"Official" 2018 Disney After Hours (DAH) Thread (Now Closed, see New 2019 Thread)

[Haley R]

My husband and I had a great time at After Hours last night. We drove down from the Atlanta area early early Friday morning, spent Sat morning rope dropping HS and rode everything there including SDD twice, made it back to the hotel for lunch, a swim and a long nap before heading out to MK a little before 6. We actually got a lot of rides finished before AH even started because my husband is great at the FP refresh game. Before AH we rode: Tiki Room, Pirates, IASW, Pooh, the Little Mermaid ride, People Mover, Buzz, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Pirates again.

Then once AH started we rode: Big Thunder twice, Haunted Mansion, got ice creams and drinks, Peter Pan, 7DMT (only real wait of the evening, abt 15 mins), Space Mountain twice and then SM "ate" my lanyard *woosh* so after getting popcorn and drinks we had to go all the way to City Hall for a new one, while up there we met Tink, rode HM again, got more ice creams and drinks, rode 7DMT once last time one more round of ice creams and were walking out the gates right as it all ended.

We noticed quite a few vloggers but only recognized the Oh Yeah Disney couple.

My feet have now decided they want off this body and are refusing to do anything else so they'll be chilling as we drive home today.

TLDR: 10/10 would do again, SM is a lanyard eater.

I can’t believe it ate your lanyard lol. Was it pretty hot? We are going next weekend and I’ve never been to wdw in the summer.

 

[Chavaleh]

I can’t believe it ate your lanyard lol. Was it pretty hot? We are going next weekend and I’ve never been to wdw in the summer.

Yes, it was much hotter than it was during our trip in early June but by evening it was overcast enough that it wasn't unbearable.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

You could probably accomplish what you would in a DAH night with rope dropping and strategic fastpass planning. What sets DAH apart, in my opinion, is not only being able to walk on (or almost walk on) any ride you want, but also being able to enjoy the park’s atmosphere without tons of crowds in your way. You can really hear all the lands’ music and notice all the little details. It’s so peaceful.

I was going to mention the bold whenever I get around to writing my own review from 6/30. It is so true. You notice all sorts of sounds, lights, and details you often normally wouldn't due to crowds, ambient crowd noise, or just rushing around. If you are a fan of themed environments and details, DAH is a great opportunity to really take it all in.

 

[mcurrence]

haley

I can’t believe it ate your lanyard lol. Was it pretty hot? We are going next weekend and I’ve never been to wdw in the summer.

Haley R, sorry for asking this (I know you've answered a bunch of times!! but can't find it!) Can you please tell me the shortcut to getting back on Space Mountain? I thought my girls were doing it but they said they didn't know about it
Thanks!

 

[PatMcDuck]

To avoid possible left over crowds from the day, we started left, at Jungle Cruise, vs. Tomorrowland. I swear, the Jungle Cruise was a highlight of the night (we got a GREAT skipper!!). Working our way around clockwise, we never bumped into a line more than a couple minutes. We even veered into Dumbo and Goofy coaster, and rode Grand Prix and Astro Orbiter. Rides we NEVER ride, lol.

I love this event, from the low crowds and short lines, to the cooler temps post rain (most nights), to the fact that there are few kids.... We stayed until 1 am, riding Buzz at about 12:55 am. The only bummer was no monorail or boat back to Poly, we had to wait for a bus, boo.

We also went on June 30th.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

To avoid possible left over crowds from the day, we started left, at Jungle Cruise, vs. Tomorrowland. I swear, the Jungle Cruise was a highlight of the night (we got a GREAT skipper!!). Working our way around clockwise, we never bumped into a line more than a couple minutes. We even veered into Dumbo and Goofy coaster, and rode Grand Prix and Astro Orbiter. Rides we NEVER ride, lol.

I love this event, from the low crowds and short lines, to the cooler temps post rain (most nights), to the fact that there are few kids.... We stayed until 1 am, riding Buzz at about 12:55 am. The only bummer was no monorail or boat back to Poly, we had to wait for a bus, boo.

We also went on June 30th.

We may have shared a bus.

I lucked out with a Poly bus on my night. It pulled up <3 minutes and only shared with GF (Poly was first stop).

That was a lot better than Feb 2017 where the bus shared with CR (yes, CR), WL, (maybe FW too, I can't recall), Poly, and GF. It took forrreeeever to get to Poly and I had to carry 60 lbs of asleep kid back to our longhouse!

 

[Haley R]

haley

Haley R, sorry for asking this (I know you've answered a bunch of times!! but can't find it!) Can you please tell me the shortcut to getting back on Space Mountain? I thought my girls were doing it but they said they didn't know about it
Thanks!

Haha that’s okay ask away! When you get off of the “spaceship” you can turn to leave up the escalator ramp or you can turn the other way. There is a green or orange horizontal line on the wall and it takes you back up a ramp to the spot where it splits between the left and right boarding areas. Does that make sense? It’s kind of hard to picture. If I remember I’ll try to take a picture next weekend.

