Walt Disney World hosts several late-night events after theme parks close to the general public. These events, called Disney After Hours, have a limited capacity, so attractions often have shorter wait times than during the rest of the day. The cap on ticket sales also means Disney After Hours often sells out.
I recently attended Disney After Hours for the first time at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and tracked everything I accomplished during the three-hour event with timestamps. In this story, you’ll come along with me throughout the entire event to see how much we can accomplish and consider if the event is worth its hefty price tag. See also our report from After Hours at Magic Kingdom. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including Disney World expanding a free airport perk beyond value resorts and a Hallmark holiday store opening at Disney World.
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Disney After Hours Basics
Disney After Hours takes place for three hours after the parks finish their regular operating day. The event happens at select parks on select nights. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, attendees who do not have daytime park admission can enter the park up to 2.5 hours before the official After Hours start time, giving them a total of 5.5 hours for their event ticket price. This pre-party period is known as the “mix-in.”
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The cost of Disney After Hours ranges based on park and date. This year’s After Hours events at Disney’s Hollywood Studios ranged from $159 to $189. I’ll break down this comparison to a regular daytime ticket price at the end of the article.
Not everything operates during Disney After Hours, but most of the park’s major attractions are available. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the following attractions are open for Disney After Hours:
- Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Toy Story Mania!
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Alien Swirling Saucers
Attendees also receive unlimited snacks and beverages at carts throughout the park the entire night. These include Mickey ice cream bars, Mickey ice cream sandwiches, popcorn, bottled soda, and bottled water.
Note that Disney After Hours is completely different from Extended Evening Theme Park Hours, which is a free, two-hour event offered only to guests staying at deluxe-tier Disney World hotels. Disney After Hours is not free, but anyone can purchase a ticket, regardless of where they’re staying overnight, and even if they’re not staying at a Disney resort at all.
On the night I attended Disney After Hours, Disney’s Hollywood Studios closed to the public at 9:00 PM, Fantasmic! was scheduled for 9:00 PM, and Disney After Hours officially started at 9:30 PM and lasted until 12:30 AM. I could enter the park with my party ticket starting at 7:00 PM.
Now let’s get into what all I was able to accomplish, with timestamps listed for everything.
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My Night at Disney After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
I was traveling to Disney’s Hollywood Studios via the Disney Skyliner. Even if the queues look long for the Skyliner, they usually move pretty fast. I got in line for my Skyliner ride from Disney’s Caribbean Beach at 6:41 PM, I was on a Skyliner gondola at 6:44, and I landed at Disney’s Hollywood Studios by 6:50.
A sign directs guests arriving just for Disney After Hours toward the check-in area. If you arrive close to the 7:00 mix-in time, you’ll likely see what seems like a huge crowd waiting to enter the park, but once 7:00 hits, Disney cast members do a great job of getting everyone inside.
Upon entering, you’ll receive a wristband designating that you’re clear to stay in the park after it closes later.
I was inside the park at 7:04.
I took a look at wait times. I captured the screenshot above at 7:09, just after mix-in began and roughly two hours before the park would close to non-party guests. Most rides still had a pretty long wait, with The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror posted as the longest, at 80 minutes.
The mix-in time, the period when Disney After Hours guests can enter the park, but the park isn’t yet closed to the general pubic, is the only time for After Hours attendees to experience some of the attractions that aren’t open during the party. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the one ride that doesn’t operate during After Hours is Star Tours – The Adventures Continue.
Some live shows are done for the day, but a few still have performances scheduled during the first hour of the mix-in period. These include The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure and Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After. I opted for The Little Mermaid. I got in line at 7:15, just shy of making it into the next performance, so I had to wait until the 7:55 show. I didn’t mind waiting, though, as I really enjoy the production and knew this would be my only chance to see it the whole night.
This will be a recurring theme throughout the night: prioritizing what’s important to you, sticking by your choices, and being happy with what you’re able to accomplish rather than regretting what you missed. Your family may prioritize additional rides instead of shows during the mix-in time, and that’s okay.
