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



## GADisneyDad14

*Welcome to the Magic Kingdom "Disney After Hours" FAQ & Discussion Thread! *



_A centralized thread for Disney After Hours (DAH) information, discussion, and questions.  _​
*Quick Links:*

*Disney After Hours Event Information & FAQs *
Post #2 - Event Description
*Post #3 - Current Event Dates & Times*
Post #4 - Ticket Price & Discount Information
Post #5 - Open Attractions
Post #6 - When Can I Get in the Park with a DAH Ticket?
Post #7 - Transportation Information
Post #8 - Miscellaneous Event FAQs


*Event Review Posts*
*Post #10 - DISer DAH Event Review Posts*


*Historical Disney After Hours Information*
*Post #11 - Historical Date & Event Information*
Post #12 - DAH-Related Links & Past DAH Threads
Post #13 - Year-Over-Year DAH Event Date Summary


*Other Park Disney After Event Threads*
Magic Kingdom "Villains After Hours" Discussion & FAQ Thread
Hollywood Studios "Disney After Hours" Discussion & FAQ Thread
Animal Kingdom "Disney After Hours" Discussion & FAQ Thread

See anything missing or anything you’d like added to this thread?  Just let me know.  Thanks!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Post #2 - Event Description*

Magic Kingdom Disney After Hours event description per *Disney's Website*....

_“Be among a limited number of Guests to enjoy a unique, 3-hour park experience—featuring more than 25 popular attractions and Character Greetings, with little-to-no wait! 

When the crowds clear and the gates close, rediscover Magic Kingdom park after dark.  Ever wish you could enjoy even more magic in less time? Disney After Hours gives a limited number of Guests—including you—access to dozens of unforgettable experiences in Magic Kingdom park!

Ice Cream, Popcorn & Select Beverages Included!

In the midst of the laughs and thrills, be sure to chill out with ice cream novelties and select bottled beverages—included in the cost of admission—available at carts stationed throughout the park. In addition, you can also purchase select menu items at Main Street Bakery and select locations throughout the park.

And remember: only a limited number of tickets are available for each night. Be sure to purchase your tickets today!”_

*More information and event details can be found on Post #8 - Miscellaneous Event FAQs*


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Post #3 - Current Event Dates & Times*

Disney has historically released DAH event dates in "groups."  The current "groups" of dates are in the tables below.  Historical DAH date information can be found in *Post #11*.


*August 2019 - September 2019 Dates*
Dates Announced: *Wednesday 5/22/2019*
Tickets on Sale: *Thursday 5/30/2019*

_*Table last updated 10/8/2019*_



*November 2019 - January 2020 Dates*
Dates Announced: *Tuesday 8/20/2019*
Tickets on Sale: *Tuesday 8/20/2019*

_*Table last updated 1/25/2020*_



*January 2020 - May 2020 Dates*
Dates Announced: *Friday 11/1/2019*
Tickets on Sale: *Friday 11/1/2019*

_*Table last updated 3/11/2020



*_


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Post #4 - Ticket Price & Discount Information*



*Notes*

Ticket prices above apply to all ages 3+
Children under 3 do not need a DAH ticket
Day-of AP/DVC discounts are not available online day of but may be available at a ticket window (your mileage may vary)
Regular theme park admission is NOT needed to attend Disney After Hours, you may enter the park officially at 7:00 pm with your Disney After Hours ticket (more info here)
DAH tickets are like MNSSHP and MVMCP tickets (and regular park tickets for that matter) - once purchased, DAH tickets are nonrefundable
It has been reported that AP discounted tickets can be purchased for the passholder and three others (can be non-passholders), I'd appreciate hearing about experiences or other information that may be different than these reports
*How to Buy Tickets*

By Phone: 407-827-7185
Online: Click Here


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Post #5 - Open Attractions*

While subject to change, below is the list of attractions that have typically been open for Disney After Hours events.   *Please note, this list is NOT kept current with rides that may be offline for refurbishment for any particular DAH date. *

* Main Street USA *
Meet Mickey Mouse & Tinker Bell at Town Square Theater 
(While not published, Main Street Vehicles are usually out later in the event) 

* Fantasyland *
"it's a small world"
Meet Ariel in Her Grotto 
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Mad Tea Party
Mickey's Philharmagic
Peter Pan's Flight
Prince Charming Regal Carousel
Princess Fairytale Hall
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
The Barnstormer
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid

* Liberty Square *
Haunted Mansion

* Adventureland *
Jungle Cruise
Pirates of the Caribbean
Swiss Family Treehouse
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

* Frontierland *
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Country Bear Jamboree
Splash Mountain

* Tomorrowland *
Astro Orbiter
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Space Mountain
Tomorrowland Speedway
Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Post #6 - When Can I Get in the Park with a DAH Ticket?

The 'official' park entry time per Disney is 7:00 pm, regardless of the actual start time of the Disney After Hours event.  *

I'll repeat that just for clarity - ALL DAH event dates allow for official park entry at *7:00 pm*, regardless of the DAH event hours on that date.

While this has varied over time, MK has tended to let DAH guests in prior to 7:00 pm, sometimes as early at 6:00 pm.

*What if Already in the Park?  In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*


For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
*The area outside of the Laugh Floor / Buzz Lightyear entrances*
*Tortuga Tavern *
*Liberty Square ticket office*
*City Hall guest relations office*
_Note:  These locations have changed/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know. _


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Post #7 - Transportation Information*

The information below applies to the regular Disney After Hours event.  For Villains After Hours (June-August 2019), Disney offered monorail and boat service after the event.
Regular Magic Kingdom Disney transportation options end at their 'normal' times after the regular park closing time during a DAH event.
This means some Disney transportation options will NOT be running at the end of the DAH event:
Monorails will *NOT *be running
MK Resort boat launches (the small resort boats) will *NOT* be running
The MK Ferry to the TTC *WILL* be running
Buses *WILL* be running to ALL resorts (even resorts that do not normally have bus service such as Poly and GF), but many will be in non-traditional groupings

As far as other transportation options:
Minnie Van service runs until 12:30 am.  The MK Minnie Van pick-up location is at the MK bus plaza.  
Uber / Lyft / Taxi service is available from the TTC.  Alternatively, you can walk to CR and use those services from there as well.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Post #8 - Miscellaneous Event FAQs*

Have anything you'd like to see added her?  Let me know, thanks!

*An Important Difference Between DAH & MNSSHP/MVMCP*

Disney After Hours is "hard-ticket" event similar to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP), except that it takes place after the 'normal' park closing time for that day.
Unlike MNSSHP and MVMCP, for DAH Disney does NOT necessarily actively "clear" the park of day guests for the event.
Day guests can get in a ride line up until 1 minute before closing time and are free to leave the park, shop, etc at their leisure after regular park closing time just like any regular night in the Magic Kingdom.
DAH credentials (lanyards or wristbands) are needed to enter a ride line once the event begins.
Disney has historically been very strict with enforcement of needing to see DAH credentials at line entrances.
In this regard, DAH operates in a similar manner to PM Extra Magic Hours vs the 'park clearing' you see with MNSSHP and MVMCP.

_For Villains After Hours, Disney has been actively clearing the park of non-ticketed guests after park closing.  _

*Day Guest Carry-Over Into DAH Event Time from Rides and/or Nighttime Entertainment*

As noted above, day guests can enter a ride line 1 minute before park closing.
Also, depending on the date, some nighttime entertainment such as Happily Ever After (HEA) or Once Upon a Time (OUAT) can be scheduled to begin at the same time (or sometimes after for OUAT) the DAH event starts.
If HEA is scheduled for the same time as the DAH start time, yes, there will be a large crowd still in the park for the first part of your DAH time.
Historically this has not had a material impact on DAH, but some may not like the fact daytime entertainment carries over into "paid event time."

*Ice Cream Novelties / Popcorn / Drink Carts*

Carts are generally located at various locations around the park.
Unlimited ice cream, popcorn, and sodas/bottled water are all included with a DAH ticket.
Ice cream selections consist of the 'normal' ice cream bar options at snack carts in the Magic Kingdom - Mickey Bars, Mickey Ice Cream Sandwich, Strawberry Bars, etc.
A consistent 'complaint' about DAH is that cart lines can be annoyingly long at times.  BTMR can be a walk on but the snack cart nearby can have 20 people in line - go figure.
Generally speaking, I recommend that if you see a long cart line, just move on to the next one in another part of the park.

*FPs with a DAH Ticket*

FPs are not available during the DAH event, all rides are standby only.
DAH tickets will allow for FP booking during regular park hours prior to the event, so - if you have no other FPs booked that day - one could book FPs during with a DAH ticket during the regular park hours before the event.
In the past, occasionally guests who book FPs with "party tickets" (such as Disney After Hours, MNSSHP, MVMCP)  in combination with certain trip details/configurations can potentially cause Disney's system to flag your account for insufficient ticket entitlements and you will receive an e-mail warning that your last day of FPs will be cancelled if you do not address the problem.  Who and exactly why people get this warning remains elusive, although reports are relatively infrequent.

*PhotoPass Photographers*

PhotoPass photographers are out on Main Street during DAH.
While it is difficult to ever get truly empty Main Street / Castle photographs, this can be an excellent time to capture pictures with low background crowds.
It can also be a good time to work with the photographer to capture some "fun" shots you might not otherwise do when photographer lines are long.  At times, you may have the photographer all to yourself.

*Tangled Restroom Lantern PhotoPass*

The Tangled Lantern PhotoPass shot has typically been available during DAH.
Waits based on my personal experience have been in the 10-20 people in line range, roughly speaking.

*Merchandise*

There is no event specific merchandise for Disney After Hours.

*Open Shops / Restaurants*

The following stores and restaurants are open during DAH:
Emporium
Main Street Bakery (Starbucks)
Casey's Corner


*How Many Tickets are Sold for Disney After Hours? *

Disney does not release this information.  Reports of ticket counts are purely speculation or rumor. 

*Does Disney After Hours Sell Out?  *

Yes, DAH does have a history of selling out sometimes, but not always.
Accurate sell-out date information for the current set of DAH dates can be found in the table *HERE* and for historical dates in the tables here *HERE*.

*Does The Kiss Goodnight Run After Disney After Hours? *

Reports have indicated that the Kiss Goodnight 'may' run at 30 minutes and 45 minutes after the end of the DAH event.  As with any night, your mileage may vary.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Post #9 - Hold*


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Post #10 - DISer DAH Event Review Posts*

Hard-ticket events such as Disney Afters Hours are expensive and many of us come to the DIS to decide if these types of things are "worth it."  In my opinion, there is no better resource than the collective thoughts, opinions, and experiences of DISers who have attended DAH.

Links to in-thread review/experience posts are posted below.  Good, bad, or ugly - all event reviews and experiences are helpful.

*For reference, a MOUNTAIN of 2018 DAH DISer review links from the prior thread can be found HERE.  *

@kikik - 3/2/2020
@prairiesarah - 3/2/2020
@Dakota Dexter - 3/2/2020
@Liddypool - 3/2/2020

@NotTheBatesMotel - 2/24/2020
@Harlaxton - 2/24/2020
@TheMick424 - 2/24/2020
@Mermaidtails1323 - 2/24/2020
@jdd - 2/24/2020
@DisneyKCKC - 2/24/2020

@katherine52478 - 2/17/2020 & more here
@KandyM - 2/17/2020
@stace1214 - 2/17/2020
@rileyz - 2/17/2020
@mla973 - 2/17/2020 & more here
@xiphoid76 - 2/17/2020
@disneymagicgirl - 2/17/2020
@NiceOneSimba - 2/17/2020
@StayAwake - 2/17/2020

@ShelleyLovesOrlando - 2/10/2020
@MASNYC10023 - 2/10/2020
@mrsxsparrow - 2/10/2020
@eliseisawkward - 2/10/2020

@ninafeliz - 2/3/2020

@Matt961 - 1/31/2020
@Lsdolphin - 1/31/2020
@MickeyMouse55 - 1/31/2020
@frjohnk - 1/31/2020

@SDJEL - 1/27/2020
@ksinniger - 1/27/2020
@Moneypenny - 1/27/2020
@Kricketnp - 1/27/2020

@tinabina919 - 1/20/2020
@mickeymom22 - 1/20/2020

@Tink9721 - 1/13/2020
@Greg P. - 1/13/2020
@JBurke - 1/13/2020

@Temp77 - 1/6/2020

@OhhBother - 12/9/2019
@Tink1987 - 12/9/2019
@Rich M - 12/9/2019

@PlutosNumberOneFan - 11/18/2019
@Alison S - 11/18/2019

@roxiepenguin - 9/26/2019
@iujen94 - 9/26/2019
@Shellbells - 9/26/2019
@katherine52478 - 9/26/2019
@ILuvDisney78 - 9/26/2019

@sheila14 - 9/19/2019
@jberndt10 - 9/19/2019
@suemom2kay - 9/19/2019

@Pdollar88 - 9/12/2019
@BattyKoda - 9/12/2019

@Traveling on cc points - 9/5/2019

@mamamelody2 - 8/29/2019
@HuskyForever - 8/29/2019
@Trinity88 - 8/29/2019
@Mrs Grumpy - 8/29/2019

@caitycaity - 8/22/2019
@winnieofpooh - 8/22/2019
@ShootingStar106 - 8/22/2019

@MKTokyo - 5/30/2019
@skuttle - 5/30/2019

@smile145 - 5/23/2019
@Thomasfouraker - 5/23/2019

@pugbug - 5/16/2019
@L&Lfan - 5/16/2019
@canyoncam - 5/16/2019
@DLo - 5/16/2019
@kylieh - 5/16/2019
@HopperFan - 5/16/2019

@dachsie - 5/9/2019
@FredQc - 5/9/2019
@Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina - 5/9/2019 & Pics
@Daisy1940 - 5/9/2019

@cakebaker - 5/2/2019
@rn448698 - 5/2/2019
@Raya - 5/2/2019
@L_MD - 5/2/2019

@msmith1026 - 4/11/2019
@slduck - 4/11/2019
@Ron Rico - 4/11/2019
@MotherKnowsBest - 4/11/2019
@cel_disney - 4/11/2019
@Superchikk - 4/11/2019

@CogsworthTN - 4/4/2019
@RolloTomasi - 4/4/2019
@PolyRob - 4/4/2019
@Mrjoshua - 4/4/2019

@mamapenguin - 3/28/2019
@PPFlight75 - 3/28/2019
@michelepa - 3/28/2019
@Family B - 3/28/2019
@jaceraden - 3/28/2019
@juuuliebeth - 3/28/2019

_Note: 3/21/2019 experienced an extended 7DMT closure for part of the event. _
@Nina - 3/21/2019 & Here
@Justplainchy - 3/21/2019
@nicdu - 3/21/2019
@Mango7100 - 3/21/2019
@R Coffin - 3/21/2019
@Disney Teresa - 3/21/2019
@amarie - 3/21/2019
@Rowlf the Dog - 3/21/2019

@Spacecow - 3/7/2019
@Syndrome - 3/7/2019
@KCSherri - 3/7/2019
@sls404 - 3/7/2019
@fiasco32 - 3/7/2019
@ryanpatricksmom - 3/7/2019
@GADisneyDad14 - 3/7/2019
@melliemelo - 3/7/2019

@georgina - 2/21/2019
@UpstateMick - 2/21/2019
@iujen94 - 2/21/2019
@Geomom - 2/21/2019
@NiceOneSimba - 2/21/2019

@dbb727 - 2/14/2019
@snowglobe - 2/14/2019
@LLS - 2/14/2019
@AngiTN - 2/14/2019
@ConnecticutNonna - 2/14/2019
@TNickell27 - 2/14/2019
@mollygirl13 - 2/14/2019

_Note: 2/7/2019 experienced an extended 7DMT closure during the event.  _
@Zmack - 2/7/2019
@focusondisney - 2/7/2019
@NMAmy - 2/7/2019
@Yooper Writer - 2/7/2019
@lurkyloo - 2/7/2019
@E.Jane - 2/7/2019
@cadien - 2/7/2019

@Haley R - 1/28/2019
@ruby33 - 1/28/2019
@Ambehnke - 1/28/2019
@Chavaleh - 1/28/2019
@sjberg79 - 1/28/2019
@JessM - 1/28/2019

@Remy is Up - 1/24/2019
@KEK1 - 1/24/2019
@DisMomma241 - 1/24/2019
@Eeyore54 fred - 1/24/2019
@Lisa F - 1/24/2019
@Cordy2424 - 1/24/2019

@TISHLOVESDISNEY - 1/17/2019
@NYCANC - 1/17/2019
@TheFloatingBear - 1/17/2019

@Beiji - 1/7/2019
@abbiesmomma - 1/7/2019
@firsttimemom - 1/7/2019

@Shelbizzles - 12/10/2018
@Elsaspiritanimal - 12/10/2018
_Note:  12/3/2018 had long periods of 7DMT and Space Mountain downtime during the event.  _
@connorlevismom - 12/3/2018
@Saltywardog - 12/3/2018
@MicroBeta - 12/3/2018
@ELLH - 12/3/2018
@FFstreetDoc - 12/3/2018
@Nixon128 - 12/3/2018
@mrsxsparrow - 12/3/2018
@jhoannam - 12/3/2018

_Note: 11/26/2018 seems to be among the lightest attended nights in the history of Disney After Hours.  Reported crowds and ride wait times (mainly 7DMT) were much lower than the overall reports from prior events. _
@Tessaf - 11/26/2018
@Elle23 - 11/26/2018 & 11/26/2018
@Babs1975 - 11/26/2018 & 11/26/2018
@Magnoliafan - 11/26/2018
@jalpert - 11/26/2018 & 11/26/2018
@apxstitch - 11/26/2018


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Post #11 - Historical Date & Event Information*

Disney has historically released DAH event dates in "groups" as represented in the tables below:

*May 2019 Dates*
Dates Announced:  *Thursday 3/28/2019*
Tickets on Sale:  *Thursday 3/28/2019*

_*Table last updated 6/2/2019*_



*November 2018-April 2019 Dates*
Dates Announced:  *Thursday 9/6/2018**
Tickets on Sale:  *Thursday 9/6/2018**
_*11/26/2018 was added to the line-up late 10/2018
* 2/21, 3/21, 3/28, 4/4, and 4/11 2019 were added 11/15/2018

*Table was last updated 4/13/2019*_




*2018 January-March DAH Dates / Times*
_Tickets Went on Sale: September 14, 2017_


*2018 June-September DAH Dates / Times*
_Tickets Went on Sale: May 2, 2018_


*2017 DAH Dates / Times*
_Tickets Went on Sale: December 8, 2016_

_Note: Accurate "sold out" data is not available for the Winter 2017 dates as it was not being accurately tracked. Thread posts at the time generally suggest 3/2 and 3/9 potentially sold out at/around the day-of. _

*2016 DAH Dates / Times*
_Tickets Went on Sale: March 23, 2016_

Thursday, April 14, 2016 (11PM - 2AM)
Thursday, April 21, 2016 (10PM - 1AM)
Thursday, April 28, 2016 (10PM - 1AM)
Thursday, May 5, 2016 (10PM - 1AM)
Sunday, May 8, 2016 (11PM - 2AM)
Thursday, May 12, 2016 (11PM - 2AM)
Thursday, May 19, 2016 (11PM - 2AM)


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Post #12 - DAH-Related Links & Past DAH Threads*

*Old DIS Disney After Hours Threads*
"Official" 2018 Disney After Hours (DAH) Thread

*Disney's Official Disney After Hours Page*
Click Here

*Older Disney After Hours-Related Links*
Disney Parks Blog Announcement - September 6, 2018
Disney Parks Blog Announcement - May 2, 2018
Disney Parks Blog Announcement - September 14, 2017
WDWInfo Article - September 14, 2017


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Post #13 - Year-Over-Year Disney After Hours & Villains After Hours at Magic Kingdom Event Date Summary

Black = Disney After Hours *
*Red = Villains After Hours*

_Chart updated 1/25/2020_


----------



## GADisneyDad14

_Hold for future use if needed._


----------



## SaintsManiac

Good job 

I know I have a loooooooooooong way to go on July, but I am really hoping we can do it then!!


----------



## lambdabeta

Add me to the list for Dec 3rd.  Can't wait.  We have never been.


----------



## mcurrence

GADisneyDad14 This is AWESOME!!! Thank you so much for moderating this !!!
I think besides Peter Pan being closed, I read somewhere that the Speedway will also be closed for some months ..
Your time and work on this is truly appreciated!


----------



## NYCANC

Please add me to the list for 1/17. 
Very excited to finally get to experience this event!


----------



## Elsaspiritanimal

Add me and my SIL for 12/10! Third time can't wait!!


----------



## Zmack

We are going on 02/7, our first DAH very excited.


----------



## Haley R

Thanks for all of the hard work you’ve done!


----------



## csmom

Please add me for 1/24. DAH was our favorite part of our last trip.


----------



## cindyfan

Loved this event in 2017!  Sad it wasn't available during our 2018 stay.  But looks like we might be there during one of the 2019 events!!  Yay!
But, quick question..... if we purchased tickets in advance at the regular rate, then decide to get APs, would they refund the discount difference?


----------



## CJN

We’ll be there 11/26. So glad they added this date


----------



## peeperino

Thanks for setting this up!

We'll be there on 1/17. I'm so excited!


----------



## happiest place

Please add me for 1/28! So excited since we enjoyed this last year! Thanks for all that you do with keeping the DAH thread up to date!


----------



## Elle23

Can you add me to the list for 11/26? Thanks!


----------



## Slick519

Please add me for 2/14. First DAH for us- so excited!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

cindyfan said:


> Loved this event in 2017!  Sad it wasn't available during our 2018 stay.  But looks like we might be there during one of the 2019 events!!  Yay!
> But, quick question.....* if we purchased tickets in advance at the regular rate, then decide to get APs, would they refund the discount difference?*



This question comes up from time to time and I'm not entirely sure of the accurate answer.  DISers have reported success of discussing it with Guest Relations and getting a refund (in the form of a Disney gift card) but I'm not sure if that's policy or a 'YMMV' thing. 

If you do end up trying, would love to know the results.


----------



## bigeyedfish

We will be there Monday 1/28!  I think I am most excited for DAH above all else


----------



## reluctantredhead

Please add me to the list for 2/28.  DAH was our favorite thing about our September trip, so we are so excited to be going back for H's birthday! 

Thanks for starting this thread, @GADisneyDad14 !


----------



## Tessaf

We will be there 11/26!!! Soooo Excited!!!!


----------



## tookydo

Please add me for 1/24. First trip with friends; no kids, no hubby!


----------



## jenmsmith

Has anyone taken an infant to DAH? I’m seriously considering going to DAH on our late November trip, but not sure if that would be wise with our 6-month-old. Thoughts from experienced DAHers?


----------



## MicroBeta

We're going on December 3rd. 

Thanks @GADisneyDad14.  We appreciate all you do for us.

Mike


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jenmsmith said:


> Has anyone taken an infant to DAH? I’m seriously considering going to DAH on our late November trip, but not sure if that would be wise with our 6-month-old. Thoughts from experienced DAHers?



That's pretty young and DAH for that date is 10pm-1am... so pretty late. 

It probably wouldn't be my first choice of things to do... but I guess if baby is a good stroller sleeper and you have a good group to trade off rides/staying with baby, then it's certainly doable.  

No personal experience though!  When mine were that young, we tended to stick to the resort in the evenings and close to normal bedtimes, so I'm probably the wrong person to answer.


----------



## Chami

Thank you!  We will be there 2/28!


----------



## areno79

I'll be there on 11/26...could you add me to the list, please? Thanks!


----------



## Inga

Will be there Dec 3!


----------



## erinscreen

I will be there on December 3– this is my 4th DAH event. I’m so excited!


----------



## senadler

I will be there 2/14.  First trip with just DH and no kids for our 20th anniversary.  I planned the trip the day the new dates were announced, very excited!


----------



## Babs1975

Bit the bullet and got it for the 11/26 date! Excited...will be our first DAH!


----------



## nervous1sttimer

We are going Feb 14th! Super excited.


----------



## beglluvr

We will be there on February 14th as well!


----------



## crazyventures

We'll be there January 24th!


----------



## ShelleyLovesOrlando

We'll be attending on February 28th. We attended in Feb 2017 & 2018 as well, can't wait for 2019.


----------



## 123SA

I really wish Disney would post the dates further in advance.  We went twice in August 2018  and I thought it was well worth the price.  I need to start picking dates for my 2019 trip and I'd love to pick them around this event.


----------



## cadien

We have tickets for February 7. It will be not just our first DAH but our first visit to WDW period.


----------



## sheila14

I am hoping for September when I am there!!


----------



## mrsxsparrow

We'll be there December 3rd!

I went once during the first round of DAH and absolutely loved it. Back then popcorn wasn't included, and it's my favorite snack, so I'm excited it's included now!

My dad will be coming on this trip, about two months after a total knee replacement. He's not naturally a night person, but I think this is the best way for him to be able to do rides without standing in lines for a long time or crisscrossing the park to make fastpasses. Plus the lower crowd level should be helpful. We're doing MVMCP the night before and don't have any other plans until 1:00pm this day, so I've already prepped him for a change in his sleep schedule


----------



## apxstitch

Thanks for all this great info.  Please add me to 11/26, this will be my first DAH and I couldn't be more excited!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Well, it finally worked for us to go to DAH. I've only been waiting/hoping since it started! Never offered during our trips.
DH has a convention in January at Loews RP, so DS6 and I are joining him at the end of it, and, yep, DAH on January 17th! FINALLY! 

Slightly bummed, DH has never seen HEA, so I had hoped to reserve Garden dessert party, but I don't want to waste DAH time since it starts at 8, when HEA is. Ah well, excited all the same!

SO, add us to January 17th!


----------



## aemorrell

I'll be going January 24th  Can't wait!


----------



## FFstreetDoc

We will be there 12/3 for our 2nd DAH. MVMCP on the 6th, what a special week!


----------



## Spacecow

I'm booked for March 7th! Super excited


----------



## Cirlonde

Seeing several of the Disney bloggers that I follow saying that Disney has confirmed After Hours events coming to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, with tickets going on sale November 15th.

Wasn't sure if it was okay to post links to other websites, so I didn't.

Edited to add: Official Announcement from Disney Parks Blog: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...eys-hollywood-studios-disneys-animal-kingdom/


----------



## dtrain

We really want to do Animal Kingdom in January but the only date that works is our arrival day.  I wonder if we’ll have enough time to make it if we land at MCO at 5pm, shuttle to ASM, check in, then hop a bus to AK and get there by 8pm?

Also, can anyone confirm if Disney Gift Cards can be used to purchase the After Hours tickets?


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

dtrain said:


> We really want to do Animal Kingdom in January but the only date that works is our arrival day.  I wonder if we’ll have enough time to make it if we land at MCO at 5pm, shuttle to ASM, check in, then hop a bus to AK and get there by 8pm?
> 
> Also, can anyone confirm if Disney Gift Cards can be used to purchase the After Hours tickets?



Yes on the GC. I just did this last week to buy our DAH tix for Jan.


----------



## lvdis

Do these after hours events impact the regular day hours at the park?  I guess what I'm asking is, do the parks close any earlier than normal for these events and are they noticeably more crowded during the day, leading up to the DAH event?


----------



## Iowamomof4

I am really anxious to see the full list of attractions and get more details about the DAH at AK and DHS. I hope they extend all three through our trip in May!


----------



## Lisa F

attending 1/24 with my 10 year old kiddo and super jazzed!


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

So, what happens at the start of the event when there are still regular day guests in the park and in line? Do you get to skip the line once the event starts?


----------



## Haley R

I’m sorry I just do not see the appeal in paying $125 pp to be in animal kingdom at night. Hollywood studios is a so-so one for me. I could see us maybe trying that out but I feel like ak is a huge park so lots of back tracking and there isn’t hardly anything to do there imo.


----------



## hopey1kenobi

DD & I are attending on 1/28 the 1st day of our trip, and now I'm eyeing DAH-HS on 2/2 our last park day. It would be the perfect way to bookend our trip.


----------



## Babs1975

So during the last few DAH events were people let in at 6? I understand the technical time to be let in is 7 but trying to figure out when we should arrive at MK. Don't want to be there at 6 and have to wait an hour to be let in...


----------



## TheMick424

Does anyone know how many tickets you can buy with a single AP discount?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Babs1975 said:


> So during the last few DAH events were people let in at 6? I understand the technical time to be let in is 7 but trying to figure out when we should arrive at MK. Don't want to be there at 6 and have to wait an hour to be let in...



Yeah, it was 6pm for all but the first few 2018 events.  After those first two dates, it seemed to be 6pm consistently from there on out.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TheMick424 said:


> Does anyone know how many tickets you can buy with a single AP discount?



This topic comes up from time to time on these threads, and to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever seen an affirmative/reliable answer.  If you find out from a reliable source, I’d love to know the answer!


----------



## TheMick424

GADisneyDad14 said:


> This topic comes up from time to time on these threads, and to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever seen an affirmative/reliable answer.  If you find out from a reliable source, I’d love to know the answer!


I’ve seen conflicting info, but will keep looking (and hoping).


----------



## Funfire240

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> So, what happens at the start of the event when there are still regular day guests in the park and in line? Do you get to skip the line once the event starts?


We were sent thru the fast pass line


----------



## mrsxsparrow

TheMick424 said:


> Does anyone know how many tickets you can buy with a single AP discount?



The OFFICIAL rule is Passholder + 3 guests. Now whether or not that is enforced is another story altogether.


----------



## Cirlonde

Haley R said:


> I’m sorry I just do not see the appeal in paying $125 pp to be in animal kingdom at night. Hollywood studios is a so-so one for me. I could see us maybe trying that out but I feel like ak is a huge park so lots of back tracking and there isn’t hardly anything to do there imo.



My husband and I were just having this discussion yesterday.  We're doing a (mostly) resort-only short trip in February and going to the MK DAH on 2/14.  There is an AK DAH on 2/13, so we were tentatively talking about adding that on, but in the end...we concluded that we wouldn't get as much value out of AK.  He gets motion sick with too many back-to-back coaster rides or screen rides, so even if we could ride Flight of Passage half a dozen times with low waits, he wouldn't be up for that.  And Everest, he's limited to 2-3 times in a row without a significant break.  Now...if it was just me, I could probably do nothing but ride FoP over and over again for the entire event, haha!

I really wish that there was an available DAH at Hollywood Studios while we will be there, because we haven't been to HS in 2 or 3 years and I would really enjoy getting to see the new Toy Story Land with low crowds.  But maybe that will give us an excuse to plan another short trip!


----------



## Lisa F

Cirlonde said:


> My husband and I were just having this discussion yesterday.  We're doing a (mostly) resort-only short trip in February and going to the MK DAH on 2/14.  There is an AK DAH on 2/13, so we were tentatively talking about adding that on, but in the end...we concluded that we wouldn't get as much value out of AK.  He gets motion sick with too many back-to-back coaster rides or screen rides, so even if we could ride Flight of Passage half a dozen times with low waits, he wouldn't be up for that.  And Everest, he's limited to 2-3 times in a row without a significant break.  Now...if it was just me, I could probably do nothing but ride FoP over and over again for the entire event, haha!
> 
> I really wish that there was an available DAH at Hollywood Studios while we will be there, because we haven't been to HS in 2 or 3 years and I would really enjoy getting to see the new Toy Story Land with low crowds.  But maybe that will give us an excuse to plan another short trip!


With everyone wanting FoP I am guessing they will need to run the pre-show to manage flow and there would probably be a wait.  I'm not sure how this will work out for people but curious to hear.


----------



## Cirlonde

Lisa F said:


> With everyone wanting FoP I am guessing they will need to run the pre-show to manage flow and there would probably be a wait.  I'm not sure how this will work out for people but curious to hear.



Very true!  I'm interested to see how many actual attractions are open during AK's DAH events.  If there are only a few, FoP waits may not be short although no fast passes should speed things up at least a little bit.  I love AK, but it definitely works better as a daytime park.  So much of the ambiance is better enjoyed before dark, plus all of the animal encounters.


----------



## TheMick424

mrsxsparrow said:


> The OFFICIAL rule is Passholder + 3 guests. Now whether or not that is enforced is another story altogether.


This would certainly work for me!  I am debating upgrading my 8 day PH to an Annual Pass after we arrive, but I might be taking a gamble on the party still being available at that point.  Hmmm....


----------



## krauh

We'll be there on January 28th! Can't wait, this will be our 3rd year in a row doing a DAH event


----------



## amiskell28

Apologies in advance for the long post/question:

We (DH, me, DD7) are going in February. First time back to WDW since 2009. Short stay prior to Disney cruise. Tentative agenda:

Tuesday 2/5: arrive, dinner at Ohana
Wednesday, 2/6: MK day, CRT bkfst @ 810, BOG dinner @ 415, After Fireworks Dessert Party
Thursday 2/7: AK day, Tiffins dinner @ 505, *possibly head over to MK for MK DAH?*
Friday, 2/8: Resort day (staying @ Poly), swim, shop, etc, HDDR dinner @ 615
Saturday, 2/9: leave for cruise

My first thought when I just saw the DAH for 2/7 was "darn, I should switch my MK and AK day around". But, we really want to keep our MK ADR's and the After Fireworks party, as we may not be back to WDW for several years, if at all.

My second thought was "holy cow, we're going to be EXHAUSTED after those two long days!". But - we can sleep in on Friday, the TS dinners should give us a chance to recoup, and darn it, it's only 2 days! 

So, my questions (having never been to DAH, having been 10 years since being at WDW at all, knowing basically nothing lol):

1. Should I do DAH, having just spent a whole day at MK the day prior? (my gut says yes, makes the day prior less chaotic, makes FP's that I may/may not get less important, etc)
2. Best transportation option from AK after dinner at Tiffins over to MK?
3. Will I get to MK 'in time' to enjoy DAH if my Tiffins dinner ADR is at 505?

One more thing: the cost isn't stopping me at all. It IS expensive, but I've been saving for this trip of a lifetime for a while now, we can swing it. It's more the "is that too much time in MK?" thing that's making me pause.

Thank you all so much - I cannot tell you all how much info I've gotten from these boards!!!!


----------



## Haley R

Cirlonde said:


> My husband and I were just having this discussion yesterday.  We're doing a (mostly) resort-only short trip in February and going to the MK DAH on 2/14.  There is an AK DAH on 2/13, so we were tentatively talking about adding that on, but in the end...we concluded that we wouldn't get as much value out of AK.  He gets motion sick with too many back-to-back coaster rides or screen rides, so even if we could ride Flight of Passage half a dozen times with low waits, he wouldn't be up for that.  And Everest, he's limited to 2-3 times in a row without a significant break.  Now...if it was just me, I could probably do nothing but ride FoP over and over again for the entire event, haha!
> 
> I really wish that there was an available DAH at Hollywood Studios while we will be there, because we haven't been to HS in 2 or 3 years and I would really enjoy getting to see the new Toy Story Land with low crowds.  But maybe that will give us an excuse to plan another short trip!


Dh and I were talking about how ak has all of the shows and the safari so those things wouldn’t be open. There just isn’t much to ride there to make it worth it for us. $125 is a lot pp for only 3-4 rides. If the safari stays open, that would slightly change my mind, but not much. 

Hs sounds more appealing each time I think about it. We’ve ridden everything there but I actually really like slinky. I think it will still have a wait but obviously not anything like during the day. Dh and I LOVE rnrc and tot. They have quickly been jumping up our list of favorite rides. I could see us riding rnrc over and over.


----------



## Haley R

amiskell28 said:


> Apologies in advance for the long post/question:
> 
> We (DH, me, DD7) are going in February. First time back to WDW since 2009. Short stay prior to Disney cruise. Tentative agenda:
> 
> Tuesday 2/5: arrive, dinner at Ohana
> Wednesday, 2/6: MK day, CRT bkfst @ 810, BOG dinner @ 415, After Fireworks Dessert Party
> Thursday 2/7: AK day, Tiffins dinner @ 505, *possibly head over to MK for MK DAH?*
> Friday, 2/8: Resort day (staying @ Poly), swim, shop, etc, HDDR dinner @ 615
> Saturday, 2/9: leave for cruise
> 
> My first thought when I just saw the DAH for 2/7 was "darn, I should switch my MK and AK day around". But, we really want to keep our MK ADR's and the After Fireworks party, as we may not be back to WDW for several years, if at all.
> 
> My second thought was "holy cow, we're going to be EXHAUSTED after those two long days!". But - we can sleep in on Friday, the TS dinners should give us a chance to recoup, and darn it, it's only 2 days!
> 
> So, my questions (having never been to DAH, having been 10 years since being at WDW at all, knowing basically nothing lol):
> 
> 1. Should I do DAH, having just spent a whole day at MK the day prior? (my gut says yes, makes the day prior less chaotic, makes FP's that I may/may not get less important, etc)
> 2. Best transportation option from AK after dinner at Tiffins over to MK?
> 3. Will I get to MK 'in time' to enjoy DAH if my Tiffins dinner ADR is at 505?
> 
> One more thing: the cost isn't stopping me at all. It IS expensive, but I've been saving for this trip of a lifetime for a while now, we can swing it. It's more the "is that too much time in MK?" thing that's making me pause.
> 
> Thank you all so much - I cannot tell you all how much info I've gotten from these boards!!!!


I don’t think that would be too much time at mk at all, especially because you have so many other things taking up time at the park and your dd7 should have tons to do there. There are so many rides and character meets that she could enjoy during dah which would help make your other mk day not as stressful.

I will say that having an adr starting at 5:05 that isn’t close to mk might not be a good idea. Maybe see if you can move it earlier or switch to a different adr at one of the mk resorts. If you are determined to keep your adr and cost isn’t an issue I would take a Minnie van to get to the mk after dinner.


----------



## Iowamomof4

TheMick424 said:


> This would certainly work for me!  I am debating upgrading my 8 day PH to an Annual Pass after we arrive, but I might be taking a gamble on the party still being available at that point.  Hmmm....



I'm pretty sure I've heard of people calling in their order and receiving the AP discount if they say they are planning to upgrade to an AP upon arrival. You would then need to show a valid AP in order to collect the tickets. I believe that's how it works.


----------



## areno79

Iowamomof4 said:


> I'm pretty sure I've heard of people calling in their order and receiving the AP discount if they say they are planning to upgrade to an AP upon arrival. You would then need to show a valid AP in order to collect the tickets. I believe that's how it works.


Correct...that's what I did when we went in September. The CM said I'd have to show my AP and pick up tickets at will call, but I didn't.


----------



## TheMick424

Iowamomof4 said:


> I'm pretty sure I've heard of people calling in their order and receiving the AP discount if they say they are planning to upgrade to an AP upon arrival. You would then need to show a valid AP in order to collect the tickets. I believe that's how it works.



This is great info!  Thank you!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

FYI, new threads have been created for the newly-announced DHS and AK versions of Disney After Hours.  Links can be found here:  

*Hollywood Studios "Disney After Hours" Discussion & FAQ Thread

Animal Kingdom "Disney After Hours" Discussion & FAQ Thread*

There will be a lot of "figuring things out" on those threads once their dates kick in next month.  Interesting times.  

Thanks!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

This is long, sorry, but I was curious to map out this (crazy) abundance of DAH dates that are now on the books for the next few months.  I was mainly curious to see any overlap and just how close event dates are to one another.   Also curious to see what kind of patterns there are in the scheduling - if any.  

While there is decent separation, there are several that are either back to back nights, or relatively close together.

I do have to wonder how much one park will cannibalize demand in another park.  Or maybe there's enough demand to fill them all.  Who knows, just speculation... but very curious to see how these go!


----------



## Cirlonde

I find it interesting that most (all?) the DHS dates are on Saturdays.  If the goal of DAH is to increase revenue during traditionally lower crowd times, I would have expected all of them to take place on weeknights. 

Regardless, I'm glad to see that DAH events are apparently popular enough for them expand into new territory.  I understand that there are some who contend that these extra "cash grabs" are getting too prevalent and are reducing overall park hours for regular tickets...but DAH often suits my personal travel style so it's hard for me not to be excited to see more opportunities.  

I'm still not sure that I would ever personally opt to do an After Hours event as a part of a regular long vacation (not sure my feet could handle that), but they are perfect for shorter trips.  We also usually end up traveling to Orlando for work conferences every couple of years, so we get a lot of value out of DAH on those visits when we can't get into the parks until after 5pm anyway.


----------



## Gehrig1B

Party of 4 attending the January 7th MK DAH event.  Looks as if this one may not sell out?


----------



## michellej47

Gehrig1B said:


> Party of 4 attending the January 7th MK DAH event.  Looks as if this one may not sell out?



How can you tell if it is a sell out or not?  Do you just go in and try to buy tickets again and see if any are left?  We are going 2/14 and I'm hoping it's not too busy!


----------



## PolyRob

Has there ever been a "sold out" DAH?!

I remember when it first started in 2016 and Disney was practically giving away free entry to DVC members and their guests


----------



## GADisneyDad14

PolyRob said:


> Has there ever been a "sold out" DAH?!
> 
> I remember when it first started in 2016 and Disney was practically giving away free entry to DVC members and their guests



Yes, several of the current iteration of MK DAH have sold out (I mainly ignore the 2016 version since that was kind of a different deal).  

2017 -  no one really tracked it but thread chatter at the time suggests the last two dates sold out (so, 2 out of 7 dates).

2018 - 8 out 18 events have sold out so far this year.  All but two of the winter series dates sold out.   

The tables in Post #11 track sold out dates / when they sold out.


----------



## PolyRob

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yes, several of the current iteration of MK DAH have sold out (I mainly ignore the 2016 version since that was kind of a different deal).
> 
> 2017 -  no one really tracked it but thread chatter at the time suggests the last two dates sold out (so, 2 out of 7 dates).
> 
> 2018 - 8 out 18 events have sold out so far this year.  All but two of the winter series dates sold out.
> 
> The tables in Post #11 track sold out dates / when they sold out.



Thanks! I must have disregarded the info in the beginning of the MK thread with the hype of the AK and DHS threads.

I'm hoping for an extension of dates later into March for MK. I guess I shouldn't wait to purchase them like I did the last time.


----------



## Gehrig1B

PolyRob said:


> Thanks! I must have disregarded the info in the beginning of the MK thread with the hype of the AK and DHS threads.
> 
> I'm hoping for an extension of dates later into March for MK. I guess I shouldn't wait to purchase them like I did the last time.



I would be surprised if that happens.  

I presumed the goal of DAH was to lure individuals to a ticketed event during slower periods and March is Spring Break.  We shall see as there are now DAH events in March for AK and DHS...  I find that interesting.  

I am skeptical that these events will succeed.  Unless the number of tickets are heavily restricted, with the small number of attractions at these parks, I envision long lines at FOP, SDD, TOT, etc. defeating the attractiveness of the event.


----------



## Lisa F

amiskell28 said:


> Apologies in advance for the long post/question:
> 
> We (DH, me, DD7) are going in February. First time back to WDW since 2009. Short stay prior to Disney cruise. Tentative agenda:
> 
> Tuesday 2/5: arrive, dinner at Ohana
> Wednesday, 2/6: MK day, CRT bkfst @ 810, BOG dinner @ 415, After Fireworks Dessert Party
> Thursday 2/7: AK day, Tiffins dinner @ 505, *possibly head over to MK for MK DAH?*
> Friday, 2/8: Resort day (staying @ Poly), swim, shop, etc, HDDR dinner @ 615
> Saturday, 2/9: leave for cruise
> 
> My first thought when I just saw the DAH for 2/7 was "darn, I should switch my MK and AK day around". But, we really want to keep our MK ADR's and the After Fireworks party, as we may not be back to WDW for several years, if at all.
> 
> My second thought was "holy cow, we're going to be EXHAUSTED after those two long days!". But - we can sleep in on Friday, the TS dinners should give us a chance to recoup, and darn it, it's only 2 days!
> 
> So, my questions (having never been to DAH, having been 10 years since being at WDW at all, knowing basically nothing lol):
> 
> 1. Should I do DAH, having just spent a whole day at MK the day prior? (my gut says yes, makes the day prior less chaotic, makes FP's that I may/may not get less important, etc)
> 2. Best transportation option from AK after dinner at Tiffins over to MK?
> 3. Will I get to MK 'in time' to enjoy DAH if my Tiffins dinner ADR is at 505?
> 
> One more thing: the cost isn't stopping me at all. It IS expensive, but I've been saving for this trip of a lifetime for a while now, we can swing it. It's more the "is that too much time in MK?" thing that's making me pause.
> 
> Thank you all so much - I cannot tell you all how much info I've gotten from these boards!!!!



I would do it.  I have found that with the excitement at the beginning of the trip I can have my partial travel day in the parks plus two full park days where I feel great and then by the third full day I start to flag and need to build in breaks.  I don't think it is too much MK personally and then the next day you have a break - that would help carry me through as well.  Your plans sound great except I'd fit epcot in somehow lol, but Illuminations is my favorite all time show.

I have a 5pm ADR at CA Grill for my DAH night, and the park has an 8pm close.  I have APs so getting "extra" hours in the parks have no real appeal to me, I don't need to maximize that, so we are going to have dinner (usually about 90 minutes long and that is pretty consistent if you are there at first seating before they get backed up) and I figure we'll be at the park by 7 or so.  I'd think if you got a Minnie Van you'd be there by 7:30 at the latest which is still fine for an 8pm close if you are not interested in maximizing your pre-closing hours at the MK - some people are as they do this in lieu of a park day.  BUT if you could move dinner back to 4:30 or so it would be even better and I bet you won't have trouble with doing that either. 

If you don't want to do minnie van you could always get a bus from AK to Contemporary and walk over.


----------



## js

Gehrig1B said:


> Party of 4 attending the January 7th MK DAH event.  Looks as if this one may not sell out?



We will be three adults with you! My mom and dd-24 and I.
Looking forward to the evening and hoping it won't be freezing!


----------



## PolyRob

Gehrig1B said:


> I would be surprised if that happens.
> 
> I presumed the goal of DAH was to lure individuals to a ticketed event during slower periods and March is Spring Break.  We shall see as there are now DAH events in March for AK and DHS...  I find that interesting.
> 
> I am skeptical that these events will succeed.  Unless the number of tickets are heavily restricted, with the small number of attractions at these parks, I envision long lines at FOP, SDD, TOT, etc. defeating the attractiveness of the event.


I originally thought the same thing, but the extension of DHS and AK through that time period has made me hopeful for some additional MK nights!


----------



## Iowamomof4

PolyRob said:


> I originally thought the same thing, but the extension of DHS and AK through that time period has made me hopeful for some additional MK nights!



I have to agree. I think the recent additions really make me question everything I once thought I "knew" about the MK DAH.


----------



## Iowamomof4

For those of you who have attended DAH at MK, did you:
1. Make that entire day your MK day?
2. Hop there from a different park? If so, what time did you leave the other park?
3. Spend the day doing something else (swimming, Disney Springs, etc...) and just arrive at MK in time to enjoy the party?
4. Other? 

Also, whatever you DID, would you do it that way again?

Thanks!


----------



## bigeyedfish

I can tell you what our plan is!

We are doing DHS EMM and staying at DHS until about 2:00 pm.  Then we will head back to the resort for rest/naps and head to MK DAH around 6:00 pm!  

We might be slightly crazy to do this, but it is the only day of our trip we could work it into and will sleep in the next morning


----------



## Cirlonde

Iowamomof4 said:


> For those of you who have attended DAH at MK, did you:
> 1. Make that entire day your MK day?
> 2. Hop there from a different park? If so, what time did you leave the other park?
> 3. Spend the day doing something else (swimming, Disney Springs, etc...) and just arrive at MK in time to enjoy the party?
> 4. Other?
> 
> Also, whatever you DID, would you do it that way again?
> 
> Thanks!



We spent the day doing other things before attending the event.  Our first DAH, my husband was in Orlando for a work conference so we got to MK at about 6:15 after his work day ended.  For our upcoming trip in February, we're going to relax at the resort and probably spend some time at Disney Springs (because we'll be staying at Saratoga Springs) then we may eat at one of the restaurants at Wilderness Lodge before getting to MK around 6pm.  Our upcoming trip is designed to be very relaxed, so we'll just play it by ear and see how we feel at the time!  

For us, this is probably the only way I would do it.  It's very difficult for me to justify the cost of the DAH ticket if I've got regular tickets as well.  I find that the value of DAH is being able to get as much done during that event as I could during a full day for about the same cost as a one-day ticket.  Plus...I'm just not physically equipped to do a full park day + the late night event!  I don't think I'd survive, haha!


----------



## Shelbizzles

bigeyedfish said:


> I can tell you what our plan is!
> 
> We are doing DHS EMM and staying at DHS until about 2:00 pm.  Then we will head back to the resort for rest/naps and head to MK DAH around 6:00 pm!
> 
> We might be slightly crazy to do this, but it is the only day of our trip we could work it into and will sleep in the next morning




I’m doing pretty much the same as you except I went even a little further (crazier lol) I added afternoon fast passes at AK. I was able to get a flight of passages FP. And I didn’t want to use my fast passes at HS or MK anyway. Considering both of the events we should have fairly short waits. 
So emm in the morning. Stay at HS until around 11 or so. Hop to Ak do our fast passes. Flight of passage is our first at 1. So depending on how we feel we may stay for the other ones. But leave the park between 3 or 4. Prolly go back to the hotel and try and nap maybe. Or just chill. And then be to MK by probably 7 or so and do the after hours

All kind of just depends on how we’re feeling. My husband is super excited about it. I’m a little worried it will be too much. But we’re going for it.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Shelbizzles said:


> I’m doing pretty much the same as you except I went even a little further (crazier lol) I added afternoon fast passes at AK. I was able to get a flight of passages FP. And I didn’t want to use my fast passes at HS or MK anyway. Considering both of the events we should have fairly short waits.
> So emm in the morning. Stay at HS until around 11 or so. Hop to Ak do our fast passes. Flight of passage is our first at 1. So depending on how we feel we may stay for the other ones. But leave the park between 3 or 4. Prolly go back to the hotel and try and nap maybe. Or just chill. And then be to MK by probably 7 or so and do the after hours
> 
> All kind of just depends on how we’re feeling. My husband is super excited about it. I’m a little worried it will be too much. But we’re going for it.



That's Awesome!! CRAZY ... but awesome!


----------



## dolewhipdreams

Iowamomof4 said:


> For those of you who have attended DAH at MK, did you:
> 1. Make that entire day your MK day?
> 2. Hop there from a different park? If so, what time did you leave the other park?
> 3. Spend the day doing something else (swimming, Disney Springs, etc...) and just arrive at MK in time to enjoy the party?
> 4. Other?
> 
> Also, whatever you DID, would you do it that way again?
> 
> Thanks!



We went with #2. We spent the morning at DHS, hopped to AK to use our FPs, then left AK by 6:30pm to get to MK. It made for a _very_ long day haha


----------



## dolewhipdreams

Also, put us down for 1/17! Hopefully next January isn't as frigid as this year's. It made eating my weight in Mickey bars a really cold experience. But hey, at least they weren't melting!


----------



## Haley R

Iowamomof4 said:


> For those of you who have attended DAH at MK, did you:
> 1. Make that entire day your MK day?
> 2. Hop there from a different park? If so, what time did you leave the other park?
> 3. Spend the day doing something else (swimming, Disney Springs, etc...) and just arrive at MK in time to enjoy the party?
> 4. Other?
> 
> Also, whatever you DID, would you do it that way again?
> 
> Thanks!


We’ve done dah twice and both times we swam or relaxed before dah started. The first time we ate at Ohana around 4:30? I can’t remember the exact time but we swam, took naps, then ate at Ohana. That worked out really well but I was SO full when we got to mk. I would eat a smaller meal before going to dah. The second time it was just Dh and I. We swam a bit, ate at the bar at coronado springs, then headed to dah. That worked a lot better for us and we ate at around 3 pm.


----------



## Gehrig1B

This will be our 11th day as part of our annual NYE visit.  We will have AP's and approach the day when it arrives...  We have FP's through Day 10.  Our resort is WL so we shall see how it goes that day.   I suspect we will head over by boat to MK in the morning and then return to WL for the afternoon, returning to MK at about 6:00.  We thought DAH would be a great way to finish a 12 night stay! 



js said:


> We will be three adults with you! My mom and dd-24 and I.
> Looking forward to the evening and hoping it won't be freezing!



I'm with you...  We are 4 adults.  Thinking warm thoughts!


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Funfire240 said:


> We were sent thru the fast pass line


Thanks!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> For those of you who have attended DAH at MK, did you:
> 1. Make that entire day your MK day?
> 2. Hop there from a different park? If so, what time did you leave the other park?
> 3. Spend the day doing something else (swimming, Disney Springs, etc...) and just arrive at MK in time to enjoy the party?
> 4. Other?
> 
> Also, whatever you DID, would you do it that way again?
> 
> Thanks!



I guess I'm "Other."   All three of my DAH events have been on arrival day!  

Not exactly planned that way, just the way my schedule has worked out for each. 

But I think even if we did have a full day on property, we'd stick to the resort / rest day, or do another park that AM, rest, then DAH. 

We have APs and go somewhat often, so I really only care about the actual DAH event time, don't really need any daytime MK time, generally speaking.


----------



## Stasieki

I hope they add some Mondays in Feb.  Specifically 2/11!


----------



## mcurrence

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I guess I'm "Other."   All three of my DAH events have been on arrival day!
> 
> Not exactly planned that way, just the way my schedule has worked out for each.
> 
> But I think even if we did have a full day on property, we'd stick to the resort / rest day, or do another park that AM, rest, then DAH.
> 
> We have APs and go somewhat often, so I really only care about the actual DAH event time, don't really need any daytime MK time, generally speaking.



Same here!  We drive in the day of (8 hours or so from GA) and hang out at the hotel until the event. The first time we went my girls were 7 and 9 and did great and have done awesome every time.    Planning on attending this February 28 (our 4th time) and doing the same thing! Always hectic but AMAZING!


----------



## Tksolomom

Iowamomof4 said:


> For those of you who have attended DAH at MK, did you:
> 1. Make that entire day your MK day?
> 2. Hop there from a different park? If so, what time did you leave the other park?
> 3. Spend the day doing something else (swimming, Disney Springs, etc...) and just arrive at MK in time to enjoy the party?
> 4. Other?
> 
> Also, whatever you DID, would you do it that way again?
> 
> Thanks!


We are doing it on a day when we are going to Discovery Cove. That park closes at 5. We are planning on being at MK by 7:30 to give us a bit of a rest. If I hadn’t booked the CP I would have had a rest day the next day, but we decided we aren’t going to go for rope drop but start at about 11.


----------



## Haley R

Tksolomom said:


> We are doing it on a day when we are going to Discovery Cove. That park closes at 5. We are planning on being at MK by 7:30 to give us a bit of a rest. If I hadn’t booked the CP I would have had a rest day the next day, but we decided we aren’t going to go for rope drop but start at about 11.


Discovery Cove is amazing!


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

@GADisneyDad14 
Would you please add us to Thursday, February 14?
Thank you!


----------



## Haley R

ConnecticutNonna said:


> @GADisneyDad14
> Would you please add us to Thursday, February 14?
> Thank you!


Ooooo Valentine’s Day


----------



## Jenna319

I will be there March 7th!  Went last year and it was soooooo worth the money!  Can't wait!


----------



## Lisa F

Iowamomof4 said:


> For those of you who have attended DAH at MK, did you:
> 1. Make that entire day your MK day?
> 2. Hop there from a different park? If so, what time did you leave the other park?
> 3. Spend the day doing something else (swimming, Disney Springs, etc...) and just arrive at MK in time to enjoy the party?
> 4. Other?
> 
> Also, whatever you DID, would you do it that way again?
> 
> Thanks!



I have APs and my plan is a combo of 2 and 3, we are going to AK in the morning but then planned break at the resort.  Dinner at 5pm at CA Grill then to the party with an 8pm MK close.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

We have no plans that day except a Chef Mickey's ADR late afternoon.  We have to get a sitter for our 4 y/o DGS, but it's a night out for us 4 adults.  I'm really really hoping to snag being on Astro Orbiter during the fireworks.  It's my favorite ride after dark.  We were able to get on BTMRR during the fireworks last year in March when we went, that was incredibly cool.  AO has no FP though so it might be a stretch.


----------



## mhowens

Do you think they will add any March 2019 dates to MK?  AK and DHS have 3 and 5 nights scheduled in March respectively but MK only has 1.  I would love to do DAH at MK but I missing the March date by 1 week.


----------



## amiskell28

@GADisneyDad14
Please add us to February 7th - I pulled the trigger and booked it!! 

 Side question: how does one tag another disboarder? I copied the above from another post, but is there a button somewhere that I can use or something - like "tag user" or "insert link to user" or something? Or do you just type @ + their username? TIA!


----------



## ENJDisneyFan

amiskell28 said:


> Or do you just type @ + their username?



Yep, that's how you do it


----------



## Haley R

mhowens said:


> Do you think they will add any March 2019 dates to MK?  AK and DHS have 3 and 5 nights scheduled in March respectively but MK only has 1.  I would love to do DAH at MK but I missing the March date by 1 week.


In the past, I would’ve told you no, but now with them adding ak and hs in later March I have no idea lol


----------



## mhowens

Haley R said:


> In the past, I would’ve told you no, but now with them adding ak and hs in later March I have no idea lol



I guess we will just have to wait to see and cross our fingers.  We don't have a MK day planned this trip but absolutely add a DAH if it became available.


----------



## connorlevismom

We will be there December 3rd and are thinking of attending the MVMCP the 4th. I will be sleeping in the morning of the 4th for sure! LOL


----------



## mumzie2three

I am planning a short trip to US/IOA, but can't imagine not spending some time at the MK. This is the perfect solution! Plus my 10 yr old will love staying up late. And the Discovery Cove suggestion is great too! Jan 17th is our last full day of vacation, so it might go out with a real bang!! 

But now I am wondering if I should change hotels for that last night to be closer to to MK, or just Uber back to Universal hotel and sleep in on the day we fly out.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

mumzie2three said:


> I am planning a short trip to US/IOA, but can't imagine not spending some time at the MK. This is the perfect solution! Plus my 10 yr old will love staying up late. And the Discovery Cove suggestion is great too! Jan 17th is our last full day of vacation, so it might go out with a real bang!!
> 
> But now I am wondering if I should change hotels for that last night to be closer to to MK, or just Uber back to Universal hotel and sleep in on the day we fly out.


I say sleep in...  You'll be better equipped to face air travel and get home slightly rested after a busy vacation.


----------



## TNickell27

Wahoo! Just booked it for February 14th as a V Day treat for my husband and I! Our first time to do DAH! We are coming down in Feb for a short trip to check out Epcot Arts Festival and ride FoP at AK again! Haha! We didn't even plan to do MK... but this works out perfect!!!!


----------



## cdispoto

Please add me to the guest list for 1/7.

What is the purpose of being added to the guest list?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

cdispoto said:


> Please add me to the guest list for 1/7.
> 
> What is the purpose of being added to the guest list?



No real purpose, it’s just for fun.  After awhile it’s interesting to see if any nights stand out as popular DISer nights.  But mainly just for fun.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mumzie2three said:


> I am planning a short trip to US/IOA, but can't imagine not spending some time at the MK. This is the perfect solution! Plus my 10 yr old will love staying up late. And the Discovery Cove suggestion is great too! Jan 17th is our last full day of vacation, so it might go out with a real bang!!
> 
> But now I am wondering if I should change hotels for that last night to be closer to to MK, or just Uber back to Universal hotel and sleep in on the day we fly out.



Tough call.  I tend to find moving hotels on the day of a nighttime event can have some drawbacks.  All the packing/moving.  Not having a room to rest.  Your room could be ready early, but might not be until 3 or later.  We’d rather sit tight day of even if it meant a longer end of night, I think.


----------



## dachsie

How soon before they announce any May dates?  The only current day (Dec3) that works for me I can't do.  They don't have one during my Feb trip so my last chance is May


----------



## Iowamomof4

dachsie said:


> How soon before they announce any May dates?  The only current day (Dec3) that works for me I can't do.  They don't have one during my Feb trip so my last chance is May


I am very anxious about that, too. I hope to know around Jan 1 if they'll expand to May in 2019. I keep checking though, as there hasn't been a consistent pattern with regards to when they release a new set of dates for things like this.


----------



## Dentam

We're going on 1/17!


----------



## Liz Z

No dates past March 7th Darn!! 
We'll be there March 9th through the 16th

Liz


----------



## jaceraden

Liz Z said:


> No dates past March 7th Darn!!
> We'll be there March 9th through the 16th
> 
> Liz



I feel your pain. I mean, I guess we can try the AK or HS dates for DAH but I sure would prefer MK!


----------



## apxstitch

I arrive on 11/26 and should be at the resort about 2pm, I bought a base ticket for each day I am there (it was only $14 more for an extra day) so I'm going straight to a park.  I don't know whether to go to Magic Kingdom at 2pm or if it's worth going to Hollywood Studios for 3-4 hours and then make my way over to MK for 7pm?  What would you do?  I have FP booked for Pirates, Big Thunder and Space Mountain at MK all before 7pm.

I got my base ticket before DAH was announced.  If I give up a regular base park day it will only save me $14.  I want to spend as much time as possible at the MK this trip.


----------



## apxstitch

If I'm already in the MK with a regular day ticket can I pick up my DAH Lanyard from somewhere inside the park?


----------



## Ensusieasm

apxstitch said:


> I arrive on 11/26 and should be at the resort about 2pm, I bought a base ticket for each day I am there (it was only $14 more for an extra day) so I'm going straight to a park.  I don't know whether to go to Magic Kingdom at 2pm or if it's worth going to Hollywood Studios for 3-4 hours and then make my way over to MK for 7pm?  What would you do?  I have FP booked for Pirates, Big Thunder and Space Mountain at MK all before 7pm.
> 
> I got my base ticket before DAH was announced.  If I give up a regular base park day it will only save me $14.  I want to spend as much time as possible at the MK this trip.


I would keep it simple and cut out more travel between different parks because you will have already traveled that day. Head to Magic Kingdom.


----------



## apxstitch

Ensusieasm said:


> I would keep it simple and cut out more travel between different parks because you will have already traveled that day. Head to Magic Kingdom.


That's what I was thinking too.  Thanks for the advice


----------



## Haley R

apxstitch said:


> If I'm already in the MK with a regular day ticket can I pick up my DAH Lanyard from somewhere inside the park?


Yep you can. We got ours at the liberty tree guest service building.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

apxstitch said:


> If I'm already in the MK with a regular day ticket can I pick up my DAH Lanyard from somewhere inside the park?



Starting with the summer dates, they also had a lanyard pick up station set up in Tomorrowland, outside of the former Stich ride where the FP kiosks are located.

The Liberty Square ticket office has also had them as @Haley R mentioned.

I feel there was another in park spot the popped up this past summer, but I’m blanking right now.  Maybe by the FP kiosks next to Philharmagic, but I’m not sure about that. 

Also FYI, during the late summer and Sept dates/date they switched to a wristband.  You could get a lanyard as a souvenier from some spots, but it was a little inconsistent.  I was there 9/20 and couldn’t find a lanyard, but some people had them... so they’d had to be somewhere!  

Hope that helps.


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Starting with the summer dates, they also had a lanyard pick up station set up in Tomorrowland, outside of the former Stich ride where the FP kiosks are located.
> 
> The Liberty Square ticket office has also had them as @Haley R mentioned.
> 
> I feel there was another in park spot the popped up this past summer, but I’m blanking right now.  Maybe by the FP kiosks next to Philharmagic, but I’m not sure about that.
> 
> Also FYI, during the late summer and Sept dates/date they switched to a wristband.  You could get a lanyard as a souvenier from some spots, but it was a little inconsistent.  I was there 9/20 and couldn’t find a lanyard, but some people had them... so they’d had to be somewhere!
> 
> Hope that helps.


I couldn’t remember the other spots and didn’t want to give wrong info! Lol


----------



## apxstitch

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Starting with the summer dates, they also had a lanyard pick up station set up in Tomorrowland, outside of the former Stich ride where the FP kiosks are located.
> 
> The Liberty Square ticket office has also had them as @Haley R mentioned.
> 
> I feel there was another in park spot the popped up this past summer, but I’m blanking right now.  Maybe by the FP kiosks next to Philharmagic, but I’m not sure about that.
> 
> Also FYI, during the late summer and Sept dates/date they switched to a wristband.  You could get a lanyard as a souvenier from some spots, but it was a little inconsistent.  I was there 9/20 and couldn’t find a lanyard, but some people had them... so they’d had to be somewhere!
> 
> Hope that helps.


Thank you for the information.  A wristband will be so much more comfortable but will keep my eyes open for the lanyard which would make a nice souvenir.


----------



## areno79

Is it true that MK DAH events have so far been on Mondays and Thursdays? My 40th birthday is in May on a Thursday. It'd be *awesome* to end the day with the DAH


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

We are arriving on January 5th 2019. And will be spending the day of the After Hours that week (Jan. 7th) in Animal Kingdom. (Fast passes for FOP, etc)

I had made a California Grill reservation so we could see the fireworks that evening and I am wondering if the Jan. 7th event is worth it?

We are just two - I'm 50 and he's 60. It's all about play and fun for us and no "need" to see a specific character. And we're staying at the Grand Floridian.

is the $$ worth it? Is the sacrifice of dinner at CA Grill (and needing to find another dinner reservation) worth it?  And HOW do we get back to Grand Floridian?


----------



## PolyRob

TexanInTheMidwest said:


> We are arriving on January 5th 2019. And will be spending the day of the After Hours that week (Jan. 7th) in Animal Kingdom. (Fast passes for FOP, etc)
> 
> I had made a California Grill reservation so we could see the fireworks that evening and I am wondering if the Jan. 7th event is worth it?
> 
> We are just two - I'm 50 and he's 60. It's all about play and fun for us and no "need" to see a specific character. And we're staying at the Grand Floridian.
> 
> is the $$ worth it? Is the sacrifice of dinner at CA Grill (and needing to find another dinner reservation) worth it?  And HOW do we get back to Grand Floridian?


If the sole reason for dining at CA grill is the fireworks and not food, I would 100% say yes, DAH is worth it instead. You can even eat at GF, see the fireworks from the boat dock or Gasparilla patio, and then head right to MK for the remainder of the night and use the saved Cali Grill money. The DAH is very fun because you really can walk around a practically empty park and experience it differently than when it is super crowded.

The biggest problem I had with DAH while also staying at the GF was getting back to the resort. The boat and monorail were both closed. Disney crammed ALL MK resorts onto one bus. The line was huge and chaotic. A driver from Yacht & Beach that had no one waiting took pity on us and pulled up and took a load back. It took me over 30 minutes to go from MK to GF.


----------



## Lisa F

PolyRob said:


> If the sole reason for dining at CA grill is the fireworks and not food, I would 100% say yes, DAH is worth it instead. You can even eat at GF, see the fireworks from the boat dock or Gasparilla patio, and then head right to MK for the remainder of the night and use the saved Cali Grill money. The DAH is very fun because you really can walk around a practically empty park and experience it differently than when it is super crowded.
> 
> The biggest problem I had with DAH while also staying at the GF was getting back to the resort. The boat and monorail were both closed. Disney crammed ALL MK resorts onto one bus. The line was huge and chaotic. A driver from Yacht & Beach that had no one waiting took pity on us and pulled up and took a load back. It took me over 30 minutes to go from MK to GF.



They were not running the boat or monorail? how were they getting people back to the TTC? we are staying at the poly - this is not an onsite thing only, right? presumably people will have their cars at the TTC so that would be an option however they are getting people there.

edited to add, I found one review that said the ferry boat is running to the TTC because the monorails are shut down.  So hopefully that is an option for us rather than dealing with the bus situation with a tired kiddo.


----------



## Haley R

PolyRob said:


> If the sole reason for dining at CA grill is the fireworks and not food, I would 100% say yes, DAH is worth it instead. You can even eat at GF, see the fireworks from the boat dock or Gasparilla patio, and then head right to MK for the remainder of the night and use the saved Cali Grill money. The DAH is very fun because you really can walk around a practically empty park and experience it differently than when it is super crowded.
> 
> The biggest problem I had with DAH while also staying at the GF was getting back to the resort. The boat and monorail were both closed. Disney crammed ALL MK resorts onto one bus. The line was huge and chaotic. A driver from Yacht & Beach that had no one waiting took pity on us and pulled up and took a load back. It took me over 30 minutes to go from MK to GF.





TexanInTheMidwest said:


> We are arriving on January 5th 2019. And will be spending the day of the After Hours that week (Jan. 7th) in Animal Kingdom. (Fast passes for FOP, etc)
> 
> I had made a California Grill reservation so we could see the fireworks that evening and I am wondering if the Jan. 7th event is worth it?
> 
> We are just two - I'm 50 and he's 60. It's all about play and fun for us and no "need" to see a specific character. And we're staying at the Grand Floridian.
> 
> is the $$ worth it? Is the sacrifice of dinner at CA Grill (and needing to find another dinner reservation) worth it?  And HOW do we get back to Grand Floridian?


I agree. I think if you are only going for the fireworks than I would switch to dah. But if you are going for the experience as well as the food then maybe don’t switch. It all depends on your personal preference. We love dah because we like riding rides multiple times and getting snacks all night.


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

We are also all about EASE. One of the reasons for forking out the $$ to stay at GF is the convenience....


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Lisa F said:


> They were not running the boat or monorail? how were they getting people back to the TTC? we are staying at the poly - this is not an onsite thing only, right? presumably people will have their cars at the TTC so that would be an option however they are getting people there.



After DAH, it’s only buses to all resorts and the MK Ferry back to the TTC.  

For Poly, you can take either a resort bus or MK Ferry to TTC and walk over. 

In the more recent DAH nights, Poly and GF have shared a bus most of the time.  I did 6/30 Poly and 9/20 GF, the buses both nights only went to those two resorts.  Had a bit of a wait for a bus, but not awful.  On my Poly night I did kind of wish I had taken the MK Ferry and walked - but at the end of the night they wait to load the FULL Ferry before taking off... so even that can be longer than you might expect. 

In prior DAH events all MK resorts shared a bus... and I mean all... CR, WL, FW, Poly, GF.   We did that back in Feb 2017 and it took foreeeever.  I was a much happier camper this year with it just being Poly/GF.


----------



## Iowamomof4

areno79 said:


> Is it true that MK DAH events have so far been on Mondays and Thursdays? My 40th birthday is in May on a Thursday. It'd be *awesome* to end the day with the DAH



There were a few Saturdays in there early on, but generally yes. I have Monday, May 13; Thursday, May 16; and Monday, May 20 all marked as possible MK DAH events for my trip. I'm really hoping for the May 16th date though. I suppose I ought to just be hoping they actually have the event in May to begin with before I get all worried about specific days. lol


----------



## rebekah8284

My friend and I are booked to go on 2/14 so excited!  Really looking forward to a kid free evening as have never been to MK without the kids before.  We are staying Shades of Green, does anyone know if we could hop on the resort bus to the Poly at the end of the night or do they check that you are a hotel guest before letting you on the bus?  Just not sure if the Shades of Green bus will still be running that late from the TTC


----------



## GADisneyDad14

rebekah8284 said:


> My friend and I are booked to go on 2/14 so excited!  Really looking forward to a kid free evening as have never been to MK without the kids before.  We are staying Shades of Green, does anyone know if we could hop on the resort bus to the Poly at the end of the night or do they check that you are a hotel guest before letting you on the bus?  Just not sure if the Shades of Green bus will still be running that late from the TTC



They don’t check, you can take the Poly bus and walk if you want to.  I’m not sure about the SoG bus at that hour.  

Uber or taxi from CR would also be an option.


----------



## PolyRob

Lisa F said:


> They were not running the boat or monorail? how were they getting people back to the TTC? we are staying at the poly - this is not an onsite thing only, right? presumably people will have their cars at the TTC so that would be an option however they are getting people there.
> 
> edited to add, I found one review that said the ferry boat is running to the TTC because the monorails are shut down.  So hopefully that is an option for us rather than dealing with the bus situation with a tired kiddo.



Sorry, when I said boat, I meant the GF/Poly boat.



GADisneyDad14 said:


> After DAH, it’s only buses to all resorts and the MK Ferry back to the TTC.
> 
> In prior DAH events all MK resorts shared a bus... and I mean all... CR, WL, FW, Poly, GF.   We did that back in Feb 2017 and it took foreeeever.  I was a much happier camper this year with it just being Poly/GF.


This is what I experienced! I couldn't understand those that took the bus to CR. I was envious I wasn't staying at CR because I would have just walked.

A ferry to TTC, then walking all through Poly to GF would not have been as easy. lol


----------



## Lisa F

GADisneyDad14 said:


> After DAH, it’s only buses to all resorts and the MK Ferry back to the TTC.
> 
> For Poly, you can take either a resort bus or MK Ferry to TTC and walk over.
> 
> In the more recent DAH nights, Poly and GF have shared a bus most of the time.  I did 6/30 Poly and 9/20 GF, the buses both nights only went to those two resorts.  Had a bit of a wait for a bus, but not awful.  On my Poly night I did kind of wish I had taken the MK Ferry and walked - but at the end of the night they wait to load the FULL Ferry before taking off... so even that can be longer than you might expect.
> 
> In prior DAH events all MK resorts shared a bus... and I mean all... CR, WL, FW, Poly, GF.   We did that back in Feb 2017 and it took foreeeever.  I was a much happier camper this year with it just being Poly/GF.



so it's a crap shoot which is better I guess.   I didn't even think that they might not be running normal transportation for DAH.  I haven't been on the ferry to TTC in years given that we always stay onsite. maybe we'll give that a go instead of the bus.  Hopefully at the end of the night it will fill fairly quickly though i know capacity is massive for it.


----------



## Lisa F

PolyRob said:


> Sorry, when I said boat, I meant the GF/Poly boat.
> 
> 
> A ferry to TTC, then walking all through Poly to GF would not have been as easy. lol



yes it's not so great for the GF but we love to hop off of whatever transport at TTC rather than going to the Poly since the DVC units are on that side.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Got a bit behind, but the Guest List post has been updated.  

The next MK DAH - 11/26 - is getting close.  

Tomorrow, Disney is set to start selling tickets/release more info on the AK and DHS versions of DAH.   Will be interesting to watch.  

Thanks all!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

areno79 said:


> Is it true that MK DAH events have so far been on Mondays and Thursdays? My 40th birthday is in May on a Thursday. It'd be *awesome* to end the day with the DAH



You can find more specific schedules here and here, but since 2017 the DAH day of the week count has been....

Mondays - 6
Tuesdays - 1
Thursdays - 18
Fridays - 4
Saturdays - 7

Not sure what exactly that tells us though, the days of the week have tended to shift around based on time of year. 

Hope you end up with one on your birthday!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TexanInTheMidwest said:


> We are arriving on January 5th 2019. And will be spending the day of the After Hours that week (Jan. 7th) in Animal Kingdom. (Fast passes for FOP, etc)
> 
> I had made a California Grill reservation so we could see the fireworks that evening and I am wondering if the Jan. 7th event is worth it?
> 
> We are just two - I'm 50 and he's 60. It's all about play and fun for us and no "need" to see a specific character. And we're staying at the Grand Floridian.
> 
> is the $$ worth it? Is the sacrifice of dinner at CA Grill (and needing to find another dinner reservation) worth it?  And HOW do we get back to Grand Floridian?



I don't hide the fact that I personally think DAH is a "well worth it" event.  The "play and fun" part of your post struck out to me... that's why we go to WDW and when you have an event like DAH that tends to really enhance those elements of the park, it's a real winner for us. 

If this were us (and I'm not sure the timing of your ADR), we'd keep the dinner at Cali Grill (I really like that place) but head into the park for fireworks and to start your DAH time.  A nice dinner + MK DAH, can't get much better than that (in my humble opinion).


----------



## PolyRob

Lisa F said:


> yes it's not so great for the GF but we love to hop off of whatever transport at TTC rather than going to the Poly since the DVC units are on that side.


That is so convenient! I loved it when I stayed in Rarotonga and the DVC buildings are much closer. GF really has the worst transportation on the monorail.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

PolyRob said:


> That is so convenient! I loved it when I stayed in Rarotonga and the DVC buildings are much closer. GF really has the worst transportation on the monorail.



LOL, OT for this thread but it took me just shy of an hour (yes, an hour) to get back to GF after a Friday night MNSSHP in late Sept.  And ALL forms of transportation were running that night (except for the Express monorail, which I partially blame for the flood of people using the Resort line and other modes of transportation). 

Sometimes stuff like that happens - bad crowd circumstances, wrong choices - so I just sucked it up and smiled... but MAN at the time I really wished we were at CR!


----------



## Lisa F

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I don't hide the fact that I personally think DAH is a "well worth it" event.  The "play and fun" part of your post struck out to me... that's why we go to WDW and when you have an event like DAH that tends to really enhance those elements of the park, it's a real winner for us.
> 
> If this were us (and I'm not sure the timing of your ADR), we'd keep the dinner at Cali Grill (I really like that place) but head into the park for fireworks and to start your DAH time.  A nice dinner + MK DAH, can't get much better than that (in my humble opinion).



this is completely our plan.  We have a 5pm CA Grill dinner and then DAH with an 8pm park closing.  I actually prefer CA Grill right at opening.  it is totally mellow and quiet, you can request and get a window table easily, you can watch the sun set.  HEA is best from in the park anyway although I am still on the fence as to whether we will watch from main street or fantasyland or frontierland (I have read being on BTMRR right before fireworks start is pretty spectacular!)  I'm a little worried about fighting the crowds to get out of the hub but maybe we can be kind of off near adventureland and get there quickly.  Still not sure about that. 

I also have AK planned for the morning, a bit of a later start just to hit a few highlights like FoP and the safari and satuli canteen lunch then back to the hotel for a rest after lunch.

I'm reeling a bit right now about the after party transportation situation as I travel solo with my 10 year old who is on the spectrum and something like that could have tanked our whole trip if I hadn't read about it here.  So thanks @PolyRob for mentioning it!  I do see that the info is right there in the faq but honestly I never thought it was something I'd have to even think about!  Now that I am prepared we will deal, I am leaning toward the ferry over the bus even though I can't tell which is better timewise, it would at least feel better than waiting in a long line for a bus. 

I have not been to DAH but I do remember the OLD e-ticket nights where they only sold a few tickets and just how free and amazing it felt to have the park nearly to yourself and just walk on stuff.  It's not just about "getting rides done", it's about the feeling of complete and utter freedom.  It's an awesome experience to be able to tour the MK like that and I can't wait!


----------



## Lisa F

PolyRob said:


> That is so convenient! I loved it when I stayed in Rarotonga and the DVC buildings are much closer. GF really has the worst transportation on the monorail.


given that it is their flagship resort that is pretty disappointing!  We have spent our last couple of trips at the Poly and ended up there on our next trip due to me messing up our reservations and losing my BWV (darn it, right?  first world problems haha).  I love it for easy transport to both MK and Epcot, our two favorite parks!


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I don't hide the fact that I personally think DAH is a "well worth it" event.  The "play and fun" part of your post struck out to me... that's why we go to WDW and when you have an event like DAH that tends to really enhance those elements of the park, it's a real winner for us.
> 
> If this were us (and I'm not sure the timing of your ADR), we'd keep the dinner at Cali Grill (I really like that place) but head into the park for fireworks and to start your DAH time.  A nice dinner + MK DAH, can't get much better than that (in my humble opinion).



Right now, our ADR is 8:50 PM.  And the whole point of California Grill was a good meal + Fireworks view.

Our final Fast pass at Animal Kingdom is 4 PM....


----------



## mcurrence

GADisneyDad14 said:


> After DAH, it’s only buses to all resorts and the MK Ferry back to the TTC.
> 
> For Poly, you can take either a resort bus or MK Ferry to TTC and walk over.
> 
> In the more recent DAH nights, Poly and GF have shared a bus most of the time.  I did 6/30 Poly and 9/20 GF, the buses both nights only went to those two resorts.  Had a bit of a wait for a bus, but not awful.  On my Poly night I did kind of wish I had taken the MK Ferry and walked - but at the end of the night they wait to load the FULL Ferry before taking off... so even that can be longer than you might expect.
> 
> In prior DAH events all MK resorts shared a bus... and I mean all... CR, WL, FW, Poly, GF.   We did that back in Feb 2017 and it took foreeeever.  I was a much happier camper this year with it just being Poly/GF.


Transportation is probably the number one complaint about DAH!  Our first trip we stayed at the Poly Jan.2017 and it was MISERABLE!!  We took the bus and stopped at every Deluxe (just like GADiney mentioned. Ironically, Jan 2018 we stayed at Kidani and the ride was straight there and shorter than the Poly!  This last time Sept. 2018 we stayed at the BC/YC and it was somewhat decent, a straight shot there but had to wait forever for the bus!  This time Feb. 2019 we're staying at the Contemporary and will happily walk back.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Dates added!

*Tickets for the following event dates may only be purchased by calling (407) 939-7795:*


February 21, 2019
March 21, 2019
March 28, 2019
April 4, 2019
April 11, 2019


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Dates added!
> 
> *Tickets for the following event dates may only be purchased by calling (407) 939-7795:*
> 
> 
> February 21, 2019
> March 21, 2019
> March 28, 2019
> April 4, 2019
> April 11, 2019



Good eyes.  Thanks for the heads up!  I guess nothing about historical DAH trends is safe anymore!


----------



## Louis morrell

*Thursday, January 17, 2019 party of 3*


----------



## mhowens

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Dates added!
> 
> *Tickets for the following event dates may only be purchased by calling (407) 939-7795:*
> 
> 
> February 21, 2019
> March 21, 2019
> March 28, 2019
> April 4, 2019
> April 11, 2019


So bummed they didn't add March 14, 2019.  Congrats to all of you that can make these new dates work!


----------



## WDW1979

mhowens said:


> So bummed they didn't add March 14, 2019.  Congrats to all of you that can make these new dates work!



For me it would be nice if they add an After Hours Event at Magic Kingdom on March 14, 2019. They may not, and if they don't add it I will try to attend the event on a different date.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

New MK DAH date table is available on Post #3, included below for reference as well.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

And my early thoughts... it would seem those late March and April dates could be ripe for early sell outs.  That’s prime spring break season.  It will be interesting to see the feedback from these events that are pushing into historically more ‘crowded’ times, such as Dec, Spring Break, etc.


----------



## PolyRob

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Dates added!
> 
> *Tickets for the following event dates may only be purchased by calling (407) 939-7795:*
> 
> 
> February 21, 2019
> March 21, 2019
> March 28, 2019
> April 4, 2019
> April 11, 2019


YES!!! I needed this. Calling to book


----------



## PolyRob

Not a major issue, but has anyone with an food allergy or restriction attended DAH? Not a deal breaker, but someone in my party absolutely cannot have popcorn. I assume the answer will be just load up on ice cream haha.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

mcurrence said:


> Transportation is probably the number one complaint about DAH!  Our first trip we stayed at the Poly Jan.2017 and it was MISERABLE!!  We took the bus and stopped at every Deluxe (just like GADiney mentioned. Ironically, Jan 2018 we stayed at Kidani and the ride was straight there and shorter than the Poly!  This last time Sept. 2018 we stayed at the BC/YC and it was somewhat decent, a straight shot there but had to wait forever for the bus!  This time Feb. 2019 we're staying at the Contemporary and will happily walk back.


Us too!  That was a major selling point for us!  Location Location Location!!!


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

PolyRob said:


> Not a major issue, but has anyone with an food allergy or restriction attended DAH? Not a deal breaker, but someone in my party absolutely cannot have popcorn. I assume the answer will be just load up on ice cream haha.


I cannot eat popcorn either.  Didn't miss it.  Barely had any snacks that night.  I drink a TON of water, that was all I wanted.  We really wanted to spend time on the attractions.


----------



## dreamer17555

Any thoughts on if they are likely to add May dates? Last year we didn't have any during our 11-night stay but I took my DD to one of the first ones in January in 2017 and loved it.


----------



## PolyRob

Just giving an update. I know it was reported on the park DAH threads, but I was unsure if it would be different for MK since the even already existed.

I got the purchase e-mail and linked to MDX and selected guests. Got a confirmation it was all linked (even an email saying a pass was added), but the event tickets do not show up in MDE. I guess they won't until they're available to purchase online.


----------



## disneyAndi14

Hi, 
We will be going to the DAH on 1/28/19. This will be our third one and we love it!
Thanks for the thread and all the info.


----------



## js

GADisneyDad14 said:


> *Post #4 - Ticket Price & Discount Information*
> 
> View attachment 361280
> 
> *Notes*
> 
> After Hours, you may enter the park officially at 7:00 pm with your Disney After Hours ticket (more info here)



Hi. I have a question regarding above. I have the three hard rickets for the January 7 event. Is that what I use to get into MK or I am suppose to link the tickets to MDE for our MBs. 

Also, I saw on the DAH HS thread someone mentioned that DAH MK attendees were/do make FPs for 6 pm-8 pm, day of event. Is this correct?  If so, Ill see if I can get anything tomorrow. 

Thank you.


----------



## Babs1975

So I don't think it was on this thread, but maybe the previous one on DAH at MK, that I had posted about trying to switch my comped MK EMM event that was the morning after DAH to the other EMM at HS I had already had booked. Whew...yeah it was complicated, but yes, I got it done! After several weeks playing phone tag with a few cm's and finally getting in touch with the right person in the right department, we got everything moved around just like we wanted with no issue at all. She had to cancel both EMM's, refund us, then book the HS EMM again, at no cost since it is replacing our comped one. Also because it took me so long to find the right person to help me and then how many phone calls and emails it took because I am impossible to get a hold of on the phone, she even sprinkled our trip with 2 days of multiple experienc fp's with no restrictions! So all that to attend the DAH! I think it was a good call, can't wait!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

js said:


> Hi. I have a question regarding above. I have the three hard rickets for the January 7 event. Is that what I use to get into MK or I am suppose to link the tickets to MDE for our MBs.
> 
> Also, I saw on the DAH HS thread someone mentioned that DAH MK attendees were/do make FPs for 6 pm-8 pm, day of event. Is this correct?  If so, Ill see if I can get anything tomorrow.
> 
> Thank you.



You can either use those hard tickets to scan when entering for DAH, OR you can link them to your MDE account and just use your MagicBands to enter.  My preference is to link them to your account since I'm bad with keeping up with cards in the chaos of a trip.  

Yes, DAH tickets will let you book FPs (they need to be linked to your MDE account), just like MVMCP and MNSSHP tickets will allow FP booking too.  But, it 'can' for some people create issues later on - some people get flagged for too many FPs/insufficient ticket media and your last day of FPs are subject to being cancelled.  The exact reason why some people do/do not get this when booking FPs with party/DAH tickets is unknown.  

If you have a multi-day trip with other days of FPs, personally I'd recommend to not worry about booking any with the DAH ticket - you'll have the whole park to yourself later in the night anyway with minimal waits.  

It's a complicated topic, happy to further explain any of that if needed.


----------



## Brandilla

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Dates added!
> 
> *Tickets for the following event dates may only be purchased by calling (407) 939-7795:*
> 
> 
> February 21, 2019
> March 21, 2019
> March 28, 2019
> April 4, 2019
> April 11, 2019


Any thoughts on when these will show up online? I need to buy a gift card to buy my tickets. I'm so excited they added spring break dates! We will be going on March 28th!


----------



## js

GADisneyDad14 said:


> You can either use those hard tickets to scan when entering for DAH, OR you can link them to your MDE account and just use your MagicBands to enter.  My preference is to link them to your account since I'm bad with keeping up with cards in the chaos of a trip.
> 
> Yes, DAH tickets will let you book FPs (they need to be linked to your MDE account), just like MVMCP and MNSSHP tickets will allow FP booking too.  But, it 'can' for some people create issues later on - some people get flagged for too many FPs/insufficient ticket media and your last day of FPs are subject to being cancelled.  The exact reason why some people do/do not get this when booking FPs with party/DAH tickets is unknown.
> 
> If you have a multi-day trip with other days of FPs, personally I'd recommend to not worry about booking any with the DAH ticket - you'll have the whole park to yourself later in the night anyway with minimal waits.
> 
> It's a complicated topic, happy to further explain any of that if needed.



Thank you for this information. We will be back for a regular day visit at MK and I will not fool around with FPs prior to the event and mess anything up. 

I appreciate your giving me this information, especially about the FPs.


----------



## absolutmey

I'll be there 1/7  very excited!


----------



## js

absolutmey said:


> I'll be there 1/7  very excited!



We will be there with you! Staying at BLT. So happy to be able to walk to hotel in evening!  Hope we have a night that is not too cold!


----------



## absolutmey

js said:


> We will be there with you! Staying at BLT. So happy to be able to walk to hotel in evening!  Hope we have a night that is not too cold!



Hooray!!  I'll be packing my jacket, for sure


----------



## jlhinvegas

I’ll be there on 2/14.  Haven’t been to WDW since I was much younger.  So excited!


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

Brandilla said:


> Any thoughts on when these will show up online? I need to buy a gift card to buy my tickets. I'm so excited they added spring break dates! We will be going on March 28th!


You can still pay over the phone with your gift card.  I wouldn't wait until they show up online.  You definitely don't want to miss out!


----------



## CJN

Babs1975 said:


> So I don't think it was on this thread, but maybe the previous one on DAH at MK, that I had posted about trying to switch my comped MK EMM event that was the morning after DAH to the other EMM at HS I had already had booked. Whew...yeah it was complicated, but yes, I got it done! After several weeks playing phone tag with a few cm's and finally getting in touch with the right person in the right department, we got everything moved around just like we wanted with no issue at all. She had to cancel both EMM's, refund us, then book the HS EMM again, at no cost since it is replacing our comped one. Also because it took me so long to find the right person to help me and then how many phone calls and emails it took because I am impossible to get a hold of on the phone, she even sprinkled our trip with 2 days of multiple experienc fp's with no restrictions! So all that to attend the DAH! I think it was a good call, can't wait!



Great to hear. I was wondering how that all worked out for you.


----------



## PolyRob

ConnecticutNonna said:


> You can still pay over the phone with your gift card.  I wouldn't wait until they show up online.  You definitely don't want to miss out!


I agree! I've never purchased a "non-refundable" WDW ticket 4/5 months in advance, but I was afraid spring break DAH at MK would sell out. It was super easy and the CM I had was very knowledgable (and even suggested a tour that I think I may book!). I linked my confirmation number yesterday and the tickets are finally showing in MDE today. No regrets!


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

How do they manage "clearing the park"? With the EMH beginning at 8 PM, the same time as HEA, especially? (I'm still looking at the Jan. 7th date).


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TexanInTheMidwest said:


> How do they manage "clearing the park"? With the EMH beginning at 8 PM, the same time as HEA, especially? (I'm still looking at the Jan. 7th date).



They don’t really “clear the park” for DAH.  Day guests can’t get on rides and Disney relies on natural attrition more than anything.  When HEA is at park closing/the start of DAH, it’s actualy a pretty effective built in filter to draw “most” people to the front of the park, who mainly tend to start making their way out afterwards.  

This is why some recommend maybe watching fireworks from deeper in the park, or maybe not at all.  Hit lower priory/lower wait rides first, let any lingering day guest population clear out, then hit the more popular rides.

Hope that makes sense.


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

GADisneyDad14 said:


> They don’t really “clear the park” for DAH.  Day guests can’t get on rides and Disney relies on natural attrition more than anything.  When HEA is at park closing/the start of DAH, it’s actualy a pretty effective built in filter to draw “most” people to the front of the park, who mainly tend to start making their way out afterwards.
> 
> This is why some recommend maybe watching fireworks from deeper in the park, or maybe not at all.  Hit lower priory/lower wait rides first, let any lingering day guest population clear out, then hit the more popular rides.
> 
> Hope that makes sense.



That makes perfect sense!  Thanks!


----------



## Brandilla

Took over 30 minutes on the phone, but our tickets for March 28th are bought! Can't wait!


----------



## challer

GADisneyDad14 said:


> You can either use those hard tickets to scan when entering for DAH, OR you can link them to your MDE account and just use your MagicBands to enter.  My preference is to link them to your account since I'm bad with keeping up with cards in the chaos of a trip.
> 
> Yes, DAH tickets will let you book FPs (they need to be linked to your MDE account), just like MVMCP and MNSSHP tickets will allow FP booking too.  But, it 'can' for some people create issues later on - some people get flagged for too many FPs/insufficient ticket media and your last day of FPs are subject to being cancelled.  The exact reason why some people do/do not get this when booking FPs with party/DAH tickets is unknown.
> 
> If you have a multi-day trip with other days of FPs, personally I'd recommend to not worry about booking any with the DAH ticket - you'll have the whole park to yourself later in the night anyway with minimal waits.
> 
> It's a complicated topic, happy to further explain any of that if needed.



Excellent & informative. Thanks.

One specific question regarding MBs/MDE - if I'm entering the park at 7pm (regular hours of operation), how can I make sure that the DAH ticket gets used and not one of my full park tickets accidentally? (I've had a bad experience in the past with wrong tickets being used.)


----------



## Haley R

challer said:


> Excellent & informative. Thanks.
> 
> One specific question regarding MBs/MDE - if I'm entering the park at 7pm (regular hours of operation), how can I make sure that the DAH ticket gets used and not one of my full park tickets accidentally? (I've had a bad experience in the past with wrong tickets being used.)


Make sure you go through the event entrance! They are on the right side towards the middle.


----------



## Babs1975

Yup, so just wanted to let everyone know that I too had my last day of fp's go missing as I had booked fp's on a DAH ticket. This included FOP at 9:05 in the morning, so as you can imagine, I was not happy! Luckily, we were already dealing with a fantastic CM about another issue so when I let her know this happened, she immediately went in and gave us 3 multiple experiences fp's with no restrictions that day to make up for it. So, crisis averted! So I guess this issue is also happening, just like it does with the Christmas party. Frustrating!


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

Babs1975 said:


> Yup, so just wanted to let everyone know that I too had my last day of fp's go missing as I had booked fp's on a DAH ticket. This included FOP at 9:05 in the morning, so as you can imagine, I was not happy! Luckily, we were already dealing with a fantastic CM about another issue so when I let her know this happened, she immediately went in and gave us 3 multiple experiences fp's with no restrictions that day to make up for it. So, crisis averted! So I guess this issue is also happening, just like it does with the Christmas party. Frustrating!



I had my FOP Fast Pass disappear and it was replaced by Navi River.   I was up at 2 AM to get our FPs (we were in Honolulu for DH's Work).  

I was on the phone for over an hour with first IT then Customer Service (GREAT guy named Chris). However, they insisted that *i* had gone in and changed the FP and were "unable" to restore it because, again, their system shows that I was the one that changed it (The system shows I changed when I logged in to see what time our last fast pass was at AK to help decide if we were going to DAH. )

He did offer additional FPs, but I told him I wasn't trying to cheat the system or get anything extra. I just wanted things fixed. He put notes in the systems, thanked me for being nice about it (even though he knew I was upset), and said to talk to the concierge when we arrive at GF to see if they can help.  He also told me to continue to check as we get closer to the date....


----------



## Haley R

I’m not gonna lie, seeing people mention that they are doing all three is getting to me. Dh said he is disneyed our after this last trip but 3 dah in one trip? When I mentioned it he seemed curious and slightly intrigued. We would still wait until after reports from both hs and ak but there’s hope lol


----------



## cusack1020

Haley R said:


> I’m not gonna lie, seeing people mention that they are doing all three is getting to me. Dh said he is disneyed our after this last trip but 3 dah in one trip? When I mentioned it he seemed curious and slightly intrigued. We would still wait until after reports from both hs and ak but there’s hope lol



I am interested in all 3 too but we have a Thurs-Mon trip and there is no AK DAH those days. It's probably best anyway because that would be crazy expensive!


----------



## Eeyore54 fred

DH and I will be going 1/24. First time for anything like this.


----------



## Haley R

cusack1020 said:


> I am interested in all 3 too but we have a Thurs-Mon trip and there is no AK DAH those days. It's probably best anyway because that would be crazy expensive!


We would fly down just for dah and then come back home so it wouldn’t be too bad for us but still pricey


----------



## Babs1975

TexanInTheMidwest said:


> I had my FOP Fast Pass disappear and it was replaced by Navi River.   I was up at 2 AM to get our FPs (we were in Honolulu for DH's Work).
> 
> I was on the phone for over an hour with first IT then Customer Service (GREAT guy named Chris). However, they insisted that *i* had gone in and changed the FP and were "unable" to restore it because, again, their system shows that I was the one that changed it (The system shows I changed when I logged in to see what time our last fast pass was at AK to help decide if we were going to DAH. )
> 
> He did offer additional FPs, but I told him I wasn't trying to cheat the system or get anything extra. I just wanted things fixed. He put notes in the systems, thanked me for being nice about it (even though he knew I was upset), and said to talk to the concierge when we arrive at GF to see if they can help.  He also told me to continue to check as we get closer to the date....


You should have taken those fp's offered! My thought is that it wasn't my fault their system cancelled my fp's...I worked hard to get that FOP at the time I wanted, along with the 2 others that were lost. I too asked for them to be restored, but I think it's just easier for them to give you 3 anytime. It's their way of making up for a problem on their end. It's not asking for extra, just asking for what you originally had. Hope it works out for you!


----------



## challer

Babs1975 said:


> Yup, so just wanted to let everyone know that I too had my last day of fp's go missing as I had booked fp's on a DAH ticket. This included FOP at 9:05 in the morning, so as you can imagine, I was not happy! Luckily, we were already dealing with a fantastic CM about another issue so when I let her know this happened, she immediately went in and gave us 3 multiple experiences fp's with no restrictions that day to make up for it. So, crisis averted! So I guess this issue is also happening, just like it does with the Christmas party. Frustrating!





TexanInTheMidwest said:


> I had my FOP Fast Pass disappear and it was replaced by Navi River.   I was up at 2 AM to get our FPs (we were in Honolulu for DH's Work).
> 
> I was on the phone for over an hour with first IT then Customer Service (GREAT guy named Chris). However, they insisted that *i* had gone in and changed the FP and were "unable" to restore it because, again, their system shows that I was the one that changed it (The system shows I changed when I logged in to see what time our last fast pass was at AK to help decide if we were going to DAH. )
> 
> He did offer additional FPs, but I told him I wasn't trying to cheat the system or get anything extra. I just wanted things fixed. He put notes in the systems, thanked me for being nice about it (even though he knew I was upset), and said to talk to the concierge when we arrive at GF to see if they can help.  He also told me to continue to check as we get closer to the date....



Hmm.... It's always the last day of FP+ that get booted?

So, let's say I make FP+ for my last day that I won't plan on using (won't be in the park that day), then it shouldn't be a problem.

Right?

RIGHT?


----------



## PolyRob

challer said:


> Hmm.... It's always the last day of FP+ that get booted?
> 
> So, let's say I make FP+ for my last day that I won't plan on using (won't be in the park that day), then it shouldn't be a problem.
> 
> Right?
> 
> RIGHT?


All depends on how many days your ticket lasts.

I have an AP so as long as it is less than 7 days of FP+ or length of Disney resort stay, I would not have an issue.

If you have a 5 day ticket with 5 days of FP+ including the DAH FP+ you should not encounter the error. If you have a 4 day ticket with the same 5 days of FP+ including DAH FP+, that is when you would be at risk of losing the last 5th day FP+.


----------



## challer

PolyRob said:


> All depends on how many days your ticket lasts.
> 
> I have an AP so as long as it is less than 7 days of FP+ or length of Disney resort stay, I would not have an issue.
> 
> If you have a 5 day ticket with 5 days of FP+ including the DAH FP+ you should not encounter the error. If you have a 4 day ticket with the same 5 days of FP+ including DAH FP+, that is when you would be at risk of losing the last 5th day FP+.



Actually, I have old 10-day non-expire tickets, and my stay at the resort is longer than days of FP's.  So, I don't think I should worry.

Thanks.


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

challer said:


> Hmm.... It's always the last day of FP+ that get booted?
> 
> So, let's say I make FP+ for my last day that I won't plan on using (won't be in the park that day), then it shouldn't be a problem.
> 
> Right?
> 
> RIGHT?




I had only one single fast pass that disappeared (it mysteriously went from FOP to Navi River at the same time) and it was on Day 3 of our 5 night trip. However, I didn't plan any FPs for our first night. And, we have a Military Salute ticket with 5 days on it and I've only scheduled FPs for 4 of the days....


----------



## Elle23

Brrrr....

What happened to the warm weather that was forecast?!

Looks like the 11/26 DAH might be a cool one!

We will be stocking up on gloves, caps, and other warm stuff to take with us!


----------



## Lisa F

Elle23 said:


> Brrrr....
> 
> What happened to the warm weather that was forecast?!
> 
> Looks like the 11/26 DAH might be a cool one!
> 
> We will be stocking up on gloves, caps, and other warm stuff to take with us!


that looks like the same low we had for halloween here and it was absolutely lovely for tick or treat. It's good to be prepared for anything but low of 53 (which will probably be achieved after DAH is over, it will probably be more like upper 50's through the end of the event) is not really glove/cap weather.  it's not swimming weather but it is absolutely lovely for running around after dark!


----------



## Elle23

Lisa F said:


> that looks like the same low we had for halloween here and it was absolutely lovely for tick or treat. It's good to be prepared for anything but low of 53 (which will probably be achieved after DAH is over, it will probably be more like upper 50's through the end of the event) is not really glove/cap weather.  it's not swimming weather but it is absolutely lovely for running around after dark!



That sounds wonderful!

We went ahead and got the supplies and will put them in a locker just to be safe.

I would rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it!


----------



## CJN

Lisa F said:


> that looks like the same low we had for halloween here and it was absolutely lovely for tick or treat. It's good to be prepared for anything but low of 53 (which will probably be achieved after DAH is over, it will probably be more like upper 50's through the end of the event) is not really glove/cap weather.  it's not swimming weather but it is absolutely lovely for running around after dark!



It does sound lovely. 53 is our average summertime low here in Oregon.


----------



## Elle23

CJN said:


> It does sound lovely. 53 is our average summertime low here in Oregon.



As a Texan, that is hard to imagine!


----------



## jalpert

Sorry in advance if these questions have been covered, I've read the FAQ but I just can't read 200+ pages of the last thread.  With that being said, I have a couple questions.

-The first 30-45 minutes of the event will still have non-event park guests at popular attractions.  During this time, or until the last non event park guest is cleared, will you be allowed through the fastpass line?  It doesn't seem fair to me that non event guests are able to ride before event guests.

-Do the snack carts stop serving at exactly the end time of the event, or can you do one last ride at 1 minute until end and then hit the cart on the way our?

Again, sorry if this has been covered, but thanks in advance for any insight.


----------



## Rick195275

Add us to the list for 4/11. A little worried about it being during spring break but couldn’t resist when I saw the date added for our trip. Can’t wait for April!


----------



## jaceraden

jalpert said:


> -Do the snack carts stop serving at exactly the end time of the event, or can you do one last ride at 1 minute until end and then hit the cart on the way our?



I just watched a Vlog where the host went on Space Mountain and was still in line after the official event end. After getting off space, he went to a cart with a long line of people waiting to get snacks.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jalpert said:


> Sorry in advance if these questions have been covered, I've read the FAQ but I just can't read 200+ pages of the last thread.  With that being said, I have a couple questions.
> 
> 1) The first 30-45 minutes of the event will still have non-event park guests at popular attractions.  During this time, or until the last non event park guest is cleared, will you be allowed through the fastpass line?  It doesn't seem fair to me that non event guests are able to ride before event guests.
> 
> -Do the snack carts stop serving at exactly the end time of the event, or can you do one last ride at 1 minute until end and then hit the cart on the way our?
> 
> Again, sorry if this has been covered, but thanks in advance for any insight.



1) There have been inconsistent reports of this (being able to use the FP line with DAH credentials) occurring in past MK DAH events.  Some people have reported it, some haven't (I haven't personally experienced it, although I also have not tried to go on a ride with any sort of material line early on in the event either).  My impression after reading/following the DAH thread is that it's a CM discretion/YMMV thing and not necessarily a stated amenity. 

2) Generally speaking I'd expect snack carts to be in the process of closing at the end of the event.  You may get lucky and get some bonus snack cart time, but I wouldn't bank too much on it.   In the same respects, the Emporium and any other shops that stay open close promptly too.  It's not a hard "get out" at the end... but it's pretty close.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

Elle23 said:


> Brrrr....
> 
> What happened to the warm weather that was forecast?!
> 
> Looks like the 11/26 DAH might be a cool one!
> 
> We will be stocking up on gloves, caps, and other warm stuff to take with us!


You may need it, we froze last March.  Had to buy hats and mittens to survive the night!


----------



## disneyAndi14

Just a tip, We found the snack carts near the castle and hub area were always less busy. I found the snack carts in Tomorrowland had the longest lines.


----------



## jalpert

For Space and Big thunder, there have been reports of waits ranging from 1/2 empty trains to 25 minutes.  It seems to me that toward the end of the night, maybe in the last 30-60 minutes, they are shutting down one side/platform.  Has anyone noticed this?  If they are, it would make more sense to hit those attractions in the middle of the night.


----------



## Haley R

jalpert said:


> For Space and Big thunder, there have been reports of waits ranging from 1/2 empty trains to 25 minutes.  It seems to me that toward the end of the night, maybe in the last 30-60 minutes, they are shutting down one side/platform.  Has anyone noticed this?  If they are, it would make more sense to hit those attractions in the middle of the night.


I don’t think we ever had 1/2 a train but I also know we never waited anywhere close to 25 minutes. We waited around 5 _maybe_ 10 minutes each time. We’ve done two dah events. I think we’ve ridden btmr during the beginning of dah and in the middle.


----------



## js

Hi.  Are PhotoPass photographers still out and if not, do the rides still take picks with PhotoPass?

Thank you.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

js said:


> Hi.  Are PhotoPass photographers still out and if not, do the rides still take picks with PhotoPass?
> 
> Thank you.



Yep, they are out on Main Street and this year the Tangled Lantern PP has been out/available during DAH.  Since you can sometimes have their sole attention with no one in line, it can be a great change to get some special/unique shots on Main Street with a somewhat empty background.  

Yes, rides with PP still work too.


----------



## mumzie2three

Has anyone called and booked DAH for AK or HS yet? Any idea of available dates in Jan?


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

mumzie2three said:


> Has anyone called and booked DAH for AK or HS yet? Any idea of available dates in Jan?



Here's the thread on DAH for AK

and 

Here's the thread on DAH for HS


----------



## js

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yep, they are out on Main Street and this year the Tangled Lantern PP has been out/available during DAH.  Since you can sometimes have their sole attention with no one in line, it can be a great change to get some special/unique shots on Main Street with a somewhat empty background.
> 
> Yes, rides with PP still work too.



Wow! That is great news!  Thank you!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

js said:


> Wow! That is great news!  Thank you!



No problem. 

Probably need to clarify what I wrote above.... the no line comment applies to the Main Street PPs, not the Tangled Lantern.  One of the longest lines I waited in all night on 6/30 was the Tangled Lantern photo!  (Maybe 15ish mins)


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> No problem.
> 
> Probably need to clarify what I wrote above.... the no line comment applies to the Main Street PPs, not the Tangled Lantern.  One of the longest lines I waited in all night on 6/30 was the Tangled Lantern photo!  (Maybe 15ish mins)


We still haven’t been able to do the tangled photo. Dh just won’t wait in that line


----------



## js

GADisneyDad14 said:


> No problem.
> 
> Probably need to clarify what I wrote above.... the no line comment applies to the Main Street PPs, not the Tangled Lantern.  One of the longest lines I waited in all night on 6/30 was the Tangled Lantern photo!  (Maybe 15ish mins)



Thank you. I'm just happy there will be photographers. Tangled Lantern or not, that doesn't matter to me.  We usually aren't in the parks in the evening, with
exception of Epcot, so I'll be happy to have some castle pictures.


----------



## disneymagicgirl

I'm trying to decide btwn DAH and EMM for myself and DD3 in Jan.
I noticed that the EMM has PP closed into feb but the DAH has it only closed through the 1/24 event. Any idea about this? Since she is only 3 and can't ride some stuff already, that would affect the decision.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

disneymagicgirl said:


> I'm trying to decide btwn DAH and EMM for myself and DD3 in Jan.
> I noticed that the EMM has PP closed into feb but the DAH has it only closed through the 1/24 event. Any idea about this? Since she is only 3 and can't ride some stuff already, that would affect the decision.



Good eyes.  It's on the refurbishment schedule through 2/1/19.... not quite sure why the EMM page notes it'll be closed for the 2/3 and 2/5 events.  I suspect maybe the final refurb schedule wasn't done yet when they first put that verbiage in there for EMM, or they're hedging based on any possible delays, or something else related to the schedule.  I tend to trust Disney's published refurb info more than info on the EMM page, generally speaking.


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

We are officially going to DAH on 01/07 - purchased our tickets earlier this evening!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TexanInTheMidwest said:


> We are officially going to DAH on 01/07 - purchased our tickets earlier this evening!



Nice - got you added!


----------



## js

TexanInTheMidwest said:


> We are officially going to DAH on 01/07 - purchased our tickets earlier this evening!



See you on Main Street! We are going the same evening!


----------



## summerlvr

Just bought my ticket for 12/10! This will be my 3rd DAH this year. First one was in January and it was too cold, 2nd was in September and it was too hot. Hoping the weather for this one will be just right!


----------



## detroitdad

Thrilled that they added dates for Feb 21st!! There will be 3 of us attending--just purchased tickets today.  Have never been and really looking forward to exploring with no crowds! We also have EMM booked for TSL on Feb 18th


----------



## Eeyore54 fred

DH and I are going 1/24.  First time we’ve done this.


----------



## jaceraden

I'm locked in to March 28th, 2019!


----------



## rachdd

rebekah8284 said:


> My friend and I are booked to go on 2/14 so excited!  Really looking forward to a kid free evening as have never been to MK without the kids before.  We are staying Shades of Green, does anyone know if we could hop on the resort bus to the Poly at the end of the night or do they check that you are a hotel guest before letting you on the bus?  Just not sure if the Shades of Green bus will still be running that late from the TTC



The SOG bus will run you just have to take the ferry to the TTC then get on the bus there.  We decided to do this last time after seeing how packed the bus was that serviced CR, Poly, GF and WL.  We were the only people besides one other couple on the SOG bus and it was SOOO nice!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Hard to believe, but it's time for another Disney After Hours night!  Tickets are still available at the moment - I'll be on sell out watch during the day.  

We have a handful of DISers who will be there tonight.... 

*Monday, November 26, 2018 *
@CJN
@Elle23
@Tessaf
@areno79
@Babs1975
@apxstitch 

This is the first November Disney After Hours event and the first coming off a big holiday week like Thanksgiving.  I'm always curious to see how these "new" dates/times go for this event.  

I hope everyone has a great time!


----------



## Elle23

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Hard to believe, but it's time for another Disney After Hours night!  Tickets are still available at the moment - I'll be on sell out watch during the day.
> 
> We have a handful of DISers who will be there tonight....
> 
> *Monday, November 26, 2018 *
> @CJN
> @Elle23
> @Tessaf
> @areno79
> @Babs1975
> @apxstitch
> 
> This is the first November Disney After Hours event and the first coming off a big holiday week like Thanksgiving.  I'm always curious to see how these "new" dates/times go for this event.
> 
> I hope everyone has a great time!



Looking forward to it!!


----------



## Babs1975

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Hard to believe, but it's time for another Disney After Hours night!  Tickets are still available at the moment - I'll be on sell out watch during the day.
> 
> We have a handful of DISers who will be there tonight....
> 
> *Monday, November 26, 2018 *
> @CJN
> @Elle23
> @Tessaf
> @areno79
> @Babs1975
> @apxstitch
> 
> This is the first November Disney After Hours event and the first coming off a big holiday week like Thanksgiving.  I'm always curious to see how these "new" dates/times go for this event.
> 
> I hope everyone has a great time!


Hoping it's great! Especially after last night's nuttiness of the sold out and very busy Christmas Party! I'm hoping this is what I envision it to be! Excited!


----------



## sanapp

I am attending solo on 2/7.  First solo trip and first DAH.


----------



## ELLH

I have seen that transportation to the resorts after DAH is bus only; is this true for Fort Wilderness (cabin, namely)?  I assume the answer is 'yes' but just making sure.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

ELLH said:


> I have seen that transportation to the resorts after DAH is bus only; is this true for Fort Wilderness (cabin, namely)?  I assume the answer is 'yes' but just making sure.



Yes, it is bus only to all resorts, including FW, at the end of DAH.  Sometimes things change, but your bus will in all likelihood share with CR (yes, CR), WL and FW.


----------



## ELLH

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yes, it is bus only to all resorts, including FW, at the end of DAH.  Sometimes things change, but your bus will in all likelihood share with CR (yes, CR), WL and FW.



Ok.  Thanks for the verification.


----------



## Lisa F

Have fun everyone who is going tonight, it's been too long without a review!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Still no sell-out, at least per Disney’s website.  

Looks like some decent weather, although cooling off quickly.  

Hope everyone has fun tonight.


----------



## mcurrence

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Still no sell-out, at least per Disney’s website.
> 
> Looks like some decent weather, although cooling off quickly.
> 
> Hope everyone has fun tonight.



Wishing everyone an amazing time tonight! Enjoy every second of it


----------



## Elle23

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Still no sell-out, at least per Disney’s website.
> 
> Looks like some decent weather, although cooling off quickly.
> 
> Hope everyone has fun tonight.



It has been raining! I hope it clears off soon!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Elle23 said:


> It has been raining! I hope it clears off soon!



Ahh, my bad.  Google failed me with incomplete info when I quickly searched for Orlando weather.  Now that I’m looking at the radar (Dark Sky app)... hate to say it but that’s the most rain in the area I’ve seen on a DAH night yet.  

Hope things clear out for you guys.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

I’ve already jinxed the weather so I hate to open my mouth, but some pretty low looking wait times right now at the start.  A lot of 5’s.  A zero for Barnstormer.  Not sure if I’ve ever seen a zero on the app!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

And 10 min 7DMT wait time on tbe app 40 mins into DAH.  That seems really, really low to me.  I hope things are as good on the ground as they ‘appear’ on the app.


----------



## Magnoliafan

They are!  I just did Mine Train 3x in a row. They’re telling people to pick whatever row they want.  My 2nd ride only had 3 people in the train.  And Peter Pan is sending out empty boats


----------



## Tessaf

Haven’t had a wait really yet! Walked on 7dmt, space, thunder and splash each multiple times.

While we were getting popcorn, the gentlemen working said only 750 tickets were sold for tonight!


----------



## Tessaf

Headed back to the hotel right now and here’s a breakdown of our night. Due to the rain we didn’t show up until 9:45 so I can’t say much for the waits from 7-10pm.

Rode 7dmt, space, thunder all 3 times. Splash, Buzz Lightyear, Winnie the Pooh and speedway once.... all with no wait!!!! Stopped for ice cream and popcorn a few times.
Met Tinkerbell and Mickey and walked right in. Did every different photo opp available.

When we head to get a bus one of the workers asks to where we are going.
We say Grand Floridian. We get told to walk to this one bus and tell them and the bus driver leaves with just us 4 in it. Fastest trip back to the hotel we’ve ever had!

I really wish they had more of DAH options. For us, it was worth every single penny and would do it again in a heartbeat!!!


----------



## Elle23

Oh my goodness...BEST night ever!!!

The rain stopped before the event started, thankfully!

There was not a wait for anything at all. We made our way around the entire park. We rode 13 rides, ate too many snacks, and just enjoyed every minute of it!

Walking around an empty park and then leaving through a virtually empty Main Street was amazing.

AND...our bus was waiting for us when we left! No transportation issues as I feared.

I honestly cannot believe more people aren’t just clamoring for these tickets. It is the best “extra” event we have ever done.


----------



## Lisa F

Do people think it was majorly undersold due to how late it was announced?  @areno79 was there and she also reported a completely awesome time!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Possibly.  11/26 was not included in the original date announcement for this round of dates (9/6), only quietly slipped in late Oct with minimal fanfare.  

Probably also has something to do with the time of year I guess.  We did WDW right after Thanksgiving a couple of years ago... arrived Thanksgiving day and stayed a few days into that following week.  I remember Sunday feeling like a giant sucking sound of people leaving and then it was easy going early into the next week.  Granted crowd trends change year to year so that feeling may not be applicable now.


----------



## Elle23

Lisa F said:


> Do people think it was majorly undersold due to how late it was announced?  @areno79 was there and she also reported a completely awesome time!



I wouldn’t have known about it if they hadn’t changed park hours on me. After someone reported that AK EMH hours changed to another date, I went to check park hours and found it. Otherwise I wouldn’t have known. I hadn’t paid attention to this thread because there were no dates for DAH for our trip.

I can’t imagine any other reason it didn’t sell out. When I think of the money I spent on it compared to the Christmas party or dessert parties, it was just far and above anything else and so worth it.

We were supposed to go to Magic Kingdom for part of the day today, but I’m not sure we will (we still have another day for MK this week). We literally went through the park last night and rode every single ride we wanted to and left very satisfied!


----------



## Babs1975

Yes, yes and yes to what others have reported about last night! It was amazing!! The hubs also got the same info from a CM working a snack cart that it is usually around 3000 people but it was less than 750 last night!!! Whaaaaaaaaaat???????? So good! I had the same thought that it was because the date was announced late and I'm sure it helps that this week is quieter anyway. We went in around 6 and the park was already very doable. Way better than the entire evening before at the Christmas Party. We did a few rides on standby then our 3 fp's before the event began. Once it started we did Big Thunder 3 times, Space 3 times, 7DMT 11 times! Plus whatever else we happened to want to ride on the way! It was 0 wait for everything. Just as long as it took to walk in. We already decided we will not do the Christmas Party again...too busy and crazy. But we would do this event again in a heartbeat! If I knew it was going to be like it was, we could have completely skipped our MK day and party the day before and just did the DAH. I think we could have done every ride in MK without a problem! Probably some multiple times. And just being able to move around and take fun pics on Main Street without crowds. Priceless. Highly recommend!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Babs1975 said:


> Yes, yes and yes to what others have reported about last night! It was amazing!! The hubs also got the same info from a CM working a snack cart that it is *usually around 3000 people but it was less than 750 last night*!!! Whaaaaaaaaaat???????? So good! I had the same thought that it was because the date was announced late and I'm sure it helps that this week is quieter anyway. We went in around 6 and the park was already very doable. Way better than the entire evening before at the Christmas Party. We did a few rides on standby then our 3 fp's before the event began. Once it started we did Big Thunder 3 times, Space 3 times, 7DMT 11 times! Plus whatever else we happened to want to ride on the way! It was 0 wait for everything. Just as long as it took to walk in. We already decided we will not do the Christmas Party again...too busy and crazy. But we would do this event again in a heartbeat! If I knew it was going to be like it was, we could have completely skipped our MK day and party the day before and just did the DAH. I think we could have done every ride in MK without a problem! Probably some multiple times. And just being able to move around and take fun pics on Main Street without crowds. Priceless. Highly recommend!



Okay, so if that's true, then last night should not be used as a "typical" DAH in any way. I mean, 750 people in that park?? It would feel empty! And I can't think of another modern DAH where people reported 11 rides on 7DMT. Most of the time it has had a 10-20 minute wait, so last night really feels like an anomaly. I'm happy for everyone who experienced it , but it doesn't seem like most people will have a night like that at all.


----------



## Babs1975

Iowamomof4 said:


> Okay, so if that's true, then last night should not be used as a "typical" DAH in any way. I mean, 750 people in that park?? It would feel empty! And I can't think of another modern DAH where people reported 11 rides on 7DMT. Most of the time it has had a 10-20 minute wait, so last night really feels like an anomaly. I'm happy for everyone who experienced it , but it doesn't seem like most people will have a night like that at all.


Could have ridden 7DMT 10 more times if we wanted! Literally just walk on. Agree it was not sold out so our experience of 0 waits on everything will not be everyone's, but it was certainly our experience last night! And even with 3000 people spread across the park, it would still be very low waits and amazing!


----------



## Lisa F

Iowamomof4 said:


> Okay, so if that's true, then last night should not be used as a "typical" DAH in any way. I mean, 750 people in that park?? It would feel empty! And I can't think of another modern DAH where people reported 11 rides on 7DMT. Most of the time it has had a 10-20 minute wait, so last night really feels like an anomaly. I'm happy for everyone who experienced it , but it doesn't seem like most people will have a night like that at all.



I think during the last hour or so 7DMT is like a 5 minute wait... the 20 minute waits are at the beginning of the event. 

I could not do 11 rides on that thing in a row anyway


----------



## Magnoliafan

What an amazing night!

I arrived just before 6:30.  They were holding the DAH people until 7, so I went in the regular entrance with my AP.  I started with dinner at CHH and then a FP at JC.  There was quite the line and it started raining before I was under cover.  Then the ride itself was very wet, so I started my night cold and drenched.  Honestly, I was thinking longingly of my warm and dry room at POFQ and starting to regret buying a DAH ticket.  But I decided to tough it out and told myself that I could leave early if I stayed miserable (hah!).  Splash was a walk-on and I was already wet, so I got into the line before I could talk myself out of it like I’ve done for every other trip.  And I survived!  I bought a pin to commemorate the occasion and then found a spot for HEA just before 8:30.  It rained on and off before and even during the show and thoughts of leaving early drifted through my mind again.  So I wasn’t in the most positive frame of mind to start the event.  I rode the People Mover, missed CoP because it had already closed, and then walked back to the Hub to catch OUAT for the first time.

Then it was 10 and the walk-ons started immediately with HM, as I walked straight through the queue and was the only person waiting at the doors.  There were maybe 12 of us in the stretching room.  I walked to Fantasyland and discovered that every party was given their own boat for IASW.  With PP, I walked right up and was asked if I wanted to ride in a red or blue ship.  The few behind me flew empty.  I grabbed ice cream and water and sat for a minute at Friar’s Nook (looking at all the empty tables and laughing at the memory of fighting for a spot just a day earlier).  Then I decided to wait in what I was sure would be a line for 7DMT, only to find yet another walk-on.  I rode 3x before I started getting dizzy and then did Pooh before heading across the park for BTMRR (with only the first and last rows occupied) and POTC (my own boat again).  I got more ice cream, crossed the park again for Buzz, decided to skip SM because it’s so jostling, had a private ride on Dumbo, went UTS, headed back to do 7DMT 4x, and then ended my night with PP.  I happened to be walking right in front of the castle at 1, so I had a prime spot for the Kiss Goodnight.  Then I walked out through a near empty Main Street to find a bus already waiting.

Overall tally: 7DMT 7x, PP 2x, plus 8 other rides during the event.  All walk-ons and I could have done more if I walked faster instead of enjoying the ambiance.  There were times when I looked around and saw no one else.  And walking on Mine Train was insane.  We were all getting off the ride and then looping through to the load zone to board again immediately.  I shared the same car with another solo traveler on two rides in a row.  The pictures are funny because he’s in the left seat behind me for one ride and the right for the other. 

Best.  Event.  Ever.


----------



## Haley R

Lisa F said:


> I think during the last hour or so 7DMT is like a 5 minute wait... the 20 minute waits are at the beginning of the event.
> 
> I could not do 11 rides on that thing in a row anyway


We rode near the end of the night and still waited around 20 minutes but we went when they had lanyards and not wristbands


----------



## Haley R

These reports of riding 7dmt so many times are awesome!!!!


----------



## jhoannam

We are headed to Orlando on Sunday just for this event. So excited. We have 5PM reservations at CG, this is going to be awesome!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

I’ve read just about every DAH event review post over time from current and prior DAH threads.  I’ve done it three times myself.  Whatever the reason, I think those of you who went last night found yourself at just about the lowest attended DAH night yet.  The wait times on the app backed up by these glowing reports is somewhat jaw dropping.  I’m glad everyone had such a great evening (although a bit worried some of these reports set the bar too high!).


----------



## Lisa F

jhoannam said:


> We are headed to Orlando on Sunday just for this event. So excited. We have 5PM reservations at CG, this is going to be awesome!


that is my plan as well!  but for later January.


----------



## Elle23

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I’ve read just about every DAH event review post over time from current and prior DAH threads.  I’ve done it three times myself.  Whatever the reason, I think those of you who went last night found yourself at just about the lowest attended DAH night yet.  The wait times on the app backed up by these glowing reports is somewhat jaw dropping.  I’m glad everyone had such a great evening (although a bit worried some of these reports set the bar too high!).



I am so thankful we had this night. Considering this is our last trip for a very long time, if ever, it will always be a very happy and special memory for me. 

It looks like everyone else chose to ride certain rides multiple times. We decided to do everything once and it was so much fun.

I remember commenting once that I wonder if we could make it to every single ride during DAH. Well we didn’t, but we sure came close! The ones we skipped were the rides for younger kids we don’t ride anyway plus IASW (too long), but we hit everything else. We started in Tomorrowland and went around the entire park and ended the night back in Tomorrowland on the People Mover. So much fun!


----------



## Elle23

Just to add...

Another thing that made this event so great was how happy the cast members all were. Very friendly, interactive, and laid back. I could tell they were enjoying not having massive crowds to deal with as well!


----------



## jaceraden

I'm excited to go in March but I agree with a poster above. Perhaps the bar is being set too high and Disney will lower the price or add on capacity to make it less empty by the time March rolls around. I sure hope not but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high.


----------



## jalpert

Also went 11/26...  BTTMR x2, Space x3, Mine Train x2, Splash x2...  not one time was the train completely full.  Even in space, there was at least one empty row/seat on every one of the ride vehicles for every mountain.

As others have said, truly an amazing event.  There is no doubt in my mind that it was vary sparsely attended.  Maybe because the rain killed day of sales, maybe the time of year, maybe luck, probably a combination of all three.

Interesting thing happened.  My wife hates splash so much.  She rides it with me once because she's awesome.  As the log pulled into the loading area after the ride was over, the lap bars released.  She was quick to stand, so was another person in the log.  As they stood the log moved forward, so that the first two rows of the log weren't lined up with the platform and the back two rows could still leave via the front two spots of the platform.

At that point, the cast member asked if we wanted to ride again, which was met with a quick hell no from my wife.  He then told us we have to ride again.  We asked why, we can get out, he said he can't let us do that.  In hindsight, we probably should have got out, but we complied, sat down, and secured the lap bar.  Tough for the wife, and also tough for the two in the front row.  They got drenched times 2.


----------



## DisDreaming4116

The way things have gone, word will spread about the low (no) waits on attractions and extremely low attendance at this DAH event and on Monday, there will be 25,000 people at the event with a 2 hour wait for 7DMT.  I'm obviously being sarcastic but people should absolutely not expect this type of experience at future DAH nights.  It's a fantastic add-on (my favorite) with much value but this was an outlier.


----------



## jalpert

Also, I forgot another highlight.  Went to Jungle Cruise hoping for our own boat, we got it.  The skipper asked us if we want the Jingle Cruise experience or the (insert name here) experience.  We asked for the personal experience.

We got an amazing ride of behind the scenes stories, facts, and even some stopping to give us time to find hidden Mickey's. 

That was awesome.


----------



## iujen94

FYI, I don't believe DAH is being offered on February 21.  It's not available on the website, and also isn't listed on Touring Plans' list of DAH dates.  At first I thought it might be sold out since that's Presidents' Week, but I called the special events number that someone posted here to call for a handful of dates (including February 21), and they confirmed that it's not being offered that night.  Such a bummer.  @detroitdad , I saw you listed in the Dis attendees for February 21.  Were you able to book for that night?  Am I missing something??


----------



## samandryanmom

The day they're offering this during our trip, we have an Epcot day. We don't have hoppers. If we want to do this event, will we be able to without hoppers? Spend morning at Epcot and evening at MK? Thanks for any info.


----------



## focusondisney

samandryanmom said:


> The day they're offering this during our trip, we have an Epcot day. We don't have hoppers. If we want to do this event, will we be able to without hoppers? Spend morning at Epcot and evening at MK? Thanks for any info.




Yes you can. This is a special event at MK, regular day tickets not needed. You will enter MK through the “event” entrance area. You can officially get in at 7pm, but many people report they were let in around 6.


----------



## samandryanmom

focusondisney said:


> Yes you can. This is a special event at MK, regular day tickets not needed. You will enter MK through the “event” entrance area. You can officially get in at 7pm, but many people report they were let in around 6.



Thanks so much...I figured we could but I wanted to make sure.


----------



## Iowamomof4

jaceraden said:


> I'm excited to go in March but I agree with a poster above. Perhaps the bar is being set too high and Disney will lower the price or add on capacity to make it less empty by the time March rolls around. I sure hope not but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high.



Here's the thing though, I would take any reports from 11/26 as an anomaly and leave it at that. It was an extremely low-attended event, much, much lower than usual. I fully expect the next event will back to normal, although we haven't had many of these during party season so maybe only time will tell if they are as well attended as the spring and summer events. This sounds like an awesome experience, even on a sold-out night, but the extremely empty park witnessed on 11/26 is not something most people will encounter. 

I don't think Disney has to change anything at this point (regarding your concern about altering the price or capacity).


----------



## fitgirlFL

We just booked our tickets for Jan 28th. YAY! We did this event last year and loved it. Really excited to go again.


----------



## blakefamily

Thinking of going Feb 28th.  Just the 4 adults in our group for a grown up evening, we have AP's since we have 2 trips this year....hard to spend more money, but the the idea of walk on rides and an evening of adult fun ?  ?


----------



## Elsaspiritanimal

blakefamily said:


> Thinking of going Feb 28th.  Just the 4 adults in our group for a grown up evening, we have AP's since we have 2 trips this year....hard to spend more money, but the the idea of walk on rides and an evening of adult fun ?  ?


I have started booking trips around DAH because it is so much fun even with an AP! So yes I think this is a perfect event for 4 adults to have an awesome time!


----------



## Haley R

iujen94 said:


> FYI, I don't believe DAH is being offered on February 21.  It's not available on the website, and also isn't listed on Touring Plans' list of DAH dates.  At first I thought it might be sold out since that's Presidents' Week, but I called the special events number that someone posted here to call for a handful of dates (including February 21), and they confirmed that it's not being offered that night.  Such a bummer.  @detroitdad , I saw you listed in the Dis attendees for February 21.  Were you able to book for that night?  Am I missing something??


I’m assuming they didn’t put one on February 21 because of president’s day. I guess they could always sneak one in like they did for this last one.


----------



## Runnsally

Doing the 5pm Cali Grill, 8pm MK DAH bang-bang 1/25. Super excited!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

iujen94 said:


> FYI, I don't believe DAH is being offered on February 21.  It's not available on the website, and also isn't listed on Touring Plans' list of DAH dates.  At first I thought it might be sold out since that's Presidents' Week, but I called the special events number that someone posted here to call for a handful of dates (including February 21), and they confirmed that it's not being offered that night.  Such a bummer.  @detroitdad , I saw you listed in the Dis attendees for February 21.  Were you able to book for that night?  Am I missing something??



If accurate, someone might want to tell the website folks.  https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/events-tours/magic-kingdom/disney-after-hours/

2/21 was one of the ‘new’ DAH dates that was just released a few weeks ago that hasn’t become bookable online yet.

Not doubting what you were told, but I might be inclined to call the number on the web site again and see if you get the same story.   Something doesn’t seen right between what Disney has announced (and is on their website) vs what you were told.

If anyone else can confirm/deny any info, I’d very much appreciate it.  TY!


----------



## iujen94

GADisneyDad14 said:


> If accurate, someone might want to tell the website folks.  https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/events-tours/magic-kingdom/disney-after-hours/
> 
> 2/21 was one of the ‘new’ DAH dates that was just released a few weeks ago that hasn’t become bookable online yet.
> 
> Not doubting what you were told, but I might be inclined to call the number on the web site again and see if you get the same story.   Something doesn’t seen right between what Disney has announced (and is on their website) vs what you were told.
> 
> If anyone else can confirm/deny any info, I’d very much appreciate it.  TY!



The number in the website is definitely the one I called this morning, but I’ll call again, armed with this website reference. I would LOVE to be wrong!!


----------



## Saltywardog

Has anyone walked up to the ticket window for the AP discount day of. We aren't rope dropping Dec 3rd but don't want to get them and then have everyone to tired to go.


----------



## iujen94

iujen94 said:


> The number in the website is definitely the one I called this morning, but I’ll call again, armed with this website reference. I would LOVE to be wrong!!



YAY!!  I LOVE being wrong!  Called again and mentioned the link in the website and they were able to find February 21, and they DO have availability!


----------



## PolyRob

iujen94 said:


> YAY!!  I LOVE being wrong!  Called again and mentioned the link in the website and they were able to find February 21, and they DO have availability!


So sad how many phone CMs give out incorrect information, but I am so happy you got a good one and were finally able to book it!


----------



## iujen94

Also - (and apologies if this is already covered in this thread) - the CM confirmed that an AP holder can buy discounted AP DAH tickets for themselves and up to 3 others, even if the “others” don’t have APs.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Saltywardog said:


> Has anyone walked up to the ticket window for the AP discount day of. We aren't rope dropping Dec 3rd but don't want to get them and then have everyone to tired to go.



I am not 100% sure what the real policy is, but online you can’t get an AP discount day-of and I think the same applies at the ticket window.  BUT you may get into “YMMV” CM territory as far as what they may do for you on any given day.  If you do try it, would love to know the results if you think about it.


----------



## Stasieki

I'm really hoping they add Mondays in February!!!  Anything is possible.  I'm checking daily.


----------



## jaceraden

Caution: first World whine ahead. 

I bought DAH tickets for HS just over a week ago and was charged $25 to ship them to my location (Canada). They came via UPS. A few days later, I bought DAH for MK and paid $0 for them to ship to Canada and they came via UPS. 4 days ago, I bought an extra MK DAH ticket for a last minute joiner after having already received both other ticket bundles from UPS. I paid $0 in shipping and it is being sent via USPS with no tracking number and will take forever to get here. So weird and arbitrary?????


----------



## Lisa F

Runnsally said:


> Doing the 5pm Cali Grill, 8pm MK DAH bang-bang 1/25. Super excited!


are you sure it's not 1/24? because that's my plan and date, lol


----------



## Runnsally

Lisa F said:


> are you sure it's not 1/24? because that's my plan and date, lol


1/24 indeed!


----------



## Lisa F

Runnsally said:


> 1/24 indeed!


well seeya there!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Many thanks to @Tessaf, @Elle23, @Babs1975, @Magnoliafan, and @jalpert for checking in with their reviews from Monday, even though none of us like you since you had the best DAH night ever!   (Just kidding)  

Links to review posts have been added to *Post #10*.  

Next up is this coming Monday, 12/3.  Looking forward to hearing how things go.  

If anyone who went on 11/26 or is going 12/3 happens to know or see any of the following, I would very much appreciate any info:  

- There was a report from 11/26 that they held DAH ticket holders at the front entrance until 7pm... I'd love to hear from others who either went 11/26 or are going 12/3 if they experienced/experience something similar.   This would be something different than the 6pm'ish entry that has been the case for most of 2018.  
- If you're already in the park via other park admission, locations of any stations set up for credential pick-up.
- Confirmation if the Tangled Lantern PhotoPass is out during DAH.

THANKS ALL!


----------



## Tessaf

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Many thanks to @Tessaf, @Elle23, @Babs1975, @Magnoliafan, and @jalpert for checking in with their reviews from Monday, even though none of us like you since you had the best DAH night ever!   (Just kidding)
> 
> Links to review posts have been added to *Post #10*.
> 
> Next up is this coming Monday, 12/3.  Looking forward to hearing how things go.
> 
> If anyone who went on 11/26 or is going 12/3 happens to know or see any of the following, I would very much appreciate any info:
> 
> - There was a report from 11/26 that they held DAH ticket holders at the front entrance until 7pm... I'd love to hear from others who either went 11/26 or are going 12/3 if they experienced/experience something similar.   This would be something different than the 6pm'ish entry that has been the case for most of 2018.
> - If you're already in the park via other park admission, locations of any stations set up for credential pick-up.
> - Confirmation if the Tangled Lantern PhotoPass is out during DAH.
> 
> THANKS ALL!



I did see the Tangled Latern PhotoPass available on 11/26.


----------



## Magnoliafan

GADisneyDad14 said:


> - There was a report from 11/26 that they held DAH ticket holders at the front entrance until 7pm... I'd love to hear from others who either went 11/26 or are going 12/3 if they experienced/experience something similar.   This would be something different than the 6pm'ish entry that has been the case for most of 2018.
> - If you're already in the park via other park admission, locations of any stations set up for credential pick-up


This report came from me, so I’ll just clarify that it’s what I was told by a cast member when I arrived just before 6:30.  She said that DAH guests would be let in at 7.  I used my AP to get in immediately, so I have no idea if they stayed firm at 7 or let anyone in earlier.  But there were a handful of people waiting at the DAH entrance when I walked away.  

I also asked the cast member for the internal check-in locations.  She actually had to ask another cast member, who told her that there are 2 locations.  One was Tortuga (where I went), but I can’t remember the other.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Magnoliafan said:


> This report came from me, so I’ll just clarify that it’s what I was told by a cast member when I arrived just before 6:30.  She said that DAH guests would be let in at 7.  I used my AP to get in immediately, so I have no idea if they stayed firm at 7 or let anyone in earlier.  But there were a handful of people waiting at the DAH entrance when I walked away.
> 
> I also asked the cast member for the internal check-in locations.  She actually had to ask another cast member, who told her that there are 2 locations.  One was Tortuga (where I went), but I can’t remember the other.



Awesome - thank you!

In the past (this summer) the other credential pickup spot has been just outside of Stitch by the FP kiosks.  

Thank you again.


----------



## Saltywardog

I will let you know if we walk up and go on 12/3. hoping these bums can stay up.


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Awesome - thank you!
> 
> In the past (this summer) the other credential pickup spot has been just outside of Stitch by the FP kiosks.
> 
> Thank you again.


Did they get rid of liberty square as a pick up spot?


----------



## TLPL

I am interested in going for the night of January 7th. It starts at 8pm. So we only have 1 hour extra before the official start time? That's too bad. Wish they would let us in earlier.  We are on a budget and can only go either the DAH or 1 regular day. It is a tough decision to make!


----------



## apxstitch

Here's my report of the highlight of my trip and the most AMAZING thing I've ever done in my entire life!

MK on the 26th was crazy but I was expecting that because it was only 1 of 2 non party nights.  I had 3 fastpasses booked but only used 2 so I could eat and ride the train.  Lines were long for everything including the carousel.  It rained (torrential downpours) on and off for most of the night.  I had to ask 10 Cast Members where I could go to check in for my After Hours wrist band, eventually I found it at Stitch's Great Escape in Tomorrowland.  I got to see HEA for the first time which totally blew me away. 

I started my After Hours back in Fantasyland with Dumbo and Under the Sea, the line for Ariel was still too long so I headed over to Princess Fairytale Hall and met all the princesses both sides (in less than 10 minutes), went on It's a Small World in a boat by myself (totally cool) and walked right onto Peter Pan's Flight, the Haunted Mansion was very creepy with only 3 other guests but was the best experience I've ever had on it because I got to hear the whole attraction with no one talking, went to Big Thunder and rode that 3 times in a row in the back seat with no one else of the train (can we say AWESOME) and went on Pirates, then I went to see the castle and got some awesome pics with no one there, then went to 7DMT and rode that 7 times in a row in less than 15 minutes.  I walked right up each time and was told to just pick a row so I tried the front, middle and back and the back is definitely the best.  Then I went to meet Ariel (she was the best character interaction I had) and went on Dumbo again, back to ride the Mad Tea Cups (can we say never again) and Winnie the Pooh.  Are you exhausted yet?  Because I am but I had to make the best use of my time so it was off to Buzz Lightyear and the People mover (twice) because I needed the rest and I was enjoying it.  That was it for me it was 1 am before I knew it and I managed to ride 14 attractions 24 times.  I did stop for 5 bottles of water, 2 popcorns and 3 strawberry bars which I enjoyed while walking.

This was worth every single penny I spent on the ticket.  I spoke to a CM at Haunted Mansion and he told me only 500 tickets were sold and he's never seen After Hours so empty.  It was cold but the rain that was off and on for most of the night had stopped.  All of the walkways were empty and it was absolutely glorious.  I think it really spoiled me for the rest of the trip though.

I would do this again in a heartbeat.  I would do only this over a full day in the park.  I spoke to other guests who said the same thing.  If you can do this event I highly recommend it.  I had an absolute blast!


----------



## apxstitch

The CM also told me a normal sold out night is 3000 tickets and even with that many it would still be very low waits for everything.  I guess I got extra lucky because 11/26 was added on after the original announced dates and not a lot of people knew about it.  I feel blessed that I got to experience it.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TLPL said:


> I am interested in going for the night of January 7th. It starts at 8pm. So we only have 1 hour extra before the official start time? That's too bad. Wish they would let us in earlier.  We are on a budget and can only go either the DAH or 1 regular day. It is a tough decision to make!



It is 7pm entry officially, regardless of the actual event time.  For most of 2018 they have let ticket holders in at more like 6pm, but there was a report from this past Monday that looks like they may have stuck to 7pm.  Need more reports to confirm just what’s up with that.  

But yes, it’ll be 7pm officialy and maybe earlier if lucky.


----------



## focusondisney

I’m going  to add to the Feb 21st discussion. When you try to buy tickets online, Feb 21 is not an option. No wonder the CMs don’t know it is available.. now I wish I was going that night, it will probably be empty because no one can buy tickets!


----------



## focusondisney

Oops, never mind.    I just saw GaDiisneydad’s post that husbatw was just recently released with others that still aren’t bookable online.  Well isn’t it just dumb to release dates & not make them bookable online immediately anyway??


----------



## GADisneyDad14

focusondisney said:


> Well isn’t it just dumb to release dates & not make them bookable online immediately anyway??



It's a reoccurring pattern with some of these events for some reason.  At the moment, DHS DAH, AK DAH, and MK DAH for February 21, 2019, March 21, 2019, March 28, 2019, April 4, 2019, April 11, 2019 are only available by calling.  The new MK dates were added to the lineup on 11/15/2018.  

For the life of me I can't figure out the rationale, especially in this connected world where people want to do things online.  There is either some method to the madness that has to do with how they monitor outreach and ticket sales for marketing purposes.... or IT is so bad behind the scenes that it takes several weeks to have the website programming updated for new dates.  Or it's just not an internal priority because they think/know they have a good product on their hand and tickets will sell.  Doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but what do I know?!?!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Haley R said:


> Did they get rid of liberty square as a pick up spot?



No, I suspect that and the Main Street guest relations office are also options as well.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Magnoliafan said:


> One was Tortuga (where I went)



Follow-up question... mind if I ask exactly where in/near Tortuga Tavern?  

Also, did they do wrist-bands, lanyards, or both?  

Thanks!


----------



## pangyal

Please forgive me for the potentially dumb question.

I thought that I remembered reading that some DAH guests were allowed in the fastpass line when the event started in order to mitigate the wait due to day guests still being in line at park close. Is this something that potentially happens at the start of the event or at the time that they’ve been letting people in for DAH (e.g., 7pm)?


----------



## Magnoliafan

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Follow-up question... mind if I ask exactly where in/near Tortuga Tavern?
> 
> Also, did they do wrist-bands, lanyards, or both?
> 
> Thanks!


Wristband, no lanyard.

And I’m sorry, but I’m not sure exactly where at Tortuga.  The right side, I think.  There was a cast member holding a sign.


----------



## Haley R

pangyal said:


> Please forgive me for the potentially dumb question.
> 
> I thought that I remembered reading that some DAH guests were allowed in the fastpass line when the event started in order to mitigate the wait due to day guests still being in line at park close. Is this something that potentially happens at the start of the event or at the time that they’ve been letting people in for DAH (e.g., 7pm)?


This is a hard question to answer because it depends on the cm at the start of the line. I will say that in March we got in a couple lines before dah started because the cm seemed confused and didn’t know what to do. In July it was a hard no from every cm about going through the fp line before dah started


----------



## GADisneyDad14

pangyal said:


> Please forgive me for the potentially dumb question.
> 
> I thought that I remembered reading that some DAH guests were allowed in the fastpass line when the event started in order to mitigate the wait due to day guests still being in line at park close. Is this something that potentially happens at the start of the event or at the time that they’ve been letting people in for DAH (e.g., 7pm)?



My read from reports is that it’s a CM YMMV thing both before and after DAH starts.  I think some just do the “sure, whatever” response if asked, but I don’t think it’s official policy or anything since reports are inconsistent.


----------



## pangyal

^Thank you both kindly for your input! Since we for sure won’t be making it past 10 for the DHS one next Saturday (!), I’m looking at ways to maximize the value .


----------



## Haley R

pangyal said:


> ^Thank you both kindly for your input! Since we for sure won’t be making it past 10 for the DHS one next Saturday (!), I’m looking at ways to maximize the value .


Did you already book your 3 FPs that you can use before dah starts? That will help some.


----------



## chelynnah

lvdis said:


> Do these after hours events impact the regular day hours at the park?  I guess what I'm asking is, do the parks close any earlier than normal for these events and are they noticeably more crowded during the day, leading up to the DAH event?


I didn’t see an answer to this in the first few posts after it.  No it doesn’t impact regular park hours.  While the allow you in at 7 the event is for 3 hours after park close.  So currently our date on 29 Feb the park closes at 8 so DAH will be till 11pm.  In the past the Feb normal hours have been extended to 9, so I’m hoping to see that happen.  But if it affected ‘normal hours’ you’d have seen times move backward and that definitely hasn’t happened.


----------



## lvdis

chelynnah said:


> I didn’t see an answer to this in the first few posts after it.  No it doesn’t impact regular park hours.  While the allow you in at 7 the event is for 3 hours after park close.  So currently our date on 29 Feb the park closes at 8 so DAH will be till 11pm.  In the past the Feb normal hours have been extended to 9, so I’m hoping to see that happen.  But if it affected ‘normal hours’ you’d have seen times move backward and that definitely hasn’t happened.


Thank you for your response! I'm just worried the after hours folks will arrive early to see jingle bell jingle bam and make that area a lot more crowded. Our plan was to go to HS on 12/8 which is now the first after hours night there.


----------



## chelynnah

lvdis said:


> Thank you for your response! I'm just worried the after hours folks will arrive early to see jingle bell jingle bam and make that area a lot more crowded. Our plan was to go to HS on 12/8 which is now the first after hours night there.


That is very possible as they let them in the park earlier than closing.


----------



## pangyal

Haley R said:


> Did you already book your 3 FPs that you can use before dah starts? That will help some.



Honestly, there are only four rides at DHS in total that DS will do, and three of those are now Tier 1...so that wouldn’t help. But thank you !

Apologies for the thread drift...I will keep this thread on track for the MK version after this !


----------



## iujen94

We are officially booked for February 21!  Thanks so much for this post - I never would have realized that date was available otherwise (and selfishly crossing my fingers that others don't figure it out either and the crowd is low)!


----------



## mcurrence

Wishing everyone a great time tonight!!!


----------



## js

At this moment, wait times look fantastic. 7DMT shows temp. closed.


----------



## connorlevismom

Quick report-things tonight are amazing. There are so few people in the park it is surreal. We arrived at 7 to LOTS of people, and soon after it poured for a good 45 minutes. We watched HEA right in front of the castle. 

Once the party started, every ride was literally walk-on with the exception of mine train. It was down until midnight but once up we waited 15 minutes max to ride it. All the snack lines were small and we waited no more than 2-3 minutes. 

All in all, an amazing night and I would do it again in a heartbeat.


----------



## Saltywardog

Was there also. Walked up to the ticket window and bought AP discounted tickets 10 minutes before 10pm. 

I have to agree with connorlevismom, loved the park being so empty. Rode thunder mountain 4 times in a row, didn’t even get have to get up. Mine train went down and so did the people mover.


----------



## MicroBeta

It was a great night.  7DMT was down for most of the night.  It came back around midnight and we waited about 10 minutes...not counting the 5 minutes it went down again. 

We rode everything we wanted and the lines for snacks were very short.  The longest line was at the end of the night when my wife wanted more popcorn from a stand by the hub and that only took a few minutes.

We got back to the Poly on the ferry boat to the TTC.  We exited MK about five after and were back in our room by 1:30.

We're off to MVMCP tonight...WooHoo!!!

...then home tomorrow...BOO!!  

Mike


----------



## ELLH

Unfortunately, not only was mine train down the majority of the night but so was People Mover.  SDMT did come back up around midnight but while we were standing in line it went back down again, then back up around 12:30.  Space Mountain was down nearly the entire time; as we queued up in SDMT around 12:30 SM opened back up but by the time we got off MT it was too late to get to ride it.  Those rides being down irked me.

Fortunately, Ariel saved our night with - by far - the best character interaction my DD8 has ever had. We spent two rounds with her for a total of probably 12 minutes; 8 minutes the last round.


Ignoring the initial annoyance of those downed rides, all in all it was a good night.


----------



## Haley R

ELLH said:


> Unfortunately, not only was mine train down the majority of the night but so was People Mover.  SDMT did come back up around midnight but while we were standing in line it went back down again, then back up around 12:30.  Space Mountain was down nearly the entire time; as we queued up in SDMT around 12:30 SM opened back up but by the time we got off MT it was too late to get to ride it.  Those rides being down irked me.
> 
> Fortunately, Ariel saved our night with - by far - the best character interaction my DD8 has ever had. We spent two rounds with her for a total of probably 12 minutes; 8 minutes the last round.
> 
> 
> Ignoring the initial annoyance of those downed rides, all in all it was a good night.


Glad you still had fun even though some of the rides were down


----------



## ELLH

Haley R said:


> Glad you still had fun even though some of the rides were down



I was pretty aggravated about it for a while but we made the best of it. 

It’s just frustrating that two of the main attractions I’m paying $130/person for were down.


----------



## FFstreetDoc

We were so excited our planned trip had a DAH night added. We have been to DAH previously and know how awesome it is. We attended last night with specific plans in mind and a pretty good strategy to keep from crossing the park too many times. We added late evening FP+ so we could hit PPF, SDMT and BTMRR. Well PPF and SDMT both went down so our FP+ changed to "Multiple attraction FP" PPF came back up so we used one for that. SDMT remained closed until after the transition to DAH and several hours after that. So we ended up not even using one FP+. 

Obviously one of the best things about DAH, and what makes it worth the $$$ to do it is the short lines for rides like SDMT and SM. Well SDMT stayed down until around 11:30. We got in line just as it opened, rode once. As we were coming off it was clear word was out, Seemed like everyone in the park poured into SDMT pushing the wait to a quick 30 min. We figured that is still better than 90 lol, got back in line. Waited 15 min in line to hear the dreaded words. "Sorry folks we are down for technical issues". And that was the end of SDMT for our night. Not sure it ever came back up. 

The other plan we had was for me to ride SM to verify it was tame enough for my wife, she loves coasters but has a limit to what she can do. EE is too fast for her but I think SM will be OK. I have ridden SM at DL 100 times but that was 20+ years ago lol. So I figure walk on ride, test for her. If it is a no go we only wasted 10 min doing it. NOPE... SM closed all night. 

I know Disney can not control things like this. But it sure made for a let down for our night.   

We will try again in January


----------



## edolee

We are considering going next Monday night Dec. 10th...  I am mostly curious about when people were able to get in.  Did they let you in the park prior to 7pm?

Thanks!

Ed


----------



## connorlevismom

edolee said:


> We are considering going next Monday night Dec. 10th...  I am mostly curious about when people were able to get in.  Did they let you in the park prior to 7pm?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Ed



Last night they were holding people until 7pm. We were in at 6:30 because we have AP’s but we asked the people getting ready to let people in and give them wrist bands when we could get them and they said 7pm.


----------



## Haley R

connorlevismom said:


> Last night they were holding people until 7pm. We were in at 6:30 because we have AP’s but we asked the people getting ready to let people in and give them wrist bands when we could get them and they said 7pm.


Huh so that’s new then. I wonder why they switched from 6 to 7?


----------



## mcurrence

Haley R said:


> Huh so that’s new then. I wonder why they switched from 6 to 7?


I think this happens whenever there's a  gap between events (fingers crossed).  Hoping that eventually they allow folks to go in closer to 6:00...


----------



## ELLH

Haley R said:


> Huh so that’s new then. I wonder why they switched from 6 to 7?



Not saying this is why but maybe...
Last night’s event (and I think the next one) started at 10pm where the majority of them start at 9pm.


----------



## Nixon128

We attended 12/3 DAH and had a really great time. We kept saying “This is the way to do Disney!” We got there around 6:45 and were let in a little bit before 7. Used some fast passes-it poured for awhile which was a little bit of a downer but we ran into hall of presidents and when we came out, it wasn’t as bad as before.  We had the fireworks after party and waited there until close to 9:50 for crowds to clear out. The only problem we ran into was that we were never given our wristbands when we entered at 7. I don’t know why I didn’t notice but when we asked around later where we could pick up the DAH wristbands, we saw a lot of confused looks on cast members faces and got a bunch of different answers. The consistent answer was City Hall but when we went there, someone told us it was not the place but he took pity on us and gave us wristbands anyway! It was a bummer that mine train and space mountain were down, as well as people mover but we had a fantastic time anyway. We weren’t there to ride every ride but just to enjoy the experience and we definitely did! Happy to answer any specific questions!


----------



## Haley R

ELLH said:


> Not saying this is why but maybe...
> Last night’s event (and I think the next one) started at 10pm where the majority of them start at 9pm.


We’ve been to a dah that started at 10 and we were still let in at 6. I guess for this new batch they decided to change it up


----------



## Shelbizzles

I know this has been mentioned but I can’t seem to find it. So forgive me!
My DH and I will be doing the after hours event and we will be in the park starting probably in the afternoon around 4ish. We have park hoppers and are doing a different park in the morning. Where do we check in and get our wristbands/lanyards? Is it at the front of the park or is there different places within the park?


----------



## Haley R

Shelbizzles said:


> I know this has been mentioned but I can’t seem to find it. So forgive me!
> My DH and I will be doing the after hours event and we will be in the park starting probably in the afternoon around 4ish. We have park hoppers and are doing a different park in the morning. Where do we check in and get our wristbands/lanyards? Is it at the front of the park or is there different places within the park?


I know we’ve answered this a couple times. The ones I know for sure are the liberty square guest services and tortuga tavern. But it sounds like reports from the last one said cms were really confused about giving out wristbands.


----------



## connorlevismom

Haley R said:


> I know we’ve answered this a couple times. The ones I know for sure are the liberty square guest services and tortuga tavern. But it sounds like reports from the last one said cms were really confused about giving out wristbands.



We got ours at stitch. They had a group of people scanning bands and handing our wristbands there.


----------



## Haley R

connorlevismom said:


> We got ours at stitch. They had a group of people scanning bands and handing our wristbands there.


I knew there was one in Tomorrowland but couldn’t remember exactly where at


----------



## Shelbizzles

Haley R said:


> I know we’ve answered this a couple times. The ones I know for sure are the liberty square guest services and tortuga tavern. But it sounds like reports from the last one said cms were really confused about giving out wristbands.





connorlevismom said:


> We got ours at stitch. They had a group of people scanning bands and handing our wristbands there.



Thanks


----------



## Cinderella94

(I haven’t read the other pages, so apologies if this has been mentioned). I feel like the lack of event merchandise is really too bad. They are missing out- the image that’s on the lanyard cards would be so cute on a T-shirt. Has anyone “in the know” heard any rumors about merch starting in 2019?


----------



## Cinderella94

Magnoliafan said:


> Wristband, no lanyard.
> 
> And I’m sorry, but I’m not sure exactly where at Tortuga.  The right side, I think.  There was a cast member holding a sign.


Were you given a lanyard as you left the park, or have they done away with the lanyards and moved exclusively to wristbands?


----------



## Haley R

Cinderella94 said:


> (I haven’t read the other pages, so apologies if this has been mentioned). I feel like the lack of event merchandise is really too bad. They are missing out- the image that’s on the lanyard cards would be so cute on a T-shirt. Has anyone “in the know” heard any rumors about merch starting in 2019?


I haven’t read/heard anything about merch coming out for the event. I wish they would add some more special things to the event. They did lots of special things at the Disney after dark at DL


----------



## amiskell28

MicroBeta said:


> We got back to the Poly on the ferry boat to the TTC. We exited MK about five after and were back in our room by 1:30.



We're also staying at the Poly when we do our DAH on 2/7. The monorail doesn't run after DAH, right? the ferry boat to the TTC is the only option?


----------



## PolyRob

amiskell28 said:


> We're also staying at the Poly when we do our DAH on 2/7. The monorail doesn't run after DAH, right? the ferry boat to the TTC is the only option?


Or bus to MK resorts


----------



## Chavaleh

Husband and I booked DAH tickets for MK on Jan. 28th. We did it this past summer and had a fantastic time. Hopefully it won't be too chilly. Our last time happened to be on a night they were doing some blogger event so I think it may have been a little more crowded than usual, still wasn't bad at all but some of the snack lines were a touch long. We passed a cluster of people doing the in/out square squealing thing and I just kind of shook my head, laughed and asked my husband why people would pay money to have ride access and then spend their time doing that. A couple of weeks later we were watching Tim Tracker videos and saw ourselves walking right past them at that exact moment, they were the sillies "wasting time" (comped tickets I guess?).


----------



## SaintsManiac

Chavaleh said:


> Husband and I booked DAH tickets for MK on Jan. 28th. We did it this past summer and had a fantastic time. Hopefully it won't be too chilly. Our last time happened to be on a night they were doing some blogger event so I think it may have been a little more crowded than usual, still wasn't bad at all but some of the snack lines were a touch long. We passed a cluster of people doing the in/out square squealing thing and I just kind of shook my head, laughed and asked my husband why people would pay money to have ride access and then spend their time doing that. A couple of weeks later we were watching Tim Tracker videos and saw ourselves walking right past them at that exact moment, they were the sillies "wasting time" (comped tickets I guess?).




Yes, they were comped. Tim is in the parks often, so he wasn't trying to run from ride to ride. For me one of the reasons I booked it for HS is because of the atmosphere. I want to do things like that instead of just riding stuff over and over. Lots of experiences get missed when the parks are crowded.


----------



## Chavaleh

SaintsManiac said:


> Yes, they were comped. Tim is in the parks often, so he wasn't trying to run from ride to ride. For me one of the reasons I booked it for HS is because of the atmosphere. I want to do things like that instead of just riding stuff over and over. Lots of experiences get missed when the parks are crowded.



Hah, yeah I can imagine they don't feel a need to run from ride to ride. Kind of feel like it's the opposite for us. We use these special events to knock out as much riding as we can so that at normal times we can experience the parks at a more relaxed pace rather than fighting crowds to get to rides faster.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Chavaleh said:


> Husband and I booked DAH tickets for MK on Jan. 28th. We did it this past summer and had a fantastic time. Hopefully it won't be too chilly. Our last time happened to be on a night they were doing some blogger event so I think it may have been a little more crowded than usual, still wasn't bad at all but some of the snack lines were a touch long. We passed a cluster of people doing the in/out square squealing thing and I just kind of shook my head, laughed and asked my husband why people would pay money to have ride access and then spend their time doing that. A couple of weeks later we were watching Tim Tracker videos and saw ourselves walking right past them at that exact moment, they were the sillies "wasting time" (comped tickets I guess?).



What's the "in/out square squealing thing"?


----------



## Chavaleh

Iowamomof4 said:


> What's the "in/out square squealing thing"?


 
Where CMs make a square out of tape on the ground and then gather around it then when someone steps in it they hoot and holler and make a big hoop-ti-do-rah. Sometimes accompanied by a Country Bears character.

ETA: https://www.flickr.com/photos/danuv/46191483481  Video I took of it.


----------



## MicroBeta

amiskell28 said:


> We're also staying at the Poly when we do our DAH on 2/7. The monorail doesn't run after DAH, right? the ferry boat to the TTC is the only option?


Your only option is a bus or ferry to the TTC.  

We were staying in the Hawaii long house and it was less than five minutes tho to wthere from the TTC ferry dock. 

Mike


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Chavaleh said:


> Where CMs make a square out of tape on the ground and then gather around it then when someone steps in it they hoot and holler and make a big hoop-ti-do-rah. Sometimes accompanied by a Country Bears character.
> 
> ETA: https://www.flickr.com/photos/danuv/46191483481  Video I took of it.



We witnessed something similar at DAH earlier this year, except it was custodial CMs and they made a Mickey head with towels.  They were just standing there quiet as anything... until you stepped in the Mickey head.  It was a total riot.  Small and kind of corny, but so fun. And so fitting with the park.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Thanks for the explanations! Seems kinda weird, but then most Disney things do until I see them firsthand.


----------



## kittyab

How early are you allowed in the park for the After dark parties?


----------



## Chavaleh

Nah, it's definitely weird but amusing but then I enjoy crowd watching.


----------



## mrsxsparrow

Just wanted to drop by to say we LOVED the event on 12/3! It had been raining so we didn’t get to the park until about 8:45pm. Watched HEA then hid from the exiting crowds for a bit. We had planned to do COP and Peoplemover while waiting for park close, but COP was already closed and Peoplemover was down. 

As others have said, it was a bummer Mine Train, Space, and Peoplemover were down most of the night, but it was still a great time. We managed to do IASW, Hainted Mansion, Thunder, Pirates, Peter Pan x2, Pooh, Under the Sea, Buzz, Dumbo, Mine Train x2, Carousel, and three stops for ice cream/popcorn. Everything was walk on except for Mine Train — we saw it open and got on the third train, then went shortly before close and it was about a 15 minute wait. Not a problem — gave me a chance to eat another ice cream while we waited. 

This was SO MUCH BETTER than the MVMCP we attended the night before. I’d definitely do this a million times over.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mrsxsparrow said:


> This was SO MUCH BETTER than the MVMCP we attended the night before. I’d definitely do this a million times over.



I did a DAH and MNSSHP back to back earlier this year.  I don't usually like to be negative and MNSSHP is still one of my favorite things to do, but it sort of ruins MNSSHP/MVMCP, doesn't it?  The guest count contrast is just so shocking/apparent.


----------



## amiskell28

kittyab said:


> How early are you allowed in the park for the After dark parties?



From what I've read here, reports vary. Seems like the last couple of events, it was 1 hour before, but other events have been earlier. So, 7 pm for an 8 pm party, even though prior parties had reports of people being let in at 6 pm.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

kittyab said:


> How early are you allowed in the park for the After dark parties?



7pm officially, regardless of actual DAH event hours.  Historically this year they've let people in more like 6pm, but recent reports (meaning, this week and last week) seem to indicate they stuck to more like 7pm.  Need more reports/data points to know for sure just what's up.


----------



## Lisa F

ELLH said:


> I was pretty aggravated about it for a while but we made the best of it.
> 
> It’s just frustrating that two of the main attractions I’m paying $130/person for were down.


maybe say something to guest services, they can probably throw you a few extra FPs for them.  They do this at EMM TSL when SDD is down for the majority of the event.  FPs seem to be the "currency of disappointment" at WDW (someone else coined that phrase and soooo true).


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

Chavaleh said:


> Husband and I booked DAH tickets for MK on Jan. 28th. We did it this past summer and had a fantastic time. Hopefully it won't be too chilly. Our last time happened to be on a night they were doing some blogger event so I think it may have been a little more crowded than usual, still wasn't bad at all but some of the snack lines were a touch long. We passed a cluster of people doing the in/out square squealing thing and I just kind of shook my head, laughed and asked my husband why people would pay money to have ride access and then spend their time doing that. A couple of weeks later we were watching Tim Tracker videos and saw ourselves walking right past them at that exact moment, they were the sillies "wasting time" (comped tickets I guess?).


What IS the in/out square squeling thing?


----------



## jaceraden

Yes, what does that mean???


----------



## amiskell28

ConnecticutNonna said:


> What IS the in/out square squeling thing?





jaceraden said:


> Yes, what does that mean???



Take a look about 1 page back for explanations.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

So is it only CMs and characters doing the square/squeal?


----------



## Babs1975

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Many thanks to @Tessaf, @Elle23, @Babs1975, @Magnoliafan, and @jalpert for checking in with their reviews from Monday, even though none of us like you since you had the best DAH night ever!   (Just kidding)
> 
> Links to review posts have been added to *Post #10*.
> 
> Next up is this coming Monday, 12/3.  Looking forward to hearing how things go.
> 
> If anyone who went on 11/26 or is going 12/3 happens to know or see any of the following, I would very much appreciate any info:
> 
> - There was a report from 11/26 that they held DAH ticket holders at the front entrance until 7pm... I'd love to hear from others who either went 11/26 or are going 12/3 if they experienced/experience something similar.   This would be something different than the 6pm'ish entry that has been the case for most of 2018.
> - If you're already in the park via other park admission, locations of any stations set up for credential pick-up.
> - Confirmation if the Tangled Lantern PhotoPass is out during DAH.
> 
> THANKS ALL!


Regarding 11/26...
We went in around 6 but with a regular day ticket so I'm not sure what time they let people in on just the DAH ticket. I actually did look over to the right to see if a line was forming, but saw absolutely nothing at 6. Makes sense now that we know how lighly attended our night was.

We did pick up our wristbands at Liberty Square guest services as well. Bummed that it wasn't a lanyard. Thought that would have been much nicer!

We did the Tangled lantern photo before DAH actually began, so can't help you there. It was probably around 9:15?? Was already totally dead in the park by then so there was no line! We normally wouldn't have done it, but with no line, why not? Came out super cute too.

Also saw some mention of fp's with DAH. For us having fp's with just DAH did not work. We got our last day's fp's cancelled. Just want to warn others on that. We got it straightened out, but did end up using a day's ticket to have our fp's that night. Which is fine. Just wish I would have known that was going to happen to avoid issues!


----------



## Mikelly1221

Can DVC members buy DAH tickets for others but not attend themselves?  My parents are DVC members and I know they would have no interest in attending...however if it's allowed, I'd love to give them the money to purchase tickets for us.

Not trying to circumvent rules, just trying to figure out the rules!


----------



## kittyab

GADisneyDad14 said:


> 7pm officially, regardless of actual DAH event hours.  Historically this year they've let people in more like 6pm, but recent reports (meaning, this week and last week) seem to indicate they stuck to more like 7pm.  Need more reports/data points to know for sure just what's up.



I know DVC members were allowed in the xmas party at 2 pm.   I wonder if they will do something  similar?


----------



## jhoannam

We were there Monday 12/3... similar report to everyone else. 

We walked over from CR at 7ish, had 4 FPs scheduled. Our first FP was for Space and as soon as we walked out of Space it started pouring rain. We saw on the radar that it was just a quick passing storm so we went to Monsters, it was perfect timing, we walked out and the rain had stopped. At that point it was 8ish, our plan was to use our freebie FP to ride SDMT but it was down, we stopped at Starbucks to get some much needed caffeine and watch the fireworks. After the fireworks we headed over to adventure land and just made our way around the park. We walked on to every ride (unless noted) in this order: Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Splash, Snack, BTMR, HM, IASM, PP, Snack, Winnie, Under the Sea, Dumbo, Barnstormer, 20 minute wait for Speedway (only running 6 cars), People Mover, Buzz, Carousel, 15 minutes for SDMT at 12:50, we had time to get in line one more time but DH was done. We grabbed another water and snack, took some pictures and headed out at 1:15am. We had a great time!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Thread Update*

Many thanks to @connorlevismom, @Saltywardog, @MicroBeta, @ELLH, @FFstreetDoc, @Nixon128, @mrsxsparrow, @jhoannam for stopping by with their 12/3/2018 thoughts and reviews.  *Post #10 links have been updated!  *

Always hard to tell from the written word, but sure does seem like a bit of a lighter crowd 'tone' for these past two events.  Event saturation?  New price point?  Slower time of year?  The later 10-1am hours?  It's always interesting to me to see the ebbs and flows of these types of events, especially new times of the year events like these Nov & Dec dates.  

Only one more MK DAH - this coming Monday - before a pause until January.   

Thanks again everyone.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Mikelly1221 said:


> Can DVC members buy DAH tickets for others but not attend themselves?  My parents are DVC members and I know they would have no interest in attending...however if it's allowed, I'd love to give them the money to purchase tickets for us.
> 
> Not trying to circumvent rules, just trying to figure out the rules!



I'm sorry, I don't know how DVC discounted tickets work.  Hopefully someone else will know.   Sorry!


----------



## iujen94

Mikelly1221 said:


> Can DVC members buy DAH tickets for others but not attend themselves?  My parents are DVC members and I know they would have no interest in attending...however if it's allowed, I'd love to give them the money to purchase tickets for us.
> 
> Not trying to circumvent rules, just trying to figure out the rules!



I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing they can. If they are like AP tickets (same price), once I bought them and linked them to my MDE, I have an option to “reassign” the ticket to any of my MDE friends. And there’s no apparent indication in MDE that my ticket (as the AP holder) is any different from the tickets I bought for my family.


----------



## apxstitch

ELLH said:


> Unfortunately, not only was mine train down the majority of the night but so was People Mover.  SDMT did come back up around midnight but while we were standing in line it went back down again, then back up around 12:30.  Space Mountain was down nearly the entire time; as we queued up in SDMT around 12:30 SM opened back up but by the time we got off MT it was too late to get to ride it.  Those rides being down irked me.
> 
> Fortunately, Ariel saved our night with - by far - the best character interaction my DD8 has ever had. We spent two rounds with her for a total of probably 12 minutes; 8 minutes the last round.
> 
> 
> Ignoring the initial annoyance of those downed rides, all in all it was a good night.


I went to see Ariel during After Hours on 11/26 and she was AMAZING!  I think she was one of my favorites from my whole trip.


----------



## Ladyfish77

Any idea why March 14th isn't included?  Apologies if it was answered elsewhere, but I *think* I've read the entire thread.  Of course that's the week we are going.  Trying to see if I can come a few days early for the March 7 date!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Ladyfish77 said:


> Any idea why March 14th isn't included?  Apologies if it was answered elsewhere, but I *think* I've read the entire thread.  Of course that's the week we are going.  Trying to see if I can come a few days early for the March 7 date!



My guess is it’s Spring Break related and that week, in Disney’s view, is maybe a higher crowd week.  We’ve typically seen a pause in some of these upcharge events like DAH and EMM come Spring Break time.  But it is weird they have dates pretty much the whole month of March this year, except that week.


----------



## Ladyfish77

GADisneyDad14 said:


> My guess is it’s Spring Break related and that week


Maybe lots of Florida schools have spring break that week?  Since spring breaks vary so much it just seems strange they singled out that week!  Thanks


----------



## Iowamomof4

Ladyfish77 said:


> Maybe lots of Florida schools have spring break that week?  Since spring breaks vary so much it just seems strange they singled out that week!  Thanks


I think that will be the busiest week of all the spring break weeks.


----------



## denecarter

Iowamomof4 said:


> I think that will be the busiest week of all the spring break weeks.





Ladyfish77 said:


> Maybe lots of Florida schools have spring break that week?  Since spring breaks vary so much it just seems strange they singled out that week!  Thanks



It is most likely Texas. We are from Texas, had the same Spring Break last year and this year.  Several of our major universities are out that week and local districts often align with them.

I think half of Texas was at WDW last March... the majority of the people we met were.  Before we arrived, regular hours were increased.  MK had 8 am opening daily and I think closed 11 pm & 12 pm nightly.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

denecarter said:


> It is most likely Texas. We are from Texas, had the same Spring Break last year and this year.  Several of our major universities are out that week and local districts often align with them.
> 
> I think half of Texas was at WDW last March... the majority of the people we met were.  Before we arrived, regular hours were increased.  MK had 8 am opening daily and I think closed 11 pm & 12 pm nightly.



Lol, yeah, I was going to say it’s either local FL or Texas Spring Break around then!


----------



## Elle23

denecarter said:


> It is most likely Texas. We are from Texas, had the same Spring Break last year and this year.  Several of our major universities are out that week and local districts often align with them.
> 
> I think half of Texas was at WDW last March... the majority of the people we met were.  Before we arrived, regular hours were increased.  MK had 8 am opening daily and I think closed 11 pm & 12 pm nightly.



So that’s when all the Texans go!

I never met another person from Texas on our whole trip last week!


----------



## katherine52478

ETA: I tried to reply to a question from the previous page about the DVC discount but it isn’t letting me quote for some reason....

I am an AP holder (not DVC). I called to buy two tickets tonight but made the mistake of saying they were a gift and they wouldn’t let me use my discount if I wasn’t going to be there.  She checked with two other departments to make sure.

Now I don’t know what would have happened if I said they were for me and someone else. I bought four tickets online for last January with my AP discount and just linked them in MDE for me and my family and didn’t have to show my AP or anything when I arrived so unless something changed, I don’t think they are flagged as AP tickets.


----------



## Rick195275

katherine52478 said:


> ETA: I tried to reply to a question from the previous page about the DVC discount but it isn’t letting me quote for some reason....
> 
> I am an AP holder (not DVC). I called to buy two tickets tonight but made the mistake of saying they were a gift and they wouldn’t let me use my discount if I wasn’t going to be there.  She checked with two other departments to make sure.
> 
> Now I don’t know what would have happened if I said they were for me and someone else. I bought four tickets online for last January with my AP discount and just linked them in MDE for me and my family and didn’t have to show my AP or anything when I arrived so unless something changed, I don’t think they are flagged as AP tickets.


I think like with many things involving Disney it depends on who you talk to. I purchased tickets for DAH for MK and HS for a trip in April. I did them as separate transactions with different CMs over the phone. For the MK tickets I was told they would need to be picked up at will call to verify my AP was activated. The CM for my HS tickets sent my tickets to my home no need to verify anything and I would also be able to link these to anyone I wanted. Seems like the Disney CMs are rarely on the same page. You should call back and try again, maybe don’t mention they are a gift haha


----------



## michellej47

Please add me for 2/14!


----------



## Saltywardog

north FL spring break is that week also.


----------



## disneyduonj

Are there different flavors of popcorn available?


----------



## focusondisney

disneyduonj said:


> Are there different flavors of popcorn available?




It was just the regular popcorn, no flavors, in February.


----------



## Mrjoshua

I went to DAH MK on 12/3, and loved it! We arrived at MK right around 10, after attending a rainy Jingle Bell Jingle Bam earlier in evening. 

After being detained by a shopping errand at the Emporium, we headed straight for BTMR. The first time we had to exit, but afterward they didn't make us get off the train. Once we were the only people on the train!

I was with a WDW newbie, so I was trying to give her a brief introduction to as much of the MK as possible, while still riding her new favorites repeatedly.

We got soaked by the rain (made a bad decision, and left ponchos at hotel) earlier. We also endured 2 major attractions being down for a significant amount of time. Despite being slightly disappointed, and wearing squishy, submerged shoes, we had a wonderful time! 14 rides after a late start, with food and beverage.That's the best testament I can offer.

Our rundown from 10pm til 1am:
-Emporium
-BTMR x 4
-Pirates of the Caribbean
-drinks
-Jingle Cruise
-popcorn
-Enchanted Tiki Room
-Haunted Mansion
-ice cream
-IASW
-Peter Pan's Flight
-waited in line for 7DMT, which went down 
-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
-ventured to Space Mountain, which was down 
-Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin x 2
-Tomorrowland People Mover


----------



## katherine52478

Rick195275 said:


> I think like with many things involving Disney it depends on who you talk to. I purchased tickets for DAH for MK and HS for a trip in April. I did them as separate transactions with different CMs over the phone. For the MK tickets I was told they would need to be picked up at will call to verify my AP was activated. The CM for my HS tickets sent my tickets to my home no need to verify anything and I would also be able to link these to anyone I wanted. Seems like the Disney CMs are rarely on the same page. You should call back and try again, maybe don’t mention they are a gift haha



I called back today and just asked to buy two tickets for After Hours and no questions were asked except: would I like them mailed or pick up at will call. I opted for mail so I guess we will see what happens! I looked around the boards and it looks like I should be able to reassign the ticket if it ended up linked to my name. Fingers crossed!


----------



## Mikelly1221

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I'm sorry, I don't know how DVC discounted tickets work.  Hopefully someone else will know.   Sorry!



Thank you for the information!


----------



## Liz Z

Darn~~I was really hoping for March 14th

Liz


----------



## mhowens

Liz Z said:


> Darn~~I was really hoping for March 14th
> 
> Liz



Me too!  Still not giving up hope.  Also, considering DHS After Hours for 3/16.


----------



## Thomasfouraker

I looked back to read through but was unable to find an answer.......

I know they added additional days (Feb 21, March 21, 28, Apr 4 and 11) and right now they are CALL ONLY for tickets.

Is it presumed that these will populate to the online calendar eventually for online ticket purchase option?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Thomasfouraker said:


> I looked back to read through but was unable to find an answer.......
> 
> I know they added additional days (Feb 21, March 21, 28, Apr 4 and 11) and right now they are CALL ONLY for tickets.
> 
> Is it presumed that these will populate to the online calendar eventually for online ticket purchase option?



That’s what has happened in the past. Why they haven’t added them by now is beyond me at the moment.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Lookin’ a little chilly for tonight’s MK DAH.  Hope everyone going tonight stays warm and has a great time!


----------



## BecuzImaLady

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Lookin’ a little chilly for tonight’s MK DAH.  Hope everyone going tonight stays warm and has a great time!


I will be there! I am not looking forward to the cold! The only reason I booked this last minute idea was because we couldn’t get anything done today at MK. It was a madhouse and we gave up early and decided to just resort hop then come back tonight for rides and shopping.


----------



## my_ears

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Lookin’ a little chilly for tonight’s MK DAH.  Hope everyone going tonight stays warm and has a great time!



Heading out there tonight with layers upon layers. Honestly, I'd cancel but they don't refund your money which sucks so must bear it. MK was ridiculously busy this afternoon so atleast I'll get to ride some rides.


----------



## BecuzImaLady

my_ears said:


> Heading out there tonight with layers upon layers. Honestly, I'd cancel but they don't refund your money which sucks so must bear it. MK was ridiculously busy this afternoon so atleast I'll get to ride some rides.


Amen


----------



## GADisneyDad14

I keep track of event temps in the charts on the first few posts.  Looks like tonight’s event start temp will be the coldest DAH record by a couple of degrees.  47 degree projected 10pm temp per Dark Sky.  

Layer up everyone!


----------



## focusondisney

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I keep track of event temps in the charts on the first few posts.  Looks like tonight’s event start temp will be the coldest DAH record by a couple of degrees.  47 degree projected 10pm temp per Dark Sky.
> 
> Layer up everyone!






Disney needs to give away hot chocolate, not ice cream!


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I keep track of event temps in the charts on the first few posts.  Looks like tonight’s event start temp will be the coldest DAH record by a couple of degrees.  47 degree projected 10pm temp per Dark Sky.
> 
> Layer up everyone!


Dang I’m from the Midwest and I still think that would be pretty cold


----------



## Elle23

Our Monday 11/26 DAH was originally predicted to be cold. The cold front didn’t arrive until Tuesday night, so thankfully I just had to freeze to death during the Candlelight Processional and not DAH!


----------



## Shelbizzles

It was freezing but so much fun!
Dh and I attended tonight. We started in tomorrow land a little early during the fireworks but this is what we accomplished from 9:10-12:55

People mover- where we could see some of the fireworks

Space mountain

Space ranger spin with a FP

Astro orbiter- our after hours officially started while we were in line for this.

Met Ariel

Voyage of the little mermaid

Seven dwarfs

Winnie the Pooh ride

Met rapunzel & tiana

Peter pan

Lantern shot

Thunder mountain

Pirates

Waited in line for two photopass in front of the castle then snapped a few shots of our own.

Seven dwarfs

Space mountain

We also stopped for snacks, drinks or to use the bathroom quite a few times!
Really easy to get back to the resort.
I would not hesitate to do this one again. It was even better then The Early morning magic we did this morning.


----------



## Lisa F

Shelbizzles said:


> It was freezing but so much fun!
> Dh and I attended tonight. We started in tomorrow land a little early during the fireworks but this is what we accomplished from 9:10-12:55
> 
> People mover- where we could see some of the fireworks
> 
> Space mountain
> 
> Space ranger spin with a FP
> 
> Astro orbiter- our after hours officially started while we were in line for this.
> 
> Met Ariel
> 
> Voyage of the little mermaid
> 
> Seven dwarfs
> 
> Winnie the Pooh ride
> 
> Met rapunzel & tiana
> 
> Peter pan
> 
> Lantern shot
> 
> Thunder mountain
> 
> Pirates
> 
> Waited in line for two photopass in front of the castle then snapped a few shots of our own.
> 
> Seven dwarfs
> 
> Space mountain
> 
> We also stopped for snacks, drinks or to use the bathroom quite a few times!
> Really easy to get back to the resort.
> I would not hesitate to do this one again. It was even better then The Early morning magic we did this morning.


you did EMM and DAH in the same day?


----------



## Shelbizzles

Lisa F said:


> you did EMM and DAH in the same day?



Yes! And I had fast passes at animal kingdom today. It was an awesome day!


----------



## Lisa F

Shelbizzles said:


> Yes! And I had fast passes at animal kingdom today. It was an awesome day!


you must be much younger than I am, lol.

We are doing AK in the morning and then rest at the resort then 8-11pm DAH.  But I also have a 10 year old.


----------



## mgrayar

Shelbizzles said:


> It was freezing but so much fun!
> Dh and I attended tonight. We started in tomorrow land a little early during the fireworks but this is what we accomplished from 9:10-12:55
> 
> People mover- where we could see some of the fireworks
> 
> Space mountain
> 
> Space ranger spin with a FP
> 
> Astro orbiter- our after hours officially started while we were in line for this.
> 
> Met Ariel
> 
> Voyage of the little mermaid
> 
> Seven dwarfs
> 
> Winnie the Pooh ride
> 
> Met rapunzel & tiana
> 
> Peter pan
> 
> Lantern shot
> 
> Thunder mountain
> 
> Pirates
> 
> Waited in line for two photopass in front of the castle then snapped a few shots of our own.
> 
> Seven dwarfs
> 
> Space mountain
> 
> We also stopped for snacks, drinks or to use the bathroom quite a few times!
> Really easy to get back to the resort.
> I would not hesitate to do this one again. It was even better then The Early morning magic we did this morning.


It’s good to hear you didn’t crash. We are planning to do EMM at TSL on 1/28 and do the rest of the park by 3:30. Then head to DS for dinner. My DD10 and I are leaving the DS4 & DD4 with DW to take the boat back to POR and we are headed to DAH MK for a little late night fun. 

Luckily for us it’s an early DAH from 8-11. But I still think our late start the next day will be well timed.


----------



## Haley R

Lisa F said:


> you must be much younger than I am, lol.
> 
> We are doing AK in the morning and then rest at the resort then 8-11pm DAH.  But I also have a 10 year old.


I’m in my 20s and couldn’t do that lol


----------



## GAN

focusondisney said:


> Disney needs to give away hot chocolate, not ice cream!



Don’t worry ...the sugar in the ice cream actually warms you.


----------



## Elsaspiritanimal

We had a great time even though it was pretty chilly last night! The crowds were great, the lowest of the 3 I’ve been to so far. We did BTM x2, HM, PP, 7dmt x7, Buzz x1, Space x8 plus snacks and a bunch of pics. I’ll write a more detailed review when we get home but this was so much fun!!!


----------



## GAN

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I keep track of event temps in the charts on the first few posts.  Looks like tonight’s event start temp will be the coldest DAH record by a couple of degrees.  47 degree projected 10pm temp per Dark Sky.
> 
> Layer up everyone!



I’m from New England so 40’s isn’t anything new.  I recorded 43 on my Apple Watch -not sure what the actually temp was, but either way it was cold especially with the wind chill.  I did just about everything except attractions that I had no interest in, and could have done more if it was warmer.  All in all, for the money this event is a no-brainer.


----------



## marisas1011

Did this event last night and it was amazing.  It was so nice to be able to take time and just walk leisurely and not have to fight your way through a crowd.  We finished the night on Splash in a freezing 42 degrees.  It was a great event and I would do it again in a minute.


----------



## GAN

marisas1011 said:


> Did this event last night and it was amazing.  It was so nice to be able to take time and just walk leisurely and not have to fight your way through a crowd.  We finished the night on Splash in a freezing 42 degrees.  It was a great event and I would do it again in a minute.



I give you credit because not too many were riding.  Did you use ponchos?  I normally would never, but had I brought mine I probably would have on this particular night.  Although it was a real low wait most of the day....


----------



## 0FF TO NEVERLAND

I assume there is no way in the world they would add more dates for around the holidays. Kinda wanted to check out the park during christmas time next week


----------



## georgina

Still on the fence about this. Went solo last year Feb 15, DH and I will be in the area Feb 21 this year. It's close to Pres Day weekend so I expect will be more crowded. Maybe I should go back and find my posts from last years thread.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

georgina said:


> Still on the fence about this. Went solo last year Feb 15, DH and I will be in the area Feb 21 this year. It's close to Pres Day weekend so I expect will be more crowded. Maybe I should go back and find my posts from last years thread.


Did you enjoy yourself last year?


----------



## georgina

ConnecticutNonna said:


> Did you enjoy yourself last year?



Yes I did. I also had an AP and got a discount on my ticket. No AP this year, it would be 2 full price tickets for us. We were just there a few weeks ago so Feb would be a more relaxed trip, plus we are staying offsite so no hard to get FP's, which are reasons to do DAH. I did go back and reread last years thread, I got a lot done so maybe I will spring for tickets. There are no after hours for Ak or HS while we are there.


----------



## marisas1011

GAN said:


> I give you credit because not too many were riding.  Did you use ponchos?  I normally would never, but had I brought mine I probably would have on this particular night.  Although it was a real low wait most of the day....


We didn’t use ponchos. We planned it as our last ride and then we were going to leave and we luckily didn’t end up getting very wet.


----------



## Shelbizzles

Lisa F said:


> you must be much younger than I am, lol.
> 
> We are doing AK in the morning and then rest at the resort then 8-11pm DAH.  But I also have a 10 year old.



I’m in my late 20’s and it definitely kicked my butt. I was exhausted today. It was a lot of fun but next time I would schedule them on different days lol



mgrayar said:


> It’s good to hear you didn’t crash. We are planning to do EMM at TSL on 1/28 and do the rest of the park by 3:30. Then head to DS for dinner. My DD10 and I are leaving the DS4 & DD4 with DW to take the boat back to POR and we are headed to DAH MK for a little late night fun.
> 
> Luckily for us it’s an early DAH from 8-11. But I still think our late start the next day will be well timed.



Yes we did make it pretty much the whole day. We took a couple hour break at our resort right before our DAH because it was so late. But I’m sure you’ll be okay with the 8-11 time!


----------



## PatMcDuck

I want to buy DAH for mid-January.  Tempted to wait until weather forecast comes out (not worried about cold, we are from the northeast, but rain would be bad for DS in his WC.  I just do not think mid-January will sell out early.  Thankfully we are DVC and get that nice discount.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

georgina said:


> Yes I did. I also had an AP and got a discount on my ticket. No AP this year, it would be 2 full price tickets for us. We were just there a few weeks ago so Feb would be a more relaxed trip, plus we are staying offsite so no hard to get FP's, which are reasons to do DAH. I did go back and reread last years thread, I got a lot done so maybe I will spring for tickets. There are no after hours for Ak or HS while we are there.


It's funny, I seriously think I may plan my next trip around DAH and EMM, stay off-site in a really nice hotel and not worry about Fast passes, etc.  Possibly stay one night to be able to get DHs favorite CG brunch in, but with all these extras it may just be better.  We always rented a vehicle, now you have to pay to park at the resort.  Seriously, it's becoming far less important to stay onsite with all the other options.  It's kind of freeing!
Lol


----------



## GADisneyDad14

PatMcDuck said:


> I want to buy DAH for mid-January.  Tempted to wait until weather forecast comes out (not worried about cold, we are from the northeast, but rain would be bad for DS in his WC.  I just do not think mid-January will sell out early.  Thankfully we are DVC and get that nice discount.



I'm wondering if the "sell out" history we experienced last winter will still hold true this year with more DAH events (not just MK, now AK and DHS) and at more times throughout the year to potentially spread demand around.  I know for us, we made special trips in Feb in the past just for DAH... but now that I'm 'assuming' it'll continue to be offered on/off over the year, including the summer which is more convenient for us to travel... I'm not feeling the big need to plan a specific MK DAH trip in Jan/Feb this year.  

Time will tell I guess.


----------



## Lisa F

ConnecticutNonna said:


> It's funny, I seriously think I may plan my next trip around DAH and EMM, stay off-site in a really nice hotel and not worry about Fast passes, etc.  Possibly stay one night to be able to get DHs favorite CG brunch in, but with all these extras it may just be better.  We always rented a vehicle, now you have to pay to park at the resort.  Seriously, it's becoming far less important to stay onsite with all the other options.  It's kind of freeing!
> Lol


it's certainly not the worst strategy in the world with a cost of regular tickets what they are.


----------



## GAN

PatMcDuck said:


> I want to buy DAH for mid-January.  Tempted to wait until weather forecast comes out (not worried about cold, we are from the northeast, but rain would be bad for DS in his WC.  I just do not think mid-January will sell out early.  Thankfully we are DVC and get that nice discount.



I totally agree with your thinking....it probably won’t sell out, so wait.  My only concern would be if you were there during the marathon weekend -that might cause higher than normal sales


----------



## ErinBoBerin

Question for you guys - not attending after hours but if I want to go to MK just to see the fireworks on an after hours night, do you think there'll be an issue with that? It's the only night we're free to go see them...


----------



## SaintsManiac

ErinBoBerin said:


> Question for you guys - not attending after hours but if I want to go to MK just to see the fireworks on an after hours night, do you think there'll be an issue with that? It's the only night we're free to go see them...




The fireworks are during normal park hours, so there would not be an issue.


----------



## ErinBoBerin

SaintsManiac said:


> The fireworks are during normal park hours, so there would not be an issue.



Thanks!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I'm wondering if the "sell out" history we experienced last winter will still hold true this year with more DAH events (not just MK, now AK and DHS) and at more times throughout the year to potentially spread demand around.  I know for us, we made special trips in Feb in the past just for DAH... but now that I'm 'assuming' it'll continue to be offered on/off over the year, including the summer which is more convenient for us to travel... I'm not feeling the big need to plan a specific MK DAH trip in Jan/Feb this year.
> 
> Time will tell I guess.



I've been contemplating changing our flight to early morning to do MK DAH on our arrival day, but I can't seem to commit to it yet (fear of kids missing too much school), but I've been worried it will sell out - it's MLK weekend and I know that one sold out last year, but I think just a few days before the event.  But I hadn't thought of it that way about spreading out demand - just that it seems to be increasing in popularity!  I wish it was like SW airlines and there was a "number of seats left at that fare" kind of thing! Or I could just make up my mind...


----------



## amiskell28

SaintsManiac said:


> The fireworks are during normal park hours, so there would not be an issue.



Are they, even on an 8 PM closing night? For some reason, I thought they were right at 8:00?


----------



## PatMcDuck

I arrive on January 13th, Sunday, the end of the marathon weekend, so not sure.  Maybe I will buy soon. My husband does not arrive until very late Wednesday night, and he only has 3 days in the parks.  So doing MK on Thursday night, would free up time to see some of each of the other 3 parks.  I did this last January with my daughter too, that was a 3 day trip as well, so the MK DAH was fantastic, we went on almost every ride in the park that night, after spending the earlier part of the day at another park.


----------



## Lisa F

TheFloatingBear said:


> I've been contemplating changing our flight to early morning to do MK DAH on our arrival day, but I can't seem to commit to it yet (fear of kids missing too much school), but I've been worried it will sell out - it's MLK weekend and I know that one sold out last year, but I think just a few days before the event.  But I hadn't thought of it that way about spreading out demand - just that it seems to be increasing in popularity!  I wish it was like SW airlines and there was a "number of seats left at that fare" kind of thing! Or I could just make up my mind...



We're flying on the same day (if I am piecing this together correctly).  the 17th?  I thought about doing it that night but we have a 6am flight, LONG day. so we'll skip it.  I don't think it will be super crowded on the 17th because it's Thursday - last year it was on Friday so that probably contributed, probably lots of friday afternoon arrivals kicking their vacation off with the extra hours.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Lisa F said:


> We're flying on the same day (if I am piecing this together correctly).  the 17th?  I thought about doing it that night but we have a 6am flight, LONG day. so we'll skip it.  I don't think it will be super crowded on the 17th because it's Thursday - last year it was on Friday so that probably contributed, probably lots of friday afternoon arrivals kicking their vacation off with the extra hours.


 
Yes! The 17th! I hadn't thought about the Thursday vs Friday thing, I was just thinking holiday weekend, but that's true it could definitely make a difference. Maybe I can extend my indecisiveness a few more days! Last year I went the following weekend, the last weekend in January - it was also a Friday and I think it sold out. 

Right now our flight gets in at 9pm, which we've never done before with the kids, but we can just pick them up from school and head to the airport and they'd only miss one day. The only other direct flight gets in at 11 am - departs around 8am. That's more our "usual" flight time, and then we'd generally go into a park, but not plan a late night. If we did this earlier departure, we'd probably do lunch at the resort and just do low-key resort stuff until our room was ready and save energy for the evening. We're already doing DAH at HS on Saturday night, but it's a birthday splurge and I think this would be fun! But I can definitely see where it could be tiring after a long flight - I remember my daughter was dragging last year at DAH just from a full day of fun...(Plus I could be rolling the dice with bad weather given it's January, but I'm trying not to thing about that!)


----------



## Lisa F

TheFloatingBear said:


> Yes! The 17th! I hadn't thought about the Thursday vs Friday thing, I was just thinking holiday weekend, but that's true it could definitely make a difference. Maybe I can extend my indecisiveness a few more days! Last year I went the following weekend, the last weekend in January - it was also a Friday and I think it sold out.
> 
> Right now our flight gets in at 9pm, which we've never done before with the kids, but we can just pick them up from school and head to the airport and they'd only miss one day. The only other direct flight gets in at 11 am - departs around 8am. That's more our "usual" flight time, and then we'd generally go into a park, but not plan a late night. If we did this earlier departure, we'd probably do lunch at the resort and just do low-key resort stuff until our room was ready and save energy for the evening. We're already doing DAH at HS on Saturday night, but it's a birthday splurge and I think this would be fun! But I can definitely see where it could be tiring after a long flight - I remember my daughter was dragging last year at DAH just from a full day of fun...(Plus I could be rolling the dice with bad weather given it's January, but I'm trying not to thing about that!)



I'm just pulling my kid out of school for the day and the following week, lol.  So I only considered it for about a second but I am doing the following one our 2nd to last night.  I know from previous experience that my kid will poop out by around 6:30pm on travel day with a flight that early so we have a 5:15 crystal palace and then back to the hotel to chill before we start the real vacation.  

I will just dress warm if it's cold. I'm coming from MA so it won't be as cold as here, that's for sure!  Reminds me I wanted to get hand warmers though!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Lisa F said:


> I'm just pulling my kid out of school for the day and the following week, lol.  So I only considered it for about a second but I am doing the following one our 2nd to last night.  I know from previous experience that my kid will poop out by around 6:30pm on travel day with a flight that early so we have a 5:15 crystal palace and then back to the hotel to chill before we start the real vacation.
> 
> I will just dress warm if it's cold. I'm coming from MA so it won't be as cold as here, that's for sure!  Reminds me I wanted to get hand warmers though!



That sounds like a good plan! We love CP on arrival day! It's a short trip for us so I have to jam in all I can! When they were younger I would pull them out a couple of days but now it's getting tougher,  which is why we went with the holiday weekend instead of the following weekend.

I'm coming from MA too! Layers! I don't remember being cold last year except when we were sitting in Tomorrowland eating Mickey bars!


----------



## Lisa F

TheFloatingBear said:


> That sounds like a good plan! We love CP on arrival day! It's a short trip for us so I have to jam in all I can! When they were younger I would pull them out a couple of days but now it's getting tougher,  which is why we went with the holiday weekend instead of the following weekend.
> 
> I'm coming from MA too! Layers! I don't remember being cold last year except when we were sitting in Tomorrowland eating Mickey bars!



Yeah my kid has friday and monday off so I am basically pulling him out a week for a 9 day trip so that's pretty good!  I like to go back on Saturday to give us time to re-enter.  He is in the 5th grade and this is the last year I will do this - i'm only really doing it because I decided to upgrade to APs last year on his february break and I needed time to save for the next trip but couldn't push it out to february break again because not enough overlap, so since he had the Friday and the Monday off I decided to hitch it to this break. 

After this I'll stick to breaks!

Hopefully it won't be as bad either because the thursday hours won't be expanded from an 8pm close but friday might have a later close.. I think DAH last year ran later than 8-11, although the sun goes down early it seems like it doesn't reach the low until midnight or after so that helps a bit too. Or so I tell myself.  Still hoping for more in the 50's than the 40's.  It was in the 50's for halloween here and it was very comfortable walking around!


----------



## georgina

amiskell28 said:


> Are they, even on an 8 PM closing night? For some reason, I thought they were right at 8:00?



Yes. Regular guests will not be kicked out of the park at 8, you just can't get in any more ride lines after the 'after hours' starts.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

FYI, the new dates that were added 11/15 (_* 2/21, 3/21, 3/28, 4/4, and 4/11 2019) _are now finally available to buy tickets online.  Was previously only by phone.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

GADisneyDad14 said:


> FYI, the new dates that were added 11/15 (_* 2/21, 3/21, 3/28, 4/4, and 4/11 2019) _are now finally available to buy tickets online.  Was previously only by phone.


Awesome, thanks for the info.


----------



## NYCANC

We have Friday and Monday off too for MLK and now, of course, that Friday is now a snow make-up day (we are in NC where they don't really build in banked days). So my oldest will miss two days instead of just one.
We are doing MK AH Thursday night- we are coming down late on Wednesday.


----------



## Mainebound

PatMcDuck said:


> I want to buy DAH for mid-January.  Tempted to wait until weather forecast comes out (not worried about cold, we are from the northeast, but rain would be bad for DS in his WC.  I just do not think mid-January will sell out early.  Thankfully we are DVC and get that nice discount.



I am considering the Jan 7 MK DAH, but also waiting on the weather. Did it sell out last mid-Jan? (we have only done DAH in March in the past).


----------



## Candlelady

Will more dates be released?  We will be there in May and hoping to attend.


----------



## cusack1020

I am also arriving Jan 17th and bought DAH tickets that night for me and my 13yo DD. I actually moved our flights up and she will miss school that day just for DAH and I felt bad because now she'll miss two days instead of 1. Originally we weren't arriving until late that night. With a 7:00am flight we arrive at 9:00. I am thinking we will probably be exhausted but we plan to sleep in on Friday morning.


----------



## Araminta18

I keep hoping they'll add a date for Feb 10-13th, but probably a lost hope... We had so much fun doing this event in September, I'd love to do it again.


----------



## disneyboundteacher

I did one of the first test AHM test for free as a dvc member and it was awesome.  The Park was empty. Of course, it wasn’t popular then and cast members said there were only about 500 there.  I rode Haunted Mansion by myself!


----------



## mumzie2three

cusack1020 said:


> I am also arriving Jan 17th and bought DAH tickets that night for me and my 13yo DD. I actually moved our flights up and she will miss school that day just for DAH and I felt bad because now she'll miss two days instead of 1. Originally we weren't arriving until late that night. With a 7:00am flight we arrive at 9:00. I am thinking we will probably be exhausted but we plan to sleep in on Friday morning.


Add us to the exhausted list! Lol. Me and DS 10 will be at DAH that night, last night of our vacation....we will also sleep in a little Fri am and fly home that afternoon.


----------



## amiskell28

We will be at Animal Kingdom during the day (2/7). We don't have park hoppers. We have MK DAH tickets that night (8p-11p). We are planning to leave AK about 5:30 to head over to MK for a dinner reservation at Tony's (I know, I know - but gotta eat somewhere and I've read some good things from recent reports) at 6:45.

1. Is that enough time to get from AK to MK by Disney transport, or should we uber? and 
2. Will they let us in for the dining reservation? It just occurred to me that we don't have hoppers, and recent reports are that DAH ticket holders are held until 7ish.

Thoughts?


----------



## mumzie2three

amiskell28 said:


> We will be at Animal Kingdom during the day (2/7). We don't have park hoppers. We have MK DAH tickets that night (8p-11p). We are planning to leave AK about 5:30 to head over to MK for a dinner reservation at Tony's (I know, I know - but gotta eat somewhere and I've read some good things from recent reports) at 6:45.
> 
> 1. Is that enough time to get from AK to MK by Disney transport, or should we uber? and
> 2. Will they let us in for the dining reservation? It just occurred to me that we don't have hoppers, and recent reports are that DAH ticket holders are held until 7ish.
> 
> Thoughts?


I can not say whether or not they will let you in, but the last time we ate at Tony's were seated almost an hour after our "reservation" time........which is why I am skipping dining reservations this trip. I was stressed that we would miss the evening parade, but we didn't. 
This Jan will be my first DAH and I plan on eating an early dinner with DS and hitting the park ready to ride!


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

cusack1020 said:


> I am also arriving Jan 17th and bought DAH tickets that night for me and my 13yo DD. I actually moved our flights up and she will miss school that day just for DAH and I felt bad because now she'll miss two days instead of 1. Originally we weren't arriving until late that night. With a 7:00am flight we arrive at 9:00. I am thinking we will probably be exhausted but we plan to sleep in on Friday morning.


If your room is ready you could nap...


----------



## js

amiskell28 said:


> We will be at Animal Kingdom during the day (2/7). We don't have park hoppers. We have MK DAH tickets that night (8p-11p). We are planning to leave AK about 5:30 to head over to MK for a dinner reservation at Tony's (I know, I know - but gotta eat somewhere and I've read some good things from recent reports) at 6:45.
> 
> 1. Is that enough time to get from AK to MK by Disney transport, or should we uber? and
> 2. Will they let us in for the dining reservation? It just occurred to me that we don't have hoppers, and recent reports are that DAH ticket holders are held until 7ish.
> 
> Thoughts?



I would guess you should get to MK on time but Im not sure of the ressie time. Also I am not sure about getting in before 7 pm since it seems to be the new norm lately.

I personally would have counter service at AK if you didnt plan on heading back to your hotel before MK evening.

We are staying at BLT and I made Wave ressies for 5:15 pm to give us time to eat and go back to room to get our things before heading to MK.  I would/will be using my 7-8 early entry time to do HoP, People Mpver, CoP, Mickeys Phila, PhotoPass (we have APs) etc. then start at 8 with rides.


----------



## amiskell28

mumzie2three said:


> I can not say whether or not they will let you in, but the last time we ate at Tony's were seated almost an hour after our "reservation" time



Good to know! I'm very wishy-washy in the reservation, anyway. I may just nix it.



js said:


> I personally would have counter service at AK if you didnt plan on heading back to your hotel before MK evening.



Probably a good plan. We are staying at Poly, so perhaps we will head to the resort first. I was able to get a FoP FP for 4:35-5:35 (on 60+2!), so we'll use that and then either eat quick service at AK or perhaps at Poly before we head over to MK. Can't wait!


----------



## Haley R

amiskell28 said:


> Good to know! I'm very wishy-washy in the reservation, anyway. I may just nix it.
> 
> 
> 
> Probably a good plan. We are staying at Poly, so perhaps we will head to the resort first. I was able to get a FoP FP for 4:35-5:35 (on 60+2!), so we'll use that and then either eat quick service at AK or perhaps at Poly before we head over to MK. Can't wait!


I would say if you have a fp at fop that late you should just grab dinner at satuli. That place is so good! Also, I highly doubt they will let you in mk early if you only have the dah ticket.


----------



## shaynar

Has anyone here taken young kids? We will have a 10 yo, 7 yo, 5 yo and 1.5 yo. I'm thinking this will be a chance to get on every ride so at least we can do the "check list", but I'm also worried that a late night would mess with them. 
So before I spend $625 US I would love to hear from someone who has gone with kids.


----------



## Haley R

shaynar said:


> Has anyone here taken young kids? We will have a 10 yo, 7 yo, 5 yo and 1.5 yo. I'm thinking this will be a chance to get on every ride so at least we can do the "check list", but I'm also worried that a late night would mess with them.
> So before I spend $625 US I would love to hear from someone who has gone with kids.


We took our 9 yo niece so I can’t speak for your younger ones but she was done by 11:30 for the midnight dah. We relaxed all day and had dinner at ohana and she was still pooped by 11:30.


----------



## CAQDaddy

shaynar said:


> Has anyone here taken young kids? We will have a 10 yo, 7 yo, 5 yo and 1.5 yo. I'm thinking this will be a chance to get on every ride so at least we can do the "check list", but I'm also worried that a late night would mess with them.
> So before I spend $625 US I would love to hear from someone who has gone with kids.


I think it would be tough to get your money's worth with all the little ones. You need to be able to move fairly quickly and it is exhausting even for adults. I love DAH, but if it existed 20 years ago when my kids were young I wouldn't have done it with them.


----------



## cusack1020

ConnecticutNonna said:


> If your room is ready you could nap...



Yes, this definitely! If room is ready that will be my plan but not sure my DD will agree! SOG has a nice breakfast buffet until 11:00 so I thought maybe we could take a break and relax with breakfast assuming our flight is on time.


----------



## bigeyedfish

Have you thought about EMM instead of DAH?  Early mornings seem to be better for young kids in many cases.  I know my children at those ages would not have been able to stay up past their bedtime by hours without ruining the experience for the rest of us, but only you know your kids.


----------



## js

amiskell28 said:


> Good to know! I'm very wishy-washy in the reservation, anyway. I may just nix it.
> 
> 
> 
> Probably a good plan. We are staying at Poly, so perhaps we will head to the resort first. I was able to get a FoP FP for 4:35-5:35 (on 60+2!), so we'll use that and then either eat quick service at AK or perhaps at Poly before we head over to MK. Can't wait!



Given above, I would try the day/night and day off to modify my FoP earlier and get it done. If you can do that I would leave the park once done and head back to Poly. Maybe getting a Kona ressie. I am not sure when you are going or if you have kids with you but you may want to get back to Poly and get jackets, relax a few, etc. 

We are going in a few weeks and plan on it being chilli/ cold in evenings and want to be prepared (we are three adults).


----------



## amiskell28

js said:


> Given above, I would try the day/night and day off to modify my FoP earlier and get it done. If you can do that I would leave the park once done and head back to Poly. Maybe getting a Kona ressie. I am not sure when you are going or if you have kids with you but you may want to get back to Poly and get jackets, relax a few, etc.
> 
> We are going in a few weeks and plan on it being chilli/ cold in evenings and want to be prepared (we are three adults).


 
Yep, I've been trying to modify the FoP but it's way too soon. I will def keep trying, I would love to get it earlier. I was just so excited to get it at all - and not so late that it actually completely ruins our chances to go to DAH, too! 

We have an almost 8 year old daughter. We know this day will get long, and would love to be able to have some down time before heading into DAH. At least it's an early DAH, so that will help. If we can't modify the FoP FP, we'll probably be there at the beginning of the window and then head straight out.

Thanks for the advice on the weather! I've been scratching my head trying to figure out what to pack. We're from WI, so no strangers to cold. I'm thinking some thin long underwear type items to layer and take off or put on as needed, along with a light coat or sweatshirt.


----------



## mcurrence

shaynar said:


> Has anyone here taken young kids? We will have a 10 yo, 7 yo, 5 yo and 1.5 yo. I'm thinking this will be a chance to get on every ride so at least we can do the "check list", but I'm also worried that a late night would mess with them.
> So before I spend $625 US I would love to hear from someone who has gone with kids.


I don't have little little ones, mine were almost 8 and 10 our first DAH and we drove 8 hours from GA, spent time in the pool and did our first DAH 8-11 (no sleep at all) and they were great.  This will be our fourth time going and every time we see a ton of little ones up and around or sleeping in their strollers. My girls are usually in bed on the weekends by 9:30. We've always driven day of (not that I recommend it LOL) but we've always been happily exhausted at the end of the night


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

amiskell28 said:


> Yep, I've been trying to modify the FoP but it's way too soon. I will def keep trying, I would love to get it earlier. I was just so excited to get it at all - and not so late that it actually completely ruins our chances to go to DAH, too!
> 
> We have an almost 8 year old daughter. We know this day will get long, and would love to be able to have some down time before heading into DAH. At least it's an early DAH, so that will help. If we can't modify the FoP FP, we'll probably be there at the beginning of the window and then head straight out.
> 
> Thanks for the advice on the weather! I've been scratching my head trying to figure out what to pack. We're from WI, so no strangers to cold. I'm thinking some thin long underwear type items to layer and take off or put on as needed, along with a light coat or sweatshirt.


I was raised in upstate NY, and live in CT.  Last March we were wearing Winter coats, hats, scarves, and gloves for DAH.  IT WAS COLD.  I would definitly plan that it may get to be very chilly.  Being out after dark and in the cold chill, we were grateful for our winter gear.  Right now, in CT it's 40°.  And we just got home from dinner.  I had winter coat, gloves, scarf and boots, and couldn't wait to get under the covers to my electric blanket.  It was 42° or 44° last year.  I'd have to look up my old posts.  But, suffice it to say, we were bundled, as was everyone else!


----------



## Elsaspiritanimal

My SIL and I attended MK DAH on 12/10. It was pretty chilly - very glad I had a hat, gloves and a windproof lined shell on over my sweater. The bus going home read a temp of 41! Here's what we were able to accomplish.

Started the day with Boma breakfast buffet (highly recommend to anyone) before heading to AK. Stayed there until about 6:30 then took the bust over to MK. Had to wait about 25 minutes for a bus FYI.

Arrived at MK at 7:30 and used the special event entrance with about 2 groups in front of us and got the wristbands quickly. No lanyards this time. We had to actively seek out the event brochure they were not handing them out by default at that time.

We scored a same day FP for Jingle cruise at 7:40, then grabbed a pretzel and brought it to eat inside Columbia Harbor House for a break from the cold.

Grabbed a IASW FP at 8:10, then headed over to storybook circus for some shopping before our 8:50 Dumbo FP. Timed it so we watched the fireworks for 3 dumbo rides in a row (this was so awesome!!!) then finished watching the fireworks by Ariel's. This was a great spot if you don't need to see the projections it felt like you were right under the fireworks. We then walked onto Little Mermaid at 9:20 then headed for Pirates FP at 9:30. Our goal was to get as many of the longer rides out of the way before DAH so we could re-ride some of our faves later in the event. By that time we were about 10 minutes to the start of DAH, so we made our way over to Frontierland.

We waved at all (2) of the brave people riding Splash and went on big Thunder. It was a walk-on and both sides were still open. When we got off it was the start of DAH!!

10:01 - 10:10 - BTM
10:13 - 10:25 - HM
10:27 - walked by Tangled photo op and looked to be about 7 or 8 groups in line.
10:31 - 10:37 - PP. Was total walk on when we went, line looked to build a little to maybe 5 minute wait by the time we got off.
10:39 - 10:47 - 7DMT (only about 5 minutes to wait for next train to load slowly)

Here's where the magic happens. 
10:54 - 11:42 - Space x8. We were able to use the back shortcut which helped us ride the 8 times in that 45 minute span. My brother and I set our family record of 7x in a row in September so of course my SIL and I needed to beat that. I did overhear another gentleman asking if he had to exit each time he rode and a cast member told him yes, so I'm guessing it is better to just use the shortcut and don't ask because your answer may vary by cast member. We also got to know a few awesome cast members pretty well by the end of the 8th ride and they were wondering if we knew other rides were open....LOL

10:45 - 11:55 - stop for water, ice cream and popcorn at Tomorrowland cart. Had to wait behind about 5 groups but it moved pretty fast. Longest wait of the night.

11:59 - 12:05 - Buzz
12:07 - 12:11 - Popcorn stop in front of castle and pictures
12:13 - 1:01 - 7DMT x7. Each time was a walk on, just took as long as you had to walk through the whole standby queue except for the very last ride at 12:57 where they let us walk the FP line.

We took our time on the way out taking picture of the castle and watching the kiss goodnight (1:15 and as we were walking out at 1:30). There were still plenty of photopass photographers out on main street, and it looked like the Emporium was still open for shopping. By this time buses were not crowded at all and only had to wait about 5 minutes before a bus showed up to POP with about 10 other people.

Great night all in all with 19 rides during the actual event, plus a few beforehand. We definitely didn't rush either and stopped for pictures and snacks and the whole event just felt relaxed and fun, despite the cold. Will definitely do this event again!


----------



## iujen94

Elsaspiritanimal said:


> 10:54 - 11:42 - Space x8. We were able to use the back shortcut which helped us ride the 8 times in that 45 minute span. My brother and I set our family record of 7x in a row in September so of course my SIL and I needed to beat that. I did overhear another gentleman asking if he had to exit each time he rode and a cast member told him yes, so I'm guessing it is better to just use the shortcut and don't ask because your answer may vary by cast member. We also got to know a few awesome cast members pretty well by the end of the 8th ride and they were wondering if we knew other rides were open....LOL



What/where is the Space back shortcut???

(Your night sounds like my boys' dream night, with some BTMRR thrown in!)


----------



## Elsaspiritanimal

iujen94 said:


> What/where is the Space back shortcut???
> 
> (Your night sounds like my boys' dream night, with some BTMRR thrown in!)


After you take in your ride photos, there will be a sign pointing to exit the ride to Tomorrowland. Go the opposite way of the exit sign/new exit ramp that just opened. There will be a short hallway that has an option to go either left or right at the end. We always went left because we like that side of SM better, but either way will take you to basically where the cars load. I think they may use this for rider switch or some other purpose as well, but it saved I'm guessing a good at least 5 if not 10 minutes of walking for each ride.


----------



## iujen94

[


Elsaspiritanimal said:


> After you take in your ride photos, there will be a sign pointing to exit the ride to Tomorrowland. Go the opposite way of the exit sign/new exit ramp that just opened. There will be a short hallway that has an option to go either left or right at the end. We always went left because we like that side of SM better, but either way will take you to basically where the cars load. I think they may use this for rider switch or some other purpose as well, but it saved I'm guessing a good at least 5 if not 10 minutes of walking for each ride.



What an awesome tip!  Thanks!!!


----------



## Haley R

iujen94 said:


> [
> 
> 
> What an awesome tip!  Thanks!!!


There are two sides with ramps back up to the ride. One side has an orange horizontal line and the other has a green horizontal line on the wall.


----------



## shaynar

Thank you all who responded about taking young kids! We had planned on doing it in January, but you've actually all convinced me not to do it. With the cold, and the young kids it might just not be worth it. I was super excited about doing it, but maybe for an adults only trip or later on down the line!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

shaynar said:


> Thank you all who responded about taking young kids! We had planned on doing it in January, but you've actually all convinced me not to do it. With the cold, and the young kids it might just not be worth it. I was super excited about doing it, but maybe for an adults only trip or later on down the line!



I was away for a few days and am behind on the thread so didn't catch your OP, but I probably would have said take them (easy for me to say not knowing the context I guess).  I took DS when he was 6 one year and DD earlier this year when she was 4.  I was fully prepared for the one with the 4 year old to be a bust and we'd leave early (I don't like to push my kids to hard... I go at their pace at Disney)... but let me tell you who was driving the train of staying until the end on that night... HER!  

Not sure of your situation but going with kids can definitely work for some.


----------



## detroitdad

iujen94 said:


> FYI, I don't believe DAH is being offered on February 21.  It's not available on the website, and also isn't listed on Touring Plans' list of DAH dates.  At first I thought it might be sold out since that's Presidents' Week, but I called the special events number that someone posted here to call for a handful of dates (including February 21), and they confirmed that it's not being offered that night.  Such a bummer.  @detroitdad , I saw you listed in the Dis attendees for February 21.  Were you able to book for that night?  Am I missing something??




Yes I called the number and booked it.  I have tickets loaded in my Disney Experience.  I'll call back to confirm.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

amiskell28 said:


> We will be at Animal Kingdom during the day (2/7). We don't have park hoppers. We have MK DAH tickets that night (8p-11p). We are planning to leave AK about 5:30 to head over to MK for a dinner reservation at Tony's (I know, I know - but gotta eat somewhere and I've read some good things from recent reports) at 6:45.
> 
> 1. Is that enough time to get from AK to MK by Disney transport, or should we uber? and
> 2. Will they let us in for the dining reservation? It just occurred to me that we don't have hoppers, and recent reports are that DAH ticket holders are held until 7ish.
> 
> Thoughts?



Sounds like you came up with another plan, but they won't let you in for the Tony's reservation if they are in fact holding DAH admission to 7pm on your night (which seems like the current state of things).  I vote CR/Wave or Poly/Kona, or eat at AK.  

Hope it works out for you.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

@Elsaspiritanimal - Great detailed review above, THANK YOU!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

detroitdad said:


> Yes I called the number and booked it.  I have tickets loaded in my Disney Experience.  I'll call back to confirm.



FYI, the post about 2/21 not being a DAH event night was proven to be incorrect info from a CM.  2/21 is definitely a MK DAH event night.


----------



## whiporee

Thanks to whoever posted march dates were online. Bought us a batch for 3/28 -- right in the middle of Spring Break. I'd thought we were going to miss it!


----------



## Nathan.tan

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I was away for a few days and am behind on the thread so didn't catch your OP, but I probably would have said take them (easy for me to say not knowing the context I guess). I took DS when he was 6 one year and DD earlier this year when she was 4. I was fully prepared for the one with the 4 year old to be a bust and we'd leave early (I don't like to push my kids to hard... I go at their pace at Disney)... but let me tell you who was driving the train of staying until the end on that night... HER!
> 
> Not sure of your situation but going with kids can definitely work for some.



I went on 12/10 and it was really cold.  I took my 6 and 3 year old.  Like you, my 3 year was up till the very end loving it.  I did have the advantage of just coming in from the West Coast, so they were still on West Coast time.  It worked out as 1AM is late, but was really more like 10PM for us.


----------



## mamapenguin

whiporee said:


> Thanks to whoever posted march dates were online. Bought us a batch for 3/28 -- right in the middle of Spring Break. I'd thought we were going to miss it!


How busy do you think that night will be? We are considering that date.


----------



## whiporee

Unless they totally change the model, it won't be anything resembling busy. You might have a wait at 7DMT in the early hours, but my experience last year -- in late June -- was that nearly everything was a walk-on, and there were multiple ride opportunities. 

That night is a 10-1, DAH, so with the 7pm entry you get an extra hour compared to the 9-12 DAHs, and there's a good chance that time will be pretty busy. But unless they've really changed the way they're doing this, crowds aren't a real concern; unless you're looking for it to be deserted, and every single attraction a multiple-ride walk-on, crowds aren't really a thing with DAH.


----------



## Haley R

Omg Dh is driving me insane. We both agreed after our October WDW trip we would be done with Disney for awhile, but today he said we need to start planning our trip to do all 3 DAH events! I want to go so bad, but do we need to? lol


----------



## eagle1992

Haley R said:


> Omg Dh is driving me insane. We both agreed after our October WDW trip we would be done with Disney for awhile, but today he said we need to start planning our trip to do all 3 DAH events! I want to go so bad, but do we need to? lol



Do you need to? Likely not...

But you KNOW you want to... :-b


----------



## Eeyore54 fred

Haley R said:


> Omg Dh is driving me insane. We both agreed after our October WDW trip we would be done with Disney for awhile, but today he said we need to start planning our trip to do all 3 DAH events! I want to go so bad, but do we need to? lol


We never need to but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t.


----------



## PolyRob

Haley R said:


> Omg Dh is driving me insane. We both agreed after our October WDW trip we would be done with Disney for awhile, but today he said we need to start planning our trip to do all 3 DAH events! I want to go so bad, but do we need to? lol


Ehhh I could argue it falls into "need." Just how I "need" to buy new iPhones when they come out. I can pretty much justify anything tho (like having multiple 2019 WDW trips planned with room deposits) haha

You never know when the DAH events could stop. And Star Wars will definitely change/end it at HS. Nothing like the present


----------



## Haley R

eagle1992 said:


> Do you need to? Likely not...
> 
> But you KNOW you want to... :-b


Well of course I want to! We most likely will not go.


----------



## Haley R

PolyRob said:


> Ehhh I could argue it falls into "need." Just how I "need" to buy new iPhones when they come out. I can pretty much justify anything tho (like having multiple 2019 WDW trips planned with room deposits) haha
> 
> You never know when the DAH events could stop. And Star Wars will definitely change/end it at HS. Nothing like the present


Lol we'll have to see how plane tickets look. We can't go in January, but could go anytime February or March


----------



## focusondisney

Haley R said:


> Well of course I want to! We most likely will not go.




Where have we heard that before?


----------



## msmith1026

Just bought our tickets for 4/11. That is our arrival day so we are going to do a low key resort day and have dinner st our resort before heading over. We did DAH back in July and loved it so we didn’t hesitate to do it on this trip.


----------



## Haley R

focusondisney said:


> Where have we heard that before?


Lol yeah that last minute July trip was kind of stressful and we got not sleep. We talked more tonight and decided it was a quick burst of excitement and we both realized fast we don’t really want to go unless it’s super cheap. We most likely won’t decide until later. Dh is getting moved to a new team for work and it’s very up in the air right now. We also talked about going to gulf shores in February so we might do that instead.


----------



## worldtraveler996

Just bought our tickets for 3/28!


----------



## ShelbyK

Candlelady said:


> Will more dates be released?  We will be there in May and hoping to attend.


I am really hoping for some May dates too! Anyone know when the next chunk will be released?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

ShelbyK said:


> I am really hoping for some May dates too! Anyone know when the next chunk will be released?



Hard to say.  About the best you can do is look at the historical info in this post and make some assumptions:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898156

Other than the initial 2016 version of DAH, we haven’t seen May dates.  But the trend lately has been more DAH events during more times of the year, so May 2019 seems like a possibility.  But with no history to go by in terms of release dates, it’s hard to say if/when.


----------



## captaindavidhook

georgina said:


> Still on the fence about this. Went solo last year Feb 15, DH and I will be in the area Feb 21 this year. It's close to Pres Day weekend so I expect will be more crowded. Maybe I should go back and find my posts from last years thread.


I will be going solo in April and still deciding if this is fun to do solo? Can you give me any advice and did you enjoy it by yourself?


----------



## captaindavidhook

I would like to know during the DAH ate any TS restaurants still open and available too book?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

captaindavidhook said:


> I would like to know during the DAH ate any TS restaurants still open and available too book?



No, none are open during DAH - they’re only finishing up with guests who have reservations pre-park closing.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

captaindavidhook said:


> I will be going solo in April and still deciding if this is fun to do solo? Can you give me any advice and did you enjoy it by yourself?



I did it solo over the summer.  It wasn’t the original plan but the fam decided sleep was better for the kiddos (long week ahead). 

Honestly, I did feel a touch awkward being solo.  So much of my enjoyment of Disney is experiencing everything with my family so this was kind of a weird feeling for me.  But I'm not going to lie ... being able to experience the parks at your own pace and at your own whims is frankly quite nice!


----------



## captaindavidhook

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I did it solo over the summer.  It wasn’t the original plan but the fam decided sleep was better for the kiddos (long week ahead).
> 
> Honestly, I did feel a touch awkward being solo.  So much of my enjoyment of Disney is experiencing everything with my family so this was kind of a weird feeling for me.  But I'm not going to lie ... being able to experience the parks at your own pace and at your own whims is frankly quite nice!


I have done about 4 solo trips to Disney and I love it but this may be a little too awkward for me.


----------



## captaindavidhook

Magnoliafan said:


> What an amazing night!
> 
> I arrived just before 6:30.  They were holding the DAH people until 7, so I went in the regular entrance with my AP.  I started with dinner at CHH and then a FP at JC.  There was quite the line and it started raining before I was under cover.  Then the ride itself was very wet, so I started my night cold and drenched.  Honestly, I was thinking longingly of my warm and dry room at POFQ and starting to regret buying a DAH ticket.  But I decided to tough it out and told myself that I could leave early if I stayed miserable (hah!).  Splash was a walk-on and I was already wet, so I got into the line before I could talk myself out of it like I’ve done for every other trip.  And I survived!  I bought a pin to commemorate the occasion and then found a spot for HEA just before 8:30.  It rained on and off before and even during the show and thoughts of leaving early drifted through my mind again.  So I wasn’t in the most positive frame of mind to start the event.  I rode the People Mover, missed CoP because it had already closed, and then walked back to the Hub to catch OUAT for the first time.
> 
> Then it was 10 and the walk-ons started immediately with HM, as I walked straight through the queue and was the only person waiting at the doors.  There were maybe 12 of us in the stretching room.  I walked to Fantasyland and discovered that every party was given their own boat for IASW.  With PP, I walked right up and was asked if I wanted to ride in a red or blue ship.  The few behind me flew empty.  I grabbed ice cream and water and sat for a minute at Friar’s Nook (looking at all the empty tables and laughing at the memory of fighting for a spot just a day earlier).  Then I decided to wait in what I was sure would be a line for 7DMT, only to find yet another walk-on.  I rode 3x before I started getting dizzy and then did Pooh before heading across the park for BTMRR (with only the first and last rows occupied) and POTC (my own boat again).  I got more ice cream, crossed the park again for Buzz, decided to skip SM because it’s so jostling, had a private ride on Dumbo, went UTS, headed back to do 7DMT 4x, and then ended my night with PP.  I happened to be walking right in front of the castle at 1, so I had a prime spot for the Kiss Goodnight.  Then I walked out through a near empty Main Street to find a bus already waiting.
> 
> Overall tally: 7DMT 7x, PP 2x, plus 8 other rides during the event.  All walk-ons and I could have done more if I walked faster instead of enjoying the ambiance.  There were times when I looked around and saw no one else.  And walking on Mine Train was insane.  We were all getting off the ride and then looping through to the load zone to board again immediately.  I shared the same car with another solo traveler on two rides in a row.  The pictures are funny because he’s in the left seat behind me for one ride and the right for the other.
> 
> Best.  Event.  Ever.


from reading this I am assuming you went solo. I am thinking of doing this as a solo as well just not sure I wouldn't feel weird at all. Any advice for me.


----------



## disneycat321

Does anyone know when they've historically released the summer dates for this? We're going in July and really hoping to get to do DAH at MK. I know the dates are only up to April right now.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

disneycat321 said:


> Does anyone know when they've historically released the summer dates for this? We're going in July and really hoping to get to do DAH at MK. I know the dates are only up to April right now.



Historical date (including release date) info can be found on Post 11: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898156

We only have summer 2018 to go by, but those dates were announced 5/2/18.  

Hope that helps.


----------



## pangyal

Can anyone weigh in with recent experiences of the 10pm start time and 7pm entry time with regards to whether you were allowed to use the fastpass line with your wristband at any point prior to the official start?


----------



## Where'sPiglet?

I went solo in July and really enjoyed it. I didn't feel awkward at all, but I was on a solo trip, so was used to going on rides and to restaurants solo the whole week. Most people are too involved with what they are doing that they don't really notice what other people are doing. 

I think the biggest benefit to going solo is you get to do whatever you want at whatever pace you want, but the biggest downside is that you don't get to share your joy with anyone.


----------



## disneycat321

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Historical date (including release date) info can be found on Post 11: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898156
> 
> We only have summer 2018 to go by, but those dates were announced 5/2/18.
> 
> Hope that helps.



Thanks so much! I’d seen this, but somehow missed the date the tickets were released. Looks like we probably have quite a bit longer to wait...! Oh, well.


----------



## whiporee

pangyal said:


> Can anyone weigh in with recent experiences of the 10pm start time and 7pm entry time with regards to whether you were allowed to use the fastpass line with your wristband at any point prior to the official start?



While some people were able to do that in the early stages of the event, I don' think that's been the case for more than a year now. You can book three FPs like a normal ticket and get the added ones as you use the first three, but there's no additional FPs advantage to the wristband.


----------



## Shellyb84

Haley R said:


> Omg Dh is driving me insane. We both agreed after our October WDW trip we would be done with Disney for awhile, but today he said we need to start planning our trip to do all 3 DAH events! I want to go so bad, but do we need to? lol



If my DH ever said that to me I'd have my room booked same day haha!  Only in my dreams though.  Even minus the crowds he's not a big MK fan.  We're only going again next year because I'm buying our tickets with my Christmas money.


----------



## Shellyb84

Count us in for April 4th!  I was debating between this one (loved the event last August) or trying the AK DAH, but decided to go with MK.


----------



## js

With the last December date being almost a month away from the January 7 date, Im guessing I should arrive for 7 (its an 8 pm start time) since we are going to the event that evening.

Staying at BLT so super happy we can walk to/from the park and made Wave ressies for dinner at 515. We can eat, go to room get our stuff and walk to MK.

We will mot be watching fireworks. Should I start with the easy stuff like CoP, HoP, People Mover, etc. if so, should I go to Adventureland for 8 and save Fantsayland for last? We are three adults.


----------



## Haley R

js said:


> With the last December date being almost a month away from the January 7 date, Im guessing I should arrive for 7 (its an 8 pm start time) since we are going to the event that evening.
> 
> Staying at BLT so super happy we can walk to/from the park and made Wave ressies for dinner at 515. We can eat, go to room get our stuff and walk to MK.
> 
> We will mot be watching fireworks. Should I start with the easy stuff like CoP, HoP, People Mover, etc. if so, should I go to Adventureland for 8 and save Fantsayland for last? We are three adults.


I think that’s a pretty good plan. You could also have some FPS booked for the first part before dah starts. We started in Adventureland and used FPS on splash, btmr, and haunted mansion. We also did country bears and HoP. I think ending in fantasyland is the best idea.


----------



## Haley R

Shellyb84 said:


> If my DH ever said that to me I'd have my room booked same day haha!  Only in my dreams though.  Even minus the crowds he's not a big MK fan.  We're only going again next year because I'm buying our tickets with my Christmas money.


I think our main problem is we might be going to gulf shores in February because my parents are going for a month. Dh has never been to the beach so we thought it would be something different. We also are super flexible on dates so we are struggling to narrow down dah dates and look at plane tickets that way. Usually we fly with frontier but for some reason they have raised our flights to mco by a ton. We have southwest points but again since we have flexible dates we are struggling to pick when to go. February/March is hard with avoiding Presidents’ Day, half marathon, Mardi Gras, and spring break crowds.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Haley R said:


> I think our main problem is we might be going to gulf shores in February because my parents are going for a month. Dh has never been to the beach so we thought it would be something different. We also are super flexible on dates so we are struggling to narrow down dah dates and look at plane tickets that way. Usually we fly with frontier but for some reason they have raised our flights to mco by a ton. We have southwest points but again since we have flexible dates we are struggling to pick when to go. February is hard with avoiding Presidents’ Day, half marathon, and Mardi Gras.




Mardi Gras is March 5 this year.


----------



## Haley R

SaintsManiac said:


> Mardi Gras is March 5 this year.


We normally go that last week in February and into the first week of March so that’s kind of what I meant but I guess I should have been a little more clear. We usually try to go in between the half marathon and spring break crowds but Mardi Gras is in between this year.


----------



## js

Haley R said:


> I think that’s a pretty good plan. You could also have some FPS booked for the first part before dah starts. We started in Adventureland and used FPS on splash, btmr, and haunted mansion. We also did country bears and HoP. I think ending in fantasyland is the best idea.



I would like to book FPs for 7 but worried it will knock off my last day of FPs on January 11, which is our MK day. I thought I had read reports its 50/50 people being okay with FPs and people having their last day canceled. 

Im just worried and for really one, maybe two FPs, thinking not going to risk it.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

js said:


> With the last December date being almost a month away from the January 7 date, Im guessing I should arrive for 7 (its an 8 pm start time) since we are going to the event that evening.
> 
> Staying at BLT so super happy we can walk to/from the park and made Wave ressies for dinner at 515. We can eat, go to room get our stuff and walk to MK.
> 
> We will mot be watching fireworks. Should I start with the easy stuff like CoP, HoP, People Mover, etc. if so, should I go to Adventureland for 8 and save Fantsayland for last? We are three adults.



Can’t quite tell if this is what you mean, but just making sure you know things like CoP and HoP aren’t open during DAH... so you’re only option is 7-8pm. Check the times for those specific attractions as well since they sometimes close before park close. 

Sorry if you already know that!

As far as where to start, I don’t think it personally matters all that much so you can pretty much do what suits you.  Adventureland seems legit to me.  Or whatever path gets you away from the Hub/waiting fireworks crowd the fastest!  

My only real strategy recommendation with DAH is to leave 7DMT until later on in the night... like the last hour or 30 mins.  That’s the one ride that keeps a pretty steady line much of the night.  Honorable mentions in this same camp can also be PP and Speedway, generally speaking.  Speedway only runs one lane and a painfully low number of cars, so even slower loading than usual.  



js said:


> I would like to book FPs for 7 but worried it will knock off my last day of FPs on January 11, which is our MK day. I thought I had read reports its 50/50 people being okay with FPs and people having their last day canceled.
> 
> Im just worried and for really one, maybe two FPs, thinking not going to risk it.



Yeah, it’s a valid concern and comes with the same possible risk/outcome as folks who do it with MNSSHP and MVMCP tickets. In my opinion not worth it for such a short window between 7pm and DAH start. 

Hope that helps!


----------



## js

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Can’t quite tell if this is what you mean, but just making sure you know things like CoP and HoP aren’t open during DAH... so you’re only option is 7-8pm. Check the times for those specific attractions as well since they sometimes close before park close.
> 
> Sorry if you already know that!
> 
> As far as where to start, I don’t think it personally matters all that much so you can pretty much do what suits you.  Adventureland seems legit to me.  Or whatever path gets you away from the Hub/waiting fireworks crowd the fastest!
> 
> My only real strategy recommendation with DAH is to leave 7DMT until later on in the night... like the last hour or 30 mins.  That’s the one ride that keeps a pretty steady line much of the night.  Honorable mentions in this same camp can also be PP and Speedway, generally speaking.  Speedway only runs one lane and a painfully low number of cars, so even slower loading than usual.
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, it’s a valid concern and comes with the same possible risk/outcome as folks who do it with MNSSHP and MVMCP tickets. In my opinion not worth it for such a short window between 7pm and DAH start.
> 
> Hope that helps!



Oops, thank you. Im glad you pointed that out about the attractions that arent open. I need to reread your first page 

Ill do PeopleMover and make our way to Adventure Land area. PP will be closed our night and we are not doing Speedway. 

I am also happy you talked about FP. You have made up my mind. I am not getting a FP for that night for 7-8. Not worth it for me. We will be back in MK the end of our trip and will RD and have our FPs so not going to worry. 

Thank you again and thanks so much for keeping this thread up to date. I really learned a lot (well have to study harder about open attractions lol).


----------



## mtrib

FP day is rapidly approaching and I need a plan! 

We only have one day at MK on 2/28 and we are doing RD through to DAH (8-11pm). FP day will put MK at 60+2 so probably won't get a 7DMT during the day but we will ride a bunch during DAH. 

Do I try for the usual biggies? 

Or do I plan to head toward Adventureland and work clockwise? 

Or Race to Space to start off with a bang and move counter clockwise? 

I have so much freedom since we can ride the hard to get FP rides during DAH that now I'm at a loss on how to even start planning! Tough problem to have, huh?


----------



## peeperino

We only have 1 day at MK as well. We still got FPs for the biggies because I'd hate to not ride something during the day and then be unable to ride it during DAH because it was down for some reason.


----------



## mtrib

peeperino said:


> We only have 1 day at MK as well. We still got FPs for the biggies because I'd hate to not ride something during the day and then be unable to ride it during DAH because it was down for some reason.



Ah.  Good point!


----------



## captaindavidhook

I am going on April 4th. this is my 1st time going to the event. Can you please add me to the list and thank you all for great advice and merry Christmas too.


----------



## captaindavidhook

Shellyb84 said:


> Count us in for April 4th!  I was debating between this one (loved the event last August) or trying the AK DAH, but decided to go with MK.


I was thinking about doing AK DAH, but there Is more bang for your buck at MK and the opportunity to ride 7DMT many, many times excites me. Its one of my favorite rides in all of the parks. Not to mention POC, PP, SM, TM, SM, teacups and the list goes on.


----------



## mumzie2three

captaindavidhook said:


> I was thinking about doing AK DAH, but there Is more bang for your buck at MK and the opportunity to ride 7DMT many, many times excites me. Its one of my favorite rides in all of the parks. Not to mention POC, PP, SM, TM, SM, teacups and the list goes on.


I agree! Definitely more bang for the buck, especially if one attends on a night when MK closes late! I have yet to ride 7DMT because it was being built on our last trip.


----------



## captaindavidhook

mumzie2three said:


> I agree! Definitely more bang for the buck, especially if one attends on a night when MK closes late! I have yet to ride 7DMT because it was being built on our last trip.


Then you are in for a great experience. I know there was a lot of people when it first open up or disappointed and I wasn't sure what they're looking but the ride and the theming is amazing. I think it is a very fun ride and at night it's even more exciting. I think you're going to have a lot of fun with it.


----------



## chelynnah

Haley R said:


> We normally go that last week in February and into the first week of March so that’s kind of what I meant but I guess I should have been a little more clear. We usually try to go in between the half marathon and spring break crowds but Mardi Gras is in between this year.



I don’t know what actual Mardi Gras crowds are like overall.  I know people recommend against it, but my experience in 2017 was that it was no different to any other of our days.  We arrived the Sunday night of the Half.  Our first park day was Mon and Mardi Gras was Tues I think.  We were there till Fri.  The whole week overall did not feel crowded at all, if that’s any help.


----------



## mcurrence

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas   Officially bought our tickets for Feb. 28th, 4th time attending!  Staying at the Contemporary this time to avoid the crazy bus experiences we've had.  Going with my two girls and our neighbor/friend again!  Husband/Grumpy staying at the hotel once again LOL.


----------



## Traveling on cc points

Ladyfish77 said:


> Any idea why March 14th isn't included?  Apologies if it was answered elsewhere, but I *think* I've read the entire thread.  Of course that's the week we are going.  Trying to see if I can come a few days early for the March 7 date!


I was hoping for this date too. We are doing a short 5 night trip and thought this would be the perfect solution for the shorter trip. Maybe it's a blessing as it seems like march dates have pretty cold nights. I am from Connecticut so I am used to the cold but I tend to be in the heated house when it's in the 40's.


----------



## Haley R

Traveling on cc points said:


> I was hoping for this date too. We are doing a short 5 night trip and thought this would be the perfect solution for the shorter trip. Maybe it's a blessing as it seems like march dates have pretty cold nights. I am from Connecticut so I am used to the cold but I tend to be in the heated house when it's in the 40's.


We did dah this year the first week of March and it was beautiful out. It’s really hard to tell that time of year what the weather will be like.


----------



## Ladyfish77

Haley R said:


> We did dah this year the first week of March and it was beautiful out. It’s really hard to tell that time of year what the weather will be like.


Lol!  We did the last March date in 2018 and froze!  Had on polar fleece and had to buy hoodies to put over them.  It was cold!  We still had a great event!


----------



## Haley R

Ladyfish77 said:


> Lol!  We did the last March date in 2018 and froze!  Had on polar fleece and had to buy hoodies to put over them.  It was cold!  We still had a great event!


Wow yeah we had shorts and t shirts on and weren’t cold at all. I know the second week of March people said it was cold. We must be lucky because we’ve done that first week of March the last three years and have always had warm beautiful weather


----------



## Runnsally

Hi, all.  Apologies if this has already been addressed in this thread...

What transportation options are available to the Polynesian after the event?  Just bus to poly and ferry to TTC or also resort monorail and boat?

Thanks!


----------



## PolyRob

Runnsally said:


> Hi, all.  Apologies if this has already been addressed in this thread...
> 
> What transportation options are available to the Polynesian after the event?  Just bus to poly and ferry to TTC or also resort monorail and boat?
> 
> Thanks!


Post #7 goes over all options, but the resort monorail and resort boat launch will both stop with the normal MK close time. The only options for Poly will be bus and ferry to TTC then walk.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Runnsally said:


> Hi, all.  Apologies if this has already been addressed in this thread...
> 
> What transportation options are available to the Polynesian after the event?  Just bus to poly and ferry to TTC or also resort monorail and boat?
> 
> Thanks!



From my recent experiences, Poly and GF share a bus after DAH.  My waits have been somewhat reasonable - not quick but not horrible either.  

As @PolyRob mentioned, the MK Ferry will be running to the TTC so you can take that and walk.


----------



## Traveling on cc points

Haley R said:


> We did dah this year the first week of March and it was beautiful out. It’s really hard to tell that time of year what the weather will be like.


don't get me wrong, if the date pops up I will purchase the tickets. I was just trying to make myself feel better that that they don't have it any of the days we are there.


----------



## Haley R

Traveling on cc points said:


> don't get me wrong, if the date pops up I will purchase the tickets. I was just trying to make myself feel better that that they don't have it any of the days we are there.


Lol I knew what you meant. I just wanted other people to know that it CAN be warm but it also can be freezing out


----------



## GADisneyDad14

FYI for those that don’t follow the thread closely, I keep track of temps and weather in the historical tables, just for reference:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898156

Yeah, you see some crazy swings Dec-March.


----------



## Traveling on cc points

GADisneyDad14 said:


> FYI for those that don’t follow the thread closely, I keep track of temps and weather in the historical tables, just for reference:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898156
> 
> Yeah, you see some crazy swings Dec-March.


That's awesome to be able to look back from the previous dates. Great idea!!
From the first Thursday in march to the second Thursday is a  21° drop is crazy. 

We were in Disney from December 8th- 15th. One night I was wearing a scarf, gloves and a winter hat and 2 nights later I was wearing shorts and a light long sleeve tee.


----------



## lisa cameron

whiporee said:


> While some people were able to do that in the early stages of the event, I don' think that's been the case for more than a year now. You can book three FPs like a normal ticket and get the added ones as you use the first three, but there's no additional FPs advantage to the wristband.


I have a 4 day park hopper ticket in addition to a DAH at Hollywood Studios.  We plan on doing MK in the morning and having 3 FP booked at MK.  But are you saying I can book in advance Fast Passes at DHS starting at 7pm that same night?  The event starts at 9pm so I am guessing the FP would have to be right from 7-8pm and the 8-9pm?  I didn’t realize the DAH ticket gave us 3 additional FP?  But if the event starts at 9pm, the really is like 1-2 additional FP?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

lisa cameron said:


> I have a 4 day park hopper ticket in addition to a DAH at Hollywood Studios.  We plan on doing MK in the morning and having 3 FP booked at MK.  But are you saying I can book in advance Fast Passes at DHS starting at 7pm that same night?  The event starts at 9pm so I am guessing the FP would have to be right from 7-8pm and the 8-9pm?  I didn’t realize the DAH ticket gave us 3 additional FP?  But if the event starts at 9pm, the really is like 1-2 additional FP?



A DAH ticket linked to your MDE account does not give you three *additional* FPs.  If you have other FPs booked via regular park admission tickets earlier that day (in any park) and your DAH tickets are connected to that same profile, you can’t book three more in advance with your DAH ticket.  Said another way, you can’t have more than three FPs booked with one profile.

A DAH ticket will allow for FP booking if one has no other FPs booked that day.

Here’s a bit more info from the FAQ post at the front of this thread: 

*FPs with a DAH Ticket*

FPs are not available during the DAH event, all rides are standby only.
DAH tickets will allow for FP booking during regular park hours, so - if you have no other FPs booked that day - one could book FPs during with a DAH ticket during the regular park hours before the event.
HOWEVER, there can be issues when doing this, as has been happening for some people with MNSSHP and MVMCP events since 2017. Booking FPs with DAH tickets in combination with certain trip details/configurations can potentially cause Disney's system to flag your account for insufficient ticket entitlements and you will receive a warning that your last day of FPs will be cancelled if you do not address the problem.
Who and exactly why people get this warning remains elusive.
Bottom line - if you choose to book FPs with your DAH ticket entitlement and you have FPs booked on other days with regular park admission - you have some potential risk of receiving this warning... so keep an eye out.


----------



## Ladyfish77

Haley R said:


> Wow yeah we had shorts and t shirts on and weren’t cold at all. I know the second week of March people said it was cold. We must be lucky because we’ve done that first week of March the last three years and have always had warm beautiful weather


Looks like we had a 21 degree difference in our events!



GADisneyDad14 said:


> https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898156


Thanks!  March 1 was 76; March 8 was 55 and cold!


----------



## Haley R

Ladyfish77 said:


> Looks like we had a 21 degree difference in our events!
> 
> 
> Thanks!  March 1 was 76; March 8 was 55 and cold!


Wow that’s a huge difference.


----------



## mcurrence

My apologies, this is  but I know there are some Contemporary disers here!  
We haven't been since the security procedure changed...if we're taking the monorail to the event (we'd walk over but our friend has never been on it!) where will we go through security-before we enter the monorail, at MK or both? I know we'll have to pass the Poly and GF before we get to MK..trying to figure out if we'll have to go through security twice.
TIA!


----------



## JenniferYoung44

So do they not do DAH in May? If so why not? Going May 12-18 and was really hoping to to DAH. I thought the hours for May just weren’t out yet, but now I’m wondering if it will even happen in May since it doesn’t look like it did last year


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mcurrence said:


> My apologies, this is  but I know there are some Contemporary disers here!
> We haven't been since the security procedure changed...if we're taking the monorail to the event (we'd walk over but our friend has never been on it!) where will we go through security-before we enter the monorail, at MK or both? I know we'll have to pass the Poly and GF before we get to MK..trying to figure out if we'll have to go through security twice.
> TIA!



You'll go through security at CR on the 4th floor just before the escalators that lead up to the monorail platform/station.  No other security checks involved, when you get to MK you'll head straight down the ramp and head left straight to the tapstyle scanners.  

Have fun!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

JenniferYoung44 said:


> So do they not do DAH in May? If so why not? Going May 12-18 and was really hoping to to DAH. I thought the hours for May just weren’t out yet, but now I’m wondering if it will even happen in May since it doesn’t look like it did last year



Other than the initial failed 2016 DAH events (at a much higher price point), May hasn't been on the schedule since then.  But 2018 (and now continuing into 2019) saw a lot of new times of the year that had not previously had DAH dates.... so my take is that for 2019 anything is possible.   But just when/why/how Disney sets the schedule is a bit difficult to determine for us outsiders.


----------



## mcurrence

GADisneyDad14 said:


> You'll go through security at CR on the 4th floor just before the escalators that lead up to the monorail platform/station.  No other security checks involved, when you get to MK you'll head straight down the ramp and head left straight to the tapstyle scanners.
> 
> Have fun!


Thank you for this info!!


----------



## georgina

captaindavidhook said:


> I will be going solo in April and still deciding if this is fun to do solo? Can you give me any advice and did you enjoy it by yourself?



I enjoyed it very much solo, but I am a solo veteran with several solo Disney and Universal trips. I have fun doing the rides by myself and never really feel awkward about it.

I have decided to go ahead and buy tickets for Feb 21 despite no AP discount for me this year! I have been using Chase credit card offers to get 10% cash back on Disney gift cards (at Lowes and Walgreens), and now I have one for 30% off at Staples, so that is my self-justification for spending!


----------



## firsttimemom

I just bought tickets for January 7. DH and I did this back in August and it was awesome. We are looking forward to bringing our 19 & 21 yr old!


----------



## amalone1013

I'm secretly hoping they will add summer dates that work with our trip. We're planning for a day at MK and a day at Epcot in June with some family. DH and I have APs but the others need to buy tickets. After doing DAH back in September, DH and I have been debating if a DAH ticket is a better value than a 1 day ticket for MK. A little less time but a lot less crowds...   It's $10 less to buy a one day ticket plus DAH than a 2 day non hopper ticket, so basically the same.


----------



## captaindavidhook

I am curious to know but how do some of you go about deciding where to eat dinner before the after hours event. Do you choose to eat at mk before the event begins or eat elsewhere? Reason I ask is because  I'm deciding if its easier to eat counter service at mk or just eat over at trails end on arrival day.


----------



## bigeyedfish

We have a 5:15 pm reservation for Storybook Dining at Artist’s Point WL.  We’ll take the boat over afterward.  I had also considered 1900 Park Fare.  I didn’t want to waste time once in the MK


----------



## iujen94

We are eating at the Wave (we are staying at Contemporary) at 5. We’ll be in AK that morning until around 2, so I thought that would give us some resort down time before we hit DAH, plus I wanted to do dinner early enough that it didn’t interfere with my ability to get my fill of Mickey ice cream bars!


----------



## Haley R

captaindavidhook said:


> I am curious to know but how do some of you go about deciding where to eat dinner before the after hours event. Do you choose to eat at mk before the event begins or eat elsewhere? Reason I ask is because  I'm deciding if its easier to eat counter service at mk or just eat over at trails end on arrival day.


We ate a big meal at ohana at around 4 pm. It was early enough that we had time for our stomachs to settle before dah started. That was when we were let in for dah at 6 though. That might be a little too early of a dinner with them not letting people in until 7 now


----------



## captaindavidhook

iujen94 said:


> We are eating at the Wave (we are staying at Contemporary) at 5. We’ll be in AK that morning until around 2, so I thought that would give us some resort down time before we hit DAH, plus *I wanted to do dinner early enough that it didn’t interfere with my ability to get my fill of Mickey ice cream bars!*



good point


----------



## js

iujen94 said:


> We are eating at the Wave (we are staying at Contemporary) at 5. We’ll be in AK that morning until around 2, so I thought that would give us some resort down time before we hit DAH, plus I wanted to do dinner early enough that it didn’t interfere with my ability to get my fill of Mickey ice cream bars!



I am doing the same. We are staying at BLT and have Wave for 515. Figure we will eat and then go back to room to wash up, get jackets and walk to MK. So happy we are staying at BLT and can walk to/from event. We dont have a park day though that day, will relax and sleep in or pool if a little warm.


----------



## PolyRob

Haley R said:


> We ate a big meal at ohana at around 4 pm. It was early enough that we had time for our stomachs to settle before dah started. That was when we were let in for dah at 6 though. That might be a little too early of a dinner with them not letting people in until 7 now


I have a 5:30pm 'Ohana for my DAH in April! Hoping to go into MK right from Poly and just find a spot for HEA as my food coma passes


----------



## Haley R

PolyRob said:


> I have a 5:30pm 'Ohana for my DAH in April! Hoping to go into MK right from Poly and just find a spot for HEA as my food coma passes


Definitely give yourself some time after eating. We went on jungle cruise right when we got into mk and that was a huge mistake. Let’s just say my digestion didn’t do so well and I rushed to the bathroom right after lol.


----------



## chelynnah

captaindavidhook said:


> I am curious to know but how do some of you go about deciding where to eat dinner before the after hours event. Do you choose to eat at mk before the event begins or eat elsewhere? Reason I ask is because  I'm deciding if its easier to eat counter service at mk or just eat over at trails end on arrival day.


We already had Grand Floridian Cafe Booked that night before it became a DAH night.  We were planning an MK day and just popping over for dinner and back.  Now we’ll sleep in and pack that morning/afternoon, head over to GF for dinner and then go to the park as soon as we’re done.  Our park tickets are valid so even if it’s too early for DAH we can still get in.


----------



## captaindavidhook

chelynnah said:


> We already had Grand Floridian Cafe Booked that night before it became a DAH night.  We were planning an MK day and just popping over for dinner and back.  Now we’ll sleep in and pack that morning/afternoon, head over to GF for dinner and then go to the park as soon as we’re done.  Our park tickets are valid so even if it’s too early for DAH we can still get in.


My dilemma was not sure what to do on arrival day. I was considering going to a park but I am coming for the half marathon that weekend. I think it is easier to go to the expo rather then spend only 2 hours or so in a park then have to go back and quickly unpack and get to a place to eat. I hate rushing when im on vacation.


----------



## Cirlonde

captaindavidhook said:


> I am curious to know but how do some of you go about deciding where to eat dinner before the after hours event. Do you choose to eat at mk before the event begins or eat elsewhere? Reason I ask is because  I'm deciding if its easier to eat counter service at mk or just eat over at trails end on arrival day.



We ate a light meal of shared appetizers at Territory Lounge around 5pm before taking the boat over to MK.  We don't really like to have a super heavy meal before heading into the parks, plus we wanted plenty of room for all of the "free" snacks provided at the event!  I don't imagine we'd ever opt for using valuable event time to eat a meal in the park.


----------



## msmith1026

captaindavidhook said:


> I am curious to know but how do some of you go about deciding where to eat dinner before the after hours event. Do you choose to eat at mk before the event begins or eat elsewhere? Reason I ask is because  I'm deciding if its easier to eat counter service at mk or just eat over at trails end on arrival day.



We are going to the event on our arrival day. We booked 6:00 ADRs at BoatWright’s (we are staying at PORFQ) and will head over to the event after. We wanted to have relax and have dinner before heading to the park.


----------



## captaindavidhook

msmith1026 said:


> We are going to the event on our arrival day. We booked 6:00 ADRs at BoatWright’s (we are staying at PORFQ) and will head over to the event after. We wanted to have relax and have dinner before heading to the park.


That's my thinking as well. It will be a long day but well worth it.


----------



## browneyedgirl0613

Add me to 21Mar!


----------



## msmith1026

captaindavidhook said:


> That's my thinking as well. It will be a long day but well worth it.



Agreed. We pushed our dinner back too— originally I think we had 5:15 reservations but our daughter (she’s 12) said she wanted to be able to nap before we head over for after hours. Our flight lands at 10:00 am, I figure we should be to the hotel by noon. We plan on grabbing lunch by the pool and then heading up to nap around 2. We can walk over to Boatwrights. We don’t usually make any arrival day plans but we love after hours. We just will get a later start the next day!


----------



## NYCANC

I am debating what to do for dinner too- will be at AK that morning for RD (we are a park open to close family). Thinking we will leave AK around 4-4:30 and then get QS back at the WL before we head over to MK. Or maybe QS at Contempo Cafe and walk over. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!


----------



## captaindavidhook

NYCANC said:


> I am debating what to do for dinner too- will be at AK that morning for RD (we are a park open to close family). Thinking we will leave AK around 4-4:30 and then get QS back at the WL before we head over to MK. Or maybe QS at Contempo Cafe and walk over. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!


I'm staying over in the All-Stars Resorts and my plan is to have dinner at Trails End. I think my reservation is for about 5:30 and I think after that and taking the boat back over them K I should be there by 7 ish give or take. This is my first time going to an after-hours event but my advice since you're asking I would try to find a place near Magic Kingdom to eat then we make things a little bit easier. Just my two cents.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

NYCANC said:


> I am debating what to do for dinner too- will be at AK that morning for RD (we are a park open to close family). Thinking we will leave AK around 4-4:30 and then get QS back at the WL before we head over to MK. Or maybe QS at Contempo Cafe and walk over. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!



I think either works  (I'm reading this as you're staying at WL, yes?) but I might do the Contempo Café, because then the time "X factor" for transportation is out of the way, just in case there are unexpected delays or something. Then you can just relax and have your sandwich knowing it's just a 10-15 minute walk! We've stayed at WL and the transportation was generally pretty easy so either works, but there were definitely times we had longer waits for boats/buses.

ETA: I think that we're going on the same day, so maybe I will see you at the Contempo Café!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

We just booked for 1/17 - yay - packing layers! Thanks!


----------



## NYCANC

TheFloatingBear said:


> I think either works  (I'm reading this as you're staying at WL, yes?) but I might do the Contempo Café, because then the time "X factor" for transportation is out of the way, just in case there are unexpected delays or something. Then you can just relax and have your sandwich knowing it's just a 10-15 minute walk! We've stayed at WL and the transportation was generally pretty easy so either works, but there were definitely times we had longer waits for boats/buses.
> 
> ETA: I think that we're going on the same day, so maybe I will see you at the Contempo Café!



Yes, 1st time staying at WL. In the past, we have stayed at CR and the Poly but wanted something new this trip. I like Contempo Cafe because last time I was there, they were good with gluten free options. Not sure how the QS at WL will be. 
We will be there 1/17!


----------



## sanapp

I am dining at Narcoosees before my solo DAH in February.  I am hoping to get done in time to get to the parks for fireworks.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

NYCANC said:


> Yes, 1st time staying at WL. In the past, we have stayed at CR and the Poly but wanted something new this trip. I like Contempo Cafe because last time I was there, they were good with gluten free options. Not sure how the QS at WL will be.
> We will be there 1/17!



WL is beautiful! It's been a few years, but I remember the QS being good, but I do recall having really good sandwiches from Contempo Café too! Both times we stayed at WL, it was in April during moderate/busy times, and I do remember having to wait for a 2nd boat a couple of times, but generally we found the transportation was good, especially coming back from the parks for some reason...although not sure how it is for DAH since I know the buses work differently for that event. 

Here's hoping for warmish temps on the 17th!


----------



## NYCANC

TheFloatingBear said:


> WL is beautiful! It's been a few years, but I remember the QS being good, but I do recall having really good sandwiches from Contempo Café too! Both times we stayed at WL, it was in April during moderate/busy times, and I do remember having to wait for a 2nd boat a couple of times, but generally we found the transportation was good, especially coming back from the parks for some reason...although not sure how it is for DAH since I know the buses work differently for that event.
> 
> Here's hoping for warmish temps on the 17th!



2 January's ago, we were standing in front of the castle with our winter gear on! So we shall see!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

NYCANC said:


> 2 January's ago, we were standing in front of the castle with our winter gear on! So we shall see!



My daughter and I did the event last year in the last week of January - it was in the 60s so not too bad!  I wore light weight pants and a couple of layers on top. It was definitely getting cool by the end of the night! Tried to get our Mickey Bars in early!


----------



## chelynnah

captaindavidhook said:


> My dilemma was not sure what to do on arrival day. I was considering going to a park but I am coming for the half marathon that weekend. I think it is easier to go to the expo rather then spend only 2 hours or so in a park then have to go back and quickly unpack and get to a place to eat. I hate rushing when im on vacation.


If that’s when you’re going I’d agree.  We are there for 10 days around the princess half.  Our DAH is in the week after the run.  If your first day is expo day I’d just spend the time at the expo and chill back at the resort, then catch a dinner reservation either at your resort or somewhere near enough your DAH park that you can be there for entry.  If you have an AP or another way to enter without wasting a full day’s ticket then maybe book something for 4’ish in the park.

Whatever you decide, enjoy, and good luck on the run


----------



## chelynnah

Ps I keep meaning to say please add us to the list for Feb 28


----------



## 120304

Happy New Year, everyone,
I am thinking about attending the MK after hours on Feb 7th. My question is are you allowed entry to MK before the official after hours start time (8:00) 
without using a regular park ticket?

Having gone to MNSSHP before, I remember party goers being allowed to enter at 4:00 instead of the 7:00 party start time.  Just wondering if this is similar to that (or not).

Thank you and Happy 2019!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

120304 said:


> Happy New Year, everyone,
> I am thinking about attending the MK after hours on Feb 7th. My question is are you allowed entry to MK before the official after hours start time (8:00)
> without using a regular park ticket?
> 
> Having gone to MNSSHP before, I remember party goers being allowed to enter at 4:00 instead of the 7:00 party start time.  Just wondering if this is similar to that (or not).
> 
> Thank you and Happy 2019!



Hi!  FYI, I moved your post to the MK Disney After Hours thread.  

See Post #6 for more info:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898148

In short, the current trend is 7pm.  It was 6pm(ish) for much of 2018 but seemed to trend to 7pm for the most recent events per reports. 

Hope that helps!


----------



## 120304

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Hi!  FYI, I moved your post to the MK Disney After Hours thread.
> 
> See Post #6 for more info:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898148
> 
> In short, the current trend is 7pm.  It was 6pm(ish) for much of 2018 but seemed to trend to 7pm for the most recent events per reports.
> 
> Hope that helps!






Oh, thank you so much!  Yes, this info helps a lot.  Greatly appreciate your help!


----------



## lcborn2run

I am doing something a bit different but I think It will work. We are doing Tomorrowland Terrace MK Dessert party Jan 7 (7:00 pm). We will be able to watch HEA in comfort, then head to rides for DAH.  I know it will be about 8:20 by then, but I am thinking we will still get plenty of rides in by 11. Its the only night I can do HEA and I am getting too old and inpatient to fight the crowds!! Expensive? Yes. But we are not doing a sit down lunch or dinner that day so I am saving there. Thoughts?  Oh and you can add us to Jan 7. Thanks!!


----------



## mcurrence

lcborn2run said:


> I am doing something a bit different but I think It will work. We are doing Tomorrowland Terrace MK Dessert party Jan 7 (7:00 pm). We will be able to watch HEA in comfort, then head to rides for DAH.  I know it will be about 8:20 by then, but I am thinking we will still get plenty of rides in by 11. Its the only night I can do HEA and I am getting too old and inpatient to fight the crowds!! Expensive? Yes. But we are not doing a sit down lunch or dinner that day so I am saving there. Thoughts?  Oh and you can add us to Jan 7. Thanks!!



We did the same exact thing this past Sept. 20th!  HEA before dessert party (Garden view) then DAH starting at 8:00.  That night the fireworks were delayed 5-10 minutes and still I don't regret doing this.   That said, I had never seen HEA and LOVED every second of it! Worth every penny to do both that night.  We also did the unthinkable, which was to head to Adventureland and swim past the mobs of people!  It wasn't as impossible as I thought it would be!

 

Adventureland Pic taken at 8:35...not bad I think, especially since HEA started a bit late!!!!


----------



## lcborn2run

mcurrence said:


> We did the same exact thing this past Sept. 20th!  HEA before dessert party (Garden view) then DAH starting at 8:00.  That night the fireworks were delayed 5-10 minutes and still I don't regret doing this.   That said, I had never seen HEA and LOVED every second of it! Worth every penny to do both that night.  We also did the unthinkable, which was to head to Adventureland and swim past the mobs of people!  It wasn't as impossible as I thought it would be!
> 
> View attachment 372791
> 
> Adventureland Pic taken at 8:35...not bad I think, especially since HEA started a bit late!!!!
> 
> 
> View attachment 372793


Thank you so much for responding Happy to see that this plan worked well!!


----------



## Brazzle Dazzle

Add me to 4-4-18!  We will be spending the whole day at MK!  Tickets for park then DAH from 10-1!  Trying to get reservation for early dinner at Ohana.  Right now have one setup for Trail's End.  A nice boat ride from the park until DAH Starts.  Thanks for all the tips!


----------



## BK2014

@GADisneyDad14 DW and I just signed up for 1/28/19  - please add us to the list!


----------



## blakefamily

considering DAH for our late Feb trip....We bought AP's as we have 2 trips this year, so the discounted price is very intriguing


----------



## ToyStory3

I just saw the post that they haven't historically done DAH in May and I'm SO SAD!!!  I really hope that they will offer this in May 2019.  I've been dying to do this ever since I heard about it and we have a trip at the end of May.  I've even been secretly buying Disney Gift Cards so I can surprise the whole family with it once we're there.  Fingers crossed!!!


----------



## iujen94

ToyStory3 said:


> I just saw the post that they haven't historically done DAH in May and I'm SO SAD!!!  I really hope that they will offer this in May 2019.  I've been dying to do this ever since I heard about it and we have a trip at the end of May.  I've even been secretly buying Disney Gift Cards so I can surprise the whole family with it once we're there.  Fingers crossed!!!



Don’t lose hope!  They also historically haven’t held DAH during President’s Week, and they’ve added that this year. Good luck!


----------



## jacobjennasmom

How is the boat ride back to the TTC after DAH is over? Is the wait long? Are the boats crowded? I have a family member who has anxiety issues with bathroom problems and was hoping the monorail would be working. We will be driving to the park so I'm trying to figure out how the boat will be. We've never taken the boat so this will be a first for us!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Does anyone know if there are dairy-free snacks available? My dh is lactose intolerant.


----------



## FCDub

Iowamomof4 said:


> Does anyone know if there are dairy-free snacks available? My dh is lactose intolerant.



There’s a frozen strawberry bar. Not sure whether the popcorn is dairy free.


----------



## dolewhipdreams

Iowamomof4 said:


> Does anyone know if there are dairy-free snacks available? My dh is lactose intolerant.


The popcorn is dairy free and so are the frozen fruit bars, but the fruit bars do come with a warning that they're processed in facilities that process milk so there might be some traces in there.


----------



## b5sgqueen

I will (hopefully) be tagging along with DH for a conference he has at WDW. 
There have been quite a few difficulties with getting things sorted with his conference so I am not yet sure how many days I will be there for, somewhere between 3-5 depending on a lot of factors.

His last day at the conference will be the day before an DAH at MK will be taking place(so he will be flying out the morning of that day). 
I am wondering if it would be worth getting a hotel for the DAH day and actually staying _just_ to go to DAH?

It is obviously a lot of money for the ticket, though the forums seem to think it's worth it. But it would also be the money for a hotel room for that night and potentially adding another day to the park hopper so I have something to do that day(though with the conference tickets that's not a huge jump).

I'm just looking for general advice on the matter. Do people who have done think it would be worth extending a trip just to experience it, or will the fact that I am traveling solo let me do everything anyway and negate the benefit?


----------



## FCDub

b5sgqueen said:


> I will (hopefully) be tagging along with DH for a conference he has at WDW.
> There have been quite a few difficulties with getting things sorted with his conference so I am not yet sure how many days I will be there for, somewhere between 3-5 depending on a lot of factors.
> 
> His last day at the conference will be the day before an DAH at MK will be taking place(so he will be flying out the morning of that day).
> I am wondering if it would be worth getting a hotel for the DAH day and actually staying _just_ to go to DAH?
> 
> It is obviously a lot of money for the ticket, though the forums seem to think it's worth it. But it would also be the money for a hotel room for that night and potentially adding another day to the park hopper so I have something to do that day(though with the conference tickets that's not a huge jump).
> 
> I'm just looking for general advice on the matter. Do people who have done think it would be worth extending a trip just to experience it, or will the fact that I am traveling solo let me do everything anyway and negate the benefit?



If you're already going to MK on your trip, I personally probably wouldn't incur another hotel night + DAH ticket.


----------



## focusondisney

b5sgqueen said:


> I'm just looking for general advice on the matter. Do people who have done think it would be worth extending a trip just to experience it, or will the fact that I am traveling solo let me do everything anyway and negate the benefit?



Well, many of us on this thread have booked a trip just to go to a DAH event, some flying down for just 1 or 2 nights. So extending for 1 night  when you’re already there would be even  more worth it!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jacobjennasmom said:


> How is the boat ride back to the TTC after DAH is over? Is the wait long? Are the boats crowded? I have a family member who has anxiety issues with bathroom problems and was hoping the monorail would be working. We will be driving to the park so I'm trying to figure out how the boat will be. We've never taken the boat so this will be a first for us!



I’ve never seen anyone post anything materially negative about the Ferry after the event.  I have seen people post that they generally wait for a pretty full Ferry before taking off, but not sure what that means for length of wait.


----------



## AC7179

MKAH is listed for almost every week except the week of the 14th---which is when we will be visiting.   I don't mind too much that they're not having it, but I was curious as to if they're expecting large crowds that week and if that has something to do with it.


----------



## Haley R

focusondisney said:


> Well, many of us on this thread have booked a trip just to go to a DAH event, some flying down for just 1 or 2 nights. So extending for 1 night  when you’re already there would be even  more worth it!


Yeah we flew down and arrived late thursday night, had Friday for Disney springs, Saturday was dah until like 1 am, and the next morning we got picked up by the magic express at like 3:30 am.


----------



## Vickie1016

b5sgqueen said:


> I will (hopefully) be tagging along with DH for a conference he has at WDW.
> There have been quite a few difficulties with getting things sorted with his conference so I am not yet sure how many days I will be there for, somewhere between 3-5 depending on a lot of factors.
> 
> His last day at the conference will be the day before an DAH at MK will be taking place(so he will be flying out the morning of that day).
> I am wondering if it would be worth getting a hotel for the DAH day and actually staying _just_ to go to DAH?
> 
> It is obviously a lot of money for the ticket, though the forums seem to think it's worth it. But it would also be the money for a hotel room for that night and potentially adding another day to the park hopper so I have something to do that day(though with the conference tickets that's not a huge jump).
> 
> I'm just looking for general advice on the matter. Do people who have done think it would be worth extending a trip just to experience it, or will the fact that I am traveling solo let me do everything anyway and negate the benefit?



This July we added an extra day just for this event (moved from WL to CBR for the one night).  Hope they add summer dates again this July!


----------



## Lisa F

jacobjennasmom said:


> How is the boat ride back to the TTC after DAH is over? Is the wait long? Are the boats crowded? I have a family member who has anxiety issues with bathroom problems and was hoping the monorail would be working. We will be driving to the park so I'm trying to figure out how the boat will be. We've never taken the boat so this will be a first for us!



If this is a serious issue for your family member I would consider valet parking at the contemporary so you can walk back and your relative can use the bathroom while you wait for your car.  It costs more than parking at the parks but with what DAH costs, worth the additional expense to not have anxiety and bathroom issues.  I dealt with both with my child on the monorail and it was not fun, I'll tell you that.  Late night Disney transportation can be unreliable in timing.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

b5sgqueen said:


> I will (hopefully) be tagging along with DH for a conference he has at WDW.
> There have been quite a few difficulties with getting things sorted with his conference so I am not yet sure how many days I will be there for, somewhere between 3-5 depending on a lot of factors.
> 
> His last day at the conference will be the day before an DAH at MK will be taking place(so he will be flying out the morning of that day).
> I am wondering if it would be worth getting a hotel for the DAH day and actually staying _just_ to go to DAH?
> 
> It is obviously a lot of money for the ticket, though the forums seem to think it's worth it. But it would also be the money for a hotel room for that night and potentially adding another day to the park hopper so I have something to do that day(though with the conference tickets that's not a huge jump).
> 
> I'm just looking for general advice on the matter. Do people who have done think it would be worth extending a trip just to experience it, or will the fact that I am traveling solo let me do everything anyway and negate the benefit?



I might be biased, but I’d absolutely make time for it if possible, especially if you’re an avid MK fan.  I’ve rearranged trips, done it on arrival day, and such... whatever it takes.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

AC7179 said:


> MKAH is listed for almost every week except the week of the 14th---which is when we will be visiting.   I don't mind too much that they're not having it, but I was curious as to if they're expecting large crowds that week and if that has something to do with it.



When this has been discussed before, I think people have identified that week as either a big Texas spring break week, Orlando spring break week, or maybe both (someone correct me if I'm wrong). 

This poll isn't scientific of course, but the week is #3 on this list:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/spring-break-poll-for-2019.3680025/


----------



## georgina

GADisneyDad14 said:


> When this has been discussed before, I think people have identified that week as either a big Texas spring break week, Orlando spring break week, or maybe both (someone correct me if I'm wrong).
> /



I bought tickets for Feb 21 for DH and I, please add us to the list! 

Staying offsite, trying to decide if we should park at TTC or valet at Contemporary. We may get a sandwich at the Wave lounge but I won't have an ADR.


----------



## captaindavidhook

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I might be biased, but I’d absolutely make time for it if possible, especially if you’re an avid MK fan. * I’ve rearranged trips, done it on arrival day, and such... whatever it takes. [*/QUOTE]
> 
> 
> I like the way you think my friend!


----------



## whiporee

jacobjennasmom said:


> How is the boat ride back to the TTC after DAH is over? Is the wait long? Are the boats crowded? I have a family member who has anxiety issues with bathroom problems and was hoping the monorail would be working. We will be driving to the park so I'm trying to figure out how the boat will be. We've never taken the boat so this will be a first for us!



The ferries always take a while to load, but they hold a LOT people. I think they have bathrooms on board.


----------



## Ckmommy72

Waiting not-so patiently for dates in June to be announced...I know we have quite a wait.  We are travelling with my mom who is a military widow, so we will get military tickets, but AH is the deciding factor between 4 day, 5 day and/or the Plus option....of course we need to book FP in April, so we'll have to buy tickets before the AH days are likely released (based on last year's release date.)  Hoping for Thursday, June 27th...I'm thinking we'll have a pretty good shot at it.  I guess if not, we can just buy a one day water park ticket if AH isn't offered, right?


----------



## RolloTomasi

I'm pretty excited! I've wanted to attend DAH for a while now but the dates have never coincided with my trips, but I'll be there April 4 so I jumped and got tickets. It's our last night, but we fly out late in the day on the fifth, so I don't mind going all out the night before. We were always planning MK being our last day, this just means we'll get to stay a little bit later than usual!


----------



## TIME4DIZ

Heading to my first DAH on 1/17 at MK (you can add me to the list). 
Are recent accounts still a relatively firm adherence to 7pm admission?


----------



## amalone1013

Ckmommy72 said:


> Waiting not-so patiently for dates in June to be announced...I know we have quite a wait.  We are travelling with my mom who is a military widow, so we will get military tickets, but AH is the deciding factor between 4 day, 5 day and/or the Plus option....of course we need to book FP in April, so we'll have to buy tickets before the AH days are likely released (based on last year's release date.)  Hoping for Thursday, June 27th...I'm thinking we'll have a pretty good shot at it.  I guess if not, we can just buy a one day water park ticket if AH isn't offered, right?


I didn't even think about needing to book FP before June dates go on sale.


----------



## Beiji

I'll be there January 7, this coming Monday! Originally I had planned to spend just one night, but I got one of those nice deals on Priceline for AKL thanks to the Canary, and I'm staying five nights now. Still planning only DAH for park time. Since I'm splurging on the resort, I want to enjoy AKL instead of my usual insane schedule of commando touring (do people still say that?).


----------



## michellej47

I have a question about entering.  We have PH and are doing Epcot that morning, then back to the hotel for a few hours to rest.  We plan to come back to MK at 5pm.  I'm pretty sure we can't pick up our wristband/lanyard that early, so where would we head around 7pm to pick them up?  Will we have to exit the park and come in the event entrance?


----------



## Haley R

michellej47 said:


> I have a question about entering.  We have PH and are doing Epcot that morning, then back to the hotel for a few hours to rest.  We plan to come back to MK at 5pm.  I'm pretty sure we can't pick up our wristband/lanyard that early, so where would we head around 7pm to pick them up?  Will we have to exit the park and come in the event entrance?


From post #6:

*The FP kiosks area just outside of the former Stich's Great Escape ride*
*Tortuga Tavern (note: I'd love to know exactly where)*
*Liberty Square ticket office*
*City Hall guest relations office*


----------



## Haley R

When Dh says he really wants to go to Disney after hours even though we’ve already talked about it and I know we need to save our vacation for other things but the plane tickets are $49 each way:


----------



## PolyRob

Haley R said:


> View attachment 373371 When Dh says he really wants to go to Disney after hours even though we’ve already talked about it and I know we need to save our vacation for other things but the plane tickets are $49 each way:


$49 each way? I am sold!

With airfare that low you could honestly book all the flights and eat the cost later if you decide you absolutely cannot go.


----------



## Haley R

PolyRob said:


> $49 each way? I am sold!
> 
> With airfare that low you could honestly book all the flights and eat the cost later if you decide you absolutely cannot go.


That’s without bags and seat selections unfortunately. Still a good price but adds up. We are using 3 weeks vacation for Japan and possibly another week in April for my brother’s winging. So if we go to Disney Dh won’t have like any vacation left for the rest of the year for sick days or Christmas.


----------



## PolyRob

Haley R said:


> That’s without bags and seat selections unfortunately. Still a good price but adds up. We are using 3 weeks vacation for Japan and possibly another week in April for my brother’s winging. So if we go to Disney Dh won’t have like any vacation left for the rest of the year for sick days or Christmas.


Hmmm then maybe hold off. The flights seem like they will go up pretty high with those additional fees.

If you really need to find a Disney fix, maybe a long holiday weekend would help. I know flights may not be ideal cost-wise and there’s may be more crowds, but 1 vacation day could get you 4 nights, 5 days!


----------



## Haley R

PolyRob said:


> Hmmm then maybe hold off. The flights seem like they will go up pretty high with those additional fees.
> 
> If you really need to find a Disney fix, maybe a long holiday weekend would help. I know flights may not be ideal cost-wise and there’s may be more crowds, but 1 vacation day could get you 4 nights, 5 days!


I think the only reason for us to go would be to do all 3 after hours events and when I looked it seemed like we would need to be there for an entire week


----------



## disneymagicgirl

I'm torn on this for Jan 28 due to the early closing and them not allowing anyone in til 7 recently. I will have an AP, but the others won't, so we can't go in until 7 and it ends at 11pm. Conversely, in August, we got in at 6 and DAH was until 1am....same cost.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Okay, Disney, we're well into January now. Feel free to extend this into the summer. Or at least May, please and thank you.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Iowamomof4 said:


> Okay, Disney, we're well into January now. Feel free to extend this into the summer. Or at least May, please and thank you.


And June


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Cinderumbrella said:


> And June



And July.


----------



## Schilltastic4

2 questions that I've tried to figure out to no avail. 
1. MAH in June,  is it a thing typically?  
and
2. Do they offer military discount for tickets? 

Thanks for your help.  We're discussing EMH vs MAH and I'd welcome your thoughts, so I guess that's 3 questions...oops!


----------



## Mikelly1221

Question about FP booking with DAH ticket...I understand that you can book FP at MK for prior to the DAH start if you don't have any other FP booked that day.  If we go to DAH on a Thursday, and have FP booked at AK on Friday (with regular ticket admission), will booking FP for Thursday at MK using the DAH ticket affect/cause cancellation of the AK FP on Friday?  (I really hope this makes sense!)  I don't want DAH FP to mess up any FP I might book on that Friday!  

Also, does anyone have a link for a "best way to maximize rides" schedule for a typical DAH night?  A "touring plan for DAH", so to speak?  

Thank you so much!  We're seriously considering doing the March 28th DAH, and we're newbies!


----------



## Haley R

Mikelly1221 said:


> Question about FP booking with DAH ticket...I understand that you can book FP at MK for prior to the DAH start if you don't have any other FP booked that day.  If we go to DAH on a Thursday, and have FP booked at AK on Friday (with regular ticket admission), will booking FP for Thursday at MK using the DAH ticket affect/cause cancellation of the AK FP on Friday?  (I really hope this makes sense!)  I don't want DAH FP to mess up any FP I might book on that Friday!
> 
> Also, does anyone have a link for a "best way to maximize rides" schedule for a typical DAH night?  A "touring plan for DAH", so to speak?
> 
> Thank you so much!  We're seriously considering doing the March 28th DAH, and we're newbies!


Your first question is hard to answer because everyone has had different experiences. I would say most of the people have had no issue with the FPS but some people have gotten emails saying their other FPS will be deleted because they have too many. So really it’s dependent on you and if you want to take the risk. Do you have another mk day? You will honestly get every ride or close to every ride done at dah. 

As for your second question, we started in Adventureland and Frontierland, crossed over to Tomorrowland, and finished in fantasyland.


----------



## Mikelly1221

Haley R said:


> Your first question is hard to answer because everyone has had different experiences. I would say most of the people have had no issue with the FPS but some people have gotten emails saying their other FPS will be deleted because they have too many. So really it’s dependent on you and if you want to take the risk. Do you have another mk day? You will honestly get every ride or close to every ride done at dah.
> 
> As for your second question, we started in Adventureland and Frontierland, crossed over to Tomorrowland, and finished in fantasyland.


Thank you for the info about the "touring plan"...that's helpful and a good starting point for us in planning the evening.

If you do get the email regarding FP cancellation, do you have the opportunity to correct the situation (AKA cancel the MK pre-DAH FP) before they cancel the others?  Or is the email a "done deal"?


----------



## Haley R

Mikelly1221 said:


> Thank you for the info about the "touring plan"...that's helpful and a good starting point for us in planning the evening.
> 
> If you do get the email regarding FP cancellation, do you have the opportunity to correct the situation (AKA cancel the MK pre-DAH FP) before they cancel the others?  Or is the email a "done deal"?


I think most people have been able to cancel before Disney cancels them for you. But some people didn’t even get an email and their FPS were just deleted. Like I said, it’s been different for everyone. We’ve been twice and we didn’t have any issues with FPS being deleted.

Mainly our strategy was to leave fantasyland for last


----------



## Mikelly1221

Thank you!  This is very helpful!


----------



## Cramden

Lisa F said:


> If this is a serious issue for your family member I would consider valet parking at the contemporary so you can walk back and your relative can use the bathroom while you wait for your car.  It costs more than parking at the parks but with what DAH costs, worth the additional expense to not have anxiety and bathroom issues.  I dealt with both with my child on the monorail and it was not fun, I'll tell you that.  Late night Disney transportation can be unreliable in timing.



Am I reading this correctly? You can Valet Park at the Contemporary and leave your car there while you're at DAH?


----------



## FCDub

Cramden said:


> Am I reading this correctly? You can Valet Park at the Contemporary and leave your car there while you're at DAH?



Yes, but only if you valet park.


----------



## Cramden

FCDub said:


> Yes, but only if you valet park.



Interesting. Can I pay for it while staying at the Beach Club and use it that night at the Contemporary?


----------



## sjberg79

I'm thinking about doing this at the end of January when we are there but my 5 year old is not going to make it to 11pm, even with a nap (that night the event starts at 8). We'll be lucky to make it to 10pm, which is fine, I'd be find paying for that and knowing that going in. This is kinda like EMM, right? Less crowded? Like, what do they do with the line for the 7dmt so it's ready for people who have the wrist band at 8pm? Do they shut it down early or does everyone who has a regular ticket still get to get in line up until 8pm and then do all the after hours people have to wait until all that line filters through and then get a shorter line? I'm just curious how Disney deals with the regular day lines in anticipation for the after hours crowd that is expecting shorter lines. Thanks!


----------



## focusondisney

Haley R said:


> That’s without bags and seat selections unfortunately. Still a good price but adds up. We are using 3 weeks vacation for Japan and possibly another week in April for my brother’s winging. So if we go to Disney Dh won’t have like any vacation left for the rest of the year for sick days or Christmas.



None of my business, but seems like you both might need an intervention.    We all love WDW, but you have to live the rest of your life.  DW isn’t going anywhere.  And by the looks of things, neither is DAHs.  Ther’s always next year!


----------



## Haley R

focusondisney said:


> None of my business, but seems like you both might need an intervention.    We all love WDW, but you have to live the rest of your life.  DW isn’t going anywhere.  And by the looks of things, neither is DAHs.  Ther’s always next year!


Lol yeah I know. If we find a good hotel deal then we may end up going, but we aren't going to force it.


----------



## Lisa F

Cramden said:


> Interesting. Can I pay for it while staying at the Beach Club and use it that night at the Contemporary?



I think it is per resort and not related to your stay (which is why you can use it while not staying there).  You don't get a "valet park anywhere" tag if you valet park in one place and the nightly resort parking fee is charged per night if you have a car, I don't believe you can leave your car elsewhere for one night and avoid it for that night.  I think it is all or nothing.

but obviously if you have some kind of need that makes iffy transportation an issue, it's an option  and probably well worth the $30 or whatever it is considering what DAH costs to not have a miserable end to the night.


----------



## Cramden

Lisa F said:


> I think it is per resort and not related to your stay (which is why you can use it while not staying there).  You don't get a "valet park anywhere" tag if you valet park in one place and the nightly resort parking fee is charged per night if you have a car, I don't believe you can leave your car elsewhere for one night and avoid it for that night.  I think it is all or nothing.
> 
> but obviously if you have some kind of need that makes iffy transportation an issue, it's an option  and probably well worth the $30 or whatever it is considering what DAH costs to not have a miserable end to the night.



Thanks. So the pay for Valet Parking and use it anywhere no longer applies now that parking fees are mandatory at the Resorts? Think I'd rather put that extra $30 if that's the case toward a Minnie Van back to the Beach Club. Do you know if they'd still be available after a Midnight ending of DAH?


----------



## jacobjennasmom

Thanks for the info on the valet parking...I know nothing about this! So we could pay to valet park at the contemporary for that night? Would we just tell them at the check in area when you enter the Contemporary parking lot that we want to pay to valet park? Thanks so much for this info! It is extremely helpful!


----------



## PolyRob

Cramden said:


> Thanks. So the pay for Valet Parking and use it anywhere no longer applies now that parking fees are mandatory at the Resorts? Think I'd rather put that extra $30 if that's the case toward a Minnie Van back to the Beach Club. Do you know if they'd still be available after a Midnight ending of DAH?


Minnie Vans currently operate 6:30am - 12:30am. Hours are "subject to change."  You may be ok depending on what night your DAH is and how late you plan on staying in the park.


----------



## Lisa F

jacobjennasmom said:


> Thanks for the info on the valet parking...I know nothing about this! So we could pay to valet park at the contemporary for that night? Would we just tell them at the check in area when you enter the Contemporary parking lot that we want to pay to valet park? Thanks so much for this info! It is extremely helpful!


When I was researching it I read that you can say at the guard booth "I am looking to valet park" and they will wave you through.  I have not verified this myself and am not renting a car this time.  

Valet parking is pretty pricey so I don't think this is a capacity issue as most people are not going to pay to valet at the contemporary to avoid TTC but it does seem like for a nighttime premium event it would be worth it.  I would consider it certainly. 




Cramden said:


> Thanks. So the pay for Valet Parking and use it anywhere no longer applies now that parking fees are mandatory at the Resorts? Think I'd rather put that extra $30 if that's the case toward a Minnie Van back to the Beach Club. Do you know if they'd still be available after a Midnight ending of DAH?



I don't know for sure but I think that went away years ago.  I remember doing that when I was at BWV (I am a long time DVC member) back in the day, we could get free valet parking for staying there? (was it free? I think so because I don't think I would have paid a premium for it... or it was a very small premium) and then you get the tag and can valet park ANYWHERE for free with the tag.  so we'd basically valet park the entire week and valet park everywhere.  But that was back in the early 2000's.  I haven't valet parked since they started charging for it.    I don't see anything saying that you CAN'T but I also don't see anything saying that you can, ie it is a feature of the program.  

So not sure if you could move your car from CR to BC after paying for 24 hours of valet parking but in either case I also don't think that they would refund you one day of self parking at the resort for doing so. Unless you are DVC and not paying for it at all.  

It looks like valet is up to $33 + tip so depending what you tip (aren't you supposed to tip at drop off and pick up?) you're talking close to $40.  But again if I had some kind of issue that would make the uncertainty of late night disney transport unbearable I'd pay it in a heartbeat.  I will just wait for the ferry back to TTC with my child, we can hopefully find somewhere to sit on that thing.


----------



## Lisa F

PolyRob said:


> Minnie Vans currently operate 6:30am - 12:30am. Hours are "subject to change."  You may be ok depending on what night your DAH is and how late you plan on staying in the park.


I think the upcoming ones for January are all 8-11 so should be ok.


----------



## JJsmama

Are they still offering the extra early before park opens event?  I would love to do one of these limited events but we are much more morning people than late night people.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

JJsmama said:


> Are they still offering the extra early before park opens event?  I would love to do one of these limited events but we are much more morning people than late night people.



Do you mean Early Morning Magic?  Two threads that may be helpful below:  

MK/Fantasyland Early Morning Magic (EMM) FAQ & Discussion Thread

DHS/Toy Story Land "Early Morning Magic" (EMM) FAQ & Discussion


----------



## mtrib

Two quick questions:

1 - Has anyone mapped out where the open food carts are during the event? Saw a TP video and they were having a hard time finding an open cart.

2- DAH is 8-11pm our night. HEA is scheduled for 8:00. DS17 and DD14 really want to see OUAT but felt HEA was ok to miss. Anyone have experience watching OUAT from the hub then trying to squeeze out of the crowd before the fireworks? Though we could boogie over to 7D while everyone watched the fireworks. Have even heard of people enjoying the fireworks while riding 7D. And hate to miss 30 minutes of low crowd ride time during such an expensive event.

3- Sorry. Sneaking in a third one. Is entrance for PP through FPP line or SB line? I'd like to see the interactive queue but not enough to wait SB during regular park hours.


----------



## iujen94

mtrib said:


> Two quick questions:
> 
> 1 - Has anyone mapped out where the open food carts are during the event? Saw a TP video and they were having a hard time finding an open cart.
> 
> 2- DAH is 8-11pm our night. HEA is scheduled for 8:00. DS17 and DD14 really want to see OUAT but felt HEA was ok to miss. Anyone have experience watching OUAT from the hub then trying to squeeze out of the crowd before the fireworks? Though we could boogie over to 7D while everyone watched the fireworks. Have even heard of people enjoying the fireworks while riding 7D. And hate to miss 30 minutes of low crowd ride time during such an expensive event.
> 
> 3- Sorry. Sneaking in a third one. Is entrance for PP through FPP line or SB line? I'd like to see the interactive queue but not enough to wait SB during regular park hours.



I’d love to know the answer to #1 as well!

On #2, I can tell you that we’ve had great luck riding 7DMT during fireworks. Even during a busy week (Presidents’ Week), we were able to ride 2-3 times in a row with maybe a 5-10 minute wait each time. Ignore the wait time sign out front - they don’t really adjust it for the low crowds during fireworks.


----------



## jerseyjersey

Do we think there's any chance of DAH being added for late April (week after Easter)?  Published park hours aren't crazy late, so I'm holding out a tiny ray of hope that they'll be announced before we finalize all our plans!


----------



## Dentam

We'll be at DAH in ten days!  Bummed to see that they've changed the entry time to 7pm instead of 6 now but oh well.  We won't be going to a park that day so will just enter at 7, have dinner and then enjoy the event.  Although I'm questioning the dinner decision since we need to save room for ice cream and popcorn!  lol


----------



## Haley R

mtrib said:


> Two quick questions:
> 
> 1 - Has anyone mapped out where the open food carts are during the event? Saw a TP video and they were having a hard time finding an open cart.
> 
> 2- DAH is 8-11pm our night. HEA is scheduled for 8:00. DS17 and DD14 really want to see OUAT but felt HEA was ok to miss. Anyone have experience watching OUAT from the hub then trying to squeeze out of the crowd before the fireworks? Though we could boogie over to 7D while everyone watched the fireworks. Have even heard of people enjoying the fireworks while riding 7D. And hate to miss 30 minutes of low crowd ride time during such an expensive event.
> 
> 3- Sorry. Sneaking in a third one. Is entrance for PP through FPP line or SB line? I'd like to see the interactive queue but not enough to wait SB during regular park hours.


We’ve waited 2 hours for 7dmt before during the fireworks. I think that’s a hard one to tell. You could always walk over and check what the line looks like


----------



## Haley R

Dentam said:


> We'll be at DAH in ten days!  Bummed to see that they've changed the entry time to 7pm instead of 6 now but oh well.  We won't be going to a park that day so will just enter at 7, have dinner and then enjoy the event.  Although I'm questioning the dinner decision since we need to save room for ice cream and popcorn!  lol


I would definitely plan a dinner before you go for dah so you can really take advantage of all the time you’re given. It also gives your stomach time to settle before eating snacks!


----------



## Haley R

I know you guys are all gonna hate me, but Dh and I can get flights to Orlando through Frontier for $28.....

Sooooo, we might be going January 28-February 4. It's super last minute, but really? $28 flights?! Even with baggage and seat selection that's super cheap!


----------



## mcurrence

Haley R said:


> I know you guys are all gonna hate me, but Dh and I can get flights to Orlando through Frontier for $28.....
> 
> Sooooo, we might be going January 28-February 4. It's super last minute, but really? $28 flights?! Even with baggage and seat selection that's super cheap!


Yes!!! What a deal !


----------



## mcurrence

Wishing everyone an awesome night tonight!


----------



## mtrib

Haley R said:


> We’ve waited 2 hours for 7dmt before during the fireworks. I think that’s a hard one to tell. You could always walk over and check what the line looks like



Park is supposed to close at 8 with fireworks at 8 and DAH starting at 8. Hoping we'd get priority before anyone who is still waiting from regular hours in SB. Wondering about the logistics of getting out of the hub once we are in LOL!


----------



## mtrib

iujen94 said:


> I’d love to know the answer to #1 as well!
> 
> On #2, I can tell you that we’ve had great luck riding 7DMT during fireworks. Even during a busy week (Presidents’ Week), we were able to ride 2-3 times in a row with maybe a 5-10 minute wait each time. Ignore the wait time sign out front - they don’t really adjust it for the low crowds during fireworks.



I'm hoping that will be the case since park closes at 8. Like I said to Haley R. I'm really wondering about the logistics of getting out of the hub before the fireworks but after the projection show. I'm thinking we may be permanently stuck once we are in the crowd.


----------



## Dentam

Haley R said:


> I would definitely plan a dinner before you go for dah so you can really take advantage of all the time you’re given. It also gives your stomach time to settle before eating snacks!



Yeah, we'll eat dinner but I'm thinking maybe earlier in DS or a smaller snack/meal once we get into MK at 7.  We've done DAH in the past and took full advantage of the free snacks and would like to get our money's worth again this year.  The only reason we're actually doing the event again is because we got a discount through DVC.  Otherwise we feel it is pretty expensive for three hours.  If it was four hours that would be awesome!



Haley R said:


> I know you guys are all gonna hate me, but Dh and I can get flights to Orlando through Frontier for $28.....



Nice!  My flight was $49 to Orlando with Southwest!


----------



## focusondisney

I have family members there tonight. They texted they were let in at 6:25! Got wristbands, no lanyards.


----------



## mcurrence

focusondisney said:


> I have family members there tonight. They texted they were let in at 6:25!


Well this is encouraging!  I always think they start off the season with CM's that don't know much about it but then little by little they start letting everyone in earlier and earlier (this may be wishful thinking!)  I guess we'll wait and see.  Still happy for your family members!!


----------



## Dentam

focusondisney said:


> I have family members there tonight. They texted they were let in at 6:25! Got wristbands, no lanyards.



Awesome, thanks for sharing!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Wow, I kind of forgot MK DAH started back up tonight.  Crazy.  

Hope everyone has fun!

Looks like nice weather.


----------



## Haley R

mcurrence said:


> Yes!!! What a deal !


The problem is we have to book by tonight so trying to decide. I see some pretty good hotel prices though


----------



## mcurrence

Haley R said:


> The problem is we have to book by tonight so trying to decide. I see some pretty good hotel prices though


Would you do all 3 after hours?  That would be AMAZING!  I'm probably the wrong person to ask, I say do it! LOL


----------



## Haley R

mtrib said:


> Park is supposed to close at 8 with fireworks at 8 and DAH starting at 8. Hoping we'd get priority before anyone who is still waiting from regular hours in SB. Wondering about the logistics of getting out of the hub once we are in LOL!


It honestly depends on the cm. Some will let you go through the fp line and some will say no and have you go through the regular line behind day guests. I would say the majority of them have you go in the regular line and that’s why most people leave 7dmt for last during dah


----------



## Haley R

Dentam said:


> Yeah, we'll eat dinner but I'm thinking maybe earlier in DS or a smaller snack/meal once we get into MK at 7.  We've done DAH in the past and took full advantage of the free snacks and would like to get our money's worth again this year.  The only reason we're actually doing the event again is because we got a discount through DVC.  Otherwise we feel it is pretty expensive for three hours.  If it was four hours that would be awesome!
> 
> 
> 
> Nice!  My flight was $49 to Orlando with Southwest!


Wow cheap flights! Do you fly out of a big airport?


----------



## maryj11

This may have already been asked so I'm sorry if it has. Will they let you in early if you have  dining reservation?


----------



## Haley R

mcurrence said:


> Would you do all 3 after hours?  That would be AMAZING!  I'm probably the wrong person to ask, I say do it! LOL


Well of course lol. We specifically wanted to plan it around doing all three events. We also have 4 base tickets that were comped to us to use so 2 for each of us.


----------



## Haley R

maryj11 said:


> This may have already been asked so I'm sorry if it has. Will they let you in early if you have  dining reservation?


I don’t believe so


----------



## mcurrence

maryj11 said:


> This may have already been asked so I'm sorry if it has. Will they let you in early if you have  dining reservation?


Not without regular day tickets


----------



## Dentam

Haley R said:


> Wow cheap flights! Do you fly out of a big airport?



Yes, Denver - and the return flight was around $140 but I was still thrilled with the $49 fare to get there!


----------



## mcurrence

Haley R said:


> Well of course lol. We specifically wanted to plan it around doing all three events. We also have 4 base tickets that were comped to us to use so 2 for each of us.


What an awesome opportunity! Hope you do it and enjoy every second !!!!


----------



## maryj11

amalone1013 said:


> I didn't even think about needing to book FP before June dates go on sale.


Me either ! Hmmm we were planning on only buying the DAH tickets for 2 of our nights. So can we just go ahead and buy park tickets and do the fastpasses then if the DAH dates fall during our stay cancel
the tickets and fastpasses for those days?


----------



## maryj11

mcurrence said:


> Not without regular day tickets


Awe dang it! Thanks for the info.


----------



## Dentam

Haley R said:


> The problem is we have to book by tonight so trying to decide. I see some pretty good hotel prices though



I'd say go for it!


----------



## Haley R

Dentam said:


> Yes, Denver - and the return flight was around $140 but I was still thrilled with the $49 fare to get there!


I would be too! We are thinking we might actually take Southwest back a day earlier than the Frontier flight. We have Southwest/Chase points so wouldn't cost any money and Dh would miss one less day at work.


----------



## Haley R

mcurrence said:


> What an awesome opportunity! Hope you do it and enjoy every second !!!!





Dentam said:


> I'd say go for it!


Thank you both! I've gotta say, booking a last minute trip is so much more exciting than waiting 6-12 months lol. We wouldn't really need fps because we would do all three DAH events. We've never been in January or to the Festival of the Arts so that'll be fun!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

maryj11 said:


> This may have already been asked so I'm sorry if it has. Will they let you in early if you have  dining reservation?



No, they won’t, baring some Pixie Dust.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

sjberg79 said:


> I'm thinking about doing this at the end of January when we are there but my 5 year old is not going to make it to 11pm, even with a nap (that night the event starts at 8). We'll be lucky to make it to 10pm, which is fine, I'd be find paying for that and knowing that going in. This is kinda like EMM, right? Less crowded? Like, what do they do with the line for the 7dmt so it's ready for people who have the wrist band at 8pm? Do they shut it down early or does everyone who has a regular ticket still get to get in line up until 8pm and then do all the after hours people have to wait until all that line filters through and then get a shorter line? I'm just curious how Disney deals with the regular day lines in anticipation for the after hours crowd that is expecting shorter lines. Thanks!



Every kid is different of course, but I'm always surprised at how much stamina my kids have at Disney.  We're pretty regimented about early bed times at home, but relax at Disney.  My four year old hung until midnight at DAH back in Sept.  I was fully prepared to leave early as well, but she kept going.  I was impressed!  

It's like EMM in terms of crowd level, just covering the entire park obviously.  

Any regular guest can get in any ride line up until closing time, so yes, there can and will be day guest carryover lines on some rides.  Mainly the headliners and slow-loaders like 7DMT, PP, Speedway, etc.  DAH acts/operates like Extra Magic Hours in this regard.  

Some DAH guests have reported CMs letting DAH ticket-holders in the FP line if the standby line is material, but this practice is inconsistent and is a "YMMV" thing for the most part.  

For dates like January where HEA is at 8pm and DAH hours are 8-11pm... HEA being at park close is a GREAT natural park clearer.  

Generally speaking, any day guest carry-over is rarely mentioned as a materially negative part of the DAH experience.  I do, however, recommend holding off on a ride like 7DMT until later in the night, if you don't like the looks of the standby wait time.  

Hope that helps.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mtrib said:


> Two quick questions:
> 
> 1 - Has anyone mapped out where the open food carts are during the event? Saw a TP video and they were having a hard time finding an open cart.
> 
> 2- DAH is 8-11pm our night. HEA is scheduled for 8:00. DS17 and DD14 really want to see OUAT but felt HEA was ok to miss. Anyone have experience watching OUAT from the hub then trying to squeeze out of the crowd before the fireworks? Though we could boogie over to 7D while everyone watched the fireworks. Have even heard of people enjoying the fireworks while riding 7D. And hate to miss 30 minutes of low crowd ride time during such an expensive event.
> 
> 3- Sorry. Sneaking in a third one. Is entrance for PP through FPP line or SB line? I'd like to see the interactive queue but not enough to wait SB during regular park hours.



1) I've had some people ask for this, but I haven't had the time to sit down and map it out.  It has also changed a bit each time we've done DAH, so tough for it to be 100% accurate.  At some point when I have a rainy day and some time to kill, I'll try to do it.  

2) Haven't personally done it, but seems like you should be able to squeeze out of the Hub without too much issue.  CMs do keep walkways and sidewalks clear, which makes it easier to move about.  One bit of advice on 7DMT... if you don't like the looks of the standby line or wait time when you get back there, don't be afraid to bail.  I'd hate for you to be in a long standby line inside the building while fireworks are going off and you miss the show.  While HEA is popular, many day guests to have a "let's hit this ride at the end of the night because the line was so bad all day" strategy.  

3) Our last DAH on 9/20, the standby line was open.  I believe at the time that was the only option (there was maybe a 5-10 min wait when we rode it).  

Hope that helps!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Schilltastic4 said:


> 2 questions that I've tried to figure out to no avail.
> 1. MAH in June,  is it a thing typically?
> and
> 2. Do they offer military discount for tickets?
> 
> Thanks for your help.  We're discussing EMH vs MAH and I'd welcome your thoughts, so I guess that's 3 questions...oops!



*Post #11 *has historical DAH dates... so far there has only been one summer with DAH dates - last summer - and there were only 2 June dates.  Those were released 5/2/2018.  My guess is you'll see more DAH dates this summer, but TBD when they will be released.

I am not sure about military discounts.  If you happen to find out, please post as I'd like to add that to the FAQ.

For me, no comparison of DAH and EMH.  EMH - while OK - is still a lot of people.  Disney markets the heck out of them and they are popular.


----------



## amiskell28

GADisneyDad14 said:


> For dates like January where HEA is at 8pm and DAH hours are 8-11pm... HEA being at park close is a GREAT natural park clearer.



Hmmm. Never thought of this. Most excellent!!

I was following along on the other park DAH threads and really wondering why there is the 30 minute delay in DAH start time at the other parks, but not at MK. And, like the other poster, was thinking that the first little bit of DAH may be crowded due to the overlap. But it sounds like it'll work out!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

amiskell28 said:


> Hmmm. Never thought of this. Most excellent!!
> 
> I was following along on the other park DAH threads and really wondering why there is the 30 minute delay in DAH start time at the other parks, but not at MK. And, like the other poster, was thinking that the first little bit of DAH may be crowded due to the overlap. But it sounds like it'll work out!



I think most people just manage around it to some extent.  If you see a ride with a wait you don't like, at MK there's usually something nearby that's a walk-on - so it all kind of just works out.  

I'm 'guessing' the 30 minute thing at DHS and DAK is due to the fact there are *so *many fewer rides at those parks and the two headliners - FoP and SDD - are likely to have more than a material line at park closing.  They probably knew they needed the 30 minutes of time to get things going.  Also unlike MK - both parks routinely have either fireworks, F!, or RoL that is sometimes scheduled after park closing, so you have that dynamic in the schedule too.


----------



## Haley R

Well we went for it and got plane tickets!!! We are coming down January 28 and staying until February 3. Flying down with Frontier for $28 each and flying back with Southwest paid with points so cost us $0. We did pay for early bird check in and bags/seats for Frontier so the total came out to around $250 together which is pretty darn good! We plan to go to the MK DAH on arrival day which is 1/28. Haven't bought tickets yet because we are going to get discounted Disney gcs first. I can't believe we made the choice and are doing the trifecta!!!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Haley R said:


> Well we went for it and got plane tickets!!! We are coming down January 28 and staying until February 3. Flying down with Frontier for $28 each and flying back with Southwest paid with points so cost us $0. We did pay for early bird check in and bags/seats for Frontier so the total came out to around $250 together which is pretty darn good! We plan to go to the MK DAH on arrival day which is 1/28. Haven't bought tickets yet because we are going to get discounted Disney gcs first. I can't believe we made the choice and are doing the trifecta!!!



That's great on those flights! Wow - that will be so fun! I had a feeling you might cave sooner or later! I was going back and forth between coming down alone early and doing the two other DAH events by myself, or talking my DH into leaving a little earlier so we could all do the MK one together, and I went with the latter. It was a very easy sell, actually! I really wish I was doing all three, but I'm really excited for all of us to do the MK one. Last year when I did it, it was just with my (then) 11YO daughter (it was a dance group trip) and she's a bit of an early bird! My other early bird - DH - will be happy to leave a little early with her if she runs out of steam! My 14 son is the night owl, so I know he will last until the end and we'll have a blast! 

Yay for spontaneity!


----------



## Beiji

I was at last night's DAH, and CMs started letting people in at 6:30. It was clear that it was a decision to open at that time coming down from somewhere because the tapstiles were covered until right before 6:30, and some of the CMs looked impatient to get started. I think they would have opened at 6:00, if they had had their way. lol

It was my first DAH and my first trip to WDW since 2012. It was more crowded than I expected as I was comparing it to fondly remembered earliest of early admission days. But it was still great with short lines for everything. The longest posted time I saw for 7DMT was 15 minutes, and when I went, it was even less. The wait time was basically the time it took to walk the queue. 

Unfortunately Splash was down, and you could see lights on all over it as they apparently were trying to fix it. 

We are going to AK DAH tonight.


----------



## Haley R

TheFloatingBear said:


> That's great on those flights! Wow - that will be so fun! I had a feeling you might cave sooner or later! I was going back and forth between coming down alone early and doing the two other DAH events by myself, or talking my DH into leaving a little earlier so we could all do the MK one together, and I went with the latter. It was a very easy sell, actually! I really wish I was doing all three, but I'm really excited for all of us to do the MK one. Last year when I did it, it was just with my (then) 11YO daughter (it was a dance group trip) and she's a bit of an early bird! My other early bird - DH - will be happy to leave a little early with her if she runs out of steam! My 14 son is the night owl, so I know he will last until the end and we'll have a blast!
> 
> Yay for spontaneity!


I’m so excited! Now we are trying to figure out our hotel situation.


----------



## mtrib

Haley R said:


> It honestly depends on the cm. Some will let you go through the fp line and some will say no and have you go through the regular line behind day guests. I would say the majority of them have you go in the regular line and that’s why most people leave 7dmt for last during dah



Got it. Then maybe we will boogie somewhere else. Thanks!


----------



## mtrib

GADisneyDad14 said:


> 1) I've had some people ask for this, but I haven't had the time to sit down and map it out.  It has also changed a bit each time we've done DAH, so tough for it to be 100% accurate.  At some point when I have a rainy day and some time to kill, I'll try to do it.
> 
> 2) Haven't personally done it, but seems like you should be able to squeeze out of the Hub without too much issue.  CMs do keep walkways and sidewalks clear, which makes it easier to move about.  One bit of advice on 7DMT... if you don't like the looks of the standby line or wait time when you get back there, don't be afraid to bail.  I'd hate for you to be in a long standby line inside the building while fireworks are going off and you miss the show.  While HEA is popular, many day guests to have a "let's hit this ride at the end of the night because the line was so bad all day" strategy.
> 
> 3) Our last DAH on 9/20, the standby line was open.  I believe at the time that was the only option (there was maybe a 5-10 min wait when we rode it).
> 
> Hope that helps!



Thank you! Helps a lot.
1- We will have D17 along and constant food infusion is a must!
2-Someone else mentioned line for 7D might be long. We might bail to the right instead and do SM and Buzz a few times then head to Fantasyland. I'll keep my fingers crossed for seeing SB line for PP.


----------



## maloned

How quick do day-guests at Magic Kingdom asked to leave the park when the After Hours party starts?  Would we have enough time to try and get on an E-Ticket ride right at 8pm?


----------



## CaribbeanJack

I'm a passholder and just purchased DAH tickets for 1/28. When I checked out online I selected the "print at home" option, but when I received the email from Disney the PDF wasn't attached. Has anyone else run into this issue? Do I need physical tickets or will having my magicband be good enough? Thanks in advance!


----------



## Haley R

maloned said:


> How quick do day-guests at Magic Kingdom asked to leave the park when the After Hours party starts?  Would we have enough time to try and get on an E-Ticket ride right at 8pm?


The day guests actually aren’t asked to leave. It isn’t like Halloween parties where the cms usher others out. They are welcome to stay but there won’t be much for them to do without a wristband.


----------



## Beiji

maloned said:


> How quick do day-guests at Magic Kingdom asked to leave the park when the After Hours party starts?  Would we have enough time to try and get on an E-Ticket ride right at 8pm?



Throughout the night we saw people without wristbands even when we headed toward Main Street at 11:00 PM!


----------



## Lisa F

CaribbeanJack said:


> I'm a passholder and just purchased DAH tickets for 1/28. When I checked out online I selected the "print at home" option, but when I received the email from Disney the PDF wasn't attached. Has anyone else run into this issue? Do I need physical tickets or will having my magicband be good enough? Thanks in advance!


the hard copy is a backup, they should just be able to scan your magic band.  If you can see the confirmation number online maybe screen shot it in case you need it but you shouldn't.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

CaribbeanJack said:


> I'm a passholder and just purchased DAH tickets for 1/28. When I checked out online I selected the "print at home" option, but when I received the email from Disney the PDF wasn't attached. Has anyone else run into this issue? Do I need physical tickets or will having my magicband be good enough? Thanks in advance!



Your tickets should show up under MDE under the tickets/passes page.  Assuming they do, you only need your MagicBand.  I keep a folder with e-mail confirmations just in case I hit some snafu and need to find it relatively easily, but have never needed it.


----------



## disneymagicgirl

focusondisney said:


> I have family members there tonight. They texted they were let in at 6:25! Got wristbands, no lanyards.


fantastic news on the 6:25!


----------



## disneymagicgirl

CaribbeanJack said:


> I'm a passholder and just purchased DAH tickets for 1/28. When I checked out online I selected the "print at home" option, but when I received the email from Disney the PDF wasn't attached. Has anyone else run into this issue? Do I need physical tickets or will having my magicband be good enough? Thanks in advance!


Thats the one we are going to!


----------



## Cramden

I had the same issue. We're passholders and printed at home for the 2/21 DAH. My email also lacked the PDF. I called Disney and they said I should have had a bar code somewhere on my confirmation email but there wasn't. She told me I needed to print out my confirmation email and bring it to guest relations before the party in order to get our tickets. So glad I read this.


----------



## abbiesmomma

My DDs (17 and 20) and I attended our first DAH last night (January 7th)... it was a short, last minute surprise trip with one marathon park day.  I will say that the parks (we were also at DHS and EPCOT earlier in the day) still felt pretty crowded and standby wait times were also fairly lengthy-- so we were looking forward to some shorter waits/more rides at MK!  I've read a lot on this board about DAH and am super thankful for the shared experiences of others-- so hopefully this report will be helpful to someone else. 

(As a side note, in case anyone cares about this detail, there were Christmas decorations still up in all three of these parks (DHS, EPCOT and MK).  MK was the only one still with a Christmas tree as well as full Christmas decor & castle lights--but not really playing Christmas music.  DHS was still decorated and FULLY committed to the Christmas tunes.  There were very few signs of Christmas in Future World at EPCOT but the World Showcase was still very much decorated.  We also visited the GF for breakfast on the 8th and their lobby trees were still up-- but the gingerbread house was down.)

We entered MK in the late afternoon (~ 4:30 pm) with a regular park hopper ticket and spent some time doing the things that 17 and 20 year olds like to do-- namely taking cute IG pictures-- purple wall, light-up ears w/ the castle, etc. and grabbing some food that would not be available later.  We snagged a late FP for Jungle Cruise since we wanted to focus on mountains and other rides during DAH.  After that, we picked up our wristbands in Tomorrowland-- the CM's were on Buzz/Monsters side of the walkway, and if there was a DAH sign, I did not see it. I was looking for them on Stitch side so we almost missed them. After getting scanned and wristbanded, we headed back to the Hub.  The girls had not yet seen OUAT or HEA so we decided that even though watching it would cut into our DAH time, we would make that part of our evening.  In preparation for as quick of an exit as possible, we sat on the curb of the Hub near the Frontierland walkway-- this gave us a reasonably good view of the castle projections and fireworks AND we only had to cross one section of crowded sidewalk after the show (which was fairly painless---no one was lost or stepped on... so... winning!!)

Immediately after HEA, we headed toward our first mountain--Splash-- which, as previously reported, was not running (and I believe remained down all night  ) so we kept walking toward BTMRR.  We observed lines were already forming at snack carts in Frontierland (more on this later) so we decided to forego snacks in favor of rides first.  BTMRR was a complete walk-on (posted wait was 5 or 10 but it was literally just the time it took you to walk through the que and load--- which, also a few more thoughts on this later).  Got off, rode again.  Finished our 2nd ride at 8:39 pm.  The rest of the night went as follows: HM (12 people in the Stretching Room!), grabbed our first snacks outside the HM exit (3 ice cream, 2 sodas, 2 waters), Buzz x2, Space x2, Pooh, 7DMT, LMM, Princess Meet (Tiana/Rapunzel-- wait only 5-10 min even though posted 20) and finished with 7DMT x2 and final snacks (3 ice cream and popcorn).  We could have easily fit in a few more shorter rides but since we had been going all day, we weren't about walking super fast to get anywhere-- plus we had to stop and take a few 'there is no one here' pictures!!  We lingered in the Hub until about 11:30, watching the Kiss Goodnight at 11:15 and 11:30 and starting walking down Main Street after that. Crowds in the Hub were really low by 11:30 pm (100-200 people??)-- if you want an 'empty park castle picture', this is definitely doable if you linger a bit, IMHO.  Photopass photographers were still taking pictures in front of the castle and on Main Street.  The Emporium was definitely closed and there was no one inside by 11:30-- so I'm not sure exactly when they closed it down but don't count on lingering and then shopping.  We finished up taking cute IG pictures and were walking through the train station during the third Kiss Goodnight at 11:45 pm (my girls called it the 'Now really-- go home!!!!' one, LOL!!!)  We never felt like we were being rushed out-- it was like we were there on any other MK park closing night (with the exception of the shopping/food being closed up).  Buses were ready and waiting to take us back to the resort.

Now I will say that I don't know where this night landed in terms of number of tickets sold, but I surely don't think it was an undersold event.  When everyone was spread out through the park, it never felt crowded, and we never waited more than a walk-on/load (5-10 min max)--- but at 11 pm when everyone was still lingering taking pictures in the Hub and on Main Street, it seemed like there were a good number of people all gathered together.  Another thing that leads me to believe that it was a well attended night is that there were always lines at the snack carts.  Based on previous DAH reports, I expected that they would diminish during the night, but this was not really our experience.  Granted, they moved pretty fast (the ones we stopped at) but there were still lines/waits.  My bigger 'complaint' about the snack carts is that I felt like they were sort of hard to spot.  I wish they had a map for them or a special light or sign or something (like they do for the cookie/drink stations at MVMCP).  We couldn't find one in Fantasyland, and I asked a CM working near Pooh if she knew where any were and she told me (incorrectly) that they were all closed up back there, and we could find them in front of the castle-- we walked down just a bit near Fairytale Hall and found an ice cream treats-only cart.  By the time we made it to the front of the castle, the snack cart there was out of drinks (it was the end of the night but this was still a disappointment/frustration, and we were thirsty!!).  I feel like they could do a tiny bit better job of identifying the snack carts.

One other thing that I don't understand is why the attractions utilize the standby que lines during DAH (which would not even be that bad if they would adjust the ropes to cut of large sections of zigging and zagging, but again, this was largely not our experience) -- I guess they have a reason for not doing this (and I realize some ques have sections that can't be cut out), but it seemed like a huge time waster, IMHO.  I wish they would let DAH guests use FP lines or else modify the standby ques so they are not so long.

My last 'complaint' is that I really wish they would not start a MK DAH at the same time as HEA-- forcing you to choose one or the other.  I realize this is only a sometimes-issue depending on park hours and fireworks schedules-- but since the winter hours are already shorter and you get less 'extra' park time than you would during a spring/summer DAH, it just seems a bit unfair.  That being said, it's still doable to watch HEA and 'get your money's worth' out of a DAH ticket (see below) even during the winter hours... it would just be nice if they were more consistent in the value and scheduling across the board for all DAH tickets, regardless of season.

Overall, for us, DAH at MK was totally worth it this time.  School schedules only allowed us one park day this trip, and we wanted to make the absolute most of it.  It was an incredibly expensive day and not one that is in our budget on a regular basis.  But it was such a great experience that I would absolutely do another trip planned around a DAH event with no other park admissions.  In addition to the number of rides that you can accomplish in such a short time, the entire atmosphere of DAH is what makes it so incredible.  You can hardly put a price on that 'empty park' feeling (well, Disney has... it's $125!! LOL!).  The difference between 8 pm of being packed in like sardines watching fireworks and 9 pm of virtually empty streets is incredible. We've done MVMCP several times in the past few years and thought we had experienced that lower crowds feeling... Nope.  This is something else entirely.  I would do this event ten times over MVMCP and that is a favorite event for our family.  If budget is no issue, add a DAH ticket.  If you are going during a busy season, think about adding a DAH ticket because you will LOVE the no-stress/empty park feeling that you haven't seen during your entire trip!!  If you are going for 3- 4+ days, have park hoppers or are going during a 'slower' season, the value of a DAH ticket is probably considerably less.  You can still have a VERY magical trip without it.  If you are on a real budget and can only get a one day ticket, consider a DAH ticket in the summer-- you'd get the best of both worlds-- several hours of regular park time/food/shopping plus 3 hours of AMAZING park time and TONS of rides accomplished.

Final ride count: 13 plus OUAT and HEA
Final snack count: 6 ice cream, 1 popcorn, 4 drinks  
Final analysis for this trip: ABSOLUTELY. WORTH. IT.


----------



## whiporee

Haley R said:


> Well we went for it and got plane tickets!!! We are coming down January 28 and staying until February 3. Flying down with Frontier for $28 each and flying back with Southwest paid with points so cost us $0. We did pay for early bird check in and bags/seats for Frontier so the total came out to around $250 together which is pretty darn good! We plan to go to the MK DAH on arrival day which is 1/28. Haven't bought tickets yet because we are going to get discounted Disney gcs first. I can't believe we made the choice and are doing the trifecta!!!



Hailey, if you've not had a lot of experience with Frontier in Orlando -- and it's a short trip -- see if you can get away with not checking bags. Some of my most frustrating times have been waiting at Frontier's baggage carousel. If you can avoid it -- and you can online check in to avoid the counter at all -- it's a good deal. 

Just a suggestion. Glad you're getting the chance to go!!


