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

[Haley R]

We are definitely getting tickets for March 1, but we are waiting until October. Discover gets 5% back from Target October-December so we are buying Disney gift cards at Target with our Discover card, getting 5% back, and using them to help pay off our trip! Nothing better than 5% back on your Disney trip!

 

[Tom Furlan]

Does anyone have any experience as to how the Magic Kingdom After Hours event impacts the MK park crowd levels that day? Is the park noticeably more crowded overall, and/or during the last normal operating hour? Are the fireworks more crowded due to the After Hours event? Does the addition of the After Hours event make it less desirable to visit the MK that day if you are NOT attending the after hours? In an upcoming trip, I was planning a MK day on 1/30/2018. If I don't attend the After Hours event, I was wondering if I should avoid the MK that day. Thanks for any help on this one!

 

[Dentam]

We did one of these this past March. Our take: it was more crowded than we were expecting and three hours was not enough time for the price. We enjoyed it, but during our trip this Labor Day week, we went to a DVC after hours event at the AK and it was free. It. Was. Awesome. It was also four hours long and included free food (hot dogs, chips, cookies, drinks, Mickey ice cream bars), two showings of Rivers of Light, walk on rides (except FoP which was 45min), special character greets, music, etc.

So, if you are a DVC member, I would highly recommend booking a trip around one of these events. They offer them at different parks throughout the year!

 

[Haley R]

We did one of these this past March. Our take: it was more crowded than we were expecting and three hours was not enough time for the price. We enjoyed it, but during our trip this Labor Day week, we went to a DVC after hours event at the AK and it was free. It. Was. Awesome. It was also four hours long and included free food (hot dogs, chips, cookies, drinks, Mickey ice cream bars), two showings of Rivers of Light, walk on rides (except FoP which was 45min), special character greets, music, etc.

So, if you are a DVC member, I would highly recommend booking a trip around one of these events. They offer them at different parks throughout the year!

That makes me a little worried because we wanted to go on March 1. We only have two days for MK so we thought this would be a good option for us.

 

[anneboleyn]

I would love it if they would have DAH next September! I think Disney would make a killing if they offered it on the nights where there wasn't a Halloween party.

 

[Dentam]

That makes me a little worried because we wanted to go on March 1. We only have two days for MK so we thought this would be a good option for us.

I think the word had gotten out more by the time we went so it wasn't as uncrowded. It still wasn't crowded, just not as dead as we were expecting. We definitely didn't have the experience of being able to stay on rides as others had reported from earlier dates, and many rides had short waits. I also think it depended on where you started in the park. We walked right on SM, but by the time we got to 7DMT, PP, and HM it seemed that's where everyone else was too.

 

[Dentam]

I would love it if they would have DAH next September! I think Disney would make a killing if they offered it on the nights where there wasn't a Halloween party.

They'd also have a lot of ticked off people because you essentially wouldn't be able to be in the MK at night in Sept without paying a premium for it.

 

[anneboleyn]

They'd also have a lot of ticked off people because you essentially wouldn't be able to be in the MK at night in Sept without paying a premium for it.

Oh I was under the impression that they had this after the park had closed. I didn't realize they were closing early to nonparty guests like the Halloween parties! In that case, you are right, there would be riots lol

 

[Haley R]

I think the word had gotten out more by the time we went so it wasn't as uncrowded. It still wasn't crowded, just not as dead as we were expecting. We definitely didn't have the experience of being able to stay on rides as others had reported from earlier dates, and many rides had short waits. I also think it depended on where you started in the park. We walked right on SM, but by the time we got to 7DMT, PP, and HM it seemed that's where everyone else was too.

Thanks for the info! I think we are still going to try it so we can say we had that experience. This is our niece's first trip to Disney and it may be her only. I still feel like we will be able to ride the "headliner" rides without a long wait and the stress of heat/crowds. I read online not to start with 7DMT, but to start in Adventureland and move clockwise from there. I guess we will see once it gets closer what other people experience before us!

 

[anomamatt]

I think the word had gotten out more by the time we went so it wasn't as uncrowded. It still wasn't crowded, just not as dead as we were expecting. We definitely didn't have the experience of being able to stay on rides as others had reported from earlier dates, and many rides had short waits. I also think it depended on where you started in the park. We walked right on SM, but by the time we got to 7DMT, PP, and HM it seemed that's where everyone else was too.

I went March 2 last year and I agree that it didn't look nearly as empty as the January pictures (where @Accident had pictures of Main Street with no one there). That said, there was no waiting for anything... (aside from waiting for the next car to come).

I'm going Jan 19 this year and holding out hope it will look like it did last January.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Oh I was under the impression that they had this after the park had closed. I didn't realize they were closing early to nonparty guests like the Halloween parties! In that case, you are right, there would be riots lol

They don’t close the MK early for DAH. For 2017 and 2018, the dates DAH were/are offered are dates/times of year where MK normally closes at 8pm or 9pm.

 

[Haley R]

I went March 2 last year and I agree that it didn't look nearly as empty as the January pictures (where @Accident had pictures of Main Street with no one there). That said, there was no waiting for anything... (aside from waiting for the next car to come).

I'm going Jan 19 this year and holding out hope it will look like it did last January.

So even in March you still didn't have to wait very long? What would you say was the longest you had to wait?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I went to the 2/16 party this year (Thursday before President’s Day weekend) and my night didn’t ‘feel’ as empty as some of those January reports made it seem. It was still great though. A lot of fun with very short/no waits.