Upon exiting the show at 8:20, it was clear that a gnarly storm was brewing, and I’d need a game plan for avoiding the rain. Risking a little bit of time, since I was right there, I took a moment to admire the newly installed sorcerer’s hat outside of The Magic of Disney Animation. This was my first time seeing it in person. It looks great! Notice the storm clouds approaching.
The Magic of Disney Animation doesn’t open until September 14, 2026, but its sheltered entranceway is currently being used as stroller parking and has many pieces of artwork adorning the walls. I loved this mural of so many characters together.
It was now 8:30, and although I had really hoped to see Fantasmic! tonight, the weather looked like it wasn’t going to subside by the planned 9:00 showtime. I decided to make my way over to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets and hopefully beat the rush of people who would be exiting Fantasmic! and looking to squeeze in one more ride before the park closed to the general public. Sure enough, en route to the ride, Disney announced at 8:35 that Fantasmic! was canceled.
Remember, Disney allows all guests to enter any attraction line right up until the park closing time, no matter how long the line is. Here’s what wait times looked like at 8:54, just before the 9:00 general public park close. The longest wait at this point was Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, at 105 minutes.
I entered the line for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets at 8:37, and it had a posted wait of 95 minutes. I was in the pre-show at 9:24 and boarding the ride at 9:33, so the actual wait time altogether was 56 minutes, not 95.
This was my first time riding since The Muppets replaced Aerosmith. Although I enjoyed the previous version, I loved the update. There’s plenty to look at toward the end of the queue, including lots of fun props and newly created videos with various Muppets and celebrities.
By now, Disney’s Hollywood Studios was officially closed to daytime guests and Disney After Hours had begun. Guests without a wristband would need to leave now.
I entered the queue for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at 9:24, and it had a posted wait time of 15. The preshow wasn’t running, and instead, all guests were instructed to walk right through the library. I was boarding the ride at 9:55, so my wait time was 11 minutes.
I knew I’d want to ride Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at least one more time tonight. Whenever a new Disney attraction opens, I like riding multiple times to take in the details and notice things I missed the first time. So much effort goes into creating these things, and I know I didn’t see everything the first time. Besides, the new Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster has five rotating onboard songs, so the soundtrack could be different if you ride multiple times.
Since I was right here, I decided to go ahead and ride Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster a second time. Again, you may have different priorities during your own After Hours experience. One of the advantages of After Hours, though, is that you can ride your favorites over and over, if that’s what you want to do, with a shorter wait time than you would during the day.
I entered the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster queue at 10:08, when it had a 30-minute posted wait time. I was boarding by 10:30, so I waited 22 minutes.
By the time my ride was over, the storm was finished.
Let’s talk snacks! Carts are set up throughout the whole park, and you can walk right up and take your pick from ice cream bars, ice cream sandwiches, popcorn, bottled soda, and bottled water. It’s all included with your party admission, so there’s no transaction or even any sort of scanning or verification involved. You just approach the snack cart, take what you want, and go. At one point, I even saw a cast member roaming with a huge box of ice cream bars and handing one to every guest he walked past.
I enjoyed a Mickey bar at 10:55 and then noticed lots of characters meeting in front of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Mickey was trading off with Minnie, Goofy was trading off with Pluto, and Daisy was trading off with Donald. They all had individual lines, but the lines were very short.
The characters were very energetic for it being so late at night. When I asked Daisy if I could take her picture, it was her idea to give me multiple poses.
Next, I headed to Toy Story Land. I entered the queue for Toy Story Mania! at 11:16, and I was boarding the ride at 11:30, so I waited 14 minutes. It was at this point that I realized I may have had a misconception about Disney After Hours. I had expected all rides to be walk-ons, with no wait at all, but that wasn’t the case. The lines were definitely shorter than during the regular park hours, but there was still some waiting involved. I realized I wouldn’t be able to do all the rides I thought I’d get done tonight, and pretty soon, I’d have to start making some tough calls about what I’d be skipping.
Again, a lot of this comes down to personal preference. Toy Story Mania! is a joy bomb to me, so I definitely wanted to ride it over Slinky Dog Dash, but I realize that might be an unpopular choice.
Mr. Potato Head was unfortunately motionless during my visit.
I was happy to see Muppet*Vision 3D’s pink glasses being recycled for Toy Story Mania.