----------



## Haley R

whiporee said:


> Hailey, if you've not had a lot of experience with Frontier in Orlando -- and it's a short trip -- see if you can get away with not checking bags. Some of my most frustrating times have been waiting at Frontier's baggage carousel. If you can avoid it -- and you can online check in to avoid the counter at all -- it's a good deal.
> 
> Just a suggestion. Glad you're getting the chance to go!!


We usually fly with Frontier to Orlando. We've never had baggage issues, but we've had a lot of delayed flights. We probably will have Disney take care of our bags, though.


----------



## bernina

focusondisney said:


> I have family members there tonight. They texted they were let in at 6:25! Got wristbands, no lanyards.



That’s awesome!!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

@abbiesmomma - Thanks for review - the details are really helpful! I'm going next week and I'm struggling with the HEA issue! It's a short trip so we may not have another opportunity to see it but we don't have another park ticket for that day so not sure if I want to spend the time! Glad you guys had fun!


----------



## CaribbeanJack

Lisa F said:


> the hard copy is a backup, they should just be able to scan your magic band.  If you can see the confirmation number online maybe screen shot it in case you need it but you shouldn't.


Awesome, that's what I was assuming but you know what they say... Thanks for the help everyone!


----------



## GeneralTso

Despite quite the hiccup in the system, we are registered for the 12th. What a nail biter though. Man, what we fans go through!


----------



## abbiesmomma

TheFloatingBear said:


> @abbiesmomma - Thanks for review - the details are really helpful! I'm going next week and I'm struggling with the HEA issue! It's a short trip so we may not have another opportunity to see it but we don't have another park ticket for that day so not sure if I want to spend the time! Glad you guys had fun!



I would say see it if you haven't yet... my girls (and I) were die hard Wishes fans... I saw HEA for the first time in October and knew they would love it, so I convinced them they needed to give it a try. They were not sad we took the time to watch HEA!   Choose a viewing spot near an outer edge of the Hub (near a 'land walkway') so you can make a quick-ish getaway the second it is over and should be on your way to rides within a minute or two.


----------



## michellej47

For those of you who have done DAH before in MK, which land do you usually start in? I know when the event first starts we will be dealing with those who were in line when the park closed, so what area of the park typically empties out fastest?


----------



## michellej47

@GADisneyDad14 , could you add me to 2/14?


----------



## Haley R

michellej47 said:


> For those of you who have done DAH before in MK, which land do you usually start in? I know when the event first starts we will be dealing with those who were in line when the park closed, so what area of the park typically empties out fastest?


We normally do the lands in this order: adventure, frontier, liberty square, tomorrow, fantasy


----------



## BK2014

For those who have gone to DAH a second (or more times), did you change your plan of attack from the first time you went?  

For example, DW and I went a year ago and basically started in Fantasyland and made our way around the park back to Tomorrowland.  Worked out great.  DW thinks we should do the same way this year.  I suggested that we spend more time focusing on riding our favorite rides as many times as possible.  To which she asked "How many time can one really ride the Peoplemover?"  So I showed her the following formula:  
((Facing Forward + Facing Backwards) x (Front of the Train + Back of Train) x (With People on the Train + With Only Ourselves) x (DW and I in one car + DW and I in separate cars) x (DW and I on the same train + DW and I on different Trains) x (Sleeping + Awake)) = N.

But really, as to the initial question . . .


----------



## GeneralTso

We won't attempt 7DMT or Big Thunder/Peter Pan/Other big rides, until at least an hour after it starts. The line is filled with non-wristband folks still.
It empties out quickly after about an hour.


----------



## Haley R

BK2014 said:


> For those who have gone to DAH a second (or more times), did you change your plan of attack from the first time you went?
> 
> For example, DW and I went a year ago and basically started in Fantasyland and made our way around the park back to Tomorrowland.  Worked out great.  DW thinks we should do the same way this year.  I suggested that we spend more time focusing on riding our favorite rides as many times as possible.  To which she asked "How many time can one really ride the Peoplemover?"  So I showed her the following formula:
> ((Facing Forward + Facing Backwards) x (Front of the Train + Back of Train) x (With People on the Train + With Only Ourselves) x (DW and I in one car + DW and I in separate cars) x (DW and I on the same train + DW and I on different Trains) x (Sleeping + Awake)) = N.
> 
> But really, as to the initial question . . .


Lol omg. Can I use this plan when I go?


----------



## realhousewife

Hi, We are going to be in Orlando in March and I see there is DAH on 3/7 from 9-12.  We are night owls so that would be perfect.  Can anyone tell me if they let you in earlier than 9 pm?  I would imagine they wouldn't make you wait in line to walk in the door at 9 pm.   

Also, any idea how many people will be in the parks?  Do you think there will be short waits at that time of the year? TIA.


----------



## Iowamomof4

BK2014 said:


> For those who have gone to DAH a second (or more times), did you change your plan of attack from the first time you went?
> 
> For example, DW and I went a year ago and basically started in Fantasyland and made our way around the park back to Tomorrowland.  Worked out great.  DW thinks we should do the same way this year.  I suggested that we spend more time focusing on riding our favorite rides as many times as possible.  To which she asked "How many time can one really ride the Peoplemover?"  So I showed her the following formula:
> ((Facing Forward + Facing Backwards) x (Front of the Train + Back of Train) x (With People on the Train + With Only Ourselves) x (DW and I in one car + DW and I in separate cars) x (DW and I on the same train + DW and I on different Trains) x (Sleeping + Awake)) = N.
> 
> But really, as to the initial question . . .



I had to print that out and show it to my daughter. Congratulations! You made Disney planning look like fun to her!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

michellej47 said:


> @GADisneyDad14 , could you add me to 2/14?





2/14 seems to be a popular one for the DISer crowd.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

BK2014 said:


> For those who have gone to DAH a second (or more times), did you change your plan of attack from the first time you went?
> 
> For example, DW and I went a year ago and basically started in Fantasyland and made our way around the park back to Tomorrowland.  Worked out great.  DW thinks we should do the same way this year.  I suggested that we spend more time focusing on riding our favorite rides as many times as possible.  To which she asked "How many time can one really ride the Peoplemover?"  So I showed her the following formula:
> ((Facing Forward + Facing Backwards) x (Front of the Train + Back of Train) x (With People on the Train + With Only Ourselves) x (DW and I in one car + DW and I in separate cars) x (DW and I on the same train + DW and I on different Trains) x (Sleeping + Awake)) = N.
> 
> But really, as to the initial question . . .



Well, since I didn't really have a plan of attack the first time, I didn't really have one on other times either.  Although might be easy for me to to say/do as we have APs and make a couple of trips a year, so we're not trying to do 'everything' during DAH. 

My DAH plan is pretty much no plan... just take it all in and go with the flow/moods.  If that means I criss-cross the park a couple of times, I'm OK with that.  More opportunities to take in the atmosphere. 

Funny post BTW.    Get one with the PeopleMover orange cone and you'll have done it all!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

realhousewife said:


> Hi, We are going to be in Orlando in March and I see there is DAH on 3/7 from 9-12.  We are night owls so that would be perfect.  Can anyone tell me if they let you in earlier than 9 pm?  I would imagine they wouldn't make you wait in line to walk in the door at 9 pm.
> 
> Also, any idea how many people will be in the parks?  Do you think there will be short waits at that time of the year? TIA.



Guests with DAH tickets may enter the park at 7pm officially.  In the past when they really let you in has varied from 6ish-7.  Monday's event was 6:30pm, the prior two were more like 7 from reports - so it's a bit inconsistent at the moment.  

The exact guest count for DAH is unknown.  People throw out 3,000, but I don't think anyone really knows - and the ones that do aren't talking.     From my personal experience, there are definitely other people in the park, but most rides are consistent walk-ons.  Rides like 7DMT, PP, and Speedway (slow loader, only a few cars running) have a more material wait.  Most recommend to leave 7DMT until closer to the end.  

You can have times where there won't be many others around, and times when you're not alone.  You can pass a snack cart with a long line and then the next one you see might have no one there.  How things feel/what you see can vary as you move around the park.  

If you stay until the end and watch people flow out of the park, you realize just how many people are there and how much the MK can absorb a TON of people in the various lands/rides.  

Hope that helps!


----------



## georgina

@GADisneyDad14 - trying a second time. Please add me to the 2/21 event.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

georgina said:


> @GADisneyDad14 - trying a second time. Please add me to the 2/21 event.



Sorry about that, my bad.  Still digging out from NYE trip!


----------



## Haley R

@GADisneyDad14 you can add us to 1/28!


----------



## chelynnah

@GADisneyDad14 Please add us to Feb 28 when you have a minute.  Thanks


----------



## BK2014

Haley R said:


> Lol omg. Can I use this plan when I go?



Certainly.  With as many times as you go, it is probably time for a new plan.


----------



## Haley R

BK2014 said:


> Certainly.  With as many times as you go, it is probably time for a new plan.


Lol and the mocking begins. Actually our first ride on people mover was during our first dah last year. I absolutely love pm now. The cm was so fun and asked if we brought her a popsicle too


----------



## senadler

michellej47 said:


> For those of you who have done DAH before in MK, which land do you usually start in? I know when the event first starts we will be dealing with those who were in line when the park closed, so what area of the park typically empties out fastest?



We have started DAH in the back of Fantasyland both times and it worked out great.  We walked on Little Mermaid before the start of the event, hit Dumbo right at event start and then did barnstormer a few times without having to exit.  It is deserted back there at the start of DAH, so if you want to experience that area it is a great time.

Our next trip is just me and DH without the kids, so we will skip those rides.  I don't have as much of a plan with just the two of us, but definitely plan to leave 7DMT for later in the night.  I think everything else is pretty much a walk-on for most of the event.


----------



## Haley R

senadler said:


> We have started DAH in the back of Fantasyland both times and it worked out great.  We walked on Little Mermaid before the start of the event, hit Dumbo right at event start and then did barnstormer a few times without having to exit.  It is deserted back there at the start of DAH, so if you want to experience that area it is a great time.
> 
> Our next trip is just me and DH without the kids, so we will skip those rides.  I don't have as much of a plan with just the two of us, but definitely plan to leave 7DMT for later in the night.  I think everything else is pretty much a walk-on for most of the event.


Count us in the “not having a plan” club


----------



## amalone1013

GADisneyDad14 said:


> My DAH plan is pretty much no plan... just take it all in and go with the flow/moods. If that means I criss-cross the park a couple of times, I'm OK with that. More opportunities to take in the atmosphere.


Plus it's less daunting to criss cross the park without the crowds!  We will criss cross on a normal day too,but I loved how easy it was at DAH!


----------



## michellej47

I don't plan on having a plan, per se, just wanted to know if there was a better area of the park to start in while we wait for the crowd to empty out!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Haley R said:


> Lol and the mocking begins. Actually our first ride on people mover was during our first dah last year. I absolutely love pm now. The cm was so fun and asked if we brought her a popsicle too



I am a long-time people mover fan and it was definitely on my list for DAH last year! The ride actually took about half as long as usual - I hadn't realized that they speed up the trains sometimes, lol! Looking forward to it this year - might have to do some variations as @BK2014 mentioned!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

@GADisneyDad14, can you add me to 1/17 whenever you get a chance - thanks! A week from tonight!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

The only thing we planned ahead of time last year was whether to watch HEA in the hub since it was at the start or the event, or to do BTMR during the fireworks. We did the latter and it was beautiful! The rest of the night we played by ear...Need to make the same decision this year!  Maybe we will do as @abbiesmomma suggested and plan a quick getaway to Adventureland!


----------



## SleepingBeauty69

I apologize in advance if I missed this in the prior postings.......does anyone know why, or is there a theory, there are no DAH events at any of the Parks the week of March 11th?


----------



## eagle1992

TheFloatingBear said:


> The only thing we planned ahead of time last year was whether to watch HEA in the hub since it was at the start or the event, or to do BTMR during the fireworks. We did the latter and it was beautiful! The rest of the night we played by ear...Need to make the same decision this year!  Maybe we will do as @abbiesmomma suggested and plan a quick getaway to Adventureland!



We are sort of in that same boat in April...we have the dessert party booked on the 10th and DAH on the 11th...I'm inclined to swap out the dessert party to the 11th and still hitting MK on the 10th by doing some stuff during the fireworks...the 10th also just so happens to be a EMH night as well...#FirstWorldProblems


----------



## TheFloatingBear

eagle1992 said:


> We are sort of in that same boat in April...we have the dessert party booked on the 10th and DAH on the 11th...I'm inclined to swap out the dessert party to the 11th and still hitting MK on the 10th by doing some stuff during the fireworks...the 10th also just so happens to be a EMH night as well...#FirstWorldProblems



I think given the timing of HEA could make sense on your date.  HEA looks like it's at 9:15 pm, and DAH starts at 10pm, so if you're doing the pre-fireworks party, you could watch the fireworks and relax for a little bit while the crowds disperse and still probably get to a land by 10ish. It might leave your other MK night more open and flexible, maybe?  Trying to think of a downside but given the time cushion, nothing comes to mind off-hand...

1/17 it overlaps, so we'll need to figure out if we want to sacrifice a little time. We've seen it only once, so it might be worth it. Of course the trip is a surprise for the kids, so even though it's next week they don't know, so we haven't really had the opportunity to strategize, lol!


----------



## iujen94

We are doing our very first DAH during our trip next month (yay!!!)  I've read through much of this thread and have seen folks referencing getting a different/unique experience on Jungle Cruise.  I absolutely LOVE Jungle Cruise - the puns, the dad jokes, it's the best!  I particularly love it when I've got a rogue Skipper who will go off script a bit, so the prospect of getting a different JC experience is intriguing.  Does anyone who has experienced this have any tips?  Should I wait and go really late when our chances of being on a boat alone or with very few people are presumably better?  (I had planned to start DAH in Adventureland, but could double back if necessary).  Will the presence of my 12- and 15-year-old discourage the Skipper in any way?  Should I tell the Skipper we'd like the different spiel?  Definitely not looking for spoilers about exactly what to expect, just how to maximize our chances.  Thanks!


----------



## Haley R

TheFloatingBear said:


> I am a long-time people mover fan and it was definitely on my list for DAH last year! The ride actually took about half as long as usual - I hadn't realized that they speed up the trains sometimes, lol! Looking forward to it this year - might have to do some variations as @BK2014 mentioned!


I somehow skipped over your post this morning. Does PM normally go one speed the whole time? Every time we’ve done it it goes pretty fast until you go inside sm and buzz


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Haley R said:


> I somehow skipped over your post this morning. Does PM normally go one speed the whole time? Every time we’ve done it it goes pretty fast until you go inside sm and buzz



It definitely changes speed there, but last year I had casually timed it for some reason during the day and it was about 10 minutes. When we went on that night, we were off in about 5 and it "felt" faster overall.   But I wasn't really thinking about it so I could be wrong. I will do more stringent field experiments next week and let you know! 

Also, to add to the variations, I may do a "boy" train and a "girl" train! And a "parent" and "kids" train...and a "you guys go on Astro Orbiter without me" train


----------



## Haley R

TheFloatingBear said:


> It definitely changes speed there, but last year I had casually timed it for some reason during the day and it was about 10 minutes. When we went on that night, we were off in about 5 and it "felt" faster overall.   But I wasn't really thinking about it so I could be wrong. I will do more stringent field experiments next week and let you know!
> 
> Also, to add to the variations, I may do a "boy" train and a "girl" train! And a "parent" and "kids" train...and a "you guys go on Astro Orbiter without me" train


Lol omg  Please make sure you have thorough research so I can go off of your notes


----------



## browneyedgirl0613

@GADisneyDad14 would you please add me for 3/21? Thank you!


----------



## SarahC97

I'm going 2/14. When I called and bought the ticket the CM said I can pick up my credentials for the event at the guest services window before I enter the park. I'm assuming you just get a wristband for this and I can get it after I enter the park? I have hoppers and was planning on heading over a few hours before the event starts.


----------



## Haley R

SarahC97 said:


> I'm going 2/14. When I called and bought the ticket the CM said I can pick up my credentials for the event at the guest services window before I enter the park. I'm assuming you just get a wristband for this and I can get it after I enter the park? I have hoppers and was planning on heading over a few hours before the event starts.


Yep you just get a wristband. You can get it in the park, but I don't think they will hand them out until 7 pm. It's possible they might start early, but no one really knows right now.


----------



## chelynnah

SarahC97 said:


> I'm going 2/14. When I called and bought the ticket the CM said I can pick up my credentials for the event at the guest services window before I enter the park. I'm assuming you just get a wristband for this and I can get it after I enter the park? I have hoppers and was planning on heading over a few hours before the event starts.


If your tickets aren’t showing in MDE and are ‘will call’ then I suspect that’s what she is saying you’ll need to pick up outside the park. If the are showing in MDE then you should be all set


----------



## GADisneyDad14

SarahC97 said:


> I'm going 2/14. When I called and bought the ticket the CM said I can pick up my credentials for the event at the guest services window before I enter the park. I'm assuming you just get a wristband for this and I can get it after I enter the park? I have hoppers and was planning on heading over a few hours before the event starts.



Yeah, what @chelynnah said.  

When did you buy the ticket?  Did you receive a ticket card by mail?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

SleepingBeauty69 said:


> I apologize in advance if I missed this in the prior postings.......does anyone know why, or is there a theory, there are no DAH events at any of the Parks the week of March 11th?



I ‘think’ one of the theories/ideas is that that is a big Texas spring break week and likely a bigger spring break week altogether.  Likely indicates longer hours are in order that week (speculation though).


----------



## SarahC97

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, what @chelynnah said.
> 
> When did you buy the ticket?  Did you receive a ticket card by mail?


The ticket is showing in MDE, shs gave me the confirmation number on the call then asked if I wanted credentials mailed to me or pick them up in the park. I just said I'd pick them up in the park but after I got off the phone it occurred to me that I had no clue what she meant. Just bought the ticket Monday.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

SarahC97 said:


> The ticket is showing in MDE, shs gave me the confirmation number on the call then asked if I wanted credentials mailed to me or pick them up in the park. I just said I'd pick them up in the park but after I got off the phone it occurred to me that I had no clue what she meant. Just bought the ticket Monday.



Cool, thanks.  Just curious for my own tracking of info for the thread, did you manually add ticket to your MDE profile with the confirmation number they gave you?

Since your DAH ticket is in/on your MDE profile and you’ll already be in the park, you can pick up your DAH credentials (wristband) at the options below (I’m cutting/pasting from the FAQ posts up thread as I’m not somewhere I can type this all out, so forgive me):

*What if Already in the Park? In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*


For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
*The FP kiosks area just outside of the former Stich's Great Escape ride*
*Tortuga Tavern (note: I'd love to know exactly where)*
*Liberty Square ticket office*
*City Hall guest relations office*
_Note: These locations have changed/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know._

Hope that helps!


----------



## SarahC97

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Cool, thanks.  Just curious for my own tracking of info for the thread, did you manually add ticket to your MDE profile with the confirmation number they gave you?
> 
> Since your DAH ticket is in/on your MDE profile and you’ll already be in the park, you can pick up your DAH credentials (wristband) at the options below (I’m cutting/pasting from the FAQ posts up thread as I’m not somewhere I can type this all out, so forgive me):
> 
> *What if Already in the Park? In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*
> 
> 
> For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
> *The FP kiosks area just outside of the former Stich's Great Escape ride*
> *Tortuga Tavern (note: I'd love to know exactly where)*
> *Liberty Square ticket office*
> *City Hall guest relations office*
> _Note: These locations have changed/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know._
> 
> Hope that helps!



Thanks! Yes, I just entered the confirmation # she gave me.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

SarahC97 said:


> Thanks! Yes, I just entered the confirmation # she gave me.



Thanks!  Yeah, you just need your MagicBand (or hard ticket, however you enter the park) and you’re good.  They’ll scan it and then give you a wristband.  I do keep my confirmation e-mails (if I’ve received one) in an accessible folder just in case I run into any snafus, but it usually works just fine.

Have fun!


----------



## mcurrence

Curious, especially for those who just attended, are they distributing lanyards at all or only the wristbands?


----------



## jaceraden

mcurrence said:


> Curious, especially for those who just attended, are they distributing lanyards at all or only the wristbands?



It's been wristbands for a while now. Which is sad because I really wanted a cool lanyard. I think Tim Tracker said it was something to do with people transferring the lanyards...


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mcurrence said:


> Curious, especially for those who just attended, are they distributing lanyards at all or only the wristbands?



I believe from reports it’s all wristbands now.  I know DHS DAH was only wristbands in December and I think the same has been going on at MK too.  For 9/20 at MK they gave wristbands but some people had lanyards (could never figure out where they got them).  I think that may have been among the last nights (if not the last night) that lanyards have been seen.  

I guess not surprising with the increase in frequency of these things, they’ve opted for the cheaper alternative.


----------



## Funfire240

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I ‘think’ one of the theories/ideas is that that is a big Texas spring break week and likely a bigger spring break week altogether.  Likely indicates longer hours are in order that week (speculation though).



That's our spring break in NW OH too. I know someone that went that week last year and said it was a lot busier then they had expected since it was the first time we didn't have spring break connected with Easter week. They thought we were lucky having spring break moved to early-mid March


----------



## mcurrence

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I believe from reports it’s all wristbands now.  I know DHS DAH was only wristbands in December and I think the same has been going on at MK too.  For 9/20 at MK they gave wristbands but some people had lanyards (could never figure out where they got them).  I think that may have been among the last nights (if not the last night) that lanyards have been seen.
> 
> I guess not surprising with the increase in frequency of these things, they’ve opted for the cheaper alternative.



I figured   I emailed them about 9/20 and they kindly sent me some in the mail


----------



## Haley R

Is it weird that I’m excited to have all three wristbands on at once?


----------



## mcurrence

Haley R said:


> Is it weird that I’m excited to have all three wristbands on at once?


YESSSSSSSSSS!!!! That's AWESOME!!!


----------



## Haley R

mcurrence said:


> YESSSSSSSSSS!!!! That's AWESOME!!!


I told Dh we have to take a picture of our wrists with all 3 on and he slightly rolled his eyes at me lol


----------



## firsttimemom

We also did DAH on 1/7. DH and I had attended one 8/30 and this one def. felt less crowded. We bought tickets at home- also no barcode or attachment. They did show up under my tickets in MDE but not in my daily schedule. We arrived around 6 (we had hoppers) and used a fp for pirates, a fp for jungle cruise, watched mickey's philharmagic and used a fb for small world before watching HEA. 

We got our wristbands in Tomorrowland- they were on the Buzz side across from Stitch's. It was close to 8:30 by this point. We rode buzz, space mountain twice (they were running both sides at this point), haunted mansion, BTM twice, did lantern pics, rode 7DMT, little mermaid, dumbo, SM again (longer this time bcs only running one side), and finished with Buzz at 10:55. We stopped a couple times for snacks- outside HM, SM and BTM. Lines, if any, went fast. 

We got a bus right away back to BWI (stopped at Swan, Dolphin, Yacht and Beach club first). 

It has probably been 15 years since we rode dumbo- not sure I could have convinced my 19/21 yr olds to do it if there had been any line. As it was, we had the ride to ourselves and each had our own elephant. LOVE this event!


----------



## Haley R

firsttimemom said:


> We also did DAH on 1/7. DH and I had attended one 8/30 and this one def. felt less crowded. We bought tickets at home- also no barcode or attachment. They did show up under my tickets in MDE but not in my daily schedule. We arrived around 6 (we had hoppers) and used a fp for pirates, a fp for jungle cruise, watched mickey's philharmagic and used a fb for small world before watching HEA.
> 
> We got our wristbands in Tomorrowland- they were on the Buzz side across from Stitch's. It was close to 8:30 by this point. We rode buzz, space mountain twice (they were running both sides at this point), haunted mansion, BTM twice, did lantern pics, rode 7DMT, little mermaid, dumbo, SM again (longer this time bcs only running one side), and finished with Buzz at 10:55. We stopped a couple times for snacks- outside HM, SM and BTM. Lines, if any, went fast.
> 
> We got a bus right away back to BWI (stopped at Swan, Dolphin, Yacht and Beach club first).
> 
> It has probably been 15 years since we rode dumbo- not sure I could have convinced my 19/21 yr olds to do it if there had been any line. As it was, we had the ride to ourselves and each had our own elephant. LOVE this event!


Great report! I told Dh we have to do the lantern picture this time because we’ve missed it every time. We don’t have memory maker so might have to figure that out


----------



## Cirlonde

Haley R said:


> Great report! I told Dh we have to do the lantern picture this time because we’ve missed it every time. We don’t have memory maker so might have to figure that out



I'm trying to talk myself into spending the $69 for the one day Memory Maker, mostly just for the lantern picture, but I'd also like to have all of the ride photos and maybe some on an empty Main Street and in front of the Castle.


----------



## Haley R

Cirlonde said:


> I'm trying to talk myself into spending the $69 for the one day Memory Maker, mostly just for the lantern picture, but I'd also like to have all of the ride photos and maybe some on an empty Main Street and in front of the Castle.


I might be able to convince Dh to get memory maker. I normally really like getting it.


----------



## PolyRob

Haley R said:


> I told Dh we have to take a picture of our wrists with all 3 on and he slightly rolled his eyes at me lol


You may need to add an "I'm celebrating DAH" note on your reservation and get a pin at check-in!


----------



## sheila14

Is there any word when future dates will be released? I would like to do this in September


----------



## Haley R

PolyRob said:


> You may need to add an "I'm celebrating DAH" note on your reservation and get a pin at check-in!


Hah!! I totally should say something when we check in. This is the first time we’ve gone to Disney without celebrating something


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TheFloatingBear said:


> @GADisneyDad14, can you add me to 1/17 whenever you get a chance - thanks! A week from tonight!



Done - wow, your trip is close, have fun! 



iujen94 said:


> We are doing our very first DAH during our trip next month (yay!!!)  I've read through much of this thread and have seen folks referencing getting a different/unique experience on Jungle Cruise.  I absolutely LOVE Jungle Cruise - the puns, the dad jokes, it's the best!  I particularly love it when I've got a rogue Skipper who will go off script a bit, so the prospect of getting a different JC experience is intriguing.  Does anyone who has experienced this have any tips?  Should I wait and go really late when our chances of being on a boat alone or with very few people are presumably better?  (I had planned to start DAH in Adventureland, but could double back if necessary).  Will the presence of my 12- and 15-year-old discourage the Skipper in any way?  Should I tell the Skipper we'd like the different spiel?  Definitely not looking for spoilers about exactly what to expect, just how to maximize our chances.  Thanks!



I have to admit, I don't think we've done JC during DAH, so I don't have any good advice!  I need to correct my ways during a future DAH night though!


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Done - wow, your trip is close, have fun!
> 
> 
> 
> I have to admit, I don't think we've done JC during DAH, so I don't have any good advice!  I need to correct my ways during a future DAH night though!


I was actually thinking about doing jc this time because we will likely skip more this time (dumbo, barnstormer, country bears, haunted mansion)


----------



## jenjersnap

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I believe from reports it’s all wristbands now.  I know DHS DAH was only wristbands in December and I think the same has been going on at MK too.  For 9/20 at MK they gave wristbands but some people had lanyards (could never figure out where they got them).  I think that may have been among the last nights (if not the last night) that lanyards have been seen.
> 
> I guess not surprising with the increase in frequency of these things, they’ve opted for the cheaper alternative.



I am just popping in to see if there are any rumors of summer dates yet (fingers crossed) but wanted to say we were there on 9/20 and received lanyards at the Tortuga location. When we were standing around chatting with other people at the HEA dessert party, the only other people with lanyards had also checked in there.


----------



## Araminta18

iujen94 said:


> We are doing our very first DAH during our trip next month (yay!!!) I've read through much of this thread and have seen folks referencing getting a different/unique experience on Jungle Cruise. I absolutely LOVE Jungle Cruise - the puns, the dad jokes, it's the best! I particularly love it when I've got a rogue Skipper who will go off script a bit, so the prospect of getting a different JC experience is intriguing. Does anyone who has experienced this have any tips? Should I wait and go really late when our chances of being on a boat alone or with very few people are presumably better? (I had planned to start DAH in Adventureland, but could double back if necessary). Will the presence of my 12- and 15-year-old discourage the Skipper in any way? Should I tell the Skipper we'd like the different spiel? Definitely not looking for spoilers about exactly what to expect, just how to maximize our chances. Thanks!



I did DAH on 9/20, and we did Jungle Cruise near the end of the night, maybe about 2 hours in?  I was originally hoping for a boat to ourselves, but they held the boat til we there were several people on it, including some teenagers.  It was AWESOME.  The Skipper was super into it, and wove a lot of the jokes throughout the whole ride.  You know how they ask who believes that the captain should go down with the ship and then they say that one of the passengers is the new captain?  She did that joke near the beginning of the ride and then kept calling for our captain to save us throughout the ride.  It was hilarious.  basically, ride it after DAH has been going for a bit, and you should have a great time.


----------



## Araminta18

jenjersnap said:


> I am just popping in to see if there are any rumors of summer dates yet (fingers crossed) but wanted to say we were there on 9/20 and received lanyards at the Tortuga location. When we were standing around chatting with other people at the HEA dessert party, the only other people with lanyards had also checked in there.



We did 9/20 and got our lanyards from Stitch's Great Escape--we checked in there right before checking into the dessert party.


----------



## Haley R

Araminta18 said:


> I did DAH on 9/20, and we did Jungle Cruise near the end of the night, maybe about 2 hours in?  I was originally hoping for a boat to ourselves, but they held the boat til we there were several people on it, including some teenagers.  It was AWESOME.  The Skipper was super into it, and wove a lot of the jokes throughout the whole ride.  You know how they ask who believes that the captain should go down with the ship and then they say that one of the passengers is the new captain?  She did that joke near the beginning of the ride and then kept calling for our captain to save us throughout the ride.  It was hilarious.  basically, ride it after DAH has been going for a bit, and you should have a great time.


This sounds really fun. We got a fp for Jungle Cruise on our other MK day, but I think we might switch it and do JC during DAH.


----------



## mcurrence

Haley R said:


> This sounds really fun. We got a fp for Jungle Cruise on our other MK day, but I think we might switch it and do JC during DAH.


We did it at the start of the event last time and it was the best JC experience we’ve ever had!


----------



## Haley R

mcurrence said:


> We did it at the start of the event last time and it was the best JC experience we’ve ever had!


I got a fp for pirates before dah starts so maybe we will go on jungle cruise after since it’s right there


----------



## amalone1013

Araminta18 said:


> I did DAH on 9/20, and we did Jungle Cruise near the end of the night, maybe about 2 hours in?  I was originally hoping for a boat to ourselves, but they held the boat til we there were several people on it, including some teenagers.  It was AWESOME.  The Skipper was super into it, and wove a lot of the jokes throughout the whole ride.  You know how they ask who believes that the captain should go down with the ship and then they say that one of the passengers is the new captain?  She did that joke near the beginning of the ride and then kept calling for our captain to save us throughout the ride.  It was hilarious.  basically, ride it after DAH has been going for a bit, and you should have a great time.


That sounds like the skipper we had that night!


----------



## jenjersnap

Araminta18 said:


> We did 9/20 and got our lanyards from Stitch's Great Escape--we checked in there right before checking into the dessert party.



Maybe they were distributing the lanyards at in park check in locations only then? 

There were so many of us at the dessert party that night! We should have had a meet up.


----------



## Araminta18

jenjersnap said:


> Maybe they were distributing the lanyards at in park check in locations only then?
> 
> There were so many of us at the dessert party that night! We should have had a meet up.



That would make sense.  I think I also had to ask for the lanyards?  but I don't remember for sure.

Right?!  We totally should have.  Missed opportunities.


----------



## jaceraden

It's been years since I've had an actual ticket. I got our DAH tickets in the mail. Do we just get in the DAH entrance line and scan them like a MB?

Edit to add: Most of my group doesn't have MBs anyway so the hard ticket is all we've got.


----------



## briemer99

Hi, any opinion on whether/how much DAH affects daytime crowd levels?


----------



## Haley R

jaceraden said:


> It's been years since I've had an actual ticket. I got our DAH tickets in the mail. Do we just get in the DAH entrance line and scan them like a MB?
> 
> Edit to add: Most of my group doesn't have MBs anyway so the hard ticket is all we've got.


Yes you just scan your hard ticket like you would a magic band


----------



## Haley R

briemer99 said:


> Hi, any opinion on whether/how much DAH affects daytime crowd levels?


So far I don’t think dah has affected day time crowds at all


----------



## DVC Jen

Anyone have any idea on the chances of a MK DAF in early June?


----------



## focusondisney

DVC Jen said:


> Anyone have any idea on the chances of a MK DAF in early June?



Until Disney makes an announcement, none of us  really have any idea.  This last year they seem to have added dates most weeks except major holiday weeks. Although there have also been a few random weeks without one, like the week I was there in September.

I’m sure most of us expect more dates to be added, but no one knows how Disney decides which weeks to pick.


----------



## GoofyNewfie

Sign me up for Feb 21 please.

I only recently heard of this awesome event thanks to this thread. We had been planning a short stay at Disney World before our upcoming cruise and I really wanted to hit 3 parks in 2.5 days but was only going to do 2. We really wanted to see the changes at MK, AK, and DHS as we have not been since 2013. This is the perfect answer. 

We land at 330pm, and plan to eat at CSR before heading to MK. I'd prefer to eat closer to MK but I just can't be sure that we'd make a rezzie as we're coming from pretty far so I'm thinking CSR is least risky and surely will have openings when we get there. If there's not enough time, we bail and run for MK. I had been considering the dessert party but the garden view version starts at 6:30 so we cannot even get in to make proper use of that. I'd really like a good view of the fireworks since we have not seen this show. I'll memorize the good viewing maps before we go. 

Thanks for all the information in this thread.


----------



## mamapenguin

If DAH ends at 1:00am what transportation is running? Just the buses? What about resort monorail or resort boats? Nevermind, the answer was on post #7.


----------



## denecarter

GoofyNewfie said:


> Sign me up for Feb 21 please.
> 
> I had been considering the dessert party but the garden view version starts at 6:30 so we cannot even get in to make proper use of that. I'd really like a good view of the fireworks since we have not seen this show.



Do the After Fireworks Dessert Party.  According to the post on the first page, HEA is scheduled for 8 pm that night and DAH doesn’t start until 9 pm.


----------



## PPFlight75

Please sign us up for the 3/28 event. 
I have been going back and forth between the AK and MK events for our Uni/Disney spring break trip. MK won out with the kids.
Now let's just hope we can hang until 1am! We are not night owls at all!


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

Just bought tickets for the 1/24 event! It’s our first DAH-super psyched to check it out.


----------



## iujen94

Does anyone know if chunks of new dates are generally released for all of the parks at the same time?  I know DHS and AK EMH haven’t been around long at all, so maybe there’s not enough history to know this yet.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

So they released MNSSHP dates but not DAH for May & beyond?? Come on Disney!!!


----------



## The Hendies

We're going to MK on January 28th, one of the After Hours Events.  HEA is at 8:00pm, which is closing time. How quickly will we be ushered out of the park?  Will we be able to shop?


----------



## BK2014

The Hendies said:


> We're going to MK on January 28th, one of the After Hours Events.  HEA is at 8:00pm, which is closing time. How quickly will we be ushered out of the park?  Will we be able to shop?



You will not be "ushered" out of the parks, you just will not be able to get on any rides without a DAH wristband. So you should still have plenty of time to shop.


----------



## Cordy2424

Sign us up for 1/24! Just got the tickets today! SO excited!!! 

I bought the tickets through an online vendor we get discounts with through my employer - Tickets At Work. I've used them before for other, non-Disney tickets. We have to pick them up at the Orlando Ticket Center on Vanguard Street. It looks like it is near Universal so I'm hoping to just swing by there on our way into town to pick up the tickets for the DAH that night. We were able to save $10 and change using this vendor, so that is awesome! 

Has anyone picked up tickets at this location before? I am interested to see what these tickets will be like vs what Disney issues directly. I'll be sure to post any interesting finds!


----------



## 123SA

Cinderumbrella said:


> So they released MNSSHP dates but not DAH for May & beyond?? Come on Disney!!!



I know.  It's killing me.  I just want to plan this out before my ADR date


----------



## SaintsManiac

Cinderumbrella said:


> So they released MNSSHP dates but not DAH for May & beyond?? Come on Disney!!!




It's incredibly annoying.


----------



## snowglobe

we'll be there  2/14


----------



## Iowamomof4

123SA said:


> I know.  It's killing me.  I just want to plan this out before my ADR date



I'd like to plan it before my Fastpass date! lol


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jenjersnap said:


> I am just popping in to see if there are any rumors of summer dates yet (fingers crossed) but wanted to say we were there on 9/20 and received lanyards at the Tortuga location. When we were standing around chatting with other people at the HEA dessert party, the only other people with lanyards had also checked in there.





jenjersnap said:


> Maybe they were distributing the lanyards at in park check in locations only then?
> 
> There were so many of us at the dessert party that night! We should have had a meet up.





Araminta18 said:


> That would make sense.  I think I also had to ask for the lanyards?  but I don't remember for sure.
> 
> Right?!  We totally should have.  Missed opportunities.



Unless I'm mixing up my trips, pretty sure I was at the Dessert Party (After Party) on 9/20 too!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Cordy2424 said:


> Sign us up for 1/24! Just got the tickets today! SO excited!!!
> 
> I bought the tickets through an online vendor we get discounts with through my employer - Tickets At Work. I've used them before for other, non-Disney tickets. We have to pick them up at the Orlando Ticket Center on Vanguard Street. It looks like it is near Universal so I'm hoping to just swing by there on our way into town to pick up the tickets for the DAH that night. We were able to save $10 and change using this vendor, so that is awesome!
> 
> Has anyone picked up tickets at this location before? I am interested to see what these tickets will be like vs what Disney issues directly. I'll be sure to post any interesting finds!



I've seen people mention Tickets At Work on the DIS, but I don't recall ever seeing anyone post about using them for DAH tickets so sorry I can't be of any help. 

Your date is close, hope you have a great time.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

iujen94 said:


> Does anyone know if chunks of new dates are generally released for all of the parks at the same time?  I know DHS and AK EMH haven’t been around long at all, so maybe there’s not enough history to know this yet.



Sort of a mixed answer.  Most of the current chunk of MK dates were released 9/6/2018.  

The current chunk of DHS and DAK dates were released 11/15/2018. 

Within the current chunk of MK DAH dates, 5 dates (_2/21, 3/21, 3/28, 4/4, and 4/11 2019) _were added 11/15/2018.    This was the first time we've seen them add new dates mid-chunk. 

Hope that helps!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Update for the February DAH folks, I noticed they recently posted Once Upon a Time (OUAT) times for the Feb dates.  The table on *Post #3* has been updated, and included below as well:


----------



## iujen94

Has anyone had success sweet-talking Disney into letting them exchange DAH tickets for a different date?  Our February trip may get switched to late April.  DAH dates haven’t been released yet for then, but assuming they fall during our rescheduled trip, I’m hoping Disney might sprinkle some pixie dust on me and let me switch.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

iujen94 said:


> Has anyone had success sweet-talking Disney into letting them exchange DAH tickets for a different date?  Our February trip may get switched to late April.  DAH dates haven’t been released yet for then, but assuming they fall during our rescheduled trip, I’m hoping Disney might sprinkle some pixie dust on me and let me switch.



I would say your chance of being able to move dates are reasonably good.  Disney has a decent track record of working with guests in such situations.  I don't think I've moved DAH tickets, but I've moved MNSSHP tickets in the past.


----------



## amytaylor2

Sign us up for 4/4!


----------



## NRW2016

I can see my ticket in MDE and I have an email with a barcode. Should I print it out as well or should we be good to go?


----------



## TheFloatingBear

NRW2016 said:


> I can see my ticket in MDE and I have an email with a barcode. Should I print it out as well or should we be good to go?



I would think you should be fine, but I printed out mine just in case!


----------



## Justplainchy

So I'm panicking a little because we have tickets to the 3/21 DAH: MK, (and the 3/22 at DAH:AK) but I have absolutely no confirmation of it besides the cast member on the phone telling me they're booked (didn't provide a confirmation number) and my bank account being a few hundred dollars lighter. I assume they're on my reservation, just somewhere I can't see. Has anyone else had this issue? Should I call and get a confirmation number? I'm seeing people who can see them in MDE and/or got an email with tickets, but I've had neither. How concerned should I be? It's our (rescheduled due-to-broken-ankle-6-days-before-departure) Honeymoon and it's entirely likely I'm entirely too terrified about everything going wrong, but it does seem odd that some people have physical confirmation and I ended up with just a verbal "you've got it!". Help!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Justplainchy said:


> So I'm panicking a little because we have tickets to the 3/21 DAH: MK, (and the 3/22 at DAH:AK) but I have absolutely no confirmation of it besides the cast member on the phone telling me they're booked (didn't provide a confirmation number) and my bank account being a few hundred dollars lighter. I assume they're on my reservation, just somewhere I can't see. Has anyone else had this issue? Should I call and get a confirmation number? I'm seeing people who can see them in MDE and/or got an email with tickets, but I've had neither. How concerned should I be? It's our (rescheduled due-to-broken-ankle-6-days-before-departure) Honeymoon and it's entirely likely I'm entirely too terrified about everything going wrong, but it does seem odd that some people have physical confirmation and I ended up with just a verbal "you've got it!". Help!



So, when you pull up "My Plans" in MDE, it seems to automatically pull up your "Daily Itinerary", but if you click next to it under "Tickets and Memory Maker", they should show up there (I'm on a laptop so not sure how it shows up on the app).  I bought two sets of tickets - one I asked for them to send tickets and those just had a confirmation email that said "A Walt Disney World Ticket has been added" from Disney Destinations (one for each ticket, but no barcode). The other one I booked too close to the date and so I asked for email confirmation and got the barcode that covered all the tickets. Hope that helps - hopefully they're in there somewhere!

ETA: The hardcopy tickets I had to link manually, and the electronic tickets seemed to link automatically, if that helps!

Have a wonderful honeymoon! Hope your ankle is on the mend!


----------



## Justplainchy

TheFloatingBear said:


> So, when you pull up "My Plans" in MDE, it seems to automatically pull up your "Daily Itinerary", but if you click next to it under "Tickets and Memory Maker", they should show up there (I'm on a laptop so not sure how it shows up on the app).  I bought two sets of tickets - one I asked for them to send tickets and those just had a confirmation email that said "A Walt Disney World Ticket has been added" from Disney Destinations (one for each ticket, but no barcode). The other one I booked too close to the date and so I asked for email confirmation and got the barcode that covered all the tickets. Hope that helps - hopefully they're in there somewhere!


Thank you for your reply, it was super helpful! I went to "Tickets and Memory Maker" and it's just showing our annual passes, but I did find a confirmation email that had somehow slipped into "promotions" when looking for Disney World ticket! Feeling less like I'm going to show up and find out everything is ruined, hah. Thanks again!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Justplainchy said:


> Thank you for your reply, it was super helpful! I went to "Tickets and Memory Maker" and it's just showing our annual passes, but I did find a confirmation email that had somehow slipped into "promotions" when looking for Disney World ticket! Feeling less like I'm going to show up and find out everything is ruined, hah. Thanks again!



I'm sure it will work out fine! You still have a little time before your event, so maybe you can call back and get a confirmation number. Do you remember if you asked for hard tickets? Mine took a while to arrive, and like I said, I had to manually add them! Of course, after I added them I ended up LOSING them somehow! I don't know how I did it - I never lose stuff like that - although I did have a minor flood in my house in December so things were a bit chaotic! Anyway, thankfully I already linked them so the CM told me I should be fine - fingers crossed, lol!


----------



## PolyRob

Justplainchy said:


> Thank you for your reply, it was super helpful! I went to "Tickets and Memory Maker" and it's just showing our annual passes, but I did find a confirmation email that had somehow slipped into "promotions" when looking for Disney World ticket! Feeling less like I'm going to show up and find out everything is ruined, hah. Thanks again!


I ordered mine via phone before you cold purchase them online. They were not automatically linked to MDE. I had to enter the confirmation number the CM gave me, but I did also receive an e-mail confirming the purchase with the same number.

I would call WDW resort ticketing (407 566-4985) and explain your situation. If you have the date your purchased them and payment information I am sure they can retrieve the confirmation.


----------



## Justplainchy

PolyRob said:


> I ordered mine via phone before you cold purchase them online. They were not automatically linked to MDE. I had to enter the confirmation number the CM gave me, but I did also receive an e-mail confirming the purchase with the same number.
> 
> I would call WDW resort ticketing (407 566-4985) and explain your situation. If you have the date your purchased them and payment information I am sure they can retrieve the confirmation.


I did the same with via phone before online and it was probably my bad not to get a confirmation number on the phone at the time. I did finally find the confirmation email and was able to manually add them to MDE with the ticket confirmation in that email. Phew. Now I feel a little silly for panicking as much as I did. But thankfully helpful people here solved it. Heroes, the lot of you!


----------



## PolyRob

Justplainchy said:


> I did the same with via phone before online and it was probably my bad not to get a confirmation number on the phone at the time. I did finally find the confirmation email and was able to manually add them to MDE with the ticket confirmation in that email. Phew. Now I feel a little silly for panicking as much as I did. But thankfully helpful people here solved it. Heroes, the lot of you!


Woo! Glad you found the e-mail and it all linked properly.

Disney is so strange sometimes. If you ever book a tour or recreational activity you will see that you get no confirmation e-mail or notice in MDE. Just the confirmation number (which is supposed to be linked to your resort reservation if you have one) and fingers crossed its right. I am so trained now to ask for those things just so I can have them on my spreadsheet in the event I show up and they look at me like I am crazy


----------



## Cordy2424

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I've seen people mention Tickets At Work on the DIS, but I don't recall ever seeing anyone post about using them for DAH tickets so sorry I can't be of any help.
> 
> Your date is close, hope you have a great time.



We are so excited! Getting ready for work this morning we were bouncing around the house saying, "This time next week it will be our last day of work for the week!!!"


----------



## KNovacovschi

I bought a ticket for April 11th. I am excited to try this however am worried about being extremely tired for it as well, lol.

Another thing I am worried about is not receiving the ticket via email. I received my confirmation and in the email it states that a pdf has been attached and there was no attachment. I do see the ticket under my tickets with my AP so I'm assuming I should be safe, right.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

PolyRob said:


> Woo! Glad you found the e-mail and it all linked properly.
> 
> Disney is so strange sometimes. If you ever book a tour or recreational activity you will see that you get no confirmation e-mail or notice in MDE. Just the confirmation number (which is supposed to be linked to your resort reservation if you have one) and fingers crossed its right. I am so trained now to ask for those things just so I can have them on my spreadsheet in the event I show up and they look at me like I am crazy



I know, right? We've done a couple of tours and things like that and that always makes me nervous! But thanks for reminding me - I had forgotten to put the confirmation numbers in my spreadsheet! Leaving in two hours...


----------



## TIME4DIZ

NRW2016 said:


> I can see my ticket in MDE and I have an email with a barcode. Should I print it out as well or should we be good to go?


If you can access that email, there is zero reason to print it also.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

TIME4DIZ said:


> If you can access that email, there is zero reason to print it also.



True, but I've had problems with the wifi in the parks before and been unable to access MDE or emails, you can use data of course but I figure always helps to have backup...


----------



## Cordy2424

TheFloatingBear said:


> True, but I've had problems with the wifi in the parks before and been unable to access MDE or emails, you can use data of course but I figure always helps to have backup...



You could also take screen shots on your phone of the emails in advance. Then you don't have to worry about wifi or spotty signals while in the park. I do that sometimes with my MDE for my ADRs and FP info too... Not to butt in. So jealous you are leaving this afternoon! Have an amazing time!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Cordy2424 said:


> You could also take screen shots on your phone of the emails in advance. Then you don't have to worry about wifi or spotty signals while in the park. I do that sometimes with my MDE for my ADRs and FP info too... Not to butt in. So jealous you are leaving this afternoon! Have an amazing time!



I usually do that too, lol! I think I like printing stuff out is just because I'm old - it's overkill but just makes me feel more prepared just in case!

Yep, getting ready to pick up the kids from school and head to the airport, complete with emails, screenshots and printouts! One way or another I'm getting into that DAH tomorrow night!


----------



## PolyRob

TheFloatingBear said:


> I usually do that too, lol! I think I like printing stuff out is just because I'm old - it's overkill but just makes me feel more prepared just in case!
> 
> Yep, getting ready to pick up the kids from school and head to the airport, complete with emails, screenshots and printouts! One way or another I'm getting into that DAH tomorrow night!


I love my technology and have everything electronic shared with my family via Google Drive, but I always print hardcopy things like ticket e-mails, DME confirmation, etc as a backup. I feel like Judi Dench on Spaceship Earth "...call it the first backup system. The books are saved, and with them our dreams of the future!"


----------



## Justplainchy

PolyRob said:


> Woo! Glad you found the e-mail and it all linked properly.
> 
> Disney is so strange sometimes. If you ever book a tour or recreational activity you will see that you get no confirmation e-mail or notice in MDE. Just the confirmation number (which is supposed to be linked to your resort reservation if you have one) and fingers crossed its right. I am so trained now to ask for those things just so I can have them on my spreadsheet in the event I show up and they look at me like I am crazy



You aren't kidding! We booked the aquatours at Epcot one day and they gave me a ton of info over the phone and a confirmation number I put into my spreadsheet, but no email confirmation OR ticket of any kind. Just a wing and a prayer. But I also write down the name of the cast member I book with so I can say I booked it on X day with X person and here's the confirmation number. Gotta keep those ducks in their rows


----------



## GADisneyDad14

PolyRob said:


> I love my technology and have everything electronic shared with my family via Google Drive, but I always print hardcopy things like ticket e-mails, DME confirmation, etc as a *backup. I feel like Judi Dench on Spaceship Earth "...call it the first backup system. The books are saved, and with them our dreams of the future!"*




Hilarious.  Classic post.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

PolyRob said:


> I love my technology and have everything electronic shared with my family via Google Drive, but I always print hardcopy things like ticket e-mails, DME confirmation, etc as a backup. I feel like Judi Dench on Spaceship Earth "...call it the first backup system. The books are saved, and with them our dreams of the future!"



YES - perfect quote! Me too! I'm not antiquated, I'm like Judi Dench on Spaceship Earth! Thanks! And with my dreams of the (near) future, I'm off to the airport! 

I will try to make copious notes of the current DAH snack situation!


----------



## CogsworthTN

Please add us to the list. We are going April 4th.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

It's MK DAH Day!  Looks like a strong group of DISers will be there tonight.  Not that the guest list is fair sample, but for our little corner of the world tonight is the second most popular night in the winter DAH series, second only to 2/14.  

*Thursday, January 17, 2019 *
@NYCANC
@peeperino
@Tinkerbell58
@TISHLOVESDISNEY
@dolewhipdreams
@Dentam
@Louis morrell
@cusack1020
@mumzie2three
@TheFloatingBear

Hope everyone has fun!


----------



## DWFamilyof6

You can add my family of 6 to 2/28.  Super excited!  I may have missed it in the thread, but are there consistent locations for the free snacks?
Interested to hear from the 8:00pm parties what time they are let into the park. Hoping we will be able to enter at 6pm.


----------



## eagle1992

You can add this family of 4 to 4/11...last night of our trip...can't wait!


----------



## Hadley's Mom

you can add my family of 3 to 3/21.  We are doing the trifecta with 3/16 at HS, 3/20 at AK and this one on 3/21!


----------



## Haley R

DWFamilyof6 said:


> You can add my family of 6 to 2/28.  Super excited!  I may have missed it in the thread, but are there consistent locations for the free snacks?
> Interested to hear from the 8:00pm parties what time they are let into the park. Hoping we will be able to enter at 6pm.


I think they usually keep the snacks in the same areas. I remember a cart in the beginning of Adventureland (popcorn, ice cream, drinks), one by btmr (popcorn, drinks), one by space mountain (popcorn, drinks, ice cream), two in the hub, one by Winnie the Pooh (ice cream, drinks)


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

GADisneyDad14 said:


> It's MK DAH Day!  Looks like a strong group of DISers will be there tonight.  Not that the guest list is fair sample, but for our little corner of the world tonight is the second most popular night in the winter DAH series, second only to 2/14.
> 
> *Thursday, January 17, 2019 *
> @NYCANC
> @peeperino
> @Tinkerbell58
> @TISHLOVESDISNEY
> @dolewhipdreams
> @Dentam
> @Louis morrell
> @cusack1020
> @mumzie2three
> @TheFloatingBear
> 
> Hope everyone has fun!



Resting by the pool at CR-see ya all tonight!


----------



## NRW2016

Is Once Upon a Time the pre-show to HEA with the projection on the castle? We saw that last year but I don't see it on the WDW calendar/schedule!


----------



## DWFamilyof6

Haley R said:


> I think they usually keep the snacks in the same areas. I remember a cart in the beginning of Adventureland (popcorn, ice cream, drinks), one by btmr (popcorn, drinks), one by space mountain (popcorn, drinks, ice cream), two in the hub, one by Winnie the Pooh (ice cream, drinks)


thanks so much!


----------



## Dr.Mrs.ScroogeMcDuck

You can add our family of 2 for 2/28! Yay!!!


----------



## mcurrence

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Resting by the pool at CR-see ya all tonight!


Exactly our plan for 2/28!  Have fun everyone and please report back!  Fingers crossed they let y'all in early!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Random thoughts.  

The equivalent DAH event this week last year was on Friday, which sold out a few days in advance.  5 of the 7 winter 2018 dates sold out.  

We haven’t seen a MK DAH sell out since 8/11/2018, with 6 DAH events between then and now that haven’t sold out.  

So do we think any of the winter/spring series dates are likely to sell out?   Have we hit a saturation point with MK and now other park DAH events which has spread demand around?  

All very interesting to watch.


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Random thoughts.
> 
> The equivalent DAH event this week last year was on Friday, which sold out a few days in advance.  5 of the 7 winter 2018 dates sold out.
> 
> We haven’t seen a MK DAH sell out since 8/11/2018, with 6 DAH events between then and now that haven’t sold out.
> 
> So do we think any of the winter/spring series dates are likely to sell out?   Have we hit a saturation point with MK and now other park DAH events which has spread demand around?
> 
> All very interesting to watch.


I think maybe once it gets closer to spring break they might sell out, but I honestly have no idea


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Random thoughts.
> 
> The equivalent DAH event this week last year was on Friday, which sold out a few days in advance.  5 of the 7 winter 2018 dates sold out.
> 
> We haven’t seen a MK DAH sell out since 8/11/2018, with 6 DAH events between then and now that haven’t sold out.
> 
> So do we think any of the winter/spring series dates are likely to sell out?   Have we hit a saturation point with MK and now other park DAH events which has spread demand around?
> 
> All very interesting to watch.



When you add in all the EMM events (when was the last EMM that sold out?), there are A LOT of upcharge options for people to consider.


----------



## Dentam

Heading over from AKL! Will try to post a few live updates tonight!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Random thoughts.
> 
> The equivalent DAH event this week last year was on Friday, which sold out a few days in advance.  5 of the 7 winter 2018 dates sold out.
> 
> We haven’t seen a MK DAH sell out since 8/11/2018, with 6 DAH events between then and now that haven’t sold out.
> 
> So do we think any of the winter/spring series dates are likely to sell out?   Have we hit a saturation point with MK and now other park DAH events which has spread demand around?
> 
> All very interesting to watch.



I was just thinking about that...my event date last year (not this week but the following week) was sold out - wondering if there will be any noticable difference...


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Waking the teens from their "naps" and heading over! I have my son on popcorn research. Fresh? Pre-boxed?  reports to follow...


----------



## jaceraden

I know it's still 2 months away but I'm curious to get reports of what time people are let in for the March 21 DAH if they don't have regular park entry/AP. Hopefully there will be someone who fits in that category who is able to give a live report then. I'm getting excited - can you tell?!


----------



## mcurrence

Last week the earliest entry  was 6:25! Hoping for the same or earlier today!


----------



## Dentam

Dentam said:


> Heading over from AKL! Will try to post a few live updates tonight!


 Ended up heading over a bit later than I thought. Just entered the park!


----------



## Dentam

Watching OUAT then will head to Pirates!


----------



## hoffj070

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Random thoughts.
> 
> The equivalent DAH event this week last year was on Friday, which sold out a few days in advance.  5 of the 7 winter 2018 dates sold out.
> 
> We haven’t seen a MK DAH sell out since 8/11/2018, with 6 DAH events between then and now that haven’t sold out.
> 
> So do we think any of the winter/spring series dates are likely to sell out?   Have we hit a saturation point with MK and now other park DAH events which has spread demand around?
> 
> All very interesting to watch.



We are hoping to attend one in March. I am worried if the dates during spring break will sell out or not. I am waiting to buy tickets until it's closer since they're non-refundable but I keep wondering how long I dare wait.


----------



## Haley R

jaceraden said:


> I know it's still 2 months away but I'm curious to get reports of what time people are let in for the March 21 DAH if they don't have regular park entry/AP. Hopefully there will be someone who fits in that category who is able to give a live report then. I'm getting excited - can you tell?!


The official time is 7 pm but some have been let in as early as 6 pm. The earliest with this batch of dates has been 6:25 ish I believe


----------



## Dentam

Ended up watching the fireworks now heading into pirates!


----------



## mamapenguin

hoffj070 said:


> We are hoping to attend one in March. I am worried if the dates during spring break will sell out or not. I am waiting to buy tickets until it's closer since they're non-refundable but I keep wondering how long I dare wait.


You and me both...


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Lol, @Dentam, you are living your best DAH life the last two nights.


----------



## Dentam

Walk on to Pirates. Waited one train for Thunder Mtn. Heading to Haunted Mansion!


----------



## Dentam

15 minute wait at HM.  Hmm...     Ate popcorn while power walking here. Definitely fresher and better than the preboxed at AK last night!


----------



## Dentam

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Lol, @Dentam, you are living your best DAH life the last two nights.


 I'm way more tired for tonight's! Feels more rushed here also which we knew it would. Oh well!


----------



## Dentam

HM was only a  5 minute wait. App is showing 7DMT down and Winnie the Pooh down also. Going to check!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Yep both down - argh!


----------



## Dentam

Yep. Boo!


----------



## Grasshopper2016

Ugh. With Mine Train down the wait at BTMRR is 15 minutes!


----------



## Dentam

Got ice cream and they're giving out frozen bananas too!


----------



## Dentam

Both back up and running. In line for 7DMT now. 15 minute wait.


----------



## Dentam

Rode ppl mover with my mom while my dad and sister rode SM. Walk on for both.


----------



## mcurrence

Thanks for all the live updates!  Hope everyone is having a blast!


----------



## apxstitch

I am hoping that there will be an event on Sep. 30 which is my 50th Birthday.  It would be the best present ever to get to attend a 2nd time!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

We were on peoplemover when 7DMT came back on. Went on Pooh first ( son's fave). It said 30 minutes when we got in line for 7DMT, but I guess we'll see!


----------



## Dentam

7DMT ended up being about a 10 minute wait. Raced over to finish the night with a walk on at Splash Mtn. Getting last snacks at cart that's still open now.


----------



## chelynnah

DWFamilyof6 said:


> You can add my family of 6 to 2/28.  Super excited!  I may have missed it in the thread, but are there consistent locations for the free snacks?
> Interested to hear from the 8:00pm parties what time they are let into the park. Hoping we will be able to enter at 6pm.


We’ll be there too.  Hoping it’s not too cold that night.  I was hoping they would extend the regular closing time, but of the 10 days we’re there, that night and the EMH night the day before have stayed at 8pm . Everything else was extended until at least 9 if not later.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Dentam said:


> 7DMT ended up being about a 10 minute wait. Raced over to finish the night with a walk on at Splash Mtn. Getting last snacks at cart that's still open now.


Took us a full 20 minutes!


----------



## Lsdolphin

TheFloatingBear said:


> Took us a full 20 minutes!




Sounds like everyone had a great time last night. I'm just wondering whether you were allowed to use the Fast Pass entrance or if they are still making DAH people go through the regular standby lines which seems like a real waste of valuable time.


----------



## DWFamilyof6

chelynnah said:


> We’ll be there too.  Hoping it’s not too cold that night.  I was hoping they would extend the regular closing time, but of the 10 days we’re there, that night and the EMH night the day before have stayed at 8pm . Everything else was extended until at least 9 if not later.


Yes, this 8pm closing should be interesting.


----------



## TIME4DIZ

For those interested, we were allowed in at 6pm last night. 
I know the order matters as does the timing of when you rode SDMT and Pooh (due to them both being down early in the night) but we walked on every attraction including space (x3), BTMRR (x3), SDMT, Buzz (x2) Ppl mover (x2), dumbo (x2), Pooh, little mermaid, pirates, small world. We rode jungle cruise and HM with FP+ before the event.
We also never waited in a snack line. Probably 7or 8 total snack stops for some combination of ice cream/soda/popcorn. The longest line we saw was 6-8 people and even then we just kept walking until we saw a cart with nobody waiting. 
We watched HEA from behind the castle in fantasyland which was a fun way to do it.


----------



## DWFamilyof6

TIME4DIZ said:


> For those interested, we were allowed in at 6pm last night.
> I know the order matters as does the timing of when you rode SDMT and Pooh (due to them both being down early in the night) but we walked on every attraction including space (x3), BTMRR (x3), SDMT, Buzz (x2) Ppl mover (x2), dumbo (x2), Pooh, little mermaid, pirates, small world. We rode jungle cruise and HM with FP+ before the event.
> We also never waited in a snack line. Probably 7or 8 total snack stops for some combination of ice cream/soda/popcorn. The longest line we saw was 6-8 people and even then we just kept walking until we saw a cart with nobody waiting.
> We watched HEA from behind the castle in fantasyland which was a fun way to do it.


Wow! Sounds amazing! Thanks for the report back.


----------



## TIME4DIZ

TheFloatingBear said:


> True, but I've had problems with the wifi in the parks before and been unable to access MDE or emails, you can use data of course but I figure always helps to have backup...


Your peace of mind may require it be printed, but Disney doesn’t. 


DWFamilyof6 said:


> Wow! Sounds amazing! Thanks for the report back.



You’re very welcome. I’m happy to answer any questions.
As great as the event was, I was most excited about getting in at 6:00.


----------



## Iowamomof4

chelynnah said:


> We’ll be there too.  Hoping it’s not too cold that night.  I was hoping they would extend the regular closing time, but of the 10 days we’re there, that night and the EMH night the day before have stayed at 8pm . Everything else was extended until at least 9 if not later.


Hey, @GADisneyDad14 , I think we may have found the reason we're still waiting on late April, May, and points beyond! When they set dates and begin selling tickets, they're locking themselves in regarding park closing times. Maybe by waiting as long as possible, they're giving themselves more time to see if they need to extend park closing time first.


----------



## Shellyb84

CogsworthTN said:


> Please add us to the list. We are going April 4th.



It looks like we're going to be at the same DAH and doing the Illuminations dining package on July 4th!


----------



## Grasshopper2016

Quick report from last night. 

We weren’t able to get to MK until after 6:30. We were let in right away with no line at security.  Then we proceeded to waste a ton of time getting dinner. 

Once the event started, we rode, in order: PM, SM (x2), Buzz, PotC (x2), BTMR (x3), HM, Carousel, BTMR (x3) — what can I say? My kids are obsessed with that ride! — 7DMT. 

With 7DMT down for much of the night, the lines for BTMR were a bit longer than they would have been. But we never waited more than 10 minutes. Once 7DMT was back up and running, BTMR was back to a walk on. 

We waited 15 minutes to ride 7DMT at the close of the event.  Large backup because it had been down most of the night.  

Other than those rides, everything was walk on. The weather was beautiful.  We had an amazing time.  Definitely worth it!


----------



## BK2014

Does anyone know if the new meet and greet with Mickey and Minnie in their new outfits at Town Square Theatre will be available during DAH?  Asking for a DW.

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...s-surprise-celebration-at-magic-kingdom-park/


----------



## TheFloatingBear

TIME4DIZ said:


> Your peace of mind may require it be printed, but Disney doesn’t.
> .



Yes, we already thoroughly covered that, but thanks!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Quick report from last night...

We were poorly timed for the 7DMT and Pooh stoppages,  but here's what we did...

Pirates (before)
BTMR 2x (during HEA)
Splash (more HEA)
BTMR 2x
HM
Lantern Photo
Little Mermaid
Space
Peoplemover 2x
Pooh
7DMT
Teacups
Main Street picture

Too much popcorn! Very fun!


----------



## SaintsManiac

Love reading these fresh reviews! I wish they would release summer dates already!


----------



## Newcastle

Iowamomof4 said:


> Hey, @GADisneyDad14 , I think we may have found the reason we're still waiting on late April, May, and points beyond! When they set dates and begin selling tickets, they're locking themselves in regarding park closing times. Maybe by waiting as long as possible, they're giving themselves more time to see if they need to extend park closing time first.


Your post caught my attention!!  I have fallen behind on this thread so I wasn’t aware that there may have been some discussion around late April/May dates. I had just assumed  that they wouldn’t be offering those dates since historically, that hasn’t been an option. That being said, given that Disney is trying to capitalize on profits as much as possible, I actually thought it would make sense to offer DAH as much as is logistically possible for Disney which you would think would include dates in late April/early May given that it is ‘supposed’ to be less busy then. I am really hoping that this will open up for our trip in early May as last June we were unable to attend as my daughter was ill on the day of the event.


----------



## GabrielMom

I am planning a last minute trip and thinking of adding this and hollywood studoos due to missing 60 day advance fastpass.  We are staying in hilton doubletree in disneysprings.  What sort of transportation is available for offsite disneyspring hotel guest after event?  Or is a ride share recommended?  Thanks  in advance.


----------



## Dentam

Lsdolphin said:


> Sounds like everyone had a great time last night. I'm just wondering whether you were allowed to use the Fast Pass entrance or if they are still making DAH people go through the regular standby lines which seems like a real waste of valuable time.


 They had us go through the standby line.


----------



## DWFamilyof6

TIME4DIZ said:


> Your peace of mind may require it be printed, but Disney doesn’t.
> 
> 
> You’re very welcome. I’m happy to answer any questions.
> As great as the event was, I was most excited about getting in at 6:00.


I’m super happy it’s 6 also.  Did it seem random or preplanned that DAH was let in at 6?  I know previous a party sounded like the CMs weren’t really sure when to let you in for an 8pm party. 
Did you feel rushed to get done what you wanted?


----------



## Dentam

Here is what we did last night:  Pirates, BTMRR, HM, Buzz Light-year, People Mover, SM, 7DMT, Splash Mtn. Got popcorn, bottled waters and soda, Mickey bars, and a frozen banana in between rides. All in all a good night but more crowded than when we did it a couple of years ago. My feet were also really unhappy last night which made it tougher to hustle from ride to ride. We all agreed that the DAH at AK the night before was our favorite!


----------



## TIME4DIZ

DWFamilyof6 said:


> I’m super happy it’s 6 also.  Did it seem random or preplanned that DAH was let in at 6?  I know previous a party sounded like the CMs weren’t really sure when to let you in for an 8pm party.
> Did you feel rushed to get done what you wanted?



I can’t really say whether it seemed pre-planned. We walked up at 6:02 and they scanned us in. I asked what time they had started letting ppl in and the CM said a couple minutes ago. He gave no indication if that was a new normal.

We didn’t feel rushed at all. We did lots of cross-crossing which is much easier with the super low crowds.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Saw this in the news thread

https://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2019/01/multiple-after-hours-events-to-take.html

I wonder if it will affect how they schedule DAH in May? It obviously won't be on those nights!


----------



## BK2014

Dentam said:


> We all agreed that the DAH at AK the night before was our favorite!


  What was it about DAH at AK that put it above DAH at MK for your group?


----------



## Haley R

SaintsManiac said:


> Saw this in the news thread
> 
> https://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2019/01/multiple-after-hours-events-to-take.html
> 
> I wonder if it will affect how they schedule DAH in May? It obviously won't be on those nights!


I’m pretty disappointed that they get the park until 2 am


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Haley R said:


> I’m pretty disappointed that they get the park until 2 am



And their event is 4 hours instead of 3


----------



## Haley R

Cinderumbrella said:


> And their event is 4 hours instead of 3


They do have a lot less rides open though


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Haley R said:


> They do have a lot less rides open though



Wow, I didn’t even notice that! Why 4 hours then?


----------



## Haley R

Cinderumbrella said:


> Wow, I didn’t even notice that! Why 4 hours then?


I have no idea but no btmr? That would be a deal breaker for me. I love btmr.


----------



## Cirlonde

GabrielMom said:


> I am planning a last minute trip and thinking of adding this and hollywood studoos due to missing 60 day advance fastpass.  We are staying in hilton doubletree in disneysprings.  What sort of transportation is available for offsite disneyspring hotel guest after event?  Or is a ride share recommended?  Thanks  in advance.



We had a very similar situation when we did our first DAH event at MK a couple of years ago.  We were staying at the Buena Vista Palace near Disney Springs.  After the event was over, we took a bus to Saratoga Springs Resort and walked to Disney Springs from there, then on to our hotel.  It was dark (and very late) but everything was well lit and we didn't have any trouble or feel uneasy.  It's probably not a walk I would make alone, but as long as I had company I would absolutely do it again.

As far as I know, there aren't any transportation options available to offsite hotels from these events, unless your hotel has a shuttle set up.  If you didn't want to do the SSR > DS > Hotel walk, then I think a taxi or ride sharing service would be your only other option.


----------



## CogsworthTN

Shellyb84 said:


> It looks like we're going to be at the same DAH and doing the Illuminations dining package on July 4th!



Yeah, we will have to meet up.  It will be myself ,DH, and my DD. The Disney characters we look like are... DH is Woody, my Dad is Mr Fredrickson, and I guess you would say I’m a pre-menopausal Snow White.


----------



## Dentam

BK2014 said:


> What was it about DAH at AK that put it above DAH at MK for your group?


 We were able to relax and soak up the atmosphere in AK plus we rode FoP twice with no wait along with NRJ twice without getting off the boat. My dad and sister ended up riding EE five times. Mostly we just didn't feel rushed and could enjoy our time. It felt like longer than three hours at AK and there were far fewer people there.


----------



## chelynnah

Iowamomof4 said:


> Hey, @GADisneyDad14 , I think we may have found the reason we're still waiting on late April, May, and points beyond! When they set dates and begin selling tickets, they're locking themselves in regarding park closing times. Maybe by waiting as long as possible, they're giving themselves more time to see if they need to extend park closing time first.


They updatedd the previous Thursday’s closing from 8-9 (as well as the Wed EMH to 10 from 8) and it still has an event, so probably not.  It was just the two days in our week they didn’t adjust


----------



## Iowamomof4

chelynnah said:


> They updatedd the previous Thursday’s closing from 8-9 (as well as the Wed EMH to 10 from 8) and it still has an event, so probably not.  It was just the two days in our week they didn’t adjust



You're saying they announced DAH, began selling tickets, and THEN changed the time? I didn't realize they would do that.


----------



## Ambehnke

We will be attending 1/28 during our double birthday trip (me and DD5)! Super excited!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Dentam said:


> Here is what we did last night:  Pirates, BTMRR, HM, Buzz Light-year, People Mover, SM, 7DMT, Splash Mtn. Got popcorn, bottled waters and soda, Mickey bars, and a frozen banana in between rides. All in all a good night but more crowded than when we did it a couple of years ago. My feet were also really unhappy last night which made it tougher to hustle from ride to ride. We all agreed that the DAH at AK the night before was our favorite!


My daughter and I did it last year on a sold out night but we also felt that Thursday night seemed more crowded than last year, although we still had a blast and got a lot done! Doing DAH at HS tonight- glad you enjoyed AK!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Haley R said:


> I have no idea but no btmr? That would be a deal breaker for me. I love btmr.


So do we - I asked my kids if they wanted me to switch out our FP for it for Friday since we rode it 4x at DAH and they were like - No way!


----------



## chelynnah

Iowamomof4 said:


> You're saying they announced DAH, began selling tickets, and THEN changed the time? I didn't realize they would do that.



Edit, my bad.  Wrong info below.  I was confused and apparently the 21st was always 9.  Sorry 
——

Yes.  Up till this past week closing time was 8pm every weekday for my dates Feb 20 - Mar 2.  Last week they adjusted the Feb hours and Thurs 21 changed from an 8pm close to a 9pm close.  This is normal even without DAH.  They often adjust the closing times in the month before once they have a clearer idea of crowds etc.  After Hours events are not supposed to affect park closings, so if they didn’t extend a night they normally and historically would that wouldn’t really be right.  So I’m glad they are, but disappointed it wasn’t on our night.  They also extended the closing the week before on EMH night but not the night before my party.  Not sure why.  Maybe they extended the week before because of those arriving for the Princess Half Weekend


----------



## Yooper Writer

I'm going to DAH event on Feb. 7th (first-timer).  I made reservations at the Plaza Restaurant for 6:40pm, so I'm keeping my finger crossed that they'll let us in by that time!  I'm new to this discussion board, but I'm impressed with all the valuable information.  After I attend the DAH event, I'll try to post a write-up on what we experienced.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

chelynnah said:


> Yes.  Up till this past week closing time was 8pm every weekday for my dates Feb 20 - Mar 2.  Last week they adjusted the Feb hours and Thurs 21 changed from an 8pm close to a 9pm close.  This is normal even without DAH.  They often adjust the closing times in the month before once they have a clearer idea of crowds etc.  After Hours events are not supposed to affect park closings, so if they didn’t extend a night they normally and historically would that wouldn’t really be right.  So I’m glad they are, but disappointed it wasn’t on our night.  They also extended the closing the week before on EMH night but not the night before my party.  Not sure why.  Maybe they extended the week before because of those arriving for the Princess Half Weekend



Just FYI, the Thursday 2/21 DAH has always been published as a 9pm-12am event.  I'm pretty certain the park hours were updated to show a 9pm closing for 2/14 & 2/21 (the two Feb DAH dates with 9-12 event times) back when those events were announced (well before last week's Feb hours update).


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Yooper Writer said:


> I'm going to DAH event on Feb. 7th (first-timer).  I made reservations at the Plaza Restaurant for 6:40pm, so I'm keeping my finger crossed that they'll let us in by that time!  I'm new to this discussion board, but I'm impressed with all the valuable information.  After I attend the DAH event, I'll try to post a write-up on what we experienced.



 to the DIS.  Hope you enjoy your evening!


----------



## Iowamomof4

chelynnah said:


> Yes.  Up till this past week closing time was 8pm every weekday for my dates Feb 20 - Mar 2.  Last week they adjusted the Feb hours and Thurs 21 changed from an 8pm close to a 9pm close.  This is normal even without DAH.  They often adjust the closing times in the month before once they have a clearer idea of crowds etc.  After Hours events are not supposed to affect park closings, so if they didn’t extend a night they normally and historically would that wouldn’t really be right.  So I’m glad they are, but disappointed it wasn’t on our night.  They also extended the closing the week before on EMH night but not the night before my party.  Not sure why.  Maybe they extended the week before because of those arriving for the Princess Half Weekend


I stand corrected.  

Okay Disney, you have no excuse then. We wants the dates!


----------



## chelynnah

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Just FYI, the Thursday 2/21 DAH has always been published as a 9pm-11pm event.  I'm pretty certain the park hours were updated to show a 9pm closing for 2/14 & 2/21 (the two Feb DAH dates with 9-11 event times) back when those events were announced (well before last week's Feb hours update).


oh, fair enough.  I was sure I adjusted that whole week on my planner this week.  I definitely changed the hours on Wed as that’s our arrival night and we were hoping they’d extend so we could pop in. Also Fri and Sat were definitely extended.



Iowamomof4 said:


> I stand corrected.
> 
> Okay Disney, you have no excuse then. We wants the dates!



It may be me that needs corrected.  I was sure the whole week was an 8pm finish.


----------



## amalone1013

Dentam said:


> We were able to relax and soak up the atmosphere in AK plus we rode FoP twice with no wait along with NRJ twice without getting off the boat. My dad and sister ended up riding EE five times. Mostly we just didn't feel rushed and could enjoy our time. It felt like longer than three hours at AK and there were far fewer people there.


Walk on FOP? I made the assumption that's where 90% of the attendees would go... You know what happens when you assume things...


----------



## Haley R

TheFloatingBear said:


> So do we - I asked my kids if they wanted me to switch out our FP for it for Friday since we rode it 4x at DAH and they were like - No way!


I initially just had pirates at 6:35-7:35 for our dah night but after seeing people let in at 6 again I moved it earlier and got btmr at 6:35. I don’t feel like I can ride it too much


----------



## mrocco90

Hi I’m  going to the afterhour event at magic kingdom in March. We won’t have park tickets just the after hour tickets. Are we able to book a fp for 7pm before the actual event starts? Thanks!


----------



## fiasco32

Is there a list somewhere of what shops are open during DAH?


----------



## Cirlonde

chelynnah said:


> oh, fair enough.  I was sure I adjusted that whole week on my planner this week.  I definitely changed the hours on Wed as that’s our arrival night and we were hoping they’d extend so we could pop in. Also Fri and Sat were definitely extended.
> 
> 
> 
> It may be me that needs corrected.  I was sure the whole week was an 8pm finish.



Just to chime in quickly...I know for sure the 2/14 MK hours were posted with a 9pm close as early as September and 2/28 was posted as an 8pm close.  We were debating between the 2/14 or 2/28 DAH event in September.   Soooo....I have it in my nerdy comparison chart that I put together to help us make a decision.  We ultimately decided to go with 2/14 _because_ of the 9pm close which meant we'd be getting an extra hour of park time at no additional cost.

Unfortunately, I don't have any info on 2/21 because we weren't ever considering that date. 

Anyway...probably completely irrelevant at this point, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

fiasco32 said:


> Is there a list somewhere of what shops are open during DAH?



Unless something has changed recently, I believe it's: 

*Opens Shops / Restaurants*

The following stores and restaurants are open during DAH:
Emporium
Main Street Bakery (Starbucks)
Casey's Corner


----------



## mamapenguin

Are we thinking that late March may get a later close than 10:00pm? DAH is currently 10-1, that I can probably handle but if it moves to an 11:00 close that might be a lot harder to do. 11-2? Yikes!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mamapenguin said:


> Are we thinking that late March may get a later close than 10:00pm? DAH is currently 10-1, that I can probably handle but if it moves to an 11:00 close that might be a lot harder to do. 11-2? Yikes!



DAH times have never moved once Disney has announced event dates and started selling tickets.  I'm not saying that will never happen (it's Disney after all), but I tend to think that is a very low probability based on past performance.


----------



## disneymagicgirl

Planning to buy tix on Monday for the 1/28 event, once we verify DD19s DCP move-in itinerary won't conflict with that evening. I just looked at the weather and the low is 45.  I am a southern girl and will freeze. Who has been when it was cold and can make me feel better about it? We had so much fun at the one in July and really want to do it again...but 45?


----------



## Ambehnke

disneymagicgirl said:


> Planning to buy tix on Monday for the 1/28 event, once we verify DD19s DCP move-in itinerary won't conflict with that evening. I just looked at the weather and the low is 45.  I am a southern girl and will freeze. Who has been when it was cold and can make me feel better about it? We had so much fun at the one in July and really want to do it again...but 45?


We are from WI where it is currently 5 degrees. We are also attending on the 28th. I hate the cold. I will probably wear leggings under jeans and bring a hat and gloves. Two pairs of socks maybe. I want to be warm.


----------



## georgina

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Just FYI, the Thursday 2/21 DAH has always been published as a 9pm-11pm event.  I'm pretty certain the park hours were updated to show a 9pm closing for 2/14 & 2/21 (the two Feb DAH dates with 9-11 event times) back when those events were announced (well before last week's Feb hours update).



I agree that the 2/21 event we are attending has always been showing that it started at 9, but doesn't it run till midnight, not 11?


----------



## georgina

mrocco90 said:


> Hi I’m  going to the afterhour event at magic kingdom in March. We won’t have park tickets just the after hour tickets. Are we able to book a fp for 7pm before the actual event starts? Thanks!



My plan is to start booking FP for the 6:30-7:30 time slot, then hopefully one for 7:30-8:30 and 8:30-9:00. We do have extra days on our tickets in our MDE account though, I'm not sure about your situation. Perhaps someone who has done it will respond!


----------



## BK2014

disneymagicgirl said:


> Planning to buy tix on Monday for the 1/28 event, once we verify DD19s DCP move-in itinerary won't conflict with that evening. I just looked at the weather and the low is 45.  I am a southern girl and will freeze. Who has been when it was cold and can make me feel better about it? We had so much fun at the one in July and really want to do it again...but 45?



If Florida weather forecasts are anything like the one's here in Wisconsin, I wouldn't be surprised if it changes before then.  I usually don't start planning on predicted weather until 48hours out or closer.


----------



## bigeyedfish

It was 10 below today.  45 degrees sounds like a heat wave!  As long as it isn’t windy I know we will be fine, but if you aren’t used to the cold it might be a rough night.  We’ll be there 1/28 also.


----------



## Haley R

It was freezing here today too. I think it was like -10 with wind chill. It’s showing next weekend to be a high of -4....I can’t wait to have 45 degree weather in Florida lol. I still plan to bring a hat and gloves just in case though


----------



## GADisneyDad14

georgina said:


> I agree that the 2/21 event we are attending has always been showing that it started at 9, but doesn't it run till midnight, not 11?



My goodness yes, my bad, 9-12.  Sorry about that.  Will fix my post.  Thank you for pointing that out.


----------



## nyhitmen

Question about this after dark thing. Last time I went 8 years ago I did not have to purchase any after dark ticket to see the fireworks at the end of the night. Do I have to do so now just to see fireworks? Also how in the world with they know who has what type of ticket to police this? I mean ok maybe you say they check your ticket for the rides. But what if you do not care about the rides you just want to see the fireworks. When we were last there I could have sworn they did the fireworks every night. Is this not the case anymore?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

nyhitmen said:


> Question about this after dark thing. Last time I went 8 years ago I did not have to purchase any after dark ticket to see the fireworks at the end of the night. Do I have to do so now just to see fireworks? Also how in the world with they know who has what type of ticket to police this? I mean ok maybe you say they check your ticket for the rides. But what if you do not care about the rides you just want to see the fireworks. When we were last there I could have sworn they did the fireworks every night. Is this not the case anymore?



From the Post #8 FAQ on this thread.  This is written from the perspective of someone attending DAH, but same concepts apply to your question.  All nighttime entertainment options (Happily Ever After, in the case of MK) are available to all guests, not just Disney After Hours ticket holders. 

*An Important Difference Between DAH & MNSSHP/MVMCP*

Disney After Hours is "hard-ticket" event similar to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP), except that it takes place after the 'normal' park closing time for that day.
Unlike MNSSHP and MVMCP, for DAH Disney does NOT "clear" the park of day guests for the event.
Day guests can get in a ride line up until 1 minute before closing time and are free to leave the park, shop, etc at their leisure after regular park closing time just like any regular night in the Magic Kingdom.
DAH credentials (lanyards or wristbands) are needed to enter a ride line once the event begins.
Disney has historically been very strict with enforcement of needing to see DAH credentials at line entrances.
In this regard, DAH operates in a similar manner to PM Extra Magic Hours vs the 'park clearing' you see with MNSSHP and MVMCP.

*
Day Guest Carry-Over Into DAH Event Time from Rides and/or Nighttime Entertainment*

As noted above, day guests can enter a ride line 1 minute before park closing.
Also, depending on the date, some nighttime entertainment such as Happily Ever After (HEA) or Once Upon a Time (OUAT) can be scheduled to begin at the same time the DAH event starts.
If HEA is scheduled for the same time as the DAH start time, yes, there will be a large crowd still in the park for the first part of your DAH time.
Historically this has not had a material impact on DAH, but some may not like the fact daytime entertainment carries over into "paid event time."


----------



## Liver Lips Mcgrowl

Peter pans flight is listed, at the beginning of this thread, to be closed through Jan 24...  But many other sources such as touring plans, have it closed through Feb 2...
Also many sites claim tomorrowland Speedway is closed as well, but this thread has it as "open".
So just wondering what's right and wrong here lol. I'll be there Jan 24 and 28

Thanks!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Liver Lips Mcgrowl said:


> Peter pans flight is listed, at the beginning of this thread, to be closed through Jan 24...  But many other sources such as touring plans, have it closed through Feb 2...
> Also many sites claim tomorrowland Speedway is closed as well, but this thread has it as "open".
> So just wondering what's right and wrong here lol. I'll be there Jan 24 and 28
> 
> Thanks!



The 1/24 reference on Post #5 for PP’s closure refers to last DAH event date where it is closed, not the end of its closure for refurbishment.  I’d go with whatever you see on refurbishment lists for when the ride is expected to open.

I need to update Post #5 with Speedway’s closure, that list is from pre-Speedway closure and an oversight on my part.


----------



## Liver Lips Mcgrowl

GADisneyDad14 said:


> The 1/24 reference on Post #5 for PP’s closure refers to last DAH event date where it is closed, not the end of its closure for refurbishment.  I’d go with whatever you see on refurbishment lists for when the ride is expected to open.
> 
> I need to update Post #5 with Speedway’s closure, that list is from pre-Speedway closure and an oversight on my part.



Gotcha!  Thanks!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Well, one DAH down, 2 to go in March. 
We went Jan 17th- DH, who is not a super fan of Disney,,  I know,, said if we were to do DAH on our future trips, he'd be in. Usually we go without him 
 It was fun, and a fantastic way to accomplish a lot without the heat and crowds. The free snacks/drinks is an added bonus.
SDMT was down, as was already reported. We got in line around 10:20ish, waited 19 minutes. It looked shorter when we got off, but DS6 wanted to hit SM one more time before leaving.
We hit everything we wanted to, plus sat down to enjoy ice cream bars a couple of times.
Pirates at 7:15, 5 min wait.
Carpets 5ish minutes.
BTMRR during fireworks 2x, no wait 2nd ride. I really enjoy doing this if I am not watching from the dessert party. 
Snack break
HM
LM
SM
Buzz
Back by to check on SDMT, no go, so DS wanted to hit BTMRR again. About a 10 min wait this time, little frustrating
Break, snack, then saw SDMT was up, so hit it
SM again
time to go
We could have hit more, but we were taking it easy, enjoying the room to move.  DS didn't want to do Pooh, or IASW, or Dumbo. It was his Bday trip, so his choice. 

Look forward to DAH at AK and DHS Spring Break, especially after going to AK Friday and


----------



## Ambehnke

GADisneyDad14 said:


> The 1/24 reference on Post #5 for PP’s closure refers to last DAH event date where it is closed, not the end of its closure for refurbishment.  I’d go with whatever you see on refurbishment lists for when the ride is expected to open.
> 
> I need to update Post #5 with Speedway’s closure, that list is from pre-Speedway closure and an oversight on my part.


Yes but technically PP should still be closed for 1/28.... maybe they are expecting it to be done early.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Ambehnke said:


> Yes but technically PP should still be closed for 1/28.... maybe they are expecting it to be done early.



Good point.  Actually, now that I’m looking at this again, my guess is that the WDW website language which doesn’t include 1/28 as a date PP won’t be available for DAH is probably inaccurate.  They don’t have the best track record for full accuracy with these kinds of details, especially ones like that may have changed over time.  

For comparison, on the EMM page, 2/5 is listed as a date PP won’t be available, but it appears from most refurb calendars to be scheduled to reopen 2/2.  

So go figure!!


----------



## TIME4DIZ

mrocco90 said:


> Hi I’m  going to the afterhour event at magic kingdom in March. We won’t have park tickets just the after hour tickets. Are we able to book a fp for 7pm before the actual event starts? Thanks!


Yes. With just an event ticket MDE allows you to book FP+ for any time  during the day of the party. We went last week and were allowed in a 6. We had our first FP+ booked 5:30-6:30.


----------



## Ambehnke

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Good point.  Actually, now that I’m looking at this again, my guess is that the WDW website language which doesn’t include 1/28 as a date PP won’t be available for DAH is probably inaccurate.  They don’t have the best track record for full accuracy with these kinds of details, especially ones like that may have changed over time.
> 
> For comparison, on the EMM page, 2/5 is listed as a date PP won’t be available, but it appears from most refurb calendars to be scheduled to reopen 2/2.
> 
> So go figure!!


We have been before when PP has opened back up from refurb early so I will cross my fingers but expect the worst.


----------



## moonshadow

Please add me to the list for 2/28. First time for us too


----------



## Dr.Mrs.ScroogeMcDuck

Please add us to the list for 2/28. Yay!


----------



## chelynnah

moonshadow said:


> Please add me to the list for 2/28. First time for us too





Dr.Mrs.ScroogeMcDuck said:


> Please add us to the list for 2/28. Yay!



There’s a few of us Disers there that night


----------



## EpcotIsMyFave

Please add us for 4/4!  So excited!!!


----------



## Minnie1977

Any rumors or news of when/if summer 2019 DAH dates will be released?


----------



## Haley R

Minnie1977 said:


> Any rumors or news of when/if summer 2019 DAH dates will be released?


No one here knows until Disney releases information


----------



## queenvee

Please add me to the list for 1/28! This will be out first time and we can't wait!!!!


----------



## NYCANC

Just got home last night and waited until this morning for my report from this past Thursday, 1/17.

Loved it! We would do it again every time if it works out with our dates.
I will try to remember all the details I can. 

Started a bit later than we wanted- we found ourselves in Fantasyland around 7:00-7:30. We wanted to start in Frontierland but we were chatting with friends and by then could not get around the castle. Grabbed a quick dinner at Cosmic Ray's (watched the fireworks from Tomorrowland) and we started right around 8. 
I did the opposite of what I was planning and went right to 7DMT (it was up at this time) and it was walk on! I was shocked! We did it twice. I was hanging around the entrance of the ride and the CM (looked like a manager?) was asking to see everyone's wristbands. There were tons that were like "what?" and some that tried to sneak by. He caught them all and explained what was going on and that they can go buy tickets and come back. 
We chatted and I asked him if it was a sold out night. He said they usually mention when it is- and he said he did not hear anything. 

After 2x on 7D, we headed to HM and walked right into the Stretching Room.
Did Splash 2x each time with our own log. That was amazing!
Then we headed back and got the Lantern pic. About 6 people ahead of us.
In that line, I heard 7D was down so I am glad we started the night there even though that was not our plan.
Went by and 7D was still down so went and did Buzz 2x.
Then Pooh, Under the Sea, Dumbo and back to 7D. 
7D was our last stop at about 10:50. Everyone was on this line but it went pretty fast- maybe 10-15 min.

In between we stopped for lots of ice cream! Never a line for any of the carts and we visited most of them! Got popcorn and tons of bottled waters. 
All the CM's were wonderful and everyone was having a blast.  

We stopped for lots of pics on the way out and we waited for the Kiss Goodnight at exactly 11:30. We took our time and saw the Kiss Goodnight again at 11:45. We waited in line for an empty Main Street pic and after us others were turned away. 
We were the last ones out! Truly magical! Took tons of pics. It was us and the security guard making sure no one tried to get back up Main Street. 

By the buses- we were asked where we were headed and he got a bus for us. The bus driver asked us what we were doing and I told him we were waiting for the Kiss Goodnight. 

We loved this event- it was amazing!
When we went back on Sunday to MK- we were there 9am (could not make RD) and stayed past close- it was so nice to be able to do shows and other longer rides that we would not have done during After Hours. And even though it was busy on Sunday, I was able to keep getting FP's until 9:35.

It was worth the money and would do it every time! Loved it!


----------



## Cordy2424

SO EXCITED!!! Thursday cannot get here soon enough!!! We have an early dinner reservation at Wilderness Lodge so we can ride the boat over for DAH and plan to take the bus back to WL and head back to our resort from there. Hurry Up Thursday!!!!


----------



## Haley R

NYCANC said:


> Just got home last night and waited until this morning for my report from this past Thursday, 1/17.
> 
> Loved it! We would do it again every time if it works out with our dates.
> I will try to remember all the details I can.
> 
> Started a bit later than we wanted- we found ourselves in Fantasyland around 7:00-7:30. We wanted to start in Frontierland but we were chatting with friends and by then could not get around the castle. Grabbed a quick dinner at Cosmic Ray's (watched the fireworks from Tomorrowland) and we started right around 8.
> I did the opposite of what I was planning and went right to 7DMT (it was up at this time) and it was walk on! I was shocked! We did it twice. I was hanging around the entrance of the ride and the CM (looked like a manager?) was asking to see everyone's wristbands. There were tons that were like "what?" and some that tried to sneak by. He caught them all and explained what was going on and that they can go buy tickets and come back.
> We chatted and I asked him if it was a sold out night. He said they usually mention when it is- and he said he did not hear anything.
> 
> After 2x on 7D, we headed to HM and walked right into the Stretching Room.
> Did Splash 2x each time with our own log. That was amazing!
> Then we headed back and got the Lantern pic. About 6 people ahead of us.
> In that line, I heard 7D was down so I am glad we started the night there even though that was not our plan.
> Went by and 7D was still down so went and did Buzz 2x.
> Then Pooh, Under the Sea, Dumbo and back to 7D.
> 7D was our last stop at about 10:50. Everyone was on this line but it went pretty fast- maybe 10-15 min.
> 
> In between we stopped for lots of ice cream! Never a line for any of the carts and we visited most of them! Got popcorn and tons of bottled waters.
> All the CM's were wonderful and everyone was having a blast.
> 
> We stopped for lots of pics on the way out and we waited for the Kiss Goodnight at exactly 11:30. We took our time and saw the Kiss Goodnight again at 11:45. We waited in line for an empty Main Street pic and after us others were turned away.
> We were the last ones out! Truly magical! Took tons of pics. It was us and the security guard making sure no one tried to get back up Main Street.
> 
> By the buses- we were asked where we were headed and he got a bus for us. The bus driver asked us what we were doing and I told him we were waiting for the Kiss Goodnight.
> 
> We loved this event- it was amazing!
> When we went back on Sunday to MK- we were there 9am (could not make RD) and stayed past close- it was so nice to be able to do shows and other longer rides that we would not have done during After Hours. And even though it was busy on Sunday, I was able to keep getting FP's until 9:35.
> 
> It was worth the money and would do it every time! Loved it!


That is really interesting about 7dmt. We always start in Frontierland but I’m super tempted to try 7dmt early this time. We have FPS for btmr and pirate before dah starts so maybe we will do those and then head over to fantasyland.


----------



## truetink

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Good point.  Actually, now that I’m looking at this again, my guess is that the WDW website language which doesn’t include 1/28 as a date PP won’t be available for DAH is probably inaccurate.  They don’t have the best track record for full accuracy with these kinds of details, especially ones like that may have changed over time.
> 
> For comparison, on the EMM page, 2/5 is listed as a date PP won’t be available, but it appears from most refurb calendars to be scheduled to reopen 2/2.
> 
> So go figure!!


I have a fastpass for PP on 2/3 so it should be open then.


----------



## georgina

My experience this morning getting FP for the hours before 2/21 DAH - when I first logged on at 7 AM, everything was available except 7DMT and some princess meets. It was a bit glitchy, took several tries to get my first one, 8:30 for BTMRR. My plan was to get Jungle Cruise and Pirates, but had some glitches again and couldn't get them to confirm, so ended up with Space Mtn at 7:30 and Buzz at 6:30. (Took some shuffling, at first all it would give me was SM at 7:10 and Buzz at 5:40, but once I had the FP I could modify them easily to the times I wanted.) I tried to modify them to Pirates and JC, but by then nothing was showing availability past 5:30 PM. I had more success getting the FP in the app than my desktop, but both had some issues. I may check in the coming days to see if I can change them, as I know I will want to ride SM multiple times and would prefer to get JC and Pirates out of the way before the event starts.

Update - 3 days later I was able to easily change my FP to 6:20 Jungle Criuise and 7:25 Pirates. So we can do those and have no need to go back to Adventureland the rest of the evening.


----------



## Runnsally

Haley R said:


> That is really interesting about 7dmt. We always start in Frontierland but I’m super tempted to try 7dmt early this time. We have FPS for btmr and pirate before dah starts so maybe we will do those and then head over to fantasyland.


Headed to the event this Thursday...super-excited.  I would expect 7DMT to still have a healthy line at 8p as day guests jump in the queue just before park close.  We’ll see...


----------



## NYCANC

Haley R said:


> That is really interesting about 7dmt. We always start in Frontierland but I’m super tempted to try 7dmt early this time. We have FPS for btmr and pirate before dah starts so maybe we will do those and then head over to fantasyland.



I am guessing it is probably because fireworks were going off- so unless someone was in the queue already- they were not letting anyone else on since it was after 8 (fireworks started at 8). We showed our After Hours band and we flew through the queue and they let us right on. We also got to watch the fireworks while riding.
At 8:15 (after fireworks), that is when I saw people getting turned away.
I am glad it worked out for us especially since 7D was down a little while later.


----------



## Iowamomof4

The possibility of a ride being down at some point does make me think it's important not to leave a favorite for the end since you just never know.


----------



## Haley R

NYCANC said:


> I am guessing it is probably because fireworks were going off- so unless someone was in the queue already- they were not letting anyone else on since it was after 8 (fireworks started at 8). We showed our After Hours band and we flew through the queue and they let us right on. We also got to watch the fireworks while riding.
> At 8:15 (after fireworks), that is when I saw people getting turned away.
> I am glad it worked out for us especially since 7D was down a little while later.


Our night should work similarly because the fireworks are at 8 and that’s when our dah starts. We aren’t huge 7dmt fans anyway but want to ride it at least once. I’m just curious about trying a different route this time since we’ve been twice and both times did the same exact pattern around the park


----------



## detroitdad

We have tickets for Feb 21st.  Our first time and really excited!!  We do have park hoppers for our length of stay that week so we will already be in the park before the event.

So is there a strategy to DAH @ MK to maximize the rides?  It seems that sometimes the FP lines are open instead of having to go through the standby queues but not consistently.  I also read somewhere that when you are exiting SM to head to the left when it tells you to exit to the right and that it's a short cut back to the loading area again.  Don't know if that was a fluke or not but can't imagine that trick wouldn't be monitored by the cast members.  Going back through the regular SM line is sooooooo long.


----------



## Haley R

detroitdad said:


> We have tickets for Feb 21st.  Our first time and really excited!!  We do have park hoppers for our length of stay that week so we will already be in the park before the event.
> 
> So is there a strategy to DAH @ MK to maximize the rides?  It seems that sometimes the FP lines are open instead of having to go through the standby queues but not consistently.  I also read somewhere that when you are exiting SM to head to the left when it tells you to exit to the right and that it's a short cut back to the loading area again.  Don't know if that was a fluke or not but can't imagine that trick wouldn't be monitored by the cast members.  Going back through the regular SM line is sooooooo long.


I’m not sure if they are still letting people use the reride line or not on SM. It wasn’t a fluke, though. We had cms actually directing us those ways if we wanted to ride again. It depends which side of the ride you get on to know which direction to turn. You’ll see a colored horizontal line on both sides that lead you back up a ramp to the ride. We will be there 1/28 and I’ll see if they still let people use it


----------



## detroitdad

Haley R said:


> I’m not sure if they are still letting people use the reride line or not on SM. It wasn’t a fluke, though. We had cms actually directing us those ways if we wanted to ride again. It depends which side of the ride you get on to know which direction to turn. You’ll see a colored horizontal line on both sides that lead you back up a ramp to the ride. We will be there 1/28 and I’ll see if they still let people use it




Cool thanks!


----------



## iujen94

iujen94 said:


> Has anyone had success sweet-talking Disney into letting them exchange DAH tickets for a different date?  Our February trip may get switched to late April.  DAH dates haven’t been released yet for then, but assuming they fall during our rescheduled trip, I’m hoping Disney might sprinkle some pixie dust on me and let me switch.



Just FYI - I called Disney about this today.  The DAH CM consulted with a ticketing CM who said that I could apply the DAH ticket value (even after it's expired) to ANY ticket - another DAH ticket, MNSSHP tickets, regular park tickets, etc.  YMMV of course, and who knows what the next CM I talk to will say.

While I had the DAH CM on the phone, I asked if she had any information on when the next group of DAH dates would be released.  She said she didn't have any information, but she seemed to hesitate a bit before she said that.  I'm crossing my fingers that she was fibbing and knows they will be released soon.  I'm ready to plan our April trip, and I want to know if they'll have DAH the week before Easter!


----------



## jacobjennasmom

I have what might be a dumb question about DAH. We have tickets for the first week in April for this event at MK. We will be going to a different park during the day. I've seen people say they can make FPs starting at 7pm before the after hours event starts (ours is from 10-1). I was just wondering if this true and if so, how does this work?

Thank you much!


----------



## AntJulie

jacobjennasmom said:


> I have what might be a dumb question about DAH. We have tickets for the first week in April for this event at MK. We will be going to a different park during the day. I've seen people say they can make FPs starting at 7pm before the after hours event starts (ours is from 10-1). I was just wondering if this true and if so, how does this work?
> 
> Thank you much!



You can only make 3 FP+ per day...so if you make 3 FP+ for a different park that day you can not make 3 more using DAH ticket. You can of course make 4th, 5th, etc. (one at a time) after initial 3 are used.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

NYCANC said:


> I am guessing it is probably because fireworks were going off- so unless someone was in the queue already- they were not letting anyone else on since it was after 8 (fireworks started at 8). We showed our After Hours band and we flew through the queue and they let us right on. We also got to watch the fireworks while riding.
> At 8:15 (after fireworks), that is when I saw people getting turned away.
> I am glad it worked out for us especially since 7D was down a little while later.



Yeah, when HEA is at park closing time (which is only the case for 6 out of the 16 current DAH dates), that'll really help with a lower carry-over crowd for 7DMT.  

Thanks for your report upthread and the Kiss Goodnight report.  So it sounds like they were at 30 mins and 45 mins post DAH end, right?


----------



## NYCANC

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, when HEA is at park closing time (which is only the case for 6 out of the 16 current DAH dates), that'll really help with a lower carry-over crowd for 7DMT.
> 
> Thanks for your report upthread and the Kiss Goodnight report.  So it sounds like they were at 30 mins and 45 mins post DAH end, right?



Yes- I was asking a CM about the Kiss Goodnight and she was saying it should be showing tonight when it started- it was 11:30. 
It was beautiful!
Then we were taking our time on Main Street and it started up again- I looked at my watch and it was 11:45. 
So, yes, 30 and 45 minutes past park close at 11.
I am not sure if it played again at 12am.
The security guard was ready for us to leave at that point!
There was also one man earlier with a tripod who tried to run back up Main Street around 11:45 that he had to stop.


----------



## amiskell28

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, when HEA is at park closing time (which is only the case for 6 out of the 16 current DAH dates), that'll really help with a lower carry-over crowd for 7DMT.



Just making sure I understand. We're going on 2/7. Park close is 8:00. HEA is 8:00. DAH starts at 8:00. So, theoretically, the line for 7DMT would be shorter earlier in the DAH hours because a lot of folks will do the fireworks and they head out. Correct?


----------



## FranDVCMadrid

amiskell28 said:


> Just making sure I understand. We're going on 2/7. Park close is 8:00. HEA is 8:00. DAH starts at 8:00. So, theoretically, the line for 7DMT would be shorter earlier in the DAH hours because a lot of folks will do the fireworks and they head out. Correct?



I´m also going that day! I hope there are not too many people and we can ride several times!


----------



## Iowamomof4

amiskell28 said:


> Just making sure I understand. We're going on 2/7. Park close is 8:00. HEA is 8:00. DAH starts at 8:00. So, theoretically, the line for 7DMT would be shorter earlier in the DAH hours because a lot of folks will do the fireworks and they head out. Correct?



That is exactly what people are saying.


----------



## NYCANC

amiskell28 said:


> Just making sure I understand. We're going on 2/7. Park close is 8:00. HEA is 8:00. DAH starts at 8:00. So, theoretically, the line for 7DMT would be shorter earlier in the DAH hours because a lot of folks will do the fireworks and they head out. Correct?



yes- that is how it was for us on Thursday, 1/17. Walk on 7D.


----------



## NYCANC

NYCANC said:


> yes- that is how it was for us on Thursday, 1/17. Walk on 7D.



There was also lots trying to come up after fireworks that were all turned away.


----------



## amiskell28

FranDVCMadrid said:


> I´m also going that day! I hope there are not too many people and we can ride several times!





Iowamomof4 said:


> That is exactly what people are saying.





NYCANC said:


> yes- that is how it was for us on Thursday, 1/17. Walk on 7D.



Well, thank you! Then I know where I'm headed around 8 PM!  Maybe we'll see you there, @FranDVCMadrid!


----------



## NYCANC

amiskell28 said:


> Well, thank you! Then I know where I'm headed around 8 PM!  Maybe we'll see you there, @FranDVCMadrid!



Enjoy! We had an amazing time and it's our favorite event that we ever did in all of our trips!


----------



## Haley R

NYCANC said:


> yes- that is how it was for us on Thursday, 1/17. Walk on 7D.


I think this is what we’re gonna try this trip. Just to change things up a bit. As long as Dh doesn’t lose his phone on space again we will have a good time lol


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Reading all these posts and seeing people's experiences with 7DMT, I think it's interesting how much luck can play into things. I went back to see how we fared this year compared to last January and this is what I had to say about 7DMT from that night:  

"7DMT was a real X-factor. I think it said "20" minutes all night, but it really varied. We got in line expecting 20 minutes the first time, and it was more like 10. Then we went to do other things, thinking it would be shorter later on. The second time, still posted at "20" but it was more like 5 minutes, so we were excited and hopped back in line immediately after our ride. This was toward the end of the night and my DD11 was beginning to wilt. Already, the line had swelled and was well past the point where we had experiences the 10 minute wait, so we bailed and went to Winnie the Pooh to end the evening."

Last year, the advice seemed to be to do 7DMT later in the night. This year we wanted to ride it a couple of times, so tried to hit it in the middle again even if it meant we'd have a bit of a wait, but we probably hit it right during the stoppages for both 7DMT and Pooh, which probably led to longer lines at the end of the night, but again, you can't control that kind of thing and we adjusted!  So, here's a fuller report of our experience on 1/17/19 (Times are approximate).

Pirates (before the event started) after picking up our wristbands at Tortuga Tavern.

*8:00 - 9:00* I know a poster asked if we could stay on BTMR but I forgot to quote the post - we couldn't stay on because there were always people waiting to get on - it was still pretty much a walk on, but you couldn't stay on, unfortunately! 
BTMR 2x (during HEA - magical fireworks!  )
Splash (more HEA) - We got a great picture of the 4 of us in our own boat - will probably make the 2019 Christmas card! 
BTMR 2x
popcorn/ice cream break near BTMR, then more water (I think...or maybe ice cream?) by the Liberty Bell

*9:00-9:35*

HM - one of our longer lines of the evening for some reason! 
Lantern Photo - another longish line, but we took turns for restroom breaks and the pictures were worth it! 

*9:35-10:20* - We actually went to Pooh first, then tried 7DMT (we didn't notice the closure on the way). We figured we'd head to Little Mermaid and then when both rides were still off-line, we headed to Tomorrowland.  They let us stay on Peoplemover (although they did not allow us to take different cars for some reason? Could have said we were singles but didn't think it would be an issue, but we had more fun together!), unfortunately, I checked before we stayed on and 7DMT was still off, then the rides reopened after we committed - d'oh! But it didn't matter, we love Peoplemover and we had a lot of laughs - probably my favorite memory of the night! 

Little Mermaid
Space
Peoplemover 2x

*10:20-11+*
Pooh
7DMT - waited the full posted 20 minutes and no one (but me) wanted to get back in line! 
Teacups - DH and DS do not like the teacups, so they went for more snacks/water (they went to Tomorrowland to get them) and then we met up in the Hub.
Main Street picture - love the pictures from the end of the night - the little "After Hours" sign in a nice touch! 

Kiss Goodnight! 

As I mentioned in my previous post, my DD and I thought it "seemed" more crowded walking around than during our sold out event night last year, but that could be just where/when we hit things, plus the ride closures in Fantasyland.  We had a blast and I would do it again if I'm able to save the funds! This was a long weekend trip, so it was nice to do a bunch of rides Thursday night and have a more relaxed day in MK on Sunday.

All the popcorn we saw was freshly popped and quite delicious!


----------



## disneymagicgirl

Took the plunge and bought our tix for 1/28! Weather is looking much "warmer" as well. Yay!

I got myself a ticket and 3 more for my family at the AP rate and I am the only AP. 
They aren't showing up in MDE. Anyone know why? In Aug they populated themselves when I bought them.


----------



## iujen94

disneymagicgirl said:


> Took the plunge and bought our tix for 1/28! Weather is looking much "warmer" as well. Yay!
> 
> I got myself a ticket and 3 more for my family at the AP rate and I am the only AP.
> They aren't showing up in MDE. Anyone know why? In Aug they populated themselves when I bought them.



When I bought my tickets (also with an AP discount, not that that matters), I’m pretty sure I had to link the tickets by entering the confirmation number into MDE.


----------



## disneymagicgirl

iujen94 said:


> When I bought my tickets (also with an AP discount, not that that matters), I’m pretty sure I had to link the tickets by entering the confirmation number into MDE.


Thx. I tried that but it didn't work. Wants individual ticket numbers. It is letting my make Fps though, so they must be there, I just can't see them.


----------



## Haley R

disneymagicgirl said:


> Took the plunge and bought our tix for 1/28! Weather is looking much "warmer" as well. Yay!
> 
> I got myself a ticket and 3 more for my family at the AP rate and I am the only AP.
> They aren't showing up in MDE. Anyone know why? In Aug they populated themselves when I bought them.


Glad to see you’re going! I’m just hoping our flight lands on time so we aren’t late to dah


----------



## amalone1013

disneymagicgirl said:


> Thx. I tried that but it didn't work. Wants individual ticket numbers. It is letting my make Fps though, so they must be there, I just can't see them.


Disney IT having issues?? No....

Back in September, I had trouble seeing my second ticket (this was not AP rate). Originally I could see it, had it assigned to another family member in MDE so my DH wouldn't see it, and then I couldn't see it to reassign! Got it all straightened out a couple days before at least.


----------



## amiskell28

@TheFloatingBear Thanks for the review!! 



TheFloatingBear said:


> and have a more relaxed day in MK



This is precisely why I booked the tickets. We are only in the parks for 2 days prior to a cruise. It is my DD7 first time there, maybe last? One day in MK, one day in AK. I was so stressing those darn fastpasses and "fitting everything in" (even though I know we can't ). 

When I found DAH (and tbh, I had no idea it even existed before I saw this thread), it took the stress away. Expensive, yes. But it means I can relax a bit more and smell the roses on our day in MK. That's worth a lot to me.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

amiskell28 said:


> @TheFloatingBear Thanks for the review!!
> 
> 
> 
> This is precisely why I booked the tickets. We are only in the parks for 2 days prior to a cruise. It is my DD7 first time there, maybe last? One day in MK, one day in AK. I was so stressing those darn fastpasses and "fitting everything in" (even though I know we can't ).
> 
> When I found DAH (and tbh, I had no idea it even existed before I saw this thread), it took the stress away. Expensive, yes. But it means I can relax a bit more and smell the roses on our day in MK. That's worth a lot to me.



Definitely! There's just so much! It gave us a chance to do a leisurely ride on the Liberty Square Riverboat, spend some time on Main Street, listen to the Dapper Dans - just some extra things that might have been tough to fit in! Enjoy your cruise and your park days!


----------



## Haley R

TheFloatingBear said:


> Definitely! There's just so much! It gave us a chance to do a leisurely ride on the Liberty Square Riverboat, spend some time on Main Street, listen to the Dapper Dans - just some extra things that might have been tough to fit in! Enjoy your cruise and your park days!


We’ve never been on the riverboat. Maybe that’ll be something we do this trip


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Haley R said:


> We’ve never been on the riverboat. Maybe that’ll be something we do this trip



Definitely try to fit it in! I love it and it makes a nice little break, although it does take a little while (website says 17 minutes, but with loading and unloading and such, a little longer). You're up high and it's just a different perspective - it gives you a fun view of BTMR!


----------



## Haley R

TheFloatingBear said:


> Definitely try to fit it in! I love it and it makes a nice little break, although it does take a little while (website says 17 minutes, but with loading and unloading and such, a little longer). You're up high and it's just a different perspective - it gives you a fun view of BTMR!


Our relaxing mk day is next Friday and there’s a dance competition so I expect it to be busy. The boat would give us a break from people


----------



## briemer99

This may be sort of a dumb question, being that WDW tickets say nontransferable, but if my friend is an passholder, can they buy me a DAH ticket that I can use for the discount?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

briemer99 said:


> This may be sort of a dumb question, being that WDW tickets say nontransferable, but if my friend is an passholder, can they buy me a DAH ticket that I can use for the discount?



Yes.


----------



## briemer99

Thanks, so I would be able to just link it to my account if they buy it thru theirs?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

briemer99 said:


> Thanks, so I would be able to just link it to my account if they buy it thru theirs?



So, couple of options.  If they buy tickets online, they have to assign the ticket to someone then.... so you'd need to be a friend/family connected to their account so they can select you as the ticket holder.  This would be among the easier options.   

If they buy via phone, the tickets don't get assigned to anyone and they can physically give you the ticket, you can then add the confirmation # to your profile if you want to, etc. 

Kind of a simplified version, but does that make sense?


----------



## iujen94

briemer99 said:


> Thanks, so I would be able to just link it to my account if they buy it thru theirs?



If you are MDE friends, your friend can reassign the ticket to you.


----------



## mtrib

Ok, someone clue me in. What is the Lantern Photo?


----------



## Justplainchy

mtrib said:


> Ok, someone clue me in. What is the Lantern Photo?



It's a photopass photo opportunity outside the tangled restrooms in Fantasyland -- you can hold one of the glowing lanterns seen in the movie. It makes for a really neat photo!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Justplainchy said:


> It's a photopass photo opportunity outside the tangled restrooms in Fantasyland -- you can hold one of the glowing lanterns seen in the movie. It makes for a really neat photo!



So long as they don’t have the camera angle pointing towards where you can actually see the restrooms - or people going in them - in the background!   

But yeah, it can make for some really great photos.  DAH is a great time to do this with potentially a lower wait if the opportunity is available.


----------



## mtrib

Justplainchy said:


> It's a photopass photo opportunity outside the tangled restrooms in Fantasyland -- you can hold one of the glowing lanterns seen in the movie. It makes for a really neat photo!


 thanks!


----------



## mtrib

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So long as they don’t have the camera angle pointing towards where you can actually see the restrooms - or people going in them - in the background!
> 
> But yeah, it can make for some really great photos.  DAH is a great time to do this with potentially a lower wait if the opportunity is available.



DS17 would think that was the best Disney photo ever! Boys and their potty humor.


----------



## KEK1

mtrib said:


> DS17 would think that was the best Disney photo ever! Boys and their potty humor.[/QUOTE





Runnsally said:


> Headed to the event this Thursday...super-excited.  I would expect 7DMT to still have a healthy line at 8p as day guests jump in the queue just before park close.  We’ll see...



Do rides shut down in thunderstorms? Going tonight too and its storming now..


----------



## cadien

We have tickets for Feb 7 and I'm wondering about the weather. Especially since we won't be able to go back to our resort beforehand. And it's our first visit to Orlando. It's obviously going to get coldish but does it tend to be windy? That makes such a difference in how many layers we need.


----------



## Eeyore54 fred

KEK1 said:


> Do rides shut down in thunderstorms? Going tonight too and its storming now..


Storms are over for the day. Should be clear tonight. We’re going to so I’ve been haunting the weather reports.


----------



## Iowamomof4

In Josh's review, he only showed one plate of hot food. Is that the only option other than the cold food on the buffet?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> In Josh's review, he only showed one plate of hot food. Is that the only option other than the cold food on the buffet?



Think you meant this for the EMM thread.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Think you meant this for the EMM thread.


Oh goodness... yes! Ugh. I'm following too many threads these days! Lol


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> Oh goodness... yes! Ugh. I'm following too many threads these days! Lol



I did it the other day too on something.


----------



## disneymagicgirl

Popping in to see what time they allow ya'll in tonight!


----------



## Thomasfouraker

disneymagicgirl said:


> Popping in to see what time they allow ya'll in tonight!



Here for the same reason, hoping its closer to 6 than 7.


----------



## lurkyloo

Do we have any updates on whether these are still the locations where you can pick up your wristband if you're already in the park?



> For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
> 
> *The FP kiosks area just outside of the former Stich's Great Escape ride*
> *Tortuga Tavern (note: I'd love to know exactly where)*
> *Liberty Square ticket office*
> *City Hall guest relations office*


----------



## GADisneyDad14

DAH #6 out of the current series of 16 dates is tonight!  No sell out yet, continuing the current trend of none of the DAH events at any of the parks sell


lurkyloo said:


> Do we have any updates on whether these are still the locations where you can pick up your wristband if you're already in the park?



As far as I have seen, these are still current/accurate.


----------



## mcurrence

Have fun tonight !


----------



## Eeyore54 fred

disneymagicgirl said:


> Popping in to see what time they allow ya'll in tonight!


Let us in around 6:30


----------



## mcurrence

Eeyore54 fred said:


> Let us in around 6:30


Urrgh it’s so random! Hoping for closer to 6 ...


----------



## Lisa F

lurkyloo said:


> Do we have any updates on whether these are still the locations where you can pick up your wristband if you're already in the park?


I picked it up near monsters in Tomorrowland  not near stitch but across the way..  It was not marked, just noticed a pair of cm with a tablet and box of  bands.

We are here tonight waiting for fireworks


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Along the lines of the 7DMT discussion from earlier this week. It’s 8:10pm, park closed at 8pm, HEA has been running for 10 mins now, and the posted 7DMT wait on the app is 15 mins. That’s a nice low number for my standards.  

And it’s 60 degrees there which I’m guessing is a heck of a lot warmer than many of us across the rest of the US and world!


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Along the lines of the 7DMT discussion from earlier this week. It’s 8:10pm, park closed at 8pm, HEA has been running for 10 mins now, and the posted 7DMT wait on the app is 15 mins. That’s a nice low number for my standards.
> 
> And it’s 60 degrees there which I’m guessing is a heck of a lot warmer than many of us across the rest of the US and world!



5 degrees here right now!


----------



## Haley R

Iowamomof4 said:


> 5 degrees here right now!


We’re from the same state but ours says 0, feels like -20


----------



## Haley R

mcurrence said:


> Urrgh it’s so random! Hoping for closer to 6 ...


Yeah I changed my FPS around so pirates is 5:35-6:35 thinking we would get in at 6


----------



## FFstreetDoc

We are going Monday the 28th. DW surprised me with a birthday trip and DAH tickets. It will be our 3rd DAH, I love what I am seeing for wait times. We did one in early December and it was a little disappointing. SDMT and SM down all night. When SDMT finally came up the line quickly went to 60 minutes. Right now the app has everything at 5 min other than SDMT @ 15 min. I will take that all night long


----------



## Rera2528

I purchased tickets for our family of 3 for February 28th! It is our third year in a row for that night (last Thursday in Feb/first in March), and we all agree it is the highlight of our vacation. Thank you to everyone who has been making reports and keeping up the enthusiasm!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Looks like several rides down right now: 7dmt, HM, Splash, PoTC, Little Mermaid


----------



## Ambehnke

You can add us to the list for Monday! We bought our tix tonight! So pumped but hope rides aren’t down.


----------



## Haley R

Ambehnke said:


> You can add us to the list for Monday! We bought our tix tonight! So pumped but hope rides aren’t down.


Seems like lots of us are going Monday!


----------



## Haley R

Iowamomof4 said:


> Looks like several rides down right now: 7dmt, HM, Splash, PoTC, Little Mermaid


Splash still closed and it says 7dmt is 25 minutes


----------



## sheila14

Any word on number if tickets sold for these events?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

sheila14 said:


> Any word on number if tickets sold for these events?



People have thrown out 3k since DAH started, although I’m not so sure that’s accurate. No one really knows the true number.


----------



## sheila14

GADisneyDad14 said:


> People have thrown out 3k since DAH started, although I’m not so sure that’s accurate. No one really knows the true number.


Thank you for this info I am hoping they offer this in September when I am down there I really want to gave this experience.


----------



## Remy is Up

Splash was closed all night. 7dmt was down till about 945 and haunted mansion was down for about 20 minutes.  Other raise ride times were 5minutes down to walk on. Still a good night.


----------



## fgnghg5821

Remy is Up said:


> Splash was closed all night. 7dmt was down till about 945 and haunted mansion was down for about 20 minutes.  Other raise ride times were 5minutes down to walk on. Still a good night.



Splash was open until at least 8:30. Rode on it with zero wait after doing BTMRR at 8:10. They were still loading when I got off around 8:30.

I was also stuck on Haunted Mansion for 26 minutes in the same spot in the graveyard scene. Big chunk of After Hours time spent there. Then went to 7DMT and it was down.


----------



## KEK1

fgnghg5821 said:


> Splash was open until at least 8:30. Rode on it with zero wait after doing BTMRR at 8:10. They were still loading when I got off around 8:30.
> 
> I was also stuck on Haunted Mansion for 26 minutes in the same spot in the graveyard scene. Big chunk of After Hours time spent there. Then went to 7DMT and it was down.



We had a reasonable night, but annoying about 7DMT, down for 3/4 of the night and they did not know when it would go up.. we lucked out and did Pooh and came out and it was up so managed 2 rides. 1st wait 10mins, 2nd 20. I noticed they shut the line at 11 sharp despite being down so much. We still managed : pirates and HM (before 8) , TM x2 during HEA (loved that), SM, carpets, carousel, orbitors, SW, met Rapunzel (managed to drag hubby into pic haha) and Tiana, pics on "empty Main St" (best not to attempt at end of night from what I saw), Pooh, 7DMT x2. Ate 2 icecreams and 1 popcorn. 
Monorail was not running which was annoying, had to catch bus back to GF , got back at 11:30. 
Preferred it to DHS.
Is it common for so many rides to go down/stop working with people on them? It has happened to us pretty much everyday (we 've been here 10) and some days more than once..are they not being maintained? Old? Something else..?


----------



## DisMomma241

We tried to stay positive, but were stuck in line when 7DMT went down and then again when HM went down.  Went back to Splash and Big Thunder to discover splash down and a good sized wait for Big Thunder, which was backed up and only running one side.  When 7DMT did come back up the lines were 30+ mins.  For my husband and I (who usually are in the parks with small children) it was a bit frustrating.


----------



## tinkpower

Could you add us to February 14th!


----------



## bubbapuck

FFstreetDoc said:


> We are going Monday the 28th. DW surprised me with a birthday trip and DAH tickets. It will be our 3rd DAH, I love what I am seeing for wait times. We did one in early December and it was a little disappointing. SDMT and SM down all night. When SDMT finally came up the line quickly went to 60 minutes. Right now the app has everything at 5 min other than SDMT @ 15 min. I will take that all night long


Will be there the same night. Hope it doesn’t rain.


----------



## Eeyore54 fred

We apparently lucked out. We missed most of the shut downs. Did 7DMT at the beginning with a 5 to 10 minute wait, BTMT with a 10 minute wait, walked up to HM just as they reopened it and rode it twice with no wait, then went back and rode 7DMT a second time with about a 10 minute wait. Only ride we missed was Splash Mountain, which was closed for most of the night. We also rode Pooh, Aladdin, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Buzz, Peoplemover, Under the Sea, and did  Philharmagic. DH chose not to do SM. The fireworks were going off when we rode 7DMT the first time and it was great. Finale went off as we were waiting outside the station before going in to unload.


----------



## Lisa F

I'm just back from getting mediocre flatbread from capt. cook's but I was craving hot food so badly, I'm starving!

We got back around 11:30 as well to the Poly - decided to go for the bus figuring that it would be a pretty short turnaround time with the MK resorts so close and the ferry just starting to load and people saying that they wait for the ferry to be full - it was still there and docked when we left on the bus.

The rides being down were annoying, but I just kind of adjusted what I did and it did not seem to negatively impact rides anywhere else.

I thought it was going to be a lousy night as my kid was acting all poopy after dinner, he's been a bit grumpy about our trip ending.

We got here around 6:20 and saw the line forming for DAH - we have APs so we went in and got our bands later.

Had a FP for 7DMT and used it, then got our bands and grabbed a spot in the garden opposite the dessert party one for the fireworks.  It was relaxed in there, everyone sat and although we couldn't see the bottom of the castle for projections, it was nice to have such a chill atmosphere in there vs the crowds standing outside and my kid pretty much laid on me for the whole hour we were there and it seemed to re-regulate him a bit (he is on the spectrum and has sensory issues so sometimes snuggling can really help him turn the corner if he is not feeling well).

We exited the left side of the garden and skirted along the walkway in front of crystal palace and except for crossing the one walkway right outside, there were no crowds or issues getting into adventureland.

first thing the kid wanted to do was get a mickey bar, so we each got one and I got popcorn and dumped it into a ziploc I was carrying figuring we wouldn't have to wait in another line when he decided he wanted popcorn.  He was in a MUCH better frame of mind after the Mickey bar and we rode on Jungle Cruise where we were up front and he enjoyed personally interacting with the skipper.

then we got back out and he asked for another mickey bar.  I'm like ummm.. what do I do here? do I be a good mom or do I be vacation mom? Vacation mom won and he had that other Mickey bar, alternating with another popcorn and he ate half that container and I dumped the rest into my ziploc for later.  Then we finally were able to go on pirates... 2 mickey bars, 2 rides, half a popcorn and it's like 8:45.  Then he wanted to do big thunder mountain and he wanted more popcorn so I pulled out the ziploc while we were walking up the line.  We rode big thunder 3x... 2x with zero wait and once with about a 3 or 4 train wait.

By then Splash was down and he decided he wanted a third Mickey bar, no joke.  I said fine because he was happy and permissive mom was in full force at this point.  He dropped half of it halfway to the haunted mansion though.  It was nice to not have to fight the urge to lose my cool over a $6 ice cream bar being wasted.

When we got to the Haunted Mansion it had just gone down and people were coming out of the queue.  Kid asked for another Mickey bar (no joke) and after picking my jaw up off the ground I said sure, why not. By this point we're 3.5 Mickey bars and I lost track of how much popcorn in.  At that point I swung by Casey's to get a Mickey sipper for a friend - the line was so crazy every other time I was there!  but it was completely empty and the CM acted thrilled that someone walked in.  This detour ended up being about 5 minutes max and then we spent the rest of the night in tomorrowland.

We did Space then astro orbiter then space x 2 then buzz then the CM let us on the peoplemover at 11:01.  It was clear the CMs at the top were kind of annoyed that he let us up but we went on it and my kid dozed off, lol.

So I guess our ride tally was Jungle Cruise x1, pirates x1, BTMRR x 3, Space x3, Astro Orbiter x1, Buzz x1, People Mover x1.  It was an awesome night though, we went at a very slow pace and did not rush anywhere.  My kid consumed a ridiculous amount of Mickey bars and when I asked him his favorite part, he said "the Mickey Bars!!!"  I brought back about 1.5 gallon ziplocs of popcorn to refill into his alien popcorn bucket.

I am a little disappointed that 2 of the rides we were going to do went down when we were near them and then we never even attempted 7DMT because of it being down and then the wait after it came back up - my kid was toast by the end and even if they let us into the queue at 11 he wouldn't have made it.  I'm thinking of writing Disney about it - that is a lot of premium attraction downtime during a very expensive hard ticketed event and I'm SO glad we got to do 7DMT with a FP before and also that we didn't get stuck on a down attraction otherwise I'd be REALLY disappointed.

But it did not impact the overall experience honestly except that it's our last MK night and we didn't get to do some stuff we wanted to do.  But the overall night was awesome - it was not too cold and it was so great to ride whatever we wanted however we wanted to.  The down rides did not seem to affect wait times elsewhere from what I could tell but it sounds like others had a longer wait on BTMRR - we did it earlier in the night.  Tomorrowland was pretty empty by 10pm and space was an utter walk on all 3 times we rode it.

I was concerned about transport but it was fine except for the people at the back of the bus line blasting up the wheelchair ramp right past the CM in the most rude way yelling "I'M GETTING ON THIS BUS!"  If others hadn't made it because of them I'd be more angry but everyone who was waiting made it on the bus.  I understand that you are tired, but we are all tired and that doesn't give you the right to be a rude bully. I can understand why the CM didn't want to get into it with him.

As I said we got back shortly after 11:30.  It was such a fun event and I'm so glad the Mickey Bars revived my kid.  It is our 2nd to last night and last night at the MK and we've done all of the attractions at least once by now so I made the call to do the fireworks proper from the front of the castle because it is just one of our favorite things... it helped make the experience for us even though we lost some attraction time.  I wish we could have done HM and Splash but we just filled in with multiples of other rides and didn't really feel like we were missing out in a big picture sense... just wish we could have done those.

Anyway that is my experience!  It was an amazing night!!!


----------



## NYCANC

GADisneyDad14 said:


> People have thrown out 3k since DAH started, although I’m not so sure that’s accurate. No one really knows the true number.



When I was chatting with the CM in front of 7D (who I think was a manager), I threw out the 3,000 number- he said it's pretty close to that.


----------



## Remy is Up

I guess I dont make a huge deal about a couple of things being down because we use refresh enough on other days to grab whatever. One day this week we started the day with zero fast passes and pulled tsm, htot, rnrc, and slinky dog. As we left the park we pulled test track and then as we left test track we pulled fop. We dont wait in stand by lines anymore.


----------



## detroitdad

We will already be in the park with park hoppers so not concerned about when they will allow entry for the ticketed event.  Just curious if there is a strategy for maximizing the rides but still taking the time to soak things in (maybe that's a bit contradictory).  I guess I'm looking for the right balance.  We are going Feb 21st.  Will be myself, wife and 17 yr old son but we still like to do all the dark rides as well---not just mountain junkies


----------



## Remy is Up

Do rides that dont kill time and save those for later. Leave jungle cruise, pirates, splash, HM, and 7dmt for the last hour and you can knock out the rest of the park easily. And likely do space and btmrr multiple times.


----------



## georgina

I'm not getting a good feeling with all the reports of rides being down. Our DAH evening is our only MK visit this trip, and I got the tickets specifically to get on those rides. We're offsite so I don't have a 7DMT FP.


----------



## Haley R

georgina said:


> I'm not getting a good feeling with all the reports of rides being down. Our DAH evening is our only MK visit this trip, and I got the tickets specifically to get on those rides. We're offsite so I don't have a 7DMT FP.


Then I would plan to go straight to 7dmt at 8 (or whenever your event starts) if I were you.


----------



## amiskell28

cadien said:


> We have tickets for Feb 7 and I'm wondering about the weather. Especially since we won't be able to go back to our resort beforehand. And it's our first visit to Orlando. It's obviously going to get coldish but does it tend to be windy? That makes such a difference in how many layers we need.



Hi there - I don't see that anyone answered you, so I figured I would! 

We, too, are going to be there 2/7. I'm from the frozen Midwest, so the temps that seem cold down there seem downright balmy here. BUT - I also know that with the climate down there, air temp of 49 degrees seems much colder, especially if the temps during the day were in the 70s!

We are bringing layers. Long underwear type long sleeve shirts and pants - easy to roll up and put in backpack if not needed, easy to put on if needed. We are also bringing those packable down jackets, which we can tote in our backpack. I'm sure a sweatshirt would do the trick, too.

I'm also bringing those disposable handwarmer things. Will we need them? Probably not. But hey - if I'm warm, and I see some folks that are not used to the 'cold' freezing to death, well.... I can give them a couple and throw some pixie dust their way! 

Have so much fun!! Like I said, we'll be there the same night!



Iowamomof4 said:


> Looks like several rides down right now: 7dmt, HM, Splash, PoTC, Little Mermaid



No Bueno 



Eeyore54 fred said:


> We apparently lucked out. We missed most of the shut downs. Did 7DMT at the beginning with a 5 to 10 minute wait



@GADisneyDad14 and there it is! Confirmation that 7DMT is the place to be during or right after the fireworks! @Eeyore54 fred thank you - we've been discussing the idea of heading there at the beginning of DAH, if the fireworks also happen to be at the same time as park close and the beginning of DAH. Seems to have worked for you!



Lisa F said:


> We got back around 11:30 as well to the Poly - decided to go for the bus figuring that it would be a pretty short turnaround time with the MK resorts so close and the ferry just starting to load and people saying that they wait for the ferry to be full - it was still there and docked when we left on the bus.



We, too, are staying at the Poly. I guess I didn't realize a bus was an option at that time, I thought only the ferry was?



Lisa F said:


> I'm thinking of writing Disney about it - that is a lot of premium attraction downtime during a very expensive hard ticketed event and I'm SO glad we got to do 7DMT with a FP before and also that we didn't get stuck on a down attraction otherwise I'd be REALLY disappointed.



This makes sense to me, and I think you should. We, too, have a FP for 7DMT, but are doing DAH specifically so that we can experience the park in a way we can't during regular park hours. Imagine (and maybe it's already happened?) if FOP was down during an AK DAH? Mutiny!!


----------



## Haley R

Dh and I created a general plan for our dah on Monday: pirates fp 5:35-6:35, btmr fp 6:35-7:35, tangled photo (if it’s going at that time), hit 7dmt close to 8 pm, fantasyland, Tomorrowland, back to Adventureland for jungle cruise, then I’m not sure maybe some rerides on btmr. We aren’t planning on splash with the low being in the 40s.


----------



## detroitdad

Remy is Up said:


> Do rides that dont kill time and save those for later. Leave jungle cruise, pirates, splash, HM, and 7dmt for the last hour and you can knock out the rest of the park easily. And likely do space and btmrr multiple times.



Thanks for the input!


----------



## Lisa F

> We, too, are staying at the Poly. I guess I didn't realize a bus was an option at that time, I thought only the ferry was?
> 
> 
> 
> This makes sense to me, and I think you should. We, too, have a FP for 7DMT, but are doing DAH specifically so that we can experience the park in a way we can't during regular park hours.



They have a bus at gate 1 (closest to the MK) for the Polynesian and Grand Floridan (stopped at the poly first). It worked out OK but since we were on the people mover at 11:01 we weren't out on the biggest crowds right at 11.

I did actually email disney about my disappointment with the number of premium rides down and since they prioritize guests currently on property I heard back immediately.

They offered generous compensation for my disappointment.



georgina said:


> I'm not getting a good feeling with all the reports of rides being down. Our DAH evening is our only MK visit this trip, and I got the tickets specifically to get on those rides. We're offsite so I don't have a 7DMT FP.



I would not hesitate to book again. Disney will take care of you if the event doesn't live up to expectations but it more than likely will. Even with 3 major rides down it was a completely magical time. I'm sure they would at the very least give you any time fastpasses for anything missed.


----------



## georgina

Lisa F said:


> I would not hesitate to book again. Disney will take care of you if the event doesn't live up to expectations but it more than likely will. Even with 3 major rides down it was a completely magical time. I'm sure they would at the very least give you any time fastpasses for anything missed.



An anytime FP doesn't help if you won't be back to MK, unless it was for another park and included FOP. A partial refund would be nice. Curious if you care to share what compensation they gave you? We are not staying on property so perhaps I wouldn't be prioritized like you were.


----------



## Haley R

georgina said:


> An anytime FP doesn't help if you won't be back to MK, unless it was for another park and included FOP. A partial refund would be nice. Curious if you care to share what compensation they gave you? We are not staying on property so perhaps I wouldn't be prioritized like you were.


Our situation was different but we went last July just for the weekend and we thought it was extremely crowded even though it wasn’t sold out (this was before they started using wristbands). We emailed them just giving a heads up that we thought it was more crowded than our sold out night in March. They gave Dh and I two comped base tickets each that we are using on this trip. I didn’t email them to get anything out of it since our situation wasn’t broken rides, but they were very willing to make things right.


----------



## Lisa F

georgina said:


> An anytime FP doesn't help if you won't be back to MK, unless it was for another park and included FOP. A partial refund would be nice. Curious if you care to share what compensation they gave you? We are not staying on property so perhaps I wouldn't be prioritized like you were.



I'm sure they would respond to you but I have been told in the past that they respond first to people in the middle of their trip. The auto response said I'd hear in 7 days and I heard in 1, I assume because I was still on my trip. I have written after the fact as well and gotten a response (another trip, another issue), it was just out as fast. I think they just try to fix problems asap is people are still on their trip  I was told "on site" refers to being in the middle of using admission when I was trying to resolve an issue for my parents with fastpasses, and they were not at an on site hotel... They did resolve that issue with priority for me.

It was my last MK day too so FPs wouldn't have helped either and I was given a few compensation options. I'm sure if you have half the good rides down Disney will take care of you. I don't think it's typical though (having so many rides down)  it was just a bad night.   We still had a great time and it did not seem to impact wait times elsewhere, just didn't do everything we wanted but did fill the night with many rides and Mickey bars and popcorn


----------



## briemer99

Hi so I posted here before, we will be at MK on 2/7 on a DAH day. I just wanted to know, because I am debating bringing my Nikon dslr camera, will we be allowed to walk around the park for a bit after regular close time and take some nighttime photos? I understand they will check credentials at ride entrances but do they care if you walk around the park?


----------



## JeninTexas

briemer99 said:


> Hi so I posted here before, we will be at MK on 2/7 on a DAH day. I just wanted to know, because I am debating bringing my Nikon dslr camera, will we be allowed to walk around the park for a bit after regular close time and take some nighttime photos? I understand they will check credentials at ride entrances but do they care if you walk around the park?



From what others have reported, if you are walking towards the park exit that will be fine, but if you are just walking around with no clear intention of leaving, that will not. The CMs will try to gently usher all non-DAH guests out of the park. One of the things a DAH visitor is paying for is the experience of being in a relatively empty park. If non-paying guests are wandering around that diminishes the experience of what others have paid a lot of money for.


----------



## blakefamily

Rera2528 said:


> I purchased tickets for our family of 3 for February 28th! It is our third year in a row for that night (last Thursday in Feb/first in March), and we all agree it is the highlight of our vacation. Thank you to everyone who has been making reports and keeping up the enthusiasm!


My friend and I will be there Feb 28 too.  We are leaving the hubby's and kids at the resort and doing a moms night   We are super excited !!!


----------



## jsbowl16

My daughter and I are thinking about going to the DAH on 2/7 and using our AP discounts. I was reading that you cannot get AP discounts the day of. Does anyone have any experience with this? We were wondering if we could go to MK around 2 pm that day and then decide if we want to buy DAH tickets depending on what we can ride during normal hours. Would it be possible to buy DAH tickets that late and if so, could we still get our AP discount? Thanks in advance.


----------



## focusondisney

jsbowl16 said:


> My daughter and I are thinking about going to the DAH on 2/7 and using our AP discounts. I was reading that you cannot get AP discounts the day of. Does anyone have any experience with this? We were wondering if we could go to MK around 2 pm that day and then decide if we want to buy DAH tickets depending on what we can ride during normal hours. Would it be possible to buy DAH tickets that late and if so, could we still get our AP discount? Thanks in advance.



My understanding is that day of, you don’t get the discount. But I could be totally wrong.  There is an event tomorrow. As of right now, there are tickets available. You could sign in to the website tomorrow & see if it shows the discounted price or if it’s full price.  Should let you know what to expect day of.


----------



## PolyRob

jsbowl16 said:


> My daughter and I are thinking about going to the DAH on 2/7 and using our AP discounts. I was reading that you cannot get AP discounts the day of. Does anyone have any experience with this? We were wondering if we could go to MK around 2 pm that day and then decide if we want to buy DAH tickets depending on what we can ride during normal hours. Would it be possible to buy DAH tickets that late and if so, could we still get our AP discount? Thanks in advance.


I have not personally done it, but there have been successful reports of those who have. You cannot do it online or in the app day of. You have to purchase in person. I guess you just have to find the right CM.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jsbowl16 said:


> My daughter and I are thinking about going to the DAH on 2/7 and using our AP discounts. I was reading that you cannot get AP discounts the day of. Does anyone have any experience with this? We were wondering if we could go to MK around 2 pm that day and then decide if we want to buy DAH tickets depending on what we can ride during normal hours. Would it be possible to buy DAH tickets that late and if so, could we still get our AP discount? Thanks in advance.



Here’s the info from Page 1:


Day-of AP/DVC discounts are not available online day of but may be available at a ticket window (your mileage may vary)
I’d appreciate hearing about results from you (or anyone else) as that’s our best method to track info like this. Thanks!


----------



## jsbowl16

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Here’s the info from Page 1:
> 
> 
> Day-of AP/DVC discounts are not available online day of but may be available at a ticket window (your mileage may vary)
> I’d appreciate hearing about results from you (or anyone else) as that’s our best method to track info like this. Thanks!


I went on the website last night and tried to buy tickets for tonights event as suggested by a previous poster and the tickets were available and discounted for my AP. I tried the same thing this morning and the tickets are no longer available at all for tonight at either price. So they either sold out last night or they no longer sell them at all day of online.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jsbowl16 said:


> I went on the website last night and tried to buy tickets for tonights event as suggested by a previous poster and the tickets were available and discounted for my AP. I tried the same thing this morning and the tickets are no longer available at all for tonight at either price. So they either sold out last night or they no longer sell them at all day of online.



That’s the way it’s supposed to work.  Day of the event, the regular ticket price increases $4 to $129 plus tax, and there is no AP/DVC discount available online.


----------



## jsbowl16

GADisneyDad14 said:


> That’s the way it’s supposed to work.  Day of the event, the regular ticket price increases $4 to $129 plus tax, and there is no AP/DVC discount available online.


Yeah that was what I read in your first post yesterday but I was surprised that they dont even have them for sale online at all this morning even at regular price.


----------



## jsbowl16

I called ticketing this morning and the rep told me that I could only purchase tickets at MK if the event is that night. She said that it would be $129 per ticket even though we are AP. This info may not be correct based on what other posters have mentioned but I dont think we are going to chance it. We will decide the day before if we want to go or not so we definitely get the discount. Thanks for all of the info.


----------



## NickC

This sounds very interesting to us. We used to do MNSSHP for a few years, until there became a noticeable increase in the crowd level from one year to the next. I am going to follow this thread closely because it looks promising.


----------



## Dentam

We decided to do the AK DAH event the day of during our trip.  We purchased them in person and were given the DVC discount the day of the event.  Hope that helps.


----------



## NickC

I am confused as to when they announce the dates. If we did a late night at MK, it would be nice to have a rest day scheduled for the following day. It makes it hard to plan not knowing when DAH will be offered in Nov 2019. We don't want to schedule a rest day too early in the trip.


----------



## amalone1013

We were planning a really long trip with my inlaws for this summer, a cruise plus 2 days at Disney, Universal, and Kennedy Space Center. Now we're going to take off the Disney and Universal portions so DH and I will scheme to do a long weekend sometime for those with them. I'm actually kind of excited so hopefully we can plan it around at least MK DAH...


----------



## Iowamomof4

NickC said:


> I am confused as to when they announce the dates. If we did a late night at MK, it would be nice to have a rest day scheduled for the following day. It makes it hard to plan not knowing when DAH will be offered in Nov 2019. We don't want to schedule a rest day too early in the trip.



Yep. It's challenging to plan a trip when you don't know all the potential event dates (including DAH, EMM, fireworks and fireworks parties, etc...) until much closer to your trip. You can look at the DAH dates from November of 2018 to get an idea of when they MIGHT schedule it in 2019 (if they have it at all during your trip). That's about the best you can do. I have a trip coming in May and we still don't know if they're going to have DAH or EMM or any of those things. Hopefully we will hear something in the next couple weeks for our trip, but I wouldn't count on knowing anything about November until at least September.


----------



## SaintsManiac

NickC said:


> I am confused as to when they announce the dates. If we did a late night at MK, it would be nice to have a rest day scheduled for the following day. It makes it hard to plan not knowing when DAH will be offered in Nov 2019. We don't want to schedule a rest day too early in the trip.




I'm waiting for July, so can't really commit to anything even though I made a handful of ADRs. It's just how they do it, unfortunately.


----------



## NickC

Iowamomof4 said:


> Yep. It's challenging to plan a trip when you don't know all the potential event dates (including DAH, EMM, fireworks and fireworks parties, etc...) until much closer to your trip. You can look at the DAH dates from November of 2018 to get an idea of when they MIGHT schedule it in 2019 (if they have it at all during your trip). That's about the best you can do. I have a trip coming in May and we still don't know if they're going to have DAH or EMM or any of those things. Hopefully we will hear something in the next couple weeks for our trip, but I wouldn't count on knowing anything about November until at least September.



Especially when you have to plan ADR and FP+ so far out!! The last two years, we decided that we were just going to make our plans and if a special event happened to fall on that night, we would purchase tickets, but we weren't going to switch everything around based on the events. DAH, though, sounds like a nice experience, especially since we don't spend nearly enough time in the parks at nighttime. We are usually in bed before the fireworks.


----------



## fitgirlFL

at after hours party tonight and wondering if anyone knows how we can ride space mountain more than once without going all the way around outside again


----------



## dolewhipdreams

From my experience you have to exit and walk all the way through.


----------



## Haley R

We are on the bus headed to mk right now. We had a quick dinner at the CL lounge at YC. Here’s to hoping they let us in at 6 pm


----------



## Haley R

fitgirlFL said:


> at after hours party tonight and wondering if anyone knows how we can ride space mountain more than once without going all the way around outside again


We last did it in July so it may have changed since then, but they let us go up two different ramps back up to the ride. There is an orange or green horizontal line that will take you back up to the ride. I think it depends on the cms and if they will let you reride or not


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Haley R said:


> We are on the bus headed to mk right now. We had a quick dinner at the CL lounge at YC. Here’s to hoping they let us in at 6 pm



Hope you have a fantastic time (and get in at 6 )! Can't wait to hear how things go!


----------



## mcurrence

Haley R said:


> We are on the bus headed to mk right now. We had a quick dinner at the CL lounge at YC. Here’s to hoping they let us in at 6 pm


Can't wait to hear all about it!!! Fingers crossed for 6 entry.
Have fun everyone!


----------



## mamapenguin

I hope that everyone is getting in the park and enjoying themselves. Please add me to 3/28, I purchased tickets this morning.

Does in park wrist band distribution start at 7:00 or before?


----------



## Dentam

Post Disney blues are hitting a bit here (along with over 8" of snow which didn't help) so I will live vicariously through reports from tonight!


----------



## Haley R

Very bad start. Let in at 6:30. Had FPS for pirates and btmr....both are broken


----------



## Dentam

Haley R said:


> Very bad start. Let in at 6:30. Had FPS for pirates and btmr....both are broken



Uh oh.  Hope they get everything up and running for the event!


----------



## mcurrence

Haley R said:


> Very bad start. Let in at 6:30. Had FPS for pirates and btmr....both are broken


Not good!  Hope they gave you Fast passes for something else?  Hopefully everything will turn around for the rest of the night!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Haley R said:


> Very bad start. Let in at 6:30. Had FPS for pirates and btmr....both are broken



Oh no! Hopefully it will be a short closure for both rides and it won't throw things off too much for you!


----------



## Haley R

They gave us anytime FPS but we are waiting for the lantern photo right now. It’s a long line but this was one thing I really wanted. We contacted our club level peeps and they gave us anytime FPS for Friday when we are at mk


----------



## mcurrence

Haley R said:


> They gave us anytime FPS but we are waiting for the lantern photo right now. It’s a long line but this was one thing I really wanted. We contacted our club level peeps and they gave us anytime FPS for Friday when we are at mk


That was awesome of them ! Glad things are turning around for you!


----------



## Haley R

mcurrence said:


> That was awesome of them ! Glad things are turning around for you!


Well I wouldn’t say they’ve turned around much. Btmr and pirates are still closed. I hope they open because btmr is a huge reason why we do this event


----------



## WillowRain

Is anyone tracking when they release dates for summer?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

WillowRain said:


> Is anyone tracking when they release dates for summer?



If by tracking you mean watching, there’s a lot of us watching/waiting/hoping for some summer dates.  Last year’s summer dates were released 5/2 for reference. This post here keeps track of past dates/release dates:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898155

Hope that helps.


----------



## Ambehnke

They let us in the fastpass line for 7dmt ahead of the end of night crowd.


----------



## Haley R

Ambehnke said:


> They let us in the fastpass line for 7dmt ahead of the end of night crowd.


Wow I wish we would’ve known that. We were right there at 8 pm


----------



## Haley R

We are back in bed now at yc and very tired. It was a looong day flying in and going to dah.

They let us in right at 6:30 pm. We had FPS for pirates and btmr which were both down. We decided to do the Swiss family treehouse since Dh had never done it before. There were quite a few other people going through at the same time. We then did the tangled lantern picture. It was about a 35-40 minute wait but it was on my list to do.

During dah:
Winnie the Pooh
Ice cream and drinks (by pooh)
Tea cups
Space x3 (used reride lines-they weren’t advertising this though)
Buzz
Popcorn & drinks (in hub)
Jungle cruise-this was so much fun in the dark. They waited until our boat was full for anyone wondering.
Popcorn (by jungle cruise)
Btmr x2 (would’ve done more but it was chilly and we got cold on it)
Picture in front of castle by partner statue (I specifically did this in the middle because at the end everyone is getting pictures)
Ice cream (in hub)
People mover x2-they let us stay on, the second time we were stopped for around 5-10 minutes
Mickey and Minnie m&g-longest wait of the night, said 10 minutes but it was more like 30 at least
Quickly shopped in emporium before close

Overall, we had a good time. We planned to slow down and take our time and we did just that. We skipped quite a few things including 7dmt because I was able to get a fp for it on Friday. We also skipped pirates since it was down most of the night. We didn’t want to risk going on it. We texted our CL people and they gave us anytime FPS (for pirates and btmr) for Friday on our mk day and it can work for 7dmt. I was very happy they made that right for us and they responded super fast. This is our first club level stay and I’m already very impressed. I got some great shots in Adventureland and Frontierland with hardly anyone and it was super foggy which made for a cool atmosphere.

For any other midwestern/northerners, we packed coats and gloves in our bags and never put them on. I believe it was low 40s tonight and we were fine in pants and a hoodie with no hats or gloves. It was amazing feeling this weather after what we came from this morning.


----------



## ruby33

Just back from DAH. I really liked it. They let us in at 6:30pm. It was just my husband and myself. We started in Adventureland. 
Tiki
Jungle (fastpass)
Pirates (it was open)
Watched fireworks near Tom Sawyer Island
BTMR
Popcorn/water
Haunted Mansion
7DMT x2
Winnie
Space
Astro
Buzz x2
Ice cream/water
People mover
Philharmagic

We would definitely do it again. 
Had on layers and we did wear our gloves!


----------



## Lsdolphin

Attending DAH on 3/7....hoping for nice weather...


----------



## Ambehnke

We had a great time last night until our bus got back to AKL. The kids had been laying across my lap and my daughter must have gotten motion sickness from all of the riding in a short time and then the bus because as soon as we got off the bus she puked all over. Then we had to clean that all up before bed. Hopefully she feels better  today since her birthday is tomorrow. We got there at 7:30 from Epcot. Here are our ride totals.  
Before the party time: 
Barnstormer
Dumbo 
Once party started:
Seven dwarves x2
HM
Big thunder x2 
Pirates 
Picture by partners statue
Buzz 
Astro 
Space/seven dwarves
Seven dwarves
Splash x2

2 sodas 1 water 4 ice cream 2 popcorn 
We would definitely do it again!


----------



## DWFamilyof6

Ambehnke said:


> We had a great time last night until our bus got back to AKL. The kids had been laying across my lap and my daughter must have gotten motion sickness from all of the riding in a short time and then the bus because as soon as we got off the bus she puked all over. Then we had to clean that all up before bed. Hopefully she feels better  today since her birthday is tomorrow. We got there at 7:30 from Epcot. Here are our ride totals.
> Before the party time:
> Barnstormer
> Dumbo
> Once party started:
> Seven dwarves x2
> HM
> Big thunder x2
> Pirates
> Picture by partners statue
> Buzz
> Astro
> Space/seven dwarves
> Seven dwarves
> Splash x2
> 
> 2 sodas 1 water 4 ice cream 2 popcorn
> We would definitely do it again!


Hope your daughter feels better today!


----------



## NickC

This all seems too good to be true. For $125, every ride at MK is walk on for 3 hours? Plus there are select snacks included and no crowds to fight? If this is extended until Nov (and further), I would be elated. 
Of course $500 for a family of 4 isn't cheap by any means, but I would gladly pay a premium for this. There is A LOT that can be done in 3 hours. Even on a normal day, from RD to lunchtime, we can do half of our must-do list.
I really hope this stays around.


----------



## NYCANC

NickC said:


> This all seems too good to be true. For $125, every ride at MK is walk on for 3 hours? Plus there are select snacks included and no crowds to fight? If this is extended until Nov (and further), I would be elated.
> Of course $500 for a family of 4 isn't cheap by any means, but I would gladly pay a premium for this. There is A LOT that can be done in 3 hours. Even on a normal day, from RD to lunchtime, we can do half of our must-do list.
> I really hope this stays around.



We are a family of 4 and both my DH and I agree- we would pay for this every time!


----------



## Chavaleh

My husband and I were there last night. We're from Atlanta so we were chilly. I wore a coat and was comfortable, my husband wore a hoddie and complained some.

Crowds before and after were both heavier than the last time we attended an After Hours event. We got on the People Mover right before the fireworks show started and rode it twice. After that we went to Space Mountain intending to ride it a second time with the short cut, we started to follow another couple who'd gone that way after getting off the ride but we're stopped by a CM and told we had to go all the way back through the line, the walk off was a lot longer than Iremember it being as well so we ended up only doing SM once. 

Total ride list was:
PM x2
SM
Ariel ride
Pooh ride
Haunted Mansion
BTMR x2
Pirates
HM again
7DMT

We had  2 ice cream breaks, two popcorn breaks and a coke and returned back to our hotel with 5 bottles of water stashed in our bag. 

I wish they'd let you use the FP line to enter rides faster but we had a great time and I'd do it again. One more AH event for us this week at DHS.


----------



## cadien

Haley R said:


> Jungle cruise-this was so much fun in the dark. They waited until our boat was full for anyone wondering.



That's good to know! I was thinking it would be pointless in the dark and we could skip it.



Haley R said:


> For any other midwestern/northerners, we packed coats and gloves in our bags and never put them on. I believe it was low 40s tonight and we were fine in pants and a hoodie with no hats or gloves. It was amazing feeling this weather after what we came from this morning.



We're in North Dakota and I've really been stressing over getting colder than expected. Especially since we can't really go back to our resort before DAH (too much time wasted) and won't lug around jackets all day. So that's encouraging. Our DAH is late next week.


----------



## mcurrence

For those who got there before 6:30, were they already set up and just made you wait in a line? Was the line very long to get in?  We have a fastpass for Space and it's from 5:15-6:15. I don't think that even if we book it over there the CM will let us on  I'm sure we'll get to ride it later  but the girls were excited to start the night there!


----------



## amiskell28

Haley R said:


> For any other midwestern/northerners, we packed coats and gloves in our bags and never put them on. I believe it was low 40s tonight and we were fine in pants and a hoodie with no hats or gloves.



Thanks for this. We are going on 2/7. Low projected to be 50. I have packable coats but I feel like we wont need them (we're from WI). Then again, a few degree swing lower and it could be chilly! 

I think we'll bring them along, and if they're not needed, great. But in hate to carry them if they arent needed..... arghhh!!


----------



## eliseisawkward

mcurrence said:


> For those who got there before 6:30, were they already set up and just made you wait in a line? Was the line very long to get in?  We have a fastpass for Space and it's from 5:15-6:15. I don't think that even if we book it over there the CM will let us on  I'm sure we'll get to ride it later  but the girls were excited to start the night there!



If you can push it back a couple minutes they do allow a small “grace” window for FP. I think it’s 15 minutes.


----------



## Haley R

cadien said:


> That's good to know! I was thinking it would be pointless in the dark and we could skip it.
> 
> 
> 
> We're in North Dakota and I've really been stressing over getting colder than expected. Especially since we can't really go back to our resort before DAH (too much time wasted) and won't lug around jackets all day. So that's encouraging. Our DAH is late next week.


We’ve skipped jc the last two times so I wanted to do it this time. It was almost the same as during the day but I thought it was more fun in the dark. 

I definitely didn’t think it was as cold as people were saying but we came from -20 or whatever it was at home.


----------



## Haley R

amiskell28 said:


> Thanks for this. We are going on 2/7. Low projected to be 50. I have packable coats but I feel like we wont need them (we're from WI). Then again, a few degree swing lower and it could be chilly!
> 
> I think we'll bring them along, and if they're not needed, great. But in hate to carry them if they arent needed..... arghhh!!


We brought coats in our backpack and never put them on. Even eating ice cream we thought it was just fine out. We’re wearing shorts and t shirts today while lots of people have jackets on. It’s like 65 out


----------



## maryj11

SaintsManiac said:


> I'm waiting for July, so can't really commit to anything even though I made a handful of ADRs. It's just how they do it, unfortunately.


We are going in June and have made dining reservations even though I'm just guessing what day DAH will be. It sure makes it hard to plan when we don't know the dates for sure.


----------



## Ambehnke

amiskell28 said:


> Thanks for this. We are going on 2/7. Low projected to be 50. I have packable coats but I feel like we wont need them (we're from WI). Then again, a few degree swing lower and it could be chilly!
> 
> I think we'll bring them along, and if they're not needed, great. But in hate to carry them if they arent needed..... arghhh!!


We are also from WI. We each wore long sleeve shirt, short sleeve shirt, sweatshirt and fleece and were comfy.


----------



## sjberg79

We went last night, my 5 year old did way better than I thought he would. It wasn't that cold to us (being from Buffalo) so we didn't have any weather complaints.

We started in Adventure Land and we rode:

Jungle Cruise 1x at 7:40
Magic Carpet 1x as fireworks were going off - the line app said the line was 50 minutes but it was a walk on
Tried to go to Big Thunder but it was down
Haunted Mansion 1x
Did the Lantern pictures and had some ice cream
Big Thunder was back up so went and rode that 1x
Lied and told our kid Small World was burning down in a fire so we wouldn't have to ride it (we hate that ride)
Winnie the Pooh 1x
Popcorn and drinks
7DMT 1x - the wait said 35 minutes at this point. I asked the CM about if DAS passes work during during this and could I get a return time and they let us go through the FP line instead. 
Under the Sea 2x
Dumbo 1x
Ice cream and drinks
Tried to do People Mover but it had JUST broken
Buzz Lightyear 1x

Overall, it was fun! But since they didn't have fastpass lines open except for haunted mansion and then the one exception they gave us on 7DMT, walking the full lines adds so much walking time on that it makes you get less rides in. We got 10 rides in over almost 3 hours (we left around 10:45pm) and we get close to that during EMM as well since they let you do FastPass lines during that. Also because it's not as spread apart. I would still do this again but maybe I would stick to one side of the park instead of trying to do the entire thing to target some rides multiple times.


----------



## CatNipRules

I hope they have some dates in May this year. I'm really wanting to do it.


----------



## Dentam

Haley R said:


> I definitely didn’t think it was as cold as people were saying but we came from -20 or whatever it was at home.



I live in Denver and we just went to AK DAH during our trip.  I was one of the people who posted that it was definitely chilly.  I think if there is a breeze or windy conditions like there were the night we went then the high 40's that we had does feel much colder.  I was very glad I had brought my coat but didn't wear gloves or a hat and was fine.


----------



## minniesBFF

Does anybody think they will offer this in May?  I know it hasn't been offered in May before, but if they are expecting lower than normal attendance due to people waiting for Star Wars, plus the increasing popularity in this event, I'm hoping they will offer some dates in May.  We'll be there the 18-26th, fingers crossed!


----------



## Minnie824

I'm hoping to get some information for summer too.  DD and i went last july and it was so worth it!  We literally walked on everything, had a CM at haunted mansion following us, pics of the empty park, it was great.  hoping it will be offered this july as well. Has anyone heard of it being extended?


----------



## Haley R

Minnie824 said:


> I'm hoping to get some information for summer too.  DD and i went last july and it was so worth it!  We literally walked on everything, had a CM at haunted mansion following us, pics of the empty park, it was great.  hoping it will be offered this july as well. Has anyone heard of it being extended?


We don’t know anything until Disney releases information


----------



## miamimama

Loved It! Sunday’s weather was so cold and rainy we almost regretted booking DAH but thing cleared out. It was kind of mysteriously misty with the cool wet weather! We were amazed at the low crowds-walked on basically everything we wanted to go on- the walk to get on most rides was the the only wait.  The longest wait I had was for popcorn while DD and DH went on Space- ( i am 63 and will do everything except Space and RNR). In my opinion- was totally worth it(with our discount)


----------



## JessM

We did this Monday 1/28, final ride count was:
Buzz - right at 8pm
SM x 2
Dumbo
Barnstormer
Ariel
SDMT - had to wait 20 mins for this, not impressed by that
HM
BTMRR x 2
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
BTMRR

We brought home at least 6 waters, each had a soda, 2 popcorns and my DH probably ate 6 ice creams. I had on a winter coat, hat and gloves (we're from Maine). 

We thought the event was worth the money but the long walks thru the lines do slow you down. The wait for SDMT was a bummer as well. I was impressed with how many carts were open, we only passed one or 2 that  were closed and those lines moved fast.


----------



## captaindavidhook

I am sure this has been asked so I apologize ahead of time. If I enter Mk at 530 0r 6 pm must I exit park and re enter to get my wrist band? TIA.


----------



## Vertical

captaindavidhook said:


> I am sure this has been asked so I apologize ahead of time. If I enter Mk at 530 0r 6 pm must I exit park and re enter to get my wrist band? TIA.


There is a list of locations in Post # 6 of this thread where you can pick them up. You don't have to go to the park entrance.


----------



## WillowRain

GADisneyDad14 said:


> If by tracking you mean watching, there’s a lot of us watching/waiting/hoping for some summer dates.  Last year’s summer dates were released 5/2 for reference. This post here keeps track of past dates/release dates:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898155
> 
> Hope that helps.



Yes, that's what I mean. Geez I really hope they come out before May, my 60 is 4/22! I really, really want to be able to plan knowing which day will be the AH, and where we are going! Everything else has been released so early so what gives?!?!


----------



## Haley R

All three of our dah bands


----------



## melliemelo

Joining in.  We'll be attending DAH March 7.  We've done it twice before in 2018 and 2017.  Looking forward to doing it again.


----------



## focusondisney

I noticed I never posted my DAH date. But we arrived at YC today & we’re going to Thursday nights event. Weather looks sooooo much better (read warmer!) than last year.  I’m hoping to not get stuck on people mover again!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

focusondisney said:


> I noticed I never posted my DAH date. But we arrived at YC today & we’re going to Thursday nights event. Weather looks sooooo much better (read warmer!) than last year.  I’m hoping to not get stuck on people mover again!



Been wondering if you’d made another Winter DAH trip! 

Glad you made it down OK.   

Enjoy your trip!


----------



## focusondisney

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Been wondering if you’d made another Winter DAH trip!
> 
> Glad you made it down OK.
> 
> Enjoy your trip!



Thanks! Now hoping to see a super bowl winner parade tomorrow......


----------



## BK2014

Haley R said:


> Ak was terrible and we would not do that again.


Curious, why was AK terrible?


----------



## amiskell28

focusondisney said:


> I noticed I never posted my DAH date. But we arrived at YC today & we’re going to Thursday nights event. Weather looks sooooo much better (read warmer!) than last year.  I’m hoping to not get stuck on people mover again!



We'll be there Thursday night, too! Flying in Tuesday morning. CANNOT WAIT.

The weather forecast has improved dramatically in the last week or so. I don't think we'll need those packable down jackets after all!


----------



## Haley R

BK2014 said:


> Curious, why was AK terrible?


I posted a long review on the ak dah thread if you’re curious


----------



## BK2014

Haley R said:


> I posted a long review on the ak dah thread if you’re curious


Thanks, I will check it out!


----------



## JoJoGirl

Thanks everybody for the great event reports and advice on this thread.  We’ll be attending MK After Hours on Thursday night 2/7!  I can’t wait!


----------



## SimplyTink

Haley R said:


> All three of our dah bands
> View attachment 380053


You really are a bad influence! Now instead of thinking about just MK and HS I'm also thinking I should add AK too (ok so maybe not AK lol!)

xoxo


----------



## sheila14

Haley R said:


> I posted a long review on the ak dah thread if you’re curious


Do you know what page it is on?


----------



## Iowamomof4

sheila14 said:


> Do you know what page it is on?


Try this: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...kingdom-faq-discussion-thread.3715424/page-27


----------



## sheila14

I feel that MK has more to offer with experiences and the other parks should be less in cost.


----------



## Haley R

sheila14 said:


> I feel that MK has more to offer with experiences and the other parks should be less in cost.


I felt I got my money’s worth at hs


----------



## Juventus

Can anyone update the following?

DAH tickets will allow for FP booking during regular park hours, so - if you have no other FPs booked that day - one could book FPs during with a DAH ticket during the regular park hours before the event.
HOWEVER, there can be issues when doing this, as has been happening for some people with MNSSHP and MVMCP events since 2017. Booking FPs with DAH tickets in combination with certain trip details/configurations can potentially cause Disney's system to flag your account for insufficient ticket entitlements and you will receive a warning that your last day of FPs will be cancelled if you do not address the problem.
I am currently in the middle of booking fps for the first 2 weeks of march (30 days out).  I have DAH tickets for Thursday, March7th.  I will not be going to any other parks that day and will be at MK around 7pm for this event.  Is it worth trying to book a couple fps for between 7-9pm (park closes at 9pm) and risk a screw up where I will be charge one of my other, normal day passes?


----------



## Lydia S

We're heading to MK on a day that a ticketed After Hours event will be starting at 9PM. How do they usually handle the "regular" day guests? Are you asked to leave right at 9 if you don't have a ticket? 

Happily Ever After is scheduled for 8PM, so we were hoping we could get on a few rides prior to leaving for the day. Will we be allowed in a ride queue at say 8:55?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Lydia S said:


> We're heading to MK on a day that a ticketed After Hours event will be starting at 9PM. How do they usually handle the "regular" day guests? Are you asked to leave right at 9 if you don't have a ticket?
> 
> Happily Ever After is scheduled for 8PM, so we were hoping we could get on a few rides prior to leaving for the day. Will we be allowed in a ride queue at say 8:55?



Hi.  The first two sections of this post describe the general logistics of how it works at park closing:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898151

It’s written from a DAH guest perspective, but should help answer your question.


----------



## Kristina G.

Will be staying at Boardwalk in August, keeping fingers crossed for DAH August dates to line up with our trip!


----------



## Haley R

Juventus said:


> Can anyone update the following?
> 
> DAH tickets will allow for FP booking during regular park hours, so - if you have no other FPs booked that day - one could book FPs during with a DAH ticket during the regular park hours before the event.
> HOWEVER, there can be issues when doing this, as has been happening for some people with MNSSHP and MVMCP events since 2017. Booking FPs with DAH tickets in combination with certain trip details/configurations can potentially cause Disney's system to flag your account for insufficient ticket entitlements and you will receive a warning that your last day of FPs will be cancelled if you do not address the problem.
> I am currently in the middle of booking fps for the first 2 weeks of march (30 days out).  I have DAH tickets for Thursday, March7th.  I will not be going to any other parks that day and will be at MK around 7pm for this event.  Is it worth trying to book a couple fps for between 7-9pm (park closes at 9pm) and risk a screw up where I will be charge one of my other, normal day passes?


There's always a risk with this so I would say if you don't feel comfortable with that risk then I wouldn't book any FPs with your DAH ticket.


----------



## CNYMickeyFan

Will be attending the 2/21 DAH MK


----------



## DWillowBay

Any ideas of when they might open up past early April dates?   I'm planning to be there at the end of April and would love to be able to plan for one of these events, if it fits with the schedule.   Is there a pattern or a timeline they follow? (she asked foolishly)


----------



## Iowamomof4

DWillowBay said:


> Any ideas of when they might open up past early April dates?   I'm planning to be there at the end of April and would love to be able to plan for one of these events, if it fits with the schedule.   Is there a pattern or a timeline they follow? (she asked foolishly)


It's the million-dollar question. No one knows. Many of us are in the same boat with trips in April, May, June and beyond and are trying to figure out if these events will continue or not. They haven't been held in April or May since the very first set of events that were over-priced, so we're all just hoping the recent addition of DAH during the fall means they WILL extend these into late spring again. Until we get dates though, anything is possible. Welcome to the watch party!


----------



## sheila14

I am hoping for that one September date to open and if I planned my vacation at the right time I should make the MK date!!!!


----------



## georgina

I checked the thread title several times to make sure I was reading the MK DAH thread! I know, I've been here a while, I should be used to it.


----------



## DWillowBay

Iowamomof4 said:


> It's the million-dollar question. No one knows. Many of us are in the same boat with trips in April, May, June and beyond and are trying to figure out if these events will continue or not. They haven't been held in April or May since the very first set of events that were over-priced, so we're all just hoping the recent addition of DAH during the fall means they WILL extend these into late spring again. Until we get dates though, anything is possible. Welcome to the watch party!


Happy to know that I'm in good company!   Thanks!


----------



## KriK412

Hello!  I have read through the posts on this thread and many of the reviews from past DAH events.  We will be visiting my inlaws in Bradenton for Spring Break the last week of March and my daughters birthday is the week before.  My husband and I are considering taking her to DAH on 3/28.  Most of the reviews seem pretty great, but I was wondering if there have been reports of nights with high wait times (other than rides that go down).  I didn’t really see any, but I know that is expected to be a pretty busy week, and we were pretty frustrated with crazy ride waits and crowd levels at the MNSSHP we went to in October. I know this event is different, and seems to be much more limited, but the previous experience just makes us a little leery. Thanks in advance!


----------



## Haley R

KriK412 said:


> Hello!  I have read through the posts on this thread and many of the reviews from past DAH events.  We will be visiting my inlaws in Bradenton for Spring Break the last week of March and my daughters birthday is the week before.  My husband and I are considering taking her to DAH on 3/28.  Most of the reviews seem pretty great, but I was wondering if there have been reports of nights with high wait times (other than rides that go down).  I didn’t really see any, but I know that is expected to be a pretty busy week, and we were pretty frustrated with crazy ride waits and crowd levels at the MNSSHP we went to in October. I know this event is different, and seems to be much more limited, but the previous experience just makes us a little leery. Thanks in advance!


The longest wait I’ve had at mk was 20 minutes and that was for 7dmt. Other than that pretty much everything else is walk on or a very short wait


----------



## mamapenguin

KriK412 said:


> Hello!  I have read through the posts on this thread and many of the reviews from past DAH events.  We will be visiting my inlaws in Bradenton for Spring Break the last week of March and my daughters birthday is the week before.  My husband and I are considering taking her to DAH on 3/28.  Most of the reviews seem pretty great, but I was wondering if there have been reports of nights with high wait times (other than rides that go down).  I didn’t really see any, but I know that is expected to be a pretty busy week, and we were pretty frustrated with crazy ride waits and crowd levels at the MNSSHP we went to in October. I know this event is different, and seems to be much more limited, but the previous experience just makes us a little leery. Thanks in advance!


We are going to that one. I expect it to     sell out and be busy. I think that the whole week will be busy, so a busy DAH will be better than the days....and won’t be hot.


----------



## NoriKL

sheila14 said:


> I am hoping for that one September date to open and if I planned my vacation at the right time I should make the MK date!!!!


That’s what I’m hoping for as well


----------



## jaceraden

What's going on that will make 28/3 a sell out? What did I miss?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jaceraden said:


> What's going on that will make 28/3 a sell out? What did I miss?



From my perspective, I think all these other park DAH events (and MK DAH at other times of the year) have spread demand around.  None of the current MK dates have sold out, which is different than this time last year.  

Granted, I suspect the March DAH dates during the busy spring break season definitely have the better _potential_ to sell out than the dates we’ve had so far in this series, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.


----------



## karensi

DWillowBay said:


> Any ideas of when they might open up past early April dates?   I'm planning to be there at the end of April and would love to be able to plan for one of these events, if it fits with the schedule.   Is there a pattern or a timeline they follow? (she asked foolishly)



I'm also waiting for mid April and just wondering...
 when they do release the next set of dates are they usually released like at 7AM?
I'm asking because as of now I'm checking MDE frequently during the day to see if new dates have been released.
If I knew that they were released at 7AM then I would only have to check in the morning and if not there I wouldn't have to check again till the next morning. 
Not a big deal, I know, but just one less thing to have to do.
Thanks


----------



## GADisneyDad14

karensi said:


> I'm also waiting for mid April and just wondering...
> when they do release the next set of dates are they usually released like at 7AM?
> I'm asking because as of now I'm checking MDE frequently during the day to see if new dates have been released.
> If I knew that they were released at 7AM then I would only have to check in the morning and if not there I wouldn't have to check again till the next morning.
> Not a big deal, I know, but just one less thing to have to do.
> Thanks



It can be random.  They can randomly update the website with new dates, they can release new date info through bloggers, they can release new date info on the Disney Parks Blog, they may just announce dates but not able to buy tickets yet, they may immediately make it available to buy tickets.  All of the above have happened at different points in time so really hard to say just how any new dates will be communicated.

My guess would be a Disney Parks Blog followed by ticket availability later on, but kind of a coin flip.


----------



## karensi

GADisneyDad14 said:


> It can be random.  They can randomly update the website with new dates, they can release new date info through bloggers, they can release new date info on the Disney Parks Blog, they may just announce dates but not able to buy tickets yet, they may immediately make it available to buy tickets.  All of the above have happened at different points in time so really hard to say just how any new dates will be communicated.
> 
> My guess would be a Disney Parks Blog followed by ticket availability later on, but kind of a coin flip.




Thanks so much.


----------



## sheila14

They gave no notice when the MNSSHP tickets went on sale.


----------



## mamapenguin

jaceraden said:


> What's going on that will make 28/3 a sell out? What did I miss?


Spring Break.


----------



## jaceraden

mamapenguin said:


> Spring Break.



Spring Break is different for all areas of the US and abroad. So that applies to all of March and April, no?!


----------



## mamapenguin

jaceraden said:


> Spring Break is different for all areas of the US and abroad. So that applies to all of March and April, no?!


Correct, but it seems to get more crowded end of March and through Easter. So any Spring Break dates have a bigger potential to sell out.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

jaceraden said:


> Spring Break is different for all areas of the US and abroad. So that applies to all of March and April, no?!



Last week of March is one of the busier Spring Break weeks  (regardless of when Easter falls).


----------



## FabFive24

Iowamomof4 said:


> It's the million-dollar question. No one knows. Many of us are in the same boat with trips in April, May, June and beyond and are trying to figure out if these events will continue or not. They haven't been held in April or May since the very first set of events that were over-priced, so we're all just hoping the recent addition of DAH during the fall means they WILL extend these into late spring again. Until we get dates though, anything is possible. Welcome to the watch party!



Joining the watch party for June!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Could the weather look any better for early Feb in Central Florida today/tonight?   Hope the DAH folks tonight have a great time!!


----------



## Zmack

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Could the weather look any better for early Feb in Central Florida today/tonight? Hope the DAH folks tonight have a great time!!



We are attending tonight's event and are thrilled at the temps we will have


----------



## Vertical

GADisneyDad14 said:


> From my perspective, I think all these other park DAH events (and MK DAH at other times of the year) have spread demand around.  None of the current MK dates have sold out, which is different than this time last year.
> 
> Granted, I suspect the March DAH dates during the busy spring break season definitely have the better _potential_ to sell out than the dates we’ve had so far in this series, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.


Of the dates that did sell out last year, do you know how many days in advance they sold out? I am looking at going on 2/28, but I'm waiting until we are closer so we know the weather. But I also don't want to risk waiting too long and it turns out to be the first sell out date.


----------



## Geomom

Vertical said:


> Of the dates that did sell out last year, do you know how many days in advance they sold out? I am looking at going on 2/28, but I'm waiting until we are closer so we know the weather. But I also don't want to risk waiting too long and it turns out to be the first sell out date.


I was wondering the same thing...but looking at going on 2/21.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Vertical said:


> Of the dates that did sell out last year, do you know how many days in advance they sold out? I am looking at going on 2/28, but I'm waiting until we are closer so we know the weather. But I also don't want to risk waiting too long and it turns out to be the first sell out date.





Geomom said:


> I was wondering the same thing...but looking at going on 2/21.



Check out the tables in Post 11 of this thread.  There are tables there with a “Sold Out” column - for the dates that sold out, the date in that column is the date it sold out.  Hope that helps.


----------



## Ambehnke

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Could the weather look any better for early Feb in Central Florida today/tonight?   Hope the DAH folks tonight have a great time!!


Such a difference from when we went last week! Brrrrr


----------



## mcurrence

Hope everyone enjoys tonight!


----------



## eeudj

This is exciting and looks like tons of fun.. enjoy the event guys!! Quick question new to the thread and there is sooo much info so, quick question - going on 05/12 to 05-18 hubby and I to celebrate the big 50!! Are all dates posted for all after hours events? or is there a chance an event may be held while we are there?  TIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Iowamomof4

eeudj said:


> This is exciting and looks like tons of fun.. enjoy the event guys!! Quick question new to the thread and there is sooo much info so, quick question - going on 05/12 to 05-18 hubby and I to celebrate the big 50!! Are all dates posted for all after hours events? or is there a chance an event may be held while we are there?  TIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



No after hours event times have been released past early April. The first few posts have all the details you could need.


----------



## DWFamilyof6

Just scanned the wait times.  I was curious because we'll be attending on Thurs night in 3 weeks.  On TP app they are reporting 7D, Carousel and Space as down for the rest of the night.  Hoping that isn't correct for DAH.


----------



## Iowamomof4

DWFamilyof6 said:


> Just scanned the wait times.  I was curious because we'll be attending on Thurs night in 3 weeks.  On TP app they are reporting 7D, Carousel and Space as down for the rest of the night.  Hoping that isn't correct for DAH.



I know during previous DAH's, it seemed like the Lines App wasn't tracking ride wait times at all. The Disney app works well though, and currently shows only 7DMT as down of the 3 you listed.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Just FYI, all of the ongoing posts about Animal Kingdom DAH have been moved to the DAK DAH thread where discussion can continue over there:  **Disney After Hours-Animal Kingdom** FAQ & Discussion Thread

Thank you.


----------



## Ambehnke

DWFamilyof6 said:


> Just scanned the wait times.  I was curious because we'll be attending on Thurs night in 3 weeks.  On TP app they are reporting 7D, Carousel and Space as down for the rest of the night.  Hoping that isn't correct for DAH.


When we were there last week Monday the lines app did not work during after hours. We had no waits for anything except 7dmt and even that was minimal.


----------



## DWFamilyof6

Ambehnke said:


> When we were there last week Monday the lines app did not work during after hours. We had no waits for anything except 7dmt and even that was minimal.


thanks, good to know.  I would be bummed if 7D and Space were down.  Hopefully those attending tonight will have a great time.


----------



## focusondisney

Hi all! Definitely more crowded than last year’s January trip. I’m sure the great weather has something to do with it. Little Metmaid ride is closed tonight. Mine Train was down at 8:30, we’renot newr there now but I think it is back up. PP 10 minute wait. Others have been walk in so far. More later!


----------



## SpaceMtnGirl

Here now and 7D has been down since around 9. We were just about to board when it went down  as far as I can tell by the app, it’s still closed.


----------



## Zmack

Just got back from tonight's DAH MK, When we arrived SDMT was down. We got our first ride on 7DMT at 8:40  were just about to get on for our second ride when it down,again and remained down until 10:45. The CM's were great and ran it late and we managed to ride four more times.Very happy about that.We also road Splash x1, PP x6, WTP x 3, Buzz x 7. We also had Mickey Bars and drinks twice. We walked out slowly and got some wonderful  pics of an empty park, We had a great time a DAH .


----------



## browneyedgirl0613

Zmack said:


> Just got back from tonight's DAH MK, When we arrived SDMT was down. We got our first ride on 7DMT at 8:40  were just about to get on for our second ride when it down,again and remained down until 10:45. The CM's were great and ran it late and we managed to ride four more times.Very happy about that.We also road Splash x1, PP x6, WTP x 3, Buzz x 7. We also had Mickey Bars and drinks twice. We walked out slowly and got some wonderful  pics of an empty park, We had a great time a DAH .



Do you know what time they started allowing people in tonight?


----------



## Zmack

browneyedgirl0613 said:


> Do you know what time they started allowing people in tonight?



The CM's let us in,and gave out wrist bands at exactly at 6:30 pm


----------



## Ambehnke

Zmack said:


> Just got back from tonight's DAH MK, When we arrived SDMT was down. We got our first ride on 7DMT at 8:40  were just about to get on for our second ride when it down,again and remained down until 10:45. The CM's were great and ran it late and we managed to ride four more times.Very happy about that.We also road Splash x1, PP x6, WTP x 3, Buzz x 7. We also had Mickey Bars and drinks twice. We walked out slowly and got some wonderful  pics of an empty park, We had a great time a DAH .


Holy smokes! You have to have the DAH ride record! 21 rides in 3 hours!?!? We got in 14. and I felt like we ran from ride to ride. But we did also cross the park twice.


----------



## Zmack

PP was walk on, Buzz was a walk on. We were heading to Tea Cups when SDMT came back on line at 10:45. Most people had gone to other areas of the park, SDMT was a walk on for us.


----------



## Haley R

Ambehnke said:


> Holy smokes! You have to have the DAH ride record! 21 rides in 3 hours!?!? We got in 14. and I felt like we ran from ride to ride. But we did also cross the park twice.


It definitely eats up time if you’re criss crossing across the park. We did that too because we didn’t reride a lot of things.


----------



## Geomom

You can add @Geomom  to the guest list for 2/21/19.  Just bought the tix!


----------



## minniesBFF

Do you think the fact that they extended EMM for MK through August is a good sign that they might do the same for DAH?  I'm really REALLY hoping to do it when we're there in May.


----------



## focusondisney

If zmack has the most rides, we might have the least!  DH really wanted to eat at Sci Fi & the only time I could get was Thursday at 5:45. So we didn’t get to MK til 7:50.

We rode people mover & buzz starting right at 8. Stopped for ice cream & water. Didn’t know mermaid was closed so we walked all the way there. Saw mine train was closed so we went on Pooh (8:35) & waited 2 vehicles.

PP was a 10 minute wait so we went onto HM & walked on. Did JC & POC as walk ins also. Stopped for popcorn after JC. Went back to PP which was still about 10 minutes.

Both times we walked past the tangled photo pass, there were at least 15 people in line. Can’t say how many groups tho. 

We did philharmonic & the checked mine train again - still down. We headed to the hub for more popcorn & a coke. We actually didn’t eat most of the popcorn but I always bring zip lock bags & bring popcorn on the plane & home with us.

We waited for a picture in the hub & then headed out. DH has foot issues & was in lots of pain. I had that sore throat/ headache “gonna get a cold” feeling. Since I had gone bagless I didn’t have any Motrin & we were both getting miserable. 

We got to the bus stop at a little after 10:30 & waited about 20 minutes for a bus. That was actually the most annoying part of the night. 

As I said before, it felt more crowded than last Jan 30th. But the weather was immensely better. And with mine train down most of the night, I’m sure more people were wandering around.  Except for Tomorrowland between 8 & 8:30, we never got that “empty park” feel. It was more like a “crowd level 1”.   Still not bad, but a little different than before.

I’m glad we have an AP discount. I don’t think we would pay full price because we are apparently too old to get the full benefit.


----------



## KbEgbs

It says in one of the original posts that an AP can buy up to four tickets total with the AP discount but it didn't sound like this had been confirmed.  Can anyone confirm this? I'm hoping to go with a party of six and I'm the only AP, so just wondering how many we'll need to pay full price for.  TIA!


----------



## Vertical

KbEgbs said:


> It says in one of the original posts that an AP can buy up to four tickets total with the AP discount but it didn't sound like this had been confirmed.  Can anyone confirm this? I'm hoping to go with a party of six and I'm the only AP, so just wondering how many we'll need to pay full price for.  TIA!


It does say four, but it's interesting when you add more than that to the cart online. It allows me to put 10 tickets in the cart at the AP rate. I didn't go all the way through the checkout process, so maybe it changes once you assign the ticket to a particular guest. Maybe that is where it changes the price if there are not enough passholders to allow that reduced rate.


----------



## disneymagicgirl

KbEgbs said:


> It says in one of the original posts that an AP can buy up to four tickets total with the AP discount but it didn't sound like this had been confirmed.  Can anyone confirm this? I'm hoping to go with a party of six and I'm the only AP, so just wondering how many we'll need to pay full price for.  TIA!


I was able to buy 4...3 plus mine. That was the total I needed, so not sure if that is the max or not.


----------



## Vertical

Post #3 hasn't been updated for a couple weeks. Does anyone know if either of the last two dates sold out?


----------



## NMAmy

We were there yesterday and would do it again in a heartbeat.  There were more people than at HS on Saturday but still saw plenty of empty park.  We have APs so we arrived at 5 for dinner at the Plaza.  Never again, blah food and the tables were right on top of each other.  It was awful. 

We did some of the low wait/long rides like CoP and the People Mover. FP for HM.  Did the Tiki Room.  Went toward the Hub and watched the fireworks .

Around 8:15 we did BTMRR with little wait and then we just kind of moved across the park. We had done Splash and Pirates that morning so skipped them. Moving back into Fantasyland, we did PP, caught 7DMT for the brief time it was up .The line for the lantern Photo was too long so we skipped it .

Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Under the Sea was down but we had walked over there without knowing. then Buzz twice. Everything was a walk on except 7DNT and BTMRR. Did the people over again. We stopped twice along the way for drinks and snacks. Got lots of photos of the empty Main Street and did three photopass photos with no wait.  Did some shopping which did have a long wait for lots of folks using up snack credits.  Left the park at 10:15 very satisfied.  Got  our photo taken in front of the train station and headed out to the busses where a shared bus for the Epcot resorts was waiting.  We were back in our room by 11:00.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Vertical said:


> Post #3 hasn't been updated for a couple weeks. Does anyone know if either of the last two dates sold out?



No, they did not.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Hmmm   EMM was released into early August today. I’m thinking DAH can’t be far behind....?


----------



## DWillowBay

Fingers Crossed!


----------



## sheila14

I want September I want September!!!


----------



## maryj11

Cinderumbrella said:


> Hmmm   EMM was released into early August today. I’m thinking DAH can’t be far behind....?


I wish they would hurry up I need to make my plans.


----------



## Hopingforpixiedust

Has anyone done the Happily Ever After Dessert Party before DAH?  If so, would you recommend the party before or after the fireworks?  On the day we are going to DAH the hours are 10 - 1 and fireworks are at 9:15.  It's spring break time so I was thinking doing the dessert party would be less stressful than fighting the crowds for fireworks!


----------



## brian95

Disney is really killing me lol.  They have set dates for mnsshp the glow h2o thing emm for Mk. But no after hours for summer yet.  They make planning really hard


----------



## eagle1992

Hopingforpixiedust said:


> Has anyone done the Happily Ever After Dessert Party before DAH?  If so, would you recommend the party before or after the fireworks?  On the day we are going to DAH the hours are 10 - 1 and fireworks are at 9:15.  It's spring break time so I was thinking doing the dessert party would be less stressful than fighting the crowds for fireworks!


We are doing this exact thing on April 11th. We are currently booked for the before party.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Hopingforpixiedust said:


> Has anyone done the Happily Ever After Dessert Party before DAH?  If so, would you recommend the party before or after the fireworks?  On the day we are going to DAH the hours are 10 - 1 and fireworks are at 9:15.  It's spring break time so I was thinking doing the dessert party would be less stressful than fighting the crowds for fireworks!



We’ve done it. I’d probably do the before party but I think either are valid, just depends on your preferences.  

HEA is around 18 minutes, so for the after party it’ll be 9:35ish before you make it back to the dessert party area.  That could be a good time to wait out the final 25ish mins of park open time, or it could be a good window to get going on your evening - whatever works best for you.


----------



## Iowamomof4

brian95 said:


> Disney is really killing me lol.  They have set dates for mnsshp the glow h2o thing emm for Mk. But no after hours for summer yet.  They make planning really hard



The worst part is, if they happen to have made a decision to stop having DAH altogether for some strange reason (I do NOT believe that is the case, btw), they probably wouldn't make an announcement about it and we would go all the way up to our trips watching and waiting for them to drop dates at any time. So it's like, we have to keep our plans flexible and include space to do these events just in case they drop them, but they could drop the dates at any point in time from now through the next few months including never having them again. ANYTHING is possible. Sigh.


----------



## Yooper Writer

I did the Feb. 7th DAH.  I know there are a lot of positive comments about the event, but I'm going to be one of the few to be on the fence whether it was worth it or not.  My family and I loved the beautiful weather that evening.  We arrived at 6:25pm, but I don't know the exact time people were let in before that.  It was great not to have to battle intense crowds and long lines.  We did the people mover, Buzz Lightyear, and then attempted SM.  That is where we were first disappointed.  It wasn't down all evening, but we would have had to keep back tracking.  Then came the closure of SDMT, which was one of the biggest reasons why we did DAH in the first place.  We weren't about to wait in a two hour line during the day, and we had no hope of securing a FP when we weren't staying on property.  From other posts, I see that SDMT came back up at 10:45pm, but we were on the other side of the park by then.  I understand that rides break down, but from all the posts I've read, this seems to be a frequent occurrence at DAH.

We did the following:

People Mover
Buzz Lightyear
Winnie the Pooh x2
Peter Pan
Small World
Haunted Mansion
Thunder Mountain
Pirates
Jungle Cruise

So, we did about 10 rides in 4.5 hours.  The evening went by very quickly.  We had almost no wait to get snacks.  Overall, I think there are many pros to this event, but enough cons to make me seriously consider whether or not I want to spend a huge amount of money again for this.  I am so grateful the weather was in our favor.


----------



## SpaceMtnGirl

Yooper Writer said:


> I did the Feb. 7th DAH.  I know there are a lot of positive comments about the event, but I'm going to be one of the few to be on the fence whether it was worth it or not.  My family and I loved the beautiful weather that evening.  We arrived at 6:25pm, but I don't know the exact time people were let in before that.  It was great not to have to battle intense crowds and long lines.  We did the people mover, Buzz Lightyear, and then attempted SM.  That is where we were first disappointed.  It wasn't down all evening, but we would have had to keep back tracking.  Then came the closure of SDMT, which was one of the biggest reasons why we did DAH in the first place.  We weren't about to wait in a two hour line during the day, and we had no hope of securing a FP when we weren't staying on property.  From other posts, I see that SDMT came back up at 10:45pm, but we were on the other side of the park by then.  I understand that rides break down, but from all the posts I've read, this seems to be a frequent occurrence at DAH.
> 
> We did the following:
> 
> People Mover
> Buzz Lightyear
> Winnie the Pooh x2
> Peter Pan
> Small World
> Haunted Mansion
> Thunder Mountain
> Pirates
> Jungle Cruise
> 
> So, we did about 10 rides in 4.5 hours.  The evening went by very quickly.  We had almost no wait to get snacks.  Overall, I think there are many pros to this event, but enough cons to make me seriously consider whether or not I want to spend a huge amount of money again for this.  I am so grateful the weather was in our favor.



I felt the same. It was just a Meh from me. I wouldn’t spend the money for it again. Plus, I feel that mine train being down created longer waits elsewhere.... we waited a solid 10 minutes for Space during the event... not early into the event either. It was around 10pm. A 10 minute wait isn’t bad but definitely not the walk on I expected. Although maybe my expectations were the problem...


----------



## Haley R

SpaceMtnGirl said:


> I felt the same. It was just a Meh from me. I wouldn’t spend the money for it again. Plus, I feel that mine train being down created longer waits elsewhere.... we waited a solid 10 minutes for Space during the event... not early into the event either. It was around 10pm. A 10 minute wait isn’t bad but definitely not the walk on I expected. Although maybe my expectations were the problem...


7DMT being down can definitely change how the event goes and the waits at other rides. The problem is Disney really doesn't have control of the rides breaking, but you could maybe still email them and let them know how your experience was. Were both sides of Space open?


----------



## sheila14

Haley R said:


> 7DMT being down can definitely change how the event goes and the waits at other rides. The problem is Disney really doesn't have control of the rides breaking, but you could maybe still email them and let them know how your experience was. Were both sides of Space open?


It seems this ride is frequently down for special events. Coincidence?? It was down when I was there is August for the Halloween party.


----------



## SpaceMtnGirl

Haley R said:


> 7DMT being down can definitely change how the event goes and the waits at other rides. The problem is Disney really doesn't have control of the rides breaking, but you could maybe still email them and let them know how your experience was. Were both sides of Space open?



Only one side of Space was open at that time, though both sides had been open earlier in the event.

I did go to guest services and they gave us Fastpasses to use for Mine Train later this week. I was glad it wasn’t our last night of the trip.


----------



## Haley R

SpaceMtnGirl said:


> Only one side of Space was open at that time, though both sides had been open earlier in the event.
> 
> I did go to guest services and they gave us Fastpasses to use for Mine Train later this week. I was glad it wasn’t our last night of the trip.


Oh okay I’m glad they made things right in a way that worked for you! I would’ve been upset to see space running one side when they knew 7dmt was down.


----------



## lurkyloo

Yooper Writer said:


> I did the Feb. 7th DAH.  I know there are a lot of positive comments about the event, but I'm going to be one of the few to be on the fence whether it was worth it or not.



We were there that night and TOTALLY agree! This was our only chance to ride 7DMT, so we were super-disappointed that it was down the whole night. We waited in the big line at City Hall for about 30 minutes after the event so we could voice our disappointment, and they gave us each 6 anytime/any-ride-but-Frozen FPs. Fortunately, we were able to rearrange our schedule on our departure day so we could get back to MK for 7DMT.

Also, we encountered lines at nearly every snack cart, and they even cut off the big line at the cart next to Big Thunder right at the stroke of 11 (whereas at the AK After Hours Event, the Pandora-adjacent cart was practically throwing drinks and treats at guests well after the event ended).

I liked that there were so many more rides available than at AK, but with only 3 hours and MK as huge as it is, we were constantly racing to do the next one and still only managed about 3 per hour. I hear that previous after-hours events were 4 or more hours long, and I think I’d only do one again if they increased the time.


----------



## disneydreamer781

sheila14 said:


> It seems this ride is frequently down for special events. Coincidence?? It was down when I was there is August for the Halloween party.



 This happened to us at DHS when I did this event in December. SDD was down for quite a while but at least they got it up and running after 2 hours but they weren't making any promises. After checking in repeatedly with the CMs, who by the way, were wonderful, they couldn't guarantee it would be available at all that night. I do think this may be just coincidence because it looks like they made the effort. I have to say at the time I was not a happy camper mostly because there aren't that many rides available at DHS as it is. That being said, I really would consider DAH at both MK and AK. I'm hoping Disney extends it and wish they would offer it year round.


----------



## PPFlight75

Question about tickets. I bought tickets online for 3/28 and the email confirmation says to go to will call to pick them up. I can also see the tickets in our MDE profile and they are assigned to each of us, so can't we just scan in like we normally would with our AP?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

PPFlight75 said:


> Question about tickets. I bought tickets online for 3/28 and the email confirmation says to go to will call to pick them up. I can also see the tickets in our MDE profile and they are assigned to each of us, so can't we just scan in like we normally would with our AP?



Yeah, so long as you see the DAH tickets properly assigned to the right people in your profile(s), you’re good to scan in at a designated DAH entry tapstyle (or at one of the inside the park locations if you’re already in the park), no need to pick up tickets at will call (unless you just _really_ want a plastic card for some reason).


----------



## Dentam

PPFlight75 said:


> Question about tickets. I bought tickets online for 3/28 and the email confirmation says to go to will call to pick them up. I can also see the tickets in our MDE profile and they are assigned to each of us, so can't we just scan in like we normally would with our AP?



They will just scan your magic bands and then give you a wrist band for the event.  Hopefully they will have more CM's giving out wrist bands than they did on our evening - there was a line of people just waiting to get them after they scanned our bands.  Didn't take too long luckily but kind of annoying.


----------



## Ambehnke

PPFlight75 said:


> Question about tickets. I bought tickets online for 3/28 and the email confirmation says to go to will call to pick them up. I can also see the tickets in our MDE profile and they are assigned to each of us, so can't we just scan in like we normally would with our AP?


Yes you just can your magic band in the party line when you get there. No need to pick anything up other than your wristband if it shows in your MDE.


----------



## PPFlight75

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, so long as you see the DAH tickets properly assigned to the right people in your profile(s), you’re good to scan in at a designated DAH entry tapstyle (or at one of the inside the park locations if you’re already in the park), no need to pick up tickets at will call (unless you just _really_ want a plastic card for some reason).


Thanks!!


----------



## PPFlight75

Dentam said:


> They will just scan your magic bands and then give you a wrist band for the event.  Hopefully they will have more CM's giving out wrist bands than they did on our evening - there was a line of people just waiting to get them after they scanned our bands.  Didn't take too long luckily but kind of annoying.


Thanks! Were there lines both inside and outside the park? We plan to head in about 6 or 7 but have APs. We were hoping to get our wrist band somewhere in the park.


----------



## PPFlight75

Ambehnke said:


> Yes you just can your magic band in the party line when you get there. No need to pick anything up other than your wristband if it shows in your MDE.


Thanks!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

PPFlight75 said:


> Thanks!!



Have fun!

I’ll just stress again making sure they are on your profile.  I made the mistake last summer where I had bought DAH tickets via phone - and if you by them via phone they are NOT automatically linked your your profile (you have to manually add them).  Well dumb me wasn’t paying attention, I never linked my tickets, etc... scanned in with resulting blue Mickey... and a resulting 15 minute trip to guest relations outside the park while we figured it out.  Doh!  

This isn’t a problem if purchased online as they have to be assigned to an individual when purchased.


----------



## Dentam

PPFlight75 said:


> Thanks! Were there lines both inside and outside the park? We plan to head in about 6 or 7 but have APs. We were hoping to get our wrist band somewhere in the park.



This was outside the park - hopefully it won't be that bad inside but who knows.  And really it only took a few minutes so it wasn't that bad.  Just kind of annoying when you're raring to get going!


----------



## PPFlight75

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Have fun!
> 
> I’ll just stress again making sure they are on your profile.  I made the mistake last summer where I had bought DAH tickets via phone - and if you by them via phone they are NOT automatically linked your your profile (you have to manually add them).  Well dumb me wasn’t paying attention, I never linked my tickets, etc... scanned in with resulting blue Mickey... and a resulting 15 minute trip to guest relations outside the park while we figured it out.  Doh!
> 
> This isn’t a problem if purchased online as they have to be assigned to an individual when purchased.


Thank you!
I bet that was so annoying! 15 minutes is an eternity if you have something planned. 
Hopefully I’m all set then. They are linked to the 5 in our party so we will plan to just scan in. I saved the email confirmation just in case!


----------



## PPFlight75

Dentam said:


> This was outside the park - hopefully it won't be that bad inside but who knows.  And really it only took a few minutes so it wasn't that bad.  Just kind of annoying when you're raring to get going!


Totally!


----------



## E.Jane

Attended the Feb. 7th DAH at MK.... absolutely worth it!  We arrived at about 6:15 and were told we couldn't enter until 7:00 (annoying now that I see others were allowed to enter at 6:30). However, we had an extra day pass so we used it to enter right away.  We did some shopping along Main Street and made our way slowly towards Splash Mountain by 7:10. It was a 30 minute wait, so we decided to just get in line anyway.  It was just me and my granddaughter, and she had never been up in the treehouse, so after Splash, that's where we headed. We were at the top when the fireworks started, and had a somewhat blocked view.  Only stayed there for a few minutes before heading back down and jumped on Pirates with no wait. By then the party was officially "on" - we did Aladdin, Haunted Mansion, IASW, Carousel, Peter Pan, and the teacups. Headed to 7Dwarfs, and were the next to load in the car when it went down. So disappointed as that was my DGD's favourite ride. Headed over to Buzz, again, walk on. Rode the People Mover, then headed back to Big Thunder. Rode Big Thunder 5 times in a row, all with no wait.  So in total, 14 rides in 3 hours, with 3 snack breaks.  I may never do MK during the day again!


----------



## ToyStory3

Have there been any DAH events when 7 Dwarfs didn't go down?  Why does this seem to be such a problem on DAH nights?


----------



## TNickell27

Has anyone been let in BEFORE 6:30pm? Like say.... 6:20pm? Haha... or has 6:30 been the earliest


----------



## Haley R

E.Jane said:


> Attended the Feb. 7th DAH at MK.... absolutely worth it!  We arrived at about 6:15 and were told we couldn't enter until 7:00 (annoying now that I see others were allowed to enter at 6:30). However, we had an extra day pass so we used it to enter right away.  We did some shopping along Main Street and made our way slowly towards Splash Mountain by 7:10. It was a 30 minute wait, so we decided to just get in line anyway.  It was just me and my granddaughter, and she had never been up in the treehouse, so after Splash, that's where we headed. We were at the top when the fireworks started, and had a somewhat blocked view.  Only stayed there for a few minutes before heading back down and jumped on Pirates with no wait. By then the party was officially "on" - we did Aladdin, Haunted Mansion, IASW, Carousel, Peter Pan, and the teacups. Headed to 7Dwarfs, and were the next to load in the car when it went down. So disappointed as that was my DGD's favourite ride. Headed over to Buzz, again, walk on. Rode the People Mover, then headed back to Big Thunder. Rode Big Thunder 5 times in a row, all with no wait.  So in total, 14 rides in 3 hours, with 3 snack breaks.  I may never do MK during the day again!


Were you allowed to stay on BTMR or did you have to walk around each time? I'm just curious.


ToyStory3 said:


> Have there been any DAH events when 7 Dwarfs didn't go down?  Why does this seem to be such a problem on DAH nights?


I don't believe it was down during our night.


----------



## Haley R

TNickell27 said:


> Has anyone been let in BEFORE 6:30pm? Like say.... 6:20pm? Haha... or has 6:30 been the earliest


I think this current batch of DAH they have stuck strictly to 6:30 pm.


----------



## KriK412

I have a question about FastPass and DAH. I know it’s not available during the event.  I just got an email about booking fast passes, but we don’t have regular park tickets. We are coming over for a one night quick trip just for DAH. Am I able to book them for times between 7-10 (our DAH is a 10-1)? Has anyone had experience with this? Is this something I can book with no issue, or will they come back and cancel them? Thanks in advance!!


----------



## Iowamomof4

KriK412 said:


> I have a question about FastPass and DAH. I know it’s not available during the event.  I just got an email about booking fast passes, but we don’t have regular park tickets. We are coming over for a one night quick trip just for DAH. Am I able to book them for times between 7-10 (our DAH is a 10-1)? Has anyone had experience with this? Is this something I can book with no issue, or will they come back and cancel them? Thanks in advance!!



Yes, you can book fastpasses on a DAH ticket. People who have purchased DAH as part of a bigger trip have occasionally reported receiving emails from Disney threatening to cancel fastpasses (and I think a few have actually had them follow through on that threat), but where you are only going for the day and don't have any other tickets to mess with, I see no reason not to make them. I can't imagine you'll have the same problem as others and even if you do, what was the harm in trying?


----------



## KriK412

Iowamomof4 said:


> Yes, you can book fastpasses on a DAH ticket. People who have purchased DAH as part of a bigger trip have occasionally reported receiving emails from Disney threatening to cancel fastpasses (and I think a few have actually had them follow through on that threat), but where you are only going for the day and don't have any other tickets to mess with, I see no reason not to make them. I can't imagine you'll have the same problem as others and even if you do, what was the harm in trying?



Thank you!!


----------



## Yooper Writer

Just to follow up on my post from the other day regarding the Feb 7th DAH event, I sent an email to guest relations, informing them of my disappointment, especially with the Seven Dwarfs ride breaking down.  I was surprised to receive a phone call from a cast member who was very understanding and apologetic.  He is giving me a gift card to cover half the cost of the event, which I appreciate.


----------



## Haley R

Yooper Writer said:


> Just to follow up on my post from the other day regarding the Feb 7th DAH event, I sent an email to guest relations, informing them of my disappointment, especially with the Seven Dwarfs ride breaking down.  I was surprised to receive a phone call from a cast member who was very understanding and apologetic.  He is giving me a gift card to cover half the cost of the event, which I appreciate.


Nice! Disney is usually very willing to make things right


----------



## Cordy2424

MUCH overdue write up of our night at DAH-MK on Jan 24th:

We arrived later than we planned at 6:45pm. We ate dinner at Whispering Canyon over at Wilderness Lodge and took their boat over to MK. We had no wait in line for entrance, and there were at least 6 or 7 cast members waiting to put wrist bands on DAH guests. Not sure how many were waiting to enter or what time they were allowed in, but the lack of line made it seem like 6:30 is a safe bet - if not earlier. 

Once inside, we struck up a conversation with a cast member in front of Town Hall to make sure Mickey & Minnie would be there for DAH (It was at a 110  min wait at the time and we did not want to wait that long if we could avoid it.). He was super friendly and assured us they'd be available all night. Then he started talking to us about the event itself and he mentioned that he thinks the maximum number of tickets they sell for a DAH event at MK is 3,000. The night we attended (1/24/19) he was under the impression the tickets sold were only at about 1600 as of 7pm.

*THIS is how to do Disney.*

I have no idea how long WDW will keep this up, but we fully intend to do an after hours event EVERY time we visit WDW from now until forever. We were able to ride almost everything we wanted to – as a walk on. The only wait was the length of time it took to walk through the standby queue, looking at you Journey of the Little Mermaid. Between 7pm to 11pm we were able to accomplish the following:

FP for Pirates
Sat beside carousel for Happily Ever After (If you’ve already seen the projections, this is super cool – the fireworks are all around you and insanely close!!!!)
Pooh
Little Mermaid
People Mover
Buzz Lightyear
Pirates
Haunted Mansion
Tangled Lantern Photo Op
Meet and Greet with Mickey & Minnie in their 90th Celebration Outfits (This was the longest wait we had for anything, easily 45 minutes.)
Multiple stops for sodas, popcorn, ice cream
Sure, if we had really hoofed it around the park we could have done twice as much. However, there is something to be said for the feeling of being able to truly move at your own pace – nobody bumping into you, nobody nipping at your heels with a stroller, no distant cries of exhausted children. It was Disney magic at its BEST.

Pictures of Tomorrowland with NOT ANOTHER LIVING SOUL around us are priceless and a picture of the Hub on our way back to the castle with only about a dozen people scattered around is insane! Seriously.* DO. THIS. NOW. *


----------



## KSL

*The 'official' park entry time per Disney is 7:00 pm, regardless of the actual start time of the Disney After Hours event.  
*
I'll repeat that just for clarity - ALL DAH event dates allow for official park entry at *7:00 pm*, regardless of the DAH event hours on that date.

*UPDATE AS OF DECEMBER 2018:  Disney has been holding to the published 7pm entry time for 11/26/18+ event dates.  At some past events they let people in more like 6pm, but the current trend seems to be more towards 7pm - so plan accordingly.

UPDATED FROM 1/9/2019 EVENT:  DISers reported being let in approx 6:30pm.
*
Hi all!  The DAH this Thursday and next Thursday (2/14 & 2/21) have official starting times of 9pm.  Given advice of GADisneyDad14 quoted above, attendees should still be able to get in at 7:00, and maybe even 6:30 based on reports of recent MK DAH attendees.  Anyone who attends this Thursday please report what time they started letting DAH guests in, so that people going the following Thursday will know if this still holds true.  Thanks!!


----------



## Geomom

KSL said:


> *The 'official' park entry time per Disney is 7:00 pm, regardless of the actual start time of the Disney After Hours event.
> *
> I'll repeat that just for clarity - ALL DAH event dates allow for official park entry at *7:00 pm*, regardless of the DAH event hours on that date.
> 
> *UPDATE AS OF DECEMBER 2018:  Disney has been holding to the published 7pm entry time for 11/26/18+ event dates.  At some past events they let people in more like 6pm, but the current trend seems to be more towards 7pm - so plan accordingly.
> 
> UPDATED FROM 1/9/2019 EVENT:  DISers reported being let in approx 6:30pm.
> *
> Hi all!  The DAH this Thursday and next Thursday (2/14 & 2/21) have official starting times of 8pm.  Given advice of GADisneyDad14 quoted above, attendees should still be able to get in at 7:00, and maybe even 6:30 based on reports of recent MK DAH attendees.  Anyone who attends this Thursday please report what time they started letting DAH guests in, so that people going the following Thursday will know if this still holds true.  Thanks!!


2/21 has a start time of 9PM.  

We bought tickets for it and I was able to do 3 FP+ on the ticket (I put the first from 6:25-7:25--so if we get let in at 6:30 or at 7, we can make that first one! Then 7:25-8:25PM and the last is 8:30-9PM) Our AP's expire on 2/19--so we have no other FP after that date.


----------



## KSL

Geomom said:


> 2/21 has a start time of 9PM.
> 
> We bought tickets for it and I was able to do 3 FP+ on the ticket (I put the first from 6:25-7:25--so if we get let in at 6:30 or at 7, we can make that first one! Then 7:25-8:25PM and the last is 8:30-9PM) Our AP's expire on 2/19--so we have no other FP after that date.



Whoops! My Bad.  Yes, start of 9pm (that was the whole point of my post, what was I thinking!? lol).  Edited original post; thanks for the catch.


----------



## GAN

Haley R said:


> Were you allowed to stay on BTMR or did you have to walk around each time? I'm just curious.



The straight answer is they will make you walk around, but I’ve been when they have let us stay on ...depends on CM/situation


----------



## flavor5

Hi all...if I have non-expiring tickets in my MDE and link the DAH ticket as well, will the tapstile just 'know' not to use the non-expiring ticket for entry into the park? We won't be visiting any other parks on the day we are doing the DAH event, so I'm concerned that the tapstile will use the wrong ticket.


----------



## Haley R

flavor5 said:


> Hi all...if I have non-expiring tickets in my MDE and link the DAH ticket as well, will the tapstile just 'know' not to use the non-expiring ticket for entry into the park? We won't be visiting any other parks on the day we are doing the DAH event, so I'm concerned that the tapstile will use the wrong ticket.


As long as you go through the “event entrance” where the cms are giving wristbands you will be okay


----------



## Haley R

GAN said:


> The straight answer is they will make you walk around, but I’ve been when they have let us stay on ...depends on CM/situation


Okie dokie. I was just curious


----------



## E.Jane

Haley R said:


> Were you allowed to stay on BTMR or did you have to walk around each time? I'm just curious.
> 
> No, we had to walk around each time, as there were others waiting to load. We almost had a re-ride, but at the very last second, about 10 to 12 people came down the ramp so we had to exit.


----------



## Haley R

I just realized you’re from Winnipeg! I love the jets!


----------



## cadien

We were at the Feb 7 DAH. It was also our first-ever day at Disney World!

We (DH, myself, DS7) dawdled over our dinner at Citrico's so it was almost 8 before we got to MK. We worked our way over to Adventureland while periodically pausing to watch the fireworks. We then walked right onto, in order, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Magic Carpets, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World, and Peter Pan. We stood in line 10 minutes for the lantern photo right after Haunted Mansion. After Peter Pan, we walked to Tomorrowland and waited 5 minutes for Space Mountain. Then right onto People Mover. It was then 11:00 and we'd been up since 6:00, so we left. 

Needless to say, we found it well worth the money. DH grew up near Disneyland and he was just floored and delighted by the lack of lines for everything. He took the lead on what we rode and we just followed him around. There were lines at every snack cart we noticed but we never bothered to stop at one. I completely forgot about 7DMT but it sounds like it was out of order anyway. Also forgot to get a Main Street photo.

I'd spent a lot of time stressing over bringing warm clothes and carrying them around Epcot all day, and then it probably never went below 75, so we got lucky there.


----------



## maryj11

Haley R said:


> I think this current batch of DAH they have stuck strictly to 6:30 pm.


So would it be safe to make a dining reservation for 7:00?


----------



## Haley R

maryj11 said:


> So would it be safe to make a dining reservation for 7:00?


In the park? Personally, I wouldn’t make any Adrs if you’re going to dah. It would take up a lot of time. We either eat at 4 pm or grab a quick dinner in the park.


----------



## sueb711

Can you use an AP voucher to get the advance discounted price?


----------



## 123SA

Booking FP before the event

I was one of the people who had problems last summer.  I had a 10 day ticket, and we had 2 DAH dates in addition.  On the DAH days we were not planning to use a park ticket elsewhere, so we were eligible in theory to book FP.  I booked them, got the nasty email warnings about the last days of FP being deleted, called customer service I think 4 times?  and each time I got different information.  In the end, I deleted the FP for the DAH days.  I made new people in MDE and re-assigned the tickets to those people.  AT the 30 day mark, I made FP.  I thought all was well, but then I got to the park and the DAH tickets, yes, I had actual hard tickets, would not work.  I spent 1/2 hour at least at customer service each night working it out.  We would have missed our FP but I insisted on them being restored and they were.   The bottom line is is was a giant PITA.  Also, I don't like being made to feel that I trying to run around the system...I'm not.   I paid the same amount as everyone for these tickets and I didn't use any FP that day.  There is no reason why people with 10 tickets should be excluded from getting FP like everyone else.

Phew.  Long story.  Anyway, I want to avoid that problem again.  So, my thought was, instead of buying the DAH tickets in my account which is home to the 10 day tickets, can I just use my husbands account which is not in any way linked to my account,  to buy the tickets?  I guess I would need to make alter eos in that account.  At 30 days, I should be eligible to make FP.  Does that sound like it would work?


----------



## TNickell27

Here for DAH tonight! They let us in at 6:22pm!


----------



## mcurrence

Happy Valentine's Day to all and I hope everyone has a great night!


----------



## dbb727

Here now, I was coming to report just like the above poster. I arrived at gates at 6:23 and people were already walking in. There was a short line so I assumed they had just recently started. Good news for those in future who are hoping to get in early to make FP+ times


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

Hi,
Not sure if this has been asked and answered...
But, the area to check in for DAH and get your wristband in Tomorrowland is right next to Monster's Inc entrance, across from The Launching Pad. 
Just an fyi


----------



## AngiTN

We are headed over shortly for tonight's event. Guess we just can't muster much interest to heading over to early, lol


----------



## Where'sPiglet?

So I was working on my trip report and remembered this thread. I am REALLY LATE to the game here, but I went to the July 28, 2018 Magic Kingdom DAH and _finally_ posted my write-up about it. 

If you'd like to read about it, it's spread across two posts:
Magic Kingdom before the event started, when I made a DAH game plan during dinner
Disney After Hours 7/28/18


----------



## AngiTN

I have no official knowledge but if I didn't know any better I'd guess tonight (2/14) is a sold out event. It's been the most crowded of any we've done. No extensive waits but no empty rides either. All vehicles have been full.


----------



## dbb727

AngiTN said:


> I have no official knowledge but if I didn't know any better I'd guess tonight (2/14) is a sold out event. It's been the most crowded of any we've done. No extensive waits but no empty rides either. All vehicles have been full.


I was wondering the same thing but this was the 1st DAH for me so I had no comparison. Based on reports of others saying they felt spooked being alone on rides or walkways, i expected it to be slightly less busy. Only once or twice did I happen to find myself in an area alone, and for just a minute or two. Still it was a great event.

PPF and 7DMT were the only rides I encountered with waits, those seemed to be pretty consistent 15-20min through the night whenever I passed by. Which sounds not bad compared to normal daytime waits, but during a 3hr event that will really eat up time if you want multiple rounds. Everything else was pretty much just the time it took to walk the queue. No unexpected closures. Lines for snacks and PP definitely had waits throughout the night. (Why is there no snack cart in Fantasyland??) And the crowd leaving at midnight was significant, definitely no empty Main St pics that’s for sure.

LOTS of young families, I assume due to the holiday weekend. And based on conversations I overheard in queues, I’d say there were lots of novice visitors so Disney marketing is definitely promoting this event well.


----------



## Haley R

dbb727 said:


> I was wondering the same thing but this was the 1st DAH for me so I had no comparison. Based on reports of others saying they felt spooked being alone on rides or walkways, i expected it to be slightly less busy. Only once or twice did I happen to find myself in an area alone, and for just a minute or two. Still it was a great event.
> 
> PPF and 7DMT were the only rides I encountered with waits, those seemed to be pretty consistent 15-20min through the night whenever I passed by. Which sounds not bad compared to normal daytime waits, but during a 3hr event that will really eat up time if you want multiple rounds. Everything else was pretty much just the time it took to walk the queue. No unexpected closures. Lines for snacks and PP definitely had waits throughout the night. (Why is there no snack cart in Fantasyland??) And the crowd leaving at midnight was significant, definitely no empty Main St pics that’s for sure.
> 
> LOTS of young families, I assume due to the holiday weekend. And based on conversations I overheard in queues, I’d say there were lots of novice visitors so Disney marketing is definitely promoting this event well.


The only place in mk we’ve gotten that empty feeling is Adventureland and some parts of Frontierland like the side path no one really takes during dah. Otherwise there were people everywhere. We did our Main Street picture during the middle of the event because there are a lot less people during that time. There is an ice cream and drink cart across from Winnie the pooh but no popcorn


----------



## dbb727

oh, forgot to mention. I bought my ticket for DAH the night before so it wasn’t sold out at that point


----------



## dbb727

Haley R said:


> The only place in mk we’ve gotten that empty feeling is Adventureland and some parts of Frontierland like the side path no one really takes during dah. Otherwise there were people everywhere. We did our Main Street picture during the middle of the event because there are a lot less people during that time. There is an ice cream and drink cart across from Winnie the pooh but no popcorn


Really? I don’t know why I couldn’t find that cart...no biggie. I kept seeing another cart in Fantasyland near 7DMT directing people back out to the Hub and found it odd that there wouldn’t be one in FL.

I walked to the HUB mid event considering getting an empty castle shot, and while definitely less busy, there was still lines at least 5-6 people at each PP


----------



## snowglobe

There last night, got in at 6:25.  
Did Jungle Cruise, Pirates, HM with FP before 9
First ride at 9 was Big Thunder, about 10 min wait
Snacks in Liberty Square, line about 20 people
PP with 5 min wait
Pooh with 3 min wait
Did 7DMT in 12 min
Little Mermaid not running
Dumbo walk on
Tea Cups not running
Space, People Mover, Buzz walk on
Snacks in Tomorrowland, line about 15 people
Back to Pirates, walk on, empty Adventureland

More people than I expected until 11-12. Then it got magical. It was so quiet, no pushing, shoving, screaming, crying. The music sounded like it’s supposed to.  People walked slower. NO STROLLERS! The park seemed bigger without the crowds.

Great time


----------



## captaindavidhook

Haley R said:


> In the park? Personally, I wouldn’t make any Adrs if you’re going to dah. It would take up a lot of time. We either eat at 4 pm or grab a quick dinner in the park.


 I had dinner reservations but I decided that I rather have counter service at Magic Kingdom and then I will have dessert through the night.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

AngiTN said:


> I have no official knowledge but if I didn't know any better I'd guess tonight (2/14) is a sold out event. It's been the most crowded of any we've done. No extensive waits but no empty rides either. All vehicles have been full.



I kept watching the website all day/night, but it never showed sold out - for whatever that is worth.

I kind of figured last night would be among the more crowded nights... V-Day, Thursday before a holiday weeekend.  Not that it’s scientific, but it’s the #1 or #2 top night on the guest list.   And this same night last year sold out 7 days in advance. 

We did the Thursday before President’s Day in Feb 2017 and that night had a more crowded ‘feeling’ than the 2 or 3 we’ve done since - mostly no/low waits but never that true ‘empty park’ feeling.  

Did Small World slow down for you?


----------



## Ils

We did it last night and i felt it was busier then we had expected. We managed Laugh floor, people mover, pirates and Splash before 9pm. BTM 10 min wait, went and got ice cream and drink outside HM. Youngest didn't want to to do HM, so moved on to IASW which was walk on. Then on to Pan... 15 min wait, Winnie.. Walk on. SDMT was posted at 25 mins but took 15 mins and would add I actually really enjoyed it... Such a smooth ride. On to little mermaid where we were the only family I saw. Barnstormer.. Walk on..an awful ride. Then got some Popcorn and in to SM which was the highlight of the night when my 5 year old just managed to hit the height bar and celebrated like he won the lottery. Left park at 11.41 as my youngest feel asleep on my shoulders. 

All in all a very enjoyable night even if it felt busier then I expected. The only two rides we missed were JC and HM but get a full park day next Thursday so will capture them then.


----------



## AngiTN

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I kept watching the website all day/night, but it never showed sold out - for whatever that is worth.
> 
> I kind of figured last night would be among the more crowded nights... V-Day, Thursday before a holiday weeekend.  Not that it’s scientific, but it’s the #1 or #2 top night on the guest list.   And this same night last year sold out 7 days in advance.
> 
> We did the Thursday before President’s Day in Feb 2017 and that night had a more crowded ‘feeling’ than the 2 or 3 we’ve done since - mostly no/low waits but never that true ‘empty park’ feeling.
> 
> Did Small World slow down for you?


Hah, no idea, we didn't ride again

Another comparison is our bus back to PO resorts, standing room only. And this was 30 min after the end because we jumped in line to see Mickey and Minnie at 11:59 to a posted 30 min wait and that how long it took

As for our night
We got to the park at 8:00 on the nose, HEA just started. 
Took the bypass in and DH wanted to do Buzz, a walk on. 
Then we did PM and Philarmagic
Walked up towards Small World and it was our first ride at 9:00, walked right on. 
Came out to do PP, like a 5 min wait. 
Got snacks outside HM and rode it, waited 1 min to enter lobby, no wait when we exited elevator. 
Got popcorn and headed over for two rides on BTMR. Only wait was for the train to pull up and is to load. We were able to next car but each car was full. One ride we had to wait for them to pull a car of the track
Off to do pirates and again walked right on to next boat, which was full
More snacks and then jungle cruise. Or boat got full but it took a few min. Side note, there was was I assume to be a supervisor evaluating our skipper. She was right beside us and doing it all right out in the open. She had a form that was several pages long with bullet points on it and she'd check or x them out. Some was him some was the ride itself. We thought he did very well
It was 11:30 by now and I wanted to pop in the store on Main St
Headed out and saw an old photo op next to where they do the silhouette photos. It was some Valentine theme thing. Took a photo through a frame of red and white Mickey shaped lights. We got one of those. Turned out to be better in concept than execution. By then it was a couple minutes to midnight which took us to our meet with M&M

The rides we skipped were by our choice we've done them all hundreds of times


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

AngiTN said:


> I have no official knowledge but if I didn't know any better I'd guess tonight (2/14) is a sold out event. It's been the most crowded of any we've done. No extensive waits but no empty rides either. All vehicles have been full.


Agreed, we were also there last night and at times it actually seemed a bit crowded.   We had fun, but 7DMT was definitely never a walk on.  When we went last year we never had to go through the que.  We had a great time though!
There was also a fun Valentine's photo op with Cinderella's coach.  That was fun.


----------



## KSL

Sounds like last night was a blast, even if somewhat more crowded than other DAHs.  I'm taking my 14yo DD next Thursday and it will be a surprise for her; I'm so excited.    I can't believe I've managed to keep the surprise this long, and now I'm not sure of what fun way to finally tell her.  Ah well, I'm lucky to have such problems.  Thanks everyone for taking the time to share how your nights went!


----------



## Iowamomof4

As someone who is waiting and hoping but starting to get discouraged about Disney adding new dates for this event, I'm actually glad last night's event was closer to a sellout. With the very low attendance people have been reporting lately, I was starting to worry Disney would decide they weren't making enough money on these events and discontinue them. It still could happen, but if attendance through the rest of Feb and March is stronger, then maybe there's still hope.


----------



## Randomsoulshine

Has there been a definitive answer as to whether you can book fast passes for the time leading up to the event. Say a fast pass at 7 and one at 8 for a DAH that starts at 9. Assuming we don’t have tickets for the regular park day. If we have two days of Disney tickets and one after hours booked and we plan to go to Epcot then do DAH then do hS. Can we fast pass anything for the DAH without interruption to the other two days of fast passes? Or is this still in a confused state and different people have different experiences?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Randomsoulshine said:


> Has there been a definitive answer as to whether you can book fast passes for the time leading up to the event. Say a fast pass at 7 and one at 8 for a DAH that starts at 9. Assuming we don’t have tickets for the regular park day. If we have two days of Disney tickets and one after hours booked and we plan to go to Epcot then do DAH then do hS. Can we fast pass anything for the DAH without interruption to the other two days of fast passes? Or is this still in a confused state and different people have different experiences?



From the FAQ post:

*FPs with a DAH Ticket*

FPs are not available during the DAH event, all rides are standby only.
DAH tickets will allow for FP booking during regular park hours, so - if you have no other FPs booked that day - one could book FPs with a DAH ticket during the regular park hours before the event.
HOWEVER, there can be issues when doing this, as has been happening for some people with MNSSHP and MVMCP events since 2017. Booking FPs with DAH tickets in combination with certain trip details/configurations can potentially cause Disney's system to flag your account for insufficient ticket entitlements and you will receive a warning that your last day of FPs will be cancelled if you do not address the problem.
Who and exactly why people get this warning remains elusive.
Bottom line - if you choose to book FPs with your DAH ticket entitlement and you have FPs booked on other days with regular park admission - you have some potential risk of receiving this warning... so keep an eye out.


----------



## maryj11

Iowamomof4 said:


> As someone who is waiting and hoping but starting to get discouraged about Disney adding new dates for this event, I'm actually glad last night's event was closer to a sellout. With the very low attendance people have been reporting lately, I was starting to worry Disney would decide they weren't making enough money on these events and discontinue them. It still could happen, but if attendance through the rest of Feb and March is stronger, then maybe there's still hope.


I hope so! I'm getting discouraged waiting and waiting. I'm also frustrated because I like to have my plans all set by now with what days to make FP and dining reservations. I check everyday, a couple times a day actually.


----------



## dbb727

Two observations that may help those with young children attending the event:


Ils said:


> Then got some Popcorn and in to SM which was the highlight of the night when my 5 year old just managed to hit the height bar and celebrated like he won the lottery.


Both times I rode Space, a family in front of me had a child that was just shy of the height bar(probably less than an inch). This was checked right before loading and both kiddos seemed incredibly deflated, so good idea to set low expectations or ask to be measured at entrance before that long walk. Both families were offered rider switch. I rode both sides so it was different CMs each time and they were both quite strict.



AngiTN said:


> Another comparison is our bus back to PO resorts, standing room only. And this was 30 min after the end because we jumped in line to see Mickey and Minnie at 11:59 to a posted 30 min wait and that how long it took


I also noted the character lines seemed to be longer wait than rides. Not sure if this is the norm during DAH or a result of lots of families on a holiday weekend. I was interested in Cinderella and Mickey/Minnie M&Gs but after getting in line for each and seeing more than 6people ahead of me (and combined with the fact that splash had ruined my hair) I promptly aborted any photo ops and decided to focus on rides. Still would have been a shorter wait than daytime, but be aware it’ll eat up some time.


----------



## Haley R

dbb727 said:


> Really? I don’t know why I couldn’t find that cart...no biggie. I kept seeing another cart in Fantasyland near 7DMT directing people back out to the Hub and found it odd that there wouldn’t be one in FL.
> 
> I walked to the HUB mid event considering getting an empty castle shot, and while definitely less busy, there was still lines at least 5-6 people at each PP


Yeah it’s just a small cart with ice cream and drinks. It’s kind of hidden behind a wall to the left of 7dmt and across from Winnie the Pooh


----------



## michelepa

I’m thinking of taking my family DH DS (17) and DD  (15) on 3/28

It’s our only time together at a park and we won’t have regular tickets just the EAHtickets

so I was planning on getting to MK around 6:30 and whatever time they let us in start heading back to 7:00 ADR at Skippers because DD loves eating there and this would be our only opportunity this year

Some have posted they would not bother with an ADR on this type of night. I agree when you’re talking about the holiday tickets there’s so many added things to do not to waste time leisurely dining but for DAH it Didn’t seem like a good use of time during busy spring break season to wait on long lines or worry about FP if we could ride rides with min hassle for three hours later on.

After dinner we would buy some things watch fireworks and then start the rides


----------



## Ils

Just to add the Popcorn lines are some of the longest lines at the event and can eat into your time. My lads done well to wait it out until it was later and the line was alot shorter outside of space. Also just to add the Peter Pan line made me a little agitated as the amount of time people would be messing around with the shadow trick on the wall and stalled the line. God knows what delay that can cause during the line on a normal day. I get Disney have tried to make queue lines more interactive but I don't believe they help with flow at all.


----------



## focusondisney

Iowamomof4 said:


> As someone who is waiting and hoping but starting to get discouraged about Disney adding new dates for this event, I'm actually glad last night's event was closer to a sellout. *With the very low attendance people have been reporting lately,* I was starting to worry Disney would decide they weren't making enough money on these events and discontinue them. It still could happen, but if attendance through the rest of Feb and March is stronger, then maybe there's still hope.




I’m not sure what low attendance you have read about. I was there Feb 7th & it wasn’t low attendance. Last year I did Jan 30 & this year was definitely busier.  Now the weather was much better this year than last. But I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if there aren’t sell outs because Disney is inching up the admission numbers. Last year, even with sell outs, people reported feeling the parks were near empty. This year, not selling out, but not many are saying the park feels empty. On our date, it never felt empty, but more like a “level 1” crowd. 

 Personally, I think these are pretty good money makers for Disney. When they first came out with the after hours events a few years ago, the chatter online wasn’t good. No one was going to go.  Now, people are anxiously awaiting new dates.  I think new dates will show up.  Only question is when.


----------



## Iowamomof4

focusondisney said:


> I’m not sure what low attendance you have read about. I was there Feb 7th & it wasn’t low attendance. Last year I did Jan 30 & this year was definitely busier.  Now the weather was much better this year than last. But I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if there aren’t sell outs because Disney is inching up the admission numbers. Last year, even with sell outs, people reported feeling the parks were near empty. This year, not selling out, but not many are saying the park feels empty. On our date, it never felt empty, but more like a “level 1” crowd.
> 
> Personally, I think these are pretty good money makers for Disney. When they first came out with the after hours events a few years ago, the chatter online wasn’t good. No one was going to go.  Now, people are anxiously awaiting new dates.  I think new dates will show up.  Only question is when.



Okay, I shouldn't have said "very low", but I guess the lack of sellouts and perhaps lower attendance at the DHS and AK events is what I was talking about.


----------



## focusondisney

Iowamomof4 said:


> Okay, I shouldn't have said "very low", but I guess the lack of sellouts and perhaps lower attendance at the DHS and AK events is what I was talking about.




 I haven’t done those, but the limited number of attractions at those parks seems to be a reason they may not be as popular.  Plus, after hours at those parks is pretty new. MK is on year 3 (maybe 4?) now.  It might take a little time for it to catch on at those parks. And I don’t see Disney cancelling a successful event at MK just because it isn’t popular at AK or DHS.


----------



## dachsie

I am really hoping for this in May. Any idea when they may release those dates?


----------



## Iowamomof4

dachsie said:


> I am really hoping for this in May. Any idea when they may release those dates?



Join the club! 
No one knows, but people keep checking daily.


----------



## doodlemama

Going to our first After Hours at MK next Thursday. Can anyone speak to the best place to park for our specific situation?  We will be eating at poly at 4pm and plan to take the boat or monorail to MK. Should we park at CR and monorail to Poly for dinner first so we can walk to our car at the end of the evening?  Or better to park at Poly and wait on a ferry to TTC after the After Hours party?  I can valet park at CR or Poly so that isn’t a concern. I am more concerned about the ease of leaving the party and it seems there will not be a resort or express monorail running at the end. Is that correct?  Thanks so much!


----------



## dbb727

doodlemama said:


> Going to our first After Hours at MK next Thursday. Can anyone speak to the best place to park for our specific situation?  We will be eating at poly at 4pm and plan to take the boat or monorail to MK. Should we park at CR and monorail to Poly for dinner first so we can walk to our car at the end of the evening?  Or better to park at Poly and wait on a ferry to TTC after the After Hours party?  I can valet park at CR or Poly so that isn’t a concern. I am more concerned about the ease of leaving the party and it seems there will not be a resort or express monorail running at the end. Is that correct?  Thanks so much!



Correct that neither monorail will be running. There are buses to Poly, GF and CR (I guess for those who can’t walk), or ferry to TTC. You could also park at TTC and take the walking path to the Poly for dinner. 

I’m not sure the logistics of whether you can park at CR, but if you can than YES that would be easiest to just walk back at end of the night. The walk took me about 10min last night,very convenient.


----------



## mamapenguin

Iowamomof4 said:


> Okay, I shouldn't have said "very low", but I guess the lack of sellouts and perhaps lower attendance at the DHS and AK events is what I was talking about.


DHSAH is sold out for tomorrow 2/16.


----------



## Iowamomof4

mamapenguin said:


> DHSAH is sold out for tomorrow 2/16.


Indeed. I was very excited when I saw that.


----------



## Haley R

Iowamomof4 said:


> Indeed. I was very excited when I saw that.


Lol probably the opposite of what most people would say but I understand your reasoning behind it


----------



## Iowamomof4

Haley R said:


> Lol probably the opposite of what most people would say but I understand your reasoning behind it


Yeah. I would have elaborated, but I'm on my phone now. It is good or bad, depending on your point of view.


----------



## cakebaker

Ils said:


> Also just to add the Peter Pan line made me a little agitated as the amount of time people would be messing around with the shadow trick on the wall and stalled the line. God knows what delay that can cause during the line on a normal day. I get Disney have tried to make queue lines more interactive but I don't believe they help with flow at all.



During regular park hours they are a real help to break up the time waiting.PPF standby moves slow and there’s plenty of time to look at each area without slowing down anyone.

PPF is a very sentimental attraction for me. The queue is part of the experience and we love it. On the few times we’ve entered the line and it wasn’t backed up, we waved people past us. It’s my experience that passing those who want to experience the queue is acceptable. Just ask if it’s ok if you go around them. We’ve done it many times at attractions that have interactive queues.


----------



## LovePug

Do they usually have DAH during a holiday week (Easter)?


----------



## Iowamomof4

LovePug said:


> Do they usually have DAH during a holiday week (Easter)?



They haven't so far that I can think of.


----------



## iujen94

LovePug said:


> Do they usually have DAH during a holiday week (Easter)?



I’m also hoping for Easter week DAH. They traditionally haven’t had DAH during Presidents’ Week, but they are this year, so I’m holding out hope for Easter week too!


----------



## slduck

mamapenguin said:


> DHSAH is sold out for tomorrow 2/16.


I am interested in the crowd report from a sell out crowd!


----------



## TNickell27

We attended the 2/14 event. I enjoyed it! However I will say the park didn't ever feel empty to me. Most of all of the rides were walk-on except PP & SDMT. We waited about 10-15 min each for those. But we rode everything we wanted and could have done some of them multiple times but that wasn't really my objective. The character meets, photo ops & snack carts all had long lines. Adventureland & Tomorrowland were the most empty parts of the park, as well as the area near Gaston's Tavern. It was nice to slowly walk around those areas and enjoy how quiet it was! Fantasyland felt crowded to me the majority of the night. We stayed until 11:45pm. I'm sure if I had held out a little longer I could have gotten some empty Main Street photos but I was just too tired! Haha! Overall, a great event and I would most likely do it again simply because you can accomplish SO much in a short amount of time. Everything I would do in a normal day at MK I was able to do in less than 3 hours! That's money well spent, my friends. Plus, there were FAR less strollers to navigate around


----------



## dtrain

If event goers can enter the park around 7pm regardless of DAH start time, it stands to reason that the 10pm-1am tickets provide the best value...or am I missing something?  Are those dates more crowded as a result, or maybe less due to the late night hours?  We have April 4th booked and are really excited, especially since we're doing Disneyland After Dark 90's night on March 7th and get to compare them as these are our first after hours events.


----------



## Disney Frenhines

Add me to this list for March 21st.  First chance I've had to do this since the original DAH way back when.  I cannot wait!


----------



## mollygirl13

DH and I attended the 2/14 event. 
We arrived at 6:45. We decided to do a few attractions before watching HEA.
Watched Fireworks at Pooh attraction and it was really nice. We have seen HEA many times and we decided to forgo the huge crowds on Main Street. Excellent decision on our part! 
Got to BTMRR at 8:45 and we waited until 9 pm on the dot to be let in the FP line. 
We rode everything we wanted with zero waits and even had our own private Jungle Cruise ride! That will be a memory we won’t soon forget. We also had our own boat on IASW. 
Fantasyland was def where lots of folks were. Pan and Mine Train were consistently 20-25 min each time we passed but we have done those numerous times so we did other things.  
Treat lines were long but we never waited more than 5-6 min. The Cast Members at the food carts were def hustling! Always smiling and working really fast. Only got one popcorn, drink and Ice cream as we had dinner before we arrived. Weather was really nice. 
We have been to 2 other MK After Hours Events the past 2 years and the 2/14 event seemed more crowded but we really didn’t wait at all for anything. We really had a blast and it was well worth it for us! We got tired around 11:30 and headed down Main Street. It was very magical since it was our last evening and it wasn’t too crowded (compared to 4 hours earlier!!) We got some great Photopass photos and took our own photos as well. Took it all in for the last half hour and then walked to the busses.


----------



## slduck

dtrain said:


> If event goers can enter the park around 7pm regardless of DAH start time, it stands to reason that the 10pm-1am tickets provide the best value...or am I missing something?  Are those dates more crowded as a result, or maybe less due to the late night hours?  We have April 4th booked and are really excited, especially since we're doing Disneyland After Dark 90's night on March 7th and get to compare them as these are our first after hours events.


That is exactly what I was thinking. Fireworks + fewer strollers


----------



## GADisneyDad14

dtrain said:


> If event goers can enter the park around 7pm regardless of DAH start time, it stands to reason that the 10pm-1am tickets provide the best value...or am I missing something?  Are those dates more crowded as a result, or maybe less due to the late night hours?  We have April 4th booked and are really excited, especially since we're doing Disneyland After Dark 90's night on March 7th and get to compare them as these are our first after hours events.



Yes, the 10-1am nights have the most ‘value’ if you’re looking to max park time and have no other tickets.

My general opinion is that for every person that buys a DAH ticket on a 10-1am event night with no other park tickets purchased that day because it allows for max 7pm-1am park time, there are just as many that have other ticket circumstances... have an AP, already have park tickets/hoppers that day, etc...that may not necessarily try to max out that 7pm-10pm time and are purely there more for the DAH part.

Then you have people like me where 10pm-1am is less appealing as it’s more of a stretch to keep my kids (8 and 4) up that late.   8-11 or 9-12 is a better fit for us.  And for every family like me there’s a night owl family who specifically wants those later hours. 

I guess point being, lots of people on different agendas with different motivations.  

Enjoy your cross-continent after hours events!  How fun.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

Yep, different strokes for different folks! 
I thought I wouldn't make it until midnight, lol!  Not the kiddo...
And to think, I used to trip the light fantastic!
Now, I'm happily tucked in at 8 pm, lol.


----------



## focusondisney

TNickell27 said:


> We attended the 2/14 event. I enjoyed it! However I will say the park didn't ever feel empty to me. Most of all of the rides were walk-on except PP & SDMT. We waited about 10-15 min each for those.





mollygirl13 said:


> We have been to 2 other MK After Hours Events the past 2 years and the 2/14 event seemed more crowded but we really didn’t wait at all for anything.



I went to the Feb 7th event & thought it was busier than last year too. Many people who have been before are saying this year’s events seem a bit busier. Couple that with the fact that none have been listed as sold out, I would bet Disney has increased the number of tickets sold. They never promised an “empty” park, just low wait times. So far, we are still getting that.  I hope they don’t push it too far.


----------



## maryj11

focusondisney said:


> I went to the Feb 7th event & thought it was busier than last year too. Many people who have been before are saying this year’s events seem a bit busier. Couple that with the fact that none have been listed as sold out, I would bet Disney has increased the number of tickets sold. They never promised an “empty” park, just low wait times. So far, we are still getting that.  I hope they don’t push it too far.


That's what I'm afraid of, is they will push it to far. It would not be worth it if they start selling to many tickets.


----------



## Haley R

maryj11 said:


> That's what I'm afraid of, is they will push it to far. It would not be worth it if they start selling to many tickets.


I would hope people would stop going if they push it too far but that doesn’t seem to be happening with the Halloween and Christmas parties. Although dah only has mostly rides so maybe people would stop going if it was too busy?


----------



## dtrain

We just made FP+ selections for our DAH event night starting at 10pm April 4th.  Got Peter Pan, Big Thunder and 7 Dwarves between the hours of 7-10pm.  We have no standard park tickets for this day, but have them for the following 2 days which we have completed our FP+ selections for as well.  The DAH ticket is linked to our account, so I’ll update if we get a threatening email from the Dis overlords.


----------



## Marv_barr

Quick question for the DAH do you still have to pay for parking at the park?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Marv_barr said:


> Quick question for the DAH do you still have to pay for parking at the park?



If you are not a resort guest or AP, then yes. 

Depending on what time you arrive, you may find the pay stations un-staffed.  If so, enjoy your free parking.  

But I’d expect to pay and anything less will be a bonus.


----------



## Syndrome

Just booked DAH for 3/7 .
This was supposed to be a non-park trip for us , but .........
Decided on 1 day at Epcot for the opening day of Spring and Garden on 3/6 , and then we just had to make plans for MK for a day as well . Decided on DAH 3/7 instead of another park day . Cost was slightly less with our DVC DAH discount for one night MK DAH , and 1 day at Epcot instead of 2 park days . 

Already booked FP for our Epcot day, and booked 3 FP for MK before the DAH party starts . If they get canceled , we dont really care as we want to eat at Sleepy Hollow before DAH starts , and see HEA as well . A few FP rides before DAH would just be a bonus !
We are staying at Boulder Ridge , so that makes it easy (other than having to take a bus back after the event , instead of the boat !)
Hoping for a 6:30 entry !


----------



## SpaceMtnGirl

Marv_barr said:


> Quick question for the DAH do you still have to pay for parking at the park?



Just our experience from earlier this month... at MK DAH, we arrived around 6:30 and there were no parking attendants present. At DHS DAH, we arrived at 7:45 (15 minutes til park close) and they were still there & charging for parking. Mileage may vary!


----------



## AngiTN

Ils said:


> Just to add the Popcorn lines are some of the longest lines at the event and can eat into your time. My lads done well to wait it out until it was later and the line was alot shorter outside of space. *Also just to add the Peter Pan line made me a little agitated as the amount of time people would be messing around with the shadow trick on the wall and stalled the line.* *God knows what delay that can cause during the line on a normal day. I get Disney have tried to make queue lines more interactive but I don't believe they help with flow at all.*


Nothing stopping you from going around the folks who want to stop to play in the line
Besides that, 99% of the time, there are still people in line in front of them waiting to board so they aren't holding you up from boarding, they are just making a gap. And in the end, there's no delay for any one


----------



## Haley R

AngiTN said:


> Nothing stopping you from going around the folks who want to stop to play in the line
> Besides that, 99% of the time, there are still people in line in front of them waiting to board so they are holding you up from boarding, they are just making a gap. And in the end, there's no delay for any one


I’ve seen bigger gaps from people hypnotized by their phones that were completely oblivious to how far ahead the line had moved (I’m talking about you lady at frozen and other lady at Mexico pavilion ride). The situation at the Mexico ride was so bad the cm had to ask the lady to keep moving forward


----------



## sdk1231

Silliest question ever, I know, but seriously, how cool is DAH MK?  I'm kind of a fan of special events and am planning a short trip with my 18 year old daughter.  We've been to all of the parties (repeatedly), 4th of July, NYE (twice), Flower & Garden, etc. We've done Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland a couple of times and loved it.  Reading through this (excellent) post, it sure looks overwhelmingly like people love DAH.  I'd do a resort day and go into the park at 7pm for the fireworks and the event.  You all really think it's a "must try"???


----------



## Iowamomof4

sdk1231 said:


> Silliest question ever, I know, but seriously, how cool is DAH MK?  I'm kind of a fan of special events and am planning a short trip with my 18 year old daughter.  We've been to all of the parties (repeatedly), 4th of July, NYE (twice), Flower & Garden, etc. We've done Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland a couple of times and loved it.  Reading through this (excellent) post, it sure looks overwhelmingly like people love DAH.  I'd do a resort day and go into the park at 7pm for the fireworks and the event.  You all really think it's a "must try"???



Paging @Haley R Why don't you take this one? How many trips have you booked specifically for DAH?? lol


----------



## focusondisney

sdk1231 said:


> Silliest question ever, I know, but seriously, how cool is DAH MK?  I'm kind of a fan of special events and am planning a short trip with my 18 year old daughter.  We've been to all of the parties (repeatedly), 4th of July, NYE (twice), Flower & Garden, etc. We've done Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland a couple of times and loved it.  Reading through this (excellent) post, it sure looks overwhelmingly like people love DAH.  I'd do a resort day and go into the park at 7pm for the fireworks and the event.  You all really think it's a "must try"???



Absolutely!! We have been twice, planning those trips specifically to do DAH.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

sdk1231 said:


> Silliest question ever, I know, but seriously, how cool is DAH MK?  I'm kind of a fan of special events and am planning a short trip with my 18 year old daughter.  We've been to all of the parties (repeatedly), 4th of July, NYE (twice), Flower & Garden, etc. We've done Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland a couple of times and loved it.  Reading through this (excellent) post, it sure looks overwhelmingly like people love DAH.  I'd do a resort day and go into the park at 7pm for the fireworks and the event.  You all really think it's a "must try"???



As my kids are getting older we're doing more multiple small trips (2-4 days) vs one or two week long trips.  A trip that includes something like DAH is a great way to get in some max park time on what is otherwise a short trip.  

Nothing at Disney in my opinion is a "must try" - but there are certainly some appealing benefits if you enjoy 'special events' like you say.


----------



## sdk1231

GADisneyDad14 said:


> As my kids are getting older we're doing more multiple small trips (2-4 days) vs one or two week long trips.  A trip that includes something like DAH is a great way to get in some max park time on what is otherwise a short trip.
> 
> Nothing at Disney in my opinion is a "must try" - but there are certainly some appealing benefits if you enjoy 'special events' like you say.


Excellent - thanks to all for the answers.  Same here, in recent years with older kids, doing more multiple small trips.  I think your point about maximizing time (and doing a special event) is a great one. Since my dates are fairly flexible, I think I'll plan around a DAH date, and will probably stay at the Contemporary that night.  Thans again, GADisneyDad14 for this very helpful thread, and for your prompt response.


----------



## NYCANC

sdk1231 said:


> Silliest question ever, I know, but seriously, how cool is DAH MK?  I'm kind of a fan of special events and am planning a short trip with my 18 year old daughter.  We've been to all of the parties (repeatedly), 4th of July, NYE (twice), Flower & Garden, etc. We've done Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland a couple of times and loved it.  Reading through this (excellent) post, it sure looks overwhelmingly like people love DAH.  I'd do a resort day and go into the park at 7pm for the fireworks and the event.  You all really think it's a "must try"???



YES! We loved it! We would book it every time!


----------



## NYCANC

GADisneyDad14 said:


> As my kids are getting older we're doing more multiple small trips (2-4 days) vs one or two week long trips.  A trip that includes something like DAH is a great way to get in some max park time on what is otherwise a short trip.
> 
> Nothing at Disney in my opinion is a "must try" - but there are certainly some appealing benefits if you enjoy 'special events' like you say.



Same here- kids are now 11 and 13. This last trip was late Wednesday night to Monday. We have never gone for such a short amount of time before but it was great! What made it extra special was doing DAH. We always want to spend the most time in MK and with DAH, we got to ride everything we wanted and had another full day at MK to enjoy the park at a slower pace. It was perfect.


----------



## cadien

sdk1231 said:


> You all really think it's a "must try"???



After we did it, my husband said we have to plan all our trips around DAH from now on.

This was our first trip to WDW. As a Disneyland loyalist from L.A., he didn't even want to go. And now he can't wait to go back. That's how much he loved DAH.


----------



## whiporee

I'd do it quick, though. The crowds are creeping up as more and more people find out about it (and WDW gets a better feel for actual levels and line resistance). We're going in March, and it wouldn't surprise me to see those crowds double what they were last June. That's the way it works there -- something starts super awesome, people talk about how awesome it is, other people find out about it and want a piece of the awesome, WDW figures out just how far to stretch the attendance to figure out the acceptable range of awesome, and then a little bit more, and then the event, which started super awesome, is now pretty darn good.

Even at that level, it will be a good way to experience the parks, especially with older kids who just want to ride ride ride. However,  I fear the multiple-without-out-getting-off and no-one-else-on-the-train days are already gone. Still, it'll probably consistently never be more than a five-minute wait for Space, or 15 for 7DMT, and compared to a regular day, that's, well, awesome. And instead of the question "is it worth it?" being answered with a round of "oh my God YES!"es, it'll turn into the same kind of conversations we have about, say, the desert parties -- some love it, some think it's a waste, some fondly remember the good ol' days and look with regret. 

So if you'd like to check it out, don't wait. Because the longer it goes on, the comparatively less it will probably be.


----------



## snowglobe

Ils said:


> Just to add the Popcorn lines are some of the longest lines at the event and can eat into your time. My lads done well to wait it out until it was later and the line was alot shorter outside of space. Also just to add the Peter Pan line made me a little agitated as the amount of time people would be messing around with the shadow trick on the wall and stalled the line. God knows what delay that can cause during the line on a normal day. I get Disney have tried to make queue lines more interactive but I don't believe they help with flow at all.



If Disney is reading this....the snack carts need to be re-imagined. Takes way too long for a limited menu of 6-7 prepackaged items and no payment. Should be a monitored grab and go. Saw a CM having to tear open a cardboard box with her hands, and another CM dig, dig, digging a Diet Coke out of the ice with a scoop. Need a better menu sign that can be read in the dark.


----------



## Haley R

sdk1231 said:


> Silliest question ever, I know, but seriously, how cool is DAH MK?  I'm kind of a fan of special events and am planning a short trip with my 18 year old daughter.  We've been to all of the parties (repeatedly), 4th of July, NYE (twice), Flower & Garden, etc. We've done Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland a couple of times and loved it.  Reading through this (excellent) post, it sure looks overwhelmingly like people love DAH.  I'd do a resort day and go into the park at 7pm for the fireworks and the event.  You all really think it's a "must try"???


I absolutely think dah is worth it. We’ve planned two trips around dah and both were last minute trips. I’m talking two weeks or less before we left. Our favorite dah is mk but hs was a super close second. We like to pair dah with another full mk day so during our full day we can take things so much slower and do more of the long attractions and shows. 

Our first dah was last March and happened to coincide with us taking our 9 yo niece on her first Disney trip. She still talks about getting to stay in the park late and ride things over and over


----------



## AngiTN

snowglobe said:


> If Disney is reading this....the snack carts need to be re-imagined. Takes way too long for a limited menu of 6-7 prepackaged items and no payment. Should be a monitored grab and go. Saw a CM having to tear open a cardboard box with her hands, and another CM dig, dig, digging a Diet Coke out of the ice with a scoop. Need a better menu sign that can be read in the dark.


We found that at both the AK and HS events they were laying out the snacks and drinks for you to walk up and grab. They didn't at MK but there were so many more places to get them it didn't seem to be much of a problem. Never took more than 2 min even with 6, 7 people in line

Though to be honest it was warm our HS night and the ice creams got too soft for my tastes. I prefer it when the leave it in the case


----------



## GoofyJayDawg

Apologies if this question has already been asked, but any idea when the summer after hours schedule will be released?  We're going in July and just wanted to make appropriate plans.  Thank you!


----------



## Iowamomof4

GoofyJayDawg said:


> Apologies if this question has already been asked, but any idea when the summer after hours schedule will be released?  We're going in July and just wanted to make appropriate plans.  Thank you!



No one knows, but subscribing to this thread is one of the easiest ways to keep track! As soon as someone discovers dates added, they'll post here and our illustrious moderator will spread the word far and wide!


----------



## Stefani P.

So, I see they only had 1 of these events in Sept last year. I am going in Sept. I probably shouldn't hold my breath? 

Is that because they start the Halloween party in Sept?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Stefani P. said:


> So, I see they only had 1 of these events in Sept last year. I am going in Sept. I probably shouldn't hold my breath?
> 
> Is that because they start the Halloween party in Sept?



While no one knows Disney’s logic, I suspect MNSSHP has much to do with it.  With roughly 1/2 the month being party nights, then another typically 4-5 nights being PM EMHs, and then with most MK DAH dates being on a weeknight, you start to run out of available dates pretty quickly.

But who knows what they’ll do this year.  I always thought a few DAH dates sprinkled over what is sometimes a slightly lower crowd month would be a good idea.  But what do I know! 

FWIW, I was at the 9/20 event last year and it was great!


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

Iowamomof4 said:


> No one knows, but subscribing to this thread is one of the easiest ways to keep track! As soon as someone discovers dates added, they'll post here and our illustrious moderator will spread the word far and wide!


TRUTH!!!
All the (Disney) news that's fit to print shows up here within minutes of going live!


----------



## Stefani P.

GADisneyDad14 said:


> While no one knows Disney’s logic, I suspect MNSSHP has much to do with it.  With roughly 1/2 the month being party nights, then another typically 4-5 nights being PM EMHs, and then with most MK DAH dates being on a weeknight, you start to run out of available dates pretty quickly.
> 
> But who knows what they’ll do this year.  I always thought a few DAH dates sprinkled over what is sometimes a slightly lower crowd month would be a good idea.  But what do I know!
> 
> FWIW, I was at the 9/20 event last year and it was great!




Because we really want a late night in MK, I went ahead and bought tix to the Halloween party a night of our stay.  We have done it before and absolutely loved it. 
But I really want to try this dah sometime


----------



## E.Jane

sdk1231 said:


> Silliest question ever, I know, but seriously, how cool is DAH MK?  I'm kind of a fan of special events and am planning a short trip with my 18 year old daughter.  We've been to all of the parties (repeatedly), 4th of July, NYE (twice), Flower & Garden, etc. We've done Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland a couple of times and loved it.  Reading through this (excellent) post, it sure looks overwhelmingly like people love DAH.  I'd do a resort day and go into the park at 7pm for the fireworks and the event.  You all really think it's a "must try"???



It is definitely a "MUST"!!! We have visited WDW 7 times now, always in January or first week of February, and we have become very disheartened with how busy the parks all are now.  We always have a touring plan, and while they work to a degree, we get very edgy trying to walk through shoulder-to-shoulder crowds and usually end up leaving the park by 1pm.  DAH, however, is exactly how we love the parks - no hustling through crowds, easy-pace, no ridiculous 3 hour lines. We loved it so much that our next trip will be ONLY after-hour events. Unless of course they start inching up the number of tickets they sell (which wouldn't surprise me at all).


----------



## Stefani P.

E.Jane said:


> Unless of course they start inching up the number of tickets they sell (which wouldn't surprise me at all).




Selling more tickets to these events is something that wouldn't surprise me. But I sure hope Disney doesn't start that!


----------



## WRLeGrand

Just wondering if anyone knew the when they released the dates for summer of 2018? I know it can be completely random/arbitrary, but our family was really hoping to add this for a night in July (if it is taking place). I get it is a special event, but it makes it difficult to make a plan, which we have come so accustomed to doing!!


----------



## AntJulie

WRLeGrand said:


> Just wondering if anyone knew the when they released the dates for summer of 2018? I know it can be completely random/arbitrary, but our family was really hoping to add this for a night in July (if it is taking place). I get it is a special event, but it makes it difficult to make a plan, which we have come so accustomed to doing!!



Not sure when dates were released but tickets were available to purchase 5/2/18:

*2018 June-September DAH Dates / Times*
_Tickets Went on Sale: May 2, 2018_


----------



## GADisneyDad14

AntJulie said:


> Not sure when dates were released but tickets were available to purchase 5/2/18:
> 
> *2018 June-September DAH Dates / Times*
> _Tickets Went on Sale: May 2, 2018_



They were announced and went on sale that same day, if I'm not mistaken.


----------



## WRLeGrand

AntJulie said:


> Not sure when dates were released but tickets were available to purchase 5/2/18:
> 
> *2018 June-September DAH Dates / Times*
> _Tickets Went on Sale: May 2, 2018_




Thank you so much! Hate to have to wait that long, but I guess it is what it is...

July 6th is what I am hoping for!


----------



## Iowamomof4

WRLeGrand said:


> Thank you so much! Hate to have to wait that long, but I guess it is what it is...
> 
> July 6th is what I am hoping for!



I, for one, am really hoping they don't wait THAT long to release new dates, because that would likely mean they aren't adding dates in May and I would be SO SAD!


----------



## disneydreamer781

Haley R said:


> Omg Dh is driving me insane. We both agreed after our October WDW trip we would be done with Disney for awhile, but today he said we need to start planning our trip to do all 3 DAH events! I want to go so bad, but do we need to? lol



You're not alone! Was going to skip 2019 but just booked a Halloween trip for this year. Oh boy!  I'm just hoping there are some DAH dates for October this year!


----------



## dreamer17555

I am hoping for May dates but it's not looking great... Fingers crossed. I am guessing if announced based on previous info we would hear by at least mid March?


----------



## Iowamomof4

dreamer17555 said:


> I am hoping for May dates but it's not looking great... Fingers crossed. I am guessing if announced based on previous info we would hear by at least mid March?



That seems reasonable. Anything is possible though.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

The whole 'release date' pattern is murky at best, from my perspective.  I continue to think the answer is "whenever Disney feels like it."


----------



## TheFloatingBear

But we can always count on you to have a chart to break it down for us, @GADisneyDad14!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Still, other than the first and second release dates, they've all been released >50 days ahead of the first one in a given group. So once I'm within 6-7 weeks of my trip, if they haven't released dates for then, I think I'll start planning as if they won't.


----------



## heath92681

We are planning 4 days at Universal in May.  I just might be able to convince myself that a pool day followed by a DAH event would be worth it!


----------



## slduck

Ticket Help Question???  So I ordered my DAH  tickets. They show up in on my "tickets tab" in the MDE, but there is no number to enter so that I can book FP+.  The number from the confirmation email doesn't work.  This is the only Disney ticket that I currently have. How do I get these tickets entered?


----------



## Lsdolphin

I went to the DAH last Aug 30th from 9:00-12:00 and was hoping to go again this year that last Thurs in Aug.   however I just got MK hours update for Aug.29th and they have extended hours until 10:00pm! So wondering if that means No DAH for sure...


----------



## Iowamomof4

Lsdolphin said:


> I went to the DAH last Aug 30th from 9:00-12:00 and was hoping to go again this year that last Thurs in Aug.   however I just got MK hours update for Aug.29th and they have extended hours until 10:00pm! So wondering if that means No DAH for sure...



They've had DAH from 10-1 before.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Lsdolphin said:


> I went to the DAH last Aug 30th from 9:00-12:00 and was hoping to go again this year that last Thurs in Aug.   however I just got MK hours update for Aug.29th and they have extended hours until 10:00pm! So wondering if that means No DAH for sure...



If they just updated that day to 10pm, that is a major sign DAH dates might be around the corner.  They update the park calendar on DAH dates around/just before they come out with dates.

And almost all of the summer dates last year were 10pm-1am.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Although thinking through this, 8/29 is beyond the 180 window.  Where did you get the notice from?  Touring Plans?   That might just be TP updating whatever prelim info they have.


----------



## Lsdolphin

GADisneyDad14 said:


> If they just updated that day to 10pm, that is a major sign DAH dates might be around the corner.  They update the park calendar on DAH dates around/just before they come out with dates.
> 
> And almost all of the summer dates last year were 10pm-1am.




I just got update email from TP this morning!  So then I have hope for DAH on that last Thurs in August!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Lsdolphin said:


> I went to the DAH last Aug 30th from 9:00-12:00 and was hoping to go again this year that last Thurs in Aug.   however I just got MK hours update for Aug.29th and they have extended hours until 10:00pm! So wondering if that means No DAH for sure...





GADisneyDad14 said:


> If they just updated that day to 10pm, that is a major sign DAH dates might be around the corner.  They update the park calendar on DAH dates around/just before they come out with dates.
> 
> And almost all of the summer dates last year were 10pm-1am.



I'm guessing Lsdolphin has Touring Plans and just got an hours update. August 29 is the furthest out TP goes in actual hours from Disney. August 30 still has hours listed as "estimates," so I don't think this actually means anything.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Although thinking through this, 8/29 is beyond the 180 window.  Where did you get the notice from?  Touring Plans?   That might just be TP updating whatever prelim info they have.



Yes, this is all it is. TP now has REAL hours from Disney vs. just estimates.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Yeah, upon further review I agree.  If that had been the only date that week with 10pm closing it’d be a better clue, but probably false alarm.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, upon further review I agree.  If that had been the only date that week with 10pm closing it’d be a better clue, but probably false alarm.



No worries, we're all so anxious for new news about this!


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, upon further review I agree.  If that had been the only date that week with 10pm closing it’d be a better clue, but probably false alarm.



I'll be sure to let you know if I get any hours updates for my May trip though! So far, MK is still closing at 9 every.single.stinkin'.day! *Not including evening emh.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

slduck said:


> Ticket Help Question???  So I ordered my DAH  tickets. They show up in on my "tickets tab" in the MDE, but there is no number to enter so that I can book FP+.  The number from the confirmation email doesn't work.  This is the only Disney ticket that I currently have. How do I get these tickets entered?



Interesting.  If you see DAH tickets in your MDE profile, you 'should' be able to book FPs.  You are either experiencing MDE wonkiness, or something else is going on.


----------



## Lsdolphin

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, upon further review I agree.  If that had been the only date that week with 10pm closing it’d be a better clue, but probably false alarm.




Oh well I think many of us are anxious for further DAH dates to be announced...and this thread is where most of us will hear about it first!,,


----------



## eliseisawkward

slduck said:


> Ticket Help Question???  So I ordered my DAH  tickets. They show up in on my "tickets tab" in the MDE, but there is no number to enter so that I can book FP+.  The number from the confirmation email doesn't work.  This is the only Disney ticket that I currently have. How do I get these tickets entered?


The confirmation number would be to add the ticket to MDE, and you said it already appears there so the ticket is linked. Does it have your name under it? You might need to go in and assign it to yourself. If it is assigned to you, then you should be able to book FP as long as you are within your booking window (60 or 30 days). Have you tried both the website and the app?


----------



## slduck

eliseisawkward said:


> The confirmation number would be to add the ticket to MDE, and you said it already appears there so the ticket is linked. Does it have your name under it? You might need to go in and assign it to yourself. If it is assigned to you, then you should be able to book FP as long as you are within your booking window (60 or 30 days). Have you tried both the website and the app?




 I have even called and cannot get them to send the email with the bar code. The woman on the phone was actually kinda of snippy which was shocking. All I have is an email with a confirmation number. No bar code.  I can't book fastpasses with my DAH. I am not staying onsite and have no other tickets.  Just a heads up.


----------



## eliseisawkward

slduck said:


> I have even called and cannot get them to send the email with the bar code. The woman on the phone was actually kinda of snippy which was shocking. All I have is an email with a confirmation number. No bar code.  I can't book fastpasses with my DAH. I am not staying onsite and have no other tickets.  Just a heads up.


You said you can see the ticket in MDE, then it’s already there... no need for a bar code. I don’t have any tickets linked so I can’t show you, but if you go into the tickets and look and can see it you should be able to select it in there are make sure it is added to your name.

Are you within the 30 day FP window for that ticket?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

@slduck - FYI, I was just checking around with a test account I have to which I only have 1 DAH ticket connected to... it'll let me book FPs for that date in question as it normally does.  I'd maybe try Chrome Incognito, log out/back in, etc... and try again.  Sounds like something is a bit off.

Agree that you need to be within 30 days unless you have a resort reservation also linked to your profile.


----------



## Syndrome

slduck said:


> I have even called and cannot get them to send the email with the bar code. The woman on the phone was actually kinda of snippy which was shocking. All I have is an email with a confirmation number. No bar code.  I can't book fastpasses with my DAH. I am not staying onsite and have no other tickets.  Just a heads up.



You are not staying onsite per your quote above .......
Your trip is over 30 days away per your signature .......

SO ........ You will not be able to book any FP until you are 30 days away from your DAH night (which might be 4/11? according to your sig ?)

Mystery Solved !  (unless you are staying at an offsite resort like at Disney Springs area that does have the 60 day FP window ......then its still a mystery !, lol  ! )


----------



## mamapenguin

slduck said:


> I have even called and cannot get them to send the email with the bar code. The woman on the phone was actually kinda of snippy which was shocking. All I have is an email with a confirmation number. No bar code.  I can't book fastpasses with my DAH. I am not staying onsite and have no other tickets.  Just a heads up.


I’m pretty certain that it was a PDF attachment that you have to open and print.


----------



## JenniferYoung44

Patiently waiting for May dates though I’m starting to think it’s unlikely. We are approaching FP day and youd think they would’ve released summer dates by now if they are going to have them.


----------



## mcurrence

Excited for those going tonight!! Hope everyone has a great time! Can't wait to be there one week from today!!!!!


----------



## Jennygt

Waiting to see if there are any June dates


----------



## dachsie

JenniferYoung44 said:


> Patiently waiting for May dates though I’m starting to think it’s unlikely. We are approaching FP day and youd think they would’ve released summer dates by now if they are going to have them.


I am too but the Thursday I will be there, it will be ok if they add after FP for me


----------



## Haley R

Jennygt said:


> Waiting to see if there are any June dates


If there were you would see them on the Disney website. So far we haven’t heard anything about them adding new dates yet.


----------



## iujen94

Will MDE show wait times and (maybe more importantly) temporarily closed rides during DAH?


----------



## Haley R

iujen94 said:


> Will MDE show wait times and (maybe more importantly) temporarily closed rides during DAH?


Yep it will!


----------



## eliseisawkward

iujen94 said:


> Will MDE show wait times and (maybe more importantly) temporarily closed rides during DAH?


It does! The wait times are not super accurate though. It will say 10 min, but you get there and there is no wait.


----------



## georgina

Got in at 6:15! She said they opened the event line at 6. No line, got wristbands right away


----------



## Iowamomof4

It's interesting that it seems like MK consistently gets extra time for their DAH but DHS seems to get a bit more time for their EMM.


----------



## mcurrence

georgina said:


> Got in at 6:15! She said they opened the event line at 6. No line, got wristbands right away


Yay!  Hope you have a great time!  I know it's been iffy to get in before 6:30 but we will probably be there right at 6 next week and take our chances! I'll be sure to report during the event while I'm sitting waiting for the girls!


----------



## georgina

mcurrence said:


> Yay!  Hope you have a great time!  I know it's been iffy to get in before 6:30 but we will probably be there right at 6 next week and take our chances! I'll be sure to report during the event while I'm sitting waiting for the girls!



We did have a great time! I was a bit concerned since it seems to be a busy week. After we got in at 6:15, we wandered over to the Laugh Floor, then Jungle Cruise with a FP, Tiki room, Pirates with a FP, Splash (standby time was listed as 30 at 8:15, only took 10 minutes), then BTMRR with FP. 

At 9 there were a lot of people in BTMRR line, so we got a mickey bar and water and sat down for a bit, then did BTMRR a second time. Headed over to HM (picked up a popcorn and more water along the way), then to PP, which was posted 15 and took that long. 7DMT was 20 min wait, which we did since I wasn’t sure we would be back that way. Then over to SM, which we rode 4 times using the shortcut back. Then the last hour we rode Buzz, Astro Orbiter, Pooh, 7DMT again with a 10 min wait, and the Carousel. I got in everything I wanted to do since this was our only MK day.


----------



## UpstateMick

We just finished the event. Let me begin by would I do it again? Absolutely. We rode Pirates, Jungle, BTMRR, Splash, Tiki Room, HM, PP, Small World, Under the Sea, 7 Dwarfs, TTA, Buzz and Pooh. Got 6-8 diet cokes (brought some home) 3 waters, 6 ice creams, and three popcorns. But...and this is a big BUT, the park is not empty! I did this event last January and there were TONS more people tonight...lines, yes, lines, albeit short, but lines for 7 Dwarfs, PP, Pirates, and some snack carts. There were a lot of people in the park...think old school rope drop before this whole new pre-park opening entrance which has ruined old rope drop strategies. I don’t know how many tickets Disney is selling to these events, but my guess is there were more than 3000 park guests..it never felt “empty” unless you were away from ride areas. If you are thinking unlimited rides on 7 Dwarfs and Peter Pan, know that they both have 15-20 minute waits for most of the night.


----------



## focusondisney

UpstateMick said:


> We just finished the event. Let me begin by would I do it again? Absolutely. We rode Pirates, Jungle, BTMRR, Splash, Tiki Room, HM, PP, Small World, Under the Sea, 7 Dwarfs, TTA, Buzz and Pooh. Got 6-8 diet cokes (brought some home) 3 waters, 6 ice creams, and three popcorns. But...and this is a big BUT, the park is not empty! I did this event last January and there were TONS more people tonight...lines, yes, lines, albeit short, but lines for 7 Dwarfs, PP, Pirates, and some snack carts. There were a lot of people in the park...think old school rope drop before this whole new pre-park opening entrance which has ruined old rope drop strategies. I don’t know how many tickets Disney is selling to these events, but my guess is there were more than 3000 park guests..it never felt “empty” unless you were away from ride areas. If you are thinking unlimited rides on 7 Dwarfs and Peter Pan, know that they both have 15-20 minute waits for most of the night.




This was our experience on the 7th also.  Last year we did Jan 30th. I thought this year had more people too. Now last year it was in the 40’s, this year the weather was so much better, I think low was in the 60s. So I don’t know how much that played into it.  But knowing Disney, I would bet money that they have increased the number of tickets sold.  Especially because the event seems to have more people, but there are no reported sell outs.  Waits of 15 - 20 minutes are pushing the limit for “low waits”  IMO which is what Disney advertises for this event. They don’t promise an empty park, just low waits.   Our event felt like a crowd level 1, not an empty park. So right now I still think it’s great & will continue to do it, especially with an AP discount. But I certainly hope they don’t creep the crowds up much higher.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

focusondisney said:


> This was our experience on the 7th also.  Last year we did Jan 30th. I thought this year had more people too. Now last year it was in the 40’s, this year the weather was so much better, I think low was in the 60s. So I don’t know how much that played into it.  But knowing Disney, I would bet money that they have increased the number of tickets sold.  Especially because the event seems to have more people, but there are no reported sell outs.  Waits of 15 - 20 minutes are pushing the limit for “low waits”  IMO which is what Disney advertises for this event. They don’t promise an empty park, just low waits.   Our event felt like a crowd level 1, not an empty park. So right now I still think it’s great & will continue to do it, especially with an AP discount. But I certainly hope they don’t creep the crowds up much higher.



I agree.  We did last year on 1/26 and this year on 1/17. The first was on a Friday and this year was a Thursday, however it was the holiday weekend. Last year our event was Sold Out but this year it was not, but both myself and my daughter thought it was noticeably more crowded this year on our NOT sold out event night - not that we didn't get a lot of rides in - but that it was more crowded overall. We loved it and would do it again if we had the opportunity and the $, but I agree that waits of 15-20 are pushing the "low wait" limit. 3 hours goes by fast!


----------



## Iowamomof4

The crowd reports are scaring me a bit. I hope going at a lower overall crowd time will help make the crowds lower at DAH as well.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Iowamomof4 said:


> The crowd reports are scaring me a bit. I hope going at a lower overall crowd time will help make the crowds lower at DAH as well.



And maybe time of year impacts it too...I'm not sure when you're traveling - spring maybe? But in January, the park hours are shortened anyway, so maybe the DAH events are more attractive to people since the crowds are less spread out during the regular hours. Plus for me, the earlier event time benefits my family since my kids are young teens - my daughter could never make a 10-1am event - she'd be a puddle! But the trade-off may be a slightly more crowded event. But I'm just speculating, I have no idea!


----------



## Iowamomof4

TheFloatingBear said:


> And maybe time of year impacts it too...I'm not sure when you're traveling - spring maybe? But in January, the park hours are shortened anyway, so maybe the DAH events are more attractive to people since the crowds are less spread out during the regular hours. Plus for me, the earlier event time benefits my family since my kids are young teens - my daughter could never make a 10-1am event - she'd be a puddle! But the trade-off may be a slightly more crowded event. But I'm just speculating, I have no idea!



Yeah, we're going in mid-May. So far, MK is closing at 9 the entire time. Lately, it doesn't seem like they've been as interested in extending hours like they used to, so while I imagine we'll get a few 10:00 closings, I'm not expecting anything later than that.


----------



## Haley R

Iowamomof4 said:


> The crowd reports are scaring me a bit. I hope going at a lower overall crowd time will help make the crowds lower at DAH as well.


I think it also depends on if you’re going where everyone else is going. There are times (I’m looking at you fantasyland) where the park seems more crowded but you’ll get over to Adventureland and it’s barren. We thought our night was pretty good crowd wise. We didn’t ride 7dmt though and pp was closed so nothing we did had a long wait


----------



## iujen94

We were there last night too, and I agree that I was surprised by how many people were there. BUT other than 7DMT (posted 20 minute wait which was a REAL 20 minute wait - we did it once), it didn’t impact us. We did multiple rides on Thunder, Buzz, and Space, and one ride on Splash and one 7DMT. Only 7DMT was anything other than a walk-on or maybe 2 minute wait.  The lines to take a castle picture at the end of the night looked looooong - probably 5-10 groups in each one. Main Street was relatively crowded when we left right after the Kiss Goodnight at 12, so don’t count on an empty castle picture at the end of the night. 

Oh, and I can’t remember who posted about the Space shortcut, but it was awesome!  The walk out and in is soooo long, and we were able to ride 3x in a row in about 20 minutes total. If you’re not sure what the shortcut is - after you look at ride pictures, don’t follow the sign that says “exit to Tomorrowland”.  Head the opposite direction. There’s a pink stripe along the wall - just follow that and it takes you right back to the loading area. If you get confused, just ask the CMs at the unloading area. They’ll direct you. 

Also, FYI - at park close, Space had a 45-minute wait posted (likely inflated). CMs let DAH folks go through the FP line.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

E.Jane said:


> It is definitely a "MUST"!!! We have visited WDW 7 times now, always in January or first week of February, and we have become very disheartened with how busy the parks all are now.  We always have a touring plan, and while they work to a degree, we get very edgy trying to walk through shoulder-to-shoulder crowds and usually end up leaving the park by 1pm.  DAH, however, is exactly how we love the parks - no hustling through crowds, easy-pace, no ridiculous 3 hour lines. We loved it so much that our next trip will be ONLY after-hour events. Unless of course they start inching up the number of tickets they sell (which wouldn't surprise me at all).


THIS^^^
I absolutely want to make our next trip is mostly DAH.  With a possible 1-2 day ticket to see FotLK, and possibly do an Epcot day.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

Quick question???
With DAH tickets, are you able to book a dessert party for HEA?


----------



## Haley R

ConnecticutNonna said:


> Quick question???
> With DAH tickets, are you able to book a dessert party for HEA?


You should be able to


----------



## Haley R

iujen94 said:


> We were there last night too, and I agree that I was surprised by how many people were there. BUT other than 7DMT (posted 20 minute wait which was a REAL 20 minute wait - we did it once), it didn’t impact us. We did multiple rides on Thunder, Buzz, and Space, and one ride on Splash and one 7DMT. Only 7DMT was anything other than a walk-on or maybe 2 minute wait.  The lines to take a castle picture at the end of the night looked looooong - probably 5-10 groups in each one. Main Street was relatively crowded when we left right after the Kiss Goodnight at 12, so don’t count on an empty castle picture at the end of the night.
> 
> Oh, and I can’t remember who posted about the Space shortcut, but it was awesome!  The walk out and in is soooo long, and we were able to ride 3x in a row in about 20 minutes total. If you’re not sure what the shortcut is - after you look at ride pictures, don’t follow the sign that says “exit to Tomorrowland”.  Head the opposite direction. There’s a pink stripe along the wall - just follow that and it takes you right back to the loading area. If you get confused, just ask the CMs at the unloading area. They’ll direct you.
> 
> Also, FYI - at park close, Space had a 45-minute wait posted (likely inflated). CMs let DAH folks go through the FP line.


I just want to add that one side of the SM shortcut has a green line on the wall instead of pink.


----------



## iujen94

ConnecticutNonna said:


> Quick question???
> With DAH tickets, are you able to book a dessert party for HEA?



Yes - anyone can book dining, even if you have no tickets. You just need a ticket to get into the park and access the restaurant/party. Since the dessert party starts around the time they let folks in for DAH, you’ll be fine. Beware, it’s a LOT of food!!  (We just did the dessert party/DAH combo last night)


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

iujen94 said:


> Yes - anyone can book dining, even if you have no tickets. You just need a ticket to get into the park and access the restaurant/party. Since the dessert party starts around the time they let folks in for DAH, you’ll be fine. Beware, it’s a LOT of food!!  (We just did the dessert party/DAH combo last night)


We definitely DON'T go for the food, lol.  I'm not fond of the choices, I really go for the Plaza Garden View.  This last trip was our 5th or 6th MK dessert party, and there is far less quality and quantity.  
But, again, it's worth it to me to not have to be squished in place while trying to enjoy the fireworks.


----------



## Geomom

Just got back from our trip.  Our party was Dh, myself, and DD14.  We went to the 2/21 DAH at MK.  Our annual passes had expired Tuesday, so it was worth it to us to spend the money to do this event with much lower wait times and snacks.  It had been a very crowded week, as usual for President's day week!  During the event, we never saw areas completely empty, but it was thousands of times better than what the park was like Sunday mid-day when you could barely walk.  We got there around 6:15PM, let us right in, said they started letting people in at 6PM.  I had made 3 FP+, starting at 6:25PM with Jungle Cruise.  Then we went to Tiki Room and Country Bears.  Went to our 7:25PM FP of the Magic Carpets.  Did Hall of Presidents during Fireworks (had seen them earlier in the week), then did our 8:25PM FP of Haunted Mansion, then went on Small World, walked right on.  So 7 things before the event started.

For the event we went on 11 rides: 2x Winnie the Pooh (2-5 min. wait), 2x Peter Pan (10-15 min wait), 1x 7 Dwarf Mine Train (20 min wait...it was listed between 15-30 minutes all night--we did it halfway through the night.), 1x Tea Cups (walk on), 1x Under the Sea (walk on), 1x Buzz (walk on), 1x Haunted Mansion (walk on, 9 of us in the stretching room), 1x Jungle Cruise (walk on, but a full boat), 1x Pirates at end of night (walk on).  Definitely seemed 'busy' in Fantasyland--saw 5 min waits listed for Adventureland/Frontierland/Tomorrowland for most of the night.  It was so funny, during the event, they listed the wait time for Haunted Mansion as 13 minutes...

Between the 3 of us we got 8 ice cream treats, 2 popcorn, 4 water, 1 coke.  (2 of the ice creams were just after midnight near Tiki Room/Jungle Cruise).  Worst of the food lines were within the first 1/2 hour.  Around 9:20, had 5 people in front of us in Fantasyland (by that castle wall between Mine Train and pooh.), 1 person in front of us by the Speedway, no one in front of us in Liberty Square (popcorn!)  For places we walked by, I noticed popcorn in Liberty Square and Adventureland

Light showers around 10PM (went on Ariel then, ended by the time we came out), it was warm during the event, we were comfortable in our t-shirts/shorts.

Had a great time!  Would do it again if we don't have active tix!


----------



## NiceOneSimba

ConnecticutNonna said:


> Quick question???
> With DAH tickets, are you able to book a dessert party for HEA?



Yes--we did the after party Thursday night, and also did DAH. I would assume you could do it with just a DAH ticket, since they let you into the parks before the party starts. We had actual park tickets for the day.  The thing with doing the dessert party is that it does eat up about two hours when you could be riding rides. We absolutely cared more about HAE, so it was good for us, but it might not be the right choice for some people.

I'd also agree with previous posters that DAH was MUCH more crowded than I expected. Still SO much less crowded than during the day, but it definitely felt much more crowded than than the DAH at Animal Kingdom we did earlier in the week.

We did Buzz, The PeopleMover, Space twice (while my DH rode the People Mover), Teacups, 7 Dwarves, Haunted Mansion, BTMRR 3 or 4 times, and Splash twice. We could have done more, but my husband was moving a bit slowly after a week in the parks. 

Didn't get a ton of snacks because of the dessert party. Still did get a number of drinks, and a popcorn or two later in the night. So many more carts at this event than at AK, and all had bottled drinks and fresh popcorn. The snack CMs were really helpful (some carts didn't have all of the options, but they all knew which ones had the bananas, for example). 

We would definitely do it again--took so much stress out of a week with high crowds. We were able to ride everything we wanted in Magic Kingdom in one day AND take a break in the middle of the day. 

If you're going at a busy time of the year, honestly DAH seems like a no-brainer to me. You can get a lot done in those 3 hours, for sure, and we wouldn't hesitate to do it again.


----------



## eagle1992

NiceOneSimba said:


> Yes--we did the after party Thursday night, and also did DAH. I would assume you could do it with just a DAH ticket, since they let you into the parks before the party starts. We had actual park tickets for the day.  The thing with doing the dessert party is that it does eat up about two hours when you could be riding rides. We absolutely cared more about HAE, so it was good for us, but it might not be the right choice for some people.
> 
> I'd also agree with previous posters that DAH was MUCH more crowded than I expected. Still SO much less crowded than during the day, but it definitely felt much more crowded than than the DAH at Animal Kingdom we did earlier in the week.
> 
> We did Buzz, The PeopleMover, Space twice (while my DH rode the People Mover), Teacups, 7 Dwarves, Haunted Mansion, BTMRR 3 or 4 times, and Splash twice. We could have done more, but my husband was moving a bit slowly after a week in the parks.
> 
> Didn't get a ton of snacks because of the dessert party. Still did get a number of drinks, and a popcorn or two later in the night. So many more carts at this event than at AK, and all had bottled drinks and fresh popcorn. The snack CMs were really helpful (some carts didn't have all of the options, but they all knew which ones had the bananas, for example).
> 
> We would definitely do it again--took so much stress out of a week with high crowds. We were able to ride everything we wanted in Magic Kingdom in one day AND take a break in the middle of the day.
> 
> If you're going at a busy time of the year, honestly DAH seems like a no-brainer to me. You can get a lot done in those 3 hours, for sure, and we wouldn't hesitate to do it again.


We have the pre party booked on the same night we are doing DAH. 9pm HEA and DAH starts at 10. 

Did you find the after party is a better use of time or does it not make any difference?


----------



## jacobjennasmom

Has anyone done the Mickey meet at Town Square during the DAh event? I’d love to go see them but don’t want to use a FP for them on our MK day and thought the after hours event might be a good time to do it. Just wondered if anyone had experience with this. Thanks!


----------



## NiceOneSimba

eagle1992 said:


> We have the pre party booked on the same night we are doing DAH. 9pm HEA and DAH starts at 10.
> 
> Did you find the after party is a better use of time or does it not make any difference?




I think it depends on your priorities. For us, a great fireworks view without a ton of waiting was a priority, so the party was a good use of time. We specifically did the after party because we wanted to pick our seats first instead of eating first so we could get the best view. We just stayed aware of the time during the actual party part so we didn't stay too long and eat into our DAH time.  In all, we were in the waiting area from about 7:10 through the fireworks, and then at the party until about 8:45 or 8:50. By the time we got to Tomorrowland, the park was still open and we jumped on the PeopleMover and Buzz before it officially closed for the night.

For us, it was our only chance to see the fireworks, which my husband had never seen and really wanted to do. If the priority was rides, then skipping the fireworks definitely gives you a good chunk of time to ride rides, especially if you make FP+ for that time.

It was the right decision for us, and we had a great night. But it might not be the right choice for others.


----------



## Vickie1016

jacobjennasmom said:


> Has anyone done the Mickey meet at Town Square during the DAh event? I’d love to go see them but don’t want to use a FP for them on our MK day and thought the after hours event might be a good time to do it. Just wondered if anyone had experience with this. Thanks!



We attended DAH in July (last night of our trip so we had seen Mickey several times already) and went in the last 1/2 hr of DAH to see Mickey.  Wait was not too long, as we were able to walk back up Main Street to take a pic by the Castle & get one last Mickey bar.  

(We are also awaiting the release of the summer dates!!)


----------



## mcurrence

eagle1992 said:


> We have the pre party booked on the same night we are doing DAH. 9pm HEA and DAH starts at 10.
> 
> Did you find the after party is a better use of time or does it not make any difference?



We did the pre party HEA on 9/20 and thought it was worth it!  That said, HEA was at 8 and it was a 9-12 DAH so that one hour buffer works well.  Not sure I would do it on a 8-11 DAH.  It was our only MK day and only HEA in between MNSSHP events.  I had never seen HEA and loved every second of it.  There were mobs of people that day and the reserved space was worth every penny. 

I think it wouldn't work for everyone but it worked perfectly for us


----------



## Michiel

Sorry if this has been asked before; is there any chance DAH will be offered in May? For MK or any other park? Thanks!


----------



## eagle1992

mcurrence said:


> We did the pre party HEA on 9/20 and thought it was worth it!  That said, HEA was at 8 and it was a 9-12 DAH so that one hour buffer works well.  Not sure I would do it on a 8-11 DAH.  It was our only MK day and only HEA in between MNSSHP events.  I had never seen HEA and loved every second of it.  There were mobs of people that day and the reserved space was worth every penny.
> 
> I think it wouldn't work for everyone but it worked perfectly for us


Yeah we have the one hour buffer between HEA at 9 and DAH starting at 10. My conflict is whether I should do the pre party or post party. I’m clearly overthinking. Lol. I’m sure either will be fine but that’s what we do around here.


----------



## Haley R

jacobjennasmom said:


> Has anyone done the Mickey meet at Town Square during the DAh event? I’d love to go see them but don’t want to use a FP for them on our MK day and thought the after hours event might be a good time to do it. Just wondered if anyone had experience with this. Thanks!


We met Mickey and Minnie when we went and it was our longest wait. We did go near the end of the event though so maybe other people had the same idea. I can’t rememver exactly how long but I think it was at least a 30 minute wait


----------



## Haley R

Michiel said:


> Sorry if this has been asked before; is there any chance DAH will be offered in May? For MK or any other park? Thanks!


It’s actually been asked about every page lol. No one on here really knows when dah will be until Disney releases new dates. If you’re wanting to go I just suggest following this thread and checking back every so often to see what people are saying. We’ll be pretty quick to let others know when new dates are announced


----------



## jacobjennasmom

Vickie1016 said:


> We attended DAH in July (last night of our trip so we had seen Mickey several times already) and went in the last 1/2 hr of DAH to see Mickey.  Wait was not too long, as we were able to walk back up Main Street to take a pic by the Castle & get one last Mickey bar.
> 
> (We are also awaiting the release of the summer dates!!)



Thanks so much for this info! No one ever mentions doing it at the DAH event so I didn’t even know if it was offered. We are going early April so I think I will try it on our DAH night! So excited for this! Thanks again for the info! Hope you get the summer date you need!


----------



## iujen94

eagle1992 said:


> Yeah we have the one hour buffer between HEA at 9 and DAH starting at 10. My conflict is whether I should do the pre party or post party. I’m clearly overthinking. Lol. I’m sure either will be fine
> but that’s what we do around here.



We did dessert party and DAH last week. We had a one-hour DAH buffer (HEA at 8, park close at 9, DAH 9-11) and did the pre-party. I definitely think that’s the way to go - not only can you ride a few things during the buffer hour, but it gives you more time to digest those desserts before you ride like a maniac and/or eat popcorn and Mickey bars at DAH like a maniac!


----------



## ButWhyIsTheRumGone

GADisneyDad14 said:


> *Post #9 - Late 2018-2019 DISer DAH Guest List*
> 
> Come join the fun...if you'd like to be added to the Guest List, either post in the thread or send me a PM.  Thanks!
> 
> For reference, the 2018 Guest List from the prior DAH thread can be found here.
> 
> * Monday, November 26, 2018 *
> @CJN
> @Elle23
> @Tessaf
> @areno79
> @Babs1975
> @apxstitch
> 
> * Monday, December 3, 2018 *
> @lambdabeta
> @MicroBeta
> @Inga
> @erinscreen
> @mrsxsparrow
> @FFstreetDoc
> @connorlevismom
> 
> * Monday, December 10, 2018 *
> @Elsaspiritanimal
> @summerlvr
> 
> * Monday, January 7, 2019 *
> @Gehrig1B
> @js
> @cdispoto
> @absolutmey
> @TexanInTheMidwest
> @lcborn2run
> 
> * Thursday, January 17, 2019 *
> @NYCANC
> @peeperino
> @Tinkerbell58
> @TISHLOVESDISNEY
> @dolewhipdreams
> @Dentam
> @Louis morrell
> @cusack1020
> @mumzie2three
> @TheFloatingBear
> 
> * Thursday, January 24, 2019 *
> @csmom
> @tookydo
> @crazyventures
> @aemorrell
> @Eeyore54 fred
> @Runnsally
> @Lisa F
> @NotTheBatesMotel
> @Cordy2424
> 
> * Monday, January 28, 2019 *
> @happiest place
> @bigeyedfish
> @disneyAndi14
> @fitgirlFL
> @Chavaleh
> @BK2014
> @Haley R
> @queenvee
> @disneymagicgirl
> @shant592
> @FFstreetDoc
> @Ambehnke
> @bubbapuck
> 
> * Thursday, February 7, 2019 *
> @Zmack
> @cadien
> @amiskell28
> @FranDVCMadrid
> @focusondisney
> 
> * Thursday, February 14, 2019 *
> @Slick519
> @senadler
> @nervous1sttimer
> @beglluvr
> @TNickell27
> @ConnecticutNonna
> @rebekah8284
> @jlhinvegas
> @michellej47
> @SarahC97
> @snowglobe
> @tinkpower
> 
> *Thursday, February 21, 2019*
> @detroitdad
> @iujen94
> @georgina
> @GoofyNewfie
> @CNYMickeyFan
> @Geomom
> 
> 
> * Thursday, February 28, 2019 *
> @reluctantredhead
> @Chami
> @ShelleyLovesOrlando
> @mcurrence
> @chelynnah
> @moonshadow
> @Dr.Mrs.ScroogeMcDuck
> @Rera2528
> @blakefamily
> 
> 
> * Thursday, March 7, 2019 *
> @Spacecow
> @Jenna319
> @Lsdolphin
> @melliemelo
> @Syndrome
> 
> 
> *Thursday, March 21, 2019*
> @browneyedgirl0613
> @Justplainchy
> @Disney Frenhines
> 
> *Thursday, March 28, 2019*
> @Brandilla
> @jaceraden
> @worldtraveler996
> @PPFlight75
> 
> *Thursday, April 4, 2019*
> @Shellyb84
> @captaindavidhook
> @Brazzle Dazzle
> @amytaylor2
> @CogsworthTN
> @EpcotIsMyFave
> 
> 
> *Thursday, April 11, 2019*
> @Rick195275
> @msmith1026
> @KNovacovschi



You can add me to the 4/4 list! Really excited


----------



## michelepa

Could you add me to the March 28th list

Thank you!


----------



## BK2014

Haley R said:


> We met Mickey and Minnie when we went and it was our longest wait. We did go near the end of the event though so maybe other people had the same idea. I can’t rememver exactly how long but I think it was at least a 30 minute wait



This was our experience this year on 1/28/19.  We got there about a half hour before DAH ended and seemed like everyone else did as well.  Meeting Minnie and Mickey was our longest wait, followed by the tangled lantern photo.  When we went in January 2018 for DAH we had very little wait meeting Tinkerbell and Talking Mickey towards the end of the night.


----------



## Andrew Crow

This may have been asked already, I do apologize. My fiancée and I are going April 28-May 5th. After Hours only goes to April 11. Any chance they announce dates for that time period? We are bummed because we wanted to do Early Morning Magic as well and that is happening the week we are there either.

Edit: it has been asked. I apologize.


----------



## Haley R

BK2014 said:


> This was our experience this year on 1/28/19.  We got there about a half hour before DAH ended and seemed like everyone else did as well.  Meeting Minnie and Mickey was our longest wait, followed by the tangled lantern photo.  When we went in January 2018 for DAH we had very little wait meeting Tinkerbell and Talking Mickey towards the end of the night.


I forgot about the Tangled photo. We technically did it before DAH started, but it did eat up a lot of our time. I'm thinking the Mickey/Minnie m&g was long because you could meet them together and they were in their birthday outfits.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

jacobjennasmom said:


> Has anyone done the Mickey meet at Town Square during the DAh event? I’d love to go see them but don’t want to use a FP for them on our MK day and thought the after hours event might be a good time to do it. Just wondered if anyone had experience with this. Thanks!


We did last March, when it was still Talking Mickey, that was awesome and NOT a waste of time
  This year we went to see Tink in Town Square, same deal, maybe 4 families in line ahead of us.  It was really worth the time.  I would say do it.  We did both (Mickey last year, and Tink this year) at the end of the night, when we were on our way out.


----------



## maryj11

Michiel said:


> Sorry if this has been asked before; is there any chance DAH will be offered in May? For MK or any other park? Thanks!


I'm still waiting on June dates


----------



## Geomom

jacobjennasmom said:


> Has anyone done the Mickey meet at Town Square during the DAh event? I’d love to go see them but don’t want to use a FP for them on our MK day and thought the after hours event might be a good time to do it. Just wondered if anyone had experience with this. Thanks!


We had an MK day earlier in the week and after our first 3 fastpasses, we were actually able to get 4 more using the app! (1 at a time)  Our last extra one was the Mickey/Minnie meet from 9-9:30PM (10PM park closing).  So that might be something to look into after you've completed your first 3.


----------



## chaoskids

With H20 Glow Nights being held on Thursdays and Saturdays through summer, I wonder if this will impact DAH at Magic Kingdom. I know it’s speculation but thoughts?


----------



## reisdawg

That is my question too.  We are going from July 27th to August 2nd and I am hoping at least one of the after hours events is held at one of the parks.  With the H20 Glow Nights being on Thursday and Saturday, I am wondering if they are not planning on hosting these events in the other parks.  I know that traditionally they would expand hours during the summer but with the lower crowds expected, I am hoping they want the extra revenue from these events rather than simply expanding hours.


----------



## JenniferYoung44

Praying to the Disney gods for some May dates. Particularly May 16th


----------



## jenjersnap

chaoskids said:


> With H20 Glow Nights being held on Thursdays and Saturdays through summer, I wonder if this will impact DAH at Magic Kingdom. I know it’s speculation but thoughts?



I doubt it will have any impact. I am more concerned for MK AH that DHS AHs are historically on Saturdays. I made a spreadsheet with historical dates for all these ticketed events and happy that confirmations are starting to come in but I really want to finish my planning! I am keeping Thursday’s and Saturdays open just in case.


----------



## francie57

JenniferYoung44 said:


> Praying to the Disney gods for some May dates. Particularly May 16th


We are hoping for the same date!


----------



## Iowamomof4

JenniferYoung44 said:


> Praying to the Disney gods for some May dates. Particularly May 16th





francie57 said:


> We are hoping for the same date!



Ditto!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

chaoskids said:


> With H20 Glow Nights being held on Thursdays and Saturdays through summer, I wonder if this will impact DAH at Magic Kingdom. I know it’s speculation but thoughts?



FWIW, last summer there were a lot of H20 Glow Night / MK DAHs on the same night:


----------



## cakebaker

JenniferYoung44 said:


> Praying to the Disney gods for some May dates. Particularly May 16th



I’m waiting for May as well. My 60 day opens in a few days, so I’m hoping sooner rather than later.


----------



## jenjersnap

GADisneyDad14 said:


> FWIW, last summer there were a lot of H20 Glow Night / MK DAHs on the same night:
> 
> View attachment 384817



Ha, I somehow managed not to mention that fact, even though it was the basis for my answer!


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

Geomom said:


> We had an MK day earlier in the week and after our first 3 fastpasses, we were actually able to get 4 more using the app! (1 at a time)  Our last extra one was the Mickey/Minnie meet from 9-9:30PM (10PM park closing).  So that might be something to look into after you've completed your first 3.


Yeah, I found that as I scanned my magic band for an attraction, I could immediately grab another fast pass.  In fact, my goal is to never ever pre plan any but the first FP and do exactly what we did after MK EMM.  We waited in no stand by lines whatsoever.  Just kept refreshing and actually stayed in the land we wanted before moving on.


----------



## cakebaker

From what I can find, they didn’t offer DAH’s in May last year. True? And is there any reason to think they will this year? Seems awfully late to announce them.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

cakebaker said:


> From what I can find, they didn’t offer DAH’s in May last year. True?



The only May DAH dates have been the original failed 2016 DAH experiment (later hours, higher price).  Haven't seen them since, but obviously we're seeing DAH over a lot more new times now than prior years.  Historical charts are here:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898158


----------



## MermaidMommy

JenniferYoung44 said:


> Praying to the Disney gods for some May dates. Particularly May 16th





francie57 said:


> We are hoping for the same date!





Iowamomof4 said:


> Ditto!


Me too! Surely with all of praying to the Disney gods it’s got to happen!


----------



## cakebaker

GADisneyDad14 said:


> The only May DAH dates have been the original failed 2016 DAH experiment (later hours, higher price).  Haven't seen them since, but obviously we're seeing DAH over a lot more new times now than prior years.  Historical charts are here:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898158



Thanks! Guess I’ll keep my fingers crossed!  Thursday would be my only available day and that’s the day we arrive after a red eye. It’ll be exhausting, we have Artists Point that evening as well, but I’d do it. I can sleep at home!!


----------



## Haley R

Is everyone on disboards going in May? lol


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

GADisneyDad14 said:


> FWIW, last summer there were a lot of H20 Glow Night / MK DAHs on the same night:
> 
> View attachment 384817


I'm not thinking Glow nights would affect DAH at all, since they're at the water park.  Or am I missing something?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

ConnecticutNonna said:


> I'm not thinking Glow nights would affect DAH at all, since they're at the water park.  Or am I missing something?



I think the poster was questioning if Disney would offer two up-charge/hard ticket/after hours type events on the same night, in this case MK DAH and H20 Glow Nights at TL - effectively competing with each other for those seeking after hours/special events.  But like we saw in 2018, Disney must not be concerned and/or thinks/knows they are different audiences and/or has enough demand to spread around.


----------



## dachsie

Haley R said:


> Is everyone on disboards going in May? lol


yep.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Haley R said:


> Is everyone on disboards going in May? lol


Sure seems like it! Join the party!!


----------



## Haley R

Iowamomof4 said:


> Sure seems like it! Join the party!!


Haha we’ll be in Japan


----------



## Iowamomof4

Haley R said:


> Haha we’ll be in Japan



Oh... well have fun then. We'll keep WDW warmed up for your next visit!


----------



## tri-sara-tops

Add me to the May waitlist too!


----------



## Haley R

Iowamomof4 said:


> Oh... well have fun then. We'll keep WDW warmed up for your next visit!


Haha thanks. I’m not sure when we’ll be back to wdw. I’m 90% sure our next Orlando trip will be universal and Busch gardens


----------



## chaoskids

GADisneyDad14 said:


> FWIW, last summer there were a lot of H20 Glow Night / MK DAHs on the same night:



Thank you!!


----------



## sheila14

Going in September praying as well!!!


----------



## minniesBFF

We're going in May as well!


----------



## detroitdad

We attended the after hours on Thurs 2/21 during the busy Presidents Week holiday.  We really enjoyed this event at MK and would not hesitate to book again if finances allowed.  I think it was a very productive evening.  We tried to avoid criss-crossing the park too much to maximize ride time.  My only complaint is the fact that you had to walk through unnecessary standby lines.  Not sure what the reason for that is but almost as if Disney wants to somehow penalize the event ticket holder so that you can't ride the headliners multiple times without experiencing a little inconvenience.  TMR and Space were especially annoying.  These were almost always walk ons so what difference would it have made to go through the FP line in TMR and be allowed the cut through passage inside of SM?  Here's our list:

Pirates (1x)
Aladdin (1x)
TMR (3x)
Splash (1x)
Lantern Photo Opp
Buzz (4x) - I got a maxed out high score and kept trying to duplicate it but with no luck LOL!
Space (2x)
People Mover (1x)
Carousel (1x)
Peter Pan (1x)
7DMR (1x)

It may have been a sell out which really wasn't noticeable given how spread out the park is.  On the other hand we know that the DAH that week on 2/16 at Hollywood Studios was a sell out and it was obvious.


----------



## iujen94

detroitdad said:


> We attended the after hours on Thurs 2/21 during the busy Presidents Week holiday.  We really enjoyed this event at MK and would not hesitate to book again if finances allowed.  I think it was a very productive evening.  We tried to avoid criss-crossing the park too much to maximize ride time.  My only complaint is the fact that you had to walk through unnecessary standby lines.  Not sure what the reason for that is but almost as if Disney wants to somehow penalize the event ticket holder so that you can't ride the headliners multiple times without experiencing a little inconvenience.  TMR and Space were especially annoying.  These were almost always walk ons so what difference would it have made to go through the FP line in TMR and be allowed the cut through passage inside of SM?  Here's our list:
> 
> Pirates (1x)
> Aladdin (1x)
> TMR (3x)
> Splash (1x)
> Lantern Photo Opp
> Buzz (4x) - I got a maxed out high score and kept trying to duplicate it but with no luck LOL!
> Space (2x)
> People Mover (1x)
> Carousel (1x)
> Peter Pan (1x)
> 7DMR (1x)
> 
> It may have been a sell out which really wasn't noticeable given how spread out the park is.  On the other hand we know that the DAH that week on 2/16 at Hollywood Studios was a sell out and it was obvious.



Just FYI for next time  - they will let you use the shortcut to re-ride Space. Instead of following the “exit to tomorrland” signs, go the opposite direction. The unloading CMs can show you where to go if you’re not sure.


----------



## detroitdad

iujen94 said:


> Just FYI for next time  - they will let you use the shortcut to re-ride Space. Instead of following the “exit to tomorrland” signs, go the opposite direction. The unloading CMs can show you where to go if you’re not sure.



We tried and were redirected by a cast member.  I think it's up to what the cast member on duty feels like.


----------



## Haley R

detroitdad said:


> We tried and were redirected by a cast member.  I think it's up to what the cast member on duty feels like.


Yes it definitely depends on the cm. We’ve had a cm tell us to go out the door before. This was last summer when they were still working on the new exit for sm


----------



## SL6827

This is my current game plan for my trip here soon.  My resort locations and parks.

3/30- POR- arrival
3/31- SSR- Epcot day
4/01- SSR- Typhoon Lagoon day
4/02- SSR- Magic Kingdom day
4/03- SSR- Animal Kingdom day



But I am seriously considering swapping to this because of my continued anxiety about crowd levels during this time,

3/31- SSR- arrival
4/01- SSR- Typhoon Lagoon
4/02- SSR- resort day/pool day
4/03- SSR- Animal Kingdom After Hours
4/04- POR- Magic Kingdom After Hours


What do you think?  Advice, opinions?


----------



## georgina

detroitdad said:


> We tried and were redirected by a cast member.  I think it's up to what the cast member on duty feels like.



That's a shame. We successfully used it that night for 4 rides. The first time, I asked about it and the CM (a woman) said go ahead, but but be sure to tell a CM each time you do. After the 2nd, we went around the barrier to switch from the pink line to the green line side. After the 3rd, I aksed DH as we got off if he wanted to go again, and the CM (a man) volunteered the shortcut without us asking.


----------



## captaindavidhook

Is there usually a long wait to see Tinker Belle during this event?


----------



## detroitdad

georgina said:


> That's a shame. We successfully used it that night for 4 rides. The first time, I asked about it and the CM (a woman) said go ahead, but but be sure to tell a CM each time you do. After the 2nd, we went around the barrier to switch from the pink line to the green line side. After the 3rd, I aksed DH as we got off if he wanted to go again, and the CM (a man) volunteered the shortcut without us asking.



*sigh* that's annoying.  Glad it worked for you.  Why can't they just keep it consistent for everyone?


----------



## Haley R

captaindavidhook said:


> Is there usually a long wait to see Tinker Belle during this event?


I don’t think so. We’ve never met her during dah but I haven’t read any reports of long waits for her


----------



## MouseTriper

For those of you attending a DAH and staying offsite without a car, did you use Uber or Lyft or something else?  I have never used them before and wondering how they work after an event like this? We may be staying at a hotel over by Universal Studios so trying to decide on the safest way to get back to our hotel.  The MK DAH event we are looking at ends at 1:00am.

(also.....any suggestions on the best way to get from Universal to Disney (either a resort or a park)....just in general). Thanks in advance!


----------



## dismiss

Does anyone know if "Disney After Hours"has significantlly less people than "Extra Magic Hours." I know you do not get the free snacks , but is there any other differences, beside cost?


----------



## 123SA

I went to a sold out event last August. I would say yes, there are significantly less people than during extra magic hours


----------



## mamapenguin

dismiss said:


> Does anyone know if "Disney After Hours"has significantlly less people than "Extra Magic Hours." I know you do not get the free snacks , but is there any other differences, beside cost?


EMH is 2 hours, DAH is 3 hours. It is sold as significantly reduced crowds. I’m going to do both back to back, but not until the end of next month.


----------



## dismiss

mamapenguin said:


> EMH is 2 hours, DAH is 3 hours. It is sold as significantly reduced crowds. I’m going to do both back to back, but not until the end of next month.


Great. Let me know your findings!!!


----------



## Haley R

MouseTriper said:


> For those of you attending a DAH and staying offsite without a car, did you use Uber or Lyft or something else?  I have never used them before and wondering how they work after an event like this? We may be staying at a hotel over by Universal Studios so trying to decide on the safest way to get back to our hotel.  The MK DAH event we are looking at ends at 1:00am.
> 
> (also.....any suggestions on the best way to get from Universal to Disney (either a resort or a park)....just in general). Thanks in advance!


You could take a lyft or Uber but I believe you would have to go to the TTC since that’s where they would pick up


----------



## Haley R

dismiss said:


> Does anyone know if "Disney After Hours"has significantlly less people than "Extra Magic Hours." I know you do not get the free snacks , but is there any other differences, beside cost?


Extra magic hours and dah aren’t even close imo. I think evening emh has gotten pretty bad because of how many resorts are included in it. The last two we've gone to at mk have had really long waits for sm and 7dmt. Dah really only has a 15-20 minute wait sometimes for 7dmt and pp (maybe even shorter than that at times) but the rest are all walk ons or _maybe_ a 5 minute wait. It’s also a good chance to meet characters with super short lines and just take in the atmosphere of mk with such little crowds. Dh and I definitely get our money’s worth from all of that and we eat TONS of snacks


----------



## MouseTriper

Haley R said:


> You could take a lyft or Uber but I believe you would have to go to the TTC since that’s where they would pick up


Thank you.


----------



## jenjersnap

When we have taken Uber or Lyft to and from MK, we request drop off/pick up from the Contemporary then walk over to MK. Much easier.


----------



## Haley R

jenjersnap said:


> When we have taken Uber or Lyft to and from MK, we request drop off/pick up from the Contemporary then walk over to MK. Much easier.


That would definitely be better. We haven’t taken a lyft to/from mk before but I know that would be a better choice


----------



## GADisneyDad14

dismiss said:


> Does anyone know if "Disney After Hours"has significantlly less people than "Extra Magic Hours." I know you do not get the free snacks , but is there any other differences, beside cost?



They are in different stratospheres of guest count.  I am not a fan of MK PM EMHs unless it happens to be a really late 11-1, 12-2 or rare 1-3 version which tends to get a smaller crowd due to the late hours.   But 8-10, 9-11, or 10-12 EMH?  I’m not a fan.  They are very popular and will typically have a large attendance.  Better than a non-EMH night for sure, just not no-wait level crowds.


----------



## iujen94

GADisneyDad14 said:


> They are in different stratospheres of guest count.  I am not a fan of MK PM EMHs unless it happens to be a really late 11-1, 12-2 or rare 1-3 version which tends to get a smaller crowd due to the late hours.   But 8-10, 9-11, or 10-12 EMH?  I’m not a fan.  They are very popular and will typically have a large attendance.  Better than a non-EMH night for sure, just not no-wait level crowds.



IMO, EMH nights are worse than no EMH nights, because there’s no FP during EMH!


----------



## MouseTriper

jenjersnap said:


> When we have taken Uber or Lyft to and from MK, we request drop off/pick up from the Contemporary then walk over to MK. Much easier.


Do you think it would be a problem getting an Uber to the Contemporary between 1am and 2am for a ride back to Universal area?


----------



## jenjersnap

MouseTriper said:


> Do you think it would be a problem getting an Uber to the Contemporary between 1am and 2am for a ride back to Universal area?



No, I don’t think so. I mean, there may be a little wait at that hour, but destination shouldn’t be an issue. We have taken Ubers on Disney property pretty late (though not as late as 2 am, more like 11:30-12:30) and never waited more than 10 minutes.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

MouseTriper said:


> Do you think it would be a problem getting an Uber to the Contemporary between 1am and 2am for a ride back to Universal area?



Generally speaking you are going to find workable Uber availability at all times of the day at WDW.  Of course one can have longer waits at any time, but there are generally a lot around.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

Haley R said:


> I don’t think so. We’ve never met her during dah but I haven’t read any reports of long waits for her





captaindavidhook said:


> Is there usually a long wait to see Tinker Belle during this event?


We saw her, there were probably 2 parties ahead of us at the end of the night.  (11:45 ish?) In fact we joked with her about the long flight from the castle to Town Square.  We wanted to keep the magic for DGS.


----------



## Haley R

ConnecticutNonna said:


> We saw her, there were probably 2 parties ahead of us at the end of the night.  (11:45 ish?) In fact we joked with her about the long flight from the castle to Town Square.  We wanted to keep the magic for DGS.


As long as you don’t go by yourself and record yourself for 10-15 minutes with the character....


----------



## georgina

MouseTriper said:


> For those of you attending a DAH and staying offsite without a car, did you use Uber or Lyft or something else?  I have never used them before and wondering how they work after an event like this? We may be staying at a hotel over by Universal Studios so trying to decide on the safest way to get back to our hotel.  The MK DAH event we are looking at ends at 1:00am.
> 
> (also.....any suggestions on the best way to get from Universal to Disney (either a resort or a park)....just in general). Thanks in advance!



never mind. I missed the without a car part!


----------



## mcurrence

Enjoying some pool time at the contemporary on this gorgeous day before After hours! So excited ! Left ga at 4 and made it by noon! Off topic but we were upgraded from a lake view to club level for 150 extra for both nights! Crazy AMAZING!!


----------



## Shellyb84

mcurrence said:


> Enjoying some pool time at the contemporary on this gorgeous day before After hours! So excited ! Left ga at 4 and made it by noon! Off topic but we were upgraded from a lake view to club level for 150 extra for both nights! Crazy AMAZING!!



Sounds like a great day!  I hope you have an amazing time!


----------



## mcurrence

Cm already out holding us til 6:00!!!! Yessss!


----------



## michelepa

mcurrence said:


> Cm already out holding us til 6:00!!!! Yessss!



Enjoy and report back when you get a chance!!


----------



## mcurrence

Finishing the night on big thunder! Can’t believe dah is now!!!


----------



## michelepa

Looking at the app right now and don’t see Peter Pan listed on app wait times 

Is that common for EH parties?


----------



## Newcastle

I need some technical support please  - whenever I try to click on the "Disney After Hours at Magic Kingdom Park" on the Special Events and Tours page, I get the message:  "This page isn't working...disneyworld.disney.go.com redirected you too many times".  It directs me to try to clear my cookies but I've done that and it doesn't seem to be the issue.  It's kind of annoying because I'm not able to check to see if any new dates are released.  Fortunately, I can follow this thread to get that info (thanks everyone!) but it would be nice to be able to check firsthand (and book online if dates open up).  It's weird though because I can click on the links to the other DAH events with no issue.  Any suggestions?


----------



## Haley R

Newcastle said:


> I need some technical support please  - whenever I try to click on the "Disney After Hours at Magic Kingdom Park" on the Special Events and Tours page, I get the message:  "This page isn't working...disneyworld.disney.go.com redirected you too many times".  It directs me to try to clear my cookies but I've done that and it doesn't seem to be the issue.  It's kind of annoying because I'm not able to check to see if any new dates are released.  Fortunately, I can follow this thread to get that info (thanks everyone!) but it would be nice to be able to check firsthand (and book online if dates open up).  It's weird though because I can click on the links to the other DAH events with no issue.  Any suggestions?


This link works fine for me:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/magic-kingdom/magic-kingdom-after-hours/


----------



## mcurrence

Haven’t seen my girls for a while lol so I think they’re letting them go in the short  cut at Space !


----------



## mcurrence

Confirmed they went 5 times in a row!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

mcurrence said:


> Confirmed they went 5 times in a row!



That's awesome!

ETA: Although I don't know what kind of shape my neck would be in after 5x on Space Mountain - I'd love to give it a try...


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Ahhh, to be young and able to ride Space 5x in row...


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

TheFloatingBear said:


> That's awesome!
> 
> ETA: Although I don't know what kind of shape my neck would be in after 5x on Space Mountain - I'd love to give it a try...



lol, just saw your ETA.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Ahhh, to be young and able to ride Space 5x in row...





TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> lol, just saw your ETA.



I know, right?


----------



## mcurrence

Just saw and said hello to Tim tracker and his wife getting off dumbo  super nice !


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

TheFloatingBear said:


> I know, right?



Oh, we have the proof in a pic from DAH in January. DH, myself and DS7. DS smiling, and both DH and I grimacing from the pain. It is a hilarious picture, framed of course.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Oh, we have the proof in a pic from DAH in January. DH, myself and DS7. DS smiling, and both DH and I grimacing from the pain. It is a hilarious picture, framed of course.



That's hilarious! I don't know, I think maybe 3 would be my limit for Space at this point - although I love it and I'd be tempted for more if I had the opportunity, but I think I'd regret it! Oh to be young...


----------



## Haley R

mcurrence said:


> Just saw and said hello to Tim tracker and his wife getting off dumbo  super nice !


What?!!! I’m so jealous!!!!


----------



## mcurrence

Haley R said:


> What?!!! I’m so jealous!!!!


Back in the room will write up something tomorrow great great night but definitely more people than before .. the walk back to the contemporary was brutal !! Still, so grateful they offer this event


----------



## skippytx

DAH was pretty nice tonight. Definitely worth the dvc discounted price for the ticket. 

It did seem busy and I was disappointed only 1 loading area was running for BTM, but we did almost everything and had a good time.  

I’d definitely pay for this event again. 

It would be nice if there was a 30 minute break like AK though to clear out the queues and let the HEA watchers clear out. Getting around the first 30 mins was nuts


----------



## michelepa

skippytx said:


> DAH was pretty nice tonight. Definitely worth the dvc discounted price for the ticket.
> 
> It did seem busy and I was disappointed only 1 loading area was running for BTM, but we did almost everything and had a good time.
> 
> I’d definitely pay for this event again.
> 
> It would be nice if there was a 30 minute break like AK though to clear out the queues and let the HEA watchers clear out. Getting around the first 30 mins was nuts



Did you watch the fireworks from the front of the castle and then make your way to the rides?


----------



## Shellyb84

mcurrence said:


> Just saw and said hello to Tim tracker and his wife getting off dumbo  super nice !



Awesome!  I love Tim Tracker!!!


----------



## DWFamilyof6

Reporting back our experience last night.  Myself, hubby, and 4 kids ages 7-10. We had a great time! Last night was our arrival night and I don’t think there is a better way to start your trip.  It definitely felt much much less busy than a party night but never empty. We arrived about 6:20 and headed straight in through the After Hours line. Signed Mickey’s birthday book and meet Mickey/Minnie with a FP.5:30-6:30.  Fought the crowd going down stream on Main Street. Leisurely walked through Adventure Land taking in the sights. I feel like we never walk slowly so this was enjoyable. Rode Splash with a FP 6:30-7:30. Got drenched but loved it.  It was down for refurbishment our last trip. My DD left her ears in the boat so we ate up some time having CMs look for them with no luck. Rode Big Thunder with FP 7:30.  Came off right before 8 and rode a second time with a 5 min wait. Fireworks were going which was super cool. Headed to the snack cart by splash bridge and got ALL the snacks. So fun! We watched the rest of the fireworks from there and then started touring.
Ride after fireworks.
HM, 7D (posted 20 more like 10), Pooh, snacks, BarnStormer 3xs without getting off, Space 2xs, Buzz, snacks, lots of pictures in the hub and Main Street it was very empty at this time, I also took pics randomly as the walkways were empty,  Peter Pan, Tangled lantern pic, 7D one last time.  I had planned to ride a couple more before jumping in line for 7D but kids were getting tired. So we got in line about 10:45 and got off just after 11. Headed out down a very crowded Main St considering. Only Ferry and buses were running. 
All in all I would definitely do it again. 
Thanks for all the tips from this thread!


----------



## DWFamilyof6

mcurrence said:


> Just saw and said hello to Tim tracker and his wife getting off dumbo  super nice !


Seriously!?! My son loves him and was dying to see him last night. We’ll have to keep searching for him.


----------



## maryj11

Newcastle said:


> I need some technical support please  - whenever I try to click on the "Disney After Hours at Magic Kingdom Park" on the Special Events and Tours page, I get the message:  "This page isn't working...disneyworld.disney.go.com redirected you too many times".  It directs me to try to clear my cookies but I've done that and it doesn't seem to be the issue.  It's kind of annoying because I'm not able to check to see if any new dates are released.  Fortunately, I can follow this thread to get that info (thanks everyone!) but it would be nice to be able to check firsthand (and book online if dates open up).  It's weird though because I can click on the links to the other DAH events with no issue.  Any suggestions?


It's probably Disney's website It messes up all the time.


----------



## Newcastle

Haley R said:


> This link works fine for me:
> https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/magic-kingdom/magic-kingdom-after-hours/





maryj11 said:


> It's probably Disney's website It messes up all the time.



Thank you both for your replies!  I think you are right maryj11...it is a function of the website.  I am from Canada and am automatically directed to the Canadian version of the website which has been glitchy in the past in terms of not being able to view room photos, for example.  I went to the website today and changed it to the US version and sure enough, I was able to access the link for MK DAH.  I'm sure it will magically correct itself at some point, as is usually the case .  Thanks again!!