 

[PatMcDuck]

We waited for our bus at least 10-15 minutes. I was not feeling well (was fine most of the evening), so I said no to the Riverboat to TTC option, that my friends offered. I feel these after hours events are way underrated. They can be expensive for a family, of course. I do not pay for my park tickets, so easy for me to justify these event tickets. (non Florida based CM).

I am hoping they do these for the Studios after SW opens. Even if just for SW and You Story sections.

 

[Haley R]

We waited for our bus at least 10-15 minutes. I was not feeling well (was fine most of the evening), so I said no to the Riverboat to TTC option, that my friends offered. I feel these after hours events are way underrated. They can be expensive for a family, of course. I do not pay for my park tickets, so easy for me to justify these event tickets. (non Florida based CM).

I am hoping they do these for the Studios after SW opens. Even if just for SW and You Story sections.

That might be interesting to see that done at hs.

 

[mcurrence]

Haha that’s okay ask away! When you get off of the “spaceship” you can turn to leave up the escalator ramp or you can turn the other way. There is a green or orange horizontal line on the wall and it takes you back up a ramp to the spot where it splits between the left and right boarding areas. Does that make sense? It’s kind of hard to picture. If I remember I’ll try to take a picture next weekend.

Thank you ! That would be amazing! So glad you're going to make it next week

 

[Haley R]

Thank you ! That would be amazing! So glad you're going to make it next week

Dh just said today that he is so excited. He’s kind of off and on when it comes to Disney. He gets a little embarrassed when he tells people we are going again. I told him that he always has so much fun and talks about going back so he shouldn’t care what other people think.

I’ll do my best to take lots of pictures. I didn’t take many last time because I didn’t want to post anything with my niece in them and because I was having to much fun lol

 

[mcurrence]

Dh just said today that he is so excited. He’s kind of off and on when it comes to Disney. He gets a little embarrassed when he tells people we are going again. I told him that he always has so much fun and talks about going back so he shouldn’t care what other people think.

I’ll do my best to take lots of pictures. I didn’t take many last time because I didn’t want to post anything with my niece in them and because I was having to much fun lol

That's sweet that he's excited! My husband (Grumpy) stays back in the room and won't go to MK He'll go to Epcot and loves the Disney cruises but doesn't see/feel the magic at MK We're originally from FL so we would go a bunch of times a year before moving to GA..oh well I have my little stinkers to share the magic with!

 

[Haley R]

That's sweet that he's excited! My husband (Grumpy) stays back in the room and won't go to MK He'll go to Epcot and loves the Disney cruises but doesn't see/feel the magic at MK We're originally from FL so we would go a bunch of times a year before moving to GA..oh well I have my little stinkers to share the magic with!

I love Epcot, but mk is definitely my favorite and Dh has said the same. I really like all of the different lands, especially Frontierland. I used to live in GA when I was growing up! My parents are actually there right now visiting family friends that still live there.

I got all of my clothes laid out for next weekend. I ended up going with some tank tops and some of my nike and UA polyester shirts.

 

[mickeysmith]

DD and I were heading down Sunday but added a day since she is off work!! We will be there this Saturday. It is all I can do NOT to do DAH the 21st AND our scheduled DAH for the 28th!

 

[Ashley Marie]

My husband and I had a great time at After Hours last night. We drove down from the Atlanta area early early Friday morning, spent Sat morning rope dropping HS and rode everything there including SDD twice, made it back to the hotel for lunch, a swim and a long nap before heading out to MK a little before 6. We actually got a lot of rides finished before AH even started because my husband is great at the FP refresh game. Before AH we rode: Tiki Room, Pirates, IASW, Pooh, the Little Mermaid ride, People Mover, Buzz, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Pirates again.

Then once AH started we rode: Big Thunder twice, Haunted Mansion, got ice creams and drinks, Peter Pan, 7DMT (only real wait of the evening, abt 15 mins), Space Mountain twice and then SM "ate" my lanyard *woosh* so after getting popcorn and drinks we had to go all the way to City Hall for a new one, while up there we met Tink, rode HM again, got more ice creams and drinks, rode 7DMT once last time one more round of ice creams and were walking out the gates right as it all ended.

We noticed quite a few vloggers but only recognized the Oh Yeah Disney couple.

My feet have now decided they want off this body and are refusing to do anything else so they'll be chilling as we drive home today.

TLDR: 10/10 would do again, SM is a lanyard eater.

I almost lost my lanyard on Space! It whooshed right over my head and I somehow caught it behind my head just in time. A little miracle.

 

[dixielanfan73]

How have not seen this thread before! We are heading down in a couple days for a quick 4nt trip and are going to DAH this Sat the 21st! I have been loving reading all the posts and just can’t wait!! We are taking my daughter and her best friend who has never been to Disney World before.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Finally getting around to some thoughts / pics from 6/30. The weather was absolutely perfect, really couldn't ask for anything better for late June in Central Florida.