While the rides themselves definitely have lots of people around, the outdoor spaces around the park during Disney After Hours consistently felt almost empty. This was especially true as I headed into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. There was hardly a guest in sight! This is more like what I had anticipated Disney After Hours being the whole night.
I popped into Oga’s Cantina to check on the crowd there, and it was practically empty. During the party, Oga’s is open for walk-ups, so if you have trouble obtaining a reservation during the day, this might be your chance.
I hadn’t seen the updates with the Mandalorian and Grogu since they’d been added to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, so I chose to ride that next. When I entered the queue at 11:55, the wait time was posted at 10 minutes, but there was almost no one around. Only one other guest was in the pre-show with me, and I was boarding the ride at 12:01.
My flight crew ended up being just me and two other guests. I was assigned as the pilot, and they were assigned as the gunners. Without an engineer, the ride auto-selected Bespin, with Cloud City, as our destination.
The three hours of Disney After Hours flew by, and after Smugglers Run, I had time for one more ride. This was a very difficult decision! I still hadn’t ridden Slinky Dog Dash, Rise of the Resistance, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, or Alien Swirling Saucers.
Just like regular operating hours, guests can enter the line for any attraction right up until the Disney After Hours closing time, so you can stretch your park time a little bit more if you play your cards right.
Here’s a look at the wait times at 12:24, just before the 12:30 AM end of the party.
After deliberating for just a moment in my head, I decided to ride Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster a third time. The redo is so well done, I love the Muppets, and I still hadn’t seen all the video content in the queue even after riding twice. It felt like the best way to end my night. I also knew I could ride Rise of the Resistance and Runaway Railway on an upcoming Disneyland trip, so there was less pressure to get those done here for me.
I entered the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster queue at 12:22, when the line had a 55-minute posted wait. The wait ended up being about half that time. I was in the preshow at 12:45 and boarding the ride at 12:55.
I was on the bus back to my hotel at 1:17. Keep in mind that only bus transportation is offered this late at night, even for resorts that are on the Disney Skyliner routes.
If you ever wondered if Disney lets up on theming just because it’s super late at night, they don’t. Circus music played on the ride back to the hotel.
Is Disney After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Worth It?
My biggest takeaway from Disney After Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios was that this was not an event that guarantees zero waits, only shorter waits. In some cases, even if those waits are shorter than what they are during the daytime, they can still take up a considerable chunk of your event time. The night goes by very fast.
Going into this event, I expected to be able to recommend Disney After Hours as a replacement for a Disney’s Hollywood Studios park day. This is not the case. If you skip out on a day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios during your vacation, and Disney After Hours is your only time in the park, you’re going to have to pick and choose what you ride, and you’ll likely have to miss a few biggies.
However, I can recommend Disney After Hours as additional park time at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, provided you want to splurge on the extra cost. The sun not beating down makes the park more pleasant, and the near-empty pathways are cool to experience in what is ordinarily a very busy park.
There is, however, the steep price to consider. On the night I attended, Disney After Hours was $169 per person, which got me about 6 hours of park time, during which I accomplished 7 attractions, including repeats. That same day, a daytime ticket to Disney’s Hollywood Studios was priced at $174, and the park had been open for 12.5 hours. Lightning Lane Multi Pass that day for Hollywood Studios had cost $27. Given the choice between the two, I would have gone with the daytime ticket.
During my After Hours experience, crowds seemed to be heavily concentrated toward the front of the park, especially at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets. The back of the park, in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, was where it really felt more like a limited-capacity event instead of just another night in the park.
The unlimited snacks are a fun perk. For reference on the snacks, typically a Mickey ice cream bar costs $6.50, popcorn costs $6, bottled soda costs $5.50, and bottled water costs $4.50. When it was all said and done, I probably enjoyed $30 worth of food and beverages throughout the evening. It also just feels giddy to walk up to a Disney snack cart and be able to ask for whatever you want.
See our guide to all Disney After Hours events here. We’ll have another report coming soon from our experience at EPCOT’s Disney After Hours. Make sure you’re subscribed to our free Mickey Visit newsletter to not miss that when it’s live.
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