----------



## BRERALEX

Saw Tim Tracker on BTMRR towards the beginning of DAH last night. Was two parties ahead of me. A few people were yelling out at him. Was super cool to see him at the park. I asked if he would let me take a pic which he was cool with. He sat a few rows being me on our train. Super cool. His hair was magnificent in real life  

My last DAH trip was August 18. I felt last night wasn’t too packed but we got less done for some reason. 

We did:

Jungle Cruise (on line around 7:50ish)
Tiki Room
PoTC
Splash
BTMRR
Haunted Mansion
Small World
Little Mermaid
Pooh
Space Mountain
Buzz
Peter Pan
Mine Train

We went at a pretty chill pace. We circled back to Peter Pan because the line appeared long (spilling out of the inside queue area). Mine Train appeared long too and was posted 15-20 mins. By the time we circled back to PP it was a walk on. Mine train we got on line at 10:45pm, we were off the train at 11:01.


----------



## Haley R

BRERALEX said:


> Saw Tim Tracker on BTMRR towards the beginning of DAH last night. Was two parties ahead of me. A few people were yelling out at him. Was super cool to see him at the park. I asked if he would let me take a pic which he was cool with. He sat a few rows being me on our train. Super cool. His hair was magnificent in real life
> 
> My last DAH trip was August 18. I felt last night wasn’t too packed but we got less done for some reason.
> 
> We did:
> 
> Jungle Cruise (on line around 7:50ish)
> Tiki Room
> PoTC
> Splash
> BTMRR
> Haunted Mansion
> Small World
> Little Mermaid
> Pooh
> Space Mountain
> Buzz
> Peter Pan
> Mine Train
> 
> We went at a pretty chill pace. We circled back to Peter Pan because the line appeared long (spilling out of the inside queue area). Mine Train appeared long too and was posted 15-20 mins. By the time we circled back to PP it was a walk on. Mine train we got on line at 10:45pm, we were off the train at 11:01.


I’m seriously so jealous of you guys for meeting tim. Dh and I watch his videos every night during dinner


----------



## mcurrence

Before I forget Peter Pan was running all night although it wasn’t showing on the app (someone mentioned it) the wait was 20-25 min all night the cm said ..


----------



## mcurrence

At Hollywood studios for the first time .. dah magic kingdom spoils  you !!! This is crowded!!!


----------



## Shellyb84

Haley R said:


> I’m seriously so jealous of you guys for meeting tim. Dh and I watch his videos every night during dinner



Same!


----------



## michelepa

mcurrence said:


> Before I forget Peter Pan was running all night although it wasn’t showing on the app (someone mentioned it) the wait was 20-25 min all night the cm said ..



Thank you for the info~I was the one wondering why it wasn't showing last night.
I thought wait times weren't so bad last night all things considered.
We're going end of March ~ so I'm sure the waits will be a bit longer with spring break in full swing.
Luckily I have older kids!


----------



## Haley R

michelepa said:


> Thank you for the info~I was the one wondering why it wasn't showing last night.
> I thought wait times weren't so bad last night all things considered.
> We're going end of March ~ so I'm sure the waits will be a bit longer with spring break in full swing.
> Luckily I have older kids!


I don’t think I’ve ever seen Peter Pan above a 25 minute wait for dah. Not on our nights at least


----------



## skippytx

michelepa said:


> Did you watch the fireworks from the front of the castle and then make your way to the rides?



We didn’t plan too well to be honest. We had dinner at Morimoto and then got to the park right at 8pm. Took longer to get to MK than we thought. That was on me.  We hit the front gate right before 8 and didn’t make it to the people mover until 8:20. 

Still had a good time though


----------



## michelepa

skippytx said:


> We didn’t plan too well to be honest. We had dinner at Morimoto and then got to the park right at 8pm. Took longer to get to MK than we thought. That was on me.  We hit the front gate right before 8 and didn’t make it to the people mover until 8:20.
> 
> Still had a good time though



Thanks we are going end of March and I'm trying to plan my strategy!

We have a hopper ticket so heading over to MK earlier in day and eating early dinner at Skippers (DD's request) we have FPs in MK and will be making our way around starting in Adventureland after dinner pre event time and will just keep making are way around counterclockwise ending in Tomorrowland at Space DD favorite.


----------



## DWFamilyof6

michelepa said:


> Thank you for the info~I was the one wondering why it wasn't showing last night.
> I thought wait times weren't so bad last night all things considered.
> We're going end of March ~ so I'm sure the waits will be a bit longer with spring break in full swing.
> Luckily I have older kids!


We rode it about 10:30. Posted a 15 min wait but It was walk on. We had to walk the whole queue. When we came off it looked like they were skipping the queue.


----------



## ConnecticutNonna

mcurrence said:


> Enjoying some pool time at the contemporary on this gorgeous day before After hours! So excited ! Left ga at 4 and made it by noon! Off topic but we were upgraded from a lake view to club level for 150 extra for both nights! Crazy AMAZING!!


Their Club Level us THE BEST!!!
We have found a new Disney "home".  That staff is outstanding, and the location is superb!  Enjoy your stay!


----------



## Ashley Marie

I’d really like to see some May dates announced...


----------



## Newcastle

Ashley Marie said:


> I’d really like to see some May dates announced...


Me too!  Every time I get a notification that someone has posted on this thread I think, THIS IS IT...new dates have been released!!  My heart can't take it...I may have to un-notify myself .


----------



## Iowamomof4

Newcastle said:


> Me too!  Every time I get a notification that someone has posted on this thread I think, THIS IS IT...new dates have been released!!  My heart can't take it...I may have to un-notify myself .


I'd say we are MUCH more likely to see new dates released during the week vs on the weekends.


----------



## dreamer17555

I am starting to believe that if they aren’t announced by this week they won’t be. H2O glow nights that start at the very end of May into the summer have been out for awhile...


----------



## Chami

Haley R said:


> I’m seriously so jealous of you guys for meeting tim. Dh and I watch his videos every night during dinner


Me too!  He was at Animal Kingdom Lodge while I was there and missed him.  We were also at BTMR around that same time.  So close!


----------



## fiasco32

I just bought tickets for me and DW for this coming Thursday (3/7). Can't wait!


----------



## dachsie

Iowamomof4 said:


> I'd say we are MUCH more likely to see new dates released during the week vs on the weekends.





dreamer17555 said:


> I am starting to believe that if they aren’t announced by this week they won’t be. H2O glow nights that start at the very end of May into the summer have been out for awhile...


I am pretty much thinking they aren't going to have them in May at this point, but will agree that if not announced this week, they they probably are not happening


----------



## Cinderumbrella

dreamer17555 said:


> I am starting to believe that if they aren’t announced by this week they won’t be. H2O glow nights that start at the very end of May into the summer have been out for awhile...



So have the EMM.

I’m going in June. They better keep the parks open later than they currently are now (especially MK). 10pm is WAY too early for busy season


----------



## Superchikk

Just planned a trip today for DD8 and myself to go to the last (current) event on April 11. It's actually her birthday. I'll wake her up that morning and say "Surprise! You're not going to school... we leave for the airport in an hour!" 

I went last year with DH, so I have a new MB. Her current Magic Band is an old one - so it's likely not working any more. Does she need a MB for After Hours? We have a family trip planned for Sept, so she'll be getting a new one then, so if she doesn't NEED one, I may just have her do without.


----------



## Randomsoulshine

Haley R said:


> I’m seriously so jealous of you guys for meeting tim. Dh and I watch his videos every night during dinner


We also want so bad to meet the Tim Tracker. They seem truly nice and I watch them every morning while I drink my tea. So much better than the news! Their new podcast is hilarious. Non Disney random things podcast.


----------



## Randomsoulshine

Cinderumbrella said:


> So have the EMM.
> 
> I’m going in June. They better keep the parks open later than they currently are now (especially MK). 10pm is WAY too early for busy season


Last June about two weeks prior they extended many MK nights to midnight I believe. Sadly it was pretty last minute and too late too move my days around due to FP and ADR. I hope they have a few nights where it’s at least 11 or 12.


----------



## Haley R

Superchikk said:


> Just planned a trip today for DD8 and myself to go to the last (current) event on April 11. It's actually her birthday. I'll wake her up that morning and say "Surprise! You're not going to school... we leave for the airport in an hour!"
> 
> I went last year with DH, so I have a new MB. Her current Magic Band is an old one - so it's likely not working any more. Does she need a MB for After Hours? We have a family trip planned for Sept, so she'll be getting a new one then, so if she doesn't NEED one, I may just have her do without.


Did you choose to receive your dah tickets in the mail as a hard ticket? Did you get an email with a bar code? Either one of those will work instead of a magic band


----------



## Superchikk

Haley R said:


> Did you choose to receive your dah tickets in the mail as a hard ticket? Did you get an email with a bar code? Either one of those will work instead of a magic band


I have the email with barcode. That's all we need to get our wrist bands (along with my ID and CC), I'm guessing. I was confused because it said if I have a Magic Band, I can just scan and go - no need to go to Guest Services.


----------



## jenjersnap

June through September dates were announced on 5/2 last year. I am holding out hope for summer (though it is really screwing up my final plans!). Sorry to y’all waiting on May. Fingers crossed!


----------



## Haley R

Superchikk said:


> I have the email with barcode. That's all we need to get our wrist bands (along with my ID and CC), I'm guessing. I was confused because it said if I have a Magic Band, I can just scan and go - no need to go to Guest Services.


We just showed them our barcode when we did it that way in July last year


----------



## mcurrence

Back from a short trip for DAH and a day at Hollywood Studios.  We stayed at the Contemporary this time trying to avoid the bus madness-it was a wonderful experience but the walk back was hard after walking so much at the event!  

We grabbed something to eat at 5 (Club level, as an aside, one of the best experiences we've had,  I'm posting pics and a short review on the Contemporary thread-just Amazing!) 
We jumped on the monorail since my girls' friend had never been on it and arrived at the entrance at 5:40. There was a CM already holding the sign and they told us they would let us in right at 6:00!
 
 
By 6 there was a small crowd gathered.  We entered and they gave us our wristbands.  We had a Space fastpass for 5:20-6:20 and made it with no problem and even took a bunch of pics before getting there.  Weather was great and the park was busy.  Lots of Brazilian groups and Dance groups. We then jumped on the People mover (fingers crossed it wouldn't break down!LOL)

 
I convinced them to do PhilharMagic (love) and headed for our next fast pass for 7d from 6:20 to 7:20 and made it.  Our last fastpass was for BTM from 7:30-8.  We went in with the last group before closing and got to see the fireworks from there. Loved it!  When the ride was over a CM let them stay in the car and ride again (once is enough for me!)  They were so happy..that doesn't happen often anymore!
  
The event started and the park still seemed crowded for a while.  I watched the  CM at Big Thunder refuse a bunch of people trying to get on the ride at 8:03.  
Once the event started we did:
Splash Mountain 2x
grabbed snacks, crossed the hub for pictures and headed to Tomorrowland
Space 5-6 times in a row (thanks for the short cut explanations!!!)
Snack break
Headed to Fantasyland and rode Dumbo -met Tim Tacker 
7d had a 15 minute wait so rode again!
  
Bathroom break at Rapunzels and then more snacks.
We ended the night at the Haunted Mansion and one last ride on Thunder Mountain 

Overall thoughts, this was our fourth time doing this event and still think it's absolutely worth every penny.  That said, I feel the number has definitely gone up.  The park never felt empty.
A little sad about that but all rides except for 7d and PP were a walk on so hoping Disney keeps it at this number.  Not complaining about it but it's hard not to compare to our first two times attending this event Jan.2017 and Jan. 2018.  Sept. 2018 felt busier and this one was the busiest.  
Would love to do it again before our Sept. cruise!!


----------



## dachsie

Superchikk said:


> Just planned a trip today for DD8 and myself to go to the last (current) event on April 11. It's actually her birthday. I'll wake her up that morning and say "Surprise! You're not going to school... we leave for the airport in an hour!"
> 
> I went last year with DH, so I have a new MB. Her current Magic Band is an old one - so it's likely not working any more. Does she need a MB for After Hours? We have a family trip planned for Sept, so she'll be getting a new one then, so if she doesn't NEED one, I may just have her do without.


as long as her magic band is active in MDE, it will work to go to parks.  It won't give her ride pictures however.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Okay, I've tried to stay positive right? Like, I've been here, patiently waiting with everyone. I've been just biding my time, so certain Disney would extend these events (especially the one at MK) into May. But this morning I'm just not feelin' it anymore. I've been fortunate to be one of the folks experiencing the "glitch" that has allowed access to an early FP booking window, and I'm realizing that if we don't get DAH then I'll be wanting to book EMM but that will alter my plan to focus more on evening touring for this trip. We have insiders who tell us so many helpful things about Disney, it's a little frustrating we don't seem to have anyone connected to the planning regarding these events. Sigh. I want to give it to the end of this week before I completely give up, but man am I tired of waiting.


----------



## francie57

Iowamomof4 said:


> Okay, I've tried to stay positive right? Like, I've been here, patiently waiting with everyone. I've been just biding my time, so certain Disney would extend these events (especially the one at MK) into May. But this morning I'm just not feelin' it anymore. I've been fortunate to be one of the folks experiencing the "glitch" that has allowed access to an early FP booking window, and I'm realizing that if we don't get DAH then I'll be wanting to book EMM but that will alter my plan to focus more on evening touring for this trip. We have insiders who tell us so many helpful things about Disney, it's a little frustrating we don't seem to have anyone connected to the planning regarding these events. Sigh. I want to give it to the end of this week before I completely give up, but man am I tired of waiting.


We are also hoping for May. The year that they did May dates they were not released until March 23 so I am not giving up yet.


----------



## WRLeGrand

I just feel like they should honestly know by now when/if they are going to run these by now. There truly is no reason they could not announce the dates through summertime for those trying to make all of their plans...


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I’m waiting for June 

Do we have any idea why they block out certain months? There seems to be no rhyme or reason?


----------



## maryj11

WRLeGrand said:


> I just feel like they should honestly know by now when/if they are going to run these by now. There truly is no reason they could not announce the dates through summertime for those trying to make all of their plans...


I have begun to think they want us to buy park tickets first instead of just using our AH tickets before they release dates. I have been holding off on buying park tickets in hope of just going to DAH lol. How many park tickets I buy depends on if there are AH events.


----------



## WRLeGrand

maryj11 said:


> I have begun to think they want us to buy park tickets first instead of just using our AH tickets before they release dates. I have been holding off on buying park tickets in hope of just going to DAH lol. How many park tickets I buy depends on if there are AH events.



Maybe that is what it is about, but it just seems like 30-60-90-120 days out they have a reasonable idea of who will be going to the parks. Also, they presumably have a reasonable idea of the crowd flow and which nights will be holding the event. I get it: it's a special event that is not meant to be planned out quite to the level of your "normal" park day. But many people who are interested should not have to move everything around at the last minute for an upcharge event. I mean they announced every single date for Not So Scary in January


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Cinderumbrella said:


> I’m waiting for June
> 
> Do we have any idea why they block out certain months? There seems to be no rhyme or reason?



My guess is that it's a circular reference of park hours, staffing, and attendance projections.  They sprinkle these in somewhat mid/late when they see conditions that warrant them.  I also think all of these have been tests of sorts to see what the market can bear in terms of cost, frequency, etc.

Or someone looks at the revenue numbers for the quarter and makes the call they need to do something.


----------



## maryj11

WRLeGrand said:


> Maybe that is what it is about, but it just seems like 30-60-90-120 days out they have a reasonable idea of who will be going to the parks. Also, they presumably have a reasonable idea of the crowd flow and which nights will be holding the event. I get it: it's a special event that is not meant to be planned out quite to the level of your "normal" park day. But many people who are interested should not have to move everything around at the last minute for an upcharge event. I mean they announced every single date for Not So Scary in January


I agree. If they can add all the party events way ahead of time why not DAH. It is so frustrating because I do not know what days to plan what. If they are not going to have any more AH events they could at least announce it. They won't though.


----------



## lynzi2004

Very happy to have found this thread! Last year, they had a September DAH on a random Thursday. This year (assuming the same schedule) that random Thursday (Sept 19) just happens to be DDs 8th birthday. Does anyone have a record of when that September date was added last year?!

If you were to compare DAH and MNSSHP, I’m assuming DAH is more laid back? We have never been to either one, but have been to disney 3x. If they don’t have DAH on the 19th, we would do the party on the 20th, but I’m thinking trying to squeeze everything we want to do into MNSSHP night be too much? It’s just a short trip, mostly to celebrate her birthday so we want to do something fun!


----------



## Iowamomof4

lynzi2004 said:


> Very happy to have found this thread! Last year, they had a September DAH on a random Thursday. This year (assuming the same schedule) that random Thursday (Sept 19) just happens to be DDs 8th birthday. Does anyone have a record of when that September date was added last year?!
> 
> If you were to compare DAH and MNSSHP, I’m assuming DAH is more laid back? We have never been to either one, but have been to disney 3x. If they don’t have DAH on the 19th, we would do the party on the 20th, but I’m thinking trying to squeeze everything we want to do into MNSSHP night be too much? It’s just a short trip, mostly to celebrate her birthday so we want to do something fun!



May 2, 2018

https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898156


----------



## chaoskids

I think since these are after hours events they wait as long as possible.  Once these are announced with times, it locks in park closing time for that park/day. No extending hours on these dates.


----------



## lynzi2004

Iowamomof4 said:


> May 2, 2018
> 
> https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898156



Thank you!


----------



## sheila14

I feel the pain with everyone else: I am hoping for DAH in September and I specifically picked my week to mimic DAH from last year. I am holding out for hope that some later dates will be posted if not then I plan on an additional MNSSHP. Let us all pray for some pixie dust!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

lynzi2004 said:


> Very happy to have found this thread! Last year, they had a September DAH on a random Thursday. This year (assuming the same schedule) that random Thursday (Sept 19) just happens to be DDs 8th birthday. Does anyone have a record of when that September date was added last year?!
> 
> If you were to compare DAH and MNSSHP, I’m assuming DAH is more laid back? We have never been to either one, but have been to disney 3x. If they don’t have DAH on the 19th, we would do the party on the 20th, but I’m thinking trying to squeeze everything we want to do into MNSSHP night be too much? It’s just a short trip, mostly to celebrate her birthday so we want to do something fun!



So, we did the 9/20 DAH and 9/21 MNSSHP last year.  9/20 DAH was a wonderful experience, which totally ruined the very crowded MNSSHP the next day.  The DAH experience right before a MNSSHP experience is not necessarily a good thing!  

Hope the schedule works out for you this year.


----------



## sheila14

Thank you, holding on to hope like all others are.


----------



## maryj11

Haley R said:


> Extra magic hours and dah aren’t even close imo. I think evening emh has gotten pretty bad because of how many resorts are included in it. The last two we've gone to at mk have had really long waits for sm and 7dmt. Dah really only has a 15-20 minute wait sometimes for 7dmt and pp (maybe even shorter than that at times) but the rest are all walk ons or _maybe_ a 5 minute wait. It’s also a good chance to meet characters with super short lines and just take in the atmosphere of mk with such little crowds. Dh and I definitely get our money’s worth from all of that and we eat TONS of snacks


Last August going to night EMH was not worth fighting the crowds. Lines were long clear up until about half an hour before it was over. It wasn't worth being in a crowded park waiting for EMH and then still having it crowded during EMH.


----------



## maryj11

Have they changed the time they let people in the park for DAH's? I know it was 7:00. I have read a few reviews where some were let in at 6:00 or a little after 6:00.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

maryj11 said:


> Have they changed the time they let people in the park for DAH's? I know it was 7:00. I have read a few reviews where some were let in at 6:00 or a little after 6:00.



MK has been kind of all over the place, 6-6:30ish from recent reports.  We’ve seen everything from 6-7 over the last year though.  The other parks have been closer to the legit 7pm time pretty consistently.

7pm is the ‘official’ time for all.


----------



## mtrib

Thanks to Disboards gurus reviews of DAH we did it on 2/28 and so glad we did. Definitely worth it but I'd not recommend spending the whole day in the park before the party. We were toast! Of course, it was day 5 of parks so we were pooped to begin with. Checked in by Stitch around 6:00 after two rides on People Mover to rest our weary bones. 

After a full day of touring we had 6:45 reservations at Skipper Canteen which I thought would be perfect as we planned to ride BTMRR right at 8 so we could see the fireworks from the ride then tour clockwise. Unfortunately, we didn't get seated until 7:15. We ordered immediately and still started the party 10 minutes late. Kids left us at the table waiting to pay the bill and it took us a few minutes to find them. They were on Aladdin as the fireworks started. Have I mentioned they are 14 and 17??

Anyway, if you count their Aladdin ride:
Aladdin x 1
BTMRR x 2 (once during fireworks which was amazing) They were loading both sides so line went fast. Maybe 5 minutes. 
Splash x 1  walk on (got stuck for a few minutes. They finally turned off the waterfall out of pity)
Snagged frozen bananas and waters
PP x 1 with 22 minute wait (but SB queue is great. DS 17 tall enough to "ring" the bells with his head which was hilarious)
7D x 1 with 20 minute wait
Hub for castle pic
Space x 1 walk on (DS and DH asked CM for back way for repeat ride. He took them through a door and they rode a train all alone ?on another track? Said it was spooky with no one else around but very cool)
Buzz x 1 (DD and I while boys erode Space. Got stuck for 5 minutes right after loading)
Mickey bars, waters, popcorn (at this point I was regretting our late dinner)
POC x 1 (got stuck for 10 minutes. Noticing a theme here?) Done at 11:02 and snack carts were out of drinks and popcorn. Didn't want anymore ice cream so we gave up. 

Sadly, shops are not open on Main Street after the event. I thought Emporium would at least be open. I think they would've done decent business. I was able to convince a CM to let me in to buy a reusable bag while the last few stragglers got checked out. 

If I had to do it again:
-We would not spend the whole day in the park leading up to the party
-We would have a smaller dinner much earlier and eat more snacks. DH and kids had an ice cream and popcorn each but I was too full. I'd also stock up on waters each time we stopped to avoid the lines when we needed more.
-I'd probably wait until later in the night for PP and hope the lines went down. That was a big chunk of valuable time.  7D line looked the same even at 10:45 so I'd probably still ride early in case it went down (has happened during past parties)


----------



## Firestarlife

Last year, they announced on May 2 for the new dates starting on June 28.
So, if that is any indication, we should have an answer this week!
I noticed that a lot of them were on Saturday instead of Thursday. If they do add dates for May, I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will be Thursday dates. Not sure I want to be at MK on Saturday!


----------



## Haley R

mtrib said:


> Thanks to Disboards gurus reviews of DAH we did it on 2/28 and so glad we did. Definitely worth it but I'd not recommend spending the whole day in the park before the party. We were toast! Of course, it was day 5 of parks so we were pooped to begin with. Checked in by Stitch around 6:00 after two rides on People Mover to rest our weary bones.
> 
> After a full day of touring we had 6:45 reservations at Skipper Canteen which I thought would be perfect as we planned to ride BTMRR right at 8 so we could see the fireworks from the ride then tour clockwise. Unfortunately, we didn't get seated until 7:15. We ordered immediately and still started the party 10 minutes late. Kids left us at the table waiting to pay the bill and it took us a few minutes to find them. They were on Aladdin as the fireworks started. Have I mentioned they are 14 and 17??
> 
> Anyway, if you count their Aladdin ride:
> Aladdin x 1
> BTMRR x 2 (once during fireworks which was amazing) They were loading both sides so line went fast. Maybe 5 minutes.
> Splash x 1  walk on (got stuck for a few minutes. They finally turned off the waterfall out of pity)
> Snagged frozen bananas and waters
> PP x 1 with 22 minute wait (but SB queue is great. DS 17 tall enough to "ring" the bells with his head which was hilarious)
> 7D x 1 with 20 minute wait
> Hub for castle pic
> Space x 1 walk on (DS and DH asked CM for back way for repeat ride. He took them through a door and they rode a train all alone ?on another track? Said it was spooky with no one else around but very cool)
> Buzz x 1 (DD and I while boys erode Space. Got stuck for 5 minutes right after loading)
> Mickey bars, waters, popcorn (at this point I was regretting our late dinner)
> POC x 1 (got stuck for 10 minutes. Noticing a theme here?) Done at 11:02 and snack carts were out of drinks and popcorn. Didn't want anymore ice cream so we gave up.
> 
> Sadly, shops are not open on Main Street after the event. I thought Emporium would at least be open. I think they would've done decent business. I was able to convince a CM to let me in to buy a reusable bag while the last few stragglers got checked out.
> 
> If I had to do it again:
> -We would not spend the whole day in the park leading up to the party
> -We would have a smaller dinner much earlier and eat more snacks. DH and kids had an ice cream and popcorn each but I was too full. I'd also stock up on waters each time we stopped to avoid the lines when we needed more.
> -I'd probably wait until later in the night for PP and hope the lines went down. That was a big chunk of valuable time.  7D line looked the same even at 10:45 so I'd probably still ride early in case it went down (has happened during past parties)


We've been stuck in that exact same spot on Splash! It was actually during our DAH night last March. That really stinks that you were stuck on Pirates for 10 minutes. That's a pretty long time to be stuck during DAH.


----------



## lynzi2004

With the 20+min waits at 7DMT...do they allow rider swap? We will have a 1 year old and I was thinking we wouldn’t need to even use a swap, but 40 min for one ride is more than I was hoping for?!


----------



## lynzi2004

Thanks for the heads up! I think we will only do DAH if offered bc we would love the lower crowds and since that will be on her exact birthday. 

Is it reasonable to assume we could get through most of the park if that’s our only night? We could also go the following Sunday morning before flying home, but we were leaning towards AK that morning....


----------



## Haley R

lynzi2004 said:


> Thanks for the heads up! I think we will only do DAH if offered bc we would love the lower crowds and since that will be on her exact birthday.
> 
> Is it reasonable to assume we could get through most of the park if that’s our only night? We could also go the following Sunday morning before flying home, but we were leaning towards AK that morning....


That depends what you want to get done at MK. There are some rides/attractions/characters not offered during DAH. If that's your only day at MK it'll work, just know that it is mostly a ride heavy event. We like to pair DAH with another day at MK where we can take our time and enjoy the rides/attractions that aren't offered during DAH. Will that be your only chance to go to AK?


----------



## lynzi2004

Haley R said:


> That depends what you want to get done at MK. There are some rides/attractions/characters not offered during DAH. If that's your only day at MK it'll work, just know that it is mostly a ride heavy event. We like to pair DAH with another day at MK where we can take our time and enjoy the rides/attractions that aren't offered during DAH. Will that be your only chance to go to AK?



Yes our only chance for both MK and AK. We have been to Disney the last 3 years, so it’s a shorter trip to celebrate DDs birthday. We know we will be going back so if we miss something it’s not a big deal. We’ve met most the characters, and are at the stage where rides are a big deal. We will have DAH at MK, a full day at HS to see the new TSL and the kids are finally tall enough for RnRC and then a half day for either AK or MK again!


----------



## Haley R

lynzi2004 said:


> Yes our only chance for both MK and AK. We have been to Disney the last 3 years, so it’s a shorter trip to celebrate DDs birthday. We know we will be going back so if we miss something it’s not a big deal. We’ve met most the characters, and are at the stage where rides are a big deal. We will have DAH at MK, a full day at HS to see the new TSL and the kids are finally tall enough for RnRC and then a half day for either AK or MK again!


In that case I would do AK


----------



## maryj11

Haley R said:


> We've been stuck in that exact same spot on Splash! It was actually during our DAH night last March. That really stinks that you were stuck on Pirates for 10 minutes. That's a pretty long time to be stuck during DAH.


This would be the reason I would be afraid to ride Splash during DAH. It breaks down or stops a lot. It seems to be the number one ride for getting stuck in at MK. I would not be happy if we were stuck in there a long time. Or any ride for that matter. It seems rides are doing this a lot lately.


----------



## Superchikk

lynzi2004 said:


> Thanks for the heads up! I think we will only do DAH if offered bc we would love the lower crowds and since that will be on her exact birthday.
> 
> Is it reasonable to assume we could get through most of the park if that’s our only night? We could also go the following Sunday morning before flying home, but we were leaning towards AK that morning....



I'm taking DD8 to DAH next month, and it's the only time we'll be in a park on our trip. My strategy is to go in as soon as they'll let us in - 7pm-ish. The park is officially open until 10pm that night. I have FP+ to a couple of things I know she will want to do that are not included in DAH - Enchanted Tales, Ariel, Tink. (The trip is a surprise, so I can't ask her, but I'm guessing she wants to see these along with the characters offered during DAH. I can change the FP+ that day if I need to.) I know she will want to do a lot of rides, but I feel like if we maximize our "open park" time, we will be able to do plenty of things from 7pm-1am.


----------



## TheNameless

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So, we did the 9/20 DAH and 9/21 MNSSHP last year.  9/20 DAH was a wonderful experience, which totally ruined the very crowded MNSSHP the next day.  The DAH experience right before a MNSSHP experience is not necessarily a good thing!
> 
> Hope the schedule works out for you this year.



My wife and I, were at the 09/20 DAH event and 09/21 MNSSHP also. I will agree that the MNSSHP was way more crowded. However, I don't regret going to both. DAH was great, cause we got to ride everything we wanted, and then for MNSSHP we focused more on the special event themed entertainment (Parade, Fireworks, etc).


----------



## DVC Jen

Ashley Marie said:


> I’d really like to see some May dates announced...


  I am waiting and hoping for early June


----------



## Rick195275

Superchikk said:


> I'm taking DD8 to DAH next month, and it's the only time we'll be in a park on our trip. My strategy is to go in as soon as they'll let us in - 7pm-ish. The park is officially open until 10pm that night. I have FP+ to a couple of things I know she will want to do that are not included in DAH - Enchanted Tales, Ariel, Tink. (The trip is a surprise, so I can't ask her, but I'm guessing she wants to see these along with the characters offered during DAH. I can change the FP+ that day if I need to.) I know she will want to do a lot of rides, but I feel like if we maximize our "open park" time, we will be able to do plenty of things from 7pm-1am.


Taking my DD8 also next month, 4/11... didn’t think about the other characters not being included in DAH. Have enchanted tales, but did 7dmt to try to avoid that wait during, at least until the end and Pirates due to it length.... might need to reconsider.


----------



## Superchikk

Rick195275 said:


> Taking my DD8 also next month, 4/11... didn’t think about the other characters not being included in DAH. Have enchanted tales, but did 7dmt to try to avoid that wait during, at least until the end and Pirates due to it length.... might need to reconsider.



That's what someone else suggested doing, and I agree it's not a bad strategy. I just know that if we skip those characters and then can't do them during DAH, I'll be in trouble. We may need a good 15-20 minute wait by the time we get to 10pm... we're flying in that morning, so it will be a LONG day for us!


----------



## tri-sara-tops

Does anyone else find it strange that Disney spent the last week hosting youtubers, showing off after hours at MK and AK and yet we can’t actually book any beyond the last few weeks? Seems very odd

I get them showing off the super expensive hotel rooms and deluxe resorts, but why promote an event you haven’t even confirmed is still available beyond April 11th?


----------



## BK2014

tri-sara-tops said:


> Does anyone else find it strange that Disney spent the last week hosting youtubers, showing off after hours at MK and AK and yet we can’t actually book any beyond the last few weeks? Seems very odd
> 
> I get them showing off the super expensive hotel rooms and deluxe resorts, but why promote an event you haven’t even confirmed is still available beyond April 11th?



Makes me think a price increase is coming with the next round of released dates.


----------



## iujen94

BK2014 said:


> Makes me think a price increase is coming with the next round of released dates.



Ditto. The last time I waited a weirdly long time and Disney released a new round of dates really late was when I was waiting for the HEA dessert party. They ended up adding the after fireworks party AND increasing the price. 

Nevertheless, still hoping for April 18!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

iujen94 said:


> Ditto. The last time I waited a weirdly long time and Disney released a new round of dates really late was when I was waiting for the HEA dessert party. They ended up adding the after fireworks party AND increasing the price.
> 
> Nevertheless, still hoping for April 18!



Have they extended any park hours for April yet?


----------



## iujen94

Cinderumbrella said:


> Have they extended any park hours for April yet?



Not for my week (the week leading up to Easter). 10pm close every night, except for Wednesday with evening EMH until midnight.


----------



## Randomsoulshine

maryj11 said:


> I have begun to think they want us to buy park tickets first instead of just using our AH tickets before they release dates. I have been holding off on buying park tickets in hope of just going to DAH lol. How many park tickets I buy depends on if there are AH events.


Same here!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

iujen94 said:


> Not for my week (the week leading up to Easter). 10pm close every night, except for Wednesday with evening EMH until midnight.



That’s actually promising. Sort of. Once DAH schedule is out, those hours don’t change. So hopefully this week?


----------



## iujen94

Cinderumbrella said:


> That’s actually promising. Sort of. Once DAH schedule is out, those hours don’t change. So hopefully this week?



I’ve thought that every week for the last eight weeks - LOL!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

iujen94 said:


> I’ve thought that every week for the last eight weeks - LOL!



I can’t even imagine how frustrating it is when you are inside 60 days (assuming you are staying on site).

We are 90 days out so I can still “wait” to see if they are extended or not.


----------



## mtrib

Haley R said:


> We've been stuck in that exact same spot on Splash! It was actually during our DAH night last March. That really stinks that you were stuck on Pirates for 10 minutes. That's a pretty long time to be stuck during DAH.



Yeah. We lost 25 minutes total to stuck rides. Splash wasn't even supposed to be on the plans but kids were suddenly excited to don ponchos and ride it at night. We usually make fun of poncho wearing people on Splash because we WANT to get wet in the heat. So made for a fun family photo of us all coming down the drop with ponchos on. 

Pirates was our last ride and we were hoping for snacks right after. The delay meant snack carts were packed up when we got off. That was a bummer.


----------



## mtrib

lynzi2004 said:


> With the 20+min waits at 7DMT...do they allow rider swap? We will have a 1 year old and I was thinking we wouldn’t need to even use a swap, but 40 min for one ride is more than I was hoping for?!



Good question. My kids are teens and I wasn't paying attention to see what families with small children were doing. Hopefully someone here can help.


----------



## Shellyb84

I finally made up my mind and actually bought our tickets for April 4th!  It was hard to choose between MK and HS DAH but I just had to go with MK.  It was so great last time.  I'm hopeful for some late June dates for HS.


----------



## maryj11

Shellyb84 said:


> I finally made up my mind and actually bought our tickets for April 4th!  It was hard to choose between MK and HS DAH but I just had to go with MK.  It was so great last time.  I'm hopeful for some late June dates for HS.


I agree MK would be the best choice!


----------



## amarie

The last time I did an AH event was in 2017, and I received an email with the two tickets to print out and present to the CMs at the gate. This time for my AH event in March I booked it over the phone and I got a confirmation email but no barcode or tickets to print out. Do I need anything extra or since it's already linked to my Magic Band will I just need to scan in and go? Sorry if this has been asked before I skimmed the last few pages and didn't see anything! Thanks!


----------



## Superchikk

amarie said:


> The last time I did an AH event was in 2017, and I received an email with the two tickets to print out and present to the CMs at the gate. This time for my AH event in March I booked it over the phone and I got a confirmation email but no barcode or tickets to print out. Do I need anything extra or since it's already linked to my Magic Band will I just need to scan in and go? Sorry if this has been asked before I skimmed the last few pages and didn't see anything! Thanks!


When I booked, I did so online and the instructions said if I have Magic Bands, I don't need the barcode. I would take your confirmation email (or a screen shot of it) but I wouldn't think you'd need it if it's already connected to your MB.


----------



## Haley R

amarie said:


> The last time I did an AH event was in 2017, and I received an email with the two tickets to print out and present to the CMs at the gate. This time for my AH event in March I booked it over the phone and I got a confirmation email but no barcode or tickets to print out. Do I need anything extra or since it's already linked to my Magic Band will I just need to scan in and go? Sorry if this has been asked before I skimmed the last few pages and didn't see anything! Thanks!


Can you see the tickets on your mde account?


----------



## Haley R

mtrib said:


> Yeah. We lost 25 minutes total to stuck rides. Splash wasn't even supposed to be on the plans but kids were suddenly excited to don ponchos and ride it at night. We usually make fun of poncho wearing people on Splash because we WANT to get wet in the heat. So made for a fun family photo of us all coming down the drop with ponchos on.
> 
> Pirates was our last ride and we were hoping for snacks right after. The delay meant snack carts were packed up when we got off. That was a bummer.


That is a bummer. It’s hard because there isn’t much Disney can do about broken rides at the event.


----------



## MouseTriper

Hi guys...so I did it. I bought tickets to one of the MK DAH events.  We haven't been to Disney in years.  I am pretty excited. I bought the tickets thru "Tickets-at-Work" and received them in the mail today. They are just a credit card looking ticket but they have NO event date or reference to the event? I went online and tried to link them to the My Disney Experience thing but it gave me an error.  Also there is a date in the lower left corner of the cards...do you know what that date is for?  These ones date back to 2017? Sorry if this is a dumb question, just confused.  Can anyone advise?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Looks like tomorrow (3/7) is sold out.  FYI!


----------



## Haley R

MouseTriper said:


> Hi guys...so I did it. I bought tickets to one of the MK DAH events.  We haven't been to Disney in years.  I am pretty excited. I bought the tickets thru "Tickets-at-Work" and received them in the mail today. They are just a credit card looking ticket but they have NO event date or reference to the event? I went online and tried to link them to the My Disney Experience thing but it gave me an error.  Also there is a date in the lower left corner of the cards...do you know what that date is for?  These ones date back to 2017? Sorry if this is a dumb question, just confused.  Can anyone advise?


I’ve never bought tickets from them before so I’m not sure I can help. When we got the hard ticket cards for our dah last year they had the date of the event on them


----------



## mtrib

Haley R said:


> That is a bummer. It’s hard because there isn’t much Disney can do about broken rides at the event.


 Yeah. We weren't mad at all. By the third time it was kinda funny and we all kept blaming my daughter for it. For the rest of the trip every time there was any delay we blamed her. But thank goodness for those ponchos on Splash!


----------



## briemer99

I haven't been to a DAH event yet but was considering going in the fall if they add dates. That said I would be pretty unhappy if Disney upped the price, which is already significant, without increasing the length of the event at all or adding any additional perks.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

The price just went up $6 starting with the 11/26/2018 event.  Who knows of course, but I doubt there will be an increase in the near-term.


----------



## cmarsh31

Going tomorrow night - last time I went in July it was a sold out night too but the park still felt so empty!


----------



## PolyRob

MouseTriper said:


> Hi guys...so I did it. I bought tickets to one of the MK DAH events.  We haven't been to Disney in years.  I am pretty excited. I bought the tickets thru "Tickets-at-Work" and received them in the mail today. They are just a credit card looking ticket but they have NO event date or reference to the event? I went online and tried to link them to the My Disney Experience thing but it gave me an error.  Also there is a date in the lower left corner of the cards...do you know what that date is for?  These ones date back to 2017? Sorry if this is a dumb question, just confused.  Can anyone advise?


Sounds like they sent you RFID cards. They can usually be linked by code or scanning a QR code with the app. Maybe call Tickets at Work and inquire. Kinda weird they have a 2017 date on them.


----------



## fiasco32

The last time we did DAH (Jan 2018), I saw a tip here to start using the lanyard as a FP at most attractions in between when you get in the park and when the event officially starts, and that CMs were letting folks do this.

I tried it at a few rides (PotC, Magic Carpets) and it did indeed work. 

Anyone know if this is still an unofficial practice?


----------



## Lsdolphin

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Looks like tomorrow (3/7) is sold out.  FYI!




No no no!  We r going and didn’t want a sell out crowd. Just arrived at 6:30 pm (Wed.). And so far this trip has not been fun didn’t get luggage until 1:42 am and suddenly I see all our dining reservations have disappeared!!!
Good news all fast passes still showing up!


----------



## amalone1013

GADisneyDad14 said:


> The price just went up $6 starting with the 11/26/2018 event.  Who knows of course, but I doubt there will be an increase in the near-term.


Had a moment where I got excited reading November... 2018. womp womp.


----------



## Shellyb84

fiasco32 said:


> The last time we did DAH (Jan 2018), I saw a tip here to start using the lanyard as a FP at most attractions in between when you get in the park and when the event officially starts, and that CMs were letting folks do this.
> 
> I tried it at a few rides (PotC, Magic Carpets) and it did indeed work.
> 
> Anyone know if this is still an unofficial practice?



They don't give out lanyards anymore, just a wristband


----------



## Haley R

fiasco32 said:


> The last time we did DAH (Jan 2018), I saw a tip here to start using the lanyard as a FP at most attractions in between when you get in the park and when the event officially starts, and that CMs were letting folks do this.
> 
> I tried it at a few rides (PotC, Magic Carpets) and it did indeed work.
> 
> Anyone know if this is still an unofficial practice?


It really depends on the cms but for the most part the only reason some let us go was because they didn’t know what was going on. We didn’t have much success during our dah in January this year or July last year


----------



## sheila14

Any news yet on when Disney will be opening up dates?  There has to be someone out there who has heard a rumor or something??


----------



## Haley R

sheila14 said:


> Any news yet on when Disney will be opening up dates?  There has to be someone out there who has heard a rumor or something??


No one here has any idea


----------



## Ashley Marie

Considering the Aug. 29 opening date of Galaxy’s Edge I’d be surprised if they did not offer late spring and summer DAH dates to entice more people to visit before then.


----------



## mixmastertoy

Any news on how long waits were for the sold out event? and how busy the park was?


----------



## mamapenguin

mixmastertoy said:


> Any news on how long waits were for the sold out event? and how busy the park was?


Well it’s tonight so.... probably later or tomorrow will be the reports. There’s the Arnold Palmer invitational that’s inflating the crowds.


----------



## melliemelo

At Epcot right now.  We’ll be heading to MK about 6 to check in for tonight.  Last year for Mardi Gras week it was also sold out.  It’ll be interesting to see how this year’s sold out compares...


----------



## Saad

Has anyone bought tickets from undercover tourist for extra magic hours? How do we know if they are legit? Any real proof/horror stories?


----------



## Haley R

Saad said:


> Has anyone bought tickets from undercover tourist for extra magic hours? How do we know if they are legit? Any real proof/horror stories?


They are a legit business so I wouldn’t have any problems buying from them. Just to clarify you’re talking about Disney after hours right? Extra magic hours is free for Disney resort guests


----------



## mcurrence

melliemelo said:


> At Epcot right now.  We’ll be heading to MK about 6 to check in for tonight.  Last year for Mardi Gras week it was also sold out.  It’ll be interesting to see how this year’s sold out compares...


Super interested to get your opinion on this since you will have done both.  In the past, some of the non sold out events were busier than the sold out ones so I wouldn't let that discourage anyone.  That said, if the numbers cap has gone up, you will be a good person to gauge it 
Hope everyone has a great time tonight!!!


----------



## Haley R

mcurrence said:


> Super interested to get your opinion on this since you will have done both.  In the past, some of the non sold out events were busier than the sold out ones so I wouldn't let that discourage anyone.  That said, if the numbers cap has gone up, you will be a good person to gauge it
> Hope everyone has a great time tonight!!!


It’s also really hard to tell because you might go with the flow of traffic or away from it. If everyone goes to frontierland first and you go to Tomorrowland it makes a big difference.


----------



## eeyoreali

How is everyone doing their planning?  Do you work on your plan, what parks you'll go to on which days and then change it if needed when new DAH are announced?  

Do you try moving dining ADR?


----------



## Haley R

eeyoreali said:


> How is everyone doing their planning?  Do you work on your plan, what parks you'll go to on which days and then change it if needed when new DAH are announced?
> 
> Do you try moving dining ADR?


Well I’m different because Dh and I can kind of go whenever and usually wait for dah to be announced but last year dah was added after we booked our trip. We did cancel some adrs and got rid of one of our park tickets in exchange for a dah ticket. If or when dah is added, you just have to make the decision which is more important to you.


----------



## Spacecow

Currently resting up in our room before heading out to DAH tonight! Super excited- not concerned about it being sold out, pretty much anything will feel better than the crowds today!


----------



## mcurrence

Spacecow said:


> Currently resting up in our room before heading out to DAH tonight! Super excited- not concerned about it being sold out, pretty much anything will feel better than the crowds today!


Perfect attitude!  Weather looks perfect too! Enjoy!


----------



## Syndrome

6pm entry tonight !


----------



## maryj11

Are people still getting FP's removed on other days when they book FP on the DAH nights?


----------



## Haley R

maryj11 said:


> Are people still getting FP's removed on other days when they book FP on the DAH nights?


I think it’s still a possibility. It’s one of those situations where you have to decide if the risk is worth it because it could happen


----------



## Spacecow

We had a ton of fun tonight! Started with Space Mountain right at 9, had about a 10 minute wait. Then we walked on to Buzz and the Astro Orbitor before going back to Space, which was a complete walk on at this point- so we rode it 3 times in a row. Then we got snacks and walked over to Fantasyland. The line for 7 Dwarfs was longer than I cared to wait, and so was Peter Pan, so we just did Winnie the Pooh and moved on. Then we basically walked onto Haunted Mansion, got more snacks, did the Tangled lantern photo (only waited about 10 minutes, if that) and headed to Big Thunder. They were only running one side so it ended up being about a 20 minute wait. A little annoying, but whatever. Then we walked onto Pirates, and rode it again, and then got snacks AGAIN before calling it a night 

All in all it was a great time and I'd definitely do it again! If nothing else, it's amazing to have such low crowds, especially after a busy and crowded day. The snack distribution was much better than at AK's after hours, they had a lot more stands open which helped keep the lines down. I think I enjoyed both events about the same, the AK one was much slower paced wheras this one went by SO fast, but they were both great!


----------



## michelepa

Syndrome said:


> 6pm entry tonight !



Last night was a 9-12 event. I’m curious what time guests will be allowed to enter on 3/21 because that’s a 10-1 event. Greedily I’m hoping it’s still around 6 because we’re going on 3/28 for 10-1 and getting in at 6 rather than 7 would be so awesomeHoping for that Disney magic.

Was checking out wait times on MDE last night and, for a sold out event, wait  times didn’t seem too bad and I only saw one ride down all night a brief closure of Pooh.


----------



## KriK412

michelepa said:


> Last night was a 9-12 event. I’m curious what time guests will be allowed to enter on 3/21 because that’s a 10-1 event. Greedily I’m hoping it’s still around 6 because we’re going on 3/28 for 10-1 and getting in at 6 rather than 7 would be so awesomeHoping for that Disney magic.
> 
> Was checking out wait times on MDE last night and, for a sold out event, wait  times didn’t seem too bad and I only saw one ride down all night a brief closure of Pooh.


We are going 3/28 as well and I was watching wait times last night, too.  It was nice to see nothing seemed overly busy with a sell out!


----------



## Ashley Marie

michelepa said:


> Last night was a 9-12 event. I’m curious what time guests will be allowed to enter on 3/21 because that’s a 10-1 event. Greedily I’m hoping it’s still around 6 because we’re going on 3/28 for 10-1 and getting in at 6 rather than 7 would be so awesomeHoping for that Disney magic.
> 
> Was checking out wait times on MDE last night and, for a sold out event, wait  times didn’t seem too bad and I only saw one ride down all night a brief closure of Pooh.


I went to a 10–1am event and they let us in around 6:30. I don’t think the starting hour matters.


----------



## michelepa

Ashley Marie said:


> I went to a 10–1am event and they let us in around 6:30. I don’t think the starting hour matters.



Good to know! I hope it stays the same!


----------



## asaj

We are going to be at WDW 6/2-6/9, and are really hoping they have a DAH event available during our stay.  Historically, it doesn't look like they have held them in early June...but we are keeping our fingers crossed.


----------



## Newcastle

Well, it’s Friday... obviously, no new dates were released this week.  I have a trip planned for early May and was really hoping that they would open up some dates during that time but I’m thinking that if nothing opens up early next week, it’s probably a lost cause for my trip. Sending positive vibes though to those who have summer trips planned…hopefully Disney will offer dates during your vacations .


----------



## Syndrome

O.K. , just going to put this out there ........
Went last Night (Sold out , 3/7) and this event was far from having that "empty" feeling . There were crowds everywhere . Not daytime crowds , but crowds none the less . If you think you are going to get empty main street pictures, or castle pictures, or even frontier-land "empty" pictures ......think again . Not at a sold out event at least . Not sure what the cap is for these events, but it is NOT 3000 people, or even 5000 . A half hour wait worth of guests at SDMT and BTM , plus TONS of other people all over the place , and in other line ques ,snack ques , bathrooms , etc,  do not equate to low crowd capacity as advertised . Just a guess , but maybe 10,000 people is the limit right now ?

Big Thunder was disappointing  with 25-30 minutes all night . With only one side of the train que open .....it never got to be anything close to walk on . We were able to walk on some rides , but it was a constant flow of people with full loads of ride vehicles everywhere . Towards the last hour or so , some of the rides started to lighten a little . Snack carts were pretty busy right up until the last hour as well . Jumped into the SDMT 1/2 hour cue right about 12 , and it seemed a lot of people had the exact same idea, as the line started to build in the last 15 minutes towards 12.
The 6pm entry , is I feel something they have to do at MK . There is literally no where to "stack" up the waiting DAH crowds as they build . Tons of people coming and going, and the DAH crowd line stuck right in the middle . Lots of people crossing through the line to get to the other side of the courtyard . The 6pm MK DAH entry is pretty much a necessity I think . It would be mayhem in the courtyard if they didn't allow early entry .
I dont know if Disney is starting to oversell these events now too (like every other event eventually) , but it was way more crowded than we thought there would be . Bathrooms were a bit crowded  . Even the buses at the end of the event were packed .

The best thing I can relate, at least a sold out MK DAH event too, is to a late night EMH from back in the day . Like a late night EMH from 10-15 years ago is what it felt like.

For us, it was still ok as we are doing a basically non -park trip and only did Epcot for opening day of Flower and garden, and this DAH event for out MK day .

In the end , it was  WAY less crowded than a normal MK day , but it was still more crowded than we though it would be . Not sure if its worth $125. ? We are DVC owners, so it was $95 for us which made it a little easier to swallow .

Still a little miffed about the BTM que with only one train side running . Heard a lot of people mumbling complaints about this one ! They should not have let this happen for the money people are spending for this special event. Just open both cues and keep the line moving !

Still worth it for us , as it full-filled our "MK" day for our trip . We got to ride everything we wanted to do basically , but it had a definite "rushed" feeling. 4 hours would be a little better .

Just our opinion on the event, to let other people know, NOT to expect these events (if they are sold out) , to be EMPTY . They are not !


----------



## focusondisney

Syndrome said:


> Just our opinion on the event, to let other people NOT to expect these events (if they are sold out) , to be EMPTY . They are not !



Thanks for your report.  I think Disney is doing what Disney does & what I was afraid would happen.  Take a great event, get people hooked, then inch by inch, change things so they are not that great anymore.  We were there Jan 30 last year & Feb 7 this year.  I saw the difference in crowds between the 2.  Last year, mine train had 15 - 20 minute waits.  PP was 10- 15. This year mine train is 20-25, PP 20, & now BTM at 20-25?  I might be alone in my thinking, but those kind of waits for a single ride during a 3 hour event is really pushing the limit. Yea, still less than a regular day.  But with those time frames, when you include walking between attractions, stopping for a snack, etc, you may get only 7 - 8 rides in during the 3 hours.  If you only get  in 8 rides, that is $12 - 15 per ride, depending if you had a discounted ticket or not. 

Yes, I know there are still things that are walk ons. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that changes & all rides start having waits as we go forward.


----------



## MouseTriper

PolyRob said:


> Sounds like they sent you RFID cards. They can usually be linked by code or scanning a QR code with the app. Maybe call Tickets at Work and inquire. Kinda weird they have a 2017 date on them.


 Thanks I will have to check out the app.  I did call Tickets at Work and they said the 2017 date was the date they received the cards from Disney and then they somehow attach the DAH Event to the card after I purchased it.  Does that sound right? The lady seemed kinda miffed when I told her I was concerned and just checking.  She said I should be able to go right to the gate and not guest services?  Any idea if that is true?  Thanks!


----------



## Dbktmc

Syndrome said:


> O.K. , just going to put this out there ........
> Went last Night (Sold out , 3/7) and this event was far from having that "empty" feeling . There were crowds everywhere . Not daytime crowds , but crowds none the less . If you think you are going to get empty main street pictures, or castle pictures, or even frontier-land "empty" pictures ......think again . Not at a sold out event at least . Not sure what the cap is for these events, but it is NOT 3000 people, or even 5000 . A half hour wait worth of guests at SDMT and BTM , plus TONS of other people all over the place , and in other line ques ,snack ques , bathrooms , etc,  do not equate to low crowd capacity as advertised . Just a guess , but maybe 10,000 people is the limit right now ?
> 
> Big Thunder was disappointing  with 25-30 minutes all night . With only one side of the train que open .....it never got to be anything close to walk on . We were able to walk on some rides , but it was a constant flow of people with full loads of ride vehicles everywhere . Towards the last hour or so , some of the rides started to lighten a little . Snack carts were pretty busy right up until the last hour as well . Jumped into the SDMT 1/2 hour cue right about 12 , and it seemed a lot of people had the exact same idea, as the line started to build in the last 15 minutes towards 12.
> The 6pm entry , is I feel something they have to do at MK . There is literally no where to "stack" up the waiting DAH crowds as they build . Tons of people coming and going, and the DAH crowd line stuck right in the middle . Lots of people crossing through the line to get to the other side of the courtyard . The 6pm MK DAH entry is pretty much a necessity I think . It would be mayhem in the courtyard if they didn't allow early entry .
> I dont know if Disney is starting to oversell these events now too (like every other event eventually) , but it was way more crowded than we thought there would be . Bathrooms were a bit crowded  . Even the buses at the end of the event were packed .
> 
> The best thing I can relate, at least a sold out MK DAH event too, is to a late night EMH from back in the day . Like a late night EMH from 10-15 years ago is what it felt like.
> 
> For us, it was still ok as we are doing a basically non -park trip and only did Epcot for opening day of Flower and garden, and this DAH event for out MK day .
> 
> In the end , it was  WAY less crowded than a normal MK day , but it was still more crowded than we though it would be . Not sure if its worth $125. ? We are DVC owners, so it was $95 for us which made it a little easier to swallow .
> 
> Still a little miffed about the BTM que with only one train side running . Heard a lot of people mumbling complaints about this one ! They should not have let this happen for the money people are spending for this special event. Just open both cues and keep the line moving !
> 
> Still worth it for us , as it full-filled our "MK" day for our trip . We got to ride everything we wanted to do basically , but it had a definite "rushed" feeling. 4 hours would be a little better .
> 
> Just our opinion on the event, to let other people know, NOT to expect these events (if they are sold out) , to be EMPTY . They are not !



Oh no... this is what I have been afraid of.  We have been wanting to go ever since they started these events but our DS was just too young.  Now that he is 7 we thought that we would get these tickets during our June trip if they were available.  It seems that there are more and more people saying how the crowds are getting bigger and bigger during DAH.  However, every post seems to end with "but it was worth it to us."  My fear is that Disney feels that people are accepting the crowds.   I know that we went to our first/only MNSSHP about 3 years ago.  The crowds were ridiculous and it felt like a "normal" day in the park.  We decided that it wasn't worth it for us to go back and we would instead wait to go to DAH.  I was really hoping that Disney wouldn't ruin what seemed like a perfect event but now I am super concerned.


----------



## briemer99

If anyone has been to Discovery Cove in Orlando, that is what DAH should be like, only in a theme park. I realize DC has a small cap because of the size of the park, but there's no reason Disney shouldn't be capping this event to 3000 or even less. And well for not much more, when people can go to DC for a day and get free SW tickets... I think Disney should really be keeping this event as lightly crowded as possible.


----------



## Juventus

I was there last night.  Not impressed.  Much prefered EMM last Sunday.  Infact, when I came back last Sunday evening, with refreshing, had just as good a time with almost as many rides.  Plus during EMM 7dwarves was walkon x4.  I saw 35 minute wait for it last night!  I waited a solid 10minutes for Pooh!!!


----------



## whiporee

Sorry to hear that people aren't enjoying it as much. I'm going on the 28th, and I pretty much expect it not to be as cool as it was for us in June last year. But I don't think you can blame Disney too much for it -- it's a pretty natural progression for the place. You have to remember that Disney doesn't force a ticket on anyone, and it's people's demand that causes crowd. I'd prefer it to be capped at 50 people, as long as I'm one of the 50. 

I'm also hopeful -- hopeful -- that a 10-1 session is less crowded than a 9-12 one. The later the better, but I'm not overly optimistic.


----------



## mamapenguin

Juventus said:


> I was there last night.  Not impressed.  Much prefered EMM last Sunday.  Infact, when I came back last Sunday evening, with refreshing, had just as good a time with almost as many rides.  Plus during EMM 7dwarves was walkon x4.  I saw 35 minute wait for it last night!  I waited a solid 10minutes for Pooh!!!


You should email Disney your disappointment. They won’t change if no one complains.


----------



## briemer99

whiporee said:


> But I don't think you can blame Disney too much for it -- it's a pretty natural progression for the place. You have to remember that Disney doesn't force a ticket on anyone, and it's people's demand that causes crowd.


Of course Disney doesn't force anyone to buy a ticket, but they are more than capable of setting a limit for each night that keeps waits to a minimum, especially when the event is only 3 hours and the amount you are paying for it. When Disney looks to control crowds, their answer is always raising prices, which is totally understandable with regular daytime admission. But with this kind of event, a much more effective way of controlling the crowds would be to cap the numbers at a reasonable amount, which is why I hope they don't issue a price hike and instead cap the numbers where they used to be last year.


----------



## mamapenguin

whiporee said:


> Sorry to hear that people aren't enjoying it as much. I'm going on the 28th, and I pretty much expect it not to be as cool as it was for us in June last year. But I don't think you can blame Disney too much for it -- it's a pretty natural progression for the place. You have to remember that Disney doesn't force a ticket on anyone, and it's people's demand that causes crowd. I'd prefer it to be capped at 50 people, as long as I'm one of the 50.
> 
> I'm also hopeful -- hopeful -- that a 10-1 session is less crowded than a 9-12 one. The later the better, but I'm not overly optimistic.


We will be there the same night. You can blame Disney if they don’t staff properly and run rides at appropriate capacity for the way they sold the event “low crowds.”

I do expect our night to sell out. I don’t have unreasonable expectations, but I don’t expect to wait 30 min for anything at a 3 hour paid event.


----------



## Haley R

Syndrome said:


> O.K. , just going to put this out there ........
> Went last Night (Sold out , 3/7) and this event was far from having that "empty" feeling . There were crowds everywhere . Not daytime crowds , but crowds none the less . If you think you are going to get empty main street pictures, or castle pictures, or even frontier-land "empty" pictures ......think again . Not at a sold out event at least . Not sure what the cap is for these events, but it is NOT 3000 people, or even 5000 . A half hour wait worth of guests at SDMT and BTM , plus TONS of other people all over the place , and in other line ques ,snack ques , bathrooms , etc,  do not equate to low crowd capacity as advertised . Just a guess , but maybe 10,000 people is the limit right now ?
> 
> Big Thunder was disappointing  with 25-30 minutes all night . With only one side of the train que open .....it never got to be anything close to walk on . We were able to walk on some rides , but it was a constant flow of people with full loads of ride vehicles everywhere . Towards the last hour or so , some of the rides started to lighten a little . Snack carts were pretty busy right up until the last hour as well . Jumped into the SDMT 1/2 hour cue right about 12 , and it seemed a lot of people had the exact same idea, as the line started to build in the last 15 minutes towards 12.
> The 6pm entry , is I feel something they have to do at MK . There is literally no where to "stack" up the waiting DAH crowds as they build . Tons of people coming and going, and the DAH crowd line stuck right in the middle . Lots of people crossing through the line to get to the other side of the courtyard . The 6pm MK DAH entry is pretty much a necessity I think . It would be mayhem in the courtyard if they didn't allow early entry .
> I dont know if Disney is starting to oversell these events now too (like every other event eventually) , but it was way more crowded than we thought there would be . Bathrooms were a bit crowded  . Even the buses at the end of the event were packed .
> 
> The best thing I can relate, at least a sold out MK DAH event too, is to a late night EMH from back in the day . Like a late night EMH from 10-15 years ago is what it felt like.
> 
> For us, it was still ok as we are doing a basically non -park trip and only did Epcot for opening day of Flower and garden, and this DAH event for out MK day .
> 
> In the end , it was  WAY less crowded than a normal MK day , but it was still more crowded than we though it would be . Not sure if its worth $125. ? We are DVC owners, so it was $95 for us which made it a little easier to swallow .
> 
> Still a little miffed about the BTM que with only one train side running . Heard a lot of people mumbling complaints about this one ! They should not have let this happen for the money people are spending for this special event. Just open both cues and keep the line moving !
> 
> Still worth it for us , as it full-filled our "MK" day for our trip . We got to ride everything we wanted to do basically , but it had a definite "rushed" feeling. 4 hours would be a little better .
> 
> Just our opinion on the event, to let other people know, NOT to expect these events (if they are sold out) , to be EMPTY . They are not !


I definitely think you should email them and let them know how you feel about btmr. That is absolutely ridiculous for them to run one side. We went in January and they were running both sides and it wasn’t even sold out. We rode at the beginning of the event so that might be why but btmr should not be a 25-30 minute waiting during dah


----------



## Syndrome

Yes , it’s not about “Disney doesn’t force you to buy tickets “ , it’s about expectations . Last night clearly fell short . Thank goodness they had both sides of SM running or that would have been a 1/2 hour too . Some attractions were short staffed. Haunted mansion was only running 1 stretching room , and it was filled to capacity like a heavy crowd day . Jungle cruise boats waited till they were full , etc , etc , etc . It
just could have been better . 

Still WAY better than a normal day in MK , but it could have been better , and they could have easily dealt with the sold out crowds a little better . The short staffing was evident .


----------



## focusondisney

whiporee said:


> Sorry to hear that people aren't enjoying it as much. I'm going on the 28th, and I pretty much expect it not to be as cool as it was for us in June last year. But I don't think you can blame Disney too much for it -- it's a pretty natural progression for the place. You have to remember that Disney doesn't force a ticket on anyone, and it's people's demand that causes crowd. I'd prefer it to be capped at 50 people, as long as I'm one of the 50.
> 
> I'm also hopeful -- hopeful -- that a 10-1 session is less crowded than a 9-12 one. The later the better, but I'm not overly optimistic.





This is copied directly from the Disney World website DAH page: 

“Be among a limited number of Guests to enjoy a unique, 3-hour park experience—featuring more than 25 popular attractions and Character Greetings, with little-to-no wait!”

Who should be blamed if not Disney???? Disney sets the number of tickets sold.  The event is advertised as a limited number of guests, with *little to no wait. *Disney is the one who should be assuring we get what we paid for: *little to no wait.* Don’t care what the demand is. They should live up to their advertising & limit the number of tickets sold so guests get what they pay for: *little to no wait.  *IMO, 20+ minute waits for 3 rides is NOT *little to no wait.   *And some other rides inching up there too. As PP said, 10 minutes for Pooh. Haven’t had those reports before either, so something is different.  

As I said before, this is Disney’s way.  Push the limits until the event isn’t what it started out as.   If they cap the number & people wait too long to buy tickets, they risk it selling out. Oh well.  That is not Disney’s fault.  Should have bought sooner. But upping the number just because more people want to go..... that changes the event for everyone.

I hope you enjoy your night.  It will be interesting to see how the next few go & what happens in the future.  I remember back when these were first introduced: $150,  no one was going to go, it was way too much money, how dare Disney sell what was previously free extra  hours.  Now, it is only $25 cheaper, but numbers seem to be increasing with every batch of dates.  Reports are Disney hosted bloggers a few weeks ago.  They didn’t do that because they want to keep numbers limited.


----------



## dachsie

Hmmm....sounds like I may pass even if they do offer in May.


----------



## eagle1992

No excuse for long wait times for a ticketed event like this, but purely from a speculation perspective...this is March so we are talking Spring Break...that being said Disney should do better to ensure they have enough personnel to run the event to deliver on the expectations...actually...not even expectations...their promise...of little to no wait.


----------



## maryj11

Spacecow said:


> We had a ton of fun tonight! Started with Space Mountain right at 9, had about a 10 minute wait. Then we walked on to Buzz and the Astro Orbitor before going back to Space, which was a complete walk on at this point- so we rode it 3 times in a row. Then we got snacks and walked over to Fantasyland. The line for 7 Dwarfs was longer than I cared to wait, and so was Peter Pan, so we just did Winnie the Pooh and moved on. Then we basically walked onto Haunted Mansion, got more snacks, did the Tangled lantern photo (only waited about 10 minutes, if that) and headed to Big Thunder. They were only running one side so it ended up being about a 20 minute wait. A little annoying, but whatever. Then we walked onto Pirates, and rode it again, and then got snacks AGAIN before calling it a night
> 
> All in all it was a great time and I'd definitely do it again! If nothing else, it's amazing to have such low crowds, especially after a busy and crowded day. The snack distribution was much better than at AK's after hours, they had a lot more stands open which helped keep the lines down. I think I enjoyed both events about the same, the AK one was much slower paced wheras this one went by SO fast, but they were both great!


That's a bummer about Big Thunder being a 20 minute wait. You didn't see how long the wait time for Splash was?


----------



## michelepa

whiporee said:


> Sorry to hear that people aren't enjoying it as much. I'm going on the 28th, and I pretty much expect it not to be as cool as it was for us in June last year. But I don't think you can blame Disney too much for it -- it's a pretty natural progression for the place. You have to remember that Disney doesn't force a ticket on anyone, and it's people's demand that causes crowd. I'd prefer it to be capped at 50 people, as long as I'm one of the 50.
> 
> I'm also hopeful -- hopeful -- that a 10-1 session is less crowded than a 9-12 one. The later the better, but I'm not overly optimistic.



I agree! We're going the same night. 

I wonder if Disney increases the amount of tickets they sell for the event based on the crowd levels expected, rather than a flat ticket allocation regardless of time of year.  Disney is all about making money and does not care about their customers unless they get a big push back from guests and by that I mean if guests aren't spending the $$$ Disney will reevaluate what they're doing. From what I see Disney will be doing no such thing with this event.

Luckily, I have nothing to compare the event to and I think that's a big thing with a lot of people. 
Those who usually write the negative critics are those who are comparing the events to those of the past and they always seem surprised that things have changed as Disney biggers and biggers their enterprise.


----------



## Syndrome

maryj11 said:


> That's a bummer about Big Thunder being a 20 minute wait. You didn't see how long the wait time for Splash was?



Splash was pretty empty all night ..... it was kind of cold , so I think a lot of people didn’t want to chance getting wet .


----------



## maryj11

Syndrome said:


> Splash was pretty empty all night ..... it was kind of cold , so I think a lot of people didn’t want to chance getting wet .


Ok thank you. The cold must of kept the waits down.


----------



## DVC Jen

asaj said:


> We are going to be at WDW 6/2-6/9, and are really hoping they have a DAH event available during our stay.  Historically, it doesn't look like they have held them in early June...but we are keeping our fingers crossed.




Us too. We will be there June 2-14.


----------



## Syndrome

Oh , a few other things that irked us just a little .....

According to other reviews of this event ...... Peter Pan was running the DAH crowds through the regular cue . GREAT  for us , we have never seen the regular que since we always FP PP . Not last night ...... PP was using the FP que ! Bummer for us .
Also , as soon as we entered the park , we went into the Starbucks Bakery , as we collect those coffee mugs . Didn’t want to carry one through the park the whole night , and the CM guaranteed the bakery / Starbucks would be open till after the event “ Probably till about 1am” he said . Well , on our way out heading down Main Street about 12:15/20 ...... yep dang it ! , the Starbucks was locked up tightl ! We would have grabbed the mug earlier  if we were not given the wrong info ! Another Bummer for us !

Again NOT  major issues , just little things to add to the way the event unfolded ! Just kind of bummer moments !

Btw , if anyone is going to MK in the next few days , pick us up a Starbucks mug and we will pay you for it , lol !!! Unfortunately for us , the DAH event was our only MK ticket this trip !


----------



## maryj11

eagle1992 said:


> No excuse for long wait times for a ticketed event like this, but purely from a speculation perspective...this is March so we are talking Spring Break...that being said Disney should do better to ensure they have enough personnel to run the event to deliver on the expectations...actually...not even expectations...their promise...of little to no wait.


I agree. Disney is greedy and probably started selling more tickets then they should. I hate hearing this about wait times!


----------



## MikeandReneePlus5

maryj11 said:


> I agree. Disney is greedy and probably started selling more tickets then they should. I hate hearing this about wait times!


I wonder if they started selling more tickets or its always been this way and the vent is now selling out?  I hope this doesen't happen to EMM....


----------



## focusondisney

MikeandReneePlus5 said:


> I wonder if they started selling more tickets or its always been this way and the vent is now selling out?  I hope this doesen't happen to EMM....




GaDisneyDad14 keeps the first page updated, including  sellout information. Most of the events last winter (Jan ‘18) were sell outs.  Most of this winter’s have not been. This was the first event of this batch that is reported as a sellout.    And wait times are increasing even tho there are fewer sell outs.  To me, that points straight to more tickets being sold.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Syndrome said:


> Oh , a few other things that irked us just a little .....
> 
> According to other reviews of this event ...... Peter Pan was running the DAH crowds through the regular cue . GREAT  for us , we have never seen the regular que since we always FP PP . Not last night ...... PP was using the FP que ! Bummer for us .
> Also , as soon as we entered the park , we went into the Starbucks Bakery , as we collect those coffee mugs . Didn’t want to carry one through the park the whole night , and the CM guaranteed the bakery / Starbucks would be open till after the event “ Probably till about 1am” he said . Well , on our way out heading down Main Street about 12:15/20 ...... yep dang it ! , the Starbucks was locked up tightl ! We would have grabbed the mug earlier  if we were not given the wrong info ! Another Bummer for us !
> 
> Again NOT  major issues , just little things to add to the way the event unfolded ! Just kind of bummer moments !
> 
> Btw , if anyone is going to MK in the next few days , pick us up a Starbucks mug and we will pay you for it , lol !!! Unfortunately for us , the DAH event was our only MK ticket this trip !



One very consistent report has been that the shops close up immediately at the end of the event. It's unfortunate that the cm gave you wrong information about that. 

I wish they DID keep the stores open for a few minutes afterward for people to browse on their way out, but I guess they just want to get everyone out ASAP. It's too bad, really.


----------



## whiporee

I've no doubt they've increased the number of tickets sold -- i don't know if they've increased beyond their original plans. They're probably trying to find the sweet spot, and people reported some of those same problematic issues at times last year -- carts running out of water and snacks, stuff like that. Barely anyone went to the first year of the thing, and even last year it was a bit of a secret -- you had to know about it to ask about it. Now they are actively promoting it. And I'm sure they are trying to figure out staffing when they get to a sell-out range.  A few pages ago I thought this would happen -- WDW starts it, everyone says it's overpriced but the few who decide to go have a blast. News of it being a blast permeates the blogosphere, and people start to justify the price. The overwhelming majority of people who go say it's fantastic, so more and more people want to take part.

And then lines get blurred a little. People get upset that things that were true in the first couple of versions don't stay true -- the lanyards being used as FPs went away after the first round. The lanyards themselves went away after the second. Maybe CMs stop letting people load up on waters and snacks to take home -- maybe they cut off the quick route back to Space Mountain. And then people's well-intended and justified expectations aren't met. But it's still better than the regular parties in terms of actual ride availability, so people keep coming. And if you're not judging it against what you've done before or what you've heard, it still seems like a really good time.

But last year, I have to say they were only running one track for BTM when i was there. Maybe they need to run the second now that it's more crowded. Also probably didn't help that it was cold, so people who might have gravitated to Splash in Frontierland went to -- and kept going to -- BTMR instead. I'd be interested in knowing the time patterns for the waits the last reviewer was talking about -- were they early in the event, or did they last the whole night?

And I think the 9 pm start is early. A lot of people who aren't attending the event will stick around until 10-ish even if they aren't riding.

So I'll go in optimistic with tempered expectations. And we'll see. Thanks to the folks who are reporting, BTW. The best way to temper expectations and keep people from being disappointed is to accurately talk about what they experienced. Sorry it wasn't as great as you were led to believe it would be.


----------



## KCSherri

I attended the 3/7 event last night, and I concur with the reports above. I have attended this event 2x in the past (back in the days of the lanyard), and it was totally different last night.

I used my AP to enter the park around noon, and used my 3 FP’s, as well as having a good dinner around 5. Around 6, I made my way over to Tomorrowland, where I picked up my wristband. I was supposed to use a FP around 4:00 pm for Buzz Lightyear, but the ride was down - thereby giving me an “anytime” FP. I ended up walking back to Haunted Mansion to use it there, while waiting for some of the day time crowd to either weed out or start camping out for the fireworks.

At 7:00 pm, I was in the FP line at Haunted Mansion when THAT ride went down. We stood in line easily for 15-20 minutes with no movement, so at 7:20, I bailed. I headed to the Magic Carpets ride, and walked on with a 10-minute wait. Unfortunately, it was dark by this point, and I missed seeing one of the spitting camels. He nailed me, and my yoga pants were now wet. And it was a tad chilly. Gah.

Around 7:45 pm, I headed over to BTMR, and got in the standby line with a 30-minute wait. At this point, they had both sides going. When I got off the ride around 8:30 pm, I decided I would try to ride it again - this time, hoping to use the wristband as a FP. Another family walked up to show their wristbands prior to me, and the CM vehemently shook her head no, and said, “That doesn’t start until 9.” No FP for you, basically. 

I hung out with the family until 8:45 pm, at which point another CM walked over and told the other CM that we WERE allowed to use our wristbands for the FP lane. Even so, it was a good 20-minute wait in the FP line, because ALL of the daytime FP users had flooded the line after the fireworks were over. They still had both sides of the attraction open at this point.

I got through the ride about 10 after 9, got off, ran around to get back on  - and now saw they had closed one side. This meant another 15 minutes. Gah.

I basically ran into this all night. Some rides (Dumbo, Mad Tea Party, Under the Sea, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel) were basically walk-ons, while others (PeterPan, Pooh, 7DMT, and BTMR) had 10-30 minute waits. I didn’t attempt to ride Splash (as it was too cold!), and I skipped Space Mtn. I got into line at 7DMT at exactly 10:45 pm with a 30-minute posted wait; it actually took about 20 minutes to reach the front. It was around 10:45 pm that I saw both Princess lines had a 15-minute wait, which again, was more than I’ve experienced than in the past. 

Snack lines were long, everywhere I went. 

I enjoyed it, only because after fighting the Mardi Gras crowds the last few days, it was nice to have significantly fewer crowds than during the day. However, it is very different than the events in the past.


----------



## Haley R

KCSherri said:


> I attended the 3/7 event last night, and I concur with the reports above. I have attended this event 2x in the past (back in the days of the lanyard), and it was totally different last night.
> 
> I used my AP to enter the park around noon, and used my 3 FP’s, as well as having a good dinner around 5. Around 6, I made my way over to Tomorrowland, where I picked up my wristband. I was supposed to use a FP around 4:00 pm for Buzz Lightyear, but the ride was down - thereby giving me an “anytime” FP. I ended up walking back to Haunted Mansion to use it there, while waiting for some of the day time crowd to either weed out or start camping out for the fireworks.
> 
> At 7:00 pm, I was in the FP line at Haunted Mansion when THAT ride went down. We stood in line easily for 15-20 minutes with no movement, so at 7:20, I bailed. I headed to the Magic Carpets ride, and walked on with a 10-minute wait. Unfortunately, it was dark by this point, and I missed seeing one of the spitting camels. He nailed me, and my yoga pants were now wet. And it was a tad chilly. Gah.
> 
> Around 7:45 pm, I headed over to BTMR, and got in the standby line with a 30-minute wait. At this point, they had both sides going. When I got off the ride around 8:30 pm, I decided I would try to ride it again - this time, hoping to use the wristband as a FP. Another family walked up to show their wristbands prior to me, and the CM vehemently shook her head no, and said, “That doesn’t start until 9.” No FP for you, basically.
> 
> I hung out with the family until 8:45 pm, at which point another CM walked over and told the other CM that we WERE allowed to use our wristbands for the FP lane. Even so, it was a good 20-minute wait in the FP line, because ALL of the daytime FP users had flooded the line after the fireworks were over. They still had both sides of the attraction open at this point.
> 
> I got through the ride about 10 after 9, got off, ran around to get back on  - and now saw they had closed one side. This meant another 15 minutes. Gah.
> 
> I basically ran into this all night. Some rides (Dumbo, Mad Tea Party, Under the Sea, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel) were basically walk-ons, while others (PeterPan, Pooh, 7DMT, and BTMR) had 10-30 minute waits. I didn’t attempt to ride Splash (as it was too cold!), and I skipped Space Mtn. I got into line at 7DMT at exactly 10:45 pm with a 30-minute posted wait; it actually took about 20 minutes to reach the front. It was around 10:45 pm that I saw both Princess lines had a 15-minute wait, which again, was more than I’ve experienced than in the past.
> 
> Snack lines were long, everywhere I went.
> 
> I enjoyed it, only because after fighting the Mardi Gras crowds the last few days, it was nice to have significantly fewer crowds than during the day. However, it is very different than the events in the past.


I haven’t seen anyone else post waits of 15 minutes for the princesses. When we went there was one person in front of us waiting to meet them. At the end of the event they were outside meeting with guests. That was last March though


----------



## KCSherri

Haley R said:


> I haven’t seen anyone else post waits of 15 minutes for the princesses. When we went there was one person in front of us waiting to meet them. At the end of the event they were outside meeting with guests. That was last March though



Yes, I was surprised! I had done EMM earlier this week, and the Princesses had a wait time of 5 minutes, which was awesome. Again, things have certainly changed for this event - you can feel the crush of people a bit more than previously.


----------



## mcurrence

I agree, everywhere we went there were "crowds", nothing like the daytime crowds but this is not the same event it was even a year ago  Has anyone received a survey?  I only received one after the 2017 event...I remember one of the questions being whether you thought the park was too crowded, I wish they would send the surveys again!!!


----------



## Haley R

mcurrence said:


> I agree, everywhere we went there were "crowds", nothing like the daytime crowds but this is not the same event it was even a year ago  Has anyone received a survey?  I only received one after the 2017 event...I remember one of the questions being whether you thought the park was too crowded, I wish they would send the surveys again!!!


Wow I’m sorry it was so crowded


----------



## focusondisney

mcurrence said:


> Has anyone received a survey? I only received one after the 2017 event...I remember one of the questions being whether you thought the park was too crowded, I wish they would send the surveys again!!!



We went in January last year & early February this year.  We did not get a survey for either one.  Wish we would have.


----------



## jaceraden

I'm curious to see what time people get allowed in on March 21. Can anyone who goes on this night and doesn't use an AP or regular ticket for entry please report back with what time DAH are actually allowed in?! Please and thank you. I know it says 7 but I also know that what is written and what happens are not always the same.


----------



## Superchikk

jaceraden said:


> I'm curious to see what time people get allowed in on March 21. Can anyone who goes on this night and doesn't use an AP or regular ticket for entry please report back with what time DAH are actually allowed in?! Please and thank you. I know it says 7 but I also know that what is written and what happens are not always the same.


I'd also love to know this. We're going in April with a 10pm park close time.


----------



## Dbktmc

whiporee said:


> Sorry to hear that people aren't enjoying it as much. I'm going on the 28th, and I pretty much expect it not to be as cool as it was for us in June last year. But I don't think you can blame Disney too much for it -- it's a pretty natural progression for the place. You have to remember that Disney doesn't force a ticket on anyone, and it's people's demand that causes crowd. I'd prefer it to be capped at 50 people, as long as I'm one of the 50.
> 
> I'm also hopeful -- hopeful -- that a 10-1 session is less crowded than a 9-12 one. The later the better, but I'm not overly optimistic.



I appreciate your point of view but I think that your idea that we "can't blame Disney" is way off.  The sold out event reviews from years past to the sold out event reviews of the current year are very different.  They had to have increased the amount of tickets sold and considering that this event is more expensive than a day ticket should mean that they stick to their marketing of "little to no wait".  A 15-30 minute wait for the headliners is beyond ridiculous for a 3 hour event.   I can do that on a normal day with good fast passes.



Syndrome said:


> Yes , it’s not about “Disney doesn’t force you to buy tickets “ , it’s about expectations . Last night clearly fell short . Thank goodness they had both sides of SM running or that would have been a 1/2 hour too . Some attractions were short staffed. Haunted mansion was only running 1 stretching room , and it was filled to capacity like a heavy crowd day . Jungle cruise boats waited till they were full , etc , etc , etc . It
> just could have been better .
> 
> Still WAY better than a normal day in MK , but it could have been better , and they could have easily dealt with the sold out crowds a little better . The short staffing was evident .



I agree that it should have been better and guests should not have had to have waited so long for the rides.  And considering the event is more expensive than a normal day Disney should be sure that they reduce the number of tickets sold.  We are so torn on what to do if they offer this event during our trip.....

Thank you to everyone who is reporting their experiences... good and bad.  I do like having an accurate idea of what is happening in order to make an informed decision on such an expensive event.


----------



## PolyRob

MouseTriper said:


> Thanks I will have to check out the app.  I did call Tickets at Work and they said the 2017 date was the date they received the cards from Disney and then they somehow attach the DAH Event to the card after I purchased it.  Does that sound right? The lady seemed kinda miffed when I told her I was concerned and just checking.  She said I should be able to go right to the gate and not guest services?  Any idea if that is true?  Thanks!


Hmm if you can supposedly go right to the gate, you should be able to link them. If you can't get the code to link in the app or online, I would suggest giving the Internet Helpdesk a call at 407-939-4357 and explain your issue. A CM should be able to assist.


----------



## PolyRob

Syndrome said:


> O.K. , just going to put this out there ........
> Went last Night (Sold out , 3/7) and this event was far from having that "empty" feeling . There were crowds everywhere . Not daytime crowds , but crowds none the less . If you think you are going to get empty main street pictures, or castle pictures, or even frontier-land "empty" pictures ......think again . Not at a sold out event at least . Not sure what the cap is for these events, but it is NOT 3000 people, or even 5000 . A half hour wait worth of guests at SDMT and BTM , plus TONS of other people all over the place , and in other line ques ,snack ques , bathrooms , etc,  do not equate to low crowd capacity as advertised . Just a guess , but maybe 10,000 people is the limit right now ?
> 
> Big Thunder was disappointing  with 25-30 minutes all night . With only one side of the train que open .....it never got to be anything close to walk on . We were able to walk on some rides , but it was a constant flow of people with full loads of ride vehicles everywhere . Towards the last hour or so , some of the rides started to lighten a little . Snack carts were pretty busy right up until the last hour as well . Jumped into the SDMT 1/2 hour cue right about 12 , and it seemed a lot of people had the exact same idea, as the line started to build in the last 15 minutes towards 12.
> The 6pm entry , is I feel something they have to do at MK . There is literally no where to "stack" up the waiting DAH crowds as they build . Tons of people coming and going, and the DAH crowd line stuck right in the middle . Lots of people crossing through the line to get to the other side of the courtyard . The 6pm MK DAH entry is pretty much a necessity I think . It would be mayhem in the courtyard if they didn't allow early entry .
> I dont know if Disney is starting to oversell these events now too (like every other event eventually) , but it was way more crowded than we thought there would be . Bathrooms were a bit crowded  . Even the buses at the end of the event were packed .
> 
> The best thing I can relate, at least a sold out MK DAH event too, is to a late night EMH from back in the day . Like a late night EMH from 10-15 years ago is what it felt like.
> 
> For us, it was still ok as we are doing a basically non -park trip and only did Epcot for opening day of Flower and garden, and this DAH event for out MK day .
> 
> In the end , it was  WAY less crowded than a normal MK day , but it was still more crowded than we though it would be . Not sure if its worth $125. ? We are DVC owners, so it was $95 for us which made it a little easier to swallow .
> 
> Still a little miffed about the BTM que with only one train side running . Heard a lot of people mumbling complaints about this one ! They should not have let this happen for the money people are spending for this special event. Just open both cues and keep the line moving !
> 
> Still worth it for us , as it full-filled our "MK" day for our trip . We got to ride everything we wanted to do basically , but it had a definite "rushed" feeling. 4 hours would be a little better .
> 
> Just our opinion on the event, to let other people know, NOT to expect these events (if they are sold out) , to be EMPTY . They are not !





KCSherri said:


> I attended the 3/7 event last night, and I concur with the reports above. I have attended this event 2x in the past (back in the days of the lanyard), and it was totally different last night.
> 
> I used my AP to enter the park around noon, and used my 3 FP’s, as well as having a good dinner around 5. Around 6, I made my way over to Tomorrowland, where I picked up my wristband. I was supposed to use a FP around 4:00 pm for Buzz Lightyear, but the ride was down - thereby giving me an “anytime” FP. I ended up walking back to Haunted Mansion to use it there, while waiting for some of the day time crowd to either weed out or start camping out for the fireworks.
> 
> At 7:00 pm, I was in the FP line at Haunted Mansion when THAT ride went down. We stood in line easily for 15-20 minutes with no movement, so at 7:20, I bailed. I headed to the Magic Carpets ride, and walked on with a 10-minute wait. Unfortunately, it was dark by this point, and I missed seeing one of the spitting camels. He nailed me, and my yoga pants were now wet. And it was a tad chilly. Gah.
> 
> Around 7:45 pm, I headed over to BTMR, and got in the standby line with a 30-minute wait. At this point, they had both sides going. When I got off the ride around 8:30 pm, I decided I would try to ride it again - this time, hoping to use the wristband as a FP. Another family walked up to show their wristbands prior to me, and the CM vehemently shook her head no, and said, “That doesn’t start until 9.” No FP for you, basically.
> 
> I hung out with the family until 8:45 pm, at which point another CM walked over and told the other CM that we WERE allowed to use our wristbands for the FP lane. Even so, it was a good 20-minute wait in the FP line, because ALL of the daytime FP users had flooded the line after the fireworks were over. They still had both sides of the attraction open at this point.
> 
> I got through the ride about 10 after 9, got off, ran around to get back on  - and now saw they had closed one side. This meant another 15 minutes. Gah.
> 
> I basically ran into this all night. Some rides (Dumbo, Mad Tea Party, Under the Sea, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel) were basically walk-ons, while others (PeterPan, Pooh, 7DMT, and BTMR) had 10-30 minute waits. I didn’t attempt to ride Splash (as it was too cold!), and I skipped Space Mtn. I got into line at 7DMT at exactly 10:45 pm with a 30-minute posted wait; it actually took about 20 minutes to reach the front. It was around 10:45 pm that I saw both Princess lines had a 15-minute wait, which again, was more than I’ve experienced than in the past.
> 
> Snack lines were long, everywhere I went.
> 
> I enjoyed it, only because after fighting the Mardi Gras crowds the last few days, it was nice to have significantly fewer crowds than during the day. However, it is very different than the events in the past.



Ugh! So sorry you both had these larger crowds. These recent reports are alarming. I last went July 2018 and had a fantastic time. I thought it would be a great to attend in April during peak spring break time since we would have a cooler and less crowded park, but now IDK if I should just try PM EMH on Wednesday.


----------



## Ashley Marie

Please contact guest services with this post-event feedback. Don’t wait for a survey. But fill out the survey if you get one, too!

Even if they don’t reduce the amount of tix sold this season, they can, and should, make small changes that would go a long way in crowd control and creating that “little to no wait” feeling, like opening that second Thunder Mountain track. (For what it’s worth, only one side was open at the two July dates I attended, but it sounds like they’re bringing in more people now and they need to make accommodations for that.)

When executed as marketed, DAH has been really excellent — to the point where some of us have planned trips just for it.


----------



## mamapenguin

PolyRob said:


> Ugh! So sorry you both had these larger crowds. These recent reports are alarming. I last went July 2018 and had a fantastic time. I thought it would be a great to attend in April during peak spring break time since we would have a cooler and less crowded park, but now IDK if I should just try PM EMH on Wednesday.


We are doing PM EMH on they day before DAH. I don’t have high hopes for it, but we’ll give it a shot. It could turn into shopping and ice cream time. I booked DAH after reading all of the PM EMH reports.


----------



## PolyRob

mamapenguin said:


> We are doing PM EMH on they day before DAH. I don’t have high hopes for it, but we’ll give it a shot. It could turn into shopping and ice cream time. I booked DAH after reading all of the PM EMH reports.


Shopping and dining are great for PM EMH! If I go, I usually use the PM MK EMH to do things that are enjoyable, but I rarely FP+ like Monsters Inc, Under the Sea, It's a Small World, etc. Right now I have all major MK FP+ between 3 days so no missing out if there is a long DAH line. I just don't want to be let down by the event knowing what I have accomplished in the past based on waits. My current Wednesday night plan is to relax (which is always nice to have in the middle of a WDW trip) and watch HEA from a MK resort.


----------



## sls404

I attended the 3/7 event and agree it was a bit more crowded than I expected, but this was our first DAH so nothing to compare it to.

BTMRR was a 25 minute wait 40 minutes into the party, so I regretted doing that.

Snack lines were not bad. Whenever we saw long lines we just kept going and found several carts with shorter lines. My only complaint is how rude a couple of the CM were at these carts. The CM at the cart near Pinocchio’s had a scowl on her face the entire time and was just rude when we asked for things she was out of. Same for the very next cart we went to near Tomorrowland Speedway. No smile, no greeting, and wouldn’t answer me when I asked twice if she had frozen bananas. So finally I just had to say “yes or no?” And she proceeded to get it out. All of the other CMs were wonderful, especially at the attractions.

The worst part of the night was getting stuck on Pooh for about 20 minutes. We were the second to last hunny pot about to get off when it suddenly stopped. They let the car in front of us out, then proceeded to start from the very first car and let everyone out. We were the last to be “rescued”. They did give us paper FPs to use on another day at MK but it was really frustrating considering we lost valuable time sitting in a hunny pot.

I have an AP and go several times a year, so not sure I would do again unless it was a very short trip.


----------



## iujen94

I do hope that everyone who has had negative crowd experiences, problems with ride understaffing, etc. will take a minute to email your thoughts to Disney. If they keep selling tickets and no one is complaining, they aren’t going to change things. Here’s a good email to use:  wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com


----------



## sls404

iujen94 said:


> I do hope that everyone who has had negative crowd experiences, problems with ride understaffing, etc. will take a minute to email your thoughts to Disney. If they keep selling tickets and no one is complaining, they aren’t going to change things. Here’s a good email to use:  wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com



Thanks for the email address! I just contacted them describing the issues we encountered. Hopefully they will take our feedback into consideration.


----------



## Ashley Marie

Have any of you taken young children to DAH?

When we went in July, it was a quick getaway for just adults. I'm sort of considering the April dates, this time with our two kids, 7 and 4. On our last family Disney vacation, they were 6 and 3. 6yo made it through MNSSHP and had lots of fun. 3yo slept through almost all of the party. He is tall enough for everything except Space Mountain at MK, so if he could stay awake that'd be great. They have early bedtime routines at home but I let things go at Disney.

Do I risk it? Do I amp him up with all the free ice cream, hope the sugar rush gets him through and have a pool day the next day?

Am I crazy? (My husband will think I am when I bring up this idea.)


----------



## mamamelody2

Boy, I'm really not liking what I'm reading lately about the DAH events.  I hope they get it together soon!


----------



## Superchikk

Ashley Marie said:


> Have any of you taken young children to DAH?
> 
> When we went in July, it was a quick getaway for just adults. I'm sort of considering the April dates, this time with our two kids, 7 and 4. On our last family Disney vacation, they were 6 and 3. 6yo made it through MNSSHP and had lots of fun. 3yo slept through almost all of the party. He is tall enough for everything except Space Mountain at MK, so if he could stay awake that'd be great. They have early bedtime routines at home but I let things go at Disney.
> 
> Do I risk it? Do I amp him up with all the free ice cream, hope the sugar rush gets him through and have a pool day the next day?
> 
> Am I crazy? (My husband will think I am when I bring up this idea.)



You know your kids best. But I would not have been able to swing it with my kids when they were that age. We were there when they were 5 & 2, then 8 & 5. The older one would've been ok, but my younger would've had meltdowns before the end of the night.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

mamamelody2 said:


> Boy, I'm really not liking what I'm reading lately about the DAH events.  I hope they get it together soon!



 Me either. We’re going in June so there may not be any, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be skipping it if this becomes a pattern. I’ll put the extra money towards my SW:GE trip instead.


----------



## Ashley Marie

Superchikk said:


> You know your kids best. But I would not have been able to swing it with my kids when they were that age. We were there when they were 5 & 2, then 8 & 5. The older one would've been ok, but my younger would've had meltdowns before the end of the night.


Yeah it's hard to say. He probably wouldn't have a meltdown but he might just sleep through a lot of it which is obviously a waste of money. If I could just go with my oldest, she'd have a blast!


----------



## thompj7188

Ashley Marie said:


> Have any of you taken young children to DAH?
> 
> When we went in July, it was a quick getaway for just adults. I'm sort of considering the April dates, this time with our two kids, 7 and 4. On our last family Disney vacation, they were 6 and 3. 6yo made it through MNSSHP and had lots of fun. 3yo slept through almost all of the party. He is tall enough for everything except Space Mountain at MK, so if he could stay awake that'd be great. They have early bedtime routines at home but I let things go at Disney.
> 
> Do I risk it? Do I amp him up with all the free ice cream, hope the sugar rush gets him through and have a pool day the next day?
> 
> Am I crazy? (My husband will think I am when I bring up this idea.)



We saw several people with young children at the 3/7 event. Some were going strong at 12 a.m. and others were zonked out in strollers.


----------



## eliseisawkward

PolyRob said:


> Hmm if you can supposedly go right to the gate, you should be able to link them. If you can't get the code to link in the app or online, I would suggest giving the Internet Helpdesk a call at 407-939-4357 and explain your issue. A CM  should be able to assist.


I bought my tickets from Tickets at work. I was able to add the hard tickets to my MDE by entering the ticket numbers on the backs of the cards. But even if I hadn’t, the card is a hard ticket so that should work at the tap styles.

Edit: mine also have a 2017 date on the back, I assume that was when the physical cards were made.


----------



## fiasco32

Syndrome said:


> O.K. , just going to put this out there ........
> Went last Night (Sold out , 3/7) and this event was far from having that "empty" feeling . There were crowds everywhere . Not daytime crowds , but crowds none the less . If you think you are going to get empty main street pictures, or castle pictures, or even frontier-land "empty" pictures ......think again . Not at a sold out event at least . Not sure what the cap is for these events, but it is NOT 3000 people, or even 5000 . A half hour wait worth of guests at SDMT and BTM , plus TONS of other people all over the place , and in other line ques ,snack ques , bathrooms , etc,  do not equate to low crowd capacity as advertised . Just a guess , but maybe 10,000 people is the limit right now ?
> 
> Big Thunder was disappointing  with 25-30 minutes all night . With only one side of the train que open .....it never got to be anything close to walk on . We were able to walk on some rides , but it was a constant flow of people with full loads of ride vehicles everywhere . Towards the last hour or so , some of the rides started to lighten a little . Snack carts were pretty busy right up until the last hour as well . Jumped into the SDMT 1/2 hour cue right about 12 , and it seemed a lot of people had the exact same idea, as the line started to build in the last 15 minutes towards 12.
> The 6pm entry , is I feel something they have to do at MK . There is literally no where to "stack" up the waiting DAH crowds as they build . Tons of people coming and going, and the DAH crowd line stuck right in the middle . Lots of people crossing through the line to get to the other side of the courtyard . The 6pm MK DAH entry is pretty much a necessity I think . It would be mayhem in the courtyard if they didn't allow early entry .
> I dont know if Disney is starting to oversell these events now too (like every other event eventually) , but it was way more crowded than we thought there would be . Bathrooms were a bit crowded  . Even the buses at the end of the event were packed .
> 
> The best thing I can relate, at least a sold out MK DAH event too, is to a late night EMH from back in the day . Like a late night EMH from 10-15 years ago is what it felt like.
> 
> For us, it was still ok as we are doing a basically non -park trip and only did Epcot for opening day of Flower and garden, and this DAH event for out MK day .
> 
> In the end , it was  WAY less crowded than a normal MK day , but it was still more crowded than we though it would be . Not sure if its worth $125. ? We are DVC owners, so it was $95 for us which made it a little easier to swallow .
> 
> Still a little miffed about the BTM que with only one train side running . Heard a lot of people mumbling complaints about this one ! They should not have let this happen for the money people are spending for this special event. Just open both cues and keep the line moving !
> 
> Still worth it for us , as it full-filled our "MK" day for our trip . We got to ride everything we wanted to do basically , but it had a definite "rushed" feeling. 4 hours would be a little better .
> 
> Just our opinion on the event, to let other people know, NOT to expect these events (if they are sold out) , to be EMPTY . They are not !




Good report, we went on 3/7 as well and this was our experience. I was disappointed that BTM was only running one side. That's not acceptable when you're paying for a premium ticket that promises low wait times. Just unacceptable.

I fully believe that Disney has increased the tickets sold for this event as time has gone by. They built up a ton of buzz/word of mouth of people going to this event and reporting back how empty the park was and the ability to ride things like 7DMT back-to-back-to-back, and now that they've generated a ton of demand, they're selling more tickets.


That being said, I'd still probably do this again. There's really no better way to experience Magic Kingdom and get a ton of rides in over a short period of time. Disney has found a way to monetize the experience of how the parks used to be 10-15 years ago with lower crowds and shorter lines. A genius business move.

Although I agree it's disingenuous (and borderline false advertising) to say that the event features little to no wait times at all the rides. I sent an email to customer service saying as much, and that I was disappointed at the product they put out the other night. We'll see if they get back to me.


----------



## kc51570

Syndrome said:


> O.K. , just going to put this out there ........
> Went last Night (Sold out , 3/7) and this event was far from having that "empty" feeling . There were crowds everywhere . Not daytime crowds , but crowds none the less . If you think you are going to get empty main street pictures, or castle pictures, or even frontier-land "empty" pictures ......think again . Not at a sold out event at least . Not sure what the cap is for these events, but it is NOT 3000 people, or even 5000 . A half hour wait worth of guests at SDMT and BTM , plus TONS of other people all over the place , and in other line ques ,snack ques , bathrooms , etc,  do not equate to low crowd capacity as advertised . Just a guess , but maybe 10,000 people is the limit right now ?
> 
> Big Thunder was disappointing  with 25-30 minutes all night . With only one side of the train que open .....it never got to be anything close to walk on . We were able to walk on some rides , but it was a constant flow of people with full loads of ride vehicles everywhere . Towards the last hour or so , some of the rides started to lighten a little . Snack carts were pretty busy right up until the last hour as well . Jumped into the SDMT 1/2 hour cue right about 12 , and it seemed a lot of people had the exact same idea, as the line started to build in the last 15 minutes towards 12.
> The 6pm entry , is I feel something they have to do at MK . There is literally no where to "stack" up the waiting DAH crowds as they build . Tons of people coming and going, and the DAH crowd line stuck right in the middle . Lots of people crossing through the line to get to the other side of the courtyard . The 6pm MK DAH entry is pretty much a necessity I think . It would be mayhem in the courtyard if they didn't allow early entry .
> I dont know if Disney is starting to oversell these events now too (like every other event eventually) , but it was way more crowded than we thought there would be . Bathrooms were a bit crowded  . Even the buses at the end of the event were packed .
> 
> The best thing I can relate, at least a sold out MK DAH event too, is to a late night EMH from back in the day . Like a late night EMH from 10-15 years ago is what it felt like.
> 
> For us, it was still ok as we are doing a basically non -park trip and only did Epcot for opening day of Flower and garden, and this DAH event for out MK day .
> 
> In the end , it was  WAY less crowded than a normal MK day , but it was still more crowded than we though it would be . Not sure if its worth $125. ? We are DVC owners, so it was $95 for us which made it a little easier to swallow .
> 
> Still a little miffed about the BTM que with only one train side running . Heard a lot of people mumbling complaints about this one ! They should not have let this happen for the money people are spending for this special event. Just open both cues and keep the line moving !
> 
> Still worth it for us , as it full-filled our "MK" day for our trip . We got to ride everything we wanted to do basically , but it had a definite "rushed" feeling. 4 hours would be a little better .
> 
> Just our opinion on the event, to let other people know, NOT to expect these events (if they are sold out) , to be EMPTY . They are not !



I had the same exact experience on 2/28. I’ve had better luck booking a PPO Be our guest breakfast or doing early EMH (before they let EVERYONE in the park at 8AM) using our 3 FPS, and maximizing early rides. I’ve been able to do much more with the early breakfast in 3 hours time than during this 3 hour up-sell.  Main St. was crowded, there were not empty Main St. Castle pic opportunities and the big rides had significant waits. I’ve had much better luck riding Thunder Mountain 2-3 times during the fireworks than during this event where we only rode it once since only one side was running. Less crowded than during the day, but there were not walk ons beyond Small World which we chose not to ride and Little Mermaid. Not worth the $100 or more per person.


----------



## ryanpatricksmom

I understand everyone's frustration and get that your experience could be vastly different from mine.  That said, on 3/7 we held back about 20 minutes past 9pm and rode Fantasyland rides. After that the Mine Train was maybe a 10 minute wait (a consistently moving line that felt darn close to a walk on), which was the same experience for BTMRR (although that may have taken 15 minutes).  Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, I'm assuming Splash (It was way too cold for me), all appeared to be walk ons.  PP seemed like maybe a 5-10 minute wait.  Snack lines were sometimes 5 people deep, often no line at all.  I took a picture of Main Street at 10:30 pm and it was completely empty. Given that the parks were insane all week, it seemed like a bargain if you were a motivated rider.  I happened to be with my nephew who was not so much so we accomplished a lot less, but I could have ridden everything many times alone. I absolutely think this is the best value for maximizing your time.


----------



## Haley R

ryanpatricksmom said:


> I understand everyone's frustration and get that your experience could be vastly different from mine.  That said, on 3/7 we held back about 20 minutes past 9pm and rode Fantasyland rides. After that the Mine Train was maybe a 10 minute wait (a consistently moving line that felt darn close to a walk on), which was the same experience for BTMRR (although that may have taken 15 minutes).  Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, I'm assuming Splash (It was way too cold for me), all appeared to be walk ons.  PP seemed like maybe a 5-10 minute wait.  Snack lines were sometimes 5 people deep, often no line at all.  I took a picture of Main Street at 10:30 pm and it was completely empty. Given that the parks were insane all week, it seemed like a bargain if you were a motivated rider.  I happened to be with my nephew who was not so much so we accomplished a lot less, but I could have ridden everything many times alone. I absolutely think this is the best value for maximizing your time.


I think this is a perfect example about how it all depends if you’re going with the flow of traffic. I would say a lot of people start in Frontierland.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Been off the DIS several days so just catching up on everyone's comments.  I was there on Thursday night as well.  Always interesting to me to read the ebbs and flows of DAH event comments over time.

I'll work on a full write-up here in a bit, but overall we (DW, DS8, and DD4) had a great time and the event fit our expectations.  I guess I'd say there were more people there than my past DAH events, but if I weren't always following the event so closely on here and reading all these comments, I'm not sure I would have really noticed.  To me it was shades of grey vs a dramatic difference.

My only personal gripe was the one-side operation at BTMR that has been discussed above, as that had a material impact on ride times.  BTMR has always been a 0-3 train wait at past events, this was a lot longer.  

And I'll throw a little shade to the CMs on Splash Mountain that still had the full water cannons on with temps in the 50's!  

This was DW's first MK DAH and after rolling her eyes at me for "thinking it would be a good idea to keep the kids up on our travel day," as we walked home she said it was absolutely worth it.

I do think with more people around it increases the "lumpiness" of the crowds.  We had times where it definitely felt like a really late EMH, and times where it was pretty desolate.

I took pretty detailed notes on wait times and such so will have a better post later.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

All right, full event write up from Thursday 3/7/2019.  This was a 9pm-12am event night.  Happily Ever After was at 8pm and Once Upon a Time was at 8:45pm.  This night sold out sometime on 3/6/2019, the day before the event.

For context, this was me, DW, DS8 and DD4.  I have previously attended MK DAH events Thursday 2/16/2017 (8pm-11pm),  Saturday 6/30/2018 (10pm-1am), & Thursday 9/30/2018 (9pm-12am).   None of my prior nights were sell-outs.

This was our arrival day.  DD4 is a trooper but 9pm-12am is pretty late for her, and for DS8 for that matter.  Our general plan was to go until they were showing signs of petering out, then call it a night.  We moved casually overall, but with some modest haste, with a few breaks here and there for popcorn/ice cream.

7:40pm - We arrived at MK, scanned our MagicBands at the Event Entrance tapstyles and got our wristbands with no issues.

With HEA at 8pm, we were on a mission to get behind the castle ASAP as we had no desire to deal with Hub madness.  Fortunately the Main Street bypass was open so we took that towards the Tomorrowland side of the hub, then the bridge to Tea Cups, then behind the castle.

7:44pm - Walking in the Main Street bypass.

7:52pm - Arrived behind the castle.  This is not the most ideal spot to watch HEA, but it works for repeat visitors looking for an alternative.  It's not crowded, you can show up minutes before the show, and the audio is good.

HEA is an approx 18 min show, so from there we needed to kill 40'ish mins before event start time, so decided to do low priority Fantasyland rides.

I took selfies when we were seated on each ride, so the times below are from those pic time stamps.  The wait times I note (where applicable) were started with a stopwatch at/shortly after entering the ride entrance.  I did not track when we stopped for snacks/drinks/breaks.   Here's how our night looked:

8:28pm - Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid, no wait.

8:41pm - Dumbo, 1 ride cycle wait.

8:53pm - Barnstormer, 7 minute wait. (This was posted at 20 mins when we entered)

8:59pm - Light up lantern photo in front of Tea Cups.  The CM said she'd be done at 9pm and they would not have this shot available during DAH.

We were around Tomorrowland when 9pm hit.  I personally did not hear any sort of park closing announcement at the time, but may have just not been in earshot of a speaker.

From here on out it was all DAH time.

9:07pm - Peoplemover, no wait.

9:28pm - Space Mountain, 6 minute, 6 second wait.  Both sides running.  This was a lot faster than I expected.

9:39pm - Buzz Lightyear, no wait.

At this point we decided to head across the park to Adventureland.

9:54pm - Magic Carpets of Aladdin, no wait.

9:59pm - Jungle Cruise, walked right on and the boat left.  There were maybe 12 total people on our boat.  Poor Skipper, the speaker had a ton of feedback and screeching through the whole ride, she did her best but it was pretty rough.

10:12pm - Pirates of the Caribbean, no wait.

Adventureland was pretty dead with very few people around, not surprising given the relative lack of rides on this side of the park, generally speaking.

10:29pm - Splash Mountain, no wait.  It was really borderline too cold to get wet, so this was a big risk.  Turned out OK though.  The ride stopped for about a minute when we were at the very top of the big hill - just a long enough of a pause to have me worried!

10:57pm - BTMR, 11 minute, 19 second wait.  I think the posted wait was 20 when we entered.  Only one side running.  This was our longest wait of the night (so far) and it 'felt' like a solid wait.  I know 11-12 minutes is not that bad relatively speaking, but compared to past events where BTMR was practically a walk on and we rode 3-4 times, this felt quite a bit different.  Unless maintenance or a train being offline was somehow involved, running / staffing only one side on a sold out night was a poor operational decision.  With one hour left, the clock is ticking at this point.

11:14pm - Haunted Mansion, <1 wait before entering.  There were maybe 12-15 people in the stretching room with us.  Man you can move through the room/ride queue quicker with so few people!

11:32pm - Peter Pan, 3 minute 10 second wait.  The low wait surprised me.  At our past DAH events they had the standby line open and there always seemed to be a more material line.  At this point they were using the FP line and the wait was pretty minimal.

We had purposely left 7DMT until the end of the night, so got in line at 11:39pm with a 25 minute posted wait.   I've done end of night 7DMT before with similar posted waits and this looked/felt like it should be more like 15-20ish minutes.  We were on the ride at 12:05am, for a total wait of 26 minutes, 38 seconds.  This included a good (approx) 10 mins of "pauses" where the line wasn't moving at all, so I think there must how been a ride stoppage or two of some sort.  Usually with no FP interference lines like this move at a pretty decent clip, but this was different so something must have been up (I don’t know this for sure, just felt like it).  Let's just say it had been 15-20 mins, still a decent number.  Always best to plan this one strategically in your night if possible.   Was I ‘happy’ with a 26 minute wait when getting in line 20 minutes before event closing?  No, not really.  I think this is one of the areas you see the impact of sellouts - rides like this have trouble shaking the line the whole night. 

Since the event ended at 12am, that meant our night was over so we started making our way out.

We saw one Kiss Goodnight at 12:15am.

There were still lots of PhotoPass photographers out on Main Street as we headed out.  Most had no to 4-6 people lines, approximately.  We have one photo time stamped 12:18am, then a few more photos of our own around the Ray/Minnie statue at 12:21am.

You can go back to my 9/20/2018 review and I'm pretty sure I posted this same comment, but when you hang out in the hub after the event ends, you get a good sense of just how many people are in fact in the park and how MK absorbs TONS of people.  This night felt the same.  If you want the "mostly empty" Main Street pics, you're going to need to hang around longer and let more people clear.  Still, I saw plenty of people working with PhotoPass folks for unique shots... sitting on the ground, different poses, etc.  This can be a good time to try stuff like that if so inclined.

We were never in the Hub long enough to see if the Main Street vehicles were running (they have at our past events) or if they were still doing those little musical castle snippets.

As for crowds, I had more "empty park" moments at past DAH events, but nothing about this night was materially all that different.  Like I said above, maybe shades of grey more than anything else.  With the exception of BTMR & 7DMT, we didn’t wait in a line all night.  The BTMR wait did have me frustrated, if I’m honest.  We enjoyed the same “quiet park” ambiance as past events - being able to hear to background music, absorb some of the park details, etc - that is sometimes hard to do with daytime crowds.

We did not see any major snack/drink lines throughout the night.  Most were 0-6 groups in line.  Approx 10-12+ people in line is where I start to feel like it’s longer than I want to wait.  When we did see something that looked longer, we'd just move on to the next one and it would usually pay off.  I witnessed materially longer snack/drink lines in June than on this night (probably weather based).  A more or less consistent observation and recommendation on this thread from the beginning has been when you see a longer than you like snack/drink line, roll the dice and keep moving to the next one.

I do think with sell out crowd levels, things can really change quickly here and there all over the park.  I felt like we had good zig/zag strategy and dumb luck on this night.  I say this because the ‘lumpiness’ of the way crowds move around the park is going to cause different people to have different experiences in the same three hour event, generally speaking.    (I had poor zig/zag dumb luck at DHS DAH last night, for context)

Whether what we accomplished above is successful/unsuccessful is subjective of course, but for us it made for a good family evening.  DD4 once again surprised me and was still hard charging even at the very late hour for her. (I was fully prepared to bail well before midnight!).  We did enjoy a total resort/rest day the next day and a rare sleep in morning!

We were staying at CR this trip, so had a convenient walk back.

So that was our night.  Happy to answer any questions, and thanks for reading.


----------



## melliemelo

Attended DAH on 3/7.  It definitely was MUCH MORE crowded than the previous sold out event I attended back during Mardi Gras week in Feb. 2018.  (Also definitely WAY busier than the first one I attended the same time in 2017.)  We were never really alone - there were small groups of people everywhere.  It was definitely more than the 3,000-5,000 estimated when DAH first began.  It was probably closer to 10,000, but still very manageable over all.  A lot of the snack carts were busy and running out of items...  had trouble finding bananas!  But then there were people in front of me who got like 10 of everything, so that's probably part of why.  I even saw someone with a rolling suitcase.  

We got in around 6:30.  Had a FP for Dumbo and got a FP for The Little Mermaid ride right after.  Went back to the hub to get a spot to watch HEA.   Then we split up:  Husband and oldest kid went to Frontierland, youngest kid and myself went to Tomorrowland.  We rode People Movers to kill some time....

Right at 9:00 we hit Buzz and there was a short wait as the queue was clearing out -- 5 minutes maybe?  There was a line of DAH guests filling in behind us though.  There were short waits at Peter Pan  (10 mins?) and Big Thunder (15 mins or so.)  Mine Train was rather longish most of the night - 20-25 minutes.  Kids each rode it only once because it was such a time waster.  Everything else was practically walk on.  

All in all between the 4 of us we did: 

Buzz
Pooh
Splash 
Big Thunder
Mine train 
Peter Pan x 2
Haunted Mansion 
Mine Train 
Big Thunder 
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Peter Pan
Buzz x 3
Space x 3 
Peter Pan
Buzz
Astro Orbiter
People Mover 
Buzz 

And we had our share of snacks and drinks.  (I agree with the poster who said a few of the snack CMs seemed grumpy.)  Even though it was busier, it was still enjoyable.  It basically replaced a park day for us and the kids liked being able to ride the same things multiple times.  My youngest was really disappointed at the wait for Mine Train, as she had planned to ride it over and over as she did last year.  

We started to head out a few minutes after 12.  Took a few pics.  Saw the Kiss Goodnight.  Did a couple of Photopasses.  Main St. was pretty busy with everyone leaving and the ferry back to TTC was pretty full.  

We had a great time and I'd probably do it  again as long as prices and number of tickets sold do not keep going up......   (wishful thinking perhaps!!)


----------



## Ashley Marie

Thanks for the detailed review, @GADisneyDad14. I'd actually just asked thoughts on bringing a 4-year-old to DAH a few posts back, so the timing was right on for me. I'm glad to hear your daughter kept up with you all. My little guy is very consistent with just passing out asleep when he's done for the night, but I kind of want to chance it.


----------



## Haley R

melliemelo said:


> * I even saw someone with a rolling suitcase. *


 This frustrates me so badly. These are the people that are going to ruin the unlimited snacks.


----------



## NickC

Does anyone know if there is a way to be notified when dates are announced; either through WDW or a site like TP? I’d love to be able to 1. book as soon as possible and 2. Have time to modify my plans as far in advance as possible.  Right now, I’m going to keep checking often, but our trip isn’t until November. We have time, but I’m just pre-planning.


----------



## melliemelo

Haley R said:


> This frustrates me so badly. These are the people that are going to ruin the unlimited snacks.



Right?  Now I have no proof they put snacks in the suitcase...  but that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw it.  It wasn't huge, but it wasn't a small park bag either.  Hard shell carry on sized suitcase on wheels!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

NickC said:


> Does anyone know if there is a way to be notified when dates are announced; either through WDW or a site like TP? I’d love to be able to 1. book as soon as possible and 2. Have time to modify my plans as far in advance as possible.  Right now, I’m going to keep checking often, but our trip isn’t until November. We have time, but I’m just pre-planning.



Hate to say it, but watching this thread is one of the best ways.  There will be a lot of chatter when/if more dates are announced.


----------



## NickC

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Hate to say it, but watching this thread is one of the best ways.  There will be a lot of chatter when/if more dates are announced.



Thanks for the info. That’s what I figured. Actually, it might be more fun to keep checking back. I am thinking with SWGE opening just a few months before our trip, I want to take advantage of DAH as much as possible...especially for MK.


----------



## Ashley Marie

melliemelo said:


> Right?  Now I have no proof they put snacks in the suitcase...  but that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw it.  It wasn't huge, but it wasn't a small park bag either.  Hard shell carry on sized suitcase on wheels!


I mean... this has to be the exception to the norm, so I wouldn't be too concerned. I don't think many people are willing to lug a suitcase around the park. Wouldn't someone have to sit out on rides to keep an eye on it? That's an expensive night of snacks.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Ashley Marie said:


> Thanks for the detailed review, @GADisneyDad14. I'd actually just asked thoughts on bringing a 4-year-old to DAH a few posts back, so the timing was right on for me. I'm glad to hear your daughter kept up with you all. My little guy is very consistent with just passing out asleep when he's done for the night, but I kind of want to chance it.



Yeah, 4 is such a tough age.  This was DD's second 9-12am DAH.  The 9/20/18 event I went to was just me and her, and same thing - she was wide eyed awake and dragging me around at 12!  The only difference between then and last Thursday was that she had a monster nap that day.  She hadn't napped last Thursday. 

I always go in with the thinking that I could really waste money on the DAH ticket if she's just not feeling it and bedtime is in order, but it's a calculated risk and so far it's worked OK.  

Good luck!


----------



## Haley R

melliemelo said:


> Right?  Now I have no proof they put snacks in the suitcase...  but that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw it.  It wasn't huge, but it wasn't a small park bag either.  Hard shell carry on sized suitcase on wheels!


There always has to be someone who does that


----------



## Juventus

9:40 BTMR: 25 min wait
10:20 7dwarves 35 min wait.

1 hour for 2 rides...3 hour event...crazy.  other than waiting for regular park close guests to leave I should not need a plan of attack for this event.

EMM earlier in the week was as advertised.  Fantastic.


----------



## focusondisney

Juventus said:


> 9:40 BTMR: 25 min wait
> 10:20 7dwarves 35 min wait.
> 
> 1 hour for 2 rides...3 hour event...crazy.  other than waiting for regular park close guests to leave I should not need a plan of attack for this event.
> 
> EMM earlier in the week was as advertised.  Fantastic.



Wow. That stinks. Hope you send an email & complain.


----------



## Lop460

I was planning on doing this in June if dates are released but with the cost of five of us and if the park is really that busy, I’m not sure if it would be worth it now. That being said, two of us have tickets for the event on March 21 so I’ll guess we’ll see how that goes and make a decision for June, if June dates are even released.


----------



## maryj11

NickC said:


> Does anyone know if there is a way to be notified when dates are announced; either through WDW or a site like TP? I’d love to be able to 1. book as soon as possible and 2. Have time to modify my plans as far in advance as possible.  Right now, I’m going to keep checking often, but our trip isn’t until November. We have time, but I’m just pre-planning.


Join the crowd. Most of us are waiting for dates to be announced. We go in June and would love to finalize our plans.


----------



## amarie

Superchikk said:


> When I booked, I did so online and the instructions said if I have Magic Bands, I don't need the barcode. I would take your confirmation email (or a screen shot of it) but I wouldn't think you'd need it if it's already connected to your MB.



Thank you! That's what I was thinking but just want to be sure!



Haley R said:


> Can you see the tickets on your mde account?



Yes, I can see them and they are assigned to each person.


----------



## Disney_Ummi

dachsie said:


> Hmmm....sounds like I may pass even if they do offer in May.


Me too.


----------



## PolyRob

Since my trip is coming up soon I have been tweaking my plans. I think I have my DAH arrival pretty much set.

The current idea is to eat at the resort around 5/5:30pm and be at MK no later than 7:20pm. I am coming from GF so just one monorail stop away.

I want to meet Mickey and Minnie in their new outfits (with a FP+ from 7:00 - 8:00pm) and then get a prime spot for HEA (one guest has never seen it from inside MK so clear projections are a must!). The show is at 9:15pm so that should hopefully be plenty of time.

After HEA I am going to head right for 7DMT (FP+ from 9:00 - 10:00pm). I am thinking it may be good to get this out of the way rather than waiting for it throughout the night since I’ve been reading some reports of longer waits than the first time I attended and empty cars were being sent through and I rode it 3x in a row with almost no line.

IDK if it would be better to enter through the regular tapstile or the DAH tapstile. We all have APs so its not a problem. I guess it depends on what the line/crowd looks like at the event entrance. I figure if we don’t get our wristbands at the gate we can take turns holding the HEA spot and get our bands.

The night itself is still up in the air. I’m not sure where I want to go after 7DMT. I think it will depend on what we accomplish the previous day in MK.


----------



## Haley R

PolyRob said:


> Since my trip is coming up soon I have been tweaking my plans. I think I have my DAH arrival pretty much set.
> 
> The current idea is to eat at the resort around 5/5:30pm and be at MK no later than 7:20pm. I am coming from GF so just one monorail stop away.
> 
> I want to meet Mickey and Minnie in their new outfits (with a FP+ from 7:00 - 8:00pm) and then get a prime spot for HEA (one guest has never seen it from inside MK so clear projections are a must!). The show is at 9:15pm so that should hopefully be plenty of time.
> 
> After HEA I am going to head right for 7DMT (FP+ from 9:00 - 10:00pm). I am thinking it may be good to get this out of the way rather than waiting for it throughout the night since I’ve been reading some reports of longer waits than the first time I attended and empty cars were being sent through and I rode it 3x in a row with almost no line.
> 
> IDK if it would be better to enter through the regular tapstile or the DAH tapstile. We all have APs so its not a problem. I guess it depends on what the line/crowd looks like at the event entrance. I figure if we don’t get our wristbands at the gate we can take turns holding the HEA spot and get our bands.
> 
> The night itself is still up in the air. I’m not sure where I want to go after 7DMT. I think it will depend on what we accomplish the previous day in MK.


If you’re not getting there until 7:20 you should be fine going through the event entrance. I doubt there will even be a line by that point since they’ve been letting people in at 6 pm


----------



## Nicole Wooldridge

TheMick424 said:


> Does anyone know how many tickets you can buy with a single AP discount?


I am looking for this answer as well!


----------



## iujen94

Nicole Wooldridge said:


> I am looking for this answer as well!



A total of 4. I’m not sure what would happen if you bought 4 in one transaction and more in another transaction. Might work.


----------



## francie57

maryj11 said:


> Join the crowd. Most of us are waiting for dates to be announced. We go in June and would love to finalize our plans.


We went last Nov. and there were no DAH since they are in full Christmas party mode by then.  Since they hold the Christmas party at least 4 times a week they more than likely will not be doing DAH during that time.


----------



## francie57

NickC said:


> Does anyone know if there is a way to be notified when dates are announced; either through WDW or a site like TP? I’d love to be able to 1. book as soon as possible and 2. Have time to modify my plans as far in advance as possible.  Right now, I’m going to keep checking often, but our trip isn’t until November. We have time, but I’m just pre-planning.


I just posted a reply but it didn't come up under you. Basically we went ladt Nov and the only thing offered is the Christmas party.  Don't expect DAH in Nov. since MK closes at least 4 nights a week (if not more) for the Christmas parties.  It was a nice event but extremely crowded.


----------



## tarak

melliemelo said:


> Right?  Now I have no proof they put snacks in the suitcase...  but that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw it.  It wasn't huge, but it wasn't a small park bag either.  Hard shell carry on sized suitcase on wheels!


I would have had the same thought.  If snacks are included in the cost of the ticket, you're not likely to bring a suitcase filled with dinner into the part.  

If they extend the dates to June, I might get two tickets for my oldest and her friend.  We've been several times, but this will be her friend's first time and I wanted to give them something they could do on their own without the 7-year-old around.  We've done the early morning magic, and I have the TSL version booked one day of the week.  I'll keep checking back for reviews, but it seems to have value for what they'd want to do (they won't care that much about multiple rides on the mine train, for example).


----------



## Iowamomof4

francie57 said:


> I just posted a reply but it didn't come up under you. Basically we went ladt Nov and the only thing offered is the Christmas party.  Don't expect DAH in Nov. since MK closes at least 4 nights a week (if not more) for the Christmas parties.  It was a nice event but extremely crowded.


But they DID offer DAH last year during party season.


----------



## francie57

Iowamomof4 said:


> But they DID offer DAH last year during party season.


They only did one - the Monday after Thanksgiving.  They offered 10 Christmas parties in Nov though.  We are going in Nov again and would love some DAH dates but not counting on it due to past history. We are going in May and still hope for dates but not counting on that either since they seem to skip May for some reason.  With all parks currently listed to close at 9 in May it would be nice to have that option.


----------



## NickC

francie57 said:


> I just posted a reply but it didn't come up under you. Basically we went ladt Nov and the only thing offered is the Christmas party.  Don't expect DAH in Nov. since MK closes at least 4 nights a week (if not more) for the Christmas parties.  It was a nice event but extremely crowded.



Oh, I didn’t think of that. Good point. We plan on doing the Christmas party at least once. We normally go in August and October, so we’ve never done the party.


----------



## Haley R

francie57 said:


> They only did one - the Monday after Thanksgiving.  They offered 10 Christmas parties in Nov though.  We are going in Nov again and would love some DAH dates but not counting on it due to past history. We are going in May and still hope for dates but not counting on that either since they seem to skip May for some reason.  With all parks currently listed to close at 9 in May it would be nice to have that option.


I know you're talking about November, but they had one December 3 and December 10, too (which is in party season). It's definitely possible for DAH during party time.


----------



## mcurrence

Haley R said:


> I know you're talking about November, but they had one December 3 and December 10, too (which is in party season). It's definitely possible for DAH during party time.


They also squeezed one     (the only in September) on 9/20 between two Halloween parties


----------



## MouseTriper

eliseisawkward said:


> I bought my tickets from Tickets at work. I was able to add the hard tickets to my MDE by entering the ticket numbers on the backs of the cards. But even if I hadn’t, the card is a hard ticket so that should work at the tap styles.
> 
> Edit: mine also have a 2017 date on the back, I assume that was when the physical cards were made.


Thank you.


----------



## iujen94

When I went to do my daily check for DAH dates, I got the attached message. 

Maybe because they are adding new dates????  I’m getting that message for all ticketing but not FPs, dining or resorts, so it’s not a normal system-wise MDE problem.


----------



## counselormom

iujen94 said:


> When I went to do my daily check for DAH dates, I got the attached message.
> 
> Maybe because they are adding new dates????  I’m getting that message for all ticketing but not FPs, dining or resorts, so it’s not a normal system-wise MDE problem.


I noticed that too ! Fingers crossed


----------



## maui2k5

counselormom said:


> I noticed that too ! Fingers crossed



No error message for me when checking August.  I wonder why they are holding back the dates? Price increase alongside park ticket increase announcement maybe?


----------



## mommajo143

iujen94 said:


> When I went to do my daily check for DAH dates, I got the attached message.
> 
> Maybe because they are adding new dates????  I’m getting that message for all ticketing but not FPs, dining or resorts, so it’s not a normal system-wise MDE problem.



Looks like it may have been related to today’s ticket price increase ‍‍ *Booooo!*

WDW needs to get their act together  / they created a system that requires minute by minute planning & then don’t give the needed info to make plans - ACK!


----------



## Michael T Swauger

I take today's ticket/parking increase as a sign that they will soon announce more DAH events. Obliviously with a $5 or $10 increase.


----------



## maryj11

mommajo143 said:


> Looks like it may have been related to today’s ticket price increase ‍‍ *Booooo!*
> 
> WDW needs to get their act together  / they created a system that requires minute by minute planning & then don’t give the needed info to make plans - ACK!


Oh gee! I was waiting to see if they were adding more DAH dates before I bought more regular park tickets! How much was the increase?


----------



## maryj11

Every time I go in the Disney website to check the ticket prices it won't show them but has a phone number to call.


----------



## WRLeGrand

mommajo143 said:


> Looks like it may have been related to today’s ticket price increase ‍‍ *Booooo!*
> 
> WDW needs to get their act together  / they created a system that requires minute by minute planning & then don’t give the needed info to make plans - ACK!



As I have posted here before, I could not agree with you more. If they are going to build everything around 180 and/or 60 days, they should be able to allow people to plan accordingly. In this case, there is NO reason they cannot tell us if DAH will be going on (or not) after April 11.


----------



## Superchikk

We are going in April. What have you guys been wearing in the evenings? Is it legit long pants & long sleeves weather in the evenings, or is it still too warm at arrival? Layers? I hate to be cold, but I don't want to be sweaty for the first few hours, either.


----------



## Haley R

Superchikk said:


> We are going in April. What have you guys been wearing in the evenings? Is it legit long pants & long sleeves weather in the evenings, or is it still too warm at arrival? Layers? I hate to be cold, but I don't want to be sweaty for the first few hours, either.


Wait until about a week out and then plan what you’ll wear. It’s so hard to tell this far out how warm it’ll be.


----------



## Ron Rico

OK... New guy alert   My wife and I are doing MK AH on April 11th. This will be our first time to WDW (yeah, I know... ) We are spending a full day in Epcot on Monday of that week and then hitting MK early on Wednesday morning (breakfast reservation), and hoping to get on Seven Dwarves, Big Thunder and maybe a couple of others and then head to AK for the rest of the day and evening.  

MK AH will be our only event on the 11th, so what time should we show up at the park? 6pm? I have FP for Seven Dwarves, Big Thunder and Peter Pan booked for before the event, starting at 6:50 - 7:50 for the first window.

For the lanyards/wrist band, our tickets are linked to my MDE account. Can we pick up the lanyard/wrist band when we pick up our regular park hopper passes at guest services at Disney Springs on Sunday or do we have to wait for the day of the AH event?

Finally  one non-AH question. We are staying off property at a time share. Is it worth getting magic bands? I don't really care about the money, but if we use the lanyards that we use on cruises to hold the pass card, would that be good enough?

Thanks!

...ron


----------



## Superchikk

Ron Rico said:


> OK... New guy alert   My wife and I are doing MK AH on April 11th. This will be our first time to WDW (yeah, I know... ) We are spending a full day in Epcot on Monday of that week and then hitting MK early on Wednesday morning (breakfast reservation), and hoping to get on Seven Dwarves, Big Thunder and maybe a couple of others and then head to AK for the rest of the day and evening.
> 
> MK AH will be our only event on the 11th, so what time should we show up at the park? 6pm? I have FP for Seven Dwarves, Big Thunder and Peter Pan booked for before the event, starting at 6:50 - 7:50 for the first window.
> 
> For the lanyards/wrist band, our tickets are linked to my MDE account. Can we pick up the lanyard/wrist band when we pick up our regular park hopper passes at guest services at Disney Springs on Sunday or do we have to wait for the day of the AH event?
> 
> Finally  one non-AH question. We are staying off property at a time share. Is it worth getting magic bands? I don't really care about the money, but if we use the lanyards that we use on cruises to hold the pass card, would that be good enough?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> ...ron



I'll be there the same night. From my understanding the DAH is the wristband now, and you have to pick it up that evening. If you don't have a MB, you typically have a card with your tickets and FP+. It is a credit card-style card that will fit in a lanyard just fine. I prefer MB for convenience, especially with scanning FP at the tapstyles. But if you don't already have them, it's totally up to you as to if it would be worth it. I hate wearing stuff around my neck, and the MB can be used for your park tickets all week.


----------



## slduck

Ron Rico said:


> OK... New guy alert   My wife and I are doing MK AH on April 11th. This will be our first time to WDW (yeah, I know... ) We are spending a full day in Epcot on Monday of that week and then hitting MK early on Wednesday morning (breakfast reservation), and hoping to get on Seven Dwarves, Big Thunder and maybe a couple of others and then head to AK for the rest of the day and evening.
> 
> MK AH will be our only event on the 11th, so what time should we show up at the park? 6pm? I have FP for Seven Dwarves, Big Thunder and Peter Pan booked for before the event, starting at 6:50 - 7:50 for the first window.
> 
> For the lanyards/wrist band, our tickets are linked to my MDE account. Can we pick up the lanyard/wrist band when we pick up our regular park hopper passes at guest services at Disney Springs on Sunday or do we have to wait for the day of the AH event?
> 
> Finally  one non-AH question. We are staying off property at a time share. Is it worth getting magic bands? I don't really care about the money, but if we use the lanyards that we use on cruises to hold the pass card, would that be good enough?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> ...ron


 We will be there too! This is our first DAH but we have been to Disney tons but this is our first time off site. We have debated getting magic bands since we haven't been since the style changed. We are planning to visit guest services earlier in the week and handle the tickets. I booked fastpasses yesterday too! Interested in responses.


----------



## Klane64

KriK412 said:


> We are going 3/28 as well and I was watching wait times last night, too.  It was nice to see nothing seemed overly busy with a sell out!


Going 3/28.  Haven’t done since I did a Dvc invitation when DAH was introduced. That was an awesome night! Got some great pictures.


----------



## Haley R

Ron Rico said:


> OK... New guy alert   My wife and I are doing MK AH on April 11th. This will be our first time to WDW (yeah, I know... ) We are spending a full day in Epcot on Monday of that week and then hitting MK early on Wednesday morning (breakfast reservation), and hoping to get on Seven Dwarves, Big Thunder and maybe a couple of others and then head to AK for the rest of the day and evening.
> 
> MK AH will be our only event on the 11th, so what time should we show up at the park? 6pm? I have FP for Seven Dwarves, Big Thunder and Peter Pan booked for before the event, starting at 6:50 - 7:50 for the first window.
> 
> For the lanyards/wrist band, our tickets are linked to my MDE account. Can we pick up the lanyard/wrist band when we pick up our regular park hopper passes at guest services at Disney Springs on Sunday or do we have to wait for the day of the AH event?
> 
> Finally  one non-AH question. We are staying off property at a time share. Is it worth getting magic bands? I don't really care about the money, but if we use the lanyards that we use on cruises to hold the pass card, would that be good enough?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> ...ron


Exciting about this being your first trip! You got some really good FPs before DAH so that's good. I would probably get to the park around 5:30 pm so you can get in line and they should hopefully let you in around 6 pm. 

They no longer give out lanyards for the event. You won't be able to get your wristband until you arrive and go through the event entrance. They will put your wristband on right there at the entrance. 

The magic band is up to you. If you don't mind buying one, pick one out that you like the design of. There are some cool bands to choose from and they're fun to have. There are some rides photos that use your magic band to get on your account (7DMT and SDD are the two I can think of). I _think_ you can contact Disney Photo Pass about trying to find your picture if you don't have a magic band, but that could be a hassle. If you choose not to get magic bands, your lanyard that you already have should be able to hold the pass card. I have a lanyard with a plastic card holder that I put my pins on and I usually put my gift card in the plastic card holder which is the same size as the Disney tickets you should get.


----------



## Ron Rico

Superchikk said:


> I'll be there the same night. From my understanding the DAH is the wristband now, and you have to pick it up that evening. If you don't have a MB, you typically have a card with your tickets and FP+. It is a credit card-style card that will fit in a lanyard just fine. I prefer MB for convenience, especially with scanning FP at the tapstyles. But if you don't already have them, it's totally up to you as to if it would be worth it. I hate wearing stuff around my neck, and the MB can be used for your park tickets all week.



Thanks!

It seems silly to worry about $40-$50 for the Magic bands after all that we are spending . But, I’m 62 and my wife isn’t far behind, so this is likely our only trip to WDW, and this was a last minute trip to celebrate our 35th anniversary, so the magic bands will just be one more thing to collect dust


----------



## Superchikk

Ron Rico said:


> Thanks!
> 
> It seems silly to worry about $40-$50 for the Magic bands aftere all that we are spending . But, I’m 62 and my wife isn’t far behind, so this is likely our only trip to WDW, and this was a last minute trip to celebrate our 35th anniversary, so the magic bands will just be one more thing to collect dust :-D



I get it. Every expense adds up, and MB are not an absolute necessity. If you were spending all week in Disney parks, it might be worth it, but just for a few days, it's totally doable with a lanyard, especially if you already have one.


----------



## Ron Rico

Haley R said:


> Exciting about this being your first trip! You got some really good FPs before DAH so that's good. I would probably get to the park around 5:30 pm so you can get in line and they should hopefully let you in around 6 pm.
> 
> They no longer give out lanyards for the event. You won't be able to get your wristband until you arrive and go through the event entrance. They will put your wristband on right there at the entrance.
> 
> The magic band is up to you. If you don't mind buying one, pick one out that you like the design of. There are some cool bands to choose from and they're fun to have. There are some rides photos that use your magic band to get on your account (7DMT and SDD are the two I can think of). I _think_ you can contact Disney Photo Pass about trying to find your picture if you don't have a magic band, but that could be a hassle. If you choose not to get magic bands, your lanyard that you already have should be able to hold the pass card. I have a lanyard with a plastic card holder that I put my pins on and I usually put my gift card in the plastic card holder which is the same size as the Disney tickets you should get.



Thanks for the details! We’re not much on picture of us, so I’m not sure if that matters  but we’ll see.


----------



## Ron Rico

Superchikk said:


> I get it. Every expense adds up, and MB are not an absolute necessity. If you were spending all week in Disney parks, it might be worth it, but just for a few days, it's totally doable with a lanyard, especially if you already have one.



I think we may have 8 or 10 set of lanyards with card holders . Our TA keeps sending them whenever we book a cruise


----------



## focusondisney

Ron Rico said:


> For the lanyards/wrist band, our tickets are linked to my MDE account. Can we pick up the lanyard/wrist band when we pick up our regular park hopper passes at guest services at Disney Springs on Sunday or do we have to wait for the day of the AH event?



Did you get tickets mailed to you? Or get them emailed & printed off?  The wristband is your credential to participate in the After Hours event, so CMs know you belong.  But you need something to scan to get into the park. That would either be the actual ticket that got mailed to you, the printed ticket if it was emailed or a magic band linked to your my Disney experience account.   So if you don’t have one of those, or you chose a will call pick up, ask guest services about printing you a ticket for DAH too when you go there.


----------



## Ron Rico

focusondisney said:


> Did you get tickets mailed to you? Or get them emailed & printed off?  The wristband is your credential to participate in the After Hours event, so CMs know you belong.  But you need something to scan to get into the park. That would either be the actual ticket that got mailed to you, the printed ticket if it was emailed or a magic band linked to your my Disney experience account.   So if you don’t have one of those, or you chose a will call pick up, ask guest services about printing you a ticket for DAH too when you go there.



Thanks... Tickets in e-mail with a bar code. I scanned that into the MDE app and the ticket show up in there.

I have read that if we don’t get Magic Bands (which Iam leaning towards getting), we would take that e-mail to Guest Services and they would give is cards with the RFID chip in them.  Is that not the case?


----------



## focusondisney

Ron Rico said:


> Thanks... Tickets in e-mail with a bar code. I scanned that into the MDE app and the ticket show up in there.
> 
> I have read that if we don’t get Magic Bands (which Iam leaning towards getting), we would take that e-mail to Guest Services and they would give is cards with the RFID chip in them.  Is that not the case?



Yes, that is what you need to do if you don’t have a magic band linked to your MDE account. If you do get & link a magic band before the DAH, you can scan the MB to get in. You need either the hard ticket or the MB to scan to get in.


----------



## Ron Rico

focusondisney said:


> Yes, that is what you need to do if you don’t have a magic band linked to your MDE account. If you do get & link a magic band before the DAH, you can scan the MB to get in. You need either the hard ticket or the MB to scan to get in.



Thanks!


----------



## KNovacovschi

Haley R said:


> Exciting about this being your first trip! You got some really good FPs before DAH so that's good. I would probably get to the park around 5:30 pm so you can get in line and they should hopefully let you in around 6 pm.



From what I understand and have read accounts of they don’t let you in until 7pm. April 11th the park closes at 10. Maybe if the park closed at 9 you could get in at 6.


----------



## Ron Rico

KNovacovschi said:


> From what I understand and have read accounts of they don’t let you in until 7pm. April 11th the park closes at 10. Maybe if the park closed at 9 you could get in at 6.



I read through a bunch of trip reports from last year for nights when the park closed at 10 and they all indicated that they were let in before 7, with 6:30 being common, but we’ll see what really happens!


----------



## Haley R

KNovacovschi said:


> From what I understand and have read accounts of they don’t let you in until 7pm. April 11th the park closes at 10. Maybe if the park closed at 9 you could get in at 6.


There have been many reports of people getting in at 6 especially at the last couple of events. We went twice last year and both times were let in at 6. We just went this year in January and it was 6:30 but I think that’s because it was this new batch of dah.


----------



## krybandt

Recent reviews on longer wait times have me rethinking DAH. How do the crowds and wait times compare to EMH evenings at MK (in early July)? We are planning to attend MK EMH twice during our trip. Knowing that, if you had to choose between DAH, upgrading to Park Hoppers, or doing H20 Glow, which seems a better use of time and money?


----------



## Nina

Hi!  I’m thinking about getting DAH tickets for 3/21.  It will be our only time in Disney this trip, we are coming to Orlando for college baseball so most of our time will be spent watching our sons games.  Anyway... if I were to book some FP to use before the event starts, how do I use them?  We won’t have magic bands (unless I can find our old ones to use?).  Thanks!


----------



## Haley R

krybandt said:


> Recent reviews on longer wait times have me rethinking DAH. How do the crowds and wait times compare to EMH evenings at MK (in early July)? We are planning to attend MK EMH twice during our trip. Knowing that, if you had to choose between DAH, upgrading to Park Hoppers, or doing H20 Glow, which seems a better use of time and money?


I would still choose dah. Evening emh has really gotten pointless. The lines are still really long because there are so many hotels included that can go to emh.


----------



## Haley R

Nina said:


> Hi!  I’m thinking about getting DAH tickets for 3/21.  It will be our only time in Disney this trip, we are coming to Orlando for college baseball so most of our time will be spent watching our sons games.  Anyway... if I were to book some FP to use before the event starts, how do I use them?  We won’t have magic bands (unless I can find our old ones to use?).  Thanks!


You can use the plastic card that you get for dah. It looks similar to a credit card. When you buy the tickets you can choose to have them sent to your house


----------



## Nina

Haley R said:


> You can use the plastic card that you get for dah. It looks similar to a credit card. When you buy the tickets you can choose to have them sent to your house


Awesome, thank you!  Same if you  pick them up?  We are leaving Saturday so no time to ship...


----------



## Haley R

Nina said:


> Awesome, thank you!  Same if you  pick them up?  We are leaving Saturday so no time to ship...


When you pick them up they should give you a plastic card to use.


----------



## Nina

Thank you so much


----------



## SaintsManiac

Still can't believe they haven't added more dates. My group wants to try MK if we rest up before we go. The only day it would work for us is Saturday, July 6th. 

Here's hoping!


----------



## Newcastle

SaintsManiac said:


> Still can't believe they haven't added more dates. My group wants to try MK if we rest up before we go. The only day it would work for us is Saturday, July 6th.
> 
> Here's hoping!


I can't believe it either.  I'm wondering if it's possible that they might be waiting for all of the current dates to be completed in order to evaluate the numbers so they can determine whether it is "worth it" for them to continue to offer these events over the remainder of the spring and summer.  Would it be too risky for them to drop dates at the last moment when people have already set their plans for the most part, or would those dates likely fill up regardless? I'm not actually expecting answers from anyone...just sort of thinking out loud as I'm curious as to how Disney handles these things .


----------



## iujen94

I'm hoping Disney will update April park hours tomorrow (I'm pretty sure they usually do that on a Friday.  I can't remember if, based on history, it would be this Friday or next Friday).  I'm REALLY hoping once they get April park hours finalized, they'll update the DAH dates - especially since I'm still holding out hope for April 18!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

iujen94 said:


> I*'m hoping Disney will update April park hours tomorrow (I'm pretty sure they usually do that on a Friday.*  I can't remember if, based on history, it would be this Friday or next Friday).  I'm REALLY hoping once they get April park hours finalized, they'll update the DAH dates - especially since I'm still holding out hope for April 18!



If current patterns hold, it (April park hours updates) should be tomorrow.  Usually happens in the afternoon.


----------



## cmwade77

Any ideas when any DAH dates might get announced for June?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

cmwade77 said:


> Any ideas when any DAH dates might get announced for June?



The summer chunk of dates for 2018 was released 5/2/18, FWIW.  Hard to say what we'll see this year, assuming DAH is offered over the summer again.


----------



## cmwade77

Ok, good to know and I hope they will offer it over the summer personally.


----------



## maryj11

GADisneyDad14 said:


> The summer chunk of dates for 2018 was released 5/2/18, FWIW.  Hard to say what we'll see this year, assuming DAH is offered over the summer again.


May is after we have to make fastpasses. I hope it is sooner because I don't even have our park days picked out because I'm waiting for DAH dates.   Not sure what to do. My plans this year are a mess right now. I have some dining reservation here and there but not sure if it is what days we want them on.


----------



## KNovacovschi

cmwade77 said:


> Ok, good to know and I hope they will offer it over the summer personally.



They've released early morning magic for TSL until August 28th so I would think DAH would be offered for the same time, just hoping they release the info soon if they do.


----------



## cmwade77

maryj11 said:


> May is after we have to make fastpasses. I hope it is sooner because I don't even have our park days picked out because I'm waiting for DAH dates.   Not sure what to do. My plans this year are a mess right now. I have some dining reservation here and there but not sure if it is what days we want them on.


I figure I will plan as though they aren't going to happen and if they do, then I will add one if I want and simply go to the park I planned on during the day then go for DAH later.


----------



## Haley R

cmwade77 said:


> I figure I will plan as though they aren't going to happen and if they do, then I will add one if I want and simply go to the park I planned on during the day then go for DAH later.


That’s what I would do. Get some kind of plan going. If they add dates then it’s a bonus and if not at least you have things planned


----------



## whiporee

Anybody there tonight? Curious to see if things have changed from last week.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

whiporee said:


> Anybody there tonight? Curious to see if things have changed from last week.



There was no MK DAH this week.  The next one is next Thursday.


----------



## Randomsoulshine

maryj11 said:


> May is after we have to make fastpasses. I hope it is sooner because I don't even have our park days picked out because I'm waiting for DAH dates.   Not sure what to do. My plans this year are a mess right now. I have some dining reservation here and there but not sure if it is what days we want them on.


I find it so frustrating how their system has us make ADR so early and then FP so early which means buy tickets so early but they don’t announce events or park hours until after all our planning. With my FP window approaching I had to buy tickets. Now I have no day left for DAH.


----------



## whiporee

GADisneyDad14 said:


> There was no MK DAH this week.  The next one is next Thursday.



So you're saying no one had any complaints?


----------



## maryj11

Randomsoulshine said:


> I find it so frustrating how their system has us make ADR so early and then FP so early which means buy tickets so early but they don’t announce events or park hours until after all our planning. With my FP window approaching I had to buy tickets. Now I have no day left for DAH.


I think I'm going to be in the same boat having to buy park tickets before they announce DAH dates. I left 2 nights open with no regular tickets so we can use AK and MK event tickets.i have been trying to make some type of plan without DAH and one with. It's not easy lol.


----------



## maryj11

cmwade77 said:


> I figure I will plan as though they aren't going to happen and if they do, then I will add one if I want and simply go to the park I planned on during the day then go for DAH later.


I thought about that but didn't want us being tired to stay up late for the event. I thought we could sleep in and rest at the resort until it was time to go to DAH. I was trying to cut down on some of the cost buying tickets by just using DAH tickets on those days.


----------



## SaintsManiac

maryj11 said:


> I thought about that but didn't want us being tired to stay up late for the event. I thought we could sleep in and rest at the resort until it was time to go to DAH. I was trying to cut down on some of the cost buying tickets by just using DAH tickets on those days.




It's frustrating for sure if you're holding off on buying tickets! Ugh!


----------



## Iowamomof4

I don't remember which thread it was in, but there was some discussion that we were expecting park hours to update today for April. Does anyone know if that happened? We aren't going until May, so I have no idea what the April hours were like before today.


----------



## iujen94

Iowamomof4 said:


> I don't remember which thread it was in, but there was some discussion that we were expecting park hours to update today for April. Does anyone know if that happened? We aren't going until May, so I have no idea what the April hours were like before today.



No change for my week (the week before Easter). Still 10pm close all week, which I figure HAS to change??


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> I don't remember which thread it was in, but there was some discussion that we were expecting park hours to update today for April. Does anyone know if that happened? We aren't going until May, so I have no idea what the April hours were like before today.



Hours updates typically happen in the afternoon east coast time.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Hours updates typically happen in the afternoon east coast time.


Thanks! I only ever notice when I get an update from Touring Plans and they usually send those overnight, so I wasn't sure when Disney typically released new hours to their site. 

I'll be watching this afternoon then!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Actually, they are changing right now.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Actually, they are changing right now.



Ooo, live updates!


----------



## SaintsManiac

8am - midnight for Easter week. Looks like no EMMs or DAH.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Yeah, now we see why no DAH dates the last two weeks of April.  Serious string of 12am closings those two weeks.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Yeah those are some holiday hours for sure!


----------



## Iowamomof4

So I can expect May hours to update on about April 12?


----------



## Cinderumbrella

A 2AM EMH close after Easter?!?! Blast from the past.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Cinderumbrella said:


> A 2AM EMH close after Easter?!?! Blast from the past.



I noticed that one! Amazing!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> So I can expect May hours to update on about April 12?



It’s often the second Friday of the month prior, so 4/12 would be my guess.  It’s sometimes the third Friday (like today, which is technically the third Friday of the month as 3/1 was a Friday).


----------



## Firestarlife

My week starts April 28. They haven't touched those hours yet! Hoping for DAH that Thursday....


----------



## iujen94

Well dang. So much for my hopes of an April 18 DAH. Time to shuffle some plans....


----------



## Newcastle

Firestarlife said:


> My week starts April 28. They haven't touched those hours yet! Hoping for DAH that Thursday....


I am in the same boat...I am really hoping that they will release some DAH dates for after Easter week but I honestly have no sense as to whether that is going to happen at this point.  I was hoping that we might have some news today but I guess it's back to waiting and lurking.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Newcastle said:


> I am in the same boat...I am really hoping that they will release some DAH dates for after Easter week but I honestly have no sense as to whether that is going to happen at this point.  I was hoping that we might have some news today but I guess it's back to waiting and lurking.




ETA NM I thought you said Easter week!


----------



## Newcastle

SaintsManiac said:


> ETA NM I thought you said Easter week!


LOL...I was about to check the hours again because I thought MK closes at 9 pm every day after April 27th.  Thanks for clarifying that for me .


----------



## Iowamomof4

These Easter week hours are significantly better than what they did for Thanksgiving week. IIRC, they never even had any 8 AM openings let alone 2 AM emh! It was pretty bad.


----------



## BlitzKrieg71

My family attended DAH at Magic Kingdom late in June of 2018.  The experience was AWESOME and was glad to see Disney expand the offering for both Hollywood Studios and then Animal Kingdom.  We are visiting in June again this year, and hope that Disney offers dates for each of the 3-parks while we are on property as my family enjoyed the event and thought it was a great value for the number of rides and experiences we were able to fit into the 3-hour window.   

The only downside to the event was the fatigue we experienced the next day after limited sleep from getting back to the resort after 2 AM and then right back at it the next morning for Rope Drop.  I will likely plan a slower morning after attending one of those events...;-)


----------



## MikeandReneePlus5

When hours change like they just did for April...do FP+ open up in those extended hours?


----------



## SaintsManiac

MikeandReneePlus5 said:


> When hours change like they just did for April...do FP+ open up in those extended hours?




Yes. Give it a day or 2. Keep checking!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

MikeandReneePlus5 said:


> When hours change like they just did for April...do FP+ open up in those extended hours?



Yes, I saw a report on another thread that people were seeing some new FPs already.  It’s not all at once and it’s not every ride at once, so I’d keep close eye on it if you’re looking to move things around.


----------



## maryj11

MikeandReneePlus5 said:


> When hours change like they just did for April...do FP+ open up in those extended hours?


Yes it's a good time to grab some of those hard to get FP's like FOP and Slinky Dog.


----------



## csmom

I just found Fastpasses for two people available for FOP, in the evening, on both 4/13 and 4/14.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Yeah, according to The DIBB, it looks like most of April has opened up for FOP. Definitely a good time to check if you've been needing to move things around or score a FP.

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=835236


----------



## Ron Rico

Iowamomof4 said:


> Yeah, according to The DIBB, it looks like most of April has opened up for FOP. Definitely a good time to check if you've been needing to move things around or score a FP.



Except for the 10th, when we’re planning on going to AK, of course 

But, I’ll keep checking.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Ron Rico said:


> Except for the 10th, when we’re planning on going to AK, of course
> 
> But, I’ll keep checking.



Unfortunately, you may have missed out. That week was showing all green when I posted earlier, and now it's red.


----------



## Canwego

Am I looking at the charts correctly? Did they not have May 2018 dates last year? I am hoping they release some!


----------



## Haley R

Canwego said:


> Am I looking at the charts correctly? Did they not have May 2018 dates last year? I am hoping they release some!


No they didn’t have May dates last year


----------



## Ron Rico

Iowamomof4 said:


> Unfortunately, you may have missed out. That week was showing all green when I posted earlier, and now it's red.



That’s what I get for working


----------



## Iowamomof4

Ron Rico said:


> That’s what I get for working



Hey, you gotta have $$ to pay for Disney! lol


----------



## KNovacovschi

Ron Rico said:


> That’s what I get for working



I’m in the same boat. I switched my flight on april 7th to an earlier flight due to mine being grounded as it is one of the Max 8 planes so was hoping for either a FOP or SDD but nothing available. I wasn’t able to check until this evening due to work so if they were available I definitely missed them. Oh well it was a shot 3 weeks before.


----------



## amalone1013

Came to check the thread... seeing all the pages had to go check April park hours. I've been considering going the weekend after Easter, like the wed or thurs through the weekend. I want to see F&G festival and I like the concert artist those nights. Midnight MK closings might sell me... is it gonna be super crazy? Lol


----------



## Haley R

amalone1013 said:


> Came to check the thread... seeing all the pages had to go check April park hours. I've been considering going the weekend after Easter, like the wed or thurs through the weekend. I want to see F&G festival and I like the concert artist those nights. Midnight MK closings might sell me... is it gonna be super crazy? Lol


Hi @amalone1013! It’s probably gonna be pretty busy but dah should still be pretty good since they cut off how many tickets are sold. I can’t remember, have you done dah before?


----------



## amalone1013

Haley R said:


> Hi @amalone1013! It’s probably gonna be pretty busy but dah should still be pretty good since they cut off how many tickets are sold. I can’t remember, have you done dah before?


Last September


----------



## Haley R

amalone1013 said:


> Last September


I thought so but I couldn’t remember.


----------



## Captainkidd76

I'm sure this has been asked before (many times), but for those that have done it, is it worth it? Subjective I know, but in regards to lines for attractions, are most rides walk ons?


----------



## Haley R

Captainkidd76 said:


> I'm sure this has been asked before (many times), but for those that have done it, is it worth it? Subjective I know, but in regards to lines for attractions, are most rides walk ons?


It’s absolutely worth it. We’ve done it 3 times and two of those times were last minute. I’m talking about 2 weeks or less ahead of time. Ignoring the last dah event, 7dmt and pp are usually the only ones that have a wait. Usually anywhere from 15-25 minutes. This last event was a fluke and hopefully not a continuing trend: they only ran one side of btmr which made that also a 15-25 minute wait. 

Besides rides, having a quieter and less crowded atmosphere is amazing. Most all of Adventureland is pretty empty and the unlimited snacks are really fun.


----------



## michelepa

Nina said:


> Hi!  I’m thinking about getting DAH tickets for 3/21.  It will be our only time in Disney this trip, we are coming to Orlando for college baseball so most of our time will be spent watching our sons games.  Anyway... if I were to book some FP to use before the event starts, how do I use them?  We won’t have magic bands (unless I can find our old ones to use?).  Thanks!



College baseball teams do the ESPN thing too?!  I had no idea. This is our third year for hs baseball and first that DD is playing softball. Where does your son go to college?


----------



## Tiggerlover91

So help me understand....why are you paying a large amount of money for tickets to enter Disney parks and then purchasing this hard ticket event on top of that? I just paid $433 for tickets for my son and I, that covers 4 days under the FL resident rate.  Why then would I pay $125 for this or $69 for the morning one when I can just do EMH morning or evening, or rope drop? I'm not saying those of you that do shouldn't, I'm just trying to understand why.  Am I missing something maybe?   I've watched a few videos about it and I think I understand their perspective, but I'd like to hear yours here.  I also watched one on rope drop.  He didn't have one single fastpass.  He arrived about 40 minutes or so before park open I believe, and he knocked out six rides in 2 1/2 hours! Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise.  So that's when I go....why spend the extra money when he did that at rope drop.  Help me DISers....because even with my Disney knowledge, I still miss a few things.  For example, I'll be experiencing an evening EMH for the first time EVER on our trip in June. I never saw the point...till a few of you stepped in and helped me out.


----------



## mamapenguin

Tiggerlover91 said:


> So help me understand....why are you paying a large amount of money for tickets to enter Disney parks and then purchasing this hard ticket event on top of that? I just paid $433 for tickets for my son and I, that covers 4 days under the FL resident rate.  Why then would I pay $125 for this or $69 for the morning one when I can just do EMH morning or evening, or rope drop? I'm not saying those of you that do shouldn't, I'm just trying to understand why.  Am I missing something maybe?   I've watched a few videos about it and I think I understand their perspective, but I'd like to hear yours here.  I also watched one on rope drop.  He didn't have one single fastpass.  He arrived about 40 minutes or so before park open I believe, and he knocked out six rides in 2 1/2 hours! Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise.  So that's when I go....why spend the extra money when he did that at rope drop.  Help me DISers....because even with my Disney knowledge, I still miss a few things.  For example, I'll be experiencing an evening EMH for the first time EVER on our trip in June. I never saw the point...till a few of you stepped in and helped me out.


EMH AM or PM isn’t going to accomplish what DAH does. We are doing PM EMH, but we’ll be there spring break and it will be extra crowded (my expectations are low) My teen won’t get up for AM EMH at Disney, but for whatever reason will get up in the dark to do EE at Universal.


----------



## Haley R

Tiggerlover91 said:


> So help me understand....why are you paying a large amount of money for tickets to enter Disney parks and then purchasing this hard ticket event on top of that? I just paid $433 for tickets for my son and I, that covers 4 days under the FL resident rate.  Why then would I pay $125 for this or $69 for the morning one when I can just do EMH morning or evening, or rope drop? I'm not saying those of you that do shouldn't, I'm just trying to understand why.  Am I missing something maybe?   I've watched a few videos about it and I think I understand their perspective, but I'd like to hear yours here.  I also watched one on rope drop.  He didn't have one single fastpass.  He arrived about 40 minutes or so before park open I believe, and he knocked out six rides in 2 1/2 hours! Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise.  So that's when I go....why spend the extra money when he did that at rope drop.  Help me DISers....because even with my Disney knowledge, I still miss a few things.  For example, I'll be experiencing an evening EMH for the first time EVER on our trip in June. I never saw the point...till a few of you stepped in and helped me out.


Have you read any of the reviews on this thread? On the first page there is a list of reviews. I would read through those and you should get a good idea of why people do this event


----------



## senadler

Tiggerlover91 said:


> So help me understand....why are you paying a large amount of money for tickets to enter Disney parks and then purchasing this hard ticket event on top of that? I just paid $433 for tickets for my son and I, that covers 4 days under the FL resident rate. Why then would I pay $125 for this or $69 for the morning one when I can just do EMH morning or evening, or rope drop?



For us, the best option has been to use DAH to replace a park day.  That allows us relax at the resort during the day.  We can get into the park at 7 PM, use our 3 FP+, and then do DAH from 10 PM to 1 AM, we can do just about the entire park.  You can't do that at either RD or EMH, and there is really no comparison in the crowd levels.


----------



## Ron Rico

senadler said:


> For us, the best option has been to use DAH to replace a park day.  That allows us relax at the resort during the day.  We can get into the park at 7 PM, use our 3 FP+, and then do DAH from 10 PM to 1 AM, we can do just about the entire park.  You can't do that at either RD or EMH, and there is really no comparison in the crowd levels.



Yep... That;s what we are doing. We have park hopper tickets for two days, plus the AH ticket for a third day.


----------



## disneymagicgirl

Tiggerlover91 said:


> So help me understand....why are you paying a large amount of money for tickets to enter Disney parks and then purchasing this hard ticket event on top of that? I just paid $433 for tickets for my son and I, that covers 4 days under the FL resident rate.  Why then would I pay $125 for this or $69 for the morning one when I can just do EMH morning or evening, or rope drop? I'm not saying those of you that do shouldn't, I'm just trying to understand why.  Am I missing something maybe?   I've watched a few videos about it and I think I understand their perspective, but I'd like to hear yours here.  I also watched one on rope drop.  He didn't have one single fastpass.  He arrived about 40 minutes or so before park open I believe, and he knocked out six rides in 2 1/2 hours! Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise.  So that's when I go....why spend the extra money when he did that at rope drop.  Help me DISers....because even with my Disney knowledge, I still miss a few things.  For example, I'll be experiencing an evening EMH for the first time EVER on our trip in June. I never saw the point...till a few of you stepped in and helped me out.




Little to no waits at the MK = PRICELESS

ETA: I’ve done emm MK and dah MK. I also just did emm DHS last week and it was worth every penny and even the 6am alarm clock when I saw the rope drop crowd coming down the way as I was headed over to breakfast. No regrets and even the food was delicious.


----------



## disneymagicgirl

I keep hoping for May dates. I see there is still nothing. Guess I’m going to grab some emm ADRs instead.


----------



## SaintsManiac

disneymagicgirl said:


> I keep hoping for May dates. I see there is still nothing. Guess I’m going to grab some emm ADRs instead.




That’s what I did for July. At least I’ll get to do one of them!


----------



## Wanna be Ariel

Any thoughts if this will be offered mid to late June?


----------



## SaintsManiac

Wanna be Ariel said:


> Any thoughts if this will be offered mid to late June?




Many of us are waiting. We don’t know.


----------



## mainelyj

I am enjoying hearing everyone's opinions.


----------



## Iowamomof4

SaintsManiac said:


> Many of us are waiting. We don’t know.



Another AK one has sold out now. I just can't believe they would not continue having these! Hopefully this week. Then again, that's what I was thinking about last week.


----------



## PolyRob

Tiggerlover91 said:


> So help me understand....why are you paying a large amount of money for tickets to enter Disney parks and then purchasing this hard ticket event on top of that? I just paid $433 for tickets for my son and I, that covers 4 days under the FL resident rate.  Why then would I pay $125 for this or $69 for the morning one when I can just do EMH morning or evening, or rope drop? I'm not saying those of you that do shouldn't, I'm just trying to understand why.  Am I missing something maybe?   I've watched a few videos about it and I think I understand their perspective, but I'd like to hear yours here.  I also watched one on rope drop.  He didn't have one single fastpass.  He arrived about 40 minutes or so before park open I believe, and he knocked out six rides in 2 1/2 hours! Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise.  So that's when I go....why spend the extra money when he did that at rope drop.  Help me DISers....because even with my Disney knowledge, I still miss a few things.  For example, I'll be experiencing an evening EMH for the first time EVER on our trip in June. I never saw the point...till a few of you stepped in and helped me out.


My family has APs and I pushed for us to do DAH during our April trip for multiple reasons:

AM EMH at MK excludes Adventureland, Frontierland, and Liberty Square
PM EMH are hard for headliners like 7DMT because the lines stay pretty long throughout the night. I usually use them for attractions like Monster's Inc or It's a Small World
Spring break crowds can be pretty bad so a ticketed event will help
Springtime can bring some really high temperatures during the day
My family is full of night owls compared to morning people
I really think we will get our money out of the event


----------



## Tiggerlover91

Well okay! Thanks DISers! I think maybe on our next visit, my son and I will give the DAH a try! Sounds like it would really be worth it in the long run! I already have our budget set for our June trip otherwise I'd give it a try then.  Will definitely look into this on our next 4 year trip.


----------



## GoofyDad_4427

Tiggerlover91 said:


> So help me understand....why are you paying a large amount of money for tickets to enter Disney parks and then purchasing this hard ticket event on top of that? I just paid $433 for tickets for my son and I, that covers 4 days under the FL resident rate.  Why then would I pay $125 for this or $69 for the morning one when I can just do EMH morning or evening, or rope drop? I'm not saying those of you that do shouldn't, I'm just trying to understand why.  Am I missing something maybe?   I've watched a few videos about it and I think I understand their perspective, but I'd like to hear yours here.  I also watched one on rope drop.  He didn't have one single fastpass.  He arrived about 40 minutes or so before park open I believe, and he knocked out six rides in 2 1/2 hours! Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise.  So that's when I go....why spend the extra money when he did that at rope drop.  Help me DISers....because even with my Disney knowledge, I still miss a few things.  For example, I'll be experiencing an evening EMH for the first time EVER on our trip in June. I never saw the point...till a few of you stepped in and helped me out.



If you asked every single person on these boards what a "large amount" of money is, every one of them will have a different answer.  This is an individual question as to whether the money spent is worth the access to more attraction time and a less crowded park.  For some people the answer is clearly no, for some its clearly yes, and most have to weigh the pros/cons to see if its worth it for them.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Tiggerlover91 said:


> So help me understand....why are you paying a large amount of money for tickets to enter Disney parks and then purchasing this hard ticket event on top of that? I just paid $433 for tickets for my son and I, that covers 4 days under the FL resident rate.  Why then would I pay $125 for this or $69 for the morning one when I can just do EMH morning or evening, or rope drop? I'm not saying those of you that do shouldn't, I'm just trying to understand why.  Am I missing something maybe?   I've watched a few videos about it and I think I understand their perspective, but I'd like to hear yours here.  I also watched one on rope drop.  He didn't have one single fastpass.  He arrived about 40 minutes or so before park open I believe, and he knocked out six rides in 2 1/2 hours! Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise.  So that's when I go....why spend the extra money when he did that at rope drop.  Help me DISers....because even with my Disney knowledge, I still miss a few things.  For example, I'll be experiencing an evening EMH for the first time EVER on our trip in June. I never saw the point...till a few of you stepped in and helped me out.




There are several reasons we want to do it in July:

1. We'd rather be in the park at night when it's not 110 degrees.
2. We get the AP discount, which is generous.
3. We like the party atmosphere and unlimited popcorn and ice cream
4. We are the types who want to ride over and over. The only way to do it is to book one of these types of events.


----------



## Tiggerlover91

SaintsManiac said:


> There are several reasons we want to do it in July:
> 
> 1. We'd rather be in the park at night when it's not 110 degrees.
> 2. We get the AP discount, which is generous.
> 3. We like the party atmosphere and *unlimited popcorn and ice cream*
> 4. We are the types who want to ride over and over. The only way to do it is to book one of these types of events.



Unlimited popcorn and ice cream?! If I wasn't sold already, that would do it!


----------



## SaintsManiac

Tiggerlover91 said:


> Unlimited popcorn and ice cream?! If I wasn't sold already, that would do it!




And drinks! We loaded up out little reusable shopping bag with drinks at the HS event.


----------



## Tiggerlover91

GoofyDad_4427 said:


> If you asked every single person on these boards what a "large amount" of money is, every one of them will have a different answer.  This is an individual question as to whether the money spent is worth the access to more attraction time and a less crowded park.  For some people the answer is clearly no, for some its clearly yes, and most have to weigh the pros/cons to see if its worth it for them.



I agree... totally!! I think for just my son and I the cost would hurt so bad at $250. When you add my husband should he join us on the next trip, that's now $375.  I can see my husband and his what else can we do with that near $400 in Disney? That's A LOT of kosher meals is what that is and to him that would be worth the cost. We don't ever eat out at home because we don't have kosher restaurants here.  He'd give the same argument on the $250 also, but with that one it's be a bit easier for me to win.  .I would spend the money if this opportunity comes up on our next trip!


----------



## krybandt

Tiggerlover91 said:


> So help me understand....why are you paying a large amount of money for tickets to enter Disney parks and then purchasing this hard ticket event on top of that? I just paid $433 for tickets for my son and I, that covers 4 days under the FL resident rate.  Why then would I pay $125 for this or $69 for the morning one when I can just do EMH morning or evening, or rope drop? I'm not saying those of you that do shouldn't, I'm just trying to understand why.  Am I missing something maybe?   I've watched a few videos about it and I think I understand their perspective, but I'd like to hear yours here.  I also watched one on rope drop.  He didn't have one single fastpass.  He arrived about 40 minutes or so before park open I believe, and he knocked out six rides in 2 1/2 hours! Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise.  So that's when I go....why spend the extra money when he did that at rope drop.  Help me DISers....because even with my Disney knowledge, I still miss a few things.  For example, I'll be experiencing an evening EMH for the first time EVER on our trip in June. I never saw the point...till a few of you stepped in and helped me out.



We are on the fence about trying one of these. I ruled out the morning ones because there are few rides open and it's not much time, but mostly because we'd have to use our park admission for that park, and we don't have park hoppers. We'd be missing extra magic hours at another park. We haven't been to WDW in five years, but the morning EMHs have always worked out well for us in the past. But the lower cost and breakfast do make it appealing.  

The evening one appeals more because it lasts longer, includes many more rides, and doesn't require separate admission for that park. The cons, aside from what I consider a large amount of money for 4 tickets, are we would have to stay up late when we would most likely be getting up early to make an EMH the next morning. And that it would feel like a waste of money (to me) if we had to wait 20 minutes in line for more than the most popular rides, which we would probably skip to make better use of our time. I'll keep watching reviews on here to see how crowds are before I decide.


----------



## MikeandReneePlus5

krybandt said:


> We are on the fence about trying one of these. I ruled out the morning ones because there are few rides open and it's not much time, but mostly because we'd have to use our park admission for that park, and we don't have park hoppers. We'd be missing extra magic hours at another park. We haven't been to WDW in five years, but the morning EMHs have always worked out well for us in the past. But the lower cost and breakfast do make it appealing.
> 
> The evening one appeals more because it lasts longer, includes many more rides, and doesn't require separate admission for that park. The cons, aside from what I consider a large amount of money for 4 tickets, are we would have to stay up late when we would most likely be getting up early to make an EMH the next morning. And that it would feel like a waste of money (to me) if we had to wait 20 minutes in line for more than the most popular rides, which we would probably skip to make better use of our time. I'll keep watching reviews on here to see how crowds are before I decide.



I think the shorter the trip the more EMM and DAH make sense.  It really is possible to do everything those events offer for no additional cost if you have a long trip (like a week or so).


----------



## Randomsoulshine

MikeandReneePlus5 said:


> I think the shorter the trip the more EMM and DAH make sense.  It really is possible to do everything those events offer for no additional cost if you have a long trip (like a week or so).


Yes the ticket cost at Universal is so good. They have a new deal offered that’s buy two days get three free. But I’m the one in my family that can’t imagine Orlando without the Mouse.


----------



## Haley R

Randomsoulshine said:


> Yes the ticket cost at Universal is so good. They have a new deal offered that’s buy two days get three free. But I’m the one in my family that can’t imagine Orlando without the Mouse.


I got an email about that deal but we don’t have any plans to go to Orlando anytime soon. Maybe if they release more dah dates lol. I kid, I kid


----------



## Tiggerlover91

krybandt said:


> We are on the fence about trying one of these. I ruled out the morning ones because there are few rides open and it's not much time, but mostly because we'd have to use our park admission for that park, and we don't have park hoppers. We'd be missing extra magic hours at another park. We haven't been to WDW in five years, but the morning EMHs have always worked out well for us in the past. But the lower cost and breakfast do make it appealing.
> 
> The evening one appeals more because it lasts longer, includes many more rides, and doesn't require separate admission for that park. The cons, aside from what I consider a large amount of money for 4 tickets, are we would have to stay up late when we would most likely be getting up early to make an EMH the next morning. And that it would feel like a waste of money (to me) if we had to wait 20 minutes in line for more than the most popular rides, which we would probably skip to make better use of our time. I'll keep watching reviews on here to see how crowds are before I decide.




I completely forgot that the early morning magic ones only work if the coincide with a park trip you're making anyway.  Otherwise, you lose that park day if you don't have the hopper as you've said.  I don't typically buy hoppers because I'd rather not waste the time transitioning from one park to the next.  Unfortunately EMH AM hours don't work with when I travel to Disney and then for how I set up my park visits.  EMH evening does however work! The breakfast for EMM doesn't really appeal to me because my family eats kosher, so there's nothing for us to eat on the breakfast except the fruit and we can have the juice, milk, or coffee.  If they had some type of cold cereal choices then perhaps I'd consider it.  Also the fact that only Fantasyland is open with 3 rides makes me go....eh....okay.   Fantasyland is one of my favorite lands and would love for all the rides to be open....but I get it.  But I have read and seen videos where sometimes, CMs try to get other rides up and running for the EMM guests.  The after hours in the evening has unlimited popcorn, ice cream and drinks!!!! Now THAT works with our kosher diet! As you've said already, you don't have to worry about using one of your park days with the evening one.  If this event happens on a Tuesday night and I've already visited MK on Monday and will again on Wednesday, now I get another 1/2 day! 

The staying up late would be my concern too.  Would I stay the full 3 or 4 hours...probably not.  Then you have to ask, do you think you got what you paid for staying only for 1/2 the time?  However, if I did this event the evening before a MK day, then we could sleep in the following day and arrive at MK a bit later....noon time since I've already gotten that extra time in the evening before.  Of course, I'd set my FPs up in MK that day for that later arrival.  I know EMH evenings aren't as successful as EMH mornings because in the AM you have people just arriving to the parks and most rides to hit beyond a 30 minute wait till around 10 or so. If the park opens at 9, you got 2 good hours of rides before the crowds hit.  In the evening EMH, you've still got people in the park, some who are resort guests, some who are not but are trying to catch that last ride and the lines are probably still beyond the 60 minute wait.  My son and I are going to do evening EMH at EPCOT and MK.  I'm curious to see what we can get done in the time we are there.


----------



## wmoon

Hi

Where can you collect your after hours credentials if you are already in the park with a regular ticket. 

Thanks for any help.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

wmoon said:


> Hi
> 
> Where can you collect your after hours credentials if you are already in the park with a regular ticket.
> 
> Thanks for any help.



Here you go, from Page 1.  Hope it helps!

*What if Already in the Park? In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*


For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
*The FP kiosks area just outside of the former Stich's Great Escape ride  (note: this appears to have now moved across to around the Laugh Floor / Buzz Lightyear entrances.)*
*Tortuga Tavern (note: I'd love to know exactly where)*
*Liberty Square ticket office*
*City Hall guest relations office*
_Note: These locations havechanged/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know._


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Here you go, from Page 1.  Hope it helps!
> 
> *What if Already in the Park? In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*
> 
> 
> For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
> *The FP kiosks area just outside of the former Stich's Great Escape ride  (note: this appears to have now moved across to around the Laugh Floor / Buzz Lightyear entrances.)*
> *Tortuga Tavern (note: I'd love to know exactly where)*
> *Liberty Square ticket office*
> *City Hall guest relations office*
> _Note: These locations havechanged/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know._


Ah you beat me lol. I was just typing it


----------



## wmoon

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Here you go, from Page 1.  Hope it helps!
> 
> *What if Already in the Park? In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*
> 
> 
> For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
> *The FP kiosks area just outside of the former Stich's Great Escape ride  (note: this appears to have now moved across to around the Laugh Floor / Buzz Lightyear entrances.)*
> *Tortuga Tavern (note: I'd love to know exactly where)*
> *Liberty Square ticket office*
> *City Hall guest relations office*
> _Note: These locations havechanged/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know._





Haley R said:


> Ah you beat me lol. I was just typing it



Thank you both for being so helpful.  I did look, honestly, it's been a long day.


----------



## Mish415

Sorry If i am beating a dead horse here, first time on this particular thread. Are people really thinking these events may not continue? Is it odd that the dates only go to early April and its MARCH now?????


----------



## Iowamomof4

Mish415 said:


> Sorry If i am beating a dead horse here, first time on this particular thread. Are people really thinking these events may not continue? Is it odd that the dates only go to early April and its MARCH now?????



We really don't know what to think. Yes, it seems odd to me. However, last year they released dates for late June and beyond in early May, so we're still within the range of "normal" at this point.


----------



## Superchikk

GoofyDad_4427 said:


> If you asked every single person on these boards what a "large amount" of money is, every one of them will have a different answer.  This is an individual question as to whether the money spent is worth the access to more attraction time and a less crowded park.  For some people the answer is clearly no, for some its clearly yes, and most have to weigh the pros/cons to see if its worth it for them.



I chose DAH as a special event INSTEAD of a day in the parks. The cost for a 1-day ticket for 2 of us isn't much different. Yes, we get fewer hours in the park, but with a limited number of people allowed (especially during a busy season), I feel it will balance out. We don't have to do everything anyway, and we can get in at 7pm. It is allowing me to fly in that day and still have a "full day" at Disney. We'll relax the following day, enjoy the resort, and head out the next morning. Perfect for a quick trip.


----------



## amalone1013

Superchikk said:


> I chose DAH as a special event INSTEAD of a day in the parks. The cost for a 1-day ticket for 2 of us isn't much different. Yes, we get fewer hours in the park, but with a limited number of people allowed (especially during a busy season), I feel it will balance out. We don't have to do everything anyway, and we can get in at 7pm. It is allowing me to fly in that day and still have a "full day" at Disney. We'll relax the following day, enjoy the resort, and head out the next morning. Perfect for a quick trip.


I'm really hoping to do something like this with my in laws. We want to do 3-4 days, Epcot, MK, and a day or two at Universal. I think MK DAH would be perfect for that - maybe put it in the middle/end of the trip, like Epcot, MK DAH, Universal (hopefully with EPs there so no need to rush the parks in the morning) and we've got APs so we can get AP pricing for the in laws.


----------



## faylynn24

After looking over this thread. I’m guessing it’s a slim to none chance of having it in May. I was really hoping for May 30th. Never crossed my mind that they might not continue or never really did it in May. I just looked at park hours for the thursdays for magic kingdom and it seemed to line up with the event. So I assumed it would be available. I’m so bummed. Now, I need to find something else to do.


----------



## Iowamomof4

faylynn24 said:


> After looking over this thread. I’m guessing it’s a slim to none chance of having it in May. I was really hoping for May 30th. Never crossed my mind that they might not continue or never really did it in May. I just looked at park hours for the thursdays for magic kingdom and it seemed to line up with the event. So I assumed it would be available. I’m so bummed. Now, I need to find something else to do.



I'm pretty bummed about it, too. Our family REALLY wanted to do this at MK and probably DHS as well. It would have been so much fun!


----------



## faylynn24

Iowamomof4 said:


> I'm pretty bummed about it, too. Our family REALLY wanted to do this at MK and probably DHS as well. It would have been so much fun!


Yeah, I have had the money put aside for a while to jump and book it as soon as it released. Now I have over 600 dollars and this was the big thing we were going to do, not sure what to replace it with now.


----------



## maryj11

I did send an email asking if any June dates would be added. We will see what they say. I figure they will say they do not know.


----------



## WRLeGrand

maryj11 said:


> I did send an email asking if any June dates would be added. We will see what they say. I figure they will say they do not know.



Let us know what they say! Hopefully it will be something other than the canned/generic message I expect you would receive!


----------



## SaintsManiac

maryj11 said:


> I did send an email asking if any June dates would be added. We will see what they say. I figure they will say they do not know.




I sent an email, also. They told me to keep checking the website.


----------



## 123SA

I sent an email earlier in the month.  I got a totally worthless response telling it was scheduled through April


----------



## lvdis

I'm guessing there is probably very little chance they will have any dates for end of April / early May at this point?  I was doing some searching on last years dates and it appears there weren't any held in April/May.  Is that true?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

lvdis said:


> I'm guessing there is probably very little chance they will have any dates for end of April / early May at this point?  I was doing some searching on last years dates and it appears there weren't any held in April/May.  Is that true?



That is correct (except for the very first DAH run in 2016).  There are tables on Page 1 of this thread that have historical dates, FYI.


----------



## francie57

I emailed over a month ago about May dates and was told to keep checking the website. Still wish they would add some May dates. If not I sure hope they adjust the hours since every park closes at 9.


----------



## DLo

I have my fingers crossed for May also.  I have my plans set so that if it happens I am good to go re adr and fp .  Will be disappointed but not devastated if they don’t have them .


----------



## Tiggerlover91

faylynn24 said:


> Yeah, I have had the money put aside for a while to jump and book it as soon as it released. Now I have over 600 dollars and this was the big thing we were going to do, not sure what to replace it with now.



Would the Early Morning Magic not work for you? Are you more interested in the evening one because more rides and areas are open?


----------



## Newcastle

123SA said:


> I sent an email earlier in the month.  I got a totally worthless response telling it was scheduled through April


See, this is what I don't get.  I have been waiting for dates in May.  I recognize that historically they haven't offered it in May except for the first year so on the one hand, I could say that it's no surprise that they don't seem to be offering it in May this year.  However, thanks to GADisneyDad14's trusty record-keeping , I can see that since the inception of this event, they have started offering more and more dates such that I think the only month in which at least one DAH event has not been offered is October (and May, after 2016).  The beef I have with this is that if they know that they aren't going to offer the event in May, why can't Disney just say so when guests ask them directly for information about the event?  Why be so secretive?  I mean, I don't expect them to post on the website that there are no dates to be offered in May as that would be somewhat redundant.  But if I call to ask, why not just tell me?  The common sense part of me says that this just means that they are actually going to offer dates in May but just aren't prepared to release the dates yet.  But then again, who ever said that Disney uses common sense?!  I'm only mentioning May because I think there is a much greater chance that they will continue to offer the event in the summer as they have done in previous years, unless they decide to scrap the entire event because the profit margins aren't there.  That doesn't sound like it would be the case so I'm hoping that for all you summer trip peeps, this is something that you will be able to partake in this year.

PS - I recognize that I have spent WAY too much time thinking about this whole situation.  However, Disney promotes obsessive planning so I defer all responsibility for my behaviour to the Mouse .


----------



## Iowamomof4

Newcastle said:


> See, this is what I don't get.  I have been waiting for dates in May.  I recognize that historically they haven't offered it in May except for the first year so on the one hand, I could say that it's no surprise that they don't seem to be offering it in May this year.  However, thanks to GADisneyDad14's trusty record-keeping , I can see that since the inception of this event, they have started offering more and more dates such that I think the only month in which at least one DAH event has not been offered is October (and May, after 2016).  The beef I have with this is that if they know that they aren't going to offer the event in May, why can't Disney just say so when guests ask them directly for information about the event?  Why be so secretive?  I mean, I don't expect them to post on the website that there are no dates to be offered in May as that would be somewhat redundant.  But if I call to ask, why not just tell me?  The common sense part of me says that this just means that they are actually going to offer dates in May but just aren't prepared to release the dates yet.  But then again, who ever said that Disney uses common sense?!  I'm only mentioning May because I think there is a much greater chance that they will continue to offer the event in the summer as they have done in previous years, unless they decide to scrap the entire event because the profit margins aren't there.  That doesn't sound like it would be the case so I'm hoping that for all you summer trip peeps, this is something that you will be able to partake in this year.
> 
> PS - I recognize that I have spent WAY too much time thinking about this whole situation.  However, Disney promotes obsessive planning so I defer all responsibility for my behaviour to the Mouse .



I agree that May has just seemed so likely to me (ever since they added the Dec-April dates) that I really never considered that they WOULDN'T offer it. I've certainly been curious if the AK and DHS events would continue, but I couldn't imagine them NOT offering the one in MK. Sigh. Guess the joke's on me.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

No the joke will be when they don’t extend park hours either


----------



## Iowamomof4

Cinderumbrella said:


> No the joke will be when they don’t extend park hours either



Oh man... don't even say that!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Iowamomof4 said:


> Oh man... don't even say that!



I just have to think that bookings are that bad for May & June that they don’t see the need to offer them. I’m looking for early June (and I don’t think they have ever offered it then).

My only consolation: a spontaneous trip for SW:GE opening. So I’m putting the money I intended to use for DAH to that. EMM is so not an option with a teenager


----------



## Iowamomof4

Cinderumbrella said:


> I just have to think that bookings are that bad for May & June that they don’t see the need to offer them. I’m looking for early June (and I don’t think they have ever offered it then).
> 
> My only consolation: a spontaneous trip for SW:GE opening. So I’m putting the money I intended to use for DAH to that. EMM is so not an option with a teenager



On the positive side, if it is true that bookings are so low for May that they don't need to offer DAH AND they feel they don't need to extend park hours, I think I could be okay with that! If, otoh, we arrive and see park crowd levels of 5 or above each day AND parks closing at 9 AND no DAH offered, I'll be pretty irritated.


----------



## AlexInWonderland.

Are they still giving the lanyards this year or just wristbands?


----------



## Syndrome

AlexInWonderland. said:


> Are they still giving the lanyards this year or just wristbands?



It was just wristbands on the 3/7 MK DAH event .


----------



## Syndrome

I know everybody is getting upset that Disney does not post these events far enough ahead , but thats exactly how Disney wants it to be. Disney intends these to be "up-sale" events , and not replacements for park days . They are trying to generate revenue, where it never existed before (at the expense of late park nights that used to be included with day park tickets in the past ......but that a whole other conversation ! ) . They are hoping you have all your plans and ticket purchases in place well before you decide to go to a DAH event . They have laid out the groundwork , that guests HAVE to plan this far ahead for fear of losing out to other guests who are doing the same thing . Restaurant reservations 180 days ahead , FP 60 days ahead (but only AFTER you purchase park tickets can you book FP . Clever huh ?) Anything Disney does nowadays is not aimed at making the guest experience "better" or "easier", its all about the bottom line .
We just returned from a 10 day trip to WDW (Yes, we went to the infamous 3/7 crowded sold out DAH event !) , and we only went to Epcot for 1 day, and MK for 1 DAH event . We have been to WDW so many times, we just don't even plan anything anymore and just usually play it by ear (crazy right !) This is NOT how Disney is hoping guests will be using these up sell events ! They are hoping/planing for most guests to already have their week long park hopper tickets purchased (cause they have to make FP 60 days in advance) , and that the DAH , and the parties are an ADDED expense that goes directly into Disneys pocket. .

I feel everybody's pain on the planning front, but this is exactly how Disney wants it .
I used to love planning Disney trips , pre FP+ days . Now I detest it , and actually just stopped doing it ! Maybe a week or two before our trips , I might book some FP , or Dinner reservations ..... whatever.  You know what, we enjoy the WDW experience a whole lot more now !

Really from a business standpoint its pure genius (at the guests expense) . What other company has figured out a way to charge 2 separate admissions for the exact same park on the exact same day !?!?


----------



## MinnieMSue

I feel like it is going to continue because they had a recent media event where they invited a lot of youtubers and such to a couple of these. I don’t see why they would do that and stop the event in a month or so. But whether or not they have any during my trip - who knows. My night owl teen would love to go after park close until 1 am. Time will tell I guess.


----------



## Disney_Ummi

Syndrome said:


> I know everybody is getting upset that Disney does not post these events far enough ahead , but thats exactly how Disney wants it to be. Disney intends these to be "up-sale" events , and not replacements for park days . They are trying to generate revenue, where it never existed before (at the expense of late park nights that used to be included with day park tickets in the past ......but that a whole other conversation ! ) . They are hoping you have all your plans and ticket purchases in place well before you decide to go to a DAH event . They have laid out the groundwork , that guests HAVE to plan this far ahead for fear of losing out to other guests who are doing the same thing . Restaurant reservations 180 days ahead , FP 60 days ahead (but only AFTER you purchase park tickets can you book FP . Clever huh ?) Anything Disney does nowadays is not aimed at making the guest experience "better" or "easier", its all about the bottom line .
> We just returned from a 10 day trip to WDW (Yes, we went to the infamous 3/7 crowded sold out DAH event !) , and we only went to Epcot for 1 day, and MK for 1 DAH event . We have been to WDW so many times, we just don't even plan anything anymore and just usually play it by ear (crazy right !) This is NOT how Disney is hoping guests will be using these up sell events ! They are hoping/planing for most guests to already have their week long park hopper tickets purchased (cause they have to make FP 60 days in advance) , and that the DAH , and the parties are an ADDED expense that goes directly into Disneys pocket. .
> 
> I feel everybody's pain on the planning front, but this is exactly how Disney wants it .
> I used to love planning Disney trips , pre FP+ days . Now I detest it , and actually just stopped doing it ! Maybe a week or two before our trips , I might book some FP , or Dinner reservations ..... whatever.  You know what, we enjoy the WDW experience a whole lot more now !
> 
> Really from a business standpoint its pure genius (at the guests expense) . What other company has figured out a way to charge 2 separate admissions for the exact same park on the exact same day !?!?




Sadly, this makes sense.


----------



## Ron Rico

AlexInWonderland. said:


> Are they still giving the lanyards this year or just wristbands?



I don't remember if it was in this forum or on Facebook, but I asked about that and was told only wristbands. I'll know for sure in 3 weeks!


----------



## jackieleanne

Ron Rico said:


> I don't remember if it was in this forum or on Facebook, but I asked about that and was told only wristbands. I'll know for sure in 3 weeks!



Went in January and just got a wristband.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

The lanyards were phased out fall 2018, it’s been all wristbands ever since.


----------



## krybandt

MinnieMSue said:


> I feel like it is going to continue because they had a recent media event where they invited a lot of youtubers and such to a couple of these. I don’t see why they would do that and stop the event in a month or so. But whether or not they have any during my trip - who knows. My night owl teen would love to go after park close until 1 am. Time will tell I guess.



My teenager watched one of those and it's honestly why I was considering getting tickets. She said the youtubers at first pretended they weren't even supposed to be there, the park looked that deserted. Disney could have limited attendance even more for that night.


----------



## Mish415

So am i correct that the last ones were announced on November 5th for an event start of November 26th? so only 20 days advance notice?!?!?! Guess its still possible.....


----------



## MinnieMSue

krybandt said:


> My teenager watched one of those and it's honestly why I was considering getting tickets. She said the youtubers at first pretended they weren't even supposed to be there, the park looked that deserted. Disney could have limited attendance even more for that night.



Knowing Disney they probably did limit attendance to make it look better on their videos - who knows.


----------



## BeckaB

I just keep banking on, if it was discontinued, at this point they would be saying that.  They would either be saying the event was discontinued or is on hold till later in the summer...I really don’t think they be telling everyone to keep checking for new dates if there are really going to be no dates in May...at least that’s what I keep telling myself (like I see some of you are too.). Because to me, it’s bad business to not just be upfront.  

Sure, you don’t have to tell me right now what exact dates are going to be available...but if they know there are going to be ZERO dates and they keep telling people to keep checking, that’s just poor customer service and so unlike Disney in my experience.

So either there are dates and they don’t want to say for some reason (could be the profit theory stated above), or for some reason they just genuinely don’t know yet (which to me just seems highly unlikely, but I don’t know).

Still keeping my fingers crossed for everyone (myself included) that dates get added


----------



## Iowamomof4

Disney doesn't typically "announce" when parties or other events are discontinued. They simply stop offering them. Now, the one thing about that is that I would expect we might hear some rumblings from insiders about it being discontinued and we certainly have not so far. Phone cm's seem to often be kept in the dark about these types of things, so "keep checking the website" is often the best they can do because Disney hasn't TOLD them if the event will continue or not.


----------



## Tiggerlover91

Syndrome said:


> I know everybody is getting upset that Disney does not post these events far enough ahead , but thats exactly how Disney wants it to be. Disney intends these to be "up-sale" events , and not replacements for park days . They are trying to generate revenue, where it never existed before (at the expense of late park nights that used to be included with day park tickets in the past ......but that a whole other conversation ! ) . They are hoping you have all your plans and ticket purchases in place well before you decide to go to a DAH event . They have laid out the groundwork , that guests HAVE to plan this far ahead for fear of losing out to other guests who are doing the same thing . Restaurant reservations 180 days ahead , FP 60 days ahead (but only AFTER you purchase park tickets can you book FP . Clever huh ?) Anything Disney does nowadays is not aimed at making the guest experience "better" or "easier", its all about the bottom line .
> We just returned from a 10 day trip to WDW (Yes, we went to the infamous 3/7 crowded sold out DAH event !) , and we only went to Epcot for 1 day, and MK for 1 DAH event . We have been to WDW so many times, we just don't even plan anything anymore and just usually play it by ear (crazy right !) This is NOT how Disney is hoping guests will be using these up sell events ! They are hoping/planing for most guests to already have their week long park hopper tickets purchased (cause they have to make FP 60 days in advance) , and that the DAH , and the parties are an ADDED expense that goes directly into Disneys pocket. .
> 
> I feel everybody's pain on the planning front, but this is exactly how Disney wants it .
> I used to love planning Disney trips , pre FP+ days . Now I detest it , and actually just stopped doing it ! Maybe a week or two before our trips , I might book some FP , or Dinner reservations ..... whatever.  You know what, we enjoy the WDW experience a whole lot more now !
> 
> Really from a business standpoint its pure genius (at the guests expense) . What other company has figured out a way to charge 2 separate admissions for the exact same park on the exact same day !?!?



I swear to everything I hold dear if you didn't just make me stop and go....darn! That is EXACTLY on point! WELL SAID! VERY well said.  That separate admission for the same park on the same day.....that is going to stick with me for awhile now.  That holds true definitely for EMM, because you're using your park admission to said park for that EMM morning.  You've already paid, let's use me as a FL resident, I've paid $49 for my park entry that day to MK as a whole and now I'm going to give them another $79 for breakfast and Fantasyland rides with less crowds! I know....you look at my $49 a day park entry and go...what??!! But that's the privilege of being a resident.  I'm thankful.  Does that make it easier for me to drop that $79 in the AM...sure.   Does it make it easier to drop the $125 in the evening....nope!  That one is just harder for me to swallow. Would I do it...absolutely! I definitely could factor that into our budget on our next trip.  I can hear my husband right now though. "Wait....we just paid this much money to get into that park for the day. And now you want to spend another $125 to visit that park....again??!! What are you smoking and pass some this way??!!"  I could justify it and tell him we would be using that ticket on an evening visit that I don't have park tickets for.  I'd use our tickets on days 1, 3, and 4. And use the DAH on the 2nd day.  We'd still have our 5th day as our Disney Springs and travel home day. 

Again....wonderful explanation!


----------



## maryj11

Syndrome said:


> I know everybody is getting upset that Disney does not post these events far enough ahead , but thats exactly how Disney wants it to be. Disney intends these to be "up-sale" events , and not replacements for park days . They are trying to generate revenue, where it never existed before (at the expense of late park nights that used to be included with day park tickets in the past ......but that a whole other conversation ! ) . They are hoping you have all your plans and ticket purchases in place well before you decide to go to a DAH event . They have laid out the groundwork , that guests HAVE to plan this far ahead for fear of losing out to other guests who are doing the same thing . Restaurant reservations 180 days ahead , FP 60 days ahead (but only AFTER you purchase park tickets can you book FP . Clever huh ?) Anything Disney does nowadays is not aimed at making the guest experience "better" or "easier", its all about the bottom line .
> We just returned from a 10 day trip to WDW (Yes, we went to the infamous 3/7 crowded sold out DAH event !) , and we only went to Epcot for 1 day, and MK for 1 DAH event . We have been to WDW so many times, we just don't even plan anything anymore and just usually play it by ear (crazy right !) This is NOT how Disney is hoping guests will be using these up sell events ! They are hoping/planing for most guests to already have their week long park hopper tickets purchased (cause they have to make FP 60 days in advance) , and that the DAH , and the parties are an ADDED expense that goes directly into Disneys pocket. .
> 
> I feel everybody's pain on the planning front, but this is exactly how Disney wants it .
> I used to love planning Disney trips , pre FP+ days . Now I detest it , and actually just stopped doing it ! Maybe a week or two before our trips , I might book some FP , or Dinner reservations ..... whatever.  You know what, we enjoy the WDW experience a whole lot more now !
> 
> Really from a business standpoint its pure genius (at the guests expense) . What other company has figured out a way to charge 2 separate admissions for the exact same park on the exact same day !?!?


I agree Disney wants to wait until everyone already has their park tickets bought so we all will buy an extra ticket or two for the events. Well ha ha Disney I'm waiting it out to see if our dates are add before buying park tickets .


----------



## Mrjoshua

Going in April... I was wondering if someone could explain the fast re-entry into Space Mountain to me. I was there in December, and didn't see it.


----------



## Tiggerlover91

maryj11 said:


> I agree Disney wants to wait until everyone already has their park tickets bought so we all will buy an extra ticket or two for the events. Well ha ha Disney I'm waiting it out to see if our dates are add before buying park tickets .



I'm having a bad day....nothing has gone my way today as far as Disney is concerned, so I needed this laugh....thank you!


----------



## amalone1013

maryj11 said:


> I agree Disney wants to wait until everyone already has their park tickets bought so we all will buy an extra ticket or two for the events. Well ha ha Disney I'm waiting it out to see if our dates are add before buying park tickets .


 I feel a bit like that, now that you say it. We don't know when we'll plan our trip with my in laws so if DAH dates do come out that will definitely influence the decision!


----------



## Haley R

Mrjoshua said:


> Going in April... I was wondering if someone could explain the fast re-entry into Space Mountain to me. I was there in December, and didn't see it.


Right when you get off the ride you’ll see either a green or I think pink line on the wall. It’s a horizontal line that leads you off the ride. You can either go towards the exit or follow this colored line up a ramp back to the ride where the fp scans are. It basically takes you back to the point where they send you right or left on the ride


----------



## WRLeGrand

Syndrome said:


> I know everybody is getting upset that Disney does not post these events far enough ahead , but thats exactly how Disney wants it to be. Disney intends these to be "up-sale" events , and not replacements for park days . They are trying to generate revenue, where it never existed before (at the expense of late park nights that used to be included with day park tickets in the past ......but that a whole other conversation ! ) . They are hoping you have all your plans and ticket purchases in place well before you decide to go to a DAH event . They have laid out the groundwork , that guests HAVE to plan this far ahead for fear of losing out to other guests who are doing the same thing . Restaurant reservations 180 days ahead , FP 60 days ahead (but only AFTER you purchase park tickets can you book FP . Clever huh ?) Anything Disney does nowadays is not aimed at making the guest experience "better" or "easier", its all about the bottom line .
> We just returned from a 10 day trip to WDW (Yes, we went to the infamous 3/7 crowded sold out DAH event !) , and we only went to Epcot for 1 day, and MK for 1 DAH event . We have been to WDW so many times, we just don't even plan anything anymore and just usually play it by ear (crazy right !) This is NOT how Disney is hoping guests will be using these up sell events ! They are hoping/planing for most guests to already have their week long park hopper tickets purchased (cause they have to make FP 60 days in advance) , and that the DAH , and the parties are an ADDED expense that goes directly into Disneys pocket. .
> 
> I feel everybody's pain on the planning front, but this is exactly how Disney wants it .
> I used to love planning Disney trips , pre FP+ days . Now I detest it , and actually just stopped doing it ! Maybe a week or two before our trips , I might book some FP , or Dinner reservations ..... whatever.  You know what, we enjoy the WDW experience a whole lot more now !
> 
> Really from a business standpoint its pure genius (at the guests expense) . What other company has figured out a way to charge 2 separate admissions for the exact same park on the exact same day !?!?




I get your general premise, but I respectfully have to disagree with a lot of what you have said. Obviously Disney's entire principle and purpose is to make money, and a lot of it. However, if it were their full intention to capitalize DAH for intense monetary gain, they would NEVER announce the dates more than a few weeks or month in advance. But with this last run of DAH events they announced ALL dates from November 26 - April 11. Are we supposed to believe that everyone going to the event on April 11 had secured their park tickets already? Highly unlikely. Clearly the 60 FP+ window did not come in to play for most all of these dates at the time those announcements were made....

I would also argue that if their only motivation for holding back on releasing dates is to make more money, they would certainly not have released MNSSHP dates in the FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY this year. Although larger parties, you have to assume that most people entering come for just the party (and therefore do not spend a park tickets that day). This has never stopped them from being popular and enticing to Disney.

My point overall is that if they simply have bigger fish to fry lately (hello Galaxy's Edge and Skyliner) and have just let is continue to be a non-starter. I do not think this is fair to people who want to go, or at least want to know if it is going to take place. When you ask people to make their plans so far our and spend a lot of money, the least you can do is reciprocate and allow proper planning. I just still cannot imagine their revenues being dramatically lower if they released the DAH dates two weeks ago. Parks are still going to slammed during the day/early evening and the events will still be popular...


----------



## BeckaB

WRLeGrand said:


> I get your general premise, but I respectfully have to disagree with a lot of what you have said. Obviously Disney's entire principle and purpose is to make money, and a lot of it. However, if it were their full intention to capitalize DAH for intense monetary gain, they would NEVER announce the dates more than a few weeks or month in advance. But with this last run of DAH events they announced ALL dates from November 26 - April 11. Are we supposed to believe that everyone going to the event on April 11 had secured their park tickets already? Highly unlikely. Clearly the 60 FP+ window did not come in to play for most all of these dates at the time those announcements were made....
> 
> I would also argue that if their only motivation for holding back on releasing dates is to make more money, they would certainly not have released MNSSHP dates in the FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY this year. Although larger parties, you have to assume that most people entering come for just the party (and therefore do not spend a park tickets that day). This has never stopped them from being popular and enticing to Disney.
> 
> My point overall is that if they simply have bigger fish to fry lately (hello Galaxy's Edge and Skyliner) and have just let is continue to be a non-starter. I do not think this is fair to people who want to go, or at least want to know if it is going to take place. When you ask people to make their plans so far our and spend a lot of money, the least you can do is reciprocate and allow proper planning. I just still cannot imagine their revenues being dramatically lower if they released the DAH dates two weeks ago. Parks are still going to slammed during the day/early evening and the events will still be popular...




That’s my whole thing too, they released them in a big chunk before, so it makes no sense to not release them in a big chunk now.

Also, for everyone talking about it affecting park ticket purchases, I don’t necessarily buy into that either.  For our upcoming trip we have parkhoppers purchased for every day we are in Florida (except the first night we will get to our hotel at like 9pm), even the day we fly out and will have to leave the park at like 5, to back to the resort, grab our bags and get on the magical express.

When we came in last November we did the same exact thing (it was our first trip and we didn’t know about hard ticket events except the Christmas that started the night we left).

My point though is, we live in Ohio, and it’s just the two of us and if anything, we will be upgrading to annual passes so we can have a reason to come back again.

If there is an after hours night while we are there, we wouldn’t drop the number of days of our tickets or the number of days of our vacation.  We just want it so we get more flexibility with riding everything we want.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Probably a no win situation to some extent.  The more “routine” / regularly scheduled DAH becomes, the more the critics of these types of events cry foul.  The less routine / regularly scheduled the dates are, the more frustrating it is for those that truly want this as an option on their trip.  

I’ve always suspected Disney wants to maintain some semblance of an exclusive/limited time offering to these, hence the date releases in chunks vs having this run the entire year.   

Or it’s just as simple as someone makes the call they want to hit certain revenue targets for certain quarters. 

Who knows of course.


----------



## maryj11

Tiggerlover91 said:


> I'm having a bad day....nothing has gone my way today as far as Disney is concerned, so I needed this laugh....thank you!


You're welcome


----------



## Ron Rico

GADisneyDad14 said:


> The lanyards were phased out fall 2018, it’s been all wristbands ever since.



Thanks for confirming.  I will admit that I kind of wanted a lanyard as a souvenir :-D


----------



## maryj11

WRLeGrand said:


> Let us know what they say! Hopefully it will be something other than the canned/generic message I expect you would receive!


Here is what they said . 

Dear Mary,

Thank you for contacting the _Walt Disney World®_ Resort! 

Thank you for your inquiry! At this time we have not been aware of any additional dates for Disney After Hours to be added. 

I would keep an eye on our Disney Parks Blog for any and all updates! 

We look forward to seeing you in June!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

maryj11 said:


> Here is what they said .
> 
> Dear Mary,
> 
> Thank you for contacting the _Walt Disney World®_ Resort!
> 
> Thank you for your inquiry! At this time we have not been aware of any additional dates for Disney After Hours to be added.
> 
> I would keep an eye on our Disney Parks Blog for any and all updates!
> 
> We look forward to seeing you in June!



I was just going to say..."Check the Blog!" Always a good, vague response!


----------



## MsT82

How far in advance are these usually released?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

MsT82 said:


> How far in advance are these usually released?



Page 1 has tables with current and historical date / release date info, FYI.


----------



## whiporee

My guess is in the middle of May they'll release for the summer, and in August they'll release for the holidays, and in November they'll release for the spring. I think they next earliest date we'll see offered is mid-late June, but you'll see a lot in July like last year.


----------



## MsT82

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Page 1 has tables with current and historical date / release date info, FYI.



Thank you, I was wondering when to stalk the Disney website for November. I’ll go check out post one


----------



## Firestarlife

I'm going crazy waiting for this!!!! 
If they announce new dates, the first one would theoretically be April 18. That's less than 30 days from now!! 
What are they waiting for??


----------



## GADisneyDad14

MsT82 said:


> Thank you, I was wondering when to stalk the Disney website for November. I’ll go check out post one



I’d caution, while history is useful, it’s not always a great indication of future results.  Other than the winter series DAH dates, the rest of the year is somewhat new and we don’t have a lot of history as to what may happen and when. 

But, I hope some dates come around in November for you!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Firestarlife said:


> I'm going crazy waiting for this!!!!
> If they announce new dates, the first one would theoretically be April 18. That's less than 30 days from now!!
> What are they waiting for??



I don’t mean to be Debbie Downer, but seeing as MK has 8am-12am hours that day, I’d rate chances of DAH as slim to none.  :-(


----------



## MsT82

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I’d caution, while history is useful, it’s not always a great indication of future results.  Other than the winter series DAH dates, the rest of the year is somewhat new and we don’t have a lot of history as to what may happen and when.
> 
> But, I hope some dates come around in November for you!



Yes, by looks of previous years there wasn’t much around but fingers crossed there’s more availability this year.

Here’s hoping!


----------



## SaintsManiac

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I don’t mean to be Debbie Downer, but seeing as MK has 8am-12am hours that day, I’d rate chances of DAH as slim to none.  :-(




Yep

Not happening rest of April.


----------



## Firestarlife

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I don’t mean to be Debbie Downer, but seeing as MK has 8am-12am hours that day, I’d rate chances of DAH as slim to none.  :-(


Good point. I forgot about that. We are hoping for something during the week of April 28 - May 3. Hours for MK are holding steady at 9am - 9pm that week.


----------



## Firestarlife

Firestarlife said:


> Good point. I forgot about that. We are hoping for something during the week of April 28 - May 3. Hours for MK are holding steady at 9am - 9pm that week.


Isn't it strange that they've extended hours for AK for that week, but not for MK?


----------



## Haley R

Ron Rico said:


> Thanks for confirming.  I will admit that I kind of wanted a lanyard as a souvenir :-D


While the lanyard was cool, I’d MUCH rather them use the wristbands so they can’t get passed around from person to person


----------



## mamapenguin

Haley R said:


> While the lanyard was cool, I’d MUCH rather them use the wristbands so they can’t get passed around from person to person


I agree, but I would really like to see some event specific merchandise available. They got rid of the lanyard, how about selling t-shirts?


----------



## Haley R

mamapenguin said:


> I agree, but I would really like to see some event specific merchandise available. They got rid of the lanyard, how about selling t-shirts?


Yes I would love to see some event specific merch as well or special entertainment


----------



## maryj11

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I don’t mean to be Debbie Downer, but seeing as MK has 8am-12am hours that day, I’d rate chances of DAH as slim to none.  :-(


Yes I agree. You can kind of predict by looking at closing times. I doubt they would have one 12:00-3:00am.


----------



## Ashley Marie

Haley R said:


> While the lanyard was cool, I’d MUCH rather them use the wristbands so they can’t get passed around from person to person



I nearly lost my lanyard twice on Space Mountain (was it you that actually lost yours? I remember having this conversation on this thread, ha). Wristbands sound like a much better idea!


----------



## denecarter

maryj11 said:


> Yes I agree. You can kind of predict by looking at closing times. I doubt they would have one 12:00-3:00am.



The night owls in my family would LOVE those hours!


----------



## Haley R

Ashley Marie said:


> I nearly lost my lanyard twice on Space Mountain (was it you that actually lost yours? I remember having this conversation on this thread, ha). Wristbands sound like a much better idea!


No Dh lost his phone on space mountain lol. I always had to hold onto the lanyard though. It flew around like crazy on sm. The wristbands aren’t great souvenirs but we decided we have too much junk saved from trips anyway


----------



## Ashley Marie

Haley R said:


> No Dh lost his phone on space mountain lol. I always had to hold onto the lanyard though. It flew around like crazy on sm. The wristbands aren’t great souvenirs but we decided we have too much junk saved from trips anyway


Haha oh okay. Mixed up the story then. Phone is worse, sorry!


----------



## Haley R

Ashley Marie said:


> Haha oh okay. Mixed up the story then. Phone is worse, sorry!


He did get it back though!


----------



## PolyRob

Iowamomof4 said:


> Phone cm's seem to often be kept in the dark about these types of things, so "keep checking the website" is often the best they can do because Disney hasn't TOLD them if the event will continue or not.


I remember when the spring chunk was released and you had to call to book. Some phone CMs had no idea and wouldn't even check for the new dates! I lucked out and got an informed CM when I booked for April lol



Ashley Marie said:


> I nearly lost my lanyard twice on Space Mountain (was it you that actually lost yours? I remember having this conversation on this thread, ha). Wristbands sound like a much better idea!


YES! I was so paranoid and I clutched onto it the whole time. BTMRR too!


----------



## francie57

MsT82 said:


> Yes, by looks of previous years there wasn’t much around but fingers crossed there’s more availability this year.
> 
> Here’s hoping!


Last year they only did one in November - the Monday after Thanksgiving. Most of November is dedicated to the Christmas Party.


----------



## jaceraden

If anyone is going to DAH tonight and doesn't have an AP or other park admission, could you please let us know when they start letting people in? 

Thank you!


----------



## Mish415

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I don’t mean to be Debbie Downer, but seeing as MK has 8am-12am hours that day, I’d rate chances of DAH as slim to none.  :-(



But what about other parks like HS and AK that hours arent so long? they could be added there? Last bunch was added only 30 days from the first date. Guess theres no way to even speculate anything.....


----------



## MsT82

francie57 said:


> Last year they only did one in November - the Monday after Thanksgiving. Most of November is dedicated to the Christmas Party.



Thank you. I think I may have more luck with AK DAH but I’ll see


----------



## jenjersnap

I had to tuck my lanyard into my shirt after almost losing my front teeth to it the first time we rode Space, LOL.


----------



## Diaz

Is the lantern photo at the tangled bathrooms available during DAH?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Diaz said:


> Is the lantern photo at the tangled bathrooms available during DAH?



Yep!  A few weeks ago it had a line of maybe 5-10 groups when we walked by, if I remember correctly.


----------



## Syndrome

I am finding it difficult to comprehend that tonights DAH event (3/21) is not sold out . Especially since its freakin spring break ! 
How is it that 3/7 sold out about a week before the event , yet 3/21 - the beginning of SPRING BREAK has not sold out ?!?!? 
The 3/7 event was pretty crowded compared to previous DAH events from most reports , yet 3/21 is not yet sold out . 

I think , in typical Disney fashion , the supposed "capped" guest capacity is starting to grow !

OR .......

The unsavory reports of a semi crowded event on 3/7 may actually be turning some people away ? 

I just find it very strange that the 3/21 MK DAH event has not sold out ???


----------



## Syndrome

Has anyone else noticed that the discounted rate for AP , and DVC guests "disappears" about 24 hours before the event ? 
Also, in exactly the same timeframe , the normal rate rises to $129. about 24 hours before the event ? 

Hmmmm .......


----------



## Ron Rico

mamapenguin said:


> I agree, but I would really like to see some event specific merchandise available. They got rid of the lanyard, how about selling t-shirts?



I would buy an "I survived Magic Kingdom After Hours" T-Shirt


----------



## BeckaB

So, because I keep stalking the app and the website, just wanted to mention...the app just changed to say Select Dates March to May 2019 but no new dates... the other parks still say December to April 2019 in the app...

The website though says through March 2019 now (not April like before) but still shows the April dates and no new dates.  

So I'm guessing we will either see some May dates post in the next few hours/day...or when the site all posted right, if there are no new dates in a few hours/a day...then I guess no dates in May?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Syndrome said:


> Has anyone else noticed that the discounted rate for AP , and DVC guests "disappears" about 24 hours before the event ?
> Also, in exactly the same timeframe , the normal rate rises to $129. about 24 hours before the event ?
> 
> Hmmmm .......



That is the way it works and is explained on the Disney website - day of ticket pricing is higher than in advance ticket pricing. No AP/DVC discounts are available online day of, although some have been able get the discounted ticket price day of by visiting guest relations.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Syndrome said:


> I am finding it difficult to comprehend that tonights DAH event (3/21) is not sold out . Especially since its freakin spring break !
> How is it that 3/7 sold out about a week before the event , yet 3/21 - the beginning of SPRING BREAK has not sold out ?!?!?
> The 3/7 event was pretty crowded compared to previous DAH events from most reports , yet 3/21 is not yet sold out .
> 
> I think , in typical Disney fashion , the supposed "capped" guest capacity is starting to grow !
> 
> OR .......
> 
> The unsavory reports of a semi crowded event on 3/7 may actually be turning some people away ?
> 
> I just find it very strange that the 3/21 MK DAH event has not sold out ???



3/7 sold out the day before (3/6), just FYI.


----------



## Syndrome

GADisneyDad14 said:


> 3/7 sold out the day before (3/6), just FYI.



Gotcha  , for some reason I thought it sold out days before the event on 3/7 . (maybe it was because I was in WDW already , and not paying attention , lol ! )


----------



## minniesBFF

BeckaB said:


> So, because I keep stalking the app and the website, just wanted to mention...the app just changed to say Select Dates March to May 2019 but no new dates... the other parks still say December to April 2019 in the app...
> 
> The website though says through March 2019 now (not April like before) but still shows the April dates and no new dates.
> 
> So I'm guessing we will either see some May dates post in the next few hours/day...or when the site all posted right, if there are no new dates in a few hours/a day...then I guess no dates in May?


I see that too!  I really hope we actually get some May dates!!


----------



## Iowamomof4

BeckaB said:


> So, because I keep stalking the app and the website, just wanted to mention...the app just changed to say Select Dates March to May 2019 but no new dates... the other parks still say December to April 2019 in the app...
> 
> The website though says through March 2019 now (not April like before) but still shows the April dates and no new dates.
> 
> So I'm guessing we will either see some May dates post in the next few hours/day...or when the site all posted right, if there are no new dates in a few hours/a day...then I guess no dates in May?



WHERE???!!!! I'm looking and not seeing what you're seeing! (can you tell I'm a bit anxious?!  )


----------



## Iowamomof4

minniesBFF said:


> I see that too!  I really hope we actually get some May dates!!



Where do you see it? I still see "select dates through April" or something like that.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Oh I found it! When you click on "select tickets" in the App, it takes you to a new page and that's where it says March through May!


----------



## mcurrence

Iowamomof4 said:


> WHERE???!!!! I'm looking and not seeing what you're seeing! (can you tell I'm a bit anxious?!  )


I don't see it either?


----------



## Iowamomof4

mcurrence said:


> I don't see it either?


I just added a screen shot above!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I assume you May peeps remember it saying April prior to today?


----------



## chaoskids

Hopefully this isn’t Disney’s way of letting everyone know this is the schedule through May (none)

DAH AK says through June now on the app.


----------



## mcurrence

Iowamomof4 said:


> Oh I found it! When you click on "select tickets" in the App, it takes you to a new page and that's where it says March through May!
> 
> View attachment 389755


The 95 dollars is the AP rate? If you go to the regular site it still says 125 through April...


----------



## Iowamomof4

And here is where it says "through March" where it used to say "through April".


----------



## Iowamomof4

mcurrence said:


> The 95 dollars is the AP rate? If you go to the regular site it still says 125 through April...



Yes, it's the AP rate.


----------



## Iowamomof4

chaoskids said:


> Hopefully this isn’t Disney’s way of letting everyone know this is the schedule through May (none)
> 
> *DAH AK says through June now on the app*.



WHAT?! Oh my goodness... I'm freaking out! Could it be that they will be adding new dates soon?!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

chaoskids said:


> Hopefully this isn’t Disney’s way of letting everyone know this is the schedule through May (none)
> 
> DAH AK says through June now on the app.



Be still my heart!! I know for a fact it didn’t say that an hour ago


----------



## Iowamomof4

Cinderumbrella said:


> Be still my heart!! I know for a fact it didn’t say that an hour ago


  I'm so nervouscited!! (My Little Pony reference)


----------



## Iowamomof4

DHS still says December to April as of right now.


----------



## minniesBFF

Cinderumbrella said:


> I assume you May peeps remember it saying April prior to today?


yes, it said through April prior to a couple of hours ago.  Because I was checking this morning and there were no changes.  Fingers crossed!

This is in the MDE app only that it says through May.  Just wanted to clarify that.


----------



## Nina

We got here tonight at 6:10 & they were already letting people in.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

lol, y'all are professional Disney website super-sleuths.  Nice job!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Dumb question, is that part of the app where you can buy tickets/see dates right in the app new?  Not sure if I've ever actually looked for DAH info in the app but don't recall seeing this?  Maybe I've just never looked there?


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Dumb question, is that part of the app where you can buy tickets/see dates right in the app new?  Not sure if I've ever actually looked for DAH info in the app but don't recall seeing this?  Maybe I've just never looked there?



I searched "after hours" and then clicked on either Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom after hours. From that page, I then clicked "Select Tickets", where it showed the new information about the dates.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> I searched "after hours" and then clicked on either Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom after hours. From that page, I then clicked "Select Tickets", where it showed the new information about the dates.



Yeah, I see that part - I don't recall ever seeing that function in the app before?


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I never looked at DAH tix on the app until today when someone mentioned about MK going through May. I accidentally clicked AK first, which is how I know the verbiage changed to June an hour or so later. So I have no idea if it was an option prior to today.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, I see that part - I don't recall ever seeing that function in the app before?



Hmm... I feel like every time I've clicked through to purchase tickets it ends up taking me to the website. So I think you're right.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> Hmm... I feel like every time I've clicked through to purchase tickets it ends up taking me to the website. So I think you're right.



Yeah, that’s my memory too - but I wouldn’t sware by it!


----------



## Michiel

BeckaB said:


> So, because I keep stalking the app and the website, just wanted to mention...the app just changed to say Select Dates March to May 2019 but no new dates... the other parks still say December to April 2019 in the app...
> 
> The website though says through March 2019 now (not April like before) but still shows the April dates and no new dates.
> 
> So I'm guessing we will either see some May dates post in the next few hours/day...or when the site all posted right, if there are no new dates in a few hours/a day...then I guess no dates in May?



Thanks for this! Looks like there might be May / June days added over the next few days, fingers crossed


----------



## KCSherri

Ashley Marie said:


> I nearly lost my lanyard twice on Space Mountain (was it you that actually lost yours? I remember having this conversation on this thread, ha). Wristbands sound like a much better idea!



I lost MY lanyard on SM when these events first started! It went flying off when we did a major “swoop”!! I had to fight my way back down Main Street to Guest Services to get a new one ...I lost about 30 minutes of party time - gah!!


----------



## Ashley Marie

KCSherri said:


> I lost MY lanyard on SM when these events first started! It went flying off when we did a major “swoop”!! I had to fight my way back down Main Street to Guest Services to get a new one ...I lost about 30 minutes of party time - gah!!


Nooo! 

It must have been your story I was thinking of!


----------



## GAN

I’m hoping for more dates in April as well ....had almost given up hope.  Would be nice!


----------



## francie57

Hopefully the dates will be released soon! We have been waiting for May dates.  When they did May dates a few years ago it says they were released on March 23.
Tomorrw is the closest Friday to that dates so fingers crossed!  If they stay with Thursday for MK all I would need to do is change a dinner reservation and we are good to go!!


----------



## Iowamomof4

On page 9, post #163, Tishlovesdisney announced that new dates had been added at 7:19 AM (Central time). So hopefully we'll see new dates added tomorrow morning! Keep in mind, at first we had to call in to book those new dates. They became available to book online sometime later.

EDIT: I'm talking about the last time new dates were added. I was wondering how it went before so maybe we would know what to expect tomorrow or whenever they add new dates (if they do).


----------



## 123SA

Iowamomof4 said:


> On page 9, post #163, Tishlovesdisney announced that new dates had been added at 7:19 AM (Central time). So hopefully we'll see new dates added tomorrow morning! Keep in mind, at first we had to call in to book those new dates. They became available to book online sometime later.



page 9 post 163 of what?


----------



## Iowamomof4

123SA said:


> page 9 post 163 of what?


Of this thread. I was looking back to see how it went the last time new dates were added and thought maybe someone else might also be wondering.


----------



## 123SA

Iowamomof4 said:


> Of this thread. I was looking back to see how it went the last time new dates were added and thought maybe someone else might also be wondering.




Thank you


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> Of this thread. I was looking back to see how it went the last time new dates were added and thought maybe someone else might also be wondering.



I’ve always half-way wondered if those didn’t really get added 11/14 (a Friday, a popular day for calendar changes) and none of us noticed - since that was a rather unexpected update.   

But Disney, if you are going to add things, let’s make it Friday - I’m busy on Saturday.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I’ve always half-way wondered if those didn’t really get added 11/14 (a Friday, a popular day for calendar changes) and none of us noticed - since that was a rather unexpected update.
> 
> But Disney, if you are going to add things, let’s make it Friday - I’m busy on Saturday.



11/14/18 was a Wednesday, Tish posted on a Thursday.

Edit: But you could certainly be right that we simply missed when they released them that time.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> 11/14/18 was a Wednesday, Tish posted on a Thursday.



Ahh, you’re right, my bad. What month was I looking at?!?!  Long day....


----------



## michelepa

Nina said:


> We got here tonight at 6:10 & they were already letting people in.



That’s awesome.

I wonder what time it actually was tonight?

I’m going on 28th and very curious.

I really wish there was a separate thread where people who are wishing for future dates and surmising about future dates could post and all other MK event ticket posts could be on another thread.

Looking at MDE SDTM has been down for at least 20 min but other rides look ok for wait times less than I expected on a crowded spring break and sold out event


----------



## Iowamomof4

michelepa said:


> That’s awesome.
> 
> I wonder what time it actually was tonight?
> 
> I’m going on 28th and very curious.
> 
> I really wish there was a separate thread where people who are wishing for future dates and surmising about future dates could post and all other MK event ticket posts could be on another thread.



I'm sorry. For the most part, I do think this thread sticks to event reviews. We've just been waiting for new dates and hoping for any information possible. Glad to know we have at least one Dis member there tonight! Hope it goes well and BTMRR (and all the other popular rides, for that matter) is running at full capacity!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

michelepa said:


> I really wish there was a separate thread where people who are wishing for future dates and surmising about future dates could post and all other MK event ticket posts could be on another thread.



Legitimate question, what makes you mention this... thread clutter/picking through what’s most helpful to you?  I only ask because I like to try to understand what’s the most useful organization for folks in case we ever want to set things up differently.


----------



## slduck

Nina said:


> We got here tonight at 6:10 & they were already letting people in.



Can't wait to hear about the crowds, etc. Wonder what time they actually let people in? Hope you are having a great night!


----------



## whiporee

I don't mind either way, but a lot of this thread becomes "when are they going to release dates" type stuff.  People might prefer to be able to glance quickly at the last page of that rather than maybe miss it when it gets mixed in with reviews and questions.


----------



## Iowamomof4

whiporee said:


> I don't mind either way, but a lot of this thread becomes "when are they going to release dates" type stuff.  People might prefer to be able to glance quickly at the last page of that rather than maybe miss it when it gets mixed in with reviews and questions.



One nice thing that our moderator has done is, when new dates get released, he updates the thread title to indicate that. I like that a lot!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I’m sure reviews will post later tonight and tomorrow of this evening’s event. I personally wouldn’t waste paid party time posting on a forum. I rather be having fun!


----------



## Sajchinook2015

Great! Now I won’t be able to fall asleep tonight.  I will want to keep checking, LOL!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

To talk about something different, looks like 7DMT is down at this particular moment.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> To talk about something different, looks like 7DMT is down at this particular moment.


Noooo!


----------



## michelepa

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Legitimate question, what makes you mention this... thread clutter/picking through what’s most helpful to you?  I only ask because I like to try to understand what’s the most useful organization for folks in case we ever want to set things up differently.




I was hoping all the posts were  people posting from tonight but instead the posts are mostly about possible future dates

 I keep looking at this thread for the actual event posts and tips.

I do hope you all get the event dates you want but this thread is turning into a support group for future unknown dates. It’s a lot  to sort through in order to find real info about the actual event.


MDE is showing SDTM has been down over 45 minutes tonight end of regular hours and half hour of event.


----------



## mcurrence

michelepa said:


> I was hoping all the posts were  people posting from tonight but instead the posts are mostly about possible future dates
> 
> I keep looking at this thread for the actual event posts and tips.
> 
> I do hope you all get the event dates you want but this thread is turning into a support group for future unknown dates. It’s a lot  to sort through in order to find real info about the actual event.
> 
> 
> MDE is showing SDTM has been down over 45 minutes tonight end of regular hours and half hour of event.




Showing 45 minutes for Peter Pan right now??!!


----------



## GAN

michelepa said:


> I was hoping all the posts were  people posting from tonight but instead the posts are mostly about possible future dates
> 
> I keep looking at this thread for the actual event posts and tips.
> 
> I do hope you all get the event dates you want but this thread is turning into a support group for future unknown dates. It’s a lot  to sort through in order to find real info about the actual event.
> 
> 
> MDE is showing SDTM has been down over 45 minutes tonight end of regular hours and half hour of event.



I feel like the Mod is doing a great job.  Event posts and tips are certainly a big part of the thread, but conversations regarding future dates falls under the "Discussion Thread" title as well.  Maybe someone will create a thread as specific as you're looking for.....


----------



## Iowamomof4

mcurrence said:


> Showing 45 minutes for Peter Pan right now??!!



I keep seeing it at 5 minutes, then 45 minutes, then 5, etc... Buzz Lightyear similarly goes from 25 to 5 to 25 minutes.


----------



## slduck

michelepa said:


> I was hoping all the posts were  people posting from tonight but instead the posts are mostly about possible future dates
> 
> I keep looking at this thread for the actual event posts and tips.
> 
> I do hope you all get the event dates you want but this thread is turning into a support group for future unknown dates. It’s a lot  to sort through in order to find real info about the actual event.
> 
> 
> MDE is showing SDTM has been down over 45 minutes tonight end of regular hours and half hour of event.


I just looked at MDE. Interesting wait times on several rides.


----------



## mcurrence

slduck said:


> I just looked at MDE. Interesting wait times on several rides.


Maybe something wacky is happening on the app. Hope everyone has a great time tonight


----------



## Cinderumbrella

michelepa said:


> I was hoping all the posts were  people posting from tonight but instead the posts are mostly about possible future dates
> 
> I keep looking at this thread for the actual event posts and tips.
> 
> I do hope you all get the event dates you want but this thread is turning into a support group for future unknown dates. It’s a lot  to sort through in order to find real info about the actual event.
> 
> 
> MDE is showing SDTM has been down over 45 minutes tonight end of regular hours and half hour of event.



Be sure to pay it forward and live update next week at your event.


----------



## Nina

So far, everything has been a walk on except a 10 minute wait at space.  We’ve done space, buzz, pirates(own boat), jungle cruise(own boat), magic carpets, Astro orbiter. 
We also did haunted mansion, splash & big thunder with a Fastpass earlier.


----------



## michelepa

Nina said:


> So far, everything has been a walk on except a 10 minute wait at space.  We’ve done space, buzz, pirates(own boat), jungle cruise(own boat), magic carpets, Astro orbiter.
> We also did haunted mansion, splash & big thunder with a Fastpass earlier.



Thank you great to hear you’re enjoying yourselves!!


----------



## Ron Rico

Nina said:


> So far, everything has been a walk on except a 10 minute wait at space.  We’ve done space, buzz, pirates(own boat), jungle cruise(own boat), magic carpets, Astro orbiter.
> We also did haunted mansion, splash & big thunder with a Fastpass earlier.



Thanks for the update!  We’ll be there on the 11th!


----------



## michelepa

Just checked and SDTM is finally up and running but 30 minute wait


----------



## mamapenguin

michelepa said:


> Just checked and SDTM is finally up and running but 30 minute wait


But the party goes until 1:00am. There’s still time for fun it makes me feel better about the next DAH.


----------



## Justplainchy

Here’s our final report for 3/21: 
We got in about 7:05 through event line, no wait and got our wristbands. 

Tink was at 15 minutes so we went to meet her. 

We had a dessert party and fireworks so we did the pre-party and then watched HEA from the plaza viewing. We had picked up a Peter Pan FP earlier today that was good from 8:25-9:25, they let us on at 9:40. Rode that, then used a fast pass to meet Tiana and Rapunzel, which took us to 10:05 and the official start of DAH. 

We started by walking to HM. 
HM was walk on at 10:10. Off at 10:22. Back on again! 

Snack break; no line! Frozen banana and Olaf bar and coke

From there to Pirates; walk on. Almost had empty boat but a group joined at the last second. 

Walked over to thunder mountain; in line at 11. Wait posted at 20 min, was 13. Rode front row for the first time and it was the worst. 

Snack break for an ice cream sandwich. Back in line! Posted 15. Waited 10. 

Rode back row, much more fun. 

Walked to Main Street. Empty street photos. Walked up to mickey and Minnie, walk in to meet immediately. 

Space x2 Walk on, but had to go all the way out. First time pink track. Second time we got to pick, so we took green, for variety. 

Then, we were allowed to use re-ride line. Green again but the LIGHTS WERE ON. Ahhhh. Space mountain with the lights on is terrifying. 

Met Ariel in her grotto.

Carousel- almost empty.

Winnie the Pooh, we were the only ones on the ride and the last people on for the night.

One last mickey bar and sandwich at 1:05 and then walked out to the bus, which was waiting for us. 

It was an absolutely amazing night! PP did have weird times fluctuations and seven dwarves was down for a while, so we just opted to ride with our FP tomorrow—I imagine it was really frustrating if that was your main goal, but it wasn’t ours, and we had an amazing time. Got more done in 3 hours than we have in two full park days!


----------



## michelepa

mamapenguin said:


> But the party goes until 1:00am. There’s still time for fun it makes me feel better about the next DAH.



Of course but if one of your goals was to ride SDTM a couple times at the event and it’s almost midnight by the time the ride is finally working with a 30 min wait and party goes until 1...


----------



## Haley R

Justplainchy said:


> Here’s our final report for 3/21:
> We got in about 7:05 through event line, no wait and got our wristbands.
> 
> Tink was at 15 minutes so we went to meet her.
> 
> We had a dessert party and fireworks so we did the pre-party and then watched HEA from the plaza viewing. We had picked up a Peter Pan FP earlier today that was good from 8:25-9:25, they let us on at 9:40. Rode that, then used a fast pass to meet Tiana and Rapunzel, which took us to 10:05 and the official start of DAH.
> 
> We started by walking to HM.
> HM was walk on at 10:10. Off at 10:22. Back on again!
> 
> Snack break; no line! Frozen banana and Olaf bar and coke
> 
> From there to Pirates; walk on. Almost had empty boat but a group joined at the last second.
> 
> Walked over to thunder mountain; in line at 11. Wait posted at 20 min, was 13. Rode front row for the first time and it was the worst.
> 
> Snack break for an ice cream sandwich. Back in line! Posted 15. Waited 10.
> 
> Rode back row, much more fun.
> 
> Walked to Main Street. Empty street photos. Walked up to mickey and Minnie, walk in to meet immediately.
> 
> Space x2 Walk on, but had to go all the way out. First time pink track. Second time we got to pick, so we took green, for variety.
> 
> Then, we were allowed to use re-ride line. Green again but the LIGHTS WERE ON. Ahhhh. Space mountain with the lights on is terrifying.
> 
> Met Ariel in her grotto.
> 
> Carousel- almost empty.
> 
> Winnie the Pooh, we were the only ones on the ride and the last people on for the night.
> 
> One last mickey bar and sandwich at 1:05 and then walked out to the bus, which was waiting for us.
> 
> It was an absolutely amazing night! PP did have weird times fluctuations and seven dwarves was down for a while, so we just opted to ride with our FP tomorrow—I imagine it was really frustrating if that was your main goal, but it wasn’t ours, and we had an amazing time. Got more done in 3 hours than we have in two full park days!


The front for btmr is terrible! We avoid it like the plague


----------



## Nina

Nina said:


> So far, everything has been a walk on except a 10 minute wait at space.  We’ve done space, buzz, pirates(own boat), jungle cruise(own boat), magic carpets, Astro orbiter.
> We also did haunted mansion, splash & big thunder with a Fastpass earlier.


Also did teacups, Pooh, small world, Peter Pan(5 min wait) & little mermaid.  
SDMT was down most of the night & was 30 min when it finally opened so we skipped it.  Had a great night & would definitely recommend!


----------



## Justplainchy

Haley R said:


> The front for btmr is terrible! We avoid it like the plague



I’d never ridden it before! It was the absolute worst! As soon as anything exciting was about to happen it slowed down! Ugh. It’s on our “never again” list for sure!


----------



## nicdu

Tonight was pretty amazing. Except for the 7dmt. That stunk. But everything else was basically a walk on with a 15 minute wait for btmr and the weather was perfection!! The CMs at the snack stands were very friendly. 

It was well worth the $95 pp. nothing more magical then my 6 year old getting the exact horse she wants on the carousel and getting to keep it as long as she wanted to ride. Or skipping up to HM for a walk on. Gah. I want to go back.


----------



## Haley R

Justplainchy said:


> I’d never ridden it before! It was the absolute worst! As soon as anything exciting was about to happen it slowed down! Ugh. It’s on our “never again” list for sure!


Yeah you have to wait for the rest of the train to catch up after going down a hill. It’s so bad. It’s funny though because the front on rnrc and ee are awesome


----------



## Haley R

nicdu said:


> Tonight was pretty amazing. Except for the 7dmt. That stunk. But everything else was basically a walk on with a 15 minute wait for btmr and the weather was perfection!! The CMs at the snack stands were very friendly.
> 
> It was well worth the $95 pp. nothing more magical then my 6 year old getting the exact horse she wants on the carousel and getting to keep it as long as she wanted to ride. Or skipping up to HM for a walk on. Gah. I want to go back.


Aw that’s cute about the carousel. I love that dah allows people to be flexible and spend the night how they want. If Dh and I want to go around on people mover over and over we can because there’s no line


----------



## Ron Rico

Justplainchy said:


> Here’s our final report for 3/21:
> We got in about 7:05 through event line, no wait and got our wristbands.
> 
> Tink was at 15 minutes so we went to meet her.
> 
> We had a dessert party and fireworks so we did the pre-party and then watched HEA from the plaza viewing. We had picked up a Peter Pan FP earlier today that was good from 8:25-9:25, they let us on at 9:40. Rode that, then used a fast pass to meet Tiana and Rapunzel, which took us to 10:05 and the official start of DAH.
> 
> We started by walking to HM.
> HM was walk on at 10:10. Off at 10:22. Back on again!
> 
> Snack break; no line! Frozen banana and Olaf bar and coke
> 
> From there to Pirates; walk on. Almost had empty boat but a group joined at the last second.
> 
> Walked over to thunder mountain; in line at 11. Wait posted at 20 min, was 13. Rode front row for the first time and it was the worst.
> 
> Snack break for an ice cream sandwich. Back in line! Posted 15. Waited 10.
> 
> Rode back row, much more fun.
> 
> Walked to Main Street. Empty street photos. Walked up to mickey and Minnie, walk in to meet immediately.
> 
> Space x2 Walk on, but had to go all the way out. First time pink track. Second time we got to pick, so we took green, for variety.
> 
> Then, we were allowed to use re-ride line. Green again but the LIGHTS WERE ON. Ahhhh. Space mountain with the lights on is terrifying.
> 
> Met Ariel in her grotto.
> 
> Carousel- almost empty.
> 
> Winnie the Pooh, we were the only ones on the ride and the last people on for the night.
> 
> One last mickey bar and sandwich at 1:05 and then walked out to the bus, which was waiting for us.
> 
> It was an absolutely amazing night! PP did have weird times fluctuations and seven dwarves was down for a while, so we just opted to ride with our FP tomorrow—I imagine it was really frustrating if that was your main goal, but it wasn’t ours, and we had an amazing time. Got more done in 3 hours than we have in two full park days!





Nina said:


> Also did teacups, Pooh, small world, Peter Pan(5 min wait) & little mermaid.
> SDMT was down most of the night & was 30 min when it finally opened so we skipped it.  Had a great night & would definitely recommend!





nicdu said:


> Tonight was pretty amazing. Except for the 7dmt. That stunk. But everything else was basically a walk on with a 15 minute wait for btmr and the weather was perfection!! The CMs at the snack stands were very friendly.
> 
> It was well worth the $95 pp. nothing more magical then my 6 year old getting the exact horse she wants on the carousel and getting to keep it as long as she wanted to ride. Or skipping up to HM for a walk on. Gah. I want to go back.



Thank you all for reporting back! I’m glad that you had a great evening!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Haley R said:


> Yeah you have to wait for the rest of the train to catch up after going down a hill. It’s so bad. It’s funny though because the front on rnrc and ee are awesome


Sounds like the front is more my speed.


----------



## Tiggerlover91

Haley R said:


> The front for btmr is terrible! We avoid it like the plague



May I ask why? And when you say the front do you mean the very first car or the first few cars?


----------



## Ckmommy72

Did anyone see this on the app?  Can't actually purchase tickets, but I can only assume later dates are coming.  Unfortunately for me, I'm hoping for MK in June...


----------



## Iowamomof4

Ckmommy72 said:


> Did anyone see this on the app?  Can't actually purchase tickets, but I can only assume later dates are coming.  Unfortunately for me, I'm hoping for MK in June...
> View attachment 389868


Yep! We were discussing it a couple pages ago. Hopefully we get new dates today sometime!


----------



## SaintsManiac

Ckmommy72 said:


> Did anyone see this on the app?  Can't actually purchase tickets, but I can only assume later dates are coming.  Unfortunately for me, I'm hoping for MK in June...
> View attachment 389868




Yep we've been speculating already! 

I would like to start planning my July days!


----------



## Justplainchy

Tiggerlover91 said:


> May I ask why? And when you say the front do you mean the very first car or the first few cars?



I’m not that OP, but riding it last night after every. Single. Hill. The front hit the breaks so you never had any real speed and mostly just felt like the train kept stopping for the rest of it to catch up. I’ve ridden in the rows a little further back and it’s been a blast? So I think it’s maybe just the first row or the first three rows.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Ckmommy72 said:


> Did anyone see this on the app?  Can't actually purchase tickets, but I can only assume later dates are coming.  Unfortunately for me, I'm hoping for MK in June...
> View attachment 389868



Yup! We were talking about it yesterday. Now we wait...and hope


----------



## Ckmommy72

Guess I missed the last couple days...  Fingers crossed that we get dates sometime today.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Ckmommy72 said:


> Guess I missed the last couple days...  Fingers crossed that we get dates sometime today.


Better to have information posted twice than not at all.


----------



## Mango7100

Our report from last night...

Got to gates at 625 and we entered right away with no line. 

Before the actual event, we did Laugh Floor, Minnie and Mickey meet (FP), BTMT (FP), Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, and Magic Carpets twice. We did not watch the fireworks since we saw the show twice this week. 

We started in adventureland at 10. From 10-1 we did Carpets twice, Pirates, BTMT, the Rapunzel lantern photo, Winnie the Pooh, Space Mtn, Astro Orbiters, Dumbo twice, Barnstormer twice, SDMT, Journey Under the Sea, and Carousel three times. We hire the snack carts three times. The app times were all messed up—everything was 0-15 min except for SDMT

Overall it was great except for SDMT being down until 1130ish and having a 30 min wait. We had been hoping to get 2-3 rides on it but only did one with that wait. We did Dumbo/Barnstormer/Under the Sea starting  at 1235 am and we were alone on the rides and didnt even get off to take another turn! It was a strange feeling! We did the last carousel ride of the night with two other people. If nothing else, it is worth the price to have moments like that... And our 5 year old didn’t pass out until the stroller ride out


----------



## R Coffin

We were there last night.   Got to main gate at 8:00.  When we arrived at parking (about 7:20) they waived us through without charging, so that was $25 back in our pockets.  

We noticed that posted wait times were consistently inflated.   Did BTMR twice with posted wait times of 20 minutes but actual wait time of 10 minutes each time.  Did 7DMT twice with posted wait of 30 minutes but actual wait of 20 minutes each time.   Many others had posted waits of 10-15 minutes (or more!) but were walk ons or less than 5 minutes.  So don’t rely too much on what they have posted or be discouraged from riding something because of a posted wait time.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Mango7100 said:


> Our report from last night...
> 
> Got to gates at 625 and we entered right away with no line.
> 
> Before the actual event, we did Laugh Floor, Minnie and Mickey meet (FP), BTMT (FP), Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, and Magic Carpets twice. We did not watch the fireworks since we saw the show twice this week.
> 
> We started in adventureland at 10. From 10-1 we did Carpets twice, Pirates, BTMT, the Rapunzel lantern photo, Winnie the Pooh, Space Mtn, Astro Orbiters, Dumbo twice, Barnstormer twice, SDMT, Journey Under the Sea, and Carousel three times. We hire the snack carts three times. The app times were all messed up—everything was 0-15 min except for SDMT
> 
> Overall it was great except for SDMT being down until 1130ish and having a 30 min wait. We had been hoping to get 2-3 rides on it but only did one with that wait. We did Dumbo/Barnstormer/Under the Sea starting  at 1235 am and we were alone on the rides and didnt even get off to take another turn! It was a strange feeling! We did the last carousel ride of the night with two other people. If nothing else, it is worth the price to have moments like that... And our 5 year old didn’t pass out until the stroller ride out



That sounds amazing! I especially appreciate the comment about the app times. It's too bad SDMT was closed at first, I see it spent some time down during EMH this morning as well. Thanks for the report!


----------



## Tiggerlover91

Justplainchy said:


> I’m not that OP, but riding it last night after every. Single. Hill. The front hit the breaks so you never had any real speed and mostly just felt like the train kept stopping for the rest of it to catch up. I’ve ridden in the rows a little further back and it’s been a blast? So I think it’s maybe just the first row or the first three rows.



Thank you! My son and I will be sure and ask for the middle!


----------



## Newcastle

I am encouraged to see that they may be opening up some dates for at least MK and AK.  It's odd because I was checking MDE last night and they had this "Spotlight" feature which I don't think I've ever noticed before.  It mentioned the DAH at AK and that's where I saw the first glimpse of them possibly extending the AH events.  Of course, all of the kind folks on this thread had already posted about it by the time I got around to checking .  As an aside, I find it totally odd the way Disney updates their website.  I am not an IT person so I don't pretend to know how this all works but I find it weird that they make a little change here and then a few hours later they make a change there and then one or two days later they start to release more details and then eventually whatever it is becomes bookable/or calendars are finalized.  You'd think there would be a way that they could update all pages/calendars required for a certain 'event' and then have everything go live at the same time.  Again, I'm not an IT person but I feel like in this day and age, that should be a possibility if that makes any sense.


----------



## maui2k5

Any thoughts on how much of a benefit this would be in August (if they have them)?  First thing that comes to mind is that it will be at night and out of the sun...  Since we are there for 9 nights, for us this would likely just be an added bonus for re-riding with very low crowds which is still very appealing.


----------



## GAN

maui2k5 said:


> Any thoughts on how much of a benefit this would be in August (if they have them)?  First thing that comes to mind is that it will be at night and out of the sun...  Since we are there for 9 nights, for us this would likely just be an added bonus for re-riding with very low crowds which is still very appealing.



I'd say an EXTREMELY nice added bonus!  Sure, you're paying $100/person so for some it may not make financial sense -but when added into the cost of the entire vacation ...what the heck.  I did it once and I'm sold.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Now I'm wondering how long we'll have to wait before they either "fix" the app so it says "through April" again or add those elusive May dates. I sure hope it happens today! Is there any precedent for them adding dates for events like this over a weekend?


----------



## Liz Z

Please Disney put up dates for July's DAH.  It was the best $100 we spent when we attended the HS DAH.

We will buy all of them if they're offered in the dead of the summer

Liz


----------



## Disney Teresa

We had a great night, would do it again in a heartbeat!! We rode Pirates, Splash, BTMR, Haunted, PP, Barnstormer, Astro, met Ariel and finished up with 7 Dwarf.
The wait times were not accurate on the app. PP was listed as 45 minutes but really was only 5 minutes!
Snacks were everywhere and take as much as you want.
Someone mentioned no charge for parking, we got a stroller at no charge.


----------



## Kae

Disney Teresa said:


> We had a great night, would do it again in a heartbeat!! We rode Pirates, Splash, BTMR, Haunted, PP, Barnstormer, Astro, met Ariel and finished up with 7 Dwarf.
> The wait times were not accurate on the app. PP was listed as 45 minutes but really was only 5 minutes!
> Snacks were everywhere and take as much as you want.
> Someone mentioned no charge for parking, we got a stroller at no charge.



Sounds awesome. We are going 3/28/19. What kinda of snacks? I heard popcorn & ice cream? DH hates chocolate so I hope there are choices for him


----------



## Iowamomof4

Kae said:


> Sounds awesome. We are going 3/28/19. What kinda of snacks? I heard popcorn & ice cream? DH hates chocolate so I hope there are choices for him



I know there are frozen strawberry bars at some locations. My dh also avoids chocolate, so I asked earlier in the thread. I think all the other frozen treats have chocolate.


----------



## goofy78

Very interested in dates for May! Hopefully soon!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

My biggest gripe about 3/7 (other than one side running for BTMR) was it was a little chilly for strawberry bars.  I’m not into Mickey Bars and similar, but I could eat a strawberry bar in between every ride! 

That is one of the best parts about a summer DAH vs the winter ones - better ice cream weather!


----------



## michelepa

Disney Teresa said:


> We had a great night, would do it again in a heartbeat!! We rode Pirates, Splash, BTMR, Haunted, PP, Barnstormer, Astro, met Ariel and finished up with 7 Dwarf.
> The wait times were not accurate on the app. PP was listed as 45 minutes but really was only 5 minutes!
> Snacks were everywhere and take as much as you want.
> Someone mentioned no charge for parking, we got a stroller at no charge.



Thank you to everyone for posting that MDE did not have the correct wait times last night.  We are going 3/28 and I'll be sure to only really use MDE to check for ride closures.  Gosh, no packed park, no constantly needing to check MDE.  It's like the good old days. I can't wait!!


----------



## GAN

GADisneyDad14 said:


> My biggest gripe about 3/7 (other than one side running for BTMR) was it was a little chilly for strawberry bars.  I’m not into Mickey Bars and similar, but I could eat a strawberry bar in between every ride!
> 
> That is one of the best parts about a summer DAH vs the winter ones - better ice cream weather!



Don't let the cold bother you ...the sugar in the ice cream actually WARMS you! So they say.  I went in December and I believe it hit 34 that night ..even cold for a New Englander.  Try looking for a pair of men's gloves on property!


----------



## Kae

michelepa said:


> Thank you to everyone for posting that MDE did not have the correct wait times last night.  We are going 3/28 and I'll be sure to only really use MDE to check for rider closures.  Gosh no packed park no constantly needing to check MDE.  It's like the good old day. I can't wait!!



See ya there!!!


----------



## Michael T Swauger

goofy78 said:


> Very interested in dates for May! Hopefully soon!


I can't figure out how to post an ss but in the app it says MK DAH is select dates March to May 2019 and AK DAH is select dates March to June 2019.


----------



## maryj11

Ckmommy72 said:


> Did anyone see this on the app?  Can't actually purchase tickets, but I can only assume later dates are coming.  Unfortunately for me, I'm hoping for MK in June...
> View attachment 389868


Has anyone been able to book these yet? When I go to the website it still only has to April.


----------



## GAN

michelepa said:


> Thank you to everyone for posting that MDE did not have the correct wait times last night.  We are going 3/28 and I'll be sure to only really use MDE to check for rider closures.  Gosh no packed park no constantly needing to check MDE.  It's like the good old day. I can't wait!!



Heck ...is MDE ever correct???  I don't even use it for wait times --Lines is my go to app for wait times.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

maryj11 said:


> Has anyone been able to book these yet? When I go to the website it still only has to April.



No dates yet. Just updated description. There will be 30 posts at least once it’s live


----------



## Iowamomof4

Michael T Swauger said:


> I can't figure out how to post an ss but in the app it says MK DAH is select dates March to May 2019 and AK DAH is select dates March to June 2019.





maryj11 said:


> Has anyone been able to book these yet? When I go to the website it still only has to April.



No one has been able to book anything new yet because dates aren't really showing up. There are some screenshots of the MDE app on the thread from the last couple pages.


----------



## Haley R

Tiggerlover91 said:


> May I ask why? And when you say the front do you mean the very first car or the first few cars?


I know a PP already answered but there is literally no thrill sitting in the first 3-4 rows. You basically wait at the bottom of every hill for the rest of the train to go up the hill. It’s just not a fun experience. I think it’s because the hills aren’t very large.


----------



## Tiggerlover91

Haley R said:


> I know a PP already answered but there is literally no thrill sitting in the first 3-4 rows. You basically wait at the bottom of every hill for the rest of the train to go up the hill. It’s just not a fun experience. I think it’s because the hills aren’t very large.



Thanks for this! To be safe, I think I will ask if my son and I can sit to the far back instead of the middle!


----------



## Haley R

Tiggerlover91 said:


> Thanks for this! To be safe, I think I will ask if my son and I can sit to the far back instead of the middle!


They normally will let you wait for the back if you ask. We’ve only ever had to wait for one train


----------



## DVC Jen

Ugh!  I want early June MK dates!!!!  So frustrating.


----------



## francie57

Well they extended the Early Morning Magic through August at TSL and September for MK. Hopefully the After Hours extension will be coming!!!  Lets hope since this is taking forever!


----------



## PPFlight75

GADisneyDad14 said:


> My biggest gripe about 3/7 (other than one side running for BTMR) was it was a little chilly for strawberry bars.  I’m not into Mickey Bars and similar, but I could eat a strawberry bar in between every ride!
> 
> That is one of the best parts about a summer DAH vs the winter ones - better ice cream weather!


Did they have the ice cream sandwich type of Micky ice cream? I prefer that to the Mickey bar.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

PPFlight75 said:


> Did they have the ice cream sandwich type of Micky ice cream? I prefer that to the Mickey bar.



Yep!


----------



## PPFlight75

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yep!


That's great to hear thanks. We much prefer those and the Olafs. My kids would freak if they offered the Minute Maid frozen lemonade but that's wishful thinking.

We are attending the 3/28 event next week and it looks to be the coldest night of the week. We made sure to pack layers so we can eat our ice cream!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

PPFlight75 said:


> That's great to hear thanks. We much prefer those and the Olafs. My kids would freak if they offered the Minute Maid frozen lemonade but that's wishful thinking.
> 
> We are attending the 3/28 event next week and it looks to be the coldest night of the week. We made sure to pack layers so we can eat our ice cream!



I’m having a moment, I kind of thought they do have the frozen lemonade stuff, but maybe I’m not thinking clearly?  

I actually really dislike Mickey Bars with the kids - they inevitably end up all over them and/or on the ground!


----------



## PPFlight75

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I’m having a moment, I kind of thought they do have the frozen lemonade stuff, but maybe I’m not thinking clearly?
> 
> I actually really dislike Mickey Bars with the kids - they inevitably end up all over them and/or on the ground!


That would be awesome if they had them. I'll keep and eye out. 

Two of my 3 would pick that as their treat over anything else at Disney. They absolutely love them but they are not big chocolate kids 

The mickey sandwiches are good but the bars are so-so  and yes messy especially in July!


----------



## PolyRob

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I’m having a moment, I kind of thought they do have the frozen lemonade stuff, but maybe I’m not thinking clearly?
> 
> I actually really dislike Mickey Bars with the kids - they inevitably end up all over them and/or on the ground!


The Olaf bar? I think its strawberry lemonade.


----------



## mcurrence

PPFlight75 said:


> That's great to hear thanks. We much prefer those and the Olafs. My kids would freak if they offered the Minute Maid frozen lemonade but that's wishful thinking.
> 
> We are attending the 3/28 event next week and it looks to be the coldest night of the week. We made sure to pack layers so we can eat our ice cream!



No worries ! Disney ice cream is good anytime lol! This was Jan 2018  it was cold!! But that didn’t stop us ! Mickey bars and sandwiches ..it was 40 something degrees.


----------



## PPFlight75

mcurrence said:


> No worries ! Disney ice cream is good anytime lol! This was Jan 2018  it was cold!! But that didn’t stop us ! Mickey bars and sandwiches ..it was 40 something degrees.
> 
> View attachment 389989


Haha! So true. We will eat them even if we are freezing!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

PolyRob said:


> The Olaf bar? I think its strawberry lemonade.



When I say frozen lemonade, I think of the Minute Maid cups you eat with a spoon, either lemonade or pink lemonade.  I usually don’t like them at WDW because they are often frozen solid and I get antsy waiting for them to melt enough to eat.  These might not be available at DAH, I just can’t remember at the moment!


----------



## R Coffin

PPFlight75 said:


> That's great to hear thanks. We much prefer those and the Olafs. My kids would freak if they offered the Minute Maid frozen lemonade but that's wishful thinking.
> 
> We are attending the 3/28 event next week and it looks to be the coldest night of the week. We made sure to pack layers so we can eat our ice cream!



The Olaf bars were included last night, but not the Minute Maid frozen lemonade.   My husband loves the Minute Maid cups, so we felt it was worth a try to ask.


----------



## PPFlight75

R Coffin said:


> The Olaf bars were included last night, but not the Minute Maid frozen lemonade.   My husband loves the Minute Maid cups, so we felt it was worth a try to ask.


Thanks for the info everyone. We will have to get our MM frozen lemonade fix another time!!


----------



## PolyRob

GADisneyDad14 said:


> When I say frozen lemonade, I think of the Minute Maid cups you eat with a spoon, either lemonade or pink lemonade.  I usually don’t like them at WDW because they are often frozen solid and I get antsy waiting for them to melt enough to eat.  These might not be available at DAH, I just can’t remember at the moment!


I've never purchased one at WDW, but if it were "free" during DAH, i'd take it! I really like them. I'll check it out in April. I'll plan on getting it very early in the night so it can thaw lol (if they're offered).


----------



## mamapenguin

PPFlight75 said:


> That's great to hear thanks. We much prefer those and the Olafs. My kids would freak if they offered the Minute Maid frozen lemonade but that's wishful thinking.
> 
> We are attending the 3/28 event next week and it looks to be the coldest night of the week. We made sure to pack layers so we can eat our ice cream!


I’m showing the low for Thursday at Bay Lake being 57...LOL and our high at home that day will be 55. It will be ice cream, or rather frozen treat weather. (We prefer the non ice cream frozen treats).


----------



## mamapenguin

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yep!


The chocolate chip ice cream sandwich one?


----------



## Justplainchy

mamapenguin said:


> The chocolate chip ice cream sandwich one?


Yep! My wife ate three!


----------



## PPFlight75

mamapenguin said:


> I’m showing the low for Thursday at Bay Lake being 57...LOL and our high at home that day will be 55. It will be ice cream, or rather frozen treat weather. (We prefer the non ice cream frozen treats).


I’m such a wimp! I’ll be cold at 57 especially if eating ice cream. Still doing it though lol!


----------



## cherokeemamma

I’m sorry I haven’t read through all of the thread...please don’t hate me. 
What are the chances they will have MK dates for late April or the first week of May??


----------



## Dbktmc

I am also anxiously waiting for June dates.  We are going June 12-22nd and have wanted to attend this for years.  Unfortunately we always have to go in June because I am a teacher and it has never been offered for our dates.


----------



## maryj11

cherokeemamma said:


> I’m sorry I haven’t read through all of the thread...please don’t hate me.
> What are the chances they will have MK dates for late April or the first week of May?? We think they be getting ready to release more dates. So keep an eye out.


----------



## Firestarlife

cherokeemamma said:


> I’m sorry I haven’t read through all of the thread...please don’t hate me.
> What are the chances they will have MK dates for late April or the first week of May??


That's the million dollar question! We are all hoping for an answer to come any day now. The website has been updated to say dates "through May 2019", but nothing officially on the calendar yet. Just watch this thread and you'll be sure to find out as soon at it becomes known.


----------



## sheila14

I don’t see any updates on this end


----------



## Iowamomof4

sheila14 said:


> I don’t see any updates on this end



It's actually in the app, not the website. When you click on "select tickets" in the app, it takes you to a page where it says the May thing, but you can't advance the calendar past April yet.


----------



## MickeyMinnie@12

Hi! My husband and I will be visiting July 3-13, staying at BWI. I am waiting impatiently, I mean patiently, for after hour party dates for July.  It makes me so crazy that Disney does not just put out the dates. I feel like staying on property has its perks, but those perks are becoming less and less because of the number of added resorts on property and off property that are included in the 180+ ADR, EMH and 60 days advanced FP+ perks, and the fact that the EMH for the AK and HS are limited to morning only. I accept it the fact that if I want to experience some of the parks with fewer crowds and fewer wait times I need to pay extra...I except that I need to plan my vacation well in advance to have a chance at getting FP+ for the more sought after rides/experiences...But PLEASE Disney, give me the ability to do so.  Release the dates or tell us there are not going to any.  Just let us know. LOL


----------



## GADisneyDad14

To the DIS @MickeyMinnie@12!


----------



## sheila14

Iowamomof4 said:


> It's actually in the app, not the website. When you click on "select tickets" in the app, it takes you to a page where it says the May thing, but you can't advance the calendar past April yet.


Still it seeing it.


----------



## Iowamomof4

sheila14 said:


> Still it seeing it.


----------



## sheila14

Iowamomof4 said:


> View attachment 390290


Thank you for posting it. I am not sure why I cannot find it.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> View attachment 390290



I keep checking that every once in awhile too.  So funny, it keeps going from $95 to $125 every other time I do it.... typical Disney...


----------



## chrisrunty

Has anyone ever done this?? Disney's After hours MK and Firework Dessert Party in the same night? Is this even a good idea? I have a few questions I hope someone has an opinion on. We are doing Disney's MK After hours on 4/3 (not regular park tickets) and I also purchased the Dessert Party Plaza Garden view for the same night. It has us checking in at 7:45pm fireworks are 9:15pm. Do you think we would be able to arrive a bit early like 7:15pm to grab a bite to eat (Dessert Party) then head back into the park to ride a ride or 2 and then come back to the dessert party 8:45 to view the fireworks? We want to maximize our time since we have the MK that day from 7pm-1am. (only day visiting MK)


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I keep checking that every once in awhile too.  So funny, it keeps going from $95 to $125 every other time I do it.... typical Disney...



When I'm in the app, it seems to remember me and that I have an AP certificate. When I'm on my laptop, I only see the reduced amounts if I've logged in recently.


----------



## Castlequeen5

Even the website has changed ever so slightly.  The Hollywood Studios description has been moved to the top of the events.  And Magic Kingdom's description was previously listed available through April.  But now is listed only through March, even though it can still actually be booked through April.  I'm hoping these minor changes means they're about to release new dates!


----------



## Tiggerlover91

Iowamomof4 said:


> View attachment 390290



Ooo! Ooo! Your price is MUCH cheaper than mine! I bet you're an AP holder!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Tiggerlover91 said:


> Ooo! Ooo! Your price is MUCH cheaper than mine! I bet you're an AP holder!


You got it!


----------



## RolloTomasi

Quick question about the popcorn - if I have a refillable bucket can I use that during DAH? Or do they just hand out the standard popcorn boxes?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

There was some recent discussion on the thread about the overwhelming talk of dates vs the actual event - that tends to inevitably happen as we near the end of each date "chunk."  As a reminder, DISer event review/experience posts are linked on Post #8 for quicker reference:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898155

As always, a huge  to everyone who contributes to the thread!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

chrisrunty said:


> Has anyone ever done this?? Disney's After hours MK and Firework Dessert Party in the same night? Is this even a good idea? I have a few questions I hope someone has an opinion on. We are doing Disney's MK After hours on 4/3 (not regular park tickets) and I also purchased the Dessert Party Plaza Garden view for the same night. It has us checking in at 7:45pm fireworks are 9:15pm. Do you think we would be able to arrive a bit early like 7:15pm to grab a bite to eat (Dessert Party) then head back into the park to ride a ride or 2 and then come back to the dessert party 8:45 to view the fireworks? We want to maximize our time since we have the MK that day from 7pm-1am. (only day visiting MK)



Yes, you can check in at the dessert party/eat, go do something in the park, then go back to the Plaza Garden viewing area if so inclined.  There's nothing forcing you to either stay in the dessert area or Plaza Garden area the whole time.  We've done this - checked in, went to ride PeopleMover (since relatively close by), then came back.  I've also just checked-in later.  

If you do this, you should be mentally prepared that by 8:45pm, the Plaza Garden is going to start to be pretty full and you'll be "filling in" whatever space is leftover at that moment in time.  While everywhere in the garden generally has the same view, there are subtle differences between back/front/left/right/around a planter/etc.  If you aren't necessarily concerned with any of that, there's not much downside to coming late.  If you do care about where in the garden you are (for example, I like to be on the back railing), then waiting to arrive in the garden later has some downside.

Hope that helps.


----------



## cel_disney

Just booked DD8.5 and I for this on April 11th! Can’t wait!  DH did this the first year it started - I’m sure it won’t be that empty anymore but looking forward to it instead of going to MK on crowded Friday!  (Instead we will stroll Epcot on Friday)


----------



## FigmentSpark

I'm hoping for a Friday night after hours party next March.  Based on the dates and success of the parties, what are my chances one will come along?  Also, are the parties a great way to see a park or is daytime touring still a person's best bet to see the good rides?


----------



## dachsie

FigmentSpark said:


> I'm hoping for a Friday night after hours party next March.  Based on the dates and success of the parties, what are my chances one will come along?  Also, are the parties a great way to see a park or is daytime touring still a person's best bet to see the good rides?


I would think its pretty unlikely to be on a Friday at any time


----------



## focusondisney

dachsie said:


> I would think its pretty unlikely to be on a Friday at any time



Actually there have been some Friday dates. They are listed in the historical dates post on page one. But they have all been in January. So still not likely in March.


----------



## FigmentSpark

I was thinking, with Galaxy's Edge opening, that there might be some extra parties at DHS or maybe some extra parties at MK or AK to take some of the crowds from DHS.


----------



## sheila14

I would love for this to happen at MK. I am still saying prayers for a September date.


----------



## Haley R

FigmentSpark said:


> I was thinking, with Galaxy's Edge opening, that there might be some extra parties at DHS or maybe some extra parties at MK or AK to take some of the crowds from DHS.


It’s really hard to tell this far out especially if you’re looking at next year. I have no idea what they’ll do once SWGE opens. I could see them maybe doing some type of upcharge event just for that land but idk.


----------



## Michiel

Another day and as of yet still no May / June dates added... Hopefully this week!


----------



## maryj11

Michiel said:


> Another day and as of yet still no May / June dates added... Hopefully this week!


I was thinking the same thing. Come on Disney!


----------



## Cowgirl_Jessie

MickeyMinnie@12 -We are doing a split stay at BW and BC 7/10-7/15 and anxiously awaiting dates as well!  We’ve never been down during the summer months; this seems like a great option to get some quality time at MK and get everyone back to the pool.


----------



## amarie

Hi guys! I went to the event on 3/21 and wanted to give you a little trip report! We arrived at Magic Kingdom about 6:15 and we were let right in. There was no line so I'm assuming they let people in before that! We got our wrist bands and headed in! We started off by riding Carousel of Progress, then riding Space Mountain with a fast pass I had booked about 30 days out. Just FYI this was my first time entering a park for this trip and I did use 3 fast passes and they didn't mess up any of our other fast passes for the rest of our trip. After that we meandered around a bit and headed to Frontierland and rode Big Thunder Mountain with a fast pass, then got a dole whip float and watched the Tiki Room! We decided to head over to Main Street at about 8:40pm to try and find a spot for Happily Ever After. I was with my brother and this was his first time seeing it! We decided to just stay back a bit further and stand on Main Street because the hub and all surrounding areas were completely filled. We looked around in the Emporium for a few minutes and then got our spot on main street. We watched HEA, it was amazing of course, and then swam upstream against the crowd and beelined it straight over to Adventureland. By 10pm we were officially in line for Jungle Cruise and the AH event had officially started! Here is what we were able to get on during our time!
-Jungle Cruise(a little bit of a wait but there were still some regular guests in line)
-Pirates (no wait, had the boat to ourselves!)
-Splash Mountain (no wait)
-Big Thunder Mountain (a little bit of a wait, only running one side. maybe 10 minutes?)
-Snack cart outside BTM( longest wait of the night. This was our experience when we did it in January of 2017. I'm still not sure how it takes so long to hand out bottled drinks, pre packaged ice cream, and boxes of popcorn that were already filled? And nobody even has to pay lol. I wish they would streamline this process a little bit better. )
-Haunted Mansion (no wait)
-I let my brother pretty much choose what he wanted to go on since I'll be back in May, so we skipped 7DMT since it was posted at a 30 minute wait. Peter Pan was also posted at 45 minute wait when we walked through Fantasyland. He didn't care too much if we rode those...but now I'm curious if those were the actual wait times or not. I'm not sure about PP, but 7DMT I could actually see the line of people and it did look like it had to be at least 30 mins. So up next we did:
-Little Mermaid(don't know why they make you walk through the entire queue to get to this? I wish they would open the fast pass line!)
-Winnie the Pooh
-Teacups
-Buzz Lightyear
-Space Mountain
-wanted Peoplemover as our last ride but it was broken down with people getting evacuated off of it so we didn't get to! Opted for some popcorn and a drink off the cart by Space Mountain and people watched for a few mins soaking in the atmosphere of Tomorrowland!
That pretty much brings us to the end of the event. Got some cool pics of Main Street but it was by no means empty. When we went in January 2017 the event was much less crowded. We were able to ride BTM like 3 times in a row without getting off, same with 7DMT. I would still say it's definitely worth it though. The crowds were insane when we got there while the park was still open, so I'm so glad we did it. That was our only MK "day" and I feel like we got on everything we wanted to without rushing too fast!


----------



## Michiel

Still no new dates, we keep waiting...

The remaining dates at DAK are all sold out just now and that event is taken out of inventory.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Feeling like it won’t be available when we are there. It’s been on Thursdays and I highly doubt they will offer it on July 4th. 

I will just make a FP plan that works on the off chance that it becomes available. 

They don’t make planning easy, that’s for sure.


----------



## Iowamomof4

SaintsManiac said:


> Feeling like it won’t be available when we are there. It’s been on Thursdays and I highly doubt they will offer it on July 4th.
> 
> I will just make a FP plan that works on the off chance that it becomes available.
> 
> They don’t make planning easy, that’s for sure.


Last summer it was offered on Saturday nights, mostly, including July 7. So who knows?


----------



## SaintsManiac

Iowamomof4 said:


> Last summer it was offered on Saturday nights, mostly, including July 7. So who knows?




Yeah but now they have the HS one on Saturday. You’re right, though. Who really knows????


----------



## counselormom

May dates are up on the app!


----------



## Iowamomof4

counselormom said:


> May dates are up on the app!


Ahh! I can't find them. What dates are you seeing?


----------



## counselormom

Iowamomof4 said:


> Ahh! I can't find them. What dates are you seeing?


----------



## Iowamomof4

counselormom said:


> View attachment 391141


Yes! This is from the website:


----------



## faylynn24

Anyone try to order them? I just did, and got order pending message. Saying due to technical difficulties they will email me when it’s finalized. this makes me nervous.


----------



## BeckaB

faylynn24 said:


> Anyone try to order them? I just did, and got order pending message. Saying due to technical difficulties they will email me when it’s finalized. this makes me nervous.




I received the same email.  My husband said it’s because the dates are so new in the system so we shouldn’t worry...I hope...we’ve been waiting for May 23rd to pop up.


----------



## GAN

I'm there the April school vacation week so didn't really expect my dates, but was keeping fingers crossed.  We already have an EMH till 2A, guess I was getting greedy....


----------



## Sajchinook2015

I just booked May 9th and got all the way thru the order.


----------



## heath92681

Nooo!!!! I am there the 10-13


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Edited since initial times posted were inaccurate.


----------



## Newcastle

Thanks so much to everyone who caught this so early! I was able to book for May 2 through the app.   I’m so excited to be able to do this again as the last time we went in July of last year, my daughter wasn’t feeling well so we had to leave after only 4 rides.   Can’t wait to do it properly this time (hopefully)! Thanks again everyone !!


----------



## Firestarlife

counselormom said:


> May dates are up on the app!


Finally!! THANK YOU DISNEY!!!!


----------



## dachsie

I booked for May 9.  I had given up that this was going to happen.  Going to be a long day.  LOL.

What time can you get in MK with the DAH ticket?


----------



## SaintsManiac

Congrats to the May visitors!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

dachsie said:


> I booked for May 9.  I had given up that this was going to happen.  Going to be a long day.  LOL.
> 
> What time can you get in MK with the DAH ticket?



7pm officially. 

In practice, MK DAH tends to be more like 6ish, although it has bounced around over time.  I try to keep the latest “trend” noted in this post:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...thread-new-dates-added.3713652/#post-59898148

Hope that helps!


----------



## dreamer17555

Congrats for all those waiting. I really was looking forward to DAH in May but releasing these so late (after FP are done) is making it very difficult to shuffle plans.


----------



## francie57

Just booked May 16!!  Had to go through My Disney Experience on my Ipad since the app wouldn't complete the purchase. Now to change one dinner reservation!  So excited!


----------



## Iowamomof4

I'm going to book May 16 when things settle down a bit. I was so happy last night when the dates showed up!


----------



## MissShev

Iowamomof4 said:


> I'm going to book May 16 when things settle down a bit. I was so happy last night when the dates showed up!



See you there!

I’m super lucky, I have a day at Epcot planned on the 16th but changed our dinner reservation from 7:50pm to 5:15pm last week, just in case they released a DAH event. And they did! Thanking my lucky Disney stars that everything is working out for me!


----------



## Ron Rico

I’m glad that you all are getting the dates that you were waiting for!  We are two weeks away from DAH on April 11!


----------



## francie57

We just had to change a dining reservation also. Now going to Skipper Canteen so we are in the park and ready to go!!  So excited. Got to love the AP discount also!


----------



## dachsie

MissShev said:


> See you there!
> 
> I’m super lucky, I have a day at Epcot planned on the 16th but changed our dinner reservation from 7:50pm to 5:15pm last week, just in case they released a DAH event. And they did! Thanking my lucky Disney stars that everything is working out for me!


I am planning on an EPCOT day too on my DAH day.  But was just planning to hit the food booths that day


----------



## Kdunmire6

I'm so happy they finally released new dates and for those going in May! I noticed MK dates goes thru May, but HS and AK have dates that run thru June. Wondering if this means MK won't have any for June?! We are going the end of June and was really hoping for it to be extended! Fingers crossed they're just waiting to release the summer dates.


----------



## canyoncam

Wasn’t really sure I wanted to do this for my May trip. But as it falls on the day I planned to close my trip out at MK I guess I will.


----------



## Iowamomof4

On May 16, we'll be at AK. All I currently have booked is FOP around noon, I really set up the day for DAH at MK just in case. For dining though, we have to choose between Sanaa at 2:30 or LTT at 6. If we keep Sanaa, we'll just plan a quick service somewhere in MK before the event starts. Oh, we have ph tickets, so we can get into MK whenever we want that day.

Also, we can do either of those meals on another day, so pick based on which will set us up best for DAH vs just picking your preferred restaurant, if that makes sense.


----------



## cakebaker

I am so tempted to pull the trigger on May 2. Problem is, that’s our arrival day and our flight is at 5:45 am, arriving at 1 pm. I did schedule dinner at Artists Point for 7, so timing is perfect, but we’ll be so tired. My grandson is 7 and he can go forever, but this grandma is not sure I could do it. I had scheduled 3 fp’s at the MK prior to dinner, knowing we Could skip those if I’m dragging, so would definitely skip those allowing more resort time before dinner. We also have a full day at the MK the next day, but could arrive later than we had planned. It would allow me to cancel our EMM that’s on our last day, but just can’t decide how crazy an idea this is. lol


----------



## goofy78

Just booked May 23! So excited!


----------



## Michiel

Just booked for May 9! Super happy!


----------



## DLo

Thank you thank you thank you ! Just booked May 16th for MK and May 17th for DHS.  Now to go back and tweak my plans. I appreciate everyone who on this thread for all your information and reviews. So excited !


----------



## Wanna be Ariel

Darn it. I wanted June for MK.


----------



## Lsdolphin

Hoping for late June....please Disney!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Whelp, the AK hours in June don’t work for us. So come on Disney- make June happen at MK!!!!


----------



## Candycane83

July for me! Lol! I guess I have to wait a few more weeks at least!


----------



## disneymagicgirl

I have such a hard time with decisions. And I have to decide btwn DAH MK and DAH HS for my trip. We have SDMT Fps for 2 days already, so maybe I should do DHS. Ugh, this is so hard.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

This table resides in Post #13, but I've updated it with today's release.  I find year-over-year comparisons and trends interesting when it comes to these special events.


----------



## Schilltastic4

So is the consensus that there will not be dates in June for MK or just that they've not released them yet?  I am so hoping for a mk after hours for our golden birthday girl!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Schilltastic4 said:


> So is the consensus that there will not be dates in June for MK or just that they've not released them yet?  I am so hoping for a mk after hours for our golden birthday girl!!



I'd vote there will be DAH in the summer months.  Maybe not the first few weeks of June which are historically busier (like last year).  The trend is certainly more DAH than less. 

Just guessing though.


----------



## L_MD

I honestly never once thought this event would be offered for my trip dates (4/28 - 5/3) BUT since it is of course I bought in for May 2nd. It's my last night in Disney so this event actually opens up the possibility of me enjoying evening Epcot AND MK. Sad I had to pay $125 for it, but! 

Now to go read everyone's experiences because I haven't been keeping up with DAH at all.


----------



## minniesBFF

YAY!! I'm so excited, and my family is planning on getting DAH for May 23rd.  However we have a dilemma and I want an opinion from people who have been to these events before.  We have a Hoop De Doo reservation at 6:15 on the night of the event.  I really don't feel like we could change it. This event will not be our only day at MK.  is it outrageous to not take advantage of the fact that they let people in at 6pm (historically) for this party?  Or do you think that arriving at MK around 8:45 is still going to be worth it?  Have others that attended this event not arrived until right before it actually started?  Just curious what people's opinions are


----------



## Vickie1016

GADisneyDad14 said:


> This table resides in Post #13, but I've updated it with today's release.  I find year-over-year comparisons and trends interesting when it comes to these special events.



Great chart !!!  Looking at it - do you think July dates will be like last year - on Saturdays?  or they might stick with Thursdays?


----------



## sailored

Right now we have EMM booked for our Magic Kingdom day. With the May date, it looks like after hours will be offered for Magic Kingdom on our Animal Kingdom day, which is a half day for us. Would you recommend keeping EMM for Magic Kingdom or canceling and doing the after hours event?


----------



## Disney_Ummi

Happy for all that needed May dates! Still waiting for July!!


----------



## PatMcDuck

We booked May 1 at Studios because it is the anniversary.


Wednesday, May 1, 2019 – Special offerings will be available to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Hoping for something special, lol.


----------



## BlitzKrieg71

I am holding out hope for dates for mid-June to be released.  Based on last year when they only offered two dates late in the month, my family may be out of luck.


----------



## minniesBFF

I got tickets for May 23rd, there will be 8 of us!  I'm so excited for everyone that has been waiting for May dates!!


----------



## maryj11

Wanna be Ariel said:


> Darn it. I wanted June for MK.


Me too!! I wanted MK and AK for the last week in June and there are none. I'm so disappointed !


----------



## maryj11

disneymagicgirl said:


> I have such a hard time with decisions. And I have to decide btwn DAH MK and DAH HS for my trip. We have SDMT Fps for 2 days already, so maybe I should do DHS. Ugh, this is so hard.


I know it is so frustrating. I was hoping for MK and AK for June. I'm rethinking all my plans again because there are no AK events during our week and maybe there might be for MK ? I'm not sure what to do at this point. I have dining reservations already and now I guess I need to switch some again because I had planned on us dining right before we left for DAH.
They do have the DHS event our week but did not care to go to that one. It is the same day I booked the HS dessert party ugh. My  plans are a mess


----------



## SaintsManiac

I wouldn't rule out MK having June dates.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

SaintsManiac said:


> I wouldn't rule out MK having June dates.


I’m personally not. I’m just stunned it wasn’t released today like AK & DHS were. I don’t understand the gradual trickle.


----------



## maryj11

SaintsManiac said:


> I wouldn't rule out MK having June dates.


I'm not, but looks like AK is out. I'm still leaving Thursday open for MK in case. Knowing Disney if they add any it will be on a different day.


----------



## myheartisinFlorida

BlitzKrieg71 said:


> I am holding out hope for dates for mid-June to be released.  Based on last year when they only offered two dates late in the month, my family may be out of luck.


Hoping for June 9th, 10th and or 11th myself


----------



## SaintsManiac

Cinderumbrella said:


> I’m personally not. I’m just stunned it wasn’t released today like AK & DHS were. I don’t understand the gradual trickle.




It's so frustrating. I've given up on it for our July trip. If it happens and works out with my plan then fine.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

SaintsManiac said:


> It's so frustrating. I've given up on it for our July trip. If it happens and works out with my plan then fine.



I just looked at the DHS dates and for whatever reason, our week in June isn’t having one. We’re already shut out for AK since we fly home the only day of theirs. I’m really starting to think MK won’t happen for us either (despite what I just said above).


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Cinderumbrella said:


> I’m personally not. I’m just stunned it wasn’t released today like AK & DHS were. I don’t understand the gradual trickle.



I swear, part of the DHS survey questions I had a few weeks ago about how we planned, when we decided to go, etc were half way making me think they WANT this as a somewhat late stage planning offering, not necessarily way out in advance.

Who knows though.  The summer series last year wasn’t announced until May- FWIW.


----------



## Firestarlife

L_MD said:


> I honestly never once thought this event would be offered for my trip dates (4/28 - 5/3) BUT since it is of course I bought in for May 2nd. It's my last night in Disney so this event actually opens up the possibility of me enjoying evening Epcot AND MK. Sad I had to pay $125 for it, but!
> 
> Now to go read everyone's experiences because I haven't been keeping up with DAH at all.


Our trip dates are the same!! I'm so happy that we get to end our vacation this way! We only have one day in MK, so this guarantees that we will be able to ride everything we want to, and it works out that we will bookend our vacay at MK. Plus, DH has never been, and he's kind of a grump about waiting in lines, so this will surely make him happy. The price stings a little, but I know the memories will be priceless. I spent new years eve at MK in 1997 with my parents - after the fireworks I dragged my poor daddy back over tomorrowland to ride SM again. We walked on and then the CM let us ride a second time without even getting out! That is the main thing I remember most about that trip and I'll never forget it!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

FWIW, someone in another thread pointed this out to me.

DAH on 5/30 is listed at 9pm-12am.  MK closes at 10pm per the park calendar.  It appears someone has flubbed the DAH times (again). Either this night is really 10pm-1am, or they intend to update the park calendar to a 9pm close (it would be rare for them to move back a previously published closing time). 

Something to keep an eye on!


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> FWIW, someone in another thread pointed this out to me.
> 
> DAH on 5/30 is listed at 9pm-12am.  MK closes at 10pm per the park calendar.  It appears someone has flubbed the DAH times (again). Either this night is really 10am-1am, or they intend to update the park calendar to a 9pm close (it would be rare for them to move back a previously published closing time).
> 
> Something to keep an eye on!



Isn't that also the night that has HEA at 9:15?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> Isn't that also the night that has HEA at 9:15?



Yup.  I’m thinking that has to be an error and DAH will really be 10-1 that night - that would make the most sense. 

Every single time there is some small error or confusion with these rollouts.  Like clockwork!


----------



## Unca’ Donald

We're doing 2 AK days on our early May trip and I was really hoping they'd do an After Hours event on one of those days. So of course the only night they're having it at AK on our trip is the day we're going to Epcot to do evening EMH.


----------



## Unca’ Donald

Once they announce Disney After Hours dates does that mean the park hours for those weeks are set in stone, or could they still extend hours for parks on days in which those parks don't have an After Hours event?


----------



## Iowamomof4

Unca’ Donald said:


> Once they announce Disney After Hours dates does that mean the park hours for those weeks are set in stone, or could they still extend hours for parks on days in which those parks don't have an After Hours event?



Hours could still change on nights that don't have an event scheduled. We are hoping park hours will be updated on April 12.


----------



## faylynn24

Still haven’t received anything from them about my ticket purchase


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

I am very curious about the May 4th Hollywood Studios one... 

But the description is still a little vague to me. Or maybe it is just that, extra Star Wars meet and greets...


----------



## baler31

[GALLERY=][/GALLERY][GALLERY=][/GALLERY]





GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yup.  I’m thinking that has to be an error and DAH will really be 10-1 that night - that would make the most sense.
> 
> Every single time there is some small error or confusion with these rollouts.  Like clockwork!



Further errors. The internal calendar even on the app does not list the event  as occurring on May 30. I bought tickets for both May 23rd and May 30th and the confirmation for both say the event starts at 10pm.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

baler31 said:


> View attachment 391217 [GALLERY=][/GALLERY][GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
> 
> Further errors. The internal calendar even on the app does not list the event  as occurring on May 30. I bought tickets for both May 23rd and May 30th and the confirmation for both say the event starts at 10pm.



Classic.  The website park calendar shows DAH as 9-12 on both dates.   

Honestly 10pm would make more sense to me for May when compared to typical May hours in the past.  

So crazy how this happens.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I swear, part of the DHS survey questions I had a few weeks ago about how we planned, when we decided to go, etc were half way making me think they WANT this as a somewhat late stage planning offering, not necessarily way out in advance.
> 
> Who knows though.  The summer series last year wasn’t announced until May- FWIW.



Our dates are 6/5-11
There have never been MK DAH for that time (and currently only has an AK DAH for 6/11). I’m thinking we are out of luck, simply because DHS isn’t offering one that week either.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Does anyone have a confirmation from Disney for the May 16 yet? I'd like to know it for sure says 9 pm.


----------



## cakebaker

My confirmation email lists the hrs for May 23 and 30 as 10-1 as well. Not sure I’m overly fond of no break between closing and event start, but we’ll see.


----------



## DVC Jen

I am so bummed.  We will be there June 2-14 and I really want a MK DAH night. We have an EMM scheduled but would much rather have DAH.


----------



## Iowamomof4

This is what I see when I look at the MK park hours for May 16 on the website:


----------



## elgerber

Question on the AP discount on these, if two people are going, one with AP and one with regular ticket, do they both get the price? I have it in the shopping cart and it's giving both the price, but I haven't checked out yet.  And if it does online, do they need to show the AP again when they check in?


----------



## anomamatt

elgerber said:


> Question on the AP discount on these, if two people are going, one with AP and one with regular ticket, do they both get the price? I have it in the shopping cart and it's giving both the price, but I haven't checked out yet.  And if it does online, do they need to show the AP again when they check in?



Yes, you get the AP price.

No, you won't have to show AP.


----------



## baler31

10-1 is better, IMO and I wish they allowed an hour between closing and event start but who knows. I do know there were a lot of complaints about recent events. 

Personally, I thought they would reduce ticket cap and take away snacks so if this holds with the extra hour it will be interesting.  Doubtful though.


----------



## elgerber

anomamatt said:


> Yes, you get the AP price.
> 
> No, you won't have to show AP.


Thank you!


----------



## Iowamomof4

I checked the earlier May dates as well and they all look the same as my screen shot a few posts ago. DAH is listed as 10-1.


----------



## Newcastle

This might be a strange question but do the DAH events get posted under My Plans on MDE like FP+ and dining reservations?  I can't recall from when we went last year and there is nothing showing under My Plans currently for the events I booked this morning (MK and HS).  I know my reservation for EMM-TSL shows up under My Plans so I'm not sure if there is an issue or whether they will be added later.  Anybody know?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Newcastle said:


> This might be a strange question but do the DAH events get posted under My Plans on MDE like FP+ and dining reservations?  I can't recall from when we went last year and there is nothing showing under My Plans currently for the events I booked this morning (MK and HS).  I know my reservation for EMM-TSL shows up under My Plans so I'm not sure if there is an issue or whether they will be added later.  Anybody know?



It won’t show up under My Plans, just under Tickets.  I usually add it to my plans via a Note (or whatever it’s called on the website) just so I see it in my plans, but that’s just a manual note, it’s not linked to anything.


----------



## faylynn24

baler31 said:


> View attachment 391217 [GALLERY=][/GALLERY][GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
> 
> Further errors. The internal calendar even on the app does not list the event  as occurring on May 30. I bought tickets for both May 23rd and May 30th and the confirmation for both say the event starts at 10pm.



interesting. I bought for the 30th and the information it gave me after booking said 9pm. Still haven’t revived the email stating it’s been finalized but the tickets did show up in mde.


----------



## Newcastle

GADisneyDad14 said:


> It won’t show up under My Plans, just under Tickets.  I usually add it to my plans via a Note (or whatever it’s called on the website) just so I see it in my plans, but that’s just a manual note, it’s not linked to anything.


Perfect!  Thanks so much for clarifying that for me and for the suggestion to add a note.  Also, thanks for all of the time and energy that you spend on here helping us all to plan our magical vacations!!


----------



## Unca’ Donald

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I am very curious about the May 4th Hollywood Studios one...
> 
> But the description is still a little vague to me. Or maybe it is just that, extra Star Wars meet and greets...




This one has me intrigued as well. This is our arrival day, and I was planning to just have us hang out around our hotel (POFQ) and POR, but now I'm tempted to do this event. I'm not so sure I'll be able to talk my girlfriend into it though...


----------



## DisneyDayDreamin71

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I am very curious about the May 4th Hollywood Studios one...
> 
> But the description is still a little vague to me. Or maybe it is just that, extra Star Wars meet and greets...



I booked it for the 4th and really hoping there will be something extra given the date.  Could just be wishful thinking on my part


----------



## francie57

My confirmation email has it listed with several other may dates as 9 to midnight


----------



## francie57

cakebaker said:


> My confirmation email lists the hrs for May 23 and 30 as 10-1 as well. Not sure I’m overly fond of no break between closing and event start, but we’ll see.


The only time we have been to anything with a break between closing and the event starting has been the Christmas party. They start checking right at closing and unless you are in line already you won't be allowed in without the band. We saw numerous people turned away when we have done this before. We just head to less popular rides for the first 30 min to let the bigger attractions clear out.  It really isn't an issue - for us at least.


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

DisneyDayDreamin71 said:


> I booked it for the 4th and really hoping there will be something extra given the date. Could just be wishful thinking on my part


Right? I mean all the additional characters IS something extra...  But is it worth the cost? My girls would LOVE to meet an Ewok, for sure. But 4 tickets worth? I know we get to ride the rides and stuff. Have to talk to DH about it...


----------



## sallybrealey

Tonight is now sold out.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

sallybrealey said:


> Tonight is now sold out.



THANK YOU for posting this!


----------



## MermaidMommy

Iowamomof4 said:


> Does anyone have a confirmation from Disney for the May 16 yet? I'd like to know it for sure says 9 pm.


I have my confirmation for the 16th, and it lists all May dates as being 9-12.


----------



## maryj11

GADisneyDad14 said:


> FWIW, someone in another thread pointed this out to me.
> 
> DAH on 5/30 is listed at 9pm-12am.  MK closes at 10pm per the park calendar.  It appears someone has flubbed the DAH times (again). Either this night is really 10pm-1am, or they intend to update the park calendar to a 9pm close (it would be rare for them to move back a previously published closing time).
> 
> Something to keep an eye on!


I'm hoping someone flubbed up the DAH's and forget to add June's MK


----------



## sallybrealey

Ok I'm going tonight. Just seen the crowds at the moment and looks the busiest I've ever seen it in 15 years. 

Stressing out but not a lot I can do! Just gonna enjoy it and probably a few of the big hitters


----------



## mamapenguin

sallybrealey said:


> Ok I'm going tonight. Just seen the crowds at the moment and looks the busiest I've ever seen it in 15 years.
> 
> Stressing out but not a lot I can do! Just gonna enjoy it and probably a few of the big hitters


LOL. It’s normal. We will be there too At HS waiting for SDD fast pass time. I could do without the wind, we skipped EMH last night because of it.


----------



## mcurrence

sallybrealey said:


> Ok I'm going tonight. Just seen the crowds at the moment and looks the busiest I've ever seen it in 15 years.
> 
> Stressing out but not a lot I can do! Just gonna enjoy it and probably a few of the big hitters


Don't be discouraged if at first it looks terribly busy! Usually within 30 minutes of park close, it's a whole different park!  Have a great time tonight!


----------



## PPFlight75

We are resting in our room on preparation for tonight’s event. Worried about it being sold out but I’m sure it will be fun!! Getting excited!

Does anyone recommend starting in a particular land? Our priorities are Space and BTMR for multiple rides and 1-2 for the rest. Thanks!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

All right, it appears the MK DAH page and various park calendars have been updated to say 10pm-1am for the new dates.  That now makes more sense relative what regular park hours often are in May.  

Now to go fix all my silly charts!


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> All right, it appears the MK DAH page and various park calendars have been updated to say 10pm-1am for the new dates.  That now makes more sense relative what regular park hours often are in May.
> 
> Now to go fix all my *AWESOME *charts!


ftfy


----------



## Iowamomof4

We have to call if we want to pay with a gift card, right?

EDIT: I was able to complete my purchase online with a gift card!


----------



## francie57

PPFlight75 said:


> We are resting in our room on preparation for tonight’s event. Worried about it being sold out but I’m sure it will be fun!! Getting excited!
> 
> Does anyone recommend starting in a particular land? Our priorities are Space and BTMR for multiple rides and 1-2 for the rest. Thanks!


We usually pick rides to begin that won't be the most popular. we wait fot about 30 min before hitting the big rides, that way the regular guests that were in line at closing are basically done.


----------



## PPFlight75

francie57 said:


> We usually pick rides to begin that won't be the most popular. we wait fot about 30 min before hitting the big rides, that way the regular guests that were in line at closing are basically done.


Thanks! We’ll try that!!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Oh, I booked my family of 7 for May 16! Can't wait!


----------



## TigerLaw

PPFlight75 said:


> We are resting in our room on preparation for tonight’s event. Worried about it being sold out but I’m sure it will be fun!! Getting excited!
> 
> Does anyone recommend starting in a particular land? Our priorities are Space and BTMR for multiple rides and 1-2 for the rest. Thanks!


What we did was start up before the event began over by Barnstormer and worked our way down from there intoTomorrowland and then over through Adventureland, up to frontierland, and then ended up at the end at Fantasyland so we could get a couple rides in on the Mine Train


----------



## Firestarlife

Can some of the DAH veterans help me out here? If you arrived around 6:30, what do you recommend we do before the park closes? We will be at HS that morning, back to resort for mid day break/nap and early dinner before heading out to MK for the night. We will have our 12 year old and 2 (almost 3) year old girls with us, they are both night owls. The only thing I really want to do is try to get on BTMR during the fireworks. Any advice or tips?


----------



## MikeandReneePlus5

We haven't been to Disney since 2015, and before that 2013.  I remember there used to be lots of EMH and slowly but surely they have cut them back and now are charging for them.  And with the club level pilot program they are moving to the same thing for FP+...charging for them.

I get it...its a business, supply and demand, etc.   But it is still a little bit sad and make me feel nostalgic.


----------



## MissShev

Iowamomof4 said:


> This is what I see when I look at the MK park hours for May 16 on the website:
> View attachment 391253




My confirmation email says 9pm-12am for May 16th.


----------



## TigerLaw

Firestarlife said:


> Can some of the DAH veterans help me out here? If you arrived around 6:30, what do you recommend we do before the park closes? We will be at HS that morning, back to resort for mid day break/nap and early dinner before heading out to MK for the night. We will have our 12 year old and 2 (almost 3) year old girls with us, they are both night owls. The only thing I really want to do is try to get on BTMR during the fireworks. Any advice or tips?


I would suggest making Fantasy Land the last place you visit. The later you go, the smaller the lines will be for Peter Pan and seven dwarfs.


----------



## KriK412

Here tonight and they let us in at 6!   Crazy crowds right now though.


----------



## Montana Gessell

Just got conformation for disney after hours for May 9th. Its my wife and my first time to WDW. We are excited!


----------



## Ckmommy72

Lsdolphin said:


> Hoping for late June....please Disney!



OMG!! Me too - we arrive on the 21st - missing AK by 3 days (was our back up plan if we couldn't get MK)


----------



## Michiel

anomamatt said:


> Yes, you get the AP price.
> 
> No, you won't have to show AP.



Ouch... I have an AP and my wife doesn’t, so I have specifically logged out to buy her a ticket at the $ 125 non AP rate.. Oh well, at least the event is happing on a date that works great for us!


----------



## elgerber

If you are not attending DAH, would you recommend doing a different park that evening?  I am guessing it gets busy once the DAH ticket holders can enter at 7?


----------



## Ckmommy72

SaintsManiac said:


> I wouldn't rule out MK having June dates.


Fingers crossed!!


----------



## denecarter

Michiel said:


> Ouch... I have an AP and my wife doesn’t, so I have specifically logged out to buy her a ticket at the $ 125 non AP rate.. Oh well, at least the event is happing on a date that works great for us!



Have I missed something?  I thought an AP holder could buy up to 4 tickets for themselves and their guests.  So, no AP needed for your wife.


----------



## minniesBFF

denecarter said:


> Have I missed something?  I thought an AP holder could buy up to 4 tickets for themselves and their guests.  So, no AP needed for your wife.


You didn't miss anything, he's saying he made a mistake by thinking that he couldn't buy a ticket at the AP rate for his non-AP holding wife.  So he logged out of MDE to buy a ticket for her at the normal rate.

OP, I wonder if you could contact Disney and tell them your situation and see if you could be refunded the difference of the ticket at the AP rate?  Just a thought.


----------



## Michiel

minniesBFF said:


> You didn't miss anything, he's saying he made a mistake by thinking that he couldn't buy a ticket at the AP rate for his non-AP holding wife.  So he logged out of MDE to buy a ticket for her at the normal rate.
> 
> I wonder if you could contact Disney and tell them your situation and see if you could be refunded the difference of the ticket at the AP rate?  Just a thought.



Many thanks, I will absolutely do that!


----------



## mamapenguin

Michiel said:


> Ouch... I have an AP and my wife doesn’t, so I have specifically logged out to buy her a ticket at the $ 125 non AP rate.. Oh well, at least the event is happing on a date that works great for us!


Wrist band distribution???!


----------



## dachsie

cakebaker said:


> My confirmation email lists the hrs for May 23 and 30 as 10-1 as well. Not sure I’m overly fond of no break between closing and event start, but we’ll see.


Thats weird.  Mine says 9-12 for both those dates which makes no sense for the 30th since the park closes at 10


----------



## mamapenguin

Wrist band distribution help please!


----------



## mamapenguin

mamapenguin said:


> Wrist band distribution help please!


Nvm. Got it by hall of presidents  crisis over


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mamapenguin said:


> Wrist band distribution help please!



Not sure what you are asking?   Locations?

See post #6:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...thread-new-dates-added.3713652/#post-59898148


----------



## dachsie

supposedly by Monster's laugh floor, Liberty ticket office, Tortuga tavern that I can remember from the first page


----------



## focusondisney

mamapenguin said:


> CMs have no idea



From the first page: 



GADisneyDad14 said:


> For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
> 
> *The FP kiosks area just outside of the former Stich's Great Escape ride (note: this appears to have now moved across to around the Laugh Floor / Buzz Lightyear entrances.) *
> *Tortuga Tavern (note: I'd love to know exactly where)*
> *Liberty Square ticket office*
> *City Hall guest relations office*
> _Note: These locations have changed/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know._


----------



## whiporee

Here now.  Got here at 7 so I can’t be any help.  Day crowds are INSANE.  20. Min FP wait for Splashand BTMR, and space is down.  I’ll write more as the night progresses, but spirits and confidence are not high.


----------



## Iowamomof4

MissShev said:


> My confirmation email says 9pm-12am for May 16th.



My confirmation for May 16th says 10-1! LOL


----------



## Iowamomof4

whiporee said:


> Here now.  Got here at 7 so I can’t be any help.  Day crowds are INSANE.  20. Min FP wait for Splashand BTMR, and space is down.  I’ll wrire Korea’s night progresses, but spirits and confidence are not high.



Hang in there! It'll get better when the actual event begins later on.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Yeah, 45 mins from HEA and ride lines do look pretty stout.  Glad it’s a 10-1 night.  

Have fun all!


----------



## Canwego

Has anyone had any luck booking FPP for their DAH night? Its our day off so we won't be using a park ticket earlier. If you have, how do you book them? And how early can you book them?


----------



## Raya

Any ideas when May 2 will sell out? We'll be in town for a business trip so this is perfect for an evening at the park. However....business trips get canceled and Disney tickets can't be... How long can I risk it?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Canwego said:


> Has anyone had any luck booking FPP for their DAH night? Its our day off so we won't be using a park ticket earlier. If you have, how do you book them? And how early can you book them?



Here’s a blurb from Page 1 that touches on the topic.  Hope it helps. 

*FPs with a DAH Ticket*

FPs are not available during the DAH event, all rides are standby only.
DAH tickets will allow for FP booking during regular park hours before the event starts, so - if you have no other FPs booked that day - one could book FPs with a DAH ticket during the regular park hours before the event.
HOWEVER, there can be issues when doing this, as has been happening for some people with MNSSHP and MVMCP events since 2017. Booking FPs with DAH tickets in combination with certain trip details/configurations can potentially cause Disney's system to flag your account for insufficient ticket entitlements and you will receive a warning that your last day of FPs will be cancelled if you do not address the problem.
Who and exactly why people get this warning remains elusive.
Bottom line - if you choose to book FPs with your DAH ticket entitlement and you have FPs booked on other days with regular park admission - you have some potential risk of receiving this warning... so keep an eye out.


----------



## KNovacovschi

sheila14 said:


> I would love for this to happen at MK. I am still saying prayers for a September date.



I doubt MK will have any in September due to MNSSHP.


----------



## Iowamomof4

KNovacovschi said:


> I doubt MK will have any in September due to MNSSHP.


They actually had one on September 20 last year.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

KNovacovschi said:


> I doubt MK will have any in September due to MNSSHP.



Didn’t stop them last year.  There was one date - 9/20.  (I was there, it was a great night, FWIW).


----------



## KNovacovschi

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Didn’t stop them last year.  There was one date - 9/20.  (I was there, it was a great night, FWIW).



Oh, I didn’t even realize. We do the party so didn’t even look for it.


----------



## KaitorTot

Just bought tickets for 5/30!!


----------



## francie57

My confirmation for May 16 says 9-12. Ddisney's park hours for that day has MK closing at 9 with the after hours listed for 10-1. Guess something is messed up or the park hours are all going to change


----------



## Iowamomof4

Hey, @GADisneyDad14 _when _(trying to be optimistic) they change the park hours for MK to a 10 pm closing, is it likely HEA will stay at 9?


----------



## amalone1013

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Didn’t stop them last year.  There was one date - 9/20.  (I was there, it was a great night, FWIW).


Agreed


----------



## slduck

Canwego said:


> Has anyone had any luck booking FPP for their DAH night? Its our day off so we won't be using a park ticket earlier. If you have, how do you book them? And how early can you book them?



I struggled in the beginning because I forgot about the 30 day window, but I was able to book three betweem 6 annd 9 including  7DMT.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> Hey, @GADisneyDad14 _when _(trying to be optimistic) they change the park hours for MK to a 10 pm closing, is it likely HEA will stay at 9?



It should stay the same.  HEA will rarely move with park hours changes.  Once you have things like dessert parties and such that are bookable (which has been on a 180 day pattern for awhile now), the chances of an HEA time change are pretty low.

They had some last year the shifted 5-10 minutes here or there, but that was kind of an anomaly.


----------



## cakebaker

Michiel said:


> Ouch... I have an AP and my wife doesn’t, so I have specifically logged out to buy her a ticket at the $ 125 non AP rate.. Oh well, at least the event is happing on a date that works great for us!



I confirmed by phone after I purchased ours with the discount. Was told you are allowed up to 4 tickets total with the AP discount.


----------



## senadler

I can't figure out why they did not extend MK to June unless they are maybe unsure about park hours.  MK seems to vary the most on later nights, so I am hoping once they set park hours they will extend DAH.  Our trip is the second week of June.  We will probably do HS DAH, but really hoping for MK.


----------



## L&Lfan

Just booked:
5/14 DAK
5/16 MK
5/17 DHS


Can’t wait!


----------



## whiporee

Ok. Family is on 7DMT. Pp was 12 minute wait.  Stands have lines, but even s long one cycles in 5 minutes or do. BTMR and splash were walk ons — everything had been except these last two.  There are definitely more people than in June, but it’s not crowded. Just not empty, and that’s okay because empty as kind of spooky.  CMs are friendly and generous.  It feels like 130 on a 2 am EMH.

If I’m guessing, probably about 7-10k here.  A lot less than even a 1, but not empty. at midnight 7DMT was 17 minutes from entry to exit.


----------



## jenjersnap

whiporee said:


> Ok. Family is on 7DMT. Pp was 12 minute wait.  Stands have lines, but even s long one cycles in 5 minutes or do. BTMR and splash were walk ons — everything had been except these last two.  There are definitely more people than in June, but it’s not crowded. Just not empty, and that’s okay because empty as kind of spooky.  CMs are friendly and generous.  It feels like 130 on a 2 am EMH.
> 
> If I’m guessing, probably about 7-10k here.  A lot less than even a 1, but not empty. at midnight 7DMT was 17 minutes from entry to exit.



Thanks for the report! Was one side open at BTMR or both sides?


----------



## mamapenguin

Tonight was great. We did 8 FP today-3 at HS and 5 at MK. MK was Pooh, Thunder, Space, Buzz & Mermaid. Two were multi experience passes from Space going down. Did 11 rides at AH. Pirates, Jungle, HM, Space X3, SDMT, PP, Thunder X2 & Pirates. Had drinks, popcorn, a frozen banana and an ice cream sandwich. 
I’d say the event was as advertised


----------



## mamapenguin

jenjersnap said:


> Thanks for the report! Was one side open at BTMR or both sides?


I believe it was both, and our second time through was a walk on.


----------



## Canwego

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Here’s a blurb from Page 1 that touches on the topic.  Hope it helps.
> 
> *FPs with a DAH Ticket*
> 
> FPs are not available during the DAH event, all rides are standby only.
> DAH tickets will allow for FP booking during regular park hours before the event starts, so - if you have no other FPs booked that day - one could book FPs with a DAH ticket during the regular park hours before the event.
> HOWEVER, there can be issues when doing this, as has been happening for some people with MNSSHP and MVMCP events since 2017. Booking FPs with DAH tickets in combination with certain trip details/configurations can potentially cause Disney's system to flag your account for insufficient ticket entitlements and you will receive a warning that your last day of FPs will be cancelled if you do not address the problem.
> Who and exactly why people get this warning remains elusive.
> Bottom line - if you choose to book FPs with your DAH ticket entitlement and you have FPs booked on other days with regular park admission - you have some potential risk of receiving this warning... so keep an eye out.


Thank you!!


----------



## Canwego

slduck said:


> I struggled in the beginning because I forgot about the 30 day window, but I was able to book three betweem 6 annd 9 including  7DMT.




OK - so I can book them in a 30 day window - or at least try? I thought you couldn't enter until 7 but you were able to book at 6?


----------



## Ron Rico

Canwego said:


> Has anyone had any luck booking FPP for their DAH night? Its our day off so we won't be using a park ticket earlier. If you have, how do you book them? And how early can you book them?



We’re going to DAH on April 11 and will do not have regular tickets for that day. I was able to book FPs as normal. Just to be safe I booked the first on to start at 7:00.


----------



## Rowlf the Dog

Was at the event on 3/21. The long downtime of SDMT, which I hoped to ride multiple times, was a big letdown. Nevertheless I could rode it 3 times but have to give up WTP and PPF this time.
Beginning on 9:30: 1 x PoC, 2 x BTM (both times last row and one time during fireworks), 2 x Splash, 1 x HM, 1 x BLSR, 2 x SM, 1 X VotLM, 3 x SDD (on the last train of the night)
All in all, not as much as I hoped for, but then I got pictures sitting on a complete empty Main Street and standing in front of the partner statue as I was the last guest in the park - and this was realy worth it.


----------



## 123SA

Since DHS after hours was moved to Friday nights for May & June, do you think it's likely that DAH at MK will be moved to Saturdays for the summer as it was in 2018?


----------



## ShelbyK

Just booked May 9th..so excited to be able to do this on my 30th bday!!


----------



## WillowRain

Why no June at MK? There are no dates while we are there at all


----------



## Cinderumbrella

WillowRain said:


> Why no June at MK? There are no dates while we are there at all



I feel your pain (we must be going at the same time). The lack of them at DHS my week isn’t giving me hope we will get one at MK.


----------



## WillowRain

Cinderumbrella said:


> I feel your pain (we must be going at the same time). The lack of them at DHS my week isn’t giving me hope we will get one at MK.


Yah, I could care less about DHS lol. I either want MK or AK and neither are during my trip.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

123SA said:


> Since DHS after hours was moved to Friday nights for May & June, do you think it's likely that DAH at MK will be moved to Saturdays for the summer as it was in 2018?



Interesting observation.


----------



## SaintsManiac

123SA said:


> Since DHS after hours was moved to Friday nights for May & June, do you think it's likely that DAH at MK will be moved to Saturdays for the summer as it was in 2018?




I am really hoping they have one on Saturday, 7/6. They had one last year on the same day. It would fit perfectly into my plans!

I was pretty much giving up on it, since they've been on Thursdays lately. I do hope that changes!!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

WillowRain said:


> Yah, I could care less about DHS lol. I either want MK or AK and neither are during my trip.



Ditto


----------



## Vickie1016

Vickie1016 said:


> Great chart !!!  Looking at it - do you think July dates will be like last year - on Saturdays?  or they might stick with Thursdays?





123SA said:


> Since DHS after hours was moved to Friday nights for May & June, do you think it's likely that DAH at MK will be moved to Saturdays for the summer as it was in 2018?





GADisneyDad14 said:


> Interesting observation.



I'm wondering if they will be moved to Thursday (after looking at the chart).


----------



## Vickie1016

GADisneyDad14 said:


> This table resides in Post #13, but I've updated it with today's release.  I find year-over-year comparisons and trends interesting when it comes to these special events.
> 
> View attachment 391188
> View attachment 391299
> View attachment 391190
> View attachment 391191



would have helped if I added the chart to my previous post...lol


----------



## maryj11

WillowRain said:


> Yah, I could care less about DHS lol. I either want MK or AK and neither are during my trip.


Me too! There are no AK dates listed our week. Have they ever added more to a month after they have already released dates ?


----------



## PPFlight75

Attended last night 3/28(sold out) and had a great time!
Went in about 645 and got wrist band. The park was crazy crowded!!
Did Pirates with FP
Decided to eat at Pecos Bill. It took an hour!! Something was wrong and they kept giving people the wrong food and folks were yelling at CMs. Crazy town! 
After that all was great!!
Rode BTMR with FP. Line was backed up but only waited about 15 min. 
Watched HEA
Did SDMT FP
Party time!!
-Under the Sea-walk on
-Barnstormer x 2-walk on and rode without getting off
-Snacks
-3 of us rode Space (10 min wait) and 2 rode Buzz x 3-walk on
-Snacks
-Haunted Mansion-walk on
-10 yo wanted to do the shooting gallery, so we did that for about 10 minutes.
-BTMR x 3 -walk on (They opened the second side)
-Snacks( so many snacks ugh)
-Buzz-walk on
-People Mover-walk on
-Met up with our teens who had ridden Space 6 or so times plus Astro Orbiter 
-Snacks
-Peter Pan right at 1-walk on
SDMT had a huge line all night so didn’t ride but that’s why we had done a FP earlier. 
We had a great night and it went by so fast! Snack lines were short. 
Only waited about 10 min for our bus which we(BWI) shared with S and D.
Would definitely do it again!!
Happy to answer any questions!


----------



## maryj11

WillowRain said:


> Why no June at MK? There are no dates while we are there at all


I have hope they will add June soon.


----------



## MouseTriper

Anyone know the email address for guest relations regarding this event?


----------



## sheila14

WillowRain said:


> Why no June at MK? There are no dates while we are there at all


I thought June dates were posted?? I was upset when I seen nothing past June and made a note in my calendar to check back the middle of June for fall dates. Looking at what Disney has done in the past, fall dates should be released May/June. Now I know I work too much but I know I seen June dates this week I believe it was Tuesday because I was off this day!!!????


----------



## WRLeGrand

SaintsManiac said:


> I am really hoping they have one on Saturday, 7/6. They had one last year on the same day. It would fit perfectly into my plans!
> 
> I was pretty much giving up on it, since they've been on Thursdays lately. I do hope that changes!!



I am actually hoping to go the same night, but we can rest assured that there will NOT be DAH on the Thursday that week (July 4th)...


----------



## Iowamomof4

sheila14 said:


> I thought June dates were posted?? I was upset when I seen nothing past June and made a note in my calendar to check back the middle of June for fall dates. Looking at what Disney has done in the past, fall dates should be released May/June. Now I know I work too much but I know I seen June dates this week I believe it was Tuesday because I was off this day!!!????



No June dates as of yet at MK. There are dates in June for AK and DHS.


----------



## JHermz

Thanks for all the reports and info. This thread is very helpful. Going to this event on 4/11 during a work trip. Haven't been to Disney in about 8.5 years. A lot is different!


----------



## SaintsManiac

WRLeGrand said:


> I am actually hoping to go the same night, but we can rest assured that there will NOT be DAH on the Thursday that week (July 4th)...




Yep. I'm hoping MK is open until 1am on the 4th like it was last year!


----------



## Mango7100

Canwego said:


> Has anyone had any luck booking FPP for their DAH night? Its our day off so we won't be using a park ticket earlier. If you have, how do you book them? And how early can you book them?


We had to call Disney and a CM added them for us. He had to look at what was available and book them—the app would not allow us since we went to AK that afternoon and made FP for there (we didn’t have a park hopper ticket). We could not change the FP for MK after they were made


----------



## Iowamomof4

Mango7100 said:


> We had to call Disney and a CM added them for us. He had to look at what was available and book them—the app would not allow us since we went to AK that afternoon and made FP for there (we didn’t have a park hopper ticket). We could not change the FP for MK after they were made



Wow. You're not supposed to be able to have FP made ahead of time for two different parks in one day. You got some major pixie dust there!


----------



## Mango7100

Iowamomof4 said:


> Wow. You're not supposed to be able to have FP made ahead of time for two different parks in one day. You got some major pixie dust there!


Ooh you are right, I didn’t even think about that! We just called to see if we could get FP for the 7-10 period before the start of DAH and he said sure!


----------



## Ron Rico

PPFlight75 said:


> Attended last night 3/28(sold out) and had a great time!
> Went in about 645 and got wrist band. The park was crazy crowded!!
> Did Pirates with FP
> Decided to eat at Pecos Bill. It took an hour!! Something was wrong and they kept giving people the wrong food and folks were yelling at CMs. Crazy town!
> After that all was great!!
> Rode BTMR with FP. Line was backed up but only waited about 15 min.
> Watched HEA
> Did SDMT FP
> Party time!!
> -Under the Sea-walk on
> -Barnstormer x 2-walk on and rode without getting off
> -Snacks
> -3 of us rode Space (10 min wait) and 2 rode Buzz x 3-walk on
> -Snacks
> -Haunted Mansion-walk on
> -10 yo wanted to do the shooting gallery, so we did that for about 10 minutes.
> -BTMR x 3 -walk on (They opened the second side)
> -Snacks( so many snacks ugh)
> -Buzz-walk on
> -People Mover-walk on
> -Met up with our teens who had ridden Space 6 or so times plus Astro Orbiter
> -Snacks
> -Peter Pan right at 1-walk on
> SDMT had a huge line all night so didn’t ride but that’s why we had done a FP earlier.
> We had a great night and it went by so fast! Snack lines were short.
> Only waited about 10 min for our bus which we(BWI) shared with S and D.
> Would definitely do it again!!
> Happy to answer any questions!



Thanks for the detailed review! Two more weeks until we are there!


----------



## Tiggerlover91

Pardon me if it's clear and I'm not understanding.  As I look at the historical chart, I don't see any June dates?  So I can take that to mean none will ever be offered? I was really looking forward to trying one on our next visit if we visited in June.  I can always come in March during spring break, but I have to hope that son and I have the same spring break if I'm not teaching in the same county he goes to school in.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Tiggerlover91 said:


> Pardon me if it's clear and I'm not understanding.  As I look at the historical chart, I don't see any June dates?  So I can take that to mean none will ever be offered? I was really looking forward to trying one on our next visit if we visited in June.  I can always come in March during spring break, but I have to hope that son and I have the same spring break if I'm not teaching in the same county he goes to school in.




There isn’t any reason to think they won’t be offered. You might just have to wait a bit.


----------



## Eeyore54 fred

Was excited to see the May dates. DD and a friend are going to be down there for 3 days at the end of May and I wanted to be able to treat them to this. DH and I did it in January and had a great time. So I got them tickets for 5/30 yesterday.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Early June (historically) has some of the longest MK hours of the year.  Non DAH friendly hours.  

Who knows what’s in store this year, but I’m not entirely surprised at no June/summer dates yet.  

If history is a guide (admittedly a risky statement), I’m kind of thinking it’ll end up looking like last year.  Late June-August/Sept.


----------



## MinnieMSue

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Early June (historically) has some of the longest MK hours of the year.  Non DAH friendly hours.
> 
> Who knows what’s in store this year, but I’m not entirely surprised at no June/summer dates yet.
> 
> If history is a guide (admittedly a risky statement), I’m kind of thinking it’ll end up looking like last year.  Late June-August/Sept.



We will be there first 2 weeks in June. What time do you remember MK closing then?  My teen is a night owl and would love some late nights there


----------



## GADisneyDad14

MinnieMSue said:


> We will be there first 2 weeks in June. What time do you remember MK closing then?  My teen is a night owl and would love some late nights there



I will caveat that year over year hours have been a little less YTD 2019, but last year the first 14 days of June had a mix of 11pm and 12am closing times, with only one 10pm closing (Sunday 6/10).  Again, past performance isn’t always a great predictor of future results, but I think it’s a helpful guide.


----------



## MinnieMSue

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I will caveat that year over year hours have been a little less YTD 2019, but last year the first 14 days of June had a mix of 11pm and 12am closing times, with only one 10pm closing (Sunday 6/10).  Again, past performance isn’t always a great predictor of future results, but I think it’s a helpful guide.



Yea that’s good. A midnight closing should allow for a fun late night but make ropedrop doable. The kid takes 3 hr afternoon power naps - instant coma. So jealous of that ability.


----------



## michelepa

Went last night with whole fam.  First time ever together in MK. Some real nostalgic moments since I’d taken DS 12 years ago and we rode his two favorites together last night  . 

I headed over with DD earlier   we ubered to Grand Floridian then monorail to MK. It was a bit after 6.  We walked over to CM with after hours sign, checked in, and got our wrist bands.  It was so crowded Wall to wall people. FP Pirates, ate at Skippers at DD request then FP Haunted Mansion. Boys arrived so we short cutted around back to meet them near entrance and took short cut again back to Tomorrowland since everything was set for fireworks to start. Rode Buzz then People Mover, bathroom break, watched fireworks then lined up at 10 for Space. They still had tons of day guests   In line. So ride took longer than it should have. Although a fav of DD she only wanted to ride everything once which was perfect as far as timing because we finished a bit before 1 am. After space went to SDTM again day guests were still in line so it took a bit of time. Small world then a bit of a line for Peter Pan but that was only night guests then  Haunted Mansion. The stand out front of HM was out of almost everything an hour into event?!?!  Walked down to other coaster railway. Both tracks working and no line. Then me and kids went on Splash one of my favorites but didn’t bring ponchos I got wet kids didn’t but I just changed into me sweatshirt. We found a stand with Mickey bar, frozen banana, and Mickey sandwich and popcorn. Next was Pirates and last was Jungle Cruise. We walked toward front doing a bit of window shopping and took photo together at 1am.  Walked over to Contemporary and Ubered to WBC from there. In condo before 2am

Soooo worth the money. 

Some thoughts. They really need to get the day guests off rides before 10 period. I didn’t mind that there were more after hours people than the beginning events as some posted. I don’t like a desolate park.  I thought crowd level was fine -problem with lines was too many day guests. I did think it was really dark throughout the park. It’s not Pandora it needs to be better lit. There are plenty of stands with food drink. If one doesn’t have what you want a few away the next stand will. 

We didn’t feel rushed did everything we wanted. I was surprised that DH and DS stayed til end but they both said it was so pleasant without the throngs of people that for a change they enjoyed being at the park. It was a wonderful first full family experience at MK and I’m grateful we could afford the tickets


----------



## Haley R

michelepa said:


> Went last night with whole fam.  First time ever together in MK. Some real nostalgic moments since I’d taken DS 12 years ago and we rode his two favorites together last night  .
> 
> I headed over with DD earlier   we ubered to Grand Floridian then monorail to MK. It was a bit after 6.  We walked over to CM with after hours sign, checked in, and got our wrist bands.  It was so crowded Wall to wall people. FP Pirates, ate at Skippers at DD request then FP Haunted Mansion. Boys arrived so we short cutted around back to meet them near entrance and took short cut again back to Tomorrowland since everything was set for fireworks to start. Rode Buzz then People Mover, bathroom break, watched fireworks then lined up at 10 for Space. They still had tons of day guests   In line. So ride took longer than it should have. Although a fav of DD she only wanted to ride everything once which was perfect as far as timing because we finished a bit before 1 am. After space went to SDTM again day guests were still in line so it took a bit of time. Small world then a bit of a line for Peter Pan but that was only night guests then  Haunted Mansion. The stand out front of HM was out of almost everything an hour into event?!?!  Walked down to other coaster railway. Both tracks working and no line. Then me and kids went on Splash one of my favorites but didn’t bring ponchos I got wet kids didn’t but I just changed into me sweatshirt. We found a stand with Mickey bar, frozen banana, and Mickey sandwich and popcorn. Next was Pirates and last was Jungle Cruise. We walked toward front doing a bit of window shopping and took photo together at 1am.  Walked over to Contemporary and Ubered to WBC from there. In condo before 2am
> 
> Soooo worth the money.
> 
> Some thoughts. They really need to get the day guests off rides before 10 period. I didn’t mind that there were more after hours people than the beginning events as some posted. I don’t like a desolate park.  I thought crowd level was fine -problem with lines was too many day guests. I did think it was really dark throughout the park. It’s not Pandora it needs to be better lit. There are plenty of stands with food drink. If one doesn’t have what you want a few away the next stand will.
> 
> We didn’t feel rushed did everything we wanted. I was surprised that DH and DS stayed til end but they both said it was so pleasant without the throngs of people that for a change they enjoyed being at the park. It was a wonderful first full family experience at MK and I’m grateful we could afford the tickets


Unfortunately I don’t think it’s possible they could get day guests off the rides before dah because for most of the events they’re allowed to get in line right up until the event starts. 

