Magic Kingdom After Hours: Details and Review (2024)
What is Magic Kingdom After Hours?
Disney After Hours Events are special ticketed events that happen occasionally at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT in Walt Disney World. The one in Magic Kingdom runs from 10PM-1AM, and guests can enter the park and mix-in with the regular park hours crowd as early as 7PM. In order to participate in this event, you have to purchase a separate ticket even if you have a ticket to Magic Kingdom that day. This is different than the extra magic hours that deluxe resorts get. There's not an After Hours event at Animal Kingdom because the animals have to go to sleep.
Once you arrive, you’ll follow signs to a separate line from the day guests, and once inside Magic Kingdom you’ll receive an After Hours wristband.
Here’s the Partners Statue. Notice the crowd level around 12:50AM. My wife took this picture while she waited for us to ride Big Thunder Mountain.
The idea behind the After Hours events is to allow a smaller number of guests greater access to rides so that you can avoid long lines. That means popular attractions like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Space Mountain will have much shorter queues than during a normal park day.
However, significant portions of the park are closed, which is mostly the shows, most of the gift shops, and restaurants (except Casey’s Corner and Main Street Bakery). However, they make up for it with free snacks and drinks (see below). I believe they do this to conserve the number of cast members that have to stay.
This special event is offered on select nights a few times a month. It varies in price, but ticket prices average around $165 per person, similar to a one-day ticket. This price is cheaper for Disney Vacation Club Members and Annual Passholders. Here’s all the official and up-to-date details from Disney.
My family went there in January, so here’s all the details from our experience. If you’ve done an After Hours event, tell us about it in the comments!
We managed to snag a Rapunzel’s Lantern picture before the regular hours ended. Lots of people ask, so I’ll tell you that the Cast Member will take this photo with your phone. It’s free.
What is included in After Hours at Magic Kingdom?
Rides at Magic Kingdom After Hours
As I said, the most important aspect of After Hours is greater access to the rides. Here are the ride attractions that are open during the After Hours event:
Astro Orbiter
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Country Bear Jamboree
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Haunted Mansion
“it’s a small world”
Jungle Cruise
Mad Tea Party
Peter Pan’s Flight
Pirates of the Caribbean
Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Space Mountain
Swiss Family Treehouse
Goofy’s Barnstormer
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Tomorrowland Speedway
Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
TRON Lightcycle Run
Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid
TRON runs as a standby line, so we didn’t have the hassle and anxiety of getting a virtual queue. Disney also stated that rides may be added or closed with no notice.
When we entered the park before close, the park was relatively full, so trying to ride rides before the party was mostly not worth it. Instead, we went to Country Bear Jamboree to see it before it shut down to be refurbished.
Will “Blood on the Saddle” last through the refurbishment? Or did we catch one of the final performances?
After that, we snagged a prime spot for the first fireworks show in the middle of the hub (that’s right, I said FIRST fireworks show. More on that in a second).
As soon as the fireworks ended, we started making our way to the good rides (which of course still had a few of the regular ticketed guests on them). We were able to get on Haunted Mansion, Seven Dwarfs, and Peter Pan all with less than 30-minute waits, which is pretty amazing. We got a little Disney magic when the fireworks started during our Seven Dwarfs ride.
My wife’s smiling because she loves the fireworks, but she’s also smiling because all these people have to leave while we keep riding rides.
Then we moved onto TRON. TRON never dropped below a 45-minute wait, and was usually over an hour. This was disappointing because we were hoping to cycle it (pun intended). At the same time, having the option to ride it multiple times if you wanted to is certainly better than being limited to the virtual queue and Individual Lightning Lanes.
Me and the Daughters to the Right. Amelia once made us hunt her down in Disney Springs while she found those ears. Della got the button for knowing Marvel trivia at Beach Club.
Part of the problem was that it started raining hard, which forced people off of outdoor rides like most of the coasters, which made the covered TRON even more popular.
The highlight of the night (for me) was riding Buzz Lightyear twice and finally hitting 999,999 while my family rode the PeopleMover. Neither of these attractions had wait times at all.
Obviously the most important photo in the article. I got the high score in two tries to get my Galactic Hero sticker.
We ended the night with a sprint over to Frontierland for a walk-on ride of Big Thunder Mountain, my oldest daughter’s favorite. At this point of the night, there was almost no one left. It was almost eerie walking back through Liberty Square. Even the cast member carts were gone.
Magic Kingdom After Hours Fireworks Experience
Disney surprised us by offering a second fireworks show called Disney Enchantment that ran briefly during the 50th anniversary celebration. It starts at 11PM at After Hours.
Therefore, one of the perks of doing the After Hours event at Magic Kingdom is that you can watch two different fireworks shows if you make it in time for Happily Ever After at 9PM. (Happily Ever After Hours would be a cool name for the event, but they didn’t ask me).
I mentioned that we didn’t watch the fireworks show because we were committed to maximum ride riding. However, it’s great that they offered it for those that love fireworks. And, it was great to have a major event that drew participants away from the rides for us.
A shot of the fireworks show we didn’t watch from Tomorrowland after we left Seven Dwarfs. Do those fireworks look like Minnie Ears?
Lots of people probably skipped the show like us, especially if they’ve seen the show before. Therefore, if you’re into the fireworks show, this might be a chance to get a prime spot without having to camp out for it an hour or more ahead of time like you do the normal show.
