Here’s Why You Should Do An After Hours Event at Hollywood Studios

If you're like me and want to prioritize snacking and riding attractions, I highly recommend the After Hours events at Disney World! After Hours is a separately-ticketed event that currently takes place on select nights at Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, and EPCOT.

These After Hours events last for three hours after the park closes, however event guests are able to enter the park early and can catch the nighttime fireworks shows, grab a bite to eat, or get a head start on riding attractions before the event officially kicks off. When the event starts, After Hours ticketholders also have UNLIMITED access to snack carts with ice cream (yes, Mickey Bars included), popcorn, and bottled beverages. Additionally, all attractions will have minimal wait times due to the limited capacity and lack of Lightning Lane guests clogging up the standby queue.

Although I am a Disney World Annual Passholder and have access to the parks year round, I love splurging on an After Hours event once in a while, especially if friends or family are in town. I especially love the After Hours events at Hollywood Studios, because there are so many thrilling and immersive attractions that almost always have a long wait since Hollywood Studios is one of the most popular parks. Below I will break down all the reasons to do an After Hours event at Hollywood Studios, along with everything that's included in the price of the ticket.

Hollywood Studios After Hours Dates and Prices

The After Hours events at Hollywood Studios take place at least two or three times per month, and typically last between 9:30 PM and 12:30 AM. If you are planning a trip to Disney World in July, you have five opportunities to experience an Hollywood Studios After Hours event. Each event usually takes place on Wednesday night with the exception of one Tuesday night in April.

After Hours event guests are able to enter Hollywood Studios as early as 7 PM, meaning you have the possibility of spending over five hours inside the park! If you have an Annual Pass or regular park admission that day, you can experience Hollywood Studios for even longer! However, I usually don't recommend spending all day at a theme park before going to an After Hours event, especially because you'll be at the park until almost 1 AM. Plus, with the shortened wait times, you'll more than likely be on your feet running around the park all night in order to get the most out of your event ticket.

Right now, tickets to the Hollywood Studios After Hours events are on sale through September 3rd and range between $155 and $185, plus tax. The cheapest tickets are on sale in August and September, which make sense as these months are typically slower than the rest of the year. If you are a Disney World Annual Passholder or Disney Vacation Club Member, you can purchase discounted tickets for yourself and your guests for up to $30 off. If you have the opportunity to buy a ticket for August or September, you'll not only pay less, but more than likely the event won't sell out, which means even less crowds than normal! Halloween at Disney World and EPCOT's Food & Wine Festival both start towards the end of August, meaning you can experience other great Disney World events during this time as well. Although the humidity can be brutal this time of year, it's a great overall time to visit Disney World.

The remaining 2025 dates for Hollywood Studios After Hours include:

• February 19
• March 5 and 26
• April 1 and 30
• May 14 and 28
• June 4, 11 and 25
• July 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30
• August 6, 20 and 27
• September 3

Although the price of the After Hours events can seem high, I personally think they are still worth the cost because you can experience so much of the park in a shorter amount of time with less stress about booking Lightning Lane reservations and waiting in long lines. It's probably not in the budget to go every time you visit Disney World, however I think it's a really cool experience to try at least once, especially if your group is prioritizing riding the various attractions. The price is fairly equivalent, if not only slightly higher than the cost of a one day park ticket.

After Hours Perks with Early Entry

You can truly maximize your visit to Hollywood Studios with an After Hours ticket, especially because of the early entry perk. By entering the park around 7pm, you'll have up to two hours to experience the park during normal park hours. This means you'll have access to the amazing restaurants and entertainment. One of my favorite shows in all of Disney World is Fantasmic!, which takes place at Hollywood Studios each night before the park closes. This is an absolute must do show, especially if you've never seen it and enjoy the shows at Disney.

The Hollywood Studios After Hours event is a great way to see one of the best shows at Disney World before experiencing the rest of the park with minimal wait times for attractions and meet and greets. The last time I experienced After Hours, I took my family to see the Fantasmic! show which ended shortly before the event kicked off. We were able to grab a quick-service meal at Rosie's All-American Café, and started the night riding Tower of Terror, one of my favorite Disney rides!

I always recommend combining the best of both worlds for an After Hours event by watching the fireworks or nighttime show before the event kicks off. Although the Fantasmic! crowds exiting the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater can get congested, you'll still have plenty of time to get the most out of your After Hours event.