Sounds like you had a pretty good time otherwise


----------



## Iowamomof4

Haley R said:


> Unfortunately I don’t think it’s possible they could get day guests off the rides before dah because for most of the events they’re allowed to get in line right up until the event starts.
> 
> Sounds like you had a pretty good time otherwise


Too bad they can't offer a 30 minute buffer in MK like they do at the other parks. At least MK offers more rides that would be close to walk on right near the beginning. Seems like if you just avoid the roller coasters and PP, you can do pretty well from the beginning.


----------



## cakebaker

Iowamomof4 said:


> Too bad they can't offer a 30 minute buffer in MK like they do at the other parks. At least MK offers more rides that would be close to walk on right near the beginning. Seems like if you just avoid the roller coasters and PP, you can do pretty well from the beginning.



They do in May at least. We’re booked for the 2nd. Park closes at 9, after hours are schedule from 10-1. Although, that may just be a buffer added in with the intention of extending the closing time to 10.


----------



## goofy78

Did they change the hours? I booked for May 23. DAH hours were listed as 9-12. Just checked my email receipt to confirm- yes. Now I am seeing on the website hours posted as 10-1?


----------



## goofy78

cakebaker said:


> They do in May at least. We’re booked for the 2nd. Park closes at 9, after hours are schedule from 10-1. Although, that may just be a buffer added in with the intention of extending the closing time to 10.



I was just asking about this. Hopefully, they don't extend the regular hours up until 10. I am also going to have to figure out a way to get my family to stay up! 9-12 was sounding doable but now 10-1 might be pushing it! We are morning people, not night owls. Lots of coffee before we go! Super excited!


----------



## LMO429

Do the MK after hours usually sell out.  on the fence about it.


----------



## sking5844

What is the cancellation policy with this event?


----------



## goofy78

LMO429 said:


> Do the MK after hours usually sell out.  on the fence about it.



Post #11 has the historical info.


----------



## goofy78

sking5844 said:


> What is the cancellation policy with this event?



I don't think you can cancel. It's a ticket you are buying- just like a park ticket. I don't see any cancellation information on my confirmation email so I am assuming once you buy there is no option to cancel.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

LMO429 said:


> Do the MK after hours usually sell out.  on the fence about it.



See the tables in Post #3 & Post #11 for sell-out info.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

sking5844 said:


> What is the cancellation policy with this event?



Tickets are non-refundable.  They are like park tickets, MNSSHP tickets, MVMCP tickets, and similar - best not to buy unless you are definitely going.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

goofy78 said:


> Did they change the hours? I booked for May 23. DAH hours were listed as 9-12. Just checked my email receipt to confirm- yes. Now I am seeing on the website hours posted as 10-1?



It was confusing, but the best we can tell is that the 9-12 May hours were an error.  They changed the website late Thursday to show them all as 10-1am.  All the May dates are showing up as 10-1am on various calendars, schedules, and confirmation e-mails.

The park calendar still shows 9pm park closings for four of the five May dates (5/30 already had a 10pm closing before this week’s new dates), but I’d bet $ those will eventually be extended to 10pm closings. 

Hope that helps.


----------



## mom2rtk

michelepa said:


> Went last night with whole fam.  First time ever together in MK. Some real nostalgic moments since I’d taken DS 12 years ago and we rode his two favorites together last night  .
> 
> I headed over with DD earlier   we ubered to Grand Floridian then monorail to MK. It was a bit after 6.  We walked over to CM with after hours sign, checked in, and got our wrist bands.  It was so crowded Wall to wall people. FP Pirates, ate at Skippers at DD request then FP Haunted Mansion. Boys arrived so we short cutted around back to meet them near entrance and took short cut again back to Tomorrowland since everything was set for fireworks to start. Rode Buzz then People Mover, bathroom break, watched fireworks then lined up at 10 for Space. They still had tons of day guests   In line. So ride took longer than it should have. Although a fav of DD she only wanted to ride everything once which was perfect as far as timing because we finished a bit before 1 am. After space went to SDTM again day guests were still in line so it took a bit of time. Small world then a bit of a line for Peter Pan but that was only night guests then  Haunted Mansion. The stand out front of HM was out of almost everything an hour into event?!?!  Walked down to other coaster railway. Both tracks working and no line. Then me and kids went on Splash one of my favorites but didn’t bring ponchos I got wet kids didn’t but I just changed into me sweatshirt. We found a stand with Mickey bar, frozen banana, and Mickey sandwich and popcorn. Next was Pirates and last was Jungle Cruise. We walked toward front doing a bit of window shopping and took photo together at 1am.  Walked over to Contemporary and Ubered to WBC from there. In condo before 2am
> 
> Soooo worth the money.
> 
> Some thoughts. They really need to get the day guests off rides before 10 period. I didn’t mind that there were more after hours people than the beginning events as some posted. I don’t like a desolate park.  I thought crowd level was fine -problem with lines was too many day guests. I did think it was really dark throughout the park. It’s not Pandora it needs to be better lit. There are plenty of stands with food drink. If one doesn’t have what you want a few away the next stand will.
> 
> We didn’t feel rushed did everything we wanted. I was surprised that DH and DS stayed til end but they both said it was so pleasant without the throngs of people that for a change they enjoyed being at the park. It was a wonderful first full family experience at MK and I’m grateful we could afford the tickets


Day guests paid to be there too. And honestly, 10 PM at the height of spring break is sort of early to begin with.


----------



## summerlvr

Just pulled the trigger and bought a ticket for May 23. This will be my 4th time attending DAH! Love this event!


----------



## Castlequeen5

SaintsManiac said:


> I am really hoping they have one on Saturday, 7/6. They had one last year on the same day. It would fit perfectly into my plans!
> 
> I was pretty much giving up on it, since they've been on Thursdays lately. I do hope that changes!!



I hadn't thought about them changing back to Saturdays.  I hope they do too!  We'll also be there July 6, so that would be perfect for us!  Now I just hope they release the July dates WITH the June dates, so we don't have to wait any longer...


----------



## cakebaker

goofy78 said:


> I was just asking about this. Hopefully, they don't extend the regular hours up until 10. I am also going to have to figure out a way to get my family to stay up! 9-12 was sounding doable but now 10-1 might be pushing it! We are morning people, not night owls. Lots of coffee before we go! Super excited!



It's always irritating whether it's emh or anything else that you have to waste the first hour to filter guests through the lines. But, when you're paying extra for an event, it is especially irksome. If they don't leave the buffer, we'll do the secondary rides the first hour rather than waste time standing in line for the headliners. You'd think the least they could do is open the FP line for eligible guests.


----------



## Tinkerfan2005

Has anyone done an After Hours Event before with their kids?  Magic Kingdom is going to have an After Hours Event while we are there and wondering if it is worth it.  How did your kids handle being out so late?  Thanks.


----------



## yulilin3

merging you to the DAH MK thread


----------



## Tiggerlover91

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I will caveat that year over year hours have been a little less YTD 2019, but last year the first 14 days of June had a mix of 11pm and 12am closing times, with only one 10pm closing (Sunday 6/10).  Again, past performance isn’t always a great predictor of future results, but I think it’s a helpful guide.



I would love that while my son and I were there! That'll make for a pretty neat evening EMH from 11-1 or 12-2.  However, when I look at the calendar here, I only see 10pm closings last year.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Tiggerlover91 said:


> I would love that while my son and I were there! That'll make for a pretty neat evening EMH from 11-1 or 12-2.  However, when I look at the calendar here, I only see 10pm closings last year.



Don’t look at park hours here. Check Touring Plans.
For example, on Wednesday June 6, 2018, MK closed at 11pm, with 1AM EMH close.


----------



## Tiggerlover91

Cinderumbrella said:


> Don’t look at park hours here. Check Touring Plans.
> For example, on Wednesday June 6, 2018, MK closed at 11pm, with 1AM EMH close.



I'm having a hard time finding the calendar. Guess you have to subscribe. But thanks for the example. Cross my fingers they extend hours for our trip.


----------



## cel_disney

cakebaker said:


> It's always irritating whether it's emh or anything else that you have to waste the first hour to filter guests through the lines. But, when you're paying extra for an event, it is especially irksome. If they don't leave the buffer, we'll do the secondary rides the first hour rather than waste time standing in line for the headliners. You'd think the least they could do is open the FP line for eligible guests.



Sorta wish they would let DAH guests use the FP line for the first hour....

I understand the day guest strategy to get in line before park close (because Disney allows this) - but the DAH guests paid to not wait in line behind day guests after start time.  Hopefully they can find a happy medium.

When we go on April 11 - I will definitely be prepared to employ the strategy of doing secondary rides first...


----------



## deide71

cel_disney said:


> Sorta wish they would let DAH guests use the FP line for the first hour....
> 
> I understand the day guest strategy to get in line before park close (because Disney allows this) - but the DAH guests paid to not wait in line behind day guests after start time.  Hopefully they can find a happy medium.
> 
> When we go on April 11 - I will definitely be prepared to employ the strategy of doing secondary rides first...


It seems some CMs do let after hours guests into the FP line, they did for us on Jungle Cruise right at 10 pm


----------



## BK2014

cel_disney said:


> Sorta wish they would let DAH guests use the FP line for the first hour....
> 
> I understand the day guest strategy to get in line before park close (because Disney allows this) - but the DAH guests paid to not wait in line behind day guests after start time.  Hopefully they can find a happy medium.
> 
> When we go on April 11 - I will definitely be prepared to employ the strategy of doing secondary rides first...



If they let DAH guests use the fastpass lines while other guests are still in the standby line, it would take much longer to cycle the day guests through the rides and out of the lines altogether.  We have done DAH at MK twice, and never had to wait in line at the beginning because we start with things like Dumbo during the fireworks and the teacups or the peoplemover.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Tiggerlover91 said:


> I would love that while my son and I were there! That'll make for a pretty neat evening EMH from 11-1 or 12-2.  However, when I look at the calendar here, I only see 10pm closings last year.



Historical park hours on the DIS site aren’t always 100% reliable as sometimes later stage updates don’t get reflected, I wouldn’t use it as a source if you need total accuracy.  I’ll let the content folks know last year’s hours look a bit off.  Thanks.


----------



## PPFlight75

Tinkerfan2005 said:


> Has anyone done an After Hours Event before with their kids?  Magic Kingdom is going to have an After Hours Event while we are there and wondering if it is worth it.  How did your kids handle being out so late?  Thanks.


We just did the event (10-1am) this week with our kids-10,14,and 16. They are not that young but we are not late night people at all! We slept in that morning and had a relaxing day. I think that really helped us and we made it until closing. All the ice cream probably helped too!
We also slept in the next day too!!


----------



## Brandilla

Tinkerfan2005 said:


> Has anyone done an After Hours Event before with their kids?  Magic Kingdom is going to have an After Hours Event while we are there and wondering if it is worth it.  How did your kids handle being out so late?  Thanks.


We just did the event on the 28th. I have a 4 year old and 10 year old.  It was the 5th day of our trip so I had been trying to get her in the routine of staying up late. She usually crashes around 10. But we slept in that morning, which led to a later than usual nap. She literally didn't fall asleep until we were walking out! It was perfect. If we had been still she couldn't have made it so late but I let her choose rides and she was excited to go. It was a 10-1 event. We did one last year in February where it was 8-11 and that was obviously easier on the kiddos, but we built up to the late hours and didn't have any issues.


----------



## Roxyfire

My group of 4 is going on May 30th! Looking forward to lots of rides, diet cokes, and strawberry bars without the sun beating down on me!


----------



## Halloweenqueen

Glad to see the expanded hours.  Crossing fingers for August!


----------



## cel_disney

deide71 said:


> It seems some CMs do let after hours guests into the FP line, they did for us on Jungle Cruise right at 10 pm



Hmm - might be worth asking that


----------



## Family B

We were at the event on 3/28.    Arrived just a little bit before 7 and were able to check in right away.    We are AP holders but felt that due to Spring Break this was the best option for enjoying MK.  We spent regular hours playing Sorcerers (we are usually busy doing rides and give the crowds this was a great use of time.).    We made sure to be out of the hub prior to fireworks and used that time to do a few rides.  

 There were day guest entering line just slightly after 10 but by 10:05 I was seeing people get turned away at rides and carts.    (I didn’t see this but heard that there was cast member preventing day guests from entering lands after the event started.  We were checked for our bands throughout the event.)

 During the event I never experienced carts being out of the snacks.   Everything was plentiful.   The cast members seemed like they were having as much fun as the guests.     We rode everything we wanted with minimal waits.     The shops did close up quickly at the end of the event.  

It’s not the full experience but it was a great way to enjoy the park during a crowded time.   We would do it again if it made sense for our schedule.


----------



## KriK412

Tinkerfan2005 said:


> Has anyone done an After Hours Event before with their kids?  Magic Kingdom is going to have an After Hours Event while we are there and wondering if it is worth it.  How did your kids handle being out so late?  Thanks.



We were just at the event on 3/28. We took our 8 year old. She is typically in bed by 8:30 and doesn’t always do well with late nights. We were staying at my in-laws house for the week and just had a quick overnight in Orlando for the event and had to drive over in the am and didn’t really get to sleep in, so I was a little concerned.  It was VERY crowded and even though we did have fastpasses, she was fading between 9-10 with the longer waits.  But, around 10:45 she got a second wind and had a great time. We rode everything we wanted to ride and she did great the rest of the night!  She fell asleep as soon as the bus started moving on the way back to the hotel. I don’t know how she would have done if she was younger and our 4 year old stayed with our in-laws. I don’t think it would have been enjoyable for him at that hour.


----------



## Raya

michelepa said:


> Went last night with whole fam.  we ubered to Grand Floridian then monorail to MK. It was a bit after 6.  We walked over to CM with after hours sign, checked in, and got our wrist bands.



Did you use an AP to get in at 6? I thought with the DAH you couldn't get in until 7. I'd love to hear if other folks are getting in at 6!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Raya said:


> Did you use an AP to get in at 6? I thought with the DAH you couldn't get in until 7. I'd love to hear if other folks are getting in at 6!



At MK people are often let in between 6 and 6:30, although MK has gone through periods of time where they really stuck to the 7:00 entrance time, too. At DHS and AK, it's been 7:00 nearly every time with only a couple of exceptions when people were let in earlier.


----------



## Funfire240

Tinkerfan2005 said:


> Has anyone done an After Hours Event before with their kids?  Magic Kingdom is going to have an After Hours Event while we are there and wondering if it is worth it.  How did your kids handle being out so late?  Thanks.



how old are your kids?  We went twice last year with ours being 8 and 10 and they did great! I think both days we were at Animal Kindgom in the morning (I recall the second one for sure) and went back to rest before heading to MK. The first one was our first time at MK that trip so they were all fired up! The second one the following weekend was after a week long jam packed week and they still did really good.  DS8 loved it because we were letting him drink "coca cola" at night! lol  We just kept moving and that kept them going.  The first time we went on JC about 1130 and found that to be a mistake because they got relaxed with sitting too long and started to get tired - but we got them ice cream and fired them back up lol. Both nights though as soon as we got in line for the bus it hit them and they both slept on the bus on the way back to POP. The second night I don't think we even walked out of MK until almost 1:30 because we jumped on Splash right about 12:55! (although note - it was a chilly ride home for me as I got the wettest!)


----------



## Firestarlife

I'm so excited! Just bought our DAH tickets for May 2! Got them from undercover tourist and saved a couple dollars. We go home the next day, so I think this will be an excellent way to end our trip.


----------



## Toulouse

We're there for a week already but jumped at the chance for the DAH on May 2.  Going to go to the evening EMH on the 1st and if it's busy we can just bail and know the next night will be much better.... I'm really looking forward to this as one of my favourite times ever was on a trip in 2006, back when evening EMH was a lot less crowded!


----------



## jaceraden

We did DAH on the 28th and loved it. Got let in right at 6. Crowds were crazy at that time but we had 3 FPP to use so that helped! Sort of saw HEA. Went on lots of rides and took part in the snack offerings. It was really nice to be in a less crowded park and stroll through the lines at a consistent pace. I got to see the Kiss Goodnight for the first time and loved it. I also enjoyed being one of the last cars left in the whole parking lot and watching people get off the tram and walk to their cars like night of the living dead. Seriously hilarious!

I also did DAH at HS on the 30th. Totally different experience that I don't think I'd do again...


----------



## Tiggerlover91

jaceraden said:


> I also did DAH at HS on the 30th. Totally different experience that I don't think I'd do again...




I don't do HS....haven't in 18 years and probably won't again for another 3 or 4 years, but I'm curious? What happened that made you not want to do EMH there again?


----------



## jaceraden

Tiggerlover91 said:


> I don't do HS....haven't in 18 years and probably won't again for another 3 or 4 years, but I'm curious? What happened that made you not want to do EMH there again?



We got let in almost an hour later than MK and there was much less to do. Also, one of the things my group really wanted to do was already closed. Closing the shows early, I get. But this was a screened attraction. Oh, and with having F! at closing time meant that if you went to watch it, it ate into DAH versus if you stopped to watch HEA, it was done before park closing and didn't affect the actual DAH time. 

I will say, I LOVED the projection show on the Theatre at around 11pm. I didn't know this was a thing and it blew my mind.


----------



## cel_disney

Just got a touring plans email that Crowd levels are rising for April 11/12th Which makes me even happier to have booked our DAH night!!


----------



## JPM4

We just booked for May 16th! Now it says the event is from 10-1. But park hours have a 9pm closing time? Is that to get everyone out before the event or is it an indicator they’ll be extending hours that day?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

JPM4 said:


> We just booked for May 16th! Now it says the event is from 10-1. But park hours have a 9pm closing time? Is that to get everyone out before the event or is it an indicator they’ll be extending hours that day?



I would bet money that park hours will be extended to 10pm on those dates (in my opinion).  

Enjoy your DAH night!


----------



## Ron Rico

cel_disney said:


> Just got a touring plans email that Crowd levels are rising for April 11/12th Which makes me even happier to have booked our DAH night!!



I received that e-mail, too and we’re also glad that we booked DAH for the 11th!


----------



## elle101me

cel_disney said:


> Just got a touring plans email that Crowd levels are rising for April 11/12th Which makes me even happier to have booked our DAH night!!





Ron Rico said:


> I received that e-mail, too and we’re also glad that we booked DAH for the 11th!



Same here!


----------



## yoda22

Whoa, so this might be happening?! http://blogmickey.com/2019/04/disney-villains-after-hours-event-coming-to-magic-kingdom-this-summer/


----------



## cantwaitvaca09

has anyone seen this...
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...XAWQtaHwjo1XP5D_L9qVqwdjtqA7r_oUek81hb606UTGM


----------



## SaintsManiac

cantwaitvaca09 said:


> has anyone seen this...
> https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...XAWQtaHwjo1XP5D_L9qVqwdjtqA7r_oUek81hb606UTGM




WOW

So now we know there will be DAH at MK this summer!!!!


----------



## Wanna be Ariel

Omg I just saw the new post too. Could this be the June dates I wanted . Not happy about the price increase though


----------



## SaintsManiac

This summer, Disney Villains After Hours will take on a wickedly fun villains theme, with exclusive entertainment, food & beverage, merchandise and more.

Here’s a taste of what new elements to expect:


A Brand-New Disney Villains Stage Show – Hades and Meg from “Hercules” will set the castle stage ablaze in this all-new stage show, Villains Unite the Night, which will also feature appearances by Jafar, The Queen, Dr. Facilier and Maleficent.
Spot Maleficent the Dragon –  Maleficent the Dragon, with her Steampunk style and signature wicked grin, will be let loose for the first time at night – breathing fire as she creeps through the park as a one-of-a-kind experience for party guests.
Villanous Enhancements: Discover surprising, villain-inspired additions at Pirates of the Caribbean and Space Mountain.
Wickedly Good Food & Beverage -A variety of special food & beverage offerings will also be available for purchase, including tasty desserts, drinks and dishes inspired by The Queen, Cruella de Vil, Maleficent, Hades, Dr. Facilier and even Emperor Zurg.
Event Merchandise – Event attendees can also purchase new logo merchandise, as well as items from a curated collection of the best Disney Villains merchandise available.
One Notorious Item to Note: Ever driven to stand out in their unpredictable and audacious fashion, while the Villains will be entertaining guests in the new stage show, they will not be participating in character greetings during the event.
If you really wanna get in on the action, feel free to show off your sinister side by dressing in attire inspired by your favorite baddie.

*Disney Villains After Hours tickets cost $139 plus tax in advance, $144 plus tax on the event night. Keep your eye on the Disney Parks Blog in the coming weeks for booking details! Annual Passholder and Disney Vacation Club Members can take advantage of a $30 discount and purchase tickets for $109. Tickets for these specific Disney Villains After Hours event nights will go on sale April 29.*


----------



## cantwaitvaca09

June 6 & Aug 8th are Thursday's, so I wonder if this is only on Thursday. If so, bummer for me.. we are there Friday - Wednesday


----------



## poodledogs55

cantwaitvaca09 said:


> has anyone seen this...
> https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...XAWQtaHwjo1XP5D_L9qVqwdjtqA7r_oUek81hb606UTGM




I told myself I wasn’t going to go to Disney World anymore this year, well I am officially wrong. This could not be more up my alley! Thank goodness I have a ton of air miles lol!


----------



## yoda22

cantwaitvaca09 said:


> has anyone seen this...
> https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...XAWQtaHwjo1XP5D_L9qVqwdjtqA7r_oUek81hb606UTGM


Oh, so it is official! Awesome!


----------



## Donaldb112

With the addition of the new Villains offerings, if these DAH nights weren't already sold out, each night will for sure sell out. The Villains have a HUGE draw**

**Just reread the article, very interesting that the Villains will NOT be participating in meet and greets during the event. Maybe Disney has learned from past upcharge Villain-driven events?


----------



## SaintsManiac

cantwaitvaca09 said:


> June 6 & Aug 8th are Thursday's, so I wonder if this is only on Thursday. If so, bummer for me.. we are there Friday - Wednesday




I'm hoping it's more than once a week. If it's on Thursdays I doubt we'll catch it.


----------



## chaoskids

yoda22 said:


> Whoa, so this might be happening?! http://blogmickey.com/2019/04/disney-villains-after-hours-event-coming-to-magic-kingdom-this-summer/



This looks awesome!!!!


----------



## SaintsManiac

Yep not happening for me* 

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/after-hours/

Dates & Times*
Disney Villains After Hours will take place on the following nights this summer:


Thursday, June 6, 2019
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Monday, July 1, 2019
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Thursday, August 8, 2019
The mayhem runs from 10 PM to 1 AM—but you can check in as early as 7:00 PM to get a jump on the fun!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

July 1st!? Oh my, I have some thinking to do! I was thinking no way for that week!


----------



## Wanna be Ariel

cantwaitvaca09 said:


> June 6 & Aug 8th are Thursday's, so I wonder if this is only on Thursday. If so, bummer for me.. we are there Friday - Wednesday


I hope it won't only be Thursday's  That will not work for us too


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Wowsers.  

Well played Disney.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Wanna be Ariel said:


> I hope it won't only be Thursday's  That will not work for us too




I posted the dates above.


----------



## Haley R

poodledogs55 said:


> I told myself I wasn’t going to go to Disney World anymore this year, well I am officially wrong. This could not be more up my alley! Thank goodness I have a ton of air miles lol!


Same here! I said I wouldn’t be back for awhile but this looks amazing!!! We might do this one night and universal the rest so we can ride the new Harry Potter roller coaster


----------



## Wanna be Ariel

SaintsManiac said:


> I posted the dates above.


Thanks, just saw them   Darn.  Really was hoping this would have worked into our plans.


----------



## jenjersnap

Wonder if the free snacks are going away with the addition of special snacks to purchase?


----------



## whiporee

Here’s the voice of the loyal opposition: I’m bummed, because I think it’s the end of the event as we’ve known it. The reason the crowds have stayed low is because there’s nothing else there — the entire point of the event is bare bones. Even though the cap had probably gone up, Disney knew it needed to be a VERY low cap.  Adding hard to find characters, probably a parade and special merchandise, whatever, allows them to say there’s a lot more to the event than low crowds, and therefore allow for more people.  And because of those unique beyond-the-rides things, more people will find it attractive and want to go. The 5 or 10k cap will turn into 25 or 30.  Sometimes more because there will be plenty of demand.

In other words, just another party. 

But they’ve got a bunch of parties already. DAH was something different — a chance for low crowds and as laid- back a feeling as you ever get there.  This move — as cool as it sounds — won’t have that.  Which is too bad, because it was fun while it lasted.


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Wowsers.
> 
> Well played Disney.
> 
> View attachment 392231


The one thing that looks disappointing is them refusing snacks from mnsshp instead of creating all new snacks. They have the poison apple cupcake and hades nachos which were snacks for the party last year


----------



## MKTokyo

Ugggh I really want to do this. Technically, we could do 6/6 if we add on a few nights


----------



## SaintsManiac

jenjersnap said:


> Wonder if the free snacks are going away with the addition of special snacks to purchase?




*Ice Cream, Popcorn & Select Beverages Included*
In addition to the themed snacks available for purchase, you can satisfy those late-night cravings with ice-cream novelties, popcorn and select bottled beverages—included in the cost of admission. These sinfully delicious snacks will be available at carts stationed throughout the park.


----------



## Davkind76

I feel like this crowd level will be increased over a regular DAH...inching up towards party levels?

anyway, Im going


----------



## SaintsManiac

Davkind76 said:


> a standing ovation for Disney and their Villainous marketing lol
> 
> They managed to seemingly TAKE AWAY the free snacks, possibly INCREASE the amount of people compared to DAH, not even giving villain M+G's and they INCREASE the price for the event lol
> 
> that said...I'm going




They did not take away the snacks.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Here is the link from WDW site. It has all of the information.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/after-hours/


----------



## Davkind76

SaintsManiac said:


> They did not take away the snacks.


thanks...changed my post


----------



## MKTokyo

Davkind76 said:


> a standing ovation for Disney and their Villainous marketing lol
> 
> They managed to seemingly TAKE AWAY the free snacks, possibly INCREASE the amount of people compared to DAH, not even giving villain M+G's and they INCREASE the price for the event lol
> 
> that said...I'm going


Spoken like a true Disney fan in 2019!


----------



## jenjersnap

whiporee said:


> Here’s the voice of the loyal opposition: I’m bummed, because I think it’s the end of the event as we’ve known it. The reason the crowds have stayed low is because there’s nothing else there — the entire point of the event is bare bones. Even though the cap had probably gone up, Disney knew it needed to be a VERY low cap.  Adding hard to find characters, probably a parade and special merchandise, whatever, allows them to say there’s a lot more to the event than low crowds, and therefore allow for more people.  And because of those unique beyond-the-rides things, more people will find it attractive and want to go. The 5 or 10k cap will turn into 25 or 30.  Sometimes more because there will be plenty of demand.
> 
> In other words, just another party.
> 
> But they’ve got a bunch of parties already. DAH was something different — a chance for low crowds and as laid- back a feeling as you ever get there.  This move — as cool as it sounds — won’t have that.  Which is too bad, because it was fun while it lasted.



Agreed. 100%.


----------



## jenjersnap

SaintsManiac said:


> *Ice Cream, Popcorn & Select Beverages Included*
> In addition to the themed snacks available for purchase, you can satisfy those late-night cravings with ice-cream novelties, popcorn and select bottled beverages—included in the cost of admission. These sinfully delicious snacks will be available at carts stationed throughout the park.



I didn’t see this anywhere I looked before posting this question. Just the free snacks blurb for the regular AH, not the new version. Thanks for posting this.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Wanna be Ariel said:


> Thanks, just saw them   Darn.  Really was hoping this would have worked into our plans.




Yeah I am trying to nurse my broken heart right now. At least now I can get on with my planning.


----------



## focusondisney

whiporee said:


> Here’s the voice of the loyal opposition: I’m bummed, because I think it’s the end of the event as we’ve known it. The reason the crowds have stayed low is because there’s nothing else there — the entire point of the event is bare bones. Even though the cap had probably gone up, Disney knew it needed to be a VERY low cap.  Adding hard to find characters, probably a parade and special merchandise, whatever, allows them to say there’s a lot more to the event than low crowds, and therefore allow for more people.  And because of those unique beyond-the-rides things, more people will find it attractive and want to go. The 5 or 10k cap will turn into 25 or 30.  Sometimes more because there will be plenty of demand.
> 
> In other words, just another party.
> 
> But they’ve got a bunch of parties already. DAH was something different — a chance for low crowds and as laid- back a feeling as you ever get there.  This move — as cool as it sounds — won’t have that.  Which is too bad, because it was fun while it lasted.




DAH at WDW was the low crowd, ride only, different type event. DAH at Disneyland has had “themes”  since it started.  So seems to me, WDW is making this more like the DL events.  Personally, I loved the DAH event last year but I would also love to do something like this. Even if it is just a different type party. I wish they would keep them both, lol.


----------



## JeninTexas

I'm also concerned about Disney increasing ticket numbers and this event looking more like a party. If we go, it would be on August 8. I would like to see some reviews from people that attend the first couple of events before buying tickets. But, what are the chances the events sell out before the first Villains DAH even happens? I know the villains are wildly popular, but for us we are only looking for low waits for the rides. Not really interested in the characters or entertainment.


----------



## LoriTurner

Cinderumbrella said:


> So have the EMM.
> 
> I’m going in June. They better keep the parks open later than they currently are now (especially MK). 10pm is WAY too early for busy season


----------



## LoriTurner

They just released June dates and it looks like they will most likely close park to all except hard ticket holders at 10pm since even begins technically at 10pm to 1am...That's my opinion. I am a DVC member and an AP holder and getting frustrated with such early park close times so Disney can hold special events and get more money. Summer used to be a time when parks where open later which they should be since they are more crowded with peak summer crowds. More and more we are going to NOT be going to parks and just enjoy our resort and other activities. FRUSTRATED more and more despite trying to remain positive and.


----------



## Iowamomof4

I'm so glad we get regular DAH vs. this villains event! While I think AK and DHS after hours could both use MORE to do, MK seems to almost suffer from the opposite problem already. Now, they add a stage event and "enhancements" (arguable, imo) to some rides and charge more (more than the Halloween party, I might add). I'm not happy about this move. For those of you who are looking forward to it, I'm very happy for you! For me, I'm just glad I get the event I was wanting.  So long DAH, it was nice while it lasted.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Iowamomof4 said:


> I'm so glad we get regular DAH vs. this villains event! While I think AK and DHS after hours could both use MORE to do, MK seems to almost suffer from the opposite problem already. Now, they add a stage event and "enhancements" (arguable, imo) to some rides and charge more (more than the Halloween party, I might add). I'm not happy about this move. For those of you who are looking forward to it, I'm very happy for you! For me, I'm just glad I get the event I was wanting.  So long DAH, it was nice while it lasted.




Yeah I am sad feeling I missed my chance to do regular DAH.


----------



## maryj11

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Wowsers.
> 
> Well played Disney.
> 
> View attachment 392231


Yay Yes! They have one on our Thursday! Ouch on the price increase


----------



## Iowamomof4

I should admit, if we were going this summer I'm sure we would go ahead and purchase tickets because of the rides, but I'd be really frustrated at the addition of a stage event and increase in the price. On top of that, Space Mountain is my son's favorite coaster, but I'm not sure he would enjoy it at all if they made it all dark or added spooky music or whatever they're planning to do. Sigh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be ranting at all. It's not like this impacts us, I'm just sad and frustrated because I worry about the future of DAH. I'll stop now. 

Enjoy your planning everyone! We're still pumped about our event on May 16!


----------



## tookydo

My next trip is the first week of June.  I’m willing to give it a try on 6/6.  Should be interesting.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I have super mixed feelings on this. If we go, it would be first night, so filled with blog media. Obviously I’m worried about crowds since this is pricey compared to DAH & MNSSHP.

Going to have to think on it a bit


----------



## Iowamomof4

Cinderumbrella said:


> I have super mixed feelings on this. If we go, it would be first night, so filled with blog media. Obviously I’m worried about crowds since this is pricey compared to DAH & MNSSHP.
> 
> Going to have to think on it a bit



I wouldn't worry about it being extra crowded. If it's too crowded, the bloggers won't give it positive reviews and that would hurt Disney's bottom line. Also, the bloggers will be checking out the new things more than the rides that they already know so well. Just my 2 cents.


----------



## lvdis

I really hope this doesn't permanently replace the regular DAH at MK. Do you guys think it will?


----------



## dachsie

cantwaitvaca09 said:


> has anyone seen this...
> https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...XAWQtaHwjo1XP5D_L9qVqwdjtqA7r_oUek81hb606UTGM


I just may have to be dead the next morning at the conference, but I am doing this if offered Aug 1!  LOL


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Iowamomof4 said:


> I wouldn't worry about it being extra crowded. If it's too crowded, the bloggers won't give it positive reviews and that would hurt Disney's bottom line. Also, the bloggers will be checking out the new things more than the rides that they already know so well. Just my 2 cents.



Sorry, by crowded I’m wondering if it will be DAH crowded or MNSSHP crowded


----------



## Disney_Ummi

SaintsManiac said:


> Yeah I am trying to nurse my broken heart right now. At least now I can get on with my planning.



Same here.


----------



## maryj11

Davkind76 said:


> I feel like this crowd level will be increased over a regular DAH...inching up towards party levels?
> 
> anyway, Im going


Oh I hope crowds wont increase! Anyway I'm going too


----------



## Iowamomof4

Cinderumbrella said:


> Sorry, by crowded I’m wondering if it will be DAH crowded or MNSSHP crowded



They still cite the whole DAH "limited wait times" spiel, so I would anticipate the crowds will be much closer to DAH crowds than MNSSHP crowds, at least at first.


----------



## Wanna be Ariel

LoriTurner said:


> They just released June dates and it looks like they will most likely close park to all except hard ticket holders at 10pm since even begins technically at 10pm to 1am...That's my opinion. I am a DVC member and an AP holder and getting frustrated with such early park close times so Disney can hold special events and get more money. Summer used to be a time when parks where open later which they should be since they are more crowded with peak summer crowds. More and more we are going to NOT be going to parks and just enjoy our resort and other activities. FRUSTRATED more and more despite trying to remain positive and.


I complety agree.  We are AP and DVC too, and I feel like at some point the AP will fall off and we just do resort stays before or after a cruise or something like that.


----------



## maryj11

lvdis said:


> I really hope this doesn't permanently replace the regular DAH at MK. Do you guys think it will?


That's what I was wondering.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I’m thinking this is DAH at least through October (even tho they are rare in September & October).


----------



## Iowamomof4

lvdis said:


> I really hope this doesn't permanently replace the regular DAH at MK. Do you guys think it will?





maryj11 said:


> That's what I was wondering.



It is certainly my concern as well. I guess we won't know until the next release of DAH dates. Hard to imagine them going back down in price though.


----------



## Magalex

The idea of this Villian event in theory sounds very cool. But is it worth the money? As WDW vets who visits in June since 2007 we do love the late evenings. I would love a little more offerings for the price. It would of been awesome if they just added a Villian stage show during the EMH evenings for the summer. But they found a way to gain an extra buck. So it is Halloween on Thursday nights, basically.


----------



## maryj11

Iowamomof4 said:


> They still cite the whole DAH "limited wait times" spiel, so I would anticipate the crowds will be much closer to DAH crowds than MNSSHP crowds, at least at first.


Yes Disney better be true to their word on limited wait times. I guess we will find out.


----------



## SaintsManiac

I'm very much looking forward to reviews on this. Makes me wonder if they will roll out some Christmas themed ones later lol


----------



## cmwade77

Davkind76 said:


> I feel like this crowd level will be increased over a regular DAH...inching up towards party levels?
> 
> anyway, Im going


If they cap it at the same levels as they have been, then no, it won't increase crowd levels over that of a "sold out" event.


----------



## Haley R

lvdis said:


> I really hope this doesn't permanently replace the regular DAH at MK. Do you guys think it will?


It’s hard to tell but I think they might’ve found a way to increase the number of tickets sold and they’re capitalizing on that. I could see them doing different themed after hours like they do at DL. I’ve always been jealous of those events and wanted them at wdw. We won’t buy tickets until the event is reviewed so it’ll be a last minute trip and if it’s sold out we just won’t go


----------



## Cloe Colton

Did they give dates for the Villains AH? Is it only Thursdays


----------



## SaintsManiac

Cloe Colton said:


> Did they give dates for the Villains AH? Is it only Thursdays




*Dates & Times*
Disney Villains After Hours will take place on the following nights this summer:


Thursday, June 6, 2019
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Monday, July 1, 2019
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Thursday, August 8, 2019
The mayhem runs from 10 PM to 1 AM—but you can check in as early as 7:00 PM to get a jump on the fun!


----------



## cmwade77

maryj11 said:


> Yay Yes! They have one on our Thursday! Ouch on the price increase


Am I missing something here? It is a $14 price increase per person ($15 for same day, like there will be any available) and realistically there is increases costs for Disney, realistically the higher costs do have to be passed on somehow, either they would need to run fewer attractions, shops, etc. during the party or they have to increase the cost in order to keep the same profit margin on the parties, which is actually probably only around 25% profit for them as it is.


----------



## cmwade77

Cloe Colton said:


> Did they give dates for the Villains AH? Is it only Thursdays


Except, July 1, which is a Monday replaces July 4.


----------



## maryj11

SaintsManiac said:


> I'm very much looking forward to reviews on this. Makes me wonder if they will roll out some Christmas themed ones later lol


 Villains in June and July? Halloween


----------



## cmwade77

dachsie said:


> I just may have to be dead the next morning at the conference, but I am doing this if offered Aug 1!  LOL


It is indeed offered August 1, here are the dates:

Thursday, June 6, 2019
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Monday, July 1, 2019
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Thursday, August 8, 2019


----------



## Cloe Colton

SaintsManiac said:


> *Dates & Times*
> Disney Villains After Hours will take place on the following nights this summer:
> 
> 
> Thursday, June 6, 2019
> Thursday, June 13, 2019
> Thursday, June 20, 2019
> Thursday, June 27, 2019
> Monday, July 1, 2019
> Thursday, July 11, 2019
> Thursday, July 18, 2019
> Thursday, July 25, 2019
> Thursday, August 1, 2019
> Thursday, August 8, 2019
> The mayhem runs from 10 PM to 1 AM—but you can check in as early as 7:00 PM to get a jump on the fun!



Bummer  was hoping they would run on the weekends! Will be there 6/15-6/17


----------



## Brett Wyman

Magalex said:


> The idea of this Villian event in theory sounds very cool. But is it worth the money? As WDW vets who visits in June since 2007 we do love the late evenings. I would love a little more offerings for the price. It would of been awesome if they just added a Villian stage show during the EMH evenings for the summer. But they found a way to gain an extra buck. So it is Halloween on Thursday nights, basically.



Sounds to be me a like a quick money grab to roll out some of the attractions that will be rolled out a few weeks later for MNSSHP. But if you were looking to do a AH anyway, this is certainly a nice "free" feature.


----------



## jsbowl16

Unless I am missing something I dont see the draw here. Higher crowds and a villains show for an additional cost over the normal DAH? If there were M&G opportunities, I would be there in a heartbeat. I wish they would start up the Villains party at HS again instead of doing this.


----------



## SaintsManiac

maryj11 said:


> Villains in June and July? Halloween




Well I was joking..sort of. This is basically MNSSHP lite.


----------



## Iowamomof4

I know I've been lamenting this change, but I do want to say I am grateful to Disney for releasing this not long after their last DAH update. Was that just last week? lol 

Anyway, I know when the dates were first released for the summer and MK didn't have anything in June there were some pretty disappointed folks on here. I'm so happy you now know WHY there were no dates in June and you can book for your trip now if you want. I'm also glad they mostly kept to Thursdays, so if people had been making plans based on the current schedule, they should be able to slide these events into their plans without moving things around (I know there are a couple of exceptions there). So for that I say, "Well done, Disney!"


----------



## Cinderumbrella

jsbowl16 said:


> Unless I am missing something I dont see the draw here. Higher crowds and a villains show for an additional cost over the normal DAH? If there were M&G opportunities, I would be there in a heartbeat. I wish they would start up the Villains party at HS again instead of doing this.



We don’t know if it will be higher crowds since they are still marketing it as a DAH.

But yes, it’s more expensive since they added a couple MNSSHP-y things


----------



## focusondisney

There have been many comments in the last few years from posters that wanted event merchandise, rare characters or shows added to the event.  Disney has done that with this themed event. Guess they can’t make people happy no matter what they do. 

Personally the only thing that will upset me is if they start overselling tickets.


----------



## Randomsoulshine

MKTokyo said:


> Ugggh I really want to do this. Technically, we could do 6/6 if we add on a few nights


I’m the opposite. I think that first night will be slammed with vloggers and such. We were goI got to MK that day.


tookydo said:


> My next trip is the first week of June.  I’m willing to give it a try on 6/6.  Should be interesting.


that’s when we will be there. I’m thinking a sell out and all the vloggers will be there as well. We have a regular day ticket and I think this is going to slam the park from 6-10 so we are switching our MK days now. Bummed.


----------



## Dallas_Lady

I am so tempted to do this during our trip, but $600 for our family is hard to swallow.  Who remembers waaaaay back in the day when E-ticket nights were like $15 per person?


----------



## Davkind76

cmwade77 said:


> If they cap it at the same levels as they have been, then no, it won't increase crowd levels over that of a "sold out" event.


obviously I am talking about increasing the cap


----------



## Haley R

focusondisney said:


> There have been many comments in the last few years from posters that wanted event merchandise, rare characters or shows added to the event.  Disney has done that with this themed event. Guess they can’t make people happy no matter what they do.
> 
> Personally the only thing that will upset me is if they start overselling tickets.


Put me in the camp of happy people with this addition but that’s probably because we’ve done the mk dah 3 times. I personally love the added merch more than anything. It makes it a true event. I’m still hoping they add some new snacks instead of just piggy backing off of what they used for mnsshp last year


----------



## winnieofpooh

This sounds really cool, but now I'm panicking about our trip 8/15-8/23. What's the likelihood they switch back to "normal" DAH after August 8? To me it seems like these will be the only summer DAH offerings and that really bums me out. Hopefully they prove me wrong, but I'm not hopeful.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Ok, just had a chance to catch up.

Happy to have new dates.  Not personally sold on the format, but I guess time will tell.   

I’m one who enjoys the pure/raw/unfiltered MK part of DAH...the lights, the background music, the little sounds - stuff that’s harder to capture/experience in the daytime crowds.  Have a multi-generational trip this summer and was looking forward to DAH as we’ve known it for some late night/out of sun time.  Several in our party haven’t been to Disney in decades. 

But, we’ll adapt.  Very curious to see what this ends up being like.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I just really wish our only choice wasn’t opening night. Why??????


----------



## SaintsManiac

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Ok, just had a chance to catch up.
> 
> Happy to have new dates.  Not personally sold on the format, but I guess time will tell.
> 
> I’m one who enjoys the pure/raw/unfiltered MK part of DAH...the lights, the background music, the little sounds - stuff that’s harder to capture/experience in the daytime crowds.  Have a multi-generational trip this summer and was looking forward to DAH as we’ve known it for some late night/out of sun time.  Several in our party haven’t been to Disney in decades.
> 
> But, we’ll adapt.  Very curious to see what this ends up being like.




I would like to do either and I guess I will be out of luck.  This would have given us a little bit of MNSSHP that we are never able to do, either.

Oh well. Glad I booked EMM


----------



## Randomsoulshine

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Ok, just had a chance to catch up.
> 
> Happy to have new dates.  Not personally sold on the format, but I guess time will tell.
> 
> I’m one who enjoys the pure/raw/unfiltered MK part of DAH...the lights, the background music, the little sounds - stuff that’s harder to capture/experience in the daytime crowds.  Have a multi-generational trip this summer and was looking forward to DAH as we’ve known it for some late night/out of sun time.  Several in our party haven’t been to Disney in decades.
> 
> But, we’ll adapt.  Very curious to see what this ends up being like.


Had I not just bought tickets because my FP day is tomorrow I would probably do the event. But I can’t afford the extra cost and that’s cool. But the MK evening I had planned was for the first Thursday of the new villain event. I know they will start coming into the park around 6. With teens we are not rope dropping but getting to park @3 and staying until close. So I’m very concerned the regular day guests mixed with villain after hours guest will make MK very crowded from about 7-10. Which is our prime touring time. In your opinion would I be better off to switch MK evening to Friday. That Friday has EMH morning for MK but we wouldn’t arrive until 3ish.


----------



## cakebaker

Too late for me, but my daughter will be going in July and definitely wants this one. I’m just glad they’re have after hours in the summer for her!


----------



## 123SA

I'm so excited about this.  We're tentatively planning Aug 1 and Aug 8.

Now I need Aug dates for DHS and AK so I can finalize plans.  Not sure which one of these to choose.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Randomsoulshine said:


> Had I not just bought tickets because my FP day is tomorrow I would probably do the event. But I can’t afford the extra cost and that’s cool. But the MK evening I had planned was for the first Thursday of the new villain event. I know they will start coming into the park around 6. With teens we are not rope dropping but getting to park @3 and staying until close. So I’m very concerned the regular day guests mixed with villain after hours guest will make MK very crowded from about 7-10. Which is our prime touring time. In your opinion would I be better off to switch MK evening to Friday. That Friday has EMH morning for MK but we wouldn’t arrive until 3ish.



I personally would switch. We are considering attending this party and I’m prepared for a sell out, simply because of all the Disney media/vloggers/bloggers etc


----------



## Randomsoulshine

Cinderumbrella said:


> I personally would switch. We are considering attending this party and I’m prepared for a sell out, simply because of all the Disney media/vloggers/bloggers etc


That was my thought exactly! I’m a sucker for anything villain but can’t afford the add on. Probably would have done it in place of a park ticket if I had known. New event and I agree all the vloggers media etc will be out and the villain draw will pull many locals as well. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they will extend Friday night park hours. They gave us a later closing last year two weeks out. Thanks for your input!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Anybody else catch that the number of open attractions for the villain event is “more than 20” while its currently “more than 25”

I wonder what (if anything) is being excluded?


----------



## sfbank

Looks like Aug 8th for us. Back to planning and reorganizing as I was assuming a Saturday like last year


----------



## Haley R

Cinderumbrella said:


> Anybody else catch that the number of open attractions for the villain event is “more than 20” while its currently “more than 25”
> 
> I wonder what (if anything) is being excluded?


Hmmm interesting


----------



## DVC Jen

Cinderumbrella said:


> I just really wish our only choice wasn’t opening night. Why??????


 
Ours too for the most part. We could go on the 13th but since we are leaving the 14th and have a long drive back to Texas we need a good nights sleep before hitting the road at 7am.   I'm just trying to look a the positive because they have never offered this in early June before.  Making lemonade here.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Haley R said:


> Hmmm interesting



I’m thinking some of the normal meet & greets?


----------



## Haley R

DVC Jen said:


> Ours too for the most part. We could go on the 13th but since we are leaving the 14th and have a long drive back to Texas we need a good nights sleep before hitting the road at 7am.   I'm just trying to look a the positive because they have never offered this in early June before.  Making lemonade here.


Pull an all nighter? Lol


----------



## Haley R

Cinderumbrella said:


> I’m thinking some of the normal meet & greets?


That wouldn’t be terrible but they aren’t offering new ones so some people could be upset about that


----------



## DVC Jen

Haley R said:


> Pull an all nighter? Lol




That would be fine for me.  I am naturally a night owl.  I could just sleep in the car on the way home.  My morning loving hubby would be struggling though.


----------



## Haley R

DVC Jen said:


> That would be fine for me.  I am naturally a night owl.  I could just sleep in the car on the way home.  My morning loving hubby would be struggling though.


We always do energy drinks even though we know they aren’t good for us. Last July we did dah until 12 I think (might’ve been 1) then the magical express picked us up at 3:30 am lol


----------



## Cling_on

Hi all. It’s our very first trip to Disney in the Summer and coming from UK. Apologies if this has already been discussed and I missed it  but We were hoping to do an DAH at MK whilst there. Is it possible that regular DAH events will also be offered in addition to the Villian themed ones ?Or is that the Villian theme is replacing the regular events for the Summer? Would prefer just to do a regular DAH event at MK if we have the choice but equally don’t want to miss out altogether! I’m guessing the regular DAH dates wouldn’t be offered until after 29th April either?? Appreciate any thoughts/help


----------



## Haley R

Cling_on said:


> Hi all. It’s our very first trip to Disney in the Summer and coming from UK. Apologies if this has already been discussed and I missed it  but We were hoping to do an DAH at MK whilst there. Is it possible that regular DAH events will also be offered in addition to the Villian themed ones ?Or is that the Villian theme is replacing the regular events for the Summer? Would prefer just to do a regular DAH event at MK if we have the choice but equally don’t want to miss out altogether! I’m guessing the regular DAH dates wouldn’t be offered until after 29th April either?? Appreciate any thoughts/help


I’m 99% sure these are replacing the summer dah events. You could still do the normal dah events at hs and ak


----------



## maxiesmom

Well shoot.  We will be at WDW July2-10 and nothing is on any of those nights.


----------



## LadyRayado

Considering bumping our weekend August trip to do the August 8th DAH with the Villains. Am I wrong to assume these tickets will sell out very quickly, meaning I can't wait until the first party in June to see reviews and decide?


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Does HEA ever change times? IF I do this 6/6 villain thing, HEA is scheduled for 9:15 with a 10pm park close (and 1am event ending). Could HEA change?


----------



## mamamelody2

Dang.  Was hoping dates went through the end of August as we're arriving 8/29.  Well, hopefully it will still be offered that day!  It was last year (Thursday 8/30).

The villains event sounds cool to me.  Maleficent wandering around at night sounds AMAZING!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Cinderumbrella said:


> Does HEA ever change times? IF I do this 6/6 villain thing, HEA is scheduled for 9:15 with a 10pm park close (and 1am event ending). Could HEA change?



Anything is possible with the park schedule, but it is very unlikely to change.  Once things like dessert parties and such have been bookable (which they are here), you rarely see fireworks times change.  I’d all but bet it won’t change.  

Hope that helps.


----------



## MKTokyo

Randomsoulshine said:


> I’m the opposite. I think that first night will be slammed with vloggers and such. We were goI got to MK that day.
> 
> that’s when we will be there. I’m thinking a sell out and all the vloggers will be there as well. We have a regular day ticket and I think this is going to slam the park from 6-10 so we are switching our MK days now. Bummed.


They probably will be, but there are also people who will wait to see what the bloggers say before deciding whether or not to book. And, it could be a blessing in disguise! The Tim Tracker meet & greet is going to have a longer wait than half of the characters & divert crowds nicely.

(Kidding, but not. You know people accost this man & others daily.)


----------



## Cinderumbrella

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Anything is possible with the park schedule, but it is very unlikely to change.  Once things like dessert parties and such have been bookable (which they are here), you rarely see fireworks times change.  I’d all but bet it won’t change.
> 
> Hope that helps.



It does thanks! I am a bad DISer. I’ve never seen HEA. We take advantage of shorter lines instead. So I never pay attention to when they are and if they move.


----------



## PPFlight75

Cinderumbrella said:


> Anybody else catch that the number of open attractions for the villain event is “more than 20” while its currently “more than 25”
> 
> I wonder what (if anything) is being excluded?


That's what I was wondering


----------



## Dallas_Lady

Do you think this will adversely affect crowds earlier in the day? We were already planning to go to the MK in June 13th. We’ve got ADRs that will make changing plans difficult.


----------



## Haley R

LadyRayado said:


> Considering bumping our weekend August trip to do the August 8th DAH with the Villains. Am I wrong to assume these tickets will sell out very quickly, meaning I can't wait until the first party in June to see reviews and decide?


I’m a firm believer that if it sells out, it wasn’t meant to be. If you REALLY want to go you should buy them ahead of time just in case, but I really don’t see it being sold out right away. I have a feeling you will have time to read some reviews before buying tickets


----------



## Haley R

mamamelody2 said:


> Dang.  Was hoping dates went through the end of August as we're arriving 8/29.  Well, hopefully it will still be offered that day!  It was last year (Thursday 8/30).
> 
> The villains event sounds cool to me.  Maleficent wandering around at night sounds AMAZING!


I doubt it because the Halloween parties will have started by then (this dah sounds almost similar to mnsshp, even down to the snacks offered)


----------



## Tiggerlover91

SaintsManiac said:


> Yep not happening for me*
> 
> https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/after-hours/
> 
> Dates & Times*
> Disney Villains After Hours will take place on the following nights this summer:
> 
> 
> Thursday, June 6, 2019
> Thursday, June 13, 2019
> Thursday, June 20, 2019
> Thursday, June 27, 2019
> Monday, July 1, 2019
> Thursday, July 11, 2019
> Thursday, July 18, 2019
> Thursday, July 25, 2019
> Thursday, August 1, 2019
> Thursday, August 8, 2019
> The mayhem runs from 10 PM to 1 AM—but you can check in as early as 7:00 PM to get a jump on the fun!




Yup....we're going to miss it too.  Thursday is the day we are leaving.  If these always run on Thursday, it looks like my family would never be able to do one.  Our travel dates are always Sun-Wed or Sun-Thur.  We can't do Fri and Sat because of our faith.


----------



## KangaFan

Do those using a ticket purchased with the AP discount have to arrive with the AP holder? My Uncle may not be able to arrive until later since we're looking at a weeknight and we'd like to go in right at 7. Just wondering if he has to show his AP since we'll have the discounted tickets tied to our bands.  Thanks!


----------



## focusondisney

KangaFan said:


> Do those using a ticket purchased with the AP discount have to arrive with the AP holder? My Uncle may not be able to arrive until later since we're looking at a weeknight and we'd like to go in right at 7. Just wondering if he has to show his AP since we'll have the discounted tickets tied to our bands.  Thanks!



No, you just need the AP to buy the tickets. Once they are purchased, no further proof needed. He will just scan in with his MB or the hard ticket, whichever he has.


----------



## KangaFan

Great, thanks!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Thinking about potential popularity....I don’t know much, but one thing I do know is there are two types of Disney fans to never underestimate.... Star Wars people....and Villains people!


----------



## tarak

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Thinking about potential popularity....I don’t know much, but one thing I do know is there are two types of Disney fans to never underestimate.... Star Wars people....and Villains people!



I agree - although the lack of character meet and greets might cause some folks to pass.  I'll be there with my 16-year-old and her best friend for one of the June dates.  I'll try to get tickets for them with my AP discount.  Her friend has never been to WDW and this trip is partly a sweet 16 gift, so this seems pretty perfect for them.


----------



## KangaFan

Cinderumbrella said:


> Anybody else catch that the number of open attractions for the villain event is “more than 20” while its currently “more than 25”
> 
> I wonder what (if anything) is being excluded?



I can help but think that Country Bears, Tiki room, and some of the other ones that don't really have a line during the day?


----------



## SaintsManiac

Seeing a lot of grumbling on Twitter about the lack of meets, but I really think these will sell out regardless.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Thinking about potential popularity....I don’t know much, but one thing I do know is there are two types of Disney fans to never underestimate.... Star Wars people....and *Villains people!*



Indeed! I'm always surprised at the number of people who seem obsessed with Disney villains. I guess it just isn't my thing, unless it's Star Wars villains!


----------



## Raya

GADisneyDad14 said:


> there are two types of Disney fans to never underestimate.... Star Wars people....and Villains people!



I am a Villain person! So I'm beyond excited. How do y'all think opening night 6/6 will be? That's a special date for me, so it would make a lovely celebration but-- I've done opening night of MNSSHP and that's just crazy. Huge lines, sold out merchandise, etc. It's almost as bad as the Hollywood Studios one night Villains event which ran out of food and water, etc. Do you think the cap on DAH tickets will help this not go insane?


----------



## Haley R

SaintsManiac said:


> Seeing a lot of grumbling on Twitter about the lack of meets, but I really think these will sell out regardless.


Yeah the responses on Twitter aren’t great but there are still people saying they’re going.


----------



## StacyStrong

I'm so sad I'll miss this!


----------



## whiporee

Raya said:


> I am a Villain person! So I'm beyond excited. How do y'all think opening night 6/6 will be? That's a special date for me, so it would make a lovely celebration but-- I've done opening night of MNSSHP and that's just crazy. Huge lines, sold out merchandise, etc. It's almost as bad as the Hollywood Studios one night Villains event which ran out of food and water, etc. Do you think the cap on DAH tickets will help this not go insane?



I think the cap will move to 30k, in line with the suspected cap on the other parties.  And like the other parties, it will have shorter lines than a normal Disney day. But there’s no way they put together characters, special treats, merchandise and any kind of show for the kind of cap we’ve seen at DAH so far.  That wouldn’t make much sense.

I think it will end up as — if not more — crowded than the Halloween ones.  Summers a good time to be out at night, the staggered hours (giving them an hour to clean out say guests) the appearance of rare characters lead me to think this will pretty much be the Halloween parties, just with ice cream Instead of candy. 

Aside from the opener, this year won’t be too bad. It’s on the go forward, as it becomes part of the standard rotation, that the change will really be seen.


----------



## PPFlight75

KangaFan said:


> I can help but think that Country Bears, Tiki room, and some of the other ones that don't really have a line during the day?


Yeah. I got a survey after our party and one question asked which attractions we did. I was nervous answering thinking the ones I left blank were all of the once that could easily get cut later if they made changes.


----------



## keishashadow

LoriTurner said:


> They just released June dates and it looks like they will most likely close park to all except hard ticket holders at 10pm since even begins technically at 10pm to 1am...That's my opinion. I am a DVC member and an AP holder and getting frustrated with such early park close times so Disney can hold special events and get more money. Summer used to be a time when parks where open later which they should be since they are more crowded with peak summer crowds. More and more we are going to NOT be going to parks and just enjoy our resort and other activities. FRUSTRATED more and more despite trying to remain positive and.



At the risk of dating myself, I remember paying somewhere in the area of $20 pp to do paid EMH at MK back in the day

I do feel you on the early closures though



Iowamomof4 said:


> I should admit, if we were going this summer I'm sure we would go ahead and purchase tickets because of the rides, but I'd be really frustrated at the addition of a stage event and increase in the price. On top of that, Space Mountain is my son's favorite coaster, but I'm not sure he would enjoy it at all if they made it all dark or added spooky music or whatever they're planning to do. Sigh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be ranting at all. It's not like this impacts us, I'm just sad and frustrated because I worry about the future of DAH. I'll stop now.
> 
> Enjoy your planning everyone! We're still pumped about our event on May 16!



Neither the overlay for space mt or POC was much to write home about last year IMO



Iowamomof4 said:


> I wouldn't worry about it being extra crowded. If it's too crowded, the bloggers won't give it positive reviews and that would hurt Disney's bottom line. Also, the bloggers will be checking out the new things more than the rides that they already know so well. Just my 2 cents.



Was there for the first MNSSHP in August last year, bloggers paradise, more than a few uncomplimentary opins as it was sold out and rather disorganized from the others i’ve Attended, including another one last year early Oct.



Magalex said:


> The idea of this Villian event in theory sounds very cool. But is it worth the money? As WDW vets who visits in June since 2007 we do love the late evenings. I would love a little more offerings for the price. It would of been awesome if they just added a Villian stage show during the EMH evenings for the summer. But they found a way to gain an extra buck. So it is Halloween on Thursday nights, basically.



I’m torn as to spending more on ‘extras’ for July trip...still processing paying nearly $400 for 2 A & 1 C for the Woody Roundup CR 4th of July offering.

I’m the of the grumbling about no ‘meets’ with the villians.  Akin to dangling them in front of fans (stage show), then yanking away before we get to ‘play’ with them.

No parade, no trick or treating, no themed halloween decorations.  It’s difficult to justify for APHs.  



Haley R said:


> I’m a firm believer that if it sells out, it wasn’t meant to be. If you REALLY want to go you should buy them ahead of time just in case, but I really don’t see it being sold out right away. I have a feeling you will have time to read some reviews before buying tickets



I am going to use your first sentence as a mantra the next few days to try & put myself in check lol.



SaintsManiac said:


> Seeing a lot of grumbling on Twitter about the lack of meets, but I really think these will sell out regardless.



You are quite likely right...FOMO


----------



## AussieFan8

On the day tickets go on sale, does anyone know what time? I know it's unlikely that these will sell out immediately, but I want to go badly enough that I'd like to get tickets as soon as they are available.


----------



## keishashadow

Probably 9 am tix sales?

I haven’t read any recent reviews for the pm events as to crowd levels and whether most rides are ‘walk on’ or not.

I did just notice that disney is offering DVC & APH a discount of $30 on pre-sale tix...$109+ pp but the nights of MNSSHP up to early Oct are in range of $74 - $80+ pp.

*Disney Villains After Hours tickets cost $139 plus tax in advance, $144 plus tax on the event night.

Disney Villains After Hours event nights will go on sale April 29th*


----------



## Cinderumbrella

And it’s this insane price difference between the 2 events that gives me hope that they will cap ticket sales at current DAH levels.  If given the choice, why pay more for less?


----------



## MinnieMSue

Ok so we can go June 6 while we are there easily but my concern is how are they going to clear day guests? At Halloween parties they do the sweeps and move people out. How are they going to get Day guests out so they don’t watch the show and see Maleficent?  I don’t want to pay that kind of money and find myself surrounded by people who didn’t. I know they won’t be able to ride or shop or eat but I don’t want them hanging out either.


----------



## Spacecow

The Villian stuff sounds so fun- I wish this had been going on during my trip! I'll definitely be watching for reports once the dates start.


----------



## Haley R

MinnieMSue said:


> Ok so we can go June 6 while we are there easily but my concern is how are they going to clear day guests? At Halloween parties they do the sweeps and move people out. How are they going to get Day guests out so they don’t watch the show and see Maleficent?  I don’t want to pay that kind of money and find myself surrounded by people who didn’t. I know they won’t be able to ride or shop or eat but I don’t want them hanging out either.


I’m guessing they’ll do something similar (or at least they should)


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Just doing some updating to Page 1.

Ouch at the 11.2% price increase.  Slowly making our way back to 2016....

I don't mean to be all grumbly, but that's a pretty big jump!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Yikes! $149 at inception? Did they offer more things?


----------



## SaintsManiac

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Just doing some updating to Page 1.
> 
> Ouch at the 11.2% price increase.  Slowly making our way back to 2016....
> 
> I don't mean to be all grumbly, but that's a pretty big jump!
> 
> View attachment 392337




Yes it is. Now that I’ve had time to think about all of it I am fine with not going. EMM fits better for us and is a much better price!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

SaintsManiac said:


> Yes it is. Now that I’ve had time to think about all of it I am fine with not going. EMM fits better for us and is a much better price!



I sort of liked the mental <$100 price point with the AP discounts.  Just 'feels' better than $100+ per person for any size family.


----------



## SaintsManiac

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I sort of liked the mental <$100 price point with the AP discounts.  Just 'feels' better than $100+ per person for any size family.




Totally agree. I guess we can’t be surprised that it’s creeping back to original price.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Cinderumbrella said:


> Yikes! $149 at inception? Did they offer more things?



No, it was the same current format.  It was widely deemed to be a failure... it was hastily added, poorly advertised, and at the time the ticket price felt really high.   They were GIVING tickets away like crazy and eventually had some AP/DVC discounts along the way.  DAH didn't appear again after those first 7 dates for another year, and at the much reduced price point.


----------



## chaoskids

Cinderumbrella said:


> And it’s this insane price difference between the 2 events that gives me hope that they will cap ticket sales at current DAH levels.  If given the choice, why pay more for less?



I hope this too!  Cost more then regular DAH and MNSSHP with no special fireworks.  The only thing that would make it worth the increase would be low wait times.


----------



## Dug720

I am so torn. 

It's offered once during my pre-cruise stay. On the night I have the Illuminations Dining Package booked - and it's not available either of the other nights - for what will likely be my final time to see Illuminations.

My choices are:
A) Keep things as they are and don't do DAH

or

B) Get a DAH ticket and cancel the Illuminations package, swap my planned (no FP+ yet...that's in May) Epcot and MK days, and then on the new Epcot day do the standard "find a place on the rail and park it" thing (making sure I'm bathroomed and hydrated before parking since I'm solo and wouldn't have anyone to hold my spot). (Also this would involve giving up dinner at The Wave.)

WHY couldn't they have made it July 19th?????


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Thread friends, do I have the info right in the below?  I've grown leery of Disney announcements and bad info, so just want a second set of eyes.   Thanks!


----------



## SaintsManiac

Looks right to me!


----------



## Tiggerlover91

I guess on our next visit, my son and I will stick to EMM. Cost is better and I would just try to rearrange our normal park visits.  If it moves from Thursday, I might still consider it.


----------



## randumb0

Wait a second...there's no meet and greet?


----------



## Haley R

randumb0 said:


> Wait a second...there's no meet and greet?


Nope just a stage show


----------



## GADisneyDad14

randumb0 said:


> Wait a second...there's no meet and greet?



Yeah, when the Disney Parks Blog actually has some specific detail about something, you know it must be serious:

_*One Notorious Item to Note*: Ever driven to stand out in their unpredictable and audacious fashion, while the Villains will be entertaining guests in the new stage show, they will not be participating in character greetings during the event._


----------



## disneycat321

Not really into the villains, but I’m thrilled to get a solid date for DAH during our trip, and that it’s happening on Thursday, which is what I planned around after the late spring dates were released last week. We’ll be there 7/25!!


----------



## focusondisney

MinnieMSue said:


> Ok so we can go June 6 while we are there easily but my concern is how are they going to clear day guests? At Halloween parties they do the sweeps and move people out. How are they going to get Day guests out so they don’t watch the show and see Maleficent?  I don’t want to pay that kind of money and find myself surrounded by people who didn’t. I know they won’t be able to ride or shop or eat but I don’t want them hanging out either.



Good point, I hadn’t thought of that.  You are absolutely right.  They better clear the park out, especially with a stage show right at the castle.  Will be interesting to read the reports from the first few parties.

Edit to add: I personally don’t mind the price point. I actually said I would have paid the original $149, as long as the numbers are kept down & the rides have the advertised low wait times.


----------



## ShadeDK

The debacle of "Unleash the Villains" at DHS years ago has been mentioned above already, but I've seen it cited a few other places today as the likely reason why there will be no meet and greets. The lines that those would generate during a three-hour event would not be good (the DHS event saw a number of refunds after guests complained about spending more than half the event in a single M&G line).  Even at a low attendance event, it doesn't take too many guests to push the wait time up on those and three hours of After Hours goes by quickly.  And there would be MANY people who did this just for the M&Gs (just like the parties).    

We'll be there during one of these - but undecided whether this is worth it (and AH at Animal Kingdom the same week is more appealing). We've loved previous After Hours at MK - one of our best events last year, but this doesn't seem quite the same.  And no matter how good the overlays are, nothing will ever beat the pitch black of Deep Space Mountain from MNSSHP (as for PoTC - well, whenever something gets hyped as new and amazing but turns out completely lame and anticlimactic, we call that a "Gunpowder Pete" around here).


----------



## dachsie

I am second guessing this myself.  I think I will wait for reviews before I decide.


----------



## sheila14

I want September hours!!!!


----------



## jenjersnap

disneycat321 said:


> Not really into the villains, but I’m thrilled to get a solid date for DAH during our trip, and that it’s happening on Thursday, which is what I planned around after the late spring dates were released last week. We’ll be there 7/25!!



1. Ditto. 2. Ditto. 3. Ditto.   For once, my educated guess worked out! We have the dessert party reserved that night. I have one DS super into Villains so he is happy. My main concern now is adding more time in MK another day because I suspect we aren’t going to get as many rides in at this AH as I planned because of higher line waits and/or the kids’ interest in the stage show.


----------



## disneycat321

jenjersnap said:


> 1. Ditto. 2. Ditto. 3. Ditto.   For once, my educated guess worked out! We have the dessert party reserved that night. I have one DS super into Villains so he is happy. My main concern now is adding more time in MK another day because I suspect we aren’t going to get as many rides in at this AH as I planned because of higher line waits and/or the kids’ interest in the stage show.



We really can't get enough of MK at night. We're planning to do the evening EMH the night before as well.


----------



## Minkishly

Was SOOOO excited about the Disney Villains After Hours, went to the page and my heart broke. 



> Disney Villains will add a wicked twist to Disney After Hours event nights June 6-August 8



The first day of my trip is August 9.  I really hope DAH at MK will be available past Aug 8, even if it isn't the Villains edition.


----------



## MermaidMommy

I did notice that, while the regular DAH's at MK, HS, and AK all mention having "little-to-no wait times" or say you can "skip the waits," the new villains one says that you'll have "low wait times." I wonder if that's just a coincidence, or if they're managing expectations from the get-go.


----------



## Lsdolphin

Not sure how they plan to “clear” the park in order to prevent guests with out wristbands staying around to watch the Villains events....which tix holders are paying extra for. The only thing I can see them controlling is who is riding.


----------



## L&Lfan

My experience is they slowly herd people without event wristbands toward the exits. They escort folks out if they find you after the event begins.


----------



## cakebaker

Lsdolphin said:


> Not sure how they plan to “clear” the park in order to prevent guests with out wristbands staying around to watch the Villains events....which tix holders are paying extra for. The only thing I can see them controlling is who is riding.



That’s probably all you can expect. I don’t know how anyone would know whether they escort non ticket holders out. The only time I’ve ever been checked for a band is entering a ride and I’ve been on cool nights wearing long sleeves and a jacket.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Lsdolphin said:


> Not sure how they plan to “clear” the park in order to prevent guests with out wristbands staying around to watch the Villains events....which tix holders are paying extra for. The only thing I can see them controlling is who is riding.



Legitimate concern in my opinion.  Summer DAH’s are different than winter DAHs...more ‘people/kids/teens/adults’ around with no school, less parental supervision.  Warm weather and nothing to do promotes sticking around.  IMO when things got a little grumbly with crowds last summer, I suspect a lot of it was this (and those that opted to maninpulate the lanyard, which was later changed to just wristbands). 

While park clearing hasn’t really been a part of DAH to date, I wonder if they’ll do some with this new format.  Almost seems like they’d ‘have to’ as I could see plenty of people sticking around for the show.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

I don't know, when we did it, we had to show a band before they'd allow us to enter a new land.  So maybe they have something planned along those lines but in the Hub area.
I am optimistic (or naive) that they have these things in mind.


----------



## SaintsManiac

At the HS After Hours they did not herd people out. There were a lot of people hanging out and taking pictures and trying to get snacks without bands. It wasn't a horde of people by any means, but outside of TSL there were many day guests milling about.


----------



## DisneyWishes14

Dug720 said:


> I am so torn.
> 
> It's offered once during my pre-cruise stay. On the night I have the Illuminations Dining Package booked - and it's not available either of the other nights - for what will likely be my final time to see Illuminations.
> 
> My choices are:
> A) Keep things as they are and don't do DAH
> 
> or
> 
> B) Get a DAH ticket and cancel the Illuminations package, swap my planned (no FP+ yet...that's in May) Epcot and MK days, and then on the new Epcot day do the standard "find a place on the rail and park it" thing (making sure I'm bathroomed and hydrated before parking since I'm solo and wouldn't have anyone to hold my spot). (Also this would involve giving up dinner at The Wave.)
> 
> WHY couldn't they have made it July 19th?????



Personally, I would give up the Illuminations dining package and dining at the Wave for DAH.  You will have zero issues finding a good spot for Illuminations 30 minutes prior to the show.  As you said, go to the bathroom and find your spot.  We like Italy a lot.  If HEA is around the same time as Illuminations that night, you can see both from that pavilion area.

I'm wondering if I need to change our touring plan around as well.  We are taking my friend and her DS11 on their very first trip to WDW and our arrival day is July 25.  Her DS11 is really into Disney villains so I was thinking we would go, but his mom is concerned with staying out too late the first night - don't blame her.  I really wanted MK to be their first park and have the HEA dessert party booked, but now I'm wondering if we should switch our MK days.  I know on past DAH nights it doesn't sound like DAH guests coming in at 7 pm really elevated crowd levels, but who knows what will happen with this one.  I guess I'll just keep my eye on this thread.

Edited to add:  in terms of the stage show and the dragon roaming, perhaps they will wait until an hour or so into the party to introduce these elements, giving CM's a chance to clear out as many non-DAH guests as possible?  With MNSSHP and MVMCP, don't the stage shows typically start about an hour, hour and a half into the party?


----------



## focusondisney

cakebaker said:


> That’s probably all you can expect. I don’t know how anyone would know whether they escort non ticket holders out. The only time I’ve ever been checked for a band is entering a ride and I’ve been on cool nights wearing long sleeves and a jacket.




It will be easy enough to see if people have wrist bands in the summer.  On our last DAH, we did have to show our bands as we entered a new land. They can do what they do at parties, check as you move land to land & not let your go further into the park.  They can also scan the crowds like they do with people waiting for the parades at parties: “everyone show us your bands”. No band, asked to move to the exit. Close the stores & restaurants unless you have a band.  The stage show can be scheduled later, so they have time to clear the park.

So there are ways to do it. What remains to be seen is IF they do it. Like I said, it will be easy for anyone to see if others at the show have wristbands or not. If paying guests notice a lot of people without bands, I hope they complain to Disney & post online & on social media.  Make Disney keep all the event components exclusive for people who are paying the high cost to be there.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

They could probably put a temp rope up near the stage and check for bands. Also, my guess is the first(?) show is at 11 (an hour into event).

Back to a previous comment regarding price, I’m ok with the cost as well as long as I’m guaranteed this is still DAH level crowds and not party crowds. I really wish I didn’t have to go first night (but I promise to report back if I do!!!!)


----------



## cakebaker

focusondisney said:


> So there are ways to do it. What remains to be seen is IF they do it. Like I said, it will be easy for anyone to see if others at the show have wristbands or not. If paying guests notice a lot of people without bands, I hope they complain to Disney & post online & on social media.  Make Disney keep all the event components exclusive for people who are paying the high cost to be there.



I absolutely agree they could do it, I just, from my own experience, don’t have much confidence that they will. They’re fairly good at checking at the rides, not so much at clearing guests out of the park entirely.


----------



## Remy is Up

My ONLY concern, as someone who has done MK AH several times and thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere and ability to ride tons of things, is that like with the parties, eventually they will start trying to find the point of diminishing returns and increase the number of tickets available. That has ruined the Halloween parties to the point I wont go to another one. Same with the Christmas parties. As long as they keep the prices reasonable and still limit the number of attendees, Im all for it because they are a great value. Ive also done AK and the only reason I wasnt as impressed is the very limited number of attractions, same at HS. But, at MK there has always been plenty to do during AH and you can pretty much do everything in the park in 3 hours with little to no waits and most things you can reride over and over.


----------



## kmb

Minkishly said:


> Was SOOOO excited about the Disney Villains After Hours, went to the page and my heart broke.
> 
> 
> 
> The first day of my trip is August 9.  I really hope DAH at MK will be available past Aug 8, even if it isn't the Villains edition.


I am right there with you! We arrive Aug. 10 for 8 nights.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue.  I am going to plan around the idea of a Thursday party but hope they add additional dates before my fast pass booking date.


----------



## Funfire240

Cinderumbrella said:


> They could probably put a temp rope up near the stage and check for bands. Also, my guess is the first(?) show is at 11 (an hour into event).
> 
> Back to a previous comment regarding price, I’m ok with the cost as well as long as I’m guaranteed this is still DAH level crowds and not party crowds. I really wish I didn’t have to go first night (but I promise to report back if I do!!!!)



But will they even have more then 1 show?  The way I'm reading it, it just says stage show.  So maybe it will be one later into the night to make sure non-payment people are funneled out.  Unfortunately I can see people trying to take advantage and stay around for this.  I really hope this has been though and planned for.

---

We attended last year on 8/4 and just after that night there were a lot of complaints about the crowd and the problems with people reusing/passing lanyards.  The following week, 8/11, they added the wrist bands and we noticed a big decrease in crowds!


----------



## 22Tink

kmb said:


> I am right there with you! We arrive Aug. 10 for 8 nights.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue.  I am going to plan around the idea of a Thursday party but hope they add additional dates before my fast pass booking date.


We also arrive Aug 10. I’m so hoping they’ll expand the dates for this. I have EMM booked for our trip days but I’d way rather do DAH.


----------



## Dug720

DisneyWishes14 said:


> Personally, I would give up the Illuminations dining package and dining at the Wave for DAH.  You will have zero issues finding a good spot for Illuminations 30 minutes prior to the show.  As you said, go to the bathroom and find your spot.  We like Italy a lot.  If HEA is around the same time as Illuminations that night, you can see both from that pavilion area.
> 
> I'm wondering if I need to change our touring plan around as well.  We are taking my friend and her DS11 on their very first trip to WDW and our arrival day is July 25.  Her DS11 is really into Disney villains so I was thinking we would go, but his mom is concerned with staying out too late the first night - don't blame her.  I really wanted MK to be their first park and have the HEA dessert party booked, but now I'm wondering if we should switch our MK days.  I know on past DAH nights it doesn't sound like DAH guests coming in at 7 pm really elevated crowd levels, but who knows what will happen with this one.  I guess I'll just keep my eye on this thread.
> 
> Edited to add:  in terms of the stage show and the dragon roaming, perhaps they will wait until an hour or so into the party to introduce these elements, giving CM's a chance to clear out as many non-DAH guests as possible?  With MNSSHP and MVMCP, don't the stage shows typically start about an hour, hour and a half into the party?



I realized on further reflection that the possibility existed for me to do both - just book it over to MK on the Monorail after Illuminations (I did it before when MK had evening EMH in February). BUT I also realized that is my arrival day, and I have a 6:30am flight from LGA and with the nightmare that is traffic and construction around there EVEN in the wee hours of the morning, I'll either need to hang out there overnight and get virtually no sleep or have a car at my apartment at around 2am...so doing Villains After Hours would essentially put me being up for 24 hours. No bueno.


----------



## Raya

Is single day Memory Maker available for these events, the way it is for MNSSHP?


----------



## asaj

tookydo said:


> My next trip is the first week of June.  I’m willing to give it a try on 6/6.  Should be interesting.



Same with us.  We were hoping for DAH for the first week in June, and we are all very excited about this.  We will be going 6/6 for sure.


----------



## juuuliebeth

I went to the MK After Hours event on 3/28 and had a blast.  The purpose was to get some time to ride things I couldn't during the day due to having a 4 year old in tow and high crowds.  The purpose was not to ride 7DMT as many times as possible.  Taking that into account, it was well worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  Here are my notes from the night.

Arrived around 8:45pm after spending most of the day there.  Wandered the shops and watched HEA from halfway back Main Street.  Getting to Adventureland was quite frustrating.

9:40pm - Decided Jungle Cruise line was too long, so skipped and went to Pirates
9:58pm - Off Pirates, BTMRR line was too long and also too cold for Splash Mountain
10:20pm - Off Haunted Mansion, walked right up to the door, opened less than two minutes later
Rode BTMRR - both sides running, long queue trek but very short wait
Got ice cream and bottled water
10:47pm - Got in line for Tangled Lantern photo
10:57pm - Done with photo
Rode Small World, checked PP which was too long.
11:30pm - Off Space Mountain
11:48pm - Off Astro Orbiter (priority for me since it was the last MK ride I'd never ridden)
11:55pm - Off Buzz
12:08am - Off Peoplemover
Popcorn and more bottled water
12:22am - Off Pooh
Peter Pan's Flight
12:47am - On the bus back to Riverside

I forgot to note the times for some things, but this should give you an idea.  It never felt like the park was empty, but I personally didn't want it to.  I like having people around, just not too many people.  So it was perfect for me.  Grand total of 1 popcorn, 2 Mickey Bars and 4 bottles of water between the two of us.  10 attractions plus the Lantern photo and Happily Ever After in about four hours.  Not bad.  

Mine Train was posted around 30 minutes when we left.  We had ridden it earlier in the day with FP so we weren't bothered.  Lines for the snacks weren't too bad.  A slight wait each time, but never more than a couple minutes.  Astro Orbiter and Lantern Photo were probably longest waits of the night and neither were worth complaining about.

Well worth the money and the time.  If we hadn't been up early for an 8am CRT breakfast, we might have stayed longer, but we were both whooped.  I highly recommend to anyone who is able to stay up late.  Just go in with the right expectations and you'll be good.  You won't have the park all to yourself, but it's a great way to enjoy the whole park.  About halfway through I decided to ride as many different things as possible.  Re-rides may have saved our legs and upped our attraction count, but that wasn't the point for me.  I wanted some quality Magic Kingdom time without strollers nipping my heals and congested walkways.  And that's what I got.


----------



## 123SA

A Brand-New Disney Villains Stage Show – Hades and Meg from “Hercules” will set the castle stage ablaze in this all-new stage show, Villains Unite the Night, which will also feature appearances by Jafar, The Queen, Dr. Facilier and Maleficent.

Is this the same show as MNSSHP?


----------



## GeorgiaHoo

juuuliebeth said:


> I went to the MK After Hours event on 3/28 and had a blast.  The purpose was to get some time to ride things I couldn't during the day due to having a 4 year old in tow and high crowds.  The purpose was not to ride 7DMT as many times as possible.  Taking that into account, it was well worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  Here are my notes from the night.
> 
> Arrived around 8:45pm after spending most of the day there.  Wandered the shops and watched HEA from halfway back Main Street.  Getting to Adventureland was quite frustrating.
> 
> 9:40pm - Decided Jungle Cruise line was too long, so skipped and went to Pirates
> 9:58pm - Off Pirates, BTMRR line was too long and also too cold for Splash Mountain
> 10:20pm - Off Haunted Mansion, walked right up to the door, opened less than two minutes later
> Rode BTMRR - both sides running, long queue trek but very short wait
> Got ice cream and bottled water
> 10:47pm - Got in line for Tangled Lantern photo
> 10:57pm - Done with photo
> Rode Small World, checked PP which was too long.
> 11:30pm - Off Space Mountain
> 11:48pm - Off Astro Orbiter (priority for me since it was the last MK ride I'd never ridden)
> 11:55pm - Off Buzz
> 12:08am - Off Peoplemover
> Popcorn and more bottled water
> 12:22am - Off Pooh
> Peter Pan's Flight
> 12:47am - On the bus back to Riverside
> 
> I forgot to note the times for some things, but this should give you an idea.  It never felt like the park was empty, but I personally didn't want it to.  I like having people around, just not too many people.  So it was perfect for me.  Grand total of 1 popcorn, 2 Mickey Bars and 4 bottles of water between the two of us.  10 attractions plus the Lantern photo and Happily Ever After in about four hours.  Not bad.
> 
> Mine Train was posted around 30 minutes when we left.  We had ridden it earlier in the day with FP so we weren't bothered.  Lines for the snacks weren't too bad.  A slight wait each time, but never more than a couple minutes.  Astro Orbiter and Lantern Photo were probably longest waits of the night and neither were worth complaining about.
> 
> Well worth the money and the time.  If we hadn't been up early for an 8am CRT breakfast, we might have stayed longer, but we were both whooped.  I highly recommend to anyone who is able to stay up late.  Just go in with the right expectations and you'll be good.  You won't have the park all to yourself, but it's a great way to enjoy the whole park.  About halfway through I decided to ride as many different things as possible.  Re-rides may have saved our legs and upped our attraction count, but that wasn't the point for me.  I wanted some quality Magic Kingdom time without strollers nipping my heals and congested walkways.  And that's what I got.


Thanks for the details. What was the wait time for the lines that were “too long”? I’m hoping to do After Hours next year at MK and DHS with the goal of riding the “big” rides at each park multiple times. But if they all are going to have 30 minute waits then I’m going to have to rethink that plan. TIA.


----------



## michelepa

mom2rtk said:


> Day guests paid to be there too. And honestly, 10 PM at the height of spring break is sort of early to begin with.



Not saying they didn’t. As others have also stated there should be lag time from end of day guests to beginning of three hours after hour event. Not only did the day guests pay but I paid for three hour event that by it’s very definition is not suppose to include day guests.


----------



## michelepa

Davkind76 said:


> I feel like this crowd level will be increased over a regular DAH...inching up towards party levels?
> 
> anyway, Im going



Agree I think they finally got people hooked on ever which took awhile then started inching up the crowds admitted got some complaints and now are moving event to something different to really ramp up crowd levels.


----------



## theostwalts

So our first park day is June 6th.  Currently we have a reservation for California Grill at 9:15 which is good for HEA.  I have been checking for an earlier ADR, maybe around 8:00 pm or so, but so far nothing earlier.  How crowded do you guys think that day might be? Anyone else planning on that date?  We could skip dessert at the restaurant and do dessert at the party.  Maybe that would give the crowds time to clear out after HEA.  Thoughts?


----------



## Raya

123SA said:


> A Brand-New Disney Villains Stage Show – Hades and Meg from “Hercules” will set the castle stage ablaze in this all-new stage show, Villains Unite the Night, which will also feature appearances by Jafar, The Queen, Dr. Facilier and Maleficent.
> Is this the same show as MNSSHP?



No. The MNSSHP show is the Sanderson Sisters (from Hocus Pocus). They have one night to try to take over the world (again)  so they invite the Disney Villains to help. A handful of villains arrive, each one singing a song before the next one shows up. Then fireworks, pyro stuff, catchy dance number, and done. One of my gripes with the show is that they don't pick their villains based on who would be most helpful to take over the world. I mean Maleficent should be a shoe-in (she can change into a dragon, for Mickey's Sake) but they invite Cinderella's stepmother who is.... a bad parent? How is that helpful? Wouldn't you rather--

Oh dear, I seem to have stepped up on my soap box again. Sorry about that. No, very different show.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Raya said:


> One of my gripes with the show is that they don't pick their villains based on who would be most helpful to take over the world. I mean Maleficent should be a shoe-in (she can change into a dragon, for Mickey's Sake) but they invite Cinderella's stepmother who is.... a bad parent? How is that helpful? Wouldn't you rather--


----------



## Cowgirl_Jessie

MermaidMommy said:


> I did notice that, while the regular DAH's at MK, HS, and AK all mention having "little-to-no wait times" or say you can "skip the waits," the new villains one says that you'll have "low wait times." I wonder if that's just a coincidence, or if they're managing expectations from the get-go.



THIS!  Yes, Disney is very meticulous with their wording.  I think we can assume it will be more crowded; however how much more crowded?  Last year’s MNSSHP felt very crowded; we would be so disappointed to see these levels at the DAH this summer.  Wonder if it will be somewhere in between historic DAH and the parties?

Hoping for the best!  We will be there in July and pretty certain to attend this as I’m guessing WDW is hotter than the surface of the sun then!


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

theostwalts said:


> So our first park day is June 6th.  Currently we have a reservation for California Grill at 9:15 which is good for HEA.  I have been checking for an earlier ADR, maybe around 8:00 pm or so, but so far nothing earlier.  How crowded do you guys think that day might be? Anyone else planning on that date?  We could skip dessert at the restaurant and do dessert at the party.  Maybe that would give the crowds time to clear out after HEA.  Thoughts?



We went to DAH in January and I sacrificed our California Grill reservation that I'd snagged 180 days out to do DAH. And we were happy with that decision, despite the fact that I couldn't get California Grill at any other time during our trip.  Two words of note, though. We were staying at the Grand Floridian with a theme park view and could watch HEA from our balcony every night. And, DAH began at 9 PM as the park closed then.....


----------



## PPFlight75

We had such a great time doing this last week, so I am seriously considering this for July. The 1st would work out perfectly with our plans and we could just have another pool day. I am worried about the difference in crowds though.


----------



## kylieh

We have 16 May booked.   Plan is to do the outdoor rides and fit everything else around them - Splash if it isn't too cool, Mine Train, Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder.     We'll do the People Mover if it's running.   Probably can skip Astro Orbiter and Dumbo, but we'll see.  Any others worth doing at night that should be prioritised?


----------



## GeorgiaHoo

kylieh said:


> We have 16 May booked.   Plan is to do the outdoor rides and fit everything else around them - Splash if it isn't too cool, Mine Train, Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder.     We'll do the People Mover if it's running.   Probably can skip Astro Orbiter and Dumbo, but we'll see.  Any others worth doing at night that should be prioritised?


Splash and Mine Train are awesome at night. Magic Kingdom in general is awesome at night.  I actually like Astro Orbiter at night but wouldn’t wait in a long line.


----------



## JohnGypsy

So, I just tried to order After Hours at Animal Kingdom for May 7th and apparently it is already sold out!?

The web site says that it is not sold out when you pick the date, but then when you try to check out it gives an error saying that the order can't be placed online right now and to call.  So I called and they said that they are already sold out for May 7th and they just haven't updated the website yet.

Is it really sold out 5 weeks ahead of time?  I guess I'm just really surprised -- didn't they just announce the May 7th date like 4-5 days ago?

Or is this just the site being weird and the CSR being wrong?  I've been getting all kinds of errors on the site today.  So, I have a tiny amount of hope that this is just a mistake...


----------



## focusondisney

JohnGypsy said:


> So, I just tried to order After Hours at Animal Kingdom for May 7th and apparently it is already sold out!?
> 
> The web site says that it is not sold out when you pick the date, but then when you try to check out it gives an error saying that the order can't be placed online right now and to call.  So I called and they said that they are already sold out for May 7th and they just haven't updated the website yet.
> 
> Is it really sold out 5 weeks ahead of time?  I guess I'm just really surprised -- didn't they just announce the May 7th date like 4-5 days ago?
> 
> Or is this just the site being weird and the CSR being wrong?  I've been getting all kinds of errors on the site today.  So, I have a tiny amount of hope that this is just a mistake...




I read on another site that the May 7th date is cancelled. The poster had the same issue. She called DVC member services who transferred her to ticketing. She was told the date was being cancelled  & they were waiting for IT to delete it from the website.


----------



## JohnGypsy

That would actually make more sense, at least.  Just seems too weird to be sold out already.

Still really disappointing, but makes more sense.

I guess we'll see.  I sent an email over to confirm things already.


----------



## kylieh

16 May:  Park hours currently state park closes at 9, party begins at 10.    Assuming the closing time stays at 9, can the DAH guests enter lines between 9 and 10 or are they closed for them as well?


----------



## lvcourtneyy

Planning a trip down June 12-16 just to be able to attend the Villains after hours on 6/13! Very excited !


----------



## Raya

lvcourtneyy said:


> Planning a trip down June 12-16 just to be able to attend the Villains after hours on 6/13! Very excited !



I'm doing the same! Fly in after work on Wednesday, lounge by the pool Thursday morning, Villains!, fly home Friday morning. Can I ask why you picked that week? I'm struggling to pick a week. I can't decide if 6/6 would be best (people are waiting on reviews before booking, fewer people in the park) or if a random week in July (hotter, but by then the rush is worn off) would be better.


----------



## lvcourtneyy

Raya said:


> I'm doing the same! Fly in after work on Wednesday, lounge by the pool Thursday morning, Villains!, fly home Friday morning. Can I ask why you picked that week? I'm struggling to pick a week. I can't decide if 6/6 would be best (people are waiting on reviews before booking, fewer people in the park) or if a random week in July (hotter, but by then the rush is worn off) would be better.



I was going to shoot for the 6/6 one but I wanted to have reviews of the first one to know what to expect before going . We had to go in June because I’m going to Nashville in July and in an non-Disney Florida vacation in August. The later weeks in June flights were more expensive so June 12-16 won lol! Plus we got a great AP rate at Caribbean Beach


----------



## juuuliebeth

GeorgiaHoo said:


> What was the wait time for the lines that were “too long”?



I skipped Jungle Cruise because the line was too long for me, but it was before the start of the event.  I don't remember what it was posted as, but I saw the line and called an audible.  It was a good call because we walked right on Pirates.  BTMRR was posted at 20.  I didn't get a look at the line, so I don't know how accurate it was.


----------



## Traveling on cc points

This is a great option for locals or people just passing through Orlando for 1 day but I am priced out. $140pp on top of the regular park admission is just too much.

regular park admission prices keep rising and the hours get shorter and shorter due to paid mornings and paid after hours & then never ending parties. I know things change but I'm a little bitter that the good old days of being rewarded for staying on property with worthwhile extra morning and evening hours are gone. 

The only way I would consider after hours (at this price) is if Disney announced dates well in advance so we could purchase a few special tickets instead of regular admission. I'm sure this is why Disney adds these type of dates so last minute, they want the double dip.


----------



## DisneyMomma930

So bummed the Villains dates end a week before our stay


----------



## Shellyb84

Going to DAH tonight! Can’t wait!!!


----------



## Cloe Colton

Do we know the details about when these tickets go on sale? I know its 4/29 but will they be available online or only by calling? What time? Will most likely be going to the 6/13 party and don't want to miss out!


----------



## CivilE

Planning on attending the Villains event on June 6 as our last park day. Anybody know what time the tickets will go onsale on 4/29?


----------



## whiporee

Have fun tonight, everyone who is going. Here's my advice -- do Mine Train as late as you can hold off. And if you can work it, hit HM after the crowds have thinned. The CMs have fun with you if it's small crowd.


----------



## Roxyfire

kylieh said:


> We have 16 May booked.   Plan is to do the outdoor rides and fit everything else around them - Splash if it isn't too cool, Mine Train, Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder.     We'll do the People Mover if it's running.   Probably can skip Astro Orbiter and Dumbo, but we'll see.  Any others worth doing at night that should be prioritised?



I have a hard time imagining it being too cool for Splash in May! Even in the evening it feels nice and toasty to me, but I am sensitive to the heat.


----------



## Haley R

Roxyfire said:


> I have a hard time imagining it being too cool for Splash in May! Even in the evening it feels nice and toasty to me, but I am sensitive to the heat.


We did splash last year in March.


----------



## Ron Rico

Shellyb84 said:


> Going to DAH tonight! Can’t wait!!!



Are you there yet?



One more week until we are there!


----------



## GeorgiaHoo

Roxyfire said:


> I have a hard time imagining it being too cool for Splash in May! Even in the evening it feels nice and toasty to me, but I am sensitive to the heat.


We've been to Disney in January, February, March and May and it's never been too cold for Splash.  One year was too cold for me to get in the pool (though the kids thought it was fine!) but never too cold for Splash.  You really don't get that wet on the ride.


----------



## Shellyb84

Ron Rico said:


> Are you there yet?
> 
> 
> 
> One more week until we are there!



Yep! Have some Fastpasses to use first!


----------



## Haley R

GeorgiaHoo said:


> We've been to Disney in January, February, March and May and it's never been too cold for Splash.  One year was too cold for me to get in the pool (though the kids thought it was fine!) but never too cold for Splash.  You really don't get that wet on the ride.


I hate to disagree but you can definitely get wet on splash. When we rode last March my niece and I got completely soaked. I’m talking all the way through my clothes soaked: tops and bottoms.


----------



## GeorgiaHoo

Haley R said:


> I hate to disagree but you can definitely get wet on splash. When we rode last March my niece and I got completely soaked. I’m talking all the way through my clothes soaked: tops and bottoms.


Well sure, there's a random chance of getting wet, but I still haven't been to Disney when it was too cold to ride Splash.  And certainly not trying to start an argument about the wetness of Splash Mountain.  Just saying that we've been on Splash at 11 p.m. in February and loved it.


----------



## Haley R

GeorgiaHoo said:


> Well sure, there's a random chance of getting wet, but I still haven't been to Disney when it was too cold to ride Splash.  And certainly not trying to start an argument about the wetness of Splash Mountain.  Just saying that we've been on Splash at 11 p.m. in February and loved it.


I wasn’t starting an argument. I was just saying you can totally get wet on it....


----------



## Katrina Y

I think this Villains DAH is a little pricey, especially since there are no meet and greets. The stage show seems to be a “people eater” designed to draw people away from the rides, so maybe people won’t notice if they start to increase the crowd size by selling more tickets.


----------



## mcurrence

Hope everyone has an awesome time tonight!!!


----------



## Harmacist

Going to Disney 8/6-14.  Missing F&W and Galaxys edge, may buy this to ,make up for those near misses.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

We went to MK for a couple of rides 6:40-8ish last night (thanks to refreshing and scoring a Splash FP).   Have to admit I was kinda bummed to be seeing all the inflow of DAH folks!  Just a little jealous. 

Beautiful weather last night, hope everyone had fun.


----------



## Roxyfire

GeorgiaHoo said:


> We've been to Disney in January, February, March and May and it's never been too cold for Splash.  One year was too cold for me to get in the pool (though the kids thought it was fine!) but never too cold for Splash.  You really don't get that wet on the ride.



I know we've probably moved on but somehow I always forget and sit on the right and end up stuck next to that waterfall. I do sometimes get wet if we're in the front but often I duck at the last minute on the drop #sorrynotsorry


----------



## Iowamomof4

Roxyfire said:


> I know we've probably moved on but somehow I always forget and sit on the right and end up stuck next to that waterfall. I do sometimes get wet if we're in the front but often I duck at the last minute on the drop #sorrynotsorry


So, back left is the best place to sit if you want to try to avoid getting soaked?


----------



## Roxyfire

Iowamomof4 said:


> So, back left is the best place to sit if you want to try to avoid getting soaked?



Definitely left for sure, even third row is good. Just don't rely on the first row to take the brunt if you're in second because of people like me


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Iowamomof4 said:


> So, back left is the best place to sit if you want to try to avoid getting soaked?



It’s not just the big hill drop. It’s the stupid cannon that shoots out next to the big hill when you first start the ride. We were soaked in row 2 & 3 when we rode in February (as in the wettest I’ve ever been in 30+ rides through the years). I was left.


----------



## CogsworthTN

We attended last night and had an amazing time. We were able to ride every ride multiple times and still enjoy the snacks. We would definitely do after hours at Magic Kingdom again. 

I loved how empty the park felt. It was super fun and magical.


----------



## Tinkerfan2005

For After Hours, are the characters still doing meet and greets in their normal locations?


----------



## GeorgiaHoo

Haley R said:


> I wasn’t starting an argument. I was just saying you can totally get wet on it....


Yeah, and apologies if it seemed like I was arguing--not my intention.


----------



## CogsworthTN

Tinkerfan2005 said:


> For After Hours, are the characters still doing meet and greets in their normal locations?


Yes


----------



## Iowamomof4

Cinderumbrella said:


> It’s not just the big hill drop. It’s the stupid cannon that shoots out next to the big hill when you first start the ride. We were soaked in row 2 & 3 when we rode in February (as in the wettest I’ve ever been in 30+ rides through the years). I was left.



I've only ever ridden it once and I hardly got wet. I don't recall any cannons (rode in September, so it wasn't cold out or anything), but again having only ridden once I could very well have just forgotten. I'd like to try it again sometime, but I'm not a big fan of water rides in general. The themeing of Splash is just so amazing... maybe I should just plan it at a time I could leave the park to change clothes if I did get really wet (like just before an afternoon break or right at the end of our night).


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Iowamomof4 said:


> I've only ever ridden it once and I hardly got wet. I don't recall any cannons (rode in September, so it wasn't cold out or anything), but again having only ridden once I could very well have just forgotten. I'd like to try it again sometime, but I'm not a big fan of water rides in general. The themeing of Splash is just so amazing... maybe I should just plan it at a time I could leave the park to change clothes if I did get really wet (like just before an afternoon break or right at the end of our night).



Just throw a poncho on. It really gets most of it.


----------



## Haley R

Cinderumbrella said:


> Just throw a poncho on. It really gets most of it.


This is what I was gonna say too. The only thing that might get wet is your shoes but you could bring flip flops maybe. I’m not a huge fan of getting wet either but splash is so awesome. I’m sad it’ll be closed when we’re in Japan


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Haley R said:


> This is what I was gonna say too. The only thing that might get wet is your shoes but you could bring flip flops maybe. I’m not a huge fan of getting wet either but splash is so awesome. I’m sad it’ll be closed when we’re in Japan



Only Kali makes my shoes wet. It’s never an issue (yet) on Splash.


----------



## GeorgiaHoo

Cinderumbrella said:


> Only Kali makes my shoes wet. It’s never an issue (yet) on Splash.


I got SOAKED on Kali and on Universal's Ripsaw Falls.  Like jumping-in-a-pool drenched.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

GeorgiaHoo said:


> I got SOAKED on Kali and on Universal's Ripsaw Falls.  Like jumping-in-a-pool drenched.



I have a picture of me after getting off Kali in August 2007. I look like a drowned rat. My clothes were still damp in the hotel room 2 days later.

Mercifully DS15 is done with that ride these days. Even a poncho doesn’t really help on this one.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GeorgiaHoo said:


> I got SOAKED on Kali and on Universal's Ripsaw Falls.  Like jumping-in-a-pool drenched.





Cinderumbrella said:


> I have a picture of me after getting off Kali in August 2007. I look like a drowned rat. My clothes were still damp in the hotel room 2 days later.
> 
> Mercifully DS15 is done with that ride these days. Even a poncho doesn’t really help on this one.



Kali was awful. Absolutely drenched! I'll consider the poncho. Thanks everyone! Sorry to derail the thread. Back to DAH discussion now!


----------



## Haley R

GeorgiaHoo said:


> I got SOAKED on Kali and on Universal's Ripsaw Falls.  Like jumping-in-a-pool drenched.


This definitely proves that it’s random lol. We went on kali the same trip I got soaked on splash and I barely got wet. I had a poncho on but my poncho wasn’t wet at all. We went in thinking we would get soaked and even changed shoes before but it didn’t happen


----------



## GADisneyDad14

You people are WAY off topic.  

And we only had a few sprinkles in the last row when we rode last night.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Sorry Dad!!!


----------



## maryj11

When I rode last year after we went down the big drop, I thought ha ha I didn't get wet!  Well the next log that dropped splashed a tidal wave over my head! My hair was wet, my face, my shirt and my rear end.


----------



## Humz

Hoping with price increase and lack of meet and greets some people will steer clear and we won’t be watching the stage show anyway, so maybe that will help?


----------



## RolloTomasi

Had an amazing time at DAH last night. It was my first MK (I had done AK the night before) so I have nothing else to compare it to but I thought it was well worth the price of admission. Longest wait all night for me was about a fifteen minute wait for Dwarfs (posted 25). Was able to ride Splash in my own log a couple of times. I know it wasn’t a sell out, and I know others have reported more crowds, but I was very, very satisfied with the event.


----------



## poooh

When should I be on the lookout for Sept 2019 announcement dates?


----------



## Iowamomof4

RolloTomasi said:


> Had an amazing time at DAH last night. It was my first MK (I had done AK the night before) so I have nothing else to compare it to but I thought it was well worth the price of admission. Longest wait all night for me was about a fifteen minute wait for Dwarfs (posted 25). Was able to ride Splash in my own log a couple of times. I know it wasn’t a sell out, and I know others have reported more crowds, but I was very, very satisfied with the event.


Thanks for the report. Of course, I've got to know.... how wet did you get on Splash?!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

poooh said:


> When should I be on the lookout for Sept 2019 announcement dates?



Check the historical chart but I think they are pretty rare during MNSSHP season.


----------



## Iowamomof4

poooh said:


> When should I be on the lookout for Sept 2019 announcement dates?



IF there will be any, they could be announced as late as August. So my advice would be to relax, watch this thread casually, and definitely be prepared with other plans in case they don't announce any events for your dates.


----------



## poooh

Cinderumbrella said:


> Check the historical chart but I think they are pretty rare during MNSSHP season.



I was lucky enough to be there during the only DAH offered in Sept 2018 and had the best time. I was hoping that more dates might be added but you are absolutely right.  Maybe I will get lucky again and the one lone Sept DAH will fall in my dates.


----------



## dachsie

Iowamomof4 said:


> So, back left is the best place to sit if you want to try to avoid getting soaked?


I got drenched in the back row last time I rode.  the chute coming down sprayed on us just as we were moving under the cover.  I am not sure where the safe spot is.  LOL


----------



## Haley R

dachsie said:


> I got drenched in the back row last time I rode.  the chute coming down sprayed on us just as we were moving under the cover.  I am not sure where the safe spot is.  LOL


I don’t think there is one lol (especially if you get stuck by the waterfall like we did).


----------



## skuttle

We just booked DAH MK for May 30th and AK for June 4th. It's letting me book FP for those two dates. I don't have any park tickets for those two days; just the DAH tickets. Is this ok or will I mess up the rest of my trip's FP? We have a 5 day ticket for the rest of our trip.


----------



## Dbktmc

We will be going on June 13th which is the 2nd day of our trip.  We could go the following week but my parents are only going to Disney with us for a week and they want to do this event as well. 

I'm nervous that Disney changed the wording of the event to say "low wait times" instead of "little to no wait".  I have wanted to attend this event for years, specifically for the no wait times,  and this is the first opportunity that we have had to actually attend.  Anyways, I know that many of you are waiting for reviews and I will try and write up a review while still there.  All of the reviews that I have read the past 3(??) years have been so helpful for me.


----------



## maryj11

Dbktmc said:


> We will be going on June 13th which is the 2nd day of our trip.  We could go the following week but my parents are only going to Disney with us for a week and they want to do this event as well.
> 
> I'm nervous that Disney changed the wording of the event to say "low wait times" instead of "little to no wait".  I have wanted to attend this event for years, specifically for the no wait times,  and this is the first opportunity that we have had to actually attend.  Anyways, I know that many of you are waiting for reviews and I will try and write up a review while still there.  All of the reviews that I have read the past 3(??) years have been so helpful for me.


I will be looking for your review. We will be attending June 20th. I'm
not liking the low wait time statement, I'm thinking they are selling more tickets.


----------



## Lsdolphin

maryj11 said:


> I will be looking for your review. We will be attending June 20th. I'm
> not liking the low wait time statement, I'm thinking they are selling more tickets.




Have you already purchased tickets, I thought they didn't go on sale until 4/29?


----------



## Dbktmc

Lsdolphin said:


> Have you already purchased tickets, I thought they didn't go on sale until 4/29?



You are correct that they don't go on sale until 4/29.  We are all just planning as we know that we are buying the tickets when they go on sale.


----------



## maryj11

Lsdolphin said:


> Have you already purchased tickets, I thought they didn't go on sale until 4/29?


No I'm hoping to buy them the first day they are released.i put the wrong date on the other post. We are wanting June 27th.


----------



## Canwego

OK - so we are going in May, and I have not purchased the tickets yet. How long can I wait to but them? Does anyone know when they typically sell out?


----------



## Canwego

skuttle said:


> We just booked DAH MK for May 30th and AK for June 4th. It's letting me book FP for those two dates. I don't have any park tickets for those two days; just the DAH tickets. Is this ok or will I mess up the rest of my trip's FP? We have a 5 day ticket for the rest of our trip.



I am wondering this same thing!


----------



## Where'sPiglet?

maryj11 said:


> I will be looking for your review. We will be attending June 20th. I'm
> not liking the low wait time statement, I'm thinking they are selling more tickets.



I am fairly certain they are selling more tickets. 

I went in late July 2018 and then again on Thursday (April 4th). The July event was sold out, but when I looked midday on April 4th, tickets were still showing as available for that evening. However, the event a few days ago had more people in the park than in July. The rides were still walk-ons or nearly so, but the pathways were not empty, and it seemed like there were fewer empty ride vehicles. 

I still had a great time. I'll try to write up a report soon.


----------



## Lsdolphin

maryj11 said:


> No I'm hoping to buy them the first day they are released.i put the wrong date on the other post. We are wanting June 27th.




Me too


----------



## David Jewell

Will the tickets be online or will you have to call?


----------



## michelepa

skuttle said:


> We just booked DAH MK for May 30th and AK for June 4th. It's letting me book FP for those two dates. I don't have any park tickets for those two days; just the DAH tickets. Is this ok or will I mess up the rest of my trip's FP? We have a 5 day ticket for the rest of our trip.



We didn’t have regular park tickets for  the day of our DAH MK on 3/28 and I was able to book fast passes for the four of us with the DAH ticket. we had no problems with our other fast passes or the 3/28 ones.


----------



## theostwalts

I have a question about purchasing tickets for after hours if you are in annual passholder. Myself, my wife and my daughter all three have annual passes. We will be in the parks on June 6. Our grandson will be with us. Can I call and buy four tickets with the annual pass discount? Or does each passholder have to call for the discount?


----------



## Haley R

theostwalts said:


> I have a question about purchasing tickets for after hours if you are in annual passholder. Myself, my wife and my daughter all three have annual passes. We will be in the parks on June 6. Our grandson will be with us. Can I call and buy four tickets with the annual pass discount? Or does each passholder have to call for the discount?


You can call and get all of the tickets with your AP


----------



## PolyRob

Trying to catch up on all my threads after getting back from WDW. I attended DAH on 4/4 with my family and it was still a great event! I am sad to see the changes coming and price increase, but I guess time will tell.

4/4/19 was definitely more crowded than my July 2018 DAH event. There were larger groups of people throughout MK, but the only thing that was really affected was 7DMT. It had longer waits throughout the whole night. The posted time never seemed to drop below 25 minutes. We only rode it 1x during the actual event (10pm - 1am) unlike July 2018 when I rode it multiple times in a row.

We arrived at MK a little after 7pm. It was a rest day with no parks and we had 3 FP+ for MK:

7:00-8:00pm: Meet Mickey and Minnie
8:30-9:30pm: 7DMT
9:30-10:00pm: Peter Pan
We met Mickey and Minnie and then scoped out a prime spot for HEA which was at 9:15pm. We dodged the crowds and made it on 7DMT even though it was about 5 minutes past the FP+ window. We walked over to Peter Pan which had a huge standby line. After Peter Pan, it was 10:01pm and DAH officially started! I wanted to head to Big Thunder since we skipped it the day prior since it had a HUGE FP+ line, but it had a 25 minute wait posted so I figured we would go on Small World since we were right there and it had a 10 minute wait posted and virtually no line.

The rest of the night went like this after Small World:

Big Thunder x2 (both sides were running)
Splash Mountain (private log to ourselves)
Popcorn/ice cream break
Pirates
Main Street PhotoPass pictures
Space Mountain x2 (used the re-ride path)
Popcorn/ice cream break
People Mover (with some snacks… shhhh don’t tell)
Tea Cups
Little Mermaid
By now it was around 12:30am. The last thing on our list was to get on 7DMT again. The posted wait time was 35 minutes. We attempted to get in line for 7DMT and as we were walking up there was an announcement that all trains through the mine had stopped because of an issue. About half of the people left including my family and I and we decided to take our own photos in the Hub and around Cinderella Castle and enjoyed some sodas. We walked back to 7DMT about 15/20 minutes later and got in line again at 12:51am. The wait time was still posted at 35 minutes. In reality, it only took 13 minutes and we were on 7DMT by 1:04am.

We saw the Kiss Goodnight and headed towards the exit.

Busses for MK resorts seemed to be much better this time. One was waiting for us and we all got on with seats. The bus waited about 5 minutes for other guests and was going to stop at Poly, GF, and then CR (1 family decided they were too tired to walk).

Overall, we had a great time! I booked it knowing the spring break crowds and temps could be insane. We accomplished everything we wanted to and had a great night.

We didn't stop at every snack cart. Some had larger lines than others, but there were so many different locations and the CMs were so fast that the waits were minimal. I inquired about the Minute Maid cups and was told only Olaf bars at two locations. YMMV.


----------



## N5girl

We are attending DAH on 4/11. Is there a discussion about touring strategies? DS is 7 - he is fortunate to have been many times to MK but this is our only visit this trip so I am trying to tick all the boxes in 4 hours!!

Any ideas on when we are likely to be let in - is it 6 or 7 at the moment?

Ideally we would like to get the following done 

- fireworks 
- SDMT (x2 or 3)
- Splash M
-HM
- POC
- PP
- Barnstormer
-Buzz
- IASW
- Ariel
-Mickey Mouse 

What should I fast pass for the time before DAH - is it the same  ‘rules’ as a regular visit?

Thanks.


----------



## whiporee

don't start with 7dmt. You'll have day stragglers there, so that line will stay long-ish for at least an hour. 

I wouldn't fastpass before 6, because even if you're help up until seven, you can sprint there and make it. 

Do POC standby during park hours -- right after the fireworks (unless you're doing fireworks in front of Castle). the only thing on your list that is likely to have a long line is 7dmt. PP has a line but it moves. I'd bet everything else will be mostly empty walk ons.

have fun!


----------



## Haley R

N5girl said:


> We are attending DAH on 4/11. Is there a discussion about touring strategies? DS is 7 - he is fortunate to have been many times to MK but this is our only visit this trip so I am trying to tick all the boxes in 4 hours!!
> 
> Any ideas on when we are likely to be let in - is it 6 or 7 at the moment?
> 
> Ideally we would like to get the following done
> 
> - fireworks
> - SDMT (x2 or 3)
> - Splash M
> -HM
> - POC
> - PP
> - Barnstormer
> -Buzz
> - IASW
> - Ariel
> -Mickey Mouse
> 
> What should I fast pass for the time before DAH - is it the same  ‘rules’ as a regular visit?
> 
> Thanks.


They’ve been sticking close to 6 pm for when they let people in at mk. It could change but I would plan on that for now. 

I would get your first fp for 5:30-6:30 and head there right when they let you in. If you want to ride 7dmt more than once get a fp for it (if you can) otherwise it’ll take up a large chunk of your dah time. You could then have a PP fp (again, if you can) for right after that from 6:30-7:30 and those two would already be done before dah even starts. I’m not sure what’s available for FPS this close to your date so you might just have to keep refreshing or take what you can get. 

Everything else on your list will be easy walk ons during the event (or should be).


----------



## Ashley Marie

I know I’ve brought up the kids question before, but I’m just thinking out loud here and wondering if anyone has any further input. 

So we’re tentatively looking at 6/27 or 7/1 for the Villains event. I’m torn though - kids are young. My daughter (7) could handle it. My son (4), not so sure. We tried taking him to MNSSHP last Sept. and he fell asleep in the stroller through almost the whole thing. Money flying away... 

I’m considering a few options.

1) just risking it and going as a family, accepting the fact that the night has a 50/50 chance of not going exactly so well. But if he DOES stay awake, what a fun memory for the kids (and our family as a whole)

2) making it a date night and getting a babysitter in our room for bedtime until the time we get back. It will probably cost less than the two tickets for them, and my husband and I would both be able to fully enjoy it instead of taking turns on rides, assuming our son falls asleep

3) since there are two events while we are there, taking turns bringing our daughter. I go with just her to one of the dates while my husband hangs out at the resort with our son, and vice versa. This is clearly the winning scenario for my daughter, who would get to go twice and have one-on-one time with each parent

What would you all do?


----------



## Firestarlife

Ashley Marie said:


> I know I’ve brought up the kids question before, but I’m just thinking out loud here and wondering if anyone has any further input.
> 
> So we’re tentatively looking at 6/27 or 7/1 for the Villains event. I’m torn though - kids are young. My daughter (7) could handle it. My son (4), not so sure. We tried taking him to MNSSHP last Sept. and he fell asleep in the stroller through almost the whole thing. Money flying away...
> 
> I’m considering a few options.
> 
> 1) just risking it and going as a family, accepting the fact that the night has a 50/50 chance of not going exactly so well. But if he DOES stay awake, what a fun memory for the kids (and our family as a whole)
> 
> 2) making it a date night and getting a babysitter in our room for bedtime until the time we get back. It will probably cost less than the two tickets for them, and my husband and I would both be able to fully enjoy it instead of taking turns on rides, assuming our son falls asleep
> 
> 3) since there are two events while we are there, taking turns bringing our daughter. I go with just her to one of the dates while my husband hangs out at the resort with our son, and vice versa. This is clearly the winning scenario for my daughter, who would get to go twice and have one-on-one time with each parent
> 
> What would you all do?



Option #3. I would go twice!!


----------



## eeudj

Option 3!


----------



## cakebaker

theostwalts said:


> I have a question about purchasing tickets for after hours if you are in annual passholder. Myself, my wife and my daughter all three have annual passes. We will be in the parks on June 6. Our grandson will be with us. Can I call and buy four tickets with the annual pass discount? Or does each passholder have to call for the discount?



Log into your mde. If you’re ap is linked, you’ll see the discounted price. You can buy up to 4 tickets per AP using the discount. I just did this a few weeks ago, no need to call.


----------



## Iowamomof4

cakebaker said:


> Log into your mde. If you’re ap is linked, you’ll see the discounted price. You can buy up to 4 tickets per AP using the discount. I just did this a few weeks ago, no need to call.



For whatever reason, it actually allowed me to purchase 7 tickets on my account. Now, dh does have an AP also and one of the tickets was for him, but it still let me do it all in one transaction and all the tickets linked just fine.


----------



## cakebaker

Iowamomof4 said:


> For whatever reason, it actually allowed me to purchase 7 tickets on my account. Now, dh does have an AP also and one of the tickets was for him, but it still let me do it all in one transaction and all the tickets linked just fine.


 I had called the passholder line to ask before I purchased and that’s what they said, but I agree, the website seems to allow you to buy an unlimited number.


----------



## PartyOfSe7en

We will be going June 27! DH and I are spending a 9 days with our 5 kids, MIL and SIL. It happens to fall on our resort day so perfect date night for just the 2 of us without losing park time from our purchased tickets. We never get to ride together since we gave a tribe full of lovely babies so this will be a blast. Price is high but worth it to me. My brother is an annual pass holder. Can he buy our tickets or does he have to go as well to get the discount? We will be there either way. My first special event and I am so excited!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc.  Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip.  DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.

I'm sure this villains thing will be fine.  But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night.  I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!

Ok, nonsensical rant over.  Sorry.


----------



## Candycane83

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc.  Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip.  DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.
> 
> I'm sure this villains thing will be fine.  But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night.  I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!
> 
> Ok, nonsensical rant over.  Sorry.


I would have preferred the normal one too, I feel like this adds on distractions, lol! Plus I’m not entirely sure how much my 5 year old would like villains?


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc.  Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip.  DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.
> 
> I'm sure this villains thing will be fine.  But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night.  I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!
> 
> Ok, nonsensical rant over.  Sorry.


We don’t have plans to go at this point but if I’m being optimistic I’d say maybe the stage show will help some with ride lines if they do increase the number of tickets sold


----------



## SarahC97

I think I can guess the answer to this, but I wanted to ask the experts just to check.

We're going this July. I'd love to do the After Hours Villain event that will be happening when there. We plan to bridge our tickets to AP, but I'm guessing there's no way for me to get the AP pricing on the event since I won't have the AP when I order tickets before we go, yeah? I'm nervous if I wait until we're there and actually have APs, the event will be sold out since it's only being offered one night per week. Thanks!


----------



## Haley R

SarahC97 said:


> I think I can guess the answer to this, but I wanted to ask the experts just to check.
> 
> We're going this July. I'd love to do the After Hours Villain event that will be happening when there. We plan to bridge our tickets to AP, but I'm guessing there's no way for me to get the AP pricing on the event since I won't have the AP when I order tickets before we go, yeah? I'm nervous if I wait until we're there and actually have APs, the event will be sold out since it's only being offered one night per week. Thanks!


I actually think people have been able to do this and when they picked up their tickets they showed the AP and were refunded. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong


----------



## GADisneyDad14

SarahC97 said:


> I think I can guess the answer to this, but I wanted to ask the experts just to check.
> 
> We're going this July. I'd love to do the After Hours Villain event that will be happening when there. We plan to bridge our tickets to AP, but I'm guessing there's no way for me to get the AP pricing on the event since I won't have the AP when I order tickets before we go, yeah? I'm nervous if I wait until we're there and actually have APs, the event will be sold out since it's only being offered one night per week. Thanks!



DISers in similar circumstances have reported being able to get a credit (generally in the form of a Disney gift card) by visiting guest relations.  This seems to happen with relative frequency.  If you don't mind the time spent dealing with it when there, it could save you a few bucks.


----------



## SarahC97

GADisneyDad14 said:


> DISers in similar circumstances have reported being able to get a credit (generally in the form of a Disney gift card) by visiting guest relations.  This seems to happen with relative frequency.  If you don't mind the time spent dealing with it when there, it could save you a few bucks.


Well, it'd be about $120, so that's totally worth it to me. Thanks!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

SarahC97 said:


> Well, it'd be about $120, so that's totally worth it to me. Thanks!



That’s a lot of bucks. 

I haven’t seen any reports of this not being allowed, but we always appreciate real world experiences if you think about it after your trip.  Good luck!


----------



## SarahC97

GADisneyDad14 said:


> That’s a lot of bucks.
> 
> I haven’t seen any reports of this not being allowed, but we always appreciate real world experiences if you think about it after your trip.  Good luck!


Will do! 

So, I basically just need to buy the tickets at full price, then go to guest services after we upgrade and tell them I purchased DAH tickets and would like to see if I can get refunded the difference?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

SarahC97 said:


> Will do!
> 
> So, I basically just need to buy the tickets at full price, then go to guest services after we upgrade and tell them I purchased DAH tickets and would like to see if I can get refunded the difference?



Not having done it myself, I can’t answer with authority, but I think that’s how it works.  I’m an AP holder, I bought these at full price, would like the AP discount, etc.


----------



## SarahC97

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Not having done it myself, I can’t answer with authority, but I think that’s how it works.  I’m an AP holder, I bought these at full price, would like the AP discount, etc.


Cool. I appreciate the input. It's worth a shot!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

SarahC97 said:


> Will do!
> 
> So, I basically just need to buy the tickets at full price, then go to guest services after we upgrade and tell them I purchased DAH tickets and would like to see if I can get refunded the difference?



Since you upgrade at GR, do it all at once.  I did this in March.


----------



## chaoskids

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc.  Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip.  DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.
> 
> I'm sure this villains thing will be fine.  But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night.  I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!
> 
> Ok, nonsensical rant over.  Sorry.



Me too!  I’d rather a normal DAH. I wish they would have Villain meet and greets.  It would shorten ride lines.


----------



## cakebaker

I don’t complain often either, but I’d be a little bummed too. I’d hate for these to turn into more of a party event rather than just what they are now- an opportunity to ride the rides with little or no waits. Disney if you’re listening, don’t fix what ain’t broke! I don’t want to pay to see shows and extras. I just want to ride the attractions with short waits and not be shoulder to shoulder in crowds.


----------



## 22Tink

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc.  Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip.  DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.
> 
> I'm sure this villains thing will be fine.  But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night.  I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!
> 
> Ok, nonsensical rant over.  Sorry.


I thought the same thing when I saw this. We miss the Villains dates by 2 days so at this point I’d be happy with any DAH for our dates, Villains or regular!


----------



## Castlequeen5

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc.  Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip.  DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.
> 
> I'm sure this villains thing will be fine.  But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night.  I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!
> 
> Ok, nonsensical rant over.  Sorry.



I was also disappointed with the change.  I just want to ride rides and eat ice cream!  I don't want to look at schedules and plan rides around the show.  But then it's going to cost more money, so now I feel obligated to see what the villains/shows are all about.  That way I'm getting my "money's worth"...at least that's my rationale.  I'm anxious to read the reviews from the first few nights to see how it goes.


----------



## ninafeliz

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc.  Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip.  DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.
> 
> I'm sure this villains thing will be fine.  But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night.  I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!
> 
> Ok, nonsensical rant over.  Sorry.


I completely agree.  I had been hoping there would be a MK DAH during our June trip, and while I’m very happy they are having one I would have much preferred the regular old no frills no lines no crowds DAH!  Our only other DAH experience was from the first round in May 2016, so I’m worried that will be hard to live up to already without adding the overlay.  I’m really hoping they don’t mess with the numbers much, since all we want is to ride as much as possible without lines.  My plan as of now is to essentially ignore the villains aspect completely (except maybe some of the event merchandise lol) and treat it as a regular DAH, and maybe the villains stuff will occupy people and keep the lines non existent.  At least I hope so.


----------



## Haley R

ninafeliz said:


> I completely agree.  I had been hoping there would be a MK DAH during our June trip, and while I’m very happy they are having one I would have much preferred the regular old no frills no lines no crowds DAH!  Our only other DAH experience was from the first round in May 2016, so I’m worried that will be hard to live up to already without adding the overlay.  I’m really hoping they don’t mess with the numbers much, since all we want is to ride as much as possible without lines.  My plan as of now is to essentially ignore the villains aspect completely (except maybe some of the event merchandise lol) and treat it as a regular DAH, and maybe the villains stuff will occupy people and keep the lines non existent.  At least I hope so.


You definitely should get a Maleficent cone. It's my absolute favorite snack at WDW now.


----------



## Mrjoshua

We attended the event on 4/4, and had a ball... 

Between 7 and 10pm:
- Haunted Mansion
- Mickey's Philharmagic
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Ate candied bacon and chicken skewers
- Big Thunder Mtn Railroad (during fireworks!)
- Watched the remaining fireworks from Frontierland
- Barnstormer

After 10pm
- Space Mtn x 2
- Popcorn and Ice Cream
- 7 Dwarfs Mine Train x 3
- Haunted Mansion x 2 (had the Mansion to ourselves once)
- Ice Cream
- Big Thunder Mtn Railroad x 4

My only real complaint is an increase in bodies. After Hours Space Mtn was a time guzzler! Our second ride had almost a half hour wait. We tried to go through the quick re-ride line, and were denied. That's fine, but I didn't think the wait should be 1/6 of the event time. 

Even considering the inflated crowd (as opposed to my last MK After Hours in December), I would definitely recommend this event.


----------



## Lsdolphin

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc.  Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip.  DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.
> 
> I'm sure this villains thing will be fine.  But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night.  I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!
> 
> Ok, nonsensical rant over.  Sorry.




I feel the same way....but I am afraid this Villains show will only encourage more guests without DAH tickets to remain in park.   at least if they were doing meet and greets CMs could prevent people without wrist bands from getting in those lines. Also I'm thinking Disney might just wait in until later in evening to have the Villains part of the events in the hopes that those without wrist bands will leave which will still result in longer ride lines.  Anyway I just wish they would leave the Villains for Halloween parties and leave DAH the way it is right now!
As long as I'm complaining I might as well add  one more...not sure if this is still the case but when I attended the DAH on 3/7 I noticed there were still a huge number of non-DAH guests in the stand-by line at PP for over an hour into DAH time.  I can see this as an even larger issue for more rides if there are even more guests who will stay in park hoping to see villains. 
Ok done complaining and waiting to get tix for 6/27!


----------



## msmith1026

Today is our arrival day and we are attending tonight’s event—I will report back our experience and if anyone has any questions let me know — I will try to get answers for you!


----------



## Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

msmith1026 said:


> Today is our arrival day and we are attending tonight’s event—I will report back our experience and if anyone has any questions let me know — I will try to get answers for you!



We just purchased tickets for May 9.  This will be our only Disney park visit of the trip (we are Universal passholders) so we definitely want to maximize our time.  I will be interested to know what time they allow you entrance to the park....specifically if it is before 7 PM.

Have fun tonight!


----------



## jaceraden

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina said:


> We just purchased tickets for May 9.  This will be our only Disney park visit of the trip (we are Universal passholders) so we definitely want to maximize our time.  I will be interested to know what time they allow you entrance to the park....specifically if it is before 7 PM.
> 
> Have fun tonight!



We went to DAH at MK on March 28. We had no other ticket media and were let right in at 6pm.


----------



## cakebaker

ninafeliz said:


> maybe the villains stuff will occupy people and keep the lines non existent.



That is a bright side- if you’re not interested in the shows, they will at least draw a lot of guests away from the rides. IF Disney keeps the numbers where they are, that should make for very short lines I would think.

My daughter is going in July and is thrilled to see the villains overlay. We don’t do the parties anymore so it’s a good way to see them. There’s definitely a demand for them, just not my cup of tea.


----------



## Ron Rico

PolyRob said:


> Trying to catch up on all my threads after getting back from WDW. I attended DAH on 4/4 with my family and it was still a great event! I am sad to see the changes coming and price increase, but I guess time will tell.
> 
> 4/4/19 was definitely more crowded than my July 2018 DAH event. There were larger groups of people throughout MK, but the only thing that was really affected was 7DMT. It had longer waits throughout the whole night. The posted time never seemed to drop below 25 minutes. We only rode it 1x during the actual event (10pm - 1am) unlike July 2018 when I rode it multiple times in a row.
> 
> We arrived at MK a little after 7pm. It was a rest day with no parks and we had 3 FP+ for MK:
> 
> 7:00-8:00pm: Meet Mickey and Minnie
> 8:30-9:30pm: 7DMT
> 9:30-10:00pm: Peter Pan
> We met Mickey and Minnie and then scoped out a prime spot for HEA which was at 9:15pm. We dodged the crowds and made it on 7DMT even though it was about 5 minutes past the FP+ window. We walked over to Peter Pan which had a huge standby line. After Peter Pan, it was 10:01pm and DAH officially started! I wanted to head to Big Thunder since we skipped it the day prior since it had a HUGE FP+ line, but it had a 25 minute wait posted so I figured we would go on Small World since we were right there and it had a 10 minute wait posted and virtually no line.
> 
> The rest of the night went like this after Small World:
> 
> Big Thunder x2 (both sides were running)
> Splash Mountain (private log to ourselves)
> Popcorn/ice cream break
> Pirates
> Main Street PhotoPass pictures
> Space Mountain x2 (used the re-ride path)
> Popcorn/ice cream break
> People Mover (with some snacks… shhhh don’t tell)
> Tea Cups
> Little Mermaid
> By now it was around 12:30am. The last thing on our list was to get on 7DMT again. The posted wait time was 35 minutes. We attempted to get in line for 7DMT and as we were walking up there was an announcement that all trains through the mine had stopped because of an issue. About half of the people left including my family and I and we decided to take our own photos in the Hub and around Cinderella Castle and enjoyed some sodas. We walked back to 7DMT about 15/20 minutes later and got in line again at 12:51am. The wait time was still posted at 35 minutes. In reality, it only took 13 minutes and we were on 7DMT by 1:04am.
> 
> We saw the Kiss Goodnight and headed towards the exit.
> 
> Busses for MK resorts seemed to be much better this time. One was waiting for us and we all got on with seats. The bus waited about 5 minutes for other guests and was going to stop at Poly, GF, and then CR (1 family decided they were too tired to walk).
> 
> Overall, we had a great time! I booked it knowing the spring break crowds and temps could be insane. We accomplished everything we wanted to and had a great night.
> 
> We didn't stop at every snack cart. Some had larger lines than others, but there were so many different locations and the CMs were so fast that the waits were minimal. I inquired about the Minute Maid cups and was told only Olaf bars at two locations. YMMV.



Thanks for the report! We’re going tonight!

This will be our first time in MK. Where do you suggest we try to go for HEA? And what time should we stake out our spot?


----------



## Roxyfire

Mrjoshua said:


> We attended the event on 4/4, and had a ball...
> 
> Between 7 and 10pm:
> - Haunted Mansion
> - Mickey's Philharmagic
> - Pirates of the Caribbean
> - Ate candied bacon and chicken skewers
> - Big Thunder Mtn Railroad (during fireworks!)
> - Watched the remaining fireworks from Frontierland
> - Barnstormer
> 
> After 10pm
> - Space Mtn x 2
> - Popcorn and Ice Cream
> - 7 Dwarfs Mine Train x 3
> - Haunted Mansion x 2 (had the Mansion to ourselves once)
> - Ice Cream
> - Big Thunder Mtn Railroad x 4
> 
> My only real complaint is an increase in bodies. After Hours Space Mtn was a time guzzler! Our second ride had almost a half hour wait. We tried to go through the quick re-ride line, and were denied. That's fine, but I didn't think the wait should be 1/6 of the event time.
> 
> Even considering the inflated crowd (as opposed to my last MK After Hours in December), I would definitely recommend this event.




I've seen the Space Mountain quick re-ride referenced a couple times. How does that work? I've never heard of it and I'm trying to imagine where that would be.


----------



## PolyRob

Roxyfire said:


> I've seen the Space Mountain quick re-ride referenced a couple times. How does that work? I've never heard of it and I'm trying to imagine where that would be.


When you get out of the car past the photo wall there is a green or orange stripe on the wall. If you follow it up the ramp, you are spit out back at the loading area for the ride. YMMV if the CMs let you use it. I asked when I got off my first ride (green side) and the CM said sure, no problem, follow the green stripe.


----------



## Mango7100

Ashley Marie said:


> I know I’ve brought up the kids question before, but I’m just thinking out loud here and wondering if anyone has any further input.
> 
> So we’re tentatively looking at 6/27 or 7/1 for the Villains event. I’m torn though - kids are young. My daughter (7) could handle it. My son (4), not so sure. We tried taking him to MNSSHP last Sept. and he fell asleep in the stroller through almost the whole thing. Money flying away...
> 
> I’m considering a few options.
> 
> 1) just risking it and going as a family, accepting the fact that the night has a 50/50 chance of not going exactly so well. But if he DOES stay awake, what a fun memory for the kids (and our family as a whole)
> 
> 2) making it a date night and getting a babysitter in our room for bedtime until the time we get back. It will probably cost less than the two tickets for them, and my husband and I would both be able to fully enjoy it instead of taking turns on rides, assuming our son falls asleep
> 
> 3) since there are two events while we are there, taking turns bringing our daughter. I go with just her to one of the dates while my husband hangs out at the resort with our son, and vice versa. This is clearly the winning scenario for my daughter, who would get to go twice and have one-on-one time with each parent
> 
> What would you all do?


We took our 5 year old to the 10-1 am event March 21. I was nervous that she wouldn’t make it and we would waste our money (she normally is in bed at 730-8). She did great— we took a stroller as a back up and she crashed as we were walking out at 105 am. We didn’t leave our hotel until 3 pm that day, so I would definitely do a low key morning. It was well worth it!


----------



## Roxyfire

PolyRob said:


> When you get out of the car past the photo wall there is a green or orange stripe on the wall. If you follow it up the ramp, you are spit out back at the loading area for the ride. YMMV if the CMs let you use it. I asked when I got off my first ride (green side) and the CM said sure, no problem, follow the green stripe.



Oh wow rock on, thanks. I think we might make Space Mountain a priority later in the evening as that one is a long walk around the regular queue.


----------



## Jld71

I’m sorry if this has already been discussed, but is there any speculation as to when dates will be announced for the end of August?


----------



## 22Tink

Jld71 said:


> I’m sorry if this has already been discussed, but is there any speculation as to when dates will be announced for the end of August?


Still waiting...


----------



## PPFlight75

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc.  Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip.  DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.
> 
> I'm sure this villains thing will be fine.  But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night.  I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!
> 
> Ok, nonsensical rant over.  Sorry.


I feel the same. At first I was excited and even more so that we will be there on one of the dates. But I’m worries it won’t be as good. Our AH last month was perfect!


----------



## PolyRob

Roxyfire said:


> Oh wow rock on, thanks. I think we might make Space Mountain a priority later in the evening as that one is a long walk around the regular queue.


Its so convenient and saves a lot of steps now that the moving walkway is gone


----------



## mcurrence

Wishing everyone a magical night!!! Enjoy!


----------



## msmith1026

We just got back from the 4/11 event. It was absolutely perfect. We attended an after hours event back in June and we said tonight we thought there were less people at tonight’s event. Crowds were very small— frontier land was desolate around 9:30 and the circus area at midnight was vacant. 

We arrived at 6:45 and were able to enter the park. We picked up a BTMR fastpass when we got to the park and decided to hit Barnstormer and Under the Sea so we could skip them at the event. Both rides had minimal waits, so we did them, hit the Teacups and Peoplemover (lights were on in space!!), then made our way to Big Thunder. 

We were done with that just as fireworks were starting so we watched those as we wandered over to the tangled lantern photo. There was one family in front of us so we did that quick, then did Small World on a boat by ourselves. By this point it was 9:40 and Peter Pan had a posted 15 minute wait so we hit that too. The wait time was actually longer so once we exited after hours had officially started.

We went back to BTMR and it was a walk on so we rode that 3x in a row. Grabbed some waters and Mickey bars and then took our chances on Mine Train. Posted wait time was 25 minutes, we were on in 11. We got off and did it again and waited 7 minutes. Did it a 3rd time and wait was back to 10. Hopped off of that and did the Pooh ride which was a total walk on. From there we hit Space Mountain (3x) Peoplemover, and Buzz. 

We grabbed some more snacks and water in Tomorrowland then decided to head back to Barnstormer which we rode 2x without getting off. Then we headed to Dumbo, 2x as well and by this time it was 12:30 so we chanced one mire Mine Train ride. Wait still said 20 minutes and this time it was probably closer to 15. Once we were done with that we decided to grab some empty Main Street photos and head out. 

I definitely didn’t expect to get as much done as we did. I don’t know if we hit the rides at the perfect time or if it was just a really low crowd night. 

We did see multiple people get turned away at rides once the event started — one guy in the Peter Pan line was complaining about the event and said he was going to stay in the park because “Disney couldn’t tell him to leave.” I’m going to guess that he didn’t get to do much after he got off of Peter Pan because they were checking wristbands constantly. 

Once again I would recommend this event. We had the absolute best kick off to our trip tonight. We are going to After Hours at DHS on the 13th so I will be curious to see how crowds are for that one.


----------



## Ron Rico

It’s 2:25 am and we just got back to the resort after Magic Kingdom After Hours! What an amazing night! Details and pictures after some sleep


----------



## slduck

Ditto to what everyone from tonight’s event said. It was amazing! We have so many pics of an almost empty Main Street. Almost every ride was walk on. 7DMT was 10 minutes tops, and the. Lantern pic may have been a 5 min wait. At times we were the only people on some rides. We rode Big Thunder Mountain twice without getting off.  CMs were turning people without bands at 10:00pm on the dot. They started letting people in at exactly 6:30 tonight.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Kind of had a feeling last night was going to be one of those ‘good’ nights just given what wait times have looked like this week and last evening.  Probably a great week between the March/first week of April spring breaks and the Easter spring breaks about to start.  

Thanks for the reports!


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Kind of had a feeling last night was going to be one of those ‘good’ nights just given what wait times have looked like this week and last evening.  Probably a great week between the March/first week of April spring breaks and the Easter spring breaks about to start.
> 
> Thanks for the reports!


I've been watching crowds this week as well because I figure it's similar to what I might see during my trip in May. Touring Plans certainly has missed the mark big time. They forecasted 7's and 8's but it's been 2's and 3's.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Iowamomof4 said:


> I've been watching crowds this week as well because I figure it's similar to what I might see during my trip in May. Touring Plans certainly has missed the mark big time. They forecasted 7's and 8's but it's been 2's and 3's.



TP was wrong?!?! I’m shocked 
But at least they were wrong in a positive direction.

Nice to read about a low crowd night again!


----------



## Ron Rico

Iowamomof4 said:


> I've been watching crowds this week as well because I figure it's similar to what I might see during my trip in May. Touring Plans certainly has missed the mark big time. They forecasted 7's and 8's but it's been 2's and 3's.



I noticed that on their site, but when we got into the park at 6:30 it was a zoo! We’ve never been to MK, so I don’t have a reference, but if that was a 2 or 3, I don’t want to be there on an 8!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Ron Rico said:


> I noticed that on their site, but when we got into the park at 6:30 it was a zoo! We’ve never been to MK, so I don’t have a reference, but if that was a 2 or 3, I don’t want to be there on an 8!



Yeah, the parks are crowded every day of the week, 365 days/year pretty much (with a few rare exceptions). People do need to have realistic expectations that a "2" or "3" doesn't mean empty. But hopefully a 2 or a 3 day will mean getting from one place to another is somewhat easier than on an 8 or 9 day and scoring extra FP's should also be a little easier. I'm still looking forward to our DAH events even though I anticipate low to moderate crowds during our week because I know those events are still necessary if I want to be able to move about with ease and have most rides be walk-on or very low waits.


----------



## Ron Rico

OK... Now that I’ve slept and had coffee, here are more details  

Based on the past two events where folks were getting in at 6, we arrived just before 6. There were maybe 40 people lined up at that point. The cast members kept looking at their watches and they let us in precisely at 6:30.

I had booked FPS for Splash Mountain and 7DMT before HEA, and Peter Pan after. We did Splash at about 6:50 (we had to go the long route because of some marching bands on Main Street) and the FP wait was about 10 minutes, and then 7DMT shortly after that, and then staked out a spot for HEA. We ended up on the right (facing the castle) at the pathway leading back to the entrance and had a fence and pillar at our back. It turned out to be an amazing spot! I ran and got us food at Cosmic Ray’s and brought it back.

HEA was absolutely amazing and I too way too many pictures  After the crowd thinned a bit we went to PP and once we were off of that the event was started. This was our last park day so we were moving a little slower than most, but we were able to ride everything that we wanted except Space Mountain. We headed that way and rode people mover, not realizing how long it too, and when we were off the entrance to Space was roped off.  Oh well . We had no wait at all for any of the rides, and the snack stands that we saw had no lines either. There were short lines for some of the photographers, but we never wait for more than two parties in front of us.

For us this was an amazing way to visit MK for the first time! I do wish that we had gotten on Space Mountain, but that gives us a reason to come back!

Thanks to all for the advice and info in this thread!

I uploaded some of the MK pics here...

https://postimg.cc/gallery/t20671wa/


----------



## Aurora2017

I would like to ask for opinions on something. We are planning to go Aug 3-10. It will be Me, my husband, 11 year old son and 8 year old daughter. This is our 3rd time to WDW. We are trying to decide between doing the Villians DAH at MK on Aug 8 or EMM at MK on Aug 4. We can't afford both. EMM would have al of the rides the kids love in Fantasyland and small crowds, plus a breakfast and is cheaper-$300 for all 4. However, my children were disappointed we missed the MNSSHP dates and the Villians DAH is kind of a compromise and it is 3 hours long. But it is $560 for the 4 of us and sooo late at night for them. I'm also worried the crowds will be longer. Any opinions on which we should plan to do? I just can't decide! Thanks in advance!


----------



## Traveling on cc points

Aurora2017 said:


> I would like to ask for opinions on something. We are planning to go Aug 3-10. It will be Me, my husband, 11 year old son and 8 year old daughter. This is our 3rd time to WDW. We are trying to decide between doing the Villians DAH at MK on Aug 8 or EMM at MK on Aug 4. We can't afford both. EMM would have al of the rides the kids love in Fantasyland and small crowds, plus a breakfast and is cheaper-$300 for all 4. However, my children were disappointed we missed the MNSSHP dates and the Villians DAH is kind of a compromise and it is 3 hours long. But it is $560 for the 4 of us and sooo late at night for them. I'm also worried the crowds will be longer. Any opinions on which we should plan to do? I just can't decide! Thanks in advance!


Are you buying park hoppers or base tickets? If you are buying base tickets you have to use a regular admission ticket for the magic kingdom if you do EMM. If you are buying hoppers this doesn't make a difference.


----------



## Aurora2017

Traveling on cc points said:


> Are you buying park hoppers or base tickets? If you are buying base tickets you have to use a regular admission ticket for the magic kingdom if you do EMM. If you are buying hoppers this doesn't make a difference.


We have park hoppers.


----------



## MotherKnowsBest

We were also there last night. This was our third after hours and was definitely the least crowded!  We lined up around 6 at the turnstiles and were let in at 6:30. It really was not busy at all even at this time. Between 6:30 and 10, we rode:
Tea cups
SDMT (FP)
Enchanted tales with Belle  (by far our longest wait)
PP (FP)
IASW
HM
BTTMR (FP)
SplashM x2 (FP both times)

And then during the event:
Pirates (boat to ourselves)
Aladdin
BTMRR X2
HM
Carousel horses
SDMT
Little Mermaid ride
Barnstormer x5 (didn't have to get off in between rides)
Dumbo 
Space x2 (took the short cut)
Buzz x3

We also each had two ice creams, two popcorns and a drink. No lines at any snack cart which was quite different then our other AH experiences. I thought they had more snack carts this time too. 

This was our only park experience this week as we are doing a relaxing resort trip.  The two resorts we have been at have not been that busy either but crowds are increasing today it seems.  We have stayed at Saratoga and AKL. 

Just a wonderful experience last night!


----------



## Mango7100

We decided on DAH instead of EMM for our family of 3 (DD is 5) because it was longer (we did not have hoppers so it was more like a bonus 6 1/2 hrs since we were let in at 630) 2) more rides were open 3) like the atmosphere at night 4) while the breakfast for EMM is nice I didn’t want to waste those morning hours where the crowds are lower sitting down and eating. Even if you went at 945 for breakfast that is still prime ride time where waits are smaller (aside from 7DMT). We get a lot done from 9-11 on a normal day, and sitting eating for 45 min would cut into that. 5) the 3 hrs for DAH flies by, I think with only 75 min for EMM it would be fast. I also believe that 745 is when you are let in the front gates, so part of that time you are paying for is spent walking to fantasyland...


----------



## Castlequeen5

Aurora2017 said:


> I would like to ask for opinions on something. We are planning to go Aug 3-10. It will be Me, my husband, 11 year old son and 8 year old daughter. This is our 3rd time to WDW. We are trying to decide between doing the Villians DAH at MK on Aug 8 or EMM at MK on Aug 4. We can't afford both. EMM would have al of the rides the kids love in Fantasyland and small crowds, plus a breakfast and is cheaper-$300 for all 4. However, my children were disappointed we missed the MNSSHP dates and the Villians DAH is kind of a compromise and it is 3 hours long. But it is $560 for the 4 of us and sooo late at night for them. I'm also worried the crowds will be longer. Any opinions on which we should plan to do? I just can't decide! Thanks in advance!



Although we have an EMM planned for MK in July, I would rather do a DAH because it’s at night, it’s longer, and more rides are available.  I plan to cancel mine, once I have the DAH tickets.   You can consider a DAH ticket as another day added to the trip, whereas the EMM requires a separate admission ticket to get in. I don’t know if you’ve already purchased the tickets, but you could take a day off your tickets and use the savings toward the DAH ticket.  Then use that day to relax until the evening.  My kids love staying up when we’re on the go, but once we slow down like for parades or fireworks that’s when they start getting tired.  That’s also after we’ve been at the parks all day.  If we chill at the hotel all day, then they’re good to go!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Park hours have been updated for May.


----------



## cakebaker

Makes our May 2 DAH until 1am. OMG, I don't know if we can do it or not. It's our arrival day and our flight leaves before 6am. Fingers crossed our room will be ready when we get there. Nap time! Nice hours though.


----------



## maryj11

cakebaker said:


> Makes our May 2 DAH until 1am. OMG, I don't know if we can do it or not. It's our arrival day and our flight leaves before 6am. Fingers crossed our room will be ready when we get there. Nap time! Nice hours though.


Yes that will be a long day unless you can rest in the room before going to DAH.


----------



## cakebaker

It was the only one we could do during our trip. Last time, our room wasn't ready until 3 and we're staying at the same resort. I'm going to let them know that the room being ready is our #1 priority. My 7 yr old grandson will do fine. The child sleeps less than anyone I've ever known. I'm the one who needs the nap! lol


----------



## 22Tink

Castlequeen5 said:


> Although we have an EMM planned for MK in July, I would rather do a DAH because it’s at night, it’s longer, and more rides are available.  I plan to cancel mine, once I have the DAH tickets.   You can consider a DAH ticket as another day added to the trip, whereas the EMM requires a separate admission ticket to get in. I don’t know if you’ve already purchased the tickets, but you could take a day off your tickets and use the savings toward the DAH ticket.  Then use that day to relax until the evening.  My kids love staying up when we’re on the go, but once we slow down like for parades or fireworks that’s when they start getting tired.  That’s also after we’ve been at the parks all day.  If we chill at the hotel all day, then they’re good to go!


This is my plan as well for August. I’ll keep the EMM until I (hopefully) can secure DAH tickets.


----------



## DisneyMomma930

When oh when are they going to release mid-late August dates???


----------



## Iowamomof4

DisneyMomma930 said:


> When oh when are they going to release mid-late August dates???



Hmm... it's only been 10 days since they released the Villains dates. I think you're going to have to be patient and also figure out how to do your trip without DAH because it's possible there won't be any DAH in late August due to MNSSHP events. IF they have any DAH, they might not be as frequent as they have been.


----------



## DisneyMomma930

Iowamomof4 said:


> Hmm... it's only been 10 days since they released the Villains dates. I think you're going to have to be patient and also figure out how to do your trip without DAH because it's possible there won't be any DAH in late August due to MNSSHP events. IF they have any DAH, they might not be as frequent as they have been.



I really don't care for MNSSHP.  I was hoping there would be a DAH mid august before the first MNSSHP starts.  Otherwise I will do EMM as a backup.  Heres hoping...


----------



## mcurrence

DisneyMomma930 said:


> I really don't care for MNSSHP.  I was hoping there would be a DAH mid august before the first MNSSHP starts.  Otherwise I will do EMM as a backup.  Heres hoping...


Don't lose hope!  They might sprinkle a couple of regular DAH from mid August to Sept like last year


----------



## cakebaker

Aurora2017 said:


> I would like to ask for opinions on something. We are planning to go Aug 3-10. It will be Me, my husband, 11 year old son and 8 year old daughter. This is our 3rd time to WDW. We are trying to decide between doing the Villians DAH at MK on Aug 8 or EMM at MK on Aug 4. We can't afford both. EMM would have al of the rides the kids love in Fantasyland and small crowds, plus a breakfast and is cheaper-$300 for all 4. However, my children were disappointed we missed the MNSSHP dates and the Villians DAH is kind of a compromise and it is 3 hours long. But it is $560 for the 4 of us and sooo late at night for them. I'm also worried the crowds will be longer. Any opinions on which we should plan to do? I just can't decide! Thanks in advance!



I’m cancelling the MM’s I have for HS and the MK. I got DAH’s for those and the AK and I’m kind of relieved not to have to get up and out so early along with having a lot more time in the parks at night when it’s not so hot.

For me, it was a no brainer. I pay $95 for DAH’s with my AP. Twice as much time for not a great deal more money.


----------



## cel_disney

4/11 was our night and our experience was similar to others with crowd levels that met our expectations!

In attendance were me and DD8.5.    We had a really really long day as we were up at 5am to make our flight to Florida and for various reasons didn’t nap during either of our planned nap sessions today - we were exhausted and left before it ended.  Our step counters said that we walked 22000 steps between 2pm and 12:30pm at parks that day!!   By the end of the night we were definitely not moving too quickly!

While it’s not quite as empty as it was the first year - we thought the crowd level was great.  All of the FP we picked up with refresh method while at the park.

8:24 - entered park/got wristband
8:30 - buzz with FP
8:45 - barnstormer w/FP
Bathroom Break
Pictures by Ariel Statue
9:00 - Under the Sea w/FP
Pictures by Under Sea Entrance
9:15 watched fireworks behind castle (totally different than in front! You feel like you can touch them!)
9:30 - lantern photo (1 family in front of us)
9:37 in line for Pan (10 min posted wait..we had a Pooh FP that we didn’t get to use because the wait time wasn’t actually 10 min!)
10:05 off Peter Pan
10:10 carousel (walk on)
10:15 frozen bananas (7DMT - posted 20 min wait but looked like they had DAH using FP line vs Stand By line.
10:30 Pooh (walk on)
10:33 in 7DMT line (posted 25, verbal 20...clearly overstated!)
10:41 sorted to a train (can’t complain about an 8 min wait!)
10:48 off 7D
10:54 boarded small world (no wait)
11:13 popcorn in liberty square (no wait)
11:22 big thunder (long) walk on (wish they had a shorter queue when there was no wait!)
11:30 road again (didn’t get off)
11:35 off
11:41 eating break for ice cream sandwich in liberty square
Pictures on Main Street
12:12 photos with Mickey finished (no wait)
12;18 photos with Tink (no wait)
12:26 on bus to AoA
13:59 - in bed!!

Really would have liked to have gotten on HM, Buzz, Peoplemove and 7DMT one more time but just didn’t have the gas to do it!  I think it totally would have been possible with less lounging and faster walking! 

One thing that surprised us was how fast our bus ride was - we had no wait at MK and were home in a snap! 

I am tentatively planning June 13 for Villians DAH with a friend instead of an 8 year old.   I don’t know how big they will allow the crowds to be but hopefully it’s not full ‘party’ size.  Given the price point - I’m hoping that it will half the party size (ie - the Old party size where ride lines were still short!).   I just wonder how they will kick day guests out so they don’t see the free stuff...But we did notice good ride policing everywhere but the carousel.  And there was no wait for the carousel so we didn’t really mind!


----------



## Ron Rico

Iowamomof4 said:


> Hmm... it's only been 10 days since they released the Villains dates. I think you're going to have to be patient and also figure out how to do your trip without DAH because it's possible there won't be any DAH in late August due to MNSSHP events. IF they have any DAH, they might not be as frequent as they have been.



We talked with a cast member at the end of the AH event on Thursday about the Villians events and she said that it was a trial run for 12 weeks, starting in June, so that would seem to indicate that there will be events in August, but that is not official, of course!


----------



## mom2rtk

Ron Rico said:


> We talked with a cast member at the end of the AH event on Thursday about the Villians events and she said that it was a trial run for 12 weeks, starting in June, so that would seem to indicate that there will be events in August, but that is not official, of course!


That would be interesting since MNSSHP starts in August. I wonder if they're testing this as a potential downgrade for MNSSHP down the road. I mean, if lots of people are willing to pay the same amount for an event with only "light" theming, why would Disney want to spend all that extra on a full parade, special fireworks, stage show and characters?


----------



## Cinderumbrella

mom2rtk said:


> That would be interesting since MNSSHP starts in August. I wonder if they're testing this as a potential downgrade for MNSSHP down the road. I mean, if lots of people are willing to pay the same amount for an event with only "light" theming, why would Disney want to spend all that extra on a full parade, special fireworks, stage show and characters?



I doubt it. I think villains is a way of raising the price on DAH, and selling more tickets (either for a single event or offering more than once per week). The parties are huge money makers for them.


----------



## cakebaker

Only in my dreams will they do away with MNSSHP as it exists today. It’s over sold and increases crowd levels tremendously on non park days. Why would Disney ever stop doing this with huge numbers fighting to get tickets- so much so they extended the season, then replace it with an after hours event that has a much lower ticket sales limit? Yeah, they’re not going anywhere.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

cakebaker said:


> Only in my dreams will they do away with MNSSHP as it exists today. It’s over sold and increases crowd levels tremendously on non park days. Why would Disney ever stop doing this with huge numbers fighting to get tickets- so much so they extended the season, then replace it with an after hours event that has a much lower ticket sales limit?  Yeah, they’re not going anywhere.



I suspect she’s more worried about them scaling back what’s currently offered.

If I had to guess, if villains does well and is extended (or even additional themes, like princess or something) that there will be a higher price point for MNSSHP next year (along with big crowds of course)


----------



## cakebaker

Cinderumbrella said:


> I suspect she’s more worried about them scaling back what’s currently offered.
> 
> If I had to guess, if villains does well and is extended (or even additional themes, like princess or something) that there will be a higher price point for MNSSHP next year (along with big crowds of course)



Which is why I said as it exists today. I think worrying about them changing what is working so well for them is just hunting for worries.

I’m taking a wait and see on the villains DAH. They’re still advertising lower crowds. We’ll know soon enough if they’re increasing ticket limits. So far, DAH’s are not always sold out. I don’t know that there’s an incentive to increase the numbers....yet.

I’m betting the price goes up on the parties regardless.


----------



## DisneyMomma930

Im not into MNSSHP simply because they have oversold on tickets and the crowds are higher and we are going in August and Im not in the Halloween mood during the summer.  I just want plain old DAH.  Not Villains and not MNSHHP.  I just want 3 hours of low crowds and low waits after dark.  But if they dont have DAH at MK when we go I will have to do EMM.  Just waiting on release dates...


----------



## mcurrence

DisneyMomma930 said:


> Im not into MNSSHP simply because they have oversold on tickets and the crowds are higher and we are going in August and Im not in the Halloween mood during the summer.  I just want plain old DAH.  Not Villains and not MNSHHP.  I just want 3 hours of low crowds and low waits after dark.  But if they dont have DAH at MK when we go I will have to do EMM.  Just waiting on release dates...


I feel exactly the same way  Except for the EMM part, we're not morning people lol!


----------



## DisneyMomma930

mcurrence said:


> I feel exactly the same way  Except for the EMM part, we're not morning people lol!



Lol...I dont think my teenager would like getting up early for EMM but if thats the only way we can be able to ride SDMT and PP with little/no wait then she will deal.  But our 2 year old might not be able to handle DAH so that would be a babysitter night.  The older 2 kids would love it.


----------



## partyoffive

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I am very curious about the May 4th Hollywood Studios one...
> 
> But the description is still a little vague to me. Or maybe it is just that, extra Star Wars meet and greets...



I'm also curious about the May 4th. I'd like to go but don't want a crazy busy park because it's May 4th! But maybe I'm crazy hoping for a not completely sold out evening.


----------



## cmwade77

cakebaker said:


> Which is why I said as it exists today. I think worrying about them changing what is working so well for them is just hunting for worries.
> 
> I’m taking a wait and see on the villains DAH. They’re still advertising lower crowds. We’ll know soon enough if they’re increasing ticket limits. So far, DAH’s are not always sold out. I don’t know that there’s an incentive to increase the numbers....yet.
> 
> I’m betting the price goes up on the parties regardless.


They really don't tend to sell out at the Magic Kingdom, which is my guess why they are adding Villians, they want to draw more people in. But this this does mean a higher cost in labor and I wonder what Disney's profit margins on these events really is, so it might be they had to raise the price to continue to turn a profit.


----------



## cakebaker

cmwade77 said:


> They really don't tend to sell out at the Magic Kingdom, which is my guess why they are adding Villians, they want to draw more people in. But this this does mean a higher cost in labor and I wonder what Disney's profit margins on these events really is, so it might be they had to raise the price to continue to turn a profit.



I suspect the higher price is because they've added more to the event and feel they can charge more. It could well be they added the villains to sell more tickets. While I'm not thrilled with it, plenty of people are I'm sure.


----------



## Superchikk

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I'm not usually a complainer, just roll with the punches, life's too short, etc.  Sitting here looking at plans for a big extended family summer trip.  DAH date falls perfectly in the week, so at least I have that going for me (and for that I am thankful). Some in our party have not been to MK in decades.
> 
> I'm sure this villains thing will be fine.  But I'd be honest if I said I'm not bummed we won't have a 'normal' DAH night.  I didn't really want any overlay - I just want regular ole' close-to-perfect MK!
> 
> Ok, nonsensical rant over.  Sorry.



I agree. We just did 4/11 DAH and didn't have time to stop for a show. If they extend it by an hour or so, I'd stop for a show. But otherwise? Nah.


----------



## cmwade77

Superchikk said:


> I agree. We just did 4/11 DAH and didn't have time to stop for a show. If they extend it by an hour or so, I'd stop for a show. But otherwise? Nah.


I'm curious to see what they do for attraction overlays though.


----------



## Superchikk

We did DAH on 4/11. It was a surprise for my daughter's birthday (turning 8) - "Surprise! You're going to Disney with Mom... TODAY!" It was so much fun! 

We landed about 2:40pm, took ME to CSR, grabbed a late lunch at Rix, settled into our room, and headed over to MK. I had planned to grab some dinner before heading over, but our timeline got messed up with the late lunch. This trip was all about what she wanted to do, so I had to forego my own personal preferences on a few things.

We arrived at the gate at 5:45 and were second in line at our tapstyles. The CMs expected to begin letting us in at 6, but they were told to wait until 6:30. You could see they were unsure and I could hear some conversations going on about why it was later. There was never a definitive answer, but it's nice to know that we weren't crazy for hoping to be let in at 6.

Upon entry, we headed to Emporium to purchase an autograph book (DD's was almost full & she wanted a new one). We headed up Main Street and encountered the marching bands. She wanted to stop to watch, so we did. Made our way back to Fantasyland, and had to hit the restrooms already.  Looking around at wait times, everything was 20-40ish minutes... except 7DMT, which was 70-ish. 

Walked right into our 7pm FP for Enchanted Tales at 6:55pm. 
After Belle, we mobile ordered a pizza at Pinocchio's. 
Journey of LM, 15-minute posted wait, but walked on.
FP Ariel greet (40-minute posted wait at the time. With FP, we were behind 1 family)
Stopped to don our glow sticks - always one of her favorite parts of Disney at night
Splash Mountain, Standby (DD was DYING to ride it... posted 30 minute wait); Watched fireworks from Splash... and got stuck twice.
By the time we were off Splash, it was almost 10pm, and we hustled over to BTM. Posted wait time was 10 minutes, but it was more like 5.
BTM again. Got off right at 10pm
Back over to Splash, where we saw people without wristbands being turned away. Walked on - they were already sending empty logs.
After that, we walked on to everything except for 7DMT.
Pirates (had an entire boat to ourselves)
Aladdin x2
Ice cream (no wait)
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
Small World
7DMT x2 (20-minute posted wait, but took maybe 10 minutes, less the 2nd time)
Meet Cinderella & Elena
Meet Rapunzel & Tiana
Teacups
Buzz
Space x2 (DD's first time - she LOVED it. We rode Alpha & Omega, but had to walk all the way out & back in.)
Stepped off Space the 2nd time at 12:55
Grabbed more ice cream & popcorn and headed to the hub
Watched the goodnight, snapped a few photos, and walked out of the park. DD had no interest in staying for empty street photos and we were both wiped.

We were on a bus back to our resort by 1:15, back at the resort by 1:30-ish, quick showers, and to BED! It was definitely a full day, but such a good one.

It was a great night. With planning this instead of a full park day, we definitely got our money's worth. I kept thinking that was the only way I would want to do DAH... as a substitute for a full park day. Considering the possibility of the villain overlay, I might still do it, but would likely skip the show. We did a LOT, but felt like there was still more we could've done... and definitely more we WANTED to do. MNSSHP and MVMCP are just not for us, but I'd do DAH for my entire family. 

As for the ongoing "money grab" and "value" discussions, I really wish Disney would meet in the middle. I'm disappointed they've gotten rid of evening EMH for the time being. I wish they would split it - do 2 nights/week of evening EMH, and 2 nights/week of a ticketed event. That gives everyone the opportunity to stay late with the potential for fewer people in the park. Significantly fewer people at the ticketed event, obviously. And it still gives 3 nights/week of long overnights for the staff to do what they need to do. If that's not enough, swap it and do 3 late evenings, 4 long overnights. Just my two cents.


----------



## Superchikk

cmwade77 said:


> I'm curious to see what they do for attraction overlays though.



What kind of overlay could they do at park close? I'd think it would be $$ to build stuff in that they can swap out instantly at park close.


----------



## Disneyliscious

Have they ever had a DAH during the month of October? Haven't been since 2015 and would love to do DAH during our upcoming trip in October but can't find any info on that month.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Disneyliscious said:


> Have they ever had a DAH during the month of October? Haven't been since 2015 and would love to do DAH during our upcoming trip in October but can't find any info on that month.


Never in October so far.


----------



## Disneyliscious

Iowamomof4 said:


> Never in October so far.



/crushed


Thank you for the fast response though


----------



## Ron Rico

One thing that I noticed on 4/11 was that they did A Kiss Goodnight at least three times at the end of the AH event. We caught it shortly after 1am as we walked back from Tomorrowland, and then it ran again as we were coming out of the Emporium, probably around 1:15, and again as we were on the ferry to the TTC, probably around 1:30 ( I looked at the castle and is was purple, so I assume that they were doing Kiss.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Disneyliscious said:


> /crushed
> 
> 
> Thank you for the fast response though



One thing to watch though, is that so far in October they have moved the typical Wednesday pm emh to morning emh. Part of me wonders if they could be doing that to pave the way for DAH events during the busy Halloween party season. Time will tell, but I'd keep an eye out just in case.


----------



## skis2

Iowamomof4 said:


> One thing to watch though, is that so far in October they have moved the typical Wednesday pm emh to morning emh. Part of me wonders if they could be doing that to pave the way for DAH events during the busy Halloween party season. Time will tell, but I'd keep an eye out just in case.



https://www.kennythepirate.com/2019/04/10/magic-kingdom-will-eliminate-evening-extra-magic-hours/


----------



## maryj11

skis2 said:


> https://www.kennythepirate.com/2019/04/10/magic-kingdom-will-eliminate-evening-extra-magic-hours/


I figured it was heading that way.


----------



## Disneyliscious

skis2 said:


> https://www.kennythepirate.com/2019/04/10/magic-kingdom-will-eliminate-evening-extra-magic-hours/





maryj11 said:


> I figured it was heading that way.



Yeah I read about that last week. I think we all saw it coming. It's most definitely because there is no need for them to "give away" free hours anymore when they can charge $125 a head for them and that, in turn, leads back to the possibility that maybe they will do DAH on additional evenings now.


----------



## ninafeliz

What does everyone recommend we make our 3 FPs for prior to the event starting?  I was going to make them for 7,8,and 9 and our night it starts at 10 (In June).  It seems like most things are open during the event, so I'm not sure what the best use of my FP would be?  Do you just do favorite rides, or are there some that actually make sense to do as a FP prior to the actual event?  FWIW I'm not saving any event time for the villains show, we're planning to ride through that.


----------



## Ron Rico

I did Splash mountain in case we got soaked  at 6, figuring we would be in the park by 6:30 based on reports from the previous two or three events, 7DMT at 7, and then PP at 9:30 because we wanted to see HEA (first time). It worked out great!


----------



## disneydreamer781

Not surprised about EMH. Was expecting this. I don't mind because personally I much rather do the DAH events anyway. Not sure what to think about the Villains After Hours though. We're not going until the Fall so I'm not so sure this will even be offered then. I guess if it turns out to be popular they could, but with the Halloween Parties already going on, they probably won't. It's hard to know what Disney is thinking at times though.


----------



## PolyRob

I agree, definitely 7DMT and Peter Pan if they're on your list because they have the worst waits throughout the night. I did both of them in addition to Mickey & Minnie in their new costumes. It was something we never did before and easy to get to before waiting for HEA.

I would even say make your third something that takes long to get through like Jungle Cruise if thats important to ride. Not sure about the private boat experience during DAH, but 7/8 minutes is "precious time" lol Or even BTMR. I've read plenty reports of only one side running. I was fortunate and had both working during my night.


----------



## Haley R

ninafeliz said:


> What does everyone recommend we make our 3 FPs for prior to the event starting?  I was going to make them for 7,8,and 9 and our night it starts at 10 (In June).  It seems like most things are open during the event, so I'm not sure what the best use of my FP would be?  Do you just do favorite rides, or are there some that actually make sense to do as a FP prior to the actual event?  FWIW I'm not saving any event time for the villains show, we're planning to ride through that.


I would say 7dmt or pp for sure if you can get them. Jungle cruise and haunted mansion as well since those take longer


----------



## Raya

Does anyone know if counter service restaurants are open during the event? I'm picky about my soda, and prefer to drink it over ice. I know the drinks given out for the event come from a cart, so I expect no ice. Will I be able to go into the Starbucks on Main Street or another place and buy a cup of ice?

Also, are there any food choices other than ice cream/popcorn available when the event starts?


----------



## ninafeliz

Ron Rico said:


> I did Splash mountain in case we got soaked  at 6, fogureing we would be in the park by 6:30 based on reports from the previous two or three events, 7DMT at 7, and then PP at 9:30 because we wanted to see HEA (first time). It worked out great!





PolyRob said:


> I agree, definitely 7DMT and Peter Pan if they're on your list because they have the worst waits throughout the night. I did both of them in addition to Mickey & Minnie in their new costumes. It was something we never did before and easy to get to before waiting for HEA.
> 
> I would even say make your third something that takes long to get through like Jungle Cruise if thats important to ride. Not sure about the private boat experience during DAH, but 7/8 minutes is "precious time" lol Or even BTMR. I've read plenty reports of only one side running. I was fortunate and had both working during my night.





Haley R said:


> I would say 7dmt or pp for sure if you can get them. Jungle cruise and haunted mansion as well since those take longer



Thanks for the advice!  This morning I booked splash at 6:35, ETWB since I’ve only ever seen  it once at 7:40 and 7DMT at 8:40.  

However, I will probably change them. My boys and DH will be less than thrilled with ETWB and I don’t honestly know how much I care about it, I was just thinking it was something different we never use a FP on.  Also, we are doing EMM also so I should probably drop 7dmt and do something else, it is just so hard to not book something that is hard to get and I can get it 

I’m actually toying with doing the HEA dessert party.  We will only be seeing it from the Poly and GF this trip, so this would be a way to see it up close for projections.  We aren’t into dealing with crowds and holding places,
So if I don’t do the desseet party I’m not sure how watching it from the park would work out.  I guess we could just do a non ideal location last minute.  If we do this I’ll probably just get a Mickey FP to do on the way in and just do that and the dessert party before DAH. 

So many decisions.


----------



## pugbug

Another fastpass question:

Can I make fastpasses if the DAH ticket is my only ticket for that day? I have 3 day hoppers for my trip, but wasn't planning on using one for my DAH day. Thanks!


----------



## cakebaker

pugbug said:


> Another fastpass question:
> 
> Can I make fastpasses if the DAH ticket is my only ticket for that day? I have 3 day hoppers for my trip, but wasn't planning on using one for my DAH day. Thanks!



Yes. Some people say you run the risk of them being cancelled, but I haven’t actually read of anyone that it’s really happened to. And the worst that can happen is they get cancelled so not much risk.


----------



## BoatDriver

ninafeliz said:


> What does everyone recommend we make our 3 FPs for prior to the event starting?



We made FP's for Haunted Mansion at 6:30, 7DMT at 7:40, and BTMR at 9:00 to ride during fireworks. If you've seen HEA from Main Street and don't feel the need to brave the crowds, seeing it from Splash, People Mover, 7DMT or BTMR is pretty cool.


----------



## Vickie1016

BoatDriver said:


> We made FP's for Haunted Mansion at 6:30, 7DMT at 7:40, and BTMR at 9:00 to ride during fireworks. If you've seen HEA from Main Street and don't feel the need to brave the crowds, seeing it from Splash, People Mover, 7DMT or BTMR is pretty cool.



Ditto - on HEA, such a different experience when on a ride or just standing in Fantasyland (its like you are inside the fireworks!) 
Last summer we FP'd 6:15 BTMRR, 7:15 Jungle Cruise, 8:30 Speedway, then started DAH w/Barnstomer, Dumbo.


----------



## BK2014

Raya said:


> Does anyone know if counter service restaurants are open during the event? I'm picky about my soda, and prefer to drink it over ice. I know the drinks given out for the event come from a cart, so I expect no ice. Will I be able to go into the Starbucks on Main Street or another place and buy a cup of ice?
> 
> Also, are there any food choices other than ice cream/popcorn available when the event starts?



I am the same way about my soda, I hate not having it over ice.  I will say that the two times that we did DAH the bottles of coke were very well chilled.  However, assuming you arrive before the park closes and DAH begins, you should be able to get ice from a quick service restaurant to put into a water bottle or other container that you bring.  When we did DAH, Cosmic Ray's was open before DAH started, we got food there and could have gotten ice.  I didn't do this, because for DAH I prefer to travel as light as possible without the normal backpack and tervis tumbler that I carry at the parks.


----------



## Iowamomof4

cakebaker said:


> Yes. Some people say you run the risk of them being cancelled, but I haven’t actually read of anyone that it’s really happened to. And the worst that can happen is they get cancelled so not much risk.



Actually, the worst that can happen is that your last day of fastpasses gets cancelled. But otherwise I agree with you, it's been quite awhile since I've seen a report of anyone having issues with fastpasses booked on a DAH ticket.


----------



## cakebaker

Iowamomof4 said:


> Actually, the worst that can happen is that your last day of fastpasses gets cancelled. But otherwise I agree with you, it's been quite awhile since I've seen a report of anyone having issues with fastpasses booked on a DAH ticket.



But they would get a warning before that happened.


----------



## 123SA

cakebaker said:


> Yes. Some people say you run the risk of them being cancelled, but I haven’t actually read of anyone that it’s really happened to. And the worst that can happen is they get cancelled so not much risk.





Iowamomof4 said:


> Actually, the worst that can happen is that your last day of fastpasses gets cancelled. But otherwise I agree with you, it's been quite awhile since I've seen a report of anyone having issues with fastpasses booked on a DAH ticket.





cakebaker said:


> But they would get a warning before that happened.



The main point to consider is that it isn't your DAH day that gets threatened with cancellation, it's your last day of FP (which may or may not be your DAH day).

I got the threatening emails last summer when I booked 12 days of FP with a 10 day ticket, and 2 DAH tickets.  I wasn't willing to lose my last day of FP+ - which was Flights of passage.  I called several times, spoke with 3 or 4 IT customer service reps and did not get a consistent answer, so I deleted them.  I ressigned the tickets and booked FP at 30 days ...but I did something wrong and ended up at customer service for 30 minutes on both DAH nights.

This year, I intend to use my husband's disney account, not connected to my account with our 10 day ticket, to purchase the DAH tickets and book FP at 30 days out.  

I keep reading that booking FP SHOULD work, but it was not our experience.


----------



## Ron Rico

pugbug said:


> Another fastpass question:
> 
> Can I make fastpasses if the DAH ticket is my only ticket for that day? I have 3 day hoppers for my trip, but wasn't planning on using one for my DAH day. Thanks!



DAH was our only ticket that day, and also our last valid ticket overall, and we had no issues with FPS.


----------



## Ron Rico

Raya said:


> Does anyone know if counter service restaurants are open during the event? I'm picky about my soda, and prefer to drink it over ice. I know the drinks given out for the event come from a cart, so I expect no ice. Will I be able to go into the Starbucks on Main Street or another place and buy a cup of ice?
> 
> Also, are there any food choices other than ice cream/popcorn available when the event starts?



None of the QS places were open. As far as I know, the Emporium was the only place open besides the attractions and carts.


----------



## whiporee

Casey's MIGHT be open. I'm not sure, though. Not a real informative answer, i know, but I do think that one is open into DAH.


----------



## Ron Rico

ninafeliz said:


> I’m actually toying with doing the HEA dessert party.  We will only be seeing it from the Poly and GF this trip, so this would be a way to see it up close for projections.  We aren’t into dealing with crowds and holding places,
> So if I don’t do the desseet party I’m not sure how watching it from the park would work out.  I guess we could just do a non ideal location last minute.  If we do this I’ll probably just get a Mickey FP to do on the way in and just do that and the dessert party before DAH.
> 
> So many decisions.



We aren’t big dessert people so the dessert party wasn’t a good option for us, so we got to the hub area at about 7:45 (after 7DMT) and found a spot that was at on the right hand side when facing the castle, right at the corner of the pathway heading back towards the Plaza restaurant and Tomorrowand Terrace. We had a fence and pillar to lean on and no one behind us. It turned out that the reserved space for the Plaza viewing dessert party was across the path from us! It worked out perfectly!





More pictures at the link attached to this picture.


----------



## MKTokyo

Ron Rico said:


> None of the QS places were open. As far as I know, the Emporium was the only place open besides the attractions and carts.


Oh geez. I thought Casey's was open. We were also worried about warm soda after hearing CMs sometimes leave them to "grab & go" on top of the carts!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Unless recently changed, I’m ‘pretty certain’ Casey’s has been open for DAH.

I have it listed as open on page 1 so it must have been at some point.  Caveat in case it’s now stale.


----------



## 123SA

Ron Rico said:


> DAH was our only ticket that day, and also our last valid ticket overall, and we had no issues with FPS.



How many days of tickets did you have?   Now that I've thought about for a little bit,  I think this problem I mentioned, maybe only happens with the 10 day tickets?  In which case, the original poster with a 3 day ticket wouldn't need to be concerned.


----------



## Snowflakes&PixieDust

Hi All! I have a question about FP+ and DAH. I am planning on going to DAH in June. My family has park tix (DH and I have AP and 2 DS have PH). We will be using our park tix at AK earlier in the day of the DAH and are planning on getting 3 FP+ for that park. Can I also book 3 FP+ at MK using the DAH tix? My logic is that, if we weren't going to another park that day, we'd be able to book 3 FP+ at MK on the after hours tix. To not allow 3 FP+ on the DAH tix almost seems like we'd be penalized for using AP and PH tix earlier that day. Would it help to set up another MDE acct and link the DAH tix to that acct, keeping our park tix and DAH tix separate?


----------



## Iowamomof4

Snowflakes&PixieDust said:


> Hi All! I have a question about FP+ and DAH. I am planning on going to DAH in June. My family has park tix (DH and I have AP and 2 DS have PH). We will be using our park tix at AK earlier in the day of the DAH and are planning on getting 3 FP+ for that park. Can I also book 3 FP+ at MK using the DAH tix? My logic is that, if we weren't going to another park that day, we'd be able to book 3 FP+ at MK on the after hours tix. To not allow 3 FP+ on the DAH tix almost seems like we'd be penalized for using AP and PH tix earlier that day. Would it help to set up another MDE acct and link the DAH tix to that acct, keeping our park tix and DAH tix separate?



Each person is allowed to pre-book 3 FP at ONE park each day, regardless of how many park tickets they plan to use. We are in a similar situation, going to AK the day of our MK DAH and going to Epcot on the day of our DHS DAH, but we only have fastpasses booked for the first park we will attend. Those are the rules everyone has to live with. As to your last question, I have no idea. But I wouldn't want to jeopardize anything by trying to skirt the rules. I'm sure others have done what you suggested, I have no idea how that worked out for them. We will book a 4th fastpass at MK after we're done with our fastpasses at AK. Hope that helps.


----------



## Snowflakes&PixieDust

Iowamomof4 said:


> Each person is allowed to pre-book 3 FP at ONE park each day, regardless of how many park tickets they plan to use. We are in a similar situation, going to AK the day of our MK DAH and going to Epcot on the day of our DHS DAH, but we only have fastpasses booked for the first park we will attend. Those are the rules everyone has to live with. As to your last question, I have no idea. But I wouldn't want to jeopardize anything by trying to skirt the rules. I'm sure others have done what you suggested, I have no idea how that worked out for them. We will book a 4th fastpass at MK after we're done with our fastpasses at AK. Hope that helps.


Thanks- it does help! I definitely do not want to skirt the rules and cause a potential problem because of something as minor as fastpasses. I saw this suggestion on another site and it did sound a bit fishy  to me, so that's why I wanted to ask on this forum. I had not posted on here before but I regularly read these forums and have gained so much helpful information from here! Thanks so much!


----------



## Ron Rico

MKTokyo said:


> Oh geez. I thought Casey's was open. We were also worried about warm soda after hearing CMs sometimes leave them to "grab & go" on top of the carts!



All of the carts that we passed had the sodas on ice, but we probably didn't see all of them.



GADisneyDad14 said:


> Unless recently changed, I’m ‘pretty certain’ Casey’s has been open for DAH.
> 
> I have it listed as open on page 1 so it must have been at some point.  Caveat in case it’s now stale.



We weren't looking for food, so Casey's may have been opened and we just didn't notice it. Hopefully someone can confirm.


----------



## Ron Rico

123SA said:


> How many days of tickets did you have?   Now that I've thought about for a little bit,  I think this problem I mentioned, maybe only happens with the 10 day tickets?  In which case, the original poster with a 3 day ticket wouldn't need to be concerned.



We only had two days, plus the DAH tickets.


----------



## Coach Holden

We got 5-day tickets for Aug 4-9(Sunday-Friday) and also will be getting Villains for Thursday, Aug 8.  Planning on not burning a regular ticket on the day of the Villains night, I should be able to book FP for everyday including the DAH event on the 60 day window, right?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Coach Holden said:


> We got 5-day tickets for Aug 4-9(Sunday-Friday) and also will be getting Villains for Thursday, Aug 8.  Planning on not burning a regular ticket on the day of the Villains night, I should be able to book FP for everyday including the DAH event on the 60 day window, right?



In my opinion, the bullets below cut/paste from page 1 still apply.  I haven’t seen many/any reports in awhile of this happening, but the # of people making FPs with a DAH ticket is a very small population size so isn’t really a representative sample one way or the other.  For the last two years with MNSSHP and MVMCP (a much larger population size and far more guests with tickets try to make FPs for use before the party), we inevitably see reports of it happening.  Exactly why it happens to some and not others is elusive (despite a few half-baked theories around).  

Hope that helps!


*FPs with a DAH Ticket*

FPs are not available during the DAH event, all rides are standby only.
DAH tickets will allow for FP booking during regular park hours before the event starts, so - if you have no other FPs booked that day - one could book FPs with a DAH ticket during the regular park hours before the event.
HOWEVER, there can be issues when doing this, as has been happening for some people with MNSSHP and MVMCP events since 2017. Booking FPs with DAH tickets in combination with certain trip details/configurations can potentially cause Disney's system to flag your account for insufficient ticket entitlements and you will receive a warning that your last day of FPs will be cancelled if you do not address the problem.
Who and exactly why people get this warning remains elusive.
Bottom line - if you choose to book FPs with your DAH ticket entitlement and you have FPs booked on other days with regular park admission - you have some potential risk of receiving this warning... so keep an eye out.


----------



## 123SA

I feel certain this question has been asked, but I couldn't find it in the stickies.

I'm buying through my husband's account which has no resort reservation, so no magic bands.  Do they mail me a hard ticket?  Do I use that ticket at the FP tap points?


----------



## Haley R

123SA said:


> I feel certain this question has been asked, but I couldn't find it in the stickies.
> 
> I'm buying through my husband's account which has no resort reservation, so no magic bands.  Do they mail me a hard ticket?  Do I use that ticket at the FP tap points?


When you buy it you should be able to click how you want to get the tickets: in the mail (hard ticket) or at will call.


----------



## Ron Rico

Haley R said:


> When you buy it you should be able to click how you want to get the tickets: in the mail (hard ticket) or at will call.



I don't recall the option to have tickets mailed, but probably wouldn't have chosen that anyway. We just went to Guest Relations at Disney Springs to get out hard tickets and Magic Bands.


----------



## 3DisneyBuggs

Does anyone have a crystal ball because I wonder if the crowds will be more like MNSSHP or regular After Hours or worse? I was planning on a MK after hours for our trip in June but am not sure now. I love the villians theme and my boys would love a low crowd MK. I know I wont be able to resist buying tickets for this!


----------



## cakebaker

3DisneyBuggs said:


> Does anyone have a crystal ball because I wonder if the crowds will be more like MNSSHP or regular After Hours or worse? I was planning on a MK after hours for our trip in June but am not sure now. I love the villians theme and my boys would love a low crowd MK. I know I wont be able to resist buying tickets for this!



Never say never with Disney, but they still advertise it as little to no wait. Because it’s a busier season and villains, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more sold out nights, but even sold out, if they live up to their advertising, should still be significantly less crowded. 

That said, if you start seeing reports of overcrowding, all bets are off.


----------



## Haley R

Ron Rico said:


> I don't recall the option to have tickets mailed, but probably wouldn't have chosen that anyway. We just went to Guest Relations at Disney Springs to get out hard tickets and Magic Bands.


I think there have been conflicting reports about this. Some people have reported having the choice, while others didn't. It was nice to have them shipped to our house so it was one less thing to worry about when we got down there. I just kept it with our gift card.


----------



## Haley R

cakebaker said:


> Never say never with Disney, but they still advertise it as little to no wait. Because it’s a busier season and villains, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more sold out nights, but even sold out, if they live up to their advertising, should still be significantly less crowded.
> 
> That said, if you start seeing reports of overcrowding, all bets are off.


I think they actually changed the wording to just "little wait" now instead of having "little to no wait".


----------



## PolyRob

Ron Rico said:


> I don't recall the option to have tickets mailed, but probably wouldn't have chosen that anyway. We just went to Guest Relations at Disney Springs to get out hard tickets and Magic Bands.





Haley R said:


> I think there have been conflicting reports about this. Some people have reported having the choice, while others didn't. It was nice to have them shipped to our house so it was one less thing to worry about when we got down there. I just kept it with our gift card.



I think the delivery options depend on how far away the event is. Print at home and will call always seem to be an option. If the event is in the next week or two, the free mail option will not appear, only expedited UPS or FedEx.


----------



## cakebaker

Haley R said:


> I think they actually changed the wording to just "little wait" now instead of having "little to no wait".



The exact wording in the general description is “little-to-no-wait for popular attractions and Character Greetings.”

That is not how they describe emm’s or the parties.


----------



## Iowamomof4

cakebaker said:


> The exact wording in the general description is “little-to-no-wait for popular attractions and Character Greetings.”
> 
> That is not how they describe emm’s or the parties.


Is that what it says under the description of the Villains after hours though? That's where they had changed the wording.

Found it: 
During a Disney Villains After Hours event, you can:


Enjoy access to more than 20 popular Magic Kingdom attractions with low wait times


----------



## cakebaker

Iowamomof4 said:


> Is that what it says under the description of the Villains after hours though? That's where they had changed the wording.
> 
> Found it:
> During a Disney Villains After Hours event, you can:
> 
> 
> Enjoy access to more than 20 popular Magic Kingdom attractions with low wait times


 Even that description is not what they use for EMM’s and holiday parties.


Iowamomof4 said:


> Is that what it says under the description of the Villains after hours though? That's where they had changed the wording.
> 
> Found it:
> During a Disney Villains After Hours event, you can:
> 
> 
> Enjoy access to more than 20 popular Magic Kingdom attractions with low wait times



I can’t find anything on the website regarding the villains events. I know the parks blog describes the after hours as little wait, but I don’t put much significance in the slightly different wording there as they’re describing both regular after hours and the villains after hours. In their announcement of additional DAH’s, they used that terminology to describe them as well.  Every website I’ve read ( including the announcement on the Dis) treats the villains events as part of after hours events. I think if Disney increases capacity for this one, they’ll do it for all of them. It will be interesting to see, when it’s actually bookable, what the website says....unless I’m just missing it?


----------



## PolyRob

cakebaker said:


> Even that description is not what they use for EMM’s and holiday parties.
> 
> 
> I can’t find anything on the website regarding the villains events. I know the parks blog describes the after hours as little wait, but I don’t put much significance in the slightly different wording there as they’re describing both regular after hours and the villains after hours. In their announcement of additional DAH’s, they used that terminology to describe them as well.  Every website I’ve read ( including the announcement on the Dis) treats the villains events as part of after hours events. I think if Disney increases capacity for this one, they’ll do it for all of them. It will be interesting to see, when it’s actually bookable, what the website says....unless I’m just missing it?


There a description for it under the main Disney After Hours page:

 

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/after-hours/


----------



## GADisneyDad14

FWIW, I do occasionally cut/paste the website text and save on the side 'just in case' we ever have to refer back to see any changes.  

I never quite know what to think about website copy.  50% of the time Disney is very particular/intentional with their word choices and 50% of the time it could be whatever random words that writer chose on that particular day.  DAH and similar events tend to - at times - be riddled with website text problems... BTMR is always left off the MNSSHP ride list then randomly added later, they've had incorrect party parade viewing/dessert party info the past two years, they've now had wrong date/time info on at least two DAH releases....

So part of me wants to read into the subtle text changes, but part of me reads it as random marketing speak.  Who knows I guess.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

GADisneyDad14 said:


> FWIW, I do occasionally cut/paste the website text and save on the side 'just in case' we ever have to refer back to see any changes.
> 
> I never quite know what to think about website copy.  50% of the time Disney is very particular/intentional with their word choices and 50% of the time it could be whatever random words that writer chose on that particular day.  DAH and similar events tend to - at times - be riddled with website text problems... BTMR is always left off the MNSSHP ride list then randomly added later, they've had incorrect party parade viewing/dessert party info the past two years, they've now had wrong date/time info on at least two DAH releases...
> 
> So part of me wants to read into the subtle text changes, but part of me reads it as random marketing speak.  Who knows I guess.


This is what I am thinking/hoping. I also wondered if they made the slight change because some rides have had longer than hoped waits and they have had complaints.
Who knows, not a lot of faith, trust or pixie dust in the website writers.
Either way, I'll still attempt it July 1, not because it's villains, but for the DAH. But we'll check out the villains, and, yes, we'll all wear a villain on our shirts to get into the spirit.  Makes a night on our trip a little different and fun. 

Now if they'd add AK DAH for July 2nd..maybe with a Lion King theme, either way...


----------



## cakebaker

PolyRob said:


> There a description for it under the main Disney After Hours page:



Thanks, that should’ve been easy for me to find! lol


----------



## cakebaker

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So part of me wants to read into the subtle text changes, but part of me reads it as random marketing speak. Who knows I guess



Exactly where I am too.


----------



## whiporee

I have a prediction for the event: If the crowds don't get to at least double the previous DAH levels -- which would still be really low -- WDW will incorporate some level of M&G into it. Maybe with characters who aren't totally unheard of other times, like Cruella or the step sisters, or even Hook, but some sort of photo ops like they'll have with the dragon. Reading he description, they want much higher attendance than they've been getting during old school DAH. I know the M&Gs caused big problems at DHS, but maybe that was more the case of limited things to do or the characters included. I think they'll test out how it goes without the M&Gs, but if attendance doesn't skyrocket, they'll bring back a surefire way to get the folks there. 

So if you want to meet villains but only have limited times to try this out, you might think about waiting a while. I'll bet there will be some sort of M&G by the end of the summer.


----------



## PolyRob

cakebaker said:


> Thanks, that should’ve been easy for me to find! lol


Its a little more hidden than the other ones since you can't navigate to it from the the ticket page since they're not on sale yet. I've tried! lol The search is also hit or miss for me. Sometimes its great and sometimes I just have to google what I want with the words Disney World.

I only had it readily available because I am considering a June date and needed the details (or lack thereof)


----------



## Susan Mayer

We are doing a short girls trip to Orlando with friends in July and they are Universal people so we weren't planning on Disney.  It works out though that my 10 year old and I will get to do a villains DAH event.  I booked a hotel in the Disney Springs area for the night.  Does anyone know if the buses to Disney Springs run after midnight?


----------



## jbentley

Do I need to book the DAH Villain ticket the day they go on sale on the 29th? I'd prefer to wait but don't want it to sell out. However, if I do decide to buy the day they release, can DVC buy them early or do they go on sale to everyong on the 29th?


----------



## Castlequeen5

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> This is what I am thinking/hoping. I also wondered if they made the slight change because some rides have had longer than hoped waits and they have had complaints.
> Who knows, not a lot of faith, trust or pixie dust in the website writers.
> Either way, I'll still attempt it July 1, not because it's villains, but for the DAH. But we'll check out the villains, and, yes, we'll all wear a villain on our shirts to get into the spirit.  Makes a night on our trip a little different and fun.
> 
> Now if they'd add AK DAH for July 2nd..maybe with a Lion King theme, either way...



This is when we plan to go as well even though I don’t care about the villains part.  But I’d love it if they have a DAH at AK while we’re there too!


----------



## Castlequeen5

jbentley said:


> Do I need to book the DAH Villain ticket the day they go on sale on the 29th? I'd prefer to wait but don't want it to sell out. However, if I do decide to buy the day they release, can DVC buy them early or do they go on sale to everyong on the 29th?



I’d be shocked if it sold out that fast.  I know it’ll be a busy week, but I imagine you’d have at least a few weeks if not more to buy your tickets.  I think the other 2 parks sell out more often.


----------



## Raya

Took the plunge and booked hotel/flight for the first villains event. Can't believe I'll be buying tickets for an event two months after my Disney trip while I'm on a Disney trip.... But it's villains!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

https://wdwnt.com/2019/04/villains-...disney-villains-after-hours-at-magic-kingdom/


----------



## Skywise

They must be planning on expanding this - probably why they're whacking EMH in the fall.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> https://wdwnt.com/2019/04/villains-...disney-villains-after-hours-at-magic-kingdom/



Grrrrrr......

Half way seems we need another thread for this one, it’s SO different.

I have the choice of DAH Villains or TL H20 Glow Nights on my Thursday night for a summer trip.  I was 50/50 on which one we’d do before, I think my scales are moving towards TL.  Shocked to be saying that.

However, to not be such a downer, I am very happy for the Villain crowd - if I were more into it I could see the appeal.


----------



## SaintsManiac

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Grrrrrr......
> 
> Half way seems we need another thread for this one, it’s SO different.
> 
> I have the choice of DAH Villains or TL H20 Glow Nights on my Thursday night for a summer trip.  I was 50/50 on which one we’d do before, I think my scales are moving towards TL.  Shocked to be saying that.
> 
> However, to not be such a downer, I am very happy for the Villain crowd - if I were more into it I could see the appeal.




Honestly the more I have thought about this, the happier I am that we have EMM booked instead.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Definitely interested to see how this goes.

Am I correct that only 2 DAH at MK sold out in the past months?

I'm a fan of the villains, did the Club Villain back at DHS a few years ago. THAT was fantastic.

I just hope the AH aspect is still good because most of my crew hasn't done MK DAH yet, this will complete their trifecta.

ETA: Just incase, I'll keep our EMM at MK too.  Take my money Mickey...take it all...


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Definitely interested to see how this goes.
> 
> Am I correct that only 2 DAH at MK sold out in the past months?
> 
> I'm a fan of the villains, did the Club Villain back at DHS a few years ago. THAT was fantastic.
> 
> I just hope the AH aspect is still good because most of my crew hasn't done MK DAH yet, this will complete their trifecta.
> 
> ETA: Just incase, I'll keep our EMM at MK too.  Take my money Mickey...take it all...



Yeah, only 2 of the 13 winter/spring DAH nights sold out.  That compares to 5 out of 7 DAH winter/spring events last year.  I personally chalk that up to far more competition from more MK DAH dates and abundant DHS and DAK DAH dates, which weren’t a factor in the past.  There are also those who suggest the ticket cap has increased.  I suspect it’s a bit of both.


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Grrrrrr......
> 
> Half way seems we need another thread for this one, it’s SO different.
> 
> I have the choice of DAH Villains or TL H20 Glow Nights on my Thursday night for a summer trip.  I was 50/50 on which one we’d do before, I think my scales are moving towards TL.  Shocked to be saying that.
> 
> However, to not be such a downer, I am very happy for the Villain crowd - if I were more into it I could see the appeal.


I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. Most likely we will go. We’re moving to Florida in June and if we’re already gonna be an hour away we might as well go. I’ll wait until reviews come out


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I’m for a new thread if it gets too confusing 


Anyone planning on dressing in theme? Or at least Disneybounding for the Villains version?


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Cinderumbrella said:


> I’m for a new thread if it gets too confusing
> 
> 
> Anyone planning on dressing in theme? Or at least Disneybounding for the Villains version?


We are all picking a villain, but doing a low key bounding. 
DS7 picked Scar, so he will wear his "I'm surrounded by idiots" tee (which he is excited to wear around all of us ). DD17 is getting Queen of Hearts ears and wearing a red tank top. DS15 is wearing a "Gaston's Tavern" tee, and then the rest of us are still deciding. I have Evil Queen stuff, but I kinda want something new. 
We are just excited when we get new stuff to do at Disney, a little extra to look forward to! 
I did the first MNSSHP last year,  I am certain this AH will be nothing close to that, so in my mind, it'll be fine.


----------



## MinnieMSue

Cinderumbrella said:


> I’m for a new thread if it gets too confusing
> 
> 
> Anyone planning on dressing in theme? Or at least Disneybounding for the Villains version?



I probably will just wear my villain T-shirt I wore to Club villain (which is my favorite ever Disney thing)


----------



## PolyRob

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Definitely interested to see how this goes.
> 
> Am I correct that only 2 DAH at MK sold out in the past months?
> 
> I'm a fan of the villains, did the Club Villain back at DHS a few years ago. THAT was fantastic.
> 
> I just hope the AH aspect is still good because most of my crew hasn't done MK DAH yet, this will complete their trifecta.
> 
> ETA: Just incase, I'll keep our EMM at MK too.  Take my money Mickey...take it all...


I really think Disney missed the mark on not adding Villain meets. That part of Club Villain was great. The interactions were a lot of fun and I got some great pics. Maybe future iterations will include some.



MinnieMSue said:


> I probably will just wear my villain T-shirt I wore to Club villain (which is my favorite ever Disney thing)


Great idea! I may have to do the same if I end up going.


----------



## PolyRob

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> https://wdwnt.com/2019/04/villains-...disney-villains-after-hours-at-magic-kingdom/


Glad the dragon was repaired in time for this. Hopefully no more mishaps.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> We are all picking a villain, but doing a low key bounding.
> DS7 picked Scar, so he will wear his "I'm surrounded by idiots" tee (which he is excited to wear around all of us ). DD17 is getting Queen of Hearts ears and wearing a red tank top. DS15 is wearing a "Gaston's Tavern" tee, and then the rest of us are still deciding. I have Evil Queen stuff, but I kinda want something new.
> We are just excited when we get new stuff to do at Disney, a little extra to look forward to!
> I did the first MNSSHP last year,  I am certain this AH will be nothing close to that, so in my mind, it'll be fine.



I’m low key bounding too- I’m wearing 
Maleficent  ears (horns? Lol) with black shorts and purple tank. Plus I’m tricking out my purple MB with some Etsy decals.  (And I’m going to opening night DAH just for low crowds!)


----------



## captaindavidhook

any chance more villain dates get released? probe not just hoping lol


----------



## 123SA

“Villains Unite the Night!” is set to be over 20 minutes long and will run three times each night of the event,

Some thoughts:
1.  If this event is truly a limited event...I shouldn't have to claim a spot by the castle to see the show, right?  We should be able to just walk right up a few minutes before it starts.  

2.  three shows....anyone want want to guess the timing?  11,12 and 1am?

3.  Are they seriously going to clear out the park before the first show?   I think that people are just going to try to stay and if they get asked to leave, they leave, but...it's worth a try to stay and see this show.  I watched people switching lanyards last summer before the switch to wrist bands.  It's not cool to know you spent hundreds of dollars for this event while others are cheating their way into it.


----------



## Iowamomof4

I'd think more like 11:30, 12:30, and 1:30.


----------



## Raya

Cinderumbrella said:


> Anyone planning on dressing in theme? Or at least Disneybounding for the Villains version?



DH has already announced he'll be in his pirate costume. He's debating adding elements to make it Captain Hook. Meanwhile, I have to decide if I want to go with my simple Ursula-bound dress or rush the tailor so my MNSSHP costume is ready early.  While I'm grateful for the event, it's annoying that Disney requires I know 180 days in advance if I'm in the mood for Italian or steak and what time I'm going to be hungry, but only gives me six weeks to put together costumes. I mean, I will. But I'm going to complain about it.


----------



## Vickie1016

123SA said:


> “Villains Unite the Night!” is set to be over 20 minutes long and will run three times each night of the event,
> 
> Some thoughts:
> 3.  Are they seriously going to clear out the park before the first show?   I think that people are just going to try to stay and if they get asked to leave, they leave, but...it's worth a try to stay and see this show.  *I watched people switching lanyards last summer before the switch to wrist bands.  It's not cool to know you spent hundreds of dollars for this event while others are cheating their way into it*.



Ditto - we attended mid July last summer & the amount of people passing the lanyard to family members was horrible!  (BUT we did have an awesome time and rode everything we wanted to!!)

I do hope the park is cleared of day guests prior to the start of any of the Villain shows or overlay.  We have never attended MNSSHP, so not sure what to expect in terms of day guests leaving prior to festivities starting.


----------



## Ron Rico

Vickie1016 said:


> Ditto - we attended mid July last summer & the amount of people passing the lanyard to family members was horrible!  (BUT we did have an awesome time and rode everything we wanted to!!)



I'm not sure when it was changed, but they are using wrist bands instead of lanyards now, so that makes it harder to pass to someone else. I would think that they would use them for the Villains events as well.


----------



## Vickie1016

Ron Rico said:


> I'm not sure when it was changed, but they are using wrist bands instead of lanyards now, so that makes it harder to pass to someone else. I would think that they would use them for the Villains events as well.



Thank you - yes, I have been reading along with this thread to keep up to date with the summer dates!!
(Actually after we returned home last summer, I email Disney about the lanyard situation, as did numerous families.  It was switched shortly thereafter.)


----------



## megs1313

so if HEA is at 9, there will be regular day guests still in park until the show is over? is that correct?


----------



## Funfire240

Ron Rico said:


> I'm not sure when it was changed, but they are using wrist bands instead of lanyards now, so that makes it harder to pass to someone else. I would think that they would use them for the Villains events as well.


It changed last august. We went August 4 and had just lanyards and I was surprised at the crowds. That week saw a lot of complaining of lanyards being passed. The next Saturday August 11 we had lanyards AND wristbands and the decrease in crowds was very noticeable!


----------



## Haley R

megs1313 said:


> so if HEA is at 9, there will be regular day guests still in park until the show is over? is that correct?


Yes that’s correct.


----------



## Ron Rico

Vickie1016 said:


> Thank you - yes, I have been reading along with this thread to keep up to date with the summer dates!!
> (Actually after we returned home last summer, I email Disney about the lanyard situation, as did numerous families.  It was switched shortly thereafter.)



So it's your fault that I didn't get a lanyard as a souvenir?


----------



## graybow77

Question.  Will they kick everyone out at 10:00 when the DAH start.  Me and my 2 boys Are buying the tickets but wife does not ride but may want to hang out with us...


----------



## vinotinto

PolyRob said:


> I really think Disney missed the mark on not adding Villain meets. That part of Club Villain was great. The interactions were a lot of fun and I got some great pics. Maybe future iterations will include some.


We were able to go to one of the last Club Villains. It's one of those events that every year, my kids ask, are we going to hang out with the Villains again? Definitely, one of the best events Disney has done, IMHO.


Now, this DAH Villains is no Club Villain. And I am a little afraid that they will oversell tickets. BUT, it's offered on our arrival night in July, which is my DD's 12th birthday. And my DH will have to catch a late flight, so the late night would be perfect. I think I just talked myself into this. My DD and I still have matching Villains skirts that I sewed, so I don't even have to fiddle with outfits!


----------



## vinotinto

graybow77 said:


> Question.  Will they kick everyone out at 10:00 when the DAH start.  Me and my 2 boys Are buying the tickets but wife does not ride but may want to hang out with us...


She won't be allowed to stay. It's not just the rides, there are snacks included, plus the atmosphere of MK at night. Everyone will need a wristband. If I were your wife, I would go back to the hotel and enjoy a free evening without hubby or kids!


----------



## whiporee

vinotinto said:


> She won't be allowed to stay. It's not just the rides, there are snacks included, plus the atmosphere of MK at night. Everyone will need a wristband. If I were your wife, I would go back to the hotel and enjoy a free evening without hubby or kids!



They aren't as aggressive as they re at the parties, though. She might be able to hang out, but it's hard to say for sure with the free food and such -- it would be easy to give someone a soda or ice cream who wasn't actually at the party.


----------



## graybow77

Ok.  Thanks


----------



## Haley R

whiporee said:


> They aren't as aggressive as they re at the parties, though. She might be able to hang out, but it's hard to say for sure with the free food and such -- it would be easy to give someone a soda or ice cream who wasn't actually at the party.


Could you imagine if everyone who went had 1+ people “just hanging out”?


----------



## Iowamomof4

megs1313 said:


> so if HEA is at 9, there will be regular day guests still in park until the show is over? is that correct?



Maybe someone has clarified, but day guests can be in the park until the park closes or until after HEA, whichever is last. So if the park closes at 9 and HEA is also at 9, then guests can stay until after the fireworks. If HEA is at 9 but the park isn't closed until 10, then day guests can stay until 10.


----------



## Vickie1016

Ron Rico said:


> So it's your fault that I didn't get a lanyard as a souvenir?



YUP...  lol


----------



## WishesCameTrue

Just one thing to point out about the day guests and timing.  This won’t be a lot of people but I purchased HEA After Dessert party tickets for 6/6 way before the after hours event was announced. It will be DD and I, and the plan was to stay in dessert area through the Kiss Goodnight which I have never heard. I wasn’t thinking about an after hours event being added. I’m bummed we actually won’t be there for the closing and Kiss, and we won’t be able to make it back over to the MK any other night. Once this was announced I spoke with DSS to make sure we would be rushed out of the terrace as I have read on the DIS folks stay for the after dessert party until 10:30 or so. Sounds like that night may be crazy and just getting from the garden viewing area to the Terrace May put us at 9:45 just starting with the food portion. So if you see 2 short blonde mom and daughter with a dessert party wristband leaving down Main Street later than 10 don’t worry we aren’t crashing!


----------



## MischaOz

DAH for MK is now showing as only available thru May on the WDW website. Does anyone know what is going on with that?  Thanks!

Duh, never mind, just realized they don’t go on sale til 4/29. I thought I remembered seeing them on sale before, but I guess not!


----------



## 123SA

When tickets go on sale next week, will it be 7am EDT online?


----------



## Raya

We will be in the park the day after tickets go on sale. Does anyone know if I can buy tickets on Main Street? More as a fun memory to have, and also because we'll be traveling with spotty internet on the big day (April 29).


----------



## PolyRob

Raya said:


> We will be in the park the day after tickets go on sale. Does anyone know if I can buy tickets on Main Street? More as a fun memory to have, and also because we'll be traveling with spotty internet on the big day (April 29).


I would imagine you could stop at City Hall once the tickets go on sale. Any concierge or ticket window should be able to sell them to you if you won't have good cell service or Wi-Fi.


----------



## mickeysmith

123SA said:


> When tickets go on sale next week, will it be 7am EDT online?


Anxious to know, as well. I teach middle school, and we are in the middle of standardized testing! We have to pick up materials by 7:00 and can’t have computers on, so I told my DD she must be up and ready to buy for June 6th!!


----------



## JeninTexas

Does anyone know if the Villains DAH tickets will be on sale with Undercover Tourist on April 29 also, or does it take a little longer before 3rd parties begin selling tickets?


----------



## Haley R

mickeysmith said:


> Anxious to know, as well. I teach middle school, and we are in the middle of standardized testing! We have to pick up materials by 7:00 and can’t have computers on, so I told my DD she must be up and ready to buy for June 6th!!


I honestly don’t think you need to worry about it that bad. I HIGHLY doubt it’ll sell out on the first day, maybe not even the first week


----------



## ktate82

We will be down for two weeks next month and have three days at MK.  We go several times a year, and we were considering the after hours event.  But then the villains party came out.  We will be there for the last after hours and the first villains party....which would be better to do?  I'm more inclined to do the villains, but I'm worried it will be more crowded and have bloggers.  Any thoughts?


----------



## Lsdolphin

Haley R said:


> I honestly don’t think you need to worry about it that bad. I HIGHLY doubt it’ll sell out on the first day, maybe not even the first week





ktate82 said:


> We will be down for two weeks next month and have three days at MK.  We go several times a year, and we were considering the after hours event.  But then the villains party came out.  We will be there for the last after hours and the first villains party....which would be better to do?  I'm more inclined to do the villains, but I'm worried it will be more crowded and have bloggers.  Any thoughts?




I believe you are probably be right as there are many people who feel they must be “first” and there will surely be a huge amount of bloggers!


----------



## mickeysmith

I was worried about the amount of bloggers, too. Then my DD, who finished the DCP last spring, said she couldn’t wait to meet some of her favorites! I cracked up, thinking it would be a pain, and she was overjoyed! Lol!


----------



## PrincessBelle39

Haley R said:


> I honestly don’t think you need to worry about it that bad. I HIGHLY doubt it’ll sell out on the first day, maybe not even the first week



I'm hoping you're right.  We are planning on either 27 June or 1 July but can't buy until we get there on 26 July when we can upgrade one of our tickets to an AP.


----------



## Haley R

ktate82 said:


> We will be down for two weeks next month and have three days at MK.  We go several times a year, and we were considering the after hours event.  But then the villains party came out.  We will be there for the last after hours and the first villains party....which would be better to do?  I'm more inclined to do the villains, but I'm worried it will be more crowded and have bloggers.  Any thoughts?


Personally, I would choose the normal DAH.


----------



## Haley R

PrincessBelle39 said:


> I'm hoping you're right.  We are planning on either 27 June or 1 July but can't buy until we get there on 26 July when we can upgrade one of our tickets to an AP.


I'm pretty sure you can buy them ahead of time and get the refunded amount after getting your AP.


----------



## Castlequeen5

I would choose the normal DAH too!


----------



## ninafeliz

ktate82 said:


> We will be down for two weeks next month and have three days at MK.  We go several times a year, and we were considering the after hours event.  But then the villains party came out.  We will be there for the last after hours and the first villains party....which would be better to do?  I'm more inclined to do the villains, but I'm worried it will be more crowded and have bloggers.  Any thoughts?



While it would be *really* hard for me to pass up trying something new, I suspect/think that if you want to do the event for riding with no wait you might be better off with the last DAH.  On the other hand, if you're willing to take the chance it might not be as good from that POV, trying the new one could be cool and if it turns out amazing you can say you were at the first one.  But it very well might be the last regular DAH, and if the villains continue you can do it on another trip. Or possibly the villains won't continue, and DAH will be back for your future trips and you will have missed the short run of the villains.  As you can see, I keep thinking of reasons to do one, and then think of a counter reason to do the other .

I do think, while there are some interesting aspects of doing the first night with all of the bloggers, I suspect overall it might annoy me unless it really isn't noticeable.  

Having written that, I have no idea which I would do.  My head would say the last DAH since we did one and LOVED the no line aspect, but like I said it would be so hard for me to pass on a new event.   I guess I'm glad I'm going when there is no choice (It's moved to the Villains DAH when we go), because I have no idea how I would pick!

Have you considered doing both?  if you can swing the money and your schedule isn't too messed up by 2 late night events, I would at least entertain the idea of both!

Sorry I was no help, I should have just gone to bed like I need to instead of posting


----------



## ktate82

ninafeliz said:


> While it would be *really* hard for me to pass up trying something new, I suspect/think that if you want to do the event for riding with no wait you might be better off with the last DAH.  On the other hand, if you're willing to take the chance it might not be as good from that POV, trying the new one could be cool and if it turns out amazing you can say you were at the first one.  But it very well might be the last regular DAH, and if the villains continue you can do it on another trip. Or possibly the villains won't continue, and DAH will be back for your future trips and you will have missed the short run of the villains.  As you can see, I keep thinking of reasons to do one, and then think of a counter reason to do the other .
> 
> I do think, while there are some interesting aspects of doing the first night with all of the bloggers, I suspect overall it might annoy me unless it really isn't noticeable.
> 
> Having written that, I have no idea which I would do.  My head would say the last DAH since we did one and LOVED the no line aspect, but like I said it would be so hard for me to pass on a new event.   I guess I'm glad I'm going when there is no choice (It's moved to the Villains DAH when we go), because I have no idea how I would pick!
> 
> Have you considered doing both?  if you can swing the money and your schedule isn't too messed up by 2 late night events, I would at least entertain the idea of both!
> 
> Sorry I was no help, I should have just gone to bed like I need to instead of posting



Lol, this is what keeps rolling through my head!  Then also add in "do we really need to go to either because we have two full days and two half days and could put the money towards something else...."  DH probably wouldn't go for both, but I'm not saying I'm not tempted!


----------



## PrincessBelle39

Haley R said:


> I'm pretty sure you can buy them ahead of time and get the refunded amount after getting your AP.



Oh ok, that's great.  Certainly takes the risk away of it selling out.  We'll do this if this is the case.


----------



## Haley R

ktate82 said:


> Lol, this is what keeps rolling through my head!  Then also add in "do we really need to go to either because we have two full days and two half days and could put the money towards something else...."  DH probably wouldn't go for both, but I'm not saying I'm not tempted!


Are you saying you have two full days and two half days just for mk or in general?


----------



## Haley R

PrincessBelle39 said:


> Oh ok, that's great.  Certainly takes the risk away of it selling out.  We'll do this if this is the case.


I’m hoping someone will correct me if I’m wrong but I thought I remembered multiple people doing this


----------



## ninafeliz

ktate82 said:


> Lol, this is what keeps rolling through my head!  Then also add in "do we really need to go to either because we have two full days and two half days and could put the money towards something else...."  DH probably wouldn't go for both, but I'm not saying I'm not tempted!


I would definitely still do it even if I had that much time in the MK, but it is possible that you wouldn’t *need* to.  It’s just worth it to ride with no lines.  Then you could take it easy the other times you’re at the MK, and do shows,favorites, rides you prefer during daylight, stop to eat and drink more, etc...  or change one of the days to another park or hop if you have hoppers.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

We’re doing the opening night Villain event because we have no other choice. If you don’t care about the Villain aspect, then definitely do the last regular DAH. I’m prepared for opening night to be sold out (or at a minimum crowded) but I’m hopeful the bloggers & villains fans mostly stick to the extras and not rides (which are our priority).


----------



## asaj

Cinderumbrella said:


> We’re doing the opening night Villain event because we have no other choice. If you don’t care about the Villain aspect, then definitely do the last regular DAH. I’m prepared for opening night to be sold out (or at a minimum crowded) but I’m hopeful the bloggers & villains fans mostly stick to the extras and not rides (which are our priority).



This is exactly the same situation for us.  Could be worse...there could have been no DAH events during our stay the first week of June, so we are happy to have any option.  Also, the Villain event could be really cool, only one way to find out!


----------



## ktate82

Haley R said:


> Are you saying you have two full days and two half days just for mk or in general?



Full days.  We are down there for two weeks and doing two days at SeaWorld, one day Aquatica, and the rest Disney.


----------



## PartyOfSe7en

My BIL and SIL are on my MDE account and I am their planner for a 10 day trip we are all taking together. When I go to buy their DAH tickets on my MDE account it gives the tickets my AP discount even though I am not going to the event. Is this right? The app appears to let me but want to make sure they will not have issues with the tickets. Anyone done this?


----------



## mommajo143

Haley R said:


> Personally, I would choose the normal DAH.


I haven’t seen Anything about offering regular DAH @ MK during same timeframe as the villains events.  Did I miss something?  The ‘plain’ DAH is our first choice....


----------



## Cinderumbrella

mommajo143 said:


> I haven’t seen Anything about offering regular DAH @ MK during same timeframe as the villains events.  Did I miss something?  The ‘plain’ DAH is our first choice....



The person who asked will be there during the transition time from regular to Villain.


----------



## ktate82

mommajo143 said:


> I haven’t seen Anything about offering regular DAH @ MK during same timeframe as the villains events.  Did I miss something?  The ‘plain’ DAH is our first choice....



We are there for two weeks.  First week is where DAH is ending and the second week is when the Villains is starting.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

I’d do both.


----------



## Ckmommy72

So, we are tentatively going to DAH on 6/27.  Really would prefer to buy our tickets after we get a review of the villains event.  What are everyones thoughts on waiting until after 6/6 to buy...how much of a chance 6/27 will be sold out....ugh   I wish it wasn't only a 3 week gap.  I'll probably just buy right on 4/29 to be safe #FOMO


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Ckmommy72 said:


> So, we are tentatively going to DAH on 6/27.  Really would prefer to buy our tickets after we get a review of the villains event.  What are everyones thoughts on waiting until after 6/6 to buy...how much of a chance 6/27 will be sold out....ugh   I wish it wasn't only a 3 week gap.  I'll probably just buy right on 4/29 to be safe #FOMO



I’m torn by what to think here.

On one hand, I don’t want to be burned by underestimating villains people. 

On the other hand, DAH sell-out history does not suggest needing to be worried about sell-outs right away.  Add to that the decent-sized increase in cost, the unknowns of just what this event is going to be like, and (maybe?) increased capacity(??), it seems to me like a more than average amount of people will take a ‘wait and see’ approach to see if this is ‘worth it.’  

It also seems to me there’s a 50/50 chance this thing is a roaring success or a too expensive for what you get debacle - could go either way!  

For as much as I’ve been down on Villains DAH, I’ve turned the corner and now have an itch to go that first night.  Darn you Disney!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

GADisneyDad14 said:


> For as much as I’ve been down on Villains DAH, I’ve turned the corner and now have an itch to go that first night.  Darn you Disney!



Join us!!!


----------



## Ckmommy72

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I’m torn by what to think here.
> 
> On one hand, I don’t want to be burned by underestimating villains people.
> 
> On the other hand, DAH sell-out history does not suggest needing to be worried about sell-outs right away.  Add to that the decent-sized increase in cost, the unknowns of just what this event is going to be like, and (maybe?) increased capacity(??), it seems to me like a more than average amount of people will take a ‘wait and see’ approach to see if this is ‘worth it.’
> 
> It also seems to me there’s a 50/50 chance this thing is a roaring success or a too expensive for what you get debacle - could go either way!
> 
> For as much as I’ve been down on Villains DAH, I’ve turned the corner and now have an itch to go that first night.  Darn you Disney!



These are the exact thought going through my head!  UGH!!!!  If only the Dibb had After Hours ticket availability like they do FP availability...then we'd know if tickets were selling fast...And yes, as I said...I'll probably be up early on Monday ready to pull that trigger!! LOL  Heaven forbid we miss out


----------



## 123SA

I'm stuck on the same thing too.  

We want to go twice...but not if the event doesn't meet our expectations.    I'm 100% sure about 8/8.  So I'll buy those tickets on April 29.  I'm less sure about 8/1 since we'll be staying at Universal that week.   I can't decide whether to just buy them and live it, or stress myself out waiting for reviews and constantly checking to see if any dates have sold out.   I'm kind of thinking that 8/1 is not likely to be the first sell out and that I can just wait for either reviews or for any date to sell out and then purchase the second date.

I've been trying to think what would make me NOT want to go to this event twice.  I think if reviews said the villains stuff was lame and the Buzz line was 15 minutes consistently...that would be a definite no.  Also, if the reviews say that I need to waste time camping out for a spot to watch the show...well, that means it's too crowded for the price I'm paying.

I know these tickets have a no return policy, but I can't help thinking that if the reviews come out and the event is obviously no longer a low wait time event, I should be able to return them for not being as advertised.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Other than 6/6, I just don’t see these selling out quickly. Frankly, I doubt 6/6 sells out until a lot closer to the event (and only if they cap the numbers at current DAH attendance levels).


----------



## asaj

GADisneyDad14 said:


> For as much as I’ve been down on Villains DAH, I’ve turned the corner and now have an itch to go that first night. Darn you Disney!





Cinderumbrella said:


> Join us!!!




All of the cool people are going on 6/6...


----------



## mickeysmith

asaj said:


> All of the cool people are going on 6/6...


Another 6/6 here! Imma just pulling the plug and doin' it! Rip that band-aid off!!


----------



## Haley R

I wanna say we’ll most likely go to this but I’ll still wait until reviews come out. We’ll be in Japan during the first one so I’ll try to follow along


----------



## heidijanesmith

We are going on June 13th, so I will have one night of reviews before we go.

I went in Jan 2018 and had the time of my life. All the rides were walk on except 7D, but the wait was very short.  DAH was newer back then, so I was not worried about capacity issues. I had so much fun, it was very special to have MK so quiet and uncrowded.

Now I am worried about Disney upping capacity for the Villain DAH June events. I love MNSSHP, but the crowds get worse every year, capacity seems to increase every year.

Hopefully, my fears will be allayed with the reviews of the June 6th event.  Crossing my fingers!!


----------



## Iowamomof4

heidijanesmith said:


> We are going on June 13th, so I will have one night of reviews before we go.
> 
> I went in Jan 2018 and had the time of my life. All the rides were walk on except 7D, but the wait was very short.  DAH was newer back then, so I was not worried about capacity issues. I had so much fun, it was very special to have MK so quiet and uncrowded.
> 
> Now I am worried about Disney upping capacity for the Villain DAH June events. I love MNSSHP, but the crowds get worse every year, capacity seems to increase every year.
> 
> Hopefully, my fears will be allayed with the reviews of the June 6th event.  Crossing my fingers!!



Another thing to keep in mind though, is that they often make adjustments if things don't go so well the first night.


----------



## heidijanesmith

Iowamomof4 said:


> Another thing to keep in mind though, is that they often make adjustments if things don't go so well the first night.



Great point!

PS, We are from Iowa too.


----------



## ninafeliz

heidijanesmith said:


> We are going on June 13th, so I will have one night of reviews before we go.
> 
> I went in Jan 2018 and had the time of my life. All the rides were walk on except 7D, but the wait was very short.  DAH was newer back then, so I was not worried about capacity issues. I had so much fun, it was very special to have MK so quiet and uncrowded.
> 
> Now I am worried about Disney upping capacity for the Villain DAH June events. I love MNSSHP, but the crowds get worse every year, capacity seems to increase every year.
> 
> Hopefully, my fears will be allayed with the reviews of the June 6th event.  Crossing my fingers!!



This is pretty much how I feel!  We did one of the first round back in spring 2016, and it was amazing.  I was so happy they are having them in June so I can go, but am hoping the new villains theme doesn’t mean bigger crowds and lines.  I’m ok with a little increase, I guess I can’t ask for too much, but I’m seriously comparing it to a night where we were on the next ride/train every time with everything an actual walk on! I’ll be bummed if it turns out closer to something like EMH, which last time we did the late night MK ones were just ok, really fairly crowded.  We’re looking at June 20 (I think that’s the date, I didn’t check).


----------



## dachsie

So I just got some major pixie dust. I was upgraded to the Contemporary for my stay so I will be able to get back to room at a decent hour after DAH. So excited!


----------



## sheila14

dachsie said:


> So I just got some major pixie dust. I was upgraded to the Contemporary for my stay so I will be able to get back to room at a decent hour after DAH. So excited!


How did that happen? Good for you enjoy!!!


----------



## vinotinto

For anyone who has already done DAH, how is the transportation back to the resorts? TIA!


----------



## dachsie

sheila14 said:


> How did that happen? Good for you enjoy!!!


They told me it was because of cheerleading camp at Carribbean Beach.


----------



## Haley R

heidijanesmith said:


> Great point!
> 
> PS, We are from Iowa too.


We are too! Lol

Not for much longer though


----------



## tschaan

I was planning to upgrade to an annual pass next month, but I’d like to go ahead and upgrade so I can purchase Villains After Hours tickets. Will I lose my Fastpasses if I upgrade and 10 day park ticket?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

tschaan said:


> I was planning to upgrade to an annual pass next month, but I’d like to go ahead and upgrade so I can purchase Villains After Hours tickets. Will I lose my Fastpasses if I upgrade and 10 day park ticket?



You can’t upgrade your 10 day tickets to an AP until you are at WDW, FYI.  

Can’t quite tell if that’s what you meant?  

If you purchase full price DAH tickets now then later upgrade to an AP, DISers have generally reported being able to get credit back for the discount in the form of a Disney gift card.  

Hope that helps!


----------



## BK2014

vinotinto said:


> For anyone who has already done DAH, how is the transportation back to the resorts? TIA!



DW and I did DAH at MK in January of 2018 and 2019.  Both times we were staying at the Boardwalk.  The bus shared with guests from Swan and Dolphin and Yacht and Beach Club.  The first time we waited a long time for even one bus to come.  The second time, the wait wasn't as long.  both times the bus was standing room only.  The ride back is the worst part of DAH for us.  However, I think it depends on what resorts you are staying at as others have reported no issues.


----------



## Cloe Colton

Can't wait to get my ticket for 6/13 on Monday! 

Anyone have any idea what time they will go live at? Or what time they have historically been able for purchase?


----------



## heidijanesmith

vinotinto said:


> For anyone who has already done DAH, how is the transportation back to the resorts? TIA!



When I did DAH back in Jan 2018. I stayed at the GF. The monorails and ferries were down to the resorts. 

There was a bus for all the Monorail resorts plus Fort Wilderness and Wilderness lodge.  The bus took a very long time, there was so many people!! I think the air was off in the bus. People were going nuts and rude to the driver. It was not his fault, i felt bad for him.

It did take about 40-45min to get back to the GF, which is nuts!

We are staying at the BW this time. I plan on walking to the Contemporary and then taking an Uber to the BW.  I did that after MNSSHP last Sept and it worked perfectly!


----------



## heidijanesmith

Cloe Colton said:


> Can't wait to get my ticket for 6/13 on Monday!
> 
> Anyone have any idea what time they will go live at? Or what time they have historically been able for purchase?



I am going the same day. I book my fastpasses at 7AM Disney time, so I am going to try at 7AM on the 29th and see how it goes!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Thanks to everyone for the heads up on transportation. I’ll probably scope out the bus line before doing the CR Uber option (we're staying at YC).


----------



## Cloe Colton

heidijanesmith said:


> I am going the same day. I book my fastpasses at 7AM Disney time, so I am going to try at 7AM on the 29th and see how it goes!



Thats a good call!


----------



## WRLeGrand

Sorry if I have missed this through the thread:

Has anyone confirmed the time these tickets will go on sale Monday morning?

Thanks in advance!


----------



## Haley R

WRLeGrand said:


> Sorry if I have missed this through the thread:
> 
> Has anyone confirmed the time these tickets will go on sale Monday morning?
> 
> Thanks in advance!


No one knows what time they’ll be released but you honestly don’t need to worry about getting them right away. I would just check at 7 am and if they aren’t up check periodically during the day


----------



## FredQc

vinotinto said:


> For anyone who has already done DAH, how is the transportation back to the resorts? TIA!



The above reports about crowded buses following DAH are good reasons not to run out of the park at the end of the event. I would recommend to take your time and to enjoy the “good night kiss” in the hub and Main Street areas. Without being the last person to leave, you can relax and, at the end, the bus is less likely to be crowded.


----------



## Haley R

FredQc said:


> The above reports about crowded buses following DAH are good reasons not to run out of the park at the end of the event. I would recommend to take your time and to enjoy the “good night kiss” in the hub and Main Street areas. Without being the last person to leave, you can relax and, at the end, the bus is less likely to be crowded.


I agree with this. We always stayed a bit after the event ended and we never had big problems with buses


----------



## dachsie

I made a 6:25 ADR at the Plaza on my DAH nite - should I keep it?  I have an AP so no issues getting in park for it.  Or should I eat somewhere else earlier?


----------



## Iowamomof4

dachsie said:


> I made a 6:25 ADR at the Plaza on my DAH nite - should I keep it?  I have an AP so no issues getting in park for it.  Or should I eat somewhere else earlier?


With DAH starting at 10 and the fact that you aren't trying to maximize your time in the park (due to your AP), I think 6:25 sounds great! I let someone talk me out of 6:00 LTT reservations and I'm really regretting it. We have to be able to make it to 1:00, so eating at 6 or so seems about right to me.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

dachsie said:


> I made a 6:25 ADR at the Plaza on my DAH nite - should I keep it?  I have an AP so no issues getting in park for it.  Or should I eat somewhere else earlier?



I’d vote keep it.  One thing I’ve done ‘wrong’ before with DAH is not eating a good enough/big enough meal before hand to fuel up for the evening.  We often eat larger lunches and then dinner is up to chance/inconsistent - just sort of the style of how we do things.  

We didn’t eat much dinner once for a 10-1 DAH and I was chasing being hungry all night, even with the ice cream.   These days I’ve switched to planning a real sit-down dinner sometime before DAH, then start park time. 

I’m partial to dinner at The Wave or Cali Grill then walking into the park, but in-park spots are great options too. 

Looking at it from another angle, so if dinner lasts 1-1.5 hours... 7:30-8ish, I assume you ‘want’ that 8-10pm time in the park pre-DAH?   I’ve also done it where I’ll eat a later dinner (8ish) then be arriving to the park closer to DAH time.  

Lots of options.


----------



## cakebaker

dachsie said:


> I made a 6:25 ADR at the Plaza on my DAH nite - should I keep it?  I have an AP so no issues getting in park for it.  Or should I eat somewhere else earlier?



We’re doing Artists Point at 7 before DAH. I agree with others that a decent dinner is important when you’re out late at night. Normally, we’re an eat when you’re hungry bunch, but dining is very limited during dah and nothing worse than cranky, hungry people ( adults are worse than kids!) when you’re trying to make it until 1am. We rarely do reserved dining anymore, but will with things like this.


----------



## counselormom

cakebaker said:


> We’re doing Artists Point at 7 before DAH. I agree with others that a decent dinner is important when you’re out late at night. Normally, we’re an eat when you’re hungry bunch, but dining is very limited during dah and nothing worse than cranky, hungry people ( adults are worse than kids!) when you’re trying to make until 1am. We rarely do reserved dining anymore, but will with things like this.



We are doing the Storybook Dining too before the Villains DAH, Fastpasses for SDMT, Haunted Mansion and Pirates after Dinner (they are the most "Villainy" rides I could think of.   I've ordered Villains  T-Shirts for the Family, Loki for the Teens, Gaston for Husband and Maleficent for me.  Can't wait!  Enjoy your evening, sounds fun!


----------



## Roxyfire

The comments about meals have me thinking about what we should do. I'm thinking either the Wave, GF Cafe or even Liberty Tree (just so we're inside and ready to go around 8). My only new concern is the buses getting back to Wilderness Lodge and standing on the bus.


----------



## tschaan

Questions about AP holders and Villains After Hours Event:

Can an AP holder purchase discounted tickets to the After Hours Event for members of their party that aren't AP holders?

If someone purchases regular tickets to the After Hours Event and then upgrades to an AP, can they get the price different in tickets refunded? It seems like I saw this mentioned once but I can't seem to find it.

THANKS!


----------



## JeninTexas

Good advice about dinner before the DAH event! I just booked Liberty Tree Tavern for 6 pm for our night.


----------



## Iowamomof4

JeninTexas said:


> Good advice about dinner before the DAH event! I just booked Liberty Tree Tavern for 6 pm for our night.



I'm jealous!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Since we’re talking Disney dining... I vote Cali Grill... mainly for the cocktails.


----------



## ninafeliz

tschaan said:


> Questions about AP holders and Villains After Hours Event:
> 
> Can an AP holder purchase discounted tickets to the After Hours Event for members of their party that aren't AP holders?
> 
> If someone purchases regular tickets to the After Hours Event and then upgrades to an AP, can they get the price different in tickets refunded? It seems like I saw this mentioned once but I can't seem to find it.
> 
> THANKS!


 Yes, an AP holder can buy AP tickets for others.  The number seems to be up in the air, i’ve Read a total of 4, but I’ve also read that someone bought them online and were allowed to buy more.

I have heard that people have been successful at buying at full price, then getting an AP and getting the difference refunded to them from GS once they were on property.  However, I don’t think any of the posts I’ve read have been people who have done it, just others like me who have read it can be done.  Like everything, if one CM says no another may do it.


----------



## ladytorch101

We are seriously considering the Villains After Hours event towards the end of June. Do we think these will sell out quickly? I'm wondering if I can wait to read a review from an earlier event to buy tickets. I know it says no villain M&G, but do you think that also means no character M&Gs at all? Like could we still meet Mickey and Minnie? Or princesses? It would be worth it to me if we could also bypass those lines.


----------



## 123SA

I plan to buy the tickets on-line and have they mailed to me since I won't have magic bands as I have no resort reservation.


Do I need to have the people I am buying the tickets for (my family members) set up in MDE?


----------



## Haley R

123SA said:


> I plan to buy the tickets on-line and have they mailed to me since I won't have magic bands as I have no resort reservation.
> 
> 
> Do I need to have the people I am buying the tickets for (my family members) set up in MDE?


If you want to make FPS for them they’ll need to be on MDE


----------



## David Jewell

I really think the villans event looks great for 6/13, but $750 for our family of five? We will have three separate partial days at MK over a 7 day trip. I know that in that time we can cover as much of MK as we want with ds 7&5 and dd 4. Is this event so blow your socks off awesome that the kids will rock it out till 1am and love it?


----------



## JeninTexas

David Jewell said:


> I really think the villans event looks great for 6/13, but $750 for our family of five? We will have three separate partial days at MK over a 7 day trip. I know that in that time we can cover as much of MK as we want with ds 7&5 and dd 4. Is this event so blow your socks off awesome that the kids will rock it out till 1am and love it?



If it were me, and my kids were that young, I would skip the event for now. $750 is a lot of money, and with 3 partial days at MK, you should be able to do everything you want. My kids are older now and can definitely stay up until 1 am, but with a 4 and 5 year old, I wouldn't do it. Just my 2 cents.


----------



## David Jewell

JeninTexas said:


> If it were me, and my kids were that young, I would skip the event for now. $750 is a lot of money, and with 3 partial days at MK, you should be able to do everything you want. My kids are older now and can definitely stay up until 1 am, but with a 4 and 5 year old, I wouldn't do it. Just my 2 cents.


Thanks jenintex!


----------



## 123SA

I spoke with Disney IT about my MDE account and asked some questions about making FP with an After Hours ticket.  I had problems with this last summer when I had a 10 day ticket and 2 different parties.  I got the warnings about needing to delete FP, spoke with several different IT people, got inconsistent answers.  I deleted them, reassigned the tickets, re-scheduled and spent 1/2 hour each party night at Guest services undoing this mess.  I want to avoid that again.

So...here's what IT said about the villains (and MNSSHP) tickets

1.  We (the IT department) haven't been told yet if FP will be included for pre-party hours  because it really was a mess last year. 

2.  But if they are included, the way to fix the problem is:  first book the 10 days that you will NOT be using a party ticket, then book the party days



I was very surprised by the first comment. Is this kind of a standard comment or a real possibility?


The solution does make some sense to me, but I've been given bad info from IT before.  I'm undecided whether to follow directions, or just use my husband's unrelated account to purchase the After Hours tickets.


----------



## JeninTexas

If I were you, I would just buy the DAH tickets on your husband's account. That seems to be the simplest way to avoid all these problems.


----------



## Llama mama

So I am AP and have a 6 day with resort trip planned  with fastpasses and ADR’s booked. Tickets for Villains goes on sale Monday which we will be there opening night 6/6. I have my three fastpasses booked for 6:30/7:30/8:30 pm for our MK DAY 6/6. We are planning on arriving by 5:45pm . Will also purchasing the Villains tickets screw up my existing plans? If we make sure we arrive and they use our AP tickets to get in at 5:45. Then we can check in for the party at some point later in the night, that should not screw up any of my already set plans correct as far as fast passes go? Correct?


----------



## MinnieMSue

No you are allowed 3 FP a day with the AP anyway. The villain ticket won’t matter. It wouldn’t make you cancel anything you used AP to book. Plus I assume you would link the after hours tickets to your account


----------



## Llama mama

MinnieMSue said:


> No you are allowed 3 FP a day with the AP anyway. The villain ticket won’t matter. It wouldn’t make you cancel anything you used AP to book. Plus I assume you would link the after hours tickets to your account


My sister will be joining us too. She has a 6 day hopper pass for our 6 day stay. Will it mess with hers? Again we will be entering at 5:00 pm on her hopper .


----------



## MinnieMSue

She is using a day of her hopper to book FP and get into the park? She too will be fine. I am assuming you are only booking FP in this park that day - even if you are going to another park first?


----------



## Llama mama

MinnieMSue said:


> She is using a day of her hopper to book FP and get into the park? She too will be fine. I am assuming you are only booking FP in this park that day - even if you are going to another park first?


Correct that is the only park we are going to that day.


----------



## SG131

FYI villain after hours tickets are now available for purchase. I thought I’d have to wait till morning.


----------



## idahosoxfan

Yep.  Was live at 12:00am.  Booked June 13th for 6 of us!


----------



## 123SA

I successfully purchased mine for 8/1 and 8/8


----------



## ninafeliz

SG131 said:


> FYI villain after hours tickets are now available for purchase. I thought I’d have to wait till morning.


Cool, thanks, just bought mine for June 20th!  I’m sure there was no need to rush, but once I saw this I just couldn’t go to bed and wait until morning knowing I could have it done.


----------



## Davkind76

Bought DAH Villains tickets for June 6 + 13


----------



## MinnieMSue

Davkind76 said:


> Bought DAH Villains tickets for June 6 + 13



Got mine for June 6.


----------



## dancergirlsmom

Just purchased mine for 8/8 for me and DD19.  This will be our first DAH and am very excited about it.  The Villains is just icing on the cake.  We had hoped to go in October but between her being at college and me working in a middle school it just wasn't going to happen.  We have always been Spring Break people so this is a first for us in the summer.


----------



## asaj

Just purchased ours for June 6, we are excited!


----------



## MickeyMinnie@12

I just purchased our Villian’s tickets for July 11th.  
I received a message stating that due to technical difficulties my order is pending and I will receive an email when the order has been processed. Is this typical? This is our very first AHP!   
Thanks.


----------



## PartyOfSe7en

Got my tickets for June 27


----------



## MinnieMSue

MickeyMinnie@12 said:


> I just purchased our Villian’s tickets for July 11th.
> I received a message stating that due to technical difficulties my order is pending and I will receive an email when the order has been processed. Is this typical? This is our very first AHP!
> Thanks.



Yes. I got an email that said my tickets would appear soon. They are not in my account yet. Weird


----------



## MickeyMinnie@12

MinnieMSue said:


> Yes. I got an email that said my tickets would appear soon. They are not in my account yet. Weird


Ok. Thanks.  I am sure everything is ok but I thought it was a little strange too!  Hopefully we will receive an email soon or the tickets will show up so I don’t have to stress.


----------



## Candycane83

Got mine for Jul 18. Question though, was it supposed to be $139 pp? Including kids?


----------



## MinnieMSue

MickeyMinnie@12 said:


> Ok. Thanks.  I am sure everything is ok but I thought it was a little strange too!  Hopefully we will receive an email soon or the tickets will show up so I don’t have to stress.



I agree. Leave it to Disney to keep the anxiety high


----------



## chaoskids

Got mine for July 11! The price is $139 or $109 for DVC or AP. 




Candycane83 said:


> Got mine for Jul 18. Question though, was it supposed to be $139 pp? Including kids?


----------



## Candycane83

chaoskids said:


> Got mine for July 11! The price is $139 or $109 for DVC or AP.


Thanks!! Hmm need to call them, I do have an AP on my account but it’s just not activated. It didn’t give me the $109 price.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

MickeyMinnie@12 said:


> I just purchased our Villian’s tickets for July 11th.
> I received a message stating that due to technical difficulties my order is pending and I will receive an email when the order has been processed. Is this typical? This is our very first AHP!
> Thanks.



This has happened recently when tickets for things like MNSSHP and MVMCP have gone on sale for those that book right away.   Not sure if it’s a server/processing delay or something, but it’s common and shouldn’t be cause for concern.  

Have fun!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Just bought mine for 6/6 

I can see them in my MDE (assigned properly). I don’t need to print, right? They just scan my (Maleficent) Magic band at entry?


----------



## Minnie824

Just bought our tickets for August 1!  Can't wait! Anyone else going that day?


----------



## MickeyMinnie@12

GADisneyDad14 said:


> This has happened recently when tickets for things like MNSSHP and MVMCP have gone on sale for those that book right away.   Not sure if it’s a server/processing delay or something, but it’s common and shouldn’t be cause for concern.
> 
> Have fun!


Thank you!!


----------



## StephenM84

Just purchased my tickets for 6/27 with my AP discount.

This will be our first after hours party. I selected mail my tickets instead of print at home. Is this something that they actual send a hard ticket that you have to bring with you? Or is it something that is attached to MDE and I just scan my magic band?


----------



## Haley R

StephenM84 said:


> Just purchased my tickets for 6/27 with my AP discount.
> 
> This will be our first after hours party. I selected mail my tickets instead of print at home. Is this something that they actual send a hard ticket that you have to bring with you? Or is it something that is attached to MDE and I just scan my magic band?


They’ll send you a hard ticket but if I’m remembering correctly you can still link it to your account. I might be thinking of something else though.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

StephenM84 said:


> Just purchased my tickets for 6/27 with my AP discount.
> 
> This will be our first after hours party. I selected mail my tickets instead of print at home. Is this something that they actual send a hard ticket that you have to bring with you? Or is it something that is attached to MDE and I just scan my magic band?



Can you see them in “my tickets” on MDE now?


----------



## StephenM84

Cinderumbrella said:


> Can you see them in “my tickets” on MDE now?




Yes, under "My Tickets" I see my AP and tickets for the Villians party.


----------



## Haley R

StephenM84 said:


> Yes, under "My Tickets" I see my AP and tickets for the Villians party.


Then you’re fine. That means they’re linked to your account already


----------



## Justplainchy

Just bought ours for July 1st! So excited!!


----------



## cakebaker

MickeyMinnie@12 said:


> I just purchased our Villian’s tickets for July 11th.
> I received a message stating that due to technical difficulties my order is pending and I will receive an email when the order has been processed. Is this typical? This is our very first AHP!
> Thanks.



It happened to me when I bought my DAH tickets. They showed up within a couple of hours.


----------



## dismoose23

Got our tickets for June 13th. Super excited!!


----------



## MinnieMSue

MickeyMinnie@12 said:


> Ok. Thanks.  I am sure everything is ok but I thought it was a little strange too!  Hopefully we will receive an email soon or the tickets will show up so I don’t have to stress.



I called because I don’t trust Disney. They said it can take 24 hours for the order to go through and I should get it tomorrow. If not to call and they would give me the confirmation number etc. let’s hope it does go through because I do t need to get there and not have linked tickets to our account


----------



## JeninTexas

Just bought ours for August 8! They are showing up correctly in MDE. Yay!


----------



## poodledogs55

Got mine for Aug. 1! It’s showing up fine on MDE and I also got my email with the barcode relatively quickly. I cannot wait!


----------



## dreamit

I just purchased our July 11 tickets. This will be a surprise for 12yo DD.  I haven't decided yet if I'm upgrading to an AP upon arrival. If so, I'm going to try to get the available discount refunded, but I know it's not guaranteed. I have to say that I was really hoping we'd hear today about additional dates for HS DAH. It is so difficult to finalize my FP plans not knowing if this will be offered during our trip dates.


----------



## reisdawg

Minnie824 said:


> Just bought our tickets for August 1!  Can't wait! Anyone else going that day?





poodledogs55 said:


> Got mine for Aug. 1! It’s showing up fine on MDE and I also got my email with the barcode relatively quickly. I cannot wait!


See both of you there on August 1st. Got the tickets for my family and see them on the website. I even reassigned one ticket to a different person based upon a mistake I made at purchase.


----------



## Raya

We're attending this week's DAH. The park closes at 10pm. Does that mean we can enter at 7pm or 6pm? I've seen reports on this thread for both. The official Disney page says:

"Guests with Disney After Hours tickets can enter the park at 7:00 PM every event night—event times vary slightly depending on date." 

Does "event times vary slightly depending" mean you might get in at 6 or should we stick with 7?


----------



## Haley R

Raya said:


> We're attending this week's DAH. The park closes at 10pm. Does that mean we can enter at 7pm or 6pm? I've seen reports on this thread for both. The official Disney page says:
> 
> "Guests with Disney After Hours tickets can enter the park at 7:00 PM every event night—event times vary slightly depending on date."
> 
> Does "event times vary slightly depending" mean you might get in at 6 or should we stick with 7?


I’d be there at 6 just in case. Most reports have been people going in between 6-6:30


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Raya said:


> We're attending this week's DAH. The park closes at 10pm. Does that mean we can enter at 7pm or 6pm? I've seen reports on this thread for both. The official Disney page says:
> 
> "Guests with Disney After Hours tickets can enter the park at 7:00 PM every event night—event times vary slightly depending on date."
> 
> Does "event times vary slightly depending" mean you might get in at 6 or should we stick with 7?



The official park entry time for all DAH events is 7pm, no matter what time the actual DAH event is on that particular evening. 

In practice, for MK DAH the actual time they start letting DAH ticket holders in the front gate has been anywhere from 6-7pm, with most reports of 6-6:30pm’ish (with only an occasional ‘they held us until closer to 7pm’ report).


----------



## DVC Jen

Got ours for June 6th after calling - waiting on hold only to be disconnected as soon as someone answered. Called back and waited even longer. Then the system crashed for the lady I was on the phone with and she put me back on hold. Probably had to reboot her computer.  In the end I got what I wanted but - geesh!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Thread Update*

Not sure if this will be worth it or tell us anything interesting about date/date trends, but I’ve created a “date poll” for these Villains After Hours events on the Doing the Happy Dance sub-forum here:  

*Magic Kingdom “Villains After Hours” Summer 2019 Date Poll*

If you’ve bought tickets or will be buying tickets, stop by and vote for your date(s).


----------



## jessicaknarr

Minnie824 said:


> Just bought our tickets for August 1!  Can't wait! Anyone else going that day?


I am also going on August 1st!!!


----------



## Funfire240

GADisneyDad14 said:


> *Thread Update*
> 
> Not sure if this will be worth it or tell us anything interesting about date/date trends, but I’ve created a “date poll” for these Villains After Hours events on the Doing the Happy Dance sub-forum here:
> 
> *Magic Kingdom “Villains After Hours” Summer 2019 Date Poll*
> 
> If you’ve bought tickets or will be buying tickets, stop by and vote for your date(s).


I voted!  Our plan is August 8


----------



## dachsie

jessicaknarr said:


> I am also going on August 1st!!!


I am going to see how the reviews are first then I may pull the plug on this date.  But I have to get the conference booked first to be sure I am actually going!  LOL


----------



## 3DisneyBuggs

I bought the Villians tickets for June 13. Trying to surprise my boys but the oldest looks at MDE. The tickets dont show in my plans so I should be good.


----------



## ali_in_al

3DisneyBuggs said:


> I bought the Villians tickets for June 13. Trying to surprise my boys but the oldest looks at MDE. The tickets dont show in my plans so I should be good.


We're going on the 13th also! You can see them under 'My Tickets' in case you hadn't seen that already. What a wonderful surprise!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

3DisneyBuggs said:


> I bought the Villians tickets for June 13. Trying to surprise my boys but the oldest looks at MDE. The tickets dont show in my plans so I should be good.



It won't show in your plans, but they will show up under the "Tickets & Memory Maker" tab (or My Tickets in the app), so if they are nosy, they may find them.....


----------



## Cloe Colton

Got my tickets for June 13th this morning! Can't wait!


----------



## kymickeyfan717

I’m going July 25th.  belated birthday trip for me - bday is the 17th


----------



## maryj11

Got ours this morning June 27th!


----------



## heidijanesmith

So many of are going on the 13th, can't wait!!


----------



## DisneyGuy

I got our tickets this morning for June 20th!/Villains DAH.  
I just re-read the advertisement and it said special food and drinks available for purchase....I knew I had seen that before but I thought we’d get the usual DAH food/drinks stuff as well.  I’m thinking no at this point.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

DisneyGuy said:


> I got our tickets this morning for June 20th!/Villains DAH.
> I just re-read the advertisement and it said special food and drinks available for purchase....I knew I had seen that before but I thought we’d get the usual DAH food/drinks stuff as well.  I’m thinking no at this point.



Yes, popcorn, bottled drink & ice cream is still included. It’s just the villainy stuff that costs extra.

ETA: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...-on-sale/?CMP=SOC-DPFY19Q3wo0425190501190021C

“Like most Disney After Hours events, you can enjoy complimentary ice cream novelties, popcorn, and select bottled beverages included in the cost of admission.”


----------



## DisneyGuy

Cinderumbrella said:


> Yes, popcorn, bottled drink & ice cream is still included. It’s just the villainy stuff that costs extra.
> 
> ETA: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...-on-sale/?CMP=SOC-DPFY19Q3wo0425190501190021C
> 
> “Like most Disney After Hours events, you can enjoy complimentary ice cream novelties, popcorn, and select bottled beverages included in the cost of admission.”



Good to know! Thanks


----------



## vinotinto

kymickeyfan717 said:


> I’m going July 25th.  belated birthday trip for me - bday is the 17th


We're also going July 25th. It's my DD's birthday that day!


----------



## jenjersnap

Yay, got home from work so finally pulled the trigger on our date...and, boo, only to find out immediately after that my college freshman DS may not be able to go due to a great job opportunity. Guess I might get to beg a phone CM for a refund, sigh.


----------



## jenjersnap

vinotinto said:


> We're also going July 25th. It's my DD's birthday that day!



We will be celebrating my middle DS’s birthday that night too!


----------



## Michiel

Just bought tix as well! We will be doing DAH on May 9, Villians DAH on July 1 and MVMCP on November 12. Looking forward!


----------



## maryj11

jenjersnap said:


> Yay, got home from work so finally pulled the trigger on our date...and, boo, only to find out immediately after that my college freshman DS may not be able to go due to a great job opportunity. Guess I might get to beg a phone CM for a refund, sigh.


Oh no hope they will refund you.


----------



## disneycat321

Got our tickets for July 25! So excited!! 

Tomorrow I’m buying our tickets for the Halloween Party at DCA in October.  

Super excited for these events! We’ve never done a separately ticketed event  before!


----------



## disneycat321

jenjersnap said:


> We will be celebrating my middle DS’s birthday that night too!



No birthdays for us, but July 25 is our night, too!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Maybe I am just too cheap and/or don’t get all the villains stuff, but am I the only person that finds it funny they are selling special treats and drinks at an event where they give away ‘free’ ice cream and sodas?   That part of it seems so funny/odd to me.


----------



## CogsworthTN

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Maybe I am just too cheap and don’t get all the villains stuff, but am I the only person that finds it funny they are selling special treats and drinks at an event where they give away ‘free’ ice cream and sodas?   That part of it seems so funny/odd to me.


 I thought the same thing.


----------



## cakebaker

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Maybe I am just too cheap and/or don’t get all the villains stuff, but am I the only person that finds it funny they are selling special treats and drinks at an event where they give away ‘free’ ice cream and sodas?   That part of it seems so funny/odd to me.


 
Same here. Maybe if the drinks were alcoholic... I’m actually glad my DAH event is just a regular DAH. I’m in it for the rides, don’t need any add ons.


----------



## Haley R

I’m surprised no one else posted this: https://wdwnt.com/2019/04/disney-villains-after-hours-at-magic-kingdom-park-food-guide/

They shared some new food and drink items available


----------



## graueMaus

idahosoxfan said:


> Yep.  Was live at 12:00am.  Booked June 13th for 6 of us!


Wow, I thought about doing this but risked it at 8am and got tickets for our family of 5. We are getting there a day early than our resort  reservations to do the party, rather than doing it the night before we are leaving.


----------



## Castlequeen5

We got ours for July 1.  I bought ours on UT and saved about $10 a ticket.  They are already linked with fastpasses booked!


----------



## Dbktmc

I bought our tickets right at 7:00 am this morning.  We are going on June 13th... 4 adults and 1 child.  We can't wait!


----------



## graueMaus

Cinderumbrella said:


> Just bought mine for 6/6
> 
> I can see them in my MDE (assigned properly). I don’t need to print, right? They just scan my (Maleficent) Magic band at entry?


Can confirm this. I asked to mail them, even though we are getting our magic bands in the mail for our trip and we have inactive bands in MDE.


----------



## disneycat321

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Maybe I am just too cheap and/or don’t get all the villains stuff, but am I the only person that finds it funny they are selling special treats and drinks at an event where they give away ‘free’ ice cream and sodas?   That part of it seems so funny/odd to me.



Yep! I thought this too. I doubt we'll be buying anything. I'm _very_ excited about unlimited popcorn. Popcorn is basically my favorite food. 



cakebaker said:


> Same here. Maybe if the drinks were alcoholic... I’m actually glad my DAH event is just a regular DAH. I’m in it for the rides, don’t need any add ons.



I'd personally rather have the regular event, too, but we're there in July and figured Villains DAH was better than no DAH. We've been wanting to do this for months. I don't really get the villains thing, myself. We plan to skip the show and the speciality food offerings and basically enjoy DAH for the rides.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

For all those buying tickets, don’t forget to log your date in the Villains After Hours Date Poll here:

*Magic Kingdom “Villains After Hours” Summer 2019 Date Poll*


----------



## cakebaker

disneycat321 said:


> Yep! I thought this too. I doubt we'll be buying anything. I'm _very_ excited about unlimited popcorn. Popcorn is basically my favorite food.
> 
> 
> 
> I'd personally rather have the regular event, too, but we're there in July and figured Villains DAH was better than no DAH. We've been wanting to do this for months. I don't really get the villains thing, myself. We plan to skip the show and the speciality food offerings and basically enjoy DAH for the rides.



Absolutely, I’d book it too if that was my only choice. It might make for even shorter waits if people are siphoned off to the special events.


----------



## disneycat321

cakebaker said:


> Absolutely, I’d book it too if that was my only choice. It might make for even shorter waits if people are siphoned off to the special events.


That’s my hope! When I saw the food post I said to DH, “Good! Maybe everyone will be standing in line for special foods!” One can dream, right? Ha!


----------



## jenjersnap

maryj11 said:


> Oh no hope they will refund you.



Me too, but he is going to try his hardest to go.


----------



## SG131

disneycat321 said:


> I'd personally rather have the regular event, too, but we're there in July and figured Villains DAH was better than no DAH. We've been wanting to do this for months. I don't really get the villains thing, myself. We plan to skip the show and the speciality food offerings and basically enjoy DAH for the rides.


I’m actually on the opposite end of the spectrum. I did it in Dec and loved it but now that I have an AP and entirely too many trips this year, I really wasn’t planning on doing another DAH event. However, they threw the villains in there and I couldn’t resist doing it again! I truly am a sucker for anything villain related. I’m also a bit of a sucker for the cute themed cupcakes, but that’s a problem I’m actively working on!


----------



## Haley R

SG131 said:


> I’m actually on the opposite end of the spectrum. I did it in Dec and loved it but now that I have an AP and entirely too many trips this year, I really wasn’t planning on doing another DAH event. However, they threw the villains in there and I couldn’t resist doing it again! I truly am a sucker for anything villain related. I’m also a bit of a sucker for the cute themed cupcakes, but that’s a problem I’m actively working on!


Have you had the maleficent cone?


----------



## ChrissieBelle

Making my first post to say I got my tickets for DAH Villains on June 6 last night! Celebrating my birthday and my SO's (mine is 6th, his is 16th). Gonna be his first Disney experience and our first time seeing each other in 2.5 months!! (LDR, I got back from visiting him in Scotland last month). This is my first hard ticket event, and 3rd visit to Disney.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

ChrissieBelle said:


> Making my first post to say I got my tickets for DAH Villains on June 6 last night! Celebrating my birthday and my SO's (mine is 6th, his is 16th). Gonna be his first Disney experience and our first time seeing each other in 2.5 months!! (LDR, I got back from visiting him in Scotland last month). This is my first hard ticket event, and 3rd visit to Disney.



 To the DIS!

Have fun.


----------



## dachsie

Ok this is going to be a strange question.  What "select" beverages do they have for this event?  I don't drink soda so is there anything else available?  Lemonade, water, etc?


----------



## Skippyboo

dachsie said:


> Ok this is going to be a strange question.  What "select" beverages do they have for this event?  I don't drink soda so is there anything else available?  Lemonade, water, etc?


I believe it’s the bottles that they have at the drink carts around the park. Definitely the Dansai water bottles would be available


----------



## Haley R

dachsie said:


> Ok this is going to be a strange question.  What "select" beverages do they have for this event?  I don't drink soda so is there anything else available?  Lemonade, water, etc?


I believe water is the only other option besides soda


----------



## djc9699

ninafeliz said:


> Cool, thanks, just bought mine for June 20th!  I’m sure there was no need to rush, but once I saw this I just couldn’t go to bed and wait until morning knowing I could have it done.


We are going June 20th as well. Purchased mine Monday around noon. Considering purchasing the 27th as well since that will be our last night, but not sure if I want to wait on reviews.


----------



## PartyOfSe7en

Anyone got a lead on a good place to get a Men's villain t-shirt? There are tons of womens ones. Looking for a good Scar, Davy Jones, or Shere Kahn. Maybe even a Black Pearl or Dead Men Tell No Tales. Just not a lot of good choices for men


----------



## AussieFan8

PartyOfSe7en said:


> Anyone got a lead on a good place to get a Men's villain t-shirt? There are tons of womens ones. Looking for a good Scar, Davy Jones, or Shere Kahn. Maybe even a Black Pearl or Dead Men Tell No Tales. Just not a lot of good choices for men



I love TeePublic for both men's and women's shirts!


----------



## ambellina

If we do this, it will be August 8. I plan to hold off purchasing until at least the first couple of nights have happened to see how crowded it actually winds up being.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

So... let's speculate a little. 

*IF *(key word) we believe Disney's website speak to be intentionally accurate (another key word)....  

Regular DAH:  *this event is your chance to enjoy over 25 popular attractions and Character Greetings with little to no wait time.*

Villains DAH:  _*this event is your chance to access over 20 attractions with low wait times
*_

*Which "5" attractions get the ax?  *


----------



## disneycat321

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So... let's speculate a little.
> 
> *IF *(key word) we believe Disney's website speak to be intentionally accurate (another key word)....
> 
> Regular DAH:  *this event is your chance to enjoy over 25 popular attractions and Character Greetings with little to no wait time.*
> 
> Villains DAH:  _*this event is your chance to access over 20 attractions with low wait times
> *_
> 
> *Which "5" attractions get the ax?  *



Ha! I was wondering this today. Well, it's not HM, JC, PotC, SDMT, or SM because those are all specifically mentioned by name.

I'm also hoping not Splash or Big Thunder.


----------



## disneycat321

Forgive me for this probably dumb question that I'm guessing is answered somewhere, but we've never even been to WDW since FP+ and are pretty clueless.

If we do not use a regular park ticket on the day of the party, opting to use just the DAH ticket instead, can we make FP+ reservations that day starting at 7:00? We have 8 day PH+ tickets that are spanning across 9 days. This would be the only day we don't actually use a real ticket entry - planning to do Typhoon Lagoon earlier, then DAH. 

Thanks, and sorry for my cluelessness!


----------



## rteetz

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So... let's speculate a little.
> 
> *IF *(key word) we believe Disney's website speak to be intentionally accurate (another key word)....
> 
> Regular DAH:  *this event is your chance to enjoy over 25 popular attractions and Character Greetings with little to no wait time.*
> 
> Villains DAH:  _*this event is your chance to access over 20 attractions with low wait times
> *_
> 
> *Which "5" attractions get the ax?  *


I am guessing the characters got the ax since Disney considers their characters attractions sometimes.


----------



## Castlequeen5

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So... let's speculate a little.
> 
> *IF *(key word) we believe Disney's website speak to be intentionally accurate (another key word)....
> 
> Regular DAH:  *this event is your chance to enjoy over 25 popular attractions and Character Greetings with little to no wait time.*
> 
> Villains DAH:  _*this event is your chance to access over 20 attractions with low wait times
> *_
> 
> *Which "5" attractions get the ax?  *



I don't know what is regularly open on DAH.  But I'm hoping it's rides like Barnstormer, magic carpets, Astro orbiter, and speedway.  Those would be the ones I'd skip.  I like JC and ITSW, but i wouldn't ride it during one of these events.  I'd ride it on a regular day, when I had plenty of time.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

FYI, the attraction list of what has generally been open at regular DAH to date can be found on Post #5:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/#post-59898147


----------



## GADisneyDad14

rteetz said:


> I am guessing the characters got the ax since Disney considers their characters attractions sometimes.



Well, if we count Mickey and Tink as 2, the Princess Fairytale Hall sides as 2, and Ariel - that's 5 'attractions.'  Could be.


----------



## Castlequeen5

disneycat321 said:


> Forgive me for this probably dumb question that I'm guessing is answered somewhere, but we've never even been to WDW since FP+ and are pretty clueless.
> 
> If we do not use a regular park ticket on the day of the party, opting to use just the DAH ticket instead, can we make FP+ reservations that day starting at 7:00? We have 8 day PH+ tickets that are spanning across 9 days. This would be the only day we don't actually use a real ticket entry - planning to do Typhoon Lagoon earlier, then DAH.
> 
> Thanks, and sorry for my cluelessness!



Yes, you can.  You may have to make your first one starting before 7 to get all 3 scheduled.  My first one starts like at 6:30.  So I will still have 30 minutes to get there.


----------



## rteetz

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Well, if we count Mickey and Tink as 2, the Princess Fairytale Hall sides as 2, and Ariel - that's 5 'attractions.'  Could be.


We all know how Disney likes to stretch things


----------



## disneycat321

Castlequeen5 said:


> Yes, you can.  You may have to make your first one staring before 7 to get all 3 scheduled.  My first one starts like at 6:30.  So I will still have 30 minutes to get there.



Thank you! This is what I was hoping.  It only saves like $16 at this point (2 of us, and it would be the 9th day), but I didn't want to spend $16 for nothing.


----------



## PPFlight75

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Maybe I am just too cheap and/or don’t get all the villains stuff, but am I the only person that finds it funny they are selling special treats and drinks at an event where they give away ‘free’ ice cream and sodas?   That part of it seems so funny/odd to me.


I know what you mean. I was ok(ish) with the villains stuff but the addition of the specials treats "feels" like a test to see if folks go for this and then they can get rid of the free stuff. I'm probably wrong but it definitely makes me wonder. I also don't think the treats look that good either except maybe the maleficent cone. 

Thia is the only option for our trip so I'm on the fence about it. We had so much fun at the regular AH event, I'm worried we won't like it.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

disneycat321 said:


> Forgive me for this probably dumb question that I'm guessing is answered somewhere, but we've never even been to WDW since FP+ and are pretty clueless.
> 
> If we do not use a regular park ticket on the day of the party, opting to use just the DAH ticket instead, can we make FP+ reservations that day starting at 7:00? We have 8 day PH+ tickets that are spanning across 9 days. This would be the only day we don't actually use a real ticket entry - planning to do Typhoon Lagoon earlier, then DAH.
> 
> Thanks, and sorry for my cluelessness!



Yeah, they’ll let you make FPs.  I would caution to keep an eye on for any emails from Disney about insufficient ticket media and a warning about fixing or they’ll cancel your last day of FPs.  There are some situations/combinations of factors that can cause you to get this warning, but exactly why has never truly been determined.  It’s also not all that common, but just keep an eye out and if you get an email, pay attention to it.  

We see this more with MNSSHP and MVMCP where there is a very large volume of people booking FPs with event tickets and inevitably you see a report or two, but the same thing can happen with DAH too. 

Hope that helps.


----------



## Castlequeen5

PPFlight75 said:


> I know what you mean. I was ok(ish) with the villains stuff but the addition of the specials treats "feels" like a test to see if folks go for this and then they can get rid of the free stuff. I'm probably wrong but it definitely makes me wonder. I also don't think the treats look that good either except maybe the maleficent cone.
> 
> Thia is the only option for our trip so I'm on the fence about it. We had so much fun at the regular AH event, I'm worried we won't like it.



This will be our first one, so we'll have nothing to compare it to.  But if a regular one had been available on our trip, I would have chosen that one too.  We may watch a show if the reviews are good and the wait times are low.  However, I don't intend to spend a dime on any of those special treats.  These tickets were a lot of money, so everyone in my family will be gorging on Coke, popcorn, and Mickey bars!


----------



## 123SA

disneycat321 said:


> Forgive me for this probably dumb question that I'm guessing is answered somewhere, but we've never even been to WDW since FP+ and are pretty clueless.
> 
> If we do not use a regular park ticket on the day of the party, opting to use just the DAH ticket instead, can we make FP+ reservations that day starting at 7:00? We have 8 day PH+ tickets that are spanning across 9 days. This would be the only day we don't actually use a real ticket entry - planning to do Typhoon Lagoon earlier, then DAH.
> 
> Thanks, and sorry for my cluelessness!




I spoke with IT this weekend about this as I had problems last year.  She seemed to understand my problem and said the solution is this:

Book FP+ for all of your regular park days first.  Then book your party day FP+.  Even if this means you don't book in chronological order.   

Example:  Let's say you have a 5 day ticket and a party ticket

July 31 regular ticket
Aug 1 party
Aug 2 reg ticket
Aug 3 reg ticket
Aug  4 reg ticket
Aug 5 reg ticket

If you book in order, the system will use all of regular tickets first, and then when you get to Aug 5th, it says, hey, you have no more tickets.  I see you have a party ticket, but there is no party on Aug 5th.

If you book FP+ for all of the regular ticket days first, when you go back to book FP+ for Aug 1 party, it says, hey no more regular tickets left, but this party ticket will work.


Now, this makes sense to me...but last year I spoke to IT over and over again, got a different answer every time...so who knows?


----------



## MKTokyo

PPFlight75 said:


> I know what you mean. I was ok(ish) with the villains stuff but the addition of the specials treats "feels" like a test to see if folks go for this and then they can get rid of the free stuff. I'm probably wrong but it definitely makes me wonder. I also don't think the treats look that good either except maybe the maleficent cone.
> 
> Thia is the only option for our trip so I'm on the fence about it. We had so much fun at the regular AH event, I'm worried we won't like it.


I feel like I've been eating that "tart" with different colors/pictures on it for at least half my life.


----------



## MermaidMommy

PartyOfSe7en said:


> Anyone got a lead on a good place to get a Men's villain t-shirt? There are tons of womens ones. Looking for a good Scar, Davy Jones, or Shere Kahn. Maybe even a Black Pearl or Dead Men Tell No Tales. Just not a lot of good choices for men


Have you checked Hot Topic? They really have a big selection of Disney clothing, for men and women.


----------



## cel_disney

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So... let's speculate a little.
> 
> *IF *(key word) we believe Disney's website speak to be intentionally accurate (another key word)....
> 
> Regular DAH:  *this event is your chance to enjoy over 25 popular attractions and Character Greetings with little to no wait time.*
> 
> Villains DAH:  _*this event is your chance to access over 20 attractions with low wait times
> *_
> 
> *Which "5" attractions get the ax?  *



I vote that they are not counting speedway in the list for summer.

I think they will keep Mickey but other characters might be in jeopardy - seems like they would be ‘trades’ for the villains character staff.


----------



## PPFlight75

Castlequeen5 said:


> This will be our first one, so we'll have nothing to compare it to.  But if a regular one had been available on our trip, I would have chosen that one too.  We may watch a show if the reviews are good and the wait times are low.  However, I don't intend to spend a dime on any of those special treats.  These tickets were a lot of money, so everyone in my family will be gorging on Coke, popcorn, and Mickey bars!


I agree! I’m too embarrassed to tell you how many treats I ate at mine lol!


----------



## PPFlight75

MKTokyo said:


> I feel like I've been eating that "tart" with different colors/pictures on it for at least half my life.


Haha yes! I think all the treats are so cute but I never like them. I just want an awesome cupcake!!


----------



## wuzzle02

What is the general feeling regarding September DAH dates? Is it likely that another batch of dates will be released, or do most people believe that this is the last of the DAH dates for 2019?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

wuzzle02 said:


> What is the general feeling regarding September DAH dates? Is it likely that another batch of dates will be released, or do most people believe that this is the last of the DAH dates for 2019?



Ignoring SWGE for a second and its potential impact property-wide, I can’t see this batch being the end.  The DAH trend is up (meaning, an increase in offerings) so I’d expect at least a few to be sprinkled around Sept-Dec like last year.  At least that’s my assumption.


----------



## MsLeFever

Anyone planning on wearing costumes for the Villain party?  I have a son (21) who is ALL about costumes so we really have to!  I'm a little worried about the high temps making us uncomfortable but fingers crossed!


----------



## Mrjoshua

PartyOfSe7en said:


> Anyone got a lead on a good place to get a Men's villain t-shirt? There are tons of womens ones. Looking for a good Scar, Davy Jones, or Shere Kahn. Maybe even a Black Pearl or Dead Men Tell No Tales. Just not a lot of good choices for men


BoxLunch has multiple shirts, and multiple with Scar.


----------



## kylenne

Welp, I have a “last minute” (for me) solo trip coming together and the Villains event was what put me over the edge! I picked up a ticket for August 8, which originally was my arrival date, but now it looks like I’ll be flying in after work on the 7th...no way am I taking a 5:30am flight and doing DAH the same night! My concern is about the FP situation though...does that documented warning/cancellation issue happen if you have an AP? I’m upgrading my park ticket to one on this trip.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

MsLeFever said:


> Anyone planning on wearing costumes for the Villain party?  I have a son (21) who is ALL about costumes so we really have to!  I'm a little worried about the high temps making us uncomfortable but fingers crossed!



I thought about it but decided against it. I’m Disneybounding Maleficent with black shorts, purple tank top and Maleficent ears & Magic Band wrap (Etsy). I may get elaborate with my eye makeup, depending on weather that day (mostly rain).


----------



## lucas

If the event starts at 10:00, what time can you enter the park?


----------



## dismoose23

lucas said:


> If the event starts at 10:00, what time can you enter the park?


When I received my reservation confirmation email, it said we could enter as early as 7:00.


----------



## lucas

dismoose23 said:


> When I received my reservation confirmation email, it said we could enter as early as 7:00.


Thanks!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Recently, guests have been allowed in between 6:00-6:30 for MK DAH. The official entry time is 7:00 though, regardless of the timing of the actual event.


----------



## Funfire240

MsLeFever said:


> Anyone planning on wearing costumes for the Villain party?  I have a son (21) who is ALL about costumes so we really have to!  I'm a little worried about the high temps making us uncomfortable but fingers crossed!



I could be wrong but I doubt you, or he, will be able to since costumes aren't allowed except for the Halloween party for adults - unless it's more Disney bounding.


----------



## lucas

Iowamomof4 said:


> Recently, guests have been allowed in between 6:00-6:30 for MK DAH. The official entry time is 7:00 though, regardless of the timing of the actual event.


Thanks for the info.  (I was asking for a friend who is going tonight.)


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Funfire240 said:


> I could be wrong but I doubt you, or he, will be able to since costumes aren't allowed except for the Halloween party for adults - unless it's more Disney bounding.



The Villain event follows the MNSSHP costume guidelines for adults

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/magic-kingdom/disney-villains-after-hours/


Dress your diabolical best—pay homage to your fave knave with inspired attire (see dress code and costume guidelines)


----------



## Funfire240

Cinderumbrella said:


> The Villain event follows the MNSSHP costume guidelines for adults
> 
> https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/magic-kingdom/disney-villains-after-hours/
> 
> 
> Dress your diabolical best—pay homage to your fave knave with inspired attire (see dress code and costume guidelines)


Thanks! I didn't catch that on there!


----------



## maryj11

123SA said:


> I spoke with IT this weekend about this as I had problems last year.  She seemed to understand my problem and said the solution is this:
> 
> Book FP+ for all of your regular park days first.  Then book your party day FP+.  Even if this means you don't book in chronological order.
> 
> Example:  Let's say you have a 5 day ticket and a party ticket
> 
> July 31 regular ticket
> Aug 1 party
> Aug 2 reg ticket
> Aug 3 reg ticket
> Aug  4 reg ticket
> Aug 5 reg ticket
> 
> If you book in order, the system will use all of regular tickets first, and then when you get to Aug 5th, it says, hey, you have no more tickets.  I see you have a party ticket, but there is no party on Aug 5th.
> 
> If you book FP+ for all of the regular ticket days first, when you go back to book FP+ for Aug 1 party, it says, hey no more regular tickets left, but this party ticket will work.
> 
> 
> Now, this makes sense to me...but last year I spoke to IT over and over again, got a different answer every time...so who knows?


Awe that makes sense. Glad they have a few people that have some knowledge. I did do all my regular parks first then the 2 party nights and had no problems.


----------



## kylenne

MsLeFever said:


> Anyone planning on wearing costumes for the Villain party?  I have a son (21) who is ALL about costumes so we really have to!  I'm a little worried about the high temps making us uncomfortable but fingers crossed!



I’m staying at POFQ so I think I’m going as a female version of Dr. Facilier. Just going to modify it a bit for the August temps, but I’m a cosplayer and used to that!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

No sell out tonight so far.  Wait times look pretty darn good for 6pm in the MK.  Can’t tell about the weather, some showers around but not really on top of MK (relying on radar).  

I’m wondering if these early May dates are really the ‘right’ time to go. 

Anyone going tonight?


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> No sell out tonight so far.  Wait times look pretty darn good for 6pm in the MK.  Can’t tell about the weather, some showers around but not really on top of MK (relying on radar).
> 
> I’m wondering if these early May dates are really the ‘right’ time to go.
> 
> Anyone going tonight?



I hope they stay that way for a bit! Our DAH is 2 weeks from tonight!


----------



## dachsie

GADisneyDad14 said:


> No sell out tonight so far.  Wait times look pretty darn good for 6pm in the MK.  Can’t tell about the weather, some showers around but not really on top of MK (relying on radar).
> 
> I’m wondering if these early May dates are really the ‘right’ time to go.
> 
> Anyone going tonight?


I am going next Thursday so can give a report on May


----------



## GADisneyDad14

I get that HEA just ended about 8 minutes ago, but sure does seem like some pretty darn low wait times right now....


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I get that HEA just ended about 8 minutes ago, but sure does seem like some pretty darn low wait times right now....



I see 15 minutes at 7dmt and 10 min at Peter Pan! That's amazing!


----------



## mom2rtk

I'm showing light rain in Orlando right now. Maybe most headed out after fireworks to dry off.


----------



## cakebaker

We went to DAH tonight. Our first and it was amazing. We arrived around 8:30 and crowd levels were low before the event even started. 

Everything was a walk-on for us the entire evening. Seriously, the best time we’ve ever had. It sprinkled just the tiniest bit for a short while, not even enough to think about though.

We left at 12:30. Rode everything we wanted to ride and we’re exhausted, but had a blast. My only suggestion would be they open up the fp lines. It’s just silly to walk an entire queue that is empty. 

Btw riding Buzz without anyone else is just weird! Lol


----------



## Iowamomof4

cakebaker said:


> We went to DAH tonight. Our first and it was amazing. We arrived around 8:30 and crowd levels were low before the event even started.
> 
> Everything was a walk-on for us the entire evening. Seriously, the best time we’ve ever had. It sprinkled just the tiniest bit for a short while, not even enough to think about though.
> 
> We left at 12:30. Rode everything we wanted to ride and we’re exhausted, but had a blast. My only suggestion would be they open up the fp lines. It’s just silly to walk an entire queue that is empty.
> 
> Btw riding Buzz without anyone else is just weird! Lol


I was checking wait times in the app all night and could tell it was an awesome event, crowd-wise. Glad to get confirmation and so happy you had a great time!


----------



## StephenM84

We are going to the Villians party on June 27th for our first after hours event. I'm going to guess from comments above the 15 minute waits or less across the board last night wasn't normal? 

I figured after hours events would mostly be walk on to 10-15 minute wait at max for certain rides.


----------



## BK2014

StephenM84 said:


> We are going to the Villians party on June 27th for our first after hours event. I'm going to guess from comments above the 15 minute waits or less across the board last night wasn't normal?
> 
> I figured after hours events would mostly be walk on to 10-15 minute wait at max for certain rides.



I think they were referring to the fact that the waits for SDMT and PP were that low so quickly after the park closed.  It often takes longer for those lines to go down due to regular day guests who were still in line when the park closed.  Most rides will are usually walk ons at DAH, but SDMT usually has a little bit of a wait.


----------



## Iowamomof4

StephenM84 said:


> We are going to the Villians party on June 27th for our first after hours event. I'm going to guess from comments above the 15 minute waits or less across the board last night wasn't normal?
> 
> I figured after hours events would mostly be walk on to 10-15 minute wait at max for certain rides.



Very low waits are normal for all but the most popular rides. It stood out to me that even 7dmt and PP were still walk-ons all night! There is often a 15 min or more wait for 7dmt (based on reports) and PP even can post waits of 10-20 minutes.


----------



## rn448698

We went last night to the MK DAH event, arriving at 7:25 or so after dinner at the GF. We used some fastpasses (or non existent lines) to go on Peter Pan, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder, Splash, Haunted Mansion, Small World, and the Carousel before 10pm. From 10pm on, we rode Pooh, Seven Dwarfs (got to use FP line but then they were directing people to regular line when we got off), Teacups, Barnstormer (2x), Dumbo, Space, Buzz, TTA, Ariel, Seven Dwarfs, and Peter Pan. All had no waits or basically under 2 minute waits. We thought about doing Astro Orbitor, but there was a little bit of a wait for that. We left at midnight because, well, we rode everything we wanted to. There was one bus for the Epcot resorts and we waited under 2 minutes for that as well. There were no lines at any of the food carts except for popcorn in Tomorrowland. We would do it again, and I wish I knew how to better pace myself.


----------



## Raya

Report from 5/2 and Things I learned (in bold). 

We arrived at 6:45ish and asked two cast members where to go get in. They pointed to a vague area but didn't really know. Eventually, we *found 4 lanes to the right of the entrance, closest to the break between the two banks of turn styles. There was a small sign in light lavender and yellow with "After hours" *that could not be seen from the monorail exit as opposed to the large yellow and orange sign for annual pass holders that could be seen from far away. No one seemed to remark or notice that it was 6:45 and not 7.

We did:
Space Moutain (FP at 7:10, walk on wait time was 45 minutes)
Carousel of Progress [No Wait (NW)]
Haunted Mansion (FP, walk on wait time was 20)
*Shopping**
Fireworks - so 9:15
Pirates of the Caribbean (FP, walk on wait was 5 minutes)
*Churro Hunt***
Big Thunder Mt. RR (wait was 5 minutes, basically walk-on)
*****Event starts*****
Haunted Mansion (NW, the sign said 13 minutes which was adorable)
Peter Pan (NW)
Prince Charming Carousel (NW)
Winne the Pooh (NW)
Space Mountain (NW)
Space Moutain again - definitely ask to skip the walk through the main line
People Mover (NW)
Seven Dwarves Mine Train (Posted wait 15 minutes, actually walk on)
Jungle Cruise
ended with food at 12:40, watched Kiss good night and left

*Shopping note:* The regular shops start closing around 9:00 even though the park was open until 10. None of the "Land" shops except the Winne the Pooh were open after 9. If you want to shop do so before 9. Only one side of Main Street (Emporium, clothing shops behind Casey's) was open for the event - no candy shop, no fancy purse shopping. 

*Churro hunt note:* The Frontierland churros cart closed before the fireworks. We asked a few cast members who directed us to the cart on the hub. When we got there we found it closed immediately after fireworks. If you want anything that is not ice cream, popcorn, or from Casey's or StarBucks, get it early. We wanted to try the Mermaid cupcake - Prince Eric's closed at 7. 

We had an amazing time but I didn't realize how much this was a stripped down event, even after following this thread for a month. The kitchens around the park were being cleaned. The bathrooms had janitorial staff working in them. Shops are closed up with awnings drawn shut. *Most importantly Monorails do NOT run during or after this event. *We weren't prepared for the walk back to the Contemporary, which was dark and lacked directions/signs.

I'll definitely be back for Villains. This event changed how we 'do' Disney after 20 years of going. I could see doing a trip that was nothing but DAH tickets. Complimentary food carts were plentiful but with dinner at 5:30, I wanted 'real food'. Casey's doesn't work for us,  thankfully Starbucks was serving breakfast at 12:40. I will definitely *take trail mix or snacks next time.* I was surprised that I couldn't buy a candy bar or pretzels in Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Frontierland or Adventureland.  

In case anyone is curious - we ended up getting 4 bottles of water (castmembers had no trouble giving out one per person each time), one container of popcorn, and two ice cream bars. 

To sum up... this event was more 'private party' than I expected it to be, but also utterly great. We had the park almost to ourselves, the experience was the best ever. I can't wait to do another.


----------



## Dbktmc

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So... let's speculate a little.
> 
> *IF *(key word) we believe Disney's website speak to be intentionally accurate (another key word)....
> 
> Regular DAH:  *this event is your chance to enjoy over 25 popular attractions and Character Greetings with little to no wait time.*
> 
> Villains DAH:  _*this event is your chance to access over 20 attractions with low wait times
> *_
> 
> *Which "5" attractions get the ax?  *



Well this is a little concerning....  I really do hope that it is the princess meet and greets that are cut.  Hopefully we will find out after the first party.  We are attending the 2nd party and I want to be prepared! 



Castlequeen5 said:


> I don't know what is regularly open on DAH.  But I'm hoping it's rides like Barnstormer, magic carpets, Astro orbiter, and speedway.  Those would be the ones I'd skip.  I like JC and ITSW, but i wouldn't ride it during one of these events.  I'd ride it on a regular day, when I had plenty of time.



I hope that the "little" rides are open.  We are taking our 7 year old and these rides are the ones that he loves!


----------



## Raya

Dbktmc said:


> I hope that the "little" rides are open.  We are taking our 7 year old and these rides are the ones that he loves!


I can verify that Aladdin's carpets were open and Speedway was closed. I saw a line for Astro Orbiter but later in the night (11pm) it was closed. I just realized we never walked by Dumbo (how is that possible??) or Barnstormer.


----------



## KangaFan

The Tikki Room, Swiss Family Treehouse and the Country Bears were on the original 25. I can't imagine those were super popular as an After Hours attraction . . .


----------



## Castlequeen5

Dbktmc said:


> Well this is a little concerning....  I really do hope that it is the princess meet and greets that are cut.  Hopefully we will find out after the first party.  We are attending the 2nd party and I want to be prepared!
> 
> 
> 
> I hope that the "little" rides are open.  We are taking our 7 year old and these rides are the ones that he loves!



Hopefully they're all open and they just messed up on the wording of the event!!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

KangaFan said:


> The Tikki Room, Swiss Family Treehouse and the Country Bears were on the original 25. I can't imagine those were super popular as an After Hours attraction . . .



Hey c’mon, you really haven’t ‘done’ MK DAH until you’ve been in Country Bears alone.  It’s weird!


----------



## 123SA

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Hey c’mon, you really haven’t ‘done’ MK DAH until you’ve been in Country Bears alone.  It’s weird!




Well..it's bit weird even when it's full!  I imagine it's actual creepy when empty.


----------



## KangaFan

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Hey c’mon, you really haven’t ‘done’ MK DAH until you’ve been in Country Bears alone.  It’s weird!



In all our trips we had never done Country Bears until last year and I have to say, I don't think we were missing anything. Definitely weird and potentially very creepy if empty.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

The funniest part is when the poor CM has to get on the mic and give the safety/intro speech.   We were 5 feet in front of him.  I was like “did you have to use the mic”?


----------



## Castlequeen5

KangaFan said:


> In all our trips we had never done Country Bears until last year and I have to say, I don't think we were missing anything. Definitely weird and potentially very creepy if empty.



We've never had the desire to do this one.  But now after this thread, I'm inspired.  I'll make sure we hit this one on our trip this summer!!!


----------



## SaintsManiac

LOVE Country Bears! Especially with a fresh bucket of popcorn.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Castlequeen5 said:


> We've never had the desire to do this one.  But now after this thread, I'm inspired.  I'll make sure we hit this one on our trip this summer!!!



Lol, not sure if “inspired” and “Country Bears” are two words that have ever been used in the same sentence before.

I’m all for MK nostalgia, but maybe keep expectations a little low.


----------



## Castlequeen5

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Lol, not sure if “inspired” and “Country Bears” are two words that have ever been used in the same sentence before.
> 
> I’m all for MK nostalgia, but maybe keep expectations a little low.



Actually I stand corrected.  My kids just informed me that we _HAVE_ done country bears.  One of my girls said she remembers burying her head in my arms, because she was so creeped out.  Ha!  I guess I blocked out the experience!


----------



## DVC Jen

I love country bears.  

........ _Mama don't whoop lil Buford....  Mama don't pound on his head....  Mama don't whoop lil Buford, I think you should shoot him instead!_


----------



## GillianP1301

One trip when my son was 5, we arrived right around RD, maybe a little after and the first thing he wanted to do was Country Bears, so we did. We were the only ones there. I remember the CM doing the opening schpiel to move to end of row, etc... got to the no photos part and said "no flash photography, or go ahead and take all the flash photos you want, there's nobody else here to annoy". Funny and memorable.


----------



## dachsie

Country Bears is great for an A/C break.


----------



## MinnieMSue

Shoot we love country bears. My daughter has the whole show memorized. I think we love how it is just a tad inappropriate most of all. That being said I can’t see us doing it during the after hours event. I think that Hall of Presidents Tiki birds and even another favorite Carousel of Progress would be kind of a waste during after hours. Also Monsters Inc Laugh floor.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Raya said:


> I can verify that Aladdin's carpets were open and Speedway was closed. I saw a line for Astro Orbiter but later in the night (11pm) it was closed. I just realized we never walked by Dumbo (how is that possible??) or Barnstormer.



Speedway is under refurbishment right now as they altered the track to make room for Tron. It'll reopen later this month and presumably re-join the list of open attractions at MK DAH. The question is not which rides are _currently_ available, but rather what will change for the villains event. We simply don't know right now.


----------



## KangaFan

I hope the Speedway is open for Villains. My sisters & nieces all want to ride it, but with the August heat and the slow moving line, I think they'll regret it, even with a FastPass. I think doing it after hours would be much more tolerable.


----------



## Candycane83

Me too! Really hope the speedway is open too!! My son really loves this ride and would ride and again and again as long as he could!


----------



## Castlequeen5

I hate the ride myself.  But my son loves it too!  My girls like it as well.  So I try to make time for it at least once a trip.  I would just watch them ride.  But my youngest daughter still can't reach the pedal, so someone has to ride with her!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I’d be surprised if Speedway wasn’t open for Villains based on it’s reopen date this month.

Now that DS has his permit (and license in a few weeks) and drove last summer for the first time since he was 10. He laughed and said “Now I know why you said this isn’t real driving!” 
(Not that he likes it any less)


----------



## AntJulie

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Hey c’mon, you really haven’t ‘done’ MK DAH until you’ve been in Country Bears alone. It’s weird!





123SA said:


> Well..it's bit weird even when it's full! I imagine it's actual creepy when empty.





KangaFan said:


> In all our trips we had never done Country Bears until last year and I have to say, I don't think we were missing anything. Definitely weird and potentially very creepy if empty.



LOL...this was "UNBEARABLE" as I was the only person in there watching. I could not wait for it to be over!!! 

I hadn't seen this show for many many years and did it one night to see if we should bring grandkids. Well, we did finally take grandkids but 3 years later!


----------



## rteetz

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Hey c’mon, you really haven’t ‘done’ MK DAH until you’ve been in Country Bears alone.  It’s weird!


Weird? I’d love that! My favorite show!


----------



## roxiepenguin

AntJulie said:


> LOL...this was "UNBEARABLE" as I was the only person in there watching. I could not wait for it to be over!!!
> 
> I hadn't seen this show for many many years and did it one night to see if we should bring grandkids. Well, we did finally take grandkids but 3 years later!




We loved being the only 2 watching during and after hours!


----------



## roxiepenguin

How far in advance are After Hours events posted? (DH would rather forego days in the park and just do After Hours events; after trying them, I agree wholeheartedly!)


----------



## Roxyfire

roxiepenguin said:


> How far in advance are After Hours events posted? (DH would rather forego days in the park and just do After Hours events; after trying them, I agree wholeheartedly!)



For this last group it wasn't that very far in advance, I know for the one I booked I was already inside the 60 day range. It looks like the first page has quite a nice retrospective of dates you could consult if you wanted a better idea. I certainly would consider that approach if I had a short trip.


----------



## AdrianneB

Last minute trip planner here: We are staying off-site. NO magic bands. Attending the Villains After Hours party on June 6 and have a single day park hopper ticket for June 10 (bought through MDE so it says "June 10" on the res) that we want to split between HS and EP. This morning was our 30 day FP+ for the June 6 party day. I was able to get in and make MK FP+ for 3 attractions, of which I timed them to be 6:30, 7:30, 8:30. Is this going to affect my FP+ for June 10? Would the system have allowed me to book them without a separately-linked park ticket for the day, or are those reservations linked to the party ticket now? Thanks


----------



## ChrissieBelle

AdrianneB said:


> Last minute trip planner here: We are staying off-site. NO magic bands. Attending the Villains After Hours party on June 6 and have a single day park hopper ticket for June 10 (bought through MDE so it says "June 10" on the res) that we want to split between HS and EP. This morning was our 30 day FP+ for the June 6 party day. I was able to get in and make MK FP+ for 3 attractions, of which I timed them to be 6:30, 7:30, 8:30. Is this going to affect my FP+ for June 10? Would the system have allowed me to book them without a separately-linked park ticket for the day, or are those reservations linked to the party ticket now? Thanks



Just made my FP+ selections too for June 6! But that's the only day we are going so I'm afraid I'm not much help.

I did wanna ask if you were also surprised Mickey's PhilHarMagic was "sold out"?


----------



## eeudj

Quick question this event still goes on rain or shine right? My evening forecast says PM thunderstorms 50%. TIA everyone


----------



## Haley R

eeudj said:


> Quick question this event still goes on rain or shine right? My evening forecast says PM thunderstorms 50%. TIA everyone


Yeah it runs rain or shine. A 50% chance in Florida isn’t a big chance. It literally could rain for like 10 minutes and be done. We went to the HS dah in January and while we were standing in line to get in the forecast said 80% chance of storms. It ended up sprinkling for about 20 minutes and that was it. I wouldn’t be too worried if I were you.


----------



## SabresFan

Since they are adding villains stuff to the After Hours, anybody know if they are also planning to let in more people, or is the level of attendance expected to be the same as previous After Hours events?


----------



## ninafeliz

SabresFan said:


> Since they are adding villains stuff to the After Hours, anybody know if they are also planning to let in more people, or is the level of attendance expected to be the same as previous After Hours events?


That’s the million dollar question!!


----------



## ninafeliz

SabresFan said:


> Since they are adding villains stuff to the After Hours, anybody know if they are also planning to let in more people, or is the level of attendance expected to be the same as previous After Hours events?


I’m hoping for the same amt of tickets sold, worried it’s a lot more.  Will settle for just some more instead of overselling


----------



## GADisneyDad14

It is the million dollar question, isn’t it.  

They already sell a lot of tickets to DAH.  Hang out on Main Street at the end of the night and you realize just how many people are in fact in the park - and it also reminds you of just how good MK is at absorbing people.  

I suspect if a good portion of the current guest count were to show up at the Hub to watch a show, most would say it would ‘feel’ relatively busy.  Not packed, but plenty of people around.  

I am so tempted to plan a quick trip just to witness that first night for myself.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

GADisneyDad14 said:


> It is the million dollar question, isn’t it.
> 
> They already sell a lot of tickets to DAH.  Hang out on Main Street at the end of the night and you realize just how many people are in fact in the park - and it also reminds you of just how good MK is at absorbing people.
> 
> I suspect if a good portion of the current guest count were to show up at the Hub to watch a show, most would say it would ‘feel’ relatively busy.  Not packed, but plenty of people around.
> 
> I am so tempted to plan a quick trip just to witness that first night for myself.



Do it!!! 

Not just because I’ll be there  but we need people who have attended both to give an educated opinion on whether or not it’s more crowded.

ETA: still some great AP rates out there too


----------



## djc9699

I had tickets shipped for this hoping they would be villain themed for souvenirs, but alas, we got Minnie, Belle, and Epcot. I usually don't bother with tickets since they are linked to MDE.


----------



## skis2

djc9699 said:


> I had tickets shipped for this hoping they would be villain themed for souvenirs, but alas, we got Minnie, Belle, and Epcot. I usually don't bother with tickets since they are linked to MDE.


Our tickets arrived and they were Tower of Terror and Star Tours. I thought maybe they would be villain themed as well.


----------



## 123SA

djc9699 said:


> I had tickets shipped for this hoping they would be villain themed for souvenirs, but alas, we got Minnie, Belle, and Epcot. I usually don't bother with tickets since they are linked to MDE.



Not only were my tickets generic, but I ordered 10 and got a bunch of duplicates.


----------



## dachsie

AdrianneB said:


> Last minute trip planner here: We are staying off-site. NO magic bands. Attending the Villains After Hours party on June 6 and have a single day park hopper ticket for June 10 (bought through MDE so it says "June 10" on the res) that we want to split between HS and EP. This morning was our 30 day FP+ for the June 6 party day. I was able to get in and make MK FP+ for 3 attractions, of which I timed them to be 6:30, 7:30, 8:30. Is this going to affect my FP+ for June 10? Would the system have allowed me to book them without a separately-linked park ticket for the day, or are those reservations linked to the party ticket now? Thanks


Very possible. Usually you can make it work if you make your regular park FP first then the Special event FPs. YMMV


----------



## Raya

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I am so tempted to plan a quick trip just to witness that first night for myself.



It's okay I'll go in your place. (I have the hotel room and the flight, just waiting on work approval to get the tickets... really hoping they don't sell out by then! )


----------



## jenjersnap

djc9699 said:


> I had tickets shipped for this hoping they would be villain themed for souvenirs, but alas, we got Minnie, Belle, and Epcot. I usually don't bother with tickets since they are linked to MDE.



I did too. Received two Mickeys, Elsa, Crush and Epcot.


----------



## vinotinto

They don't create special plastic tickets for the special events. Even for longer-running events like MNSHHP and MVMCP, they send just the regular plastic tickets.


----------



## L_MD

Guys I'm really late but I went to AH on 5/2 and it was AMAZING. It was dead and everything including 7DMT and PPF was a complete walk-on.

I will preface my "ride list" by saying I think I was working with minor food poisoning from Pecos Bill so I was walking a LOT slower than normal and didn't want to stop for too much popcorn and ice cream...sadly!!

Arrived around 9:30pm
Peoplemover x2 

Buzz x2
Peoplemover again
Buzz again (ride attendant said I could just stay on, but I was done by then)
Popcorn break (no wait)

7DMT (no wait at all)
Carrousel x2
??? I might have done Peter Pan's Flight but I don't have it written down

Haunted Mansion
Played some SOTMK 

Ice cream bar break...toyed with doing Country Bears but the next showing was 12:30 and I knew I wanted to get some BTMRR rides in

Big Thunder x3 (one side running, attendants were letting people choose their own rows, and a few people were re-riding if no one was waiting for that row....I always got off/walked back through because I like the back row)
IASW at around 12:57am for the last ride
Slowly walked to Main Street, Kiss Goodnight playing. Emporium was still open and I shopped for a bit.
Leaving was a bit of a pain since they were grouping people by area. I was with two Riverside people and it took about 15 minutes of being on the (frigid) bus before we left MK.

I also couldn't tell you what was open food wise since I was a) 100% NOT hungry and b) I had Casey's the night before.

All in all this event was worth every penny. The crowd levels "felt" low and there was almost no one around Liberty Square/Frontierland when I was playing SOTMK, which I like. 

I'd totally do this event again and hope I get a chance to!


----------



## Iowamomof4

I'll be anxious to find out if tonight is as dead as 5/2 was or if it seems busier. We're a week away from our MK after hours!


----------



## cakebaker

We were there May 2nd as well and I agree. Most areas of the park were entirely empty. We didn't wait to ride anything. We even left a bit early as we'd done everything we wanted to do. 

I'm not as thrilled with the AK and HS after hours though- just not enough to do unless you're into riding something over and over again. For us, 2-3 times is as much as I care to do.


----------



## cakebaker

May 2nd.  Feels crowded


----------



## Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

Iowamomof4 said:


> I'll be anxious to find out if tonight is as dead as 5/2 was or if it seems busier. We're a week away from our MK after hours!



We are headed there this evening.   I will definitely report back with an update after the event.

We stopped in to Ticket Services at Disney Springs earlier this afternoon to exchange our paper tickets for hard tickets and the CM that assisted us said that tonight wasnt yet sold out (yay!) and no one was expecting it to.  His exact words were "it's that awkward time between the end of spring break and Easter but before school is out, so sales are slow".  I'd be totally okay with that.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina said:


> We are headed there this evening.   I will definitely report back with an update after the event.
> 
> We stopped in to Ticket Services at Disney Springs earlier this afternoon to exchange our paper tickets for hard tickets and the CM that assisted us said that tonight wasnt yet sold out (yay!) and no one was expecting it to.  His exact words were "it's that awkward time between the end of spring break and Easter but before school is out, so sales are slow".  I'd be totally okay with that.


Love it!


----------



## dachsie

I am here now and will do a report. In Casey’s garden waiting for fireworks right now


----------



## dachsie

Just got in my room after an awesome night. Got to park about 8:15 and went to get SotMK cards. Looking for # 10 and 14. Didn’t get them but someone heard me say 10 and gave it to me. Then went to Emporium to buy the new patriotic ears. Then went to Casey’s Garden for fireworks. Let the crowds die down ran to restroom then watched OUAT. Then it was 10 and off I went:

jungle Cruise
magic Carpets
PotC
Ice cream bar and water
Splash
BTMRR x2
Popcorn and water
Haunted Mansion 
Ice cream sandwich which was not frozen so after a few bites it went to trash
Tangled lantern photo
PPF
IASW
7DMT
Pooh
Teacups 
Buzz
Olaf bar and water
Dumbo
Met Ariel as the ride wasn’t open and it was 12:58
Walked thru castle, took pictures with PPP
Watched Kiss goodnight
Photo at bench with Minnie
Exited and walked back to Contemporary 

Everything was walk on. Even 7DMT was only 4 mins to get in car once got thru the queue. Totally awesome evening!!


----------



## DomesticPrincess

dachsie said:


> Just got in my room after an awesome night. Got to park about 8:15 and went to get SotMK cards. Looking for # 10 and 14. Didn’t get them but someone heard me say 10 and gave it to me. Then went to Emporium to buy the new patriotic ears. Then went to Casey’s Garden for fireworks. Let the crowds die down ran to restroom then watched OUAT. Then it was 10 and off I went:
> 
> jungle Cruise
> magic Carpets
> PotC
> Ice cream bar and water
> Splash
> BTMRR x2
> Popcorn and water
> Haunted Mansion
> Ice cream sandwich which was not frozen so after a few bites it went to trash
> Tangled lantern photo
> PPF
> IASW
> 7DMT
> Pooh
> Teacups
> Buzz
> Olaf bar and water
> Dumbo
> Met Ariel as the ride wasn’t open and it was 12:58
> Walked thru castle, took pictures with PPP
> Watched Kiss goodnight
> Photo at bench with Minnie
> Exited and walked back to Contemporary
> 
> Everything was walk on. Even 7DMT was only 4 mins to get in car once got thru the queue. Totally awesome evening!!



Looks like you had a lovely evening.

I can't wait to read / watch the first reports of the Villain's after hours. First one is less than a month away now.


----------



## FredQc

I was at the Magic Kingdom DAH event tonight (May 9).

It was definitely not crowded! After a late wake-up and a relaxing day at the hotel (Carribean Beach Resort), I felt in good shape for the night. Thanks to my annual pass, I entered the park at 5pm. I did the Hall of Presidents, then I went to the Liberty Square ticket office, next to the Hall exit, to get my DAH band. I then rode the Jungle Cruise (FP+). In the same spirit, I had a dinner (with an advanced dining reservation) at the Skipper Canteen. I went to the hub immediately after, to get a spot for Happily Ever After.

Following the fireworks, and before 10pm, I rode the tea cups and the Barnstormer (2x).  Then, beginning at 10pm, I rode:

- Dumbo (2x) -- We could stay on board.
* I went to Space Mountain, at 10:20pm, but it was down.
- Astro Orbiter
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority -- with lights on in Space Mountain, which was down at the moment.
- Pirates of the Carribean
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (3x) -- we could stay on board when no people waiting for our row.
- Haunted Mansion (2x) -- no direct walking through the stretching room; it was regular operation.
- Peter Pan
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

All aforementioned attractions were walk-on, except Astro Orbiter where I waited about 5-6 minutes.

The carts for beverages, pop corn and ice cream were numerous, and basically with no wait. I took 2 ice cream products, and a total of 6 bottles (5 of which were brought back to my resort room -- it is a way to maximize the benefit for the event price). I waited about 2 minutes at one of these carts; otherwise, I didn't wait at all.

I also took several pictures. I left the park at 1:30am. We were about 6 passengers in the returning bus dedicated to CBR.

Aside the closure of Space Mountain -- I don't know whether it reopens during the evening - I was very satisfied of this event.

I will attend DAH at Disney's Hollywood Studios tomorrow. I am looking forward to compare.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

So, I guess what we’ve learned here is that early May is a pretty good time to hit DAH.  You get the benefit of the later 10-1am time and arguably that tiny window of slightly lower crowds between spring/summer.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So, I guess what we’ve learned here is that early May is a pretty good time to hit DAH.  You get the benefit of the later 10-1am time and arguably that tiny window of slightly lower crowds between spring/summer.



Really hoping this holds true for at least one more week!!


----------



## cakebaker

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So, I guess what we’ve learned here is that early May is a pretty good time to hit DAH.  You get the benefit of the later 10-1am time and arguably that tiny window of slightly lower crowds between spring/summer.



This was my first time visiting in early May, but it won’t be my last. We usually go in the summer, but have been in Sept, Oct, Dec and January. I haven’t seen this low a crowd level in many years. Dah’s were great, but regular park hours were pretty amazing too compared to any other trip we’ve made in recent years. 

The only down sides were the weather.       (way too much rain) and the love bugs that apparently moved in the day we arrived.


----------



## Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

We were also at DAH last night.  VERY pleased with the event,  and we would totally do it again.  Our last 2 rides on BTMRR there were a grand total of 7 people, including us, on the train.   Hubby had his own boat on Splash.  We waited maybe 5 minutes for 7DMT.  So. Much. Fun.

This is the way we want to "do Disney".


----------



## L_MD

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina said:


> We were also at DAH last night.  VERY pleased with the event,  and we would totally do it again.  Our last 2 rides on BTMRR there were a grand total of 7 people, including us, on the train.   Hibby had his own boat on Splash.  We waited maybeb5 minutes for 7DMT.  So. Much. Fun.
> 
> This is the way we want to "do Disney".



I was on a BTMRR car with just me in the very back and another girl in the very front. It was great.


----------



## vinotinto

cakebaker said:


> This was my first time visiting in early May, but it won’t be my last. We usually go in the summer, but have been in Sept, Oct, Dec and January. I haven’t seen this low a crowd level in many years. Dah’s were great, but regular park hours were pretty amazing too compared to any other trip we’ve made in recent years.
> 
> The only down sides were the weather.       (way too much rain) and the love bugs that apparently moved in the day we arrived.


I heard this from those who visited last year too. Early May is super low crowds, but it's a no-go for us because our schools end before Memorial Day. Which means early May is too close to the end of the year, with school projects due soon, final exams, recital practices, etc. Wish we could visit during this time!


----------



## SaintsManiac

vinotinto said:


> I heard this from those who visited last year too. Early May is super low crowds, but it's a no-go for us because our schools end before Memorial Day. Which means early May is too close to the end of the year, with school projects due soon, final exams, recital practices, etc. Wish we could visit during this time!




Same! I'd love to go first week of May, but that is testing week for our schools.


----------



## cakebaker

vinotinto said:


> I heard this from those who visited last year too. Early May is super low crowds, but it's a no-go for us because our schools end before Memorial Day. Which means early May is too close to the end of the year, with school projects due soon, final exams, recital practices, etc. Wish we could visit during this time!



My daughters and son in law are teachers so they can’t go. My grandson is home schooled though, so I can take him any time of year. I love our trips together!


----------



## Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

cakebaker said:


> The only down sides were the weather.       (way too much rain) and the love bugs that apparently moved in the day we arrived.



When did you arrive, cakebaker?  We got here last Saturday (May 4th) and have only had two afternoon thunderstorms......a shorter one on our arrival day and a longer one on Sunday, May 5th.  Otherwise it's been nothing but sun.  

We have been visiting Orlando the 1st week of May since 2015, and the love bugs this year are definitely the worst we have seen.  We generally visit each May (low crowds, and to celebrate our anniversary) and October (for the Halloween events) but as much fun as the Halloween festivities are, you cant beat early May for crowds!


----------



## cakebaker

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina said:


> When did you arrive, cakebaker?  We got here last Saturday (May 4th) and have only had two afternoon thunderstorms......a shorter one on our arrival day and a longer one on Sunday, May 5th.  Otherwise it's been nothing but sun.
> 
> We have been visiting Orlando the 1st week of May since 2015, and the love bugs this year are definitely the worst we have seen.  We generally visit each May (low crowds, and to celebrate our anniversary) and October (for the Halloween events) but as much fun as the Halloween festivities are, you cant beat early May for crowds!



We were there  2-7. Saturday evening at HS was a mess- had the dessert pkg for  Fantasmic  that was cancelled, the storm started just as we sat down. They wouldn’t let us stay in the stadium under cover, I assume for good reason but we got drenched getting out. We ended up opting to skip DAH. Had to wait on the boat for 45 minutes before the lightening let up enough to get back to the resort. Sunday was our planned afternoon at the resort to swim and it rained hard all afternoon. Our FEA dessert party was moved inside due to the rain that night. I heard some people say parts of the MK were temporarily roped off due to flooding, but I wasn’t there so just a rumor.

So while it didn’t rain every day, the times it did always cost us dearly. It’s just luck of the draw, wouldn’t let it stop me from going this time of year again, but It was frustrating nonetheless. yes, the weather turned beautiful on a Monday, our last full day.


----------



## IndyPirate

Hi, we're planning on attending next week's event. Is parking at Disney Springs available during this? We're staying off property but will likely be having an early supper at Disney Springs or a Magic Kingdom resort before and were trying to plan ahead. Will busses to DS still be running after MK after hours?


----------



## Haley R

IndyPirate said:


> Hi, we're planning on attending next week's event. Is parking at Disney Springs available during this? We're staying off property but will likely be having an early supper at Disney Springs or a Magic Kingdom resort before and were trying to plan ahead. Will busses to DS still be running after MK after hours?


If you go the DS route, I think your best bet would be to walk to the contemporary and take a lyft


----------



## smile145

I’m going on the 23rd for my first time.  I was wondering two things.  If I arrive at 9pm or so, but not interested in fireworks, is it impossible to walk through to the back of the park?   At the end of DAH, I know monorails are not running but is the ferry to TTC parking running?


----------



## Mrjoshua

smile145 said:


> I’m going on the 23rd for my first time.  I was wondering two things.  If I arrive at 9pm or so, but not interested in fireworks, is it impossible to walk through to the back of the park?   At the end of DAH, I know monorails are not running but is the ferry to TTC parking running?


It isn't impossible walking anywhere in the park, except perhaps the middle of Main Street or the hub. Stick to the sidewalks. It will be congested, but the castmembers keep people moving. It doesn't matter where you're headed during the fireworks, there will be a path.

I don't know about the ferry.


----------



## Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

smile145 said:


> I’m going on the 23rd for my first time.  I was wondering two things.  If I arrive at 9pm or so, but not interested in fireworks, is it impossible to walk through to the back of the park?   At the end of DAH, I know monorails are not running but is the ferry to TTC parking running?



The ferry to the TTC was running after the May 9th event.  That's how we got back to our car.


----------



## smile145

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina said:


> The ferry to the TTC was running after the May 9th event.  That's how we got back to our car.




Thank you


----------



## GADisneyDad14

FYI, the Ferry is the only option for getting back to the TTC after DAH.  The monorail will not be running.


----------



## cindianne320

I'm going Thursday- can't wait!


----------



## Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

Some crowd pics from the May 9th event:


----------



## Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

More from the May 9th DAH:


----------



## heidijanesmith

Love the pics!!


----------



## skullsplitter

What are your preferred strategies for DAH at MK?  Do you want to be near in a certain land at 10PM?  We are doing one in July.  We'll be in the park around 5PM and am trying to figure out a good game plan to cut down on criss-crossing the park for 8 hours.


----------



## Haley R

skullsplitter said:


> What are your preferred strategies for DAH at MK?  Do you want to be near in a certain land at 10PM?  We are doing one in July.  We'll be in the park around 5PM and am trying to figure out a good game plan to cut down on criss-crossing the park for 8 hours.


We like to start in Adventureland/Frontierland and save fantasyland close to last. It helps to wait sometimes because the fantasyland rides will still have day guests in them.


----------



## BK2014

skullsplitter said:


> What are your preferred strategies for DAH at MK?  Do you want to be near in a certain land at 10PM?  We are doing one in July.  We'll be in the park around 5PM and am trying to figure out a good game plan to cut down on criss-crossing the park for 8 hours.



We have started both of our DAHs on Dumbo right as the fireworks were going off/DAH was beginning.  We then worked our way counter-clockwise around the park.  We haven't done SDMT during DAH since we usually use FPs for that, so we hit all of the other rides/attractions ending with the Peoplemover.


----------



## Remy is Up

We have watched the fireworks from the Astro Orbiter every trip we have done MKAH. Its really cool and then we just hit Buzz, Space( Usually 2 or 3 times in a row), then cross to adventureland and work back towards fantasyland for late in the night. We have done MKAH several times and can usually ride crazy amounts of stuff and still have time to enjoy the snacks. Plus near the end of the night, particularly on the 1AM enders, the park is so quiet we have done pics on main street sitting on the ground with the castle in the background. Its an amazing pic and the CMs will gladly do it.


----------



## Ariel1147

Hi everyone. I apologize in advance if this has already been answered somewhere in this thread, but I have a question regarding FP selections.

We are going to one of the Villains AH events in July.  We do not have APs, and we do not have any other park tickets for our time there. I have heard that FP can be made in advance, but when I look in MDE, it says we can begin making selections in October (for our December trip). 

I read at the beginning of this thread there have been some glitches with making FPs. Could this be an MDE glitch, or will we only be able to make FP selections once we enter MK for that night? 
Thank you in advance for your help!


----------



## Funfire240

Ariel1147 said:


> Hi everyone. I apologize in advance if this has already been answered somewhere in this thread, but I have a question regarding FP selections.
> 
> We are going to one of the Villains AH events in July.  We do not have APs, and we do not have any other park tickets for our time there. I have heard that FP can be made in advance, but when I look in MDE, it says we can begin making selections in October (for our December trip).
> 
> I read at the beginning of this thread there have been some glitches with making FPs. Could this be an MDE glitch, or will we only be able to make FP selections once we enter MK for that night?
> Thank you in advance for your help!


Are you staying on site and within your 60 days?  If not, you will have to wait until 30 days before.  Not sure if maybe that is the reason.


----------



## Ariel1147

Funfire240 said:


> Are you staying on site and within your 60 days?  If not, you will have to wait until 30 days before.  Not sure if maybe that is the reason.



No, we're staying off site. I thought that may be why it isn't showing up, but I'm thinking since the tickets are linked it should say that we are eligible to make FP selections in June then, shouldn't it?


----------



## ninafeliz

We 


Ariel1147 said:


> No, we're staying off site. I thought that may be why it isn't showing up, but I'm thinking since the tickets are linked it should say that we are eligible to make FP selections in June then, shouldn't it?


I think at 30 days you should be able to make 3 FPs.  But I have to admit I’m not sure, since I’ve never had that same scenario.  Having just a specialty ticket is different from a regular pass, so maybe that’s the difference in what you see?


----------



## Dbktmc

Are the photopass photographers out during this event?  I would love to get some shots with my parents if possible.  My parents are 74 and 80 and I'm never sure if they will be able to come with us again.


----------



## Haley R

Dbktmc said:


> Are the photopass photographers out during this event?  I would love to get some shots with my parents if possible.  My parents are 74 and 80 and I'm never sure if they will be able to come with us again.


Yep they are. They’re mostly just on Main Street but some people have been able to do the tangled picture during the event


----------



## Iowamomof4

The forecast for tomorrow night looks fantastic! We have an ADR at LTT at 6 and I hope to catch HEA as our park days have tended to be rather short so far this trip, so we haven't seen any nighttime shows in our first 3 days.


----------



## cindianne320

I'm going tomorrow, too! Hoping for great weather, as last year when I was there in May, it rained/poured EVERY day- not just an afternoon shower.


----------



## ArielSRL

I'm in for June 13th. Leaving the family behind and going with a friend, who is also leaving her family behind!


----------



## sfbank

Booked for August 8th. The only one being offered while we are there so had to do it of course.


----------



## Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

Dbktmc said:


> Are the photopass photographers out during this event?  I would love to get some shots with my parents if possible.  My parents are 74 and 80 and I'm never sure if they will be able to come with us again.





Haley R said:


> Yep they are. They’re mostly just on Main Street but some people have been able to do the tangled picture during the event



The Tangled photo op was part of the May 9th event  .


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Reminder, if you’re doing the Villains After Hours this summer, don’t forget to log your dates on the date poll!

*Magic Kingdom “Villains After Hours” Summer 2019 Date Poll*


----------



## Ariel1147

ninafeliz said:


> We
> 
> I think at 30 days you should be able to make 3 FPs.  But I have to admit I’m not sure, since I’ve never had that same scenario.  Having just a specialty ticket is different from a regular pass, so maybe that’s the difference in what you see?



That's what I was thinking (it's different since it's a special event ticket vs a regular ticket). I guess I'll find out in 30 days lol


----------



## Daisy1940

I’m not sure how to get this review added to the list. Please let me know if I need to do this another way.

Attended the May 9 MK DAH. We walked straight on to all rides except SDMT and Space Mt, which were both about 7-10 minute waits. We were offered re-rides on most attractions except these two. Little Mermaid was down which we did plan to ride but wasn’t a big deal as we rode it another day. I did check the Disney website around 4:00 that day and tickets were still available. 

The crowds were much lighter than I anticipated. One thing I thought was odd was that all rides used the regular queue. I can totally understand doing this if the event is more crowded to give the illusion of no wait but it was totally unnecessary for this evening and just took away time we could have been doing more attractions. The only ride not doing this was Peter Pan, and that is the only one that we wanted to use the full queue for! LOL

Overall the event was wonderful and I highly recommend it. It is 100% worth the money (especially since we got the pass holder rate) and we will be doing this again. My husband and I both thought this is a great alternative to a day ticket and would be a great option for a family who wanted a relaxed day at the resort then get to the park at 7. The only let down were the snack kiosks which didn’t open until around 10:15 and all seemed to be closed around 12:45. We really wanted a drink and Mickey bar for the road and couldn’t get one as the kiosks were closing up. We were told there would be more open as we walked out of the park but there weren’t and we left empty handed. 

We ate dinner at the wave and valet parked with our tables in wonderland. This was great as we stayed offsite and we were in and out of the event very quickly.

9:25 arrived at MK and got wristbands right away.
Buzz with FP booked during dinner
People mover
Buzz
Buzz again. Park closing
10:00 event start
Tried to get a snack but kiosk not open for event
Pirates of the Caribbean
Tried to get snacks at a different kiosk but they were not open for the event yet
BTMRR - both sides running
Snack break
Splash Mountain 
Bathroom break
Haunted mansion
Peter Pan
SDMT
SDMT again
Snack break
Tried to ride little mermaid but it was closed
Space Mountain
Astro Orbiter
SDMT
Peter Pan
Lantern photo (no wait, there had been a bit of a line when we walked by earlier in the evening)
BTMRR
12:45-tried to get another snack but the kiosk was closing. No other kiosks open from Adventureland to park exit.
Left park and walked to Contemporary. We got our car, drove to Kissimmee, and were in bed by 1:35.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Daisy1940 said:


> I’m not sure how to get this review added to the list. Please let me know if I need to do this another way.



You don’t have to do anything, I’ll get it added next time I’m at a real computer.  I sometimes fall behind, but usually try to catch up once a week (or so).  Thanks for stopping by with your detailed report!


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Reminder, if you’re doing the Villains After Hours this summer, don’t forget to log your dates on the date poll!
> 
> *Magic Kingdom “Villains After Hours” Summer 2019 Date Poll*


I'm sure I'll be adding a date sometime later this summer


----------



## dachsie

Daisy1940 said:


> I’m not sure how to get this review added to the list. Please let me know if I need to do this another way.
> 
> Attended the May 9 MK DAH. We walked straight on to all rides except SDMT and Space Mt, which were both about 7-10 minute waits. We were offered re-rides on most attractions except these two. Little Mermaid was down which we did plan to ride but wasn’t a big deal as we rode it another day. I did check the Disney website around 4:00 that day and tickets were still available.
> 
> The crowds were much lighter than I anticipated. One thing I thought was odd was that all rides used the regular queue. I can totally understand doing this if the event is more crowded to give the illusion of no wait but it was totally unnecessary for this evening and just took away time we could have been doing more attractions. The only ride not doing this was Peter Pan, and that is the only one that we wanted to use the full queue for! LOL
> 
> Overall the event was wonderful and I highly recommend it. It is 100% worth the money (especially since we got the pass holder rate) and we will be doing this again. My husband and I both thought this is a great alternative to a day ticket and would be a great option for a family who wanted a relaxed day at the resort then get to the park at 7. The only let down were the snack kiosks which didn’t open until around 10:15 and all seemed to be closed around 12:45. We really wanted a drink and Mickey bar for the road and couldn’t get one as the kiosks were closing up. We were told there would be more open as we walked out of the park but there weren’t and we left empty handed.
> 
> We ate dinner at the wave and valet parked with our tables in wonderland. This was great as we stayed offsite and we were in and out of the event very quickly.
> 
> 9:25 arrived at MK and got wristbands right away.
> Buzz with FP booked during dinner
> People mover
> Buzz
> Buzz again. Park closing
> 10:00 event start
> Tried to get a snack but kiosk not open for event
> Pirates of the Caribbean
> Tried to get snacks at a different kiosk but they were not open for the event yet
> BTMRR - both sides running
> Snack break
> Splash Mountain
> Bathroom break
> Haunted mansion
> Peter Pan
> SDMT
> SDMT again
> Snack break
> Tried to ride little mermaid but it was closed
> Space Mountain
> Astro Orbiter
> SDMT
> Peter Pan
> Lantern photo (no wait, there had been a bit of a line when we walked by earlier in the evening)
> BTMRR
> 12:45-tried to get another snack but the kiosk was closing. No other kiosks open from Adventureland to park exit.
> Left park and walked to Contemporary. We got our car, drove to Kissimmee, and were in bed by 1:35.


I had dinner at the Wave that nite too.  I was seated near the wedding party.


----------



## L&Lfan

We’ll be there tomorrow. Starting out with dinner at bluezoo at 5; then taking the bus over to MK. Hoping to make it til 1.


----------



## pugbug

Quick question (and probably silly), I’m going to the event tomorrow. How do I make sure I’m using my event ticket and not a regular park ticket? I have one day left on my park hopper and I’m not using it tomorrow. I’m just afraid I’ll scan my band and it’ll use my last park hopper instead of the event ticket. Does that make sense?


----------



## mommajo143

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I’m torn by what to think here.
> 
> ...On the other hand, DAH sell-out history does not suggest needing to be worried about sell-outs right away.  Add to that the decent-sized increase in cost, the unknowns of just what this event is going to be like, and (maybe?) increased capacity(??), it seems to me like a more than average amount of people will take a ‘wait and see’ approach to see if this is ‘worth it.’ ...