Magic Kingdom After Hours Snack and Drink Experience
One special part of the After Hours events at Disney are free (or included, however you want to look at it) snacks and drinks. The offering is pretty limited, but since Disney almost never gives you anything for free, this was a huge bonus. At the event, you’ll get unlimited free popcorn, ice cream treats (like Mickey Bars), and Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, and Dasani Water.
My girls love the Frozen Lemonade, so not having to pay for it was a huge plus for me. Also, I was able to stay awake with the Diet Coke caffeine, and of course, even at night it’s important to stay hydrated, so not having to drink Florida tap water for free was great. It tastes like eggs (sulfur) if you haven’t been before.
You can get as many snacks and drinks as you want, and you can take them home with you. Here’s a tip though, if you want some to take back to the resort, get them by 12:30 because the carts will start closing up.
You can get real food at Casey’s Corner or Main Street Bakery, but it costs real money.
Tip: Eat a big dinner before you arrive, so you don’t have to waste much time on food. You could go to a restaurant in Magic Kingdom before 9PM, but that’s a waste of your limited ticket time in my opinion.
Is Magic Kingdom After Hours Good for Kids?
Magic Kingdom After Hours is a late event, so it’s great for teens and adults who like staying up this late, but what about younger kids? That’s really up to you and how well you know your kids. My oldest daughter loves to stay up late, but my younger daughter turns into a pumpkin after 10PM. In order to prepare for this, we made her take a nap before we came even though she’s 8. We left the baby with his grandmother in case you’re familiar with my family and worried about him.
Second Daughter to the Right still wide awake at 11:30PM. She won’t crash for another hour.
This worked great until about 12:30, when my younger daughter finally started crashing. We finished the night at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which was a mistake because I had to carry her from there all the way to bus stop. She was asleep on the ground waiting for the Beach Club bus.
She’s a lot heavier than she used to be. Fast asleep.
When we did the EPCOT After Hours, I brought the BOB stroller to speed them up even though they’re huge. (Shout out to the BOB in this article). That night, my younger daughter had no problem making it all night, but she was exhausted by the end of this night.
Verdict: It’s up to you. Figure out what you’re kids can handle and be ready to be kind if you push them over the limit.
Things to Consider
Weather
Rain made this After Hours event a lot harder than our previous ones. We weren’t expecting it and didn’t bring our ponchos. And since it was January, it was a little bit cold. Therefore, we hustled to indoor rides and found many people doing the same thing, creating long lines. However, the rain also made people leave early, which opened up ride lines as the night wore on.
Liberty Square was empty and wet at closing time for us.
Summer
After Hours events are the best during the summertime. Summer in Central Florida can be brutal, so planning an After Hours event instead of a park day is a great day to avoid unnecessary suffering. Therefore, summer is a great time to take advantage of the event. That’s why we did the EPCOT one in July.
What To Do with First Two Hours
As I mentioned earlier, an After Hours ticket allows you to mix-in with the regular crowd 3 hours before they kick everyone else out. I recommend using this time to do anything that’s going to shut down during the event: Country Bears Jamboree, Tiki Room, restaurants, gift shops, Starbucks, Beauty and Beast, Tom Sawyer’s Island, certain character interactions, etc.
If the park has long wait times, I wouldn’t waste time getting on the most popular rides like Peter Pan, Seven Dwarfs, or Space Mountain. Wait for the low crowds of the event.
Second Dad to the Right looks at Second Star to the Right in line for Peter Pan’s Flight.
Just enjoy the park, take it slow and get ready to sprint to the rides once the fireworks show ends.
Verdict: Is Magic Kingdom After Hours Worth It?
It’s worth it one time in my opinion. If your goal is to get on a lot of rides with low wait times, this is the event for you. If you’re like me and Magic Kingdom is more magical at night, this is also the right time to be there. Also, bringing young kids can be tough. It would, however, make a great date night if you have childcare lined up or no children with you. The lower crowds are the biggest draw, especially if you're there at busy time like Spring Break.
However, in our experience, the event was much more crowded than our EPCOT trip, and we weren’t able to get nearly as many rides as we were expecting, especially TRON. We probably won’t do it again in a cooler month but might do it again during a summer trip.
We were able to ride Seven Dwarfs twice, TRON twice, Buzz, PeopleMover, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Big Thunder Mountain before time ran out, which is pretty good even for a normal day at Magic Kingdom.
I felt like you needed more proof that I got the high score. You can tell that’s me, right?
Another issue with Magic Kingdom is how spread out the rides are. It’s a 15-minute walk for most from Tomorrowland to Frontierland, which negates a lot of the time saved in line. EPCOT, and to a lesser extent Hollywood Studios, have a higher concentration of rides, so walking isn’t as difficult. But the number of rides is much higher at Magic Kingdom.
Conclusion and Further Reading
All in all, we’re glad we went and made core memories. If you happen to qualify for DAS, this also is a great opportunity to ride rides because you can use your DAS for TRON or Seven Dwarfs, and ride the other rides while you wait. If you’re new to Disney World, I highly recommend studying the map so that you don’t waste any time getting from place to place.
You'll also need to take advantage of these events during the time of year when Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and Mickey's Not So Spooky Halloween Party are running because they take the place of these events. However, those events are great in their own right.
If you love Magic Kingdom rides, check out my daughter’s best rides for kids at Magic Kingdom. And of course, check out my review of EPCOT After Hours.
Do you have any questions or experience with this event? Leave me a comment in the section below, and we can start a conversation.
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