Walt Disney World’s after-hours events, like Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Celebration and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration, provide visitors a novel alternative to go to Disney World’s theme parks at evening after they’ve closed to daytime visitors. This implies decrease crowds, shorter wait occasions and experiences which are solely accessible to occasion visitors.
Disney after the daytime crowds go away sounds nice, proper?
The more durable problem is that the after-hours perks include a value that may be exhausting to justify on high of your different Disney trip bills, similar to multi-day park tickets and even annual passes, since you will want particular occasion tickets that value $100-$200 per individual vary, relying on the occasion.
Let’s take a better take a look at a few of Disney World’s hottest after-hours events to see how they rank for crowds, unique experiences and included perks that can assist you reply the age-old query, “To occasion, or to not occasion.”
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Celebration
On occasion nights, Magic Kingdom closes early for daytime visitors, sometimes by 6 p.m., and solely these with a celebration ticket can keep for the night’s festivities. Visitors are inspired to decorate in costumes, and your favourite Disney characters costume up for the event, too.
Ticket value
Tickets for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Celebration value between $109 and $199 plus tax for adults or $99 and $189 for youths ages 3-9. Reductions can be found for Disney Trip Membership members and annual go holders. Click on right here to buy tickets.
Additional hours spent within the park
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Celebration begins at 7 p.m. and ends at midnight, however visitors with tickets to the occasion can enter Magic Kingdom as early as 4 p.m. This implies even with out a common park ticket, you may spend as much as eight hours within the park.
As a result of the ticket costs can climb to almost $200 on sure nights, skipping a daily daytime ticket and getting into the park early for the Halloween occasion is without doubt one of the greatest money-saving methods.
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No matter your priorities for the evening, the diminished crowds ought to provide you with ample time to see and do all the things you need to do should you arrive across the 4 p.m. early entry time.
Wait occasions for rides
The wait occasions for rides are a lot shorter than common throughout Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Celebration. For instance, widespread rides like Seven Dwarfs Mine Prepare and Peter Pan’s Flight usually have wait occasions between 60 and 90 minutes in the course of the day however have waits round half that point (between 30 and 45 minutes) on occasion nights. Most different rides have wait occasions underneath half-hour.
Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane should not accessible in the course of the occasion, however you should utilize them between 4 p.m. and seven p.m. if maxing out rides is your high precedence. You can too save time in line by getting in line throughout one of many nightly parades or the fireworks present.
Included snacks and drinks
There are not any included snacks or drinks at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Celebration, however you may make out like a bandit with sweet on the trick-or-treat stops.
All occasion visitors obtain a reusable trick-or-treat bag and an occasion map upon getting into the park. There are trick-or-treat spots all around the Magic Kingdom, and you’ll simply fill your bag to the brim should you hit all of them. Allergy-friendly treats are additionally accessible.
Although you’ll have to shell out additional for them, there are a selection of specialty foods and drinks choices which are unique to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Celebration. If you’re there for the total size of the occasion, you will must eat, and it is enjoyable making an attempt out the meals, sweets and drinks which you could solely get in the course of the occasion.
Unique leisure and experiences
You’ll be able to meet uncommon characters just like the Seven Dwarfs or Jack and Sally from “A Nightmare Earlier than Christmas,” however the wait occasions can climb as excessive as three hours for the preferred characters, so be ready to attend.
There may be additionally dwell leisure you may solely expertise in the course of the occasion, together with Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade, the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular! stage present and Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular fireworks present. The parade and the Hocus Pocus present are held a number of occasions nightly, so it is simple to suit them into your schedule no matter your different priorities for the evening.
Rides, together with Area Mountain and the Mad Tea Celebration, get enjoyable Halloween overlays you may solely expertise in the course of the occasion.
Is Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Celebration value it?
Value it for characters and leisure
If you’re going for the unique meet-and-greets and leisure choices, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Celebration is unquestionably value it, however these are additionally the the reason why you may want to find out your priorities and develop a method earlier than your go to. If there are characters you simply have to satisfy, you may need to line up as early as potential, which can imply forgoing rides or trick-or-treating.