Ckmommy72 said:


> These are the exact thought going through my head!  UGH!!!!  If only the Dibb had After Hours ticket availability like they do FP availability...then we'd know if tickets were selling fast...And yes, as I said...I'll probably be up early on Monday ready to pull that trigger!! LOL  Heaven forbid we miss out



Us too... We are completely torn and haven't pulled the trigger.  We already bought HS EMM for TSL access add this event and we really are blowing our budget.  But, we will be there in mid-july and with the lackluster PM EMH, the draw of night time park access with slightly more bearable temps and potentially lower crowd levels is extremely alluring....


----------



## Haley R

pugbug said:


> Quick question (and probably silly), I’m going to the event tomorrow. How do I make sure I’m using my event ticket and not a regular park ticket? I have one day left on my park hopper and I’m not using it tomorrow. I’m just afraid I’ll scan my band and it’ll use my last park hopper instead of the event ticket. Does that make sense?


Just make sure you go through the turnstile that says “event entrance” above it. It’s near the middle of the turnstiles. You should see a line of people and cms waiting with wristbands


----------



## BirdL15

So I read the boards often, but never posted anything thus far. 

I’ve been planning a trip for August for months now banking on last years DAH date of the second Saturday in August. Of course this year they move it to the Thursday before I’m scheduled to arrive. 

Based on the historical dates for this event, would you assume Aug 8th date to be the last one offered until closer to September? Or is there a possibility of dates being released for the following week?

I am only there from Aug 10 -Aug 16. Considering coming in a few days early to go to the Aug 8th if that’s my only option. 

So excited to go to my first DAH!


----------



## ninafeliz

BirdL15 said:


> So I read the boards often, but never posted anything thus far.
> 
> I’ve been planning a trip for August for months now banking on last years DAH date of the second Saturday in August. Of course this year they move it to the Thursday before I’m scheduled to arrive.
> 
> Based on the historical dates for this event, would you assume Aug 8th date to be the last one offered until closer to September? Or is there a possibility of dates being released for the following week?
> 
> I am only there from Aug 10 -Aug 16. Considering coming in a few days early to go to the Aug 8th if that’s my only option.
> 
> So excited to go to my first DAH!




To answer your question, your guess is as good as mine.  If you really want to make sure you can go and moving your dates is feasible without making a mess of your life/schedule or costing a fortune, that’s the best (and only way right now) to make sure you can catch one. My best guess is they won’t add more, since MNSSHP starts in mid August,  but there aren’t as many parties that early, so they certainly could fit both in if they wanted to.  I just can’t figure out for the life of me they would add 1 or 2 more at a later time- why not add them all at once?  But you never know with Disney! So as soon as I type that I don’ t think they will I think of the reasons they might lol.  

Summary- I would arrange to arrive earlier if I wanted to attend that badly, knowing there was a chance that the later dates I had wanted might be added and make me irritated with my earlier decision!


----------



## dachsie

BirdL15 said:


> So I read the boards often, but never posted anything thus far.
> 
> I’ve been planning a trip for August for months now banking on last years DAH date of the second Saturday in August. Of course this year they move it to the Thursday before I’m scheduled to arrive.
> 
> Based on the historical dates for this event, would you assume Aug 8th date to be the last one offered until closer to September? Or is there a possibility of dates being released for the following week?
> 
> I am only there from Aug 10 -Aug 16. Considering coming in a few days early to go to the Aug 8th if that’s my only option.
> 
> So excited to go to my first DAH!


To be honest, I wouldn't bank on anything with them getting ready for SWGE and F&W opening later that month and the Halloween parties starting.  If you can rearrange your trip, I would go ahead and do it.  Less stress with that then waiting until too late and not getting it at all


----------



## Raya

Boat based transport? We switched our hotel to GF for the first VAH. I know the monorail is closed after the event (*grumble grumble*) but will the boats to the GF be running? Anyone had experience with them?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Raya said:


> Boat based transport? We switched our hotel to GF for the first VAH. I know the monorail is closed after the event (*grumble grumble*) but will the boats to the GF be running? Anyone had experience with them?



No, based on past conditions, the resort boats won’t be running.  Your options are bus (usually shared with Poly) or Ferry to TTC and make the walk through Poly to GF (long walk but doable).


----------



## JenniferYoung44

Anyone know if you can play SotMK during After Hours?


----------



## Chavaleh

ArielSRL said:


> I'm in for June 13th. Leaving the family behind and going with a friend, who is also leaving her family behind!




I'll be there that exact night under the exact same circumstances,  just my best friend and I!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Quiet MK DAH night....


----------



## Iowamomof4

It's amazing! 8 minutes for 7dmt, everything else walk-on or very short wait.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Finding Olaf bars most places along with the other usual treats. Haven't found any Coke Zero yet, so I had to settle for a regular Coke.


----------



## whiporee

I don't think they've got Zero. Just regular and diet.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> It's amazing! 8 minutes for 7dmt, everything else walk-on or very short wait.



Lol, awesome.  Glad you’re having a good evening.


----------



## PolyRob

Iowamomof4 said:


> Haven't found any Coke Zero yet, so I had to settle for a regular Coke.





whiporee said:


> I don't think they've got Zero. Just regular and diet.



This has been my least favorite part of the DAH events I've attended


----------



## cakebaker

So excited! We just got back from a grandson and me trip that ended on the 7th and I just talked my daughter into a return trip in late July for all of us! I'd love to do a villains DAH, but trying to wait for early reports on crowd levels before I pull the trigger. Disney has me gun shy about increasing crowd levels at special events! One thing for sure, this AP is costing me a fortune! lol


----------



## L&Lfan

Just leaving now. On the bus to the Dolphin. Best $125 I ever spent here. After Hours is the way to go!


----------



## pugbug

Just got back from after hours. Best money spent at Disney. Crowds were really low before the event started and very low crowds during the event.

Here’s what we did
Haunted Mansion x2
Big Thunder x2 (stayed on for second ride)
Pirates
Buzz
Space Mountain
Dumbo
Barnstormer x2 (stayed on for second ride)
Snow White (about a 5 minute wait)
Peter Pan


Also had time to get plenty of snacks and drinks and take PhotoPass photos. Left around 12:35. Had such a great time.


----------



## Iowamomof4

We got to see the kiss goodnight at 1:15! I had never seen it before and wasn't even thinking about it as we were slowly walking out. Yay!


----------



## L&Lfan

We did in 4 hours: 9-1
Happily Ever After 
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Big Thunder
Splash
Haunted Mansion
Small World
Winnie the Pooh
Philharmagic
Peter Pan
Seven Dwarfs
Space Mt
PeopleMover

We wanted to do Little Mermaid but was told it was down. However, as I’m looking over the guide it isn’t listed. What’s up with that?


----------



## Raya

Iowamomof4 said:


> We got to see the kiss goodnight at 1:15! I had never seen it before and wasn't even thinking about it as we were slowly walking out. Yay!



What did it look like? We saw a "kiss goodnight" on the May 2 DAH. It was the usual voice thanking us for coming and some lights on the castle. There was no kiss noise or kiss graphics, and no Minnie voice over like I was expecting. I asked two Disney folks about it and they said, yep that's it. But it took place at 1am (exactly) so I'm wondering if we actually left too soon.


----------



## ninafeliz

Raya said:


> What did it look like? We saw a "kiss goodnight" on the May 2 DAH. It was the usual voice thanking us for coming and some lights on the castle. There was no kiss noise or kiss graphics, and no Minnie voice over like I was expecting. I asked two Disney folks about it and they said, yep that's it. But it took place at 1am (exactly) so I'm wondering if we actually left too soon.


I actually have never noticed it, despite staying very late after closing quite a few times in the past.  But from descriptions I’ve read I think you saw it.  That’s all that I’ve read happens.  Sounds like it might be a bit of a letdown if I insist to my family that we stay to catch it sometime now.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Yes, that’s it. I’ve never purposely stuck around to see just that, but I’ve seen it many times through the years as we leave from a last second ride and/or snack. I love the voice


----------



## GADisneyDad14

This is kind of corny.

To me, the Kiss Goodnight is more a state of mind/being than the actual technical production (which admittedly is short/limited).

It’s the feeling and vibe of an emptying Hub/Main Street.  The buzz, excitement, and energy of the day fading away into the night.  The setting, the music, and the simple message. 

It’s one of those rare WDW zen moments where all of the nonsense of planning, the cost, and the time/effort  undertaken melt away and it all becomes worth it. 

Exhaustion may come into play there on some level as well!  

Some will watch it and, especially by modern day entertainment standards, be like “that’s it?” - which I totally understand too.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

I sort of feel the need to put a disclaimer/asterisk on the DAH reports for these May dates for those new to following the thread.  

Like all Disney events, things tend to ebb and flow over time.  Crowds change, reports change, people pick up on different nuances of the event, Disney changes things, etc.  With them now happening during nearly every month of the year, DAH is now happening in many different crowd seasons.  

Reading about crowds is always difficult to interpret, but generally speaking the reports from these May dates to me seem like they are much more lightly attended than the Jan-April run of dates.  I can't prove that of course, it's just based on my reading of people's posts and what I see for wait times.  

I suspect they may set an unrealistically high bar for the summer Villains dates and even regular DAH dates during non-May times of the year.  7DMT at 8 minutes, for example, is pretty unheard of! 

Anyway - as always, a big thank you to everyone who contributes to this thread.  Always fun to read people's experiences.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Yesterday TP had MK rated as a 4. I would say 8 minute 7DMT during DAH is consistent with those lower crowds. I’m just glad that such a time still exists for those who are able to go in May. It will never work for us to do it again but it was still was favorite time of year ever for both weather and crowds. 

But I’m far more realistic for my expectations for my DAH (6/6) both because it’s new and it’s the start of Summer Season.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

GADisneyDad14 said:


> To me, the Kiss Goodnight is more a state of mind/being than the actual technical production (which admittedly is short/limited).



Very well said!


----------



## L&Lfan

Just filled out a survey asking if I would have preferred a more party like atmosphere at the after hours event. I responded absolutely not! I enjoyed hearing the normal music and sounds of the park just with less people present.


----------



## L&Lfan

I also responded to a question of whether I found the park “spooky”with so few people present. I can’t believe that people must’ve actually complained about these things, the spooky atmosphere and the lack of party like atmosphere. Good grief!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

L&Lfan said:


> Just filled out a survey asking if I would have preferred a more party like atmosphere at the after hours event. I responded absolutely not! I enjoyed hearing the normal music and sounds of the park with just less people present.



Yeah, I’ve had that question asked on a few surveys and I’ve always responded the same as you.


----------



## MinnieMSue

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I sort of feel the need to put a disclaimer/asterisk on the DAH reports for these May dates for those new to following the thread.
> 
> Like all Disney events, things tend to ebb and flow over time.  Crowds change, reports change, people pick up on different nuances of the event, Disney changes things, etc.  With them now happening during nearly every month of the year, DAH is now happening in many different crowd seasons.
> 
> Reading about crowds is always difficult to interpret, but generally speaking the reports from these May dates to me seem like they are much more lightly attended than the Jan-April run of dates.  I can't prove that of course, it's just based on my reading of people's posts and what I see for wait times.
> 
> I suspect they may set an unrealistically high bar for the summer Villains dates and even regular DAH dates during non-May times of the year.  7DMT at 8 minutes, for example, is pretty unheard of!
> 
> Anyway - as always, a big thank you to everyone who contributes to this thread.  Always fun to read people's experiences.



I agree. I know my June 6 DAH villains thing is not going to be like the May reports unfortunately. I hope it is still relatively uncrowded but my expectation is not at all one of wall-one. I am just praying they don’t increase tickets sold (but am sure Disney will be trying to increase profits)


----------



## Dbktmc

djc9699 said:


> I had tickets shipped for this hoping they would be villain themed for souvenirs, but alas, we got Minnie, Belle, and Epcot. I usually don't bother with tickets since they are linked to MDE.



I did the same thing!  I was so disappointed that they weren't a villain theme that we could keep as souvenir.  



GADisneyDad14 said:


> I sort of feel the need to put a disclaimer/asterisk on the DAH reports for these May dates for those new to following the thread.
> 
> Like all Disney events, things tend to ebb and flow over time.  Crowds change, reports change, people pick up on different nuances of the event, Disney changes things, etc.  With them now happening during nearly every month of the year, DAH is now happening in many different crowd seasons.
> 
> Reading about crowds is always difficult to interpret, but generally speaking the reports from these May dates to me seem like they are much more lightly attended than the Jan-April run of dates.  I can't prove that of course, it's just based on my reading of people's posts and what I see for wait times.
> 
> I suspect they may set an unrealistically high bar for the summer Villains dates and even regular DAH dates during non-May times of the year.  7DMT at 8 minutes, for example, is pretty unheard of!
> 
> Anyway - as always, a big thank you to everyone who contributes to this thread.  Always fun to read people's experiences.



I agree with you and this is why I am so nervous about the Villain event.  We are going on June 13th and Disney always seems to ruin wonderful events like this by overselling them.  The question asking if it was "too spooky" because it wasn't crowded seems especially worrisome to me.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Dbktmc said:


> The question asking if it was "too spooky" because it wasn't crowded seems especially worrisome to me.



FWIW, that question has been on the DAH survey for awhile (at least the ones I’ve done), probably dating back a few years.  Again, for whatever it is worth!


----------



## Clueless_about_Disney

Hi everyone!  We had planned two days at Disney prior to heading to Port Canaveral for a cruise (Friday 6/7 and 6/8 at MK and AK).  We are flying down Thursday evening and land 7:37pm, and staying at Pop.  We recently got the email about the Villains party Thursday night and we are strongly considering getting to our room, dropping our bags, then heading to the park. We could realistically be at the park by 9-9:30ish.  Right now we are booked on the DME to the resort, should we Uber to save time?  Anything I'm not thinking of (assuming our flight ins't delayed) that would make this a bad idea?  We have DS12 and DD10, both have done late night parties MVMCP before and can stay up late.


----------



## Mzpalmtree

I know that by asking for advice here I’m probably actually asking to be enabled (lol) but would you do back to back nights of DAH? What about if you are solidly middle aged and sadly not the night owls that you used to be? We were originally going to get into town late on a Thursday and stay offsite the first night then move to BWI Friday morning so we purchased DAH tickets for HS. Now our plans have changed and we are going to be staying at the Poly in Thursday and arriving in the early evening. Do you think it would be too much?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Mzpalmtree said:


> I know that by asking for advice here I’m probably actually asking to be enabled (lol) but would you do back to back nights of DAH? What about if you are solidly middle aged and sadly not the night owls that you used to be? We were originally going to get into town late on a Thursday and stay offsite the first night then move to BWI Friday morning so we purchased DAH tickets for HS. Now our plans have changed and we are going to be staying at the Poly in Thursday and arriving in the early evening. Do you think it would be too much?



Well, I was in a somewhat similar but different predicament.

I could have flown in Thursday afternoon/evening and done the double - MK Thursday and DHS Friday. 

Friday was a better travel day for various reasons vs adding an extra day, so I waived off getting there Thursday. 

I am now regretting that decision.

So my answer is, do it!


----------



## JeninTexas

Clueless_about_Disney said:


> Hi everyone!  We had planned two days at Disney prior to heading to Port Canaveral for a cruise (Friday 6/7 and 6/8 at MK and AK).  We are flying down Thursday evening and land 7:37pm, and staying at Pop.  We recently got the email about the Villains party Thursday night and we are strongly considering getting to our room, dropping our bags, then heading to the park. We could realistically be at the park by 9-9:30ish.  Right now we are booked on the DME to the resort, should we Uber to save time?  Anything I'm not thinking of (assuming our flight ins't delayed) that would make this a bad idea?  We have DS12 and DD10, both have done late night parties MVMCP before and can stay up late.



That would be cutting it way too close for my comfort. Even if your flight is delayed some, that could significantly cut into your DAH night. Even if you land around 7:35-7:40, you still have to get your bags, Uber to the hotel, get settled in your room, and wait for a bus from Pop. We've had to wait a long time for a bus at Pop, so you may want to just Uber to the park instead. If everything went exactly right (i.e. flight not delayed, no problems with luggage, no problems with Uber or checking into your resort), you would be getting to the park around 9:30 or 10, right when the event starts.
If your flight is delayed, you may miss out on a big chunk of the party. I've had a lot of flights delayed or cancelled altogether this year, so I wouldn't buy DAH tickets in advance because they are non-refundable. You could wait and see how everything goes on your travel day, and if all is going smoothly, you could buy tickets when you arrive (assuming the party is not sold out).
Is there any chance you can get on an earlier flight?


----------



## Tiggerlover91

Mzpalmtree said:


> I know that by asking for advice here I’m probably actually asking to be enabled (lol) but would you do back to back nights of DAH? What about if you are solidly middle aged and sadly not the night owls that you used to be? We were originally going to get into town late on a Thursday and stay offsite the first night then move to BWI Friday morning so we purchased DAH tickets for HS. Now our plans have changed and *we are going to be staying at the Poly in Thursday and arriving in the early evening.* Do you think it would be too much?



I would say no only because what if something happens and your flight is delayed? Or you get to the airport and your luggage has "disappeared"? Or once at the resort your delayed because the 5 people in front of you are waiting for the two upfront having "issues"? If you were coming in during the afternoon, I'd say go for it.  But PPs have given good scenarios to what could happen. You're paying that much for a ticket, you deserve to enjoy the WHOLE event.  Disney allows DAH goers in around 7:30 I believe, so you could do some rides before the event begins on FP.....I think. Pretty sure I've read that here.


----------



## Haley R

Tiggerlover91 said:


> I would say no only because what if something happens and your flight is delayed? Or you get to the airport and your luggage has "disappeared"? Or once at the resort your delayed because the 5 people in front of you are waiting for the two upfront having "issues"? If you were coming in during the afternoon, I'd say go for it.  But PPs have given good scenarios to what could happen. You're paying that much for a ticket, you deserve to enjoy the WHOLE event.  Disney allows DAH goers in around 7:30 I believe, so you could do some rides before the event begins on FP.....I think. Pretty sure I've read that here.


Actually they’ve been letting people in anywhere between 6-6:30 pm at the mk dah.


----------



## Mzpalmtree

Tiggerlover91 said:


> I would say no only because what if something happens and your flight is delayed? Or you get to the airport and your luggage has "disappeared"? Or once at the resort your delayed because the 5 people in front of you are waiting for the two upfront having "issues"? If you were coming in during the afternoon, I'd say go for it.  But PPs have given good scenarios to what could happen. You're paying that much for a ticket, you deserve to enjoy the WHOLE event.  Disney allows DAH goers in around 7:30 I believe, so you could do some rides before the event begins on FP.....I think. Pretty sure I've read that here.


We are actually driving in not flying in, but I guess things can happen either way.


----------



## Tiggerlover91

Haley R said:


> Actually they’ve been letting people in anywhere between 6-6:30 pm at the mk dah.



Thank you for the correct information!! 



Mzpalmtree said:


> We are actually driving in not flying in, but I guess things can happen either way.



Well if you are driving in, then go for it! You know what you can handle better than all of us! GOOD LUCK!


----------



## canyoncam

So I am late reporting for last week 5/16. Sorry it’s long! 

By coincidence this date was the last day of my AP. (I am not renewing but may buy a voucher later, waiting until 2021 to return to WDW.) Had gone to HS that morning for my FP on ToT and SDD and made a FP for 7DMT for 8:10 pm upon the use of my first at HS. Left   studios around noon and took a solid nap to be able to make it through the night. 

Got to MK at 5:40 and ate at Pinocchio Haus-I was just craving flatbread! Wandered over for Monsters Laugh Floor and picked up my wristband right outside. Rode People Mover after that and checked the app and was able to move up 7DMT to within the next 15 minutes by refreshing-being solo must have helped too. Thus after MT I was able to ride Buzz and Pooh with FP and and get JC FP for 8:45. As HEA was going to start soon, I was able to walk on IASW then BTMRR with a 10 minute wait (posted 15) then watch fireworks from the ride and in Frontierland afterwards. Rode Pirates right after they ended, then used my JC FP. As it was still 9:50 I went ahead and watched the Tiki show. By the time I was out AH had begun. 

Official AH rides/treats:

Carpets-just needed to wait for ride to finish then load

Treehouse-always love not having to wait on people or be pushed along though this

Mickey Ice Cream sandwich and water

Splash-Walk on but, ok this was weird, a family of three adults was directed to same log as me, told to sit however they liked, and they ALL 3 sat in the row right in front of me! 

Thunder-both sides running but filling up each train each side an hour into event. 

Thunder-had to walk around and wait one train for back row. 

Splash-couldn’t resist one more ride! Had log to myself. 

Popcorn and Coke

Peter Pan-a bit of a wait but under 5 minutes. 

I didn’t get in the 7DMT line as it was posted 30 min. I didn’t believe it was that long but since I’d ridden earlier I felt my time could by utilized better elsewhere. If I’d known it was under 10 minutes I might have jumped in. 

Teacups-ride has just finished so a literal walk on

Barnstormer walk on x4 stayed on

Dumbo-just needed to let ride finish and load. The CM was singing poorly into the microphone and I wasn’t crazy over that, but I get the vibe she was trying to set. 

Space-walk on 

Peoplemover- I would’ve stayed on (I always make this my last ride in MK if at all possible) but I had to use the restroom and I wanted to make sure I had a soda to go. It was 12:43 and I’d read a report of the stands closing early the previous week. As it was,  the stand was out of beverages but assured me more were on the way. So I got a frozen banana (all stands seemed to have all regular treats most of the night) used the restroom, got back in line, got a soda and got back on Peoplemover at 12:58. 

I got a PhotoPass right in front of the castle, maybe 6 groups in front of me. 

Emporium still open so I bought the stuffed Dumbo I’d debated over all trip. There was one grumpy CM restocking and complaining they should be closed but all others were pleasant. 

Another PhotoPass from the end of Main Street. I just walked right up no waiting. But Main Street never was “empty” there are several groups of people in ALL of my photos. 

Walked out at 1:38 am, waited roughly 8 minutes for bus to Wilderness Lodge when a CM came over and apologized I had to wait so long and he called and the bus was pulling up right now. I was the only one waiting and we didn’t wait for anyone else. Probably the creepiest part of my night being on the bus all alone, different than in the day. Back in my room by 1:57am. 

I felt it was worth it especially with the AP discount and MK having light crowds earlier so I could maximize my pre event time in park. Plus I’d been here for 12 days and in MK for parts of 5 of those so I wasn’t under pressure to “do it all” But personally having done both the HS version twice and now the MK I might say I prefer HS BECAUSE of the lack of attractions, thus making rerides so much easier-I rode SDD 7x and ToT 6x plus Saucers, TSMM, RNRC, a few characters and there never seemed to be a line of more than two for snacks. In MK you have to hustle to do everything and each snack stand seemed to have a line 10 deep. Just My own opinion on what I feel I want out of these AH events but I can see how this is better for other people. I honestly don’t mind paying for something that works to my advantage so as long as they don’t change them too much I’d continue to do them. At any park.


----------



## Clueless_about_Disney

JeninTexas said:


> That would be cutting it way too close for my comfort. Even if your flight is delayed some, that could significantly cut into your DAH night. Even if you land around 7:35-7:40, you still have to get your bags, Uber to the hotel, get settled in your room, and wait for a bus from Pop. We've had to wait a long time for a bus at Pop, so you may want to just Uber to the park instead. If everything went exactly right (i.e. flight not delayed, no problems with luggage, no problems with Uber or checking into your resort), you would be getting to the park around 9:30 or 10, right when the event starts.
> If your flight is delayed, you may miss out on a big chunk of the party. I've had a lot of flights delayed or cancelled altogether this year, so I wouldn't buy DAH tickets in advance because they are non-refundable. You could wait and see how everything goes on your travel day, and if all is going smoothly, you could buy tickets when you arrive (assuming the party is not sold out).
> Is there any chance you can get on an earlier flight?



Unfortunately we can't take an earlier flight (we have one in our party that can't leave work until 2pm.  The good news is this flight has an on-time history of 94% so fingers crossed we arrive on schedule. I think we are going to do what you said, we are going to wing-it with this "in our pocket" and if everything goes smoothly and tickets are available we'll buy day of.  We are ok with not doing it, but thought some park time sounded fun compared to eating at the food court and chilling in the room for the evening after arriving.  When we get checked in we'll literally shove the bags in the room and go, we can get settled later.  We are packing a separate bag for just what we'll need at Disney so we don't have to mess with our bags that are packed for the cruise.


----------



## Raya

Mzpalmtree said:


> I know that by asking for advice here I’m probably actually asking to be enabled (lol) but would you do back to back nights of DAH? What about if you are solidly middle aged and sadly not the night owls that you used to be?



I can't speak to the getting in late Thursday, etc. part but I would definitely do back-to-back nights. My next trip will be only DAH, and I'm seriously considering making all of my future trips that way. Medical issues mean heat and sun are a problem for us, so while staying up late can be tough it's better than the alternative.


----------



## cakebaker

Clueless_about_Disney said:


> Hi everyone!  We had planned two days at Disney prior to heading to Port Canaveral for a cruise (Friday 6/7 and 6/8 at MK and AK).  We are flying down Thursday evening and land 7:37pm, and staying at Pop.  We recently got the email about the Villains party Thursday night and we are strongly considering getting to our room, dropping our bags, then heading to the park. We could realistically be at the park by 9-9:30ish.  Right now we are booked on the DME to the resort, should we Uber to save time?  Anything I'm not thinking of (assuming our flight ins't delayed) that would make this a bad idea?  We have DS12 and DD10, both have done late night parties MVMCP before and can stay up late.



We did a MK after hours event on our arrival day a couple of weeks ago, but were scheduled to arrive much earlier than you. We had a 5:45 am flight (had to be up at 4am). We should’ve arrived at 1pm. My plan had been that we’d be at the YC by 2:30, lunch at Beaches and Cream at 3. I figured our room would be ready by then and we’d unpack and take a long nap before heading to our dinner at Artists Point at 7, then the DAH. 

Best laid plans....First, our flight was delayed by an hour. We just barely managed to make our lunch reservation. Our room wasn’t ready at 3. By 4, I was heading to the desk when I got a msg that they needed to discuss my reservation. I don’t know what the problem was, but turns out we were upgraded to Club Level- was thrilled but it was 4:30 when we got to the room. A quick unpack and a very short break and we had to get ready to leave for dinner.

The point of all this is, things rarely work out as nicely as we plan them. We should’ve had lots of time, but as each snag happened, it ate up all the cushion we had. I would do it again in a heartbeat, but we were exhausted and couldn’t manage to stay until the end, slept in the next morning. 

Unless you can live with the $$$ loss if things don’t work out, waiting till day of is a smart thing to do.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

FYI for those that don't follow Disney news closely, Tomorrowland Speedway is back open and will presumably be included in the DAH attraction options going forward.


----------



## Gisclair Disney

Is a park ticket required in addition to an AH event ticket?


----------



## Friendlyadvice2

Gisclair Disney said:


> Is a park ticket required in addition to an AH event ticket?



No.


----------



## Gehrig1B

Gisclair Disney said:


> Is a park ticket required in addition to an AH event ticket?



DAH is a separately ticketed event that allows entry to the park around 7:00 pm, although some have reported being allowed in as early as 6:00.  All you need is a ticket to the event for entry, no park ticket required.


----------



## maryj11

Will the same attractions be open for the Villain After Hours that were open for regular After Hours?
 I cannot seem to find a list of attractions for the Villain After Hours. 
I do see the list of attractions on the first page is this for both events?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

maryj11 said:


> Will the same attractions be open for the Villain After Hours that were open for regular After Hours?
> I cannot seem to find a list of attractions for the Villain After Hours.
> I do see the list of attractions on the first page is this for both events?



Currently that’s an unknown.  

Disney has used the phrase “more than 25 attractions” in normal DAH marketing.   For Villains, they have used the phrase “more than 20 attractions”.  

We don’t really know if that is just random marketing speak not based in reality, or if that is a calculated word choice indicative of fewer attractions being available.  TBD for now.


----------



## maryj11

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Currently that’s an unknown.
> 
> Disney has used the phrase “more than 25 attractions” in normal DAH marketing.   For Villains, they have used the phrase “more than 20 attractions”.
> 
> We don’t really know if that is just random marketing speak not based in reality, or if that is a calculated word choice indicative of fewer attractions being available.  TBD for now.


Ok thank you! Yes I did see the more than 20 attractions on the website. Sound like it might be less than the regular AH event. I guess we will have to wait and see.


----------



## Raya

Can we make a list of "must eat" or "must ride" Disney items that you *can't* do at DAH? 

My friend is considering joining us but has never been to MK (or WDW at all). If we do DAH as her first visit, what do we need to stuff into the 7pm to 10pm time frame? For example, I don't think the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor, the Hall of Presidents, Carousel of Progress, or Mickey's Philharmagic are open with DAH - so we could do those during the 7pm to 10pm time frame. I know from my visit churros, mermaid cupcakes, Dole Whips, and Citrus Swirls need to be bought in that time too. What else?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Raya said:


> Can we make a list of "must eat" or "must ride" Disney items that you *can't* do at DAH?
> 
> My friend is considering joining us but has never been to MK (or WDW at all). If we do DAH as her first visit, what do we need to stuff into the 7pm to 10pm time frame? For example, I don't think the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor, the Hall of Presidents, Carousel of Progress, or Mickey's Philharmagic are open with DAH - so we could do those during the 7pm to 10pm time frame. I know from my visit churros, mermaid cupcakes, Dole Whips, and Citrus Swirls need to be bought in that time too. What else?



Lol, your list so far is pretty good!


----------



## KangaFan

Philharmagic was open when we went last summer, I wonder if it's one of the ones that will be eliminated for this summer's DAH? One thing I would add to do early-middle of DAH is visiting Mickey on Main Street. We decided to do it on the way out because my daughter's friend really wanted to meet the talking Mickey and the line was super long. I'm guessing a lot of folks saved it for the way out since there isn't much else up that way? Has anyone done this in the beginning? I wonder if its busy then too since folks are leaving the park and After Hours folks are arriving?


----------



## maryj11

Raya said:


> Can we make a list of "must eat" or "must ride" Disney items that you *can't* do at DAH?
> 
> My friend is considering joining us but has never been to MK (or WDW at all). If we do DAH as her first visit, what do we need to stuff into the 7pm to 10pm time frame? For example, I don't think the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor, the Hall of Presidents, Carousel of Progress, or Mickey's Philharmagic are open with DAH - so we could do those during the 7pm to 10pm time frame. I know from my visit churros, mermaid cupcakes, Dole Whips, and Citrus Swirls need to be bought in that time too. What else?


This is what I have been trying to figure out. The problem is not knowing what attractions are going to be open for the Villain's After Hours.


----------



## DLo

I attended DAH MK this past Thursday May 16th ( sorry @GADisneyDad14  for not reporting earlier - the wifi in my room at Riverside was horrible and typing all this on my phone would have taken forever) I also went to the DAH HS on the 17th and have already written my review in that thread. 

I tried to take detailed notes so hopefully this will make sense and be helpful. I didn't think I was going to this event so had FP at HS one being SDD from 7:15-8:15 - after reading about SDD being down at various events I didn't want to take a chance of not getting to ride it for the first time (spoiler alert - I rode it 10 times in a row the next night) I took a Lyft to the Contemporary from HS as I didn't want to waste time waiting on a bus. I got on SDD at the beginning of my FP time so was at MK @ 8 . I went in the AH line and got my band. 

I headed to CHH for a quick meal (kids meal so I would have room for popcorn and ice cream) then had a FP for Pirates - wasn't needed but the night before the wait was I think 40 minutes so I wanted to make sure I got on quickly before the party. then Haunted Mansion before  For some reason, I then decided to go all the way over to tomorrowland and rode the TTA and Buzz. Over to Little Mermaid to get in one last quick ride before the event started.

10:05 leave Mermaid head to 7DMT - posted 30 minutes so skipped it
10:13 on Pooh walk on
10:22 Space says 10 minutes but walked on (you could choose which side you wanted)
10:31 back on Space walk on
10:46 grabbed a snack by Space (there was a line before I rode but only two people in line when I got off)
10:54 Barnstormer walk on
11:00 Dumbo walk on
11:07 7Dwarves still says 30 so I skip
11:10 snack outside Pinocchio (note this one was closed when I walked by later that night @ 12:20)
11:11 Peter Pan says 25 I skip so I walk on Small World
11:38 BTMRR says 5 I walk on
11:46 BTMRR again walk on
11:55 same as above
12:02 same as above - note several people were walking the whole line but you could turn where the ramp starts and cut down your walk
12:20 try the Jungle Cruise but told they just closed and CM didn't know why
12:25 PP walk on
12:31 7Dwarves still says 30 but I walked on
12:39 back in line for 7Dwarves but this time there is a line and I wanted to end the night on TTA so got out of line
12:48 TTA

Over all, I think this is a great event and would definitely do it again. Low wait times plus included in the proce ( I mean they really aren't free right - you paid for them when you bought the ticket : ))  drinks and snacks - what is not to love. I wish I had known before I booked my package as I wouldn't have bought a ticket for this day and just done DAH. (Disney knows what they are doing as by the time dates were announced , I couldn't get the discount I had for my room if I canceled and rebooked) 

Sidenote - with the variety of rides at this DAH I tried to ride as many different rides as I could with some being before the event started as opposed to the HS version where I rode my favorites multiple times. I liked them both just different strategies based on what was available.  

to recap 
Pirates 1
TTA 2 ( one before one after)
Buzz 1
Mermaid 1
Pooh 1
Space 2
Peter Pan 1
Barnstormer 1
Dumbo 1
HM 1
BTMRR 5
7Dwarves 1


----------



## kylieh

16 May - we're a little slow moving around as DD16 is in a wheelchair.   Here's our list.  We went in a clockwise direction, about 1.5 times around...

about 7.30pm - Splash Moutain FP
BTMR 
7DMT FP - Fireworks started whilst we were here.

From here everything was a walk on unless notes...

Winnie the Pooh 
Tea Cups 
Dumbo - told we could stay for a 2nd ride.
Barnstormer
People Mover 
BLAB
Jungle Cruise - perhaps 10 people in the boat. 
POTC - We had our own boat.
Haunted Mansion - Walked straight into the stretching room
Lantern Picture - this was the longest wait of the night, perhaps 5 minutes.  It was about midnight when we lined up.
Peter Pan - walked on.
7DMT - The posted wait time was 30 minutes and I asked the CM if that was the case and she said yes, about 25-30.   The wait was perhaps 2 minutes at most.
We were on the bus by 1am.   More than worth the $$ paid.   There were fewer people for me to navigate around with the wheelchair and less anxiety for DD.


----------



## maryj11

DLo said:


> I attended DAH MK this past Thursday May 16th ( sorry @GADisneyDad14  for not reporting earlier - the wifi in my room at Riverside was horrible and typing all this on my phone would have taken forever) I also went to the DAH HS on the 17th and have already written my review in that thread.
> 
> I tried to take detailed notes so hopefully this will make sense and be helpful. I didn't think I was going to this event so had FP at HS one being SDD from 7:15-8:15 - after reading about SDD being down at various events I didn't want to take a chance of not getting to ride it for the first time (spoiler alert - I rode it 10 times in a row the next night) I took a Lyft to the Contemporary from HS as I didn't want to waste time waiting on a bus. I got on SDD at the beginning of my FP time so was at MK @ 8 . I went in the AH line and got my band.
> 
> I headed to CHH for a quick meal (kids meal so I would have room for popcorn and ice cream) then had a FP for Pirates - wasn't needed but the night before the wait was I think 40 minutes so I wanted to make sure I got on quickly before the party. then Haunted Mansion before  For some reason, I then decided to go all the way over to tomorrowland and rode the TTA and Buzz. Over to Little Mermaid to get in one last quick ride before the event started.
> 
> 10:05 leave Mermaid head to 7DMT - posted 30 minutes so skipped it
> 10:13 on Pooh walk on
> 10:22 Space says 10 minutes but walked on (you could choose which side you wanted)
> 10:31 back on Space walk on
> 10:46 grabbed a snack by Space (there was a line before I rode but only two people in line when I got off)
> 10:54 Barnstormer walk on
> 11:00 Dumbo walk on
> 11:07 7Dwarves still says 30 so I skip
> 11:10 snack outside Pinocchio (note this one was closed when I walked by later that night @ 12:20)
> 11:11 Peter Pan says 25 I skip so I walk on Small World
> 11:38 BTMRR says 5 I walk on
> 11:46 BTMRR again walk on
> 11:55 same as above
> 12:02 same as above - note several people were walking the whole line but you could turn where the ramp starts and cut down your walk
> 12:20 try the Jungle Cruise but told they just closed and CM didn't know why
> 12:25 PP walk on
> 12:31 7Dwarves still says 30 but I walked on
> 12:39 back in line for 7Dwarves but this time there is a line and I wanted to end the night on TTA so got out of line
> 12:48 TTA
> 
> Over all, I think this is a great event and would definitely do it again. Low wait times plus included in the proce ( I mean they really aren't free right - you paid for them when you bought the ticket : ))  drinks and snacks - what is not to love. I wish I had known before I booked my package as I wouldn't have bought a ticket for this day and just done DAH. (Disney knows what they are doing as by the time dates were announced , I couldn't get the discount I had for my room if I canceled and rebooked)
> 
> Sidenote - with the variety of rides at this DAH I tried to ride as many different rides as I could with some being before the event started as opposed to the HS version where I rode my favorites multiple times. I liked them both just different strategies based on what was available.
> 
> to recap
> Pirates 1
> TTA 2 ( one before one after)
> Buzz 1
> Mermaid 1
> Pooh 1
> Space 2
> Peter Pan 1
> Barnstormer 1
> Dumbo 1
> HM 1
> BTMRR 5
> 7Dwarves 1


Sounds like a great night ! What is TTA? I should know this by now but can't think of it.


----------



## SaintsManiac

maryj11 said:


> Sounds like a great night ! What is TTA? I should know this by now but can't think of it.




The PeopleMover


----------



## maryj11

SaintsManiac said:


> The PeopleMover


Ooooh! Lol.


----------



## lvdis

SaintsManiac said:


> The PeopleMover





maryj11 said:


> Ooooh! Lol.



Officially known as Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.... but affectionately known the PeopleMover!


----------



## maryj11

lvdis said:


> Officially known as Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.... but affectionately known the PeopleMover!


Yes I knew this.  For the life of me couldn't remember. We always call it the people mover lol.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Should be the Wedway PeopleMover.


----------



## Captainkidd76

Do you have to be an on site guest to attend?
Have they released the schedule of dates for July yet?


----------



## HopperFan

Did MK DAH Thursday, May 16. Great time, did lots! Entered about 7:30 after a visit to Trader Sams. Used FP+ with the tickets (2 of us are AP, 2 had no other ticket). 

Only thought - last hour many snack kiosks had closed or had “run out” of all drinks and some food. We were trying to get drinks. Found none.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Captainkidd76 said:


> Do you have to be an on site guest to attend?
> Have they released the schedule of dates for July yet?



No, you don’t have to be an on-site guest.  Disney is running a “Villains After Hours” series June through August, check page 1 for dates and links to Disney’s website.


----------



## provoaggie

Captainkidd76 said:


> Do you have to be an on site guest to attend?
> Have they released the schedule of dates for July yet?


You do not have to be an on site guest to do After Hours. It's open to everyone that purchases a ticket to it. You don't even have to have a normal park ticket. We did After Hours in January during 1 free night during a trip where we didn't do any other Disney stuff. As far as July goes, the dates are out but it's a bit more expensive as it's Villain themed. The dates are Monday, July 1, 2019; Thursday, July 11, 2019; Thursday, July 18, 2019; Thursday, July 25, 2019


----------



## disneyworldsk

hopping onto this thread...coming in august , just decided this week for this trip and am knew to the dah events as far as being informed and never attending one. Will there be an event in august (20-25) even though halloween party is that first week in mk? will there be one maybe in dhs? would love to attend one. and if you think they will hopefully when would that be announced? sorry to hop on late and ask this question if it has already been asked.


----------



## theostwalts

Quick question about park entry for EMH.  We will be there on 6/6/19 and will be walking over from the Contemporary.  We have a 7:45 adr at the California Grill and will watch HEA from there.  Since the crowds will be emptying out after that, is there a separate entrance in like they usually have for MNSSHP or MVMCP?


----------



## Minsc

I take my daughter to MegaCon every year, and we have AP's, so I usually stay on-site and we hit the parks each afternoon once we leave the convention center. In the past, MegaCon has always been on Memorial Day weekend, and the parks were pretty busy, particularly the closer we got to Monday. This year, they moved it up a week, and it was a big difference. We hit MK on Thursday afternoon (about 3pm), and we had tickets for the DAH event that night. By 7pm, everything started to clear out. Below is a picture of the Space Mountain queue at 8:45pm. They had started using only the FP side. I also included some pictures of various places in the park during DAH. They were all taken around 10:30pm to 11:00pm. Picture quality is iffy as I took them on the move with one hand, so I am surprised they came out as well as they did. This is about as empty as I can remember seeing MK in a long time.


----------



## Haley R

theostwalts said:


> Quick question about park entry for EMH.  We will be there on 6/6/19 and will be walking over from the Contemporary.  We have a 7:45 adr at the California Grill and will watch HEA from there.  Since the crowds will be emptying out after that, is there a separate entrance in like they usually have for MNSSHP or MVMCP?


I’m assuming you mean dah not emh. Those are two different things but hopefully you’re talking about the ticketed event. There is an entrance near the middle that says event entrance on top.


----------



## AntJulie

Looks like there will be DAH through September!

*Disney After Hours at Magic Kingdom Park*
Select Nights through September 2019
Experience a truly magical occasion when Magic Kingdom park stays open for 3 extra hours, after the park closes to other Guests! Delight in classic experiences with little to no wait time. Plus, enjoy delicious treats.

Tickets are on sale now for events through May 2019. Additional event dates go on sale May 30, 2019.


----------



## AntJulie

*NEW Event Dates – On Sale May 30*
Tickets for the following event dates will go on sale Thursday, May 30, 2019:


Thursday, August 22, 2019
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Thursday, September 26, 2019


----------



## GADisneyDad14

AntJulie said:


> *NEW Event Dates – On Sale May 30*
> Tickets for the following event dates will go on sale Thursday, May 30, 2019:
> 
> 
> Thursday, August 22, 2019
> Thursday, August 29, 2019
> Thursday, September 5, 2019
> Thursday, September 12, 2019
> Thursday, September 19, 2019
> Thursday, September 26, 2019



Damn - plowing right through party season!


----------



## Friendlyadvice2

Man, so they are really going to skip the week of 8/10 when I'm there?


----------



## bluemoon9

Friendlyadvice2 said:


> Man, so they are really going to skip the week of 8/10 when I'm there?



We are in the same boat!  So disappointing!


----------



## maryj11

Friendlyadvice2 said:


> Man, so they are really going to skip the week of 8/10 when I'm there?


Maybe they will add more DAH Villains during that time.


----------



## Friendlyadvice2

maryj11 said:


> Maybe they will add more DAH Villains during that time.



Looks like that will be our only hope.  Maybe they think that with all the guest previews/soft openings that week for SWGE that people won't want to do DAH.  Before a rumor gets started, I'm completely kidding and have no knowledge of previews!!!


----------



## 22Tink

Friendlyadvice2 said:


> Man, so they are really going to skip the week of 8/10 when I'm there?


We’re there aug 9-17 so it looks like we’re out of luck too. Hopefully Villains?


----------



## 22Tink

bluemoon9 said:


> We are in the same boat!  So disappointing!


Very disappointing! And they’re  skipping August for HS DAH. I was really hoping to hit all 3 DAH when we’re there.


----------



## Mrs Grumpy

We want to go on 8/29!  Can't wait!


----------



## maryj11

Friendlyadvice2 said:


> Looks like that will be our only hope.  Maybe they think that with all the guest previews/soft openings that week for SWGE that people won't want to do DAH.  Before a rumor gets started, I'm completely kidding and have no knowledge of previews!!!


----------



## hdrolfe

Should I do Aug 29th knowing I'll want to try and get to HS the following morning for a 6am opening? What to do?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Surprised to see that 8/29 date!


----------



## mcurrence

Excited to see the regular DAH back instead of Villains.  Planning on attending 9/26-again the Thursday before our cruise!!!


----------



## ninafeliz

hdrolfe said:


> Should I do Aug 29th knowing I'll want to try and get to HS the following morning for a 6am opening? What to do?


I'm usually up for most anything, but that would be rough!!  You figure if DHS opens at 6:00 AM and you want to be there by 5 (I'm sure some might go earlier those days), you would have to get up at what, 4:00-ish at the latest? That's assuming you won't have to get lots of kids ready, just yourself, and you won't have a lot of travel time.   I didn't look up what time the MK closes to know what time DHS will end, but lets say 12:30. Back to your resort 1-1:30.  Even if you can fall asleep immediately you get 3 or so hours of sleep!  Maybe if you power through and then go back for a nap fairly early in the day on the 30th, but it seems like a set up for someone possibly crashing completely or if you have kids going a good setup for a meltdown!  Not to say I wouldn't try if it was just me, or me and someone like me, but no way could I do that with my kids, and I don't think my DH would be very willing either lol!  Update us if you do it!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

So am I correct in saying there’s nowhere that officially lists the event times for these new dates?  One could imply 10-1 from the wording on the website, but it’s not entirely clear.


----------



## AndreaDanger

I apologize if this has already been covered (not finding anything when I search for it), but what would be the advantages of attending a September DAH vs MNSSHP? If historical DAH costs are a good indicator, the MNSSHP tickets are considerably cheaper during my visit window (Sept. 18-25). I'm guessing there'd be much lower crowds for DAH and it includes snacks...any other major considerations? I'm looking to book one after-hours event for my family and want to be sure I'm not missing anything. TIA for any feedback from those of you who have been there, done that.


----------



## sheila14

OMG I am so happy that they have added September dates!!! I will be there September 19 who else has s going??? See you there.


----------



## Pucks104

sheila14 said:


> OMG I am so happy that they have added September dates!!! I will be there September 19 who else has s going??? See you there.



We’ll be there. Hopefully the AH event will allow us to explore MK with lower crowds!


----------



## winnieofpooh

YES so excited!! Both MK and AK after hours for our honeymoon! Now to convince DH to do both . Also super excited that it's back to regular after hours, I wasn't so keen on the Villians.


----------



## mcurrence

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So am I correct in saying there’s nowhere that officially lists the event times for these new dates?  One could imply 10-1 from the wording on the website, but it’s not entirely clear.


9/26 has closing at 9 so it might be 9-12 (at least on that day) like last year in September...curious to see if the prices stay the same?
Just so happy it's a regular DAH!!!


----------



## mamamelody2

hdrolfe said:


> Should I do Aug 29th knowing I'll want to try and get to HS the following morning for a 6am opening? What to do?



Sure.  Do DAH the 29th, then go directly to HS and get in line for 6 AM opening.  I mean, go big or go home, right???

I bet if you did that (getting in line around 1:30 or 2 AM) you wouldn't even be first in line at HS.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mcurrence said:


> 9/26 has closing at 9 so it might be 9-12 (at least on that day) like last year in September...curious to see if the prices stay the same?
> Just so happy it's a regular DAH!!!



I would “think” since they added the new dates to the same page with the current (non Villains) pricing, I’m going to “assume” that means the price will stay the same.  “Assume” being the key word there.  Lol!


----------



## anneboleyn

I am thrilled they added DAH dates in September! I may be in the minority, but I am hoping they will be the Villain themed ones...I want to see the overlays and the Villain stageshow! It would also be very fitting seeing as September is the Halloween season at WDW.


----------



## Haley R

anneboleyn said:


> I am thrilled they added DAH dates in September! I may be in the minority, but I am hoping they will be the Villain themed ones...I want to see the overlays and the Villain stageshow! It would also be very fitting seeing as September is the Halloween season at WDW.


I think they are the normal ones and I’m guessing the reasoning is because they’re already pretty similar to the Halloween party. I might be wrong though


----------



## lets go now!

Haley R said:


> I think they are the normal ones and I’m guessing the reasoning is because they’re already pretty similar to the Halloween party. I might be wrong though



how are they similar? there are no villians at the halloween parties


----------



## lets go now!

is it possible to do dessert parties at the after hours events or would that eat up too much time ?


----------



## Haley R

lets go now! said:


> how are they similar? there are no villians at the halloween parties


There’s a stage show with villains at the Halloween party similar to the villain stage show for dah. They also serve a lot of the same “specialty” snacks (not the free ones at dah but the villain themed ones).


----------



## Haley R

lets go now! said:


> is it possible to do dessert parties at the after hours events or would that eat up too much time ?


It’s possible. I think @GADisneyDad14 has done that before


----------



## GADisneyDad14

lets go now! said:


> is it possible to do dessert parties at the after hours events or would that eat up too much time ?[/QUOTE



Sure.  Depends on how you want to spend your pre-DAH event time, what time HEA is that night, what time DAH is, etc, but certainly doable and many have.


----------



## Lsdolphin

Has anyone tried to exchange a booked After Hours Party for a different date???


----------



## lets go now!

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Sure.  Depends on how you want to spend your pre-DAH event time, what time HEA is that night, what time DAH is, etc, but certainly doable and many have.



Thank you


----------



## mcurrence

lets go now! said:


> is it possible to do dessert parties at the after hours events or would that eat up too much time ?


We did it last Sept. and planning to do it again later this year.   I thought it was worth it-but I am obsessed with HEA!!!  The hardest part is navigating past everyone trying to leave the park but the CM's are pretty good at helping you get through the mobs of people. Absolutely doable and still have lots of time for dah. That being said, the only reason we did was  to have a good spot for the fireworks and not hassle with the crowds. And our day the fireworks were at 8:00 and event started at 9.


----------



## sheila14

mamamelody2 said:


> Sure.  Do DAH the 29th, then go directly to HS and get in line for 6 AM opening.  I mean, go big or go home, right???
> 
> I bet if you did that (getting in line around 1:30 or 2 AM) you wouldn't even be first in line at HS.


It is vacation time who sleeps??? With DAH for September being true I have to rearrange my park week. HS 6am is gonna be hard especially after having MNSSHP the night before!!!???


----------



## Mrjoshua

I've got a question regarding the After Hours Villains, but this may not be the correct place or time to ask it... apologies in advance. 

Does anyone have an inkling as to when the Villain merchandise and menu items will be made available for purchase? Part of me says after 10pm, but I also could also picture the desserts and event merch being sold after 7pm, when event ticket holders are allowed in (possibly for those with bracelets only). 

I suppose all questions will be answered shortly, but I was wondering if anyone has insight from prior events.


----------



## kylenne

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Sure.  Depends on how you want to spend your pre-DAH event time, what time HEA is that night, what time DAH is, etc, but certainly doable and many have.



I was toying with the idea of doing the dessert party again since we had such a great experience last year. Would you rec Before on a DAH night? I’m still kind of at a loss for what to do that day as it is.


----------



## Pucks104

Lsdolphin said:


> Has anyone tried to exchange a booked After Hours Party for a different date???


I just changed the MNSSHP for a different date. I called and it was a simple process.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Lsdolphin said:


> Has anyone tried to exchange a booked After Hours Party for a different date???



Technically not allowed, but Disney has a good track record of working with guests in such situations (as the PP experienced).  Worth calling.


----------



## Mrs Grumpy

What time are you able to buy tickets for this when they go on sale.  Is it the same as dining?


----------



## Jld71

We are looking at doing the Disney after hours event on Thursday, August 29th. The problem I’m having is we are planning on doing Animal Kingdom that day and I was hoping to be able to see Rivers of Light. Do you think we'd be able to watch rivers of light and then make it over to Magic Kingdom by 10 for the after hours event? (keep in mind magic kingdom has fireworks that night as well) Thanks everyone!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Jld71 said:


> We are looking at doing the Disney after hours event on Thursday, August 29th. The problem I’m having is we are planning on doing Animal Kingdom that day and I was hoping to be able to see Rivers of Light. Do you think we'd be able to watch rivers of light and then make it over to Magic Kingdom by 10 for the after hours event? (keep in mind magic kingdom has fireworks that night as well) Thanks everyone!



What time is RoL scheduled for that night?


----------



## Jld71

GADisneyDad14 said:


> What time is RoL scheduled for that night?


8:30


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Jld71 said:


> 8:30



IF MK DAH is 10-1am on this night, I don’t see why not.  I mean, sure, you’ll be arriving to MK in the roughly 9:15-10pm range so won’t have any pre-DAH time, but if not important to you then go for it.  I did a DAH last year where I didn’t show up until right at the start time.

Make sure to watch the website when tickets go on sale just to make sure that 8/29 date has 10-1am DAH hours.  The late Aug DAH last year was 9-12, but things could be different this year as that’s SWGE opening day.


----------



## Jld71

GADisneyDad14 said:


> IF MK DAH is 10-1am on this night, I don’t see why not.  I mean, sure, you’ll be arriving to MK in the roughly 9:15-10pm range so won’t have any pre-DAH time, but if not important to you then go for it.  I did a DAH last year where I didn’t show up until right at the start time.
> 
> Make sure to watch the website when tickets go on sale just to make sure that 8/29 date has 10-1am DAH hours.  The late Aug DAH last year was 9-12, but things could be different this year as that’s SWGE opening day.


Thanks you so much!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Just a quick thread update....

I’ll get to updating Page 1 with the new date info sometime next week.  The new DISBoards software that is rolling out this weekend has better options for me to do the “date tables” in a table format that will be easier to update vs the image format I use now, so I’ll need to spend some time messing around with that once it’s live.  

And of course, more emojis!  

Thanks!


----------



## neverenoughtime

Wow, this is a nice surprise.  I have never done a MK after hours so I am going to try to make one of the September ones. At least we have a little time to rearrange plans before tickets go on sale.  Hopefully a time is announced.  It looks like MK closes on Sept 19th at 9:00 so I am just making a guess of 9:30-12:30.


----------



## SaintsManiac

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Just a quick thread update....
> 
> I’ll get to updating Page 1 with the new date info sometime next week.  The new DISBoards software that is rolling out this weekend has better options for me to do the “date tables” in a table format that will be easier to update vs the image format I use now, so I’ll need to spend some time messing around with that once it’s live.
> 
> And of course, more emojis!
> 
> Thanks!




I always need more emojis in my life.


----------



## js

Hi. Since the dates aren't shown on this thread, is there a link I can go to so I can find the actual September dates?

Thank you.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

js said:


> Hi. Since the dates aren't shown on this thread, is there a link I can go to so I can find the actual September dates?
> 
> Thank you.



Sure, they are on Disney’s website:  https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/events-tours/magic-kingdom/magic-kingdom-after-hours/


----------



## Mzpalmtree

AntJulie said:


> *NEW Event Dates – On Sale May 30*
> Tickets for the following event dates will go on sale Thursday, May 30, 2019:
> 
> 
> Thursday, August 22, 2019
> Thursday, August 29, 2019
> Thursday, September 5, 2019
> Thursday, September 12, 2019
> Thursday, September 19, 2019
> Thursday, September 26, 2019


 The new dates were also posted a few pages back.


----------



## js

Mzpalmtree said:


> The new dates were also posted a few pages back.



Thank you. Just found and MDE is showing "scripts" on my computer????!!!!


----------



## mekay1012

We are looking to do dah on June 13. What time does it get over?  The problem we are running into is that we are scheduled to leave that the 13th at 2:00 on ME. The only flight for the next day that we can find leaves at 6:00 am the next morning. We don’t want to pay for a hotel room for 1-2 hours and we can’t use me because we will no longer be considered resort guests. Could we still leave all our bags at bell services and then Uber to the airport?


----------



## Cinderumbrella

mekay1012 said:


> We are looking to do dah on June 13. What time does it get over?  The problem we are running into is that we are scheduled to leave that the 13th at 2:00 on ME. The only flight for the next day that we can find leaves at 6:00 am the next morning. We don’t want to pay for a hotel room for 1-2 hours and we can’t use me because we will no longer be considered resort guests. Could we still leave all our bags at bell services and then Uber to the airport?



It ends at 1. You might make it back in time to catch the bus but Uber is a great alternative if you miss it. Yes, bell services can hold your bags.


----------



## Raya

mekay1012 said:


> We are looking to do dah on June 13. What time does it get over?  The problem we are running into is that we are scheduled to leave that the 13th at 2:00 on ME. The only flight for the next day that we can find leaves at 6:00 am the next morning. We don’t want to pay for a hotel room for 1-2 hours and we can’t use me because we will no longer be considered resort guests. Could we still leave all our bags at bell services and then Uber to the airport?



I think that's an amazing idea! You'd need to check out of the hotel by 11am on 6/13 (unless they allow for late check out). If you do find yourself in need of a shower or change, you'd still have use of the pool area (which usually has showers) until midnight. You might be a bit sweaty/gross on the plane, so maybe pack some baby wipes to clean up in your carry on? Actually I think this is a genius way to spend the "last day" which is really just a last few hours. Oh and if you do take a car service you might be able to leave later than 2am. The ME tends to error on the side of caution when it comes to getting you to the airport. I was there once at 4am for a 6am flight and the airport staff basically told me I shouldn't have bothered.


----------



## mekay1012

Raya said:


> I think that's an amazing idea! You'd need to check out of the hotel by 11am on 6/13 (unless they allow for late check out). If you do find yourself in need of a shower or change, you'd still have use of the pool area (which usually has showers) until midnight. You might be a bit sweaty/gross on the plane, so maybe pack some baby wipes to clean up in your carry on? Actually I think this is a genius way to spend the "last day" which is really just a last few hours. Oh and if you do take a car service you might be able to leave later than 2am. The ME tends to error on the side of caution when it comes to getting you to the airport. I was there once at 4am for a 6am flight and the airport staff basically told me I shouldn't have bothered.



Our bus is actually a 2pm bus, not a 2 am bus, but at least I know its not a completely crazy idea.  The flight leaves at 6:30 so we would need somewhere to hangout for a couple of hours.  I guess we could sit in the lobby for a couple of hours.


----------



## prettypatchesmsu

What time do the tickets typically go on sale?  Like can we purchase at 12:01am on May 30th?


----------



## Raya

mekay1012 said:


> Our bus is actually a 2pm bus, not a 2 am bus, but at least I know its not a completely crazy idea.  The flight leaves at 6:30 so we would need somewhere to hangout for a couple of hours.  I guess we could sit in the lobby for a couple of hours.



Wait, 2pm? So you're looking for a way to spend 12 hours from 2am to 2pm without a private space? That's tougher.  When you get back from the DAH, you're no longer a hotel guest. You could sleep on the beach, in the lobby, or in the open areas of the grounds but I suspect that would end badly. I understand your reluctance to pay for a room you're only going to use from 2am to 11am, but that room also buys you the ability to play at the pool for the rest of the afternoon. Also, if you could get late check out and stay in the room until 12 or 1, it might be worth it to have a full 8 hours of sleep under your belt on a travel day.


----------



## elgerber

Raya said:


> Wait, 2pm? So you're looking for a way to spend 12 hours from 2am to 2pm without a private space? That's tougher.  When you get back from the DAH, you're no longer a hotel guest. You could sleep on the beach, in the lobby, or in the open areas of the grounds but I suspect that would end badly. I understand your reluctance to pay for a room you're only going to use from 2am to 11am, but that room also buys you the ability to play at the pool for the rest of the afternoon. Also, if you could get late check out and stay in the room until 12 or 1, it might be worth it to have a full 8 hours of sleep under your belt on a travel day.


I think they are saying right now they leave at 2pm, but if they decide to go DAH they would then leave at 6:30 am the following day.  So then they would only need a couple of hours before they go to the airport.


----------



## dachsie

mekay1012 said:


> We are looking to do dah on June 13. What time does it get over?  The problem we are running into is that we are scheduled to leave that the 13th at 2:00 on ME. The only flight for the next day that we can find leaves at 6:00 am the next morning. We don’t want to pay for a hotel room for 1-2 hours and we can’t use me because we will no longer be considered resort guests. Could we still leave all our bags at bell services and then Uber to the airport?


How can you do DAH on the 13th if you leave on the 13th?  I am confused


----------



## smile145

We did the event last night.  I found it to be  low crowds except in certain areas (mine train).  There was no enforcement or even any announcement or suggestion that people leave the park that didn’t have wrist bands.  Therefore it would be easy for parents to stay all night with their kids who had bands as long as they didn’t ride or get snacks.

The only big disappointment to me was TTA was closed all night and that is my favorite ride.

We rode (walk on unless noted):
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Thunder Mountain
Haunted Mansion
Small World
Peter Pan (5 min wait)
Little Mermaid
Mine Train (posted 20 min, actual 12 min wait)
Winnie the Pooh
Teacups
Haunted Mansion
Space Mountain
Buzz

Also stopped for snacks a couple of times.


----------



## prettypatchesmsu

Is it normal for the TTA Peoplemover to be not open during After hours?  I was looking forward to doing that one!


----------



## mekay1012

Raya said:


> Wait, 2pm? So you're looking for a way to spend 12 hours from 2am to 2pm without a private space? That's tougher.  When you get back from the DAH, you're no longer a hotel guest. You could sleep on the beach, in the lobby, or in the open areas of the grounds but I suspect that would end badly. I understand your reluctance to pay for a room you're only going to use from 2am to 11am, but that room also buys you the ability to play at the pool for the rest of the afternoon. Also, if you could get late check out and stay in the room until 12 or 1, it might be worth it to have a full 8 hours of sleep under your belt on a travel day.



Right now, our flight is scheduled to leave at 2 pm on the 13th.  If we do DAH, we would change our flight to one at 6:00 am on the 14th.  I would love to have a good nights sleep, but the 6:00 am flight is our only option.  



elgerber said:


> I think they are saying right now they leave at 2pm, but if they decide to go DAH they would then leave at 6:30 am the following day.  So then they would only need a couple of hours before they go to the airport.



Yes, this 



dachsie said:


> How can you do DAH on the 13th if you leave on the 13th?  I am confused



If we do DAH, we would leave the 14th on a 6:00 am flight which is why we do not want to pay for a room for just 1-2 hours.  I'm guessing, we wouldn't get back to our resort until 1:30-2:00 am and then we would have to leave around 3:00-4:00 am for our flight.


----------



## Haley R

prettypatchesmsu said:


> Is it normal for the TTA Peoplemover to be not open during After hours?  I was looking forward to doing that one!


It’s normally open. We LOVE riding people mover during dah. They usually let us eat our snacks on it and we ride it more than once usually by just staying on


----------



## prettypatchesmsu

Haley R said:


> It’s normally open. We LOVE riding people mover during dah. They usually let us eat our snacks on it and we ride it more than once usually by just staying on


Thanks! I was worried about this. It’s one of my favorites at nighttime.


----------



## Haley R

prettypatchesmsu said:


> Thanks! I was worried about this. It’s one of my favorites at nighttime.


I will say it’s been broken a lot during dah, but we’ve been lucky all three times with it being open. I think we got stuck on it last year for about 5 minutes


----------



## GADisneyDad14

I got stuck on PeopleMover for a very long time during MNSSHP two years ago.  It made me skittish about getting on it at a hard ticket event ever since.  

Not common, but possible (just like with any ride)


----------



## skis2

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I got stuck on PeopleMover for a very long time during MNSSHP two years ago.  It made me skittish about getting on it at a hard ticket event ever since.
> 
> Not common, but possible (just like with any ride)



We had the same thing happen to us last summer at the Magic Kingdom DAH on Space Mountain. I guess it can happen on any ride.


----------



## cakebaker

smile145 said:


> Therefore it would be easy for parents to stay all night with their kids who had bands as long as they didn’t ride or get snacks.



I've never seen them make a public announcement that the park is closed before a special event starts, they just quietly go about it. I'm going to bet with the start of the villains DAH, they will usher those out who don't have bands on. There are lots of event specific things going on that people who don't pay to be there aren't entitled to. I would never buy my kids bands expecting I'd be allowed to stay for a paid event I didn't pay for.


----------



## focusondisney

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I got stuck on PeopleMover for a very long time during MNSSHP two years ago.  It made me skittish about getting on it at a hard ticket event ever since.
> 
> Not common, but possible (just like with any ride)



We have so much in common!


----------



## Elle :)

I’m going for a quick birthday trip in July. We already have tickets to MK DAH for Thurs (7/25). I’m seriously considering getting the HS DAH tickets for Friday night (for the rides- not the characters) but I planned on going to the EMH at AK on Saturday (8-9am). Is this even doable or will I be dead on my feet? Is anyone planning something similar?


----------



## gcoolie

I am really tempted to do the villians party on August 8th after reading the thoughts here. What are the predictions about the Hollywood Studios after hours being continued into August?


----------



## Thomasfouraker

Went last night 5/23.

My fourth DAH (1/18, 3/18 and 9/18).

This was probly slower than the rest. Park seemed to clear out earlier too. Essentially once HEA started most of the lower tier rides became walk on from that point forward.

I think May is good for a few reasons. It’s that period right before summer break and it’s hot enough that by the time the party starts people are absolutely miserable and ready to exit in droves after the fireworks.

I will say there were people on rides that didn’t have bands on. It really was inconsequential because the rides were like under the sea and teacups. I think many people truly don’t know the park is closed even though I am sure there are a few attempting to be deceptive.

We got in the park shortly after 7. We did everything my kids wanted to do before 1. I think the final list from about 7:15-12:30 was:

Btmrr x 2
Splash mountain
Peter Pan
Under the sea
Meet aerial
Carousel
IASW
Pooh x 2
Teacups x 2
7dmt x 2
Meet Cinderella and Elena
Dumbo
Barnstormer x 2
Astro Orbiter
Buzz
Meet tinkerbell
Meet Mickey and Minnie.

Left before 1am

Kids don’t like HM or pirates. Scardy cats (5&3)

Overall great trip. Added a second night so we were able to sleep in the following day, take it easy and do some leisure pool/resort stuff.

Ended tonight at the poly watching fireworks. Had a real nice family take this picture. As we were leaving they asked if we wanted the picture and they texted it to me. Better than PhotoPass!


----------



## Haley R

cakebaker said:


> I've never seen them make a public announcement that the park is closed before a special event starts, they just quietly go about it. I'm going to bet with the start of the villains DAH, they will usher those out who don't have bands on. There are lots of event specific things going on that people who don't pay to be there aren't entitled to. I would never buy my kids bands expecting I'd be allowed to stay for a paid event I didn't pay for.


There’s an announcement before mnsshp.


----------



## smile145

cakebaker said:


> I've never seen them make a public announcement that the park is closed before a special event starts, they just quietly go about it. I'm going to bet with the start of the villains DAH, they will usher those out who don't have bands on. There are lots of event specific things going on that people who don't pay to be there aren't entitled to. I would never buy my kids bands expecting I'd be allowed to stay for a paid event I didn't pay for.



I agree that will be true for Villians like MNSSHP.  Because there are shows and atmosphere etc.  but this was NOT the case for DAH.  There was no ushering out of people without bands.  Bands were not checked upon entering any land like they are at parties.   They were free to stay as long as they didn’t ride anything or get snacks.  And plenty of people did.  Not something I would ever have any reason to do so but we saw people all over up until the end without bands.


----------



## GoofyPrincess

I've looked for this question int he thread, but didn't see it. Does anyone know what time you can log in and buy tickets? Is it midnight? 6am like ADRs? 7am like fastpasses? Lol


----------



## Kaarup

I apologize in advance, I searched unsuccessfully  What are the specialty beverages offer along with popcorn and ice cream?  TIA


----------



## mekay1012

Will the Villains after hours have the same attractions/characters available as the regular after hours?  We are hoping to meet Mickey/Minnie, the princesses, and Tink at the after hours event.


----------



## Lb2018

We’re booking a trip for May 2020. It’s a shorter one and I’m trying to decide on the best days. Considering moving to a thur-sun schedule because we’d really like to do the after hours event at magic kingdom. Anyone have thoughts on whether we can expect the Thursday night offering to stay that way through this time next year?


----------



## Candycane83

Thomasfouraker said:


> Went last night 5/23.
> 
> My fourth DAH (1/18, 3/18 and 9/18).
> 
> This was probly slower than the rest. Park seemed to clear out earlier too. Essentially once HEA started most of the lower tier rides became walk on from that point forward.
> 
> I think May is good for a few reasons. It’s that period right before summer break and it’s hot enough that by the time the party starts people are absolutely miserable and ready to exit in droves after the fireworks.
> 
> I will say there were people on rides that didn’t have bands on. It really was inconsequential because the rides were like under the sea and teacups. I think many people truly don’t know the park is closed even though I am sure there are a few attempting to be deceptive.
> 
> We got in the park shortly after 7. We did everything my kids wanted to do before 1. I think the final list from about 7:15-12:30 was:
> 
> Btmrr x 2
> Splash mountain
> Peter Pan
> Under the sea
> Meet aerial
> Carousel
> IASW
> Pooh x 2
> Teacups x 2
> 7dmt x 2
> Meet Cinderella and Elena
> Dumbo
> Barnstormer x 2
> Astro Orbiter
> Buzz
> Meet tinkerbell
> Meet Mickey and Minnie.
> 
> Left before 1am
> 
> Kids don’t like HM or pirates. Scardy cats (5&3)
> 
> Overall great trip. Added a second night so we were able to sleep in the following day, take it easy and do some leisure pool/resort stuff.
> 
> Ended tonight at the poly watching fireworks. Had a real nice family take this picture. As we were leaving they asked if we wanted the picture and they texted it to me. Better than PhotoPass!


Awesome report! Thanks! Going with my 5 year old! How I wish he would like coasters by then! Lol!


----------



## angelinaxox

I have a question for the Villains after hours. Not sure if this has been explained more somewhere in the thread, but what exactly does dressing in "attire inspired by your favorite baddie mean"? What are people planning to wear this? Is this more of a costume thing or just wearing a shirt with a villain on it?


----------



## KangaFan

angelinaxox said:


> I have a question for the Villains after hours. Not sure if this has been explained more somewhere in the thread, but what exactly does dressing in "attire inspired by your favorite baddie mean"? What are people planning to wear this? Is this more of a costume thing or just wearing a shirt with a villain on it?



By no means an expert, but when we went to MNSSHP, there was a wide range from nothing to t-shirts to full, fuzzy zip up pajama costumes. I'm guessing that there might be more t-shirts than anything for this since it doesn't officially start until 10pm, but I guess we'll have to see what the June reports say . . .


----------



## angelinaxox

KangaFan said:


> By no means an expert, but when we went to MNSSHP, there was a wide range from nothing to t-shirts to full, fuzzy zip up pajama costumes. I'm guessing that there might be more t-shirts than anything for this since it doesn't officially start until 10pm, but I guess we'll have to see what the June reports say . . .


 Thanks for the reply! I wanted to make sure I am understanding the description correctly and not be over or under dressed for it.


----------



## summerlvr

Kaarup said:


> I apologize in advance, I searched unsuccessfully  What are the specialty beverages offer along with popcorn and ice cream?  TIA


Bottled water, Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite


----------



## smile145

Kaarup said:


> I apologize in advance, I searched unsuccessfully  What are the specialty beverages offer along with popcorn and ice cream?  TIA



If you are talking about DAH, it was a choice of bottled Dasani water, Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite. I don’t know about Villians.


----------



## mommajo143

KangaFan said:


> By no means an expert, but when we went to MNSSHP, there was a wide range from nothing to t-shirts to full, fuzzy zip up pajama costumes. I'm guessing that there might be more t-shirts than anything for this since it doesn't officially start until 10pm, but I guess we'll have to see what the June reports say . . .


I’d expect the full range - but with the heat it’ll be interesting to see what people come up with ....


----------



## KangaFan

mommajo143 said:


> I’d expect the full range - but with the heat it’ll be interesting to see what people come up with ....


Lol! I’m not sure the heat will make a difference. It was really hot and humid when we went to MNSSHP at the beginning of October. I was sweating just looking at some folks dressed in fuzzy tigger and Pooh jammies.


----------



## CyndiLooWho

Hi all! Going on a girls' trip to Universal in August, and there is an MK DAH on our resort day (tea at the Grand Floridian and monorail riding). Seriously considering getting tickets for that night, since my sis has not been to Disney since the 90s. She opted for Harry Potter, but this would give us both.

ANYWAY, question about FP+. I see ppl making FP ressies for 7pm and later on their DAH day; can you do this if you only have the DAH and not a regular park ticket for that day? I would think so, but I know what they say about those who ASSume, and I don't want to plan on something that I can't follow thru with. Sis has given me free rein with the planning, since we do come to Orlando somewhat regularly, and have been many times since her last trip. We obviously won't be able to book until 30 dyas out, and may not find anything we want, but I would want to check to see what we can do. 

TIA!


----------



## dachsie

CyndiLooWho said:


> Hi all! Going on a girls' trip to Universal in August, and there is an MK DAH on our resort day (tea at the Grand Floridian and monorail riding). Seriously considering getting tickets for that night, since my sis has not been to Disney since the 90s. She opted for Harry Potter, but this would give us both.
> 
> ANYWAY, question about FP+. I see ppl making FP ressies for 7pm and later on their DAH day; can you do this if you only have the DAH and not a regular park ticket for that day? I would think so, but I know what they say about those who ASSume, and I don't want to plan on something that I can't follow thru with. Sis has given me free rein with the planning, since we do come to Orlando somewhat regularly, and have been many times since her last trip. We obviously won't be able to book until 30 dyas out, and may not find anything we want, but I would want to check to see what we can do.
> 
> TIA!


Yes you can


----------



## OtherFigment

Anyone know if there's a Disney Visa discount for DAH? I'm guessing no since I havent seen it called out anywhere.


----------



## CyndiLooWho

re: FP+ before DAH



dachsie said:


> Yes you can



Thank you! I just wanted to know for sure.


----------



## maui2k5

So we are debating the cost to value for DAH villains is worth it for the 4 of us (me, wife, 2 daughters 8 & 10) when we are in WDW Aug 1-9.  The cost would be nearly $600 which makes it a bit hard to swallow since we will be visiting MK 4x already (hop from or to during the trip).

Anyone else questioning the value when on a longer trip?


----------



## mommajo143

Exactly what’re I’m at on it.  We will arrive 7/12 & fly hone 7/22.  We are a party of 4 and don’t care about the villains Per Se... just have always really enjoyed nighttime touring of MK... the virtual elimination of late night EMH is really the only reason it’s under consideration .


----------



## mommajo143

OtherFigment said:


> Anyone know if there's a Disney Visa discount for DAH? I'm guessing no since I havent seen it called out anywhere.
> [/QUOT


----------



## KangaFan

maui2k5 said:


> So we are debating the cost to value for DAH villains is worth it for the 4 of us (me, wife, 2 daughters 8 & 10) when we are in WDW Aug 1-9.  The cost would be nearly $600 which makes it a bit hard to swallow since we will be visiting MK 4x already (hop from or to during the trip).
> 
> Anyone else questioning the value when on a longer trip?


We are going August 3-10. I actually cut one of our MK days once I booked this which is allowing us a 2nd day at Epcot since my sisters only have 5 day tickets. We did regular DAH last year and were able to accomplish so much that I didn't feel like we would even need a 2nd day if we did this. It is also allowing us 2 sleep in mornings which I know my teenage daughter and nieces will love!


----------



## Iowamomof4

OtherFigment said:


> Anyone know if there's a Disney Visa discount for DAH? I'm guessing no since I havent seen it called out anywhere.



Sorry, no.


----------



## NatalieE

GoofyPrincess said:


> I've looked for this question int he thread, but didn't see it. Does anyone know what time you can log in and buy tickets? Is it midnight? 6am like ADRs? 7am like fastpasses? Lol


I searched the thread for this answer also, but didn't see anything. I am sure someone on here will know what time these tickets open up.


----------



## 123SA

NatalieE said:


> I searched the thread for this answer also, but didn't see anything. I am sure someone on here will know what time these tickets open up.



The last set of DAH tickets went on sale at midnight. However, I don't think there is an established pattern.  I'm a night owl, so I plan to check at midnight.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Frankly, I think I'd wait a few hours after they go on sale before purchasing. It seems like there are often some glitches that need to get ironed out with these types of things. I know I remember seeing a few posts last time of people being nervous because this thing or that thing didn't seem to go through properly.


----------



## SaintsManiac

123SA said:


> The last set of DAH tickets went on sale at midnight, however, I don't think there is an established pattern.  I'm a night owl, so I plan to check at midnight.




If I am still up I will be checking, too.


----------



## OtherFigment

Iowamomof4 said:


> Sorry, no.


drat, thanks for confirming though!


----------



## Trinity88

I have a question, hopefully I’m asking in the right place. 

I plan to book DAH on Thurs for August for me, DH, and my 3 kids (2 Disney adults, 1 Disney kid, not that it matters for DAH). DH and I will have APs (buying them tonight), the kids don’t have tickets yet, but the plan is to buy theirs from Undercover Tourist at some point. I also noticed that DAH tickets are available on Undercover Tourist as well. So I could buy the kids DAH tickets from there. 

Are there any issues with buying DAH tickets for DH and I from Disney (so we get the AP discount) and the kids DAH tickets from UT?


----------



## Haley R

Trinity88 said:


> I have a question, hopefully I’m asking in the right place.
> 
> I plan to book DAH on Thurs for August for me, DH, and my 3 kids (2 Disney adults, 1 Disney kid, not that it matters for DAH). DH and I will have APs (buying them tonight), the kids don’t have tickets yet, but the plan is to buy theirs from Undercover Tourist at some point. I also noticed that DAH tickets are available on Undercover Tourist as well. So I could buy the kids DAH tickets from there.
> 
> Are there any issues with buying DAH tickets for DH and I from Disney (so we get the AP discount) and the kids DAH tickets from UT?


No you shouldn’t have any issues doing that.


----------



## Lop460

Trinity88 said:


> I have a question, hopefully I’m asking in the right place.
> 
> I plan to book DAH on Thurs for August for me, DH, and my 3 kids (2 Disney adults, 1 Disney kid, not that it matters for DAH). DH and I will have APs (buying them tonight), the kids don’t have tickets yet, but the plan is to buy theirs from Undercover Tourist at some point. I also noticed that DAH tickets are available on Undercover Tourist as well. So I could buy the kids DAH tickets from there.
> 
> Are there any issues with buying DAH tickets for DH and I from Disney (so we get the AP discount) and the kids DAH tickets from UT?



You can get both adults and the kids DAH tickets at the reduced rate with the adults AP discount.


----------



## Trinity88

Lop460 said:


> You can get both adults and the kids DAH tickets at the reduced rate with the adults AP discount.



Oh my goodness, really?!?! I assumed I could only get reduced priced tickets for the people who actually have the AP.


----------



## Lop460

Trinity88 said:


> Oh my goodness, really?!?! I assumed I could only get reduced priced tickets for the people who actually have the AP.



Yes, it says somewhere on the website how many you can actually buy with one person’s AP but my girlfriend and I both have AP’s and I got DAH tickets for the two of us and her 3 daughters In one transaction.


----------



## Iowamomof4

I agree. I was actually able to purchase 7 DAH tickets on my account with my AP. DH also has an AP and I bought his ticket as well, but I thought it was interesting that I didn't have to do it in two transactions or anything. We had no trouble using the tickets when the time came.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

We’re now close enough to the Villains date that I tend to trust the attraction hours on the Disney website a bit more. 

All of the rides and attractions normally open during DAH show “Special Ticketed Event - 10pm-1am” *except* the character meets.  

Now, I don’t necessarily trust the website to be 100% fact, but it may provide clues.

TBD!


----------



## sheila14

SaintsManiac said:


> If I am still up I will be checking, too.


I will be buying my ticket at midnight I will post if any problems arise. Who is going September 20???


----------



## Pucks104

sheila14 said:


> I will be buying my ticket at midnight I will post if any problems arise. Who is going September 20???


DH and I are there 16-23


----------



## Raya

GADisneyDad14 said:


> We’re now close enough to the Villains date that I tend to trust the attraction hours on the Disney website a bit more.



Is anyone else surprised by the radio silence about the event as we get closer? I was excited to see the blog post about special food (posted 4/29) but other than the announcement of the event (4/2 - teaser, 4/19 full), I don't think we've gotten any details. Is there something I'm missing?


----------



## dismoose23

Raya said:


> Is anyone else surprised by the radio silence about the event as we get closer? I was excited to see the blog post about special food (posted 4/29) but other than the announcement of the event (4/2 - teaser, 4/19 full), I don't think we've gotten any details. Is there something I'm missing?


I feel the same way. I was hoping we would see something about the event exclusive merchandise by now.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Raya said:


> Is anyone else surprised by the radio silence about the event as we get closer? I was excited to see the blog post about special food (posted 4/29) but other than the announcement of the event (4/2 - teaser, 4/19 full), I don't think we've gotten any details. Is there something I'm missing?



They used the word “villains” - that’s all Disney has to do.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Do they normally? I guess I just assumed we’d have to wait for the first night to get details.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

But in seriousness, these After Hours events have never had a ton of clarity to them and are only lightly advertised, generally speaking.  I’m kind of surprised at the minimal info and I’m kind of not.  

My guess is ticket sales have been stout and they don’t need to do much, but I guess we’ll see. 

If we look to things like MNSSHP as precedent (admittedly a different deal), they don’t really announce many of the event specifics until people get a map that day.


----------



## Raya

GADisneyDad14 said:


> My guess is ticket sales have been stout and they don’t need to do much, but I guess we’ll see.


I was wondering about that. A friend decided to join us last minute, and tickets were still available. I got mine on the first day fearing a sell-out. I guess that's not going to happen? You'd think it would...


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Raya said:


> I was wondering about that. A friend decided to join us last minute, and tickets were still available. I got mine on the first day fearing a sell-out. I guess that's not going to happen? You'd think it would...



FWIW, Page 1 of this thread has tables with the sell out history of DAH dates.  Sell outs have historically been more of the exception than the norm, especially now with a lot more DAH options at multiple parks.  When they have sold out, it has usually been same day or pretty close to the event.  Generally speaking.  

Now, these Villains things could be different depending on the unknowns of demand and guest count - hard to know.  It wouldn’t surprise me if next Thursday eventually sells out just given first event hoopla.  But on the other hand I’m sure the price increase is a turn off for some, so who knows!


----------



## Captainkidd76

GADisneyDad14 said:


> We’re now close enough to the Villains date that I tend to trust the attraction hours on the Disney website a bit more.
> 
> All of the rides and attractions normally open during DAH show “Special Ticketed Event - 10pm-1am” *except* the character meets.
> 
> Now, I don’t necessarily trust the website to be 100% fact, but it may provide clues.
> 
> TBD!



Are you saying that the same attractions open during the regular DAH event at the MK will be open during the Villains event? Is there a list of all those attractions?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Captainkidd76 said:


> Are you saying that the same attractions open during the regular DAH event at the MK will be open during the Villains event? Is there a list of all those attractions?



An official list has not been published.  At the moment we don’t really know.  And we might not know until the first person walks in and is given an event handout.


----------



## Trinity88

I'm planning to buy tomorrow when they're released.  Even if they don't sell out, I'm worried by the fewer Aug dates and the proximity to SW opening (I want Aug 29).


----------



## prettypatchesmsu

Trinity88 said:


> I'm planning to buy tomorrow when they're released.  Even if they don't sell out, I'm worried by the fewer Aug dates and the proximity to SW opening (I want Aug 29).


This is me too.  I'm wanting to buy tomorrow asap as I'm worried the September date will go fast because of the higher crowd levels coming for SW GE.


----------



## DVC Jen

Trinity88 said:


> Oh my goodness, really?!?! I assumed I could only get reduced priced tickets for the people who actually have the AP.


 I got three adult DVC discounted tickets for myself, my husband and our adult daughter.  Only myself and my husband are DVC members.  Now our adult daughter does live at the same address as us - and I am assuming your children do too - so it shouldn't be an issue at all.


----------



## js

Hi. I plan to purchase these tomorrow with DVC or AP discount (have to look to see if same or different) for three adults for September 5.  I just did a mock booking for tomorrow's date and I do not see anywhere to put my DVC or AP discount. 
Do I have to go through the DVC or AP member site for the discount?

 What time can I begin to purchase the tickets?

Thank yo.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

js said:


> Hi. I plan to purchase these tomorrow with DVC or AP discount (have to look to see if same or different) for three adults for September 5.  I just did a mock booking for tomorrow's date and I do not see anywhere to put my DVC or AP discount.
> Do I have to go through the DVC or AP member site for the discount?
> 
> What time can I begin to purchase the tickets?
> 
> Thank yo.



Make sure you are logged into to your MDE account when searching for tickets.  On one of the ticket screens you’ll see this:



If you aren’t logged in, you’ll only see the Products and Prices for All Guests.

The AP and DVC discount is the same.

There is no standard, but for the last few new date introductions tickets have gone one sale at or shortly after midnight ET.


----------



## poooh

I'm planning on buying 2 tickets tomorrow for MK DAH on Sept. 26th. I'm so happy it's being offered and especially on the day that's right in the middle of our trip so we usually try to schedule a sleep-in day then anyway!


----------



## winnieofpooh

Is there any reason to not buy the tickets on Undercover Tourist? I'm assuming they'll release the August tickets on their website around the same time Disney does, and I can save $15 buying through them.


----------



## sheila14

I also wonder how the crowds will be during September with SW opening?  We need to sleep sometime and with HS opening at 6am, who is going to be out late?  it can be our saving grace or look out!!


----------



## Gehrig1B

GADisneyDad14 said:


> An official list has not been published.  At the moment we don’t really know.  And we might not know until the first person walks in and is given an event handout.


That would be me...  Will report my findings next week.  Fingers crossed the crowd level will be typical DAH.


----------



## js

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Make sure you are logged into to your MDE account when searching for tickets.  On one of the ticket screens you’ll see this:
> 
> View attachment 404142
> 
> If you aren’t logged in, you’ll only see the Products and Prices for All Guests.
> 
> The AP and DVC discount is the same.
> 
> There is no standard, but for the last few new date introductions tickets have gone one sale at or shortly after midnight ET.



Thank you so much! I went on to MDE and it gave me a price of $101 and when I hit details, it said I was getting the DVC rate. I also have an AP, but it did t give me an option for that but if it is the same, doesnt matter I guess. 

Thank you very much! I appreciate your help.


----------



## Castlequeen5

winnieofpooh said:


> Is there any reason to not buy the tickets on Undercover Tourist? I'm assuming they'll release the August tickets on their website around the same time Disney does, and I can save $15 buying through them.



I bought both of sets of our DAH tickets from UT.  I definitely saved money and had no trouble linking them to MDE.  FYI...the July villain tickets didn’t actually go on sale until later in the day on the UT website.  I was worried that UT wouldn’t carry the tickets, but they eventually went on sale just later than the Disney website.  So you may have to wait longer than you would if you bought directly from Disney.


----------



## Mrs Grumpy

Just bought our tickets for 8/29!!!  So excited!


----------



## Lsdolphin

Just bought tickets for 8/29!  Quick and easy process!!!  Thinking this night might sell out with overflow of crowds from HS craziness...but hoping it won’t!


----------



## Jdogbeanie

Got 8/29 as well


----------



## Pucks104

Just bought MK and AK After Hours events tickets for our September trip! Very excited!


----------



## poooh

Just got our tickets for 9/26!

If this is a hard ticket event and I also have a regular non park hopper ticket, would we be able to go to Epcot in the morning using our regular theme park ticket and then go to MK at 7 with our DAH ticket? Has anyone done this before?


----------



## AntJulie

poooh said:


> Just got our tickets for 9/26!
> 
> If this is a hard ticket event and I also have a regular non park hopper ticket, would we be able to go to Epcot in the morning using our regular theme park ticket and then go to MK at 7 with our DAH ticket? Has anyone done this before?



Ha...I saw you changed your date...
Anyway you certainly can go to Epcot the same day as your MK DAH...I'm sure many have done this before!


----------



## TaraD426

I bought MK after hours tickets for 8/29, and I haven't received an email yet confirming it, and it doesn't show in my MDE. Should I be worried?


----------



## Lsdolphin

TaraD426 said:


> I bought MK after hours tickets for 8/29, and I haven't received an email yet confirming it, and it doesn't show in my MDE. Should I be worried?




I did get an emailed confirmation immediately following my order and the DAH is showing up in my MDE.


----------



## TaraD426

Lsdolphin said:


> I did get an emailed confirmation immediately following my order and the DAH is showing up in my MDE.


I wonder if I should do it again or just call in the morning? Dont want to be charged twice...


----------



## GoofyPrincess

Ordered my tickets for two different parks/nights. Both say "processing" and don't show in MDE. *sigh*

You know, just once I'd like Disney IT to work correctly.


----------



## CassieRuns

The new dates are available now to purchase online.


----------



## tangled1010

.


----------



## tangled1010

Sorry posted on wrong thread, ugh its early lol


----------



## GADisneyDad14

GoofyPrincess said:


> Ordered my tickets for two different parks/nights. Both say "processing" and don't show in MDE. *sigh*
> 
> You know, just once I'd like Disney IT to work correctly.



FYI, this has been a common report the last few times tickets have gone on sale.  I wouldn’t be too concerned at the moment.


----------



## mekay1012

I bought my tickets over the phone a couple of days ago and never did receive an email. They did give my my ticket number so I could link them.


----------



## dancergirlsmom

That happened to me when I ordered my Villains tickets.  A couple of hours later they showed up in my MDE.


----------



## Lsdolphin

TaraD426 said:


> I wonder if I should do it again or just call in the morning? Dont want to be charged twice...



I would definitely not order again!! I would call Disney let them check for you!


----------



## neverenoughtime

Went smooth, purchased MK and Ak tickets for September.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

So at least we’ve confirmed a few things:

8/22, 8/29, 9/5, & 9/12 will be 10pm-1am

9/19 & 9/26 will be 9pm-12am

These regular/non-Villain DAHs will be back to the regular/non-Villain DAH price.


----------



## Trinity88

Purchased for Aug 29!  I got the email, but they aren't showing in MDE yet.  Hopefully they'll show up today sometime.


----------



## prettypatchesmsu

I purchased our tickets using the app at around 6am this morning before getting ready for work and had no trouble getting our September date.  I almost stayed up till midnight, but decided to just purchase them as soon as I woke up instead.  They were linked instantly in the MDE app and I got the email instantly too.  I'm excited!  This will be our first After Hours event as they're not normally offered when we go.  It'll be fun to do all the rides as we focus on party stuff at MNSSHP and not rides.


----------



## RoboFlyer

From a crowd level perspective I'm guessing that MNSSHP is much higher than the DAH to justify the lower cost? I'm gearing up to buy a DAH ticket for MK and want to take full advantage of everything the event has to offer but wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be getting a similar experience at a lower price with MNSSHP. 

I have no interest in any of the Halloween stuff and there's an event of both that same week. A search didn't turn up a proper crowd level comparison just the major differences between the events.


----------



## prettypatchesmsu

RoboFlyer said:


> From a crowd level perspective I'm guessing that MNSSHP is much higher than the DAH to justify the lower cost? I'm gearing up to buy a DAH ticket for MK and want to take full advantage of everything the event has to offer but wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be getting a similar experience at a lower price with MNSSHP.
> 
> I have no interest in any of the Halloween stuff and there's an event of both that same week. A search didn't turn up a proper crowd level comparison just the major differences between the events.


I have not attended the After Hours event yet, but I'm a veteran of the MNSSHP and I can tell you it is going to be much more crowded than the After Hours event.  The difference is the MNSSHP one most people focus on the special halloween activities and meets.  Some do the rides.  It is however, not walk ons nor an near empty park like I've seen shown at the After Hours events.


----------



## GoofyPrincess

So I received the "your order is processing" email, but no confirmation number and no charge showing as pending on my credit card. I called Disney and get a really nice Cast member who gave me two options: Wait until after 10 am to see if the tickets process or reorder and call back if they process twice. I chose to redo the order so that I was sure to have tickets. This order went through immediately and linked correctly. We'll see what happens at 10am. Lol


----------



## RoboFlyer

prettypatchesmsu said:


> I have not attended the After Hours event yet, but I'm a veteran of the MNSSHP and I can tell you it is going to be much more crowded than the After Hours event.  The difference is the MNSSHP one most people focus on the special halloween activities and meets.  Some do the rides.  It is however, not walk ons nor an near empty park like I've seen shown at the After Hours events.



That's good enough for me. After Hours it is. I love doing rides so being able to do more rides is better. Plus, being able to soak in a nearly empty park sounds incredible and the date I'm choosing is a 1AM end time. (Not thrilled that my flight out of Orlando leaves six hours after that, but at least I'll be ending my vacation on a high note.)


----------



## Raya

RoboFlyer said:


> From a crowd level perspective I'm guessing that MNSSHP is much higher than the DAH to justify the lower cost? I'm gearing up to buy a DAH ticket for MK and want to take full advantage of everything the event has to offer but wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be getting a similar experience at a lower price with MNSSHP.
> I have no interest in any of the Halloween stuff and there's an event of both that same week. A search didn't turn up a proper crowd level comparison just the major differences between the events.



I'm a veteran of MNSSHP - we've gone most years since 2006. DAH is a much much smaller crowd. I would put it at about half the levels of the 2006/2007 MNSSHP and a 1/10 of last year's party. To give you some examples at MNSSHP I've had 15 minute way for Peter Pan, at DAH walk on. Haunted Mansion at MNSSHP, 40 minutes, DAH, walk on. Photographers - MNSSHP lines of 7 to 10 people, DAH, no lines except at the Rapunzel Lantern Magic shot. Simply put - MNSSHP can be crowded, especially during October or a Friday night party so far DAH hasn't allowed that to happen. I'm going to the first Villains event next week....so I'll tell you if that's still true.


----------



## MinnieMSue

GoofyPrincess said:


> So I received the "your order is processing" email, but no confirmation number and no charge showing as pending on my credit card. I called Disney and get a really nice Cast member who gave me two options: Wait until after 10 am to see if the tickets process or reorder and call back if they process twice. I chose to redo the order so that I was sure to have tickets. This order went through immediately and linked correctly. We'll see what happens at 10am. Lol



I had that happen when I ordered villains after hours tickets and called. They told me to wait which I did and it eventually went through. I can’t remember if it was that same day or the next. I didn’t want to repeat my order because I didn’t want double tickets.


----------



## BattyKoda

Ordered our DAH MK tickets for Sept 12 last night with no issues... got our email confirmation early and everything linked with no issues.

We really wanted to do AK as well, but that's just pushing our budget a bit too much (as someone posted on another thread, Disney World Problems  ).

Just wondering... anyone worried about the number of DAH tickets going up once SWGE opens? Will one have anything to do with the other?


----------



## winnieofpooh

Sooo we may have just had a miracle happen? Went on UT to see if they had the AH tickets for the new dates. They do, and they're mistakenly showing as $3 a piece! We figured there's no harm in buying them, because we planned on buying them at full price anyways. I assumed at some point in the process the correct price would show, but I was able to order them at the shown price and succesfully link my MK AH tickets in MDE. Praying that UT won't cancel our tickets or something like that!!! 

We'll be going 8/22!


----------



## sheila14

I bought my ticket for 9-19!!


----------



## Haley R

winnieofpooh said:


> Sooo we may have just had a miracle happen? Went on UT to see if they had the AH tickets for the new dates. They do, and they're mistakenly showing as $3 a piece! We figured there's no harm in buying them, because we planned on buying them at full price anyways. I assumed at some point in the process the correct price would show, but I was able to order them at the shown price and succesfully link my MK AH tickets in MDE. Praying that UT won't cancel our tickets or something like that!!!
> 
> We'll be going 8/22!


What?! lol that’s hilarious. They shouldn’t ask for them back (or you pay more) because it was their mistake, but it’s possible. That’s so funny

ETA: I just checked and they must’ve noticed because now the links to buy tickets don’t work. They must be fixing it


----------



## dachsie

Lsdolphin said:


> Just bought tickets for 8/29!  Quick and easy process!!!  Thinking this night might sell out with overflow of crowds from HS craziness...but hoping it won’t!


I don't know about that.  Most of them will have been waiting in line since midnight the morning of so they may be pretty tired to do an After Hours event


----------



## Jdogbeanie

TaraD426 said:


> I bought MK after hours tickets for 8/29, and I haven't received an email yet confirming it, and it doesn't show in my MDE. Should I be worried?


I would call. Mine showed up right away last night....but I’m a bit OCD


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So at least we’ve confirmed a few things:
> 
> 8/22, 8/29, 9/5, & 9/12 will be 10pm-1am
> 
> 9/19 & 9/26 will be 9pm-12am
> 
> *These regular/non-Villain DAHs will be back to the regular/non-Villain DAH price*.



THAT is the best news I've read so far this morning!


----------



## BattyKoda

winnieofpooh said:


> Sooo we may have just had a miracle happen? Went on UT to see if they had the AH tickets for the new dates. They do, and they're mistakenly showing as $3 a piece! We figured there's no harm in buying them, because we planned on buying them at full price anyways. I assumed at some point in the process the correct price would show, but I was able to order them at the shown price and succesfully link my MK AH tickets in MDE. Praying that UT won't cancel our tickets or something like that!!!
> 
> We'll be going 8/22!



Darn it... a price that I could afford!  Good luck and let us know what happens!


----------



## js

Just ordered three adult tickets using my DVC discount online (thank you gadad for showing me I needed to be logged into MDE).  Ordered, immediately received a confirmation email and the tickets are showing up linked in MDE.

We will be attending September 5.  Our time is 10:00 pm - 1:00 am.  What time can we arrive for a 10 pm start time?  My mom and I have APs, my dd does not. She does not need a park ticket to attend, just this party ticket, is that correct?

Thank you.


----------



## provoaggie

js said:


> My mom and I have APs, my dd does not. She does not need a park ticket to attend, just this party ticket, is that correct?


Correct. This hard ticket is the only ticket that you need to get in.


----------



## js

provoaggie said:


> Correct. This hard ticket is the only ticket that you need to get in.



Thank you so much!

Do you know what time we can get in for a 10 pm start?

Thank you.


----------



## provoaggie

js said:


> Thank you so much!
> 
> Do you know what time we can get in for a 10 pm start?
> 
> Thank you.


I believe it's always 7 PM


----------



## js

provoaggie said:


> I believe it's always 7 PM



Thank you.  If we plan for approximately 8 pm, we can do the other attractions that take time and focus on other things during DAH. We can do President's, PeopleMover, Mickey's Phila, etc. Don't think my dd-25 has ever done Tiki so this will be good.

Thank you.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

One more regular DAH tonight, then next week the Villains take over. 

*Villains people*... don’t forget to click your date on the Villains After Hours poll thread:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/magic-kingdom-“villains-after-hours”-summer-2019-date-poll.3747348/

Thanks!


----------



## js

Hi.
I printed out my tickets and see next to the Order Confirmation number, it states "Tkt 166".  I purchased three tickets and have Tkt 166, 167 and 168.  I know many other people besides dis purchase the tickets but wondered if you thought it may be good to post the date we are going and the ticket number and see what is the highest we see that are sold.  We could just post in our threads I guess and do a search if we wanted to see. This would be the closest information we have on how many tickets are actually sold, although it really wouldn't reflect all since it's just the dis.  I'm only saying this since I never saw mentioned on this thread the actual Tkt number shown or spoken about and if it was, sorry I must have missed it.

Thursday, September 5: Highest Ticket Number I have is 168.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

js said:


> Hi.
> I printed out my tickets and see next to the Order Confirmation number, it states "Tkt 166".  I purchased three tickets and have Tkt 166, 167 and 168.  I know many other people besides dis purchase the tickets but wondered if you thought it may be good to post the date we are going and the ticket number and see what is the highest we see that are sold.  We could just post in our threads I guess and do a search if we wanted to see. This would be the closest information we have on how many tickets are actually sold, although it really wouldn't reflect all since it's just the dis.  I'm only saying this since I never saw mentioned on this thread the actual Tkt number shown or spoken about and if it was, sorry I must have missed it.
> 
> Thursday, September 5: Highest Ticket Number I have is 168.



This observation/topic comes up from time to time.  It often gets discussed with MNSSHP and MVMCP where you see the same thing.  

People have long tried to establish if those ticket numbers actually mean anything.  Usually when this comes up, you get a few reports where the ticket number meaning anything seems plausible and seems to provide clues, but then you get some that don’t seem to make much sense or don’t fit the pattern at all.  

So it’s interesting to watch, but I’d be a tad cautious of reading into exactly what it means unless a long-term fact pattern can be established.


----------



## Traveling on cc points

So... I am one of the people who has been aggravated with all the shortentened  park days to add on paid edvents but I am strongly concidering adding the magic kingdom after hours to our trip for September 5th.  

I had picked this week, Aug 30th - September 6th  to do food & wine (a surprise birthday trip) lighter crowds and to avoid the craziness of GE.  That plan went to hell in a hand basket when Disney announced GE was opening early. 

I feel like such a hypocrite and don't want to hand disney another $200+ for 3 hours in the park but the low crowds is very tempting. I am very worried about the crowd levels due to galaxy's edge opening the same week. Decisions decisions...


----------



## Scarletb23

Traveling on cc points said:


> So... I am one of the people who has been aggravated with all the shortentened  park days to add on paid edvents but I am strongly concidering adding the magic kingdom after hours to our trip for September 5th.
> 
> I had picked this week, Aug 30th - September 6th  to do food & wine (a surprise birthday trip) lighter crowds and to avoid the craziness of GE.  That plan went to hell in a hand basket when Disney announced GE was opening early.
> 
> I feel like such a hypocrite and don't want to hand disney another $200+ for 3 hours in the park but the low crowds is very tempting. I am very worried about the crowd levels due to galaxy's edge opening the same week. Decisions decisions...



I bought my tickets last night for DAH on September 5 exactly for the reason of having light crowds in the park. DF and I are going from Aug 30 through Sept 8 and like you I booked that week for low crowds. I felt that with GE's opening this was the only way to have a few calm hours and that fact we loved doing Magic Kingdom DAH on our last trip in January of 2018.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Traveling on cc points said:


> So... I am one of the people who has been aggravated with all the shortentened  park days to add on paid edvents but I am strongly concidering adding the magic kingdom after hours to our trip for September 5th.
> 
> I had picked this week, Aug 30th - September 6th  to do food & wine (a surprise birthday trip) lighter crowds and to avoid the craziness of GE.  That plan went to hell in a hand basket when Disney announced GE was opening early.
> 
> I feel like such a hypocrite and don't want to hand disney another $200+ for 3 hours in the park but the low crowds is very tempting. I am very worried about the crowd levels due to galaxy's edge opening the same week. Decisions decisions...



We went to Disney just a couple weeks ago, also during a somewhat "low" crowd time and we were STILL really glad we bought tickets to DAH! My point is, even with lower crowds I would recommend it. If you happen to go during a time with higher crowds (even if that wasn't YOUR plan), I really cannot recommend it enough. Especially when you consider the heat of September! Touring at night without the sun beating down on you is worth serious money, especially when you are doing so with such low crowds as attend DAH.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> Touring at night without the sun beating down on you is worth serious money, especially when you are doing so with such low crowds as attend DAH.



I have to say, this is an often overlooked major plus with these types of early or late events.  

We did MK EMM last Sunday (it was like 96 degrees in Orlando that day, no joke) and knocking out such a big portion of MK in the early morning cooler hours was totally worth it.


----------



## faylynn24

Going to the event tonight. What has been the currant time people have let in


----------



## Iowamomof4

faylynn24 said:


> Going to the event tonight. What has been the currant time people have let in



Most recently, between 6:00 and 6:30.


----------



## SaintsManiac

Traveling on cc points said:


> So... I am one of the people who has been aggravated with all the shortentened  park days to add on paid edvents but I am strongly concidering adding the magic kingdom after hours to our trip for September 5th.
> 
> I had picked this week, Aug 30th - September 6th  to do food & wine (a surprise birthday trip) lighter crowds and to avoid the craziness of GE.  That plan went to hell in a hand basket when Disney announced GE was opening early.
> 
> I feel like such a hypocrite and don't want to hand disney another $200+ for 3 hours in the park but the low crowds is very tempting. I am very worried about the crowd levels due to galaxy's edge opening the same week. Decisions decisions...




No one here will judge you or think you’re a hypocrite!


----------



## Traveling on cc points

Iowamomof4 said:


> We went to Disney just a couple weeks ago, also during a somewhat "low" crowd time and we were STILL really glad we bought tickets to DAH! My point is, even with lower crowds I would recommend it. If you happen to go during a time with higher crowds (even if that wasn't YOUR plan), I really cannot recommend it enough. Especially when you consider the heat of September! Touring at night without the sun beating down on you is worth serious money, especially when you are doing so with such low crowds as attend DAH.


Great advise. Thank you!! I have been pondering it all day and I think I am going to go for it. At the end of the day, I think it will be worth it.


----------



## Traveling on cc points

SaintsManiac said:


> No one here will judge you or think you’re a hypocrite!


Haha. Thank you!!  We have annual passes and they are pretty expensive, if Disney keeps these events up, I think we will consider just doing a couple of special nights instead of buying the passes in the future. We just need them do do something for Epcot.


----------



## js

GADisneyDad14 said:


> This observation/topic comes up from time to time.  It often gets discussed with MNSSHP and MVMCP where you see the same thing.
> 
> People have long tried to establish if those ticket numbers actually mean anything.  Usually when this comes up, you get a few reports where the ticket number meaning anything seems plausible and seems to provide clues, but then you get some that don’t seem to make much sense or don’t fit the pattern at all.
> 
> So it’s interesting to watch, but I’d be a tad cautious of reading into exactly what it means unless a long-term fact pattern can be established.



Thank you.  I havent been on MNSSHP or MVMCP threads in over ten years I believe so hadnt seen it mentioned. Looks lime there are a few on these last two pages that, like I am, going September 5. 

We loved the event in January 2019.


----------



## mekay1012

I called the other day and bought tickets online, but never received an email. They told me I needed to pick up my tickets at will call. Do I need to be concerned that I didn’t get an email?


----------



## anneboleyn

js said:


> Thank you.  I havent been on MNSSHP or MVMCP threads in over ten years I believe so hadnt seen it mentioned. Looks lime there are a few on these last two pages that, like I am, going September 5.



I will be at the September 5th one as well 

But I am a little worried that Disney is planning on increasing the number of tickets they sell to DAH because of the anticipated crowds.



Traveling on cc points said:


> We just need them do do something for Epcot.



I want an Epcot DAH event so bad! I don’t know if Disney thinks there aren’t enough rides in that park to justify one or what. But I keep holding out hope that it happens one day (preferably during my trip lol).


----------



## skuttle

We are here at the MK after hours tonight. We walked up at 630 and they let us right in! Not sure when they started.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mekay1012 said:


> *I called the other day and bought tickets online,* but never received an email. They told me I needed to pick up my tickets at will call. Do I need to be concerned that I didn’t get an email?



Just to clarify, you bought tickets by phone or online?  That detail determines what to do.


----------



## focusondisney

Hope everyone has a great time tonight!


----------



## preemiemama

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Just to clarify, you bought tickets by phone or online?  That detail determines what to do.


I'm wondering about this as well.  I assumed that buying online and being told to pick up at will call would make it work like my AP purchase- that we have to go to GR when we arrive and have it activated? Both the AP and the DAH tickets show up in my MDE account, and I did receive an email with a barcode for both.  Am I correct in thinking I need to go to GR and activate both once we arrive?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

preemiemama said:


> I'm wondering about this as well.  I assumed that buying online and being told to pick up at will call would make it work like my AP purchase- that we have to go to GR when we arrive and have it activated? Both the AP and the DAH tickets show up in my MDE account, and I did receive an email with a barcode for both.  Am I correct in thinking I need to go to GR and activate both once we arrive?



The website language is confusing, but given what you describe (you bought online, the DAH tickets show up on your MDE account), you don't need to do anything.  Unless you don't have a MagicBand and would need a physical hard ticket to actually enter, you're all good.  Show up, scan your MB at the designated event entrances/tapstyles, and enjoy!


----------



## preemiemama

GADisneyDad14 said:


> The website language is confusing, but given what you describe (you bought online, the DAH tickets show up on your MDE account), you don't need to do anything.  Unless you don't have a MagicBand and would need a physical hard ticket to actually enter, you're all good.  Show up, scan your MB at the designated event entrances/tapstyles, and enjoy!


VERY confusing.  I would have thought it was another thing to be activated- this is much easier! Thank you for clarifying!


----------



## Kyhome

Hi All, Long time Disney vet but first time at Villians DAH. I have a question about using 3 FPs prior to this event. I read on the first page the information I am copying below about FP-so am I correct that we can book three FP's for the three hours prior to the DAH event (from 7-10 pm) AND can book FP's for the three other days that we have park tickets? (We have a three day park hopper and the DAH ticket). What do I do if I receive the warning, as described below? I certainly do not want to lose my last day of fast passes-will this warning come the day before, month before, when I book the FPs at 60 days out, etc? Do I do anything to ensure I do not lose the last day of fast passes? Thank you!

*FPs with a DAH Ticket*

FPs are not available during the DAH event, all rides are standby only.
DAH tickets will allow for FP booking during regular park hours before the event starts, so - if you have no other FPs booked that day - one could book FPs with a DAH ticket during the regular park hours before the event.
HOWEVER, there can be issues when doing this, as has been happening for some people with MNSSHP and MVMCP events since 2017. Booking FPs with DAH tickets in combination with certain trip details/configurations can potentially cause Disney's system to flag your account for insufficient ticket entitlements and you will receive a warning that your last day of FPs will be cancelled if you do not address the problem.
Who and exactly why people get this warning remains elusive.
Bottom line - if you choose to book FPs with your DAH ticket entitlement and you have FPs booked on other days with regular park admission - you have some potential risk of receiving this warning... so keep an eye out.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Kyhome said:


> Hi All, Long time Disney vet but first time at Villians DAH. I have a question about using 3 FPs prior to this event. I read on the first page the information I am copying below about FP-so am I correct that we can book three FP's for the three hours prior to the DAH event (from 7-10 pm) AND can book FP's for the three other days that we have park tickets? (We have a three day park hopper and the DAH ticket). What do I do if I receive the warning, as described below? I certainly do not want to lose my last day of fast passes-will this warning come the day before, month before, when I book the FPs at 60 days out, etc? Do I do anything to ensure I do not lose the last day of fast passes? Thank you!
> 
> *FPs with a DAH Ticket*
> 
> FPs are not available during the DAH event, all rides are standby only.
> DAH tickets will allow for FP booking during regular park hours before the event starts, so - if you have no other FPs booked that day - one could book FPs with a DAH ticket during the regular park hours before the event.
> HOWEVER, there can be issues when doing this, as has been happening for some people with MNSSHP and MVMCP events since 2017. Booking FPs with DAH tickets in combination with certain trip details/configurations can potentially cause Disney's system to flag your account for insufficient ticket entitlements and you will receive a warning that your last day of FPs will be cancelled if you do not address the problem.
> Who and exactly why people get this warning remains elusive.
> Bottom line - if you choose to book FPs with your DAH ticket entitlement and you have FPs booked on other days with regular park admission - you have some potential risk of receiving this warning... so keep an eye out.



The good news is I haven’t seen a report of a warning in awhile.  MDE does strange things for unknown reasons.  All that text above is more or less a disclaimer that things ‘can’ happen so just be aware.

When the email may come is not exact, but generally in the weeks leading up to your trip. 

People have elaborate theories about the order you should book, don’t call to make any reservation changes, etc, but to me there’s just not enough info out there to know for sure and make definitive statements about it.  

I wouldn’t worry much about it though, just be aware. 

Hope that helps.


----------



## faylynn24

Does anyone know where the snack locations are. We asked several cm and none seem to know. Tia


----------



## mekay1012

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Just to clarify, you bought tickets by phone or online?  That detail determines what to do.


I bought them by phone.


----------



## dachsie

faylynn24 said:


> Does anyone know where the snack locations are. We asked several cm and none seem to know. Tia


they are pretty visible.  In Adventureland its near the egg roll cart, between Splash and BTMRR, right outside Haunted Mansion, etc


----------



## AngiTN

In a really wild turn of events we got on Small World at 10:30 tonight (5/30)
Right as we were about to enter the goodbye room the ride stopped. At 11:15. Still here. We are getting evacuated. Somehow. Will need a bridge or something to get from the boat to the side. We are still in the Blue room. Thankfully the turned the music off. Finally. It's going to be over an hour on here by the time we get off. I don't complain much and I fully realize this was out of their control but we may need to get something back for missing so much. 

It was about 70 min when we got taken off.


----------



## Iowamomof4

AngiTN said:


> In a really wild turn of events we got on Small World at 10:30 tonight (5/30)
> Right as we were about to enter the goodbye room the ride stopped. At 11:15. Still here. We are getting evacuated. Somehow. Will need a bridge or something to get from the boat to the side. We are still in the Blue room. Thankfully the turned the music off. Finally. It's going to be over an hour on here by the time we get off. I don't complain much and I fully realize this was out of their control but we may need to get something back for missing so much.
> 
> It was about 70 min when we got taken off.



Oh, that sucks!


----------



## 22Tink

AngiTN said:


> In a really wild turn of events we got on Small World at 10:30 tonight (5/30)
> Right as we were about to enter the goodbye room the ride stopped. At 11:15. Still here. We are getting evacuated. Somehow. Will need a bridge or something to get from the boat to the side. We are still in the Blue room. Thankfully the turned the music off. Finally. It's going to be over an hour on here by the time we get off. I don't complain much and I fully realize this was out of their control but we may need to get something back for missing so much.
> 
> It was about 70 min when we got taken off.


Oh man that’s awful!!


----------



## cindyfan

I think I asked this before... Don't think anyone had a definitive answer.  So.....  wondering if anyone has done this recently?
If I plan to upgrade my hopper to an AP will they either give me the AP price now or would they adjust the price when I get there and show that I upgraded my hopper to AP? 
I have a 7 day hopper that I am definitely going to upgrade when I arrive, but I'd like to get a ticket for the After Hours now.


----------



## AngiTN

For those curious, to get off Small World, they put a CM in waders and they push the boat to a point so it can be against the side and guests can step out. We went backwards to another room


----------



## skuttle

AngiTN said:


> For those curious, to get off Small World, they put a CM in waders and they push the boat to a point so it can be against the side and guests can step out. We went backwards to another room



Oh no! We saw it wAs closed but didn’t realize it broke down! That sucks!


----------



## karensi

AngiTN said:


> For those curious, to get off Small World, they put a CM in waders and they push the boat to a point so it can be against the side and guests can step out. We went backwards to another room



Just wondering, did they give you anything for missing so much of the evening?


----------



## AngiTN

karensi said:


> Just wondering, did they give you anything for missing so much of the evening?


Yes. We finished with everything we could and headed to GS about 12:55. I didn't go in with anything in mind. I know I should but I felt bad asking at all. If it had been less time I wouldn't have but an hour crossed the line and was a bit much for a 3 hour event.  So I just told the CM that we were one of those stuck on Small World for an hour and since it was a fair chunk of time off the event did they have anything they were doing for those guests. Really expected by this point tonight they'd had enough guests come in from the ride that they'd come up with a standard recovery. 

I'm frankly embarrassed by what he gave me.  It was too much. A full refund on a gift card and 3 multi experience fast passes for all three of us for both parks we plan to go to tomorrow. We'll turn around and spend the refund toward our AP renewal.


----------



## AngiTN

And oddly our MK resort bus stopped at TTC despite the Transportation CM announcing to everyone as we left the security area that the buses were for Disney resorts only. If you were heading to the parking lot they directed you to a different spot to get transportation. No one got off at TTC, needless to say


----------



## MKTokyo

We were there tonight & heard about the Small World incident while in line for 7DMT. That was really unfortunate but I’m glad they made it right. Peter Pan also went down just as we were about to get in line. I don’t know how long it stayed down for. We never made it back there.

Here’s what we managed to do...

- Arrived just after HEA ended
- Got some corn dog nuggets now that they’re good again & watched OUAT
- PeopleMover 2x (didn’t have to get off)
- Buzz Lightyear
- Space Mountain 2x (I hate the new exit)
- Pooh
- 7DMT 3x
- Tangled photo
- Haunted Mansion 2x (I like how the wait time says “13 minutes”)
- BTMRR 3x
- Pirates
- Jungle Cruise

We also stopped for snacks a few times & thankfully did not encounter any long lines there. The longest line was five families in front of us (Tomorrowland) & it moved really quickly.

We did not do as many rides as most people will but we didn’t set out to do that. We just wanted to peacefully wander around, enjoy the empty park, eat ice cream & not have to wait too long for the rides we did want to go on. If you arrived at 7 pm ready to go, you could easily accomplish a full day’s worth of stuff in six hours & have a much better time without the sun beating down on you!

I did have to laugh when one bewildered kid walking down Main Street asked his parents, “Where are all those people going? Don’t they know the park is closed?”


----------



## Haley R

AngiTN said:


> For those curious, to get off Small World, they put a CM in waders and they push the boat to a point so it can be against the side and guests can step out. We went backwards to another room


Oh my gosh. Sorry you had to go through that


----------



## AngiTN

The CM that was pushing our boat back mentioned that Pan goes down a lot and had been out tonight too. It was open by the time we got off Small World. We rode Pan next
We had made it to the park right about 6:00, right after dinner at Artist Point. We got on Splash, Big Thunder with FP, rode Liberty Boat last ride then used a HM pass. Made a pass for Pirates, rode it then made one for Big Thunder and rode it during fireworks. Got off it and watched the finale of the fireworks then got on Splash again, walk on. Got off it and it was exactly 10:00 so we got snacks there. If we hadn't already done all that before the event started I'd likely have been more upset about missing that hour.
DGD didn't want to repeat anything over there so that's when we headed to the ill-fated Small World ride


----------



## CaperTiff

What does every one guess about October dates ? I know they have been pretty slim the last few years , but Im noticing a lot more for Sept this year.
We are there the first 2 weeks of October and reallllly hoping for a DAH event !


----------



## MinnieMSue

AngiTN said:


> Yes. We finished with everything we could and headed to GS about 12:55. I didn't go in with anything in mind. I know I should but I felt bad asking at all. If it had been less time I wouldn't have but an hour crossed the line and was a bit much for a 3 hour event.  So I just told the CM that we were one of those stuck on Small World for an hour and since it was a fair chunk of time off the event did they have anything they were doing for those guests. Really expected by this point tonight they'd had enough guests come in from the ride that they'd come up with a standard recovery.
> 
> I'm frankly embarrassed by what he gave me.  It was too much. A full refund on a gift card and 3 multi experience fast passes for all three of us for both parks we plan to go to tomorrow. We'll turn around and spend the refund toward our AP renewal.



This is one time I think compensation was deserved and it clearly shows why Disney is amazing with customer service.  You were polite and they clearly appreciated that. The FP they gave you are appropriate for time lost. Also giving the money back was just something that really didn’t hurt them but did give you good vibes that you will pass on and give crazy people like me good vibes. Sorry you got stuck (thankfully they turned the music off lol. Glad they erased much of the frustration of getting stuck. Enjoy the rest of your trip


----------



## MinnieMSue

AngiTN said:


> And oddly our MK resort bus stopped at TTC despite the Transportation CM announcing to everyone as we left the security area that the buses were for Disney resorts only. If you were heading to the parking lot they directed you to a different spot to get transportation. No one got off at TTC, needless to say



That’s odd. Clearly they are used to people not following instructions


----------



## Trinity88

cindyfan said:


> I think I asked this before... Don't think anyone had a definitive answer.  So.....  wondering if anyone has done this recently?
> If I plan to upgrade my hopper to an AP will they either give me the AP price now or would they adjust the price when I get there and show that I upgraded my hopper to AP?
> I have a 7 day hopper that I am definitely going to upgrade when I arrive, but I'd like to get a ticket for the After Hours now.



I called and asked something similar recently.  You must have APs at the time of purchasing DAH.  They will not refund if you purchase without an AP and later buy one.


----------



## prettypatchesmsu

Trinity88 said:


> I called and asked something similar recently.  You must have APs at the time of purchasing DAH.  They will not refund if you purchase without an AP and later buy one.


I have heard of some people getting the difference refunded back to them and put towards the AP upgrade.  Couldn't hurt to ask!  I'm going to, as I'm in this same situation.  I have package park hoppers I'm upgrading to APs when we get there, however there was no way I'd wait to purchase the DAH MK tickets as I would be scared they would sell out.  So I'll ask, and if not.  Oh well, I tried


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

prettypatchesmsu said:


> I have heard of some people getting the difference refunded back to them and put towards the AP upgrade.  Couldn't hurt to ask!  I'm going to, as I'm in this same situation.  I have package park hoppers I'm upgrading to APs when we get there, however there was no way I'd wait to purchase the DAH MK tickets as I would be scared they would sell out.  So I'll ask, and if not.  Oh well, I tried


In March I had purchased 2 nights of DAH for my party of 5, and then purchased an AP for myself before arriving, but after buying the DAH. I then upgraded DS7 to AP when I went to get my AP activated. I asked for a refund for the difference in the form of a gift card (because I had read that was what you could get) and I did get it. 
Now, the CM did give me the "We normally do not allow this, but we will this one time" so YMMV.


----------



## skuttle

Our first after dark experience was last night at MK and we really enjoyed it and thought it was worth the cost, especially in summer with the unbearable heat during the day. We are a family of 5 (me, DH, and 3 boys ages 15, 8, and 6).

We arrived at 630pm and walked right into the park with no wait so they must have started letting people in earlier than that. I had made FP for birthday Mickey meet, splash and thunder, so we knocked those out first. Did pirates and the treehouse after that. Walked on as most people were getting a spot for fireworks. We also snuck in a little emporium shopping.

Right as fireworks started we snuck into Starbucks for some fuel! Jumped on buzz and TTA with no wait.

After that it was 10pm, party start time! We grabbed some ice cream first. Also grabbed popcorn in Tomorrowland, but there was a pretty long line (DH waited while I took kids on space). Longest I saw all night.

During party hours we rode:
Space mountain (10min)
Speedway (10min)
Teacups (walk on)
Dumbo (walk on)
Barnstormer (walk on)
Pooh (5 min)
Peter Pan (10 min)
Tangled lantern pic
Haunted mansion (walk on)
Thunder (2x)(walk on)
Tried to do space mountain again but broken.
Astro orbiter (10-15min)
Castle photo at 1:15am on the way out!

We stopped for ice cream 2 more times. And popcorn two more times as well. These with almost no wait. When we returned to Tomorrowland at end of night; that popcorn stand still had a line!

We could have done more if we pushed it, but we took our time and weren’t in a huge rush. We sat and ate ice cream twice. 

Mine train had a 20 min wait throughout. We have a FP for later in the week so we didn’t wait for that. I don’t know if the line was actually 20 min, but I could see a decent line and didn’t want to risk wasting the 20min!

There were more people than I expected. I never saw any empty walkways, attractions, or snack carts. But not nearly as many as the MVMCPs we’ve been to.

We will be doing the after hours at AK on Tuesday!


----------



## AdrianneB

js said:


> Hi.
> I printed out my tickets and see next to the Order Confirmation number, it states "Tkt 166".  I purchased three tickets and have Tkt 166, 167 and 168.  I know many other people besides dis purchase the tickets but wondered if you thought it may be good to post the date we are going and the ticket number and see what is the highest we see that are sold.  We could just post in our threads I guess and do a search if we wanted to see. This would be the closest information we have on how many tickets are actually sold, although it really wouldn't reflect all since it's just the dis.  I'm only saying this since I never saw mentioned on this thread the actual Tkt number shown or spoken about and if it was, sorry I must have missed it.
> 
> Thursday, September 5: Highest Ticket Number I have is 168.


June 6 - I have 296-298


----------



## cakebaker

AngiTN said:


> Yes. We finished with everything we could and headed to GS about 12:55. I didn't go in with anything in mind. I know I should but I felt bad asking at all. If it had been less time I wouldn't have but an hour crossed the line and was a bit much for a 3 hour event.  So I just told the CM that we were one of those stuck on Small World for an hour and since it was a fair chunk of time off the event did they have anything they were doing for those guests. Really expected by this point tonight they'd had enough guests come in from the ride that they'd come up with a standard recovery.
> 
> I'm frankly embarrassed by what he gave me.  It was too much. A full refund on a gift card and 3 multi experience fast passes for all three of us for both parks we plan to go to tomorrow. We'll turn around and spend the refund toward our AP renewal.



Sorry you missed part of the event, but Disney is very good at making things more than right. It's why we return.


----------



## js

AdrianneB said:


> June 6 - I have 296-298



I wonder if there are other June 6 on here.  

There are a few September 5, what are your ticket numbers. 

We went in January and it was very nice and not at Ll crowded. Wondering for September if they will be selling more tickets due to SW.


----------



## winnieofpooh

So our credit card payment officially posted, no communication from Undercover Tourist, so I think it's safe to say we just scored two MK After Hours tickets for $6 total!!!!! Hopefully our luck will continue when we go on our trip


----------



## sheila14

js said:


> I wonder if there are other June 6 on here.
> 
> There are a few September 5, what are your ticket numbers.
> 
> We went in January and it was very nice and not at Ll crowded. Wondering for September if they will be selling more tickets due to SW.


Dumb question, what are the ticket numbers mean?  Is it how many guests have already bought for DAH on that night?  Does anyone know what the "close to official" number of tickets sold for these DAH events?


----------



## V.I.N.CENT.

We will be visiting in November 8-17. With MVMCP hitting Mon, Tue, Th, Fri the week we are there, pretty much no chance for a Magic Kingdom DAH correct?


----------



## PolkaDotPanda

Just checked our ticket numbers for 8/8 out of curiosity...we have 9 and 10 

I did buy them as soon as they went on sale so maybe that adds weight to the theory that the numbers show how many tickets have been sold?


----------



## afan

PolkaDotPanda said:


> Just checked our ticket numbers for 8/8 out of curiosity...we have 9 and 10
> 
> I did buy them as soon as they went on sale so maybe that adds weight to the theory that the numbers show how many tickets have been sold?



I got my email for buying a ticket for 8/8 at 8:34 am PST and am # 309.  Not sure I'm going with the theory that that many people bought tickets between when you did and I did a few hours later for the same date.  I suppose it could be accurate but most of the people buying tickets the day they go on sale aren't on the dis so    I did use an AP discount so it's just as likely, since no one fully knows what the number means, that I could have actually been the 309th person to buy with an AP discount that day for any date within the released dates or for that day.


----------



## PolkaDotPanda

afan said:


> I got my email for buying a ticket for 8/8 at 8:34 am PST and am # 309.  Not sure I'm going with the theory that that many people bought tickets between when you did and I did a few hours later for the same date.  I suppose it could be accurate but most of the people buying tickets the day they go on sale aren't on the dis so    I did use an AP discount so it's just as likely, since no one fully knows what the number means, that I could have actually been the 309th person to buy with an AP discount that day for any date within the released dates or for that day.


Yeah I doubt that many people bought tickets  for that date that quickly. I didn’t think they’d really make it that easy to tell the numbers, I just didn’t expect our ticket numbers to be in the single digits lol. I am really curious how they assign them now though. We used an AP discount too.


----------



## 123SA

I can’t figure out where to look for the ticket number


----------



## GADisneyDad14

123SA said:


> I can’t figure out where to look for the ticket number



If you ordered online, you likely received an e-mail confirmation.  Attached to that e-mail is a PDF file with a bar code and such.  Middle/right is a bunch of WDW specific numbers... a confirmation number, other random things.  All the way to the right it says “Tkt: XXX”.

I’m looking at my DHS DAH night which was 5/24, bought tickets 5/13.  In that case it’s ticket 325.  Seems relatively low for just two weeks out (but who knows of course).


----------



## PolyRob

@GADisneyDad14 Nice new profile pic!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

PolyRob said:


> @GADisneyDad14 Nice new profile pic!



Thanks.  

Can’t find one I like in the new circle format.  Struggling.


----------



## JeninTexas

I also bought tickets for 8/8, and my email does not have a attachment. The bar code is embedded in the text of the email. There is no ticket number anywhere on the email.


----------



## dachsie

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Thanks.
> 
> Can’t find one I like in the new circle format.  Struggling.


The circle works well with mine.


----------



## 123SA

JeninTexas said:


> I also bought tickets for 8/8, and my email does not have a attachment. The bar code is embedded in the text of the email. There is no ticket number anywhere on the email.



That’s what mine looks like. Tickets for 7/1 and 8/8 and 8/12 at AK


----------



## afan

GADisneyDad14 said:


> If you ordered online, you likely received an e-mail confirmation.  Attached to that e-mail is a PDF file with a bar code and such.  Middle/right is a bunch of WDW specific numbers... a confirmation number, other random things.  All the way to the right it says “Tkt: XXX”.
> 
> I’m looking at my DHS DAH night which was 5/24, bought tickets 5/13.  In that case it’s ticket 325.  Seems relatively low for just two weeks out (but who knows of course).



Maybe the counter resets each day and combines hard ticket events?


----------



## Haley R

afan said:


> Maybe the counter resets each day and combines hard ticket events?


I know we’ve speculated on this before and I think we decided the numbers didn’t mean anything.


----------



## tookydo

I bought my tickets for 6/6 a few minutes after they were available for purchase.  My ticket numbers are 9-12.


----------



## lvcourtneyy

Haley R said:


> I know we’ve speculated on this before and I think we decided the numbers didn’t mean anything.



Yup there was speculation about it with MNSSHP tickets last year and it was debunked.


----------



## Haley R

lvcourtneyy said:


> Yup there was speculation about it with MNSSHP tickets last year and it was debunked.


Yep that’s what I’m thinking of


----------



## uccats97

Clueless_about_Disney said:


> Hi everyone!  We had planned two days at Disney prior to heading to Port Canaveral for a cruise (Friday 6/7 and 6/8 at MK and AK).  We are flying down Thursday evening and land 7:37pm, and staying at Pop.  We recently got the email about the Villains party Thursday night and we are strongly considering getting to our room, dropping our bags, then heading to the park. We could realistically be at the park by 9-9:30ish.  Right now we are booked on the DME to the resort, should we Uber to save time?  Anything I'm not thinking of (assuming our flight ins't delayed) that would make this a bad idea?  We have DS12 and DD10, both have done late night parties MVMCP before and can stay up late.


I just did this last Friday night, 5/24, for DAH at Hollywood Studios. My flight landed at 7:55pm. We let Magical Express handle our checked bags so we went straight to the bus and were able to board immediately. Our Magical Express didn’t leave until about 8:30.  We arrived All-Star Music at 9:12 since it was the 3rd stop on the route. We dropped our carry-on bags at Bell Services and went around the corner to the bus stop. There was already a Hollywood Studios bus waiting which was awesome. We were entering the park at 9:30pm on the nose- at the exact time DAH officially began. It worked perfectly.


----------



## ArielSRL

maui2k5 said:


> So we are debating the cost to value for DAH villains is worth it for the 4 of us (me, wife, 2 daughters 8 & 10) when we are in WDW Aug 1-9.  The cost would be nearly $600 which makes it a bit hard to swallow since we will be visiting MK 4x already (hop from or to during the trip).
> 
> Anyone else questioning the value when on a longer trip?


We are there for 9 days. My kids are 5 & 7. I really wanted to do an After Hours to check it out and I love the Villains, but ultimately we decided no for our family. Just so happens a fellow agent of mine is doing it without her family so my Dh suggested I do the same, with her, so that's what I'm doing. So yes, it was too much for our family, but perfect for just me.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

One thing I just picked up on that I hadn't noticed before, Once Upon a Time (OUAT) is not scheduled for any June Villains After Hours night.

With HEA at 9:15pm like it is now, OUAT has generally been running at 10pm - the start of DAH time for a 10pm-1am event.  Interesting they are not running it on Villains nights (which I'm assuming means they'd rather get people moving out of the park than give them a reason to stick around).


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mekay1012 said:


> I called the other day and bought tickets online, but never received an email. They told me I needed to pick up my tickets at will call. Do I need to be concerned that I didn’t get an email?





mekay1012 said:


> I bought them by phone.



I think I may have not responded here, sorry about that.  Generally speaking (although it can happen), you won't get an e-mail when you buy via phone.  Unless they are doing something different these days, when you buy via phone, they mail you a hard ticket.  Usually takes a week or so to arrive.


----------



## mekay1012

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I think I may have not responded here, sorry about that.  Generally speaking (although it can happen), you won't get an e-mail when you buy online.  Unless they are doing something different these days, when you buy via phone, they mail you a hard ticket.  Usually takes a week or so to arrive.


Thanks!


----------



## SaintsManiac

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I think I may have not responded here, sorry about that.  Generally speaking (although it can happen), you won't get an e-mail when you buy online.  Unless they are doing something different these days, when you buy via phone, they mail you a hard ticket.  Usually takes a week or so to arrive.




I bought mine through the app (for HS) and did receive an email. It said there was an attachment, but there really wasn't one. It's all in my MDE, so I don't care.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mekay1012 said:


> Thanks!





SaintsManiac said:


> I bought mine through the app (for HS) and did receive an email. It said there was an attachment, but there really wasn't one. It's all in my MDE, so I don't care.



Actually, I flubbed in my post above.  You don’t get the email when you buy via *phone*.  Corrected my post.   Sorry about that.


----------



## Dug720

Just got my ticket for July 18!! Called the number on Disney's website as I'm an AP holder and was going to use a Disney Gift Card - the Events and Tickets number is not where we get them...she thought it was Dining so she transferred me...nope...it's through Resorts! Finally got it!!! Super excited!!!!

(And I did get an email even though I made it by phone.)


----------



## georgina

CaperTiff said:


> What does every one guess about October dates ? I know they have been pretty slim the last few years , but Im noticing a lot more for Sept this year.
> We are there the first 2 weeks of October and reallllly hoping for a DAH event !


I'm guessing no because there is one more MNSSHP per week in October, so I went ahead and bought a party ticket.


----------



## senadler

I'm sure this has been asked somewhere, but I can't find an answer.  We are doing DAH while still in Orlando after a Disney trip.  I will be at Disney with my DS8 and DS14.  My DH and DD are not going to Disney, but will be going to DAH.  I made FP+ for all of us, but could not find an old magic band for my DD.  We don't have hard tickets, so I am not sure what I need to do for her to both enter the park and use FP+.


----------



## focusondisney

senadler said:


> I'm sure this has been asked somewhere, but I can't find an answer.  We are doing DAH while still in Orlando after a Disney trip.  I will be at Disney with my DS8 and DS14.  My DH and DD are not going to Disney, but will be going to DAH.  I made FP+ for all of us, but could not find an old magic band for my DD.  We don't have hard tickets, so I am not sure what I need to do for her to both enter the park and use FP+.



Did you already buy your tickets? How did you buy them, online or call?  If you bought online & did not pick a mailed delivery option, you will have to go to guest services outside the park to get her a hard ticket.  She will need that to enter the park & use fastpasses. Or you could pick her up a magic band at Disney Springs or in a park while you are there & link it to her.

Are you staying onsite with your sons? You could add her to your room & get her a magic band that way too.


----------



## senadler

focusondisney said:


> Did you already buy your tickets? How did you buy them, online or call? If you bought online & did not pick a mailed delivery option, you will have to go to guest services outside the park to get her a hard ticket. She will need that to enter the park & use fastpasses. Or you could pick her up a magic band at Disney Springs or in a park while you are there & link it to her.
> 
> Are you staying onsite with your sons? You could add her to your room & get her a magic band that way too.



That is what I expected for the answer.  I bought on-line and did not pick delivery.  I don't want to waste our limited time at guest services, so I will probably just buy her a magic band.  We have a dining plan, so I can't add her to our reservation.


----------



## BirdL15

Friendlyadvice2 said:


> Man, so they are really going to skip the week of 8/10 when I'm there?



Same for me....so I decided to drive down a few days early to catch the 8/8 Villians night


----------



## Castlequeen5

senadler said:


> That is what I expected for the answer.  I bought on-line and did not pick delivery.  I don't want to waste our limited time at guest services, so I will probably just buy her a magic band.  We have a dining plan, so I can't add her to our reservation.



We did MVMCP last December.  Our tickets were linked to MDE, but they still didn't work with our magic bands.  I'm not sure why.  I noticed some people had printed off their tickets on paper.  The cast member at the gate used hard tickets to scan us in.  We didn't have to go to guest services.  It was actually very quick.  It almost seemed like they were expecting and prepared for guests  to not be able to scan their magic bands to enter.  They were asking us if we needed them before they opened up.  We could've used those tickets to scan for fastpasses, but our magic bands worked fine for that part.  I'm wondering if we'll have this same issue when we go back for DAH.  Although our tickets show up in the "ticket" section, they don't show up in the "my plans" section.  Anyway this may not even be an issue, but just wanted to make you aware if you decide to buy her a magic band.


----------



## Raya

Villains merchandise is out!
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...ise-available-at-disney-villains-after-hours/


----------



## Haley R

Raya said:


> Villains merchandise is out!
> https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...ise-available-at-disney-villains-after-hours/


Omg I love those. I hope reviews come back positive for this event so I can convince Dh to go


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Here now with tickets for Thursday opening night. I’ll do my best to report a few things that evening. If not I will the following AM.

Any word on whether it’s sold out yet?


----------



## disneycat321

Cinderumbrella said:


> Here now with tickets for Thursday opening night. I’ll do my best to report a few things that evening. If not I will the following AM.
> 
> Any word on whether it’s sold out yet?


Thank you! I know many of us are anxiously awaiting reports about this event! (We have tickets for 7/25.)


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Cinderumbrella said:


> Here now with tickets for Thursday opening night. I’ll do my best to report a few things that evening. If not I will the following AM.
> 
> Any word on whether it’s sold out yet?



Not sold out yet, per the website.  

On another note, I saw a report on the CR resort thread of some fireworks testing the other morning around 5am.  Who knows if true, but they were told it was testing for Villains After Hours, which I interpret to likely be pyro associated with the stage show.


----------



## Dug720

Raya said:


> Villains merchandise is out!
> https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...ise-available-at-disney-villains-after-hours/



Adding to my trip budget!! Assuming the March holds out until July 18, that is...


----------



## Raya

Hard to believe I'm going in just 48 hours!!! Anything special I should get photos/info on for y'all?


----------



## canyoncam

My AP expired 5/17 but DAH tickets pricing still shows AP discount price if I am signed into my account. I am assuming that will go away once my month leeway to renew ends? I wasn’t going back to WDW until 2021 but might get a chance to sneak in an After Hour event this fall.


----------



## maui2k5

Has anyone with a longer stay done DAH at MK and still felt it was well worth the expense?  Still deciding on Villains for early Aug for the 4 of us when we have a 9 day hopper already...


----------



## heidijanesmith

Raya said:


> Hard to believe I'm going in just 48 hours!!! Anything special I should get photos/info on for y'all?



So excited for you! We will be there on the 13th, so I can't wait for your report. 

I am most curious about crowds. I went to DAH Jan 2018 when it was newer and had the best time!! It was amazing to be there with no crowds. I am hoping capacity is similar.

Also curious about bus transportation afterwards. My last DAH I stayed at the GF, the only option was a bus. It took forever to get there and shared with all monorail resorts, plus WL and FW. It was a nightmare.
This year we are staying at the BWV and I am sure the bus will share with all EPCOT resorts.  My back up plan is to walk to the Contemporary and get an Uber from there.

Any info is appreciated! Have fun


----------



## heidijanesmith

maui2k5 said:


> Has anyone with a longer stay done DAH at MK and still felt it was well worth the expense?  Still deciding on Villains for early Aug for the 4 of us when we have a 9 day hopper already...



We also have a 9d hopper with waterpark option. It's just DH and I this year and we find that we do not handle crowds as well as we used to. DH especially gets claustrophobic and MK crowds can be too much. 

I did DAH Jan 2008, it was amazing! Worth every penny spent.

We are going on June 13th and I hope the capacity is similar to my previous experience.


----------



## Vickie1016

maui2k5 said:


> Has anyone with a longer stay done DAH at MK and still felt it was well worth the expense?  Still deciding on Villains for early Aug for the 4 of us when we have a 9 day hopper already...



Last summer, we ( DH, DD12 & I) had 10 day park hoppers.  We did this on our last night (was not a park day for us).  We did so much that night (including the Tangled Lantern Photo, a photo by the Tea Cups, and several rides w/FP all before the start of the event).  Being it was our last night and we had already done 4 MK park days, we had a game plan & knew what we wanted to ride/characters to meet ahead of time.  We already booked it for our July trip!


----------



## Dug720

Vickie1016 said:


> Last summer, we ( DH, DD12 & I) had 10 day park hoppers.  We did this on our last night (was not a park day for us).  We did so much that night (including the Tangled Lantern Photo, a photo by the Tea Cups, and several rides w/FP all before the start of the event).  Being it was our last night and we had already done 4 MK park days, we had a game plan & knew what we wanted to ride/characters to meet ahead of time.  We already booked it for our July trip!



Just remember - no meet and greets with the Villains. Not sure if regular ones will be meeting.


----------



## Cloe Colton

Does anyone know if any of the special treats for the event count as a snack credit for Villains AHs?


----------



## Raya

Last minute insanity: BFF might not be able to attend. I know tickets are 'nonrefundable, nontransferable' but hasn't anyone had success calling and changing? For example, MNSSHP tickets have the same restrictions, but I've gotten a credit for those tickets by calling in the past.


----------



## Vickie1016

Dug720 said:


> Just remember - no meet and greets with the Villains. Not sure if regular ones will be meeting.



Yes, that I am aware of - I have been keeping up with reading this thread for all the latest info (everyone is very helpful).  Thanks for clarifying  I should have been move specific about the differences from last summer's offerings to this summer's offerings.


----------



## KangaFan

Raya said:


> Last minute insanity: BFF might not be able to attend. I know tickets are 'nonrefundable, nontransferable' but hasn't anyone had success calling and changing? For example, MNSSHP tickets have the same restrictions, but I've gotten a credit for those tickets by calling in the past.



Not sure about refunds, but when I look at tickets in my account, I can reassign tickets for anyone who's plans I manage to my other friends.


----------



## 123SA

I reassigned tickets last year to different people.  Not a refund, but maybe someone else can go?


----------



## 123SA

maui2k5 said:


> Has anyone with a longer stay done DAH at MK and still felt it was well worth the expense?  Still deciding on Villains for early Aug for the 4 of us when we have a 9 day hopper already...




Last August,  we had 10 day PH tickets and did this event twice on sold out dates.  We went on the first night of our trip and then a week later.  We had 3 MK days, stayed open to close) with 3 EMM.  Yes, even with all of the MK time, I thought it was worth it.    I think that attending this event and riding so many favorites over and over, made our regular days easier.  We did the parties on days we didn't use a regular park ticket, so this gave us 3 FP to use pre-party.  We booked Splash & 7DMT (and one other) before the party as they are the biggest time sucks during the party.  We did get in 7DMT line at the end of one of the nights.   We didn't do Small World during the party either as it is a long ride and pretty easy to do on a regular day.  We met the princesses with zero wait which helped regular days go smoother.  

 I have almost the same thing planned this year -- 2 villains parties,  2 MK days with EMM, and my 3rd MK day has EMH and MNSSHP.


----------



## 123SA

Raya said:


> Hard to believe I'm going in just 48 hours!!! Anything special I should get photos/info on for y'all?




I'd like to know if the merchandise is on sale prior to the event starting.  It would be nice not to wait in line for that during the event.

Also, any special photopass ops.

Thanks!


----------



## KangaFan

Raya said:


> Hard to believe I'm going in just 48 hours!!! Anything special I should get photos/info on for y'all?



Probably not an original request, but I would love to hear your thoughts on crowds--does it feel more crowded than regular DAH and any impact on wait times. I'm afraid with adding the stage show and other Villains add-ons that Disney will sell a lot more tickets, but am hoping that they won't since they are charging more for this event.


----------



## CyndiLooWho

Woohoo! Got tickets for me and my sis for 8/29. Wish I had checked in here or UT before buying from Disney, but what the hey, it's going to be a fun time.

We had already booked tea at GF that day for 3:40, with my mom. She's not coming to DAH. If I send her back to WBC with the car, will Uber / Lyft be plentiful enough for me and sis to get back or should mom Uber / Lyft back to WBC and let me move the car to drive back after the event?

Also, with mom not going to DAH, think I should move tea up to 2:15 instead of 3:40? This is not the way we usually do things, so all help / comments appreciated.


----------



## provoaggie

We did After Hours in January at Hollywood Studios just before leaving on a cruise. We planned a trip to Orlando in July that wasn't going to include any Disney but we ended up adding DAH at Animal Kingdom on 7/8 and the Villains event on 7/11. I'm excited to see the reviews come in. Hollywood Studios was incredible for After Hours and I'm hoping to have the same experience with these 2 events.


----------



## senadler

Raya said:


> Last minute insanity: BFF might not be able to attend. I know tickets are 'nonrefundable, nontransferable' but hasn't anyone had success calling and changing? For example, MNSSHP tickets have the same restrictions, but I've gotten a credit for those tickets by calling in the past.




I had tickets for HS DAH last February for my DH.  He ended up not making the trip.  I called the ticket line before the trip and they said if it is unused, while I can no longer see it, they will see it on my account.  When tickets went on sale for summer, I called in and was able to apply it to my DS for another date.  When I first called, they said I could apply it when I was on-site, but I told them I was concerned it would sell out and wanted to buy tickets in advance.  They transferred me to someone in ticketing, and they were able to apply the funds to a new ticket.


----------



## Branderson610

Raya said:


> Last minute insanity: BFF might not be able to attend. I know tickets are 'nonrefundable, nontransferable' but hasn't anyone had success calling and changing? For example, MNSSHP tickets have the same restrictions, but I've gotten a credit for those tickets by calling in the past.


I got a refund last week on a Villains ticket. They told me it would be a one time refund. I did only have to get a refund on 1 if the 7 tickets I bought though.


----------



## AngiTN

123SA said:


> I'd like to know if the merchandise is on sale prior to the event starting.  It would be nice not to wait in line for that during the event.
> 
> Also, any special photopass ops.
> 
> Thanks!


Normally no, event exclusive items are only offered during the event. Not during the grace period that guests can enter with their event ticket. That way, non-event guests won't have access to purchase. But, you never know, things change all the time. You shouldn't find horrible lines though since they'll be selling them in several places.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

https://www.wdwmagic.com/events/dis...tainment-schedule-and-attractions-line-up.htm


----------



## 123SA

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> https://www.wdwmagic.com/events/dis...tainment-schedule-and-attractions-line-up.htm




Thanks for posting that!   I am so happy to see that there is a show at closing!


----------



## Castlequeen5

123SA said:


> I'd like to know if the merchandise is on sale prior to the event starting. It would be nice not to wait in line for that during the event.





AngiTN said:


> Normally no, event exclusive items are only offered during the event. Not during the grace period that guests can enter with their event ticket. That way, non-event guests won't have access to purchase. But, you never know, things change all the time. You shouldn't find horrible lines though since they'll be selling them in several places.


Actually when we were there in December for MVMCP, I was able to buy the special merchandise early.  I was specifically looking for a shirt that I worried might sell out.  And I wanted to do this before the party started.  I went to look for them and found them in the Emporium.  All the event merchandise was kinda roped off close to the back.  I had to show my wristband in order for the CM to let me go through.  Now I don't know if this was normal procedure or what time it was.  It is possible it could've been right before MK was closing to regular guests.  Or it may have just been a one time thing, so you might have to wait until the party actually starts like Angi said.


----------



## lucas

For the event on 8/29...…  what are the event hours and any idea what time you can get into the park?


----------



## Dug720

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> https://www.wdwmagic.com/events/dis...tainment-schedule-and-attractions-line-up.htm



Thanks for posting!

Nice line-up of attractions! Basically only Enchanted Tales, character meetings, and Carousel of Progress that are not running, right? (And the train, but isn't it not running anyway right now?)


----------



## Dug720

lucas said:


> For the event on 8/29...…  what are the event hours and any idea what time you can get into the park?



I'm not seeing an event - VAH or MNSSHP on 8/29?


----------



## Ksquared

maui2k5 said:


> So we are debating the cost to value for DAH villains is worth it for the 4 of us (me, wife, 2 daughters 8 & 10) when we are in WDW Aug 1-9.  The cost would be nearly $600 which makes it a bit hard to swallow since we will be visiting MK 4x already (hop from or to during the trip).
> 
> Anyone else questioning the value when on a longer trip?


We are also a family of 4, 2 adults 2 teens.  We have been back and forth on the value of this as well.  Initially, I was all in on the Aug. 8th party, figured it would give us an extra day that we don't need park ticket since we are buying Park Hopper Plus tickets this trip.  But at over $600 for the event, I just can't justify and I've done both the Halloween & Christmas parties in the past and enjoyed both.  If the Villans would have been walking the parks/doing photos I would have said yes for the experience but even having most rides walk on I just can't justify the cost for 4 of us.  Makes me sad but this is not our only vacation this year.  If it were, I'd be all in but that money will pay for something else during our Christmas vacation.


----------



## heidijanesmith

Dug720 said:


> Thanks for posting!
> 
> Nice line-up of attractions! Basically only Enchanted Tales, character meetings, and Carousel of Progress that are not running, right? (And the train, but isn't it not running anyway right now?)


And Monster's Inc.

We will plan on coming around 8PM and hitting up Carousel of Progress and Monsters Inc.

Can't wait to here from the party goers tomorrow!


----------



## Dug720

heidijanesmith said:


> And Monster's Inc.
> 
> We will plan on coming around 8PM and hitting up Carousel of Progress and Monsters Inc.
> 
> Can't wait to here from the party goers tomorrow!



Ah. Never bothered with that one, so it isn’t even on my radar.


----------



## TeeDisney1025

Very excited!  We will be attending Villains on July 11.  We extended our trip by a few days and will be arriving that night and going straight there!!


----------



## vinotinto

So our theory that the 20+ attractions meant the permanent Character Meets will not be happening during the Villains DAH is correct. While regular DAH have these, the Villains DAH will not:
Meet Mickey Mouse & Tinker Bell at Town Square Theater
Meet Ariel in Her Grotto
Princess Fairytale Hall


----------



## lampshadehead

Sorry if this has been asked already, but does Villians include the snacks the way the the other AH events do?


----------



## maryj11

So this Thursday is the first Villain event? Can't wait for a review! I need to know I'd Splash Mountain will be open during the event.


----------



## Dug720

lampshadehead said:


> Sorry if this has been asked already, but does Villians include the snacks the way the the other AH events do?



Popcorn, sodas, and Mickey Bars/Ice Cream Sandwiches yes.

Other snacks will be available for purchase.


----------



## Dug720

maryj11 said:


> So this Thursday is the first Villain event? Can't wait for a review! I need to know I'd Splash Mountain will be open during the event.



Per the list in the link posted above, yes Splash will be open.


----------



## maryj11

lampshadehead said:


> Sorry if this has been asked already, but does Villians include the snacks the way the the other AH events do?


Yes it's included in the price.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

vinotinto said:


> So our theory that the 20+ attractions meant the permanent Character Meets will not be happening during the Villains DAH is correct. While regular DAH have these, the Villains DAH will not:
> Meet Mickey Mouse & Tinker Bell at Town Square Theater
> Meet Ariel in Her Grotto
> Princess Fairytale Hall



Yup, appears to be the case as was theorized way back when up thread.  At least that is solved.  Not surprised characters got the cut.


----------



## Mrjoshua

Schedule looks great, but I was having trouble following the Malificent dragon part. She goes from Frontierland to Main Street at 1:20am? Sounds groovy, if true. After the last stage show of the night, Malificent will still be prowling around.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

lucas said:


> For the event on 8/29...…  what are the event hours and any idea what time you can get into the park?



8/29 Disney After Hours hours at 10pm-1am.  You can enter the park for ALL Disney After Hours events (regardless of time) at 7pm.  In practice, MK usually lets people in a bit earlier. 



Dug720 said:


> I'm not seeing an event - VAH or MNSSHP on 8/29?



FYI, there is a regular (non-Villains) DAH event at MK on 8/29.


----------



## Dug720

GADisneyDad14 said:


> 8/29 Disney After Hours hours at 10pm-1am.  You can enter the park for ALL Disney After Hours events (regardless of time) at 7pm.  In practice, MK usually lets people in a bit earlier.
> 
> 
> 
> FYI, there is a regular (non-Villains) DAH event at MK on 8/29.



Thanks. I was all kinds of confused.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Dug720 said:


> Thanks. I was all kinds of confused.



Between VAH, DAH, different prices, different date releases, etc, this whole thing is confusing at this point!  The only way I can keep up is looking at my own tables on page 1!


----------



## mekay1012

I called to purchase my tickets and have to pick them up at will call. They gave me my ticket number and I added them to my account, but I can’t book fp. Am I doing something wrong?  

Also, can I pick up the tickets before the event?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mekay1012 said:


> I called to purchase my tickets and have to pick them up at will call. They gave me my ticket number and I added them to my account, but I can’t book fp. Am I doing something wrong?
> 
> Also, can I pick up the tickets before the event?



Do you have other FPs booked that day?


----------



## maryj11

Dug720 said:


> Per the list in the link posted above, yes Splash will be open.


Oh good! I didnt see the link sorry.


----------



## mekay1012

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Do you have other FPs booked that day?


No. We have 3 day park hopper tickets and those fp are booked Monday-Wednesday. We don’t have anything for Thursday. The tickets are also not showing up in my plans even though I can see them when I look at my linked tickets.


----------



## afan

Castlequeen5 said:


> Actually when we were there in December for MVMCP, I was able to buy the special merchandise early.  I was specifically looking for a shirt that I worried might sell out.  And I wanted to do this before the party started.  I went to look for them and found them in the Emporium.  All the event merchandise was kinda roped off close to the back.  I had to show my wristband in order for the CM to let me go through.  Now I don't know if this was normal procedure or what time it was.  It is possible it could've been right before MK was closing to regular guests.  Or it may have just been a one time thing, so you might have to wait until the party actually starts like Angi said.



I bought my stuff this same way for the first MVMCP last Nov.  I was following along on twitter to see if it was open and had everything I needed.  It was before I got in line to meet the 7D so it was probably before 5. The only bummer was they had stuff spread out and not everything in one area.  But the villians stuff doesn't seem to be a lot unless there's more that they didn't share in the preview.  I'd like a pin and didn't see that there.  But it would be nice if they have it early, though I'm going to the last one so I guess it's what I can still get at that point.  It was nice to be able to buy stuff before the party started though.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Well, tomorrow night we shall learn what this Villains stuff is all about. 

As a reminder, for those heading to a Villains event, don’t forget to log your date here:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/m...s-after-hours”-summer-2019-date-poll.3747348/


----------



## SaintsManiac

I’m very anxious for reviews even though I can’t go!


----------



## maryj11

SaintsManiac said:


> I’m very anxious for reviews even though I can’t go!


Hope we can get ahold of some really good reviews tomorrow.


----------



## vinotinto

I can't wait to hear about how the first VAH goes!

Also, I assume the popcorn, ice cream and drinks aren't included with the DAH credentials until after 10 pm, correct?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

vinotinto said:


> Also, I assume the popcorn, ice cream and drinks aren't included with the DAH credentials until after 10 pm, correct?



Yup, that is the same as normal DAH.


----------



## Mrjoshua

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Well, tomorrow night we shall learn what this Villains stuff is all about.
> 
> As a reminder, for those heading to a Villains event, don’t forget to log your date here:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/magic-kingdom-“villains-after-hours”-summer-2019-date-poll.3747348/


If we have any kindly scouts in the vicinity of exclusive Villain treat locations (Tortuga Tavern, Storybook Cafe, Main Street Bakery, Sleepy Hollow... etc), please also let us know if those are being sold to the wristbanded folks before 10pm. I'm guessing not, but I figure it might be possible. Thanks in advance, and have fun tomorrow night!


----------



## DizFan13

I'm getting so excited and on pins and needles waiting for the first reviews. 

As a side note, if @GADisneyDad14's poll is any indication, the 13th (our party day) will have a fair few DISers! I wonder if it will actually be fuller, or even sell out, or if it's just the people on this thread who favor that date?


----------



## mekay1012

Will someone going tonight post the prices of the exclusive merchandise?


----------



## SaintsManiac

The DIS crew will be out there tonight, so expect some thoughts from them, too.


----------



## StephenM84

I know the regular DAH they don't kick people out of the parks at 10pm. I'm assuming they will for the Villians party because of the stage shows?


----------



## Raya

Hi Here now!
Regarding the Villains Exclusive Merchandise: the Maleficent ears and the Disney Villains dress were both available at Disney Springs last night. The dress was at The Dress Shop at Cherry Tree Lane for $128, and the ears were at D-Style (didn't check the price). (you can see both items here: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...ise-available-at-disney-villains-after-hours/)

Last night we hit the Character Warehouse Outlet. Lots of Nightmare Before Christmas items, so if anyone needed a last minute Jack Skelelington costume for the event you could snap a cheap one. Also Haunted Mansion baby clothes sets (newborn to 6 months), some villains jewelry, and  assorted plushies. I'm not sure if we count him as a villain but Kylo Ren's light saber was on sale  Not a huge haul for a Villain fan but if you've got time to kill it might be worth a stop.  The biggest nod to the event was a sign as you walked into the outlet advertising Villains After Hours tickets.


----------



## lvcourtneyy

We’ll be there in a week! Can’t wait to hear the reviews from tonight !


----------



## AllThingsMickey4

Going tonight! Hoping the thunderstorms clear out by the start of the event and the weather is cooler. We don’t plan on riding a lot just mainly going for the lower crowds and cooler weather. I’ll try to report later what I see as far as event exclusive merchandise and food. 

Side note: I waited too late to figure out a costume or some kind of villain attire and can’t believe that I can’t find any kind of villain themed clothing anywhere in Disney! The only thing I’ve seen is the villain themed dress by the Dress Shop in Disney Springs, but I didn’t really want to spend that much. Maybe I’ll buy an event exclusive t shirt tonight and throw it on


----------



## Raya

Anyone tracking if tonight is sold out yet? I'm wondering if the bad weather (looks very gloomyand dark here) will decrease crowds.


----------



## DizFan13

Raya said:


> Anyone tracking if tonight is sold out yet? I'm wondering if the bad weather (looks very gloomyand dark here) will decrease crowds.


Disney website shows tonight as sold out!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

DizFan13 said:


> Disney website shows tonight as sold out!



Thanks!  I had checked a couple of hours ago so must have changed recently.  

Have fun everyone!


----------



## lvcourtneyy

Someone posted pictures of the event map on FB!


----------



## kylenne

I can’t wait for the reviews!! Especially since my FP day is on Saturday and I’m still at a loss for what to prioritize for the non AH MK day. Anyone have any advice as to how I should schedule a solo day?


----------



## SaintsManiac

I figured it would sell out tonight thanks to bloggers.


----------



## djc9699

maui2k5 said:


> Has anyone with a longer stay done DAH at MK and still felt it was well worth the expense?  Still deciding on Villains for early Aug for the 4 of us when we have a 9 day hopper already...


We always go for 2 weeks and we always do a DAH and I personally feel it is worth it. Last July we did two with my then 3-year-old granddaughter. It was so nice to go at night and be able to walk on everything she wanted to do. We basically Pooh, Carousel, meet the princesses, Peter Pan and Small World over and over for 3 hours while my daughter and daughter-in-law did the other rides. She loved that she saw the princesses 3 times and they recognized her and commented to her about coming back to see them. She had a ball. We are going next week for 2 weeks and we are doing all three parks AH and I am contemplating adding a second one at MK. We love it.


----------



## Mollymovacca

So excited for reports from tonight! We will be there on the 20th (with the other 7 people from here! .... but yay for a potentially smaller crowd)... we added this on a few weeks ago as we will be in town before leaving on a cruise so worked perfectly!
I should be able to post a lot since I’m pregnant and can’t ride much! Whomp whomp... I mean I figured a time or two on 7D would be fine but my Dr did not... so while the boys ride I’ll eat and post! Lol
We are doing a gender reveal while there that night though so that will be fun... and getting to eat all the food with no guilt!


----------



## afan

Is it just me or on the above map is there only one PP location near the entrance?  They show the special camera icon but I can't find it anywhere else.  I expected more since there's an icon to note it and it mentions special photo's along with magic shots.


----------



## StephenM84

Are the free ice cream, drinks and popcorn just in random places? I didn't see it marked on the map above.


----------



## kylenne

Mollymovacca said:


> So excited for reports from tonight! We will be there on the 20th (with the other 7 people from here! .... but yay for a potentially smaller crowd)... we added this on a few weeks ago as we will be in town before leaving on a cruise so worked perfectly!
> I should be able to post a lot since I’m pregnant and can’t ride much! Whomp whomp... I mean I figured a time or two on 7D would be fine but my Dr did not... so while the boys ride I’ll eat and post! Lol
> We are doing a gender reveal while there that night though so that will be fun... and getting to eat all the food with no guilt!



Congratulations, you’re having a villain! Remember to eat extra Mickey bars!!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Headed over to MK soon. Just waiting on the rain to clear out (should be soon).


----------



## tookydo

Got here at 5:45 (passholder).  They were just setting up for after hours at the front.  My son asked if he could get his wristband now.  They said 6:00.


----------



## counselormom

Have fun everyone going tonight! Would love to hear specifically about wait times and if dining plan snack credits can be used for the special event treats.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

counselormom said:


> Have fun everyone going tonight! Would love to hear specifically about wait times and if dining plan snack credits can be used for the special event treats.



I’m just in it for the rides. I’ll take notes as best I can


----------



## cakebaker

Anyone know of any live streams of tonight's event?


----------



## vinotinto

djc9699 said:


> We always go for 2 weeks and we always do a DAH and I personally feel it is worth it. Last July we did two with my then 3-year-old granddaughter. It was so nice to go at night and be able to walk on everything she wanted to do. We basically Pooh, Carousel, *meet the princesses*, Peter Pan and Small World over and over for 3 hours while my daughter and daughter-in-law did the other rides. *She loved that she saw the princesses 3 times and they recognized her and commented to her about coming back to see them*. She had a ball. We are going next week for 2 weeks and we are doing all three parks AH and I am contemplating adding a second one at MK. We love it.


Just in case you missed the list of attractions, NONE of the character meets are taking place during this Villain's version of DAH. I'm mentioning it because  your 3-year old GD may expect to see the princesses again since she was able to meet them last time and she got so much attention. You may need to prep her in advance with a story about what the princesses are doing that night that they are not at MK.


----------



## Mollymovacca

cakebaker said:


> Anyone know of any live streams of tonight's event?


I was wondering the same!!


----------



## Raya

They let us in! I got a map but I see we already have pictures.... Let me know if we need others.


----------



## Raya

Yes villains stuff is for sale before the event but you need to show a wrist band to buy


----------



## Raya

Mollymovacca said:


> I was wondering the same!!


WDW radio is live streaming. I'm hoping to find him soon.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

@Raya - FYI, I know you’re mobile and photo uploading has issues rotating pics with some devices, so I fixed it for you.


----------



## mekay1012

Raya said:


> Yes villains stuff is for sale before the event but you need to show a wrist band to buy
> 
> View attachment 406864


Did you get prices?


----------



## SaintsManiac

GADisneyDad14 said:


> @Raya - FYI, I know your mobile and photo uploading has issues rotating pics with some devices, so I fixed it for you.




How????? I can’t figure it out.


----------



## Wfamily4

Does anyone know the earliest they let people enter the park tonight? Did they make you wait until 7 or was it a little before hand?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

SaintsManiac said:


> How????? I can’t figure it out.



No DIS trick unfortunately, just saved the image, rotated it using image software, then reposted.  

I know it’s been discussed on the tech board, I need to go see if there are any updates on the topic.


----------



## rteetz

mekay1012 said:


> Did you get prices?


http://blogmickey.com/2019/06/all-villains-after-hours-merchandise-and-pricing/


----------



## mekay1012

rteetz said:


> http://blogmickey.com/2019/06/all-villains-after-hours-merchandise-and-pricing/


Thank you!


----------



## Raya

Update, merchandise also at Moment Mori with no wait. Still need to show a band.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

As someone who has followed the After Hours events from the beginning (2016), it is very weird to see this “overlay” and the various new things that come with it... merchandise, special food.  Very curious to see how this goes.


----------



## cakebaker

Interested to see just how crowded a sold out event is for this one.


----------



## Raya

mekay1012 said:


> Did you get prices?



Price photos. (Hopefully not turned wrong.)


----------



## Raya

Women's tank top, $29.99


----------



## Kdunmire6

cakebaker said:


> Anyone know of any live streams of tonight's event?


I just saw on YouTube that Spokesmayne will be live streaming at 8PM


----------



## rteetz

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1136788352886280192


----------



## MKTokyo

Wfamily4 said:


> Does anyone know the earliest they let people enter the park tonight? Did they make you wait until 7 or was it a little before hand?


We went in about 6:55.

My fiance is super excited about the shirts because Hades is his favorite villain. I got the tank so we could have a matching set.


----------



## vinotinto

rteetz said:


> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1136788352886280192


Fancy display. You can tell it's the unofficial bloggers' night!


----------



## vinotinto

I don't know if this is a reliable source, but it says event is capped at 5,000. Don't know if it's just bloggers' VAH or all VAH.


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1136788970325663744


----------



## tookydo

Wfamily4 said:


> Does anyone know the earliest they let people enter the park tonight? Did they make you wait until 7 or was it a little before hand?


They were letting people in at 6:00


----------



## tookydo

Space mountain has been down for awhile.  Crossing our fingers it’s open for the event.


----------



## Mrjoshua

Any of the villain specific treats out early? Thanks for the updates!


----------



## cakebaker

tookydo said:


> Space mountain has been down for awhile.  Crossing our fingers it’s open for the event.



I watched a live stream of the people mover and the lights were on, figured it must be down.


----------



## KangaFan

tookydo said:


> Space mountain has been down for awhile.  Crossing our fingers it’s open for the event.


When booking fast passes for before the event starts in August, I couldn’t get Pirates or Space Mtn for 9-10 pm so I’m thinking they close early to add the overlay?


----------



## skis2

Looks like splash mountain is down as well tonight.


----------



## tookydo

KangaFan said:


> When booking fast passes for before the event starts in August, I couldn’t get Pirates or Soace Mtn for 9-10 pm so I’m thinking they close early to add the overlay?


My son had fastpasses which turned into multiple experience passes.  His passes were 6:25-7:25.


----------



## Raya

Some pre-party crowd updates: 55 minute standby wait on bug thunder mountain, 25 minute fast pass wait. Lines for a churro or popcorn were 5 to 10 people deep. I'm hoping things clear out after fireworks.

Side note not every shop had the same party merchandise. The T-shirt of my dreams was at Mickey's Philharmonic,  not Momento Mori.


----------



## afan

Raya said:


> Some pre-party crowd updates: 55 minute standby wait on bug thunder mountain, 25 minute fast pass wait. Lines for a churro or popcorn were 5 to 10 people deep. I'm hoping things clear out after fireworks.
> 
> Side note not every shop had the same party merchandise. The T-shirt of my dreams was at Mickey's Philharmonic,  not Momento Mori.



Looking at touring plans and most of the posted times are all inflated as expected at this time of night.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

9:30 pm and no Space & no Splash. Space has been down since about 6:30. Not a happy camper right now as my teen and I are just here for rides. We’re in standby for BTMRR now HEA finishes.


----------



## cakebaker

Cinderumbrella said:


> 9:30 pm and no Space & no Splash. Space has been down since about 6:30. Not a happy camper right now as my teen and I are just here for rides. We’re in standby for BTMRR now HEA finishes.


Sucks when rides are down during special events you pay a lot of money for. Been there done that with Magic Morning at the MK.


----------



## cakebaker

Cinderumbrella said:


> 9:30 pm and no Space & no Splash. Space has been down since about 6:30. Not a happy camper right now as my teen and I are just here for rides. We’re in standby for BTMRR now HEA finishes.



The streamer I'm watching says Space is down for the switch over to villains.


----------



## tookydo

Space is open


----------



## vinotinto

cakebaker said:


> The streamer I'm watching says Space is down for the switch over to villains.


Wow. 3-4 hours for the overlay? Is it because today is the first night? they've put out FPs during that period, so if the ride being down is planned, it didn't coordinate with FPs.


----------



## rteetz

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1136817739945992192


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Space was down earlier likely due to mechanical reasons.  It reopened a little less than an hour ago, before the park closed.  Wait time shot up pretty quick.

From watching the app and various tweets, I don’t think it was down for the overlay, just a ‘normal’ long ride downtime.


----------



## cakebaker

vinotinto said:


> Wow. 3-4 hours for the overlay? Is it because today is the first night? they've put out FPs during that period, so if the ride being down is planned, it didn't coordinate with FPs.


He corrected himself. Talked to a CM just before 10 and they said it didn’t take long to switch over. They put event folks through the FP line before closing.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Having a Mickey ice cream sandwich. There are CMs blocking paths everywhere for wristband checks. We will probably hang out in FL for a bit before checking out Space overlay.


----------



## tookydo

There are CMs everywhere doing wrist band checks.  Literally 10 in a straight line across the walkway in front of IASW.  My son even commented, in the 5 after hour events he’s attended, he’s never seen so many.


----------



## afan

Wait times look pretty good everywhere but Space, 7D and Pan.  Not surprising given the overlay and that the other two always seem to have waits and could have had regular guests get in line right before park close.


----------



## Raya

3 band checks between splash and big thunder. Wait for water bottles was about five minutes. There aren't really any crowds left about 30 minutes the event


----------



## AllThingsMickey4

Just walked right on Peter Pan. Day crowd is finally starting to thin out thanks to the CMs sweeping the park checking for bands.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

We’ve walked onto IASW, Pooh, Buzz (twice) and in line for Astro Orbiter. Crowds are very light. Honestly haven’t checked out any stage shows yet. There’s villlainy music playing and special  lighting everywhere. Park seems well cleared


----------



## rteetz

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1136833645757444098


----------



## SaintsManiac

I’m so glad they are checking thoroughly.


----------



## rteetz

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1136835409583886343


----------



## Haley R

rteetz said:


> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1136835409583886343


Looks awfully full in that area for the stage show.


----------



## rteetz

Haley R said:


> Looks awfully full in that area for the stage show.


I think there are a lot of blogger types making it seem more full than it might normally be. I would be more curious about how it looks in future dates.


----------



## cakebaker

Watched the show on a stream - looked pretty amazing! Now I want to go!


----------



## Haley R

rteetz said:


> I think there are a lot of blogger types making it seem more full than it might normally be. I would be more curious about how it looks in future dates.


The first night isn’t always a good indicator since so many bloggers go. I guess we’ll see how the next one goes


----------



## Cinderumbrella

In line for Pan (FP line not regular). Not quite a 5 minute wait. Space in the dark is awesome.  Headed towards Frontierland and POTC next. 
For those looking for rides, it’s been great (except 7DMT which is currently posted 35 and looked really long as we passed).


----------



## rteetz

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1136828724001804288


----------



## rdesear

Ok so far at Villians :

Stage show was awesome and worth the ticket
Seems a bit crowded for a DAH event
Space Mountain lines are long but pitch black Space Mountain is AWESOME!!!
Food seems fine.
Merchandise seems a bit lackluster but I’m not a merch guy
Pirates overlay similar to Halloween


----------



## rdesear

Winnie the Pooh needs a Toad overlay . That is all


----------



## AllThingsMickey4

So I did the MK DAH the first week of May and now leaving tonight’s villains event. Tonight’s sold out event definitely felt more crowded than the early May one that wasn’t sold out. For sure double, if not triple the crowds. There were times DH and I had whole sections of walkways to ourselves during the May event. 

Tonight was still no where near the crowd level of a Halloween or Christmas party though. It was still enjoyable, but there were a ton of bloggers/vloggers. In fact, I noticed very few families. Sort of disappointed in how long it took to clear the park at the start of the party, but there were TONS of CMs directing day guests around the outskirts of Main Street since the villains overlay on the castle started pretty much right at 10 pm. The event seemed well organized and the CMs did a great job checking wristbands. 

I’m probably in the minority, but I liked DAH without the overlay much better. There was loud music and strobe lights at the hub/castle and it felt like a never ending nightclub. One of my favorite parts of the May DAH was the calmness of Main Street.  I’m also not a huge villains fan anyway.


----------



## rdesear

I was hoping to ride Space Mountain more than twice but the waits are just too long


----------



## KayKayJS

See the club atmosphere of the hub makes me wanna go. I could stay there eat my ice cream and dance for an hour hahaha. May have to buy a ticket.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I’m in Space line now to end the night. Everyone came here, lol. It has been about 20 minutes despite near walk on about 90 minutes ago.
Recap:
HM
IASW
Snack
Pooh
Buzz x2
Astro Orbiter
Snack
Space
Pan
PotC
BTMRR x2
Space

Much more done tonight than during last night’s EMH. I also could have done without the villains price upcharge but I was just here for rides. But I definitely would DAH again


----------



## MinnieMSue

On bus to Pop now. We had a lot of fun tonight and even though I felt there was a ton of people there wait times were great except my daughter waited 30 min for space mtn which she loved. We didn’t look at 7D. Walked on everything else. Rode every single thing we wanted to. Watched the midnight show. Stood at the hub directly across from where Maleficent entered the hub. The stilt walkers and winged figures came right up to us. That was amazing. The show lasted about 20 min and was pretty good. Splash was down all evening as far as I know. We would have ridden it before 10 if we could have. Side note at 9:50 they let party goers into the Peter Pan FP line. That ended up a walk-on for us because of that. There was a big group of media at the midnight show (roped off in the center of hub facing stage. We talked to the Trackers briefly which was cool. We got some ice cream and waters. Didn’t buy any of the special food. So even though it was crazy crowded it was great for riding. Oh and Pirates has a couple live actors - one talking in the ride and one in the line. Great night. Well back at Pop and time for bed!


----------



## MinnieMSue

I should also add the stepsisters and bowler hat guy and queen of hearts and big bad wolf were entertaining up on top of the train station as we left the park. They were pretty funny


----------



## tookydo

Just left.  Prior to event:
BOG dinner (took two hours from check in until we left)
Buzz FP
HEA
SDMT FP
Enter Philharmagic just prior to 10:00
During Event:
IASW
PP
Snack break
Haunted Mansion
Jungle Cruise
Pirates ( my favorite with the “live” pirates)
Snack break
Back to hub for the dragon/show 
People mover
Buzz
Shopping on main street

This is my third after hours event.  It was the best in terms of the CMs clearing the park of day guests. They were truly awesome.  We never waited more than 5 minutes for anything.  As far as crowds, there were times I felt it was empty and times it felt a little crowded, especially in the hub.  Maybe this is an indicator but maybe not...there really was never an opportunity to get a ride vehicle/boat to yourself or never an opportunity to ride again without getting off.  The lines moved quickly but the vehicles were full.  In our brief shopping on main street we only saw t-shirts and mugs specific to the event but again, our shopping was brief.  

I’d definitely do it again.  I loved the party feel and the cast members seem to have more fun with the guests during these types of events.  When I do it again, I think I’ll take another approach and spend more time on the shows and other things and not so much on riding.  There was a lot going on and without a doubt, the three hours flew by in no time.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I’m also on the bus back to resort. They reran the Villain stage show at 1am (and the dragon at 1:20). That was perfect for us since we exited Space a couple minutes after 1. So we got to see it but didn’t waste ride time.

So many light effects everywhere and I ageee that the CMs seemed in a festive mood. As for the tweet about not hearing Ursula in Space, our first ride we went left and being in the dark was such a surprise I heard nothing but music. Our second ride, we went right and I definitely heard all of that without issue. Perhaps because I wasn’t so focused on the dark? YMMV


----------



## Haley R

MinnieMSue said:


> On bus to Pop now. We had a lot of fun tonight and even though I felt there was a ton of people there wait times were great except my daughter waited 30 min for space mtn which she loved. We didn’t look at 7D. Walked on everything else. Rode every single thing we wanted to. Watched the midnight show. Stood at the hub directly across from where Maleficent entered the hub. The stilt walkers and winged figures came right up to us. That was amazing. The show lasted about 20 min and was pretty good. Splash was down all evening as far as I know. We would have ridden it before 10 if we could have. Side note at 9:50 they let party goers into the Peter Pan FP line. That ended up a walk-on for us because of that. There was a big group of media at the midnight show (roped off in the center of hub facing stage. We talked to the Trackers briefly which was cool. We got some ice cream and waters. Didn’t buy any of the special food. So even though it was crazy crowded it was great for riding. Oh and Pirates has a couple live actors - one talking in the ride and one in the line. Great night. Well back at Pop and time for bed!


I’m so jealous that you got to talk to the trackers


----------



## djc9699

vinotinto said:


> Just in case you missed the list of attractions, NONE of the character meets are taking place during this Villain's version of DAH. I'm mentioning it because  your 3-year old GD may expect to see the princesses again since she was able to meet them last time and she got so much attention. You may need to prep her in advance with a story about what the princesses are doing that night that they are not at MK.


Thanks, the grand is not coming this trip. Just me, my 15 year old daughter and 12 year old niece.


----------



## sls404

I’m on the bus back to Yacht. I thought tonight’s event was great and worth the extra $. 
The best part was at the end of the night all the villains were at the top of the train station interacting with guests as they were leaving. The Malef float even passed by them and got great footage.

Only disappointing part for me was Splash was pretty much down the whole party. It came back up around 12:40 so was able to make it my last ride. Then rushed over and caught the end of the stage show.

Overall I was really impressed and enjoyed this much more than the sold out after hours I went to in March.


----------



## djc9699

Great reports so far. Going on June 20th. Getting excited!


----------



## AdrianneB

My family attended tonight’s (6-6-19) Villains After Hours event. We dressed up as the baddies from Robin Hood- Prince John, Sir Hiss, and the Sheriff of Nottingham. We arrived at the special event gates at 6:15, and only had the hard ticket (no day ticket or AP). They held the people like us in line until 6:30, then let everyone in. Park was pretty congested at that time. 

We immediately did BTMRR (FP+), Jungle Cruise (FP+), and then ate dinner at Skipper Canteen. The service was pretty good with extra special attention and care given re: my child’s food allergies, although I received my entree before the others and before our drinks were dropped. We were all happy with our entrees and it was nice to have a beer before heading back out to tour for the evening! 

After dinner, we cut through the fireworks crowd (insanity) for Tomorrowland Speedway (FP+) and rode that as the fireworks began. Then off to MTP, Dumbo, and Barnstormer. Walked on Little Mermaid right before 10 pm and exited as the party was beginning in earnest. Saw many CM escorting non partiers out and checking wristbands. Took a second to get a pic snapped in front of one of the Villains AH backdrops in Fantasyland, then grabbed drinks, popcorn, and ice cream. 

Walked on IASW, then decided against PPF because it was still posting 30 mins. Walked on HM and then checked out the Villains merch in Memento Mori. Waited about 15 mins for PotC. Live actors in queue and one in the ride. ETR because we love the birdies. Total of 8 people in the show including the CM. Cut through to Liberty Square so I could get the Dr. Facilier Tarot Tart, which was yummy. Stopped in front of the castle to dance to “Love Shack” on our way back to Tomorrowland. 

SM was about a 20 min wait, plus we did rider switch because my kiddo was NOT having the pitch dark overlay. Walked on TTA, then BLSRS. Decided to end at SDMT, so picked up a couple more beverages as we walked to Fantasyland. DD & DH decided to skip the ride, so I got in line at 12:52. CM was vocal and insistent that it was a 30 min wait. I was on the ride at 1:08. Picked up my better halves and walked to the castle to catch the latter half of the Villains Unite the Night castle show. Projections were cool, with some pyro and fireworks. DD was bushed so we opted not to wait for the last appearance of Maleficent’s dragon. We walked out of the MK front gates at about 1:30 as Gaston, Lady Tremaine, Cruella, and Capt. Hook heckled the crowd from the train platform. Nice touch. Ferry was there waiting for us and departed within 5 mins. 

Logged about 16K steps in total including the long walk around construction at the TTC. Once the party began, the crowds felt super light. I have no other comparison aside from MNSSHP that we attended back in ‘15. This was so much more comfortable than that! 

I felt that lines were too long for Space Mtn, PPF (which we never went back to) and SDMT. We didn’t even do Splash but I saw it had a long wait. Everything else was either a pre-party FP+ or a walk-on. As our only day at MK for this trip, I felt like we got our $ worth. I had hoped to see more folks dressed up!


----------



## vinotinto

MinnieMSue said:


> *Oh and Pirates has a couple live actors - one talking in the ride and one in the line. *





MinnieMSue said:


> *I should also add the stepsisters and bowler hat guy and queen of hearts and big bad wolf were entertaining up on top of the train station as we left the park. They were pretty funny*





sls404 said:


> *The best part was at the end of the night all the villains were at the top of the train station interacting with guests as they were leaving. The Malef float even passed by them and got great footage.*





AdrianneB said:


> * We walked out of the MK front gates at about 1:30 as Gaston, Lady Tremaine, Cruella, and Capt. Hook heckled the crowd from the train platform. Nice touch. Ferry was there waiting for us and departed within 5 mins.*


Fun that the villains were saying goodbye and that Pirates had a couple of live actors.

How were the transportation options? It sounds that the ferry was waiting at the end of the night, how were the other buses?


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Thanks all to the reports from lastnight!!!!

Sounds like the overlays were like MNSSHP. We did those last year. I didn't care for SM (Not a fan to begin with, let alone feeling my bones crackle in the pitch darkness ) My kids loved it tho, so they will be excited.
I do think the dragon at night was pretty cool, excited to see that, and the stage show effects are pretty neat too, but I didn't watch the whole show, don't want to ruin everything before I am there next month. 
I am wondering which show is less congested. I think the video I saw was the midnight one, but also had a lot of bloggers. I will be watching for, hopefully, reports on that. 
Excited!!


----------



## SaintsManiac

Haley R said:


> I’m so jealous that you got to talk to the trackers



Me too!!!!


----------



## WDW1979

AllThingsMickey4 said:


> So I did the MK DAH the first week of May and now leaving tonight’s villains event. Tonight’s sold out event definitely felt more crowded than the early May one that wasn’t sold out. For sure double, if not triple the crowds.
> …
> I’m probably in the minority, but I liked DAH without the overlay much better. There was loud music and strobe lights at the hub/castle and it felt like a never ending nightclub. One of my favorite parts of the May DAH was the calmness of Main Street.  I’m also not a huge villains fan anyway.



I'm disappointed to read about the crowds being significantly higher than regular DAH, and that the loud music and strobe lights made the Villains event feel like a never ending night club, which I, too, would rather have silenced to enjoy the calmness and normal background music of Main Street and castle area at MK. At least its sounds less crowded than normal MK days, so from that point of view the event may be worth it. Thanks for your comments on the event.


----------



## Limes96

Haley R said:


> I’m so jealous that you got to talk to the trackers



Me too, I watched their “special announcement” last month and they had me in tears. Always enjoy their videos.


----------



## MinnieMSue

vinotinto said:


> Fun that the villains were saying goodbye and that Pirates had a couple of live actors.
> 
> How were the transportation options? It sounds that the ferry was waiting at the end of the night, how were the other buses?



We are at Pop. They moved our bus stop much closer than usual and had 2 busses waiting and we hopped on and got moving immediately after the event.


----------



## MinnieMSue

Haley R said:


> I’m so jealous that you got to talk to the trackers



It was amazing. Jenn was so sweet. I was moderately embarrassed to be gushing along with my teen but it seriously was a goal to see them (talking to them was icing on the cake).  We didn’t want to take up more of their time for a photo.


----------



## SaintsManiac

MinnieMSue said:


> It was amazing. Jenn was so sweet. I was moderately embarrassed to be gushing along with my teen but it seriously was a goal to see them (talking to them was icing on the cake).  We didn’t want to take up more of their time for a photo.




We adore them in my house. My kid thinks he is the biggest celebrity in the world. She might have a crush on him lol!


----------



## poodledogs55

Weird question, but I’m curious, was Space Mountain only pitch black or did they add anything else to it? Thanks!


----------



## AllThingsMickey4

Some of the PhotoPass shots from last night. The Scar magic shot was located across from Sunshine Tree Terrace. There were two photographers working beside each other, not sure if it was the same magic shot as I only did the one on the left. The one in front of the castle I think is supposed to have Hades, but none of the Magic showed up in the photos. Anyone know if this can be added after the fact?


----------



## Haley R

SaintsManiac said:


> Me too!!!!


Dh and I watch them every day. We love their videos. I’m sure their villain one will be up soon


----------



## Haley R

Limes96 said:


> Me too, I watched their “special announcement” last month and they had me in tears. Always enjoy their videos.


I was so happy for them when they announced that since they thought it wasn’t going to happen. I can’t wait to watch their villain video


----------



## Haley R

MinnieMSue said:


> It was amazing. Jenn was so sweet. I was moderately embarrassed to be gushing along with my teen but it seriously was a goal to see them (talking to them was icing on the cake).  We didn’t want to take up more of their time for a photo.


Did you have to wait to talk to them? I always wonder how many people wait to talk to them and get a picture


----------



## Haley R

poodledogs55 said:


> Weird question, but I’m curious, was Space Mountain only pitch black or did they add anything else to it? Thanks!


Sounds like it’s pitch black with music and some sound effects


----------



## Cluelyss

Going next week and loving all these reviews!!!  Thank you, and please keep them coming!!

A few questions for those of you who were at last night‘s event.....

 I’ve seen a couple reports of people getting in prior to 7, do we know when the “official” entry time is?

 Haven’t seen anything regarding special magic shots, did anyone see any? And if so, where were they located?

 What time did the villains start entertaining on the train station platform? Right at 1?  Definitely want to catch that!!!

 Were many folks in costume? My entire family is planning to dress up and just want to make sure we won’t be out of place!!

Thank you for all the great reports!!!


----------



## Cluelyss

AllThingsMickey4 said:


> View attachment 407016View attachment 407017
> 
> Some of the PhotoPass shots from last night. The Scar magic shot was located across from Sunshine Tree Terrace. There were two photographers working beside each other, not sure if it was the same magic shot as I only did the one on the left. The one in front of the castle I think is supposed to have Hades, but none of the Magic showed up in the photos. Anyone know if this can be added after the fact?


 Thank you for posting, I was just looking for event magic shots!  If you email the PhotoPass folks, they can add the “magic” to your castle photo -  I’ve had to do this before and it just takes a few days.


----------



## Vickie1016

Great reports from last night!  
Looking forward to our night in July!


----------



## AllThingsMickey4

Cluelyss said:


> Thank you for posting, I was just looking for event magic shots!  If you email the PhotoPass folks, they can add the “magic” to your castle photo -  I’ve had to do this before and it just takes a few days.



Great, thanks! Oh and a PhotoPass CM told us there was a Maleficent dragon magic shot on the bridge near BOG, but we didn’t make it back that way to get it.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Thanks for posting the magic shots info!!
Excited about Scar for DS7, he just asked me if Scar was there since he is wearing a Scar shirt that night. 
I think we are going to try to hit all the magic shots 

@Cluelyss can't wait for your reports next week!


----------



## disneycat321

Thanks for all the reports! I’m now super excited for this! We’re not into villains really, but just wanted to do DAH at MK. However, all the lighting/music stuff looks fun, I’m a sucker for castle projections, and SM in total darkness sounds amazing! Having live actors on Pirates sounds cool, too! Can’t wait to attend this next month.



Cinderumbrella said:


> I’m also on the bus back to resort. They reran the Villain stage show at 1am (and the dragon at 1:20). That was perfect for us since we exited Space a couple minutes after 1. So we got to see it but didn’t waste ride time.
> 
> So many light effects everywhere and I ageee that the CMs seemed in a festive mood. As for the tweet about not hearing Ursula in Space, our first ride we went left and being in the dark was such a surprise I heard nothing but music. Our second ride, we went right and I definitely heard all of that without issue. Perhaps because I wasn’t so focused on the dark? YMMV


I’m glad the 1am stage show strategy works well - that’s what we’re planning on doing to avoid missing ride time.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Cinderumbrella said:


> I’m also on the bus back to resort. They reran the Villain stage show at 1am (and the dragon at 1:20). That was perfect for us since we exited Space a couple minutes after 1. So we got to see it but didn’t waste ride time.
> 
> So many light effects everywhere and I ageee that the CMs seemed in a festive mood. As for the tweet about not hearing Ursula in Space, our first ride we went left and being in the dark was such a surprise I heard nothing but music. Our second ride, we went right and I definitely heard all of that without issue. Perhaps because I wasn’t so focused on the dark? YMMV


How were the crowds at the last show?


----------



## chabs

I would not “trust” great reviews from the media. I was not happy to see crowds of media people being allowed into the fastpass lines last night, while the rest of us waited over 45 minutes for Mine Train, 30 for Space Mountain, 25 for Pirates, 15 for Peter Pan and Big Thunder. This is not one of the events that you can ride Mine Train (and other big headliner rides) over and over like EMM. I was very disappointed in the event. Thought it was overcrowded, oversold and certainly not worth the money.  And Splash was down pretty much the entire night.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

chabs said:


> I would not “trust” great reviews from the media. I was not happy to see crowds of media people being allowed into the fast pass lines last night, while the rest of us waited over 45 minutes for Mine Train, 30 for Space Mountain, 25 for Pirates, 15 for Peter Pan and Big Thunder. This is not one of the events that you can ride Mine Train (it other big headliner rides) over and over like EMM. I was very disappointed in the event. Thought it was overcrowded, oversold and certainly not worth the money.  And Splash was down pretty much the entire night.


I haven't seen a review from media yet.


----------



## WDW1979

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> I haven't seen a review from media yet.



Maybe chabs is predicting media reports will be influenced by reporters being allowed onto rides before others, giving a false impression of no lines, and predicting news reports will indicate that.


----------



## rteetz




----------



## cel_disney

That Maleficent dragon video is AMAZING!!!!   I want to go SOOOO badly!!


----------



## BraveLittleToaster2

Any chance of this adding more dates??


----------



## chabs

WDW1979 said:


> Maybe chabs is predicting media reports will be influenced by reporters being allowed onto rides before others, giving a false impression of no lines, and predicting news reports will indicate that.


Exactly.  Just giving my 2 cents on the event, take it or leave it.


----------



## SaintsManiac

The DIS team did pay to go, so they should be giving an honest review. I don't know about the others.


----------



## vinotinto

chabs said:


> I would not “trust” great reviews from the media. *I was not happy to see crowds of media people being allowed into the fastpass lines last night, while the rest of us waited over 45 minutes for Mine Train, 30 for Space Mountain, 25 for Pirates, 15 for Peter Pan and Big Thunder*. This is not one of the events that you can ride Mine Train (and other big headliner rides) over and over like EMM. I was very disappointed in the event. Thought it was overcrowded, oversold and certainly not worth the money.  And Splash was down pretty much the entire night.


Wow, thank you for that info. It sounds like if you want to do Mine Train, Space Mountain,  Pirates, Peter Pan and Big Thunder, that will take most of your evening.


----------



## AllThingsMickey4

We walked up on the first stage show about half way through and it was really crowded up towards the front of the castle, but once you got back to the partners statue there wasn’t many people. Most of the people up front looked like bloggers.


----------



## Dug720

vinotinto said:


> Wow, thank you for that info. It sounds like if you want to do Mine Train, Space Mountain,  Pirates, Peter Pan and Big Thunder, that will take most of your evening.



The "hosted" bloggers/vloggers (and thankfully they have to disclose now - usually they use the hashtag "hosted" or "ad" or "sponsored" and/or will say "guests of Disney") are generally only hosted the first night. After that, they're on their own to pay and be one of the peons like the rest of us.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> How were the crowds at the last show?



We walked up to it at 1:08 and were near the Walt statue. (But closer to stage). Then I was in front row as the dragon passed by since almost everyone left.

For the person who asked about costumes, yes there were some there in costume. Lots of villains shirts and Maleficent ears.

I feel bad for the person who experienced such long waits because other than Space Mountain at 12:45, we didn’t have that at all. Even the CM told us that the Peter Pan sign was incorrect at 30 (it was 5) at 11:35

I’ll be curious about crowd reports from the next one when then blogger brigade isn’t in attendance.  We went to EMH the night before and this was significantly less crowded so perhaps my perception was skewed.


----------



## ShadeDK

Interesting reviews - not sure whether it's more like "MNSSHP-lite" or "After Hours on steroids".  I was curious if they'd do something completely different, but it does seem like a combination of the two events.  So you get the party atmosphere, stage show, ride overlays, snacks and merch of MNSSHP - but not fireworks, parades, candy, or M&Gs.  And you get the lower crowds, free drinks/ice cream, and rides of After Hours - only maybe with bigger crowds and wait times.  I don't know if that hits a sweet spot for a lot of guests, or just makes them want to stick with one or the other (or both separately).

Going to this in a couple of weeks myself and will find out.  I'll have to say that bringing back the Deep Space Mountain idea from MNSSHP is probably worth the price of admission alone for me.  Also not terribly surprised at the wait times last night - while they shouldn't go up that high for an AH event, I've done a few AH at MK and the headliners always seem to build lines at some point.  At past events, I've waited around 30 minutes for 7DMT and up to 15-20 for Space Mtn, Splash and BTMRR (although, in fairness, I've also had walk-ons for those last three - just depends on crowd movement and time of the evening).  One positive I noted from the reports so far is everyone enjoyed it and had a great time - so that's promising.


----------



## Raya

vinotinto said:


> How were the transportation options? It sounds that the ferry was waiting at the end of the night, how were the other buses?


Ferry and buses. We had about a 10 minute for a bus back to our resort. I was a little surprised to *not* find buses lines up at the end of the event. 



poodledogs55 said:


> Weird question, but I’m curious, was Space Mountain only pitch black or did they add anything else to it? Thanks!


There was a sound track. When we rode we couldn't hear it. We asked a cast member who thought it was Maleficent's voice. When we got stuck on the Peoplemover, we could hear that it was a mix of Villains.



Cluelyss said:


> I’ve seen a couple reports of people getting in prior to 7, do we know when the “official” entry time is?
> Haven’t seen anything regarding special magic shots, did anyone see any? And if so, where were they located?


7 is the official time, we got in just after 6:30.



Cluelyss said:


> Were many folks in costume? My entire family is planning to dress up and just want to make sure we won’t be out of place!!


There was a good portion in costume, I'd estimate 25%. There was a vast number of people in Villain related t shirts, probably 50%. I wore a spiderweb print dress and *lots* of glitter. I got compliments all night long. I think costumes are a great idea!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

It was definitely crowd movement. We walked onto BTMRR twice (but reriding was not an option).  

I think part of the Space lines was because it had been down from around 6 to 9:40. I suspect a ton of last minute regular park goers got it line. We didn’t attempt it until almost 11 to make sure they were out. Wait time then was about 10 minutes but half of that was walking through the big queue.


----------



## AllThingsMickey4

Did anyone else notice Mickey and Minnie at Town Square weren’t meeting last night? We left around 12 am and we were going to see how long their wait was on our way out, but the doors to the meet and greet were shut. They were meeting at the DAH we went to during the first week of May.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I keep forgetting to add that there were special face painting options there and I did see quite a few people who did it.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

AllThingsMickey4 said:


> Did anyone else notice Mickey and Minnie at Town Square weren’t meeting last night? We left around 12 am and we were going to see how long their wait was on our way out, but the doors to the meet and greet were shut. They were meeting at the DAH we went to during the first week of May.



There weren’t any M&G last night


----------



## PrincessDana

Anyone notice how the "free" snacks lines were? As well as locations? Thanks. We have tickets for the next party and we've never been to an AH event!!


----------



## vinotinto

AllThingsMickey4 said:


> Did anyone else notice Mickey and Minnie at Town Square weren’t meeting last night? We left around 12 am and we were going to see how long their wait was on our way out, but the doors to the meet and greet were shut. They were meeting at the DAH we went to during the first week of May.


We had been speculating further up-thread about what would be the attractions cut from Villains AH since they indicate "over 20 attractions" instead of 25 attractions. We finally received confirmation just a couple of days ago that NONE of the regular character meets will take place during VAH. This is different than the regular DAH. When WDW said "no character meets" they meant it!


----------



## Castlequeen5

Cinderumbrella said:


> I keep forgetting to add that there were special face painting options there and I did see quite a few people who did it.


Was that included with admission?  If not, what was the cost?


----------



## Mrjoshua

Did anybody notice if party exclusive snacks were being sold before 10pm at any of the locations?


----------



## Cinderumbrella

PrincessDana said:


> Anyone notice how the "free" snacks lines were? As well as locations? Thanks. We have tickets for the next party and we've never been to an AH event!!



There was basically one in each land (popcorn, Mickey Bar, Mickey ice cream sandwich, Olaf fruit bar, plus water, coke, Diet Coke and sprite). Tomorrowland was longest but they had 4 or 5 people working so it moved very quick since there’s no payment


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Castlequeen5 said:


> Was that included with admission?  If not, what was the cost?



Definitely not included. I didn’t check but I’m sure one of the media links will have a picture of the sign with pricing


----------



## Castlequeen5

Cinderumbrella said:


> Definitely not included. I didn’t check but I’m sure one of the media links will have a picture of the sign with pricing


Thanks!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Cinderumbrella said:


> Definitely not included. I didn’t check but I’m sure one of the media links will have a picture of the sign with pricing


Some one posted pics of this back a few pages. (Not sure if prices were posted, but pics of the face painting options)
There were a few that were pretty cool, and I'd love to do it, but my kids would cringe.


----------



## AllThingsMickey4

vinotinto said:


> We had been speculating further up-thread about what would be the attractions cut from Villains AH since they indicate "over 20 attractions" instead of 25 attractions. We finally received confirmation just a couple of days ago that NONE of the regular character meets will take place during VAH. This is different than the regular DAH. When WDW said "no character meets" they meant it!



Ahh I see. I know on Disney’s website I saw they said no special villain meet and greets, but I didn’t think they would take the others away. Sort of disappointing for a pregnant person that can’t ride any of the big headliners


----------



## vinotinto

AllThingsMickey4 said:


> Ahh I see. I know on Disney’s website I saw they said no special villain meet and greets, but I didn’t think they would take the others away. Sort of disappointing for a pregnant person that can’t ride any of the big headliners


There's always the Carousel! But whatever you do DON'T GO ON THE TEACUPS!


----------



## AllThingsMickey4

vinotinto said:


> There's always the Carousel! But whatever you do DON'T GO ON THE TEACUPS!



LOL! Hubby and I did Astro Orbiter last month and I had no idea it spun so fast! Those rockets have also gotten a lot smaller in the last 10 years


----------



## vinotinto

AllThingsMickey4 said:


> LOL! Hubby and I did Astro Orbiter last month and I had no idea it spun so fast! Those rockets have also gotten a lot smaller in the last 10 years


Shrinking rockets! Must be a cost-saving measure!


----------



## AdrianneB

Cluelyss said:


> Going next week and loving all these reviews!!!  Thank you, and please keep them coming!!
> 
> A few questions for those of you who were at last night‘s event.....
> 
> I’ve seen a couple reports of people getting in prior to 7, do we know when the “official” entry time is?
> 
> Haven’t seen anything regarding special magic shots, did anyone see any? And if so, where were they located?
> 
> What time did the villains start entertaining on the train station platform? Right at 1?  Definitely want to catch that!!!
> 
> Were many folks in costume? My entire family is planning to dress up and just want to make sure we won’t be out of place!!
> 
> Thank you for all the great reports!!!


Official entry time is 7. I looked at the recorded entry times for MK: DAH in this thread and decided to get to the gates between 6-6:15 in case they let guests in super early. (I had also made our first FP+ 6:10-7:10 with a fair amt of confidence that we would be in well before 7.) Prior to entry, I watched some senior CMs confer with each of the line attendants prior to making an official vocal announcement that the lines were open at pretty much 6:30 on the dot. If you want to maximize your time in MK and VAH is your only admission for the day, I’d say your best bet would be to queue up between 6:15-6:30.


----------



## Raya

Good morning! Here's my review.... 

We were let in at 6:36, with no wait. Shopped our way up main street. All of the event merchandise was out at the Main Street Mercantile, however there was a line of 7 to 10 people to get up close to the merchandise. I was surprised by the line, and didn't want to wait. CMs advised me that I should, because they might run out of merchandise. Decided not to and we headed to Haunted Mansion for our FP. Had about a five minute at HM with FP, spent way too long shopping at Momento Mori. A limited selection of event merchandise was out here, but no wait!

Headed to Sunshine Tree terrace, because Citrus Swirl requirements had to be met. Got pixie dusted with a free second citrus swirl, and ate them in Adventureland before heading to our BTMRR FP. FP line was long - outside of the ride line and down the hill. CMs estimated 20 minutes or more. Standby was 55 minutes. Decided against it and went for some not available at the event churros. 

Walked to Fantasyland thinking about Peter Pan - posted long wait time (45? 55? it's a blur) while IASW had almost no wait. Sadly, IASW isn't our thing so we moved on. Got distracted by a bigger event merchandise display at Mickey's Philharmonic, wasted until about 9:10 shopping. Stopped for fire works. Headed back to BTMRR after fireworks. Between exiting the castle and getting in line for BTMRR we had our bands checked at least 3 times. Lots of CMs sweeping people from the back of the park. Ended up as the last people in the standby line at 9:56. Posted wait 30 minutes, but we were assured it was more like 10. It was 20. However, when we got off there were empty lanes behind us. We though we might be able to get a line free re-ride, but didn't ask. Had a line of 7 people to get drinks outside of BTMRR. Grabbed a couple of waters. 

Went over to PotC. The walk over had that amazing DAH feel where you could spread your arms wide and twirl - dark, no one around. This was officially party time. Arrived and the feeling evaporated. Posted wait time of 15 minutes, actual wait time of 25. Bloggers got to use walk-on FP Line. Pirates 'overlay' was two pirates in line chatting with the crowd and one pirate on the ride interacting with boats. Better than the MNSSHP 'Pete' interaction but not by much. 

Got off the ride and ran back to the start of the dragon area, only to get told by a CM that we completely missed the 10:40 dragon parade. Except that she turns around and returns to Frontierland! Yay! Saw her coming down the street, and had no one around. Ran along side her (yes, I am a five year old, why do you ask?) for the whole length of FL. Great crowd interaction with the crows and briers. Stopped by HM for a walk-on ride. 

Used the FL cut through to have a private show at the Tiki room (family favorite). Found our first Magic Shot - Scar by the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. Line was about 5 groups deep and we're not huge Scar fans. Crossed over to Casey's for our first party specific food - the Cruella Brownie. I was bummed to miss most of the party food - basically because I never seemed to be next to it!  The brownie was over-the-top sweet and just what I needed. Got a Coke to wash it down from the hub with basically no wait. 

Passed a second Magic shot at the entrance to TL. There were two photographers doing an 'Oogie Boogie' photo. The line was several families deep so we headed to Space Mountain. Passed the Cool Ship which didn't seem to have noodles (? maybe they were just out) and skipped Yzma's Llama potion due to line. 

SM had a posted line of 20 minutes, but the wait was stop and go from the first downhill inside to the rocket ship. It was very frustrating to see one side of the ride sectioned off just for bloggers, and there was definitely some schadenfreude going on when the CM forced bloggers to wait while he verified their credentials. The ride was pitch black, which was interesting but not much of an overlay. There was some music/sounds but they were hard to hear. If anyone was smart enough to look up while in line, I think the planets were aligning like in the stage show overhead. I didn't recognize them though.  Based on when we came out I think the wait was longer than posted. 

Needed a chance to rest our feet, so we grabbed popcorn (short wait) and hit the People mover. Which is rather dull when SM has the lights off. And then we got stuck. In the dark. Sigh. They put the lights on after a little bit, and at least we were seated. Got off in time to see the fireworks from the midnight castle show. 

And promptly didn't know what do do with ourselves. We had 40 minutes left, but given the crowds didn't know what we could accomplish. Finally decided on hitting Sleepy Hollow for the Tarot Card Tart (interior is a nice peanut butter flavor, ditched the tart crust) and the "not listed on the front of the brochure" drink from the other side - tart enough to make you pucker! Finished both before a 5 minute Peter Pan walk on, then hustled past HM (posted 13 minute wait, but I bet walk on) to watch the 1AM show. Got there about 5 minutes early.

So the show..... The castle Hub is lit up like a rave with very loud 80s music (She's a Maniac from Flashdance, Beastie Boys Fight for your Right to Party) played by a DJ and a ton of flashing bright lights. A seizure risk warning would've been nice but I wasn't triggered so that worked out.  Stage show was fun and honestly the best use of projection overlays I've ever seen at Disney. The pyrotechnics entranced me past the super cheesy dialog. 

Waited by the bride for the dragon, only to hear her main handler freaking out to other CMs that the hub was too full. Moved. Got pushed back. Got pushed back again. Had some families get upset that they had to unpark strollers. Then the dragon arrived. *swoon* She's so pretty. 

Asked a suit and tie CM about a kiss goodnight - nope, but there is a 'baddie' surprise at the end of main street. Walked along side the dragon, easily getting a spot on the guest services side of the train station to sit and watch some more. Did I mention I'm a huge dragon fan? I could watch her all day. 

Hung out for a little bit of villain heckling, then headed to the buses at 1:45. Back to the resort by 2:15. Here's some big picture summary stuff:
* I think we got unlucky with ride times. We passed PotC later in the night and it was walk on. Just poor timing on our part I guess, but  a lot of waiting.
* Compared to the May 2 DAH I got about 1/3 of the rides in and felt a lot more pressure.
* Higher crowds means you needed to have a strategy which is tough on the first night. I'm hoping to  cancel my 1st night MNSSHP to avoid that in the fall. 
* CMs seemed a little clueless, not knowing the times for things or admitting that they didn't know what would happen. 
* Magic shots aren't listed on the map, and not all of the promised ones showed up in my photos.
* Ursala appears on the merchandise but not in the park in anyway (that I saw). 
* I would judge this isn't event for littler kids. I saw a lot of meltdowns. It's not scary per say but there isn't much geared to them. 
* I'd do it again.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

AllThingsMickey4 said:


> Did anyone else notice Mickey and Minnie at Town Square weren’t meeting last night? We left around 12 am and we were going to see how long their wait was on our way out, but the doors to the meet and greet were shut. They were meeting at the DAH we went to during the first week of May.



FYI, the characters that normally meet for regular DAH are not being offered for Villains After Hours.   So Mickey/Minnie, Princess Ferrytale Hall, Aerial (maybe someone else I’m forgetting) aren’t open for Villains After Hours.


----------



## Raya

vinotinto said:


> Wow, thank you for that info. It sounds like if you want to do Mine Train, Space Mountain,  Pirates, Peter Pan and Big Thunder, that will take most of your evening.


Agreed 1000% We didn't even bother trying with Mine Train. We only managed to do: Space Moutain, Pirates, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion x2, Peter Pan, and PeopleMover


AllThingsMickey4 said:


> We walked up on the first stage show about half way through and it was really crowded up towards the front of the castle, but once you got back to the partners statue there wasn’t many people. Most of the people up front looked like bloggers.


We were told that the center stage in front of partners area was reserved for bloggers.


Cinderumbrella said:


> I keep forgetting to add that there were special face painting options there and I did see quite a few people who did it.


Someone asked about price, the one I was interested in was $22. 


PrincessDana said:


> Anyone notice how the "free" snacks lines were? As well as locations?


Snack lines were at most 7 to 10 people deep. Even at the end of the night there was at least 1 person in front of me. They were in each land, and often near a regular food place, so in Liberty square in front of LTT/by the tree/across from Sleepy Hollow. In TL, in front of SM/across from Cool Ship. All around the hub (free standing) and also carts in the center of the hub.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Raya said:


> Good morning! Here's my review....
> 
> We were let in at 6:36, with no wait. Shopped our way up main street. All of the event merchandise was out at the Main Street Mercantile, however there was a line of 7 to 10 people to get up close to the merchandise. I was surprised by the line, and didn't want to wait. CMs advised me that I should, because they might run out of merchandise. Decided not to and we headed to Haunted Mansion for our FP. Had about a five minute at HM with FP, spent way too long shopping at Momento Mori. A limited selection of event merchandise was out here, but no wait!
> 
> Headed to Sunshine Tree terrace, because Citrus Swirl requirements had to be met. Got pixie dusted with a free second citrus swirl, and ate them in Adventureland before heading to our BTMRR FP. FP line was long - outside of the ride line and down the hill. CMs estimated 20 minutes or more. Standby was 55 minutes. Decided against it and went for some not available at the event churros.
> 
> Walked to Fantasyland thinking about Peter Pan - posted long wait time (45? 55? it's a blur) while IASW had almost no wait. Sadly, IASW isn't our thing so we moved on. Got distracted by a bigger event merchandise display at Mickey's Philharmonic, wasted until about 9:10 shopping. Stopped for fire works. Headed back to BTMRR after fireworks. Between exiting the castle and getting in line for BTMRR we had our bands checked at least 3 times. Lots of CMs sweeping people from the back of the park. Ended up as the last people in the standby line at 9:56. Posted wait 30 minutes, but we were assured it was more like 10. It was 20. However, when we got off there were empty lanes behind us. We though we might be able to get a line free re-ride, but didn't ask. Had a line of 7 people to get drinks outside of BTMRR. Grabbed a couple of waters.
> 
> Went over to PotC. The walk over had that amazing DAH feel where you could spread your arms wide and twirl - dark, no one around. This was officially party time. Arrived and the feeling evaporated. Posted wait time of 15 minutes, actual wait time of 25. Bloggers got to use walk-on FP Line. Pirates 'overlay' was two pirates in line chatting with the crowd and one pirate on the ride interacting with boats. Better than the MNSSHP 'Pete' interaction but not by much.
> 
> Got off the ride and ran back to the start of the dragon area, only to get told by a CM that we completely missed the 10:40 dragon parade. Except that she turns around and returns to Frontierland! Yay! Saw her coming down the street, and had no one around. Ran along side her (yes, I am a five year old, why do you ask?) for the whole length of FL. Great crowd interaction with the crows and briers. Stopped by HM for a walk-on ride.
> 
> Used the FL cut through to have a private show at the Tiki room (family favorite). Found our first Magic Shot - Scar by the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. Line was about 5 groups deep and we're not huge Scar fans. Crossed over to Casey's for our first party specific food - the Cruella Brownie. I was bummed to miss most of the party food - basically because I never seemed to be next to it!  The brownie was over-the-top sweet and just what I needed. Got a Coke to wash it down from the hub with basically no wait.
> 
> Passed a second Magic shot at the entrance to TL. There were two photographers doing an 'Oogie Boogie' photo. The line was several families deep so we headed to Space Mountain. Passed the Cool Ship which didn't seem to have noodles (? maybe they were just out) and skipped Yzma's Llama potion due to line.
> 
> SM had a posted line of 20 minutes, but the wait was stop and go from the first downhill inside to the rocket ship. It was very frustrating to see one side of the ride sectioned off just for bloggers, and there was definitely some schadenfreude going on when the CM forced bloggers to wait while he verified their credentials. The ride was pitch black, which was interesting but not much of an overlay. There was some music/sounds but they were hard to hear. If anyone was smart enough to look up while in line, I think the planets were aligning like in the stage show overhead. I didn't recognize them though.  Based on when we came out I think the wait was longer than posted.
> 
> Needed a chance to rest our feet, so we grabbed popcorn (short wait) and hit the People mover. Which is rather dull when SM has the lights off. And then we got stuck. In the dark. Sigh. They put the lights on after a little bit, and at least we were seated. Got off in time to see the fireworks from the midnight castle show.
> 
> And promptly didn't know what do do with ourselves. We had 40 minutes left, but given the crowds didn't know what we could accomplish. Finally decided on hitting Sleepy Hollow for the Tarot Card Tart (interior is a nice peanut butter flavor, ditched the tart crust) and the "not listed on the front of the brochure" drink from the other side - tart enough to make you pucker! Finished both before a 5 minute Peter Pan walk on, then hustled past HM (posted 13 minute wait, but I bet walk on) to watch the 1AM show. Got there about 5 minutes early.
> 
> So the show..... The castle Hub is lit up like a rave with very loud 80s music (She's a Maniac from Flashdance, Beastie Boys Fight for your Right to Party) played by a DJ and a ton of flashing bright lights. A seizure risk warning would've been nice but I wasn't triggered so that worked out.  Stage show was fun and honestly the best use of projection overlays I've ever seen at Disney. The pyrotechnics entranced me past the super cheesy dialog.
> 
> Waited by the bride for the dragon, only to hear her main handler freaking out to other CMs that the hub was too full. Moved. Got pushed back. Got pushed back again. Had some families get upset that they had to unpark strollers. Then the dragon arrived. *swoon* She's so pretty.
> 
> Asked a suit and tie CM about a kiss goodnight - nope, but there is a 'baddie' surprise at the end of main street. Walked along side the dragon, easily getting a spot on the guest services side of the train station to sit and watch some more. Did I mention I'm a huge dragon fan? I could watch her all day.
> 
> Hung out for a little bit of villain heckling, then headed to the buses at 1:45. Back to the resort by 2:15. Here's some big picture summary stuff:
> * I think we got unlucky with ride times. We passed PotC later in the night and it was walk on. Just poor timing on our part I guess, but  a lot of waiting.
> * Compared to the May 2 DAH I got about 1/3 of the rides in and felt a lot more pressure.
> * Higher crowds means you needed to have a strategy which is tough on the first night. I'm hoping to  cancel my 1st night MNSSHP to avoid that in the fall.
> * CMs seemed a little clueless, not knowing the times for things or admitting that they didn't know what would happen.
> * Magic shots aren't listed on the map, and not all of the promised ones showed up in my photos.
> * Ursala appears on the merchandise but not in the park in anyway (that I saw).
> * I would judge this isn't event for littler kids. I saw a lot of meltdowns. It's not scary per say but there isn't much geared to them.
> * I'd do it again.


Thanks for the details!!! 
We did the first MNSSHP last year, never again. 
It really is too bad the Bloggers got such VIP treatment over guests.


----------



## focusondisney

Raya said:


> Bloggers got to use walk-on FP Line.





Raya said:


> SM had a posted line of 20 minutes, but the wait was stop and go from the first downhill inside to the rocket ship. It was very frustrating to see one side of the ride sectioned off just for bloggers,



Ok, this is ridiculous!  It’s one thing if Disney wants to comp bloggers, but entirely another when they get special ride access & increase wait times for guests who paid a pretty good price to have low wait times.  Sounds like some emails to guest services are in order.

Edit: Oh, and the center stage area too? Disney should have run an event just for bloggers & not take away from paying guests!!


----------



## vinotinto

@Raya thanks for the detailed review!


----------



## 123SA

Raya said:


> Bloggers got to use walk-on FP Line.




This...makes me angry.  Seriously, you paid $139 + tax.  They either paid the same or NOTHING right?  IF they paid the same, they should wait the same.  If Disney wanted to give them something special, why wasn't it AFTER the event on Disney's dime and not yours?


Is this what I should expect at first MNSSHP?


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

focusondisney said:


> Ok, this is ridiculous!  It’s one thing if Disney wants to comp bloggers, but entirely another when they get special ride access & increased wait times door guests who paid a pretty good price to have low wait times.  Sounds like some emails to guest services are in order.
> 
> Edit: Oh, and the center stage area too? Disney should have run an event just for bloggers & not take away from paying guests!!


Yep, this. I emailed Disney after the first MNSSHP, they were very good to us.


----------



## mekay1012

Did anyone ride 7dmt?  I’m curious what the waits were?  We have a really short trip planned and this will be our only opportunity to ride.


----------



## SG131

GADisneyDad14 said:


> FYI, the characters that normally meet for regular DAH are not being offered for Villains After Hours.   So Mickey/Minnie, Princess Ferrytale Hall, Aerial (maybe someone else I’m forgetting) aren’t open for Villains After Hours.


That was a bit of a letdown to hear at first, but thinking about it, it makes sense. It would be a little strange to have the princesses and Mickey out when the villians are supposedly taking over.


----------



## Dug720

I’ll be interested to hear about the lines and such when the oh-so-special people are not there being waltzed by those who don’t have a zillion followers on Insta or YouTube.


----------



## ninafeliz

You mean bloggers/vloggers and I then would presume media/internet people like many of the websites I get info from or read reviews from not only get in free but get special treatment, no or short lines, and special viewing areas!?  How is that considered fair at all, and why should I pay any attention to their reviews then?  That’s ridiculous if I’m understanding correctly, and actually makes me kind of angry!  I kind of figured some got free tickets (but dumb me I thought that would only be the official meadia  type people), but had no idea it went beyond that.  How about the group from the dis?  I had thought they paid for tickets, but do they use the special lines and viewing areas, etc?


----------



## Cinderumbrella

We’re sitting at lunch so I’m still reflecting on the night, so forgive my very random musings:

There were very few small children there. Lots of young adults, solo couples, or families with teens.

The costumes we did see were very well done so kudos to all of them! Plenty of Disney bounding (like myself).

Thank you to the poster who pointed out about bloggers getting special access. I did occasionally see people coming through the FP line but couldn’t figure out why (Grrrrr). Their big set ups at the castle center stage made me lol (we only noticed them before the midnight show as we were crisscrossing). What have their reactions been so far? Positive? (I saw the Blog Mickey tweet about Space but as I posted earlier, I disagree. I definitely had better experience with it during second ride in the “right” track)


----------



## WRLeGrand

Listen I enjoy watching the DIS and Tim Tracker, but the fact that these people were given preferential type treatment for DAH is really ridiculous. I know it amounts to "free" marketing for Disney, but people pay a lot of money to attend this event. No one should be put below people just because they are on YouTube or write a blog. Disney SHOULD BE BETTER THAN THAT.


----------



## Traveling on cc points

AllThingsMickey4 said:


> LOL! Hubby and I did Astro Orbiter last month and I had no idea it spun so fast! Those rockets have also gotten a lot smaller in the last 10 years


Or we have gotten bigger.


----------



## Cluelyss

I apologize if this was answered already and I missed it, but were any of the special treats being offered before seven? I’m hoping to mobile order some Hades nachos as my dinner but don’t want to wait until 10 to eat!


----------



## dismoose23

Thank you to those who provided their reviews of the event. DW, DMIL and I will be attending the DVAH on June 16th. We are very excited. I am a sucker for exclusive merchandise, so I will definitely purchase a t-shirt or tumbler from the event.


----------



## Funfire240

Thanks to all for the reviews so far - I'm glad I waited for reviews before buying tickets.  We have decided against this for our early August trip.  I'm bummed because we did DAH at MK twice in our trip last year and it was the highlights.  BUT I (and DH agrees) loved the peacefulness as we were walking around.  I absolutely loved being in the hub area without many people around and then at night leaving it was just so amazing to be able to listen to the background music and gradually make out way out (especially the 2nd time we went when the started using wrist bands and there were so many less people).  The idea of the hub area being like a "club" the loud nonDisney music and strobe lights just confirms that I don't have much of an interest in this event now.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

One of the sites just posted their review, he noted twice that he paid. He gave it a decent review tho.
I don't want to link, incase its not allowed. (sorry!)

Adding that Josh said he will be there next week. (a hint to the site, bcuz they do a lot of stuff together )


----------



## SaintsManiac

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> One of the sites just posted their review, he noted twice that he paid. He gave it a decent review tho.
> I don't want to link, incase its not allowed. (sorry!)
> 
> Adding that Josh said he will be there next week. (a hint to the site, bcuz they do a lot of stuff together )




Blog Mickey is approved. 

http://blogmickey.com/2019/06/disney-villains-after-hours-review-at-magic-kingdom/


----------



## KimBean

SaintsManiac said:


> The DIS team did pay to go, so they should be giving an honest review. I don't know about the others.



Not picking on DIS but it is more important to me that a media person received or did not receive the perk of FP lane or upfront show area than whether they paid for themselves or not. 

I can’t trust their review on their experience if I can’t possibly have the same experience.


----------



## SaintsManiac

KimBean said:


> Not picking on DIS but it is more important to me that a media person received or did not receive the perk of FP lane or upfront show area than whether they paid for themselves or not.
> 
> I can’t trust their review on their experience if I can’t possibly have the same experience.




Well when I posted this no one knew that was going to happen.


----------



## elle101me

Funfire240 said:


> Thanks to all for the reviews so far - I'm glad I waited for reviews before buying tickets.  We have decided against this for our early August trip.  I'm bummed because we did DAH at MK twice in our trip last year and it was the highlights.  BUT I (and DH agrees) loved the peacefulness as we were walking around.  I absolutely loved being in the hub area without many people around and then at night leaving it was just so amazing to be able to listen to the background music and gradually make out way out (especially the 2nd time we went when the started using wrist bands and there were so many less people).  The idea of the hub area being like a "club" the loud nonDisney music and strobe lights just confirms that I don't have much of an interest in this event now.


I feel the same way, but I’m going to wait and make my decision after a couple more of the events have passed.


----------



## Traveling on cc points

KimBean said:


> Not picking on DIS but it is more important to me that a media person received or did not receive the perk of FP lane or upfront show area than whether they paid for themselves or not.
> 
> I can’t trust their review on their experience if I can’t possibly have the same experience.


100% agree.  I’m fine if the vlogger got in for free in exchange for an honest review but What good is their review if  it doesn’t show the experience of the average guest?


----------



## ArielSRL

MinnieMSue said:


> We talked to the Trackers briefly which was cool.


Envious! We met them last month, which was so cool. I hope they put up their review today. We are leaving for Disney tomorrow and it will be easier to watch it today.


----------



## ArielSRL

MinnieMSue said:


> It was amazing. Jenn was so sweet. I was moderately embarrassed to be gushing along with my teen but it seriously was a goal to see them (talking to them was icing on the cake). We didn’t want to take up more of their time for a photo.


You should have seen me last month. I freaked out when I saw them. I just wasn't expecting it. I was thoroughly embarrassed.


----------



## 123SA

I'm not fine if there are so many media people getting perks that it effects regular paying guests.


----------



## AllThingsMickey4

I think there was a VIP section for the bloggers for the castle show. When we were standing off to the side watching the first show, two girls walked by and one told the other they would get to watch the show later from the “VIP” section


----------



## dachsie

My thoughts on what I have seen so far is that its definitely geared to adults - kind of like Universal does with HHN but obviously not as intense as HHN.  It may draw the Universal crowd over.


----------



## lucas

GADisneyDad14 said:


> 8/29 Disney After Hours hours at 10pm-1am.  You can enter the park for ALL Disney After Hours events (regardless of time) at 7pm.  In practice, MK usually lets people in a bit earlier.
> 
> 
> 
> FYI, there is a regular (non-Villains) DAH event at MK on 8/29.


Thank you for the info!


----------



## KimBean

SaintsManiac said:


> Well when I posted this no one knew that was going to happen.



Not picking on you either. Read it all at the same time. Was using this more as a reference of the discussion.


----------



## Dug720

SaintsManiac said:


> Blog Mickey is approved.
> 
> http://blogmickey.com/2019/06/disney-villains-after-hours-review-at-magic-kingdom/



Well, that was...less than glowing. Maybe enough so-so reviews will keep people from buying tickets and the rest of them will be less crowded. Haha!


----------



## Haley R

Wow about the bloggers getting special treatment. What a crap shoot for anyone that actually paid. We’re still gonna hold off on tickets until I can read reviews from nights with less media. Plus we’ll be able to go last minute and can wait on weather


----------



## Dbktmc

Thank you for all of the reviews!  I am going next week but I am now more nervous than ever.  The special treatment for the bloggers is the most concerning part for me as they never had the "true experience" of the average guest and their reviews will reflect their experience only.  

UGH


----------



## Dug720

Haley R said:


> Wow about the bloggers getting special treatment. What a crap shoot for anyone that actually paid. We’re still gonna hold off on tickets until I can read reviews from nights with less media. Plus we’ll be able to go last minute and can wait on weather



Maybe if people stop buying first night tickets and tell Disney why they will figure out it is not fair and either do a special event just for bloggers/vloggers (I refuse to call them “media”), make them all pay for their own tickets and food (and wait in line and find their own place to stand for the shows), severely limit the number of “official” credentialed people, or spread them out over a few events.

Hey, Disney is where dreams come true, right?


----------



## alex9179

Oh well. This afternoon I finally scratched off the stuff on the back and assigned my 8/1 tickets in MDE (I was considering cancelling the trip). Then I made FPs and ALL the mountains and SDMT had multiple PM availability. I couldn't believe it. We'll see how it goes when there but I think we'll get a lot of attractions in before AH starts. Having SDMT and SM FPs will relieve some of the urgency to ride them AH, too. We'll wait to watch the show and Malificent until the end of the night, as long as the weather holds. 
Now, I just have to figure out what merchandise I want beside the Headless Horseman clip!
I need to figure out something clever to say to Lady Tremaine and the Steps at dinner that night. Something about the planets aligning and attending my kind of ball


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Well, I’m very happy for the Villains folks and that many people seemed to enjoy themselves.  Also glad to see relatively material additions (for DAH standards) to go along with the extra cost.  Seems well planned and well executed, for the most part.

I was already leaning this direction anyway, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be a pass for us.  I prefer regular MK, not partied up MK - I’m fortunate enough to usually get to do things like MNSSHP, New Years, etc, for that “something different” MK vibe, so this has less appeal to me personally.  Plus it’s a little too MNSSHP-like (major differences of course) and that’s just around the corner.  I’m a MNSSHP-lover and I think I want to conserve my MK party time/funds for that event.

I have a 12-person trip this summer with ages ranging from 2-75.  If it were just the 4 of us I’d probably feel differently and want to give Villains a try, but not sure it’s the right offering for the larger group on this particular trip.

On the plus side, that just saved me a lot of money!!

I was already debating VAH vs H20 Glow Night on my particular night, which is towards the back half of our week.  Might just leave it for a “game week” decision depending on the mood/vibe/spirits of the group at that point.

But, if we were less frequent visitors, I’d likely be all over this. 

Anyway, *thank you *to all who contributed last night, it’s always great to read real first hand reviews and fresh observations! It will be very interesting to continue to watch this latest evolution of After Hours.


----------



## maryj11

AllThingsMickey4 said:


> Going tonight! Hoping the thunderstorms clear out by the start of the event and the weather is cooler. We don’t plan on riding a lot just mainly going for the lower crowds and cooler weather. I’ll try to report later what I see as far as event exclusive merchandise and food.
> 
> Side note: I waited too late to figure out a costume or some kind of villain attire and can’t believe that I can’t find any kind of villain themed clothing anywhere in Disney! The only thing I’ve seen is the villain themed dress by the Dress Shop in Disney Springs, but I didn’t really want to spend that much. Maybe I’ll buy an event exclusive t shirt tonight and throw it on


That is what I want to do! Buy an event T shirt and change there lol.


----------



## maryj11

Raya said:


> Yes villains stuff is for sale before the event but you need to show a wrist band to buy
> 
> View attachment 406864


Do they have a dressing room to try on shirts lol?


----------



## maryj11

Raya said:


> Price photos. (Hopefully not turned wrong.)


Is the black one a men's?


----------



## mekay1012

maryj11 said:


> Is the black one a men's?


I’m assuming it’s unisex.


----------



## Mollymovacca

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Thanks for posting the magic shots info!!
> Excited about Scar for DS7, he just asked me if Scar was there since he is wearing a Scar shirt that night.
> I think we are going to try to hit all the magic shots
> 
> @Cluelyss can't wait for your reports next week!


My DS6 is also excited about the Scar magic shot! I’ve been looking for a scar shirt for mine to wear too!


----------



## Mrjoshua

I just wanted to say sincere thanks for all the info and reviews. I've found it to be very helpful, and I'm excited to be going in a few weeks.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

I know what I forgot to say! The CM doing Barbossa in POTC was amazing! Looked like Geoffrey Rush, sounded like Geoffrey Rush. The other 2 actors in the queue played their roles well, but IMO weren’t necessary.


----------



## Dug720

Yes, thank you to everyone! I’m excited to kick off my birthday trip with this in 40 days!! I briefly pondered H2Glow but then remembered I hate water parks (couple of bad experiences on slides (not at Disney) where I either hit my head going into a tunnel because I was going too far up the sides or once in an enclosed one somehow ended up not only upside down and off my mat but turned completely around so I exited headfirst rather than feet first and pretty quickly nixed that.


----------



## Unca’ Donald

Are there still ride photos on Pirates and Space during the event?


----------



## Raya

Unca’ Donald said:


> Are there still ride photos on Pirates and Space during the event?


Yes to both! However, if you're interested in a good photo on Pirates don't sit in the back row. We didn't realize it made a difference but the camera goes off at the front of the boat. You can barely see us! Next time I'll ask for a row closer to the photo.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Raya said:


> Yes to both! However, if you're interested in a good photo on Pirates don't sit in the back row. We didn't realize it made a difference but the camera goes off at the front of the boat. You can barely see us! Next time I'll ask for a row closer to the photo.



Yeah, that’s about the worst ride photo of any ride at WDW (in my opinion).  We’ve all but given up on caring about that one!


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, that’s about the worst ride photo of any ride at WDW (in my opinion).  We’ve all but given up on caring about that one!


We rode it one time when things were backed up so our picture was the front half of our boat and the back half (where we were) was cut out of the picture


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*THREAD UPDATE*

DISer review links have been added to Post #10 - https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898155

I'll take reviews from DISers over bloggers any day.  

Taking a look at the Villains After Hours date poll (https://www.disboards.com/threads/magic-kingdom-“villains-after-hours”-summer-2019-date-poll.3747348/), the highest vote total night so far is this coming Thursday - 35 DISers at the moment.  If you're headed to Villains After Hours, make sure to log your date!


----------



## Branderson610

I went to Villains on Thursday night. I was scared that there would be so many vloggers, but there was not. I did not see anyone vlogging when I was there, so I think they were sparse and blended into the crowd.


----------



## dreamingofdisney321

Does anyone have a brochure they could post? Also, is the costs of villians merchandise about the same as usual Disney Park prices?   Thanks for any info.  We will be attending in July.


----------



## MinnieMSue

Limes96 said:


> Me too, I watched their “special announcement” last month and they had me in tears. Always enjoy their videos.



That was mainly my conversation with  Jenn. I congratulated her and told her I was bawling at work when I watched that video.


----------



## MinnieMSue

vinotinto said:


> Wow, thank you for that info. It sounds like if you want to do Mine Train, Space Mountain,  Pirates, Peter Pan and Big Thunder, that will take most of your evening.



We walked on Pan Pirates and Big Thunder. Space was 20-30 min. We didn’t look at 7D


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Branderson610 said:


> I went to Villains on Thursday night. I was scared that there would be so many vloggers, but there was not. I did not see anyone vlogging when I was there, so I think they were sparse and blended into the crowd.



There were plenty. You just got lucky not seeing them


----------



## MinnieMSue

Cinderumbrella said:


> There were plenty. You just got lucky not seeing them



I actually only noticed a few myself. One lady was busy filming and talking about the shirts when I was trying to buy one. I was getting pretty mad at her. Then I went to the midnight show and saw their roped off area - there were a lot of them!  Luckily we didn’t notice any going through FP lines. That would have been maddening.


----------



## focusondisney

dreamingofdisney321 said:


> Does anyone have a brochure they could post? Also, is the costs of villians merchandise about the same as usual Disney Park prices?   Thanks for any info.  We will be attending in July.



Posted on page 168:



lvcourtneyy said:


> Someone posted pictures of the event map on FB!
> 
> View attachment 406811View attachment 406812View attachment 406813View attachment 406814View attachment 406815


----------



## Haley R

I finally had a chance to watch the tracker video about the event. I thought they were pretty honest about how things went. They talked about it being more crowded than normal Dah and how lines for food were long. They said you have to pick and choose what to do because you can’t do it all in one party. The only thing I didn’t like is they didn’t show/say if they went through the fp line and if they were in the special viewing area for the show. 

I do really want to go now after watching their video. The stage show looks pretty awesome and we wouldn’t care much about riding rides. I would probably skip pirates because it looks similar to mnsshp.


----------



## kylenne

They had me at Barbossa to be honest. I can’t wait, hopefully 8/8 will see less “influencer” nonsense.


----------



## Mrjoshua

I just watched the Tracker's vlog for the party, and it was very informative. They waited in line for some of the buyable villains food in Tomorrowland. It appeared that the lines were maybe 10 people deep. Was that typical as the night went on for the food offerings? I guess I'm wondering if people were going moreso for the freebies, or the special villain menu items. Also, were the lines typically long?


----------



## osufeth24

A friend and I are considering going.  I am an AP holder, he hasn't been to Disney in over 20 years.  Can I buy his ticket with my AP discount, or does everyone have to be an AP holder.  I see it allows me to purchase more than 1 ticket, but just wasn't sure


----------



## GADisneyDad14

osufeth24 said:


> A friend and I are considering going.  I am an AP holder, he hasn't been to Disney in over 20 years.  Can I buy his ticket with my AP discount, or does everyone have to be an AP holder.  I see it allows me to purchase more than 1 ticket, but just wasn't sure



You’re good, purchase away!


----------



## KangaFan

My uncle was able to purchase 10 tickets and only he and my aunt have an AP.


----------



## Unca’ Donald

Is there a list of the Photo Pass locations for the event? I've only heard of the one in front of the castle with the villains sign, and the magic shots with Maleficent Dragon, Scar, and Oogie Boogie.  Are there any others?


----------



## Raya

Mrjoshua said:


> I just watched the Tracker's vlog for the party, and it was very informative. They waited in line for some of the buyable villains food in Tomorrowland. It appeared that the lines were maybe 10 people deep. Was that typical as the night went on for the food offerings? I guess I'm wondering if people were going moreso for the freebies, or the special villain menu items. Also, were the lines typically long?


lines of 7 to 10 people for the included or purchased snacks were pretty common. The included snack lines actually tended to be a little shorter. Also a few of the purchases snacks sold out.


----------



## MinnieMSue

Haley R said:


> I finally had a chance to watch the tracker video about the event. I thought they were pretty honest about how things went. They talked about it being more crowded than normal Dah and how lines for food were long. They said you have to pick and choose what to do because you can’t do it all in one party. The only thing I didn’t like is they didn’t show/say if they went through the fp line and if they were in the special viewing area for the show.
> 
> I do really want to go now after watching their video. The stage show looks pretty awesome and we wouldn’t care much about riding rides. I would probably skip pirates because it looks similar to mnsshp.



They definitely were in the special viewing area. We were in front of and to the side of it and chatted with them while Tim was packing up his camera equipment. The appeared to be front and center in that area. We didn’t see them at the rides or anything so can’t speak to that.


----------



## mamalolo

We are coming to this event in a few weeks! We will not have park tickets for the day, just tickets for this event. I was able to make FP selections for things to do between 7pm-10pm, however, when I called Disney to see how to link the FP to our active Magic Bands, I was told that we can't have FP for this time period unless we had a park ticket for the day.  After reading through some of the posts here, I see that some of you did have FP prior to the event starting. Can anyone help me verify whether or not we can can definitely use our FP selections, and if so, how can I link them?  Thanks!


----------



## Limes96

mamalolo said:


> We are coming to this event in a few weeks! We will not have park tickets for the day, just tickets for this event. I was able to make FP selections for things to do between 7pm-10pm, however, when I called Disney to see how to link the FP to our active Magic Bands, I was told that we can't have FP for this time period unless we had a park ticket for the day.  After reading through some of the posts here, I see that some of you did have FP prior to the event starting. Can anyone help me verify whether or not we can can definitely use our FP selections, and if so, how can I link them?  Thanks!



We have no regular park days planned for our trip and ONLY have the villains AH event tickets on our MDE and I was able to make fp’s for 7-10 on AH night. They should automatically be linked to your magic bands if all your accounts are the same for both magic bands and park tickets. I don’t think we can technically expect to get the fp’s because there have been times in the past when people have been told they have to cancel them for AH/holiday parties or lose fp’s for their last day of tickets. But I’ve never had any trouble with keeping mine. I’ve been to one Christmas party and 2 AH events, so not a lot.


----------



## alex9179

I was able to make FP selections, starting at 625. We don't have a regular park ticket for that day, just DAH. Your magic band links to your account so there shouldn't be another step after you make your plans in MDE.


----------



## Mommaof3

We attended the Villains DAH on 6/6.  It was our first DAH event.  Here is my 2 cents: 
Yes...I saw several bloggers around the park and on rides.  
We were more into getting in rides so we concentrated on that.  
Starting at 10 pm, we rode 
1. Buzz (15 min....many day guests in line still)  
2. went to Space...crazy long line...skipped
3. 7DMT....about 15 min
4. Pooh...walk on
5. Peter Pan...5 min
6. Peter Pan...5 min
7. HM......walk on
8. snacks from cart by HM....no line  
9. BTMR....5-10 min
10. BTMR....5-10 min
11. popcorn and waters from cart ......no line
12. Splash....closed
13. Pirates...5-10 min
14. Back across park to Space Mt.  Castle projections were neat.  
15.  Space Mt. Crew had about a 15 min wait.  I rode the People mover and it was walk on!
We were going to ride Buzz again but we had one that didn't feel well and it was 12:50 so we headed out.  We saw the Villains at the train station.  There was a Pop bus waiting and we were soon back.
We enjoyed the event but not because of the Villains.  We wanted to ride.  The lines were too long during the first hour for my liking.  Splash was down most of the night.  Lines were too long for the special photos.  There were quite a few people in costumes.  We did not get any "special" treats as the lines were a little long there.  I would do this or a regular DAH event as there were fewer people than the day,  it was cooler than the day, and we were able to ride with short waits after the first hour.  (I wish they would have let us in the FP lines until day guests were done.)


----------



## DizFan13

GADisneyDad14 said:


> *What if Already in the Park?  In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*
> 
> 
> For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
> *The FP kiosks area just outside of the former Stich's Great Escape ride  (note: this appears to have now moved across to around the Laugh Floor / Buzz Lightyear entrances.)  *
> *Tortuga Tavern (note:  I'd love to know exactly where)*
> *Liberty Square ticket office*
> *City Hall guest relations office*
> _Note:  These locations have changed/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know. _






Can anyone who was there on the 6th confirm whether or not these locations were handing out wristbands for those already in the park?


----------



## Raya

DizFan13 said:


> Can anyone who was there on the 6th confirm whether or not these locations were handing out wristbands for those already in the park?


 Yes, they were checking credentials and giving out bands for folks already in the park.  The Tortuga Tavern location was by the entrance to the restaurant, closest to the Dole Whip side of Adventure Land. They had a small wooden cabinet and three cast members. I didn't see anyone in Tomorrowland or go into City Hall but I did see the trio of cast members holding bands by Liberty Square (out in front of the ticket office, where the wall opens up for the muppet's show.


----------



## MickeyMinnie@12

Mommaof3 said:


> We attended the Villains DAH on 6/6.  It was our first DAH event.  Here is my 2 cents:
> Yes...I saw several bloggers around the park and on rides.
> We were more into getting in rides so we concentrated on that.
> Starting at 10 pm, we rode
> 1. Buzz (15 min....many day guests in line still)
> 2. went to Space...crazy long line...skipped
> 3. 7DMT....about 15 min
> 4. Pooh...walk on
> 5. Peter Pan...5 min
> 6. Peter Pan...5 min
> 7. HM......walk on
> 8. snacks from cart by HM....no line
> 9. BTMR....5-10 min
> 10. BTMR....5-10 min
> 11. popcorn and waters from cart ......no line
> 12. Splash....closed
> 13. Pirates...5-10 min
> 14. Back across park to Space Mt.  Castle projections were neat.
> 15.  Space Mt. Crew had about a 15 min wait.  I rode the People mover and it was walk on!
> We were going to ride Buzz again but we had one that didn't feel well and it was 12:50 so we headed out.  We saw the Villains at the train station.  There was a Pop bus waiting and we were soon back.
> We enjoyed the event but not because of the Villains.  We wanted to ride.  The lines were too long during the first hour for my liking.  Splash was down most of the night.  Lines were too long for the special photos.  There were quite a few people in costumes.  We did not get any "special" treats as the lines were a little long there.  I would do this or a regular DAH event as there were fewer people than the day,  it was cooler than the day, and we were able to ride with short waits after the first hour.  (I wish they would have let us in the FP lines until day guests were done.)


Was Splash just down or is it not open during the Villians DAH?


----------



## MinnieMSue

MickeyMinnie@12 said:


> Was Splash just down or is it not open during the Villians DAH?



It went down and was down most of the night


----------



## Kara

We are going 7/1! So excited!


----------



## tookydo

DizFan13 said:


> Can anyone who was there on the 6th confirm whether or not these locations were handing out wristbands for those already in the park?


I got mine outside of Buzz.


----------



## pooh'smate

mamalolo said:


> We are coming to this event in a few weeks! We will not have park tickets for the day, just tickets for this event. I was able to make FP selections for things to do between 7pm-10pm, however, when I called Disney to see how to link the FP to our active Magic Bands, I was told that we can't have FP for this time period unless we had a park ticket for the day.  After reading through some of the posts here, I see that some of you did have FP prior to the event starting. Can anyone help me verify whether or not we can can definitely use our FP selections, and if so, how can I link them?  Thanks!



If your Magic Bands are active then your FP are already linked.


----------



## mamalolo

Limes96 said:


> We have no regular park days planned for our trip and ONLY have the villains AH event tickets on our MDE and I was able to make fp’s for 7-10 on AH night. They should automatically be linked to your magic bands if all your accounts are the same for both magic bands and park tickets. I don’t think we can technically expect to get the fp’s because there have been times in the past when people have been told they have to cancel them for AH/holiday parties or lose fp’s for their last day of tickets. But I’ve never had any trouble with keeping mine. I’ve been to one Christmas party and 2 AH events, so not a lot.


Thank you all so much for helping clarify my question!


----------



## southernmessmom

DizFan13 said:


> Can anyone who was there on the 6th confirm whether or not these locations were handing out wristbands for those already in the park?



We won’t have to leave and re-enter will we? I was planning to do MK that day and stay for Villians. Surprising my 10 year old DD with it.


----------



## provoaggie

southernmessmom said:


> We won’t have to leave and re-enter will we? I was planning to do MK that day and stay for Villians. Surprising my 10 year old DD with it.


You do not have to leave. Just get your wristband before the event starts and you're free to stay.


----------



## BirdL15

I’ve read a report from a Disney blog that some guests have been allowed to enter before 7pm with just a DAH admission. Anyone have experience with this?


----------



## Cloe Colton

Are the special photopass photos listed on the Villain AH map? Going tomorrow night!!


----------



## Haley R

BirdL15 said:


> I’ve read a report from a Disney blog that some guests have been allowed to enter before 7pm with just a DAH admission. Anyone have experience with this?


The general range has been between 6-6:30 pm.


----------



## Unca’ Donald

Cloe Colton said:


> Are the special photopass photos listed on the Villain AH map? Going tomorrow night!!



They aren’t, but I found this info at AllEars:


Maleficent by the Fantasyland Wall 
Oogie Boogie at the Tomorrowland Rocks
Scar at Sunshine Tree Terrace
Hades at the Outer Hubs of Cinderella Castle


----------



## Mrjoshua

I'm wondering if there are multiple photo walls for Villains AH. I saw one with Bowler Hat Guy, but can't remember where. Are there a few of those scattered around the park?


----------



## Momtwofour

Joining in. We just bought tickets for this for July 11th. Have never done an DAH but have done MNSSHP. Interested to see some reviews


----------



## tarak

I have tickets for my oldest daughter and her best friend for tonight. Out of curiosity, I checked the site thinking I might pick up tickets for my younger daughter and me. We have APs and there’s no discount for tonight. I know I paid less for the older girls, so that seems odd to me. The AP discount is showing for later weeks, though. I wonder if they only had a certain number of tickets for the AP discount? Or perhaps the discount ends closer to the day of?   Just thought I’d post in case anyone was on the fence but had an AP.


----------



## Mzpalmtree

tarak said:


> I have tickets for my oldest daughter and her best friend for tonight. Out of curiosity, I checked the site thinking I might pick up tickets for my younger daughter and me. We have APs and there’s no discount for tonight. I know I paid less for the older girls, so that seems odd to me. The AP discount is showing for later weeks, though. I wonder if they only had a certain number of tickets for the AP discount? Or perhaps the discount ends closer to the day of?   Just thought I’d post in case anyone was on the fence but had an AP.


I believe I have seen reported that there are no AP discounts offered for AP day of event.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Excited for reviews from tonight! Hoping you all have a fab time!!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

tarak said:


> I have tickets for my oldest daughter and her best friend for tonight. Out of curiosity, I checked the site thinking I might pick up tickets for my younger daughter and me. We have APs and there’s no discount for tonight. I know I paid less for the older girls, so that seems odd to me. The AP discount is showing for later weeks, though. I wonder if they only had a certain number of tickets for the AP discount? Or perhaps the discount ends closer to the day of?   Just thought I’d post in case anyone was on the fence but had an AP.



Yes, the price increases for day of tickets and there are no AP/DVC discounts online day of. You “may” (key word) be able to get the discount if you visit a ticket booth, but YMMV.


----------



## Raya

Still thinking about last week's DAH. When we checked out of our hotel we asked for the ticket services phone number in case we decided to complain about the preferential treatment bloggers/vloggers got. The person at the front desk was very nice, and promised us a refund of our ticket costs and help getting our first-night MNSSHP tickets canceled or changed. She took our info and promised to have someone call us 'right back'. No call back. We called ticket services on Monday, mostly to see about getting the second set of tickets changed or canceled. They said they couldn't do anything until they found the specific person we spoke to and someone would call us. I called ticket services again yesterday (4 days from first promised phone call, 2 days from second), and they were willing to switch the dates on my MNSSHP. They weren't willing to address the DAH refund, but did apologize and say they hoped the first person we spoke to came through for us. Should I bother continuing to follow up at this point? I didn't expect to get offered a refund, and honestly wouldn't have asked for one, but now that it's been promised and dropped I'm not sure what to do....


----------



## tarak

Mzpalmtree said:


> I believe I have seen reported that there are no AP discounts offered for AP day of event.





GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yes, the price increases for day of tickets and there are no AP/DVC discounts online day of. You “may” (key word) be able to get the discount if you visit a ticket booth, but YMMV.


Thank you! I wondered if that was the case. I’m not terribly interested in going, it was just a thought at the time. I’m not sure my youngest would hold out that long and we have FP for FOP, so I’ll stick to that.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Nearly 40 DISers going tonight per the VAH date poll:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/m...s-after-hours”-summer-2019-date-poll.3747348/

Wonder if we’ll see another “day of” sell out?

Have fun everyone!


----------



## tm629

Can't wait to hear some reviews for tonight! 

I'm going next week, 6/20. The struggle for me will be staying awake, but I have a long nap scheduled mid-day.


----------



## MinnieMSue

Last week I purchased the Villains after hours T-shirt that had the pocket on the front and large villains print on the back. Went to wear it today and there was a big hole on the side where the seam didn’t get sewn together. I took it back to MK today since we were going there anyway and to the emporium. I couldn’t find the receipt. The lovely employee told me right away that she could exchange same shirt and size (I was mildly disappointed because the large was a tad bit tight and would have liked an extra large but was happy she was able to help ). Anyway after quite a long time she returned very apologetic that they sold out of all sizes except extra large and asked if that was ok. Of course it was. She said a shipment was supposed to come but it was coming from CA and probably wouldn’t make it for tonight. So I guess some merch was sold out last week and won’t make it for tonight unless it arrived today.


----------



## lvcourtneyy

Here now, purchased the hades tank and tumbler at Star Traders at 7:30. Riding BTMRR now!


----------



## KimBean

Wait times look amazing.


----------



## lvcourtneyy

KimBean said:


> Wait times look amazing.



Not bad at all. A little busier than previous after hours we’ve gone to but we’re having a blast


----------



## senadler

We were there last night as well. I agree a little busier, but I think the show attracted enough people each time to keep lines short. I also found all the snack cart lines very short all night, probably due to other options being available. We rode everything we wanted to get done and then watched the 1am show. There was definitely a crowd up until the end. People were lining up all the way down Main Street to see the final parade of malificent.


----------



## Chavaleh

We had fun last night.  I'll have to post a proper list of ask we did later because we're on our way out. Did not do 7dmt because we were saving it till the end and ran out of steam. Much more crowded than the previous AH event we attended but only waited for SM and not long for that, everything else was awalk on. Snack lines ebbed and flowed. We saw many short ones and some longer ones.  Didn't get there till 8ish due to Trader Sams calling our name.


----------



## idahosoxfan

We really enjoyed it last night.  For the most part, lines were short.  We did the HEA dessert party (after) to get a little break while people filtered out of the park and then jumped right in at 10. I did notice long lines at space and BTMRR at the beginning as it took a bit of time to work through folks in the line before 10 that weren’t staying for the event. BTMRR was 35 min at the beginning.  That went down quickly and we walked on 3 straight times a little after 11. Space was listed at 10 min most of the night but seemed to back up a bit toward the end of the event. 

Lines for snacks were short most of the night and I didn’t notice them running out like we experienced at AK earlier this week.  

Was an easy exit out of the park at the end of the night with a quick ferry ride back.  Next time, I just need to be smarter and not get a PPO at Garden Grill the next morning. Dragging a bit this morning.


----------



## disneycat321

senadler said:


> We were there last night as well. I agree a little busier, but I think the show attracted enough people each time to keep lines short. I also found all the snack cart lines very short all night, probably due to other options being available. We rode everything we wanted to get done and then watched the 1am show. There was definitely a crowd up until the end. People were lining up all the way down Main Street to see the final parade of malificent.



Was the 1am show and the crowds to watch Maleficent after it manageable as far as crowds? That's what we're hoping to do since it doesn't take away from ride time, but kinda worried it'll be crazy packed since we can't be the only people with that idea.


----------



## Castlequeen5

disneycat321 said:


> Was the 1am show and the crowds to watch Maleficent after it manageable as far as crowds? That's what we're hoping to do since it doesn't take away from ride time, but kinda worried it'll be crazy packed since we can't be the only people with that idea.


Yep!  That our plan too!  Ha!


----------



## We'reGoingToDisney

idahosoxfan said:


> We really enjoyed it last night.  For the most part, lines were short.  We did the HEA dessert party (after) to get a little break while people filtered out of the park and then jumped right in at 10.



Did you feel rushed to get through the dessert part of the after fireworks party? I have tickets for a (regular not Villains) DAH in August, on what will be our only evening at MK. I would really like to do the dessert party for ease of HEA viewing (we’ve never been before). I currently have a reservation for the before fireworks party, but I am wondering about the after party. It seems like it might be a good way to let some of the crowd die down before heading out for the after hours. But I was wondering if it ends up cutting into your after hours time? Before I bought tickets for DAH, I had a reservation for an after party on a different evening. I rearranged our plans once the DAH dates were announced, and made a reservation for the before party, thinking it would work better with DAH. But now I’m second guessing that...?


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

We are doing the HEA dessert party July 1. (garden before party)
We are doing EMM on June 30th, so our priorities are not FL rides so much during the DAH. (Doing EMM for my GSs, since they'll be fast asleep in their comfy stroller during DAH)
We plan on arriving just in time for the dessert party, and then heading out to hit some lower wait rides and work our way to the overlays.
I am wondering if the first show is too busy, as we may hit it first, then hit the overlay rides afterwards.
I really want a few of the magic shots too.


----------



## Remy is Up

Went last night.  Prior ate at wave which was one of the best meals I've had on property and we eat at sigs all the time. Walked over to mk at about 645. Got in easily. To avoid log jams during the event. Did splash, hm, iasw, astro, and mermaid prior to start. Watched hea  then started. Jc, poc, btmrr( twice), pan, teacups, buzz ( maxed the score), tta, space(twice),, 7dmt. 
Watched the 1am stage show and saw the dragon up close. Waits were minimal for everything ( walk on to 10 minutes. Except dwarves 15 minutes). Snack lines were almost non existant. Closed the night with a 2am picture on an empty main street.


----------



## mekay1012

disneycat321 said:


> Was the 1am show and the crowds to watch Maleficent after it manageable as far as crowds? That's what we're hoping to do since it doesn't take away from ride time, but kinda worried it'll be crazy packed since we can't be the only people with that idea.


 The 1 am show was very packed, but we didn’t get there until 1:10 because the space wait time was a lot longer than posted (posted 10 minutes and it was probably 30). It was nothing like hea, though.


----------



## idahosoxfan

We'reGoingToDisney said:


> Did you feel rushed to get through the dessert part of the after fireworks party? I have tickets for a (regular not Villains) DAH in August, on what will be our only evening at MK. I would really like to do the dessert party for ease of HEA viewing (we’ve never been before). I currently have a reservation for the before fireworks party, but I am wondering about the after party. It seems like it might be a good way to let some of the crowd die down before heading out for the after hours. But I was wondering if it ends up cutting into your after hours time? Before I bought tickets for DAH, I had a reservation for an after party on a different evening. I rearranged our plans once the DAH dates were announced, and made a reservation for the before party, thinking it would work better with DAH. But now I’m second guessing that...?



If you’re worried about it cutting into your time, you may want to keep the before party.  We had my in-laws along celebrating their 50th anniversary.  This was near the end of our trip so we weren’t in a big rush since we’d ridden all the rides already.  We didn’t dally too much on dessert and left the dessert party about 10:05. If we’d really rushed, we could have used another FP+ and gotten in a line before 10.  

We did enjoy being out of the commotion as everyone else left the park.


----------



## Cluelyss

disneycat321 said:


> Was the 1am show and the crowds to watch Maleficent after it manageable as far as crowds? That's what we're hoping to do since it doesn't take away from ride time, but kinda worried it'll be crazy packed since we can't be the only people with that idea.


We were at the 6/13 party and walked up for the 1 am show about 10 minutes prior and had no problem finding a spot right next to the partners statue. It did fill in as the show started, though, so just plan to arrive a few minutes early. We then walked to the end of Main Street and only had to wait a few minutes for the dragon to come by. It’s AMAZING! We watched it earlier in the night and made a point to stick around to see it again.

The Villains heckling from the train station platform were great, too! My hubby was dressed as Gaston, and he called down to DH “Hey, other Gaston, tell these people to get out of here!”

Wait times were great all night, the only wait we had was for Space and only because we went right at 10 (not our original plan but just happened to be in the area and didn’t want to backtrack later). Posted wait was 35 but we were off in 25. Everything else we did was a walk on (HM, BTMRR, Pirates).

Found the mug at Momento Mori around 11 and it sold out while I was checking out (none at Star Traders earlier). That was the only event merchandise I wanted so was happy to grab one of the last ones!

Got all but the Oogie Boogie magic shot....but our Hades shot is missing  it’s magic! Anyone mind posting what it’s supposed to look like before I email PhotoPass?

All in all, it was a great evening, weather was perfect and park felt virtually empty. Would definitely do it again if they continue it past summer or next year. It did feel like the time went VERY quickly, though. Not enough time to do everything - but i think we did a good mix of rides and party exclusive stuff. We also did 3 FPs before the party started, including SDMT, so didn’t check on that wait time. The only thing I missed out on was trying all the party treats I’d planned to sample. But still one of the best WDW events we’ve attended!!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Cluelyss said:


> We were at the 6/13 party and walked up for the 1 am show about 10 minutes prior and had no problem finding a spot right next to the partners statue. It did fill in as the show started, though, so just plan to arrive a few minutes early. We then walked to the end of Main Street and only had to wait a few minutes for the dragon to come by. It’s AMAZING! We watched it earlier in the night and made a point to stick around to see it again.
> 
> The Villains heckling from the train station platform were great, too! My hubby was dressed as Gaston, and he called down to DH “Hey, other Gaston, tell these people to get out of here!”
> 
> Wait times were great all night, the only wait we had was for Space and only because we went right at 10 (not our original plan but just happened to be in the area and didn’t want to backtrack later). Posted wait was 35 but we were off in 25. Everything else we did was a walk on (HM, BTMRR, Pirates).
> 
> Found the mug at Momento Mori around 11 and it sold out while I was checking out (none at Star Traders earlier). That was the only event merchandise I wanted so was happy to grab one of the last ones!
> 
> Got all but the Oogie Boogie magic shot....but our Hades shot is missing  it’s magic! Anyone mind posting what it’s supposed to look like before I email PhotoPass?
> 
> All in all, it was a great evening, weather was perfect and park felt virtually empty. Would definitely do it again if they continue it past summer or next year. It did feel like the time went VERY quickly, though. Not enough time to do everything - but i think we did a good mix of rides and party exclusive stuff. We also did 3 FPs before the party started, including SDMT, so didn’t check on that wait time. The only thing I missed out on was trying all the party treats I’d planned to sample. But still one of the best WDW events we’ve attended!!
> View attachment 409508


Yay! I've been waiting to hear from you! You all look great, as usual!!
Cant wait for July 1st to experience it! 

We plan to do the magic shots too.

 I'd love to see what they look like if anyone wants to share.


----------



## Cluelyss

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Yay! I've been waiting to hear from you! You all look great, as usual!!
> Cant wait for July 1st to experience it!
> 
> We plan to do the magic shots too.
> 
> I'd love to see what they look like if anyone wants to share.


Thank you!!!! We had so much fun and got tons of compliments on our costumes! Hubby and I had a bit of fun around the park with ours!





Here are the Scar and Dragon magic shots. I’ll share Hades once we get it sorted out (no magic in our photo? ) and we didn’t make it to Oogie Boogie, unfortunately.





ETA: Sorry, I don’t know why the first 2 photos are sideways but I can’t figure out how to fix it!!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Cluelyss said:


> Thank you!!!! We had so much fun and got tons of compliments on our costumes! Hubby and I had a bit of fun around the park with ours!
> 
> View attachment 409741
> 
> View attachment 409742
> 
> Here are the Scar and Dragon magic shots. I’ll share Hades once we get it sorted out (no magic in our photo? ) and we didn’t make it to Oogie Boogie, unfortunately.
> 
> View attachment 409744
> 
> View attachment 409743
> 
> ETA: Sorry, I don’t know why the first 2 photos are sideways but I can’t figure out how to fix it!!


LOVE these. Do they have the magic shots on the map? Trying to imagine where these are. I hope to get all of them. Also DS15 is wearing a Gaston shirt, so we may have to copy your husband.


----------



## Dug720

I’m hoping they are rationing the merch - only putting a set amount out per night (not so much a limit on how many of each item people can buy, though that would be nice...) - and things already sold out are not truly sold out.


----------



## Cluelyss

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> LOVE these. Do they have the magic shots on the map? Trying to imagine where these are. I hope to get all of them. Also DS15 is wearing a Gaston shirt, so we may have to copy your husband.


I don’t think the locations were on the map, I found the info online after the first party. 
Scar is across from Sunshine Tree Terrace, Dragon by the Fantasyland wall, Hades in the hub and Oogie Boogie by the Tomorrowland rocks.


----------



## Cluelyss

Dug720 said:


> I’m hoping they are rationing the merch - only putting a set amount out per night (not so much a limit on how many of each item people can buy, though that would be nice...) - and things already sold out are not truly sold out.


I believe they are. When I was purchasing my mug at Momento Mori, the cast members kept checking the status and calling out to each other “6 mugs left” and “down to 4” things like that. They were on a small shelf to the left of the register, so it’s likely they get a certain number to sell each night...at least for the mugs.


----------



## mcurrence

Cluelyss said:


> Thank you!!!! We had so much fun and got tons of compliments on our costumes! Hubby and I had a bit of fun around the park with ours!
> 
> View attachment 409741
> 
> View attachment 409742
> 
> Here are the Scar and Dragon magic shots. I’ll share Hades once we get it sorted out (no magic in our photo? ) and we didn’t make it to Oogie Boogie, unfortunately.
> 
> View attachment 409744
> 
> View attachment 409743
> 
> ETA: Sorry, I don’t know why the first 2 photos are sideways but I can’t figure out how to fix it!!


Awesome that you had a great time! Great costumes!  I've had luck posting pics (on iphone) by editing them to NOT be live pics...does that make sense?  As soon as I save them as not live-they showed up the right way


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

I just read this on the AP site, first I heard of it.
_In addition to this wickedly wonderful discount, beginning June 27, 2019, Annual Passholders attending Disney Villains After Hours can receive a complimentary ornament featuring the head hero hater himself—Hades!_


----------



## Cluelyss

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> I just read this on the AP site, first I heard of it.
> _In addition to this wickedly wonderful discount, beginning June 27, 2019, Annual Passholders attending Disney Villains After Hours can receive a complimentary ornament featuring the head hero hater himself—Hades!_


Wonder if those of us who attended the early parties can get one somehow??? I’d have LOVED for this to be offered at our party!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Yeah, DPB announcement: 

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...ders-can-enjoy-special-offerings-this-summer/

Passholders can take a walk on the vile side during Disney Villains After Hours, a special event held on select nights this summer at Magic Kingdom Park, and will save $30 off the price sold at the ticket window when purchasing tickets in advance. Beginning June 27, they will also receive a complimentary special Passholder Disney Villains After Hours ornament featuring Hades while at the event (limit one (1) per Passholder while supplies list). Ornaments can be picked up at Mickey’s Star Traders in Tomorrowland during the event.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

@Cluelyss - You need to be chief MNSSHP and VAH marketer for Disney.  Arguably no one does these villainous events better than you and your family!


----------



## leafyeon

We went last Thursday to Villains After Hours and had an enjoyable time.  We entered the park at 7 p.m. to maximize our time in MK as we did not have day tickets. Before the official party time, we played Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom, watched HEA, rode Pirates, and ate dinner at Columbia Harbor House.  Once the party started, we did Big Thunder, Splash, Astro Orbiter, PeopleMover, Space Ranger Spin, Mad Tea Party, Mine Train, Peter Pan's Flight, and Space Mountain (not in this order, but I don't remember the exact order).  We also checked out the merchandise and had a Maleficent cone (very delicious).

It was busier than a regular MK After Hours (we attended one in February which we are comparing to), but waits were still not too long. We were sad that there was no Tangled Photopass (the one with the lanterns), as the regular MK After Hours *does* have it. This one did seem to have more snack stands.

Overall, we preferred regular MK After Hours as compared to the Villains theming.  The Villains theming is pretty unnecessary – for instance, they were playing some ominous music for guests at Mad Tea Party, some strange loud sounds in Space Mountain (I read that they were supposed to be villains voices, but they just sounded like loud noises), then playing Akon, Pit Bull, and Ariana Grande very loudly at the castle party. Quite random, not very villainous.  Not sure why they can't just play Disney Villains music, like "Gaston" and "Poor Unfortunate Souls" or even songs from Descendants. 

It is not the best way to take someone to Magic Kingdom for the first time, but certainly for repeat guests, it’s fine and overall enjoyable.


----------



## dancergirlsmom

We are going Aug 8 and really looking forward to it.  I will say my DD will be disappointed about not being able to do the Tangled photo when it's dark.


----------



## Haley R

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> I just read this on the AP site, first I heard of it.
> _In addition to this wickedly wonderful discount, beginning June 27, 2019, Annual Passholders attending Disney Villains After Hours can receive a complimentary ornament featuring the head hero hater himself—Hades!_


Well holy crap, this plus the SWGE previews. I’m so glad we’re getting APs for the first time this summer. With my luck they’ll be gone by the time we get there because it says while supplies last...(actually it says while supplies list lol)

ETA: nvm not going to the SWGE preview now. I’m not paying that price increase for platinum passes


----------



## conandrob240

Is there a full fireworks show or just a stage show? If fireworks, can someone please tell the time. Staying at Poly in two weeks and want to catch it if it’s different from the dreaded Happily Ever After.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

conandrob240 said:


> Is there a full fireworks show or just a stage show? If fireworks, can someone please tell the time. Staying at Poly in two weeks and want to catch it if it’s different from the dreaded Happily Ever After.



No fireworks, just a stage show that happens several times per night.  There is some fire/pyro to it that will be visible from Poly, but will have minimal entertainment value from there.


----------



## Cluelyss

GADisneyDad14 said:


> @Cluelyss - You need to be chief MNSSHP and VAH marketer for Disney.  Arguably no one does these villainous events better than you and your family!


Awwww, thank you!! Halloween at Disney is my absolute favorite (can you tell LOL) and I loved starting early this year!!!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Cluelyss said:


> Wonder if those of us who attended the early parties can get one somehow??? I’d have LOVED for this to be offered at our party!!


Just saw this on the "other" site
_As a courtesy to all Villains After Hours attendees, Annual Passholders who attended past Villains After Hours events will also be eligible to receive the complimentary ornament at a later date, while supplies last. _


----------



## dec2009mama

hi -- wondering if anyone in this thread knows the answer to my question below....posted under dessert party but no replies!

i am thinking of booking the after fireworks dessert party at MK but how does it work if there is an after hours park event that night?
fireworks are at 9:15pm -- assume they are about 15min long and we get back to the dessert area by 9:40pm (or later?)
do they kick us out at 10pm when the after hours event starts? Seems like a very small window of time to sit and enjoy our desserts, we do not want to be rushed out of the dessert party.
Any experiences to share?
pre-fireworks dessert parties are not available on our night and its our last night at MK!


----------



## lvcourtneyy

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Just saw this on the "other" site
> _As a courtesy to all Villains After Hours attendees, Annual Passholders who attended past Villains After Hours events will also be eligible to receive the complimentary ornament at a later date, while supplies last. _



I’m planning to call them and ask if we can have ornaments mailed to us somehow! We won’t be back til October and I want one !


----------



## MinnieMSue

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Just saw this on the "other" site
> _As a courtesy to all Villains After Hours attendees, Annual Passholders who attended past Villains After Hours events will also be eligible to receive the complimentary ornament at a later date, while supplies last. _



Which does me no good being back in Ohio - darn it!


----------



## Stellardude

If I'm in Magic Kingdom the night of Villains After Hours can I stay for the stage show w/ out a badge? I understand that I won't be able to ride anything. Or how does that work? Am I kicked out at the close of the park?


----------



## KangaFan

Stellardude said:


> If I'm in Magic Kingdom the night of Villains After Hours can I stay for the stage show w/ out a badge? I understand that I won't be able to ride anything. Or how does that work? Am I kicked out at the close of the park?



All the reports I've read say that cast members are actively looking for bands and asking folks without them to exit the park.


----------



## osufeth24

Going this Thurs, hope there's a way I can still get an ornament at some point since I won't be going again when they are handing them out


----------



## Haley R

Stellardude said:


> If I'm in Magic Kingdom the night of Villains After Hours can I stay for the stage show w/ out a badge? I understand that I won't be able to ride anything. Or how does that work? Am I kicked out at the close of the park?


No you definitely can’t stay for the stage show. That’s part of the admission price so cms will usher you out before that starts.


----------



## vinotinto

Stellardude said:


> If I'm in Magic Kingdom the night of Villains After Hours can I stay for the stage show w/ out a badge? I understand that I won't be able to ride anything. Or how does that work? Am I kicked out at the close of the park?


No. From easywdw.com's review:
"Unlike the After Hours events elsewhere, there’s a concerted effort to clear the Park with several walls of cast members sending those without wristbands towards the exit beginning right at 10pm. If they didn’t, then those who didn’t pay would be able to linger long enough to see some of the event-exclusive entertainment."


----------



## Haley R

We bought platinum APs today and they’re linked to our names on MDE. When I look at buying villain dah tickets it says I need to update my account to show that we have APs. I’m not really sure what to do because they already show up in my account. Anyone know what to do?


----------



## SaintsManiac

Haley R said:


> We bought platinum APs today and they’re linked to our names on MDE. When I look at buying villain dah tickets it says I need to update my account to show that we have APs. I’m not really sure what to do because they already show up in my account. Anyone know what to do?




I would call the Passholder line.


----------



## Haley R

SaintsManiac said:


> I would call the Passholder line.


I guess I’ll have to do that. Thank you. We aren’t ready to buy tickets yet anyway


----------



## ali_in_al

We went to the Villains party on 6/13. We haven't been to another DAH event to compare, and I'm glad we did this once, but it would not be a repeat party for us. As someone else mentioned, even going in at 7pm, it feels like you can't get to everything you want if you take in the show (I want to say it was about 20 minutes - Maleficent circling around the hub before the show was neat to see). 7DMT and SM had surprisingly (to us) long waits which combined to eating up an hour of the party (we should have done those prior to it starting, but didn't). The loud soundtrack on SM didn't add to the fun, and the club vibe with top 40ish music in the hub in between shows was a miss IMO. I was sent a survey this week and put those thoughts in there about the music. 

We had no issues getting the complimentary snacks as those lines were short, but unfortunately did not get to the merch in time to grab a tumbler (we did get a shirt). My youngest got the Yzma’s Llama Potion at Cool Ship which was Strawberry Fanta in a dry ice cup (almost $8! ) but we didn't try any other special party items.

The best thing was being with my kids of course, the crowds were definitely manageable, and the rain held off for the party time itself (yay!), so I'm not disappointed we tried it out at all. I do wish we were able to get that new AP Hades ornament now though - dang! Here's the picture some of you have asked about (we are notoriously bad at these!). This was the only place we stopped for a pic during the party (felt there was no time!), but we did get a purple wall pic before the party began. CM were doing a great job of checking for party wristbands.

We FP Pooh and Buzz Lightyear before the party (did not have day tickets), and ended up riding Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World, and BTMR before the park closed to day guests at 10pm.
Can't remember the order, but we rode during the party SM, 7DMT, Pirates (the live actors were a fun touch), Jungle Cruise, PeopleMover, Little Mermaid, and watched the second stage show. Oh, there were some really cute Villainous costumes and many themed t-shirts, so feel free to dress up and have fun!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

ali_in_al said:


> We went to the Villains party on 6/13. We haven't been to another DAH event to compare, and I'm glad we did this once, but it would not be a repeat party for us. As someone else mentioned, even going in at 7pm, it feels like you can't get to everything you want if you take in the show (I want to say it was about 20 minutes - Maleficent circling around the hub before the show was neat to see). 7DMT and SM had surprisingly (to us) long waits which combined to eating up an hour of the party (we should have done those prior to it starting, but didn't). The loud soundtrack on SM didn't add to the fun, and the club vibe with top 40ish music in the hub in between shows was a miss IMO. I was sent a survey this week and put those thoughts in there about the music.
> 
> We had no issues getting the complimentary snacks as those lines were short, but unfortunately did not get to the merch in time to grab a tumbler (we did get a shirt). My youngest got the Yzma’s Llama Potion at Cool Ship which was Strawberry Fanta in a dry ice cup (almost $8! ) but we didn't try any other special party items.
> 
> The best thing was being with my kids of course, the crowds were definitely manageable, and the rain held off for the party time itself (yay!), so I'm not disappointed we tried it out at all. I do wish we were able to get that new AP Hades ornament now though - dang! Here's the picture some of you have asked about (we are notoriously bad at these!). This was the only place we stopped for a pic during the party (felt there was no time!), but we did get a purple wall pic before the party began. CM were doing a great job of checking for party wristbands.
> 
> We FP Pooh and Buzz Lightyear before the party (did not have day tickets), and ended up riding Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World, and BTMR before the park closed to day guests at 10pm.
> Can't remember the order, but we rode during the party SM, 7DMT, Pirates (the live actors were a fun touch), Jungle Cruise, PeopleMover, Little Mermaid, and watched the second stage show. Oh, there were some really cute Villainous costumes and many themed t-shirts, so feel free to dress up and have fun!
> View attachment 410159


OK, that is too dang cute!!! Thanks for sharing, that is now top of my list!!!


----------



## Oneanne

I also attended 6.13, haven't done any other DAH events, and while I enjoyed it, it's also a one-and-done for me.  

The highlights where:

... seeing Maleficent up close.  There were very few people around, and she's even more incredible when you can really see her, plus there was something special about her being out on her own, instead of in the parade.      
... the live pirates added to PoC where a lot of fun and added nicely to the ride.  I'd love to see them do this more often.
... every ride I did was walk up.
... the Villain's harassing people from the upper level of the train station was also fun.  

I was solo this trip and I think this event is something that really would have been more fun in a group.  I took a bounding outfit with me, but ended up not wearing it and kind of wish I had.  I had also hoped that after dark would be cooler and more comfortable, but it was still quite muggy... totally outside of Disney's control, but it would have made a difference for me.  I didn't partake in any of the snacks, and skipped both stage shows, not sure if doing either of these would have made the evening more enjoyable or not.

Again, I enjoyed it and am glad I did it, but don't know that I would do another.

Between the humidity and low light, this isn't a good picture, but there she is in all her glory!


----------



## Cluelyss

Oneanne said:


> I also attended 6.13, haven't done any other DAH events, and while I enjoyed it, it's also a one-and-done for me.
> 
> The highlights where:
> 
> ... seeing Maleficent up close.  There were very few people around, and she's even more incredible when you can really see her, plus there was something special about her being out on her own, instead of in the parade.
> ... the live pirates added to PoC where a lot of fun and added nicely to the ride.  I'd love to see them do this more often.
> ... every ride I did was walk up.
> ... the Villain's harassing people from the upper level of the train station was also fun.
> 
> I was solo this trip and I think this event is something that really would have been more fun in a group.  I took a bounding outfit with me, but ended up not wearing it and kind of wish I had.  I had also hoped that after dark would be cooler and more comfortable, but it was still quite muggy... totally outside of Disney's control, but it would have made a difference for me.  I didn't partake in any of the snacks, and skipped both stage shows, not sure if doing either of these would have made the evening more enjoyable or not.
> 
> Again, I enjoyed it and am glad I did it, but don't know that I would do another.
> 
> Between the humidity and low light, this isn't a good picture, but there she is in all her glory!
> 
> View attachment 410165


Interesting that you mention the weather on 6/13 as we thought the night was about as perfect as you could get in Florida in summer! Even my husband (who’s always hot!) commented on how pleasant the night was! Of course, I realize it’s all relative, and we were coming off some majorly hot days earlier in our trip, but we thought the weather  was one of the highlights of the night!


----------



## osufeth24

People talking about not having enough time to do things, and here I am thinking I am going to have a hard time stretching it out to make through the entire time.


----------



## Oneanne

Cluelyss said:


> Interesting that you mention the weather on 6/13 as we thought the night was about as perfect as you could get in Florida in summer! Even my husband (who’s always hot!) commented on how pleasant the night was! Of course, I realize it’s all relative, and we were coming off some majorly hot days earlier in our trip, but we thought the weather  was one of the highlights of the night!


The evening before was perfection for me, but then again I spent part of it just sitting in one of the rocking chairs at Crockett's Tavern, waiting for Hoop De Doo... maybe I was working too hard at having fun during DAH .


----------



## Sarahslay

dec2009mama said:


> hi -- wondering if anyone in this thread knows the answer to my question below....posted under dessert party but no replies!
> 
> i am thinking of booking the after fireworks dessert party at MK but how does it work if there is an after hours park event that night?
> fireworks are at 9:15pm -- assume they are about 15min long and we get back to the dessert area by 9:40pm (or later?)
> do they kick us out at 10pm when the after hours event starts? Seems like a very small window of time to sit and enjoy our desserts, we do not want to be rushed out of the dessert party.
> Any experiences to share?
> pre-fireworks dessert parties are not available on our night and its our last night at MK!


I've been wondering this same thing! I have the after fireworks dessert party booked for Aug. 1 with my daughter, booked it before the Villians AH event was announced and dates released, and now I'm wondering if we're going to be forced to shove our food down and be forced out of the park. I kind of want to do this party, but I'm still on the fence, I just don't want the $100+ dollars I've already spent on the dessert party to be wasted if our time is cut short and we haven't decided to do the party.


----------



## ali_in_al

Here's a list of the Magic Shots if that helps anyone! Magic Shots Available During Disney Villains After Hours


----------



## dec2009mama

Sarahslay said:


> I've been wondering this same thing! I have the after fireworks dessert party booked for Aug. 1 with my daughter, booked it before the Villians AH event was announced and dates released, and now I'm wondering if we're going to be forced to shove our food down and be forced out of the park. I kind of want to do this party, but I'm still on the fence, I just don't want the $100+ dollars I've already spent on the dessert party to be wasted if our time is cut short and we haven't decided to do the party.


happy to know I am not the only one.....wish someone knew the answer


----------



## mekay1012

We also attended on 6/13 and we had a great time.  We were able to use 6 fp before the party started (Tink, Space, Buzz, Little Mermaid, met Rapunzel and Tiana, and Jungle Cruise).  We started our fast passes at 6:40 so I was surprised we were able to get so many in in such a short time frame.  We got on Jungle Cruise about 9:40 and then started with Pirates and worked our way around the park.  We still did not have time for all the rides (I think we missed Dumbo, Pooh, Astro and the speedway).  7dmt was posted as a 25 minute wait, but I think it was more like a 15-20 minutes.  Peter Pan was posted 5, but was more like 10-15.  Space was also posted 10 minutes, but we waited at least 30.  It caused us to miss the beginning of the 1:00 show.  We tried several of the snacks (the Tarot card, the drink from the other side and the browkie).  They were all really good, but the tarot card was one of the best snacks I had the entire week.  I would definitely do another after hours event if the opportunity came up. 

We shopped for the merchandise we wanted right at 7:00.  The emporium was really busy so we walked over to Tomorrow Land.  My siste


----------



## mekay1012

Cluelyss said:


> Interesting that you mention the weather on 6/13 as we thought the night was about as perfect as you could get in Florida in summer! Even my husband (who’s always hot!) commented on how pleasant the night was! Of course, I realize it’s all relative, and we were coming off some majorly hot days earlier in our trip, but we thought the weather  was one of the highlights of the night!


We were there that night and I also thought the weather was about as pleasant as you get in June. We actually thought the whole week was much cooler than years past.


----------



## Lsdolphin

Is it possible to get wristband for Villains party in Tomorrowland if you are already in park or mist you return to front of park? I know we were able to do this during regular DAH parties.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Lsdolphin said:


> Is it possible to get wristband for Villains party in Tomorrowland if you are already in park or mist you return to front of park? I know we were able to do this during regular DAH parties.



Yes. By Tortuga Tavern too


----------



## Lsdolphin

Cinderumbrella said:


> Yes. By Tortuga Tavern too



Thank you


----------



## PPFlight75

So I thought we would end up doing the TL AH event, but the kids didn't want to. Go figure  
I polled them all and the only park in common they had was MK. So I guess we are doing the MK event again but this time as a villains event!! We really enjoyed it over spring break.
We will be attending the 7/1 event!!


----------



## Mrjoshua

mekay1012 said:


> We tried several of the snacks (the Tarot card, the drink from the other side and the browkie).  They were all really good, but the tarot card was one of the best snacks I had the entire week.  I would definitely do another after hours event if the opportunity came up.


Did you happen to notice if any of the villain snacks were being sold prior to 10pm?


----------



## Cluelyss

Mrjoshua said:


> Did you happen to notice if any of the villain snacks were being sold prior to 10pm?


Nowhere that I saw. And I was looking, as I’d hoped to get the Hades nachos for dinner.


----------



## BK2014

osufeth24 said:


> People talking about not having enough time to do things, and here I am thinking I am going to have a hard time stretching it out to make through the entire time.



It depends on how fast you move around the park, the size of your group and what you want to accomplish.  DW and I have been to DAH twice (not Villains events). Both times we have used fastpasses to ride the big ticket items like SDMT so we were not worried about hitting it during DAH.  So we just started by Dumbo and made our way counter-clockwise around the park hitting the rides we want.

For us, the value was in the less crowded park and being able to just move at our own pace from ride to ride with little or no wait.  Both times we got done with our rides 50-60 minutes before the event ended, took photos on Main Street, met some characters and then spent the last 20 minutes or so in the rockers on the porch of the Town Square Theatre drinking soda eating popcorn and just enjoying people watching.


----------



## osufeth24

BK2014 said:


> It depends on how fast you move around the park, the size of your group and what you want to accomplish.  DW and I have been to DAH twice (not Villains events). Both times we have used fastpasses to ride the big ticket items like SDMT so we were not worried about hitting it during DAH.  So we just started by Dumbo and made our way counter-clockwise around the park hitting the rides we want.
> 
> For us, the value was in the less crowded park and being able to just move at our own pace from ride to ride with little or no wait.  Both times we got done with our rides 50-60 minutes before the event ended, took photos on Main Street, met some characters and then spent the last 20 minutes or so in the rockers on the porch of the Town Square Theatre drinking soda eating popcorn and just enjoying people watching.



Ya, it's just me (31) and a buddy whos same age, so there's a lot of rides cut out we won't be doing (dumbo, small world, etc).  Got a FP for SDMT and Space Mountain (this is his first time at Disney, so want him to see normal Space and then the one with the overlay).  We plan on getting there around 730.


----------



## Elle :)

disneycat321 said:


> Thank you! I know many of us are anxiously awaiting reports about this event! (We have tickets for 7/25.)



We have tickets for 7/25 too. My first DAH...and on my B-Day to boot.


----------



## js

My FP day is in two weeks.
There are three adults going in September.
Two adults have APs, the third adult just has this AH ticket (and one "regular" park ticket for the next day at Epcot).
I know I can FPs for the APs but I "should" be able to make two days worth of FP for the AH and "regular one day" ticket holder, is that correct?  If so, what time can I begin to make my FP time start for the AH ticket holder?

Thank you.


----------



## sdk1231

sdk1231 said:


> Silliest question ever, I know, but seriously, how cool is DAH MK?  I'm kind of a fan of special events and am planning a short trip with my 18 year old daughter.  We've been to all of the parties (repeatedly), 4th of July, NYE (twice), Flower & Garden, etc. We've done Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland a couple of times and loved it.  Reading through this (excellent) post, it sure looks overwhelmingly like people love DAH.  I'd do a resort day and go into the park at 7pm for the fireworks and the event.  You all really think it's a "must try"???


Replying to my own question with a (rather belated) update - my teen daughters and I attended Disney After Hours Magic Kingdom.  It was our favorite WDW experience to date.  So thanks to all who responded "Yes - do it!".  You were right.  It was awesome.


----------



## osufeth24

Stupid question, probably was already answered.   We are going to enter the park around 730, my buddy doesn't have day tickets (I have an AP), just the villans EMH.  Will they gave us bands there at the gate (or guest services), or do we  need to go to one of the pickup locations in the park to get them?

The ticket is already on MDE and he has a magicband (if hat helps answer the question)


----------



## PolyRob

osufeth24 said:


> Stupid question, probably was already answered.   We are going to enter the park around 730, my buddy doesn't have day tickets (I have an AP), just the villans EMH.  Will they gave us bands there at the gate (or guest services), or do we  need to go to one of the pickup locations in the park to get them?
> 
> The ticket is already on MDE and he has a magicband (if hat helps answer the question)


Since you are entering after 7pm, you can just go right to the special event entrance which will be roped off from the main park entrance tapstyles and receive your DAH bands as you enter the park. You can both tap your MagicBands and the tapstyle will recognize the DAH admission since its already linked.


----------



## osufeth24

PolyRob said:


> Since you are entering after 7pm, you can just go right to the special event entrance which will be roped off from the main park entrance tapstyles and receive your DAH bands as you enter the park. You can both tap your MagicBands and the tapstyle will recognize the DAH admission since its already linked.



gotcha, thanks.  Only time i've done any sort of party was Christmas but we were in MK in the morning and just picked it up in the park, so wasn't sure how the front gate was


----------



## mekay1012

Mrjoshua said:


> Did you happen to notice if any of the villain snacks were being sold prior to 10pm?


We didn’t really look before 10:00, but we also found a lot t of the normal snack places were closed pretty early. I wanted a Cheshire Cat tail and it was closed around 8:00 or so when I went to get one.


----------



## Schilltastic4

We have tickets for tonight and I'm wondering when the free snacks start. I've half heartedly tried to find the answerto no avail


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Schilltastic4 said:


> We have tickets for tonight and I'm wondering when the free snacks start. I've half heartedly tried to find the answerto no avail



They start when the event starts.


----------



## Cluelyss

js said:


> My FP day is in two weeks.
> There are three adults going in September.
> Two adults have APs, the third adult just has this AH ticket (and one "regular" park ticket for the next day at Epcot).
> I know I can FPs for the APs but I "should" be able to make two days worth of FP for the AH and "regular one day" ticket holder, is that correct?  If so, what time can I begin to make my FP time start for the AH ticket holder?
> 
> Thank you.


Yes, you can make 2 days of FPs for the non-passholder. Do the regular park day selections first, then the AH night, beginning at 7 pm.


----------



## Schilltastic4

Cinderumbrella said:


> They start when the event starts.


Thanks,  I was hoping we'd be able to get them when we arrived at 630.... bummer!


----------



## Mollymovacca

Running a bit later than expected but pulling up to MK by bus now! Can’t wait to get this villainous night started!!!!


----------



## mekay1012

Schilltastic4 said:


> We have tickets for tonight and I'm wondering when the free snacks start. I've half heartedly tried to find the answerto no avail


We saw snacks right at 10:00 or shortly after.


----------



## maui2k5

How are the crowds tonight?


----------



## Chisoxcollector

maui2k5 said:


> How are the crowds tonight?



We attended last night.  It felt much more crowded than the two regular MK DAH events we’ve attended.  The lines for attractions weren’t really any worse, but the park just felt much more crowded, even outside of the hub.  It felt like there were twice as many people in the park.

We probably had our worst time yet.  Still a relatively good time, but neither of use thought it was amazing like previous parties.  The stage show and Maleficent stuff were good.  Unfortunately we didn’t get to see much of Maleficent.  We planned on watching her final lap after park closing.  We staked out perfect spots at the end of Main Street, right in front of where the Xmas tree would sit.  Unfortunately at 1:20am they announced Maleficent would be delayed.  We were exhausted so we left.  Very disappointing.

We also had issues with the free snacks.  First off, I’m disappointed they’ve removed the Olaf bar and chocolate covered banana from the snack lineup.  The banana was the only snack I was planning on getting, and the Olaf bar is my wife’s favorite.  It’s just like Disney to charge way more for this event, and then remove value from it. 

We also had issues getting room temperature sodas and waters, and ice creams that were melted and gross.

Unless we see reviews that the regular DAH is up to its previous standards when it returns, we are probably done with DAH at MK.

Tonight we are attending our first DAH at HS.  I hope we enjoy it a little bit more!


----------



## Haley R

Chisoxcollector said:


> We attended last night.  It felt much more crowded than the two regular MK DAH events we’ve attended.  The lines for attractions weren’t really any worse, but the park just felt much more crowded, even outside of the hub.  It felt like there were twice as many people in the park.
> 
> We probably had our worst time yet.  Still a relatively good time, but neither of use thought it was amazing like previous parties.  The stage show and Maleficent stuff were good.  Unfortunately we didn’t get to see much of Maleficent.  We planned on watching her final lap after park closing.  We staked out perfect spots at the end of Main Street, right in front of where the Xmas tree would sit.  Unfortunately at 1:20am they announced Maleficent would be delayed.  We were exhausted so we left.  Very disappointing.
> 
> We also had issues with the free snacks.  First off, I’m disappointed they’ve removed the Olaf bar and chocolate covered banana from the snack lineup.  The banana was the only snack I was planning on getting, and the Olaf bar is my wife’s favorite.  It’s just like Disney to charge way more for this event, and then remove value from it.
> 
> We also had issues getting room temperature sodas and waters, and ice creams that were melted and gross.
> 
> Unless we see reviews that the regular DAH is up to its previous standards when it returns, we are probably done with DAH at MK.
> 
> Tonight we are attending our first DAH at HS.  I hope we enjoy it a little bit more!


They got rid of the Olaf bars? That’s a huge disappointment. I hadn’t heard that yet. That’s my favorite ice cream there. Are you planning on emailing about how things went?


----------



## Chisoxcollector

Haley R said:


> They got rid of the Olaf bars? That’s a huge disappointment. I hadn’t heard that yet. That’s my favorite ice cream there. Are you planning on emailing about how things went?


Yeah, every snack location has a Villains themed sign showing the available frozen snacks.  It just lists the premium bar, ice cream sandwich, and strawberry bar.  It also mentions something about a sugar free bar available.  We asked about the banana and Olaf bar, and were told they weren’t offered during the event.

I was on the fence about complaining, as we complained about a horrible Halloween party already last year and don’t want to get flagged in some way.  But we attend tons of these events, so hopefully complaining about two wouldn’t raise any red flags.  I think I will say something.

What email address have you guys been successful using?


----------



## Amy&Dan

My daughter and I attended last night.  It was our first after hours event.  We got an AP discount and we had fun but even so this is a one and done thing for us.  I'm glad we went but we won't do it again.  Just as we are done with MNSSHP which we've over a dozen times, this event is a high priced, oversold event that doesn't hold enough value for us.  

This was our final night of a 7 night trip. The previous evening was an emh  1:00 a.m closing and I swear we had more fun at that.  

Here are my random observations:

Snack lines were fine, but we were really bummed they didn't have the frozen bananas.  The first box of popcorn tasted stale, like it had been sitting out for way too long.  We threw it out.  The second time it was fine.  First ice cream sandwich was fine, the next one was a soggy mess we could not eat.  Got two cokes from different carts, both were warm.  Our waters were cold at least.

Ride lines were not bad except for Space and 7DMT.  We spent one third of our party getting those knocked out (between midnight and 1).  We wanted to experience the SM darkness/music and we hadn't been able to do 7DMT due to closures from weather earlier in the trip.  We also waited 20 minutes for POTC right at the beginning  but I noticed that wait went way down later on.  Peter Pan was down the last hour so we missed that.

The park had way more people in it than I was expecting.   Way more.  We were in every area and never encountered that empty feeling I had heard about in previous after hours parties. At times it was packed.  Very disappointed about that.

There were massive numbers of cms.  At one point my dd and I were walking in a huge crowd of nothing but cms.  It was odd.  

Some highlights for us were riding Astro Orbiter and Aladdin's carpets with hardly anyone else. Both are rides we hadn't done in years.  We liked Space Mountain a lot!  It's our favorite ride so having it a little different was fun.  Maleficent was amazing.  We caught her at the end of the night on Main Street.   

My best advice is do not suck up your time on Space Mountain,  7DMT or eating anything but the free stuff.  We ate dinner at our resort before we got to MK at 7.  That way we were hungry for ice cream at 10 and weren't wasting time.  I can tell you that this 3 hours went so much quicker than I  thought.  I was thrilled that dd and I got off Space Mountain at 12:56 and hightailed over to TTA just before it closed.  It was a relaxing way to milk out a little more time riding!  

Here is what we rode in our 3 hours:
POTC
Aladdin's Carpets
Buzz
Astro Orbiter 
Tea Cups
Winnie the Pooh
TTA (2x)
Space Mountain
7DMT 

Would have loved to ride Splash Mountain and BTMRR but we just ran out of time. Still we rode a lot but I wanted that empty park feeling and believe me when I say the closest we got was on Astro Orbiter.   As the two of us plus two other rockets rode around with beautiful views above Tomorrow Land it was special.  The cm offered that we could stay on, I wish we had!

Disney has added this villain overlay and it's obviously bumped up crowds.  Good for them, good for villains fans (of which we are not).  Bad for me and my daughter.   Again, we had fun but just not what we were hoping.   I predict this event will get more crowded.


----------



## Haley R

Chisoxcollector said:


> Yeah, every snack location has a Villains themed sign showing the available frozen snacks.  It just lists the premium bar, ice cream sandwich, and strawberry bar.  It also mentions something about a sugar free bar available.  We asked about the banana and Olaf bar, and were told they weren’t offered during the event.
> 
> I was on the fence about complaining, as we complained about a horrible Halloween party already last year and don’t want to get flagged in some way.  But we attend tons of these events, so hopefully complaining about two wouldn’t raise any red flags.  I think I will say something.
> 
> What email address have you guys been successful using?


Wow that stinks. I hate that they see how far they can push these events. Taking away some of the snacks is getting to be too much. I still would like to try the villain dah once. 

I usually use this one: guest.services@disneyworld.com


----------



## Haley R

Amy&Dan said:


> My daughter and I attended last night.  It was our first after hours event.  We got an AP discount and we had fun but even so this is a one and done thing for us.  I'm glad we went but we won't do it again.  Just as we are done with MNSSHP which we've over a dozen times, this event is a high priced, oversold event that doesn't hold enough value for us.
> 
> This was our final night of a 7 night trip. The previous evening was an emh  1:00 a.m closing and I swear we had more fun at that.
> 
> Here are my random observations:
> 
> Snack lines were fine, but we were really bummed they didn't have the frozen bananas.  The first box of popcorn tasted stale, like it had been sitting out for way too long.  We threw it out.  The second time it was fine.  First ice cream sandwich was fine, the next one was a soggy mess we could not eat.  Got two cokes from different carts, both were warm.  Our waters were cold at least.
> 
> Ride lines were not bad except for Space and 7DMT.  We spent one third of our party getting those knocked out (between midnight and 1).  We wanted to experience the SM darkness/music and we hadn't been able to do 7DMT due to closures from weather earlier in the trip.  We also waited 20 minutes for POTC right at the beginning  but I noticed that wait went way down later on.  Peter Pan was down the last hour so we missed that.
> 
> The park had way more people in it than I was expecting.   Way more.  We were in every area and never encountered that empty feeling I had heard about in previous after hours parties. At times it was packed.  Very disappointed about that.
> 
> There were massive numbers of cms.  At one point my dd and I were walking in a huge crowd of nothing but cms.  It was odd.
> 
> Some highlights for us were riding Astro Orbiter and Aladdin's carpets with hardly anyone else. Both are rides we hadn't done in years.  We liked Space Mountain a lot!  It's our favorite ride so having it a little different was fun.  Maleficent was amazing.  We caught her at the end of the night on Main Street.
> 
> My best advice is do not suck up your time on Space Mountain,  7DMT or eating anything but the free stuff.  We ate dinner at our resort before we got to MK at 7.  That way we were hungry for ice cream at 10 and weren't wasting time.  I can tell you that this 3 hours went so much quicker than I  thought.  I was thrilled that dd and I got off Space Mountain at 12:56 and hightailed over to TTA just before it closed.  It was a relaxing way to milk out a little more time riding!
> 
> Here is what we rode in our 3 hours:
> POTC
> Aladdin's Carpets
> Buzz
> Astro Orbiter
> Tea Cups
> Winnie the Pooh
> TTA (2x)
> Space Mountain
> 7DMT
> 
> Would have loved to ride Splash Mountain and BTMRR but we just ran out of time. Still we rode a lot but I wanted that empty park feeling and believe me when I say the closest we got was on Astro Orbiter.   As the two of us plus two other rockets rode around with beautiful views above Tomorrow Land it was special.  The cm offered that we could stay on, I wish we had!
> 
> Disney has added this villain overlay and it's obviously bumped up crowds.  Good for them, good for villains fans (of which we are not).  Bad for me and my daughter.   Again, we had fun but just not what we were hoping.   I predict this event will get more crowded.


Well that’s a bummer. If you have time I would definitely email them. I think they need to know that the event wasn’t what you expected and seemed overcrowded


----------



## Amy&Dan

Haley R said:


> Well that’s a bummer. If you have time I would definitely email them. I think they need to know that the event wasn’t what you expected and seemed overcrowded


I'm definitely emailing them. I should have emailed them in October after our completely awful MNSSHP.   I'm going to bring that up too, better late than never lol.


----------



## SG131

Haley R said:


> Wow that stinks. I hate that they see how far they can push these events. Taking away some of the snacks is getting to be too much. I still would like to try the villain dah once.
> 
> I usually use this one: guest.services@disneyworld.com


When I went in Dec to a regular after hours, the banana or Olaf bar were not part of the offerings either.  I thought it was always just popcorn, mickey bar, sandwich cookie and strawberry pop.


----------



## Haley R

SG131 said:


> When I went in Dec to a regular after hours, the banana or Olaf bar were not part of the offerings either.  I thought it was always just popcorn, mickey bar, sandwich cookie and strawberry pop.


We went in January and got Olaf bars and bananas, only at mk though


----------



## osufeth24

Was there last night.  Never been an After Hours event, so I can't compare it.  So to me the crowd level was wonderful, as this was the lowest amount of people I've ever been in the park with.  Only rides that weren't walkon was SDMT and Space Mountain.  We hit those 2 rides last hoping some of the crowds were going to be leaving.  SDMT was a 20 minute wait I believe (maybe 25) and Space Mountain was listed as 15, but I think it was more like 20-25.  I really enjoyed Space Mountain in the complete darkness, I do agree with a lot of people saying the overlay needed better sound.  It was hard to hear Ursula throughout most of the ride as sounds from the ride itself was drowning it out.

The pirates overlay was neat, but having barbossa where he was kind of didn't make sense with the ride, but still cool.

Only snack I purchased was the Hades nachos.  They were decent.  I wanted to purchase one of the desserts, but just never got around to it in time.  Did have a Mickey Ice Cream sandwhich that was good.


----------



## KangaFan

I know the first event was sold out, but does anyone know if last week's or last night's events were sold out?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

KangaFan said:


> I know the first event was sold out, but does anyone know if last week's or last night's events were sold out?



They were not sold out.


----------



## counselormom

osufeth24 said:


> Was there last night.  Never been an After Hours event, so I can't compare it.  So to me the crowd level was wonderful, as this was the lowest amount of people I've ever been in the park with.  Only rides that weren't walkon was SDMT and Space Mountain.  We hit those 2 rides last hoping some of the crowds were going to be leaving.  SDMT was a 20 minute wait I believe (maybe 25) and Space Mountain was listed as 15, but I think it was more like 20-25.  I really enjoyed Space Mountain in the complete darkness, I do agree with a lot of people saying the overlay needed better sound.  It was hard to hear Ursula throughout most of the ride as sounds from the ride itself was drowning it out.
> 
> The pirates overlay was neat, but having barbossa where he was kind of didn't make sense with the ride, but still cool.
> 
> Only snack I purchased was the Hades nachos.  They were decent.  I wanted to purchase one of the desserts, but just never got around to it in time.  Did have a Mickey Ice Cream sandwhich that was good.


I’m glad to read your review. I just spent $600 on tickets and was having serious regrets.  I’m just in it for the low wait times.  When do you think is the best time to ride SM?


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

https://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/disney-villains-after-hours-walkthrough-part-one/Josh has part 1 and 2 for his night last week. Might be helpful for some.
(Edit to add, I don't think this link is not allowed, but if it is SORRY GADad!)


----------



## osufeth24

counselormom said:


> I’m glad to read your review. I just spent $600 on tickets and was having serious regrets.  I’m just in it for the low wait times.  When do you think is the best time to ride SM?



I think it's a lot of fun..to do once.  I probably wouldn't attend another Villans after hours unless they really changed it up. 

As far as SM, it's hard to say as I wasn't really checking the wait time for it throughout the day.  I'd be surprised though if it was any lower at any point then when we went on (I think we got in line around 1230).


----------



## KangaFan

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I’m already a bit leery of app wait times during these things, but 10 min 7DMT at event start?  That’s pretty rare.
> 
> 
> They were not sold out.



That's disappointing considering the crowd reports. We're going the last date, August 8, since it was the only one offered when our whole party is at Disney, but I'm worried that it will sell out because it's the last one. I think my sisters and nieces will enjoy it either way since they haven't been to a regular one, but since my daughter and I went to a virtually empty MK for one last June, we'll have to manage our own expectations.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

counselormom said:


> I’m glad to read your review. I just spent $600 on tickets and was having serious regrets.  I’m just in it for the low wait times.  When do you think is the best time to ride SM?



About halfway through. A lot of people go first to see the overlay. And it seems so far that a lot try to do it last as well. We did if around 11 on opening night and had a short wait (less than 10 for sure) and did it at 12:40 and it was 20 minutes.


----------



## f1gm3nt

I thought I'd give a quick report from a solo trip on June 20. My number one goal for going was to avoid line waits, the number two goal was to see PotC and SM with the overlays, and the number three goal was to watch the Maleficient parade. I caught part of the Villains stage show on Youtube, and decided that I wasn't going to plan around it.

With the DAH ticket, you were told you could enter at 7pm - it was actually about 6:45 when they started letting people in to the park.

Before the event started at 10pm, I rode:
Peter Pan - FP 
Space Mountain - FP
Got dinner at Pecos Bill's here in the middle
Splash Mountain - FP (last pre-booked FP)
Magical Carpet x2 - FP during the Happily Ever After Fireworks
Treehouse during Fireworks
Jungle Cruise - FP
Haunted Mansion - 9:45pm - 10 minute posted wait, out at 10:01pm or so.

At this point the event started, and every CM started asking to see the DAH wristbands - and they were pretty active about going around to people that were just sitting down and not even walking around.

I looked on the MDE app, and 7DMT was showing a 10 minute wait right at 10:02 pm - I went straight there from HM, and hopped in the FP line for about a 10-15 minute wait. From 7DMT, I went to Peter Pan again, but the line was long and slow and did not seem to be a 10 minute wait, so I bailed for Pirates - which said 10 minutes and was probably about that. I only saw one actor in the queue, and that was skippable. The pirate on the bridge was getting a kick out of the audience participation - that was actually a lot of fun.

Since I was over at Pirates, I went to BTM, for a 10 minute wait, and then called it quits on that side of the park - I did everything except Tiki Room. Over to Tomorrowland, where I rode an empty People Mover, no real wait for Astro Orbiter except for the elevators up, an empty walk-on Buzz, and then a 15 minute wait for Space Mountain. I was disappointed in the "pitch-dark" and "villains voices" part of Space - I actually thought it was much cooler to go through SM on the People Mover where you could hear Ursula and hear screaming coaster riders but not see them, than it was to be on Space. I wouldn't wait real long in line for this unless you just really like Space Mountain. 

Done with Tomorrowland, I walked back to Frontierland for another ride on BTM, and then finished on Splash. Caught the 1 am stage show, thought the DJ/projects/lights were fun at the castle, and then watched Maleficient right in front of the castle. Villain Hecklers were gone by 1:50am, so missed all of that.

I enjoyed the event, especially at roughly the same price as a 1-day MK ticket.


----------



## PPFlight75

Haley R said:


> We went in January and got Olaf bars and bananas, only at mk though


The Olaf bar was our favorite. Now my DH doesn't want to go lol!


----------



## Haley R

PPFlight75 said:


> The Olaf bar was our favorite. Now my DH doesn't want to go lol!


I don’t blame him! lol


----------



## Mzpalmtree

What is an Olaf bar? I think I must be missing out on something good, lol. When we were at MK AH last month they had the bananas and I LOVE chocolate covered bananas, but the one I got was partially melted, mushy, and brown. I seriously grossed me out and I avoided getting one the next night at HS AH in favor of the strawberry bar.


----------



## PPFlight75

Mzpalmtree said:


> What is an Olaf bar? I think I must be missing out on something good, lol. When we were at MK AH last month they had the bananas and I LOVE chocolate covered bananas, but the one I got was partially melted, mushy, and brown. I seriously grossed me out and I avoided getting one the next night at HS AH in favor of the strawberry bar.


It's a lemonade strawberry bar. So kinda sweet and tart. But totally delicious!!


----------



## Haley R

PPFlight75 said:


> It's a lemonade strawberry bar. So kinda sweet and tart. But totally delicious!!


I had one yesterday at Epcot. It was sooo good


----------



## Haley R

Mzpalmtree said:


> What is an Olaf bar? I think I must be missing out on something good, lol. When we were at MK AH last month they had the bananas and I LOVE chocolate covered bananas, but the one I got was partially melted, mushy, and brown. I seriously grossed me out and I avoided getting one the next night at HS AH in favor of the strawberry bar.


Dh’s favorite is the banana. When he got his in January it was frozen solid so he took it on people mover and waited for it to thaw out lol


----------



## Mzpalmtree

Ohhhh! It sounds like I totally am missing out. Olaf bars sound DELISH. I'll have to get one next trip. Hopefully they will bring them back to AH.


----------



## ArielSRL

So I am not caught up on this thread but I wanted to post a modest review from last Thursday (6/13). Full disclosure, I added this last minute so I showed up an hour late. I was visiting last week with my family but I ditched them to attend with a friend who also ditched her family. She mentioned doing quite a bit of things before I even met her (she arrived before the 10pm start time). When I first walked in, I got photos of myself in front of the castle (no wait) then watched the dragon come around. After that, I visited with my friend for a few minutes and then we headed toward Space. I think it said 10m min wait but really there was none. FYI, it was absolute complete darkness on that ride. Afterward I bought a shirt. Next we decided to get water and popcorn, minimal wait. Chatted some more, finished snacks, rode Astro Orbiter, very little wait. Awesome to see the lights, very quick ride. Next we made our way back for the 12pm castle show. Great spot right up front. Next treats at Sleepy Hollow, then Big Thunder (no wait), and Pirates  (no wait) before the night was over. I definitely lost time by being an hour late but all rides we saw were walk on except 7D. I've never done a regular DAH but I think there is no way to participate in the special VAH offerings and do a lot of rides. It definitely wasn't very busy and I did not see very many vloggers. 

I am happy I did this one but I feel like I need to do a regular DAH to compare the two.


----------



## counselormom

Cinderumbrella said:


> About halfway through. A lot of people go first to see the overlay. And it seems so far that a lot try to do it last as well. We did if around 11 on opening night and had a short wait (less than 10 for sure) and did it at 12:40 and it was 20 minutes.


Sounds like a good plan; thanks!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

*Some thread housekeeping....*

A big *THANK YOU* to the 24 DISers who have stopped by to review their Villains After Hours experiences so far.  For those new, event review posts are linked on Post #10:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898155

Have these events been selling out?  The first VAH did, the following two did not.  Sold out history is tracked on Post #3:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898144

Heading to a VAH night this summer?  Log your date on the date poll!   https://www.disboards.com/threads/magic-kingdom-“villains-after-hours”-summer-2019-date-poll.3747348/

Thank you to everyone for your contributions to the DIS!


----------



## GlassSlipper13

Hello, does anyone happen to know exactly where the Hades Magic Shot is? Is it near the Mickey & Walt statues or near the outer hubs of the castle? Thank you!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

GlassSlipper13 said:


> Hello, does anyone happen to know exactly where the Hades Magic Shot is? Is it near the Mickey & Walt statues or near the outer hubs of the castle? Thank you!



I've been cutting and pasting reports and links to Post #9, here's what I have seen so far... although I'm not sure what "Outer Hubs" means exactly.... 

*Villains After Hours Special PhotoPass Shot Locations:*

Maleficent by the Fantasyland Wall
Oogie Boogie at the Tomorrowland Rocks
Scar at Sunshine Tree Terrace
Hades at the Outer Hubs of Cinderella Castle

Another report from @Cluelyss:

"Scar is across from Sunshine Tree Terrace, Dragon by the Fantasyland wall, Hades in the hub and Oogie Boogie by the Tomorrowland rocks."

And a list for the Disney Parks Blog here:


*Spellbinding Magic Shots Available During Disney Villains After Hours at Magic Kingdom Park*
Select nights through August 8, 2019, you can celebrate Disney’s best-loved baddies at Disney Villains After Hours at Magic Kingdom Park! At this new summer event, experience the all-new night show “Villains Unite the Night,” the Maleficent
disneyparks.disney.go.com


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Yes, thanks for the reviews!  We're in the process of moving our trip to August and we overlap with one of the dates, and while I've done MK DAH before, I'm a little on the fence with this one so these are helpful! The extra entertainment sounds really fun, but our previous dates have been during winter months, so the "after hours" have been a little earlier and more manageable for my early bird 12 year old.  She does tend to turn into a pumpkin!  I'm still a little on the fence but I'm leaning on giving it a shot!


----------



## PPFlight75

TheFloatingBear said:


> Yes, thanks for the reviews!  We're in the process of moving our trip to August and we overlap with one of the dates, and while I've done MK DAH before, I'm a little on the fence with this one so these are helpful! The extra entertainment sounds really fun, but our previous dates have been during winter months, so the "after hours" have been a little earlier and more manageable for my early bird 12 year old.  She does tend to turn into a pumpkin!  I'm still a little on the fence but I'm leaning on giving it a shot!


We did the 10-1 event back in April and I was worried about my 14 DD (even more than my 10 yo DS)! She is almost always asleep by 10 no matter what. Even at sleepovers, she can't make it past 10. I can't believe she made it until 1 at this event lol! She was acting kinda crazy and sleep deprived but she made it and had a great time. So we are giving it another go 7/1. Whatever you decide have fun!


----------



## heidijanesmith

DH and I attended the event on 6/13/19. 

I am not sure if it's a fair comparison as the 1st DAH I attended was Jan 2018 and it was so new. The Villians DAH was so much more crowded. There were so many more people in the park and the lines were longer than prior.

Space Mountain- loved the total darkness. The line was nuts. At 10:30 we all got in the FP line. The wait said 20min, but then it turned into 40. It looked as if they were only running the right side. The line finally started moving and they were running both sides.

7 dwarfs - lines were consistent at about 20min. 

I did not see any CM's escorting people with out wrist bands out. I saw a family at Buzz being turned away at the ride entrance by a CM, but then they just wandered away. This was about 11PM.

DH liked the fact that MK was less crowded than regular hours. The park was packed before the event!

Overall it was a good event. I was worried before about the crowd level and it was not great. Not terrible like MNSSHP crowds, but not what I expected from prior DAH.


----------



## focusondisney

Haley R said:


> We went in January and got Olaf bars and bananas, only at mk though



I also had the frozen banana at our Feb 7th DAH.


----------



## Farro

@GADisneyDad14

First - thanks for these threads, very helpful!

I've read each and am I correct that it seems each park has one once at week (I know that can change at any time)?

I was looking at May and it seemed AK was early in the week (Tuesday), MK was mid-week (Thursday) and DHS was Friday or Saturday?

I think since everything closes around 9pm in May outside of MK we will do the party at AK and DHS. We will be there a Wednesday to the next Friday (9 nights).
Of course my luck these will end May 5 and we arrive May 6.


----------



## Dbktmc

Sorry for the late review but we just got home last night!  We attended the Villain event on 6/13.

We arrived around 5:30 pm and entered the park using our annual passes and regular passes (my parents).  The park didn't feel as crowded as it normally does in June so that was a good thing.  We ate dinner and rode a few rides that we knew that we wanted to ride but didn't want to ride during the event.

Once the event started, as others have reported, there was a wall of cast members everywhere trying to get people out of the park.  However, several times I saw people enjoying ice cream that didn't have a band on.  I didn't say anything as the cast members seemed to be actively looking and I figured that they would be "caught" soon.

The event was incredibly crowded in our perspective.  I would compare it to an early morning hours where only hotel guests can come in.  Was it as crowded as a regular day in the parks?  Absolutely not and if that is what you are looking for then it would be great.  However, in my opinion, the event is way more expensive than a normal park day and is only limited to 3 hours.  When you have crowds the size of extra magic hours then it just isn't worth it.  I can get up and go into an extra magic hours park, for free, everyday of the week and accomplish just as much.

I did see the Tracker video and completely agree that you need to choose what you are going to focus on.  I really wanted to ride the rides but the rest of my family decided to wait and watch Maleficent and the stage show.  That took a HUGE amount of time away from the rides and, in my opinion, wasn't worth it.  I also agree with his comments on the crowds.  It was definitely crowded.

I would absolutely not do this again and can't recommend this party to anyone else either.  Again, if you have never been to the park with low crowds such as rope drop, you may think this was amazing.  For us, the incredibly high price, short amount of time, and high crowds made this a one and done for us.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

PPFlight75 said:


> We did the 10-1 event back in April and I was worried about my 14 DD (even more than my 10 yo DS)! She is almost always asleep by 10 no matter what. *Even at sleepovers, she can't make it past 10*. I can't believe she made it until 1 at this event lol! She was acting kinda crazy and sleep deprived but she made it and had a great time. So we are giving it another go 7/1. Whatever you decide have fun!



My daughter is the same way! No matter how much fun she's having, she just hits a wall! That's great that your daughter was able to rise to the occasion and make it to the end! Yes, the ones we did were maybe even 8-11? They were January, so definitely earlier, as opposed to the 10-1.  But if we do it, we can make an escape plan for her and one of us me or my husband, and then the other (hopefully me) can stay with the night owl 14YO! 

But I was just doing my spreadsheet and I noticed the Typhoon Lagoon Glow Night is the same night, so that intrigues me too! And it's earlier, it's like 8-11. That could be fun but it's a short trip, only 4 nights, so if we did that we probably wouldn't have enough MK time for my liking! Either way, it will be fun, I'm sure!


----------



## elle101me

Dbktmc said:


> Sorry for the late review but we just got home last night!  We attended the Villain event on 6/13.
> 
> We arrived around 5:30 pm and entered the park using our annual passes and regular passes (my parents).  The park didn't feel as crowded as it normally does in June so that was a good thing.  We ate dinner and rode a few rides that we knew that we wanted to ride but didn't want to ride during the event.
> 
> Once the event started, as others have reported, there was a wall of cast members everywhere trying to get people out of the park.  However, several times I saw people enjoying ice cream that didn't have a band on.  I didn't say anything as the cast members seemed to be actively looking and I figured that they would be "caught" soon.
> 
> The event was incredibly crowded in our perspective.  I would compare it to an early morning hours where only hotel guests can come in.  Was it as crowded as a regular day in the parks?  Absolutely not and if that is what you are looking for then it would be great.  However, in my opinion, the event is way more expensive than a normal park day and is only limited to 3 hours.  When you have crowds the size of extra magic hours then it just isn't worth it.  I can get up and go into an extra magic hours park, for free, everyday of the week and accomplish just as much.
> 
> I did see the Tracker video and completely agree that you need to choose what you are going to focus on.  I really wanted to ride the rides but the rest of my family decided to wait and watch Maleficent and the stage show.  That took a HUGE amount of time away from the rides and, in my opinion, wasn't worth it.  I also agree with his comments on the crowds.  It was definitely crowded.
> 
> I would absolutely not do this again and can't recommend this party to anyone else either.  Again, if you have never been to the park with low crowds such as rope drop, you may think this was amazing.  For us, the incredibly high price, short amount of time, and high crowds made this a one and done for us.


I think I’m going to pass on this. I’ve done 2 DAH events, and they’ve been awesome, but I think when they added the villains they also upped the amount of tickets they sell.


----------



## PPFlight75

TheFloatingBear said:


> My daughter is the same way! No matter how much fun she's having, she just hits a wall! That's great that your daughter was able to rise to the occasion and make it to the end! Yes, the ones we did were maybe even 8-11? They were January, so definitely earlier, as opposed to the 10-1.  But if we do it, we can make an escape plan for her and one of us me or my husband, and then the other (hopefully me) can stay with the night owl 14YO!
> 
> But I was just doing my spreadsheet and I noticed the Typhoon Lagoon Glow Night is the same night, so that intrigues me too! And it's earlier, it's like 8-11. That could be fun but it's a short trip, only 4 nights, so if we did that we probably wouldn't have enough MK time for my liking! Either way, it will be fun, I'm sure!


The TL event looks fun too! I thought my kids would want that one but chose MK. I agree about the MK quota. You just have to have a certain amount of time there! .
I think any of the events would be fun!


----------



## PPFlight75

Just purchased my tickets for 7/1, so now we are committed lol! The absence of Olaf bars almost made me change my mind but the kids want to do it again.
I hope it ends up being a good decision. I'm kinda worried based on recent reviews. We are going just for rides and not the shows so I hope that helps us! 
We want to try for Skipper Canteen dinner without a reservation around 7 and then watch HEA before the event.
Anyone have recent experience with dinner here without a reservation?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

PPFlight75 said:


> Anyone have recent experience with dinner here without a reservation?



YMMV, but in my experience that place always tends to have reservation times when I’m checking same day.  

I haven’t walked up without one, but I’ve made one a few mins before heading that way.  

Unsolicited opinion, I really like Skipper Canteen.  I’m glad it’s (usually) available!


----------



## PPFlight75

GADisneyDad14 said:


> YMMV, but in my experience that place always tends to have reservation times when I’m checking same day.
> 
> I haven’t walked up without one, but I’ve made one a few mins before heading that way.
> 
> Unsolicited opinion, I really like Skipper Canteen.  I’m glad it’s (usually) available!


Thanks! It's one place we haven't tried yet, but I didn't want to commit to a reservation until day of in case we want to wait a bit longer before heading to MK. I will try looking that day and hopefully, we can snag one 
Glad you like it! It looks awesome and different. Just hope the kiddos can find something they like!


----------



## Haley R

I’m not liking the reports of it being overcrowded. It’ll be interesting to see how the next one goes.


----------



## osufeth24

Haley R said:


> I’m not liking the reports of it being overcrowded. It’ll be interesting to see how the next one goes.



It seems like it's all about perspective.  For those that have done an after hours event, and used to zero crowds, this seemed crowded.  For those that never did one, it felt like paradise to those.


----------



## Haley R

osufeth24 said:


> It seems like it's all about perspective.  For those that have done an after hours event, and used to zero crowds, this seemed crowded.  For those that never did one, it felt like paradise to those.


That’s probably true. If we do it I’ll probably go into it pretending it’s a mini MNSSHP. We probably would be going for the ride overlays and the atmosphere by the castle so I think we would come away enjoying ourselves.


----------



## Haley R

TheFloatingBear said:


> My daughter is the same way! No matter how much fun she's having, she just hits a wall! That's great that your daughter was able to rise to the occasion and make it to the end! Yes, the ones we did were maybe even 8-11? They were January, so definitely earlier, as opposed to the 10-1.  But if we do it, we can make an escape plan for her and one of us me or my husband, and then the other (hopefully me) can stay with the night owl 14YO!
> 
> But I was just doing my spreadsheet and I noticed the Typhoon Lagoon Glow Night is the same night, so that intrigues me too! And it's earlier, it's like 8-11. That could be fun but it's a short trip, only 4 nights, so if we did that we probably wouldn't have enough MK time for my liking! Either way, it will be fun, I'm sure!


Is there a glow night thread? I’m kind of interested in doing that also but I couldn’t find one


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Haley R said:


> Is there a glow night thread? I’m kind of interested in doing that also but I couldn’t find one


I  did a quick search and didn't find one, but I could have missed it!


----------



## PPFlight75

Haley R said:


> Is there a glow night thread? I’m kind of interested in doing that also but I couldn’t find one


the most recent one I've participated in is:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/typhoon-lagoon-h2o-glow-thoughts.3738397/


----------



## GADisneyDad14

PPFlight75 said:


> Thanks! It's one place we haven't tried yet, but I didn't want to commit to a reservation until day of in case we want to wait a bit longer before heading to MK. I will try looking that day and hopefully, we can snag one
> Glad you like it! It looks awesome and different. Just hope the kiddos can find something they like!



The kids menu (or anything from the adult menu appealing to children) is ... challenging... for us.  This is one of the rare times I pull rank and say we’re eating there, y’all can eat Mickey Bars for dinner later.  

I find the menu interesting/different, especially in MK where dining options are kind of limited.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

osufeth24 said:


> It seems like it's all about perspective.  For those that have done an after hours event, and used to zero crowds, this seemed crowded.  For those that never did one, it felt like paradise to those.