I chalked it up to the generally growing positive reviews at the time and the fact it was before a holiday weekend for many folks (my DS was out of school the next day and Monday, hence why we made a long weekend out of it). It doesn’t surprise me to hear reports from those March dates of a bit more crowded event - those dates were starting to overlap with spring break/busier park times a bit.

My personal opinion is that the 2018 nights are going to be more ‘popular’ this year and we might see larger numbers. It’s the second year of the event, more word is out, Disney is selling tickets/marketing it much earlier this year, etc. I still tend to think it will feel a lot like this year overall crowd wise, but I’m very curious to see the early reports!

 

[anomamatt]

So even in March you still didn't have to wait very long? What would you say was the longest you had to wait?

I never waited, except for waiting for the next car (with one caveat, see below). Or a few times I waited because I wanted to sit in a specific place (front car, usually).

Okay, my caveat... I think a "touring plan" is important. I avoided 7DMT until the middle of the night. I started with adventure land and very, very few people were there. BTMRR was running with trains half full, at most. After adventure land, I skipped fantasy land again and went to tomorrow land (empty space mountain). I think a lot of people started with fantasyland and that's a mistake, IMO. For two reasons... one because that is where most people went at the same time and two because the regular park queue needs to finish before you truly get walk on. I went to fantasyland after Tomorrowland and by then, the crowds were gone to the other areas. I'm planning on a similar approach for January.

I rode just about everything once, except I rode space mountain, BTMRR, and 7DMT over and over (well over 5x each).

I do think (as @GADisneyDad14 posted above) it's quite possible that 2018 is more crowded. They are advertising it better. And the reviews from last year were nearly 100% positive. There might even be people as crazy as I am, who made a trip specifically for DAH (as opposed to last year when it just happened to work out for me).

 

[anneboleyn]

They don’t close the MK early for DAH. For 2017 and 2018, the dates DAH were/are offered are dates/times of year where MK normally closes at 8pm or 9pm.

Oh okay, that is what I thought! I definitely hope they have these next September then

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[Haley R]

I never waited, except for waiting for the next car (with one caveat, see below). Or a few times I waited because I wanted to sit in a specific place (front car, usually).

Okay, my caveat... I think a "touring plan" is important. I avoided 7DMT until the middle of the night. I started with adventure land and very, very few people were there. BTMRR was running with trains half full, at most. After adventure land, I skipped fantasy land again and went to tomorrow land (empty space mountain). I think a lot of people started with fantasyland and that's a mistake, IMO. For two reasons... one because that is where most people went at the same time and two because the regular park queue needs to finish before you truly get walk on. I went to fantasyland after Tomorrowland and by then, the crowds were gone to the other areas. I'm planning on a similar approach for January.

I rode just about everything once, except I rode space mountain, BTMRR, and 7DMT over and over (well over 5x each).

I do think (as @GADisneyDad14 posted above) it's quite possible that 2018 is more crowded. They are advertising it better. And the reviews from last year were nearly 100% positive. There might even be people as crazy as I am, who made a trip specifically for DAH (as opposed to last year when it just happened to work out for me).

Your plan seems to match up with what I am planning on doing. It sounds like you were able to ride things more than once and honestly, I just want my niece to experience rides at LEAST one time without having to wait 2 hours. I wouldn't care if we had to wait 20 minutes. Of course, I would love walk ons all night! This will be our first day at MK and we will have one more day there so anything we don't get to we can save for that day. I'm super excited for this!

 

[Dentam]

I went March 2 last year and I agree that it didn't look nearly as empty as the January pictures (where @Accident had pictures of Main Street with no one there). That said, there was no waiting for anything... (aside from waiting for the next car to come).

That wasn't our experience (we were there the same night), but I'm glad it worked out that way for you! It did seem to depend on which rides you hit at which times. We started in Tomorrowland and went to Fantasyland from there. I think we should have gone to Adventureland next and saved Fantasyland for last.

 

[Dentam]

Oh I was under the impression that they had this after the park had closed. I didn't realize they were closing early to nonparty guests like the Halloween parties! In that case, you are right, there would be riots lol

They don't close the parks early, but they let After Hours guests in at about 4pm on the evening we attended. I could just see people getting riled up about every evening being used for separately ticketed events - so basically having to pay extra to enjoy the parks later into the evening. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Dentam]

Thanks for the info! I think we are still going to try it so we can say we had that experience. This is our niece's first trip to Disney and it may be her only. I still feel like we will be able to ride the "headliner" rides without a long wait and the stress of heat/crowds. I read online not to start with 7DMT, but to start in Adventureland and move clockwise from there. I guess we will see once it gets closer what other people experience before us!

Yes, I would definitely keep an eye on early reports back from people who attend before you to get a game plan together. Also, I think most of us who attended this spring received surveys via email afterward. Hopefully enough people gave the feedback of the event needing another hour added to it! ETA: Just saw the first post here and I see that it is still 3 hours - that's a bummer. As long as they don't increase the number of tickets they sell, you should still have a great time though and probably won't wait more than 10-15 minutes for anything!

 

[anneboleyn]

They don't close the parks early, but they let After Hours guests in at about 4pm on the evening we attended. I could just see people getting riled up about every evening being used for separately ticketed events - so basically having to pay extra to enjoy the parks later into the evening. Hope that makes sense.

Yes, that makes total sense I wasn't aware that they are allowed in the parks that early!