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

[TNickell27]

Has anyone been let in BEFORE 6:30pm? Like say.... 6:20pm? Haha... or has 6:30 been the earliest

 

[Haley R]

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.

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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?