Value it for brief wait occasions and experience overlays
In case your aim is getting on as many rides as potential, Mickey’s-Not-So-Scary Halloween Celebration is an effective time to do this, as effectively. You might miss out on a number of the Halloween-specific choices, however you may nonetheless be surrounded by spooky settings and music as you hop from experience to experience.
Not value it when you have younger children who go to mattress early
The occasion is probably going not value it should you — or your little ones — want to depart and go to mattress by 8 or 9 p.m., so take that into consideration. You may miss out on a lot of the Halloween-specific choices, which negates going for a particular occasion.
Not value it should you aren’t into Halloween
At Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Celebration, everyone seems to be wearing costume, and you may get hundreds and a great deal of sweet. If filling your trick-or-treat bag with Halloween treats is not your, effectively, bag, and also you could not care much less about characters in costumes, it’s possible you’ll need to skip this one.
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Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration
Associated: Up all evening: How Disney transforms the Magic Kingdom from Halloween to vacation in a single day
Through the occasion, the park is illuminated with vacation lights, and Christmas tunes fill the air. As a result of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration is a individually ticketed occasion, you may get to benefit from the sights and sounds of the season with decrease crowd ranges than you may expertise in the course of the day.
Ticket value
Tickets for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration value between $159 and $199 plus tax for adults or $149 and $189 for youths ages 3-9. Reductions can be found for Disney Trip Membership members and annual go holders. Click on right here to buy tickets.
Additional hours spent within the park
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration begins at 7 p.m. and ends at 12 a.m. Along with the 5 official occasion hours, visitors with occasion tickets can enter Magic Kingdom as early as 4 p.m. for as much as eight hours within the park.
Wait occasions for rides
Disney sells a restricted variety of tickets to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration, so the wait occasions are shorter than a typical day in the course of the vacation season. Nevertheless, you should still wait upward of 45 minutes for widespread rides like Seven Dwarfs Mine Prepare and Peter Pan’s Flight, in addition to rides that get vacation overlays like Area Mountain and the Jungle Cruise.
Included snacks and drinks
The free meals and drinks are an ideal perk at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration. Along with specialty foods and drinks objects accessible for buy, there are stations throughout the park with complimentary cookies and sizzling cocoa.
Unique leisure and experiences
When you begin taking part in Christmas songs as quickly as you get up Nov. 1, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration will greater than fulfill your want for vacation leisure. You might have 4 alternatives every night to look at Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration stage exhibits, two probabilities to get a great place for Mickey’s As soon as Upon a Christmastime Parade and every evening at 10 p.m., you may view Minnie’s Fantastic Christmastime Fireworks Present.
All through the night, you may cease by Membership Tinsel and the Disney Junior Jingle Jam to bop with characters to energetic vacation music. The leisure alone might hold you busy till the occasion ends.
Is Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration value it?
Value it for exhibits, parades and fireworks
The specialty leisure choices are what set Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration aside from a typical daytime go to. Sure, you may see the decor and listen to the vacation tunes in the course of the day. Nevertheless, few issues will get you within the Christmas spirit quicker than seeing Santa and his reindeer within the parade, watching Clarabelle Cow sing “All I Need For Christmas is You,” and having fun with crimson and inexperienced fireworks mild up the sky over Cinderella Fortress.
Value it without cost snacks and drinks
There are only a few alternatives to get one thing free at Disney World, and we love that the included cookies and sizzling cocoa add to the festive temper throughout this occasion.
Not value it should you simply need to go on rides
Regardless of the shorter-than-normal wait occasions, rides are not the explanation to attend Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration. There are such a lot of party-specific actions that you’re higher off visiting the park throughout daytime hours if you’re solely in it for the rides.