As I said in our review, it was our first DAH and we did it back to back with PM EMH the night before. We did so much more in the same amount of time at DAH. Other than 7DMT (all night it seems) and Space at the beginning and end of the night,  virtually everything else was a walk on or under 5 minutes (usually because of walking through the long queues). 

For those trying to time a good time to ride space, try to time it with the first or second castle show. That pulls a ton of people away from rides.


----------



## Candycane83

GADisneyDad14 said:


> The kids menu (or anything from the adult menu appealing to children) is ... challenging... for us.  This is one of the rare times I pull rank and say we’re eating there, y’all can eat Mickey Bars for dinner later.
> 
> I find the menu interesting/different, especially in MK where dining options are kind of limited.


Funny enough this is what my plan is for our trip 3 weeks from now for other places. One week alone with my 5 year old as my husband can’t make the trip anymore. So it’ll be our first mommy and son trip, I can give in with sweets (technically, I’m usually the biggest culprit getting sweet snacks on our trips and my husband controls me! Lol now there won’t be a responsible adult) I just hope we don’t get sick!


----------



## osufeth24

Cinderumbrella said:


> As I said in our review, it was our first DAH and we did it back to back with PM EMH the night before. We did so much more in the same amount of time at DAH. Other than 7DMT (all night it seems) and Space at the beginning and end of the night,  virtually everything else was a walk on or under 5 minutes (usually because of walking through the long queues).
> 
> For those trying to time a good time to ride space, try to time it with the first or second castle show. That pulls a ton of people away from rides.



Agreed.  We waited to see the final show at 1 so we could get all the rides in.  And was the same for us  I think 25 minutes was the longest wait (as mentioned in mine as well, 7DMT and SM were the last 2 rides we did).  Pirates was busy right at 10, so we walked around and did some other things.  By the time we came back to Pirates it was walkon


----------



## ShadeDK

Attended the 6/20 event and a few observations:

-I've done each of the After Hours events at all the parks multiple times - the Villains event was far and away more crowded than any of the others in my experience.  No way of really knowing, but I'd guess double or triple the crowds of those other events.  I was glad I did Villains, but it was one-and-done for me (as well as any other "themed" AH events).

-Although the crowds around the park were heavier (more on that in a moment), the ride times mostly weren't bad.  The less popular rides were walk-ons or less than 5 minutes.  We did BTMRR several times in a row with around a 5 minute wait each time.  Even Pirates with the overlay (actors this time were much better than the ones at MNSSHP last fall) was around five minutes.  Snack lines were easy and short waits, and well-stocked - Liberty Square and Frontier Land had no waits at all.  Saw a few with longer lines (Tomorrow Land comes to mind - but that one always seems to be longer, as well as the ones on the sides of the Hub where much of the crowd was gathered all night). 

-Had a rough start to the event - we got in line for Space Mtn at 9:58.  AH guests were let into the FP queue.  But everyone was completely stopped for around 15 minutes (rumor was the change to the overlay).  Many AH guests were leaving the line to exit and not waste time.  Finally started moving again - got off the ride at 10:31.  Thirty minutes, however, for one ride at the event is just far too long.  Rode again later in the evening around midnight - posted 25 minute wait, but it was around 15 (the line snaked around the queue about 4-5 times).  Skipped 7DMT around the same time - posted wait was 35 minutes (although best guess it was probably around 20-25min).  

-The Maleficent float was almost worth the price of admission alone - very different than the daytime parade and quite an experience.  We did that twice.

-Skipped the stage show, as well as the paid snacks.  The lines for the latter seemed to be some of the longest and similar to the parties.  

-Merchandise was out early - we stopped by the Philharmagic gift shop around 9pm and were allowed into a roped off area to browse and buy with our wristbands (and I did like the new style and upgrade of the bands).

-Waits were short for the magic shots.  The lighting around the park was great - especially the graphics around Tomorrow Land.  Not quite as good as MNSSHP, but a nice atmosphere.  

-Enjoyed the Villains at the end of Main Street - worth stopping and watching for awhile.  Although it did highlight how much better this event could have been by dispersing more of them through the park during the event.

-Overall, the event felt more like a lightly attended MNSSHP (with less to do) than an After Hours event - which seemed odd since the ride times mostly weren't that different.  The best way to describe it is that it has a party environment - which needs people (and is the opposite of what you're probably looking for in an After Hours event).  I've liked the deserted vibe of previous AH events at MK - with a nearly empty hub and long stretches of paths with no one on them.  We've felt like we had parts of the park to ourselves.  Not at all with this event - it felt like the end of a busy evening (or an EMH) where lots of people were still around but everything was closing up.  If someone hasn't done an AH event before, it probably seems fantastic (the park was very busy Thursday when we went in).  But if you've experienced the prior AH event at MK, this is nowhere near the same.


----------



## ShadeDK

A few pictures from the event (including the Space Mountain line around midnight)


----------



## PPFlight75

GADisneyDad14 said:


> The kids menu (or anything from the adult menu appealing to children) is ... challenging... for us. This is one of the rare times I pull rank and say we’re eating there, y’all can eat Mickey Bars for dinner later.
> 
> I find the menu interesting/different, especially in MK where dining options are kind of limited.


Completely agree! Sometimes you have to pull rank! I don't think mine would put up much of a fuss over icecream dinner though!


----------



## Haley R

ShadeDK said:


> Attended the 6/20 event and a few observations:
> 
> -I've done each of the After Hours events at all the parks multiple times - the Villains event was far and away more crowded than any of the others in my experience.  No way of really knowing, but I'd guess double or triple the crowds of those other events.  I was glad I did Villains, but it was one-and-done for me (as well as any other "themed" AH events).
> 
> -Although the crowds around the park were heavier (more on that in a moment), the ride times mostly weren't bad.  The less popular rides were walk-ons or less than 5 minutes.  We did BTMRR several times in a row with around a 5 minute wait each time.  Even Pirates with the overlay (actors this time were much better than the ones at MNSSHP last fall) was around five minutes.  Snack lines were easy and short waits, and well-stocked - Liberty Square and Frontier Land had no waits at all.  Saw a few with longer lines (Tomorrow Land comes to mind - but that one always seems to be longer, as well as the ones on the sides of the Hub where much of the crowd was gathered all night).
> 
> -Had a rough start to the event - we got in line for Space Mtn at 9:58.  AH guests were let into the FP queue.  But everyone was completely stopped for around 15 minutes (rumor was the change to the overlay).  Many AH guests were leaving the line to exit and not waste time.  Finally started moving again - got off the ride at 10:31.  Thirty minutes, however, for one ride at the event is just far too long.  Rode again later in the evening around midnight - posted 25 minute wait, but it was around 15 (the line snaked around the queue about 4-5 times).  Skipped 7DMT around the same time - posted wait was 35 minutes (although best guess it was probably around 20-25min).
> 
> -The Maleficent float was almost worth the price of admission alone - very different than the daytime parade and quite an experience.  We did that twice.
> 
> -Skipped the stage show, as well as the paid snacks.  The lines for the latter seemed to be some of the longest and similar to the parties.
> 
> -Merchandise was out early - we stopped by the Philharmagic gift shop around 9pm and were allowed into a roped off area to browse and buy with our wristbands (and I did like the new style and upgrade of the bands).
> 
> -Waits were short for the magic shots.  The lighting around the park was great - especially the graphics around Tomorrow Land.  Not quite as good as MNSSHP, but a nice atmosphere.
> 
> -Enjoyed the Villains at the end of Main Street - worth stopping and watching for awhile.  Although it did highlight how much better this event could have been by dispersing more of them through the park during the event.
> 
> -Overall, the event felt more like a lightly attended MNSSHP (with less to do) than an After Hours event - which seemed odd since the ride times mostly weren't that different.  The best way to describe it is that it has a party environment - which needs people (and is the opposite of what you're probably looking for in an After Hours event).  I've liked the deserted vibe of previous AH events at MK - with a nearly empty hub and long stretches of paths with no one on them.  We've felt like we had parts of the park to ourselves.  Not at all with this event - it felt like the end of a busy evening (or an EMH) where lots of people were still around but everything was closing up.  If someone hasn't done an AH event before, it probably seems fantastic (the park was very busy Thursday when we went in).  But if you've experienced the prior AH event at MK, this is nowhere near the same.


Thanks for your review. Based on your review I’m thinking I’d still like to go. We don’t care about 7dmt so that wouldn’t take any of our time up and won’t wait for any specialty snacks (except a maleficent cone). The stage show, maleficent float, and ride overlays is what I would go for


----------



## ShadeDK

Haley R said:


> Thanks for your review. Based on your review I’m thinking I’d still like to go. We don’t care about 7dmt so that wouldn’t take any of our time up and won’t wait for any specialty snacks (except a maleficent cone). The stage show, maleficent float, and ride overlays is what I would go for


I'd encourage anyone who was thinking about going to do it - the event is different in its own unique way and a fun experience.  All of the reviews have helped everyone know what to expect - which is important when they do something like this that doesn't have an easy comparison.  I'd commented earlier that I didn't know if this was MNSSHP-lite or After Hours on steroids.  Having gone now, I'd say say it's more the former.  That's not a bad thing, and just personal commentary on the look, feel, and focus of the event.  In some ways, I think they may have been better off not using the "After Hours" branding and going with something different that set it apart.


----------



## Haley R

ShadeDK said:


> I'd encourage anyone who was thinking about going to do it - the event is different in its own unique way and a fun experience.  All of the reviews have helped everyone know what to expect - which is important when they do something like this that doesn't have an easy comparison.  I'd commented earlier that I didn't know if this was MNSSHP-lite or After Hours on steroids.  Having gone now, I'd say say it's more the former.  That's not a bad thing, and just personal commentary on the look, feel, and focus of the event.  In some ways, I think they may have been better off not using the "After Hours" branding and going with something different that set it apart.


Yeah they probably should have just called it a villains themed event rather than giving it the after hours title


----------



## djc9699

We went to the June 20th event and had a great time. We rode every ride, except 7DMT, Ariel, SW, and Jungle Cruise during the event. We did JC with a FP at 9:00 and then wanted to take my niece through PP que so hit that right before ten. We did HM first to let the day crowd clear then hit Pirates - not impressed with live actors, actually pitiful attempt to add value. After that we went over to Space just after the first stage show started. Perfect timing, as we rode twice in 25 minutes. We loved the total darkness, and added noise and lightning. We stopped for four pictures. Scar, Oogie Boogie, one in front of Pirates, and one with the ominous castle. We only got a few drinks during the night and the water was lukewarm, which did not bother me as I generally drink it room temp, anyway. I don't understand why it is that way at MK. We did HS after hours on the 14th and the 21st (yes, we love that one) and the water and sodas are always cold, popcorn is fresh, snack areas plentiful, and the atmosphere is just so much better than MK and AK (where water was warm and only two snack locations to be found). Thursday is our last night of this trip and I am considering doing this again since this is my nieces one and only visit. The events are definitely more crowded for all three parks than when we went last December, but ride wait times are still very low to non existent and I still find value in them.


----------



## heath92681

Bought our tickets for Aug. 1! We've only ever done MVMCP, so just hoping for wait times way less than that!  Our only expectations are to ride all our favorites, eat a Mickey bar and some popcorn, and see the castle show at 1:00, we'll be happy!


----------



## Haley R

heath92681 said:


> Bought our tickets for Aug. 1! We've only ever done MVMCP, so just hoping for wait times way less than that!  Our only expectations are to ride all our favorites, eat a Mickey bar and some popcorn, and see the castle show at 1:00, we'll be happy!


I think you have very realistic expectations!


----------



## Haley R

We aren't for sure yet, but we think we're gonna go to DAH on Thursday this week. It really depends on weather and it'll probably be a last minute decision because we want to do H2O Glow on Saturday. Right now it's looking like both days should be rain free at night, but I might give it a day or two more before we decide. I'm thinking we will either stay at Wilderness Lodge or the Swolphin. I haven't decided on that yet.

I went ahead and made a Whispering Canyon Cafe ADR before DAH at 6:40 pm and a Splash FP at 8:15 pm. There isn't much we want to do before DAH starts so we don't feel like we need to get there too early. We were just at TDR and did a lot of the same rides.


----------



## Sarahslay

I booked for my daughter and I to go to the Aug. 1 event, we already had after fireworks dessert party plans and thought this would be a nice thing to follow that up with. I have an AP but she doesn't so we switched around her regular ticket for our departure day since we don't leave until the evening, and on this day will just enter at 7 and use our 7DMT FP at 7:15 so we don't have to worry about that during the party. Thankfully we'll have that out of the way, and since she hates SM we won't have to tangle with any lines for that (I rode deep space mountain at MNSSHP in October so I'm fine with missing the overlay). Just looking forward to letting her ride some of her favorites with shorter lines, and so that's really what we're going to focus on...doesn't hurt we'll be full from the dessert party so we won't be stopping for any snacks I don't think


----------



## Momtwofour

We will be at Disney in 15 days! I am traveling with my two dds (15 and 22) my ds, his wife and their 5 kids. We got tickets for the adults to go to the villian after hours and got a sitter for the 4 older grands and planned to take the baby with because he is too young for the sitter(5 months). We have been to MNSSHP twice so I figured it would be fine to take him. I have since watched several vlogger videos and now I'm worried. For those who have gone is it going to be to intense for him?? The music seems very loud.


----------



## ArielSRL

Cluelyss said:


> Interesting that you mention the weather on 6/13 as we thought the night was about as perfect as you could get in Florida in summer! Even my husband (who’s always hot!) commented on how pleasant the night was! Of course, I realize it’s all relative, and we were coming off some majorly hot days earlier in our trip, but we thought the weather  was one of the highlights of the night!


Totally agree! It was a nice respite from the heat of day touring.


----------



## ArielSRL

mekay1012 said:


> We didn’t really look before 10:00, but we also found a lot t of the normal snack places were closed pretty early. I wanted a Cheshire Cat tail and it was closed around 8:00 or so when I went to get one.


Just an fyi: I tried to get something from Cheshire Cafe one night (non DAH) and it was closed. I was told it closes 3 hours before park closing, which I probably should have known.


----------



## Cluelyss

GADisneyDad14 said:


> YMMV, but in my experience that place always tends to have reservation times when I’m checking same day.
> 
> I haven’t walked up without one, but I’ve made one a few mins before heading that way.
> 
> Unsolicited opinion, I really like Skipper Canteen.  I’m glad it’s (usually) available!


Completely agree! We love Skippers!!

When we were there earlier this month, they had a sign out front that said something like “ask us about available reservations tonight” so I think you’re likely fine to walk up or at least make a same day ADR.


----------



## Cluelyss

Haley R said:


> That’s probably true. If we do it I’ll probably go into it pretending it’s a mini MNSSHP. We probably would be going for the ride overlays and the atmosphere by the castle so I think we would come away enjoying ourselves.


This was exactly how we approached it and had a blast!! Full disclosure, we’d never done an AH event, so had nothing to compare it to, but when compared to MNSSHP the crowds were heavenly!!


----------



## Cluelyss

GlassSlipper13 said:


> Hello, does anyone happen to know exactly where the Hades Magic Shot is? Is it near the Mickey & Walt statues or near the outer hubs of the castle? Thank you!


We had ours taken on the outer rim of the hub, but parallel to the statue (if that makes sense). Also, this is an animated magic shot ONLY which I didn’t realize until after emailing PhotoPass thinking our shots were missing. I was expecting Hades to actually be in our pictures like the other shots, and was disappointed to find out that wasn’t the case.


----------



## ArielSRL

heidijanesmith said:


> Space Mountain- loved the total darkness. The line was nuts. At 10:30 we all got in the FP line. The wait said 20min, but then it turned into 40. It looked as if they were only running the right side. The line finally started moving and they were running both sides.


So crazy because I was there the same night and around 11:15 or so, no line at all. We walked right on.


----------



## Haley R

Cluelyss said:


> This was exactly how we approached it and had a blast!! Full disclosure, we’d never done an AH event, so had nothing to compare it to, but when compared to MNSSHP the crowds were heavenly!!


The crowds at MNSSHP last year were ridiculous.


----------



## Ksquared

I keep going back and forth on this.  We've done both the Halloween and Christmas parties but never an after hours event.  We will be in Disney for a week.  Since it will be hot, we got the water park plus tickets this trip.  If we went, it would have to be the last night, Aug. 8th, which I suspect will be sold out or close to sold out.  I keep thinking we will do a Glow Party (which we've never done).  We need 4 tix which is around $550.  I splurged on hotel so I'm having a hard time justifying the cost for one night, even if all rides are walk on.  But there's a part of me that still wants to go. Decisions, decisions...


----------



## Haley R

Ksquared said:


> I keep going back and forth on this.  We've done both the Halloween and Christmas parties but never an after hours event.  We will be in Disney for a week.  Since it will be hot, we got the water park plus tickets this trip.  If we went, it would have to be the last night, Aug. 8th, which I suspect will be sold out or close to sold out.  I keep thinking we will do a Glow Party (which we've never done).  We need 4 tix which is around $550.  I splurged on hotel so I'm having a hard time justifying the cost for one night, even if all rides are walk on.  But there's a part of me that still wants to go. Decisions, decisions...


How long is your trip? If you have multiple days at MK I would say you could go without the DAH ticket if cost is an issue.


----------



## preemiemama

Can anyone tell me what Pirates/Frontierland is like right at the start of the party?  Trying to formulate a plan of attack for the 7/11 party, and thought maybe Froniterland (Splash and BTMRR) around 9 during HEA until the start of the party at 10, then moving to Pirates before heading towards Fantasyland and winding up in Tomorrowland?  It seems like 7DMT and SM both have some delays with line clearing/changeover right at the start of the party- wondered if Pirates had a similar issue?


----------



## heidijanesmith

ArielSRL said:


> So crazy because I was there the same night and around 11:15 or so, no line at all. We walked right on.


We should have waited until later in the night, but I thought 20min. Not so bad.

We were wrong!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

preemiemama said:


> Can anyone tell me what Pirates/Frontierland is like right at the start of the party?  Trying to formulate a plan of attack for the 7/11 party, and thought maybe Froniterland (Splash and BTMRR) around 9 during HEA until the start of the party at 10, then moving to Pirates before heading towards Fantasyland and winding up in Tomorrowland?  It seems like 7DMT and SM both have some delays with line clearing/changeover right at the start of the party- wondered if Pirates had a similar issue?



POTC was busy at first simply because people are going to see the changeover. I would wait at least half hour.


----------



## osufeth24

preemiemama said:


> Can anyone tell me what Pirates/Frontierland is like right at the start of the party?  Trying to formulate a plan of attack for the 7/11 party, and thought maybe Froniterland (Splash and BTMRR) around 9 during HEA until the start of the party at 10, then moving to Pirates before heading towards Fantasyland and winding up in Tomorrowland?  It seems like 7DMT and SM both have some delays with line clearing/changeover right at the start of the party- wondered if Pirates had a similar issue?



As mentioned in my review, we walked over to Pirates right around 10, and it was probably a 25 minute wait.  We walked around, walked onto Big Thunder Mountain and walked onto Haunted Mansion.  Walked back to Pirates (maybe 30-45 minutes later), walked onto Pirates.


----------



## preemiemama

Thank you both- that helps me plan a bit better!


----------



## Ksquared

Haley R said:


> How long is your trip? If you have multiple days at MK I would say you could go without the DAH ticket if cost is an issue.


Right now we have plans to go to MK our first night, and since I didn't book party, I can go at opening that Thursday and also catch EMH on Wednesday evening.  Hoping to get in everything we want during those times.


----------



## Haley R

We just bought tickets for Thursday this week! I'm so excited. We'll be staying at Wilderness Lodge (our first time) so we'll take the boat over. I have a dinner ADR at Whispering Canyon Cafe and a Splash FP at 7:55-8:55 pm. I can't wait! I need to start making some kind of game plan


----------



## catfan98

Seriously thinking about buying tickets for this event for this Thursday.  We are doing a quick 3 day trip with a day each at MK (Thurs), EP (Fri), and AK (Sat), and a DAH at HS Friday night.  We won't get to MK until about 10:30-11ish Thursday because of flight arrival time, so the VAH would give us an extra 3 hours there.  But, we have an ADR at Garden Grill the next morning for 8:15 so that doesn't leave very much sleeping time that night.  But, who sleeps at Disney???  Ugh, the struggle, lol.


----------



## winnieofpooh

I know this is a question no one knows the answer to, but figured we could speculate. Do we think the "regular" AH will be the same crowd level as the Villians AH? I'm curious if the Villians events will bring more publicity and cause the ticket sales for the regular AH later in August to jump up. Curious if the higher crowds at the Villians hours will carry over once the regular after hours start up again.


----------



## TinkerTracy

Just booked this for 8/8! I am so excited for the Villains party. I think that this will be so awesome. Thanks for putting this great thread together. I can't wait to read everything and plan more


----------



## Dug720

catfan98 said:


> Seriously thinking about buying tickets for this event for this Thursday.  We are doing a quick 3 day trip with a day each at MK (Thurs), EP (Fri), and AK (Sat), and a DAH at HS Friday night.  We won't get to MK until about 10:30-11ish Thursday because of flight arrival time, so the VAH would give us an extra 3 hours there.  But, we have an ADR at Garden Grill the next morning for 8:15 so that doesn't leave very much sleeping time that night.  But, who sleeps at Disney???  Ugh, the struggle, lol.



I feel you! My friend and I have breakfast at ‘Ohana at 7:30 the morning after the 7/18 VAH!


----------



## Momtwofour

ArielSRL said:


> So crazy because I was there the same night and around 11:15 or so, no line at all. We walked right on.


I read in a review, and I cant remember where so it could have been here, to get in line for SM around the time of either the 11pm or 12pm show and the wait was shorter. So maybe you hit that time frame.


----------



## Haley R

Momtwofour said:


> I read in a review, and I cant remember where so it could have been here, to get in line for SM around the time of either the 11pm or 12pm show and the wait was shorter. So maybe you hit that time frame.


This is gonna be our plan on Thursday so I can let everyone know how it goes. My goal is to hit space around 11


----------



## Momtwofour

Haley R said:


> This is gonna be our plan on Thursday so I can let everyone know how it goes. My goal is to hit space around 11


Yes let us know! We will be there July 11th and I want to make a short TP so we aren’t wandering.


----------



## Haley R

Momtwofour said:


> Yes let us know! We will be there July 11th and I want to make a short TP so we aren’t wandering.


I have a very rough plan right now. We have FPS for splash 7:55-8:55 and thunder 9:05-10. After that I’m not really sure. We want to also ride pirates and space. We want to try hades nachos and get a maleficent cone. 

Then I’m planning on watching the stage show and maleficent float at the very end. Have people had good luck getting to that area around 20 minutes before?


----------



## js

Cluelyss said:


> Yes, you can make 2 days of FPs for the non-passholder. Do the regular park day selections first, then the AH night, beginning at 7 pm.



Thank you. I am going to do a more finalized plan at work tomorrow. Thanks for the information!


----------



## osufeth24

Haley R said:


> I have a very rough plan right now. We have FPS for splash 7:55-8:55 and thunder 9:05-10. After that I’m not really sure. We want to also ride pirates and space. We want to try hades nachos and get a maleficent cone.
> 
> Then I’m planning on watching the stage show and maleficent float at the very end. Have people had good luck getting to that area around 20 minutes before?



We watched final show and float, we walked up with like 5 minutes to spare for the show and were able to get probably 7 rows back from the stage (roughly right where the sidewalk began/ended  onto the circle of the hub)


----------



## osufeth24

I forgot to add in my review, whatever you do, do not ride 7DMT when the fireworks go off for the show.  We hopped on as they were going, and we were getting pelted with ash/firework stuff in our face the whole ride.  Our photo for it is hilarious as you can clearly see we're getting hit with something.  It completely ruined the ride (thankfully we had ridden it earlier in the day)


----------



## Haley R

osufeth24 said:


> I forgot to add in my review, whatever you do, do not ride 7DMT when the fireworks go off for the show.  We hopped on as they were going, and we were getting pelted with ash/firework stuff in our face the whole ride.  Our photo for it is hilarious as you can clearly see we're getting hit with something.  It completely ruined the ride (thankfully we had ridden it earlier in the day)


Can you share this picture? 


osufeth24 said:


> We watched final show and float, we walked up with like 5 minutes to spare for the show and were able to get probably 7 rows back from the stage (roughly right where the sidewalk began/ended  onto the circle of the hub)


Oh nice maybe we won't go 20 minutes early. That would cut into too much DAH time. I don't think we would care about being _that_ close. I usually like having something in front of me because I'm not very tall. I've been successful at getting a trash can or fence in front of me before. I'll just put in my plans to get there 10 minutes before.


----------



## jaiminee krikit

Ksquared said:


> I keep going back and forth on this.  We've done both the Halloween and Christmas parties but never an after hours event.  We will be in Disney for a week.  Since it will be hot, we got the water park plus tickets this trip.  If we went, it would have to be the last night, Aug. 8th, which I suspect will be sold out or close to sold out.  I keep thinking we will do a Glow Party (which we've never done).  We need 4 tix which is around $550.  I splurged on hotel so I'm having a hard time justifying the cost for one night, even if all rides are walk on.  But there's a part of me that still wants to go. Decisions, decisions...



I'm in the same boat. I'm taking DD16 and her friend for a week in August. One of my favorite things to do is on our last night, stay at the MK until we can barely walk or get kicked out. They close at 10 our last night (the 8th), so I was disappointed that it'd be such an early night - especially since the next day our flight is super late so we'll have plenty of time to recover. I told DD about the party and she loves the idea, as do I, but the cost is just driving me crazy. I have been saving Disney GCs for years, so this might be what they go towards. 

Does anyone know (because this is also tradition) do they do the Kiss Goodnight at the end of the event? Or will we miss the Villains at the train station if we wait for the Kiss?


----------



## Haley R

I know people have had good luck buying merch before the event starts. Are there any shops in Adventureland/Frontierland that sell the merch? I'd like to hit those up right after our Splash FP


----------



## Cluelyss

jaiminee krikit said:


> Does anyone know (because this is also tradition) do they do the Kiss Goodnight at the end of the event? Or will we miss the Villains at the train station if we wait for the Kiss?


I do not remember them running the kiss goodnight on 6/13.  The last stage show is at 1 then Maleficent does her final tour at 1:20, so we were hanging around the end of Main Street for a while after closing. Unless they ran it at like 2? But we were gone by then, maybe someone else can report on that?


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Haley R said:


> I know people have had good luck buying merch before the event starts. Are there any shops in Adventureland/Frontierland that sell the merch? I'd like to hit those up right after our Splash FP



Gift shop in POTC sells it. It was definitely out early on opening night and they were only allowing wristband people to view it.


----------



## mrsap

So, not at Villans after hours, but walking through Epcot on our way back to Boardwalk... had a nice surprise!!


----------



## Haley R

Cinderumbrella said:


> Gift shop in POTC sells it. It was definitely out early on opening night and they were only allowing wristband people to view it.


Awesome thank you! That’s where we’ll head in between FPS. That way it’s just done and we don’t have to do it during the party


----------



## Haley R

mrsap said:


> So, not at Villans after hours, but walking through Epcot on our way back to Boardwalk... had a nice surprise!!
> 
> View attachment 411938View attachment 411939View attachment 411940View attachment 411941View attachment 411942View attachment 411943


That’s awesome!


----------



## mrsap

Haley R said:


> That’s awesome!



It was pretty cool, totally unexpected!!


----------



## heidijanesmith

mrsap said:


> So, not at Villans after hours, but walking through Epcot on our way back to Boardwalk... had a nice surprise!!
> 
> View attachment 411938View attachment 411939View attachment 411940View attachment 411941View attachment 411942View attachment 411943


Awesome!! We have never had a surprise that that when walking to our room at the BW.  How cool!


----------



## Haley R

Our plan of attack for tomorrow night:

Dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe-6:40 pm 
Take boat to MK and get wristbands for DAH
Splash FP 7:55-8:55 pm
Buy Villains merch at pirates gift shop 
Thunder Mountain FP 9:05-10 pm
Ride Pirates a little after 10 pm
Ride People Mover 
Pick up Hades ornament at Star Traders in Tomorrowland 
Ride Space Mountain
Reride things and/or get Maleficent cone
Watch stage show-1 am (get there 10 minutes early by Partner Statue)
Watch Maleficent float come through-1:20 am (go to end of Main Street)


----------



## preemiemama

Haley R said:


> Our plan of attack for tomorrow night:
> 
> Dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe-6:40 pm
> Take boat to MK and get wristbands for DAH
> Splash FP 7:55-8:55 pm
> Buy Villains merch at pirates gift shop
> Thunder Mountain FP 9:05-10 pm
> Ride Pirates a little after 10 pm
> Ride People Mover
> Pick up Hades ornament at Star Traders in Tomorrowland
> Ride Space Mountain
> Reride things and/or get Maleficent cone
> Watch stage show-1 am (get there 10 minutes early by Partner Statue)
> Watch Maleficent float come through-1:20 am (go to end of Main Street)


Hope it goes well- I have a similar plan for 7/11- except I'm aiming for 7DMT around 10:30 and probably a few stops for soda/water along the way, too!


----------



## Haley R

preemiemama said:


> Hope it goes well- I have a similar plan for 7/11- except I'm aiming for 7DMT around 10:30 and probably a few stops for soda/water along the way, too!


We are skipping 7DMT because we don’t like it that much. I didn’t put in when we’ll get snacks and drinks because we just stop whenever we see a short line. Idk if I’ll be posting during the event but I’ll post something Friday


----------



## preemiemama

Haley R said:


> We are skipping 7DMT because we don’t like it that much. I didn’t put in when we’ll get snacks and drinks because we just stop whenever we see a short line. Idk if I’ll be posting during the event but I’ll post something Friday


I wouldn't expect updates from the event- you want to maximize that time!  Thanks for being willing to share your plan and (eventually) how it went!


----------



## Haley R

preemiemama said:


> I wouldn't expect updates from the event- you want to maximize that time!  Thanks for being willing to share your plan and (eventually) how it went!


No problem!


----------



## Dug720

Haley R said:


> We are skipping 7DMT because we don’t like it that much. I didn’t put in when we’ll get snacks and drinks because we just stop whenever we see a short line. Idk if I’ll be posting during the event but I’ll post something Friday



I thought I was the only person in the world who didn’t get the hype over that ride!

Enjoy the party, and I’ll look forward to your update tomorrow!  Three weeks to go for me!!


----------



## woolf5150

Just took he plunge and heading to VAH tonight. We did the DAH last year so we are hoping this year crowd levels will be similar. Hoping for the best and will report back our experience compared this yr over last year


----------



## Haley R

Dug720 said:


> I thought I was the only person in the world who didn’t get the hype over that ride!
> 
> Enjoy the party, and I’ll look forward to your update tomorrow!  Three weeks to go for me!!


I’m sure if you have little ones it makes complete sense but for two adults who like thrill rides it doesn’t lol.


----------



## disneyworldsk

hopping onto this thread, not sure if i'm in the right place though. i was considering mk dah 8/29 but not sure if i am going to be at swe opening. if i do that which is crazy early morning doing dah mk is crazy idea. right?


----------



## Disney & ME

disneyworldsk said:


> hopping onto this thread, not sure if i'm in the right place though. i was considering mk dah 8/29 but not sure if i am going to be at swe opening. if i do that which is crazy early morning doing dah mk is crazy idea. right?


I don't think anyone will tell you it's crazy (after all, we are all Disney fans) but it is ambitious! I guess it depends what your priorities are and if you can get some rest in between parks. You maybe so excited you may be able to do it. 

When we went in May we had to rearrange our flight at the last minute and when we got to WDW we hit the parks all day. By the time we went to bed we had been up for 40 hours!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Not sure if this has been posted here yet, but to my fellow AP brethren that attended the first 3 VAH, call the passholder line and they will mail you the Hades ornament. I’m told to give it about 2 weeks.


----------



## Haley R

Here in line waiting for pirates. They’re holding us in line until 10 to let us through with the live actors. We rode splash with a fp, bought villain merch, rode btmr with a fp during the fireworks (our favorite!), and got some drinks. They started drinks and ice cream 10 minutes early but not popcorn.


----------



## osufeth24

Cinderumbrella said:


> Not sure if this has been posted here yet, but to my fellow AP brethren that attended the first 3 VAH, call the passholder line and they will mail you the Hades ornament. I’m told to give it about 2 weeks.



Will try to call tomorrow.  Probably be out by the time I get the chance to call


----------



## Haley R

In line for space...35 minute wait. Pretty disappointed in that wait time. That’s way too long for an event this pricey

ETA: it ended up only being 10 lol


----------



## Lisa F

I'm looking ahead to February - we will basically have 1.5 days in Disney before our cruise.  We have 1 day parkhoppers - flying in on Thursday and hoping the current schedule holds and will be able to do DAH in the MK on February 20th (this is the equivalent of the presidents week day they added late last year).  If the hours are the same HEA was at 8, DAH was 9-12.

Has anyone ever done a dessert party in conjunction with DAH?  I was thinking of doing the Plaza viewing with after party.

These were my two favorite extras of my last trip. I think the timing could work - IF they let us in a bit before 7pm we'd go straight to the plaza for a prime viewing spot, fireworks is over by 8:20 or so, and we could snack for a while and then do our DAH event. If it's more like 6 it would give us an hour to do a couple of things as well before the event.

Just want a reality check about whether this will work - I know my son probably won't eat 6 mickey bars after the dessert party but I think it is going to be very very crowded that week (as it is typically) and this would be the best way to hit all of the highlights of the MK for us without using our one day ticket (which will be used the next day before boarding cruise on Saturday).


----------



## osufeth24

Haley R said:


> In line for space...35 minute wait. Pretty disappointed in that wait time. That’s way too long for an event this pricey
> 
> ETA: it ended up only being 10 lol



I noticed when I was there they didn't do the best job updating the wait times.

I remember they had Jungle Cruise at like 20, and there was no one in line lol


----------



## Haley R

osufeth24 said:


> I noticed when I was there they didn't do the best job updating the wait times.
> 
> I remember they had Jungle Cruise at like 20, and there was no one in line lol


The line for space was HUGE after the 11 pm villain show (around 11:30). We came out of the gift shop and it was backed way out of the front entrance


----------



## 123SA

Haley R said:


> The line for space was HUGE after the 11 pm villain show (around 11:30). We came out of the gift shop and it was backed way out of the front entrance



Good to know.  Seems like riding Space will require a bit of strategy


----------



## Cinderumbrella

123SA said:


> Good to know.  Seems like riding Space will require a bit of strategy



Ride it during the first show.


----------



## Haley R

123SA said:


> Good to know.  Seems like riding Space will require a bit of strategy


11 seemed to be a pretty good time to ride. Like I said it read 35 minutes and only took 10 but then we rode again basically as a walk on right after


----------



## Haley R

I _think_ Disney tried calling me today about the buses but I was asleep. I tried calling back and it just kept ringing. Is there a number I should call?


----------



## Dug720

Haley R said:


> I _think_ Disney tried calling me today about the buses but I was asleep. I tried calling back and it just kept ringing. Is there a number I should call?



What was the problem with the buses?


----------



## Haley R

Dug720 said:


> What was the problem with the buses?


We stood waiting for 40 minutes to get back to wilderness lodge with a whole group of people. There were 3 buses for old key west while we were waiting and the last bus only picked up two people. We were basically the last group at the bus depot and didn’t get picked up until after 2 am.


----------



## Dug720

Haley R said:


> We stood waiting for 40 minutes to get back to wilderness lodge with a whole group of people. There were 3 buses for old key west while we were waiting and the last bus only picked up two people. We were basically the last group at the bus depot and didn’t get picked up until after 2 am.



Ah, gotcha. I missed that in the thread.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Wow! I’m stunned there wasn’t a transportation guy around to notice a big line for so long. What a frustrating way to end the night.


----------



## Haley R

Dug720 said:


> Ah, gotcha. I missed that in the thread.


I hadn’t posted it yet. I haven’t had a chance to type our report from last night yet


----------



## Haley R

Cinderumbrella said:


> Wow! I’m stunned there wasn’t a transportation guy around to notice a big line for so long. What a frustrating way to end the night.


There was a guy but when I asked him he said he couldn’t do anything and was pretty rude about it. He said “only the man in the booth can do anything and you CAN’T walk over there so sorry”. He just was not very friendly at all.


----------



## Dug720

Haley R said:


> I hadn’t posted it yet. I haven’t had a chance to type our report from last night yet



Oh ok. Thought I missed something.

Hope you can get in touch with someone.


----------



## maryj11

We were there last night. We had a good time. So worth it to avoid the crowds and heat. I would definitely do it again.
We arrived at 6:30 and were let in about 6:40.
We bought Villain t shirts and changed into them. I thought they would be the thicker material , but they were not. They were lightweight and comfortable.
We had a fastpass for Peter Pan, but decided to eat at Tony's ( my teens choice). Tried to modify PP for later but nothing available so we got IASW.
After eating at Tony's we had a FP for Seven Dwarfs. The fireworks were going off by the time we got to SDMT.
After we finshed watching the fireworks in Fantasyland we headed to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder. They did check our bands before we walked into Frontierland. Splash and Big Thunder were walk on. 
Walked toward the castle and ran into the Maleficent dragon and his friends 
After that we went to Jungle Cruise and Pirates. Jungle Cruise was walk on and Pirates was about 5 minutes.
Space Mountain was about 10 minute wait. Checked Seven Dwarfs wait time it was 30 minutes, so we skipped it. Peter Pan was 5 minute wait but we skipped it. 
Haunted Mansion walk on. 
So the run down.
It's a Small World FP
Seven Dwarfs FP
Splash Mountain walk on
Big Thunder walk on
Jungle Cruise walk on
Pirates of the Caribbean 5 minute wait
Haunted Mansion walk on
Space Mountain 10 minute wait
Eating at Tony's was not a good idea because we were not hungry for any of the free treats. I did get 2 bottles of water.
We rode everything we wanted and could of rode more rides but we just took it slow and only rode our favorites. 
I got a few pictures and a video I will post. The video is not loading for me right now so I will post it later.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Sounds like a fun night, @maryj11! Thanks for the report! I agree that being able to beat the heat in the summer is great!


----------



## maryj11

TheFloatingBear said:


> Sounds like a fun night, @maryj11! Thanks for the report! I agree that being able to beat the heat in the summer is great!


The park was so crowded when we got there it was hard to walk. I was so thankful when it cleared out! I wish I had taken a picture of the crowds when we arrived. I do have one of Main Street about 11:30.


----------



## maryj11

One of the castle!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

maryj11 said:


> The park was so crowded when we got there it was hard to walk. I was so thankful when it cleared out! I wish I had taken a picture of the crowds when we arrived. I do have one of Main Street about 11:30.



Looks glorious! Were the reddish lights a "villains" effect?  I haven't purchased tickets yet but I think we're doing the 8/8 event. I'm curious about the t-shirt...I wonder if the blog has pictures of the merch!


----------



## maryj11

TheFloatingBear said:


> Looks glorious! Were the reddish lights a "villains" effect?  I haven't purchasers  tickets yet but I think we're doing the 8/8 event. I'm curious about the t-shirt...I wonder if the blog has pictures of the merch!


Yes the reds lights were a part of the event. It made Main Street look so cool! We got the black shirts. I think they have pictures somewhere.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

maryj11 said:


> Yes the reds lights were a part of the event. It made Main Street look so cool!


 It looks it! I watched a video from the Disney Parks blog and the projections on the castle look really cool too!


----------



## elle101me

maryj11 said:


> We were there last night. We had a good time. So worth it to avoid the crowds and heat. I would definitely do it again.
> We arrived at 6:30 and were let in about 6:40.
> We bought Villain t shirts and changed into them. I thought they would be the thicker material , but they were not. They were lightweight and comfortable.
> We had a fastpass for Peter Pan, but decided to eat at Tony's ( my teens choice). Tried to modify PP for later but nothing available so we got IASW.
> After eating at Tony's we had a FP for Seven Dwarfs. The fireworks were going off by the time we got to SDMT.
> After we finshed watching the fireworks in Fantasyland we headed to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder. They did check our bands before we walked into Frontierland. Splash and Big Thunder were walk on.
> Walked toward the castle and ran into the Maleficent dragon and his friends
> After that we went to Jungle Cruise and Pirates. Jungle Cruise was walk on and Pirates was about 5 minutes.
> Space Mountain was about 10 minute wait. Checked Seven Dwarfs wait time it was 30 minutes, so we skipped it. Peter Pan was 5 minute wait but we skipped it.
> Haunted Mansion walk on.
> So the run down.
> It's a Small World FP
> Seven Dwarfs FP
> Splash Mountain walk on
> Big Thunder walk on
> Jungle Cruise walk on
> Pirates of the Caribbean 5 minute wait
> Haunted Mansion walk on
> Space Mountain 10 minute wait
> Eating at Tony's was not a good idea because we were not hungry for any of the free treats. I did get 2 bottles of water.
> We rode everything we wanted and could of rode more rides but we just took it slow and only rode our favorites.
> I got a few pictures and a video I will post. The video is not loading for me right now so I will post it later.


It looks like you hit everything at the right time! I was leaning against not buying tickets for August 8th, but now I may have to rethink that...


----------



## Haley R

Here’s my report from last night:

Got to mk at 8:30 pm and walked right through the event entrance to get our wristbands. The new wristbands are super cool. I like them a lot more than the paper ones.
Splash fp-still about a 10 minute wait
Pirates gift shop to look at merch. I ended up buying the tank top. They were all out of smalls for the event t shirt.
Btmr fp
Got drinks at cart next to pirates
Got in line for pirates at 9:55. They started a separate line and let people in right at 10. It took about 10 minutes. It was okay, pretty much the same as MNSSHP.
Got popcorn and ice cream in the hub. I loved the music they were playing in there. It wasn’t villainy but still very fun!
Rode people mover as a walk on. It was fun to ride through space with the lights off
Went to star traders to get our AP hades ornaments. These are pretty cool. I’m glad they did something special like that.
Rode space-posted 35 minutes but was only 10. We rode again right after as a walk on. When we got off at 11:30 there was a huge line of people from the castle show. I was able to hear Ursula when we got to the bottom of the track. When you’re in the majority of the ride you can’t really hear much.
Walked to storybook treats and got a maleficent cone. I absolutely love these. It’s my favorite treat at all of wdw. There was a bit of a line but it moved quickly.
Happened to catch the maleficent dragon in Frontierland. The dragon was cool to see at night with the glowing eyes and fire.
Rode btmr twice and both times were a walk on.
Sat in the rocking chairs by hall of presidents. It was nice to just sit and relax in the villain atmosphere.
Went to the hub and decided to go right up front on the chain in front of the castle at 12:30. This was my favorite part of the night. I had so much fun dancing and there were tons of people dancing around us. We literally danced the entire 30 minutes before the stage show at 1.
The stage show was pretty decent. It got kind of repetitive and boring after awhile. We aren’t huge show people though.
We left right after the stage show and saw the villains up on the train station. That was a really fun addition. I liked that they did that and the characters were funny.
The end of our night was the bus situation. We waited 40 minutes for a bus to wilderness lodge. There were a lot of people in our line so I’m not sure what the issue was. It put a sour taste in our mouth but didn’t ruin our night.
Overall thoughts:
If you go into this thinking it’s like a small version of MNSSHP, you’ll have fun. Do not go into this thinking it’s like after hours because it’s not. You definitely don’t get the empty crowd feel but wait times were never that long except for 7dmt. They did take away the bananas and Olaf bars which was disappointing. I really enjoyed the club feel to the hub and had a lot of fun dancing. I saw lots of parents dancing with kids and young adults dancing in groups. We got an AP discount but a full price ticket would’ve seemed steep for this event.

Dh said it was a one and done for him. I could maybe see myself doing it again but they would need to add some more things to the event. You definitely need to have a plan and probably won’t be able to ride all rides and watch special entertainment so might have to pick and choose


----------



## Haley R

More pictures


----------



## Cinderumbrella

@Haley R 

Do you have a pic of the ornament? I don’t think I’ve seen it yet (even though they are mailing me one, lol)


----------



## provoaggie

Haley R said:


> Went to star traders to get our AP hades ornaments. These are pretty cool. I’m glad they did something special like that.


Do you have a picture of the ornament? I'm interested to see what it looks like and I haven't seen it pop up anywhere yet. Thanks for the report.


----------



## Cluelyss

Cinderumbrella said:


> Not sure if this has been posted here yet, but to my fellow AP brethren that attended the first 3 VAH, call the passholder line and they will mail you the Hades ornament. I’m told to give it about 2 weeks.


 Which number did you call? I just called the passholder line at 407-WDW-PASS and was told the ornament is only for those attending the 6/27 party or later.  I even asked her if she was sure, and mentioned that I had a “friend” who attended an earlier party and getting one mailed out, but the CM was adamant that I did not qualify for the promotion. Just wondering if there’s a better number to call before I play CM roulette with this one LOL


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Cluelyss said:


> Which number did you call? I just called the passholder line at 407-WDW-PASS and was told the ornament is only for those attending the 6/27 party or later.  I even asked her if she was sure, and mentioned that I had a “friend” who attended an earlier party and getting one mailed out, but the CM was adamant that I did not qualify for the promotion. Just wondering if there’s a better number to call before I play CM roulette with this one LOL



I called the passholder line. Mention that you are eligible per the DPB article


----------



## Dug720

maryj11 said:


> The park was so crowded when we got there it was hard to walk. I was so thankful when it cleared out! I wish I had taken a picture of the crowds when we arrived. I do have one of Main Street about 11:30.



Since the Park was still open to anyone when you got there, I would not have expected it to be empty.

Looks like they did a good job of clearing the non-VAH people out though. Which is what should happen.


----------



## maryj11

Dug720 said:


> Since the Park was still open to anyone when you got there, I would not have expected it to be empty.
> 
> Looks like they did a good job of clearing the non-VAH people out though. Which is what should happen.


The crowds before it started were more than I have ever seen. Yes they did a good job clearing out the park.


----------



## Dug720

Quick question - I’m sure it is in here somewhere, but I am on my phone, so...

Where all is the merchandise located? I only want the tank - preferably the Hades one, but the other would do - and want to make sure I get that ASAP once I have my wristband so they don’t sell out. 

Hoping they have set amounts set aside for each night rather than just putting out everything every time so that as it goes on we have less of a chance. I’m there on the 18th and plan to afternoon at DAK and head over to MK after my Na’vi FP+ at 4:15...but if things are selling quickly I will change it up and just do MK all afternoon.


----------



## Dug720

maryj11 said:


> The crowds before it started were more than I have ever seen. Yes they did a good job clearing out the park.



NYC public schools just got out Wednesday, so I wonder if there was a huge influx Wednesday night/Thursday morning.


----------



## Haley R

Cinderumbrella said:


> @Haley R
> 
> Do you have a pic of the ornament? I don’t think I’ve seen it yet (even though they are mailing me one, lol)


I can take a picture when I get back to the room. It has hades on one side and the other side says villain after hours 2019


----------



## Haley R

maryj11 said:


> The crowds before it started were more than I have ever seen. Yes they did a good job clearing out the park.


We saw lots of people without bands even at 11:30 or so. There was a group that got all the way to space mountain before being turned away


----------



## maryj11

Haley R said:


> We saw lots of people without bands even at 11:30 or so. There was a group that got all the way to space mountain before being turned away


I noticed crowds thinned out after 10:15 or so. There were still some around but way better than before when it started. Didn't seem bad to me.


----------



## Haley R

maryj11 said:


> I noticed crowds thinned out after 10:15 or so. There were still some around but way better than before when it started. Didn't seem bad to me.


I didn’t think crowds were too bad either. I just wanted to mention seeing people without bands. I only noticed it in Tomorrowland. There were quite a few families sitting by the bathroom near star traders


----------



## CJN

Lisa F said:


> I'm looking ahead to February - we will basically have 1.5 days in Disney before our cruise.  We have 1 day parkhoppers - flying in on Thursday and hoping the current schedule holds and will be able to do DAH in the MK on February 20th (this is the equivalent of the presidents week day they added late last year).  If the hours are the same HEA was at 8, DAH was 9-12.
> 
> Has anyone ever done a dessert party in conjunction with DAH?  I was thinking of doing the Plaza viewing with after party.
> 
> These were my two favorite extras of my last trip. I think the timing could work - IF they let us in a bit before 7pm we'd go straight to the plaza for a prime viewing spot, fireworks is over by 8:20 or so, and we could snack for a while and then do our DAH event. If it's more like 6 it would give us an hour to do a couple of things as well before the event.
> 
> Just want a reality check about whether this will work - I know my son probably won't eat 6 mickey bars after the dessert party but I think it is going to be very very crowded that week (as it is typically) and this would be the best way to hit all of the highlights of the MK for us without using our one day ticket (which will be used the next day before boarding cruise on Saturday).



We did both DAH and the before dessert party last November. HEA was at 9 and DAH ran from 10-1. I know you’re talking about doing the after party but your timing gap might be about the same as ours since we stayed around the castle area quite a while for OUAT and photopass pictures. In fact, we didn’t even check in for DAH until right at 10 pm when we made it over by Buzz Lightyear. We thought it worked perfectly. And we didn’t indulge much in the DAH snacks either, except for popcorn and drinks.


----------



## preemiemama

Haley R said:


> More pictures


Thanks for reporting back- looking forward to our turn on the 11th! 

Can you tell me if the train station/entrance was still lit up as you were leaving?  Trying to time taking a picture there!


----------



## GlassSlipper13

Cluelyss said:


> We had ours taken on the outer rim of the hub, but parallel to the statue (if that makes sense). Also, this is an animated magic shot ONLY which I didn’t realize until after emailing PhotoPass thinking our shots were missing. I was expecting Hades to actually be in our pictures like the other shots, and was disappointed to find out that wasn’t the case.


Thank you!


----------



## Haley R

preemiemama said:


> Thanks for reporting back- looking forward to our turn on the 11th!
> 
> Can you tell me if the train station/entrance was still lit up as you were leaving?  Trying to time taking a picture there!


No unfortunately it wasn’t. We had someone take our picture but it was just the green lighting. I’m not sure what time they took the lighting off. We never did actually see it lit up


----------



## Haley R

Ornament pictures


----------



## preemiemama

Haley R said:


> No unfortunately it wasn’t. We had someone take our picture but it was just the green lighting. I’m not sure what time they took the lighting off. We never did actually see it lit up


I'll plan to work it into our pre-party events somehow.  It's cool, but I certainly don't want to miss anything inside just for a picture!  Thanks!


----------



## Vickie1016

Haley R said:


> Here’s my report from last night:
> 
> Got to mk at 8:30 pm and walked right through the event entrance to get our wristbands. The new wristbands are super cool. I like them a lot more than the paper ones.
> Splash fp-still about a 10 minute wait
> Pirates gift shop to look at merch. I ended up buying the tank top. They were all out of smalls for the event t shirt.
> Btmr fp
> Got drinks at cart next to pirates
> Got in line for pirates at 9:55. They started a separate line and let people in right at 10. It took about 10 minutes. It was okay, pretty much the same as MNSSHP.
> Got popcorn and ice cream in the hub. I loved the music they were playing in there. It wasn’t villainy but still very fun!
> Rode people mover as a walk on. It was fun to ride through space with the lights off
> Went to star traders to get our AP hades ornaments. These are pretty cool. I’m glad they did something special like that.
> Rode space-posted 35 minutes but was only 10. We rode again right after as a walk on. When we got off at 11:30 there was a huge line of people from the castle show. I was able to hear Ursula when we got to the bottom of the track. When you’re in the majority of the ride you can’t really hear much.
> Walked to storybook treats and got a maleficent cone. I absolutely love these. It’s my favorite treat at all of wdw. There was a bit of a line but it moved quickly.
> Happened to catch the maleficent dragon in Frontierland. The dragon was cool to see at night with the glowing eyes and fire.
> Rode btmr twice and both times were a walk on.
> Sat in the rocking chairs by hall of presidents. It was nice to just sit and relax in the villain atmosphere.
> Went to the hub and decided to go right up front on the chain in front of the castle at 12:30. This was my favorite part of the night. I had so much fun dancing and there were tons of people dancing around us. We literally danced the entire 30 minutes before the stage show at 1.
> The stage show was pretty decent. It got kind of repetitive and boring after awhile. We aren’t huge show people though.
> We left right after the stage show and saw the villains up on the train station. That was a really fun addition. I liked that they did that and the characters were funny.
> The end of our night was the bus situation. We waited 40 minutes for a bus to wilderness lodge. There were a lot of people in our line so I’m not sure what the issue was. It put a sour taste in our mouth but didn’t ruin our night.
> Overall thoughts:
> If you go into this thinking it’s like a small version of MNSSHP, you’ll have fun. Do not go into this thinking it’s like after hours because it’s not. You definitely don’t get the empty crowd feel but wait times were never that long except for 7dmt. They did take away the bananas and Olaf bars which was disappointing. I really enjoyed the club feel to the hub and had a lot of fun dancing. I saw lots of parents dancing with kids and young adults dancing in groups. We got an AP discount but a full price ticket would’ve seemed steep for this event.
> 
> Dh said it was a one and done for him. I could maybe see myself doing it again but they would need to add some more things to the event. You definitely need to have a plan and probably won’t be able to ride all rides and watch special entertainment so might have to pick and choose



Thanks for such detailed report of your event! Bummer about the bus situation ☹


----------



## Haley R

Vickie1016 said:


> Thanks for such detailed report of your event! Bummer about the bus situation ☹


It was a bummer but didn’t ruin my night. I really did have a lot of fun.


----------



## Madeleinebelle

I was able to go on June 27th. I had a work conference in Orlando and my co-workers and I were desperate to do a night at Disney and when this event came out we decided to go for it. The only bummer is H20 Glow Nights was the same night for us and if one of the events had been on Wednesday it would've been nice. 

The overall transportation for the night was pretty quick. The tram and the monorail were pretty quick. Once we were in the gate and through security we were in around 6:45.  We were able to ride alot but two of us aren't big rollercoaster people so it may not be as exciting of a report. It was one of my co-worker's first trip to Disney so I feel like we stopped more and took pictures and looked at things.

We rode
Peter Pan- FP
Small World
Splash Mountain- FP
Haunted Mansion- FP
Little Mermaid- FP
Watched HEA for a few minutes
We ate at Cosmic Ray's for dinner
POC- 20 minute wait- the entire area was packed but it was also just turning 10 and people were starting to leave
Buzz Lightyear- walk on
Winnie the pooh- walk on
Peter Pan- 5 minute wait
Mickey Philaharmonic- walk on
Peoplemover- walk on

We did watch some of the show and the dj. We left about 1:15. The night flew by though. We rode the Ferrryboat back to parking and was able to get on a tram pretty quickly. 7DMT had a huge line that we didn't feel like braving. Space Mountain had a few minute wait before we went on Peoplemover then one of the shows let out and there was an large crowd running to Space Mountain. The overall crowd level wasn't bad at all. This was my first after hours event so it was nice to see and not feel  crowded. The free treats were nice. The popcorn was fresh all night and my co-workers ate multiple strawberry bars and we drank alot of water.


----------



## Momtwofour

maryj11 said:


> We were there last night. We had a good time. So worth it to avoid the crowds and heat. I would definitely do it again.
> We arrived at 6:30 and were let in about 6:40.
> We bought Villain t shirts and changed into them. I thought they would be the thicker material , but they were not. They were lightweight and comfortable.
> We had a fastpass for Peter Pan, but decided to eat at Tony's ( my teens choice). Tried to modify PP for later but nothing available so we got IASW.
> After eating at Tony's we had a FP for Seven Dwarfs. The fireworks were going off by the time we got to SDMT.
> After we finshed watching the fireworks in Fantasyland we headed to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder. They did check our bands before we walked into Frontierland. Splash and Big Thunder were walk on.
> Walked toward the castle and ran into the Maleficent dragon and his friends
> After that we went to Jungle Cruise and Pirates. Jungle Cruise was walk on and Pirates was about 5 minutes.
> Space Mountain was about 10 minute wait. Checked Seven Dwarfs wait time it was 30 minutes, so we skipped it. Peter Pan was 5 minute wait but we skipped it.
> Haunted Mansion walk on.
> So the run down.
> It's a Small World FP
> Seven Dwarfs FP
> Splash Mountain walk on
> Big Thunder walk on
> Jungle Cruise walk on
> Pirates of the Caribbean 5 minute wait
> Haunted Mansion walk on
> Space Mountain 10 minute wait
> Eating at Tony's was not a good idea because we were not hungry for any of the free treats. I did get 2 bottles of water.
> We rode everything we wanted and could of rode more rides but we just took it slow and only rode our favorites.
> I got a few pictures and a video I will post. The video is not loading for me right now so I will post it later.


@maryj11  Do you happen to remember what time you got in line for Space Mountain?


----------



## cindyfan

I may have seen the answer in this thread, but can't find it.
I have AP voucher that I will activate the same day as one of the After Hours.  Can I purchase the AH event ticket ahead of time with just the voucher? by calling?  I already tried online and it did not show up with the AP price and my AP is linked already.
If I have to pay the full price, will they adjust the price and refund the $30 once I activate my AP that day?  Thanks


----------



## DisneyGuy

I went on June 20th and had a great time!  This was my 2nd Disney After Hours event in MK - the first one had no theme.  I love the Villains and they don't get enough recognition in the parks so this is a real treat for Villain fans.  No meet and greets, but the stage show is fun (but a bit repetitive) the atmosphere on Main St. is cool with the lighting and I really enjoyed the live pirates in line at POC and also on the ride.  Had a fun conversation with one of the pirates in line who told us we were in great danger - LOL.  Those moments are priceless.  Space Mountain was cool but the voices of the villains are hard to hear sometimes but wow that ride is rough!  I haven't been on it in a while but it's painful - lol (how old am I?!)  I was somewhat stressed out trying to fit in everything and with a theme with a show/parade (Maleficent at night is on a whole other level) it does eat into ride time.  3 hours goes so fast!  We waiting for SDMT about 30 minutes - didn't have fast passes for it for any day of our trip so we waited, but other than that the rides we did do were walk on (or almost) (Peter Pan was another long one but it was a few minutes after 10 so day guests were still in line).  I felt like we were running back and forth in the park trying to fit everything in.  
The Villain farewell at the end is a nice touch!  Also, the last run of Maleficent down Main St. is perfection.  After Hours with a theme should be longer than 3 hours (for ride purposes) but that's just wishful thinking.  It is nice that they somewhat extend the hours for the additional show and last run of the dragon. We left the park around 2:00am by the time everything ended.  Maleficent was delayed for some reason so we had to wait for her final run.

Again, I do thing regular After Hours events are less stressful and have somewhat lighter crowds but all in all a fun night.  I wish I could have done it twice to spend more time soaking up party atmosphere rather than running around like crazy.  Hardly had much time for popcorn/drinks and ice cream but we managed.  Had no time for special Villain treats because I can't eat that fast and have it gone before the next ride.


----------



## preemiemama

cindyfan said:


> I may have seen the answer in this thread, but can't find it.
> I have AP voucher that I will activate the same day as one of the After Hours.  Can I purchase the AH event ticket ahead of time with just the voucher? by calling?  I already tried online and it did not show up with the AP price and my AP is linked already.
> If I have to pay the full price, will they adjust the price and refund the $30 once I activate my AP that day?  Thanks


I was able to purchase mine ahead of time online with just a voucher.  I believe you have to be sure you are logged in to your account when you go to purchase online so it will show you the AP price option.  I am not sure about calling since I purchased mine online.


----------



## heidijanesmith

Haley R said:


> Here’s my report from last night:
> 
> Got to mk at 8:30 pm and walked right through the event entrance to get our wristbands. The new wristbands are super cool. I like them a lot more than the paper ones.
> Splash fp-still about a 10 minute wait
> Pirates gift shop to look at merch. I ended up buying the tank top. They were all out of smalls for the event t shirt.
> Btmr fp
> Got drinks at cart next to pirates
> Got in line for pirates at 9:55. They started a separate line and let people in right at 10. It took about 10 minutes. It was okay, pretty much the same as MNSSHP.
> Got popcorn and ice cream in the hub. I loved the music they were playing in there. It wasn’t villainy but still very fun!
> Rode people mover as a walk on. It was fun to ride through space with the lights off
> Went to star traders to get our AP hades ornaments. These are pretty cool. I’m glad they did something special like that.
> Rode space-posted 35 minutes but was only 10. We rode again right after as a walk on. When we got off at 11:30 there was a huge line of people from the castle show. I was able to hear Ursula when we got to the bottom of the track. When you’re in the majority of the ride you can’t really hear much.
> Walked to storybook treats and got a maleficent cone. I absolutely love these. It’s my favorite treat at all of wdw. There was a bit of a line but it moved quickly.
> Happened to catch the maleficent dragon in Frontierland. The dragon was cool to see at night with the glowing eyes and fire.
> Rode btmr twice and both times were a walk on.
> Sat in the rocking chairs by hall of presidents. It was nice to just sit and relax in the villain atmosphere.
> Went to the hub and decided to go right up front on the chain in front of the castle at 12:30. This was my favorite part of the night. I had so much fun dancing and there were tons of people dancing around us. We literally danced the entire 30 minutes before the stage show at 1.
> The stage show was pretty decent. It got kind of repetitive and boring after awhile. We aren’t huge show people though.
> We left right after the stage show and saw the villains up on the train station. That was a really fun addition. I liked that they did that and the characters were funny.
> The end of our night was the bus situation. We waited 40 minutes for a bus to wilderness lodge. There were a lot of people in our line so I’m not sure what the issue was. It put a sour taste in our mouth but didn’t ruin our night.
> Overall thoughts:
> If you go into this thinking it’s like a small version of MNSSHP, you’ll have fun. Do not go into this thinking it’s like after hours because it’s not. You definitely don’t get the empty crowd feel but wait times were never that long except for 7dmt. They did take away the bananas and Olaf bars which was disappointing. I really enjoyed the club feel to the hub and had a lot of fun dancing. I saw lots of parents dancing with kids and young adults dancing in groups. We got an AP discount but a full price ticket would’ve seemed steep for this event.
> 
> Dh said it was a one and done for him. I could maybe see myself doing it again but they would need to add some more things to the event. You definitely need to have a plan and probably won’t be able to ride all rides and watch special entertainment so might have to pick and choose



Great report!

I had an issue with the buses after the 1st DAH I went to Jan 2018. I stayed at GF for a conference and went to DAH. The GF  by monorail is 15min away! DAH shut down the monorail and resort ferries, so all the monorail resorts shared a bus. It took forever to get there-30min or more and then we stopped at the Contemporary, Poly and then the GF. It went to the WL after that. It was crazy, people on the bus were getting upset and not behaving very well.  Lots of complaining (totally not the bus drivers fault) to the bus driver, cheering when it was there turn to get off.  

 I had read reports that the bus issue was not resolved, so DH and I left a little early to get a Minnie Van. It worked out perfectly. Our back up plan was to walk to the Contemporary and get a Lyft from there.


----------



## Haley R

heidijanesmith said:


> Great report!
> 
> I had an issue with the buses after the 1st DAH I went to Jan 2018. I stayed at GF for a conference and went to DAH. The GF  by monorail is 15min away! DAH shut down the monorail and resort ferries, so all the monorail resorts shared a bus. It took forever to get there-30min or more and then we stopped at the Contemporary, Poly and then the GF. It went to the WL after that. It was crazy, people on the bus were getting upset and not behaving very well.  Lots of complaining (totally not the bus drivers fault) to the bus driver, cheering when it was there turn to get off.
> 
> I had read reports that the bus issue was not resolved, so DH and I left a little early to get a Minnie Van. It worked out perfectly. Our back up plan was to walk to the Contemporary and get a Lyft from there.


We’ve been to 3 mk dah events before this and never had an issue with buses so I was surprised it was this bad. Maybe it’s mainly the mk resorts that have issues.


----------



## StephenM84

June 27th party

Arrived at 8pm
- got wrist bands and purchased a mug
- ate dinner at sleepy hollow
- FP Big Thunder 
- FP Buzz
- People mover
- annual pass gift
- rode jungle cruise right at 10
- Pirates legit 20 minute wait
- milificent
- drinks/ice cream
- rode Big Thunder 3x Walk on each time
- drinks/popcorn
- walk on HM
- walk on small world 
- PP 10 minute wait
- 7D 20 minute wait
- walk on pooh
- walk on dumbo


----------



## 123SA

Does anyone know if it is the same group of villains for the train station farewell each party?  I'm specifically wondering if the Bowler Hat guy is always there.

THX


----------



## PPFlight75

We are attending the event tonight. 
Got here about 7 for a Skipper Canteen dinner. Best thing I’ve had this trip!
We are now waiting for HEA. Will report when we can!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Wow, I forgot there was a VAH tonight. Have fun!


----------



## Cluelyss

123SA said:


> Does anyone know if it is the same group of villains for the train station farewell each party?  I'm specifically wondering if the Bowler Hat guy is always there.
> 
> THX


I can confirm he was there on 6/13. However, they did rotate on and off the platform during the half hour or so that we watched them.


----------



## PPFlight75

Did JC with FP and off right at 10. Got our bands and rode pirates with a 10 minute wait. Rode 2 times on BTMR as a walk on. Getting snacks now. So far, it’s more crowded than our April non villains event but pretty fun so far.


----------



## PPFlight75

Maleficent cancelled 

Edit to add: she did make an appearance at the last showing per another post. Maybe it was just the first that was cancelled. Probably technical difficulties.


----------



## 123SA

PPFlight75 said:


> Maleficent cancelled



Is it weather related?


----------



## PPFlight75

123SA said:


> Is it weather related?


No they just said it was cancelled. This was while people were waiting for the first one. Didn’t notice if the second one happened.


----------



## PolyRob

PPFlight75 said:


> No they just said it was cancelled. This was while people were waiting for the first one. Didn’t notice if the second one happened.


Hopefully not this again...


----------



## PPFlight75

It’s 1:15 and we are on the bus back to BWI. 
During the event we rode:
Pirates
BTMR x 2
HM
WTP
SDMT
Buzz x 2(teens rode space)
People mover

Lines were 25-30 for Space, SDMT and PP. 

This event was way more crowded than our April non villains event. 
We didn’t watch the stage show but we saw exactly zero villains during the event until we walked under the train station. We saw none  around the park but maybe it was just bad timing. It just did not seem very villainy 

I would do this again only if it replaced a park day and not as an add on since we have AP. 
I would definitely do it again if it was the original event. 

Glad to be in the AC of the bus and so happy it came quickly lol!

Sure miss that Olaf bar!


----------



## PPFlight75

PolyRob said:


> Hopefully not this again...
> 
> View attachment 413603


Luckily no lol! They didn’t say and she never came out. They canceled 5 minutes before the start. Hopefully folks got to see the second go around.


----------



## Justplainchy

We just wrapped up our night and at 1:55 are on the bus back to our resort! we had a great time, but compared to the AH event we did in March there were DEFINITELY more people. However, the stage show, party vibe and malificent helped cushion that. We arrived at 7:30 and managed: 
Pre  
Barnstormer (10 minute wait)
Little mermaid  (w/ FP)
PPF (w/ FP)
HEA full show 
BTMRR (w/FP) 

After 10:00, event start: 
BTMRR (5 min wait) 
Snacks 
Getting lost for a good five minutes (oops)
Scar Magic Shot
Pirates (15 min wait)
Snacks 
Magic Carpets (walk on-could have re-rode without getting off if we wanted) 
Haunted Mansion (walk on)
Haunted mansion photo 
Space Mountain (15 minute wait)
People mover (walk on)
Buzz x2 (walk on both times) 
Oogie Boogie Pic 
Snacks 

That took us to 12:50, and we enjoyed ten minutes of the rockin’ dance party in the hub (fresh prince whaaaatttt), and then saw the 1:00am show and then Malificient’s final stroll  (both amazing).

Took some last minute castle pictures and then walked out with all of the villains waving goodbye! 

All in all, we would definitely do this again but knowing it’s more of a party vibe and much less of the magic-kingdom-to-ourselves feeling of the traditional AH. There was never a time we were totally alone, unlike the March event. BUT, there was also a lot more of a party atmosphere that even the cast members got into! 

Now to pass out before trying to make a nine am FP tomorrow........... (we’ll see if we make it  )


----------



## PPFlight75

Justplainchy said:


> We just wrapped up our night and at 1:55 are on the bus back to our resort! we had a great time, but compared to the AH event we did in March there were DEFINITELY more people. However, the stage show, party vibe and malificent helped cushion that. We arrived at 7:30 and managed:
> Pre
> Barnstormer (10 minute wait)
> Little mermaid  (w/ FP)
> PPF (w/ FP)
> HEA full show
> BTMRR (w/FP)
> 
> After 10:00, event start:
> BTMRR (5 min wait)
> Snacks
> Getting lost for a good five minutes (oops)
> Scar Magic Shot
> Pirates (15 min wait)
> Snacks
> Magic Carpets (walk on-could have re-rode without getting off if we wanted)
> Haunted Mansion (walk on)
> Haunted mansion photo
> Space Mountain (15 minute wait)
> People mover (walk on)
> Buzz x2 (walk on both times)
> Oogie Boogie Pic
> Snacks
> 
> That took us to 12:50, and we enjoyed ten minutes of the rockin’ dance party in the hub (fresh prince whaaaatttt), and then saw the 1:00am show and then Malificient’s final stroll  (both amazing).
> 
> Took some last minute castle pictures and then walked out with all of the villains waving goodbye!
> 
> All in all, we would definitely do this again but knowing it’s more of a party vibe and much less of the magic-kingdom-to-ourselves feeling of the traditional AH. There was never a time we were totally alone, unlike the March event. BUT, there was also a lot more of a party atmosphere that even the cast members got into!
> 
> Now to pass out before trying to make a nine am FP tomorrow........... (we’ll see if we make it  )


I’m so glad you got to see Maleficent at the end.
We were wondering if she finally came out. 
Glad you had a good time and hope you make those FPs this morning!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Had so much fun lastnight. 
We arrived at 7:35, bought a shirt and got my AP ornaments.
Did HEA dessert party, then waited for crowds to disperse, headed to Dumbo area since GSs were still awake. 
Dumbo
Barnstormer
Did MS with Ooogie Boogie (LOVE these pics)
DS7 did Scar MS
Pirates 15 min felt a bit longer
BTMRR 3x
Splash 1x
Castle pics
TSpeedway 1x
Space 1x (15 jumped right after 12 castle show ended)
Shopped 
1am castle show
Maleficent in front of Mickey meet n greet
walked back to CR

We stopped a lot to load up on waters. 
Didn't rush, since we did EMM Sunday, and will be back to MK for 3rd fireworks/dessert party.

It was more crowded than in March, but still a good time!!!

AK DAH tonight!


----------



## WDW1979

PPFlight75 said:


> It’s 1:15 and we are on the bus back to BWI.
> During the event we rode:
> Pirates
> BTMR x 2
> HM
> WTP
> SDMT
> Buzz x 2(teens rode space)
> People mover
> 
> Lines were 25-30 for Space, SDMT and PP.
> 
> This event was way more crowded than our April non villains event.
> We didn’t watch the stage show but we saw exactly zero villains during the event until we walked under the train station. We saw none  around the park but maybe it was just bad timing. It just did not seem very villainy
> 
> I would do this again only if it replaced a park day and not as an add on since we have AP.
> I would definitely do it again if it was the original event.
> 
> Glad to be in the AC of the bus and so happy it came quickly lol!
> 
> Sure miss that Olaf bar!



Lines for Space, SDMT and PP were 25-30 min? Yikes!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

PPFlight75 said:


> It’s 1:15 and we are on the bus back to BWI.
> During the event we rode:
> Pirates
> BTMR x 2
> HM
> WTP
> SDMT
> Buzz x 2(teens rode space)
> People mover
> 
> Lines were 25-30 for Space, SDMT and PP.
> 
> This event was way more crowded than our April non villains event.
> We didn’t watch the stage show but we saw exactly zero villains during the event until we walked under the train station. We saw none  around the park but maybe it was just bad timing. It just did not seem very villainy
> 
> I would do this again only if it replaced a park day and not as an add on since we have AP.
> I would definitely do it again if it was the original event.
> 
> Glad to be in the AC of the bus and so happy it came quickly lol!
> 
> Sure miss that Olaf bar!



I’m sorry it didn’t go as well for you.

I just want to clarify a few things:

The Villains are not “out” in the parks (except the stage show). I’m sorry you misunderstood that.

Did you ride PP or was the sign posted 25 minutes? I found the signs to be very inaccurate.

I’m curious if you remember the timing of when your kids rode Space? I’ve been recommending during the 11 or 12 stage show because there seems to be a big rush of people who head there right after (and I’m curious if that still holds true).


----------



## PPFlight75

Cinderumbrella said:


> I’m sorry it didn’t go as well for you.
> 
> I just want to clarify a few things:
> 
> The Villains are not “out” in the parks (except the stage show). I’m sorry you misunderstood that.
> 
> Did you ride PP or was the sign posted 25 minutes? I found the signs to be very inaccurate.
> 
> I’m curious if you remember the timing of when your kids rode Space? I’ve been recommending during the 11 or 12 stage show because there seems to be a big rush of people who head there right after (and I’m curious if that still holds true).


I thought I read where the villains were roaming the park throughout the night. If I misunderstood that then that’s on me. It wasn’t a draw for us attending, just curious we didn’t see them. 

PP was posted at 25 the 2 times we walked by but didn’t ride it. 
SDMT was posted 30 and was about 25 minutes. 
Space was posted 15 and was over 30. This was about midnight. 

We thought it was fun and did a lot compared to a regular day just not as good as our previous plus a lot more people. 

As I said we would do it again in place of a day ticket if we were getting tickets but not as an extra thing to do. 

I would try the regular AH event again, even as an extra add on. It was just more our style.


----------



## PPFlight75

WDW1979 said:


> Lines for Space, SDMT and PP were 25-30 min? Yikes!


SDMT was about 25 minute wait and Space was over 30 with a posted 15 minute. PP was posted 25 but we didn’t get back to ride it and see. Other rides were a walk on ( Buzz, PM, WTP, BTMR) and HM and Pirates were about 10 minutes.


----------



## lampshadehead

These wait times are making me somewhat regret purchasing tickets.  I have been to regular after hours and worried now this one will be a let down.


----------



## TinkerTracy

Thank you everyone for posting your AH event reports! It's totally helping me to plan my night!


----------



## PPFlight75

lampshadehead said:


> These wait times are making me somewhat regret purchasing tickets.  I have been to regular after hours and worried now this one will be a let down.


I think if I did it again, I would go earlier and do my FPs for the busier rides like I did last time. We didn’t even try SDMT last time due to the waits so we focused more on the walk ones except for space. I think maybe that helped us the first time and made it feel worth it.


----------



## mamamelody2

OK so apparently I'm very unobservant.  I was hoping for a DAH MK on our first night (Thursday August 29) as it was offered that day last year, but we had a late flight in and couldn't make it.  When I saw they did offer it this year I got all excited and made plans to go.  Which we will.  But I am just noticing NOW that there is also one on our second Thursday (September 5).  They didn't have one on that day last year, and I just assumed they wouldn't again and didn't notice.
So if we love the first one, we can do another one.  YAY!


----------



## Doc Mickey

It is my understanding that you are allowed to dress up for the villains after hours event.  Our family was considering doing this but do not want to be the only ones.  I had read an initial review elsewhere that the first night not many were.  To those who have been since, were folks dressing up or no?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Paging @Cluelyss, our resident villain/Halloween costume expert.


----------



## AussieFan8

We went to the second one and quite a few people were dressed up, to the point that I felt silly that we didn't! It ranged from matching villain t-shirts to full villain attire.


----------



## jenjersnap

I need advice and don’t want to start a new thread. Thinking enough knowledgeable people see this thread that I could get some help.

Our trip later this month has been suddenly and tragically cancelled when my retina decided to detach from its wall. I had surgery yesterday (I do not recommend this surgery, big thumbs down) and can’t fly for two months, thanks to a lovely apparatus installed in my head (and I won’t be able to ride my favorite coasters, EE and RnRC, ever again which is truly heartbreaking).

Aaanywaaay, I have tickets to AH on July 25th. Anyone had any luck getting a refund because of trip cancellation? I know that they are not refundable, but I am hoping this extraordinary situation might allow me to have my $600 back. Who should I call? I have a number for ticketing but I bought them with an AP discount - do you think the AP line might be more helpful?

I would appreciate any advice anyone can offer. I am not physically up to making multiple phone calls right now. If the answer is no, so be it but I doubt I will ever buy AH or holiday party tickets in advance again (without travel insurance, I guess). Thanks!


----------



## Haley R

We went Thursday and I didn’t think very many people were dressed up


----------



## Haley R

jenjersnap said:


> I need advice and don’t want to start a new thread. Thinking enough knowledgeable people see this thread that I could get some help.
> 
> Our trip later this month has been suddenly and tragically cancelled when my retina decided to detach from its wall. I had surgery yesterday (I do not recommend this surgery, big thumbs down) and can’t fly for two months, thanks to a lovely apparatus installed in my head (and I won’t be able to ride my favorite coasters, EE and RnRC, ever again which is truly heartbreaking).
> 
> Aaanywaaay, I have tickets to AH on July 25th. Anyone had any luck getting a refund because of trip cancellation? I know that they are not refundable, but I am hoping this extraordinary situation might allow me to have my $600 back. Who should I call? I have a number for ticketing but I bought them with an AP discount - do you think the AP line might be more helpful?
> 
> I would appreciate any advice anyone can offer. I am not physically up to making multiple phone calls right now. If the answer is no, so be it but I doubt I will ever buy AH or holiday party tickets in advance again (without travel insurance, I guess). Thanks!


Disney is usually very willing to work with you if you call and explain the circumstances. It’s worth a try. I’m not sure if the AP line would be more helpful or not. Maybe try that one first and see what they say


----------



## jenjersnap

Haley R said:


> Disney is usually very willing to work with you if you call and explain the circumstances. It’s worth a try. I’m not sure if the AP line would be more helpful or not. Maybe try that one first and see what they say



They have not been willing to work with me regarding the UCT 10 day PH & more tickets I purchased for the other four people in my party. My only choice is to exchange them when we get there which means no prebooking FPs which feels to me like $1700 wasted and so feeling very gunshy, stressed and depressed about what they will do for us right now. DVC, OTOH, has been fantastic, letting us rebook with expired points. 

Thanks so much for the response. Will try AP line first.


----------



## FoxC63

jenjersnap said:


> They have not been willing to work with me regarding the UCT 10 day PH & more tickets I purchased for the other four people in my party. My only choice is to exchange them when we get there which means no prebooking FPs which feels to me like $1700 wasted and so feeling very gunshy, stressed and depressed about what they will do for us right now. DVC, OTOH, has been fantastic, letting us rebook with expired points.
> 
> Thanks so much for the response. Will try AP line first.



Who did you call Guest Services?  I know when my mom passed Disney was amazing.  They refunded resort and 2 sets of MNSSHP tickets.  The only thing I had to do was cancel all our ADR's.  As far as park tickets those were non expiring.  

I do recall someone posting on the Official Halloween thread that they contacted UCT to resolve their issue.  I do not believe Disney can do anything about your tickets since they were not purchased from them.  Contact UCT directly.  

I hope you do get everything resolved.  Please let us know as this information will be so helpful for others.


----------



## jenjersnap

FoxC63 said:


> Who did you call Guest Services?  I know when my mom passed Disney was amazing.  They refunded resort and 2 sets of MNSSHP tickets.  The only thing I had to do was cancel all our ADR's.  As far as park tickets those were non expiring.
> 
> I do recall someone posting on the Official Halloween thread that they contacted UCT to resolve their issue.  I do not believe Disney can do anything about your tickets since they were not purchased from them.  Contact UCT directly.
> 
> I hope you do get everything resolved.  Please let us know as this information will be so helpful for others.



I talked to UCT first. Because I bought the tickets in March and greater than 90 days had elapsed, they wouldn’t help. I called the main Disney ticketing line and they gave me info above, but suggested I put the details in an email to guest services to see if they can give further assistance. I sent that on Saturday. Was hoping to get it taken care of prior to surgery (but I only had weekend, surgery scheduled on Friday for this Monday). They have never responded. I sent an update today, indicating that I have re-booked our vacation for next summer and hoping that gives them incentive to respond. 

I will update. I appreciate your advice. So sorry for the loss of your mom.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jenjersnap said:


> I need advice and don’t want to start a new thread. Thinking enough knowledgeable people see this thread that I could get some help.
> 
> Our trip later this month has been suddenly and tragically cancelled when my retina decided to detach from its wall. I had surgery yesterday (I do not recommend this surgery, big thumbs down) and can’t fly for two months, thanks to a lovely apparatus installed in my head (and I won’t be able to ride my favorite coasters, EE and RnRC, ever again which is truly heartbreaking).
> 
> Aaanywaaay, I have tickets to AH on July 25th. Anyone had any luck getting a refund because of trip cancellation? I know that they are not refundable, but I am hoping this extraordinary situation might allow me to have my $600 back. Who should I call? I have a number for ticketing but I bought them with an AP discount - do you think the AP line might be more helpful?
> 
> I would appreciate any advice anyone can offer. I am not physically up to making multiple phone calls right now. If the answer is no, so be it but I doubt I will ever buy AH or holiday party tickets in advance again (without travel insurance, I guess). Thanks!



First off, I'm so sorry for your medical troubles.  Sounds like you have alot going on right now, but wishing you a speedy recovery.  

I agree with the PPs, I'd call the AP line.  Disney usually has a good track record of working with people.  They may balk at a flat refund but may offer things such as a gift card, a credit to a future AH event, or something.  Hopefully you'll eventually get another trip on the books and can put that money to use.  

Good luck!


----------



## clm10308

I attended yesterday (7/1) and had a great time. Due to the heat, we were not planning to do any park time this trip, but I was excited when the After Hours was announced.
We arrived right at 7:00 and had some fast passes to use up and got in several other rides and some shopping done before 10. Our FP for 7DMT got turned into and anything FP because the ride was shut down for quite a while due to weather. I never saw an rain but there was lots of lighting.

Peter Pan (FP)
Mickey’s Phil.
Shopping for event shirts
Little Mermaid
Space Mountain (FP)
Haunted Mansion (FP)
Small World

It was just a few minutes after 10 when we got out of IASW. We got some snacks - drinks, pop corn, ice cream sandwiches- and went right over to BTMR. It had no wait at all.
We then went on Pirates and Jungle cruise.
Tried the Hades nachos which I probably would not buy again, but my 17 yr old son would have loved them.
We went back to Fantasy land and rode Pooh then 7DMT. We stopped for more snacks in there somewhere. Then we did Buzz and the PeopleMover. I didn’t like the total dark on Space Mountain as went through on the PeopleMover, so we skipped riding it again.
I tried the Zurg noodle salad just because it was purple. It was good to have something non ice cream to eat. 
About 12:40 we had ridden everything that we wanted so we went to find a spot for the show. 
Grabbed some more drinks and a Mickey bar and I sat at the tables in front of the Plaza for a rest while my husband did some shopping. 
I moved up for the show which my husband thought was not great, but he did like the castle projections. We stayed for the dragon and followed her back up Main Street with about a million other people to watch her go in by the fire house.
I saw the villains at the train station, but they were gone before we got close enough to hear them. We didn’t have to wait long for our bus back to SSR. It was crowded with people standing, but that was too be expected.

I would absolutely do this again. We mostly went for the rides and avoided the hub area until we were ready for the last show. We did not care about doing any of the photos either.
After about 11 i thought that the park was not very crowded. The longest wait we has once the party started was for 7DMT and that might have been as long as 30 min but I didn’t time it. Even in the 7-10 pm time, my husband commented that he did not think it was crowded. However, we usually go at Christmas time when everything is much more crowded.


----------



## jenjersnap

GADisneyDad14 said:


> First off, I'm so sorry for your medical troubles.  Sounds like you have alot going on right now, but wishing you a speedy recovery.
> 
> I agree with the PPs, I'd call the AP line.  Disney usually has a good track record of working with people.  They may balk at a flat refund but may offer things such as a gift card, a credit to a future AH event, or something.  Hopefully you'll eventually get another trip on the books and can put that money to use.
> 
> Good luck!



Thanks so much! Any of those options would be great, honestly. And we have early June 2020 booked! My eldest is in college and doesn’t have much travel flexibility, so that was earliest possible date my entire family can go.


----------



## Cluelyss

Doc Mickey said:


> It is my understanding that you are allowed to dress up for the villains after hours event.  Our family was considering doing this but do not want to be the only ones.  I had read an initial review elsewhere that the first night not many were.  To those who have been since, were folks dressing up or no?


You can absolutely dress up (same guidelines as MNSSHP) and we saw many in costumes our night (6/13). It was part of the fun for us!! We got tons of CM compliments, and the Villains definitely took note at the end of the night, too!!


----------



## Candycane83

jenjersnap said:


> I need advice and don’t want to start a new thread. Thinking enough knowledgeable people see this thread that I could get some help.
> 
> Our trip later this month has been suddenly and tragically cancelled when my retina decided to detach from its wall. I had surgery yesterday (I do not recommend this surgery, big thumbs down) and can’t fly for two months, thanks to a lovely apparatus installed in my head (and I won’t be able to ride my favorite coasters, EE and RnRC, ever again which is truly heartbreaking).
> 
> Aaanywaaay, I have tickets to AH on July 25th. Anyone had any luck getting a refund because of trip cancellation? I know that they are not refundable, but I am hoping this extraordinary situation might allow me to have my $600 back. Who should I call? I have a number for ticketing but I bought them with an AP discount - do you think the AP line might be more helpful?
> 
> I would appreciate any advice anyone can offer. I am not physically up to making multiple phone calls right now. If the answer is no, so be it but I doubt I will ever buy AH or holiday party tickets in advance again (without travel insurance, I guess). Thanks!


Sorry for your troubles. I hope you feel better soon! Eye surgeries are the worst! Call the ticketing line (I called AP they transferred me), my husband just had eye surgery too, lucky it’s not a retina detachment but he had a serious eye infection. I purchased AH tickets for him which they refunded for me last week.


----------



## Haley R

I just got an ad for this event on my Spotify...


----------



## Castlequeen5

We went last night 7/1 to the Villians After Hours.  We had a good time, but there were more people than I expected.  The lines for the rides we went on weren’t long, but most were never walk-on either.  We didn’t really have a plan and just rode whatever we wanted, that had a short wait.  There were plenty of snack carts all over the park and everything was nice and cold.

Before event: (arrived around 6:45-7ish)
Carousel of Progress
Space Mountain FP
Speedway
Mine Train FP
Splash Mountain FP
BTMR

During:
Splash Mountain
BTMR
Pirates
Aladdin
Haunted Mansion
People Mover
Buzz

We stopped for snacks at various locations and did some magic shots.  We watched the final stage show and Maleficent come through.  It was fun, but I probably wouldn’t do it again.  I’d rather do a “real” DAH or an actual party  with parades and fireworks.

Also, we took the ferry back to Fort Wilderness.  It was shared with Wilderness Lodge.  The boat went to WL first, then to FW.  There were earlier reports that it was closed.  But they were running last night.  I had asked the CM on the ferry earlier in the day and he said they’d be running until 2:00 AM.  So we had no trouble getting back.


----------



## Haley R

Castlequeen5 said:


> We went last night 7/1 to the Villians After Hours.  We had a good time, but there were more people than I expected.  The lines for the rides we went on weren’t long, but most were never walk-on either.  We didn’t really have a plan and just rode whatever we wanted, that had a short wait.  There were plenty of snack carts all over the park and everything was nice and cold.
> 
> Before event: (arrived around 6:45-7ish)
> Carousel of Progress
> Space Mountain FP
> Speedway
> Mine Train FP
> Splash Mountain FP
> BTMR
> 
> During:
> Splash Mountain
> BTMR
> Pirates
> Aladdin
> Haunted Mansion
> People Mover
> Buzz
> 
> We stopped for snacks at various locations and did some magic shots.  We watched the final stage show and Maleficent come through.  It was fun, but I probably wouldn’t do it again.  I’d rather do a “real” DAH or an actual party  with parades and fireworks.
> 
> Also, we took the ferry back to Fort Wilderness.  It was shared with Wilderness Lodge.  The boat went to WL first, then to FW.  There were earlier reports that it was closed.  But they were running last night.  I had asked the CM on the ferry earlier in the day and he said they’d be running until 2:00 AM.  So we had no trouble getting back.


WHAT?! Man, I wish the boats had been running on our night. I'm glad you were able to use it


----------



## Castlequeen5

Haley R said:


> WHAT?! Man, I wish the boats had been running on our night. I'm glad you were able to use it


Maybe too many people complained??  I was just glad we were able to get back fairly easily.  We still had to wait about 10 minutes for the internal bus at FW, which could have been worse...I guess!


----------



## Haley R

Castlequeen5 said:


> Maybe too many people complained??  I was just glad we were able to get back fairly easily.  We still had to wait about 10 minutes for the internal bus at FW, which could have been worse...I guess!


Maybe after our dah they got a bunch of complaints from people waiting 40 minutes for a bus


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Lol, I was just updating the date tables on Page 1 where I keep track of dates, sold out status, weather, etc.  I am not one to discussion/mention weather at WDW - it's Florida after all - but the *10pm* temp Monday night was a whopping *88 degrees*.  Wowsers!  Not sure how some of you do costumes or anything other than shorts/t-shirts in that!


----------



## Castlequeen5

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Lol, I was just updating the date tables on Page 1 where I keep track of dates, sold out status, weather, etc.  I am not one to discussion/mention weather at WDW - it's Florida after all - but the *10pm* temp Monday night was a whopping *88 degrees*.  Wowsers!  Not sure how some of you do costumes or anything other than shorts/t-shirts in that!


Actually it didn’t feel too bad.  Maybe because I got pretty wet on Splash Mountain or maybe the ice cream bars kept me cool!  Ha!  Plus we just wore shorts and t-shirts too.  The weather has been pretty decent all week.  I wasn’t sure about coming in July, but it hasn’t been bad at all.  We do stay away from the parks during the afternoons though.


----------



## Castlequeen5

Also I forgot to mention, I tried to get a credit on our Villian tickets.  I bought the tickets BEFORE we got APs.  So I went to Guest Relations, but the CM said they can only do the discounts before you buy the tickets.  I wasn’t pushy at all and I didn’t ask anyone else.  So someone else may have better luck, but it wasn’t a big deal to me.  I just thought I’d ask.


----------



## jenjersnap

Candycane83 said:


> Sorry for your troubles. I hope you feel better soon! Eye surgeries are the worst! Call the ticketing line (I called AP they transferred me), my husband just had eye surgery too, lucky it’s not a retina detachment but he had a serious eye infection. I purchased AH tickets for him which they refunded for me last week.



That gives me hope, thanks! Hope your husband is on the mend.


----------



## skullsplitter

I thought I saw a map of Maleficent's routes.  Can someone repost that or just post what her routes are?  Thanks


----------



## disneycat321

Castlequeen5 said:


> Actually it didn’t feel too bad.  Maybe because I got pretty wet on Splash Mountain or maybe the ice cream bars kept me cool!  Ha!  Plus we just wore shorts and t-shirts too.  The weather has been pretty decent all week.  I wasn’t sure about coming in July, but it hasn’t been bad at all.  We do stay away from the parks during the afternoons though.



This is really good to hear. We're going later this month, and the weather is the only thing that has me nervous. We booked these DAH events partially to avoid afternoons at the parks, so I'm glad that's a good strategy. 

I'm also glad to see booking FPs for PP and 7DMT before this event was a good idea, since those have the longest lines during it. We won't miss SM in the dark, so I'm hoping that 11:00 or 12:00 during the show strategy works for us.  

Thanks for all the reports, everyone!


----------



## Captainkidd76

Castlequeen5 said:


> We went last night 7/1 to the Villians After Hours.  We had a good time, but there were more people than I expected.  The lines for the rides we went on weren’t long, but most were never walk-on either.  We didn’t really have a plan and just rode whatever we wanted, that had a short wait.  There were plenty of snack carts all over the park and everything was nice and cold.
> 
> Before event: (arrived around 6:45-7ish)
> Carousel of Progress
> Space Mountain FP
> Speedway
> Mine Train FP
> Splash Mountain FP
> BTMR
> 
> During:
> Splash Mountain
> BTMR
> Pirates
> Aladdin
> Haunted Mansion
> People Mover
> Buzz
> 
> We stopped for snacks at various locations and did some magic shots.  We watched the final stage show and Maleficent come through.  It was fun, but I probably wouldn’t do it again.  I’d rather do a “real” DAH or an actual party  with parades and fireworks.
> 
> Also, we took the ferry back to Fort Wilderness.  It was shared with Wilderness Lodge.  The boat went to WL first, then to FW.  There were earlier reports that it was closed.  But they were running last night.  I had asked the CM on the ferry earlier in the day and he said they’d be running until 2:00 AM.  So we had no trouble getting back.



That worries me about the wait times. Honestly, we won't bother with 7DWT. But I would like to get a couple rides each on the 3 mountains, and 1 on everything else. Back in the days of e-ride nights, we could do everything multiple times.


----------



## Lsdolphin

Attended the Villains party on Monday, 7/1.  Arrived around 8:00 pm used 3 fast passes then watched fireworks.  Rode PP with 10 min wait, walked onto HM, LM, POC, and JC. Didn’t see a line on outside of 7DMT.  Hung around Liberty Square eating Mickey Bars waiting for Malificent. There was an announcement around 10:40 that there would be a delay in her appearance. Then finally they announced she was cancelled. We left and rode more rides.  did see her during her 2nd scheduled appearance.  It was amazing...no crowds around and she came right by us.
So, anybody ever drive an ECV off a curb?!  Right in front of railroad station so busy watching Lady Tremaine and her daughters wasn’t paying any attention. 
No injuries just extreme mortification!

It has been reported temps were in 80s but it really didn’t feel that warm unless you were just coming out of an air conditioned area. Drinks were cold, pop corn was really good. Ice cream wasn’t frozen solid but our Mickey Bars were not falling off the sticks this time. We had a great evening didn’t watch the show as we did that on 6/27.  Crowd definitely larger than regular DAH nites but rides really did seem to be walk-on or short waits. Some refreshment carts had no lines and if there was a line it moved very quickly. Seemed like more carts on Monday 7/1 than there were at party last week. Definitely way more carts than the regular DAH nights. We waited less than a minute to buy the cookie/brownie thing in liberty square and stopped in bakery on way out and bought the poison apple cupcake, nobody in bakery but us.  Very glad we went and considering the extreme hot temps during the day we felt this was $ well spent! Oh BTW we are not necessarily huge “Villains” fans...


----------



## GlassSlipper13

Lsdolphin said:


> Attended the Villains party on Monday, 7/1.  Arrived around 8:00 pm used 3 fast passes then watched fireworks.  Rode PP with 10 min wait, walked onto HM, LM, POC, and JC. Didn’t see a line on outside of 7DMT.  Hung around Liberty Square eating Mickey Bars waiting for Malificent. There was an announcement around 10:40 that there would be a delay in her appearance. Then finally they announced she was cancelled. We left and rode more rides.  did see her during her 2nd scheduled appearance.  It was amazing...no crowds around and she came right by us.
> So, anybody ever drive an ECV off a curb?!  Right in front of railroad station so busy watching Lady Tremaine and her daughters wasn’t paying any attention.
> No injuries just extreme mortification!
> 
> It has been reported temps were in 80s but it really didn’t feel that warm unless you were just coming out of an air conditioned area. Drinks were cold, pop corn was really good. Ice cream wasn’t frozen solid but our Mickey Bars were not falling off the sticks this time. We had a great evening didn’t watch the show as we did that on 6/27.  Crowd definitely larger than regular DAH nites but rides really did seem to be walk-on or short waits. Some refreshment carts had no lines and if there was a line it moved very quickly. Seemed like more carts on Monday 7/1 than there were at party last week. Definitely way more carts than the regular DAH nights. We waited less than a minute to buy the cookie/brownie thing in liberty square and stopped in bakery on way out and bought the poison apple cupcake, nobody in bakery but us.  Very glad we went and considering the extreme hot temps during the day we felt this was $ well spent! Oh BTW we are not necessarily huge “Villains” fans...


 Thank you so much for your review! Quick question: do you happen to know what time you were in Main Street Bakery? We were hoping to get the poison apple cupcakes on our way out too, but we were worried that the Bakery might close at 1am......Thank you!!


----------



## Lsdolphin

GlassSlipper13 said:


> Thank you so much for your review! Quick question: do you happen to know what time you were in Main Street Bakery? We were hoping to get the poison apple cupcakes on our way out too, but we were worried that the Bakery might close at 1am......Thank you!!




It was around 1215 when we left...you could pop your head on your way up main st and ask what time they are closing...it was delicious


----------



## GlassSlipper13

Lsdolphin said:


> It was around 1215 when we left...you could pop your head on your way up main st and ask what time they are closing...it was delicious


Thank you!!


----------



## Lsdolphin

GlassSlipper13 said:


> Thank you!!



Welcome...the Poison Apple cupcake is huge and won’t fit into the plastic containers they put other cupcakes in they were serving it in a bowl shaped container but put mine in a square brown box with a second box covering it so I could bring it back to room.


----------



## Mrjoshua

Belated review for 6/27 Villains After Hours:
First, some quick observations...
- Definitely more crowded than regular After Hours
- Villain merch was available around 6:30pm
- Villain menu items were NOT available until 10pm
- Train station villains left and came back out multiple times after 1am
- Fastpass lines were made available to wristbanded party guests at 10pm, to bypass regular park guests still in line.

Overall, we thought it was great time, and a fun way to do the Magic Kingdom. Sinister lighting, graphics, and music made for a diabolical setting. Loved the villain silhouettes and imagery festooning the park.

Our goal was to do a little bit of everything between 10pm and 1-2am. We wanted to ride the overlay rides, sample the treats, take some Magic Shots, see the stage show, and be curbside for Maleficent. We also wanted to check out the train station villain hecklers.

Here's what we actually accomplished...
- Rode Villain Space Mountain x 1
- Rode People Mover x 1
- Rode Pirates of the Caribbean x 1
- Malificent Cone
- Headless Horseman Browkie
- Tarot Card Tart
- Hades Temptation Mocktail
- Hades Nachos
- Not-So-Poison Apple Cupcake
- Scar Magic Shot
- Hades Magic Shot
- Villains Unite the Night show
- Malificent
- Train Station villains

As many have said, we weren't able to do it all in one night, but we were able to do a little bit of this and that. We liked the ride overlays, and most of the treats were fun (HH Browkie won the award for most unenthusiastically themed dessert; something pumpkin flavored would've been a better fit). The stage show was worth seeing at least once, and the Magic Shots turned out nicely. Malificent at night is truly a commanding spectacle. The train station villains gave a wicked end to the evening.


----------



## Ksquared

elle101me said:


> It looks like you hit everything at the right time! I was leaning against not buying tickets for August 8th, but now I may have to rethink that...


I had also talked myself out of tickets for 8/8 but am seriously reconsidering.  I think if I don't do it, I will regret it.  Yes, it's allot of money for the 4 of us but it's an experience that we've never done before and looks pretty cool


----------



## PPFlight75

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Lol, I was just updating the date tables on Page 1 where I keep track of dates, sold out status, weather, etc.  I am not one to discussion/mention weather at WDW - it's Florida after all - but the *10pm* temp Monday night was a whopping *88 degrees*.  Wowsers!  Not sure how some of you do costumes or anything other than shorts/t-shirts in that!


I’m usually cool at night but opted for shorts instead of pants. Glad I did. It was so hot and humid that night!


----------



## rpfennig

I attended the 6/13 Villains After Hours and realize in retrospect that I forgot the first rule of Disney World ("Always have a plan", followed by the second rule "No plan survives contact with the enemy"... which makes it sound like I have a more hostile relationship with Disney World than intended).

I ended up splitting time between rides, shows and trying to track down merchandise (got the t-shirt, thought there was a pin set that would have gone well with the "Villainous" board game but didn't find it). Caught the midnight Villains stage show and spent an inordinate amount of time following the Maleficent float around on its early run waiting for it to breath fire... multiple times (though, to be fair... its really cool).

For rides, I made sure to do the Pirates and Space Mountain overlays. Pirates was a walk on but Space Mountain felt like the same wait as the previous Saturday when I did it as a park close and it ate up about 30 minutes. Peter Pan was pretty much a walk on and I was able to do Big Thunder Mountain a couple times along with some other smaller rides earlier in the evening.

If I were to do it over, I'd skip the merchandise scavenger hunt and do the 1:00 show instead to have more time for rides. I ended up leaving closer to 1:00 (I was weak and mocked for my weakness by the villains as I left) in part because I had a conference workshop the next morning.


----------



## maryj11

Madeleinebelle said:


> I was able to go on June 27th. I had a work conference in Orlando and my co-workers and I were desperate to do a night at Disney and when this event came out we decided to go for it. The only bummer is H20 Glow Nights was the same night for us and if one of the events had been on Wednesday it would've been nice.
> 
> The overall transportation for the night was pretty quick. The tram and the monorail were pretty quick. Once we were in the gate and through security we were in around 6:45.  We were able to ride alot but two of us aren't big rollercoaster people so it may not be as exciting of a report. It was one of my co-worker's first trip to Disney so I feel like we stopped more and took pictures and looked at things.
> 
> We rode
> Peter Pan- FP
> Small World
> Splash Mountain- FP
> Haunted Mansion- FP
> Little Mermaid- FP
> Watched HEA for a few minutes
> We ate at Cosmic Ray's for dinner
> POC- 20 minute wait- the entire area was packed but it was also just turning 10 and people were starting to leave
> Buzz Lightyear- walk on
> Winnie the pooh- walk on
> Peter Pan- 5 minute wait
> Mickey Philaharmonic- walk on
> Peoplemover- walk on
> 
> We did watch some of the show and the dj. We left about 1:15. The night flew by though. We rode the Ferrryboat back to parking and was able to get on a tram pretty quickly. 7DMT had a huge line that we didn't feel like braving. Space Mountain had a few minute wait before we went on Peoplemover then one of the shows let out and there was an large crowd running to Space Mountain. The overall crowd level wasn't bad at all. This was my first after hours event so it was nice to see and not feel  crowded. The free treats were nice. The popcorn was fresh all night and my co-workers ate multiple strawberry bars and we drank alot of water.


Same night we were there. We got there and went in about the same time as you.


----------



## maryj11

I have this video. Not the greatest but thought I would post it.




__
		https://flic.kr/p/2gropkk


----------



## GADisneyDad14

A big thanks to the 41 DISers who have stopped by since VAH started to post about their experiences.  Bloggers/Vloggers/Etc serve their purpose, but in my opinion nothing beats the collective experiences of 'real' guests.  Review links can be found on Post #10.


----------



## maryj11

Ksquared said:


> I had also talked myself out of tickets for 8/8 but am seriously reconsidering.  I think if I don't do it, I will regret it.  Yes, it's allot of money for the 4 of us but it's an experience that we've never done before and looks pretty cool


When we were there it was in the 90's during the day the highest temp was 97 on one day. If we did not go to the After Hours I know we would of not of enjoyed MK and HS as much as we did. It really was a needed event during that week because during the day was just miserable. There was just no way we could stand the heat in the middle of the day. We did do rope drop at AK 8:00am opening and I was sweating before we went through security. Our last day temps dropped below 90, but I'm so glad we did go to the AH events.


----------



## Mrjoshua

Review number 2! 7/1 Villains After Hours:

It might seem silly to post about my second event, especially after reviewing the first. We lined things up differently, and had another great time on Monday night/Tuesday morning.

A few quick observations...
- I can't stress this enough. The overlay rides (PotC and SM) have fastpass lanes or side queues available that open at exactly 10pm. This is important because Thursday, we saw wristbanded guests waiting in the regular queue for SM, with last minute regular park guests, which is a MUCH longer line.
- We got an unexpected surprise by arriving at PotC 20 minutes before 10pm. It had no wait before the official party time, and we got a boat all to ourselves! Immediately afterward (maybe 10 minutes before 10pm), we got in line to experience the ride with live pirates.
- Fantasy Faire had a broader selection of villain merchandise than any of the other stores we came across (Oogie Boogie and Evil Queen shirts, villain mugs, villain pins... etc).
- We could hear the SM Villain soundtrack much better on Monday night. We were able to identify several villainous voices and phrases, whereas Thursday it seemed muddy and indiscernible. Perhaps they tinkered with the sound.

Here's what we accomplished between 10pm and 1-2am...
- Pirates of the Caribbean x 1
- Hades Nachos
- Maleficent Magic Shot
- Oogie Boogie Magic Shot
- Villains Space Mountain x 2
- Emperor Zurg Noodles and Yzma's Llama Potion
- Villains Space Mountain x 2 again
- Free drinks, popcorn, and ice cream
- Maleficent
- Train Station villains

We had another great night, and accomplished all the wants between both nights. I probably liked Monday a little better because we slipped in a couple more rides on Space Mountain; each time we heard something new.

I recommend Villains After Hours largely for the atmosphere and uniqueness. It really adds a different feel to the Magic Kingdom, and I say that having attended prior MK AH, MNSSHP, and MVMCP. There were unexpected visual treats like a Bowler Hat Guy photo backdrop in Tomorrowland, and Kaa's hypnotic eyes staring out from a marquee in Adventureland. While the DJ at the castle was playing top of the pops type stuff, there were deviously dark instrumentals being played in each of the lands. An amalgamation of things helped to keep the ominous mood.

If you're just looking to maximize rides, I would recommend regular MK AH over the Villains version. It's going to be less crowded, with no parade dragon to contend with, and no castle congestion, for a cheaper price. However, if you dig the villains, or are looking for a different MK experience, I'd recommend trying Villains After Hours.


----------



## Dug720

So sorry if I have missed this... Is there a list of the places where the event merch is being sold?


----------



## Mrjoshua

From the pamphlet:


----------



## Dug720

Mrjoshua said:


> From the pamphlet:View attachment 414769



Thank you!


----------



## MNDisneyMommy

This might be a really dumb question, but I've never done an AH event before and I need logistics help - I purchased tickets for my group (9 adults including me) to Villians with my DVC discount and received paper things to print at home. 

So.. we printed them out. 

When we get to MK, do we go to guest services and they turn into plastic card tickets for those people in my group without magic bands?  (Which is everyone except me and my husband?)  This is our only night at Disney, and no one else is going to download MDE and get into all that jazz.


----------



## DreadBaroness

"When we get to MK, do we go to guest services and they turn into plastic card tickets for those people in my group without magic bands?  (Which is everyone except me and my husband?)  This is our only night at Disney, and no one else is going to download MDE and get into all that jazz."

Your paper (so long as it has a scannable square) will be exchanged for a wristband, not a Magic Band, but a rubber wrist band at a gate marked for the After Hours Event.  You and your party can enter as early as 7pm, sometimes a few minutes before.


----------



## Haley R

DreadBaroness said:


> "When we get to MK, do we go to guest services and they turn into plastic card tickets for those people in my group without magic bands?  (Which is everyone except me and my husband?)  This is our only night at Disney, and no one else is going to download MDE and get into all that jazz."
> 
> Your paper (so long as it has a scannable square) will be exchanged for a wristband, not a Magic Band, but a rubber wrist band at a gate marked for the After Hours Event.  You and your party can enter as early as 7pm, sometimes a few minutes before.


The OP wasn’t asking if they would get magic bands. They were asking if they would get plastic ticket cards for the people that don’t HAVE magic bands.


----------



## always

I have a similar question: I purchased two tickets for the AH on the 18th.  One email has a ticket attached that I can print with a QR code.  The other ticket has a barcode that I have to take to the will call window.  What will they give me at the will call window?  Both tickets are linked in MDE.  What gives with the difference?


----------



## Haley R

MNDisneyMommy said:


> This might be a really dumb question, but I've never done an AH event before and I need logistics help - I purchased tickets for my group (9 adults including me) to Villians with my DVC discount and received paper things to print at home.
> 
> So.. we printed them out.
> 
> When we get to MK, do we go to guest services and they turn into plastic card tickets for those people in my group without magic bands?  (Which is everyone except me and my husband?)  This is our only night at Disney, and no one else is going to download MDE and get into all that jazz.


Does the paper have a barcode they can scan? When we went they scanned my phone (with the barcode) and dh’s magic band didn’t work for some reason. They ended up giving him a plastic ticket right there at the tapstyle. So I don’t think you even have to go to guest services. I’m pretty sure they hand them out right there at the event entrance.


----------



## Momtwofour

So inline with the previous few posts, do we need to show the printed tickets? Mine show up on my magic band so I didnt print the email


----------



## Haley R

Momtwofour said:


> So inline with the previous few posts, do we need to show the printed tickets? Mine show up on my magic band so I didnt print the email


No you shouldn’t have to. I didn’t print my email out even though I selected pick up at will call. I just tapped my magic band but they can scan the email too.


----------



## Momtwofour

Haley R said:


> No you shouldn’t have to. I didn’t print my email out even though I selected pick up at will call. I just tapped my magic band but they can scan the email too.


Ok! I have my email kn my Disney folder so that will be an easy find if need be


----------



## GlassSlipper13

Cluelyss said:


> We had ours taken on the outer rim of the hub, but parallel to the statue (if that makes sense). Also, this is an animated magic shot ONLY which I didn’t realize until after emailing PhotoPass thinking our shots were missing. I was expecting Hades to actually be in our pictures like the other shots, and was disappointed to find out that wasn’t the case.


Thank you Cluelyss! One additional question, is the Hades Animated Magic Shot on the outer rim of the hub closer to Tomorrowland or Adventureland? Thank you!!


----------



## ambellina

Considering going on 8/8 but I’m still holding off because I’m concerned about what the weather conditions might be that night. This may have already been asked and answered but what happens if there’s just constant thunderstorms on a party night?


----------



## Shir Kahn

ambellina said:


> Considering going on 8/8 but I’m still holding off because I’m concerned about what the weather conditions might be that night. This may have already been asked and answered but what happens if there’s just constant thunderstorms on a party night?


You go and have fun!  Some things will be shut down, but inside rides will continue to operate.  Throw on a poncho and dodge the lightning strikes!  Also, if you hold off on something at WDW because there might be a storm that night, you will never book anything!


----------



## maryj11

Momtwofour said:


> @maryj11  Do you happen to remember what time you got in line for Space Mountain?


Sorry I just seen this question. Guessing I would say it was about 12:00 am.


----------



## Mrjoshua

GlassSlipper13 said:


> Thank you Cluelyss! One additional question, is the Hades Animated Magic Shot on the outer rim of the hub closer to Tomorrowland or Adventureland? Thank you!!


We saw photographers on both sides of the outer hub. I don't think it matters.


----------



## roylanc

A quick Question, the answer is probably hidden in the thread somewhere. ( don't want to trawl through them all )
We have booked for 1st Of August. 
In a few videos we have seen villains at the Train station at the main entrance.
Are they there through out the evening or just at the end of the night?.


----------



## ali_in_al

roylanc said:


> A quick Question, the answer is probably hidden in the thread somewhere. ( don't want to trawl through them all )
> We have booked for 1st Of August.
> In a few videos we have seen villains at the Train station at the main entrance.
> Are they there through out the evening or just at the end of the night?.


Just the end of the night (at least when we went on 6/13). Have fun!


----------



## Cluelyss

GlassSlipper13 said:


> Thank you Cluelyss! One additional question, is the Hades Animated Magic Shot on the outer rim of the hub closer to Tomorrowland or Adventureland? Thank you!!


We did ours on the side closest to Adventureland but sounds like they may be on both sides.


----------



## Cluelyss

skullsplitter said:


> I thought I saw a map of Maleficent's routes.  Can someone repost that or just post what her routes are?  Thanks


She starts by Splash and follows the FOF route through the hub and around the flagpole, then circles back up Main Steet to Splash.


----------



## roylanc

ali_in_al said:


> Just the end of the night (at least when we went on 6/13). Have fun!


Thanks


----------



## lampshadehead

Does Maleficent breath fire at a regular interval, is it random, or maybe in certain spots? I'm asking because I just watched someone's video, and there was no fire breathing during the part when she came by.


----------



## Mrjoshua

lampshadehead said:


> Does Maleficent breath fire at a regular interval, is it random, or maybe in certain spots? I'm asking because I just watched someone's video, and there was no fire breathing during the part when she came by.


It's synchronized with the music, but it doesn't always happen at the same crescendo. I think the operator does it intermittently. I tried to post my video but the file is too large.


----------



## maryj11

lampshadehead said:


> Does Maleficent breath fire at a regular interval, is it random, or maybe in certain spots? I'm asking because I just watched someone's video, and there was no fire breathing during the part when she came by.


I would say every 3 minutes. It walks about 30 feet then raises her head that's when the fire comes out.


----------



## ninafeliz

We attended on June 20, it was me, my DH, and 2 DSs, 6 and 9.  We had attended the regular DAH once, back in the first group of them which I think was Spring 2016, and that was amazing.  As a short summary, we still enjoyed this event but preferred both the crowd level and atmosphere of that first DAH.

We went in using out APs around 7:15.  I had made FPs for Splash, BTMRR, and SDMT, so we rode all of those and were done just in time to get a jammed in spot to watch HEA.  In hindsight we should have just not worried about the projections and gotten a worse spot that wasn't so crazy, like behind the castle - now I appreciate our usual viewing from one of the MK resorts or the dessert party!  

I did stop into Memento Mori on our way by at around 8:30 and they had all of the merch out.  I didn't want to waste time since we had to get to the FP for SDMT and HEA, so I quickly grabbed a t-shirt, the women's shirt with all of the villains on the front, a spirit jersey, 2 hats, and a Tervis and checked out quickly.  They seemed to have everything in a good size selection. They didn't ask if I was attending or not and didn't have anything separated off in the store, but I did have my wrist band on so they might have just seen that and not asked.  

After HEA we had a teacups FP that I had been able to grab as a 4th FP, and we rode the People mover at 9:54.  The event officially started during our peoplemover ride.  When we got off we walked onto buzz, then got snacks in tomorrowland with a very long line (but probably only took 5 min). We did Astro orbiter with maybe a 10-15 min wait, then at 11:00 did Space Mt.  It said 20 min, which was down from 30, but I didn't want to take time to come back to it so we waited.  it was definitely 20 min, but not more.  I do like it without the lights on, and no one had a cell phone light shining the entire time like happened when we rode during MNSSHP, but I couldn't notice anything else different.  I couldn't discern any villainous voices or noises .  I think calling it an overlay is pretty lame, I would rather the regular ride and not the 20 min wait.  After we got off we got a diet coke and hit the bathrooms, then did the speedway with a 15-20 min wait at 11:30.

At this point I was having fun but definitely thinking that the crowds and lines were not what we were hoping for, and WAY more than our previous DAH event.  I'm not sure if we shouldn't have started in Tomorrowland, or if possibly the speedway and Astro-orbiter always would have had some lines since they load so slowly, or what.  But for our first 4 rides 3 of them had decent waits (all except Buzz).  During our previous event literally every ride had been a walk on for us.

From here on out everything was walk on, but the event was over half over (we did our first of the walk on rides at 11:53).  We did barnstormer, Dumbo, Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, and haunted Mansion.  We possibly could have done one more thing - I wanted to hurry to Pirates - but then we might have missed the beginning of the 1:00 show and I was outvoted.  Everyone else just wanted to hit the show.  So we went to the BR, got Popcorn in Liberty square, got a photopass shot to the left of the castle, and got a decent spot for the 1:00 Villains show.  After the show we moved to where we had a front row spot for Maleficent, she came through at 1:36.  As soon as she passed us we walked actually ahead of her down the right side of main street and left.  We got right onto a ferry and walked back to the Poly, we walked in our door at 2:05.  

So.....  we had fun, and don't regret doing it.  I wish we could have also ridden Splash, BTMRR, Pirates, jungle cruise, and magic carpets (which would have been nearly everything, I think). I really wish we had gotten pirates in, even though I don't think the overlay was a big deal.  I'm ok with missing splash and BTMRR only since we had a FP for them first, but I would have liked to ride again.  If I could do it over I would skip the Speedway, since it had a decent line and is slow.  That might have gotten us on 2-3 other rides on the other side of the park with that time. Another thought would have been to start on the other side of the park, in Adventureland, but then we might have missed most of Tomorrowland, who knows.  

We preferred the previous incarnation with no villains and no crowds, but maybe that is gone for good (I don't know since we did it so long ago back before this was popular).  There were lots of people there, particularly the times we spent in Tomorrowland and around the castle, but also just in general.  We never felt alone, or like we were in a nearly empty park like we felt before.  The closest was up in new Fantasyland walking to the Little Mermaid.  I also didn't care for the DJ music and party atmosphere in the hub.  Not that I don't like that, I just don't like it at Disney in the MK.  IDK, just not what I'm looking for in that situation.  This almost felt like MNSSHP lite, which isn't a bad thing, it just wasn't the same at a regular DAH.  I was expecting to walk on to everything and have time to ride pretty much all of the rides available (well, prior to reading reviews.  After reviews I did expect lines, but I could still hope LOL).

Sorry this got so long, that always happens to me.

Summary:
Splash FP
BTMRR FP
SDMT FP
HEA
Teacups FP
People mover
Buzz
Snacks
Astro Orbiter
Space Mt.
Speedway
Barnstormer
Dumbo
Little Mermaid
Peter Pan
Haunted Mansion
Villains Show 
Maleficent


----------



## jenjersnap

I was asked to update my ticket situation when it was resolved so just wanted to report that all is well.

Long version: I finally received a call back from a lovely and helpful guest relations CM after one phone call and two emails over the past ten days. I was able to get a refund for the After Hours tickets and I was able to upgrade the four UCT 10 day tickets to “Anytime” tickets that expire on 12/31/2020 for *only* $160 each. I could have moved them to any specific date before 12/31/2020 for $60 each, but my husband and I decided that we just aren’t absolutely sure about our rescheduled dates yet. In hindsight, it was a probably a mistake to choose the anytime tix but I was just too excited to even have the option that I didn’t think it through. Oh well.

Hopefully I will be back to planning another AH event soon.  



jenjersnap said:


> I need advice and don’t want to start a new thread. Thinking enough knowledgeable people see this thread that I could get some help.
> 
> Our trip later this month has been suddenly and tragically cancelled when my retina decided to detach from its wall. I had surgery yesterday (I do not recommend this surgery, big thumbs down) and can’t fly for two months, thanks to a lovely apparatus installed in my head (and I won’t be able to ride my favorite coasters, EE and RnRC, ever again which is truly heartbreaking).
> 
> Aaanywaaay, I have tickets to AH on July 25th. Anyone had any luck getting a refund because of trip cancellation? I know that they are not refundable, but I am hoping this extraordinary situation might allow me to have my $600 back. Who should I call? I have a number for ticketing but I bought them with an AP discount - do you think the AP line might be more helpful?
> 
> I would appreciate any advice anyone can offer. I am not physically up to making multiple phone calls right now. If the answer is no, so be it but I doubt I will ever buy AH or holiday party tickets in advance again (without travel insurance, I guess). Thanks!


----------



## GlassSlipper13

Cluelyss said:


> We did ours on the side closest to Adventureland but sounds like they may be on both sides.


Thank you!!!


----------



## GlassSlipper13

Mrjoshua said:


> We saw photographers on both sides of the outer hub. I don't think it matters.


Thank you!!!


----------



## MNDisneyMommy

Haley R said:


> The OP wasn’t asking if they would get magic bands. They were asking if they would get plastic ticket cards for the people that don’t HAVE magic bands.



Yes, this is my question.  I should have added that I booked Fastpasses for the rest of my party for the 7-10 window.  They won't have magic bands.  So... how do they use the FP?  I think they would need a plastic ticket card, right?  Any more reports of whether we'd get them at the turnstiles or need to hit guest services?


----------



## Haley R

MNDisneyMommy said:


> Yes, this is my question.  I should have added that I booked Fastpasses for the rest of my party for the 7-10 window.  They won't have magic bands.  So... how do they use the FP?  I think they would need a plastic ticket card, right?  Any more reports of whether we'd get them at the turnstiles or need to hit guest services?


When we went Dh tried using his magic band and it didn’t work so after confirming we had tickets the guy at the turnstile gave him a plastic ticket. Ours actually said pick up at will call but they were able to scan right at the turnstile. I don’t think you should have any trouble with them getting the plastic cards there


----------



## ninafeliz

We're passholders, and we went on June 20th, prior to when they gave our the passholder gift.  I just did a chat with the VIPassholder site to ask about getting the ornament, and she told me that they are arranging to have the ornaments mailed to all passholders who attended the events prior to June 27th automatically, and that if I don't get them in the next 2-3 weeks to call them then.  Has anyone else been told this?  I'm kind of skeptical unless others start getting told the same thing.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

ninafeliz said:


> We're passholders, and we went on June 20th, prior to when they gave our the passholder gift.  I just did a chat with the VIPassholder site to ask about getting the ornament, and she told me that they are arranging to have the ornaments mailed to all passholders who attended the events prior to June 27th automatically, and that if I don't get them in the next 2-3 weeks to call them then.  Has anyone else been told this?  I'm kind of skeptical unless others start getting told the same thing.



I requested mine through the passholder line but have yet to receive it.


----------



## ninafeliz

Cinderumbrella said:


> I requested mine through the passholder line but have yet to receive it.



I'm wondering if I should just call, I'm also being lazy (and I hate making phone calls) so part of me wants to simply believe them that it will just show up.  If I were a betting person my money would be on them not just showing up in the next 2-3 weeks, but I would love to be wrong.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

ninafeliz said:


> I'm wondering if I should just call, I'm also being lazy (and I hate making phone calls) so part of me wants to simply believe them that it will just show up.  If I were a betting person my money would be on them not just showing up in the next 2-3 weeks, but I would love to be wrong.



Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since I called.


----------



## FancyNancy

Any thoughts on if they are going to add dates for October for Magic Kingdom After Hours (Villians or not).


----------



## Haley R

FancyNancy said:


> Any thoughts on if they are going to add dates for October for Magic Kingdom After Hours (Villians or not).


My guess for Villains would be a strong no because it’s so close to being like the MNSSHP. As for a normal DAH I’m not sure


----------



## GADisneyDad14

FancyNancy said:


> Any thoughts on if they are going to add dates for October for Magic Kingdom After Hours (Villians or not).



A lingering question in my mind is just why Disney didn't schedule PM EMHs in October.  It could just be to offset the gobs of extra AM EMH hours they added in Sept & Oct.  Or it could be to make room for a DAH night each week.  If so it would be a first... but who really knows at this point.  If they do add DAH, I think it would be regular DAH.  Mixing VAH and MNSSHP seems sort of messy / mixed marketing to me.  But what do I know!


----------



## 123SA

GADisneyDad14 said:


> A lingering question in my mind is just why Disney didn't schedule PM EMHs in October.  It could just be to offset the gobs of extra AM EMH hours they added in Sept & Oct.  Or it could be to make room for a DAH night each week.  If so it would be a first... but who really knows at this point.  If they do add DAH, I think it would be regular DAH.  Mixing VAH and MNSSHP seems sort of messy / mixed marketing to me.  But what do I know!




Most times, it seems like you know more than most customer service agents at the very least.


----------



## vinotinto

Hi all!  Around what time(s) are the Villains saying goodbye at the train station? 
Is the 1 am show more crowded than the previous shows?


----------



## vinotinto

GADisneyDad14 said:


> A lingering question in my mind is just why Disney didn't schedule PM EMHs in October.  It could just be to offset the gobs of extra AM EMH hours they added in Sept & Oct.  Or it could be to make room for a DAH night each week.  If so it would be a first... but who really knows at this point.  If they do add DAH, I think it would be regular DAH.  Mixing VAH and MNSSHP seems sort of messy / mixed marketing to me.  But what do I know!


Very possible. Disney is not announcing much in advance and keeping all its revenue options open for the Fall.


----------



## Haley R

vinotinto said:


> Hi all!  Around what time(s) are the Villains saying goodbye at the train station?
> Is the 1 am show more crowded than the previous shows?


The villains were out saying goodbye when we left the 1 am stage show at 1:20 ish. I'm not sure if they started at 1 am or not. I thought the 1 am show was still pretty crowded, but it isn't anything like normal firework crowds.


----------



## provoaggie

This event is very disappointing after the other After Hours events. It's past midnight and there are still 30 minute waits across the park, the walkways are crowded and food lines are long and slow. It doesn't really feel less crowded than it did prior to the event.


----------



## Haley R

provoaggie said:


> This event is very disappointing after the other After Hours events. It's past midnight and there are still 30 minute waits across the park, the walkways are crowded and food lines are long and slow. It doesn't really feel less crowded than it did prior to the event.


20 minute wait for jungle cruise? I’m not actually there so I don’t know if that’s legit but I sure hope not. The waits do look pretty long. 30 for SDMT, 25 for SM, 25 for pirates.


----------



## counselormom

Haley R said:


> 20 minute wait for jungle cruise? I’m not actually there so I don’t know if that’s legit but I sure hope not. The waits do look pretty long. 30 for SDMT, 25 for SM, 25 for pirates.


We are here now. Just rode Pirates, posted time was 25 min. but actual wait time was 11 min.


----------



## Haley R

counselormom said:


> We are here now. Just rode Pirates, posted time was 25 min. but actual wait time was 11 min.


Okay so can’t really go off what the app is saying. Have you waited long for anything?


----------



## mommajo143

we fly in tomorrow; we haven't purchased tickets for 7/18 yet and now i am quite on the fence...hoping to hear more reviews of tonights events... We are mostly interested in the cooler temps and SHORTER WAITS...but TBH DH LOVES MNSSHP so of course I am hoping this will satisfy him (I booked our usual fall vacay for July to avoid the SWGE crowds, and bc DS12 is in Middle School now and we have a new school superintendant, so he cant miss like he could in the past).


----------



## preemiemama

Haley R said:


> 20 minute wait for jungle cruise? I’m not actually there so I don’t know if that’s legit but I sure hope not. The waits do look pretty long. 30 for SDMT, 25 for SM, 25 for pirates.


Agreed they were long tonight!


----------



## preemiemama

Haley R said:


> Okay so can’t really go off what the app is saying. Have you waited long for anything?


Posted 15 for Space but was more like 20-25. 7DMT was the posted 25.


----------



## Haley R

preemiemama said:


> Posted 15 for Space but was more like 20-25. 7DMT was the posted 25.


Ick that’s not good


----------



## cakebaker

provoaggie said:


> This event is very disappointing after the other After Hours events. It's past midnight and there are still 30 minute waits across the park, the walkways are crowded and food lines are long and slow. It doesn't really feel less crowded than it did prior to the event.


That's really disappointing,. Has to make you wonder what it would be like with a sold out event as I don't think any of them have? I loved the quiet, almost empty park feel of a regular DAH and was afraid they'd increase capacity with this one. I was on the fence as to whether to add this for our trip at the end of the month, but I've read enough of this kind of report that I think we'll pass. We do have one scheduled for AK, but I'm not hearing that capacity is increased there, so fingers crossed. I do hope if they go back to having DAH, they don't continue to increase ticket sales.


----------



## provoaggie

Now that I'm back at my computer I'll post a bit more. Back in January we did AH at Hollywood Studios and absolutely loved it. We loved having the park to ourselves and being able to cram an entire days activities into 1 night for about the same price. For this trip we did Animal Kingdom AH on Monday night and Villains last night. Animal Kingdom was the same after hours that we loved before. Low crowds, a short line for Flight of Passage and no other waits throughout the park. This time we have my mother-in-law with a mobility scooter as well and getting around the park was a breeze.

Last night we arrived at 6:15 and got lined up. Immediately we noticed a huge like to get into the park before we even got there and it continued to grow. This was different as at Animal Kingdom there were maybe 30 people in line at 7:00 when they let us in. There were a few hundred when we got let in at 6:37 last night. Magic Kingdom was crowded which was to be expected since the day crowd was still there but we did our 3 fast passes for Splash Mountain, Ariel Meet and Greet and Under the Sea. Those were by far the 3 shortest lines we waited in during our evening. 10:00 hit and the crowds didn't shrink. Getting around with the scooter was extremely hard all the way until the event ended as walkways were congested. We used to let the kids ride whatever they wanted but we had to be choosy this time to make sure we got the rides we wanted the most. They wanted to ride Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan and Tomorrowland Speedway but they all had 20 minute waits and looking at the queues those wait times looked accurate. Then they wanted to do Buzz Lightyear and it was the same. We waited about 25 minutes for Space, 20 for Big Thunder, 15 for Jungle Cruise (which appeared to only be running 2 boats and even after our boat was full we had to wait for the other one to get back). We ended up skipping 6 or 7 rides that we wanted to do. We stopped by the hub at the end of the night to watch a bit of the last show and the entire area was crammed with people. Moving down main street at the end of the night was very slow and difficult with the scooter. We stopped in the Emporium on the way out and they had way too few registers open for the crowd. After leaving the park the Ferry's were not enough to get people out in a timely manner. As far as I'm concerned, Disney took a good thing and absolutely ruined it by charging more for increased crowds.


----------



## Elle :)

provoaggie said:


> Now that I'm back at my computer I'll post a bit more. Back in January we did AH at Hollywood Studios and absolutely loved it. We loved having the park to ourselves and being able to cram an entire days activities into 1 night for about the same price. For this trip we did Animal Kingdom AH on Monday night and Villains last night. Animal Kingdom was the same after hours that we loved before. Low crowds, a short line for Flight of Passage and no other waits throughout the park. This time we have my mother-in-law with a mobility scooter as well and getting around the park was a breeze.
> 
> Last night we arrived at 6:15 and got lined up. Immediately we noticed a huge like to get into the park before we even got there and it continued to grow. This was different as at Animal Kingdom there were maybe 30 people in line at 7:00 when they let us in. There were a few hundred when we got let in at 6:37 last night. Magic Kingdom was crowded which was to be expected since the day crowd was still there but we did our 3 fast passes for Splash Mountain, Ariel Meet and Greet and Under the Sea. Those were by far the 3 shortest lines we waited in during our evening. 10:00 hit and the crowds didn't shrink. Getting around with the scooter was extremely hard all the way until the event ended as walkways were congested. We used to let the kids ride whatever they wanted but we had to be choosy this time to make sure we got the rides we wanted the most. They wanted to ride Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan and Tomorrowland Speedway but they all had 20 minute waits and looking at the queues those wait times looked accurate. Then they wanted to do Buzz Lightyear and it was the same. We waited about 25 minutes for Space, 20 for Big Thunder, 15 for Jungle Cruise (which appeared to only be running 2 boats and even after our boat was full we had to wait for the other one to get back). We ended up skipping 6 or 7 rides that we wanted to do. We stopped by the hub at the end of the night to watch a bit of the last show and the entire area was crammed with people. Moving down main street at the end of the night was very slow and difficult with the scooter. We stopped in the Emporium on the way out and they had way too few registers open for the crowd. After leaving the park the Ferry's were not enough to get people out in a timely manner. As far as I'm concerned, Disney took a good thing and absolutely ruined it by charging more for increased crowds.



Oh Man, this is not looking good. We have one planned for 7/25 and this reports are making me nervous! We are all paying a pretty penny to get it. It kinda defeats the purpose if the lines are still long.


----------



## 123SA

I wonder if there is a correlation between the day crowd and the lines for DAH.  If it takes a long time to clear the day crowd, is that increasing the lines during DAH?  In the first hour, there would be longer lines due to the day crowd.  THe second hour, maybe lines are longer because a number of people will do other things (shop, snack, photo ops, rides with short lines) until the day crowd clears.


----------



## cmarsh31

I'm going on the 18th (I went last July and in March, both at MK) so I'll report back with a comparison!


----------



## BrianL

I'm officially going to the August 1st event now, and I have been keenly reading over this thread. Thanks for all the impressions. I have FP for Space and Pirates before the party and honestly the overlays don't matter much to me. I'm gonna ride me the Haunted Mansion about zillion times!


----------



## fbb

cmarsh31 said:


> I'm going on the 18th (I went last July and in March, both at MK) so I'll report back with a comparison!



The comparison is rough. Last July 14th we rode Space Mountain 10 consecutive times without leaving the building. Last night we rode it once; entered the line at 12:18am and boarded the ride at 12:44am.


----------



## cmarsh31

fbb said:


> The comparison is rough. Last July 14th we rode Space Mountain 10 consecutive times without leaving the building. Last night we rode it once; entered the line at 12:18am and boarded the ride at 12:44am.



I'm going with friends, most of whom have never done DAH... so we'll have fun either way. I'll stand in line for 7D and Buzz... we'll see how it goes. My expectations are pretty low at least. I just want to see the new show!


----------



## skullsplitter

Went last night 7/11.  Never been to an after hours event.  We had a great time.  Crowds were lower than a Halloween party.  Circus was a ghost town. Rode dumbo all alone once and another time just the 4 of us.   I have a pic of totally empty space near pecos bills too.  We got a lot done and felt it was worth the money.  Here is what we did with our actual wait times.  There are some stops for pictures too that I didn’t note.

In park at 550
Splash fp
Thunder fp
Pirates
Bought merch 730 at pirates
Skippers for supper
Space Moubtain walk-on at end of foreworks

1002 pm
Tea Cups Walk on
Pooh 5
Barnstormer walk-on x2
Dumbo walk-on x3
15 people in circus area
Snack
Haunted mansion 5 minutes
1105 pm
Thunder 5 minutes
Jungle cruise 10 minutes
Pirates 15 minutes
1205 pm
Snack
Hub
Space 20
Astro Orbiter walk-on
Snack
1am
Maleficient on main st
Villains farewell


----------



## cakebaker

skullsplitter said:


> Crowds were lower than a Halloween party.



That's not saying a lot. Halloween parties are insanely crowded for the most part. I certainly hope with a great deal less to offer and charging what they do, crowds would be much, much less than for a holiday party. When we did a regular DAH, the entire park was literally a ghost town. The only place you'd see any amount of people was around SDMT, but walkways were very empty. It sure would appear they have significantly increased capacity and that's exactly what a lot of people were afraid of.


----------



## roylanc

BrianL said:


> I'm officially going to the August 1st event now, and I have been keenly reading over this thread. Thanks for all the impressions. I have FP for Space and Pirates before the party and honestly the overlays don't matter much to me. I'm gonna ride me the Haunted Mansion about zillion times!


We have the 1st of August booked to.
Our plan is to get there for around 07:00, watch the fireworks & we do have 1 FP for 08:00 at 7DMT.
We are then going to try & do as many rides as possible from 10pm to 01am. before watching the 01:00am show.
Hopefully it will work out for us & this is our first After hours event.


----------



## BrianL

roylanc said:


> We have the 1st of August booked to.
> Our plan is to get there for around 07:00, watch the fireworks & we do have 1 FP for 08:00 at 7DMT.
> We are then going to try & do as many rides as possible from 10pm to 01am. before watching the 01:00am show.
> Hopefully it will work out for us & this is our first After hours event.



I have some FPs too for Space, Pirates and HM before the party (I'd like to change HM but whatcha gonna do?). I waited too long so no 7DMT for me, but I'll watch the times at the party. I also plan to watch the 1 AM show.


----------



## ninafeliz

roylanc said:


> We have the 1st of August booked to.
> Our plan is to get there for around 07:00, watch the fireworks & we do have 1 FP for 08:00 at 7DMT.
> We are then going to try & do as many rides as possible from 10pm to 01am. before watching the 01:00am show.
> Hopefully it will work out for us & this is our first After hours event.


This is what we did, except we had 3 FPs and got a 4th prior to the start.  It did work, for the most part, but  it quite as well as I had hiped.  we started in Tomorrowland and 3 of the first 4 rides we did had 15-20 min waits (space, Astro orbiter, and speedway).  From then on out it was walk on but the even was half over.  I’m not sure if that was based on time or location of the rides (probably a combo).  I would maybe skip rides with the waits like I listed unless they were ones you really wanted to ride, and stick with the walk on ones.  Without our 4 FPs prior to the start I would have been really disappointed in what we rode.  With them we did hit a majority, I think we got 14 of the 20 advertised attractions for the event.

ETA but no re-rides like we had been able to do with the previous regular DAH we did.


----------



## disneycat321

skullsplitter said:


> Went last night 7/11.  Never been to an after hours event.  We had a great time.  Crowds were lower than a Halloween party.  Circus was a ghost town. Rode dumbo all alone once and another time just the 4 of us.   I have a pic of totally empty space near pecos bills too.  We got a lot done and felt it was worth the money.  Here is what we did with our actual wait times.  There are some stops for pictures too that I didn’t note.
> 
> In park at 550
> Splash fp
> Thunder fp
> Pirates
> Bought merch 730 at pirates
> Skippers for supper
> Space Moubtain walk-on at end of foreworks
> 
> 1002 pm
> Tea Cups Walk on
> Pooh 5
> Barnstormer walk-on x2
> Dumbo walk-on x3
> 15 people in circus area
> Snack
> Haunted mansion 5 minutes
> 1105 pm
> Thunder 5 minutes
> Jungle cruise 10 minutes
> Pirates 15 minutes
> 1205 pm
> Snack
> Hub
> Space 20
> Astro Orbiter walk-on
> Snack
> 1am
> Maleficient on main st
> Villains farewell



Thanks for the report! 

To me, it sounds like if you’ve done a DAH event at MK, it’s a disappointment, and if not, it’s fine. We haven’t since we aren’t frequent WDW visitors (DLR is our home), so I’m not too worried. 

FWIW, I follow the DAH AK and HS threads because we’re going to those too, and people have been complaining about lines at those as well, mostly FOP, SDD, and TOT. I think Disney has probably increased the amount of tickets sold for all of them, but even more for MK, which is not super surprising. I guess if people keep being willing to do it, they’ll keep raising the prices as much as they can. 

Anyway, since we’ve never done a DAH event, I have a feeling we’ll personally love all three of them. Half the appeal to us is being there after dark and in cooler weather. But people counting on regular DAH crowds should maybe reconsider.


----------



## AngiTN

Wow, not disputing either post by any means but there's hardly any way one can read these and come to the conclusion that these 2 reports are from the same exact night. They are polar opposites, not even close to the same experiences.

Personally, we've done all parties, other types of ticketed events like SW Celebration at HS or Harambe Nights at AK, plus DAH multiple times. Including every iteration offered at MK, initial roll out to last month. We are going to the VAH event next Thursday night. So I have a lot to compare it to.  



provoaggie said:


> Now that I'm back at my computer I'll post a bit more. Back in January we did AH at Hollywood Studios and absolutely loved it. We loved having the park to ourselves and being able to cram an entire days activities into 1 night for about the same price. For this trip we did Animal Kingdom AH on Monday night and Villains last night. Animal Kingdom was the same after hours that we loved before. Low crowds, a short line for Flight of Passage and no other waits throughout the park. This time we have my mother-in-law with a mobility scooter as well and getting around the park was a breeze.
> 
> Last night we arrived at 6:15 and got lined up. Immediately we noticed a huge like to get into the park before we even got there and it continued to grow. This was different as at Animal Kingdom there were maybe 30 people in line at 7:00 when they let us in. There were a few hundred when we got let in at 6:37 last night. Magic Kingdom was crowded which was to be expected since the day crowd was still there but we did our 3 fast passes for Splash Mountain, Ariel Meet and Greet and Under the Sea. Those were by far the 3 shortest lines we waited in during our evening. 10:00 hit and the crowds didn't shrink. Getting around with the scooter was extremely hard all the way until the event ended as walkways were congested. We used to let the kids ride whatever they wanted but we had to be choosy this time to make sure we got the rides we wanted the most. They wanted to ride Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan and Tomorrowland Speedway but they all had 20 minute waits and looking at the queues those wait times looked accurate. Then they wanted to do Buzz Lightyear and it was the same. We waited about 25 minutes for Space, 20 for Big Thunder, 15 for Jungle Cruise (which appeared to only be running 2 boats and even after our boat was full we had to wait for the other one to get back). We ended up skipping 6 or 7 rides that we wanted to do. We stopped by the hub at the end of the night to watch a bit of the last show and the entire area was crammed with people. Moving down main street at the end of the night was very slow and difficult with the scooter. We stopped in the Emporium on the way out and they had way too few registers open for the crowd. After leaving the park the Ferry's were not enough to get people out in a timely manner. As far as I'm concerned, Disney took a good thing and absolutely ruined it by charging more for increased crowds.





skullsplitter said:


> Went last night 7/11.  Never been to an after hours event.  We had a great time.  Crowds were lower than a Halloween party.  Circus was a ghost town. Rode dumbo all alone once and another time just the 4 of us.   I have a pic of totally empty space near pecos bills too.  We got a lot done and felt it was worth the money.  Here is what we did with our actual wait times.  There are some stops for pictures too that I didn’t note.
> 
> In park at 550
> Splash fp
> Thunder fp
> Pirates
> Bought merch 730 at pirates
> Skippers for supper
> Space Moubtain walk-on at end of foreworks
> 
> 1002 pm
> Tea Cups Walk on
> Pooh 5
> Barnstormer walk-on x2
> Dumbo walk-on x3
> 15 people in circus area
> Snack
> Haunted mansion 5 minutes
> 1105 pm
> Thunder 5 minutes
> Jungle cruise 10 minutes
> Pirates 15 minutes
> 1205 pm
> Snack
> Hub
> Space 20
> Astro Orbiter walk-on
> Snack
> 1am
> Maleficient on main st
> Villains farewell


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

It's all about timing. We went 7/1, and I'd watch the app for waits on busier rides we wanted to hit. Space was 10, we walked over, and by the time we got there, 25. We went to ride TS, wait dropped again on Space, my kids got in line. As I was waiting, the 12am stage show ended, and the wait jumped to atleast 30, the line was all the way out to the snack cart where I was waiting. I had to move bcuz of the crowds.
My advice, if Space is a priority, hit it during a show.


----------



## AngiTN

provoaggie said:


> ....They wanted to ride Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan and Tomorrowland Speedway but they all had 20 minute waits and looking at the queues those wait times looked accurate. .....


To address this comment specifically. OP probably realizes it as they've done other events but others may not put the 2 and 2 together but queues are not going to give a great representation of wait times. Not if you are looking at the line and thinking "that line would take X amount of time" if you are comparing it to the same line in the daytime. Remember, there are no FP returnees during the event so lines move MUCH faster.


----------



## 123SA

AngiTN said:


> To address this comment specifically. OP probably realizes it as they've done other events but others may not put the 2 and 2 together but queues are not going to give a great representation of wait times. Not if you are looking at the line and thinking "that line would take X amount of time" if you are comparing it to the same line in the daytime. Remember, there are no FP returnees during the event so lines move MUCH faster.




I think that is a point worth repeating.  Not sure I would have considered that.


----------



## vinotinto

AngiTN said:


> Wow, not disputing either post by any means but there's hardly any way one can read these and come to the conclusion that these 2 reports are from the same exact night.* They are polar opposites, not even close to the same experiences.*
> 
> Personally, we've done all parties, other types of ticketed events like SW Celebration at HS or Harambe Nights at AK, plus DAH multiple times. Including every iteration offered at MK, initial roll out to last month. We are going to the VAH event next Thursday night. So I have a lot to compare it to.


Maybe they are reporting on different aspects. @skullsplitter seemed to have focused on the rides for younger kids (Dumbo, Barnstormer, Pooh being walk-ons). They both indicate that Space is about 20-25 minutes. We've been hearing that Space, 7DMT have had longer lines. It does make sense that the rides for younger children will be uncrowded since it is pretty late in the evening.


----------



## AngiTN

123SA said:


> I think that is a point worth repeating.  Not sure I would have considered that.


It's hard to adjust your thinking. You always look at lines and naturally compare to what you are used to, which is having a FP line too.


----------



## AngiTN

vinotinto said:


> Maybe they are reporting on different aspects. @skullsplitter seemed to have focused on the rides for younger kids (Dumbo, Barnstormer, Pooh being walk-ons). They both indicate that Space is about 20-25 minutes. We've been hearing that Space, 7DMT have had longer lines. It does make sense that the rides for younger children will be uncrowded since it is pretty late in the evening.


For rides maybe but there were polar opposite reports about crowds on the pathways too.


----------



## preemiemama

AngiTN said:


> It's hard to adjust your thinking. You always look at lines and naturally compare to what you are used to, which is having a FP line too.





vinotinto said:


> Maybe they are reporting on different aspects. @skullsplitter seemed to have focused on the rides for younger kids (Dumbo, Barnstormer, Pooh being walk-ons). They both indicate that Space is about 20-25 minutes. We've been hearing that Space, 7DMT have had longer lines. It does make sense that the rides for younger children will be uncrowded since it is pretty late in the evening.


Very true. It’s an adjustment from with or without FP. It is shorter without FP- the lines are constantly moving. 

That said, 7DMT and Space were both consistently about 25 minutes. In fact 7DMT was over 45 at the start, and still at 40 after the first run of Malefecent. The CMs said “they had not cleared all  the day guests yet”. To me, that’s not acceptable for what we paid for the event. There should be an early closure of headliners to allow for that to happen at this price. 

I will say that we were at MK for EMH the night before and it was so insane that we left right around 10. (Right as the skies decided to open up and flood us out anyway!) point being, comparing the 2 nights it’s easy to see that the addition of so many paid events combined with the reduction in free EMH and regular park operating hours is making EMH a must-do and driving demand for DAH.

We have never done any type of paid before or after hours, and I’ll admit this was more crowded that we expected. If I had not been reading this thread I would have been plenty angry. As it was, we had a plan and were able to accomplish quite a bit. We did Splash during HEA as a walk-on, the got to Thunder at 9:45 to a 25 minute wait. From there we did POC, PP, 7DMT, Space and Buzz. We also got several snacks and a few magic shots before leaving at 1. We also saw the Villains at the train station on the way out and had no issue with the bus back to SSR.

Overall it was a decent night but we did not feel like we “had the park to ourselves “...


----------



## AngiTN

preemiemama said:


> That said, 7DMT and Space were both consistently about 25 minutes. In fact 7DMT was over 45 at the start, and still at 40 after the first run of Malefecent. The CMs said “they had not cleared all  the day guests yet”. To me, that’s not acceptable for what we paid for the event. There should be an early closure of headliners to allow for that to happen at this price.


7DMT is the one ride that I've never seen with a really short line except for during EMH event. It had a long line at every DAH we've done. We don't often ride Space, takes over a year for our old bodies to recover, LOL so not as familiar with the usual wait times on it. 

It would be nice if they'd cut the lines off earlier on ticketed nights but that would tick off a larger number of guests so I don't guess we'll ever see that happen.


----------



## preemiemama

AngiTN said:


> 7DMT is the one ride that I've never seen with a really short line except for during EMH event. It had a long line at every DAH we've done. We don't often ride Space, takes over a year for our old bodies to recover, LOL so not as familiar with the usual wait times on it.
> 
> It would be nice if they'd cut the lines off earlier on ticketed nights but that would tick off a larger number of guests so I don't guess we'll ever see that happen.



I agree. But to clear a 75 minute line cuts into quite a bit of the event! On the positive side, they has CMs in part of the queue of 7DMT handing out drinks and ice cream so we appreciated that!

Like I said, we did OK, but only because we had a plan and had an idea of what to expect. We have been coming to WDW for a long time and understand the lines, how FP impacts them, etc. But we also remember when we could accomplish the same things we did last night for free. We’re adjusting to the “new normal” but it’s been a challenge!


----------



## Funfire240

we went to 2 DAH last August and never waited more than 20 minutes for 7DMT.  The first night PP had a longer line but the following week we walked right one.  Space was walk on for us both times.  The first night DS and I rode Buzz back to back about 3 times. It does sound like it has been a lot more crowded.  I've still been debating on 8/8 but not sure we will spend the money


----------



## Dug720

Ok, I have been indecisive about what to do my first afternoon next Thursday before the event, but I think I am going to grab some FP+ for the afternoon and just grab my wristband for VAH from one of the spots inside. That way I am there.


----------



## cakebaker

AngiTN said:


> To address this comment specifically. OP probably realizes it as they've done other events but others may not put the 2 and 2 together but queues are not going to give a great representation of wait times. Not if you are looking at the line and thinking "that line would take X amount of time" if you are comparing it to the same line in the daytime. Remember, there are no FP returnees during the event so lines move MUCH faster.


This is true, but comparing it to our experience in October- there were virtually no lines. I didn't have to guess as to how long that line would take to get through the ride because there weren't any. The only thing that had anything close to a line was SDMT, everything else was a walk on. 

I find quite often though that we get very conflicting reports on actual conditions- some of it's timing, some is expectations and some of it is people who are first timers who haven't been before. I've read very few negatives about regular DAH MK events- but I'm reading a lot about the villains. Something has changed.


----------



## chaoskids

We’ve done a lot of up charge events. Emm,Hea,WAT and tours. This was our third this trip and have two more scheduled. This was our most disappointing ever. First ride was jungle cruise. We got in line at 10pm. Asked to use the fast pass line with our bands but was not allowed. Legitimate 20 minute wait. Next pirates it was 26 minutes from walking in to boarding a boat. We went to Splash next. No wait. Just the time to walk through. BTMR twice...about 5 minutes each time. HM next. With preshow and ride about 10 minutes. We headed to SDMT. Wait time posted at 30 minutes but the line was out to the walkway. Skipped it. Headed to SM. Wait listed as 25 minutes. The line was very long outside the ride. Rode Buzz. No wait. Checked SM again. The line was longer. SDMT still posted as 30 minutes. Rode Pooh, no line, just walk through. Got in line for PP. got out of line after 10 minutes. It was almost time for the 1am Show

Seriously disappointed at Jungke 20, PC 25+, SDMT 30 and SM 25. 

I just don’t think this is acceptable for an AH.


----------



## preemiemama

chaoskids said:


> We’ve done a lot of up charge events. Emm,Hea,WAT and tours. This was our third this trip and have two more scheduled. This was our most disappointing ever. First ride was jungle cruise. We got in line at 10pm. Asked to use the fast pass line with our bands but was not allowed. Legitimate 20 minute wait. Next pirates it was 26 minutes from walking in to boarding a boat. We went to Splash next. No wait. Just the time to walk through. BTMR twice...about 5 minutes each time. HM next. With preshow and ride about 10 minutes. We headed to SDMT. Wait time posted at 30 minutes but the line was out to the walkway. Skipped it. Headed to SM. Wait listed as 25 minutes. The line was very long outside the ride. Rode Buzz. No wait. Checked SM again. The line was longer. SDMT still posted as 30 minutes. Rode Pooh, no line, just walk through. Got in line for PP. got out of line after 10 minutes. It was almost time for the 1am Show
> 
> Seriously disappointed at Jungke 20, PC 25+, SDMT 30 and SM 25.
> 
> I just don’t think this is acceptable for an AH.


Having been in both Space and 7DMT lines last night, those times were about accurate. And agreed the length of the lines was not acceptable.


----------



## AngiTN

Funfire240 said:


> we went to 2 DAH last August and *never waited more than 20 minutes for 7DMT.*  The first night PP had a longer line but the following week we walked right one.  Space was walk on for us both times.  The first night DS and I rode Buzz back to back about 3 times. It does sound like it has been a lot more crowded.  I've still been debating on 8/8 but not sure we will spend the money


That's pretty much in line with a consistent 25 min wait reported by people who went on the 11th. A 5 min longer wait, while no, not great, isn't really "a lot more crowded"



chaoskids said:


> We’ve done a lot of up charge events. Emm,Hea,WAT and tours. This was our third this trip and have two more scheduled. This was our most disappointing ever. First ride was jungle cruise. We got in line at 10pm. Asked to use the fast pass line with our bands but was not allowed. Legitimate 20 minute wait. Next pirates it was 26 minutes from walking in to boarding a boat. We went to Splash next. No wait. Just the time to walk through. BTMR twice...about 5 minutes each time. HM next. With preshow and ride about 10 minutes. We headed to SDMT. Wait time posted at 30 minutes but the line was out to the walkway. Skipped it. Headed to SM. Wait listed as 25 minutes. The line was very long outside the ride. Rode Buzz. No wait. Checked SM again. The line was longer. SDMT still posted as 30 minutes. Rode Pooh, no line, just walk through. Got in line for PP. got out of line after 10 minutes. It was almost time for the 1am Show
> 
> Seriously disappointed at Jungke 20, PC 25+, SDMT 30 and SM 25.
> 
> I just don’t think this is acceptable for an AH.


Going on rides in that first hour is annoying. Too much cross over with day guests still in line. We've managed by hitting the less popular ones to start and moving to those later.


----------



## Lsdolphin

Wow! I certainly hope the number of tix sold for the regular DAH are significantly reduced!


----------



## ninafeliz

AngiTN said:


> That's pretty much in line with a consistent 25 min wait reported by people who went on the 11th. A 5 min longer wait, while no, not great, isn't really "a lot more crowded"
> 
> 
> Going on rides in that first hour is annoying. Too much cross over with day guests still in line. We've managed by hitting the less popular ones to start and moving to those later.



I agree, A 5 min difference on one ride isn’t a big difference.  But for our comparison, we did not wait in ANY lines on our previous DAH, either at the beginning or end (we didn’t do or check the line for SDMT either time, assuming it was long enough so we did it during other times).  In fact the first time we stayed on multiple rides, some as many as 5x in a row, without getting off because no one was in line.    For the villains after hours we had over 20 min for 3 rides, and I have ready plenty of reports where people waited for rides that weren’t the ones we had to wait in (space, Astro orbiter, and speedway).  We never had any chance to simply stay on a ride, for the ones they might let you there were always people waiting.   The waits were in the first hour, and I never rechecked those rides to see if the waits died down.   However, we also started both times in Tomorrowland, so the times within the event (ie first hour) we rode would be similar and no lines with regular DAH and lines with VDAH.  I admit I have no insider knowledge, but I’m convinced more people are going to these.  I’m taking a leap and assuming they are selling more tickets, and not that simply more people are buying them.


----------



## KangaFan

I'm not sure what the closing hours are currently, but during our trip at the beginning of August, the only weekday MK is open until 10 instead of 9 is the VAH night. I'm wondering if that will also create heavier attendance/higher wait times for the first hour at our 8/8 night.


----------



## cakebaker

ninafeliz said:


> I’m taking a leap and assuming they are selling more tickets, and not that simply more people are buying them.


Since the events aren't selling out, that's a pretty good bet.


----------



## provoaggie

AngiTN said:


> To address this comment specifically. OP probably realizes it as they've done other events but others may not put the 2 and 2 together but queues are not going to give a great representation of wait times. Not if you are looking at the line and thinking "that line would take X amount of time" if you are comparing it to the same line in the daytime. Remember, there are no FP returnees during the event so lines move MUCH faster.


I know that it isn't an exact science but when they say that Winnie the Pooh has a 30 minute wait and the queue is spilling out into fantasy land I tend to believe it...especially since I waited in several of the lines and a few were longer than advertised. I didn't just skip everything because the lines looked long. I waited in several 20 minute + lines which was unacceptable. At Animal Kingdom I waited in 1 line...for 20 minutes and that was Flight of Passage.


----------



## Mrjoshua

My personal opinion, having done 2 regular MK AH and 2 Villains AH, regular AH events are better for filling your ride quota. Villains is better for atmosphere and theming. It all depends where your interests lie. 

We approached Villains After Hours from the perspective of wanting to experience the villains theming: magic shots, music, food, decor and spectacles. We wanted to ride rides also, but we stuck to the 3 (honorable mention for TTA People Mover) rides that were unique to the party. We figured we could ride everything else any regular ol' MK day. We loved the atmosphere, so we didn't leave disappointed.


----------



## 123SA

The event is 3 hours, which means there are only 9 - 20 minute blocks of time.  Assuming waiting 20 minutes doesn't include the actual ride time and walking to the next ride, this means 7 rides in 3 hours?    

I hope you are all writing to Disney about this.


----------



## maui2k5

123SA said:


> The event is 3 hours, which means there are only 9 - 20 minute blocks of time.  Assuming waiting 20 minutes doesn't include the actual ride time and walking to the next ride, this means 7 rides in 3 hours?
> 
> I hope you are all writing to Disney about this.



This is why we are having trouble committing nearly $600 for the 4 of us in Aug.  We don’t want to feel like we wasted our money... That is a lot of $$$ for some theming, magic shots and a couple of ride enhancements.  If the event was 5 hours, the value would go up for us significantly with the crowd levels we are reading about.


----------



## PPFlight75

Mrjoshua said:


> My personal opinion, having done 2 regular MK AH and 2 Villains AH, regular AH events are better for filling your ride quota. Villains is better for atmosphere and theming. It all depends where your interests lie.
> 
> We approached Villains After Hours from the perspective of wanting to experience the villains theming: magic shots, music, food, decor and spectacles. We wanted to ride rides also, but we stuck to the 3 (honorable mention for TTA People Mover) rides that were unique to the party. We figured we could ride everything else any regular ol' MK day. We loved the atmosphere, so we didn't leave disappointed.


I agree with you. Our focus was rides so we found this event fun but not nearly as fun ride wise as the non villains event we just did in April.


----------



## Mrjoshua

123SA said:


> The event is 3 hours, which means there are only 9 - 20 minute blocks of time.  Assuming waiting 20 minutes doesn't include the actual ride time and walking to the next ride, this means 7 rides in 3 hours?
> 
> I hope you are all writing to Disney about this.


In one night, between 10 and 1, we:
- rode 5 rides
- sat and ate a treat at Tortuga Tavern
- sat and ate treats at Cool Ship
- stopped once for free water and popcorn
- got the Maleficent Magic Shot
- got the Oogie Boogie Magic Shot x2 (long story)
- watched the Train Station villains
- staked out a spot for Maleficent
- had at least one bathroom break (probably three)

If we hadn't been interested in the treats or Magic Shots, we could've EASILY been on 12 - 14 rides.


----------



## PPFlight75

I think the villains event had the same rides as the non villains event correct? Just no meet and greets. I wonder if this added to the waits that we are seeing at the villains event. Just trying to figure out why the big difference unless they are just selling more tickets.


----------



## Haley R

We were able to get on a lot of rides when we did VAH but there weren’t many we rode again and we definitely couldn’t stay on any of the ones we did. I liked how at DAH we were able to use the reride line for space and that wasn’t an option at VAH. I liked both for different reasons. I LOVED the dj and dance party at VAH and the overall atmosphere.


----------



## PPFlight75

Mrjoshua said:


> In one night, between 10 and 1, we:
> - rode 5 rides
> - sat and ate a treat at Tortuga Tavern
> - sat and ate treats at Cool Ship
> - stopped once for free water and popcorn
> - got the Maleficent Magic Shot
> - got the Oogie Boogie Magic Shot x2 (long story)
> - watched the Train Station villains
> - staked out a spot for Maleficent
> - had at least one bathroom break (probably three)
> 
> If we hadn't been interested in the treats or Magic Shots, we could've EASILY been on 12 - 14 rides.


We rode 9 rides while our girls rode 7 due to being in a long line for space. We got treats twice and did no magic shots or shows. We did get our ornaments. We left right at one. Maybe we just did the whole event wrong, but we did way less rides than our last AH with none of the villains extras. I think if we would have been into the villains stuff we maybe would have enjoyed it more.


----------



## Mrjoshua

PPFlight75 said:


> We rode 9 rides while our girls rode 7 due to being in a long line for space. We got treats twice and did no magic shots or shows. We did get our ornaments. We left right at one. Maybe we just did the whole event wrong, but we did way less rides than our last AH with none of the villains extras. I think if we would have been into the villains stuff we maybe would have enjoyed it more.


I don't think you did anything wrong. Hopefully you rolled with it, and did stuff that you wanted. You averaged 3 rides, plus either a treat or ornaments, per hour. 

IF someone were looking to slip more rides in, I would suggest ditching the treats and ornaments, and also being in line for one last ride at 1am. It also doesn't hurt to be lined up a few minutes before 10pm for a ride. By lining up for PotC at 9:50pm, we boarded the first boat with the overlay. We were back outside shortly after, looking at a posted 25 minute wait.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Who knows what’s up with the guest count at these VAH events, but all of this chirping is eerily reminiscent of last year mid Summer.  Go back to the reviews of mid to late July 2018 and you’ll find many scathing ones.

Granted, the complaint at the time was people abusing lanyards and such leading to many extra people in the park, but inevitably some of it was warm weather, summer break with no bedtimes, lots of people at the event.  Probably some of the same this year.

And Disney didn’t change their wording from “little to no” to “low” wait times for nothing, plus add lots of merchandise, extras, stage shows, ride overlays, etc.  This thing is like DAH on steroids with added costs.

Not dismissing the complaints, but can’t say I’m surprised.  Someone upthread said it very well in that they would have been better to brand this something else outside of the After Hours brand.  I suspect I will feel the same once I see it for myself.

Anyways, carry on, just my two cents.


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Who knows what’s up with the guest count at these VAH events, but all of this chirping is eerily reminiscent of last year mid Summer.  Go back to the reviews of mid to late July 2018 and you’ll find many scathing ones.
> 
> Granted, the complaint at the time was people abusing lanyards and such leading to many extra people in the park, but inevitably some of it was warm weather, summer break with no bedtimes, lots of people at the event.  Probably some of the same this year.
> 
> And Disney didn’t change their wording from “little to no” to “low” wait times for nothing, plus add lots of merchandise, extras, stage shows, ride overlays, etc.  This thing is like DAH on steroids with added costs.
> 
> Not dismissing the complaints, but can’t say I’m surprised.  Someone upthread said it very well in that they would have been better to brand this something else outside of the After Hours brand.  I suspect I will feel the same once I see it for myself.
> 
> Anyways, carry on, just my two cents.


Yep we went last July and it was very busy compared to our other DAH events. I remember emailing about it. It was mainly for the lanyard sharing but it just felt crowded


----------



## Cinderumbrella

We went on the opening sold out event. But to me, it was still reminiscent of the 2AM 3 hour EMH of 2010ish.  As the night wore on, the shorter the lines became. Never empty, but low crowds. Honestly, I don’t think they are selling more, just that more people are purchasing. I think some of the earlier DAH were just insanely low. Who else, besides me, has gone to a sold out VAH event that can compare? I’m on record saying a sold out VAH was still better for rides than EMH. But who has gone to a sold out DAH and VAH that can compare?


----------



## Haley R

Cinderumbrella said:


> We went on the opening sold out event. But to me, it was still reminiscent of the 2AM 3 hour EMH of 2010ish.  As the night wore on, the shorter the lines became. Never empty, but low crowds. Honestly, I don’t think they are selling more, just that more people are purchasing. I think some of the earlier DAH were just insanely low. Who else, besides me, has gone to a sold out VAH event that can compare? I’m on record saying a sold out VAH was still better for rides than EMH. But who has gone to a sold out DAH and VAH that can compare?


I’ve been to a sold out DAH and a non sold out VAH and the crowds were vastly different. They definitely sell more tickets for VAH and it makes sense because they added a whole stage show, merch, special snacks, and maleficent comes through. They have to pay for those somehow. I still think it was much better than an EMH. EMH has become pointless to me now unless it’s in the morning


----------



## Limes96

Just caught up on the last week’s posts and just posting to say....I’m really glad I got fp on our VAH night for 7dmt and Space. Don’t really care about the Space overlay, so that will help with fitting as much in to our night as we can!


----------



## vinotinto

Don't forget to put your dates in the VAH Date Poll:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/m...s-after-hours”-summer-2019-date-poll.3747348/
Looks like a bunch of us will be there on July 25th!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Haley R said:


> I’ve been to a sold out DAH and a non sold out VAH and the crowds were vastly different. They definitely sell more tickets for VAH and it makes sense because they added a whole stage show, merch, special snacks, and maleficent comes through. They have to pay for those somehow. I still think it was much better than an EMH. EMH has become pointless to me now unless it’s in the morning



Thanks for that comparison! I’ll be curious to see if they increase the number of tickets when they go back to regular DAH (if demand is there).


----------



## Castlequeen5

We went to VAH on July 1 and then did EMH on July 3 from 12-2.  I know this is not a typical EMH these days for MK, but it was nice.  It was not crowded at all.  Granted I went in with no expectations, but I was shocked at how many rides we were able to do.  There was definitely less people that night, compared to VAH two nights before.  We ended up leaving around 1:30, because we had done everything we wanted to do.  I thought it was ironic that I spent $139 plus tax per person and the place was busy.  But EMH was free and it felt like a ghost town!


----------



## disneycat321

Castlequeen5 said:


> We went to VAH on July 1 and then did EMH on July 3 from 12-2.  I know this is not a typical EMH these days for MK, but it was nice.  It was not crowded at all.  Granted I went in with no expectations, but I was shocked at how many rides we were able to do.  There was definitely less people that night, compared to VAH two nights before.  We ended up leaving around 1:30, because we had done everything we wanted to do.  I thought it was ironic that I spent $139 plus tax per person and the place was busy.  But EMH was free and it felt like a ghost town!


That's interesting! Too bad those 12-2 EMH are so rare! We're getting one from 11-1, and it seems like that's about the best you can hope for these days most of the time. I think in 2010 we did one that was 12-2, and I remember it being amazing!


----------



## Castlequeen5

disneycat321 said:


> That's interesting! Too bad those 12-2 EMH are so rare! We're getting one from 11-1, and it seems like that's about the best you can hope for these days most of the time. I think in 2010 we did one that was 12-2, and I remember it being amazing!


Yes...I was expecting it to be packed considering it was the day before the 4th of July.  I figured that's why Disney set up such late hours in the first place.  This was also one of the 2 nights they ran the special patriotic fireworks.   So indeed, I was pleasantly surprised when it appeared many folks didn't take advantage of the extra hours.  

Hopefully your 11-1 EMH will be low crowds.  Those are good hours too!


----------



## Ksquared

Mrjoshua said:


> I don't think you did anything wrong. Hopefully you rolled with it, and did stuff that you wanted. You averaged 3 rides, plus either a treat or ornaments, per hour.
> 
> IF someone were looking to slip more rides in, I would suggest ditching the treats and ornaments, and also being in line for one last ride at 1am. It also doesn't hurt to be lined up a few minutes before 10pm for a ride. By lining up for PotC at 9:50pm, we boarded the first boat with the overlay. We were back outside shortly after, looking at a posted 25 minute wait.


when you say you lined up for POTC at 9:50, did you actually get in line or just wait at the ride que to go in at 10?  Just trying to figure out strategy for the night we go.  Thanks


----------



## Mrjoshua

Ksquared said:


> when you say you lined up for POTC at 9:50, did you actually get in line or just wait at the ride que to go in at 10?  Just trying to figure out strategy for the night we go.  Thanks


Inside the building, they held us in a separate line until 10pm, if we wanted to be first. They were lining us up off to the left of the regular pathway inside the building. At 9:50, we were numbers 5 and 6 in line. Shortly before they let us in, the line had grown considerably. There were at least 20 to 30 people behind us. If all else fails, ask a castmember where to line up for the villains version of PotC, and they'll point you in the right direction.


----------



## WRLeGrand

I hope this is not entirely off topic and someone can help me out:

We attend DAH at MK (Villains) on 7/1. We happen to be new AP Holders and DVC. My wife saw an advertisement where AP holders get a VAH Christmas Ornament for attending. We obviously did not get this and that's why I am here. Does anyone know how we might go about getting that after the fact. We really like to collect ornaments from the things we do a Disney, so obviously would love to add this to our collection...


----------



## provoaggie

Mrjoshua said:


> My personal opinion, having done 2 regular MK AH and 2 Villains AH, regular AH events are better for filling your ride quota. Villains is better for atmosphere and theming. It all depends where your interests lie.


This is the absolute truth. I'm a rides first kind of person. I don't care about Atmosphere and Theming. I don't care about additional food items or merchandise, I care about rides. The problem that Disney created here is that they marketed this event with the ride focused After Hours events. I love parks but I've never been as in to Disney parks as my family is. I know that in that way I differ from a lot of the people posting here. After Hours at Hollywood Studios was probably the first time since I was a kid that I could say that I had an amazing day in a Disney park. Animal Kingdom was much the same. This was my 2nd time ever at Magic Kingdom and if the Tron coaster wasn't coming in a couple of years then I'm not sure that I'd try to make it back.


----------



## AngiTN

I'll come back Friday to update and confirm or change my thoughts but I am not going into VAH with any comparison to DAH expected.
VAH is about Villains first and foremost. It's a different event with totally different types of focus to it. I'd never expect VAH to be just like DAH, I expect and hope it is different. Otherwise, why have the thing? 
We'll be comparing it to the EMH the day before. We land about 6:30 and plan to head to MK once we hit BWI. After flying I always like to walk around for a while. And this day we'll be going from sitting at a desk half the day at work to boarding a plane. 
Should be easy to compare and we even have a regular DAH we did a month ago to include too.


----------



## Dug720

AngiTN said:


> I'll come back Friday to update and confirm or change my thoughts but I am not going into VAH with any comparison to DAH expected.
> VAH is about Villains first and foremost. It's a different event with totally different types of focus to it. I'd never expect VAH to be just like DAH, I expect and hope it is different. Otherwise, why have the thing?
> We'll be comparing it to the EMH the day before. We land about 6:30 and plan to head to MK once we hit BWI. After flying I always like to walk around for a while. And this day we'll be going from sitting at a desk half the day at work to boarding a plane.
> Should be easy to compare and we even have a regular DAH we did a month ago to include too.



I have absolutely nothing other than MNSSHP to compare it to on Thursday. I land Thursday late morning and at this point plan to hit Epcot for the afternoon before monorailing it over to MK. Not really going in with any agenda (besides getting a tank top...) so I will go with the flow and just enjoy being alive and being blessed enough to celebrate my birthday with a trip to Disney and a cruise on the Disney Dream!


----------



## AngiTN

Dug720 said:


> I have absolutely nothing other than MNSSHP to compare it to on Thursday. I land Thursday late morning and at this point plan to hit Epcot for the afternoon before monorailing it over to MK. Not really going in with any agenda (besides getting a tank top...) so I will go with the flow and just enjoy being alive and being blessed enough to celebrate my birthday with a trip to Disney and a cruise on the Disney Dream!


Cool. We approach similarly. No set agenda in place other than I will want to see the villain stuff. We aren't M&G folks so that won't appeal to me. 
We'll be sleeping in and chilling at the Resort before heading over. DH will probably want lunch at Epcot. Speaking of which, I think I'll surprise him with a Via Napoli ressie......


----------



## skullsplitter

vinotinto said:


> Maybe they are reporting on different aspects. @skullsplitter seemed to have focused on the rides for younger kids (Dumbo, Barnstormer, Pooh being walk-ons). They both indicate that Space is about 20-25 minutes. We've been hearing that Space, 7DMT have had longer lines. It does make sense that the rides for younger children will be uncrowded since it is pretty late in the evening.



We really had no plan other than we wanted to do Pirates and Space.  At 10 Tomorrowland was still full of day guests.  We noticed Tea Cups had no wait so we moved on and just worked our way around the park.  We prefer to be doing something even if it's Dumbo, rather than burning large parts of the party standing in line.  Path of least resistance


----------



## skullsplitter

Cinderumbrella said:


> We went on the opening sold out event. But to me, it was still reminiscent of the 2AM 3 hour EMH of 2010ish.  As the night wore on, the shorter the lines became. Never empty, but low crowds. Honestly, I don’t think they are selling more, just that more people are purchasing. I think some of the earlier DAH were just insanely low. Who else, besides me, has gone to a sold out VAH event that can compare? I’m on record saying a sold out VAH was still better for rides than EMH. But who has gone to a sold out DAH and VAH that can compare?


Yes.  This what my wife and I said durng the event.  It felt like the old late night EMH.  We used to enjoy those late EMH nights so much.


----------



## WRLeGrand

I would say that one of the major downsides of the event is that there still seemed to be a lot of the "normal" guests lingering around for a long while after 10:00 pm. Rides such as Space Moutain and SDMT were back-logged because people were still in line. I strongly feel if they are going to offer AH in any form, they may have to close the lines for these rides early to offer the "fair" attraction time to hard-ticket holders...


----------



## AngiTN

WRLeGrand said:


> I would say that one of the major downsides of the event is that there still seemed to be a lot of the "normal" guests lingering around for a long while after 10:00 pm. Rides such as Space Moutain and SDMT were back-logged because people were still in line. I strongly feel if they are going to offer AH in any form, they may have to close the lines for these rides early to offer the "fair" attraction time to hard-ticket holders...


They should but whichever way they do it, they'll tick off guests. I believe they feel they tick off fewer guests by letting the lines operate as normal and having the overlap.


----------



## WRLeGrand

AngiTN said:


> They should but whichever way they do it, they'll tick off guests. I believe they feel they tick off fewer guests by letting the lines operate as normal and having the overlap.



I agree, darned if you do and darned if you don't. Just seems like maybe Fireworks time would be a good time to let the queue end for new guests until the event begins. If you want to be assured of a specific ride, just be in line by the time fireworks begin. But probably no easy answer.


----------



## KangaFan

It seems strange that they are extending the closing to 10pm on these nights when other week nights are at 9 or 9:15, which would allow that gap to allow clearing of the daytime crowds instead of encouraging more guests to choose that day to go to MK.


----------



## lucas

Just booked the 8/29 event!


----------



## Inurdrems9

I am sure this has been asked, but I can’t find it. We have 3 FP’s for the morning of VAH (AP) , can we get 3 FP’s before the event starts with the VAH ticket?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Inurdrems9 said:


> I am sure this has been asked, but I can’t find it. We have 3 FP’s for the morning of VAH (AP) , can we get 3 FP’s before the event starts with the VAH ticket?



No, you can’t get 3 FPs with a VAH ticket connected to your MDE account if you’ve booked FPs earlier that day.  You can only get your one at a time 4th, 5th, etc after using the first three (or letting them expire). Hope that make sense.


----------



## maui2k5

Would you recommend VAH at the beginning or end of trip? We can go on our first full day Aug 1 or our second to last full day on Aug 8. Which would you choose? Me, wife, girls ages 8 & 10.


----------



## Haley R

maui2k5 said:


> Would you recommend VAH at the beginning or end of trip? We can go on our first full day Aug 1 or our second to last full day on Aug 8. Which would you choose? Me, wife, girls ages 8 & 10.


I would say it depends on what your plans are for the next day. If you can sleep in after VAH and take a resort day or only do a half day at a park I would plan it that way. I'm leaning towards the first day just because you will have more adrenaline.


----------



## maui2k5

Haley R said:


> I would say it depends on what your plans are for the next day. If you can sleep in after VAH and take a resort day or only do a half day at a park I would plan it that way. I'm leaning towards the first day just because you will have more adrenaline.



Right now we have breakfast at Cape May Cafe at 9:25am on our last full day morning which would be the morning after VAH.  After that I only have one fastpass planned from 11am-12pm for Test Track...


----------



## Haley R

maui2k5 said:


> Right now we have breakfast at Cape May Cafe at 9:25am on our last full day morning which would be the morning after VAH.  After that I only have one fastpass planned from 11am-12pm for Test Track...


That's up to you, but I personally wouldn't want to be at VAH until after 1 am and have to wake up for a breakfast. What does your second day look like if you chose to do VAH the first day?


----------



## maui2k5

Haley R said:


> That's up to you, but I personally wouldn't want to be at VAH until after 1 am and have to wake up for a breakfast. What does your second day look like if you chose to do VAH the first day?


8am Garden Grill then 3 fast passes in the AM


----------



## GADisneyDad14

maui2k5 said:


> Would you recommend VAH at the beginning or end of trip? We can go on our first full day Aug 1 or our second to last full day on Aug 8. Which would you choose? Me, wife, girls ages 8 & 10.



Full disclosure, haven’t done VAH yet (but have done plenty of other MK party type things).  

For me, I want “real / un-partied MK” as my first MK experience of a trip, sort of MK as it was intended to be experienced.   So for you I’m assuming that means one or a few normal MK visits over your stay.  

Then, follow all of that up at the end of your trip with a “special” MK night where you can enjoy the different park party vibe, mood, music, etc.  Casually hit any rides you may have missed during earlier visits, see the shows, etc.  

Don’t think you can go wrong either way, but for us end would work better (assuming mood/spirits/energy levels are still high at the end of your week).


----------



## Haley R

maui2k5 said:


> 8am Garden Grill then 3 fast passes in the AM


I would choose the end of your trip since the breakfast isn’t as early the next day. We didn’t get back to our room after VAH until like 2:30 am


----------



## ali_in_al

We (me and two sons, ages 15 and 12), did the VAH party the night before we were departing, so it was our last park experience and a fun way to end the trip (we also got back to our resort room about 2:30am). The next day we went to Disney Springs around 9am for a few hours before heading to the airport and that worked out well for us.


----------



## Cluelyss

ninafeliz said:


> We're passholders, and we went on June 20th, prior to when they gave our the passholder gift.  I just did a chat with the VIPassholder site to ask about getting the ornament, and she told me that they are arranging to have the ornaments mailed to all passholders who attended the events prior to June 27th automatically, and that if I don't get them in the next 2-3 weeks to call them then.  Has anyone else been told this?  I'm kind of skeptical unless others start getting told the same thing.


This is interesting, as I’ve been told by 3 phone CMs now that there’s no way for us to get the ornament (we attended on 6/13) other than inquiring at MK guest services before VAH ends. Maybe I’ll call again....


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Blah. I still can’t make up my mind about this thing.  At least they haven’t been selling out so I can make a game time decision (famous last words), but the day of cost is annoying too.  

Nothing about the VAH event really appeals to me other than just a chance to try it/try something different... which fundamentally aren’t great reasons.  

Decisions, decisions...


----------



## Cluelyss

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Blah. I still can’t make up my mind about this thing.  At least they haven’t been selling out so I can make a game time decision (famous last words), but the day of cost is annoying too.
> 
> Nothing about the VAH event really appeals to me other than just a chance to try it/try something different... which fundamentally aren’t great reasons.
> 
> Decisions, decisions...


Dooooo iiiiiiit 

It’s MNSSHP Lite!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Blah. I still can’t make up my mind about this thing.  At least they haven’t been selling out so I can make a game time decision (famous last words), but the day of cost is annoying too.
> 
> Nothing about the VAH event really appeals to me other than just a chance to try it/try something different... which fundamentally aren’t great reasons.
> 
> Decisions, decisions...



I feel the same way...I feel like this thread has helped me have realistic expectations of the event, since I've done two other MK DAHs and I know this one is a bit different.  I have it "planned" to do it on our last night - a short trip, only 4 nights - but I keep Mickey waffling about doing the Glow Night thing instead, but since I had planned on this, I'd have to shift other things around in order to make sure I got to MK twice during the trip (requirement), plus, I think it would be easier to get back at night from DAH based on what I was reading on the Glow Night thread and where we are staying.  I am probably not making sense, but the bottom line is, I haven't purchased my tickets yet for 8/8 but I keep checking to make sure it hasn't sold out! The Villain piece does sound really fun to me, but I've done the other DAHs for the rides and it seems like for this one, you need to make some choices!


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Blah. I still can’t make up my mind about this thing.  At least they haven’t been selling out so I can make a game time decision (famous last words), but the day of cost is annoying too.
> 
> Nothing about the VAH event really appeals to me other than just a chance to try it/try something different... which fundamentally aren’t great reasons.
> 
> Decisions, decisions...


I say do it. We really enjoyed ourselves at the event and I thought the dance music in the hub was really fun. I like to dance though lol.


----------



## maui2k5

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Blah. I still can’t make up my mind about this thing.  At least they haven’t been selling out so I can make a game time decision (famous last words), but the day of cost is annoying too.
> 
> Nothing about the VAH event really appeals to me other than just a chance to try it/try something different... which fundamentally aren’t great reasons.
> 
> Decisions, decisions...



We are in a similar boat.  By the time we would get to the party during our Aug trip, we would have already had 1 evening and 2 mornings in the MK.  Nearly $600 for some theming and to stay late in the park to ride rides again is a tough sell.


----------



## provoaggie

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Blah. I still can’t make up my mind about this thing.  At least they haven’t been selling out so I can make a game time decision (famous last words), but the day of cost is annoying too.
> 
> Nothing about the VAH event really appeals to me other than just a chance to try it/try something different... which fundamentally aren’t great reasons.
> 
> Decisions, decisions...


If nothing about the event appeals to you then I'd save my money and use it somewhere else. Those that have enjoyed this event are those that went in excited to see the villains aspects of it.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Haley R said:


> I say do it. We really enjoyed ourselves at the event and I thought the dance music in the hub was really fun. I like to dance though lol.




I too like to dance...and I'm sure my teens would like to dance with me - NOT!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

My kids loved the music/lighting thru out MK. Gave the night a lively vibe for sure. We had a lot of fun.


----------



## PolyRob

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Blah. I still can’t make up my mind about this thing.  At least they haven’t been selling out so I can make a game time decision (famous last words), but the day of cost is annoying too.
> 
> Nothing about the VAH event really appeals to me other than just a chance to try it/try something different... which fundamentally aren’t great reasons.
> 
> Decisions, decisions...


I say do it for the pre-purchase price!

While the crowds were definitely more noticeable than previous DAHs, it was still an enjoyable event overall. Had I never been to a ticketed event, I would have thought the park was empty. The HUB felt the most congested because there was a reason to hang out with the added entertainment. Navigating a less crowded MK while the sun was down during the summer made it completely worth it to me!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

provoaggie said:


> If nothing about the event appeals to you then I'd save my money and use it somewhere else. Those that have enjoyed this event are those that went in excited to see the villains aspects of it.



Yeah, I know you’re right in your assessment.

The “problem” is that I’ll be at Poly.... and I’ll be honest, I have a bad case of FOMO when it comes to some Disney things.  Sitting there.... staring across the Seven Seas Lagoon at the MK...wondering what all is going on....seeing the select pyro from the stage show.  Those are not good conditions for my weak Disney mindset!


----------



## Haley R

TheFloatingBear said:


> I too like to dance...and I'm sure my teens would like to dance with me - NOT!


Dh was hesitant at first but he did dance some. For the most part he stood next to me while I danced lol. We were right up in front of the castle and tons of people were dancing, not at all caring about how they looked.


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, I know you’re right in your assessment.
> 
> The “problem” is that I’ll be at Poly.... and I’ll be honest, I have a bad case of FOMO when it comes to some Disney things.  Sitting there.... staring across the Seven Seas Lagoon at the MK...wondering what all is going on....seeing the select pyro from the stage show.  Those are not good conditions for my weak Disney mindset!


I’m this same way. If there’s something going on and I can see it I need to be there lol


----------



## Cinderumbrella

C’mon @GADisneyDad14 you know you want to.... (seriously tho, just make sure you decide the day before to get the AP advance discount price). When is your trip again? Before MNSSHP starts?


----------



## heath92681

PolyRob said:


> I say do it for the pre-purchase price!
> 
> While the crowds were definitely more noticeable than previous DAHs, it was still an enjoyable event overall. Had I never been to a ticketed event, I would have thought the park was empty. The HUB felt the most congested because there was a reason to hang out with the added entertainment. Navigating a less crowded MK while the sun was down during the summer made it completely worth it to me!


I'm hoping that it feels empty to us!  The only thing we can compare to is MVMCP, which was so crowded we probably won't do again. We have our 3 FP lined up (Space, BTMRR, 7DMT) which will allow us to skip a couple rides that typically have the longest lines and focus on the others that will hopefully be walk on or 5-10 minutes.


----------



## jhoannam

I don't know if this has been posted but Sam's club has discounted AH tickets for AK & MK.

https://serviceshub.samsclub.com/pages.php?sub=wdw


----------



## TheFloatingBear

PolyRob said:


> I say do it for the pre-purchase price!
> 
> While the crowds were definitely more noticeable than previous DAHs, it was still an enjoyable event overall. Had I never been to a ticketed event, I would have thought the park was empty. The HUB felt the most congested because there was a reason to hang out with the added entertainment. Navigating a *less crowded MK while the sun was down during the summer made it completely worth it to me!*



That's the piece that I keep coming back to...and the added entertainment does sound really fun to me...



GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, I know you’re right in your assessment.
> 
> The “problem” is that I’ll be at Poly.... and I’ll be honest, I have a bad case of FOMO when it comes to some Disney things.  Sitting there.... staring across the Seven Seas Lagoon at the MK...wondering what all is going on....seeing the select pyro from the stage show.  Those are not good conditions for my weak Disney mindset!



Clearly the villains have you right where they want you! 



Haley R said:


> Dh was hesitant at first but he did dance some. For the most part he stood next to me while I danced lol. We were right up in front of the castle and tons of people were dancing, not at all caring about how they looked.



Love that! But really I'm kind of kidding - they are pretty goofy when they are there and definitely get into the spirit of things wherever we are! They are 14 and 12 and demanding we do CP and Lilo and Stitch breakfast, so they have definitely not outgrown the fun!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TheFloatingBear said:


> Clearly the villains have you right where they want you!


----------



## Delphinidae

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Blah. I still can’t make up my mind about this thing.  At least they haven’t been selling out so I can make a game time decision (famous last words), but the day of cost is annoying too.
> 
> Nothing about the VAH event really appeals to me other than just a chance to try it/try something different... which fundamentally aren’t great reasons.
> 
> Decisions, decisions...



Same here! I have been reading through this entire thread and the AK DAH thread to try to make a decision between both of them and I. JUST. CAN'T.  The only paid event I've done before to compare it to was MNSSHP once, which was also not as expensive so 

Ugh the indecisiveness


----------



## Inurdrems9

GADisneyDad14 said:


> No, you can’t get 3 FPs with a VAH ticket connected to your MDE account if you’ve booked FPs earlier that day.  You can only get your one at a time 4th, 5th, etc after using the first three (or letting them expire). Hope that make sense.


Thank you. That’s what I thought, but got myself confused.


----------



## mcurrence

jhoannam said:


> I don't know if this has been posted but Sam's club has discounted AH tickets for AK & MK.
> 
> https://serviceshub.samsclub.com/pages.php?sub=wdw



Do you know what the saving is for AH?  I've been on the fence about getting a membership and this might sway me!
TIA!


----------



## Cinderumbrella

mcurrence said:


> Do you know what the saving is for AH?  I've been on the fence about getting a membership and this might sway me!
> TIA!



Per this article about $20

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2019/...and-special-events-see-how-much-you-can-save/
Undercover Tourist sells them too


----------



## provoaggie

mcurrence said:


> Do you know what the saving is for AH?  I've been on the fence about getting a membership and this might sway me!
> TIA!


It makes the cost $114 for MK and $113 for AK. They don't have Villains available.


----------



## PolyRob

heath92681 said:


> I'm hoping that it feels empty to us!  The only thing we can compare to is MVMCP, which was so crowded we probably won't do again. We have our 3 FP lined up (Space, BTMRR, 7DMT) which will allow us to skip a couple rides that typically have the longest lines and focus on the others that will hopefully be walk on or 5-10 minutes.


With those FP+ you will be fine! 7DMT was the only ride that had a "long" wait during my night (posted 25 most of the event). I had a FP+ for it prior and skipped it during the event. I did Space Mountain with a FP+ before, but went back during the event because it was cool with the lights off! I walked right on. I did Pirates because it had live performers, but that wasn't anything too amazing to me. The crowds were NOTHING like MVMCP/MNSSHP. Hope you have a great time!



TheFloatingBear said:


> That's the piece that I keep coming back to...and the added entertainment does sound really fun to me...


Yes! I always take afternoon breaks and summer is no exception! I feel like I am melting between 2pm and 6pm.  Love the early mornings and late nights. The Hub entertainment was a lot of fun. The DJ/emcee was so energetic throughout the night and did a great job. I have no regrets that I attended (besides the wait for a MK resort bus on the way back after 1am)!


----------



## Ksquared

Mrjoshua said:


> Inside the building, they held us in a separate line until 10pm, if we wanted to be first. They were lining us up off to the left of the regular pathway inside the building. At 9:50, we were numbers 5 and 6 in line. Shortly before they let us in, the line had grown considerably. There were at least 20 to 30 people behind us. If all else fails, ask a castmember where to line up for the villains version of PotC, and they'll point you in the right direction.


thanks, this is very helpful


----------



## GADisneyDad14

I never like to judge too much from afar by just app wait times, but they look pretty reasonable for 10:10pm. 

Separately, saw some blogger-type tweets that there are some invited media there tonight. 

If you’re there, hope you’re having fun!


----------



## preemiemama

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I never like to judge too much from afar by just app wait times, but they look pretty reasonable for 10:10pm.
> 
> Separately, saw some blogger-type tweets that there are some invited media there tonight.
> 
> If you’re there, hope you’re having fun!


Looks WAY better to start than last week.


----------



## provoaggie

It looks like I went the wrong week. These wait times are what I expect out of After Hours. I wonder if attendance is down because of the complaints of it being over crowded.


----------



## preemiemama

provoaggie said:


> It looks like I went the wrong week. These wait times are what I expect out of After Hours. I wonder if attendance is down because of the complaints of it being over crowded.


Yes, I agree.  We would have had a much better time with these waits last week!


----------



## maui2k5

Hopefully waits will be like tonight when we go on Aug 8th (last night of VAH)


----------



## dancergirlsmom

maui2k5 said:


> Hopefully waits will be like tonight when we go on Aug 8th (last night of VAH)



I'm with you on this.  We are there that night too.


----------



## AngiTN

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I never like to judge too much from afar by just app wait times, but they look pretty reasonable for 10:10pm.
> 
> Separately, saw some blogger-type tweets that there are some invited media there tonight.
> 
> If you’re there, hope you’re having fun!


It's just like any DAH in my opinion. 5 min waits are accurate half way through. Only line is at 7D so far. Well Pan has a short one. No waits for give away snacks. No idea why last week was so off compared to others


----------



## AngiTN

provoaggie said:


> It looks like I went the wrong week. These wait times are what I expect out of After Hours. I wonder if attendance is down because of the complaints of it being over crowded.


There's not been many nights when it was reported an over crowded so not likely. Besides the numbers who read here and go are low


----------



## bocaj1431

Hi all.  Love this thread, lots of great info.
Does anyone know for the DAH MK 10-1am how late the bakery stays open.?   This is the only day we will be at MK so we want to get some of our fav treats to bring back to the hotel but do not want to walk around the park with them.

If they close early, do they let you purchase items early in eve and then go back to pick up right before they close?


----------



## AngiTN

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Blah. I still can’t make up my mind about this thing.  At least they haven’t been selling out so I can make a game time decision (famous last words), but the day of cost is annoying too.
> 
> Nothing about the VAH event really appeals to me other than just a chance to try it/try something different... which fundamentally aren’t great reasons.
> 
> Decisions, decisions...


My advice is do it
It's like NYE lite on the hub. Big fun


----------



## AngiTN

The one place it really differs from DAH we've done was leaving. The event ended at 1:00 but with the stage show at the end and then Maleficent runs the last time plus the crew on the train balcony you have a lot here till the end. Even though it's going on 2:00 am by the time all that's fine


----------



## roylanc

maui2k5 said:


> Hopefully waits will be like tonight when we go on Aug 8th (last night of VAH)


We are there on the 1st & hopefully it will be the same then..


----------



## disneycat321

maui2k5 said:


> Hopefully waits will be like tonight when we go on Aug 8th (last night of VAH)



Hoping this for next week, too! We’ll be there then. 

Very weird that last week was so much more crowded than this one... did they just sell more tickets, or what?


----------



## Elle :)

This is giving me hope for next week. *crossing fingers*


----------



## GADisneyDad14

AngiTN said:


> My advice is do it
> It's like NYE lite on the hub. Big fun



Lol, thanks.  

Funny, it being “like NYE” is one of the reasons I’m not quite into this one.  I love me some MK party vibe on 7/3-4 and 12/30-31 for the fun / being something different.  Just not sure I want it in the middle of July.  

But who am I kidding, I’ll probably go.  Although with the ebbs and flows of crowd reports, it’ll probably be back to crowded next week.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

I saw a tweet from after the event from someone staying at Poly that was taking the boat back from VAH (they tweeted because they were the only one on the boat).  

So has resort boat transportation been running at the end for the VAH events so far?  How about monorail?  Have I totally missed that from reports? 

Txs!


----------



## Haley R

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I saw a tweet from after the event from someone staying at Poly that was taking the boat back from VAH (they tweeted because they were the only one on the boat).
> 
> So has resort boat transportation been running at the end for the VAH events so far?  How about monorail?  Have I totally missed that from reports?
> 
> Txs!


When we went there was no boat back to WL


----------



## TheFloatingBear

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I saw a tweet from after the event from someone staying at Poly that was taking the boat back from VAH (they tweeted because they were the only one on the boat).
> 
> So has resort boat transportation been running at the end for the VAH events so far?  How about monorail?  Have I totally missed that from reports?
> 
> Txs!



That would be great!  The big ferry still runs to the TTC, correct? If one wanted to take that and walk to the Poly?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TheFloatingBear said:


> That would be great!  The big ferry still runs to the TTC, correct? If one wanted to take that and walk to the Poly?



Yes, it does and would generally be my recommended method to get back home to Poly.  

They do tend to wait until the Ferry is full to take off though... so if you’re among the first on you may wait a bit.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yes, it does and would generally be my recommended method to get back home to Poly.
> 
> *They do tend to wait until the Ferry is full to take off though*... so if you’re among the first on you may wait a bit.



That's a good point. I've mentioned my early bird daughter before...at one of these events she wanted to leave early so we did but it didn't really help since we waited forever for a bus anyway! She's prepared to tough it out and has already negotiated with her brother that she gets the big bed on VAH night since she will be "tired and crabby."  If she and DH go back a little early maybe the poly boat will still be running... 

I should probably consider purchasing my tickets today...


----------



## always

I attended last night and we got tons done. Arrived around 7:30. Hit Pirates, Splash, BTMRR, HM, SW before close. Peter Pan right at 10. Line was slow moving. Walked on Pooh, Buzz, Pirates, Peoplemover. Stopped for water, popcorn, and ice cream bars. I wanted the ice cream sandwich but the two snack carts I visited were out.  watched castle show and then hit up Star Traders for my ornament and bought a tumbler. Shortish wait for Space. SDMT was at 30 minutes the two times we passed by. We chose not to wait. Walked on just about everything after 11:30.  I liked the DJ at the hub and the general vibe. We saw lots of CMs directing day guests out of the park. 
We left before 1 and Main Street was just about  empty. We never felt alone but the crowd was very thin. **Edit: we were entirely alone at the back Frontier land bend at about 8:30 . 
Real talk, MK day crowd seemed light at 7:30. I was just there middle of June and it felt more crowed then! 
I waited about 10 minutes for a bus to the Beach Club. I was the only person on the bus! My friend waited about 3 minutes for a Swalphin bus. 
Overall, I’d recommend VAH for the AP price. My sister was mad she decided to skip it.


----------



## preemiemama

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I saw a tweet from after the event from someone staying at Poly that was taking the boat back from VAH (they tweeted because they were the only one on the boat).
> 
> So has resort boat transportation been running at the end for the VAH events so far?  How about monorail?  Have I totally missed that from reports?
> 
> Txs!



We stayed at SSR when we were there last week, but I do remember seeing boats running when we left around 1:15 to get on the bus.


----------



## AngiTN

disneycat321 said:


> Hoping this for next week, too! We’ll be there then.
> 
> Very weird that last week was so much more crowded than this one... did they just sell more tickets, or what?


I can only guess that more people were in the parks following the 4th. Hang overs


----------



## MrsPete

About the lines at the snack carts ... 

Say you're with a group of six people.  Is it acceptable for one person to stand in line and say, "Six Mickey bars, please"?  Or will they only give one snack per person per wait?


----------



## provoaggie

MrsPete said:


> About the lines at the snack carts ...
> 
> Say you're with a group of six people.  Is it acceptable for one person to stand in line and say, "Six Mickey bars, please"?  Or will they only give one snack per person per wait?


You can ask for as much as you'd like. I walked up and got 5 drinks and ice cream bars at once while the rest of my party was sitting off on a bench.


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Just so everyone knows, the snack lines move VERY fast because there’s no payment. It’s just you asking for your item and someone handing it to you. Most carts we went to had at least 2 CMs as well.


----------



## AngiTN

\


Cinderumbrella said:


> Just so everyone knows, the snack lines move VERY fast because there’s no payment. It’s just you asking for your item and someone handing it to you. Most carts we went to had at least 2 CMs as well.


We even found the one in the hub had popcorn out just to grab and you only had to ask for drinks and ice cream. There was another cart near Jungle Cruise that put the ice cream out too, few bars at a time but it melted/softened fast. I don’t like that and prefr to leave it in the freezer case.


----------



## KangaFan

They just updated MK hours for the first week in August. Wednesday, July 31 and August 7 are showing a 10pm close with evening EMH so I'm hoping this will help with overall crowds for the VAHs on Thursday.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

PolyRob said:


> With those FP+ you will be fine! 7DMT was the only ride that had a "long" wait during my night (posted 25 most of the event). I had a FP+ for it prior and skipped it during the event. I did Space Mountain with a FP+ before, but went back during the event because it was cool with the lights off! I walked right on. I did Pirates because it had live performers, but that wasn't anything too amazing to me. The crowds were NOTHING like MVMCP/MNSSHP. Hope you have a great time!
> 
> 
> Yes! I always take afternoon breaks and summer is no exception! I feel like I am melting between 2pm and 6pm.  *Love the early mornings and late nights. The Hub entertainment was a lot of fun.* The DJ/emcee was so energetic throughout the night and did a great job. I have no regrets that I attended (besides the wait for a MK resort bus on the way back after 1am)!



Me too on the early mornings and late nights! It's been a few years since we've been in August, but I feel like mid-day breaks by the pool are the way to go!  I just purchased our tickets for the 8/8 event - hoping the trend for low wait times continues! Although I think it's the last one scheduled so who knows?  They extended the MK hours that week too, so I was able to score a FP for 7DMT for earlier in the week, which is good since there will be tough choices to be made for VAH! I think the Hub stuff will be a lot of fun! I will need to read back through some of the reviews here to figure out our gameplan...


----------



## maui2k5

Question about maximizing fastpsses.  On our VAH day we will be in AK in the AM so our regular FPP is already assigned to FoP at 9am so can’t move all three AK FPP to MK on the VAH night.  Meaning no FPP using our regular park tickets at MK for VAH until the 3rd is used at AK.

If we buy VAH etickets from Undercover Tourist for and create new MDE accounts (use our middle names as the 4 new accounts) to get 3 more fastpasses using the VAH etickets, does it matter at Will Call what names you assign when converted them to RFID since we would not have MB for the VAH etickets and need to get RFID cards.  Do the names in MDE assigned to the VAH etickets need to match any IDs?


----------



## dancergirlsmom

I have seen that we can get merch. beforehand with our wristband, what about the AP ornament? Where is it that we pick up our ornament?  Thanks.


----------



## Haley R

dancergirlsmom said:


> I have seen that we can get merch. beforehand with our wristband, what about the AP ornament? Where is it that we pick up our ornament?  Thanks.


Idk if you can pick it up early but you can get it at the Mickey star trader store in Tomorrowland


----------



## Castlequeen5

Haley R said:


> Idk if you can pick it up early but you can get it at the Mickey star trader store in Tomorrowland


We were able to pick ours up before the party started!  I'm guessing around 7:30 or so we went over there.  They had them bagged up behind the counter.


----------



## JeninTexas

maui2k5 said:


> Question about maximizing fastpsses.  On our VAH day we will be in AK in the AM so our regular FPP is already assigned to FoP at 9am so can’t move all three AK FPP to MK on the VAH night.  Meaning no FPP using our regular park tickets at MK for VAH until the 3rd is used at AK.
> 
> If we buy VAH etickets from Undercover Tourist for and create new MDE accounts (use our middle names as the 4 new accounts) to get 3 more fastpasses using the VAH etickets, does it matter at Will Call what names you assign when converted them to RFID since we would not have MB for the VAH etickets and need to get RFID cards.  Do the names in MDE assigned to the VAH etickets need to match any IDs?


You could probably just create your 2nd MDE account and use the same names from your first account. I have 2 MDE accounts and the same names are on both. I bought our VAH tickets from UT and attached them to the 2nd MDE account and have had no problems with doing that.


----------



## BecuzImaLady

Just bought tickets as a birthday gift for my 13 yr old daughter. We have been to a DAH in December and loved every second of it. She is aware this may be much more crowded but she thinks it is worth it as she is into Hades and The Shadow Man.
Edit to add: we are going July 25


----------



## dancergirlsmom

Haley R said:


> Idk if you can pick it up early but you can get it at the Mickey star trader store in Tomorrowland



Thank you.



Castlequeen5 said:


> We were able to pick ours up before the party started!  I'm guessing around 7:30 or so we went over there.  They had them bagged up behind the counter.



Good to know.  I am hoping to get all of that done beforehand.  Thank you.


----------



## MNDisneyMommy

I attended Thursday 7/18 with a group totaling 9 adults.  We had a GREAT time.

We arrived around 6:30.  I waited in line at Guest Services to get cards for my friends without magic bands so they could use Fastpasses I booked for the 7-10 window.  I wish I had gotten there a bit earlier since of course there was a line.  The rest of the group waited in the (growing) lines to enter and get wristbands.   (As we were tapping in, I noticed the CMs could give out cards there...it held up the line, but I didn't need to hit guest services in advance I guess).

We got in right at 7 and used FP for Jungle Cruise (FP line was REALLY long, the standby time was 110 minutes), then FP for Peter Pan at 8:45 then rode Small World with 20 min posted/15 actual, then FP for Haunted Mansion (three split off to see HEA).  We stopped at Sleepy Hollow for Nutella waffles and then got in queue for Pirates with the overlay at 9:50 or so.  (Great tip BTW - we got right on at 10 when they let people through).  Went up and rode Splash which was a walk on, got some water/snacks, then Big Thunder with a posted 20/15 actual, then grabbed more water/snacks.

Headed to Fantasyland and walked onto Pooh.  7DMT was posted 35 so we skipped it.  Walked onto teacups.  Went down to Space, posted 20/waited 20, oh MY it was so much more intense than expected.  It made several of us who normally ride for fun get a little green.  We grabbed more snacks, rode PeopleMover, and Buzz, and then it was 12:45.  Headed to the castle, dance party, watched the show, saw the dragon, saw the train station villains.  There were some boats running to the resorts as well as the ferry.

It also helped that there was a huge rainstorm around 4... by the time the party rolled around, it was cloudy and cool for FL and overall super great weather.

My verdict?  For our group (adults, don't like heat, got a DVC discount) this was hands down worth it.  The non-Disney people had fun (cool air, short lines, lots of rides).  The Disney people had fun (overlay rides, the castle show and dragon were awesome).


----------



## JeninTexas

I have a question about CMs allowing VAH guests to use the FP lines once the event begins but before all the day guests are gone. Is use of the FP line consistent or is it a YMMV sort of thing?


----------



## maui2k5

JeninTexas said:


> You could probably just create your 2nd MDE account and use the same names from your first account. I have 2 MDE accounts and the same names are on both. I bought our VAH tickets from UT and attached them to the 2nd MDE account and have had no problems with doing that.


That’s great to know.  Quick follow up question... Did it ever get confusing managing your regular fast passes with the names being the same?  Does everyone’s name show up twice in MDE when you wanted to say add a 4th FPP while in the parks on your non-VAH days or make dining reservations?


----------



## Elle :)

maui2k5 said:


> That’s great to know.  Quick follow up question... Did it ever get confusing managing your regular fast passes with the names being the same?  Does everyone’s name show up twice in MDE when you wanted to say add a 4th FPP while in the parks on your non-VAH days or make dining reservations?



Man, I wish I had known about this sweet tip.


----------



## Haley R

JeninTexas said:


> I have a question about CMs allowing VAH guests to use the FP lines once the event begins but before all the day guests are gone. Is use of the FP line consistent or is it a YMMV sort of thing?


It’s more of a YMMV thing. We haven’t had great luck with CMs letting us go through the FP line


----------



## always

JeninTexas said:


> I have a question about CMs allowing VAH guests to use the FP lines once the event begins but before all the day guests are gone. Is use of the FP line consistent or is it a YMMV sort of thing?


The only place we saw it was Peter Pan. We were in the standby queue right before 10 so we waited longer because of it.


----------



## monorailrabbit

My sister and I are making a special trip just for this party (we are HUGE villains fans and have always wanted to do a sisters only trip, so this was a perfect excuse). Maleficent is my favorite villain, so seeing her is a priority, as well as the show. We will be in MK for the day prior to the party, so our ride focus will be BTMR in the dark, and Space. We have been to MNSSHP but never DAH, so we will probably be happy with crowds. I haven't seen many people going to the first show - is the first one a bad idea? We were thinking to find a spot in front of partners around 10, wait for the dragon, then see the show. Our thinking was if we got this done first, we wouldn't have to watch the time during the rest. Are we better off going to one of the other shows? Is 10 too late to get a spot in front of partners? We are going 8/1. Thanks in advance! I am having a blast reading all the reviews!


----------



## Haley R

monorailrabbit said:


> My sister and I are making a special trip just for this party (we are HUGE villains fans and have always wanted to do a sisters only trip, so this was a perfect excuse). Maleficent is my favorite villain, so seeing her is a priority, as well as the show. We will be in MK for the day prior to the party, so our ride focus will be BTMR in the dark, and Space. We have been to MNSSHP but never DAH, so we will probably be happy with crowds. I haven't seen many people going to the first show - is the first one a bad idea? We were thinking to find a spot in front of partners around 10, wait for the dragon, then see the show. Our thinking was if we got this done first, we wouldn't have to watch the time during the rest. Are we better off going to one of the other shows? Is 10 too late to get a spot in front of partners? We are going 8/1. Thanks in advance! I am having a blast reading all the reviews!


I think the reason most people pick the last show is because you won’t waste any of the event time by watching that one.


----------



## JeninTexas

maui2k5 said:


> That’s great to know.  Quick follow up question... Did it ever get confusing managing your regular fast passes with the names being the same?  Does everyone’s name show up twice in MDE when you wanted to say add a 4th FPP while in the parks on your non-VAH days or make dining reservations?


The names don't show up twice in MDE because you have to log out off one MDE account and log into the other one. So only one set of names is showing at a time.


----------



## maui2k5

JeninTexas said:


> The names don't show up twice in MDE because you have to log out off one MDE account and log into the other one. So only one set of names is showing at a time.


Ah - so not just creating 4 new people under my existing MDE and adding the tickets to the profiles there?


----------



## JJsmama

What are y'all planning to do the day OF your After Hours? We're coming from out of town. I can't decide whether to do another park that day or if that will make it harder to enjoy the late hours.


----------



## monorailrabbit

JJsmama said:


> What are y'all planning to do the day OF your After Hours? We're coming from out of town. I can't decide whether to do another park that day or if that will make it harder to enjoy the late hours.


We are doing MK during the day. We always do MK the day of parties and so far (after 3 MNSSHP and 1 MVMCP) we've had great luck with crowds during the day. Granted, I've never been to WDW in the summer, so not sure if this will ring true.


----------



## ChimneyJim

JJsmama said:


> What are y'all planning to do the day OF your After Hours? We're coming from out of town. I can't decide whether to do another park that day or if that will make it harder to enjoy the late hours.


Sleeping in and then going to the pool in the afternoon.  Probably eat at resort before heading out.


----------



## alex9179

JJsmama said:


> What are y'all planning to do the day OF your After Hours? We're coming from out of town. I can't decide whether to do another park that day or if that will make it harder to enjoy the late hours.





ChimneyJim said:


> Sleeping in and then going to the pool in the afternoon.  Probably eat at resort before heading out.


Same as Jim. We're arriving very late the night before, so we'll sleep in and spend some time at the pool. I have an 430 ADR at 1900 PF, to fuel the kids. That will give them time to digest before the treat-fest starts.


----------



## disneycat321

JJsmama said:


> What are y'all planning to do the day OF your After Hours? We're coming from out of town. I can't decide whether to do another park that day or if that will make it harder to enjoy the late hours.



We’re going tomorrow. We’re doing Typhoon Lagoon for a few hours, taking a nap, having an early dinner at Yachtsman (we’re staying at YC), and then heading over.


----------



## dancergirlsmom

JJsmama said:


> What are y'all planning to do the day OF your After Hours? We're coming from out of town. I can't decide whether to do another park that day or if that will make it harder to enjoy the late hours.



We are going to Epcot until about noon.  It's EMH and we have an ADR at Akershus at 10:30.  We will then head back to the resort until we head out to MK around 5:30-6pm.  Next day we are sleeping in


----------



## Haley R

JJsmama said:


> What are y'all planning to do the day OF your After Hours? We're coming from out of town. I can't decide whether to do another park that day or if that will make it harder to enjoy the late hours.


We always sleep in, go swimming, and enjoy our resort. We usually try to eat dinner around 4:30 pm somewhere before DAH starts.


----------



## MrsInsG

Quick question... we'll be going to MK the morning of our villains party and going back to our resort for a midday break. We have a fastpass to meet Mickey and Minnie a little after five (first thing when we get back to the park - no sweaty family pics for me this time!). We have a dinner at Jungle Skipper around 6:30. When would be best to pick up my party tickets? Where do I go? 

Many thanks!


----------



## Haley R

MrsInsG said:


> Quick question... we'll be going to MK the morning of our villains party and going back to our resort for a midday break. We have a fastpass to meet Mickey and Minnie a little after five (first thing when we get back to the park - no sweaty family pics for me this time!). We have a dinner at Jungle Skipper around 6:30. When would be best to pick up my party tickets? Where do I go?
> 
> Many thanks!


Have you already bought the tickets and you're asking about picking them up at will call? Or do you still need to purchase tickets?


----------



## MrsInsG

Haley R said:


> Have you already bought the tickets and you're asking about picking them up at will call? Or do you still need to purchase tickets?



I have tickets attached to my Magic Band. I just wasn't sure they'd be accessed when we entered the park at 5:15ish. When we did an after hours event last year we needed to go back to the main gate around 7 or so to pick up our credentials.


----------



## Haley R

MrsInsG said:


> I have tickets attached to my Magic Band. I just wasn't sure they'd be accessed when we entered the park at 5:15ish. When we did an after hours event last year we needed to go back to the main gate around 7 or so to pick up our credentials.


Oh okay, I understand now. This is from Post #6 of this thread: 
*What if Already in the Park? In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*


For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
*The area outside of the Laugh Floor / Buzz Lightyear entrances*
*Tortuga Tavern*
*Liberty Square ticket office*
*City Hall guest relations office*
_Note: These locations have changed/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know._

I'm not sure if this is still accurate, but I think it should be.


----------



## preemiemama

Haley R said:


> Oh okay, I understand now. This is from Post #6 of this thread:
> *What if Already in the Park? In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*
> 
> 
> For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
> *The area outside of the Laugh Floor / Buzz Lightyear entrances*
> *Tortuga Tavern*
> *Liberty Square ticket office*
> *City Hall guest relations office*
> _Note: These locations have changed/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know._
> 
> I'm not sure if this is still accurate, but I think it should be.



I can confirm that we used the Liberty Square ticket office on 7/11 when we went- it was quick and easy.  We picked ours up around 8:15 (after a 7 pm dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern).


----------



## Haley R

preemiemama said:


> I can confirm that we used the Liberty Square ticket office on 7/11 when we went- it was quick and easy.  We picked ours up around 8:15 (after a 7 pm dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern).


I hadn't done this option since last year in March so I wasn't sure if it was still working that way. Thanks for your report!


----------



## MrsInsG

Haley R said:


> Oh okay, I understand now. This is from Post #6 of this thread:
> *What if Already in the Park? In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*
> 
> 
> For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
> *The area outside of the Laugh Floor / Buzz Lightyear entrances*
> *Tortuga Tavern*
> *Liberty Square ticket office*
> *City Hall guest relations office*
> _Note: These locations have changed/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know._
> 
> I'm not sure if this is still accurate, but I think it should be.



Thanks so much for posting this, and I am sorry I didn't check the FAQs first; I don't know where my mind is this morning!


----------



## Haley R

MrsInsG said:


> Thanks so much for posting this, and I am sorry I didn't check the FAQs first; I don't know where my mind is this morning!


That's okay! Have fun!


----------



## JJsmama

Is there a list anywhere of what is NOT open?(It looks like most things are.) I'm trying to plan what to FP before the event. Thanks!


----------



## KangaFan

JJsmama said:


> Is there a list anywhere of what is NOT open?(It looks like most things are.) I'm trying to plan what to FP before the event. Thanks!



Off the top of my head (based on what's been posted here): character meet & greets, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Carousel of Progress (I think this actually closes at 6pm so its never open at night), Hall of Presidents, and Enchanted Tales with Belle.


----------



## JJsmama

I'm confused about the rules about the FP with the DAH tix.  If I have FP at MK with the DAH ticket, Can I buy regular tickets to another park, go there in the morning and get FP with my reg ticket allotment for another park? or is Dis going to think I am trying to 'cheat'? I'm not. I'm trying to plan.  If I can't get FP for Epcot that day as well, I would wait to do Epcot another day and no other park on DAH day. TIA


----------



## JJsmama

KangaFan said:


> Off the top of my head (based on what's been posted here): character meet & greets, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Carousel of Progress (I think this actually closes at 6pm so its never open at night), Hall of Presidents, and Enchanted Tales with Belle.


THANKS and yea! My Ds11 is not into princesses or meet and greets so that's great news


----------



## Haley R

JJsmama said:


> I'm confused about the rules about the FP with the DAH tix.  If I have FP at MK with the DAH ticket, Can I buy regular tickets to another park, go there in the morning and get FP with my reg ticket allotment for another park? or is Dis going to think I am trying to 'cheat'? I'm not. I'm trying to plan.  If I can't get FP for Epcot that day as well, I would wait to do Epcot another day and no other park on DAH day. TIA


No you can’t have more than 3 for the day. You could put the other tickets on a new MDE account and do it that way.


----------



## JJsmama

OK. I'm glad I asked. That helps me decide. I will probably just save Epcot for the next day.  Epcot is such a pain with the tiers though. Morning EMH generally work better for us at Epcot than FP anyway. Unfortunately the only Epcot EMH day while we are in town is the morning of the DAH. So, it seems like it is going to be an either/ or for us?


----------



## cindyfan

What do the DAH "credentials" now refer to?   Last time I went in 2017 it was a lanyard and map/pamphlet with rides and food locations, etc .  Is there still a lanyard?  Or have they downgraded/ (gone the cheap route) with just a wristband?


----------



## Cinderumbrella

cindyfan said:


> What do the DAH "credentials" now refer to?   Last time I went in 2017 it was a lanyard and map/pamphlet with rides and food locations, etc .  Is there still a lanyard?  Or have they downgraded/ (gone the cheap route) with just a wristband?



Wristband


----------



## focusondisney

cindyfan said:


> What do the DAH "credentials" now refer to?   Last time I went in 2017 it was a lanyard and map/pamphlet with rides and food locations, etc .  Is there still a lanyard?  Or have they downgraded/ (gone the cheap route) with just a wristband?



Well, it is a wristband now. But that isn’t to be cheap. It’s actually a good thing. There were many reports of people  buying less tickets than they actually needed & then sharing by passing the lanyards around. So there were guests staying in the park & partaking of the  rides & snacks that didn’t buy tickets.  This at least ensures that no one can “share” their ticket.


----------



## KangaFan

JJsmama said:


> OK. I'm glad I asked. That helps me decide. I will probably just save Epcot for the next day.  Epcot is such a pain with the tiers though. Morning EMH generally work better for us at Epcot than FP anyway. Unfortunately the only Epcot EMH day while we are in town is the morning of the DAH. So, it seems like it is going to be an either/ or for us?



It's a nice excuse to have a sleep in/relaxing morning. I'm traveling with girls ages 10-17 and this falls after 4 straight days of rope drops for my crew, so I know they will be happy to not do a park in the morning. From the adult perspective, relaxing at the resort will hopefully allow us the stamina to make it until 1 or 2 a.m.


----------



## JJsmama

While we're on the subject: what do we need to pick up the tickets? Just the barcode in the confirmation email? Will we all need picture ID with us?


----------



## JeninTexas

preemiemama said:


> I can confirm that we used the Liberty Square ticket office on 7/11 when we went- it was quick and easy.  We picked ours up around 8:15 (after a 7 pm dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern).


Does anyone know what time they will start giving out wristbands for those already in the park? We have an ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern for 6 pm, but I don't know if we will be able to get the wristbands before we eat or if we need to plan on doing it afterwards.


----------



## Haley R

JeninTexas said:


> Does anyone know what time they will start giving out wristbands for those already in the park? We have an ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern for 6 pm, but I don't know if we will be able to get the wristbands before we eat or if we need to plan on doing it afterwards.


I say go ahead and try at 6 pm and see if they'll give you your wristbands. If not, there's no harm done. Although, that would make you late for your ADR then


----------



## anonymousegirl

I wish I had a choice between DAH and VAH, but we are going on August 1, with my teen-aged nephew, who is all about the rides. Now I am afraid he won't enjoy it quite as much. Funny, but I am slated to do DAH in September, so I will be able to compare the two. And I have MNNSHP the night after the DAH.


----------



## heath92681

JJsmama said:


> What are y'all planning to do the day OF your After Hours? We're coming from out of town. I can't decide whether to do another park that day or if that will make it harder to enjoy the late hours.


We are sleeping in and going to the pool. We plan to grab some food on the monorail line before heading in!


----------



## preemiemama

JeninTexas said:


> Does anyone know what time they will start giving out wristbands for those already in the park? We have an ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern for 6 pm, but I don't know if we will be able to get the wristbands before we eat or if we need to plan on doing it afterwards.





Haley R said:


> I say go ahead and try at 6 pm and see if they'll give you your wristbands. If not, there's no harm done. Although, that would make you late for your ADR then


I don't see the harm in asking prior to dinner, but we just went after.  The ticket office was close and there was only one person ahead of us dealing with an issue.  It only took us about 5 minutes total to check our magicbands for tickets, show our IDs and then get the event wristbands.


----------



## cindyfan

Haley R said:


> Oh okay, I understand now. This is from Post #6 of this thread:
> *What if Already in the Park? In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*
> 
> 
> For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
> *The area outside of the Laugh Floor / Buzz Lightyear entrances*
> *Tortuga Tavern*
> *Liberty Square ticket office*
> *City Hall guest relations office*
> _Note: These locations have changed/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know._
> 
> I'm not sure if this is still accurate, but I think it should be.


What and where is the "*Liberty Square ticket office"?*


----------



## Haley R

cindyfan said:


> What and where is the "*Liberty Square ticket office"?*


----------



## maui2k5

With only a couple of events after tonight left, we are hopeful that the crowds are light.  Still debating the nearly $600 cost for the 4 of us.


----------



## preemiemama

cindyfan said:


> What and where is the "*Liberty Square ticket office"?*





Haley R said:


> View attachment 420073


It's pretty much across from Hall of Presidents and has a Passholder sign out front.  It deals with ticket issues for passholders I believe, as well as hand out party credentials.


----------



## focusondisney

Hope everyone has a great time tonight!!


----------



## kylenne

TheFloatingBear said:


> Me too on the early mornings and late nights! It's been a few years since we've been in August, but I feel like mid-day breaks by the pool are the way to go!  I just purchased our tickets for the 8/8 event - hoping the trend for low wait times continues! Although I think it's the last one scheduled so who knows?  They extended the MK hours that week too, so I was able to score a FP for 7DMT for earlier in the week, which is good since there will be tough choices to be made for VAH! I think the Hub stuff will be a lot of fun! I will need to read back through some of the reviews here to figure out our gameplan...



I’ll be going to that one! I haven’t been in August since I was a kid, and this will be my first solo trip ever. If you see a tall lady Dr Facilier at the Hub, that’ll be me! Just putting the finishing touches on my costume. Thought it was fitting since I’m staying at French Quarter.


----------



## maui2k5

I read elsewhere that lines were longer than what was expected for an after hours event with the headliners all being true to their 20+ min posted wait.  A bit concerning since we are still undecided for the last night we may attend on Aug 8.


----------



## focusondisney

So no reports from last night yet? I talked to someone who was there, said it was definitely more crowded than a regular DAH.  Thought the crowd seemed like a “3”.  Space was up to 55 minute wait at one point, Space, Pirates & 7 dwarfs never went under 30 minutes. Pirates line was to entrance all night.  That’s way too long to wait for such a short event!!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

kylenne said:


> I’ll be going to that one! I haven’t been in August since I was a kid, and this will be my first solo trip ever. If you see a tall lady Dr Facilier at the Hub, that’ll be me! Just putting the finishing touches on my costume. Thought it was fitting since I’m staying at French Quarter.



That sounds perfect!  We will look for you! This trip was a little last minute, so I didn't feel like I could put together good costumes, so my 12YO daughter planned our aesthetic, lol...we are a party of four, two adults and two young teens.  We each have a white t-shirt with a fairly simple but bold black graphic related to a villain, so we coordinate but don't match.  I'm Ursula, my son is Scar, my daughter has the silhouette of Ursula/Evil Queen/ Maleficent and the words "Not Sorry." My husband was kind of funny...my daughter and I weren't sure if he'd go for the shirt we picked for him - Gaston "Just admit it - you impressed!" but he was all over it!   

Yes, it's been a while since we've done August but I remember the heat!  We're hoping to conserve some energy and rest in the afternoon! Hoping we see some reports today on last night's event (at least I think there was one last night...).


----------



## TheFloatingBear

focusondisney said:


> So no reports from last night yet? I talked to someone who was there, said it was definitely more crowded than a regular DAH.  Thought the crowd seemed like a “3”.  Space was up to* 55 minute wait at one point*, Space, Pirates & 7 dwarfs never went under 30 minutes. Pirates line was to entrance all night.  That’s way too long to wait for such a short event!!



ugh...  Hopefully we'll see some reports. Part of the tough thing about the short time frame of this event is that if you get stuck in a line like that or have some type of setback, there's not a lot of opportunity to make up lost time.  And luck and timing can really impact things...


----------



## mydisneykids

maui2k5 said:


> I read elsewhere that lines were longer than what was expected for an after hours event with the headliners all being true to their 20+ min posted wait.  A bit concerning since we are still undecided for the last night we may attend on Aug 8.




I read the same thing on a Facebook  page and the attacks on the poster were brutal.
This has me concerned as well.   
We did the DAH last summer and it was amazing.  We walked on everything and parts of the park we didn't see another person.
I am going in Sept and was planning on doing this again since my husband wasn't with us last time.  But if the waits are this long I will opt for the Halloween party as I was torn anyway and the only thing swaying me towards this was the zero waits we had last year.


----------



## preemiemama

focusondisney said:


> So no reports from last night yet? I talked to someone who was there, said it was definitely more crowded than a regular DAH.  Thought the crowd seemed like a “3”.  Space was up to 55 minute wait at one point, Space, Pirates & 7 dwarfs never went under 30 minutes. Pirates line was to entrance all night.  That’s way too long to wait for such a short event!!





TheFloatingBear said:


> ugh...  Hopefully we'll see some reports. *Part of the tough thing about the short time frame of this event is that if you get stuck in a line like that or have some type of setback, there's not a lot of opportunity to make up lost time.  And luck and timing can really impact things...*



The bold is exactly my feeling, and unfortunately my experience on 7/11.  It's also the reason I wrote to Disney with my feelings on the event and its cost.  

We never saw 55 minutes on Space when we were there, but 7DMT was still a 45-50 minute wait at 10:45.  We had a plan, and stuck to it for the most part, but Peter Pan, Pirates, BTMRR were all over 20 minute wait at the time we waiting/riding.  Also, Space/7DMT took us about 30 minutes each (in spite of Space's posted 15 minute wait).  As a result we got a total of 5 rides in during the party.

I know last week it was reportedly lighter crowds and lower waits, with many rides being walk-on.  It might fluctuate depending on how "sold out" an event is?  We enjoyed the event's theming, but it was not the "ride more wait less" event that they are advertising- at least not for our party.


----------



## Mzpalmtree

mydisneykids said:


> I read the same thing on a Facebook  page and the attacks on the poster were brutal.
> This has me concerned as well.
> We did the DAH last summer and it was amazing.  We walked on everything and parts of the park we didn't see another person.
> I am going in Sept and was planning on doing this again since my husband wasn't with us last time.  But if the waits are this long I will opt for the Halloween party as I was torn anyway and the only thing swaying me towards this was the zero waits we had last year.


We were there last night and we also attended a regular MK AH this past June. We did not ride a lot of the headliners last night but the ones we did try the wait times were shorter than posted ( not tremendously but 10 or 15 instead of 20 and 20 instead of 30). At the end we did walk on splash even though it said 20 mins. Wait times were highly unreliable but we never waited longer than posted. Pirates was a true 20 minute wait. It felt more crowded than when we were there in June (especially in the hub for the show at the end of the evening) but honestly we never had an empty park feeling when we were there in June—I was a little disappointed in the crowd level during our June regular AH date. I think because of that (and this thread) my expectations had been adjusted already. It was a good time and we don’t regret going but if you are going for empty parks I am thinking that may be a thing of the past for after hours in general, not just the VAH. The cat is out of the bag (lol) except for some exceptions—but that may just be my opinion.


----------



## Lsdolphin

preemiemama said:


> The bold is exactly my feeling, and unfortunately my experience on 7/11.  It's also the reason I wrote to Disney with my feelings on the event and its cost.
> 
> We never saw 55 minutes on Space when we were there, but 7DMT was still a 45-50 minute wait at 10:45.  We had a plan, and stuck to it for the most part, but Peter Pan, Pirates, BTMRR were all over 20 minute wait at the time we waiting/riding.  Also, Space/7DMT took us about 30 minutes each (in spite of Space's posted 15 minute wait).  As a result we got a total of 5 rides in during the party.
> 
> I know last week it was reportedly lighter crowds and lower waits, with many rides being walk-on.  It might fluctuate depending on how "sold out" an event is?  We enjoyed the event's theming, but it was not the "ride more wait less" event that they are advertising- at least not for our party.




Out of curiosity did Disney respond to you?


----------



## preemiemama

Lsdolphin said:


> Out of curiosity did Disney respond to you?



Yes, it was a pretty generic response saying that they "want everyone to have a magical experience" in the parks and they're sorry we didn't.  They offered a couple fastpasses for our next trip.  I replied thanking them but asserting that I was more concerned with the fact that this was an ongoing issue.  I said I didn't feel that "day guests" were being cleared from the lines quickly enough and that was backing up the lines more than they needed to be at the beginning.  (This was what the CM at 7DMT blamed for the backup there when guests were asking.)  I said if they were marketing lower waits and more rides (directly from one of their ads), then they needed to have a system in place to clear regular day guests and provide that.  My suggestions were to have a chunk of time between "official closing" and the start of the event, or the use of the FP line for event guests.  They replied that they would pass that on to the appropriate people.


----------



## provoaggie

Lsdolphin said:


> Out of curiosity did Disney respond to you?


I know I'm not the person you asked but I wrote Disney as well and got a generic we're sorry response back.


> Thank you for your e-mail to the _Walt Disney World_® Resort. We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us.
> 
> We are sorry for the disappointments you mentioned in your e-mail. It is our goal to create magical memories and exceed the expectations of our Guests during each and every interaction that you have with us. Please be assured that we have shared your comments with our leadership team, along with the appropriate management, as feedback such as yours is taken very seriously.
> 
> Once again, thank you for contacting us. We sincerely hope that we will have an opportunity to entertain you soon


----------



## preemiemama

Mzpalmtree said:


> We were there last night and we also attended a regular MK AH this past June. We did not ride a lot of the headliners last night but the ones we did try the wait times were shorter than posted ( not tremendously but 10 or 15 instead of 20 and 20 instead of 30). At the end we did walk on splash even though it said 20 mins. Wait times were highly unreliable but we never waited longer than posted. Pirates was a true 20 minute wait. It felt more crowded than when we were there in June (especially in the hub for the show at the end of the evening) but honestly we never had an empty park feeling when we were there in June—I was a little disappointed in the crowd level during our June regular AH date. I think because of that (and this thread) my expectations had been adjusted already. It was a good time and we don’t regret going but if you are going for empty parks I am thinking that may be a thing of the past for after hours in general, not just the VAH. The cat is out of the bag (lol) except for some exceptions—but that may just be my opinion.



I think the fact that the parks are closing earlier (I've rarely experienced a 10 pm closing in MK in all the summers I've been there as was the norm this past trip) and there are less "free" EMHs (one pm in MK for the whole week we were there) is enticing people to buy into these events more.  Especially since they are marketed as low waits like many of us remember from "the good old days"...


----------



## preemiemama

provoaggie said:


> I know I'm not the person you asked but I wrote Disney as well and got a generic we're sorry response back.



That first sentence is verbatim in my response as well!


----------



## monorailrabbit

My sister and I had a "planning party" last night for our 8/1 VAH. We are just so stoked we were able to pull off this last minute tiny trip! My thinking is we will approach it like we approach a MNSSHP, IE - have a top 5 to do and the rest is gravy. Since there are no characters to meet, I think we can accomplish this. Again, we don't have a regular DAH to compare it to, so I'm hoping we won't be too bummed with crowds. We have FP for 7D, Space, and Splash during the day, so during VAH, our top 5 are BTMRR, (shop), Maleficent, Space, Splash, 1 AM show. I think this is doable. I'm really bummed for all of you who were disappointed, I'm glad you are writing Disney! We don't have costumes, but will be in matching shirts with Anastasia and Drisella that say "my favorite Disney villain is my sister!"


----------



## Cinderumbrella

preemiemama said:


> I think the fact that the parks are closing earlier (I've rarely experienced a 10 pm closing in MK in all the summers I've been there as was the norm this past trip) and there are less "free" EMHs (one pm in MK for the whole week we were there) is enticing people to buy into these events more.  Especially since they are marketed as low waits like many of us remember from "the good old days"...



Which is exactly why they offer them.


----------



## js

Looking forward to attending on September 5! We can get in beginning 6 pm, correct?

We did this event in January during Marathon week and it was not crowded at all and hoping for the same on September 5, although not sure any longer with SWGE opening.  

Cannot wait!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

preemiemama said:


> The bold is exactly my feeling, and unfortunately my experience on 7/11.  It's also the reason I wrote to Disney with my feelings on the event and its cost.
> 
> We never saw 55 minutes on Space when we were there, but 7DMT was still a 45-50 minute wait at 10:45.  We had a plan, and stuck to it for the most part, but Peter Pan, Pirates, BTMRR were all over 20 minute wait at the time we waiting/riding.  Also, Space/7DMT took us about 30 minutes each (in spite of Space's posted 15 minute wait).  As a result we got a total of 5 rides in during the party.
> 
> I know last week it was reportedly lighter crowds and lower waits, with many rides being walk-on.  It might fluctuate depending on how "sold out" an event is?  We enjoyed the event's theming, but it was not the "ride more wait less" event that they are advertising- at least not for our party.



Yes, you'd hope to get on more than 5 rides...We've done two DAHs that past two Januarys, and the "sold out" first one "felt" less crowded than the second, not sold out one. In any case, we tried to switch it up the second time around and go to 7DMM about mid-way through, but just as we were getting there it broke down, which of course can happen.  Anyway, that caused a ripple effect with everything around it, and then we were on Peoplemover by the time it reopened, so couldn't get back quickly to beat the line so ended up with a longer wait, but it was just bad luck! But again, with such a short time-frame, it can make a big difference! We got a fare amount done on the front end so we were fine, but not ideal...



monorailrabbit said:


> My sister and I had a "planning party" last night for our 8/1 VAH. We are just so stoked we were able to pull off this last minute tiny trip! My thinking is we will approach it like we approach a MNSSHP, IE -* have a top 5 to do and the rest is gravy.* Since there are no characters to meet, I think we can accomplish this. Again, we don't have a regular DAH to compare it to, so I'm hoping we won't be too bummed with crowds. We have FP for 7D, Space, and Splash during the day, so during VAH, our top 5 are BTMRR, (shop), Maleficent, Space, Splash, 1 AM show. I think this is doable. I'm really bummed for all of you who were disappointed, I'm glad you are writing Disney! We don't have costumes, but will be in matching shirts with *Anastasia and Drisella that say "my favorite Disney villain is my sister!"*



Reading this thread has definitely helped me to adjust my expectations! I was planning on polling the family about their top priorities and I like your idea of having a top 5!  LOVE your shirts!!


----------



## preemiemama

If I had not seen reports of how things were running with VAH on this thread before we went, I would have had much higher expectations and been incredibly disappointed.  As it was, we had an OK time because our expectations were tempered.  However, I felt the need to write because, in my opinion, there is not as much "bang for your buck" on this event. Especially since it was at a higher price point than regular DAH events!  At the higher price, I should not have had to temper my expectations.  

All in all, we had a fine time and it was good to try it out once.  I just feel strongly that Disney needs to up their game with these things, lower the price to be more in line with what you actually get to do (I know- not happening!) or change their marketing so it's not promising "lower waits and more magic".


----------



## Cinderumbrella

How many of these are left? 2? I’ll be real curious what changes (if anything) once the villain theme is over. Unfortunately we are flying in on 8/30 and going to MNSSHP but I really wish I could get there a day early to do the non Villain DAH to compare...


----------



## brookmey

My 12 year old son and I were there last night.  I kept my expectations low, based on what I read here.  Even so, I was really disappointed with the whole experience.  Pirates and SM were both 30 minutes, which we expected. But what really bothered me was that the wait times for most of the other rides ended up being twice as long as what was stated.  We had a flexible plan, but the inaccurate wait times on less popular rides really threw us off.  

Lines for snacks were long and a couple we were in moved slowly because there was confusion as to which line had popcorn and which didn’t, so big groups were constantly moving people back and forth.

My son kept reminding me that 30 minutes for SM was still better than during regular park hours and he was right.  But when you only have 3 hours, 30 minutes for multiple rides seems like way too long.

This was our first DAH event, but we’ve been to many Halloween and Christmas parties.  We go for the rides and the parades.  The parties have character meets that absorb much of the crowding, which VAH does not have. Because of that, VAH was definitely not worth the money or our time.  I’d much rather spend the money on a party in the future.

Last year both my kids and I went to a Halloween party.  We rode SDMT 3 times, SM 4 times, BTTMR twice and most of the other rides.  And we still were able to see the parade.  For roughly the same price as VAH we had a much better experience and a better valued experience.  If Disney isn’t going to have characters out to absorb crowds like during the parties, then they need to sell way less tickets for VAH.

This is the first time in my 50+ visits to WDW that I felt like something was not worth the money.  I would not recommend Villains After Hours to anyone.


----------



## HopperFan

I went last night. I've been to a few DAH with the last one being in May.  I do think the initial weather may have filled some of the "covered" lines prior to party starting so we were already behind the game there.

Observations:
- I think it was more crowded than the regular DAH and no doubt it is the Villains as they have a huge fan base.  Seeing Maleficent alone at night was a huge draw for me.
- A small handful in full costume, a nice amount in specialty tshirts or headbands. I felt like maybe some of the older guests (dressed in some way) made me think they came for Villain atmosphere and maybe wouldn't do a regular DAH.
- We arrived around 8 going through event entry and got our bands.
- I would say the park was still plenty crowded considering it had just poured for a bit.  Main St was packed with those waiting for fireworks so we went through the back alley as folks were leaving that way.
- We rode Buzz Lightyear on a rolling FP+.
- We went to Mickey's Tomorrowland Traders to get our FREE Passholder Ornaments and DS to get an event tshirt.
- We watched the fireworks from Tomorrowland.
- We rode Teacups, Under the Sea, Haunted Mansion, Seven Dwarfs.  Previous DAH we rode EVERYTHING.
- But those were specifically for rides, this was to enjoy some Villain stuff.
- Pirates at 11 pm ... line very long. Time posted 20 minutes,  I looked at CM and said really? and she made a face and said she didn't think so had to be at least 30 but then was she basing that on normal operations where there are two lines.  While we wanted to see the live Pirates I wasn't giving up an hour of our night for that.
- Seven Dwarfs was a posted wait of 20 minutes but we waited less than 15 minutes.
- DS can't do Space so didn't check that but Peter Pan had a substantial wait, queued outside the building.
- HM we waited about 15 minutes then it broke while we were in graveyard. After ten minutes of sitting and no announcement my rebel came out and I took a FLASH PHOTO and let my kid sip his coke.  We crawled to end with team of maintenance there and they were unloading the line. People were not happy, I mean this was a Villains night.
- Teacup and Under Sea walk on as were other kiddie rides.  I was disappointed Teacup didn't have overlay like MNSSHP.
- Magic Photos ... all were only a couple minute wait. Scar, Maleficent and Oogie had two photographers each, Pirates had one but short line.  We did all but Pirates; I don't know why. They came out great! Glad we did those.
- Snacks; mostly plentiful - some places "ran out" too early.  Compared to May they just lined up the drinks and popcorn on carts and you grabbed. Ice cream they had boxes up just handing out. To my observing NO ONE checked any wristbands, it was mostly just mob mentality grabbing.
- We did one ice cream but melting too fast.  We did popcorn for the show and popcorn again in Town Square waiting for the Maleficent goodbye.
- We didn't buy any of the specialty foods. DS wanted one but I just wasn't paying that.  None of the lines marked for these were long, some empty so .... when you offer free are you really going to make much?
- Went to 12 am show early so we would see Maleficent come by beforehand. She was awesome there as it was so dark.    The fire looked incredible.
- The show was enjoyable.  I thought some of the dancing looked very thrown together and not strong enough for Villain. I know they can do better so ..... my plan to watch twice was no more.
- I'll have to watch Hercules again as Hades was interesting in mannerisms and way of speaking. Maybe it was just me.  The Queen, Dr. Facilier and Maleficent were awesome. I'm still adjusting to face character Jafar, he's just not scary.
- The fire couple were great.  I've seen a few fire performers and they did a few things I had not seen.  (they were not Disney performers)
- There was special light projections around the park, light color changes on spot lights, things in windows, a few smoke areas.  Music was good in the background.
- DJ for dance party at castle was good, always is.
- In Town Square we had characters up on train station that changed and talked to audience "encouraging" to leave. We waited for Maleficent to arrive. She came through at 1:30 am.

Would I do it again? Probably not and I am a huge Villains fan and I paid a discounted rate for it.  If they want to continue this they need to change some logistics if they want to keep this at 3 hours.  Once you add a draw like Villains you have more people, and you'll have more stragglers trying to see something.  You need to discourage them staying like they originally did with DAH.  Any added theme/shows etc changes the rules and maybe this needs an hour buffer to empty park.   I just didn't feel like they had much control of who was in the park, NO one was checking wristbands for anything, honestly I was surprised there were so few visible CMs who weren't scrambling to work.

Also at the much higher price than regular DAH we got a few magic shots, DJ, a show and an existing float rolling. Not much.  Maybe it's all a test but I tell you I'd pay the price for a 5 hour party and some meet & greets and more photo ops. They wouldn't even have to give me free food ... just a Villains centric party.


----------



## KangaFan

HopperFan said:


> You need to discourage them staying like they originally did with DAH.  Any added theme/shows etc changes the rules and maybe this needs an hour buffer to empty park.   I just didn't feel like they had much control of who was in the park, NO one was checking wristbands for anything, honestly I was surprised there were so few visible CMs who weren't scrambling to work.



Reading the recent reviews, I was wondering if they had stopped checking for bands. This is a shame because it seemed to help during the first few events.


----------



## HopperFan

KangaFan said:


> Reading the recent reviews, I was wondering if they had stopped checking for bands. This is a shame because it seemed to help during the first few events.



It was apples and oranges compared to May.  No one was checking when you grabbed snacks or got on rides. There seemed to be so few working it was all they could do to keep up with getting food put out or filling rides.  Clearly less working on rides we went on ....

Under the Sea - NO ONE at entry to line, NO ONE at any point on line, first CM we saw was where you step on moving sidewalk to get in car. They were busy loading.
7 Dwarfs - NO ONE until the merge inside where it was dark and crowded ... and she clearly didn't care nor want to be there.
Haunted Mansion - NO ONE until we were entering _stretching room_.  The doors were open to outside so people were pouring in and saw her in passing in hallway.
TeaCups had one outside to load and one in tower ... like who's trying to jump on that anyway.

Forget it at food, they couldn't keep up with putting stuff out and we were grabbing with all different arms so they weren't checking. I firmly believe I didn't need a bracelet or at the very most a red rubber one.


----------



## KangaFan

HopperFan said:


> It was apples and oranges compared to May.  No one was checking when you grabbed snacks or got on rides. There seemed to be so few working it was all they could do to keep up with getting food put out or filling rides.  Clearly less working on rides we went on ....
> 
> Under the Sea - NO ONE at entry to line, NO ONE at any point on line, first CM we saw was where you step on moving sidewalk to get in car. They were busy loading.
> 7 Dwarfs - NO ONE until the merge inside where it was dark and crowded ... and she clearly didn't care nor want to be there.
> Haunted Mansion - NO ONE until we were entering _stretching room_.  The doors were open to outside so people were pouring in and saw her in passing in hallway.
> TeaCups had one outside to load and one in tower ... like who's trying to jump on that anyway.
> 
> Forget it at food, they couldn't keep up with putting stuff out and we were grabbing with all different arms so they weren't checking. I firmly believe I didn't need a bracelet or at the very most a red rubber one.



So frustrating, I hope more people complain and/or they start to see an impact on ticket sales. Too bad none of the bloggers have been in attendance for some of these later dates. I think the earlier glowing reviews may be simultaneously increasing sales while setting unrealistic expectations since the first one was "sold out," but appeared to have had lower crowds or possibly better crowd management than the last two?


----------



## anonymousegirl

Oh dear, it sounds terrible and we're going next Thursday! Why, oh why, are the villains events so bad? I did the DHS event the year Maleficent came out. Horrible. I left at 1130pm even though I am a fireworks freak--I just could stand waiting until 1am. Maleficent line was 5 hours long--which was basically the entire party! They wasted tons of time with a opening show introducing the characters that took way too long. They put out special maps at 5pm, so all the outgoing day guests took them and put them on Ebay. I got there at 530pm for a 7pm start, and no maps. NOT ONE. No way to find out where the rare character photos opps were, the specialty cocktails locations, the food or merch kiosks were. I finally begged one from a family of 6 who had multiples. I waited 60 minutes for my photo with the Old Hag from Snow White. Tried to get Strombolli, but he was just walking around, not stopping for photos. Cruella and Gaston were 30-45 minute waits. Nightmare. In fact, the longest line was at GS to complain. I complained the next morning and got a couple of Fastpasses, then I read on these boards that people got refunds, so I called and got one too. Of course, I used it for the villains party at MNSSHP, which was sooo much better. So Disney still got my money. When will I learn????


----------



## KangaFan

I'm wondering if they planned their staffing based on advance ticket sales but had a lot of last minute or same day sales? I know at least the Touring Plans crowd predictions were all too low for this week and I feel like I read at one point that the last week or so of July was supposed to be less busy than the first week in August, so I'm wondering if there were a lot of last minute visits planned?


----------



## Mrjoshua

MrsInsG said:


> Quick question... we'll be going to MK the morning of our villains party and going back to our resort for a midday break. We have a fastpass to meet Mickey and Minnie a little after five (first thing when we get back to the park - no sweaty family pics for me this time!). We have a dinner at Jungle Skipper around 6:30. When would be best to pick up my party tickets? Where do I go?
> 
> Many thanks!


Tortuga Tavern is a very short walk from Skipper Canteen. I would go there either before or after dinner.


----------



## awfpack

Can someone tell me where all the magic shots are located?  We go next Thur.


----------



## HopperFan

KangaFan said:


> So frustrating, I hope more people complain and/or they start to see an impact on ticket sales. Too bad none of the bloggers have been in attendance for some of these later dates. I think the earlier glowing reviews may be simultaneously increasing sales while setting unrealistic expectations since the first one was "sold out," but appeared to have had lower crowds or possibly better crowd management than the last two?



I think it can be hit or miss with bloggers, not too long ago early MNSSHP got terrible reviews first few parties.  The best Disney can do is be consistent in service offered, and maybe figure out your cap and stick to it.



anonymousegirl said:


> Oh dear, it sounds terrible and we're going next Thursday! Why, oh why, are the villains events so bad? I did the DHS event the year Maleficent came out. Horrible. I left at 1130pm even though I am a fireworks freak--I just could stand waiting until 1am. Maleficent line was 5 hours long--which was basically the entire party! They wasted tons of time with a opening show introducing the characters that took way too long. They put out special maps at 5pm, so all the outgoing day guests took them and put them on Ebay. I got there at 530pm for a 7pm start, and no maps. NOT ONE. No way to find out where the rare character photos opps were, the specialty cocktails locations, the food or merch kiosks were. I finally begged one from a family of 6 who had multiples. I waited 60 minutes for my photo with the Old Hag from Snow White. Tried to get Strombolli, but he was just walking around, not stopping for photos. Cruella and Gaston were 30-45 minute waits. Nightmare. In fact, the longest line was at GS to complain. I complained the next morning and got a couple of Fastpasses, then I read on these boards that people got refunds, so I called and got one too. Of course, I used it for the villains party at MNSSHP, which was sooo much better. So Disney still got my money. When will I learn????



Went to both of those and sadly if they put the word Villain in there, I'll  keep going.  Those events were two different kinds and both poorly planned and executed.  I knew this would be harder to do lots of rides and enjoy some Villain stuff but given the lack of Villain input I kinda got neither.



awfpack said:


> Can someone tell me where all the magic shots are located?  We go next Thur.



Maleficent is against the Fantasyland wall as you walk towards bathrooms behind Pinocchio.

Oogie Boogie is just over bridge to Tomorrowland on the left side by rocks (Stitch side).

Pirates was at Pirates in normal spot.

Scar was to left after you cross over bridge into Adventureland before Treehouse.



KangaFan said:


> I'm wondering if they planned their staffing based on advance ticket sales but had a lot of last minute or same day sales? I know at least the Touring Plans crowd predictions were all too low for this week and I feel like I read at one point that the last week or so of July was supposed to be less busy than the first week in August, so I'm wondering if there were a lot of last minute visits planned?



Could be. There was more management at beginning than I have seen at other events.  BUT this goes back to Disney needs to create a set cap, at set time points, staff accordingly and stop seeing dollar signs as folks walk up to buy.  If you are not staffed for it then you need to declare sold out.  They can have a cap up to 72 hours staffing it fully, don't make it adjust staff cap and staff down, at 24 hours or less cap is X and it's sold out.  Did the missing staff impact ME, no because I have AP, go often, rode everything this week prior and will be back.  But to the guest they are selling this expensive event as a way to do lots of rides .... yes, the lines and lack of staff may have impacted their experience.  When you are testing something for first time .... why do you create issues for yourself?


----------



## JeninTexas

It makes me sad and angry to read these recent poor reviews of VAH. We already have tickets for 8/8, but I wouldn't have bought them if I had seen these reviews first. 8/8 is our last night in the parks, so if we end up having a bad experience and need to complain about lines, crowds, etc., is guest services open during the event or will I have to wait until the next day? It won't do me much good to get extra FPs though because we are only planning to be in MK for lunch and then heading out.


----------



## KCSherri

I attended last night’s party, and I totally concur with the previous posters....

Background: I’m an AP, and have done the After Hours since it’s inception - usually 3-4 times a year.

Last night’s event was clearly the worst that I have attended. Daughter and I managed to get in a grand total of six rides total:

Space Mountain (ran to it immediately after fireworks; had a 35-minute wait)

Buzz Lightyear (at 10:35pm; only a 5-minute wait; CM at entry checking bands, and CM at loading)

7 Dwarves Mine Train (30-minute wait; two CM’s: entry & loading)

Winnie the Pooh (5-minute wait; two CM’s: entry & loading)

Walked to Haunted Mansion - posted 20 minute wait; got up to entry doors, and line just stopped moving. After an additional 10-minute wait here, we bailed - we learned later the ride had gone down. So, we wasted 30 minutes here. One CM at entry checking bands; NO CM near the doors into the attraction. So, no CM announced that ride was down)

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (line was out and down the front path; both sides going; 25-minute wait; one CM at entry and CM’s at loading)

Pirates (line was all the way out onto path in front of attraction; 25-minute wait; the Standby side was used for loading - no entry to the FP side of entry)

I remember previous DAH’s, where I could STAY on BTMRR and ride several times in a row. I remember walking down Main Street at the close of the party, and feeling like I had it to myself. Last night, there were hundreds of us streaming down Main Street after the last show. It was crazy crowded.

I wasn’t the only one feeling this way...the family in front of us at Pirates were taking photos of the lines...the mom then turned and explained that they were severely disappointed with the evening, and would be sending an email - with photos - to Disney. Several families on the bus to Caribbean Beach also expressed disappointment and frustration - because with the price level, it just did NOT deliver.


----------



## Mrjoshua

To anyone going to VAH, I'd prioritize what you want to do. If your plans include Space Mountain or Pirates, I would line up for one of those (separate line for Pirates, FP line for Space) about 10 minutes prior to party time. I would work your way across the park, stopping to hit the attractions (rides, food, Magic Shots) you like during the party. Hopefully, you'll be over at the other overlay ride sometime between 11pm and 12am-ish, as the overlay rides have had shorter waits mid event. I would definitely attend the 1am stage show, and the Maleficent prowl immediately afterward, as doing so will not cost you any ride or attraction time. Neither requires much effort to get a good viewing spot.


----------



## KangaFan

JeninTexas said:


> It makes me sad and angry to read these recent poor reviews of VAH. We already have tickets for 8/8, but I wouldn't have bought them if I had seen these reviews first. 8/8 is our last night in the parks, so if we end up having a bad experience and need to complain about lines, crowds, etc., is guest services open during the event or will I have to wait until the next day? It won't do me much good to get extra FPs though because we are only planning to be in MK for lunch and then heading out.


We also have tickets for the 8th for our party of 10 and have just one park day after the event. If our night is like this, I may see you in line at guest services since its sounds like this event was not properly staffed.  I'm really hoping there were enough complaints that Disney does something to improve the experience for the last two events.


----------



## mydisneykids

Can I ask what peoples thought are on this?
We went last summer and there were no lines for anything.  We walked on every ride.  We had such a good time that when 2 of my kids had to head home mid week my daughter that stayed with me and I did it again.
Is the change because it is the Villains?  I understand they are selling more tickets but are more people going because of of the villain theming?
I was hoping to buy tickets for a date in Sept.  It will just be the regular after hours by then, does anything think it will go back to the regular attendance?


----------



## Haley R

mydisneykids said:


> Can I ask what peoples thought are on this?
> We went last summer and there were no lines for anything.  We walked on every ride.  We had such a good time that when 2 of my kids had to head home mid week my daughter that stayed with me and I did it again.
> Is the change because it is the Villains?  I understand they are selling more tickets but are more people going because of of the villain theming?
> I was hoping to buy tickets for a date in Sept.  It will just be the regular after hours by then, does anything think it will go back to the regular attendance?


There are tons of reviews if you just go back a few pages. I think the first page might have a list of reviews also. They are definitely selling more tickets to this event and you can tell when you get there. If you go in with the mindset that it’s not going to be an empty park like dah than you should be okay. Just don’t expect to ride everything nonstop. 

I’m hoping the regular dah will go back to normal in terms of crowds


----------



## Martini35

We are going on the 8th as well but have low expectations.  Hoping with the late hours on the 7th maybe it won't be as crowded?


----------



## disneycat321

mydisneykids said:


> Can I ask what peoples thought are on this?
> We went last summer and there were no lines for anything.  We walked on every ride.  We had such a good time that when 2 of my kids had to head home mid week my daughter that stayed with me and I did it again.
> Is the change because it is the Villains?  I understand they are selling more tickets but are more people going because of of the villain theming?
> I was hoping to buy tickets for a date in Sept.  It will just be the regular after hours by then, does anything think it will go back to the regular attendance?



I don’t think DAH like this exists anymore. We did all 3 events this week, and VAH was by far the most crowded, but at AK and HS there were still lines for the headliners, though much smaller than normal. We did walk on EE at AK and almost walked on TSM, but the other headliners were not true walk ons. I think the after hour events have just gotten more popular or something, and villains is...villains, I guess. We still had fun at them, but we’ve never attended any others. If you’re comparing them to early events, you may be disappointed.


----------



## preemiemama

JeninTexas said:


> It makes me sad and angry to read these recent poor reviews of VAH. We already have tickets for 8/8, but I wouldn't have bought them if I had seen these reviews first. 8/8 is our last night in the parks, so if we end up having a bad experience and need to complain about lines, crowds, etc., is guest services open during the event or will I have to wait until the next day? It won't do me much good to get extra FPs though because we are only planning to be in MK for lunch and then heading out.


Personally, I would probably complain the following day.  Guest Relations is probably open during the event, but you might have a more even temper/better perspective the following day.


----------



## disneycat321

We attended VAH last night after doing DAH at AK and HS earlier in the week. Of the three, HS was my favorite. VAH was by far the most crowded. That’s probably because it’s not an after hours event; it’s a villains event. We had fun, but we are DLR people who make our way over to WDW every few years, so we go big when we do. I am not into villains, and to be honest I found the whole theme in the hub a little disconcerting - it just didn’t FEEL right... like MK/DL should. I didn’t expect to feel like that about it. I guess I am just not the target audience.

Some info from our experience: 
- We waited 20 for SM at 12 with a posted wait of 35. It was a cool experience and I’m glad we tried it.
- We only waited 15 for pirates because we got in line 5 or so min before park close, following suggestions here.
- We waited 20 for BTMRR (which was posted) because we wanted to ride after dark. Splash was a walk on but posted as 20. People Mover, Dumbo, Barnstormer, and Buzz (end of night) were walk ons.
- We had zero trouble with the snack carts. There were tons more than at AK or HS, and I loved being able to get fresh popcorn so many places! The lines moved very fast.
- The  stage show was cool I guess, but mostly if you like villains. I did appreciate the castle projections. The Maleficent dragon was very cool.

All in all, I think the event is good for people who must try all Disney events, people like us who only visit every few years and want to try all the things while they’re there, and people who love villains. If you’re wanting a regular DAH for rides, I’d skip it.

We don’t regret attending and definitely had fun, but I wouldn’t do it again.


----------



## Rera2528

Our family has done DAH in early March for the past three years, and we are doing our first August trip this year. We have been planning to go on 8/8, but we have hesitated to buy tickets based on mixed reviews (although the ones from last week made me think we would be ok and I meant to buy but forgot). Based on the reviews from 7/25, we are still waiting. We want to see reviews from 8/1, with the understanding that if it sells out in between now and then, then that's that. We have absolutely loved DAH, and everyone on here has been wonderful about tempering my expectations not to try to equate the experiences. But man, that's a lot of money for a mediocre time!


----------



## maui2k5

Rera2528 said:


> Our family has done DAH in early March for the past three years, and we are doing our first August trip this year. We have been planning to go on 8/8, but we have hesitated to buy tickets based on mixed reviews (although the ones from last week made me think we would be ok and I meant to buy but forgot). Based on the reviews from 7/25, we are still waiting. We want to see reviews from 8/1, with the understanding that if it sells out in between now and then, then that's that. We have absolutely loved DAH, and everyone on here has been wonderful about tempering my expectations not to try to equate the experiences. But man, that's a lot of money for a mediocre time!


We are in the same boat looking at the 8/8 for the 4 of us which is nearly $600.  The middling reviews make us continue to hold off on tickets.  Then again if the reviews are good next week would that prompt hold outs like us to fill up the 8th???


----------



## Rera2528

maui2k5 said:


> We are in the same boat looking at the 8/8 for the 4 of us which is nearly $600.  The middling reviews make us continue to hold off on tickets.  Then again if the reviews are good next week would that prompt hold outs like us to fill up the 8th???


Our alternate plan is the H2O Glow Night. We were going to do it on Saturday (again, holding off with tickets, but this is to get closer on weather), but we may just go ahead with it on Thursday.

We all have continued to talk about it, and to quote the 12 year old, "it would be awful to ruin our memories of amazing DAH nights with an awful experience for VAH." So we are much more on the "no" end. But if the reviews next week are amazing, we're likely buying (with the masses I think/fear).


----------



## elle101me

I am also waiting to see how 8/1 goes before deciding on 8/8. I keep changing my mind.


----------



## 123SA

I have tickets for both 8/1 and 8/8.  We did  regular DAH last summer twice and had a great time

If I go on 8/1 and have the same over crowded experience noted for last night, do you think I can talk guest services into giving me a refund for 8/8?


----------



## maui2k5

123SA said:


> I have tickets for both 8/1 and 8/8.  We did  regular DAH last summer twice and had a great time
> 
> If I go on 8/1 and have the same over crowded experience noted for last night, do you think I can talk guest services into giving me a refund for 8/8?


If you make a strong enough case they might... I hope it does not come down to that for you.


----------



## cindyfan

preemiemama said:


> I think the fact that the parks are closing earlier (I've rarely experienced a 10 pm closing in MK in all the summers I've been there as was the norm this past trip) and there are* less "free" EMHs* (one pm in MK for the whole week we were there) is enticing people to buy into these events more.  Especially since they are *marketed as low waits* like many of us remember from* "the good old days".*..


I remember the good old days when there were "E-ticket" nights!!  It would cost $10/person and the park stayed open an extra 3 hours.... sometimes until 2am!!!
It would be so awesome, riding everything multiple times without even getting off the ride!  
Things have changed so very much in these last few years!


----------



## maui2k5

cindyfan said:


> I remember the good old days when there were "E-ticket" nights!!  It would cost $10/person and the park stayed open an extra 3 hours.... sometimes until 2am!!!
> It would be so awesome, riding everything multiple times without even getting off the ride!
> Things have changed so very much in these last few years!


Ah the good old days... Things truly were more enjoyable in many ways 20 years ago visiting WDW now.


----------



## provoaggie

disneycat321 said:


> I don’t think DAH like this exists anymore. We did all 3 events this week, and VAH was by far the most crowded, but at AK and HS there were still lines for the headliners, though much smaller than normal. We did walk on EE at AK and almost walked on TSM, but the other headliners were not true walk ons. I think the after hour events have just gotten more popular or something, and villains is...villains, I guess. We still had fun at them, but we’ve never attended any others. If you’re comparing them to early events, you may be disappointed.


It's harder with the smaller parks because there is less to do but when we did Animal Kingdom 2 weeks ago the park was pretty much dead. We waited 20 minutes for Flight of Passage but outside of that we walked right onto every single ride in the park. I never waited in line for a drink or snack and I have several pictures walking around the park where we never saw another person. It was amazing and if VAH would have had 2-3x as many people then I probably would have been okay. Instead it felt like a day in the park. We didn't want right on to anything and getting around was crazy because walkways were packed and the snack stations all had lines.


----------



## disneycat321

provoaggie said:


> It's harder with the smaller parks because there is less to do but when we did Animal Kingdom 2 weeks ago the park was pretty much dead. We waited 20 minutes for Flight of Passage but outside of that we walked right onto every single ride in the park. I never waited in line for a drink or snack and I have several pictures walking around the park where we never saw another person. It was amazing and if VAH would have had 2-3x as many people then I probably would have been okay. Instead it felt like a day in the park. We didn't want right on to anything and getting around was crazy because walkways were packed and the snack stations all had lines.



That’s definitely true. Our DAH at AK was great, but not totally empty. No complaints about that one at all. I’d say VAH felt like what maybe I wish a day in the park was and maybe even what it used to be, but we’ve been a little stunned by the massive crowds at MK this trip in general. Our last trip was 6 years ago and admittedly was in May so probably a lower crowd time, but it was nothing like this. We’re very used to crowds because our home park, DLR, is always pretty crowded, but the crazy wait times here have been pretty shocking. We were especially surprised by the crowds at the 11pm-1am EMH this week. I guess Disney doesn’t need to make these AH events so uncrowded because they’ll always be better than all other times by comparison...?


----------



## preemiemama

disneycat321 said:


> That’s definitely true. Our DAH at AK was great, but not totally empty. No complaints about that one at all. I’d say VAH felt like what maybe I wish a day in the park was and maybe even what it used to be, but we’ve been a little stunned by the massive crowds at MK this trip in general. Our last trip was 6 years ago and admittedly was in May so probably a lower crowd time, but it was nothing like this. We’re very used to crowds because our home park, DLR, is always pretty crowded, but the crazy wait times here have been pretty shocking. *We were especially surprised by the crowds at the 11pm-1am EMH this week.* I guess Disney doesn’t need to make these AH events so uncrowded because they’ll always be better than all other times by comparison...?



I agree- MK seemed to be the most crowded of the parks while we were there.  We have always gone in the summer for our trips- from 2005 through this year we've taken 9 different trips- I've never seen an EMH as crowded as the one we encountered that week.  BUT, it was the only "free" one in the pm at MK that week.  It was so crowded and difficult to do things that we actually left by 11:30, and we've been in the parks several times for 4th of July week.  As I said earlier, I think the lack of typical summer hours, less "free" EMH, and more DAH events has been negatively affecting things.  I would also agree with the PP who said staffing was an issue as well- I think this is true for VAH as well as regular park operations.


----------



## maui2k5

preemiemama said:


> I agree- MK seemed to be the most crowded of the parks while we were there.  We have always gone in the summer for our trips- from 2005 through this year we've taken 9 different trips- I've never seen an EMH as crowded as the one we encountered that week.  BUT, it was the only "free" one in the pm at MK that week.  It was so crowded and difficult to do things that we actually left by 11:30, and we've been in the parks several times for 4th of July week.  As I said earlier, I think the lack of typical summer hours, less "free" EMH, and more DAH events has been negatively affecting things.  I would also agree with the PP who said staffing was an issue as well- I think this is true for VAH as well as regular park operations.


I think opening up EMH to several of the Disney Springs hotels has ballooned the number of people that can stick around which inflates the crowds.  Disney is making it so the only way you can experience the parks with reasonable crowds is to pay fo the extra events.


----------



## 123SA

maui2k5 said:


> I think opening up EMH to several of the Disney Springs hotels has ballooned the number of people that can stick around which inflates the crowds.  Disney is making it so the only way you can experience the parks with reasonable crowds is to pay fo the extra events.



Except that it seems like this week wasn’t quite reasonable. Honestly, I don’t wait 25 minutes during regular hours.  I just find something else to do.   At $139 plus tax, these waits aren’t acceptable.  That’s not a low wait.  Anything over 15 minutes cannot be described as a low wait.


----------



## maui2k5

123SA said:


> Except that it seems like this week wasn’t quite reasonable. Honestly, I don’t wait 25 minutes during regular hours.  I just find something else to do.   At $139 plus tax, these waits aren’t acceptable.  That’s not a low wait.  Anything over 15 minutes cannot be described as a low wait.


I think Disney’s definition of “little to no wait” for the VAH events differs from the definition of paying guests.


----------



## sjberg79

We went to Thursday (7/25) event and it was BS compared to previous after hours we have attended. Ridiculous waits and some of the wait times were just posted lies, like Peter Pan posted 5 minutes and then we went there and it's wrapped around outside the building (I took pictures I may send to Disney). We rode 4 rides and one of them was the freakin' People Mover so I'm not even sure I should count that. Did Big Thunder at the start, was probably a 20 minute wait and by the time we through we went to see Malificent at 10:40 and get some snacks. Tried to do Haunted Mansion, sat in line for 10 or 15 minutes but then my son had to go potty and the line wasn't going anywhere so we had to abandon, came back and the wait time was still posted as "20 minutes" but was wrapped well outside of the mansion. It's after well after 11 at this point so it's an hour in and we've rode ONE ride. We went to Pooh, waited 10 minutes and rode that. Looked at some of the wait times, most things say "20 minutes" which after what I've seen at Peter Pan and the Mansion, I'm seriously doubting because this event was much more crowded than other After Hours I've gone to. Did Speedway right around midnight, that was about a 5-10 minute wait. Had another snack, then went to the People Mover. In fairness, we did leave around 12:30 and didn't stay until 1am so we probably could have squeezed out 5 rides instead of 4. 

I've seriously gotten more done rope dropping or at Early Morning Magic. We were not even doing the "good" rides if you will, we were not waiting for Space or the Pirate with the live actors or 7DMT. I like Big Thunder and Winnie as much as the next person but the only reason we did the speedway and people mover was because they had low waits while it seemed like most of the rides were posting 20+ minutes. I'm just glad we had already spent so much time at magic kingdom already that morning and done rides or my son would have been disappointed. I'm getting tired of feeling like Disney is just pushing the envelope of how hard they can squeeze you, now what's my answer? I'm supposed to chase after Disney and scold them for wasting my money? That wastes my time too and my time costs money. I think I'll stick to non-themed after hours events, this was just way too busy for my liking.


----------



## cindyfan

maui2k5 said:


> Ah the good old days... Things truly were more enjoyable in many ways 20 years ago visiting WDW now.


Well, even just 7-8 years ago things were so much easier and relaxing and enjoyable.  
The E-ticket nights were replaced with Extra Magic Hours back in 2005?  I think.  
They have made way too many changes that have take away from the Magic.  sad.


----------



## EEva

We also attended the 07/25 event and had very similar experiences as others have posted. We too were right at the entrance doors to Haunted Mansion when it went down. It was disappointing that there was no announcement or any info provided. I felt free snack lines were very quick. We didn’t bother with the Tomorrowland cart as it has a very long line.

However, I want to mention that the resort monorail was running when we left at about 1:15. Also, Casey’s Corner was open when we walked by at 1, much to the delight of my DD15 who decided not to eat dinner earlier!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Well my internal debate with this event continued until Thursday at 9:45pm, sitting on our Poly balcony staring across at the MK.  DS and I sat there and debated heading over, as it seemed the weather was getting better.

Ultimately opted against it for a few reasons... it was day 5 of the trip and we had already had plenty of MK time...it was relatively late and sleep sounded like a better idea... plus the cost.  And at heart I’m just not a Villains person, so I was always the wrong target market for this one.  

Two more VAH events left, then back to regular DAH.  I think from what I read/see on this thread, we’ll split future VAH events (if they are offered) into a separate thread.

Thanks as always for the many contributions to this thread!


----------



## Mango7100

I know the Villians is different than regular DAH, but I am wondering if DAH is going to end up being worth it for us. We are going to Disney 8/28-9/2 (not setting foot in HS thank you very much ha ha! ). We had thought of doing the regular DAH 8/29 but we have relatives doing MK during the day that day. The DAH cost for the 3 of us is more than adding another park day to our ticket. We did DAH in March and had a great time, but after reading the recent reviews and the wait times it doesn’t seem like it is as tempting. With refresh we don’t wait 25 min for anything (not counting 7D) on a regular day. Am I really going to get more done in 6 hrs compared to 12-14 hrs with rope dropping? The only benefit I am seeing is we avoid the blazing August sun with DAH...


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Mango7100 said:


> I know the Villians is different than regular DAH, but I am wondering if DAH is going to end up being worth it for us. We are going to Disney 8/28-9/2 (not setting foot in HS thank you very much ha ha! ). We had thought of doing the regular DAH 8/29 but we have relatives doing MK during the day that day. The DAH cost for the 3 of us is more than adding another park day to our ticket. We did DAH in March and had a great time, but after reading the recent reviews and the wait times it doesn’t seem like it is as tempting. With refresh we don’t wait 25 min for anything (not counting 7D) on a regular day. Am I really going to get more done in 6 hrs compared to 12-14 hrs with rope dropping? The only benefit I am seeing is we avoid the blazing August sun with DAH...



I do think it's important to differentiate DAH and VAH.  I don't think the two can really be compared as similar events based on what we have seen to date.  

That being said, I really don't know what to make of the 8/29 DAH date, and others around SWGE opening.  Seems like it could be ripe for sell-out conditions (which by the way, shouldn't even be much of a concern even if it were to sell out based on most past events), or it could be awesome, I'm just not sure?  

There are lots of conflicting things going on all over property... crazy early hours at DHS, DAK, and MK....tons of EMH hours... SWGE opening, MNSSHP parties.  To me that could be a good set up for shifting guest demand and crowds around, but hard to tell.  

And to me, avoiding the August sun is a major beneift!


----------



## Lsdolphin

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I do think it's important to differentiate DAH and VAH.  I don't think the two can really be compared as similar events based on what we have seen to date.
> 
> That being said, I really don't know what to make of the 8/29 DAH date, and others around SWGE opening.  Seems like it could be ripe for sell-out conditions (which by the way, shouldn't even be much of a concern even if it were to sell out based on most past events), or it could be awesome, I'm just not sure?
> 
> There are lots of conflicting things going on all over property... crazy early hours at DHS, DAK, and MK....tons of EMH hours... SWGE opening, MNSSHP parties.  To me that could be a good set up for shifting guest demand and crowds around, but hard to tell.
> 
> And to me, avoiding the August sun is a major beneift!




Going to DAH on the 29th and hoping for "awesome"


----------



## bocaj1431

sjberg79 said:


> We went to Thursday (7/25) event and it was BS compared to previous after hours we have attended. Ridiculous waits and some of the wait times were just posted lies, like Peter Pan posted 5 minutes and then we went there and it's wrapped around outside the building (I took pictures I may send to Disney). We rode 4 rides and one of them was the freakin' People Mover so I'm not even sure I should count that. Did Big Thunder at the start, was probably a 20 minute wait and by the time we through we went to see Malificent at 10:40 and get some snacks. Tried to do Haunted Mansion, sat in line for 10 or 15 minutes but then my son had to go potty and the line wasn't going anywhere so we had to abandon, came back and the wait time was still posted as "20 minutes" but was wrapped well outside of the mansion. It's after well after 11 at this point so it's an hour in and we've rode ONE ride. We went to Pooh, waited 10 minutes and rode that. Looked at some of the wait times, most things say "20 minutes" which after what I've seen at Peter Pan and the Mansion, I'm seriously doubting because this event was much more crowded than other After Hours I've gone to. Did Speedway right around midnight, that was about a 5-10 minute wait. Had another snack, then went to the People Mover. In fairness, we did leave around 12:30 and didn't stay until 1am so we probably could have squeezed out 5 rides instead of 4.
> 
> I've seriously gotten more done rope dropping or at Early Morning Magic. We were not even doing the "good" rides if you will, we were not waiting for Space or the Pirate with the live actors or 7DMT. I like Big Thunder and Winnie as much as the next person but the only reason we did the speedway and people mover was because they had low waits while it seemed like most of the rides were posting 20+ minutes. I'm just glad we had already spent so much time at magic kingdom already that morning and done rides or my son would have been disappointed. I'm getting tired of feeling like Disney is just pushing the envelope of how hard they can squeeze you, now what's my answer? I'm supposed to chase after Disney and scold them for wasting my money? That wastes my time too and my time costs money. I think I'll stick to non-themed after hours events, this was just way too busy for my liking.


Sorry for your experience.


EEva said:


> We also attended the 07/25 event and had very similar experiences as others have posted. We too were right at the entrance doors to Haunted Mansion when it went down. It was disappointing that there was no announcement or any info provided. I felt free snack lines were very quick. We didn’t bother with the Tomorrowland cart as it has a very long line.
> 
> However, I want to mention that the resort monorail was running when we left at about 1:15. Also, Casey’s Corner was open when we walked by at 1, much to the delight of my DD15 who decided not to eat dinner earlier!


by any chance did you notice if the bakery was still open at 1.


----------



## EEva

bocaj1431 said:


> Sorry for your experience.
> 
> by any chance did you notice if the bakery was still open at 1.


Sorry, I did not notice if the bakery was open. We were on the other side of the "street" and I was pretty tired by then.


----------



## Elle :)

My DH and I went to the 7/25 VAH party. I had already lowered my expectations, based on the previous reviews here, but I was still surprised at just how busy it was. We arrived around 7:30 and had no problem grabbing our party bracelets and getting in. The park pre-party was PACKED!!! We haven’t been during July in years (we’re May / September people) so we definitely noticed the difference. We started with a FP at Space and the FP line was well outside the door. It took 30+ minutes to get through that line. Next, we had a FP for Splash Mountain, which also had an insane FP line (another 30+ min wait). We ran over to Pirates around 3 minutes before 10pm and hopped in line. The line was outside the door and building fast. The CMs were doing a pretty good job of making sure everyone had bracelets over there. The line moved pretty quickly but still took at least 20-30 minutes. We stopped for a snack break and grabbed some popcorn, ice cream, and a couple drinks. The CMs had everything out so that line moved very quickly. Atfter that, we rode the Magic Carpet ride with no wait and went over to BTMR. Huge line with a 20 minute posted wait time. We finished around 20-25 minutes. We bypassed a second ride at Splash after seeing the lines and walked over towards fantasy land. Stopped for a pic at the Fantasy Land wall (Maleficent) then rode Tea Cups as a walk on. 7DMT had a 35 minute posted time so we skipped it. We rode Barnstormer twice in a row as a walk on. Grabbed another popcorn / drink and walked over to Tomorrow Land around 12am. Space had a line way out the door and down towards the snack cart. I didn’t want to wait in that line again so we passed on it. Buzz had a 20 minute posted line but was really a walk on. We grabbed another pic by the Tomorrow Land bridge (Oogie Boogie) then made our way towards Main Street. We had no interest in the shows (and we were both exhausted) so we skipped out around 12:30.

Overall, I found the event a bit disappointing. All the main rides had 20+ minute waits, during the event. The only walk on rides were ones we usually have no interest in but we did them anyway to make the event feel worthwhile. There were a LOT of people at the party and I never had that empty park feeling. We usually rope drop MK and get way more done in two hours than we did during the party (including multiple rides on Space). So if you’re going just for the rides, I wouldn’t recommend this party. I wish they had opened this up for some Villain picture opportunities (like the MNSSHP) because I feel like it would make people happy and have the added bonus of (hopefully) lowering ride wait times. I’m still willing to try a DAH if they have one in May but only because I’m hoping the crowds will be lighter.


----------



## Lisa F

cindyfan said:


> I remember the good old days when there were "E-ticket" nights!!  It would cost $10/person and the park stayed open an extra 3 hours.... sometimes until 2am!!!
> It would be so awesome, riding everything multiple times without even getting off the ride!
> Things have changed so very much in these last few years!


I remember e-ticket nights too but it's been more than a few years... try a few decades at this point.  Just feeling super old now, lol.  

My next trip is in February and I am hoping that this VAH thing didn't ruin DAH at the MK for good.


----------



## vinotinto

We went on July 25. Overall we had a good time, but agree with all others that the waits were much longer than what you would have with FPs or Rope-Drop. 

We entered around 7:30ish with our APs and got our wristbands without any wait at the Tomorrowland area (near Monsters, there is a big sign).

We did our 3 FPs (Space, BTMRR, 7DMT) and saw HEA.

During the party, we did:
- Splash - 5 minute wait
- BTMRR - 19 minute wait
- Maleficent Dragon (very cool)!
- Snacks
- Pirates - 23 minute wait
- Scar shot
- Buzz - walk on
- Snacks
- I went to the 12:00 pm show. Well worth it. Rest of the crew went to Space. Said 35 minutes and it was close to that for wait. Rest of my crew skipped the show.
- Villains goodbye, very fun
Left around 12:50

So snacks twice, about 5 rides, dragon, one magic shot and the goodbye in the roughly 3 hours. Probably not the best "value."

I’ll post pics of the wait times during the event and my comments on whether it was /looked accurate (“yes”) or actual wait time. The reports that we had received that the little kid rides have no waits or tiny waits are accurate. Rides for older kids and adults definitely had waits that were easily 3-4 times the wait you would have with a FP.


----------



## KangaFan

vinotinto said:


> View attachment 421141View attachment 421143



Thanks for posting all the good wait time info!


----------



## KangaFan

Just tried to change one of our 8pm fast passes for two of my nieces for August 8 and there are no fast passes available for anything in MK after 6pm.  I never tried this during regular DAH last year. Does anyone know if this is the norm because it’s so close or another indicator of a really busy night?


----------



## monorailrabbit

Yikes, it seems like the most recent parties are bombing. I'm still excited to go, but I'm so sad to see all these reviews. We will def. make sure to get our Space fix during rope drop (we are odd and are fine with just one ride on 7DMT and have a FP for it). We will plan on riding Space overlay during a show and hope that helps. I don't think we will make it back to WDW until 2021, so we really want to make the most of this trip! I really appreciate everyone taking the time to post reviews so we can adjust strategies/expectations accordingly! We leave tomorrow for our trip! WOOHOO!


----------



## provoaggie

KangaFan said:


> Just tried to change one of our 8pm fast passes for two of my nieces for August 8 and there are no fast passes available for anything in MK after 6pm.  I never tried this during regular DAH last year. Does anyone know if this is the norm because it’s so close or another indicator of a really busy night?


When we did our fast passes 30 days out we were only able to get 2. We couldn't find a 3rd one available for the night. I checked back several times and never did find a 3rd one.


----------



## alex9179

monorailrabbit said:


> I'm still excited to go


Me too. My kids (15, 14, 11) know nothing about my plans, so late night will seem special to them no matter what. Also, they won't care if the little kid rides are the low wait ones. They'll be entertained and all the treats will thrill them. I swear, they'd ride Barnstormer for an hour and be happy! My 15 y/o's favorite is CoP and her least is Splash, to give you an idea.
But, yes. It's good to understand how the evenings have turned out, so _I'm _not frustrated. We'll use FP from entry (630ish) to party time. I'll look for Maleficent a couple of times, at least, in case she has trouble at some point in the night. I think we'll have a great a time if we aren't rained out!


----------



## alex9179

KangaFan said:


> Just tried to change one of our 8pm fast passes for two of my nieces for August 8 and there are no fast passes available for anything in MK after 6pm.  I never tried this during regular DAH last year. Does anyone know if this is the norm because it’s so close or another indicator of a really busy night?


Something's up. There's a bunch available on 8/1 in the evening. SDMT is the only one that isn't.

Edit: Is the system recognizing that you're using the VAH ticket? It sounds like you may have FPs scheduled before 6pm and it's assigning a regular park ticket to that day. Why that would matter, I don't know.


----------



## BrianL

Well, I'll be there this week, though I don't like what I'm hearing. I deliberately got FP for POTC and Space so I wouldn't have to use event time for them (the overlays don't excite me that much), but I was hoping to be able to get a few rides in on BTTMR, Splash, etc. with little wait. I guess we'll see what happens. I plan to watch the 1 AM show, so the three hours will pretty much be all ride time (or attempted ride time). I'll chime in with the results.


----------



## mamamelody2

Boy, I sure do hope things calm down for the regular MK AH when they start back up!  Not liking the reports coming in about these Villains events!  We are going 8/29.  (And if it does turn out to be awesome, we will go 9/5 also.)


----------



## KangaFan

alex9179 said:


> Something's up. There's a bunch available on 8/1 in the evening. SDMT is the only one that isn't.
> 
> Edit: Is the system recognizing that you're using the VAH ticket? It sounds like you may have FPs scheduled before 6pm and it's assigning a regular park ticket to that day. Why that would matter, I don't know.


I already have my FPs, but was looking to change to another ride and it was offering a bunch of different times for things up until 6pm, but nothing after, so I'm afraid it may just have to do with the crowds expected on the 8th unfortunately.


----------



## alex9179

KangaFan said:


> I already have my FPs, but was looking to change to another ride and it was offering a bunch of different times for things up until 6pm, but nothing after, so I'm afraid it may just have to do with the crowds expected on the 8th unfortunately.



Yeah, I was wondering if it's a glitch and the system is acting like it's a party night. To have _nothing_ available after 6pm is just odd, even on a busy night.

Their system went wonky and wouldn't scan guest tickets in, today. I bet your issue is connected because the FP system also had issues.


----------



## PolyRob

KangaFan said:


> I already have my FPs, but was looking to change to another ride and it was offering a bunch of different times for things up until 6pm, but nothing after, so I'm afraid it may just have to do with the crowds expected on the 8th unfortunately.


Do you have your 3 FP+ booked something like 6-7pm, 7-8pm, and 8-9pm and are you trying to modify one of them?

I have an AP and checked MK on 8/8 and there is plenty of availability past 6pm. When trying to modify a FP+, the FP+ system will not show any times that conflict. Only if you cancel a FP+ and then try to book again will it show you all the times and what conflicts. It is a very silly system.


----------



## winnieofpooh

mamamelody2 said:


> Boy, I sure do hope things calm down for the regular MK AH when they start back up!  Not liking the reports coming in about these Villains events!  We are going 8/29.  (And if it does turn out to be awesome, we will go 9/5 also.)



Same here. We're going 8/22 and I don't think I would've bought the tickets if it's the same experiences as we've been reading here. Hoping things calm back down to "normal" AH levels once the Villians part ends.


----------



## KangaFan

PolyRob said:


> Do you have your 3 FP+ booked something like 6-7pm, 7-8pm, and 8-9pm and are you trying to modify one of them?
> 
> I have an AP and checked MK on 8/8 and there is plenty of availability past 6pm. When trying to modify a FP+, the FP+ system will not show any times that conflict. Only if you cancel a FP+ and then try to book again will it show you all the times and what conflicts. It is a very silly system.



Thanks for checking!  That's so weird because I changed a couple of others for other parts of our trip and I was always able to see ones at the same time.  Guess I'll have to see who wants to change and cancel and book one at at time since there's no way to know if there are 6 available at the same time. Thanks again for your help and its good to know that they aren't all booked!


----------



## magickingdomprincess

I was interested in doing a DAH at MK on Thurs 9/26.  That is the "regular" DAH event, correct, not the Villains version?  For some reason I could have sworn it was the Villains version but thinking I must have imagined that.

Also, to purchase tickets with either DVC or AP discount, do you just call and then see the tickets in your MDE?  TIA!


----------



## alex9179

KangaFan said:


> Thanks for checking!  That's so weird because I changed a couple of others for other parts of our trip and I was always able to see ones at the same time.  Guess I'll have to see who wants to change and cancel and book one at at time since there's no way to know if there are 6 available at the same time. Thanks again for your help and its good to know that they aren't all booked!


If you try to modify the one in that time slot, you'll see the available FPs.


----------



## Mrjoshua

magickingdomprincess said:


> I was interested in doing a DAH at MK on Thurs 9/26.  That is the "regular" DAH event, correct, not the Villains version?  For some reason I could have sworn it was the Villains version but thinking I must have imagined that.
> 
> Also, to purchase tickets with either DVC or AP discount, do you just call and then see the tickets in your MDE?  TIA!


Regular. Villains ends in August.


----------



## PolyRob

KangaFan said:


> Thanks for checking!  That's so weird because I changed a couple of others for other parts of our trip and I was always able to see ones at the same time.  Guess I'll have to see who wants to change and cancel and book one at at time since there's no way to know if there are 6 available at the same time. Thanks again for your help and its good to know that they aren't all booked!


You're welcome! It looks like everything except 7DMT, Journey of the Little Mermaid, PhilharMagic, and Monster's Inc has FP+ availability past 6pm.


----------



## AngiTN

Wow, wonder why some are so bad and others run so smoothly.
Our event on 7/18 was really on par with any DAH we'd done when it comes to wait times and lines for snacks. The only significant difference was leaving.
It was obvious many had opted to ride the entire time and then watch the final Villain show, and leave. This let you do everything extra at once, show, Maleficent on the street, and catch the villains on the train platform. This makes sense as it's a wise use of time. It made for a crowded walk down Main St to depart and a full bus but we didn't have a long wait at all. Or a standing room bus. Just full. They seem to be running a lot of buses. 



GADisneyDad14 said:


> Two more VAH events left, then back to regular DAH.  I think from what I read/see on this thread, we’ll split future VAH events (if they are offered) into a separate thread.
> 
> Thanks as always for the many contributions to this thread!


Yes, 2 different threads for sure. Events are just too different to group together.



GADisneyDad14 said:


> I do think it's important to differentiate DAH and VAH.  I don't think the two can really be compared as similar events based on what we have seen to date.
> 
> That being said, I really don't know what to make of the 8/29 DAH date, and others around SWGE opening.  Seems like it could be ripe for sell-out conditions (which by the way, shouldn't even be much of a concern even if it were to sell out based on most past events), or it could be awesome, I'm just not sure?
> 
> There are lots of conflicting things going on all over property... crazy early hours at DHS, DAK, and MK....tons of EMH hours... SWGE opening, MNSSHP parties.  To me that could be a good set up for shifting guest demand and crowds around, but hard to tell.
> 
> And to me, avoiding the August sun is a major beneift!


I wondered about the events offered during the opening days of GE and came to the conclusion they are trying to spread out crowds and give folks who are shut out of the land a place to go and something to do.


----------



## Mrjoshua

I mean this respectfully, and not in a presumptuous way... I think people are making mistakes during these Villains After Hours events, and that the mistakes are leading to disappointment.

The most common complaint I've read is that VAH is not worth it, because not enough rides are ridden during the event. It's not for me to tell anyone how to enjoy an event, but there are a few personal choices that tend to coincide with the negative reviews. Those personal choices also seem to account for the most common complaint. I imagine, as a generalization of the complaint, someone typing, *"We didn't ride very many rides"*, and then I discover (again generalized) clues as to why they did not. 

*"We left early"*: Several members talk about leaving early; midnight, 12:30, 12:50... etc. How can anyone expect to get full value out of something that is only 2/3 or 5/6 used? Even 10 minutes is still enough time to lineup for a favorite ride, or ride low wait rides twice.

*”We attended the stage show, and/or watched Maleficent, before 1am"*: It could have been done after 1am, leaving the full 3 hours of event time to ride rides. Nothing wrong with choosing to do it earlier, but not the best strategy for maximizing rides.

*"We got Magic Shots, or bought merchandise, or ate food, or got our faces painted, or watched Maleficent, or watched the stage show, or some combination thereof"*: Nothing wrong with wanting to do any or all of this, but a huge drain on ride time. Most of these are unique options during VAH, but I would liken it to eating at Casey's or shopping at the Emporium on a normal day, or during MK AH. Those choices detract from ride time. It's hard to maximize rides at VAH if you choose another priority or priorities... Unless of course, the other priorities are accomplished after 1am. 

*"We arrived after 10pm"*: Showing up late almost certainly guarantees less ride time. I would suggest arriving early to enjoy more rides and attractions at VAH. 

*"Haunted Mansion broke down"*: A popular ride going down can certainly eat up time, especially if you're stuck on it, or waiting in vain to board it. Unfortunately, that's just part of the theme park experience. My advice is do your best to keep moving. My first MK AH, both SM and 7DMT were down for the majority of the event. We still had a ball, and rode 14 rides despite missing both of those. We decided it was better to continue onto other things, as opposed to waiting for the possibility of quick fixes. 
*
"20-35 minute wait times aren't low (as advertised)"*: I think this one is just flawed logic. I checked out MDE a little while ago, and saw the following wait times: 7DMT 130 minutes, Space Mtn 120 minutes, Splash MTN 120 minutes, HM 60 minutes, BLY Space Ranger Spin 60 minutes. VAH wait times appear to be, as advertised, low. I would argue that VAH wait times are dramatically low. Maybe not minimal (not advertised), or non existent (also not advertised) , but certainly low. 

Bottom line, I think the key to riding more rides is to prioritize rides over distractors, and plan accordingly. Of course, it's always possible that the unforseen could happen; there are always exceptions. For those of you attending the last 2 events, I think you'll ride more if riding is your priority.


----------



## provoaggie

Mrjoshua said:


> I mean this respectfully, and not in a presumptuous way... I think people are making mistakes during these Villains After Hours events, and that the mistakes are leading to disappointment.
> 
> The most common complaint I've read is that VAH is not worth it, because not enough rides are ridden during the event. It's not for me to tell anyone how to enjoy an event, but there are a few personal choices that tend to coincide with the negative reviews. Those personal choices also seem to account for the most common complaint. I imagine, as a generalization of the complaint, someone typing, *"We didn't ride very many rides"*, and then I discover (again generalized) clues as to why they did not.
> 
> *"We left early"*: Several members talk about leaving early; midnight, 12:30, 12:50... etc. How can anyone expect to get full value out of something that is only 2/3 or 5/6 used? Even 10 minutes is still enough time to lineup for a favorite ride, or ride low wait rides twice.
> 
> *”We attended the stage show, and/or watched Maleficent, before 1am"*: It could have been done after 1am, leaving the full 3 hours of event time to ride rides. Nothing wrong with choosing to do it earlier, but not the best strategy for maximizing rides.
> 
> *"We got Magic Shots, or bought merchandise, or ate food, or got our faces painted, or watched Maleficent, or watched the stage show, or some combination thereof"*: Nothing wrong with wanting to do any or all of this, but a huge drain on ride time. Most of these are unique options during VAH, but I would liken it to eating at Casey's or shopping at the Emporium on a normal day, or during MK AH. Those choices detract from ride time. It's hard to maximize rides at VAH if you choose another priority or priorities... Unless of course, the other priorities are accomplished after 1am.
> 
> *"We arrived after 10pm"*: Showing up late almost certainly guarantees less ride time. I would suggest arriving early to enjoy more rides and attractions at VAH.
> 
> *"Haunted Mansion broke down"*: A popular ride going down can certainly eat up time, especially if you're stuck on it, or waiting in vain to board it. Unfortunately, that's just part of the theme park experience. My advice is do your best to keep moving. My first MK AH, both SM and 7DMT were down for the majority of the event. We still had a ball, and rode 14 rides despite missing both of those. We decided it was better to continue onto other things, as opposed to waiting for the possibility of quick fixes.
> 
> *"20-35 minute wait times aren't low (as advertised)"*: I think this one is just flawed logic. I checked out MDE a little while ago, and saw the following wait times: 7DMT 130 minutes, Space Mtn 120 minutes, Splash MTN 120 minutes, HM 60 minutes, BLY Space Ranger Spin 60 minutes. VAH wait times appear to be, as advertised, low. I would argue that VAH wait times are dramatically low. Maybe not minimal (not advertised), or non existent (also not advertised) , but certainly low.
> 
> Bottom line, I think the key to riding more rides is to prioritize rides over distractors, and plan accordingly. Of course, it's always possible that the unforseen could happen; there are always exceptions. For those of you attending the last 2 events, I think you'll ride more if riding is your priority.



I can see where you are coming from but I think the place that Disney really went wrong here was piggy backing off of the After Hours name. This wasn't a coincidence, it was a decision that they made. They even have it grouped with other After Hours events on their website. Prior to Villains, if you searched up reviews of Magic Kingdom After Hours you would see countless videos and reviews of people walking on pretty much every attraction in the park. You see pictures of them walking around with no one else in view. They built up the After Hours brand as an event where you could experience the park with no crowds. They may have slightly changed the terminology in the description but for people seeking out more information from reviews, they'd get bad information based on the event being radically different from every After Hours event that came first. Beyond that, some people had done other After Hours events and liked them so much that they wanted another one. I did Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom both and decided that was the way for me to visit a Disney park. I don't like crowds, I don't like lines and I don't like the sun beating down on me. After Hours was a fix for those 3 things for me. When I booked my trip, Villains was announced but hadn't started yet. I had no reason to believe that the event would be as bad as it was.  

Beyond that, I didn't make the mistakes that you mentioned. I was in line at 6:15 to get into the park. We were among the first. We utilized our fast passes for before the park closed and honestly those were the shortest lines of the night. We did do 1 picture without a wait but we skipped the stage show altogether and happened to see Malificent while walking out at the end of the night but we stayed until the end. Haunted Mansion was our final ride and we got off at 1:05. We spend the entire night trying to just ride rides. We didn't waste any time with the other stuff yet we were still unable to accomplish our goal. Disney chose to piggy back the marketing of this event on a completely different type of event and that's where the disappointment is coming from. Had this event had a different name and had it been listed on a different page on their site from the other After Hours events then you wouldn't have the confusion that you have now.


----------



## heath92681

Mrjoshua said:


> I mean this respectfully, and not in a presumptuous way... I think people are making mistakes during these Villains After Hours events, and that the mistakes are leading to disappointment.
> 
> The most common complaint I've read is that VAH is not worth it, because not enough rides are ridden during the event. It's not for me to tell anyone how to enjoy an event, but there are a few personal choices that tend to coincide with the negative reviews. Those personal choices also seem to account for the most common complaint. I imagine, as a generalization of the complaint, someone typing, *"We didn't ride very many rides"*, and then I discover (again generalized) clues as to why they did not.
> 
> *"We left early"*: Several members talk about leaving early; midnight, 12:30, 12:50... etc. How can anyone expect to get full value out of something that is only 2/3 or 5/6 used? Even 10 minutes is still enough time to lineup for a favorite ride, or ride low wait rides twice.
> 
> *”We attended the stage show, and/or watched Maleficent, before 1am"*: It could have been done after 1am, leaving the full 3 hours of event time to ride rides. Nothing wrong with choosing to do it earlier, but not the best strategy for maximizing rides.
> 
> *"We got Magic Shots, or bought merchandise, or ate food, or got our faces painted, or watched Maleficent, or watched the stage show, or some combination thereof"*: Nothing wrong with wanting to do any or all of this, but a huge drain on ride time. Most of these are unique options during VAH, but I would liken it to eating at Casey's or shopping at the Emporium on a normal day, or during MK AH. Those choices detract from ride time. It's hard to maximize rides at VAH if you choose another priority or priorities... Unless of course, the other priorities are accomplished after 1am.
> 
> *"We arrived after 10pm"*: Showing up late almost certainly guarantees less ride time. I would suggest arriving early to enjoy more rides and attractions at VAH.
> 
> *"Haunted Mansion broke down"*: A popular ride going down can certainly eat up time, especially if you're stuck on it, or waiting in vain to board it. Unfortunately, that's just part of the theme park experience. My advice is do your best to keep moving. My first MK AH, both SM and 7DMT were down for the majority of the event. We still had a ball, and rode 14 rides despite missing both of those. We decided it was better to continue onto other things, as opposed to waiting for the possibility of quick fixes.
> 
> *"20-35 minute wait times aren't low (as advertised)"*: I think this one is just flawed logic. I checked out MDE a little while ago, and saw the following wait times: 7DMT 130 minutes, Space Mtn 120 minutes, Splash MTN 120 minutes, HM 60 minutes, BLY Space Ranger Spin 60 minutes. VAH wait times appear to be, as advertised, low. I would argue that VAH wait times are dramatically low. Maybe not minimal (not advertised), or non existent (also not advertised) , but certainly low.
> 
> Bottom line, I think the key to riding more rides is to prioritize rides over distractors, and plan accordingly. Of course, it's always possible that the unforseen could happen; there are always exceptions. For those of you attending the last 2 events, I think you'll ride more if riding is your priority.


Do you have a solid strategy for maximizing rides? Is there a particular order in which you would go?


----------



## Mrjoshua

heath92681 said:


> Do you have a solid strategy for maximizing rides? Is there a particular order in which you would go?


Yes, I would start at one of the overlay rides, and line up for it around 9:50pm. This should allow you to hit the ground running at 10pm, and avoid a half hour wait during the event. From there, generally work your way over to the other side of the park. Ride rides multiple times if you like, but try to avoid retracing your steps between the rides; ride it however many times, and move on. Hopefully, you'll reach the second overlay ride between 11pm and 12am; usually the overlays have had lower wait times in the middle during the shows and the Maleficent dragon (we had a 5 minute wait once for Space Mtn Villains). After the second overlay, do nearby attractions (Jungle Cruise, Splash MTN, BLY Space Ranger Spin, TTA People Mover... etc.). Lastly, and if possible, line up for 1 last ride. Ring the last ride out of the night by getting in line no later than 12:59... It adds to your ride total, and extends your evening past 1am. 

Obviously, this can be changed. If you want to avoid the overlay rides, it really doesn't matter where you start. I would still start at 1 side of the park, and work your way to the other. If you want to catch the 1am show and Maleficent, I would skip lining up late. Look for food and bathrooms that are along the way during your travels. Also, be flexible.


----------



## Mrjoshua

A little more strategizing while I'm thinking about it...
Eat beforehand if possible. If rides are your priority, free snacks may not be worth your while. Nothing wrong with eating ice cream while waiting in line, but we've miscalculated the timing before, and been held off of rides until our ice cream was gone. Also, the snack lines can be long at times. Avoiding or minimizing snacks will help to maximize ride time.


----------



## Mrjoshua

provoaggie said:


> I can see where you are coming from but I think the place that Disney really went wrong here was piggy backing off of the After Hours name. This wasn't a coincidence, it was a decision that they made. They even have it grouped with other After Hours events on their website. Prior to Villains, if you searched up reviews of Magic Kingdom After Hours you would see countless videos and reviews of people walking on pretty much every attraction in the park. You see pictures of them walking around with no one else in view. They built up the After Hours brand as an event where you could experience the park with no crowds. They may have slightly changed the terminology in the description but for people seeking out more information from reviews, they'd get bad information based on the event being radically different from every After Hours event that came first. Beyond that, some people had done other After Hours events and liked them so much that they wanted another one. I did Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom both and decided that was the way for me to visit a Disney park. I don't like crowds, I don't like lines and I don't like the sun beating down on me. After Hours was a fix for those 3 things for me. When I booked my trip, Villains was announced but hadn't started yet. I had no reason to believe that the event would be as bad as it was.
> 
> Beyond that, I didn't make the mistakes that you mentioned. I was in line at 6:15 to get into the park. We were among the first. We utilized our fast passes for before the park closed and honestly those were the shortest lines of the night. We did do 1 picture without a wait but we skipped the stage show altogether and happened to see Malificent while walking out at the end of the night but we stayed until the end. Haunted Mansion was our final ride and we got off at 1:05. We spend the entire night trying to just ride rides. We didn't waste any time with the other stuff yet we were still unable to accomplish our goal. Disney chose to piggy back the marketing of this event on a completely different type of event and that's where the disappointment is coming from. Had this event had a different name and had it been listed on a different page on their site from the other After Hours events then you wouldn't have the confusion that you have now.


Let me start by saying that I'm sorry the event was bad for you and yours. I'm glad that you've enjoyed other AH events.

While I agree that a regular After Hours is probably better for the purpose of riding rides, I honestly didn't feel that Villains After Hours was drastically different. For example, someone else who went on July 11 was able to ride 13 rides, get snacks x 3, and watch the show and Maleficent. I compare that with my first MK AH in December. We rode 14 rides, and stopped for snacks x 2. My second MK AH was 12 rides. 13 lands right in the middle. The only reason I prefer rides at the original, as opposed to the Villains version, is less spectacle, and therefore less gawkers and congestion. People seem to keep moving at a regular MK AH. I don't think it's necessary to name it something else, because the numbers don't strike me as much different. People still experienced attractions with a reduced wait time.


----------



## sjberg79

I hear this but we were there from 6pm on and we were not wasting time on snacks. We'd get them and move on. And watching Maleficent literally took 5 minutes, we got there right as it started and she passed us right away and then we moved on. The only thing we did "wrong" was leaving at 12:30 but you can try taking my autistic ADHD 5 year old with you sometime and walk a few Disney miles in my shoes and then let me know what time you need to leave at. Also, have fun waiting in those "only 20-30" minute lines with him and then let me know what you think of them then. While you CAN request DAS even during events our own experience is when you do most of the cast members are not prepared for it and they will give you a super hard time so it's just better not to (even though I've spoken to guest services multiple times and they have assured me I can, my experiences have taught me not to during after hours, EMM, Halloween/Christmas parties because the cast members do not seem to be on the same page as guest services). 

I know you didn't mean it disrespectful but it's easy to tell people about their "mistakes". I didn't make "mistakes", I'm an experienced Mother of a special needs child and I do all my planning around him and his needs and I booked this event based on what Disney was selling as a "low wait" event. I didn't find that here on the night we went. It sounds like others who were there the same night had a similar experience to us and they didn't even have a special needs child with them so *maybe* Disney just messed up on this one. 




Mrjoshua said:


> I mean this respectfully, and not in a presumptuous way... I think people are making mistakes during these Villains After Hours events, and that the mistakes are leading to disappointment.
> 
> The most common complaint I've read is that VAH is not worth it, because not enough rides are ridden during the event. It's not for me to tell anyone how to enjoy an event, but there are a few personal choices that tend to coincide with the negative reviews. Those personal choices also seem to account for the most common complaint. I imagine, as a generalization of the complaint, someone typing, *"We didn't ride very many rides"*, and then I discover (again generalized) clues as to why they did not.
> 
> *"We left early"*: Several members talk about leaving early; midnight, 12:30, 12:50... etc. How can anyone expect to get full value out of something that is only 2/3 or 5/6 used? Even 10 minutes is still enough time to lineup for a favorite ride, or ride low wait rides twice.
> 
> *”We attended the stage show, and/or watched Maleficent, before 1am"*: It could have been done after 1am, leaving the full 3 hours of event time to ride rides. Nothing wrong with choosing to do it earlier, but not the best strategy for maximizing rides.
> 
> *"We got Magic Shots, or bought merchandise, or ate food, or got our faces painted, or watched Maleficent, or watched the stage show, or some combination thereof"*: Nothing wrong with wanting to do any or all of this, but a huge drain on ride time. Most of these are unique options during VAH, but I would liken it to eating at Casey's or shopping at the Emporium on a normal day, or during MK AH. Those choices detract from ride time. It's hard to maximize rides at VAH if you choose another priority or priorities... Unless of course, the other priorities are accomplished after 1am.
> 
> *"We arrived after 10pm"*: Showing up late almost certainly guarantees less ride time. I would suggest arriving early to enjoy more rides and attractions at VAH.
> 
> *"Haunted Mansion broke down"*: A popular ride going down can certainly eat up time, especially if you're stuck on it, or waiting in vain to board it. Unfortunately, that's just part of the theme park experience. My advice is do your best to keep moving. My first MK AH, both SM and 7DMT were down for the majority of the event. We still had a ball, and rode 14 rides despite missing both of those. We decided it was better to continue onto other things, as opposed to waiting for the possibility of quick fixes.
> 
> *"20-35 minute wait times aren't low (as advertised)"*: I think this one is just flawed logic. I checked out MDE a little while ago, and saw the following wait times: 7DMT 130 minutes, Space Mtn 120 minutes, Splash MTN 120 minutes, HM 60 minutes, BLY Space Ranger Spin 60 minutes. VAH wait times appear to be, as advertised, low. I would argue that VAH wait times are dramatically low. Maybe not minimal (not advertised), or non existent (also not advertised) , but certainly low.
> 
> Bottom line, I think the key to riding more rides is to prioritize rides over distractors, and plan accordingly. Of course, it's always possible that the unforseen could happen; there are always exceptions. For those of you attending the last 2 events, I think you'll ride more if riding is your priority.


----------



## dancergirlsmom

KangaFan said:


> Thanks for checking!  That's so weird because I changed a couple of others for other parts of our trip and I was always able to see ones at the same time.  Guess I'll have to see who wants to change and cancel and book one at at time since there's no way to know if there are 6 available at the same time. Thanks again for your help and its good to know that they aren't all booked!


f

Take another look.  I am attending Villains DAH that night and have three fast passes booked prior to the event.  I just went out as if I was going to modify our 9pm fastpasses and everything was showing availability except 7DMT for rides which I already have a FP for anyway so it wouldn't show up even if there was availability.


----------



## AngiTN

magickingdomprincess said:


> I was interested in doing a DAH at MK on Thurs 9/26.  That is the "regular" DAH event, correct, not the Villains version?  For some reason I could have sworn it was the Villains version but thinking I must have imagined that.
> 
> *Also, to purchase tickets with either DVC or AP discount, do you just call and then see the tickets in your MDE?  TIA!*


You just buy them online and they are in MDE
No phone calls needed.


----------



## Iowamomof4

magickingdomprincess said:


> I was interested in doing a DAH at MK on Thurs 9/26.  That is the "regular" DAH event, correct, not the Villains version?  For some reason I could have sworn it was the Villains version but thinking I must have imagined that.
> 
> Also, to purchase tickets with either DVC or AP discount, do you just call and then see the tickets in your MDE?  TIA!


Just make sure you are logged in and seeing the right price.


----------



## preemiemama

sjberg79 said:


> I hear this but we were there from 6pm on and we were not wasting time on snacks. We'd get them and move on. And watching Maleficent literally took 5 minutes, we got there right as it started and she passed us right away and then we moved on. The only thing we did "wrong" was leaving at 12:30 but you can try taking my autistic ADHD 5 year old with you sometime and walk a few Disney miles in my shoes and then let me know what time you need to leave at. Also, have fun waiting in those "only 20-30" minute lines with him and then let me know what you think of them then. While you CAN request DAS even during events our own experience is when you do most of the cast members are not prepared for it and they will give you a super hard time so it's just better not to (even though I've spoken to guest services multiple times and they have assured me I can, my experiences have taught me not to during after hours, EMM, Halloween/Christmas parties because the cast members do not seem to be on the same page as guest services).
> 
> I know you didn't mean it disrespectful but it's easy to tell people about their "mistakes". I didn't make "mistakes", I'm an experienced Mother of a special needs child and I do all my planning around him and his needs and I booked this event based on what Disney was selling as a "low wait" event. I didn't find that here on the night we went. It sounds like others who were there the same night had a similar experience to us and they didn't even have a special needs child with them so *maybe* Disney just messed up on this one.



I agree- I have DS 19 and we still didn't get as much done as I felt we could have! We also arrived at 6, had FP for before the party, and didn't waste a lot of time on snacks. We bought shirts prior to the start of the event, and we rode Splash around 9 because we knew it was a longer ride experience- and we wanted to maximize our time on other rides during the party.  We had a plan and stuck to it for the most part.  We did the Maleficent photo while waiting for 7DMT's line to go down (and I was in line for it while my DH and DS had a bathroom break and grabbed a snack).  The rest of the time, we rode rides up until about 12:50 when we chose to find some Magic Shots.  



Mrjoshua said:


> *Yes, I would start at one of the overlay rides, and line up for it around 9:50pm. This should allow you to hit the ground running at 10pm, and avoid a half hour wait during the event.* From there, generally work your way over to the other side of the park. Ride rides multiple times if you like, but try to avoid retracing your steps between the rides; ride it however many times, and move on. Hopefully, you'll reach the second overlay ride between 11pm and 12am; *usually the overlays have had lower wait times in the middle during the shows and the Maleficent dragon* (we had a 5 minute wait once for Space Mtn Villains). After the second overlay, do nearby attractions (Jungle Cruise, Splash MTN, BLY Space Ranger Spin, TTA People Mover... etc.). Lastly, and if possible, line up for 1 last ride. Ring the last ride out of the night by getting in line no later than 12:59... It adds to your ride total, and extends your evening past 1am.



This was basically our plan.  However, at 9:35 we got held up at BTMRR until just after 10 because a posted wait was less than the actual wait.  And then Pirates was also posted at 15 but took us almost 30 just after 10.  

We worked our way around to 7DMT because we'd planned to be in line around 10:45 to take advantage of the people watching 11:00 show instead of riding.  Wait was *still *45 minutes- _*and the CM stated that it was because they were "still clearing day guests from the line*_".  This was when we tried PP- and again it was posted 5 minutes but took about 20.  Did the magic shot, got snacks, then got in line for 7DMT at a posted 25, which was about accurate at that point.  

After that, we headed to Space Mtn, since it was nearing the 12:00 show.  We did stop for our passholder ornaments because it was on the way.  That took less than 5 minutes because they were already bagged up and ready to go once we showed our passes and ID.  Space was posted at 15 minutes, but the line was out the door and it wound up taking about 30-35 minutes.  We did check again as we exited- the line was still out the door and now posted at 40 minutes, so no re-ride.  We rode Buzz after that, and then headed off to get the Oogie Boogie and Hades Magic Shots.  Could we have done one more ride at that point?  Sure.  But it still would have been only 6 vs. the 5 we did- still not a great deal. We had a plan, and followed it, being flexible where we could.  And *still only did 5 rides*.



Mrjoshua said:


> Let me start by saying that I'm sorry the event was bad for you and yours. I'm glad that you've enjoyed other AH events.
> 
> While I agree that a regular After Hours is probably better for the purpose of riding rides, I honestly didn't feel that Villains After Hours was drastically different. For example, someone else who went on July 11 was able to ride 13 rides, get snacks x 3, and watch the show and Maleficent. I compare that with my first MK AH in December. We rode 14 rides, and stopped for snacks x 2. My second MK AH was 12 rides. 13 lands right in the middle. The only reason I prefer rides at the original, as opposed to the Villains version, is less spectacle, and therefore less gawkers and congestion. People seem to keep moving at a regular MK AH. I don't think it's necessary to name it something else, because the numbers don't strike me as much different. People still experienced attractions with a reduced wait time.



I will concede to you that had we done "smaller" rides like Barnstormer, Teacups, Dumbo, Aladdin's Magic Carpets, etc., we *could* have done more than 5 rides.  We did get snacks and Magic Shots x3 in short lines, and got our pass holder ornaments.  We may have been able to squeeze in another ride or two had we not gotten the magic shots.  However, I don't feel that we made a lot of "mistakes".  

IMHO, Disney oversold the event and did not do a good enough job of clearing the day guests from the lines which resulted in a backlog during the party.  This impacted wait times, and therefore our ability to be able to ride more "big" rides and get the full benefit from this event.


----------



## PolyRob

I am starting to put together a rough itinerary for my spring trip in preparation of ADRs. Do I tentatively schedule DAH at MK on Thursday (or even Monday)?


----------



## KCSherri

Mrjoshua said:


> I mean this respectfully, and not in a presumptuous way... I think people are making mistakes during these Villains After Hours events, and that the mistakes are leading to disappointment.
> 
> The most common complaint I've read is that VAH is not worth it, because not enough rides are ridden during the event. It's not for me to tell anyone how to enjoy an event, but there are a few personal choices that tend to coincide with the negative reviews. Those personal choices also seem to account for the most common complaint. I imagine, as a generalization of the complaint, someone typing, *"We didn't ride very many rides"*, and then I discover (again generalized) clues as to why they did not.
> 
> *"We left early"*: Several members talk about leaving early; midnight, 12:30, 12:50... etc. How can anyone expect to get full value out of something that is only 2/3 or 5/6 used? Even 10 minutes is still enough time to lineup for a favorite ride, or ride low wait rides twice.
> 
> *”We attended the stage show, and/or watched Maleficent, before 1am"*: It could have been done after 1am, leaving the full 3 hours of event time to ride rides. Nothing wrong with choosing to do it earlier, but not the best strategy for maximizing rides.
> 
> *"We got Magic Shots, or bought merchandise, or ate food, or got our faces painted, or watched Maleficent, or watched the stage show, or some combination thereof"*: Nothing wrong with wanting to do any or all of this, but a huge drain on ride time. Most of these are unique options during VAH, but I would liken it to eating at Casey's or shopping at the Emporium on a normal day, or during MK AH. Those choices detract from ride time. It's hard to maximize rides at VAH if you choose another priority or priorities... Unless of course, the other priorities are accomplished after 1am.
> 
> *"We arrived after 10pm"*: Showing up late almost certainly guarantees less ride time. I would suggest arriving early to enjoy more rides and attractions at VAH.
> 
> *"Haunted Mansion broke down"*: A popular ride going down can certainly eat up time, especially if you're stuck on it, or waiting in vain to board it. Unfortunately, that's just part of the theme park experience. My advice is do your best to keep moving. My first MK AH, both SM and 7DMT were down for the majority of the event. We still had a ball, and rode 14 rides despite missing both of those. We decided it was better to continue onto other things, as opposed to waiting for the possibility of quick fixes.
> 
> *"20-35 minute wait times aren't low (as advertised)"*: I think this one is just flawed logic. I checked out MDE a little while ago, and saw the following wait times: 7DMT 130 minutes, Space Mtn 120 minutes, Splash MTN 120 minutes, HM 60 minutes, BLY Space Ranger Spin 60 minutes. VAH wait times appear to be, as advertised, low. I would argue that VAH wait times are dramatically low. Maybe not minimal (not advertised), or non existent (also not advertised) , but certainly low.
> 
> Bottom line, I think the key to riding more rides is to prioritize rides over distractors, and plan accordingly. Of course, it's always possible that the unforseen could happen; there are always exceptions. For those of you attending the last 2 events, I think you'll ride more if riding is your priority.




I posted my review of the VAH from 7/25 - and it was a negative review. Let me state that I consider myself a Disney expert; I know all of the tricks, shortcuts, strategies, etc, to get the most out of my Disney day. With that said, I didn’t do ANY of these things that you mention - and yet still experienced significant wait times.

Leaving early? Nope. Daughter and I were one of the last ones out of the park. 

Attended the show/watched Maleficent? Nope. Didn’t watch any of the shows; watched Maleficent at her 1:20 am show.

Magic shots? Face painting? Eating? Nope. Did none of the above. We are not into popcorn, or ice cream. Although we stopped for ONE minute at a cart to pick up bottles of water. 

Arrived after 10:00 pm? Nope. We were there for an 8:00 am PPO BOG breakfast. 

Haunted Mansion broke down? Yes. We were IN THE LINE right by the door - when it broke down. And because we didn’t KNOW it was down - no announcement, no notice - we spent 30 minutes here. 20 minutes of that was spent winding our way to get to that point; 10 minutes were spent AT THE DOORS, wondering if/when they would open to let us in. 

And I am going to disagree with your comment on low wait times. I have attended NUMEROUS DAH’s for MK, HS, and AK. In every other case, wait times were 10 minutes at the most. I could ride 12-13 rides at MK at a single DAH event in the past. Getting six rides - for $139 - was frustrating. In my opinion, this event is more similar to a rope drop opening at the park - yes, lines are better than they will be at noon - but they are not “low.”


----------



## AngiTN

KCSherri said:


> And I am going to disagree with your comment on low wait times. I have attended NUMEROUS DAH’s for MK, HS, and AK. In every other case, wait times were 10 minutes at the most. I could ride 12-13 rides at MK at a single DAH event in the past. Getting six rides - for $139 - was frustrating. In my opinion, this event is more similar to a rope drop opening at the park - yes, lines are better than they will be at noon - but they are not “low.”


Problem is there's not one definition to low. Figuring out what low means is like nailing jello to a wall. 
Everyone's got a different threshold of what they view as "low"
You didn't view them as low but someone else could have.
Even if they are higher waits than DAH that doesn't mean they aren't someone's definition of low. Especially if you are comparing a 30 min wait to a 90 min wait during park hours.


----------



## DVC92

IMHO, Disney needs to stop being $$$ greedy and return to the old days. Enough of this closing parks early, reducing or eliminating EMH, and having a ridiculous number of nighttime paid events. It wasn't that long ago that MK would be open to midnight with EMH until 3 in the morning. Also, there were at least 2 EMH at MK during the week. They have also eliminated the nighttime parade. In August , MK is closing at 10 most nights with one 2 hr EMH. It should be open until at least midnight in the summer. Also, they are already starting the Halloween parties in August with early MK closing. No wonder one cannot get on a sufficient number of rides.


----------



## cmsb

We attended VAH on 7/25.  The only other AH event that we have attended was at HS.  

First the positives:  

The atmosphere was awesome!  My kids loved the DJ at the castle and the lighting throughout the park.  It definitely had a party vibe and felt different from just staying late at the park.  
We really enjoyed the villains show.  The projections on the castle always fascinate me and I loved how they changed them for each villain.  My kids liked seeing some characters that they don't normally get to see in the park.
The magic shots were some of the best photos that we took all week.  The lines for the photos were pretty non-existent after the first 30 minutes of the event.  They were definitely worth getting!  
The negatives:

The event felt quite crowded.  We knew going into it that there were be a decent sized crowd, but we were not expecting as many people as there were.  We were hoping to at least walk through the lands without bumping into other people, but that did not happen (at least not for us).
The lines were longer than we expected for most of the rides.  I understand that they were still shorter lines than during the day.  However, during the day we are able to go from fastpass to fastpass and barely wait in line at all.   I know that sounds ridiculous with wait times at 20 minutes, but it seemed like we are able to get much more done during the day with fastpasses.
Wait times were not always accurate.  When we got in line for Pirates at the start of the event, the wait time was posted at 10 minutes.  It wound up being closer to 25.  Conversely, Buzz was listed as 25 all night, but was walk on.  Had we known that, we would have rode it sooner!
At the end of the night, we all agreed that we would not do this particular event again.  The live Pirates in POC were neat, but not worth the 25 minute wait.  The theming and show were great, but not something we would need to see again.  And none of us can eat enough ice cream (despite our best efforts) to make the ticket price worth it.


----------



## Mrjoshua

sjberg79 said:


> I hear this but we were there from 6pm on and we were not wasting time on snacks. We'd get them and move on. And watching Maleficent literally took 5 minutes, we got there right as it started and she passed us right away and then we moved on. The only thing we did "wrong" was leaving at 12:30 but you can try taking my autistic ADHD 5 year old with you sometime and walk a few Disney miles in my shoes and then let me know what time you need to leave at. Also, have fun waiting in those "only 20-30" minute lines with him and then let me know what you think of them then. While you CAN request DAS even during events our own experience is when you do most of the cast members are not prepared for it and they will give you a super hard time so it's just better not to (even though I've spoken to guest services multiple times and they have assured me I can, my experiences have taught me not to during after hours, EMM, Halloween/Christmas parties because the cast members do not seem to be on the same page as guest services).
> 
> I know you didn't mean it disrespectful but it's easy to tell people about their "mistakes". I didn't make "mistakes", I'm an experienced Mother of a special needs child and I do all my planning around him and his needs and I booked this event based on what Disney was selling as a "low wait" event. I didn't find that here on the night we went. It sounds like others who were there the same night had a similar experience to us and they didn't even have a special needs child with them so *maybe* Disney just messed up on this one.


Sorry for striking a nerve... Obviously you should raise your child as you see fit. I make no claims as to child rearing. I've been to Disney World multiple times with my special needs niece, so I'd like to think that I've walked some Disney miles in similar shoes. I'm not critiquing your choices, needs, or limitations. I'm simply criticizing your critique of the event. 

You say you only got 4 rides. I say leaving half hour early, getting out of a line after waiting, watching Maleficent, and getting in snack lines did not help your ride total. 

The mistake is one of logic. For example, if I attend an event with my mom, whose knees are bad, I should expect to get to less rides than if she had not attended. If after waiting in line for 20 minutes, the ride suddenly breaks down, I should know that extenuating circumstances decreased my ride total. If I arrive late, I should realize that doing so most likely cut into my ride time. 

I would take responsibility for what I was responsible for, and account for the situations that led to the ride total, rather than saying the event is "BS", or feeling that I'm being squeezed, or stating that "Disney just messed up on this one". 

Subjective or no, VAH is still a "low wait event". The wait times weren't higher than normal. Times across the park weren't on par with the average wait time. Nor were they slightly less than normal. Overwhelmingly, rides were typically less than half the usual wait. That is demonstrably low. It may not be to your liking, but the wait times are indeed measurably and provably lower than usual.


