What is Disney After Hours?

Disney After Hours gives you the opportunity to say no to long lines and getting baked by the Florida sun; giving you the option to enjoy theme parks after they have closed to the general public. On select nights now through April 2019 you can skip long, sweaty, elbow to elbow wait times at your favorite Disney parks.

I was invited to check out the experience (at no cost), and while I’m not a Disney pass-holder or someone who frequents Disney, I can vouch this isn’t a bad idea and I will tell you why.

If you hate crowds and feel anxiety in most theme park settings, or perhaps if you or someone in your family has sensory issues, this is a much calmer way to enjoy Disney while saying goodbye to the FOMO you feel when people share their theme park antics on social media. You don’t feel rushed into racing around the park from line to line because all sense of urgency is taken away when you know you don’t have to wait for anything. Three hours is actually plenty of time to hit up multiple attractions, some even more than once. One could argue going to the park at night takes the fun out of photos, but imagine with me and adventure when you can enjoy something without taking the perfectly lit branded selfie. I’m here to tell you, it’s possible friends.

Another perk for photographers is getting to enjoy the beauty in the park and take lots of shots with very little interference from other guests.

How does it work?

A limited number of tickets are sold on the nights this experience is open, which guarantees that you will enjoy the park with extremely small crowds and almost no wait times.

While visiting Hollywood Studios I rode almost every single ride with zero wait. No fast passes required, no tricks, no missing a parade to catch a shorter wait time at a ride. Just zero waiting. Why is this a big deal when you are still paying a $125 ticket price? Simply put, you can spend all day at the park and waste most of your day in lines, and even with all that waiting you aren’t guaranteed to hit every ride you want or experience you want.

Perfect case in point, on my one and only personal trip to Pandora I waited over 2 hours to ride Avatar Flight of Passage. My friend, and fellow blogger got to ride it multiple times in one night thanks to Disney After Hours.

Check in for Disney After Hours begins at 7 p.m. and it is at that time that you can enter the park and start enjoying your evening while the park is still open. Once the park closes, your special wrist band identifies you to cast members as still having access to the park.

Since Disney After Hours officially starts at 8:30 p.m., you can eat dinner at home and save a few bucks, or maybe hit up Disney Springs for dinner before you head to the park. Either way, you can save a little cash not worrying about having a full meal while you are inside the park. Additionally, if you get the late night munchies, your ticket includes FREE select beverages (water, soda), popcorn, and ice cream.

The upcoming dates for Disney After Hours are:

December 15th and 22nd (2018)

January 5th, 12th and 19th (2019)

February 2nd, 9th, 16th (2019)

March 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th (2019)

April 6th and 13th (2019)

In addition to unlimited no wait rides, free snacks, and enough space to giddily do cartwheels around the park, there are character meets that you still get to experience, even late at night!

Take a look below at some pictures from our adventures in a very empty park, which now has spoiled me to ever going to a park during the day ever again.

I was invited to attend this event at no cost, but all opinions above are my own. Honestly, when you have a husband who is as Star Wars obsessed as I do, you actually are not allowed to say no to anything that involves a Star Wars experience. He gasped at a glimpse of the new Star Wars park silhouette in the moonlight.

I’m honestly always skeptical of sponsored posts, but I can honestly say this is something I would do again at my own cost with friends.