Not value it should you aren’t ready to remain up late
Like every Disney after-hours occasion, it’s important to be prepared to remain up previous your bedtime to profit from Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration. If you wish to attempt it, we advocate skipping a daytime ticket and utilizing that point to relaxation up earlier than the occasion begins.
Disney After Hours
You do not have to attend for a vacation for a late-night Disney World celebration. On choose nights in 2024, Magic Kingdom, Epcot or Hollywood Studios will keep open previous midnight for individually ticketed Disney After Hours occasions. Just like the Halloween and Christmas events, Disney sells a restricted variety of tickets for these occasions. Which means low wait occasions for rides and character experiences.
The present parks and occasions are:
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. starting Jan. 10, 2024
- Magic Kingdom from 10 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. starting Jan. 11, 2024
- Epcot from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. starting Feb. 2, 2024
Ticket value
Disney After Hours ticket costs begin at $155 and go as much as $175 (plus tax) for Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Epcot After Hours ticket pricing is barely decrease, beginning at $149 and going as much as $159 (plus tax). Reductions can be found for annual go holders and Disney Trip Membership members.
Tickets go on sale Nov.14, 2023, and you’ll buy them right here.
Additional hours spent within the park
Although the official occasion occasions are 9:30 p.m. at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and 10 p.m. at Magic Kingdom and Epcot, visitors can enter the park for Disney After Hours starting at 7 p.m. even with out buying a daytime ticket. Which means you may stand up to 6 hours contained in the park together with your occasion ticket.
Wait occasions for rides
The low crowds and brief wait occasions are the primary promoting factors for Disney After Hours.
Disney retains most rides open for these occasions, together with widespread rides like Tron Lightcycle Run, Seven Dwarfs Mine Prepare, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, which generally have lengthy waits in the course of the day. You’ll be able to count on wait occasions of round 5 to half-hour for many points of interest.
Included snacks and drinks
Meals and drinks, like ice cream, popcorn and nonalcoholic drinks, are all included in the price of your ticket. Limitless Mickey ice cream bars could also be well worth the value of admission on their very own.
Unique leisure and experiences
With one exception, Disney After Hours occasions don’t provide party-exclusive parades, fireworks or stage exhibits. The one exception is at Magic Kingdom, the place you may see “Enchantment,” the nighttime fireworks spectacular Disney unveiled in the course of the park’s fiftieth anniversary celebration. When you arrive early, you may see “Fortunately Ever After” and “Enchantment” on the identical evening.
Is Disney After Hours value it?
Value it for an all-day, all-night experience marathon
In case your principal aim while you go to Disney World is to experience as many rides as potential as many occasions as potential, you may mix a daytime ticket with a Disney After Hours ticket to max out your experience depend. Through the occasion, you may re-ride your favorites repeatedly or hit the rides you skipped in the course of the day due to the upper wait occasions.
Value it should you do not need to cope with Disney Genie+
Throughout Disney After Hours, all rides use a standby queue. If waking up early to vie for a digital queue spot or spending time (and cash) to schedule rides utilizing Disney Genie+ is just not your concept of a trip, you may get pleasure from hopping briefly standby queues on a whim throughout Disney After Hours.
Not value it for unique experiences
Until you want your repair of “Enchantment” at Magic Kingdom, there is no such thing as a party-specific leisure that may make the price of this ticket value it for you.
Not value it in your first time visiting a park
Though the crowds are low and choose characters are out greeting visitors, you will not get the total Disney World expertise throughout these occasions. We would not advocate attending Disney After Hours at a park you’ve got by no means visited throughout daytime hours. You may miss out on a number of the eating, leisure and ambiance which you could solely expertise with a daily daytime ticket.
Backside line
Disney’s after-hours events are extremely popular and could be value it — relying on what you hope to get out of the expertise. Do you need to meet uncommon characters, see parades and exhibits that solely occur in the course of the occasion, or do you need to munch on free popcorn and sip on “free” soda all evening?
As soon as your priorities (and what number of free Mickey ice cream bars you may eat), you may simply decide which of Disney’s after-hours events will create essentially the most magic for you.
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