Calling all Night Owls…🦉Why a Disney After Hours Party is the perfect event for you!
I recently attended Disney’s After Hours at Hollywood Studios on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, and it was such a fun experience! If you like nighttime in the parks, low crowds and don’t like waiting in lines…then this might be something you should consider attending.
Let’s talk details, dates and price.
After Hours Parties are Special Ticketed Events.
💲Pricing for 2023: $129 to $149 plus tax. FYI: $30 price discount for AP Holders & DVC Members. Military can also buy tickets at a slight discount via Shades of Green.
The DETAILS: You get 3 “after” hours in the park after all the regular day guests leave…so that means LOW wait times for attractions! Plus, select Ice Cream Treats, Popcorn, and bottled Beverages are FREE during the party hours. YUM!
You can enter the Park at 7:00 pm!
WHERE: Hollywood Studios🎥
WHEN: 🌙9:30 PM to 12:30 AM in Feb/March/April and 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM in May/June
*May 31, June 7, June 14, June 21, & June 28 Tickets still available as of this posting
To note: After Hours Parties are also offered at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT.
MY REVIEW: I arrived promptly at 7:00 pm and headed directly to the “line” for After Hours Guests. We were handed this Disney After Hours information sheet & given an After-Hours wristband. I would have really preferred some kind of map where treat locations and characters might be. However, we noticed that character appearances were very limited! So, if that’s something you’re interested in then this isn’t the event for you.
After Hours is ALL about the RIDES and FREE Snacks!
My D2 Travel pal and I decided to grab a quick bite to eat from Docking Bay 7 to get our adventure started. Ronto Wraps are one of my favorite eats at Hollywood Studios. Roasted Pork, Grilled Pork Sausage, Peppercorn Sauce, and Tangy Slaw wrapped in Pita Bread. So much flavor and just the right amount of food…I had to save room for all the free treats! On our way to Oga’s Cantina, we saw a really cool Photopass spot: with Lightsabers! After our “jedi photoshoot”, we headed inside Oga’s Cantina for a drink. I enjoyed my Bloody Rancor-Tito’s Vodka, spicy Bloody Mary Mix and Rancor Bone (meringue). I love Oga’s, however be prepared for pricey drinks and a 45-minute max time limit. Also, to note Oga’s only serves a few snacks & a unique charcuterie board. That’s it for food. But it’s really so much fun here & the theming is incredible. If you’re a Star Wars fan, it’s a MUST visit at least once.
Our 1st ride of the night: Toy Story Midway Mania. Wait time: 5 minutes and technically, the park was still open for day guests.
Next up, we stopped to watch the show on the Chinese Theater. It was about 9:30 pm. Then, we rode Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. ZERO wait! I’m really liking this no wait thing. The crowds were non-existent all night~!
Next up, FREE Popcorn! 🍿🍿 You can also get select bottled drinks: Water, Coke, Diet Coke, & Sprite.
After our little break, we headed down Sunset Blvd to Tower of Terror! This is my FAVORITE attraction at Hollywood Studios. Again, we walked straight on…ZERO Wait. Fabulous time for photos with an almost empty park!
After we dropped in, we snagged some yummy Ice Cream treats!! My friend got the classic Mickey Ice Cream Bar, and I got the Mickey Ice Cream Sandwich (Oreo ice cream!). Sooo good!! The best part: you can have as many as you want all night!
As we were making our way to ride Star Wars: Rise of Resistance…we spotted Donald & Daisy in the cutest outfits ever! Omgeee!! My little Donald Nuimo was a hit! 💜PRO TIP: Get yourself a nuimo, characters love interacting with you! I really wished there were some actual meet & greets…we just happened upon Donald and Daisy. Sheer luck! We were told Bo Peep was meeting guests near Toy Story Midway Mania, but times weren’t announced. Basically, the idea is to “surprise” guests. We heard the same about some Star Wars characters that were supposed to roaming Batuu but never saw any.
On to Rise of Resistance (ZERO wait!!) …how awesome is that! This ride typically has ridiculously long waits all day (1-2 hours) or you have to buy an ILL, which can be pricey!
Our final ride of the night was Slinky Dog Dash, which surprisingly, had a wait…and did all night long! A little bummed about having to wait over 30 minutes, but it was a fun ending to our night. On the way out, we grabbed some more Coke and the LAST bottled Water, literally. We walked out of the park at 12:45 am and headed to the bus stop for our ride back to Boardwalk Inn. Total letdown that the boats/Skyliner were not running. We were exhausted and our bus ride home took some time. Also, I wouldn’t recommend doing what I did: I had an early morning flight to Disney and then After Hours that same night. Talk about Disney Tired. 😴 LOL. 🤣
I can tell you, I had a SPECTACULAR time and found it totally worth the cost IF you focus on RIDES! My friend and I were doing our typical travel agent thing (taking lots of photos), so we could have done a lot more rides or rode our favorites twice. Just be sure to enjoy some popcorn, treats & drinks along the way to get the most bang for your buck! Heck, take some treats, drinks & popcorn HOME with you, too! We saw a lot of guests with bags or backpacks grabbing MANY drinks, quite a few popcorn boxes, and ice cream bars. 😉
I hope this gives you a little insight into what After Hours is and if it’s something you and your family or friends might enjoy! If I can be of any help or you’d like to purchase tickets, please contact me.
Thanks for reading, 💖Angie Baycura
Enchanted Nook 