----------



## sjberg79

Mrjoshua said:


> Sorry for striking a nerve... Obviously you should raise your child as you see fit. I make no claims as to child rearing. I've been to Disney World multiple times with my special needs niece, so I'd like to think that I've walked some Disney miles in similar shoes. I'm not critiquing your choices, needs, or limitations. I'm simply criticizing your critique of the event.
> 
> 
> Subjective or no, VAH is still a "low wait event". The wait times weren't higher than normal. Times across the park weren't on par with the average wait time. Nor were they slightly less than normal. Overwhelmingly, rides were typically less than half the usual wait. That is demonstrably low. It may not be to your liking, but the wait times are indeed measurably and provably lower than usual.




How nice of you to take your niece all by yourself and take care of her like that, it must be nice for her parents to get a break. 

I've done other After Hours events... this one was not even close. This felt more like a Holiday party crowd than it did an After Hours event. After Hours usually is like walking on to rides or waiting maybe 5 minutes. Holiday parties you are going to be waiting 20-30 minutes. I can go in circles with you over and over again but were you even at this? Were you there? I'm not backing down, this event was not low wait. And I wasn't going to complain to Disney about it but you've got me wasting so much time arguing with you about this that I might as well call them up and submit my photos of their long lines to them. Thank you for inspiring my spite  Have a wonderful day!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

This thread and prior DAH threads have been a happy home for anyone to share experiences, reviews, thoughts, questions, etc on the Disney After Hours series of events. 

No need to debate why someone’s feelings about their experiences are right or wrong - we all view these things through our own lenses and make choices with how we want to spend time during the event at our own discretion.  There is no right or wrong way to do these events, just like there is no right or wrong way to do Disney.  

Time to move on.


----------



## Mrjoshua

sjberg79 said:


> How nice of you to take your niece all by yourself and take care of her like that, it must be nice for her parents to get a break.
> 
> I've done other After Hours events... this one was not even close. This felt more like a Holiday party crowd than it did an After Hours event. After Hours usually is like walking on to rides or waiting maybe 5 minutes. Holiday parties you are going to be waiting 20-30 minutes. I can go in circles with you over and over again but were you even at this? Were you there? I'm not backing down, this event was not low wait. And I wasn't going to complain to Disney about it but you've got me wasting so much time arguing with you about this that I might as well call them up and submit my photos of their long lines to them. Thank you for inspiring my spite  Have a wonderful day!


Thank you!

Glad I could help. I hope things work out better on your next visit, and I hope you have a great day also.


----------



## ninafeliz

Has anyone who had an AP and attended the nights prior to them having the special AP ornament successfully gotten one in the mail?  I did an online chat a couple of weeks ago and was told (incorrectly I suspect) that they were mailing them out to everyone in that situation.  I thought I had read that some people called and had them mailed.  I'm trying to decide if i care enough to call the AP line and attempt, or if I should just figure we missed out.  I know a call isn't a big deal, but I hate making them and suspect I'll be told no and that will just irritate me since i thought it was possible, so I thought I would ask here first.


----------



## 123SA

I don’t understand the getting in line for pirates at 950. Get in the standby line? Or hang near the FP line?


----------



## HopperFan

123SA said:


> I don’t understand the getting in line for pirates at 950. Get in the standby line? Or hang near the FP line?



If you are a day guest and you wait to get in the Standby Line of Pirates just before park closing (as is allowed) then you were pretty much guaranteed to get to see the live pirates that are provided for those who paid big bucks to see them.  Then the line continued to be LONG all night.  

On this one I think they should close the line early for "maintenance" "event conversion" so that it was clear of day guests.  Same with Space Mountain.  

It was simply too easy for non-paying guests to enjoy components many paid dearly for ... Disney needs to clear the park as this was more like a party than it was a normal DAH.


----------



## AngiTN

123SA said:


> I don’t understand the getting in line for pirates at 950. Get in the standby line? Or hang near the FP line?


There's a place where the let everyone attending VAH gather separately from the regular line. You can stand there till they've made the switch over to the special version. The CM will direct you, just ask


----------



## KangaFan

Does anyone know if Villains guests were allowed to use the FP line for Pirates once it's switched?


----------



## Haley R

KangaFan said:


> Does anyone know if Villains guests were allowed to use the FP line for Pirates once it's switched?


They created a whole new line for VAH guests when we went


----------



## KangaFan

Haley R said:


> They created a whole new line for VAH guests when we went


Did you get to bypass the regular line then?


----------



## Haley R

KangaFan said:


> Did you get to bypass the regular line then?


I believe what they did was load the opposite side with just VAH guests. I might be wrong but I think that’s what happened. So they used one side for day guests and loaded the other side with VAH guests


----------



## bocaj1431

sjberg79 said:


> I hear this but we were there from 6pm on and we were not wasting time on snacks. We'd get them and move on. And watching Maleficent literally took 5 minutes, we got there right as it started and she passed us right away and then we moved on. The only thing we did "wrong" was leaving at 12:30 but you can try taking my autistic ADHD 5 year old with you sometime and walk a few Disney miles in my shoes and then let me know what time you need to leave at. Also, have fun waiting in those "only 20-30" minute lines with him and then let me know what you think of them then. While you CAN request DAS even during events our own experience is when you do most of the cast members are not prepared for it and they will give you a super hard time so it's just better not to (even though I've spoken to guest services multiple times and they have assured me I can, my experiences have taught me not to during after hours, EMM, Halloween/Christmas parties because the cast members do not seem to be on the same page as guest services).
> 
> I know you didn't mean it disrespectful but it's easy to tell people about their "mistakes". I didn't make "mistakes", I'm an experienced Mother of a special needs child and I do all my planning around him and his needs and I booked this event based on what Disney was selling as a "low wait" event. I didn't find that here on the night we went. It sounds like others who were there the same night had a similar experience to us and they didn't even have a special needs child with them so *maybe* Disney just messed up on this one.



I sympathize with you!  I also have a son with Autism and trying to manage all the challenges a parent faces that go along with a trip to DW can be daunting no matter how much you plan ahead.  There have been times I have left a park trying so hard to hold back the tears over the difficulty of dealing with the challenging behaviors due to his Autism.  

When I saw another thread discussing DAH experiences with hardly any waits,  I thought that’s perfect, we can finally go back to MK.  Although my son has always desired going to MK, he just could not handle the crowds and the pushing, which is weird because he does not have that problem with any other parks.  So over the years We simply avoid MK.  But seeing the videos and the positive reviews a while back and reading on the DW site that there are “little wait times and limited number of guests,” I decided to buy tickets.  We booked Aug 22.  

Now there is this thread with MANY people, who have unfortunately had similar experiences to your own. When spending the amount of time and money most do on a trip to DW and things fall apart it can be so frustrating.  Especially when some of that can be attributed to DWs handling of aspects of the event.  

I am thankful for your sharing the experiences you had with this event.  Now I won’t go into the event expecting low wait times and extremely low crowds as advertised and previously experienced by others in the past.   I have made some changes to our plan based on what has been shared which will hopefully help.  I hope the rest of your trip was more enjoyable for you and your family.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

bocaj1431 said:


> I sympathize with you!  I also have a son with Autism and trying to manage all the challenges a parent faces that go along with a trip to DW can be daunting no matter how much you plan ahead.  There have been times I have left a park trying so hard to hold back the tears over the difficulty of dealing with the challenging behaviors due to his Autism.
> 
> When I saw another thread discussing DAH experiences with hardly any waits,  I thought that’s perfect, we can finally go back to MK.  Although my son has always desired going to MK, he just could not handle the crowds and the pushing, which is weird because he does not have that problem with any other parks.  So over the years We simply avoid MK.  But seeing the videos and the positive reviews a while back and reading on the DW site that there are “little wait times and limited number of guests,” I decided to buy tickets.  We booked Aug 22.
> 
> Now there is this thread with MANY people, who have unfortunately had similar experiences to your own. When spending the amount of time and money most do on a trip to DW and things fall apart it can be so frustrating.  Especially when some of that can be attributed to DWs handling of aspects of the event.
> 
> I am thankful for your sharing the experiences you had with this event.  Now I won’t go into the event expecting low wait times and extremely low crowds as advertised and previously experienced by others in the past.   I have made some changes to our plan based on what has been shared which will hopefully help.  I hope the rest of your trip was more enjoyable for you and your family.



You may know this but I just want to be sure, the poster your quoted was posting about their experience at Villains After Hours.  Your 8/22 date is regular Disney After Hours.   By most accounts the Villains After Hours events have “felt” and operated differently than regular DAH - lumpier crowds around the park, some rides have more of a wait, etc.  

Not that every person who attends a regular DAH comes back with glowing reviews either, but in my mind from the ebbs and flows of posts around here, while they are relatives, they aren’t the same event.  

Again, you may already know that and your post had other intent, just making sure.


----------



## bocaj1431

GADisneyDad14 said:


> You may know this but I just want to be sure, the poster your quoted was posting about their experience at Villains After Hours.  Your 8/22 date is regular Disney After Hours.   By most accounts the Villains After Hours events have “felt” and operated differently than regular DAH - lumpier crowds around the park, some rides have more of a wait, etc.
> 
> Not that every person who attends a regular DAH comes back with glowing reviews either, but in my mind from the ebbs and flows of posts around here, while they are relatives, they aren’t the same event.
> 
> Again, you may already know that and your post had other intent, just making sure.


Thank you for letting me know.  I haven’t been exactly sure with many of the reviews which are Villains or not.  Hopefully we will be lucky!  For us it’s mainly being able to walk through the park without the pushing, major congestion and bottlenecking.  I’m not sure why but at MK it is so bad.  My son just doesn’t know where to step when it’s like that and he gets so anxious.


----------



## preemiemama

bocaj1431 said:


> Thank you for letting me know.  I haven’t been exactly sure with many of the reviews which are Villains or not.  Hopefully we will be lucky!  For us it’s mainly being able to walk through the park without the pushing, major congestion and bottlenecking.  I’m not sure why but at MK it is so bad.  My son just doesn’t know where to step when it’s like that and he gets so anxious.



Even with the Villains event, there was not the same issue with crowding as you are describing.  It was "crowded" for an after hours event where many of us expected a near-empty park, but it was not crowded like MK can get on a daily basis. ( I say this while comparing it to the "free" EMH the night before where the crowding was so bad we decided to leave within an hour of them starting.) Villains was *not* as crowded, and based on what @GADisneyDad14 and others have said, the regular DAH you are going to attend should be even less so.  I hope you have a great time, and that your son enjoys his return to the MK!


----------



## Mrjoshua

KangaFan said:


> Did you get to bypass the regular line then?


I did it on July 1, and here's how it worked. We walked into the Pirates entrance at 9:50pm, and asked to wait for the VAH version. A castmember escorted us over to a separate line, to the left of the normal entrance. We were 5th and 6th in line. At 10pm, another castmember let us proceed. We got into the first boat with the other folks at the front of our line. We didn't come across any non event guests. According to the timestamp on one of my pictures, we were across the way, eating Hades nachos at Tortuga Tavern by 10:15pm.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

That's great information regarding the Pirates entrances - thanks, folks! Does anyone know if there is a similar set-up for Space? We're not sure which side of the park we're going to start yet...


----------



## HopperFan

Haley R said:


> I believe what they did was load the opposite side with just VAH guests. I might be wrong but I think that’s what happened. *So they used one side for day guests and loaded the other side with VAH guests*





Mrjoshua said:


> I did it on July 1, and here's how it worked. We walked into the Pirates entrance at *9:50pm, and asked to wait for the VAH version.* *A castmember escorted us over to a separate line, to the left of the normal entrance*. We were 5th and 6th in line. *At 10pm, another castmember let us proceed*. We got into the first boat with the other folks at the front of our line. We didn't come across any non event guests. According to the timestamp on one of my pictures, we were across the way, eating Hades nachos at Tortuga Tavern by 10:15pm.



So if they were still loading all those who jumped in SB by 10 pm on one side and VAH on other side ............ that would mean that either those who didn't pay got to experience the live pirates OR those who did pay, didn't?


----------



## TheFloatingBear

HopperFan said:


> So if they were still loading all those who jumped in SB by 10 pm on one side and VAH on other side ............ *that would mean that either those who didn't pay got to experience the live pirates OR those who did pay, didn't?*



I was wondering the same thing!


----------



## Haley R

HopperFan said:


> So if they were still loading all those who jumped in SB by 10 pm on one side and VAH on other side ............ that would mean that either those who didn't pay got to experience the live pirates OR those who did pay, didn't?


If the guests were still in line after 10 pm then yes they were able to watch the live pirates. They started us going through the line right at 10 and the live pirates were there.


----------



## 123SA

Haley R said:


> If the guests were still in line after 10 pm then yes they were able to watch the live pirates. They started us going through the line right at 10 and the live pirates were there.



Honestly this sucks. I wish they had the buffer. This event costs $700 plus tax for my family. Seems wrong that others get some of  it for free


----------



## Chickinvic

123SA said:


> Honestly this sucks. I wish they had the buffer. This event costs $700 plus tax for my family. Seems wrong that others get some of  it for free



Why? They paid for a full day at the park. You are allowed to get in line before park closing. Would you rather they wait until 11PM to start the "special" stuff just to make sure that nobody who didn't pay for the party gets to see anything?


----------



## 123SA

Chickinvic said:


> Why? They paid for a full day at the park. You are allowed to get in line before park closing. Would you rather they wait until 11PM to start the "special" stuff just to make sure that nobody who didn't pay for the party gets to see anything?



Yes. I’d rather there be a buffer of half hour to clear the parks

Yes I don’t think people who didn’t pay should have access to the special event. 

No I don’t think the day guests time should be cut short.  Hence the buffer to allow day guests to have a full day.


----------



## Mrjoshua

TheFloatingBear said:


> That's great information regarding the Pirates entrances - thanks, folks! Does anyone know if there is a similar set-up for Space? We're not sure which side of the park we're going to start yet...


We started at Space Mountain for the June 27 VAH. That night, similar to a regular MK AH that I attended, they opened up the fastpass line for VAH guests at 10pm sharp. This is worth waiting for, as there are usually a large number of day guests still in line for the ride. Using the fastpass line will allow you to breeze past the majority of them. There may still be a wait, but nothing horrific (depending on your definition). We finally merged in with the day guests at the snake line portion where you can see people boarding the ride. Probably a 10 minute wait?  I can confirm that many guests, who did not purchase VAH tickets, were able to ride the Villains Space Trip version of Space Mountain.


----------



## Aurora2017

Can you use snack credits on the DDP for the special snacks at the VAH? TIA!


----------



## Mrjoshua

Aurora2017 said:


> Can you use snack credits on the DDP for the special snacks at the VAH? TIA!


I think the little boxes in this photo are indicating dining plan snack credit.


----------



## AngiTN

123SA said:


> Honestly this sucks. I wish they had the buffer. This event costs $700 plus tax for my family. Seems wrong that others get some of  it for free


Honestly, having 2 live pirates is not giving them access to the event. The event starts late enough as it is, it doesn't need to start later anymore than the guests should have to leave any earlier. The cross over on the rides is of no consequence and doesn't diminish from my enjoyment of the paid event in any way shape or form. If they gave them free ice cream or soda that would be very different.


----------



## bocaj1431

123SA said:


> Yes. I’d rather there be a buffer of half hour to clear the parks
> 
> Yes I don’t think people who didn’t pay should have access to the special event.
> 
> No I don’t think the day guests time should be cut short.  Hence the buffer to allow day guests to have a full day.



I agree!


----------



## 123SA

Here for Villains.  It is crazy crowded. Fast pass line for Space at 730 took 20 minutes.  No more FP available for any rides.  Is this a glitch?  I’ve never seen that happen.  It is raining really hard right now.


----------



## AngiTN

The cross over time between park closing and the party is the heaviest part of the night. FP go quickly too, since you have both day guests and party guests who can book them. It can only get better, if you feel like sticking it out.


----------



## 123SA

AngiTN said:


> The cross over time between park closing and the party is the heaviest part of the night. FP go quickly too, since you have both day guests and party guests who can book them. It can only get better, if you feel like sticking it out.



I was able to get Small world as a 4th

We are at Pirates now , 945, but they said it’s not starting until 1015.  I can’t decide whether or not to wait


----------



## GADisneyDad14

123SA said:


> I was able to get Small world as a 4th
> 
> We are at Pirates now , 945, but they said it’s not starting until 1015.  I can’t decide whether or not to wait



I wouldn’t.  Hit it later.  Go do easy stuff (if so inclined) and let the event get going, day crowd start heading out, etc.


----------



## AngiTN

123SA said:


> I was able to get Small world as a 4th
> 
> We are at Pirates now , 945, but they said it’s not starting until 1015.  I can’t decide whether or not to wait


Honestly, I would not wait. Move on to some rides you can knock out quickly. Circle back to Pirates if you want. It will be shorter later


----------



## 123SA

We waited.  The outer queue was entirely filled. They started us in at 10:03 but we are held now at loading. A pirate jumped out and DD screamed so loud. My heart is still racing!!


----------



## maui2k5

Walked out of pirates just now as Villains was starting and they announced 45 min wait for the overlay - wow! We are not attending and just headed out of the MK...  They let day guest stay at the end of Main Street so they could still see the show at the castle and the lighting on Main Street. Kind of sealed our decision not to buy tickets for the last event.  It was very crowded for $150 each...


----------



## 123SA

It’s going great tonight.   By 11 we rode pirates and haunted mansion.  Two snacks. Scar hades oogie boogie and castles photos. Kids are on space now. Posted at 5 minutes but they’ve been gone about 15 now


----------



## KangaFan

123SA said:


> It’s going great tonight.   By 11 we rode pirates and haunted mansion.  Two snacks. Scar hades oogie boogie and castles photos. Kids are on space now. Posted at 5 minutes but they’ve been gone about 15 now


Thanks for sharing! Were there a lot of villains guests waiting at 9:45 for Pirates?


----------



## 123SA

KangaFan said:


> Thanks for sharing! Were there a lot of villains guests waiting at 9:45 for Pirates?



The entire outer queue was filled. A crazy number waiting. We got in line just in time. We were in the first row of the outer queue. Maybe the fourth boat. They waited until 1015 to start. It was neat but not worth a giant wait 

The castle is really cool


----------



## 123SA

Space took 20 minutes.  In line at 11:05 

We stopped for photo outside space, bowler hat photo wall near buzz, buzz twice, snacks again, maleficent magic shot, big thunder twice. Could have done another ride or two but headed to castle for show.


----------



## 123SA

Show was neat. Dragon was okay. It spat fire only once in the hub  By the time we got to front villains went inside.

The transportation is a hot mess. The trams stop at 2, but there are hundreds of people waiting for a ferry that will not get them there by 2am. I loathe magic kingdom transportation.  I start and end magic Kingdom days in a bad mood and left with a bad impression


----------



## Mrjoshua

123SA said:


> Space took 20 minutes.  In line at 11:05
> 
> We stopped for photo outside space, bowler hat photo wall near buzz, buzz twice, snacks again, maleficent magic shot, big thunder twice. Could have done another ride or two but headed to castle for show.


Wow! That sounds like a good time... 
If I'm not mistaken, you did 7 rides, all 4 Magic Shots, castle pictures, Bowler Hat Guy picture, multiple snacks, Maleficent AND the stage show!!! 

I hope you had fun, and thank you for sharing your experience along the way!


----------



## 123SA

SOrry. Not a photo with the bowler hat guy. Just a wall, like a billboard near buzz

It took a full hour, no exaggeration, to get to my car in the parking lot — really leaving me with bad feelings about WDW altogether


----------



## Mrjoshua

123SA said:


> SOrry. Not a photo with the bowler hat guy. Just a wall, like a billboard near buzz
> 
> It took a full hour, no exaggeration, to get to my car in the parking lot — really leaving me with bad feelings about WDW altogether


No worries... I knew it was just a backdrop, but you accomplished a lot of stuff in one night. Good for you!

I'm sorry about the parking lot debacle. I hope the party was good for you!


----------



## kylenne

123SA said:


> Show was neat. Dragon was okay. It spat fire only once in the hub  By the time we got to front villains went inside.
> 
> The transportation is a hot mess. The trams stop at 2, but there are hundreds of people waiting for a ferry that will not get them there by 2am. I loathe magic kingdom transportation.  I start and end magic Kingdom days in a bad mood and left with a bad impression



This just cemented the decision I made to walk over to CR and catch a Lyft at the end of the night.


----------



## Kyhome

Went to Villains last night-Disney vets, probably about 15 trips in the last 12 years. First AH event and we were impressed, was worried because of these reviews but we got a lot in. 

Got in a little after 6:30-had 3 FP to Meet Mickey, Space, 7DMT with Little Mermaid, Speedway, Buzz and People Mover mixed in as walk ons in between (5-10 min wait for each).  One extra FP to Dumbo. 

From 10pm on-got snacks, Pirates, Splash, Big Thunder, snacks again, Peter Pan, Speedway, Space, Buzz. We walked by a show but didn’t stay to watch. Walkways never felt crowded, it was very easy to get from one side of the park to the other. Longest waits were for Pirates and Space but everything else was pretty much a walk on or under 10 minutes.

We walked out a little after 1:00 and our bus was waiting, I know we got lucky. Back to resort around 1:30, on way to EMH now. 

I would do an AH again based on this-fun and different vibe-and I think every day at Disney is partially what you make of it! Go out and enjoy!


----------



## winnieofpooh

Random question, but one of our friends asked us to pick him up an After Hours pin. We're going to a regular AH and I wasn't aware of any exclusive pins just for the regular after hours (only exclusive merch for VAH). Anyone know of exclusive pins for regular AH?


----------



## Haley R

winnieofpooh said:


> Random question, but one of our friends asked us to pick him up an After Hours pin. We're going to a regular AH and I wasn't aware of any exclusive pins just for the regular after hours (only exclusive merch for VAH). Anyone know of exclusive pins for regular AH?


There isn’t any merch for the regular after hours event.


----------



## AngiTN

123SA said:


> It’s going great tonight.   By 11 we rode pirates and haunted mansion.  Two snacks. Scar hades oogie boogie and castles photos. Kids are on space now. Posted at 5 minutes but they’ve been gone about 15 now


Glad to hear things improved for your night. Sounds like the crowds last night mirrored the night we went. 
Transportation out was the one low point ours too. Though we were taking a bus, not driving. MK is the worse place to drive to, no question.


----------



## Aurora2017

Glad to hear some positive reviews about the crowds last night. We are still excited about Aug 8th. It will be our first After hours so hopefully we will enjoy it. I didn't know if anyone saw that the party on Aug 8th will get early previews for some of the merchandise for haunted mansions 50th anniversary that will be on Aug 9th! I am looking forward to getting something! I love Haunted Mansion!


----------



## kylenne

Aurora2017 said:


> Glad to hear some positive reviews about the crowds last night. We are still excited about Aug 8th. It will be our first After hours so hopefully we will enjoy it. I didn't know if anyone saw that the party on Aug 8th will get early previews for some of the merchandise for haunted mansions 50th anniversary that will be on Aug 9th! I am looking forward to getting something! I love Haunted Mansion!



Ahhhhh so exciting!!! Now I know what to bring home for my other half! (It’s her favorite ride ever).


----------



## arg12

Fiance and I did DAH at Magic Kingdom, we never did the VAH, but I honestly think we wouldn't after some of the reviews. First, DAH and VAH are obviously very different crowd wise and second we don't really stick around to watch shows. We just like to walk around and ride rides! DAH @ MK was great! The longest we waited was 10 minutes for astro orbiter and that was because the CM kept letting the right line go 3x in a row and kept forgetting about the left side. Other than that, we walked onto every ride. The park was empty and we got so many pictures in front of the castle with no one in sight. The other long lines were for the free snacks and drinks, but we ate beforehand and didn't need to wait for any of that. We are going again in September and can't wait! My suggestion is, if you are looking to ride as many rides possible with little to no wait, do DAH not VAH. Also, when the event starts, don't start with the bigger rides (7DMT, SM, BTMR) because the people who aren't apart of the event can get into line 1 minute before park closing.  I would suggest doing the bigger rides about an hour, an hour and half into the event when the lines have gone down and the people without the event ticket are leaving the park


----------



## FoxC63

Disney has just announced that Walt Disney World guests will be able to join in on the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Disneyland’s version of *The Haunted Mansion* on August 9th. 

While all guests will have access to this merchandise starting with the special event on August 9,* guests attending Disney Villain After Hours on August 8 *will have access to certain items in advance. 

LINK


----------



## BrianL

So, I was there last night as well. Just some quick impressions since I am on my phone, but generally I was pleased. The stage show is GREAT and that alone made me feel good about it. Wait times weren't bad but not great. Space was posted at 25 but probably took closer to 35. I did it just before 1am stage show. I did make it out in time, but I wish I had just soaked up more atmosphere.

Anyway, i think it was about in line with my expectations. My biggest complaint was that the sodas weren't cold! I really needed a Diet Coke by then because I don't like paying 4 bucks for them. It'd better if they had Zero too.


----------



## 123SA

More updates from last night. Sorry for so many posts.   My teens said villains show is their favorite.  DH and I liked it as well.  The castle projections are so cool. 

 We’re going again on August 8. This time I plan to watch show twice while kids are on rides, and see Malificent earlier.  I forgot to look for merchandise— I wanted the hades cup.   I definitely want to stay longer to see villains at exit.  Any suggestions?


----------



## BrianL

123SA said:


> More updates from last night. Sorry for so many posts.   My teens said villains show is their favorite.  DH and I liked it as well.  The castle projections are so cool.
> 
> We’re going again on August 8. This time I plan to watch show twice while kids are on rides, and see Malificent earlier.  I forgot to look for merchandise— I wanted the hades cup.   I definitely want to stay longer to see villains at exit.  Any suggestions?



I had heard mediocre stuff about the show, but I loved it. Those fire twirlers! It was just great. I almost wish I had watched it twice.


----------



## Haley R

BrianL said:


> So, I was there last night as well. Just some quick impressions since I am on my phone, but generally I was pleased. The stage show is GREAT and that alone made me feel good about it. Wait times weren't bad but not great. Space was posted at 25 but probably took closer to 35. I did it just before 1am stage show. I did make it out in time, but I wish I had just soaked up more atmosphere.
> 
> Anyway, i think it was about in line with my expectations. My biggest complaint was that the sodas weren't cold! I really needed a Diet Coke by then because I don't like paying 4 bucks for them. It'd better if they had Zero too.


I wish they had Coke Zero too!


----------



## PolyRob

BrianL said:


> It'd better if they had Zero too.





Haley R said:


> I wish they had Coke Zero too!


I may have purchased a Coke Zero with a Mickey sipper from Casey’s during my VAH in addition to the Diet Cokes


----------



## dancergirlsmom

123SA said:


> More updates from last night. Sorry for so many posts.   My teens said villains show is their favorite.  DH and I liked it as well.  The castle projections are so cool.
> 
> We’re going again on August 8. This time I plan to watch show twice while kids are on rides, and see Malificent earlier.  I forgot to look for merchandise— I wanted the hades cup.   I definitely want to stay longer to see villains at exit.  Any suggestions?



We will be there too and are very excited.  I have read mixed reviews depending on the night but expect to have a great time regardless.   We have FP+ for 7DMT and BTMRR before the party.  Unless the wait is low, I am not even going to bother with Space Mountain.  Just hoping the weather holds out! and I can't forget my AP ornament : ).


----------



## heath92681

We flew in just for the Villains AH event on 8/1 and for some relaxing/pool time. We did not do any other parks this trip. I was nervous based on recent reviews, but we ended up having a great night. I took notes on my phone throughout the night to try to provide accurate info for those on the fence for the last event.  Here are my notes:

Arrived at 6:50
FP Thunder Mountain 7:00
Mickey cake at Pecos Bills (super spicy, by the way!)
FP Space Mountain (this was the longest FP line I've ever seen! Took 20 min, but it was POURING when we got off)
FP 7DMT
Tea Cups
Splash Mountain (during end of HEA, cool to see fireworks from top of ride!)
FP Carpets
Pirates (posted 10 min, actual walk-on)
Haunted Mansion (9:55, posted 20, actual 10min)
Snacks
Thunder Mountain (20 min)
Snacks/Picture
Buzz (11:04 walk-on)
Speedway (11:12, 7 min)
Bathroom
Barnstormer x2 (11:30, walk-on and able to stay on for a 2nd ride)
Dumbo (11:37, walk-on)
Picture
7DMT (11:50, posted 25 min, actual 20 min)
Peter Pan (12:22, posted 5 min, actual 8 min)
Pooh (12:34, walk-on)
Watched the DJ at the castle (he was great, energetic till the end)
Villains Show 1:00 (my kids loved this)
Malificent
Pictures in front of castle
Saw the villains at the exit
Left at 1:45, bus was loading when we got to it, back at Beach Club by 2:15

Would have squeezed in one last ride, but decided to head to the hub and try to grab one last popcorn at the stand next to the hub. The person in front of me got the last one, as they ran out of containers. That was the only bummer.

There were lots of CM checking bands at the start of the event and probably until at least 10:30. There were also multiple CM in suits/dress clothes with iPads taking notes - not sure if this is due to complaints, or what they were observing. The snacks were plentiful and lines for snacks moved quickly. Never thought I'd end up bringing water home from Disney!

We have done MVMCP twice, but this was our first AH. There were plenty of people around, and the park didn't feel empty, but it didn't feel too crowded, even at the hub. People were for the most part respectful and didn't annoy us, which can easily happen during a regular day at MK. Based on our experience, I would definitely do AH again.


----------



## Shellbells

We added a night to our trip and we now have Sept 26 100% free for a resort day at BC. We're switching to CS on the 27th for our vacation package, so no park tickets on the 26th. 

During our whole trip, we're only going to MK once, for the MNSSHP on the 29th. 

I was thinking about buying AH for the 26th so we could do MK twice but the reviews are scaring me. We'll have to buy 4 tickets and I don't want to spend that much money just to stand in long lines.

Should we skip it?

Right now, the plan is to eat lunch at 11 at Homecomin' and then spend the rest of the day at the pool. I'm sure the boys will be done with the pool by 7 and we could spend the evening at MK. The boys are 16 and 12. What would you guys do?


----------



## ninafeliz

Shellbells said:


> We added a night to our trip and we now have Sept 26 100% free for a resort day at BC. We're switching to CS on the 27th for our vacation package, so no park tickets on the 26th.
> 
> During our whole trip, we're only going to MK once, for the MNSSHP on the 29th.
> 
> I was thinking about buying AH for the 26th so we could do MK twice but the reviews are scaring me. We'll have to buy 4 tickets and I don't want to spend that much money just to stand in long lines.
> 
> Should we skip it?
> 
> Right now, the plan is to eat lunch at 11 at Homecomin' and then spend the rest of the day at the pool. I'm sure the boys will be done with the pool by 7 and we could spend the evening at MK. The boys are 16 and 12. What would you guys do?


I would do after hours, particularly if you think you would be done at the pool anyway.  I do love pool/resort days, and find that mentally if we have plans later in the day it seems to somehow "shorten" or negatively impact our pool days, but even so I would still do it.  I reported earlier that I liked the experience and the crowds better from our regular DAH than the VAH, but it's all relative lol.  I still really enjoyed the VAH and would do it again if offered again in the same form.


----------



## Mrjoshua

123SA said:


> More updates from last night. Sorry for so many posts.   My teens said villains show is their favorite.  DH and I liked it as well.  The castle projections are so cool.
> 
> We’re going again on August 8. This time I plan to watch show twice while kids are on rides, and see Malificent earlier.  I forgot to look for merchandise— I wanted the hades cup.   I definitely want to stay longer to see villains at exit.  Any suggestions?


I'd try to pick up merch early. The participating stores seem to put it out between 6 & 7pm. 

I'd recommend going to the last 2 shows, if you want to see it twice, while also checking out Maleficent early. Stake out a good spot closer to the castle, at the hub, before 11:45. Maleficent will make her way around, before returning to Frontierland. Stay for the 12am show immediately after. After the show, around 12:20, grab food, use the bathrooms, reunite with family, ride another ride... etc. Be back to stake out a spot for the 1am show (not hard to do) a few minutes beforehand. 

If seeing Maleficent once is good for you, I would beat Maleficent down Main Street immediately after the second show. This will allow you to check out the Train Station villains for a few minutes before Maleficent and a large group of people make it to Town Square (the exits). Beating this group will probably make it easier to return to your vehicle or shuttle or boat. 

If you want to see Maleficent twice also, I'd still recommend going to the Town Square area immediately after the 1am show. Doing so gives you a great view of Maleficent, and the Train Station villains will entertain you while you wait.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Mrjoshua said:


> *We started at Space Mountain for the June 27 VAH. That night, similar to a regular MK AH that I attended, they opened up the fastpass line for VAH guests at 10pm sharp.* This is worth waiting for, as there are usually a large number of day guests still in line for the ride. Using the fastpass line will allow you to breeze past the majority of them. There may still be a wait, but nothing horrific (depending on your definition). We finally merged in with the day guests at the snake line portion where you can see people boarding the ride. Probably a 10 minute wait?  I can confirm that many guests, who did not purchase VAH tickets, were able to ride the Villains Space Trip version of Space Mountain.



Thanks - good to know about Space.  We still haven't decided where we want to start; we'll probably need to see how things go earlier in the week at MK to see if it changes our priorities!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Shellbells said:


> We added a night to our trip and we now have Sept 26 100% free for a resort day at BC. We're switching to CS on the 27th for our vacation package, so no park tickets on the 26th.
> 
> During our whole trip, we're only going to MK once, for the MNSSHP on the 29th.
> 
> I was thinking about buying AH for the 26th so we could do MK twice but the reviews are scaring me. We'll have to buy 4 tickets and I don't want to spend that much money just to stand in long lines.
> 
> Should we skip it?
> 
> Right now, the plan is to eat lunch at 11 at Homecomin' and then spend the rest of the day at the pool. I'm sure the boys will be done with the pool by 7 and we could spend the evening at MK. The boys are 16 and 12. What would you guys do?



Since your date is regular Disney After Hours, not Villains After Hours, I really wouldn't pay much attention to the recent posts on this thread. 

Regular DAH starts up again 8/22. 

Granted things were different last year, but I did the 9/20 DAH (the only DAH offered in Sept last year) and it was a great night.  Although it made me really dislike the MNSSHP crowds we experienced the following night!


----------



## Shellbells

ninafeliz said:


> I would do after hours, particularly if you think you would be done at the pool anyway.  I do love pool/resort days, and find that mentally if we have plans later in the day it seems to somehow "shorten" or negatively impact our pool days, but even so I would still do it.  I reported earlier that I liked the experience and the crowds better from our regular DAH than the VAH, but it's all relative lol.  I still really enjoyed the VAH and would do it again if offered again in the same form.


You raise a good point. If we know we have to be ready at a certain time, it might have a negative impact on pool time. I didn't even consider that. The boys might also be exhausted from being in the pool all day. 



GADisneyDad14 said:


> Since your date is regular Disney After Hours, not Villains After Hours, I really wouldn't pay much attention to the recent posts on this thread.
> 
> Regular DAH starts up again 8/22.
> 
> Granted things were different last year, but I did the 9/20 DAH (the only DAH offered in Sept last year) and it was a great night.  Although it made me really dislike the MNSSHP crowds we experienced the following night!



You also raise a good point! Right now we are only going to MK for MNSSHP. If the crowds are crazy that night we probably won't have time for everything we want to do. 
Ugh! Such a dilemma.


----------



## MomRN

We also flew in for the 8-1 VAH.

First, this whole trip was delays from the getgo.  Horrible traffic to the airport, getting us there about 30 mins later than I wanted.  But then... a two hour flighy delay that had us arriving in MCO at 12:30am... and it went from there.

We ate at 1900 Park Fare beforehand and my husband made a wrong turn getting MK.  Go through security, monorail, and he decides to get a smoke.  This is right at 630ish, as people are being let in.  We wait for him.  He smokes, has to go back through security and has a pocket knife on him.  I have no idea what possessed him to do that, but it took a few minutes to figure out what ticket was his in case the magicband didn't work, and then he went back to the car to drop off his knife.  I took the kids to our first fast pass, Splash.  By the time we were done it was time for HM, but since he was on his way we waited for him (10 mins).  After that it was pouring.  Walked to our 3rd fast pass, meeting Mickey and Minnie (niece's first time to Disney)

Then got caught in the line because I wanted a Villains cup.  I should have waited, but we were there waiting for HEA and wasnt sure what supplies were like. Watched that, went to Space.  Had to be an hour for that.  All the day guests headed there to see the overlay also.  Mind you, when we first approached the line it said 15 mins... kept going up as we stood there.

Quick snack, then Buzz.  After Buzz, 7dmt.  Breakdown while in line, so that took 45 mins.  Hit up bathroom and IASM.  Niece really wanted to do Haunted mansion again, so  really wanted to do Big thunder... thought we could get them both in and the end of the night show... didn't.  Niece got her ride but it would have cut too close to do TM...

So we rode Pirates and then went to the hub for the show and maleficient.

I blame my own luck, choices, and stupid husband for the way the night went... but I was disappointed.  I did not love the show.  Maleficent was meh.  The Halloween Party is much, much better.

For those wondering, drove to Tampa the following day to spend 1.5 days at Clearwater.  The .5 was spent in traffic getting there because of weather, wrecks, and poor timing.  Delays.

And... if your playing along... our 7am flight this morning was delayed due to a sleepy head flight attendant.

First world problems.


----------



## Shellbells

We finally decided. Count us in on Sept. 26th! And I was even able to make 2 fast passes between 7 and 9!
Oddly enough, when I looked for FP's. There were 2 times available for 7 dwarves mine train at 8:05 and 8:55 ( If I remember the exact times correctly) Although, none between 7 and 9.
I'm hoping that means there will be light crowds for our trip.


----------



## mcurrence

Shellbells said:


> We finally decided. Count us in on Sept. 26th! And I was even able to make 2 fast passes between 7 and 9!
> Oddly enough, when I looked for FP's. There were 2 times available for 7 dwarves mine train at 8:05 and 8:55 ( If I remember the exact times correctly) Although, none between 7 and 9.
> I'm hoping that means there will be light crowds for our trip.


You won’t regret it  we’re also going on the 26ththis will be our fifth MK AH . Hoping things will be back to “normal” after villains!!


----------



## monorailrabbit

Thought I'd come back and share our VAH experience. While we loved it, it was a 1 and done for us. Our hopes that MK would be slower that day didn't hold true - it was PACKED! The rain towards the evening thinned out crowds a bit, but the day was just crazy! During the party, we were able to see Maleficent twice (OMG amazing!!), the show at 11, Space (went during the 1st show. Wait was posted at 10, jumped to 40 by the time we were under the sign, and actual wait was around 30 mins), BTMRR 2X, (15 mins each time), and shopping. We ended up leaving around 12:30 because we were tired and it still felt crowded - nothing we saw was ever less than 15 mins. Some rides certainly could have been, we just may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time  I enjoyed my first after dark experience, but prefer the MNSSHP, it really felt like something was missing by not having characters.


----------



## Haley R

monorailrabbit said:


> Thought I'd come back and share our VAH experience. While we loved it, it was a 1 and done for us. Our hopes that MK would be slower that day didn't hold true - it was PACKED! The rain towards the evening thinned out crowds a bit, but the day was just crazy! During the party, we were able to see Maleficent twice (OMG amazing!!), the show at 11, Space (went during the 1st show. Wait was posted at 10, jumped to 40 by the time we were under the sign, and actual wait was around 30 mins), BTMRR 2X, (15 mins each time), and shopping. We ended up leaving around 12:30 because we were tired and it still felt crowded - nothing we saw was ever less than 15 mins. Some rides certainly could have been, we just may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time  I enjoyed my first after dark experience, but prefer the MNSSHP, it really felt like something was missing by not having characters.


15 minutes for BTMR is pretty bad in my opinion. We've always had 5 minutes or less for that one during DAH and VAH


----------



## Sarahslay

I just got home at midnight last night from our trip where my DD and I attended the 8/1 VAH event. We both LOVED the event and thought the crowd level was good and had an amazing time. We didn't take time out to go get treats/food since we had the HEA dessert party right before and so we were able to get a ton of stuff done. I let her control what rides we went on so we did skip Space, but we did ride through on the people mover twice to hear the villians voices and she loved it. So here is our list of stuff we rode from when we got in at 6:35pm for the party.

Before party with FP:
Pirates (she wasn't too keen on going on it with any actors, it kinda freaked her out so we did it before)
Haunted Mansion
SDMT
Buzz
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (to get out of the rain before the fireworks)

*watched HEA from the plaza viewing area and then went to the after fireworks dessert party*

During the party in order:
Buzz
People mover
Tomorrowland Speedway
Splash
Big Thunder
saw Maleficent as we walked through frontierland just by chance
Small World (personally wouldn't have chosen it, but she wanted to so ok lol)
Barnstormer x2 (they let us stay on, we would have ridden again but DD gets motion sick and needed a break)
Dumbo
drinks, bathroom, and light shopping break
People mover
SDMT
caught the 1:00 stage show on our way out by chance, we hadn't planned to see it but stopped to watch
enjoyed hecklers as we made our way to the monorail to head back to GF

The only thing we had to wait for at all was SDMT which actually wasn't as bad as the CMs said it was, they came on the intercom and said it would be a 55 min wait right after we got in line but we were on and off in about 25 minutes and left the ride right as they closed the line at 1.  We loved the atmosphere and I would 100% do this event again. By the time I got to bed I had been awake for 24 hours since it was our travel day but it was well worth it.


----------



## Mrjoshua

Sarahslay said:


> I just got home at midnight last night from our trip where my DD and I attended the 8/1 VAH event. We both LOVED the event and thought the crowd level was good and had an amazing time. We didn't take time out to go get treats/food since we had the HEA dessert party right before and so we were able to get a ton of stuff done. I let her control what rides we went on so we did skip Space, but we did ride through on the people mover twice to hear the villians voices and she loved it. So here is our list of stuff we rode from when we got in at 6:35pm for the party.
> 
> Before party with FP:
> Pirates (she wasn't too keen on going on it with any actors, it kinda freaked her out so we did it before)
> Haunted Mansion
> SDMT
> Buzz
> Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (to get out of the rain before the fireworks)
> 
> *watched HEA from the plaza viewing area and then went to the after fireworks dessert party*
> 
> During the party in order:
> Buzz
> People mover
> Tomorrowland Speedway
> Splash
> Big Thunder
> saw Maleficent as we walked through frontierland just by chance
> Small World (personally wouldn't have chosen it, but she wanted to so ok lol)
> Barnstormer x2 (they let us stay on, we would have ridden again but DD gets motion sick and needed a break)
> Dumbo
> drinks, bathroom, and light shopping break
> People mover
> SDMT
> caught the 1:00 stage show on our way out by chance, we hadn't planned to see it but stopped to watch
> enjoyed hecklers as we made our way to the monorail to head back to GF
> 
> The only thing we had to wait for at all was SDMT which actually wasn't as bad as the CMs said it was, they came on the intercom and said it would be a 55 min wait right after we got in line but we were on and off in about 25 minutes and left the ride right as they closed the line at 1.  We loved the atmosphere and I would 100% do this event again. By the time I got to bed I had been awake for 24 hours since it was our travel day but it was well worth it.


Wow! That sounds like an awesome night... Worthwhile indeed! Despite going from one side of the park to the other twice, and stopping for drinks/bathroom/shopping, you still managed 11 rides. I'm glad it was magical!


----------



## Sarahslay

Mrjoshua said:


> Wow! That sounds like an awesome night... Worthwhile indeed! Despite going from one side of the park to the other twice, and stopping for drinks/bathroom/shopping, you still managed 11 rides. I'm glad it was magical!


Yeah, my plan was to start at one side and work our way around, but DD just couldn't wait to ride certain rides so we had to hike all the way over to the other side lol. It was fine though, we enjoyed being able to take in the atmosphere as we moved through the park (and she loved that she had to show her band to keep walking in to areas as they worked to clear the park, she said she felt like a VIP lol)


----------



## Sarahslay

Haley R said:


> 15 minutes for BTMR is pretty bad in my opinion. We've always had 5 minutes or less for that one during DAH and VAH


I rode it this same night and the only wait we had was for the next train to come to get on, the walk to get to the loading area was the longest part. I say that though and I realize that there was a pretty decent line that had formed when we got off the ride so we probably just had really good timing.


----------



## Haley R

Sarahslay said:


> I rode it this same night and the only wait we had was for the next train to come to get on, the walk to get to the loading area was the longest part. I say that though and I realize that there was a pretty decent line that had formed when we got off the ride so we probably just had really good timing.


That’s kind of how these events usually go. It all depends on if you’re moving with the flow of people or against which you can’t really predict


----------



## monorailrabbit

Sarahslay said:


> I rode it this same night and the only wait we had was for the next train to come to get on, the walk to get to the loading area was the longest part. I say that though and I realize that there was a pretty decent line that had formed when we got off the ride so we probably just had really good timing.


I'm glad you had the magic touch with timing!  It totally depends on what time you hit things! We stopped doing rides around midnight, so I wonder if things got better later. We were SO tired by midnight so we enjoyed popcorn and people watching. Did you notice Maleficent seemed to do what she wanted that night? I don't think she ever followed the time guides! We bumped into her leaving Frontierland about 12:10 and she wasn't supposed to run again until 1:20! Not that I'm complaining - she was by far my favorite part of the night!


----------



## Sarahslay

monorailrabbit said:


> I'm glad you had the magic touch with timing!  It totally depends on what time you hit things! We stopped doing rides around midnight, so I wonder if things got better later. We were SO tired by midnight so we enjoyed popcorn and people watching. Did you notice Maleficent seemed to do what she wanted that night? I don't think she ever followed the time guides! We bumped into her leaving Frontierland about 12:10 and she wasn't supposed to run again until 1:20! Not that I'm complaining - she was by far my favorite part of the night!


For some reason I never got a times guide so I have no idea lol, we just wondered around doing our thing and came across her by happy accident. I think we did get really lucky with timing, as we did with much of our trip this time (except for the rain). It felt like things cleared out in a lot of the areas we were in around midnight and after, maybe just the right place at the right time. I'm not sure how I was still going at that point since I had been up for 22 hours, I probably should have been passed out on a bench somewhere lol


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Tonight is sold out, FYI.  

So, the first night and last night of the Villains After Hours run were the only sell outs.  

Interesting.


----------



## focusondisney

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Tonight is sold out, FYI.
> 
> So, the first night and last night of the Villains After Hours run were the only sell outs.
> 
> Interesting.



It will be interesting to read crowd & wait time reports for tonight & compare then to the last few parties.


----------



## Mrjoshua

I'm excited for those attending, and also a bit jealous... Wish I was there! Have fun tonight everybody! I can't wait to read the reviews


----------



## magickingdomprincess

If you have DAH tickets linked into MDE but no resort stay, I'm assuming you can't make FP reservations until 30 days out, is that correct?  Also, for DVC discounted tickets, do you have to stop  at the will call booth to get in?  I ordered tix from DVC member services and got a ticket number, how do I use that to actually get into the event?

TIA!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

magickingdomprincess said:


> If you have DAH tickets linked into MDE but no resort stay, I'm assuming you can't make FP reservations until 30 days out, is that correct?



Yup, you’re correct on this part.


----------



## Coach Holden

Last night of our week long trip at Contemporary, ending it with Villains!  Hopefully it’s not as busy as the opening night.


----------



## elle101me

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Tonight is sold out, FYI.
> 
> So, the first night and last night of the Villains After Hours run were the only sell outs.
> 
> Interesting.


We just left Magic Kingdom and it is packed. I’ll be interested to see how tonight goes. I hope everyone going tonight has a great time!


----------



## kylenne

Reporting in from Columbia Harbour House. I took a Minnie Van from French Quarter because I was running late for my 7DMT FP and just barely made it. Am enjoying a Lighthouse Sandwich out of the rain until it’s dessert party time. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments from CMs on my Dr. Facilier costume! Here I was while I waited for my ride! Sorry for it being sideways.


----------



## BrianL

magickingdomprincess said:


> If you have DAH tickets linked into MDE but no resort stay, I'm assuming you can't make FP reservations until 30 days out, is that correct?  Also, for DVC discounted tickets, do you have to stop  at the will call booth to get in?  I ordered tix from DVC member services and got a ticket number, how do I use that to actually get into the event?
> 
> TIA!



You should be able to link your ticket number to your MDE. Then you should be all set to enter with a linked Magic Band. If you don't have a band (you can use old ones) then you will need to stop to get ticket media. At least, I think so, unless there is some special procedure for the DVC tickets.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Stuck on monorail yellow in the way to Villains!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TheFloatingBear said:


> Stuck on monorail yellow in the way to Villains!



Villains revenge.  

Just kidding.  Hope it starts moving soon.


----------



## focusondisney

TheFloatingBear said:


> Stuck on monorail yellow in the way to Villains!



Oh no!  Hopefully you have been off & in the park for awhile now. Have a great night!


----------



## magickingdomprincess

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yup, you’re correct on this part.





BrianL said:


> You should be able to link your ticket number to your MDE. Then you should be all set to enter with a linked Magic Band. If you don't have a band (you can use old ones) then you will need to stop to get ticket media. At least, I think so, unless there is some special procedure for the DVC tickets.



Thank you both!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Ok, what gives.  Wait times look pretty chill for 10:15pm and the weather looks great.


----------



## MrsInsG

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Ok, what gives.  Wait times look pretty chill for 10:15pm and the weather looks great.



I’m here and it’s not good. The crowds are heavy for an after hours and the lines for complementary snacks look more the crowds surrounding a UN envoy, and it’s 10:40. The pirates wait is 45, and merchandise is either sold out or running low at several locations. By way of background, we are a family of 5 Disney adults so the party was in the neighborhood of $700. We’ve done other after hours events, holiday parties, etc., so I’ve got an idea of what to expect. That said, this event crossed the mythical line people always seem to refer to; so much so, I’m at guest services getting my money back (and there are others here / the lady next to me just got a full day of fastpasses for tomorrow for the same reason). I have NEVER requested a refund from Disney before, so this is a big deal for me. I won’t do another of these events.


----------



## kylenne

40 minute line for Memento Mori for Haunted Mansion anniversary merch lol. I’m in it because I’m crazy but lord.


----------



## MrsInsG

kylenne said:


> 40 minute line for Memento Mori for Haunted Mansion anniversary merch lol. I’m in it because I’m crazy but lord.



Yep, I saw that and thought “holy cow!”


----------



## kylenne

I think what this shows more than anything is that we need more villain programming in the parks—there’s a lot of villain fans out there and we are starved for it. We’ll come out for anything villain related, and unfortunately that demand doesn’t mix well with an event that is sold around no crowds and walk on wait times. Personally I’m enjoying myself so far, I like the more “adult” atmosphere and have had a blast just chatting with other guests, but I’m an old goth and I only had to pay for myself. I don’t have a ride quota or checklist to run down. If I dropped hundreds and this was my only MK time I’d feel a lot differently.


----------



## 123SA

One hour to do space twice. It took about 45 minutes to clear day crowd I think


----------



## Limes96

I got in line for pirates around 10:30 and I believe wait was posted 35 minutes. It was more like 10-15. Most rides are short waits. I have two kids on space now and when they got in wait time was 20 minutes. Then changed to 30. It's about what I expected for a sold out crowd. That haunted mansion store was the most crowded area I've seen so far.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Love villains and fun vibe in the hub but rough night.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

What I've enjoyed about prior DAH events is that it's more relaxed, less strategizing and less concern about timing, maximizing things, dodging crowds, etc...this has not been that!

And yes on that crazy Memento Mori line! If they were going to have special merch for VAH guests, it would have been helpful if made it available with wristbands for longer, IMO...

ETA: I think I'm with the poster a few pages back that thinks it needs a name change!


----------



## 4vrdreamin

MrsInsG said:


> I’m here and it’s not good. The crowds are heavy for an after hours and the lines for complementary snacks look more the crowds surrounding a UN envoy, and it’s 10:40. The pirates wait is 45, and merchandise is either sold out or running low at several locations. By way of background, we are a family of 5 Disney adults so the party was in the neighborhood of $700. We’ve done other after hours events, holiday parties, etc., so I’ve got an idea of what to expect. That said, this event crossed the mythical line people always seem to refer to; so much so, I’m at guest services getting my money back (and there are others here / the lady next to me just got a full day of fastpasses for tomorrow for the same reason). I have NEVER requested a refund from Disney before, so this is a big deal for me. I won’t do another of these events.


I totally agree!!! I'm back at WL but took pictures of lines everywhere and the amount we paid (also family of 5 here ) this is unacceptable.  They knew what to expect by the last event and should have had it together.  I will talk to guest services after some sleep.  Did they give you a refund?


----------



## kylenne

123SA said:


> One hour to do space twice. It took about 45 minutes to clear day crowd I think



I waited about 10 minutes tops for Space. I timed it for the 12a stage show, and then used the single rider hack. When I got back out the line was looking obscene again.


----------



## afan

We had a lot of fun.  Timed space and pirates with the first two shows and didn't wait more than 10 min for either.  We got 4 magic shots.  I also did a ton with fps before the party by myself so I wasn't trying to do a ton of rides but by the end of the night I'd done everything I wanted.  We watched the last stage show.  

My only issue is taking a not very full bus back to aoa and then walking to pop because they again don't have enough busses queued up for pop.


----------



## kylenne

afan said:


> We had a lot of fun.  Timed space and pirates with the first two shows and didn't wait more than 10 min for either.  We got 4 magic shots.  I also did a ton with fps before the party by myself so I wasn't trying to do a ton of rides but by the end of the night I'd done everything I wanted.  We watched the last stage show.
> 
> My only issue is taking a not very full bus back to aoa and then walking to pop because they again don't have enough busses queued up for pop.



Yeah this is basically what I did, only I walked onto Pirates after doing Space. I could have gotten way more done if I hadn’t stopped for Memento Mori, but it was worth it for the Constance jar. 

Honestly...I really think they should have called it something else. People wouldn’t be nearly as disappointed imo. It was entirely possible to walk on to rides because I did it all night, but it required a plan and understanding crowd flow and that’s not something AH is known for.


----------



## ambellina

We had a great time. Compared to the two MNSSHP and MVMCP thatI attended last year,, the crowds were much lower. We started at Pirates in the layover line and it took about 12 minutes of waiting. Stopped to get popcorn drinks and ice cream, maybe took two minutes of waiting in line. Walked over toHaunted Mansion and could not believe how light the crowds were. Haunted Mansion wait was about 15 minutes. We then got in the 45 minute line for Memento Mori and a CM started chatting us up. Turned out the jars we wanted to buy could be purchased at the ticket center in Liberty Square and he personally walked us over and opened the doors to let us in. There were only two other sets of customers in there while we were there, not enough people knew about it!  The. We stopped for sodas and ice cream again, took a bathroom break, and found a bench for the parade. It was never crowded while waiting for the parade where we were back in Liberty Square. After Maleficent we stopped in the Emporium to buy a few things and most of the special event stuff was picked over. We finally made it out to our bus just after midnight and arrived at our stop at around 12:15. I realize we’re a bit of an anomaly, a couple in their 40s that did not bring kids with them, but for us we were able to do everything we wanted with minimal hassle.


----------



## Dug720

TheFloatingBear said:


> And yes on that crazy Memento Mori line! If they were going to have special merch for VAH guests, it would have been helpful if made it available with wristbands for longer, IMO...



It was in July from the moment they started wristband distribution. I got my tank at Memento Mori just after 7.  If everyone chose to wait until official hours, that was on them.

If anything, the big difference was they seemed to only put a limited amount out each night at earlier parties so that there actually WAS stuff left for the final one as opposed to being grabbed up for selling on EBay.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Dug720 said:


> It was in July from the moment they started wristband distribution. I got my tank at Memento Mori just after 7.  If everyone chose to wait until official hours, that was on them.
> 
> If anything, the big difference was they seemed to only put a limited amount out each night at earlier parties so that there actually WAS stuff left for the final one as opposed to being grabbed up for selling on EBay.



I'm not sure what you mean by July? Like another VAH in July? Last night Memento Mori was closed earlier in evening and reopened for guests with wristbands at 9pm for the limited edition 50th anniversary headbands (although like anotherposter said, you could get the bottles at anotherlocation)- although a CM told me it was reopening at 10 so I was operating under that information. (Actually multiple CMs told me it was opening at 10, so yes I could have gotten in line earlier, but when I got there at 8thirty the ropes to get into the store weren't even up yet and staff were inside having a meeting so again, I was told 10 and it seemed like a lot of time to wait in line for such a short, expensive event for my family of four). If they had given me the correct information I would have made a different choice and waited in "line" until 9.)


----------



## Dug720

TheFloatingBear said:


> I'm not sure what you mean by July? Like another VAH in July? Last night Memento Mori was closed earlier in evening and reopened for guests with wristbands at 9pm for the limited edition 50th anniversary headbands (although like anotherposter said, you could get the bottles at anotherlocation)- although a CM told me it was reopening at 10 so I was operating under that information. (Actually multiple CMs told me it was opening at 10, so yes I could have gotten in line earlier, but when I got there at 8thirty the ropes to get into the store weren't even up yet and staff were inside having a meeting so again, I was told 10 and it seemed like a lot of time to wait in line for such a short, expensive event for my family of four). If they had given me the correct information I would have made a different choice and waited in "line" until 9.)



Interesting. They clearly changed the rules last night. I went July 18 and every store that had VAH merch had it out and/or in a special area where you could only buy it with wristbands from the moment they were being distributed.


----------



## TheFloatingBear

Dug720 said:


> Interesting. They clearly changed the rules last night. I went July 18 and every store that had VAH merch had it out and/or in a special area where you could only buy it with wristbands from the moment they were being distributed.



I didn't hear about the HM 50th merch until last week, and I figured I could get the headbands and the villains merch in one stop, even if it took a little longer. I have a friend who is a Disney licensed artist and she is engaged to another Disney licensed artist and they are both obsessed with HM, so I thought it would be a fun engagement present, but since I thought they were opening at 10 and it was 8thirty,  I couldn't bring myself to ditch my kids and my FPs for that long! Then of course I didn't make it anywhere else for a tshirt because things just got hectic - but I got my AP ornament so that was good! 

My kids had an DAH agenda and I had a Villains agenda so it was tough to make both work, lol!


----------



## KangaFan

Went last night with our group of 10. I was really concerned when I heard that it was sold out, but felt that it was manageable. Our group split and some of us did Pirates first and some did Space first and then we met back up at Tomorrowland and did each land in order riding what folks wanted to ride.  I think we ended up doing 9 rides (Pirates/Space, Buzz, People Mover, Pooh, Barnstormer, Dumbo, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Splash), none of which had significant waits. This was pretty good for a party our size since we had 2 who could not walk fast and a few who stopped multiple times to take a ton of pics. If I had a choice between this and regular after hours, I would choose regular hands down since I missed being able to hear the regular theme music and the more gradual exiting of the park. However, if this was the only one offered, I still think we accomplished a lot more than we could have during a regular MK evening due to crowds or a morning due to the heat. We had FPs for Mine Train, Peter Pan & Big Thunder and we did Philharmagic and Laugh Floor before the event. My only disappointment is that many snack stands closed early and the 3 I stopped at starting at 12:45 were out of water. Given the weather, I think this is something they need to plan better for.


----------



## HopperFan

MrsInsG said:


> I’m here and it’s not good. The crowds are heavy for an after hours and the lines for complementary snacks look more the crowds surrounding a UN envoy, and it’s 10:40. The pirates wait is 45, and merchandise is either sold out or running low at several locations. By way of background, we are a family of 5 Disney adults so the party was in the neighborhood of $700. We’ve done other after hours events, holiday parties, etc., so I’ve got an idea of what to expect. That said, this event crossed the mythical line people always seem to refer to; so much so, I’m at guest services getting my money back (and there are others here / the lady next to me just got a full day of fastpasses for tomorrow for the same reason). I have NEVER requested a refund from Disney before, so this is a big deal for me. I won’t do another of these events.



Seen several reviews on fb groups that folks were not happy at all.  These were folks who had done regular DAH and parties so they had a good comparison.



kylenne said:


> *I think what this shows more than anything is that we need more villain programming in the parks—there’s a lot of villain fans out there and we are starved for it. We’ll come out for anything villain related*, and unfortunately that demand doesn’t mix well with an event that is sold around no crowds and walk on wait times. Personally I’m enjoying myself so far, I like the more “adult” atmosphere and have had a blast just chatting with other guests, but I’m an old goth and I only had to pay for myself. I don’t have a ride quota or checklist to run down. If I dropped hundreds and this was my only MK time I’d feel a lot differently.



*YES x 1,000,000*

Everytime Disney does a Villains anything it is packed and it screams loud and clear what a huge fan base the villains have. There is no way they don't get this but what they can't seem to do is do something with it ... which is inexcusable (from a villains fan and stockholder point of view) because it is buckets of money just waiting for them to bank.

See all the HUGE lines this morning to buy HM 50th stuff?

CHAPEK - we need a creative team (not a DisMart team) to start putting together Villains EVERYTHING!  It will make up for your many losses you claim to have taken.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

HopperFan said:


> CHAPEK - we need a creative team (not a DisMart team) to start putting together Villains EVERYTHING! It will make up for your many losses you claim to have taken.



He gets busy sometimes and doesn’t keep up with the thread, but I know he reads PMs...might try that.  





I kid, I kid....


----------



## HopperFan

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I kid, I kid....



But are you?


----------



## BrianL

I agree with others that clearly Villains are well-liked and the events were obviously popular. I think I was lucky last week, but it sounds like "sell out" numbers make it unmanageable. They really need to think about more offerings for the villains, maybe even a ride or land with the theme. Of course, restricting them to special events may be what maintains their popularity, but they need to do a better job managing the events then. I really was happy with that show though, so I hope they can do more stuff like that!


----------



## Dug720

TheFloatingBear said:


> I didn't hear about the HM 50th merch until last week, and I figured I could get the headbands and the villains merch in one stop, even if it took a little longer. I have a friend who is a Disney licensed artist and she is engaged to another Disney licensed artist and they are both obsessed with HM, so I thought it would be a fun engagement present, but since I thought they were opening at 10 and it was 8thirty,  I couldn't bring myself to ditch my kids and my FPs for that long! Then of course I didn't make it anywhere else for a tshirt because things just got hectic - but I got my AP ornament so that was good!
> 
> My kids had an DAH agenda and I had a Villains agenda so it was tough to make both work, lol!



I thought you were talking about VAH. I did not think the HM stuff was released until today. Seems like Disney caused all the issues with that one releasing limited HM stuff during VAH.


----------



## Mrjoshua

I want to apologize. After attending 2 VAH, and feeling that both events were more than satisfactory, I was puzzled by the negative reviews. I thought people were complaining mostly about not riding enough rides. After reading last night's reviews, I wonder if maybe my gaze was a little too narrow. 

Instead of focusing just on ride totals, I now think people are commenting on other aspects of the Villains event. For example, congestion of the Magic Kingdom walkways, a lack of free snacks or drinks, the line at Momento Mori, the availability of VAH merchandise, dislike of the music being played, the need for strategy, dislike of the villains... etc. It changes perspective once the onus is off the simplicity of a ride total. 

What I've gotten out of the recent reviews is that ride totals were about par for a regular MK AH, but the overall atmosphere, or different aspects of the event were not to everyone's liking.

Thank you to everyone for the reviews!


----------



## provoaggie

Mrjoshua said:


> I want to apologize. After attending 2 VAH, and feeling that both events were more than satisfactory, I was puzzled by the negative reviews. I thought people were complaining mostly about not riding enough rides. After reading last night's reviews, I wonder if maybe my gaze was a little too narrow.
> 
> Instead of focusing just on ride totals, I now think people are commenting on other aspects of the Villains event. For example, congestion of the Magic Kingdom walkways, a lack of free snacks or drinks, the line at Momento Mori, the availability of VAH merchandise, dislike of the music being played, the need for strategy, dislike of the villains... etc. It changes perspective once the onus is off the simplicity of a ride total.
> 
> What I've gotten out of the recent reviews is that ride totals were about par for a regular MK AH, but the overall atmosphere, or different aspects of the event were not to everyone's liking.
> 
> Thank you to everyone for the reviews!


For me it did come down to ride totals. Crowded walkways made getting around the park more difficult which meant less ride time and longer lines throughout the park meants fewer rides. During a normal After Hours I think I could have done another 4 or 5 rides. We did Animal Kingdom the same week and did 3 more rides than we were able to do at Magic Kingdom and that was an hour shorter on time AND we watched a show at Animal Kingdom which is something we didn't do at Magic Kingdom. I wasn't interested in the other elements of Villains but those elements didn't bother me. The crowds and wait times are what bothered me.


----------



## vinotinto

ambellina said:


> We had a great time. C*ompared to the two MNSSHP and MVMCP thatI attended last year,, the crowds were much lower. *We started at Pirates in the layover line and it took about 12 minutes of waiting. Stopped to get popcorn drinks and ice cream, maybe took two minutes of waiting in line. Walked over toHaunted Mansion and could not believe how light the crowds were. Haunted Mansion wait was about 15 minutes. We then got in the 45 minute line for Memento Mori and a CM started chatting us up. Turned out the jars we wanted to buy could be purchased at the ticket center in Liberty Square and he personally walked us over and opened the doors to let us in. There were only two other sets of customers in there while we were there, not enough people knew about it!  The. We stopped for sodas and ice cream again, took a bathroom break, and found a bench for the parade. It was never crowded while waiting for the parade where we were back in Liberty Square. After Maleficent we stopped in the Emporium to buy a few things and most of the special event stuff was picked over. We finally made it out to our bus just after midnight and arrived at our stop at around 12:15. I realize we’re a bit of an anomaly, a couple in their 40s that did not bring kids with them, but for us we were able to do everything we wanted with minimal hassle.


I agree with being less crowded than MNSSHP. For example, there was no need to "find a spot" to see Maleficent or the Villains show (which was great). And some of the rides were walk-ons (such as the little kid rides and Buzz).


----------



## Mrjoshua

provoaggie said:


> For me it did come down to ride totals. Crowded walkways made getting around the park more difficult which meant less ride time and longer lines throughout the park meants fewer rides. During a normal After Hours I think I could have done another 4 or 5 rides. We did Animal Kingdom the same week and did 3 more rides than we were able to do at Magic Kingdom and that was an hour shorter on time AND we watched a show at Animal Kingdom which is something we didn't do at Magic Kingdom. I wasn't interested in the other elements of Villains but those elements didn't bother me. The crowds and wait times are what bothered me.


I'm sorry that the event failed to meet expectation.


----------



## Mrjoshua

KangaFan said:


> Went last night with our group of 10. I was really concerned when I heard that it was sold out, but felt that it was manageable. Our group split and some of us did Pirates first and some did Space first and then we met back up at Tomorrowland and did each land in order riding what folks wanted to ride.  I think we ended up doing 9 rides (Pirates/Space, Buzz, People Mover, Pooh, Barnstormer, Dumbo, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Splash), none of which had significant waits. This was pretty good for a party our size since we had 2 who could not walk fast and a few who stopped multiple times to take a ton of pics. If I had a choice between this and regular after hours, I would choose regular hands down since I missed being able to hear the regular theme music and the more gradual exiting of the park. However, if this was the only one offered, I still think we accomplished a lot more than we could have during a regular MK evening due to crowds or a morning due to the heat. We had FPs for Mine Train, Peter Pan & Big Thunder and we did Philharmagic and Laugh Floor before the event. My only disappointment is that many snack stands closed early and the 3 I stopped at starting at 12:45 were out of water. Given the weather, I think this is something they need to plan better for.


Holy smoke! Your group of 10 was able to do 9 rides! Wow! Wow! Wow! Considering the sold out event, the large group size, the picture taking, and group limitations, I'd definitely agree that you did "pretty good". I'm glad that it worked out... Do you have any tricks or secrets you're willing to share?


----------



## PPFlight75

provoaggie said:


> For me it did come down to ride totals. Crowded walkways made getting around the park more difficult which meant less ride time and longer lines throughout the park meants fewer rides. During a normal After Hours I think I could have done another 4 or 5 rides. We did Animal Kingdom the same week and did 3 more rides than we were able to do at Magic Kingdom and that was an hour shorter on time AND we watched a show at Animal Kingdom which is something we didn't do at Magic Kingdom. I wasn't interested in the other elements of Villains but those elements didn't bother me. The crowds and wait times are what bothered me.


This was our feeling about it too. We weren't bothered by the theme but rides were our focus. I think it we wanted the show, treats, magic shots (the whole villains experience) we would have been ok with the ride count. Since we weren't interested in that, we were disappointed with the ride waits and crowds. I knew it was a risk and we absolutely loved the regular AH. It's just not for us. I'm glad others have has a good time for the most part.


----------



## BirdL15

I have to say I was pretty disappointed with the crowds last night. This was my first After Hours event, but my only option for this trip, unfortunately. The crowds were crazy!. We entered the park around 6:45 and could tell right away it was a very busy night, but it didn't feel like it thinned out much either for the event.  My main focus for this event was just to have access to the rides. We only are spending 3 days for tickets and MK is usually two of those on its own. I was hoping this would feel more carefree, but because of the crowds it was definitely a more hectic dash to try and get everything done in the few hours we had. We managed to ride most of the rides, but had to mad dash and skip the party, shows, and maleficent. I had heard of some people being able to ride BTMRR multiple times through, but we waited 20 minutes to board nearly 1 hour into the party. 

On the positive note, the weather was perfect, I like the theming/lighting/music. We caught the last 10 minutes of the final stage show from afar (because the hub was packed like the fireworks), but it looked pretty awesome. We also got to catch the last few minutes of Maleficent coming down the end of Main Street on our way out. 

All in all, it's a good concept, but I think Disney oversold for an "After Hours" or agree with some of you who think it should be called something else to not give the wrong impression. I think I would much prefer the original After Hours event in the future.


----------



## afan

I think it's like any other party or event, some have one experience, some have another while others have a mix.

The hub wasn't packed for the last show, we were on the right side in the street and had tons of room around us.  Close to the stage was crowded but it was nowhere near the shoulder to shoulder at a holiday party or hea.

We didn't have trouble walking around and I didn't find it congested.  It was busy before the party and there were still a lot of people but to me it wasn't mk or holiday party crowded.  

I think this is an event that people just won't agree on because so many of the experiences are polar opposites.  But my friend spent 1.5 hr in the hm merch line starting about 9 and she still enjoyed all we got done at the party.


----------



## Mrjoshua

BirdL15 said:


> I have to say I was pretty disappointed with the crowds last night. This was my first After Hours event, but my only option for this trip, unfortunately. The crowds were crazy!. We entered the park around 6:45 and could tell right away it was a very busy night, but it didn't feel like it thinned out much either for the event.  My main focus for this event was just to have access to the rides. We only are spending 3 days for tickets and MK is usually two of those on its own. I was hoping this would feel more carefree, but because of the crowds it was definitely a more hectic dash to try and get everything done in the few hours we had. We managed to ride most of the rides, but had to mad dash and skip the party, shows, and maleficent. I had heard of some people being able to ride BTMRR multiple times through, but we waited 20 minutes to board nearly 1 hour into the party.
> 
> On the positive note, the weather was perfect, I like the theming/lighting/music. We caught the last 10 minutes of the final stage show from afar (because the hub was packed like the fireworks), but it looked pretty awesome. We also got to catch the last few minutes of Maleficent coming down the end of Main Street on our way out.
> 
> All in all, it's a good concept, but I think Disney oversold for an "After Hours" or agree with some of you who think it should be called something else to not give the wrong impression. I think I would much prefer the original After Hours event in the future.


If you don't mind me asking, how many rides were you able to fit into the night?


----------



## afan

We finally got our magic shots from thursday.  Is the Hades one only a video?  That's all we got and we thought it'd be a pic.


----------



## sfbank

Compared to the regular After Hours last year, we felt this one was definitely more crowded. We went for the rides and the nighttime atmosphere. Was still fun but definitely left disappointed when comparing this year to last year.


----------



## BirdL15

Mrjoshua said:


> If you don't mind me asking, how many rides were you able to fit into the night?



We had FP set for 3  (Monsters, Splash, and Jungle Cruise) before party began. Took a break from rides to watch the Fireworks and then continued on the rest of the night:

Aladdin Magic Carpets (w/4th FP)
POC (before Villains overlay, wait time was only 5 minutes so we decided to go on right away)
Splash Mtn (2nd time)
Thunder Mtn
Haunted Mansion
Dumbo
Barnstormer (4x)
Peter Pan
7DMT
Space Mtn

Got off SM about 1:10 am so we couldn't hit Buzz that night. I was just hoping to have more rides that were on and off and with 5 mins or less wait times. Many rides were 15 or more minutes (7DMT was 25 mins as was Space) which ate up a lot more time. It was fun, but would have enjoyed a quieter AH for myself personally.


----------



## KangaFan

Mrjoshua said:


> Holy smoke! Your group of 10 was able to do 9 rides! Wow! Wow! Wow! Considering the sold out event, the large group size, the picture taking, and group limitations, I'd definitely agree that you did "pretty good". I'm glad that it worked out... Do you have any tricks or secrets you're willing to share?



I think we were able to do 9 because each group only did 1 of the overlay rides and got in line for it at 9:45ish. Once we met back up in Tomorrowland, we went sort of counter clockwise visiting each area and riding anything anyone wanted to do in that area. We didn't do 7DMT since the wait said 25 mins and we had already ridden with a FP. We got to BTMR somewhere around 12:15-12:30 so that was virtually a walk-on by that point since the queue is sooo long and Splash was also a walk on. Not sure if we lucked out in timing or not, but it worked for us. We lost 2 of our group early who watched the 12pm show and then headed out, but the rest of us waited and did the 1am show and then waited for Maleficent. Other than 1 magic shot a couple of quick pics in front of various projections/signs, etc., we didn't do any of the other Villains "stuff" during the event so I think that helped.


----------



## Cluelyss

afan said:


> We finally got our magic shots from thursday.  Is the Hades one only a video?  That's all we got and we thought it'd be a pic.


Yes, unfortunately.  Was hoping for a pic as well, as my son was dressed as Hades


----------



## afan

Cluelyss said:


> Yes, unfortunately.  Was hoping for a pic as well, as my son was dressed as Hades



I did finally get my hm pic from that night today at least.


----------



## Funfire240

sfbank said:


> Compared to the regular After Hours last year, we felt this one was definitely more crowded. We went for the rides and the nighttime atmosphere. Was still fun but definitely left disappointed when comparing this year to last year.


This was exactly how we felt too.  It was very crowded.  There were no moments of the "empty park" feeling that we loved from last year.  I had read previously that it was busier then normal after hours but wow - this was a lot more crowded!  We did get on Pirates with a short wait and the kids loved the live actors - they were wanting more within the ride!  We never made it onto Space but did jump on people mover to experience a moment of what it was like. I was disappointed too that half way through pop corn carts couldn't keep up with the crowds!  My DD really wanted popcorn but every one we passed by was waiting for more popcorn and a line of people waiting for it to pop. We still had a good time but definitely not worth the cost this time!  We decided on Tuesday to attend and I honestly wish it would've been sold out before we bought our tickets to have saved us the money lol.


----------



## heath92681

Did anyone else get a survey from Disney about the Villains After Hours?


----------



## TheFloatingBear

heath92681 said:


> Did anyone else get a survey from Disney about the Villains After Hours?



No, I wish I did!


----------



## ninafeliz

heath92681 said:


> Did anyone else get a survey from Disney about the Villains After Hours?


I went to an earlier one, but I did not.


----------



## Martini35

We did Villians on the 8th and enjoyed it.  It was busier than I was hoping but we got quite a bit done.  Two of us were in the park before the event and two came in at 6:45pm.  

Once they got in we did:
Buzz X 2
Laugh Floor (killing time as we had FP for SM)
SM X2 (once pre villians on a FP)
SDMT X 2
Haunted Mansion (went down for at least 5 mins)
gasped at everyone lined up for merchandise!
Splash (trapped on for at least 10mins due to an incident)
BTMR X2
Pirates
Jungle Cruise

We watch the tail end of the castle show and followed Maleficent as she went down main street. 

We watched HEA by Gaston's as DD wanted to see it one more time. So that did eat into our time.  The incident on Splash also was frustrating.  I think we could have done Buzz a couple more times and maybe SDMT once more if we didn't watch HEA.  

Our party of four had ice cream bars and popcorn and drinks midway thru and two other had another ice cream since they didn't want to to SM with the overlay.  We also grabbed more drinks at the end and took back with us.  

The weather was the best part.  I don't think I could have stood in line in the heat to do the same amount of rides during the day.  

Not sure if I would do the themed one again since the extras really were not spectacular, but I would do an after hours again to do the big rides.


----------



## ShootingStar106

I’m attending After Hours on August 22nd. Is there a separate entrance for After Hours guests to scan their magic bands during the regular park hours? I’m so afraid that if I scan my band it will use a regular park ticket and not the After Hours Ticket. We have 2 park days planned after the event. I also booked 3 fast passes before the event. Do you think using them will make it look like I’m using a regular park ticket? Thanks for your help!


----------



## ali_in_al

heath92681 said:


> Did anyone else get a survey from Disney about the Villains After Hours?


I did, and I gave my feedback/opinion on the event. We attended on 6/13 and it was emailed within a few days.


----------



## Haley R

ShootingStar106 said:


> I’m attending After Hours on August 22nd. Is there a separate entrance for After Hours guests to scan their magic bands during the regular park hours? I’m so afraid that if I scan my band it will use a regular park ticket and not the After Hours Ticket. We have 2 park days planned after the event. I also booked 3 fast passes before the event. Do you think using them will make it look like I’m using a regular park ticket? Thanks for your help!


Yes, you’ll see an entrance that says event entrance and there should be someone there with an after hours sign. If you go through that entrance it won’t take any of your regular park tickets.


----------



## Funfire240

heath92681 said:


> Did anyone else get a survey from Disney about the Villains After Hours?



I haven't yet and we were there on the 8th


----------



## ninafeliz

Haley R said:


> Yes, you’ll see an entrance that says event entrance and there should be someone there with an after hours sign. If you go through that entrance it won’t take any of your regular park tickets.


I’m not completely sure about this, but I read recently on another thread where this was asked that it isn’t actually true.  Someone (I can’t remember who, but I believe it was a poster that I’ve seen around here a lot and always seems knowledgeable, so I would tend to trust more than a random poster I’d never seen) said that all tapstyles are the same, and it’s iust a commonly repeated rumor that if they say event entrance they will prioritize your event tickets differently than the regular entrance tapstyles or that they will only read event tickets.  This poster said all tapstyles are identical, and will prioritize tickets the same.  So I’m not sure which is correct, I would still make sure your tickets are prioritized correctly if you have other tickets and if you have any reason to be concerned just stop at GS sometime when you see no line and double check.  We’ve never had a problem with event tickets, but we have had them take old non expiring tickets over a current expiring ticket, and it was a huge hassle to get that corrected and I don’t like how they corrected it!  If you’re worried scan a hard ticket or printout, then I hope it couldn’t mess it up but I’m sure there’s still a way.


----------



## Haley R

ninafeliz said:


> I’m not completely sure about this, but I read recently on another thread where this was asked that it isn’t actually true.  Someone (I can’t remember who, but I believe it was a poster that I’ve seen around here a lot and always seems knowledgeable, so I would tend to trust more than a random poster I’d never seen) said that all tapstyles are the same, and it’s iust a commonly repeated rumor that if they say event entrance they will prioritize your event tickets differently than the regular entrance tapstyles or that they will only read event tickets.  This poster said all tapstyles are identical, and will prioritize tickets the same.  So I’m not sure which is correct, I would still make sure your tickets are prioritized correctly if you have other tickets and if you have any reason to be concerned just stop at GS sometime when you see no line and double check.  We’ve never had a problem with event tickets, but we have had them take old non expiring tickets over a current expiring ticket, and it was a huge hassle to get that corrected and I don’t like how they corrected it!  If you’re worried scan a hard ticket or printout, then I hope it couldn’t mess it up but I’m sure there’s still a way.


When we went last year we went through a normal turnstile and it used one of our day passes. We had to go to guest services at our hotel after because we didn’t realize at the time that it had happened. So from now on we just don’t risk it and always go through the event entrance.


----------



## ninafeliz

Haley R said:


> When we went last year we went through a normal turnstile and it used one of our day passes. We had to go to guest services at our hotel after because we didn’t realize at the time that it had happened. So from now on we just don’t risk it and always go through the event entrance.


Yeah, I've always read on here that the event entrances can't take your regular tickets, but when I read that post saying it wasn't true it was news to me and I thought I would mention it.  I haven't ever read anything about going through a non event tapstyle and having event tickets used, though, I guess I've never thought to do it.  If it's between 4 and 7 for the parties or 7 and 10 for the after hours I guess I would assume that the event ones would take event tickets, and the regular ones regular tickets since they still work in that time frame.  So that seems to support event entrances only taking event tickets, so maybe whomever posted that info was wrong. I wish I remember who posted it and on which thread.  

I guess it's just easiest to use the event entrance only for the event and watch your tickets regardless.


----------



## ShootingStar106

Haley R said:


> Yes, you’ll see an entrance that says event entrance and there should be someone there with an after hours sign. If you go through that entrance it won’t take any of your regular park tickets.


Thank you!


----------



## ShootingStar106

ninafeliz said:


> I’m not completely sure about this, but I read recently on another thread where this was asked that it isn’t actually true.  Someone (I can’t remember who, but I believe it was a poster that I’ve seen around here a lot and always seems knowledgeable, so I would tend to trust more than a random poster I’d never seen) said that all tapstyles are the same, and it’s iust a commonly repeated rumor that if they say event entrance they will prioritize your event tickets differently than the regular entrance tapstyles or that they will only read event tickets.  This poster said all tapstyles are identical, and will prioritize tickets the same.  So I’m not sure which is correct, I would still make sure your tickets are prioritized correctly if you have other tickets and if you have any reason to be concerned just stop at GS sometime when you see no line and double check.  We’ve never had a problem with event tickets, but we have had them take old non expiring tickets over a current expiring ticket, and it was a huge hassle to get that corrected and I don’t like how they corrected it!  If you’re worried scan a hard ticket or printout, then I hope it couldn’t mess it up but I’m sure there’s still a way.


This is what I’m afraid of. I have an email with a barcode on it so maybe I’ll try and use that instead of our magic bands. Thank you!


----------



## ninafeliz

ShootingStar106 said:


> This is what I’m afraid of. I have an email with a barcode on it so maybe I’ll try and use that instead of our magic bands. Thank you!


I really wouldn't worry too much about it, TBH, I think if you go through the event entrance you will be fine.  There are always anomalous stories of issues, I've had one myself (not related to a hard ticket event), but considering the thousands of people who go and don't have problems it's not a huge risk.  But if you have the email you can't go wrong with that.


----------



## mcurrence

ShootingStar106 said:


> I’m attending After Hours on August 22nd. Is there a separate entrance for After Hours guests to scan their magic bands during the regular park hours? I’m so afraid that if I scan my band it will use a regular park ticket and not the After Hours Ticket. We have 2 park days planned after the event. I also booked 3 fast passes before the event. Do you think using them will make it look like I’m using a regular park ticket? Thanks for your help!
> 
> You can’t miss it !
> 
> I saw someone trying to go through the regular turnstiles and It would not allow them to get int but they only had AH tickets .


----------



## mcurrence

You can't miss it!

I saw someone trying to go through the regular turnstiles and It would not allow them to get int but they only had AH tickets .


----------



## ShootingStar106

Thank you for the pictures! It helps to actually see what I should be looking for. And I love your matching shirts! I actually have very similar ones with the castle and Mickey head for my husband, daughter and I to wear to the event!


----------



## JeninTexas

We were also there on the 8th and have never received a survey.
I thought it was definitely crowded, but probably about 1/4 of the crowd level during the day. It was just so much easier to walk around though, which is a big plus for me. Not only were there a lot fewer people, but the people that were there seemed to be more "Disney savvy" I guess. People seemed to know where they were going and they were moving with purpose. Every day during regular park hours, we would encounter big groups of people that would just stop in the middle of a walkway trying to figure out where they were, people who were in the FP line even though they either 1) Had no clue what the difference between FP and standby was; 2) did not have a FP for the ride and tried to argue with the CM that they did; 3) had a FP but for much later in the day; or 4) thought they were in line for a ride different than the line they were in. There was none of this during AH and everyone seemed to be having fun. The mood was much more pleasant probably because it was just so much cooler. Also, because it is a late night event, there were a lot fewer people there with small children, so very little screaming, crying or meltdowns (not meaning to hate on any parents, I know it is unavoidable, I have kids too, but it is nice not to listen to a lot of kids having tantrums). 

We did the event on our last day, so we had already done all the big rides. During the event we did:

Space - FP
Splash - FP
BTM - FP (during the fireworks which was very cool)
After the event started we did:

Dumbo
Barnstormer twice without having to get off the train
Pooh twice
Pirates (20 minute posted wait, actual wait 7 minutes)
Buzz
Peoplemover
Jungle Cruise
Tomorrowland Speedway
Peter Pan
My kids did Space once in the dark and they did it during the 2nd show. I was having snacks and hanging out near the Cool Ship. The kids waited about 15-20 minutes for the ride. As soon as the 2nd show ended, the area was flooded with people and the line for Space extended to where I was sitting. Also, the snack carts got deluged and those lines quickly became very long too.

We had snacks 3 times and saw Maleficent. We left about 12:45 because were tired and ready to go back to the hotel. We could have gotten much more done if we had been more diligent about it, but I enjoyed the event and was happy with how it went for us.


----------



## BirdL15

ShootingStar106 said:


> I’m attending After Hours on August 22nd. Is there a separate entrance for After Hours guests to scan their magic bands during the regular park hours? I’m so afraid that if I scan my band it will use a regular park ticket and not the After Hours Ticket. We have 2 park days planned after the event. I also booked 3 fast passes before the event. Do you think using them will make it look like I’m using a regular park ticket? Thanks for your help!



My son did exactly what you're worried about. We lined up in the special event line where the CM's were holding the AH signs. They scanned our emailed barcorde and then we received 3 admission cards/tickets. My youngest son and myself scanned the cards, but my older son had scanned his magic band to get through the turnstile without my knowledge. He told me later on and I was worried it had used one of our day passes coming up. When I called Disney to check, they assured me it was the AH admission that was scanned from the Magic Band. Not sure if this was because we went through the turnstile for the event or something else, but it worked out fine : )


----------



## focusondisney

BirdL15 said:


> When I called Disney to check, they assured me it was the AH admission that was scanned from the Magic Band. Not sure if this was because we went through the turnstile for the event or something else, but it worked out fine : )



That is the exact reason it took the correct ticket.  If you go thru the designated event entrance, it will take the correct ticket.  Those  touch points are definitely programmed to take the event ticket.  The only time anyone has had a day ticket taken is when they have not used the specified event entrance.


----------



## Mrjoshua

heath92681 said:


> Did anyone else get a survey from Disney about the Villains After Hours?


I did not, and I went to 2 VAH


----------



## MrsInsG

4vrdreamin said:


> I totally agree!!! I'm back at WL but took pictures of lines everywhere and the amount we paid (also family of 5 here ) this is unacceptable.  They knew what to expect by the last event and should have had it together.  I will talk to guest services after some sleep.  Did they give you a refund?



Hi. I am sorry I didn't see this until now and so did not respond. They did give me a refund for my ticket and offered a full refund for all of my family's tickets; I only accepted the refund on my ticket as my husband and kids decided to stay for the event (my mood was so sour at that point that I felt like I'd be Debbie Downer and didn't want to impact their fun). 

The guest relations CM I spoke with told me, flat out, that the event sold out and they made more tickets available. I've been an adult WDW fan for long enough to know to take what a CM says with a grain of salt, but it would make sense to me as the crowds did seem disproportionate to what a party would be. I know villains are popular and the Haunted Mansion stuff was a big deal, but this seemed really over sold, and Disney gave me a refund as soon as I asked for it. The guest relations people did not seem at all surprised that there was a long line of people there to complain. The CMs were all friendly and professional and truly could not have done more about a situation they had no control over.


----------



## Lsdolphin

It’s been so long since I purchased the DAH for 8/29 that I can’t remember whether they sent an actual ticket or it just showed up on my MDE, anyway if they sent tickets I can’t find what I did with them!  So, my question is did they send tickets?


----------



## Haley R

Lsdolphin said:


> It’s been so long since I purchased the DAH for 8/29 that I can’t remember whether they sent an actual ticket or it just showed up on my MDE, anyway if they sent tickets I can’t find what I did with them!  So, my question is did they send tickets?


If you selected mail as your option when you checked out then they sent them. If you selected email then you should have an email. If you selected will call then they want you to pick them up but you still should’ve gotten an email with a barcode (at least that’s what happened to us when we did will call)


----------



## Lsdolphin

Haley R said:


> If you selected mail as your option when you checked out then they sent them. If you selected email then you should have an email. If you selected will call then they want you to pick them up but you still should’ve gotten an email with a barcode (at least that’s what happened to us when we did will call)




Yep I went back and found email confirmation and there at the bottom was the pdf to print. I must have forgotten to select “mail” which is what I always do! And actually I don’t think it matters once the party is attached to my MDE anyway they can just scan magic band.


----------



## Haley R

Lsdolphin said:


> Yep I went back and found email confirmation and there at the bottom was the pdf to print. I must have forgotten to select “mail” which is what I always do! And actually I don’t think it matters once the party is attached to my MDE anyway they can just scan magic band.


Yeah they just scanned our bands when we went even though we selected will call


----------



## AntJulie

More dates through January 2020...none in October...one in November...one in December...new price $129


----------



## PolyRob

AntJulie said:


> More dates through January 2020...none in October...one in November...one in December...new price $129


OOOOOH I am so tempted


----------



## PolyRob

AntJulie said:


> More dates through January 2020...none in October...one in November...one in December...new price $129


DVC/AP discount is $99 which makes sense given the jump from $125 to $129.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

AntJulie said:


> More dates through January 2020...none in October...one in November...one in December...new price $129



Dang @AntJulie, wasn't it you that caught the last ones too?  You are ON IT!  

An unexpected Tuesday surprise!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Interesting the advance ticket price increase $4 and the day-of price increased $10.  The in advance/day-of delta used to be $4, now it's $10.  Interesting.


----------



## mcurrence

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Interesting the advance ticket price increase $4 and the day-of price increased $10.  The in advance/day-of delta used to be $4, now it's $10.  Interesting.


Animal Kingdom are now up through March of 2020!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

New dates in table format. Frankly not that many, relatively speaking to the 2019 trend. None in Oct, only one in each Nov & Dec, then back to the more or less 'regular' Jan pattern we've seen since the last few years.


----------



## Trinity88

I was really hoping to see Feb dates!  Based on Jan schedule, I'm thinking I should assume a Monday (I'm there first week of Feb).


----------



## SaintsManiac

I knew they wouldn't have any for my dates, but this means late park close!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

SaintsManiac said:


> I knew they wouldn't have any for my dates, but this means late park close!



“Hopefully” a later park closing.


----------



## SaintsManiac

GADisneyDad14 said:


> “Hopefully” a later park closing.




There better be for Thanksgiving week!!!!


----------



## kristenabelle

Just scooped up 12/9 - it'll be interesting to see how crowded (or not) it is. But looking forward to a late night!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Maybe noteworthy, I’m not sure if it changed with this new round of dates or in the last month or so, but Disney removed the “little-to-no wait” language for the DAH event pages.  They now just say “little wait times.”  Probably better language to use, frankly.


----------



## SaintsManiac

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Maybe noteworthy, I’m not sure if it changed with this new round of dates or in the last month or so, but Disney removed the “little-to-no wait” language for the DAH event pages.  They now just say “little wait times.”  Probably better language to use, frankly.




Yep they are definitely trying to cover their you know whats.


----------



## PolyRob

My family thinks it may be "too cold" to be in MK at 12am considering what happened during our MVMCP last year  I will see if I can work on that.

The date shift back to Monday also has me working up a new plan for my spring trip because that is prime DAH time. It is just so hard when there are so many unknowns 180+ days out.


----------



## cakebaker

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Maybe noteworthy, I’m not sure if it changed with this new round of dates or in the last month or so, but Disney removed the “little-to-no wait” language for the DAH event pages.  They now just say “little wait times.”  Probably better language to use, frankly.



I suspect the increased crowd levels we saw with the villains event will continue on with the regular after hours. I was afraid of that, but Disney certainly has a history on starting out with low crowds, then increasing them. For me, the after hours events have to be what I experienced - extremely low crowd levels, little if any wait- for it to be worth the added expense. Fortunately I suppose, the new dates don't work for me and I can watch the reviews come in. I hope I'm wrong, I bet I'm not.


----------



## dez1978

Is there any chance they will add dates for the end of january for MK since it only goes thru the 20th?


----------



## Iowamomof4

Kinda sad about the dates only going through Jan 20 at this point. I hope that doesn't mean they're going back to Villains again for the next release! We're sorta toying around with the idea of a trip at the end of January or beginning of February. Will be watching and waiting to see what happens here.


----------



## Lindsay Smith

dez1978 said:


> Is there any chance they will add dates for the end of january for MK since it only goes thru the 20th?


Man, I am also bummed that there are no dates yet for the last week of January. I'm not hopeful.. but maybe one will get added in the next batch?


----------



## Laura's Dad

kristenabelle said:


> Just scooped up 12/9 - it'll be interesting to see how crowded (or not) it is. But looking forward to a late night!


I'll be there with you


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Iowamomof4 said:


> Kinda sad about the dates only going through Jan 20 at this point. I hope that doesn't mean they're going back to Villains again for the next release! We're sorta toying around with the idea of a trip at the end of January or beginning of February. Will be watching and waiting to see what happens here.





Lindsay Smith said:


> Man, I am also bummed that there are no dates yet for the last week of January. I'm not hopeful.. but maybe one will get added in the next batch?



While probably not related, the NFL Pro Bowl is Sunday 1/26 in Orlando.   It’s not a major WDW event but you sometimes see events or special things at WDW that week.   I’m guessing it could possibly be an influence, but total guess on my part.


----------



## mamamelody2

Well, shoot, we're going 1/25-2/1.  I suppose it's not impossible they would add one later...


----------



## Roscoe18

PolyRob said:


> My family thinks it may be "too cold" to be in MK at 12am considering what happened during our MVMCP last year  I will see if I can work on that.
> 
> The date shift back to Monday also has me working up a new plan for my spring trip because that is prime DAH time. It is just so hard when there are so many unknowns 180+ days out.



I'm also interested in the day of the week, since I'm trying to plan far in advance, as you say.  I would say this - if you look at the schedule from last year, November, December and some January dates were Mondays, and starting in February they went back to Thursdays for MK.  So I don't know if we can read too much into this yet. 

I do hope that they don't "oversell" these, as that seems to be a trend lately.  If I'm paying that money, I want it to be as empty as possible.


----------



## Cloe Colton

Can I buy tickets day of with my annual pass and leave them at will call? Or can I add them to my my Disney experience to be used by my family when they arrive?


----------



## PolyRob

Roscoe18 said:


> I'm also interested in the day of the week, since I'm trying to plan far in advance, as you say.  I would say this - if you look at the schedule from last year, November, December and some January dates were Mondays, and starting in February they went back to Thursdays for MK.  So I don't know if we can read too much into this yet.
> 
> I do hope that they don't "oversell" these, as that seems to be a trend lately.  If I'm paying that money, I want it to be as empty as possible.


Excellent point. I benefited from the change to Thursday last spring. I will have to have three itineraries ready. Monday DAH, Thursday DAH, and NO DAH


----------



## PolyRob

Cloe Colton said:


> Can I buy tickets day of with my annual pass and leave them at will call? Or can I add them to my my Disney experience to be used by my family when they arrive?


Day of AP discounts on DAH is very YMMV.

You could purchase them ahead of time and just have the tickets linked to your family in MDE. No one asked to see my AP and I bought for a non-AP as well. We both went right in with our MBs.


----------



## disneydreamer781

So Disney is selling multi party passes but no AH for most of the Fall (October - December) I have to wonder is Disney realizing that all the AH events were taking people away from the parties? Although people have stated that many of the parties have been crowded so it's anybody's guess. I'm probably dreaming but I'm still resting my hopes on a DHS DAH but I don't think that will come to fruition.  I just know I've never been so disappointed!


----------



## Laura's Dad

PolyRob said:


> Day of AP discounts on DAH is very YMMV.
> 
> You could purchase them ahead of time and just have the tickets linked to your family in MDE. No one asked to see my AP and I bought for a non-AP as well. We both went right in with our MBs.


What do you mean by YMMV?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Laura's Dad said:


> What do you mean by YMMV?



Your Mileage May Vary

Just Internet/DISBoard slang for your experience may vary from that of the poster.  Usually used in situations or circumstances where reports about a certain experience or how Disney handled XYZ topic are inconsistent over time.


----------



## klairbear

How quickly do these sell out? I really want to go to the November date but won't have funds until 1st October. Do I stand a chance?!?


----------



## Cloe Colton

PolyRob said:


> Day of AP discounts on DAH is very YMMV.
> 
> You could purchase them ahead of time and just have the tickets linked to your family in MDE. No one asked to see my AP and I bought for a non-AP as well. We both went right in with our MBs.



That's interesting since they don't really state APs or DVC pay more than the $99 in their wording. They only show the day of price for non dvc ap members. I guess I'll have to see on the app if I'm able to get AP pricing day of for parties coming up. 

I know I could get them ahead of time but I'm thinking the tickets would be a game day decision depending on flight times and such


----------



## PolyRob

Cloe Colton said:


> That's interesting since they don't really state APs or DVC pay more than the $99 in their wording. They only show the day of price for non dvc ap members. I guess I'll have to see on the app if I'm able to get AP pricing day of for parties coming up.
> 
> I know I could get them ahead of time but I'm thinking the tickets would be a game day decision depending on flight times and such


It is not an option to purchase with the discount in the app or online day of. You must go to the ticket window or concierge to purchase.

This is an example of MNSSHP. I know its not the same event, but similar process.

Regular admission:


AP admission:


----------



## GADisneyDad14

What @PolyRob said.


----------



## crazy4wdw

kristenabelle said:


> Just scooped up 12/9 - it'll be interesting to see how crowded (or not) it is. But looking forward to a late night!


Thinking about buying a ticket for 12/9, however I have a reservation for California Grill for that evening.  So now I need to decide whether to cancel CG and attend the after hours event.  Any recommendations from those who have been to this event?? Guess I need to decide quickly??


----------



## GADisneyDad14

crazy4wdw said:


> Thinking about buying a ticket for 12/9, however I have a reservation for California Grill for that evening.  So now I need to decide whether to cancel CG and attend the after hours event.  Any recommendations from those who have been to this event?? Guess I need to decide quickly??



What time is your ADR?  I’d do both, have a nice dinner then walk over for some quality MK time.

But I love CG, so that’d be a perfect evening for me!


----------



## monique5

I've been stalking this thread. Closing out webpages and saw 2020. Checked. BAM! Changed dates, but I haven't been looking at past patterns. Guessing with SWGE no DAH # HS for the time being. I guess I can make AK on Thursday work.


----------



## crazy4wdw

GADisneyDad14 said:


> What time is your ADR?  I’d do both, have a nice dinner then walk over for some quality MK time.
> 
> But I love CG, so that’d be a perfect evening for me!


ADR is at 6:45 PM.  I thought about doing both but doesn't the after hours ticket allow for admission at 7:00 PM?  I was thinking of not using up of the park days from my regular ticket on 12/9 and going to the MK at 7:00 PM.


----------



## Elle23

Of course they have to plant one right in the middle of our trip in November. We had an absolute blast last time we did this, but it was also an undersold extremely low crowd night. It would be hard to ever top it.

And we have 3 full MK days planned as it is (with a Christmas party).  And our plans for the other days are already set.

It’s still tempting though!!!

Now if they offered a HS After Hours, I’d trip over myself trying to book it!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

crazy4wdw said:


> ADR is at 6:45 PM.  I thought about doing both but doesn't the after hours ticket allow for admission at 7:00 PM?  I was thinking of not using up of the park days from my regular ticket on 12/9 and going to the MK at 7:00 PM.



Yep, you can get in at 7pm officially.  In practice at the MK DAHs, it has often been more like 6pm.  

Yeah, if you’re trying to max park time, sounds like CG may be on the chopping block for you.


----------



## crazy4wdw

Well, I'm in for 12/9 after hours event at the MK.  Should my ticket be showing up on MDE?   Don't see it yet.   I will decide after arriving if I'm going to cancel ADR for CG.


----------



## RolloTomasi

I'm super tempted by that 11/18 date. We just bought tickets to the Christmas party on 11/19, so should I do two late nights at MK in a row? We're staying at WL so it's a short trip back...yes, I think I am convincing myself lol.

(Also, yay! Mickey's birthday!)

Update: Yes, I bought a ticket. Since the Christmas party is the next day we had scheduled a rest day anyway until the party so I can sleep in.


----------



## lorenae

I've never done one of these- but I see one for MK on January 13, 2020.   Hmmmmm.   I'm now considering it, it's a Monday night the day after my friend arrives (I'm coming over on Saturday).   She is NOT a morning person and my plan was to RD MK the next day (the 14th) or use a BOG PPO breakfast.  

How quickly do I have to make up my mind?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

crazy4wdw said:


> Should my ticket be showing up on MDE?



I assume your bought online?  It should show up under “My Tickets.”  It won’t show up under your plans.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

lorenae said:


> I've never done one of these- but I see one for MK on January 13, 2020.   Hmmmmm.   I'm now considering it, it's a Monday night the day after my friend arrives (I'm coming over on Saturday).   She is NOT a morning person and my plan was to RD MK the next day (the 14th) or use a BOG PPO breakfast.
> 
> How quickly do I have to make up my mind?



There are historic tables on Page 1 that show the sell out history.  Generally speaking, these don’t sell out that often, and when they do it’s day of or a handful of days before.  

It’s always hard to bank on the past, but that’s been the general trend.  

So, there is the risk of a sell-out closer to the date, but these traditionally haven’t been events that sell-out crazy early.


----------



## lorenae

I've been considering an AP (Florida resident).   These are discounted for AP holders?   Do I have to validate first, before purchase, or is having a voucher enough to buy one?


----------



## SaintsManiac

lorenae said:


> I've been considering an AP (Florida resident).   These are discounted for AP holders?   Do I have to validate first, before purchase, or is having a voucher enough to buy one?




You can get the discount with a voucher.


----------



## focusondisney

crazy4wdw said:


> Thinking about buying a ticket for 12/9, however I have a reservation for California Grill for that evening.  So now I need to decide whether to cancel CG and attend the after hours event.  Any recommendations from those who have been to this event?? Guess I need to decide quickly??



You should definitely keep the CG reservation & skip the DAH.  In fact, everybody should skip after hours on Dec 9th.     

.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

focusondisney said:


> You should definitely keep the CG reservation & skip the DAH.  In fact, everybody should skip after hours on Dec 9th.
> 
> .



Ohhhh, back lobbying against your date again, eh?  I’ve seen this trick before.


----------



## focusondisney

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Ohhhh, back lobbying against your date again, eh?  I’ve seen this trick before.




  Shhhh.    Although,  it’s not like it worked the last time.  And it certainly isn’t working with YC club level.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

focusondisney said:


> Shhhh



Hmmm, that other SWGE ride opening the Thursday before... a Monday MK DAH.  Looking like a mighty fine time to go to DAH!   Lol!


----------



## Laura's Dad

crazy4wdw said:


> Well, I'm in for 12/9 after hours event at the MK.  Should my ticket be showing up on MDE?   Don't see it yet.   I will decide after arriving if I'm going to cancel ADR for CG.


We will be there as well.


----------



## wuzzle02

I saw on the first page that meeting Mickey is an open attraction for DAH.  

Will it be both Mickey and Minnie in their celebration outfits (going in September)?   Or does it revert to just Mickey for DAH?


----------



## Gina

mamamelody2 said:


> Well, shoot, we're going 1/25-2/1.  I suppose it's not impossible they would add one later...




Almost our exact dates, 1/24-2/1. Saw this thread and about fell out of my chair with excitement -- So disappointed they didn't just post DAH dates for all of January! :-(


----------



## V.I.N.CENT.

Gah! The only day in November is the day after we leave


----------



## klangl6

Any thoughts on if they will release any February DAH?  We were really hoping for 1 on 2/27.  We prefer to do AK during the day so we can see all of the animals.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

klangl6 said:


> Any thoughts on if they will release any February DAH?  We were really hoping for 1 on 2/27.  We prefer to do AK during the day so we can see all of the animals.



I would say it’s almost a lock, given the time of year and history of offering them that time of year.  The only question will be when they add them.  Might be awhile.


----------



## klangl6

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I would say it’s almost a lock, given the time of year and history of offering them that time of year.  The only question will be when they add them.  Might be awhile.



I'm willing to wait!! LOL


----------



## Cinderumbrella

A surprise update re: AP Villain ornament 

Much to my surprise, 2 ornaments magically arrived via UPS today (1 for me and 1 for DS). We both attended the first Villain DAH and had called the passholder line weeks ago requesting they be mailed to us. TBH, I had forgotten all about them.


----------



## winnieofpooh

Is the Tangled lantern PhotoPass available during after hours? Trying to figure out if we should grab a spot in line during fireworks or if we can wait until after hours to do it.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

winnieofpooh said:


> Is the Tangled lantern PhotoPass available during after hours? Trying to figure out if we should grab a spot in line during fireworks or if we can wait until after hours to do it.



It traditionally has been for regular DAH.  Hopefully we’ll get some reports once  DAH starts back up again to make sure that’s still accurate.


----------



## winnieofpooh

GADisneyDad14 said:


> It traditionally has been for regular DAH.  Hopefully we’ll get some reports once  DAH starts back up again to make sure that’s still accurate.


 
We’re going tonight, so I’ll keep a lookout and report back!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

winnieofpooh said:


> We’re going tonight, so I’ll keep a lookout and report back!



Wow - I forgot today was the day they start back again.  Hope you have fun!


----------



## iujen94

So anxious to hear crowd reports from tonight!  I’ll be there September 26 - hoping the crowds aren’t like the VAH crowds!!


----------



## mcurrence

Hoping everyone has a wonderful time tonight!

Also hoping everything goes back to normal! I'm pretty sure summer plus villains contributed to the higher crowds.


----------



## Cluelyss

Cinderumbrella said:


> A surprise update re: AP Villain ornament
> 
> Much to my surprise, 2 ornaments magically arrived via UPS today (1 for me and 1 for DS). We both attended the first Villain DAH and had called the passholder line weeks ago requesting they be mailed to us. TBH, I had forgotten all about them.


That’s the second report I’ve heard of this! Did they tell you they were going to mail them when you called? I ask because I made 3 phone calls and all 3 CMs told me I was out of luck, so wondering if I should call again or if they are automatically mailing them to all the early party-goers?


----------



## Cinderumbrella

Cluelyss said:


> That’s the second report I’ve heard of this! Did they tell you they were going to mail them when you called? I ask because I made 3 phone calls and all 3 CMs told me I was out of luck, so wondering if I should call again or if they are automatically mailing them to all the early party-goers?



Yes I called and the CM told me I would get them in about 2 weeks. That was about 2 months ago, lol. But now that the parties are over, I guess that’s why they were so late.  I would call the passholder line and see if its still possible to have them mailed.


----------



## caitycaity

Holy cow! So empty!!! Stayed on both big thunder and splash. Walked on every ride, including mine train. 

Yes, they had the lantern photopass. 

Best money I've ever spent at disney!


----------



## winnieofpooh

caitycaity said:


> Holy cow! So empty!!! Stayed on both big thunder and splash. Walked on every ride, including mine train.
> 
> Yes, they had the lantern photopass.
> 
> Best money I've ever spent at disney!



Agreed!! Crowds felt pretty similar to the AK After Hours earlier this week. I’ll post a full review in a day or two once we’re home.


----------



## fantomhamst3r

winnieofpooh said:


> Agreed!! Crowds felt pretty similar to the AK After Hours earlier this week. I’ll post a full review in a day or two once we’re home.


How was the FOP wait at your AKAH? Asking cause I'm going to both MK and AK AHs next week on vacation and I primarily want to ride FOP a bunch of times.


----------



## winnieofpooh

fantomhamst3r said:


> How was the FOP wait at your AKAH? Asking cause I'm going to both MK and AK AHs next week on vacation and I primarily want to ride FOP a bunch of times.



There wasn’t a wait, but they do make you sit through all the preshows. It took us about 15 minutes from entrance to getting through the preshows onto the ride. Since you have to sit through preshows and the ride queues are long and the ride is long, we did 2 rides in an hour.


----------



## winnieofpooh

Interestingly, I got an email to do a survey about the event, but ended up being excluded from eligibility because I didn’t go to Villains AH as well.

Definitely looks like they’re trying to compare the two and figure out what to do in the future.


----------



## kathy larrimore

caitycaity said:


> Holy cow! So empty!!! Stayed on both big thunder and splash. Walked on every ride, including mine train.
> 
> Yes, they had the lantern photopass.
> 
> Best money I've ever spent at disney!


What time did they let y'all into the event?


----------



## caitycaity

Not sure. I got there at 8:15.


----------



## momto3boys+aprincess

So we were planning on going to the MK AH in Feb. from last year it looked like it would be on a Thursday. Well the new set of dates came out and no MK for Feb YET...but the AKAH is now on Thursday. So here is my question is the even a chance they will do an AK AH and a MK AH both on Thursdays? Afraid I already know the answer. Thanks,


----------



## klangl6

momto3boys+aprincess said:


> So we were planning on going to the MK AH in Feb. from last year it looked like it would be on a Thursday. Well the new set of dates came out and no MK for Feb YET...but the AKAH is now on Thursday. So here is my question is the even a chance they will do an AK AH and a MK AH both on Thursdays? Afraid I already know the answer. Thanks,



I'm really hoping they will b/c I think we are doing a US after hours event on the Friday and Saturday of our trip.


----------



## dez1978

Gina said:


> Almost our exact dates, 1/24-2/1. Saw this thread and about fell out of my chair with excitement -- So disappointed they didn't just post DAH dates for all of January! :-(


me too.  we are going the 25-31


----------



## momto3boys+aprincess

dez1978 said:


> me too.  we are going the 25-31


I know why did they only post AK through March? It makes planning difficult


----------



## PolyRob

momto3boys+aprincess said:


> I know why did they only post AK through March? It makes planning difficult


Seriously! Spring 2020 is my hardest trip to plan since watching for RoL in 2016. I want DAH, the new Cirque show, and some ADRs for places not even open yet. Challenge accepted!!


----------



## dez1978

momto3boys+aprincess said:


> I know why did they only post AK through March? It makes planning difficult


Exactly.  Why can't they post those at 180 days so you can plan for park days and dining and stuff.


----------



## mydisneykids

I have been looking and haven’t found any reviews of the after hours for this past Thursday when it went back to the regular night from Villians. Was hoping the crowd numbers went down the way it used to be. Trying to decide if I want to get tickets for my trip in 2 weeks. 
It was amazing last summer but not worth it to me for the way it has been sounding.


----------



## Mshap001

mydisneykids said:


> I have been looking and haven’t found any reviews of the after hours for this past Thursday when it went back to the regular night from Villians. Was hoping the crowd numbers went down the way it used to be. Trying to decide if I want to get tickets for my trip in 2 weeks.
> It was amazing last summer but not worth it to me for the way it has been sounding.



I went this past Thursday. It was amazing. Bought same day tickets so don’t know if it sold out. Walked on to rides. Rode the ones we wanted to ride multiple times.


----------



## Pdollar88

In between EEMH at DHS and MNSSHP, I’m thinking of jamming in After Hours. Had such a blast when we did it last year. 

Have dates been selling out? If so, how soon? I’m eyeing Sept. 12 but don’t know if I want to go ahead and buy my ticket. It might be prudent to see how exhausted I am.


----------



## winnieofpooh

Sadly just got back from our trip, so I finally have time to sit down and write out our review. We went to the 8/22 after hours. We also did the 8/19 AK after hours.

Both parks seemed to have similar crowd levels - both were very low. I was worried the MK event would have higher crowds because of Villains just ending, but it was a nice surprise that they were exactly as I expected. There were a few times towards the end of the night walking from Frontierland to Adventureland that we were the only people in sight. For the most part though, there were other people around.

We arrived right around 7pm and rode whatever we could pick up FPs for. At 10pm we made a snack break in Fantasyland and grabbed a mickey bar and a water. CMs were checking wristbands and told the person in front of us they aren't allowed to sell things either. Got to BTMRR at 10:10, walk on. We had to walk through the regular line. They were running both sides. We rode twice and then headed to Splash, which was also a walk on.

At 10:45, we were off Splash and made another snack break before circling back to Fantasyland. We did Peter Pan, which was a 2-3 minute wait. This was the only ride they were sending us through the FP queue. At 11 we did 7 Dwarves. Posted 10 minute wait, took about 7 minutes.

Continued circling over to Tomorrowland and did Speedway. Posted 5 minutes, we waited 10. Only 4 cars were being loaded so it got backed up. Seemed to stay backed up most of the night. At 11:30 we were at Buzz. We rode twice, and they let us stay on after the first ride. Space was down for a bit (maybe 30min-1 hour) at the start of the event. At 11:45 it was posted 20 minute wait, actually waited 10. Only one side running.

Took another snack break walking back around the park. Did the lantern photopass at 12:10, only one family in front of us. The line was pretty long earlier in the event, so I'd definitely wait until closer to to the end if you want to do this. Then we went back to Frontierland and did BTMRR twice more. We were allowed to stay on.

Took another snack break before heading to Pirates, which was a walk on. Jungle cruise was our last ride at 12:50, also a walk on. We then headed back to the castle and took photos at the front of the park. They did have photopass photographers stationed all along main street. We were out of the park by 1:15, and on the bus shortly after. The resort boat and monorail were not running, but the TTC ferry was. Contemporary, GF, and Poly all shared a bus.

We ended up with 4 snack breaks, and our ride counts:

4x BTMRR
2x Buzz
1x Splash
1x Peter Pan
1x Speedway
1x 7 Dwarves
1x Space
1x Pirates
1x Jungle Cruise

Overall we had a great time. For us, we'd only do the event again if we only had a day to spend in MK. We had already done 2 full park days there, so we had already accomplished everything we wanted to earlier in our trip. If you don't have that long in MK, I'd definitely recommend the event.

Editing to add a photo from Fantasyland. This was around 11pm, and what crowds looked like around most of the park.


----------



## tarak

Mshap001 said:


> I went this past Thursday. It was amazing. Bought same day tickets so don’t know if it sold out. Walked on to rides. Rode the ones we wanted to ride multiple times.



I’m glad to read this.  I have old 5-day passes that I don’t want to pay to upgrade. Assuming the after-hours events are still going on, I’d just pay for the AK and MK evening events to fill out our trip.


----------



## mamamelody2

Nice!  I have high hopes for next Thursday's event!  Can't wait!!


----------



## mydisneykids

Mshap001 said:


> I went this past Thursday. It was amazing. Bought same day tickets so don’t know if it sold out. Walked on to rides. Rode the ones we wanted to ride multiple times.





winnieofpooh said:


> Sadly just got back from our trip, so I finally have time to sit down and write out our review. We went to the 8/22 after hours. We also did the 8/19 AK after hours.
> 
> 
> 
> We ended up with 4 snack breaks, and our ride counts:
> 
> 4x BTMRR
> 2x Buzz
> 1x Splash
> 1x Peter Pan
> 1x Speedway
> 1x 7 Dwarves
> 1x Space
> 1x Pirates
> 1x Jungle Cruise




Thank you!! This is how it was for us last year and was hoping it would be again!!!


----------



## Pdollar88

Pdollar88 said:


> In between EEMH at DHS and MNSSHP, I’m thinking of jamming in After Hours. Had such a blast when we did it last year.
> 
> Have dates been selling out? If so, how soon? I’m eyeing Sept. 12 but don’t know if I want to go ahead and buy my ticket. It might be prudent to see how exhausted I am.



Thinking a lot more seriously about adding DAH to my September trip. If I used Uber, do you think I could leave from Fantasmic and travel from Hollywood Studios to MK in time to be there at the begging of After Hours?


----------



## andee515

I've tried to review posts, so sorry if I missed, but does anyone have a guess the most likely night MK would have DAH in Jan/Feb given AK having Thursdays?


----------



## ShootingStar106

I wanted to follow up since I attended the event last Thursday and I originally  posted about being nervous about the system accidentally using a regular day’s ticket instead of the event ticket. My family went through the Special Event entrance and everything worked out perfectly! My regular tickets and fast passes were not affected at all. We were let in at about 6:50 that night. 
Also, the crowds were super low! Our longest wait was 10 minutes for 7 dwarfs mine train and it may have been even less than that. We did notice that Space Mountain was down at the beginning of the event and when it came back, the posted wait was never less than 20 minutes, but we had already ridden it earlier in the day with a FastPass so I don’t know if that wait time was accurate. We even stopped to watch Happily Ever After and we were still able to ride everything we wanted and do the lantern photo pass shot! My husband said that this event was his favorite part of the trip and worth every penny!


----------



## eeudj

I just bought my tix for the January MK   excited!!!!  The event is from 8-11 in January what is a the time I can expect to be let into the park? Can I make a fast pass res with just an event ticket?

TIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## lorenae

eeudj said:


> I just bought my tix for the January MK   excited!!!!  The event is from 8-11 in January what is a the time I can expect to be let into the park? Can I make a fast pass res with just an event ticket?
> 
> TIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Disney officially says you'll be allowed in a 7 PM, but others say they get in a bit earlier for an 8 PM park close.


----------



## lorenae

andee515 said:


> I've tried to review posts, so sorry if I missed, but does anyone have a guess the most likely night MK would have DAH in Jan/Feb given AK having Thursdays?



The schedule for AK:

Thursday, January 9, 2020
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Thursday, February 6, 2020
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Thursday, March 26, 2020
For MK, I could only see January posted, and they are on Mondays with one Friday:


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Well, I was wrong about tonight's DAH.  I had been thinking with SWGE hoopla tonight would be ripe for a sell out, but doesn't seem that will be the case.  And wait times look pretty good for 5pm.  Love having 8am openings and 7am EMHs to spread people around.  

Curious to hear reports from tonight.  If you're going, have fun!


----------



## Trinity88

I’m heading there tonight! I’ve been watching wait times today and they haven’t been too bad. Hoping for low crowds at tonight’s event!


----------



## TheFloatingBear

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Well, I was wrong about tonight's DAH.  I had been thinking with SWGE hoopla tonight would be ripe for a sell out, but doesn't seem that will be the case.  And wait times look pretty good for 5pm.  *Love having 8am openings and 7am EMHs to spread people around. *
> 
> Curious to hear reports from tonight.  If you're going, have fun!



Maybe people are too tired from the early wake up and long milk waits!   

I love those early openings too - wish I was there!


----------



## Lsdolphin

We will be there tonite. We were at MK at 7:00 and stayed til 11:00 am. Rode everything we wanted with no to low waiting!  So waiting til around 8:30 to go back over.  POC was down this morning an we got anytime FP good til 10:00 tonite.   Hoping for low crowds this evening. Expect ice cream to melt really fast!!!


----------



## mamamelody2

DH and I went last night.  Holy cow.  AMAZING!  It was our first park day, so we were there for rides.  Did HS earlier in the day so we got to MK around 6:30 I think.  Met Mickey/Minnie with FP.  Got dinner at Pecos Bill.  I had fajita platter, so wasn't very hungry for snacks during the event.  After dinner had FP for Splash but it went down.  Used Anytime FP for BTMRR.  FP for Pirates.  FP for Jungle Cruise.  Watched fireworks.  FP for Buzz.  Got lantern pic by Teacups.  Got to HM just as event was starting at 10.  Everything we rode was a walk-on.  Here's what we did during the event:

HM
ice cream/popcorn/soda from HM cart
Splash--we got SOAKED.  DH went in bathroom to wring out shirt.  LOL.  It was 10:37 at this point.
BTMRR X 5  Only running one side, but train was never even full.  Our first ride only 3 rows were occupied.
Got Popcorn and Sprite
Tangled lantern pic
7DMT X 5  10 minute posted time, but complete walk-on and bypass used during EMM was open.  It was around 11:45 when we got to the ride initially.
PP X 2
When we walked plus teacups, there was no one riding, just 2 CMs standing forlornly.  LOL.
Dumbo X 2 (just stayed on, we were the only ones on it for first ride.)
Barnstormer X 3 (just stayed on, we were the only ones on for first 2 rides.)
Buzz
Peoplemover  Got off at 1:01.
Ride total:  21!!
Made our way to hub.  Went up by castle.  One other family there, then they left and it was just us.  PP pics by partners statue, then down Main Street and by the flag pole pumpkins.  Photographers packed up at 1:30.  Heard Kiss Good Night twice.
By buses , they asked where we were going.  Told them POP, directed to first bus in line.  On bus at 1:45.  Next couple wanted to go to POP too.  Did not wait for anyone else, off we went.  

Highly recommended and I would definitely do it again!!  I mean 21 rides in 3 hours??


----------



## HuskyForever

Went last night as well.  This was our 4th time doing MK AH.  It was SO quiet compared to the last three (2 in January trip, 1 in April trip). I dunno if the storm coming scared people off or if the opening of Galaxy’s Edge attracted everyone, but MK was empty.  Our 5 year loves roller coasters so she was thrilled.  

We arrived at 7:05 
Used FP for Speedway
Used FP 7dmt
Fp for Splash turned into Multi Experience so used it on Btmrr
Had FP for Pooh at 9:15 but it was a walk on.
Watched HEA
Once the party started we rode the following:
Barnstormer x8 never got off
Teacups x1
7dmt x8 (approximately 30 mins worth of riding.  Crazy!)
Tried Splash. Got stuck on ride for 5 minutes then escorted off.  
Btmrr x4
Peter Pan x1
Buzz x2

Had lots of popcorn, strawberry bars, and water.  Sadly, no Olaf bars.

We did this event instead of a buying a park day ticket.  It is always worth it to us.


----------



## Trinity88

I was there last night as well. It was so quiet!! We got there shortly after 7, FP mine train and space, did laugh floor, fireworks, FP jungle cruise. Got off JC at 10:01. During the party did:

Btmr x 2
Splash (during a brief up time, it was down most of the night)
HM
SDMT x 2 (posted 10 min wait, was actually walk on)
Barnstormer x 2 (stayed on)
Space x 2 (would have done more but our feet were tired - the walk in and out is long!)
Buzz x 2

We also did the lantern shot, pics in multiple other places, lots of snacks and drinks (was still quite warm even at 1am). 

We took our time and had a great night!


----------



## JJJV4

Bought my ticket this summer to attend my first AH @ MK on 9/5.  Now with Dorian in the mix, I’m getting nervous that my flight on Wednesday night will get canceled or something.


----------



## lorenae

It might- they just announced that MCO is closing Sunday night (Monday AM) at 2 AM to commercial traffic, and no idea when they’d resume.


----------



## Soph&HanMom

Some pictures from 8/22 after hours
Worth every penny


----------



## JJJV4

lorenae said:


> It might- they just announced that MCO is closing Sunday night (Monday AM) at 2 AM to commercial traffic, and no idea when they’d resume.



Oh boy! My flight is supposed to arrive on Wednesday night at 10:40PM.


----------



## kalliyan1

When you go to this, do the shops on main street stay open beyond 1am or do they close?  TIA


----------



## Tinkerbellmom43

Seriously debating if I should do this on 9/12  I only have one MK day planned and MNSSHP. Thinking I should see how I feel the day of and decide. We've never done the DAH MK.


----------



## Alison S

Debating doing this in November.  If we do it, we'll decide that day.
1. I'm a little confused about the times- park closes at 9, fireworks at 9.  DAH is 10-1.  Do all the rides close for that hour?  
2. What is the average wait for SDMT during this event- not villans, and not during the last one that reports zero waits  I'm prepared for a wait, but want to know if it's 10 minutes or 45 minutes (like a Christmas party wait!).


----------



## JJJV4

I know the event officially starts at 7pm but what is the earliest reported time that someone was able to enter AH @ MK??


----------



## mydisneykids

Tinkerbellmom43 said:


> Seriously debating if I should do this on 9/12  I only have one MK day planned and MNSSHP. Thinking I should see how I feel the day of and decide. We've never done the DAH MK.


That is the night we will be going too.  I did it a year ago and it was amazing but was worried hearing the villains reports.  But sounds like it is back to how it used to be so count us in!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

kalliyan1 said:


> When you go to this, do the shops on main street stay open beyond 1am or do they close?  TIA



Unless this has changed recently, for the regular DAH events it has typically been that 1am = closed - no “shop on your way out” time.  I’d be curious to see if anyone has experienced anything otherwise recently, but that’s the way it has been in the past.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

JJJV4 said:


> I know the event officially starts at 7pm but what is the earliest reported time that someone was able to enter AH @ MK??



For the MK DAHs, it’s usually 6’ish or a bit thereafter.  

This sometimes fluctuates to later, but more often than not that has been the case. 

The same can’t be said for DAK DAH, which is more consistently on the 6:45-7pm side of things.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Alison S said:


> Debating doing this in November.  If we do it, we'll decide that day.
> 1. I'm a little confused about the times- park closes at 9, fireworks at 9.  DAH is 10-1.  Do all the rides close for that hour?
> 2. What is the average wait for SDMT during this event- not villans, and not during the last one that reports zero waits  I'm prepared for a wait, but want to know if it's 10 minutes or 45 minutes (like a Christmas party wait!).



I know the park hours currently say 9pm for 11/18, but they will eventually change to 10pm - there won’t be an hour gap between park closing and the 10-1 DAH event that night. 

Impossible to answer to answer with 100% accuracy, but I’d say a posted wait of 30-45 mins during DAH is more common than not.  Actual waits would be 10’ish mins less.  It’s the one ride that never really shakes the crowd during the event.  

We’ve typically waited until the very end and had actual waits in the 10-20 mins range.  

YMMV!


----------



## sheila14

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I know the park hours currently say 9pm for 11/18, but they will eventually change to 10pm - there won’t be an hour gap between park closing and the 10-1 DAH event that night.
> 
> Impossible to answer to answer with 100% accuracy, but I’d say a posted wait of 30-45 mins during DAH is more common than not.  Actual waits would be 10’ish mins less.  It’s the one ride that never really shakes the crowd during the event.
> 
> We’ve typically waited until the very end and had actual waits in the 10-20 mins range.
> 
> YMMV!


I am doing the DAH on 9/20 and the park hours state HEA at 9pm at the same time the park closes.  Will they keep this time or change to 8pm like they have done in the past??


----------



## iujen94

sheila14 said:


> I am doing the DAH on 9/20 and the park hours state HEA at 9pm at the same time the park closes.  Will they keep this time or change to 8pm like they have done in the past??



Once the HEA time is set,  it would be incredibly unusual for Disney to change that. There have been other nights where HEA is at 9:00, which is also park close, which is also the start of a 9- 12 DAH.


----------



## winnieofpooh

Alison S said:


> Debating doing this in November.  If we do it, we'll decide that day.
> 1. I'm a little confused about the times- park closes at 9, fireworks at 9.  DAH is 10-1.  Do all the rides close for that hour?
> 2. What is the average wait for SDMT during this event- not villans, and not during the last one that reports zero waits  I'm prepared for a wait, but want to know if it's 10 minutes or 45 minutes (like a Christmas party wait!).



We went on 8/22 and the posted wait time was 10-15 minutes and it was accurate. We waited 7 minutes when we rode it.


----------



## nancy155

Purchased our tickets with my AP discount for 9/26!  I have been to one previous DAH and MK and was so thrilled with the event that I want to share this experience with my kid and grandchildren while we are there in September. Doing a happy happy dance here!


----------



## DisneyDoesMyHair

We did DAH at AK last year, and we are hoping to try MK this year on our trip in May. When will May 2020 After Hours tickets likely go on sale? Are there any known events happening May 13-May 20 that would affect DAH offerings, such as cheer events?


----------



## Traveling on cc points

Heading over to the MK for tonight’s after hours. The lines everywhere have been so light all week that I am expecting it to be a great night!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Traveling on cc points said:


> Heading over to the MK for tonight’s after hours. The lines everywhere have been so light all week that I am expecting it to be a great night!!



Wait times for 6pm look great!

Feels like temp of 99 not so great, but that’s what shade and dark rides are for, I guess!   Lol

Have fun!


----------



## magickingdomprincess

nancy155 said:


> Purchased our tickets with my AP discount for 9/26!  I have been to one previous DAH and MK and was so thrilled with the event that I want to share this experience with my kid and grandchildren while we are there in September. Doing a happy happy dance here!



We'll be at the 9/26 party too!  It's our first AH event and can't wait!  MK is my favorite park!


----------



## Shellbells

We'll be there on the 26th too! I'm so excited it's our first AH event and we added the dessert party.  I can't wait!


----------



## Traveling on cc points

Waiting for the bus on the way back to get back to the hotel. 
Everything, I mean everything was a walk on. Most rides were posted at 5 to 10 minutes but we didn’t wait for a single ride. 
Best money we have spent at Disney in a long time.


----------



## Mrs Grumpy

We went on 8/29 and LOVED it!  This was our first time attending so didn't know what to expect but it was like we had the place to ourselves.  We rode Mine Train 3 times in a row with just walking on.  Haunted Mansion it was just DH and I and one other person in the preshow.  Just wish my feet were in better shape that night because that slowed us down.  I was walking really slow.  This is a must do for us on our next trip if it is available.


----------



## mcurrence

Shellbells said:


> We'll be there on the 26th too! I'm so excited it's our first AH event and we added the dessert party.  I can't wait!


We're doing both too.  AH and the dessert party   Can't wait!


----------



## hippiechicken

We'll be at our first AH on 9/26 as well!!


----------



## hhhaleybird

My husband and I will be there on 9/26.We love after hours!
Popcorn, rides, drinks, ice cream sandwiches, more rides, photos, Mickey bars, and did I mention the rides have little to no waits! Magic Kingdom done in just a few hours. It’s a no brainer for us!


----------



## sharona

Was everything open right up until 1am?  We were at MK one night with a 12am closing time and they added an extra hour but it seemed to us that a lot of things were closed or suddenly were down at 12:30.


----------



## Rick195275

sharona said:


> Was everything open right up until 1am?  We were at MK one night with a 12am closing time and they added an extra hour but it seemed to us that a lot of things were closed or suddenly were down at 12:30.


I’m confused they added an hour to your after hours event or to regular park hours? I went to an after hours in April with a 1am close, the only thing I noticed being closed early was jungle cruise around 12:30.


----------



## sharona

Rick195275 said:


> I’m confused they added an hour to your after hours event or to regular park hours? I went to an after hours in April with a 1am close, the only thing I noticed being closed early was jungle cruise around 12:30.



Regular park hours.


----------



## Whitb08

So excited for our first AH at AK on 10/5! Our first FP has a 6:05-7:05 window. We are only going to the park for AH event. Think we’ll make that first FP if we hussle?


----------



## Iowamomof4

sharona said:


> Regular park hours.



For DAH, all rides stay open right up to the end unless they go down due to problems with the ride. The night we were there, Jungle Cruise was struggling to stay open during the last hour but everything else that I noticed was fine.


----------



## DisneyDoesMyHair

Whitb08 said:


> So excited for our first AH at AK on 10/5! Our first FP has a 6:05-7:05 window. We are only going to the park for AH event. Think we’ll make that first FP if we hussle?


What ride is it? Take a look at the map ahead of time, so you will know which path to take to get there quicker. At our AK AH event, we were let in around 6:45, earlier than expected, but this is never a guarantee. We had FP for 7:15 for Kilimanjaro Safari. It is way in the back of the park.  We leisurely made our way to the back of the park, even stopping to take photopass photos, and made it with plenty of time to spare. I would say arrive a little early around 6:45 in anticipation of possible early entry and you should be able to make your FP window without having to rush. The fun of AH events is that you don’t have to rush, you get to just enjoy the park without the crowds and without the waits. You will have so much fun! This was my DH and kids absolute favorite part of our trip!


----------



## Whitb08

DisneyDoesMyHair said:


> What ride is it? Take a look at the map ahead of time, so you will know which path to take to get there quicker. At our AK AH event, we were let in around 6:45, earlier than expected, but this is never a guarantee. We had FP for 7:15 for Kilimanjaro Safari. It is way in the back of the park.  We leisurely made our way to the back of the park, even stopping to take photopass photos, and made it with plenty of time to spare. I would say arrive a little early around 6:45 in anticipation of possible early entry and you should be able to make your FP window without having to rush. The fun of AH events is that you don’t have to rush, you get to just enjoy the park without the crowds and without the waits. You will have so much fun! This was my DH and kids absolute favorite part of our trip!


Ours is also Kilimanjaro Safari! We wanted to be sure to ride it before it stops for the night. We’ll plan to be there early. Thanks for the tip. I’m glad you guys had so much fun. We have 3 adults and 4 teens. We love the rides, especially FOP and thought this would be a great way to do AK this time.


----------



## Pdollar88

I remember our rough plan for DAH a year and a half ago was to start in Frontierland and work around the park, ending in Fantasyland. Is this still a good strategy? 

I know strategy isn’t as important, but I like to have a rough idea.


----------



## Pdollar88

Pdollar88 said:


> I remember our rough plan for DAH a year and a half ago was to start in Frontierland and work around the park, ending in Fantasyland. Is this still a good strategy?
> 
> I know strategy isn’t as important, but I like to have a rough idea.


I'm almost feeling silly for booking DAH as I keep looking at the app and wait times are crazy low across the board. But I'm weirdly excited about the "free" popcorn and ice cream!


----------



## klangl6

Whitb08 said:


> So excited for our first AH at AK on 10/5! Our first FP has a 6:05-7:05 window. We are only going to the park for AH event. Think we’ll make that first FP if we hussle?



Can you make a FP with only the AH ticket?  We haven't done one before so just wondering.


----------



## dez1978

Dang it.  They really need to add AH for MK the last week of January


----------



## CJN

dez1978 said:


> Dang it.  They really need to add AH for MK the last week of January



And March


----------



## Whitb08

It didn’t give any information on that as far as I remember on Disney’s site, but when I was preparing to make our first fast passes for the next day and playing around with the system it allowed me to make three selections even though that was our only ticket for the day.  Some more experience folks may want to weigh in and confirm there were no issues with actually using them, but I was allowed to book.


----------



## Whitb08

klangl6 said:


> Can you make a FP with only the AH ticket?  We haven't done one before so just wondering.


didn’t give any information on that as far as I remember on Disney’s site, but when I was preparing to make our first fast passes for the next day and playing around with the system it allowed me to make three selections even though that was our only ticket for the day. Some more experience folks may want to weigh in and confirm there were no issues with actually using them, but I was allowed to book.


----------



## Traveling on cc points

Pdollar88 said:


> I'm almost feeling silly for booking DAH as I keep looking at the app and wait times are crazy low across the board. But I'm weirdly excited about the "free" popcorn and ice cream!


I felt the same way. The wait times were crazy low all week (thanks Dorian!) that we had already done everything at MK. It was so cool to see a virtually empty park, that alone was worth the price. 
We ate an early light dinner at sweet Tomatoes (salad & soup place) because I wanted to take advantage of the snacks. We were so busy enjoying ourselves that we only managed to have 2 Mickey bars, 2 bottles of water and 1 popcorn between the 2 of us.


----------



## Pdollar88

Traveling on cc points said:


> I felt the same way. The wait times were crazy low all week (thanks Dorian!) that we had already done everything at MK. It was so cool to see a virtually empty park, that alone was worth the price.
> We ate an early light dinner at sweet Tomatoes (salad & soup place) because I wanted to take advantage of the snacks. We were so busy enjoying ourselves that we only managed to have 2 Mickey bars, 2 bottles of water and 1 popcorn between the 2 of us.



I’m glad to hear I’m not the only feeling that way. And glad that you had a blast and still found it worth it. I know I’ll have a blast once I’m there - it was great last year.


----------



## Cluelyss

klangl6 said:


> Can you make a FP with only the AH ticket?  We haven't done one before so just wondering.


Yes, you can!


----------



## DisneyDoesMyHair

klangl6 said:


> Can you make a FP with only the AH ticket?  We haven't done one before so just wondering.


Yes, at the time we booked our trip we could  make one FP with just AH ticket.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

I’m going to assume it’s pretty dead at DAH right now.  12am and 10 min posted wait for 7DMT (event goes until 1am).  Nearly every other ride is 5 mins. Crazy.

The rest of the Sept DAH’s shift to 9pm-12am, will be interesting to watch as we get deeper in the fall.


----------



## Pdollar88

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I’m going to assume it’s pretty dead at DAH right now.  12am and 10 min posted wait for 7DMT (event goes until 1am).  Nearly every other ride is 5 mins. Crazy.
> 
> The rest of the Sept DAH’s shift to 9pm-12am, will be interesting to watch as we get deeper in the fall.



It was quite dead, and quite spectacular. Most of the ride vehicles I was on were either completely or mostly empty. It was even less crowded than the DAH event we did in March 2018.

And to tack on what I did, which I had planned. Does not include attractions I completed prior to official DAH start time.

BTMRR x 2 (offered to stay on for 3rd ride)
Popcorn 10:15
Haunted x 2
Ice cream 10:51
Under the Sea x 2
Ariel M&G
Dumbo x 2
Barnstormer x 2
Teacups
Buzz
TTA
Space x 3
Pooh
7DMT x 2
PP x 2


----------



## nancy155

We are going to DAH on the 26th.  I hope we have a similar experience for as the others in September.  Looking forward to lots of rides, feeling like the park is privately reserved, and lots of treats!  OH and have to get the tangled lantern photo op!


----------



## Shellbells

nancy155 said:


> We are going to DAH on the 26th.  I hope we have a similar experience for as the others in September.  Looking forward to lots of rides, feeling like the park is privately reserved, and lots of treats!  OH and have to get the tangled lantern photo op!



We're doing AN on the 26th too! I'm super excited but my over thinking brain is worried that all the people who had to reschedule due to the hurricane will be there and it's going to be packed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for low crowds.


----------



## Rich M

We are planning to attend December 9th.  When should I plan to buy the tickets?  I don't want it to sell out.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Rich M said:


> We are planning to attend December 9th.  When should I plan to buy the tickets?  I don't want it to sell out.



Page #1 has tables with sell out history, where applicable.  Generally speaking, the recent trend with DAH is that they don’t sell out.  BUT always hard to tell when crowd dynamics change... such as if there is a big influx of people around the 12/5 opening of the second SWGE ride.  

I would peg it as likely not to sell out that time of year, but you can’t take anything for granted.  

But no need to rush and buy them right now, in my opinion.


----------



## Rich M

Do you find that you need to be at MK right at the time your allowed to get in to get your value worth?  We originally planned to see the EP show that night and figured we could still do that and get over to MK after we are done.  We have Park Hoppers so we figured if we do DAH and the Christmas Party we could skip going to MK during the day as we will have plenty of time between both events to get on rides and save FP for other parks.


----------



## Juventus

If I am using a normal park day ticket at another Park, and purchased an AH ticket for MK for the same day, can I book my normal 3 fps for the first park AND 3 (or less depending of normal MK closing time) for the AH event ahead of time?


----------



## AntJulie

Juventus said:


> If I am using a normal park day ticket at another Park, and purchased an AH ticket for MK for the same day, can I book my normal 3 fps for the first park AND 3 (or less depending of normal MK closing time) for the AH event ahead of time?



No...only 3 per day (ahead of time)


----------



## klangl6

Any thoughts on if they are going to add more DAH dates in February/March?


----------



## DisneyCowgirl

klangl6 said:


> Any thoughts on if they are going to add more DAH dates in February/March?


Yes, please! For the first time (in over 25 trips), I actually want to make certain ADRs this far in advance for our March trip. How can I do this effectively if I don't know when/if there will be DAH at MK or at DHS?


----------



## klangl6

DisneyCowgirl said:


> Yes, please! For the first time (in over 25 trips), I actually want to make certain ADRs this far in advance for our March trip. How can I do this effectively if I don't know when/if there will be DAH at MK or at DHS?



We are doing a split trip between US and WDW this time around. 2/27-3/2.  We are doing an after hours event at US so we are thinking about just doing all after hours this trip.  Just waiting to see if there will be MK after hours.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

klangl6 said:


> Any thoughts on if they are going to add more DAH dates in February/March?



My thoughts are that it’s pretty much a given, based on recent history.   

Unless they want to do something funky like offer Villains After Hours or something like that, in Feb.


----------



## CJN

GADisneyDad14 said:


> My thoughts are that it’s pretty much a given, based on recent history.
> 
> Unless they want to do something funky like offer Villains After Hours or something like that, in Feb.




 I also think it’s a given but trying to guess which day is what’s messing with my head regarding March planning. I’m guessing *maybe* MK DAH would be on Monday nights since AK’s is scheduled for Thursday. But who knows.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

CJN said:


> I also think it’s a given but trying to guess which day is what’s messing with my head regarding March planning. I’m guessing *maybe* MK DAH would be on Monday nights since AK’s is scheduled for Thursday. But who knows.



Yeah, that’s a good question - since all past Feb DAHs have been Thursday.  

Like you say, who knows the mouse is thinking!


----------



## DisneyCowgirl

CJN said:


> I also think it’s a given but trying to guess which day is what’s messing with my head regarding March planning. I’m guessing *maybe* MK DAH would be on Monday nights since AK’s is scheduled for Thursday. But who knows.


I decided to plan now as if MK DAH will be on Monday in March. But when would Hollywood Studios DAH be? I open to speculation. I need something to base my planning on.


----------



## Iowamomof4

DisneyCowgirl said:


> I decided to plan now as if MK DAH will be on Monday in March. But when would Hollywood Studios DAH be? I open to speculation. I need something to base my planning on.



I hope they offer them at DHS again in the future, but I couldn't even hazard a guess as to which day of the week. Draw a day out of a hat if you must, but that would probably be just as good as anything.


----------



## Iowamomof4

DisneyCowgirl said:


> I decided to plan now as if MK DAH will be on Monday in March. But when would Hollywood Studios DAH be? I open to speculation. I need something to base my planning on.


I'm going to amend what I said above just slightly. If you really want to have maximum flexibility in order to take advantage of any possible DAH they might offer at DHS, just try to leave your nights free. Plan any ADR's for breakfast or lunch instead of dinner and arrange your FP's to be done in the morning or early afternoon. The more nights you can leave free, the more likely you'll be able to slide in an unexpected DAH at the last minute without upsetting the proverbial apple cart. 

The last time I was trying to plan a trip, after hours at DHS had been happening consistently on Saturdays so that was what I planned on. Then, they released the schedule (finally!) but they switched after hours to Fridays! So, even though it seemed like there was no reason for them to change the schedule, they sure did. Thankfully, I already had nothing planned for our Friday night so it was easy to switch our plans around.


----------



## Lsdolphin

Still hoping for last week of Jan


----------



## DisneyCowgirl

Iowamomof4 said:


> I'm going to amend what I said above just slightly. If you really want to have maximum flexibility in order to take advantage of any possible DAH they might offer at DHS, just try to leave your nights free. Plan any ADR's for breakfast or lunch instead of dinner and arrange your FP's to be done in the morning or early afternoon. The more nights you can leave free, the more likely you'll be able to slide in an unexpected DAH at the last minute without upsetting the proverbial apple cart.
> 
> The last time I was trying to plan a trip, after hours at DHS had been happening consistently on Saturdays so that was what I planned on. Then, they released the schedule (finally!) but they switched after hours to Fridays! So, even though it seemed like there was no reason for them to change the schedule, they sure did. Thankfully, I already had nothing planned for our Friday night so it was easy to switch our plans around.


This is a good point. We aren't on the dining plan, so I'm thinking we can just cancel any ADRs that interfere with the DAH.


----------



## mcurrence

Hope everyone going tonight has a great time! We'll be there next week and will report back 

Would love to know (for those without day tickets) what time they let you in tonight?
Thanks!


----------



## BattyKoda

A bit late...but we did DAH on 9/12... The weather that night was AWESOME.

and it turned out to be, easily, the best money we ever spent at Disney (IMO).

During our three hours we did: POTC, SM, JC, HM, Latern Photo, PPF, Barnstormer, 7DMTx3, Pooh, People Mover, BUZZ, 7DMTx3. We also stopped for drinks twice and hit the rest rooms (just trying to show how much time we had to do stuff).  Finally, around 12:30ish,  we decided to take some pictures of the, nearly, empty park and start heading out.  We could have done a bunch more if so inclined, but it was still the perfect end to our trip.

Here's wishing that everyone else has a great a time as we did.


----------



## sheila14

I just got back from DAH and it was so awesome!!! I ride every ride they had with no wait all walk on. I did mine train and HM twice. Multiple stops for drinks, popcorn, and ice cream all with no wait. Many photo opportunities and even met Cinderella. My only complaints are: Disney needs to remove day guests at closing time many people in line for photos on Main Street after 10pm and it was difficult to see where to grab snacks maybe they could have blow up stands like they do for the trick or treat stops.


----------



## jberndt10

Did it tonight. Money well spent. Walked on to everything. Rode TMRR, 7DMT and SM all x3, and everything else that interested us. Had popcorn, 2 bottles of water and a Mickey Bar (so easily pleased.)


----------



## mamamelody2

Lsdolphin said:


> Still hoping for last week of Jan



ME TOO!!!  Come on Disney, pretty please!!


----------



## mcurrence

sheila14 said:


> I just got back from DAH and it was so awesome!!! I ride every ride they had with no wait all walk on. I did mine train and HM twice. Multiple stops for drinks, popcorn, and ice cream all with no wait. Many photo opportunities and even met Cinderella. My only complaints are: Disney needs to remove day guests at closing time many people in line for photos on Main Street after 10pm and it was difficult to see where to grab snacks maybe they could have blow up stands like they do for the trick or treat stops.


So excited for next week!  What time did they let you in? In the past they've let us in around 6 but haven't heard from anyone lately...thanks!


----------



## sheila14

mcurrence said:


> So excited for next week!  What time did they let you in? In the past they've let us in around 6 but haven't heard from anyone lately...thanks!


I didn’t arrive until 710 pm bus was late leaving resort.


----------



## klangl6

Really hoping for one on 2/27 or 3/1


----------



## lorenae

Can I buy mine with an AP the day of, or maybe the day before?  Do you still get the discount?  I'm unsure that we can make it but I'd really like to go!   Our date is January 13.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

lorenae said:


> Can I buy mine with an AP the day of, or maybe the day before?  Do you still get the discount?  I'm unsure that we can make it but I'd really like to go!   Our date is January 13.



You can buy online or at a ticket booth with the AP discount the day before.  You can't buy with an AP/DVC discount online day of (and day of tickets have a higher price as well), but SOME guests have reported being able to get the discount day of at a ticket booth... although I tend to view this as a YMMV thing and not hard fact. 

I'd buy the day before if able.


----------



## Alison S

Hmmm sure is tempting!


----------



## suemom2kay

My DH and I attended last night 9/19/19. It was fantastic!  We did not have a wait for any ride.  Not one.

Arrived 9:45. Watched HEA on Main St. just before the turn into Tomorrowland.

Rode Peoplemover
Ate popcorn, water chaser
Then...
SM
Tomorrow Land Speedway  
SDMT
Ate Mickey Bar & Mickey Sandwich, water chaser
Regal Carousel
Peter Pan
Skipped IASW (only like to visit every couple of years)
HM
BTMRR
Splash
Popcorn to go with water chaser.
Skipped Pirates cause we forgot  But we'd gone to the live actor version earlier in the week.
Departed at 2340, bus to Poly was prompt.


In my opinion, this is the best hard ticket event we've ever attended.


----------



## katherine52478

We will be doing our third AH event on 9/26 (previously done them in May and January). This is the first year where the fireworks and castle show are DURING our event. Not sure how much I love that idea as we usually walk through the hub on the way to Tomorrowland. Does anyone know if the cast members will be preventing day guests from entering the lands from the hub after 9 pm closing time?

Also, seems like a lot of the folks on the board are heading there on 9/26. Fingers crossed that we are the only ones!


----------



## suemom2kay

katherine52478 said:


> We will be doing our third AH event on 9/26 (previously done them in May and January). This is the first year where the fireworks and castle show are DURING our event. Not sure how much I love that idea as we usually walk through the hub on the way to Tomorrowland. Does anyone know if the cast members will be preventing day guests from entering the lands from the hub after 9 pm closing time?
> 
> Also, seems like a lot of the folks on the board are heading there on 9/26. Fingers crossed that we are the only ones!


They were only checking bands at ride entry. But the day guests were all filing out. We waited about 10-15 minutes to let the hub clear. Headed into Tomorrowland, rode PM with no wait. Ate some popcorn and rode SM with no wait. Then hit the rest of the park with no wait. Day guests were not a problem at all!  Enjoy!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

katherine52478 said:


> We will be doing our third AH event on 9/26 (previously done them in May and January). This is the first year where the fireworks and castle show are DURING our event. Not sure how much I love that idea as we usually walk through the hub on the way to Tomorrowland. Does anyone know if the cast members will be preventing day guests from entering the lands from the hub after 9 pm closing time?
> 
> Also, seems like a lot of the folks on the board are heading there on 9/26. Fingers crossed that we are the only ones!



DAH tends to act more like EMHs - the true checking is at the ride entrances.  You may see some light clearing around, but it's not like MNSSHP or MVMCP where it's active clearing.  It relies on natural attrition of people leaving, more or less - plus the giant sucking sound of HEA as it pulls people from the depths of the park to watch, then they head out.  

Enjoy your trip!


----------



## suemom2kay

GADisneyDad14 said:


> DAH tends to act more like EMHs - the true checking is at the ride entrances.  You may see some light clearing around, but it's not like MNSSHP or MVMCP where it's active clearing.  It relies on natural attrition of people leaving, more or less - plus the giant sucking sound of HEA as it pulls people from the depths of the park to watch, then they head out.
> 
> Enjoy your trip!


I also think that day guests aren't even aware of an After Hours event.  When there's a party, they definitely know because the park is closing very early and MNSSHP is heavily marketed.


----------



## cakebaker

Well am I ever glad I decided to read this thread! We arrive next Tuesday, will be at the MK 9/26  and for some reason, for months now, I have thought 9/26 was EMH, not a DAH. I swear that's what the calendar said months ago! lol At any rate, it's clearly not so off I went to book the DAH and change my dessert party to before instead of after! I love last minute changes.


----------



## Shellbells

cakebaker said:


> Well am I ever glad I decided to read this thread! We arrive next Tuesday, will be at the MK 9/26  and for some reason, for months now, I have thought 9/26 was EMH, not a DAH. I swear that's what the calendar said months ago! lol At any rate, it's clearly not so off I went to book the DAH and change my dessert party to before instead of after! I love last minute changes.



You'll be in good company! A lot of DISers seem to be going on 9/26 and I know a few of us will be at the dessert party too. I'm so excited!


----------



## writersblock

Just wanted to check a couple of things. We have DAH for November. What time can we get in with just those tickets? 

Also, we will be coming in an Uber from Universal. Are we best getting dropped off at the Poly and walking in?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

writersblock said:


> Just wanted to check a couple of things. We have DAH for November. What time can we get in with just those tickets?
> 
> Also, we will be coming in an Uber from Universal. Are we best getting dropped off at the Poly and walking in?



Officially you can get in at 7pm.  In practice that has sometimes tended to be as early as 6pm or sometime between 6-7.  Haven’t been a ton of recent reports as to exactly what has been happening.  

Uber to Contemporary and walk from there.  Can’t walk to MK from Poly (only boat of monorail).  

Hope that helps!


----------



## writersblock

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Officially you can get in at 7pm.  In practice that has sometimes tended to be as early as 6pm or sometime between 6-7.  Haven’t been a ton of recent reports as to exactly what has been happening.
> 
> Uber to Contemporary and walk from there.  Can’t walk to MK from Poly (only boat of monorail).
> 
> Hope that helps!



Thank you, that is helpful!


----------



## cindyfan

katherine52478 said:


> We will be doing our third AH event on 9/26 (previously done them in May and January). This is the first year where the fireworks and castle show are DURING our event. Not sure how much I love that idea as we usually walk through the hub on the way to Tomorrowland. Does anyone know if the cast members will be preventing day guests from entering the lands from the hub after 9 pm closing time?
> 
> Also, seems like *a lot of the folks on the board are heading there on 9/26*. Fingers crossed that we are the only ones!


I will be there too!!  Also hoping that it's not as crowded.  Last time I went they still had Wishes (March 2017) and it was scheduled at 8p, with DAH from 9-midnight.  And.... DAH was in it's early stages so not many people knew about it and it was NOT crowded at all!  I'm hoping they can get the regular crowds out quickly, but I have a feeling alot of people will still be there till like 10:30-ish.


----------



## iujen94

Another one attending the HEA dessert party and DAH on 9/26!

It got me thinking - it would be fascinating to know the percentage of guests at both of those events that are DISers and learned about those events from DIS.  I honestly don’t think I would have any idea those events exist but for these boards, and I’m a pretty regular Disney-goer!


----------



## cindyfan

iujen94 said:


> Another one attending the HEA dessert party and DAH on 9/26!
> 
> It got me thinking - it would be fascinating to know the percentage of guests at both of those events that are DISers and learned about those events from DIS.  I honestly don’t think I would have any idea those events exist but for these boards, and I’m a pretty regular Disney-goer!


You got me thinking too...... So is there a list on this thread or another thread of what DIS members are going on what date?  Maybe we can get our favorite DIS vloggers to show up this Thursday too!  haha!!


----------



## Alison S

Awesome that there are so many users going that date!  Is anyone planning on getting there earlier than 7?  Just curious to see what time they let people in.  

The next date is in November, right?  That's the one I'd be going to.  Anyone else?


----------



## cakebaker

Alison S said:


> Awesome that there are so many users going that date!  Is anyone planning on getting there earlier than 7?  Just curious to see what time they let people in.
> 
> The next date is in November, right?  That's the one I'd be going to.  Anyone else?



We have AP's so we can go whenever we want, but normally if we have a DAH scheduled, we'll do a morning park, take a long resort break and head to the DAH park just before the event starts. But, with my little mess up, my plans were to be at the MK by 4 having FP's 4-7, with an after fireworks dessert party. Since I don't want to lose those fp's, that's when we'll be going. I did drop plans to rope drop the AK the next morning though. Getting back to the resort at 1am then up again early enough for a 7am opening is just a bit too much for me! lol


----------



## cakebaker

Shellbells said:


> You'll be in good company! A lot of DISers seem to be going on 9/26 and I know a few of us will be at the dessert party too. I'm so excited!



I'm just really lucky that my original plans allowed me to go ahead and fix my mistake. From what I read, crowds are picking up so it will be nice to hopefully have a very light crowd for a few hours.


----------



## ILuvDisney78

Alison S said:


> Awesome that there are so many users going that date!  Is anyone planning on getting there earlier than 7?  Just curious to see what time they let people in.
> 
> The next date is in November, right?  That's the one I'd be going to.  Anyone else?



Yes- we plan to get there at 6. When we attended the event in March we were let in at 6:15; hopefully it will be the same this Thursday.


----------



## 33Legend

Are there many rides where they will let you just stay on instead of looping around the line?

I'm guessing Space Mountain takes quite awhile to get off, go up the ramp, and walk all the way around to go twice?


----------



## dez1978

Ugh, I really need them to add something the last week of January darn it


----------



## iujen94

33Legend said:


> Are there many rides where they will let you just stay on instead of looping around the line?
> 
> I'm guessing Space Mountain takes quite awhile to get off, go up the ramp, and walk all the way around to go twice?



YMMV with Space. When we went in February, we were able to take a shortcut after exiting the ride vehicle (instead of following the exit sign to Tomorrowland, we turned the opposite way and ended up coming into the queue very close to the boarding area. The CMs when we exited actually gave us the tip to do that. I know some folks who went after us didn’t have the same luck - but crowds for DAH were growing at that point. Maybe know that crowds are a little lighter again, they’ll allow the back door route?  It’s definitely worth asking (or trying......)


----------



## Gina

dez1978 said:


> Ugh, I really need them to add something the last week of January darn it



Seriously!!!


----------



## Rick195275

iujen94 said:


> YMMV with Space. When we went in February, we were able to take a shortcut after exiting the ride vehicle (instead of following the exit sign to Tomorrowland, we turned the opposite way and ended up coming into the queue very close to the boarding area. The CMs when we exited actually gave us the tip to do that. I know some folks who went after us didn’t have the same luck - but crowds for DAH were growing at that point. Maybe know that crowds are a little lighter again, they’ll allow the back door route?  It’s definitely worth asking (or trying......)


Definitely depends on the cm’s. We asked doing the event in April and were told no and had to walk around.


----------



## VAtink

We'll be there on 9/26 as well!  We had such an amazing time at this event last September we just had to go again.  For us, we found this event so much more worth the money than the Halloween party.  We still love parts of the Halloween party....but we found we love low crowds more.


----------



## roxiepenguin

After Hours events have definitely gained in popularity! Last December it was practically empty; this time around it's been way busier, at both MK and AK.  Also, they let us in at 630p for MK last Thursday. Will see if they do the same this week.


----------



## roxiepenguin

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Officially you can get in at 7pm.  In practice that has sometimes tended to be as early as 6pm or sometime between 6-7.  Haven’t been a ton of recent reports as to exactly what has been happening.
> 
> Uber to Contemporary and walk from there.  Can’t walk to MK from Poly (only boat of monorail).
> 
> Hope that helps!


They let us in at 630 on 9/19.


----------



## roxiepenguin

cindyfan said:


> You got me thinking too...... So is there a list on this thread or another thread of what DIS members are going on what date?  Maybe we can get our favorite DIS vloggers to show up this Thursday too!  haha!!


We attended 9/19 and will also attend 9/26   Have a great time everyone!


----------



## Rich M

I am getting really excited for the 12/9.  Do they do anything special for Christmas time?


----------



## roxiepenguin

Rich M said:


> I am getting really excited for the 12/9.  Do they do anything special for Christmas time?


I don't remember anything special at Christmastime (we did AH last year in December). But it was a HUGE thing just to have some breathing room in the park during December!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Wonder if Disney


Rich M said:


> I am getting really excited for the 12/9.  Do they do anything special for Christmas time?



No, not during DAH - other than the park will be decorated.  DAH is just plain ol’ no frills MK. 

I’m assuming Mickey will be in holiday attire.


----------



## klangl6

I'm wondering if they are waiting to see how sales are going for the AK dates in Feb before they announce the MK ones (if they announce MK ones at all).


----------



## CJN

klangl6 said:


> I'm wondering if they are waiting to see how sales are going for the AK dates in Feb before they announce the MK ones (if they announce MK ones at all).



Then I’ve done my part 
We have AK DAH tickets in hand for March 2020 but sure wish they’d get ones for MK on the schedule.


----------



## Rich M

CJN said:


> Then I’ve done my part
> We have AK DAH tickets in hand for March 2020 but sure wish they’d get ones for MK on the schedule.



Is the AK DAH worth the price?  I didn't think it would be because there just isn't that many rides


----------



## CJN

Rich M said:


> Is the AK DAH worth the price?  I didn't think it would be because there just isn't that many rides


 For AK I think it really depends on your purpose. On our last trip my nephew did EE twenty times front row one day. But we really had to work at getting FPs.  So his eyes lit up at the prospect of beating that record with After Hours. While he’s doing that I’ll be moseying around the park, enjoying ambience.


----------



## monique5

What are the wait times for FoP during DAH @ AK? TIA!


----------



## RolloTomasi

monique5 said:


> What are the wait times for FoP during DAH @ AK? TIA!



From entering the line to walking off the ride the whole thing took about 25-30 minutes when I was there in April.


----------



## mamamelody2

CJN said:


> For AK I think it really depends on your purpose. On our last trip my nephew did EE twenty times front row one day. But we really had to work at getting FPs.  So his eyes lit up at the prospect of beating that record with After Hours. While he’s doing that I’ll be moseying around the park, enjoying ambience.



Holy cow.  Twenty times in a row??  I'm pretty sure I would literally pass out.  LOL.


----------



## roxiepenguin

RolloTomasi said:


> From entering the line to walking off the ride the whole thing took about 25-30 minutes when I was there in April.


Same for a couple of nights ago. The quick one was just under 25 minutes, the other 2 rides were closer to 30 minutes each. We topped it off at 3 rides so we could still go do other things. 

The problem too was that it's only a 3-hour After Hours event. The park closed at 9p and AH was 9-12, which meant day people were still getting in line for FoP up until 9p, so even though they allow the AH folks the fastpass line, you're still waiting longer...which cuts into those 3 hours. Long story short, you'll get more mileage for EE than FoP, especially at the beginning of the event.


----------



## iujen94

CJN said:


> For AK I think it really depends on your purpose. On our last trip my nephew did EE twenty times front row one day. But we really had to work at getting FPs.  So his eyes lit up at the prospect of beating that record with After Hours. While he’s doing that I’ll be moseying around the park, enjoying ambience.



Man, you must be REALLY GOOD at getting FPs!!  I wish I had you getting FPs for me!


----------



## CJN

iujen94 said:


> Man, you must be REALLY GOOD at getting FPs!!  I wish I had you getting FPs for me!



Everybody’s gotta have at least one skill, yeah?


----------



## monique5

[


roxiepenguin said:


> Same for a couple of nights ago. The quick one was just under 25 minutes, the other 2 rides were closer to 30 minutes each. We topped it off at 3 rides so we could still go do other things.
> 
> The problem too was that it's only a 3-hour After Hours event. The park closed at 9p and AH was 9-12, which meant day people were still getting in line for FoP up until 9p, so even though they allow the AH folks the fastpass line, you're still waiting longer...which cuts into those 3 hours. Long story short, you'll get more mileage for EE than FoP, especially at the beginning of the event.



So you rode FoP 3 times during DAH?


----------



## roxiepenguin

monique5 said:


> [
> 
> 
> So you rode FoP 3 times during DAH?


Yes. Our night was FoP, river journey, FoP, FoP, triceratop spin, then EE four times in a row (maybe 5... but I'm pretty sure it was 4). We were leaving that last EE at exactly 12:02a (I checked because there's a snack cart right there and we were hoping it would still be open.)


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Well, the last DAH until November is tonight.  

Several of the MNSSHPs this week have sold out so I've been keeping my eye on DAH, but so far it appears no sell out. 

I know a few big school systems around here are out this week and things seem to be picking up around WDW.  

Hope everyone has fun tonight!


----------



## suemom2kay

monique5 said:


> What are the wait times for FoP during DAH @ AK? TIA!


FOP 5 minutes then walk on. You don’t have to worry about day guests at all if you start with Dino, work your way around park counter clockwise, and then do FOP. Takes about 20 minutes or so even with zero wait to walk the long queue, pre-show, ride, and exit.


----------



## cdurham1

I know there is no way to know for sure, but planning on a mid May 2020 trip.  Any idea when dates for AH for MK and AK will be announced?  Any rumors of other parks doing AH events in May?


----------



## PolyRob

cdurham1 said:


> I know there is no way to know for sure, but planning on a mid May 2020 trip.  Any idea when dates for AH for MK and AK will be announced?  Any rumors of other parks doing AH events in May?


@GADisneyDad14 keeps the historical releases in a post on the first page: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898156

Looks like May 2019 dates were released in late March 2019. Things have been a little different this time around. The August release did not go through March like September did last time. I am eagerly awaiting March/April myself. Maybe March/April/May will come in a batch together!?!


----------



## georgina

PolyRob said:


> Looks like May 2019 dates were released in late March 2019. Things have been a little different this time around. The August release did not go through March like September did last time. I am eagerly awaiting March/April myself. Maybe March/April/May will come in a batch together!?!



Don't skip February ! I have gone to MK DAH the last 2 Febs and plan to this year also!


----------



## PolyRob

georgina said:


> Don't skip February ! I have gone to MK DAH the last 2 Febs and plan to this year also!


Hopefully Disney feels very generous and releases Feb/Mar/April/May all together and sooner rather than later. One can dream, right?


----------



## monique5

suemom2kay said:


> FOP 5 minutes then walk on. You don’t have to worry about day guests at all if you start with Dino, work your way around park counter clockwise, and then do FOP. Takes about 20 minutes or so even with zero wait to walk the long queue, pre-show, ride, and exit.



Thanks for the info! Good to know. I'll be there with youth group, 1/16, and we plan to maximize this time since we do not have a full day at AK.


----------



## mcurrence

Just got here not letting in until 7


----------



## Alison S

mcurrence said:


> Just got here not letting in until 7



Thanks for reporting back!


----------



## mcurrence

Alison S said:


> Thanks for reporting back!


They ended letting us in 5 til we so we did  the monorail  resort loop with a quick stop at the grand Floridian


----------



## mcurrence

Finished the dessert party everything is a walk on


----------



## roxiepenguin

We were already in the park today for a couple of hours before AH, so no update on time they let in today. But AH tonight was far less crowded than last Thursday. (They also let us in at 630 last week; maybe they decide entry time by number of tickets sold?)


----------



## iujen94

Last night was AMAZING!  My younger DS and I did MK DAH in February - while the waits were short then, there were waits nonetheless (10-15 for Thunder and Space, 20-25 for 7DMT). Last night, EVERYTHING was a walk-on. I’m planning to email Disney to let them know the attendance last night was PERFECT and to beg them not to ruin this event by overselling it.  Maybe it was my imagination, but I also felt like there were more snack and drink carts open last night then in February. 

For those who enjoy ride counts (and this is starting around 9:20, after the HEA dessert party)-

Astro Orbiter
Space x2 (I asked nicely when I got off, and they let me take the back way back up to the loading area for ride #2)
Little Mermaid
Winnie the Pooh
7DMT x3 (they let us go through the FP line, and for re-rides let us cut back into the line where you enter the cave)
Haunted Mansion
Thunder x2 (let me stay on because no one was waiting for my row)
Jungle Cruise (there were 3 of us on the boat, and our Skipper was fantastic!)
Thunder
7DMT
People Mover

I would gladly pay for that event every night of every trip if it were like it was last night!


----------



## Shellbells

Oh my gosh guys! We did this last night and it was worth every penny!
They let us in at 6:45 or 6:50. We had a fast pass for Big Thunder that ended at 7:15 and made it there with plenty of time.
Then we had a FP for Buzz.
Next we did the Dessert party which was a one and done for us.
After that there was no wait for anything the rest of the night. It was so much fun.
My DS12 turned to me at one point and thanked me for buying the tickets. My husband couldn't believe how few people were in the park and even said it was worth all my "excessive planning"
The boys ate their weight in popcorn and the bottled water and sodas were a joy after paying for them all day.
We will definitely be doing AH on all of our trips.
Side note- At about 9:30 or so, while the boys went to ride SM DH and I went to get on People Mover. There was a woman with her family wanting to get on but they didn't have the AH bands. She was being just horrible to the poor cast member and made him call his supervisor. I just felt so bad for him.
2nd side note- Splash broke down while our boys were on it. It took about 20-25 minutes for them to get walked off. I was disappointed to hear the walk off was a "boring hallway" lol.


----------



## katherine52478

Echoing the posts about last night. Everything was a walk-on! I’ve done two other AH and always had a little wait for 7DMT, Peter Pan and Space. There was no waiting at all for these! I wish we could have stayed until 12 but we had gotten there at 6:30 and done a bunch of rides with FP and standby already so my son was ready to leave by 10:45. 

I also agree with the number of food stands! They seemed to be everywhere and there were no lines there either! But no chocolate bananas this time either. Boo.


----------



## roxiepenguin

Shellbells said:


> We will definitely be doing AH on all of our trips.
> ...
> 2nd side note- Splash broke down while our boys were on it. It took about 20-25 minutes for them to get walked off. I was disappointed to hear the walk off was a "boring hallway" lol.



Same. We tried AH for the first time (MK & AK) last trip and now DH schedules trips around AH events (we did 3 AH this trip plus MNSSHP). 

Lol... we were soooo close to being stuck on Splash as well!! We'd left our 3rd ride on BTMRR and paused to decide about getting on Splash. 5 minutes later it was down; we would've just gotten on it!


----------



## ILuvDisney78

Like everyone else, we had a great time last night; way better than the After Hours event we attended in March. One thing I noticed is that wait times dropped around 8 pm; we were able to walk on to BTMRR and Pirates around that time. So I think that overall park attendance was lower also.


----------



## focusondisney

Shellbells said:


> There was a woman with her family wanting to get on but they didn't have the AH bands. She was being just horrible to the poor cast member and made him call his supervisor. I just felt so bad for him.



I feel bad the CM had to put up with that. But I am  glad that they are being strict with only allowing those who paid on the rides.


----------



## Nalshersmom

ILuvDisney78 said:


> Like everyone else, we had a great time last night; way better than the After Hours event we attended in March. One thing I noticed is that wait times dropped around 8 pm; we were able to walk on to BTMRR and Pirates around that time. So I think that overall park attendance was lower also.


I am awaiting the March 2020 dates. What was not good about y'all's After Hours last March?


----------



## ILuvDisney78

Nalshersmom said:


> I am awaiting the March 2020 dates. What was not good about y'all's After Hours last March?



We went the first week of March on a sold out night (became aware while there that La schools were on spring break that week).  There  were 25+ minute waits for many of the headliners (i.e. SDMT, BTMRR). We rode everything we wanted but didn't have time to re-ride anything. Also, it was a little too chilly for my blood so we didn't really enjoy the ice cream snacks as much. I did write to Disney about being disappointed about the wait times; according to the boards many others did also.


----------



## Lisa F

I have one day at the parks before my cruise, Friday Feb 21 and am hoping beyond hope there will be DAH that night.  I was poking around trying to get a handle on my trip and they just released EMM for that period, hoping they will schedule DAH as well - I think they are trying to get a handle on whether they are going to do a similar event at HS - they used to run it on Fridays.  I am still hoping they will end up with DAH on friday at MK when I want it though - right now the only Friday DAH occurs after the only Thursday EMM (Jan 16/17) and I'm hoping they continue that trend with Thursday EMM all throughout February.


Also it occurred to me that the end of DAH hours coincides roughly with the start of Festival of the Arts at Epcot about which there is zero information - so I am wondering if they just have not looked globally at that part of the schedule yet - I guess they would figure AK is set but what is going on at HS/MK/Epcot is up in the air it seems.


----------



## klangl6

So I noticed that they are doing Early Morning Magic at MK in February.  Anyone else think that this means no AH at MK in February?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

klangl6 said:


> So I noticed that they are doing Early Morning Magic at MK in February.  Anyone else think that this means no AH at MK in February?



I personally don’t think the two are related.

Unless Disney has deemed offering DAH in Feb not profitable enough to change what they have done the past three years (which doesn’t seem that likely to me), we’ll see DAH in Feb again.  Probably just the usual triangulating of the calendars to whatever suits Disney’s needs and such.


----------



## LuckyMamaInDE

I wish they'd hurry up and post dates through March so I can finish with my macro planning


----------



## lcc2

LuckyMamaInDE said:


> I wish they'd hurry up and post dates through March so I can finish with my macro planning


 Yes, waiting for March dates as well


----------



## PolyRob

LuckyMamaInDE said:


> I wish they'd hurry up and post dates through March so I can finish with my macro planning





lcc2 said:


> Yes, waiting for March dates as well


Are you hoping for a Monday or Thursday MK DAH in spring? LOL


----------



## lcc2

PolyRob said:


> Are you hoping for a Monday or Thursday MK DAH in spring? LOL


I’m hoping for Monday. I have both Monday and Thursday open just in case, although I’m not sure they would do MK DAH on the same night as AK DAH. But who knows  LOL. I will basically adjust my days to be able to do MK DAH. And will be checking often


----------



## klangl6

lcc2 said:


> I’m hoping for Monday. I have both Monday and Thursday open just in case, although I’m not sure they would do MK DAH on the same night as AK DAH. But who knows  LOL. I will basically adjust my days to be able to do MK DAH. And will be checking often



I need either a Thursday or Sunday night for it to work in our plans.  Fingers Crossed


----------



## LuckyMamaInDE

PolyRob said:


> Are you hoping for a Monday or Thursday MK DAH in spring? LOL


Any day but Sunday, pretty much   Monday would be great; I doubt it would be Thursday because of the AK DAH (for our week).


----------



## SarahC97

I'm chomping at the bit for DAH release for the rest of January! C'mon, Disney!


----------



## PolyRob

lcc2 said:


> I’m hoping for Monday. I have both Monday and Thursday open just in case, although I’m not sure they would do MK DAH on the same night as AK DAH. But who knows  LOL. I will basically adjust my days to be able to do MK DAH. And will be checking often





klangl6 said:


> I need either a Thursday or Sunday night for it to work in our plans.  Fingers Crossed





LuckyMamaInDE said:


> Any day but Sunday, pretty much   Monday would be great; I doubt it would be Thursday because of the AK DAH (for our week).


Ahh. Good point about AK. I was thinking back to last spring when it was on Thursday. I guess only time will tell. Wednesday would not work for my plans, but that is typically EMH so hopefully it works out!


----------



## Lisa F

I'm still hoping for Friday even though that hasn't been the trend.. there is one right before MLK day and I'm going during president's week.


----------



## Rick195275

Lisa F said:


> I'm still hoping for Friday even though that hasn't been the trend.. there is one right before MLK day and I'm going during president's week.


Hoping for the same, Friday before which is also Valentine’s Day. It was an MK DAH last year. Last year it was just a Thursday that fit the typical schedule though.  they offer it this Valentine’s day.


----------



## Lisa F

Rick195275 said:


> Hoping for the same, Friday before which is also Valentine’s Day. It was an MK DAH last year. Last year it was just a Thursday that fit the typical schedule though.  they offer it this Valentine’s day.


that one Friday before MLK day (and after a thursday morning EMM when the rest of the month doesn't have any thursday morning EMM - and all of February does) is giving me hope.  I just have ONE day at the parks before my cruise, that would really rock it!


----------



## DisneyPhanDoor

Any chance they will add Monday, January 27th if/when they release next block of dates?


----------



## Lisa F

DisneyPhanDoor said:


> Any chance they will add Monday, January 27th if/when they release next block of dates?


always a chance but no one knows. 

I'm kind of hoping that they will figure out this timing when they release info on festival of the arts, because the DAH hours stop right about when Festival of the arts opens.  Last year they released the broadway concert info around November 8th so hoping in a month (hoping for less even)


----------



## Cynner

Do folks with APs feel this is worth the extra $?  I generally feel that having the AP means I can go back and experience the ride on another day if it's too crowded on one trip.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Cynner said:


> Do folks with APs feel this is worth the extra $?  I generally feel that having the AP means I can go back and experience the ride on another day if it's too crowded on one trip.



I'm an AP, and yes, I find it worth it. But obviously it very much depends on your circumstances/what you want out of a park visit.  

We're out of state and while we have been doing several trips per year, most of them are short 2-4 nighter type trips.  So, I look for ways maximize park time, and sometimes DAH fits the plan.

Plus for us, DAH isn't necessarily all about rides (although that's a huge part of it) - there is appeal in the park ambiance, the lower'ish crowds as you move around the park, the time to take unique photos, the opportunity to actually hear the ambient sounds of the different lands, etc.  That part has a lot of value for us.


----------



## focusondisney

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I'm an AP, and yes, I find it worth it. But obviously it very much depends on your circumstances/what you want out of a park visit.
> 
> We're out of state and while we have been doing several trips per year, most of them are short 2-4 nighter type trips.  So, I look for ways maximize park time, and sometimes DAH fits the plan.
> 
> Plus for us, DAH isn't necessarily all about rides (although that's a huge part of it) - there is appeal in the park ambiance, the lower'ish crowds as you move around the park, the time to take unique photos, the opportunity to actually hear the ambient sounds of the different lands, etc.  That part has a lot of value for us.



Yep, what he said.


----------



## DisneyCowgirl

Cynner said:


> Do folks with APs feel this is worth the extra $?  I generally feel that having the AP means I can go back and experience the ride on another day if it's too crowded on one trip.


Part of our group usually has APs when we go, and when the parks are really busy, we definitely think it's worth the money. We can't make ourselves do rope-drop, so if we are going to enjoy anything during Spring Break, we need the after hours. Now, if Disney would just go ahead and make up their minds about DAH in 2020, I'd really appreciate it!


----------



## Cynner

DisneyCowgirl said:


> Part of our group usually has APs when we go, and when the parks are really busy, we definitely think it's worth the money. We can't make ourselves do rope-drop, so if we are going to enjoy anything during Spring Break, we need the after hours. Now, if Disney would just go ahead and make up their minds about DAH in 2020, I'd really appreciate it!


From the current schedule of the AH though, it doesn't look like they're available when the park is really crowded?  I'd buy the heck out of them if they where there over Xmas or Spring break! But they don't seem to be.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

A random thought I had while running this AM.  And don’t ask me why I was thinking about DAH while running - we all have our issues.  

While I would not personally be in favor of this, I wonder if we’ll see a return of the “Villains” After Hours series in Feb through the busy spring break season?


----------



## Cynner

GADisneyDad14 said:


> A random thought I had while running this AM.  And don’t ask me why I was thinking about DAH while running - we all have our issues.
> 
> While I would not personally be in favor of this, I wonder if we’ll see a return of the “Villains” After Hours series in Feb through the busy spring break season?


Oh! Please please please please!  I'm going to plan a trip around that! I <3 my villains!


----------



## Lisa F

GADisneyDad14 said:


> A random thought I had while running this AM.  And don’t ask me why I was thinking about DAH while running - we all have our issues.
> 
> While I would not personally be in favor of this, I wonder if we’ll see a return of the “Villains” After Hours series in Feb through the busy spring break season?


gosh I hope not.  Didn't that pretty much turn the event into a miserable experience for everyone who attended?  Crazy crowds and long lines everywhere.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Lisa F said:


> gosh I hope not.  Didn't that pretty much turn the event into a miserable experience for everyone who attended?  Crazy crowds and long lines everywhere.



Lol.  Well, I never did go to one.  Reviews around here were mixed at best.  

But one thing I have learned in my Disney and DIS time.... never underestimate Villains people.... and Disney’s ability to sell Villians things to Villains people.


----------



## Cynner

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Lol.  Well, I never did go to one.  Reviews around here were mixed at best.
> 
> But one thing I have learned in my Disney and DIS time.... never underestimate Villains people.... and Disney’s ability to sell Villians things to Villains people.


As an aforementioned 'Villains people' ;P I'll tell you - the rarity of seeing our heroes makes us jump on the chance to meet and greet and see them at all!  I would TOTALLY spend the extra $100+ during a Halloween Party to hang with Cruella! (just not going this year  )
I'm going to Artist point to see the Evil Queen - not the rest of those squeaky dwarves! And going to 1900 Park fare to see the Evil Step Mother and sisters and for breakfast to see the Mad Hatter!  Meanwhile, I could see Mickey in dozens of places! We're a very under-served fan population!

Just ran out and read some reviews - ones I see are very very positive about the party!  I'm going in August, and will ensure that my trip includes a Villains AH party if there is one!


----------



## DisneyCowgirl

Cynner said:


> From the current schedule of the AH though, it doesn't look like they're available when the park is really crowded?  I'd buy the heck out of them if they where there over Xmas or Spring break! But they don't seem to be.


They had them last year during spring break, and AK already has one scheduled for spring break 2020. I'm hoping.


----------



## klangl6

So I wanted to ask since I see so many talking about Spring Break.  When do your kids have Spring Break?  Here in Louisiana, it usually falls the week following Easter Sunday.


----------



## SteveH

@klangl6 For us Spring Break is independent of Easter.  We are generally the first week in April, this year April 6-10th with Easter being the 12th.


----------



## NYCANC

klangl6 said:


> So I wanted to ask since I see so many talking about Spring Break.  When do your kids have Spring Break?  Here in Louisiana, it usually falls the week following Easter Sunday.



We are in NC and ours always falls around the holiday- next year it is the week before Easter and a few days after.


----------



## eeyoreandtink

Hoping for DAH during our spring break trip. We loved it the last time we did it!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

klangl6 said:


> So I wanted to ask since I see so many talking about Spring Break.  When do your kids have Spring Break?  Here in Louisiana, it usually falls the week following Easter Sunday.



Not very scientific, but this 2020 Spring Break Poll may be somewhat helpful:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/official-spring-break-2020-poll.3740812/


----------



## frosty714

We are going on a Disney Cruise in February, and will be in the area a couple of days early. My husband and I would love to do an After Hours event. I see some dates in Feb for AK but none for MK yet. Does anyone know when those might be released if/when they add them? Is HS no longer doing After Hours? We would need to either do it on Thurs 2/20 or Friday 2/21...we are missing the AK event by a day it looks like


----------



## CJN

GADisneyDad14 said:


> A random thought I had while running this AM.  And don’t ask me why I was thinking about DAH while running - we all have our issues.
> 
> While I would not personally be in favor of this, I wonder if we’ll see a return of the “Villains” After Hours series in Feb through the busy spring break season?



No!!!!!!  Just no.


----------



## hiroMYhero

frosty714 said:


> We are going on a Disney Cruise in February, and will be in the area a couple of days early. My husband and I would love to do an After Hours event. I see some dates in Feb for AK but none for MK yet. Does anyone know when those might be released if/when they add them? Is HS no longer doing After Hours? We would need to either do it on Thurs 2/20 or Friday 2/21...we are missing the AK event by a day it looks like


Be sure to ‘Watch’ this thread as it’ll be updated as soon as new dates are released:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-after-hours-magic-kingdom-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/


----------



## Lisa F

frosty714 said:


> We are going on a Disney Cruise in February, and will be in the area a couple of days early. My husband and I would love to do an After Hours event. I see some dates in Feb for AK but none for MK yet. Does anyone know when those might be released if/when they add them? Is HS no longer doing After Hours? We would need to either do it on Thurs 2/20 or Friday 2/21...we are missing the AK event by a day it looks like


We are on the same cruise hoping for the same thing!


----------



## frosty714

Lisa F said:


> We are on the same cruise hoping for the same thing!



Ahh! We are so excited, it's our first Disney cruise!  Fingers crossed this works out for us.


----------



## cmarsh31

We're hoping for the same thing before our cruise... but it's in July, so I'm just living vicariously through all of you right now!


----------



## Lisa F

frosty714 said:


> Ahh! We are so excited, it's our first Disney cruise!  Fingers crossed this works out for us.


We are excited too! It's my son's second cruise, we did the 4 night dream February 2018... Excited for SWDAS and the longer cruise, but frustrated not being able to plan our one day at Disney!


----------



## cakebaker

We did our 2nd DAH MK on 9/26 and it was as good as our first! I absolutely love these and I'm hoping the dates for March will work for our next trip. I noticed AK was up, but I'm on the fence for that one. I'd do it in a heartbeat, but half of those going this time are not fans of FOP, so trying to decide if it's really worth it or not. But for MK, hands down the best ticket going right now.


----------



## Lsdolphin

Still waiting and hoping for a MK DAH for end of Jan or first wk of Feb


----------



## tinabina919

Do you guys think the 1/20 DAH will be busy since it’s MLK day?

We are doing a quick trip that week with only one day at Epcot for FoA so I thought this would be great for some MK time.

However, we will be staying at the POLY for our first time that night and for just the one night before transferring to GDT. While it does make it super easy to get to MK, we were planning on just enjoying the resort for the night. I would gladly give up the resort time from what I’m hearing about all the walk-ons but I’m a bit nervous with it being MLK day.


----------



## Lisa F

tinabina919 said:


> Do you guys think the 1/20 DAH will be busy since it’s MLK day?
> 
> We are doing a quick trip that week with only one day at Epcot for FoA so I thought this would be great for some MK time.
> 
> However, we will be staying at the POLY for our first time that night and for just the one night before transferring to GDT. While it does make it super easy to get to MK, we were planning on just enjoying the resort for the night. I would gladly give up the resort time from what I’m hearing about all the walk-ons but I’m a bit nervous with it being MLK day.


You can try to look up reviews from last year? I went on 1/24 last year which was MLK week but not MLK DAY and it is probably about the same honestly ... because the actual day is not a late night for anyone JUST taking the day so it will be with people who are taking an extended week tacking onto the 3-day weekend (which is what I did).

It was glorious the Thursday after MLK day though.


----------



## senadler

We just finalized our trip for February, and are just hoping they announce new dates soon.  I am thinking they would continue to do Monday, so planning for that.  If no DAH, we will just make Monday our MK day.


----------



## lcc2

senadler said:


> We just finalized our trip for February, and are just hoping they announce new dates soon.  I am thinking they would continue to do Monday, so planning for that.  If no DAH, we will just make Monday our MK day.


That’s our plan too.


----------



## Ohiostatefan606

klangl6 said:


> So I wanted to ask since I see so many talking about Spring Break.  When do your kids have Spring Break?  Here in Louisiana, it usually falls the week following Easter Sunday.


I'm in NE Ohio, our Spring Break is end of March (23 - 27).


----------



## dez1978

Lsdolphin said:


> Still waiting and hoping for a MK DAH for end of Jan or first wk of Feb


Me too darn it.


----------



## Unvoiced_Apollo

Cynner said:


> Oh! Please please please please!  I'm going to plan a trip around that! I <3 my villains!



All I heard was this voice:


----------



## ariane37

tinabina919 said:


> Do you guys think the 1/20 DAH will be busy since it’s MLK day?
> 
> We are doing a quick trip that week with only one day at Epcot for FoA so I thought this would be great for some MK time.
> 
> However, we will be staying at the POLY for our first time that night and for just the one night before transferring to GDT. While it does make it super easy to get to MK, we were planning on just enjoying the resort for the night. I would gladly give up the resort time from what I’m hearing about all the walk-ons but I’m a bit nervous with it being MLK day.


We're doing MK AH on the 20th   
Last year we did HS AH on the night before MLK Day and I was afraid that would increase the # of people booking it but it was fantastic! Better than our July HS AH. So I'm not concerned that this one will be overly crowded, as a pp mentioned locals won't be off the next day for one thing.

We did MK AH in May and everything including 7DMT was a walk on all night! Hoping for similar or close to it this time around.


----------



## Funfire240

Ohiostatefan606 said:


> I'm in NE Ohio, our Spring Break is end of March (23 - 27).



We in NW Ohio and ours this year changed back to corresponding with Easter. Past couple years it's been the 2nd week of March along with a small Easter break. I know though that it seems every district around here is different as my niece still has a break sometime in March about 20 minutes from us.



ariane37 said:


> We're doing MK AH on the 20th
> Last year we did HS AH on the night before MLK Day and I was afraid that would increase the # of people booking it but it was fantastic! Better than our July HS AH. So I'm not concerned that this one will be overly crowded, as a pp mentioned locals won't be off the next day for one thing.
> 
> We did MK AH in May and everything including 7DMT was a walk on all night! Hoping for similar or close to it this time around.



We're hoping for the 20th too!  Or the 17th but I said if we go down I'd like AH to be our last night (although knowing DH we may get crazy and do both lol)


----------



## ariane37

Funfire240 said:


> We in NW Ohio and ours this year changed back to corresponding with Easter. Past couple years it's been the 2nd week of March along with a small Easter break. I know though that it seems every district around here is different as my niece still has a break sometime in March about 20 minutes from us.
> 
> 
> 
> We're hoping for the 20th too!  Or the 17th but I said if we go down I'd like AH to be our last night (although knowing DH we may get crazy and do both lol)


We thought about doing the 17th but we don't come in until early evening, and coming from NY in January that means the possibility of (don't say it) snow and (uh-uh) delays  so I rather play it safe lol!


----------



## eeyoreandtink

We are traveling over our spring beak March 29- April 4. We are in the deep south.


----------



## RolloTomasi

I’ve been spoiled lately for DAH (two during my trip in April, MK for November, AK 1/30) so I feel greedy hoping they add a MK date on 1/27 but gosh, I hope they do. I arrive that day and I would love to go again.


----------



## Shadera

Patiently waiting for them to release the next group of dates.  I'm going end of January/beginning of February and the AH events are must-do's for us.  Hoping they'll have an HS one as well.


----------



## Mrjoshua

Lisa F said:


> gosh I hope not.  Didn't that pretty much turn the event into a miserable experience for everyone who attended?  Crazy crowds and long lines everywhere.


I wouldn't say that it pretty much turned into a miserable experience for everyone, or the majority, or even half of the attendees. I'd say that about 1/8 of the attendees described it as a fate worse than death, another 1/8 didn't feel it was quite worth the price, and 3/4 were somewhere between satisfactory and euphoria.

I think the event functioned well on 2 different levels. First, it worked as a villains themed event for villains fans. Lighting, music, food, magic shots, back drops, ride overlays, merchandise, the Maleficent dragon, and a stage show were all themed to Disney villains. So, those who love villains had a lot to take in.

We didn't find the wait times to be very long at all. My second night of VAH, we rode the overlayed PotC once, and the overlayed SM 4 times. We also sat down and ate at Tortuga Tavern, sat down and ate in Tomorrow Land, stopped to take magic shots 3 times, secured a good spot for Maleficent, and watched the train station villains for a bit. We stopped for free drinks and popcorn too.

If we had not been interested in several extracurricular villain activities, there were all sorts of possibilities for additional rides. For example, if we had stuck to ONLY the most popular rides (PotC, SM, 7DMT), we probably would've ridden 10 - 11 rides total, during the event. If we had ventured to somewhat less popular rides (HM, BTMRR, JC... etc) after riding the aforementioned overlay rides, we could have easily chalked up 12 - 15 rides during their event. If we had strayed to the least popular rides (BS, IaSW, TTAPM... etc) after riding the overlay rides, we could've easily ridden 18 - 20 rides during the event. Therefore, I believe that the event functioned superbly for folks just looking to rack up multiple rides.


----------



## klangl6

How far in advance do they normally announce AH?


----------



## SteveH

klangl6 said:


> How far in advance do they normally announce AH?


So far announcements are completely sporadic from what I can find. The dates for Nov 26 - March 7 2019 were announced Nov 5th 2018, the dates for Jan 19 - March 8 2018 were announced on September 17 2017.


----------



## Sarahslay

Lsdolphin said:


> Still waiting and hoping for a MK DAH for end of Jan or first wk of Feb


Me too! of course I'm only there Thursday-Sunday so I'm crossing my fingers for a Friday  (I know they typically do Thursday or Monday, but since AK has one on that Thursday I'm guessing MK won't as well). Knowing my luck it'll only be Monday and I won't get to go :/


----------



## Lisa F

Sarahslay said:


> Me too! of course I'm only there Thursday-Sunday so I'm crossing my fingers for a Friday  (I know they typically do Thursday or Monday, but since AK has one on that Thursday I'm guessing MK won't as well). Knowing my luck it'll only be Monday and I won't get to go :/



they are doing it on friday before MLK day which is also the friday after a thursday EMM is scheduled so there is hope (i am hoping for a friday too, the 21st of feb)


----------



## klangl6

Sarahslay said:


> Me too! of course I'm only there Thursday-Sunday so I'm crossing my fingers for a Friday  (I know they typically do Thursday or Monday, but since AK has one on that Thursday I'm guessing MK won't as well). Knowing my luck it'll only be Monday and I won't get to go :/


I need a Thursday or a Sunday MK AH


----------



## Lisa F

Mrjoshua said:


> I wouldn't say that it pretty much turned into a miserable experience for everyone, or the majority, or even half of the attendees. I'd say that about 1/8 of the attendees described it as a fate worse than death, another 1/8 didn't feel it was quite worth the price, and 3/4 were somewhere between satisfactory and euphoria.
> 
> I think the event functioned well on 2 different levels. First, it worked as a villains themed event for villains fans. Lighting, music, food, magic shots, back drops, ride overlays, merchandise, the Maleficent dragon, and a stage show were all themed to Disney villains. So, those who love villains had a lot to take in.
> 
> We didn't find the wait times to be very long at all. My second night of VAH, we rode the overlayed PotC once, and the overlayed SM 4 times. We also sat down and ate at Tortuga Tavern, sat down and ate in Tomorrow Land, stopped to take magic shots 3 times, secured a good spot for Maleficent, and watched the train station villains for a bit. We stopped for free drinks and popcorn too.
> 
> If we had not been interested in several extracurricular villain activities, there were all sorts of possibilities for additional rides. For example, if we had stuck to ONLY the most popular rides (PotC, SM, 7DMT), we probably would've ridden 10 - 11 rides total, during the event. If we had ventured to somewhat less popular rides (HM, BTMRR, JC... etc) after riding the aforementioned overlay rides, we could have easily chalked up 12 - 15 rides during their event. If we had strayed to the least popular rides (BS, IaSW, TTAPM... etc) after riding the overlay rides, we could've easily ridden 18 - 20 rides during the event. Therefore, I believe that the event functioned superbly for folks just looking to rack up multiple rides.



I'm glad to hear it wasn't awful for people looking for the more classic experience - my son is on the spectrum and we had a great time at regular DAH due to lack of waits.  Waiting is tough for him - we do use the DAS but it was just so nice to not have to worry about any of it (we did not do 7DMT partially because it was down most of the time).  So if it is the villians version maybe we'll give it a try.  Thanks for taking the time to post!


----------



## TigerlilyAJ

I just bought 3 tickets for January with my AP. That day will begin with EMM MK for us, before we go back home for a rest. Then my two eldest kids and one parent will go back to MK for DAH, while the other parent stays at the resort with the younger kids.
The issue is that we would like to play it by ear to see which parent is less exhausted to return for DAH. The CM with whom I booked believed that since we're at MK earlier that day anyway, I can check in and get the tickets earlier, showing my AP then. After that, she thought any three of us could actually use the tickets that night. Sooo, has anyone done that? Or will I, the only AP holder in my party, have to attend the event? TIA


----------



## DizFan13

TigerlilyAJ said:


> I just bought 3 tickets for January with my AP. That day will begin with EMM MK for us, before we go back home for a rest. Then my two eldest kids and one parent will go back to MK for DAH, while the other parent stays at the resort with the younger kids.
> The issue is that we would like to play it by ear to see which parent is less exhausted to return for DAH. The CM with whom I booked believed that since we're at MK earlier that day anyway, I can check in and get the tickets earlier, showing my AP then. After that, she thought any three of us could actually use the tickets that night. Sooo, has anyone done that? Or will I, the only AP holder in my party, have to attend the event? TIA


It doesn't matter if the AP holder attends. You could buy passes for others to attend even if you weren't there for their trip.

The only issue I would see is assigning the tickets, which I think locks them to one account. For example, if you wanted to add then to an MDE account, you'd have to decide to whom each ticket belongs. If you just plan to pick up and use the hard ticket, I think whoever's enters the park for DAH with that pass will be fine.


----------



## ezma

Shadera said:


> Patiently waiting for them to release the next group of dates.  I'm going end of January/beginning of February and the AH events are must-do's for us.  Hoping they'll have an HS one as well.


We are hoping also!!! We also will be there the very end of Jan. and first part of Feb. HS would really be the icing on the cake!!


----------



## Leigh L

Following


----------



## TammyLynn33

Thinking my two older might like to do one of these on next summers trip . When do the summer dates normally come out ?
Thanks in advance


----------



## Alison S

Booked for Nov 18!


----------



## klairbear

Alison S said:


> Booked for Nov 18!



I have too, we fly home on the 19th so hoping to get late check out!


----------



## SteveH

TammyLynn33 said:


> When do the summer dates normally come out ?


Disney Parks Blog announced on March 28, 2019 for May DAH dates and May 22, 2019 for August & September dates. Only you really know your child, but we saw a couple young ones that were miserable.  It was late and dark and my guess is they were not well rested.  For the price and the age I'm not sure it's as worth it, but that's totally up to you.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TammyLynn33 said:


> Thinking my two older might like to do one of these on next summers trip . When do the summer dates normally come out ?
> Thanks in advance



FYI, Post #11 has full details on historical DAH dates and release dates:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898156


----------



## fivefourdis

Two concerns: 
1. I don't see my after hours tickets in MDE. I selected the email option for the tickets. How concerned should I be? Aren't they supposed to populate there?
2. I wanted to book FastPasses for the 7-9pm window before the After Hours begin at 10pm. However, MDE will not allow me to select that date. Did any of you have this problem? Technically, the After Hours Event occurs before my package dates, but if I have AH tickets shouldn't I be able to book Fast Passes? Could the system consider me an off site guest and therefore will not allow me to book more than 30 days out? Any suggestions?

On Hold with Disney now.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

fivefourdis said:


> Two concerns:
> 1. I don't see my after hours tickets in MDE. I selected the email option for the tickets. How concerned should I be? Aren't they supposed to populate there?
> 2. I wanted to book FastPasses for the 7-9pm window before the After Hours begin at 10pm. However, MDE will not allow me to select that date. Did any of you have this problem? Technically, the After Hours Event occurs before my package dates, but if I have AH tickets shouldn't I be able to book Fast Passes? Could the system consider me an off site guest and therefore will not allow me to book more than 30 days out? Any suggestions?
> 
> On Hold with Disney now.



Do you not see them when you click on “Tickets & Memory Maker” like in the screen below?  




I need to think about #2 - packages and how they interact with topics like this are not my speciality.


----------



## PolyRob

fivefourdis said:


> Two concerns:
> 1. I don't see my after hours tickets in MDE. I selected the email option for the tickets. How concerned should I be? Aren't they supposed to populate there?
> 2. I wanted to book FastPasses for the 7-9pm window before the After Hours begin at 10pm. However, MDE will not allow me to select that date. Did any of you have this problem? Technically, the After Hours Event occurs before my package dates, but if I have AH tickets shouldn't I be able to book Fast Passes? Could the system consider me an off site guest and therefore will not allow me to book more than 30 days out? Any suggestions?
> 
> On Hold with Disney now.


Did you click on "Tickets & Memory Maker" in MDE? The DAH tickets show up there rather than under "Daily Itinerary" on your specific night.



As for the 60+ booking, your 60+ booking window starts with the first night of your stay. Disney changed the FP+ system where all dates between now and your check-out date were bookable a few months back. If your DAH night is prior to staying on-site, you will not be considered an on-site guest yet.


----------



## fivefourdis

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Do you not see them when you click on “Tickets & Memory Maker” like in the screen below?
> 
> View attachment 446000
> 
> 
> I need to think about #2 - packages and how they interact with topics like this are not my speciality.



GADISNEYDAD14,
No. I see MVMCP Tickets and my Park Tickets but no AH tickets. I have my confirmation email and code and the MDE will not allow me to link the tickets either. Puzzling. 
Assuming this gets worked out, shouldn't be able to use my armband to get into the park for AH?

PolyRob, 
That's what I feared. I wish I had thought that through before making the purchase. I thought I was behind the eight ball in getting Fast Passes for the AH event, but actually, I'm too early. Oh well.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

fivefourdis said:


> GADISNEYDAD14,
> No. I see MVMCP Tickets and my Park Tickets but no AH tickets. I have my confirmation email and code and the MDE will not allow me to link the tickets either. Puzzling.
> Assuming this gets worked out, shouldn't be able to use my armband to get into the park for AH?
> 
> PolyRob,
> That's what I feared. I wish I had thought that through before making the purchase. I thought I was behind the eight ball in getting Fast Passes for the AH event, but actually, I'm too early. Oh well.



Hmmm, that is weird about the tickets.  Not quite sure what to tell you there - but hopefully someone at Disney can help (good luck).  You MagicBands will work for DAH entry, but they do need to be on your MDE account for that to work.  

@PolyRob - Thanks for the assist.  I hate packages! Lol!


----------



## Rick195275

fivefourdis said:


> GADISNEYDAD14,
> No. I see MVMCP Tickets and my Park Tickets but no AH tickets. I have my confirmation email and code and the MDE will not allow me to link the tickets either. Puzzling.
> Assuming this gets worked out, shouldn't be able to use my armband to get into the park for AH?
> 
> PolyRob,
> That's what I feared. I wish I had thought that through before making the purchase. I thought I was behind the eight ball in getting Fast Passes for the AH event, but actually, I'm too early. Oh well.


Are you trying to enter them on the app? If so try entering your code on a web browser instead. I had issues before loading an after hours entering the code from an app but it worked fine from a web browser.


----------



## eeyoreandtink

Does anyone know when the released the March dates for booking last year?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

eeyoreandtink said:


> Does anyone know when the released the March dates for booking last year?



9/6/18, although there was another set of March dates added 11/15/18. 

FYI, historical date/release info is posted on Post #11:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898156


----------



## eeyoreandtink

GADisneyDad14 said:


> 9/6/18
> 
> FYI, historical date/release info is posted on Post #11:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898156


thanks! I hope they decide to add more dates soon!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

fivefourdis said:


> GADISNEYDAD14,
> No. I see MVMCP Tickets and my Park Tickets but no AH tickets. I have my confirmation email and code and the MDE will not allow me to link the tickets either. Puzzling.
> Assuming this gets worked out, shouldn't be able to use my armband to get into the park for AH?
> 
> PolyRob,
> That's what I feared. I wish I had thought that through before making the purchase. I thought I was behind the eight ball in getting Fast Passes for the AH event, but actually, I'm too early. Oh well.



FYI - I saw a few other reports around the DIS this AM of problems linking tickets in MDE.  May be a glitch in the system that was effecting everyone.  Might want to try again today or later on to see if it maybe clears up.


----------



## fivefourdis

GADisneyDad14 said:


> FYI - I saw a few other reports around the DIS this AM of problems linking tickets in MDE.  May be a glitch in the system that was effecting everyone.  Might want to try again today or later on to see if it maybe clears up.


GA, 
That was it. I got it all worked out. They are in MDE now. It's nerve wracking to make a big purchase like that and not see them populate correctly. After being on hold 1 hr, a Cast Member told me it was due to technical problems. 
PolyRob was correct about the Fastpasses. Disney sees me as an off site guest and forces me to wait until 30 days prior. So, unless your concerned about a sell-out, there's no need to purchase AH tickets prior to 30 days out unless it falls inside your on-site dates. Might be a good thing to add to the Fastpass FAQ. I couldn't find an answer to that kind of question there. 

Thanks for your good work keeping up with this thread!


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

DH and I are officially going to DAH at MK on January 6th!  HOORAY!! 

The timing is perfect - we are going with a total of 23 people - and everyone else is going home on the 5th


----------



## DisneyCowgirl

TexanInTheMidwest said:


> DH and I are officially going to DAH at MK on January 6th!  HOORAY!!
> 
> The timing is perfect - we are going with a total of 23 people - and everyone else is going home on the 5th


Oh my goodness! I cannot even begin to imagine what is involved in going on a trip with 23 people! DAH will be a wonderful treat for you two. Enjoy!


----------



## plutotheduggo

Finally got caught up on this thread the last week or so. Really hoping (as others are) for the new dates to come in for end of Feb 2020 when we are going! We have arriving early afternoon 2/25 (Tuesday) and leaving sometime Sunday 3/1 so we're currently betting on them doing MK AH on that 2/25 Tuesday night or 2/29 Saturday night. They have historically done MK on Tuesday and Saturday nights so reallllllly hoping we can get lucky and get AK AH on Thursday 2/27 and MK AH one of the days!

EDIT: I thought they did MK AH on Tuesday's before, but after double checking, looks like they haven't... Hmmmm welp. May have to change stuff around if they decide to put it on the Monday 2/24.


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

DisneyCowgirl said:


> Oh my goodness! I cannot even begin to imagine what is involved in going on a trip with 23 people! DAH will be a wonderful treat for you two. Enjoy!



Any call to Disney about our reservations takes at least an hour - but at least Disney has hooked me up with a senior level Vacation Planner   .  The good thing on the planning is that everyone is responsible for their own family's fast passes!

I tell you, though, the light at the end of the tunnel is going to be that DAH !!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TexanInTheMidwest said:


> Any call to Disney about our reservations takes at least an hour - but at least Disney has hooked me up with a senior level Vacation Planner   .  The good thing on the planning is that everyone is responsible for their own family's fast passes!
> 
> I tell you, though, the light at the end of the tunnel is going to be that DAH !!!



Eeeekks.   I did 12 people over the summer and said “NEVER AGAIN!”  

Good luck with that!


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Eeeekks.   I did 12 people over the summer and said “NEVER AGAIN!”
> 
> Good luck with that!



I have also said NEVER AGAIN after this 

It IS my MIL's 90th Birthday - and we are doing RPC at the GF - but MAN oh MAN - the youngest is 1 years old and the oldest 90.


----------



## ezma

Patiently waiting for Feb. dates  .... this waiting game is just as bad as waiting for the winter discounts!!!


----------



## klangl6

ezma said:


> Patiently waiting for Feb. dates  .... this waiting game is just as bad as waiting for the winter discounts!!!


I'm holding out on buying any tickets until this is announced!


----------



## heather913

Does anyone have any experience with bringing a 4 year old to AH? How did they hold up with the late night? The only night over our trip is from 10pm-1am.


----------



## focusondisney

heather913 said:


> Does anyone have any experience with bringing a 4 year old to AH? How did they hold up with the late night? The only night over our trip is from 10pm-1am.



I have never done the parks with a 4 YO. But as  someone with a big family& lots of experience with kids in general, I would say this is a very child specific situation.  It doesn’t really matter how someone else’s 4 yo did at midnight. If your kid usually goes to bed at 8, won’t nap & gets absolutely miserable when they’re tired, a DAH from 10 - 1 doesn’t sound like a good idea. How does your child do  late at night?  Will it upset you to pay for AH then leave early if the little one needs to? Will they sleep in a stroller while the rest of the family can carry on?  Is it their first trip so maybe just regular park days will be enough?

Sorry if not helpful, but I just think things like this are really specific to your own kid & family.  How someone else’s kid did has no bearing on how your child will do.


----------



## DisneyCowgirl

heather913 said:


> Does anyone have any experience with bringing a 4 year old to AH? How did they hold up with the late night? The only night over our trip is from 10pm-1am.



I have one kid that, with a long afternoon nap and a slow day the next day would have been fine. I have another kid who would have fallen asleep in the stroller by 10 and would not have woken up, even in the hub during fireworks. 

My advice if you do go is to make sure you don't have anything to do the next day until late. We did MK AH when they first started a few years ago, and by the time we got back to our resort and into bed, it was nearly 3am. Also, by the time the event was over, our kids needed another meal as it had been 7 hours since the last meal. This year, we did AH at three parks with a 10YO, and we slept until noon the next day each time.


----------



## katherine52478

focusondisney said:


> Will it upset you to pay for AH then leave early if the little one needs to?



This is great advice for ANYONE going to After Hours. My 13 year old son has made us bail after 1.5 hours before because his feet hurt and he was tired. 

I had to tell myself it was a sunk cost. I paid whether we stayed longer or not and the benefit of riding a few extra rides was not worth the pain of dealing with a cranky tween/teen (which can be worse than a toddler sometimes)


----------



## eeyoreandtink

katherine52478 said:


> This is great advice for ANYONE going to After Hours. My 13 year old son has made us bail after 1.5 hours before because his feet hurt and he was tired.
> 
> I had to tell myself it was a sunk cost. I paid whether we stayed longer or not and the benefit of riding a few extra rides was not worth the pain of dealing with a cranky tween/teen (which can be worse than a toddler sometimes)


My 13 year old would have been sitting on a bench waiting for me!


----------



## katherine52478

eeyoreandtink said:


> My 13 year old would have been sitting on a bench waiting for me!



It was his birthday so I let him win. THIS TIME... bwahahaha


----------



## focusondisney

katherine52478 said:


> This is great advice for ANYONE going to After Hours. My 13 year old son has made us bail after 1.5 hours before because his feet hurt and he was tired.
> 
> I had to tell myself it was a sunk cost. I paid whether we stayed longer or not and the benefit of riding a few extra rides was not worth the pain of dealing with a cranky tween/teen (which can be worse than a toddler sometimes)




 Actually, I’ve had a similar personal experience. We’ve been to 2 DAH so far, both 8-11. We had to leave the last one by 10:30 because my DH’s back & feet hurt.  We are going to the 10-1 am event in December. I’m planning for DH to be hanging out in the room most of the afternoon, napping & watching tv, while I meet up with a local friend. We won’t even head to the park til around 8. I’m hoping to make it to almost 1. If not, oh well. It’s  no fun being around a miserable family member, no matter how old they are.


----------



## MASNYC10023

Any thoughts on the Feb dates?  Why is it taking them sooo long to annouce them!


----------



## SteveH

MASNYC10023 said:


> Any thoughts on the Feb dates?  Why is it taking them sooo long to annouce them!


Dates for last February were announced November 5 2018, so hopefully we'll see something in the next week or so.


----------



## MASNYC10023

SteveH said:


> Dates for last February were announced November 5 2018, so hopefully we'll see something in the next week or so.


Thanks. I must have read wrong I thought it was October!  Thanks


----------



## GADisneyDad14

MASNYC10023 said:


> Thanks. I must have read wrong I thought it was October!  Thanks


Most dates for Feb 2019 were announced 9/5.  One Feb date was added 11/15. 

FYI, this posts from Page 1 tracks historical info: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898156


----------



## Lsdolphin

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Most dates for Feb 2019 were announced 9/5.  One Feb date was added 11/15.
> 
> FYI, this posts from Page 1 tracks historical info: https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898156




Uh oh!!! I'm still hoping for a DAH Jan. 29-Feb 3rd!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Lsdolphin said:


> Uh oh!!! I'm still hoping for a DAH Jan. 29-Feb 3rd!



They will come. There is no discernable pattern to the history of DAH event releases - other than whenever is convenient to Disney.  

I have pondered if they’ll do another “Villains” run around Feb-April spring break time... but hope I’m wrong!


----------



## Lsdolphin

GADisneyDad14 said:


> They will come. There is no discernable pattern to the history of DAH event releases - other than whenever is convenient to Disney.
> 
> I have pondered if they’ll do another “Villains” run around Feb-April spring break time... but hope I’m wrong!




Yes, I agree I would much prefer the regular DAH.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> They will come. There is no discernable pattern to the history of DAH event releases - other than whenever is convenient to Disney.
> 
> I have pondered if they’ll do another “Villains” run around Feb-April spring break time... but hope I’m wrong!



I did have the same thought. I hope we're both wrong!


----------



## ninafeliz

GADisneyDad14 said:


> They will come. There is no discernable pattern to the history of DAH event releases - other than whenever is convenient to Disney.
> 
> I have pondered if they’ll do another “Villains” run around Feb-April spring break time... but hope I’m wrong!


I hope you are wrong also!  We have a trip in early February, and I would so much rather have a regular after hours than the Villains one.  We did them both and they shouldn’t be treated as the same events IMO, and I much preferred the regular one.  I’ll take either, though   !


----------



## Snowflakes&PixieDust

Hi everyone! 
I have a trip planned for April 2020 and wanted to know everyone's thoughts about what day of the week you think MK DAH will be. It was Thursdays through the summer with Villains and with regular DAH in Sept. It seems to have switched to mostly Mondays in late 2019 and early 2020. 
What are your thoughts that it'll stay on Mondays through this spring? (AK DAH are on Thursdays through March, so it'll not also be on Thursdays in MK, at least through March). 
Disney sure makes it tough to plan days when they don't release dates by the time you have to book dining!

Thanks for your thoughts on this!!


----------



## eeyoreandtink

Snowflakes&PixieDust said:


> Hi everyone!
> I have a trip planned for April 2020 and wanted to know everyone's thoughts about what day of the week you think MK DAH will be. It was Thursdays through the summer with Villains and with regular DAH in Sept. It seems to have switched to mostly Mondays in late 2019 and early 2020.
> What are your thoughts that it'll stay on Mondays through this spring? (AK DAH are on Thursdays through March, so it'll not also be on Thursdays in MK, at least through March).
> Disney sure makes it tough to plan days when they don't release dates by the time you have to book dining!
> 
> Thanks for your thoughts on this!!


I am thinking Monday, but hoping for Thursday. We will be there March 29-April 4. I have backup dining reservations booked so that I can shift our plan when and if they release dates.


----------



## AntJulie

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I have pondered if they’ll do another “Villains” run around Feb-April spring break time... but hope I’m wrong!


It's back through July. Mostly on Fridays.


----------



## cakebaker

AntJulie said:


> It's back through July. Mostly on Fridays.



Well that's disappointing! I had really hoped they'd stick with the original after hours. From what I recall the crowd levels were much better with those and I'm really after the rides on these events.  They have 1 scheduled for our time frame in March, but I'm very hesitant to book. I'm definitely waiting until I see some feedback on crowd levels.


----------



## Lisa F

AntJulie said:


> It's back through July. Mostly on Fridays.


where do you see this?

edited to add - I found it.

So now do I do it the night before our cruise???


----------



## GADisneyDad14

AntJulie said:


> It's back through July. Mostly on Fridays.



Dang - I was actually right!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Ok - so now that Villains After Hours is back and they proved to be quite different offerings after last summer's initial run, I'm creating a separate thread here:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/villains-after-hours-magic-kingdom-faq-discussion-thread.3776793/

I'll come back and fill in the first page posts here and the new thread when able. 

Thanks all!  And thanks @AntJulie for letting us know!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

BTW.... 24 dates.... 5.5 months....$6 price increase.  That's a long hiatus for regular MK DAH.  

Nothing surprises me anymore I guess.


----------



## kylenne

GADisneyDad14 said:


> BTW.... 24 dates.... 5.5 months....$6 price increase.  That's a long hiatus for regular MK DAH.
> 
> Nothing surprises me anymore I guess.



I posted in the new thread (sorry if i interrupted your post reserving!) but I have mixed feelings. I enjoyed the event but I really would have preferred a regular one for our 2020 trip. I just hope they learn from last time, and relatively lower crowd time by comparison to August’s final date means less people. Trying to stay optimistic for sake of the gf, who loves villains as much as I do and would have loved to go last time.


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

I am SO glad we are getting a regular After Hours in January. DH wouldn't have been interested in the Villains After Hours - the whole attractiveness for us was the low wait times and no crowds.


----------



## TexanInTheMidwest

GADisneyDad14 said:


> BTW.... 24 dates.... 5.5 months....$6 price increase.  That's a long hiatus for regular MK DAH.
> 
> Nothing surprises me anymore I guess.



When I read the description for it - it feels like a huge money grab - $26 more per ticket than regular DAH + "Exclusive Merchandise for the Event.


----------



## elle101me

AntJulie said:


> It's back through July. Mostly on Fridays.


So disappointed that they're not having the regular DAH in April.


----------



## SarahC97

We're going to be there 1/22-1/28...guess there's no MK DAH during those dates. Why isn't there anything??? I'm very disappointed.


----------



## Lisa F

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Ok - so now that Villains After Hours is back and they proved to be quite different offerings after last summer's initial run, I'm creating a separate thread here:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/villains-after-hours-magic-kingdom-faq-discussion-thread.3776793/
> 
> I'll come back and fill in the first page posts here and the new thread when able.
> 
> Thanks all!  And thanks @AntJulie for letting us know!


what do you mean they proved to be quite different offerings after last summer's initial run?

oh you mean different than regular DAH, not that the actual event changed substantially over time?

Trying to get a handle on this... this date works for me but not sure if it is a right fit for my kiddo, though I am reading that for waits over 15 minutes DAS is still usable even in special events, which may be a gamer changer for us (son is on the spectrum and some of the waits posted for this stuff would lead to meltdowns.)


----------



## Lsdolphin

Oh no! I was sooo hoping for a DAH during our visit 1/29-2/4!!! I would have even done the Villains!


----------



## Leigh L

SarahC97 said:


> We're going to be there 1/22-1/28...guess there's no MK DAH during those dates. Why isn't there anything??? I'm very disappointed.


I was hoping for the same time frame and am pretty disappointed too. We've never done any AH but since our trip is on the short side, we were thinking of doing the regular one at MK. It seems they just skipped right over those weeks.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Lisa F said:


> what do you mean they proved to be quite different offerings after last summer's initial run?



Full disclosure, I never attended a VAH event.  But going from reviews around here the general consensus was larger crowds and less of a DAH “limited access” vibe.  When you have things like stage shows, Malificient walking around, etc, that pulls more people out/about in the park and it creates a different vibe. 

It was really hard for me to tell from the reviews if it was in fact successful, or just a crowded paid event. 

I’ve said before that I tend to underestimate Villains people (and Disney’s ability to sell Villains things to Villains people) - so I guess Disney certainly saw something they really liked in terms of being able to sell tickets to this.


----------



## kylenne

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Full disclosure, I never attended a VAH event.  But going from reviews around here the general consensus was larger crowds and less of a DAH “limited access” vibe.  When you have things like stage shows, Malificient walking around, etc, that pulls more people out/about in the park and it creates a different vibe.
> 
> It was really hard for me to tell from the reviews if it was in fact successful, or just a crowded paid event.
> 
> I’ve said before that I tend to underestimate Villains people (and Disney’s ability to sell Villains things to Villains people) - so I guess Disney certainly saw something they really liked in terms of being able to sell tickets to this.



You’re 100% right. I even said back in August that Villain fans are starved for Villain content in parks and will come out for anything Villain related. I just described it in the other thread as feeling a lot more like a Villain themed fan convention than a typical evening in MK. I had as much fun chatting with other guests and CMs who loved my costume as riding attractions. Which I loved, but it’s so not the same thing as DAH.


----------



## Gina

WTH, Disney??


----------



## klangl6

Well, I guess I won't be doing any AH for our trip.


----------



## DisneyPhanDoor

Anyone think there might be a chance of them adding regular DAH dates last week of January? Or is it just tough beans for those of us whose dates fall between regular DAH and VAH? I feel like calling the special events office and demanding to know WHY THEY WONT TAKE MY MONEY???!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

DisneyPhanDoor said:


> Anyone think there might be a chance of them adding regular DAH dates last week of January? Or is it just tough beans for those of us whose dates fall between regular DAH and VAH? I feel like calling the special events office and demanding to know WHY THEY WONT TAKE MY MONEY???!



Let us know how that conversation goes!


----------



## mekay1012

Ugh!  We arrive July 7 and I was hoping for a normal DAH. I hated that the Villains after hours didn’t have any of the normal character meets when we went last year.


----------



## mamamelody2

ARGH!  Count me as another disappointed last-week-of-January person.


----------



## Snowflakes&PixieDust

Do y'all think it's too much to hope for that they will have the Villains nights as scheduled AND offer an occasional REGULAR DAH during these weeks (months!)? This is a long time for no regular DAH and this could be an additional way for Disney to make some extra $$ (hint, hint Disney execs!!) There still are no scheduled AH events in DHS, so really all they have going is MK and AK. I have 2 trips planned and was really hoping for a regular DAH during at least one of them. I went to a Villains night last summer and, though it was ok and we had a good time, I really want to experience a quieter park.

Thoughts?


----------



## Alison S

Snowflakes&PixieDust said:


> Do y'all think it's too much to hope for that they will have the Villains nights as scheduled AND offer an occasional REGULAR DAH during these weeks (months!)? This is a long time for no regular DAH and this could be an additional way for Disney to make some extra $$ (hint, hint Disney execs!!) There still are no scheduled AH events in DHS, so really all they have going is MK and AK. I have 2 trips planned and was really hoping for a regular DAH during at least one of them. I went to a Villains night last summer and, though it was ok and we had a good time, I really want to experience a quieter park.
> 
> Thoughts?



I would assume not, since they didn't do it during the last round of Villains.

Who knows what they'll plan for HS though!


----------



## Cluelyss

mekay1012 said:


> Ugh!  We arrive July 7 and I was hoping for a normal DAH. I hated that the Villains after hours didn’t have any of the normal character meets when we went last year.


Based on the number of open attractions they are advertising for 2020, they *may* have regular M&Gs included? (Or it could be a typo or bad cut & paste job.....)


----------



## Keri39

Is there any reason to hope that they will add regular after hours based on the app saying they are offered through May 2020, even if the dates aren’t currently there?


----------



## CanadianChick

I saw a post yesterday saying the VAH dates have been released and up until April. I just can't see them on the Disney site to book


----------



## Lisa F

CanadianChick said:


> I saw a post yesterday saying the VAH dates have been released and up until April. I just can't see them on the Disney site to book



https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/magic-kingdom/disney-villains-after-hours/


----------



## CanadianChick

Thanks. I was able to find it now on my own. I just couldn't yesterday.


----------



## Shadera

So disappointed.  We're there last week of January and first week of February.  Thought for sure we'd be able to catch a DAH in each park.  Still hoping they'll add some more dates.


----------



## AntJulie

Shadera said:


> So disappointed. We're there last week of January and first week of February. Thought for sure we'd be able to catch a DAH in each park. Still hoping they'll add some more dates.





Keri39 said:


> Is there any reason to hope that they will add regular after hours based on the app saying they are offered through May 2020, even if the dates aren’t currently there?





mamamelody2 said:


> ARGH! Count me as another disappointed last-week-of-January person.


More dates through May including last week of January! Mostly on Mondays.


----------



## PolyRob

WOW, now I am torn. The Friday VAH fits better with my resort location, but I think I may get more out of regular DAH. Time to rework the spring itinerary again  Thanks for sharing!


----------



## SteveH

@AntJulie thank you!!!  We were struggleing with the VAH since it's on a Feb 14 and I'm sure will be very busy since it's Presidents Day weekend.  I can see people flying in Friday night for the VAH, but the 10th is perfect and it won't impact our Valentines Day/night plans!  Yes!!!


----------



## Rick195275

SteveH said:


> @AntJulie thank you!!!  We were struggleing with the VAH since it's on a Feb 14 and I'm sure will be very busy since it's Presidents Day weekend.  I can see people flying in Friday night for the VAH, but the 10th is perfect and it won't impact our Valentines Day/night plans!  Yes!!!


I bought for the 14th yesterday accepting I wasn’t going to get to do regular after hours over that weekend.... looks like Disney is getting another $200 from me


----------



## Leigh L

AntJulie said:


> More dates through May including last week of January! Mostly on Mondays.


Thank you!!! Was hoping for a Monday


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Yay! Monday March 16 is what I was hoping for!
Disney ramping 2020 up! Crazy!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

@AntJulie - I’m beginning to think you are a late night WDW website stalker.... always first with the new news!


----------



## Tessaf

Am I the only one seeing regular DAH and villain ones going on at the same time?

I’m a little shocked if they are. But I’m more then okay with them taking some more money from me lol.


----------



## Rick195275

DisneyPhanDoor said:


> Anyone think there might be a chance of them adding regular DAH dates last week of January? Or is it just tough beans for those of us whose dates fall between regular DAH and VAH? I feel like calling the special events office and demanding to know WHY THEY


They are ready to take your money now!


----------



## cakebaker

Tessaf said:


> Am I the only one seeing regular VAH and DAH at the MK at the same time?



No, you're not. I'm seeing them too! I am thrilled!

ETA: I was thrilled.  They have 1 the day before we arrive and one the day after we leave. Rotten timing. But glad to see them available at least!


----------



## Tessaf

cakebaker said:


> No, you're not. I'm seeing them too! I am thrilled!
> 
> ETA: I was thrilled.  They have 1 the day before we arrive and one the day after we leave. Rotten timing. But glad to see them available at least!



I’m sorry they aren’t working with your dates


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Sort of crazy Disney would offer both during the same periods of time.  Gotta think that could be pretty confusing for some casual guests who aren’t focused on the details.


----------



## cakebaker

Tessaf said:


> I’m sorry they aren’t working with your dates


It happens. I'm looking at the possibility of adding a night on at the front. We're driving and pretty flexible on dates, but we're staying at the Riviera on the Disney Visa discount and there's no availability now, so the only option is to add a day on somewhere. I really, really want to do the after hours!


----------



## TheMick424

Guess I should have waited a couple days before booking the VAH.  Doh!  I think it will be fine for our family in the end, and hopefully with several dates offered for both options (Regular and Villains) it will spread out some of the crowds.  Wishful thinking, but I'm going with it for now.   I did notice that they are marketing the VAH as for "Teens, Adults" while the regular version is All Ages.


----------



## klangl6

Dang. They're having 1 the day we leave.  Oh well.


----------



## Lisa F

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Sort of crazy Disney would offer both during the same periods of time.  Gotta think that could be pretty confusing for some casual guests who aren’t focused on the details.


I'm hoping this takes some of the crowd pressure off of the VAH events.  The VAH is all that works with my ONE day at disney so I am grateful for that but given the choice I'd choose regular.


----------



## focusondisney

DAH in April!!!!    Our week is 10- 1, which is what we’re doing in December. The others we have done were 8-11.  I‘ll have to wait til we do that one & see if my DH can make it that late..... he’s old, lol!   Actually, I’m old too, but not at Disney!


----------



## focusondisney

Lisa F said:


> I'm hoping this takes some of the crowd pressure off of the VAH events.  The VAH is all that works with my ONE day at disney so I am grateful for that but given the choice I'd choose regular.



I bet it will. Especially to casual Disney goers who look at the full price for each one.... save $16 a person for regular AH might sound appealing.


----------



## Katie1174

We are so crazy......and I love it. I just bought tickets for the regular DAH on May 11. I had already booked the Villains one on May 14 (which we haven't done yet) but called my hubby and he said we should do both since After Hours is his favorite extra event because of the low crowds and we can now concentrate our fastpasses in the other parks.


----------



## Tessaf

Katie1174 said:


> We are so crazy......and I love it. I just bought tickets for the regular DAH on May 11. I had already booked the Villains one on May 14 (which we haven't done yet) but called my hubby and he said we should do both since After Hours is his favorite extra event because of the low crowds and we can now concentrate our fastpasses in the other parks.


Guess I’m crazy too! I had the Villain one on May 14th already booked and just booked the 11th! And to add a little more crazy to my life, booked animal kingdom DAH for that time too!

All the money we saved from a discount pin we got via snail mail is going to end up going back to Disney for after hours lol


----------



## L_MD

This is great! Absolutely adding April 27th to my trip. That's my first full day in the parks, and I'll have to rework my itinerary a bit (including NOT waking up super early for Epcot the next morning) but I'm really excited!


----------



## Katie1174

Tessaf said:


> Guess I’m crazy too! I had the Villain one on May 14th already booked and just booked the 11th! And to add a little more crazy to my life, booked animal kingdom DAH for that time too!


So funny........I also booked us for Animal Kingdom AH on May 16. We loved AK AH.


----------



## Tessaf

Katie1174 said:


> So funny........I also booked us for Animal Kingdom AH on May 16. We loved AK AH.



We did May 9th! We’ve never done AK AH and we are so excited!! We actually could add the 16th to the trip, but wasn’t sure how it is. We may just need to add that one too....


----------



## cakebaker

Added a day on the front end and booked this! I never thought they'd ever do both after hours events in the same time frame!


----------



## Katie1174

Tessaf said:


> We did May 9th! We’ve never done AK AH and we are so excited!! We actually could add the 16th to the trip, but wasn’t sure how it is. We may just need to add that one too....


We arent coming in until the 10th, but you are going to love it. Dont want to get off the MK thread to badly but when you do yours head over to Everest first, if you like roller coasters. Let the crowd disperse at FOP. We rode Everest 7 times(the CM’s let us start riding 1/2 hr before the event officially began, then by the time we walked over to Pandora, stopping to get treats, FOP and Navi were walk ons the rest of the night. And Pandora at night with no people is amazing! Lots of beautiful photo shots. Have fun!


----------



## lcc2

AntJulie said:


> More dates through May including last week of January! Mostly on Mondays.


Thank you!! I was able to change the VAH tickets I bought the other day to regular DAH. I should have been a little more patient but I'm happy


----------



## lcc2

cakebaker said:


> Added a day on the front end and booked this! I never thought they'd ever do both after hours events in the same time frame!


I had added a day to end of our trip to book VAH. Then they shockingly added this! I prefer to do the regular one so I changed the tickets.


----------



## Lisa F

lcc2 said:


> Thank you!! I was able to change the VAH tickets I bought the other day to regular DAH. I should have been a little more patient but I'm happy


Disney should get their stuff together and release everything at once!


----------



## SarahC97

I'm so happy! Just bought tickets for 1/23!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Lisa F said:


> Disney should get their stuff together and release everything at once!



I'm kind of waiting to see if they add anything at DHS. The after hours page still lists DHS, though there are no dates currently available.


----------



## Naomeri

I’m so excited they added dates for the last week of January!  I have a relaxation day scheduled for Monday the 27th, so adding an after hours event for a night owl like me is perfect!


----------



## Katie1174

Iowamomof4 said:


> I'm kind of waiting to see if they add anything at DHS. The after hours page still lists DHS, though there are no dates currently available.


Would love for them to add DHS back in the mix, even without GE we would still do it, had a blast this year.


----------



## Mzpalmtree

Katie1174 said:


> Would love for them to add DHS back in the mix, even without GE we would still do it, had a blast this year.


Yes! We did MK reg AH and the VAH and DHS hours twice over the course of a couple of trips and everyone agreed that DHS was the best one. We’d LOVE to see it return.


----------



## lcc2

Lisa F said:


> Disney should get their stuff together and release everything at once!


I AGREE!


----------



## TheMick424

lcc2 said:


> Thank you!! I was able to change the VAH tickets I bought the other day to regular DAH. I should have been a little more patient but I'm happy


How did you switch the tickets?  Were you able to call and take care of it?  Now I'm debating what to do...


----------



## lcc2

TheMick424 said:


> How did you switch the tickets?  Were you able to call and take care of it?  Now I'm debating what to do...



Yep, I called and it was an easy and quick fix.


----------



## georgina

OK, so now I am back to having to make a decision. Wasn't planning to hit the parks on Feb 17, since it is the day we arrive, and being President's Day.  Still, it would save one day on DH's non-expiring tickets if we used it as our MK day. Decisions, decisions!


----------



## dez1978

DisneyPhanDoor said:


> Anyone think there might be a chance of them adding regular DAH dates last week of January? Or is it just tough beans for those of us whose dates fall between regular DAH and VAH? I feel like calling the special events office and demanding to know WHY THEY WONT TAKE MY MONEY???!


edited bc I posted without reading lol


----------



## Thecouch

when im there in april next year MK hours are to 9pm and after hours is 10pm-1am . does that mean you could expect normal hours to be extended till 10pm or do they normally have a hour gap ?


----------



## Rich M

I would love it if they had DAH events every day of my stay.  I would skip the parks during the day and just do them.


----------



## eeyoreandtink

Thecouch said:


> when im there in april next year MK hours are to 9pm and after hours is 10pm-1am . does that mean you could expect normal hours to be extended till 10pm or do they normally have a hour gap ?


Typically normal hours are extended.


----------



## chris4disney

Thecouch said:


> when im there in april next year MK hours are to 9pm and after hours is 10pm-1am . does that mean you could expect normal hours to be extended till 10pm or do they normally have a hour gap ?



I've read that they often times leave that gap hour between regular closing and the beginning of DAH to allow time for those regular day guests to exit the park.  I hope that's true because we're paying a premium for just three hours of park time... and if the first hour of those three we're still dealing with all the regular day guests that waited to get in attraction lines just before official closing time, it could be a little while before the crowds really go down.


----------



## eeyoreandtink

chris4disney said:


> I've read that they often times leave that gap hour between regular closing and the beginning of DAH to allow time for those regular day guests to exit the park.  I hope that's true because we're paying a premium for just three hours of park time... and if the first hour of those three we're still dealing with all the regular day guests that waited to get in attraction lines just before official closing time, it could be a little while before the crowds really go down.


That used to be true for Christmas and Halloween parties, but that was a decade ago or more. To my knowledge has never been true for DAH.


----------



## Katie1174

Thecouch said:


> when im there in april next year MK hours are to 9pm and after hours is 10pm-1am . does that mean you could expect normal hours to be extended till 10pm or do they normally have a hour gap ?


Probably change hours to 10pm. We went to all 3 AH last May and only AK and HS had a 30 minute gap between park close and event start. MK started the exact time the park closed but, at least in May, it was a non issue. The line wait dropped to 10-15 min pretty quickly after the party started, then went down from there. A lot of people leave after the fireworks. We started our evening at BTMR and even at 10 on the dot, it was a 5 min wait tops and by the time we rode 3 times it was a walk on. But every night is different, we were very lucky that all 3 of ours were very low crowds.


----------



## ElsasFan

chris4disney said:


> I've read that they often times leave that gap hour between regular closing and the beginning of DAH to allow time for those regular day guests to exit the park.  I hope that's true because we're paying a premium for just three hours of park time... and if the first hour of those three we're still dealing with all the regular day guests that waited to get in attraction lines just before official closing time, it could be a little while before the crowds really go down.



We went to a DAH event in Magic Kingdom last May.  We rode Buzz Lightyear between 8 and 9 p.m. (9:00 park closing time) and it was very crowded in Tomorrowland when we went into Buzz.  When we came out a little after 9:00, the place was empty!  I don't know how they did it.


----------



## georgina

eeyoreandtink said:


> That used to be true for Christmas and Halloween parties, but that was a decade ago or more. To my knowledge has never been true for DAH.


They brought it back for Christmas and Halloween parties. Park closes at 6, parties start at 7.

I agree that the time DAH starts for MK means the park will close at that time.


----------



## Iowamomof4

chris4disney said:


> I've read that they often times leave that gap hour between regular closing and the beginning of DAH to allow time for those regular day guests to exit the park.  I hope that's true because we're paying a premium for just three hours of park time... and if the first hour of those three we're still dealing with all the regular day guests that waited to get in attraction lines just before official closing time, it could be a little while before the crowds really go down.





eeyoreandtink said:


> That used to be true for Christmas and Halloween parties, but that was a decade ago or more. To my knowledge has never been true for DAH.



They've sometimes had a gap at AK, but never at MK for after hours.


----------



## eeyoreandtink

georgina said:


> They brought it back for Christmas and Halloween parties. Park closes at 6, parties start at 7.
> 
> I agree that the time DAH starts for MK means the park will close at that time.


Are they completely clearing the park, like they used to, and only letting party guests in at 7? We did MNNSHP last year ,and they didn't do this. We got in well before the party started.


----------



## Tessaf

chris4disney said:


> I've read that they often times leave that gap hour between regular closing and the beginning of DAH to allow time for those regular day guests to exit the park.  I hope that's true because we're paying a premium for just three hours of park time... and if the first hour of those three we're still dealing with all the regular day guests that waited to get in attraction lines just before official closing time, it could be a little while before the crowds really go down.


When we did DAH in 2018 we got there right before the parked closed. We headed over to BTMRR and they had cast members waiting at the bridges and walkways and made us show our wristband before we could continue. The people next to us got turned away since they didn’t have wristbands. I didn’t notice any crowds hanging around that night.  But I’m not sure if that’s the norm or not.


----------



## cakebaker

Rich M said:


> I would love it if they had DAH events every day of my stay.  I would skip the parks during the day and just do them.



Same here practically. When we do a DAH's, we still go to the park on another day but we can skip dealing with rides for the most part and have a much more relaxed time. We book 3 fp's and that's it. It also allows us much more resort time. They are just the best thing Disney has done in a very long time. I know it irks some that it's cut into the evening emh's, but since we just don't do those anymore because of crowds, doesn't bother me at all. I'd rather pay more and get a much more enjoyable experience.


----------



## eeyoreandtink

cakebaker said:


> They are just the best thing Disney has done in a very long time..


ITA. We LOVED our experiences with DAH and cannot wait to do it again.


----------



## Rich M

cakebaker said:


> Same here practically. When we do a DAH's, we still go to the park on another day but we can skip dealing with rides for the most part and have a much more relaxed time. We book 3 fp's and that's it. It also allows us much more resort time. They are just the best thing Disney has done in a very long time. I know it irks some that it's cut into the evening emh's, but since we just don't do those anymore because of crowds, doesn't bother me at all. I'd rather pay more and get a much more enjoyable experience.



This is exactly what we are hoping for.  We got the DxDDP and plan to enjoy a more leisurely trip with just hitting rides with FP and during the DAH or Christmas parties.   The only line we will have no choice in is the new Star Wars ride but since we have DL AP we might just wait until January and go there.


----------



## Alison S

DAH definitely gives us more leisurely days.  We'll do DAH + 1 MK day (so that day we will have done a ton of stuff already, so we'll just do our favourites & anything that isn't open in the evenings).  Should be out of the park mid-afternoon for more resort time that day.  Then since I only need to use 1 day of our ticket for MK, I'll do 2 AK days instead.  We'll get to enjoy the park atmosphere and do everything at least once.


----------



## Gina

YES!!!!! I can't believe they finally released DAH dates for the last week of January! I had given up hope, honestly, especially when they released VAH dates beyond that. Still, I left that Monday evening (1/27) open just in case, with the rest of the day being a take-it-easy day with a nice relaxing carriage ride earlier. Now we're all booked now for the event on 1/27, and it is taking everything in me to not get up and dance on my desk at work.


----------



## Lisa F

Iowamomof4 said:


> I'm kind of waiting to see if they add anything at DHS. The after hours page still lists DHS, though there are no dates currently available.


I only have the one day (and a too-close-for-comfort travel date) so I am thrilled that anything was released, I doubt they would do competing events on the same night.  But if I were trying to plan a full stay I'd be waiting a bit to see what else they release.  They may not think about that until they see what the new ride opening early december is like.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Lisa F said:


> I only have the one day (and a too-close-for-comfort travel date) so I am thrilled that anything was released, I doubt they would do competing events on the same night.  But if I were trying to plan a full stay I'd be waiting a bit to see what else they release.  They may not think about that until they see what the new ride opening early december is like.



Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if they're waiting until after Rise of the Resistance opens to see how crowded it gets.


----------



## cakebaker

I'm in the camp that once ROR is open they'll start back with DAH at HS. I can't imagine a reason for not doing them. Fingers crossed they have them for our March trip!


----------



## kylenne

Alison S said:


> DAH definitely gives us more leisurely days.  We'll do DAH + 1 MK day (so that day we will have done a ton of stuff already, so we'll just do our favourites & anything that isn't open in the evenings).  Should be out of the park mid-afternoon for more resort time that day.  Then since I only need to use 1 day of our ticket for MK, I'll do 2 AK days instead.  We'll get to enjoy the park atmosphere and do everything at least once.



This sounds like a great plan! We had the same idea especially since I have an AP but my gf doesn’t. We are going for 2 more days on the May trip that last year and I wanted to substitute AH for some park days on her hopper ticket. We also expressly wanted to build in more resort time since it was our one regret from our Poly stay last year. We had some but not as much as we wanted. We are both night owls anyway and prefer the atmosphere of MK at night. And I’m glad to hear it makes days more leisurely; we are an ADHD couple and sometimes crowded parks are a challenge due to overstimulation.

My only problem now is being torn between regular DAH and Villains. Hopefully the sheer number of dates combined with the lower priced alternative will alleviate some of the crowd issues VAH had last year. And they dropped this news four days before our ADR day...ay yi yi Disney!


----------



## Rich M

I would be so happy to have a HS DAH.  In my perfect world I would do the DAH in the evening and water parks or pool time during the day.   I would actually consider going during the summer again


----------



## NikkiDP

I am so excited they announced end of January dates!! DH and I were trying to figure out if we were doing AK DAH but once these came out we immediately decided MK was the way to go! This will be our first AH event and I can't wait to be in the parks with limited crowds at night


----------



## Sarahslay

Gina said:


> YES!!!!! I can't believe they finally released DAH dates for the last week of January! I had given up hope, honestly, especially when they released VAH dates beyond that. Still, I left that Monday evening (1/27) open just in case, with the rest of the day being a take-it-easy day with a nice relaxing carriage ride earlier. Now we're all booked now for the event on 1/27, and it is taking everything in me to not get up and dance on my desk at work.


I had given up hope too!! I'm only there for 4 days/3 nights and I also figured they would end up doing just a monday (the day after I go home) and I'd be out of luck anyway, but I was wrong!! I have my ticket for 1/31, I'm alone so kinda glad it's an 8-11 since I really don't enjoy those resort walks at 2 am by myself (I also won't be falling asleep on the bus with no one to wake me up lol)


----------



## glk2009

Do you think crowds for DAH are still going to stay low? That Disney isn’t selling more tix? 

We did DAH when they first started and it was awesome. So awesome. 

I was about to bite the bullet and buy tix for VAH for our April trip and just suck it up and deal with more people. But if DAH is definitely fewer people, I’d rather do that. 

Sorry if I missed it in the past posts. I did try and read through the more recent pages. 

TIA!


----------



## Lsdolphin

Oh yes Oh yes!!!! Booked DAH for 1/31 so happy Disney added the additional dates for last week of Jan!!!


----------



## Shadera

Hooray!  Happy to see they added dates.  I was able to grab what we were looking for.


----------



## PolyRob

I am really torn. I reworked my spring itinerary AGAIN to fit regular DAH in rather than VAH. Good thing I didn't cancel anything when I aded VAH in. My family enjoys the late night events so we will definitely do one of them. They did DAH before and I did VAH without them. IDK which we should do together!? We will be at an Epcot resort for DAH and a MK resort for VAH. VAH will also be our last night on property so I would have to pack earlier in the day. Too much to decide!! I need to settle it before FP+ day. The only thing I would rework the itinerary for again is DAH at DHS. IDK which day of the week Disney would add it, if any. Having 3 nights with DAH doesn't leave many options that work for me!


----------



## focusondisney

glk2009 said:


> *Do you think crowds for DAH are still going to stay low? That Disney isn’t selling more tix?*
> 
> We did DAH when they first started and it was awesome. So awesome.
> 
> I was about to bite the bullet and buy tix for VAH for our April trip and just suck it up and deal with more people. But if DAH is definitely fewer people, I’d rather do that.
> 
> Sorry if I missed it in the past posts. I did try and read through the more recent pages.
> 
> TIA!




This is anyone’s guess.  I think we all hope they keep crowds low but are afraid they will keep pushing ticket sales higher.


----------



## klangl6

Unfortunately it looks like I can't change my trip to make DAH. The cost to change everything isnt worth it.


----------



## glk2009

focusondisney said:


> This is anyone’s guess.  I think we all hope they keep crowds low but are afraid they will keep pushing ticket sales higher.



I figured as much but thought I’d ask and maybe get a magical answer! 

We may end up VAH anyway since I realized we have EMM planned the morning after DAH.  If I want to include a planned meltdown in the already crazy schedule, I’d do DAH and EMM right after. Lol.


----------



## momto3boys+aprincess

I am so happy! I had given up on regular AH. February can’t come quick enough!!!


----------



## DisneyPhanDoor

DisneyPhanDoor said:


> Anyone think there might be a chance of them adding regular DAH dates last week of January? Or is it just tough beans for those of us whose dates fall between regular DAH and VAH? I feel like calling the special events office and demanding to know WHY THEY WONT TAKE MY MONEY???!


Did not call, I swear!
Now there are THREE MK AH that fall during our trip....now I have too many choices. Which one? All three?
In any case, the good folks at Visa  are going to LOVE me!!


----------



## mekay1012

Do you think regular DAH will be extended into July?  I’m really wanting to do this instead of the VAH.


----------



## kaylaschaffer31

Mikelly1221 said:


> Can DVC members buy DAH tickets for others but not attend themselves?  My parents are DVC members and I know they would have no interest in attending...however if it's allowed, I'd love to give them the money to purchase tickets for us.
> 
> Not trying to circumvent rules, just trying to figure out the rules!



Hi everyone! Has anyone figured this out? My Dad (DVC Member) is taking me but he doesn't want to attend the event, just want to make sure I buy the right ticket for the 1/20 event. TIA!


----------



## Tessaf

glk2009 said:


> I figured as much but thought I’d ask and maybe get a magical answer!
> 
> We may end up VAH anyway since I realized we have EMM planned the morning after DAH.  If I want to include a planned meltdown in the already crazy schedule, I’d do DAH and EMM right after. Lol.



I've done DAH followed by an EMM right after. I was really shocked that we didn't have a meltdown LOL


----------



## KandyM

It’s great they added all these new dates, but now I have to decide between a DAH on Presidents’ Day or a VAH Friday of that same week.  Has there ever been a DAH on a holiday date before?  Do people think that will make it more crowded than a regular date?  Maybe more crowded than a regular Monday but still less crowded than a VAH?  
Hard to decide on this.  Low crowds are our goal, dont really care about the villains.


----------



## HausofDisney

I am going to Disney in May and have already purchased park tickets. We are trying to decide when to go to Magic Kingdom but we already know we will not be doing a special event like Disney villain after hours since we already bought other park tickets. My question is, does Magic Kingdom get really busy in the evenings on the days of the after hour events? Should I avoid going to Magic Kingdom on a day when there is an after hours event? Or since people can’t come into the park for the event until 7pm does it not really make that noticeable of a difference. We were thinking of going to Magic Kingdom on a Thursday but it is also the day of a Disney villains after hours party. Any advice would be appreciated, I thought this might be a good place to ask. Thank you.


----------



## cakebaker

HausofDisney said:


> I am going to Disney in May and have already purchased park tickets. We are trying to decide when to go to Magic Kingdom but we already know we will not be doing a special event like Disney villain after hours since we already bought other park tickets. My question is, does Magic Kingdom get really busy in the evenings on the days of the after hour events? Should I avoid going to Magic Kingdom on a day when there is an after hours event? Or since people can’t come into the park for the event until 7pm does it not really make that noticeable of a difference. We were thinking of going to Magic Kingdom on a Thursday but it is also the day of a Disney villains after hours party. Any advice would be appreciated, I thought this might be a good place to ask. Thank you.


The number of people attending a DAH is relatively small. I doubt you’ll notice a difference, especially for a regular DAH event. Keep in mind a great many people who attend DAH  events have park tickets or AP’s and aren’t limited to entering until 7 so it won’t be a mad rush of people at once.


----------



## jackieleanne

Just booked for the 27th April 2020. Can't wait so happy it was added as we did it in January this year and both loved it. We arrive on the Sunday for our honeymoon so this is a great start to the trip. Will be able to use some of those bottles of coke etc through out the trip too.


----------



## plutotheduggo

So pumped they added normal MK AH dates in late Feb. We were only going to be doing the AK AH on 2/27 and MK Villains AH on 2/28. We decided to move our trip around and fly down on Saturday 2/22 instead of Tuesday 2/25 to first visit with my wife's grandparents in Deerfield Beach and then Monday morning drive up to Disney for the Monday 2/24 MK AH! We just love the atmosphere and vibe so much better at a regular AH compared to the Villains - nothing wrong with the Villains one, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity (and really cheap flights on that Saturday). We didn't change anything on our 2/25-3/1 itinerary at Coronado Springs as we were able to just get 1 night at All Star Sports for Monday 2/24 for $110. 

All in all, we are so excited and can't wait! Three After Hours and 2 Park Hopper days = an amazing trip.


----------



## plutotheduggo

KandyM said:


> It’s great they added all these new dates, but now I have to decide between a DAH on Presidents’ Day or a VAH Friday of that same week.  Has there ever been a DAH on a holiday date before?  Do people think that will make it more crowded than a regular date?  Maybe more crowded than a regular Monday but still less crowded than a VAH?
> Hard to decide on this.  Low crowds are our goal, dont really care about the villains.


I believe this year there is two during MLK weekend including Friday the 17th and Monday the 20th. I would check back here for stats after that weekend to see how it went. Regardless, I've heard for MLK day at least that it's one of the busiest times during that first quarter of the year. Not sure though how it compares against Presidents day.

About the VAH compared to regular AH, unfortunately my wife and I both thought the VAH back in June 2019 was definitely more crowded. I would think due to the extra stage show performances, which all three include actors of course and also more fireworks they would be more open to selling more tickets to help cover those extra costs compared to a normal AH where none of that is happening. Don't get me wrong, it still was totally fine and the wait times for mostly everything were < 10 minutes; it was just _different _vibe wise and crowd wise.

If it's worth anything, my wife and I are going to both, the regular AH on 2/24 and the VAH on 2/28.


----------



## Grumpy Bear

Just changed my VAH tickets to regular AH on Feb 10th. So excited!!!


----------



## Orsino

I need advice. I'm considering MK DAH on either 31 Jan 2020 or 3 Feb 2020. Both days have MK hours listed as 9AM - 8PM, but the 31 Jan 2020 DAH is 8PM - 11PM and the 3 Feb 2020 DAH is 9PM - 12AM, which confuses me.
What happens when there is an hour gap between park close and DAH? Which do you think is better? Of course, Disney could extend hours on the 3rd making the difference moot, but... argh!

Confounding variable is on the 31st we are at the Poly and 3 Feb 2020 we are at AKL.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Orsino said:


> I need advice. I'm considering MK DAH on either 31 Jan 2020 or 3 Feb 2020. Both days have MK hours listed as 9AM - 8PM, but the 31 Jan 2020 DAH is 8PM - 11PM and the 3 Feb 2020 DAH is 9PM - 12AM, which confuses me.
> What happens when there is an hour gap between park close and DAH? Which do you think is better? Of course, Disney could extend hours on the 3rd making the difference moot, but... argh!
> 
> Confounding variable is on the 31st we are at the Poly and 3 Feb 2020 we are at AKL.



While I guess anything is possible (and they do have a “gap” sometimes at DAK DAH), MK DAH has never had one so my opinion is they regular park hours are likely to get extended later on.  So I suspect it will be a moot point as you noted.


----------



## zoo2tycoon

Anyone else going 2/3? It’s our first time.


----------



## Trinity88

We're (DH and I) going Feb 3rd!  We went in Aug and it was amazing!

I'm figuring they'll extend the hours at MK until 9pm so there isn't a gap.


----------



## eliseisawkward

Excited to try this DAH in February!! Haven't bought tickets yet, but the plan is 2/10. Husband, Sister, and BIL plus me, same as when we did AK DAH. We loved that one, and this one looks like it will be even better!


----------



## Rich M

I bought my ticket for December 9th.  Also going to the Christmas party on December 10th.  Glad to be able to skip MK during the day and just go during these two events.


----------



## jenushkask8s

Just switched our VAH for 5/14 to DAH on 5/11 (which is also our anniversary)!


----------



## Lb2018

We're headed to WDW in May for only 4 days. Planning on snagging some DAH tickets but holding out hope they restart DAH at HS. 

If I wait, what's the risk of them selling out other DAH events? Everything I'm googling says things may sell out the week of but that seems awfully late to me!


----------



## apxstitch

I got my ticket for 2/3, this will be my second AH event at the MK!  I'm so excited as it was easily the best part of my last trip.  Expectations are high and hopefully it will be another "once in a lifetime opportunity".  Also my record from the 1st event is 14 attractions, so the goal is to beat that


----------



## DisneyPhanDoor

Booked for 1/31 AND 2/3!
Looking forward to our MK time being after dark, with minimal waits, and (hopefully) NO STROLLERS!


----------



## SamFaniam

DisneyPhanDoor said:


> Booked for 1/31 AND 2/3!
> Looking forward to our MK time being after dark, with minimal waits, and (hopefully) NO STROLLERS!



I never even thought about the fact that there would be less strollers. This makes DAH even more appealing!


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Well, there will be a stroller March 16th, when we are there with the grandboys sleeping away after they ride a few rides. (My pic is VAH in July.)


----------



## GADisneyDad14

No need for any stroller hate on this thread. Many of us with them will be well represented at DAH events at every park.   

“Walt Disney World is tribute to the philosophy and life of Walter Elias Disney … and to the talents, the dedication, and the loyalty of the entire Disney organization that made Walt Disney’s dream come true. May Walt Disney World bring Joy and Inspiration and New Knowledge to all who come to this happy place … a Magic Kingdom where the young at heart of all ages can laugh and play and learn – together.”
_– Roy O. Disney, October 25, 1971 –_


----------



## Iowamomof4

Well, no hate on strollers from me, but it sure is nice to have more open walkways during these events.


----------



## Eeyore54 fred

kaylaschaffer31 said:


> Hi everyone! Has anyone figured this out? My Dad (DVC Member) is taking me but he doesn't want to attend the event, just want to make sure I buy the right ticket for the 1/20 event. TIA!


I bought tickets for DD and her friend when they were there in May using my DVC discount. I bought the tickets and assigned them to her and friend.


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

I'm in the middle of purchasing AH tickets. 3 of us have AP's, 7 don't. Are we allowed to purchase the discount tickets for the remaining 7 people in our party? I thought we could, but this little blurb is making me pause:
"Item(s) are priced for Passholders only. For room reservations, you must show a valid adult Passholder ID at Resort check-in."  We're not interested in breaking the rules, but I thought we were allowed to purchase tickets for a certain number of people with our discount.


----------



## Rick195275

NotTheBatesMotel said:


> I'm in the middle of purchasing AH tickets. 3 of us have AP's, 7 don't. Are we allowed to purchase the discount tickets for the remaining 7 people in our party? I thought we could, but this little blurb is making me pause:
> "Item(s) are priced for Passholders only. For room reservations, you must show a valid adult Passholder ID at Resort check-in."  We're not interested in breaking the rules, but I thought we were allowed to purchase tickets for a certain number of people with our discount.


You absolutely can purchase for others I bought tix for my mom and sister. You might need to do it multiple transactions because it might cap at so many per an AP I think 4? But you should still be able to cover everyone between the multiple APs in your group.


----------



## Iowamomof4

NotTheBatesMotel said:


> I'm in the middle of purchasing AH tickets. 3 of us have AP's, 7 don't. Are we allowed to purchase the discount tickets for the remaining 7 people in our party? I thought we could, but this little blurb is making me pause:
> "Item(s) are priced for Passholders only. For room reservations, you must show a valid adult Passholder ID at Resort check-in."  We're not interested in breaking the rules, but I thought we were allowed to purchase tickets for a certain number of people with our discount.



Last year  Earlier THIS year (oops) I was able to purchase 7 after hours tickets in one transaction while logged into my (AP) account. Dh and I both have AP's, but again, I just purchased for all 7 people in my party on my account and had no problems whatsoever.


----------



## sharona

Rich M said:


> I bought my ticket for December 9th.  Also going to the Christmas party on December 10th.  Glad to be able to skip MK during the day and just go during these two events.



We’ll be there 12/9 - can’t wait!


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

Thank you, @Iowamomof4 and @Rick195275 ! I went ahead and purchased them without any issues.


----------



## fivefourdis

I'd like to know recommendations for a good value on FP+ Selections for the 7-9 window prior to the AH event. Since we are allowed to book FP+ in that window I'd like to know what others plan to use them for? Do I need a FP to meet Mickey, Tinkerbell, Rapunzel from 7-9pm, would that be a waste of a FP+? Are the lines already short at that point in the evening? I've got a 5yr old who will be well rested and ready to burn the night at the AH. Do most of you position yourself to view the fireworks at 9pm or can we ride rides during the fireworks with AH passes?


----------



## plutotheduggo

fivefourdis said:


> I'd like to know recommendations for a good value on FP+ Selections for the 7-9 window prior to the AH event. Since we are allowed to book FP+ in that window I'd like to know what others plan to use them for? Do I need a FP to meet Mickey, Tinkerbell, Rapunzel from 7-9pm, would that be a waste of a FP+? Are the lines already short at that point in the evening? I've got a 5yr old who will be well rested and ready to burn the night at the AH. Do most of you position yourself to view the fireworks at 9pm or can we ride rides during the fireworks with AH passes?



So we usually make a FP for 6:30-7:30, then another 7:30-8:30 and if we're lucky, can get one at 8:30-9 but that is pretty rare, and by 8:30 we're usually waiting for HEA fireworks. The lines during the 7-9pm window really depending on the date you're going, but in the past we've been on a late Feb date, the lines haven't been super long. Snow White was still over an hour though. You definitely can do rides and stuff during HEA with only AH park tickets!

You will absolutely love After Hours!


----------



## igrsod

Has anyone gone to an event that is Vegan?  Wondering if any of the ice cream treats are Vegan.  I want to take our family but with two Vegans in the group, I would hate for them to feel left out as everyone else is having fun enjoying the included treats.
I know the popcorn is vegan, but I was curious about the frozen treats.
Thanks


----------



## SamFaniam

igrsod said:


> Has anyone gone to an event that is Vegan?  Wondering if any of the ice cream treats are Vegan.  I want to take our family but with two Vegans in the group, I would hate for them to feel left out as everyone else is having fun enjoying the included treats.
> I know the popcorn is vegan, but I was curious about the frozen treats.
> Thanks



Some, if not all, of the carts will have fruit bars.  I assume these are vegan.


----------



## TheMick424

If you have a regular ticket or annual pass and an after-hours ticket, which does MDE default to when booking fast passes for that day? I’m assuming the regular ticket/annual pass, but wondered if anyone has experience they could share.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TheMick424 said:


> If you have a regular ticket or annual pass and an after-hours ticket, which does MDE default to when booking fast passes for that day? I’m assuming the regular ticket/annual pass, but wondered if anyone has experience they could share.



It doesn’t really “default” to anything - it just reads any ticket as a ticket.   Having any eligible ticket media - be it DAH tickets, APs, etc - is what allows the FPs to be booked/exist.


----------



## TheMick424

GADisneyDad14 said:


> If the tickets and APs are al under in one MDE account, it doesn’t really “default” to anything - it just reads any ticket as a ticket.   Having any eligible ticket media - be it DAH tickets, APs, etc - is what allows the FPs to be booked/exist.


Thanks! I just wasn’t sure if it would give you problems booking fast passes at a park other than the one for the AH ticket. I thought I read that you can book FastPasses between 7 and close using an after-hours ticket, but we will likely go to a park earlier in the day and use them then.


----------



## sharona

Do am I understanding correctly that because we are going to EP in the daytime and have FP booked we can’t schedule any FP at MKAH for that night from 7-10?  If I call in will they be able to do it for me?  If not I guess we’ll do it that day after FP have run out at EP for the things we’re interested in?   We’ll be getting to MK about 7:30/8 and wouldn’t mind having a few FP available while we wait for the park to clear out.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

sharona said:


> Do am I understanding correctly that because we are going to EP in the daytime and have FP booked we can’t schedule any FP at MKAH for that night from 7-10?  If I call in will they be able to do it for me?  If not I guess we’ll do it that day after FP have run out at EP for the things we’re interested in?   We’ll be getting to MK about 7:30/8 and wouldn’t mind having a few FP available while we wait for the park to clear out.



If all tickets exist in one MDE account, you can only pre-book three FPs per day.  If you’re pre-booking FPs in Epcot, you’ll have to use those then book same day FPs one at a time after that.


----------



## sharona

GADisneyDad14 said:


> If all tickets exist in one MDE account, you can only pre-book three FPs per day.  If you’re pre-booking FPs in Epcot, you’ll have to use those then book same day FPs one at a time after that.



Thanks.  Is there a way to move them to my SIL’s MDE account and book that way?


----------



## Sarahslay

sharona said:


> Thanks.  Is there a way to move them to my SIL’s MDE account and book that way?


There really is no way around it if you are indeed still planning on using the ticket for yourself. In order to us the AH ticket it has to be connected to you in some way, either directly  in your account because you bought it, or as being linked in the friends and family area in your SIL account and thus being attached to the ticket that way. Even if it's in your SIL account you can't book more FP unless you're trying to skirt the system and pretend you're someone else, which I don't advise.


----------



## sharona

Sarahslay said:


> There really is no way around it if you are indeed still planning on using the ticket for yourself. In order to us the AH ticket it has to be connected to you in some way, either directly  in your account because you bought it, or as being linked in the friends and family area in your SIL account and thus being attached to the ticket that way. Even if it's in your SIL account you can't book more FP unless you're trying to skirt the system and pretend you're someone else, which I don't advise.



No just looking to book legitimately if we could.  We’ll wait until we’re done with our EP Fp’s and see what’s available.  Thanks for the info.


----------



## Alison S

sharona said:


> No just looking to book legitimately if we could.  We’ll wait until we’re done with our EP Fp’s and see what’s available.  Thanks for the info.



This is what we're doing (even going to Epcot that day).  I hope to be done with Epcot FPs around 2 and then will see what's available for MK.


----------



## Sarahslay

sharona said:


> No just looking to book legitimately if we could.  We’ll wait until we’re done with our EP Fp’s and see what’s available.  Thanks for the info.


I don't think you should have any problem riding everything you want at MK even without getting FP, depending on when you go you should have zero problem (of course if it's around spring break or a holiday it's a lot harder, but you should get a lot done during the event). I have all of my FP booked for HS the day of my party, I might not even try to book any more FP for MK....of course I can't get in until 7 and the party starts at 8 that day so there is no use really.


----------



## parsonm

Has anyone done an After Hours event at Magic Kingdom following a really busy day? 
We're thinking about going to AH at MK on Presidents Day (17/2) but I'm concerned the queues will still be really long when the event starts at 9pm? Any thoughts would be really appreciated - thanks


----------



## FredPinsocket

So we’ll be down during one of the VAH events.  We’ll already be spending two full days at the Magic Kingdom, but this event is intriguing.  For people that have experienced VAH, is the atmosphere enough of a draw to make it worth the hefty admission price?  Or is the main draw still just getting to ride everything without crazy crowds?


----------



## ninafeliz

FredPinsocket said:


> So we’ll be down during one of the VAH events.  We’ll already be spending two full days at the Magic Kingdom, but this event is intriguing.  For people that have experienced VAH, is the atmosphere enough of a draw to make it worth the hefty admission price?  Or is the main draw still just getting to ride everything without crazy crowds?


I don't know how to link, but there's a thread specifically for VAH.  In short, IMO the atmosphere was ok but we wanted after hours for riding, so the longer lines were not offset by the villains additions and I much preferred regular DAH.  If only VAH was offered during my trip I would still do it, though, just with appropriate expectations of shortish lines not walk ons, somewhat bigger crowds, and some villains additions.  I personally didn't find the villains stuff to be anything huge, just the stage show and dance party atmosphere in front of the castle and seeing the Malificent float, plus the merch.  All cool, but for me not enough to justify the price addition and longer lines.  But I'm not a huge villain person.


----------



## FredPinsocket

ninafeliz said:


> I don't know how to link, but there's a thread specifically for VAH.  In short, IMO the atmosphere was ok but we wanted after hours for riding, so the longer lines were not offset by the villains additions and I much preferred regular DAH.  If only VAH was offered during my trip I would still do it, though, just with appropriate expectations of shortish lines not walk ons, somewhat bigger crowds, and some villains additions.  I personally didn't find the villains stuff to be anything huge, just the stage show and dance party atmosphere in front of the castle and seeing the Malificent float, plus the merch.  All cool, but for me not enough to justify the price addition and longer lines.  But I'm not a huge villain person.



Thanks for the response!  It’s disappointing that it’s more crowded than a regular AH event.  I’ll head over to the dedicated VAH thread for more info!


----------



## SteveH

parsonm said:


> Has anyone done an After Hours event at Magic Kingdom following a really busy day?
> We're thinking about going to AH at MK on Presidents Day (17/2) but I'm concerned the queues will still be really long when the event starts at 9pm? Any thoughts would be really appreciated - thanks


Our day in 2018 wasn't super busy but what they did was to have DAH ticketed people enter the FP line and closed off entry to the non-FP lines.   We got on SDMT pretty fast.  The CMs did a good job turning last minute hopefuls away starting about 5 minutes after, yet letting those in line still ride.


----------



## sharona

Sarahslay said:


> I don't think you should have any problem riding everything you want at MK even without getting FP, depending on when you go you should have zero problem (of course if it's around spring break or a holiday it's a lot harder, but you should get a lot done during the event). I have all of my FP booked for HS the day of my party, I might not even try to book any more FP for MK....of course I can't get in until 7 and the party starts at 8 that day so there is no use really.



I was thinking we’d try to book some FP for when we first arrive so we’re not spending the first couple of hours waiting in line.  We’re going on 12/9 - park closes at 9pm, fireworks are at 9, DAH event is from 10pm-1am.  We will probably arrive at MK about 7.  Would be nice to have 1-2 FP for those first 2 hours.   Also, this will be our only night at MK and we have a tradition of riding BTMRR during the fireworks.  Would love to get a BTMRR FP for just before closing.  If not we’ll watch the fireworks and wait for everyone to clear out.


----------



## AntJulie

sharona said:


> I was thinking we’d try to book some FP for when we first arrive so we’re not spending the first couple of hours waiting in line. We’re going on 12/9 - park closes at 9pm, fireworks are at 9, DAH event is from 10pm-1am. We will probably arrive at MK about 7. Would be nice to have 1-2 FP for those first 2 hours. Also, this will be our only night at MK and we have a tradition of riding BTMRR during the fireworks. Would love to get a BTMRR FP for just before closing. If not we’ll watch the fireworks and wait for everyone to clear out.


I wouldn't be surprised if closing time changed to 10pm. I don't believe there has ever been a one hour (or less) gap between closing time and the start of MK DAH. Riding BTMRR during the fireworks is amazing. I would stick to tradition on this one!


----------



## sharona

AntJulie said:


> I wouldn't be surprised if closing time changed to 10pm. I don't believe there has ever been a one hour (or less) gap between closing time and the start of MK DAH. Riding BTMRR during the fireworks is amazing. I would stick to tradition on this one!



Yes it’s our favorite thing to do at MK but it’s hard to time it these days!  Was so much easier with the old paper FP!


----------



## Califinest

So arriving into orlando airport this monday at 8pm. Do you think it would be worth it to get the magic kingdom after hours? I'm guessing by the time we get out of the airport and to the hotel, probaly be around 9pm, then a 10 min uber ride to magic kingdom? The event is from 10pm-1am.


----------



## cindyfan

Califinest said:


> So arriving into orlando airport this monday at 8pm. Do you think it would be worth it to get the magic kingdom after hours? I'm guessing by the time we get out of the airport and to the hotel, probaly be around 9pm, then a 10 min uber ride to magic kingdom? The event is from 10pm-1am.


No way you will make it to the resort by 9pm   It takes 25-30 just to get off the plane and to either baggage or transport.  And it's a 30 minute minimum drive from the airport to WDW.  At the very best you'd make it to the resort by 9:30.  
Where are you staying?  Some of those resorts are quite a drive.  
If you are staying at a MK resort and you don't have to pick up baggage, and you take Uber from the airport.... you might make it to MK by 10pm.  
Otherwise.... If you are ok with paying those prices for 2 1/2 hours in MK.... then go for it.


----------



## sharona

Califinest said:


> So arriving into orlando airport this monday at 8pm. Do you think it would be worth it to get the magic kingdom after hours? I'm guessing by the time we get out of the airport and to the hotel, probaly be around 9pm, then a 10 min uber ride to magic kingdom? The event is from 10pm-1am.



Part of the AH ticket is the 7pm entrance so you wouldn’t be getting full value plus you risk wasting your money if your flight gets delayed.  I wouldn’t do it.


----------



## Califinest

sharona said:


> Part of the AH ticket is the 7pm entrance so you wouldn’t be getting full value plus you risk wasting your money if your flight gets delayed.  I wouldn’t do it.


Yeah I figured wouldn’t make it early enough to make the price worthwhile. Side note, planning to do Epcot the following day and leaving around 6pm for animal kingdoms extra hours, have those been good?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Califinest said:


> So arriving into orlando airport this monday at 8pm. Do you think it would be worth it to get the magic kingdom after hours? I'm guessing by the time we get out of the airport and to the hotel, probaly be around 9pm, then a 10 min uber ride to magic kingdom? The event is from 10pm-1am.



The consensus opinion is  going to say that’s too tight / don’t do it, but I’ve done similar timing.  Sometimes our travel schedules are tight and we do what we gotta do.  We’re APs so the 7pm / pre event time is not particularly important - the real focus for us is the After Hours time itself.  

Yes, huge risks are involved with travel delays and such, no real getting around that.  

We usually take other means of transportation than DME, so that cuts down on airport to WDW time quite a bit.  

Good luck, whatever you decide.


----------



## Rich M

Califinest said:


> So arriving into orlando airport this monday at 8pm. Do you think it would be worth it to get the magic kingdom after hours? I'm guessing by the time we get out of the airport and to the hotel, probaly be around 9pm, then a 10 min uber ride to magic kingdom? The event is from 10pm-1am.



We are doing the AK after hours on our arrival day but we are getting in around 4 so we have a little bit of a cushion.  Honestly if it was that late I probably wouldn't do it because I would stress myself out too much.  It might be worth the little extra money to just decide when you arrive if everything seems like it will work out.  I know I would rather pay more than loss out completely.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

So our one lowly November MK DAH is tonight.  

Anyone going?


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

I wish APs could still get discount day of. I don’t know if I will be up for it until tonight. Stinks. Especially when I will be there for HEA dessert party. 
Ah well to bed earlier I suppose.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> I wish APs could still get discount day of. I don’t know if I will be up for it until tonight. Stinks. Especially when I will be there for HEA dessert party.
> Ah well to bed earlier I suppose.



Never hurts to ask.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Never hurts to ask.


I might.


----------



## PlutosNumberOneFan

Hi all! 

We are headed to after hours tonight! Will try and post some updates during the evening! Just back in resort now for a rest before we head out later!


----------



## Alison S

GADisneyDad14 said:


> So our one lowly November MK DAH is tonight.
> 
> Anyone going?



Me!  We are excited! Just resting up now back in our room.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Pretty stout looking day guest crowd at MK at the moment, judging from current wait times.

No DAH sell out though, per the website.


----------



## RolloTomasi

Does anyone know if the resort boats are running at the end of DAH? I’m going tonight and staying at WL. I know the first post says no, but I was wondering if maybe that had changed.


----------



## PlutosNumberOneFan

They have a small queue at gate for after hours... said they’re not handing out bands and opening that entrance until 7. Went in normal entrance with our other tickets and heading to dinner now.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

RolloTomasi said:


> Does anyone know if the resort boats are running at the end of DAH? I’m going tonight and staying at WL. I know the first post says no, but I was wondering if maybe that had changed.



AFAIK it’s still accurate for regular Disney After Hours. If you experience anything different on the ground tonight, would love to hear about it.

Enjoy your evening!


----------



## lorenae

PlutosNumberOneFan said:


> They have a small queue at gate for after hours... said they’re not handing out bands and opening that entrance until 7. Went in normal entrance with our other tickets and heading to dinner now.



I missed it earlier, I think- what were MKs hours today?


----------



## PlutosNumberOneFan

The app says MK open 9-10 today  DAH starts at 10.


----------



## lorenae

PlutosNumberOneFan said:


> The app says MK open 9-10 today  DAH starts at 10.



Good deal getting in at 7 PM, then!   So it’s 7 PM- 1 AM effectively for park time.    

Not bad for a DAH ticket, because I am thinking of heading over on December 3 and just checked the hours.   With EMM at 7:45-9, and MVVMCP in the evening, a regular park ticket will give you 9-6 and crowds in the AM and party guests arriving at 4 PM.  A very short day for a full price ticket, so I’ll be skipping that (even through I have an AP I think it would be a crowded and short day).


----------



## mickeymom22

I just bought tickets for an After Hours Magic Kingdom. Should these tickets show up on My Disney Experience? If so, how do I get them there? Is there a way I can add them, or do I need to call Disney?

Thanks!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

mickeymom22 said:


> I just bought tickets for an After Hours Magic Kingdom. Should these tickets show up on My Disney Experience? If so, how do I get them there? Is there a way I can add them, or do I need to call Disney?
> 
> Thanks!



Did you buy them online?  They should show up under tickets in MDE.  I have read sometimes of a bit of a lag, if they aren’t showing up.


----------



## lorenae

Click “Tickets and memory maker” or something like that- it should show there.


----------



## Naomeri

mickeymom22 said:


> I just bought tickets for an After Hours Magic Kingdom. Should these tickets show up on My Disney Experience? If so, how do I get them there? Is there a way I can add them, or do I need to call Disney?
> 
> Thanks!


They won’t show up on the Daily Itinerary tab, but should appear on the Tickets & Memory Maker tab


----------



## mickeymom22

lorenae said:


> Click “Tickets and memory maker” or something like that- it should show there.



Found it! Thanks!


----------



## mickeymom22

Naomeri said:


> They won’t show up on the Daily Itinerary tab, but should appear on the Tickets & Memory Maker tab



Found it! Thanks!


----------



## PlutosNumberOneFan

Already sending off trains with only 3 full rows on BTMR but queues 20 people deep for snacks!
Having just seen the other snack carts with no queue we picked a bad one to wait in!


----------



## Thecouch

PlutosNumberOneFan said:


> Already sending off trains with only 3 full rows on BTMR but queues 20 people deep for snacks!
> Having just seen the other snack carts with no queue we picked a bad one to wait in!


There always seems to post about how long lines are for snacks. You would think because no one has to pay for them it would be quick with staff just handing them over. Are the deliberately slow so people get less?. 
Are there any known quiet snack places that never have lines?


----------



## PlutosNumberOneFan

Back at the resort for the night... we ended up leaving early (jet lag still) but had a great night! We only saw one or two snack stands in the end with significant lines, a lot were walk up. We rode SDMT with a posted 20 min wait but after walking through the queue we only waited 5 mins. It looked as though all rides were pretty much walk on while we were there! We probably waited the longest for Speedway at about 8 minutes. They were checking for bands at every ride.

Loved the event and would 100% do again.


----------



## Alison S

I’ll do a longer post later but last night was perfect!  Got a ton done including sdmt 7 times.


----------



## cindyfan

Thecouch said:


> There always seems to post about how long lines are for snacks. You would think because no one has to pay for them it would be quick with staff just handing them over. Are the deliberately slow so people get less?.
> Are there any known quiet snack places that never have lines?


I can tell you what happens... from experience...... people wait in line on their phones of just talking about nothing.... then they get up to the cart and say "umm, what do you want?  Hey, guys (yelling to the kids standing farther away), WHAT DO YOU WANT?"  Then they ever-so-SLOWING tell the CM "ummmm, give me one popcorn, one sandwich and..... ummm,  HEY GUYS..... WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DRINK? (as they scream over to the kids again!)"  
I was so frustrated dealing with so many people like this on our DAH event in Sept! 
Seriously people.... you need to decide while you are waiting in line and then just let the CM know without wasting everyone else's night!

It has nothing to do with the CMs taking it slow!  The CMs were great when we were there.  It's the inconsiderate guest that takes too long.


----------



## RolloTomasi

Last night the carts had popcorn and drinks already out and ready to grab, so there’s really no reason why lines would be long unless you were extremely indecisive about ice cream.


----------



## AngiTN

Thecouch said:


> There always seems to post about how long lines are for snacks. You would think because no one has to pay for them it would be quick with staff just handing them over. Are the deliberately slow so people get less?.
> *Are there any known quiet snack places that never have lines?*


Not sure about which are quiet but some are just always busier. I always see a long line at the stand by BTMR and another at the one near Liberty Square.
They do have the stuff out so it should move very fast.


----------



## ninafeliz

Thecouch said:


> There always seems to post about how long lines are for snacks. You would think because no one has to pay for them it would be quick with staff just handing them over. Are the deliberately slow so people get less?.
> Are there any known quiet snack places that never have lines?


I’ve only been to two DAHs and one VAH, but in my experience the lines did go fairly fast, even when long.  I think that even though people don’t have to pay they do ask for multiple items, so that takes a bit more time. For example, a dad will get ice cream and drinks for the entire family, so even though he doesn’t have to pay he has to ask for and them the CM is to get each item.  Lots of times the popcorn and drinks were out to just grab, and later in the night the lines were much shorter and sometimes none existent.  I did see them run out of popcorn before the event ended at a stand, and I’ve read about them running out of other items as well but didn’t experience that.  I will say the Diet Coke was never as cold as I would have liked it to be, but it was “free” so I took it anyway.


----------



## MegWheels

Hi! Looking into going to my first DAH event on March 2nd. How often do these events sell out? If they do sell out, how busy/crazy are they?


----------



## YawningDodo

I'd stopped checking this thread because I assumed they weren't going to add any more dates in January and that I was out of luck--and lo and behold when I was checking the park calendar to find out whether any hours had been extended, I found out they've added?? An MK AH?? _During my trip????_



Problem is, if I book it I have to rewrite half my schedule, right when I was feeling like it was finalized (and I'll have to move at least one ADR, but I think it'll be an easy one to move). The AH is on the day when I was planning to do UO, and I don't want to cut my UO time short to rush back for it (plus I'll have rope dropped that morning, so I'll probably end up tired and cranky if I stay out too late). The good news is I haven't booked FP+ yet (that's next week!), so a last minute rewrite is possible. It's not in the budget at this point because I wasn't expecting the opportunity, but I think I can figure it out.

*Edit: *Pulled the trigger!


----------



## SamFaniam

YawningDodo said:


> *Edit: *Pulled the trigger



Please write a report of your experiences when you get back. I really enjoy your writing style!


----------



## YawningDodo

SamFaniam said:


> Please write a report of your experiences when you get back. I really enjoy your writing style!


Aww, thank you! I will do my best!


----------



## sharona

We may have an extra ticket to MK ah because my SIL May have to go home early for work.   Can a friend who lives in the area use her ticket?


----------



## cindyfan

RolloTomasi said:


> Last night the carts had popcorn and drinks already out and ready to grab, so there’s really no reason why lines would be long unless *you were extremely indecisive about ice cream.*


This!!   Indecisive people hold up the lines!!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

sharona said:


> We may have an extra ticket to MK ah because my SIL May have to go home early for work.   Can a friend who lives in the area use her ticket?



You can transfer an unused ticket to someone else.  How does SIL’s ticket exist, a hard ticket or in their MDE account?


----------



## Kricketnp

Trying to decide if this is worth it for my trip in January!


----------



## Rick195275

Kricketnp said:


> Trying to decide if this is worth it for my trip in January!


It is!


----------



## SteveH

@Kricketnp only you can decide.  If had our whole family and it was a non-park day I'd say yes for sure. Since the past couple trips have been my wife and I, it's easier to absorb the extra cost.  In 2018 we had 4 days and we ended the last night at a DAH event, it was amazing.  It was the perfect way to end our trip, were able to do all the rides we wanted (some a couple times) and the quietness of the park really made it wonderful.  We've already got our tickets for the DAH in February, wont' be our last night but that's a good thing too.


----------



## Kricketnp

SteveH said:


> @Kricketnp only you can decide.  If had our whole family and it was a non-park day I'd say yes for sure. Since the past couple trips have been my wife and I, it's easier to absorb the extra cost.  In 2018 we had 4 days and we ended the last night at a DAH event, it was amazing.  It was the perfect way to end our trip, were able to do all the rides we wanted (some a couple times) and the quietness of the park really made it wonderful.  We've already got our tickets for the DAH in February, wont' be our last night but that's a good thing too.



Thanks for the input. That makes a lot of sense. I guess I've done a bunch of "ticketed" events at  MK so I'm just not sure if it's worth the extra expense. If it was available at one of the other parks during my trip, it would be a no-brainer. Just undecided about MK.


----------



## Rich M

Kricketnp said:


> Thanks for the input. That makes a lot of sense. I guess I've done a bunch of "ticketed" events at  MK so I'm just not sure if it's worth the extra expense. If it was available at one of the other parks during my trip, it would be a no-brainer. Just undecided about MK.



I completely agree with that and thought the same but for me I choose to do both the AH and Christmas Party at MK to avoid going to MK during regular hours.  I figure that MK will be packed the week I am there because there is only a couple days that MK is open late for non-party and non-resort folks.


----------



## SteveH

Kricketnp said:


> Thanks for the input. That makes a lot of sense. I guess I've done a bunch of "ticketed" events at  MK so I'm just not sure if it's worth the extra expense. If it was available at one of the other parks during my trip, it would be a no-brainer. Just undecided about MK.


Good point, for me the ones they've had at AK or DHS are to much money for the number of rides they offer.  With Star Wars open that might be different now, but on our last trip it didn't make sense for us at least.  Good luck deciding.


----------



## sharona

GADisneyDad14 said:


> You can transfer an unused ticket to someone else.  How does SIL’s ticket exist, a hard ticket or in their MDE account?



It’s in my MDE account assigned to her. I bought all the tickets at once.


----------



## focusondisney

MegWheels said:


> Hi! Looking into going to my first DAH event on March 2nd. How often do these events sell out? If they do sell out, how busy/crazy are they?



GaDisneyDad14 has sell out info for past parties on the first page, post #11 I think. He also has links to people’s party reviews. You can look for reviews from sold out parties to see what other Dissers thought.


----------



## mamamelody2

When they announced Villains after Hours dates and skipped over the last week in January, I thought we were just out of luck and stopped checking this thread.  Somehow, I totally missed that they announced dates for our week earlier this month.  There's not 2 dates in our week.  YES!  I will buy tickets for Monday 1/27, and if it's super-awesome, we'll do Friday 1/31 also.  Yay!


----------



## Alison S

Nov 18 Review:  

We got there just after 7 and did a few rides that were shorter waits or that we got FPs for (barnstormer, dumbo, buzz, astro orbiter).  It was VERY busy but started to clear out right after the fireworks, when we did more buzz and philharmagic.

Around 9:30 I went to the 7dmt entrance and asked the CM if we could use the FP line starting at 10.  She said no, we would have to wait at the back of the stand by line.

From 10-11
-pirates x1
-btmr x 3 (had to walk the entire queue, it felt SO long.  They switched from loading both sides to only loading one and there was a short wait instead of being a walk on).
From 11-1
-HM
-looked at PP and it had a long line. I wonder if it was down for a bit?
-checked out mine train, this was around 11:15.  Posting a 15 min wait.  We had to walk through the entire queue but only the final room was full and the line moved quickly
-after the first time, they started letting us use the FP line.  Waits ranged from a few minutes (the final room was full) to basically nothing near the end- we'd walk right on the last few times
-7dmt x 7 total
-we also did PP, Pooh, Carousel, met Mickey and had a snack break in between mine train rides
-left a bit before 1, got onto a bus just for CS and it left shortly after we boarded

We had a great time and DS7 lasted the whole night!  Would definitely recommend to others.  I think this night had fairly low attendance given our mine train success!


----------



## eliseisawkward

Officially in for Feb 10!! Tickets purchased and added to everyone’s MDE. Very excited for our second (and probably final for a while) annual February quick trip with an after hours event!


----------



## allsaint

We're thinking of going on 3rd Feb and will already have park tickets. Trying to maximise FPs for the day - If we buy AH hard tickets from one of the 3rd party sites,  would we effectively be able to get 3 FPs during the day with the park tickets and 3 more using the AH tickets?


----------



## lorenae

allsaint said:


> We're thinking of going on 3rd Feb and will already have park tickets. Trying to maximise FPs for the day - If we buy AH hard tickets from one of the 3rd party sites,  would we effectively be able to get 3 FPs during the day with the park tickets and 3 more using the AH tickets?



I don’t think so.   I linked mine to MDE, but I can only make 3 FP+ for that day (planning a park day also).


----------



## JakeAZ

allsaint said:


> We're thinking of going on 3rd Feb and will already have park tickets. Trying to maximise FPs for the day - If we buy AH hard tickets from one of the 3rd party sites,  would we effectively be able to get 3 FPs during the day with the park tickets and 3 more using the AH tickets?


https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...d-regular-park-admission-on-same-day.3777814/
Look at HiroMYhero's reply


----------



## allsaint

Not sure what Hiro is saying lol! If we check in to the AH with physical tickets that aren't linked to our mde account, will 3 additional FPs be available?


----------



## JakeAZ

allsaint said:


> Not sure what Hiro is saying lol! If we check in to the AH with physical tickets that aren't linked to our mde account, will 3 additional FPs be available?


You need to create a duplicate profile for your after hours tickets. Then use the hard ticket in the park. It won’t be attached to your hotel reservation, so you can book those FP 30 days out.


----------



## allsaint

Thanks! Sorry to be a pain but where would I create a duplicate profile, on MDE somewhere? Any idea how to do so?


----------



## JakeAZ

allsaint said:


> Thanks! Sorry to be a pain but where would I create a duplicate profile, on MDE somewhere? Any idea how to do so?


you need to create a separate profile in MDE for each person using a DAH ticket.  Then assign the tickets to that profile, so they are not linked to your magic bands.  Then at 30 days reserve the FP and use the hard ticket, not your magic band on event night.


----------



## fieldsmommy

I have been to after hours event and really enjoyed it.  I'm debating about it on my next trip though.  The park closes at 8, and the party starts at 8.  So 8-11.  I wouldn't even question it if it was 9-12 if the park closed at 8.  I feel like I'm losing an hour?


----------



## Fido Chuckwagon

fieldsmommy said:


> I have been to after hours event and really enjoyed it.  I'm debating about it on my next trip though.  The park closes at 8, and the party starts at 8.  So 8-11.  I wouldn't even question it if it was 9-12 if the park closed at 8.  I feel like I'm losing an hour?


I’m debating purchasing tickets for a DAH where the park closes at 8 and the DAH event is from 9-12.  My question is, what happens between 8 and 9 if you’re in the park?  We plan on getting there earlier on our regular day ticket.  Can we still go on rides between 8 and 9?  I’m assuming no fastpasses are available?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Fido Chuckwagon said:


> I’m debating purchasing tickets for a DAH where the park closes at 8 and the DAH event is from 9-12.  My question is, what happens between 8 and 9 if you’re in the park?  We plan on getting there earlier on our regular day ticket.  Can we still go on rides between 8 and 9?  I’m assuming no fastpasses are available?



MK DAH has, to date, not operated with a “gap” in time between park closing and the event start time (unlike DAK DAH where it is more common).   I highly suspect MK hours will eventually be extended on your date to a 9pm closing, in my opinion.


----------



## focusondisney

fieldsmommy said:


> I have been to after hours event and really enjoyed it.  I'm debating about it on my next trip though.  The park closes at 8, and the party starts at 8.  So 8-11.  I wouldn't even question it if it was 9-12 if the park closed at 8.  *I feel like I'm losing an hour?*



? The After Hours event is still  3 hours. Not sure why you feel like you’re losing an hour.   If anything, the regular day guests are the ones losing time, as the  park will close for them at 8. Although, Disney does close the park earlier some times of the year.


----------



## lorenae

JakeAZ said:


> you need to create a separate profile in MDE for each person using a DAH ticket.  Then assign the tickets to that profile, so they are not linked to your magic bands.  Then at 30 days reserve the FP and use the hard ticket, not your magic band on event night.



Are FP used (and needed) during DAH?


----------



## iujen94

lorenae said:


> Are FP used (and needed) during DAH?



No and no


----------



## Thecouch

focusondisney said:


> ? The After Hours event is still  3 hours. Not sure why you feel like you’re losing an hour.   If anything, the regular day guests are the ones losing time, as the  park will close for them at 8. Although, Disney does close the park earlier some times of the year.


After hour get entry at 7pm but so the later the opening hours the more value you get. I know when I'm. Looking at its 10-1 so extra 2hrs then the 8-11people for the same price


----------



## lisa cameron

We will have a parkhopper ticket the same day that we are planning on attending Villians.  We are going to DHS in the morning.  I know we can arrive at MK anytime that evening since we have the hopper and potentially have an additional FP booked at MK via our hopper ticket.

But if I create a second profile for the Villans ticket, we could book 3 additional FP tickets under the Villains ticket?  Since we would enter with our magic band under the hopper ticket, we then would need to go check in with our hard ticket after 7pm somewhere for our event? Hope that makes sense!


----------



## focusondisney

Thecouch said:


> After hour get entry at 7pm but so the later the opening hours the more value you get. I know when I'm. Looking at its 10-1 so extra 2hrs then the 8-11people for the same price



True.  I  buy it thinking I am paying for the 3 hours of DAH, so I don’t really take the time after 7 into account. But I understand others do.


----------



## Thecouch

If you have other tickets for the day it doesn't really matter but if your just using after hours ticket for the day 6hrs instead of 4hrs is a big difference. 6hrs is a pretty good amount of time in the parks. I'm sure plenty of family's do 9am to 3pm as a normal day in the park


----------



## Trinity88

My issue with an 8-11 DAH is that usually the fireworks are at 8pm.  So that eats into your time a little, plus keeps people in the park a bit longer (they can't ride anything, but the park stays busy).

I'm doing a 9-12 DAH with an 8pm park close.  I agree that the park hours will probably change to a 9pm close.


----------



## 2vets

Because apparently I like to pay for all the extra stuff... 

I'm seriously considering booking the AH event on our arrival day - I really like the earlier hours (we'll be on Cali time, but I'm always happy to sleep when on vacation), and I would love for my husband just once to experience the unfettered joy of riding some of this stuff over and over with no wait, and then running up and down Main Street like a crazy person.  

We're going at the end of Jan/beginning of Feb for 3 nights, 3 days.  Just DH and I - and my goal is to make this as easy a trip as possible b/c the crowds really irritated him on our last visit.  Staying at YC, CL.  We paid for the CL FP+s, and we already have those wired in for Sat (AK and Ep), Sun (DHS), and Mon (MK), but we fly out on Monday night, so we'll be rushed getting back to the resort.  To be clear, though, we have FPs for the headliners at MK for Monday, CL first and then regular FP+s later.  That said, we all know what happens at MK - things get insane by about noon even on the lightest crowd days.  I figure if we do AH on Friday, I can always keep our morning CL FP's but then we can head to Ep for a couple of hours before we have to leave, maybe have some snacks at the art festival, and we'll be close to the resort.

What do you all think?  How ridiculously indulgent is this?  Oh, and are there pretzels with the popcorn?  Because for pretzels I might make the executive decision...


----------



## Rich M

2vets said:


> Because apparently I like to pay for all the extra stuff...  Hey, Disney, me?  I am the biggest sucker, right here.
> 
> We're going at the end of Jan/beginning of Feb for 3 nights, 3 days.  Just DH and I - and my goal is to make this as easy a trip as possible b/c the crowds really irritated him on our last visit.  Staying at YC, CL.  We paid for the CL FP+s, and we already have those wired in for Sat (AK and Ep), Sun (DHS), and Mon (MK), but we fly out on Monday night, so we'll be rushed getting back to the resort.  To be clear, though, we have FPs for the headliners at MK for Monday, CL first and then regular FP+s later.  That said, we all know what happens at MK - things get insane by about noon even on the lightest crowd days.  I can always keep those morning CL FP's and then we can head to Ep for a couple of hours before we have to leave, maybe have some snacks at the art festival.
> 
> I'm seriously considering booking the AH event on our arrival day - I really like the earlier hours (we'll be on Cali time, but I'm always happy to sleep when on vacation), and I would love for my husband just once to experience the unfettered joy of riding some of this stuff over and over with no wait, and then running up and down Main Street like a crazy person.  What do you all think?  How ridiculously indulgent is this?  Oh, and are there pretzels with the popcorn?  Because for pretzels I might make the executive decision...



We leave for the world in Saturday from CA and we are going to AK AH event that day.  We couldn't pass it up.


----------



## 2vets

Rich M said:


> We leave for the world in Saturday from CA and we are going to AK AH event that day.  We couldn't pass it up.


I hope you have an amazing time!!!!


----------



## focusondisney

2vets said:


> Because apparently I like to pay for all the extra stuff...
> 
> I'm seriously considering booking the AH event on our arrival day - I really like the earlier hours (we'll be on Cali time, but I'm always happy to sleep when on vacation), and I would love for my husband just once to experience the unfettered joy of riding some of this stuff over and over with no wait, and then running up and down Main Street like a crazy person.
> 
> We're going at the end of Jan/beginning of Feb for 3 nights, 3 days.  Just DH and I - and my goal is to make this as easy a trip as possible b/c the crowds really irritated him on our last visit.  Staying at YC, CL.  We paid for the CL FP+s, and we already have those wired in for Sat (AK and Ep), Sun (DHS), and Mon (MK), but we fly out on Monday night, so we'll be rushed getting back to the resort.  To be clear, though, we have FPs for the headliners at MK for Monday, CL first and then regular FP+s later.  That said, we all know what happens at MK - things get insane by about noon even on the lightest crowd days.  I figure if we do AH on Friday, I can always keep our morning CL FP's but then we can head to Ep for a couple of hours before we have to leave, maybe have some snacks at the art festival, and we'll be close to the resort.
> 
> What do you all think?  How ridiculously indulgent is this?  Oh, and are there pretzels with the popcorn?  Because for pretzels I might make the executive decision...



I love after hours events at MK & YC CL. But for a 3 night trip that you are trying to make easy, it seems like you have a lot packed in there.  We have done the CL FPs twice, both for only 3 days of a 7 day trip.  We are not opening To closing park commandos. I found it a bit of a challenge to be in the parks long enough to get 6 FPs done.  And it doesn’t leave a lot of time to take advantage of the CL perks.  But if you’re up for it...good for you!

I like the plan to leave MK & head to Epcot on your departure day. We stay at YC pretty much every trip & I always plan Epcot or the Studios on that last day.  We’re kind of neurotic about getting to the airport with lots of time & I worry too much about getting delayed getting back to the resort. I like that I can control that & just walk back to the resort when we are ready.

No pretzels are included at AH, just popcorn & ice cream novelties.  Although I’m sure you can buy some, lol! Have a great trip!


----------



## 2vets

focusondisney said:


> I love after hours events at MK & YC CL. But for a 3 night trip that you are trying to make easy, it seems like you have a lot packed in there.  We have done the CL FPs twice, both for only 3 days of a 7 day trip.  We are not opening To closing park commandos. I found it a bit of a challenge to be in the parks long enough to get 6 FPs done.  And it doesn’t leave a lot of time to take advantage of the CL perks.  But if you’re up for it...good for you!
> 
> I like the plan to leave MK & head to Epcot on your departure day. We stay at YC pretty much every trip & I always plan Epcot or the Studios on that last day.  We’re kind of neurotic about getting to the airport with lots of time & I worry too much about getting delayed getting back to the resort. I like that I can control that & just walk back to the resort when we are ready.
> 
> No pretzels are included at AH, just popcorn & ice cream novelties.  Although I’m sure you can buy some, lol! Have a great trip!



Hahaha, yeah, I suppose this is more "easy" than EASY!!!  The idea is to avoid extensive parkhopping and long lines more than anything.  We're not planning on using 6 FPs on any given day (actually, the only day we were doing that was our MK day, and now we don't need to).  The CL FPs are more to avoid tier/different park restrictions (so for instance, we have CL FPs on Sat for FOP and EE, and then Soarin to accompany our personal FP for Navi - and on Sunday, we have SDD, TSMM, and TOT, along with a personal FP for RnRC).  I'm with you on the dawn to dusk thing, and our plans right now have us with several hours of afternoon time at the resort. Actually, we'd avoid parkhopping altogether on Sat, except that DH wanted us to do the Divequest tour on Sat afternoon and then eat at Via Napoli.

DH was totally into the idea of DAH, so we're booked!!!!  Really excited!!!!!!!


----------



## Cara

We have a trip planned for June. As of now, the only AH event on the schedule is the Villains After Hours. Any rumors about additional dates for the regular MK AH and the AH at AK?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Cara said:


> We have a trip planned for June. As of now, the only AH event on the schedule is the Villains After Hours. Any rumors about additional dates for the regular MK AH and the AH at AK?



Nothing yet.  Unfortunately we never really know what Disney has in store until they release (or don’t release) new dates.  Usually comes as a surprise.


----------



## Matt961

Thinking about doing this on our trip in Feb on the 3rd. I thought it started at park close and lasted 3 hours. However close that day is listed at 8pm and DAH is listed 9-12. Is that correct?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Matt961 said:


> Thinking about doing this on our trip in Feb on the 3rd. I thought it started at park close and lasted 3 hours. However close that day is listed at 8pm and DAH is listed 9-12. Is that correct?



General consensus is park hours will eventually be extended to a 9pm closing that date.  MK DAH has - to date - not operated with a "gap" in park hours and the event time (although side note, DAK DAH has, at times).


----------



## Matt961

GADisneyDad14 said:


> General consensus is park hours will eventually be extended to a 9pm closing that date.  MK DAH has - to date - not operated with a "gap" in park hours and the event time (although side note, DAK DAH has, at times).




Thanks. Was hoping maybe that gap would let day guests have time to get out of the park and truly have a 3 hour event where it wasn’t crowded the first 30-45 min of the 3 hours.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Matt961 said:


> Thanks. Was hoping maybe that gap would let day guests have time to get out of the park and truly have a 3 hour event where it wasn’t crowded the first 30-45 min of the 3 hours.



Yeah, that is a frequent comment / concern about MK DAH.  In reality, generally speaking it has never proven to be a material "problem" that substantially interferes with the DAH guest experience for most folks.  Can there be some carry-over guest traffic around or in lines?  Sure.  But I'd suggest it's a small nuance to the event - in my humble opinion.


----------



## RolloTomasi

I didn’t find the lack of a gap to really be an issue. It’s nice at AK to to clear out the standby line for FoP, but MK just has so many more attractions open that the impact (as far as I’ve seen) is minimal, unless you really want to start at 7D (in which case, don’t, lol).


----------



## Matt961

RolloTomasi said:


> I didn’t find the lack of a gap to really be an issue. It’s nice at AK to to clear out the standby line for FoP, but MK just has so many more attractions open that the impact (as far as I’ve seen) is minimal, unless you really want to start at 7D (in which case, don’t, lol).



That’s what I like to hear. Figured we would wait until closer to 10:30-11 to do 7D.


----------



## Rich M

Heading to the MK AH party tonight. Looks like we are going to have a beautiful night also. Looking forward to it.


----------



## SamFaniam

DizFan13 said:


> It doesn't matter if the AP holder attends. You could buy passes for others to attend even if you weren't there for their trip.
> 
> The only issue I would see is assigning the tickets, which I think locks them to one account. For example, if you wanted to add then to an MDE account, you'd have to decide to whom each ticket belongs. If you just plan to pick up and use the hard ticket, I think whoever's enters the park for DAH with that pass will be fine.



Sorry for the hijack.  How can an AP holder buy passes to DAH if they are not going themselves?  Can hard passes be purchased at Disney Springs guest services?


----------



## lorenae

I bought mine online from Disney.  To get the AP discount, tickets need to be bought in advance, I think at least the day before or earlier.


----------



## SamFaniam

lorenae said:


> I bought mine online from Disney.  To get the AP discount, tickets need to be bought in advance, I think at least the day before or earlier.



Did they send hard passes to you, or just add digital passes to your MDE?


----------



## lorenae

Digital only.


----------



## focusondisney

Here for AH tonight. Temp is a gorgeous 68. The hub was packed. Grabbed a little real food at Cosmic Ray’s but leaving room for popcorn & ice cream! Haven’t seen many people with bands on yet & tickets were still available this afternoon. Hopefully a light crowd!


And yes, I realize calling Cosmic Ray’s real food is a stretch.


----------



## CJN

SamFaniam said:


> Did they send hard passes to you, or just add digital passes to your MDE?


You can get hard tickets mailed by checking the appropriate box. That’s what I did because I’m giving them as a Christmas gift.


----------



## crazy4wdw

focusondisney said:


> Here for AH tonight. Temp is a gorgeous 68. The hub was packed. Grabbed a little real food at Cosmic Ray’s but leaving room for popcorn & ice cream! Haven’t seen many people with bands on yet & tickets were still available this afternoon. Hopefully a light crowd!
> 
> 
> And yes, I realize calling Cosmic Ray’s real food is a stretch.


I'm here also! My first after hours event!


----------



## Alison S

Have fun!  Hope it'll be as good as the November one.


----------



## OhhBother

On the ferry back to TTC. Another great DAH event in the books. These are, hands down, my favorite Disney events. It’s so nice to slow down and really look and listen to the magic of the park. Light crowds tonight. We had an amazing time!


----------



## mamamelody2

OhhBother said:


> On the ferry back to TTC. Another great DAH event in the books. These are, hands down, my favorite Disney events. It’s so nice to slow down and really look and listen to the magic of the park. Light crowds tonight. We had an amazing time!



That's great to hear!  Thanks for sharing!


----------



## Tink1987

We were at the event also last night and absolutely loved it. Cannot believe, even after reading all your wonderful reviews on here, how empty the park was and how much we got done! We will booking this during every WDW trip as long as it is offered. It is the best upcharge event we have done.

We managed to do the following after arriving at 9pm:

Small World
Peter Pan’s Flight
Tangled Lantern PP shot
HM
BTM x 2
POTC
Jingle Cruise x 2
Met Rapunzel and Tiana
7DMT
Buzz Lightyear
Met Mickey Mouse
Met Tinkerbell

On top of that we had around 15 PP photos on Main Street and at the entrance etc.

For us it is a must book event. Thanks for all your tips and help on this thread!


----------



## Rich M

This was such a great even last night. Well worth the money. We only did everything once last night since we are going to the Christmas party tonight but even that was worth not waiting in line. If every park did these I would not even bother going during the day.


----------



## fivefourdis

Here is my review of our wonderful experience with AH.

Tapped MB at 7:00pm at front gate. It felt very crowded on main street to me. We did our prescheduled FP for 6:20-7:20, 7:30-8:30, and 8:30-9:30. We had dole whips (sat and ate them from Aloha) all before 3rd FP. We tapped our MB for our third FP at 8:20 and scheduled another FP for 9:25. In between our 3rd and 4th FP were the Fireworks, and were able to ride BTMRR 3x and see fireworks from the ride. Met Rapunzel, Tiana, Cinderella, Elana. All walk in. We did notice the 7DMT crowd was still strong at 9:50 when we walked by from day guests getting their last ride. Hit 4th FP after Fireworks right at 10pm.
Our AH schedule went as follows beginning at 10pm.
Barnstormer 3x
First Mickey Bar, drinks
Space Mountain 2x ( wife and two teenagers)
Buzz and Astro Orbiters (Me, 4 yr old)
Popcorn
7DMT 2x
Winnie Pooh (ride failed, had to be evacuated, 10 -15 minutes to evacuate.)
Second Mickey Bar
Peter Pan 2x
Rapunzel lantern Photo
Haunted Mansion (me and Teens while DW did lantern photo with 4 yr old)
Popcorn and Mickey Bar
Jungle Cruise
Magic Carpets 2x (lost most steam at this point and the 4yr old wanted another BTMRR but everyone else was exhausted)
Kiss Goodnight at castle
Photo at Castle
Photo of Main Street Christmas tree
Photo down Main Street at Castle
Shopped at Emporium for 4yr old (shameless bribery for passing up final BTMRR)
Exited park at 12:53am
Photo in front of Park

Monorail was not running. Not sure if that’s normal or not but we had to take Ferry to TTC.
I didn’t think the parking attendants did a good job being clear with the directions to ride the tram. Walked all the way back to car unnecessarily due to confusion.
Driving away at 1:43 am.

Overall, it was worth every penny. Walk on rides all night. Great CM’s that encouraged a second, of third or fourth ride by remaining seated. If doing rides is what you are after, you could save 3 days in MK by doing AH for one night, easily. We took a 4 year old and had her take a nap earlier that afternoon, but she loved it and was only asleep in the stroller as we walked through parking lot. We did wait a bit for popcorn and ice-cream most of the night (7-10min). There didn’t seem to be enough mobile kiosks for the snacks. So, there was a very short line at most we saw). Additionally I know they closed them down before 1am, I passed several on my way out, already closed. Would have grabbed a few more snacks on way out. That’s my only complaint. Loved it!


----------



## Rich M

[QUOTE="fivefourdis, post: 61329884, member:We did wait a bit for popcorn and ice-cream most of the night (7-10min). There didn’t seem to be enough mobile kiosks for the snacks. So, there was a very short line at most we saw). Additionally I know they closed them down before 1am, I passed several on my way out, already closed. Would have grabbed a few more snacks on way out. That’s my only complaint. Loved it!
[/QUOTE]

We only saw one line the whole night for snacks and it was at the 7DMT


----------



## Lsdolphin

lorenae said:


> Digital only.





I ordered my tickets online and received the hard tickets..you are given a choice.


----------



## fivefourdis

Rich M said:


> [QUOTE="fivefourdis, post: 61329884, member:We did wait a bit for popcorn and ice-cream most of the night (7-10min). There didn’t seem to be enough mobile kiosks for the snacks. So, there was a very short line at most we saw). Additionally I know they closed them down before 1am, I passed several on my way out, already closed. Would have grabbed a few more snacks on way out. That’s my only complaint. Loved it!



We only saw one line the whole night for snacks and it was at the 7DMT
[/QUOTE]
I realize I’m being slightly critical. It wasn’t bad, certainly not enough to prevent me from doing the event. I think it could be heightened by our desire to move around park quickly to maximize the ticket. But I would see the kiosk off in distance and no guests would be there, and then another family or two would hit it just before we got there. I think it was just unlucky. But I thought it could be useful to keep expectations managed.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

fivefourdis said:


> Shopped at Emporium for 4yr old (shameless bribery for passing up final BTMRR)


 Been there...


----------



## Madani

Another report from last night (12/9): arrived at 7 from Epcot and used a fourth FP+ that I scheduled on the way (Buzz) and rode TTA. Stopped in the hub around 8 to get a space for HEA as it was my first time to see it which was a complete waste of time. I could have just walked up at 9 and had five people in front of me shove their phones in the air and block my view rather than wait an hour for it. 

After fireworks I went back to Tomorrowland and rode TTA again while the crowd cleared out. Then hit Buzz x2, Astro Orbitor, Tea Party, 7DMT x4, Carousel x2, PP, BTMRR x4, HM, Pooh, stopped twice for popcorn and drinks, and once for ice cream. On one of the BTMRR rides it was just me and one other guy and they sent us around twice. No wait for anything. I did see a line of about 6-7 people at the popcorn stand in Tomorrowland right at 10, but no waiting after that. The popcorn and drinks were out and waiting at some of the stands I passed (Liberty Square and Frontierland) to just grab. I did see cast members at the carts at least until 12:45 when I was walking out. I was back at POP at 1:30.

I was nervous about this event as I am the lark, not the owl, but I got a second wind after the fireworks and zooming around the park with no crowds and no waiting was energizing as well. The weather was perfect - warm enough to be comfortable without being hot. It was great and I loved it and I would totally do it again.


----------



## Tink1987

fivefourdis said:


> Here is my review of our wonderful experience with AH.
> 
> Tapped MB at 7:00pm at front gate. It felt very crowded on main street to me. We did our prescheduled FP for 6:20-7:20, 7:30-8:30, and 8:30-9:30. We had dole whips (sat and ate them from Aloha) all before 3rd FP. We tapped our MB for our third FP at 8:20 and scheduled another FP for 9:25. In between our 3rd and 4th FP were the Fireworks, and were able to ride BTMRR 3x and see fireworks from the ride. Met Rapunzel, Tiana, Cinderella, Elana. All walk in. We did notice the 7DMT crowd was still strong at 9:50 when we walked by from day guests getting their last ride. Hit 4th FP after Fireworks right at 10pm.
> Tapped MB at 7:00pm. It felt very crowded to me. We did our prescheduled FP for 6:20-7:20, 7:30-8:30, and 8:30-9:30. We had dole whips (sat and ate them from Aloha) before 3rd FP. We tapped our MB for our third FP at 8:20 and scheduled another FP for 9:25. In between our 3rd and 4th FP were the Fireworks, and were able to ride BTMRR 3x and see fireworks from the ride. Met Rapunzel, Tiana, Cinderella, Elana. All walk in. We did notice the 7DMT crowd was still strong at 9:50 when we walked by from day guests getting their last ride. Hit 4th FP after Fireworks right at 10pm.
> 
> Our AH schedule went as follows beginning at 10pm.
> Barnstormer 3x
> First Mickey Bar, drinks
> Space Mountain 2x ( wife and two teenagers)
> Buzz and Astro Orbiters (Me, 4 yr old)
> Popcorn
> 7DMT 2x
> Winnie Pooh (ride failed, had to be evacuated, 10 -15 minutes to evacuate.)
> Second Mickey Bar
> Peter Pan 2x
> Rapunzel lantern Photo
> Haunted Mansion (me and Teens while DW did lantern photo with 4 yr old)
> Popcorn and Mickey Bar
> Jungle Cruise
> Magic Carpets 2x (lost most steam at this point and the 4yr old wanted another BTMRR but everyone else was exhausted)
> Kiss Goodnight at castle
> Photo at Castle
> Photo of Main Street Christmas tree
> Photo down Main Street at Castle
> Shopped at Emporium for 4yr old (shameless bribery for passing up final BTMRR)
> Exited park at 12:53am
> Photo in front of Park
> 
> Monorail was not running. Not sure if that’s normal or not but we had to take Ferry to TTC.
> I didn’t think the parking attendants did a good job being clear with the directions to ride the tram. Walked all the way back to car unnecessarily due to confusion.
> Driving away at 1:43 am.
> 
> Overall, it was worth every penny. Walk on rides all night. Great CM’s that encouraged a second, of third or fourth ride by remaining seated. If doing rides is what you are after, you could save 3 days in MK by doing AH for one night, easily. We took a 4 year old and had her take a nap earlier that afternoon, but she loved it and was only asleep in the stroller as we walked through parking lot. We did wait a bit for popcorn and ice-cream most of the night (7-10min). There didn’t seem to be enough mobile kiosks for the snacks. So, there was a very short line at most we saw). Additionally I know they closed them down before 1am, I passed several on my way out, already closed. Would have grabbed a few more snacks on way out. That’s my only complaint. Loved it!



I love the fact that it was your 4 year old begging to ride BTM!


----------



## sharona

Yes last night’s MKAH was incredible!  I’m sure our paths must have crossed fivefourdis.  I’ve added some photos so people can get an idea of just how empty it was.  

We entered at about 8:15 and cut up the left side of Nain St shops to get past the crowds.  We wanted a ride on BTMRR during the fireworks- recreating one of our favorite memories from previous trips.  Had to ride 3x in a row to make it happen.  First time was with a FP then standby 2x.  Crowds were already thinning and I noticed very few people with bands.  

During fireworks Frontierland was pretty empty




Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr


After BT we went to HM which was walk on. We’d done Splash and JC the day before So skipped those.

Moved on to PP.  Waited about 10 minutes.  Park was originally scheduled to close at 9 but had been extended to 10.  It was almost 10 when we exited.

 Grabbed snacks no line to speak of 

Next rode 7D 3x. First time waited about 5-10 minutes, lots of people without bands still in line. 2nd time was almost a walk in and third was.

Headed over to Space but first our traditional family Buzz contest with winner getting restaurant choice for our next meal.

Tomorrow Land was very deserted:




Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr

And so was Space




Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr

After Space 2x for me then 2 more for the teens we got snacks and rode the People Mover. We needed a break in the action.  We passed only one other car with people in it and saw only 2 cars on the road at Speedway.   

We worked our way back to 7D via Carousel and Tea Cups and then 2 more times on 7D.

At that point we were toast.  It was about 12:30 and I wanted some castle and Main St pics so we made our way slowly out of the nearly empty park.




Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr





Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr





Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr

Well worth the money.  I highly recommend doing nothing earlier that day and planning to sleep in the next!


----------



## KCanuck

Thank you everyone for the reports! I am so excited to do this in March. I know the event rarely sells out but I think I going to buy my tickets now. I would rather put off paying for them but I am feeling paranoid lol. Those photos of the empty Main Street...


----------



## SamFaniam

Great pictures, @sharona!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

KCanuck said:


> Thank you everyone for the reports! I am so excited to do this in March. I know the event rarely sells out but I think I going to buy my tickets now. I would rather put off paying for them but I am feeling paranoid lol. Those photos of the empty Main Street...



Actually of any month, March DAHs have historically had more sell outs than other times of the year.  Spring Break and such creates a lot of demand.  But you're still not in danger of it selling out any time soon... and these days with competing DAK and Villains After Hours events, lots of things going on to spread around upcharge demand.


----------



## sharona

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, that is a frequent comment / concern about MK DAH.  In reality, generally speaking it has never proven to be a material "problem" that substantially interferes with the DAH guest experience for most folks.  Can there be some carry-over guest traffic around or in lines?  Sure.  But I'd suggest it's a small nuance to the event - in my humble opinion.



100% agree. Just avoid 7D and PP until about 30 minutes in and you won’t even see them. 




Rich M said:


> This was such a great even last night. Well worth the money. We only did everything once last night since we are going to the Christmas party tonight but even that was worth not waiting in line. If every park did these I would not even bother going during the day.



Same here




KCanuck said:


> Thank you everyone for the reports! I am so excited to do this in March. I know the event rarely sells out but I think I going to buy my tickets now. I would rather put off paying for them but I am feeling paranoid lol. Those photos of the empty Main Street...



I don’t think last night sold out.  I was curious and tried to do a dummy purchase at about 7pm and could have bought another ticket.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

sharona said:


> I don’t think last night sold out.



You are correct, it did not sell out.


----------



## focusondisney

Agree last night was great.  We watched Happily Ever After from the hub right near the Frontierland bridge with an exceptional view. We have APs, it’s our 4th trip this year & already had a  MK day this trip. So I wasn’t worried about starting early. So right from 10 pm:

HM. Walk on, only 12 people total in our stretching room.

PP. about. 2 minute wait for a teen in a wheelchair & cast to hobble on, poor thing

Mine train. Sign said 10 minutes, it was 7 from entering the line to getting in the seat. 

Little Mermaid, total walk on & no one else in sight

Pooh, walk on

Speedway. Again about 5-10 minute wait. Only running about 10 cars in 2 lanes

Peoplemover,  the on-ramp belt was not moving. Hard to walk up that incline when you’re older with knee problems. 

Buzz x 2. Total walk ons. Maybe 10 other people near us on the 2nd ride 

Jingle Cruise. Walked into a boat but waited at least 5 - 7 minutes for more guests to arrive

Pirates.  Total walk on. No one else around as we got in line but one other couple came up behind us as we were walking the que.  So only them & us on the boat

Small World. Ended the night with a classic. Our own boat, pick where we wanted to sit.  

We were out right at 1. Weren’t hungry after that late burger at Cosmic Ray’s.  So only got a few waters & popcorn once. 

We don’t care about pictures so left right after that.  Bus to the Epcot resorts was waiting & mostly filled when we got on. I got the last seat & DH & 1 other man stood.    Considering we are in our 60’s, not park commandos, don’t do the thrill rides, I was still happy with what we got done. 

Our first AH we got stuck on peoplemover for 25 minutes. Second one mine train was down for a good portion of the night. So this one was much better than those! 

Edit to add: we watched the final projection show, the one that ended at 10 from the hub.  I think I got the name wrong.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

Any recent info on if monorail runs for GF or Poly at end of this event? 

We usually stay CR, so we walk. I currently have us at GF CL, but may cancel if the path isn't done and no monorail at end of DAH.
( We have GV CR as an option as well, but we really like CL. CR doesn't have CL as an AP opt for our days.  )

We'll have a double stroller with 2 sleeping grandboys, so trying to avoid any transportation that would have us taking them out of stroller at 12:30am.


----------



## 2vets

GAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!  COULD I BE MORE EXCITED ABOUT OUR MK DAH In JANUARY??? *NOPE!*  thank you so much for posting those pictures!  I'm so glad you had a great night!


----------



## sharona

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Any recent info on if monorail runs for GF or Poly at end of this event?
> 
> We usually stay CR, so we walk. I currently have us at GF CL, but may cancel if the path isn't done and no monorail at end of DAH.
> ( We have GV CR as an option as well, but we really like CL. CR doesn't have CL as an AP opt for our days.  )
> 
> We'll have a double stroller with 2 sleeping grandboys, so trying to avoid any transportation that would have us taking them out of stroller at 12:30am.



A guest in front of us on the way out asked about resort monorail and was directed to bus area.  

We ubered to our offsite hotel from the TC and our driver was very excited about the late night business.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

sharona said:


> A guest in front of us on the way out asked about resort monorail and was directed to bus area.
> 
> We ubered to our offsite hotel from the TC and our driver was very excited about the late night business.


Yeah, I was afraid of that. I can't give up my CR to walk to/from. Darnit. GF may have to wait if that path isn't done by March...


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Any recent info on if monorail runs for GF or Poly at end of this event?
> 
> We usually stay CR, so we walk. I currently have us at GF CL, but may cancel if the path isn't done and no monorail at end of DAH.
> ( We have GV CR as an option as well, but we really like CL. CR doesn't have CL as an AP opt for our days.  )
> 
> We'll have a double stroller with 2 sleeping grandboys, so trying to avoid any transportation that would have us taking them out of stroller at 12:30am.



Pretty sure you know this, but you can always take the Ferry to the TTC and walk through Poly over to GF.  No stroller fold up required.


----------



## TISHLOVESDISNEY

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Pretty sure you know this, but you can always take the Ferry to the TTC and walk through Poly over to GF.  No stroller fold up required.


Did not know Ferry was running that late, didn't even think about it!  
We have taken the little boats from MK to Poly, without a stroller of course-Thanks for this idea! Poly is a closer walk if we did the ferry and they had CL available with Gift of Magic deals. Decisions decisions.. (Darn CL has spoiled us. Esp with kids )


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TISHLOVESDISNEY said:


> Did not know Ferry was running that late, didn't even think about it!
> We have taken the little boats from MK to Poly, without a stroller of course-Thanks for this idea! Poly is a closer walk if we did the ferry and they had CL available with Gift of Magic deals. Decisions decisions.. (Darn CL has spoiled us. Esp with kids )



Well I’m a big Poly CL fan, so you won’t get any arguments otherwise from me.   

Yeah, the Ferry is normally running.  That’s how everyone who drove gets back to the TTC to get home. 

In my experience they like to load it up pretty full before departing vs a continual back/forth like during the day, but it’s usually pretty easy.


----------



## sharona

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Well I’m a big Poly CL fan, so you won’t get any arguments otherwise from me.
> 
> Yeah, the Ferry is normally running.  That’s how everyone who drove gets back to the TTC to get home.
> *
> In my experience they like to load it up pretty full before departing vs a continual back/forth like during the day, but it’s usually pretty easy.*


I was worried about that when we left about 15 minutes before 1 but  it left with just a few of us on it - maybe 25 people if that.  It docked as we walked up, loaded everyone who was waiting and left within 5 minutes of docking.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

sharona said:


> I was worried about that when we left about 15 minutes before 1 but  it left with just a few of us on it - maybe 25 people if that.  It docked as we walked up, loaded everyone who was waiting and left within 5 minutes of docking.



Nice!   Good to hear!  Like a private cruise... kind of.


----------



## Thecouch

Thanks for reports everyone. This has made up my mind to get tickets for my April trip


----------



## CallieS

My husband and I did the After Hours on 12/9/19. Our event hours were 10pm to 1am. We were let in very close to 7pm. There were at least 100 people lined up at that point. The staff first said they’d let us in at 6:45, then it changed to 6:55, then by the time they remembered to look at their clocks, it was about 7pm when we got in. The park was very crowded during normal hours.

From 7-10pm, during regular park hours we were able to ride:
Jungle Cruise with FP
Pirates with FP
Tiki Birds
Swiss Family Treehouse
Aladdin Magic Carpets with FP
Thunder Mountain x2 (this was around fireworks time, so short line)
Watched fireworks from BTMR exit area
Tomorrowland Speedway with FP
TTA

Then it was event time! From 10pm - 1am we did:
Space Mountain x2
Astro Orbiter x2 (we asked to re-ride without getting off)
Tea Party
7DMT x3
Peter Pan
Haunted Mansion
Thunder Mountain x lost count, at least 5. It’s my favorite ride!
Pirates

I feel like I’m missing something, but maybe not.