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Minimal Wait Times for Popular Attractions

The biggest draw to a Hollywood Studios After Hours event is definitely being able to experience popular attractions with minimal wait times. Usually Hollywood Studios is the most difficult park to do it all, because there aren't as many attractions compared to the other parks. Additionally, the small amount of attractions they do have are extremely popular and usually have a long wait time. Included in my top 10 time-saving tricks for a better Hollywood Studios experience is purchasing an After Hours event ticket because of how many attractions you are able to experience within a very short amount of time. Although you have to pay extra for the event ticket, you are saving time and money on Lightning Lane purchases and the unlimited snacks.

The following attractions are considered some of the best in all of Disney World and are typically open during the Hollywood Studios After Hours event:

• Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run
• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Toy Story Mania!
• Alien Swirling Saucers
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith (soon to be closed and rethemed to a Muppets-themed coaster)
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

Personally, I like to wait until the end of the night to ride Slinky Dog Dash and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, because those are the most popular rides in Hollywood Studios. Therefore, typically the After Hours crowds flock to these two attractions first. Another reason I wait until the end of the night is because there's a high probability that non-event guests are still waiting in the standby queues for these attractions. Disney allows guests to get in line anytime before the park closes, meaning you can jump in line for Slinky Dog Dash at 8:59 PM, even if the park closes at 9 PM. By the time the event starts, it's more than likely these lines will still be pretty long, and as the crowds filter out towards the end of the night, the lines also get shorter! And what better way to end the night with two of the best Disney World attractions?

Another reason to wait to ride Slinky Dog Dash and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is because they're located close to each other. If you plan on catching Fantasmic! before the event kicks off, I recommend riding Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n' Rollercoaster, and Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway before heading over to Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge to ride the more popular attractions. These attractions are not only located very close to the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater, but will likely have the shortest wait times as the after hours event starts.

Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge are located right next to each other on the opposite end of the park as Tower of Terror and nearby attractions. Therefore, let the lines go down a bit and take advantage of the low wait times on the attractions near Sunset Blvd. There's also usually a snack cart located right outside of the Fantasmic! Amphitheater with the free snacks and drinks available, which I'll get more into below.

UNLIMITED Snacks – Ice Cream, Popcorn, and Soda

Besides the minimal wait times, my favorite part about After Hours events are the unlimited snacks and drinks throughout the entire event! Hollywood Studios will have carts set up throughout the park offering Mickey ice cream bars, ice cream sandwiches, popcorn, and bottled beverages including water and Coca-Cola products. I personally have never experienced an After Hours event where the snacks sell out, and sometimes it feels like I earn back the cost of the ticket just by enjoying all the included snacks and drinks!

Although none of the regular quick service and table service restaurants will be open during After Hours events, you can still grab a bite to eat with early entry. I usually try to grab a reservation or mobile order dinner before taking advantage of all the snack options throughout the event. Regardless of what you decide, definitely come hungry and get the most out of your Hollywood Studios After Hours ticket by enjoying the unlimited snacks and drinks throughout the night!

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Character Meet and Greets

In addition to the incredible attractions at Hollywood Studios, most of their character meet and greets will also be available during the After Hours event! During my last Hollywood Studios After Hours event we met BB-8, Chewbacca, and Sorcerer Mickey and Minnie with minimal wait times. I even caught Chewbacca wondering around Galaxy's Edge interacting and taking photos with guests!

Hollywood Studios has some of the best character meet and greets, especially if you're a Pixar or Star Wars fan! While you explore Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Land throughout the evening, keep a look out for some of your favorite characters including Joy and Sadness from Inside Out, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Darth Vader, and other fan-favorite characters.

Not only can you see the regular lineup of character meet and greets, there have been some more rare characters seen during Hollywood Studios After Hours events. The rare character meet and greets have been a great addition to the After Hours events. In past after hours events we didn't always see rare, if any, characters.

Rare characters seen during past Hollywood Studios After Events include:

• Rafiki
• Stitch
• Pinocchio
• Jiminy Cricket
• Duffy
• Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers
• Thumper
• Donald Duck
• Daisy Duck
• Goofy
• White Rabbit
• Mary Poppins
• Tiana
• Jasmine
• Pocahontas and Meeko
• Mickey and Minnie Mouse

The After Hours events at Hollywood Studios truly offer everything that most guests love to do at Disney World including minimal wait times for attractions and character meet and greets, and unlimited snacks. I was very excited to see Disney announce the return of these events, and can't wait for the next time I can attend one!

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