For better or worse, 6/30 was our arrival day. We hit up DHS/TSL earlier in the day (SDD FP was delayed quite a bit due to storms). Doing DAH on our arrival day wasn't my first choice, but it didn't work any other way in our schedule.

I purposely didn't arrive until right around 10pm as I was really only interested in DAH time only, not getting in any earlier. This is where I made a big rookie mistake that I can only admit to among DIS friends. I had purchased the tickets via phone back when they weren't available online yet, so I had been mailed hard ticket cards. I never did "link" those tickets to my MDX account and frankly had totally forgotten about the cards. They were sitting in a drawer at home. Smart.

So I show up at the front gate at 10pm, go to tap at the DAH entrance.... blue Mickey. Try again... blue Mickey. iPad manager comes over... no dice. Need to go to the Guest Relations window.

As I walked over there (which had a line of around 10 deep) I realized what I had done (not connecting those tickets to my MDX account and needing those actual cards). So stupid. Fortunately the line was relatively quick and the CM at the window could look up my ticket purchase based on my credit card info. I was on my way shortly. But kicking myself for having to waste 15 minutes on a problem of my own creation.

So, 10:14pm...,finally in. OUAT was at 10pm on my night, you can see the grand finale fireworks there in the distance. Still a decent crowd on Main Street at this point.


10:22pm, a relaxing ride on a empty PeopleMover to kill time and let day guests filter out...



PeopleMover is actually a bit creepy with no one around. I got stuck on PM for close to 30 mins during a MNSSHP one time. All I could think was "please don't happen again."



10:47pm, Dumbo...






10:44pm. Bad pic, but another creepy place to be when you make that turn and can look left and right and not see anyone else around you.



10:55pm. There were maybe a dozen people on with me.



Pretty moon out. 11:24pm.



Pretty night. 11:27pm.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

BTMR, 11:29pm.



It's fun when you get to the bottom of the ramp and look to the CM to tell you which side, and they say "flip a coin."



I was 15 seconds away from having the train to myself. 6 other people eventually got on with me.



Bad pic, but on Splash. 11:40pm. Had our own log and there was no one in the log before or after. If you're going for a fun family ride photo in your own log, this is a great opportunity to do it.



Another bad pic, but at least one Main Street vehicle was out. I don't know how long they were running or if they had others out. 12:01am.



Maybe someone can educate me here. Every once in awhile they'd play some special music in the hub and the castle lights would dance around/change colors to the beat. They were generally classic Disney songs. It wasn't the Kiss Goodnight, it was more upbeat stuff, and it was short 1-3 minute stints. Do these little songs/moments have a name? Might be showing my MK ignorance with that question.



It was fun to just sit in the hub and watch. I love the sound system in the hub, I always enjoy the immersive atmosphere it creates with the castle backdrop. The music is incredibly loud when there aren't many other sources of noise around.



12:02AM



12:18am. More trash cans than people.



12:21am....

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Wish I had something other than a smart phone camera (and knew anything about photography) at moments like this. 12:24am. Last pic of the night. DAH went to 1am on this night, but after a day of travel, TSL, and a full Disney week ahead, it was time to get some rest.



So that's about it. I really didn't encounter any material ride lines all night. Occasionally you'd see a line with 10ish people for ice cream/popcorn, but then the next cart would be empty.

Rode 7DMT with about a 1.5 car wait around 12:09AM.

Waited in line for maybe 5ish minutes for the Tangled Lantern photo at 11:10pm.

We last attended DAH in Feb 2017, the Thursday before President's Day weekend. Crowds in the MK can be really hard to judge, especially with something like DAH which can be so sporadic. Sometimes you'll have others around you, and sometimes it'll be really darn empty. To me, this night "felt" less crowded than that 2/2017 event. I don't know if I'd bet money on it, but that's what my gut says.

Obviously my pics above were taken at moments when it was pretty empty around me. I don't think people should go in thinking it's like that during the whole 3 hours. You are certainly not alone in the park, but it's the least crowded conditions you will ever experience in the MK.

Transportation back to Poly was a breeze. I could have taken the Ferry to the TTC and walked, but I opted for the bus. Poly and GF shared a bus on this particular evening. There were maybe 6-8 people in line in front of me and the bus pulled up <5 minutes. I was back to Poly in no time. This was a better experience than 2/2017 where the Poly bus shared with several other MK resorts.

I really tried to find some faults in the event but I have to be honest, it's hard not to like the product from my perspective. It was exactly as advertised - low/no waits, low/no crowds. It was nice to have free water readily available on a warm evening, and a strawberry bar or two didn't hurt either.

Anyway, thanks for reading along. Happy to answer any questions.

 

[lucas]

GADisneyDad14,

Thanks for the review and pics!