Skip Disney After Hours Events at This Theme Park and Only Go to Them at These Two

Some of the most popular Walt Disney World events are the ticketed After Hours offerings that allow guests to access the theme parks after they close for the day. These events offer access to popular attractions with minimal waits, plus include free snack items for those attending.

While these events are popular, not all are created equal, and there’s one park you should avoid when it comes to doing After Hours events to get the most out of your experience. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including the cheapest way to have a Disney wedding and the newest expansion milestone at Disneyland.

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Why You Need to Skip EPCOT for After Hours

Disney World After Hours events are separate ticketed events that allow guests to experience the theme parks for about three hours after regular closing. These events are popular due to their extremely low crowds and minimal wait times. Disney also offers complimentary snacks like popcorn, ice cream, and bottled drinks throughout the event.

Guests who purchase After Hours tickets are also allowed to enter 2 to 3 hours before the official event time starts. After Hours are offered at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios on select dates throughout the year. This experience is designed as a premium, lower-capacity way to experience the parks without daytime crowds. Ticket prices for these events vary depending on the date and park, averaging around $155 to $199 per person.

However, out of the three theme parks, EPCOT is the theme park you should skip for this experience. One of the biggest downfalls of EPCOT for these kinds of events is how spread out the theme park is. Consider how long a walk it is between Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. These are the top three attractions at this park, and they are so far from each other. You will spend most of the evening just walking back and forth.

And unfortunately, the popularity of Guardians draws the most demand, and the line for this ride gets long and stays long. While purchasing a ticket to EPCOT After Hours may be tempting due to the popularity of these rides, there just aren’t enough attractions in close proximity to justify the cost.

Do These Theme Parks Instead

On the other hand, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios has a fantastic lineup of offerings across the board. There are so many attractions included in the After Hours events that are located right next to each other, making it easy to experience double the number of rides in one night. Since there are more attractions to experience, wait times are also more spread out, which makes it easy to experience more.

Plus, one of the best perks of attending After Hours at Magic Kingdom is that you can experience two fireworks shows! You can first view Happily Ever After before the party starts around 9:30 PM, and then Disney Enchantment later in the evening around 11 PM. So essentially, you are catching one fireworks show during normal park operation, and then the more limited version runs for the After Hours event.

While the cost of Magic Kingdom’s After Hours events is the most expensive for all three parks, it is worth the cost to maximize your experience at this event. And the price jump isn’t so drastic, with the minimum event price for Magic Kingdom being $175 compared to the lowest price of EPCOT and Hollywood Studios at $155.

The attractions listed for Magic Kingdom’s After Hours events include all the heavy hitters like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, and Peter Pan’s Flight. These rides all average wait times during the daytime hours that exceed 30 minutes and over 60 minutes in the afternoon. The only attraction we saw that had a consistent, long line was TRON Lightcycle / Run. This popular ride maintained its long lines even during the fireworks.

Here is an idea of wait times for the various rides at Magic Kingdom during the evening. This screenshot of wait times was taken at 12:05 am.

Despite TRON maintaining its long lines, there are so many other experiences to enjoy that are not separated by long distances like you see at EPCOT. While we love EPCOT, you can experience most of the popular attractions there during Early Theme Park Entry or rope drop, and save yourself the cost of an After Hours ticket.

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Hollywood Studios is also a top contender for the best experience at an After Hours event because this theme park features so many popular attractions. This park also features some of the most popular attrations at Disney World like Slinky Dog Dash, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Plus you can also experience the recently improved Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run and newly opened Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets. See all the changes to incorporate Muppets into this popular roller coaster here.

This is also one of the most challenging theme parks to use Lightning Lane Multi Pass for so taking advantage of After Hours for this theme park is one of the best ways to experience all these top rides. Since there are so many in demand rides, Lightning Lanes typically run out fast for this park.

The best way to experience the most with an After Hours ticket is pick Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom to experience multiple fireworks shows and maximize the number of rides you can experience in one evening.

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