springs?

For DAH, bus transportation (and the Ferry to the TTC) are the only transportation options when leaving. It depends on the resort, but some will operate in non-traditional sharing arrangements after DAH. FYI.
 

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