One thing that irritated me was the lack of consistency on BTMR with regards to re-rides. We saw one group of guests exit their seats, then re-enter a different row from the exit side of the platform. My husband and I walked all the way around to ride again. After our next ride, we exited, asked a CM if we could get back on, since we had just seen it happen, and he said ,”Eh, ask that “other guy”. The “other guy” was the conductor on the other side of the tracks. Never mind. We walked all the way around again. After that ride, we saw more guests exit, then turn right around and get back on in a different row. Huh? After yet another ride, a different guest asked the conductor guy if he could ride again and the conductor said, “she says no.” Who is “she”? I guess it depended on the guest, the CM’s mood? I don’t know, I never figured it out. We walked out and around every single time.

This event wasn’t as empty as I had thought it would be, but it was by no means crowded. We were never the only ones on any given ride. There was always a steady stream of guests. However we didn’t have to wait for more than one train/car/round, but like I said, no ride was empty. Well maybe Country Bears might have been. LOL. After our last ride on BTMR, around 12:45am, when we pulled back into the station, almost every single row had someone waiting to get on. There might have been three empty rows. That’s when we called it quits and did Pirates one last time at about 12:55am. Even then our Pirates boat was filled. I think everyone had heard that the last rides of the night were empty and rushed to experience that, thus causing “crowded” rides.

At 1am, we hung around and took pictures of the castle lights. Very pretty. We left probably by 1:30 and got on the ferry boat. Not much wait there. They had two ferries running. We stayed at Wyndham by Disney Springs and were back there at 2:30am.

I would definitely do this event again! Well worth the money. I’ve been going to Disney for 35 years, so I remember when it wasn’t crowded. This event was even more enjoyable than those days, but I wish it was longer than three hours. I was constantly looking at my watch and felt rushed. Time flies when you’re having fun.


----------



## sharona

I know what you mean about rerides - during AH or not, we’ve found re-rides to be very inconsistent over the years when no one is waiting to board.  

On 12/9 at Space we asked to re-ride without walking that long queue (no one in line at all) and were directed down a corridor to arrive at a gate where we were then told to go back basically to where we had exited and were allowed to ride again.  7D we just exited and stepped over the rope right back into the end of the queue.  Not during AH but in the past we’ve been allowed to go again without getting out on Splash,  BTMRR and  Kali river rapids when no one was waiting.  My DD and I once went around 5 times on KRR.


----------



## mamamelody2

When we went to AH in September, at BTMRR we were told if no one was waiting for our row, we could stay on.  I did see people get off then into another unoccupied row and did it myself once.  Nobody said anything.  I heard someone ask if they could do that, though, and they were told no.


----------



## sharona

mamamelody2 said:


> When we went to AH in September, at BTMRR we were told if no one was waiting for our row, we could stay on.  I did see people get off then into another unoccupied row and did it myself once.  Nobody said anything.  I heard someone ask if they could do that, though, and they were told no.


Ask for forgiveness not permission!


----------



## Iowamomof4

sharona said:


> Ask for forgiveness not permission!


I had the same thought!


----------



## OhhBother

We were allowed to stay on Dumbo and Buzz for multiple rides without exiting. We could have stayed on the carousel, Winnie the Pooh and Little Mermaid but chose not to.


----------



## wrestler72

Does anybody have any idea why DAH is not bookable online anymore? Even dates are not listed... It is probably me being paranoid but I remember very well how EMM for some dates first became impossible to book and later cancelled...
Thanks!


----------



## mrsxsparrow

wrestler72 said:


> Does anybody have any idea why DAH is not bookable online anymore? Even dates are not listed... It is probably me being paranoid but I remember very well how EMM for some dates first became impossible to book and later cancelled...
> Thanks!



I was just able to purchase tickets for February online...


----------



## wrestler72

Thanks. Strange. May be because I am in the UK and the site works differently. It tells me that I should call to book. I booked online long time ago so just was curious what is going on.


----------



## SteveH

@wrestler72 my gut tells me that it could be due to the GDRP regulation. Easier to push you to making a call then dealing with it.


----------



## Kiki72

wrestler72 said:


> Thanks. Strange. May be because I am in the UK and the site works differently. It tells me that I should call to book. I booked online long time ago so just was curious what is going on.



It changed for me too (also UK), it used to work fine maybe a month or two ago - but it still works on the app! I oddly bought my AK AH ticket on my laptop and MK on My Disney Experience.


----------



## wrestler72

Yep. Works perfectly on the app. It’s a mystery! Probably somebody in the Disney IT department does not want Brits to attend DAH! Can not think about any other logical explanation!


----------



## LoganBrown1990

Any opinions on park/ rest days around an AH event? We don’t have enough days on our trip to skip the parks both the day of and the day after. We’re thinking maybe sleep in and relax on the AH day and then maybe do EPCOT the next day, but skipping rope drop. Can anyone speak from experience?


----------



## Alison S

We did not do rest days- we'd be bored (myself & DS7)!  On the day of DAH, we went to epcot from 9-3, then back to our hotel for a rest, then to MK from 7-1.  The next day I made sure we'd be able to sleep in, which we did until 9.  Then we went to AK for the day.


----------



## Rick195275

Alison S said:


> We did not do rest days- we'd be bored (myself & DS7)!  On the day of DAH, we went to epcot from 9-3, then back to our hotel for a rest, then to MK from 7-1.  The next day I made sure we'd be able to sleep in, which we did until 9.  Then we went to AK for the day.


This is us too. Rest days aren’t really a thing for me and DD9. We were just there a week ago and did animal kingdom after hours followed by a Christmas party the next day. We slept in the day after the after hours leading into the Christmas party. Went to Disney spring or a park the morning of both, went back to the hotel around 1 to swim and relax before the parties. To the OP of the original question every family and kid is different. Most parents would call what I described above as a nightmare for their family but it worked great for us.


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

LoganBrown1990 said:


> Any opinions on park/ rest days around an AH event? We don’t have enough days on our trip to skip the parks both the day of and the day after. We’re thinking maybe sleep in and relax on the AH day and then maybe do EPCOT the next day, but skipping rope drop. Can anyone speak from experience?


Completely depends on your travel party and what kind of vacation you're looking for. My son gets overwhelmed easily so we usually skip a park the morning/afternoon of an AH event. We grab some food, maybe check out Disney Springs depending on mood, swim, and relax. That way he'll be able to make it through the AH event. We usually hit a park the next day but make sure there's some time to sleep in a bit.


----------



## Vondigo

About to take the plunge and buy our MK AH tickets! This is something I didn't even know existed until I joined DIS message boards (love it here!).  I'm a little nervous because our AH night is couched in between two park days at HS. Reading what others have said recently, it looks doable. But we'll need lots of rest after the trip. ;}  Just one question, because it's not clear on the DW site..is it possible to cancel the tickets and get a refund? Figure it would be nice to have that option just in case we change our minds.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Vondigo said:


> About to take the plunge and buy our MK AH tickets! This is something I didn't even know existed until I joined DIS message boards (love it here!).  I'm a little nervous because our AH night is couched in between two park days at HS. Reading what others have said recently, it looks doable. But we'll need lots of rest after the trip. ;}  Just one question, because it's not clear on the DW site..is it possible to cancel the tickets and get a refund? Figure it would be nice to have that option just in case we change our minds.


Tickets are non-refundable, although exceptions have been made in certain situations.


----------



## Vondigo

Iowamomof4 said:


> Tickets are non-refundable, although exceptions have been made in certain situations.


Good to know. Thanks! So looking forward to it! We'll have lots of coffee if we're tired lol.


----------



## RolloTomasi

Vondigo said:


> Just one question, because it's not clear on the DW site..is it possible to cancel the tickets and get a refund? Figure it would be nice to have that option just in case we change our minds.


I was able to get a refund day of for someone who couldn’t make it, but it was refunded to a gift card. I went to Guest Relations at MK to do it.


----------



## JBurke

Can you buy the tickets the day of the event? Want to go January 13th but moving my DD into her DCP housing that day, so I wont know until later in day if we will have time to go.


----------



## Iowamomof4

JBurke said:


> Can you buy the tickets the day of the event? Want to go January 13th but moving my DD into her DCP housing that day, so I wont know until later in day if we will have time to go.



Yes you can, but the price will be higher. I can't recall how high exactly, but it's probably on page 1 of this thread.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

JBurke said:


> Can you buy the tickets the day of the event? Want to go January 13th but moving my DD into her DCP housing that day, so I wont know until later in day if we will have time to go.



Yeah, as PP noted, you can buy day of (if it’s not sold out) at a higher price.  The day of price used to be $4-5 higher, but as of the most recent overall price increase (11/2019) the day of price is $10 over the advance price.


----------



## PolyRob

I am torn if I should still do regular DAH at MK or Villains in the spring. My plans after returning from WDW last week and experiencing RotR is to go early a few mornings, one of which would be the day of regular DAH! I did take a nice 2 hour nap each day I experienced RotR and was surprisingly refreshed. I am thinking regular DAH is still the best way to go!


----------



## Iowamomof4

PolyRob said:


> I am torn if I should still do regular DAH at MK or Villains in the spring. My plans after returning from WDW last week and experiencing RotR is to go early a few mornings, one of which would be the day of regular DAH! I did take a nice 2 hour nap each day I experienced RotR and was surprisingly refreshed. I am thinking regular DAH is still the best way to go!


I don't know how we're going to manage late nights at DAH with early mornings at DHS for ROTR. I don't nap well at all. Might just forego the after hours events on this trip.


----------



## YawningDodo

Iowamomof4 said:


> I don't know how we're going to manage late nights at DAH with early mornings at DHS for ROTR. I don't nap well at all. Might just forego the after hours events on this trip.


I already committed to two DAH events before I knew _quite_ how early the mornings would be for DHS. I've just resigned myself to sleeping in and missing rope drop the morning after each DAH. I've currently got two rope drop mornings planned and might add a third if I have the energy--but I'm stuck, too, on the napping issue. I nap pretty well, but I don't always revive from naps well, if that makes sense. I figure I'll make the attempt, but overall I'll probably just alternate between long days and sleeping in.


----------



## PolyRob

Iowamomof4 said:


> I don't know how we're going to manage late nights at DAH with early mornings at DHS for ROTR. I don't nap well at all. Might just forego the after hours events on this trip.





YawningDodo said:


> I already committed to two DAH events before I knew _quite_ how early the mornings would be for DHS. I've just resigned myself to sleeping in and missing rope drop the morning after each DAH. I've currently got two rope drop mornings planned and might add a third if I have the energy--but I'm stuck, too, on the napping issue. I nap pretty well, but I don't always revive from naps well, if that makes sense. I figure I'll make the attempt, but overall I'll probably just alternate between long days and sleeping in.


I love naps and honestly felt so refreshed those nights I went on RotR. I even opened and closed down DHS. I was more tired getting up for rope drop at AK on Friday.  It really is so hard to plan around all these changes Disney makes. I have to catch-up on the RotR thread, but I doubt the opening will change much in the next few months. That ride is going to have a high demand. I haven't committed and purchased either DAH tickets, but the traditional was just so much more relaxed. I love being in MK late with no sun and cooler temps in the spring so I will be stuck booking one


----------



## YawningDodo

PolyRob said:


> I love naps and honestly felt so refreshed those nights I went on RotR. I even opened and closed down DHS. I was more tired getting up for rope drop at AK on Friday.  It really is so hard to plan around all these changes Disney makes. I have to catch-up on the RotR thread, but I doubt the opening will change much in the next few months. That ride is going to have a high demand. I haven't committed and purchased either DAH tickets, but the traditional was just so much more relaxed. I love being in MK late with no sun and cooler temps in the spring so I will be stuck booking one


 Your experience sounds encouraging and it's making me consider tearing apart my entire schedule and rebuilding it with more early mornings and naps leading into late nights. This is the point at which FP+ starts driving me nuts, since I've got some good ones booked and hate to move things around _too_ much.

Edit: Also, I hope you're right about opening procedures staying the same for a while. Crazy as it sounds from reading about it, I feel like I've got a good handle on how to navigate the current situation and it'd be frustrating to have to start over in strategizing.


----------



## PolyRob

YawningDodo said:


> Your experience sounds encouraging and it's making me consider tearing apart my entire schedule and rebuilding it with more early mornings and naps leading into late nights. This is the point at which FP+ starts driving me nuts, since I've got some good ones booked and hate to move things around _too_ much.


UGH, I completely understand your struggle! Fitting everything perfectly months in advance and then having to completely rework stuff because Disney changed everything. I wouldn't completely destroy all your plans, but maybe reconsider 1 day that you can be flexible. I find last minute changes are doable. I was able to move everything around within 24-hours and secure the same restaurant ADR and even FP+ (besides SDD which I rode when I entered early so it all worked out).

I could see DAH running into getting up early as a problem, but I think I am going to throw caution to the wind and do early DHS, rest/nap, nice dinner ADR, FP+, DAH.


----------



## YawningDodo

PolyRob said:


> UGH, I completely understand your struggle! Fitting everything perfectly months in advance and then having to completely rework stuff because Disney changed everything. I wouldn't completely destroy all your plans, but maybe reconsider 1 day that you can be flexible. I find last minute changes are doable. I was able to move everything around within 24-hours and secure the same restaurant ADR and even FP+ (besides SDD which I rode when I entered early so it all worked out).
> 
> I could see DAH running into getting up early as a problem, but I think I am going to throw caution to the wind and do early DHS, rest/nap, nice dinner ADR, FP+, DAH.


Yeah, I'm reminding myself that I've been twice since FP+ was instated and I have actually found it surprisingly easy to be flexible once I'm there, but it's still a time for over-thinking right now. I've got three days that are pretty locked down for various reasons, but then three more that are at least a little bit more flexible, plus my departure morning (though I'd hate to get a high boarding group number and have to leave the park to meet the Magical Express before it's called!). I'm fortunate, too, that the ADRs I picked are generally not very hard ones to re-book, and I have no doubt I'll shuffle things around at least a little bit on the fly.

And the SDD thing has me laughing--I was so anxious to get a SDD FP+, and then RotR opened and everyone's been able to do repeat rides on SDD at the early openings. I'm still hanging onto that FP+ for now because who knows what it'll look like in a month, but at least that one takes pressure off instead of putting more on.


----------



## krayzie

YawningDodo said:


> And the SDD thing has me laughing--I was so anxious to get a SDD FP+, and then RotR opened and everyone's been able to do repeat rides on SDD at the early openings. I'm still hanging onto that FP+ for now because who knows what it'll look like in a month, but at least that one takes pressure off instead of putting more on.



The one morning I went early for ROTR, SDD shut down for an hour or so due to storms. Ended up just riding it once with my fast pass.


----------



## sandam1

Can anyone add their first hand accounts of getting back to the TTC at the end of the event? From the FAQs, it looks like we would need to take the ferry. How are the parking trams? Also if you arrive in the transition time (between the start of DAH entry and before park close), are you still directed to park at the back of the lot or can you fill in where day visitors have left? 

We will have a rental car as we will be at Universal for most of our February trip so driving makes the most sense. BUT I am also the queen of the catastrophic Disney transportation failures so I am a little gun-shy to say the least. I'm wondering if using a Lyft to the Contemporary (which we've done several times for Halloween parties) might be worth the extra money. This DAH will also be the night after I do the Princess 10K/half-marathon challenge so I'm trying to minimize the standing/walking as much as possible.


----------



## jen7233

I have a DAH only ticket, plan to enter the park at 7 p.m. and the party starts at 10 p.m. I can book fast passes with this DAH only ticket at 60 days if staying on property? Wondering if these follow the same guidelines on FP booking. I'm only going to the DAH on my particular evening, so no other parks/FP use that day. I hope I'm understanding the FAQ correctly that I can do this?


----------



## clee152

sandam1 said:


> Can anyone add their first hand accounts of getting back to the TTC at the end of the event? From the FAQs, it looks like we would need to take the ferry. How are the parking trams? Also if you arrive in the transition time (between the start of DAH entry and before park close), are you still directed to park at the back of the lot or can you fill in where day visitors have left?
> 
> We will have a rental car as we will be at Universal for most of our February trip so driving makes the most sense. BUT I am also the queen of the catastrophic Disney transportation failures so I am a little gun-shy to say the least. I'm wondering if using a Lyft to the Contemporary (which we've done several times for Halloween parties) might be worth the extra money. This DAH will also be the night after I do the Princess 10K/half-marathon challenge so I'm trying to minimize the standing/walking as much as possible.



WDW will figure out a way to get you to where you need to go so don't stress it.


----------



## wiggy500

sandam1 said:


> Can anyone add their first hand accounts of getting back to the TTC at the end of the event? From the FAQs, it looks like we would need to take the ferry. How are the parking trams? Also if you arrive in the transition time (between the start of DAH entry and before park close), are you still directed to park at the back of the lot or can you fill in where day visitors have left?



Yes, the ferry is running but not the monorail.  After the ferry pretty much everyone who was on it gets on the tram.  From what I can tell they don't fill in the spots of people who left early.  They just keep going.


----------



## JakeAZ

jen7233 said:


> I have a DAH only ticket, plan to enter the park at 7 p.m. and the party starts at 10 p.m. I can book fast passes with this DAH only ticket at 60 days if staying on property? Wondering if these follow the same guidelines on FP booking. I'm only going to the DAH on my particular evening, so no other parks/FP use that day. I hope I'm understanding the FAQ correctly that I can do this?


My understanding is yes you can book FP for your AH day starting at 7pm. Since you’re on site, you should be able to do 60 days.
I reserve the right to be wrong though!


----------



## sandam1

clee152 said:


> WDW will figure out a way to get you to where you need to go so don't stress it.



Alas, my experience is that they might get you where you need to go - EVENTUALLY and usually not in the most time efficient manner. To say the least, I have little to no faith left in Disney transportation. 



wiggy500 said:


> Yes, the ferry is running but not the monorail. After the ferry pretty much everyone who was on it gets on the tram. From what I can tell they don't fill in the spots of people who left early. They just keep going.



Thanks for the information! I know that on one of our trips a number of years ago, they would let you fill in the spaces, but I suspected that that was no longer the case. I'm assuming with the lower crowd levels that there isn't much wait for the ferry or trams?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jen7233 said:


> I have a DAH only ticket, plan to enter the park at 7 p.m. and the party starts at 10 p.m. I can book fast passes with this DAH only ticket at 60 days if staying on property? Wondering if these follow the same guidelines on FP booking. I'm only going to the DAH on my particular evening, so no other parks/FP use that day. I hope I'm understanding the FAQ correctly that I can do this?



A PP answered you as well, but you're correct with your assessment.   All good.


----------



## jen7233

JakeAZ said:


> My understanding is yes you can book FP for your AH day starting at 7pm. Since you’re on site, you should be able to do 60 days.
> I reserve the right to be wrong though!


No problem! Thanks, I hated to even ask, but for some reason I read too much into FP talk on some other after party events and it just wasn't sinking in. I needed another to cross reference with


----------



## Belleandtinker

If the MK VAH starts at 10 pm, we can get in at 7 pm (have a hopper pass anyway)  - what time does Space Mt and Pirates get rethemed to Villians? 10 pm or 7 pm?


----------



## csmom

My annual pass expires on 1/24/20. Will not be renewing. I'd like to attend After Hours on 4/5/20. Can I buy the After Hours ticket at the AP discounted price before my Annual Pass expires, then use it after my Annual Pass expires. Would there be any problem with this?


----------



## wiggy500

sandam1 said:


> I'm assuming with the lower crowd levels that there isn't much wait for the ferry or trams?



It wasn't bad leaving at the very end.  But even with not very many people there is some waiting involved, which may feel longer than it is if you are not a night owl and want to be in bed at that time of day.


----------



## focusondisney

csmom said:


> My annual pass expires on 1/24/20. Will not be renewing. I'd like to attend After Hours on 4/5/20. Can I buy the After Hours ticket at the AP discounted price before my Annual Pass expires, then use it after my Annual Pass expires. Would there be any problem with this?



No problems. You have a valid AP when you buy, so you will get the discounted price no matter what date you are purchasing.


----------



## csmom

focusondisney said:


> No problems. You have a valid AP when you buy, so you will get the discounted price no matter what date you are purchasing.


Thanks!


----------



## happydwarfs

Belleandtinker said:


> If the MK VAH starts at 10 pm, we can get in at 7 pm (have a hopper pass anyway)  - what time does Space Mt and Pirates get rethemed to Villians? 10 pm or 7 pm?


When I attended over the summer, the changeover didn’t happen until 10pm.


----------



## prairiesarah

I am going to buy tickets to the MK AH event for one of the two nights available during our trip but am wondering about start times and if there is a significant benefit of the one night over the other.  Option one is Feb 24th - park close at 8pm, party starts at 9pm.  Option two is March 2nd - park closes at 8pm, party starts at 8pm.  I realize that for the second option day guests could get in line 1 min before park closing so there could be some residual wait times associated with that.  But for the other option, what happens between 8pm and 9pm?  Fireworks then are the rides closed until 9pm then re-open?  I'm leaning towards March 2nd mainly because of the earlier hours and also because the second half of our group (my BIL/nieces) arrive on the 24th and should arrive by 5ish so had planned to spend the evening with them.


----------



## AntJulie

prairiesarah said:


> But for the other option, what happens between 8pm and 9pm? Fireworks then are the rides closed until 9pm then re-open?


More than likely closing time will change to 9pm. The rides do not close. Entry time for both nights using a DAH ticket is 7pm (possibly a little before). The only difference between an 8pm over a 9pm start is one more hour in the park with the 9pm start.


----------



## prairiesarah

AntJulie said:


> More than likely closing time will change to 9pm. The rides do not close. Entry time for both nights using a DAH ticket is 7pm (possibly a little before). The only difference between an 8pm over a 9pm start is one more hour in the park with the 9pm start.



Thank you!  That helps a lot.  I wondered if there was a chance of the park hours changing.  I'm not too worried about the extra hour - if we really want to go earlier we have more than enough days on our park passes to use one even if it is only for a couple hours.  But likely will just relax that day and go for 7pm.


----------



## JayMass

How quickly do tickets to these events sell out? How many tickets do they typically sell?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

JayMass said:


> How quickly do tickets to these events sell out? How many tickets do they typically sell?



The charts on Page 1 (Post 3 & 11) have sell out data, where applicable.  Most events have not sold out, but those that have are usually closer to the date in question or day of. 

The ticket count is unknown.  Some people have guesses, but nothing is known with any reliability.


----------



## JayMass

OK, thanks for directing me! Looks like they don't sell out very frequently. I guess I have time if I'm thinking about it for April!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

JayMass said:


> OK, thanks for directing me! Looks like they don't sell out very frequently. I guess I have time if I'm thinking about it for April!



I would just be a little careful if your dates are around Easter.  This is the first year that DAH events carry on through the full Easter break period - and that being a higher crowd time could increase the likelihood dates could sell out.


----------



## Lsdolphin

Is there a separate thread for Villains party?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Lsdolphin said:


> Is there a separate thread for Villains party?



Yep, I opted to split them up for the upcoming new series of VAH events.  See here:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/villains-after-hours-magic-kingdom-faq-discussion-thread.3776793/


----------



## clabador

I will be going to Disney World later this month and currently have tickets for January 20th. We were planning on spending the entire day in Magic Kingdom, however all of the ROTR chaos has made us think of adding a day at HS to try and ensure we get to ride it. If we go to HS in the morning, would we need park hoppers for the After Hours, or because it is a separate ticketed event would we be fine without Park Hoppers and just entering MK at 7 with the AH tickets? Thanks for the help.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

clabador said:


> I will be going to Disney World later this month and currently have tickets for January 20th. We were planning on spending the entire day in Magic Kingdom, however all of the ROTR chaos has made us think of adding a day at HS to try and ensure we get to ride it. If we go to HS in the morning, would we need park hoppers for the After Hours, or because it is a separate ticketed event would we be fine without Park Hoppers and just entering MK at 7 with the AH tickets? Thanks for the help.



You won’t need park hoppers for the AH event, just your AH tickets.  

That has the makings of a long day, but I assume you know that!   Haha!


----------



## clabador

GADisneyDad14 said:


> You won’t need park hoppers for the AH event, just your AF tickets.
> 
> That has the makings of a long day, but I assume you know that!   Haha!



Thanks! We would definitely need to plan a nap into the afternoon. Hopefully Disney is able to get all the kinks worked out before our trip, but just wanted to keep our options open!


----------



## YawningDodo

clabador said:


> Thanks! We would definitely need to plan a nap into the afternoon. Hopefully Disney is able to get all the kinks worked out before our trip, but just wanted to keep our options open!


Seems from all the chatter like RotR's reliability has been improving. I've got a full day planned in DHS, but I'm considering doing DHS rope drop on one or both of my AH days to get in extra rides. The potential snag is really whether you get an early enough boarding group to be able to ride, leave, nap, and get to the AH park, but it's looking like odds are decent if you're in the park right when they open boarding group reservations (or maybe I'm just being optimistic). If you're not entering MK until the AH ticket gets you in, I think that works in your favor since you don't need to be there until 7:00--should be plenty of time for a nap.


----------



## agamble

Is it just wait and see if they offer regular AH this summer? I notice villains is listed with dates but not MK or AK AH events.



AntJulie said:


> More than likely closing time will change to 9pm. The rides do not close. Entry time for both nights using a DAH ticket is 7pm (possibly a little before). The only difference between an 8pm over a 9pm start is one more hour in the park with the 9pm start.



If a party starts at 10 is it still a 7pm entry?


----------



## AntJulie

agamble said:


> If a party starts at 10 is it still a 7pm entry?


Yes.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

agamble said:


> Is it just wait and see if they offer regular AH this summer? I notice villains is listed with dates but not MK or AK AH events.
> 
> 
> 
> If a party starts at 10 is it still a 7pm entry?



Yes, it’s wait and see if they offer DAH this summer. History suggests “probably”, but hard to say.

And yes, as @AntJulie noted, DAH tickets allow for 7pm park entry regardless of the actual event time later that evening.


----------



## StayAwake

Well, I had been waffling about it, but finally decided to go for it for President's Day.  All the positive reviews here tipped the scales for me, so thank you to everyone who's posted a review- I promise to post a review after we get back.


----------



## Mrs Grumpy

I really hope there is one for our trip in September.  Would be nice to know before our ADR date in March but guess that is unlikely.


----------



## parsonm

StayAwake said:


> Well, I had been waffling about it, but finally decided to go for it for President's Day.  All the positive reviews here tipped the scales for me, so thank you to everyone who's posted a review- I promise to post a review after we get back.



Do you think the Presidents Day crowds will affect the After Hours event? I'm also looking at that day, but wary of the day crowds impacting.


----------



## figmentfinesse

When did mid-late August parties get announced last year?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

figmentfinesse said:


> When did mid-late August parties get announced last year?




5/22/2019


----------



## GADisneyDad14

BTW, I nearly forgot today is the return of MK DAH after the holidays.


----------



## MickeyMouse55

We have MKAH tickets for 1/31. I’ve noticed that most nights for MKAH have an hour buffer between park close and AH event beginning but that night park closes at 8pm and AH begins at 8pm and ends at 11pm. What are the odds that this changes between now and then? 

Is 7pm the earliest that they will allow After Hour guests? 
I’m really looking forward to it but now slightly concerned that we won’t really get the full impact of the experience as it will only be 4 hours, 3 after hours but I have to imagine the time between 8-9 will still be very busy.

Thoughts on if we should cancel?I purchased through undercover tourist so I would lose a small amount. It is a lot of money for 4 hours in the park and I see so many where people are getting 6 hours for the same price. Afraid I made a mistake on this one.


----------



## Ambehnke

MickeyMouse55 said:


> We have MKAH tickets for 1/31. I’ve noticed that most nights for MKAH have an hour buffer between park close and AH event beginning but that night park closes at 8pm and AH begins at 8pm and ends at 11pm. What are the odds that this changes between now and then?
> 
> Is 7pm the earliest that they will allow After Hour guests?
> I’m really looking forward to it but now slightly concerned that we won’t really get the full impact of the experience as it will only be 4 hours, 3 after hours but I have to imagine the time between 8-9 will still be very busy.
> 
> Thoughts on if we should cancel?I purchased through undercover tourist so I would lose a small amount. It is a lot of money for 4 hours in the park and I see so many where people are getting 6 hours for the same price. Afraid I made a mistake on this one.


Totally worth it. Last year we had your exact schedule. We got in at 730. I would pay it over again every time


----------



## tinabina919

Hoping to hear some reports for tonight's AH as we will be attending in 2 weeks!


----------



## MickeyMouse55

Ambehnke said:


> Totally worth it. Last year we had your exact schedule. We got in at 730. I would pay it over again every time



I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you


----------



## Vondigo

MickeyMouse55 said:


> I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you


We bought tickets for the same night and I’ve had the same thoughts about it (second guessing on and off). Thanks for asking the question..we’ll cross paths that night I’m sure!...and thanks @Ambehnke for your reply!


----------



## 2vets

MickeyMouse55 said:


> We have MKAH tickets for 1/31.


Us, too - we arrive at 3:30 pm and will grab a lounge early dinner at CR and head over.  We're treating this as our "MK Day" - I am expecting a crowded hour followed by an epic, popcorn-y/ride-a-palooza 3 hours.  Can't wait!  See ya there!


----------



## Lsdolphin

Me too looking forward to the 31st!


----------



## Lsdolphin

Me too looking forward to the 31st!


----------



## StayAwake

parsonm said:


> Do you think the Presidents Day crowds will affect the After Hours event? I'm also looking at that day, but wary of the day crowds impacting.


Since reports of even the sold-out After Hours events seem to indicate that they're significantly less crowded than the park on the regular day, I'm hoping that the AH event will allow us to avoid standing in line all afternoon since I'm guessing MK will be crowded on President's Day.


----------



## Temp77

I attended tonight’s After Hours. This was the 4th AH I have attended and I’d say this was the busiest - the previous ones were in February 2018, early December 2018 and February 2019.

Whilst it was noticeably more crowded everything I rode apart from Peter Pan and SDMT were walk on. As it was the last night of my trip I opted to watch HEA before starting on the the rides. After HEA I managed to ride Jungle Cruise, Pirates, BTM x 3, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan with a 15 minute wait, Space Mountain x 3 and SDMT as the last ride of the night with just under a 20 minute wait. I missed out on a final ride on SDMT by 5 seconds as they closed the line just as I got to the end of the exit. I also stopped for a Mickey Sandwich and popcorn in between rides.

After all the long lines I witnessed in the parks during the last 10 days, getting so much done in one evening was a great way to end my trip!


----------



## kristenabelle

Temp77 said:


> I attended tonight’s After Hours. This was the 4th AH I have attended and I’d say this was the busiest - the previous ones were in February 2018, early December 2018 and February 2019.
> 
> Whilst it was noticeably more crowded everything I rode apart from Peter Pan and SDMT were walk on. As it was the last night of my trip I opted to watch HEA before starting on the the rides. After HEA I managed to ride Jungle Cruise, Pirates, BTM x 3, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan with a 15 minute wait, Space Mountain x 3 and SDMT as the last ride of the night with just under a 20 minute wait. I missed out on a final ride on SDMT by 5 seconds as they closed the line just as I got to the end of the exit. I also stopped for a Mickey Sandwich and popcorn in between rides.
> 
> After all the long lines I witnessed in the parks during the last 10 days, getting so much done in one evening was a great way to end my trip!



That's great to hear! I love MKAH, but our March trip only had VAH scheduled. Hoping it's manageable and not too crowded so we can have an awesome night like you!


----------



## sandam1

Does anyone know if they have any allergy (specifically dairy) friendly treats? Obviously popcorn and Mickey bars are a no-go.


----------



## wiggy500

MickeyMouse55 said:


> Is 7pm the earliest that they will allow After Hour guests?



They started letting people in about 6:25 or so when I went.


----------



## prairiesarah

sandam1 said:


> Does anyone know if they have any allergy (specifically dairy) friendly treats? Obviously popcorn and Mickey bars are a no-go.



Obviously would double check this, but I believe they use an artificial dairy free butter flavouring on the popcorn making it vegan 
(and dairy free)  I read this on the Vegan Disneyworld website and was suprised by it.  But again, would double check that is still the case.  And I know from a few reviews of the even they seem to have Frozen Strawberry Bars (sugar free) which I would presume are dairy free?


----------



## LuckyMamaInDE

sandam1 said:


> Does anyone know if they have any allergy (specifically dairy) friendly treats? Obviously popcorn and Mickey bars are a no-go.


I have a dairy-allergic dd  The popcorn is dairy free (and gluten free, too) At our last After Hours, there was an option for a fruit-based bar.

A great resource for anyone needing special diet information is Gluten Free Dairy Free WDW 

https://www.glutenfreedairyfreewdw.com
You can find up-do-date allergy friendly menu listings and an annual free guide to eating at WDW (PDF).


----------



## sandam1

prairiesarah said:


> I believe they use an artificial dairy free butter flavouring on the popcorn making it vegan





LuckyMamaInDE said:


> A great resource for anyone needing special diet information is Gluten Free Dairy Free WDW



Brilliant! Thank you! My friend is dairy free and I'd feel terrible if she wasn't able to enjoy the "free" treats!


----------



## KCanuck

I bought our tickets for March 16! I have a fastpass question.  
My 60 day window is in a couple of days.  On our DAH day we won't be going to a park so I won't be making any fastpasses for the morning or afternoon.  I want to make a couple of fastpasses starting at 7:00 pm when we enter MK for DAH.  Can I make those Faspasses at 60 days or do I have to wait until 30 days?


----------



## mrsxsparrow

KCanuck said:


> I bought our tickets for March 16! I have a fastpass question.
> My 60 day window is in a couple of days.  On our DAH day we won't be going to a park so I won't be making any fastpasses for the morning or afternoon.  I want to make a couple of fastpasses starting at 7:00 pm when we enter MK for DAH.  Can I make those Faspasses at 60 days or do I have to wait until 30 days?



As long as you are staying at an eligible resort, you can make FP+ selections at 60 days regardless of the type of ticket.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

KCanuck said:


> I bought our tickets for March 16! I have a fastpass question.
> My 60 day window is in a couple of days.  On our DAH day we won't be going to a park so I won't be making any fastpasses for the morning or afternoon.  I want to make a couple of fastpasses starting at 7:00 pm when we enter MK for DAH.  Can I make those Faspasses at 60 days or do I have to wait until 30 days?



And just to add, you can make the FPs at any time (the system isn't smart enough to know your ticket doesn't get you in the park until 7pm.  So, making FP #1 for 6:30-7:30pm so you're hitting that FP at the end of the window, then make #2 for 7:30-8:30... etc... just as an example - if so inclined.


----------



## KCanuck

Thanks for the FP responses! I’m so looking forward to this.


----------



## Kricketnp

Random question but I have a friend that is a cast member and said she had to check if they got a discount on this event. She's away right now and can't check but I'm trying to plan. Does anyone know what the cast discount is for this?


----------



## Spoisal

I’m going to DAH tonight! The event ends at 11:00....how late will they keep the Emporium open?


----------



## mrsxsparrow

Kricketnp said:


> Random question but I have a friend that is a cast member and said she had to check if they got a discount on this event. She's away right now and can't check but I'm trying to plan. Does anyone know what the cast discount is for this?



There was one for the events last year, but there has not been a Cast discount announced for the events this year.


----------



## Kricketnp

mrsxsparrow said:


> There was one for the events last year, but there has not been a Cast discount announced for the events this year.



Thanks!


----------



## Iowamomof4

Spoisal said:


> I’m going to DAH tonight! The event ends at 11:00....how late will they keep the Emporium open?



It's been reported on this thread that shops close promptly at the end of the event. So if you want something, get there _before_ 11!


----------



## Matt961

Space mountain question for after hours. Do you have to exit the entire long walk out and go back through the long entrance each time? Or can you shortcut it back through the “chicken” exit?Looking at wait times tonight is really convincing me to do DAH next month.


----------



## maryj11

Mrs Grumpy said:


> I really hope there is one for our trip in September.  Would be nice to know before our ADR date in March but guess that is unlikely.


Same here. We are going in August. Hard to plan not knowing.


----------



## JRoyster86

maryj11 said:


> Same here. We are going in August. Hard to plan not knowing.



Same here! I was working on which park/which day today and it is so hard to plan not knowing if we will have August dates.


----------



## mamamelody2

Just bought tickets for January 27.  Can't wait!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

I know it’s in the final 40 mins, but wait times look pretty dead tonight....

A straight up “0” for IASW.

10 min for 7DMT and Space.

Everything else 5.


----------



## Tessaf

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I know it’s in the final 40 mins, but wait times look pretty dead tonight....
> 
> A straight up “0” for IASW.
> 
> 10 min for 7DMT and Space.
> 
> Everything else 5.


I’ve been creeping on the wait times all night tonight. Every time I’ve checked, it’s been 5 minutes for everything but 7DMT and Space. I never saw those go past 10min. It must have been an amazing DAH to attend!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Tessaf said:


> I’ve been creeping on the wait times all night tonight. Every time I’ve checked, it’s been 5 minutes for everything but 7DMT and Space. I never saw those go past 10min. It must have been an amazing DAH to attend!



And it’s 69 degrees right now.  Some of the past Jan DAH’s have been coollllldddd.   I’m assuming it was a good night.


----------



## lisa cameron

Temp77 said:


> I attended tonight’s After Hours. This was the 4th AH I have attended and I’d say this was the busiest - the previous ones were in February 2018, early December 2018 and February 2019.
> 
> Whilst it was noticeably more crowded everything I rode apart from Peter Pan and SDMT were walk on. As it was the last night of my trip I opted to watch HEA before starting on the the rides. After HEA I managed to ride Jungle Cruise, Pirates, BTM x 3, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan with a 15 minute wait, Space Mountain x 3 and SDMT as the last ride of the night with just under a 20 minute wait. I missed out on a final ride on SDMT by 5 seconds as they closed the line just as I got to the end of the exit. I also stopped for a Mickey Sandwich and popcorn in between rides.
> 
> After all the long lines I witnessed in the parks during the last 10 days, getting so much done in one evening was a great way to end my trip!


Sounds like fun?  What time were you let in? Just wondering if they are still letting people in before 7pm at MK?   I don’t want to show up at 6pm and wait an hour...


----------



## Vondigo

lisa cameron said:


> Sounds like fun?  What time were you let in? Just wondering if they are still letting people in before 7pm at MK?   I don’t want to show up at 6pm and wait an hour...


I’m wondering the same thing. Was hoping to get in earlier for an ADR if possible


----------



## Tink9721

GADisneyDad14 said:


> And it’s 69 degrees right now.  Some of the past Jan DAH’s have been coollllldddd.   I’m assuming it was a good night.



I was there tonight - it was great! It was my first DAH so I don’t really have anything to compare it to but we had a great time. We did Magic Carpets, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Pooh, Mine Train, Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Under the Sea, Speedway, Buzz, and the Peoplemover. I could’ve done Space but my mom can’t do it and she paid for the tickets so I didn’t want to ditch her  Our first ride of the night was Magic Carpets during HEA which was pretty amazing


----------



## Temp77

lisa cameron said:


> Sounds like fun?  What time were you let in? Just wondering if they are still letting people in before 7pm at MK?   I don’t want to show up at 6pm and wait an hour...



They were definitely letting people in before 7pm but I don’t know exactly what time they started letting people in. I have an AP and had left MK around 3pm to rest at the resort for a little while before returning to MK. It was around 6:40 pm when I got back to MK and they were already letting event guests in then.


----------



## lisa cameron

Temp77 said:


> They were definitely letting people in before 7pm but I don’t know exactly what time they started letting people in. I have an AP and had left MK around 3pm to rest at the resort for a little while before returning to MK. It was around 6:40 pm when I got back to MK and they were already letting event guests in then.


Trying to figure out if we should move our ADR at 1900 Park Fare from 5:25pm to 4:35pm....  I know it says to allow 1.5 hours for character dining so maybe 4:35 would be better?   But won’t want to get to MK too early either and just wait.  Will keep checking back for a 5pm ADR.


----------



## Kricketnp

mamamelody2 said:


> Just bought tickets for January 27.  Can't wait!



Going the same day!


----------



## mla973

So excited! Thank you for all of the reports and info. We're going 2/17 to MKAH. It was previously going to be a non-park trip because we splurged on a one-bedroom at SSR. DS9 doesn't know we bought the tickets, and I can't wait to surprise him. I also really hope he can stay up for it.


----------



## Greg P.

My wife and I did the MKAH last night as a final farewell as our APs are expiring. For my money it's the best value on property. We did so much in those three hours and it was awesome walking around in such an empty park.


----------



## KariC84

Looking for some advice. We (family of four, including a 4.5 yo and 8 yo) are visiting family in Florida in late Feb/early March and have squeezed in some time for Disney on Monday, March 2nd and Tuesday, March 3rd. Our flight leaves out of Orlando at 6:45pm on Tuesday the 3rd. We would love to visit HS and MK, and I can't decide our best strategy. Here are the options I'm juggling in my mind: (1) Do MK all day on Monday and then HS on Tuesday from 9a-3:30p or so in order to catch our flight (is that enough time at HS?); (2) Do HS on Monday beginning at 9am, followed by MKAH that evening--I know that makes for a very long day but I think we could power through it.

We likely won't be back to Disney for several years, and I'd love my 4.5yo to experience the "magic" of MK (8 yo has been to Disney 3x already)--the parades, the character greetings, the night show/fireworks, etc.--but not sure that it is worth also waiting in long ride lines during regular hours, so am leaning toward the AH experience! Would love any thoughts (or other ideas on how best to approach our little time there).


----------



## MickeyMouse55

Do they ever change start times for DAH? I’m going on 1/31 and have been hoping they may change park closing to 9pm but seeing as it’s a hard ticketed event I’m thinking they may not at this notice.


----------



## Iowamomof4

MickeyMouse55 said:


> Do they ever change start times for DAH? I’m going on 1/31 and have been hoping they may change park closing to 9pm but seeing as it’s a hard ticketed event I’m thinking they may not at this notice.



I think there was a time when a set of DAH dates were released and the hours of some of the dates were wrong initially, but those were all corrected within a couple of days. Other than that, no, I haven't seen them ever change the time of the event.


----------



## mamamelody2

Boy, those wait times last night looked amazing!!  I sure hope it's like that on the 27th!!


----------



## kungaloosh22

Anyone have an opinion about going Monday, Jan 20 (Martin Luther King day) from 9-12 versus Thursday, Jan 23 from 8-11? Specifically, do you think there would be much difference in crowd size, or are AH crowds usually so low that it just won't matter anyway?

I was planning for Thu, but I'm tempted to switch to Mon due to the later hours (no kids this trip). But then Monday is a holiday, so maybe that cancels out any advantage of later hours?


----------



## Kricketnp

mamamelody2 said:


> Boy, those wait times last night looked amazing!!  I sure hope it's like that on the 27th!!



Saaaaame!!


----------



## Gus V.

Just bought our tickets for Jan 27th! Can’t wait...First time doing DAH


----------



## JBurke

We just did it Jan 13th and it was great! I think the most we waited was 5 minutes for Mine Train, but most rides had no lines at all. It is worth the money to me to ride all the big rides multiple times without crowds and without the heat! Near the end of the night Peter Pan was a walk-on too and I don't think I have ever seen that!
We grabbed as many waters, sodas, ice cream bars, and popcorn as we could!!


----------



## TammyLynn33

Ok we are going in August and looking at this  as an option if the After Hours Events run..I thinkMNSSHP is starting early this August . Will they both run ?  Or no ? 
if yes which one is less crowded or more “ worth it “
Thanks in advance


----------



## GADisneyDad14

TammyLynn33 said:


> Ok we are going in August and looking at this  as an option if the After Hours Events run..I thinkMNSSHP is starting early this August . Will they both run ?  Or no ?
> if yes which one is less crowded or more “ worth it “
> Thanks in advance



There is precedent to have both DAH and MNSSHP dates sprinkled among each other.   Not a ton of overlap, but definitely some depending on the time of year.  

DAH is far less crowded than MNSSHP.  

Both are "worth it" in my opinion, but offer a much different product / value proposition.


----------



## vital

We'll be there Thursday night! Hoping the crowds are low and temperature is warm.

I searched and couldn't find the answer to this...... We'll already be in the park when the event starts. Do we need to do anything special to check in or will our bands automatically switch over?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

vital said:


> We'll be there Thursday night! Hoping the crowds are low and temperature is warm.
> 
> I searched and couldn't find the answer to this...... We'll already be in the park when the event starts. Do we need to do anything special to check in or will our bands automatically switch over?



You'll need to pick up your DAH credentials (a wristband) at one of the interior park locations.  Below is the info from Post #6 about where those locations have been in the past.  Have fun next week!  

*What if Already in the Park? In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*


For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
*The area outside of the Laugh Floor / Buzz Lightyear entrances*
*Tortuga Tavern*
*Liberty Square ticket office*
*City Hall guest relations office*
_Note: These locations have changed/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know._


----------



## vital

GADisneyDad14 said:


> You'll need to pick up your DAH credentials (a wristband) at one of the interior park locations.  Below is the info from Post #6 about where those locations have been in the past.  Have fun next week!
> 
> *What if Already in the Park? In-Park Disney After Hours Credential Pick-Up Locations*
> 
> 
> For guests who have already entered the park via a regular park ticket or AP admission prior to 7pm, various locations are available to pick-up your DAH credentials:
> *The area outside of the Laugh Floor / Buzz Lightyear entrances*
> *Tortuga Tavern*
> *Liberty Square ticket office*
> *City Hall guest relations office*
> _Note: These locations have changed/morphed over time: if you see other locations or find any of the above to not be available on your night, please let me know._


Thank you so much!!!


----------



## lp199

Is there a precedent to have DAH in June while the Villains are going on? I was searching and I don't think they had last year but really hoping they will this year for our June trip


----------



## GADisneyDad14

lp199 said:


> Is there a precedent to have DAH in June while the Villains are going on? I was searching and I don't think they had last year but really hoping they will this year for our June trip



No, there was no DAH and VAH overlap last summer (unlike what is about to happen starting in Feb).


----------



## maryj11

TammyLynn33 said:


> Ok we are going in August and looking at this  as an option if the After Hours Events run..I thinkMNSSHP is starting early this August . Will they both run ?  Or no ?
> if yes which one is less crowded or more “ worth it “
> Thanks in advance


I just came on here to ask a similar question.
This year MNSSHP starts August 13,15,18, 21,25, and 28. I was going to ask will this have an effect on the amount of dates for AH in August?


----------



## Bellabully

Bought tickets for 4/20, I love the After Hours!


----------



## YawningDodo

JBurke said:


> We just did it Jan 13th and it was great! I think the most we waited was 5 minutes for Mine Train, but most rides had no lines at all. It is worth the money to me to ride all the big rides multiple times without crowds and without the heat! Near the end of the night Peter Pan was a walk-on too and I don't think I have ever seen that!
> We grabbed as many waters, sodas, ice cream bars, and popcorn as we could!!


Did they route you through the FP+ line for Peter Pan, or were you able to go through the regular line and play with the interactive stuff?


----------



## JBurke

YawningDodo said:


> Did they route you through the FP+ line for Peter Pan, or were you able to go through the regular line and play with the interactive stuff?



I didn't actually go on the ride, I just noticed no wait. People were zipping through the line without stopping so I doubt there would much time to play with interactive stuff.


----------



## proud_canadian

What is a good time to arrive if you want to be one of the first in at 7 pm, and don't have a normal day pass?  Is 6:30 pm good?


----------



## proud_canadian

What is the best strategy?  Where is the best place to start that will have less "regular day pass people" in the queue still so you can take most advantage of the time?


----------



## Tink9721

YawningDodo said:


> Did they route you through the FP+ line for Peter Pan, or were you able to go through the regular line and play with the interactive stuff?



I was also there Monday night and we went through the interactive queue at the end of the night  First time we had ever seen it since we always get FP.


----------



## Tink9721

proud_canadian said:


> What is the best strategy?  Where is the best place to start that will have less "regular day pass people" in the queue still so you can take most advantage of the time?



We started in Adventureland. Right at 8:00 we were able to walk right onto Magic Carpets, and then over to Jungle Cruise and Pirates, which were also walk ons when we got there. Then we hit Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, Storybook Circus, and Tomorrowland. The only backtracking we did was going back to Fantasyland at the very end of the night to ride Peter Pan with no wait, since it still had a 20+ minute line when we went by earlier.


----------



## lisa cameron

proud_canadian said:


> What is a good time to arrive if you want to be one of the first in at 7 pm, and don't have a normal day pass?  Is 6:30 pm good?


I would love to know this too since I had read that at MK they tend to let people in before 7pm.


----------



## chelynnah

lisa cameron said:


> I would love to know this too since I had read that at MK they tend to let people in before 7pm.



Edit:  ignore my reply below, I was mixing up party times with after hours times. AH let’s you in between 6:30 and 7
{They usually let you in around 4pm.  There will be a separate queue, though someone else will need to let you know where that is, as it’s all changed since I was there.}


----------



## Lsdolphin

chelynnah said:


> They usually let you in around 4pm.  There will be a separate queue, though someone else will need to let you know where that is, as it’s all changed since I was there.




I thought they let you in between 6:30-7:00 with a DAH ticket


----------



## BelleOftheBall16

chelynnah said:


> They usually let you in around 4pm.  There will be a separate queue, though someone else will need to let you know where that is, as it’s all changed since I was there.


Entry for After Hours events start at 7. It’s the Halloween/Xmas parties that start at 4.


----------



## Iowamomof4

7:00 is for sure, sometimes by 6:30 depending on the night. I'm not sure what our recent reports have been (if any).


----------



## proud_canadian

Does anyone know if there is any chance of any HS or Epcot after hours events for April.  Those would be my preference, but I'd like to book MK if there is no chance of HS or Epcot.


----------



## Tessaf

proud_canadian said:


> Does anyone know if there is any chance of any HS or Epcot after hours events for April.  Those would be my preference, but I'd like to book MK if there is no chance of HS or Epcot.


Epcot doesn’t do after hours and HS hasn’t had any since GE opened. If and when they ever bring those back, nobody knows


----------



## chelynnah

BelleOftheBall16 said:


> Entry for After Hours events start at 7. It’s the Halloween/Xmas parties that start at 4.


Sorry my bad.  Mixing the two up.  Yes, I think people were let on around 6:30 our day. We had regular park tickets but were outside the park for dinner and on our way back around 6:30 saw them letting people in, so I remembered it was before 7.  This was early last year.

So sorry for the misinformation.  My brain isn’t working on full speed today


----------



## Lsdolphin

So KTP just posted news release for a "Varsity Spirit After Hours at MK" to be held on select dates between Jan 19th-May 10th from 10:00 pm - 2:00 am. These events will be after park closing so will not affect anyone visiting MK during regular  park hour. This event is targeting sports teams, cheer teams, dance groups and such.
I can't imagine it will be a desired workshft for many CMs ....the expected visitors are described as a group of "pumped up" "celebratory" teams who want to "let off steam".  When I think of some of the groups I sometimes encounter spreading themselves out across large areas and walkways and yelling, screaming and chanting I'm hoping they will all go to these after hours events.  Of course it will cost them extra.....


----------



## eeyoreandtink

Lsdolphin said:


> So KTP just posted news release for a "Varsity Spirit After Hours at MK" to be held on select dates between Jan 19th-May 10th from 10:00 pm - 2:00 am. These events will be after park closing so will not affect anyone visiting MK during regular  park hour. This event is targeting sports teams, cheer teams, dance groups and such.
> I can't imagine it will be a desired workshft for many CMs ....the expected visitors are described as a group of "pumped up" "celebratory" teams who want to "let off steam".  When I think of some of the groups I sometimes encounter spreading themselves out across large areas and walkways and yelling, screaming and chanting I'm hoping they will all go to these after hours events.  Of course it will cost them extra.....


I just hope they aren't mixing that with regular after hours events.


----------



## Vondigo

eeyoreandtink said:


> I just hope they aren't mixing that with regular after hours events.


Just looked up the dates for the Varsity Spirit AH and they don’t seem to coincide with regular AH (at least on the dates we’ll be there). Here are the dates:

Sunday, January 19
Sunday, February 2
Sunday, February 9
Sunday, March 15
Sunday, April 26
Monday, May 4
Sunday, May 10


----------



## Iowamomof4

eeyoreandtink said:


> I just hope they aren't mixing that with regular after hours events.



They've had the Varsity after hours events for awhile now. I know we contended with it last year.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Yeah, was just about to post the same thing.  It's something that happens on/off through various seasons.  Usually goes unnoticed/un-discussed (my made up word of the day).


----------



## eeyoreandtink

Iowamomof4 said:


> They've had the Varsity after hours events for awhile now. I know we contended with it last year.


I know they have closed parks early for NCA, nationals, summit, and worlds parties, but I didn't realize they were doing these kinds of events. My concern is that with the increase in after hours dates this year they will end up merged.


----------



## Lsdolphin

eeyoreandtink said:


> I just hope they aren't mixing that with regular after hours events.




No separate events


----------



## maryj11

Iowamomof4 said:


> They've had the Varsity after hours events for awhile now. I know we contended with it last year.


I never knew they even had Varsity Spirit AH. What is it?


----------



## YawningDodo

Tink9721 said:


> I was also there Monday night and we went through the interactive queue at the end of the night  First time we had ever seen it since we always get FP.


Neat! I've never actually seen the interactive queue and it would be nice to do so without having to rope drop or contend with long lines. Figure I can just let people pass me if the line's moving too fast to play with things--I don't want to spend ages in there or anything, but I'd like to see it.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

As always, *many thanks* to everyone who contributes to the thread.  As a reminder, various event information is kept current on Page 1, including date/sell out history (Post #3 & Post #11) and links to event review posts (Post #10).  It sometimes takes me a few days to get to event review posts, but I catch up eventually.


----------



## lorenae

GADisneyDad14 said:


> And it’s 69 degrees right now.  Some of the past Jan DAH’s have been coollllldddd.   I’m assuming it was a good night.



It was awesome, until well after midnight when we arrived back at our hotel.   I don’t think it got any cooler than that. 



YawningDodo said:


> Did they route you through the FP+ line for Peter Pan, or were you able to go through the regular line and play with the interactive stuff?



We did the queue, quickly, as we wanted to see it but not spend a ton of time there. 

One really fun thing was when we went on Barnstormer, we were in the front row and the only ones on it.   So we stayed on it a couple of times.   That was really fun.   We rode SDMT about 7 times, and everything else we wanted to as many times as we wanted also.   It was a practically empty park on Monday night.


----------



## Sarahslay

So, so excited! I already had a DAH ticket for 1/31, and while I hated the event times (8-11) it was the only time I could go on that trip.....until I just extended it by 2 nights making another event open to me! So I called yesterday and had my ticket switched from 1/31 to 2/3, and I'm even more excited than I was since I feel like I get more time out of this one, that extra hour really makes a difference to me. Can't wait!


----------



## maryj11

I know I have been told that summer dates were announced in May last year if I remember right. Any chance they may be announced sooner? Has Disney changed any on when they start releasing dates? I can’t seem to find when 2019 summer dates were released on the 1st page.  I’m so impatient lol. I really would like to plan my tickets and days.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

maryj11 said:


> I know I have been told that summer dates were announced in May last year if I remember right. Any chance they may be announced sooner? Has Disney changed any on when they start releasing dates? I can’t seem to find when 2019 summer dates were released on the 1st page.  I’m so impatient lol. I really would like to plan my tickets and days.



FYI, June - Early August 2019 was Villains After Hours (now covered in a separate thread), which was first announced 4/2/2019 and tickets went on sale 4/29/2019.


----------



## maryj11

GADisneyDad14 said:


> FYI, June - Early August 2019 was Villains After Hours (now covered in a separate thread), which was first announced 4/2/2019 and tickets went on sale 4/29/2019.


Oh ok no wonder I couldn’t find it.


----------



## JenM475

I'm close to booking AH for March, but I just want to make sure it's not oversold like some of the Halloween and Christmas parties I was reading about last year. I saw a bunch of bad reviews saying it was way too crowded. But, everything I've read about AH sounds much better. Any comparison? Thanks!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

JenM475 said:


> I'm close to booking AH for March, but I just want to make sure it's not oversold like some of the Halloween and Christmas parties I was reading about last year. I saw a bunch of bad reviews saying it was way too crowded. But, everything I've read about AH sounds much better. Any comparison? Thanks!



Night and day difference from a MNSSHP and MVMCP party.  

The March DAHs as we get into Spring Season have historically been popular dates (including some sell outs at times) and one can experience different shades of crowd level on any given DAH night, but fundamentally it’s a different product and much less of a guest count to MNSSHP and MVMCP.


----------



## JenM475

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Night and day difference from a MNSSHP and MVMCP party.
> 
> The March DAHs as we get into Spring Season have historically been popular dates (including some sell outs at times) and one can experience different shades of crowd level on any given DAH night, but fundamentally it’s a different product and much less of a guest count to MNSSHP and MVMCP.


Thank you!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

JenM475 said:


> Thank you!



No problem.  If you go Texas spring break week and it’s bonkers crowded, don’t come back and yell at me.   

But I tend to think with the rather abundant DAHs and VAHs all winter/spring, DAH conditions should stay reasonably similar to past conditions.


----------



## JenM475

GADisneyDad14 said:


> No problem.  If you go Texas spring break week and it’s bonkers crowded, don’t come back and yell at me.
> 
> But I tend to think with the rather abundant DAHs and VAHs all winter/spring, DAH conditions should stay reasonably similar to past conditions.



We'll be there from March 19 to 24, and I was going to do the 23rd. I'm not sure if that's Texas time or not. But, even if AH is busy, it's got to be better than the day crowd (I hope)! It would be the last night of the trip, and it seems like a fun way to end.


----------



## proud_canadian

What fastpasses do you generally get for before the party starts (between 7-10 pm)?

I am thinking I"d like to try things with low lines that we still enjoy (or that won't be available during the party) like Carousel of progress, Tiki Room, maybe knock off Ariel (since that is generally short), maybe people mover (again short line generally). Wondering what makes sense to try and get fp for.  Maybe Peter Pan in case it is busy during the party, or 7DMT for the same reason.

What ones do you try to get?


----------



## cakebaker

JenM475 said:


> I'm close to booking AH for March, but I just want to make sure it's not oversold like some of the Halloween and Christmas parties I was reading about last year. I saw a bunch of bad reviews saying it was way too crowded. But, everything I've read about AH sounds much better. Any comparison? Thanks!



Our after hours was sold out and it still seemed empty. We’re booking again for mid March ourselves. I won’t do the parties anymore because of the crowd levels, but I’ll do regular AH’s anytime I can. Villains, not so much.


----------



## JenM475

cakebaker said:


> Our after hours was sold out and it still seemed empty. We’re booking again for mid March ourselves. I won’t do the parties anymore because of the crowd levels, but I’ll do regular AH’s anytime I can. Villains, not so much.


 Thank you!


----------



## maryj11

proud_canadian said:


> What fastpasses do you generally get for before the party starts (between 7-10 pm)?
> 
> I am thinking I"d like to try things with low lines that we still enjoy (or that won't be available during the party) like Carousel of progress, Tiki Room, maybe knock off Ariel (since that is generally short), maybe people mover (again short line generally). Wondering what makes sense to try and get fp for.  Maybe Peter Pan in case it is busy during the party, or 7DMT for the same reason.
> 
> What ones do you try to get?


When we went to the Villians AH the Seven Dwarfs and Space had the longest wait times during the event. Seven Dwarfs was 20 min and Space was about 10 minutes. I know 10 minutes is not long lol, but that was the longest waits we had. I would definitely book fastpasses for Seven Dwarfs. Maybe Peter Pan, not sure because we didn’t ride it. .


----------



## GADisneyDad14

proud_canadian said:


> What fastpasses do you generally get for before the party starts (between 7-10 pm)?
> 
> I am thinking I"d like to try things with low lines that we still enjoy (or that won't be available during the party) like Carousel of progress, Tiki Room, maybe knock off Ariel (since that is generally short), maybe people mover (again short line generally). Wondering what makes sense to try and get fp for.  Maybe Peter Pan in case it is busy during the party, or 7DMT for the same reason.
> 
> What ones do you try to get?



Everything you listed (other than PP, 7DMT, and Under the Sea) doesn’t have FPs (probably obvious, but just in case you didn’t know).  Granted my perspective is skewed as an AP holder who goes a few times per year so I don’t feel the need to book any FPs pre-event - but for us, yes, spending the time doing things like CoP, Tiki Room, HoP, etc makes sense.  Or prepping for Happily Every After (which for us is a must do).

My one bit of advice - eat a good dinner.  A dinner at Skipper Canteen, for example, can be a great start to the evening.  Too often I haven’t really eaten dinner and end up chasing hunger with Strawbery Bars, which isn’t a good recipe to make it to 1am!


----------



## maryj11

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Everything you listed (other than PP, 7DMT, and Under the Sea) doesn’t have FPs (probably obvious, but just in case you didn’t know).  Granted my perspective is skewed as an AP holder who goes a few times per year so I don’t feel the need to book any FPs pre-event - but for us, yes, spending the time doing things like CoP, Tiki Room, HoP, etc makes sense.  Or prepping for Happily Every After (which for us is a must do).
> 
> My one bit of advice - eat a good dinner.  A dinner at Skipper Canteen, for example, can be a great start to the evening.  Too often I haven’t really eaten dinner and end up chasing hunger with Strawbery Bars, which isn’t a good recipe to make it to 1am!


We ate at Tony’s right when we got there before it started and were stuffed. I kind of wished we didn’t because we did not want any of the free snacks. All we got was drinks. So I would say eat a light or earlier dinner.


----------



## proud_canadian

I understand that stores are not open during the event.  But what about stores that you are "dumped" into after the ride, like buzz, pooh, pirates.... are those stores open, or merchandise covered up and can't buy?


----------



## proud_canadian

Can a friend who is a DVC member purchase After hours tickets for me at discounted rate and transfer them to me?  Is that allowed?


----------



## 123SA

proud_canadian said:


> What fastpasses do you generally get for before the party starts (between 7-10 pm)?
> 
> I am thinking I"d like to try things with low lines that we still enjoy (or that won't be available during the party) like Carousel of progress, Tiki Room, maybe knock off Ariel (since that is generally short), maybe people mover (again short line generally). Wondering what makes sense to try and get fp for.  Maybe Peter Pan in case it is busy during the party, or 7DMT for the same reason.
> 
> What ones do you try to get?




We usually get:

Splash Mountain - there will be no line during the party, but the ride itself is long, around 20 minutes, so I like to do that before the party

7DMT - the line is usually longer than I like during the party, so another good choice pre-party.  We try to get it during the fireworks because it's just a really neat experience

For the last FP, I'd get Peter Pan (again,  this line will be longer than others during AH) or Space Mountain because my kids can't ever ride it enough


----------



## Disneyfan754321

I so wish i was going in March, they are having one the day we are at MK. If  we went i think it would be hard to  get up early for DS the next day. 
When any of you go do you do anything the next day?


----------



## Amyshubby

We are doing our first MKAH next week.  Really looking forward to it but wish the hours were a little longer then 8-11.  We will get there at 630 per the advice we've seen.  We did book fastpasses for the time before the event starts (one from 630-730 and one from 730-830).  Just want to make sure that's ok even though we aren't paying for daytime admission.  I'm assuming that we don't need to scan in the way we normally do because we have a separate after hours ticket.  I just want to make sure we don't lose a day from our other tickets (believe it or not, we still have 2 days left from our final 10 day no experation passes) when we use the fastpasses.


----------



## lisa cameron

123SA said:


> We usually get:
> 
> Splash Mountain - there will be no line during the party, but the ride itself is long, around 20 minutes, so I like to do that before the party
> 
> 7DMT - the line is usually longer than I like during the party, so another good choice pre-party.  We try to get it during the fireworks because it's just a really neat experience
> 
> For the last FP, I'd get Peter Pan (again,  this line will be longer than others during AH) or Space Mountain because my kids can't ever ride it enough


I will was thinking Space, SDMT, and PP for a FP and then do Splash right at the end of the regular hours, right before the party starts  because the line is really short for Splash that time of night.  Plus, I agree, Splash takes like 20 minutes so won’t eat too much into the party hours if you so during regular hours.


----------



## Lsdolphin

Amyshubby said:


> We are doing our first MKAH next week.  Really looking forward to it but wish the hours were a little longer then 8-11.  We will get there at 630 per the advice we've seen.  We did book fastpasses for the time before the event starts (one from 630-730 and one from 730-830).  Just want to make sure that's ok even though we aren't paying for daytime admission.  I'm assuming that we don't need to scan in the way we normally do because we have a separate after hours ticket.  I just want to make sure we don't lose a day from our other tickets (believe it or not, we still have 2 days left from our final 10 day no experation passes) when we use the fastpasses.



you definitely need to make sure that when you enter park thru the special line for “special event” you will see CM holding signs directing guests to DAH line.


----------



## CJN

Disneyfan754321 said:


> I so wish i was going in March, they are having one the day we are at MK. If  we went i think it would be hard to  get up early for DS the next day.
> When any of you go do you do anything the next day?



We generally don’t make plans for anything before noon the next day. If we do get up and around earlier we consider it bonus time. Next trip we‘re doing two DAHs and have our DHS days scheduled the day before each of them.


----------



## YawningDodo

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Everything you listed (other than PP, 7DMT, and Under the Sea) doesn’t have FPs (probably obvious, but just in case you didn’t know).  Granted my perspective is skewed as an AP holder who goes a few times per year so I don’t feel the need to book any FPs pre-event - but for us, yes, spending the time doing things like CoP, Tiki Room, HoP, etc makes sense.  Or prepping for Happily Every After (which for us is a must do).
> 
> My one bit of advice - eat a good dinner.  *A dinner at Skipper Canteen, for example, can be a great start to the evening. * Too often I haven’t really eaten dinner and end up chasing hunger with Strawbery Bars, which isn’t a good recipe to make it to 1am!


My exact plan! I've never done Skipper's, wanted to give it a try, and ended up shifting it to my DAH evening. Booked it for about three hours ahead of the event's official start...figure that gives me enough time to eat without feeling crunched for time, but it's far enough ahead that I'll have room for ice cream.


----------



## jackieleanne

maryj11 said:


> We ate at Tony’s right when we got there before it started and were stuffed. I kind of wished we didn’t because we did not want any of the free snacks. All we got was drinks. So I would say eat a light or earlier dinner.



Us too on our last trip, we didn't eat at Tony's but had an ADR somewhere before hand. This time we have a 10am ADR at Tusker House and a reservation for Burgers and Sundaes at 5pm before we head over to Magic Kingdom. That should keep us fed enough until the party and the snacks going for the rest of the night.


----------



## DisneyRobin

Disneyfan754321 said:


> I so wish i was going in March, they are having one the day we are at MK. If  we went i think it would be hard to  get up early for DS the next day.
> When any of you go do you do anything the next day?


We are going on April and the party is from 10pm-1am. We probably won’t get to sleep until 2am!  I’m planning to sleep in the next day and uber to AK by 11. I’ll set our 1st FP for about 10 or 10:30 and we’ll plan to ride just before that FP expires.

I’m going to try to make it a short day (trying to be back to the hotel by 8:30pm) because the next day we have to be up very early to try and get boarding passes at HS!


----------



## MrsInsG

YawningDodo said:


> My exact plan! I've never done Skipper's, wanted to give it a try, and ended up shifting it to my DAH evening. Booked it for about three hours ahead of the event's official start...figure that gives me enough time to eat without feeling crunched for time, but it's far enough ahead that I'll have room for ice cream.



We (my dh and I) did this and just shared some appetizers. This gave us the opportunity to try several things we were interested in, have an adult beverage, and not be stuffed walking out the door. Our kids are in their teens/tweens, so they went off and rode rides and ate whatever while Mom and Dad chilled and had a lovely date before we all met up for the event; it was perfect!


----------



## Drewmama

sharona said:


> Yes last night’s MKAH was incredible!  I’m sure our paths must have crossed fivefourdis.  I’ve added some photos so people can get an idea of just how empty it was.
> 
> We entered at about 8:15 and cut up the left side of Nain St shops to get past the crowds.  We wanted a ride on BTMRR during the fireworks- recreating one of our favorite memories from previous trips.  Had to ride 3x in a row to make it happen.  First time was with a FP then standby 2x.  Crowds were already thinning and I noticed very few people with bands.
> 
> During fireworks Frontierland was pretty empty
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr
> 
> 
> After BT we went to HM which was walk on. We’d done Splash and JC the day before So skipped those.
> 
> Moved on to PP.  Waited about 10 minutes.  Park was originally scheduled to close at 9 but had been extended to 10.  It was almost 10 when we exited.
> 
> Grabbed snacks no line to speak of
> 
> Next rode 7D 3x. First time waited about 5-10 minutes, lots of people without bands still in line. 2nd time was almost a walk in and third was.
> 
> Headed over to Space but first our traditional family Buzz contest with winner getting restaurant choice for our next meal.
> 
> Tomorrow Land was very deserted:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr
> 
> And so was Space
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr
> 
> After Space 2x for me then 2 more for the teens we got snacks and rode the People Mover. We needed a break in the action.  We passed only one other car with people in it and saw only 2 cars on the road at Speedway.
> 
> We worked our way back to 7D via Carousel and Tea Cups and then 2 more times on 7D.
> 
> At that point we were toast.  It was about 12:30 and I wanted some castle and Main St pics so we made our way slowly out of the nearly empty park.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr
> 
> Well worth the money.  I highly recommend doing nothing earlier that day and planning to sleep in the next!


Your pictures are awesome!


----------



## proud_canadian

Just wondering if anyone can explain how shopping works during the event.  I understand that stores are not open during the event. But what about stores that you are "dumped" into after the ride, like buzz, pooh, pirates.... are those stores open, or merchandise covered up and can't buy?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

proud_canadian said:


> Just wondering if anyone can explain how shopping works during the event.  I understand that stores are not open during the event. But what about stores that you are "dumped" into after the ride, like buzz, pooh, pirates.... are those stores open, or merchandise covered up and can't buy?



I believe most/all of those types of stores are open, to the best I can recall.


----------



## Disneyfan754321

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I believe most/all of those types of stores are open, to the best I can
> 
> Yes i think you are correct they were all open.... one thing WDW loves is to make money


----------



## proud_canadian

LOL thanks guys.  Disney scared me with the "limited shopping" available spiel.


----------



## proud_canadian

Last question, I think it got lost earlier.  My friend is a DVC member, but isn't travelling with us.  Is there a way for her to purchase our tickets for me and my husband at a discounted rate?


----------



## tinabina919

Went to the event last night and it was amazing. 21 rides total, including multiples on quite a few and ending with 5x on mine train.  My poor feet sure feel it this morning. 

Would definitely do it again instead of a park day.


----------



## proud_canadian

tinabina919 said:


> Went to the event last night and it was amazing. 21 rides total, including multiples on quite a few and ending with 5x on mine train.  My poor feet sure feel it this morning.
> 
> Would definitely do it again instead of a park day.



Hey Tinabina, what time were you let in?


----------



## tinabina919

@proud_canadian I hoped to to get there earlier than we did so not sure when they started letting guests in but we walked through about 5mins before 7pm.


----------



## Lsdolphin

We will be attending 1/31 hoping it wont be freezing!


----------



## mamamelody2

tinabina919 said:


> Went to the event last night and it was amazing. 21 rides total, including multiples on quite a few and ending with 5x on mine train.  My poor feet sure feel it this morning.
> 
> Would definitely do it again instead of a park day.



Ooh, nice, thanks for sharing!  We went last September and it was so awesome!  We also did 5X mine train and 5X BTMRR (if there was no one waiting for our row, we could stay on).  Going next Monday and hoping for another great time!!


----------



## Sydnerella

123SA said:


> We usually get:
> Splash Mountain - there will be no line during the party, but the ride itself is long, around 20 minutes, so I like to do that before the party
> 
> 7DMT - the line is usually longer than I like during the party, so another good choice pre-party.  We try to get it during the fireworks because it's just a really neat experience
> 
> For the last FP, I'd get Peter Pan (again,  this line will be longer than others during AH) or Space Mountain because my kids can't ever ride it enough


Im confused! How do the FPs work for the DAH events? We do not have APs but we are staying at the CBR. Are folks able to book the FPs for the DAH events ahead with the 60 day window like a normal park ticket FP? Or do you make FP selections once you arrive for DAH at 6 or 7pm through park close?

We will NOT be using a park ticket the date of our DAH. See our itinerary below.
We have 5 day Park Hoppers we will start using the day after the DAH event.

Sun - Arrive CBR, hit Disney Springs for dinner
Mon - UCF tour that day and DAH that night
Tue - EP (first park day)
Wed - HS
Th - HS
F - MK
S - AK check out and late evening flight home 

Thanks!


----------



## AntJulie

Sydnerella said:


> Im confused! How do the FPs work for the DAH events? We do not have APs but we are staying at the CBR. Are folks able to book the FPs for the DAH events ahead with the 60 day window like a normal park ticket FP? Or do you make FP selections once you arrive for DAH at 6 or 7pm through park close?



Yes, you can book FPs for the DAH event 60 days out. MK DAH usually lets you in earlier than 7pm. So, you can book them for earlier than 7pm. For example 6:15pm, 7:15pm, 8:15pm (there is also a 15 minute grace period after FP window if you miss it).


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

Another FP question: My parents are going with us to AH in February. I linked their AH tickets to my MDE account. This is the only park ticket they'll have because they're not going with us other days. Will I still be able to make FP's for them if they have no other tickets linked? We're not staying on property and haven't quite hit the 30 day mark yet so I can't check.


----------



## cdurham1

Going in May and we are doing MK AH one night.  We will also have at least another full day in MK on the trip.  I am attempting to categorize attractions into:

1.  Things that are best in daytime or can only be done in daytime.
2.  Things that are best done at night
3.  Things that should be both in daytime and nighttime.
4.  Doesn't matter

So here is my first attempt

1.
Tom Sawyer Island
Liberty Square Riverboat
Daytime parade 

2.
Nighttime show

3.
Swiss Family Treehouse
Jungle Cruise
SplM
BTMM
Carousel
Barnstormer
Mad Tea Party
7DMT
Tomorrowland Speedway
Astro Orbiter
TTA
Take pics in front of castle (and pics throughout park)

4.
Meet characters at town square
Tiki Room
PoC
Country Bear Jamboree
Hall of Presidents
Haunted Mansion
Philharmagic
PPF
IASW
Enchanted Tales with Belle
Under the Sea
Ariel MG
Dumbo
Winnie the Pooh
Princess Fairytale Hall
SM
CoP
Buzz Lightyear
Laugh Floor


Did I miss anything?

Do you agree with the list?


----------



## chelynnah

That looks pretty good.  Check if TTA is actually running during the party.  When we went last year I don’t think it was, (or that could have been EMH it wasn’t open) so you might need to do your nighttime run on it during a regular park day.


----------



## Figaroo

I’ll be attending an AH event in March. In addition to the ticket for the event, I’ll also have a park hopper ticket for the day because of our room/ticket package.
Two questions:

1. Can I make extra FPs for that day since I technically have two tickets? 

2. Is there anything special I need to do when entering the park to ensure my AH ticket is used and not my park hopper? We will be arriving at MK around 8 or 9 that night.

TIA! So excited for this event after reading all of the experiences on this thread.


----------



## Sarahslay

Figaroo said:


> I’ll be attending an AH event in March. In addition to the ticket for the event, I’ll also have a park hopper ticket for the day because of our room/ticket package.
> Two questions:
> 
> 1. Can I make extra FPs for that day since I technically have two tickets?
> 
> 2. Is there anything special I need to do when entering the park to ensure my AH ticket is used and not my park hopper? We will be arriving at MK around 8 or 9 that night.
> 
> TIA! So excited for this event after reading all of the experiences on this thread.


1. No, only 3 FP per day (unfortunately). I have an AP and it doesn't matter if you have a ticket for an event plus a regular ticket/AP it's only 3 pre-booked FP per day.
2. They will have special tapstills open for you to go through for the event, usually to the far right near the guest relations area when facing MK, they'll have CMs standing outside directing people.


----------



## jen7233

AntJulie said:


> Yes, you can book FPs for the DAH event 60 days out. MK DAH usually lets you in earlier than 7pm. So, you can book them for earlier than 7pm. For example 6:15pm, 7:15pm, 8:15pm (there is also a 15 minute grace period after FP window if you miss it).


I didn't know one could book FPs before 7pm with a DAH ticket, thank you.


Sarahslay said:


> 1. No, only 3 FP per day (unfortunately). I have an AP and it doesn't matter if you have a ticket for an event plus a regular ticket/AP it's only 3 pre-booked FP per day.
> 2. They will have special tapstills open for you to go through for the event, usually to the far right near the guest relations area when facing MK, they'll have CMs standing outside directing people.


Another thing learned, apparently I was thinking this out wrong. I was expecting to be able to book six, three with my park hopper ticket (at Epcot) earlier in the day, and then three for DAH ticket between the hours 7pm and 10pm. So, no?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jen7233 said:


> I didn't know one could book FPs before 7pm with a DAH ticket, thank you.
> 
> Another thing learned, apparently I was thinking this out wrong. I was expecting to be able to book six, three with my park hopper ticket (at Epcot) earlier in the day, and then three for DAH ticket between the hours 7pm and 10pm. So, no?



No, you can never pre-book 6 in a day.   Those booking FPs with DAH tickets are not booking regular FPs that day with other ticket media.


----------



## jen7233

GADisneyDad14 said:


> No, you can never pre-book 6 in a day.   Those booking FPs with DAH tickets are not booking regular FPs that day with other ticket media.


Dang, ok. I may scratch my Epcot plan then.

Can anyone confirm if meeting Mickey and Tinkerbell is available during DAH only hours?


----------



## mickeymom22

Group of 10 of us went to the After Hours at MK on 1/20/20! It was amazing! Well worth the price. It was quite chilly, but we carried on!

Hubby and I got in line at 6:30. They let us through the turnstiles at 6:45 and then gave out the wristbands. We headed back to Columbia Harbour House for food and warmth. It didn't disappoint. We sat in there for quite awhile because we didn't want to wait out in the cold for the rest of our party to show up. At about 7:45 we headed out to get our picture taken with the lantern from Tangled and watch the fireworks. Fireworks started at 8:00 pm. The rest of our party came in right when the fireworks were going off so they were on Main St.

We met up with them in Tomorrowland and we got down to enjoying after hours.

Things we did:
(I will try to remember the order. We didn't stay together the entire time, but found ourselves doing the same things!)

Right before the park closed people who wanted to get a last ride on Space Mountain queued up and created quite a long line. *Tip: If going to an after hours party wait to ride the headliners about an hour after the party starts. The line will be clear of those who don't have admission to the party!*

Buzz Lightyear
People Mover
Astro Orbiter (time suck...but nostalgic)
Space Mountain
Tea Cups
It's A Small World
Seven Dwarves Mine Train (twice)
Barnstormer (twice)
Haunted Mansion
Big Thunder Mountain
Pirates
Space Mountain (twice more...total of three times)

Lots of Mickey ice cream treats, popcorn, sodas, and water were enjoyed by all!

This was the first time we have been without park hoppers, instead we bought tickets for the After Hours. Our daughter is 13 and I think it was well worth it. It was so easy for her to enjoy the things she wanted to without the lines, and it didn't take all day to do them.  It was plenty of time to soak up Magic Kingdom and enjoy this park.

Online it showed the party had sold out, but it no way felt crowded. We ended the night taking pictures in front of an almost deserted hub in front of the castle.


----------



## twinprincesses09

I am considering buying tickets for April.  If something happens and we can't attend, can you apply the cost of the tickets to a future ticket purchase?  Does anyone have experience with this?


----------



## Tink9721

chelynnah said:


> That looks pretty good.  Check if TTA is actually running during the party.  When we went last year I don’t think it was, (or that could have been EMH it wasn’t open) so you might need to do your nighttime run on it during a regular park day.



It was open during DAH last Monday.


----------



## Iowamomof4

twinprincesses09 said:


> I am considering buying tickets for April.  If something happens and we can't attend, can you apply the cost of the tickets to a future ticket purchase?  Does anyone have experience with this?



Tickets are non-refundable. Maybe wait until you're more sure? If you're talking about an illness or something along those lines preventing you from going, it never hurts to ask at Guest Relations. They are often pretty accommodating when it comes to extenuating circumstances that are genuine and beyond your control.


----------



## Amy&Dan

Ok I just bought tickets for this for February 10th.   Our event starts at 9, and I do not have a day ticket.  I was able to book three fastpasses starting at 5:20.  Will they let me in that early?


----------



## Thecouch

Amy&Dan said:


> Ok I just bought tickets for this for February 10th.   Our event starts at 9, and I do not have a day ticket.  I was able to book three fastpasses starting at 5:20.  Will they let me in that early?


No. Offical entry time is 7pm for after hours. Person posted the other day they lined up and got let in at 630pm. But I wouldn't count even on that


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Amy&Dan said:


> Ok I just bought tickets for this for February 10th.   Our event starts at 9, and I do not have a day ticket.  I was able to book three fastpasses starting at 5:20.  Will they let me in that early?



Yeah, the system is not "smart enough" to know that your DAH ticket only allows entry into the park at a certain time.  It just sees ticket, and ticket = the ability to make FPs.  

You should do something like book 6:15, 7:15, 8:15, or similar if inclined.


----------



## Tessaf

Amy&Dan said:


> Ok I just bought tickets for this for February 10th.   Our event starts at 9, and I do not have a day ticket.  I was able to book three fastpasses starting at 5:20.  Will they let me in that early?


I didn’t think you will be able to get in that early, but I could/probably am wrong.


----------



## ninafeliz

Did jan 20th really sell out?  I have been holding off on purchasing our tickets for Feb 3 until closer to the event, mainly to make sure we have a babysitter lined up and to see the weather, make sure no one gets sick, etc.  Plus I'm a procrastinator when it comes to fully committing to things I can't cancel haha.  I didn't think there was much if any risk of a sell out, but I have to admit I would be quite upset if it did sell out before I bought them.  I guess I should just buy them, it's not like that would be the only worry if the trip fell apart.  Does anyone think there is any real concern that Monday Feb 3rd will sell out before the couple of days prior?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

ninafeliz said:


> Did jan 20th really sell out?  I have been holding off on purchasing our tickets for Feb 3 until closer to the event, mainly to make sure we have a babysitter lined up and to see the weather, make sure no one gets sick, etc.  Plus I'm a procrastinator when it comes to fully committing to things I can't cancel haha.  I didn't think there was much if any risk of a sell out, but I have to admit I would be quite upset if it did sell out before I bought them.  I guess I should just buy them, it's not like that would be the only worry if the trip fell apart.  Does anyone think there is any real concern that Monday Feb 3rd will sell out before the couple of days prior?



I check frequently (especially day of) and it never showed up as sold out for me.

Also if it did, you’d normally still see it showing as “Sold Out” but it doesn’t.

I know it was reported as such by a PP, not sure where they saw that.


----------



## Iowamomof4

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I check frequently (especially day of) and it never showed up as sold out for me.
> 
> Also if it did, you’d normally still see it showing as “Sold Out” but it doesn’t.
> 
> I know it was reported as such by a PP, not sure where they saw that.



Yeah, that comment made me go , because I don't know when the last sold out DAH even was! (I know, I know... check the charts on the first page, blah blah blah  )


----------



## ninafeliz

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I check frequently (especially day of) and it never showed up as sold out for me.
> 
> Also if it did, you’d normally still see it showing as “Sold Out” but it doesn’t.
> 
> I know it was reported as such by a PP, not sure where they saw that.


Thanks, I feel better.  I still should probably just buy them, though, since who am I kidding, unless someone is sick enough to pretty much cancel the trip we're going to it .


----------



## momto2dkids

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Yeah, the system is not "smart enough" to know that your DAH ticket only allows entry into the park at a certain time.  It just sees ticket, and ticket = the ability to make FPs.
> 
> You should do something like book 6:15, 7:15, 8:15, or similar if inclined.



Do you know if this also works if I already have 3 fastpasses reserved on my regular PH ticket and am already in MK for that day?


----------



## Iowamomof4

momto2dkids said:


> Do you know if this also works if I already have 3 fastpasses reserved on my regular PH ticket and am already in MK for that day?



No. No one may have more than 3 pre-booked fastpasses on any given day.


----------



## momto2dkids

Iowamomof4 said:


> No. No one may have more than 3 pre-booked fastpasses on any given day.



Iowamomof4 : Thank you-that's what I figured.


----------



## nllmncsu

I am sure this has been asked before but I have never done an after hours. I know the Halloween party hours haven't been posted yet because it is so early but previously they usually run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in October and was wondering will they do a Villain's After Hours while the Halloween party is going on?


----------



## Iowamomof4

nllmncsu said:


> I am sure this has been asked before but I have never done an after hours. I know the Halloween party hours haven't been posted yet because it is so early but previously they usually run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in October and was wondering will they do a Villain's After Hours while the Halloween party is going on?



They haven't before. They've done sporadic regular after hours events in the middle of party season though.


----------



## Sydnerella

How do I link my families four DAH tickets that were just purchased through my DU travel agent to my MDE account? I just received the email from Disney with the confirmation number and pdf with the tickets but I don’t see anywhere in the app to link this confirmation number? Our park hopper tickets and resort reservations are already linked. I need to get them into MDE before Tuesday so I can book FPs for our trip at the 60day mark.

Thanks!


----------



## SteveH

@Sydnerella on the MDE app look under Tickets & Passes, see if it shows up there.


----------



## Sydnerella

SteveH said:


> @Sydnerella on the MDE app look under Tickets & Passes, see if it shows up there.



Thanks - I had to do it through the web version, it would not work through the app. But it’s in MDE now!


----------



## figmentfinesse

Does anyone have any guesses as to which day of the week the MK ones may fall during August MNNSHP dates?


----------



## Mrs Grumpy

figmentfinesse said:


> Does anyone have any guesses as to which day of the week the MK ones may fall during August MNNSHP dates?



Last year the one we went to at the end of August was on a Thursday.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

figmentfinesse said:


> Does anyone have any guesses as to which day of the week the MK ones may fall during August MNNSHP dates?



In the past, the handful of DAHs that have occurred during MNSSHP season have been on Thursdays.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

A question above made me realize I hadn't updated the consolidated Year-over-Year MK DAH / VAH date chart in awhile.  New chart below, and this also resides in Post #13 for reference.  FWIW!

Note, black is regular ML Disney After Hours, red is MK Villains After Hours.


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

Alright, experts: here are my starting plans for the 2/24 AH. I’m assuming it’ll be one of the more crowded ones since it’s Mardi Gras Eve. Let me know what you think. Traveling with a group of 10 instead of our usual 3. One of the people in our party is my nephew and it’s his first (& only) MK day so the pressure is on! We range in age from 7-83 and 2 of the 3 kids have sensory issues so we’ll have a DAS. 

Arrive around 6:30-6:40, hope they let us in a few minutes early.
-FP+1: Meet Mickey at Town Square: 6:20-7:20
-Stop by the Guest Assistance tent near Casey’s to renew my son’s DAS and get a DAS for my nephew. Obtain a return time for 7DMT.
-FP+2: Small World 7:30-8:30 I know Small World as a FP sounds weird but it’s my parents favorite and I don’t want it to eat into AH too much since it’s long-ish. 
-Character meet at Pete’s Silly Sideshow (Does anyone know if there’s usually a long line for this? We’ve never done this one before. If the line is super long we'll have to skip it because my son get really overstimulated in long lines.) 
-FP+3: 8:30-9: Dumbo

We’re not a huge fireworks family, so I think roaming around Fantasyland while they go off will be enough for us. I’m not sure when the DAS return time will be for 7DMT, but we will be nearby so we will make our way over to it whenever it opens up. I don’t have a super specific plan After AH officially starts but think we’ll first finish up anything the kids want to do in Fantasyland, move over to Tomorrowland followed by Adventureland and Frontierland. If we still have time left after that hopefully I can drag everyone on Haunted Mansion before we repeat any favorites with the time remaining. Any glaring errors or things you’d change?


----------



## Sydnerella

So I have been reading conflicting reviews/info regarding 7DMT and SM.

Some people say they rode them 3 or 7 times and others say the lines were long and they waited until the end of the night.

My family of 4 is going Monday March 30 for the 10-1am DAH - so Spring Break window - what might be reasonable to expect?

I think we will arrive to MK at 7 or 8 so we are able to go until 1 AM.

Best plan I have read seems to be to have had a good dinner before we get to the park, but not too heavy. Then use 3 FPs at things we like, but perhaps can’t do the during party. Get a spot to Enjoy the Fireworks then start party away from main headliners to allow day guests time to clear. 

Is this about Right?

But what should we expect for the 7DMT and SM after the first hour? 20 minute lines, 10?  or walk on?

Thanks!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Sydnerella said:


> So I have been reading conflicting reviews/info regarding 7DMT and SM.
> 
> Some people say they rode them 3 or 7 times and others say the lines were long and they waited until the end of the night.
> 
> My family of 4 is going Monday March 30 for the 10-1am DAH - so Spring Break window - what might be reasonable to expect?
> 
> I think we will arrive to MK at 7 or 8 so we are able to go until 1 AM.
> 
> Best plan I have read seems to be to have had a good dinner before we get to the park, but not too heavy. Then use 3 FPs at things we like, but perhaps can’t do the during party. Get a spot to Enjoy the Fireworks then start party away from main headliners to allow day guests time to clear.
> 
> Is this about Right?
> 
> But what should we expect for the 7DMT and SM after the first hour? 20 minute lines, 10?  or walk on?
> 
> Thanks!



To me, 7DMT (and to a lesser extent Space) is a ride where you can see/feel the difference in crowds on any given DAH night.  I suspect on 3/30 you'll see a line of 7DMT during most of the night in the 20-25'ish+ minute range, less right at the end.  It will probably start out higher.  The ride has trouble ever really shaking the line for all but the most uncrowded DAH nights.  7 seems high to me during DAH, unless you're committing a lot of time to it.  1-3 at the end of the night sounds more reasonable.  

Have fun!


----------



## Sydnerella

GADisneyDad14 said:


> To me, 7DMT (and to a lesser extent Space) is a ride where you can see/feel the difference in crowds on any given DAH night.  I suspect on 3/30 you'll see a line of 7DMT during most of the night in the 20-25'ish+ minute range, less right at the end.  It will probably start out higher.  The ride has trouble ever really shaking the line for all but the most uncrowded DAH nights.  7 seems high to me during DAH, unless you're committing a lot of time to it.  1-3 at the end of the night sounds more reasonable.
> 
> Have fun!


Thank you! We will definitely have fun with this new experience of a quieter park and not being during rope drop!  Is it safe to assume we can still monitor wait times from the app during AH? Or don’t they keep them updated for the event?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Sydnerella said:


> Thank you! We will definitely have fun with this new experience of a quieter park and not being during rope drop!  Is it safe to assume we can still monitor wait times from the app during AH? Or don’t they keep them updated for the event?



Yep, wait times are still posted during the event.  Sometimes some rides default to their 'normal' 5 or 10 minute wait, but that often means walk on or a very short wait.


----------



## jods

I see last years dates/tickets for august was released in May.  I'm planning an august trip so not knowing until May is driving me crazy.  Do we normally have rumors of dates before the official?  last year didn't have many dates at all.  Im really hoping to be able to attend one.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jods said:


> I see last years dates/tickets for august was released in May.  I'm planning an august trip so not knowing until May is driving me crazy.  Do we normally have rumors of dates before the official?  last year didn't have many dates at all.  Im really hoping to be able to attend one.



I've never seen/heard any rumors before hand... they just randomly gets posted on the website.  For better or worse! 

Last year a few observant folks were able to spot them adding the calendar to the DAH ticket pages in the app and speculated they were about to announce dates - which turned out to be right - but that's about it in terms of any advance action.


----------



## jods

GADisneyDad14 said:


> I've never seen/heard any rumors before hand... they just randomly gets posted on the website.  For better or worse!
> 
> Last year a few observant folks were able to spot them adding the calendar to the DAH ticket pages in the app and speculated they were about to announce dates - which turned out to be right - but that's about it in terms of any advance action.


Thanks.  This makes it very difficult to plan.  I am also debating CL fp which would need to be done before this or possibly MNSSHP is announced   Disney is trying to give me an ulcer, lol.


----------



## maryj11

Sydnerella said:


> So I have been reading conflicting reviews/info regarding 7DMT and SM.
> 
> Some people say they rode them 3 or 7 times and others say the lines were long and they waited until the end of the night.
> 
> My family of 4 is going Monday March 30 for the 10-1am DAH - so Spring Break window - what might be reasonable to expect?
> 
> I think we will arrive to MK at 7 or 8 so we are able to go until 1 AM.
> 
> Best plan I have read seems to be to have had a good dinner before we get to the park, but not too heavy. Then use 3 FPs at things we like, but perhaps can’t do the during party. Get a spot to Enjoy the Fireworks then start party away from main headliners to allow day guests time to clear.
> 
> Is this about Right?
> 
> But what should we expect for the 7DMT and SM after the first hour? 20 minute lines, 10?  or walk on?
> 
> Thanks!


We went to the Villians After Hours last June. When we got to Space it was posted around a 15 or 20 minute wait if I remember right. I do remember the line went right through and we only stopped for about a minute once. It only took us about 10 minutes to get on.
We had a fastpass for Seven Dwarfs before the event, but checked the wait time and it was about a 25 minute wait.


----------



## maryj11

jods said:


> Thanks.  This makes it very difficult to plan.  I am also debating CL fp which would need to be done before this or possibly MNSSHP is announced   Disney is trying to give me an ulcer, lol.


We are going in August too. They have some dates from a reliable source for MNSSHP, but Disney as not posted them yet.


----------



## jods

maryj11 said:


> We are going in August too. They have some dates from a reliable source for MNSSHP, but Disney as not posted them yet.


Thanks, I saw that,  actually I saw 2 different sets of dates.  I may choose an after hours event instead  or in addition too. I don't know.  I need form dates to plan.  I tend to obsess.


----------



## Alison S

NotTheBatesMotel said:


> Arrive around 6:30-6:40, hope they let us in a few minutes early.
> -FP+1: Meet Mickey at Town Square: 6:20-7:20
> -Stop by the Guest Assistance tent near Casey’s to renew my son’s DAS and get a DAS for my nephew. Obtain a return time for 7DMT.
> -FP+2: Small World 7:30-8:30 I know Small World as a FP sounds weird but it’s my parents favorite and I don’t want it to eat into AH too much since it’s long-ish.
> -Character meet at Pete’s Silly Sideshow (Does anyone know if there’s usually a long line for this? We’ve never done this one before. If the line is super long we'll have to skip it because my son get really overstimulated in long lines.)
> -FP+3: 8:30-9: Dumbo



Make sure the characters are still meeting at that time.  They ended at 7:30 on our night.


----------



## maryj11

jods said:


> Thanks, I saw that,  actually I saw 2 different sets of dates.  I may choose an after hours event instead  or in addition too. I don't know.  I need form dates to plan.  I tend to obsess.


I know how you feel. I want to get the dates for AH’s so I can plan everything out. We decided to skip the party because of the crowds and do AH.


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

Alison S said:


> Make sure the characters are still meeting at that time.  They ended at 7:30 on our night.


Definitely good to know. Thank you!


----------



## twinprincesses09

We are planning to go for the first time on 4/5 and was looking at the hours.  The park closes at 9pm, and then the event is from 10p-1a.  Is it usual to have an hour between regular park closing and the start of the event?  It looks like in the past it would start right after park closing time.  Do you think regular park hours will get extended to 10pm since it is a popular spring break week?  Or are they doing this as a buffer to allow day guests to clear out?  I know we can get in at 7pm, so we plan to be there a little before that.  Just thought it was strange to have that hour gap.


----------



## Iowamomof4

twinprincesses09 said:


> We are planning to go for the first time on 4/5 and was looking at the hours.  The park closes at 9pm, and then the event is from 10p-1a.  Is it usual to have an hour between regular park closing and the start of the event?  It looks like in the past it would start right after park closing time.  Do you think regular park hours will get extended to 10pm since it is a popular spring break week?  Or are they doing this as a buffer to allow day guests to clear out?  I know we can get in at 7pm, so we plan to be there a little before that.  Just thought it was strange to have that hour gap.


They'll extend the hours at some point, I would all but guarantee it.


----------



## DisneyDreaming28

Hello everyone! I'm debating booking for 2/3. I already had a full day planned beginning with Cinderella's Breakfast, FP's  and then early dinner at BOG, followed by the fireworks dessert party before I found out about AH. My kids are 10 and 6. Has anyone survived a full day in the park with young kids and then AH lol? We really want to go for the experience, as we don't anticipate getting back to WDW again in the next few years. I thought about leaving the park around 12, naps and then coming back at 4. I appreciate any advice you can give. Thanks!


----------



## cakebaker

DisneyDreaming28 said:


> Hello everyone! I'm debating booking for 2/3. I already had a full day planned beginning with Cinderella's Breakfast, FP's  and then early dinner at BOG, followed by the fireworks dessert party before I found out about AH. My kids are 10 and 6. Has anyone survived a full day in the park with young kids and then AH lol? We really want to go for the experience, as we don't anticipate getting back to WDW again in the next few years. I thought about leaving the park around 12, naps and then coming back at 4. I appreciate any advice you can give. Thanks!



I would definitely take as long a break as you can work in during the afternoon. After Hours are absolutely amazing, but I don't think I could take a full day in the park and last until the end. I'd do the breakfast, use your FP's, then get out. The real problem I see in your schedule is a lot of food! lol Unless your BOG is really early, you're looking at dinner, then a ton of desserts and then the after hours with free popcorn, drinks and snacks. Personally, I'd drop the BOG and return just in time for the dessert party- working in a light snack somewhere in the afternoon. But, we're not big eaters so we tend to go on the light side with scheduled meals. Whatever you choose, I wouldn't attempt a full open to close with after hours.


----------



## Tessaf

DisneyDreaming28 said:


> Hello everyone! I'm debating booking for 2/3. I already had a full day planned beginning with Cinderella's Breakfast, FP's  and then early dinner at BOG, followed by the fireworks dessert party before I found out about AH. My kids are 10 and 6. Has anyone survived a full day in the park with young kids and then AH lol? We really want to go for the experience, as we don't anticipate getting back to WDW again in the next few years. I thought about leaving the park around 12, naps and then coming back at 4. I appreciate any advice you can give. Thanks!


My family had this happen too when my kids were 11 and 8. There was a random AH in between MVMCP’s during our late Nov Trip. It wasn’t on the original drop of AH dates and we already everything planned. We had an Xmas party the night before, 8 am dining booked followed by a full day ending with the AH, and then EMM the next morning and another fairly full day with another holiday party.
I debated adding it right away because we had so much planned, but we had never done an AH before and we weren’t at that time planning another trip in the near future. On the AH day, we couldn’t change our plans for our full day at Epcot so we ended up keeping our plans and going right to the AH! My kids did just great with the full day! We did end up doing a mid-afternoon nap/break the following day just to recharge. 
 And we don’t regret it at all! The AH turned out to be the highlight of the whole trip!


----------



## angelinaxox

I am going to the AH in April. I plan to already be in the park. When I did the VAH in August, there was a spot to get bands in Tomorrowland so I didn't have to go to the front of the park. Is this still the case and if so  could you refresh my memory what the exact locations were?
Never mind. I just located the information in the thread. Thanks!


----------



## DisneyDreaming28

cakebaker said:


> I would definitely take as long a break as you can work in during the afternoon. After Hours are absolutely amazing, but I don't think I could take a full day in the park and last until the end. I'd do the breakfast, use your FP's, then get out. The real problem I see in your schedule is a lot of food! lol Unless your BOG is really early, you're looking at dinner, then a ton of desserts and then the after hours with free popcorn, drinks and snacks. Personally, I'd drop the BOG and return just in time for the dessert party- working in a light snack somewhere in the afternoon. But, we're not big eaters so we tend to go on the light side with scheduled meals. Whatever you choose, I wouldn't attempt a full open to close with after hours.



Hi cakebaker. Thanks for your response and advice.  we have an early CRT reservation and early BOG dinner at 4pm. We hope to use the AH mainly for the rides. Also, 2/3 is the Super Bowl parade, so we are also taking into consideration the possible crowd and affect on ride times during normal hours.


----------



## DisneyDreaming28

Tessaf said:


> My family had this happen too when my kids were 11 and 8. There was a random AH in between MVMCP’s during our late Nov Trip. It wasn’t on the original drop of AH dates and we already everything planned. We had an Xmas party the night before, 8 am dining booked followed by a full day ending with the AH, and then EMM the next morning and another fairly full day with another holiday party.
> I debated adding it right away because we had so much planned, but we had never done an AH before and we weren’t at that time planning another trip in the near future. On the AH day, we couldn’t change our plans for our full day at Epcot so we ended up keeping our plans and going right to the AH! My kids did just great with the full day! We did end up doing a mid-afternoon nap/break the following day just to recharge.
> And we don’t regret it at all! The AH turned out to be the highlight of the whole trip!



Hi Tessaf. Thank you for sharing your experience with me. I am in a very similar situation on this trip, and also have to factor in the Super Bowl parade and possible extra crowds that day!  ugh lol I think I'm going to go for it. While we do have 2-3 days to do MK on this trip, I would love to experience low crowds and just being able to walk on rides or have a minimal wait.


----------



## SDJEL

We were there last night.  At 8:05 pm 7DMT said 20 minutes.  It took 5 minutes to wend our way through the line.  Walked right on the train.  Twice in 25 minutes.  Ifnthey allowed you to get off the ride and go right to the area you get in the trains it would have been so much faster.  Same problem at Space Mountain.   It takes 5 or 10  minutes just to get on and off.  Later on Big Thunder we just stayed in the car because nobody was in line.


----------



## ytsemaddy

Just bought my ticket for the AH on 3/30! I've been once before (1/26/18) and it was 100% worth the price of the ticket. It's even better for me this trip, as I'll be attending a conference during the day, and will have time to nap, eat dinner, maybe have a fancy cocktail, and get to MK by 7. Last time I went with a friend, and felt I needed to get in as many rides as possible. This year, I think I'll take it slow and maybe camp out on a park bench with a Mickey bar at some point; I'll have about 6 hours to enjoy it, provided I can keep my eyes open til 1 AM!


----------



## maryj11

SDJEL said:


> We were there last night.  At 8:05 pm 7DMT said 20 minutes.  It took 5 minutes to wend our way through the line.  Walked right on the train.  Twice in 25 minutes.  Ifnthey allowed you to get off the ride and go right to the area you get in the trains it would have been so much faster.  Same problem at Space Mountain.   It takes 5 or 10  minutes just to get on and off.  Later on Big Thunder we just stayed in the car because nobody was in line.


Ok so the posted wait time was not correct?


----------



## proud_canadian

SDJEL said:


> We were there last night.  At 8:05 pm 7DMT said 20 minutes.  It took 5 minutes to wend our way through the line.  Walked right on the train.  Twice in 25 minutes.  Ifnthey allowed you to get off the ride and go right to the area you get in the trains it would have been so much faster.  Same problem at Space Mountain.   It takes 5 or 10  minutes just to get on and off.  Later on Big Thunder we just stayed in the car because nobody was in line.



What time did you get let in SDJEL?


----------



## ninafeliz

proud_canadian said:


> What time did you get let in SDJEL?


OK, I just spent way too long trying to figure out what Disney term SDJEL was an acronym for before I realized haha!


----------



## maryj11

ninafeliz said:


> OK, I just spent way too long trying to figure out what Disney term SDJEL was an acronym for before I realized haha!


I still don’t know lol


----------



## Iowamomof4

maryj11 said:


> I still don’t know lol



It's the person's screen name!


----------



## Castlequeen5

ninafeliz said:


> OK, I just spent way too long trying to figure out what Disney term SDJEL was an acronym for before I realized haha!


Me too!  Ha!


----------



## maryj11

Iowamomof4 said:


> It's the person's screen name!


OH


----------



## SDJEL

SDJEL-first initials for each member of my family.

We spent the day in the MK.  Got there later than usual because we knew it would be a long day.  After dinner-around 7, we went back to the main entrance and got our bracelets and then went back into park.  Awesome event!   Worth every penny.   My daughter had 3 Mickey bars.  We got off our last ride at 10:53 and headed for the exit.   They cleared the park out quickly.  We were off the last ferry leaving the TTC and last people on the tram-last car in the parking lot.


----------



## ksinniger

I was also there on Monday night, and it was a really great night.  We entered just about at 7 pm through the event gate, and grabbed food/caffeine (we were at rope drop in Hollywood studios that morning for Rise of the Resistance), and sat in Adventureland for a bit to plan our evening. We had grabbed a fastpass for the carpets on our way to the park, so we rode that first (there was still a 10-15 minute wait), then went up to BTMRR where there was a 15 minute wait, but that had us on the ride just as the fireworks started. We jumped right back on to no wait (by now, only DAH ticket holders could get on), and then were allowed to stay in our seats for ride #3.  It was starting to rain a little, so we went to Jungle Cruise then Pirates, and both were walk ons, and when we got off no more rain. had our only reali hiccup of the night before getting on Jungle Cruise, because the snack cart hadn't been stocked with drinks yet, but we were able to grab them (plus some ice cream) after Pirates. 

From there, we went to the Haunted Mansion (walk on), then met Tiana & Rapunzel (we must have caught a shift change, because we waited about 15 minute here). Jumped on the Mine Train, where it was posted as 25 minutes, but we were off in less than 20. Rode Pooh as a walk on, then split up so I daughter could ride Speedway (said there was no real wait) while the other one went with me and we walked in to see Ariel, then walked onto her ride. Met up with daughter #1 at Space Mountain, where we walked on (sensing a trend yet?), then did the same at Buzz. We split up for our final ride, with daughter #1 riding the Oribiter while daughter #2 and I rode People Mover. On our way out, we grabbed popcorn, sodas for the next day, and ice cream.

As expected, the worst part was the wait for a bus then the LONG ride back to the Beach Club (we were the last of the 5 Epcot resorts to be dropped). We got to the bus stop right at midnight.

We've done AH events before, and this one was really good. I know it was because of low overall crowds and cooler weather that we had such a good night, but when it's this good, it's REALLY awesome!


----------



## Lsdolphin

Going tomorrow night ...looks like it’s going to rain...yuck


----------



## proud_canadian

ksinniger said:


> I was also there on Monday night, and it was a really great night.  We entered just about at 7 pm through the event gate, and grabbed food/caffeine (we were at rope drop in Hollywood studios that morning for Rise of the Resistance), and sat in Adventureland for a bit to plan our evening. We had grabbed a fastpass for the carpets on our way to the park, so we rode that first (there was still a 10-15 minute wait), then went up to BTMRR where there was a 15 minute wait, but that had us on the ride just as the fireworks started. We jumped right back on to no wait (by now, only DAH ticket holders could get on), and then were allowed to stay in our seats for ride #3.  It was starting to rain a little, so we went to Jungle Cruise then Pirates, and both were walk ons, and when we got off no more rain. had our only reali hiccup of the night before getting on Jungle Cruise, because the snack cart hadn't been stocked with drinks yet, but we were able to grab them (plus some ice cream) after Pirates.
> 
> From there, we went to the Haunted Mansion (walk on), then met Tiana & Rapunzel (we must have caught a shift change, because we waited about 15 minute here). Jumped on the Mine Train, where it was posted as 25 minutes, but we were off in less than 20. Rode Pooh as a walk on, then split up so I daughter could ride Speedway (said there was no real wait) while the other one went with me and we walked in to see Ariel, then walked onto her ride. Met up with daughter #1 at Space Mountain, where we walked on (sensing a trend yet?), then did the same at Buzz. We split up for our final ride, with daughter #1 riding the Oribiter while daughter #2 and I rode People Mover. On our way out, we grabbed popcorn, sodas for the next day, and ice cream.
> 
> As expected, the worst part was the wait for a bus then the LONG ride back to the Beach Club (we were the last of the 5 Epcot resorts to be dropped). We got to the bus stop right at midnight.
> 
> We've done AH events before, and this one was really good. I know it was because of low overall crowds and cooler weather that we had such a good night, but when it's this good, it's REALLY awesome!



Hey, just wondering if they let you in at 7, or that was just when you arrived?  Thanks!


----------



## Moneypenny

proud_canadian said:


> Hey, just wondering if they let you in at 7, or that was just when you arrived?  Thanks!



We were there on Monday.  We walked from the Contemporary, arrived at 6:18 and went right in. I almost asked when they had started letting people in, but decided I didn't want to know because we'd just been in the room watching TV killing time and could have walked over earlier had we known we could get in so early.  I'd been hoping for a 6:30 or 6:45 entry time so was pleasantly surprised.


----------



## Vinsanity

Can anyone else give their experience on getting in early for MK DAH?  I've seen everything from 6pm to 6:18pm to "they wouldn't let us in until 7pm exactly"!

We are going in a couple of weeks, and if I can get in at 6 we will get there to do that.  Can anyone else comment on how early they were able to get in to MK DAH, if at all?  My FP planning is depending on it...


----------



## Iowamomof4

Vinsanity said:


> Can anyone else give their experience on getting in early for MK DAH?  I've seen everything from 6pm to 6:18pm to "they wouldn't let us in until 7pm exactly"!
> 
> We are going in a couple of weeks, and if I can get in at 6 we will get there to do that.  Can anyone else comment on how early they were able to get in to MK DAH, if at all?  My FP planning is depending on it...



I hear ya, but if getting in early is something you're really hoping for,  your very best bet is to be there by 6 but be prepared to wait. The most recent report we now have is that people were being let in BY 6:18 on Monday night. It can vary from one event to the next though, so the best most of us can do is   when asked, "What time will they let people in for MY event?!" Decide what is most important to you - being there right when they start letting people in or relaxing in comfort until you KNOW you can get in. Then arrive at the appropriate time.  I would make fastpasses at 6, 7, and 8, or 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30 if it wouldn't let me make one at 8 for some reason. BUT, I'd make that first fastpass my least important one just in case.


----------



## Vinsanity

Iowamomof4 said:


> I hear ya, but if getting in early is something you're really hoping for,  your very best bet is to be there by 6 but be prepared to wait. The most recent report we now have is that people were being let in BY 6:18 on Monday night. It can vary from one event to the next though, so the best most of us can do is   when asked, "What time will they let people in for MY event?!" Decide what is most important to you - being there right when they start letting people in or relaxing in comfort until you KNOW you can get in. Then arrive at the appropriate time.  I would make fastpasses at 6, 7, and 8, or 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30 if it wouldn't let me make one at 8 for some reason. BUT, I'd make that first fastpass my least important one just in case.



Yeah, we currently have a FP for 5:30-6:30pm (which works until 6:45pm).  It's for meeting Mickey right in Town Square to the right side when you enter.  So we would probably need to be let in by like 6:35 to be safe.  Not sure if that will happen or not...


----------



## 2vets

Lsdolphin said:


> Going tomorrow night ...looks like it’s going to rain...yuck


We'll be there as well - not that this matters, but if you want to feel better, look at the hourly forecasts on weather.com.  At least it won't be terribly cold!


----------



## Kricketnp

We were also there on Monday and it was probably the highlight of our trip! We entered the park around 7 and headed straight to Tomorrowland. We rode the People Mover and Buzz before 8. Once 8 struck, we hit up the Speedway, the Teacups, Pooh, Peter Pan, and Small World in just over an hour. We slowed down a bit but still hit Thunder Mountain, Pirates, Dumbo 2x, Space Mountain, a photo op in front of the castle, and the Tangled photo op in the remaining time. Our only mistake was believing the wait time and not getting on 7DMT. They told us it would be about 15 minutes at around 10:35 so we chose to do Space instead. We made our last snack stop at 10:50 and headed out. Rather than wait for a bus, we walked to the Contemporary and got a Lyft from there back to All-Star sports.

Overall, we got 3 Diet Cokes, 2 Waters, and a Sprite, as well as 2 popcorns and a Mickey Bar.


----------



## Vinsanity

Kricketnp said:


> We were also there on Monday and it was probably the highlight of our trip! We entered the park around 7 and headed straight to Tomorrowland. We rode the People Mover and Buzz before 8. Once 8 struck, we hit up the Speedway, the Teacups, Pooh, Peter Pan, and Small World in just over an hour. We slowed down a bit but still hit Thunder Mountain, Pirates, Dumbo 2x, Space Mountain, a photo op in front of the castle, and the Tangled photo op in the remaining time. Our only mistake was believing the wait time and not getting on 7DMT. They told us it would be about 15 minutes at around 10:35 so we chose to do Space instead. We made our last snack stop at 10:50 and headed out. Rather than wait for a bus, we walked to the Contemporary and got a Lyft from there back to All-Star sports.
> 
> Overall, we got 3 Diet Cokes, 2 Waters, and a Sprite, as well as 2 popcorns and a Mickey Bar.



Is 7 the earliest they would let you in?  Or is that just when you happened to get there?


----------



## Kricketnp

Vinsanity said:


> Is 7 the earliest they would let you in?  Or is that just when you happened to get there?



That's just when we happened to get there.


----------



## Ashleybs

If the park officially closes at 9pm and the event does not start until 10pm what do you do between then, just walk around?


----------



## MinnieMSue

Ashleybs said:


> If the park officially closes at 9pm and the event does not start until 10pm what do you do between then, just walk around?



they will most likely extend park closing to 10pm- that’s what has usually (always?) happened. We were supposed to have an hour gap on our 2/3 date but they extended park hours another hour to eliminate the gap


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Ashleybs said:


> If the park officially closes at 9pm and the event does not start until 10pm what do you do between then, just walk around?



PP is correct, MK Disney After Hours and Villains After Hours has historically not operated with a “gap” in park close and event time.  Any date that has had as such on the calendar eventually has had its closing time extended. 

DAK DAH does operate with a gap sometimes so there is precedent there, but not at MK.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Seems like a quiet DAH night at the MK, at least judging from wait times on the app.


----------



## Iowamomof4

I wonder how much of an impact ROTR is having on DAH and VAH ticket sales? I know we're sort of planning to hit DAH on April 27, but we're also waiting to purchase our tickets until the day before because we might think ROTR is just so amazing that we want to give up DAH to have more time to ride it in the morning. I mean, lots could change between now and then, but if I were on my trip right now it'd be a tough call between late nights at MK vs those early mornings at DHS to acquire a boarding group.


----------



## Matt961

We just left tonight. Those wait times seem to be set right after the event starts and never change much at all. For example Pooh was set at 15 minutes and there was no one in line. Then SDMT was set at 15 and the line was backed up outside.

This is probably too high of expectations but the park felt a lot more crowded than I expected after seeing other pics.  Certain areas were dead like Storybook and Adventureland. But fantasy and tomorrow lands seemed to be “crowded”.  I had seen some pics of Main Street being empty but certainly not that way tonight. Maybe I didn’t stay long enough after 11 but expected it to be just a little different. Would have stayed a little longer but we were exhausted from getting up at 4am for our flight today.

Don’t get me wrong we walked on pretty much everything. SDMT being the longest wait at around 10 minutes after we waited until later in the night.

We had an absolute blast and will definitely do it our next trip. Counting rides that we were able to ride multiple times we rode 20 times. Hit all the big rides except PoC and JC. 

Here is a pic of Main Street as I walked out right at 11.


----------



## Lsdolphin

Tonite’s MK DAH was fabulous!!! A tiny bit of rain...we walked onto everything with either no wait or a few min. No lines at ice cream/drink carts and low attendance or at least it seemed low to us.


----------



## MickeyMouse55

Tonight’s MKAH was AWESOME! We got to do everything we wanted and multiple times at that. While some areas felt crowded the rides were not. Space Mountain said 10 minutes all night and it was basically walk on. I’m a huge after hours fan after tonight


----------



## KandyM

Last night was a Villain’s AH wasn’t it?


----------



## Matt961

KandyM said:


> Last night was a Villain’s AH wasn’t it?



Just a regular AH last night.


----------



## frjohnk

Half my crew did after hours last night.
After fireworks did 
BTMR x4
Pirates
PP
SDMTx3
Speedway
Space Mountain
Buzz x2

we did SDMTin the last hour back to back. 
10 minute wait. 
3 minute wait. 
walk on.
There was a considerable line at the beginning so we went to Pirates and then rode Big Thunder 4x.
Guzzled pop, ate a bunch of ice cream. 3 bathroom breaks.  We kept a pretty good pace.
What a wonderful event. A great way to end our trip.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Matt961 said:


> We just left tonight. Those wait times seem to be set right after the event starts and never change much at all. For example Pooh was set at 15 minutes and there was no one in line. Then SDMT was set at 15 and the line was backed up outside.
> 
> This is probably too high of expectations but the park felt a lot more crowded than I expected after seeing other pics.  Certain areas were dead like Storybook and Adventureland. But fantasy and tomorrow lands seemed to be “crowded”.  I had seen some pics of Main Street being empty but certainly not that way tonight. Maybe I didn’t stay long enough after 11 but expected it to be just a little different. Would have stayed a little longer but we were exhausted from getting up at 4am for our flight today.
> 
> Don’t get me wrong we walked on pretty much everything. SDMT being the longest wait at around 10 minutes after we waited until later in the night.
> 
> We had an absolute blast and will definitely do it our next trip. Counting rides that we were able to ride multiple times we rode 20 times. Hit all the big rides except PoC and JC.
> 
> Here is a pic of Main Street as I walked out right at 11.
> View attachment 470073



Thanks for the report. 

For others new to the event or just reading along, I would suggest that your end of the night crowd on Main Street experience is relatively normal for a Disney After Hours event.  I've made the comment before that if you stick around until the end and watch the flow of people leaving down Main Street, you realize just in fact how many people were in the MK and how good MK is at absorbing large numbers of people in its numerous rides and further corners of the park.  When the event ends and everyone leaves all at once, it's like "oh wow, there's more people here than I expected."  

Glad it sounds like you had an enjoyable - but long - day.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

frjohnk said:


> Half my crew did after hours last night.
> After fireworks did
> BTMR x4
> Pirates
> PP
> SDMTx3
> Speedway
> Space Mountain
> Buzz x2
> 
> we did SDMTin the last hour back to back.
> 10 minute wait.
> 3 minute wait.
> walk on.
> There was a considerable line at the beginning so we went to Pirates and then rode Big Thunder 4x.
> Guzzled pop, ate a bunch of ice cream. 3 bathroom breaks.  We kept a pretty good pace.
> What a wonderful event. A great way to end our trip.



Hope the ones dealing with the cold bug in your group are doing better today.   Thanks for the DAH report.


----------



## Ashleybs

What attractions are NOT open during the after hours event?


----------



## cakebaker

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Thanks for the report.
> 
> For others new to the event or just reading along, I would suggest that your end of the night crowd on Main Street experience is relatively normal for a Disney After Hours event.  I've made the comment before that if you stick around until the end and watch the flow of people leaving down Main Street, you realize just in fact how many people were in the MK and how good MK is at absorbing large numbers of people in its numerous rides and further corners of the park.  When the event ends and everyone leaves all at once, it's like "oh wow, there's more people here than I expected."
> 
> Glad it sounds like you had an enjoyable - but long - day.



That was exactly my experience last year. The park felt very empty. We waited till later in the night to ride SDMT and had virtually no waits on anything. No lines for snacks and some parts we walked through were so empty, it actually spooked my 7 yr old grandson a little. He had never been in a park so empty and quiet. lol

We stayed until almost close and when we were leaving, all these people came pouring out and I wondered then where did they come from!


----------



## Matt961

cakebaker said:


> That was exactly my experience last year. The park felt very empty. We waited till later in the night to ride SDMT and had virtually no waits on anything. No lines for snacks and some parts we walked through were so empty, it actually spooked my 7 yr old grandson a little. He had never been in a park so empty and quiet. lol
> 
> We stayed until almost close and when we were leaving, all these people came pouring out and I wondered then where did they come from!



Funny you mention spooky. We went to the restrooms between Splash and BTM and it was so quiet and no one was back there. Really creepy. Could also hear the workers using grinders doing the Splash refurb.


GADisneyDad14 said:


> Thanks for the report.
> 
> For others new to the event or just reading along, I would suggest that your end of the night crowd on Main Street experience is relatively normal for a Disney After Hours event.  I've made the comment before that if you stick around until the end and watch the flow of people leaving down Main Street, you realize just in fact how many people were in the MK and how good MK is at absorbing large numbers of people in its numerous rides and further corners of the park.  When the event ends and everyone leaves all at once, it's like "oh wow, there's more people here than I expected."
> 
> Glad it sounds like you had an enjoyable - but long - day.



Yeah it really does absorb the crowds well. After getting some sleep and going back through our list of rides we hit 13 different rides for a total of 20 times. At one point at the end of the night, the CM running Barnstormer was basically begging us to ride it a 4th time after not even getting out of the car the 3 previous loops.
This will for sure be a must do event and possibly think of scheduling a return visit with the event occurring twice in one trip and doing both nights.
I really am afraid to talk it up to much because I don’t want any one else to know about it.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Matt961 said:


> I really am afraid to talk it up to much because I don’t want any one else to know about it.



It's sort of interesting - people have been saying "Disney will just ruin DAH like they do other hard ticket events by overselling them" since DAH started in 2016.  In some ways, they are arguably getting better over time as there are more events, more parks, and dates more spread throughout the year.  We haven't had an actual sell-out in awhile now.  

I always get a little nervous when we have a long run of "too good" conditions as seasons tend to morph/change experiences (eg, we're about to hit a heavy spring break time next month), but certainly positive reviews abound lately.


----------



## whodatdare

DO these events continue through the summer? We'll be there at the end of July. I'd love to take advantage of it!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

whodatdare said:


> DO these events continue through the summer? We'll be there at the end of July. I'd love to take advantage of it!



You can see historical dates on the chart on Post #13 - https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898158

There were DAHs in summer 2018..... then last summer they had Villains After Hours.  TBD what they do this year.


----------



## whodatdare

GADisneyDad14 said:


> You can see historical dates on the chart on Post #13 - https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898158
> 
> There were DAHs in summer 2018..... then last summer they had Villains After Hours.  TBD what they do this year.


Thank you!


----------



## Daffodilmom21

CJN said:


> We generally don’t make plans for anything before noon the next day. If we do get up and around earlier we consider it bonus time. Next trip we‘re doing two DAHs and have our DHS days scheduled the day before each of them.


Unfortunately I have 2 days to myself prior to a conference I have to attend during the mornings the 3rd week of March. Not going to complain too much, if it wasn’t for that conference I would not be going to DW in March, we were just there in September. My first night I will be going to DAH at MK which is scheduled to 1am. I have plans of going to HS the next morning and trying to get myself a abG for RiSE but I only have to worry about myself getting up, will nap in the afternoon for a bit but will make up my sleep during my meetings later in the week. 
When I went with family in September we did MNSSHP, the next day we had nothing planned until noon. We were out and about sooner but definitely could have slept longer if it wasn’t for a 5 year old


----------



## Daffodilmom21

GADisneyDad14 said:


> It's sort of interesting - people have been saying "Disney will just ruin DAH like they do other hard ticket events by overselling them" since DAH started in 2016.  In some ways, they are arguably getting better over time as there are more events, more parks, and dates more spread throughout the year.  We haven't had an actual sell-out in awhile now.
> 
> I always get a little nervous when we have a long run of "too good" conditions as seasons tend to morph/change experiences (eg, we're about to hit a heavy spring break time next month), but certainly positive reviews abound lately.


Speaking of Spring break crowds... I have a ticket for AH for March 23rd, CL predictions for that day have MK, well practically all of DW, at a 10. How does the crowd levels affect DAH?  I only have my AH time for MK this trip, I will be in on business so thought AH would be my best bet for MK. We were there in September and went to a MNSSHP and the crowds were pretty bad. Now I will be by myself with no stroller and no one else to keep up with but wondering what to expect crowd wise


----------



## SamFaniam

Daffodilmom21 said:


> will make up my sleep during my meetings later in the week.


----------



## Little E

@Daffodilmom21 I'm wondering the exact same thing!  We have tickets for DAH on 3/30.  We have never done a WDW trip over spring break before, and we have never done a DAH event.  We certainly recognize that crowds will be high due to spring break season, but we are hoping that crowds are low for the DAH event.  Keeping finger crossed!


----------



## CJN

Daffodilmom21 said:


> Speaking of Spring break crowds... I have a ticket for AH for March 23rd, CL predictions for that day have MK, well practically all of DW, at a 10. How does the crowd levels affect DAH?  I only have my AH time for MK this trip, I will be in on business so thought AH would be my best bet for MK. We were there in September and went to a MNSSHP and the crowds were pretty bad. Now I will be by myself with no stroller and no one else to keep up with but wondering what to expect crowd wise



We’ll be there the same night and I’m trying to keep the speculating out of my head (but it’s not working ). We were lucky enough to attend the Nov 26th one when the attendance was crazy low. So we already know there will be a lot more people on this next one but still eagerly looking forward to it. See you there!


----------



## Castlequeen5

CJN said:


> We’ll be there the same night and I’m trying to keep the speculating out of my head (but it’s not working ). We were lucky enough to attend the Nov 26th one when the attendance was crazy low. So we already know there will be a lot more people on this next one but still eagerly looking forward to it. See you there!


We're going to that one too!  The only one we've been to at MK was the Villian's one last summer and it was pretty busy.  So I'm hoping this one has less people.  But I'm trying to keep my expectations to a minimum, then maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.  Either way, it should be way better than a regular day!


----------



## proud_canadian

For those that went on Friday, what time were you able to get in?  Was it before 7?


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

GADisneyDad14 said:


> It's sort of interesting - people have been saying "Disney will just ruin DAH like they do other hard ticket events by overselling them" since DAH started in 2016.  In some ways, they are arguably getting better over time as there are more events, more parks, and dates more spread throughout the year.  We haven't had an actual sell-out in awhile now.
> 
> I always get a little nervous when we have a long run of "too good" conditions as seasons tend to morph/change experiences (eg, we're about to hit a heavy spring break time next month), but certainly positive reviews abound lately.


I’ve been a bit worried about that too. I’m going to the Mardi Gras eve AH, and I’ve heard a lot about Mardi Gras drawing big crowds. I’ve been lucky enough to go to AH during busy times (spring break) as well as slower times and have seen how a busier time can back up the headliners a bit. Even if it’s sold out it’ll be better than any other regular day!


----------



## Drewmama

How many days in advance can you book fastpasses with an AH ticket?


----------



## cakebaker

Drewmama said:


> How many days in advance can you book fastpasses with an AH ticket?



Without an on site stay, 30 days.


----------



## reylas

cakebaker said:


> Without an on site stay, 30 days.



Wait a min, I did not know you could book FPs at all with an AH pass.   I thought there were no FPs on that pass at all?


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

reylas said:


> Wait a min, I did not know you could book FPs at all with an AH pass.   I thought there were no FPs on that pass at all?


You can. I booked FP’s for my parents that day and it’s their only park day.


----------



## reylas

But you are saying park day.   Did they only have AH tickets?   If so, I just learned something new.


----------



## Iowamomof4

reylas said:


> But you are saying park day.   Did they only have AH tickets?   If so, I just learned something new.


You may book fast passes on an after hours ticket.  You may only book one set of fast passes per day though. So for people who are doing a full park day plus after hours, they can't use that after hours ticket to "double dip" so to speak.


----------



## Lsdolphin

reylas said:


> But you are saying park day.   Did they only have AH tickets?   If so, I just learned something new.



you can only book fast passes with a DAH ticket from the time that ticket allows you to enter park until official park closing. You can’t make a fast pass for a time during the actual Disney after Hours event.  And you can’t book fast passes with both your regular park ticket in addition to a DAH ticket. Only allowed one set of 3 fast passes per day.


----------



## ENJDisneyFan

Lsdolphin said:


> you can only book fast passes with a DAH ticket from the time that ticket allows you to enter park until official park closing


Technically the system will let you book FP any time during the day, but you obviously wouldn’t be able to use any that are earlier than the DAH entry time.


----------



## MinnieMSue

We did after hours at MK 2/3 and had a great time!  We watched Happily Ever After and then started riding. We did everything we wanted to do with pretty much immediate walk on. We skipped Dumbo, teacups, Jungle Cruise astro orbiter carousel. We didn’t do any show attractions. We did everything else once. Only ride we were alone on was Magic carpets. Worth every penny


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

reylas said:


> But you are saying park day.   Did they only have AH tickets?   If so, I just learned something new.


Yes, they only have AH tickets.


----------



## Drewmama

It's my understanding that there is no need for a regular park ticket.  You can get FP for the time you can enter (7p) to the regular closing time (9p).  You cannot book FP for the actual AH event (10p-1a).


----------



## Markal

Little E said:


> @Daffodilmom21 I'm wondering the exact same thing!  We have tickets for DAH on 3/30.  We have never done a WDW trip over spring break before, and we have never done a DAH event.  We certainly recognize that crowds will be high due to spring break season, but we are hoping that crowds are low for the DAH event.  Keeping finger crossed!



That is the same week we will be there. i haven’t purchased tickets yet, but we are looking at 3/30. My husband will be attending a conference so it makes sense for him to go as his days will be limited. Following the thread to help me decide.


----------



## Mango7100

Daffodilmom21 said:


> Speaking of Spring break crowds... I have a ticket for AH for March 23rd, CL predictions for that day have MK, well practically all of DW, at a 10. How does the crowd levels affect DAH?  I only have my AH time for MK this trip, I will be in on business so thought AH would be my best bet for MK. We were there in September and went to a MNSSHP and the crowds were pretty bad. Now I will be by myself with no stroller and no one else to keep up with but wondering what to expect crowd wise


We went last year over our Spring Break (Mid March and same week as Orlando schools had off), and DAH swas much less crowded than a MNSSHP. We were literally the only people around Barnstormer/Dumbo.  Mine train had been down for the first 2 hrs, so we ended up waiting 25 min. Other than that—walk on all the rides. Doing it again this Spring Break!


----------



## ninafeliz

We did DAH 2/3.  They let us in around maybe 6:50, not very early.  Our tickets wouldn’t read on our mbs so we got to stand in line at GR for a while, and I was told that we have too much stuff of our MDE account and it’s causing problems that I’ll have to address sooner rather than later.  We made it to our first FP with 1 min to spare, and here’s the rest of the night.


Jungle cruise FP
POTC FP
HEA from Frontierland in front of pecos Bills 
HM FP
IASW off at 9:02
Little mermaid
Barnstormer
Dumbo
Mickey bars
Teacups
Speedway
Buzz x3 stayed on once
Peoplemover
Astro orbiter 
Space mountain right side
Space mt left side - I like right side better 
Ice cream 
Pooh
Peter Pan
BTMRR x 3 stayed on last time
photopass photo on main st

shared bus to CR, TTC, Poly, and GF in that order, back to our room at GF 1:00 on the dot.

it was a great night, no lines for anything; pretty much all were just walk ons. Right at the beginning PP and SDMT had long lines, but later they didn’t. We skipped SDMT b/c we were running short in time and have ridden a ton from previous EMMs, but at 11:30 it looked like a short or no line. It was 54 degrees according to my watch when it ended, but it didn’t feel as cold as it had felt the night before at the frozen dessert party in Epcot! 

I’ve done this twice now and villains once, and I much prefer this.  No frills, lots of rides, no crowds, no lines.  Not trying to fit in a show, no loud dj, just the MK almost to yourselves.  That’s pretty magical the way it is.


----------



## jdd

So excited I found this thread, and just bought our tickets for the 2/24 event!  Great deal with the passholder rate - I can probably eat that much in Mickey bars     It would be better if Splash was open, wonder if they ever finish the rehabs early?  It's scheduled to reopen on the 27th...


----------



## Sydnerella

Little E said:


> @Daffodilmom21 I'm wondering the exact same thing!  We have tickets for DAH on 3/30.  We have never done a WDW trip over spring break before, and we have never done a DAH event.  We certainly recognize that crowds will be high due to spring break season, but we are hoping that crowds are low for the DAH event.  Keeping finger crossed!


We are going the same night and hoping for the same thing! Enjoy!


----------



## mrs705

Is it worth it?  We are doing two days at MK but thinking of also doing the Disney Villains After Hours. We have a pool day scheduled for the next day so figure we would be up to stay late at the park. What did everyone that went think about it?


----------



## Matt961

mrs705 said:


> Is it worth it?  We are doing two days at MK but thinking of also doing the Disney Villains After Hours. We have a pool day scheduled for the next day so figure we would be up to stay late at the park. What did everyone that went think about it?



Absolutely worth it to us. Riding so many rides at MK really allowed us to take it easy during our other MK days.We just did whatever the kids felt like on the MK days because they had ridden almost everything during AH. We didn’t have to rush from ride to ride trying to get it all in. Will be doing it again next trip if it’s available.


----------



## nkereina

I purchased DAH tickets for April this morning. I received the email with the barcode, but I'm not seeing them anywhere in MDE and I know I was logged in when I purchased them. Should the tickets be viewable and linked somewhere in MDE? Will I need to present the barcode from the email for them to scan or can I use my magic band? If they need the barcode, will they be able to scan it from my phone? Thanks!


----------



## ShelleyLovesOrlando

We'll be attending Monday February 10th, 4th year in a row. Can't wait!!!


----------



## Katie1174

nkereina said:


> I purchased DAH tickets for April this morning. I received the email with the barcode, but I'm not seeing them anywhere in MDE and I know I was logged in when I purchased them. Should the tickets be viewable and linked somewhere in MDE? Will I need to present the barcode from the email for them to scan or can I use my magic band? If they need the barcode, will they be able to scan it from my phone? Thanks!


When you purchase them online they should show up automatically in the ticket section of MDE. When you go into  ‘ my disney experience’ then your plans and tickets,  part way down under ‘my plans, reservations and tickets’ you will see a tab that says ‘tickets and memory maker’
all of your tickets should show up in this section, park tickets and any AH tickets you buy.
as long as they are in there, you should be good to go using your magic band for entry. I would bring the email just in case though.


----------



## SoosieQ

Can't wait to do this event for the first time on 4/5.  I think I will like it better then MNSSHP that we did this past fall because I can focus on rides and not worry about doing the party exclusive things.


----------



## twinprincesses09

SoosieQ said:


> Can't wait to do this event for the first time on 4/5.  I think I will like it better then MNSSHP that we did this past fall because I can focus on rides and not worry about doing the party exclusive things.


We will be there 4/5 too!  It's the first time for us doing any special ticket events. This is a short trip, and we are only doing the AH at MK on 4/5 and AK on 4/7 because we didn't want to deal with the spring break crowds during the day.


----------



## Mollymovacca

Wait times for villians tonight have looked pretty good!! While I think we were the only ones, we loved villians last summer! If your there hope your having a magical time!!!!


----------



## jen7233

ninafeliz said:


> We did DAH 2/3. They let us in around maybe 6:50, not very early. Our tickets wouldn’t read on our mbs so we got to stand in line at GR for a while, and I was told that we have too much stuff of our MDE account and it’s causing problems that I’ll have to address sooner rather than later. We made it to our first FP with 1 min to spare, and here’s the rest of the night.


Hi, was there a separate line for guests to enter doing DAH? How early did you try to enter park before having to stand in the GR line and get things sorted?

I have a first FP for 620-720 pm, seems doable hoping to enter the park at 645.


----------



## MinnieMSue

Mollymovacca said:


> Wait times for villians tonight have looked pretty good!! While I think we were the only ones, we loved villians last summer! If your there hope your having a magical time!!!!



Mae loved it last year too and we went the first night when it was packed with Bloggers


----------



## ninafeliz

jen7233 said:


> Hi, was there a separate line for guests to enter doing DAH? How early did you try to enter park before having to stand in the GR line and get things sorted?
> 
> I have a first FP for 620-720 pm, seems doable hoping to enter the park at 645.


They had a separate area to enter, maybe 4 or 5 sets of the tapstyles.  It was clearly marked, there was a CM holding an After Hours sign and a few lines of people waiting. They didn’t let us in until I would say 6:50, and we got out of the GR line with literally just enough time to walk super fast to Jungle Cruise and tap in at 7:24- our FP expired at 7:25 and we had some multiple experience FPs we didn’t want to lose so we couldn’t tap in late and use the grace period. 

 Without the hang up going in a FP window that ended at 7:20 would have be easy, and you even have the 15 min grace period.


----------



## ninafeliz

here is the sign they held, and above the tap styles said something like event entrance.  I took this photo at 6:49, and we weren’t being let in yet on 2/3.


----------



## tinabina919

Looking back historically, the week before Thanksgiving could have AH and MVMCP?

If so how do the wait times compare? I had an amazing time at AH a few weeks ago, rode 21 rides total including Mine Train 5x.

Can I get anywhere near that at a Christmas Party???


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

tinabina919 said:


> Looking back historically, the week before Thanksgiving could have AH and MVMCP?
> 
> If so how do the wait times compare? I had an amazing time at AH a few weeks ago, rode 21 rides total including Mine Train 5x.
> 
> Can I get anywhere near that at a Christmas Party???


I can't speak for the Christmas parties, but the Halloween party in August was completely slammed. No comparison to AH. It's way easier to knock out more rides during AH.


----------



## figmentfinesse

Any predictions as to what day of the week we may see AHs during the August Halloween party season? Having the hardest time trying to plan my dining for this Friday.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

figmentfinesse said:


> Any predictions as to what day of the week we may see AHs during the August Halloween party season? Having the hardest time trying to plan my dining for this Friday.



Always hard to predict, but going by past years trends:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898158

Seems like Thursdays are a reasonable guess for any DAH during the August and September party seasons.  

Of course, past performance doesn't always indicate future results.


----------



## jods

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Always hard to predict, but going by past years trends:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898158
> 
> Seems like Thursdays are a reasonable guess for any DAH during the August and September party seasons.
> 
> Of course, past performance doesn't always indicate future results.


The week I'm there, MK has a 6 close on a Thursday  it's the first 6 close of the month.   Tuesday is my adr date and I have no clue lol. I want an AH or a party. I'm not picky lol.


----------



## ninafeliz

tinabina919 said:


> Looking back historically, the week before Thanksgiving could have AH and MVMCP?
> 
> If so how do the wait times compare? I had an amazing time at AH a few weeks ago, rode 21 rides total including Mine Train 5x.
> 
> Can I get anywhere near that at a Christmas Party???


DAH is about rides, MVMCP is about the holiday experience.  If you really just want rides do AH.  If you love Christmas but also want a few rides with shorter lines do the party.  The party will have some rides with overlays,  but those rides will also have longer lines than they would have without overlays.  MVMCP will have short lines for many things, but not as short as DAH (and not nearly as short in some ride cases).  It’s a trade off, just depends on what you are looking for.


----------



## cakebaker

tinabina919 said:


> Looking back historically, the week before Thanksgiving could have AH and MVMCP?
> 
> If so how do the wait times compare? I had an amazing time at AH a few weeks ago, rode 21 rides total including Mine Train 5x.
> 
> Can I get anywhere near that at a Christmas Party???



The Christmas Parties are wall to wall people. We quit doing both it and MNSSHP because we found them to be so crowded it was just miserable. I'll do AH's any time they're on the schedule though.


----------



## Where'sPiglet?

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Always hard to predict, but going by past years trends:  https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...m-faq-discussion-thread.3713652/post-59898158
> 
> Seems like Thursdays are a reasonable guess for any DAH during the August and September party seasons.
> 
> Of course, past performance doesn't always indicate future results.



I'm hoping they add some early August dates soon, and on Thursday would be nice!


----------



## Greenie2

twinprincesses09 said:


> We will be there 4/5 too!  It's the first time for us doing any special ticket events. This is a short trip, and we are only doing the AH at MK on 4/5 and AK on 4/7 because we didn't want to deal with the spring break crowds during the day.


We will be there then, too for VAH!  Can’t wait!  We already have our costumes!  My 14 year old won’t put his on until the event starts, so I guess we will have to use a locker rental until 10!


----------



## constanze

So looking at months historically---it looks like end of July won't have access to AH only the VAH? We'd only be booking to take advantage of the short lines for rides, is the VAH still a good option?


----------



## stace1214

Going to AH next Monday - thanks everyone for all the great info. I'm so excited. Going with just DH, first trip without kids!


----------



## jdd

stace1214 said:


> Going to AH next Monday - thanks everyone for all the great info. I'm so excited. Going with just DH, first trip without kids!


Same here, but we're going the week after (2/24).  Trip is for DH's birthday and the AH party is a surprise for him!


----------



## mla973

We'll be there 2/17 as well! It was supposed to be a relaxing, non-park trip, but I saw these tickets and couldn't pass them up. Our son doesn't know yet, so I'm super excited to surprise him. I hope we can stay up for the whole thing (we're not late night people as we get up early). 



stace1214 said:


> Going to AH next Monday - thanks everyone for all the great info. I'm so excited. Going with just DH, first trip without kids!


----------



## parsonm

We’re in Orlando next week and have the option of AH on Monday (02/17) or Villains on Friday (02/21). Our aim is to ride as much as possible, we’re not really interested in shows or parades and the marginal extra cost is fine.

The fact it’s Presidents Day on Monday is making me think it could be very busy for the first hour of AH and that Villains may be a better option as we’d stand more chance of getting stuff done between 7-9.

Does anyone have an opinion on the best night to go?

Thanks


----------



## ninafeliz

parsonm said:


> We’re in Orlando next week and have the option of AH on Monday (02/17) or Villains on Friday (02/21). Our aim is to ride as much as possible, we’re not really interested in shows or parades and the marginal extra cost is fine.
> 
> The fact it’s Presidents Day on Monday is making me think it could be very busy for the first hour of AH and that Villains may be a better option as we’d stand more chance of getting stuff done between 7-9.
> 
> Does anyone have an opinion on the best night to go?
> 
> Thanks


I’m not sure what to make of the fact that AH is on a holiday, but I’ve never heard of a busy AH and in general based on last year VAH will have more people (or at least feel like it) and have shortish lines instead of no lines- at least for the big rides or slow loading rides).  I’m thinking regular after hours would be your best bet for riding as much as possible with no lines, despite the holiday.  I’ll be interested to see if others agree or disagree with me!


----------



## jbish

Drewmama said:


> It's my understanding that there is no need for a regular park ticket.  You can get FP for the time you can enter (7p) to the regular closing time (9p).  You cannot book FP for the actual AH event (10p-1a).



Yes, this is correct.  You can book FPs for only the regular park hours.



twinprincesses09 said:


> We will be there 4/5 too!  It's the first time for us doing any special ticket events. This is a short trip, and we are only doing the AH at MK on 4/5 and AK on 4/7 because we didn't want to deal with the spring break crowds during the day.


 We're doing the same two AH events as you!  First time doing AH events.  We are going to do HS and EP with regular passes, but figured this would help us deal with the crazy Spring Break crowds for the week.  Still hoping to have a mostly walk-ons type of experience.  Here's to all of us getting that extra magic that week!


----------



## ninafeliz

I just read the first post because I was curious about a couple of things, and it jogged my memory of things to add from Monday Feb 3.  The tangled photo op was available and there were probably only 3-4 groups in line when I saw at at maybe 11:00-ish.  They also did do the kiss goodnight, and it was not long after MN when they did it.  Maybe 12:10-12:15 am, I don’t think it could have been later than 12:20 because we rode BTMRR right at mn and walked straight out afterwards, and we heard it while walking down main st.


----------



## twinprincesses09

I'm wanting to do some type of matching shirts for our AH visits at MK and AK.  Has anyone done any that they would like to share pictures of??


----------



## eeyoreandtink

We have decided we are adding DAH to our upcoming trip! We already had VAH booked, and after seeing the tweaks to the schedule for that event that launched Friday we realized we will be spending a lot of that event focused on villains entertainment. We have decided to add the March 30th DAH to focus on rides.


----------



## ShelleyLovesOrlando

Recap of our experience last night Feb 10th.
We have attended this event 4 years in a row and always in February, it's always been a Thursday from 8-11pm for us with the exception of this year being a Monday from 9-12am. I don't know what time they started letting people in as we are AP holders and arrived later than most.
Entered the park at 7:30pm and we rode:
Space Mountain
Tomorrowland Speedway
Peoplemover
Buzz Lightyear
Dumbo
Barnstormer
7DMN  (x2)
Journey of the Little Mermaid
Haunted Mansion (x2)
Pirates of the Caribbean
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
BTMR (x2)
We ate more popcorn and ice cream than any 2 adults should ever eat along the way.
IMO, last night was by far the best night we've ever had during DAH. Although we always have a great time, last night was amazing. The weather was perfect, the CMs were great and the other guests all seem to be there to have a good time and were kind, respectful and happy.
Crowds were non existent (probably the lowest we've seen since the 2017 event), you could happily stroll around, dance around or run around if you wished. We chose to casually stroll eating our treats and not rush from attraction to attraction (we easily could have fit in more rides if we wanted to). It truly was a magical night. We slowly made our way down Main street stopping for a couple of photos along the way and watched the Kiss Goodnight before exiting.
Oh! I have one teeny tiny complaint, for the first time in 8 Disney trips, I got a blister on my toe...Ouch.


----------



## MASNYC10023

That’s interesting as we went last night and waited wayyyy to long for 7DMT.  The kids were beyond disappointed that thunder mountain was down and I think that caused a longer line at 7DMT.  Kids and adults couldn’t understand why we could not use the fast pass lanes at space Mountain vs walking the entire entrance.  That’s seemed like something easy to fix!  By 11pm the less walking thr better!


----------



## ninafeliz

MASNYC10023 said:


> That’s interesting as we went last night and waited wayyyy to long for 7DMT.  The kids were beyond disappointed that thunder mountain was down and I think that caused a longer line at 7DMT.  Kids and adults couldn’t understand why we could not use the fast pass lanes at space Mountain vs walking the entire entrance.  That’s seemed like something easy to fix!  By 11pm the less walking thr better!


I agree about FP lines- I cannot figure out why they don’t use them and why they don’t consistently open the cutoffs so you can reride without walking the entire exit and entrance lines during events like these!  Some fp lines are used, it seems random to me and can sometimes change during the same event!


----------



## mrsxsparrow

I thought last night was definitely more crowded than when we went in early December 2018. The best comparison I could make was that 2018 seemed like a crazy exclusive event where I wasn't even sure I should be in the park, and last night felt more like what EMH used to be back when it was regularly midnight-3:00am. BTMRR was down as soon as we walked into the queue at the beginning of the event so that was a bummer, and we never made it all the way back there again.

Still, I thought it was another awesome event and worth every penny. Crowds lowered considerably in the last hour. We waited (too long) for a bus from Riviera and didn't arrive to the park until 7pm -- no lines to enter. After watching HEA and using (unnecessary) FP+'s on Jungle and Pirates, and getting kicked out of line at BTMRR at 9pm, we did the following:

Snack
Mansion
Small World (boat to ourselves)
Pan (FP queue was full, longest wait of the night)
Mermaid
Snack
Peoplemover
Buzz (did not see anyone else on ride)
Snack
Pooh
SDMT x2 (wait said 15 minutes but it was a walk-on -- though we did have to walk entire queue)
Walked Main Street
Barntormer x3 (train to ourselves, didn't get off)
Snack
Pan (did not see anyone else on ride or in line)
Mansion (only two other parties with us)
Snack

This event has become a must-do on our trips! My main suggestion is to definitely leave Fantasyland for the tail end of the night. Crowds dropped drastically.


----------



## jackieleanne

MASNYC10023 said:


> That’s interesting as we went last night and waited wayyyy to long for 7DMT.  The kids were beyond disappointed that thunder mountain was down and I think that caused a longer line at 7DMT.  Kids and adults couldn’t understand why we could not use the fast pass lanes at space Mountain vs walking the entire entrance.  That’s seemed like something easy to fix!  By 11pm the less walking thr better!



Did you do 7DMT earlier on in the night? When we did it I found at the start of the night Fantasyland still had leftover crowds left or was just the busier of the areas. We found leaving 7DMT until the last hour was best and we walked on, though we had to walk round all the queue for it.


----------



## ShelleyLovesOrlando

jackieleanne said:


> Did you do 7DMT earlier on in the night? When we did it I found at the start of the night Fantasyland still had leftover crowds left or was just the busier of the areas. We found leaving 7DMT until the last hour was best and we walked on, though we had to walk round all the queue for it.


We hit 7 Dwarves around 9:30-40 ish, wait time said 15mins but it was a walk on, just the time it took to get through the queue. We started the whole event in Tomorrowland and worked our way around with the plan on ending with Pirates but when we got to BTMRR it was down so we did Pirates and Aladdin then thought we'd backtrack to hit Peter Pan and Pooh (which we had skipped earlier) but on our way, I heard the BTMRR train running as it had just came back up so we skipped PP and Pooh to head back for Thunder Mountain, rode it twice in a row as a walk on both times. 
I don't know if we just got really lucky but we seemed to hit everything at the right times. Aside from the backtracking listed above (which was only because BTMRR was down) we did not criss cross the park at all, this seemed to work best for us, hitting all of our priority rides and then some others along the way, we did miss Splash of course but there's always next year.


----------



## eeyoreandtink

cakebaker said:


> The Christmas Parties are wall to wall people. We quit doing both it and MNSSHP because we found them to be so crowded it was just miserable. I'll do AH's any time they're on the schedule though.


The parties are a very different experience to be sure. If you goal is to ride with low crowds they are definitely not the event for you, but it you are after the holiday atmosphere and special parades and character meets, they are worth it. We enjoy both the parties and after hours events for very different reasons.


----------



## kungaloosh22

ninafeliz said:


> I’m not sure what to make of the fact that AH is on a holiday, but I’ve never heard of a busy AH and in general based on last year VAH will have more people (or at least feel like it) and have shortish lines instead of no lines- at least for the big rides or slow loading rides).  I’m thinking regular after hours would be your best bet for riding as much as possible with no lines, despite the holiday.  I’ll be interested to see if others agree or disagree with me!



I agree with this. I don't have direct experience with VAH, but have heard they're generally more crowded than regular AH. I DID debate whether to attend AH on Martin Luther King day because of the holiday, but it turned out to be wonderful. It was almost creepy how empty it was, but I'm not complaining! The only thing that even resembled a line was 7DMT. It was advertised as 20 minutes, but turned out to be a walk on. A bit later it was advertised as 25 minutes. That time it ended up being about a 10 minute wait. No wait at all anywhere else!


----------



## kylenne

ninafeliz said:


> I’m not sure what to make of the fact that AH is on a holiday, but I’ve never heard of a busy AH and in general based on last year VAH will have more people (or at least feel like it) and have shortish lines instead of no lines- at least for the big rides or slow loading rides).





kungaloosh22 said:


> I agree with this. I don't have direct experience with VAH, but have heard they're generally more crowded than regular AH.



I’m going to sound like a broken record about this but judging VAH attendance for this year based on last year doesn’t make sense for a lot of reasons. Last year was the first year, a surprise event with a very popular theme—villain fans are starved and will come out in droves for new villain stuff in the parks just because it’s so rare. It also had an extremely limited run, just a couple months over the summer, and replaced regular DAH. None of which is applicable this year and I’ve been saying since they announced the return that the sheer number of dates coupled with concurrent regular DAH at a lower price point will mean much lower crowds. Opening night of this year seemed to bear that out also, judging from reports on the VAH thread and the vlogs I saw. 

Anyway as someone who actually went last year, waits were still low relative to the average park day despite the higher crowds compared to DAH, and there were a number of nights that people reported very low crowds similar to regular DAH. It’s also worth noting that not every regular DAH has been smooth sailing either, but people somehow don’t warn folks off of it.

For someone who doesn’t care about the villain programming, VAH doesn’t make a lot of sense given the higher price tbh, but I would advise OP to do the event that makes most sense given their schedule. Skip VAH because you don’t care about the extras and the date doesn’t work, but don’t be terrified of crowds based on reports from last year with a totally different set of circumstances.


----------



## Iowamomof4

kylenne said:


> I’m going to sound like a broken record about this but judging VAH attendance for this year based on last year doesn’t make sense for a lot of reasons. Last year was the first year, a surprise event with a very popular theme—villain fans are starved and will come out in droves for new villain stuff in the parks just because it’s so rare. It also had an extremely limited run, just a couple months over the summer, and replaced regular DAH. None of which is applicable this year and I’ve been saying since they announced the return that the sheer number of dates coupled with concurrent regular DAH at a lower price point will mean much lower crowds. Opening night of this year seemed to bear that out also, judging from reports on the VAH thread and the vlogs I saw.
> 
> Anyway as someone who actually went last year, waits were still low relative to the average park day despite the higher crowds compared to DAH, and there were a number of nights that people reported very low crowds similar to regular DAH. It’s also worth noting that not every regular DAH has been smooth sailing either, but people somehow don’t warn folks off of it.
> 
> For someone who doesn’t care about the villain programming, VAH doesn’t make a lot of sense given the higher price tbh, but I would advise OP to do the event that makes most sense given their schedule. Skip VAH because you don’t care about the extras and the date doesn’t work, but don’t be terrified of crowds based on reports from last year with a totally different set of circumstances.


Well said!


----------



## jbish

Based on the reviews and data available from last year, it does not appear that they ran this event during the peak Spring Break week in 2019.  I know it's total speculation at this point, but any thoughts on what this event might look like this year?  They are running it on Sunday, April 5th, one week before Easter Sunday.  As of right now, the scheduled park close in 9 pm with the event starting at 10 pm.  Seems like there's room for a change in park hours - however, the most recent events have started one hour after official park close.  But still not super consistent on when there's the one hour break and when there isn't.  I'll be keeping an eye on the chart in post #3 to see if they start pushing back park close in March.  

Would just be curious as to anyone's thoughts on this - I know several posts here have mentioned they will be there on the 5th, which I don't think is sold out yet.  Hoping it will be a great night!


----------



## persnickity2020

jbish said:


> Based on the reviews and data available from last year, it does not appear that they ran this event during the peak Spring Break week in 2019.  I know it's total speculation at this point, but any thoughts on what this event might look like this year?  They are running it on Sunday, April 5th, one week before Easter Sunday.  As of right now, the scheduled park close in 9 pm with the event starting at 10 pm.  Seems like there's room for a change in park hours - however, the most recent events have started one hour after official park close.  But still not super consistent on when there's the one hour break and when there isn't.  I'll be keeping an eye on the chart in post #3 to see if they start pushing back park close in March.
> 
> Would just be curious as to anyone's thoughts on this - I know several posts here have mentioned they will be there on the 5th, which I don't think is sold out yet.  Hoping it will be a great night!



Park hours have been pushed to 10 for the spring break weeks in March, so I would think it's very likely to close at 10 for your date, as well!


----------



## Iowamomof4

jbish said:


> Based on the reviews and data available from last year, it does not appear that they ran this event during the peak Spring Break week in 2019.  I know it's total speculation at this point, but any thoughts on what this event might look like this year?  They are running it on Sunday, April 5th, one week before Easter Sunday.  As of right now, the scheduled park close in 9 pm with the event starting at 10 pm.  Seems like there's room for a change in park hours - *however, the most recent events have started one hour after official park close. * But still not super consistent on when there's the one hour break and when there isn't.  I'll be keeping an eye on the chart in post #3 to see if they start pushing back park close in March.
> 
> Would just be curious as to anyone's thoughts on this - I know several posts here have mentioned they will be there on the 5th, which I don't think is sold out yet.  Hoping it will be a great night!



I don't believe the bolded statement is true. Where are you getting that information? As far as I know, Magic Kingdom has never had a break between park close and the start of an after hours event.


----------



## eeyoreandtink

Just added March 30th after hours to our trip!


----------



## eeyoreandtink

Just added March 30th after hours to our trip!


Iowamomof4 said:


> I don't believe the bolded statement is true. Where are you getting that information? As far as I know, Magic Kingdom has never had a break between park close and the start of an after hours event.


It isn't. They have always left fireworks where they were, but shifted park close to line up with the start if the event,.


----------



## Iowamomof4

eeyoreandtink said:


> Just added March 30th after hours to our trip!
> 
> It isn't. They have always left fireworks where they were, but shifted park close to line up with the start if the event,.



That may be where the confusion is. Maybe the pp is seeing the fireworks time vs the start time of the event instead of the park close time.


----------



## jbish

Iowamomof4 said:


> I don't believe the bolded statement is true. Where are you getting that information? As far as I know, Magic Kingdom has never had a break between park close and the start of an after hours event.





Iowamomof4 said:


> That may be where the confusion is. Maybe the pp is seeing the fireworks time vs the start time of the event instead of the park close time.


Ah yes...you might be right about that.  I was looking at the chart and seeing HEA at 8 pm and the event starting at 9 pm in February.  But the March 2nd event starts at 9 pm and HEA is also at 9 pm.  Guess that would be worse as there would definitely be more people slowly making their way out of the park at the official start of the event.


----------



## constanze

kylenne said:


> ... but don’t be terrified of crowds based on reports from last year with a totally different set of circumstances.


Thank you for this! I haven't done this or DAH. But if Villians is all that will be offered when we're going, I'd like to give it a try to experience possible walk-on's to rides


----------



## lobolabo

Do you guys think AH will be offered in June or more dates for VAH? When would they announce them if they do? I looked at the charts, but I wanted to ask your opinions.


----------



## AndreaDM

lobolabo said:


> Do you guys think AH will be offered in June or more dates for VAH? When would they announce them if they do? I looked at the charts, but I wanted to ask your opinions.


 
I'm curious about this as well!


----------



## eeyoreandtink

lobolabo said:


> Do you guys think AH will be offered in June or more dates for VAH? When would they announce them if they do? I looked at the charts, but I wanted to ask your opinions.


VAH dates are already out through July. I don't know that they will add to them. They are consistently one a week. As far as regular AH, your guess is as good as mine. The only way I can see more VAH is if they replace regular AH and go to twice a week.


----------



## chaoskids

I don’t think they will add additional VAH in June but I’m hoping for some regular AH in June and July.


----------



## lobolabo

eeyoreandtink said:


> VAH dates are already out through July. I don't know that they will add to them. They are consistently one a week. As far as regular AH, your guess is as good as mine. The only way I can see more VAH is if they replace regular AH and go to twice a week.





chaoskids said:


> I don’t think they will add additional VAH in June but I’m hoping for some regular AH in June and July.



I’m really hoping they add some regular AH in June, which is why I asked. I’m not sure I want to do VAH on a Friday, but if that’s my only option I will.


----------



## ryman471

I am trying to get more info on the VAH in June. Do they normally just have one After hours event per week during the summer? I just dont want to be disappointing if they over-sell it and have lines. It seems it was oversold before? Does it have a good mix of kids at those hours, 10mp-1am? Will have my 10 year old daughter.


----------



## eliseisawkward

Reporting in from Monday’s experience:
Missed MK bus, but managed to catch one around 6:40, into MK a little after 7. First 3 rides used FP+

Space Mountain
7 Dwarves Mine Train
Saw fireworks and grabbed Starbucks
Buzz Ride
Peoplemover, got off at 9 exactly!
Grabbed ice cream and drinks in tomorrowland
Astro orbiter
Buzz
Teacups
Pooh
7 Dwarves Mine Train
Grabbed popcorn and drinks
Peter pan
(Husband rode small world while the rest of us stopped at tangled bathroom and then waited FOrEvER for him to be done)
Haunted mansion
Jungle cruise
More ice cream
Big thunder was finally back up (was down every time we looked earlier) so we managed to walk back quickly and get there at 11:53!
Walked out leisurely right to bus! Bus departed when full around 12:25.

edit: we also rode pirates at some point, but I forgot to add that! Checking my notes it was after jungle cruise before ice cream!


----------



## skippytx

We’re not going to VAH tonight, but I’m feeling bad for those that do. 7DMT has been down since like 3ish and it’s still down as of this post.


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

skippytx said:


> We’re not going to VAH tonight, but I’m feeling bad for those that do. 7DMT has been down since like 3ish and it’s still down as of this post.


7DMT was down during the last AH event I attended. It was a bummer, but there are so many rides at MK that it wasn't a huge deal. I could see it being more of a disappointment if that was the only time you could ride it during a trip though.


----------



## StacyStrong

Does anyone know if you can get the AP discount without your AP being active yet? (It’ll be active before the actual event).


----------



## SaintsManiac

StacyStrong said:


> Does anyone know if you can get the AP discount without your AP being active yet? (It’ll be active before the actual event).




Yes if you have a voucher linked in MDE you will get it. We did it last year.


----------



## StacyStrong

SaintsManiac said:


> Yes if you have a voucher linked in MDE you will get it. We did it last year.



Thanks. It kept telling me to link tickets (already linked). Probably just a moment of classic Disney IT issues.


----------



## Iowamomof4

StacyStrong said:


> Thanks. It kept telling me to link tickets (already linked). Probably just a moment of classic Disney IT issues.



I always have to sign in fresh to get it to display my AP pricing. If you've already tried that, you can try going incognito (or private browsing or whatever), try a different browser, or eventually you might just have to order over the phone. You shouldn't have any problem purchasing with an AP certificate/voucher.


----------



## cakebaker

Iowamomof4 said:


> I always have to sign in fresh to get it to display my AP pricing. If you've already tried that, you can try going incognito (or private browsing or whatever), try a different browser, or eventually you might just have to order over the phone. You shouldn't have any problem purchasing with an AP certificate/voucher.



You shouldn't, but some of us do. I have a linked voucher and can't see AP pricing or resort discounts. It has to do with how you linked your ticket to start with. I've always been able to see discount pricing before with a voucher, but not now. Lots of people have reported this issue as well. About all you can do is call to get the discount. For me, it's not a huge issue. My daughter has a voucher and can see the pricing so I just go through her account to buy. It's a real pain.


----------



## Iowamomof4

cakebaker said:


> You shouldn't, but some of us do. I have a linked voucher and can't see AP pricing or resort discounts. It has to do with how you linked your ticket to start with. I've always been able to see discount pricing before with a voucher, but not now. Lots of people have reported this issue as well. About all you can do is call to get the discount. For me, it's not a huge issue. My daughter has a voucher and can see the pricing so I just go through her account to buy. It's a real pain.



I meant if you call - that Disney wouldn't have any problem giving you the discount. I just meant to indicate that vouchers are definitely qualified to access special AP pricing on tickets like these. Sorry some people are having trouble getting it to show up online though. That would really stink.


----------



## cakebaker

StacyStrong said:


> Thanks. It kept telling me to link tickets (already linked). Probably just a moment of classic Disney IT issues.



It may be that you have to call to get the AP discount. Not everyone is able to see the AP pricing these days. I no longer can, my daughter can. I called and depending on who I talk to I get told that's the way it should work ( it's not) or my ticket shows as linked and I shouldn't have a problem ( but I do and they don't know how to fix it).


----------



## StacyStrong

Iowamomof4 said:


> I always have to sign in fresh to get it to display my AP pricing. If you've already tried that, you can try going incognito (or private browsing or whatever), try a different browser, or eventually you might just have to order over the phone. You shouldn't have any problem purchasing with an AP certificate/voucher.


Gah, I may have to call. I've tried everything to get it to work. Oh well.


----------



## katherine52478

At After Hours right now (2/17). It’s definitely more crowded than any other AH I have been to (January 2018, May 2019, Sept 2019). I’ve been in the Space Mountain line for 20 min already and we are still pretty far back. Seven Dwarves was 15 min and Peter Pan seems pretty backed up. Weather is perfect but not as many rides done as planned.


----------



## Drewmama

katherine52478 said:


> At After Hours right now (2/17). It’s definitely more crowded than any other AH I have been to (January 2018, May 2019, Sept 2019). I’ve been in the Space Mountain line for 20 min already and we are still pretty far back. Seven Dwarves was 15 min and Peter Pan seems pretty backed up. Weather is perfect but not as many rides done as planned.


Do you know if it was sold out?


----------



## Iowamomof4

Ouch. That's at 11:44 wdw time. Yikes.


----------



## katherine52478

I don’t know if it was sold out but it seems more crowded. Still in the Space Mountain line. There is a lot of stopping and waiting.


----------



## CJN

Iowamomof4 said:


> View attachment 474674
> 
> Ouch. That's at 11:44 wdw time. Yikes.



Hmmm. Those times are unacceptable for a DAH.


----------



## katherine52478

CJN said:


> Hmmm. Those times are unacceptable for a DAH.



I walked out of Space Mountain at 12:12! I took a picture when I walked in and it was 11:22 pm. So a 50 minute wait. Ugh.


----------



## Thecouch

long weekend i guess made it busier


----------



## cakebaker

katherine52478 said:


> I walked out of Space Mountain at 12:12! I took a picture when I walked in and it was 11:22 pm. So a 50 minute wait. Ugh.



That's really disappointing to hear. I've been to a sold out event before and it was not waits like that at all which makes me think they increased ticket sales- something that's always in the back of my mind with events like these. I'm hoping it's a one off because of the holiday. I'm going to be one very unhappy camper if it's like that for ours in March. I'd be talking to guest services if I were you. A 50 minute wait does not qualify as a "little wait time" like they advertise. I would expect it for the VAH, not a standard one.


----------



## CJN

Thecouch said:


> long weekend i guess made it busier



But Disney can’t use that as an excuse. Even if it’s sold out on a busy holiday weekend there’d better be a cap in place that keeps headliners well below the 45 minutes as shown in the above picture.


----------



## KandyM

We were there last night and it was not good.  Crowded, waits everywhere and waits of 45 - 50 minutes on mine train and space mountain.  Space was down over 30 min and big thunder down for 40ish minutes.  I’m really not happy with the price I paid for my family of five to attend.  We were tired and grumpy and just left the park at 12 without complaining.  Feeling sorry I did that, it’s actually caused me a pretty poor nights sleep thinking about the waste of cash!

is there an email I could send my thoughts to?  Or should I bother talking to the front desk at my hotel (ASMo) ?


----------



## stace1214

We were there last night and although we had a great time, it was definitely more crowded than I expected. It was our arrival day and our plane was delayed  We could not get there until 8 and still needed to grab a quick dinner.  From 8-11:30 we: watched HEA, ate at Cosmic Rays, Pirates, BTM, HM, Buzz, People Mover, Mickey’s Philharmagic, Peter Pan, SDMT. We saved Fantasyland until last, around 10:45. Longest wait was mine train at about 10 min, but the posted time said 45 min.    Honestly we could have done more, but were tired and ready to go.  At 11:30 the rest of Fantasyland was a walk on.  Although it was busier than I thought, I was happy with what we were able to do. For us, it was still worth the cost.


----------



## jbish

This is just disheartening to hear.  Between HS being packed to the gills and needing to wait 50 minutes for Space during MK DAH - what is going on?  Sure, it's a holiday, but this is not like some major holiday where everyone has more than just the one day off.  I know there are major areas of the country where they have this entire week off of school (MA) but, honestly, it's not Spring Break.  Man - I'm getting so nervous about actual Spring Break season - it's only going to get worse over the next 6 weeks!  @KandyM - I'll let someone who knows the actual answer to your question to weigh in.  There's certainly a Guest Relations email address, but I don't know how effective it is.  But I, too, am paying for my family of 5 and that is a LOT of money to spend when the whole point of us going to DAH was to try to avoid the massive crowds.


----------



## maryj11

KandyM said:


> We were there last night and it was not good.  Crowded, waits everywhere and waits of 45 - 50 minutes on mine train and space mountain.  Space was down over 30 min and big thunder down for 40ish minutes.  I’m really not happy with the price I paid for my family of five to attend.  We were tired and grumpy and just left the park at 12 without complaining.  Feeling sorry I did that, it’s actually caused me a pretty poor nights sleep thinking about the waste of cash!
> 
> is there an email I could send my thoughts to?  Or should I bother talking to the front desk at my hotel (ASMo) ?


Definitely voice your complaints. I’m not sure who to call or email though.


----------



## eeyoreandtink

I sincerely hope this is an anomaly and not how it works going forward. From the reports i am reading, the wait times posted were vastly inaccurate in a lot of cases. It seemed to really depend on where you were at what time as to how the experience went.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com


----------



## rileyz

I was there last night too and in addition to the already mentioned rides down, we were on the Jungle Cruise and had to get towed backwards to the dock when our boat ran out of gas.  Not really amusing when you have limited time to begin with.


----------



## rileyz

Drewmama said:


> Do you know if it was sold out?



They were still selling tickets when it started so I don’t think so.


----------



## focusondisney

jbish said:


> I know there are major areas of the country where they have this entire week off of school (MA) but, honestly, it's not Spring Break.



Actually many areas of the northeast have this week off.  All schools in our area are off.   Looks like NY  & Boston areas are all off too.   Spring break for our areas isn’t til later in April. So this is the week many people take to escape winter & hit WDW.  Traditional spring break weeks aren’t a travel time here.


----------



## persnickity2020

omg, why did I let my MIL talk us into a spring break trip?  It's sad how much stress this trip is causing.

SO sorry to everyone who had a disappointing experience last night, the holiday is really no excuse when the number of tickets should be limited so that the event is what is advertised.


----------



## Drewmama

rileyz said:


> They were still selling tickets when it started so I don’t think so.



I hope that last night's crowds and wait times were an anomaly.  We bought tickets for the 4/5 AH because of all the reviews saying that wait times were very short.  Hopefully, those who attended last night will voice their complaints to Disney.


----------



## jbish

Drewmama said:


> I hope that last night's crowds and wait times were an anomaly.  We bought tickets for the 4/5 AH because of all the reviews saying that wait times were very short.  Hopefully, those who attended last night will voice their complaints to Disney.


This is when we're going, too.


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

We’re going to the 2/24 AH which is also during a busy time (Mardi Gras week) so I will report back on crowds/wait times. So sorry to all that had a disappointing time last night!


----------



## proud_canadian

That's the thing.  Spring Break or not, Holiday weekend or not, Disney should have sold many less tickets so it never got to the point of 50 min waits during an AH event.  Very disappointing to read this.  Hopefully many people from last night write Disney and they see what type of backlash this will introduce and rethink the limit.


----------



## Iowamomof4

My current thought is that last night was an anomaly. Every once in awhile there is a night like last night where suddenly a perfect storm comes together and rides go down or it seems extra crowded or something else happens to just make people wonder where all the praise for the event even came from because those in attendance on that night did NOT have a magical time. I truly feel bad for anyone who happens upon one of those nights and the worst part is that you really can't predict which night will be great and which night will be bad, especially when the bad experience comes from one or two headliners having technical difficulties. If you did have a bad experience, and especially if your experience caused you to leave early, PLEASE email at the address @GADisneyDad14 posted earlier. Or, if you are headed back to MK today, stop in at guest services there to let them know about your experience last night. There's nothing they can do about the rides going down, but sometimes they will offer a partial refund or other recovery if they feel it is warranted based on your experience. As always, be polite.


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

proud_canadian said:


> That's the thing.  Spring Break or not, Holiday weekend or not, Disney should have sold many less tickets so it never got to the point of 50 min waits during an AH event.  Very disappointing to read this.  Hopefully many people from last night write Disney and they see what type of backlash this will introduce and rethink the limit.


I completely agree, but I can say from personal experience that AH events during our spring break trip were more crowded than January AH we did. They were still MUCH better than daytime crowds, but we definitely didn’t walk right on headliners or have a whole big thunder train to ourselves.


----------



## ninafeliz

The confusing part about this is that some people report having gone on a sold out night, and having no lines.  Others go on a non sold out night and have many lines.  I guess we should consider some aspect of just plain old bad luck - those with the lines had a whole night of wrong place, wrong time, and seem to have gotten stuck in a rut of moving around the park sort of "with" the crows, so to speak.  Because unless Disney is messing with the numbers, it shouldn't be possible to have a busy night if there have been sold out nights that weren't crowded and had no lines.  Even if it were held on Christmas Day, if they don't change what number is sold out, it shouldn't be any busier than a random non holiday Feb day if both are sold out. I'm at a loss of what to make of all of this.  I just know I went 2/3/20 and had no lines, I went to a VAH last summer and had 10-20 min lines for a lot of things early in the evening, and I went to one of the first MK DAH in 2016 (I think it was) and had no lines and hardly any people around at all, and I'm pretty sure we did another regular DAH somewhere in the middle that had no lines.    So my experience is still amazing with DAH, but I am so worried they will mess with this and add to the numbers until it really is too crowded and not worth the money.  It is expensive, but worth it to us if we can ride pretty much everything in 3 hrs.  If it moves to ride a few things in 3 hrs with 20-30 min lines for each, then it's no longer worth the money.


----------



## preemiemama

GADisneyDad14 said:


> wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com





KandyM said:


> We were there last night and it was not good.  Crowded, waits everywhere and waits of 45 - 50 minutes on mine train and space mountain.  Space was down over 30 min and big thunder down for 40ish minutes.  I’m really not happy with the price I paid for my family of five to attend.  We were tired and grumpy and just left the park at 12 without complaining.  Feeling sorry I did that, it’s actually caused me a pretty poor nights sleep thinking about the waste of cash!
> 
> is there an email I could send my thoughts to?  Or should I bother talking to the front desk at my hotel (ASMo) ?



You can certainly email them and voice your concerns. but I would encourage you to go to the front desk at the resort, or better yet guest relations at MK, and voice your concerns in person.  Particularly if you have a day or more left.  Complaints are always better in person.  As PPs have said, be polite and to the point.  It's not the CM's fault (certainly not the one you are complaining to) so don't take any frustration out on them.  Just let them know how the event didn't meet your expectations, especially for the amount of money you paid, in the nicest manner you can.


----------



## mla973

We attended the 2/17 After Hours event at MK. This was our first one, but we decided to book it because of the fabulous reviews I’ve read here. There were three of us, including DS9.
We’re ready early; decided to head out from SSR at 5:30 and wait at MK gates. Got to the bus stop and an MK bus pulled right up. Got through bag check, and they let us in about 6 pm. I had three FadtPasses booked, so we headed to Adventureland. Here’s a breakdown of what we did:
Pre-event: Jungle Cruise, POTC, Happily Ever After, Aladdin’s Magic Carpets, Frontierland Shooting Arcade
9 pm: Dumbo, Barnstormer, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, grabbed an ice cream bar and drink each
10 pm: Haunted Mansion, BTMR 2x
11pm: Tomorrowland Speedway, Mad Tea Party, SDMT 2x, Peter Pan’s Flight

Like others have mentioned, the posted weight times for the marquee attractions hovered around 45 minutes the entire time. We were on BTMR when it stopped twice, and then went down. Pooh went down as well. We finally just decided we wouldn’t be able to do Space Mountain or SDMT and happened to overhear another guest say the SDMT wait time was only 5 minutes, so we risked it, and it was about 8! In general, wait times were okay, we walked on a few things, but it was probably a 5-10 minute wait for most things. We had fun but were bummed we didn’t get to do more for the $129 price of the ticket. We bounced around a bit hoping some of the key wait times would go down. I’m on the fence if it was worth the $413 we paid.


----------



## cakebaker

ninafeliz said:


> The confusing part about this is that some people report having gone on a sold out night, and having no lines



The only explanation if they are not the same party is that they've increased the number of tickets they sell. If they've done that, it wouldn't have to be a sell out to have long lines and a near hour wait is a long line. I don't stand in those in the middle of the day. I'm going mid March and if I experience the lines that are being discussed here, I'll be at guest services asking for a refund of some kind. If they want to increase ticket sales, then need to amend the description. Really, really disappointed. I've been watching this since the first one we attended last year and wondered just when they'd mess this one up like they did the holiday parties.

A sold out event is a sold out event, regardless of what day it is. The crowd should still be at a level with little wait times. In my book, anything more than 20 minutes, and honestly, I think they ought to be virtual walk ons, is not acceptable to me.


----------



## cakebaker

KandyM said:


> We were there last night and it was not good.  Crowded, waits everywhere and waits of 45 - 50 minutes on mine train and space mountain.  Space was down over 30 min and big thunder down for 40ish minutes.  I’m really not happy with the price I paid for my family of five to attend.  We were tired and grumpy and just left the park at 12 without complaining.  Feeling sorry I did that, it’s actually caused me a pretty poor nights sleep thinking about the waste of cash!
> 
> is there an email I could send my thoughts to?  Or should I bother talking to the front desk at my hotel (ASMo) ?



Talk to guest services in person, preferably at the MK. I wouldn't wait until you get home. You can always email a follow up later.


----------



## ninafeliz

cakebaker said:


> The only explanation if they are not the same party is that they've increased the number of tickets they sell. If they've done that, it wouldn't have to be a sell out to have long lines and a near hour wait is a long line. I don't stand in those in the middle of the day. I'm going mid March and if I experience the lines that are being discussed here, I'll be at guest services asking for a refund of some kind. If they want to increase ticket sales, then need to amend the description. Really, really disappointed. I've been watching this since the first one we attended last year and wondered just when they'd mess this one up like they did the holiday parties.
> 
> A sold out event is a sold out event. The crowd should still be at a level with little wait times. In my book, anything more than 20 minutes, and honestly, I think they ought to be virtual walk ons, is not acceptable to me.


I agree, except if you read reviews most people report no lines, and some report longer lines.  I honestly can'r remember specifics, such as examples of a night where some people say no lines and others report terrible lines, but I seem to recall at least a few examples of these.  Which is why I mentioned some people just being in the "wrong place at the wrong time" pretty much all night - explaining their terrible event reviews while others report it being great.  There's also differences in perception - some people's no lines are others too long lines for this event, and they could both be talking about an actual (timed) 5 min wait.  I am going to say there should never be 20 min waits during this event, at least after the regular guests are out of the lines on the big rides.  

Having said that, i am concerned that they are slowly creeping up the amount of tickets that they are selling, so a sold out night last year would not equal a sold out night this year, and that could continue on until they mess it up like they have other events (looking at Halloween and Christmas parties for sure).  I also wonder if the number of tickets sold is a static number, or if it could change based on variables we aren't aware of?  In other words, if one sold out night is not the same as another sold out night, or one sold out night could actually have sold less tickets than another non sold out night?  That would explain the differences in lines and reviews night to night.  

I have no idea, I'm just hoping this stays the amazing event it's been the 3 times we've gone!


----------



## sandam1

My friend and I have tickets for next Monday. Shows are HEA is at 8 p.m. and OUAT is at 8:45 p.m. - both of which we want to see as these are our only Disney tickets for this trip (we are staying at Universal). Any thoughts on what is the best use of our very limited FP time? There were no FPs available for the Mine Train, Big Thunder or Peter Pan. Splash is still under refurb and neither one of us do Space. Right now I have Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion. I also want to see Philaharmagic (I love this show) and I was thinking that swapping one of my FPs for that might be a good idea. 

Thoughts? Suggestions?


----------



## Sandiz08

Thanks for all the reviews, sounds like it’s too much of a gamble for all the extra money it would cost our family to do this.


----------



## ninafeliz

sandam1 said:


> My friend and I have tickets for next Monday. Shows are HEA is at 8 p.m. and OUAT is at 8:45 p.m. - both of which we want to see as these are our only Disney tickets for this trip (we are staying at Universal). Any thoughts on what is the best use of our very limited FP time? There were no FPs available for the Mine Train, Big Thunder or Peter Pan. Splash is still under refurb and neither one of us do Space. Right now I have Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion. I also want to see Philaharmagic (I love this show) and I was thinking that swapping one of my FPs for that might be a good idea.
> 
> Thoughts? Suggestions?


Do FPs for rides that are longer, since they take so much time during DAH.  DAH is better for quick rides, like BTMRR, SM (except for the long queues in those, ugh), SDMT, Barnstormer, etc. JC is a good one, so is HM, in fact those were 2 of ours.  Our third was POTC.  If you want to see Philharmagic, that is longer and I doubt you need a FP, but it would be good to see before DHA starts if you can fit it in. IASW is longer also.


----------



## katherine52478

ninafeliz said:


> I agree, except if you read reviews most people report no lines, and some report longer lines.  I honestly can'r remember specifics, such as examples of a night where some people say no lines and others report terrible lines, but I seem to recall at least a few examples of these.  Which is why I mentioned some people just being in the "wrong place at the wrong time" pretty much all night - explaining their terrible event reviews while others report it being great.  There's also differences in perception - some people's no lines are others too long lines for this event, and they could both be talking about an actual (timed) 5 min wait.  I am going to say there should never be 20 min waits during this event, at least after the regular guests are out of the lines on the big rides.
> 
> Having said that, i am concerned that they are slowly creeping up the amount of tickets that they are selling, so a sold out night last year would not equal a sold out night this year, and that could continue on until they mess it up like they have other events (looking at Halloween and Christmas parties for sure).  I also wonder if the number of tickets sold is a static number, or if it could change based on variables we aren't aware of?  In other words, if one sold out night is not the same as another sold out night, or one sold out night could actually have sold less tickets than another non sold out night?  That would explain the differences in lines and reviews night to night.
> 
> I have no idea, I'm just hoping this stays the amazing event it's been the 3 times we've gone!



I’m one of those ones who mentioned the long lines last night. I’m an AP holder and this is my 4th trip since May 2019. It’s also my 4th AH event and I’ve done the Halloween party too!

There were definitely areas that were “walk-on” and a ghost town. Mostly around Adventureland and some of Frontierland. We got on Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Small World without waits. For BTMR, we were backed up to the top of the ramp with one side running. Wasn’t too bad but wasn’t walk on as I’ve had in the past. Peter Pan was too long for my liking although it might have only been 10 min or so. SDMT was posted as 45 min but the cast member out front said 10 min only. We had to go through the standby line which I haven’t had to do in previous AH. I usually get right into the main room.

My sister did Tiki Room and Buzz without any waits.It was Space Mountain where the main issue of long lines occurred for me. Also, the food and drink lines were much longer than in the past and the hub at 12:15 am was still pretty crowded!

This was a bonus trip for me as I was just here two weeks ago and I’m staying offsite while my family is staying onsite. I knew President’s Day week is super crowded so I planned this as my only MK day. So I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get more done. I will be going to Guest Services to let them know because I do have a concern about that they may start increasing ticket sales and I suffered through that at last October’s Halloween Party!


----------



## GADisneyDad14

This is not to minimize anyone’s experience or to excuse anything, so please don’t read it as such.  Somewhere many pages back I and some others speculated the string of “really good” DAHs was bound to hit a “snag” eventually.  It is the nature of these things, be it DAH, MNSSHP, etc.  Reviews ebb and flow over time.  Experiences ebb and flow.  While many have consistently enjoyed DAH, not all reports are candy canes and lollipops either (I’m thinking specifically summer 2018).

We’re heading into a very busy winter and spring break season - and there are more DAH events than ever before (some during very busy weeks, which at time Disney has avoided scheduling these kinds of things). The Wednesday DAK DAH sold out yesterday (haven’t had a sell out there in a long time).

The late Feb and March DAHs of the past have always had a “it wasn’t as empty as what I had read about but it was still ok” vibe to them. Some of the March reviews have not always been so kind.

Always good to hear experiences and set expectations accordingly, or opt not to buy tickets if it “feels” like something that doesn’t work for how you like to spend your leisure dollars.


----------



## xiphoid76

Was there last nights as well, it was Presidents’ Day so the crowds during the day before the party were huge.  We were in the park by 6:40, not sure when they started letting people in, but that was super quick and nice.  Able to do Robinson tree house, Tiki, Pirates, Counrey Bear, Carousel if Progress and People mover three times with fireworks before the party began.

Once the party started did Big Thunder with 10 minute wait, some ice cream - another ten minutes there.  Jungle cruise was walk on and had a boat with just one other family which was awesome! Haunted mansion was walk on with few people.  Skipped Peter Pan has that showed 30 minutes and Dwarves same thing.  Space was down so we walked on Buzz and then back to Space with 10 minute wait which was back up running. 
Dwarves was still showing 45 minutes so we got some more food and drinks and relaxed and then decided to leave early around 11 as we were exhausted getting off the cruise earlier in the day.
It was awesome, and we could have done the last two things we wanted to - Peter and Dwarves by midnight but were too exhausted. Well worth it for us.  The lines did seem a bit longer than the first time we went, but not by much.  The food had 5-10 minutes waits this time which was different but that was all I noticed compared to the first time when they had separate popcorn and ice cream areas (they did take away the chocolate covered banana I loved the first time).


----------



## Cloudy

stace1214 said:


> We were there last night and although we had a great time, it was definitely more crowded than I expected. It was our arrival day and our plane was delayed  We could not get there until 8 and still needed to grab a quick dinner.  From 8-11:30 we: watched HEA, ate at Cosmic Rays, Pirates, BTM, HM, Buzz, People Mover, Mickey’s Philharmagic, Peter Pan, SDMT. We saved Fantasyland until last, around 10:45. Longest wait was mine train at about 10 min, but the posted time said 45 min.    Honestly we could have done more, but were tired and ready to go.  At 11:30 the rest of Fantasyland was a walk on.  Although it was busier than I thought, I was happy with what we were able to do. For us, it was still worth the cost.



You are giving me hope our plan for May 11th will work.  Plan on arriving at gate around 6:30 PM (we are driving from Wyndham BC) and hope they are letting people in a little early.  DAH hours 9-12M.  Sorry I don't know all the abbreviations for the rides.

Start at Adventure Land with FP+ and do:  POTC, JC, Splash, BTMR
Back Track and eat at Crystal Palace (not sure if we have enough time for this dinner or should just do QS instead)
Then head to Fantasyland and do: Teacups, Dumbo, VoFM, WtP, PP, IASM, SDMT, then HM last and out.

DS24 is severe autism.  The DAS just does not work for us very well.  DS doesn't sleep well and is a night owl so rope drop is out.  This is my new try at conquering MK.  We have been skipping Tomorrowland for several years.  Need to get it done in 1 day.


----------



## ninafeliz

GADisneyDad14 said:


> This is not to minimize anyone’s experience or to excuse anything, so please don’t read it as such.  Somewhere many pages back I and some others speculated the string of “really good” DAHs was bound to hit a “snag” eventually.  It is the nature of these things, be it DAH, MNSSHP, etc.  Reviews ebb and flow over time.  Experiences ebb and flow.  While many have consistently enjoyed DAH, not all reports are candy canes and lollipops either (I’m thinking specifically summer 2018).
> 
> We’re heading into a very busy winter and spring break season - and there are more DAH events than ever before (some during very busy weeks, which at time Disney has avoided scheduling these kinds of things). The Wednesday DAK DAH sold out yesterday (haven’t had a sell out there in a long time).
> 
> The late Feb and March DAHs of the past have always had a “it wasn’t as empty as what I had read about but it was still ok” vibe to them. Some of the March reviews have not always been so kind.
> 
> Always good to hear experiences and set expectations accordingly, or opt not to buy tickets if it “feels” like something that doesn’t work for how you like to spend your leisure dollars.


I do seem to remember a stretch about this time last year (I think it was) with more "bad" reviews, and talk that it was being oversold or would start to be, too many people, etc.  Then it died down around May, IIRC.  Hope it will be the same this year, particularly with more nights.  I'm kind of hoping they add more regular DAH for June, although i might do VAH again if that's all they offer.  I haven't been following that anymore to know it it's still more crowded this year or not.


----------



## jbish

Cloudy said:


> You are giving me hope our plan for May 11th will work.  Plan on arriving at gate around 6:30 PM (we are driving from Wyndham BC) and hope they are letting people in a little early.  DAH hours 9-12M.  Sorry I don't know all the abbreviations for the rides.
> 
> Start at Adventure Land with FP+ and do:  POTC, JC, Splash, BTMR
> Back Track and eat at Crystal Palace (not sure if we have enough time for this dinner or should just do QS instead)
> Then head to Fantasyland and do: Teacups, Dumbo, VoFM, WtP, PP, IASM, SDMT, then HM last and out.
> 
> DS24 is severe autism.  The DAS just does not work for us very well.  DS doesn't sleep well and is a night owl so rope drop is out.  This is my new try at conquering MK.  We have been skipping Tomorrowland for several years.  Need to get it done in 1 day.


If your son is a night owl, then this sounds like it's the perfect type of ticket for you!  Seems like a really great plan and I hope all goes well for you guys!


----------



## jen7233

I'm curious about the ice cream, popcorn, and drinks during DAH. Are there certain locations for these during DAH, such as are they just carts or kiosks, or do they use any counter service locations as a stand? Are there any on Main Street or just in the lands? I was thinking one or two stands in each land, due to what I read here about lines, is that about right?


----------



## ninafeliz

jen7233 said:


> I'm curious about the ice cream, popcorn, and drinks during DAH. Are there certain locations for these during DAH, such as are they just carts or kiosks, or do they use any counter service locations as a stand? Are there any on Main Street or just in the lands? I was thinking one or two stands in each land, due to what I read here about lines, is that about right?


They are the little carts, for the most part.  I don't know how many there are, at least one in each land and I can think of 2 in tomorrowland off of the top of my head.  I've never had any problem finding one, but we usually don't really plan the ice cream stop, we stop when we see a stand with a short line. 

I will also say we love the idea of free ice cream and pop, but if you want to ride a lot (like we do) we don't want to stop and eat the ice cream, so it's not really the enjoyable experience it is when you take a break and eat it during the day or at your resort. Same with the diet coke.  I love DC, but I don't like it all warm and shaken up, and unless we don't want to ride much I take a few drinks and then cap it and it gets warm and flat.  I guess what I'm getting at is the "free" stuff is great and all, but doesn't end up being as big of a perk to us as it sounds at first.  We usually get ice cream twice, once we stop and eat it and once on the run, popcorn once, and drinks when we get the snacks.  I'm also picky in that I really only like extremely cold drinks, so when they leave them out they lose the appeal to me and I take a few sips and waste more.


----------



## persnickity2020

ninafeliz said:


> They are the little carts, for the most part.  I don't know how many there are, at least one in each land and I can think of 2 in tomorrowland off of the top of my head.  I've never had any problem finding one, but we usually don't really plan the ice cream stop, we stop when we see a stand with a short line.
> 
> I will also say we love the idea of free ice cream and pop, but if you want to ride a lot (like we do) we don't want to stop and eat the ice cream, so it's not really the enjoyable experience it is when you take a break and eat it during the day or at your resort. Same with the diet coke.  I love DC, but I don't like it all warm and shaken up, and unless we don't want to ride much I take a few drinks and then cap it and it gets warm and flat.  I guess what I'm getting at is the "free" stuff is great and all, but doesn't end up being as big of a perk to us as it sounds at first.  We usually get ice cream twice, once we stop and eat it and once on the run, popcorn once, and drinks when we get the snacks.  I'm also picky in that I really only like extremely cold drinks, so when they leave them out they lose the appeal to me and I take a few sips and waste more.



Very good point about the logistics of eating the treats.  When I was explaining the event to my kids, they were way more fixated on the treats than I expected, to the point that now I'm trying to figure out how we can fit them in.  Definitely going to try them on the way out of one land to enjoy as we walk across the park.  

And I really wish they had Coke Zero, Diet Coke doesn't do it for me anymore.


----------



## Iowamomof4

persnickity2020 said:


> Very good point about the logistics of eating the treats.  When I was explaining the event to my kids, they were way more fixated on the treats than I expected, to the point that now I'm trying to figure out how we can fit them in.  Definitely going to try them on the way out of one land to enjoy as we walk across the park.
> 
> *And I really wish they had Coke Zero,* Diet Coke doesn't do it for me anymore.



You are SOOO not alone there!


----------



## ninafeliz

persnickity2020 said:


> Very good point about the logistics of eating the treats.  When I was explaining the event to my kids, they were way more fixated on the treats than I expected, to the point that now I'm trying to figure out how we can fit them in.  Definitely going to try them on the way out of one land to enjoy as we walk across the park.
> 
> And I really wish they had Coke Zero, Diet Coke doesn't do it for me anymore.





Iowamomof4 said:


> You are SOOO not alone there!


So funny, my kids joke that I'm addicted to Diet Coke but I don't like Coke Zero.  One of my kids used to call it "Mama baa" when he was little.  I say I don't smoke, don't do drugs, and don't drink much alcohol so leave me alone about my diet coke, and quit showing me the articles about how bad it is for you - I could be doing something worse LOL!


----------



## Kricketnp

Iowamomof4 said:


> You are SOOO not alone there!





persnickity2020 said:


> Very good point about the logistics of eating the treats.  When I was explaining the event to my kids, they were way more fixated on the treats than I expected, to the point that now I'm trying to figure out how we can fit them in.  Definitely going to try them on the way out of one land to enjoy as we walk across the park.
> 
> And I really wish they had Coke Zero, Diet Coke doesn't do it for me anymore.



I wish they had Sprite Zero! I don't like Coke, but don't want to drink all of the sugar in regular Sprite!


----------



## ninafeliz

Kricketnp said:


> I wish they had Sprite Zero! I don't like Coke, but don't want to drink all of the sugar in regular Sprite!


I do like Sprite Zero, and apparently a lot of the bad things with Diet Coke don’t apply to Sprite Zero according to some research, so I’m with you on that one!


----------



## jen7233

ninafeliz said:


> They are the little carts, for the most part.  I don't know how many there are, at least one in each land and I can think of 2 in tomorrowland off of the top of my head.  I've never had any problem finding one, but we usually don't really plan the ice cream stop, we stop when we see a stand with a short line.
> 
> I will also say we love the idea of free ice cream and pop, but if you want to ride a lot (like we do) we don't want to stop and eat the ice cream, so it's not really the enjoyable experience it is when you take a break and eat it during the day or at your resort. Same with the diet coke.  I love DC, but I don't like it all warm and shaken up, and unless we don't want to ride much I take a few drinks and then cap it and it gets warm and flat.  I guess what I'm getting at is the "free" stuff is great and all, but doesn't end up being as big of a perk to us as it sounds at first.  We usually get ice cream twice, once we stop and eat it and once on the run, popcorn once, and drinks when we get the snacks.  I'm also picky in that I really only like extremely cold drinks, so when they leave them out they lose the appeal to me and I take a few sips and waste more.


Thanks, that's about how many I thought, and sounds like they are in fact carts/kiosks. I'm probably odd in that I don't like Mickey bars or ice cream bars, so that's for the kids. My kids, knowing it's free, think this is cool and think the free drinks are cool also. I would like the popcorn so I thought well, free popcorn sure (though that's a problem for me to eat, but I still like it!) but the logistics of enjoying that and trying to get rides in does now make me think how do we rather do this night or what rides we really hope to do, and if there is much pause time. Maybe when about to be on the way out for the night for me. Good that drinks are available free, though typically I'd do water but saves me bringing one in I guess.

Now, I'll wonder just how busy transportation is after DAH bussing to Poly or GF, and less likely to choose ferry to TTC but leave that as an option.


----------



## MinnieMSue

I love the idea of Mickey bars but at the parties we have attended I never want to get one because we are going from ride to ride and they slow me down. We grab waters at several spots and put them in our backpacks to use that night and on future days or in our hotel room. I do get a popcorn and eat it on the way to a ride and settle it down in my backpack where it usually sits upright without spilling while I ride. I try not to drink pop anymore and don’t want it warm so I never get it there.


----------



## ninafeliz

jen7233 said:


> Thanks, that's about how many I thought, and sounds like they are in fact carts/kiosks. I'm probably odd in that I don't like Mickey bars or ice cream bars, so that's for the kids. My kids, knowing it's free, think this is cool and think the free drinks are cool also. I would like the popcorn so I thought well, free popcorn sure (though that's a problem for me to eat, but I still like it!) but the logistics of enjoying that and trying to get rides in does now make me think how do we rather do this night or what rides we really hope to do, and if there is much pause time. Maybe when about to be on the way out for the night for me. Good that drinks are available free, though typically I'd do water but saves me bringing one in I guess.
> 
> Now, I'll wonder just how busy transportation is after DAH bussing to Poly or GF, and less likely to choose ferry to TTC but leave that as an option.


Bottled water is included.  I would carry a backpack and ziplock bags, and put extra drinks in your backpack for later and you could transfer popcorn to the ziplock to carry and keep for later also. These are tips that I read and never remembered to do myself lol. Also they close the snack stands at exactly the ending time, so don’t wait too long to get your stuff on the way out.  We’ve been in a ride at the very end a couple of times, so we weren’t able to get a last snack or drink.


----------



## mla973

Also, since I wish I would have known in advance, the snack options were: Mickey bars, Mickey ice cream sandwich or the strawberry lemonade bar. The snack cart signs also said a no sugar added strawberry bar was an option, but when I asked, they didn’t know what I was talking about and just looked confused. Of course, popcorn was an option, and the bottled drinks were water, Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite. We got frozen treats once, and we were maybe the 6th family in line. Picked up waters near the end of the event and there were two families in line. Despite the large waits for the headliner attractions, I thought the carts were easy to find and fairly short waits. We did see several families with a MKAH times guide, but we were not given once at the entrance; I asked about one at several places and no CM knew what it was.


----------



## jen7233

ninafeliz said:


> Bottled water is included. I would carry a backpack and ziplock bags, and put extra drinks in your backpack for later and you could transfer popcorn to the ziplock to carry and keep for later also. These are tips that I read and never remembered to do myself lol. Also they close the snack stands at exactly the ending time, so don’t wait too long to get your stuff on the way out. We’ve been in a ride at the very end a couple of times, so we weren’t able to get a last snack or drink.


I hadn't thought about bringing our backpack and ziplock that night, and don't think we'll want to carry the bucket around, so that may work better, thanks.


----------



## mgpan

Iowamomof4 said:


> View attachment 474674
> 
> Ouch. That's at 11:44 wdw time. Yikes.


We need more people to post screenshots just like this.  Show the wait times at different attractions during different times during the event.  As someone else posted, if they have capped ticket sales at an appropriate number for the price paid, a sold out night should have the same approximate waits regardless of month/day of week.  If my wait for the headliners is more than 10-15 actual minutes, that is not "little to no lines" as Disney advertises and to me it is oversold and not worth the extra cost.


----------



## cakebaker

mgpan said:


> We need more people to post screenshots just like this.  Show the wait times at different attractions during different times during the event.  As someone else posted, if they have capped ticket sales at an appropriate number for the price paid, a sold out night should have the same approximate waits regardless of month/day of week.  If my wait for the headliners is more than 10-15 actual minutes, that is not "little to no lines" as Disney advertises and to me it is oversold and not worth the extra cost.



The problem is, screenshots of posted wait times aren’t a reliable way to know actual wait times at the AH events. At least they weren’t when we went. Some had no wait at all, but showed much longer. We ended up paying no attention to them. Better to me are actual reports of how long it took to get through any particular line.


----------



## ninafeliz

cakebaker said:


> The problem is, screenshots of posted wait times aren’t a reliable way to know actual wait times at the AH events. At least they weren’t when we went. Some had no wait at all, but showed much longer. We ended up paying no attention to them. Better to me are actual reports of how long it took to get through any particular line.


I was going to say something similar.  I know our night I saw a couple of posted wait times that weren't even close.  Maybe they shouldn't try to even do the wait times during AH events?


----------



## Iowamomof4

ninafeliz said:


> I was going to say something similar.  I know our night I saw a couple of posted wait times that weren't even close.  Maybe they shouldn't try to even do the wait times during AH events?



It can be helpful though, especially if a ride is off-line.


----------



## ninafeliz

Iowamomof4 said:


> It can be helpful though, especially if a ride is off-line.


I think only helpful for if it is offline.  I have found that the wait times aren't accurate at all, particularly late in the event. If you see a long wait listed it would probably make you not even go to the ride, and in reality it might be a walk on.


----------



## cakebaker

Iowamomof4 said:


> It can be helpful though, especially if a ride is off-line.


True, but we don’t tend to cross cross the park during after hours. We ride anything we’re interested in, then move to another section so it’s easy to just walk by and see a ride isn’t up. I just hate that people skip something based on what the wait time shows on the app. Quite often, anything showing 10 minutes is actually a walk-on.  I won’t wait 10 minutes for some rides during AH’s that I’ll do if there’s no wait at all.


----------



## Iowamomof4

cakebaker said:


> True, but we don’t tend to cross cross the park during after hours. We ride anything we’re interested in, then move to another section so it’s easy to just walk by and see a ride isn’t up. I just hate that people skip something based on what the wait time shows on the app. Quite often, anything showing 10 minutes is actually a walk-on.  I won’t wait 10 minutes for some rides during AH’s that I’ll do if there’s no wait at all.



Oh, absolutely. You do have to use your own eyes and a little common sense. If 7dmt is showing a 40 minute wait, but you walk by the ride and can tell the line is short, obviously the posted wait is seriously overstated. It's also good to know that any wait showing 10 minutes or less will be either a walk on or a very, very short wait. I'm glad they post wait times in the app during the event and would really hate to see them discontinue it. I do wish the longer waits could be more reliably accurate though.


----------



## jen7233

On the line subject, on some rides I personally wouldn't be able to tell if the ride lines seemed long. For rides where I can see the whole queue like Pooh, maybe. I personally don't have a good idea by visual on some of the rides what a wait might really be, and some I for sure wouldn't such a Space Mountain.


----------



## chelynnah

Kricketnp said:


> I wish they had Sprite Zero! I don't like Coke, but don't want to drink all of the sugar in regular Sprite!


Me too.  I don’t understand why they don’t.  A lot of people who are cutting out sugar are also cutting out caffeine (like me). I usually compromise when there and go for the Minute Maid light where it’s offered.  Still more sugar than I’d like, but keeps me away from the caffeine headache potential


----------



## CJN

jen7233 said:


> On the line subject, on some rides I personally wouldn't be able to tell if the ride lines seemed long. For rides where I can see the whole queue like Pooh, maybe. I personally don't have a good idea by visual on some of the rides what a wait might really be, and some I for sure wouldn't such a Space Mountain.



I agree. And it shouldn’t be a case of relying on our own judgement for wait times or trekking across the park to visually see the length of the line anyway. The line should be short or non-existent. Period. That’s the whole point.

 And those screenshots for wait times should also be tweeted to WDW Guest Services. Tweets to them tend to get quick reactions because they’re public and they usually say they’ll pass the info on to the right team.


----------



## cakebaker

CJN said:


> And it shouldn’t be a case of relying on our own judgement for wait times or trekking across the park to visually see the length of the line anyway. The line should be short or non-existent. Period. That’s the whole point.


I absolutely agree with this. My point was, we don't pay attention to whatever the wait time posted is because it's usually not accurate. It can be posted at 30 min though and a lot of people will not even attempt to ride it. They either need to not post a wait time, or make them accurate. If they do what they advertise, there's no need for them at all.


----------



## Kricketnp

chelynnah said:


> Me too.  I don’t understand why they don’t.  A lot of people who are cutting out sugar are also cutting out caffeine (like me). I usually compromise when there and go for the Minute Maid light where it’s offered.  Still more sugar than I’d like, but keeps me away from the caffeine headache potential



Same! But for After Hours it was only Sprite, Diet Coke, Coke or Water. I went with one Sprite and then switched to water, but would've loved a Sprite Zero.


----------



## disneymagicgirl

xiphoid76 said:


> Was there last nights as well, it was Presidents’ Day so the crowds during the day before the party were huge.  We were in the park by 6:40, not sure when they started letting people in, but that was super quick and nice.  Able to do Robinson tree house, Tiki, Pirates, Counrey Bear, Carousel if Progress and People mover three times with fireworks before the party began.
> 
> Once the party started did Big Thunder with 10 minute wait, some ice cream - another ten minutes there.  Jungle cruise was walk on and had a boat with just one other family which was awesome! Haunted mansion was walk on with few people.  Skipped Peter Pan has that showed 30 minutes and Dwarves same thing.  Space was down so we walked on Buzz and then back to Space with 10 minute wait which was back up running.
> Dwarves was still showing 45 minutes so we got some more food and drinks and relaxed and then decided to leave early around 11 as we were exhausted getting off the cruise earlier in the day.
> It was awesome, and we could have done the last two things we wanted to - Peter and Dwarves by midnight but were too exhausted. Well worth it for us.  The lines did seem a bit longer than the first time we went, but not by much.  The food had 5-10 minutes waits this time which was different but that was all I noticed compared to the first time when they had separate popcorn and ice cream areas (they did take away the chocolate covered banana I loved the first time).



We were there Monday too. My DD20 was soooo  upset about the bananas being gone. The snack/drink options are lame, IMO.

The sign for SDMT said 45 mins all night but we rode twice in a row at 11pm and were in and off the ride in under 15 mins both times. I hate you missed it b/c of the posted time.

This was our 2nd DAH and we still enjoyed it and will likely return in may.


----------



## Dakota Dexter

Is anyone going on March 2nd?  Since it's STILL scheduled for 8 to 11, (can't help but feel that they oughta let us in at 6 instead of 7 at the very least,) I wonder if they're predicting light crowds?


----------



## Mermaidtails1323

Bit the bullet last night and decided to get the AH ticket for February 24. I was initially looking to do EMM on Tuesday, as we had a positive experience last year at HS. However, there are far more rides at AH that appeal to us (dare I say SDMT is NOT even in my top 10?!), so I decided to try it out. My dad hasn’t been to Disney in 10+ years, so I think this will be nice for him.

I was initially holding off on purchasing because I didn’t want a frigid, rainy night (my girls would whine). I was a little apprehensive after reading last week’s posts. However, I remember similar complaints last year going into EMM, and our experience there was amazing. Fingers crossed for fun, but we’re pretty easygoing in terms of managing expectations. It’ll be our first night at Disney, so hoping to kick off my birthday trip right!

Will post back after our experience (but probably not until after our trip).


----------



## Cloudy

Dakota Dexter said:


> Is anyone going on March 2nd?  Since it's STILL scheduled for 8 to 11, (can't help but feel that they oughta let us in at 6 instead of 7 at the very least,) I wonder if they're predicting light crowds?



I wondered the same thing.  On days that the park closes earlier, do they let you in earlier?  I would love to know others experiences


----------



## Iowamomof4

Cloudy said:


> I wondered the same thing.  On days that the park closes earlier, do they let you in earlier?  I would love to know others experiences



Sadly this has not been the case. MK after hours have typically allowed entry beginning anywhere between 6 and 7:00 depending on the night (not at all based on the time of the event). AK after hours and DHS (when they used to have them) have stuck much closer to 7.


----------



## NiceOneSimba

We were at the 2/17 event and it was a bit of a hot mess, as others have reported.  Lots of breakdowns--Big Thunder broke down right as we were about to board and was down most of the rest of the night. Space broke down and was posted 50 minutes the rest of the night after they got it back up.  We managed one ride on Mine Train, and then it was posted at least 45 minutes the rest of the night.

They ran out of bottled water at every snack cart we tried.

It was our third AH event, and it as definitely not our typical experience. We did manage to ride a number of smaller rides, but the ones we really wanted were just down or had crazy waits all night. We also got the Rapunzel lantern photo I've been wanting for three years with almost no wait. 

It is true that the lines may have been shorter than posted, but we also didn't want to walk all over the park to check. If they are going to post wait times, they should be accurate. 

I stopped at City Hall on the way out and registered my disappointment. At first, the CM was just kind of "oh well" and then I mentioned that they advertise "minimal waits" and that 45 or 50 minutes is not a minimal wait, and that we were only able to ride one of the headliners. Then, she offered multiple-experience FPs for our two remaining park days.  I will admit that I was hoping for a partial refund, but extra FPs at Hollywood Studios (not for Toy Story Land or Galaxy's Edge) came in VERY handy and make the rest of our trip much more enjoyable.  I was literally the only person in there, which sort of surprised me. But I was at least happy to receive some compensation.

I will also be sending an email now that I'm home.

We also did the AH at Animal Kingdom later in the week, and it ran just like it should. So, really, I think it was just that "perfect storm" type situation. We'll still do the event in the future, because it's still nice to be there in the evening without huge crowds.


----------



## sheila14

In knowing that last year the after hours party was on a Thursday in September. Will this likely to be the same this year in September?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

sheila14 said:


> In knowing that last year the after hours party was on a Thursday in September. Will this likely to be the same this year in September?



Always hard to say (also hard to predict with any certainty there will be DAH in Sept). But Sept competes with MNSSHP, so there are fewer nights per week available if Disney wants to offer DAH.   Thursday is a good educated guess, but hard to say with certainty.


----------



## Drewmama

NiceOneSimba said:


> We were at the 2/17 event and it was a bit of a hot mess, as others have reported.  Lots of breakdowns--Big Thunder broke down right as we were about to board and was down most of the rest of the night. Space broke down and was posted 50 minutes the rest of the night after they got it back up.  We managed one ride on Mine Train, and then it was posted at least 45 minutes the rest of the night.
> 
> They ran out of bottled water at every snack cart we tried.
> 
> It was our third AH event, and it as definitely not our typical experience. We did manage to ride a number of smaller rides, but the ones we really wanted were just down or had crazy waits all night. We also got the Rapunzel lantern photo I've been wanting for three years with almost no wait.
> 
> It is true that the lines may have been shorter than posted, but we also didn't want to walk all over the park to check. If they are going to post wait times, they should be accurate.
> 
> I stopped at City Hall on the way out and registered my disappointment. At first, the CM was just kind of "oh well" and then I mentioned that they advertise "minimal waits" and that 45 or 50 minutes is not a minimal wait, and that we were only able to ride one of the headliners. Then, she offered multiple-experience FPs for our two remaining park days.  I will admit that I was hoping for a partial refund, but extra FPs at Hollywood Studios (not for Toy Story Land or Galaxy's Edge) came in VERY handy and make the rest of our trip much more enjoyable.  I was literally the only person in there, which sort of surprised me. But I was at least happy to receive some compensation.
> 
> I will also be sending an email now that I'm home.
> 
> We also did the AH at Animal Kingdom later in the week, and it ran just like it should. So, really, I think it was just that "perfect storm" type situation. We'll still do the event in the future, because it's still nice to be there in the evening without huge crowds.



Sorry to hear that your AH was disappointing. Thank you for letting Disney hear about your experience so that they have a chance to figure out why the last few events have been not as advertised and make the necessary corrections for future events.


----------



## focusondisney

Cloudy said:


> I wondered the same thing.  On days that the park closes earlier, do they let you in earlier?  I would love to know others experiences



No. The AH event is 3 hours, that’s what you’re paying for, no matter what time it starts.   Any time before that is a bonus.  Try to think of it that way instead of thinking that someone else is getting more time than you if their AH starts later than yours.  People complain someone else got from 6:30 til their event at 9, for  example. You’ll make yourself crazy.

And generally speaking, earlier park closings means lesser crowds. So in theory, an 8 pm park closing means less crowds than a day with a 10 pm close.  I know, not always true.  But I did say “in theory”.


----------



## Cloudy

focusondisney said:


> No. The AH event is hours, that’s what you’re paying for, no matter what time it starts.   Any time before that is a bonus.  Try to think of it that way instead of thinking that someone else is getting more time than you if their AH starts later than yours.  People complain someone else got from 6:30 til their even at 9, for  example. You’ll make yourself crazy.
> 
> And generally speaking, earlier park closings means lesser crowds. So in theory, an 8 pm park closing means less crowds than a day with a 10 pm close.  I know, not always true.  But I did say “in theory”.



I did not mean to imply I thought other people are getting more time than I am.  Just trying to determine what time to arrive at the gates (I have a severely autistic son who is not good at waiting especially with the excitement of entering the Magic Kingdom).  I want to maximize my time but not arrive too early.  

I agree with you on the earlier park closings.  I specifically choose the week I did because the DAH event started at 9 PM.  Best crowd calculator I know.


----------



## focusondisney

Cloudy said:


> I did not mean to imply I thought other people are getting more time than I am.  Just trying to determine what time to arrive at the gates (I have a severely autistic son who is not good at waiting especially with the excitement of entering the Magic Kingdom).  I want to maximize my time but not arrive too early.
> 
> I agree with you on the earlier park closings.  I specifically choose the week I did because the DAH event started at 9 PM.  Best crowd calculator I know.




Sorry, I should have quoted the poster you were responding to & not you. They were the one who commented on wanting to get let in earlier because the event starts at 8.


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

Tonight was absolutely fantastic. By far the best AH event we’ve attended. We exited the ferry right at 6:45 and walked right in. We used our fast passes for Mickey (6:10-7:10) and Dumbo (7:10-8:10). Right after we walked off Dumbo, we sat on the nearby benches and watched the fireworks. After the fireworks we went to IASW and used our last FP. We noticed around 8:50 that the posted line for Peter Pan was only 30 minutes so we hopped on it and were off by 9:16.

Official tally after Peter Pan's Flight, in order:
Winnie the Pooh
Mad Tea Party x2
Space Ranger Spin x2
Space Mountain x2
Pirates
BTMR
Magic Carpets x2
Jungle Cruise
Magic Carpets x2 (yes, again)

We would have accomplished a LOT more, but we had a very slow walker in our 10 person party. *Everything* was a walk-on, aside from BTMR which was 15 minutes. Even the snack/drink carts only had 1 or 2 people, if any, at them whenever we stopped by. We stayed until midnight then grabbed a couple photopass pictures on Main St. We used the ferry (didn't have to wait at all) when we left. It was truly an amazing night.


----------



## CJN

NotTheBatesMotel said:


> Tonight was absolutely fantastic. By far the best AH event we’ve attended. We exited the ferry right at 6:45 and walked right in. We used our fast passes for Mickey (6:10-7:10) and Dumbo (7:10-8:10). Right after we walked off Dumbo, we sat on the nearby benches and watched the fireworks. After the fireworks we went to IASW and used our last FP. We noticed around 8:50 that the posted line for Peter Pan was only 30 minutes so we hopped on it and were off by 9:16.
> 
> Official tally after Peter Pan's Flight, in order:
> Winnie the Pooh
> Mad Tea Party x2
> Space Ranger Spin x2
> Space Mountain x2
> Pirates
> BTMR
> Magic Carpets x2
> Jungle Cruise
> Magic Carpets x2 (yes, again)
> 
> We would have accomplished a LOT more, but we had a very slow walker in our 10 person party. *Everything* was a walk-on, aside from BTMR which was 15 minutes. Even the snack/drink carts only had 1 or 2 people, if any, at them whenever we stopped by. We stayed until midnight then grabbed a couple photopass pictures on Main St. We used the ferry (didn't have to wait at all) when we left. It was truly an amazing night.
> 
> View attachment 476475
> 
> View attachment 476476
> 
> View attachment 476477
> 
> View attachment 476478



Sounds like a great night! Thanks for the recap.


----------



## jen7233

NotTheBatesMotel said:


> Tonight was absolutely fantastic. By far the best AH event we’ve attended. We exited the ferry right at 6:45 and walked right in. We used our fast passes for Mickey (6:10-7:10) and Dumbo (7:10-8:10). Right after we walked off Dumbo, we sat on the nearby benches and watched the fireworks. After the fireworks we went to IASW and used our last FP. We noticed around 8:50 that the posted line for Peter Pan was only 30 minutes so we hopped on it and were off by 9:16.
> 
> Official tally after Peter Pan's Flight, in order:
> Winnie the Pooh
> Mad Tea Party x2
> Space Ranger Spin x2
> Space Mountain x2
> Pirates
> BTMR
> Magic Carpets x2
> Jungle Cruise
> Magic Carpets x2 (yes, again)
> 
> We would have accomplished a LOT more, but we had a very slow walker in our 10 person party. *Everything* was a walk-on, aside from BTMR which was 15 minutes. Even the snack/drink carts only had 1 or 2 people, if any, at them whenever we stopped by. We stayed until midnight then grabbed a couple photopass pictures on Main St. We used the ferry (didn't have to wait at all) when we left. It was truly an amazing night.


That's still quite a bit done. Sounds like a good event night.


----------



## Iowamomof4

I looked at wait times last night and saw 0 minutes posted for both Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. This was around 11:00 eastern. I thought maybe it was a glitch, but it sounds like it could have been accurate!


----------



## cakebaker

NotTheBatesMotel said:


> Tonight was absolutely fantastic. By far the best AH event we’ve attended.



This review sounds much more like the AH's we've attended before. Thanks for the report!


----------



## LandonDunes

Still can’t believe they haven’t announced Summer dates yet. April and May announced 4mos ago.


----------



## Harlaxton

I too went last night (2/24) and had a great time.  After spending the majority of the day at AK in wall-to-wall crowds last night's MK AH was refreshing in that the longest waits we had were 7DMT (12 min.) and BTMRR (10 min.) with everything else virtual walk-ons.  I will say that the 7DMT line was intimidating in that it spilled out into the middle of the walkway.  Despite that, with the fact they were using the FP line to load it never took longer than 12 min to board.  

We cruised in around 6:45 pm, did JC, Alladin Carpets, Swiss Tree House, Haunted Mansion (small timeout to convince 7 year old they didnt really keep his soul), IASW, Dumbo X2, Little Mermaid, Astro Orbiter, Space Mountain X2, Buzz (same 7 year old got 450k blindly shooting and spinning our car around...no idea how), Tea Cups, Peter Pan, 7DMT X2, BTMRR X2.  We walked out around 11:50, totally spent, full of ice cream, popcorn, and memories.


----------



## JakeAZ

Harlaxton said:


> I too went last night (2/24) and had a great time.  After spending the majority of the day at AK in wall-to-wall crowds last night's MK AH was refreshing in that the longest waits we had were 7DMT (12 min.) and BTMRR (10 min.) with everything else virtual walk-ons.  I will say that the 7DMT line was intimidating in that it spilled out into the middle of the walkway.  Despite that, with the fact they were using the FP line to load it never took longer than 12 min to board.
> 
> We cruised in around 6:45 pm, did JC, Alladin Carpets, Swiss Tree House, Haunted Mansion (small timeout to convince 7 year old they didnt really keep his soul), IASW, Dumbo X2, Little Mermaid, Astro Orbiter, Space Mountain X2, Buzz (same 7 year old got 450k blindly shooting and spinning our car around...no idea how), Tea Cups, Peter Pan, 7DMT X2, BTMRR X2.  We walked out around 11:50, totally spent, full of ice cream, popcorn, and memories.


That sounds awesome!  Hoping the April 5th one is just as great and doesn’t get oversold due to spring break.


----------



## Drewmama

JakeAZ said:


> That sounds awesome!  Hoping the April 5th one is just as great and doesn’t get oversold due to spring break.



Me, too!  We're going on 4/5 and hoping for the same experience as 2/24.


----------



## TheMick424

Iowamomof4 said:


> I looked at wait times last night and saw 0 minutes posted for both Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. This was around 11:00 eastern. I thought maybe it was a glitch, but it sounds like it could have been accurate!


It was accurate! I couldn’t believe it.  Walked right on multiple times. We had a great time last night at the after hours. I wish my kids weren’t so tired from the day, but we did enough to make us happy. We came around 6:45, poked around the shops, watched the fireworks, used our Buzz FP, rode People Mover, BTMR 2 or 3x, Space 3x, 7DMT 1x, Jungle Cruise, snacks and drinks, and just enjoyed the ambience.


----------



## Rick195275

Still waiting for a response to the email I sent complaining about the 2/17 event. For those who have gone this route about how long was your typical response time? Not that I expect much but at least a response outside of the automated we got your email and will review your feedback would be nice.


----------



## Mermaidtails1323

We also went last night. I was nervous after last week’s post, and the fact that we started our day before 4am CST to get to Disney. However, a pre-DAH nap helped!

As such, we got to MK around 745. I asked my girls how many rides we should try to get during our time, and the goal was 20. From start to finish:

Meet Ariel (FP)
Dumbo
Voyage of Little Mermaid
Tea cups
Haunted mansion 

start Of official AH:
Pirates
BTMRR x2
Space mountain x4
Meet Cinderella, Elena, tiana, and Rapunzel (all spending PLENTY of time with my princess-loving girls)
Peter pan
SDMT
Buzz Lightyear 

we could have done another ride at the end,  but felt like we had done more than enough. We also stopped several times for multiple rounds of popcorn and ice cream.

I do think my 5 year old would’ve been happy staying on space mountain. It was her first time and she LOVED it! We spent more time walking on and off than waiting in line. SDMT was the longest, But that was only 15.

also, we found that asked CMs the true wait times was super effective. For instance, all princesses had 20 minutes listed when we went, and we walked right in.

weather was perfect, and would definitely do it again! Made today even harder to have to deal with crowds and lines again!


----------



## StayAwake

I just made it home, so wanted to report in on my 2/17 experience, although I see that many others have done so already. While there were issues with multiple rides going down that increased waits at others, I still felt that I got a great value from the event. And I'll apologize to whoever didn't get water- we picked up water at every cart we went past, so we might have gotten more than our share.

We entered the park just a few minutes after 7. From 7-9 we did:

Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
Buzz Lightyear
Peoplemover
Tomorrowland Speedway 
Teacups

Bathroom break

Starting at just after 9 we did:

Barnstormer
Dumbo
Voyage of the Little Mermaid (this part of the park was empty! we were a tiny bit creeped out)
Snack break #1
Meet Rapunzel & Tiana
Meet Elena & Cinderella
Small World
Tangled Light photo
Snack break #2
We walked to BTMRR and it had just gone down and they were dumping the queue.
Pirates
We passed on Jungle Cruise because of the long line
Peter Pan
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train x 2
Snack break # 3
We had about 15 minutes left but the kid decided her feet were too tired and she wanted to leave, so we left.

While we didn't experience loading through the FP queue or being allowed to stay on for multiple rides of anything, we still had a great time. Not realizing BTMRR was down ate up a lot of time that we could have spent riding a bunch of other things, so that was a lesson learned. However, considering the crowds and wait times, this was still a better value than a 1 day park ticket for the day would have been.  Lines at the snack carts were no more than 5 people long and moved quickly.

I was on the fence about purchasing this in the first place, and skeptical about it after I purchased, but now am a believer. If this was a horrible AH, then I can only imagine how great a smoothly working one would be.


----------



## faithtrustandpixiedust123

Does anyone have any speculation on when August DAH will be released? Trying to plan park days and make ADRs and it's hard without knowing!


----------



## JakeAZ

faithtrustandpixiedust123 said:


> Does anyone have any speculation on when August DAH will be released? Trying to plan park days and make ADRs and it's hard without knowing!


That's the Disney way!

You probably won't have the dates before your ADR window opens.  I know I didn't when I had to book ADRs back in October for our April trip.  Luckily we were able to make MK DAH work.  However, the AK DAH announced during our trip was the same day we carved out for a day trip to Universal...and by that time, we couldn't move ADRs / park days around without blowing everything up.

If they had announced before our 180 day, we would have been able to make them both.


----------



## Davkind76

What is the thought about adding a regular Disney after hours to Magic Kingdom this summer? As they are running both villains and this during the spring, do you think that they will add them in the summer also?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Davkind76 said:


> What is the thought about adding a regular Disney after hours to Magic Kingdom this summer? As they are running both villains and this during the spring, do you think that they will add them in the summer also?



It seems likely, but as always with Disney and these things, hard to say with any certainty.


----------



## jdd

DH and I were there Tuesday (2/24) as well and it was awesome!  This was our first AH event, and it was definitely worth every penny.  Here's our list:

Arrived at the tail end of HEA and watched/listened as we walked toward Liberty Square.  
Hopped in line for Haunted Mansion at about 8:40?
On our way to BTMRR, stopped at first snack cart (it was 8:57 and they did make us wait until 9pm)
BTMRR line was about 15 minutes, but we noticed lots in line without wristbands, so they were the last of the normal guests
Did BTMRR a second time with no wait
Grabbed another snack and drink and walked through Swiss Family Treehouse while eating - this was really cool at night, all the scenes lit up and a great view of an empty park!
Jungle Cruise
Buzz Lightyear
Space Mtn
Winnie the Pooh
Mine Train
Snack stop #3
Peter Pan
BTMRR x 2
Could have done one more Mine Train ride, but decided to just meander down Main Street, take pictures and enjoy the atmosphere

All rides were a walk on except Mine Train - I think we timed that at 7 minutes - and the first Big Thunder at 15.  We even left the park with a few water bottles and Diet Cokes in our bag - the snack cart CMs were all encouraging us to take more drinks.  So we had drinks in our fridge for the rest of the week.

This was especially great since the rest of our trip was unbelievably crowded - I had no idea late February was a busy time, but all the parks were crazy from Sunday through Wednesday.  Would highly recommend AH.


----------



## ryman471

Davkind76 said:


> What is the thought about adding a regular Disney after hours to Magic Kingdom this summer? As they are running both villains and this during the spring, do you think that they will add them in the summer also?


No one knows but my guess is they are trying to suck every dollar they can right now for people to buy advanced tickets for VAH first, and then they MAY add this regular DAH in a month or 2.


----------



## jen7233

jdd said:


> DH and I were there Tuesday (2/24) as well and it was awesome!  This was our first AH event, and it was definitely worth every penny.  Here's our list:
> 
> Arrived at the tail end of HEA and watched/listened as we walked toward Liberty Square.
> Hopped in line for Haunted Mansion at about 8:40?
> On our way to BTMRR, stopped at first snack cart (it was 8:57 and they did make us wait until 9pm)
> BTMRR line was about 15 minutes, but we noticed lots in line without wristbands, so they were the last of the normal guests
> Did BTMRR a second time with no wait
> Grabbed another snack and drink and walked through Swiss Family Treehouse while eating - this was really cool at night, all the scenes lit up and a great view of an empty park!
> Jungle Cruise
> Buzz Lightyear
> Space Mtn
> Winnie the Pooh
> Mine Train
> Snack stop #3
> Peter Pan
> BTMRR x 2
> Could have done one more Mine Train ride, but decided to just meander down Main Street, take pictures and enjoy the atmosphere
> 
> All rides were a walk on except Mine Train - I think we timed that at 7 minutes - and the first Big Thunder at 15.  We even left the park with a few water bottles and Diet Cokes in our bag - the snack cart CMs were all encouraging us to take more drinks.  So we had drinks in our fridge for the rest of the week.
> 
> This was especially great since the rest of our trip was unbelievably crowded - I had no idea late February was a busy time, but all the parks were crazy from Sunday through Wednesday.  Would highly recommend AH.


Thank you for your feedback on the event! Hopefully we have a good experience, also. This is why I took the plunge for the purchase price of the ticket this year, last year our week was terribly crowded, and I hope this gets us more time in MK done, so we can spend the other time in DHS! I'll need my sanity for DHS this year, calm and cool.


----------



## jbish

jen7233 said:


> Thank you for your feedback on the event! Hopefully we have a good experience, also. This is why I took the plunge for the purchase price of the ticket this year, last year our week was terribly crowded, and I hope this gets us more time in MK done, so we can spend the other time in DHS! I'll need my sanity for DHS this year, calm and cool.


This is my theory, too.  If I could do only DAH for our trip, I would.  But we will brave the Spring Break masses at DHS and Epcot and balance that out with DAH at both AK and MK.  Hopefully that keeps DH from thinking of never coming back to WDW again!


----------



## jen7233

jbish said:


> This is my theory, too. If I could do only DAH for our trip, I would. But we will brave the Spring Break masses at DHS and Epcot and balance that out with DAH at both AK and MK. Hopefully that keeps DH from thinking of never coming back to WDW again!


Last April we had two days (plus park hopped at night for MK on one or two), and the first daytime with morning fastpasses, not too horrible. Left a bit after lunch, so can't comment on the afternoon. The other planned day, however, was terrible SO early, jam packed at I think it was 10 am just packed that early, hard to even walk. We used fastpasses and left. I will say be brave during spring break, and know it'll be crowded, but know that ahead and be cool (really, I am telling myself this, lol!) Last time even though MK was mobbed, people were generally fine. DHS, we got bulldozed I was holding my son's hand and someone was pushed right through us from behind, separating us and he got swarmed up in a mob of people, which annoyed me and I spoke up to them, and was told to calm down by her husband (but of course). This year, I'm going calm, cool, and collected, taking a breath and just getting where we need to with a big deep breath, expecting something with the crazy crowd level, but dealing with it differently.


----------



## Kricketnp

Going back in May, and even though I just did this in January, contemplating doing it in again! It was THAT worth it.


----------



## cakebaker

ryman471 said:


> No one knows but my guess is they are trying to suck every dollar they can right now for people to buy advanced tickets for VAH first, and then they MAY add this regular DAH in a month or 2.



I don't think that's actually the reason. As I recall, back in November they released VAH's and AH's at the same time. I think that was the first time we've seen both events in the same time frame. I don't know that they'll continue to offer both, but who knows.

Edited to add: Went back and looked and they were not released at exactly the same time, but within a day or two of each other, VAH being released first. There were people reporting that Disney allowed them to switch from VAH to AH though.


----------



## hcalla

JakeAZ said:


> That sounds awesome!  Hoping the April 5th one is just as great and doesn’t get oversold due to spring break.


----------



## hcalla

Drewmama said:


> Me, too!  We're going on 4/5 and hoping for the same experience as 2/24.


Us too for the same date!


----------



## gatormom2tots

I just booked our first one for March 30...me and 3 kids (15, 8, and 6).  Lord help me...


----------



## DisneyKCKC

we went 24th and it was worth it. 
Pirates
People Mover 
Buzz Lightyear
Space Mtn #2
Winnie the Pooh
Mine Train
3 Snack Stops
Peter Pan
BTMRR x 2
Haunted Manson
Little Mermaid
Dumbo
Its A Small World


----------



## pfeifer1990

Questions about AH. We are going 5 adults in (first time back in 20 years) middle May. We are thinking about doing th MKAH event but have a few questions.
1. How early to book. We have 16 days before we do our fast passes. Are we safe to wait until then to book MKAH.
2. How many hours do you get for the event?
3. I have read people getting in early (7pm?) and using fast passes. Do you get 3 fast passes with the purchase of the ticket? And if so when can you book those fastpasses?
4. Is this a non refundable ticket?
I'm sure I have more but I'll start with those. TIA


----------



## Katie1174

pfeifer1990 said:


> Questions about AH. We are going 5 adults in (first time back in 20 years) middle May. We are thinking about doing th MKAH event but have a few questions.
> 1. How early to book. We have 16 days before we do our fast passes. Are we safe to wait until then to book MKAH.
> 2. How many hours do you get for the event?
> 3. I have read people getting in early (7pm?) and using fast passes. Do you get 3 fast passes with the purchase of the ticket? And if so when can you book those fastpasses?
> 4. Is this a non refundable ticket?
> I'm sure I have more but I'll start with those. TIA


Hello fellow May traveler, my hubby and I go every year in the middle of May.  To answers some of your questions as we always do AH (but we also have park hopper tickets)
1. You can buy tickets even day of if it doesn't sell out and I dont believe any in May have sold out yet(but the price slightly goes up day of)
2. The event is 3 hours, for our events this year, we have regular MK AH on May 11 and its 9-12 we have VAH on May 14 and its 10-1am and we have AK AH on May 16 from 9-12.
3. MK may let you in early, they may not, the official time is 7, sometimes they let people in at 6:30, 6:45 etc, you get 3 fastpasses with your AH ticket that you can book 60 days out if staying onsite if they have the tickets bought and linked into MDE and If you are not booking 3 fastpasses for another park that same day on your regular ticket. You can only pre-book 3 fastpasses in advance. So if you pre-book 3 for the morning in another park you can not pre book for AH as well
4. yes it is non-refundable but guest services would probably work with you to come up with a solution if something were to go wrong, but no guarantee of that

You will probably love it. The first time we did it my hubby loved it so much he said we would do any and all AH offered during our vacations


----------



## pfeifer1990

Katie1174 said:


> Hello fellow May traveler, my hubby and I go every year in the middle of May.  To answers some of your questions as we always do AH (but we also have park hopper tickets)
> 1. You can buy tickets even day of if it doesn't sell out and I dont believe any in May have sold out yet(but the price slightly goes up day of)
> 2. The event is 3 hours, for our events this year, we have regular MK AH on May 11 and its 9-12 we have VAH on May 14 and its 10-1am and we have AK AH on May 16 from 9-12.
> 3. MK may let you in early, they may not, the official time is 7, sometimes they let people in at 6:30, 6:45 etc, you get 3 fastpasses with your AH ticket that you can book 60 days out if staying onsite if they have the tickets bought and linked into MDE and If you are not booking 3 fastpasses for another park that same day on your regular ticket. You can only pre-book 3 fastpasses in advance. So if you pre-book 3 for the morning in another park you can not pre book for AH as well
> 4. yes it is non-refundable but guest services would probably work with you to come up with a solution if something were to go wrong, but no guarantee of that
> 
> You will probably love it. The first time we did it my hubby loved it so much he said we would do any and all AH offered during our vacations


Thank you. For your answers. (We also have park hoppers so the 3 fast passes wouldn't benefit us either.)
Seeing as you have done MKAH in May is the park pretty empty for this event? I would love to be able to walk onto rides and I love the park at night.


----------



## Katie1174

pfeifer1990 said:


> Thank you. For your answers. (We also have park hoppers so the 3 fast passes wouldn't benefit us either.)
> Seeing as you have done MKAH in May is the park pretty empty for this event? I would love to be able to walk onto rides and I love the park at night.


Good that you have hoppers, we couldn't live without them on our vacations.
Crowd level is never a sure thing but we did 3 AH’s last May and in MK absolutely everything was a complete walk on for us, even SDMT, Space Mountain and BTMR(which will be closed while we are there so i am soooo sad about that) Most of the time the park felt virtually empty which was fabulous and eerie at the same time. I got lots of castle pictures with no one in them at all. Dont let wait times fool you either, for ours SDMT said 30 min wait, i asked the CM if it really was and she said no not at all, it was a 5 min wait 2 of the 3 times we rode and a 8 min wait the first time we rode, but we did wait until an hour in to go ride that one.
everything else we went on was zero wait
i should clarify i find a 5 min wait to be walk on but most rides had zero wait


----------



## Katie1174

pfeifer1990 said:


> Thank you. For your answers. (We also have park hoppers so the 3 fast passes wouldn't benefit us either.)
> Seeing as you have done MKAH in May is the park pretty empty for this event? I would love to be able to walk onto rides and I love the park at night.


Forgot to add, if park hopping and using your first 3 pre-booked fastpasses in your morning park, then go ahead and pick up a fourth fastpass, if resting until the party, find a 4th fastpass for an MK ride. Since you have hoppers you can get into MK whenever you feel like it. You can pick up your AH party wristbands inside the park, we usually gets ours near Monsters Inc or Buzz, the pick up points is clearly marked and they scan your band with their ipads and give you your wristband. you do not have to wait until 7 and you dont have to go back to the front to check in


----------



## jtwibih

This has probably been asked but I will ask again. How does Disney clear out MK on days where closing time runs right up until the start of Adter Hours. Does this cause major problems for the first hour or so?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jtwibih said:


> This has probably been asked but I will ask again. How does Disney clear out MK on days where closing time runs right up until the start of Adter Hours. Does this cause major problems for the first hour or so?



Here's what I have written on Page 1, which touches on your question: 

*An Important Difference Between DAH & MNSSHP/MVMCP*

Disney After Hours is "hard-ticket" event similar to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP), except that it takes place after the 'normal' park closing time for that day.
Unlike MNSSHP and MVMCP, for DAH Disney does NOT necessarily actively "clear" the park of day guests for the event.
Day guests can get in a ride line up until 1 minute before closing time and are free to leave the park, shop, etc at their leisure after regular park closing time just like any regular night in the Magic Kingdom.
DAH credentials (lanyards or wristbands) are needed to enter a ride line once the event begins.
Disney has historically been very strict with enforcement of needing to see DAH credentials at line entrances.
In this regard, DAH operates in a similar manner to PM Extra Magic Hours vs the 'park clearing' you see with MNSSHP and MVMCP.

_For Villains After Hours, Disney has been actively clearing the park of non-ticketed guests after park closing._

*Day Guest Carry-Over Into DAH Event Time from Rides and/or Nighttime Entertainment*

As noted above, day guests can enter a ride line 1 minute before park closing.
Also, depending on the date, some nighttime entertainment such as Happily Ever After (HEA) or Once Upon a Time (OUAT) can be scheduled to begin at the same time the DAH event starts.
If HEA is scheduled for the same time as the DAH start time, yes, there will be a large crowd still in the park for the first part of your DAH time.
Historically this has not had a material impact on DAH, but some may not like the fact daytime entertainment carries over into "paid event time."


----------



## Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

We just splurged and booked for April 20th.   Our spring trip is always to celebrate our wedding anniversary, so we like to do something a little special when we visit (also, we are Universal & SeaWorld annual passholders, but sometimes we like to add a little Disney into our trips and the After Hours events seem to be our best fit).  We have only been to one before (last spring) but it was FABULOUS.  Really hoping that the second experience is as good as the first.  We were sorely disappointed in our oversold, over-hot, over-hyped MNSSHP in October (perhaps DAH has ruined us??) so I'm hoping this will bring the Disney magic back for my husband, especially.

A big thanks to all of those who come back to this thread and post their honest thoughts after each event.  I love reading your feedback (good and bad) and hearing your first-hand reports.   It really does help to go into these things with realistic expectations.  Now I'm just hoping Mother Nature smiles on us with some good weather!

One question (which I hopefully haven't missed the answer to somewhere along the way....if I did, I apologize!):  does anyone know if the Photopass photographers along Main Street can do the magic shot with the fireworks in the shape of a Mickey head (with the castle in the background) during the DAH event?  I have seen a few sample pics from other guests and would love to try and get that specific photo while we are there.


----------



## kikik

I’m back from the event tonight and I think it was the best money I ever spent at Disney. It was so, so much fun. Everything a walk-on except a 5-minute wait for Peter Pan and 7DMT. The vibe was awesome - people seemed to be extra friendly to each other! 

I did the Villains party last Friday and had a blast too - I love Villains stuff - but it was a completely different thing. Villains felt like I had a FP for every ride, DAH was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.


----------



## proud_canadian

kikik said:


> I’m back from the event tonight and I think it was the best money I ever spent at Disney. It was so, so much fun. Everything a walk-on except a 5-minute wait for Peter Pan and 7DMT. The vibe was awesome - people seemed to be extra friendly to each other!
> 
> I did the Villains party last Friday and had a blast too - I love Villains stuff - but it was a completely different thing. Villains felt like I had a FP for every ride, DAH was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.




Kikikik - What time were you able to get in?  Also, I noticed magic carpets had a 25 min wait on the app for most of the night.  Was that accurate?


----------



## prairiesarah

We were there last night too (Mar 2nd).  It was absolutely fantastic.  My husband, son and I all agreed we'd 100% buy AH tickets again. 



proud_canadian said:


> Also, I noticed magic carpets had a 25 min wait on the app for most of the night.  Was that accurate?



I would say that the ride times on the app/ride time boards were not accurate at all.  It was almost like they updated them to just before 8pm then stopped.  Everything we did was walk on except 7DMT and Haunted Mansion (more on that below).

We got there a bit later than we had anticipated and got through the gates at about 7:20/7:30pm.  I couldn't believe all the people going through the regular lines at that point - I'm presuming going in to just watch the fireworks.

We headed back and rode the People Mover after fighting the crowds on main street lined up for the fireworks.  Got in line at 7:39pm, done the ride and off by 7:53pm.  Got in line for the Speedway by 7:56pm, on by 8:06pm.  Rode it as the fireworks were going off. 

The crowds everywhere but Main Street were really low by this point.

Went to Space Mountain - DS rode (walk on at 8:05pm), DH and I got popcorn and water.

Went and rode Barnstormer (walk on) 2x in a row - they didn't even make us get off - only DS had to move because someone wanted the front row - so he went to the back.

Then to 7DMT - DS rode (short wait - less than 10 minutes), I rode Winnie the Pooh (walk on).

Got more popcorn, water and ice cream.

On to Its a Small World (walk on).  In retrospect shouldn't have wasted 15 minutes on this ride but it was DH's Grandma's favourite ride so we always do it in her memory and this was our only day at the Magic Kingdom this trip.

Then we tried to ride Haunted Mansion.  Waited less than 2 min outside the doors, right in, not more than 20 of us in the room.  Then when we got into the loading area it was backed up (100ish people probably) and the ride wasn't moving and a lot of cast members hustling back and forth.  After about 5 minutes they announced technical difficulties and had to get everyone out through the emergency exits then were going to evacuate the ride.  They had cast members at the exit with iPads scanning MB's and we all got any anytime FP for today.

More ice cream for DS and DH and water for me.

Main street to get some photos in front of the castle.

Pirates (walk on).

Splash (walk on).

At this point we were planning to go on Big Thunder but it was closed for some unknown reason which was disappointing as its my favourite ride. 

Grabbed some more popcorn and water and walked towards the front of the park deciding what to do.  It was about 10:25pm at this point and I wanted to make sure I got the Starbucks mug I wanted to buy so went to the Main Street Bakery and there was no wait.

More photos and more ice cream.

We wandered through the Emporium and headed to the boat at about 10:53pm.   We definitely could have gotten more rides in if we were motivated to do so, but we enjoyed the pace and how quiet it was.  I took a few photos that I'll try to post later today.

I was super impressed with the crowd levels - I thought it was super quiet although overheard someone say it was way busier than another one they had been at.  Most of the night there wasn't 20 people in my peripheral vision at any time unless you caught up with a couple of groups of people as they toured.

We decided we would 100% do this again if it continues to be this type of event.  All the cast members were super friendly, the free popcorn and ice cream treats were great (and not something we'd usually get so let DS have as much as he wanted of it).  We also didn't wait more than about 2 min at any of the snack stops.


----------



## jtwibih

I’m interested as well in seeing what are the earliest times people are getting in for these events. I know the site says 7pm and I’m sure it varies by day but it would still be nice to know how generous MK is in letting guests in early.


----------



## Trackstar4400

faithtrustandpixiedust123 said:


> Does anyone have any speculation on when August DAH will be released? Trying to plan park days and make ADRs and it's hard without knowing!


Following and waiting...since there are so many halloween parties I wonder if they will do much for AH.


----------



## Dakota Dexter

jtwibih said:


> I’m interested as well in seeing what are the earliest times people are getting in for these events. I know the site says 7pm and I’m sure it varies by day but it would still be nice to know how generous MK is in letting guests in early.


We went last night, the event was 8-11, they let us in at 6:00!!!  Everything was basically walk-on, BTMR & HM were both down at the end of the night


----------



## figmentfinesse

Trackstar4400 said:


> Following and waiting...since there are so many halloween parties I wonder if they will do much for AH.


I am also waiting for August dates. I feel like it will be at least a month but maybe I’ll be surprised!


----------



## ninafeliz

jtwibih said:


> I’m interested as well in seeing what are the earliest times people are getting in for these events. I know the site says 7pm and I’m sure it varies by day but it would still be nice to know how generous MK is in letting guests in early.


The night I went the first week of February they didn’t let us in until 6:50.  I have heard of people getting in as early as 6, but definitely not our night.  I’m very glad we didn’t go over that early since I didn’t have another ticket for that day, since we would have just stood in line for almost an hour.  Our event was 9-12.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Regarding when they let people in for DAH: I've not heard of anyone getting in before 6:00. If it's more important to get in as early as possible, plan to arrive by 6. If you want a balance of getting in early but not waiting too long, aim for 6:30. If you want to be assured of not waiting to enter at all, arrive at 7.


----------



## kikik

proud_canadian said:


> Kikikik - What time were you able to get in?  Also, I noticed magic carpets had a 25 min wait on the app for most of the night.  Was that accurate?



I went in with my day ticket at 5ish but when I asked the CM he said they were going to let people in at 6.

Magic Carpets was definitely not 25 minutes, in fact I don’t think any of the wait times were accurate. I walked on Carpets just after 9, and 7DMT was at 15 all night and the longest I waited was 10 mins. Mostly it was 5ish minutes, I went 7 times!


----------



## jbish

What are the best rides to hit during the time when the park is still open? I'll have between 7-10 pm before our event starts (but MK closes at 9 pm that night). I have booked Splash and Jungle Cruise FPs. I figure, if I get wet on Splash, I'll have more time to dry off when it is still warmer outside. And I figure Jungle Cruise might be better earlier in the night. I've never done JC after dark. Is it still a great experience? Any difference later at night - i.e. the skipper is just bored/ready to go home and not as engaged? And I'd like to get back to the Hub to see HEA, but then I'd have to backtrack again to hit BTMR, Pirates, etc.

Because now I'm wondering (i.e. overthinking) if I should change my strategy and start in Tomorrowland? Get FPs to Space and Buzz. Then I can get back to the Hub more easily for HEA, then head into Adventureland/Frontierland as the masses head out the exit. Then we would work our way clockwise and maybe, if things go well, we'll still end up in Tomorrowland and the end of the night for another round on Space and Buzz. Any insight is greatly appreciated!


----------



## ninafeliz

jbish said:


> What are the best rides to hit during the time when the park is still open? I'll have between 7-10 pm before our event starts (but MK closes at 9 pm that night). I have booked Splash and Jungle Cruise FPs. I figure, if I get wet on Splash, I'll have more time to dry off when it is still warmer outside. And I figure Jungle Cruise might be better earlier in the night. I've never done JC after dark. Is it still a great experience? Any difference later at night - i.e. the skipper is just bored/ready to go home and not as engaged? And I'd like to get back to the Hub to see HEA, but then I'd have to backtrack again to hit BTMR, Pirates, etc.
> 
> Because now I'm wondering (i.e. overthinking) if I should change my strategy and start in Tomorrowland? Get FPs to Space and Buzz. Then I can get back to the Hub more easily for HEA, then head into Adventureland/Frontierland as the masses head out the exit. Then we would work our way clockwise and maybe, if things go well, we'll still end up in Tomorrowland and the end of the night for another round on Space and Buzz. Any insight is greatly appreciated!


I would hit rides that are longer for your FPs so you don't use all of that time up during DAH.  JC and splash are both long, I think they are good choices.  Other options are to do things that aren't open during DAH, like ETWB if that interests you.  Space mountain is also good, because it takes forever just to walk to and from the ride, using up a lot of DAH time.  We have always started in Tomorrowland for our DAH and gone counterclockwise.  The only problem has been we usually don't make it all of the way.  Last time I had our FPs for POTC, JC, and HM, and then we started in Tomorrowland.  We only made it to BTMRR, so we would not have had time for Splash had it been open or for JC or POTC had we not altered anything we did that night.  From what I recall we didn't get to Aladdin or SDMT, but we could have for sure if we had not done any repeats earlier in the night.  A problem that I run into is that my kids want to ride things more than once, while my preference would be to ride everything we can at least once.  we compromise somewhat in that we do some of the favorites that have really long lines during the day a couple of times and will do something more than once when they let us stay on, but in general I keep pushing them to move on to the next thing. 

Some ride lend themselves to super easy and quick riding during DAH, like Barnstormer.   Others, like Space Mountain and somewhat BTMRR, have crazy long walks to and from the ride but the ride itself is fast and quick (as an aside, why don't they open the bypass space mt for DAH?  Drives me crazy).  A third type are rides that are just long, like IASW and Splash, so they take a long time no matter what.  Then there are the rest - in between ride or line lengths, cycle rides, etc.  I'm not completely sure how that pertains to your question lol, I seem to have gotten off on a tangent, but I'll reel it in by saying I would use your FPs for rides in the second or third categories I just listed.  

I do think that starting on one side of the park before the event starts, then watching HEA and then starting after hours from the opposite side is a good strategy.  I just wouldn't personally recommend using a FP on buzz since that's one we rode multiple times and were allowed to just stay on during DAH. How about FPs for JC, Splash, and POTC, then starting in Tomorrowland and hoping you get to end with repeat rides on those 3? I guess now that I think about it we kind of did that, but the opposite.  Our FPs were Adventureland and HM, then we started in Tomorrowland.


----------



## eeyoreandtink

We have day tickets for our DAH day, and i am planning on going in MK mid afternoon. We have FP booked for JC, SM, and BTMRR before DAH. 

We typically start in tomorrowland and work our way around. We don't ride everything, but can do everything we want and make it back to ride SDMT and space again before the event ends. We have done this 3 times, and this was our rough schedule each time:
SM 
Buzz
SDMT
Pooh
Peter Pan
BTMRR x2 (sometimes 3)
Splash (not every time depends on time)
HM
Pirates
JC (if we didn't do splash and have time)
Back to tomorrowland for one more SM and SDMT. 

I don't ride SM or SDMT so I typically get snacks for all of us while DH and DD are on those at the beginning and the end of the night.


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

jbish said:


> What are the best rides to hit during the time when the park is still open? I'll have between 7-10 pm before our event starts (but MK closes at 9 pm that night). I have booked Splash and Jungle Cruise FPs. I figure, if I get wet on Splash, I'll have more time to dry off when it is still warmer outside. And I figure Jungle Cruise might be better earlier in the night. I've never done JC after dark. Is it still a great experience? Any difference later at night - i.e. the skipper is just bored/ready to go home and not as engaged? And I'd like to get back to the Hub to see HEA, but then I'd have to backtrack again to hit BTMR, Pirates, etc.
> 
> Because now I'm wondering (i.e. overthinking) if I should change my strategy and start in Tomorrowland? Get FPs to Space and Buzz. Then I can get back to the Hub more easily for HEA, then head into Adventureland/Frontierland as the masses head out the exit. Then we would work our way clockwise and maybe, if things go well, we'll still end up in Tomorrowland and the end of the night for another round on Space and Buzz. Any insight is greatly appreciated!


I'd keep your current FP's. Splash and JC are both long so knocking them both out pre-AH would be ideal. If you can manage to grab BTMR (if it's open when you go) I'd use that one too so you don't have to trek back to Frontierland once AH starts. I wouldn't use a FP on Buzz since that's always been a walk-on when I've gone to AH.


----------



## Liddypool

My DH and I attended AH last night (3/2). Overall, we really enjoyed the event, and especially loved the low crowds. Everything except 7DMT was a walk on for us, and that was only a 10-min wait. We were also able to get Tangled lantern photos with only 1 couple in front of us! I had never seen the wait so short for that before.

However, we were on the Haunted Mansion when it went down. Not only did we lose 25 min of our AH time, but we were stuck on the hill going down into the graveyard, facing the wrong way! That’s right, our doom buggy never rotated around! We heard some horrible grinding sounds and our buggy (and several in front of us) were moving all around in a jerky motion as they tried to turn. Several cast members came to our aid relatively quickly, but they couldn’t open the buggy because of the way it was facing. We had to wait for maintenance to arrive to free us. The worst part was that we had to hold ourselves up using our feet and arms to prevent falling out of the buggy! Not a fun 25 min, but a good upper body workout! 

We were offered free fast passes for the next day after we were evacuated, but that didn’t work for us, because we had a resort day planned. I spoke with guest relations before we left and explained what happened, and the CM gave us 2 additional anytime fast passes for a day of our choice. Since we are AP holders, I felt like that was a satisfactory option to make up for the lost time from AH.

Although we had quite the experience on the HM, I would definitely do MK AH again. The super low crowds made it worth it for us.


----------



## jen7233

Has anyone done the Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square during AH? How is the line for that? I'd like to do it our DAH night, wondering what strategy works best for that. Doing it before the event, or waiting until the end of the night while heading out? I don't want to go back down Main Street during the event as I think that's taking time from rides. Assuming also he'll still be there between 12:30 and 1 am when we plan to exit.


----------



## jbish

Liddypool said:


> My DH and I attended AH last night (3/2). Overall, we really enjoyed the event, and especially loved the low crowds. Everything except 7DMT was a walk on for us, and that was only a 10-min wait. We were also able to get Tangled lantern photos with only 1 couple in front of us! I had never seen the wait so short for that before.
> 
> However, we were on the Haunted Mansion when it went down. Not only did we lose 25 min of our AH time, but we were stuck on the hill going down into the graveyard, facing the wrong way! That’s right, our doom buggy never rotated around! We heard some horrible grinding sounds and our buggy (and several in front of us) were moving all around in a jerky motion as they tried to turn. Several cast members came to our aid relatively quickly, but they couldn’t open the buggy because of the way it was facing. We had to wait for maintenance to arrive to free us. The worst part was that we had to hold ourselves up using our feet and arms to prevent falling out of the buggy! Not a fun 25 min, but a good upper body workout!
> 
> We were offered free fast passes for the next day after we were evacuated, but that didn’t work for us, because we had a resort day planned. I spoke with guest relations before we left and explained what happened, and the CM gave us 2 additional anytime fast passes for a day of our choice. Since we are AP holders, I felt like that was a satisfactory option to make up for the lost time from AH.
> 
> Although we had quite the experience on the HM, I would definitely do MK AH again. The super low crowds made it worth it for us.


Seems like you guys may have broken the ride!  I just saw something on Twitter about HM never having opened today and possibly being down for up to three days.  Waiting on some more news sources to report this before linking to a story.  But thought you might be interested in knowing that!


----------



## Liddypool

jbish said:


> Seems like you guys may have broken the ride!  I just saw something on Twitter about HM never having opened today and possibly being down for up to three days.  Waiting on some more news sources to report this before linking to a story.  But thought you might be interested in knowing that!



Oh no! That really stinks for all the people trying to ride HM right now. When the buggy next to us was being evacuated, the CM said something about finding a Woody hat jammed underneath their buggy. Could a hat do that much damage?? The CM also mentioned that he has worked at HM for 5 years and has never seen the attraction malfunction like that.


----------



## Iowamomof4

jbish said:


> Seems like you guys may have broken the ride!  I just saw something on Twitter about HM never having opened today and possibly being down for up to three days.  Waiting on some more news sources to report this before linking to a story.  But thought you might be interested in knowing that!


https://blogmickey.com/2020/03/haun...KsEoff8Tqlw-pjl6stIUQWIADtZLXwTLbDqJlZoFBsGXo
Posted on the News thread.


----------



## jbish

Iowamomof4 said:


> https://blogmickey.com/2020/03/haun...KsEoff8Tqlw-pjl6stIUQWIADtZLXwTLbDqJlZoFBsGXo
> Posted on the News thread.


Thanks!  Was waiting for blogmickey or for the Dis to report it.


----------



## Alison S

jen7233 said:


> Has anyone done the Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square during AH? How is the line for that? I'd like to do it our DAH night, wondering what strategy works best for that. Doing it before the event, or waiting until the end of the night while heading out? I don't want to go back down Main Street during the event as I think that's taking time from rides. Assuming also he'll still be there between 12:30 and 1 am when we plan to exit.



We saw him around 12:45 and there were a couple of groups ahead of us.  It was a good plan!


----------



## MinnieMSue

Liddypool said:


> My DH and I attended AH last night (3/2). Overall, we really enjoyed the event, and especially loved the low crowds. Everything except 7DMT was a walk on for us, and that was only a 10-min wait. We were also able to get Tangled lantern photos with only 1 couple in front of us! I had never seen the wait so short for that before.
> 
> However, we were on the Haunted Mansion when it went down. Not only did we lose 25 min of our AH time, but we were stuck on the hill going down into the graveyard, facing the wrong way! That’s right, our doom buggy never rotated around! We heard some horrible grinding sounds and our buggy (and several in front of us) were moving all around in a jerky motion as they tried to turn. Several cast members came to our aid relatively quickly, but they couldn’t open the buggy because of the way it was facing. We had to wait for maintenance to arrive to free us. The worst part was that we had to hold ourselves up using our feet and arms to prevent falling out of the buggy! Not a fun 25 min, but a good upper body workout!
> 
> We were offered free fast passes for the next day after we were evacuated, but that didn’t work for us, because we had a resort day planned. I spoke with guest relations before we left and explained what happened, and the CM gave us 2 additional anytime fast passes for a day of our choice. Since we are AP holders, I felt like that was a satisfactory option to make up for the lost time from AH.
> 
> Although we had quite the experience on the HM, I would definitely do MK AH again. The super low crowds made it worth it for us.



oh my goodness! I cannot imagine being stuck facing down like that!  Idk if I would have had the strength to hold myself in. That is crazy. I’ve never heard of that happening before. Glad they compensated you and also glad the rest of your night was good. Wow!


----------



## Liddypool

MinnieMSue said:


> oh my goodness! I cannot imagine being stuck facing down like that!  Idk if I would have had the strength to hold myself in. That is crazy. I’ve never heard of that happening before. Glad they compensated you and also glad the rest of your night was good. Wow!



I have to admit it wasn’t easy to hold myself up for that long. Luckily, I could use my legs to brace part of my weight, because I don’t think I would’ve had enough upper body strength otherwise!


----------



## Riss

I’m debating about whether to try to convince my best friend that we should do the after hours for our trip early May. I did initially bring it up to her but I just don’t know with the price and everything. I think I might be the one who’d be totally interested but she might not be all that into it for the price?

We do have 4-day park hoppers but I feel like we’re not gonna be planning out many days, probably mostly going with the flow, and the after hours would be a great way to do more rides and get some free snacks as well. I did think about trying to convince her for the villains but neither of us are truly villains people so it really wouldn’t make sense for the price increase.

I’m just not sure and keep going back and forth on it... Like it seems like it might be a good deal but we do have 4-day park hoppers and we are staying off-site, my first time ever, and we are there with her parents. Plus it’s more like their family vacation that I was invited on haha, even though we’re probably going to be split up for most of the day.

The only after hours available that week is on a Tuesday, I believe, with the villains one on a Friday. To be honest, I think it’d be easier to convince her if it was on a Friday because then we leave that Saturday, the next day, in the afternoon whereas Tuesday we’re just beginning our vacation kind of. We arrive on Sunday and are probably going to be in Universal on Monday.


----------



## ninafeliz

Riss said:


> I’m debating about whether to try to convince my best friend that we should do the after hours for our trip early May. I did initially bring it up to her but I just don’t know with the price and everything. I think I might be the one who’d be totally interested but she might not be all that into it for the price?
> 
> We do have 4-day park hoppers but I feel like we’re not gonna be planning out many days, probably mostly going with the flow, and the after hours would be a great way to do more rides and get some free snacks as well. I did think about trying to convince her for the villains but neither of us are truly villains people so it really wouldn’t make sense for the price increase.
> 
> I’m just not sure and keep going back and forth on it... Like it seems like it might be a good deal but we do have 4-day park hoppers and we are staying off-site, my first time ever, and we are there with her parents. Plus it’s more like their family vacation that I was invited on haha, even though we’re probably going to be split up for most of the day.
> 
> The only after hours available that week is on a Tuesday, I believe, with the villains one on a Friday. To be honest, I think it’d be easier to convince her if it was on a Friday because then we leave that Saturday, the next day, in the afternoon whereas Tuesday we’re just beginning our vacation kind of. We arrive on Sunday and are probably going to be in Universal on Monday.


You could go by yourself if she isn’t interested?   Unless that would be too out of line since you’ll be there with her family, only you would know if that would be appropriate or not.  But if they wouldn’t care it’s a thought.  I’m not a do things alone person at all, but I would totally do this alone.


----------



## Riss

ninafeliz said:


> You could go by yourself if she isn’t interested?   Unless that would be too out of line since you’ll be there with her family, only you would know if that would be appropriate or not.  But if they wouldn’t care it’s a thought.  I’m not a do things alone person at all, but I would totally do this alone.



While I would probably do something like this alone, I’m not sure if I would because we there together for vacation? If that makes sense. I know her parents probably wouldn’t be joining because they’re “not really ride people anymore” as they put it, but I think it’d just kind of be weird to do it alone?

I do think she’s like the experience of it all, it’s just convincing her that the money is worth it, I think.


----------



## Lsdolphin

Riss said:


> While I would probably do something like this alone, I’m not sure if I would because we there together for vacation? If that makes sense. I know her parents probably wouldn’t be joining because they’re “not really ride people anymore” as they put it, but I think it’d just kind of be weird to do it alone?
> 
> I do think she’s like the experience of it all, it’s just convincing her that the money is worth it, I think.



oh it is VERY worth it!


----------



## Markal

I’ve been debating AH at MK for our trip at the end of the month. Love the idea of low crowds as DH will be at a conference and miss being in parks for 3 of the days we are there. Thanks for all the info on this thread.


----------



## Dakota Dexter

jen7233 said:


> Has anyone done the Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square during AH? How is the line for that? I'd like to do it our DAH night, wondering what strategy works best for that. Doing it before the event, or waiting until the end of the night while heading out? I don't want to go back down Main Street during the event as I think that's taking time from rides. Assuming also he'll still be there between 12:30 and 1 am when we plan to exit.


We did it during the final 20 minutes of the event, and there were only 3 groups in line!  In fact, all of the character meets were 10 minutes or less


----------



## prairiesarah

jen7233 said:


> Has anyone done the Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square during AH? How is the line for that? I'd like to do it our DAH night, wondering what strategy works best for that. Doing it before the event, or waiting until the end of the night while heading out? I don't want to go back down Main Street during the event as I think that's taking time from rides. Assuming also he'll still be there between 12:30 and 1 am when we plan to exit.



When we were leaving on Monday night (about 5 to 10 minutes before the end of the event) a cast member was outside Town Hall trying very hard to lure people in.  He was very funny.   I’m guessing based on that there was no line or minimal line.


----------



## jbish

jen7233 said:


> Has anyone done the Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square during AH? How is the line for that? I'd like to do it our DAH night, wondering what strategy works best for that. Doing it before the event, or waiting until the end of the night while heading out? I don't want to go back down Main Street during the event as I think that's taking time from rides. Assuming also he'll still be there between 12:30 and 1 am when we plan to exit.





Alison S said:


> We saw him around 12:45 and there were a couple of groups ahead of us.  It was a good plan!





Dakota Dexter said:


> We did it during the final 20 minutes of the event, and there were only 3 groups in line!  In fact, all of the character meets were 10 minutes or less


I would not have thought to stop to meet Mickey during DAH - we always did character meets when the kids were little but don't do it anymore as it's not worth the wait.  But this is the perfect time to do it and I'm so glad the question was asked!  Definitely making it our last stop on our way out!!


----------



## proud_canadian

Liddypool said:


> My DH and I attended AH last night (3/2). Overall, we really enjoyed the event, and especially loved the low crowds. Everything except 7DMT was a walk on for us, and that was only a 10-min wait. We were also able to get Tangled lantern photos with only 1 couple in front of us! I had never seen the wait so short for that before.
> 
> However, we were on the Haunted Mansion when it went down. Not only did we lose 25 min of our AH time, but we were stuck on the hill going down into the graveyard, facing the wrong way! That’s right, our doom buggy never rotated around! We heard some horrible grinding sounds and our buggy (and several in front of us) were moving all around in a jerky motion as they tried to turn. Several cast members came to our aid relatively quickly, but they couldn’t open the buggy because of the way it was facing. We had to wait for maintenance to arrive to free us. The worst part was that we had to hold ourselves up using our feet and arms to prevent falling out of the buggy! Not a fun 25 min, but a good upper body workout!
> 
> We were offered free fast passes for the next day after we were evacuated, but that didn’t work for us, because we had a resort day planned. I spoke with guest relations before we left and explained what happened, and the CM gave us 2 additional anytime fast passes for a day of our choice. Since we are AP holders, I felt like that was a satisfactory option to make up for the lost time from AH.
> 
> Although we had quite the experience on the HM, I would definitely do MK AH again. The super low crowds made it worth it for us.




What time did you arrive to the event and did you enter immediately?


----------



## Liddypool

proud_canadian said:


> What time did you arrive to the event and did you enter immediately?



We’re AP holders, so we arrived at MK a little before 3 PM to watch the parade. We used our 3 FPs and then grabbed dinner at Skippers Canteen before the event started. I’m not sure what time they were letting AH ticket holders enter.


----------



## Deploraboo

We're doing DAH @ MK this Monday and then up bright and early next day for EMM at Fantasyland.  May just sleep on the Monorail.....  wish us luck!


----------



## wiggy500

proud_canadian said:


> What time did you arrive to the event and did you enter immediately?



We got there at about 6 and they were already letting people enter.


----------



## Deploraboo

Are they serving alcohol during AH at MK yet?  Saw they're doing it for the Fireworks dessert party now (as an option).


----------



## Iowamomof4

Deploraboo said:


> Are they serving alcohol during AH at MK yet?  Saw they're doing it for the Fireworks dessert party now (as an option).


I believe Villains after Hours now has a lounge option, but nothing for regular after hours.


----------



## Deploraboo

ooh.  may have to sign up for that one too then.


----------



## Iowamomof4

Deploraboo said:


> ooh.  may have to sign up for that one too then.


https://www.disboards.com/threads/villains-after-hours-magic-kingdom-faq-discussion-thread.3776793/
Check out the official VAH thread for more information!


----------



## eeyoreandtink

Deploraboo said:


> Are they serving alcohol during AH at MK yet?  Saw they're doing it for the Fireworks dessert party now (as an option).


As far as I know, only during VAH


----------



## uandmfan

For those who have been to an 8-11 event, I guess you just skip the fireworks?  This will make it hard for us to see the fireworks at the MK and F! during our trip. 

I'm struggling as we will likely have a choice between an 8-11 event and a 9-12 event. The 9 pm one would let us see the fireworks and have extra time in the park (we won't enter before DAH allows entry). But I'm not 100% sure if the kids, who will be 6 and 9, will be able to be awake until 12 am, and then get back to the hotel.


----------



## eeyoreandtink

uandmfan said:


> For those who have been to an 8-11 event, I guess you just skip the fireworks?  This will make it hard for us to see the fireworks at the MK and F! during our trip.
> 
> I'm struggling as we will likely have a choice between an 8-11 event and a 9-12 event. The 9 pm one would let us see the fireworks and have extra time in the park (we won't enter before DAH allows entry). But I'm not 100% sure if the kids, who will be 6 and 9, will be able to be awake until 12 am, and then get back to the hotel.


This event always starts after park close. Fireworks may go at closing however so if you want to see them you would only lose the first few minutes of the event. For a 9-11 event fireworks may very well be at 9. If this is the case for your event, you may want to compromise and watch the fireworks from somewhere other than the hub. Just stop what you are doing for a few minutes and watch, then move on.


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

uandmfan said:


> For those who have been to an 8-11 event, I guess you just skip the fireworks?  This will make it hard for us to see the fireworks at the MK and F! during our trip.
> 
> I'm struggling as we will likely have a choice between an 8-11 event and a 9-12 event. The 9 pm one would let us see the fireworks and have extra time in the park (we won't enter before DAH allows entry). But I'm not 100% sure if the kids, who will be 6 and 9, will be able to be awake until 12 am, and then get back to the hotel.


Ours was 9-12, but I have to say how awesome it was to watch the fireworks near the Big Top Souvenirs/Dumbo in Fantasyland. Yes, you miss the castle projections but the views are still amazing and having a place to sit and enjoy them + not dealing with the absolute insanity of Main St. is worth more IMO than seeing the castle projections. We also found Fantasyland to be very low-crowds at that time, so you should be able to knock out some AH rides right away after the fireworks.


----------



## Liddypool

uandmfan said:


> For those who have been to an 8-11 event, I guess you just skip the fireworks?  This will make it hard for us to see the fireworks at the MK and F! during our trip.
> 
> I'm struggling as we will likely have a choice between an 8-11 event and a 9-12 event. The 9 pm one would let us see the fireworks and have extra time in the park (we won't enter before DAH allows entry). But I'm not 100% sure if the kids, who will be 6 and 9, will be able to be awake until 12 am, and then get back to the hotel.



When we went to AH this past Monday, my DH and I got on the PeopleMover right at 8. It was pretty cool to watch the fireworks while riding the PeopleMover! And we were in a great location to jump on the other Tomorrowland attractions we wanted to ride while avoiding the crowds of the Hub and Main Street.


----------



## uandmfan

Liddypool said:


> When we went to AH this past Monday, my DH and I got on the PeopleMover right at 8. It was pretty cool to watch the fireworks while riding the PeopleMover! And we were in a great location to jump on the other Tomorrowland attractions we wanted to ride while avoiding the crowds of the Hub and Main Street.



This will be our only chance to see the evening show on our trip so I'll have to see what the kids think. But I like the idea of skipping the projections and watching the fireworks from somewhere less crowded. 

Otherwise, I guess we will watch them in front of the castle and fight out way back into the park after. If they are over around 820 I'd hope to make it to a ride before 845 so we can jump on it before the event. 

Lots of time to figure this out, but once we start planning a Disney trip I get obsessed!


----------



## wiggy500

uandmfan said:


> This will be our only chance to see the evening show on our trip so I'll have to see what the kids think. But I like the idea of skipping the projections and watching the fireworks from somewhere less crowded.
> 
> Otherwise, I guess we will watch them in front of the castle and fight out way back into the park after. If they are over around 820 I'd hope to make it to a ride before 845 so we can jump on it before the event.
> 
> Lots of time to figure this out, but once we start planning a Disney trip I get obsessed!



If it's important for you to watch the fireworks then watch them.  Fighting the crowds to head to rides looks impossible at first, but it clears out quickly as most people start leaving the park.

When we went Monday when the event was 8 - 11 we got in early at 6, used some fastpasses, then watched the fireworks at 8 and then went on rides.


----------



## uandmfan

wiggy500 said:


> If it's important for you to watch the fireworks then watch them.  Fighting the crowds to head to rides looks impossible at first, but it clears out quickly as most people start leaving the park.
> 
> When we went Monday when the event was 8 - 11 we got in early at 6, used some fastpasses, then watched the fireworks at 8 and then went on rides.



What time did you get back on the rides?  Did you still get a lot done?

I'm worried we wouldn't get let in until 7 and then only manage 1 or 2 rides by 8, and with taking time out for fireworks, we wouldn't be able to hit tons of rides. We only have one other day at MK.


----------



## wiggy500

uandmfan said:


> What time did you get back on the rides?  Did you still get a lot done?
> 
> I'm worried we wouldn't get let in until 7 and then only manage 1 or 2 rides by 8, and with taking time out for fireworks, we wouldn't be able to hit tons of rides. We only have one other day at MK.



With being let in at 6 I did Mine Train, Tomorrowland Speedway, and Space Mountain before the fireworks with FPs.  I wasn't planning on doing Space Mountain before the fireworks so that was a bonus.  After the fireworks we stood still for two or three minutes to let the crowd move out of the way, hit up the free popcorn and soda, and made our way to Tomorrowland.  I'm not sure how long it was between the end of the fireworks and getting on the next ride, but even with getting the popcorn I'd guess it was less than 15 minutes.  During the event I did peoplemover x2, Buzz Lightyear, Barnstormer x2, Pooh, Peter Pan, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, and Splash Mountain.  Probably would have done Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion instead of the last two if they were running.


----------



## Daffodilmom21

I have a ticket for AH for 3/23. My reason for this trip to DW is a conference/training I have to attend for work at CSR that week. I have already purchased my ticket. I am on pins and needles praying my trip does not get canceled because of “the virus”. If it sadly does, do you think I will be able to get refunded my money?  Has anyone ever had to cancel? I believe the tickets said non-refundable. I am so looking forward to this solo trip, we were just there as a family in September, but DH is not very into crowds and early mornings so I felt the trip was spent making sure he was ok with everything and we missed so much!  Guess we shall see what happens but wanted to be prepared in the event it does get canceled. ,


----------



## Malyficent

Daffodilmom21 said:


> I have a ticket for AH for 3/23. My reason for this trip to DW is a conference/training I have to attend for work at CSR that week. I have already purchased my ticket. I am on pins and needles praying my trip does not get canceled because of “the virus”. If it sadly does, do you think I will be able to get refunded my money?  Has anyone ever had to cancel? I believe the tickets said non-refundable. I am so looking forward to this solo trip, we were just there as a family in September, but DH is not very into crowds and early mornings so I felt the trip was spent making sure he was ok with everything and we missed so much!  Guess we shall see what happens but wanted to be prepared in the event it does get canceled. ,



Funny enough I was just coming in here to post my experience with cancelling just that party. My mom is 69 - she was joining us on this trip to celebrate her 70th. Given the new CDC guidance on those 60+ to stay home as much as possible and socially distance themselves, we pulled the plug on her trip. I'm still going with my 7yo (as of now). I called Disney last night and they were very understanding about cancelling the DAH for her. Should take a few days to refund to my card. I expect they will be similarly understanding if your trip is cancelled. I work for a major financial company and they issued a no domestic business travel notice yesterday.


----------



## missingdisneymore

Tix purchased for spring break-hope the good reviews are true.


----------



## Ladyfish77

Had a great After Hours tonight!  Wasn't sure what to expect since touring plans showed MK as a 10 for crowds tonight.  We arrived just before 9pm for 10pm event start. Walked on Winnie the Pooh.   Little mermaid Dumbo and barnstormer. As soon as event officially started we headed to adventure land. Jungle cruise pirates big thunder (twice) all walk on. Headed to Haunted house then Fantasyland.  Only wait all night was 15 min for 7ndwarf. DS skipped space mountain which has a 35inute posted wait.  Really enjoyed entire evening.


----------



## jbish

Ladyfish77 said:


> Had a great After Hours tonight!  Wasn't sure what to expect since touring plans showed MK as a 10 for crowds tonight.  We arrived just before 9pm for 10pm event start. Walked on Winnie the Pooh.   Little mermaid Dumbo and barnstormer. As soon as event officially started we headed to adventure land. Jungle cruise pirates big thunder (twice) all walk on. Headed to Haunted house then Fantasyland.  Only wait all night was 15 min for 7ndwarf. DS skipped space mountain which has a 35inute posted wait.  Really enjoyed entire evening.


Were you in any of the other parks during the day?  Wondering if you actually "felt" the crowd levels being a 10.  I saw that wait times for the headliners were pretty high during the day (the usual suspects: FOP, SDMT, MMRR, etc.) but nothing crazy.


----------



## Kricketnp

uandmfan said:


> For those who have been to an 8-11 event, I guess you just skip the fireworks?  This will make it hard for us to see the fireworks at the MK and F! during our trip.
> 
> I'm struggling as we will likely have a choice between an 8-11 event and a 9-12 event. The 9 pm one would let us see the fireworks and have extra time in the park (we won't enter before DAH allows entry). But I'm not 100% sure if the kids, who will be 6 and 9, will be able to be awake until 12 am, and then get back to the hotel.



We chose not to sit and actively watch the fireworks, but were in Tomorrowland when they started so we could see them. We then rode the Speedway and had a great view of them. I said to my hubby that it felt like we were on "The Bachelor" because we were the only people on the ride and there were fireworks going off!


----------



## mcurrence

jbish said:


> Were you in any of the other parks during the day?  Wondering if you actually "felt" the crowd levels being a 10.  I saw that wait times for the headliners were pretty high during the day (the usual suspects: FOP, SDMT, MMRR, etc.) but nothing crazy.


We'll be there tomorrow so I will report back. We're doing Villains and AK back to back ! According to Touringplans, our days went from a 6 -8 to a 10!!  I'm a bit doubtful because some dining options became available to us and the Yacht club, where we're staying, was completely booked (or at least showed no availability) and all of a sudden all three room types and Club level standard are available..


----------



## jbish

mcurrence said:


> We'll be there tomorrow so I will report back. We're doing Villains and AK back to back ! According to Touringplans, our days went from a 6 -8 to a 10!!  I'm a bit doubtful because some dining options became available to us and the Yacht club, where we're staying, was completely booked (or at least showed no availability) and all of a sudden all three room types and Club level standard are available..


Yes, please do!  While I don't think that there are massive cancellations due to COVID-19 quite yet, there may be a few cancellations here and there that open up a few reservations.  But I don't expect it to have a noticeable difference on the crowds (yet, at least).  But will be curious as to how you think the day crowds are versus the AH event crowds.  Have fun!!


----------



## Sarahslay

Of course I had to do it, I couldn't not do DAH when I realized there was one on the first day of my spur of the moment quick solo trip on March 30. Of course it's my arrival day, and I'll be exhausted, but I'm doing Flower and Garden the next day so I can sleep in until World Showcase opens. I'm still hoping they extend the regular DAH through the summer, I don't mind doing Villains since I had a great time last year, but I'd really love a regular DAH event during my trip in July.


----------



## Sarahslay

mcurrence said:


> We'll be there tomorrow so I will report back. We're doing Villains and AK back to back ! According to Touringplans, our days went from a 6 -8 to a 10!!  I'm a bit doubtful because some dining options became available to us and the Yacht club, where we're staying, was completely booked (or at least showed no availability) and all of a sudden all three room types and Club level standard are available..


Conferences are being canceled left and right freeing up rooms in all the conference hotels. I actually had a friend whose husbands conference for this next week at YC was cancelled last minute. It was her kids spring break trip, and now without the "free" room (his company paid for it) they aren't going. I also just booked a last minute trip after a ton of room availability opened up at the end of the month. I honestly don't think TP is taking in to account everything that is happening, they're saying all the days I'm there are 8-10s and I just don't believe it with as many rooms that are available at all of the resorts. I've been there when there has been hardly any room availability and they were calling it a 7/8 the whole trip, so while it might be busy (because Disney) I really don't think with all the cancellations that it's really going to be 10's.


----------



## jen7233

How often do the buses run after, or even during (in case we want to leave early), the MK DAH events? Are there Disney cast members or transportation workers out by the bus area to assist you on what bus to use to get back to the resort (Poly)?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jen7233 said:


> How often do the buses run after, or even during (in case we want to leave early), the MK DAH events? Are there Disney cast members or transportation workers out by the bus area to assist you on what bus to use to get back to the resort (Poly)?



In my experience it’s more or less like normal bus conditions when leaving MK. You may luck out and have one right there when you arrive - you may be not so lucky and have to wait.  I have had good experiences and ones where I’m like “c’mon, what the heck is taking so long” - but I could say the same about leaving MK during or a MNSSHP/MVMCP or any time of day, really.  

I will say - the end of DAH when everyone is leaving is when you realize just how many people were in the park and it may leave you saying ‘where did all these people come from?’.   I had one night in particular where an awesome DAH evening was sort of ‘tainted’ by a longish bus commute home (exaggerated by the late hour).  But I consider that all relatively normal, just something to keep in mind.


----------



## schultzywi

GADisneyDad14 said:


> In my experience it’s more or less like normal bus conditions when leaving MK. You may luck out and have one right there when you arrive - you may be not so lucky and have to wait.  I have had good experiences and ones where I’m like “c’mon, what the heck is taking so long” - but I could say the same about leaving MK during or a MNSSHP/MVMCP or any time of day, really.
> 
> I will say - the end of DAH when everyone is leaving is when you realize just how many people were in the park and it may leave you saying ‘where did all these people come from?’.   I had one night in particular where an awesome DAH evening was sort of ‘tainted’ by a longish bus commute home (exaggerated by the late hour).  But I consider that all relatively normal, just something to keep in mind.


I know the monorail doesn't run, but do the boats run to the Bay Lake resorts after the events? - Nevermind, found the answer on original post


----------



## mcurrence

Sarahslay said:


> Conferences are being canceled left and right freeing up rooms in all the conference hotels. I actually had a friend whose husbands conference for this next week at YC was cancelled last minute. It was her kids spring break trip, and now without the "free" room (his company paid for it) they aren't going. I also just booked a last minute trip after a ton of room availability opened up at the end of the month. I honestly don't think TP is taking in to account everything that is happening, they're saying all the days I'm there are 8-10s and I just don't believe it with as many rooms that are available at all of the resorts. I've been there when there has been hardly any room availability and they were calling it a 7/8 the whole trip, so while it might be busy (because Disney) I really don't think with all the cancellations that it's really going to be 10's.


We drove into the yacht club and it’s not busy at all! Beaches and cream had open tables and cast members mentioned a ton of availability - we got to upgrade to a water view  we’ll ese what the MK looks like later ... will probably aim to get there at 6:30 and hope they let us in early !


----------



## mickey765

Hi, 
We are going next Monday and just wondering if our plan is too ambitious. Hoping they'll let us in before 7pm.

Laugh floor
pooh meet & greet if time
dinner at Columbia Harbour house
Christmas shop & pick of SotMK cards for souvenirs
if desired: country bears or tiki room to kill time
9pm: fireworks from frontierland/adventureland
BTMRR FP
JC
Pirates

event starts:
HM
IASW
Pan 
Pooh
Under the Sea
dumbo/teacups/princess meet
space
buzz
peoplemover
7DMT
maybe mickey meet on way out

**idea is to grab snacks as we go & if desired, maybe some repeats. Debating whether we should ride small world before event.


----------



## Sarahslay

mcurrence said:


> We drove into the yacht club and it’s not busy at all! Beaches and cream had open tables and cast members mentioned a ton of availability - we got to upgrade to a water view  we’ll ese what the MK looks like later ... will probably aim to get there at 6:30 and hope they let us in early !


When I was there for DAH on Feb 3 they let us in around 6:50, so hopefully they will bump that up for you! I was able to make some good FP for the 3 hours before my DAH, definitely tons of availability which I wasn't expecting given TP has it rated at a 10. I'm currently trying to talk myself out of an upgrade to BC from Pop, really hard, we'll see if I can do it lol. Now that travel from Europe is banned starting tomorrow I'm guess the crowds will be even lower, I guess we'll see.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Some news from Disney regarding DAH, VAH, and Early Morning Magic events during the current coronovirus park closure.   For MK DAH, this includes events on Monday 3/16, 3/23, & 3/30.  

Source:  https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/travel-information/
_*Guests who have purchased tickets for Disney After Hours, Disney Villains After Hours and Disney Early Morning Magic from March 16, 2020 through March 31, 2020 will be automatically refunded.*_


----------



## twinprincesses09

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Some news from Disney regarding DAH, VAH, and Early Morning Magic events during the current coronovirus park closure.   For MK DAH, this includes events on Monday 3/16, 3/23, & 3/30.
> 
> Source:  https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/travel-information/
> _*Guests who have purchased tickets for Disney After Hours, Disney Villains After Hours and Disney Early Morning Magic from March 16, 2020 through March 31, 2020 will be automatically refunded.*_


What about if they are purchased through Undercover Tourist?  Will Disney refund those too, or does it have to go through UT?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

twinprincesses09 said:


> What about if they are purchased through Undercover Tourist?  Will Disney refund those too, or does it have to go through UT?



I don't have familiarity with UT, but from what I see posted around here I think you need to go through UT.  Hopefully someone else knows for sure.


----------



## jen7233

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Some news from Disney regarding DAH, VAH, and Early Morning Magic events during the current coronovirus park closure. For MK DAH, this includes events on Monday 3/16, 3/23, & 3/30.
> 
> Source: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/travel-information/
> _*Guests who have purchased tickets for Disney After Hours, Disney Villains After Hours and Disney Early Morning Magic from March 16, 2020 through March 31, 2020 will be automatically refunded.*_


That's good news for those. We had the early April event, so outside the window.


----------



## Sarahslay

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Some news from Disney regarding DAH, VAH, and Early Morning Magic events during the current coronovirus park closure.   For MK DAH, this includes events on Monday 3/16, 3/23, & 3/30.
> 
> Source:  https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/travel-information/
> _*Guests who have purchased tickets for Disney After Hours, Disney Villains After Hours and Disney Early Morning Magic from March 16, 2020 through March 31, 2020 will be automatically refunded.*_


Well that's good since I just sent an email lol, wonder how long it will be until the refund is issued. I have rescheduled my trip to May since I'm mainly going for F&G, but there are no DAH or VAH events on my dates


----------



## eeyoreandtink

jen7233 said:


> That's good news for those. We had the early April event, so outside the window.


I actually got through to a person this morning. He wasn't in ticketing, but gave me their number. he told me to give it a couple of days and call on my early April event. They would likely be working with people on those.


----------



## jen7233

eeyoreandtink said:


> I actually got through to a person this morning. He wasn't in ticketing, but gave me their number. he told me to give it a couple of days and call on my early April event. They would likely be working with people on those.


That's good to know.


----------



## Sydnerella

Sad to be canceling our Spring Break trip to WDW and DAH tickets for March 30  Hoping for a future date to pan out. Thankful I can think that way at this point!

Ugh - this week has been like a strange bad dream. I hope that the world can get a handle on this thing sooner than later and reduce the damage. More than enough will be done.

Stay healthy Disney Peeps!


----------



## jen7233

Sydnerella said:


> Sad to be canceling our Spring Break trip to WDW and DAH tickets for March 30  Hoping for a future date to pan out. Thankful I can think that way at this point!
> 
> Ugh - this week has been like a strange bad dream. I hope that the world can get a handle on this thing sooner than later and reduce the damage. More than enough will be done.
> 
> Stay healthy Disney Peeps!


It's like we are living in a bad Netflix Original......……..


----------



## jen7233

Can someone help me please with dates?  Does anyone remember when Disney put out the dates for MK DAH????????

I am trying to flip through my credit card statements and can't find it (well, when I paid). I wish I had annotated what card I used on my Excel. I will do that in the future.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

jen7233 said:


> Can someone help me please with dates?  Does anyone remember when Disney put out the dates for MK DAH????????
> 
> I am trying to flip through my credit card statements and can't find it (well, when I paid). I wish I had annotated what card I used on my Excel. I will do that in the future.



Check Page 1, Post 3.  The dates each chunk of dates was released is noted above each chart.


----------



## AntJulie

jen7233 said:


> Can someone help me please with dates? Does anyone remember when Disney put out the dates for MK DAH????????
> 
> I am trying to flip through my credit card statements and can't find it (well, when I paid). I wish I had annotated what card I used on my Excel. I will do that in the future.



From Post #3 - 11/1/19


----------



## jen7233

Cool, thanks! Didn't think I'd actually need to use this for research info! It helped.


----------



## PolyRob

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Some news from Disney regarding DAH, VAH, and Early Morning Magic events during the current coronovirus park closure.   For MK DAH, this includes events on Monday 3/16, 3/23, & 3/30.
> 
> Source:  https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/travel-information/
> _*Guests who have purchased tickets for Disney After Hours, Disney Villains After Hours and Disney Early Morning Magic from March 16, 2020 through March 31, 2020 will be automatically refunded.*_


My 3/30 tickets disappeared from MDE tonight. They were previously showing earlier today. Still waiting to see the funds hit my Disney GC. I still have it sitting in my online account labeled as DAH. I imagine it will take longer than usual considering how many refunds WDW must be issuing right now


----------



## acarsme123

We were at After Hours on Monday. I had never done this before but wanted to share my thoughts on the experience. 

1.  We were staying at Universal as that was our primary trip. On the advice of a coworker who has done these After Hours events he recommended I either make a dinner reservation at The Wave at Contemporary and park there and walk over, or pay to valet park there. He recommended this as he said it would save a ton of time at the end of the night. 

I had no issues parking at The Contemporary. I informed the guard I wanted to valet park and they had no issues with this and let us through.  This however backfired at the end of the night. First off, when you’re super tired after hustling all over the Magic Kingdom for three hours, walking to the Contemporary was not fun and was a much longer walk than anticipated, especially with very aching feet. A relaxing boat ride back to TTC honestly would have been more pleasurable. 
Once we got to Contemporary valet stand it was around 1:20am. There was no one to be found at the valet stand. So we walked into the lobby and the lady at the counter had to call and get a valet attendant. So that took awhile. Then the valet retrieved our car...only, it wasn’t our car. He looked puzzled. Well he finally figured out our key had been put in the incorrect box. So it took and additional lengthy amount of time for him to put the wrong car back and get ours.  The valet attendant was kind enough not to charge us for the parking because of the mix up, so that was a nice surprise.  All-in-all, parking at the Contemporary did not save us time at the end of the night I felt. Just thought I’d mention this in case anyone else was considering it. Next time I’d probably just opt to park at TTC. 

We got to Contemporary earlier than we thought we would. We had time to kill so we decided to ride the monorail around the loop to Magic Kingdom. We got to the gates a tad after 6pm. I didn’t think they would let us in until 7pm, however we were surprised to find they let us in right away!  We were able to squeeze in riding Tomorrowland Speedway before the dessert party started because of this!  When we did Animal Kingdom After Hours on Thursday they were pretty strict about not letting people in until closer to 7pm. I think they started letting us in around 6:50. 

2.  There were a lot more people there than I thought there would be. I watched a lot of review videos on this event when doing research and people made it sound like you’d practically feel like you had the place to yourself. Lots of videos I watched did make it look pretty empty. The longest waits we had though were for Peter Pan and Seven Dwarfs. Waited about 15 mins to get on Peter Pan. For the life of me I’m not sure why this ride is popular. It’s really not worth any kind of wait. 
Seven Dwarfs was about 15 minutes too. Everything else was pretty much a walk on. 

3.  Splash Mountain broke down at the start of the event and didn’t come back up until halfway through. Our grand plan was to hit everything on that side of the park and to work our way to Tomorrowland to end the night. When we were by Peter Pan we saw on the app that Splash had come back up. Since that’s our favorite ride we decided to go ride it, but having to back track took up a lot of time. Splash also had a lot of unexpected pauses during our ride that took up precious time. 

4.  Three hours goes fast!  It’s definitely not a relaxing event if your goal is to get every ride in. We really had to hustle and it was exhausting, especially since we had just arrived that day to Orlando after a second day of driving for 6 hours. 

5.  You do get some unique photo ops of the castle with hardly anyone around. 

Would I do it again?  Hmmm. I’d have to think about that one some more. I’m glad we got our Disney fix in, since our primary trip this year was Universal. But it was not relaxing. We also did the Animal Kingdom After Hours, and despite having less rides, I almost found that one more enjoyable. Probably due to having less rides. But at Animal Kingdom After Hours we were actually able to sit down and enjoy the ice cream and popcorn and just take in the environment. I really didn’t feel I had time to even stop for ice cream at the Magic Kingdom event if we wanted to hit everything. 

Here’s everything we were able to get in three hours:

Big Thunder x2
Splash Mountain
Peter Pan
Haunted Mansion
Tea Cups
Seven Dwarfs
Buzz Lightyear
Pirates 
Alladin’s Carpets

We also were able to book a fastpass for Jungle Cruise for the time between after the fireworks ended until the event began.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Weird not having to check for sell outs, monitor the thread, etc.   

Hope everyone is doing well out there.


----------



## p44nmun

Maybe this was already posted and I missed it, but just wanted to let everyone know that we had tickets to after hours MK for 3/30 and just received an email this afternoon for a refund in the form of a Disney gift card. A bit upset. $421. Would have preferred a real refund to my credit card.


----------



## Iowamomof4

p44nmun said:


> Maybe this was already posted and I missed it, but just wanted to let everyone know that we had tickets to after hours MK for 3/30 and just received an email this afternoon for a refund in the form of a Disney gift card. A bit upset. $421. Would have preferred a real refund to my credit card.



Just curious, did you ever call about it before they sent you the gift card? Or did they send it before you had to do anything?


----------



## Belle_Ann

I also had tickets and just checked -  my tickets for 3/30 were refunded to my credit card.  I did not call but just let them cancel automatically.


----------



## OKWFan88

My after hours was also cancelled and they sent me a gift card even though I asked for my credit card to be refunded.


----------



## p44nmun

Iowamomof4 said:


> Just curious, did you ever call about it before they sent you the gift card? Or did they send it before you had to do anything?


I didn’t call. It was in my to do list but I never got around to it. Wonder if I had called if I could have gotten a cc refund instead. Oh well. Everyone is getting Disney Christmas presents this year


----------



## p44nmun

Belle_Ann said:


> I also had tickets and just checked -  my tickets for 3/30 were refunded to my credit card.  I did not call but just let them cancel automatically.


Really? Interesting. Lucky! Wish they had done that with me.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

Just making sure, for those with gift card refunds - those tickets were purchased with regular credit cards?   Any AP or DVC discount?  Online or via phone, through a third party?  

The different refund methods seems odd on the surface, so would like to understand circumstances better to see if there is a pattern.


----------



## OKWFan88

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Just making sure, for those with gift card refunds - those tickets were purchased with regular credit cards?   Any AP or DVC discount?  Online or via phone, through a third party?
> 
> The different refund methods seems odd on the surface, so would like to understand circumstances better to see if there is a pattern.


I purchased two after hours for MK and AK online thru the Disney website and I received an AP discount. Both were purchased using the Disney Visa credit card. I am glad I got my money back although would have preferred it go on the credit card vs being sent two gift cards.


----------



## proud_canadian

Does anyone know what will happen if you purchased via Undercover Tourist and the event is cancelled?  (We purchased for mid-April)


----------



## mjdis17

proud_canadian said:


> Does anyone know what will happen if you purchased via Undercover Tourist and the event is cancelled?  (We purchased for mid-April)


You'll get a refund. Their website says "Guests who have purchased tickets for Disney After Hours and Disney Villains After Hours from March 16 through March 31 will be automatically refunded."

I'm in the same boat and you and would assume (and hope) it would go back to cards we purchased with since I couldn't see UT issuing Disney GC nor do they make any mention of it.


----------



## p44nmun

I paid for mine on a credit card. No discounts. Refunded to a gift card. I’ll call eventually to see why. Baffled but unfortunately not my first priority right now.


----------



## zemmer

Those who were refunded via gift cards, were they digital or mailed to you? I paid via a gift card but haven’t received credit back yet. I have received a credit card refund for my dessert party and part of my hotel/dining package.


----------



## BelleOftheBall16

proud_canadian said:


> Does anyone know what will happen if you purchased via Undercover Tourist and the event is cancelled?  (We purchased for mid-April)


I had tickets I purchased for the After Hours event on 3/23 from UT. They automatically refunded my credit card. I received an email 2 days after the closure was announced with the cancellation info.


----------



## OKWFan88

zemmer said:


> Those who were refunded via gift cards, were they digital or mailed to you? I paid via a gift card but haven’t received credit back yet. I have received a credit card refund for my dessert party and part of my hotel/dining package.


They were digital. Received an email with both gift cards in them.


----------



## gatormom2tots

I paid with cc (passholder rate) and refunded yesterday via credit card.


----------



## persnickity2020

zemmer said:


> Those who were refunded via gift cards, were they digital or mailed to you? *I paid via a gift card but haven’t received credit back yet.* I have received a credit card refund for my dessert party and part of my hotel/dining package.



Same!  I paid with a gift card, then the balance on cc - received the cc refund days ago but the gift card refund hasn't shown up.  I'll keep checking for a couple days and then get in touch with them, I guess.


----------



## twinprincesses09

Has anyone tried to call and cancel after hour tickets for April yet?  We have tickets for 4/5.  I'm fully expecting the park will be closed, but if for some reason they reopen, I'm still not going to be able to go.  I work in health care and I know they are going to revoke my time off with this going on.


----------



## Sarahslay

Mine were refunded to my card, and I booked an AP discount ticket online. I know it disappeared from my account Wednesday, and I had an email from my CC company last night that I had a refund.


----------



## jen7233

twinprincesses09 said:


> Has anyone tried to call and cancel after hour tickets for April yet?  We have tickets for 4/5.  I'm fully expecting the park will be closed, but if for some reason they reopen, I'm still not going to be able to go.  I work in health care and I know they are going to revoke my time off with this going on.


I had that same date. Yes, I called. They said they were submitting the form for a refund and would take 7-10 days. As of right now, I still don't see that pending credit to my card but I'm hopeful or will have to call back. We can't even go anymore at least until very late summer potentially, even if WDW does open right after their current closure.


----------



## nkereina

twinprincesses09 said:


> Has anyone tried to call and cancel after hour tickets for April yet?  We have tickets for 4/5.  I'm fully expecting the park will be closed, but if for some reason they reopen, I'm still not going to be able to go.  I work in health care and I know they are going to revoke my time off with this going on.


I just called to get a refund for the 4/27 DAH. I re-booked my trip for July. The first phone agent I spoke to said "well they are taking refunds on a case by case basis. there's no dates in your new trip the tickets can be changed to?" - I was a little taken aback. I had no idea if there were DAH dates in July, and even if there are, our new plans don't have room for it. I told her the same and she then said she'd connect me to Ticket Services to "discuss my options". I was on hold for about 25 minutes, but the I guy I eventually spoke with refunded the DAH tickets with no questions asked. He didn't give me any indication how long it would take, so now I'll just have to wait to make sure it posts.


----------



## jackieleanne

nkereina said:


> I just called to get a refund for the 4/27 DAH. I re-booked my trip for July. The first phone agent I spoke to said "well they are taking refunds on a case by case basis. there's no dates in your new trip the tickets can be changed to?" - I was a little taken aback. I had no idea if there were DAH dates in July, and even if there are, our new plans don't have room for it. I told her the same and she then said she'd connect me to Ticket Services to "discuss my options". I was on hold for about 25 minutes, but the I guy I eventually spoke with refunded the DAH tickets with no questions asked. He didn't give me any indication how long it would take, so now I'll just have to wait to make sure it posts.



Oh we are that date as well so I will ring to try get a refund. Even if it ended up open (doubt it) we are from the UK so no way we can make it.


----------



## proud_canadian

My tickets are for April 20th, and booked through Undercover Tourist, does anyone know if they will be refunded automatically?


----------



## biochemgirl

Just thought I'd provide my story in case it helps someone else. We had tickets for 3/23. I purchased using a gift card, which I still have in my possession. I began watching my email and junk mail closely early in the morning the day after the closure (Saturday 3/14). I also made sure my gift card had room on it to accept the refund. 

I never received an email notice of cancellation or refund. No refund appeared on the gift card I used to purchase. The tickets disappeared from my account a few days later and still no refund.

I called on 3/26 and the CM said, oh it takes 10 days. OK.... then why have others reported getting their money back immediately?

I called today 3/28 and the CM agreed to actually check for me. Their system says they emailed me an e-gift card on 3/15!! I definitely did not receive the email and it makes no sense to send me a new card instead of refunding the existing gift card. 

Now I am awaiting someone higher up to review what happened and try to get the money back to me.

_Don't just assume you will get a refund or that it will eventually reach you. There seems to be tremendous variability in how a refund is issued._


----------



## georgina

proud_canadian said:


> My tickets are for April 20th, and booked through Undercover Tourist, does anyone know if they will be refunded automatically?


I think you would have to wait until the event was cancelled for them to automatically refund you. So far the latest cancelled one I see on the website is April 5. AH at AK is cancelled April 7.


----------



## missingdisneymore

Had tickets for 4/5.  Fastpasses disappeared off MDE today but the tickets are still showing.  No email.   We purchased with a Disney gift card and nothing shows as a credit yet.  How long should I wait to contact them?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

An assumed given at this point, but just FYI, Disney has marked all of the MK DAH events through 5/25 as "Cancelled" on their website:  https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/magic-kingdom/magic-kingdom-after-hours/

5/25 was the last scheduled MK DAH event in the current series of dates.


----------



## Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

proud_canadian said:


> My tickets are for April 20th, and booked through Undercover Tourist, does anyone know if they will be refunded automatically?



I had hard tickets (not e-tickets) purchased through Undercover Tourist for the same date.  I contacted them about returning them, and they provided me with an email to print and sign and return with the tickets.  I sent them (trackable) on Friday and the envelope was out for delivery today.  Will let you know how long it takes for them to process the refund less the 5% restocking fee.


----------



## nkereina

twinprincesses09 said:


> Has anyone tried to call and cancel after hour tickets for April yet?  We have tickets for 4/5.  I'm fully expecting the park will be closed, but if for some reason they reopen, I'm still not going to be able to go.  I work in health care and I know they are going to revoke my time off with this going on.





nkereina said:


> I just called to get a refund for the 4/27 DAH. I re-booked my trip for July. The first phone agent I spoke to said "well they are taking refunds on a case by case basis. there's no dates in your new trip the tickets can be changed to?" - I was a little taken aback. I had no idea if there were DAH dates in July, and even if there are, our new plans don't have room for it. I told her the same and she then said she'd connect me to Ticket Services to "discuss my options". I was on hold for about 25 minutes, but the I guy I eventually spoke with refunded the DAH tickets with no questions asked. He didn't give me any indication how long it would take, so now I'll just have to wait to make sure it posts.





jackieleanne said:


> Oh we are that date as well so I will ring to try get a refund. Even if it ended up open (doubt it) we are from the UK so no way we can make it.


Just an update from my prior post (quoted above) - my refund posted to my Disney Visa less than 48 hours after I called to cancel the tickets. Seems it was processed immediately.


----------



## zemmer

nkereina said:


> Just an update from my prior post (quoted above) - my refund posted to my Disney Visa less than 48 hours after I called to cancel the tickets. Seems it was processed immediately.


What phone number did you call? I still haven’t received a refund from 3/23 and when I called I was transferred a few times. All CM said they had no way to help me. Thanks!


----------



## jackieleanne

nkereina said:


> Just an update from my prior post (quoted above) - my refund posted to my Disney Visa less than 48 hours after I called to cancel the tickets. Seems it was processed immediately.



Thanks I will try call them tomorrow. I emailed from the website but not heard anything.


----------



## nkereina

zemmer said:


> What phone number did you call? I still haven’t received a refund from 3/23 and when I called I was transferred a few times. All CM said they had no way to help me. Thanks!


I called 407-939-7639. The first person I spoke to transferred me to "Ticket Services".


----------



## zemmer

nkereina said:


> I called 407-939-7639. The first person I spoke to transferred me to "Ticket Services".


Thank you!!


----------



## missingdisneymore

missingdisneymore said:


> Had tickets for 4/5.  Fastpasses disappeared off MDE today but the tickets are still showing.  No email.   We purchased with a Disney gift card and nothing shows as a credit yet.  How long should I wait to contact them?


Update.  Tickets fell off MDE this morning. Got an email with a Disney Gift Card for the total late afternoon.  

Just an FYI to anyone who may be waiting on this, at first glance, it definitely looked like it could be a spam email. Thank God I didn’t  delete it.  You’ll want to open anything that says Disney until you get your $.


----------



## GADisneyDad14

missingdisneymore said:


> Update.  Tickets fell off MDE this morning. Got an email with a Disney Gift Card for the total late afternoon.
> 
> Just an FYI to anyone who may be waiting on this, at first glance, it definitely looked like it could be a spam email. Thank God I didn’t  delete it.  You’ll want to open anything that says Disney until you get your $.



Did you pay with a Disney gift card originally?


----------



## missingdisneymore

GADisneyDad14 said:


> Did you pay with a Disney gift card originally?


Yes.  Kicking myself for it now but, I guess we have spending money for the next visit...staying positive.


----------



## zemmer

biochemgirl said:


> Just thought I'd provide my story in case it helps someone else. We had tickets for 3/23. I purchased using a gift card, which I still have in my possession. I began watching my email and junk mail closely early in the morning the day after the closure (Saturday 3/14). I also made sure my gift card had room on it to accept the refund.
> 
> I never received an email notice of cancellation or refund. No refund appeared on the gift card I used to purchase. The tickets disappeared from my account a few days later and still no refund.
> 
> I called on 3/26 and the CM said, oh it takes 10 days. OK.... then why have others reported getting their money back immediately?
> 
> I called today 3/28 and the CM agreed to actually check for me. Their system says they emailed me an e-gift card on 3/15!! I definitely did not receive the email and it makes no sense to send me a new card instead of refunding the existing gift card.
> 
> Now I am awaiting someone higher up to review what happened and try to get the money back to me.
> 
> _Don't just assume you will get a refund or that it will eventually reach you. There seems to be tremendous variability in how a refund is issued._


@biochemgirl , have you heard anything? I have the exact same scenario. 3/23 mkah bought with a gift card that I still have and still has room on it. I called today and they said they emailed me an e-gift card on March 15. I absolutely have not received it. The cm was adamant that I wait and see if it arrives and call back only after another week. I am beyond frustrated right now.


----------



## missingdisneymore

@biochemgirl @zemmer 
It definitely does not go back on the card you bought the tickets with as one could reload the card and it wouldn’t have “room” on it for your refund. It goes on a new card, which you can register and transfer to another card you already have, if you want.


----------



## zemmer

missingdisneymore said:


> @biochemgirl @zemmer
> It definitely does not go back on the card you bought the tickets with as one could reload the card and it wouldn’t have “room” on it for your refund. It goes on a new card, which you can register and transfer to another card you already have, if you want.


@missingdisneymore  thanks for responding!  Do you still have the email? I have scoured my inbox, trash, and junkmail but still can’t find anything. Who is it from?


----------



## missingdisneymore

It actually had a spam warning based on my Gmail settings....


----------



## zemmer

missingdisneymore said:


> It actually had a spam warning based on my Gmail settings....View attachment 485161View attachment 485160


Thank you! I’ll go search my email again.


----------



## zemmer

Does anyone have an email specifically for ticket services or anyone else who might be able to help with the AH refund? I sent one to guest.services@disneyworld.com and got an automated reply that Disney World is closed and it may take a long time to get a response.


----------



## Sarvar

Had a pleasant experience with Ticket Services today.  They were able to convert my MK AH tickets for 5/5 to MNSSHP tickets for 8/25 and refund the remainder back to my card with no issue.  Still waiting on the refund to process, but they said it may take a few days.


----------



## Pluto0809

I was going to the 4/20 After Hours.  Never saw an e-mail on it in my inbox or spam folder.  I checked my CC statement today looking for my Run Disney refund which I did get an e-mail regarding.  Run Disney refund was there along with my refund for the After Hours.


----------



## C&Jx2

I’m thinking of still going ahead with my plan to purchase tickets for our trip in late June? The refund process seems quick and easy enough...


----------



## ElsasFan

C&Jx2 said:


> I’m thinking of still going ahead with my plan to purchase tickets for our trip in late June? The refund process seems quick and easy enough...


I would not describe the refund process as quick or easy.  We had a trip scheduled for early May and rebooked for July when Disney came out with the free dining offer.  We also had purchased tickets for two After Hours events for the May trip.  When my travel agent called me to ask if I wanted to reschedule for the summer, I asked her to inquire about a refund when she called Disney to change the reservation.  She was on hold for six hours before speaking to someone and when she asked if we could have a refund for those tickets, the CM told her that Disney would definitely refund the tickets if they park is closed.  Honestly, that seemed like a silly response, considering the CM knew that we wouldn’t be there in May, having just rebooked it, and I can’t believe that my travel agent let it go, but she did.

I then emailed guest services and explained the situation and asked for a refund. I received a reply that reminded me that the tickets are non-refundable, but alluded to the possibility of credit being applied to another trip, if I call and discuss the matter with them.

i am annoyed about the whole situation.  Disney encouraged me to rebook  by offering an offer that included the window that for my original trip, but now I have to call and wait on hold for who-knows-how-long to ASK for a refund.  I meant to call today, when I am not trying to do schoolwork with the kids, but I forgot.


----------



## missingdisneymore

C&Jx2 said:


> I’m thinking of still going ahead with my plan to purchase tickets for our trip in late June? The refund process seems quick and easy enough...


It is not quick or easy. And you are not guaranteed a refund.  A credit, but not a refund.


----------



## C&Jx2

Hmmm... Okay. Others made it seem easy peasy... Thanks for the input.


----------



## zemmer

Just wanted to update about my refund process. My AH was scheduled for 3/23 and I paid with a gift card. I called and spoke to Ticket Services 3 times, and they all said there was a back up with the gift card team. One said my gift card had already been emailed but might arrive weeks later (?), while the other 2 said it hadn't been emailed and there was nothing they could do. I emailed a request for help on April 3. Today I received a reply to my email immediately followed by an email with the e gift card. So, if you're still waiting on a refund, try email.


----------



## missingdisneymore

zemmer said:


> Just wanted to update about my refund process. My AH was scheduled for 3/23 and I paid with a gift card. I called and spoke to Ticket Services 3 times, and they all said there was a back up with the gift card team. One said my gift card had already been emailed but might arrive weeks later (?), while the other 2 said it hadn't been emailed and there was nothing they could do. I emailed a request for help on April 3. Today I received a reply to my email immediately followed by an email with the e gift card. So, if you're still waiting on a refund, try email.


Glad you finally got your money!


----------



## Traveling on cc points

Has anyone heard any rumors on when or if after hours will return?
I completely get why the Halloween & Christmas parties can’t happen this year but an after hours event screams social distancing.


----------



## Sarahslay

Traveling on cc points said:


> Has anyone heard any rumors on when or if after hours will return?
> I completely get why the Halloween & Christmas parties can’t happen this year but an after hours event screams social distancing.


I'm just guessing it's gonna be a good long while before that happens.


----------



## Mrjoshua

Traveling on cc points said:


> Has anyone heard any rumors on when or if after hours will return?
> I completely get why the Halloween & Christmas parties can’t happen this year but an after hours event screams social distancing.


I agree with your sentiment, but I think it'll be awhile, probably due to expense or logistics. With all the layoffs, and a skeleton crew, I'm guessing that extending hours into the evening wouldn't work right know.


----------



## michellej47

Mrjoshua said:


> I agree with your sentiment, but I think it'll be awhile, probably due to expense or logistics. With all the layoffs, and a skeleton crew, I'm guessing that extending hours into the evening wouldn't work right know.



I wish they would, though.  I still think people would pay extra to have the hours, even without the "party" feel.  I certainly would, as the one After Hours my daughter and I did in 2019 was amazing and we didn't do any of the fluff.  Just the rides.  Could be a money maker, but maybe paying the staff would be a cost?!?


----------



## Traveling on cc points

michellej47 said:


> I wish they would, though.  I still think people would pay extra to have the hours, even without the "party" feel.  I certainly would, as the one After Hours my daughter and I did in 2019 was amazing and we didn't do any of the fluff.  Just the rides.  Could be a money maker, but maybe paying the staff would be a cost?!?


The regular after hours (not villains) at MK never had a party feel and it was perfect. It was rides and a few included drinks and snacks. 
I won’t pretend to know the cost of the night but before COVID Disney kept doing them so I have to believe they were a decent money maker.


----------



## Grasshopper2016

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!


----------



## jods

Grasshopper2016 said:


> 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!


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.


----------



## 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

Louis morrell said:


> 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

Grasshopper2016 said:


> 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

jods said:


> 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

cel_disney said:


> 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

cel_disney said:


> 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

GADisneyDad14 said:


> 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

jods said:


> 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

Elle23 said:


> 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

cel_disney said:


> Crowds after 5pm were non-existent...





jods said:


> 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

0FF TO NEVERLAND said:


> 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.


JakeAZ said:


> 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!


----------



## Philsfan77

Boo Bash sure sounds like an After Hours Event!!


----------



## cindyfan

Philsfan77 said:


> Boo Bash sure sounds like an After Hours Event!!


It is!   The official name is "Disney After Hours BOO BASH"
So I would expect it to run very similar to previous DAH such as the Villains' one.


----------



## connorlevismom

I just called my husband when I saw this and I was almost crying I was so excited. We started only doing the after-hours events instead of going during the day and was devastated when the 2 we had booked over spring break of 2020 were cancelled because the parks closed down. I have been waiting and waiting to see these start back up and we have a trip planned in December. I REALLY hope they have some after hours events then!


----------



## 0FF TO NEVERLAND

I’m not a fan of going to Halloween things in August but it’s nice to see after hours return. I’m hoping for some normal after hour dates earlier in the summer.


----------



## Grasshopper2016

0FF TO NEVERLAND said:


> I’m hoping for some normal after hour dates earlier in the summer.


Me too.  But I'm afraid that the fact that Disney already announced these late summer / fall AH events probably indicates that they won't be holding any June or July AH events.  Argh!


----------



## 0FF TO NEVERLAND

Grasshopper2016 said:


> Me too.  But I'm afraid that the fact that Disney already announced these late summer / fall AH events probably indicates that they won't be holding any June or July AH events.  Argh!



These themed versions are going to get more attention. They drop little by little. I expect major announcements this month on all fronts. Im excited. That’s my own opinion though. They might be forced from the mad house Disney will start to become end of the month. Moves universal makes etc


----------



## maryj11

I’m so excited! I love going to after hours and will definitely buy tickets for Boo Bash! Even if it is not like the past after hours having time in the park at night during hot summer days is worth it.


----------



## maryj11

Do we have to park reservations for the Boo Bash I wonder?


----------



## jods

maryj11 said:


> Do we have to park reservations for the Boo Bash I wonder?


Nope.  It said it somewhere in the announcement.  No park ticket/reservations required and you can get into MK at 7.


----------



## karen4546

maryj11 said:


> Do we have to park reservations for the Boo Bash I wonder?


Boo Bash like other Halloween parties is a paid ticket event.  Since the event is ONLY AT MK then I your ticket will be your reservation.


----------



## rockpiece

We are so excited for this! The After Hours were the best and so happy they are coming back.


----------



## maryj11

Anyone want to try to predict if there will be more then one Boo Bash the first week it starts? I know it says it starts August 10. We will be there that week August 8 to August 14.
Right now we have HS park reservations booked on August 10. I’m just debating on if I should try to switch HS to a different day. If August 10 is going to be the only one that week that will mess us up. Plus I know the first one will be packed with vloggers etc.


----------



## Sarahslay

maryj11 said:


> Anyone want to try to predict if there will be more then one Boo Bash the first week it starts? I know it says it starts August 10. We will be there that week August 8 to August 14.
> Right now we have HS park reservations booked on August 10. I’m just debating on if I should try to switch HS to a different day. If August 10 is going to be the only one that week that will mess us up. Plus I know the first one will be packed with vloggers etc.


You can do HS in the morning and then Boo Bash in the evening. I'd go to HS until after lunch, go to the resort for a little rest, and then head to MK in time to get in around 7. I usually do a different park on AH event days, I never do MK on the same day, and I don't like just hanging around all morning either unless you just really want that to be your pool day.


----------



## maryj11

Sarahslay said:


> You can do HS in the morning and then Boo Bash in the evening. I'd go to HS until after lunch, go to the resort for a little rest, and then head to MK in time to get in around 7. I usually do a different park on AH event days, I never do MK on the same day, and I don't like just hanging around all morning either unless you just really want that to be your pool day.


Yes I think that’s what we will do.


----------



## 123SA

I love the after hours events!   I'm so excited about this.  My trip dates are: Aug  7 - 18.  I'm hoping  for two party dates during that time.


----------



## plutotheduggo

I am glad Disney is doing something for the Halloween party, and hope that as time goes on and the rates are down, vaccines are up, they can add SOME type of nighttime firework shows each night - I don't need Halloween specific shows this year, but I'll sure take some HEA! Secondly, we couldn't be MORE happy that they are using the Disney After Hours ticketed event for this. Since Feb 2017 we have gone 5 times and each time was scheduled around the After Hours events for MK, HWS and AK. For us, it's just the best use of our money and sets up the best evenings at Disney World. Here's to more of these events being scheduled through the year!


----------



## maryj11

plutotheduggo said:


> I am glad Disney is doing something for the Halloween party, and hope that as time goes on and the rates are down, vaccines are up, they can add SOME type of nighttime firework shows each night - I don't need Halloween specific shows this year, but I'll sure take some HEA! Secondly, we couldn't be MORE happy that they are using the Disney After Hours ticketed event for this. Since Feb 2017 we have gone 5 times and each time was scheduled around the After Hours events for MK, HWS and AK. For us, it's just the best use of our money and sets up the best evenings at Disney World. Here's to more of these events being scheduled through the year!


Yes I really hope fireworks come back! It might be hard for them to space people out during them though


----------



## Dentam

Any idea when tickets for the Boo Bash will go on sale.  Their site just says "next month" which technically starts tomorrow. Trying to plan our September trip!


----------



## igrsod

Dentam said:


> Any idea when tickets for the Boo Bash will go on sale.  Their site just says "next month" which technically starts tomorrow. Trying to plan our September trip!


I'm with you.  Can't wait to be there in September.  We have loved the after hours events, and are excited for this one.  Hopefully it's more of an after hours event and not a party event.  I don't like the parties.... they are too crowded for my liking (even Pre Covid).


----------



## Dentam

igrsod said:


> I'm with you.  Can't wait to be there in September.  We have loved the after hours events, and are excited for this one.  Hopefully it's more of an after hours event and not a party event.  I don't like the parties.... they are too crowded for my liking (even Pre Covid).



We've done the Halloween Party on Labor Day twice now and it was not too crowded at all.  Going the same week this year and hoping the crowds will also be low and that there will be a Boo Bash during our 8 day stay!


----------



## igrsod

Dentam said:


> We've done the Halloween Party on Labor Day twice now and it was not too crowded at all.  Going the same week this year and hoping the crowds will also be low and that there will be a Boo Bash during our 8 day stay!


Hopefully I will see you there.


----------



## Philsfan77

It appears most of the information is out now! $129-$139 (guessing $10 cheaper if you buy in advance and $139 day of) for August-September...$159-$169 for October...$199 for Halloween.

Trick or Treating is still in...cavalcades in. Now the question is...will attendance be like a true After Hours Event or like a Party.


----------



## JakeAZ

Philsfan77 said:


> It appears most of the information is out now! $129-$139 (guessing $10 cheaper if you buy in advance and $139 day of) for August-September...$159-$169 for October...$199 for Halloween.
> 
> Trick or Treating is still in...cavalcades in. Now the question is...will attendance be like a true After Hours Event or like a Party.


$160-$170, in October, seems awfully high to me.  But Disney pricing always seems high and people continue to pay it.....


----------



## NotTheBatesMotel

Philsfan77 said:


> It appears most of the information is out now! $129-$139 (guessing $10 cheaper if you buy in advance and $139 day of) for August-September...$159-$169 for October...$199 for Halloween.
> 
> Trick or Treating is still in...cavalcades in. Now the question is...will attendance be like a true After Hours Event or like a Party.


That's my primary concern. If I knew it was like prior AH crowds, I'd be a lot less hesitant to book. It'll be interesting to see if it's a typical party crowd or an AH crowd. It's a bummer that the AP discount is so much less now too.


----------



## Philsfan77

NotTheBatesMotel said:


> That's my primary concern. If I knew it was like prior AH crowds, I'd be a lot less hesitant to book. It'll be interesting to see if it's a typical party crowd or an AH crowd. It's a bummer that the AP discount is so much less now too.



Agreed $30 before was big savings. $10 is in line with what the MNSSHP discount was, but that event also always cost less.


----------



## focusondisney

On a positive note, there is candy with trick or treating, but the typical popcorn, ice  cream & drinks are still included.  Now to see if the crowds remain limited.


----------



## maryj11

I wonder if people will be able to get in the park around 4:00 like they allowed in the past. Even though it said 7:00 they let people in earlier for past after hours.


----------



## KNovacovschi

maryj11 said:


> I wonder if people will be able to get in the park around 4:00 like they allowed in the past. Even though it said 7:00 they let people in earlier for past after hours.



The 4pm entrance is for MNSSHP since the party starts at 7 and park closes at 6. This is an after hours event so won't start until the park closes to regular day guests at 9 so it will be 7, 2 hours prior to the beginning of the event.


----------



## maryj11

KNovacovschi said:


> The 4pm entrance is for MNSSHP since the party starts at 7 and park closes at 6. This is an after hours event so won't start until the park closes to regular day guests at 9 so it will be 7, 2 hours prior to the beginning of the event.


Okay I got confused. I knew we got in right after 4:00 for something.


----------



## nekonekoneko

Is it time to revive this thead, @GADisneyDad14 , or is it time for a new one?


----------



## GADisneyDad14

nekonekoneko said:


> Is it time to revive this thead, @GADisneyDad14 , or is it time for a new one?



Ha!  I used to love messing around with these special event threads and always enjoyed the community banter.  Alas it's probably time for a new thread and someone else to take over.  Great to see this one in my notifications though - it's been so long!


----------

