This spring Walt Disney World offered Disney After Hours for the second year. Mom, Dad, Jared, and I went on March 1 to take advantage of the nonexistent lines for nearly every ride in Magic Kingdom.

What is Disney After Hours?

Disney offered 7 nights from January 2018 to March 2018 where a special event ticket could be purchased to stay in Magic Kingdom past general admission hours. With an After Hours ticket, guests can enter the park at 7 p.m. and stay until 11 p.m. (if the park closes at 8) or midnight (if the park closes at 9). When we went, we were able to stay in the park until midnight, but we didn’t get to the park until about 8.

From 7 to park closing to the general public, anyone with an After Hours pass can go through the Fastpass lane for every ride. After the park closes, there’s no need to distinguish between lines because you can walk right on to every ride with no wait.

After Hours is always on a day that there are no Extra Magic Hours for Magic Kingdom, so that doesn’t interfere at all.

How much does it cost?

Like Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas and Not So Scary Halloween Party, After Hours costs extra in addition to a regular park ticket, even if you’re an annual passholder. The tickets cost $119 for non-passholders and $89 for annual passholders and Disney Vacation Club members.

The price may seem steep for only 4-5 hours in the park, but all four of us thought it was 100% worth it.

What’s included in the price?

When you enter the park, you receive a big badge on a lanyard to wear for the night identifying you as an After Hours guest. In addition to park admission, your pass also gets you unlimited popcorn, novelty ice cream, and bottled soda and water. The longest lines you’ll wait in all night are at the snack cart. There is also food available for purchase at Main Street Bakery and Casey’s Corner, but we didn’t make our way over there. All the other food is closed.

We took advantage of this by trying ice cream bars we’d never had before. When we got hungry, we got popcorn and then were told we couldn’t bring it on Jungle Cruise so we had a few more bites, threw it out and got on the ride knowing we could just get another one as soon as we got off the ride at no cost to us. You could also get a few drinks for the ride home.

What rides are open?

While not all rides are open for After Hours, there are 25 attractions open. All
attractions open are listed on the back of your pass and they vary slightly based on the night. Here’s what was open and what we rode:

• Meet Mickey Mouse and Tinker Bell at Town Square Theater
• Jungle Cruise (Dad LOVED all the puns!)
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• Swiss Family Treehouse
• Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Splash Mountain
• Country Bear Jamboree
• Haunted Mansion
• The Barnstormer
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• “it’s a small world” (Jared’s favorite ride)
• Mad Tea Party (we tried to ride it, but they were having mechanical problems)
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Mom’s favorite)
• Meet Ariel in Her Grotto
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• Princess Fairytale Hall
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid (Mom and I rode this while the boys did the Speedway)
• Astro Orbiter
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Space Mountain
• Tomorrowland Speedway (Dad and Jared rode this while the girls did Under the Sea)
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover

You can use the time before the park closes to the public to ride attractions not open during After Hours, or just get a head start on your list.

What was it like?

We walked right on to every ride and it seemed like we were the only people there even though it was sold out. We tried to hit as many rides as we could before the park closed. Jared and Dad, who usually don’t enjoy Magic Kingdom because of the crowds, had a really fun time because they didn’t have to wait for anything. The free food and drinks were a definite plus, but often we didn’t want to wait in the lines and take up time we could be riding rides.

There’s a PhotoPass photographer taking pictures down Main Street. While we didn’t take advantage of it and took our own pictures instead, it would be the best time to get professional photos with the castle with very few people in the background.

I lost track of how many times I exclaimed, “This is so great!” At one point I spread my arms out and spun around in front of the castle on our way to Tomorrowland because that’s something you couldn’t do any other time at Magic Kingdom because of the crowds. It was so magical.

Jared and I even debated just coming for After Hours next year instead of renewing our annual passes, but then realized we wouldn’t be able to go to any other parks, which was a deal breaker for us.

I would 10/10 recommend Disney After Hours to anyone looking to have a unique Disney experience with cooler temperatures and little to no lines.